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Ad Astra (2019)
A plot that journeyed through Neptune's rings.
Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is an Astronaut who works on massive antennae that stretch from Earth to the edge of our atmosphere. Following a space born anomaly hitting his antenna (and causing deaths throughout Earth), Roy is invited to a debrief. Instead of a debrief, it is revealed to Roy that his Dad Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones), who was accepted to have died near Neptune, on a mission, is now suspected alive and may be responsible for the "surges" as these anomaly are called.
Roy is needed to set forth into space in an attempt to make contact with his father. However, as this is classified a cover trip to the moon as a tourist is proposed and our first of many homages to 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Like with Kubrick, the movie attempts a fact based imaginable near future. Conceivable tech, shares screen time with concepts like disputed territories on the moon. The "near future" timeline caused some friction with me as Clifford hangs on a wall beside Buzz Aldrin and implies this near future is occurring more sooner than the 150 years is suspect it might. It does provide some realism and perhaps there's an alternate reality is being toyed with but it also jars.
There are numerous holes to a plot that doesn't survive much scrutiny. It's thin and anti-climatic and some scenes such as that, that takes place in space on an unnecessarily remote animal research facility, beggar belief.
Brad Pitt's character is supposed to be even tempered and can compartmentalise any troubling thoughts. This results in a performance lacking in...anything really. His brilliant at everything fascade begins to grate and he is hard to care about. Donald Sutherland, cameo's as an old man. Tommy Lee Jones, who is limited anyway, is given little screen time. Liv Tyler plays Roy's wife and barely utters a word. Only Ruth Negga shines but even her character doesn't seem fully formed.
At times it's pretty enough to look at, but often it has some of the grain of Blade Runner 2049 that felt compromising. The score is fair and seems recycled. Others have commented of the "Father Issues" between Roy and Clifford but they're so matter of fact and short on interaction that it was a by-the-by for me.
It left too many loose ends, in a movie lacking in tension or pathos. I'd find to hard to argue that the this is potentially my favourite setting for a movie and maybe it is why it was so disappointing for me. SIX
Dublin Oldschool (2018)
More drugs than music
As a (non) retired clubber who lived through the club life and after parties of Oldschool Dublin, I was expecting something more profoundly music based. Instead it focuses rather more deeply on the drug side.
The timeline was puzzling and I couldn't really nail down "when" the events we're watching unfold. The clothes were all over the place. The cars were old but in rundown neighbourhoods. The music spanned decades. It could be conceivably set any time between 2008 and 2018 as it really didn't show its hand, bar a relatively modern dropped smart phone, which you see for two seconds. Not that it hugely matters as it could purposely have been set at any time over the previous 25 years.
Perhaps all too personally aware of its litany of settings, small club, large club, house party, illegal rave. The scenes enacted therein, were for me, inconsistent. I'm not totally convinced the writer(s)/director were so familiar either, but it would comfortably pass for many.
The more adroit aspect, was the back street world of drug use. The disclaimer being, I'm much less au fait with that world. Perhaps my drug equivalent would argue the opposite?
The movie is quite light on plot. Jason ((writer) Emmet Kirwan) flits between clubs and housing scoring casual drugs with his ensemble of misfit friends and acquaintances. There is a love interest with an ex, which all the while feels vague and random.
Jason scrounges about, in various states of consciousness. This enables a frequently revisited device, whereby when "zoned out" he remembers himself and his brother Daniel as kids in their 80's house.
These scenes are well realised and give texture to the scenes with his long estranged, college educated, now junkie brother, with whom he is reacquainted. They are often very funny, amid intensity. The anguish and guilt of their relationship and shared past is palpable. The scenes are numerous and punctuate at regular intervals. They are also head and shoulders above anything else in this film. They are deserving of better and likely represent why the play this movie is based on garnered such praise. The budget, albeit meagre and probable demands of celluloid, have diluted 20 minutes of cumulative excellence, with faux club fluff and nonsense.
I felt deceived by the make up of this movie, but Emmet (Jason) when interacting with the outstanding Ian Lloyd Anderson (Daniel) do provide a superior cautionary tale of how a dabbler is one weekend from becoming a junkie and helped make up for my disappointment.
SIX
La vie d'Adèle (2013)
Adele Exarchopoulos' coruscating performance makes essential viewing
This is an epic coming of age story, coming in at 3 hours I genuinely wanted more. Director Abdellatif Kechiche gets so up close and personal it almost feels like a documentary. He shows incredible balance (it could have felt voyeuristic but it doesn't), nothing feels forced. The events unfold as if unscripted. He's just opening a vivid window into Adele's life and we will simply experience whatever comes to pass.
