#14 THE INTERVIEW (19/02/15)
Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco and Randall Park. Written by Dan Sterling, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
Franco and Rogen play cable chat-show host and his producer who out M&M on camera and get an invite to interview Kim Jong-Un in North Korea. The C.I.A recruit them to assassinate Kim and the rest, as they say, is easy peasy. This is one of those films that came to the cinemas with an amazing amount of publicity thanks in so small part to the hacking attack that Sony suffered at the hands of North Korea, which is odd because chances if North Korea had just ignored this film, it would have sunk without a trace. As it is, the controversy made it the highest grossing digital movie ever.
Overall, this was a surprising funny film, Franco and Rogen seem to becoming the 21st Century Bing and Hope and their obvious off-screen friendship gives them an easy and likeable chemistry on screen. Filled with laugh out moments, gross out humour and one genuinely touching sequence where Franco goes out on a day-long bro-date with Kim and they bond over their love of a shared song and a tank.
This is pure fantasy and in no ways grounded in reality, sharing the same passion of fact based historical accuracy as Inglorious Basterds. Overall this was a very enjoyable and funny film, perhaps not as funny as last year's Alpha Pappa but still highly enjoyable and well worth a punt.
8/10
Friday, 10 April 2015
#13 JUPITER ASCENDING
#13 JUPITER ASCENDING (07/02/15)
Starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne and Sean Bean. Written and directed by the Wachowskis. 127 minutes far too long.
Hmm, right. There's this family run by Eddie Redmayne what owns most of the galaxy including the Earth, which they seeded with humans and have been waiting for the right moment to harvest them, which luckily enough just so happens to be now. Then on Earth, there's this Russian toilet cleaner, Mila Kunis who just so happens to be the re-incarnation of the Empress of the Galaxy, which she doesn't know. Anyway, Eddie's lot want her dead cos she can save the world, and Bean's lot want her alive. So half wolf, half pixie, Caine Wise, played by Channing Tatum the deadliest warrior E-VER is sent to protect her from a slew of baddies. Lots of chasing goes on around New York, or Chicago or LA, whatevs, didn't care then, care even less now. Luckily, Tatum rescues her and takes her to Bean who lives on Earth raising bees, whom we discover are genetically programmed to swam around royalty and detect lies. Eddie's bunch are living inside Jupiter and his various brothers and sisters swan around being cunning and stuff. Luckily, Kunis is 'the one' and so she sods off into outer-space to be recognised as the re-incarnated Empress of the Galaxy and there thwart the greed of Eddie.
After that there's lots of sequences where lots of pixels explode and people dangle off tall things, or fly around tall things, or fall off tall things or get rescued off tall things before the whole thing mercifully ends and we can all go home.
A lot's been said about how great this film looks but I say whop-die doop. These days ALL films look good, CGI can create anything so saying a film looks good today is like saying water is wet.
This is a film that made just 5 million more than its budget thus making it one of the most expensive flops of all times. What has happened to the Wachowskis? I loved Matrix, simply loved it. I enjoyed Bound and I even thoroughly enjoyed Cloud Atlas. But this just feels like a pale Matrix rerun, it's dull, it's boring and it's crushingly un-original. I'll give them kudos for trying to create a new science fiction film universe but why did they have to populate it with such guff and then make it so dull and un-involving? And seriously and apologises in advance if I'm ruining the ending but are you seriously telling me that given the chance to cruise the galaxy as Empress or staying on Earth cleaning out toilets you'd much rather stay on Earth? Fuck off.
By no means as dreadful as Matrix 3, but just, alas, dull, bland and rather boring.
5/10
Starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne and Sean Bean. Written and directed by the Wachowskis. 127 minutes far too long.
