Rev Stan's film blog

Review: An elegy to a lost generation in Testament of Youth

Synopsis: Based on Vera Brittain's memoir of the same name, Testament of Youth recounts the experiences of a young woman during the First World War as she slowly loses those she loves and how that influenced her life as an anti-war campaigner.

Stan's thoughts: This is a film that is about the tragedy and cost of war but it is also about a feminist fighting for equal treatment for women and the birth of a pacifist at time when it was seen as unpatriotic.

Vera's is quite an incredible story, it is one of great tragedy but equally one that inspires. In the beginning we see her fighting to be allowed to go to Oxford University with her brother and friend. Her father (Dominic West) thinks it is a waste of time and money when she should be thinking about marriage.

Then war breaks out and her brother Edward (Taron Egerton), her friend Victor (Colin Morgan) and boyfriend Roland (Kit Harrington) all sign up. Unable to bear sitting around studying while they are fighting she becomes a nurse.

This film doesn't glamourise the war instead it shows it in its dirty, bloody and deadly glory. And Vera is a fascinating heroine; she doesn't always say the right thing and is stubborn and sometimes has fiery outbursts. Despite her independence and confidence of spirit she is ill-prepared for what she ultimately faces.

It is refreshing to see a war film from a woman's perspective and it is of course great to see a film that has such a good, meaty part for a young woman, a part that doesn't involve a man running in to rescue her or vampires.

Take tissues only the hardest of heart will be unmoved by Vera's story.

Ratings

• Stan’s 85%
• IMDB 72%
• Metascore 75%
• Rotten Tomatoes 85%
• RT Audience Rating* 89%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

 

Review: Jake Gyllenhaal in the rather odd Enemy

Synopsis: A history lecturer sees his doppelganger in a film and sets about trying to meet him.

Stan's thoughts: Love Jake Gyllenhaal and he plays a weirdo well (look at Nightcrawler which was one of my favourite films last year) but this? Well, this just feels like weirdness for arts sake. All the characters behave extremely oddly, so oddly that it is perplexing rather than atmospheric.

It is described as a psychological thriller but any tension I felt was boredom mixed with frustration. There are lots of lingering, arty shots and a random spider which felt pretentious.

Ultimately I didn't know why the characters were behaving the way they were and quite frankly after a point I didn't really care. Weirdness, a scant script and long lingering shots don't equal an art house movie, Enemy feels like and hour and half of my life I will never get back.

Other opinions are available of course, some people at least seem to like it.

Ratings

• Stan’s 30%
• IMDB 68%
• Metascore 61%
• Rotten Tomatoes 74%
• RT Audience Rating* 60%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: The brilliance of Birdman

Synopsis: A former super hero movie actor Riggan (Michael Keaton) is trying to revive his career and credibility by adapting, directing and starring in a Broadway play while his ex-druggy daughter and managing his love life.

Stan's thoughts: I'm not party to what goes on back stage before, during and after a performance but having watched Birdman I don't think I'll sit through a play with quite the same impression.

Birdman is so many things. It is a satire on actors, critics, Hollywood and theatre; it is an existential comedy drama and it is a farce. It is a film that you want to enjoy over again so you can better take in everything in the background.

There are some brilliantly funny lines that had me cackling with laughter and I wasn't the only one:

"Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige"

It is also a brilliant, brilliant showcase for the talent of the actors. Being a film about theatre, the actors who are in Riggan's play - Andrea Riseborough, Naomi Watts and Ed Norton - get to perform as their film characters, their play characters and sometimes somewhere half way in between. I'm still giggling when I think about Edward Norton - we don't see anywhere near enough of him on screen these days.

Keaton also gets to play his alter ego Birdman, a corrupting voice in his head, a metaphor for...well you could write reams on it.

And I can't not mention the excellent performances of Emma Stone as Riggan's daughter Zach Galifianakis as his lawyer/manager and Lindsay Duncan as the critic who can make or break a show.

Birdman is really clever, intelligent and very funny and I can't wait to see it again.

Ratings

• Stan’s 90%
• IMDB 87%
• Metascore 89%
• Rotten Tomatoes 93%
• RT Audience Rating* 85%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

#LFF Review: James McAvoy in the Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and a bit of the Q&A

Synopsis: The disintegration of couples relationship after a tragic event.

