tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28038243022680901762024-03-05T22:00:16.027-08:00Princess In Another Castle....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-83674798621648711292018-01-05T07:41:00.001-08:002018-01-05T07:41:59.879-08:00Tracks of the Week (January 1st-5th)2017 was a great year for music. We had excellent comebacks (Arcade Fire, QOTSA and Gorillaz), immense debut albums (The Big Moon, Declan McKenna and Sampha) and the return of King Kendrick with the impeccable <i>DAMN. </i>Oh, and we had the Gallagher brothers at each others necks for the most part of the year resulting in their best work since the break-up of Oasis.<br />
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So we come into 2018 in a positive frame of mind, much due to the fact that it should be finally the year that Arctic Monkeys come back and The 1975 are threatening to drop <i>Music for Cars </i>at any given moment. Not only that, in the past week, usually regarded as a 'quiet week' by the industry we've had new songs from Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake, as well as a very special version of Wolf Alice's 'Don't Delete the Kisses' remixed by Charlie XCX and Post Precious. Here are the best songs released this week...<br />
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<b><u>The Vaccines - 'I Can't Quit' </u></b><br />
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Yes, indie heroes The Vaccines kicked off 2018 with a 'Hottest Record in the World' on Annie Mac's Radio 1 show in the form of 'I Can't Quit'. I was a fan of The Vaccines last record <i>English Graffiti, </i>but I'm sure fans will be happy that they've seemingly returned to their earlier, punkier roots with this under three minute indie banger. It's everything that made people fall in love with The Vaccines all those years ago: spikey riffs with insanely catchy pop hooks.<br />
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<b><u>Kid Wave - 'Twenty-Four' </u></b><br />
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The first new song I heard in 2018 was Kid Wave's 'Twenty-Four' and, instantly, you could tell it was going to be a good year. The project of Swede Lea Emmery, 'Twenty-Four' is a retrospective look at the trials and tribulations of being a young person. It's somewhat different from her debut album <i>Wonderlust, </i>this time showcasing a gloomier mode of pop with Emmery's murky vocals cutting deep.<br />
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<b><u>Superorganism - 'Everybody Wants to Be Famous' </u></b><br />
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There's absolutely no doubt about it, 2018 is the year of Superorganism. Arguably the most exciting band around at the moment, the supergroup from all over the world have started 2018 with a bang. Not only announcing their eponymous debut album, but giving us another showcase of it with 'Everybody Wants to Be Famous', which is everything you could expect from the band. Giddy synths, languorous tribal vocals and barmy sound effects everywhere to be heard, it’s a whole lot of fun - and that's exactly Superorganism's USP.<br />
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<b><u>FREAK - 'Everyone's the Same' </u></b><br />
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Having embarked on a co-headline tour with King Nun, supported everyone from The Amazons and Black Honey and released a whole host of great music, it's fair to say that FREAK had a very impressive 2017. Now, they're back with 'Everyone's the Same', which is an injection of pacey guitars (that reminds me of Electric Six) and a catchy chorus. It's a two and a half minute burst of energy in a single and you can already see its live appeal.</div>
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<b><u>Patawawa - 'Patagonia' </u></b><br />
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If you want to dance, this one is for you. With the returns of the likes of Chic and Nile Rodgers and Jamiroquai, funk is back with a bang. With Thundercat, Childish Gambino and Barbudo holding up the fort in terms of new artists too, funk has never been better. Enter Patawawa, the Derbyshire who offer "beats to pump blood, glittered guitar riffs and basslines that bite". 'Patagonia' does all this and more, with its opening resembling Metronomy's 'The Bay' and an addictive bassline, catchy chorus and vocals to match Prince and MJ in their prime. If this single is anything to go by, Patawawa are set for a very exciting 2018.<br />
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<b><u>BØRNS feat. Lana Del Rey - 'God Save Our Young Blood' </u></b><br />
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Lana Del Rey had a very good year, all things considered, with the release of her fifth studio album <i>Lust for Life. </i>She's kick-started her 2018 with a very impressive guest spot on the latest single from Michigan pop prodigy BØRNS. Featuring a key change reminiscent of Brian Wilson, it's an excellent pop song with a cheery, contented nature to it. </div>
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<b><u>Sea Girls - 'Heavenly War' </u></b></div>
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Sea Girls, the London-based quartet known for hits such as 'Lost' and 'Call Me Out', have released a brand-new single for the new year. 'Heavenly War' is a jolted, jarring pop song that reminds me of Seafret with its euphoric chorus. There's a contagiousness to the single that develops in your mind the more you think about it. It's truly an excellent ear-worm to start the year.<br />
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<b><u>MGMT - 'Hand it Over' </u></b></div>
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It's wonderful to have MGMT back, isn't it? Instead of their enchanted indie pop music that soundtracked the teenage years of many, they're back with a darker slice of gloom pop evocative of Tears for Fears and Visage. Their latest single - 'Hand it Over' - following on from their comeback single 'Little Dark Age', is a downbeat, dejected pop song that grows throughout its four minute run time. After a stodgy second and third record it's good to see that MGMT have found and are developing an interesting, different sound. </div>
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<b><u>Lady Bird - 'Spoons' </u></b></div>
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Lady Bird's 'Spoons' is the first ever single to be released under Slaves Girl Fight Records, so you'd expect it to be a short, to the point punky single - and to an extent it is. But it's not Slaves that 'Spoons', a song about everyone's favourite cheap booze chain, sounds more like the noughties defining sound of The Streets than it does of Slaves. It's fiery, volatile, yet it still sounds unique and refined enough to have its own sense of style. Mightily impressive. </div>
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<b><u>Kendrick Lamar with SZA - 'All the Stars' </u></b></div>
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Kendrick ruled 2017, plain and simple. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing his music or seeing his face, and rightly so, as <i>DAMN. </i>was one of the finest records of the year. 'All the Stars', a collaboration with fellow mega-star SZA, is the first material to come from <i>Black Panther, </i>the Marvel film showcasing an almost entirely black cast, which Kendrick is compiling. It's an explosive R&B tune with a rock-solid chorus that is sure to be massive for both artists. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-52793833765797165482017-08-13T15:11:00.000-07:002017-08-13T15:11:22.195-07:00A Ghost Story Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After making me cry unexpectedly with joyous romp <i>Pete's Dragon</i> last year, David Lowery is making me cry for entirely different reasons with <i>A Ghost Story,</i> a powerful, elegant and painstakingly immaculate film about love, loss and the sheer power of legacy and time. It's also one of the best films of the year, and perhaps a film to rival <i>Under the Skin</i> as the most thematically opaque of the century.<br />
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C (Casey Affleck) and M (Rooney Mara) are a happy couple who live a nice suburban lifestyle until tragedy strikes. C dies in an accident and comes back as a man in a sheet with cut-out eyes. Or, a ghost. It's an eccentric idea from Lowery that in the wrong hands could have been disastrous. Yet, it takes the ghost mythology and flips it on its head so that we're seeing things from the ghost's point of view in a bizarrely, almost Pixar-esque way with a real tenderness and encumbrance. So superbly executed, in fact, that it is achingly sad rather than nonsensical. Commendation has to go to Affleck, who, in a sheet is a sad, forlorn figure that shows more emotion than many a leading man gone by have. The role is reminiscent to Michael Fassbender's role in <i>Frank</i>, which is high praise indeed.<br />
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<a href="https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/a-ghost-story.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="670" height="225" src="https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/a-ghost-story.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1" width="400" /></a>The crux of the film comes down to Lowery's circumspection with his own material. His meticulousness to Malickian long-takes and long stretches without dialogue will make this film polarising but its absolute fascinating direction is worthy of academic study, for sure. An example of this is a five minute long-take of M after she's come back from the hospital. Lowery sets up a mid-shot with M on the floor and a deceased C lingering over her, passively watching. M engorges a pie ferociously in a desperate attempt to feel any sort of emotion after losing her partner to the point that she runs off to the toilet to throw it all back up. This is the pinnacle of Lowery's direction. It supplies the film with an even more voyeuristic view than normal which makes the audience feel trepidation and a hammering of guilt that never quite goes away. The audience is exactly the same as C's ghost, we're watching a woman in severe pain yet we can do nothing. At times it makes for a very uncomfortable, even harrowing, viewing as we're forced to watch a woman go to extreme lengths to feel anything. Its portrayal of grief is nothing short of superb.<br />
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The distressing, espial nature of <i>A Ghost Story</i> is further propelled by Lowery's use of 1:33 aspect ratio. This expedites the claustrophobic, boxed-in nature of Lowery's picture: you can't leave, even if you really want to. There's no escape from the enduring pain of time, which is one of the inescapably dense themes. For a 92 minute piece it covers a lot of ground, yet seems to execute every single ingenious idea it throws out there.<br />
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The idea of life after death is, of course, an important issue that Lowery tackles but he tackles them through the use of two others: legacy and time. Exactly why does anything matter and will anyone remember me? Lowery bombards us with. Casey Affleck's character is a musician and we (cleverly) never know how successful he is, but Lowery is questioning all art here, and his love and passion for art and why it matters. In many ways, <i>A Ghost Story</i> is about why being creative matters and why art is important. For a film that spans generations it's a very relevant film to now.<br />
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Yet Lowery doesn't explore the now, because, well, there doesn't seem to be a now. The film clearly travels through a fair amount of time, but at the same time Lowery shows time as a void, an abyss that you can't escape. We don't know how long Rooney Mara's character stays in the house before moving on, in fact we don't even know if she ever does but Lowery explores time as if it is linked inherently to legacy. The scene that ties the film narratively is Will Oldham's excellent cameo as a philosophical know-it-all that states that everyone is going to die and nothing will ever matter. It's a powerful monologue that turns <i>A Ghost Story</i> from a set of increasingly complex ideas into a fully-fledged masterpiece of oeuvre cinema.<br />
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In short, Lowery has created an elegiac, cyclical film that will certainly grow on repeat viewings. Not that you'll need it, <i>A Ghost Story</i> is so cinematically dominant, so thematically murky that it will stay with you for weeks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-49547895542832130082017-02-25T09:14:00.001-08:002017-02-25T09:14:19.500-08:00I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-elijah-wood-melanie-lynskey.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-elijah-wood-melanie-lynskey.jpeg" height="253" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to be an active or passive member of society? is the question at the heart of Macon Blair’s directorial debut, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is as melancholic as it is bloody. For Melanie Lynskey’s Ruth, she is the latter. She has popular novels spoiled for her and she has dogs shit on her lawn. When she gets burgled, that’s the last straw and she decides to do something about it, partly due to the ineptitude of the police. So her and her newly formed acquaintance Tony (Elijah Wood, on fine form) decide to find the culprits - with bloody and hilarious consequences. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Almost immediately the similarities between</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I Don’t Feel at Home</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and Macon Blair’s brilliant, slicked-back starring feature </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blue Ruin </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appear. But</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I Don’t Feel at Home</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has extraordinary qualities. Firstly, it is outrageously funny at times. It is as awkward and uncomfortable as Ruth herself. Most of this comes from Elijah Wood’s Tony, who is both absurd and eccentric in equal measures. It is his kookiness that makes the film tick. Slightly off-kilter is an understatement and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Don’t Feel at Home </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has that in abundance. So much so that you never know where it’s going to go and what’s going to happen. It’s quality is in its inconsistencies. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://i0.wp.com/teaser-trailer.com/wp-content/uploads/I-Dont-Feel-at-Home-in-This-World-Anymore-2.jpg?ssl=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://i0.wp.com/teaser-trailer.com/wp-content/uploads/I-Dont-Feel-at-Home-in-This-World-Anymore-2.jpg?ssl=1" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As much as it is silly and laugh out loud inducing, however, it’s actually profoundly sad and this is encapsulated in Lynskey’s remarkably refined performance. From her utterances “but everyone is being an asshole” to her ferociously vomiting at the sight of a gruesome gunfight shows she’s not only uncomfortable in this world but she’s uncomfortable in her own body which is desperately sad. As accidental heroes go, she’s one of the best I’ve seen in a long while. Macon Blair has created an interesting, intellectual and most importantly, relatable heroes in Ruth and Tony and they’re a pleasure to watch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blair’s directing, too, has clearly been inspired by Saulnier’s efforts on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blue Ruin </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Green Room.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In fact, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Don’t Feel at Home</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> could rival it for the amount of blood shed. The film is ghastly at times, but also a heck of a lot of fun. Yet it is always grounded in realism. Characters struggle to fire guns, these are only as dangerous as the weapons they are holding. And there’s a lot of them. Firearms, plaster of paris, vans, rocks, snakes. Most of the fun comes from the spontaneity of the smoothly executed action scenes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is as brutal as it is macabre. For every bit of bloodshed, there’s a poignant moment. It could do with better developed villains with superior validation for their actions and it doesn’t quite have the tautness and tension of its contempories, but it’s too much fun to take notice. From Tony’s loneliness to Ruth’s depression it shouldn’t be as fun as it is, but boy is it. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-84227380482009291292017-01-09T08:38:00.003-08:002017-01-09T08:38:51.724-08:00La La Land Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">In the first third of <i>La La Land</i>, Damien Chazelle's entralling follow up to three-time Oscar winner <i>Whiplash</i>, Ryan Gosling's Seb says "why do you say romantic like it's a bad thing?" and in many ways that's the perfect summation of what makes <i>La La Land </i>so wonderful. <i>La La Land</i> is like those signs people have in their houses 'Live, Life, Love' but in the least corny way possible. It's a hopeless romantic with its head positively in the clouds. It's also an excellent example of how the musical can work in the 21st Century, where seemingly it's a dying breed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">An ever excellent Ryan Gosling and an equally adorable Emma Stone star as Seb and Mia, respectively, as two dreamers who have a passion and a love for what they do yet do not seem to be making any progress in their fields. Much like Chazelle's <i>Whiplash</i>, this is about a passion for music and a certain drive that it takes to reach the top. Unlike Whiplash, it shows the lighter and happier side of this. In many ways it makes the perfect companion piece to Chazelle's former film and <i>La La Land </i>can be seen as <i>Whiplash</i>'s <span style="letter-spacing: 0.26px; white-space: pre-wrap;">exuberant, slightly excitable and wholly less cynical younger sibling.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.26px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seb and Mia's relationship and every move hinges on one thing: the performances of Stone and Gosling. Luckily and unsurprisingly, Stone and Gosling have been here before (<i>Crazy, Stupid Love</i> and <i>Gangster Squad</i>) and have the finest chemistry in Hollywood right now. Arguably, they could match Doris Day and Rock Hudson from the Golden Age of cinema (and the musical). There seems to be this almost pathological connection between the two stars that makes them as irresistibly charming and alluring as the film itself. Gosling's facial expressions in particular are exceptional. Whether he wants to make you laugh, cry or sympathise, he makes perfect sure that he does just that. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f5f8fa;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.26px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, of course, a musical wouldn't be anywhere without its music, but strangely the music does seem to take a backseat. Aside from the somewhat </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.26px; white-space: pre-wrap;">off-putting opening number 'Another Day Of Sun', the music is nuanced, subtle and refined and brings a touch of class to proceedings not seen since Gene Kelly was on screen. Justin Hurtwitz has delivered another marvellous score and soundtrack that brings a level of sophistication to the film. This is how you make a musical for the 'realist' generation. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.26px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>La La Land</i> is absolutely not a film for those of a cynical mind. Yet even then, I think that it is so lovely that it just may sway those too. This film is for the dreamers, the fantasists, the lovers and those who are looking for a touch of nostalgia. In a time where everything getting darker and more serious, <i>La La Land</i> is a breath of fresh air. They don't make 'em like this anymore? Yes they do, and it's called <i>La La Land</i>. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-14701685905196954972015-05-20T12:40:00.000-07:002015-05-20T12:40:04.292-07:00Spooks: The Greater Good Review<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">As you may well know, Spooks was a popular television show on the BBC. Now, as it's final swansong it's been given a film lead by one of the hottest actors around at the moment, Kit Harington. Over the last couple of years, there's been an influx of spy movies from Bond's renaissance to John L</span><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">e </span><span style="line-height: 37.2000007629395px;">Carré adaptations left, right and centre and Spooks: The Greater Good finds it hard to not only impress, but also find it's way into the pack. </span>It doesn't quite have the creative, compelling noose of Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and it certainly doesn't have the masculine bravado of Ethan Hunt's latest outings or Craig's James Bond. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Its main problem stems from its weak script. The story is ridden with cliches; t<span style="line-height: 24px;">he script sadly </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">isn't</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> as smart as it strives to be, and lacks any great deal of originality – it’s not going to be pulling up any trees, but it is very solid all round. There are certain points throughout the film where it threatens to build the momentum that might push it to the next level, but it’s not quite even enough to sustain this sufficiently to the degree where the film can move from solidity to greatness. Peter Firth and Kit Harington are proven actors and I've enjoyed their work previously, but they have nothing to work with. The dialogue made me reminisce of fifties television; it's slow, it's ropey and it's shockingly wooden. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Another annoyance is the fact it's not cinematic in any aspect. Everything is by-the-books and it looks like it was made for TV. It begs the question as to why the BBC didn't just </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">commission</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> another series, especially because everything in The Greater Good is underdeveloped.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The Greater Good is an unspectacular revival of the longstanding British TV staple. However, </span><em style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spooks: The Greater Good</em><span style="line-height: 24px;"> finds strength in its lead character Harry, but a script that’s neither particularly subtle nor original holds the film back from being anything more than a fairly entertaining spy movie entry.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-35759064987651695532014-12-27T16:35:00.000-08:002014-12-27T16:37:33.108-08:00My Top Twenty Films Of The Year<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">This year has been truly fantastic. From indie flicks, to big budget fodder there has been something for everyone. I have managed to see 49 new released this year and here is my top twenty. NOTE: this is on UK releases, so <i>12 Years a Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis</i> make it in and <i>Birdman, The Theory of Everything</i> don't make it.</span><br />
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<b><u>20) A Dangerous Game</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Donald Trump makes a great villain. The sunny disposition that clouds into a demon scowl (when confronted by cheeky interviewers). The bionic hair. The chutzpah. At one moment in </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 1.5;">A Dangerous Game</span></span>,</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> Anthony Baxter’s sequel to </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 1.5;">You’ve Been Trumped</span></span>,</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> his documentary about the billionaire’s golf-course-building invasion of Scotland, Trump stands on a green receiving a plaque from the “American Academy of Hospitality Sciences”. Turns out: the Academy has three trustees, one named Donald Trump. I was a big fan of Baxter's <i>You've Been Trumped</i> and was interested to see what happened after. </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Baxter weaves all this together into a fascinating and fairly damning indictment not so much of golf, but of the arrogant culture of exclusivity that has overtaken it worldwide. And while anyone who’s been following the story will know this film has a somewhat happier ending, it remains a plea for eternal vigilance. As environmental lawyer Robert F Kennedy Jr puts it: “There are lots of Donald Trumps out there.” It's a good job there are lots of Anthony Baxter's out there too.</span></span><br />
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<b><u>19) Cherry Pie </u></b></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 21px;">Everyone has gotten to that point in life where all they want to do is run. Run as far as they can. Away from everything and on their own. Zoé tries to escape herself. She travels north through bleak landscapes until she gets on a ferryboat, where a mysterious woman suddenly disappears. In the winter coat of a stranger, Zoé reaches the other side of the Channel. </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Cherry Pie</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> is a lesson in how to make a film with limited plot. There's no twists, heavy dialogue or even characters of note. This is a clinic in filmmaking, editing and sound design, and it's worth watching for that alone. </span><span style="line-height: 21px;">Technically, the film is superb. Logically and narratively-speaking, the film is odd to say the least, but it's enticing and gripping. Narrative is minimal in </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Cherry Pie</em><span style="line-height: 21px;">, as is dialogue. What exactly motivates Zoé, what she thinks, where she is going - we can only guess. She slowly sinks into a catatonic silence. It's a film I'd like to study, for sure. Everything feels like it's there for a reason and I would love to find out why.</span></span><br />
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<b><u>18) Stations of the Cross</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">When reading the synopsis for </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Stations of the Cross</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">, I was afraid that the chosen format of 14 fixed-angle scenes, numbered and named as per the 14 Stations of the Cross, would effectively work out as a sort of harness. We’ve seen that many times before, when the format takes over and the content suffers. However, it becomes clear very early on that the format won’t hamper this particular film, which is a strong offering from director Dietrich Brüggemann. </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">The central character is 14-year-old Maria, but her uncompromising mother is also a key figure in the drama as it unfolds in 14 distinct scenes, the first of which shows a priest with a group of children, sitting around a table and talking about the essentials of what their true Catholic life will entail. They’re together in preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation, and from that moment on they’re expected to stand up for their faith, and to defend it against everything that deviates from the Ten Commandments and the Seven Sacraments. </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Aided by strong and convincing performances from Lea van Acken as the innocent and deeply religious Maria, and Franziska Weisz as her fanatic mother, </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Stations of the Cross</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> brings to light the importance of tolerance in a society where extremism is ever increasing and bigotry is rife. It’s a film that speaks to its audience with minimal camera movements, as the story unfolds with a finesse that’s rarely found in modern cinema.</span></span><br />
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<b><u>17) In Order of Disappearance </u></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">In Order of Disappearance </em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">tells the story of a man who snow ploughs the wild mountains of Norway, and becomes a vigilante after gangsters murder his son. Recounting the story wouldn’t really give much of an indication of why this particular film is so impressive. The narrative is definitely good but it’s the way it’s told that makes it a winner. The script is full of funny dialogue, with characters often going off on humorous tangents about, for example, why only cold countries have a welfare state or how nice Norwegian prisons are. The script is full of this humour, and it never feels forced or flat. </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Most movies about revenge tend to focus on the spectacle of cruelty and bloodshed, delivering a film filled with somewhat morally justified killings, but no meaning behind them. That’s not the case with this film. Like many other Scandinavian masterpieces,</span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">In Order of Disappearance</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">delivers a deep and meaningful story. The script tries to focus on the conflicts and personal tragedies behind the murders, which makes it not just a great gangster flick, but also a great drama. With Hans Petter Moland’s directing style, every gesture, look and sentence has a meaning. Of course, this impact is helped by some great performances by Stellan Skarsgard, Bruno Ganz and Pal Sverre Hagen.</span></span></h2>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">16) Nightcrawler</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Jake Gyllenhaal has spent his entire career playing the creepy guy. Some would say he's now typecast, but somehow he manages to keep his performances fresh and exciting. With</span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Nightcrawler</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">, he puts in a tour-de-force performance, which is arguably his best. </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Part satirical view of media sensationalism, part success story,</span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Nightcrawler</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">is one of those rare films that is not only superbly entertaining, but sophisticated and thought-provoking in equal measure. </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Ultimately, Dan Gilroy has created a terrifically dark and humourous attack on today's media industry. Fincher's</span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Gone Girl</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">may have attacked the media, but</span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Nightcrawler</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">tears it limb from limb as viciously as Lou Bloom breaking into a house to shoot the remnants of a burglary.</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">15) Only Lovers Left Alive </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I've been a big Jim Jarmusch fan for a long time. In fact, I would go as far to say that Down By Law is probably in my top ten films of all time. So when I heard he was making a vampire flick I was exciting. I mean, it could do with the Jarmusch touch after the diabolical run of form the vampire genre has gone through. Of course, o<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">ne knows that a Jim Jarmusch movie about vampires is not going to be like any other vampire film. In fact it would be unkind to class this as a vampire movie. </span><i style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Only Lovers Left Alive</i><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"> is a highly stylized and atmospheric film bemoaning the passing of the great rock n roll and Hippy era. Here we have a vampire couple (Swinton & Hiddleston - both excellent and perfectly cast) living an isolated life in an abandoned house in Detroit, USA. Hiddleston used to be a famous rock n roll artist who has become a recluse collecting old guitars and records. They survive by purchasing blood samples from a corrupt doctor. We also have one of their old vampire friends (John Hurt) living in Tangiers where the blood is specially pure. Things take an unexpected turn when Swinton's mischievous sister (Mia Wasikowska) visits them. Only Lovers Left Alive has cult film written all over it. The music is great too and blends perfectly with the atmosphere. It's a mesmerising and simply wonderful watch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><u>14) Dallas Buyers Club</u></b> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Of course now this is just a stopgap in the McConaissance, but if you dig deeper this is a heart-warming biopic that will make you feel good and bad about society at the same time. <span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">At times Mr. McConaughey's acting abilities may have been in question, but doubtless there has always been a genius just waiting to explode. And explode it does in <i>Dallas Buyers Club</i>. Given a fully explored and developed character, he is the centrifugal force of the engaging plot of an American tragedy, seamless direction, lively dialogue and creme de la creme supporting actors. This actor, who proves he can blur the lines between acting and real, rises to the ranks of Dustin Hoffman, Sean Penn, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, our Grand Pere, Jack Nicholson, and his own idol, Paul Newman. Unquestionably, he deserves a spot in Academy Awards for Best Actor. At long last, given the opportunity, he has proved to possess truly exquisite talent; to be an actor's actor, worthy of study, deep respect, even awe. He skillfully brings to life an oddball cowboy character to the level of hero, and mesmerizes the audience at every single breath, by every stretch of his emaciated gorgeous heart, soul and body. Shirts off to Matthew McConaughey, and may you never doubt his abilities again.</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">13) Guardians of the Galaxy</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Dare I say it, I was starting to get bored of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. The Avengers was fantastic, but Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and even Captain America 2 disappointed. The perfect remedy? A giant tree, a talking raccoon, a brute of a man who takes everything literally, a kick-ass assassin and the next Indiana Jones. James Gunn brought his perfect blend of humour and action to the MCU and it's so perfect it makes you wonder why it's never happened before. The characters are so carefully crafted, the world is already an exciting place to explore and it's simply the funniest Marvel film to date. I am much more excited to hang our with Rocket, Quill, and pals then I am to see the guy in the tin and the dude with the shield. </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">12) Blue Ruin</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">On the surface, </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Blue Ruin</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> is a down-the-line, ticks all the boxes revenge thriller. What it actually is is something much different. The film comes from Jeremy Saulnier, who could be introducing a new genre to cinema: the multiple-twist movie. </span><span style="line-height: 21px;">The plot seems pretty straight forward at first. Dwight (Macon Blair) is a homeless man living on the outskirts of an amusement park. One day he finds that the man who killed his parents is about to be released from prison. Clearly, Dwight has no intention to turn the other cheek in this case and he sets out to a successful assassination. It's a stripped down tale, but it's far from a straight forward one. Whenever you get comfortable, Blue Ruin changes into something else. It is a consistently unpredictable, twisty, and excellent thriller. At no point will you be quite sure where the film will take you, or what direction it will go next, up until the final scene. Saulnier's vision of crime drama with moral issues is in fact a breath of fresh air in a stagnant genre.</span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Blue Ruin</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> never leaves Dwight’s perspective, everything goes through him and Macon Blair portrays him sublimely. Despite being in every scene, I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of the character. He gives nothing away, but he's still very easy to follow and great to watch. There's this subtlety that Blair brings to the character that makes him almost mesmerising. He's a gripping character, which makes the film gripping. This is Macon Blair's film, more so than Jeremy Saulnier's film, and he completely owns it.</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">11) The Grand Budapest Hotel </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">It has often been said that Wes Anderson walks the fine line between folly and genius. In the <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel</i>, however, this distinction no longer exists: the ridiculous becomes brilliant, and brilliant has never been this ridiculous. </span><br style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">It is his best work, or at least the film which has all of Anderson's creative impulses working in one direction, producing a coherent work of art. His films have always been quirky, charming and out-of-this world, but never before has the audience been immersed in Andersonland as fully as with this film. The colours, the camera movement that switches between different parts of the set, the music, the lens angle distortion, the ridiculously stellar cast, all of Anderson's trademark elements, combine to produce the ultimate Anderson film. The absolutely ridiculous CGI is used perfectly to add to the surrealism of the movie. It is also extremely well crafted, not only visually, but structurally. Unlike some of his previous work, the editing, the pacing and the rhythm of "Budapest" are pitch-perfect. </span><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">On the other hand, it seeps with nostalgia, a bittersweet longing for an age long past, and the fascinating characters it produced. It is technically a detective comedy, and one has to note that the genre seems to suit Anderson's peculiar brand of filmmaking very well. But never before has Hitchcock's Macguffin been as explicitly embodied as by the "Boy With the Apple". The plot is merely a mechanism that allows Anderson to transport his vision onto the screen, a vision of a peculiar world seemingly different from our own, but filled with just as much loss and, at the same time, human compassion as ours. There is comedy, but its either very subtle or incredibly over the top, and most viewers are uncomfortable with both. There isn't a single 'ordinary shot', pretty much every image is out of place to such an extent that they begin to form one coherent film, and a fantastic one at that.