The Pondo Awards

The Pondo Awards 2014

After seeing over 100 films and an event to remember at Cineworld in 2014, I thought I should end it with my own personal awards for the films seen.

I have a couple of months free with the Cineworld Unlimited Pass and will be continuing to watch films at the cinema throughout 2015.  I will continue to review them on my new film blog, Pondo Cinema: Episode II Return of the Pondo

Thank you to people who have read some of these reviews, I know there are millions of sites out there each with their own opinion, so what harm is one more?

So on to the awards....

Best Film

I have a top 10 list of the films I have seen throughout the year, but there are three films that I really enjoyed:

Nomination One: Gone Girl

Nomination Two: Guardians of the Galaxy

Nomination Three: Interstellar

And the winner is.....Click Here

Worst Film

There were some terrible films in 2014, but if I had to choose three of them, they would be:

Nomination One: Delivery Man

Nomination Two: The Rewrite

Nomination Three: What If?

And the winner (loser) is......Click Here

Best Actor

Nomination One: Andy Serkis (Ceasar - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

Nomination Two: Tom Hardy (Ivan Locke - Locke)

Nomination Three: Matthew McConaughey (Cooper - Interstellar)

And the winner is.....Click Here

Best Actress

Nomination One: Lupita Nyong'o (Patsey - 12 Years a Slave)

Nomination Two: Imelda Staunton (Hefina - Pride)

Nomination Three: Rosamund Pike (Amy Dunne - Gone Girl)

And the winner is......Click Here

Best Soundtrack

Nomination One: Pulp Fiction

Nomination Two: Chef

Nomination Three: Begin Again

And the winner is....Click Here

Best Animated Movie

Nomination One: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Nomination Two: Frozen

Nomination Three: The LEGO Movie

And the AWESOME winner is......Click Here

Best Nostalgic Reshowing

Cineworld occasionally show classic films again on the big silver screen, I was fortunate enough to visit three of these events (I wish I could have done more)

Nomination One: Pulp Fiction

Nomination Two: Ghostbusters

Nomination Three: Sin City

And the winner is.....Click Here

Best Horror

I am a horror film fan and judge a years success on the quality of its Horror Films, 2014 had a tricky start and didn't seem to get much better nearer the end of the year, but there were a few highlights

Nomination One: Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

Nomination Two: Annabelle

Nomination Three: The Babadook

And the winner is....Click Here

Best Scene

The nominations here are all scenes that have stood out in the year, be it visual comedy, Tear inducingly moving or just the fact that there is a dual machine gun wielding, horse back riding, bad ass ape.

Nomination One: 12 Years a Slave - Solomon whipping Patsey

Nomination Two: X-Men Days of Future Past - Time in a Bottle Quicksilver Scene

Nomination Three :Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Koba dual wielding horse back bad ass

And the winner is....Click Here 

Most Visually Stunning

Nomination One: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Nomination Two: Gravity

Nomination Three: Interstellar

And the winner is...Click Here

Sleeper Hit

The nominations for this catagory are all films I enjoyed whilst watching at the cinema but a few days after I realised how much I really enjoyed them

Nomination One: Inside Llewyn Davis

Nomination Two: Locke

Nomination Three: Pride

And the winner is....Click Here

Worst Remake

Nomination One: Annie

Nomination Two: Robocop

Nomination Three: Godzilla

And the film that should not have been remade is....Click Here

Best Cameo - (Spoiler Warning)

Nomination One: Han Solo & Chewbacca - The Lego Movie

Nomination Two : Dr Emmett Brown - A Million Ways to Die in the West

Nomination Three: Billy Connolly - The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

And the winner is......Click Here

Best Bad Guy

Nomination One: Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Boy - The Raid 2

Nomination Two: Lou Bloom - Night Crawler

Nomination Three: Koba - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

And the winner is.....Click Here

Special Mention Award (for all the wrong reasons)

I do feel that one film this year deserves an award all by itself.  This film was wrong on so many levels and is everything a film should not be.  Over use of CGI, lack of any story, completely and utterly pointless. and over 3 hours long to boot.  It was that bad it could not even be mentioned in the "Worst Film" category.