Stan's thoughts: Like to think of this one as an emotional mystery 'thriller' but first I need to explain how the film came about. It was originally shot as two films, Him from James McAvoy's perspective and Her from Jessica Chastain's. To make it more commercially viable (I'm reading between the lines a little) the director Ned Benson was encouraged to edit the two together into one film and thus  'Them' was born. I'll come back to this.

The film opens with a romantic dinner between Conor and Eleanor early in their relationship. They are happy and having fun. Then we cut to some time in the future and see Eleanor attempt suicide. What follows is the aftermath in Conor and Eleanor's relationship as they try and piece things together, indeed can they piece things together and what was it that led Eleanor to make an attempt on her own life?

There is never a big reveal in this film just a slowly growing understanding of what happened to them fed by an undercurrent of sorrow and tragedy. It is gently moving, no killer emotional punch, just a feeling in the gut that had me on the verge of tears pretty much throughout.

James McAvoy said in the Q&A afterwards (yes I got to walk the red carpet 'with' Mr McAvoy) that it was an unusual filming experience because Ned Benson's process was so different to other Hollywood films he's worked on. He kept getting told to do less and the result is a performance that is pared back and speaks volumes without grand gestures and words. A performance that reminds me a little of Atonement.

Jessica Chastain is equally superb, full of unspoken hurt and sorrow. A woman obviously on the emotional edge but quietly so.

Great supporting cast too Ciaran Hinds plays Conor's father, Isabelle Huppert and William Hurt Eleanor's parents and Viola Davis her lecturer.

It is difficult to tell what was lost from cutting the two films together. I'd love to see them to properly judge particularly to get more under the skin of Eleanor. I suspect it might shed a bit more light on the implications of the ending too.

James McAvoy was asked whether it was hard playing Conor for a particular plot reason I won't reveal but he said it was easy to get into character just not easy to leave him behind.

Ratings

• Stan’s 75%
• IMDB 71%
• Metascore 58%
• Rotten Tomatoes No score yet
• RT Audience Rating* No score yet

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

Review: The sharp and sweet Obvious Child

Synopsis: A jilted, twenty-something, stand up comic gets knocked up on a one night stand and is forced to assess her life.

Stan's thoughts: A rom-com that gets an airing at my favourite, discerning cinema-goers chain Curzon is always going to get my attention. Likewise a rom-com that isn't pushed as being 'quirky' - which in movie speak usually means a female protagonist who wears flat shoes and normal clothes.

So that's how I ended up watching Obvious Child on a Friday morning at the Curzon in Victoria with about five other people (I was on holiday, not bunking off). And, it lived up to the promise. It has moments of refreshing honesty and a sharp wit but it was also a lot sweeter than I expected. The abortion storyline (it's not a spoiler, it's in the trailer) is also handled with honesty and sensitivity.

Obvious Child is a rom-com that avoids a lot of the usual cliches, succeeds in making you laugh but also leaves you with a warm fuzzy glow. Isn't that what rom-coms are supposed to do?

Ratings

• Stan’s 75%
• IMDB 72%
• Metascore 75%
• Rotten Tomatoes 88%
• RT Audience Rating* 78%

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

Review: Gerard Depardieu bares all and nothing in Welcome to New York

Synopsis: Any resemblance to the Dominique Strauss Kahn New York hotel sex attack allegation are completely coincidental. Apparently. Essentially Deveraux, played by Depardieu, is a rich and powerful man who is something to do with economics and a potential candidate for the French presidency. He is into orgies with prostitutes but doesn't stop at that when it comes to satisfying his lust.

Stan's thoughts: The first 20 minutes of this film sets up the character of Deveraux as a powerful man, a man who has people who will ensure there are bevvy of high class prostitutes waiting to great him in his New York hotel room. A man without any conscience or moral touch stone about his behaviour and attitude towards women and sex. He's a modern day immoral Bacchus.

Not much is left to the imagination in those opening scenes and it was on the verge of becoming gratuitous when we get the hotel incident. The film doesn't leave you in any doubt that he assaulted the maid and then what follows is the aftermath, his arrest, brief stint in prison and the court case.