</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">10) Nymphomaniac Parts 1&2</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">After the wild buzz and months of chatter surrounding <i>Nymphomaniac</i>, I more or less expected a provocative, pretentious, incomprehensible porno film. I thought it would be a shallow artistic excuse to show lots of explicit sex in an attempt to shock the audience and create controversy. I was wrong. <span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Is it provocative? In many ways, yes, and there are plenty of scenes that might be considered tasteless or mindlessly shocking. But if had to describe the film in one word, I wouldn’t use ‘provocative’. Instead, I would use ‘imaginative’. </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Typical to Lars Non Trier’s style,</span><i style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> Nymphomaniac</i><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> is so full of creativity and cinematographic exuberance that it’s hard not be impressed. The nice thing is that Von Trier never takes himself too seriously and, in a way, it’s a pity that the film is primary about sex. So much attention is given to the genital close-ups that it overshadows everything else, including the creative way in which the film is made. </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Nymphomaniac</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> is dark, thrilling and poetic. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just a film about sex either. It’s a film about loneliness and being alone, a film of pain and pleasure that’s held together by intertwined plots and characters. Fans of Von Trier won’t be disappointed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal;"><b><u style="background-color: white;">9) The Golden Dream</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">The Golden Dream</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> is the debut feature by Mexican director Diego Quemada-Díez, previously a cinematographer and camera operator on </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">21 Grams</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> and </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">The Constant Gardener</em><span style="line-height: 21px;">. This film carries a similar weightiness and moral heft to those films, yet retains a dreamlike quality that at times leaves the film in debt as much to Terrence Malick as Alejandro González Iñárritu. It also looks like it's been heavily inspired by the works of Ken Loach. </span><span style="line-height: 21px;">A flowing, lyrical film, at times startlingly beautiful, <i>The Golden Dream</i> hypnotises the viewer with its constant movement, its unceasing rhythm. It can also be shockingly brutal, and abrupt departures leave us longing for a Hollywood narrative that will grant us resolution, aching from the inability to find out what happened to those who are lost. On this journey, it's easy to be laughing one moment and dead the next. Only the dream is consistent, but can America possibly deliver what is promised? It's notoriously difficult to make this kind of film work, both at the scripting stage and in the execution. What Quemada-Díez has achieved is a triumph.</span><span style="line-height: 21px;">Beautifully shot, and powerfully told, </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">The Golden Dream</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> succeeds in telling a political story, personally. Using improvisational techniques and non-professional actors, Diego Quemada-Diez's astounding and gripping début feature is a piercing and poetic road movie.</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">8) Inside Llewyn Davis </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I love folk music and I love the Coen brothers. I am completely smitten. I have long admired Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and what they have offered the realm of cinema. I am in love with </span><i style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Fargo </i><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">still until this day, and they've provided solid efforts on nearly every outing since. Their newest endeavour that focuses on the folk scene in 1961 is an absolute dream. Everything from the impeccable Oscar Isaac to the music that enriches the deepest trenches of the soul, </span><i style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Inside Llewyn Davis</i><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"> is one of the best pictures of the year, plain and simple. It's the Coen Brothers finest film since </span><i style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Fargo</i><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">In some ways, this is a perfect fit for the Coen’s. They’ve showed their love for music in </span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">O Brother, Where Art Thou</span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">’s outstanding soundtrack, they’ve shown they can write an interesting, if flawed character that we still want to root for in every Coen film ever and they’ve shown they can write a film in which nothing happens but everything is interesting. Everything is slow, but very, very rewarding. </span>In its running time of 105 minutes, few definite conclusions are drawn in regard to Llewyn's career and with the film ending in the same place as it started, it seems unlikely that he will break free from his cycle of obscurity. But then, the film really isn't about Llewyn's 'career' or his friends, because this is a film about Llewyn. The beginnings of the film highlight a raw, unabashed view on rejection and obscurity accompanied by this nagging expectation that Llewyn's life might blossom into a success story. But ultimately, that's not what the film is about and it's goal is not to satisfy filmic convention. Inside Llewyn Davis is very simply, a soulful and beautifully drawn portrait of a man and his music.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">7) Under the Skin </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">Firstly, there is no obvious narrative in this film, because it does not have a big significance or importance here. On the most basic level it is a story of an alien imposing a woman and seducing men from all over Scotland in order to drain their flesh. This is the most simple summary of the movie. On deeper layers it is a serious study of our society. The film's main focus is on the inside and outside of things, the philosophy of form and material. Johansson's character is struggling in this society. She is always portrayed as going against the stream, she is lost in the sea of rushing people who do not want to get deeper into things, because they know they could be hurt. This is represented in a very subtle visual way. For instance, roses look nice in the film, but they have spikes which make rose seller's hands bleed. A piece of cake seems delicious, but the taste of it is disgusting. It is always the fight between the surface and depth in this film, the first impression and further investigation. I believe it is a very important theme for our society where people are afraid of making commitments or engagements, where they seek for quick pleasures, even though they need true and honest love. The film is very strong visually and stylistically. In order for the reader to get a glimpse of what it is, I will say that it is sort of a combination of Kubrick, Lynch and von Trier. And that's as big a compliment as you can get. </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">6) Locke</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">One location films have been successful through the years. From films such as </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Phonebooth</em><span style="line-height: 21px;">, </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Red Eye</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> and </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Flightplan</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> have proven that with a tight enough script, you can create a tense and entertaining film set in a single location. It does all come down to the script, though. Without a good script, you could end up with </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Snakes on a Plane</em><span style="line-height: 21px;">...Eek! With this, comes Steven Knight's new film,</span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;"> </em><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Locke</em><span style="line-height: 21px;">. A film where the whole story takes places inside the confines of a car, and with Tom Hardy as the only actor on screen. </span><span style="line-height: 21px;">It is testament to Hardy's acting nous that he can pull off such a taught, powerful performance solely based on reactions to the increasingly dramatic phone calls. </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Locke</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> is unrelenting in his belief of doing the right thing and we see why when he has imagined conversations with his father, an apparently neglectful and emotionally absent figure in his life. These scenes in particular are beautifully shot with the use of Locke looking into the car mirrors for the man who isn't there. I</span><span style="line-height: 21px;">t's a wonderful film that deserves a lot of credit. Hopefully this will shortly be recognised as a seminal British feature film. A remarkable achievement, story telling and performance at the very highest level and hugely entertaining. Collaboratively it's nothing less than a cinematic tour de force. Filmed in just eight nights and with very low budget, the film is literally a lesson of how unique and quite fantastic minimalist cinema can be.</span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">5) We Are The Best!</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Music creates this nostalgia that holds so strong that no matter what you will always love it. Much like </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">Inside Llewyn Davis</em><span style="line-height: 21px;"> heralded folk music, Lukas Moodysson's </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">We Are the Best! </em><span style="line-height: 21px;">heralds punk music more than any film around. It's punk. Even more punk than Julien Temple's </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative;">The Filth and The Fury</em><span style="line-height: 21px;">, the great documentary about the Sex Pistols and England in the late 1970s. Presented are a few young individuals who think alike and don't waver for a second to present their own opinions. They're unique - just like the rest of us - and just so you know, just because disco came around, doesn't mean punk's dead.</span><span style="line-height: 21px;">Moodysson concentrates on the exuberance of youth, celebrating the highs of friendships and the chaotic lows of arguments, boyfriends, parents, jealousies, growing up and everything else! Everything is treated with a lack of cynicism, everyone is treated with a sense of perspective and affection. Of course, it helps that you've got three genuine and utterly infectious teenage girls to make you laugh constantly. Hedvig, Klara and Bobo display in their own individual way their sensitivities and uncertainties with life. It's not just heart-warming though, it's also terrifically funny. The children are innocent, yet also know more about the world than most adults. They're funnily written characters, with a great outlook on life. There's something lovely about seeing these children loving the punk life. A life that has a bad reputation. They bring something beautiful and intelligent about it. </span><span style="line-height: 21px;">It's a hardcore film that's cute, sad, very funny, very Swedish and human from the core on out. The script is great, the dialogue should be a blueprint on how Swedish realism should be, Moodysson still claims the throne as the best living Swedish director, and this film will live on forever. I really hope this gets syndicated throughout the world, because that's what it deserves. Punk is back, baby! "Brezhnev, Reagan. F*** off!" </span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">4) Gone Girl</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><i>Gone Girl</i> marks Fincher's tenth feature film and his most mature work since Fight Club. Centering on Nick Dunne, a husband desperately trying to find his wife all while having police and media accuse him of murder. The story sounds straight out of the Scott Peterson case and the film looks unlike any film I've seen in recent years. Lead by an all star cast featuring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris, <i>Gone Girl</i> rises above the pack with smart storytelling, phenomenal pacing and perfect performances. What it does so brilliantly is it taps into the audience's psyche regarding marriage and the ideology behind a sanctioned union that is corrupt. It is really heavy stuff when the story really gets to the meat and bones of it all. With plenty of twists and turns, <i>Gone Girl</i> keeps you, not only second guessing the whole idea of marriage, but the intentions of every character in the film. It is truly one of the most twisted films adapted from an even sicker and twisted book that's out there right now. Gillian Flynn does wonders with her adaption from her own novel. The dialogue is crisp, the characters are multi-layered, it truly is a pitch perfect script that doesn't have one false moment in it. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are fantastic in this film. This is a different Affleck, a very human and realized Affleck. Nick Dunne is a wonderful role for him and captivates just how good he can be with a terrific director. Harris and Perry give well rounded performances as well but are nothing compared to Affleck and Pike. David Fincher and his long time collaborator and cinematographer, Jeff Cronenweth create a dreary, horrific tone for Gone Girl that makes every twist and turn that much more gut wrenching. Every shot is meticulously planned, showing each shot as if it were a still frame that spoke a thousand words. It is truly gorgeous filmmaking. And now for the score...Trent Reznor and Atticus Finch deliver a perfect score, besting their Social Network and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo score. If Reznor won for <i>Social Network</i>, I fully expect not only a nomination but a win for this film. Overall, this is a mesmerising film that demands multiple viewings to truly get the full experience. It is impeccably made, beautifully acted and an all around near perfect film.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">3) 12 Years a Slave</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17px;"><i>12 Years a Slave</i> is very, very hard to watch. </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">Is it because this is an American tragedy, done by Americans? Is it the guilt of someone's ancestors manifesting it in your tear ducts? I can't answer that. Only the person who says it can. The structure of this country is built on the backs and blood of slaves. But slavery didn't just exist in America, it was everywhere. It occurred for over 200 years and believe it or not, it still exists in some parts of the world today. </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">If you've seen McQueen's other works then you'll more or less know what kind of movie to expect (if you haven't then please stop reading and watch</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span><i style="line-height: 17px;">Hunger</i><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">and</span><i style="line-height: 17px;"> Shame</i><span style="line-height: 17px;">).</span><i style="line-height: 17px;"> 12 Years a Slave</i><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">is dark and raw, it exposes everything, without sugarcoating it. It is definitely hard to watch; but in my opinion, it is not only worth watching but necessary. Films exploring themes of slavery are few and far in between and never has one been quite as exhaustive and effective as this one. </span><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">McQueen is a fearless filmmaker, continuing his streak of unfiltered brutality within human depths. He frames his actors' faces in extreme close-up, the eyes staring into despair, the nostrils fuming in aggression. Naked flesh are shown not because of erotic content, but rather because of desperation and futility. Long takes and wide shots are not uncommon in his films, and here they showcase a plethora of fantastic scenes and performances that work to discomfort the viewer as much as possible. McQueen doesn't just allow the audience to tackle slavery, he guts the audience and leaves them for the consequences. This is an extremely uncomfortable film to watch. Beautifully shot locations are placeholders for unsettling sequences before and after, contemplated by Hans Zimmer's poignant and at times horrifying score. This all works to create a nightmarish time and place where hell walks on Earth. </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">Steve McQueen has created another masterpiece.</span></span><br />
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<b><u>2) Boyhood</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">On the surface, </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Boyhood</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> is just a coming of age film, and not the first in Richard Linklater's career. Beneath the surface it is one of the most unusual projects in film history and easily Linklater's opus magnum. It depicts the growing up of Mason (Ellar Coltrane), a dreamy, imaginative, sensitive boy, son of a single mother without much luck when it comes to men and an easygoing though slightly irresponsible father. The unusual thing: Linklater filmed this over the span of twelve years, assembling the same cast every year. What we see is a boy of seven growing into a young man just starting college.</span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">The light narrative touch Linklater is such a master of is all there as he weaves the scenes together effortlessly into a long narrative in which time moves on naturally. Mason grows older without breaks, moves from childhood through adolescence to young adulthood. The adults, too, developed, move on, grow older, regress occasionally. The film consists of scenes depicting ordinary lives, the camera is unobtrusive, at times almost documentary- like, the music well-chosen and supportive, the narrative rhythm organic. There is some drama, charming banality, the film isn't free of clichés and stereotypes, yet it breathes life in what is a stream of living, trying to find a way, drifting along, seeking direction. In a way, everyone tries to grow up, father, mother, children. this could have been just an impressive project. As it stands, it is a true masterpiece, an entirely compelling and – though completely unsentimental – deeply moving film.</span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">What's so unique about </span><em style="line-height: 21px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Boyhood</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"> is that these individuals (including Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Linklater's own daughter, Lorelei Linklater) evolve and age within a scripted narrative that is not 'like' a time capsule, this is a completely authentic period piece that retraces an era from the cultural response to September 11th, through the election of Barrack Obama, and into the age of social media saturation. As you watch these actors morph through more than a decade of their lives within a few hours, the story becomes as engaging as its concept. Linklater has not made a bad film and that is continued by Boyhood. It sets a new standard in the exploration of film's potential and reinforcing the limitlessness of DIY filmmaking.