Hmm, right. There's this family run by Eddie Redmayne what owns most of the galaxy including the Earth, which they seeded with humans and have been waiting for the right moment to harvest them, which luckily enough just so happens to be now. Then on Earth, there's this Russian toilet cleaner, Mila Kunis who just so happens to be the re-incarnation of the Empress of the Galaxy, which she doesn't know. Anyway, Eddie's lot want her dead cos she can save the world, and Bean's lot want her alive. So half wolf, half pixie, Caine Wise, played by Channing Tatum the deadliest warrior E-VER is sent to protect her from a slew of baddies. Lots of chasing goes on around New York, or Chicago or LA, whatevs, didn't care then, care even less now. Luckily, Tatum rescues her and takes her to Bean who lives on Earth raising bees, whom we discover are genetically programmed to swam around royalty and detect lies. Eddie's bunch are living inside Jupiter and his various brothers and sisters swan around being cunning and stuff. Luckily, Kunis is 'the one' and so she sods off into outer-space to be recognised as the re-incarnated Empress of the Galaxy and there thwart the greed of Eddie.
After that there's lots of sequences where lots of pixels explode and people dangle off tall things, or fly around tall things, or fall off tall things or get rescued off tall things before the whole thing mercifully ends and we can all go home.
A lot's been said about how great this film looks but I say whop-die doop. These days ALL films look good, CGI can create anything so saying a film looks good today is like saying water is wet.
This is a film that made just 5 million more than its budget thus making it one of the most expensive flops of all times. What has happened to the Wachowskis? I loved Matrix, simply loved it. I enjoyed Bound and I even thoroughly enjoyed Cloud Atlas. But this just feels like a pale Matrix rerun, it's dull, it's boring and it's crushingly un-original. I'll give them kudos for trying to create a new science fiction film universe but why did they have to populate it with such guff and then make it so dull and un-involving? And seriously and apologises in advance if I'm ruining the ending but are you seriously telling me that given the chance to cruise the galaxy as Empress or staying on Earth cleaning out toilets you'd much rather stay on Earth? Fuck off.
By no means as dreadful as Matrix 3, but just, alas, dull, bland and rather boring.
5/10
#12 KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE
(31-1-15)
Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophie Cookson and Sofia Boutella. Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Based on a graphic novel by Mark Miller and Dave Gibons. 129 minutes long.
Inspired by the classic Bond villains, Billionaire, and then some, computer genius, Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) has a plan to save the world by destroying it so that the super-rich can inherit the Earth and only one man, well two, well several actually an entire network of a super-elite, spy agency stand in his way. Colin Firth is Harry Hart - one of the band of secret agents called Kingsmen who work, like later-day Knights of Old defending the realm from enemies both foreign and domestic. When a fellow agent is killed whilst on a failed rescue mission, Hart takes a punt on a young man called, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), the son of another fallen agent, and recruits him into the agency. Trouble is Eggsy is a wrong-un, a Royal Marines drop out, living on a sink estate, a juvenile delinquent in trouble with the law and with a long criminal record of petty crime. But Hart is convinced there's more to the boy than meets the eye and starts to re-educate him, transforming him from troubled yoof into a suave gentleman spy in time for the third act showdown, Bond-style in Valentine's mountain-hewn lair. There's a 'firework' sequence in the final assault that seems to have divided audiences, some loving it and others thinking it a step too far, but I loved it, thinking it was perfect for the whole tone of the film.
This was a fantastically fun film that had the audience howling in laughter, with great action set pieces, some lovely humour and terrific performances. All-in-all this was a glorious and thoroughly entertaining spy film that paid homage to the Bond films of old while never giving them the Vics.
Colin Firth was a revelation, who won me over despite years of 'meh' indifference. And aside from some IKEA style set designs and slightly iffy CGI effects there's not a bum note in the entire film and the final scene, perhaps one of the filthiest I've ever seen had the entire audience cheering in surprise.
Matthew Vaughn once again shows a deft hand with comic-book based material and shows himself to be a director of a light touch and a great sense of humour.
9/10
Saturday, 24 January 2015
#11 AMERICAN SNIPER
#11 AMERICAN SNIPER (24.1.15)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Jake McDorman. Written by Jason Hall and based on Chris Kyle's autobiography. Directed By Clint Eastwood.
