Mega Film Update

It's been a while since I wrote anything down and I've been going through films at a rapid rate. These are the highlights.

Good Kill

Related to the previous blog about drones, this is a drama starring Ethan Hawke as an airforce pilot relegated to piloting drones and showing signs of the strain.

A slow drama that captures the growing tension between Egan and his colleagues regarding their work, and also with his wife (January Jones), it never quite succeeds, everyone being a little too controlled and unemotional. Not bad, though.

Future Shock - The Story of 2000AD

A documentary on the creation, trials and  success of the best comic Britain ever produced:

This introduces you to figures such as Pat Mills, Andy Diggle, John Wagner, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Carlos Ezquerra, Carlos Ezquerra and Grant Morrison. Even Neil Gaiman and Karl Urban get a look in. 2000AD affected an entire generation (mine) and, although video games and the internet have lessened it's effect, it still packs a punch.

Spectre

Yet another outing for Mr. Bond. James gets in trouble again when he follows a lead to a mysterious organisation... (yawn). Tell you what, I'll let Honest Trailers explain.

 A nice finale for Daniel Craig, although the plot was meandering. It all looks very nice, stylish an' all, and there's enough special effects, stunts and exotic locations: I think it's just that it's a fantasy and it shows.

Killer Joe

Desperate for money, Chris (Emile Hirsch) plots with his inept and devious family to have his estranged mother murdered by hitman "Killer" Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey).

A film version of a stage play, it shows as it's sometimes slow and claustrophobic. The Southern Gothic makes the film too grotesque for my taste, and, although the plot has a few twists and McConaughey does his best, it doesn't really engage. It also puts you off KFC.

The Fantastic Four

 Reed Richards (Miles Teller), after demonstrating his matter transporter with childhood friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), gets invited to help perfect a larger version with Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), together with original inventor Viktor von Doom (Toby Kebbell).

A remake of the Marvel film made about ten years ago (probably because Chris Evans is now Captain America), it's basically a teenage version, and a bit rushed at that.  The special effects are good, but the plot seems a bit haphazard. Not bad, but just not that good, as if someone deliberately made a pizza movie.

A Boy and His Robot: Big Hero Six, Interstellar, Jupiter Ascending and Black Sea

A bit of a movie catch-up with three sci-fi and one psychological thriller.

First up, Interstellar. With a looming ecological catastrophe, former astronaut Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is asked to venture through a recently discovered wormhole to find a new home for Humanity.

While the acting and special effects are good, at two hours plus, this seemed a little dragged out to me. Plus, although they had expert advice on the physics concepts involved, the plot did seems a little contrived (I didn't understand how they managed to get down to the first planet without being ripped apart by tidal forces from gravity stong enough to slow down time). Quite a good pizza movie, though, and a more positive spin on the future than most films.

Next, Black Sea. Unemployed submariner Robinson (Jude Law) is offered an opportunity to salvage gold from a sunken U-Boat.

A claustrophobic and tense thriller, with some genuine starts (for me anyway), it's spoiled by technical errors (there's a reason they use diesel in ships: it's inflammable) and the silliness of the plot. An average pizza movie, but no more than that.

From the Wachowski siblings, who brought you the Matrix, comes Jupiter Ascending. Jupiter (Mila Kunis) a cleaner in Chicago turns out to be the genetic twin of a long dead Queen of... Lord, I can't be bothered. Instead of showing you the trailer, I'll let Honest Trailer's explain (if they can):

I didn't think it was that bad, but, like they say, the plot has holes you could drive a tank through and the acting is bad enough to make Sean Bean look like Laurence Olivier. Harmless enough, I suppose, but more expensive than Black Sea for a not much better result.

Lastly, we have Disney's attempt to cash in on the Manga phenomena with Big Hero Six. After losing his brother in a fire, Hiro (geddit?) Hamada and the formers robot creation Baymax try to find out what happened.

Although still a Disney film, and, therefore, a bit cardboard cut-out, it's a reasonable plot and good enough characters to make it an enjoyable 90 minutes. I liked it.

True(ish) Stories: American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club

On the upside of a disruptive and chaotic Christmas/New Year (welcome to 2015, everybody), I watched a few films from my Amazon subscription. First up, two con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are blackmailed into an FBI sting operation:

On paper, this looks like it could be a really great movie, with a top notch cast and a true(ish) story, but the direction is poor and the casting laughable. Bale couldn't sell a lifebelt to a drowning man and generates no sympathy or empathy as the lead. Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams, as his wife and girlfriend respectively, do better, but, like Bale, are too young for the roles. Jeremy Renner is also good, but Bradley Cooper is just embarrassing. It's just simply not their kind of film. However, you do get a glimpse of what might have been when Robert De Niro turns up for 5 minutes and steals not just the scene but the movie.

Next is the Dallas Buyers Club. Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey), after contracting HIV and developing AIDS, decides to treat himself and others using non-FDA approved drugs after the approved treatment fails.

The acting in the film is top notch, as you'd expect, with McConaughey ably supported by Jennifer Garner as his doctor and Jared Leto as his business partner, and the story is handled well. However, as with the previous film, I've always felt that true stories don't fit particularly well into film because a life cannot be told in 90-120 minutes. I always have a feeling that the truth is more complex and you're just getting half the story. Still, it's not a bad film and worth the watch.

True Detective

True Detective is now out on DVD in the U.K. Louisiana State Detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) are called to the scene of what looks like a ritual murder:

The series follows the case in flashback as the two detectives are interviewed many years after by their counterparts working a similar murder. A lot of fuss has been made of the series, preempting a cult following, but it is justified. McConaughey is hot property at the moment, after Mud and more recent films, and Cohle is a very suitable vehicle. Some of the weirder ideas that Cohle has (or purports to have: you're never quite sure if he's just playing games) would sound rubbish from a lesser actor, but he holds the attention perfectly. Harrelson's role is more solid and conventional, but it contrasts well with Cohle and is no less compelling. I honestly believe that you could just show the interviews without the flashback and it would still be good watching.

The direction and script are equally good and a third component, even a third actor really, is the atmospheric Louisiana countryside, part industrial (a strong feature being the refineries and chemical works supporting oil industry along the Gulf coast) and still very rural and religious.

Very, very recommended.

The Lincoln Lawyer

Back to the movies, this is an adaption of the bestseller by Michael Connelly starring current hot property Matthew McConaughey. Defence Lawyer Mickey Haller (McConaughey), used to dealing with orinary criminals, is suddenly hired to defend Beverly Hills playboy and heir Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe).

A very good plot and good script, combined with McConaughey's southern style makes this a superior film and an excellent Friday night pizza movie. McConaughey is excellent, as is the supporting cast, although they are somewhat underused, especially William H. Macy and Bryan Cranston, although it's good to see John Leguizamo and Michael Peña in something, as well as Marisa Tomei as Haller's ex-wife. Recommended.

Mud - A Tale from the Riverbank

Merry Christmas, everybody.

An excellent film through my LoveFilm subscription, a modern day Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Ellis and his friend Neckbone (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) find someone living in an abandoned boat they had hoped to take for themselves.

A story of love, fate and growing up, Matthew McConaughey shines as the troubled and desperate Mud. The plot moves at a brisk pace, the dialogue sounds great, and the supporting characters are well played, especially Reese Witherspoon as Mud's girlfriend and Sam Shepard as his father figure. However, this is really the tale of Ellis as he struggles to figure out a complex and dangerous adult world. Very recommended and I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the running for best film or screenplay at the Oscars.