Roper Review Round Up

Busy times means less time to indulge at the movies and even less time to review. My film viewing over the last two months has been limited and there are loads of films, probably better than these, that I would have love to have seen. Here is a round up of the mostly mediocrity that has met our silver screens in feb/march.

John Carpenter's The Ward (John Carpenter, 2011)

This is an awful John Carpenter horror film that lacks any real scares and is no better than an average episode of Buffy the Vampire slayer, complete with man in a costume running about making growing noises. Set on a psychiatric ward and full of slightly offensive ‘wacko stereotypes’ it is not worth the ninety minutes it takes to watch. A last minute plot twist can be spotted a mile off and this film demonstrates that the once seminal director may have completely lost it.

*

The Fighter (David O. Russell, 2011)

A run of the mill sports drama. Very well acted and when the boxing kicks in you are right in the ring with them, I found my arms flinching. A satisfying but unremarkable film.

***

Rabbit Hole (John Cameron Mitchell, 2010)

A sad little picture following a couple as they try to move on after the death of their child. Nicole Kidman is excellent as the mother trying to repress her emotions whilst Aaron Eckhart makes up for the awful Battle: Los Angeles through his excellent performance. Tirelessly sad with little sparks of humour, this is neither the hart wrenching melodrama nor exploitative weepy it could have been. An original picture.

***1/2

True Grit (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 2011)

The Coen’s first true Western, after using the genre in their work from their early pictures, this is a fantastic and unusually mainstream picture from the best brothers working in film today. A story of revenge and ultimately redemption which sees a young girl (a flawless performance from Hailee Steinfeld) trying to find the man who murdered her father. It feels so authentic that it is impossible to fully understand Jeff Bridge’s southern drawl, which is shame as the dialogue is rich and full of humour. A little lacking in the usual Coen originality, this is still a beautiful and enthralling film.

****

Drive Angry 3D (Patrick Lussier, 2011)

‘I’m not going to rest until I drink beer from his skull’ claims Nicolas Cage’s Milton, the aptly named escapee from hell who is after the kidnapper of his child. Disappointingly there isn’t much angry driving in this film, Cage is largely emotionless as he fights his way through Texas after a psychotic cult leader. This film seems to come from the Roger Corman school of 3D as bodily parts and fluid flies out of the screen. At its’ best it is a Tarantino light Grind House picture, at its worst it is a mindless action flick.

**1/2

The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi, 2011)

The biggest disappointment of the year so far. It has an interesting premise as Matt Damon and Emily Blunt fight against fate personified who forbid their love as it is not ‘meant to be’. The film works as a romantic drama but utterly fails as a fantasy thriller. Spectres of fate can kidnap and take Damon away to hidden warehouses and stop him in his tracks but cannot out run him up a building? Ultimately it is a very dull experience.

**

Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011)

An artistically impressive but overlong animation from Gore Verbinski. Johnny Depp is brilliantly cast as the easy going chameleon who finds himself lost in the Nirvada desert. Its’ short comings arrive from a confusion towards which audience to pander resulting in some jokes falling flat for entire audiences. Kudos to the director for giving us an animation that is mature enough for adult audience and not in 3D! There’s hope for the animated film outside of Pixar yet.

***

Battle: Los Angeles (Jonathan Liebesman, 2011)

An astoundingly stupid film. Aliens invade LA and an army of clichéd characters fight back. The fact that it is an alien invasion is seemingly irrelevant, this is the most ridiculous war film in years. It is like watching someone play a video game and not being able to play. I slept through large portions of this.

*

Hall Pass (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, 2011)

Another entry in the post-hangover series of comedies seeing middle aged men trying to rekindle their youth. Two married men are granted a hall pass allowing them a week off from marriage. There is some fun to be had seeing two men fail miserably in their persuade for young women but as a picture from the gross-out mixed with sentiment Farley Brothers there is only one direction they can do. Worth seeing solely for a sequence in the credits in which our own Stephen merchant gets a hall pass, the single most funny moment this year.