He tells the story of Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) a school girl struggling with her sexuality, her identity and seeking purpose in life. She meets the older Emma (Lea Seydoux) who has blue hair (it warrants a mention), confidence and is totally swept away by her. We witness the story of their life and love and loss over (maybe?) seven years.
Adele is mesmerising. Natural, compelling, her travails seem genuine and affecting. Her love burns like phosphorus, her pain is excruciating. She visibly grows in front of you. Going from timid school girl, to someone empowering but all the while vulnerable. It is a simply outstanding display of acting and she gives everything of herself.
Emma (Lea) though on screen 70% of the time, feels more of a foil and though very good can't help but be blasted off the screen by Adele. The remaining ensemble are top drawer. Each carving out a chunk of screen time so as they appear and reappear you innately remember them.
The are two obvious talking points for me. One is the intimate sex scenes between Adele and Emma. It must be acknowledged that European cinema is more risqué, albeit comfortable in this environment. For me it's all justified if distracting (critically). It's the intensity in their passion that is a defining character of their relationship. It's an explosion of love. It's vital to the selling of the characters. The fact that they're numerous and lengthy is balanced by the duration of the movie and wouldn't creep above a "screen time percentage" of any other such exposé.
The other point is the obvious disparity of ages of the characters. In real life Lea is 8 years older than Adele. I am not as au fait with the French education system, so talk of school and college year didn't clarify things as much as it might. Emma does elude to Adele being "underage". We witness an 18th birthday for Adele but how long has passed in the story? There is an obvious "what if..." question but even in this case I still felt a bit uncomfortable about the nature of their relationship at indeterminate respective ages.
It remains an easily recommendable movie whether you want to view it under the LGBTQ banner or not. What makes it essential though is the performance of Adele Exarchopoulos. EIGHT
Fences (2016)
When is a play not a play?
So this is a play. I know they've filmed it and I'm not sure why, but it's still a play. You just happen to be watching it on celluloid. It makes it feel that it was done unnecessarily. Bar three scenes which are cumulative 5 minutes the whole piece takes place in and around Troy Maxson's (Denzel Washington) House, which he shares with his wife and and son. Maxson is a former baseball player that was never given the chance because of his race and now has to grind out a living on a garbage truck.
Maxson is reformed, (mostly) principled and engaging (to those around him) but is also loud, overbearing and damaged.
This can be established relatively quickly, certainly within 30 minutes you're going to have a good handle on the character. However Denzel (who directs this) uses all of the first two hours to establish these traits. He throws in a bit of plot so the characters wheel about a bit, but it's mostly "here's what kind of person Maxson is".
Maxson is not all bad. His intentions are good and he's fleetingly humorous but I didn't enjoy his company. Rose his wife says "he filled up the house" and he fills up this play. There's barely room for anyone else and everyone else is excellent, maybe not Lyons but everyone else. I just wanted a break from him. You do get one and it's glorious. Comfortably the most enjoyable section and because it's a little more ensemble, it works better and the other characters shine.
With the contrast laid bare it almost feels like the movie is self indulgent. Denzel takes on the role of legendary producer Bruce Dickinson, walks on to the set as says "great, great but I think it needs more Denzel". Like a cowbell? No it doesn't.
Well shot, well filmed, well cast and likely a good director in the making but I didn't want to spend two hours with Maxson and likely neither will you. SIX
Green Book (2018)
Buddy road movie has some extra sparkle
An Italian-American bouncer takes up the job of driving an African-American pianist on a 2 month tour in the 1960's of America's South.
This is essentially a buddy road movie bringing to mind Midnight Run (1988) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). Two opposites are placed together and we witness conflict and humour and two characters growing together. So the template is set and it largely follows true as you'd expect.
What make this different is the setting. No matter what is going on there is the palpable racial tension and real threat that could dissolve this affable caper into something altogether more heinous.
This makes it more worthy, in an actual sense and that of the Oscars. This would also be my main criticism of the movie. It feels too crowd pleasing when it could have laboured further on the fight for civil rights.
Viggo Morensen and Mahershala Ali are superb and entirely convincing. Their characters evolve and grow credibly. Linda Cardellini, who i feel is underrated provides an anchor to the story and is excellent.
