John Schlesinger followed up his critical and financial success, "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) with this story of a love triangle between three human beings of differing sexual identities and orientations. An older male doctor is in love with a young hippie artist man. This same hippie is the object of affection of a female divorcee of around 35 - 40 years old. This leads to various reactions as the young hippie spends his time with either one, whoever suits his egocentric fancy. This is definitely a great snapshot of how relationships and their dynamics functioned for these individuals in the post Swinging London, post 60's revolution of early 1970's when some people realized that the dreams of the previous decade didn't come to fruition and it was all over. The acting is quite magnificent from Peter Finch as the older gay doctor and Glenda Jackson as the woman. But from Murray Head as the young hippy, you don't get the charisma necessary to reveal why this young man is so passionately the object of two people's affection. This was a controversial film for its time because it featured with all seriousness and respect two men passionately kissing on screen. It is interesting to note that these two actors are actually straight in real life.
At one point in the film the young children of the sister of Glenda Jackson's character who she and the hippie are babysitting for the weekend are seen smoking marijuana. This is a dangerous allusion to the mindset of some post-60's former flower children's allowances as far as child-rearing goes. It is dangerous that a film would condone such an image because we all know how vulnerable children's minds are at that age when they are still developing and growing.
The script is by film critic Penelope Gilliat. It is does not draw attention to itself which is a compliment. It is smoothly written and interesting.
Thoughts and insights on film, television, and other aspects of culture by Matthew J. White.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Bad Grandpa (2013, dir. Jeff Tremaine) ***/****
"Bad Grandpa" is hilarious at times and pretty funny in others. It will offend, sicken, and amuse many viewers. It is basically one Jackass sketch after another. If you liked it on Jackass when Johnny Knoxville dressed up like an old man and pranked unsuspecting people with things that are inappropriate for a 85 year old man to do, this film is for you. There are jokes that involve farts, prosthetic penises, drinking, prostitution and strippers and as much Jackass-related injury humour you can fit into and hour and a half movie.
One of the funniest things about this film is that, supposedly, the people who are being pranked are not actors, but are real, ordinary people who don't suspect a thing. To see the reactions of these people to the ridiculous things Johnny Knoxville and his co-writers, Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine come up with is quite a funny experience. I enjoyed the performance of young Jackson Nicholl as Billy, the Grandson of Knoxville's old man, Irving.
Basically, Irving has to bring his grandson across the U.S. to his father because his mother has to serve time in jail. It is basically a road movie and the genre allows for much shenanigans for the actors to play with. Over the course of the trip, the Grandfather and Grandson develop a bond with one another as they get into various misadventures.
If you're a fan of Jackass and reality-based pranking stuff, this film is for you. It is audacious, risque, offensive and funny.
One of the funniest things about this film is that, supposedly, the people who are being pranked are not actors, but are real, ordinary people who don't suspect a thing. To see the reactions of these people to the ridiculous things Johnny Knoxville and his co-writers, Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine come up with is quite a funny experience. I enjoyed the performance of young Jackson Nicholl as Billy, the Grandson of Knoxville's old man, Irving.
Basically, Irving has to bring his grandson across the U.S. to his father because his mother has to serve time in jail. It is basically a road movie and the genre allows for much shenanigans for the actors to play with. Over the course of the trip, the Grandfather and Grandson develop a bond with one another as they get into various misadventures.
If you're a fan of Jackass and reality-based pranking stuff, this film is for you. It is audacious, risque, offensive and funny.
The Counselor (2013, dir. Ridley Scott) **.5/****
I was looking forward to Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" because it was written by Cormac McCarthy one of my favourite authors. Films based on books he has written have been phenomenal, including "The Road" and "No Country For Old Men". I even admired the recent James Franco directed film "Child of God". My expectations for "The Counselor" were high seeing that McCarthy wrote and Ridley Scott was directing. But, in the end I felt let down and disappointed by the resulting film.
