Movie of the Week: Annie

My last movie of 2014. H is away so S and I went to the cinema on New Year's Eve to see the remake of Annie. We got the last two seats in the house, right down at the front (which is always a bit eye-boggling).

As an adaptation of a stage musical, you know what to expect from a film like this. It was actually very good if you like that sort of thing. Cute kids, feelgood (emotional manipulation), slightly OTT acting, and breaking into song and dance at unlikely moments. You probably have to be in the right mood, take it at face value, suspend disbelief and go with it.

In fact I was in the right mood for something entirely daft and soppy. It's a decent update on the 1982 version. Annie is played by Quvenzhané Wallis who is excellent and already has an impressive list of movie credits for a twelve year old. Jamie Foxx makes a decent job of playing the tycoon who finds his heart thawed gently and Cameron Diaz plays the wicked (foster) step-mom. Musical numbers include updated versions of the Annie classic songs 'Tomorrow' and 'Hard Knock Life' - the latter excellently staged.

It'd definitely a film for kids but the adults who are dragged along kicking and screaming will probably enjoy it more than they will ever admit to.

Movies of 2014 - Roundup

My year in film was SEMI-bookended by Hobbits. I saw the Desolation of Smaug (for the second time) in January, and The Battle of the Five Armies in late December. I know fantasy fans are deeply divided about Jackson's take on all things Middle-Earth, but though I've read and enjoyed Tolkien, I'm not such a fan that I recall every word and therefore resent every image on screen that doesn't match up with the pictures in my head. I love the movies (almost) unreservedly. A film isn't a book and though I was surprised when The Hobbit was stretched to three movies, I think Jackson made it work.

I saw 24 films in 2014, slightly fewer than my usual average of 30. Mostly my cinebuddy and I try to see science fiction and/or fantasy, though if it's a slow week we might be persuaded to something non-genre.

Highlights of 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America - The Winter Soldier, Edge of Tomorrow, Divergent and Interstellar, all hugely enjoyable. X-Men, Days of Future Past seemed to break the previous storylines and inexplicably reinstste Patrick Stewart's Prof X, which is fine by me. Hunger Games 3.1 is worth seeing, especially if you've already invested time in the first two, though making the third book (the weakest for me) into two movies is a bit of a stretch. Katniss has very little agency in the first half of the book and this is a problem which the film struggles to overcome. And while we're on YA dystopias... I enjoyed Divergent enough to put the DVD on my Christmas wish-list. (Thank you, Santa.) Like the Hunger Games it's another YA dystopia though this time with restrictive utopian overtones. It has good performances from the main cast and I look forward to the next two in the trilogy. I wanted to like The Maze Runner and The Giver, but couldn't work up much enthusiasm for either of them. I did, however, really enjoy Belle, which speculates as to how the presence of his black neice, Dido Elizabeth Belle, in his household, affected the ruling of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England, on the case of the Zong massacre.

I didn't particularly like Maleficent. The idea was sound, but Angelina Jolie didn't hit the spot for me. Ditto Transcendence. I like Johnny Depp, but this movie was instantly forgettable. Spiderman 2 was a storytelling mess. I'm really not sure it was time to remake Spidey. And talking of remakes, I wondered why they really needed to remake Annie, but the updated version will certainly work for a new generation of kids. I can see it becoming a staple afternoon holiday movie on TV in a few years time.

Best SF? Hard to choose between Interstellar, Guardians of the Galaxy and Edge of Tomorrow. They were all good for very different reasons. Honourable mentions: Divergent, X-Men - Days of Future Past, Captain America - The Winter Soldier and Hunger Games 3.1
Best Fantasy: The Hobbit - Desolation of Smaug. Honourable Mentions: How to Train your Dragon 2
Unexpected charmer: Chef, with John Favreau and a load of Hollywood's great and good in tiny cameo roles. This film had tremendous heart. If you didn't see it - get the DVD.
Worst movie of 2014: A Million Ways to Die in the West. Awful, just awful.
Worst genre movie of 2014: Lucy. Plot Holes-R-Us.

