Film 7: The Impossible - 26/1/13

8/10

Its been coming for a while but the first movie about the 2004 tsunami has finally come, if you don't count Clint Eastwood's Hereafter which had one character experience the event. The Impossible is done with a strong sense of realism, alot of the scenes were shaky and felt like a documentary, they also didn't sugarcoat the horror or refrain from showing the injuries inflicted with one particularly gruesome shot showing Naomi Watts leg. Obviously the film couldn't capture all the death and violence experienced during the tsunami and in the aftermath, but they didn't hold back showing disturbing imagery. The most disturbing scene to watch was when Naomi Watts throws up blood in the hospital. It left me feeling pretty woozy and I remember hearing lots of groans and uncomfortable shuffles from people in the cinema screen I was in. In fact the kid next to me had to swap seats so he could sit next to his mum, and my girlfriend said she was prepared to walk out the cinema at the point because it was too horrifying. Although it seems strange that this is considered a successful reaction from the audience for the film, it shows the quality of the filmmaking that they could translate how horrific the event was to a film, while not making it overdramatic or unbelievable or tasteless. I was worried with the casting of such high profile names like Ewan Mcgregor and Naomi Watts as the protagonists that they would 'Hollywood' the film and make it glossy, or even the use of familiar faces that we know and recognize would distract from the subject matter for which this film should completely focus on. However the two actors gave in brilliant, believable performances that I forgot this was the same Naomi Watts as Mulholland Drive, I forgot that this traumatised father searching for his family once played Obi Wan Kenobi. It is a testament to how shocking the opening of the film is and how good their performances are, Naomi Watts definitely deserves her Oscar Nomination, and if not for best picture The Impossible should have got a nomination for cinematography, editing or make-up.

Film 6: The Change-Up - 18/1/13

6/10

The body-swap movie is not an original storyline and this is not an original film, but it is light, it is entertaining and it is enjoyable. As a fan of Arrested Development, I always love seeing Jason Bateman in films and he is funny and you can tell he enjoyed not playing the straight man this time, trying to impersonate his slacker, weed-smoking counterpart. Speaking of Ryan Reynolds it was fun seeing him playing an awkward family man stuck in a slacker actors body, the highlight being when he has to act in a porno scene. Leslie Mann gives a great performance giving an emotional core to a comedic role. She always seems to bring a layer of sympathy and comedy to the supporting wife role which is often unexplored and left in the background. She did this so well in Knocked Up with her co-star Paul Rudd that they are getting a spin-off film this spring with This Is 40. Her performances and her husbands directing, writing and producing credits means the Apatow family own the comedy genre at the moment. I would recommend watching this movie, it's not groundbreaking, iconic or will be talked about in 20 years time but it is an enjoyable movie.

Film 5: Gangster Squad - 12/1/13

3/10

Last summer when I saw the first trailer for Gangster Squad, everything about it, the cast, the cinematography, the Jay-Z soundtrack I was amazed and excited for. I told everyone I could that this film would be amazing and be heralded one of the greatest gangster films of our time. Well now I feel like a fucking idiot. It is really depressing because this film had potential, it had everything in place to be a classic gangster movie on the same level as The Untouchables, Goodfellas and Heat. They had the villain in Sean Penn who was one aspect of the film that held up in the film, his portrayal of Mickey Cohen was terrifying. They had a great cast of supporting police officers, the leader in Josh Brolin an oscar nominated actor who is a perfect cast as the hero of the film however his character is so generic, bland and predictable that he is instantly forgettable. Ryan Gosling is always enjoyable to watch in a film but again his character was two dimensional and the attempt to give him a motivation in the movie with his shoe-shiner dying was so cliched it was painful to watch. The other supporting characters also filled out the tropes of gangster films. The gruff old-timer in Robert Patrick, the stooge with Michael Pena, the knive man with Anthony Mackie and the tech-head with Giovanni Ribisi who's story arc is identical to that of Charles Martin Smith in The Untouchables. Emma Stone was supposed to rekindle the romantic chemistry with Ryan Gosling from Crazy, Stupid, Love. But instead it was again too predictable, cliched and unexplored to make us care about it, the few scenes with them together were cheesy and awkward. This was down to a frankly awful script full of cliches and nonsensical one liners. In one scene Nick Noltes character says:

"Two things you can't take back. Words out of your mouth and bullets out of your gun"

I can't emphasise how much I cringed at that point and at many of the lines in the film. Maybe I am being too harsh on this film just because my expectations were so high but it was a major letdown, the script was incredibly predictable and the editing and timing was all off. It just felt like they moved from one set-piece to the next monotonously with a constant, even timing for each set piece there was no build-up of tension through timing. I think O'Mara should have taken longer to assemble his team which would have made everything seem more important and would have built the tension more, but instead it was just predictably progressive. However you do have do give credit to the mise en scene which was fantastic, the sets were brilliant, the costumes were believable and glamorous and the lighting was dramatic and cinematic, particularly the opening shots of Cohen's silhouette boxing. It is tragic to see a director with the potential that Ruben Fleischer had after Zombieland, and a film with the potential of Gangster Squad fail. If only the script and the editing was better, the film would have been a classic, not just a rehash of The Untouchables.

