Wish You Were Here

I was quite intrigued to see Wish You Were Here. It is after all, a newage Aussie drama flick and I find it interesting to see what Aussie filmmakers are producing at present. This film has that new style of quick editing seen in many Aussie drama's made today meaning instead of lingering within a moment in the film, you just get a quick snapshot of the necessary information before being whisked off to the next scene for the next piece of information. For this type of film the editing worked quite well as it is essentially a mystery piece that all comes together as you watch.

The next thing you will notice about this film, after the editing, is the gorgeous cinematography. Almost all of the film is shot on the lowest f-stop possible, creating a shallow depth of field and sharply keeping your attention drawn to the small, fast moving details contained in each frame. It makes you feel trapped in the movie, along with the characters, and is obviously an intentional decision to assist with understanding the main characters emotional state. Again this impressed me and some of the shot compositions were spectacular. So much of this film comes across in the subteltey of these compositions and in miniscule details that its almost like a game to watch out for the clues as to what the characters are going through. For this reason its worth seeing, but unfortunately this creates a problem as much of the film moves along slowly and relies on this game to convey important plot points, rather than through actual story telling.

Essentially what that game leads to is bad pacing throughout the film. Most of the movie you live in the 'present' of the characters' lives with flashbacks to South East Asia where they holidayed with some family and friends before one of their friends disappeared on a crazy night out. Slowly piecing together what happened on that night, and the resulting consequences of that night, are what the movie is all about. The slow reveal and use of subtle details make for a great idea, but I feel the director got too caught up in that and sort of forgot that the movie needs to keep moving along too. For about 20 minutes it felt like you neither learnt anything new about the characters nor anything more about that fateful night due to no flashbacks being shown. This seems like an obvious oversight on the creators behalf and I'm curious why they botched up such a large part of the film.

In the end I was left unsatisifed. After such a slow burn and long build-up I thought it was going to be a cracker of a finish, and even though there are some shocking reveals towards the end, they didnt really combine to go "POW" and blow your socks off. Its dissapointing as I felt like it could have been something more than just a beautiful looking film.

SCORE: 6/10

IMDB Info for Wish You Were Here

Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect is a bit of a weird one. Suggested by my wife on recommendations from her friends, I was expecting a Rom Com/Chick Flick type of film but was surprised to find out it is in fact more like a musical in the fashion of Glee, I guess. Let me start by saying I am not a musical fan nor can I stand even sitting through the ad's for Glee so I was apprehensive of continuing to watch this movie once the singing started. Then when the main pretty girl vomits all over the stage whilst singing the opening song I was even closer to leaving, but, being a good husband I decided to stick it out and keep my wife company.

In the end I found myself a bit caught up in the obvious storyline and rooting (no pun intended) for the all girls group to win the a capella competition. I guess this is a modern day movie for the new age geeky/nerdy fad thats currently in vogue at school. In my day it was a couple of misfits destroying the Bio-Dome and making it cool again, or a different group of misfits going travelling through time to win a history class competition ... and for this generation it seems to be all about singing and dancing.

The thing I most enjoyed about the film is that the leading cast was an all female ensemble. Its great to see more films taking the "brave" approach and going against the norm by putting in female leads, or even more shockingly a group of females in the lead. I want more films like this to come along and less films of men dressing up as women because its quite rude to think the audience would prefer Eddie Murphy acting as a chick than a real woman being funny (although I have to confess Eddie Murphy as the Grandma is pretty damn funny). Girls can be funny and produce great comedy, just look at Rebel Wilson in this movie or any of the chicks in Bridesmaids and its obvious! I find it kinda refreshing to see it being done differently more often now and hope it continues.

This movie is made for a specific audience and Im pretty sure that audience will love this flick. My wife really enjoyed it and said she should write this review instead of me, which kind of makes sense. I wasn't the target audience for this film at all and so the best thing I can say about the film is that I laughed in it, enjoyed the leading ladies and feel that for those of you that like a singing & dancing movie about a group of misfits rising up and winning against the odds: you are sure to love it.

SCORE: 6/10

IMDB Info for Pitch Perfect

Oblivion

A quick synopsis for Oblivion is that its the future, aliens have obliterated Humans by breaking the moon up or something and Tom Cruise is a half commando/half mechanic who maintains drones and a big machine that sucks sea water up into it for powering a floating triangle in space. This storyline is really just an excuse to make a beautiful looking Sci-Fi film utilising every single Sci-Fi cliche you can imagine.