***

Submarine (Richard Ayoade, 2011)

My film of the year so far. First time director Richard Ayoade shows real cinematic flair in a drama about growing up in Wales. Oliver Tate tries to woo his girl and save his parents’ marriage in a selfish quest for fulfilment. The stroke of genious in this film is that he isn’t a likeable character, like a less violent Alex from A Clockwork Orange, he indulges in ‘a light bit of arson’ to charm his lady and breaks into his neighbours house to investigate his mother’s private life. Originally shot using fantastic colours and a soundtrack from Alex Turner it is a moving and amusing film that sound be seen by everyone.

*****

Limitless (Neil Burger, 2011)

A high-concept thriller which finally shows that Bradely Cooper has what it takes to take a lead in a film. This enjoyable film begs the question, what it would be like to take a pill that made you a genius. The answer seems to be pretty fantastic as Cooper goes from zero to hero. Director Neil Burger pulls all the tricks out of the bag as he zooms his way through New York City capturing the intoxicating and trippy adventure the wonder pill leads our hero on.

****

Source Code (Ducan Jones, 2011)

Duncan Jones follow up to his brilliant debut ‘Moon’ is equally mind bending and only slightly less successful due to a faltering conclusion. Jake Gyllenhaal playing a US army helicopter pilot wakes up to find himself in the body of a complete stranger on a train, eight minutes away from death when a bomb goes off. He is tasked with reliving the last eight minutes on this train repeatedly too find the bomber to prevent a second attack. Whilst this would be enough of a story for your average thriller, Jones troubles us with bigger questions such as where exactly is Gyllenhaal’s character operating from, why has he been chosen and how the hell does this time travel even work? A frequently thrilling, surprisingly funny thriller that would have got 5 stars if it had finished five minutes early than it does. A last act twist which defies any logic and reason taints what has been an enthralling mind-bending journey.

****

Insidious (James Wan, 2011)

I was lucky enough to attend the UK premier of this film and meet its’ writer and director. As the lights dimmed the film makers told us to prepare to ‘scream and gasp in fear’ like our American counter-parts had in screenings. Being typically British, nothing could be heard but the film and a few nervous giggles and then finally a polite reserved round of applause. This was a suiting response to an fun but unremarkable horror film.

Horror films run in trends, from the slasher revival of the 1990s to the Japanese remakes of the early 2000s, the graphic ‘torture porn’ films of the last few years and now the ‘haunted house flick’ which harks back to the early 50s. It is nice to see that blood and guts has being substituted for bumps in the night but real fear has also been diluted to a few jolts and chills.

The films tag line ‘it’s not your house that’s haunted, it’s your son’ gives you all the plot you need to know. The story concerns the Lambert family who have just moved into a new home. Their son has an accident causing him to go into a coma which the doctors just can’t find a cause for. It appears there are more sinister goings on as his mother, a strong performance by Rose Byrne, witnesses spooky goings on including whispers through a baby monitor and apparitions in her son’s room. So far, so ‘Paranormal Activity.’ Wan uses sound and shadow to create a tense, foreboding atmosphere that caused me to assume my safety position in horror films (squinty eyes and fingers in ears) on several occasions. His clever use of framing means that you’ll be searching your peripherals for any sign of movement and he exploits this well. Unlike recent horror films that pretend to be found footage, this is satisfyingly cinematic and gothic so worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

All good things must come to an end however and once the plot exposition kicks in and we get into the realms of ‘astral projection’ things get less scary and more silly. Things unfold like a Goose Bumps book as a team of ghost hunters come in to set things straight and the sweats of fear turn to groans of cliché.

It’s a shame that the excellent sound design and startling imagery are tainted by the ultimately ridiculous plot that warranted unintentional laughter as po-faced actors deliver absurd lines with the utter most sincerity. It will make you jump and laugh, but not always for the right reasons.