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It’s really difficult to deliver a feel good film that doesn’t shy away from serious issues without descending into mawkishness or sentimentality. <em>Pride</em> is neither. Instead, the film commemorates the hitherto unremarked but nevertheless remarkable alliance between Welsh miners and London lesbians and gay men. It is an enjoyable, well-made and sometimes uplifting movie set in a bleak period of British history. <em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Pride</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">is a political film in the best sense: it’s about people joining together to take control of their own destinies, a theme which has a long history in UK cinema, going back at least to the fantasy of </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Passport to Pimlico</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">to the based-on-fact</span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Made in Dagenham</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">, with </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">The Full Monty</em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">and</span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><em style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Billy Elliott </em><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">in between. The film, so appropriately named, delivers a moving story about pride, friendship and solidarity. When I wasn’t laughing at the incredible performances from the top cast, I was crying at the emotional and moving story that runs through the film.</span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">That is not to say that it shies away from the horrors both the miners and the LGBT community faced back then. It does not avoid the shadow of aids or the genuine issues gay and lesbian people faced in the 1980’s. This so easily could have slipped into a tragic or an over politically charged story, but instead it’s beautifully written and balanced. It’s funny but very moving, with a perfect blend of comedy and seriousness. This is certainly a political film, but you don’t have to be into politics. Simply, you have to have a heart. It’s uplifting to see how totally disparate groups can support each other and learn more about both communities in the process. </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">It starts with the music of Pete Seeger and ends with Billy Bragg, two activist musicians who I greatly admire. The dialogue is well thought-out, and delivered convincingly by a stellar cast, who are always believable in their roles. It never strays into the offensive, or to the other end of the spectrum, patronising. It restores my faith in humanity, traditional British fairness and good nature. </span><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">I had wondered how we turned around the institutionalised homophobia which saw Britain’s LGBT people crushed under the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 to the legal enshrinement of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act of 2013 – in only a few short decades. Now I know how this journey started, through a beautifully, well handled story. This movie has jumped straight to the top of my best films of the year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-51692034637429225182014-11-15T09:21:00.000-08:002014-11-15T09:21:00.973-08:00Down Terrace Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyL66gC1HLCzfZMl9Zc7Rwqv67gn7cHWOczLFlw9WwAyaNpCkhIYk5vOonqOKHttJvC4V_2iDGcgANXWbWxlCW3YtMlEfV_03cX0aRWbYtso5A8xlrcqMz066IvHSgwbD_6VRI_iplfQ/s1600/downterrace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyL66gC1HLCzfZMl9Zc7Rwqv67gn7cHWOczLFlw9WwAyaNpCkhIYk5vOonqOKHttJvC4V_2iDGcgANXWbWxlCW3YtMlEfV_03cX0aRWbYtso5A8xlrcqMz066IvHSgwbD_6VRI_iplfQ/s1600/downterrace.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ben Wheatley is being heralded as a sort of saviour of British surrealism cinema as of late, but his first film <i>Down Terrace</i> is far from that. It's dark and gritty, but also funny and solemn. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just released from jail, father and son Bill and Karl (played by real life father and son Bob and Robin Hill) are patriarchs of a small crime family. Their business and life in<i> Down Terrace</i> is plagued with infighting. When Karl's estranged girlfriend claims to be carrying his child, Karl's added priorities create tension amongst his immediate family. Suspicions grow when the family believes there's an informant in their midst that could send them all to prison for a very long time.</span></span><br />
<a href="http://downterrace.com/images/photos/photo_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://downterrace.com/images/photos/photo_05.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">This film is hard to categorize. While it is a story about a crime family, there's nothing very "gangster" about them. They don't dress or look the part. The three characters, Bill, Karl, and Maggie (Julie Deakin), Karl's mother, look and act like a regular blue collar family. They're not particularly convincing as gangsters (which may be why they're so well-hidden). For a good chunk of the movie, I had forgotten they were gangsters at all. Kind of like the TV show Roseanne, they bicker about regular family issues. Heavy with dialogue and awkward situations, the film plays almost like a comedic sitcom. It could have been about any family business and it would have worked.</span><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">There's realism and candour in the film's look and style. Characters talk about everyday things. Characters are often irritable, unkempt, and cumbersome. The camera is often hand-held, jerky, and frequently focuses on the mundane. The dialogue is often quite sharp and funny. It's certainly not glitzy like a gangster film.</span><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">There's virtually no action until the latter half of the film. But throughout the film it is engrossing and sentimental. Some parts take you by surprise. The film's focus on both the mundane and the surprising moments is what makes it work so well. Even during a conversation about music, or a simple cup of tea you never know what's going to come next. When the unexpected, violent moments hit, it reminded me that yes, this is indeed a "gangster" film. This results in some great dark humour.</span><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">The characters truly make this film. The dynamics between Bill, Karl, and Maggie are realistic, funny, dysfunctional, and sad. Bob Hill is particularly memorable as Bill, an ageing father who is frequently disappointed and putting down his son, Karl. Robin Hill expertly plays off his real-life father Bob (who plays Bill) as the constantly-frustrated Karl. Julie Deakin gives a complex, multifaceted performance as Maggie, the loving, sometimes scheming, mother, who may not always be as kind as she appears. The supporting cast, which consist of thugs who often do not act like thugs, bring proper amount of quirky, dry humour.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.magpictures.com/resources/presskits/downterrace/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.magpictures.com/resources/presskits/downterrace/5.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">Given the expectations one may have of the frequently popular gangster genre, fans of that genre will likely be let down by this film while missing out on this film's more subtler, deeper story about family relationships. The initial pacing of the film may try some people's patience. It did me a little. I wished the film hadn't really characterized itself as a story about a crime family or a "gangster film" because it really isn't. I think it perhaps hurts the film somewhat—it makes it seem less real, maybe more gimmicky. This is closer to a family drama…with occasional violence thrown in. One may mistakenly go in expecting <i>The Godfather</i>. I can see this film re-imagined as a small crime story starring ordinary people—something akin to a Coen Brothers' film. These characters are odd, quirky, and dark in that vein.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Ben Wheatley has crafted a clever story that is always interesting thanks to its characters and dialogue. Wheatley's style of film making would interest me if he shot someone writing a review of one of his films... Wait... What? It's fantastic. Watch it. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-54815125766811899232014-11-15T09:03:00.000-08:002014-11-15T09:03:18.365-08:00Filth Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/34900000/James-McAvoy-Filth-Trailer-2-james-mcavoy-34923515-1920-1080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/34900000/James-McAvoy-Filth-Trailer-2-james-mcavoy-34923515-1920-1080.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">Think you know James McAvoy? Think again. His performance in Jon S. Baird's adaptation of Irving Welsh's <i>Filth</i> is astounding and there is nothing sweet or fluffy about it or any other aspect of the film. <i>Filth</i> is very funny, very wrong, very sordid and very likely to incite hatred from Daily Mail readers across the land (Hooray!). Sex, drugs, more sex, more drugs, violence, corruption, depravity, even more sex and drugs… <i>Filth</i> is absolutely, well, filthy, and is a memorable experience to say the least. And it has sex and drugs in it. </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://mrcsays.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/filth-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjsS76F96k0yC2c2eaJxOBbHdMXGjrbW8BeIABxkVw4KyrSuIk3SNmgoKNH5lJ-bq1kdpIm4J8dYY7msF0sIhA8DanPy3jG7XV1RhVdqFhQyc0V-Fxc_wsc0V17H26I2mXrBUFdAZCagVJZ2OfvpZt-xu18kBX7=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mrcsays.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/filth-2.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.brutalashell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Filth_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">It is not always easy viewing. Far from it. Sometime after the midway point the laughs die down, the stomach churns a little more uneasily, the grimaces are more evident and the intakes of breath are more audible. We are less willing to forgive but, like the car crash up ahead that has caused all the drivers in front to rubber-neck, well, just one long look as we pass can't hurt, can it? </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">Bruce Robertson (McAvoy) is a bigot. He's bi-polar, a junkie, sex-obsessed, self-obsessed, manipulative and frequently thoroughly unpleasant. He's also a cop. With a promotion in the balance, Bruce is up against several colleagues and sets about turning one against the other, unsettling them with salacious gossip and blatant lies to ensure he beats them to the post. Throw in his manipulation of fellow freemason Bladesey (Eddie Marsan), his sultry wife, Carole (Shauna MacDonald) and his hallucinatory sessions with Doctor Rossi (Jim Broadbent) and you have one monumentally screwed up anti-hero. And what's not to love about that? </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">The Coen brothers may have the monopoly on fantastic character names, but nobody writes actual characters like Welsh and the cast that Baird has poured into Filth is staggeringly good in their interpretation of this mess of freaks and misfits. There isn't a poor performance in the entire film from the uncertain laddishness of Ray (Jamie Bell) to the fantastic absurdity of Doctor Rossi. While none are bona fide Hollywood stars, the cast that glitters in a maniacal, dirty way is a treat beyond expectation: Imogen Poots, Shirley Henderson, Gary Lewis (yes, Billy Elliott and his dad are reunited at last!), John Sessions, Joanne Froggatt… It's a fantastic, eclectic mix of British stars that proves Britain has got talent. Certainly more than Simon Cowell ever has. </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><i>Filth</i> is a perfectly paced film; it roars ahead stirring emotions and judgement, exciting and thrilling as it trashes everything in its wake but it is never so fast that we feel left behind or that we've missed out on a juicy morsel of degeneracy. Sufficient time is allowed for us to filter through, as bes</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article8858358.ece/alternates/w620/Filth%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article8858358.ece/alternates/w620/Filth%201.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">t we can, the quagmire that is Bruce's life, but Baird never pauses or permits us time to glance at our watch or neighbour.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">The soundtrack, too, is bang on the money stamping though a musical landscape that is at times acceptably cheesy and more often a reminder of what to check is on the iPod. Where else can you effortlessly segue from David Soul into Shaking' Stevens? While the latter is consigned to audio wallpaper, the bizarrely fantastic cameo from David Soul is a delight. Had Dennis Potter snorted cocaine Pennies From Heaven might have resembled this.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;" /><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">In the face of common opinion that it simply wouldn't work, and after years of development, <i>Filth</i> turns out to be a near masterpiece, whose recognition as such is only made less likely by the inevitable comparison with <i>Trainspotting</i>. It is a ballsy adaptation of a hugely admired novel, as unpredictable as its central character and charged with the vitriolic energy of the author's writing. A well balanced juggling act of tones; in lesser hands this would have been a mess. </span></span></span><br />
<a href="http://screenjabber.com/files/filth-movie-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjdL202jrRuIM0G4zRoH87kgS5E9xkZTrz_TeZyeva8CBm1KcP2IM_N0fo_FS-HG034Aq6mwvzUvtiQpv_6_ZMEePym10MwgCdrto8mZk5ghoo79m508lvWfG72Vom4x-ph5niYcvhxUm_9zXH-y8c5uBHI=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://screenjabber.com/files/filth-movie-large.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;">It is not always a pleasant watch, but like the central character, it finds its way to a strange, engaging and even rather emotional resolution. Whilst there is likely to be a good forty percent of casual viewers who are left completely cold, the remaining will see a successful, proudly Scottish film that is by turns dark, shocking, comical and moving, which also goes out on an incredibly catchy and surprisingly fitting seventies hit.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.0300006866455px;"><i>Filth</i> is <i>Taggart</i> if it had snorted ecstasy, cocaine and speed off the toilet seat of a dirty, Scottish strip club. And if you're not down with that, what the fuck are you still doing here?</span></span>
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<a href="http://popbitch.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Sony_TheEqualizer_UKQuad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://popbitch.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Sony_TheEqualizer_UKQuad.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Denzel
Washington is great, isn't he? Throughout his thirty-odd years in the
industry he's portrayed good guys, bad guys, flawed guys and even
real guys, with his portrayal of Malcolm X encapsulating all of those
things. With </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
Equalizer</i></span></span><span style="color: black;">,
Washington plays the nicest guy you could hope to meet, you just
wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him or he'll kill you. And
boy, does he know a lot of ways to do that. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Crucially,
though, there's more to Washington's Robert McCall. He's a quiet man,
who likes to look after his body, read and help people out. It's
these minor details that make his character all the more interesting
to watch. It also makes it all the more shocking when he's sticking
corkscrews, drills and anything sharp he can find in people. </span><span style="color: black;">He
likes people, with him using his day job to kid around with the staff
and help a chubby colleague lose some weight to get the new job he
wants. The nicest aspect to McCall is his determination to read the
“100 books you need to read before you die” as a tribute to his
late wife, who was working through the list herself before she
passed. It's a sweet character moment we don't often get with most
action flicks preoccupied with jamming as many action set-pieces as
they can. Non-stop action can often be monotonous and that's
something Fuqua seems to understand this. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Equalizer-Official-Photo-Denzel-Washington-Chloe-Moretz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Equalizer-Official-Photo-Denzel-Washington-Chloe-Moretz.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;">We
spend a lot of time getting to know McCall before anythin actually
starts to happen, which is a really nice touch. In fact, the entire
first third plays out like a short film – and a very impressive one
at that. It's almost perfect. It has the rise and fall, story
telling and the character development is fantastic. The first action
scene doesn't happen for a while, but when it does come it has more
of an impact as we've gotten to know McCall.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">The
action is very distinctive too, with guns replaced for a more up
close, brutal beat down technique opted for by Fuqua. McCall goes
through sledgehammer's, nail guns, broken glass and a lot, lot more.
It's so refreshing to see an action film that doesn't hold back. The
blood splatters, the necks crack and people die... A LOT. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">If
<i>The Equalizer</i> has any problems at all, it's that McCall is almost too
unstoppable. He's never in danger and he's always in control of the
situation and as an audience it makes it hard to feel much tension
when you know that he's got everything covered. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/images/newsite/img_18927_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/images/newsite/img_18927_600.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;">There's
also some very strange scripting problems where the plot wanders
somewhere else that doesn't really have much to do with the
narrative. There's a scene where a crook comes into the hardware
store where McCall works and steals money from the register only to
be stopped by McCall later on which is very strange. It breaks up the
flow of the film and does nothing for the story or his character.
Another scene is where McCall visits old friends to get 'information'
that he already knew.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;">Other
than that, though, <i>The Equalizer</i> surprised me. It packs a punch with
some of the most impressive action sequences I've seen for a while,
but it also has character and heart. I think this could have
franchise potential and I really wouldn't say no to an <i>Equalizer</i> 2. </span>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-33165926792526112512014-07-31T07:54:00.001-07:002014-07-31T07:54:41.153-07:00Looking back at Yojimbo and Fistful of Dollars <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://whatculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/a-fistful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://whatculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/a-fistful.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">Akira
Kurosawa and Sergio Leone are two of the most influential, yet
different directors in cinematic history – but they met on a
crossroads. That crossroads was <i>Fistful of Dollars</i>, Sergio Leone's
Western that took the world by storm, that was said to be a copy of
Kurosawa's <i>Yojimbo</i>. I decided to watch both back-to-back and have my
say on the matter. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">Much
has been made about how Sergio Leone took Kurosawa's story and
characters (most in particular being a rogue from out of town) and
made them into his breakthrough </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful
of Dollars</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">.
