Everest – An all-star cast features in this real-life drama
about an expedition to reach the higest peak in the world in 1996. Released in
IMAX 3D, Everest is an intense and atmospheric journey through arduous terrain
and tense drama, even if the constant obsession with the scenery and it’s
beauty make you feel like you’re about to wander into a Werner Herzog
documentary. Still, for all of the film’s technical merit, it’s the drama that
wins out. Whilst not exactly a great film that will last in the memory, it’s
still worth experiencing at least once. The high-calibre cast includes Jason
Clarke, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keria Knightley and Emily Watson. ****
(film of the week)
An Irrational Man – Woody Allen’s latest feature stars
Joaquin Phoenix as a burned-out and depressive philosophy professor. His
boredom in teaching and life is soon relieved by a budding relationship with a
bright young student played by Emma Stone and the possibility of perhaps committing
the perfect crime. Woody Allen’s been on something of a roll for the last
couple of years with the prolific director’s Blue Jasmine (2013) getting some
well-deserved recognition and the charming and rather underrated Magic In The
Moonlight last year. This effort, sadly, feels a little lazier and pedestrian.
It does enough to keep interest and is one of Allen’s more flippant and irreverent
films, clearly not meant to be anything more than just ingested and enjoyed, it’s
just a bit of a shame that he’s clearly done better than this as of late. ***
Legend – Tom Hardy stars as London gangster twins Reginald
and Ronald Kray in Tom Hildebrand’s 60’s-set crime drama. A very clear
influence of Martin Scorsese runs through this picture, but ultimately hinders
the production rather than helps it. Throughout there is rather ham-fisted
narration (possibly put in for an international audience less aware of the Krays
or London’s crime history) and the film takes another Scorsese-influenced route
in providing a non-moralistic portrait of the twins. Unfortunately, making them
come across mostly as charming and lovable rascals rather than the rather hard
thugs that the film also tries to address. Hardy’s lead performance is still a
winner however as both the charming and suave Reg and the completely demented
Ronnie, but this glossed-up tale of East-End violence feels somewhat
inappropriate and struggles to reconcile the Kray twins’ sadistic actions and
the rather odd (and difficult to tap into) affection felt towards them. Take
with a (significant) grain of salt. Also features Emily Browning, Chris
Ecclestone, Taron Egerton, Chazz Palminteri, Paul Bettany and John Sessions.
***
Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 Italian drama has been given a
brand new re-release thanks to the BFI, introducing this work of the Italian
New Wave to another generation. Monica Vitti stars as Vittora, an adventurous
and newly-single young woman courting
Alain Delon’s Piero, a young stockbroker. Like a lot of the European New
Wave, the film is big on experimentation and tipping its hat to the American
cinema that inspired it (and in turn took inspiration from the New Wave through
the generation of Coppola, Scorsese and Spielberg) and is admirable as a
technical exercise but sometimes a little too opaque for some (including my
own) tastes. Still, the film has some definite moments of entertainment,
particularly it’s witty satirical swipe at the stockmarket.
Straight Outta Compton
Musical biopic about the rise and fall of the massively
influential gangsta rap group, N.W.A. Focusing mainly on the lives and works of
Dr Dre (Corey Hawkins), Eazy E (Jason Mitchell) and Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.),
the casting is remarkably on the money, particularly with O’Shea Jackson Jr;
Jackson Sr. being Mr. Cube, himself as well as Paul Giamatti playing the group’s
manager, a role not too far from his recent turn in Love & Mercy (2014) or
Rock Of Ages (2012) before that. The film is best served when it acts as a
social document through the gang violence, drug busts and the LA riots that
affected Compton and its surrounding Angelino neighbourhoods in late-80’s and
early-90’s, especially since it dismisses some vital and controversial parts of
the N.W.A’s own history. However, the film still manages to find a tone that is
both faithful to the group without getting too bogged down in the necessary nastiness
and cruelty of the world that music came from. At its absolute best, this is a
film that puts forth a valiant effort to prove the truth that rap is as equal
an art form as any other and that voices must not be silenced. (pick of the
week)
The Treatment
Tough Belgian detective story about a cop (Gert Van Rampleberg)
investigating a sex-related child murder whilst also struggling to come to
terms with his own childhood trauma.
