With few special effects, the film relies on the actors and plot to produce an eerie otherness, similar to Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. Shannon seems initially miscast as the desperate father, usually playing the villain, but is quite effective in the role and he is supported by an excellent cast, including Kirsten Dunst as Alton's mother. In an age of over-the-top sci-fi, it's refreshing to watch a film that prize's story over spectacle. Recommended.
Sunday 22 January 2017
Midnight Special
This is an odd science-fiction film from my Amazon subscription. Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon) and his young son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), accompanied by Roy's friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton), flee across the American South pursued by both the Government and the agents of a religious cult.
With few special effects, the film relies on the actors and plot to produce an eerie otherness, similar to Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. Shannon seems initially miscast as the desperate father, usually playing the villain, but is quite effective in the role and he is supported by an excellent cast, including Kirsten Dunst as Alton's mother. In an age of over-the-top sci-fi, it's refreshing to watch a film that prize's story over spectacle. Recommended.
With few special effects, the film relies on the actors and plot to produce an eerie otherness, similar to Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. Shannon seems initially miscast as the desperate father, usually playing the villain, but is quite effective in the role and he is supported by an excellent cast, including Kirsten Dunst as Alton's mother. In an age of over-the-top sci-fi, it's refreshing to watch a film that prize's story over spectacle. Recommended.
Sunday 15 January 2017
Cut The Rope 2
It's not often that I blog about games, but one I've been introduced to by my sister's grandson is the mildly addictive and infinitely charming Cut The Rope 2 by ZeptoLab, available online or for various mobile platforms. It centers around Om Nom, the tubby little green character and his attempt to find (and eat) swirly little sweets. You have to solve little physics puzzles to get him the sweets:
You can even get stickers and plush toys based on the game. Sweet!
You can even get stickers and plush toys based on the game. Sweet!
Thursday 12 January 2017
Look Back in Angora - Ed Wood and Hitchcock/Truffaut
(Sorry, but it was too good to resist). Two films about three directors from my Amazon subscription.
First up, Hitchcock/Truffaut. In 1962, the French new wave film director, François Truffaut, went to Hollywood to interview Alfred Hitchcock, who had just finished filming The Birds.
What appears at first to be a complete mismatch turns out to be something of an homage as Hitchcock films and techniques had been feted for some time by Truffaut and his collegues. The film details their initial conversation, and subsequent friendship until Hitchcock's death in 1980. Truffaut produced a book based on the interview and his analysis of the films and this influenced many later directors, including Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese. The film, however, doesn't reveal much other than some basic details, understandable given the subject matter and that the opinions of other directors had to be included to give it a broader appeal. It's an interesting piece of cinema history, nontheless, and the book might be worth a read.
Next a film about a director driven to make movies despite a clear handicap (No, not the cross-dressing: the lack of talent). Ed Wood Jr. (Johnny Depp) inspired by Orson Welles to realise his own vision of the movie business, whatever it takes, struggles to find backers and encounters failed horror actor Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau)
Made with genuine warmth and sympathy about the subject matter, Tim Burton makes a classic Hollywood-on-Hollywood movie and in such a way that makes the weird and strange look normal, which may well be Hollywood. It compares well with Bowfinger, which has a similar subject matter.
First up, Hitchcock/Truffaut. In 1962, the French new wave film director, François Truffaut, went to Hollywood to interview Alfred Hitchcock, who had just finished filming The Birds.
What appears at first to be a complete mismatch turns out to be something of an homage as Hitchcock films and techniques had been feted for some time by Truffaut and his collegues. The film details their initial conversation, and subsequent friendship until Hitchcock's death in 1980. Truffaut produced a book based on the interview and his analysis of the films and this influenced many later directors, including Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese. The film, however, doesn't reveal much other than some basic details, understandable given the subject matter and that the opinions of other directors had to be included to give it a broader appeal. It's an interesting piece of cinema history, nontheless, and the book might be worth a read.
