Petie Jacksons, li'l Petersberg.
Guy has made lots of films, suddenly jumping into the limelight, of course, with the LOTR flicks, he adapted the books as much as an adaptation could be, that and Watchmen. He then brought out King Kong, at which point all hope was lost of some classic Jackson appearing, the bloated 3 hours paced slower than snails, not since The Frighteners has Jackson been on top form. So, The Lovely Bones, another book adaptation, does it get back to the harsher, quality films, given it's difficult subject matter?
The tale of Susie Salmon, 14 years old living in the 70's, who is, in the book raped and murdered, only murdered in the film. Her family, devastated, falls apart trying to either get over it, or find the killer as she lives in the 'Inbetween' where she can have anything she loves, but wants to help the family.
Now, the first 30 minutes, the characterisation of Susie and the Salmons is fantastic, Saorise Ronan is impeccable once more, Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz aren't as bad as usual, Susan Sarandon is unnecessary, but moreso later, and Stanley Tucci as the odd neighbour is brilliant.
We are given people to care about and, although early one Susie tells us her fate, we still watch, hoping it doesn't happen.
As Tucci gets Susie into his shack, the sense of forthcoming violence is painful, well handled and freaky. We never see anything, but what is implied isn't nice.
However, after that, as the fantasy sequences of the inbetween appear, the awful CGi from Weta's slowly degrading output, the ridiculous addition of another murder victim, random moments where Susie enters her house, only her house in the inbetween, it all feels too far fetched, we no longer care, it's just bulk. The family's plight is well done for the most part, the addition of detective Christopher Moltisanti, or Michael Imperioli, trying to help the investigation, there's a sense of detection leading to what we know that never gets there, as Weisz can't take it anymore and scarpers, Wahlberg tries to work with his children in finding who did it and Sarandon stops by to a Mrs. Doubtfire housework montage, comedy, really?
The problem is, we know where they need to go, but they never get there, and as sad as the events are, we can't care when we're watching the girl having fun after death as well. In addition, the jumping forward of years so suddenly takes us out of it completely, whilst it couldn't be done in a series of weeks, some subtitles to inform us would have been nice, not poorly executed dialogue informing us.
It's a shame that a solid cast has suffered such a terrible fate in a film where the elongated 2 hour runtime never gets anything more than a ho-hum response, there's not enough tension, there's no real sadness, it's just a dull and poorly made look at the afterlfe and life, or something, and it fails.
4/10
Thursday, 28 January 2010
It's one of them fancy French films that's sweeping the awardses.
Un Prophete is very long.
It's not one of those 150 minute flicks that feels shorter, in fact, it feels a lot longer than it should.
This is mainly because it's a story that takes place over years. And I use the word story rather kindly, gibbon that it's as generic as a prison movie gets and doesn't feel as interested in a story as much as a random slew of vignettes to which a premise is tied together with it.
I recently watched the fantastic 4 hour epic Mesrine starring Vincent Cassel, so I was excited to see some more French crime. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, and yet I feared it would be a Let The Right One In again, and it was. Both films add nothing to the genre and are far too dull to be satisfying, the only reason that LTROI and A Prophet have gotten better reviews than Twilight and any number of cliched drug dealing action films are because they are in a foreign language, if you can't hear the acting as much as read the script, you feel arty, right? Well, fine, feel arty, but I like good scripts to cap off good acting, neither of those rose above middle of the road, sometimes painful dialogue came about, or appallingly stupid plot twists, but most of all, the lack of anything engaging in the way of characters, especially in such a long effort, is horrible.
Our lead, Malik, starts off as a 19 year old going to jail for hitting a cop, he denies the cop aspect, not the 19 year old aspect, despite clearly being far too old for that. He goes in, gets beaten up, then some Italian-esque gangster group who are also freedom fighters make him kill a witness, the only person at the start who seems to care, and he's in to the group.
Up until this point I was trying hard to get into the film, I started feeling interested. But then we jump to a title saying "1 year later" and it all goes away, there's a small scene, and then we jump, without being informed, 2 more years. We're confused and annoyed at this point, and then we get a sideline of a drug enterprise story which runs through the rest of the film.