Somehow even more bleak than the premise makes its sound, The Treatment’s sombering subject matter and
dim cinematography do get rather wearing. However, this is compensated by some
solid acting and a story that eventually becomes rather engaging. The film’s
lack of will to soften its message has its merits in brute honesty but its
flaws in its sheer unpleasantness but if you want a film that makes you feel
like you’ve been hit by a truck for two-and-a-half hours, it’s not too bad.
We Are Your Friends
The other big music-related movie release of the moment, We
Are Your Friends stars Zac Efron as an aspiring DJ trying to make it big in the
San Fernando Valley. With the film also being touted as the possible breakout
role for Emily Ratajkowski (known mostly for Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines music
video and Gone Girl (2014)) and with Efron in the lead, the entire film has
something of a vacuous image-obsessed annoyance to it, despite Efron’s talent
and doubtless charisma, with his supporting cast of friends being a largely
unlikable bunch with whom it seems very unclear whether the audience is
supposed to find them annoying. What music is offered is rather interesting and
the music’s dissection and use to help build the emotion are the film’s main
strengths, but the film’s weaknesses just barely manage to outweigh those.
The first film from Terry Jones in almost twenty years, the
closest thing to a Monty Python film since 1983 and the last film role for the
late Robin Williams, Absolutely Anything promises such
historically-significance but in the end, the result is rather ho-hum. Simon
Pegg stars as a man who is gifted by a race of aliens (played by the surviving
members of the Monty Python team) with the omnipotent powers. The premise is
hardly a new one and there seems to be a lack of energy to the proceedings not
helped by a rather mismatched cast, save for Eddie Izzard (surely the most
Python-esque man to not actually be in Monty Python) and Joanna Lumley who
hardly makes an appearance. There are a couple of good gags here and there and
Python fans may get a kick out of it, but the resulting film that has been many
years in the making is just a bit too bland. ***
The Man From U.N.C.L.E
Adapted from the classic 60’s TV series of the same name,
Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer play secret agents from opposite sides of the
iron curtain forced to work together to track down a nuclear scientist. Ultimately the premise of The Man From
U.N.C.L.E is just flim-flam but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. Whilst
director Guy Ritchie still has his usual trouble of just being too chaotic for
his own good, the film’s impeccable visuals and sharp silver-tongued dialogue
make this a film of debonair cool. As trepidatious at the main casting is, (we
get a Brit playing an American, an American playing a Russian and a Swede
playing a German) for the most part it works. The Man From U.N.C.L.E will
probably not be a classic spy film, even if it goes the right way in placing
emphasis on the characters and not just on setpieces, but it’s very enjoyable
all the same. **** (pick of the week)
Mistress America
Being rather prolific as of late and with an ever-growing
audience, Noah Baumbach is back with his latest film, Mistress America starring
Lola Kirke as a young college student who uses her older and flakey step-sister
to be, played by Greta Gerwig, as inspiration for a piece of non-fiction. Like
much of Baumbach’s other work, the film bleeds New York and being fashionable
whilst also seemingly mocking its pretentions. To a certain extent, it’s having
its hipster cake and eating it but Baumbach’s a gifted enough writer to pull it
off, especially given Gerwig’s performance as the irresponsible Brooke who is a
rather harsh but more even-handed deconstruction of a carefree free spirit.