Next a film about a director driven to make movies despite a clear handicap (No, not the cross-dressing: the lack of talent). Ed Wood Jr. (Johnny Depp) inspired by Orson Welles to realise his own vision of the movie business, whatever it takes, struggles to find backers and encounters failed horror actor Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau)
Made with genuine warmth and sympathy about the subject matter, Tim Burton makes a classic Hollywood-on-Hollywood movie and in such a way that makes the weird and strange look normal, which may well be Hollywood. It compares well with Bowfinger, which has a similar subject matter.
Saturday 24 December 2016
99 Homes
A topical drama from my Amazon subscription, Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) and his family are evicted from their home after losing his job and the court case against the bank. Through a twist of fate, he ends up working for Rick Carver (Michael Shannon), the man who evicted him, who then teaches him the ins and outs of the business.
Very much a Faustian tale of our times, Garfield and Shannon do well to show how misfortune can shape men into monsters that prey, in turn, on the misfortune of others. Garfield is good, but, as you would expect in such a role, it's Shannon who gives the star turn (he won a couple of Best Supporting Actor awards). Recommended, but not easy viewing.
Very much a Faustian tale of our times, Garfield and Shannon do well to show how misfortune can shape men into monsters that prey, in turn, on the misfortune of others. Garfield is good, but, as you would expect in such a role, it's Shannon who gives the star turn (he won a couple of Best Supporting Actor awards). Recommended, but not easy viewing.
Sunday 18 December 2016
Miller's Crossing
One of my favourite films, and one of the best and clever gangster films, is Miller's Crossing from the Cohen brothers starring Gabriel Byrne and Albert Finney.
In debt due to a bad gambling habit, Tom Reagan (Byrne) tries to play his boss Leo O'Bannon (Finney) against upstart Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) when the two won't compromise over bad bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro).
Although it's a complex film, and takes a few viewings to sort out who kills who and why, it's a good plot and well acted by Finney and Byrne, with a good supporting cast. It's even got a half-decent sound track. However, if you take one thing away from the film it's the sight of Finney in his dressing gown and slippers, firing a Thomson sub-machine gun with his house on fire behind him while "Danny Boy" thunders out. I cannot hear that song without smiling. Highly recommended.
In debt due to a bad gambling habit, Tom Reagan (Byrne) tries to play his boss Leo O'Bannon (Finney) against upstart Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) when the two won't compromise over bad bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro).
Although it's a complex film, and takes a few viewings to sort out who kills who and why, it's a good plot and well acted by Finney and Byrne, with a good supporting cast. It's even got a half-decent sound track. However, if you take one thing away from the film it's the sight of Finney in his dressing gown and slippers, firing a Thomson sub-machine gun with his house on fire behind him while "Danny Boy" thunders out. I cannot hear that song without smiling. Highly recommended.
Tuesday 22 November 2016
Trumbo
It's not often that Hollywood explores the darker side of it's past. There's films like The Player and Bowfinger, but they're comedies satirising, rather than narrating. This is a biopic of Dalton Trumbo, played by Bryan Cranston, a screen writer who was blacklisted in the late forties for being a communist, but who continued to work under pseudonoms for B-Movie studios, eventually earning two Oscars for Roman Holiday and The Brave One. He finally recieved credit for Spartacus, breaking the blacklist and allowing him to work again under his own name.
A brilliant film, well acted by Cranston and an excellent supporting cast including Helen Mirren as Hedda Hopper, the gossip columnist and anti-communist, and Diane Lane as his wife Cleo. Recommended.
A brilliant film, well acted by Cranston and an excellent supporting cast including Helen Mirren as Hedda Hopper, the gossip columnist and anti-communist, and Diane Lane as his wife Cleo. Recommended.
Monday 21 November 2016
Captain America: Civil War
The latest in the Avengers series out on DVD (Dr Strange is out at the Pictures) sees a plot to implicate the Winter Soldier, a.k.a. Captain America's (Chris Evans) friend and former comrade Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), in a series of terrorist attacks, forcing th' Cap into a confrontation with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a.k.a. Iron Man.
