Rev Stan's film blog

Review: They've done it again with X-Men - Days of Future Past

Synopsis: In the future the survival of the mutants is under serious threat from robots designed to hunt down and kill them using DNA taken from Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back in time to reunite sworn enemies Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) so they can stop the scientists developing the robots.

Stan's thoughts: Not even an emergency evacuation of the cinema 45 minutes in (it was a false alarm) could spoil this. The script is at times witty and cheeky, the characters are rounded enough for you to care about them and the action sequences so clever if they don't take your breath away they will certainly have you grinning.

There is one particularly brilliant scene involving Quicksilver and I'd pay to see the film again for that alone.

You never doubt that that Fassbender and McAvoy have the powers of their characters such is the quality of their performance and the film that disbelief is just left at the door something that has been sadly missing from other fantasy/comic book movies recently.

Great also to see female mutant Mystique playing a larger part in the story.

Loved this. Might just have to go back and see it again.

Ratings

• Stan’s 89%
• IMDB 87%
• Metascore 74%
• Rotten Tomatoes 91%
• RT Audience Rating* 95%

Recently seen

Frank

Blue Ruin

Godzilla

Ilo Ilo

Calvary

Pompeii

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

* Based on number of people who rated the film 3.5/5 and higher

Review: Frank (not Sidebottom but Fassbender)

Synopsis: Wannabe musician Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) gets more than he bargained for when he joins an eccentric band.

Stan's thoughts: The band Jon joins is led by Frank (Michael Fassbender) who wears a Frank Sidebottom head at all times and I was expecting quirky humour throughout. And there are some funny moments but this film is darker and more contemplative than I expected.

Frank's eccentricity (and the band's to some extent) is born out of mental health issues. You spend the whole film wanting him to take the head off and then when he does it isn't at all what you expect. The realisation of what the mask symbolises and embodies is what elevates this above a quirky comedy.

I could write a whole post just about the personality and problems of Frank; he is, on reflection, a fascinating character.

Frank is an intriguing mix of oddness and humour set against a wannabe rock and roll back drop in which the creation of music means different things to different people. The more I think about it the more I like this film.

Ratings

• Stan’s 78%
• IMDB 73%
• Metascore 70%
• Rotten Tomatoes 86%
• RT Audience Rating* 78%

Recently seen

Blue Ruin

Godzilla

Ilo Ilo

Calvary

Pompeii

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

* Based on number of people who rated the film 3.5/5 and higher

 

Review: Another beautifully considered indy film - Blue Ruin

Synopsis: When Dwight, who sleeps rough, learns that the man who killed his parents is out of prison, he decides on revenge.

Stan's thoughts: I went into this a little sceptical. A revenge film, that would go one of two ways - all macho or comically bumbling. I was wrong, it was neither and so very pleasantly surprised as a result.

Dwight (Macon Blair) is an interesting protagonist. He barely speaks, having had some sort of break down and dropped out of society. He is obviously regarded kindly and has friends - a local police officer who knows him comes to tell him personally about the release of his parents murderer as she didn't think he should be alone when he heard.

What then ensues isn't motivated by the usual rage but a grief buried deep within that is written more on his face than his words and actions. He has such a haunted look. He doesn't have a plan of how he is going to do what he wants to do (why would he? He is an ordinary person after all). And he does make mistakes but they aren't comical just normal.

This film is quiet, gentle and subtle and yet totally gripping. It has a genuine emotional depth and is a real gem among the indy offerings out at the moment.

Ratings

• Stan’s 79%
• IMDB 73%
• Metascore 77%
• Rotten Tomatoes 95%
• RT Audience Rating* 80%

Recently seen

Godzilla

Ilo Ilo

Calvary

Pompeii

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

Divergent

* Based on number of people who rated the film 3.5/5 and higher

Review: Godzilla (I went to see it so you don't have to bother)

Synopsis: Scientists unearth a huge pod deep below the ground that seems to have something alive in it. When it hatches it becomes a battle of man against monster.

Stan's thoughts: I'm not normally that moved by big, bang, crash sequences I prefer the character-led story lines in action movies but it is telling that in Godzilla the huge final battle was the only thing I sort of enjoyed.

Godzilla was just dull. I nearly walked out half way through having asked myself  'do I actually care about any of these characters or what happens to them?' The other bad sign was when the usual Hollywood devices and in consistences all start leaping off the screen and annoying me: Stand and stare at the cloud of nuclear fallout that is heading towards you for an inordinately long time; star monster, half way through the battle, suddenly remembering he can projectile vomit some sort of blue flame - that sort of thing. And then there was the script which just had me rolling my eyes at times.

It has a great cast in the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and the fab Sally Hawkins but even they couldn't lift this to a state where I could suspend my disbelief and sit back and enjoy.

However it seems to be scoring well with critics and audiences so what do I know?

