Rev Stan's film blog

10 things I loved about Skyfall and one I didn't

I'm prefacing this list with a bit of history about me and Bond. Liked Bond films as a kid but quickly grew out of them. In my more maturer eyes they just became too cheesy and I tired of the stereotypical portrayal of women.

Then Casino Royale came along, a new, more rugged Bond. Dame Judi as M. I gave it a go. It was a fresher more contemporary take and with a little more emotional depth. And we got to see Craig's buff bod in those teeny swimming trunks. A tiny step towards redressing the balance.

But Quantum of Solace went and ruined it again. No swimming trunks, a clunky script, Bond by numbers. I was done. My brief flirtation with the series was over. Wouldn't be seeing the next one when it finally appeared.

Then Sam Mendes got on board a director of quality and style. Then Stan fav Ben Whishaw got on board, playing Q and dragging the character (and the franchise) into the 21st century. There was no way I wasn't going to see this. And I wasn't disappointed.

So here are 10 things I liked about Skyfall in no particular order *there are spoilers*:

1. The tongue in cheek nods to old Bond, Q to Bond: "Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't really go in for those any more."
2. The careful selection of just enough old Bond elements that we aren't quite ready to give up on yet such as the appearance of the Aston Martin DB5
3. Javier Bardem, should get a spot just coz but... the blond hair and the flirtation. What baddie needs to hit Bonds in the balls to make him feel uncomfortable? "Are you trying to remember your training?" Puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.
4. Rory Kinnear and Ben Whishaw sharing screen time together. He was Laertes to Mr W's Hamlet and Bolingbroke to his Richard II and it makes this sad fan happy to see them working together again.
5. Ben Whishaw for being brilliant once again and rocking the cardigan look. His hair should probably get a mention all of it's own. He has the ability to make you completely lose yourself in the character he is playing which is so rare in this world of celebrity obsession. Long may he continue to be able to keep his private life, private and himself to himself.
6. The beautiful cinematography. This Bond is visually stunning, I dread to think how complex lighting scenes such as the skyscraper in Hong Kong were but so, so affective.
7. It made me wipe the palms of my hands on my jeans - I'm terrified of heights and that fight scene by the broken window a zillion storeys up had me, sweating and squirming in my seat.
8. Trying to steer away from stereotypes (although more could definitely be done) such as not making Ralph Fiennes character a sit behind a desk, thorn in Bond's side.
9. Another nerdy one, the geographically accurate London sequences. As someone who's lived in London for 20 years and got to know it's layout well there is nothing more distracting than when an actor gets on a Bakerloo line train only to emerge from a Piccadilly line station in. Told you it was nerdy but I can't help getting distracted by it.
10. Dame Judi. A consistently feisty female character who is at the top of her game. She'll be sadly missed.

And one thing I didn't like:

1. M aside although it is now applicable, why do all the women in Bond films have to either die or end up behind a desk. It's boring. Naomie's character had so much promise and then we leave her pretty much sitting at the secretary's desk outside Ralph Fiennes office. If Bond is going truly modernise it needs to sort this out.

 

#LFF Review: The controversial Compliance

I don't think I've ever felt so uncomfortable watching a film before. I don't think I've ever seen so many people leave a screening before. I certainly haven't heard an audience member very vocally encouraging people to leave the cinema before. It's safe to say that Compliance is a difficult and controversial watch.

Normally people walk out because a film isn't very good or perhaps the violence is particularly shocking but neither of these can be given as reasons in this instance, it is the subject matter.

Compliance is based on true events about a prank caller who, posing as a police man, persuades the manager of a fast food outlet that one of his young female staff has stolen from a customer. He convinces the manager to interrogate the girl in his absence. This isn't about violence, it's about sexual exploitation a gullibility on a massive scale.

If you didn't know that it was based on true events you simply wouldn't believe it. Never have I wanted to yell at the screen more, never have I felt so psychologically squeamish.

Some have criticised the film saying it is to exploitative, titillating and tantamount to pornography. The filmmakers certainly can't be accused of glamourising sexual exploitation. The film has such a naturalistic feel you could imagine, they've put cameras on the wall of any down-at-heel fast food joint in North America.

Compliance, like the events it is based on, puts some of the very worse and baffling human behaviour under the microscope - the stuff of psychologists or sociologists research papers. It isn't worrying that this film was made, it is worrying that supposedly right-minded human beings allowed such things to happen.

Compliance stays with you - afterwards I had to purge it from my mind with a nice, pleasant, fluffy DVD. I can't fault it for the emotions it stirs but it won't be one I'll rush back to see indeed I could never stomach seeing it again.

Such is its affect that I'm finding it hard to rate. For something that produced such a strong emotional response it should get a high rating but such is the subject matter that I'm finding it hard to detach moral judgement; to give it a good score makes me feel like I'm somehow complicit. Which is ridiculous.

I'm going to give it 80% for producing the effect it did and for being such a talking point but I certainly didn't enjoy it. On IMDb it has 66% with a Metacritic score of 68% while on Rotten Tomatoes it has 89% but no reader rating yet.

