The Night Before

Who knew that Kanye West's "Runaway" is actually the perfect Christmas song? Well in a scene straight out of Big, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie prove just that. It's actually a scene that sets the fun tone for the remainder of the film. And it doesn't diminish for the entire length of the film.

On Christmas Eve 2001, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) buries his parents after they were killed in a hit and run. His friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) decide to get him drunk and help him focus on the present. This is a tradition that they have kept ever since. Fast forward fourteen years and they have all changed. Ethan is a struggling musician with commitment issues, Isaac is about to have his first child with his wife Betsy (Jillian Bell) and Chris is now a famous football player. Because of all the changes that have happened, the guys decide that this will be the last night in which they do this.

What I love about this movie is that the plot motivation is very simple. The three guys are trying to get to the holy grail of Christmas parties: the Nutcracker Ball. That's the ultimate goal of the movie, but the journey along the way is the fun part. Ethan is trying to get back with his girlfriend Diana (Lizzy Kaplan), Chris is trying to get some weed for his football teammates, but is thwarted by the Christmas Grinch (Ilana Glazer) and Isaac just trips out on every drug under the sun while he tries to recover his phone from Diana's friend Sarah (Mindy Kaling). Tying them all together is the mysterious drug dealer Mr Green (Michael Shannon).

Mr Green acts as the emotional core of this movie, but he is also one of the many references to other classic Christmas movies. He is the substitute of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future which he delivers through three different strains of weed. Ilana Glazer's character references The Grinch, Die Hard and Home Alone. The large majority of jokes in this film go towards Isaac's confusion about Christianity as he is Jewish, but there are some like Sarah's overt sexuality and James Franco's ambiguous sexuality (he plays himself) and confusion over his dick pics.

Not all the performances in this film are really worthy. Seth Rogen is adept at playing his character by now, as are Lizzy Caplan and Mindy Kaling. I feel as though both Anthony Mackie and JGL dropped the ball, as they both felt quite hollow to me, which is disappointing for leading actors. It was great to watch the serious dramatic actor Michael Shannon have fun in this movie, although he doesn't drop his seriousness at all, instead bringing the film a touch of class. It's great to see Tracy Morgan back in action as Santa and cameos by Randall Park, James Franco and Miley Cyrus lift the fun.

Seth Rogen keeps up his annual comedy releases with The Night Before and doesn't disappoint. Like I said with Love The Coopers, this is a great movie for those who love Christmas, although a lot more silly, less depressing and a lot less traditional.

Selma

Ava DuVernay's latest film Selma is probably one of the best movies about the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and probably the most honest in its portrayal of the brutality suffered by African-Americans in the South at this time. It also shows the outright racism that was accepted at the time and even leaders like Governor George Wallace doing nothing to stop it.

After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) returns to his home in Atlanta, Georgia to find the next step in his Civil Rights movement. He finds it in the town of Selma in Alabama, where black people are still unable to register to vote, despite legally being able to. King is joined by fellow members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to tackle this issue. Meanwhile, President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) is nervous about about the tension King being in Alabama is having with racist governor George Wallace (Tim Roth). King and his followers eventually decide to walk from Selma to Montgomery as a peaceful protest.

DuVernay's film is masterfully created and captures the feeling of the time perfectly. Martin Luther King is such an important figure of the twentieth century and it's movies like this one that help expose certain parts of history to mainstream audiences. One problem I do have (and it's only minor), is that the film overuses brutal violence to get it's point across. Whilst it's not absolutely excessive I felt like you could maybe cut out one or two scenes of this and still get the point across about how terrifying it was to live as a black person during these times.

This movie has a huge cast and all of the performances are so amazing. David Oyelowo is so amazing as King that I forgot about all other movies he had been in and could only focus on him. It is so disappointing that he is not up for Best Actor for this movie because I would have chosen him in an instant. While President Johnson's portrayal is slightly inaccurate (he championed the Civil Rights movement and was not against it), Wilkinson brings his talents to the fore and is wonderfully followed round by Giovanni Ribisi.

Carmen Ojogo is superb as King's weary wife and Oprah Winfrey makes a superb cameo as a woman who just wants to vote and demonstrates a mean right hook. Tim Roth made my skin absolutely crawl as George Wallace, but also backs up his ability as a great dramatic actor. Stephen Root is just as despicable as Major Al Lingo who orchestrated some of the more brutal attacks on the peaceful protestors.

Selma is deserving of all the praise it has received. It isn't just an affirmative action film because it justifies the reasons for the Civil Rights movement. Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo make a superb team and are supported by a fantastic cast.