It's beautifully shot, as a road movie in the south should be. The period element isn't laboured beyond the opening scenes of Tony Lip in his bouncer role but is quietly effective. The soundtrack is top drawer combining Aretha Franklin, Chubby Checker etc with the very interesting, classically influenced, jazz stylings of Dr. Donald Shirley's trio.
Tonally it's hard to argue with, shifting gear effortlessly and it really is very funny indeed. I laughed out loud nearly every time they went for the comedic schtick.
For me it hasn't got the heft of an Oscar winning movie or the uniqueness and magic of e.g. its predecessor The Shape of Water (2017) but it will be timeless, pleasing and important enough to be looked upon with fondness. EIGHT
The Last Picture Show (1971)
50's setting but why shot in 50's style?
Unusually takes the route of filming its early 50's period piece by using black and white and indeed filming in a style more akin to the 50's.
The movie focuses on a dying town in the dust bowl of Texas. Our high school leads therein have nothing to do and little to keep them in this coming of age drama.
The film, because of its feel, kinda shocks with its overt sexuality. We are not used to seeing the seedier side of 50's life writ large across our screen. However, it is the sexually frustrated characters of the next generation up that prove most intriguing. There's more depth to Burstyns use of her sexuality as a desirable (albeit married) 40 year old or Leachmans repressed and feared urges of an unhappy and more staid housewife than the bumbling around of horny teenagers. Only Ben Johnson the owner of the local diner, picture house and pool bar can match the female characters depth, as he reminisces about how America has changed and how he has gotten older.
Cybill Shepard radiates any time she's on screen, as manipulative as she is beautiful, she's learned a trick or two from her mother (Burstyn) although still a work in progress.
Jeff Bridges doesn't really convince of the outstanding actor he will become and is outshone by Timothy Bottoms who's more thoughtful character and garners more of my attention.
The mundanity is well represented here so much so at times the movie labours. It could have found a better balance between it and the kitchen sink of deaths and affairs. I felt the 50's style of shooting held the movie back and while there was realism, it affected the impact of the events.
Still the characters themselves are compelling and you will be fascinated by this raw glimpse at anecdotally modern themes in a rarely visited and more vintage world. SEVEN
I, Tonya (2017)
Absolutely captivating
What absolutely makes this movie is the statement right at the beginning. This movie is based on a set of "irony-free, wildly contradictory and totally true" interviews. That's where we're at. Everybody's version of events is represented and you can make up your mind.
This device compounds what is already an incredible story and makes it even more wild and zany. The characters within are all brilliant. Any of these would steal scenes left, right and centre in any other movie. Chief burglar is Allison Janney who plays Tonya's mum. She's cruel and damaged, with a filthy mouth and absolutely hilarious.
In truth this is a very funny movie. The dim witted individuals garner much of the laughs but there's plenty of black humour too such as when Tonya's mum kicks her off a chair as a child.
This is also one of the area's where one might criticise the movie. Tonya is a victim of psychological and physical abuse at the hands of her mother and of continuous domestic abuse from her husband. This is glaringly pointed out and alarming, but so often it shifts uncomfortably tonally as we witness another jape or moment of humour.
The excellent Sebastian Stan is partly responsible too. He is undoubtedly a shameful character but often his other antics elicit sympathy.
I'm not quite sure how the director would have managed to tip toe through this mine field other than the way he does, without losing credibility or enjoyment, but it must be recognised.
A more obvious misstep is using Margot Robbie (who warranted her numerous nominations) to represent Tonya at 15. Robbie, who to me generally looks older than her years, pushes credibility here. She's absolutely acceptable at 21-23 and perfect for the "interview" scenes filmed years after.
Whether you're familiar with the story or not, it's absolutely remarkable and 100% worth revisiting. There are interesting takes on the class barriers put up to figure skaters (and Olympians) and the infancy of 24 hour news channels and how their primary journalistic role gave way to providing opinion and entertainment.
Caveats aside you're in for a rollercoaster of 2 hours that zips along that has so much to recommend. EIGHT
Lucky (2017)
A peaceful send off.
Bite size look at a 90 year old Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) shuffling about in his one horse town in Arizona. Lucky is cantankerous but beloved of the community. Self sufficient and independent when a fall "rings his bell", he begins to analyse his life and what it's all about?
Harry Dean Stanton gives a magnificent warts and all performance completely selling this character. Absolutely set in his ways and stubborn, but curiously philosophical and on a journey.
Every support actor and cameo breathes life and bring colour. They are universally excellent, though it's worth mentioning David Lynch's Howard is as wistful as you could hope.