Ratings

• Stan’s 30%
• IMDB 74%
• Metascore 62%
• Rotten Tomatoes 73%
• RT Audience Rating* 74%

Recently seen

Ilo Ilo

Calvary

Pompeii

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

Divergent

Yves Saint Laurent

* Based on number of people who rated the film 3.5/5 and higher

 

 

Review: Singapore domestic drama Ilo Ilo

Synopsis: A Singapore family hires a Filipino maid who bonds with Jiale the young son which makes the mother jealous. Tensions in the family are heightened when the father loses his office job in the recession and tries to hide he menial factory job from his wife.

Stan's thoughts:  Jiale isn't nice boy and is quite cruel to Terry the maid in the beginning. Their developing friendship is very slow and gradual. The reaction from the mother is equally gradual heightened by her husband's increasing distance and drinking as he struggles to cope with his change in fortune and status and keeping it from his wife.

In the end Terry does have quite a dramatic effect on the family but again it is all very subtly played out and makes for a refreshing change.

Ilo Ilo is a gentle film that is just as much interesting as a family drama as an insight in life for a middle class family living in Singapore in the 1990s. It probably isn't going to stand out among a sea of quality foreign films but was enjoyable and interesting enough.

Ratings

• Stan’s 60%
• IMDB 73%
• Metascore 87%
• Rotten Tomatoes No consensus
• RT Audience Rating* 84%

Recently seen

Calvary

Pompeii

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

Divergent

Yves Saint Laurent

Captain America

* Based on number of people who rated the film 3.5/5 and higher

 

 

Review: Brendan Gleeson in Calvary

Synopsis: An Irish priest trying to do the right thing by his rural parish community receives a death threat.

Stan's thoughts: Described as a black comedy this is actually darker than it is amusing but that isn't criticism. Calvary is an interesting film that plays against the prejudices of current stereotypes of child abusing Catholic priests.

Father James Lavelle (Gleeson) is trying to do the right thing by his parish. He is called upon to act as social worker, law enforcer and carer while simultaneously being ridiculed, teased and goaded by the people for whom he works.

Calvary is at times a meditation on the role of priests in modern society, a revenge thriller and a tragedy. A film that is sharp and melancholic with an occasional bitter ironic humour, it wasn't what I expected by I really enjoyed it.

Ratings

• Stan’s 79%
• IMDB 79%
• Metascore 91%
• Rotten Tomatoes 90%
• RT Audience Rating 86%

Recently seen

Pompeii

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

Divergent

Yves Saint Laurent

Captain America

Starred Up

 

 

 

Review: Kit Harington is hot in Pompeii

Synopsis: Gladiator seeks revenge on those who slaughtered his family ends up in Pompeii where he falls for a nobleman's daughter. Oh and the volcano about to go off.

Stan's thoughts: There are two good things about this film. Kit Harington has a well-honed bod and is a delight to the eye and there is a rather hot kiss (in more ways than one).

Other than that I could have written the plot on the back of a serviette. There are is lots of fighting and lots of baddies growling and women simpering and lots of CGI although the 3D feels superfluous. *Potential plot spoiler* There are no surprises although I can't quite decide whether the ending was Hollywood not being obvious for once and adding some poignancy or whether it made the rest of the film pointless. If you see it let me know your view.

Entertaining enough but it will be Kit Harington's bod which stays in my mind.

Ratings

• Stan’s 50%
• IMDB 59%
• Metascore 39%
• Rotten Tomatoes 28%
• RT Audience Rating 42%

Recently seen

The Other Woman

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

Divergent

Yves Saint Laurent

Captain America

Starred Up

Under the Skin

Grand Budapest Hotel

 

 

Review: The battle for my least favourite film of 2014 begins - The Other Woman

Synopsis: A woman discovers her boyfriend is married, befriends his wife and then when they both discover he is cheating on them with a third woman, all three plot their revenge.

Stan's thoughts: From the premise, I was hoping this might be an intelligent and witty comedy aimed at women but instead we got something cliched, crude, dumb and at times offensive.

Cameron Diaz is a lawyer but doesn't use her brains until the very end in fact the first two thirds is a very, very long set up. Leslie Mann is the shrill and ditsy wife who is so annoying and ridiculous if I was married to her I think I would have had an affair and then the second mistress is, of course, young, stupid and has big tits.

Hollywood seems to think that hysteria is funny. It isn't, it is annoying.  And, when hysteria isn't appropriate it resorts to ridiculous slapstick. (Dear Hollywood, people don't have to fall over/knock things over etc in order for it to qualify as a comedy).

The stereotypes were insulting as were such notions of women always having to be pristine and freshly waxed in order to be sexually attractive to their partners. Seriously, how did we get to this fantastical image of what beauty is in a woman?

I thought Inside Llewyn Davis was going to be my least favourite film of the year but that was just irritating, this made me angry. Avoid like the plague if you have a brain cell.

Ratings

• Stan’s 20%
• IMDB 65%
• Metascore 39%
• Rotten Tomatoes 24%
• RT Audience Rating 68%

Recently seen

The Amazing Spiderman

Locke

The Double

Divergent

Yves Saint Laurent

Captain America

Starred Up

Under the Skin

Grand Budapest Hotel