Champs

Starting as a documentary charting the early lives and careers of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, Champs wisely draws parallels between these three boxing world champions and their rough upbringings in impoverished neighborhoods. All three were drawn to boxing for different reasons: whereas Mike Tyson was bullied mercilessly as a child and saw boxing as a way to emasculate himself - for Bernard Hopkins, boxing was the escape he needed from a life of a crime. But all three were drawn to boxing because the world they were bought up in didn't hand them anything. These children didn't learn to read and write, they learned to survive, they learned to knock over any obstacle that was standing in their way.

I was initially drawn to Champs because of my lacklustre knowledge on the lives and careers of Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, and in that respect, I found the film to be quite interesting. But Champs very quickly becomes more a question piece than an insightful look at three of Boxing's most immortal figureheads. I'm fine with asking the tough questions, lord knows that boxing needs it but the movie treats its audience almost like die hard boxing fans, skipping over important details to compensate depth and evenness in order to pose its statements in the form of bullet points.

Champs would have been a better documentary with more focus and more bravery, but instead, it's a snappy inoffensive insight into the highs and lows of its three primary protagonists and the grizzly sport that made them famous. 6/10

Deathgasm

New kid in town Brodie and bad-boy Zakk quickly bond over their mutual admiration of heavy metal. But when these two metal thrashing losers unwittingly summon malevolent forces, their dreams of stardom may just have to be put on hold.

God I was waiting for this movie for what seemed like an eternity and once it was finally released I had to wait for it to come to U.S Shores to buy it on VOD.
It was well worth the wait because this is THE movie for any metalhead or just anyone who listens to extreme music. It has everything Metal, demons, blood and guts and a very hot love interest. I don't wanna spoil anything but I highly recommend this movie as it will most likely become a cult classic.

10/10

Creed.

It was a great movie for me. Personally 9/10. Michael B Jordan plays his role really well. The whole story in taught me that the attitude towards the problem and deciding how you are going to handle it makes all the deference.

The Propaganda Game (2015)

Spanish filmmaker Álvaro Longoria is granted limited access to North Korea. He's treated like a tourist and is shown all the sights and sounds that the North Korean government want the Western world to see. The monuments, the schools, the farms, North Korea appears picturesque through Longoria's film lens. The people look well-fed, educated and smart. They are all model citizens, pledging allegiance to their mighty leaders and the system with which they live in.

It's easy to mock North Korea. Little more to most of us than an insignificant speck of an ideology now considered the dark ages, we look at North Korea as though it could and probably should be wiped clean from the face of the earth. But in creating memes and laughing at Kim Jong-Un, do we not just support the propaganda that our own government wants us to accept? That North Korea is a thoroughly miserable country full of citizens whose lives are being dictated on a daily basis?

Longoria seeks to find truth between the two narratives, the Western idea and the North Korean idea of what the country truly is. But truth be told, the real answers lies somewhere in between. Somewhere in between the destinations that the North Korean government allows Longoria to film, and somewhere that is seemingly restricted from all visiting tourists. Truly fascinating but equally confusing and uncommitted, The Propaganda Game doesn't ask for anything but your total understanding of different cultures. You can do way worse in 90 minutes than to watch this documentary. 8/10

Off work so I'm watching lots of documentaries lately, hence all the spam (sorry not sorry). The King Of Kong should be next, I've heard amazing things about that and I cannot wait to watch it. It's vidya game related so that should tickle some fancies!

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

During his closing argument in the murder case of police officer Robert Wood, prosecutor Doug Mulder commented that the Police are the 'thin blue line' separating society from anarchy. Of course, the thin blue is also a symbol to commemorate fallen police officers but the term had never been used in such a context before. The case itself is a catalogue of errors and The Thin Blue Line leaves no stone unturned in its condemnation of the Texas justice system. The movie doesn't even have to say that it's outraged, the facts speak for themselves. Such is the blatant miscarriage of justice that this movie made me very angry. It's unbelievable, you couldn't write fiction like this, it's unfathomable and it needs to be seen to be believed.

The Thin Blue Line is hailed to this day as one of the all-time great documentaries. It frequently shows up in lists to that effect and was chosen #2 in Current TV's list of 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die in 2011. At 103 minutes long, it's hardly a slog either. I highly recommend it. 9/10

And earlier this afternoon, I watched the following whilst eating a Subway and felt incredibly guilty.

Living On One Dollar (2013)

Four young American friends spend eight weeks living in poverty in rural Guatemala. Allowing themselves just $1 a day (give or take), they experience the desperate slog that millions must endure every day just to survive. Living On One Dollar is simple and concise, it's run time a humble 56 minutes. The four are essentially running a simulation but I appreciated the sacrifice they were making to try and get their message out there. If I had one criticism, it was that the movie itself is almost too short, you cannot cram 56 days of footage into 56 minutes without glossing over a lot of the detail - I would absolutely be on board with a longer Director's Cut edition or something. That and, it almost seems like a super long commercial for their non-profit - but hey, they want to make a difference. The stories are heartwarming and the message is clear. The people of this village have so little and yet they're willing to give so much. With all the time you have on this Earth, you owe it to yourself to make a difference to at least one person's life. 8/10

Ted 2.

Stupidly funny. I guess that being the point of the movie they succeeded.
I laughed so bad. Man I love movies that can just make me laugh

Is the humour similar to Family Guy? Because I think Family Guy is about as funny as a double hernia and it's always put me off watching the Ted movies.

Batman v Superman
Don't bother. Overly-complicated, full of plot holes and structurally weak. Looks good and is acted well but its own plot gets in the way. 4/10

Eddie The Eagle
Saw this on a whim. It's feel-good, kind of quirky, a real popcorn flick to see with your friends. Us British do underdog tales very well. 7.5/10

Drive

An interesting movie about a getaway driver for hire who gets caught up in an ex con's protection money shake down.

It was pretty average. I wish they focused less on the driver's love affair and more on his actual escapades as a driver since at the start we see what he is like.

5/10.

But there's been tens of hundreds of movies like that. Honestly, you'll probably never top the Fast and Furious in that regard. I haven't seen Drive in a while but I remember really enjoying it on first watch. The star power in that movie is crazy. I watched Refn's follow up to Drive, Only God Forgives, on Monday. I'd give it about a 7/10. It was... well... pretty much the same as Drive in a lot of regards, right down to Ryan Gosling having few lines of dialogue and spending most of the film shooting a look. Same narrative link-ups, it has subtlety but can be a little "huh?" at times. It was really violent, there's a scene where a guy gets his eyes slit open by a knife, fucking disgusting. Not a must-watch to any extent but I enjoyed it.