It's like it's tying not to break boundaries, every prison cliche you can think of is here, the mean authority, the violent inmates, aspects of homosexuality in the showers, smuggling drugs into the camp, it's never more than anything else ever made, the social realism is bland and predictable, the characters unengaging and annoying, this is simply a misfire on all accounts, an awful film.
3/10
It's not one of those 150 minute flicks that feels shorter, in fact, it feels a lot longer than it should.
This is mainly because it's a story that takes place over years. And I use the word story rather kindly, gibbon that it's as generic as a prison movie gets and doesn't feel as interested in a story as much as a random slew of vignettes to which a premise is tied together with it.
I recently watched the fantastic 4 hour epic Mesrine starring Vincent Cassel, so I was excited to see some more French crime. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, and yet I feared it would be a Let The Right One In again, and it was. Both films add nothing to the genre and are far too dull to be satisfying, the only reason that LTROI and A Prophet have gotten better reviews than Twilight and any number of cliched drug dealing action films are because they are in a foreign language, if you can't hear the acting as much as read the script, you feel arty, right? Well, fine, feel arty, but I like good scripts to cap off good acting, neither of those rose above middle of the road, sometimes painful dialogue came about, or appallingly stupid plot twists, but most of all, the lack of anything engaging in the way of characters, especially in such a long effort, is horrible.
Our lead, Malik, starts off as a 19 year old going to jail for hitting a cop, he denies the cop aspect, not the 19 year old aspect, despite clearly being far too old for that. He goes in, gets beaten up, then some Italian-esque gangster group who are also freedom fighters make him kill a witness, the only person at the start who seems to care, and he's in to the group.
Up until this point I was trying hard to get into the film, I started feeling interested. But then we jump to a title saying "1 year later" and it all goes away, there's a small scene, and then we jump, without being informed, 2 more years. We're confused and annoyed at this point, and then we get a sideline of a drug enterprise story which runs through the rest of the film.
It's like it's tying not to break boundaries, every prison cliche you can think of is here, the mean authority, the violent inmates, aspects of homosexuality in the showers, smuggling drugs into the camp, it's never more than anything else ever made, the social realism is bland and predictable, the characters unengaging and annoying, this is simply a misfire on all accounts, an awful film.
3/10
8 Enter, only 1 leaves, it's the wrestling event of the academic diary.
Exam is an independent English film whose biggest stars are Jimi Mistry and Colin Salmon.
Wait, why are you leaving, don't go.
Alright, so, the premise is 8 people have made it through some tough challenges to win a high powered job in a firm that deals with a virus afflicting most people, I won't go into the rest, most of the film is exposition for it, and they sit in a room, are given a set of rules, then turn over their test papers, 80 minutes on the clock. It's blank.
They begin to talk to each other, discuss what is going on, one early on rightly claims it to be "a big mindfuck", and then we have a mix of exposition on the company and the characters' reasons for being there, and attempts to find out the question on the paper, through UV lights, water, glass. Eventually of course, two people are tied up and civilisation comes crashing down before it. And there's still 20 minutes to go.
The film moves at a hectic pace and keeps you interested, unsure how it'll work on second viewing, but it's tense, well made and interesting, the characters illicit reactions from you and you're engaged wholeheartedly with the piece. The biggest problem is when the exam is over, the long 15 minutes of revelations about the exam, the people behind it, et. all, ruining the mystery with line after line and flashback after flashback, it's a shame that some of the mystery could have been saved, given to us as thoughts we can put together, not treating us like imbeciles after a smart opening hour and change.
However, that said,t he majority is superb, strong acting talent, well crafted ideas, a wonderful set and the film looks fantastic, if that ending wasn't so annoying, I'd give this higher marks, but as a first feature, Stuart Hazeldine still knocks it out of the park, cracking work.
8/10
Wait, why are you leaving, don't go.
Alright, so, the premise is 8 people have made it through some tough challenges to win a high powered job in a firm that deals with a virus afflicting most people, I won't go into the rest, most of the film is exposition for it, and they sit in a room, are given a set of rules, then turn over their test papers, 80 minutes on the clock. It's blank.