The plot basically boils down to a drug deal gone horribly awry and everyone involved being put in intense jeopardy by the mishaps that take place. Michael Fassbender is the title character. Penelope Cruz plays his wife. Javier Bardem is a rich man involved in the deal. Cameron Diaz is his sultry girlfriend. Brad Pitt plays another associate who gets in trouble.
I was confused by this story. I had trouble figuring out who was who and what was what. There are some cool individual scenes but they don't add up to a consistent and coherent whole. I enjoyed the performances and the screenplay is razor sharp and intriguing at times, as can be expected from McCarthy. Fassbender's character is seen crying no less than three times in this film and he is a multi-dimensional character. There are just two many questions left unanswered and not enough narrative verisimilitude to recommend this movie.
The plot basically boils down to a drug deal gone horribly awry and everyone involved being put in intense jeopardy by the mishaps that take place. Michael Fassbender is the title character. Penelope Cruz plays his wife. Javier Bardem is a rich man involved in the deal. Cameron Diaz is his sultry girlfriend. Brad Pitt plays another associate who gets in trouble.
I was confused by this story. I had trouble figuring out who was who and what was what. There are some cool individual scenes but they don't add up to a consistent and coherent whole. I enjoyed the performances and the screenplay is razor sharp and intriguing at times, as can be expected from McCarthy. Fassbender's character is seen crying no less than three times in this film and he is a multi-dimensional character. There are just two many questions left unanswered and not enough narrative verisimilitude to recommend this movie.
Runner Runner (2013, dir. Brad Furman) */****
If you want to waste your time with a zero-dimensional, lame-scripted, lacklustre film today, I recommend you see Brad Furman's "Runner Runner". If you don't want to waste your time, then I highly suggest steering clear of this vapid, idiotic movie.
The film stars Justin Timberlake as Richie Furst, a Princeton Graduate student with (the script tells us) brains who has a slight penchant for online gambling. There is a forced montage early in the film to let the audience know just how prevalent and problematic student online gambling is in our modern times: a slew of news items give voice to the widespread predilection. This type of montage sequence that highlight a social problem is such a cinematic cliche that this reviewer almost walked out after the first five minutes. But, I gave the film a chance and continued to do so for the remaining one hour and twenty five minutes but the film never answered that allowance with an entertaining spectacle.
Richie figures out that the online gambling site he just lost nearly $20,000 dollars to has actually cheated him out of his money. He decides to fly to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the site, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Soon, Block is apologizing and offering Richie's money back but not before offering him a position with the company which promises millions of dollars in a short amount of time. But, something is fishy about the whole scheme and the FBI is soon bothering Richie about the illegality of the whole operation.
This is a brainless, forgettable film that will soon be on video and on-demand and I wouldn't even recommend you get the film through these avenues: it is a complete waste of time and there are better movies out there that will give you much more satisfaction. The acting is frigid and uninspired, the script lacks any wit or finesse, and there is nothing notable or admirable about any visual aspect of the entire production. One of the worst films I've seen this year.
The film stars Justin Timberlake as Richie Furst, a Princeton Graduate student with (the script tells us) brains who has a slight penchant for online gambling. There is a forced montage early in the film to let the audience know just how prevalent and problematic student online gambling is in our modern times: a slew of news items give voice to the widespread predilection. This type of montage sequence that highlight a social problem is such a cinematic cliche that this reviewer almost walked out after the first five minutes. But, I gave the film a chance and continued to do so for the remaining one hour and twenty five minutes but the film never answered that allowance with an entertaining spectacle.
Richie figures out that the online gambling site he just lost nearly $20,000 dollars to has actually cheated him out of his money. He decides to fly to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the site, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Soon, Block is apologizing and offering Richie's money back but not before offering him a position with the company which promises millions of dollars in a short amount of time. But, something is fishy about the whole scheme and the FBI is soon bothering Richie about the illegality of the whole operation.