Film 4: 21 Jump Street - 6/1/13

7/10

First let me start off by saying I hate remakes. I hate the fact that there is no originality in Hollywood anymore and only a small percentage of blockbusters that come out of hollywood are not remakes, reboots, re-imaginings, sequels, prequels or sidequels. So before I watched this film I wasn't expecting much. Another remake of an old 80's tv shows, and it stars Channing Tatum, the poster boy for blockbuster mediocrity from films like G.I. Joe: Rise Of The Cobra, The Vow and Dear John. But I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, and by Tatum who was pretty funny. I don't really need to state the obvious and say that Jonah Hill was hilarious as usual. The script was brilliant in this film and the part that first settled my nerves about it possibly being a good movie was when their boss played by Parks & Recs Nick Offerman informs them of their case:

"The people behind this lack creativity and they've run out of ideas, so what they do now is just recycle shit from the past and hope that nobody will notice."

The self deprecation commenting on the fact that they are rehashing an old tv show laughs at their own lack of originality. This self criticism made the movie a lot better and funnier and stopped the fact that it was a remake ruining it for me. The best form of self criticism was the cameo of Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise the original cast of 21 Jump Street reprising their roles at the end of the film and got a few laughs out of me. Although I still think that remakes are completely unoriginal and pointless, this was one of he better remakes that has been made in the past decade of unoriginality and I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this.

Film 3: Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The RIng (extended edition) - 4/1/13

10/10

Had a particularly lazy friday and ended up watching the extended edition lord of the rings I got for christmas. I've seen the original ones a worryingly high number of times but this was the first time I'd seen the new extended scenes and it was sad seeing how good the scenes that didn't make the final cut of the film. There was 30 minutes of extra footage that wasn't in the original, most of this was scenes that were extended rather than new scenes. The first part of Frodo and Sams journey was extended and showed them seeing wood elves on their journey. Also the scenes in Moria were extended to show the talk more about the dwarves and mithril. On top of these brilliant extended scenes it was great to see one of my favourite films of all time again. I understand some people don't enjoy fantasy films like Lord Of The Rings, but for me it is a perfect movie. Perfect scenery, perfect casting, perfect story, perfect cinematography. Looking at the sweeping shots of the new zealand landscapes made me feel nostalgic remembering the first time I watched it. It was also interesting seeing it after seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and comparing the different two worlds. For example seeing Balins tomb in Moria when we've now seen him in The Hobbit. If anyone was thinking about getting the extended copies of the film to see more of moria alone is worth it and the second two films have 80 minute more and it is definitely worth it for a fan of the series. If you haven't seen the film before then fucking see it.

Film 2: Life Of Pi - 3/1/13

7/10

I went to a midnight showing of Ang Lee's Life Of Pi tonight. I have been reading five-star reviews and hearing about how stunning the visuals were from friends and family for weeks so I figured it was finally time for me to go see it. Yann Martel's novel was described as unfilmable and unable to put on the big screen, but Lee successfully does it. One of the main problems was how do you keep the interest of the audience when you only have one character and a tiger for the majority of the film. Speaking of Richard Parker the name for the tiger that our protagonist Pi is stranded with, he is the heart and soul of the film. This is down to the brilliant computer graphics that brought Richard Parker to life and the directing by Ang Lee which makes us sympathise with Pi's attachment to Richard and it is heartbreaking when he leaves. It reminded me of Tom Hanks losing Wilson in Castaway. I really liked this movie but I feel like I would have liked it more had it not been for the ending. Up until the island I was thoroughly enjoying it, I don't know if they ran out of time, but the end felt extremely rushed and Pi's second journey from the island back to civilisation was shown in a matter of seconds which confused me and messed up the pacing of the film. Although it was probably intended that the end of the movie be a bit of a downer it didn't feel as poetic as the rest of the movie, and Pi's confession at the end almost ruined it for me. Apart from that it is a brilliant film and although most people will focus on the visuals, the story and the characters make it a heartwarming film. No film has made me want to own a cat more.

Film 1: Attack The Block - 2/1/13

8/10

Joe Cornish's 2011 directorial debut was a breath of fresh air for the horror genre in a time filled with found footage films and 80's remakes, his original story blended comedy and horror perfectly. Attack The Block was one of the first major movies that was set primarily in a council estate apart from maybe Harry Brown two years earlier. Because of this setting and the protagonists being teenagers the script had to be believable and use current urban vocabulary. This was a problem as some lines felt pretty forced particularly at the beginning. Luke Treadaways awkward, posh character drew light to this by attempting to speak the teenagers lingo, his failed attempts broke the awkwardness and in comparison made the protagonists lines more believable. He also made me feel pretty embarrassed and self conscious remembering the times I've said "safe", "bruv' and "allow it".  By far my favourite element of the movie was the design of the aliens by the Swedish design studio Fido. Despite the obvious terror in the monsters particularly the enduring iconic glowing teeth, the furry exterior and way they moved made me feel a bit of affection for them, they looked almost like a cute fluffy animal. Enjoying this comedy/horror was a great film to start the new year and start this blog.