It's beautifully shot and paced. It manages to ape the meandering of its 90 year old lead but because it's so skilfully edited it barely wastes a frame. It's genuinely funny and stays well clear of anything maudlin so tonally it's superb.
Technically i simply can't find fault in it, other than it's not quite as brilliant a movie as bedfellows such as Nebraska (NINE) and A Straight Story (TEN).
It's not just a lovely way to spend 90 minutes, its contemplative theme will stay with you. (EIGHT)
P.S. anyone else convinced DAVID Lynch was allowed to film a single scene at minute 40?
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Race relations movie is important though flawed.
Spike Lee has shown his ability to produce and important film. The recent Blakkklansman (Rating EIGHT) is an important film and warrants watching.
This movie could be unfavourably be compared with the superior Boyz n the Hood (1991) but it predates that movie by two years and it was broader in that it showed the race relations more starkly than any other movie was attempting at the time rather than (just) exploring Black culture in a specific location.
I would happily say the Spike Lee was still finding his feet in directing this movie. Perhaps leaning on his music video work the opening credits passage is excellent. Rosie Perez is dancing ferociously to "Fight The Power" and is powerful and absolutely representative of the times.
Thereafter and particularly in the first half the movie feels like a play that is being filmed. It feels very staged and uses a lot of young talent that is early on its learning curve resulting in some inconsistent acting.
I'd argue there was a change of camera policy too. The colour palettes are strange and the shots confined so some of the scenes look like they're being performed on a set rather than an actual location in Brooklyn. You'll be convinced of this until an hour in there's a fabulous tracking shot of Spike Lee's character passing by all these places we have visited in the first half. Very odd.
The characters are too stereotyped and there's masses of gesticulation. To be fair(?) no community escapes this. The Asian, Latin, African-American and Italian-American are all a sea of what appears (twenty years on) to be ignorance.
Strangely if we're going to look at things with hindsight the female characters are the ones that are the best written and most credible.
The film seems to lack focus and though it has idea about its end goal, it doesn't have much of an idea how to get there. In this respect it mirrors Spike Lee's character (Mookie) who incidentally is totally unbelievable.
To conclude, Do the Right Thing is almost twenty years older than Blackkklanman and absolutely remains an important film. It's is flawed but it is humorous at times and though a touch monotonous, the soundtrack is welcome and energetic. The movie ends with a Martin Luther King quote which sheds more light on Spike Lee's motivation. How well he managed to realise this is up for debate. SIX
AlphaGo (2017)
Naviety about the game is no impediment to enjoyment.
Documentary about the battle between Artificial Intelligence and Man. This time it's the game "Go" that serves as the backdrop.
This is a fascinating piece that shows how clever developmentally computers are getting. It reflects on our perception of the hierarchy of man and machine. It questions our value and role in the future and discusses fears. It delves deep into our psyche and self reflection and in the main, the device is the showdown between AI system DeepMind and the legendary Go grandmaster.
It's staggering how your and the protagonists loyalties and emotions are swung about when dealing with the opaque, neutral computer program as the games cut and thrust are played out in front of our eyes. The film is very aware that your understanding of the game may be minimal. You find yourself glued to the commentators reactions to button placement. How the AI's winning forecast percentage climbs and drops. You like 95% of those featured, are watching a game played to such a high level it is beyond comprehension and you can share in the emotion of those watching, as you are their equal. It could be said that the drama of the matches was an unforeseen gift but i suspect the editors are so deft and so adept they could have weaved a captivating movie regardless out outcome or sequence of events.
The film raises and ponders some very interesting questions. It's very tonally assured, nothing is heavy handed. Talking heads are sparingly used but feel vital. It's also subtlety educational and you will feel more enlightened about the possibilities of AI. EIGHT
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Another Bond beater
A Spy-Action movie? Well we should set our barometer to Bond then. Kingsman (one) laid a turd on the Bond franchise showing just what can be done. The Mission Impossible(s) have out tech-ed and out action-ed the Bond movies of late. Granted Guy Richie is dealing here with another vintage franchise in UNCLE but he could easily be recognising Bond as horrifically outdated and set him in his golden age of the 60's and the cold war, where he belongs.
Richie has embraced this scenario and wrung a lot of material out of it. He's brought back the suave and the luxury but it's not untouchable. There's an elegance and glamour to the female characters (Vikander Debicki) in this world but the ladies aren't melting so easily. They're opinionated and strong and largely two steps ahead of any male but not attention seeking, all the while being demure, but on their own terms.