This is a brainless, forgettable film that will soon be on video and on-demand and I wouldn't even recommend you get the film through these avenues: it is a complete waste of time and there are better movies out there that will give you much more satisfaction. The acting is frigid and uninspired, the script lacks any wit or finesse, and there is nothing notable or admirable about any visual aspect of the entire production. One of the worst films I've seen this year.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Captain Phillips (2013, dir. Paul Greengrass) ***/****
"Captain Phillips" tells the tale of a U.S. cargo ship that was hijacked in 2009 by four armed Somali pirates. It is tense and provocative. Tom Hanks stars as Captain Richard Phillips and his unarmed crew who do what they can under enormously pressure-filled circumstances to survive in the face of anger, hostility, violence and confusion.
The films plot is straightforward and fairly simplistic but it is in the quality of the content that makes this film stand-up to scrutiny. The Somali pirates are portrayed as victims of there own dire circumstances who are just trying to get by and make ends meet back in Somalia. They see the open seas around their country as a gold-mine of money-carrying ships and we are sympathetic to their plight because we know how hard life is for them back home. They have a chance to get away with $30,000 early in the film but decide to escalate the situation in their quest to get more. What makes "Captain Phillips" a different and noble venture is the fact that the four Somali pirates are not made into stereotypes or cookie-cutter villains but real, living, breathing individuals who are under pressure to bring home the bacon.
Tom Hanks does a great job in the lead role of making Captain Phillips into an authentic everyman who is responding under pressure in human ways that any audience member can identify with. He turns Phillips into a admirable, three-dimensional victim who relies on his own resourceful intelligence and calm to get him through the dangerous situation he's in.
The final scenes involving a lifeboat and the U.S. Navy are nail-biting and the actions of some of the characters will surprise you. What makes this film enjoyable is that it doesn't adhere to expectations and despite its straightforward structure does not get bogged down by stereotypes and cliches.
The films plot is straightforward and fairly simplistic but it is in the quality of the content that makes this film stand-up to scrutiny. The Somali pirates are portrayed as victims of there own dire circumstances who are just trying to get by and make ends meet back in Somalia. They see the open seas around their country as a gold-mine of money-carrying ships and we are sympathetic to their plight because we know how hard life is for them back home. They have a chance to get away with $30,000 early in the film but decide to escalate the situation in their quest to get more. What makes "Captain Phillips" a different and noble venture is the fact that the four Somali pirates are not made into stereotypes or cookie-cutter villains but real, living, breathing individuals who are under pressure to bring home the bacon.
Tom Hanks does a great job in the lead role of making Captain Phillips into an authentic everyman who is responding under pressure in human ways that any audience member can identify with. He turns Phillips into a admirable, three-dimensional victim who relies on his own resourceful intelligence and calm to get him through the dangerous situation he's in.
The final scenes involving a lifeboat and the U.S. Navy are nail-biting and the actions of some of the characters will surprise you. What makes this film enjoyable is that it doesn't adhere to expectations and despite its straightforward structure does not get bogged down by stereotypes and cliches.
The Fifth Estate (2013, dir. Bill Condon) ***.5/****
"The Fifth Estate" is a thrilling, kinetic film which gives the viewer a (fairly one-sided) glimpse into the mind of one the most internet- and tech-savvy hacker/geniuses of the past decade, Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Using the revolutionary website that he founded, Wikileaks, Assange, with the help of a few others, including Daniel Berg (Daniel Bruhl), was able to expose classified, top-secret information to the general public. Whistleblowers would send in the information and Wikileaks would post it so the world could see. As the film portrays, major corporations like banks as well as government officials were brought down with the release of the secret info. The main question the film asks is at what expense can such data be released and how far is Assange willing to go to keep the mandate of the website alive when lives could easily be in jeopardy.
The film presents Assange as an egocentric, domineering, and reckless revolutionary who will do anything to get the information out there. Those around him are alarmed at his forceful nature and are often hesitant to perform the tasks that he masterminds. Cumberbatch does a terrific job as Assange and turns him into a multidimensional and surprisingly sympathetic character despite the flaws in his personality.
I am a fan of cinematic eye-candy Alicia Vikander and was happy to see her appearing in this film in a minor role as Berg's girlfriend. She adds a much needed sex-appeal to this film.