And the winner is....Click Here

________________________________________________________________________

I am definitely looking forward to an exciting year of cinema on 2015 and would love your feedback, comments or just a little +1 

Yours in Great (and not so great) Films 

Pondo

Film 102 - Annie

Annie - 27/12/2014

It's a hard knock life for me!

There are some good musicals out there, and there are some terrible ones, Annie The Remake of the already successful Broadway remake falls into the latter of the categories.

Yes Wallace is good as the titular character, and Jamie Foxx is entertaining as Stacks (The Daddy Warbucks character) but the whole film just lacks heart, and then Cameron Diaz just gets thrown in to the mix and I don't even know what was going on with her.

The story follows the same as the original but throws in some modern beats to liven it up.  I know this is a common remark about musicals, but how come everyone knows the songs and dance routines? I would love for once whilst sitting in a restaurant or on the train to see this happen, someone get up and start singing and then everyone join in with them and start dancing in time.

Clare is a big fan of the original film and was really let down by the update as well, again the heart of the film had just been taken out and replaced with funky song and dance routines. 

Also the films starts by mocking the 1982 film, yet it is a re-invention of the film it is mocking, which to me makes no sense.

Rose Byrne is the only saving grace for the film, not only does she look stunning throughout but she is the only one with a little character and flair.

Film 101 - The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - 26/12/2014

I am a massive fan of The Hobbit book and when I found out the Peter Jackson was to extend the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by adding the Hobbit I was a little excited.  What I was not excited about was when I found out that the small children's book was to be divided into three separate three hour films.

I enjoyed the first installment, but thought the added bits were just padding.  The second films finale that seemingly went on for hours (the chase scene through the smelting factory) was completely pointless and I was getting a little miffed by this point and was wondering how Mr Jackson was going to make a third film with only a few pages remaining in the book, he did, and this was the result.

The Battle Of The Five Armies starts immediately where the last film left off, with Smaug flying over to Laketown.  Within 15 minutes Smaug is down and the story begins padding.  Why could this not have been the end of the second film? Why could the padding from the first and second film just been taken out and the actual story of "The Hobbit" told.  I admit, I would have been happy seeing this done over two films but three was really taking the mick.

There are some fantastic scenes and Smaug is a great nemesis for the start of the film, but there is too much padding.  I was sad to see the Middle Earth Saga come to an end, but I am happy now that it is, unless The Silmarillion or The Legend of Sigurd and Gidrun are next on the trilogy list for Mr Cash-in Jackson.

This is definitely the weaker part of the Hobbit Trilogy and the whole trilogy pales into insignificance to the far superior Lord of the Rings Trilogy (based on three books? why were there not 9 films?)

And don't even get me started on Evangeline Lilly's character!

Film 100 - St Vincent

St Vincent - 21/12/2014

My 100th film of the year and I get to spend it with Bill Murray!

St Vincent is Gran Torino in disguise.  I watched Gran Torino as part of my challenge to watch the top 250 films as recommended by IMDB, and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  A grumpy neighbour with serious racial issues becomes friendly with the family nextdoor and pretty much becomes a saint/martyr. St Vincent follows a very similar story line.  

When a single mother and her son move in nextdoor to a drunk, abusive and generally grumpy (slightly mad) lonely Vincent, and is struggling with balancing work and family life, Vincent (Bill Murray) unwillingly accepts babysitting duties.  As the two generations spend time with each other you start to see a more generous and caring side to Vincent, yet always the bitter life-hating side for what he has gone through in his life.

There are some real moving moments, Bill and his young follower have great chemistry which makes their adventures very engaging, and it is always a pleasure to see Mr Murray seemingly improvise his way through the film.  Naomi Watts' Russian accent is something of a mystery, Melissa Mcarthy is brilliant as usual but non compare the Bill.  The story is very predictable based on the title and the finale was pretty much expected from the opening credits, but the journey there is well worth it.

May I also say as well, the ending credit sequence for St Vincent is now a must for all films.  Every single film now created MUST finish with Bill Murray singing Bob Dylan tracks whilst doing inane tasks.  This was just a perfect finish to the film and I sat right the way through till it faded to black.