Cavill (the American) is a bit more of a throw back Bond and Hammer (the Russian) is bit more Jason Bourne, a bit more action hero. Their interactions provide most of the interest and humour. Their constant one-upmanship is entertaining and almost a fraternal bickering which Vikander's character acknowledges asking "does she have to play mother?".
The plot pootles along quite well, providing motivation and little distraction. It's rather more dependant on script than the last Mission Impossible (Rating-NINE) which never gave you a moment to think, as it threw helicopters at you, and you allowed the outlandish twists. UNCLE also has twists but they're quite formulaic (surely that should be an oxymoron?) and prevents it being somewhat more intelligent.
A real success is the soundtrack, providing bag loads of effortless cool. Richie pours this on with split screens and 60's camera zooms. Strangely none of this convinces we're watching a movie set in the 60's. It feels current but set in variety of exclusive UBER-Hipster locations. The only reason you haven't seen an iPhone is because everyone is too post modern to use one. You half expect to see a Lamborghini Aventador being loaded up on the back of a vintage flatbed (in the background), because the locals feel it "doesn't belong". Even the spies are using clockwork instead of wireless because the want to do it "old school". I half expect that this is intentional and in effect achieves the same result of boosting the cool rating.
It's all amounts to a very watchable caper, with engaging characters and consider it a pity there doesn't seem to be a sequel in the offing (box-office?). It's a better bet for a decent franchise than Bond at the moment. SEVEN
Shichinin no samurai (1954)
Seminal but at times sedentary
Well, some movies are labeled epic and this certainly falls into that category tipping the scales at 3hr 21min. It also falls into the Citizen Kane category in that its massively influential predating almost every western of note and every western in the grittier second wave including the Magnificent Seven which would transition from "influenced by" to practically remade. No shortage of pedigree then.
Seven Samurai are hired for the meagre price of food and board to save a poor village from the annual pillage (and rape) at the hands of a gang of 40 bandits. Each of the Seven samurai are well written and easily definable characters in their own right. The villagers are more homogenous but there are a few fleshed out a bit more to provide interest, pathos, humour or indeed a love interest.
While the main cast are generally convincing a huge amount of the ancillary roles are irritatingly overacted. There is plenty of good humour to be found but some of it verging on childlike. There are far too many "by numbers" moments that fail to give credit to the viewer in what is often a subtle piece of work.
While 3hr 21min is no doubt time consuming, i've never found it off putting. However, there's an effortless hour to be shaved off here. I never expected to learn so much about rural farming or geographical warfare tactics. The aforementioned Magnificent Seven manages to cut a full hour and 13 minutes without compromising a facsimile of the plot. It doesn't result in a better movie movie but it takes a good wedge of slog out of it. It also justifies the motivations of the "heroes" better than Kurosawa's version.
I mentioned Citizen Kane earlier specifically and could easily have mentioned perhaps Night of the Living Dead. These movies all have incredible legacies but while all very good they are not exceptional movies in their own right. They do remain essential viewing though. There is so much to love about pacing and characterisation, filming action, dealing with grim and gritty subject matter that it warrants your attention. It is also true that because it is so influential, that many of the idea's and stylings have been more successfully implemented in latter years and likely in movies you've seen. So at times you'll find yourself watching this movie more for how it has influenced movies thereafter than for the movie itself.
In summation if you're a cinephile tick off a box here. If you're looking for what is a high calibre western try The Wild Bunch or The good, The Bad and the Ugly. If you want to experience Kurosawa, i'd argue that it's not even his best work, preferring Yojimbo or Rashomon myself. SEVEN
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Refreshing take on the Rom-Com genre
If you're going to do an indie rom-com, you're going to have to do something interesting with the formula. We are warned in the first couple of minutes by the narrator, "This is a story of boy meets girl but be warned...this is not a love story". It also uses the device of telling the story non-chronologically. So we're already shifting the conventional ground and all the better for it.
Zoe Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt have been friends in real life for nearly a decade and this makes for a very natural relationship on screen especially as the characters spend much of the movie "as friends". It's not especially funny though it does contain some sharp wit and spends more time in the Rom world, but there's plenty of story here too albeit as it's not chronological it's harder to dissect.
There are moments of whimsy by the director such as a short dance sequence, use of a split-screen and another where the scene dissolves into and architects sketch but because it's not taking itself too seriously it doesn't disrupt.
