Well, this is the best Star Wars movie I've seen in ages! We've got a ragtag crew on a mission to save the universe, a cool dude and his mostly silent but loyal sidekick, one tough but nice chick, some father/son issues and a lot of spaceships flying around shooting at each other: pew, pew pew! The challenge has been thrown down to JJ Abrams & co! Oh wait, it's a Marvel movie, not a Star Wars movie? Could have fooled me!
This movie is the first in what is sure to be another hugely successful franchise for Marvel Studios who are not content with their Avengers stable of stars (Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Cap'n America) and want to gobble up several billion more dollars of your hard-earned cash. So it's strange that they picked this relatively unknown property from their comic book back catalogue. However, it could be the best idea they've had, as there are a lot fewer expectations riding on it and they could take it to a slightly crazier place and let it build a fanbase up. And although this first instalment is pretty heavy on explaining the backstory of the characters and universe, it still has fun and sets up nicely for the next one to get straight into the action.
We follow our hero, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), who likes to go by the moniker Starlord. He's a treasure hunter who stumbles on our all-important MacGuffin, the Orb, which he wants to sell for a lot of 'units' ($) but a lot of others want to get their hands on it too. Bounty hunters Rocket (a raccoon like character voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his offsider Groot (a walking tree who speaks about 3 words during the movie - I am Groot - and is voiced by Vin Diesel) want Quill and the Orb, as does Gamora (a green skinned Zoe Saldana this time, she must have enjoyed being blue in Avatar a lot) who is an assassin working for Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) who wants the Orb to destroy his many enemies. We also get Drax the Destroyer (ex wrestler Dave Bautista) joining the crew not because of the Orb but because he wants revenge against Ronan.
Guardians of the Galaxy is super dumb fun. Getting the gang together involves a number of fun action heavy setpieces spiked with some pretty zany dialogue and jokes. The gang trying to keep the Orb out of Ronan and his henchmen and henchwomen's hands ups the action even further but still takes time out regularly for a silly joke. Drax in particular has some really funny lines, usually stemming from his race's inability to understand metaphors, so listen closely whenever he is speaking. The soundtrack, which should be filled with 80s classics given Starlord's 80s origins on Earth, instead leans towards the late 70s as Peter clings to a cassette tape of his Earthling mother's favourite songs. It is unexpected but a real hit.
The 3D throws everything but the kitchen sink at you, which is kinda unnecessary, but I couldn't fault the action scenes or visual effects at all. Everything gels, and the only thing holding me back from giving this 5 stars is that there is just too much explanation required and yet sometimes not enough given, so it just doesn't quite fly in parts. The humour is quite bizarre, which I liked, so I am looking forward to the next one which should expand the universe and get us into some fun places!
Showing posts with label 2014 Film Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2014 Film Review. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Movie #26 - Boyhood
Mason (Ellar Coltrane) is a 6 year old boy living in the 'burbs with his Mum Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater). Life is a bit of a struggle for single mum Olivia, with Dad Mason Senior (Ethan Hawke) out of the picture most of the time after the two split up fairly acrimoniously (we guess). Occasionally Mason Senior comes to town, takes the kids out for a fun day and presents, then drops them back to Mum for the serious parenting. The kids hope that Mum and Dad will get back together, but that doesn't look like happening based on the argument being held in the front yard. After breaking up with her latest boyfriend, Olivia decides to move the kids to Texas to be near her mother. This is the first in a series of moves that the movie follows, mostly from Mason Junior's point of view, over a 12 year period as Mason grows into a young man and Olivia tries to do what she thinks is best for the family.
While the film is ostensibly about Mason and how he navigates growing up, it is also much more than that. It is also about family and looks at issues of both the parents. The most touching part of the story is probably Olivia's arc as the Mum who goes out with the wrong guys, moves the family from place to place and struggles to make ends meet. But all the decisions she makes are clearly motivated by love for her children and wanting to better herself and their lives. Mason Senior is a complex character too, as he moves from slacker to responsibility while still trying to be the cool guy. He gets many of the best scenes, whether it's having 'the talk' with Samantha, to helping Mason get over his first real romance.
What really makes this a most unique filmgoing experience is the fact that it was filmed over a period of 12 years to allow the actors to actually grow and age naturally. Yeah I know what you're thinking, 7 Up has already been there, done that. However, 7 Up was a documentary. Boyhood is a fictional movie written and directed by Richard Linklater (known for Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight, Dazed and Confused and several others) and filmed over several weeks each year, for 12 years, with the same actors playing their characters over that whole time. This has never been done before, and probably will not be done again. Certainly it won't be done to the same level of quality in my opinion, as you have to realise how hard it would be to get working actors to commit to filming a movie over that long a period, and also to build continuity and stay in character. It's an amazing achievement by all.
The concept makes this an absolute winner in my opinion. It's the closest thing to real life you will ever see at the movies without being a documentary. The director doesn't give us any obvious cuts to show when we have jumped forward a year in the life of the family; the only way to tell that time has passed is different haircuts/faces and different houses/partners/cars. The dialogue is really relatable and doesn't sound like movie talk, which makes me think it was at least partly improvised by the core group of actors who would have gotten to know each other pretty well over 12 years. Nothing overly dramatic or unrealistic happens - there is no cliché like the most awesome party ever, no massive fight between parent and child, no showing of the loss of virginity etc. This is not a criticism by any means. As I said earlier, it's just like peeking in at key moments of real people's lives. Made all the more real by the fact that as time passes, these actors look older, get different haircuts and different body shapes without any use of prosthetics or visual effects.
The overall effect is a warm and fuzzy feeling. While Mason's mumbling gets a little annoying towards the end, when we leave him at the age of 18 you get the impression that this nice, intelligent and talented kid is going to figure out what he wants to do with his life and get on and do it. You realise that nobody has all the answers or can make good choices all the time, but if there is love there, you can forgive and forget. Just a warning though, it is very long - 2 hours and 45 minutes - so allow plenty of time for this gentle, joyous, unique experience. Five stars!
While the film is ostensibly about Mason and how he navigates growing up, it is also much more than that. It is also about family and looks at issues of both the parents. The most touching part of the story is probably Olivia's arc as the Mum who goes out with the wrong guys, moves the family from place to place and struggles to make ends meet. But all the decisions she makes are clearly motivated by love for her children and wanting to better herself and their lives. Mason Senior is a complex character too, as he moves from slacker to responsibility while still trying to be the cool guy. He gets many of the best scenes, whether it's having 'the talk' with Samantha, to helping Mason get over his first real romance.
What really makes this a most unique filmgoing experience is the fact that it was filmed over a period of 12 years to allow the actors to actually grow and age naturally. Yeah I know what you're thinking, 7 Up has already been there, done that. However, 7 Up was a documentary. Boyhood is a fictional movie written and directed by Richard Linklater (known for Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight, Dazed and Confused and several others) and filmed over several weeks each year, for 12 years, with the same actors playing their characters over that whole time. This has never been done before, and probably will not be done again. Certainly it won't be done to the same level of quality in my opinion, as you have to realise how hard it would be to get working actors to commit to filming a movie over that long a period, and also to build continuity and stay in character. It's an amazing achievement by all.
The concept makes this an absolute winner in my opinion. It's the closest thing to real life you will ever see at the movies without being a documentary. The director doesn't give us any obvious cuts to show when we have jumped forward a year in the life of the family; the only way to tell that time has passed is different haircuts/faces and different houses/partners/cars. The dialogue is really relatable and doesn't sound like movie talk, which makes me think it was at least partly improvised by the core group of actors who would have gotten to know each other pretty well over 12 years. Nothing overly dramatic or unrealistic happens - there is no cliché like the most awesome party ever, no massive fight between parent and child, no showing of the loss of virginity etc. This is not a criticism by any means. As I said earlier, it's just like peeking in at key moments of real people's lives. Made all the more real by the fact that as time passes, these actors look older, get different haircuts and different body shapes without any use of prosthetics or visual effects.
The overall effect is a warm and fuzzy feeling. While Mason's mumbling gets a little annoying towards the end, when we leave him at the age of 18 you get the impression that this nice, intelligent and talented kid is going to figure out what he wants to do with his life and get on and do it. You realise that nobody has all the answers or can make good choices all the time, but if there is love there, you can forgive and forget. Just a warning though, it is very long - 2 hours and 45 minutes - so allow plenty of time for this gentle, joyous, unique experience. Five stars!
Friday, 5 September 2014
Movie #27 - Predestination
It's been a big week for me, as I think I've seen the two best films this year in the space of 3 days!
Please don't go into this movie thinking it's a time-travel, action thriller, because that's not what it is and I hope the marketing doesn't muck it up because you could be disappointed if that is your expectation. And it doesn't deserve disappointment, because it is a remarkable film. What it actually is, is a noir film wrapped around a character-driven mystery with some sci-fi touches.
The plot (what I can reveal anyway) centres around a man who is trying to prevent a large scale bombing in New York in 1975. The man is unsuccessful and suffers horrible burns from which he is saved and eventually recovers. The man (Ethan Hawke) is a decorated field agent who we discover can travel through time (called a temporal agent in this movie) and has been doing so for a while to try to find and stop "The Fizzle Bomber". Once recovered, The Organisation send him on a mission back to 1975 to try one last time to apprehend the Fizzle Bomber. One night, a man enters the bar and after a few drinks, bets The Bartender that he has the most unbelievable story the Bartender has ever heard. Thus proceeds an incredible tale of what has happened in the life of this man who was once born a woman. However, that story is really just a framing device for our movie, as at the end of the tale, the Bartender asks the man if he wants to find the man who ruined his life and kill him. This sets in train a series of events using time travel to put all the pieces into place for our final destination.
So you can see how detailed the movie's plot is if the above long paragraph is only the small part I can reveal without spoiling the mystery. It requires concentration and focus to keep up with what's happening. The first part with the conversation serves to provide both clues to and distractions from the mystery which gradually gets solved over the second part which has the faster scenes as we move towards the capture of the bomber and understanding of how The Bartender and Unmarried Mother (the pen name of the man) are connected. It's not an earth shattering twist in the end, but it has been so elegantly built with red herrings and clues that the more you think about it, the more wormholes you can go down.
The direction by Brisbane's own Spierig twins, Michael and Peter, is superb and I congratulate them on making an Australian movie with Australian talent in front of and behind the cameras, but having no 'Australian-ness' about it, which should give it a broad appeal. Some may criticise this but I don't see any need for this particularly story to have an Australian setting and I really liked the noirish production design. The Spierigs also wrote the film so all credit to them for making the year's best brain-bender to date.
But the story, direction and design would not have been enough to make a great movie had the wrong actors been chosen as it's essentially a three-hander. Ethan Hawke is solid as The Bartender/temporal agent who kind of has to blend into the background and obviously works well with these directors (he also led the Spierig's second film Daybreakers, a great little vampire film). Good ol' Noah Taylor does well to make you wonder if he is a goodie or baddie as Agent Robertson from The Organisation. Sarah Snook, however, is amazing as Unmarried Mother/the man. You have probably been reading/hearing this a lot in the last week or two, but it is definitely true that this is an absolute standout performance. I first saw her in an ABC telemovie about wartime nurses where she really stood out, then she was in a couple of films: Not Suitable for Children and These Final Hours. She was good in those, but this is her breakout role for sure. Acting as both a woman and a man should be challenge enough, but the script adds so much heartbreak and weirdness in this character. She is utterly convincing as both genders and in both happiness and pain. She is a star now.
It has been just over 24 hours since I walked out of the movie and I am still obsessed with thinking about it. I really want to get out a whiteboard and markers and try to get a really good handle on what happened. But I don't think I'll really understand everything. Think I might try reading the 1958 short story "All you Zombies" on which it was based! But even that may not help since the Fizzle Bomber aspect has been added for the movie and that is where more of my questions lie.
I'm giving this my first 5 star rating for the year. Mind = blown. A must-see movie. Unless your favourite genre is rom-coms.
Please don't go into this movie thinking it's a time-travel, action thriller, because that's not what it is and I hope the marketing doesn't muck it up because you could be disappointed if that is your expectation. And it doesn't deserve disappointment, because it is a remarkable film. What it actually is, is a noir film wrapped around a character-driven mystery with some sci-fi touches.
The plot (what I can reveal anyway) centres around a man who is trying to prevent a large scale bombing in New York in 1975. The man is unsuccessful and suffers horrible burns from which he is saved and eventually recovers. The man (Ethan Hawke) is a decorated field agent who we discover can travel through time (called a temporal agent in this movie) and has been doing so for a while to try to find and stop "The Fizzle Bomber". Once recovered, The Organisation send him on a mission back to 1975 to try one last time to apprehend the Fizzle Bomber. One night, a man enters the bar and after a few drinks, bets The Bartender that he has the most unbelievable story the Bartender has ever heard. Thus proceeds an incredible tale of what has happened in the life of this man who was once born a woman. However, that story is really just a framing device for our movie, as at the end of the tale, the Bartender asks the man if he wants to find the man who ruined his life and kill him. This sets in train a series of events using time travel to put all the pieces into place for our final destination.
