Rev Stan's film blog

Review: The superb Selma

Synopsis: Biopic of Martin Luther King's campaign for equal voting rights for blacks in 1965 Alabama.

Stan's thoughts: There has been a shameful lack of awards nominations for this film. Rather than trying to do a cradle to the grave biopic the narrative concentrates on particular period of Martin Luther King's life and a specific campaign to get equal voting rights which culminated in protest marches in Selma, Alabama.

David Oyelowo's performance as King is breathtaking to watch and ably supported by a whole bunch of brilliant British thesps - Tom Wilkinson as president Johnson, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta King and Tim Roth as Governor George Wallace.

The history that this film portrays is shocking and the method with which victory is secured inspiring but the film also delves into Dr King's family life, the tension between his political career and role as father and husband.

It is delicately handled and roundly presented, oozing with tension it's not always easy to watch but rewarding nonetheless.

Ratings

• Stan’s 85%
• IMDB 76%
• Metascore 89%
• Rotten Tomatoes 99%
• RT Audience Rating* 87%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: More Dame Maggie snide comments in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Synopsis: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is doing well so now they want to expand.

Stan's thoughts: Second Best is second best as sequels inevitably are. There are enough of all the elements of the original that made it such a charming film but the plot does get a bit contrived and silly.

It's great to see the royalty of British acting talent all on the screen but there are times when I wondered if this is really the best vehicle we could find for them? Dame Maggie Smith gets all the best lines, naturally, and had me laughing out loud but then she is just playing a working class version of her Downton Abbey character.

The wedding sequence at the end put a big smile on my face and I did leave the cinema with a warm fuzzy glow so it worked in that respect but ultimately this feels like a slightly diluted version of the original.

Ratings

• Stan’s 53%
• IMDB 72%
• Metascore 57%
• Rotten Tomatoes 75%
• RT Audience Rating* 75%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: Trying to make hacking exciting in Blackhat

Synopsis: Jailed hacker Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth) is temporarily released to help stop a cyber attack.

Stan's thoughts: Blackhat is the epitome of how difficult it is to make an exciting film about hackers. Firstly they spend all their time on computers writing and looking at code which isn't very filmic or dramatic. Secondly, it's quite technical so mere non-coding mortals like myself don't fully understand what it is the baddies are doing or what the goodies are doing to try and stop them.

In order to get around these problems Chris Hemsworth is not only a hacker but has been made into an action hero. He doesn't merely sit in front of a lap top tapping away, oh no, he goes out with the police chasing baddies and wielding a gun. In fact he seems to be quite good at wielding a gun and fighting and doesn't in anyway seem phased by getting involved in big shoot outs. Computer science classes can't be for the faint-hearted.

Sounds bad doesn't it? It is. In fact the first three quarters of the film is dull - the computer bits you don't understand and the action hero bits are so improbable they aren't even funny.

When the filmmakers seem to abandon all attempt at geekery and it is all about action in the last half hour, it's actually quite good fun.

Ratings

• Stan’s 42%
• IMDB 56%
• Metascore 51%
• Rotten Tomatoes 33%
• RT Audience Rating* 27%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: BAFTA winner and Oscar foreign film nominee, the beautiful Ida

Synopsis: Ida, an orphan, has been raised in a convent in post second world war Poland but a couple of weeks before taking her orders the mother superior sends her to see an aunt where she discovers who she really is.

Stan's thoughts: Missed this when it was released back in September and I kept hearing such good things that I pounced on a scheduled screening at the Soho Curzon yesterday morning - presumably it's been re-released for awards season.

And I'm so glad I caught it because it is such a beautiful film. It is subtle and quiet, like the central character Ida and every shot is like a beautifully composed photograph, dripping with atmosphere and meaning.

Ida is prepossessing in looks and character, gentle and innocent but certainly not quite as naive as you might think given her upbringing. Agata Trzebuchowska gives one of the subtlest and most intelligent performances I've ever seen. Always perfectly composed she doesn't say much but there is something in her eyes and in a quiet look that communicates volumes. The success in the performance is that by the end you feel like you completely understand her even when the path she takes is unexpected.

It's shortlisted for best foreign film and cinematography Oscars and deservedly so for both. Pawel Pawlikowski writes and directs with such empathy for the subject matter. The politics and history of the period are all there but they never overcrowd Ida's story. It is shot in black and white and the two directors of photography Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski capture the stark 1960s Polish landscape and yet still make it beautiful.

I'll be backing Ida at the Oscars.

