Given that I gave Bradley Cooper the benefit of the doubt last week I should really be as generous to Jake Gyllenhaal and select his film as movie of the week, especially as it's directed by genius Moon director, Duncan Jones. However I just couldn't resist a little French farce to celebrate April Fool's Day, so film of the week is Louise Michel.
Louise Michel
Delightful looking black comedy where a group of disgruntled employees, led by the indomitable eponymous heroine, take a hit out on their boss. Then it all starts to go wrong with surreal and unexpected results.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Passenger Side
Canadian Indie following two brothers, one a failed writer the other a recovering junkie, on a road trip around their adoptive Los Angeles. Slow and sedate it looks like a fine attempt at getting under the skin of the central fraternal relationship.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Source Code
By rights this superior time-travel thriller, like a mash-up of 12 Monkeys, Deja Vu and Groundhog Day, should be the film of the week. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stephens, a mixed up soldier trying to save the past, with Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga supporting and directed by Duncan [Zowie B...] Jones this will probably do very well at the box office.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Essential Killing
A virtually wordless acting tour de force from Vincent Gallo drives this Eastern European set prison break drama with Gallo playing the Islamist convert escaping waterboarding.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Oranges and Sunshine
Based on the true cases of British children being lured away to Australia by an inefficient and corrupt social services in post-war England, many whilst their family were still alive. Emily Watson plays the social worker trying to uncover the conspiracy, David Wenham and Hugo Weaving among the cases she uncovers. Worthy and tear-jerking but probably not much more than that.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Blooded
Interesting independent British movie, which takes the central conceit of The Most Dangerous Game with an extreme Animal Liberation hunting down a group of bloodsports enthusiasts. Intercut with alternative actors explaining what happened.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Game
Our Bollywood release of the week revolves around a murder mystery with four very different suspects (drug-dealer, actor, journalist and politician) who may have killed a young woman and now face their lives falling apart until the real killer can be found.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Killing Bono
Unfortunately the story of making this slightly inaccurate Neil McCormick biopic is more interesting than the film itself given that Bono himself suggested the title. Ben Barnes plays the lead singer of Dublin's second best band, Martin McCann does a spot-on impersonation of 70's era Bono and Pete Postlethwaite will always have this as his lasting legacy.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Sucker Punch
Suddenly the same fans who were applauding Zack Snyder to direct the new Superman were disgusted at the thought after his latest creative nadir crashed and burned at the US box office. It's all to do with an innocent young woman fending off evil men by retreating into her subconscious - but feminism it ain't.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Hatchet 2
I suspect if I said I didn't even know there'd been a Hatchet 1 I guess I'd be missing the point of this grisly American horror. Expect small axes to fall on all the sympathetic characters - if indeed there are any.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Hop
We get the cinema we deserve really, or so you will if you watch this appalling looking kids comedy about the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russell Brand) and his attempts to avoid work whilst excreting jelly beans.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Young Hearts Run Free
First feature from Andy Mark Simpson looking at the relationship between a art student in Northumbria and a girl from London against the backdrop of the Miners strikes. Probably would've felt like an old-story in 1974 (when it's set).
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Saturday, 2 April 2011
A recogniseable fantasy (Out this week - 01/04/11)
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
The Town
2010. Dir: Ben Affleck. Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner and Blake Lively. ●●●●○
I shall start this review with a small confession. Earlier this year I read an American blog that noted the US cinematic release of the Red Riding trilogy had subtitles for the audience who couldn't decipher Yorkshire accents. I laughed at the time but now I have to confess there were moments in Ben Affleck's stunning The Town where subtitles for the Boston accents would have been useful. Not that understanding the intention of the scenes is at all hard, the actors providing enough non-verbal communication to fully compensate for any difficulties in the language.
The cliche ridden plot concerns a highly efficient quartet of Charlestown, Boston based bank robbers led by actor/director Ben Affleck and the FBI squad intent on bringing them down as personified by Jon Hamm. Over the course of three robberies the heat increases on our criminal heroes, not least due to the hot-headed Jeremy Renner, the kidnap of Bank manager Rebecca Hall during the initial robbery and the subsequent attempts by Affleck to pacify the situation by falling for Hall.