So you can see how detailed the movie's plot is if the above long paragraph is only the small part I can reveal without spoiling the mystery. It requires concentration and focus to keep up with what's happening. The first part with the conversation serves to provide both clues to and distractions from the mystery which gradually gets solved over the second part which has the faster scenes as we move towards the capture of the bomber and understanding of how The Bartender and Unmarried Mother (the pen name of the man) are connected. It's not an earth shattering twist in the end, but it has been so elegantly built with red herrings and clues that the more you think about it, the more wormholes you can go down.
The direction by Brisbane's own Spierig twins, Michael and Peter, is superb and I congratulate them on making an Australian movie with Australian talent in front of and behind the cameras, but having no 'Australian-ness' about it, which should give it a broad appeal. Some may criticise this but I don't see any need for this particularly story to have an Australian setting and I really liked the noirish production design. The Spierigs also wrote the film so all credit to them for making the year's best brain-bender to date.
But the story, direction and design would not have been enough to make a great movie had the wrong actors been chosen as it's essentially a three-hander. Ethan Hawke is solid as The Bartender/temporal agent who kind of has to blend into the background and obviously works well with these directors (he also led the Spierig's second film Daybreakers, a great little vampire film). Good ol' Noah Taylor does well to make you wonder if he is a goodie or baddie as Agent Robertson from The Organisation. Sarah Snook, however, is amazing as Unmarried Mother/the man. You have probably been reading/hearing this a lot in the last week or two, but it is definitely true that this is an absolute standout performance. I first saw her in an ABC telemovie about wartime nurses where she really stood out, then she was in a couple of films: Not Suitable for Children and These Final Hours. She was good in those, but this is her breakout role for sure. Acting as both a woman and a man should be challenge enough, but the script adds so much heartbreak and weirdness in this character. She is utterly convincing as both genders and in both happiness and pain. She is a star now.
It has been just over 24 hours since I walked out of the movie and I am still obsessed with thinking about it. I really want to get out a whiteboard and markers and try to get a really good handle on what happened. But I don't think I'll really understand everything. Think I might try reading the 1958 short story "All you Zombies" on which it was based! But even that may not help since the Fizzle Bomber aspect has been added for the movie and that is where more of my questions lie.
I'm giving this my first 5 star rating for the year. Mind = blown. A must-see movie. Unless your favourite genre is rom-coms.
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Movie #23 - Lucy
Lucy is a new film continuing on the concept of 'what if we used all of our brain's capacity' which has been explored previously in the films Limitless and sort of in Transcendence as well. The first thing you need to do to enjoy this movie is suspend disbelief, because the idea that humans only use 10% of their brain capacity has been proven to be a myth. We use all areas of our brain on a regular basis and there is no area that cannot be damaged without impairing our performance. Can we get smarter by training our brains? Definitely, but the idea that we can increase 90% is false. So, the idea is flawed but if you just go with it, this is a really fun ride.
Lucy is a young American girl (played by Scarlett Johanssen) studying in Paris and partying her time away. She meets a guy in a bar who after a week, takes her to a hotel where he has to deliver a briefcase as a job. He's too nervous though, and asks Lucy to do it, but she refuses. He then handcuffs her to the briefcase and forces her to go inside and ask for Mr Jang. When a bunch of dangerous looking gangsters emerge from the lift, you know Lucy is in a lot of trouble. We discover that the briefcase contains a powerful new drug which is expected to become the new drug of choice. In a nasty development, Lucy and a group of other unwilling participants have a packet of the drug inserted inside their bodies and are then sent to a different city of the world where they have to meet up with a distributor. However, on Lucy's journey, she accidentally ingests the drug and things start to get pretty crazy as her brain increases in capacity at a rapid rate.
This is where the similarities between Limitless and Lucy start to end, because in Limitless the extra brain capacity is mainly used for personal gain, whereas Lucy has two missions in mind: revenge against the gangsters and sharing of the knowledge of what is happening to her with a scientist (Morgan Freeman bringing his typical gravitas to the movie). What I really liked about this movie was the visual style. It was written and directed by Luc Besson, the man who has given us such visual treats as The Fifth Element, Leon: The Professional and The Big Blue. The visuals are kinetic and beautiful at the same time. There is a lot of nature documentary style stuff inserted between scenes which seem designed to add more weight to the science of the film (even though we know it is actually not scientifically accurate). One person at our screening thought they were in the wrong film during the opening scene of an early human drinking water at a riverbank, and given the timing of this film being released at the same time as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, it's quite understandable!
What could have been pretty silly is just anchored enough by Scar-Jo's performance as a woman dealing with an extraordinary situation in a kick-ass way. It is an interesting parallel role for her following her voice role in "Her" which both dealt with an expanding consciousness. However, her playful, sexy character in Her is a far cry from the increasingly less human/business like revenge seeker in this film. She's backed up well by Mr Freeman as usual. Without them, this would have been dumb but for some reason I really liked it!
Lucy is a young American girl (played by Scarlett Johanssen) studying in Paris and partying her time away. She meets a guy in a bar who after a week, takes her to a hotel where he has to deliver a briefcase as a job. He's too nervous though, and asks Lucy to do it, but she refuses. He then handcuffs her to the briefcase and forces her to go inside and ask for Mr Jang. When a bunch of dangerous looking gangsters emerge from the lift, you know Lucy is in a lot of trouble. We discover that the briefcase contains a powerful new drug which is expected to become the new drug of choice. In a nasty development, Lucy and a group of other unwilling participants have a packet of the drug inserted inside their bodies and are then sent to a different city of the world where they have to meet up with a distributor. However, on Lucy's journey, she accidentally ingests the drug and things start to get pretty crazy as her brain increases in capacity at a rapid rate.
This is where the similarities between Limitless and Lucy start to end, because in Limitless the extra brain capacity is mainly used for personal gain, whereas Lucy has two missions in mind: revenge against the gangsters and sharing of the knowledge of what is happening to her with a scientist (Morgan Freeman bringing his typical gravitas to the movie). What I really liked about this movie was the visual style. It was written and directed by Luc Besson, the man who has given us such visual treats as The Fifth Element, Leon: The Professional and The Big Blue. The visuals are kinetic and beautiful at the same time. There is a lot of nature documentary style stuff inserted between scenes which seem designed to add more weight to the science of the film (even though we know it is actually not scientifically accurate). One person at our screening thought they were in the wrong film during the opening scene of an early human drinking water at a riverbank, and given the timing of this film being released at the same time as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, it's quite understandable!
What could have been pretty silly is just anchored enough by Scar-Jo's performance as a woman dealing with an extraordinary situation in a kick-ass way. It is an interesting parallel role for her following her voice role in "Her" which both dealt with an expanding consciousness. However, her playful, sexy character in Her is a far cry from the increasingly less human/business like revenge seeker in this film. She's backed up well by Mr Freeman as usual. Without them, this would have been dumb but for some reason I really liked it!
Saturday, 2 August 2014
Movie #21 - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The sequel to the recent "re-imagining" of the Planet of the Apes franchise 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', this movie is set around 8-10 years after the first film. The virus released at the end of the last film has spread and killed many, and wars as society broke down have wiped out many more. The apes who emancipated themselves in the last film have retreated and set up their own community in the hills of San Francisco, a safe and prosperous place where they can avoid human contact. A small band of humans, resistant to the virus, have survived and built a fortress to keep anyone else out, but they have no electricity. They need to get a hydro electricity plant running again.
So sets up a strong film that follows on from the almost as strong first film. Where the first one explored the moral issue of testing experimental drugs and how we treat animals, this one is more concerned with themes of family and how there can be bad apples in every bunch even when you think you know who is the 'baddie' and who is the 'goodie'. People and apes can certainly be both.
Our two central characters are Caesar (Andy Serkis mo-cap performance again being a standout) who now has a mate, a son and another baby chimpanzee on the way; and Malcolm (Aussie Jason Clarke in what might be a breakout role for him) has formed a new family unit with his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) a vet Elli (Keri Russell from Felicity). Malcolm leads a small band of humans including his son and girlfriend into ape territory, hoping to ask Caesar for permission to work on the hydro-electricity plant and co-exist peacefully with the apes. Being very similar in outlook, Caesar agrees to Malcolm's request and even sets his community to helping get the job done so the humans can leave them in peace. But distrust on both sides causes a series of events which set in motion a war between human and ape.
I think the timing of the release of this movie could not have been more (accidentally) perfect than it was to make the film resonate more than it would have otherwise. While I was watching the film I felt very much 'in the moment' and concentrating on watching the events unfold, but immediately on walking out of the film I realised it was very coincidental how much it reflects real world events. Because in this movie I feel we have a representation of the current Israel-Palestine conflict - two very different groups, both of whom in the main probably just want to be left alone to live their own way and ignore the others, both with right on their side (or so they think), but because of a series of mis-communications and/or misunderstandings between one or a few people, they come to disagree and eventually to fight and each side feels the need to seek revenge/justice for their community. It's amazing how much in both the movie and its real world counterpart, you just want to reach out and say "Stop - can't we just talk this over and find a solution before any more lives are destroyed". That might be too much information, I hope not, but I'm sure anyone going to see this has a general understanding of the storyline arc of this series.
On a technical note, the CGI and motion capture employed provide some amazing visuals, especially in 3D. I felt so immersed in the film, with the producers wisely deciding not to use it to throw things at your face but instead just make you think that these apes are real, and really are riding horses, holding guns and other things that occur. Every bit is believable. The location is excellent too and the direction is very good from Matt Reeves (leveraging his experience with fast-paced action from directing Cloverfield but blending in the quiet character beats from the remake Let me In). There is no real standout performance in the human cast but all are at a high level so it doesn't matter.
I felt very strongly about this movie, I really really liked it and found it pretty thought provoking.
So sets up a strong film that follows on from the almost as strong first film. Where the first one explored the moral issue of testing experimental drugs and how we treat animals, this one is more concerned with themes of family and how there can be bad apples in every bunch even when you think you know who is the 'baddie' and who is the 'goodie'. People and apes can certainly be both.
Our two central characters are Caesar (Andy Serkis mo-cap performance again being a standout) who now has a mate, a son and another baby chimpanzee on the way; and Malcolm (Aussie Jason Clarke in what might be a breakout role for him) has formed a new family unit with his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) a vet Elli (Keri Russell from Felicity). Malcolm leads a small band of humans including his son and girlfriend into ape territory, hoping to ask Caesar for permission to work on the hydro-electricity plant and co-exist peacefully with the apes. Being very similar in outlook, Caesar agrees to Malcolm's request and even sets his community to helping get the job done so the humans can leave them in peace. But distrust on both sides causes a series of events which set in motion a war between human and ape.
I think the timing of the release of this movie could not have been more (accidentally) perfect than it was to make the film resonate more than it would have otherwise. While I was watching the film I felt very much 'in the moment' and concentrating on watching the events unfold, but immediately on walking out of the film I realised it was very coincidental how much it reflects real world events. Because in this movie I feel we have a representation of the current Israel-Palestine conflict - two very different groups, both of whom in the main probably just want to be left alone to live their own way and ignore the others, both with right on their side (or so they think), but because of a series of mis-communications and/or misunderstandings between one or a few people, they come to disagree and eventually to fight and each side feels the need to seek revenge/justice for their community. It's amazing how much in both the movie and its real world counterpart, you just want to reach out and say "Stop - can't we just talk this over and find a solution before any more lives are destroyed". That might be too much information, I hope not, but I'm sure anyone going to see this has a general understanding of the storyline arc of this series.
On a technical note, the CGI and motion capture employed provide some amazing visuals, especially in 3D. I felt so immersed in the film, with the producers wisely deciding not to use it to throw things at your face but instead just make you think that these apes are real, and really are riding horses, holding guns and other things that occur. Every bit is believable. The location is excellent too and the direction is very good from Matt Reeves (leveraging his experience with fast-paced action from directing Cloverfield but blending in the quiet character beats from the remake Let me In). There is no real standout performance in the human cast but all are at a high level so it doesn't matter.
I felt very strongly about this movie, I really really liked it and found it pretty thought provoking.
Movie #22 - Sex Tape
Sex Tape is neither a bad nor a good movie. It's not good enough for me to recommend anyone go and pay money to see it at the cinema, but it's not bad that I'd say don't watch it on a Friday night on the couch. It's okay. It would be better if you hadn't seen the trailer for the movie, because that right there pretty much has all the funny bits in it. Of which there are a couple of really hilarious moments, but only a few. So if you want to skip the 90 something minute running time, just watch the full trailer and there you go.