It plays with our perceptions of reality of the relationship we are witnessing so conveniently greys things up and again prevents a tear down, which most rom-com plots won't survive.
The supporting cast add colour especially Clarke Gregg as Gordon-Levitt's boss and Chloe Grace Moretz as his younger sister and wise beyond her (everyones) years Agony Aunt.
The soundtrack requires mentioning as it's very avant garde and again of an indie persuasion.
In a genre I garner scant enjoyment out of, I have to consider this a big success. It's successfully unconventional and engaging while still fulfilling the role of a Rom-Com. Well done. EIGHT
Busanhaeng (2016)
I have had it with these mf zombies on this mf train!!!!
Korean Zombies (think World War Z) on a train packed with passengers desperately trying to get to Busan. A decent supply of heroes and villains are whittled down in what provides a claustrophobic environment. The limitations of the train are often cleverly exploited with fewer contrived moments. Pace plays a massive role in the movie, that of the zombies and the train, this is balanced with elements of stealth and quiet. As with the best apocalyptic movies the reactions of those in peril and the challenges to social norms are well explored. The characters are earnest and sympathetic, if at times a bit one dimensional.
It does a hell of a lot with must have been a meagre budget, and there's plenty of fun to be had on this rollercoaster. The result may not be up there with the best (28 days/weeks later) but there's something undeniably cool about watching a foreign language action movie, so you can bracket this one with Nikita and The Raid. Not necessarily in terms of quality but in kudos earned. SEVEN
Kynodontas (2009)
The ridiculous becomes malevolent
Dogtooth (2010)
As first you play the detective in this movie trying to fathom what scenario is being played out in front of you. It gradually become clear that two manically protective parents have effectively imprisoned their two daughters and one son in an admittedly lovely spacious house and gardens away from any other human contact.
New words have their meaning altered to maintain the status quo and add a breezy ridiculousness. The extremely childlike though near adult teenagers mostly play to amuse themselves.
Their curiosities are relentless and they are discovering their bodies.
The Dad has decided to recruit a discrete co worker to satisfy his sons "urges" and this third party begins to dissolve his meticulous curated family.
The early hijinks are certainly amusing and it's a fascinating look into a perverse world. Little touches like the son being poor at throwing mechanically show a compromised upbringing and help convince of the circumstance.
When the co worker is dispensed with the film takes a turn you spent the first hour hoping it wouldn't. Despite the the darkness of the movie, the innocence provided a light and unfortunately when it is extinguished it becomes a difficult watch. Every scene thereafter is dripping in malevolence and the characters therein begin to unravel.
This section of the movie runs to the conclusion and is thankfully imbued with pace but it strips away the pleasure of watching it (as indeed it should) but it also makes it much harder to recommend. SIX
Lost in Translation (2003)
An effortless movie and an effortless joy to watch.
Murray and Johansson give two of the most natural performances you will see. Murray who's character could conceivably be autobiographical (and perhaps is why he's so convincing) plays an 80's movie star who's career is on the wane doing some lucrative commercial work. Johansson plays a character who's been married for two years and accompanies her photographer husband on a work trip to Japan.
Both characters are struggling for sleep removed from their time zone. They're struggling with an unfamiliar city and with regret and loneliness. They find solace and kinship and relief in each other.
They are seen sometimes together sometimes apart negotiating life and fun in Tokyo. These moments feel intimate. You as the viewer feel you are there in the moment, just as lost and fascinated as our lead characters.
The pacing is almost soothing, in a bustling environment. The soundtrack is as brilliant and quirky as the city. Tokyo is just as big a star and influence on our enjoyment of this movie.
Though more classically a drama it is at times very funny indeed, albeit with a couple of obvious, if understandable pronunciation gags.
It's warm and layered and mature. It's engaging, it's not forced, it's tonally "just so" and I'm struggling to find anything I don't like about it. Maybe that it's too dreamy, velvety and subtle to properly knock your socks off, but that is the sleepy deprived, twilight world the characters are experiencing.....so that's probably worth a mark up rather than down? NINE
Pushing Tin (1999)
Interesting environment yields to lazy rom-com
What starts out as peak into the little know world of Air Traffic Control and its characters turns into a low rent rom com. This is a movie of two halves. The first has real zip and swagger, mimicking the alpha environment of Art Traffic Control. The elite of America inhabit a bawdy world of confidence (real and feigned) where they trade barbs and the WAG's share domestic war stories. The Air Traffic centre scenes have certain credibility aided by some computer graphics, giving the viewer to help understand what they're seeing on the radar screen. It also sheds some light on the social standards of those of the trade. John Cusack and newly arrived Billy Bob Thornton provide the (almost wild west) rivalry, of on-the-job talent and the respective allure of their wives and is a fair enough device.
