Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing in this biopic of the man who broke Enigma and shortened the second world war.
Turing is a very complex character, and Cumberbatch puts in a masterful performance, doing justice to a man who to modern eyes is a genius and war hero, but who at the time was seen as something of an eccentric. Whilst parts of Turing's story are widely known, there is much in this film that I did not know, and I left the cinema with a much better understanding of the man and what happened to him.
The film jumps between 3 time periods, his school days, his work at Bletchley Park and his arrest for Indecency, but it works this very well and it doesn't feel unnatural in its chronology.
This is a superb biopic with a very intriguing subject, and I highly recommend it 9.5/10
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Mr Turner
Timothy Spall won the best actor award at this years Canne film festival for his portrayal of the artist J M W Turner in this period biopic, it is undoubtedly a fine acting performance by Spall however his portrayal of Mr Turner is not a man with whom I would choose to spend time, and especially not 2 and a half hours.
The film lacks a cohesive narrative arc, with little sense of the passage of time, and many of the scenes could almost be put in any order as they do not bear any relevance to the scene they precede. By the two hour mark, with Turner now ill, I found myself wishing he would die quickly so that the film would be over.
This film is far to long (refer to previous post regarding length of films, that is code for boring) many of the scenes could be removed and the film would probably make more narrative sense. Whilst Spalls acting may be worthy of an award, the screenwriting is most certainly not 4/10
The film lacks a cohesive narrative arc, with little sense of the passage of time, and many of the scenes could almost be put in any order as they do not bear any relevance to the scene they precede. By the two hour mark, with Turner now ill, I found myself wishing he would die quickly so that the film would be over.
This film is far to long (refer to previous post regarding length of films, that is code for boring) many of the scenes could be removed and the film would probably make more narrative sense. Whilst Spalls acting may be worthy of an award, the screenwriting is most certainly not 4/10
Monday, 10 November 2014
Interstellar
Ever since I first heard about Interstellar I was excited, this was one of my most anticipated films of 2014, arguably one of the best directors of our time, Christopher Nolan, directs last years best actor Oscar winner, what's not to like?
Interstellar is a very good film, but given my level of anticipation I was a little disappointed, it lacks that extra something that turns a very good film, into an outstanding one.
Interstellar also proves he point I made I a recent blog post about films being to long, It is nearly 3 hours in length, but I was so engrossed in the storyline that not once did I check my watch, and upon leaving the cinema I was extremely surprised by just how late it was, this is not a "long" film.
For all it's scale and size, this film lacks something, the plotline is ridiculous, especially in the 3rd act, early on in the film, much of the story is believable, however without posting plot spoilers, the final resolution of the movie and explanation of certain key elements leaves behind the realms of believable science, and strays very much toward the Fiction in Science Fiction.
On the whole though this is a very good film, with some great acting performances, and beautiful cinematography, however it's final resolution left me a little underwhelmed 8/10
Interstellar is a very good film, but given my level of anticipation I was a little disappointed, it lacks that extra something that turns a very good film, into an outstanding one.
Interstellar also proves he point I made I a recent blog post about films being to long, It is nearly 3 hours in length, but I was so engrossed in the storyline that not once did I check my watch, and upon leaving the cinema I was extremely surprised by just how late it was, this is not a "long" film.
For all it's scale and size, this film lacks something, the plotline is ridiculous, especially in the 3rd act, early on in the film, much of the story is believable, however without posting plot spoilers, the final resolution of the movie and explanation of certain key elements leaves behind the realms of believable science, and strays very much toward the Fiction in Science Fiction.
On the whole though this is a very good film, with some great acting performances, and beautiful cinematography, however it's final resolution left me a little underwhelmed 8/10
Thursday, 23 October 2014
Fury
Brad Pitt stars as a tank commander in this World War II drama set in 1945 as the allies push into Germany and towards the end of the war. It features some superb acting performances, particularly from Shia Labeouf and Logan Lerman, who I am a huge fan of since seeing him in the Perks of being a wallflower, my favourite film of 2012.
Lerman plays a young fresh recruit, with no experience of war, who desperately struggles to take in the enormity of what is happening, and initially is reluctant to kill the enemy, his journey through the film and realisation of the realities of war make this a superb performance.
That said, Fury is not perfect, it suffers a little from a weak plotline in places, particularly in the first half of the film. But as world war II dramas go, this is a particularly good example, especially the final half an hour 8/10
Lerman plays a young fresh recruit, with no experience of war, who desperately struggles to take in the enormity of what is happening, and initially is reluctant to kill the enemy, his journey through the film and realisation of the realities of war make this a superb performance.