134 minutes long.
Based on the autobiography of the US army's most deadly sniper, Chris Kyle who officially killed 160 enemy combatants while he himself was said to have killed over 250. The film follows him through four tours of duty during the Gulf wars, while stopping off briefly to see glimpses of his own childhood and the story of his relationship with his wife, Taya, as played by Sienna Miller.
Gotta say that normally I'm not a fan of either Cooper or Miller but this time round they both won me over, Bradley in particular was terrific, hiding his pretty boy looks behind bulk and beard, he's stars in each and every scene and effortlessly carries the movie single-handily. This is a powerful and intense experience and the combat scenes are utterly gripping. The whole thing has a horrific fascination that engrosses and engages from beginning to end. In America this opened huge and its not difficult to see why. It's solid propaganda, the film never attempts to question the intervention of the US in Iraq and it's certainly not interested in showing the enemy as anything other than murderous, barbaric and despicable, with every Johnny Foreigner shown either treacherous and evil or evil and treacherous; happy to sacrifice its own children with no qualm or quater – this is an old fashion cowboys and Indians movie in that respect and as black and white as one too. The war is a terrible thing and seems to become even more so as Kyle's four tours of duty see rest of his unit, called the Punishers – after the Marvel comic character – slowly, and horribly, taken out of action until only Kyle's left to take revenge on the two enemy combatants he holds personally responsible, the electric drill wealding Butcher and the expert insurgent sniper, "Mustafa".
It's clear that, despite his age, Clint shows no signs of slowing and can still hack it as a director of note.
This won't be everyone's cup of tea and politically it's bound to rankle with some, but as a film this is powerful, powerful stuff and well worth seeing! Once again a solid, adult film but what a shame so many good films have been crammed into one month and not spread out across the year.
9/10
Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Jake McDorman. Written by Jason Hall and based on Chris Kyle's autobiography. Directed By Clint Eastwood.
134 minutes long.
Based on the autobiography of the US army's most deadly sniper, Chris Kyle who officially killed 160 enemy combatants while he himself was said to have killed over 250. The film follows him through four tours of duty during the Gulf wars, while stopping off briefly to see glimpses of his own childhood and the story of his relationship with his wife, Taya, as played by Sienna Miller.
Gotta say that normally I'm not a fan of either Cooper or Miller but this time round they both won me over, Bradley in particular was terrific, hiding his pretty boy looks behind bulk and beard, he's stars in each and every scene and effortlessly carries the movie single-handily. This is a powerful and intense experience and the combat scenes are utterly gripping. The whole thing has a horrific fascination that engrosses and engages from beginning to end. In America this opened huge and its not difficult to see why. It's solid propaganda, the film never attempts to question the intervention of the US in Iraq and it's certainly not interested in showing the enemy as anything other than murderous, barbaric and despicable, with every Johnny Foreigner shown either treacherous and evil or evil and treacherous; happy to sacrifice its own children with no qualm or quater – this is an old fashion cowboys and Indians movie in that respect and as black and white as one too. The war is a terrible thing and seems to become even more so as Kyle's four tours of duty see rest of his unit, called the Punishers – after the Marvel comic character – slowly, and horribly, taken out of action until only Kyle's left to take revenge on the two enemy combatants he holds personally responsible, the electric drill wealding Butcher and the expert insurgent sniper, "Mustafa".
It's clear that, despite his age, Clint shows no signs of slowing and can still hack it as a director of note.
This won't be everyone's cup of tea and politically it's bound to rankle with some, but as a film this is powerful, powerful stuff and well worth seeing! Once again a solid, adult film but what a shame so many good films have been crammed into one month and not spread out across the year.
9/10
#10: MORTDECAI
#10: MORTDECAI (24.1.15)
Turning up and taking a salary were: Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGreggor and Olivia Munn. 'Special' guest star Jeff Goldblum.