Kurosawa even sued Leone over the story rights. But to those who
wonder whether </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yojimbo</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
is 'better' than </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
or vice versa need to remember one of two things: Kurosawa took the
story from Dashiell Hammett's gangster novel Red Harvest (which was
also adapted into </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
Maltese Falcon</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
– go and watch that if you haven't done so already.), so neither
film maker is making something really original; and that since each
film is made in a different continent, and with the slightest
different sensibilities about its characters. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKqWKehHlak2iDNBwzD3g-Cfe_voyUbtcTKgQw7_smp6lePwJ2VE28V6NzRD9d6MndGnx7_MGS8kiZkt8NSTYj8sma6nLgla2Btg-Cz09ifl035kROR2FgXyXPn8GzknQvZjacVMZfFlh/s1600/a-fistful-of-dollars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKqWKehHlak2iDNBwzD3g-Cfe_voyUbtcTKgQw7_smp6lePwJ2VE28V6NzRD9d6MndGnx7_MGS8kiZkt8NSTYj8sma6nLgla2Btg-Cz09ifl035kROR2FgXyXPn8GzknQvZjacVMZfFlh/s1600/a-fistful-of-dollars.jpg" height="136" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">I
think people seem to forget that </span><em><span style="color: #333333;">Yojimbo</span></em><em><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span></span></span></em><span style="color: #333333;">was
more or less an homage to the Hollywood Western. Sergio Leone
transposed the screenplay of </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yojimbo</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
to the Spanish desert, and he brought along a young television actor
named Clint Eastwood, and together they revolutionised the western
with </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful of Dollars</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">,
and created an entire genre – the Spaghetti Western. It wasn’t
much of a stretch to replace the Japanese actors with Americans and
Italians and swap out the katanas for pistols. It’s still the same
dusty town, the same shoot outs on the desolate streets. Whether it’s
cowboys or samurai’s, it all adds up to one excellent cinematic
experience. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">There
are enough cultural differences to distinguish both of them and to
make them both enjoyable. For one thing, in </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yojimbo</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
guns are scarcer than in </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">,
and there's a treatment Kurosawa has with his actors that sets it
apart from the small town western scope of Leone's weapons and
actors. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Yojimbo-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://www.nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Yojimbo-4.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yojimbo</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
is a wonderfully tight-scripted film that uses its action with just
the right touches of voracity and excitement, and in the backdrop is
also a sense of humour to the process. It carries wonderful images,
and skilful direction that keeps the pace of the storytelling tight
and tells most of the story through images – this is the kind of
film that is so good it can be watched a silent film without losing
too much of its impact or meaning. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">But
I think it would be hard to argue that </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
is not the more stylish of the film. From Eastwood's poncho and hat,
to the final scene, to the iconic music. It sported among its
attributes a gritty, desolate landscape, and a cynical, postmodern
lack-of-values ideology (traditional American westerns had quite
plush landscapes and were always black and white (good and evil) in
their value system. </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">
made a star of Eastwood Leone and rightly so. The film captured an
audience and a generation. The music is still hummed to this day.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 0.45cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">In
other words, it's kind of like comparing apples and oranges picked in
the same farm. They both taste good, but they have two very distinct
different tastes. Everyone is going to have their favourite, but to
dismiss </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fistful
</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">because
it is a 'copy' would be dismissing one of the greats of American
Cinema and </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yojimbo
</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">is
one of the greatest films of all time, so why can't we have both?</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-75958237163564491632014-07-25T08:37:00.000-07:002014-07-25T08:39:25.325-07:00Kill Your Darlings Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://candidonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/KYD_4_3_12_JMiglio_2007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.sundance.org/images/filmguide/2013/13037-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh3pEtThNaKHhPwjvYuIKBCzUb5Dl0Ol1UYagpvKlK2KPqhuvGUfN8WSG4D-fgBma1EED1LdO5PZ9rmWQk8ALUNg4TFtRdIu4YcNFe_B5qqpijxHRvgz_HYPdhGu-MoDuRsmVAcsxxSWDEdlOLCsX9uNvpiE7lwGF7B=" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sundance.org/images/filmguide/2013/13037-1.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">It's no surprise that some of the most effective works of the Beat generation were born in the scuzzy halls of jazz bars; soaked with whiskey induced grammar, intoxicated with muddled philosophies, their pages bathed in the permanent smell of tobacco. Much like the work of Lewis Carroll (and later on: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Lennon and McCartney), drugs, alcohol, and culture were catalysts towards the ideology of destroying the old and building the new. The movement itself was a rousing feat with great cultural ramifications. The film itself is a work that sometimes trades in the grainy for flashy; rupturing not only the pattern that the authors were trying to break, but the whole tone of the film as well.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">On paper it sounds fantastic. Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Ben Foster and Jack Huston is a talented, young cast that are well known from big franchises. Unfortunately for audiences, the subject matter submits to a truly unauthentic, lack lustre festival formula and abandons creativeness and a unique vision for a familiar narrative that disregards great historical figures, making them caricatures within a lame murder/mystery genre film.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Daniel Radcliffe plays Allen Ginsberg, one of the most famous and recognizable poets in the American culture. Radcliffe continues to shed his 'Hogwarts alumni' image by taking risky, unconventional and edgy roles that all share in their seemingly controversial nature. Upon his acceptance and arrival into Columbia University, Ginsberg is in search of something offbeat. Ironically enough, Ginsberg is lured into the residency of Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), an intoxicated sociopath with an obsession for self-destruction, always curious for the taste of the complicated and unexplainable.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Together, Carr and Ginsberg start a small revolution in their heads, but without so many words. With the help of an unlimited supply of cannabis and some Johnny Walker, the two eventually enlist of the help of William Burroughs (Ben Foster) and a young Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and begin their uprising. Through constant disruptions by the reputation and prestige Columbia University holds so true and dear to its heart, the constantly stoned literary bandits are engulfed into a world of lovers, obsession and murder, intent on revolutionizing literature.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><i>Kill Your Darlings</i> starts bold and overwhelming, demanding utmost attention. Unfortunately, once attention is given, the film cannot hold its grip and deliver a rousing, culturally relevant story about some of the most influential figures in contemporary literature in the last century. Blending the lines of drug induced fantasy and reality, <i>Kill Your Darlings</i> is a story of breaking the formulaic path, distrusting all conventional and predictable beats of rhyme and meter, but sadly becomes a textbook festival entry with a forgettable conclusion.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The term to 'kill your darlings' is one that suggests destroying all the conventions and comforts of the mundane, reinventing yourself, and throwing inhibition to the wind and finding creativity will inspire instances of utter uniqueness.<i> Kill Your Darlings</i>, although sometimes confident, is an obsessive and complicated re-telling of enigmatic characters placed in a deceitful and over-dramatized tragedy of murder. With the rich historical and cultural imprint of these feisty literary pioneers, so much of the busy murder antics is clearly overshadowing the brilliant opportunity to showcase the likes of Carr, Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Mixing the potential monologue moments of Weir's 1989 <i>Dead Poets Society</i> with the tone and ambiance of Salle's 2004 masterpiece <i>The Motorcycle Diaries</i>, <i>Kill Your Darlings</i> becomes a self- inflicted suicide of a film with a tantalizing and promising narrative. Don't get me wrong, the performances are top notch; DeHaan is magnificent as Carr and Radcliffe is radiant as Ginsberg. However, while most of the top-billed cast is ravishing, and supporting cast is spot on, the film feels drowned in the water with average narrative clichés weighing it down.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">While the antics of the underbelly of the New York Greenwich Village scene have been explored, battered, bruised and forever changed by the provocative and decadent Beat Movement, <i>Kill Your Darlings</i> remains a tame snippet of the life of these amazing authors and thinkers. Destined to be an example of a complicated festival biography attempt, the film will positively spark deep discussion.<i> Kill Your Darlings</i> repeats the initial reaction to Carr's response to Ginsberg's complicated life, "Perfect. I love complicated." Hopefully next time, an autobiographical cinematic take on the origins of the Beat Generation will be less gimmicky and more focused on the howling affect these fascinating individuals had on the world of literature, art, and our contemporary culture as a whole.</span></span>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">What is #MTOS?</span></u></b></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Movie Talk On Sunday is an initiative to get the Twitter Film Community together at one time and one day each week to discuss various film related topics. The aim of the whole exercise, besides having fun, is to find new individuals who share the same passion for films as you do and also in the process find out about the different aspects of films. You can count on finding out about new movies, interesting trivia, and who knows even gossip. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u style="background-color: white;">How does it work?</u></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It really is simple. There are 10 questions. We will throw out 1 question relating to the week's topic every 10 minutes starting at 20:00 UK Time every Sunday evening. All the questions and subsequent answers/discussions, by you, should simply be followed by the hash-tag #MTOS. In your Twitter "search" you can type in #MTOS and follow what everyone is saying and henceforth answer back and take part. If you "like" someone's answer simply Re-Tweet it like you would normally on Twitter.<br /><br />In order to make #MTOS more interactive we have started asking everyone to post their blog links related to the topic of the week throughout the week with the hashtag (#MTOS) so that everyone can simple search #MTOS at any time and read interesting write-ups before the actual event that Sunday.<br /><br />#MTOS is all about you. We will try and make the questions open ended with multiple answers. Let the discussions go off in a tangent if you find someone who agrees/disagrees with what you think. Just remember to #MTOS everything so someone neither one of you follow can also join in.<br /><br />Important : Please, please, please avoid profanity and behave in a civilized manner.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">On to the questions... </span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u style="background-color: white;">John Hughes </u></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">1) To start things off, what's your favourite John Hughes film and why?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">2) John Hughes is heralded as the king of coming of age films, do you agree? Is there anyone better? If so, who?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">3) John Hughes is known for creating the 'Brat Pack', would his films have been as successful as they were without said actors?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">4) As a writer and director, John Hughes showed a lot of strengths, which do you think his strongest quality was?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">5) Do you think Hughes' films are timeless, or do you think they just resonated with a certain generation of teens?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">6) Remakes are a cert in Hollywood nowadays which Hughes film is too sacred to remake?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">7) Which Hughes character had the biggest impact on you when you were growing up?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">8) What is the most underrated John Hughes film? Any that deserve more recognition than they get?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">9) And what is the most overrated John Hughes film?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">10) What was your first John Hughes experience? How was it?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Enjoy!</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-46108440627110984062014-06-26T08:29:00.003-07:002014-06-26T08:29:52.310-07:00Chef Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2014/03/chef_movie_still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2014/03/chef_movie_still.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Jon Favreau is the epitome of the hit and miss director. For every Iron Man, there’s an Iron Man 2. For every Elf, there’s a Cowboys and Aliens. He’s a cracking writer, director and actor that’s exploding with talent and imagination but sometimes they land and sometimes they don’t.
This brings Chef, which is being regarded as his pet project. After a decade of big budget, heavy-on-special-effects, blockbusters and fantasy fair, it is as charming as they come. Favreau delivers a wonderfully funny film about father and son bonding, talent and passion that has heart in abundance.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Favreau directs and stars as Carl Casper, a celebrated chef at a swanky Los Angeles restaurant, whose creativity and integrity is compromised by the restaurant's controlling owner. After a video of him losing his temper at a food critic goes viral he becomes not only unemployed, but unemployable. With his reputation in shreds, he decides to get back in touch with his roots by opening a food truck and taking it – along with line cook and son - on the road, rediscovering his passion along the way.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.zekefilm.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/chef-2014-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img border="0" src="http://www.zekefilm.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/chef-2014-02.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The use of technology is the most I've seen in any contemporary movie, and though a lesser director might have thought to temper it down a little, Favreau actually ups the tempo with it, completely embracing it. Much like Frank, it uses Twitter very cleverly – and is basically a love letter to the positivity and social media, which is refreshing to watch. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">There's commentary on social media in the form of both mockery and flattery, at once teasing the technology and touting its effectiveness. Older, disinterested Carl can't quite comprehend the details of Twitter, while his young boy doesn't understand the emotional complexities of divorce. The food critic's name is too obviously a reference to Gordon Ramsey, whose show Kitchen Nightmares famously introduced the world to an unavoidably comparable Twitter meltdown and self-imposed character assassination in the Amy's Baking Company episode. And the conclusion feels like a live-action take on Ratatouille. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The extreme lack of cinematic friction results in the plot languishing in easy going meandering; creating a pleasant, breezy, feel-good flick that has no poignancy or pathos.
The father and son aspect, although a tad cliché at times, works very well. Favreau and young actor, Emjay Anthony, have great chemistry and it’s surprisingly heartfelt between them. It’s believable – and Anthony outshines Favreau in pretty much every scene they’re in together. He’s definitely one to watch.
The film excels in finding the right beat and tempo; it shines brighter than ever before. This can be attributed in part to the charming cast and the witty script; which is a terrific treat on its own terms.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The cast manages to make it work, and this is what the film relies so heavily on that it is a godsend that </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://img2-1.timeinc.net/ew/i/2014/SMP/Previews/Chef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img2-1.timeinc.net/ew/i/2014/SMP/Previews/Chef.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Favreau doesn't let it go stale.
There are problems, of course. The sudden disappearance of Scarlett Johansson from the narrative is another mystery that remains unsolved. In the opening portion of the film, Johansson's Molly works as a hostess at the restaurant and there is clearly a mutual attraction between her and Carl. In fact, a scene in which Molly lounges seductively while Carl prepares a meal is sexier than most love scenes, yet once Carl leaves for Miami, Molly is neither seen nor heard from again. A cynic might suggest that Johansson's inclusion, along with a somewhat strange cameo from Robert Downey Jnr as another of Inez's ex-husbands, is simply Favreau calling upon his Iron Man co-stars in an attempt to secure maximum leverage for his film with multiplex audiences. And sometimes it is hindered by its abidance to cliché’s is frustrating too. The ending in particular, was very annoying. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">There's a whiff of the self-indulgent to Favreau's passion project, which winds up clocking in at just under two hours long. But it proves easy to forgive Favreau his indulgences when the resulting film is, for the most part, so sunny and full of good will.
