For All Your Movie Reviewing Needs! This blog will feature film reviews, the occasional personal blog, a tally of the films I see at the cinema and anything else I deem worthy of sharing with YOU, my loyal readers. I have archived my two previous blogs here too so anyone new can catch up with something they might have missed. Thanks for reading!
I saw this movie over two weeks ago and I have really struggled to think of something I can say in the review, that won't put people off seeing this extraordinary film of one man's survival against the odds, and his fight to make it back to his family after he is kidnapped and sold into slavery.
You see Steve McQueen's film isn't fun. It is definitely an endurance. At times it is damn hard to watch, but it's such an unbelievable true story that I feel it should be seen. By as many people as possible. Because no matter how hard it is to watch, it is a true story and therefore, people should know that this happened.
Needless to say the performances are out of this world, and in some cases, so far removed from the actors real lives that you wonder how they can play such roles.
As such, I am not going to go into detail about the plot because I pretty much covered that in my opening paragraph. I'm not going to wax lyrical about the film until there are no surprises left in store. I'm just going to tell you to see it.
Not quite a masterpiece, but worthy of the hype non-the-less. 8 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 7th January 2014
UK Release Date - 10th January 2014
Cast Overview:
Solomon Northup ~ Chiwetel Ejiofor
Edwin Epps ~ Michael Fassbender
Patsey ~ Lupita Nyong'o
Mary Epps ~ Sarah Paulson
William Ford ~ Benedict Cumberbatch
Samuel Bass ~ Brad Pitt
John Tibeats ~ Paul Dano
Theophilus Freeman ~ Paul Giamatti
Director ~ Steve McQueen
Writer(s) ~ John Ridley (Screenplay) and Solomon Northup (Based on his book "Twelve Years a Slave")
To give you some background, I was aware of this movie from the moment it was in production, as one of my colleagues worked on the film as an extra. At the time, we joked that a staff outing should take place to see the film on it's release date, which was originally scheduled for Christmas 2012. As you can see, that didn't quite happen, and so my colleagues and I were left waiting another year before we could finally see the finished film.
The story is that of Kai (Reeves), a half Japanese, half British orphan, who is discovered by samurai in the woods, having run away from the demons who raised him. Initially, the leader of the samurai, Oishi, wants to kill the boy Kai, but their Lord Asano steps in to spare his life, seeing something special in the youngster. Years later, Kai is a recluse, loyal to the samurai but never accepted by them, and in love with Lord Asano's daughter Mika. When the samurai receive a visit from Lord Kira, with shapeshifting witch Mizuki (Kikuchi) in tow, a deceit will befall the house of Asano, for which revenge will be sought by the samurai. But they will need Kai's help in order to defeat the witch and restore honour to their people.
Well, at least I think that's what it was about? It's somewhat different from the way it's portrayed in the trailer anyway. Which is a shame because it's not a terrible movie, but if you go into it expecting a film with lots of samurai action, and then you get a love story, with a side of samurai fighting, you'd be disappointed, which I think is why 47 Ronin has had such a poor response.
*Spoiler Alert* The other thing I found kind of hard to swallow was that you spend the whole movie rooting for the 47 Ronin of the title, hoping they will get their revenge for the wrongful enforced suicide of their leader, and in the end, they suffer the same fate. So what exactly was the point? *End Spoiler Alert*
In summary, the samurai movie looks very nice, is essentially a love story with a side of action but the end is disappointing. 6.5 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 7th January 2014
UK Release Date - 26th December 2013
Cast Overview:
Kai ~ Keanu Reeves
Oishi ~ Hiroyuki Sanada
Mika ~ Ko Shibasaki
Lord Kira ~ Tadanobu Asano
Lord Asano ~ Min Tanaka
Chikara ~ Jin Akanishi
Yasuno ~ Masayoshi Haneda
Mizuki ~ Rinko Kikuchi
Director ~ Carl Rinsch
Writer(s) ~ Chris Morgan (Screenplay and Screen Story), Hossein Amini (Screenplay) and Walter Hamada (Screen Story)
An unnamed sailor (Robert Redford) wakes on his yacht to discover a gaping hole in the side of his hull and water coming in. He steps outside to survey the damage and discovers a shipping container that had seemingly fallen off a container ship, had drifted into his yacht in the night and made a fairly sizable, but patchable, hole in his vessel. The man is resourceful, as you would expect from someone sailing alone, but his radio is destroyed. So without hope of contacting anyone for help, he patches the hole as best he can and sails on. Matters are made worse when his ship sails straight into storm clouds on the horizon.
