The Quite Nerdy Blog

Manchester by the Sea is already making a big claim for most depressing film of the year and it's also definitely earning every single award nomination its picked up over the last few months. It's the story of a humble Boston janitor named Lee who has self exiled himself from his home town after a horrific incident. He is forced to return to Manchester though when his brother dies. On returning, Lee naturally has demons to face, not least of which are his estranged ex-wife Randi and his teenage nephew Patrick. Unlike many of the films I've reviewed recently, Manchester is genuinely notable for its plot. The way it is willing to trust us to hold on for the reveal of the incident while still making sure that the reveal packs an impressive and actually sickening punch demonstrates how masterfully the plot has been crafted. Aside from the plot, the other thing that this film is getting major praise for is the acting, deservedly so. Casey Affleck leads the charge and is d...

La La Land is the musical that will make everyone, even people who hate musicals, love musicals. It's the follow up feature from director Damien Chazelle's Whiplash and you can't really have two films that are more different. La La Land has a simple story and if you've seen pretty much any musical before, you will have a decent idea of what the story is going to be. Emma Stone is an aspiring actress, Ryan Gosling is a jazz pianist who wants to open up his own club. They meet and they fall in love and that's it. It's just a film about two people trying to balance love with their aspirations for success. Like I've already said, the plot is simple but it makes a few very bold choices in there, choices that I wasn't originally fond of but, on further reflection, I actually really like. This isn't the film to choose for plot though, it's just there to service everything else. There are essentially two performances in this film and those are the ...

Edit: this blog post has now been edited with green highlights showing where my predictions were correct and red highlights showing where I was wrong. There's also a tally of how many predictions I got correct at the end. It's the time of year when old white dudes usually tell us what films to like, only this year, apparently some of them haven't retired, aren't the colour of a milky bar and don't have wangs. Whether that changes the type of films that get nominated remains to be seen (at least until this time next week) but as a film blog, it's always fun to report on so I'm just going to predict the films that will get nominated from a list I have largely seen none of because I have to make Oscars themed content. And to clarify, for each category (apart from Best Picture because that gets more nominees) I'll list three films I think will get nominated, as well as a slightly riskier choice. So let's begin! Best Animated Feature Safe Bets...

A Monster Calls is the new film from director JA Bayona, director of The Impossible (which I haven't seen but my gay sources tell me Tom Holland is hot in it) and is adapted from the book of the same name by Patrick Ness, a book I am now suddenly very interested in. The story is one of a boy, Conor, whose mother has cancer and is going through treatment for it. There are worries that she may not make it and so his dad and grandmother are trying to sort custody of him while he is in this conflicted, terrified state, feeling utterly lost. In this state, he is visited by the titular Monster, a figure who promises to tell him three stories but wants to be told a fourth one from Conor that reveals his silent truth. It is an utterly beautiful narrative and you probably have already worked out that the Monster isn't entirely literal. That bit isn't subtle but it really does create so many crushingly powerful moments. When I was researching the actors of this film, I felt a l...

I am incredibly excited for the TV this year. Sure, we had some great stuff last year but this year we're getting new seasons of shows that started strong last year, returns from shows I love and new and exciting shows that show great promise. I'll just shut up and get started. Legion Season 1 Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley tackles the X-Men universe in a show that looks bright and original, with an interesting seeming lead performance from Dan Stevens. Taboo Season 1 Tom Hardy's new show seems to deal with fantasy elements in a Victorian setting. It could be good, especially with the talent behind it and we'll only have to wait until this Saturday to see how it turns out. Lovesick Season 3 There's no guarantee the third season of Lovesick is coming this year but if it does, it will be one of the smartest and most heartbreaking comedies of the year, just as those first two stunning seasons were. Marvel's The Defenders The culmination o...

Great news everyone, 2016 is finally done and that means we finally get to move into what looks like one of the most promising years in film of the decade. What makes this year so enticing is how we are getting follow ups to films from the last few years that really resonated with audiences. Really, the quality of the honourable mentions list (not to mention how many Dwayne Johnson films I had to leaves off) should show what a ride we're in for. Also, morally I felt I couldn't have any DC films on here after the tempestuous year they gave us last time and how their trailers have been shown to lie blatantly and brutally. Logan Hugh Jackman's final outing as Wolverine promises, if the trailer is anything to go by, to be one of the darkest superhero films in marvel's catalog and hopefully a very fitting end to the Wolverine we have come to love over the last 17 years. The Masterpiece Over the last few years, my obsession with The Room, often called the Citize...