Ultimately, Chef serves up its plot - simultaneously sweet and tart - with a generous helping of memorable characters and gentle comedy. It's a great reminder of what Favreau can do with perfectly ordinary people, trying to figure out how to get by in their perfectly ordinary world.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-17511998751668906042014-06-06T09:35:00.000-07:002014-06-06T09:35:04.998-07:00Bring Back OUR Film Studies<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;">When
I was choosing my options for college I knew that I wanted to be a
journalist. I didn't know what field, and I didn't even know if I was
good enough to do it, but that's what I wanted to do. I had chosen
two subjects at that time: Media Studies and English Language. Hey,
what better subjects to choose then those two in this day and age of
journalism? However, I was stuck for a third choice. I didn't want
anything too academic because I had never really thrived in academia,
but I wanted something that would look good on my CV. In the end, I
went out on a whim and decided to shoot for Film Studies, a course
that I didn't really know much about, but I had always liked films
and I had always liked giving my opinions. It was one of the best
decisions I ever made.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Recently,
it was announced that Film Studies was going to be cut from the
A-Level syllabus, and, frankly, that doesn't sit well with me. For
the life of me I can't work out what makes Film Studies different to
any other subject, especially 'academic' subjects like English
Language. The concept is exactly the same. You have to analyse
something and write about it in depth with intelligence and structure
to achieve marks. In the case of Film Studies it's films and in the
case of English it's a text of some sort or a novel. Cutting Film
Studies is exactly the same as cutting a subject like English, but
that would never happen because it's a 'pure' subject. Well, maybe
the people deciding (who have never sat in a Film Studies class may I
add), should see what potential it has as a subject and how far it
can take you in life. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">I've
found that Film Studies has actually helped me achieve in English
Language. It taught me more about essay writing than English Language
ever did and it gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills on a
subject that I have a deep passion about. It was Film Studies that
made me discover my love for films. Films of all languages, directors
and cultures; black and white and colour. I got to study films like
<i>La Haine</i> and <i>City of God</i>, to mainstream American cinema
such as <i>Fargo</i> and <i>Chinatown</i>. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">It's
perceived as an 'easy' subject, but that can't be any further than
the truth. Yes, anyone can watch a film, but can anyone truly
understand, analyse and argue a film? If that were the case would the
original </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Godzilla</i></span></span><span style="color: black;">
not be banned for being propaganda? What about </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Battleship
Potempkin</i></span></span><span style="color: black;">
or the films of </span><em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Salvador
Dalí and Luis Buñuel? Film making isn't just an entertainment tool,
it's the way to tell stories that need to be told. It's one of the
most important tools in politics and if people aren't being taught
how to make that kind of film or realise that kind of film then it is
very disappointing, indeed. </span></span></span></em>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">It
helped me see film for what it really was, an art. How is it any
different to an 'arty' subject like Fine Art or Photography? The real
answer is that it's not. If it were not for Film Studies I wouldn't
be pushing to get into the film journalism industry. I'm now going
onto university to study Film Studies and am writing for various film
websites. This is because I was surrounded by people passionate about
film and people I could have an intelligent discussion with for two
years. Students that had different opinions to me, students that were
just as intelligent and creative as you'd find in any other class at
college. If anything, this is going to have a negative effect on the
industry. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">And
it's not just the theoretical side of it that will be missed, it's
the practical side too. I was given the chance to write screenplays
and have feedback given to me from screenwriters. Where else are
people going to find that for free? We were given the opportunity to
use equipment that is far beyond the budgets of students. Without the
experience of crafting a screenplay, or making a film, who's to say
that this won't have a negative effect on the industry? Maybe they'll
be less people striving to make it because they don't know how to, or
because they haven't had enough experience. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Film
Studies teaches kids to critically analyse imagery, editing and
cinematography just like a child would analyse metaphors, similes and
alliteration in a novel. And at a
time when there's more imagery, more media, than ever before, the
thing that'll equip kids to understand is gone. To take away our film
studies, it to dismiss it as an art, an industry and as a legitimate
profession to be apart of it – and that's just not right. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">And
all because the people on their high horses don't understand it. It's
a darn shame. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-30148413899861555082014-06-01T16:00:00.002-07:002014-06-01T16:00:28.293-07:00Frank Review<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Just by seeing a picture of <i>Frank</i>, you can see that it has all the makings of a cult classic. I mean look at that head, it's destined to be metaphorically big as well as physically big. However, it's not as good as one would think. It’s a little too quirky for its own good. The potential is there for it to be one of the most imaginative, thoughtful and amusing pieces of film for a long time, but there's some fairly big hindrances that stop it from being great.<br /></span><div>
<a href="https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/savinthecloud/justaplatform/wblob/191FD0C0861B45/217/3F56/M5VpastxEeY6l_HqYIUTbbv0RrO7nAxdnSn6EsiEtz8/FRANK_Selected_Cannes_Still_-_F_30January_0224R.jpg_cmyk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/savinthecloud/justaplatform/wblob/191FD0C0861B45/217/3F56/M5VpastxEeY6l_HqYIUTbbv0RrO7nAxdnSn6EsiEtz8/FRANK_Selected_Cannes_Still_-_F_30January_0224R.jpg_cmyk.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a small quiet English seaside town Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) tries to pursue his passion for writing songs in between working at his humdrum day job. Even given his undoubted enthusiasm for trying to be creative Jon struggles to actually write anything even vaguely resembling a half decent couple of lyrics. On Twitter he likes to tweet his songwriting status or more the lack of it along with updates on what he is eating for lunch. But when a band comes to town and their keyboard player goes off the rails he sees opportunity knocking to join the band for an actual gig. Shortly after he finds himself travelling with the band to Ireland to record an album which ends up taking him on a pretty epic journey.<br /><br />Jon's new band members are a weird, odd bunch of characters which include the slightly crazed and volatile Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Don (Scoot McNairy) an ex-keyboard player of the band who now operates as a kind of manager, and then there's Frank the band's enigmatic front man played by Fassbender and who insists on wearing an over-sized fake head at all times.<br /><br /><i>Frank </i>is confused about what it wants to be. Does it want to be a comedy? Or does it want to be a quirky <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.filmschoolrejects.com/images/frank-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.filmschoolrejects.com/images/frank-movie.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
drama that explores dark themes? It tries to do both, and both of them are watered down. Honestly, it's not as funny as it could be, which is baffling because it has Michael Fassbender with a F</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">rank Sidebottom head on for the entire film. I'd say that 66% of the movie it wants to be a comedy and sometimes it hits comedy gold, but the other 33% of the time it wants to be a drama about mental illness. There's massive tonal problems. The final act feels like it doesn't belong to the same film as the first two acts. It's like eating a ham and jam sandwich, they work on their own but together the taste is less than satisfactory – and this is the majority of <i>Frank</i>. Also, for a film about music, the music isn't great. There's one song that hits you, but apart from that the rest are massively forgettable.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />It's frustrating because there's some excellent stuff in there. There's some great themes of creativity, or lack of, which is really interesting. Specifically, it gets us wondering about the tangled connections between creativity and madness, and how to recognise genuine mental illness in artists – especially when eccentricity is encouraged and cultivated in circles that equate weirdness with artistic brilliance. It never seems to occur to Jon that Frank isn’t interested in being heard by a wider audience, he just enjoys the creative process.<br /><br />There's a lot to like and there's a lot to dislike. The cast are wonderful. Fassbender proves he c<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.indiewire.com/static/dims4/INDIEWIRE/1c61e6a/2147483647/thumbnail/680x478/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fd1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net%2F8f%2F9d%2F9e7cceec4cb7a1e96ef8508c9557%2Ffrank-sundance-pick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.indiewire.com/static/dims4/INDIEWIRE/1c61e6a/2147483647/thumbnail/680x478/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fd1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net%2F8f%2F9d%2F9e7cceec4cb7a1e96ef8508c9557%2Ffrank-sundance-pick.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
an be great even without facial expressions, but to me Domhnall Gleeson proves that he's turning into leading man material. He plays Jon with such exuberance and enthusiasm as well as innocence and anger, it really is a wonderful performance. As a satire on the music industry and the difference between mainstream and indie music I think it works.<br /><br />But as I said, there's too many tonal and rhythmic issues to make this compulsory viewing. It could definitely grow on multiple viewings but first impressions fail to meet such high expectations. It's certainly going to be a Marmite film, but I think it's a film you should see. You have to make your mind up on it.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-43270937063324420742014-04-16T10:50:00.001-07:002014-04-16T10:50:59.234-07:00Locke Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/2Ao2r6qD22A/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/2Ao2r6qD22A/maxresdefault.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">One location films have been </span><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">successful</span><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"> through the years. From films such as <i>Phonebooth</i>, <i>Red Eye</i> and <i>Flightplan</i> have proven that with a tight enough script, you can create a tense and entertaining film set in a single location. It does all come down to the script, though. WIthout a good script, you could end up with <i>Snakes on a Plane</i>...Eek! With this, comes Steven Knight's new film,<i> Locke</i>. A film where the whole story takes places inside the confines of a car, and with Tom Hardy as the only actor on screen. But just how well does it work?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">Firstly, the script it utterly fantastic. </span><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">It wastes very little of its short running time and overall is a captivating and rewarding film with a terrific central performance. Steven Knight has crafted such great characters. They're real characters and each of them have their own personalities and yet we don't even see them on screen.</span><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"> Knight is quoted in saying: "'I wanted to do something quite different, in a confined space, about a guy whose life changes during the course of one car journey. And we never leave the car." And that is literally what happens.</span></span><br />
<a href="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/f6/fd/f6fd789cec130cdb6b9c4a926e176073.jpg?itok=sOvap_gj" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/f6/fd/f6fd789cec130cdb6b9c4a926e176073.jpg?itok=sOvap_gj" height="217" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">As he takes to the road he is seemingly a man in control of his destiny, determined to do the right thing only for everything to slowly unravel. Through conversations on the phone he tries to negotiate an emerging crisis at work with his boss and an evolving domestic situation with a concerned wife and sons desperate to have their dad home to watch the football.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">It's relentless - call after call we see Locke drift into despair. It's </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">heavy and emotionally exhausting.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> R</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">elentless is an apt adjective. The films roller coaster script was completely reverting as the juxtaposed character interactions went from making you laugh out loud to bringing a tear of compassion to your eye.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">Clocking in at just under 90 minutes, Locke is refreshingly short and never over stays its welcome. The narrative is so constant that even when Hardy is not in hands- free phone switchboard mode, we capture another underlying story.<i> Locke</i> provides just as much a character journey as it does a car journey.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is testament to Hardy's acting nous that he can pull off such a taught, powerful performance solely based on reactions to the increasingly dramatic phone calls. Locke is unrelenting in his belief of doing the right thing and we see why when he has imagined conversations with his father, an apparently neglectful and emotionally absent figure in his life. These scenes in particular are beautifully shot with the use of Locke looking into the car mirrors for the man who isn't there. </span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwmgClQhrrLZvJzprF28WRBq4ZWH2atHvX9FKpVvpNbD4t6W-sBDrDtZ8lLmLljKUrDBimPJ9LthK_iEKN77khjRYR0EIoLFDcJ_kNkmxT-ETcJQPOdIFAZ4-7WykzKPiLyfmZbmTgN4C/s1600/locke02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwmgClQhrrLZvJzprF28WRBq4ZWH2atHvX9FKpVvpNbD4t6W-sBDrDtZ8lLmLljKUrDBimPJ9LthK_iEKN77khjRYR0EIoLFDcJ_kNkmxT-ETcJQPOdIFAZ4-7WykzKPiLyfmZbmTgN4C/s1600/locke02.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">However, his Welsh accent is squiffy to say the least. It's not that it's bad, it's just really forced and unnatural. It's clear that Hardy isn't Welsh and it takes away from his performance. Also, there was no real need for him to be Welsh. The film wasn't set in Wales and the other characters had a mixture of accents. It was an odd decision to say the least. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">Apart from that, though, it's a wonderful film that deserves a lot of credit. Hopefully this will shortly be recognised as a seminal British feature film. A remarkable achievement, story telling and performance at the very highest level and hugely entertaining. Collaboratively it's nothing less than a cinematic tour de force. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.029998779296875px;">Filmed in just eight nights and with very low budget, the film is literally a lesson of how unique and quite fantastic minimalist cinema can be.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-35792940461871032302014-04-08T15:10:00.002-07:002014-04-08T15:10:46.634-07:00The Rocket Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/12/1394644360544/The-Rocket-dir-Kim-Mordau-009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/12/1394644360544/The-Rocket-dir-Kim-Mordau-009.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The début feature film from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Kim Mordaunt,</span></span><i style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"> The Rocket</i><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"> is a disarmingly charming coming-of-age film set in war ravaged Laos. Mordaunt previously made the documentary <i>Bomb Harvest</i>, which followed a bomb disposal expert training a new team to deal with the unexploded bombs from the US's secret war against Cambodia from the 70's still littering the landscape. Obviously Mordaunt has drawn elements of this fictitious story from that film.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to local lore, when twins are born, one is blessed and one is cursed. Ahlo (played by 10-year old newcomer Sitthiphon Disamoe) is the survivor of twins born to Mali (Alice Keohavong) but his grandmother believes that he is cursed. A number of incidents seem to bear this out - his village is due to be flooded to make way for a new dam; his mother is killed in a freak accident while relocating; he causes his house to be burnt down by angry neighbours. The only people who believe in Ahlo are the young girl Kia (Loungnam Kaosainam) and her uncle (Thep Phogam), who styles himself after the great blues singer James Brown. A bond develops between these outcasts. Ahlo competes in an annual rocket building competition, the winner of which receives money and great respect, hoping to change his family's fortunes. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/tribeca_cms_production/uploads/film/photo_2/513a83f1c07f5d471300043b/large_The_Rocket_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/tribeca_cms_production/uploads/film/photo_2/513a83f1c07f5d471300043b/large_The_Rocket_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The film is beautifully filmed on location in Laos by cinematographer Andrew Commis, <i>The Rocket</i> looks superb and provides an engaging insight into this exotic land and its rich culture. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">A moving well written tale, well told, with moving performances by all of the mainly amateur cast. An excellent insight to a wonderful country still suffering from the devastation brought about by its proximity to Vietnam. The movies does not descend into sentimentality or the tired over used clichés found in so many of the main stream releases. The child protagonists carry the film along at a pleasing pace and highlight the problems experienced in a battle scared country.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Thankfully he layers the unavoidable political notes with real warmth, humour and character, a quality that clearly benefited from using a mix of professional and non-professional actors. Mordaunt also knows how to use irony without pushing it; as Ahlo aims to prove his worth at a big rocket festival, we're reminded that this is not a political allegory, it's an offbeat, celebratory coming-of-age story about an innocent child set in a politically ravaged country. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><i>The Rocket</i> encompasses beautiful, honourable</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"> and unique sets of attributes that have touched me and I expect will touch audiences around the world. What is remarkable, is that the heart of this story is actually transferable to any community in our world. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.berlinale.de/media/filmstills/2013_2/generation_8/20133391_1_IMG_FIX_700x700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.berlinale.de/media/filmstills/2013_2/generation_8/20133391_1_IMG_FIX_700x700.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">It shows its stunning landscape with excellent cinematography and also touches tastefully on some controversial issues, which have been shaping the country in the past and the present. The sensitive storyline includes many layers that give it texture, which makes it such a rich movie and exiting journey for the audience. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Mordaunt does not hesitate to remind of us of the legacy of American bombs dropped during the Vietnam War and still visible in the vegetation, nor does he flinch from depicting the reality of poverty and exploitation.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The acting, especially by the main cast, is very convincing and touching. The two child protagonists are extraordinary. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The casual acting styles of the children were captivating & led to credence all the way through the film. Confronting issues & imagery were simply presented without sentimental or 'fluffy' enhancement. The stories of each character were presented so realistically by apparently unsophisticated actors, with the cinematography displaying facial & scenic imagery so beautifully & again simply, so as to encourage the feel of realism & the documentary style.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://saltypopcorn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/THE_ROCKET_HIGH_RES-11-of-37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://saltypopcorn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/THE_ROCKET_HIGH_RES-11-of-37.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">I think </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Kim Mordaunt's inexperience in feature films is shown, however. The script, although carrying a good story, is definitely rough around the edges. The tale takes its time in forming an ideal structure and there's an awful lot of superflous exposition, which clearly comes from his documentary roots. It feels like it's a couple of rewrites away from meeting its potential. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Despite this, <i>The Rocket</i> is a heart-warming story carried by wonderful performances and excellent cinematography. It's an edgy film which carries some quite dark undertones, yet it is accessible for a family audience - and that has to be rewarded. </span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-66916869098268678352014-04-06T12:29:00.001-07:002014-04-06T12:29:37.975-07:00We Are the Best! Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.calgaryundergroundfilm.org/content/image/140309-213647/WeAreTheBest-4-variants/film_page_hero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://www.calgaryundergroundfilm.org/content/image/140309-213647/WeAreTheBest-4-variants/film_page_hero.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Music creates this nostalgia that holds so strong that no matter what you will always love it. Much like<i> Inside Llewyn Davis</i> heralded folk music, Lukas Moodysson's <i>We Are the Best!</i> heralds punk music more than any film around. It's punk. </span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Even more punk than Julien Temple's <i>The Filth and The Fury</i>, the great documentary about the Sex Pistols and England in the late 1970s. Presented are a few young individuals who think alike and don't waver for a second to present their own opinions. They're unique - just like the rest of us - and just so you know, just because disco came around, doesn't mean punk's dead.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">We Are the Best!</i><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"> is focused on three 13 year old girls as they form a punk band. The film has all the highs and lows of adolescence intertwined into the quest of being the best punk band ever; teenage angst, first love, friendship, crushes, family, identity and the disastrous consequences of drinking too much too young!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.indiewire.com/static/dims4/INDIEWIRE/a125ae7/2147483647/thumbnail/680x478/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fd1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net%2F36%2F99%2Fb036e7c2459ab5939f1c574f7258%2Fwe-are-the-best-vi-ar-bast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.indiewire.com/static/dims4/INDIEWIRE/a125ae7/2147483647/thumbnail/680x478/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fd1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net%2F36%2F99%2Fb036e7c2459ab5939f1c574f7258%2Fwe-are-the-best-vi-ar-bast.