That said, Fury is not perfect, it suffers a little from a weak plotline in places, particularly in the first half of the film. But as world war II dramas go, this is a particularly good example, especially the final half an hour 8/10
Saturday, 11 October 2014
The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner is the latest young adult fiction to be adapted for the big screen. Ever since the box office success of Harry Potter and Twilight, we now seem to have an endless supply of YA novels being turned into movies, and this is a fairly average example.
It follows Thomas a young man who wakes up with no memory of his past in an elevator, at the top is the glade, an area in the middle of a vast maze with seemingly no way out.
As the film progresses towards it's conclusion, and set-up for the second film, it begins to make a bit of sense, but for the first hour it is very confused. It may help to have had some more information at the outset, and I think that now we know some of what is going on, this will only aid the second movie.
The stand out performance for me is that of Will Poulter who steals the show, but his performance alone does not make up for the wooden acting of others.
I get the feeling the 2nd film will work a bit better 5/10
It follows Thomas a young man who wakes up with no memory of his past in an elevator, at the top is the glade, an area in the middle of a vast maze with seemingly no way out.
As the film progresses towards it's conclusion, and set-up for the second film, it begins to make a bit of sense, but for the first hour it is very confused. It may help to have had some more information at the outset, and I think that now we know some of what is going on, this will only aid the second movie.
The stand out performance for me is that of Will Poulter who steals the show, but his performance alone does not make up for the wooden acting of others.
I get the feeling the 2nd film will work a bit better 5/10
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Gone Girl
Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as a married couple, on their 5th Wedding Anniversary he comes home to discover her missing and signs of a struggle in the house, his wife is missing, and he is accused of her Murder.
This is a terrific thriller, featuring a gritty storyline. I think it often helps films adapted from novels when the original novelist also writes the screenplay for the movie. It is surely easier and better for someone to adapt their own work for the screen then to hatchet someone elses novel.
Rosamund Pike is fantastic and steals the show with a mesmerising performance as Amy and I'd surely an early contender in the race for the Best Actress Oscar, Much like Caté Blanchett won last year with an October release.
This is up there with the best films this year 10/10
This is a terrific thriller, featuring a gritty storyline. I think it often helps films adapted from novels when the original novelist also writes the screenplay for the movie. It is surely easier and better for someone to adapt their own work for the screen then to hatchet someone elses novel.
Rosamund Pike is fantastic and steals the show with a mesmerising performance as Amy and I'd surely an early contender in the race for the Best Actress Oscar, Much like Caté Blanchett won last year with an October release.
This is up there with the best films this year 10/10
Friday, 3 October 2014
Length of Films - When is a Film to Long?
I watched Boyhood Yesterday, I shall post up a review a bit later, but at nearly 3 hours long, It got me thinking about film Length. All to often on this blog I find myself using the phrase "It is a bit to long" or "It felt a bit to long" What do I actually mean by this? Is 3 hours always to long? Is it just my attention span?
Well, Generally when I use this phrase, what I actually mean is "I was bored" where the film goes off and does something superfluous that really dosen't need to be there. Perhaps it is supposed to be an action film, such as the Recent Liam Neeson film A walk Among The Tombstones, where he spends half the movie in an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting proving that he is definitely an alcoholic, We got the point the first time!
There are examples of quite lengthy films that did not "feel" too long, The Wolf of Wall Street is a prime example of a 3 hour film that, in my opinion, needs to be that long in order to fit everything in, so my comment regarding length is not a criticque of the running time of a movie, but more about how it uses that running time, and whether I think a movie could be improved by cutting certain sequences in order to a) reduce its length, but more importantly b) keep the movie flowing and reduce my boredom.
Well, Generally when I use this phrase, what I actually mean is "I was bored" where the film goes off and does something superfluous that really dosen't need to be there. Perhaps it is supposed to be an action film, such as the Recent Liam Neeson film A walk Among The Tombstones, where he spends half the movie in an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting proving that he is definitely an alcoholic, We got the point the first time!
There are examples of quite lengthy films that did not "feel" too long, The Wolf of Wall Street is a prime example of a 3 hour film that, in my opinion, needs to be that long in order to fit everything in, so my comment regarding length is not a criticque of the running time of a movie, but more about how it uses that running time, and whether I think a movie could be improved by cutting certain sequences in order to a) reduce its length, but more importantly b) keep the movie flowing and reduce my boredom.
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