Another Month Gone, and what a month, plenty of Award nominees released this month.
Fot the purposes of this review I will not include Wreck it Ralph, Although I have seen it on a preview screening, it is not released until February, so I will assume it to be a February movie.
The best film in January for me, somewhat suprisingly, is one not up for best picture, and that is The Impossible
Worst film of the month is the one that claimed to be "The Rom Com of the Year" Playing for Keeps. If that is the standard of Rom Coms this year then its going to be a poor one
The 3 Best Picture nominees, Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, and Les Mis were all decent enough, but each disappointed slightly in differering ways, and all 3 are very long. I don't mind 2 and a half hour films, so long as they require that length and are able to hold your attention throughout, Les Mis maybe did that, but the other two I think could be shorter.
Having Said that Les Mis is worht hte Admission price purely for Anne Hathaways rendition of "I dream a dream"
Best actor for January is Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln.
Looking Forward to February, Hitchcock, looks great. I've seen the trailer for Cloud Atlas, out at the end of the month but I must admit I don't really have a clue what its about, the trailer seems quite confusing, so I will wait and see on that one.
Thursday 31 January 2013
Monday 28 January 2013
Lincoln
My Weekend of Oscar viewing continued with Lincoln, whist not as disappointing as Zero Dark Thirty, I was still left feeling like I had somehow been sold the line that this film was brilliant, when I came away feeling that its just ok. Maybe I just have different tastes in movies to the Academy, or maybe I just don't know how to apreciate a good movie, I'm not sure.
For me, At two and a half hours this film is far to long, there are large sections that are quite frankly boring, and I think you could edit out half an hour without losing the essense of the story. At one point I nearly feel asleep.
That said there are plenty of positives, Day Lewis' performance is superb, and if he win's best actor he deserves it. 7/10
I have not seen Amour, but given the choice between the rest of the Nominees for best picture, my vote goes to Silver Linings Playbook
For me, At two and a half hours this film is far to long, there are large sections that are quite frankly boring, and I think you could edit out half an hour without losing the essense of the story. At one point I nearly feel asleep.
That said there are plenty of positives, Day Lewis' performance is superb, and if he win's best actor he deserves it. 7/10
I have not seen Amour, but given the choice between the rest of the Nominees for best picture, my vote goes to Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
With two of the films up for the best picture oscar out this weekend, I was anticipating a great weekend of film, however I was left a little disappointed
My Major Issue with ZDT is the complete lack of Character development, we know next to nothing about Maya, she has absolutely no back story, which make it hard for the viewer to empathise with the character, or want her to do well, the complete lack of emotional attachment means you are left not really caring when characters are killed. Also Characters seem to come and go so quickly, that at certain points I lost track of who was who.
My other minor beef is the use of the Acronym UBL when referring to Bin Laden (The last time I checked his name was Osama, Surely it should be OBL?) maybe that's the acronym the CIA/US Military used for him, in which case apologies to Kathryn Biggelow if the movie is being accurate and the Americans can't spell!
There has been a lot of media talk about this film glorifying torture, which I think is unwarranted, the scenes showing torture do not neccesarilly show it to be effective, and it gets indifferrent results.
All in all I really didn't get much out of this movie, others may enjoy it, but I didn't. it may not be the worst film of the year, but quite how it is up for best picture is quite frankly beyond me. 5/10
My Major Issue with ZDT is the complete lack of Character development, we know next to nothing about Maya, she has absolutely no back story, which make it hard for the viewer to empathise with the character, or want her to do well, the complete lack of emotional attachment means you are left not really caring when characters are killed. Also Characters seem to come and go so quickly, that at certain points I lost track of who was who.
My other minor beef is the use of the Acronym UBL when referring to Bin Laden (The last time I checked his name was Osama, Surely it should be OBL?) maybe that's the acronym the CIA/US Military used for him, in which case apologies to Kathryn Biggelow if the movie is being accurate and the Americans can't spell!
There has been a lot of media talk about this film glorifying torture, which I think is unwarranted, the scenes showing torture do not neccesarilly show it to be effective, and it gets indifferrent results.
All in all I really didn't get much out of this movie, others may enjoy it, but I didn't. it may not be the worst film of the year, but quite how it is up for best picture is quite frankly beyond me. 5/10
Wednesday 23 January 2013
Wreck It Ralph
Another Preview screening courtesy of Cineworld, so once again Thank you. The Preview was in 3D so if I wanted to see it early I had to endure the 3D, but actually, because it is animation rather than a live action movie, the 3D is much better and works a lot more.
The "paperman" short before the main feature, is very clever and really fun, so before the main feature even starts you have a bit of a smile on your face. Then the main feature gets going, for any hardened gamer who grew up in the 80's or 90's with some arcade classics this is an absolute must see, with so many references to old video games it is absolutely brilliant. Not only is the nostalgia element there, but there is also plenty for the kids.