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Klara (Mira Grosin) and Bobo (Mira Barkhammer) are two androgynous looking girls who don't fit in with others at their school, and are bullied for looking different. They love punk and live by the values of anti-establishment mentality and reject mainstream society and commercial disco music. One day at their after school club in order to get heavy metal band Iron Fist to stop playing their offensively loud music Bobo and Klara decide to fight music with music and start a band of their own. They don't have any instruments or indeed know how to play any, but that doesn't stop them, and I'm pretty sure there are some famous bands out there that started similarly. Outspoken and mouthy Klara nominates herself as lead singer and bassist, forcing Bobo onto the drums. Their song 'Hate the Sport' is about their dislike for PE and their 'fascist' teacher. Whilst they can master the lyrics their musical ability does not improve. Bobo sees an opportunity in recruiting Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), a classical guitar player who is also a social outcast due to being a strict Christian. In a quest to convert her from Christianity to punk they cut off her long blonde hair to fit in with Bobo's crop and Klara's Mohawk. </span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>We Are the Best!</i> is certainly one of the most honest, heart-warming and endearing films about female friendship I've seen. It is adapted from his wife, Coco Moodysson's graphic novel, <i>Never Goodnight</i>. The story is a fictionalised account of her own teenage years as a punk rocker. The acting was amazing in the film and all girls gave a great performance, from Liv LeMoyne's wonderful folk playing and singing, to the comedic timings and playful nature of Grosin and Barkhammer, also special mention to the highly amusing, clarinet playing father of Klara played by David Dencik. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2014/3/25/1395760526867/We-Are-The-Best-exclusive-012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2014/3/25/1395760526867/We-Are-The-Best-exclusive-012.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Moodysson concentrates on the exuberance of youth, celebrating the highs of friendships and the chaotic lows of arguments, boyfriends, parents, jealousies, growing up and everything else! Everything is treated with a lack of cynicism, everyone is treated with a sense of perspective and affection. Of course, it helps that you've got three genuine and utterly infectious teenage girls to make you laugh constantly. Hedvig, Klara and Bobo display in their own individual way their sensitivities and uncertainties with life. </span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">It's not just heart-warming though, it's also terrifically funny. The children are innocent, yet also know more about the world than most adults. They're funnily written characters, with a great outlook on life. There's something lovely about seeing these children loving the punk life. A life that has a bad reputation. They bring something beautiful and intelligent about it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">It's a harcore film that's cute, sad, very funny, very Swedish and human from the core on out. The script is great, the dialogue should be a blueprint on how Swedish realism should be, Moodysson still claims the throne as the best living Swedish director, and this film will live on forever. I really hope this gets syndicat</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">ed throughout the world, because that's what it deserves. Punk is back, baby! </span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">"Brezhnev, Reagan. F*** off!"</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-40573030716622408342014-04-05T15:14:00.000-07:002014-04-05T15:14:03.412-07:00Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ageeksblogdotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/nick-fury-captain-america-black-widow-winter-soldier-2014-movie-hd-1920x1080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ageeksblogdotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/nick-fury-captain-america-black-widow-winter-soldier-2014-movie-hd-1920x1080.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Marvel Studio's 'Phase One' was hugely successful leading all the way up to the phenomenally successful <i>Avengers Assemble</i>, but who was the weak link in that film? Captain America by far. Sure, he had one of the best Phase One films, but compared to Iron Man, Thor and even The Hulk he was a tad overshadowed. Who cares about a man with a shield, when you've got a man in a flying tin-can and a God? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Regarding this, <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i> had a lot to do to make up. Especially due to the lacklustre Phase Two films thus far. So the question is, does it do it?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I would say yes. <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i> is a competent film and easily the best Phase Two film. It's billed as a political thriller and, in part, it is exactly that. It's tense, it's fun and it has undertones of free will, corruption and how technology plays a part in all of this. It's interesting and clever, which is refreshing from all of the dumb blockbusters we've received as of late.</span><br />
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<a href="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130408163321/marvelmovies/images/9/96/Cap_America_S.H.I.E.L.D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130408163321/marvelmovies/images/9/96/Cap_America_S.H.I.E.L.D.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">However, it doesn't keep this up. <span style="line-height: 21.428571701049805px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.428571701049805px;">I'm getting sick and tired of finales of superhero films being 30-40 minutes of set-pieces and loud noises. Especially with <i>Cap 2</i> as the first two thirds were really strong in terms of the political thriller they were going for and then the finale just turned into an all out action set-piece and undermined it. It reeks of studio interference. The Russo's didn't shut up about how they were making a political thriller in promotion for the film, so why not go the whole hog? You've gone to the hassle of bringing in screen legend Robert Redford and you've built up a plot that could have had a cracking finale to just throw it out the window. It's very disappointing. It brings it right back into a standard superhero film, which is worrying because soon this superhero fad is going to burn out and audiences are going to get bored. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.428571701049805px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also, it's called <i>Captain America: THE WINTER SOLDIER</i>, so why does he have little to no character or character development. I understand there's a huge ensemble and lots to get to, but he's a cool character and he should have been played on more than he was. I get that they're leading into other films, but they should have played on Bucky and Steve's past a lot more. It would have made the finale that bit more tense and exciting. It's a theme that's gone through all of the Phase Two films, which is disappointing because they've all been cast so well. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.428571701049805px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Furthermore, I didn't feel like this film needed Falcon. He was cool and Anthony Mackie plays him well, but I don't think this was his film. I feel like maybe they should have left him until the third. Especially because he's not even in <i>Age of Ultron</i>. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-trailer-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-trailer-0.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.428571701049805px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I liked it, though, don't get me wrong. There's really strong aspects to it. Cap is a much more interesting character than the original. He has much more character and Chris Evans portrays him to brilliant effect. He plays the fish out of water character really well. I like the way they handled Black Widow's character. She is badass. I'm so glad she isn't just a bit on the side character or a love interest because The Avengers have true potential to be a bit of a sausage-fest. And it builds on the universe well. It gives Fury more character, it gives SHIELD that extra-layer and it gives the entire universe more depth. That's something that can't be said about <i>Iron Man 3 or Thor: The Dark World</i>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21.428571701049805px;">It's another solid entry and it does its job; I'm now excited for <i>Age of Ultron</i> and <i>Guardians</i>. I have, however, been a little underwhelmed with Phase Two thus far.</span> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-66516182755745766272014-04-01T07:02:00.003-07:002014-04-01T07:02:56.588-07:00The Double Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://twitchfilm.com/assets_c/2013/09/thedouble_04-thumb-630xauto-41871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://twitchfilm.com/assets_c/2013/09/thedouble_04-thumb-630xauto-41871.jpg" height="201" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Everyone has flaws and everyone has aspects about themselves that they don't like. So what if someone who looked exactly like you turned up and was everything that you weren't? He got your girls, he stole your work and he was all round more popular, confident and charismatic than you? More to the point, what if someone who looked exactly like you did all of these things and no one even noticed? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">This is the second feature film from Richard Ayoade after his marvelous quirky debut <i>Submarine</i>. Loosely based on the Dostoevsky novel the story follows Simon James - a quiet, timid character living in a bleak, soulless world where he goes unnoticed by his boss, the cute photocopier girl and even his own mother. Then one day James Simon appears, an exact double of Simon except he's better at everything in life - he has the cocky charm, he worms his way to the top in work and even gets the girls.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvfi8a_NdRArgEO1vU-0zknXcXEbwjPPviS2nWOZWjMgyMpWgdOEuXRAx2SaeglQnCFq42tDzpPJwVIpcSYsaXdJ4MiRT9IVjNHvJ7Yk0jlXAphw5j6qaOZBF8E_MCPqsgM8ovB5AdZ8/s1600/double_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvfi8a_NdRArgEO1vU-0zknXcXEbwjPPviS2nWOZWjMgyMpWgdOEuXRAx2SaeglQnCFq42tDzpPJwVIpcSYsaXdJ4MiRT9IVjNHvJ7Yk0jlXAphw5j6qaOZBF8E_MCPqsgM8ovB5AdZ8/s1600/double_3.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Ayoade draws plenty of mannered comedy from the protagonist's embarrassment, and tremendous atmosphere from a meticulously shot and lit film. It reminded me of an early Coen Brothers film, or perhaps <i>Jeunet & Caro</i>. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">There is a dark, moody comedic tone with some hilarious dialogue and genuine pathos. The real highlight here is Ayoade's directorial style with real shades of Terry Gilliam in its surrealist approach to the world he has created. He cranks up the volume of everyday things like taps running or footsteps to build tension up in scenes and Jesse Eisenberg is perfect casting for both roles.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Although it could be said that the themes explored here are borrowed liberally from other pictures, the true originality stems from Ayoade's distinctive style; with an interesting story line, cracking script and masterful sound editing, it becomes difficult to recount even a moment of the movie which could be described as 'dull' (and certainly not 'mundane').</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">I felt like I was watching a film made by a group of people passionate about what they were making. Everything came together to create an excellent piece of art. The music was terrific, the style and tone were spot on and I absolutely loved the dark, nonsensical world. It harked me back to watching old Tim Burton films where everything came together to make a film with such a distinct style that you can't help describe it without using the word 'auteur'. </span></span><br />
<a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/xWhikLYeSQ0/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/xWhikLYeSQ0/maxresdefault.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The icing on the cake is most certainly the performance of our lead protagonist(s), both played by Jesse Eisenberg who has surely never been (or never had) so much fun on screen. Strong performances from his acting colleagues (which includes almost the entire cast of <i>Submarine</i>) compliment Jesse's fine work, and is one of the many aspects helping to pave the golden path of Ayoade's walk to stardom.</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"> Playing two characters in one film can't be easy, but Eisenberg comes into his own and gives both a distinct character even down to a different walk for both characters. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Double</i> really was fantastic. Everything comes together to make a fantastic piece of art: lighting, music, performances are incredible</span><span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Zany, hilarious and inventive, Ayaode is as confident as any auteur behind the camera. Certainly one to watch after two marvelous, yet different films. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-60312306628681818472014-03-27T10:47:00.002-07:002014-03-27T14:59:09.049-07:00Blue Ruin Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sundance.org/images/filmguide/2014/13870-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sundance.org/images/filmguide/2014/13870-2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">On the surface, Blue Ruin is a down-the-line, ticks all the boxes revenge thriller. What it actually is, is something much different. The film comes from Jeremy Saulnier, who could be introducing a new genre to cinema: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">the multiple-twist movie. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">The plot seems pretty straight forward at first. Dwight (Macon Blair) is a homeless man living on the outskirts of an amusement park. One day he finds that the man who killed his parents is about to be released from prison. Clearly, Dwight has no intention to turn the other cheek in this case and he sets out to a successful assassination. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">It's a stripped down tale, but it's far from a straight forward one. Whenever you get comfortable, Blue Ruin changes into something else. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Blue Ruin is a consistently unpredictable, twisty, and excellent thriller. At no point will you be quite sure where the film will take you, or what direction it will go next, up until the final scene. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Saulnier's vision of crime drama with moral issues is in fact a breath of fresh air in a stagnant genre.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Dwight is a real character and this is a real film. This is not big </span></span><span style="line-height: 22px;">explosions and diving out of the way in style, this is Dwight bumbling his way through assassinations and flailing away from genuine threats. Despite what cinema may have taught you, violence is a bad thing. Violence has a memory. It's that realism that makes Blue Ruin such a nervy ride. Everything Dwight does has a consequence. He never gets away scott-free, he's constantly on the run from someone - and you never know where that someone is going to come from. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://500.the400club.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/blue-ruin_470253_43387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://500.the400club.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/blue-ruin_470253_43387.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">There are no moments of safety once Dwight has committed his first sin, and as such there are no moments of safety in Blue Ruin. It's a horribly tense film. At times it's an uncomfortable watch, but it's always a rewarding watch. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">It’s a thriller that feels like lightning; sudden, terrifying, and excitingly driven.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;">Blue Ruin never leaves Dwight’s perspective, everything goes through him and Macon Blair portrays him sublimely. Despite being in every scene, I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of the character. He gives nothing away, but he's still very easy to follow and great to watch. There's this subtlety that Blair brings to the character that makes him almost mesmerising. He's a gripping character, which makes the film gripping. This is Macon Blair's film, more so than Jeremy Saulnier's film, and he completely owns it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Saulnier has given us so distinctively </span></span><span style="line-height: 22px;">cliché in the revenge thriller and turned it on his head. He's made it real, violent and brash. And with Blair's performance on top of that, it's not to be missed. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-63481537699491972832014-02-27T13:55:00.003-08:002014-02-28T03:42:01.945-08:00The Book Thief Review<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">There's a mainstream middle-brow type of film which was what the Nouvelle Vague in the 50's called the 'Cinema de Papa', that is to say, it is thoroughly conventional. It tends to platitudes, to echo the views and moral perspectives of the very average. Tradition is not a bad thing, not on its own, yet with a film like The Boo</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">k Thief, it goes over much repeated material in a form which is so well known as to induce narcolepsy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><i>The Book Thief</i> is thoroughly conventional. At times it is cliché and cringey, but other times it's a wonderful and emotional journey through the eyes of a little girl during the worst period of humanity. It's conventional, but it's also worth your time. </span></span></span><br />
<a href="http://xxivmagazine.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://xxivmagazine.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/image1.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><i>The Book Thief</i> is about a young girl whose brother dies and her mother abandons her - all at the age of 11. She's adopted by an older couple in Nazi Germany. Her foster father teaches her how to read which lights a fire inside of her to read and read and read. Since this is Nazi Germany, books are very hard to find. The only way she can get more books is to "borrow" them. All the while, her family agrees to hide a young Jewish man in their basement which puts the young girl's family at great risk. But, the young girl and the young man become very good friends, helping each other through hard times.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">WW2 films viewed from a young perspective are always interesting because of the innocence and humanity shown by the infants. Much like <i>The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas</i>, Liesel and her friend, Rudy, just can't fathom why all of this pain and suffering is going on in the world. Rudy dresses up like Jesse Owens and pretends to be him and ultimately, is punished for it. Of course, he can't see what he's doing wrong. I think this aspect of the film was handled really well.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">To be honest, the entirety was handled well, which is a problem for me. World War 2 was the worst period of time throughout all of humanity and this film doesn't give that impression. I never felt like the children were in that much trouble or that there was much threat. It's understandble why they have gone down this route. After all, this film is aimed at a younger audience. I do accept that it's a good way for children to engage with World War 2, I just wish it was grittier and darker because that's what the subject matter deserves. It's just a bit too glossy for my liking.</span><br />
<a href="http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Book-Thief-Movie-Geoffrey-Rush-Sophie-Nelisse-570x294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Book-Thief-Movie-Geoffrey-Rush-Sophie-Nelisse-570x294.jpg" height="165" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">An aspect that is it very strong in though is it's performances. Geoffrey Rush in particular is fantastic. He is so loveable. Every little nuance is done to perfection and his chemistry with </span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration: none;">Sophie Nélisse's Liesel, who also puts in a great performance, is wonderful. It gives the film heart. Everything goes through </span></span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb;">Liesel</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration: none;"> and she keeps up her performance throughout the entire film.</span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration: none;"> Something has to be said of Emily Watson's role too. Every time I see Watson on screen she continues to amaze me. She brings so much to the screen and it's a joy to watch. </span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.pluggedin.com/~/media/PIO/Images/Movies/2013/M11/Book-Thief-large.ashx?20131107T1450260806" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pluggedin.com/~/media/PIO/Images/Movies/2013/M11/Book-Thief-large.ashx?20131107T1450260806" height="182" width="320" /></a><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration: none;">Also, it wouldn't be a war film without a John Williams score. I don't know how he continues to do it. He is into his eighties now and he provides the brightest spark to the film. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.625px;">Orchestrations are once again superb, the music finely crafted with that Williams-esque brand of class we have come to expect from his work. For the most part this score is quite small in scope and the chamber sized orchestra consists mainly of the strings, woodwinds and a small brass section. His score pulls at the heartstrings and it certainly packs a punch.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.625px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 23.625px;">This is an odd film. I </span><span style="line-height: 23.625px;">thoroughly enjoyed it, but I came out a tad unsatisfied - yet I cried and I laughed in all of the right places. It's a good story heightened by its excellent performances and score. For what it was going for, I think it was good. It was child friendly and a good way of introducing children into a horrific period of time. I was just left thinking, what if Spielberg directed it? What if Polanski directed it? And what if del Toro directed it rather than a guy who has made his name on <i>Downton Abbey</i>? It could have been regarded a lot higher. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 23.625px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 23.625px;">A conventional film, but it's heart is in the right place. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 17.030000686645508px;"><br /></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-76963631645899230652014-02-22T16:36:00.002-08:002014-02-28T03:46:08.567-08:00Nymphomaniac Volumes 1&2 Review<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/nymphomaniac-charlotte-gainsbourg-slice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/nymphomaniac-charlotte-gainsbourg-slice.jpg" height="132" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
be honest, I had my doubts when I went to see this film. After all
the buzz, I more or less expected a provocative, pretentious,
incomprehensible porno film. I thought <i>Nymphomaniac </i>would be a
shallow artistic excuse to show lots of explicit sex in an attempt to
shock the audience and create controversy.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well,
I was wrong.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is
it provocative? In some ways, yes. I think choosing nymphomania as a
subject for a film is already some sort of provocation. And there are
some scenes that might be considered tasteless or mildly shocking.