Gerard Depardieu does bare all but other than his debauched behaviour there is little else to work with about his personality and motives. He openly asks his daughter about sex with her new boyfriend in front of him at lunch and infuriates his wife (Jacqueline Bisset) by his lack of concern about the turn of events. She doesn't seem in any doubt about his behaviour:

"A real man doesn't follow his dick into every dark alley and prostitute."

What is most revealing is his lack of remorse. The legal process seems like a minor irritation that he almost sleepwalks through. He never seems worried about the possible outcome. His power and wealth has made him supremely arrogant.

It is a damning tale for all in Deveraux's sphere. His wife seems concerned only with his and her reputation and how it might affect their careers and as a result is depressing in its conclusions. In revealing so little about Deveraux outside of his world of sex obsession it does feel unbalanced, one dimensional and perhaps a trial by film other than any thing else.

Ratings

• Stan’s 58%
• IMDB 52%
• Metascore 71%
• Rotten Tomatoes 79%
• RT Audience Rating* 27%

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

Review: Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson in The Rover

Synopsis: The straightforward narrative, if you are going to describe it that way, is Eric (Pearce) is determined to track down his stolen car and ends up using the injured brother of one of the thieves - Rey (Pattinson) - to help him.

Stan's thoughts: Have always admired Guy Pearce for his eclectic choice of work. He is a versatile actor. And if Robert Pattinson's post Twilight project choices are anything to go by then he seems determined to take a similar path. He's admitted in interviews that he is learning his craft on each new project and I have to admire him for that.

It makes for an exciting combination particularly teamed with director David Michod who directed the tense and grungy Animal Kingdom. The Rover takes tense and grungy in completely different direction. It is a slow burn that, refreshingly, gives very little detail up front.

For example, the story is set after some sort of economic or social collapse that is never explained. It is important in that those living in the remote Australian outback, where it is set, have retreated into a society that is simplistic in its desire to fulfil basic human need and feral in its pursuit of it. There also  a languorous and almost depressing lack of purpose. Even the cars seem to move slowly in the vastness of the landscape. The only speed is the occasional deathly outburst of gunshot. 

And we don't learn much about about Eric either; what we do learn is a gradual drip feed. Essentially The Rover is about someone clinging onto to a final shred of humanity - or perhaps he has already lost it? There are scant clues to Eric's determination to complete his task but they are there if you look. What you do get without any doubt is a sense of how dangerous it makes him.

Rey, who has a developmental disability, is the connection to the world Eric didn't bargain on and that in itself has him in a quiet inner turmoil.

The Rover is slow and gradual and quietly haunting. A week later I'm still thinking about it. Pearce and Pattinson both give intelligent and nuanced performances and it bodes well for the latter and his developing acting talent.

 

Ratings

• Stan’s 79%
• IMDB 73%
• Metascore 64%
• Rotten Tomatoes 66%
• RT Audience Rating* 64%

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

 

 

Review: Richard Linklater's 12-year film drama Boyhood

Synopsis: As the headline suggests, filmed over 12 years with the same cast Boyhood follows the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from boyhood to High School graduation.

Stan's thoughts: Read somewhere that the film makers were claiming this is the first time a project like this has been done and that isn't quite true. Michael Winterbottom's film Everyday did something similar but over the course of five years and that did have it's problems.

Putting that to one side what Richard Linklater has created is something that is fascinating, engaging and quietly dramatic. He resists the temptation to pepper Mason's life with high drama instead concentrating on an ordinary story of a boy growing up in a modern family.

There is divorce and step-siblings, parents and step-parents trying their best, succeeding at times and failing at times. The drama is seeing it through Mason and his older sister Sam's (Lorelei Linklater) eyes and what impact it has on them. Then there is the drama of growing up, first love, finding your place in the world, deciding what you want to do and becoming independent.

I wondered how much the story was influenced by Ellar's personality - in the film he's a gentle, quiet contemplative boy - and subsequently have seen Richard Linklater talking about how it did shape the story.

Boyhood was a lovely, warm film that perfectly captures the everyday struggles and triumphs of family life. Such is its pull it left me wanting more - another 12 years perhaps?

Ratings

• Stan’s 85%
• IMDB 89%
• Metascore 99%
• Rotten Tomatoes 100%
• RT Audience Rating* 89%

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Frank

* 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%

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* 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%

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