 

#LFF Review: Everyday

A new Michael Winterbottom film. Hurrah thought I. He has quite a mix of work under his belt, what will he do next? Everyday sounded intriguing charting the relationship of a married couple (John Simm and Shirley Henderson) over several years while Simm's unnamed character is in prison.

Apparently it was filmed over several years with the actors reuniting and shooting chronological sequences so that they age with the film, something that seems particularly pertinent with the couples four children.

It is both well done and frustrating. Everyday sums it up well, it is almost like the cameras have followed the everyday ins and outs of the couples relationship, it's naturalistic approach is almost like a fly on the wall documentary.

This is realism turned up to the max. There are no big dramas this is a regular family and relationship struggle and while fascinating and refreshing I'm not sure it's quite what I go to cinema to see, particularly as there is so much drama going on in real peoples lives that would make for more interesting film fodder.

While in one respect our judgement of Simm's character is not clouded by knowing what he's in prison for - it must have been something quite bad because he's in for several years - it does leave his character a bit colourless.

I don't think the focus purely on the relationship is enough. There is stuff happening on the periphery which I so much wanted to be explored. For example out of the blue we hear Simm's character telling his wife that he got caught smuggling some weed back into prison after day release and all we get is his apology to his wife and saying that he was made to do it by another inmate.

Likewise Henderson's character confesses to having had an affair while her husband was inside but other than the man in question appearing at the bar where she works, giving her a lift home and being seen having lunch with her and kids we aren't given anything else.

The experience isn't helped by some awful music that seemed far to dramatic and out of place for what was actually going on. I've never been annoyed by film music before but this made me clench my teeth every time it started to play.

What I did like is the natural performances, particularly from the kids but I question the merit of an hour and 45 minutes of close up on a relationship that doesn't really explain a great deal. I feel slightly hypocritical because I do get frustrated with how contrived a lot of films are but this feels like it has swung too far back the other way. There were a lot of unexplored interesting angles.

I'm going to give it 45%. It isn't yet rated on IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes.

#LFF Review: Fill The Void

This is an Israeli film about an Orthadox Jewish girl, Shira, who is about to be married off to a man her family has chosen.

When her sister dies in childbirth it puts a halt to the arrangement and attentions turn to whether she should marry her sister's widow in order to keep him and the baby close to the family.

It is a very quiet film full of the routine of community and while fascinating as an outsider to watch I'm afraid I got a little bit bored. The characters are naturally reserved and emotions are contained but perhaps a little too much so. I never felt I got a real understanding of what was going on in Shira's head which is kind of key to the plot and while it is great to see an understated performance this was a little too much so.

I'm going to give it 50% and it is yet to be rated on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

#LFF Review: I, Anna

This is a strange film. It follows the story of Anna (Charlotte Rampling) who lives in a one-bedroomed flat with her daughter and young granddaughter but is nonetheless lonely. She's a regular on the speed dating scene and doesn't do too badly in attracting male attention.

Anna's path crosses that of DCI Bernie Reid (Gabrielle Byrne) who is investigating a murder at a flat in a block where Anna has been visiting. Bernie is struck by Anna and tracks her down to a speed dating evening where they strike up a relationship.

It is a film about secrets which means slowly unfolding truths and while it is very well made and acted there was something not quite believable about it. Some of the minor plot lines - the murder victims estranged family for example - feel under developed. And Anna, herself feels a little too contrived, I wasn't wholly convinced by her actions nor those of Bernie.

It is quite clever in some ways but not completely satisfactory. Good but not brilliant. I'm going to give it 58%. It hasn't yet been rated on IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes.

#LFF Review: Wasteland

This is sort of a Brit answer to The Usual Suspects and Inside Man. It's not quite up there with those two but it is nonetheless an entertaining romp.

Luke Treadaway plays Harvey who's just been released from a 12-month spell in prison having been framed by the local big shot villain and vows revenge for having had his life ruined.

The film opens with Harvey, bloody and bruised, being questioned by DI West (Timothy Spall) and is a series of extended flashbacks explaining how he ended up where he is. The story is essentially about Harvey persuading his mates Charlie (Gerard Kearns), Dempsey (Iwan Rheon) and Dodd (Matthew Lewis) to help him, the pay off being a new start with a new business abroad.

And it is solidly made and acted with some clever touches to the plot. A nice script that crackles with banter. The gritty realism of life on a Leeds estate doesn't always marry with the complex and technical revenge plan but the characters are likeable enough so that you get behind them and want them to succeed which is the important thing.

A good fun hour and a half, I'm going to give it 70%. It doesn't have any ratings yet on other sites.

#LFF Review: Rust and Bone

First film of the festival and bit of a mixed view on this one. It's a French film starring the fabulous Marion Cotillard as killer whale-trainer Stephanie who loses both legs at the knee in an accident. Prior to the accident she meets bouncer Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) a single father with a penchant for casual sex who earns extra cash competing in illegal, bare-knuckle fights.

It's an unlikely pairing but then their relationship has a grittiness to it that you won't usually find on screen. Both are intriguing characters full of light and shade. At the beginning of the film we discover that Stephanie likes to leave her boyfriend at home while she goes out clubbing, enjoying male attention. Alain on the other hand is not the most attentive or responsible of parents picking up women at the gym for casual sex and in the process forgetting to collect his son from school.

