You may have noticed I haven’t posted my 2015 in Review or Most Anticipated for 2016 posts. This is correct, well done on being so observant. I’ve got both saved in draft and am about halfway through the 2015 in Review (I’ve hit a stumbling block in that I can’t remember anything that happened in American Sniper so lost my momentum) so that’ll come out eventually. What probably won’t is my Anticipated list for 2016. The reason being is that there’s not all that many incoming films I’m terribly excited about.

We did a recent Lambcast episode on this very subject, and I found myself at a loss. There’s one film I’m really, really looking forward to in 2016, and that’s Shane Black’s The Nice Guys. Other than that I’d honestly be fine if everything else coming out this year just… sort of… didn’t. Granted there’s films I’ll see because they look fun – Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, Finding Dory – and others I’ll be obliged to for podcasting reasons – Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice springs unfortunately to mind – and of course there’s the batch of late 2015 films that are only just getting released in the UK – The Revenant, The Big Short, Spotlight, Room – which I’m sure will be more than worth a watch, as long as I get to them before the Oscars. It’s just that nothing is getting me excited. It’s probably a comparison to last year, when I was all stoked for the new Star Wars, Avengers, Spectre, Jurassic World and, most regrettably, The Good Dinosaur. After a few disappointments in 2015, maybe I’ve lowered my expectations for 2016 so low that I’d honestly be OK if the cinemas all took a break for a year. Heck, it’d give me a chance to save some cash and make some more headway watching the films I need to see. Speaking of which, here’s what I watched this week:

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)

January’s Movie of the Month didn’t fill me with excitement, given it’s forgotten franchise swindler status and a DVD cover and menu screen worthy of a Chuck Norris parody, but it’s actually a lot of fun. Fred Ward plays a NYC cop who is killed in action, but wakes up with a new name and slightly different face, and is trained as a master assassin to take out the people the law can’t touch. There’s a fair amount of racism – the very white Joel Grey dons Korean face – and some sexism to boot, but there are also some very entertaining set pieces – a dog walks a tightrope! – and a training montage including elements I’ve not seen before.
Lists: None
Choose Film 7/10

The Producers (1967)

My January Blind Spot pick.
Lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Fie, Empire’s 5-Star 500, Blind Spot
Full review here.

The English Patient (1996)

My new cure for insomnia.
Lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Empire Top 500, Empire Top 301
Full review here.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

Watched and reviewed for Blueprint: Review.
Lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Full review here.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

I was surprised by how often Marilyn Monroe wasn’t on screen.
Lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Full review coming soon.

The Final Girls (2015)

Max (Taissa Farmiga) is dragged to a screening of cult hour classic Camp Bloodbath, which starred her mother Nancy (Malin Akerman) before she died. However, a fire breaks out in the cinema, and the only way to escape is by cutting a hole in the screen which, instead of leading to an exit, send Max inside the movie. Joining her are her best friend Gertie (Alia Shawkat), Gertie’s horror-obsessed step-brother Duncan (Thomas Middleditch), Max’s potential new boyfriend Chris (Alexander Ludwig, who will always be Cato from The Hunger Games, and thus I will always want his character to die) and Chris’ domineering ex Vicki (Nina Dobrev), who find themselves having to deal with 1980s culture, a mask-wearing machete-wielding killer and the ridiculously goofy cast of the movie-in-a-movie, played by Adam DeVine, Angela Trimbur, Chloe Bridges and Tory N. Thompson. The premise – a kind of Cabin in the Woods meets Last Action Hero – is fun and a lot of the cast are entertaining, especially Middleditch and DeVine, but this has more for horror fans than not, I think. Bear in mind I’ve never seen any camp-set horror movies, so there’s probably a ton of references I missed. Regardless I had fun, but the camera-work sometimes goes a little over the top, swirling around all over the place during key scenes.
Lists: 2015 Movies
Choose Film 6/10

The Hangover (2009)

It boggles my mind that this on the 1001 List.
Lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Full review coming soon.

Posts you may have missed:
Lambcast #305 Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins: I was joined by DJ Valentine, Will Slater and Bubbawheat to talk about the lesser-known insanity that is Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
Blind Spot: The Producers
The English Patient

Goals Update
Aim: Review 8 or 9 1001 List movies each month
Reviewed: 2
To go: 6
Should be on: 8
On Track: No!

Aim: Review 1 “Bad” movie each month
Reviewed: 0
To go: 1
Should be on: 1
On Track: No!

Aim: Review 1 “Blind Spot” movie each month
Reviewed: 1
To go: 0
Should be on: 1
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Review 2 “Film-Makers” movies each month
Reviewed: 0
To go: 2
Should be on: 2
On Track: No!