Mistress America is funny, engaging and intelligent but you need to have patience
with it as the film takes time to reach its potential. ***
Trainwreck
Amy Schuler plays a journalist who is terrified of long-term
relationships and monogamy who meets and begins a relationship with a good-natured
surgeon specialising in sports played by Bill Hader in this Judd Apatow
rom-com. Trainwreck belongs more however with Apatow’s more ambitious and
slightly more dramatic work like Funny People (2009), rather than the teen
comedy of Superbad (2007) and its attempts at depth work as both an asset and a
weakness. Problematically, the film is too long and deals with far too much
away from the main plot for the film to retain much energy and sometimes just
becomes too unusual for its own good (such as the baffling movie-within-a-movie
with Daniel Radcliffe and Marisa Tomei) but Amy Schuler and Bill Hader are
likable enough as performers and as characters to make it work, even if it
doesn’t always work spectacularly. Weirdly enough, for all that NBA players may
have a poor track record with acting, I actually found LeBron James’ turn as
himself to be some of the film’s funniest material. Strange world. ***
Marvel’s latest release was one to raise the question over
whether the studio would finally drop the ball given the film’s chaotic and
long production history, usually bad signs. However, this comic book adaptation
starring Paul Rudd as a former thief who dons a special shrinking suit to
become the titular hero is actually one Marvel’s better efforts to date. With
the film originally having Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright attached as writers
(Wright was also the first person slated to direct) the film is understandably
comedic in tone but that being Rudd’s milieu, he runs with it and the
imagination of the film-makers runs along with him. Being more restrained in length
than most Marvel offerings (it comes in just under two hours), the hurried pace
does make the exposition a little fuzzy at times, but just sit back and enjoy
the ride. Also features Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lily, Corey Stoll, Michael
Peña, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer and a slew of Marvel-related cameos. **** (Pic
Of The Week)
The Gallows
With an advertising campaign that evoked the likes of Friday
The 13th (1980) and Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), The Gallows
talked a big game, which it sorely failed to live up to. Twenty years after a
stunt failure lead to a student being hanged during a play, a group of teens
break into their high school at night only to find spooky goings on. Inexplicably,
the film is in the “found footage” subgenre (often seemingly a budget choice
but this film really could’ve been done conventionally on a small budget with
little difficulty, there’s also no real reason for the use of camcorders in the
plot). The characters are bland, gratingly irritating or really bizarrely cast
with one character being seen as being one of the less desirable girls being
played a noticeably pretty actress. The film reaches for atmosphere but mostly
relies too much on jump scares, the fart joke of the horror genre. If the film
was more straightforward there may have been something here but this is sadly
lacking. *
Self/less
Science-fiction action movie in which a dying Ben Kingsley
decides to undergo a process of “shedding”, with his mind going into a
replacement body played by Ryan Reynolds. However, seizures and other problems begin
to take effect and it becomes clear that there’s a shady side to the shedding
process. Drawn from the mould of Christopher Nolan (in particular Inception
(2009)), Self/less is pretty by-the-numbers and unremarkable with the central
twist being so predictable it barely seems a twist at all. There’s a decent
cast who do well with the material and the film is meant to appeal more to the
sense of fun than to the brain. Watchable but not exactly memorable. ***
True Story
Jonah Hill plays a journalist who discovers that a man
accused of murdering his family (played by James Franco) is using his name and
admires his work. Hill spies a writing opportunity and meets the enigmatic
Franco and starts to try and figure him out as well as whether he’s guilty or
not. There’s an interesting side to True Story, with the duplicity of its
characters and their intentions but what is there is greatly let down by what
isn’t there. Hill and Franco both do good jobs, even if the novelty of having
two actors best known for comedies (three if you count supporting player Ethan
Surplee) distracts from their performances. The problem is partly that Hill and
Franco don’t have quite the amount of electricity together to aid the direction
of the film that goes for atmospheric and sometimes comes off as just staid.
Along with the film often being too vague about the actions of the characters
and a particularly brutal and unfeeling worldview at times, True Story is a
good enough film that could’ve been better. ***
Love & Mercy is an account of the personal life and work
of Brian Wilson (Cusack, Dano, Jeff Holman) who achieved international fame and
recognition as a member of the Beach Boys. Here, the story centres on two
particular periods of Wilson’s personal life; one as a young Wilson struggles
to record the albums Pet Sounds and SMiLE whilst slipping into a psychological
breakdown, the other showing a middle-aged Wilson and his relationship with a
woman named Melinda Leadbetter (Banks) who tries to free a mentally and
emotionally fragile Wilson from the influence of his domineering doctor/carer,
Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti).
