rich_jacko (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rich_jacko) wrote2015-02-13 10:55 pm
rich_jacko) wrote2015-02-13 10:55 pm
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Films round-up
I'm going to try to do these a bit more often, so I don't end up having six months' worth to do all in one go. I also figure it might be a bit more useful for the rest of you if I write them up while they're still current:
The Theory of Everything - The story of Stephen and Jane Hawking: how they met, how they coped with his growing illness, and how they drifted apart. It's based on a book by her and it has the Prof's seal of approval, so you can't get higher praise than that. An affectionate and remarkably un-Hollywoodlike portrayal of illness and relationships, it feels true-to-life and deserves all the lavish praise it's currently receiving.
The Woman in Black: Angel of Death - The cash-in sequel to Susan Hill's well-known ghost story. We've fast-forwarded to the 1940s, and a bunch of evacuee schoolchildren and their teachers are sheltering at Eel Marsh house. Then one of the kids starts acting oddly, and tragedy strikes, and then it's more of the same. It's still a well-done ghost story where less is more, and with plenty of scares, but it doesn't really add a great deal to the first. The heroine this time around is being punished for a past misdeed by the Woman in Black, and by the end the main feeling I was left with was one of annoyance with the ghost for being such a petty-minded, vindictive cow. That probably wasnt't what the film-makers were aiming for.
Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - This was a weird, weird film. Michael Keaton sends himself up as a washed-up actor famous for once playing the titular superhero, but who now runs a Broadway theatre. Edward Norton is his psychopathic star actor. Things are not running smoothly. There's a great ensemble cast, all with well-fleshed-out characters. I enjoyed every minute while I was watching it, but the story never really goes anywhere and the sequences in Keaton's character's imagination can be a bit confusing as you're never quite sure what's "real" and what isn't. Ultimately a bit disappointing.
Boyhood - I didn't get around to seeing this last year, but it was re-released ahead of the Oscars. The hook is that it was filmed over 12 years, using the same cast who age on screen. This time-lapse works really well, and is far more effective than the usual cinema trickery of using different actors for the different ages. The aging is real, but the story itself is fake, and not particularly novel - Essentially 6 to 18-year-old Mason grows up with an absentee (but cool) dad and his mother's string of hopeless and/or abusive boyfriends, faces the pressures of adolescence, and figures out what he wants to do with his life. (It's a telling sign of the times when he gets accused of being nerdy for not being on Facebook.) It's charming and engaging, but overall it's a bit of an odd experiment in film-making.
American Sniper - Bradley Cooper stars in Clint Eastwood's gritty, modern-day war epic. Based on a true story, it gives an intimate look at life on the front line and a vivid impression of what it must be like. One of those films you can admire more easily than you can enjoy.
Into the Woods - Based on a stage musical, this mashes together Cinderella, Jack & the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel all into it's own tale of a baker's quest to lift a curse. Sometimes the interweaving of the different stories is quite clever; at other times it's quite clunky. The songs are mostly forgettable (with the possible exception of "Your fault"), but they do add to the sense of theatrical farce in a good way. This is not a show that would work if taken seriously or realistically. Meryl Streep steals the show as the (not completely) wicked witch. The only serious mis-step is Johnny Depp's cameo, where he comes across as less Big Bad Wolf, and more creepy paedophile. Apart from that, we're basically in panto season.
Kingsman: The Secret Service - There's one scene which sums up what this film is about perfectly: Colin Firth (playing the secret agent, undercover) and Samuel L Jackson (playing his arch-nemesis, also undercover) sit down to dinner together and reminisce how bond films aren't what they used to be, and no longer have overblown theatrical plots and insane gadgets. This is one of those films. It's also from the makers of Kick-Ass, so we're guaranteed plenty of anarchy and R-rated comic book violence. It's all in very poor taste, but it's an enormous amount of fun.
Jupiter Ascending - The latest from the Wachowski brothers, this has an awful lot in common with their earlier Matrix film. One ordinary person, bored with their everyday life, unaware that the world they live in isn't quite what it seems and they are of supreme importance in another world they don't even know exists. Yes, it's a very pretty film with some frankly insane action sequences and lots of cool toys. Unfortunately it suffers from most of the same flaws as The Matrix too: The first hour keeps you guessing, but then it's all explained and the plot suddenly runs out of steam. Doubly unfortunately, despite starting out as that rarity - a sci-fi/action film with a female lead character - the excuse driving the string of samey action sequences that pad out the last hour is that she gets kidnapped again and again, and the men have to keep coming to rescue her.
