THEfilmBLOG

Carnage

2012-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

Roman Polanski's adaptation of the hit French play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza is one of the most unassuming treats of the award season for me. Starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C Reilly and (blog favourite) Christoph Waltz the film is almost an exercise in what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, when two pairs of parents come together to sort out a little spat between the couples' children.

Set essentially on the single set of a New York apartment (shot originally in Paris due to Mr Polanski's ongoing legal predicament with the U.S.A), the film starts off slowly with the tension simmering over and the adults behaving reasonably responsible. With a few passive jibes here and a few obnoxious actions there and one of the most surprising moments of projectile vomiting seen in a film for as long as I can remember, it just explodes into this hilarious piece of train-wreck cinema. At the centre of the chaos comes four fine performances from the aforementioned leads.

With very little separating the four vile personalities on show, Jodie Foster perhaps just nips ahead the rest with a performance kind of reminiscent of a psychotic auntie on Boxing Day. You know the type; culturally pretentious, self righteous, emotionally suppressed, closet alcoholic. It was slightly reminiscent of Lesley Manville in Mike Leigh's similarly poised feature, Another Year. You'll watch it and keep thinking the entire time of that one person you know who is exactly like that, or if you're better than most (or at least me) you'll realise by the film's closing moments you are that person. I've never really thought of Foster as an acting talent who could make me genuinely laugh, but to her credit she excels herself here.

Similarly so was Kate Winslet in her first notable modern role for as long as I can remember - not that I actually watch many films featuring Winslet these days, more my problem than hers I assure you - as Christoph Waltz's tightly strung, fashion concious wife. As the whiskey is consumed and the madness descends, so does Winslet into a loud, often offensive, grotesque bully of a woman. The best part being; it's such fun to watch.

John C Reilly and Christoph Waltz were on fine form in their usual archetypal roles. As Foster's husband Reilly channels this calm, passive persona, which saw him give a creditable straight performance in 2011's outstanding We Need To Talk About Kevin, one moment then turning into this loud mouth, uncouth, red neck asshole the next. While Waltz was his usual slimy self as Winslet's morally grey, neglectful, husband. The way he occasionally listens in on the discussion then obnoxiously answers his cell phone loud and proud every five minutes, is the kind of idiosyncratic quirks absent of latter day Woody Allen films.

For people who want more of a 'film' from their stage adaptations than simply a story dominated by dialogue and confined to a singular set then you'll probably not be that moved by Carnage's narrative. Having not seen the stage show itself, I've been told prior to seeing the film the ending of Polanski's version has been altered to the original. How I'm not really sure, but I'd be intrigued to find out someday.

Final Thoughts

Roman Polanski's intimidate comedy hits a lot of pitch perfect notes with four fabulous performances from Foster, Winslet, Reilly and Waltz. It might not be the most cutting edge piece of cinema you'll see this year or the next, and the ending isn't much of an ending but more a sobering retrospective, but this relentless car crash of opposing forces is certainly worth your time. Complete and utter carnage.

3.5/5

Carnage is in selected cinemas from February 3rd 2012. Belfast audiences can see it from Queen's Film Theatre then also.

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

2012-01-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

There has been two constants in my life ever since childhood and both whose influence I owe a lot to as a writer. One being the works of Walt Disney and the other being the works of Jim Henson. In this review we'll be concentrating on the latter as the title of this documentary suggests. More often than not documentaries are used as a way of delivering hit hitting messages (Project Nemo) or as a way to raise awareness of essential global issues (An Inconvenient Truth). Rarely, in recent times, has the documentary genre been used in the powerfully positive manner seen in Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.

Narrated by one Whoopi Goldberg, the documentary follows puppeteer Kevin Clash, the man most famous for voicing the iconic children's phenomenon Elmo in the wonderful Jim Henson creation, Sesame Street. It charts his tentative beginnings of creating his own puppets from an early age, to getting spots performing on local television stations to eventually meeting the great Kermit Love and Jim Henson which set him on his way to global stardom.

Kevin Clash himself comes across as a truly likeable and sincere person. A man who devoted his life to his passion and through a combination of hard work and pure luck eventually paid off in the highest of rewards. Even in his early years, towards the end of his senior year of high school he was the one tipped to be a millionaire in the school's yearbook. Though his years working on local television and Captain Kangaroo were compelling, the documentary really hits its heights from the moment he meets legendary Henson collaborator, Kermit Love.

Clash's relationship with Love is almost like seeing a granddad take his grandson into his shed and show him the wild inventions he creates in his spare time. The chance encounter Clash gets by simply his mum phoning Love up and asking if his son can drop by and see the workshop is so baffling it makes one think, 'it can't be that simple? Can it?" Actually to be fair it probably can. From here we get to see Clash perform puppeteer duties on The Muppet Movie, to turning down duties in Henson's first non Muppet film The Dark Crystal to eventually getting another chance in the brilliant and equally terrifying film starring David Bowie, Labyrinth.

The interesting thing about Clash taking on the role of Elmo was that he wasn't the original puppeteer for the puppet. The characterisation of Elmo pre Clash was a husky Neanderthal-like creature which veterans of Jim Henson's workshop such as Richard Hunt and Carroll Spinney were on the verge of throwing in the bin. In a bid to do something a bit different and really make his mark on Seseme Street after a few lukewarm additions to the cast, Clash took Elmo away and one a heartfelt journey of self discovery he turned Elmo into an entirely different entity altogether and the one we're all familiar with today.

He seemed to do something that no one had thought to do on Sesame Street previously, but give the cast a character who has the same wide eyed innocence of a child. He gave it a soul. Someone who children could communicate with the other characters through. A character who any child would want as a best friend. It's only watching this you realise what sort of cultural impact that did on mine and the next couple of generations of children. From Sesame Street came the iconic Tickle Me Elmo teddy bear, the countless appearances on mainstream talk shows, the endless A-List celebrities doing scenes with Elmo on Sesame Street. You only need to go on youtube to see how this is felt even in 2012.

The impact of Elmo particularly felt in one potently emotional moment where Cash gets a request from a sick little girl to meet Clash and his puppet through the wonderful Make A Wish Foundation. Most children won't care who George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo Dicaprio, Clint Eastwood or Brad Pitt is. However you stick Elmo or the vast array of Jim Henson's creations in a room, and it'll blow their minds. Clash is a superstar, yet if he walked past you on a street in the cold light of day you (much like myself) probably wouldn't give it a second thought.

Final Thoughts

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey is a heartfelt and inspirational documentary. A salute to the creative types who dare to be different, dare to be ambitious, dare to dream big regardless of how silly their goals may seem. Though Clash and Elmo take top billing the film also serves as a beautiful tribute to the lasting legacy of Jim Henson himself. You'll laugh, you'll possibly even cry but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to keep smiling through this wonderfully charming documentary from beginning to end.

4/5

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey isn't set for release in the UK at this moment in time.

The Artist

2012-01-26T04:14:00.000-08:00

Considering every man and their dog had already seen this film before this review goes online, I kind of wondered if there was any point in me even doing this one at all. Though since I'm here and bored I might as well give my two cents. The Artist has already wooed many at last year's Cannes Film Festival, swept the Golden Globes and set to go toe to toe with Scorsese's Hugo for Oscar glory next month. For all the non cinephilies out there, you would be quite right to ask if a black and white silent film is worth the hype, or indeed your time?

Starring little known French actor Jean Dujardin The Artist tells the tale of Hollywood star George Valentin as he struggles to cope with the film industry's progression from the silent movie era into the 'talkies'. Parallel to Valentin's career slowly descending into obscurity is the rise of one Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) as the new darling of Hollywood to usher in the 'talkie' era. Their fates are tied together from the very beginning as George inadvertently sets her career in motion from a couple of impromptu meetings which sparks a classically sweet love story between the two, befitting of the silver age of cinema.

Charlie Chaplin and the odd George Melies film aside, silent films aren't something I'm overly familiar with. I can see the use of them in a slapstick, comedic, context for no more than 15 minutes at a time but I've never once considered how viable it would be in telling a moving love story which contains a hint of serious drama for the guts of 95 minutes, but to its credit The Artist pulls this off beautifully.

Jean Dujardin gives a fantastic performance as the overconfident, self assured, George Valentin. If you didn't know it was made in 2011 you could conceivably believe he was plucked straight from the era itself. Where he really shines is in watching his inevitable downward spiral deeper and deeper into the depths of desperation. From losing his huge mansion, his wife leaving him and eventually having to sell off all his assets. Makes you wonder how many silent movie stars suffered the same kind of backlash from the evolution of cinema into the 'talkie' era.

The sweet innocence of Berenice Bejo shined magically on screen. She was endlessly graceful, thoroughly likeable from her first introductions outside a cinema then onto seeing her meteoric rise through the ranks of Hollywood. Her feelings towards Valentin were some of the film's sweetest moments. Never once considering him to be a loser or washed up in his post silent film days, but instead a man she's eternally grateful towards for setting her on her way.

The supporting performances were littered with studious turns from the likes of John Goodman, James Cromwell and Missi Pyle. While the one getting the most plaudits and praise is quite rightly a little dog called Jack (his off-screen name is Uggie apparently) as George's 'best friend' and devoted companion. The laugh about the dog is that The Artist isn't even his first film, having already notched up appearances alongside Robert Pattinson and Resse Witherspoon in Water For Elephants and David Boreanaz in Mr Fix It.

Director Michel Hazanavicius recreation of 1920s Hollywood was inch perfect. The crisp black and white picture and the genuine glitz and glamour of a time when actors of Hollywood truly were stars. Obviously - being a silent film lest we forget - much of the plaudits (unless you're Vertigo star Kim Novak seemingly) should also go to Ludovic Bource for his stellar score.

Final Thoughts

Don't let all the award fuss deter you, The Artist is a beautiful piece of niche cinema for all to enjoy. Berenice Bejo and Jean Dujardin star in of the sweetest love stories seen on the big screen for some time, combining moments of sincere joy, old fashioned Hollywood suspense and one of the most endearing supporting performances from a dog ever seen. Everyone loves to be reminded now and again of way we fell in love with cinema, and The Artist does this in abundance. It's black and white, but undoubtedly set to be covered in gold (statues) next month at the Oscars.

4.5/5

The Artist is in selected cinemas everywhere now.

Haywire

2012-01-19T07:58:00.001-08:00

Since the creation of this blog - now into its third year active - I've always had a somewhat love/hate relationship with the works of Steven Soderbergh, from the reasonably stylish yet superficial The Girlfriend Experience to the extremely dull and detestable The Informant. For the most part his films of recent times have just seemed to lack the sheer fun shown in his much loved Ocean's 11 remake back in 2001. That is until Haywire came crashing out of nowhere...

Starring former MMA fighter Gina Carano, Haywire tells the story of freelance covert operative Mallory Kane as she seeks to find out why her own company double crossed her and left her for dead, after an operation in Barcelona. Her journey takes her to Dublin, up-state New York and all the way to New Mexico. Yeah I know what you're thinking, and please don't roll your eyes just yet and think, 'so far so Bourne Identity'.

Where Haywire sort of sets itself apart from being yet another Bourne knock off or lumped in with all the daft one woman wrecking machine movies usually starring Angelina Jolie is in the superior and refreshing atmosphere Soderbergh immerses the film in. Gone are the tense Han Zimmer-esque thundering scores seen in movies like The Dark Knight or Inception and in their place these jazzy electronic pieces from Belfast's own David Holmes which gives the film an almost neo-noir vibe which both works and makes the film a thoroughly enjoyable experience - not too dissimilar from spy thrillers of the 60s/70s like The Ipcress Files.

Combine that with a genuinely likeable performance from a leading lady whom you could genuinely believe could kick your ass, with little effort, in Gina Carano. There's echoes of Noomi Repace's rendition of Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in her character, except with a bit more charm and much less emotional baggage. With no real notable acting experience to speak of before Haywire, she impressed with how natural she presented herself when standing next to actors with more prestigious pedigrees, especially in the scenes she shared with Michael Fassbender and Michael Douglas.

All the while Sorderbergh assembled a fantastic, A-List, ensemble of supporting male actors for Carano to play off. There's Ewan McGregor as her slimy boss/ex-boyfriend. Channing Tatum in probably in most mature role to date as Carano's colleague in the job which kicks the whole thing off. Michael Fassbender giving his best James Bond impersonation since probably X-Men: First Class. Just to complete this tidy things there's effortless performances from Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas as shady government officials as well as the underrated Bill Paxton as the woman's father.

There are aspects of the story which could've been expanded upon, but generally Lem Dobbs' screenplay is mysterious enough to keep you intrigued from beginning to end, while the general length of the film's running time of just over 90 minutes is just tidy enough not make you go looking for your watch. Despite its modest budget in comparison to its contemporaries Soderbergh shoots the film in a way that even makes Dublin look like an exotic location ripe for espionage, and this from a man who lives 100 or so miles up the road from it.

Final Thoughts

Gina Corano, the girl with no noticeable tattoos, goes toe-to-toe with some of Hollywood's finest male actors and floors all of them with a few swift blows. Haywire is an extremely enjoyable neo-noir spy thriller with a tidy low-key story and some of the most stylish action sequences I've seen in some time. A genuine surprise during a season where the cinema is crowded with films pushing for award-winning gold. Worth seeing and buying the soundtrack.

4/5

Haywire is in cinemas everywhere from January 20th 2012.

War Horse

2012-01-10T14:04:00.000-08:00

Let's start this review off with some blunt truths. I don't like horses and I'm not too fond of war either. So it's fair to say sitting down to watch a film called War Horse - based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and a highly successful stage play of the same name - isn't exactly my idea of a riveting night out at the local picture house. But then again, read the fine print which says, 'A Steven Spielberg Film' and perhaps it's at least worth a go.

The film tells the tale of an enduring friendship between a boy named Albert (Jeremy Irvine) and his horse Joey he raises from its birth to the day his father (Peter Mullan) sells him to the British Army on the eve of the First World War. Separated and understandably expected to be the last Joey will ever see young Albert again, the film takes a massive shift into the war in Europe where Joey drifts through the ravage war torn lands of France and is picked up by an array of owners played by some of the best actors working today. It's pure cheese, but it's the type of cheese which appeals to the masses so much I'd say you'll have a heart made of stone if

you don't shed at least one tear by the time the film's closing credits roll.

The biggest dilemma in the praise of War Horse however is where to start with the cast, which - with the exception of Benedict Cumberbatch - features probably the best British acting talent not to appear in last year's phenomenal Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Jeremy Irvine was heartfelt and sincere in the leading role, Peter Mullan was terrific was his flawed, alcoholic, father, David Thewlis was typically dastardly as their smug landlord and Emily Watson is just simply lovely as Irvine's mother.

Then once delving into the war torn sections of the film the audience is then treated to the quality of Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Marsen, Toby Kebbell (huge fan) and Liam Cunningham amongst many others. Then just to top it off Spielberg throws in one of my favourite French actors in the form of the truly brilliant Niels Arestrup as the French farmer who takes the horse in for his granddaughter played by the virtually unknown Celine Buckens.

On top of the terrific performances, Spielberg has given the audience a film which the whole family can enjoy. Even with its hefty two and a half hour running time, it never once feels like a chore, even after its slightly slow start and this critic purposely resisting the thought of enjoying it. The aesthetics almost retain a nostalgic quality to them, obviously in its period setting but also in its traditional British production values.

Maybe it was the sincerely moving John Williams' score but it took me back to those films of the early 90s I watched with my parents and grandmother in the Curzon Cinema in Belfast. Films like War of the Buttons, The Secret Garden and (unsurprisingly I suppose) Black Beauty. Films which you may not necessarily 'get' as a child, but as you grow will look back on fondly because of the heart-warming stigma attached to them. War Horse does this in abundance. And though it isn't quite pushing the boundaries like last weekend's Shame, like The King's Speech before it if this triumphs at the Oscars next month I won't begrudge it one single bit.

Final Thoughts

It's cheesy, it's almost ready made for the Oscars but even with my lack of love for horses and war I enjoyed nearly every single minute of it. Steven Spielberg gives the world another wholesome, hopeful, traditional piece of cinema which only he can do best. This is proper family cinema you can marvel at on a giant screen, then curl up on the sofa and happily enjoy with your gran on a lazy Sunday afternoon with fondness and glee. Wonderful. Truly. Good horse...

4/5

War Horse is in cinemas everywhere January 13th, 2012.

Shame

2012-01-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

If Steve McQueen's follow-up to his 2008 controversial breakout hit, Hunger was nothing more than the first 10 minutes of Shame, it'd probably be considered a masterpiece in the context of short films. The way it chops and changes from Michael Fassbender's tragically perverted home life of masturbation and sleeping with prostitutes to him sitting there on a subway gazing at this beautiful, almost unattainable, woman set to this heartbreakingly tragic score by Harry Escott.

It's atmospheric, it's moody, it's ambiguous while still being genuinely interesting all the while it's beautifully told through the tired eyes of Fassbender himself. A truly mesmerising introduction to a film which...unfortunately just doesn't quite hit the mark for the rest of its duration.

Shame tells the tale of the elusive New York marketing exec Brandon (Michael Fassbender) who suffers from an almost suffocating addiction to sex in all its forms, from porn and escorts to one night stands and random masturbation sessions in the office toilets. Not really the stuff of 'first dates is it? It's okay, you can all relax, it's all apparently called 'art' these days, and not unadulterated filth.

Fassbender himself was unsurprisingly terrific, as this really fractured soul who can be this charming, polite, reserved person one moment to this fairly intense, frustrated, sexual predator the next. To a degree his manner wasn't a million miles removed from how Mad Men's Don Draper probably would've turned out in a modern day setting. I think the main problem however with him and the general film is it becomes too ambiguous for its own good, which will turn off some of the audience. Me personally, I quite enjoyed it even if it was a shameless example of style over substance, especially in it's frankly bonkers crescendo towards the end of the film.

Starring opposite Fassbender was the truly brilliant Carey Mulligan as Brandon's selfish, childish, sister Sissy. From the opening moments of them meeting e on screen, you can hazard a guess there's something more to their relationship that's never fully resolved or even really explained. To Mulligan's credit I think this is without doubt her most mature role to date (much more involved than she was in last year's outstanding Drive), and probably deserves the plaudits for her performance as much as Fassebender. I still question the necessity of her (non spoiler) stand out moment slowly singing New York, New York in an uptown bar, but hey it was still beautifully performed, so much so in fact I'm listening to it on my iTunes as I type.

I do believe Steve McQueen did achieve exactly what he perhaps set out to do with Shame. Which was to kill the very idea of sex being at all romantic in cinema. Not sure whether that's cynical of me or perhaps delusional to think otherwise but I fail to see how watching such a film could leave anyone feeling anything other than sorrowful and feeling utterly joyless. That said it's still gorgeous on the eye at times, and will leave your heart racing with its truly relentless final scenes. A strong drink could be recommended after...

Final Thoughts

I want to tell you this is 'the most hard-hitting, controversial, bravest' film you'll see in the cinema in years and you must see it right now. However, being left so bothered by the film's hammy, overacted conclusion and with how vile the characters were I kept thinking to myself, why on earth would one recommend to anyone to see this? Perhaps it's because I've got strong moral values I just can't, or perhaps deep down for the 21st century male it hits closer to home than one would ever care to admit. If the film is one thing it's certainly sobering and maybe there lies the true shame in it all...

4/5

Shame is in selected cinemas throughout the UK from January 13th, 2011.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011-12-28T03:25:00.001-08:00

The first Sherlock Holmes film by Guy Ritchie was one of the most pleasant surprises of the 09/10 Christmas season. Robert Downey Jr's playfully eccentric take on the iconic Englishman might not have been to the purists' taste but few could deny it wasn't a lot of good harmless fun. So when the inevitable sequel was announced I must admit it got me genuinely excited. It's also worth noting that Sherlock Holmes has enjoyed a 21st Century renaissance by the BBC and portrayed wonderfully by the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch. Though is the world really big enough for two mainstream Sherlock Holmes? Yes it very much is...

The story picks up roughly where the last film left off with Holmes in meticulous pursuit of his elusive nemesis Professor James Moriarty (Mad Men's Jared Harris). All the while the good Doctor Watson (Jude Law) is finally marrying his girlfriend who featured in the last film, Mary (Kelly Reilly). When the wedding night goes horribly wrong, the original dynamic duo join forces once again to stop Moriarty collapsing the very structure of Western Europe and the outbreak of a world war.

Not much can be said about Robert Downey Jr's Holmes that probably wasn't said when I reviewed the first one nearly two years ago. It had all the elements of a typically brilliant comedic performance from the actor, albeit sporting a (fairly decent) British accent. Once again his chemistry with Jude Law was marvellous, giving the relationship between the two characters an almost 21st Century 'bromance', while also letting Watson himself stand on his own as perfect folly to Holmes' eccentricities.

I've always been a big fan of Jared Harris' work and was delighted to see such a versatile, hard-working actor cast as Moriarty instead of cashing in on a big name for the sake of it, like say Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt as was once originally rumoured. He was ruthlessly sinister and unassuming while playing off Robert Downey Jr brilliantly. If the whole film had consisted of the two of them playing chess, I think they could have made it work. Fans of the books will certainly smile at reference to possibly the pair's most iconic moment which I won't spoil here.

The other new additions to the cast were equally as glorious to watch on screen, the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (as she'll probably forever be known as) Noomi Rapace dazzled as the mysterious gypsy story-teller while the great Stephen Fry had some truly hilarious scene stealing turns as Sherlock's brother, Mycroft. Sadly there just wasn't as much room in the story this time round for Eddie Marsen's bumbling Inspector Lestrade and Rachel McAdams' beautiful Irene Adler.

Though the film largely retained all the elements which made the previous entry so enjoyable, it also carried over a few of the first film's faults too. Namely milking the back-tracking, slow motion, analysis sequences and over stylised set pieces which admittedly are signature to Ritchie's overall style as much as they are to this Sherlock Holmes' narrative structure. Unfortunately one particular scene involving Holmes, Watson et all running through a forest avoiding large gun fire did take the piss ever so slightly and if done in real time probably could've shaved half an hour off the film's running time.

Nevertheless the productive values were raised compared to the last time, the CGI far better and the steampunk technology, Victorian costumes and period set designs still beautiful on the eye. Hans Zimmer's score featured the playful theme from the last film and during the more action orientated sequences, some intense booming moments which are reminiscent of his more famous collaborations with Christopher Nolan.

Final Thoughts

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows doesn't deviate too much from the formula which made the first film so much fun. But as the old cliché goes, if it's not broke why should you fix it? Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law were tremendous once again as Holmes and Watson respectively, while Jared Harris gave some old school flare to the villainous Professor Moriarty. It's not the slow burning Sherlock Holmes adaptations your granddad grew up with, but in all honesty, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

4/5

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is in cinemas everywhere now.

THEfilmBLOG presents... Top 10 of 2011!

2011-12-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hey there everybody, it's been something of a roller-coaster 2011 for myself personally but in the cinema I've seen and reviewed (not nearly as many as I would've liked to be honest) some truly breathtaking films. Yes, it's that time again to do the obligatory Top 10 best films the blog has seen this year...

10. Tangled - It may have surfaced in the USA back in 2010, but it didn't make its way to the UK until late January 2011. Disney went back to the formula which made them great to begin with: a beautifully animated fairy-tale story full of romance, comedy, suspense, infectiously catchy songs and an undeniably likeable heroin. It took them over a decade but they finally knocked their best chums over at Pixar off their usual place in the top 10, but that being said, Tangled only did have to go up against Cars 2.

9. The Tree of Life - The controversial entry perhaps, but whether you like it or hate it (and trust me it'll either be one or the other) one can't deny Terrence Malick's soul searching, universe spanning, philosophical journey wrapped in a 1950s melodrama isn't a film which will be meticulously dissected and debated in the years to come. Film Studies students have a new movie to write a postgrad on...

8. Submarine - Taking cues from Wes Anderson quirky self awareness, debut director Richard Ayoade brings probably one of the sweetest and most pleasurable film experiences of the year, which also came with a wonderful breakout performance from Craig Roberts.

7. Super 8 - People say you get what you pay for with 'Summer Blockbusters', personally in recent years I think people have been grossly ripped off in most cases. With Super 8 JJ Abrams writes his love letter to 1980s/early 90s Spielberg films with a story which reminds viewers of a time when the Summer blockbuster was an event which was genuinely fun, imaginative, scary and full of gloriously choreographed set pieces. Take note please, this is how its done.

6. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Tilda Swinton was as always magnificent but Ezra Miller's Kevin is truly one of the most terrifying and unassuming performances of the year. Everybody loves a good scare, but if you don't believe in ghosts, exorcisms, demented serial killers from hell, then this might well be the scariest film ever because it (though unlikely it may seem) could be a conceivably real situation.

5. The Guard - Perhaps being Irish sways my opinion slightly but this is without doubt the funniest film of the year.

4. Hugo - One of the true masters of film-making, Martin Scorsese delivers one of the most heart-warming, visually beautiful and superbly acted family films of a generation. There are fewer examples in the world which demonstrate a man's passion, love and enthusiasm for his own craft than the love expressed by Scorsese to the art of cinema and to the works of the great George Melies.

3. Drive - I probably could've done a mini Ryan Gosling chart alone, which this would of course top. Nicola Refn Winding delivers an old school action film full of style, suspense and ultra-bonkers-violence. Not to mention the best soundtrack of the year full of synthy shoegazey goodness.

2. The Skin I Live In - Another of the true voyeurs of modern cinema, Pedro Almodovar comes back with a film full of more twists and pure "WTF" moments than you're ever likely to get or frankly ever need anywhere else, in this bizarre Frankenstein meets Bret Easton Ellis tale. Brutal, provocative, earth shatteringly brilliant.

1. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - It was never going to be anything else for me. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film of which is truly magnificent in almost every conceivable way. Tomas Alfredson created a dark, meticulously authentic Cold War drama full of suspense, atmosphere and the best ensemble of British actors working today. All that and still not managing to butcher a literary classic or come across as a lazy big screen tribute to the iconic BBC TV adaptation.

And that's that! Still a couple of more reviews to see the year out next week but for now I'm crashing in front of the TV, cracking out my blu-rays and consuming my bodyweight in both food and drink!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hugo

2011-12-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

Martin Scorsese has long since booked his place in cinematic history with uncompromising, gritty thrillers such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and The Departed. Over the past decade though he's started to create films which have documented his love for classic cinema, be it The (excellent) Aviator, Gangs of New York and the almost Hitchcockian Shutter Island. Not to mention personally overseeing the restoration of the truly breathtaking 1948 Michael Powell film - often referred to as Scorsese's main influence for becoming a director - The Red Shoes.

However there's perhaps no better examples of Scorsese's undying love for cinema than in his first exploration in the family movie genre (yes, you read that right), with the adaptation of Brian Selznick's beautifully constructed novel, Hugo - full literary title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

The film tells the story of young Hugo (Asa Butterfield) as he dashes around a Paris railway station fixing and maintaining the clocks. All the while he starts to develop an unlikely friendship with an enigmatic and often disgruntled fixer of simple mechanical toys (Sir Ben Kingsley) and his articulate, over eager god daughter (Chloe Mortez). As the mystery of who the toy maker is unravels - cinephiles will squeal in delight - before the audience's eyes, Scorsese exposes us to perhaps one of the best tributes to cinema since Cinema Paradiso.

Everything about this film just made me smile from beginning to end. It was almost like watching a cinematic Christmas pantomime. The way the actors characterised themselves was wonderful. Asa Butterfield carried the film with such innocence and enthusiasm. While true legends of the big screen, Sir Ben Kingsley and a very much active Sir Christopher Lee added such weight to a film which was so visually stylised. so vivid and so technically brilliant.

Sacha Baron Cohen also deserves individual praise for his glorious tribute to stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton with his slapstick, almost Clouseau-esque, Inspector of the railway station. Outside of his theatrics he also had impeccable delivery with some genuinely funny one liners. Meanwhile Harry Potter stalwart, Helen McCrory was fabulous as Kinglsey's wife and, though underused, the likes of Michael Stuhlbarg, Ray Winstone, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer and Richard Griffiths just gave the film this extra layer of depth and class. And that's regrettably without even catching the film in 3D.

The amount of pain-staking effort Scorsese went to recreate the works of the truly ground-breaking auteur George Melies such as the Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon) which features heavily throughout the film was truly magical - especially the scenes where the studio and his films were physically recreated. Also it goes without saying despite being such a sweet and at times tear-jerking story, the educational value this film has goes beyond some adults in the audience, never mind all the children. Not all 100% accurate (actually not even 30% of it is...), but hey never let facts get in the way of such a captivating story.

Final Thoughts

One can only imagine Martin Scorsese smiled just as profusely making Hugo as this blogger did watching it. The sights and sounds of 1930s Paris and silent French cinema are recreated beautifully in one of the most charming, hopeful, feel good films of the year. While a child's mind might wander at times, it'll certainly remind older members of the audience why we fell in love with movies, the cinema, the jaw-dropping imagination of not just directors, but true magicians of the big screen. Could be one for the ages, but if nothing else it's definitely one of the best films of 2011. Magical. Heart-warming. Glorious.