They begin to talk to each other, discuss what is going on, one early on rightly claims it to be "a big mindfuck", and then we have a mix of exposition on the company and the characters' reasons for being there, and attempts to find out the question on the paper, through UV lights, water, glass. Eventually of course, two people are tied up and civilisation comes crashing down before it. And there's still 20 minutes to go.
The film moves at a hectic pace and keeps you interested, unsure how it'll work on second viewing, but it's tense, well made and interesting, the characters illicit reactions from you and you're engaged wholeheartedly with the piece. The biggest problem is when the exam is over, the long 15 minutes of revelations about the exam, the people behind it, et. all, ruining the mystery with line after line and flashback after flashback, it's a shame that some of the mystery could have been saved, given to us as thoughts we can put together, not treating us like imbeciles after a smart opening hour and change.
However, that said,t he majority is superb, strong acting talent, well crafted ideas, a wonderful set and the film looks fantastic, if that ending wasn't so annoying, I'd give this higher marks, but as a first feature, Stuart Hazeldine still knocks it out of the park, cracking work.
8/10
Teenage Mutant Ninja Assassins! Killers in a Half Shell.
People are assassinated, that's a gibbon, it's life, people like to take it away.
But they're so boring about it. Load sniper, fire, brains everywhere, yawn.
What is needed to reinvigorate murder is some pizazz, some finesse, more blood and guts.
What is needed, is Ninja.
So, Ninja Assassins.
Sounds awesome right, kick ass awesomeness, like, mind blowing crazy cool awesomeness.
And that's what James McTiegue and The Wachowski 'Brothers' want you to believe as you enter the film, where we begin on a man telling a story of a ninja killing everyone but him, for his heart is on the other side of his body. As a ninja kills them and stabs him but good, it's full of blood and guts, alas completely and abhorrently CGI, but it seems fun and silly.
However, after that the real film begins. Naomie HArris once more suffers through a shitty script, this time as an Interpol agent working with another to find out the mysterious tribes of ninjas who kill for 200 pounds of gold. Of course investigating is dangerous, and when Korean pop star and Speed Racer actor Rain enters as Badsassin, the naughty ninja who betrayed the evil family who forced his painful childhood, they fight and do stuff for an hour, interlaced with more terrible CGI and a cheesy backstory of childhood love and pain right out of Ong Bak 2.
At about 1 hour into the film I realised I shouldn't try anymore, instead, just laugh at how bad the film gets, it descends quickly and stays there, and the flights of fancy it has in continuity (Old 'father' is slashed and has a scar on his face, later, he's untouchably fast) and physics (ninjas clearly hate gravity) and there are plenty of issues here too. Like, why are the ninjas whispering loudly when 30 of them enter a room to kill one person. Or why are all the other ninjas, trained in the same manner and clearly better than the lead, being killed so easily.
The film never explains, instead, just generic action with horrendous CGI and dull plotting, shambles.
4/10
But they're so boring about it. Load sniper, fire, brains everywhere, yawn.
What is needed to reinvigorate murder is some pizazz, some finesse, more blood and guts.
What is needed, is Ninja.
So, Ninja Assassins.
Sounds awesome right, kick ass awesomeness, like, mind blowing crazy cool awesomeness.
And that's what James McTiegue and The Wachowski 'Brothers' want you to believe as you enter the film, where we begin on a man telling a story of a ninja killing everyone but him, for his heart is on the other side of his body. As a ninja kills them and stabs him but good, it's full of blood and guts, alas completely and abhorrently CGI, but it seems fun and silly.
However, after that the real film begins. Naomie HArris once more suffers through a shitty script, this time as an Interpol agent working with another to find out the mysterious tribes of ninjas who kill for 200 pounds of gold. Of course investigating is dangerous, and when Korean pop star and Speed Racer actor Rain enters as Badsassin, the naughty ninja who betrayed the evil family who forced his painful childhood, they fight and do stuff for an hour, interlaced with more terrible CGI and a cheesy backstory of childhood love and pain right out of Ong Bak 2.