The plot is pretty much just married early thirty-somethings have lost the mojo, decide to get drunk and film themselves having sex, accidentally send video to everyone who has a sync-ed iPad to their iPad, couple do whatever it takes to get the iPads back. Jason Segel (Marshall from How I Met your Mother) as Jay and Cameron Diaz as Annie have pretty good chemistry but even they can't save this movie which I think should pretty much be blamed on a lame script. Rob Lowe has some pretty funny scenes and in fact, most of the funny stuff happens when he's in it, but the rest of the time it's all just what I'd describe as.....awkward.
The point is pretty much "if you just remember why you liked bonking in the first place, you'll get the urge to bonk again" which is kinda dumb and it leads to some very unbelievable conversations toward the end of the movie. Jay looks over at Annie and says "This situation has shown me that you are kind, generous yada yada yada" and yet at no time during this movie have we seen Annie being kind or generous to anyone let alone Jay (who was responsible for the tape getting out with his crazy Frankenstein syncing program to all his former iPads which are just given away to friends, family and the mailman because Jay has such amazing taste in music everyone wants his playlists - What???). And then Annie says a bunch of nice stuff I've forgotten about Jay which is also stupid because he did none of that either in the last 90 minutes.
All I can say is I'm thankful for receiving free tickets to this movie and did not pay to see it, and my goodwill towards Jason Segel for all his previous good work (The Muppets, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I love you Man etc etc) just went down a notch. Eat a sandwich too boy!
The plot is pretty much just married early thirty-somethings have lost the mojo, decide to get drunk and film themselves having sex, accidentally send video to everyone who has a sync-ed iPad to their iPad, couple do whatever it takes to get the iPads back. Jason Segel (Marshall from How I Met your Mother) as Jay and Cameron Diaz as Annie have pretty good chemistry but even they can't save this movie which I think should pretty much be blamed on a lame script. Rob Lowe has some pretty funny scenes and in fact, most of the funny stuff happens when he's in it, but the rest of the time it's all just what I'd describe as.....awkward.
The point is pretty much "if you just remember why you liked bonking in the first place, you'll get the urge to bonk again" which is kinda dumb and it leads to some very unbelievable conversations toward the end of the movie. Jay looks over at Annie and says "This situation has shown me that you are kind, generous yada yada yada" and yet at no time during this movie have we seen Annie being kind or generous to anyone let alone Jay (who was responsible for the tape getting out with his crazy Frankenstein syncing program to all his former iPads which are just given away to friends, family and the mailman because Jay has such amazing taste in music everyone wants his playlists - What???). And then Annie says a bunch of nice stuff I've forgotten about Jay which is also stupid because he did none of that either in the last 90 minutes.
All I can say is I'm thankful for receiving free tickets to this movie and did not pay to see it, and my goodwill towards Jason Segel for all his previous good work (The Muppets, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I love you Man etc etc) just went down a notch. Eat a sandwich too boy!
Sunday, 13 July 2014
Movie # 18 - The Rover
This movie review I have struggled with for several weeks now. You see, I just can't really tell how I feel about it. During the movie, I was kind of wandering off and thinking I wasn't really liking it. Immediately afterwards I thought I didn't really like it. But several weeks later and having read a lot more about it and what the director was trying to do, I do think it is an interesting film and it was very well executed.
The Rover is the second film from director David Michod, whose debut film Animal Kingdom was one of the most critically acclaimed debut films ever and deserved everything that was said about it. The difficult thing about The Rover is that it is just as well written, acted and shot as Animal Kingdom, but it asks you to go on a journey with a set of characters that you cannot care about. It will be clear within the first few minutes that there are no stereotypical heroes in this movie.
It is set in the near future in the South Australian outback, with a simple title card stating "10 years after the collapse". What collapse is not explained although a little more exposition might have helped set the context earlier. Clearly not a nuclear/environmental apocalypse but more of an economic one, we seem to have a barely functioning society remaining based around mining activity. Stuff can still be traded (in US dollars strangely) and there are still police and army, but times are pretty desperate and dangerous.
We open with our lead character Eric (Guy Pearce) pulling into a karaoke bar seemingly at the end of the world for a drink of water. In the meantime a car full of criminals on the run, from what we don't know but one is bleeding so something has gone down, crashes their car. Opportunistically stealing Eric's car for their getaway, Henry (Scoot McNairy), Archie (Aussie David Field) and Caleb do not know what they're getting into. For Eric really, really wants his car back. So begins a dogged pursuit of Henry's gang by the single minded Eric. Eric lucks out by finding Henry's kid brother Rey (Robert Pattinson) in a very bad way and after getting him stitched up he takes Rey as a hostage to track Henry. But Rey is a very unusual character and the question is whether he will help or hinder Eric in his mission.
The performances from everyone involved are universally strong, which might have something to do with the difficulty of the location and the non-stop flies and dust. Very immersive. Guy Pearce is on almost career best form as the steely, desperate rover of the title and does a huge amount with very little dialogue. Robert Pattinson (Twilight's Edward the sparkly vampire) does a huge about face here as the almost mentally incompetent Rey, but he makes himself very hard to understand because he puts on a very strange accent to go with some facial tics for the character. It is certainly a big step up for him. The supporting roles are all strong. But, despite the efforts of all involved to inhabit these characters, it is a film about a villain chasing a group of villains and with so little dialogue and backstory, it is impossible to care about anyone getting out with what they want. You don't even know what they want or why they want it for most of the running time. But it does become a mystery you want to solve.
Based on how I felt during the movie and afterwards, I think I would rate this as a film I didn't like very much despite the respect I feel for the direction, cinematography and acting. I just need someone to cheer for in my movies to feel like I really related to it. Having read into it a little more, I can see that they were trying to evoke that sense of 'what will a human being do when pushed to the absolute edge by their circumstances and society'. And with reflection there is an exploration of that but I think they have just gone too spare with the dialogue and it is left a little too much to your interpretation. I'd give this 2.5 stars out of 5.
The Rover is the second film from director David Michod, whose debut film Animal Kingdom was one of the most critically acclaimed debut films ever and deserved everything that was said about it. The difficult thing about The Rover is that it is just as well written, acted and shot as Animal Kingdom, but it asks you to go on a journey with a set of characters that you cannot care about. It will be clear within the first few minutes that there are no stereotypical heroes in this movie.
It is set in the near future in the South Australian outback, with a simple title card stating "10 years after the collapse". What collapse is not explained although a little more exposition might have helped set the context earlier. Clearly not a nuclear/environmental apocalypse but more of an economic one, we seem to have a barely functioning society remaining based around mining activity. Stuff can still be traded (in US dollars strangely) and there are still police and army, but times are pretty desperate and dangerous.
We open with our lead character Eric (Guy Pearce) pulling into a karaoke bar seemingly at the end of the world for a drink of water. In the meantime a car full of criminals on the run, from what we don't know but one is bleeding so something has gone down, crashes their car. Opportunistically stealing Eric's car for their getaway, Henry (Scoot McNairy), Archie (Aussie David Field) and Caleb do not know what they're getting into. For Eric really, really wants his car back. So begins a dogged pursuit of Henry's gang by the single minded Eric. Eric lucks out by finding Henry's kid brother Rey (Robert Pattinson) in a very bad way and after getting him stitched up he takes Rey as a hostage to track Henry. But Rey is a very unusual character and the question is whether he will help or hinder Eric in his mission.
The performances from everyone involved are universally strong, which might have something to do with the difficulty of the location and the non-stop flies and dust. Very immersive. Guy Pearce is on almost career best form as the steely, desperate rover of the title and does a huge amount with very little dialogue. Robert Pattinson (Twilight's Edward the sparkly vampire) does a huge about face here as the almost mentally incompetent Rey, but he makes himself very hard to understand because he puts on a very strange accent to go with some facial tics for the character. It is certainly a big step up for him. The supporting roles are all strong. But, despite the efforts of all involved to inhabit these characters, it is a film about a villain chasing a group of villains and with so little dialogue and backstory, it is impossible to care about anyone getting out with what they want. You don't even know what they want or why they want it for most of the running time. But it does become a mystery you want to solve.
Based on how I felt during the movie and afterwards, I think I would rate this as a film I didn't like very much despite the respect I feel for the direction, cinematography and acting. I just need someone to cheer for in my movies to feel like I really related to it. Having read into it a little more, I can see that they were trying to evoke that sense of 'what will a human being do when pushed to the absolute edge by their circumstances and society'. And with reflection there is an exploration of that but I think they have just gone too spare with the dialogue and it is left a little too much to your interpretation. I'd give this 2.5 stars out of 5.
Monday, 7 July 2014
Movie #20 - 22 Jump Street
Although the first film didn't blow me away back in 2012 (3 star review out of 5), the teaser ads had me looking forward to seeing the next instalment to reunite our bumbling heroes Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum). And this time around, I really liked it, mainly because the jokes come really thick and fast and are really funny.
The plot: Schmidt and Jenko attempt a takedown of a drug trafficker, screw it up, get demoted to 22 Jump Street (the office has moved across the road) and have to go undercover at a university to find a student who is dealing a drug that has recently killed a female student. Hilarity ensues.
Does any of this sound familiar? Yep that's right, the plot is identical to the first movie. But don't worry, the filmmakers get it and have used this as the key running joke of the film. There are numerous references sprinkled from beginning to the end of the movie about how this is just the same movie again plus riffs on how sequels usually suck. But there is one difference this time around: Jenko gets to embrace his jock roots as he infiltrates the NFL team while Schmidt works the arty/poetry crowd angle that plays to his nerdy background. So this time the humour derives less from the fish out of water characters in unfamiliar roles, and more from the relationship between Schmidt and Jenko as slightly homoerotic buddies. While they initially work well together, the investigation takes them separate ways which is hard for Schmidt to let go. A scene where they start to put all the pieces of the drug dealer mystery together while pretending to need couples counselling is really funny.
The film rides on the strength of the leads and both are better this time around after the awkward settling in phase of 21 Jump Street. Channing Tatum's comedic talent is well and truly out in the open now (as are his or his stuntman's parkour skills which are employed as much as possible and as unnecessarily as possible to hilarious effect), and Jonah benefits from holding back a little more than usual. His walk of shame is absolute perfection though. Ice Cube is again fantastic as the boys' angry boss and he absolutely steals the film in one scene. Most of the other supporting characters such as the uni students they must bond with are fairly lightly drawn and don't make a huge impact, but the identical twins are pretty funny.
Ultimately, there's not a lot to it but everything that's there is consistently funny, surprisingly not too low-brow, and the momentum just keeps on building. Do not leave before the end credits, which are the funniest end credits I've ever seen, by a long shot. I'll be back for 23 Jump Street for sure. This is a 4 star comedy which adds to the short list of sequels that are better than the original.
The plot: Schmidt and Jenko attempt a takedown of a drug trafficker, screw it up, get demoted to 22 Jump Street (the office has moved across the road) and have to go undercover at a university to find a student who is dealing a drug that has recently killed a female student. Hilarity ensues.
Does any of this sound familiar? Yep that's right, the plot is identical to the first movie. But don't worry, the filmmakers get it and have used this as the key running joke of the film. There are numerous references sprinkled from beginning to the end of the movie about how this is just the same movie again plus riffs on how sequels usually suck. But there is one difference this time around: Jenko gets to embrace his jock roots as he infiltrates the NFL team while Schmidt works the arty/poetry crowd angle that plays to his nerdy background. So this time the humour derives less from the fish out of water characters in unfamiliar roles, and more from the relationship between Schmidt and Jenko as slightly homoerotic buddies. While they initially work well together, the investigation takes them separate ways which is hard for Schmidt to let go. A scene where they start to put all the pieces of the drug dealer mystery together while pretending to need couples counselling is really funny.
The film rides on the strength of the leads and both are better this time around after the awkward settling in phase of 21 Jump Street. Channing Tatum's comedic talent is well and truly out in the open now (as are his or his stuntman's parkour skills which are employed as much as possible and as unnecessarily as possible to hilarious effect), and Jonah benefits from holding back a little more than usual. His walk of shame is absolute perfection though. Ice Cube is again fantastic as the boys' angry boss and he absolutely steals the film in one scene. Most of the other supporting characters such as the uni students they must bond with are fairly lightly drawn and don't make a huge impact, but the identical twins are pretty funny.
Ultimately, there's not a lot to it but everything that's there is consistently funny, surprisingly not too low-brow, and the momentum just keeps on building. Do not leave before the end credits, which are the funniest end credits I've ever seen, by a long shot. I'll be back for 23 Jump Street for sure. This is a 4 star comedy which adds to the short list of sequels that are better than the original.