Animation aside, the storyline is superbly written, the Characters are well voiced and have lots of depth and you really end up loving them, and wanting to see them do well, From romance, to parenting, this movie takes you through a whole load of emotions, and with plenty of twists and turns along the way.
All in All, I really enjoyed this movie, and despite it only being January, I have a feeling this will be hard to beat for best animation this year 9.5/10
The "paperman" short before the main feature, is very clever and really fun, so before the main feature even starts you have a bit of a smile on your face. Then the main feature gets going, for any hardened gamer who grew up in the 80's or 90's with some arcade classics this is an absolute must see, with so many references to old video games it is absolutely brilliant. Not only is the nostalgia element there, but there is also plenty for the kids.
Animation aside, the storyline is superbly written, the Characters are well voiced and have lots of depth and you really end up loving them, and wanting to see them do well, From romance, to parenting, this movie takes you through a whole load of emotions, and with plenty of twists and turns along the way.
All in All, I really enjoyed this movie, and despite it only being January, I have a feeling this will be hard to beat for best animation this year 9.5/10
Monday 21 January 2013
DVD review: Offender
As my Local Cineworld only has 5 screens and can't therefore show all movies, I have a lovefilm subscription to catch up on some of the movies I missed.
Having spent a bit of time in Prison myself sometime ago when offender came out in the cinema I thought this might be interesting watch, however I was unable to find a local screening. So DVD in hand I turned down the Sunday Night screening of Django Unchained and sat down to catch up with Offender.
The Basic Premise and story line is that Tommy has got himself put in a young offender institute in order to exact revenge against the gang who attacked his girlfriend during the London Riots, causing her to lose their child, and as a result it ended their relationship. However there are many other sub plots along the way, from a look at the riots, to prison violence and corruption, and Justice and redemption. which makes this a very good watch, In fact I think you would probably need to watch it a couple of times in order to pick out all the little subtleties.
I guess my major problem with it is the portrayal of the prison, I know this is a movie, and therefore some dramatic licence is required, and the truth can be altered to make the film work, but it bears absolutely no basis to the realities of life inside. For instance a stupid example, there is a scene in the visiting hall, whereby Tommy and Jake, two of the three main characters in the particular scene do not appear to have a visitor, if thats the case they simply would not be there.
This is a very good watch, just don't rely on it for your view of life in prison 8/10
Having spent a bit of time in Prison myself sometime ago when offender came out in the cinema I thought this might be interesting watch, however I was unable to find a local screening. So DVD in hand I turned down the Sunday Night screening of Django Unchained and sat down to catch up with Offender.
The Basic Premise and story line is that Tommy has got himself put in a young offender institute in order to exact revenge against the gang who attacked his girlfriend during the London Riots, causing her to lose their child, and as a result it ended their relationship. However there are many other sub plots along the way, from a look at the riots, to prison violence and corruption, and Justice and redemption. which makes this a very good watch, In fact I think you would probably need to watch it a couple of times in order to pick out all the little subtleties.
I guess my major problem with it is the portrayal of the prison, I know this is a movie, and therefore some dramatic licence is required, and the truth can be altered to make the film work, but it bears absolutely no basis to the realities of life inside. For instance a stupid example, there is a scene in the visiting hall, whereby Tommy and Jake, two of the three main characters in the particular scene do not appear to have a visitor, if thats the case they simply would not be there.
This is a very good watch, just don't rely on it for your view of life in prison 8/10
Friday 11 January 2013
Les Misérables
I must start this post by saying that I have not seen the stage musical, so this will not be a comparison.
Les Mis is getting a lot of Awards attention and I rightly so, The end of the film is incredibly emotional, followed by very rousing finale. I came out of the cinema with a massive smile on my face thinking what a great film it was, it even got a round of applause. However once the euphoria of the ending has died down a bit and I analysed it in the cold light of day, parts of the previous 2 hours didn't quite live up to the hype.
Anne Hathaways rendition of I dream a dream is absolutely amazing and incredibly emotional, I wanted to applaud as if it were a theatre, I think it is unfair to compare it with Susan Boyles Britain's got talent moment because Subo's performance was exactly that a one off performance of a song, Hathaway sings in Character and in Context and therefore it is not a fair comparison. I do not, however, think that Hathaway should get a best actress Oscar, not because she isn't a great actress, she is, but she is hadly in the film, it is the one song that makes the performance, the rest is largely unremarkable.
The Same cannot be said for Jackman and Crowe, who both put in great performances, especially considering almost all the dialogue is sung, and they are actors not singers.
I did find the film overly long, at over 2 and a half hours it does drag a little in places, and some of the story seems to fail logic, although I guess that must be true in the musical as well so possibly not the fault of the screenwriters.
