Rev Stan's film blog

Is Nicole Kidman's career on the slide or are female roles?

A colleague sent me this article about how Nicole Kidman's latest film Trespass is being released on DVD shortly after it's cinematic release - not quite straight to video but close. It concludes that this is a sign of Kidman's career being on the decline, highlighting which film she was in last made decent money.

Of course movie making is a business and films have to make money but monetary success does not necessarily equal talent and quality. Rabbit Hole for which Kidman received an Oscar nod was a very good film but I doubt it made much at the box office as it doesn't involve men getting drunk and behaving stupidly or have lots of CGi.

Perhaps the problem is not so much Kidman's talent but the lack of decent scripts particularly for women that aren't jail-bait or recently graduated jail-bait or an old lady.

The article also scoffs at the fact that Kidman's next project might be a TV series. Television drama has had a resurgence in recent years with several A-listers jumping at the chance to act in something that has a quality script and production values. Kate Winslet, for example, is her star turn in Mildred Pierce a sign of her career dying? I don't think so.

There is of course one other factor that may have influenced the decision to push Trespass onto DVD so soon after release and that is Nicholas Cage. As soon as Kidman saw his name against the script she should have run screaming for the hills.

Doing the Devil's Double

It was Dominic Cooper that drew me to this film. He's got very good at playing confident and slightly arrogant characters but this film about Uday Hussein's (Saddam's son) body double affords him the chance to play two very different people.

And I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. It is an interesting and at times brutal story about a Latif Yahia who is forced into becoming a lookey-likey for the cocaine-snorting, sex-obsessed, sadistic son of the former Iraqi leader.

The hedonistic, volatile Uday is the opposite of everything that Latif stands for but he quickly realises that not only does he look like Saddam's son but his life is his also.

And Dominic Cooper does such a great job at the two roles, a couple of times I did squint at the screen questioning whether it was indeed him playing both parts. Okay so there is some cliched dialogue but it is compelling viewing with the ever present threat of violence and death making for a tense hour and 50 minutes viewing.

The film is based on a true story although the ending has the most obvious dose of filmic license and isn't an easy watch at times, certainly earning its 18 certificate, but definitely worth enduring the hands over the eyes moments.

I'm going to give The Devil's Double 78%. On IMDb it has got 68% and on Rotten Tomatoes it has got 72% from audiences but no consensus from critics.

 

 

RUMOUR: Benedict Cumberbatch Up For A Role In A Marvel Studios Movie?

Love the thought of Benedict Cumberbatch in a Comic Book movie.

RUMOUR: Benedict Cumberbatch Up For A Role In A Marvel Studios Movie?.

Back to the Beginners

Saw this quirky new Ewan McGregor indy film what seems like ages ago but I still don't feel like I have anything particularly compelling to say about it.

It's not that I didn't enjoy it, at the time of watching it I did. Very much so. But it's one of those oh so subtle films that the longer you leave it the less you can remember about what you watched and it's only when you see the trailer that you remember quite how much you enjoyed it.

The story is told through the eyes of McGregor's character Oliver who finds out that his father Hal (Christopher Plummer) is dying of cancer and is gay.

It then flits back and forth between the time before his father's death when he was beginning his new life as an openly gay man and after he succumbs to cancer. The film also explores a blossoming new relationship between Oliver and Anna (Melanie Laurent) but it is only through exploring his past that Oliver can fully commit to the relationship.

There's plenty of great acting it's full of charm, quirky touches that you only get with an independent film and it is,sweet, tender, funny and poignant. It's also got a great dog in it but it isn't indelible so I'm going to give it 64%.

On IMDb it's got 75% and Rotten Tomatoes it has 82%

 

Super Super 8

I'm the Goonies/ET generation so Super 8 is right up my street being a bit of a cross between the two.

The story is set in 1979 small town Ohio and centres on a group of kids who are trying to make their own zombie movie. While filming late one night they witness a train crash after which strange things start happening. Using the train wreck and the clear up by the military as a backdrop they try to finish their film and investigate what is going on.

So that's the action, thrill stuff. The train crash is quite spectacular and there are some real jump out of your skin moments later on.

But then there is a sub plot which adds the heart to the film. Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has recently lost his mother and has a strained relationship with his father. He falls for Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) who's been roped in to play the heroine of the kids' film. Alice's father has a drink problem and there is no love lost between him and Joe's father for reason's that only gradually become clear.

The guessing which characters Ben Whishaw is playing in Cloud Atlas post

Been meaning to write this post about the casting for Tom Twyker Cloud Atlas film for a while, almost entirely for my own enjoyment but also to put my marker in the sand before full casting details are finally revealed (which can't be long now as filming starts in September).

Among the titbits that have been made public is that Hugo Weaving is playing seven characters and Mr W is playing more than one. What that means for the other actors and whether they will all have multiple roles, I don't know. And if they do have more than one part, will they have one major character and others minor or more than one biggie? Lots of questions. But anyway, this is what I reckon for the moment.

For Ben Whishaw in order of likelihood:

Robert Frobisher - the bi-sexual musician. When I was reading the book it's the first character that screamed Mr W at me. Adding further evidence to the case is this recent interview in which he says he's learning to play the piano for the film.

Adam Ewing - the young solicitor on a voyage with Henry Goose in the first story.

Archivist - a bit of a curve ball because that story is set in a futuristic Korea and we know that Somni 451 is being played by Doona Bae, although Natalie Portman was originally cast before dropping out when she got pregnant.

Captain America: Serve with grilled plastic cheese

I do like a comic book movie every now and again and I suppose I was drawn to Captain America: First Avenger having really enjoyed X-Men: First Class. That and it being a bit of mid-week escapism.

Like First Class, it's a 'how'd it all start' film set during the second world war and telling the tale of how puny, army-reject Steve Rogers becomes the beefcake, shield-wielding super hero Captain America. So the first half is his journey and the second half his first mission.

The film is chocker full of fab Brit actors, some in painfully small cameos (and they aren't all baddies either). Hayley Atwell is just gorgeous as the feisty, intelligent, love interest, there's a briefish appearance of the lovely Richard Armitage, Dominic Cooper does a great turn as the suave Howard Stark and the totally charming JJ Feild is sorely underused with only about three lines of dialogue.