Friday, 13 June 2014
Movie #15 - The Trip to Italy
The Trip to Italy is the sequel to The Trip but it is probably not essential to have seen the first film. There is so little storyline and so much beautiful scenery and comedic dialogue that you won't really be feeling left out, except for one little sub-plot that carries over from the first film.
The Trip to Italy is a faux-documentary comedy. It follows British actors Steve Coogan (well known here for his character Alan Partridge as well as his acting in films such as Tropic Thunder and Night at the Museum) and Rob Brydon (not well known here at all) as they travel around picturesque Italian locations trying fancy restaurants and reviewing them for a magazine. Which they actually weren't doing for real, just for this 'movie' where they are playing exaggerated versions of themselves. That's pretty much the whole story. The movie focuses on Steve and Rob's conversations, mostly unscripted I suspect, while travelling by car (a Mini of course for these Michael Caine fans!) to their restaurants or while eating. These are punctuated with pop culture analysis and spot-on impressions of famous actors as the two try to out-do each other. Michael Caine gets another series of impressions (already done very well in The Trip) but they add a few more this time around. The scene with them doing Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Christian Bale and how hard they were to understand in Batman is quite hilarious.
The movie is bigger and better than the Trip thanks to the gorgeous cinematography of the Italian seaside and rolling hills and food (don't go on an empty stomach) but ultimately it is still just a very light and easy way to waste an hour and a half with a handful of belly laughs. A little bit of middle aged angst, this time it's Rob's temptation to cheat on a partner instead of Steve's, pulls it into dramatic territory but not for long.
I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5 - 3 for the movie overall and an extra 0.5 for the Alanis Morrissette bashing and the Tom Hardy impressions.
The Trip to Italy is a faux-documentary comedy. It follows British actors Steve Coogan (well known here for his character Alan Partridge as well as his acting in films such as Tropic Thunder and Night at the Museum) and Rob Brydon (not well known here at all) as they travel around picturesque Italian locations trying fancy restaurants and reviewing them for a magazine. Which they actually weren't doing for real, just for this 'movie' where they are playing exaggerated versions of themselves. That's pretty much the whole story. The movie focuses on Steve and Rob's conversations, mostly unscripted I suspect, while travelling by car (a Mini of course for these Michael Caine fans!) to their restaurants or while eating. These are punctuated with pop culture analysis and spot-on impressions of famous actors as the two try to out-do each other. Michael Caine gets another series of impressions (already done very well in The Trip) but they add a few more this time around. The scene with them doing Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Christian Bale and how hard they were to understand in Batman is quite hilarious.
The movie is bigger and better than the Trip thanks to the gorgeous cinematography of the Italian seaside and rolling hills and food (don't go on an empty stomach) but ultimately it is still just a very light and easy way to waste an hour and a half with a handful of belly laughs. A little bit of middle aged angst, this time it's Rob's temptation to cheat on a partner instead of Steve's, pulls it into dramatic territory but not for long.
I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5 - 3 for the movie overall and an extra 0.5 for the Alanis Morrissette bashing and the Tom Hardy impressions.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Movie #16 - The Double
What can I say about this movie? Not much without giving anything away. The Double is a bit of a sci-fi film based on a novella by famed Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It's sci fi in theme more than setting though as the setting is a fantastic blend of futuristic time period but retro industrial setting. It's like the future turns into the 1950s somehow. The basic storyline follows a young man, Simon James, who is struggling to make an impression - at work, on the co-worker he admires, on the waitress at his local café, at life in general really. Simon's life is extremely drab. Then a new employee arrives at his work, named James Simon. James is everything Simon is not - popular, climbing the corporate ladder, good with the ladies. So why does nobody but Simon realise that James looks exactly like Simon? Mystery!
This film is really quite unusual and I found myself thinking "what the hell is going on here"? But if you just go with it and let yourself be swept up in the mystery you will find a very satisfying conclusion to work through. But it is pretty unusual. And that I lay at the feet of second-time director Richard Aoyade, still best known here for playing Moss on The I.T. Crowd (tv show). The plot, setting and theme could not be more different than his first film, Submarine. And yet both films have a strong quirk factor and a very light directorial touch which lets the characters find their own way almost.
Jesse Eisenberg is a huge favourite of mine and here he gets to show a new side of himself playing both Simon and James. Simon is Jesse's usual sympathetic shy awkward guy but he excels at playing James, Mr Confident. On double duty exploring the concept of what you sometimes have to do to be the person you want to be, he never lets the performance slip. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) is luminous as Hannah, the co-worker Simon admires from both afar and up close at work. There are very few other roles in the movie to comment on.
Hopefully this review has made you curious enough to give this little film flying under the radar some attention. In Brisbane it's only showing at one cinema - Schonell Theatre at the Uni of Queensland, St Lucia. A pain I know, but we had a fun date night eating delicious authentic Italian style pizza at the Schonell Pizza Caffe and then the movie. Two movie tickets and a pizza big enough to share for dinner for $25 total. Value!
This film is really quite unusual and I found myself thinking "what the hell is going on here"? But if you just go with it and let yourself be swept up in the mystery you will find a very satisfying conclusion to work through. But it is pretty unusual. And that I lay at the feet of second-time director Richard Aoyade, still best known here for playing Moss on The I.T. Crowd (tv show). The plot, setting and theme could not be more different than his first film, Submarine. And yet both films have a strong quirk factor and a very light directorial touch which lets the characters find their own way almost.
Jesse Eisenberg is a huge favourite of mine and here he gets to show a new side of himself playing both Simon and James. Simon is Jesse's usual sympathetic shy awkward guy but he excels at playing James, Mr Confident. On double duty exploring the concept of what you sometimes have to do to be the person you want to be, he never lets the performance slip. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) is luminous as Hannah, the co-worker Simon admires from both afar and up close at work. There are very few other roles in the movie to comment on.
Hopefully this review has made you curious enough to give this little film flying under the radar some attention. In Brisbane it's only showing at one cinema - Schonell Theatre at the Uni of Queensland, St Lucia. A pain I know, but we had a fun date night eating delicious authentic Italian style pizza at the Schonell Pizza Caffe and then the movie. Two movie tickets and a pizza big enough to share for dinner for $25 total. Value!
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Movie #14 - The Babadook
I'm skipping ahead to review this film while it's still on at the movies and my recommendation may get a few more 'bums on seats' for this worthy Australian psychological drama/horror film. For those who don't like scary movies, this would not be for you as it could definitely bring on a few nightmares.
Amelia (Essie Davis) is the frazzled mother of Samuel (first-time actor Noah Wiseman) who is a very unusual 6 year old boy who is obsessed with a fear of monsters and building elaborate home made weapons to defend himself and his mum from these monsters. Samuel is not doing well at school, is not well liked and is a total handful at times. Amelia is unfortunately a single mother due to her husband Oskar being killed in a car accident while driving Amelia to the hospital in labour with Samuel (shown in the opening scene so this is not a spoiler). Six years on, she is still struggling with her grief at losing her great love, raising this sometimes painful child, her drab home, a lack of sleep and drab job at an aged care facility.
Into this sad existence suddenly pops a new children's book entitled "The Babadook". It only takes one reading of this illustrated book about a monster coming into your home to Samuel for Amelia to decide it's way too sinister and throw it away. But somehow it makes its way back into the house. This coincides with a series of unsettling events that start to occur with Amelia and Samuel, as well as a loss of support from Amelia's sister. Both mother and child start to unwind as the Babadook steps up the nightly torment and Amelia gets less and less sleep.
This film is a very brave mix of psycho drama and (mostly mild) horror. It's an unusual film that explores the not very often talked about concept of parents who don't actually love their children. Amelia defends and protects Samuel to all outsiders, but struggles to display real affection towards Samuel in a one on one situation - not an understandable thing but kind of relateable given the tragic circumstances around his birth. You do kind of want to smack him a few times yourself. It's a subtle thing that you may not even notice had I not said anything (I had read something in advance which put me on alert for this) but it creates a very interesting milieu for the Babadook to insert his presence into and gain a foothold. Is the bond between Amelia and Samuel strong enough to ward off this evil being?
Tension is built very effectively by first-time director Aussie Jennifer Kent. Classic horror films played on the 'idiot box' as Amelia struggles to/against sleep, great sound effects, the spooky illustrations of the book which point towards events yet to come, and the eerily retro design of the monster all combine to have you gripping your armrest. So much so that at the Brisbane premiere screening I attended, a person knocking over their wine glass up in the back row elicited a bunch of audience giggles for the 'jump' moment it added in a quiet scene.
The performance of the usually so glamourous Essie Davis (Miss Fisher in ABC's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) is fantastic here. Bravely allowing herself to be shown in frequent close ups with the makeup department making her look washed out, tired and with little or no makeup, she is the very essence of a woman on the edge. As the tension ratchets up, she slowly unwinds with no support mechanism until you're not sure what she is going to do next. The young boy playing the often unlikeable Samuel is also excellent. Both contribute to an emotionally gripping movie to go with the effective scares.
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who can handle horror (nothing too gross in here apart from 1 or 2 brief horror scenes) and is looking for something a bit different. I'd give this a 4 out of 5.
Amelia (Essie Davis) is the frazzled mother of Samuel (first-time actor Noah Wiseman) who is a very unusual 6 year old boy who is obsessed with a fear of monsters and building elaborate home made weapons to defend himself and his mum from these monsters. Samuel is not doing well at school, is not well liked and is a total handful at times. Amelia is unfortunately a single mother due to her husband Oskar being killed in a car accident while driving Amelia to the hospital in labour with Samuel (shown in the opening scene so this is not a spoiler). Six years on, she is still struggling with her grief at losing her great love, raising this sometimes painful child, her drab home, a lack of sleep and drab job at an aged care facility.
Into this sad existence suddenly pops a new children's book entitled "The Babadook". It only takes one reading of this illustrated book about a monster coming into your home to Samuel for Amelia to decide it's way too sinister and throw it away. But somehow it makes its way back into the house. This coincides with a series of unsettling events that start to occur with Amelia and Samuel, as well as a loss of support from Amelia's sister. Both mother and child start to unwind as the Babadook steps up the nightly torment and Amelia gets less and less sleep.
This film is a very brave mix of psycho drama and (mostly mild) horror. It's an unusual film that explores the not very often talked about concept of parents who don't actually love their children. Amelia defends and protects Samuel to all outsiders, but struggles to display real affection towards Samuel in a one on one situation - not an understandable thing but kind of relateable given the tragic circumstances around his birth. You do kind of want to smack him a few times yourself. It's a subtle thing that you may not even notice had I not said anything (I had read something in advance which put me on alert for this) but it creates a very interesting milieu for the Babadook to insert his presence into and gain a foothold. Is the bond between Amelia and Samuel strong enough to ward off this evil being?
Tension is built very effectively by first-time director Aussie Jennifer Kent. Classic horror films played on the 'idiot box' as Amelia struggles to/against sleep, great sound effects, the spooky illustrations of the book which point towards events yet to come, and the eerily retro design of the monster all combine to have you gripping your armrest. So much so that at the Brisbane premiere screening I attended, a person knocking over their wine glass up in the back row elicited a bunch of audience giggles for the 'jump' moment it added in a quiet scene.
The performance of the usually so glamourous Essie Davis (Miss Fisher in ABC's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) is fantastic here. Bravely allowing herself to be shown in frequent close ups with the makeup department making her look washed out, tired and with little or no makeup, she is the very essence of a woman on the edge. As the tension ratchets up, she slowly unwinds with no support mechanism until you're not sure what she is going to do next. The young boy playing the often unlikeable Samuel is also excellent. Both contribute to an emotionally gripping movie to go with the effective scares.
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who can handle horror (nothing too gross in here apart from 1 or 2 brief horror scenes) and is looking for something a bit different. I'd give this a 4 out of 5.
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Movie #10 - The Raid 2: Berandal
I've skipped to #10 before I do #9 because I felt the need to tell you about the Raid 2 before it leaves the cinema, particularly as it has such a limited season. In Brisbane this was only showing at Southbank Cineplex, Sunnybank Hoyts and Garden City Event Cinemas. And the number of screenings is limited too so you've got to carefully plan if you want to see it. And you should want to see it, and seeing it in the cinema is absolutely essential. A big screen and lots of company to clap and cheer along with you is a must to enjoy the bone-crunching violence to the fullest. The subtitle being "Berandal" - Indonesian for 'thug' - should be a key sign of what's to come.
A film so violent and brutal it makes the first one (see my review a couple of years ago) look like a bunch of fluffy kittens batting around a ball of wool, this will thrill action fans and amaze those who think that Arnie/Stallone/Jet Li are the ultimate action stars. Please, please, please do not let the fact that is in Indonesian with subtitles stop you from seeing this awesome movie. Indonesian star of the future Iko Uwais returns as good cop Rama, whose resourcefulness and absolutely gobsmacking fighting skills got him through the tower block from hell and out the other side.