The best thing about this film was that I saw it in a cinema with the Dolby Surround EX system which introduces an extra rear channel to the sound setup. It was perfect for this film as there are drones and flying things shooting all around the place throughout the whole film and it really sounded like they were moving around you in the cinema.

Almost all of the attention of this film went to the set design, CGI and sound, and its very noticeable. The sets were gorgeous and the CGI was near photo real. When that was combined with the sound, it engineered a rather beautiful post apocalyptic Earth. The designs were like a modern take on the traditional retro "future" designs Ive seen from Sci Fi flicks of the 70's and it worked really well. A see through swimming pool suspended above the Earth with a naked lady swimming around it was a highlight of the film. Unfortunately with all of the attention on these matters they forgot about a pretty important part of the film which was the screenplay. I was quite confused for most of the film and found myself still discussing it with my mate the next day, trying to tie all the pieces together. Normally I really like that about a film, but with oblivion I was doing it as I was so confused about what the hell happened and why there were so many hypocrisies in the storyline, rather than trying to piece together all the clues of a clever plot.

Overall if you are a Sci-Fi fan or a Tom Cruise fan then I would recommend checking out the film for the reasons mentioned above. If you are neither of those then you really aren't going to enjoy this one so might be best to give it a miss.

SCORE: 6/10

IMDB Info for Oblivion

West of Memphis

On August 19, 2011, 3 men left prison after serving 18 years and 78 days. This may not be all that incredible under normal circumstances, except that in this case these men were innocent.

This film is a documentary around the crime, the suspects, the court hearing and the subsequent evidence discovered during the 18 years they were incarcerated and how that new evidence led up to the men walking out of jail for the first time since they were teenagers. It centres around the area of West Memphis where in 1993, three boys aged 8 years old were murdered. The three men who were convicted for this: Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelly Jr & Jason Baldwin, were quiet teenagers who were into satanic music and related activities. These men were picked on by the police and media for their interests and linked to the crime in no plausible way and then convicted based on the confession of Jessie Misskelly that the three of them did kill those boys.

Over the years it came to light that Jessie was borderline intellectually retarded and that the police had interviewed and questioned him for 12 hours straight to get that confession. Only 46 minutes of those 12 hours was recorded and used as evidence.

The documentary itself is edited well and holds a huge amount of information. It is heavily weighted to the innocence of the three men and as such I felt that maybe there was some more information left out about the case but it does appear overwhelmingly obvious that these three men were innocent of the crime. The interviews are all top quality and the access the filmmakers got to everyone involved is comprehensive. Some of the archival footage is quite confronting so please be aware that you will see footage of the crime scene and photos of the post mortem which was hard to look at. This is dealt to the viewer with taste though and not in a glorified manner at all, and definitely helps tell the story of what occurred.

I never know what to think of these documentaries. I love the idea of watching them and learning about them and their content, but the fact that they are based on real world events and show real world footage makes a much deeper etch into my mind. I find it harder to push out the thoughts after the credits roll and often find myself still pondering them a few days later. If you can prepare yourself for that then I recommend watching this as a display of gross misconduct by the state, the court and the police. And wonder, if these three men didn't kill those boys and the person who did is still walking around today, who is it?

SCORE: 7/10

IMDB info for West of Memphis

Wikipedia article on the West Memphis Three

The Fighter

I had the urge for something epic last night.  Considered the usual Gladiator, Braveheart, Patriot etc but ended up settling on a second viewing of The Fighter.  I really enjoyed it the first time and the second was great as well getting to focus a little more on the performances rather than the story.

Christian Bale is just simply incredible in this movie.   If you didn't know he was an actor you would just believe without hesitation he was an ex-boxer crack addict.   How the hell does he transform from Batman into Dicky?   It has to be one of the top 10 performances of all time.  (Hmmm that will be an interesting post to do... will come back to that one).  Bale is now up there with the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis in my opinion. A complete method actor.

I don't want to take too much away from Mark Wahlberg though.  He gives a great performance as well but I never see him transform into someone else.  He's always cast in similar roles and plays them well, but there's no WOW factor.  The rest of the supporting cast are fantastic as well...  Love the hair on some of those feral sisters.

Boxing movies, like any others focused on sports, tend to follow the usual pattern of hardship and triumph.  I find if it's done well though it never feels old.  It's great to be inspired and when they land that final punch, kick that last goal or sink that last ball to win the big match you're left with a big smile on your face and warm fuzzies.   This is done to perfection in The Fighter especially since Mickey is such a likable guy and is based on a true story.  The movie feels raw and real.