5/5

Hugo is in cinemas everywhere now.

The Deep Blue Sea

2011-11-30T04:01:00.000-08:00

Love, some say it's a curse. Others call it a blessing. One thing I think most can agree on, it's one of the most powerful and mysterious forces in the universe. No more so is this enigmatic emotion shown than in Terrence Davies' homage to old school cinematic melodramas in the adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's stage play, The Deep Blue Sea. Not to be confused at all as a follow-up to the Samuel L Jackson shark gorefest, Deep Blue Sea. Got it? Good, let's move on...

The film tells the tale of Hester (Rachel Weisz) as she tries to re-evaluate her life after a failed suicide attempt. At the centre of it all is her undying almost destructive love for her current husband, Freddy (Tom Hiddleston) and the nostalgic, comforting, stable love from the man she left him for William (Simon Russell Beale).

I've always thought of Weisz as a charming and competent actress but in The Deep Blue Sea she has rarely ever been so alluring as well as being so passionate and at times so utterly unsympathetic. The sheer awkwardness of her initial attraction to Hiddleston adds to the incoherent mess she finds herself in, and makes for some brilliant car crash cinema.

Tom Hiddleston was rather marvellous as the obnoxious, stiff upper lip, working class ex-RAF Brit, Freddy. He enters the film as this suave, dapper male and once the initial primal instincts subside into reality, he's revealed to be nothing more than this petulant, childish, brattish man who never really recovered from the horrors of World War 2. While Simon Russell Beale's older, prouder more cultured William offers Ester what she can't get from Freddy; money, stability and far less drama.

They almost make up one complete male together, and you get that impression Ester makes that conclusion herself towards the latter end of the film, but ultimately the passion reins supreme. She can't explain why she's drawn to Freddy, she nearly kills herself because of it, but it's just there. Even if the message is a little muddled at times.

Visually though Davies has made a film which just oozes class. It sometimes does feel a little too much like a stage play rather than a film, but the cinematography was just beautiful on the eye. Especially in those long drawn out scenes of Weisz smoking a cigarette by the window, harking back to a forgotten era of cinema, and just letting the smoke linger for that second or two longer than needed.

Furthermore the stunning, if at times overly ostentatious, score featuring the at times moving, at times overly destructive Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber almost gives it a Hitchcockian undertone. This tense feeling something more profoundly sinister is just waiting to occur, when in reality it results in something simply quite tragic.

Final Thoughts

It doesn't always hit the mark of cinematic excellence with a disorientating narrative and some hammy, awkward scenes of drama. Nevertheless Rachel Weisz has excelled herself in her most sexy and at times unforgiving performance alongside an ever versatile Tom Hiddleston and accomplished Simon Russell Beale. Terrence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea is a film of pure indulgence on the eye even if beneath its glossy, smoke tinted surface leaves one feeling rather confused, disconnected and hollow. But hey that's love sometimes I guess... isn't it?

3.5/5

The Deep Blue Sea is in selected cinemas across the UK now. Belfast viewers can see it exclusively at the Queen's Film Theatre from Friday December 2nd, 2011.

50/50

2011-11-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

Given the core subject of 50/50 I will admit I entered the cinema with a little trepidation. A film about dealing with cancer really isn't suppose to be funny. At least, in a slapstick context. However if done right with a stellar cast, some very balanced writing, and clean direction it can be one of the most life affirming films you'll see all year. Thankfully 50/50 did just that...

Starring the excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt the film tells the up/down tale of Adam, a young, successful, radio journalist who is tragically struck down with a tumour in his spine. Over the course of his treatment he deals with the flaky two-timing nature of his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), his estranged relationship emotionally suppressed mother (Angelica Huston) and the playful nature of his best friend (Seth Rogen) who just wants to play the sympathy card of his friend's awful situation to get himself laid. Frankly it's nothing new in the originality department, but combined together it results in a glorious little film.

As already shown in the similarly inventive twist on the indie comedy genre, 500 Days of Summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a terrific, relatable and honest leading man. He manages to make it all look so natural on screen, very likeable, great presence and very much a delightful underdog you can't help but root for. More significant however was how sincerely moving the more emotional scenes he was in were. I'm not saying it's by any means the biggest tear-jeaker in cinematic history, but you'll definitely need a moment to compose yourself at times.

The supporting performances though competent and at times highly entertaining, felt slightly more phoned in compared to Gordon-Levitt's contribution because all the characters fitted the archetypes they're all famous for by now. Seth Rogen was just as in the audience's face with his usual obnoxious, horny stoner routine as he has been in Superbad, Pineapple Express, hell even The Green Hornet.

Bryce Dallas Howard channelled the petulant, spoiled brat that seen her through, quite recently, the adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel, The Help. As always Angelica Huston was wonderful in the motherly role which has served her so well her collaborations with Wes Anderson over the years. And finally Anna Kendrick as Adam's overeager and sometimes overbearing psychiatrist not too dissimilar to her terrific turn in Up in the Air.

I don't want to seem like I'm damning with faint praise, because 50/50 was one of the most joyful and moving films I've seen in a mainstream multiplex this year. Director John Levine managed to balance the brilliant screenplay from Will Reiser - who used his own personal experiences battling cancer to write the script - in such an accomplished manner.

That delicate blend of harrowing emotion and deafening feeling death could happen at any moment to this man, with those rather sweet beautiful moments which celebrate life, friendship, family and love. You'd be hard pressed, or perhaps just made of stone, if you went in and couldn't take something away from it.

Final Thoughts

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's baby face innocence doesn't disguise the fact the actor is currently leaps ahead of a lot of his contemporaries. 50/50 is cinema at its most basic but most brilliant. An execution which could quite easily be forgettable or extremely haphazard in lesser hands. With enjoyable performances, emotional crescendos, a delightful score from Michael Giacchino, 50/50 is not an easy journey at times but hopefully upon leaving the cinema you'll be thankful you did it. I know I did...

4.5/5

50/50 is in cinemas across the UK now.

Wuthering Heights

2011-11-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

Any visitors to the blog will remember I reviewed - and surprisingly enjoyed - the latest adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's timeless gothic masterpiece, Jane Eyre. It's perhaps unusual however within two months to see a new big screen version of her sister, Emily Bronte's own masterpiece, Wuthering Heights arrive in arthouse cinemas around the nation also. Does it match the dark, brooding, horrific spin on the costume drama genre Jane Eyre presented? No, it doesn't. Fish Tank director Andrea Arnold instead decides takes the rulebook for period costume dramas and tears it up and throws it out the window, to quite striking results...

The whole narrative of the film is told from the perspective of the troubled boy of few words known as Heathcliff. It charts his arrival to the Earnshaw family who reluctantly raise them as their own, in their good Christian household, all the while young Heathcliff strikes up a close relationship with the youngest daughter of the family, Catherine. Any fans of the novel will know this budding love story is ultimately doomed to fail in the harshest of circumstances.

Wuthering Heights managed to do something quite remarkable. It managed to make this genre feel fresh and interesting. Arnold's presentation, from the first person perspectives, the old school 4.3 camera perspective, the abstract symbolic imagery in between scenes, the lack of any notable score preferring to rely on the natural sounds of the harsh English countryside, the almost music video-esque dreamy camera work was so unique and intoxicating it was truly hard to resist. Even if it's not always the most widely accessible adaptation seen on the big screen.

For both leading roles of Catherine and Heathcliff, the four actors involved were tremendous. Though Arnold should be credited for creating a screenplay which let the intimate, yet powerful, imagery carry the film as oppose to the dialogue which was kept to the absolute minimum - especially for James Howson and Solomon Glave's excellent portrayal of Heathcliff. Having not read the book I'd be interested to know if the perception of Catherine is a bit more glorified in the source material. In the film she was just as manipulative, cunning and unforgiving as the tortured Heathcliff, and especially in the scenes involving Kaya Scodelario (of Skins fame). The chemistry and relationships shown were for the large part quite moving, but their love was never entirely justified through these eyes.

For large portions the love story played second fiddle to some of the other issues the film tried to get across. This wasn't just a timeless love story of two extremely flawed human beings, but also an examination of social class, racial antagonism and religious apathy. It was sometimes cold, sometimes brutally harsh but it was hard to tear your eyes away from it at times. Almost how one would imagine a costume drama would feel if Lars Von Trier decided to make one - especially in the questionable treatment of the animal kingdom in certain scenes.

Nevertheless the film did suffered from a prolonged running time which could have easily been 20 minutes shorter had Arnold cut a few solitary shots of rotting fruit and dead animals which looked more at home in a David Attenborough documentary than a seasoned costumed affair.

Final Thoughts

Andrea Arnold's inventive spin on an age old classic may detract purists of the source material, but has almost certainly rejuvenated a somewhat frail genre for a new generation with powerful star-turning performances from its four leads along with the brutal imagery and undeniably provocative themes hidden in the undergrowth. Gorgeous film-making.

4/5

Wuthering Heights is in selected cinemas throughout the U.K. now. Northern Irish visitors can view it in Belfast's Queens Film Theatre from Friday November 18th 2011.

ALSO! COMPETITION TIME!

The Queen's Film Theatre have put together a competition for devoted fans to visit 'Bronte Country'. Details here :: http://www.queensfilmtheatre.com/films/wutheringheights/

The Awakening

2011-11-02T03:25:00.001-07:00

As it's been well documented on this blog for nearly three years, horror films are probably my least favourite genre. Being scared for the sake of it just isn't my idea of entertainment. However now and again you get a gem of a film full of atmosphere, frights but also (heaven forbid) a good cast with good acting and a mildly interesting plot. With Nick Murphy's The Awakening, we just about get all of this.

Starring the wonderful Rebecca Hall the film tells the tale of young ghost hunter, come writer, Florence Cathcart. After a series of debunking the world of the paranormal in a very Miss Marple/Sherlock Holmes fashion, her journey leads her to an inevitably creepy and isolated boarding school which unearths something ghostly and reveals more secrets than the woman is ever willing to admit about her past. It very much conjures memories of the brilliant Spanish horror film, The Orphanage.

Personally Rebecca Hall's Florence Cathcart was a delightful character to see develop on screen. If the BBC (who co-produced the film) wanted to create a new female equivalent of Sherlock Holmes I honestly believe this blunt, over analysing, flawed, intelligent protagonist could work so amazingly well in her own TV series in similar situations. This almost primal need to seek out the truth of the unknown, all the while secretly wanting for it all to be real. Though her backstory turns into a bit of an inconsistent muddle towards the end overall it was truly enjoyable experience - if not the most terrifying one I've ever witnessed.

The Wire's Dominic West was his usual best and provided the perfect companion to Hall's quest, while also dealing with his own psychological ghosts from The Great War. Again not surprising given her own pedigree, Imelda Staunton channelled her brilliance from Mike Leigh and Harry Potter films past with an elusive, strange and at times mentally disturbed performance as the mysterious maid of the house.

Visually from beginning to end it almost felt like Tim Burton got his hands on Downton Abbey for one week and decided to run riot with it - especially in the opening scene involving a seance. Nick Murphy and his crew did a brilliant job of taking the tired, albeit tried and tested, haunted house routine and gave it some urgency and an interesting psychological edge. Unfortunately for the abundance of atmosphere the film contained it sorely lacked, for the most part, any genuine scares. So anybody looking for a repeat of their Halloween ventures to the cinema of Paranormal Activity 3 might be in for a disappointment.

Final Thoughts

In the hands of lesser acting talent or creative team The Awakening could have easily been a torrid unmemorable affair. Nevertheless Rebecca Hall gives an exciting performance with a character she could easily make her own if Nick Murphy ever decided to develop her adventures further. If you can forgive the muddled ending and somewhat convoluted twist, the film itself is a fun night out at the cinema for people, like me, who just want a good movie instead of a good scare.

3.5/5

The Awakening is in selected cinemas throughout the UK from November 11th 2011.

The Adventures of Tintin

2011-10-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

There's perhaps fewer 20th Century storytellers who are as beloved and transcendent as one George Prosper Remi, otherwise known as, Herge. His Tintin books have captured the imagination of children longing for adventure and adults who crave it just as much. Given that Herge died in the early 1980s, his magnificent tales of the intrepid journalist have slowly drifted into the background of modern pop culture in the past decade or so.

That is until Steven Spielberg stepped in with a long awaited big screen adaptation. However in an age where robot and zombie apocalypses dominate the screens, vampires are in vogue, superheroes reign supreme and Spielberg himself already doing something similar for audiences with Indiana Jones, does something as relatively innocent and wholesome as the faint childhood nostalgia of Tintin still have a place in our hearts? Yes it does. Perhaps now more than ever before.

Taking cues from the Tintin stories, The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, the film recounts Tintin's (Jamie Bell) first ever encounter with his infamous associate, Captain Archibald Haddock (Andy Serkis). A small clue from a model ship leads the young journalist on a globe trotting adventure as he and Haddock sough to find the lost treasure of the Captain's ancestor before the devious and mysterious Red Rackham (Daniel Craig) does.

It's sad to describe Tintin to someone who hasn't read one of the books. Lazily you could say it's probably more Indiana Jones than the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was. Despite the fact when Raiders of the Lost Ark originally came out, one could've rightly said, it's very Tintin in its approach. The grumpy old fart cynicism aside however, the film is probably the most fun I've had watching a Spielberg film since the brilliant Catch Me If You Can. It had humour, suspense, mystery and genuinely terrific action sequences which just left a huge smile on my face from beginning to end.

Jamie Bell was thoroughly endearing and likeable in the title role as Tintin. His curious nature was at times infectious and will surely go down well with younger members of the audience. All the while, Andy Serkis was his usual best as Captain Haddock. For me he was the personal highlight, as he went through this bizarre odyssey from this risqué, paranoid, alcoholic to this manly, no nonsense, sailor. Faintly similar to Johnny Depp's journey with Captain Jack Sparrow, albeit with much more grit and far less theatre.

Sparsely but effectively used was Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the roles of the bumbling detectives Thompson and Thompson. Their Tweedledum/dee routine was highly enjoyable and so natural on screen. A true testament to their chemistry which has come on leaps and bounds from their early days of entertaining me during university in Spaced. Credit must also go to Daniel Craig for his portrayal of Red Rackham, who was truly quite devious and sinister in such a traditional way you rarely see in such cinematic tales these days.

The animation was almost flawless and the backgrounds were truly gorgeous to witness on a big screen and largely the 3D did work. I still do think this type of performance capture animation does still suffer from a bizarre case of dead eye syndrome. Look into those lifeless eyes. Disturbing. Truly.

Steve Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish should take as much plaudits for the tidy screenplay they produced which, given the influence those three probably owe to Spielberg and his contemporaries, didn't try to recreate scenes from the Indiana Jones films and stayed true to Herge's own vision instead.

Perhaps to nitpick once more, but I did think the audience was cheated out of an iconic John Williams theme tune. Not that Williams' contribution was terrible by any means, I was probably just expecting, for such an exciting cinematic event, another theme on par with Jurassic Park, ET, Indiana Jones and Superman, but I guess I'm just asking too much...

Final Thoughts

The Adventures of Tintin was full of action, humour, suspense and good old fashion family fun. The film is a beautiful tribute to Herge's books which really do - as the Wikipedia page suggests - transcend time, language and culture. Don't worry if you've never read one of them, or seen the classic cartoon serials, just let yourself be submerged in possibly Steven Spielberg's most widely accessible family film since Hook. Glorious. I didn't even go into my love for the quiff!

4.5/5

The Adventures of Tintin is in cinemas throughout the UK from Friday October 28th, 2011.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

2011-10-15T14:23:00.001-07:00

We need to talk about Kevin. I need to talk about Kevin. I need someone to talk about Kevin with. Fewer films seen in a cinema this year have left me so cold or so troubled than the harrowing imagery found in this. The brilliant, Tilda Swinton - a favourite of the blog - stars as Eva, a reasonably decent woman whose life is thrown into great turmoil when her son, Kevin (Ezra Miller) commits a Columbine-esque shooting on his own school. The narrative skips between the aftermath and sporadic flashbacks of the boy's life and his somewhat strained relationship with his mother.

Tilda Swinton conducted herself so eloquently in this film, possibly the finest role I've seen her in to date. She came across as a very sympathetic soul which I'm sure to much lesser degrees all parents in the audience could quite easily relate to, and her experiences could quite well put off any aspiring parents from the idea of having children altogether - me included. She seemed to drift through the film, especially in the "aftermath", with this lost numbness struck upon her face. It's not comfortable, but it's extremely compelling.

Personally speaking Ms Swinton's acting ability was never in doubt anyway, as she's probably one of the finest British actresses of her generation, the bigger revelation of the film lies within the haunting performance of young Ezra Miller as Kevin, himself. Never, with maybe the exception of the original Omen trilogy, have I seen pure evil personified in a single being so seamlessly. It almost conjures - random and unrelated, I'll concede - memories of watching The Dark Knight and how Michael Caine's Alfred sums up The Joker which I think can also be applied to Miller's character: "Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

With some slightly twisted musings I have often wondered, how does someone become like that? Do you blame the friends and influences around him? Possibly. His upbringing or his parents? Large portion of the time, almost certainly. However none of this really seems to apply to Kevin, which makes his actions and his relationship with his reasonably loving and devoted parents all the more troubling. Something which resonated with me for hours since leaving the cinema.

If Miller doesn't get at least an nomination for best supporting actor when award season comes along, then he at least deserves my unofficial award of "most sinister villain of the year". His on screen chemistry with Swinton was fantastic, complete with strife and respect rather than any genuine tenderness. It was almost as if they treated each other like mortal enemies rather than family.

Though I haven't read the book, so can't comment on how faithful the adaptation was, I must say Lynne Ramsay's direction was masterful in parts. Some of that credit must also come to the narrative structure set out in her screenplay she penned alongside Rory Kinnear.

That's not to say it's all deep, dark, unsettling imagery, it seems to subtly throw in the odd bitter-sweet moment which made sections of the audience smirk or giggle at the sheer awkwardness of it all - if nothing else than to release tension at times, especially when set against to the caustic revelations in the final act, brought through so exquisitely by the bold and brilliant score from Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.

Final Thoughts

Believe those daft statements in the posters and trailers, this is Tilda Swinton's greatest performance of her career to date. We Need To Talk About Kevin is an almost nightmarish odyssey through the most terrifying of family tragedies, and will probably leave you feeling more pale and unsettled than any horror film will this year. Or perhaps just put you off the idea of ever having kids. Go see it, and once you do, maybe you'll need to talk about Kevin too...

4.5/5

We Need To Talk About Kevin is in selected cinemas throughout the UK from Friday October 21st 2011.

Batman: Year One

2011-10-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

It goes without saying the cultural significance that Frank Miller's graphic novel Batman: Year One - along with The Dark Knight Returns - has had not only a huge impact on the comics of Batman in the years to come, but also in TV and film. Without this story there might not have been even the Tim Burton Batman films, a Bruce Timm animated series in the 90s or more recently Christopher Nolan's excellent Batman trilogy - which borrows heavily from this source material. So with an impressive track record in recent years of adapting infamous graphic novels across the DC Universe, Warners Bros show up with one of the biggest in Batman Year One. Does it live up to it's stupidly high fanboy expectations though?

The general story is pretty straightforward, it's quite possibly as famous and overplayed as the birth of Jesus by now. Young billionaire Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City after years of exiling himself and dons the infamous cowl and cape to become the caped crusader known as Batman to combat the wicked and corrupt. However, like the graphic novel, the main narrative of the story is driven by the strained experiences of Lt. Jim Gordon coming to Gotham City for the first time, and seemingly the only cop in the city who isn't taking bribes from the mob.

Largely the feature is a pretty faithful adaptation of Frank Miller's source material down to the gritty representation of Gotham City to the writer's cold and detached, noir-esque, dialogue which will either grind your gears or fill you with joy pending how much of a Frank Miller fan you are. For me personally, the script comes off well however suffers slightly in the moments featuring Batman/Bruce Wayne due to the soulless, uninspiring, voice acting of Ben McKenzie, but then Batman as a character has always felt slightly off to me in Miller's representation of him.

The true star of the whole piece, and frankly would be my choice to play this character in a live-action setting in the unmentionable 'Post-Nolan' world once The Dark Knight Rises comes and goes next year, is Bryan Cranston (of Breaking Bad fame) as Jim Gordon. He just seems to nail the cynical, downbeat, flawed honesty in Gordon's voice. Other notable contributions come from Battlestar Galactica alumni, Katie Sackoff as fellow GCPD cop, Sarah Essen, Joss Whedon collaborator, Eliza Dushku as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Jon Polito as Commissioner Loeb.

The quality of the animation was of, as usual, a high standard from Warner Bros. It takes on an almost anime look in sections, reminiscent of the brilliant adaptation of All Star Superman released earlier this year. Though owing more to sections of Batman: Gotham Knight, I still don't think it truly matched the sights and sounds of the Batman created in the glorious Batman: Under the Red Hood of last year.

Final Thoughts

As always with these DC Universe films, they're more than often preaching to the converted. If you don't like Batman, besides being slightly insane, this film isn't likely to change your opinion. Frank Miller's cold, unwelcoming, dialogue and even representation of The Dark Knight isn't for everyone and might not be what you're use to if your exposure of Batman is mainly the animated series and the films. Nevertheless fans of the book should be pleased with the results of the feature and should satisfy all until The Dark Knight Rises reaches cinemas next year. I'm counting down the days, seriously...

3.5/5

Batman: Year One is available on DVD/Blu-Ray now.

Tyrannosaur

2011-10-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of the great director/actor partnerships in British cinema today is undoubtedly been the one struck up between Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine. Even though their collaborations are unlike say Burton and Depp where they can't make a film without one another, it's still managed to produce one of the best British films of the last decade in Dead Man's Shoes and announced Considine as one of the most creditable - if at times underrated in my opinion - actors in the industry today. However this time round, Paddy has stepped away from Shane's directorial creativity and sought to make his own film in the form of brutal drama, Tyrannosaur.

Almost a spin off or a full-length remake of Considine's BAFTA award-winning short film from 2007, Dog Altogether, Tyrannosaur tells the story of dead beat, alcoholic, Joseph (Peter Mullan), as he strikes up a somewhat estranged friendship with good Christian woman, Hannah (Olivia Colman) who works in a local charity shop. The situation becomes more complicated as the Hannah's complicated relationship with her husband surface to the forefront, which suffice to say doesn't make for comfortable, wholesome, cinema.

Where Tyrannosaur stands above quite a lot of films you'll see this year is in the powerful and uncompromising performances of Mullan and Colman. Peter Mullan's Joseph was a seriously disturbed being and I liked that Considine never seemed to shy away from this deranged personality. It made for the moments when the purer aspects of his soul were revealed all the more touching and even in some respects more tragic. Particularly in the scene where he meets Colman's Hannah for the first time, hiding behind a clothes rack.

I've always been a fan of Olivia Colman's work in shows such as Green Wing and the untouchable, Peep Show. However as it turns out, her comedy work never gave her any real justice for her true acting talents. In Tyrannosaur she was simply remarkable. Every moment she featured you just felt this uneasy dread something profoundly awful was about to occur. Her chemistry with Mullan was brilliant, but even more so with the truly sinister performance given by the excellent, Eddie Marsan as Colman's physically and mentally abusive husband.

And so we come to Considine himself, who has created a bleak, hopeless, landscape in Tyrannosaur albeit not too dissimilar to the settings featured in his good friend Shane Meadows' films. Mullan's Joseph could've easily have slotted into the world of Dead Man's Shoes or This Is England. For their sake they'll be thankful he didn't. Though Considine should also be applauded for his tight script, which though being dark also had a soft element of this strange comic timing to it.

If I had to land any criticism to this, mostly fantastic, début film it would be it lacked the emotional intensity found in like minded films such as, This Is England. More than made up for it with the glorious use of The Leisure Society's beautiful song, We Were Wasted in the closing scene and theatrical trailer.

Final Thoughts

Don't be put off by the absence of actual dinosaurs! Tyrannosaur is a truly exceptional piece of British cinema, featuring three of the most honest, visceral, uneasy and ultimately tragic performances you will see in a cinema in 2011 from Peter Mullan, Eddie Marsan and Olivia Colman - who has now officially got my backing for Best Actress in the upcoming awards season. Go see it now. Except maybe if you're a dog lover...

4.5/5

Tyrannosaur is in cinemas from Friday October 8th 2011.

Melancholia

2011-09-27T17:13:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I'm just not sure if Lars Von Trier creates films for pleasure, to entertain, to inspire. Or simply just to provoke an extreme reaction out of people. With his last effort, Antichrist part of me can kind of get the appeal. It's edgy, it's horrific, it's uncomfortable. It's not for everyone, frankly it's not really for me. All pro Nazi 'propaganda' from his latest Cannes adventure aside, his latest entry to his controversial filmography Melancholia is leaving me, well...kind of glum. However perhaps not in the way Mr Trier probably intended.

The film centres around the wedding of Justine (Kirsten Dunst) in all its melodramatic glory, and the strain relationships she has with her bitter mother (Charlotte Rampling), womanising father (John Hurt), passive fiancé (Alexander Skarsgard), overly tense sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and super rich brother-in-law (Kiefer Sutherland). Oh and all the while, the world is facing its impending apocalypse from an unknown planet set to collide with the Earth. Yeah...

Firstly I'll say Trier has probably made his most visually gorgeous film to date. Beautifully shot, striking special effects - especially in the closing scene - and to be fair one of his classiest cast ensembles since Dogville. Also the dynamics of the relationships with each character is well articulated, especially when combating their overwhelming fear with their undeniable fate.

The main problem is just it all felt so hollow, so empty, so frustratingly superficial. Arguably it had echoes of Terrence Malick's Tree of Life from earlier this year, especially in the spacey, Kubrickian imagery. The main difference however was that ponderous, philosophical, feeling I felt from that (Tree of Life) experience compared to this. I realise one could split hairs with how equally pretentious they both are, but least with Tree of Life I didn't want to gauge my eyes out with a rusty nail afterwards. Tree of Life was high concept cinematic art, this was just tortuously lacklustre given the devastating subject.

Though Kirsten Dunst's performance was a mature outing from the star, an attempt to be truly captivating, a bit strange, she - like the rest of the supporting cast - was just so darn dislikeable it mattered little to me by the film's closing scene whether they survive the end of the world or not. Perhaps this was Trier's point, highlighted in a section of the film's dialogue where Dunst's character explains our world is evil and it won't be missed. Given the characters in this and his previous films, Trier himself probably believes this point of view too and if that's the case I feel sorry for him, and his lack of soul.

Besides Charlotte Gainsbourg, the rest of the cast at least had a bit of modern Jane Austin-esque humour about them. Kiefer Sutherland's tragic optimism, John Hurt's drunken buffoonery and Charlotte Rampling's scene stealing bitterness. If twisted into some kind of comedy I would probably 'get it' more.

Final Thoughts

Tedious, superficial, pretentious guff. Lars, you disappoint me. What happened to the edginess? What happened to the controversy? It was so passive and blasé it genuinely hurt. The only thing saving this from only receiving a single mark out of five - and I say this in the most professional manner - is knowing Ms Dunst has a nice set of boobies on her. It's a bittersweet victory though. Melancholia. Yes that's exactly what I'm feeling right now.

2/5

Melancholia is in selected cinemas from Friday September 30th 2011.

Drive

2011-09-23T07:56:00.001-07:00

As I take a quick glance at all the reviews I've done so far in 2011, I notice two things. Firstly my post count is very low on last year. Secondly, and with less vanity, there's been a genuine shortage of really classy action movies over the past year. Thankfully the arrival of Nicolas Winding Refn's - last seen in the director's chair with the Tom Hardy breakout hit, Bronson in 2009 - Drive which blew audiences away at this year's Cannes Film Festival and left Refn picking up the award for Best Director has made the wait worth it.

Based on the book by James Sallis, Drive tells the tale of an enigmatic stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. When one last heist goes wrong, and he finds himself in trouble with the local mob, what unravels before the audience's eyes is one of the most visceral action experiences you'll find in the cinema all year.

Ryan Gosling is superb in the leading role, almost playing two distinctly different men in the way he conducted himself. The first side was this introverted, pleasant man of few words. Occasionally throw the odd warm glance or light hearted smile. Then the other side where he's this relentless, violent, absolutely mental human being who stamps men's heads in until they're near liquefied.

Equally so the supporting performances were littered with genuine class from beginning to end. Carey Mulligan as the love interest, who shared some lovely shoegrazey 80s influenced moments with Gosling. Bryan Cranston, now living it up as one of Hollywood's best since wowing audiences with the TV smash, Breaking Bad, was astute as the confidant/partner to Gosling's operations. Ron Pearlman as some deranged L.A. gangster. The true stand out performance however was the excellent Albert Brooks as Pearlman's partner who surely deserves a decent shot at the Best Supporting Actor category in next year's Oscars.