Verdict

First half frights turn to second half foolishness in an enjoyable but silly horror flick that will leave you comfortable leaving the lights off.

***

Bafta Predictions 2011

Lots to blog on and not enough time.

First a few scores before I catch up and get a chance to review them properly.

True Grit 4/5: Good but surprisingly straight forward for the Coen Brothers. There first truly mainstream film has lots of suspense and warmth but not many quirks.

Rabbit Hole 2/5: Moving but not much else

The Fighter 4/5: Solid if unspectacular sports drama.

Green Hornet 3/5: It has its charm and flaws but is an enjoyable two hours with surprisingly good use of 3D

The Ward 1/5: Awful John Carpenter Horror

Tonight is the Baftas, and here are my predictions for the winnders and in brackets who I think should actually win out of the nominees!

Best Film: THE KING’S SPEECH (What should win: Inception)

Best Actor: COLIN FIRTH (Who should win: JAMES FRANCO, although Ryan Gosling should easily take this but hasn’t been nominated)

Best Actress: NATALIE PORTMAN (Who should win: HAILEE STEINFELD –True Grit)

Best Supporting Actor: GEOFFREY RUSH (Who should win: ANDREW GARFIELD, although Outside chance that the late Pete Pothethwaite may get this in tribute to him)

Best Supporting Actress: AMY ADAMS (Who should win: Again not nominated but Chloe Moretz should get it for her performance in Kick-Ass)

Best Director: INCEPTION - Christopher Nolan (Who should win: Christopher Nolan)

Animated film: TOY STORY 3 (What should win: Toy Story 3)

Original Music: INCEPTION - Hans Zimmer (Who should win: Inception – Hans Zimmer)

Cinematography: True Grit – Roger Deakins (Who should win: Roger Deakins)

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2011)

Overblown, melodramatic, absurd. All of these words can be aptly applied to Black Swan, and I mean them all as compliments.

Darren Aronofsky is a director obsessed with obsession. In ‘Pi’ he looked at an obsession with numbers, in ‘Requiem for a Dream’ the obsession was drugs, in ‘The Fountain’ it was the denial of death. His last work, ‘The Wrester’ was about an obsession with one’s work and body and Black Swan serves as an intentional and interesting companion piece. It is a stylish study of a dancer’s obsession to produce perfection and to ultimately become perfect. This is, of course, an impossible task, and her unrelenting hard work to achieve this goal leads her to some very dark areas of the psyche.

I am no dance expert, and I must admit the one ballet I have seen hardly set my soul alight, but thanks to the expert direction and editing in this film, I understood the power, emotion and physical precision that must go into creating a ballet. Aronofsky made the wise decision to make heavy use of Tchaikovsky’s original score which, when mixed with the stylish lighting and intoxicating melodrama, comes closer to catching the frenzy and energy of theatre than any other film I have seen.

Natalie Portman quite rightfully won a Golden Globe for her passionate and incredibly physical performance as Nina; she is a woman who is consumed with her work, largely thanks to her creepy, possessive mother who seems determined to live out her own dance fantasy through her daughter. She obsessively paints portraits of her and tucks her into her bed in a bedroom that can’t have changed since Nina was 12. Nina has led a sheltered life which makes it hard for her to channel the emotional core needed to take on the difficult role of the Black Swan, a dark twisted character key to the Ballet.

Nina is advised by the choreographer, played brilliantly by Vincent Cassel, to lose herself in order to become the Black Swan on stage, and this leads Nina into a series of sexual and violent events. Aronofsky mixes fantasy with horror in these sequences to ensure that there is never a dull moment. Eventually the fantasy elements of the film overtake the realism; the ambiguity of this is played on to such an extent that the film literally becomes wild. It looses all restraint and only a director as brave and talented as Aronofsky could handle it. What could have been a potential disaster is a near masterpiece.

Verdict

Scary, absorbing and consuming, the film affects the audience almost to the extent that the Black Swan affects Nina. See it at the cinema for a truly theatrical experience.

