Diabolical Danger

Very much a coming of age story, Patty Jenkins’ 2017 comic book film Wonder Woman is a tale of adventure and self discovery, a sweeping journey into all of the beauty and horrors this planet, and those living on it, must contend with. A young Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), for those of you who do not know, is an Amazonian princess, the daughter of Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), living on the untraceable island of Themyscira. Mixed up in the age old story of the Greek Gods, their protector Zeus, though dying by the hand of his war driven son Ares, is able to protect the race and give them a weapon for when the God of War mends his wounds and returns to create havoc once more (the historic scene is beautifully depicted as if we were observing a moving Italian fresco).

Both awe-inspiring and controversial, vividly complex while often being infuriatingly loose in structure and character, Christopher Nolan’s 2017 effort, Dunkirk plays like an epic silent war film of yesteryear. Revolving around the rescue of British soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France in 1940, it is a piece of history well worth telling (and this film will make sure that the harrowing tale will be known by a wider audience still). With hundreds of thousands of men trapped by the Atlantic Ocean on one side, swiftly approaching German troops on the other and bombers overhead, it feels like the soldiers are monkeys in a barrel, just waiting to be shot. The British military have basically given up on them, hoping to rescue a measly thirty-five or so thousand, leaving the other three hundred and fifty thousand for slaughter. Despite the short span of the English Channel, their destroyers and other navy vessels are easy targets on the open seas – meaning that they must pull back and fight another day.

Following in the vein of other epic adventure tales of the past, like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Lawrence of Arabia, ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ and Apocalypse Now, writer/director James Gray’s adaptation of David Grann’s The Lost City of Z is a dangerously grand journey into the mysterious jungles of the Amazon. The 2017 feature is based on real life British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) – an Indiana Jones type, who, at the start of the narrative, is a military man with low standing due to his father’s previous actions (despite the fact Percy never met him). Looked down upon by the wealthy upperclassmen of the military, he is sent to the Royal Geography Society, where they try to persuade him to survey the border lines between Bolivia and Brazil (as the ever more desirable rubber plantations are leading towards war – the two governments have accepted the British institutions offer to do the job). Though wary, the Society members hint that this could be the perfect way to restore his good name, and Percy decides to take the position.

Beginning with a limited release, The Big Sick took hold of the 2017 highest grossing theatre average take, giving the little independent-picture-that-could positive word of mouth, and just as importantly, momentum, going into its wide release this July 14th, 2017 weekend. Labelled as a romantic comedy. . . and there are most definitely many of those elements found within it, in many ways it is the emotional dramatic flourishes that stand out, and, when fused with those laugh induced moments, make for a nuanced, exquisitely crafted dramedy.

Filmed with a frenetic flair to match its oh-so-frenetic storyline, writer/director Tom Tykwer has us sprinting along with the protagonist in his 1998 hit Run Lola Run. A unique, creative and somewhat out-there premise, this German motion picture is, in a way, reminiscent of Krzysztof Kieœlowski’s Polish film Blind Chance, which was reviewed on Filmizon.com back in June of 2016. Our mind is, simply put, amazing. We make decisions in a split second, and that moment can change our life just as quickly. Dealing with this idea, Tykwer introduces us to Lola (Franka Potente), whose just received a distressing call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). A low-level criminal that is being tested by his boss, Lola was supposed to pick him up after his shady dealings. But, bad luck rears its ugly head (as her Moped is stolen) and Manni is forced to find his own way home. Sneaking onto the subway, he accidentally leaves the one hundred thousand German Deutsche Marks he is transporting on the train, after being nabbed for not purchasing a ticket. Witnessing a homeless man (Joachim Król) picking it up, he knows all is lost. Meeting his boss in only twenty minutes, he is desperate enough to threaten to rob a store just outside of the phone booth he is making the call from.