7 Films

Another meme sighted ! This one is :

You have to pick 7 films for a marathon all-nighter, but the rules are: 1) the films must be franchise films & 2) all 7 films must be from different franchises.

Let's see. What can we come up with from that one. Oh and you know already that a lot of these are going to be scifi don't you ? I'm totally ignoring that must be franchise film rule by the way.

First up is the inevitable Star Wars film, it's Rogue One.

This was an incredible film when it came out with a compelling storyline that just happened to be set in the Star Wars universe. The characters really sprung to life and made you feel what they were going through. The visuals were incredible. The digitally resurrected Tarkin was utterly chilling.

Next up is Passengers, a love story set on a space ship in the reasonably distant future. A small cast ... but there is great interplay between the two leads. There's great drama and .... a tear or two were genuinely shed while watching this movie. Oh and you gotta watch the gag reel in the extras especially for Jennifer Lawrence's incredibly filthy laugh. I suspect she had huge fun with this movie.

Time for a super hero movie and I'm picking Thor Ragnarok. This is one film that definitely didn't take itself seriously at all. I was head bopping to Led Zep's Immigrant Song right at the start and there was a bemused grin on my face all the way through watching it at the cinema. Twice.

A film I haven't watched for ages is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Actually it's a toss up here between this film and House of Flying Daggers. Crouching Tiger led the way here bringing this genre back to popularity and it was a stunningly beautiful story, cinematography and setting. And House of Flying Daggers continued and extended that.

Is that two picks or one ? I need to watch both again !

Number 5 is 2001 which was an incredible movie in its day. Bit boring perhaps but an absolute triumph for the visuals. The modelling work still looks great today.

Up at 6 is Pacific Rim. Another soft fluffy absolute FUN movie with big silly robots fighting sillier big monsters. This list had to have some daft fun in it and Pacific Rim definitely fits that for a movie I'd happily watch over and over again.

Last one will surprise many and I'd urge you to go see it if you haven't. It's the Handmaiden from 2016, a gorgeously shot and played film set in Japan. A nefarious scheme has been hatched to separate a young heiress from her money ... But will it go as everyone plans ? This one kept me guessing all the way through and it was a delight to experience it. (Adult warning though - there's some strong stuff in this one)

Honourable mentions go to the Matrix films. To Interstellar for a story that also got the tears at the end ... but it suffered for the silliness that broke it's scifi. I didn't think I could add a Star Trek movie but Wrath of Khan, The Motion Picture and Insurrection are definite candidates. I thought Battle Angel Alita was a marvellous film this year, as was Spiderman into the Spiderverse.

I need to watch Studio Ghibli movies too. I loved Spirited Away when I watched it many years ago.

Hmm ... any more ? I do have a sizeable dvd/bluray collection. The Riddick movies were excellent scifi.

And then there's the Resident Evil movies, the Independence Day movies, Mad Max, Die Hards. Armageddon and Deep Impact (and Meteor). The Jurassic Park movies. Yes I'm trolling but you should definitely check out Troll Hunter as it's a marvelous film too.

And I just looked over at the blurays and instantly spotted The Martian ! How could I leave that one out !