****1/2

Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010)

The end of a relationship is never easy, never mutual and never forgettable. Blue Valentine, a powerful, raw and all real examination into the making and breaking of a marriage makes this explicitly clear.

The always excellent Ryan Gosling and Michele Williams deliver startling realistic performances throughout the films duration showing what it’s like to be in and out of love with one another. The film is similar in structure, though far less optimistic, than 500 Days of Summer as it flashes back and forth between the beginning and the end of the characters relationship.

It’s a film that divided the audience that I sat in, half the cinema was bored, no doubt due to the gentle pacing and bleak tone, the other half where the ones that remained in the cinema whilst the credits rolled feeling as broken as the characters on screen. Make no doubt about it; Blue Valentine is not an easy ride, nor overtly entertaining. What you get is a startlingly honest look at how individuals can make life heaven or hell for each other.

Complaints have been made that the film never makes it clear why the couple’s marriage is breaking down, but that’s because the characters aren’t sure themselves. Their fractures are seen through their body language, their abject sexual chemistry and eventually their harsh unforgiving dialogue. The films flashbacks provide relief, a few laughs and some warming romance, but eventually these flashbacks are heartbreaking to watch as the audience realises how naive the couple are to where they are heading.

Verdict

If 127 hours was a transcendent film in that it made you feel the pain of losing an arm, this film makes you feel the pain of losing a partner. It is a hard film to recommend for a good night out, but one worth watching for two of the most honest and open performances in a decade.

****

127 Hours (Danny Boyle, 2011)

Between a rock and a hard place is Aron Ralston, protagonist of Danny Boyle’s self proclaimed ‘action movie in which the hero doesn’t move.’ James Franco plays Ralston who, whilst adventuring, gets trapped in a canyon by a fallen rock. 127 hours later, he cuts his own arm off to get free. It’s a brave and simple premise, and kudos to Boyle who adds yet another original and un-classifiable piece to his wildly varied filmography.

It is a strange film, devoid of any true narrative tension but full of anticipation. The ending is true catharsis, an overwhelming and moving experience; one of the most powerful 15 minutes of cinema I have witnessed. However the journey there seems to lack something.

I have seen three films set in tight spaces over the last few months. Devil which is set almost completely in a lift and is a simple and medley enjoyable b-movie. Buried which was a superior and claustrophobic thriller, and now this. 127 hours is an amazing true story and a cinematic experience but is a little too tricksy for its own good.

The film cannot be reviewed without commenting on James Franco’s performance which is nothing short of astonishing. He shows Ralston’s fear without resorting to hysterics and anguish without invoking melodrama. It is naturalistic and truly involving. The film beings with a self assured Ralston driving to Blue John canyon, and he appears to be little more than an adrenaline junky fixated with Jack-Ass style stunts. However, once he is stuck, and his thoughts flitter between his mother whom he has abandoned and an ex-lover who he neglected we see some honest, raw and heartbreaking humanity.

However good Franco is, 127 hours is Boyle’s show and he doesn’t let the audience forget it. Unlike Buried, which kept the audience in a coffin for 80 taught minutes, Boyle flicks between flashbacks and wild flights of fantasy. The camera is never still and the shooting style constantly changes. At one point Ralston is the star and host of his own chat show, and then later he fantasises about his past intimacies in a steamy, stylised sequence. Boyle makes the camera the biggest character, often using close-ups and a shaky handheld approach that puts the audience right there. Whilst it is enjoyable, it detracts from the feeling of being stuck and taints a good proportion of the film.

However, it is arguable needed, as 127 hours isn’t merely the amount of time Ralston was down there, it is the amount of time it took him to finally accept what he had to do. As the camera shows us Ralston’s regrets and future fantasies, the need for his escape seems greater, he is no longer an adrenaline junky but a son, and a friend. He is someone who has something to live for, and he makes the ultimate sacrifice to regain his life.