The Raid 2 picks up almost directly where the first film ended, as Rama brings out the dirty cop who caused the first chaotic operation, only to find that the police have a plan in place to catch an even bigger fish. This will involve Rama leaving his wife and young son and going undercover to infiltrate a gang by befriending the son of the leader, in the hope that he can work his way up the chain to find the corrupt police who are helping the gangs. What should be a relatively quick mission turns into a multi-year nightmare for Rama who has to go deep if he is to make the cut in the gang.
The Raid 2 is a much longer film with a much more complex storyline than the first movie, so be prepared for that. However, it doesn't mean they have taken the foot off the action pedal at all. There are multiple big set-pieces in this movie which will take your breath away. Two fights in prison open Rama's account, before the film widens out as we see him befriend Uco, son of Bangun who heads up a gang which provides protection to local criminals for a price. They are up against the Goto family who may or may not be connected to a stylish criminal called Bejo. Bejo seems to be trying to play off both sides in the hope of winning his own territory. Rama and Eka alternate their time between helping Uco with enforcement of the family business and keeping the petulant youngster out of trouble with his father and women. As Bejo orchestrates trouble between the rival gangs, Rama finds himself out of his depth and on his own as events spiral towards a showdown.
You will need to concentrate to keep straight all the characters and who is double crossing who, but in the end the movie is still about the fight scenes. Which are absolutely spectacular as new enemies are introduced - the key ones being "Baseball Bat Man" and "Hammer Girl" but the ultimate is "The Assassin". A fight between Rama and the Assassin, who both are obviously very skilled in the martial art known as "pencak silat" is just mind-blowing although it features one of the least believeable moments of both films in my opinion (a slashed leg presents no trouble at all until convenient). However a new aspect is introduced with an absolutely heart stopping car chase. I was actually ducking in my seat as a driver pulled up alongside Eka with a gun, plus wincing as a motorcyclist cops machine gun fire through his helmet at point blank range. Like I said, super violent!!!!
The film just never lets up, providing the ultimate action experience but with an intelligent storyline. The best part is that it is perfectly poised for the Raid 3! Can't wait.
This movie gets 5 out of 5!Do not miss out on this if you like action films.
A film so violent and brutal it makes the first one (see my review a couple of years ago) look like a bunch of fluffy kittens batting around a ball of wool, this will thrill action fans and amaze those who think that Arnie/Stallone/Jet Li are the ultimate action stars. Please, please, please do not let the fact that is in Indonesian with subtitles stop you from seeing this awesome movie. Indonesian star of the future Iko Uwais returns as good cop Rama, whose resourcefulness and absolutely gobsmacking fighting skills got him through the tower block from hell and out the other side.
The Raid 2 picks up almost directly where the first film ended, as Rama brings out the dirty cop who caused the first chaotic operation, only to find that the police have a plan in place to catch an even bigger fish. This will involve Rama leaving his wife and young son and going undercover to infiltrate a gang by befriending the son of the leader, in the hope that he can work his way up the chain to find the corrupt police who are helping the gangs. What should be a relatively quick mission turns into a multi-year nightmare for Rama who has to go deep if he is to make the cut in the gang.
The Raid 2 is a much longer film with a much more complex storyline than the first movie, so be prepared for that. However, it doesn't mean they have taken the foot off the action pedal at all. There are multiple big set-pieces in this movie which will take your breath away. Two fights in prison open Rama's account, before the film widens out as we see him befriend Uco, son of Bangun who heads up a gang which provides protection to local criminals for a price. They are up against the Goto family who may or may not be connected to a stylish criminal called Bejo. Bejo seems to be trying to play off both sides in the hope of winning his own territory. Rama and Eka alternate their time between helping Uco with enforcement of the family business and keeping the petulant youngster out of trouble with his father and women. As Bejo orchestrates trouble between the rival gangs, Rama finds himself out of his depth and on his own as events spiral towards a showdown.
You will need to concentrate to keep straight all the characters and who is double crossing who, but in the end the movie is still about the fight scenes. Which are absolutely spectacular as new enemies are introduced - the key ones being "Baseball Bat Man" and "Hammer Girl" but the ultimate is "The Assassin". A fight between Rama and the Assassin, who both are obviously very skilled in the martial art known as "pencak silat" is just mind-blowing although it features one of the least believeable moments of both films in my opinion (a slashed leg presents no trouble at all until convenient). However a new aspect is introduced with an absolutely heart stopping car chase. I was actually ducking in my seat as a driver pulled up alongside Eka with a gun, plus wincing as a motorcyclist cops machine gun fire through his helmet at point blank range. Like I said, super violent!!!!
The film just never lets up, providing the ultimate action experience but with an intelligent storyline. The best part is that it is perfectly poised for the Raid 3! Can't wait.
This movie gets 5 out of 5!Do not miss out on this if you like action films.
Movie #8 - Dallas Buyers Club
Sorry I've been away so long loyal readers. Life has been a bit busy with buying and selling houses and moving so there hasn't been time to catch up on my movie reviews let alone see many movies. But I'm back with a few spare hours now!
Way back on the day before the Oscars I managed to see Dallas Buyers Club. It has lingered in my mind though with its heartbreaking tale of those left on the outer edge of society when the AIDS crisis hit America in the early 80s. Just like its Oscar competitor 12 Years a Slave, this movie is based on the true story of an inspirational man and sticks fairly close to the truth I'm guessing. The lead character who is in virtually every scene is Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey), an electrician and rodeo bull rider who is not just a hardcore partier, but also racist and homophobic. Ron and his mates love nothing more than rodeo, drinking, taking drugs and having sex with the numerous women who throw themselves at this 'celebrity'.
Ron's life is so fantastic to him, although it looks a little empty to us peering in from the outside. However, things soon take a bad turn as Ron's regular cough worsens until he eventually passes out. Taken to hospital, he is given the news that he has AIDS by Dr Sevard (Denis O'Hare) and Dr Eve (Jennifer Garner). Unable to believe that the doctors could be right 'because only gays get AIDS', Ron rejects the diagnosis, discharges himself and goes back to his partying ways. However, an escalation in his health issues soon has him researching his condition. He finds that some very promising treatments are available, but after a visit to the doctors he finds that those drugs are unavailable in the US. He is put on a drug that has been fast tracked to human use by the drug company greasing the wheels with the FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration Board) but he soon discovers that this drug is a bad idea when he has an overdose that nearly kills him.
The next part of the movie will seem farfetched to some viewers but to me this part was highly relatable due to a personal situation I'm aware of. It is a really really difficult issue to work out what should be added to schemes where the Government will dispense or subsidise a drug, or not. There are so many rules that should change and drugs that should be made available, but working in finance I'm also aware that there are not unlimited funds to subsidise every drug that would make one person better.
A Mexican doctor's treatments not only stave off the death that Dr Sevard and Eve have told him is imminent, but put Ron in the best health he's been in for ages after he kicks the drugs and alcohol. Unable to get a treatment that will work inside the US and clearly made unwelcome in his usual social situation, Ron decides to take matters into his own hands and start the "Dallas Buyers Club" where he will import (illegally) the treatments that he has found south of the border and provide them to the members of his club who have paid membership fees.
The portrayal of Ron is an astonishing performance from Matthew McConaughey. The physical transformation of his body is amazing, but the most impressive part is the way he portrays the gradual breaking down of his previously offensive views. This is no overnight change that is hard to believe though. It's really a testament to the character of Rayon (a gorgeously fragile Jared Leto), a transgender woman who Ron meets in the hospital and eventually begs for assistance with increasing the membership of the club. At first Ron's motives are pretty selfish and he treats Rayon pretty awfully for a long while, but Rayon's sweetness and fragility eventually lead Ron to tolerance if not embracing the gay community. There is so much believability here.
There are so many great moments in this film as Ron kicks against the FDA, beaks down his own prejudice and gradually breaks down Eve's loyalty to the hospital and its toxic drug program. However it is mind-blowing how the evidence of Ron's treatment could be so ignored when so many people were dying. The movie has very few light moments or laughs so it could be a little hardgoing if you've had a bad day. But in the right frame of mind you could find this a beautiful story of redemption. As Jared Leto said in his Oscar acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, this one is for the outsiders. I give this 4.5 stars out of 5.
Way back on the day before the Oscars I managed to see Dallas Buyers Club. It has lingered in my mind though with its heartbreaking tale of those left on the outer edge of society when the AIDS crisis hit America in the early 80s. Just like its Oscar competitor 12 Years a Slave, this movie is based on the true story of an inspirational man and sticks fairly close to the truth I'm guessing. The lead character who is in virtually every scene is Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey), an electrician and rodeo bull rider who is not just a hardcore partier, but also racist and homophobic. Ron and his mates love nothing more than rodeo, drinking, taking drugs and having sex with the numerous women who throw themselves at this 'celebrity'.
Ron's life is so fantastic to him, although it looks a little empty to us peering in from the outside. However, things soon take a bad turn as Ron's regular cough worsens until he eventually passes out. Taken to hospital, he is given the news that he has AIDS by Dr Sevard (Denis O'Hare) and Dr Eve (Jennifer Garner). Unable to believe that the doctors could be right 'because only gays get AIDS', Ron rejects the diagnosis, discharges himself and goes back to his partying ways. However, an escalation in his health issues soon has him researching his condition. He finds that some very promising treatments are available, but after a visit to the doctors he finds that those drugs are unavailable in the US. He is put on a drug that has been fast tracked to human use by the drug company greasing the wheels with the FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration Board) but he soon discovers that this drug is a bad idea when he has an overdose that nearly kills him.
The next part of the movie will seem farfetched to some viewers but to me this part was highly relatable due to a personal situation I'm aware of. It is a really really difficult issue to work out what should be added to schemes where the Government will dispense or subsidise a drug, or not. There are so many rules that should change and drugs that should be made available, but working in finance I'm also aware that there are not unlimited funds to subsidise every drug that would make one person better.
A Mexican doctor's treatments not only stave off the death that Dr Sevard and Eve have told him is imminent, but put Ron in the best health he's been in for ages after he kicks the drugs and alcohol. Unable to get a treatment that will work inside the US and clearly made unwelcome in his usual social situation, Ron decides to take matters into his own hands and start the "Dallas Buyers Club" where he will import (illegally) the treatments that he has found south of the border and provide them to the members of his club who have paid membership fees.
The portrayal of Ron is an astonishing performance from Matthew McConaughey. The physical transformation of his body is amazing, but the most impressive part is the way he portrays the gradual breaking down of his previously offensive views. This is no overnight change that is hard to believe though. It's really a testament to the character of Rayon (a gorgeously fragile Jared Leto), a transgender woman who Ron meets in the hospital and eventually begs for assistance with increasing the membership of the club. At first Ron's motives are pretty selfish and he treats Rayon pretty awfully for a long while, but Rayon's sweetness and fragility eventually lead Ron to tolerance if not embracing the gay community. There is so much believability here.
There are so many great moments in this film as Ron kicks against the FDA, beaks down his own prejudice and gradually breaks down Eve's loyalty to the hospital and its toxic drug program. However it is mind-blowing how the evidence of Ron's treatment could be so ignored when so many people were dying. The movie has very few light moments or laughs so it could be a little hardgoing if you've had a bad day. But in the right frame of mind you could find this a beautiful story of redemption. As Jared Leto said in his Oscar acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, this one is for the outsiders. I give this 4.5 stars out of 5.
Movie #7 - 12 Years a Slave
This 2014 Best Picture Oscar winner is not a movie that you 'enjoy' seeing, but in my opinion it was very deserving of the accolade and was an excellent movie. Even if you don't normally like period dramas, this is well worth seeing. I walked out of this movie shaking my head that people could have just decided that someone with different coloured skin was less of a human being and deserved to be treated so badly. And it was not really that long ago. Then I thought about the way so many countries are treating gay people at the moment, and realised it's still happening! Hopefully the same social change will occur for gay people. I hope it will be much less than 100 years for us to be watching a movie about how gay people were persecuted just for being gay and asking "how unbelievable is that".
The film is based on true events and although it seems incredible, I doubt that there was much stretching of the truth here as it was based on the memoir written by the real Solomon Northup less than a year after his ordeal. Solomon was a free born black man living with his wife and young children in upstate New York. When his family go away so his wife can work, Solomon is enticed to join a travelling circus to play violin, for which he will be paid a lot of money. Seemingly unaware of the phrase "too good to be true", Solomon is drugged on a night out in Washington DC (where slavery was legal) and sold to a slave trader. He initially protests his treatment and proclaims his freedom, but the slaver and his jailer beat and whip him until he agrees to pretend he is a slave called Platt. He is transported to New Orleans where he is put into a slave market (slave trader played by Paul Giamatti) and quickly sold to his first owner.