Script adapted from a novel by Eric Aronson. Directed (although that's a bit of a stretch) by David Koepp.
106 minutes too long.
Who ordered the shit sandwich, with extra shit and a side order of shit on the side, don't hold the shit?
Everybody and everything about this movie, except for Paul Bettany and Jeff Godblum, is shit. Johnny Depp rips off Terry Thomas and the Fast Show and is shit. Gwyneth Paltrow, deciding on a conscious uncoupling with good acting, paints eyeballs on her closed eye lids and sleep walks through the whole thing and is shit. Ewan McGreggor thought he'd signed up for a seaside panto in Porthcawl and is shit (oh no he's not! Oh yes he bloody well is.) Olivia Munn turns up to be groped by Depp and is shit and Jeff Goldblum (who, even if he turned up and did a huge steaming shit on a desk couldn't be shit, even if he tried.) but he's only on screen for three scenes and he's gone, so that's shitty.
The script is shit, filled with some terrible jokes including one where Depp admits to having sex in a French Embassy with an underage girl, which I think makes our hero a pedophile. The sound track is shit. But the biggest pile of steaming shit in this film is the direction, which is so ball-achingly lazy, uninspired and boring that it actually intrudes and becomes noticable.
The plot involves Terry Thomas, sorry Johnny Dump's Mortdecai - a rich (but broke) upperclass, art dealer/con-artist and shit hired by MacGreggor to track down a missing Goya painting while a group of baddies run around killing people to own the painting and his wife tags along for shits and giggles.
Despite being dull, boring and, did I mention - shit. This isn't a total train wreck like Taken 3 but it's a close run thing. There are a few funny moments. However, bear in mind this is a 12a certificate film and filled with an on-screen erection, explicit jokes about sex, the forementioned underage sex gag, violence, torture and some other stuff so it might not be wholly appropriate for younger kids, like 12-year olds.
My 11 year son fell asleep during this, the first time that's ever happened and remarked when he woke up, "I didn't even care if I missed anything."
2/10
Turning up and taking a salary were: Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGreggor and Olivia Munn. 'Special' guest star Jeff Goldblum.
Script adapted from a novel by Eric Aronson. Directed (although that's a bit of a stretch) by David Koepp.
106 minutes too long.
Who ordered the shit sandwich, with extra shit and a side order of shit on the side, don't hold the shit?
Everybody and everything about this movie, except for Paul Bettany and Jeff Godblum, is shit. Johnny Depp rips off Terry Thomas and the Fast Show and is shit. Gwyneth Paltrow, deciding on a conscious uncoupling with good acting, paints eyeballs on her closed eye lids and sleep walks through the whole thing and is shit. Ewan McGreggor thought he'd signed up for a seaside panto in Porthcawl and is shit (oh no he's not! Oh yes he bloody well is.) Olivia Munn turns up to be groped by Depp and is shit and Jeff Goldblum (who, even if he turned up and did a huge steaming shit on a desk couldn't be shit, even if he tried.) but he's only on screen for three scenes and he's gone, so that's shitty.
The script is shit, filled with some terrible jokes including one where Depp admits to having sex in a French Embassy with an underage girl, which I think makes our hero a pedophile. The sound track is shit. But the biggest pile of steaming shit in this film is the direction, which is so ball-achingly lazy, uninspired and boring that it actually intrudes and becomes noticable.
The plot involves Terry Thomas, sorry Johnny Dump's Mortdecai - a rich (but broke) upperclass, art dealer/con-artist and shit hired by MacGreggor to track down a missing Goya painting while a group of baddies run around killing people to own the painting and his wife tags along for shits and giggles.
Despite being dull, boring and, did I mention - shit. This isn't a total train wreck like Taken 3 but it's a close run thing. There are a few funny moments. However, bear in mind this is a 12a certificate film and filled with an on-screen erection, explicit jokes about sex, the forementioned underage sex gag, violence, torture and some other stuff so it might not be wholly appropriate for younger kids, like 12-year olds.
My 11 year son fell asleep during this, the first time that's ever happened and remarked when he woke up, "I didn't even care if I missed anything."
2/10
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
#9: BOYHOOD
#9: BOYHOOD (1.19.15)
It’s strangely engaging watching the young cast grow up and change before your eyes and while the film is never anything other than engrossing you’re left wondering what happened to the characters that got lost along the way, left behind in their wake, Mason’s step brother and sister for example and his abusive step fathers? But perhaps that’s not the point, this film is all about Mason and how he sees the world and for him, as it is with most children it seems to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’.
With naturalist acting, a charming soundtrack that seems to name-check perfectly just the right song for the moment, an unobtrusive camera and direction and not a single explosion, gun battle, robot or car chase in sight, Boyhood is a truly impressive achievement rightly lauded by nearly every film critic and film festivals around the world.
Slow, languid but never boring. Boyhood is a glorious experience and if you like movies about nothing, this is most certainly one for you!
9/10
Starring Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette,
Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater. Written and directed by Richard Linklater.
166 minutes long.
The boyhood of a boy called Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, told in moments across 12 years of his young life. The product of young divorced parents, Mason and his sister, Samatha – played by Linklater’s daughter, Lorelei – live with their mom, Olivia who yearns to return to college and finish off her education. Boyhood is the very definition of a slow burn movie, taking 14 minutes shy of three hours to meander up to the point, which is that life is just that, a series of moments strung together. And that’s it.
Along the way, we watch Mason grow up and turn from cute to lumpy, to cute again, to teenage to lumpy and finally into gangly, pouting, wannabe teenage-model complete with ear piercing and designer scruffy hair as his mother, Patricia Arquette grows old gracefully, putting on weight like all middle aged people and wearing her age with pride while his father, Ethan Hawke defies the aging process entirely and instead opts to wear a variety of moustaches and facial hair to denote the passing of time. The film, like real life, is filled with moments of sweetness, sadness and humour as life lessons are learned and relationships breakdown, and all the while Mason drifts through it all aimlessly in a sort of unspoken quest for answers as he searches for his ‘thing’. The film is littered with funny moments that will resonate with parents everywhere, but it’s Linklater’s own daughter Lorelei who is perhaps the funniest character in the film, bringing as she does a sardonic, dry wit and sass with a capital sass!
The boyhood of a boy called Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, told in moments across 12 years of his young life. The product of young divorced parents, Mason and his sister, Samatha – played by Linklater’s daughter, Lorelei – live with their mom, Olivia who yearns to return to college and finish off her education. Boyhood is the very definition of a slow burn movie, taking 14 minutes shy of three hours to meander up to the point, which is that life is just that, a series of moments strung together. And that’s it.
Along the way, we watch Mason grow up and turn from cute to lumpy, to cute again, to teenage to lumpy and finally into gangly, pouting, wannabe teenage-model complete with ear piercing and designer scruffy hair as his mother, Patricia Arquette grows old gracefully, putting on weight like all middle aged people and wearing her age with pride while his father, Ethan Hawke defies the aging process entirely and instead opts to wear a variety of moustaches and facial hair to denote the passing of time. The film, like real life, is filled with moments of sweetness, sadness and humour as life lessons are learned and relationships breakdown, and all the while Mason drifts through it all aimlessly in a sort of unspoken quest for answers as he searches for his ‘thing’. The film is littered with funny moments that will resonate with parents everywhere, but it’s Linklater’s own daughter Lorelei who is perhaps the funniest character in the film, bringing as she does a sardonic, dry wit and sass with a capital sass!
It’s strangely engaging watching the young cast grow up and change before your eyes and while the film is never anything other than engrossing you’re left wondering what happened to the characters that got lost along the way, left behind in their wake, Mason’s step brother and sister for example and his abusive step fathers? But perhaps that’s not the point, this film is all about Mason and how he sees the world and for him, as it is with most children it seems to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’.
With naturalist acting, a charming soundtrack that seems to name-check perfectly just the right song for the moment, an unobtrusive camera and direction and not a single explosion, gun battle, robot or car chase in sight, Boyhood is a truly impressive achievement rightly lauded by nearly every film critic and film festivals around the world.
Slow, languid but never boring. Boyhood is a glorious experience and if you like movies about nothing, this is most certainly one for you!
9/10
Monday, 19 January 2015
#8: WHIPLASH
#8: WHIPLASH (17-1-15)
Starring Miles Teller, JK Simmons, Paul Reiser and Melissa Benoist. Written and directed by Damien Chazelle.
107 minutes all too brief.
Miles Teller plays Andrew - a drum prodigy with dreams of being the next drumming legend, like his hero, Buddy Rich. His every waking moment is filled with his passion, his magnificent obsession, and when he's not practicing he's listening to drumming, analysing every aspect of a drum solo and practicing again 'till his hands bleed.
When Andrew learns that maverick music tutor, Terence Fletcher (played by the soon to be Oscar winner, JK Simmons) is looking for a new drummer, Andrew goes out of his way to catch the ear of the notoriously difficult Fletcher, but comes to learn, first hand the old adage, 'be careful what you wish for.' was never truer than it is at the hands of the brutal, bullish and driven teacher. Forced to absolute breaking point, Andrew's begins to remove all distractions in his life, in his pursuit of drumming perfection, and his relationship with his father and girlfriend are the first to suffer.
But Fletcher's ever increasing psychological and physical bullying begins to take its toil on the young drummer leading to an absolutely stunning showdown, of which the less spoken of the better, that really does elevate this film to something very special, nay extraordinary.
JK Simmons utterly dominates the role of Fletcher but the film isn't entirely his, high praise must be given to Whiplash's young star, Miles Teller who brings a tangible reality to the role of Andrew that makes him seem real and all to believable and never cliched. The score, pure jazz is perfect for the film and never becomes intrusive or distracting.
Gripping, intense and never anything other than utterly engrossing, there are times when this film feels almost like a fly-on-the-wall documentary rather than a drama so realistic does it feel.
Simply one of the best films I've seen in ages and definitely one of my top ten films of the year.
10/10
Starring Miles Teller, JK Simmons, Paul Reiser and Melissa Benoist. Written and directed by Damien Chazelle.
107 minutes all too brief.
Miles Teller plays Andrew - a drum prodigy with dreams of being the next drumming legend, like his hero, Buddy Rich. His every waking moment is filled with his passion, his magnificent obsession, and when he's not practicing he's listening to drumming, analysing every aspect of a drum solo and practicing again 'till his hands bleed.
When Andrew learns that maverick music tutor, Terence Fletcher (played by the soon to be Oscar winner, JK Simmons) is looking for a new drummer, Andrew goes out of his way to catch the ear of the notoriously difficult Fletcher, but comes to learn, first hand the old adage, 'be careful what you wish for.' was never truer than it is at the hands of the brutal, bullish and driven teacher. Forced to absolute breaking point, Andrew's begins to remove all distractions in his life, in his pursuit of drumming perfection, and his relationship with his father and girlfriend are the first to suffer.
But Fletcher's ever increasing psychological and physical bullying begins to take its toil on the young drummer leading to an absolutely stunning showdown, of which the less spoken of the better, that really does elevate this film to something very special, nay extraordinary.
JK Simmons utterly dominates the role of Fletcher but the film isn't entirely his, high praise must be given to Whiplash's young star, Miles Teller who brings a tangible reality to the role of Andrew that makes him seem real and all to believable and never cliched. The score, pure jazz is perfect for the film and never becomes intrusive or distracting.
Gripping, intense and never anything other than utterly engrossing, there are times when this film feels almost like a fly-on-the-wall documentary rather than a drama so realistic does it feel.
Simply one of the best films I've seen in ages and definitely one of my top ten films of the year.
10/10
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