Three Films, Three Days, Three Cinemas

As the title of this blog suggests, last weekend I unintentionally saw three different films over three days at three different cinemas.

I'll start with the first film A Star Is Born which I saw on Friday at The Connaught Theatre in Worthing.

A Star Is Born is the fourth incarnation of this apparently timeless story, previous versions having starred Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, James Mason and Judy Garland and Fredric March and Janet Gaynor. None of which I am ashamed to say I have seen.

In some ways it probably helped to see this version having not seen any of the previous ones as it puts less expectation on the new version, which by all accounts of Director Bradley Cooper, only has certain elements in common with the previous films anyway.

The story this time focuses on established Rock star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) who is clearly struggling with alcohol and drug addiction when we meet him at the start of the film. After a gig he stops at a bar where he meets Ally (Lady Gaga), a waitress who has a natural talent for singing and song writing. Jackson finds himself drawn to this woman who has such a unique outlook on him, and on the world around her, and he finds himself falling for her, and her for him. But of course, with addiction thrown into the mix, it's never going to be plain sailing for the two.

A Star Is Born had me gripped from start to finish, mainly because of the performances of the two leads. I bought into their love affair from the off, even though on reflection, it did seem to happen very fast. I found the chemistry between Cooper and Gaga to be electrifying. They bounced off each other so well, and when they sang together it was a thing of beauty (I've already purchased the soundtrack).

The only negatives I can say are that the film is quite long, and does feel it. Not that that is especially bad. At no point was I not enjoying it, but I did feel it could have benefitted from being a few minutes shorter. And the shocking scene at the end of the movie I felt unprepared for. I knew it was going to be sad. People had told me it would be sad. And it was one of those movies that you could tell was going to be tragic in some way, but I was not at all prepared for what did happen, and I felt duped somewhat that I hadn't been prepared.

Having said all of that, the film is stunningly directed by first timer Cooper, and I  was definitely not expecting Gaga to be as good as she was. Yes it wasn't a big stretch to play a girl from New York who has natural talent and makes it in the music industry - if not quite being herself - but she was still fantastic and nothing can take that away from her.

8/10

On Saturday I saw A House With A Clock In It's Walls at Odeon Brighton. What an adventure that was.

Sadly that adventure had more to do with the awful experience my friend and I had at the Odeon than the film itself. Which I am sure when watched uninterrupted by several fire alarms and a restart that came with sound but no picture, would have been a perfectly adequate family romp but which would have been otherwise rather unremarkable.

A House... tells the story of an orphaned boy Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) going to live with his uncle (Jack Black) who it turns out is a warlock (boy witch), and who's neighbour (the always stylish and stunning Cate Blanchett) is also a witch. 

During the course of the movie we discover, along with Lewis, that the magnificent house his uncle lives in was cursed by the former resident, an evil warlock (Kyle MacLachlan) and the three of them must work together to break the spell he placed on the house, before it changes the course of history.

Unfortunately, it feels like I will remember A House... for all of the wrong reasons, and that my overriding thoughts on the movie will be tainted by the truly awful experience of a cinema where no-one working there knew what was happening, how to communicate with the cinema goers, let alone with each other, and where I would think twice before going to watch another movie, EVER AGAIN.

A House gets 6/10 and I think that's me being quite generous.

On Sunday I went to see The Wife at my favourite of the Brighton cinema's Dukes at Komedia.

I'd seen the trailer for this twice at said cinema, and was then shocked to see it wasn't showing there on the first week of the movie being released. It was instead only showing at The Duke Of Yorks, which if it's possible to, I despise more than the Odeon.

I don't think I have ever had a pleasant experience at the DoY's which is a real shame as I love to support independent cinema, and yet I hate to go there with every fibre of my being.

I was saddened to think that I would have to break my 'no DoY's' rule and go there to see The Wife, when to my surprise, in it's second week of release went to Dukes at Komedia. Phew.

The Wife tells the story of Joan Castleman (Glenn Close), wife of Author Joseph Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) who is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. You can tell from the trailer that he's going to be a bit of a shit, but to what extent it's unclear. Well, without spoiling the movie I couldn't possibly say but let's just say that he's more of a shit than the trailer would have you believe. 

The performances are fantastic from Close and Pryce, and I must say it was a lovely surprise to see Christian Slater in a mainstream movie where he's actually really good and working with really great actors again.

Regrettably, although the calibre of acting here is way above par, the story is still a little slow in places, and the end is not as punchy as I had hoped it would be from the trailer. Still an intriguing and superbly acted film that I would highly recommend, but definitely more of a slow burner.