At about 1 hour into the film I realised I shouldn't try anymore, instead, just laugh at how bad the film gets, it descends quickly and stays there, and the flights of fancy it has in continuity (Old 'father' is slashed and has a scar on his face, later, he's untouchably fast) and physics (ninjas clearly hate gravity) and there are plenty of issues here too. Like, why are the ninjas whispering loudly when 30 of them enter a room to kill one person. Or why are all the other ninjas, trained in the same manner and clearly better than the lead, being killed so easily.
The film never explains, instead, just generic action with horrendous CGI and dull plotting, shambles.
4/10
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Paul Ross' Black Book of Eli
After the last two post-apocalyptic flicks, Daybreakers and The Road, my hopes for The Book Of Eli were low, yes there's Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman, but the plot about the last bible being protected and lots of random action seemed like it was going to suck.
So I was very happy when about 50 minutes in I was enjoying the story, the characters, including 2 really neat scenes with Tom Waits, the action and the whole piece seemed to work well. Denzel kicked ass, was fun to watch, generally awesome, Mila Kunis was as good as ever, Oldman really came off as a Dafoe like presence, evil and crazy in the classic Oldman style, not the recent subdued status, it was fun to watch him ham it up.
The action is top notch, whilst one scene in an old house clearly rips off Bad Boys II (When you rip off something of that calibre, questions are raised), it's fun, light and breezy, gun fights are well done, sword fighting has some nice limb chopping action, nice moments like the first hit, a decapitation, tell you we're gonna be in a fun film, no Bat screaming jump scares, no monochrome, it's dark in a bright way, and wants you to be entertained, classic blockbuster action.
Whilst the ending, a long series of stupid twists and dull moments in Alcatraz, doesn't work, and detracts from the body, the rest of the film is fantastic, even if it's a bit too bible happy, or that they seem to present Eli's name reveal in a bit of a twist-ish moment, though it's in the freaking title...
Still, it's loud, fun and has great action, nice distraction.
7/10
So I was very happy when about 50 minutes in I was enjoying the story, the characters, including 2 really neat scenes with Tom Waits, the action and the whole piece seemed to work well. Denzel kicked ass, was fun to watch, generally awesome, Mila Kunis was as good as ever, Oldman really came off as a Dafoe like presence, evil and crazy in the classic Oldman style, not the recent subdued status, it was fun to watch him ham it up.
The action is top notch, whilst one scene in an old house clearly rips off Bad Boys II (When you rip off something of that calibre, questions are raised), it's fun, light and breezy, gun fights are well done, sword fighting has some nice limb chopping action, nice moments like the first hit, a decapitation, tell you we're gonna be in a fun film, no Bat screaming jump scares, no monochrome, it's dark in a bright way, and wants you to be entertained, classic blockbuster action.
Whilst the ending, a long series of stupid twists and dull moments in Alcatraz, doesn't work, and detracts from the body, the rest of the film is fantastic, even if it's a bit too bible happy, or that they seem to present Eli's name reveal in a bit of a twist-ish moment, though it's in the freaking title...
Still, it's loud, fun and has great action, nice distraction.
7/10
Ah Fack It's an East LahnDahn Gangsta Flick!
44 Inch Chest has a cast of great British talents, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Ian McShane, Stephen Dilahunt and Tom Wilkinson.
Together they are very very foul mouthed group of friends who work together to get Winstone's cheating wife's man into a wardrobe and then conspire as to how to kill him.
And that is literally it.
That's the film. Winstone cries, Everyone uses the c-word in place of punctuation and a mix of flash backs, fantasy moments and right now scenes don't add anything to a premise that is as unremarkably dull as it is loudly vulgar for no reason.
The writers from Sexy Beast, an acclaimed British crime drama, work this one note idea into a somehow 90 minute film, a small length that feels like it goes on for ages.
So for the length of time we have 3 settings, in the room, be it real or a real feeling fantasy, including 'comic' banter in the mind of Winstone(!), the stairwell where 4 of the 5 men await the murder and inside Winstone's home, pre-during and post fight.
