Rev Stan's film blog

Madonna's vanity project: W.E. (or don't waste your money)

Another film that makes me feel like I've lost two hours of my life. The best I can say about this Madonna directorial/co-writing effort is that the actors did the best they could with a jumbled and contrived plot and naive and amateurish script.

I get the impression that Madonna wanted to focus on the sacrifices Wallis made in order to marry Edward as everyone concentrates on his sacrifices. Fine but why then dilute the whole thing with a ridiculous parallel storyline about a modern day Wallis-obsessed New Yorker who's in a troubled marriage?

That whole storyline just got in the way and I left me just wanting to see more of Wallis - perhaps Madonna just couldn't manufacture enough about her and her sacrifices to make it the central story line.

And don't even get me started on the Mohammad Al Fayad scene (I'm not kidding) or the mish-mash of shooting styles or the...nope I'm going to stop there.

Dreadful on so many levels I felt embarrassed for the actors particularly Andrea Riseborough who did a marvellous job considering.

It's get a big fat raspberry 19%/one star from me. On IMDb it's got 44% with a Metacritic score of 39% while on Rotten Tomatoes it's got a critics score of 23% and inexplicable 63% of audience members have given it 3.5 stars or more.

And as it's on the Guardian 50 film list albeit this one is recommended for it's idiocy here's what it's reviewer had to say about it. Well Peter Bradshaw and I seem to agree, he's given it 1 star also commenting: "Madonna delivers a tale of two wallies." Enough said really. 

Oh and if you still want to see it after watching the trailer, just take a tenner and burn it, you'll get more pleasure.

 

Oh Steven Spielberg what did you do to War Horse?

Have to confess that my initial thought about seeing the film was 'it won't be as good as the play' then my second thought was 'you don't want it to be as good at the play' and then my third thought was 'I'll bet you'll cry like a baby and love it'.

Well only one of those proved true and it wasn't the latter - although I did cry a couple of times.

My main problem with the film is that it is just too big and too Hollywood. There are rather too many scenes of sweeping landscapes and actors staring off into the sunset for my liking. It feels unnecessarily glossed at the expense of the heart of the story.

The film is longer than the play and I don't know whether they have added in stuff that was originally in the book or of the writers own devising but it diminishes the impact of the central Albert/Joey story. 

How Albert gets into the army when he is turned away for being too young isn't explained and scenes have been added to create dramatic tension that really don't seem necessary. The French grandfather coming back to bid for Joey at the end, for example.

The play had charm, primarily because of the puppet horses, but you also got a real sense of the danger and destruction of war. War Horse the film didn't have the charm. It feels like Spielberg was trying to make another big war epic rather than a film of a children's book and failed at both.

I'm giving it 48% (3 stars) only because I'm a sucker for an animal sob story and I cried twice in it and having subsequently seen J Edgar this weekend, I know which I'd rather sit through a second time if I had to.

It's on the Guardian 50 films for 2012 list and Peter Bradshaw has given it 2 stars: 

"Spielberg's version of the equine first world war yarn is an unconvincing attempt at summoning up the spirit of the time"

Maybe the Guardian and I are wrong because over on IMDb its got 74% with a Metacritic rating of 72% while on Rotten Tomatoes critics have given it 77% while 76% of audience members have given it 3.5 stars or more.

 

The very short J Edgar film review

Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. And indulgent. Stop putting actors on awards shortlists because they got made up to look old.

Wasted two hours and 17 minutes of my life on that film and don't want to waste much more. It's getting (2 stars) 30% from me only because the acting was good, I liked what Naomi Watt's wore and Armie Hammer has nice eyes.

I'm blaming the Guardian 50 film list challenge for putting me through this one and they didn't like it either with Peter Bradshaw also giving it 2 stars and commenting:

Clint Eastwood's biopic of J Edgar Hoover never gets to grips with the FBI founder's sexuality, or his impact on American life

Over on IMDb its got a surprising 71% with a Metacritic score of 59% while on Rotten Tomatoes it's got 44% from critics while 52% of audience members give it 3.5 stars or more.

 

The Artist - genius or gimmick?

I enjoyed The Artist. It oozes charming, is entertaining and it has a cute dog. I'm certainly not one of the few imbeciles who've walked out in disgust because of the lack of dialogue but I did wonder, if you strip out the fact that it is a silent movie would everyone be gushing quite so much? And the conclusion I came to is 'no'. 

The story is interesting enough if not wholly predictable and the stuff of several movies before it. But, the lack of dialogue pushes the actors into a different direction, a different style of acting not seen since the, well since the last silent movies and it is really refreshing to watch.

I think what pushes The Artist beyond the gimmick tag is the choices that director Hazanavicius made. In interviews he says he didn't set out to make a silent film but decided that a silent movie was the best way to tell the story. The Artist was an artistic decision, is full of artistic decisions and wonderful vision.

It was also a genius choice not to stick doggedly to the silence but to add sound to one sequence, when our silent hero has a nightmare. It's a really nice touch and works perfectly in the context of the story.

However, what pleases me most about The Artist is that a film like this is getting so much attention at the big awards. It's refreshing to see something different win, something that doesn't tick the usual boxes that gets a film on a short-list.

