34. Logan Lucky

As soon as I saw the trailer for this film, I was excited to see it. It's no secret I love films about crime, and this heist looked excited, and Channing Tatum was involved (our lead, Jimmy Logan). The film lives up to expectations, and I really enjoyed it. It's a heist movie, but there is something extra that makes it exciting and enjoyable, as opposed to predictable and boring.

Jimmy has a rocky relationship with his ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes), who he has daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie) with. Sadie is Jimmy's pride and joy, but he somehow always ends up being late (or turning up on the wrong day), angering Bobbie Jo. She decides to up sticks and move away from Jimmy, to an amazing mansion with her new husband.

Jimmy enlists the help of his brother Clyde (Adam Driver) and decides to spice up his life a bit, by deciding to steal the prize money from a big NASCAR event. He decides to win the support of Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) to help break into the safe. Joe is incarcerated for using explosives to open safes.

The plot follows how Jimmy ends up smuggling Joe out of prison for the main event, how they steal the money, and the aftermath. As with most films like this, it's incredibly clever and interesting, and it really keeps the audience captivated in how they will pull it off.

The film is interesting as it looks at family relationships, and inter family relationships, looking at different bonds, and how people work well (or not) together. It also has elements of comedy, which again, kept the interest; it's not a serious film, but it is clever. Tatum played the character of Jimmy really well, although it is within the roles he usually goes for, there is no doubt that he can play it well. Driver was excellent at playing Clyde, he's very mysterious, and quite surprising at times - you're not sure how much Clyde is in it, or just following orders from his brother, and this is played really well. As well as this, I thought Craig was excellent. I feel we all know Craig as James Bond, but I think here he proved he can play varied roles. I was actually surprisingly impressed by his Southern American accent, and also his good-baddie role, if that makes sense.

The film finishes with an open ending, setting up for a sequel, so if that comes to light, I think it will be interesting to see if it is forced, or if there is more on the creators minds. That said, I did quite like the open ending, even if there isn't a second film.

A really entertaining film, I think it's absolutely worth the watch, and would encourage you to see it on the big screen. I give Logan Lucky 8.5/10 for its great lead actors, engaging plot, comedic script, and for making heist movies good again!

27. Baby Driver

Baby Driver came out yesterday, and we had the pleasure of seeing it on it's opening night. I hadn't seen much advertising for the film (but I do spend the trailers at the pictures on Buzzfeed wondering what flavour crisps I am, instead of paying attention.) We checked out the rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it had 100% so we were well in. Obviously as the film has only just been released, it's not the biggest achievement to have 100%, but it's still a pretty  good indication that the film is going to be a good one.

The starting credits are rolling, and the first scene is really interesting and creative. It's a contemporary dance sequence, where the lyrics are hidden in the scenery of the shot. I thought it was really innovative and new, nothing like anything I have seen before, and it grabbed my attention. From there we are right into a car chase. Again the chase was fast, but interesting, it had action, but also twists and turns in it's plot, not just a car chase.

Baby Driver follows Baby, a getaway driver (duh) for armed robberies and such. Baby (Ansel Elgort) has a passion for music, and uses it to aide him in his driving, a job that a big mistake landed him in, years ago. We follow him as he meets a girl (Lily James) and tries to ditch his life of crime, to no avail.

Baby Driver is sort of a cross between Drive, and Ocean's Eleven. I was worried that it would just be a carbon copy of Drive (I urge you to watch this if you haven't already), but it has it's differences. There's a different backstory, and different characters, as well as Baby's involvement in the heists, and his interaction with others. It also is a humorous film, with real laughs in places. The comedy element was done well, as it enhanced the plot, as opposed to turning it into a slapstick movie. There is also the cleverness of how the jobs are pulled off, or not, similar to Ocean's Eleven. Again, I think it was different enough to make it stand out.

The action scenes in the film were brutal, and violent, but these scenes are included, again, to enhance the plot, and not for the shock factor. I really enjoyed the action, and it definitely wasn't boring. The film is 2hrs long (you know how I feel about this) and yet I wasn't clock watching, I was interested to see what was next. However, I did, last night, have a dream of massacring a load of people and then jumping off a cliff, so I guess if you are of a nervous disposition it could haunt you for weeks!

The soundtrack to the film was also really well done. There were so many classics from so many genres, and it was just really interesting to see how they worked with the film. As a music lover I especially appreciated this. If the soundtrack is released I definitely want it for my car!

Overall, I'm going to give Baby Driver an 8.5/10. I really want to give it a 9, and I really do recommend you going to see it, but I can see a lot of similarities drawn from other films. The first two scenes of the film are by far the most original, and the most interesting and creative, but when we get towards the end, some of the scenes don't match up to this. Don't get me wrong, they are full of action and work well with the plot, but I was just so in awe at the opening titles and how it was so imaginative, I can't help but think that the middle and end can't quite match it. Please go and see it and let me know what you think!

19. Going in Style

First off, apologies for the lack of blogging! If any of you read my original post you may be aware that the purpose of this blog is to record all the films I've seen in the cinema this year; unfortunately we had a break week last week. In the meantime I've become obsessed with an american law drama series 'How to Get Away with Murder', and BBC documentary 'Reported Missing' but that's not what any of you came to read about.

This week has been interesting - we went to see Going in Style, a film about 3 old men deciding to rob a bank. It all came a bit to close to the bone when an hour before the film started I had a call from the bank telling me that someone had cloned my card and emptied my account (it's not all bad as there wasn't much in there to start with), but I still managed to enjoy the film once I'd got over my initial frustration!

The film is actually a remake of a 1979 film of the same name - I wasn't aware of this until after I saw the film. Joe (Michael Caine), Willie (Morgan Freeman) and Albert (Alan Arkin), are all friends who work at the same company. The company gets bought out and pension schemes are scrapped, all at the same time as Joe is caught up in an armed robbery at his own bank. From here, the three men are annoyed at the situation they are left in and feel like it is unjust. Joe suggests robbing a bank, as he witnessed, as the criminals got away with it. Slowly all 3 come round to the idea and hatch a plan.

Along the way, we learn about the men's families, and their other motives for getting the money. We see them attempt robberies as practices along the way, with hilarious consequences. The movie is fun, and the ending is clever and interesting. It is your classic heist movie, with a small twist. If you like The Italian Job, Ocean's 11, Now You See Me, you'll probably enjoy this film. My only gripe here, is that I didn't think it was original enough (well it is a remake but work with me here). The USP of Going in Style is the comedy value; the fact it is 3 pensioners robbing a bank. For me, there weren't enough laugh out loud moments, and the story and plot didn't work hard enough to make this a stand out film. With Now You See Me, the element of magic makes the plot really interesting, Ocean's 11 you have 3 robberies and a whole mob of people and so on.

What I'm trying to say here, is that while Going in Style is no doubt a fun movie, it is nothing revolutionary or dramatically different that makes it special. Of course I enjoyed my self in the cinema, watching Caine, Freeman and Arkin literally having the best fun making this film, but it's not going to win any awards, and it's perhaps a film I'm not going to be itching to see again.

For that reason, I give Going in Style, a 6.5/10. It does what it says on the tin, and it's an easy watch for a lazy day or a hangover day, but it's nothing that I haven't seen before. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are still my heroes though.