127 Hours

Not being a fan of Boyle I had to be dragged to see 127 hours, and for the first fifteen minutes I hated it. The film started off slow and looked to be another Boyle flop. I was however proved wrong. Based on the events of Aron Ralston and his tragic mountaineering accident, the film is over 100 minutes of pure gold.

Knowing roughly what happens, with the amputation scene and all, the film has you constantly on the edge of your seat. Apart from Franco’s flawless performance, the cinematography is not much short of perfection. The shots of the Utah landscapes would suffice but the way they are captured and the sort of amateurish way they are made to appear is genius. From the moment Franco falls into the crevasse you find yourself hiding behind you hands.

It’s hard to nit pick with 127 hours but as always nothing is perfect. Humor is the last think you would expect to see the claustrophobic drama, but its not in short supply, Ralston’s video diaries are a personal favorite but they do border on cheap filmmaking, the odd hallucinations are a bit labored, but more than watchable.

Now, to the part you’ve all been waiting for. The scenes leading up to Franco hacking at his arm with a blunt knife makes it all the more dramatic. When he begins to hack through his flesh in ‘saw’ like fashion you feel like you are there. The tendons snapping ring in your ears for the next few hours and the bone, well lets just say you need to watch to find out…

Season of the Witch

Season of the Witch, an action thriller just about fit for the Sci-fi Channel stars Nick Cage in another sell-out performance. It follows two medieval knights (Cage and Perlman) who are charged with escorting a ‘witch’ to a distant monastery to be exorcised by the monks there. The Knights, disheartened by the slaughter of women and children in the Holy Land abandon the crusades and roam Eretz Yisrael. Until eventually they are captured and forced by the church to go on one last Charge, which results in the rest of medieval buddy picture.

Perlman attempt at the typical Stalone/Arnie bonehead is an epic fail. The failure of the big names –Lee’s performance as the Cardinal is less than forgettable, I didn’t even know he starred in the film till I saw his name pop up in a review, and don’t get me started on Cage- is more than made up by Foy (Little Dorrit) and Sheehan (Misfits). Foy’s portrayal of the ‘witch’ is about the only watchable thing in the crusader tale.

The use of special effects in the film is totally unnecessary and ruin potentially good scenes, the CGI enhanced wolves are laughable and the demon looks like its been taken directly from Jason and the Argonauts. Apart form escorting Foy from a plague ridden town (Ruled by Lee) to a distant abbey, not much else happens, a few less than impressive skirmishes that see the end of their other companions, another knight (Ulrich Thomsen), a priest (Stephen Campbell Moore) and a swindler (Stephen Graham).

I would go on, but is their much point? The film fails in all the genres action, thriller, sci-fi. The casting and Costume (Cage looks like he never bothered changing from his sorcerers apprentice costume) are not much better. However the film is watchable, maybe as a last resort through. It does keep you entertained for just over an hour, the search for the key of Solomon is about on par with Cage’s last few films. I would suggest if you have nothing better to do then go see as Foy’s performance is worth a watch.

On the Anniversary of River Phoenix

It’s about time, after all it is done so often nowadays for actors who can’t finish their final film’s. Phoenix more than deserves for the film to be finished, even if it has been seventeen years.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Emma Thomson your wrong!

I cannot wait for Thomson’s adaptation of the novella by Capote, not for her un-”twee” performance but to see her fail at recreating the classic, it is just not possible. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a work of genius, I recently watched it for the millionth time and was still touched by Hepburn’s performance as Holly Golightly, after all how can you love a dim gold digging socialite?

Hepburn’s portrayal of the “phony” is remarkable the fact that throughout the film there are glimpses into the soul of the kind hearted innocent southern Lula Mae really makes her one of the greatest actresses of all time, and well deserving of her place in the AFI top 100. An often overlooked relationship in the film is that of Hepburn and cat, her refusal to name him shows not cold heartedness but the polar opposite, it is this relationship that really lets you get to know Holly Golightly and form that bond that will allow you to watch and re watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s never getting bored. Her Oscar winning rendition of Moon River is impeccable, she may not be the greatest singer but that brief moment will be in the hearts and minds of viewers for generation’s to come.

Be it controversial, I still say I love Rooney in his role of Mr Yunioshi, the padding of his gums and inches of make up might be a tad on the offensive side but it works and Shepard’s statement “If we could just change Mickey Rooney, I’d be thrilled with the movie.” in my opinion should be considered moot. On the other hand, I think Peppard’s performance as Varjak was at times weak and one which I lacked any form of connection, although it is not to say that it is solely his fault, the character himself is rather dull. If you haven’t yet been mesmerized, let yourself be, go out and get a copy because you will never look back! 

Avatar

Avatar was always going to be a great film; after all it combines ten years of devotion by the director of the highest grossing film ever and some of the greatest sci-fi franchise’s of all time (Aliens, The Terminator). Aided by the one of the greatest directors of all time (Spielberg) and the world leaders in visual effects (WETA Digital) who were used to turn the drab somewhat over used plot into the action packed three hour enriching experience it was. Pandora is a feat of genius, the luminescent shrubbery, the surreal wildlife, the floating mountains, even the subtle sounds of jungle help you to feel transported into the land of the Na’vi. The storyline itself does not compare to the technical genius that made it a must see and the casting of Weaver in my opinion tops the actual story, seeing Sigourney back in space working with Cameron was well worth the 3 hours, no matter how good or bad the film was. The Plot is a thoughtless cliché-ridden mesh of films written and directed by Cameron. There are several similarities to Aliens, Titanic and Terminator among others; the RDA mining operation is too similar to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation (Alien) and Skynet (Terminator), it also contains savage gun wielding marines (a must for Cameron, with the exception of titanic that is). Then slapped on top of the violence, bloodshed, explosions and special effects is the ‘epic’ love story of two people, or species in avatars case that shouldn’t be together (Titanic). Stephen Lang’s character, Colonel Quaritch is a laughable typical military antagonist similar to Harry Tasker, Rambo or the Terminator (again all characters in previous films by Cameron) and does the film no justice. I wanted to hate the film, after all the script is un-original, boring and contains too many clichés, but the sheer magnificence of the effects has truly made Avatar a great if not brilliant must see film.

The Runaways

THE Runaways should have been a gritty, drug fuelled, glam filled hundred and something minutes. Instead, was at times slow, stank of artiness and was down right dull. However there were quite a few highlights, mainly Shannon and Stewart’s portrayal of Fowley and Jett respectively.  My main querella with Jett’s representation of her rise to fame with her band of ‘jailbait’ is how the film focuses too closely on Currie, leading to Fanning being referred to as “a mini Meryl Streep”.  Watching ‘little Fern Arable’ pop pills and mount roadies, however true it may have been still seems wrong. Fanning’s performance as the glam rocker was weak at times, her representation of the “lovechild of Iggy Pop and Bridgett Bardott” who helped inspire such groups as The Go Go’s, The Bangles and Hole was too fragile and lacked the harsh persona that Cherry Currie gave off. The Film starts out with a pre The Runaways Currie lip-syncing to Bowie at a school talent contest and ends with a shot of ‘Cherry bomb’ Currie, with Crimson and Clover –Jetts 1982 n^o 7 hit– playing in the background. The scenes in between –not including those of Stewart and Shannon– are nothing special. Jett and Sigismondi somehow manage to capture the love –on occasion physical- between Currie and Jett and yet till add humor –Curries Gran attacking the paparazzi was a personal favorite– amidst the dark and shadowy biopic. The Runaways is no Walk the line or Ray but is worth watching, if just for the soundtrack.