The Theory of Everything - The story of Stephen and Jane Hawking: how they met, how they coped with his growing illness, and how they drifted apart. It's based on a book by her and it has the Prof's seal of approval, so you can't get higher praise than that. An affectionate and remarkably un-Hollywoodlike portrayal of illness and relationships, it feels true-to-life and deserves all the lavish praise it's currently receiving.
The Woman in Black: Angel of Death - The cash-in sequel to Susan Hill's well-known ghost story. We've fast-forwarded to the 1940s, and a bunch of evacuee schoolchildren and their teachers are sheltering at Eel Marsh house. Then one of the kids starts acting oddly, and tragedy strikes, and then it's more of the same. It's still a well-done ghost story where less is more, and with plenty of scares, but it doesn't really add a great deal to the first. The heroine this time around is being punished for a past misdeed by the Woman in Black, and by the end the main feeling I was left with was one of annoyance with the ghost for being such a petty-minded, vindictive cow. That probably wasnt't what the film-makers were aiming for.
Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - This was a weird, weird film. Michael Keaton sends himself up as a washed-up actor famous for once playing the titular superhero, but who now runs a Broadway theatre. Edward Norton is his psychopathic star actor. Things are not running smoothly. There's a great ensemble cast, all with well-fleshed-out characters. I enjoyed every minute while I was watching it, but the story never really goes anywhere and the sequences in Keaton's character's imagination can be a bit confusing as you're never quite sure what's "real" and what isn't. Ultimately a bit disappointing.
Boyhood - I didn't get around to seeing this last year, but it was re-released ahead of the Oscars. The hook is that it was filmed over 12 years, using the same cast who age on screen. This time-lapse works really well, and is far more effective than the usual cinema trickery of using different actors for the different ages. The aging is real, but the story itself is fake, and not particularly novel - Essentially 6 to 18-year-old Mason grows up with an absentee (but cool) dad and his mother's string of hopeless and/or abusive boyfriends, faces the pressures of adolescence, and figures out what he wants to do with his life. (It's a telling sign of the times when he gets accused of being nerdy for not being on Facebook.) It's charming and engaging, but overall it's a bit of an odd experiment in film-making.
American Sniper - Bradley Cooper stars in Clint Eastwood's gritty, modern-day war epic. Based on a true story, it gives an intimate look at life on the front line and a vivid impression of what it must be like. One of those films you can admire more easily than you can enjoy.
Into the Woods - Based on a stage musical, this mashes together Cinderella, Jack & the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel all into it's own tale of a baker's quest to lift a curse. Sometimes the interweaving of the different stories is quite clever; at other times it's quite clunky. The songs are mostly forgettable (with the possible exception of "Your fault"), but they do add to the sense of theatrical farce in a good way. This is not a show that would work if taken seriously or realistically. Meryl Streep steals the show as the (not completely) wicked witch. The only serious mis-step is Johnny Depp's cameo, where he comes across as less Big Bad Wolf, and more creepy paedophile. Apart from that, we're basically in panto season.
Kingsman: The Secret Service - There's one scene which sums up what this film is about perfectly: Colin Firth (playing the secret agent, undercover) and Samuel L Jackson (playing his arch-nemesis, also undercover) sit down to dinner together and reminisce how bond films aren't what they used to be, and no longer have overblown theatrical plots and insane gadgets. This is one of those films. It's also from the makers of Kick-Ass, so we're guaranteed plenty of anarchy and R-rated comic book violence. It's all in very poor taste, but it's an enormous amount of fun.
Jupiter Ascending - The latest from the Wachowski brothers, this has an awful lot in common with their earlier Matrix film. One ordinary person, bored with their everyday life, unaware that the world they live in isn't quite what it seems and they are of supreme importance in another world they don't even know exists. Yes, it's a very pretty film with some frankly insane action sequences and lots of cool toys. Unfortunately it suffers from most of the same flaws as The Matrix too: The first hour keeps you guessing, but then it's all explained and the plot suddenly runs out of steam. Doubly unfortunately, despite starting out as that rarity - a sci-fi/action film with a female lead character - the excuse driving the string of samey action sequences that pad out the last hour is that she gets kidnapped again and again, and the men have to keep coming to rescue her.