The qualities of the film though do not lie in the plot, if anything Affleck fully embraces and glorifies even the most obvious tropes, but in the excution. Each of the robberies highlights a different aspect of the genre from the meticulous planning of the first, the fanatastic car chase of the second and the thunderous Michael Mann inspired shootout in the final act.
Affleck handles the action in these scenes very well, proving he was paying attention during the less distinguished moments of his acting career. He can also handle the more sombre scenes, the prison scene with his father, as played by Chris Cooper, and the tense conversations with kingpin florist Pete Postlethwaite perfectly counterbalance the action. There is also an underlying sense of uncomfortableness in the scenes between Afflek and Hall, highlighting the vague sense of recognition from their first encounter. On a side note I can imagine Afflecks speech about his mother easily becoming an audition favourite in years to come.
The writing, especially for the working class characters, is excellently observed and most of the actors bring their bes work to the screen. I was especially impressed by the bristling energy of Jeremy Renner and Blake Lively's good time girl also stood out.
The film was less comfortable with the police procedural side, the criminals were just far more entertaining and - frankly - too good at their job to give the FBI characters much to work on.
Some of the visual tics Affleck relies on were a little tired and ths didn't have quite the same impact as his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone however this does underlinewhat an interesting talent he has and I will certainly beinterestedin seeing the next project he signs up for.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Inception
2010. Dir: Christopher Nolan. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe. ●●●●○
To misquote Zhuangzi (4th Century BC Chinese Philosopher) "Last night I dreamed I was a butterfly and now I'm now sure if that was Inception". Although given the nature of the films climax that pithy (and not terribly original) start veers awfully close to spoiler territory. Chris Nolan's 7th and most expensive movie to date is all about the nature of our existence and our understanding of how dreams interface with reality.
Or is it?
Nolan has created a universe where accessing and manipulating dreams is a commonplace business, which is both tolerated by the establishment whilst being technically illegal. The main purpose of the procedure is to steal ideas and concepts from within the brain of the subject - it would appear to be generally industrial secrets - although it was strangely originally developed to allow soldiers to practise beating the crap out of each other in their unconscious.
After Leonardo DiCaprio and his right hand man Joseph Gordon-Levitt botch a robbery from the id of Ken Watanabe's Saito, Ken hires them (partly to protect them) to go to the next level and implant an idea into Cillian Murphy's brain. This theoretical implanting process (it's never been done thoroughly successfully) is named Inception. Like in all heist movies we then go through the process of getting a team together with the architect (Page), forger (Hardy) and untitled chemist Dileep Rao joined our band of mercenaries.
During this process the movie goes through the most interesting set pieces, including the folding Parisian street we saw in the trailer and exploding cafe scenes, as this serves as training for Ellen Page the exposition fits nicely into the scenes without feeling too talky. We also get introduced to Marion Cotillard as DiCaprio's deceased wife who's place within his tortured mind may just lead to his downfall.
The majority of the film then takes place in Murphy's dreams (yes that's dreams within dreams within dreams) as the team delve further into the recesses of his mind to place the macguffin of an idea.
As a heist movie Inception works very well. The team compliment and re-inforce each other strengths. The fuzzy action sequences are, at least, an improvement on The Dark Knight and nicely paced even if the stakes never seem as high as they ought to be - if you get killed you go to limbo where your brain works at an incredible rate possibly atrophying the faculties before your physical form wakes up... or something. In fact the film as a whole nips along at a fantastic pace ebbing and flowing in a way that seems both natural and easily carries you along with it.
The cast do good jobs with little to work with. I especially liked Ellen Page for her straightforward delivery of some of the more unlikely lines of dialogue and Tom Hardy for his slightly fey Britishness. Leo is unfortunately coasting on his far more complex performance in Shutter Island where the character had much of the same issues on his mind. Cotillard is icily beautiful as always and I couldn't help wondering what she'd be like as a pure femme fatale in a modern noir that really exploited her passion and poise. The fringe of the movie also holds some nice cameos for Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite and Tom Berenger.