The reason I decided to make this a mini review is that I wasn't sure how much I would be able to say about a movie with one actor, and about 5 lines of dialogue in total, other than it's very very impressive. Robert Redford's character doesn't even have a name, but boy do you feel for him in this film. First the yacht gets a hole in it, then he discovers the radio is bust, then the storm. I don't want to spoil it for anyone planning to see the film by telling you what happens next but by god, how much bad luck can befall one man?
His performance is astonishing. Especially when you subscribe to the theory that the biggest part of acting is reacting, usually against other people. There are no other actors on screen, no-one for him to converse with, and yet he holds your attention completely for the entire duration of the film. The additional fact that Redford is 77 years old, and is thrown around like a rag doll on that yacht is another fact that you can't fail to praise him for. I mean I was impressed that Tom Cruise really was climbing up the Burj Khalifa but Redford has 26 years on Cruise. It is just beyond comprehension that he has made this movie.
The only people I wouldn't recommend this to are those who suffer a lot from sea sickness. Everyone else should see it now. 8 out of 10.
Yes, I was late to the Hobbit party I know. It came out at the end of 2013, but then Christmas happened and if I'm honest, I wanted to wait until some of the fuss had died down before I saw it. Having not been overly impressed with An Unexpected Journey, I wasn't in any rush to see Smaug, although I did want to see what happens next, if that makes sense.
Although I have never read The Hobbit, I am aware that Smaug takes some liberties with the book, introducing characters such as Legolas (who does not appear in the novel) and changing some of the story to fit such inclusions. To be honest, as I'm not familiar with the book, I'm not precious (excuse the pun) about the changes made, I just want to see what becomes of Bilbo and the gang.
In this second installment we pick up where An Unexpected Journey left off, which, if you're anything like me, you won't remember, so here's a refresher...
Hobbit Bilbo Baggins sets out on a journey to the Lonely Mountain with a group of Dwarves to reclaim their stolen home from a dragon named Smaug. In An Unexpected Journey we left the group on a hilltop having just been rescued by giant eagles, with the Lonely Mountain in the distance (so not even half way there basically). In this installment they reach the mountain (yipee) and face the dragon within, and lots more that it would take far too long to go into.
As mentioned above, this installment introduces some new characters, as well as some old LOTR faces such as Legolas. I must admit that it was nice seeing him there, wielding his bow and arrow, whether he was meant to be there or not. I also immensely enjoyed Evangeline Lilly as a fellow elf, and Luke Evans as Bard, who is basically this trilogy's Aragorn.
The film moves the story on but I can't help but think that without the inclusion of elements not in the book, they could have easily made The Hobbit into two films rather than three. It does seem as if the reasoning behind the three movie deal was just to make more money, which sours the experience somewhat for me.
Despite this train of thought, it is clear that Jackson has a lot of love for these books and this shows in the world he has created for these characters. The sets, costumes, props etc are all fantastically detailed and really do deserve the highest praise. I'd just prefer it if the films weren't so long that by the end I've forgotten what happened at the beginning. Oh and I'd also prefer Peter Jackson to stop putting giant spiders in his films. I don't cope well with little ones, so big ones coming out of the screen are unbearable. Thankfully I was with my best friend who told me when it was safe to look at the screen again.