I believe Mark Wahlberg worked his ass of to get the producers on board (including himself) and get the film made.  Bloody legend the result is a very entertaining and inspiring couple of hours.   Check it out if you haven't already and prepare to blown away by Dicky :)  If you enjoy I recommend the movie Warrior as well released 2011. 

Oh - I love the fact they show the real guys at the end.  Crazy looking bastards, haha.

9/10

IMDB Info

Liberal Arts

So Ted from How I Met Your Mother decided to write and direct a movie. I really, really like Ted so was definitely going to check it out. Plus the idea of someone moving onwards in showbiz from a TV actor to a Hollywood director (this was an indie film, but Id like to think he will move on to bigger things) is something I love to dream about happening.

So onto the film ... what was it like? Well, as far as Romantic Comedies go I feel that the best ones out there will get a 7/10 from me. Its not my favourite genre but I appreciate the scope and demographic for them and know how necessary they are. I also really appreciate a good one and love when I feel one is worthy of a 7. I am very happy to announce that this movie received a 7/10 from me.

The film is a tad pretentious and even a tad pompous, but, if you watch How I Met Your Mother you will probably feel the same towards Ted and I can only imagine that this must come from some level of reality if Josh Radnor stars as Ted and wrote and directed this film. His knowledge of the arts is obviously more indepth than most, and his love for them must also be more than most. There were many references in this film to Orchestral performances and composers, authors, painters and bands that I had hardly ever heard of. If you are of the arts persuasion I would be interested to know if this film works better or worse for you. For me, it definitely made it better as instead of Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz getting smashed in Vegas and fucking each other, there was some level of indepth discussion about semi interesting, and unknown topics. For that I was grateful as its unfortunately not always found in the Rom Com genre.

The standout for this film though, apart from anything Josh Radnor did, was Elizabeth Olsen. Elizabeth is simply mesmerising. She has fast become my favourite current actress and I cannot wait to see what else she goes on to do. Watching her in Martha Marcy May Marlene made me realsie how awesome a leading lady can be a in a film. To me that was up there with Natalie Portman in the Black Swan. The depth and intensity she showed was intense. This film is nothing like either of those two, but to be a leading lady in a Rom Com and bring a level of innocence, integrity and intelligence such as she did is a real achievement. Its worth watching just for her performance alone.

SCORE: 7/10

IMDB Information for Liberal Arts

The Colour of Money

I think I'm getting a bit older. When I'm watching a movie or picking one out to watch I find I am less interested in how good the CGI, practical effects and excitement levels are going to be and instead am becoming more interested in characters, story and acting. This has led me to consider viewing some classics I've often heard about, even attempted in the past, but have never really had the yearning to sit through and enjoy.

Enter: The Colour of Money

A movie directed by Scorsese in the 80's starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, by default, has to be pretty damn good. Coupled with the fact that character, story and acting are now of much more value to me than in the past and I was pretty sure I was going to be in for a good time. The movie was brilliant. I was enthralled and entranced for almost the whole time watching Tom Cruise ACT! Boy could he act back then. A study in charisma, charm and boy next door wonder if I ever saw one. Taylor Lautner, Sam Worthington, Channing Tatum eat your hearts out and jump down into a fiery pit. You have nothing on the abilities of what Tom was like back in the day. Then to make it even more amazing lets throw in Paul Newman teaching his new protege (Tom) how to be charismatic, charming and boy next door to win 9 ball competitions. Now that's a movie my new self wants to watch.

It's a film not really about much other than an older man taking a gamble on young hot shot to make him loads of money playing 9 ball. How Scorsese was able to weave that into an intricate character study of depression, desire, achievement, manipulation and intrigue still amazes me. Why did only get an Oscar recently? Surely he should have 7 or 8 by now! Anyway, the last bit of the film let me down slightly after such a strong start, and unfortunately I think that's due to the editing of the film. The focus shifts from Tom to Paul's characters about 2/3 of the way through so abruptly it brought me out of the show. If he had been able to pull off the film climax of the century this film would be raved about forever, but unfortunately it just missed out.

If you find that you are also moving along in your film watching career and want a slower film full of characterisation and intricacy then please check this film out. If you are after a big whizz bang affair with 'splosions and robots fighting then maybe pass for now. But one day, when the time is right, definitely put this slow burner of a film on and be mesmerised at how good a director can really be.

SCORE: 8/10

IMDB Info for The Colour of Money

Weekend Trifecta - Argo, The Master & Savages

Had a mate staying from Ceduna over the weekend and we always smash a few movies while he's down.  It's always hard to choose what to watch but we ended up with some great movies.