7/10

American Hustle

http://www.americanhustle-movie.com/site/

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.

Viewing Date - 1st January 2014

UK Release Date (Nationwide) - 1st January 2014

Cast Overview:

Irving Rosenfeld ~ Christian Bale

Richie DiMaso ~ Bradley Cooper

Sydney Prosser ~ Amy Adams

Mayor Carmine Polito ~ Jeremy Renner

Rosalyn Rosenfeld ~ Jennifer Lawrence

Stoddard Thorsen ~ Louis C.K.

Pete Musane ~ Jack Huston

Paco Hernandez / Sheik Abdullah ~ Michael Pena

Carl Elway ~ Shea Whigham 

Anthony Amado ~ Alessandro Nivola

Dolly Polito ~ Elisabeth Rohm

Director ~ David O Russell

Writer(s) ~ Eric Singer and David O Russell

The Hangover Part III

Mini Review

http://www.hangoverpart3.com/

After the hideous car crash that was The Hangover Part II, I really wasn't looking forward to Part III. And in fact I had intended not to see it, especially if it was going to be nothing more than a rehash of the first film, again. But I'd been enjoying the sun all afternoon at a Barbeque on the beach and decided on a bit of a whim to join my friends when they suggested seeing it after our coals had cooled. 

The first thing to point out about The Hangover Part III is that there is no hangover. At least not in any scene prior to the credits rolling. The main focus of this third installment in the Hangover trilogy is yet another kidnapping of Doug (Justin Bartha), but this time it's when the guys are all sober. Doug's kidnapper Marshall (John Goodman) is seeking the Wolfpack's old friend Mr Chow (Ken Jeong), who has stolen a considerable amount of money from him. Marshall has been monitoring communications between Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and the illusive Mr Chow and decides to take Doug as insurance for the gang bringing Chow to Marshall. If they manage it they'll get Doug back in one piece. If not, well...

I must admit that The Hangover Part III was actually much more enjoyable than Part II. Although the Doug kidnapping was basically the same story as The Hangover, it did have a lot more originality than Part II did and was a lot funnier as a result. Bradley Cooper was definitely the film's saving grace yet again as not only did he look stunning (sorry about the blatant sexism there but he's hot) but he's without doubt the better actor of the three leads.

If you're looking for a comedy that you don't need to get too invested in then The Hangover Part III is definitely for you. I just hope Todd Phillips decides to leave the trilogy on a relatively high note and not make any more. 7 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 2nd June 2013

UK Release Date - 24th May 2013

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Phil

Ed Helms ~ Stu

Zach Galifianakis ~ Alan

Justin Bartha ~ Doug

Ken Jeong ~ Mr Chow

John Goodman ~ Marshall

Melissa McCarthy ~ Cassie

Heather Graham ~ Jade

Mike Epps ~ Black Doug

Director ~ Todd Phillips

Writer(s) ~ Todd Phillips, Craig Mazin, Jon Lucas (characters) and Scott Moore (characters)

The Place Beyond The Pines

http://focusfeatures.com/the_place_beyond_the_pines

I'd been looking forward to The Place Beyond The Pines since I saw the first trailer for it. Atmospheric music and promises of stellar performances from the always great Ryan Gosling and the on-the-up Bradley Cooper. I had high hopes. Perhaps too high? 

*The following synopsis features spoilers*

The film is split into three different stories, the first is of stunt motorcycle rider Luke (Ryan Gosling), who returns to a small town a year after he was last there with the state fair he does daredevil stunts for. He discovers upon his return that he has fathered a child with Romina (Eva Mendes), a woman he had a brief fling with 12 months prior. Deciding to do right by the child Luke quits his job, allowing him to stay in town and build a relationship with the boy. He gets a job with a local mechanic Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), which leads to him taking part in armed robberies to get money together for the kid. Luke is tragically killed by police officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) after a robbery goes wrong. Here we pick up the second thread of the story where we discover that Avery is not the heroic cop that the press have lead everyone to believe. The third act of film is set 15 years later and shows how this chain of events have shaped the lives of both Luke's and Avery's sons. *End of Spoilers*

The Place Beyond The Pines was one of those films that as I was watching it I was thinking how good it was, how clever, how brilliant all of the performances were. That was until we got to the third act. Up until then I stand by the fact that it is a great movie and features fantastic performances. And if you walk out of the film then, it still will be. I however, stayed until the end, and I really wish I hadn't. I had massive issues with the third act of this story.