But if I would have to describe the film in one word, I wouldn't use
'provocative'. Instead, I would use 'imaginative'.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Because
that is what this film is: imaginative. It's so full of ideas, full
of creativity and full of cinematographic exuberance that it's hard
not be impressed. The nice thing is that Lars Von Trier never takes
himself too seriously. In a way, it's a pity that the film is about
sex. So much attention is being given to the number of penises shown
and the number of vagina close-ups that it overshadows everything
else, including the creative way the film is made.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Lars
Von Trier has crafted an absolutely epic story filled with beauty,
humour and heartbreak – but it's his writing that is most
impressive. Von Trier's dialogue is so simple, yet so beautiful. The
dialogue between Joe and Seligman is remarkable. The words are
literally coming off the page. As good as the acting is, it's hard
not to be impressive when you're given this material. His script is
dense. He's created this world that is unlike no other. It doesn't
have an actual set city – everyone speaks with a different accent
(whether that is intentional or not I don't know) - but it definitely
has a universe. You're immersed in this universe for four hours and
you never want to leave. </span>
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">The
story is told very cleverly. It's told in chapters and it really has
this 'epic' feel about it. Like we're being told a fairy tale, albeit
an X-rated fairy tale. It's a nice juxtaposition that gives the film
depth. Von Trier visualises this to aplomb. One
wonderful example of this creative approach is the final chapter,
where Joe sees a similarity between her complicated love life and
Seligman's favourite piece of polyphonic organ music. She compares
her lovers to the three different melodic tunes in the music. The way
Von Triers visualizes this, with the screen split in three to show
cross cuttings of the organ and the lovers, is original and funny at
the same time. Throughout the film we get ugly, pointless inserts
(nature shots, animals, choir boys etc.) that are derived from
low-quality, low-resolution video material. This is a fantastic
technique used by Von Trier because it gives us a break from the
bleak drama. They're funny, refreshing and well used. </span>
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/nymphomaniac-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/nymphomaniac-3.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">His
visualisation is helped by some superb performances. Obviously,
Charlotte Gainsborough, newcomer Stacy Martin and Stellan Skarsgård
will receive most of the plaudits – but there are some fantastic
performances hidden beneath. Uma Thurman, who is in the film for one
scene, brings the film it's funniest moments. She is absolutely
brilliant. I haven't seen her this good for a long, long time. Also,
Jamie Bell plays a fantastic sadist. (Who would have thought?! Billy
bloody Elliot!) </span>
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">The
film is split into two parts in <i>Kill Bill</i> style. Although this was
not Von Trier's choice, it's handled very well. The two parts are
distinct and the both carry a different style and tone. The first
part has a lighter tone and plays out as a tongue-in-cheek caper
while the second is darker and grittier. Both work very well and
oddly, despite the change in tones, they lead into each other very
well. However, the transformation from 'young Joe' to 'older Joe'
feels very weird. It felt rigid and hampered the flow of the film.
The same can be said of other characters that were recast, it feels
very odd. It was an odd decision considering the age difference isn't
particularly that big. Despite this, the film never feels too long,
which, considering its length, is very impressive. </span>
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/ce/f9/da97611144368d92082ac161bacd/nymphomaniac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/ce/f9/da97611144368d92082ac161bacd/nymphomaniac.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">It's
funny and brilliant, its dark and thrilling and its poetic at the
same time. If you're a fan of Von Trier you won't be disappointed and
equally, if you're not I think it's an accessible film. This film is
not about sex. Its about loneliness between sensations, about being
alone among people who suffer from lack of attachment. Its about life
that struggles with death by facing death, to the ultimate boundary
of pleasure.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's
a superb film and I would liken it more to a film of intertwining
plots and characters such as <i>Pulp Fiction</i> and last years<i> The Place
Beyond the Pines</i>. It's a clever that just happens to be about sex.
Take a chance. Go and see it. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-21469168452012297732014-02-07T14:43:00.001-08:002014-02-07T14:43:53.306-08:00Harry Potter: Alfonso Cuaron, Chris Columbus and the Change in ToneMany regard Alfonso Cuaron as one of the brightest sparks in film making today and it's no surprise why. Cuaron is off the back of the incredible <i>Gravity, </i>which has done amazingly with both critics and the box-office and it's deserving of all it's praise. It's a marvel in technical achievement. I wouldn't' be surprised if he picked up the Best Director Oscar (although he has healthy competition up against Steve McQueen). Before that, he made <i>Children of Men</i> - arguably one of the best films ever made. He also made <i>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</i>, which is regarded as the best Potter film and is easily my favourite. I would argue that Cuaron changed the way people looked at the series AND changed the tone and direction of the series.<br />
<br />
Cuaron took the reigns from Chris Columbus, who has a very reputable track record, I mean seriously, he pretty much made my childhood with <i>Home Alone 1&2</i> and <i>Mrs Doubtfire</i>. But that's what he made, children's films. I don't think he was right for the chair of <i>Harry Potter</i>. Maybe that's a bit harsh, he did well with the opening two - but Cuaron saved the day by taking over. The previous films were cheesy and charming, but they didn't have any bite. Imagine Columbus dealing with Werewolves, Dementors and death scenes. It would have been horrible. However, he has to be credited with his incredible casting. Without him, we wouldn't have Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, John Cleese, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs (hello by the way), Toby Jones, Kenneth Branagh and Robbie Coltrane. For an American, he certainly knew his British cinema.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://img2-1.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/040603/115759__potter_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img2-1.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/040603/115759__potter_l.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>On the topic of casting, I think Cuaron's casting was ingenious. Not only did he cast the greatest living British actor in Gary Oldman as Sirius Black (who actually took the role because he needed the money, who would have thought?), but he also replaced the deceased Richard Harris with the fantastic Michael Gambon. Now, I don't want to disrespect the late Richard Harris (he truly is a remarkable actor), but I don't think he would've fit with the Dumbledore of the later books, who, lets face it, is a massive dick - but a loveable dick nonetheless. Who better to play that than the loveable dick that is Michael Gambon? It was a casting masterstroke from Cuaron. Also, Timothy Spall is outstanding as Wormtail. He is literally who I was picturing when I was reading the books. David Thewlis is incredible as my favourite character, Remus Lupin and Emma Thompson as Trelawney was fantastic. I think all the c<br />
hildren inside us enjoyed seeing Pam Ferris aka Ms Trunchbull getting blown up as well! It was a masterstroke in casting.<br />
<br />
It's also well known that Cuaron pushed Radcliffe, Watson and Grint to perform better as actors and it shows. If you go back and watch <i>The Philosophers Stone</i> and <i>The Chamber of Secrets</i> and then watch <i>The Prisoner of Azkaban</i> the acting is completely different. They're like different actors, the performances he gets out of these children is impressive, with Emma Watson as the shining star.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thefilteredlens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/64.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.thefilteredlens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/64.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Azkaban's cinematography is beautiful too. You just have to watch the Buckbeak flying scene to realise the true beauty of Michael Seresin's work. It's everything you'd expect from a Cuaron film. Truly stunning film making.<br />
<br />
It has to be said that Azkaban is easily the best book. There's a lot to get your teeth into - the time-travel, the mythical creatures, the marauders map and lots of new characters - but boy does Cuaron take a big bite. He was fully invested. He added his touch to the world of Harry Potter. He designed the tattoos on Sirius, he created the Hogwarts Bridge and he brought a brand new style and tone that just worked for Harry Potter. With that, he created one of the greatest fantasy films of all time. And without him, I don't think we'd see Voldemort looking the way he did, I don't think the final films would have been so dramatic and I don't think it would go down as one of the most consistent franchises in history.<br />
<br />
He may have seen widespread acclaim with <i>Children of Men</i> and <i>Gravity</i>, but as a Potterhead, I thank Alfonso Cuaron for his work on <i>The Prisoner of Azkaban</i>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2803824302268090176.post-91410008697476253302014-01-30T04:50:00.000-08:002014-01-30T04:50:03.720-08:00Inside Llewyn Davis Review <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love folk music and I love the Coen brothers. I am completely smitten. I have long admired Joel Coen
and Ethan Coen and what they have offered the realm of cinema. I am in love
with <i>Fargo </i>still until this day, and
they've provided solid efforts on nearly every outing since. Their newest endeavour
that focuses on the folk scene in 1961 is an absolute dream. Everything from
the impeccable Oscar Isaac to the music that enriches the deepest trenches of
the soul, <i>Inside Llewyn Davis</i> is one
of the best pictures of the year, plain and simple. It's the Coen Brothers
finest film since <i>Fargo</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In some ways, this is a perfect fit for the Coen’s. They’ve
showed their love for music in <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">O Brother, Where
Art Thou</span>’s outstanding soundtrack, they’ve shown they can write an
interesting, if flawed character that we still want to root for in every Coen
film ever and they’ve shown they can write a film in which nothing happens but
everything is interesting. Everything is slow, but very, very rewarding.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Inside Llewyn Davis is all of these
things. All of this is encapsulated by Oscar Isaac’s Llewyn Davis. Put simply,
without him there is no film. He is the brain of the piece. His character is
not a likeable character, it is heavily flawed. He makes bad decisions, he uses
people and he doesn’t particularly like humans. This is, in part, is down to
the Coen’s excellent writing, but Oscar Isaac plays this exquisitely. He moulds
such an interesting character (he really takes it by the horns) that we’re
invested straight from the first scene where he’s playing at the famous
Gaslight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">Llewyn is nothing if not complex. The
movie does a terrific job of avoiding the usual clichés, such as a
down-on-his-luck musician catching a lucky break, or a bitter man having a
quick change of heart. It's not that Llewyn is constantly sneering at everyone,
holding his poverty up as both a shield and a trophy, it's that he is so
multilayered that when he does a kind act or offers some praise or thanks, we
don't feel that his doing so is in any way out of character. Llewyn is a
self-tortured soul, but unlike caricatures of wandering folkies, he is at his
center a realist, albeit a prideful one.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">The Coens do an excellent job of
utilizing the cold harsh winter to emphasize Davis's wearying struggle as well
as portray the times by lining the sidewalks and some expansive shots with
massive eight cylinder behemoths covered in winter grime.</span> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">Bruno Delbonnel</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">’s <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">cinematography is so cold and grey, yet so beautiful at the same time. It’s
beauty on the eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The music is key. It’s what makes it so
easy to be interested and invested into these characters. The soundtrack is one
of the best out there. If Oscar Isaac is the brain then T Bone Burnett is the
heart and soul. He’s crafted such a beautiful soundtrack and it’s performed so
incredibly by Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan and the rest of
the cast. If you’re going to make a film about the folk scene you HAVE to nail
the music. Thankfully, they did. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">In its running time of 105 minutes, few
definite conclusions are drawn in regard to Llewyn's career and with the film
ending in the same place as it started, it seems unlikely that he will break
free from his cycle of obscurity. But then, the film really isn't about
Llewyn's 'career' or his friends, because this is a film about Llewyn. The
beginnings of the film highlight a raw, unabashed view on rejection and
obscurity accompanied by this nagging expectation that Llewyn's life might
blossom into a success story. But ultimately, that's not what the film is about
and it's goal is not to satisfy filmic convention. Inside Llewyn Davis is very
simply, a soulful and beautifully drawn portrait of a man and his music.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This film is fucking excellent, but
there’s a reason the Coen’s aren’t getting recognition from the Academy. You
can't judge this movie the same way you would judge every other film this year.
It's almost as if the Coen Brothers have their own language that they are speaking,
that the audience does not fully understand. They make films for themselves.
They don’t make them for an audience. This film is slow-paced and melancholic,
but it’s also completely mesmerising. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">The Coen’s have done it again.</span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"> I loved </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; text-decoration: none;">Inside Llewyn Davis</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. It encapsulates everything about the Coens: witty, great characters, fantastic looking and excellent music.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh, and John Goodman is an arsehole. Good job. </span></span></span></div>
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8/10Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10603304238905621096noreply@blogger.com0