Boyle thankfully shortens Ralston’s self amputation from the actual 49 minutes it took him to 3 and a half, but be warned, you’ll feel his pain. Franco’s excellent acting and the winch inducing sound effects makes it appear that you see more than you actually do but it is a truly visceral experience. Much has been made of audience members fainting and I believe that is because Boyle has made an almost transcendent sequence, in which the audience share his pain and his eventual relief. Don’t look away because the rewards are rich. As Ralstone leaves his rocky prison, you will be moved.

Verdict

This is a life affirming, powerful and moving experience which makes up for its flaws through an awesome and truly affecting ending.

****

Roper Review of the Year 2010

Roper Review of the Year 2010

All good things must come to an end…and half way through this year Roper Review stopped. I struggled to balance work and leisure, and between those two pockets of life blogging was cut. However my cinema going didn’t.

As 2010 draws to a close I have spent 2.2% of my year in the cinema, in fact not counting sleep, it is more likely to be over 3% and what a 3% it was. All 71 films I’ve seen in the cinema this year (DVD hasn’t been counted) have been worth it. Even a bad film is worth the time as it brings one of life’s greatest pleasures, bitching about movies.

Here are the top ten films that I wasted my time complaining about this year.

Bottom 10 (no. 10 = worst)

10) Robin Hood: A poor remake by Ridley Scott who seems to have lost his prime with last decades Gladiator. The action is boring and badly edited, the story is lacking in emotion and there is no fun to be found in his ‘merry men’.

9) The Blind Side: An overtly racist, Oscar baiting film that panders to its audience in an overtly sentimental and patronising fashion.

8) A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy Krugers legacy has been tainted by this ‘re-imagining’ which throws a lot of loud noises at you and little else

7) Knight and Day: An ‘Action-Comedy’ that has little to excite and little to amuse

6) Death at a Funeral: About as much fun as…

5) Red: One of the most impressive cast lists of the year, and only slightly worse than the Expendables, but being slightly worse than that film is an impressive feat

4) [Rec] 2: A sequel to one of the best horror films of the decade’s starts of well but then takes on an ill-conceived possession plot which makes little sense and takes away all the scare

3) Clash of the Titans: Awful plot, awful effects, and it shows that only the experts should use 3D

2) The Ghost: Roman Polanski’s snore fest is the most soulless, rambling and dry films of the year

1) Saw 3D: End it now please. Finish it. It was good. It is certainly not any more.

Honourable mentions

The Expendables, The Bounty Hunter, The Wolf Man

The following are the best films of the year. I have based this on how much I enjoyed the film whilst watching it, my thoughts on it afterwards and if I would watch it again.

10 Best Films of the Year

Top 10 (no. 10 = best)

1. Buried: Ryan Reynolds in a coffin and that’s it. A simple and brave premise that leads to the tensest 90 minutes of the year
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) : They just keep getting darker and darker, and better and better.
3. Piranha 3D: A guilty pleasure, you get what you pay for. Gore, Babes and of course Piranahs all in glorious 3D
4. The Social Network: A brilliantly scripted and seminal piece that could not be more relevant for our social networking times.
5. Monsters: This year’s biggest surprise and made for a minute budget. Monsters is a beautifully shot and tender film about a lot more than just Monsters.
6. Kick Ass: Read my review, it struck quite a chord with one individual and I still stand by it as being one of the best films of the year.
7. The Road: Deeply moving adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s fantastic novel
8. Inception: Believe the hype. I could (and have) watch this film again and again.
9. Four Lions: A funny, disturbing and important film that should have a bigger audience than it did. It crowns Christopher Morris as he decade’s most important writer.
10. Toy Story 3: Pretty much perfect.

Honourable mentions

Crazy Heart, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Love and Other Drugs, The King's Speech, Karate Kid, A Single Man, Avatar, Shutter Island, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Killer Inside Me

So that’s it for 2010. Not a bad year in movies at all and at least two films that will be future ‘classics’. My new year’s resolution is to start blogging again so keep checking and have a great 2011 in the cinema.

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