I, Tonya (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) became embroiled in a media frenzy surrounding an attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver). Intercut with “documentary footage” of Tonya, her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) and her mother LaVona (Allison Janney), the characters involved talk about what led up to that incident, from Tonya’s childhood to her achievements in figure skating, right down to just how much of that particular attack she was aware of at the time. It seems that, even for a story that has gone down into pop culture legend, there is still a lot left unsaid.

The Jungle Bunch (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: After encountering the jungle hero squad The Champs, maniacal koala Igor (Keith Silverstein) is left stuck on a desert island. In his absence, the Champs Natacha the tigress (Dorothy Fahn), Tony the sloth (Kaiji Tang) and Goliath the rhino (Richard Epcar) decide to retire with Natacha and Tony taking care of the penguin cub Maurice. However, years later, it seems that Igor has returned to seek revenge. This time, it’s up to a now grown-up Maurice the tiger penguin (Kirk Thornton) and his own hero team, The Jungle Bunch, to stop Igor before he destroys the jungle.

The Polka King (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Polish-born Jan Lewan (Jack Black) is a polka bandleader with quite the following in his home of Pennsylvania. In fact, his fans believe in him so much that they are willing to invest thousands of dollars into his numerous business, not the least of which being his music. However, it seems that his business dealings aren’t entirely on the up-and-up, as he soon finds himself under investigation for financial fraud. Will Jan have to face his actions or will he go on to take the stage once again?

Darkest Hour (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: After the resignation of the then-current British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup), Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) is chosen to take his place. As he settles into his higher position, and tries to deal with his own parliament's apprehension about his policies, it seems that he will have to deal with more than just the approaching Nazi forces if he wants to see Great Britain survive this war.

Mary And The Witch's Flower (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Red-haired scamp Mary (Ruby Barnhill) has moved in with her great-aunt Charlotte (Lynda Baron) and, with a week left to go before school starts, she has found herself struggling to find ways to occupy her time. However, that all changes when a chance encounter in the nearby forest leads her to the Ender College, a prestigious school for witches and warlocks, with headmaster Madame Mumblechook (Kate Winslet) remarking that Mary could be a truly incredible witch. To make things even more surreal, it seems that this college isn’t all that it seems, and it’s up to Mary to get to the bottom of the college’s less-than-virtuous ambitions.

The Commuter (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Insurance salesman Michael (Liam Neeson) is taking the train home, same as he has done consistently for the last ten years. However, this trip turns out to be decidedly different as he is approached by a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) with a proposition. She tells him that someone on the train doesn’t belong, and he has until the end of the line to figure out who it is. As a reward, he will be given $100,000 once he locates the person and places a tracker on their person. As he considers the proposal, it seems that shadowy forces are about to force his hand, and if he doesn’t do as the woman asked, he could end up losing everything.

The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: After securing a lifetime’s supply of food from the local Nut Shop, Surly the squirrel (Will Arnett) and his woodland friends are living a secure but laidback life. However, when the Nut Shop explodes and the gang are left short of food once again, they come to head-to-head with Mayor Muldoon (Bobby Moynihan), who plans on turning the local park into an income-generating amusement park. If Surly and his friends want to keep their new home in the park, they’ll have to work together in order to stop Muldoon.

The Post (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: While the New York Times publish an article detailing Pentagon papers that show a mass cover-up concerning the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War, the Washington Post is stuck reporting on Nixon’s daughter’s wedding. However, when the government tries to censor the Times from posting any more of their findings, Post publisher Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) get to work on publishing the findings themselves. However, between the social, ethical and political hurdles involved, it seems that the truth comes with a price.

All The Money In The World (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer), grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), has been kidnapped. His captors are demanding a ransom of $17 million, a price that J. Paul Getty isn’t willing to pay. He sends former CIA operative and now deal broker Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) to assist Getty III’s mother Gail (Michelle Williams) in the situation. However, as tensions grow between the parties involved, it seems that it will take more than money to pay this price.

Pitch Perfect 3 (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Three years after their victory at the a cappella World Championship, the Bellas are struggling to make their mark in the world outside of music. However, after they reunite under false pretences, they decide to go on one last tour and perform for the U.S. troops, taking part in a competition to win an opening spot for DJ Khaled. However, as they see that the rest of the bands actually play their own music, it seems that this last hurrah is going to be the most challenging feat the Bellas have ever faced.

Top 11 Biggest Disappointments (2017)

2017 was a very disappointing year. It revealed how much genuinely heinous behaviour was being kept under wraps, how desperate people were to excuse those actions (the double-team of Kevin Spacey and Australia’s own Don Burke was particularly gross in that regard), and how a person’s past actions can come back to bite them in the arse in a major way. 2017 wasn’t just disappointing because it fell below the median; it created disappointment in individual people, people that up until that point the general public gave the benefit of the doubt. It’s rather fitting then that, along with some surprising successes, the year’s cinema would turn out some unbelievable letdowns. Seriously, this is the year that created some of the biggest cinematic nosedives I’ve ever covered, and the legendarily weak box office receipts show that audiences definitely noticed.

However, we’re not talking about the obvious suspects. As bad as films like Fifty Shades Darker, Collateral Beauty and even The Emoji Movie are, it was a given that they weren’t going to turn so well in the first place. No, this list is dedicated to the films that showed a lot of initial promise… and then proceeded to spoil it in increasingly disastrous ways. Let’s test how much worse the phrase “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed” can be to blind rage and go over the Top 11 Biggest Disappointments of 2017… and oh boy, I had to do some serious trimming down to fit in only 11 this year.

Top 11 Biggest Surprises (2017)

2017 will likely be remembered for a lot of things: First full year of the Human Jaffa as the U.S. President, a series of sexual abuse allegations that made us all question our “heroes”, some of the worst box office returns in the history of Hollywood, Andrew Tate being an absolute fuck-knuckle, and that's just for starters. However, at least in the context of what I do on this blog, 2017 came to mean something a little different: Namely, it was one of the most consistently surprising years since I starting doing this. Never before have my expectations been so efficiently worked around, resulting in a lot of films during the year that I never would have guessed would be as good (or as bad) as they were. Which films genuinely turned out better than I suspected going in? Let’s find out. Here’s quite possibly the most apt year to do this for: It’s the Top 11 Biggest Surprises of 2017.