Over all though a very good movie, especially the end, will it win the best picture Oscar? probably, should it win? I'm not so sure, my vote would still go to Silver Linings playbook 8/10
Les Mis is getting a lot of Awards attention and I rightly so, The end of the film is incredibly emotional, followed by very rousing finale. I came out of the cinema with a massive smile on my face thinking what a great film it was, it even got a round of applause. However once the euphoria of the ending has died down a bit and I analysed it in the cold light of day, parts of the previous 2 hours didn't quite live up to the hype.
Anne Hathaways rendition of I dream a dream is absolutely amazing and incredibly emotional, I wanted to applaud as if it were a theatre, I think it is unfair to compare it with Susan Boyles Britain's got talent moment because Subo's performance was exactly that a one off performance of a song, Hathaway sings in Character and in Context and therefore it is not a fair comparison. I do not, however, think that Hathaway should get a best actress Oscar, not because she isn't a great actress, she is, but she is hadly in the film, it is the one song that makes the performance, the rest is largely unremarkable.
The Same cannot be said for Jackman and Crowe, who both put in great performances, especially considering almost all the dialogue is sung, and they are actors not singers.
I did find the film overly long, at over 2 and a half hours it does drag a little in places, and some of the story seems to fail logic, although I guess that must be true in the musical as well so possibly not the fault of the screenwriters.
Over all though a very good movie, especially the end, will it win the best picture Oscar? probably, should it win? I'm not so sure, my vote would still go to Silver Linings playbook 8/10
Gangster Squad
Anyone who read my Blog in September, with reviews of Lawless & Killing them Softly will know that I am not a huge fan of Gangster movies, particularly ones where there is lots of violent killing.
So I went to see Gangster squad, expecting much of the same, and my fears were confirmed in the opening violent bloody death scene, BUT actually they weren't. Yes there is lots of blood, and lots of death, but it is not gratuitous, it is not done for the shock value, and most of it is a necessary part of the plot development. so I found my self pleasantly surprised by this and actually started to enjoy it.
Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling put in decent performances, the film is very well paced, with the plot moving forward and no dead scenes, and all in all a very enjoyable watch.
If only all gangster movies could be more like this 8/10
So I went to see Gangster squad, expecting much of the same, and my fears were confirmed in the opening violent bloody death scene, BUT actually they weren't. Yes there is lots of blood, and lots of death, but it is not gratuitous, it is not done for the shock value, and most of it is a necessary part of the plot development. so I found my self pleasantly surprised by this and actually started to enjoy it.
Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling put in decent performances, the film is very well paced, with the plot moving forward and no dead scenes, and all in all a very enjoyable watch.
If only all gangster movies could be more like this 8/10
Saturday 5 January 2013
Playing for Keeps
the 3rd film of my Chichester film day was Playing for Keeps, described on the TV advert as "The Rom Com of the year" if that is the best Rom Com of 2013 then its going to be a very poor year
This film is lacking enough jokes to be described as a comedy, in my opinion a decent Rom Com should have as much "Com" as it does "Rom" and this really fails on that score.
Gerrard Butler does not pull this one off in my opinion, his performance is held up by others around him, particularly Uma Thurman, Catherine Zita Jones and Judy Greer as the female love interests who are all throwing themselves at him, and Dennis Quaid.
The Film is let down right from the Start, in the opening Sequence we see George scoring a goal for Celtic, the only trouble is that in the build up to the goal (which i assume is real SPL footage) the Celtic players are wearing the ntl shirt, and when we get a close up of George scoring the goal, he is wearing a shirt with a completely different sponsor. that kind of sets the tone for the whole movie.
If this is the best Rom Com of 2013 then its going to be a very poor year. 4/10
This film is lacking enough jokes to be described as a comedy, in my opinion a decent Rom Com should have as much "Com" as it does "Rom" and this really fails on that score.
Gerrard Butler does not pull this one off in my opinion, his performance is held up by others around him, particularly Uma Thurman, Catherine Zita Jones and Judy Greer as the female love interests who are all throwing themselves at him, and Dennis Quaid.
The Film is let down right from the Start, in the opening Sequence we see George scoring a goal for Celtic, the only trouble is that in the build up to the goal (which i assume is real SPL footage) the Celtic players are wearing the ntl shirt, and when we get a close up of George scoring the goal, he is wearing a shirt with a completely different sponsor. that kind of sets the tone for the whole movie.
If this is the best Rom Com of 2013 then its going to be a very poor year. 4/10
Pitch Perfect
My Film day continued with Pitch Perfect. a Story about a University singing group entering a competition.
Like all movies in this Genre, where its an against the odds contest, its kind of predictable that they are going to win. this has been done many times before, whether its the Dance Competitions of Step Up or Streetdance, or singing contests. Pitch Perfect falls into the classic trap of taking performers and getting them to act, rather than getting actors who can sing, this inevitably means that some of the acting is wooden.