My only fear or rather prediction is that there will be a string of copycats hitting cinema screens in the next couple of years. These won't be genius, these will lack imagination beyond trying to cash in. These will be gimmicky.

The Artist is definitely worth a look, it will put a smile on your face - Uggie the dog will put a smile on your face. The two lead actors Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo ooze old fashion beauty and charm, they are almost luminous on the screen, it quite takes your breath away.

I look forward to seeing it again with a live orchestra sometime in the future. It is inevitable.

It's getting 80% from me. On IMDb it's got 85% with a Metacritic score of 89%. While on Rotten Tomatoes it's got 97% from critics and 91% of site visitors have given it 3.5 stars or more.

 

Guardian 50 biggest films in 2012 challenge #2: The shamefully good Shame

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. And indeed wow. Been a while since I've walked out of the cinema barely able to speak. And I wasn't the only one, don't think I heard a voice as I left the unusually busy early bird screening yesterday with my friend Kate.

This is a great film for so many reasons I don't know quite where to start. I suppose first of all I should say that considering the subject matter - a man with a sex addiction -  it is handled so perfectly, without glamour or titillation, leaving you in no doubt that this isn't a giggle-inducing problem but something quite emotionally devastating. It's human, that is the key, about the person not the action. The sex scenes are icily detached.

Director Steve McQueen achieves this with subtlety, atmosphere and art. Few words,  gob-smacking performances from Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan as brother and sister Brandon and Cissy and beautiful, nay a heart-wrenching score set against a glamourous New York back drop that feels for the most part incongruously grimy and seedy.

The last two reviews of 2011: Another Earth and Moneyball

Slight cheat, two reviews in one but I'm eager to get my 2011 best of/worst of compiled as well as decide on my StOscars which I can't do until these are written, so here goes.

Another Earth

Low budget sci-fi movie about a high school student Rhoda (Brit Marling) who in a tragic car accident kills composer John Burrough's wife and child (William Mapother). On the same night a duplicate earth is discovered. When Rhoda comes out of prison, haunted by the consequences of her actions she sets about trying make amends while wondering if the other her, on the second earth, has made the same mistakes - something she might soon find out.

Like the low budget sci-fi movies I've enjoyed over the last 18 months it is more of a character piece than about the science and as such it works really well although I do wonder if the film wouldn't work just as well without the second earth.

Rhoda doesn't say much leaving the audience to fill the gaps which I like. She is at time a difficult character to like and I also liked that ambiguity, the humanness of her. 

It doesn't have a conclusive ending and raises a lot of questions that are unanswerable which some might find unsatisfying but I didn't. It's certainly a film that stays with you afterwards.

A nicely gentle, thought provoking film I'm going to give it 63%. On IMDb it's got 70% with a Metacritic scores of 66%. On Rotten Tomatoes there is no consensus from critics but 71% of visitors to have rated it 3.5 stars or higher.

Moneyball

Only the fact that Aaron Sorkin co-wrote the screenplay got me in front of this baseball movie that and the fact that critic Mark Kermode said it wasn't really about baseball but about statistics.

I know nothing and care nothing for baseball and yes it is more about statistics, money and the politics behind the game. And there is nothing wrong with it but I just can't muster much enthusiasm for it. The script, as you can imagine, is excellent, it was well acted and engaging enough for the duration but ultimately I didn't really care enough. 

I'm going to give it 55%, on IMDb it's got 78% and a Metacritic score of 87%. On Rotten Tomatoes it's got a critics rating of 95% and 88% of visitors gave it 3.5 stars or more. Just not one for me then.

 

And so that concludes my film reviews for 2011, now for the best and worst of's....

 

Stan's 2012 Guardian 50 film challenge begins...with The Iron Lady

It doesn't feel quite right starting on 2012's films while there are a couple of outstanding reviews plus my best of for 2011 still to post but I've had an idea and I'm impatient.

The Guardian has drawn up a list of what it sees as the 'biggest' films of 2012. Not sure what the criteria is for being the 'biggest' - the closest to an explanation is to describe it as it's film experts 'top picks', 50 in fact. 

Flicking through the list and probably 80% are either already on my list or have pique my interest. So what if I was to try and see them all during the year and then keep a tally on how the Guardian rates in their reviews compared to my own? I'm aware it is slightly nerdy but what the heck, I'm going to give it a go and see what happens.

So first on their list is The Iron Lady described by critic Xan Brooks in the list: 

Director Phyllida Lloyd gives us Thatcher without the Thatcherism in a perky biopic that amounts to a greatest hits package, bookended by scenes of the legend in her dotage, dancing with the ghost of Dennis and getting lost as she totters out in search of milk. What The Iron Lady has in its favour, though, is an electrifying bit of mimicry from Meryl Streep. The best actress Oscar looks all but guaranteed. 

Now I'm not a fan of Maggie, having harshly felt the effects of her Poll Tax as a student and taken part in the demonstrations but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in her as a woman who fought sexism and the establishment to become the first female British Prime Minister.

Her story is told through aging, widowed Maggie's eyes as a series of flashbacks and hallucinations in which her husband Dennis is still alive and converses with her.

