The Quite Nerdy Blog

Well, we did 2017 everyone, good work. I'm assuming if you're reading this that means you survived the year and your treat is MOAR MOVIES. For me, that's incredibly exciting and I'm already getting ready for the films that I think are going to be the highlights of this year. Some are the films that will dominate awards season, some are the big blockbusters of the year and some are the films that we have to wait all year for. As one final note before I get started, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (a film which would have easily made the top half of the list) is not here because I have already seen it and have a review coming next week. With all that sorted, let's get to the honourable mentions. Isle of Dogs Even if Wes Anderson's newest movie ends up with a weak plot or script or any of that, one guarantee we have got from the trailer is that visually, it'll be a delight. The Irishman Netflix still have a rocky tack record with origina

We made it folks, we can now crawl out of the dumpster fire of 2017 into the brave new dumpster fire of 2018. In the midst of that mess though, we got an amazing amount of incredible films so it only seems fair to look back into that orangey haze and try to rescue from the flames the filmic gems of the year gone by. I never see every film in a year and that was sadly true this year so if one of your favourites is missing, I might not actually hate it, don't fret. With that said, it's time for honourable mentions (in no particular order). Get Out Get Out did the rare thing which was get me interested in horror this year. There ended up being horror films I loved more but Get Out remains special. 20th Century Women One of the most charming films of the year, 20th Century Women has unfortunately been lost in the awards season haze but deserves rediscovery for it's heart and humour. Hacksaw Ridge The movie itself hasn't stuck as well in my mind over the

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the ninth official Star Wars film, the eighth of the ongoing Skywalker saga and the second of the new trilogy started two years ago by The Force Awakens. This all sounds fairly confusing but essentially what it means is that The Last Jedi has a lot of history behind it and a lot to live up to. The story picks up (in part) straight after Force Awakens with Rey going to Luke in search of some training in the ways of the Jedi. Meanwhile, happening seemingly a little after the events of the last film, the rebels are making a run away from the First Order. This is where most of the cast are and it's where a lot of the action takes place. Some critics have been saying that the film is revolutionary and sets the franchise on a new path and I'll be honest, I did not get that at all. I've since read around about some of the events and maybe I just didn't quite grasp it because I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan but don't expect a revolution

Wonder is adapted from the book of the same name by R. J. Palacio and is the story of a young boy named Augie who has a facial disfigurement. The film follows his life through his first year at school, making friends, trying to stand up to bullies and learning things about the world. The story doesn't exactly sound hugely original and honestly, if you've seen films like this, you will be able to spot plot beats coming up fairly easily. Where Wonder excels is the structure and how it bounces around between characters. Just as in the book, the film will take different "chapters" to examine the other characters in this world and while the novel was able to take much more separated views, the chapters and characters overlap much more in the film in a way that actually worked out quite well. So while covering no new ground, Wonder does manage to cover it in an interesting way that kept me compelled despite already knowing the plot beats. With a film like this, acting

Let me pitch you a film. It's a little weird but just go with it. Imagine the plot of the film Room (the adorable child kidnapping film from two years ago) but instead of Jacob Tremblay, the kid is a weird looking thirty year old dude named James who is obsessed with a TV show called Brigsby Bear. Upon his release from capture, James realises that the show was being made exclusively for him and that with the capture of his kidnappers, no more episodes exist. With this knowledge and new friends, James decides to finish the story by making the Brigsby Bear movie. As a story, it makes for an interesting parallel with The Disaster Artist as a story about low budget film making powered entirely by passion. I was never able to predict exactly where the film would go and despite some beats familiar to indie comedies, it felt refreshingly fresh from start to finish. Being a film starring Kyle Mooney, it shouldn't be a surprise that the performances are offbeat but ultimately quit