Argo

Doubt there's many out there who either haven't seen or know about this one.  Ben Affleck both directs and stars in this gritty thriller about the American Embassy hostage situation in Iran in (1980).  Affleck just keeps getting better and he really delivers the goods in Argo with an incredibly engaging and edge of your seat experience.

The first thing that really jumped out at me was how 70's/80's it looked not just in the sets and costume etc but with the visual quality as well.  I read after that he actually shot on film instead of digitally and then cut frames and blew them up 200% for graininess.   This technique worked amazingly well.

The whole movie was pretty much perfect in my opinion.  I do want to make special reference to the brilliant building of tension throughout leading up to the escape.  Although I hear the film is quite a way off the actual events, when it means delivering a better story, who cares :)

Another special mention of Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad who plays Jack.  Every movie is made better by having Bryan Cranston in it, so nice casting work there.

9/10

IMDB Info


The Master

I really don't know where to start here.  There is so much I loved about this move but did not feel satisfied when the credits rolled.   To me it felt more about the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman than any sort of complete story telling.   It's one of those movies that you keep expecting to pull back a curtain and reveal something huge, but in this case it never does.

Story aside the movie is brilliant in all other aspects.   I recommend watching when you're in a more thoughtful mood and enjoy the reflection after.

7/10

IMDB Info


Savages

This is quite a fun film covering a subject we all enjoy - The Mexican Cartel and narcotic manufacture.  Add a gorgeous blond and a sexy Salma Hayek and you're pretty invested for the ride. 

The movie has some big supporting actors as well such as John Travolta and Benicio Del Toro whom is always great.

It's colourful, it's violent, it's hollywood all over and reminded me a bit of Fast and Furious without the cars.  Although an enjoyable watch I'm afraid to say the movie just isn't as good as it could have been.  With the actors involved and the potential of the story it felt like this movie could have hit an easy 7 maybe even 8 out of 10 but it never quite gets there.  I can't put my fingers on it - but you will know what I mean if you watch.

6/10

IMDB Info

Hitchcock

Hitchcock is an interesting movie. The premise is wonderful: take a brilliant filmmaker, make a biopic about how he made his most famous film, make it a period piece starring Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson and Anthony Hopkins and win an Oscar. This seems like a fool proof plan. Anthony Hopkins is simply superb starring as the amazing Alfred Hitchcock. His transformation into this character is brilliant and the imposing, intimidating feel of what Hitchcock must have be like comes across wonderfully. Nearly as good is Johansson, which surprised me as I don’t rate her as much of an actress, but more a lady with assets that made her famous, but in this she really does portray an actress of the 60’s starring in a high profile film well. But, (in my opinion) overshadowing the whole cast is the astounding Helen Mirren. The portrayal of a deep complex woman who stands by her man through thick and thin, whilst being every bit his equal in potential capability, make this film as good as it is. The comparison of who she is and what she does for the great and powerful Hithcock, and how he is only capable of being the man he is with her in his life is the true heart of the film.

This is good as the actual structure of the film is a bit all over the shop. The continual dreaming of a Norman Bates type character in the life of Hitchock as a driving force was an interesting idea that falls flat, and the pacing of the film is unfortunately non-existent so any type of character arc or story arc doesn’t really happen. But, with the excellent performances of the three main characters this is forgiven as you really can’t help but be mesmerised by such people as these and wonder that they truly existed only a few years ago, and were they really like this?

This film is worth a watch when you just want an interesting drama to enjoy. It does have one specific scene of Hitchcock directing the music of the famous shower scene outside a packed theatre while listening to the audience scream that struck a chord with me, but overall it felt like a possible Oscar cleanup of a movie that just fell flat.

SCORE: 6/10

IMDB Information for Hitchcock

Great movies you might not have seen - Part 1

I can't stand the thought of missing good movies and love posts from other people who list some decent movie that may not be so well known.   Normally we've seen most of them but from time to time a new one comes along and if you're lucky it gets added to the collection.

Here's a few of mine that you might not have seen.   Please also add your own in the comments and we might need to arrange a little prize for anyone who can give me a new one worthy of adding to the re-watch list!  As it deserves it's own post I'll do horror movies at a later date.


The Name of The Rose - 1986

This is one of the darkest and creepiest movies I've seen and has actually given me nightmares before.  Sean Connery and Christian Slater give good performances and Ron Perlman plays the role he was born for with that face (a hunch back).

It's quite an interesting story told very well.   That's one thing about 80's movie scripts, they were less about trying to be clever but more about telling a good tale.