An enjoyable second film but I kinda just want them to get to the climax already. 7 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 2nd January 2014
UK Release Date - 13th December 2013
Cast Overview:
Gandalf ~ Ian McKellen
Bilbo ~ Martin Freeman
Thorin ~ Richard Armitage
Bofur ~ James Nesbitt
Fili ~ Dean O'Gorman
Kili ~ Aidan Turner
Legolas ~ Orlando Bloom
Tauriel ~ Evangeline Lilly
Thranduil ~ Lee Pace
Galadriel ~ Cate Blanchett
Smaug / Necromancer ~ Benedict Cumberbatch
Radagast ~ Sylvester McCoy
Bard / Girion ~ Luke Evans
Master of Laketown ~ Stephen Fry
Director ~ Peter Jackson
Writer(s) ~ Peter Jackson (Screenplay), Fran Walsh (Screenplay), Philippa Boyens (Screenplay), Guillermo del Toro (Screenplay) and J.R.R. Tolkien (Novel The Hobbit)
Allow me to start by saying that I feel like I've been waiting to see this movie for a very long time. In reality it hasn't been that long, but it feels like so long ago when I first saw the on-set photos, the hairdo's starting to take shape, Jennifer Lawrence almost spilling out of her dress as she stepped out of her car, Bradley Cooper in curlers. Now it's finally here.
The movie is definitely an ensemble piece, but at it's heart is Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), a small time con man who meets his match in Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams). Sydney has always dreamed of having a better life than the hand she was dealt and when she meets Irving, she finally feels as though she has not only met a kindred spirit, but also someone who can help make her dreams a reality. The only problem getting in the way of Sydney and Irving's dream, is that he is married, to a rather unstable woman named Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), and in doing the right thing for once in his life, Irving adopted her son, meaning his marriage vows are not going to be broken easily. As if the fact that the love of her life is married weren't bad enough, Sydney gets pinched by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) for taking part in Irving's dodgy deals, and ends up having to bargain for her (and Irv's) freedom by taking down a ring of mafia and politicians, including New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), in one of the biggest sting operations of it's time.
I hope you managed to follow that because if not, you may have difficulty following the film itself. Thankfully, David O Russell takes it all at a steady pace, resulting in a lengthy but rewarding movie. The actors are all faultlessly fantastic, and the fact that the main two characters of Irving and Sydney should be unlikable, makes it even more impressive that Bale and Adams make you like them so. Bale specifically really won me over. I have never been a huge fan of his, I appreciate how he throws himself into character more than most other actors do, losing and gaining weight in order to really become the person he's portraying, but I've just never been blown away by him before. I specifically wasn't expecting to like Irving as a character, a shady con man, but his final scene with Carmine was heartbreaking. And the scene at the party, perfectly accompanied by The Bee Gee's 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart', just sealed his performance for me. It's so clear on his face that he's finally realising the effect of what he's done on those he loves.
Adams is just perfect in every scene, I can't even really pinpoint one in particular, she's just mesmerising. Cooper's character is easily the most unlikable of the bunch, ironic in that he's the supposed 'good guy', but again that just speaks of his ability to play a character that you really want to punch for the second half of the movie. Renner and Lawrence both are very much in supporting roles but again both are tremendous. Renner's character really is the most decent of all of them and you really feel for him getting involved in the operation, while Lawrence manages to steal pretty much every scene she's in, and considering her limited screen time, her scenes are easily amongst the most memorable.
Although I wasn't born until after the 70s and most of their influences were long gone, I do feel Mr O Russell took some liberties with the costumes (especially for poor Amy), but if you have an actress with such a gravity defying bosom, you can't really blame him for dressing her that way. I did however think that he made great use of the styles of the era and certainly the music. I have already purchased the soundtrack after hearing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, remembering how great a song it was and not being able to stop singing it. Don't get me started on Delilah and Live and Let Die.
Definitely a must see to kick off 2014, and I will stick my neck out now and say this is likely to be one of the best movies of the year. Oscar buzz is certainly justified. 9 out of 10.