The second half goes into well trodden trope of the fallout of an all too personal dalliance and pursuit of forgiveness thereafter. Such is the contrast with the first half you'd swear it was written by someone else. It's hammy and lacks believability and the call-back's to the first half seem too forced. It becomes a waste of finance and decent screen talent. FIVE
Rocky (1976)
Plucky fighter movie
Stallone writes and leads in this against all odds boxing drama. Rocky is stubborn, dumb and quite likeable. We get a decent foothold on the character, fighting in run down halls for a few dollars, working for a loan shark but with too much heart for his own good and down on his luck living in a beat up apartment. He's are largely popular figure in his community and desperate to date his friends sister Adrian.
All this is very convincing. The streets look authentic, as do the buildings and the circumstances. There's a lovely innocence to his burgeoning relationship with Adrian and a credibility to the bums that inhabit his world.
Giving a nobody a shot at the title is a bit of a stretch but a scene in Apollo Creeds office largely takes care of that. Later it sets an early bar for what became a ubiquitous montage and sucks you into really rooting for this underdog. The fight scenes are pretty darn good and again sets an early bar. The pacing is good as is the pathos.
However, the characters are fairly one dimensional like walking plot devices and when a character gets heated, they tend to over egg the performance.
At 2 hours it can feel at little sluggish early on but it kinds needs it to labour the mundanity of everyones lives. However, when it hits its stride it really rather zips along and the music is nothing short of inspiring. I really rather like the ending too barely acknowledging the result. SEVEN
Life (2017)
Perhaps a better riff on Alien(s) than recent franchise fare.
Life (2017)
Just shy of 40 years since Alien, i think it was ok to use some of it's devices. Set in the very near future on the International Space Station gives it a brilliant reality and helps make this a properly scary movie. What helps more, is the design of "the alien" which is at its scariest early on when the fear of the unknown looms larger than after its first reveal. The characters not being "tooled up" brings it slightly further away from Alien, with the characters being arguably more vulnerable.
The "Space" is done well and in comparison with other is perhaps limited by reality. Futuristic space movies don't have to be compromised by awareness of its setting. The sound is good and the tension, though never turning you foetal quite like the first scene in the lab, does maintain well.
Gyllenhaal is decent, as is the ever excellent Rebecca Ferguson, though i felt Ryan Reynolds was a bit too Deadpool and not enough ISS type. His character felt out of place, or at least should have been toned down a little.
While I was happy enough with the direction the ending took, I felt it could have been far better implemented and was the only real error for me. In conclusion it is the best space horror i've seen since the aforementioned genre topping Alien(s), so not bad at all. SEVEN
Thoroughbreds (2017)
Luxuriously Dark Comedy
Exquisitely acted by Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One) and Anna Taylor-Joy. It's pacing will be a little deliberate for some but it gives you more time to revel in it. Directorial debit by Corey Finley, shows a keen eye for cinematography, he should be marked out at on to watch. EIGHT
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Trilogy ends on a bum note
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Not much to recommend here. While i can't say i'm especially fond of the first two, they are well reviewed, this however....isn't.....correctly i might add.
Tobey Maguire is limited and can't stretch to show different side of an "affected" Spiderman. James Franco continues to garner my ire. Kirstin Dunst is passable but better than this. Willem Dafoe is underused again though perhaps mercifully as I was always unconvinced by this character. Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted, as is Elizabeth Banks. J.K. Simmons is the only relief in this dull affair but given what he showed himself capable of elsewhere they would have been better making the film about him.
The characters are one dimensional. The plot is hopeless and full of holes. There's no shock or suspense. However, I watched this in UHD and the CGI holds together reasonably well, particularly Venom and Sandman. Neither are well acted in their normal form, but these villains are the best of this trilogy so it's a shame the rest of the movie doesn't raise it's level.
At this point Spider Tobey was a spent force and in the hands of Sam Raimi, deflated the goodwill built up in what was for many, an acceptable franchise. FOUR
Kimi no na wa. (2016)
A wondrous experience.
Your Name (2016)
At its heart it's a Japanese body swap comedy drama, but there's a hell of a lot more to it than that. Our boy Taki lives in Tokyo and girl Mitsuha hails from a rural village. There are genuine moments of humour as the two teenagers wake up in each other bodies for a day at a time, a couple of times a week. They return to "themselves" after going asleep with no memory and they try and piece together the previous day with notes left of each others phones and tales recounted by friends.