Watch if you dare...

Fun fact:  Watch this with a really decent bottle of red and afterwards go look at your tongue in the mirror.  (it will make sense after watching the movie)

IMDB Info


Tremors - 1990

Possibly the greatest horror comedy of all time?   Big call I know but everything in this movie, for me, is well.... perfect :)    Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward play some quirky cowboys - Val and Earl and pretty much steal the show.  But on top of that you have a great supporting cast, a great location, a brilliant script and a bit of corny rubbery monster action.  What more could you ask for?   This could go in the horror post but it's more comedy and action really.

"FUUUCK... YOU!!!... HA HA HA"

Fun Fact:  In an early scene watch Val try to hammer in a nail to a fence post.  Watch that nail carefully.

IMDB Info


The Mosquito Coast - 1986

Another 80's classic.  Possibly Harrison Fords best performance as well as River Phoenix (R.I.P).   It's a great adventure filled with a lot of messages still very relevant today.

"Ice is civilization!"

Fun Fact:  Harrison Ford himself rates this as his best and most satisfying role.

IMDB Info


The Omega Man - 1971

There's been a few film attempts of Richard Matheson's novel "I am Legend".. obviously the most recent is the movie of the same name with Will Smith.

The Omega man might not be as pretty as the new one but for me it's a timeless classic.   Charlton Heston gives a convincing role (for 70's acting standards anyway) as the 'last man on earth'.  This film would have had huge influences over the modern zombie and post apocalyptic genre's we love so much today.

Watch this bad boy, and while you're at it watch Soylent Green as well :)

Fun Fact:  The 'Abandoned City' shots were actually filmed on location in downtown L.A on the weekend.

IMDB Info


Solaris - 2002

The atmosphere of this movie is incredible.  It captures the peace and quiet of space yet delivers an intriguing thriller at the same time, beautifully shot and perfectly paced.   This is a must for Sci-Fi fans, and while you're at it if you haven't seen Sunshine, grab that too.

IMDB Info


K-Pax - 2001

Kevin Spacey is great as our visiting alien - Prot.  This is a very interesting watch with some very relevant social commentary.   Although it doesn't leave the planet Earth it feels to me like a Sci-Fi anyway.  Very clever script.

I'm running out of Fun facts.

IMDB Info


Eastern Promises - 2007

130k + votes on IMDB probably indicates most have seen this, but if not you're missing out.  A massively powerful film about the European sex trade.  This is my favourite performance from Viggo Mortensen, he is truly bad-ass.

IMDB Info


Existenz - 1999

One of Jude Law's earlier films and an overall brilliant Sci Fi.   Inception 'borrowed' a lot of concepts from this film which is a credit really.  Set in the future where you can plug yourself directly into a biological game console (borrowing from Strange Days maybe?) , the story and acting is cleverly done so we never quite know what's real.  "Are we still in the game?"

IMDB Info


The Basketball Diaries - 1995

Another incredible powerful film and is part of what I call the "Leo Trifecta" - Whats eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries and Romeo & Juliet.  His performances in these 3 films secured his position as a Hollywood great.

His portrayal of a young talented basketball player turned heroin addict is chilling.

Fun Fact:  I think this movie caught my attention when it received a lot of bad publicity over a scene where Leo wanders into the class room and blows away his class mates with a shotgun.  This was after Columbine of course.

IMDB Info


The Lookout - 2007  +  Brick - 2005

Mentioned in a previous post, these are a must see for Gordon Levitt fans.

IMDB Info - Lookout
IMDB Info - Brick


Green Street Hooligans - 2005

Based on the violent world of football 'firms' this movie is great fun watching a regular academic Joe become a lean mean fighting machine and the way this affects his perspective on life.

Elijah Wood is great but even better is Charlie Hunnam who you will know from Son's of Anarchy (Jax).

IMDB Info


Grandma's Boy - 2006

What do you get if all the extras from Adam Sandlers films come together and make a film?  Possibly the most underrated and most quotable comedy of all time.

This is a great laugh and we've watched this so many times with the boys playing it as a drinking game.  The rules are as follows:

1) Every time the word game or Eternal Death Slayer 3 is mentioned, drink.
2) Every time the robot voice is used, drink.
3) Every time theres boob on screen, drink.

Christ, I think theres more rules but I forget.   If you survive the movie even with the above you're doing well.

IMDB Info


Waiting... - 2005

This is a really stupid, typical Ryan Reynolds style comedy but I love it.  "The Goat", haha.

IMDB Info



More coming in part 2....