There are still a few months to go but Kathryn
Bigelow's 'Detroit' might be my film of the year (by a huge margin).
The kind of film where everybody in the cinema sits there in stunned silence at the end, trying to come to terms with what they just witnessed.
Will Poulter is truly terrifying.
Algee Smith is the soul of the movie with his beautiful Motown singing (future star).
John Boyega isn't in it as much as the poster wants you to believe but he is terrific with few lines and the performance all in his facial expressions. The cinematography and grading look like a proper movie, which is intercut with the real factual 16mm/8mm news footage (at the proper AR). A finely crafted script where you can tell every scene was there for a reason.
If I had to make one nitpick... the middle third is sustained at such a level of gut-wrenching/nail-biting intensity that the rest of the film felt almost like an epilogue. Even though the last part has some of the strongest scenes and writing. Watching a truly shocking film about race riots in the US and then you come out of the theater to find out what happened in Charlottesville. The film could not be more timely.
Also went to see a totally different beast with
Luc Besson's 'Valerian'. One of the most visually stunning, imaginative, magical movie experiences you are likely to see. Every inch of the frame is stuffed with dazzling images and sci-fi concepts more inventive than the last.
However, the two leads let it down badly.
Cara Delevingne's performance is okay but she looks too slight to be the kind of ass kicking warrior her character is portrayed to be. If she'd been shown the whole movie in the thick spacesuit/bodyarmour you'd buy it but that's not how she is introduced.
Dane DeHaan on the other hand is horribly miscast. His character is clearly supposed to be your cheeky but lovable Starlord type hero. In the first scene he even says something like
"I'm irresistibly handsome" out loud to the audience. Not because his character is supposed to be deluded, he's just supposed to be stating a fact. He is written as a heartthrob with an intergalactic reputation as a notorious ladies man. If Valerian was supposed to be a thin, pallid heroin addict then nobody would have been better than DeHaan. I don't want to be insulting to the guy, but some people are character actors and some people are movie stars.
Even with that massive central flaw, the film is a delightful and bonkers ride. If you told me they had spent a billion pounds on this, I'd still say every penny was on the screen. I guarantee you will see weird alien things that you've never seen before on the screen and have a fun time.
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