Ratings

• Stan’s 90%
• IMDB 75%
• Metascore 90%
• Rotten Tomatoes 96%
• RT Audience Rating* 80%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: Colin Firth kicks ass in Kingsman

Synopsis: A secret intelligence service based out of a tailors in Savile Row unearths a plot to kill off a large portion of the worlds population and a new recruit is called upon to help.

Stan's thoughts: My friend Kate described this perfectly as James Bond crossed with Kill Bill. It cranks up suave Bond, gadget Bond, car Bond to 11 and then adds in Kill Bill-style fights and ruthless villains. It gently mocks Bond, the characters even referencing the films.

Seeing Colin Firth in an action hero role is a bit of a revelation, albeit an action hero who is always impeccably turned out. And Taron Egerton* does a fab job as Eggsy, the recruit from the wrong side of the tracks trying to make his mark.

There are a couple of kick ass ladies in the mix too - Samuel L Jackson's lisping villain has an Uma Thurman in Bride mode-style side kick (Sofia Boutella) and there is a ballsy and brainy recruit (Roxy played by relative newcomer Sophie Cookson) who keeps Eggsy on his toes.

And just to round it off you have the likes of Mark Strong, Michael Caine and cameos from Jack Davenport and none other than Mark Hamill.

Kingsman was just what I needed after a run of serious Oscar films. It is over the top and silly but it is also cool as a cucumber, fun and entertaining and I left with a big grin on my face.

* Great to see him securing big roles - have seen him on stage a couple of times. He had a small role in Last of the Haussman's with Julie Walters at the National Theatre but certainly made an impression and then more recently in No Quarter at the Royal Court. You can see him next in Brian Helgeland's film Legend about the Kray twins which is due for release in September.

Ratings

• Stan’s 79%
• IMDB 83%
• Metascore 59%
• Rotten Tomatoes 71%
• RT Audience Rating* 89%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: Jupiter Ascending (into the heaven of duff films)

Synopsis: Jupiter (Mila Kunis) has a mundane life cleaning houses unaware that she is genetically linked to a powerful family intent on getting their hands on her and her rightful inheritance.

Stan's thoughts: Was really looking forward to this. Needed some good sci-fi/fantasy action fun after all the intense, thought-provoking Oscar films I've been devouring recently. It has the Wachowski's writing and directing and a superb cast of British thesps supporting Kunis and Channing Tatum in the leads. What could go wrong?

Well the script mainly. The film was just a few minutes in when I was wincing with embarrassment for the actors having to deliver such trite nonsense. The amount of what critic Mark Kermode calls 'Basil exposition' should have set alarm bells ringing - if you need that much explanation of the world you've created and plot set up then something is wrong. Another warning bell is that it felt long and it was only 2 hours 8 minutes long.

While I was watching I couldn't help thinking that all the energy and imagination had gone into creating the fantasy world and the special effects. Well I say imagination there are plenty of Cloud Atlas reference points to spot (and I loved that film). It all felt a bit too much. If they'd stuck with the super humans and splicers - humans spliced with animal and presumably alien DNA then it might have worked better.

The pleasure in watching this was spotting the British thesps - Eddie Redmayne giving a scenery chewing performance as one of the baddies, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Tuppence Middleton, Douglas Booth, Vanessa Kirby, Sam Barnett...I just hope they took home a good pay packet.

Jupiter Ascending feels like the Wachowski's have vomited up 10-course banquet of ideas and as a result you can't see the amuse-bouche for the fish course.

Ratings

• Stan’s 35%
• IMDB 60%
• Metascore 40%
• Rotten Tomatoes 22%
• RT Audience Rating* 52%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: Dopey drama in Inherent Vice

Synopsis: Joaquin Phoenix plays a dope smoking private investigator asked by his ex-girlfriend to help out her two timing lover who's about to be sectioned by his wife and her boyfriend. I think.

Stan's thoughts: Got really excited by the trailer for this. It looked a little eccentric in style and tone and a little bit silly and, after all the worthy and/or tense Oscar fodder I've consumed in recent weeks, was just what I was looking for. Sadly it didn't live up to expectation.

The best way to describe it like going out with a group of people you don't know very well and staying sober while they all get off their tits. It's gets boring quite quickly. The plot is rambling to say the least and there are a ton of characters, some you never even see, which makes it difficult to follow; in fact I couldn't really tell you what was going on half the time.

There is also an inordinate amount of female nudity which felt gratuitous very quickly.

Inherent Vice has some great little moments and I did laugh out loud a couple of times but not enough to keep the whole thing together. Sorry PT Anderson but I was a bit bored.