Nicolas Winding Refn direction was certainly worthy of his Cannes hype, making a film which puts even some of Tarantino's best to shame with the manner it's told and the violence factor - none more so than in Christina Hendricks' less than subtle demise. The comparisons to classic movies such as Bullitt shine through, but despite the glamorous cast, I enjoyed the stripped down indie feel, which of course carries over from Refn's background and a 'feel' I hope he can bring to the bigger projects likely to follow off this success.

Special praise must be made for the wonderful 80s esque soundtrack which also combined brilliantly with the tense, atmospheric, soundtrack by Cliff Martinez, which had faint echoes to Hans Zimmer's work with Christopher Nolan in parts. If I had one tiny complaint to the whole feature however it would be the sparse distribution and volume of the frantic car chases I had imagined, but the whole story, and sheer mental action sequences made up for it.

Final Thoughts

Ryan Gosling shines in a relentless leading role which was supported by true acting heavyweights such as Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks and Ron Pearlman. Nicolas Winding Refn has created a retro action film full of intensity, ultra violence and, heaven forbid, a brilliant plot. Easily one of the best films this year.

4.5/5

Drive is in cinemas everywhere now.

Warrior

2011-09-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned when I reviewed The Fighter back in February, it still surprises me how the underdog/redemption/fighting formula made so famous by the likes of Rocky, Raging Bull and The Champ oh so long ago still manages to be the stuff of box office quality. Maybe it's because in sport we sometimes naturally want the underdog to win, maybe they appeal to the human side of us all in some quest for redemption and triumph, or maybe...just maybe we simply like to see two brilliant actors kick the stuffing out of each other. The latest in this very long list comes Warrior starring two of Hollywood's brightest acting talents, Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton.

Playing brothers separated during their teenage years, the film tells the dual narrative of how Hardy's Tommy and Edgerton's Brendan reunite in the confines of a MMA ring. Tommy the estranged, enigmatic and emotionally suppressed ex-Marine and Brendan the struggling, down to earth, high school teacher trying to support his family and keep their house by whatever means necessary.

I'll be honest beside changing the bloodsport from boxing to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) it isn't at all original, especially as you only need to look to the Oscar winning triumph of The Fighter literally months earlier to see insanely striking similarities - hell watch the trailer and the film is essentially told from beginning to end there. Where Warrior manages to succeed however is in the brilliant performances from both its leading men.

I know a lot has been made about Tom Hardy's training regime in the build up to this film, with faint conjuring's of Robert De Niro's turn in Raging Bull mentioned from time to time. His stature though is probably no less impressive than when he blew audiences away with his portrayal of Charles Bronson back in 2009. Though Tommy lacked a true heart the audience could get behind, Hardy brought real soul to the role. A very flawed and in some ways a very tragic human being who shared very tender and emotional scenes with his father played by an astute Nick Nolte - who has a scene stealing moment with Hardy involving a bottle of whiskey and an audiobook of Moby Dick.

Whereas Hardy was this emotionally suppressed Goliath who destroyed any fighter in his path, Joel Edgerton however was the underdog, full of grit and heart, everyone could get behind. He struggled to beat his opponents, he fought with every last breath he had left, and in these moments every emotional string was pulled to the desired effect. Unlike in 2010's Brothers starring Toby Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal where I felt the two actors could've had more screen time together, in Warrior the build up and anticipation to the first meeting between the stars was smartly done and really heightened the intensity during their final encounter.

Director, Gavin O'Connor should also take credit for the way he presented the story without turning either characters into true protagonists or antagonists. He delivered on balancing the backgrounds of both brothers, their relationships with the people in their lives and the strained relationships they have with both their father and themselves. I'd even say it had more pace and cinematic panache than David O Russell's The Fighter, albeit with less of a HBO edge to it.

Final Thoughts

Warrior goes pound for pound with such greats that inspired it such as Rocky, Raging Bull, The Fighter and The Champ and nearly comes out on top. Boxing analogies aside, it's simply an entertaining film, full of likeable performances which by the time the curtain falls will have you at odds over who you really wanted to win. Even if it doesn't live long in the memory as a cinematic classic, it should serve a reminder that Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton are quickly becoming two of Hollywood's most versatile and creditable leading men. One for the lads.

4/5

Warrior is in cinemas everywhere now.

Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy.

2011-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's rare to see a cinematic adaptation of a modern literary classic, which has already been adapted to near perfection by the BBC in the late 1970s, be met with such universal anticipation. Though I suppose when you've assembled possibly the most impressive British cast of a generation, being directed a man who made one of the best films of the last 10 years, if you're not like myself and bursting with excitement, then you at least take a bit of notice.

Yes, Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, the man who blew audiences away with his beautiful telling of Let The Right One In in 2009, has been handed the near impossible task of bringing John Le Carre's epic spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to the big screen. It tells the tale of retired secret service agent, George Smiley (Gary Oldman) as he's ordered to find out which of his former colleagues is the mole leaking British intelligence to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

From the bleakly detached narrative to the painstakingly authentic Cold War aesthetics of England during the 1970s, Alfredson has managed to create a magnificent and separate entity which can stand apart proudly from the book and the TV series. In essence the premise of the story is left unchanged from Le Carre's brilliant novel but it was heartening to see the way he presented the film not just be a drastically cut down version of the Beeb's telling of it.

That's not to say it's dumbed down to moviegoers. Far from it. The intricacies are all there from Smiley's quest to find the mole and his underlying troubles in his marriage to the brilliant overlaps with Ricky Tarr's (Tom Hardy) exploits in Europe and exploring the past which still haunts Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) which all ties nicely together with a series of flashbacks which flesh out the rest of the characters so wonderfully.

It's hard to follow up a presence such as the great Alec Guinness - just ask Ewan McGregor when taking the mantle of Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels - but Gary Oldman takes George Smiley and makes the role his own. Unlike his predecessor, Oldman's Smiley is a much colder, crueller, soul and possibly the best and most understated performance of Oldman's career to date. His dialogue is minimum as he tells Smiley's tortured back story through the emotive suggestions of his eyes. One of his shining contributions comes while telling the story of his only encounter with the antagonist of piece, Karla. Told in a much more abstract and reflective way than the untouchable TV series presented it.

I could be here all day saying all the superlative buzzwords under the sun to explain my love the supporting cast, but I'll try and keep it brief. Tom Hardy's crazed Ricki Tarr, Benedict Cumberbatch's loyal Peter Guillam, Colin Firth's sleazy, womanising, turn as Bill Haden, Kathy Burke's blunt and outrageous Connie Sachs, Mark Strong's workmanship as Jim Prideaux, Toby Jones' stressful tendencies as Percy Alleline and John Hurt's darkly humorous and ultimately wise contribution as Smiley's boss, Control. All of them, excellent. It was probably only a Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman and Bill Nighy away from achieving perfection.

Tomas Alfredson should take much plaudits for his attention to detail and the atmosphere created in the film. The silent corridors, the cluttered rooms, the dull English landscapes and the eerily dim light. It's almost as if he wanted to give the story a subtle horror element - not too dissimilar from his adaptation of Let The Right One In in its overall tone. Yes his pacing of the story might come under question from more devoted fans of the source material, but as a film it's a mesmerising experience, especially when submerged in Alberto Iglesias' morose score.

Final Thoughts

Films like this don't come along very often. Rarely do we see one which showcases the talents of some of the best actors of a generation so eloquently. Gary Oldman was marvellous as the iconic George Smiley. Tomas Alfredson's reputation will surely continue to grow and bigger things now undoubtedly beckon. He's created a cold, dark, tense period drama with such painstakingly authentic detail. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Go, see, right, now.

Favourite film of the year. So far.

5/5

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is in cinemas everywhere from Friday.

Jane Eyre

2011-09-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Having forfeited to pursue English Literature at GCSE and A-Level suffice to say it's not until recently I've had any desired to read Charlotte Bronte's Gothic, masterpiece, Jane Eyre. Even at that getting it for free on my Kindle e-reader is perhaps the only thing that's even really made me peaked my interest. Now that doesn't really matter - says the ignorant film critic - because here's a brand new film adaptation from the director 2009's excellent, Sin Nombre, Cary Fukunaga. Now isn't that handy...

If you've read the book or seen the countless adaptations over the years, you'll already know the story. For those who don't it tells of the trails and tribulations of Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikoska) from her miserable upbringing with her wicked aunt who banished her to a horrible boarding school all the way to her time in the employment of one Mr Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender).

Inevitably, as is the case with most of these costumed affairs, Rochester and Eyre strike up a curious connection and so unravels one of the greatest love stories ever committed to paper. However the real beauty, like in any great story, lies in the secrets which are buried beneath, which I shan't spoil for those philistines such as myself who failed to read the book before entry to the cinema.

I was perhaps less than unkind to Mia Wasikoska when reviewing her Alice in Wonderland last year - describing her as having as much charisma as my left foot, if memory serves me right - but have since realised her talent after becoming enthralled in the brilliant HBO series, In Treatment. Starring as the title character she added a real level of depth to her performance, strong, witty and passionate while at the same time quite a tragic, suppressed and disturbed soul.

Likewise Michael Fassbender brought his signature intensity, which has won him plaudits in so many films over the last five years, to the role of Mr Rochester. Though maybe not matching Colin Firth's Mr Darcy in the BBC's institutional adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, still I can only imagine he will leave thousands of ladies across the world swooning in delight once the credits roll. The supporting turns were also as classy and elegant as their leads, with brilliant performances from Judi Dench, Jamie Bell and the particularly and the, albeit too brief, appearance of the slimy Simon McBurney.

I can't speak for the tone of the book, but the atmosphere created in the film was completely sublime to experience on the big screen. Fukunaga treats the audience to these striking, bleak, majestic landscapes and towering gothic structures. What sets it apart from these drab costume dramas I've been subjected to over the years - mostly against my own will - was this rather peculiar sense you were watching a period horror film with some distant ghostly sounds and stylish camera work. Dario Marianelli's score is seamlessly embedded into the feature just as his work on similar films such as Atonement and Pride and Prejudice did in the past.

Final Thoughts

How it holds up to past adaptations or its source material isn't for me to say, however I can tell you the Jane Eyre of 2011 is a dark, intense, brooding piece of Gothic romance which strikes a captivating balance between a costumed drama and some atmospheric, humanistic, horror tale so brilliantly. Even if you aren't a fan of this genre of film, I encourage you to give it a chance. You may be shockingly surprised.

4/5

Jane Eyre is in cinemas across the UK from September 9th, 2011.

Project Nim

2011-08-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Having missed Rise of the Planet of the Apes earlier in the month, I figured it was only right to catch a like minded cinematic documentary from Man on Wire director, James Marsh in the form of, Project Nim. The documentary follows the recollections of the scientists who worked on the project where they raise a baby chimp like they would a baby human, feeding him, playing with him and teaching him how to speak and react to the humans around him.

The feature takes it roughly in three stages after the chimp is ripped away from his birth mother by the head of the project, Professor Herbert Terrace. The first was probably the most heart-warming seeing baby Nim in the care of his first 'surrogate mother', Stephanie LaFarge who raised and treated baby Nim like a mother would her own child, and it was quite compelling the tension this caused with her husband and to a lesser degree the rest of her family.

Watching how Nim reacts to the people around him is quite fascinating, but equally so is the subliminal politics being played out between Terrace and his colleagues for Nim's affections also. Particularly in the transitional phase from his motherly relationship with LaFarge to the younger and more attractive Laura-Ann Petitto who the chimp seems to just attach himself to, strangely without a reaction to seeing LaFarge cut off.

After Laura left his life though was when it got really compelling and extremely tragic for Nim, and where a lot of the sheer grit and darkness of the feature unfolds. It's hard to know who to place most blame on, ethically was it right to remove the chimp from his birth mother in the first place, to raise him like a spoilt human who had every need catered for - more so than some humans have even experienced in their own lifetime - then just throw him back in a cage to be prod and poked for the rest of his days? In a strange way Marsh has portrayed Terrace as one of the leading villains you'll see in a cinema all year from this unjust betrayal. None more so than the patronising visit paid by the Professor in the testing site, a year later.

Animal lovers might find some scenes rather unpleasant - particularly after the project itself shuts down. Hell, anyone with a soul should be mortified at the treatment of poor Nim in the final 35 minutes of the feature. In truth though it probably doesn't highlight anything that anyone with an interest in animal rights doesn't already know. Either way, and referencing back to Planet of the Apes for a moment, you can see why they might rise against us.

Visually the way Marsh presented the whole feature was simply superb to experience on the big screen. Slick, bold, graphics and quite dark, atmospheric re-enactments of past events which wouldn't be entirely out of place in some deranged horror film. One of the personal highlights however was the joyful music, composed by Dickon Hinchliffe, which played during the moments when Nim learnt a new word or was evolving as a living being.

Final Thoughts

You'll be shocked, you'll be deeply saddened, you'll even be down right angry at times. However you'll also have your heart warmed, raise a smile and genuinely feel for another living being. Not an animal, not strictly just another a chimp, this was a living being who was treated and benefited from loving human interaction and it's genuinely sad to see, in the end, he was ultimately betrayed by it. A compelling, powerful and essential documentary. Project Nim? Project Win*.

4/5

Project Nim is in selected cinemas throughout the UK now. Northern Irish readers will be able to see the documentary in the Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast from Friday September 2nd, 2011.

*That was cheap, I'm sorry, it's been a long weekend.

Conan The Barbarian

2011-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Let's leave nostalgia at the door and face a painful truth for just one moment. The original Conan The Barbarian starring the great Arnold Schwarzenegger was a pile of muck. However to lads of a certain age, it was our pile of muck. The inevitable remake of the saga has been on the cards for probably as long as when the original films first materialise. There's been a variety of different proposals, hell even WWE wrestler Triple H was set to take up the mantel at one point with Arnold in a cameo role. Thankfully that never came to light, but what we got instead probably wasn't much better.

The Conan the Barbarian of the 2011 stars, Jason Momoa in the title role. Off the back of a successful and creditable stint in the excellent HBO fantasy series, Game of Thrones he's probably in danger of being typecast for life as some muscle bound warrior with a big heart deep down. Though largely similar backgrounds and characterisations, the fundamental differences in Momoa's tall, silent, terrifying performance in Game of Thrones and his lacklustre, eye rolling attempt at Conan probably came down to the haphazard pacing, ham fisted dialogue and generally piss poor script he had to work with.

His supporting cast fared slightly better, even if all they did was just fulfil the typical archetypes associated with these conventional, fantastical, bloodied quests for revenge. Stephen Lang was sort of menacing as an evil warlord, then sort of not as you wondered how Conan - a husky, well built, ruthless sort - would have much trouble bringing down some hysterical fool on the right side of 60. Especially as the star had already raked up an impressive body count into the hundreds by the time the final showdown commences.

Rachel Nicholas, easy on the eyes she may have been, didn't do an awful lot besides being a walking, talking, plot device whose blood is what Lang's evil warlord seeks to unleash hell upon his enemies. Rose McGowan could've been quite interesting as the primary villain - a disturbing witch - but played second fiddle to Lang's eccentric rantings. Shame because she has the moments closest to resembling genuine creepiness and mild horror.

Visually director, Marcus Nispel gets it about right, even if the story came across less like Conan the Barbarian and more like The Erotic, Bloody, Adventures of Sinbad. Even though I decided to forfeit the 3D presentation this outing, the special effects were decent and the violence is what you expect from this, but even next to the campy exploits of Arnold's Conan it just all lacks a bit of fun, a few memorable one liners and unfortunately a character to really root for.

Final Thoughts

Wrong villain, wrong director, wrong script, wrong remake. Right star though, just a shame the former problems outweighed Jason Momoa's valiant effort, which unfortunately pales in comparison to his very similar turn in Game of Thrones. In reality it's not much better than the original but the original has Arnold Schwarzenegger in all his menacing, muscular glory and unfortunately for the Conan of the 21st Century, that ultimately wins this argument.

2/5

Conan The Barbarian is in cinemas everywhere now.

The Skin I Live In

2011-08-20T08:20:00.001-07:00

Pedro Almodovar's latest film has already caused quite a stir at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and for lowly mortals such as I the wait to finally see this film has been, quite frankly, agonising. Antonio Banderas stars as the illusive and brilliant, Dr Robert Ledgard as he goes on an insane venture of playing God to create 'the perfect skin' through the methods of transgenesis. Skin which can resist being burnt and fight off disease. His ethically questionable experiments are all carried out on a mysterious woman, he keeps in isolation, named, Vera. Suffice to say as both their pasts slowly unravel all is not what it seems.

When watching the trailer for The Skin I Live In, I got the impression Banderas' character was something akin to Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman in American Psycho or a younger, more macabre take on the sick and twisted, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. However as the revelations of his past is exposed to the audience, slowly and surely, he paints a much more tragic and almost sympathetic soul. Which in turn makes him all the more terrifying and genuinely unnerving in the moments where he loses control altogether.

His co-star, Vera played by the gorgeous Elena Anaya is a much more intriguing being and her story is one of the most shocking and, in a way, terrifying journeys you will probably see in a cinema all year - and something so bloody hard to write about without spoiling the sheer wonder and shock value of the entire feature. Lazily I could argue there was faint comparisons with Vera and the children in the utterly mind boggling, Dogtooth released last year, but perhaps with less naivety. Anaya herself like past Almodovar leading ladies just oozed sincere class and true sexuality on screen, perhaps on this occasion for all the wrong reason though. Nevertheless you only needed to look into her eyes to see the amount of sheer passion in the young actress fantastical portrayal.

Supporting turns from the likes of Marisa Peredes as Robert's servant and trusted confidant Marilia, Jan Cornet as Vincent, Blanca Suarez as Robert's daughter Norma just round off the film brilliantly. Special mention must go to the surreal introduction of Roberto Alamo as Marilia's estranged son, Zeca who you first see in this daft leopard costume which set against these minimalistic, sporadically colourful, surroundings is just a visual overload.

Outside of the Hitchcockian suspense the rest of the feature was essentially textbook Almodovar at its best. The film yet again shows why the playfully imaginative director is regarded as one of the greatest film-makers of his generation. He also should be praised for the way he told the story, so intricately woven yet so easily accessible. A genuine triumph in modern film-making.

Final Thoughts

A dark, disturbing, tense, faintly tragic piece of macabre story-telling. Antonio Banderas was excellent in the leading role, switching between this suave, sadistic madman and this ultimately flawed and insecure soul. Though it wouldn't be a Almodovar film without the leading lady taking all the plaudits and Elena Anaya shines beautifully as the bizarre, mysterious, Vera. The Skin I Live is in strong contention to be my favourite film of 2011, and just goes to show how much punishment there is in the search for perfection. Frankenstein meets Bret Easton Ellis? Makes sense in my head.

5/5

The Skin I Live In will be shown in select cinemas throughout the UK from Friday August 26th, 2011.

My debut novel, The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black has launched

2011-08-08T02:28:00.001-07:00

Normally I would reserve such a post solely for my other blog, however this is just too big! Over the last year and a half I've spent a lot of my free time crafting this story, The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black. And after all is said and done, here it is finally for your own personal enjoyment!

Price: £2.30 on Amazon.co.uk | $3.78 on Amazon.com | EUR2.99 on Amazon.de

If you buy it and enjoy it then, well I'll frankly never be able to truly thank you for it. Though I would appreciate if you were able to spread the word of my book, the character and her magical adventure. All devoted readers of the blog for the past two and a half years, now I ask of you to write a review for me.

Sincerely,

Andrew (A.G.R. Moore)

The Synopsis:

Amelia Black is a kind, curious and wonderful soul. Like her dear mother and father, who were equally kind, curious and wonderful, she was a keen explorer of the unknown. When her parents vanish without a trace, she finds herself swept into another universe. An Unseen Universe.

In the Unseen Universe, Amelia discovers a power within herself, which will change her life forever. Under the watchful eye of her faithful butler and lifelong friend, Julius E. Dawson and an ill-tempered pixie (just don’t call him a fairy) named Sid, watch as the extraordinary girl ventures into a magical universe full of pure goodness and unrivalled darkness.

Revelations of her past lie with a mysterious King of the Unseen Light, while her destiny may lead her to what lurks in The Dark.

Super 8

2011-08-06T09:43:00.001-07:00

I get accused of romanticising situations a lot, but just bare with me a moment. Remember a time when summer blockbusters were spectacles? Much anticipated events? Cinematic magic? Gave you moments of pure imagination which stayed with you for life? For me it was seeing that first glimpse of a dinosaur in Jurassic Park, watching E.T. go home, seeing Indiana Jones run away from a giant boulder, that sheer feeling of terror created when Jaws appeared for the first time, seeing the Death Star blow up, Michael Keaton uttering the words, "I'm Batman," and Arnold Schwarzenegger looking badass with a gun in Terminator 2 before saying, "Hasta la Vista, baby."

It's a shame for all the progress we've seen in cinema over the past 20 years in regards to special effects and grand set pieces, the summer blockbuster season has in recent years been reduced to the bud of all jokes with cinephiles. That grotesque time of the year where the likes of Michael Bay flourish with soulless, dumb action movies which are made purely to undermine the audience's intelligence and make a mountain of money for those pesky film studios. However, like myself and a lot of other people of my generation, J.J. Abrams remembers when the Summer Blockbuster was something more. Something very much like Super 8.

Taking cues from Steven Spielberg - who serves as producer for the film - at the height of his 1980s popularity, Super 8 tells the story of a group of harmless, mischief making misfits as they sough to spend their summer making a home film based on a zombie invasion. However all is not what it seems when they witness a particularly nasty looking train crash - probably one of the best choreographed set-pieces I've seen in so long - which unleashes something strange, and mysterious on their hometown. The situation turns even more ugly when people around the town start disappearing without a trace and the U.S. Airforce have the small middle American town on lock down.

From the way it was filmed, the pure late 70s aesthetics of the town, the bright and bouncy John Williams-esque score from Michael Giacchino and even just the way the glorious young ensemble presented themselves - if Hollywood want to do the unthinkable and remake The Goonies, they might have just found their cast - Super 8 just conjured so many wonderful romantic memories of how Summer blockbusters use to be made, and frankly still should be.

Despite the mysterious Cloverfield-esque marketing in the build up to the film, the story is probably more akin to E.T. albeit with much more suspense. Almost like a children's film, with the innocent coming of age cues taken from 80s films like Stand By Me except with a 21st Century survival horror edge to it. The young cast were wonderful, showing signs of real maturity with some terrific comic timing and one liners as well as holding their own in the more gentle moments. If I had to punish Abrams for anything it would probably be his insistence to yet again use those excruciating lens flares techniques he uses in all his films. which I find so undeniably off putting at times. Though I'm just nit picking to be honest.

Final Thoughts

With tidy and charismatic performances from the young leads, scenes of genuine suspense, glorious visuals and an absolutely fantastic finale, Super 8 surpasses nearly every other blockbuster released in the cinema this year using a formula so tried and tested it's a wonder why it's taken until now for someone to pick it up again - perhaps even Spielberg himself. Though J.J. Abrams might not be Steven Spielberg in ability like the rest of us romantics he too remembers a time when the summer blockbuster was more than just a soulless, money making venture, and the world is a little bit better off for it. I'm still smiling thinking about it.

4.5/5

Super 8 is in cinemas everywhere throughout the UK now.

Sarah's Key

2011-07-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Recently there was a science paper published listing the saddest movies of all time. It inexplicably listed The Champ (1979) as number one, at the expense of some genuine tearjerkers such as Disney's Bambi, Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies, Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Requiem for a Dream amongst countless other soul numbing features which scarily populate my own DVD collection - not sure what that says about me. Well there might be a new one to trump them all - at least for the time being - in the form of Gilles Pasquet-Brenner's Sarah's Key.

Adapted from Tatiana de Rosney's best selling novel, the film tells a tale set between the present day and 1940s France accounting the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, a dark period in Nazi occupied Paris where all the Jews in the city were taken from their homes by Parisian police and sent off to concentration camps. All the while, Kristin Scott Thomas plays a journalist living in Paris in 2010, researching the tragedy, focusing in on the trials and tribulations of a little girl named Sarah, as she attempts to escape a concentration camp, make her way towards home and be reunited with her brother who was hidden in their apartment before the rest were taken away.

You could rightly argue the whole subject of The Holocaust is a slightly over crowded sub genre in the grand scheme of period cinema. From Schindler's List, The Pianist, The Counterfeiters, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas I could go on and on. Usually all excellent, but I think possibly because this is the first I've seen in the cinema, Sarah's Key seemed to profoundly move me in a way few (if any) films have done all year.

Kristin Scott Thomas was terrific in the lead role, as you watch her go deeper and deeper into her investigation, bringing up old wounds of even her own family's past, it seems to also bring the audience into it also - conjuring memories of when I read a like minded novel, The Book Thief. One of the most innocent and touching performances I've seen in so long was young Melusine Mayance in the role of the title character. She has some particularly memorable moments none more so than the scene were she's reunited with her brother. Might want to get a box of tissues for that one...

Once the film hits its emotional height, just over two thirds of the way through, the story does unfortunately drag out and simmer a bit at the end with Scott Thomas' story coming to its own conclusion.

Final Thoughts

With little hint of hope or bitter-sweet redemption for all involved. Sarah's Key contained scenes which were both deeply moving as they were so profoundly sad. Kristin Scott Thomas lead with the same grace which has served her so well for over two decades now, while Melusine Mayance shined with as character so beautifully portrayed as possessing undeniable will and determination to face some genuinely terrifying human experiences. If you fail to be moved by this film, to weep or just to sit there in a state of numbness once the credits roll then I simply feel sorry for you, and your lack of soul.

4/5

Sarah's Key is in selected cinemas throughout the U.K. from August 5th, 2011.

Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Suffice to say if Marvel had attempted to release Captain America about five or six years ago, they probably wouldn't have been greeted with the warmest of receptions. Nevertheless it's three Avengers down, in Thor, Iron Man and The Hulk, and without further ado it's Captain America's time to arrive at the party.

Based on the legendary Marvel title of the same name, Captain America does a slightly quirkier twist on the much crowded superhero genre by setting nearly all the action during World War II - and mostly pulling it off. It tells the tale of a young, scrawny, glass of water named Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as he tries to bluff his way into the U.S. Army despite not being nearly close enough to being physically qualified - could probably still kick my ass but sure. Through a stroke of luck, his wimpy demeanour outmatches his enormous will which ultimately finds him enrolled in an experiment for a super soldier program hoping to change the course of the war, thus enabling him to become one of the most iconic superheroes of the 20th Century.

During the first half of the film, the whole build up with Cap's origin story was done with so much vigour you nearly forgot you were watching a superhero film at all and simply watching some coming of age World War II spectacle. Albeit with some of the fantasy driven visual nuances from the classic 1991 film - by the same director, Joe Johnston - The Rocketeer.

When originally announced I wasn't sure whether Evans was the right fit for the courageous, humble nature of Rogers' character, especially after seeing him play the opposite so well as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four, but he really brought a lot of heart and grounding to the man. Which was essential to making Captain America work, as a film, on a global scale. He just attained this sincerely likeable quality which found even myself hailing him as one of Marvel Films' best film creations to date.

Likewise the supporting cast delivered some enjoyable and charismatic turns from the likes of the brilliant Stanley Tucci as the not-so mad scientist who turns Rogers into the muscular hero. Tommy Lee Jones is classy as ever, as the stern and battle weary Col. Phillips. Hayley Atwell was one of the better love interests in, Peggy Carter. One of the highlights personally was seeing Dominic Cooper as the institutional Howard Stark - father, in the Marvel Universe, to the one and only Tony Stark aka Iron Man - which of course brings continuity to the grand scheme of things when preparing for next year's Avengers film. And yes while on The Avengers, Samuel L Jackson yet again makes his obligatory appearance as the illusive leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury.

Then of course there's Hugo Weaving, doing what Hugo Weaving does best, playing 'the bad guy'. Maybe not quite hitting the sinister heights which made him an international star during The Matrix trilogy, but under the guise of The Red Skull he certainly delivered a classical performance as the evil Nazi antagonist. Also quite enjoyed seeing the excellent Toby Jones as his right hand man.

Though disappointing me last year with The Wolfman reboot, Joe Johnston has definitely went back to what he does best, with the visual stylings he's probably best known for. The art deco vehicle designs of the evil HYDRA presented themselves beautifully, combining a real element of fun to the proceedings like his aforementioned Rocketeer feature, but also possessing a real action adventure quality rarely seen since the heights of the first three Indiana Jones films.

The CGI team working on the film should also be commended for the effects implored to make Chris Evans a 'scrawny pencil necked geek' even if it does dip a bit during the frantic fight scenes. Must say the numerous costume designs the protagonist went through were top class, can't wait to see how it's adapted in a modern setting next year.

Final Thoughts

Bold, entertaining and probably packing the most heart of them all. Captain America defies all of my personal expectations and delivers a film which, like X-Men First Class, harks back to a time when Summer blockbusters were meant to be huge events. Spectacles. A chance to escape but not needing to turn your brain off completely. An old fashioned good vs evil story, featuring a distinctly different character who should lend himself brilliantly to Marvel's epic superhero team-up, The Avengers next year. Captain America? F*ck yeah...

4/5

Captain America: The First Avenger is in cinemas everywhere now.

An Island

2011-07-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

I love music. I'd listen to everything and anything in some form or another. Though rarely have I found myself in a position to review music documentaries. Attempting to be an authority on film is a tough enough sell at times, but with music I'm genuinely out of my depth. Nevertheless when opportunity arises to review a film featuring one of my favourite bands I simply couldn't refuse.

An Island, directed by independent French film maker Vincent Moon, follows folky post rock band Efterklang as they trek around a small island off the coast of Denmark. Over the course of the documentary sees the band doing a series of unconventional shows with the natives of the island, similar in vein to Sigur Ros' triumphant love letter to their native Iceland in 2007's Heima.

Once you kind of get past the idea An Island isn't so much a film, but one really long somewhat abstract music video it's actually a visually gorgeous experience, shifting effortlessly between performances with sharp, contrasting, black and white shots of the island to warm, vivid, stylised camera-work of the band blasting out some of their more infamous tunes. It also features some really tender sweet moments, none more so than the performance the band do with a children's choir which just looked like a lot of good honest fun.

Obviously if you aren't a fan of the band's music, then this documentary probably isn't for you in any shape or form. However the techniques used and slick editing might appeal to budding young film students. Moon was also smart enough to know when to finish the documentary as I believe, with the exception of die hard fans, most would find their attention spans wavering if it continued past the 50 minute mark.

Final Thoughts

Efterklang's first stab at the great rockumentary genre is a tidy and visually pleasing one. Following in the footsteps of Sigur Ros, Vincent Moon has created something warm, honest and personable. Qualities which, in my opinion, shine through in the band's music again and again. Die hard fans will find it essential, casual fans will enjoy it, but I doubt potentially new fans will be sold just yet.

3/5

An Island can be bought by the band directly in a 'pay what you want' download package here :: http://anisland.cc/home/

Sucker Punch (DVD)

2011-07-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

The general premise of Sucker Punch is something which should appeal to me greatly. Despite getting horrendous reviews after its cinematic release back in March, I gave it the benefit of the doubt, holding off for the DVD to see if the same thing happened for this, which happened when I finally got round to watching Tron: Legacy on DVD, which I actually enjoyed very much - really didn't get all the bad vibes towards that film, readers.

Sucker Punch started so well with the back story to Emily Browning's Baby Doll coming across as a darker, more twisted, version of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. More so of course as Browning featured in film adaptation of it also. Unfortunately after this slick, macabre, piece of story telling it gets a little bit confused, to say the least. When entering the bleak, hostile environment of the insane asylum, the poor woman is condemned to, it gets more confused than it ever needed to be.

So through the art of some genuinely odd interpretative dance, Baby Doll and her fellow inmates - comprising of the gorgeous Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung - delve deep into their own subconscious, as an escape from the social horror of the asylum, to achieve the objects needed to plot their great escape.

It's fairly common knowledge director, Zack Snyder isn't known for deep and meaningful pieces of cinema, and yes he may only just be a cut above Michael Bay in the superficial faff department, nevertheless I've always found his films such as Watchmen and 300 enjoyable in their own way. With Sucker Punch however he just shoots wide off the mark several times, never quite knowing if he wanted to make some post-modern, pro-feminist action film, or just something for Call of Duty obsessed teenage boys with the attention spans of a five year old to oogle at for a couple of hours.

Which is a shame because Emily Browning is such a classy choice to lead the film, with a pureness and genuinely likeable quality rarely seen in such affairs. Likewise I particularly loved Jena Malone's appearance of whom I've been a fan of since I first saw her star alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko all of those years ago. Other notable contributions are Jon Hamm playing yet another variation of Don Draper - that's not a criticism from me by the way - Carla Gugino as the girls' illusive dance teacher and the great Scott Glenn as the wise man who inexplicably turns up every time the heroines start a new computer game level...I mean, task...I mean, mission. You know what? I really don't know what I mean, and that's half the problem with this film.

If you really feel the film is for you however, at least do yourself a favour and experience it on Blu-Ray. As the visual presentation benefits tenfold from it. Though the set pieces are painstakingly repetitive, the one highlight is perhaps the soundtrack, featuring some rather slick, atmospheric covers and remixes of classic songs from Queen, Bjork, Jefferson Airplane and as well as some sequences with the cast which felt like they were lifted from either Moulin Rouge or The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Final Thoughts

Dull, depressing, soulless and repetitive. Zack Snyder's latest isn't so much a 'sucker punch' to your senses but rather to your wallet, as you may ask yourself why anyone would spend between £10 - 20 on this nonsense. It takes a truly misguided director to make a story featuring beautiful, scantily clad women killing orcs, nazi zombies and dragons with machine guns and giant robots and still make it such a boring, worthless and ultimately woeful chore.

2/5

Sucker Punch is available on DVD/Blu-Ray from August 8th 2011. American readers can buy it right now.

Hobo with a Shotgun

2011-07-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

It perhaps doesn't say much when I consider the best part of Hobo with a Shotgun to be the closing credits where inexplicably Run With Us by Lisa Lougheed is seeing out the frantic proceedings - which also played during the closing credits of one of my favourite childhood cartoons, The Racoons. Thankfully though the comparisons between the two properties very much end there.

Hobo with a Shotgun, following in the footsteps of Robert Rodriguez's Machete, is the latest exploitation film to spin-off from the infamous fake Grindhouse trailers of 2007. It tells the tale of the institutional Rutger Hauer as, yes you guessed it, the Hobo with said shotgun who takes it upon himself to go on a daft mission to clean up the outrageously brutal streets of Hope Town - which is overrun with gangsters, punks, pimps, paedophiles, drug dealers and prostitutes. Typical Sunday afternoon faff as you can imagine.

In respect to Hauer, who forever has a 'get out of jail free' card for being in Blade Runner and Batman Begins, I get the impression he probably had a lot of fun with this ridiculous role and if the writers had taken it a bit more seriously could've made his character quite a likeable anti-hero. Though the opening scene shows hints of a more reflective nature, it unsurprisingly lets the ultra-violence take over and what we're left with is an uninspiring and frankly boring film. There wasn't even any room for the film to be a parody of itself like the excellent sleeper hit of 2010, Black Dynamite. I was never sure whether it was truly trying to be funny, but for a large part I just found it to be needlessly obscene.

The support cast just added to the idiocy, and at times the comic book-like antagonists might have even been at home as a faction in Walter Hill's The Warriors back in 1979. Some people may like the film being nothing more than what is promised on the poster, call me a film snob if you will but I prefer to get something a little bit more out of films in general. There was times where I found it impossible to even root for the main character because his levels of madness just delve too deep.

I suppose once you get past the intense levels of blood, guts and the rather inventive and oh so subtle death scenes, you at least have to credit director, Jason Eisener for giving it a distinctly retro early 80s feel. Even went to the effort of filming in in Technicolor. That's one thing it had going for it I guess. Em...right...

Final Thoughts

In hindsight you only get from these sorts of films, whatever you put into it mentality. Hobo with a Shotgun was too incoherent, obscene and contained too little dark comedy to ever be a mindless, fun, trip down memory lane, to a time when these sorts of films were much more commonplace. Nevertheless if you belong to the culture of getting a few beers in you with some mates crowded around your TV, getting pleasure out of repugnant death scenes such as children being burnt to death in a crowded bus, then Hobo with a Shotgun is for you. Though I say with absolutely no regret it's just not for me.

1.5/5

Hobo With A Shotgun is showing in selected cinemas throughout the UK now. American visitors can get the film on DVD and Blu-Ray now.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2)

2011-07-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Ten years. Eight films. Countless actors and production crews. It's all came down to this. While the first part of the Deathly Hallows failed to overwhelm this critic, its conclusion more than makes up for it in being just as dark and gruesome as its predecessor but also retaining something Part 1 ultimately lacked: magic and belief.

For those, like myself, who haven't read the books, the plot is relatively straight forward. After escaping the clutches of the odious Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) at the end of Part 1, Harry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione sough to destroy the remaining Horcruxes so they may finally rid the world of the dark lord known as Voldemort (Ralph Finnes). Through this they travel to the depths of a dragon infested cave of riches, back to the bleakness of the English lake district which ultimately leads them and essentially every single other remaining character to ever grace the saga - who ain't dead yet - to an epic, magic fuelled, battle to the death at Hogwarts.

There is a surprising amount of blood, there is death, there is genuine emotion and tragedy, there is some truly spectacular, fantastical magic, however there is also a great deal of fun to be had from this film for the whole family. We all know Daniel Radcliffe never truly felt like Harry Potter when we first met him at the beginning of The Philosopher's Stone, but watching him grow into the role and into the presence he's become is perhaps one of the most heartening things to come out of the 10 year series, I feel.

Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, though taking more of a lead in Part 1, came of age beautifully as the solid backbones to Radcliffe's final performance as the boy who lived. While the wonderful Evanna Lynch - a true star in my eyes - shined as the logically mad Luna Lovegood, controversially the real star of the 'younger cast' was the truly excellent and thoroughly endearing contribution from Matthew Lewis as the bumbling Neville Longbottom, the ultimate underdog hero of the whole tale.

As always however the younger cast are understandably outshone by their older peers such as Alan Rickman in a scene stealing moment, and treated with the respect he deserves as the ambiguous Severus Snape. Maggie Smith is more headstrong this time out in the role as the graceful Professor McGonagall. Michael Gambon was as classy as ever in his brief scenes as Professor Dumbledore as was Ciaran Hinds as his brother. I could be here all day mentioning everyone else including the likes Jim Broadbent, John Hurt, Jason Issacs, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Kelly MacDonald, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane and Mark Williams. When has a film series ever attracted a classier ensemble of actors? Savour it because it may never happen again.

I've always been slightly critical of Warner Bros choice of staying with David Yates after he delivered two of the most lacklustre entries of the whole series for me, The Half Blood Prince and Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows. However the studio's faith in him is duly rewarded in some truly spectacular camera-work and adding a real sense of grandness to the occasion. Though if I'm honest when compared to the finales of some other mega blockbuster events such as the final scenes of Lord of the Rings or the original Star Wars trilogy, general movie goers, as oppose to avid Potter fans may leave feeling slightly underwhelmed by the lukewarm final scene set 19 years later.

Nevertheless looking back on the past 10 years of Harry Potter, as films and as a general phenomenon, it's rarely ever failed to inspire the imagination. It's delivered iconic moments which will stay with its devoted audience forever, from the first time we see Hogwarts in Philosopher's Stone, the giant spiders in The Chamber of Secrets, the darkly presence of Gary Oldman's Sirius Black in Prisoner of Azkaban, the proper arrival of Voldemort in Goblet of Fire, really should I really keep going?

Final Thoughts

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 may have just saved the best action, emotion and suspense for last, but it's still not entirely perfect as a film. However, after all was said and done, when good finally triumphed over evil, when loved ones were lost, reunited and finally found, millions of fans everywhere will notice a void and ask themselves what's next to look forward to with the Harry Potter franchise now officially over. Mr Radcliffe, Mr Grint and Ms Watson may rightly ask themselves where they will go from here, after cementing themselves firmly and unexpectedly in cinematic history. And also for us general film fans, critics and viewers alike, may weep in despair or rejoice in the thought it's all finally finished. Regardless of your feelings, you have to admit, the boy did good. The boy did good.

4/5

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is out everywhere now. Part 1 of course is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now.

The Tree of Life

2011-07-07T03:50:00.001-07:00

Take ten different people to see Terrence Malick's new abstract, mind-bending, universe spanning, melodrama, The Tree of Life and you will probably get ten completely different perspectives in the post-pub discussion afterwards. So it really doesn't matter what I say about it as a film because you most likely aren't going to agree with me. However it's because of this odd quirk it may be the most essential film released this year.

Already winning the coveted Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, The Tree of Life tells the tale of a 1950s family featuring Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain as the mother and father to three sons. Imploring the use of beautifully shot scenes and a slow emotive score from the brilliant Alexandre Desplat rather than being heavily dialogue driven, Malick gives the audience not so much a straight film but a strange philosophical examination on the wonders of the universe and how everything is seemingly interconnected by what we do with our time on this plane of existence. Hope this is making sense to you dear reader, because I'm still trying to get my head round it.

The dynamic between Pitt and Chastain in regards to their children was interesting, almost as if both individuals, flawed as they are, represented the two extremes of a person in their life. Pitt being the stern father figure, a cynical deadbeat, punishing his sons, most likely in ways he was punished as a child himself. Buried beneath that deep seeded spite however was a man just trying to do good by his family, even if his methods are a bit extreme by modern standards. Chastian on the other hand, is a much more purer and spiritual soul than her husband - often being quoted during the more cosmic moments of the film in relation to her Christianity or her family.

The children themselves are perhaps the audience's only real indication of the narrative moving itself along, as we witness the eldest son's birth, early infancy right through to his teenage years - as well as his constant personal conflict with his father and we witness the birth of his two younger brothers. Perhaps in regards to Sean Penn's ambiguous role in the film - as the eldest son, Jack in later life - you could consider these moments set in the 50s as a representation of the stagnant echoes of memory. Looking back you can only ever remember the key parts of your earlier life, with the cohesion getting more lost the further back you go.

I get the impression and almost weep in despair at the thought of there being about a six hour version of this movie where Sean Penn's role is expanded upon. Otherwise he doesn't really do a lot besides reflect and brood in the moments he features, not counting the utterly bizarre portions where he's whisked away to a deserted landscape and reunited with the rest of the cast of the film in some crossroads of life.

However you aren't really going to watch The Tree of Life for its abstract, fragmented, story. The beauty of it simply lies in letting yourself be immersed in the extremely impressive, almost ethereal, visual effects produced by legendary effects artist Douglas Trumbull - whose credits include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Nonsensical scenes documenting the origin of the universe may seem to most of the average cinema audience has pointless but it really makes for some truly iconic imagery, and perhaps some of the most impressive seen in a film in the last 10 years - not counting the utterly bizarre cameo of a couple of dinosaurs.

Final Thoughts

Terrence Malick's latest epic will leave you baffled and maybe wondering where the last two and a half hours of your life went. However it may also leave you in complete awe at the wonders of life and the universe and their deeper more profound interconnectedness. Frankly this melodrama, come pseudo philosophical piece is like watching a moving work of art. No single soul will take the same conclusion away from it. My take is that deep down, it's a celebration of life, of the human soul, of man's own spirituality and how insignificant it can all be next to the vastness of the universe. This is a film, for better or worse, which will stay with you for life, will be discussed at great length for decades to come, will turn up in 1001 Films to See Before You Die lists and it's because of these points you must see it on the biggest screen you can find. I can't promise you'll get it, because I can't honestly say I did either, but hey that's life I suppose...

5/5

The Tree of Life is in cinemas throughout the UK from Friday. Belfast audiences can see it exclusive in the Queen's Film Theatre from July 15th 2011.

The Guard

2011-07-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

In the midst of soulless 3D CGI spectaculars dominating our multiplexes, John Michael McDonagh's debut feature The Guard provides us with one of the lower key offerings at the cinema this summer, unsurprisingly packing the most heart in the process.

With the likes of The Hangover 2 and Bridesmaids dominating the box office takings in the comedy genre with their brash, over-hyped nature, leave it to the Irish to produce one of the best you'll see in the cinema this year, already taking huge plaudits at this year's prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Brenden Gleeson and Don Cheadle star in a black comedy about a member of the Republic of Ireland's Garda and America's FBI who team up to take down an international drug smuggling gang in the Connemara district in the West of Ireland.

I'll probably concede that if you don't come from either side of the boarder in Ireland some of the more obscure cultural references might be lost on you. Like any Irish comedy it's a very knowing, ironic kind of humour, obviously with much swearing and the odd bit of violence thrown in for good measure. Be it the constant slagging of Dublin city boys, Limerick's notorious reputation as the crime capital of the island - once considered 'the murder capital of Europe' believe it or not - as well as poking fun at the somewhat lax attitude towards the persistent drugs war still being battled within that region of country.

However with the sheer brilliant comedy timing of Gleeson as the unorthodox, playfully racist, Sergeant Gerry Boyle it's genuinely impossible not to find yourself sincerely laughing out loud at times.While Don Cheadle served his purpose as the strait-laced wingman to Gleeson's preposterous nature, and a POV for audiences less local than the one this reviewer was sitting with, it was the unexpectedly classy home-grown support cast who takes most of the plaudits in this one.

Liam Cunningham was terrific alongside the psuedo philosophical, Mark Strong and their sociopath henchman, David Wilmot as the not so sinister villains of the piece, always trying their hardest to go against the grain of daft American cop show clichés. The youngest member of the cast, Michael Og Lane was one of those surprising revelations in a film this low-key and provided the audience with some near scene stealing moments as the mischievous lad is caught out trying to nick a couple of guns from Gleeson when he uncovers a stash of weapons abandoned by the IRA.

One of the more surprising aspects of the film was the odd occasion by the director to slow down the outrageous hysterics and revert to the emotional struggle Gleeson had with his dying mother, played with much grace by the brilliant Fionnula Flanagan. Two quite potent moments of Flanagan confessing her sins one last time in church and then experience live music in the bar for old time's sake. Normally this might slow down and detract but it managed to round Gleeson's character off in similar ways to how he was portrayed in 2008's excellent black comedy, In Bruges.

Visually, McDonagh uses Connemara's bleak, boggy landscapes to their full potential, producing some really warm earthly camera-work beautifully. The script's balance of cheap laughs next to the story flows perfectly, never really once becoming a parody of itself.

Final Thoughts

The Guard feels like it's taken some of the situations from Edgar Wright's excellent Hot Fuzz and thrown it into the strange world of possibly the greatest Channel 4 comedy ever, Father Ted. Brenden Gleeson once again cements himself as one of Ireland's brightest acting talents - as if anyone really needed more convincing. It's genuinely funny, at times truly outrageous and above all packs plenty of real heart. It might not be the biggest, loudest, most visually spectacular film you'll see in the cinema this summer, but it might just be one of the best.

4.5/5

The Guard is in selected cinemas throughout the UK from July 8th 2011.

Morality Bites! Do directors have a moral responsibility to its audience?

2011-06-29T02:31:00.001-07:00

Been a while since I've done a post on the blog that isn't simply a film review, but when Ronan Wright of the brilliant Filmplicity gives you a bell and asks to participate in the big question of the week, you damn sure take notice. So, in my own opinion, do film makers have a moral responsibility to its audience? Not one bit...

Something I've stressed when reviewing the odd horror movie is I feel we live in a time where very little really shocks a viewer anymore, the days of something like A Clockwork Orange getting banned are simply non-existent. Films which are getting hard 12A ratings may have easily received a 15 about 20 years ago. Tim Burton's Batman sits on my DVD shelf with a 15 rating, yet Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight sits there with a 12. Why? Because seeing Batman take on The Joker does little to shock people, it's a blockbuster extravaganza. However, I digress...

Like any artist, musician, author or, indeed film director there should always be this constant need deep down beneath the surface to challenge its audiences' perception, to broaden their mind to the bigger world out there. Obviously it all sounds quite idealistic, and I'm sure publishers, film studios, record labels and art dealers might have something to say about all this, but I don't think the creative community has ever been better placed in the past few decades, in an age where digital distribution is so readily available and accessible, to do such a thing.

Objectively one could rightly argue modern mainstream audiences simply don't want to be challenged, they know what they like, and if seeing The Hangover 1.5 is your cup of tea, there's nothing wrong with that. Films like books, TV, music and art should also be there as a source of pure enjoyment and entertainment. I personally wouldn't go making people see Lars Von Trier's Antichrist just because it's different from nearly everything else they're likely to find in the cinema. So is The Human Centipede but even I ain't touching that tripe.

Thankfully though with the likes of Black Swan and Inception - both gaining coveted full marks from this blog I may add - starting to appear in the multiplexes film studios are starting to take a chance on slightly more left-field projects, and all the better for it I say.

I don't actually know where I'm properly going with this piece, but in a time where violence, sex, drugs, horror are all common place on TV as well as on the big screen, no I don't think film makers have a moral obligation to the audience. The audience are never forced to watch any film in the cinema, it's their right to choose what they subject themselves too, however if you're a parent it is your moral obligation to filter what your child should see at the appropriate time. Bare in mind my dad had no issue letting me watch Aliens when I was 11 years old, yes I concede I had nightmares for a week or two after that experience, but hey even Labyrinth and Ghostbusters 2 freaked me out when I was a kid and they were both rated PG.

Though directors have no moral obligation to their audiences, they do have an obligation to entertain, to provoke, to inspire the audiences' imagination. That's the true power of cinema for me. Moments where you sit in front of the big screen and witness scenes which will stay with you for the rest of your life. That moment where you believe a man can fly in Superman, that moment where you see the first dinosaur in Jurassic Park, that moment when those opening credits of Star Wars kick into life, that moment where The Joker is revealed in The Dark Knight, that moment where a Beauty and a Beast dance in a majestic ballroom.

Film makers don't owe it to you to ever play it safe with the content of their films, but they do owe it to themselves and to you to test their talents to the limits and present timeless moments which will stay with you for life - for better or worse.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

2011-06-28T16:00:00.001-07:00

Two years ago, roughly to the day, I sat here writing the review to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. After much denial and sobering up I concluded it was a total mess of a film bereft of any coherent plot or an even more coherent visual narrative. Now after watching the third instalment in Michael Bay's surprisingly controversial trilogy, I find myself in a familiar predicament, torn between the self ordained film critic in me and the geeky fanboy who can recite every single line of the original animated Transformers film from 1986. Suffice to say I'm conflicted...

The story yet again follows the saga of young Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) as he and his Autobot friends, led by the iconic Optimus Prime must stop the evil Megatron from taking over our planet and enslaving the human race to rebuild the Transformers' home world, Cybertron. Despite the fact that basic plot line would be enough for any cinema goer to go see a Transformers film, Mr Bay and his writers decide to fill the gaps of robot carnage with silly sub-plots like Sam's first job post-university (good luck there, pal), his relationship with new girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, replacing the departed Megan Fox) oh and a new moon conspiracy and yet more government cover-ups the U.S. government seemingly failed to tell the Autobots in the previous two films.

To his credit, and perhaps he's just caught me on a good day, Mr LeBeouf actually came off rather well this time round, mimicking the sincerity his character had in the original Transformers film, and thankfully gone of some of the sheer idiotic moments found in the disastrous sequel. He moved the film along and realised he shouldn't try to upstage his CGI peers. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley on the other hand, though pretty to look at, was abysmal and shouldn't have been anywhere near a film of this scale and box-office clout.

Quite rightly one shouldn't be expecting her to win any Oscars due to her limited experience and the purpose of her being there at all, but really she makes her predecessor look like she's capable of starring in Jane Austin adaptations. One thing I really want explained is how Sam Witwickey manages to get together with these amazingly beautiful women, cause that dorky charm can only get him so far surely.

One utterly bizarre point that should be made about a portion of the support cast, is that for around 20 minutes of the film with Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and the returning John Turturro present, it felt as though I was watching Transformers directed by the Coen Brothers - if Steven Spielberg is reading this, that's surely an option for the next one. Thankfully their slapstick humour and dialogue which went along with their presence mostly worked and didn't hinder the film's attempt to be properly darker this time round.

However, as with the last two films, they probably could've cast Jedward in a couple of roles and it wouldn't of mattered a damn - total lie - as the human cast was as ever upstaged by the sheer magnificence of the Transformers themselves. For the first time in three films it felt like Optimus Prime was the true hero of the film, and delivered some awe-inspiring, albeit extremely cheesy, lines as well as really giving everything in the fantastically choreographed fight scenes. Bumblebee was as likeable as ever, Megatron had more screentime and demonic purpose as should have had since the films began, Starscream finally got his scene-stealing moment, Soundwave actually had a role. The newest addition, Sentinel Prime (voiced by the great Leonard Nimoy) was perfectly executed and his substantial role in the film isn't something I'm not going to spoil in this review.

Though the film was yet again needlessly too long, Michael Bay's set pieces are some of the biggest and most impressive you'll probably see in a cinema this summer and quite possibly the best I've seen in 3D to date. Any fan of the franchise who wants nothing but robot carnage, I can promise you the whole final hour is essentially one colossal action scene where the city of Chicago gets levelled to kingdom come - where we see both robots and humans get killed on a level the Terminator franchise could have only ever wished for. Even more, unlike Revenge of the Fallen, Bay actually scales the camera back so you can actually properly see all the set pieces this time round and tell the difference between which robots are Autobots and Decepticons.

Whether you like him or loathe him, one thing we can all agree on is that Michael Bay's films are less than subtle. And so is his pro Americanism which could somewhat alienate a portion of his global audience for all the wrong reasons - oh I can't wait to hear what Mark Kermode and Roger Ebert say about this one. Quite why the Autobots: bringers of peace and justice, and self placed protectors of mankind, would only ally themselves with the American government and help do their dirty work in the Middle East certainly raises some hairy ethical questions. The devastation of skyscrapers in Chicago also feels at times like Bay's answer to the 9/11 film he never had a chance to make - yet. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it but it's certainly something to ponder once you see the film for yourself.

Final Thoughts

It could have been fantastic, it could have been the best action movie ever, it could have been the film my six year old self has been crying out for up until this very moment. Unfortunately due to most of the same (but not all!) pitfalls of Revenge of the Fallen - long running time, a needlessly convoluted plot, some terrible dialogue and the presence of people who can't and shouldn't act, that right minded critic in me feels the film is simply okay, at best. However, who doesn't want to at least experience the finale to the most critically dividing, controversial, offensive, loudest, most action packed and ambitious sci-fi trilogy to come out of Hollywood since the Star Wars prequels? Hmm, perhaps I just answered my own question there...

3/5

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is in cinemas everywhere now.

Green Lantern

2011-06-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

Similar to Marvel's Thor, released a couple of months ago, DC's Green Lantern isn't exactly the easiest comic book property to adapt for the big screen. Having endured since 1940, the character is probably considered, in the shadow of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, to be the biggest alternative to DC's holy trinity. Having successfully rebooted James Bond back in 2006 with the excellent Casino Royale, it was Martin Campbell's task to bring the star trekking superhero to life for mainstream audiences. The results were unfortunately mixed at best.

The film tells the story of Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a cocky fighter pilot who is chosen to represent Earth in a galactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. Through a chain of events he must confront the evil Parallax, a personification of fear in the galaxy, while convincing his Lantern peers he's worthy of the prestigious title bestow upon him and attempt to win the heart of lifelong sweetheart, Carol Ferris (Blake Lively).

All I could gather from Green Lantern was that the film seemed to be Warner Bros' attempt at replicating the successful, light-hearted, formula produced by Marvel when they first made Iron Man - action packed and riddled with ironic humour. Quite rightly they shouldn't go making another Dark Knight, as the character wouldn't descend into those realms of gritty darkness implored by the world of Christopher Nolan's Batman. However the balance and pacing of the whole film was completely off at times.

I applaud Campbell for attempting to bring in the grander sci-fi elements to life on the big screen, from the deep, spiralling mythos, the vast array of extraterrestrials in the Corp and Lantern's homeworld of Oa. However whether it was lack of vision, scale, ambition or perhaps simply budget, the production team never dared to go all the way and reveal the vastness of the universe to the audience. Each time we got a glimpse of Jordan experiencing something new and alien, the story was swept back to the dullness of Earth, in a blink of an eye, to the sluggish love story between Hal and Carol.

The incoherent plot and ham fisted dialogue aside, I felt Ryan Reynolds nailed the role as best he could. As Jordan, he was charming, cocky, humorous and occasionally showed a vulnerable, more human side Reynolds rarely unleashes in anything he has appeared in to date. Blake Lively was as elegant and classy as ever as his love interest, but perhaps too much was devoted to her character and their love story at the expense of more fanboy friendly fodder.

Fanboy fodder such as the excellent, and grossly underused, turns of Geoffrey Rush and Michael Duncan Clarke voicing Green Lanterns, Tomar-Re and Kilowog respectively. Likewise Mark Strong's Sinestro wasn't given enough screentime with Reynolds to spark any kind of emotional connection to set up the duo's deadly rivalry in the likely sequels to come. Peter Sargaard's villainous Hector Hammond was like most 'first movie evil-doers' - a means to an end, a catalyst to the more dangerous rouges to come down the line.

The special effects were spectacular for the most part, and I can even appreciate the logic of having Jordan's suit entirely constructed from CGI - apart from his mask, that just looked daft. However for a summer blockbuster it just never let itself bask in the chaos and global terror the action had so much promised in the trailers.

In fairness, the 3D aspect implored probably had more relevance in Green Lantern than I have seen in the likes of Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in the months previously, but yet again it's done little to convince me the film would've been any worse had I caught it in 2D. Interestingly I thought James Newton Howard's score seemed to have more than a few nods and winks towards John Williams' jaw dropping, iconic, Superman score for inspiration but rarely hit the emotional heights of said score.

Final Thoughts

Green Lantern was a brave concept to adapt for the big screen, which fails to hit the mark. Though none of the cast disgraced themselves with their performances, they ultimately suffered on account of the horrendously paced and unbalanced script, which never knew if it wanted to be an action packed, intergalactic sci-fi or a coming of age love story. I know when watching a Green Lantern film which I would rather have...

2.5/5

Green Lantern is in cinemas everywhere from Friday.

Julia's Eyes (Los ojos de Julia)

2011-06-05T07:21:00.001-07:00

Anyone who frequents the blog will undoubtedly notice my excursions into the horror genre are few and far between for various reasons. Be it their predictable lukewarm plots, be it their needless gore factor, be it I simply scare quite easily, it's just never been something I've been particularly interested in. However when Spanish genre genius, Gullermo del Toro goes out of his way to take on producing duties for little known director, Guillem Morales, I usually have to take a bit of notice. But does Julia's Eyes live up to the expectation its prestigious producer may hold?

The film tells the harrowing tale of Julia (Belen Rueda) as she soughs to discover the answers to her twin sister's mysterious suicide, all the while she's battling a degenerative disease which will eventually make her completely blind. The story itself is tense and atmospheric, for the most part, and unravels like a Hitchcock-esque psychological thriller, which in my view is hardly a bad thing. Once the aura of the supposed supernatural elements distinguishes, you're left with quite a gritty thriller, reminiscent of Kiss The Girls, Psycho and Silence of the Lambs - which meant it was surprisingly heavy on plot and less so on genuine scares, and frankly all the better for it.

One of the true highlights of the film was the leading performance of Belen Rueda - last seen in the truly excellent horror also produced by del Toro, The Orphanage - who was able to carry off a vast range of emotions absolutely seamlessly. Her chemistry with Lluis Homar in the more, surprisingly, tender moments of the film added real emotional depth to the grim overtones littered throughout the feature.

It was also evident Morales put a lot of thought into the personal conflicts the character had to deal with, from coping with the circumstances of her sister's death, the horror of being stalked by a man she could not see and also having to come to terms with her inevitable blindness on a reflective and personal level, which became more caustic as the film progressed.

One of my biggest criticisms of Julia's Eyes however, was ultimately how underwhelmed I felt once figuring out the mystery, itself - which after a few winks and nods shouldn't be too difficult for most of the audience to grasp - and the supernatural order simply fell away to something that reminded me of an episode of Waking The Dead. Nevertheless there was room for some genuinely creepy scenes, including an unsettling moment involving a number of blind women in a changing room as Julia listens in on their conversation, leading to a tense chase down some darken corridors and sparse rooms.

Final Thoughts

Though the twists are evident for most to see and the film is perhaps 15 minutes longer than it truly needed to be, Julia's Eyes is still a dark and atmospheric entry into the growing list of quality Spanish horror films to come into the mainstream over the past few years. It might not hit the visual heights of such classics as Pan's Labyrinth or The Orphanage but the director still conducts his production with enough heart to keep the audience interested and in suspense from the horrific beginning to its tender bitter-sweet end.

3.5/5

Julia's Eyes is in selected cinemas across the UK now.

X-Men: First Class

2011-06-01T16:35:00.001-07:00

After the less than satisfying finale to the original X-Men trilogy and the loathsome Wolverine spin-off in 2009, director Matthew Vaughan - last seen lighting up cinema screens with last year's excellent Kick Ass - had his work cut out for him to reignite the faltering franchise. Instead of rebooting the series entirely, he has decided to go down the prequel route with the 60s period piece - a first for comic book films? - X-Men: First Class, based loosely on the original comics by Stan Lee in 1963 and the mini series of the same name published in 2006.

Unlike pretty much every X-Men film previously, this one leaves Hugh Jackman's charmless Wolverine behind and concentrates on the early years and friendship of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnserr (Michael Fassbender) before they gained their infamous titles of Professor X and Magneto respectfully.

Over the course of the story we see them assemble the earliest form of the X-Men with stalwarts such as Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Havoc (Lucas Till) and Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones) and go up against the devious Hellfire Club featuring Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), Emma Frost (January Jones) and Azazel (Jason Flemyng).

First Class certainly sets itself apart from the usual comic book films of recent times, no more so than in its beautifully poised 1960s setting. While being a brilliant, honestly good fun, superhero movie, it also manages to conjure memories of classic James Bond films from the Sean Connery and Roger Moore era. Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Magneto was very much his own and all the better for it, after having to step into a role made famous by the great Ian McKellen. He was a dark, tragic individual who I almost felt bad for hating by the film's closing moments. His chemistry with James McAvoy's Xavier was simply glorious, bringing up some of the more tender and philosophical moments of the film. Neither man could be argued for being right or wrong and if placed in their shoes, which side would you choose...

While X-Men films can be littered with too many characters to mention in one review, I'll say that the highlights were Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique who was giving probably a more care and attention in this film than she had in the previous trilogy - having a beautiful brother/sister relationship with Xavier, to a schoolgirl crush on Beast, to then being seduced by the ideals of Magneto. Matthew Vaughan also did a clever job of paying tribute to Rebecca Romijn who portrayed the character in the original films.

After having my reservations of his original casting, I particularly enjoyed Nicholas Hoult's Beast. As oppose to the gentle, sophisticated, creature seen in his later years of the X-Men comics, cartoon and third film, he was never a being comfortable in his own skin - or fur - even when in the presence of fellow mutants. His transformation into his more famous appearance managed to come off like the infamous transformation in An American Werewolf in London.

Other notable mentions include Kevin Bacon's return to form - and the mainstream - as the sinister Sebastian Shaw, who can take most of the credit for how Magento feels towards mankind, despite being a mutant himself. Rose Byrne did just enough to not be considered just another pretty face in the role of Moira McTaggart, though probably could've benefited from having a couple more scenes with McAvoy to make the love story grow a bit on screen. While I'm a huge fan of January Jones in her role of Betty Draper in TV's Mad Men, she didn't really do much as Emma Frost to convince me she can play any other character, but considering how Frost is in the comics, it would be unfair to say Jones didn't pull the character off well. Also look out for a certain cameo involving 'the man with the claws'. You can't miss it.

Matthew Vaughan should be praised for turning the franchise into something fun, exciting, light hearted and action packed - especially when looking back, the original films can look so beige in comparison. It was also quite brave, in a huge mainstream blockbuster, for the director to implore the use of subtitles for a large portion of the film's flashback scenes - including a tense opening in a Nazi concentration camp - and the moments set on foreign soil. It was a gamble that generally paid off and added much needed authenticity. Also the way the story managed to tie itself into the original trilogy's continuity was pulled off with much more panache and respect, than the disappointing Wolverine film from two years ago.

Final Thoughts

In a film which did everything in its power to put me off seeing it with the awful marketing strategy and half arsed posters, X-Men: First Class was a bold, fun, action summer blockbuster in the most traditional sense. It's not only reinvigorated an ageing film franchise, but with some fantastic performances and an exciting, immersing, plot, it's also managed to become the best film of the series to date. First class indeed...

4.5/5

X-Men: First Class is in cinemas everywhere now.

My new blog - The Unseen Blog of A.G.R. Moore!

2011-05-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

As well as my added responsibilities elsewhere I'll be starting to run a new personal blog finally! It'll be mainly for everything that isn't about the world of film, which will stay here on theFILMblog. The main point of it however is to help promote my upcoming début children's novel, The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black, due out early July 2011 via Amazon's eBook publishing system.

So please keep tabs on it, if not for my mediocre writing, then for the utterly amazing and wondrous artwork from my dear friend and creative partner, Gillian Reid!

The Unseen Blog of A.G.R. Moore

The Hangover Part 2

2011-05-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I shred all creditability, or perhaps I'm better placed than most to comment on The Hangover 2 from having just watched the original for the first time - and largely enjoyed it, I won't lie - only 12 hours previously, either way the sequel most people probably didn't ask for has arrived relatively under the radar. Last we saw Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) they were hurrying around Las Vegas trying to piece together their colossal stag do from the night before, in search for their best chum, Doug (Justin Bartha) with hours to go before his wedding. Though the setting has moved to Bangkok, the jokes and situations they find themselves in are still very much the same.

Two years have passed since the "Wolf Pack's" escapades in Las Vegas, and Stu having divorced his original wife and not bothering to hook up with Heather Graham from the first film, has finally settled down with the beautiful Lauren (Jamie Chung) and is to be married in her home country, Thailand. Though opting for a low key pre-wedding brunch with the guys, yet again they find themselves waking up with no recollection of the night before, this time on the search for Lauren's younger brother, Teddy (Mason Lee).

Like most Hollywood explorations of a foreign culture, The Hangover 2 does largely bow to all the racial stereotypes you would expect from three American buffoons making idiots of themselves in Bangkok. However I do believe a lot of the film borrows from the same situations of the first film. To be honest, whether or not the chain smoking, drug pedalling monkey, transsexual prostitutes, all night tattooist or Russian gangsters were situated in Thailand or Las Vegas is largely irrelevant as if you're a huge fan of the first film there's plenty to love here.

As with the first instalment, the performances were actually quite enjoyable. I got the impression there was a lot of focus on, Ed Helm's character, Stu's domestic woes in the original Hangover, so it felt only logical he should take centre stage for the sequel. Bradley Cooper and Zack Galifianakis were on fine comedy form supporting him every step of the way, both putting their bodies on the line in various outrageous circumstances. It was surprising to see Ken Jeong get more screen-time but he took top prizes for some of the film's best moments.

The biggest disappointment was yet again underusing, Justin Bartha's role, considering he had to sit out all the madness in the original film. It would have given the writers amble opportunity to have essentially a new character experience all the hysteria for the first time and could have delivered some refreshing results. Paul Giamatti's small role added some extra class to a generally classless film, which yet again insisted on having Mike Tyson make an appearance, this time torturing the audience with an inexplicable musical performance. Seriously.

In fairness to Todd Phillips, I do feel his techniques and visual style has vastly improved since the original film, even if the story and concept of this sequel is a demonstration in typical Hollywood mediocrity. Though I suppose no one goes to these types of films looking for genre breaking, Oscar worthy deliveries. If you're part of a large group of people, going to the cinema for some light hearted entertainment, then The Hangover 2 will indeed give you that, just.

Final Thoughts

So...same jokes, different city? The Hangover Part 2 doesn't offer the audience anything they haven't seen in its predecessor. Though the actors were fine on form, and there was even times when it was genuinely funny - coming from me that's a compliment - overall the film fails to capture the shock value and inventiveness of the original. What's next? Hangover Part 3 set in Dublin? With the rate Hollywood is cashing in and playing it safe in a time that demands originality and creativity it sadly wouldn't surprise me...

2.5/5

The Hangover Part 2 is in cinemas everywhere now.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

2011-05-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

I've always considered the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as something of a freak phenomena in the world of cinema. I honestly don't think Disney ever envisaged the original instalment to do half as well as it did - without Johnny Depp it probably wouldn't of. So when it came to its sequels, in an almost Michael Bay fashion, they decided to take everything that was great about the fun, family, adventure film and transform it into an over-the-top, explosive, sprawling trilogy with questionable results. Yet despite the second and third film's many many failings, they still earned enough money for Disney to return for a fourth time with Johnny Depp's most entertaining, mainstream, role lighting up cinema screens once again in the form of Captain Jack Sparrow.

On Stranger Tides leads on from the closing moments of the third film - At World's End - with Jack Sparrow still bent on discovering the mythical Fountain of Youth. Through this he becomes entangled in political tensions between the British and the Spanish, an ex-flame (Penelope Cruz) and her infamous father, Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and once again going toe to toe with his former nemesis/friend/shipmate, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).

There's something truly unhealthy about watching a POTC film, but like everything that isn't good for you, you always keep coming back for more. I may be in a minority, amongst the critiquing fraternity when saying this, but despite its imperfections, I always seem to be filled with this unrivalled joy when watching Johnny Depp be let loose as Jack Sparrow, never really knowing what he might do next, especially when the iconic theme written by Hans Zimmer comes blasting out of nowhere. For the most part of On Stranger Tides this is once again true, though I do feel the writers of the films haven't done a terribly good job of progressing his character along since the opening scenes of the first film.

Whereas the film focused on Sparrow's enduring quest, this came at the heavy price of misusing the utterly fantastic supporting cast Rob Marshall had at his disposal. If you're going to draft in the brilliant Ian McShane for the villainous role of Blackbeard, you should really stretch him to his limits. Let him delve into the darkness he discovered while filming Deadwood. In POTC4, I just got the impression he was a disgruntled old pirate, with a ship he could control with his mind - which makes you wonder why there was any need for a crew? Likewise Geoffrey Rush didn't get a chance to truly shine, the way he did in the first and third films and got very little screen-time with Depp, cheating the audience out of some genuinely witty exchanges.

Penelope Cruz was another delightful addition to the cast for me, and some of her scenes with Depp were amongst the few highlights of the film itself. Whereas their strained relationship would've been enough of a love story for one already packed film yet again the writers decided, even in the absence of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, to write in similar characters in exactly like them. No offence to Sam Clafin or Astrid Berges-Frisby but their whole subplot just wasn't believable, movingly remarkable or at all needed.

It's these meandering sub-plots in the POTC films which really made the last two instalments suffer greatly. It's a shame with On Stranger Tides that the film-makers didn't learn from these mistakes. In lesser hands, as on show, silly plot holes start to surface, in a film which just needed to be fun and simple. Not every summer blockbuster has to be like it's directed by Christopher Nolan. The Dark Knight or Inception, this is indeed not. Nor should it be.

I'm a fan of Rob Marshall's work, I really am - Nine and Chicago are guilty pleasures of mine I won't lie. However it's with him and his team - not the actors - which is why this film failed greatly for me. It could've easily have done with shaving off at least another 30 minutes - numb arses anyone?

Once again the film was another example of when not to use 3D - parents tell me honestly, would your children wear those glasses, while sitting still for two and a half hours? Also, I understand having zombie pirates and vampire-esque mermaids may be in vogue at the minute, but it was truly quite a silly addition to an already baffling movie. At least the fantastic score from Zimmer was still ever present...

Final Thoughts

Johnny Depp being on form as Jack Sparrow just wasn't enough to save Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides from being the first (of many I'm sure) flop of the blockbuster season. Fun performances from the excellent supporting cast aside, the latest film of the freak franchise falls at the same hurdles as its predecessors, lacking any real balance, direction or an acceptable running time. The sad thing is, if Disney make a fifth, I know I'll be the first in the queue waiting for Jack Sparrow to entertain me once again. Maybe by then I'll have entered rehab...

2.5/5

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is in cinemas everywhere now.

Attack the Block - Review

2011-05-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

Joe Cornish has built up an unprecedented cult following over the past few years as one half of British comedy duo, Adam and Joe which featured from Channel 4 to eventually finding its way to BBC Radio 6. Branching out on his own, and seemingly taking a leaf out of the book of his mate, Edgar Wright, he's finally unleashed his directorial début in the form of sci-fi comedy horror/social satire, Attack the Block.

As the poster and tagline suggests, Attack the Block tells the tale of a bunch of inner city hoods who pit themselves up against a strange set of ferocious aliens who seem hell bent on tearing them apart one by one. Very much in the mould of Edgar Wright's collaborations with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, it takes a fairly high (daft) concept and pokes tremendous fun at it.

Despite whether you think the language spouted by the 'child' cast is realistic of inner city life, or modern London slang is frankly a moot point, as it made for some of the best aspects of the film. Sharing with one of the character's views, I too in the event of an alien invasion would probably prefer to live in ignorance, locked in my bedroom playing FIFA on my PlayStation also.

One of the most revelatory performances of the younger cast was John Boyega as the leader of the group, Moses. A broody, troubled child who unlike similar counterparts never harboured ambitions of 'getting out of the block' or such nonsense, and acted as perfect more serious folly to the more slapstick chums scattered around him. His journey showed signs of a typical coming of age story, but whether he really learned anything from it is left up to the audience's imagination thankfully.

In fear of the film becoming a bizarre episode of Channel 4's Skins, the children were supported by some classy supporting performances from more seasoned British actors. Most notable was Jodie Wittaker as Sam, a nurse who actually gets mugged by the heroes at the beginning of the film - not to bow to cultural stereotypes of anything - and eventually finds herself involved in this brutal quest for survival.

Nick Frost was on fine form as local drug dealer, Ron in a film which felt more like a Pegg and Frost collaboration than their lukewarm sci-fi comedy, Paul released earlier this year ever did. It was also great to see Luke Treadaway turn up in the cast, a brilliant young British actor with great things ahead of him.

Joe Cornish's level of technical proficiency on Attack the Block was astounding for only his début. I absolutely fell in love with his use of colour in the film, with warm, vibrant, explosions and fireworks which brought such a decaying, foreboding inner city council estate to life. The ultra-violence on show was at the kind of levels Tarantino would often implore in his best films, and even sparked similarities to Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in places. Also the sound mixing/editing really managed to stand out, with huge bassy tones, very much like Chemical Brothers' work on Joe Wright's Hanna I saw last week. Furthermore the synthy, harrowing, sounds of the aliens themselves just sounded like Predator on an acid trip. Complete coolness.

Was it perfect though? Being honest, I felt it could've been far funnier with a lot of the best lines already on show in the film's trailer. Also the pacing felt slightly off, taking about a third of the film to properly let myself fully enjoy the experience. Perhaps I'm just nit-picking and on a second viewing it might all make more sense.

Final Thoughts

Some slick performances and refreshing visuals make Joe Cornish's debut feature a fully enjoyable one. The social satire could have been well...more satirical, and the slapstick comedy could have been funnier for people living outside of the London area, nevertheless Attack The Block a fun story, littered with a large amount of surprisingly likeable characters and unlikely heroes which, contray to pre-viewing, you won't wish to get munched by the aliens within the first five minutes.

3.5/5

Attack The Block is in cinemas everywhere now.

Hanna - Review

2011-05-07T03:36:00.001-07:00

Joe Wright's latest film, Hanna triumphantly launches the British director out of the comfort-zone he had created with all these straight dramas - Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and The Soloist - he's made before it. However with all the nods to Leon and surrealist imagery he implores, one has to ask, does it all work?

Hanna tells the story of - that's right - Hanna Heller (Saoirse Ronan), a 16 year old who lives with her father (Eric Bana) out in the harsh wilderness of rural Finland, where she's being trained into the ultimate assassin. When unleashed into the real world, she seems hell-bent on killing the mysterious CIA agent, Marissa Weigler (Cate Blanchett). Obviously there's more to the story I will not otherwise reveal in this review, but suffice to say all is not what it seems.

I was less than kind about Saoirse Ronan in last year's god awful adaptation of The Lovely Bones, but she manages to redeem herself tenfold in the title role of Hanna. Watching her experiencing so many aspects of life, which we would all take for granted, was profoundly touching. Some of these moments even resulted in some of the more light-hearted parts of the film, for instance her experiencing the wonders of electricity, through a simple light, to a kettle boiling and a even being on. She was thoroughly likeable in the role, and globe trotted around our world like Alice would through Wonderland - albeit with more guns, bows and arrows.

Furthermore her scenes with the English family - featuring the brilliant Jason Flemyng and Olivia Williams - she encounters managed to ground the film and giving it a more tender side than I was personally expecting, next to the intense, impressive, highly stylised action pieces.

The more villainous characters were the most fun however, Cate Blanchett's CIA operative being portrayed as a modern day wicked witch, with one particularly cracking moment in the final showdown between her and Hanna emphasising as much. Above all else though, the stand out character was the sheer surreal performance of Tom Hollander's Issacs, a strange German hitman with a couple of skinhead Neo-Nazis for hapless henchmen. Look out for one genuinely creepy scene where he refers to himself as 'The Sandman'. It's as if it's ripped straight from the League of Gentlemen, I swear.

As mentioned briefly, Hanna was a breathtaking film, visually. From the cold, sweeping shots of the Finnish landscapes - slightly reminiscent of the opening to George Clooney's slow burning character drama, The American - introduced at the start of the film, to the almost fairytale wanderings through a Grimm amusement park in the final act, its outlandish flow was completely seamless. The fairytale parallels themselves serve as fun ways to take a film which could so easily have been just another Bourne knock-off and presented something actually quite refreshing and almost original.

Choosing The Chemical Brothers to compose the soundtrack was also a stroke of genius on Joe Wright's part. If anything, I got the impression Wright shot certain scenes - such as Hanna escaping this impenetrable fortress midway through the film - with the bassy overtones of The Chemical Brothers' music in mind. Definitely playing out at times like one of their own music videos.

Despite the slow opening and some, all too convenient, plot twists - maybe even verging into similar footsteps of Angelina Joile's completely naff, Salt - largely the whole film is a complete treat, even leaving certain aspects of the plot open for a potential sequels. However as movies like Leon show, sometimes these things are best left untouched.

Final Thoughts

Bold, refreshing, tense, explosive and dreamy. Hanna delivers much more than what was originally expected of it. Joe Wright has created a charming, curious character portrayed wonderfully by Saoirse Ronan. A modern fairytale thriller? It makes sense in my head. Shame they couldn't spell her name right*...

4/5

Hanna is in cinemas everywhere now.

*My little sister is named Hannah for the record.

Thor - Review

2011-04-21T03:18:00.001-07:00

If there was one comic book title, amongst Marvel Comics' vast repertoire, near impossible to make a creditable feature out of, chances are Thor would be near the top of the list. With combining elements of old Nordic legend with the daftness of the Marvel universe, even in the realms of graphic novels it come across as a silly concept. Yet miraculously the character has stood the test of time with readers since his début in 1962.

Starring Chris Hemsworth - last seen through my eyes as Captain Kirk's dad in 2009's excellent Star Trek reboot - in the title role, Thor tells the tale of the god of thunder's banishment to Earth by his father, Odin as he soughs to discover the true meaning of being a hero worthy of his prestigious title. All the while, his devious brother Loki has plans of his own to take the crown of Thor's home-world, Asgard.

Ever since the film was announced, Thor was always going to be a risky property to adapt for Marvel, but personally I'm surprised with the results. It manages to create some visually epic and otherworldly imagery, highlights of course being Asgard itself and the homeworld of the villainous Frost Giants. Kenneth Branagh was also smart enough to not take the story he's adapting too seriously, creating some genuinely fun light hearted moments on top of some brilliant action pieces. In a world where The Dark Knight has pushed every comic book property to its most existentially gritty, Thor was a reminder the genre can still, heaven forbid, retain an element of honest fun - while without delving into the absurdity of failed attempts of the past such as, Daredevil and Fantastic Four.

Furthermore as a comic book geek who's never picked up a single issue of Thor over the years, the film was accessible enough to new fans without going to the monotonous effort of having to focus too much on a prolonged origin story like in Spider-Man, Iron Man or Batman Begins.

Despite the iffy accent he was sporting, Chris Hemsworth was a solid presence in the role of Thor. Enabling himself to shift gracefully from the arrogant, headstrong warrior we see at the start of the film to the wiser, more humble hero by the time the credits roll. Arguably the more interesting performance came from Tom Hiddleston as the villain of the piece, Loki, looking as though he borrowed a lot from Brad Dourif's slimy performance as Grima Wormtongue in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, albeit with much more command and presence such an antagonist requires.

Anthony Hopkins looked a bit awkward sporting all that heavy duty gear for the role of Odin, but played on his wise, fatherly role to adequate effect. Natalie Portman meanwhile as Thor's headstrong love interest, Jane Foster was, well, like nearly every other modern comic book film love interest. As always there's this attempt to create strong well rounded female characters, but ultimately the majority of them always seem to get a little weepy and teary eyed upon seeing the hero with his top off. It's sad but true. That aside she was still likeable enough to carry the performance and conjured good chemistry with Hemsworth during the more tender moments of the story set on Earth.

Didn't really see the point to Kat Jennings' role as Jane's assistant Darcy Phillips other than her deadpan demeanour and continuous references to Facebook must have been seen by the screenwriters as a way to ground the film. Thankfully it was used sparingly to not hinder the film's grand virtuoso story. Welcomed back as always was the return of Clark Gregg as SHEILD operative, Agent Coulson, last seen in Iron Man 1 and 2 - providing good humour and continuous references to the rest of this Marvel universe in the build up to next year's much anticipated Avengers film.

On the subject of the Avengers also look out for the well placed cameo from Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and the usual appearance of Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury - who is pretty much contracted to Marvel films for the rest of his career - after the credits roll.

Considering Branagh's history for adapting classic literature and Shakespearean plays, I was impressed at his grasp of handling this amount of sheer action while telling a fun, engaging story - even if it could've been about 10 minutes shorter. The 3D element was the same as every other feature I've seen since its return at the end of 2009. It's good at making tiny things floating about the screen look pretty and come to life, but lacked any real relevance in scenes driven by dialogue and story. Least it worked for the spectacular ending credits sequence, which looked like it was lifted straight from Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe. Yes I just championed the use of 3D...in a closing credits sequence. Says it all really.

Final Thoughts

It might not offer anything new to an already prospering genre, but Kenneth Branagh should be praised for creating a visually extravagant and ultimately enjoyable story out of something which, in the wrong hands, could've easily been on par with past campy, disastrous, adaptations as Masters of the Universe and Batman and Robin. Chris Hemsworth leads the line well against his more seasoned and established co-stars in a truly likeable heroic performance. Though still falling short of the sub-genres best examples - such as The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 - Thor still does a fun job of setting the audiences up for their Avengers film next year. Roll on Captain America...

3.5/5

Thor will be released throughout the UK on April 28th 2011. Will hit US theatres on May 6th 2011.

Belfast Film Festival - TT3D: Closer to the Edge

2011-04-13T04:29:00.000-07:00

TT street racing, despite its continuing controversies, is embedded into the sporting culture of my home country, Northern Ireland. Every year avid bike fans will come from all over the world to spectate, participate and experience in the legendary North West 200. Yet shamefully it's not something I've personally ever been a huge fan of, mainly because I've never taken the time to really get to know the in's and out's the sport. So asking me to watch a documentary about the première event of the calender year, the Isle of Man TT could potentially be asking for trouble. Boy was I wrong...

The documentary, narrated by American actor and 30 Seconds to Mars frontman, Jared Leto centres mainly on the eccentric, maverick, racer, Guy Martin as he prepares in his own unique way for the biggest motorcycle event of the year. Through this the audience is taken through all the build up preparation, including the various backgrounds to each of the main racers including, John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson and Paul Dobbs.

The feature does a tremendous job of being accessible to people, such as myself, who have little knowledge of the sport in full detail. First time director, Richard de Aragues should be applauded for stocking the film with tonnes of emotion and nerve-shattering tension as well. By the time the credits rolled I felt like I had been on a total roller-coaster with these men. These larger than life characters congregating together in probably the best sporting film I've seen since Zinedine Zidane kicked a football for nearly 90 minutes to the sounds of Mogwai.

Guy Martin was an intriguing character, more so because I probably needed subtitles to understand what it was, he was saying throughout most of the film. In a way he was a curious soul, an ultimate underdog, an universal fan favourite because of his outlandish personality. Yet also coming across as a difficult person to work with, on the racecourse, due to his unpredictable nature. Due to this he was the perfect person to create a genuine cinematic experience out of something which could have easily been just a bog standard, middle of the road, documentary.

The most publicised aspect of TT street racing is one of its darkest most harrowing aspects also, and to the film's credit it never shys away from the harsh reality that these men essentially and willingly put their lives on the line every time they step onto that race track. Some of the images featured can be pretty hard hitting, such as seeing Guy Martin's bike blow-up in a fiery blaze, or watching Ian Hutchinson have his leg torn to pieces or even quite tragically witnessing the death of Paul Dobbs on the racetrack during 2010's event.

It's hard sitting in the cinema watching something like this, reminding yourself there is no controlled explosions or choreographed stunts or acting involved. This is real life and the lives affected by these men's reckless thrill seeking actions paint can quite a tragic picture. Yet the racers, when speaking about it, often remain philosophical about the risks. As Martin says in the closing moments, no one makes them do it, they want to do it and if you're scared something might happen, you're clearly in the wrong sport.

The film also does a great service of paying tribute to fallen heroes, such as one of the greatest sportsman to hail from my home country, the legendary Joey Dunlop who after achieving some amazing feats died in a charity race in July 2000. Which should be quite emotional scenes, along with the montage of his dearly departed brother, Robert - who suffered death on the race course a year later - for anyone local reading this review.

On a technical level TT3D was beautifully shot, and in most instances the 3D did largely work. My feelings have been made abundantly clear in past reviews of other films on the format but I think just the thought of the gimmick, this time round, might draw people in, who would never consider going to see this. And trust me when I say, you'll be better off for the experience.

Final Thoughts

TT3D: Closer to the Edge offers more than what it simply says on the poster. An action packed, emotionally draining and ultimately very harrowing insight into one of Britain's most controversial sports. Let yourself be taken on a ride with some truly likeable working-class sports stars, and you might even find yourself coming out as a fan because of it. I know I did.

4/5

TT3D was part of the 2011 Belfast Film Festival. It should be released across the UK, in selected theatres, from April 22nd 2011.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec - Review

2011-04-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, Monsieur Luc Besson how I have missed your ways. After being in the fringes in recent years, exiling himself from the Hollywood spotlight, the French director has been quietly working away on features much closer to home such as the strange romantic fantasy, Angel-A and his low key animated trilogy, Arthur and the Invisibles. Never one short on ambition comes his first graphic novel adaptation in the form of The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec - created by one of the grand masters of modern storytelling, Jacques Tardi.

You could lazily sum up Adele Blanc-Sec as essentially being Indiana Jones with an astonishingly beautiful woman as the heroine. Or simply Lara Croft with oodles more class and sex appeal. Either way, the film tells the tale of journalist come adventurer, Adele Blanc-Sec (Louise Bourgoin) as she goes from Paris to the ancient Egyptian pyramids and back again in order to cure her sick sister. All the while through a series of curious events involving psychic energy and spells of reanimation, a pterodactyl is hatched and reeks havoc on the citizens of Paris.

One thing Besson does wonderfully with this film, is still retaining a sense of the classic comic book visuals from Tardi's original illustrations. It's so lush and decadent while still staying relatively true to the period in history, the film is set in. But of course the story is carried mainly on the truly excellent performance of Louise Bourgoin, who I can only hope will go on to bigger and better things off the back of this.

Her character was lively, witty, passionate, intelligently poised as well as being downright sexy. Though in truth, Luc Besson has always managed to craft strong, well-rounded female characters in his films, from Natalie Portman's breakout role in Leon to Mila Jovovich in his polarising sci-fi masterpiece, The Fifth Element.

The supporting performances were over the top, truly engaging and just simply loads of good honest fun. Mathieu Amalric's devilishly devious villain of the piece, Dieuleveut seemed as though he owed a lot to Ronald Lacey's Arnold Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark. However it was a real shame his character couldn't have been involved more in the actual story - leaving it for a sequel perhaps?

While the likes of Gilles Lellouche, Phillip Nahon and Jean-Paul Rouve played your typical bumbling French archetypes in a similar sort of vein to characters often found the Pink Panther movies. Which in my books is rarely a bad thing. The only minor criticisms I would say is the film's special effects aren't quite to the standard of Hollywood's higher end features. Furthermore, it regrettably fails to hit the globe-trotting grandeur of the film's opening act in Egypt - coming off more like Night at the Museum towards the end than Indiana Jones. Nevertheless I'd happily watch it again.

Final Thoughts

Louise Bourgoin's eccentric and voluptuously playful performance combines beautifully with, Luc Besson's visually extravagant presentation. There is a few flaws in the story but sometimes pure enjoyment trumps such criticisms. One of the most pleasurable outings to the cinema I've had this year.

4/5

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec is in selected cinemas across the UK from Friday April 15th 2011. European readers can get it on DVD/Blu-Ray now.

Red Riding Hood - Review

2011-04-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

I wonder, rather ponderously, how this film might have been envisioned if the Twilight phenomenon hadn't swept into the hearts of millions of adolescent females across the world. Nevertheless, regardless of how I - or quite likely anyone reading this - really feels about the story of Edward Cullen and his charmless lover, Bella Swan, it's happened, it was financially bloody successful and unfortunately now's the time for the loosely inspired spin-offs.

In what can only be expected as the first of many fairy tales, to be given the Twilight treatment (a modified version of Snow White is in the works), comes Red Riding Hood starring, Amanda Seyfried in the title role. All the elements of the original fairy tale surprisingly remain in some shoehorned form or another, while expanding the mythology into a forbidden love story and half hearted horror tale involving werewolves and would-be witches - one scene involving the infamous lines "Oh grandma, what big eyes you have," etc is downright unnerving.

Firstly let's not lie, there was an awful lot of this film which I didn't enjoy. Mainly the acting, ham fisted, cringe worthy and verging into the stuff of Christmas pantomimes. Though not as emotionless or infinitely dislikeable as Kristen Stewart in Twlight, Amanda Seyfried doesn't quite have enough compelling personality or mystique about her to carry off the central role. She seemed to lack just as much innocence as she did lustful darkness, which you got the impression was needed, given the hints to the character's back story.

The stand out performance was perhaps - unsurprisingly - the excellent, Julie Christie in the role as the strangely sinister Grandmother, whose role in the story was ambiguously shrouded until the film's final revelations. The males of the tale fared much better in the overall scheme of things. Dare I say, I even found Gary Oldman's descent into religious lunacy quite amusing, sparking faint memories of his performance in Francis Ford Coppola's decadent Gothic masterpiece, Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Only a sci-fi geek such as I would have smiled at the utterly random, minuscule, roles given to Michael Shanks (Stargate: SG1) and Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica), which at least held my attention until their untimely ends at the hands of the big bad wolf.

Visually director, Catherine Hardwicke borrows a lot from the similar kind of grand cinematic shots, bleach bypasses and striking colour contrasts she used when directing the first Twilight film. And taking ego out of the equation over what she's directed previously, I actually quite like the slick Gothic style she uses in her films. Would be interesting to take her out of this comfort zone she's crafted for herself and give her a film with a decent script.

Despite the awful dialogue and the much maligned acting, the film did have enough suspense to keep you guessing the identity of the werewolf until such revelations occur. However, some of the more risqué moments were uncomfortably pushing the boundaries of that 12A rating it was given. The ending was also perhaps slightly drawn out and resulted in such daftness to match even Twilight, which ultimately is very much a shame. The more rockier moments of the soundtrack dampened the atmosphere, at the expense of perhaps some beautiful mystifying orchestral moments which could have been implored.

Final Thoughts

While the acting is largely pretty comedic and the film's conclusion is arguably shrouded in hypocrisy, Red Riding Hood is still an inventive, if predictable, take on the legendary fairytale. Visually striking and updated to such effect which will undoubtedly keep many young women under the age of 18 largely entertained for its entire running time. All the lads out there who could potentially be dragged to such an event can at least take solace in knowing it's more entertaining than Twilight. Well, at least my little sister enjoyed it...

2.5/5

Red Riding Hood is in cinemas from April 15th 2011.

Belfast Film Festival - Rubber

2011-04-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

Who says originality is dead in cinema? One of the higher concepts released this year comes B-Movie thriller, Rubber from French director, Quentin Dupieux. There's no other way to really explain this other than the movie tells the tale of a sentient car tyre seemingly hell bent on killing every living thing it sees, from humans to wildlife, in and around a bleak Californian backdrop.

All the while we, inexplicably, have an audience, resembling all the standard stereotypes you'd generally find in any typical cinema, watching as the chaos unfolds from the sidelines. As the film progresses it's made clear, the only one who thinks this is some existential make-believe exercise is the mysterious cop, who introduces the film, played by Stephen Spinella.

Though Rubber is inventive, stylish and pretty well filmed, even involving a visually pleasing stop motion effect for the tyre's animation, it is perhaps just too nonsensical for its own good. It was like watching a nightmarish version of Albert Lamorisse's excellent, The Red Balloon just y'know with a Black Tyre. It also wasn't nearly as funny as it probably thought it was. One of my main problems however was the film felt a little patronising in parts - yes we get it, it's not suppose to make any bloody sense. I doubt however any audience who will likely see this in the selected cinemas it's released on would need reminded every five minutes.

You got the impression the director is a huge cinema fan, which is obviously an admirable quality for any young director, but I think the homages he was trying to pull off in Rubber made it more haphazard, proving almost detrimental to the film's success. There were obvious nods to Spielberg's works such as Jaws, little bit of the Coen Brothers' No Country For Old Men, even elements of The Twilight Zone. The main problem however being it felt more like an Aphex Twin music video than something that resembled engaging, clever, storytelling.

Final Thoughts

You can't help but feel, after Rubber ends, where the last 90 minutes of your life went. Have you been on drugs? Did you have a little too much to drink? No, you just watched a complete mess of a film which had no direction, no sense, no purpose and no comedic merit to even back up those shortcomings. Originality is one thing, quality is completely another.

1.5/5

Rubber was shown as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It should hit selected cinemas across the UK from April 8th 2011.

Source Code - Review

2011-04-02T04:34:00.001-07:00

After dazzling audiences with probably one of the best début features in years, with the sci-fi love in, Moon, director Duncan Jones faces up to the painful reality of making the "difficult second film". Source Code tells the tale of Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he's sent into the past through a mysterious device known as - yes you guessed it - the Source Code. Through the machine he must figure out how to prevent a terrorist incident and a further attack on the city of Chicago - seemingly Hollywood's city of choice for filming everything these days - all in the time frame of eight minutes before starting all over again.

If you asked me to describe Source Code, it would be like watching Groundhog Day crossed with The Matrix with some Philip K Dick thrown in for good measure. However, that's barely even the half of it. Progressively the film's bigger mystery, unravels like a modern day Hitchcock thriller, beautifully carried by some terrific and, at times, even pretty heart-wrenching performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. I really don't want to give too much away because the twists are excellent and the more existential themes explored are intelligently done.

Jake Gyllenhaal particularly is certainly carving a real niche for himself as a bit of a everyman's hero, instantly likeable and overly sympathetic given his situation. Also the romance which brews with Michelle Monaghan works really well, harking back, at times, to Matt Damon and Emily Blunt's chemistry in last month's sci-fi romance, The Adjustment Bureau.

On a technical level, Jones managed to balance the tension of the brief time frame given to the main protagonist to solve this devious plot, with the ability of actually developing the character himself and the surrounding characters on the train masterfully - ending in a real upbeat note. The themes, Jones covers in Source Code actually resemble his début film at times, and also in his ability to use such confined sets in their fullest. Also you have to appreciate his use of the camera in the more action driven scenes, which is reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's work on Inception. Special mention must go to Chris Bacon's rather moving and emotional score, especially in the closing moments of the film.

On reflection Source Code would also work tremendously well as an entertaining, morally challenging, action-packed TV series. Like Quantum Leap with more explosions! Would be such an idea...

Final Thoughts

A tidy, tense, refreshing and absolutely bloody fantastic sci-fi thriller of the highest standards. Duncan Jones follows up his brilliant début with one of the best films of the year so far. Jake Gyllenhaal leads the line well once again, showing off his action credentials brilliantly. Can't wait to see it again - praise can't get much better than that, from me, I assure you.

4.5/5

Source Code is in cinemas everywhere now.

Belfast Film Festival - The Shore

2011-04-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Whenever I first started theFILMblog one of the things which got me off the ground was my extensive of the Belfast Film Festival in 2009. So it always raises a smile to think two years on I'm still plugging away and still marvelling at one of true highlights of the cultural calender in Northern Ireland.

There was perhaps no better way to kick off the 2011 Belfast Film Festival, for myself, than the world première of, globally acclaimed Northern Irish film-maker, Terry George's new short film, The Shore. After years of striking big in Hollywood with such excellent releases as the Oscar nominated In The Name of The Father and Hotel Rwanda, George returns to his home country for a genuinely heart-warming comedy drama.

The story revolves around Irishman, Jim Mahon (Ciaran Hinds) who fled the country to the USA, 25 years prior, after The Troubles kicked off in the province. Once he returns with his daughter by his side, he reunites with past friends and loved ones as well as facing various personal demons and moral dilemmas which haunted him from the moment he left.

Terry George does a brilliant job of letting you really engage with these, eccentric and all too familiar, characters in the all too brief 30 minute running time. However, I think with the central character especially, a lot of this almost magical wonder can be attributed to the deeply personal and down to earth performance of the brilliant Ciaran Hinds. A truly under-appreciated actor on the world stage today.

Furthermore, the film served as a brilliant demonstration of how the country has moved on in the past 30 years while still not forgetting its somewhat rich and chequered past which came before it. That said, never let history get in the way of a good story and with The Shore it truly didn't. From the moment the cameras rolled there was an element of intrigue and tension but in keeping with the spirit of the majority of people in Northern Ireland it there was a lot of knowing humour thrown into the mix also. Especially in a truly fantastic scene involving four of the characters running from a lady on a horse - who is mistaken for a dole officer - across a beach which kind of needs to be seen to be believed.

Despite George himself admitting as such in the Q&A which followed the film, you could instantly tell he invested a lot of himself and his own personal memories of the area into the film. This wasn't just a movie set in Northern Ireland, this was a film about Northern Ireland by a man who understands the country and that the majority of the people living here are just live for having a bit of craic (the word: "craic" to any readers out of town is our way of saying, "having a fun time"). Visually it was an extremely tidy feature, beautifully lush and extremely pleasurable to witness on screen.

Final Thoughts

Terry George returns home to give audiences a truly heart-warming tale of reuniting with past friends and loved ones, as well as facing up to personal woes and unfinished business before its too late. Only real complaint? It was too bloody short - yes being a short film that is kind of the point I know. Best Northern Irish film in a long time, once again demonstrating the immense amount of resources the country can give to cinema outside of features simply based on the Troubles and a ship which is famous for sinking on its maiden voyage. More please...

4/5

The Shore will quite likely not receive a full release in cinemas across the UK. However, if it happens to appear at a film festival near you in the coming year, I sincerely implore you to see it.

You'll Meet A Tall Dark Stranger - Review

2011-03-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

Why does Woody Allen keep doing this to me? If you asked me to list my top 20 films of all time, after much deliberation either Annie Hall, Manhattan, Sleeper or even all three could, justifiably, end up on the list. The man as an actor, writer and director will always have a place in my heart, but over the last decade it's like watching one of your favourite bands continuously release a new album every single year and wincing and cringing of how bad it progressively gets after an okay start.

Though his latest film, You'll Meet A Tall Dark Stranger doesn't quite match the heights of mediocrity we saw in last year's Whatever Works it does see the revered film-maker suffer the same pitfalls of his past works in recent times.

Once again Woody Allen takes his cinematic world tour outside of his comfort-zone, New York to London where he tells the tale of a miserable, overtly middle-class family along with the connecting relationships to the loved ones in their lives. In one corner there's Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) who grows tired of his complacent life with his wife, Helena (Gemma Jones), regressing into a bizarre mid-life (or should that be later life?) crisis, leaving her for a much younger woman, Charmaine (Lucy Punch). This results in Helena losing it a bit, consulting a fortune teller for existential questions regarding everyone she knows.

All the while there's Alfie and Helena's daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts) who is fed up of her stalemate marriage with struggling author, Roy (Josh Brolin) as he attempts to come to terms with being a failed writer. Roy and Sally's eyes start to wonder also towards an alluring neighbour (Freida Pinto) and Sally's boss, Greg (Antonio Banderas) as their marriage starts to also fall apart. Keeping up so far?

One of my main problems with Allen's films set outside of New York is, he tends to overly romanticise the locations he's shooting in. He did it with Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, he did it with Match Point and he's doing it yet again with this. Even for Josh Brolin's character, the whole struggling writer angle - haunting premonition though it was - wasn't entirely relatable. Even during his lowest moments of the film, there was never any real hint of desperation or true financial strain on his part.

It was all very merry and stereotypically British as oppose to being actually British, especially in these harsher economic times. In this instance Allen is failing to understand his characters and the locations he places them in. Attractive looking though it may all be.

Personally though I thought performances were fairly spot on and even quite enjoyable, even if the script they were working from was completely haphazard at times. I did get the impression, Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas' characters were underused never getting the chance to truly explore their personal conflicts.

On a technical level, the style was very much Allen's especially with the trademark opening and closing credits - which contained a delightful rendition of When You Wish Upon A Star - but unfortunately it lacked any real merit of actual comedy. Yes I know, even his best films, arguably, aren't "ha ha" funny, more an ironic kind of funny, but there wasn't even enough stock in the eccentric characters on display to truly care whether they stayed miserable in one marriage or the next. It was almost like watching Woody Allen trying to satire Mike Leigh and failing quite badly at it.

Final Thoughts

Yet again Woody Allen's complacency comes into question with another phoned in display. While You'll Meet A Tall Dark Stranger is quirky enough, it fails to strike a balance of being an engaging dissection of modern relationships as well as simply being an enjoyable comedy. He better hope Midnight in Paris is an absolute classic otherwise I'm calling time on his career. Really, I mean it this time.

2.5/5

You'll Meet A Tall Dark Stranger is in selected cinemas throughout the UK now. Alternatively American visitors can just purchase it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Route Irish - Review

2011-03-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Does it say much for a film's integrity if it largely by-passes cinemas and goes almost exclusively to Sky Movies for distribution? I'm not here to answer such a question today, I'm just here to review said film. Despite such a prestigious name, Ken Loach is someone I wouldn't ever claim to be an expert on outside of doing a film with Eric Cantona in the slightly light hearted working class drama, Looking for Eric and his beautifully filmed and, the quite tragic, story surrounding the early days of the Irish Republican Army in The Wind That Shakes The Barley - yes I apologise to my fellow film buffs, I've yet to watch his most infamous piece, Kes.

His latest film, Route Irish tells the story of former Iraq war veteran/hired security muscle, Fergus (Mark Womack) as he soughs to discover the truth to the death of his best friend Frankie (John Bishop...yes that's right the comedian) who seemingly died through an incident of terrible circumstance. As the story unravels, unsurprisingly, all is not what it seems as Fergus stumbles into a corporate conspiracy which leads to the greyish protagonist going on a bitter quest for vengeance.

Aside from the standard amount of grit such affairs contain these days, Route Irish isn't really something that we haven't seen before. It felt more like a high budget TV drama similar in many ways to the 2009 BBC drama, Occupation, starring James Nesbitt, than a smart and challenging piece of independent cinema. Nevertheless, I did enjoy Mark Womack's haunting leading performance, he painted quite a lonely, desperate figure from the opening moments of the film right through to its painful conclusion.

While John Bishop's presence looms over the story beautifully through a series of flashbacks and archive videos and surprisingly in those moments there's even a hint of a serious, perfectly creditable, actor. Far removed from the comical antics seen in a platter of panel shows in the past couple of years. Andrea Lowe meanwhile was quite a disorientating soul in the role of Bishop's widow, Rachel.

Generally though the film lacked a decent amount of pace to be a truly engaging experience. During the first hour I found myself largely confused and if I'm being brutally honest, quite bored. Just felt it was taking nearly two hours to tell a story which could have been told in half of that.

If you're going to make a genuinely brilliant conspiracy thriller at least keep the audience guessing until the final moments and climax with a terrific twist. With Route Irish however you could generally guess the outcome and within the first 20 minutes even hazard a good guess to the identity of the real guilty parties involved.

Final Thoughts

The intensely driven performances aside, Route Irish is a generally cumbersome and, at times, regrettably, a distinctly average piece of film-making from one of Britain's true heroes of independent cinema. Not terrible by any means, but overall it lacks the imagination and bravery shown by Loach in his previous two films. You can do better Ken, you must do better.

3/5

Route Irish is showing in selected cinemas throughout the UK now. Alternatively satellite owners can access it on through the movies section of Sky Box Office.

His & Hers - Review

2011-03-18T03:52:00.000-07:00

I could never quite tell, from its opening moments, whether His & Hers was a film trying to be a documentary, or alternatively a documentary trying to be a film. Nevertheless it turned out to be a refreshing and delightfully sincere prospect. Irish born director, Ken Wardrop charts the lives of a selection of different women from all age groups, documenting their relationships towards the males in their lives, progressing attitudes towards life and the trials and tribulations which come with both.

Some might argue you have to be Irish to really get the knowingness of the whole affair, but a lot of what the director is trying to get across should hit home with all audiences. From the earliest moment of the film, seeing this bouncing baby laughing uncontrollably, without a care in the world, to the final moments of an old married couple minding their own business, there's forever a warm air of familiarity to the whole thing.

What Wardrop does beautifully is the subtle examination of these women's attitudes towards the evolving relationships they have with men through their lives. It all begins with a playful devotion to their daddys and slight frustration towards their brothers. As they get into adolescence and idle curiosity gets the better of them, a game of cat and mouse ensues with boys of a similar age evolving into long term relationships. From here a dynamic with a husbandly figure is created and the life long and unrivalled love for their children grows and changes as the years go by. The whole film is done in such a way that keeps you interested during its entire duration.

Technically it was a tidy, visually sweet little film. I loved the whole voyeuristic nature of the scenes away from the interviews, very much in keeping with the nature of its genre, the best part however was in this beautiful, vibrant, musical theme by Denis Clohessy played throughout the transitions. Though this sounds like damning with faint praise, the director timed the length of the film perfectly, as any longer it may have started to bore the audience a bit.

That's not to say it was the best film I've ever seen, because it simply wasn't. Though heart-warming and had the ability to raise a smile once or thrice, it was a little too sporadic at times and never gave you a chance to feel for the people towards the end of the film when the harsher truths start to surface.

Final Thoughts

His & Hers is an affectionately sweet documentary, charting the lives of women and the relationships they acquire over the course of a multitude of years. It'll warm your heart and hit home on many occasions, even if at times it's slightly too ambiguous and erratic in its interviews, for its own good. A very natural, very honest and very knowing example of Irish film-making. More please.

3.5/5

His and Hers is showing in selected cinemas throughout the UK now.

Submarine - Review

2011-03-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

There has been much hype and even more hope put into Richard Ayoade's début in the director's seat. Already one of the most likeable comedy actors working in Britain, with much loved turns in the brilliant IT Crowd and featuring brilliant cameos in The Mighty Boosh plus its unofficial companion film, 2009's, mind-boggling cooky, Bunny and the Bull.

Upon hearing he was making Submarine - adapted from Joe Dunthrone's novel of the same name - I was actually expecting a film in the similar kind of vein to the aforementioned projects, but what we actually got was so much more meaningful. The film tells the quirky but extremely sincere tale of troubled teenager, Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) who is perhaps far too self-aware of pretty much everything around him from his social status, his parents' sex life, his own attractions to the opposite sex and overly stressing about the 'ninjas' living next door.

Visually it was just an absolute joy to behold on screen, likely to draw comparisons to Wes Anderson's best work with its warm, colourful, folky, geek chic imagery on top of a mundane Welsh coastal town. What Ayoade does brilliantly with the 80s setting is not letting himself get too bogged down on the cliches of the era that a lot of this generation of comedians tend to do in their acts and general televised works.

However, the film's main draw is the fantastically neurotic performance of Craig Roberts. It's strange to put Roberts contribution into words, I could lazily say he's just a young 'British Woody Allen' circa Manhattan/Annie Hall but in reality he's probably not quite as off the wall as that or even as mentally disturbed. Heaven forbid, he's essentially just an awkward teenager with an overly active imagination and tendencies towards over-thinking a simplistic situation - qualities that hit home more than once, with the best of us.

Similarly Yasmin Paige as the erratic, attention seeking love interest, Jordana proved perfect folly to Roberts' eccentric tendencies, but was quite heart-warming to see how she was, once the barriers were broken down to reveal a more tender, emotional side. Their chemistry was perfectly natural while their witty exchanges were beautifully poised by Ayoade's great screenplay.

Special praise must also go to the supporting performances from the more seasoned presences of independent cinema, such as the beautiful, Sally Hawkins as Oliver's tightly wound, emotionally suppressed mother. Or Wes Anderson stalwart, Noah Taylor as the boy's father. Then of course the excellent bit part role contributed by Paddy Considine as this bizarre psychic, motivational speak, come near-adulterer, whose comic timing is such an under-rated aspect of his acting, when compared to his most famous role in Dead Man's Shoes.

Unfortunately the film does lose a bit of its eccentric, upbeat, edge during the more solemn and reflective final act. And the overly indie sounds of The Arctic Monkeys' frontman Alex Turner do get a bit bland at times, nevertheless it never truly spoil the beautiful, heart-warming visualisations, Richard Ayoade gave the audience on the cinema screen.

Final Thoughts

Some casual viewers will find it just delightfully quirky, some might even find it just plain strange and that's perfectly fine. Everyone else will see a beautifully crafted and outrageously funny film about the trials and tribulations of adolescence. Craig Roberts is a comedy revelation, and I sincerely hope he goes from strength to strength off the back of this breakthrough performance. This could well be in my top 10 list by the end of the year.

4.5/5

Submarine is in selected cinemas from March 18th 2011. Belfast audiences, it will be showing in the Queen's Film Theatre and don't dare miss it!

Battle: Los Angeles - Review

2011-03-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

Why do I let myself be sucked in every time?! The clever viral ads, the effects ladened explosions, the utterly insane spaceships, the heroic fightback. I crave it in at least one new film on a yearly basis. Yet in recent years be it War of the Worlds, Transformers 2, The Day The Earth Stood Still and the utterly detestable Skyline - officially my worst film of 2010 - I've always found myself feeling somewhat bitter, disappointed, empty and generally unfulfilled, upon leaving the cinema. The latest in this sub-genre of extraterrestrial invasion films comes the brashly titled, Battle: Los Angeles.

Firstly the good news, the film is thankfully not as bad as that grotesque waste of money, Skyline a few months ago - not even close - despite using the same special effects company. The bad news unfortunately is that the film stops just short of the cast screaming: "AMERICA, F*CK YEAH!" every 10 minutes. The story has the complexity worthy of the Saturday morning cartoons I grew up with as a child. Starring Aaron Eckhart as an US army war hero just returned from Iraq, sent into the front line of the urban jungle of LA to stop an impending invasion from an unknown force. Over the course of the film he succeeds in figuring out what no other member of the entire US Armed Forces could, in gaining the knowledge to bring down this seemingly unstoppable enemy.

In fairness to Eckhart he's just likeable enough to get away with the role - if not completely remarkable. Same could even be said for his co-stars, I just don't believe the director, Jonathan Liebesman was able to strike a balance between a ballsy, relentless, no fuss action movie and a truly engaging story. At least Independence Day had Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Will Smith to carry its obscenity.

Where the film really bothered me however was in these tortuously cheesy moments taken straight from the Michael Bay School of Preposterous Film-Making. You know the types of scenes I'm talking about, as they've been featured countless times in the past two Transformers movies: the sunset backdrop, slow-motion climaxes, caught up in the moment speeches and the overly emotional orchestral music. Unfortunately, Battle: LA didn't have the benefit of giant robots kicking the sh*t out of each other.

On top of this, the special effects were a little hit and miss. You seriously have to question why a film with the budget of 70 million can fail to hits the amazing heights of 2009's genuinely incredible District 9 which was produced on a tenth of that.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh, and even a moan like myself can concede there's a time and place for these kind of films, but I could name countless alternatives which are simply more enjoyable, be it Independence Day, the first Transformers film, last year's sleeper hit Unstoppable and the impressive ensemble featured in Black Hawk Down. Have we told everything there is to tell with these types of stories?

Final Thoughts

Battle: Los Angeles is War of the Worlds for the uber hyper, Call of Duty obsessed generation. Though I commend the director for his grand, virtuoso, vision and some truly chilling shots of a battered and beaten city, the film was yet another entry into big blockbusters which are frankly an insult to the intelligence of general film audiences. Well, at least it wasn't in 3D...

2.5/5

Battle: Los Angeles is in cinemas everywhere now.

Howl - Review

2011-03-07T03:30:00.000-08:00

Rob Espstein and Jeffrey Friedman's film Howl doesn't play out like your typical biopic, with a systematic chain of events through a person's life. The film tells the tale of legendary beat poet Allen Ginsberg (James Franco) and the controversy surrounding his most famous work, Howl upon its original publication in 1956 - documenting the ridiculous trial that went with it a year later.

The film seems to appear more as a satirical courtroom drama - testing the boundaries of free speech and copyright - which also includes a series of flashbacks to the man's life leading up to the moment. Similar to last year's excellent biopic about Serge Gainsbourg, it also has these trippy animated sequences which neither diminish the slick film-making in the live portions of the film, or, regrettably, enhance the enjoyment of the film. Just to disorientate the audience further the film skips between vivid colourful shots and crisp black and white. Personally it would've been far better had they stuck with the latter.

All the technical criticisms aside though, James Franco was excellent - should we even be surprised anymore? - in the role of Ginsberg. Suave, curious, wide-eyed yet also slightly naive and vulnerable to the world around him. Due to the film being more about the poem rather than the man, it's a shame we don't get to explore his inner psyche further, unlike his Oscar nominated turn in January's uplifting, soul searching journey in 127 Hours.

Similarly the amount of insanely talented supporting actors featured in Howl are at times either underused or their characters are underdeveloped - including Jeff Daniels and Mary Louise Parker. Jon Hamm once again channels his inner Don Draper in the role of slick, defence lawyer to the stars, Jake Ehrlich but unfortunately for the Mad Men actor he ever gets to stretch himself in the same ways audiences have seen him on the hit TV show he stars in. The same could also be said about the brilliant David Strathairn who plays opposite Hamm as the prosecution on the trial.

The animated portions of the film tried to do so much on such a minimal budget, containing vast amounts of drug fuelled psychedelic sequences and explicit imagery, the ending result almost looked incomplete at times, which is a genuine shame. I did however love the 1950s Madison Avenue sequence near the beginning which was just glorious and as if lifted straight from the illustrated works of Dyna Moe - who any Mad Men fanboy/girls will undoubtedly be aware of.

The best thing about Howl however is the message it's trying to communicate to its audience. This isn't about how many cool actors you could cram into one picture, nor is it about how hip you can make the production of your film look - combining colour, black and white and bizarre animated sequences all into one. Howl documents the birth of a counter-culture which has had a vast influence on the wider pop culture in the decades since, it's about freedom of speech, leaving your inhibitions at the door and experiencing life to the fullest. And only then can documenting its trial and its hugely significant result be put into context and why a film should be made about it. It also makes you appreciate the more reflective, sombre tones of Carter Burwell's exquisite score - though it could have used a little more jazz.

Final Thoughts

The brilliant performances of James Franco, Jon Hamm and David Strathairn are overshadowed by a visually messy presentation from directors, Rob Espstein and Jeffrey Friedman. However, as a friend of mine rightly said upon leaving the cinema, "If you're going to watch a messy film, you'll find few which will be as visually stunning as that". Like all great works of poetry, it's always a matter of perspective, and perhaps over time Howl might age as gracefully as the written work which inspired it.

3/5

Howl is showing in selected cinemas throughout the UK now. Belfast audiences can see it in the Queen's Film Theatre now.

The Adjustment Bureau - Review

2011-03-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

Philip K Dick adaptations have been enticing prospects in Hollywood since Ridley Scott gave the world the mighty, glorious, near untouchable Blade Runner back in 1982. Since then we have seen Arnie get his ass to Mars in Total Recall, Keanu Reeves plunge himself into the rotoscoping world of A Scanner Darkly and watched Tom Cruise defy fate in the (in my humble opinion) highly under-rated Minority Report. The latest in this sub-genre of sci-fi films is The Adjustment Bureau - based on the 1954 short story by Dick called, Adjustment Team.

Interestingly the film itself doesn't really owe a lot to the original source material. Set in present day, the film tells the tale of rising New York politician David Norris (Matt Damon) as he falls for a beautiful stranger (Emily Blunt) after a chance encounter. A few months down the line it happens again but seemingly this "chance" wasn't suppose to happen, thus step in The Adjustment Bureau - a collection of mysterious, undeniably well-dressed men with psychic powers - to set him on his destined path.

As with past Dick adaptations, The Adjustment Bureau's themes push heavily on ponderous theories such as fate, destiny and wonders if we even have any control over it. Unlike past adaptations it does it with significantly less "sci-fi" imagery, relying on more spiritual answers for the company's existence, playfully hinting they might be angels and the like. Unfortunately because of this, the film loses a lot of the dark undertones often associated with the writer's work. It does however, result in one of the acclaimed author's more accessible entries into cinema.

The performances were largely pretty solid if unremarkable, Matt Damon lead the line well, and his chemistry felt natural with the beautiful Emily Blunt. I rather enjoyed John Slattery channelling his inner Roger Sterling from TV's Mad Men for the role as one of the Bureau's G-Men, while the moody melancholic, watchful guardian for Damon's character played by an impressive, Anthony Mackie was perhaps the stand-out performance of the whole feature. Special mention must also go to the delightfully sinister Terence Stamp, as the closest thing to a villain in the movie.

First time director, long time screenwriter George Nolfi does a good job of making a tense inventive love story - riddled in Kubrickian and Hitchcockian nods here and there - but it comes to no surprise to find it fails to match the efforts of past directors working with Dick's work. The problem with adapting his works is that it's virtually impossible and box-office suicide to make a straight take on most of his films, because for the large part it'll alienate mainstream audiences and become muddled in its own convoluted theories, so the best a director can hope is make a bloody fantastic film based on the material - Total Recall anyone? The Adjustment Bureau unfortunately falls just short of that.

Final Thoughts

All the right ingredients are on show to make The Adjustment Bureau yet another successful entry into the growing number of Philip K Dick adaptations we've been treated to the big screen over the years. Though at times provocative, its biggest crime is probably not being provocative or challenging enough given the enormity of the themes presented. A touch more grit, desperation and grimly overtones could've lifted it from a glorified romantic comedy in parts. Solid Saturday night fluff, but there's still "adjustments" needed... Yep that's right, I went there.

3/5

The Adjustment Bureau is now showing in most cinemas now.

All-Star Superman - DVD Review

2011-03-03T03:34:00.000-08:00

While Zack Snyder's upcoming reboot starts to gain some steam, it's that time of the year again to see what the animated Superman still has to offer audiences. I've often spoken of my love for DC's highly impressive animated films over the past couple of years, even if they mainly rely on The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight to boost their sales figures. As the flashy title suggests, All-Star Superman is of course no different. Based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name, by the brilliant Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, the film tells the tale of Superman's final days on earth, in a collection of self contained cataclysmal events within an overriding story arc.

The film features most of the major characters from the Superman universe, including the Man of Steel himself, his nemesis Lex Luthor, soul-mate Lois Lane, the staff at The Daily Planet, Ma Kent etc. No Batman though. Shame. The story itself is quite gripping and even if, like past DC animated projects, you'd need to be a devoted comic book geek to really understand the more subtle references to past events, and the cameos from more obscure characters, which even had an avid fan such as I scampering towards Wikipedia to read their bios.

What the production team do extremely well however, is transfer the maturity of Morrison's source material over to an animated setting. Almost like the last animated film, Batman/Superman: Apocalypse it seems to borrow more elements from Japanese anime rather than the more kiddy friendly - but still fantastic nonetheless - Bruce Timm era, Justice League cartoons from the past 20 years. The animation itself was excellent mixing elements of CGI with traditional 2D seamlessly.

The story also deals with some pretty heavy concepts, none more so heavy than the concept of death, the after-life and what you would do with what little time you have left. It also explores the true extent of Superman's powers outside of the usual super strength, heat vision and impenetrable skin he's mostly known for - also his characteristics as essentially a god among men and the complexities such circumstances bring, even coming across more alien and arrogant than in past portrayals. Some of it comes off beautifully, especially the chemistry between Superman and Lex Luthor. One of the best scenes actually was an interview conducted by Kent with Luthor, and Luthor admitting he always kind of admired the man despite how cumbersome he is at times. Had a real Christopher Reeve era Clark Kent vibe about it.

The voice acting, as with past DC Animated projects, was of the highest standard. James Denton was a terrific Superman/Clark Kent, managing to balance the heroism of The Man of Steel's commanding awe-inspiring presence with the comical, clumsy buffoonery of Kent. Christina Hendricks lent her sassy, no nonsense nature, seen countless times on TV's excellent Mad Men, extremely well to the role of Lois Lane. While Anthony LaPaglia seems like an unusual choice for the role of Luthor, he's actually quite brilliant. Like Denton who seemingly borrowed a lot from Reeve's classic take on The Man of Steel, LaPaglia seems to channel a lot of Gene Hackman's portrayal of the villain from the original live action films, to great effect.

There is also some notable mentions in the supporting cast, none more so than the near institutional Michael Gough (famous for his role of Alfred Pennyworth in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman films) as the sentient being Parasite, the brilliant Edward Asner returning as Perry White, editor of The Daily Planet and ER's Linda Cardellini as Luthor's estranged niece, Nasthalthia "Nasty" Luthor.

Final Thoughts

As always with these films I do stress a lot of the finer details might be lost on casual fans, or the heavier more philosophical themes might be lost on the younger audiences. However for the first time, possibly ever, All-Star Superman achieves something remarkable, an intelligent, totally engrossing Superman film. It cleverly delves into his god-like powers, his responsibly to the earth, his relationship with Lex Luthor and Lois Lane as well as boy scout like flaws and the acceptance of his impending doom. Should satisfy fans until Christmas 2012.

4/5

All-Star Superman is available on DVD/Blu-Ray in most good outlets now.

Waste Land - Review

2011-02-26T08:49:00.001-08:00

I don't often get the chance to review documentaries, but when I do it always reminds me how bloody marvellous this medium of film-making can be, for getting a million and one different messages across to such a huge audience. Lucy Walker's Waste Land featuring South American born artist, Vik Muniz has already received worldwide critical acclaim since debuting at last year's Sundance Film Festival, even picking up a nomination for Best Documentary at the 2011 Academy Awards.

The film follows Muniz over a two year period as he attempts to produce works of art, from recycled goods taken from the Jardim Gramacho landfill site in Rio de Janeiro, in the form of portraits of a collection of low-level employees known simply as "pickers". I found the whole experience of Waste Land a profoundly humbling and uplifting experience. It wasn't just following the journey of Muniz and watching his works of art develop, nor was it some ham-fisted attempt to get yet another environmental warning across to the audience. The documentary was a chance to get to know these people who have lived and breathe this situation, pretty much from early childhood.

And the truly humbling aspect of this film was realising that this, supposedly, lower class of people were deeply honest, decent, reasonably well educated souls - considering the majority of them lacked any form of schooling. Some people with true aspirations for greater things in life and others who, heaven-forbid, actually enjoyed the work they did and valued the community spirit they have created within this workforce.

Waste Land also works well as a more moving and optimistic counter balance or companion piece to Bansky's Exit Through The Gift Shop, which it's going up against at the Oscars this year. Whilst Bansky's work is quite an honest yet extremely slapstick portrayal which highlight the flaws of modern art, Muniz takes something which sounds a little absurd or patronising on paper and creates something truly mesmerizing and positively life-changing . It also thankfully lacked that self-congratulatory smugness that sometimes comes with celebrities contributing to helping lower class citizens.

One of the truly provocative highlights of the documentary was whilst working with the small group of people from the landfill site, the artist's wife quite rightly questioned the morality of taking these people out of, what is probably considered, their comfort zone and offering them only a glimpse of a richer more indulgent lifestyle of making works of art, going to galleries etc. But I loved the positive effect it had on these people's lives as the credits rolled, the gorgeous pieces of art created from the photographs and the complete different stories each of them had to tell. Beautiful.

On a superficial level the film was simply a joy to watch visually, Lucy Walker created quite a stylish presentation and edited the feature beautifully. Also if anyone can tell me where I can acquire Moby's exquisite ambient soundtrack created specifically for Waste Land, I would be greatly thankful.

Final Thoughts

If Waste Land teaches you anything it's that one man's garbage is another man's treasure, in quite possibly every literal sense. A deeply thoughtful and delicately balanced documentary about an acclaimed artist giving something back to his home country, which doesn't overshadow the people he's trying to portray in his artistic portraits, and through Lucy Walker's tender heart-warming camera work. Uplifting, genuinely, moving cinema. Don't miss it. Your life will be better for it.

4.5/5

Waste Land is in selected cinemas now. Belfast audiences can see it in the Queen's Film Theatre from March 4th 2011.

The Hunter - DVD Review

2011-02-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Rafi Pitts' thriller, The Hunter opens in a stylish punk-rock fashion, with an almost pop-art presentation of a pro revolutionary photograph. A complete contrast to the brooding, provocative character piece which comes after. Directing and starring in the film, Pitt plays the quiet family man, Ali who deals with the grief of losing his wife and daughter in the middle of a dissident shooting. Unsure as to whom may have committed the act, he starts to brood uncontrollably as he soughs to learn the truth, with killer consequences.

The first act was quite an interesting experience, giving a fascinating insight into modern family life, in Iran. As the film progresses Ali paints a figure as forlorn and detached from the world as the cold urban surroundings he occupies. Not sure how often you can compare an Iranian to an American, but there was definitely comparisons able to be drawn between the main protagonist and George Clooney's excellent portrayal in last year's The American especially in the slow long drawn out moments with minimal dialogue - with even slight nods towards the classic film, The Deer Hunter. Despite the political tension which is ever present through The Hunter, it's never really the driving force or truly detracts from the story Pitts was trying to tell.

While elements of the story remain drenched in ambiguity it was, on a technical and visual level, a highly accomplished film. Epic cinematography with a real visceral use of the natural sounds of urban jungle, the protagonist uses. The last act which features a rather tense car chase and an exploration into a foggy forest is both serene and quite unsettling.

The additional extras on the DVD are as sparse as the film's dialogue, containing simply an interesting interview with Pitts into his motivations for making the film and how he was to become the film's lead actor. This isn't to say the film was perfect as it was, perhaps, too ponderous and psychological for its own good at times, and there were moments where it was crying for some action or an extra bit of violence here and there. Sometimes coming across as, well, boring.

Final Thoughts

The Hunter is a dark and emotional story exploring one man's struggle with grief as he seeks retribution on the people who wreaked this sadness upon him. The Hunter was a fascinating first venture into Iranian cinema for me, I'm intrigued to see what else is there, though despite the beautifully shot sequences and intelligent storytelling it often suffers from a lack of genuine spark, not to mention a stupidly abrupt ending.

3/5

The Hunter is available on DVD from Monday February 28th 2011.

THEfilmBLOG PRESENTS :: OSCARS PREDICTIONS 2011

2011-02-25T02:20:00.000-08:00

Can't believe we're here again, and this is my third year blogging my Oscar picks - usually my most laid pack post of the year. Quite a variety of films in the running this year, but as always it's most likely going to come down to essentially two films, The King's Speech and The Social Network. If the Academy Awards went on solely my review scores alone, then it would between Inception, Toy Story 3 and Black Swan - how exciting would that have been?

So like always I'm going to go through the top six categories, then quickly bullet point the rest. In the words of the late (Oscar winning) Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, "And here we go..."

Best Picture

The Social Network, Toy Story 3, The King's Speech, Black Swan, True Grit, Inception, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right, The Fighter, 127 Hours.

I'm still not totally convinced of having 10 films in the running for this category now, but nevertheless it gives misplaced hope and the chance for a some lesser known films to get some much needed exposure, such as the excellent Winter's Bone or two summer blockbuster behemoths such as Inception and Toy Story 3. However if The Globes and The BAFTAs showed us, there's essentially two films battling it out for the honour and that's David Fincher's The Social Network and Tom Hooper's The King's Speech. Both excellent films in their own right, but I think the King's Speech has (in more ways than just its central character) a slightly more regal quality and thus would like to see it win. But then, the Academy do love the Coen Brothers' films...

Moore's choice: The King's Speech.

Dark horse: True Grit

Best Actor

Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Jessie Eisenberg (The Social Network), James Franco (127 Hours)

If you're planning on betting the house on one category, probably best make it this one. Though I'd personally say Jeff Bridges' performance in True Grit overshadows his Oscar winning performance in Crazy Heart last year, nevertheless he's, cynically, had his turn. Colin Firth wowed audiences last year in, A Single Man. In The King's Speech he offered his heart and soul to the camera with the career defining role that isn't Mr Darcy. I can't comment on Bardem, but special mention must go to Eisenberg who was excellent in The Social Network, and it was only seeing it the second time I realised how excellent. But then, if you've seen his other films, you could argue he was only playing an even more warped version of himself. And in regards to Franco, if his time isn't now, it will be eventually.

Moore's choice: Colin Firth

Dark horse: Jeff Bridges

Best Actress

Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

Admittedly I've not seen two of the performances listed here - Portman in Rabbit Hole and Bening in The Kids Are All Right - but like the previous category the likely winner is pointing towards Natalie Portman who frankly was bloody phenomenal in Black Swan. Yet I'd probably argue Jennifer Lawrence's visceral performance in Winter's Bone was that tiny bit better. Michelle Williams are probably the best part of a torturous experience watching Blue Valentine. The only real annoyance with this category is the absence of the breakthrough performance of Haliee Steinfeld in True Grit, who was been suspiciously relegated to the Best Supporting Actress category, yet carried most of the film herself and arguably featured in the film more than Jeff Bridges? Hmm... is The Academy being slightly ageist there?

Moore's choice: Natalie Portman

Dark Horse: Jennifer Lawrence

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Fighter), John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), Jeremy Renner (The Town), Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

If you'd asked me before the award season started, and having just walked out of The King's Speech I would have instantly said Rush, and frankly still do say that. The King's Speech simply wouldn't have been nearly as glorious without his contribution. Yet he's facing a lot of competition from Christian Bale, who was fantastic in The Fighter. My gut still says Rush deserves it but Bale's time will come I think. Maybe in 2013 he'll get the first Best Actor nod for a superhero role in The Dark Knight Rises (I can but hope)? I'm glad to see John Hawkes get the credit for his performance in Winter's Bone but I don't think he has the pull to see him over the finishing line. Still honestly can't fathom how Jeremy Renner got in the mix with The Town, which I did fully enjoy as a no nonsense crime caper, but hardly the work of Oscar gold.

Moore's choice: Geoffrey Rush

Dark horse: Christian Bale

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams (The Fighter), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom), Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

See the Best Actress blurb for my thoughts on Steinfeld, she's in the wrong category. Logic has been pointing towards Melissa Leo or Helena Bonham Carter, personally after seeing Animal Kingdom only just earlier in the week, I would have to say I'd love Jacki Weaver's bat-crazy granny, Janine to win. This category is a little contentious, for me, as frankly the best female supporting performance of 2010 didn't even get a mention and was cruelly overlooked at the BAFTAs and that was Lesley Manville's wonderfully eccentric and decisively tragic performance in Mike Leigh's Another Year.

Moore's choice: Melissa Leo

Dark horse: Helena Bonham Carter

Best Director

Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), David Fincher (The Social Network), The Coen Brothers (True Grit), David O Russell (The Fighter), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)

With the exception of David O Russell, all the directors deserve acclaim for the films they crafted. Hooper gave a king his voice, the Coens brought westerns to the mainstream again (not to mention being quite chummy with the Academy off the back of past success), Aronofsky made one of the most challenging and dividing big budget films of the last five years and Fincher miraculously made a film about Facebook a totally engrossing experience. And after years of nearly being there, the time has come for Fincher to accept the award, I think. Even if the film doesn't win Best Picture, he's truly done an amazing thing. There were a few notably criminal snubs this year unfortunately, firstly Christopher Nolan for his ground-breaking work on Inception, Mike Leigh for Another Year, Lee Unkrich for making the greatest threequel of all time in Toy Story 3 and Debra Granik for her work in Winter's Bone.

Moore's choice: David Fincher

Dark horse: The Coen Brothers

And the rest...

Foreign Language Film: Dogtooth (though where's Of Gods and Men?!)

Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan (Inception)

Animated Film: Toy Story 3

Art Direction: True Grit

Cinematography: True Grit

Sound Mixing: Inception

Sound Editing: Inception

Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network)

Original Song: I See The Light (Tangled)

Costume: Alice in Wonderland

Documentary: Exit Through The Gift Shop (c'mon everyone wants to see what Banksy will do...)

Film Editing: 127 Hours

Makeup: The Wolfman

Visual Effects: Inception

And for another award season, that's me signing off. If you have twitter be sure to tune in on the night for me tweeting nonsensical observations, and also be sure to watch out for the special Panic Shots Oscar Special with the fast talking Ross Thompson and the wonderfully articulate Laura Shearer and of course myself, which should hopefully surface before Sunday!

Much love.

Animal Kingdom - Review

2011-02-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

Over recent times, Australia has become one of the true unsung heroes of world cinema. Never afraid to push the boundaries with innovative hard edged productions, while also managing to unearth some of the next big stars which will undoubtedly dominate the Hollywood blockbusters for years to come. Following in the footsteps of films such as the astounding Chopper - which herald the arrival of Eric Bana onto the world stage - and the classic Russell Crowe film, Romper Stomper comes début director, David Michod's cold, crime thriller, Animal Kingdom.

The film tells the story of young Joshua (James Frecheville), reeling from his mother's death through a heroin overdose, as he's forced to live with his estranged grandmother and uncles. As the film progresses it's evidently clear that Joshua's extended family are heavily involved in ambiguous illegal doings. The audience quickly learns it's seemingly not this band of crooks he should be afraid of, but instead the bunch of corrupt, trigger-happy, cops hell-bent on gunning them down, one by one.

Personally I found the film a bold and refreshing experience, especially in the light of how much average tosh I've suffered through lately. It conjured memories of early Tarantino mixed with Guy Ritchie's best work, at their most gritty and visceral. While, like those films it was, at times darkly comedic, it never once cheapened the feature with an over-saturation of sheer silliness. The film was also rooted firmly in basic family values and age old clichés such as blood being thicker than water, with broodier twists akin to last year's phenomenal, Winter's Bone.

This feeling was compounded by the fantastic and under-stated performance of James Frechville, who I would love to see more of in future. He didn't so much lead the line, like Hailee Steinfeld did in True Grit, as a shining light of moral goodness but tragically became a victim of circumstance as a result of his uncles' erratic actions. Bringing us onto the uncles in question, they were all simply brilliant. The best probably being the oldest, Andrew or 'Pope' played by Ben Mendelsohn was gloriously cold and twisted, buried in his own mental problems resulting in perhaps being the more brutal and notable of the four.

The leading performance of the whole feature, and whom quite rightly deserves her Oscar nod, is Jacki Weaver's bloody terrifying portrayal as the mother of the four brothers, and grandmother to Joshua. She sort of reminds me of Barbara Hershey's role in Black Swan, very passive but deep down very devious and quite a disturbing proposition as a whole. If this year's award season for any Best Supporting Actress category has taught us anything, it's play an emotionally repressed and wholly sinister motherly role and you're seemingly guaranteed a nod - also see Melissa Leo in The Fighter.

Special mention must go to Guy Pearce, not necessarily the most memorable performance of his career, but interestingly starting to carve a little niche for himself. He hasn't so much starred in many films in recent memory, but consistently lends his class to so many truly brilliant films, such as The King's Speech, The Hurt Locker and was one of the few highlights of last year's maligned adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. In Animal Kingdom he kind of channels some darker hybrid of Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon from the Batman films resulting in a strangely likeable performance.

Director, David Michod must also be commended for creating such a mature piece of cinema, upon first time asking, containing rustic elements of unrivalled independent features mixed with grand, ambitious, mainstream sensibilities. This isn't necessarily just an art-house film, this is simply a beautifully crafted thriller which could give Martin Scorsese a decent run for his money. The rich, stylish camera work, the gritty urban shots. Absolutely gripping.

Final Thoughts

Smart direction and outlandishly classy performances are the law of the land, in this kingdom. A broody, brutal and stylish crime thriller, exploring the moral compasses at both ends of the law. Expect to see Frecheville in plenty of films to come, after a solid début, and it'll be interesting to see how David Michod follows the weight of expectation from this impressive first outing. Watch it. Enjoy it. And just be bloody thankful Jacki Weaver's Janine Cody ain't your gran.

4/5

Animal Kingdom is in selected cinemas throughout the UK from Friday February 25th, 2011.

Paul - Review

2011-02-15T06:34:00.001-08:00

Any 20-something sci-fi or comic book geek over the years will undoubtedly have a special place in their heart reserved for, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Be it the classic comedy series, Spaced or the delightfully clever Edgar Wright directed features, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead you'd quite rightly believe these guys could do no wrong. So after the duo went off and did their own thing, with mixed to brilliant results, fans have been yearning for them to double up once again for another buddy comedy littered with countless pop culture references. This is where Paul comes in, and for the large part it's a typical Pegg and Frost collaboration, just not quite as we know it...

Paul follows the story of two British sci-fi geeks doing a road-trip of America's South Western states often regarded as the most common place to find UFO sightings, where of course they stumble across a little alien who goes by the name of, yes that's right, Paul. Long story short, Paul is essentially E.T for stoner audiences. Instead of finding a cute little alien who is quite misunderstood, Pegg and Frost stumble across Seth Rogen as an alien, doing, yet again, the same things Seth Rogen does in every other film - but I shan't go down that road again, check out my Green Hornet review for that old chestnut.

What Pegg and Frost do really well here, is litter the film in dozen of cleverly poised references and homages to sci-fi films past which included an opening scene which is lifted straight from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and a final scene which is literally the climax to E.T (with a slight blend of Blues Brothers bonding thrown into the mix). What they regrettably and surprisingly don't do, is actually manage to make it genuinely funny.

I know that's blasphemous, and I feel dirty saying it, but for most of the feature I was struggling to honestly enjoy it. Whereas Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz felt so natural and subtle with its uniquely clever brand of honest British comedy, Paul felt so sluggish and forced, and so...American, with its tasteless smut and stoner jokes that became old four Kevin Smith films ago. And all this is a true shame because the film has some terrific, likeable, performances from the likes of Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Gregg Turkington, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch and the ever classy, Sigourney Weaver (unfortunately the film was a missed opportunity for the actress to utter any of her famous lines from Aliens).

After reviewing Scott Pilgrim Vs The World last year, I questioned that perhaps Edgar Wright was slightly lost or out of control without the constraint of Pegg and Frost to guide him towards the finishing line. Seemingly the other two thirds of this holy trinity suffered similar misgivings without the stylish vision and clever quick editing of Wright to make their sub-standard script come across more potently on screen. Maybe it's finally time to get the old band back together for the final part of their much celebrated, Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy.

Final Thoughts

There were brief moments and even the odd quick joke which made me smile or even giggle, but for the most part Paul was too bogged down in paying homage to Steven Spielberg to ever let itself be its own film. Lacking the brilliantly crafted humour of their past projects, I sincerely hope this is more a blip on the CV rather than the start of a tragic decline for Britain's favourite geeks. And, in regards to the rating, I wouldn't be that harsh if I didn't care...

2.5/5

Paul is in cinemas everywhere now.

True Grit - Review

2011-02-11T09:41:00.001-08:00

Having reviewed the original True Grit on DVD last week, I was intrigued and even over-excited to see how the Coen Brothers would update this tale of revenge and retribution for the more desensitized audiences of the 21st Century. The results were surprising, as instead of doing their own interpretation of the tale they still borrowed heavily from the cues of the original, starring John Wayne. But has it got enough 'grit'?

The film stars big screen debutant Hailee Steinfeld as young Mattie Ross as she enlists the services of ageing US Marshall, Reuben 'Rooster' Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) to hunt down outlaw, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) for killing her father. Save for a few subtle differences and a much improved, more reflective ending, the film stays true to the upbeat spirit of the original film.

Make no mistakes however, and leave the 'romance of classic cinema' at the door as this is a far superior film to the original. Hailee Steinfeld was quite remarkable in the role of Mattie, taking on the characteristics of the original's Kim Darby with far less irritation and a bit more brooding - though I don't understand how she's only got a Best Supporting nod when she was just as central to the film as Bridges. Nevertheless, considering this is her first ever acting role, she very much held her own with the her more experienced and seasoned co-stars.

While Jeff Bridges seemed to owe arguably more to his Oscar-winning role in last year's Crazy Heart than he does to John Wayne's rendition of the anti-hero, Rooster Cogburn he was, as ever, a joy to behold on screen. He was brutish, inaudible, witty, decisively sincere and even at times quite vulnerable and knowing of the world around him. Matt Damon meanwhile was perfect foil as the polar opposite to Bridges' Cogburn as the more squeaky clean law enforcer, LeBeef...I mean, LeBoeuf.

Josh Brolin's presence, in the build up to his anticipated appearance, was probably more sinister than when he was eventually unveiled to the audience, but was still excellent. Special praise must be reserved for Barry Pepper's performance as 'Lucky' Ned Pepper though, channelling remarkably his inner Robert Duvall - who played the role in the original.

What the Coen's captured beautifully was the imagery and the values of the era, grounding the film heavily in god-fearing religious sensibilities - emphasized more so in Carter Burwell's emotive, soulful score. Even more remarkable was the sheer accessibility of the entire feature. I'm not even talking about people who haven't seen the original, but more people who have been put off by Westerns after sitting through the long and methodical pieces like, the bloody marvellous, The Assassination of Jesse James or the epic period 'Western' drama There Will Be Blood or even as far back as some of Sergio Leone's classics like Once Upon a Time In The West. Excellent films all of them, but even I'll admit they're not exactly easy viewing.

Final Thoughts

The True Grit of the 21st Century sheds the silly stigma that all remakes are completely needless and utter tosh - becoming a far more accessible and ultimately more mature adaptation of Charles Portis' novel than its predecessor. While Jeff Bridges deserves his plaudits and his Oscar nod, excelling in the role made famous by John Wayne, the stand-out star for myself was the extremely classy performance of Hailee Steinfeld. Go see it, and remember once again why the world fell in love with Westerns. True Grit, true classic.

4.5/5

True Grit is in cinemas everywhere now. Film geeks can also look further by checking out the original out on DVD (review below...)

Never Let Me Go - Review

2011-02-09T02:35:00.000-08:00

Never Let Me Go is a quintessentially British sci-fi, of ITV Sunday drama proportions - can already tell how this review is going to end, can't you. Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the film tells the tale of three people who become embroiled in a love triangle and disturbingly were genetically created for the sole purpose of becoming organ donors to severely ill people.