The story is somewhat confusing for the uninitiated and all the technological jargon and banter will leave some film-goers scratching there heads at times. But it is best to just sit-back and enjoy the ride as the fast-paced, energetic cinematography and screenplay will entertain you for the duration. There are multiple locales, mostly around Europe and the art-direction is murky, overcast and dark which seems appropriate for the subject matter.
This is a somewhat one-sided view of Assange coming from a couple books (one by Berg). There maybe more to his character than the film alludes to. Assange was one of the most controversial and contradictory individuals to be given the media's spotlight in the last decade. This is an entertaining spectacle that reveals the type of big personality that goes into the big ideas of our times.
The film presents Assange as an egocentric, domineering, and reckless revolutionary who will do anything to get the information out there. Those around him are alarmed at his forceful nature and are often hesitant to perform the tasks that he masterminds. Cumberbatch does a terrific job as Assange and turns him into a multidimensional and surprisingly sympathetic character despite the flaws in his personality.
I am a fan of cinematic eye-candy Alicia Vikander and was happy to see her appearing in this film in a minor role as Berg's girlfriend. She adds a much needed sex-appeal to this film.
The story is somewhat confusing for the uninitiated and all the technological jargon and banter will leave some film-goers scratching there heads at times. But it is best to just sit-back and enjoy the ride as the fast-paced, energetic cinematography and screenplay will entertain you for the duration. There are multiple locales, mostly around Europe and the art-direction is murky, overcast and dark which seems appropriate for the subject matter.
This is a somewhat one-sided view of Assange coming from a couple books (one by Berg). There maybe more to his character than the film alludes to. Assange was one of the most controversial and contradictory individuals to be given the media's spotlight in the last decade. This is an entertaining spectacle that reveals the type of big personality that goes into the big ideas of our times.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
From Up On Poppy Hill (2011, dir. Goro Miyazaki) ***/****
Goro Miyazaki, the son of famed Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki, has large shoes to fill. After the eventual retirement of his father he may be forced to live up to the dazzling reputation that his father has set forth in many anime classics. With "From Up On Poppy Hill" Goro takes the reigns once again (he has directed anime before) and offers a whimsical, delightful tale that, though not living up to the best of his father's work, is an entertaining spectacle.
The film centres around a young teenage girl, Umi, who helps run a boarding house in the time when she is not attending high school and is busy with homework. There is an old, run-down clubhouse that the boys of the school attend that is under the risk of being demolished to make way for the 1984 Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo. There is a platonic relationship the develops between Umi and one of the boys who, over the course of the story, learn things about their past that brings to light unexpected surprises about their own histories and family pasts. Meanwhile, Umi and her fellow female classmates along with the males do what they can to prevent the eventual destruction of their beloved clubhouse.
The story is simple but elegant, the characters are interesting, and the visuals are quite stunning. This is a winning contribution to the Studio Ghibli pantheon and sets Goro up as an adequate heir to the Hayao legacy. I liked "From Up On Poppy Hill" and if you are looking for a good anime film to divert you from the drudgery of modern life I suggest you watch this nice little animated feature.
The film centres around a young teenage girl, Umi, who helps run a boarding house in the time when she is not attending high school and is busy with homework. There is an old, run-down clubhouse that the boys of the school attend that is under the risk of being demolished to make way for the 1984 Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo. There is a platonic relationship the develops between Umi and one of the boys who, over the course of the story, learn things about their past that brings to light unexpected surprises about their own histories and family pasts. Meanwhile, Umi and her fellow female classmates along with the males do what they can to prevent the eventual destruction of their beloved clubhouse.
The story is simple but elegant, the characters are interesting, and the visuals are quite stunning. This is a winning contribution to the Studio Ghibli pantheon and sets Goro up as an adequate heir to the Hayao legacy. I liked "From Up On Poppy Hill" and if you are looking for a good anime film to divert you from the drudgery of modern life I suggest you watch this nice little animated feature.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)