The film then follows Solomon's eventful journey as he is bought and sold by three different masters over his 12 years spent as a slave. His early time with Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) is portrayed as relatively easy due to the kindness and religious ways of Ford who benefits from Solomon's work skills. However in real life Solomon was still trying many ways to escape or get letters back to his family and friends. The easiness of this time is upset though when a carpenter working for Ford, Tibauts (played here by Paul Dano in creepy mode) takes exception to Solomon and beats him. When Solomon beats back, Tibauts tries to kill him but Ford intervenes - but his protection can't last long. Solomon is then sold to another master where he works hard but continues to try to escape. After a short time of peace here, Solomon is sold to a man named Epps.
The time with Epps takes up a large amount of the film as it is the most eventful. Epps (played by Michael Fassbender of X-Men and Prometheus) is a married man who is wracked with guilt over feelings for one of his slaves, the hardest working cotton picker Patsey. Prone to whipping his workers for not picking enough cotton, drinking and violent outbursts in between his nice moments, Epps is a frightening creation in the hands of Fassbender. Here is where Solomon's resolve not to give up hope of escape and return to his family is both strengthened and tested. The interactions with Epps, Patsey (newcomer Lupita Nyong'o who fully deserved her Oscar) and another female slave who was separated from her children back at the slave market with Solomon are extremely saddening. I had tears in my eyes in a very disturbing scene with Solomon, as Lupito Nyong'o finds the depths of desperation and pain and recrimination.
I won't spoil how Solomon finally escapes his illegal imprisonment as that part is well documented in the film. What is not covered but is well worth reading up on afterwards, is the struggle to find justice for Solomon. I'm not sure what is the bigger tragedy - what happened to him or how the system was unwilling to punish the guilty. The film provides a shocking insight into a terrible time in history, complete with the use of the 'n' word and realistic violence. It's not easy to view but is such a well constructed and worthy tale. The thing that touched me the most was the perfect pacing by director Steve McQueen - not a minute is wasted and everything is beautiful, even the ugliness.
The film is based on true events and although it seems incredible, I doubt that there was much stretching of the truth here as it was based on the memoir written by the real Solomon Northup less than a year after his ordeal. Solomon was a free born black man living with his wife and young children in upstate New York. When his family go away so his wife can work, Solomon is enticed to join a travelling circus to play violin, for which he will be paid a lot of money. Seemingly unaware of the phrase "too good to be true", Solomon is drugged on a night out in Washington DC (where slavery was legal) and sold to a slave trader. He initially protests his treatment and proclaims his freedom, but the slaver and his jailer beat and whip him until he agrees to pretend he is a slave called Platt. He is transported to New Orleans where he is put into a slave market (slave trader played by Paul Giamatti) and quickly sold to his first owner.
The film then follows Solomon's eventful journey as he is bought and sold by three different masters over his 12 years spent as a slave. His early time with Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) is portrayed as relatively easy due to the kindness and religious ways of Ford who benefits from Solomon's work skills. However in real life Solomon was still trying many ways to escape or get letters back to his family and friends. The easiness of this time is upset though when a carpenter working for Ford, Tibauts (played here by Paul Dano in creepy mode) takes exception to Solomon and beats him. When Solomon beats back, Tibauts tries to kill him but Ford intervenes - but his protection can't last long. Solomon is then sold to another master where he works hard but continues to try to escape. After a short time of peace here, Solomon is sold to a man named Epps.
The time with Epps takes up a large amount of the film as it is the most eventful. Epps (played by Michael Fassbender of X-Men and Prometheus) is a married man who is wracked with guilt over feelings for one of his slaves, the hardest working cotton picker Patsey. Prone to whipping his workers for not picking enough cotton, drinking and violent outbursts in between his nice moments, Epps is a frightening creation in the hands of Fassbender. Here is where Solomon's resolve not to give up hope of escape and return to his family is both strengthened and tested. The interactions with Epps, Patsey (newcomer Lupita Nyong'o who fully deserved her Oscar) and another female slave who was separated from her children back at the slave market with Solomon are extremely saddening. I had tears in my eyes in a very disturbing scene with Solomon, as Lupito Nyong'o finds the depths of desperation and pain and recrimination.
I won't spoil how Solomon finally escapes his illegal imprisonment as that part is well documented in the film. What is not covered but is well worth reading up on afterwards, is the struggle to find justice for Solomon. I'm not sure what is the bigger tragedy - what happened to him or how the system was unwilling to punish the guilty. The film provides a shocking insight into a terrible time in history, complete with the use of the 'n' word and realistic violence. It's not easy to view but is such a well constructed and worthy tale. The thing that touched me the most was the perfect pacing by director Steve McQueen - not a minute is wasted and everything is beautiful, even the ugliness.
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Movie #6 - The Wolf of Wall Street
Disclaimer: I work in finance. I'm not a stockbroker but our firm does offer stockbroking advice amongst other advice. And the events depicted in this movie are nothing like my work, even back in the 1990s which is the same time period as the setting of this movie. So it was a little hard to watch without any bias.
The Wolf of Wall Street tells a very extreme cautionary tale. It follows and is narrated by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo di Caprio) telling the story of how he came to be extremely rich by ripping off small mum and dad investors across America in the 1990s. Jordan was obsessed with money from a young age and when his first day as a stockbroker on Wall Street goes badly due to the 1987 stock market crash, he ends up applying for a job in a small local firm where his slick New York patter pulls the wool over the eyes of the simple clients of the firm. He is soon running his own firm which grows bigger and bigger through the sale of penny stocks (very low value stocks unlikely to succeed but for which a big commission is paid to the stockbroker). Soon it is a juggernaut making the owners and workers very rich and the clients very poor - it was calculated that Belfort's actions had taken $200,000,000 ($200 million) wealth from their clients. After many complaints the FBI eventually investigated and charged Belfort but I'll let you see the movie to see that part.
You might think this sounds extremely boring and dull if you are not into finance but director Martin Scorcese has been very canny in his approach whereby you only see the story from Jordan's point of view and the victims of his crimes are never seen, and the level of glamour and debauchery is set to 'very high'. The film has been accused of glorifying the lifestyle of these people but in my opinion any sane person watching it would have to be thinking what awful people these people are, how awful their lives are and how they deserved their comeuppance. Well I definitely did. As a person who has never used any drugs, this movie made me very glad of that and never ever want to try it if that's what it's really like. This film is extremely graphic in its depiction of drug use, sex and other general debauchery so don't go if you're going to be offended by that.
Leo puts in a commanding force as the obsessed force of nature - just check out the scene of him on Quaaludes (a 70s drug prescribed regularly to calm down housewives until it was found that drug users were abusing it and it was banned). Jonah Hill's role I was less impressed with but I guess his character as Jordan's closest offsider and sycophant Donnie was meant to be annoying. Aussie girl Margot Robbie bursts onto the world stage with her performance as Jordan's second wife - she is great in an again unlikeable role. The supporting cast are reasonable but this is Leo's show and his partnerings with Scorcese always seem to work some magic.
For me I felt the movie did not really show the depth of suffering that Belfort caused to many people, but it definitely was an entertaining look at how you can cause so much suffering to yourself under the guise of enjoying yourself. While the movie is really long, it has a lot of humourous moments so a little different to your usual serious Scorcese drama and it just keeps the momentum going. I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Just don't walk out thinking that your local stockbroker's firm would be doing anything like this at lunchtime or after work, because it is so not like that! Trust me!
The Wolf of Wall Street tells a very extreme cautionary tale. It follows and is narrated by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo di Caprio) telling the story of how he came to be extremely rich by ripping off small mum and dad investors across America in the 1990s. Jordan was obsessed with money from a young age and when his first day as a stockbroker on Wall Street goes badly due to the 1987 stock market crash, he ends up applying for a job in a small local firm where his slick New York patter pulls the wool over the eyes of the simple clients of the firm. He is soon running his own firm which grows bigger and bigger through the sale of penny stocks (very low value stocks unlikely to succeed but for which a big commission is paid to the stockbroker). Soon it is a juggernaut making the owners and workers very rich and the clients very poor - it was calculated that Belfort's actions had taken $200,000,000 ($200 million) wealth from their clients. After many complaints the FBI eventually investigated and charged Belfort but I'll let you see the movie to see that part.
You might think this sounds extremely boring and dull if you are not into finance but director Martin Scorcese has been very canny in his approach whereby you only see the story from Jordan's point of view and the victims of his crimes are never seen, and the level of glamour and debauchery is set to 'very high'. The film has been accused of glorifying the lifestyle of these people but in my opinion any sane person watching it would have to be thinking what awful people these people are, how awful their lives are and how they deserved their comeuppance. Well I definitely did. As a person who has never used any drugs, this movie made me very glad of that and never ever want to try it if that's what it's really like. This film is extremely graphic in its depiction of drug use, sex and other general debauchery so don't go if you're going to be offended by that.
Leo puts in a commanding force as the obsessed force of nature - just check out the scene of him on Quaaludes (a 70s drug prescribed regularly to calm down housewives until it was found that drug users were abusing it and it was banned). Jonah Hill's role I was less impressed with but I guess his character as Jordan's closest offsider and sycophant Donnie was meant to be annoying. Aussie girl Margot Robbie bursts onto the world stage with her performance as Jordan's second wife - she is great in an again unlikeable role. The supporting cast are reasonable but this is Leo's show and his partnerings with Scorcese always seem to work some magic.
For me I felt the movie did not really show the depth of suffering that Belfort caused to many people, but it definitely was an entertaining look at how you can cause so much suffering to yourself under the guise of enjoying yourself. While the movie is really long, it has a lot of humourous moments so a little different to your usual serious Scorcese drama and it just keeps the momentum going. I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Just don't walk out thinking that your local stockbroker's firm would be doing anything like this at lunchtime or after work, because it is so not like that! Trust me!
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Movie #5 - Nebraska
Nebraska is a movie that deserves to be seen by the widest audience possible, but it probably won't be. Due out here in the next week or two and up for six Oscars, it is a beautiful portrayal of family life that is the closest thing to real life that I've ever seen on screen. But it is so low-key that most people probably won't hear of it or feel enough of a pull to go. But I recommend that you do!
Nebraska spends a few days in the company of Woody Grant (played by legend Bruce Dern). Woody is teetering on the edge of losing his marbles through age and lifelong alcoholism. After being found wandering the streets of Montana multiple times by local police and family, his son David (played by comedian Will Forte of SNL fame) figures out that his Dad genuinely thinks he has won a million dollars in the Readers Digest sweepstakes after receiving a letter saying he has won. He is walking to Nebraska where he has to present himself in person to win the prize. After Woody's crabby wife Kate (played by June Squibb) and two sons fail to talk sense into him, David eventually gives in and agrees to take Woody on a road trip to Nebraska to stop him from his crazy mission.
David and Woody's journey gets sidetracked after Woody takes a drunken fall with subsequent treatment time preventing them from reaching Nebraska by Friday afternoon close of business. So they head off to Woody and Kate's home town in Nebraska, which they left many years ago to run a business in Monana, to stay with relatives for the weekend before continuing on to Lincoln on the Monday. The weekend is played out over a series of conversations and adventures with the extended family, locals from Woody and Kate's past which vary between gently touching to gently comedic to brashly comedic. Woody can't help but tell everyone of his great win, which escalates the drama as old debts are brought up by former business partners and family.
The reason this movie is so great is because it has characters which you can completely relate to - the most normal I have ever seen on screen. The way the characters talk and inter-relate is also real, there are no wordy clunky conversations or overly emotional speeches. Just real people talking to each other like real people do. Will Forte leaves his comedy past behind to do a lovely job with David, who is struggling to understand his Dad who treated him and his brother so badly all their lives while drunk and yet there is enough forgiveness there to support his Dad and humour his little adventure. Bruce Dern is superb as the cranky, sleepy, rebellious oldster who clings to his dream in the face of overwhelming unlikeliness, and who never hears a kind word from his nagging wife. Kate is a real piece of work, but is there any underlying love there?
It's a great story that explores family relationships and the concept of roots without saying too much at all and definitely not hitting you over the head with any message or point beyond being kind to those you love. For me the black and white filming left me wanting more, as the rural locations were crying out to be filmed in colour where it would have been rolling green fields, orange deserts and gorgeous sunsets. So a cinematography Oscar is probably not going to come, but I think the film is a strong contender for others such as Best Screenplay, Best Director (Alexander Payne whose "Sideways" was similarly low key but entertaining and touching) and Best Actor for Bruce Dern. June Squibb may walk away with the Best Supporting Actress trophy too for her firecracker Kate who gets most of the biggest laughs.
Much gentler than my usual taste, but a genuinely lovely film. I give this 4 stars out of 5.
For my friends in Brisbane, if you go see this film at Dendy Portside, they are giving away a prize of an expensive cruise on one of those gigantic cruise ships. Not sure what the connection is, but hey it's a free holiday.