The production design is crisp and precise, the way you would expect within the dream world, all tailored suits and new furnishings. The stand-out technical performance goes to Hans Zimmer for his delicious action score, it pounds it's way through the movie as both heart and soul and is an album I have no reticence in recommending.
I am slightly disappointed by the film as it introduces some interesting concepts but then drops them. We are in a world where people become addicted to dreams but this is barely touched upon as is the inevitable psychological effect of spending so much time hopping from dream to dream. There is also a strange lack of surrealism in these dreams, apart from a misplaced train and the ultra-cool hotel fight (which is horrifically justified as being natural consequence of dreams on another layer as opposed to being part of the way dreams are) there is little that doesn't take place in any major blockbuster. The act of Inception itself - snow covered bunker, hospital bed, safe contents - is a nice touch but it's not enough. It hardly seems fair to say that the subconscious of the victim will fight off attacks from a group like this but only allow them guys with guns as a means of defence.
There has also been plenty of Internet chat about whether the final scene is still within a dream and indeed whether the entire film takes place within DiCaprios head. In answer to that whilst the final shot is pleasingly ambiguous and the Mombasa chase sequence seemingly unlikely in reality (tapered alleyways and fortuitous arrivals et al) I find myself caring less and less about the issue as time passes. After all if Nolan doesn't really care about the effect of dreaming on his characters (see my comments above) then why should I?
Overall I would say Inception is a roaring heist movie that will keep you entertained and gripped throughout it's run time, but don't be fooled by the early reviews or solid marketing strategy this is not as clever as it thinks it is.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Out This Week (19/02/10)
I'm a little ashamed about this week's releases. Not that the releases themselves have shamed me, but that the excitometer numbers are a little high. You see although part of it is based on what I think about the trailers and the concept equally a large part is defined by reviews, cast, off-screen talent and awards buzz. So there are three films getting high scores this week, and I have to admit it's mainly due to the oscar noms. So ignoring them I'd probably recommend Samantha Morton's foster drama The Unloved (although it was screened on Channel 4 last year so I'm not sure why it's getting a cinema release. Regardless, mathematically the film of the week is The Lovely Bones.
Closed Book
Tom Conti is a blind art historian, Daryl Hannah his mysterious assistant helping him with one last book. There are secrets galore in this murky thriller, but aside from the money shot of Conti with just empty eye sockets there's little to recommend it.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Crazy Heart
This is the film that will bring Jeff Bridges his fully deserved Oscar. Naturally this film would have normally faded away over time, but for this reason only it will stay in the history books. I'm sure Jeff's performance as a washed-up country singer hitting the bottom of his bottle and rock bottom of his life is worthy, however...
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●●○
Headless Woman
The third feature from acclaimed Argentinian director Lucretia Martel follows a middle class mother of three who begins to lose her sanity after running over a neighbours dog.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
The Last Station
Based on the final days of Leo Tolstoy's life, apparently the vast majority of the screenplay is based on the diaries that most of the characters are keeping. In that respect it's as close to the truth about what happened as can be made about events that took place 100 years ago.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●●○
The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson's adapatation of the Alice Sebold novel. The novel has a wistful attitude to death which may have been lost in translation but Jackson's always a fascintaing director, even when he mis-fires - as this might be - it's worth taking a look at.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●●○
Solomon Kane
Puritan adventure (now's there's a combination you don't hear everyday) as 16th century soldier James Purefoy battles ancient demons and shadowy sects to save Rachel Hurd-Wood (and his soul, apparently). Expect much blood-letting and faux-important speeches. Max von Sydow and Pete Postlethwaite lead the supporting cast.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
The Unloved
First shown on TV last year, Samantha Morton's disection of the foster care system, with all it's failures on display, gets a belateded cinematic release. Morton writes from the heart, having spent much of her childhood in care and the deeply unsettling child's view of situations they cannot understand or control is hugely affecting.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Pete Postlethwaite
Happy Birthday to
Pete Postlethwaite
64 today
Warrington born Pete trained at the Bristol Old Vic and has had a long and varied career in theatre and film. He has a couple of major productions out this year but nothing that I particularly want to see him in.