All in all seemingly a slight twist on a conventional premise but the plot becomes layered by celestial occurrences, time disparities and tragedy. What sounds complicated is wonderfully drip fed and tangible and makes for a compelling tale. The characters and friends have a warmth to them and you'll care about them.
As good as everything sounds so far the most enthralling thing is the animation. It's is right up there with the most beautiful movies i've ever seen. The village and surrounds are exquisite. The details are remarkable. The bustle and movement of Tokyo are magnificently rendered. It genuinely blurs the lines of animation and reality.
This movie is worthy of every acclaim and to be as outstandingly successful as it was in it's homeland. NINE
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)
Sometimes rushed and incoherent
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)
This takes place 3 months after part 1.
It seems to patch a couple of stories together like part 1 did and isn't much more successful.
This is much more violent than part one with Joker indiscriminately killing people left right and centre.
You also have Superman who is on the frontline in a way between Russia and the US that gets shoehorned into this.
In many respects it is like if you picked up Batman and just read the series. You would have a semi coherent story that strong in places and absurdly vague in others. You see in DC you're supposed to be reading what the other characters are doing, like Superman and his war so you have to buy those issues too. If you don't you feel the story is incomplete, as it does here.
Harvey Dents psychologist from part 1 is now Jokers psychologist in part 2 but after spending so much time setting him up in part 1 he's hardly used.
Robin remains and is like the oracle (previous Batman assistant) without a computer. Some of the mutants in part 1 have turned into Batman followers in parts 2, still looking for their Messiah.
The new commissioner arrives and is not taken by Batman. Batman seems to think the way to convince her is by hospitalising her entire force. There is a bizarre scene where Bats has a massive battle with her and her force on a roof top while Joker is mass murdering a few floors below and there's no overlap in proceedings.
Superman reappears later on a while they have some good set pieces the preamble is minimal which makes everything seem unnecessary, really the Joker story far outshines it, yet isn't the conclusion.
I watched the two parts of this back to back (Deluxe Version) and there is a good story in there. If you used half and hour from part one and used the extra time to flesh out part 2 you'd have had a chance. Instead part one is too long and part two is incomplete and rushed.
As it stands however....SEVEN.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012)
Disappointingly it's largely a set up for part 2
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
Batman returns after an absence of 10 years. Now 55 can he still cut it?
The violence of the gang (mutants) is far darker and sinister than usual though mostly reported rather than seen. This I suppose begets a much more heavy handed Batman. Clashes with baddies and police leave broken bones and obvious trauma all over the place.
There is little to the leader of the mutants meaning he won't be particularly memorable.
Robin transforms from completely put upon teenage victim, to entirely useless Robin, to largely ineffective Robin, to taking on the Mutants, in double quick (unconvincing) time.
Harvey Dent appears too, but this seems just a set up to introduce his psychologist. His story is a daily damp squib and a missed opportunity.
Commissioner Gordon seems to just be setting up the new commissioner for part 2.
I did like the tone and in some respects, though out of kilter with normal imaginings of Batman, I liked this version. It's probably the most credible version.
Unfortunately the story doesn't share this credulity with ne'er do wells seemingly walking the streets waiting for a messiah.
At 1hr 16 it's not long but doesn't really cover much ground. I felt the could have used the time better in preparing for part two. Disappointing. SIX.
Passengers (2016)
Broadening the appeal of Sci-Fi
Passengers (2016)
Very credible Sci-Fi. It's asking an enormous, enormous amount for 2 (3) actors to carry a two hour movie and this is its biggest triumph. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawerence are eminently engaging and endlessly watchable.
The space and science are largely believable. The dialogue and interactions work. The structure and tonal balance work.
It asks plenty of questions among others just why did anyone get on board and questions of humanity.
The film rests upon their relationship and its up to you whether this examination survives the duration but it did....just...for me, or at least I could buy it.
I felt he last 3 or 4 minutes could have been explored differently or to be honest, just explored, but maybe short and sweet was for the best rather than further "work(ing) the problem".
It's not its fault that it isn't the searing Sci-Fi of Arrival, the all things to everyone of The Martian or have the peril of say Gravity.
I think it's a genuine feat that this movie will acceptably cross genres and have a greater appeal than one could imagine. Broadening the appeal of a setting I love can't be a bad thing.
SEVEN