For one, it makes the film too long. It's 140 minutes. If you shaved off or even just cut down the third act it would be under 2 hours. Which is acceptable. But honestly, it feels about half an hour too long. For two, the performances from the teenage boys are not great. Dane DeHaan (you'll recognise him if you've seen last years Chronicle) who plays Luke's son Jason does a decent enough job, but Emory Cohen who plays Avery's son AJ is really quite a terrible actor. He's all swagger and pouty lips and he just can't pull that off. He also looks in no way related to Bradley Cooper, which is an issue because you don't ever really feel like they're related? For three, the whole story of how what happened between Luke and Avery affects the boys feels really unnecessary. They could have hinted at it, shown glimpses of the boys growing up but I didn't feel like an in-depth look at the boys psyche was required.

It's a shame as otherwise I'd have nothing but praise for Pines. Gosling and Cooper are both superb and Liotta puts in his usual menacing performance which is as enjoyable as ever. Mendes and Byrne are both beautiful and fiesty as the love interests and capable support is provided by Mendelsohn, Ali, Yulin, Clohessy and Greenwood, who is particularly watchable as ever. 

By all means see what you think for yourself but don't believe the hype. 6 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 21st April 2013

UK Release Date - 12th April 2013

Cast Overview:

Ryan Gosling ~ Luke

Bradley Cooper ~ Avery

Eva Mendes ~ Romina

Rose Byrne ~ Jennifer

Ben Mendelsohn ~ Robin

Mahershala Ali ~ Kofi

Harris Yulin ~ Al Cross

Robert Clohessy ~ Chief Weirbowski

Bruce Greenwood ~ Bill Killcullen

Ray Liotta ~ Deluca

Emory Cohen ~ AJ

Dane DeHaan ~ Jason

Director ~ Derek Cianfrance

Writer(s) ~ Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder

Silver Linings Playbook

http://silverliningsplaybookmovie.com/

As a fan of both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence I was looking forward to seeing Silver Linings Playbook as soon as I saw the trailer for it a couple of months ago. 

The film tells the story of Pat (Bradley Cooper), who was diagnosed bipolar and admitted to a mental health facility following the breakdown of his marriage. We meet him just as he is being released from the facility to the care of his parents, although Pat is unwilling to come to terms with the fact that his marriage is over. Whilst rebuilding his life, Pat becomes friends with Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a depressed young woman who is unconventionally coming to terms with being made a widow by sleeping with everyone in her office, causing her to lose her job. Tiffany persuades Pat to join her in a dance competition by promising him she will pass messages onto his estranged wife, but is she looking for more than a dance partner?

I must admit that I not only really enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook but I also found it quite a refreshingly sweet natured film with very little swearing and no sex scenes. Don't get me wrong, I like a good love scene as much as the next girl, but sometimes it's nice for a film to be the kind of film you could take your mum to see. Bearing in mind the fact that film also stars Robert De Niro, I think a lot of people will be surprised to see that this is such a tame film in terms of the lack of swearing and violence.

The only issues I had with Silver Linings is that it could have been funnier, and it is a tad on the predictable side, but neither of these niggles affected my overall opinion or enjoyment of the film. Cooper, Lawrence and De Niro - who I have never been a fan of - all put in solid performances and you find it very easy to like the characters they play, genuinely caring what happens to them. 

If you like your rom coms to come with honest dialogue and a backdrop of emotional problems, but ultimately to have a warm heart, then you'll like this one a lot. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 4th December 2012

UK Release Date - 21st November 2012

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Pat

Jennifer Lawrence ~ Tiffany

Robert De Niro ~ Pat Snr

Jacki Weaver ~ Dolores

Chris Tucker ~ Danny

Anupam Kher ~ Dr Cliff Patel

John Ortiz ~ Ronnie

Shea Whigham ~ Jake

Julia Stiles ~ Veronica

Director ~ David O Russell

Writer(s) ~ David O Russell (Screenplay) and Matthew Quick (Novel) 

The Hangover Part II

http://hangoverpart2.warnerbros.com/

Anyone who reads my tumblr blog will know that when I went up north recently, I queued some items on that blog to keep my readers entertained while I was away.

The theme of this queue was 'Films I was looking forward to seeing in May'. For anyone who doesn't read my tumblr blog, those films were; Water For Elephants, Something Borrowed, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Hangover Part II. Of all of those films I think The Hangover Part II was the one I was most looking forward to. 

The first Hangover film introduced me to the hotness of Bradley Cooper and was one of the rarest things in movies, it was a comedy that actually made me laugh. Several times as I recall. It's not that I don't have a sense of humor, it's just rare for comedies to make me laugh out loud. So that was all I wanted from the sequel, Bradley to still be hot and some laughs. Skip to the end if you want to find out if that's what I got.