Biopics can be a tricky business; the means by which to take
a real person’s life story and condense it into a film is difficult because of
the sheer amount of experiences and is why biopics tend to be on the lengthier end
when it comes to run-time. The idea of doing a film about the history of the
Beach Boys, one of the most successful and turbulent pop groups of all time,
would be out of the question (even a mini-series would be a stretch) as can be evidenced
by Love & Mercy, a two-hour heavily-detailed film about Brian Wilson that
only covers two specific periods in his life. It may only be a look at Wilson
in two different periods, save for the odd diversion, but through these
episodes we see a more elaborate picture of a man whose personal troubles made
him something of an enigma, even now.
John Cusack and Paul Dano are the two main players in the
role of Brian Wilson and both portray him somewhat differently, even when
accounting for the change in personality that naturally comes with age. Paul
Dano’s performance as Wilson is very much in Dano’s traditional mould;
alternating between brooding and manic, with hyper-emotional freakouts being
something of a Dano trademark, but he is clearly giving his all and there’s a
vulnerability and naturalism to the portrayal that works. Cusack’s take on the
role is equally vulnerable, if not more-so, but more soft-spoken and rather
endearing. Both actors stand out but neither is clearly better or worse than
the other though Cusack’s nuanced work does overshadow Elizabeth Banks’s love
interest which is more of an inherent flaw with how the film works rather than
anyone’s particular failing.
Paul Giamatti also stands out as Eugene Landy, Brian Wilson’s
manipulative physician. Giamatti is one of the most prolific actors in
Hollywood today and in particular has a habit of appearing in films based on
real events (he is soon to also appear in Straight Outta Compton, a film about
legendary rap group N.W.A), his performance as Landy is fully without sympathy
or humanity, bordering on an absurd villain prone to dramatic outbursts and
vile behaviour. Landy’s actions did have dire real consequences and feedback on
the film from Brian Wilson himself has indicated that the portrayal of Landy
was not an exaggeration, but whilst I have no reason to defend Landy (indeed,
any semblance to his actions shown here would give no reason for thinking he
was a nice guy) the very nature of the character seems one-dimensional. Brian’s
abusive father Murry (played by Bill Camp) is similarly slimy but the
adversarial nature of the relationship with fellow Beach Boy Mike Love (Jake
Abel) seems the most grounded and reasoned.
In addition to the film using different actors to portray
the different eras of Brian Wilson’s life, the aesthetic is also different,
with the film being treated to look like it comes from the period in which the
two separate halves were set (Dano’s half being the 1960’s, Cusack’s being the
1980’s) but also having slight differences in narrative. Whilst most of the
film is fairly conventional in how the story is told, the footage of the Beach
Boys recording in the studio has a raw pseudo-documentary vibe that is really
where the film is at its most interesting.
There’s a lot to love about Love And Mercy; for all that it
deals with some very tough subjects it is also something of a celebration of
the Beach Boys and the wonderful music that they made, particularly with Pet
Sounds (Paul Dano even has a handle on Wilson’s singing voice akin to Val
Kilmer’s transformative turn as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1992)). As a portrait
of Brian Wilson and his troubles it may be less satisfactory, but that’s a risk
that still pays off a little in the film. The real truth is that when you hear
the music of the Beach Boys you hear sunshine and joy despite their occasionally
painful and tragic story. That may be an example of dissonance, but it also is
rather heart-warming in how it gives a sense of cheery determination; a spirit
that the film does well to serve.
After marrying his sweetheart Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth),
sentient teddy bear Ted (MacFarlane) slowly begins to find his marriage in
trouble and decides to have a baby. Obviously unable to reproduce, Ted finds
another obstacle when he realises that according to the government, he is not
recognised as a person but as an object and so has no legal rights. Turning to
his divorced childhood friend John (Wahlberg) and inexperienced young lawyer
Sam Jackson (Seyfried) for help, Ted sets about proving his equal rights in
society.