Nebraska spends a few days in the company of Woody Grant (played by legend Bruce Dern). Woody is teetering on the edge of losing his marbles through age and lifelong alcoholism. After being found wandering the streets of Montana multiple times by local police and family, his son David (played by comedian Will Forte of SNL fame) figures out that his Dad genuinely thinks he has won a million dollars in the Readers Digest sweepstakes after receiving a letter saying he has won. He is walking to Nebraska where he has to present himself in person to win the prize. After Woody's crabby wife Kate (played by June Squibb) and two sons fail to talk sense into him, David eventually gives in and agrees to take Woody on a road trip to Nebraska to stop him from his crazy mission.
David and Woody's journey gets sidetracked after Woody takes a drunken fall with subsequent treatment time preventing them from reaching Nebraska by Friday afternoon close of business. So they head off to Woody and Kate's home town in Nebraska, which they left many years ago to run a business in Monana, to stay with relatives for the weekend before continuing on to Lincoln on the Monday. The weekend is played out over a series of conversations and adventures with the extended family, locals from Woody and Kate's past which vary between gently touching to gently comedic to brashly comedic. Woody can't help but tell everyone of his great win, which escalates the drama as old debts are brought up by former business partners and family.
The reason this movie is so great is because it has characters which you can completely relate to - the most normal I have ever seen on screen. The way the characters talk and inter-relate is also real, there are no wordy clunky conversations or overly emotional speeches. Just real people talking to each other like real people do. Will Forte leaves his comedy past behind to do a lovely job with David, who is struggling to understand his Dad who treated him and his brother so badly all their lives while drunk and yet there is enough forgiveness there to support his Dad and humour his little adventure. Bruce Dern is superb as the cranky, sleepy, rebellious oldster who clings to his dream in the face of overwhelming unlikeliness, and who never hears a kind word from his nagging wife. Kate is a real piece of work, but is there any underlying love there?
It's a great story that explores family relationships and the concept of roots without saying too much at all and definitely not hitting you over the head with any message or point beyond being kind to those you love. For me the black and white filming left me wanting more, as the rural locations were crying out to be filmed in colour where it would have been rolling green fields, orange deserts and gorgeous sunsets. So a cinematography Oscar is probably not going to come, but I think the film is a strong contender for others such as Best Screenplay, Best Director (Alexander Payne whose "Sideways" was similarly low key but entertaining and touching) and Best Actor for Bruce Dern. June Squibb may walk away with the Best Supporting Actress trophy too for her firecracker Kate who gets most of the biggest laughs.
Much gentler than my usual taste, but a genuinely lovely film. I give this 4 stars out of 5.
For my friends in Brisbane, if you go see this film at Dendy Portside, they are giving away a prize of an expensive cruise on one of those gigantic cruise ships. Not sure what the connection is, but hey it's a free holiday.
Movie # 4 - 47 Ronin 3D
47 Ronin is set in ancient feudal Japan, starring an entirely Japanese cast to tell the (loosely) based on a true story tale of the 47 Ronin (samurais with no masters), except for the fact that they have thrown in Keanu Reeves to play an outcast wannabe samurai who leads a band of former samurai to avenge the death of their former master. The tale of the 47 Ronin is a famous one in Japan that has been told in many different ways over time. Never before though, I suspect, has it been told in English starring the biggest "dude" in America as an honourable, graceful Samurai!
The movie begins with a young boy running from an unseen threat and falling into a creek where he is saved by Lord Asano when his leader of his guards, Oishi, would have killed the boy. Asano has apparently seen something special in the boy, who we raises in his village and allows to grow up with his daughter Mika. Switch to modern day and Kai (Keanu) is a tolerated outcast as the samurai all think he is half-demon, but Asano's protection keeps him around, teaches him sword play and there is a hint of a romance with Mika. Asano's village is about to receive a visit from the almighty Shogun (the ruler of the whole land) and Kai spots a strange wolf while out on a hunt with Asano and the guard to rid the village of a killer beast. The wolf turns out to be a witch spying for Lord Kira, an ambitious young lord who wants to expand his empire.
During the visit to Ako by the Shogun and Lord Kira, we see Kai's fighting skills in action when he takes the place of Asano's fighter who has been poisoned by the witch. But that is just a diversion as the real target is for the witch to cast a spell over Asano which causes him to try to attack Kira. When discovered, Asano is sentenced to death by the Shogun, who allows him to commit seppaku (also known as hara-kiri: a ritual suicide which restores honour). The samurai are disbanded, becoming ronin, and forbidden to seek revenge for their master. Lord Kira is appointed as Ako's new Lord and he is betrothed to marry Mika in 12 months' time. Oishi is thrown in a pit to break his spirit and Kai is sold into slavery. Everything has gone wrong, but on Oishi's release he is determined to break the decree and get revenge on Lord Kira. He assembles the ronin and seeks out Kai who he knows will help save Mika from her fate.
The movie continues at a good pace as the ronin set out on their mission. The plot is pretty senseless (why doesn't Kira just go for the Shogun if he is so ambitious and powerful via his witch?, who are the demons who raised Kai?, why does the Shogun forbid the ronin to seek revenge if he thinks Asano was guilty of the crime - there would be nothing to avenge?, how do many of the ronin escape the witch's clutches at the first clash?) but the action scenes are reasonably good with the sword fights and the final battle is suitably epic. The witch (played by Rinko Kikuchi from Pacific Rim and Babel) is quite menacing but a little over the top in her venom. However a good performance by Hiroyuki Sanada (who recently played the Japanese guard in The Railway Man) as Oishi is offset by the performance by Keanu Reeves. He tries to bring the required melancholy of a half-breed outcast whose love can never be officially approved, but can't shake off his Californian dude mannerisms to convincingly play an awesome samurai and romantic leading man. Keanu needs a walking coach to change his walk!
There is a large component of fantasy elements brought to this version of the tale which put a different twist on the usual samurai film, which could be seen as a bit silly. But if you like your blockbusters fun and dumb, you won't mind. As a fan of samurai films who doesn't mind a bit of silliness, I would have given this three stars but I'm subtracting 1/2 a star for the fact that everyone speaks in English. This would have been way more convincing if spoken in Japanese with subtitles. So it's a 2.5 stars out of 5 for this one.
The movie begins with a young boy running from an unseen threat and falling into a creek where he is saved by Lord Asano when his leader of his guards, Oishi, would have killed the boy. Asano has apparently seen something special in the boy, who we raises in his village and allows to grow up with his daughter Mika. Switch to modern day and Kai (Keanu) is a tolerated outcast as the samurai all think he is half-demon, but Asano's protection keeps him around, teaches him sword play and there is a hint of a romance with Mika. Asano's village is about to receive a visit from the almighty Shogun (the ruler of the whole land) and Kai spots a strange wolf while out on a hunt with Asano and the guard to rid the village of a killer beast. The wolf turns out to be a witch spying for Lord Kira, an ambitious young lord who wants to expand his empire.
During the visit to Ako by the Shogun and Lord Kira, we see Kai's fighting skills in action when he takes the place of Asano's fighter who has been poisoned by the witch. But that is just a diversion as the real target is for the witch to cast a spell over Asano which causes him to try to attack Kira. When discovered, Asano is sentenced to death by the Shogun, who allows him to commit seppaku (also known as hara-kiri: a ritual suicide which restores honour). The samurai are disbanded, becoming ronin, and forbidden to seek revenge for their master. Lord Kira is appointed as Ako's new Lord and he is betrothed to marry Mika in 12 months' time. Oishi is thrown in a pit to break his spirit and Kai is sold into slavery. Everything has gone wrong, but on Oishi's release he is determined to break the decree and get revenge on Lord Kira. He assembles the ronin and seeks out Kai who he knows will help save Mika from her fate.
The movie continues at a good pace as the ronin set out on their mission. The plot is pretty senseless (why doesn't Kira just go for the Shogun if he is so ambitious and powerful via his witch?, who are the demons who raised Kai?, why does the Shogun forbid the ronin to seek revenge if he thinks Asano was guilty of the crime - there would be nothing to avenge?, how do many of the ronin escape the witch's clutches at the first clash?) but the action scenes are reasonably good with the sword fights and the final battle is suitably epic. The witch (played by Rinko Kikuchi from Pacific Rim and Babel) is quite menacing but a little over the top in her venom. However a good performance by Hiroyuki Sanada (who recently played the Japanese guard in The Railway Man) as Oishi is offset by the performance by Keanu Reeves. He tries to bring the required melancholy of a half-breed outcast whose love can never be officially approved, but can't shake off his Californian dude mannerisms to convincingly play an awesome samurai and romantic leading man. Keanu needs a walking coach to change his walk!
There is a large component of fantasy elements brought to this version of the tale which put a different twist on the usual samurai film, which could be seen as a bit silly. But if you like your blockbusters fun and dumb, you won't mind. As a fan of samurai films who doesn't mind a bit of silliness, I would have given this three stars but I'm subtracting 1/2 a star for the fact that everyone speaks in English. This would have been way more convincing if spoken in Japanese with subtitles. So it's a 2.5 stars out of 5 for this one.
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Movie # 3 - Her
What a unique movie this is. A film about love, how we love and why we love. I've never really seen anything like it. It's offbeat, a little uncomfortable at times, but strangely magnetic.
A brilliant central performance is given by Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a very sad man who is getting over the breakup of his marriage while trying to maintain an emotional even keel at work where his job is to create beautiful handwritten letters for other people to send to friends, family or lovers. Theodore's melancholy existence is interrupted when he purchases a new Operating System (OS) for his computer, one with the ability to learn and evolve. Voiced evocatively by Scarlett Johanssen, "Samantha" proves to be far more than artificial intelligence from the very first moment of set up, displaying the sense of humour and conversational style of a real woman.
I don't want to say too much about the plot as it's definitely better to experience it live. Suffice to say that from here, the film goes on to explore the behaviour of people falling in love and being in love. It's done in an extremely talky style, essentially being a lot of conversations between Theodore and Samantha, Theodore and his dictated work letters, Theodore and his friend Amy, Theodore and his ex Catherine. These conversations are dense but fascinating and well-written by that crazy genius Spike Jonze ("Where the Wild Things Are", "Being John Malkovich"). Given one half of the relationship is an unseen computer drive spoken to through an earpiece, the camera lingers on the face of Joaquin as he goes through the full range of emotions. It's a brave, excellent portrayal although distractingly at the beginning there are lots of similarities to Johnny Galecki's Leonard on Big Bang Theory as he gets his geek on.
It sits in the 'sci-fi' genre because a unique world is created in minute detail that completely immerses you into the setting in such a way that it doesn't seem bizarre that a man dating his OS is not seen as needing to go to a mental institution. The setting is definitely Earth and definitely not quite now but not a dystopian future either, it's just not the world we live in right now (in this way it reminds me strongly of similar sci-fi "Never Let me Go" and "Oxv: the Manual). This is portrayed most strongly through the technology being futuristic but the clothing being retro 50s in many ways.
There are laughs in this movie but it's mainly a drama tracing the odd emotional reawakening of a man who has unwittingly hidden himself from life. The relationship between a man and his OS doesn't seem that unrealistic most of the time due to the setting, but then there are moments where I was thinking "this is so weird". The scariest thing of all is how you leave the cinema thinking "this could really happen the way we are going". Look around you and see how many people are sitting on your bus or train, immersed in their phone and ipad. or with an earpiece in and having a one-sided conversation in public while avoiding eye contact with any other human being. Let's hope this doesn't really happen in future. But the overwhelming outcome of the movie is that it will leave you thinking about love and all its wonderful feelings and lack of reason, and wanting to express your feelings to your loved one in a deeper way. Well I did anyway.
Up for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design and two noms for Best Music. It's got some pretty stiff competition in most of those categories but regardless if it wins, it's gotta go down as going to be one of the most unique films of the year and probably the warmest. I give it four hearts out of five.
A brilliant central performance is given by Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a very sad man who is getting over the breakup of his marriage while trying to maintain an emotional even keel at work where his job is to create beautiful handwritten letters for other people to send to friends, family or lovers. Theodore's melancholy existence is interrupted when he purchases a new Operating System (OS) for his computer, one with the ability to learn and evolve. Voiced evocatively by Scarlett Johanssen, "Samantha" proves to be far more than artificial intelligence from the very first moment of set up, displaying the sense of humour and conversational style of a real woman.