Though nicely filmed and featuring two of the best young actors in British cinema (and Keira Knightley), Never Let Me Go was ultimately an extremely hollow feature. Though being the stand-out performers, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield's love story was never given enough time to fully bloom into anything more than a extremely brief Shakespearean tragedy. While Knightly was an immature, selfish brat whom, even when trying to redeem herself was still as unlikeable as the first moments she appeared on screen.

Surprisingly however the young child actors playing the same characters, probably fared better than their older counterparts - plus kudos to the casting team for finding someone who is the spitting image of Carey Mulligan in the younger role of Cathy. In the first act, we got something which strangely felt like Gattaca crossed with the imagery of The Secret Garden, if that makes any sense. Had the story been centred on this period I personally felt we might have got a more challenging and engaging film, even if not the most accurate representation of the novel.

Equally so the headmistress and teachers who occupied the unsettling school of Hailsham, featuring the likes of the wonderful Sally Hawkins, the classy Charlotte Rampling and the elegant Nathalie Richard, painted morally ambiguous and far more, genuinely, interesting characters who never properly had a chance to stretch their abilities or delve into their personal woes.

I also felt the narrative was too sporadic and the dystopian themes, it was trying to convey, were unfortunately lost in the melodrama of the whole thing. There was never once any true suspense or urgency, just this stiff upper lip British acceptance that they were always going to be doomed from the opening scene and never once tried to fight the system or, save for a couple of flutterings here and there, never attempt to live a bit in the grotesquely short time they have in the living world. That's perhaps the most depressing and damning element of the whole film.

It might not have offended me as much as the god awful adaptation of The Lovely Bones last year, but a similar result to viewing Never Let Me Go is that the film has made me have little desire to ever read the book.

Final Thoughts

Never Let Me Go attempted to be beautiful, moving, morally challenging and equally heart-wrenching. However, it was unfortunately too soulless, dull, aimless and ambiguous for me to ever fully enjoy it. Which is a shame considering it was adapted to screen by Alex Garland who had a pretty proven track record until now. In conclusion, never let me watch it again.

2/5

Never Let Me Go is in cinemas throughout the UK from February 11th 2011.

True Grit (1969) - DVD Review

2011-02-06T10:13:00.001-08:00

Before we gear ourselves up for one of the most anticipated films of the year, in the Coen Brothers' adaptation of True Grit, take time beforehand to relish in the original adaptation of Charles Portis' novel starring the one and only, John Wayne - and if you look at the image above, now complete with 'gritter' cover art. Released in 1968 this tale of revenge is told through the eyes of young Maddie Ross (Kim Darby), as she embarks on a spirited adventure through Indian territory with a Texas Ranger played by Glen Campbell and an ageing US Marshall named, Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Wayne) as they attempt to track down her father's killer, Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey).

The historical merit of True Grit is slightly lost on me, especially as my only real connection to John Wayne was the distinctly non-Western, Ireland-based drama, The Quiet Man (as a child I actually visited the town it was filmed in). However given Wayne's prestige, I found it quite astonishing to learn True Grit was the only time the screen legend ever won an Oscar for Best Actor. Upon watching it though, it's easy to see why. You don't have to subject yourself to countless upbeat Westerns to know Wayne was infamous for playing the squeaky clean heroic archetypes in the majority of his films, however with True Grit he tosses that preconceived notion on its head, playing this witty, ageing, washed-up, alcoholic to near perfection.

While Glen Campbell was perfect folly to Wayne's knowing eccentrics, it was Kim Darby who impressed more so as the spirited heroine of the piece, Maddie Ross. She was confident, morally adherent, even if time has made her persistence in the film, verge on plain irritating. The random minor appearance of a young Robert Duvall did raise a smile though.

Where True Grit feels most outdated however is in the distinct lack of 'grit' it claims to be true to. Especially when you consider Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone were making the particularly gritty and ever-lasting classic Man With No Name Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars/A Few Dollars More and, of course, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) in the years prior to True Grit's release. The film also lacked any kind of moody atmosphere for the story it was trying to tell, with the score being in line with Wayne's more infamous brand of Westerns - in which over time has simply conjured images of the Mel Brooks parody, Blazing Saddles, for myself.

If all that damning criticism hasn't turned you off from, curiously, viewing the film, even just to see how it compares to the upcoming remake, and if you're this way inclined, I would recommend going for Blu-Ray version if possible as the standard DVD is completely absent of all the additional extras such as, audio commentary from Western film historian, Jeb Rosebrook, executive editor of True West magazine, Bob Boze Bell and historian of the American West, J. Stuart Rosebrook. As well as, a trailer and a couple of featurettes, not to mention presented in glorious 1080p.

Final Thoughts

Having not seen the remake just yet (review next week), I imagine this version will only be considered a companion piece to what's to come. Regardless of which may be better, the film still manages to stand on its own feet as an entertaining Western adventure tale of slight suspense, shot in richly lush technicolor, featuring an iconic performance from one of the greatest cinematic presences of all time, in John Wayne. My only real problem with it? Lacks sufficient grit.

Film: 3/5

DVD Extras: 0/5

Blu-Ray Extras: 3.5/5

This reissue of True Grit is available from major suppliers on DVD and Blu-Ray from February 7th 2011.

The Fighter - Review

2011-02-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

For a man who isn't the biggest fan of the sport, I find it truly amazing and strangely fascinating to see films about boxing always, seemingly, dominate the award season. As far back as 1931 when The Champ nabbed a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards we've seen the likes of Rocky, Million Dollar Baby, Ali, Cinderella Man and Raging Bull practically guaranteed to be Oscar fluff. And why is that? Like or hate the sport, everyone loves a good underdog story, or tale about redemption, or drastic falls from grace, or real life icons immortalised on the big screen. The latest entry to the fold, The Fighter promises practically all four of these qualities. However, it unfortunately just fails to deliver.

The film tells the true story about former professional boxer, 'Irish' Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his half brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). The story centres around Ward's faltering career, reluctantly fighting duff matches through his mother's almost suffocating management. All the while, his eccentric and troubled brother, Dicky is filming a documentary about his crack addiction, unbeknownst to his family who believe he's simply documenting his much touted comeback.

Save for two remarkable performances from Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, I found the first half of The Fighter largely unremarkable, feeling it had as much cinematic merit as a high budget TV movie. Then suddenly it hit a specific half way point, when the audience and his family see Dicky's documentary for the first time and the hype of Bale's contribution and dedication to this role suddenly became justified. It was as truly heart-wrenching and grizzly as Micky Rourke in 2009's, The Wrestler, or superficially Bale's turn in the mind-bending film, The Machinist.

Mark Wahlberg's Ward was a very easy character to relate to, he was, quintessentially, a working-class family man. Ultimately wanting to do right by his mother and brother, while wanting to impress his new girlfriend and give his daughter a better life. These admirable qualities are compounded by a tentative naivety and being bullied into doing whatever his family feels he should do. His coming of age, underdog tale is what humanises this gritty film.

Though the film's two leading men deserve the plaudits, the two supporting ladies equally deserve the same. Melissa Leo was brilliant in her almost devious and tragic turn as this ageing, money grabbing old crone who rarely shares the love between her sons as evenly as she does her absolutely repulsive daughters. While Amy Adams shows her clout in the role as Ward's girlfriend. Slightly different for Adams, from the sweet, kind-hearted characters she's taken on over the years.

Where The Fighter stumbles, for me, is in director, David O Russell's lack of cinematic vision on the tale, really bereft of any genuine iconic moments and emotional grandeur for the occasion. If it hadn't of been for the larger than life performances the film would have wilted away into the background, as oppose to surprisingly appearing on nomination lists at the Golden Globes, Oscars and BAFTAs.

In truth, these accolades almost hinder the film's enjoyment and is probably best appreciated when forgetting it's going up against the likes of Black Swan, The King's Speech, Toy Story 3 and Inception.

Final Thoughts

The Fighter very nearly delivers on all the themes it tries to cover - reminiscent of all the boxing films past - but ultimately results in a film of two halves. It simply opens too slow and sluggish for my own tastes, but the beautifully acted second half more than makes up for it, as Wahlberg's journey from fame to shame to fame again is heightened by one of the defining performances of Christian Bale's career. The supporting turns from Adams and Leo add to this emotional working-class tale about family bonds and personal redemption. Enjoyable but there's similar films out there, which are better. Much better.

3.5/5

The Fighter is in cinemas everywhere now.

Tangled - Review

2011-01-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

You would have to worry what the world is coming to, if Disney - the animation studio that brought us such 'girly' titles as The Little Mermaid, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Mulan etc - are so worried about box office receipts, they would rename their latest princess fairytale, Rapunzel to Tangled in some silly attempt to attract a wider male audience. Regardless of this cynical observation, Tangled once again returns the studio to what it does best - and the world is a happier place for it.

Loosely based on the Grimm Fairytale, the film tells the tale of young Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) as she's snatched away from her mother and father as an infant and locked away in a tower by the sinister Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy), so the evil wench can harness the girl's magical power which emanates from her hair. Whenever she encounters a suave and swindling thief, Flynn (Zachery Levi) breaking into her tower, she uses this chance to follow her dreams and goes off on the traditional Disney coming-of-age journey full of comical, colourful, characters and infectiously catchy musical sing-a-longs.

The redesign of Rapunzel was simply glorious. An energetic, clumsy, spirited, over-sensitive, kind and curiously naive soul. One could argue Disney injected the character with a touch of Pixar or even a hint of Dreamworks satire, but I'd disagree as the girl is as quintessentially Disney as Belle, Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel. Moore's sincere yet fragile voice worked wonderfully in the tender moments of the film, while soared and warmed hearts in such songs as 'When Will My Life Begin?' Equally her co-star, Flynn was probably more akin to the sweet-talking, sly-moving Prince Naveen seen in last year's overlooked and under-rated Princess and the Frog as oppose to the more heroic yet fairly bland characterless princes of Disney's past.

As far as Disney villains go, Donna Murphy's Mother Gothel is probably more reminiscent of 'Cruella DeVille' than her evil fairytale peers seen in The Little Mermaid or Sleeping Beauty. Nevertheless, she is perhaps one of the classiest highlights of the whole feature, especially in her faintly damning and overly passive musical number, 'Mother Knows Best'.

I mentioned last year when reviewing the Princess and the Frog that its only flaw was the film played it too safe and failed to have, what I like to refer as, 'the moment'. Every truly memorable Disney film has it, the one scene where it'll be remembered, for decades to come. That ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast, the dinner scene in Lady and the Tramp, Hi-Ho from Snow White, the opening of The Lion King, A Whole New World from Aladdin, the list goes on. These are moments that truly stand the test of time. Tangled had such a moment, which involves a beautiful animated sequence of lanterns filling up the sky to the song, 'I See The Light'. Struggled to hold back the tears. Ahem...anyway...

I'm always reluctant to see Disney make their fairytale features in any other format besides traditional hand drawn animation but regardless, Tangled is visually stunning with some of the most spectacularly crafted backgrounds ever seen from the company. The legendary Alan Menken produced songs that are probably more at home in Disney's own satire piece, Enchanted as oppose to his high points of the early 90s, but even then I'm still humming the film's main theme as I type.

Final Thoughts

Despite the daft and needless rename, Tangled is as magical and heart-warmingly sincere as some of the studio's most famous works. Moore and Levi's comical and tender chemistry carries the film excellently while Murphy is delightfully sinister and memorable as the villain. Tangled marked Walt Disney Animation's 50th feature length film, and off the strength of this, I toast them to 50 more. Spectacular.

4.5/5

Tangled is in cinemas everywhere throughout the UK now.

Blue Valentine - Review

2011-01-26T06:13:00.000-08:00

Within minutes of Blue Valentine beginning, you have a fair idea that it's probably not going to end well. The inevitable melodrama aside however, sees the audience treated to two absolutely stellar performances from, in my opinion, two of Hollywood's most under-rated and hardest working actors. The film tells the story of young married couple Dean and Cindy Pereira - played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams - as it shows how they originally fell in love, then fast-forwarding to the present day and painful realisation that it isn't all 'happily ever after'.

Going in with the expectation, all of this film would put me on an extreme downer, I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and affection Blue Valentine radiated through certain moments, more so in the scenes set in 'the past'. However, it is slightly disheartening to see the concept of marriage and having children sold as nothing other than a fruitless venture.

Though the film sees both stars crumble into a pit of complete melancholy, it's very much Michelle Williams who outshines her co-star. I got the impression the story was ultimately her's, while Gosling acted as, one of the many, catalysts to the sadness unfairly inflicted upon her. As far back as her father (The Wire's John Doman), the character's male influences - including an ex-boyfriend played by Mike Vogul - have been nothing short of horrid, finding solace mainly in her grandmother's love and affection. I found even in the 'flashback' moments there was a strange deviousness to Gosling's character, yet as the credits roll, I didn't feel a true sense of anger and a distinctive distaste for the man, just an intensely profound amount of pity.

Reminiscent of, the excellent 2004 drama, Closer there was always this uncomfortable awkwardness to watching two people's lives fall apart, and personally you might have to worry if you take some sadistic pleasure in viewing such a film. Like all good pieces of Indie-Americana cinema it also features a touching score from the folk act, Grizzly Bear.

Final Thoughts

Blue Valentine bleakly provokes the question of why we all fall in love, if there is such a thing as 'love at first sight' and presents the rather humanistic answers such questions and consequences throw at us. Williams and Gosling's chemistry is remarkable and deserves its plaudits, just best not to go see this one on a first date. If this film is anything to go by, love is black and blue but thankfully there's still a hint it can still be heart-warmingly red all over.

3.5/5

Blue Valentine is UK cinemas now. Belfast audiences will be able to see the film in Queen's Film Theatre from Friday 4th February.

The Green Hornet - Review

2011-01-15T03:36:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to wonder where it all went wrong for Michel Gondry. Cast yourselves back to 2004, he was the coolest commercial and music video director about, and he just released the absolutely marvellous and nearly unrivalled Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - one of my favourite films of all time. Then regrettably and inexplicably he's steadily got more unimaginative and uninspiring as his films have progressed, though Science of Sleep was hardly terrible, when compared to his previous effort it all felt a bit too samey, while lacking even less cohesion. Be Kind Rewind promised so much on paper but failed to deliver on the quirky trailers, resulting in something that was, well, boring.

Unfortunately for the French born director, his latest film, The Green Hornet takes his prolonged spat of banality to new heights. Loosely based on the classic pulp superhero of the same name, the film tells the tale of, obnoxious, newspaper editor, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) as he decides, essentially out of spite, towards his father (Tom Wilkinson), to become the masked vigilante, The Green Hornet with the help of his associate, Kato (Jay Chou).

The film was a gamble that ultimately failed for both star and director. Though I'm not a fan of Rogen in the slightest, I can see his appeal across the dozens of comedies produced by Judd Apatow, and kudos for the amount of physical work he put into the preparation of the title role, but as a superhero he just failed in all departments. Yes, I get that was partly the point, and Gondry was clearly trying to poke fun at the whole superhero mythology but Kick-Ass this was not. Similar to Kick-Ass the film had a protagonist who obviously had no idea what he was doing, but unlike that film it lacked the sincerely brilliant comedy and the genuinely likable and well-crafted characters. Rogen once again was the idiotic, bumbling, buffoon who I cared little for - he might as well have stayed with his original rotund appearance if he wasn't going to use his new found strength to good use.

His co-star Jay Chou fared much better but the themes played on in the story were premeditated from the moment the film began. Seriously, even Batman and Robin even tried to crafted a better 'strained partnership' story than this (Okay, that's perhaps a slight exaggeration). It felt as though Cameron Diaz was seemingly slotted into a role to add an extra name to the poster, as she was ultimately quite needless to the overall story.

The Battlestar Galactica fanboy in me smiled in delight at Edward James Olmos' small role, in the feature. However, the highlight, unsurprisingly, was Christoph Waltz' (last seen as the stand out star of Tarantino's brilliant World War 2 romp, Inglourious Basterds) insecure and colourful villain who also shares the best scene of the entire film alongside a cameo appearance from James Franco, during the film's opening moments.

Admittedly I don't know enough about the character in a comic book context to complain about the inaccuracies when compared to the source material, but then I didn't know a thing about The Crow, 300, Blade and other such properties but found them all easily accessible and ultimately very enjoyable. I can't really imagine the original creators, George W Trendle and Fran Striker quite envisioned this shockingly unamusing parody of the character, when a straight action mystery in vein of some of the original pulp serials might have been more fun.

The special effects and action pieces were done relatively well but sadly lacked the visual magic of the director's films to come before. I also never quite got this "Spidey-Sense" the two main protagonists kept on possessing, and I can only imagine it was served for the purposes of the film's 3D conversion - once again I stubbornly and cynically stuck to my guns and caught the film in 2D.

Final Thoughts

The Green Hornet was littered with all the ironic quirks and parodies seen in previously like-minded films such as Kick Ass and Mystery Men. However, it lacked two key elements which made those films enjoyable, namely some heart and (heaven forbid) some humour. Seth Rogen was presented a chance to prove he was more than the hapless goof we've been subjected to, in recent years, but failed to make the most of it. Hopefully the other superhero film, with Green in its title, will fare a bit better later in the year...

2/5

The Green Hornet is in cinemas everywhere now.

Black Swan - Review

2011-01-11T17:13:00.000-08:00

The first film I ever, properly, reviewed on theFILMblog was Darren Aronofsky's moving drama, The Wrestler. So upon my two year anniversary of doing this self-made job, it's perhaps fitting the film which marks the occasion is the review, is his follow-up. The dark and mysterious macabre thriller, Black Swan.

Darren Aronofsky has been known, infamously, for twisting the minds of cinema goers with art-house hits such as Pi, The Fountain and Requiem for a Dream. So, whenever the director released The Wrestler in 2009 he defied expectation for the film's relatively straightforward narrative. Through The Wrestler he added a new element to his film-making, an ability to touch the souls of his audience with a heart-wrenching portrayal from Mickey Rourke. In Black Swan he attempts to combined the mind-bending elements of his earlier films with those newly discovered personal nuances to create something new entirely, something very strange and very unique.

The film tells the tale of uptight ballet dancer, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) as she prepares herself for the leading role of a lifetime as the Swan Queen in, perhaps, the only ballet even people who are ignorant to the art-form would know of, Swan Lake. As she strives herself to the complete performance, she descends deeper and deeper into her own psychological wilderness, quickly losing grip with reality entirely.

Natalie Portman truly gives the performance of her career, under the director's guide. Nina's tentative nature makes for frustrating viewing, while this strangely dark, psychological, sexual exploration finds herself in, as the film progresses, makes for utterly compelling cinema the likes not seen in such a mainstream film for some time.

The dark forces willing Nina on, in the form of ballet head, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) and her seductive and curiously free spirited colleague, Lily (an excellent, Mila Kunis), add to this detached drama. While Winona Ryder was quite terrifying in the role of Beth, the overly bitter, ageing, leading dancer Portman replaces and the near institutional Barbara Hershey invoked a suffocating mother, not entirely out of place, from one of David Lynch's cinematic odysseys.

The film's duality themes are open to many interpretations. Perhaps the path to hell, lust and total ambition being paved with the purest of intentions of working hard, striving for perfection, trying to be a nice person? As a man I found the experience totally gripping and even at times quite sensual. I would be really fascinated to hear a woman's opinion on the film though (comments welcome below please ladies) as I imagine it would conjure different points of view on the main character's personal demons. The near brutal strives towards total perfection play true to the only other ballet centric film I've seen, the 1948 classic, The Red Shoes albeit not nearly to this level of sheer horror.

The deeply tragic and almost operatic nature of the film's narrative is amplified, profusely, by the grand, virtuoso elegance of Clint Mansell's astonishing score - especially in the film's incredible climax. Which, even on its own, is a beautiful piece of standalone classical music, combining beautifully as a companion to Tchailovsky's original score, for the Swan Lake ballet.

Final Thoughts

Darren Aronofsky excels himself once again with a piece of high end cinematic art, like nothing he has ever truly produced before - which is something, considering I'm still trying to figure out The Fountain. Black Swan is a film of two halves in the most sincerely literal sense, it's progress from being shy and playfully imaginative to intensely dark and even quite uncomfortable. Like the ballet, the film sets itself around, it was never going to be happy ending. Incredible.

5/5

Black Swan is in cinemas throughout the UK from January 21st 2010.

127 Hours - Review

2011-01-07T08:22:00.001-08:00

Anyone with even a slight interest in film, or even current affairs, will know what Danny Boyle's latest film, 127 Hours is about long before they've settled themselves in the cinema. Furthermore if you know what it's about, then you'll know already know about that particular scene. However if you prefer to be kept in the dark about such matters, 127 Hours tells the true story of adrenaline junkie, Aaron Ralston, as he finds himself trapped in an isolated cavern, located in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

Admittedly I wasn't overly enamoured by the idea of sitting in a cinema watching a man struggle between life and death for 90 minutes before the inevitable conclusion the film leads us to. I'm not squeamish, it just isn't my idea of a pleasant afternoon out, or in front of the television. However, the film takes this rather straight forward story and creates something of a personal odyssey of Ralston's soul - highlighting the mistakes and flaws of his past which he eventually feels he needs to rectify, by any means necessary. The real man himself, in the years after, described the whole event about how he didn't lost a hand, but gained his life back.

James Franco has progressed leaps and bounds since his early days appearing as Peter Parker's troubled chum in the Spider-Man films, taking on all kinds of different roles, and coming out all the better for it, transforming himself into one of Hollywood's genuine leading men of this generation.

With 127 Hours he continues this streak of great performances with the touching portrayal of Aaron Ralston, not necessarily coming across like a bad person pre-amputation, but certainly emerging as a new man after. His performance carried the audience through every emotion imaginable, often tragic, desperate, comedic and even uplifting, which is quite remarkable considering he lead most of the film, on his own, in such a confined space - slightly reminiscent of Ryan Reynolds in last year's stripped down minimalistic thriller, Buried.

Visually, as Rolston starts to lose a slight grip on reality, the film takes us through some truly strange and trippy imagery, often teasing that the character might be saved or, quite the opposite, die there alone without so much as a whimper. Of course, the main talking point of 127 Hours is the infamous amputation scene, and it's as hard-hitting and uncomfortable as initial reports have suggests. However, to Danny Boyle's credit he does execute it (poor wording?) with a degree of elegance and integrity, which doesn't lower the tone of the whole film.

Once you get over the first tentative sounds of bones breaking - which I personally thought was worse than the slicing of the arm - just switch off the mind and let yourself be carried by the emotional roller-coaster that ensues from there on, as it makes for some truly remarkable cinema, enhanced even more by the sounds of Sigur Ros. Yes I admit, the tears were flowing and the heart was left feeling toasty warm.

Final Thoughts

127 Hours has all the ingredients for award-winning success; another excellent leading performance from James Franco, an original approach, beautiful direction and epic camera-work from Danny Boyle as well as intensely provocative themes which test the true perseverance of the human soul. Truly remarkable cinema, but unfortunately I'm not sure if I could handle watching it again for a long time after.

4/5

127 Hours is in cinemas everywhere now.

The Next Three Days - Review

2011-01-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

You never quite know what you're going to get when sitting down to a new Russell Crowe film. Like him or (as most seemingly do) loathe him, his CV does contain a reasonable amount of diversity from the enjoyable cheesy 'historical' epics such as Gladiator, Master and Commander and Robin Hood to more measured dramas like A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man, not to mention, a personal old favourite, long before Edward Norton made such films in vogue,his infamous breakout piece, Romper Stomper.

For his latest venture he's teamed up with Crash director and Bond rejuvenator, Paul Haggis, for the tense thriller, The Next Three Days. Based on the 2008 French film, Anything for Her, the film tells the story of a man who (Crowe) will go to great lengths to free his wife (Elizabeth Banks) from prison, after being convicted for a murder he, profusely, believes she didn't commit - despite the evidence being heavily stacked against her.

For lack of real exposure - during a frantic period of Oscar campaign from most studios - in the lead up to the film's release, I admittedly wasn't expecting a great deal, but was pleasantly surprised with the results. It combines elements seen in classic 'whodunit' capers such as The Fugitive and injects a modern grittiness seen in films like last year's brilliant Ben Affleck film, The Town and coming across slightly like a toned down companion to 2009's ridiculously flamboyant, Law Abiding Citizen.

Russell Crowe's portrayal of conflicted husband, John Brennan was a strangely fascinating one. You would be quite right in thinking he's an irrational loon, but he does it in such a sympathetic and humanistic way, it's hard not to feel for the position he's in. Unbeknownst to all his family and friends around him, he desperately plunges himself into the depths of the criminal underworld to know everything, he needs to know, about breaking out of prison. Elizabeth Banks meanwhile has come a long way from her days of making cameo appearances in Scrubs and glorified walk-on parts in the first three Spider-Man films, and all the better for it, a tremendously likable actress who keeps you guessing of her innocent right to the film's slightly sombre closing moments.

The most remarkable, and seemingly most undersold, element of the film was the oodles of quality and star-power littered in the supporting performances. Liam Neeson's role in the film, though limited to essentially one scene, was hugely significant to the story, as the street-wise ex-convict, turned author who had previously broken out of prison on numerous occasions. While 2011's hottest new leading lady, Olivia Wilde just added an extra level of gravitas and eye-candy to a character that would've been totally passable otherwise. Other honourable mentions include the excellent Lennie James - seen in last month's critically hailed and fanboy panned AMC drama, The Walking Dead, and most remembered by me, his role in Guy Ritchie's Snatch - as well as the often overlooked Brian Dennehy as Crowe's estranged but compassionate father.

Most impressively, Haggis did a tremendous job of instilling a degree of realism to such an outlandish plot. This wasn't the tale of a simple college lecturer who suddenly turned into a ruthless, prison breaking, schemer overnight, this was a world completely alien to what he previously knew and makes a lot of genuine mistakes along the way. Haggis also very regularly takes a break from the tense pace to remind the leading character of the rock and the hard place he so often finds himself in; be an attentive father to his socially troubled seven year old or trying to never give up hope on his incarcerated wife? Quite tragic in truth.

If I had to be overly critical, I would say the suggestive intensity of the film's title is grossly misleading, as the time scale of the film is a bit longer than one would assume. The film also lost some of its edge and emotional impact with a happier, 'Hollywood' ending than I would have imagined but nevertheless found myself being completely satisfied upon leaving the cinema.

Final Thoughts

The Next Three Days is as tense and gritty as it is emotional and humanly flawed. An extremely enjoyable thriller with terrific performances from Crowe, Banks, Neeson and co, which makes its hefty running-time not feel like an overly taxing one. Just don't be fooled kids, takes more than three days to plan a prison break, and this film knows it.

4/5

The Next Three Days is in cinemas now.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives - Review

2011-01-03T05:51:00.000-08:00

If Uncle Boonmee had been no more than an Asian animated film, then it may have passed most audiences and critics by unnoticed, with a lot of its outlandish imagery and playful dialogue certainly not out of place sitting next to a Hayao Miyazaki film for Studio Ghibli. However, because it was live action it resulted in one of the most imaginative and visually captivating films of recent memory - which includes peculiar primate creatures, with glowing red eyes and seductive, talking catfish (seriously...).

Having swooned everyone at the Cannes Film Festival last year, picking up the coveted Palm d'Or, Uncle Boonmee tells the beautiful tale of a man's final few days as he's visited by the ghosts of his past and encounters some genuinely strange out of body experiences. With warm and vivid camera work the film is a life enriching fantasy which is, at times, disorientating but ultimately very rewarding. Its opening scene involving the camera following the movements of a lost bull with a mysterious stranger watching in the background is certainly one of the most striking and abstract scenes I've witnessed in a film for quite sometime.

I won't even pretend to know anything about the actors featured in the films - says more about my Western ignorance than it does about the actors' profiles, let me assure you - but the performance of Thanapat Saisaymar as the title character was simply glorious. Not a twisted bitter old man cursing his illness and fearing the unknown but an admirable and reflective soul who accepts his aliment and soughs to gain more understanding, with the help of his deceased son and wife, into why perhaps this had came to be.

This isn't to say the film will be for everyone, as more casual cinema goers may be turned off by the long, slow burning scenes with very minimal dialogue, and may get lost in some of the more mystifying and spiritual aspects of the narrative. Similar in approach to last month's excellent Of Gods and Men, the film relies on the natural sounds of the characters' surroundings rather than a specific score carried throughout the film, which gives the story a far more serene and peaceful atmosphere.

Still being a relative novice to the remarkable array of world cinema on offer, I ashamed to say this is my first experience of director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's work but would certainly hope it is not my last.

Final Thoughts

Bewildering, humorous, fantastical, heart-warming and truly imaginative. Uncle Boonmee is all this and more. Apichatpong Weerasethakul does a beautiful job creating a magical piece of cinema which utilises many classical techniques arguably lost in the modern era, and over time the world will be all the more grateful for it. Though not the most accessible film ever likely to be released, like an ancient folk fairy tale, the story will undoubtedly become a more enriching experience upon more viewings and greater understanding.

4/5

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is currently showing in Belfast's Queen's Film Theatre now.