After making his name in television,
writer/animator/actor/singer/whatever-takes-his-fancy Seth MacFarlane made the
leap towards feature films in 2012 with his gross-out comedy, Ted, about a
teddy bear who comes to life and becomes a foul-mouthed stoner. The film was a
massive hit and so as logic dictates, MacFarlane follows up (after making
another film, A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014)) with Ted 2 and as
expected by its title and by a rather sobering element of truth, it’s not that
surprising that Ted 2 is in many ways just Ted…again.
That’s not exactly a bad thing, entirely. MacFarlane’s brand
of low-brow humour has always been something of 50/50 in terms of success.
There’s intelligence and wit enough for it to often work and was a major reason
why he was something of a startling young talent when he arrived on the comedy
scene in the late-90’s with his animated sit-com, Family Guy. However, shock
value in comedy done with wit and intelligence is rare. Shock humour for the
sake of getting a cheap laugh is far more commonplace, easy and has slowly
become more and more a problem for products associated with MacFarlane. Ted 2 is no masterclass in humour and I have a
feeling that Oscar Wilde would be turning in his grave (after making a catty
remark about the lining of his coffin) if he knew of this film.
One common problem in particular is the clear idealism of
what is being presented (MacFarlane has always been a staunch and unashamed liberal)
being constantly undercut with jokes that are overly-offensive (homophobic in
particular) and mean-spirited. A Million Ways To Die In The West spelled it out
fairly clearly that MacFarlane seems to be particularly fond of Blazing Saddles
(1973). Saddles was very politically incorrect, so much so that it would
probably not be made today. However, for all the jokes about racism, it was
very clear that the black protagonist was smart, capable and likeable whilst
the racists were all a bunch of buffoons. Politically incorrect? Certainly.
Racist? Certainly not. MacFarlane has the offense down, not the justification.
However, whilst many of the jokes don’t work there’s still
some of the old sparkle that helps lift it and the bravado with which the film
is performed and executed does mean that laughs are probably going to happen
even if it’s despite yourself. On the subject of the actors, Mark Wahlberg does
a good job reprising Ted’s human buddy John Bennett and Seth MacFarlane is
reaching for something good in Ted’s occasional moments of sincerity even if
the tone of the film means that the film struggles to be taken seriously. With
the more earnest characters played by Amanda Seyfried and Morgan Freeman, who
barely has a single joke, the performances fare better, even if Seyfried’s role
is very predictable and seems to also substitute for Mila Kunis’ conspicuous
absence following the first Ted that’s never satisfyingly explained.
If Ted 2 is guilty of anything, it’s not daring to go
anywhere really new with its comedy. Yes it’s willing to say and do things that
prissy and sensitive souls might tut and disapprove of, but it plays it safe
and worse, it does it rather lazily. There are good things here and there with
the film actually having some very enjoyable musical moments but with overused
gags and no real sense of doing anything else but make people wince, the idea
of a Ted 3 seems one that will test patience with worrying thoughts of just the
same old gags.
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Arnold Schwarzenegger
With the war between humanity and Skynet almost won for the
human race, a triumphant group of soldiers including their legendary leader
John Connor (Jason Clarke) and brother-in-arms Kyle Reese (Courtney) must now
destroy Skynet’s own fail-safe of travelling back in time and cancelling out
the events by killing John Connor’s mother, Sarah (E. Clarke) before he is born.
Reese volunteers for the mission but Skynet sends its own Terminator back in
time, but unlike previous events (from the 1984 Terminator film), Sarah is
aware of her destiny and Skynet’s attempts to rule also have an affect on the “future”
John Connor as well, who is attacked as Reece goes back in time.