This is a real step up from Avengers: Age of Ultron, with a complex (for Marvel) plot and the usual characters having to deal with personal conflicts, giving the actors something to bite on for a change outside of the action. The action scenes are well catered for, although I thought the airport scene was a bit drawn out, as if to fill out the perceived lack elsewhere. All-in-all, a superior pizza movie and recommended.
This is a real step up from Avengers: Age of Ultron, with a complex (for Marvel) plot and the usual characters having to deal with personal conflicts, giving the actors something to bite on for a change outside of the action. The action scenes are well catered for, although I thought the airport scene was a bit drawn out, as if to fill out the perceived lack elsewhere. All-in-all, a superior pizza movie and recommended.
Monday 14 November 2016
The Big Short
There aren't many films about the 2008 crash and what caused it, apart from the odd documentary (notably Inside Job, a 2010 film by Charles Ferguson), but there have been many books and one, written by Michael Lewis, who wrote Moneyball and Liars Poker, has been turned into a movie starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.
Analysing the existing mortgage bond market, eccentric hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Bale) decides to "short" i.e. bet against the market, which he thinks will shortly collapse. He is followed by other hedge fund managers Mark Baum (Carell), Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock).
It must have been very difficult to portray the intricacies of what happened to an audience munching on their popcorn, but the use of celebrity asides, although corny, does work quite well and the moral outrage is expressed by Baum on the one hand and Ben Rickert (Pitt) on the other rings true. That it was allowed to happen at all and that others didn't spot the problems sooner is the truly amazing part.
Analysing the existing mortgage bond market, eccentric hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Bale) decides to "short" i.e. bet against the market, which he thinks will shortly collapse. He is followed by other hedge fund managers Mark Baum (Carell), Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock).
It must have been very difficult to portray the intricacies of what happened to an audience munching on their popcorn, but the use of celebrity asides, although corny, does work quite well and the moral outrage is expressed by Baum on the one hand and Ben Rickert (Pitt) on the other rings true. That it was allowed to happen at all and that others didn't spot the problems sooner is the truly amazing part.
Saturday 12 November 2016
Comfort and Joy
From my Amazon subscription, this is a light comedy og the 1980's by Bill Forsyth (who directed Local Hero and Gregory's Girl). Radio presenter, Alan "Dickie" Bird (Bill Paterson) is having difficulty adjusting when his girlfriend suddenly leaves him and gets involved in a conflict between two rival ice cream van families.
Perhaps a little too light for my taste (as where the other films from Forsyth), it is a bit of a relic of a previous age. It's acted well enough by Paterson and the rest of the cast (Clare Grogan, from Altered Images, plays the femme fatale, so it's worth watching for that alone), but the ending does seem to be a bit false, given the violence and the reality of the so-called Ice Cream wars in Glasgow at the time.
Perhaps a little too light for my taste (as where the other films from Forsyth), it is a bit of a relic of a previous age. It's acted well enough by Paterson and the rest of the cast (Clare Grogan, from Altered Images, plays the femme fatale, so it's worth watching for that alone), but the ending does seem to be a bit false, given the violence and the reality of the so-called Ice Cream wars in Glasgow at the time.
Friday 4 November 2016
Nebraska
No, not the Bruce Springsteen album, but a light comedy starring Bruce Dern, who played the Cop in The Driver all those years ago. A confused Woody Grant (Dern) keeps trying to get to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim a $1 Million prize, much to the consternation of his wife (June Squibb) and his sons David (Will Forte) and Ross (Bob Odenkirk, better known as Saul Goodman from Better Call Saul). David eventually relents and takes his father on a road trip via the town where he grew up.
Although a slight film, it does have it's moments, such as when the boys steal a compressor to get back at old rival of their fathers', and the criminally inept cousins, and it does have a genuine warmth. Dern acts a great role effortlessly and ably supported by June Squibb and the rest of the cast. Recommended.
Although a slight film, it does have it's moments, such as when the boys steal a compressor to get back at old rival of their fathers', and the criminally inept cousins, and it does have a genuine warmth. Dern acts a great role effortlessly and ably supported by June Squibb and the rest of the cast. Recommended.
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