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The Snail and the Whale (2019 TV Movie)
9/10
The formula continues to work
27 December 2019
This animation company saw great success animating the gruffalo, then the gruffalo's child and have continued the pattern until we are on Julia Donaldson's Snail and The Whale. Here we have characters true to the original illustrations gliding through incredibly animated water in this heartwarming story of a snail who lives on a rock but wants to see the world so gets a lift on the tail of a whale. It's made for small children and is full of innocence and charm and is very very watchable. What's makes Donaldson's books work is her charming simple stories but also her rhythm. The TV show keeps the rhythm but slows it right down to create a peaceful dream like film. They don't overcomplicated it, they just deliver the book and make it cute.
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21 Bridges (2019)
8/10
The New Training Day
11 December 2019
Chadwick Boseman has so much on screen charisma in this movie he could quite soon be one of the biggest names in Hollywood, his performance was utterly compelling. When an actor doesn't even have to speak and you know what they are thinking off by their eyes then that is special. In fact the entire cast is very strong with spot on performances from all of them,

This is a very strong film, if you liked Training Day here is another film with cops and bad guys (or are they one and the same?). Boseman is a detective who lives for the badge out to stop two robbers who have left a bloodbath of cops behind them.Can Boseman solve the mystery and stop the robbers or will he simply get revenge?

The only loss of points for me was I guessed the 'twist' from the beginning, otherwise it could have been even more of a great must watch film
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The Goldfinch (2019)
6/10
Needed an extra half hour
23 November 2019
The Goldfinch was quite a special book full of atmosphere and suspense as well of coming of age. Its also a bloody big book so to make it work in a short film is quite difficult.

That is the movies let down. The development of characters that is expansive in the book was lacking the space they needed in the film. Its still a decent enough flick but you just don't get drawn into the emotion of the people involved.
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Rattlesnake (2019)
5/10
Opportunity lost
15 November 2019
Rattlesnake has a great concept. A women gets a puncture and while fixing it her daughter gets bitten by a rattlesnake. Suddenly a trailer appeared and a women cures the bite and says she will talk about payment later. Payment it turns out is she must replace her life with the life of another or her daughter will die as payment has not been met.

So the concept is great, any artform which makes you think what would I do and helps you empathise with the characters is usually on to s winner but that's where it starts to be let down. It's right here where some amazing philosophical debates could start to begin. Could you find someone evil and feel ok about killing them when there is an opportunity that this person could change in the future and positively impact others? Is it right you should take the life of another when fatalists and people of religion may say you are going against god's plan. Or is it ok to take the life of someone seriously ill when there may be opportunity of miraculous recovery you are taking away. All these a brilliant film would make but it doesn't explore or question the situation at all, there is only acceptense. It's a shame really, opportunity lost.
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7/10
Far from Home
12 November 2019
Homecoming was so much fun that, in a way, "Far From Home" had an almost impossible task. In the 10000000th reboot of the comic hero favourite, Marvel got it spot on, having this Spiderman be a geeky kid on a journey of self discovery, awkward in his neediness and unsure of his capabilities. Its created a vulnerable Spiderman that everyone can relate to and love and most importantly root for.

Far From Home is post 'Endgame' and sees Spidey thrown into the unwanted position of being one of the few Avengers around. Now he has to take on a ew threat where things are not all they seem to be but no spoilers here.

What lets this film down compared to its predecessor is there is a lack of surprises and character growth for Tom Holland to play with. However its still a lot of fun as we see him become night monkey and fight the forces of darkness once again, this time through various locations in Europe (I'm sure the writer just put some European cities on their wish list and wrote a movie around it just so they could stay).

Its still a lot of fun and loveable. I just want a little more but there is no way this franchise is stopping yet.
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Booksmart (2019)
6/10
Almost
10 November 2019
Almost One if those frustrating movies that us almost very special but doesn't quite get there. Does it want to be a gross out comedy, a teen coming of age or an indie Anericana deep thinking poignant drama. It tries to be all three and loses some of it's identity.

I think although it was trying to be mature it's audience is the late teens. I should have loved this film, I normally love this genre but my attention kept wandering. Everytime it tried to be poignant or sentimental it suddenly had to good out not allowing it's true meaning to come through. It could have been so much better but just failed to hit the mark.
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