Like the robotic creation that bears the franchise’s name, The
Terminator seems to be nigh-indestructible when it comes to producing various instalments
across all kinds of media, but especially where it was born, on the silver
screen. Terminator Genysis is the fourth feature-length Terminator film and
like many long-running movie franchises, the results on a film-to-film basis
have been uneven. The 1984 film The Terminator was a stripped-down chase
thriller that may not have been all that original (more of an urban take on
Westworld (1973) with time machines thrown in) whilst the 1991 sequel,
Terminator 2: Judgement Day, largely hailed as the pinnacle of the franchise,
was a stunningly intense action movie tour-de-force whose pioneering effects
represent a leap forward in computer animation that has been arguably
unequalled before or since.
The two subsequent films were spotty. Terminator Rise Of The
Machines (2003) was dynamic but not very engaging and often got distracted by
its own sense extravagance, whether that be the mindless action scenes or too
much focus on the looks of Terminator-de-joure, Kristanna Loken, whilst
Terminator Salvation (2010) paid more focus on the post-apocalyptic war with
Skynet which is, dare I say, just not that interesting in greater detail.
With Terminator Genysis, the last two films have been
largely disregarded. This isn’t the first time such a thing has happened.
Superman Begins (2006) completely erased the movies Superman III (1983) and
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987) (not that anyone complained about these
being forgotten) but with Terminator, the time-machine element allows for a
more convenient ret-con. The events of the third and fourth Terminator films
have now seemingly been literally erased from history. A daring move that is
partially justified.
Terminator Genisys owes a lot more to the first two
Terminator films than its immediate predecessors. Early on, the film is
effectively to the first Terminator what Back To The Future: Part II was to its
1985 antecedent. We revisit a slightly-altered vision of the 1984 Terminator
and the blending is at times seamless, other times less so (the
computer-manipulated younger Arnold Schwarzenegger still proves that we haven’t
yet achieved photo-realism) whilst the ever-astounding Terminator model from
Judgement Day, here played by Lee Byung-Hun, makes a welcome return. Perhaps
inevitably this element of the story has to be left. There simply wouldn’t be
enough to sustain interest for a two-hour film, but what comes in to replace
it, is far more complex and far less interesting. It seems that the writers
understood a lot of what made the first two films so great, but didn’t take
away the moral that often less is more.
As far as casting goes, it’s likewise a mixed bag. Emilia
Clarke and Jason Clarke (no relation) play Sarah and John Connor (actual
relation) and make for two of the more polarising casting choices. Emilia
Clarke may be the best choice for the respective role out of the whole
ensemble. Despite the added trick of having to affect an American accent as
Sarah Connor (something she clearly struggles with at times), Clarke’s casting
seems almost too obvious, having become famous for playing another surprisingly
tough and shrewd survivor as Daenerys Targaryen in Game Of Thrones but it’s
obvious for a reason and it pays off expectantly even with the characters being
very different in ways of temperament.
As John Connor, Jason Clarke often feels slightly unusual.
Large and imposing, he has the look of a great leader but without the element
of human frailty that actually strengthens how impressive he is and is such a
strong element in other interpretations of the role as well as Sarah Connor. Likewise,
Jai Courtney’s tough and muscular look does conflict in a negative way next to
the more wiry likes of the original Reese’s Michael Biehn that once again takes
away from the same impressive qualities of the Connors. Of course, Arnold
Schwarzenegger does deserve a mention in the role (well, it’s kind of the same
role) that made him an icon. Of course Arnie doesn’t get much chance to display
a great deal of emotional range, and the plot contrivance to explain his
advancing years as a robot is lazy to say the least and probably not that sound,
logically speaking. Still Arnie’s charisma is without question and you still
take notice of him whenever he’s on screen.
James Cameron, franchise creator and director of the first
two Terminator films, has come out in support of Genysis and it’s not that
surprising why. This is after all probably the closest a Terminator film he
hasn’t directed has come to displaying his vision and when it does that,
Genysis works really well. However, when trying to add the inevitable changes,
alterations and plot devices, the film falls apart like a T-1000 carrying too
many machine guns. It can all get very noisy and even very impressive. It can
also, at times, leave a heck of a mess.