My reviews (in reverse date order)

1. Movie of the Week: Annie


2. Movie of the Week: The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies


3. Movie of the Week: Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1


4. Movie of the Week: The Maze Runner


5. Movie of the Week: Interstellar


6. Movie of the Week - The Giver


7. Movie of the Week - Lucy


8. Movies of the Week - Summer Roundup (covers 9 to 13)


9. How to Train Your Dragon 2


10. Guardians of the Galaxy


11. Maleficent


12. Chef


13. What If


14. Earth to Echo


15. Movie of the Week: Belle


16. Movie of the Week: Edge of Tomorrow


17. Movie of the Week: A Million Ways to Die in the West


18. Movie of the Week: X-Men: Days of Future Past


19. Movie of the Week: Spiderman 2


20. Movie of the Week: Transcendence


21. Movie of the Week: Divergent


22. Movie of the Week: The Monuments Men


23. Movie of the Week: Captain America - The Winter Soldier


24. Movie of the Week: The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug


25. Movie of the Week: Jack Ryan, Shadow Recruit

2014. Looking Both Ways. 2015.

Looking back on 2014

Overall 2014 was a pretty benign year for me and mine, for which I an heartily grateful since I know some of my friends have had less than stellar years. Though my uncle died recently, he made it into his 90s and had a good innings and is remembered fondly. Three friends with serious and somewhat scary illnesses are all well on the way to recovery, which is excellent news.

Financially it could have been better. We spent a serious chunk of our nest-egg on a complete makeover for the bedroom in the early part of the year (which we don't regret in the slightest because we love the result), but an unpredictable financial setback in the last three months of 2014 caused a bit of a blip which will likely last until February/March. It's been difficult but not disastrous. You expect ups and downs when you're self-employed and luckily this down is one we've been able to ride so far.

2014 is the year I achieved my ambition and officially became a novelist with the publication of Empire of Dust in November. I'm still slightly surprised - even though I've known since mid 2013 that it was going to happen. It's so gratifying when you open the box from the publisher and find 20 perfect copies of your own book staring up at you. As a result I made a special effort to attend more conventions than usual, so I not only went to Eastercon (which I usually attend) but also to the World Science Fiction Convention, which was in London this year, Fantasycon in York, Bristolcon and Novacon in Nottingham, where I had an unofficial book launch. Since my book is published in the USA (and not officially in the UK) there won't be an official launch, but it's gathered some decent reviews already.

Looking forward to 2015

It's my mum's 90^th birthday on 6^th January. She continues fit, well and bright for which we can only be thankful. She takes care of herself well, still runs the Monday Friends group in the village and is a member of the art group, occasionally selling paintings.

Artisan will be doing a reunion tour in 2015. Rather than do a short concentrated tour we're spreading it out to a leisurely few gigs a month. There are already about 25 gigs in the pipeline including ten festivals. We're sticking to the UK for this tour because though Mum is fit and well it wouldn't be fair to leave her alone to look after the dog for the four or five weeks it would take to make a tour of North America viable. We're doing most gigs as a one-off to reduce overnight stays as much as possible. We're just about to start rehearsals and we're looking forward to singing again and seeing lots of old friends. (Though looking forward to the travelling slightly less.)

On the writing front my second book, Crossways, comes out in August. I've finished the first draft and have until the end of March to complete all necessary revisions and polish it.  I've seen the cover illustration - another image by the amazing Stephan Martiniere - and I love it. I'm planning to attend Eastercon and Fantasycon and probably Novacon this year, but the Wortld Fantasy and the World Science Fiction Convention are both back in the USA, so way out of my price range.

Milford (SF Writers' Conference) is happening in September and I expect to be there as usual. Spending a week kettled up with a bunch of like-minded writers always gives me a great writing-energy boost.