There are some fantastic performances. I had reservations about Meryl Streep taking on the role but she is very, very good. Olivia Colman is a favourite of mine and can't do anything wrong so naturally I loved her Carol Thatcher. I was also particularly touched by little Harry Lloyd's young Dennis. 

However, my problem with the Iron Lady is that it doesn't feel political enough to be a film about politics, neither does it give enough insight into Thatcher to make if feel like a true biopic. Probably the area in which is was the most satisfying is the love story between Margaret and Dennis which was warmly portrayed.

Ralph Fiennes talks acting and directing Coriolanus

Looking the most relaxed and displaying a warmth rarely seen in the public eye Ralph Fiennes talked to Radio 4's Mark Lawson about his directorial film debut Coriolanus during a National Theatre platform event this evening.

Before opening up the questions to the audience Lawson talked to actor about the challenges of not only making and starring in a film but turning Shakespeare play into a film - not immediately a concept that gets film studios salivating. Three clips, chosen by Fiennes were also shown all of which gave a tantalising taster of what audiences can expect when the film opens in cinemas on January 20.

This is a slightly abridged version of the interview:

On his approach to the film:

Wanted to approach the text in a filmic manor making the dialogue conversational dialogue rather than keeping it in verse which is very theatrical and can be alienating.

With everything that has been going on around the world, Arab Spring etc felt the play had many parallels and therefore wanted to give it a modern setting.

Felt strongly that the world of Coriolanus should be multicultural and cast actors from different cultural backgrounds with a variety of accents.

On working as an actor/director

Had people around to give him an honest opinion on his own performance and because the filming process is such a whirlwind didn't get too much time to think about watching himself on the monitor. But it was tougher during the editing process "everything felt very exposed and I thought everything was shit, especially my own stuff".

Says the acting/directing roles are less defined than people imagine "The geography of where you are in a scene is defined by the camera." 

Had a dialect coach who gave a critical view of his performance but if he felt something was right in a scene would encourage it.

"Often it is collaborative between actors and director and the collaborative experiences are the best. For example working with Anthony Minghella never felt a strong finger suggesting what you'd done was wrong. Directing is about managing."

Fifteen minute review: The Deep Blue Sea

Based on a Terrence Rattigan play (one I haven't seen) The Deep Blue Sea is about a woman stuck between choosing to follow her heart or her head.

The film starts with Hester (Rachel Weisz) trying to kill herself and then back tracks to how she got to that point of utter despair.

She is married to a loving but proper High Court Judge William (Simon Russell Beale) but falls passionately in love with former second world war fighter pilot Freddie (Tom Hiddleston). Theirs is a physical relationship, the antithesis of her marriage but Freddie struggles with the intensity of the emotion Hester feels for him.

Director Terence Davies has given the film the feel of an old movie which is fitting for the setting to a point. He also allows the actors room to act without reams of dialogue which always scores points with me. And the performances are appropriately big but in such an understated way, if that makes any sense at all. I particularly enjoyed seeing the wonderful SRB up on the big screen, it feels like a real treat.

However there was something in it that just occasionally pushed it into melodrama territory for me. I don't think the music helped with its blistering violins and neither did the sepia, old movie tones. And, for the first time I sat in a cinema wishing I could see it one stage. 

It going to get 70% from me on IMDb it's got 61% but no Metacritic score as yet. On Rotten Tomatoes it's got 88% from critics and 52% of visitors to the site have given it three and a half stars or more.

 

Colin Morgan turns junkie in Parked (or whoops the post I forgot to publish)

Finally got to see Parked last weekend and must admit I was feeling slightly 'meh' about it for the first 20 minutes. It seemed to be heading dangerously one-way down cliche cul-de-sac but thank goodness it managed to find a way out.

It's basically about two men who have ended up living in their cars and form an unlikely friendship. Ok I can feel some of you cringing. There is a little bit more to it than that.

Colm Meaney plays Fred who has returned to Ireland after drifting from job to job in England. He is stuck in a housing catch 22. He can't go on the waiting list for social housing unless he has a permanent abode and he can't get a permanent abode until he gets social housing. 

Little Colin Morgan plays Cathal (Cal) who's left or been chucked out of his father's house after his mother died. He's a heroine addict who owes money to his dealer.

Cal, is an experienced car-dweller and sort of takes Fred under his wing, showing where he can shower and helping him with the welfare department. Fred meanwhile becomes a protective friend, a genuine friend among Cal's associates of smack-heads and dealers.

There is a little romance thrown in as Fred catches the eye of a woman he meets at the swimming baths and Cal helps engineer a meeting.

Meaney and Morgan both put in great, contrasting performances the former understated and the latter all twitches and ticks. It's great to see Colin stretching his acting muscles outside Merlin. 

Parked is a nice film delicately balancing the twee with some of the more brutal reality of drugs and homelessness which saves the day. It doesn't go down the cul de sac which is also a saving grace. It's not going to win any awards from me but is a nicely moving film.

I'm going to give it 70% on IMDB it has 67% from users and on Rotten Tomatoes is has got an audience rating of 88%. No critics consensus yet.