For everyone else I will give a brief run down of the story. Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married (again) and takes the three best friends that anyone could have - Doug (Justin Bartha), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) - as well as his wife-to-be's brother Teddy (Mason Lee) to Bangkok for his bachelor party. They all get wasted and three of the five - Stu, Phil and Alan - wake up in a room they don't recognise and apparently missing two of their group. Doug soon checks in safe and sound (unlike last time) which means Teddy is missing. A frantic re-tracing of steps ensues to try and locate the missing brother in law to be.

Sound familiar? It ought to because the producers of The Hangover Part II seem to think that the key to a successful sequel is to rip off the first film completely. It's an almost identical film to the first, the only difference is the setting and the missing person. Oh and they swapped a Tiger for a Monkey. Whup-de-do.

Yes Bradley is still hot, but I was so disappointed with how bland the film was, I barely noticed. The jokes are all the same as the first time around, Stu even sings a jaunty song and yes, even Mike Tyson makes another pointless appearance. All of the scenes which made the first Hangover so unique and funny are now played out in such a glaringly obvious way that you can see the punchline coming long before the joke's been told. The only upside for me was that Mr Chow, who everyone seemed to love last time out (but who really annoyed me), was actually a lot funnier and a lot less annoying this time. 

Easily the most disappointing of all the films I wanted to see this month. 6.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 26th May 2011

UK Release Date - 26th May 2011

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Phil

Ed Helms ~ Stu

Zach Galifianakis ~ Alan

Justin Bartha ~ Doug

Ken Jeong ~ Mr Chow

Paul Giamatti ~ Kingsley

Mason Lee ~ Teddy

Jamie Chung ~ Lauren

Director ~ Todd Phillips

Writer(s) ~ Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips

Limitless

http://www.iamrogue.com/limitless

For those of you who know me, you will know that writing this review is the first real test of my ability to remain professional in the face of undoubted favoritism. Can I be objective about a film when I openly lust after the male lead? This test will be applied again when Source Code comes out on the 1st April. Only that will be an even bigger test than this, seeing as my love for Jakey goes above and beyond my love of anyone else.

But for now we're talking about my love of Bradley, err, what I meant to say is that we're talking about Limitless.

Limitless is based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. This is a well known book but one which I was not aware of until the first rumblings about the movie adaptation were being discussed back in the early part of 2008. At this time Shia LaBeouf was attached to star, but then he broke his hand in the infamous car crash/DUI of the summer of 2008 and The Dark Fields movie had to find itself a new star. Enter Bradley Cooper. Fresh from the success of The Hangover and The A Team, Cooper took on the lead role of Eddie Morra and also bagged himself a producer credit on the film. He's also responsible for the addition of Robert De Niro to the cast as he pitched the film to De Niro himself.

The story is told from Eddie's perspective, a struggling writer who is given an experimental drug which allows him to access 100% of his brain. This allows him to finish his book in 4 days, a book he's been trying to write for years. It also allows him to absorb information at an alarming rate, he learns languages and instruments in a matter of days and figures out very quickly how to play the stock market. But his body can only handle so much and eventually he starts to feel the ill effects of the drug and has to make a life altering decision.

I can't vouch for whether the film is loyal to the book as I haven't read the book. However, I can say that the direction of film, while impressive in the way it puts you in Eddie's mindset, also enduces a certain amount of queasyness with it's fast fowarding through time and upside downside angles. I can also say that having now seen the movie I have a hard time picturing Shia LaBeouf in this role. I'm not sure whether that's thanks to Bradley making it his own or just the fact that the script demands an older actor? I'm not sure if the script was re-worked for Bradley when Shia dropped out but with an 11 year age gap between them it's not as if they vie for similar roles.

Leaving my bias at the door I must say that I thought Bradley did a really great job. Eddie is not the most likable character and yet through the use of the Cooper charm he becomes someone that you root for, hoping that things end well for him. He really does carry this movie, even with support from De Niro this is Bradley's film and kudos to him for holding the audience's attention for the duration whilst also holding his own against an acting heavyweight. 

It's not going to win any awards but Limitless is entertaining and well acted. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 23rd March 2011

UK Release Date - 23rd March 2011

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Eddie Morra

Robert De Niro ~ Carl Van Loon

Abbie Cornish ~ Lindy

Anna Friel ~ Melissa

Johnny Whitworth ~ Vern

Director ~ Neil Burger

Writer(s) ~ Leslie Dixon (Screenplay) and Alan Glynn (Novel)