I don't want to say too much about the plot as it's definitely better to experience it live. Suffice to say that from here, the film goes on to explore the behaviour of people falling in love and being in love. It's done in an extremely talky style, essentially being a lot of conversations between Theodore and Samantha, Theodore and his dictated work letters, Theodore and his friend Amy, Theodore and his ex Catherine. These conversations are dense but fascinating and well-written by that crazy genius Spike Jonze ("Where the Wild Things Are", "Being John Malkovich"). Given one half of the relationship is an unseen computer drive spoken to through an earpiece, the camera lingers on the face of Joaquin as he goes through the full range of emotions. It's a brave, excellent portrayal although distractingly at the beginning there are lots of similarities to Johnny Galecki's Leonard on Big Bang Theory as he gets his geek on.
It sits in the 'sci-fi' genre because a unique world is created in minute detail that completely immerses you into the setting in such a way that it doesn't seem bizarre that a man dating his OS is not seen as needing to go to a mental institution. The setting is definitely Earth and definitely not quite now but not a dystopian future either, it's just not the world we live in right now (in this way it reminds me strongly of similar sci-fi "Never Let me Go" and "Oxv: the Manual). This is portrayed most strongly through the technology being futuristic but the clothing being retro 50s in many ways.
There are laughs in this movie but it's mainly a drama tracing the odd emotional reawakening of a man who has unwittingly hidden himself from life. The relationship between a man and his OS doesn't seem that unrealistic most of the time due to the setting, but then there are moments where I was thinking "this is so weird". The scariest thing of all is how you leave the cinema thinking "this could really happen the way we are going". Look around you and see how many people are sitting on your bus or train, immersed in their phone and ipad. or with an earpiece in and having a one-sided conversation in public while avoiding eye contact with any other human being. Let's hope this doesn't really happen in future. But the overwhelming outcome of the movie is that it will leave you thinking about love and all its wonderful feelings and lack of reason, and wanting to express your feelings to your loved one in a deeper way. Well I did anyway.
Up for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design and two noms for Best Music. It's got some pretty stiff competition in most of those categories but regardless if it wins, it's gotta go down as going to be one of the most unique films of the year and probably the warmest. I give it four hearts out of five.
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
Movie #2 - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Back at the beginning of 2013 when I published my post on 2012 Year in Review, I included a number of predictions for 2013. One of those was that Anchorman 2 would "withstand being the most anticipated sequel of the year and deliver". I am pleased to say that this is one prediction that came true, although some of the others were off the mark (World War Z definitely beat Warm Bodies as the zombie movie of the year, Seth McFarlane unfortunately didn't nail the Oscars hosting gig). Debateable though if this or Catching Fire was the most anticipated given the box office records the Hunger Games sequel has been smashing around the world.
Anchorman 2 picks up a little after the end of the first movie. Ron and Veronica are now married with a son and co-anchoring the San Diego local news. The rest of the team is scattered for reasons unknown. Ron and Veronica are summoned to the office of the big boss (the first of a series of excellent cameos) where they think they are going to be promoted to the primetime news hosts. However only Veronica gets the gig and oh boy is Ron not happy about that. Cut to a few months later and Ron is alone and in a sorry state when he is approached by Freddie Schapp to move to New York and work for GNN (Global News Network) on their new concept of 24 hour news. Which Ron promptly calls "stupid" when he hears it but hey, what choice does he have? So he gets the team back together, moves to New York and takes a shot at this stupid new concept, having a series of bizarre adventures and trying to win Veronica back along the way.
From the get-go Anchorman 2 is very funny although some of the gags are recycled from the first movie (Ron's pre-news warmups are more of the same stupidity) and they start to become a little more sparse as the film progresses and life lessons have to be fit in. The humour continues to be on the stupid/bizarre/offensive side of things and if anything, takes the weirdness even further than the first one. So if you didn't like that, you won't like this at all. The introduction of Kristen Wiig's character Chani as a love interest for Brick creates some very uncomfortable humour as these two are almost like mentally deficient children and if they were real people would actually be unable to survive in the world let alone have jobs. But it is pretty funny if you're not too sensitive. It is overstuffed with big star cameos, particularly in another news team smackdown.
While frequently gut-bustingly, tears in the eyes funny in the first half, the second half is less so because of the relationship drama that needs to be resolved but also because the film actually has some very good points to make about what has happened to "news" over time. Smartly ignoring the 1970s setting, the film skewers our obsession with light news using current popular issues such as "cute animals", "car chases" and "patriotic stories". When you have so much time to fill, is it inevitable that you are going to end up giving people stories they want to hear about rather than telling them what they need to know? It's left me reflecting on these issues even a week after seeing the movie, as well as quoting all the funny lines.
It doesn't have the surprise factor of the first movie, but it certainly has a lot of positive points with most of the original cast returning to provide great support to the wonderful creation that is Ron Burgundy. Will Ferrell finds some new shades to Ron in this one with the introduction of what could be yet another Wes Mantooth style inferior rival in Jack Lime (James Marsden hamming it up) but instead Ron is in awe of him - "he's magnificent" he breathes upon first seeing him.
This is a very funny movie for the first hour and then a smart, kinda funny movie in the second portion. So I'm giving this 3.5 stars out of 5.
Anchorman 2 picks up a little after the end of the first movie. Ron and Veronica are now married with a son and co-anchoring the San Diego local news. The rest of the team is scattered for reasons unknown. Ron and Veronica are summoned to the office of the big boss (the first of a series of excellent cameos) where they think they are going to be promoted to the primetime news hosts. However only Veronica gets the gig and oh boy is Ron not happy about that. Cut to a few months later and Ron is alone and in a sorry state when he is approached by Freddie Schapp to move to New York and work for GNN (Global News Network) on their new concept of 24 hour news. Which Ron promptly calls "stupid" when he hears it but hey, what choice does he have? So he gets the team back together, moves to New York and takes a shot at this stupid new concept, having a series of bizarre adventures and trying to win Veronica back along the way.
From the get-go Anchorman 2 is very funny although some of the gags are recycled from the first movie (Ron's pre-news warmups are more of the same stupidity) and they start to become a little more sparse as the film progresses and life lessons have to be fit in. The humour continues to be on the stupid/bizarre/offensive side of things and if anything, takes the weirdness even further than the first one. So if you didn't like that, you won't like this at all. The introduction of Kristen Wiig's character Chani as a love interest for Brick creates some very uncomfortable humour as these two are almost like mentally deficient children and if they were real people would actually be unable to survive in the world let alone have jobs. But it is pretty funny if you're not too sensitive. It is overstuffed with big star cameos, particularly in another news team smackdown.
While frequently gut-bustingly, tears in the eyes funny in the first half, the second half is less so because of the relationship drama that needs to be resolved but also because the film actually has some very good points to make about what has happened to "news" over time. Smartly ignoring the 1970s setting, the film skewers our obsession with light news using current popular issues such as "cute animals", "car chases" and "patriotic stories". When you have so much time to fill, is it inevitable that you are going to end up giving people stories they want to hear about rather than telling them what they need to know? It's left me reflecting on these issues even a week after seeing the movie, as well as quoting all the funny lines.
It doesn't have the surprise factor of the first movie, but it certainly has a lot of positive points with most of the original cast returning to provide great support to the wonderful creation that is Ron Burgundy. Will Ferrell finds some new shades to Ron in this one with the introduction of what could be yet another Wes Mantooth style inferior rival in Jack Lime (James Marsden hamming it up) but instead Ron is in awe of him - "he's magnificent" he breathes upon first seeing him.
This is a very funny movie for the first hour and then a smart, kinda funny movie in the second portion. So I'm giving this 3.5 stars out of 5.
Saturday, 11 January 2014
2014 Movie #1 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Picking up just after "An Unexpected Journey" left off, "The Desolation of Smaug" is a far more action packed affair than the first movie. Although I liked the first movie, many complained it was too long and slow. They won't say that about this one! It bounces from action setpiece to action setpiece as the quest continues.
Our party of dwarves and one becoming braver Hobbit are still being pursued by Azog the Defiler and his gang of ugly orcs as they try to get to their goal (The Lonely Mountain) before the end of Durin's Day. Escaping Azog, our strange company encounter a huge bear, navigate the dark and twisted Mirkwood, and are captured by the wood elves ruled by the greedy Elvenking Thranduil (father of Legolas). Imprisoned, the dwarves despair until they are rescued by Bilbo in what has to be one of the funniest, most entertaining escape scenes ever put to film. They then have to sneak in and out of Laketown to ascend the Lonely Mountain, but will they make it in time, how will they get into Erebor and what will Bilbo do when he tries to steal the Arkenstone and meets the dragon Smaug (seen singeing Erebor in the first Hobbit movie) who has been slumbering peacefully in the treasure filled throne room of Erebor for many years?
A side story involves Gandalf heading to Dol Guldur to investigate whether The Necromancer is gathering dark forces to start a war on the various races of Middle Earth. Going in alone might not be the best decision he has ever made....
The film is hugely entertaining because it really has to further the action along so that we can reach the conclusion by the end of the next movie, which still has to cover what happens to Smaug, what the Necromancer is up to and the Battle of Five Armies. It's still long (2 hours 40 minutes) but as long as you take a trip to the bathroom before hand you won't have a problem with the running time which zips past with all the action. We still don't get to know all the dwarves very well, with only Thorin, Balin and Kili (the least dwarfy dwarf in the group) getting much screen time - Kili's interaction with female Silvan elf Tauriel (an invented character not from the book) giving the film a much needed lighter edge.
Thank God for Tauriel (played by Lost's Evangeline Lilly) because she is virtually the only female presence in the 2 movies so far, but she is a real butt-kicker apart from the soft spot she has for Kili, much to the distaste of Legolas (returning Orlando Bloom who has been very CGI'd to look 10 years younger than his first trilogy character). She also ups the gore factor of the film with some spectacular orc kills. Yeah! A lot of practical effects have obviously been used here (harking back to director Peter Jackson's earlier horror movies) but at times I found the film used a very strange mix of CGI and practical effects that really pulled me out of the movie. Maybe seeing it in High Frame Rate would have been better.
The heart of the movie is still Bilbo and his transformation from homebound hobbit to brave adventurer and One Ring resistor, and he again plays this role to perfection. His scenes with the dragon Smaug are amazing, before the film ends in a cliffhanger which leaves you wanting the next movie "There and Back Again" immediately. Sadly, we now have to wait until December 2014 for this after it was bumped from a planned July release date. But of course we will all go and see the end of what is now becoming a rollicking adventure.
I give this 4 stars.
Our party of dwarves and one becoming braver Hobbit are still being pursued by Azog the Defiler and his gang of ugly orcs as they try to get to their goal (The Lonely Mountain) before the end of Durin's Day. Escaping Azog, our strange company encounter a huge bear, navigate the dark and twisted Mirkwood, and are captured by the wood elves ruled by the greedy Elvenking Thranduil (father of Legolas). Imprisoned, the dwarves despair until they are rescued by Bilbo in what has to be one of the funniest, most entertaining escape scenes ever put to film. They then have to sneak in and out of Laketown to ascend the Lonely Mountain, but will they make it in time, how will they get into Erebor and what will Bilbo do when he tries to steal the Arkenstone and meets the dragon Smaug (seen singeing Erebor in the first Hobbit movie) who has been slumbering peacefully in the treasure filled throne room of Erebor for many years?
A side story involves Gandalf heading to Dol Guldur to investigate whether The Necromancer is gathering dark forces to start a war on the various races of Middle Earth. Going in alone might not be the best decision he has ever made....
The film is hugely entertaining because it really has to further the action along so that we can reach the conclusion by the end of the next movie, which still has to cover what happens to Smaug, what the Necromancer is up to and the Battle of Five Armies. It's still long (2 hours 40 minutes) but as long as you take a trip to the bathroom before hand you won't have a problem with the running time which zips past with all the action. We still don't get to know all the dwarves very well, with only Thorin, Balin and Kili (the least dwarfy dwarf in the group) getting much screen time - Kili's interaction with female Silvan elf Tauriel (an invented character not from the book) giving the film a much needed lighter edge.
Thank God for Tauriel (played by Lost's Evangeline Lilly) because she is virtually the only female presence in the 2 movies so far, but she is a real butt-kicker apart from the soft spot she has for Kili, much to the distaste of Legolas (returning Orlando Bloom who has been very CGI'd to look 10 years younger than his first trilogy character). She also ups the gore factor of the film with some spectacular orc kills. Yeah! A lot of practical effects have obviously been used here (harking back to director Peter Jackson's earlier horror movies) but at times I found the film used a very strange mix of CGI and practical effects that really pulled me out of the movie. Maybe seeing it in High Frame Rate would have been better.
The heart of the movie is still Bilbo and his transformation from homebound hobbit to brave adventurer and One Ring resistor, and he again plays this role to perfection. His scenes with the dragon Smaug are amazing, before the film ends in a cliffhanger which leaves you wanting the next movie "There and Back Again" immediately. Sadly, we now have to wait until December 2014 for this after it was bumped from a planned July release date. But of course we will all go and see the end of what is now becoming a rollicking adventure.
I give this 4 stars.
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