So we have a wife beater, a gay gambler, an old swearing man, an aging man living with his mother and a slightly younger, well dressed man, none of them have any character or intrigue.
An absolute waste, not one good thing.
1/10
Together they are very very foul mouthed group of friends who work together to get Winstone's cheating wife's man into a wardrobe and then conspire as to how to kill him.
And that is literally it.
That's the film. Winstone cries, Everyone uses the c-word in place of punctuation and a mix of flash backs, fantasy moments and right now scenes don't add anything to a premise that is as unremarkably dull as it is loudly vulgar for no reason.
The writers from Sexy Beast, an acclaimed British crime drama, work this one note idea into a somehow 90 minute film, a small length that feels like it goes on for ages.
So for the length of time we have 3 settings, in the room, be it real or a real feeling fantasy, including 'comic' banter in the mind of Winstone(!), the stairwell where 4 of the 5 men await the murder and inside Winstone's home, pre-during and post fight.
So we have a wife beater, a gay gambler, an old swearing man, an aging man living with his mother and a slightly younger, well dressed man, none of them have any character or intrigue.
An absolute waste, not one good thing.
1/10
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's, oh, yes, it is a plane.
Jason Reitman.
Man.
He made an amazing film.
JK Simmons, Sam Elliot, David Koechner, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe, Adam Brody, Aaron Eckhart all knocked it for six in THank You For Smoking, not one weak link in that hysterical film that never was intended to be the biting satire reviewers hoped for, and as such dismissed it due to the fact. No, it was the story of a suave, charismatic man leading a PR campaign on smoking whilst balancing his son and a bitch of a reporter trying to expose secrets.
This was a fantastic debut, one of those films you can watch again and again and laugh at the same wonderfully delivered subtle lines. The script, based on a book, was also written by Mr. Reitman Jr.
And then there was Juno. This was a film that turned the tide on Smoking, maybe it was a feat of luck that Smoking was any good. A script by now official hack job Academy Award winner Diablo Cody, using the most cringeworthy attempts at 'music' in a ho hum tale of annoying slut Ellen Page as she carries a baby to term, alongside same schtick different day Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer eugh Garner, Allison Janney (Woo) and, once more for good measure, JK Simmons, it was a film that was so up itself in the appalling humour, references beyond a kid's age aren't funny, especially if they're only references in a Guy Ritchie-esque phrasing with the lack of coherent consistency or entertaining rhythm of saying things, it's just a horrible film.
For 2 years now I was wondering if it was a one off or a steep decline that will continue with Reitman film 3.
That film is Up In The Air.
Based on a book, co-written script by Jason Reitman.
Starring George Clooney of all people, with additions of JK, Elliot, Bateman and Danny McBride, it's a film that looks at a man who spends his life in airports and hotels, to which reviewers were disappointed it wasn't a sharply pointed satire on air travel.
Yup, you guessed it, we're back safely in the holy heavens of category 1, this is Thank You For Smoking good.
It's very funny at times, Clooney being as charismatic as ever delivering some fantastic one-liners, the film can really hit the comedy out of the park. But the best thing is, with the aide of two wonderful female companions on his journey, in the guise of Vera Farmiga's female Clooney and Anna Kendrick as a young business graduate of Cornell (Rid did i doo! Nard Dog!) who is trying to change the way that Clooney's outside hiring to lay people off company works, no traveling, all on webcams.
Between the three of them, some semblance of a heart begins to appear, and it's not just coincidence, after the opening 20 minutes we are slowly leaning in to Clooney's Ryan Bingham in his home life, slight hints of family, being a big build up to a sister of his' wedding.
As we learn more and see just how alone he is when he isn't in his element, we connect, and hard.
And that's when the film REALLY gets going, without being synthetic or forceful, the subtle details allow us to care so much more for Bingham, and even the young woman trying to make him stop doing what he loves, when she bursts into tears all of a sudden, we care. Not because the music swells and the close ups make us, but because we're into the story, we like the characters in some small way at the very least, so we want to care, and do.
A testament to Reitman not pressuring anything, taking it nice and cool in that respect, most filmmakers would spend far too long on that kind of moment.
