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My 2016 film highlights
My annual film highlights post, in which I highlight 20 films from all I saw during the previous year. Not all are without their flaws, but I'm very fond of all of them, flaws and all. →
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Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth
When a character in Paolo Sorrentino's Youth introduced herself as Paloma Faith I knew the name, but I had no idea if this really was Paloma Faith, or an actress playing the part of Paloma Faith. The former scenario baffled me because there's no particular reason for Paloma Faith to be in the film playing herself, and the latter because there's no good reason for an actress to be playing the part of Paloma Faith in a film where Paloma Faith's presence has no bearing beyond a brief name-drop that's lost on the rest of the cast. →
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Inception
Inception plays as if Christopher Nolan was in a pub one night and an angry drunk shouted "Oi! Nolan! Think you're clever with your intertwining narratives and chronological playfulness? I bet you can't juggle five different threads at once though, spacially, temporally and in a coherent and entertaining fashion!", and Nolan went off and did it, just to prove a point. He succeeds, but at the expense of characterisation and a sense of any meaning or purpose. →
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The Prestige
Along with Aronofsky, Raimi and Singer, Christopher Nolan is one of the very few directors who I can really rely upon. A film with one of those names attached is, to me, a guarantee that I'll be enjoying myself. →
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Batman Begins
This was the one I've been waiting for. Not since the original Tim Burton/Michael Keaton outing has there been a good Batman film; the franchise style has been slowly whittled away by Joel Schumacher's love of dry ice, naked male torsos and high camp. Batman Begins was to be the one that redressed the balance. Did it? →
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The Shape of Things to Come
With 2004 nearly over, and fewer opportunities to be disappointed by awful films that promise much yet deliver little this year, I thought I'd have a look ahead to see what's in store. →