Film 99 - Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb 20/12/2014

I enjoyed the first of the Night at the Museum films, a kids film that was very entertaining, the second in the franchise seemed as though the actors really could not be bothered being there and were just happy for the cash in, so this left me a little apprehensive going into the third installment.  Also the increasing amount of rowdy kids joining the auditorium was another concern.  I know it is a kids film, but there were far more options available for these kids, how about those Penguins from Madagascar?

Night at the Museum (SOTT) continues the adventures of the exhibits and night watchman Ben Stiller as the magic is wearing off.  The tablet that brings all the characters to life every night is losing it's mojo and so the team decides to take it to London to the Egyptian Exhibit to see if there is something that can give it more juice again.

Ben Stiller and his son break into the London Museum only to realise that the usual group, Teddy Roosevelt, Dexter the Pee Monkey, Jedediah, Octavius, Atilla the Hun and Ahkmenrah have all joined them on this excursion.  

I enjoyed NATM:SOTT as a little guilty pleasure, the story was nice and easy and the laughs flowed, sometimes it was the same joke as previous films rehashed, but it meant no harm.

At the end of the film the real power hit, the choice to leave the tablet with it's rightful owners means that our exhibit friends will have to return to America and forever be frozen in time.  This is when Robin Williams gives his goodbye speech.  The adults in the audience remained silent throughout the whole monologue, I felt a lump form in my throat, not due to the acting prowess of Mr Williams, but knowing that this was his last film and he was, in sorts, bidding the world goodbye.

RIP Robin Williams 

Film 98 - The Drop

The Drop - 22/11/2014

Tom Hardy is one of the best, underrated actors around at the moment.  He turns up in films you wouldn't expect him in and just delivers.  Earlier this year we saw him in Locke as a Welsh construction manager with a pressing issue, and now in The Drop as a Brooklyn bar keep called Bob.

The bar in question is used as a Drop Point for local gangsters funneling cash.  No-one knows when the many bars around Brooklyn will be selected, or on which night the drops will take place.  All the bar keeps have to do is deposit the money into a safe for later collection.  When a robbery takes place at the bar on one of these nights, the local gangsters and police get involved to solve the crime.  Is there more to Bob? Is there a reason why a dodgy local is stalking him, his dog and new "girlfriend"?

Not a fast paced film, with a big payout at the end, The Drop is an enjoyable watch, Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini are great together, and play their parts really well.  I could not help but think of Rocky whilst watching Bob, very similar mannerisms, quiet, subdued, but with a power behind him.

Good solid film worth a watch

Film 97 - Interstellar

Interstellar - 15/11/2014

I intentionally avoided most of the trailers and IMDB in relation to Interstellar.  I knew I was going to watch it at he cinema, but I did not want to know anything about it.  A few years ago, I picked up Memento on a whim and knew nothing about it before hand and instantly it has become one of my favourite films, I waited for the hype to die down on Inception and loved that too.  

Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors out there at the moment in my opinion, so Interstellar had a high expectation in my mind when I heard it announced at the start of the year.

In an undisclosed near future, the ground in which human life depends for growth of crops/food, is slowly becoming infertile and only the best "farmers" are there to provide, all other science becomes second tier and survival takes over.  A secret project, based on the finding of a worm hole near Saturn, launches a shuttle to see if they can locate others worlds that could sustain human life.

Interstellar is just awesome, Kubrick style 2001 visuals, little (as possible) CGI and heavily focused on character and their motivations I was gripped from start to finish.  I think you have to leave your reason in the lobby and just enjoy the ride with this one.  I was in tears at certain points during the film because I actually cared about the relationships, the father/daughter relationship is just perfect.

The robots in the film are a great little character addition, when asked about their humour/sarcasm and truth settings the responses are superb.  I was a little unsure of them at first, like the way they move, but as the film progressed I just accepted them and loved them to finish

Barry Exposition is a crew member on the Endurance, scientists having to explain things to each other so the general population can understand, and there is a cameo which really brought me out of the film for a few minutes.  Yes, the cameo character was brilliant, but it still was  *******!

This is definitely one of the best and clever sci-fi films out in a long time and even though some of the plot was a little stretched, it was still a great film to watch.  The last 10 minutes are definitely not needed and it could have ended perfect, but Hollywood!

I will be asking my good friend "Roshtakular" to review this as well as he was not a fan, so it would be nice to see an alternate (and also wrong!) opinion.....