That said, the story is decent, and the narrative arc flows along quite nicely, it is by no means the worst film of this type, Rebel Wilson as "Fat Amy" has many of the best comedy lines and her comedy timing is great.
Positives and negatives with this one, flawed but enjoyable 6/10
Like all movies in this Genre, where its an against the odds contest, its kind of predictable that they are going to win. this has been done many times before, whether its the Dance Competitions of Step Up or Streetdance, or singing contests. Pitch Perfect falls into the classic trap of taking performers and getting them to act, rather than getting actors who can sing, this inevitably means that some of the acting is wooden.
That said, the story is decent, and the narrative arc flows along quite nicely, it is by no means the worst film of this type, Rebel Wilson as "Fat Amy" has many of the best comedy lines and her comedy timing is great.
Positives and negatives with this one, flawed but enjoyable 6/10
The Impossible
With Cineworld Southampton having only 5 screens, it cannot, unfortunately, show every film out. so with 3 films I wanted to see not showing, I decided to have a film day, take a day trip to Chichester, and catch up.
My Day Started with the Impossible, I had seen quite a few people on Twitter saying that this was a bit of a weepy film and to make sure you take tissues, so tissues in hand I sat down to enjoy this, and enjoy it I did.
Some wonderful special effects, showing the true horrors and devastation of the Tsunami of boxing day 2004. a very good leading performance by Naomi Watts, and especially Tom Holland as Lucas.
I particularly liked the Surgery scene, and the way in which Bayona uses the flashback of the wave to show whether she lives or dies. (I won't spoil that one for you) and the end, which again I won't say to much about to avoid spoilers, but the focus on the devastation all around, to round off the movie is very appropriate, and handled with great sensitivity.
There were a couple of emotional scenes that had me close to tears, but maybe not as much as some of my twitter followers.
My only gripe is that the Hollywood effect has turned a real life Spanish family into an English family, what would have been wrong with using Hispanic actors? that said this is a very good movie and sets the bar for 2013 8.5/10
My Day Started with the Impossible, I had seen quite a few people on Twitter saying that this was a bit of a weepy film and to make sure you take tissues, so tissues in hand I sat down to enjoy this, and enjoy it I did.
Some wonderful special effects, showing the true horrors and devastation of the Tsunami of boxing day 2004. a very good leading performance by Naomi Watts, and especially Tom Holland as Lucas.
I particularly liked the Surgery scene, and the way in which Bayona uses the flashback of the wave to show whether she lives or dies. (I won't spoil that one for you) and the end, which again I won't say to much about to avoid spoilers, but the focus on the devastation all around, to round off the movie is very appropriate, and handled with great sensitivity.
There were a couple of emotional scenes that had me close to tears, but maybe not as much as some of my twitter followers.
My only gripe is that the Hollywood effect has turned a real life Spanish family into an English family, what would have been wrong with using Hispanic actors? that said this is a very good movie and sets the bar for 2013 8.5/10
Wednesday 2 January 2013
Quartet
My First movie of 2013 was Quartet, with names like Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon on the cast list I thought this might be a decent start to 2013, but was left somewhat bemused.
I was not expecting quite the amount of bad language, Billy Connelly may get away with it, because he is Billy Connelly, but Watching Maggie Smith Swearing feels a bit like watching your grandmother swearing.
The Story itself take a long time to get going, and this is a relatively short film, by the last 20 minutes I was emotionally involved, but for the first hour it labours quite a lot.
Also I am not sure that the film knows what it is trying to be, if it is a Rom Com then it is extremely short of jokes, and if it is meant to be a serious piece then it, fails at that too, its somewhere in between the two which makes it a bit flat.
I have seen a lot of TV adverts for films coming out in the first couple of weeks of Janaury claiming to be the "film of the year" how they can make that claim so early on is beyond me, but this one definitely won't be in my top 10 come the end of 2013. I think its safe to say that this is not Maggie Smith's finest film. 5/10
I was not expecting quite the amount of bad language, Billy Connelly may get away with it, because he is Billy Connelly, but Watching Maggie Smith Swearing feels a bit like watching your grandmother swearing.
The Story itself take a long time to get going, and this is a relatively short film, by the last 20 minutes I was emotionally involved, but for the first hour it labours quite a lot.
Also I am not sure that the film knows what it is trying to be, if it is a Rom Com then it is extremely short of jokes, and if it is meant to be a serious piece then it, fails at that too, its somewhere in between the two which makes it a bit flat.
I have seen a lot of TV adverts for films coming out in the first couple of weeks of Janaury claiming to be the "film of the year" how they can make that claim so early on is beyond me, but this one definitely won't be in my top 10 come the end of 2013. I think its safe to say that this is not Maggie Smith's finest film. 5/10
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