When Stephanie calls on Alain after the accident he finds her sat at home, withdrawn and full of self pity. In his own way Alain draws Stephanie out reigniting her zest for life. Stephanie likes to watch Alain fight and her presence encourages him.

As their friendship grows it develops into sex, an experiment at first for Stephanie post the accident but soon means something different to both. When Alain's not entirely legal work in security take a unexpected turn he flees leaving his family and Stephanie in the lurch until a near tragedy puts priorities into perspective.

For all the meatiness and layers of the central characters my one grumble with this film would be the central relationship in that I wasn't wholly convinced that a woman like Stephanie would fall for Alain. Stephanie's character felt less developed than Alain and therefore it was difficult to judge her motivations.

Nonetheless it certainly gave me plenty to think about, was refreshingly gritty, real and French in its approach and definitely not the usual cliched soppy love story fare. Not quite as good as Jacques Audiard's previous film A Prophet but I'm going to give it 62%. On IMDb it has 78% with a Metacritic score of 76% while on Rotten Tomatoes, as it hasn't had a general release yet, it doesn't have a consensus.

 

Review: On The Road, more like hit the road and don't come back

I start my London Film Festival film 10K today (I'm only seeing 8 films over a week which I don't think quite qualifies as a marathon) but yesterday had to squeeze in a quick general release: On The Road and it wasn't a great start.

I can't fault the performances and the visual presentation it's more the story. I haven't read Jack Kerouac's book on which the film is based but know some of the famous quotes and you can't deny he had an outstanding talent for words and observation.

My problem is that I couldn't marry the hedonistic, selfish and often misogynistic behaviour on the road trip with that language. His skill I suppose it to have turned what I view as ugly behaviour into something beautiful but I have problems with that too.

Writer Sal Paradise's (Sam Riley's) fascination and obsession with the drug-taking, drinking, womanising philanderer Dean Moriaty (Garrett Hedlund) I just didn't get.

Sal, while engaging in much of the partying is also a passive observer. He rejects very little of Dean's behaviour - choosing not to participate in a threesome for example although he has spells where he works to pay for his travelling and forms a sort of meaningful relationship with a co-worker.

But the final pay-off when Sal turns his back on Dean doesn't quite feel like enough. His travelling life in between the partying felt much more enriching I couldn't see what he was getting artistically out of the hedonism. Maybe its me but Dean and his friends just feel like wasters not people who are genuinely enjoying life, living it to the full, doing interesting things and having interesting converstions. Is there supposed to be an irony? And isn't this just men behaving badly wrapped as something arty and meaningful?

As they drove from one place to the next stealing food, partying and breaking hearts I starting wishing they just crash off the road and it would end.

There were three, mid-teenage boys in the screening who chomped noisily through buckets of pop-corn and chatted to each other throughout and I wonder what they took away from it.

Perhaps the book is more illuminating but essentially I thought On The Road was plodding and monotonous and was glad to ditch the lot of them. I'm going to give it 50%. On IMDb it has 66% but no Metacritic score yet while on Rotten Tomatoes it has 53% and 49% of site visitors give it three and a half stars or more.

 

Two coming of age movies but which is the best?: Perks of Being A Wallflower or Liberal Arts

Perks of Being a Wallflower

First thing to say is that the two male leads in this, Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman, are superb. Emma Watson puts in a solid enough performance aside from her American accent which slips occasionally but her character isn't huge leap from Hermione apart from a bit of wild dancing she wants to study hard and get into a good university.

Perks is the story of Charlie (Lerman) who is starting High School having been away for a spell in a mental health institute for reasons that are only gradually revealed.

He's intelligent, loves reading but is shy and an outsider. He makes friends with two fellow 'misfits' (why are misfits in films anything but?) Patrick who is gay and in a secret relationship (Miller) and Patrick's step-sister Sam (Watson) who's only character flaw seems to be that she always falls for men that treat her like dirt.

We follow the threesome and their wider group of misfits as Charlie slowly comes out of his shell, revealing some of his past and subsequently starts to live his life again. He falls in love with Sam but cannot tell her and falls into a relationship with another girl. But when that goes wrong it causes ructions in the group.

Perks is, on one level, a coming of age story as the group get ready for college, learn about themselves through loves and losses but it is Charlie's story and his emotional struggle with his past which raises it above the usual schmultz giving it depth. It makes for an amusing, warm, touching and at times moving film. Lerman manages to convey a sense of sadness and tragedy about Charlie from the outset, without saying very much.

And Miller is great to watch as the gregarious, extrovert, Patrick who likes to perform in a Rocky Horror tribute show complete with basque, stockings and suspenders. It's a role that is in complete contrast with that which he played in We Need to Talk About Kevin and a joy to see such a varied performance. Emma Watson could learn a thing or two about choice of parts.

It made me laugh out loud and cry so I'm going to give it 80%. On IMDb it's got 84% with a Metacritic score of 67% while on Rotten Tomatoes it has 86% and 95% of site visitors have given it three and a half stars or higher.