In addition to that, the moments where Clooney and his new friend do things together, visit his high school, go to his sister's wedding, watch Young MC sing Bust A Move, and Clooney even says it, high point of the film, it's nice to see the relationship grow.
Of course, meanly, we then get a twist that makes everything so so so unfair, but I guess what are ya gonna do, had to happen.
The one complaint I have is that the last 10 minutes slow to a halt too early and then keep trudging forward, after an hour and change of excellent work, for it to slow too quickly is a real shame, but, well, it's still great.
10/10
Mr. Reitman is back!
Man.
He made an amazing film.
JK Simmons, Sam Elliot, David Koechner, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe, Adam Brody, Aaron Eckhart all knocked it for six in THank You For Smoking, not one weak link in that hysterical film that never was intended to be the biting satire reviewers hoped for, and as such dismissed it due to the fact. No, it was the story of a suave, charismatic man leading a PR campaign on smoking whilst balancing his son and a bitch of a reporter trying to expose secrets.
This was a fantastic debut, one of those films you can watch again and again and laugh at the same wonderfully delivered subtle lines. The script, based on a book, was also written by Mr. Reitman Jr.
And then there was Juno. This was a film that turned the tide on Smoking, maybe it was a feat of luck that Smoking was any good. A script by now official hack job Academy Award winner Diablo Cody, using the most cringeworthy attempts at 'music' in a ho hum tale of annoying slut Ellen Page as she carries a baby to term, alongside same schtick different day Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer eugh Garner, Allison Janney (Woo) and, once more for good measure, JK Simmons, it was a film that was so up itself in the appalling humour, references beyond a kid's age aren't funny, especially if they're only references in a Guy Ritchie-esque phrasing with the lack of coherent consistency or entertaining rhythm of saying things, it's just a horrible film.
For 2 years now I was wondering if it was a one off or a steep decline that will continue with Reitman film 3.
That film is Up In The Air.
Based on a book, co-written script by Jason Reitman.
Starring George Clooney of all people, with additions of JK, Elliot, Bateman and Danny McBride, it's a film that looks at a man who spends his life in airports and hotels, to which reviewers were disappointed it wasn't a sharply pointed satire on air travel.
Yup, you guessed it, we're back safely in the holy heavens of category 1, this is Thank You For Smoking good.
It's very funny at times, Clooney being as charismatic as ever delivering some fantastic one-liners, the film can really hit the comedy out of the park. But the best thing is, with the aide of two wonderful female companions on his journey, in the guise of Vera Farmiga's female Clooney and Anna Kendrick as a young business graduate of Cornell (Rid did i doo! Nard Dog!) who is trying to change the way that Clooney's outside hiring to lay people off company works, no traveling, all on webcams.
Between the three of them, some semblance of a heart begins to appear, and it's not just coincidence, after the opening 20 minutes we are slowly leaning in to Clooney's Ryan Bingham in his home life, slight hints of family, being a big build up to a sister of his' wedding.
As we learn more and see just how alone he is when he isn't in his element, we connect, and hard.
And that's when the film REALLY gets going, without being synthetic or forceful, the subtle details allow us to care so much more for Bingham, and even the young woman trying to make him stop doing what he loves, when she bursts into tears all of a sudden, we care. Not because the music swells and the close ups make us, but because we're into the story, we like the characters in some small way at the very least, so we want to care, and do.
A testament to Reitman not pressuring anything, taking it nice and cool in that respect, most filmmakers would spend far too long on that kind of moment.
In addition to that, the moments where Clooney and his new friend do things together, visit his high school, go to his sister's wedding, watch Young MC sing Bust A Move, and Clooney even says it, high point of the film, it's nice to see the relationship grow.
Of course, meanly, we then get a twist that makes everything so so so unfair, but I guess what are ya gonna do, had to happen.
The one complaint I have is that the last 10 minutes slow to a halt too early and then keep trudging forward, after an hour and change of excellent work, for it to slow too quickly is a real shame, but, well, it's still great.
10/10
Mr. Reitman is back!
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