Ratings

• Stan’s 40%
• IMDB 72%
• Metascore 81%
• Rotten Tomatoes 72%
• RT Audience Rating* 56%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

 

 

Review: Alex Garland examines AI in thriller Ex Machina

Synopsis: A computer programmer wins a competition to spend a week participating in a breakthrough AI experiment at a remote research facility.

Stan's thoughts: Just the subject matter, artificial intelligence, generates an environment of suspicion, add in a lone scientist in a remote location and you have all the ingredients for a good thriller. What makes this a great psychological thriller is that Garland constantly wrong foots you and at its heart it is about very basic human emotions.

Domhnall Gleeson who plays Caleb the computer programmer said in an interview that when he was reading the script for the first time he was convinced several times that he knew where the story was going. And that really is why this works so well.

When Caleb steps off the helicopter that has transported him to the research facility he is stepping into an alien environment in so many different ways. His task is to interact with Ava (Alicia Vikander), an AI robot who is the invention of Nathan (Oscar Isaac). It is not just a case of what is real and what is AI but what is experiment and what isn't and Garland and his characters keep you guessing right to the very end.

All three leads give performances that beautifully add to the mystery but to say any more might spoil it.

Ex Machina, like many AI films before it, raises questions about God and creation and the morals and responsibilities surrounding that. What the film has to say about that is something that film school students will no doubt discuss at length. I've also seen online discussions about whether it is misogynistic or feminist in its outlook. I do have my own thoughts and theories but that would involve a lot of spoilers.

Ratings

• Stan’s 80%
• IMDB 81%
• Metascore 80%
• Rotten Tomatoes 93%
• RT Audience Rating* 86%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: Teacher vs talent in the thrilling Whiplash

Synopsis: Andrew (Miles Teller) enrolls as a prestigious music school where he comes under the tutelage of Fletcher (JK Simmons) who will stop at nothing to get the performance he wants out of his pupils.

Stan's thoughts: Fame this isn't. There is no dancing in the corridor and friendly pep talks just a teacher who walks into a room and everyone immediately stands up and is silent, a teacher who is a perfectionist and will use whatever means necessary - psychological or physical - to get what he wants.

As a result Whiplash is a tense, nerve jangling psychological study and not what I was expecting. It is gripping battle of minds, personality and talent that keeps you on the wrong foot until the very end at which point you just want to stand up and applaud.

A worthy best film Oscar nomination and likewise best supporting actor for JK Simmons but a shame Miles Teller isn't getting recognised. This is an unexpected gem of a film, powerful, disturbing and thrilling to watch. And that's all I'm going to say because anything else would spoil it.

Ratings

• Stan’s 86%
• IMDB 87%
• Metascore 88%
• Rotten Tomatoes 95%
• RT Audience Rating* 96%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: American Sniper

Synopsis: Based on the story of real life US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who became a legend for his pinpoint sniper accuracy during the Iraq war.

Stan's thoughts: Clint Eastwood makes very American films doesn't he? That probably seems like an odd statement but there is a particular type of patriotism in America that we just don't have in Britain, a patriotism that can be difficult to fully comprehend. It's a cultural thing and can be slightly alienating especially as Clint Eastwood's films tend to portray it in a full suited and booted form.

Where American Sniper wins for me - and I had no idea who Chris Kyle was or that he was in fact an actual person when I sat down to watch - is in its dealing with the psychological effects of his work. This is most acute when he returns home after tours.

The war time environment is so ingrained in him that he can't fully relax. Bradley Cooper who plays Kyle doesn't need to say anything as, out of the corner of his eye, he watches a car overtaking him on the freeway, you just know he is assessing it for potential threat, in the same way he would in Iraq. Having spent so much time with him 'on tour' in the film, I found myself sharing his suspicion: 'would someone pull a gun?'.

It makes for a nerve jangling film and you can understand how his military life becomes all encompassing. It's a wall of physical self preservation and a psychological muscle that can't flex to civilian life when he's back home. Not knowing his story made the ending all the more powerful.

This isn't the sort of film that is going to linger too much on the impact his dangerous job has on his wife and family; Sienna Miller* plays his wife Taya and does a great job with what she is given. I think there is a whole separate story as to how she coped; at one point she is on the phone to Chris in Iraq and he comes under attack. The phone is dropped and Taya hears the whole battle not knowing what is going on at the other end of the line or whether her husband is alive or dead.

American Sniper is a testament to Clint Eastwood's directing skills in that it has more depth than your average war movie but, for my personal taste, it was just a little too reverential at times.

* Sienna Miller is in two Oscar nominated Best Films but hasn't herself been nominated.

Ratings

• Stan’s 70%
• IMDB 77%
• Metascore 45%
• Rotten Tomatoes 73%
• RT Audience Rating* 88%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher