Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Philomena

SF: This is the type of film I'd normally avoid because its either going to be very sentimental or dull. I can't say it wasn't sentimental and there were some parts that didn't seem very cinematic at all. However this is not some sweet tear jerker or overstated epic and thus suits being rather plain in the direction. The performance from all were very engaging, Steve Coogan being serious was a revelation to me. The subject matter while nothing sort of heart breaking and horrific in many ways is handled very well and this all manages to maintain a nice level of humour. 7/10

50Eggs: n/a

DonkeyB: It's a moving story, told with not a little wit. I'm not a fan of Judy Dench (I know send me into exile), and as with the Queen I'm afraid I found the direction to be absolutely, mind numbingly boring to the point where I found myself noticing how televisual it was. It is funny though, and it does have something interesting to say about what faith is, and what forgiveness means. However much Coogan's character (Martin Sixsmith) is laughing/cringing at Philomena, and some of the people in the audience we were in were joining in- the film doesn't quite let them get away with it. 6.5/10

Overall: 6.75/10


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Gravity

SF: I was avoiding seeing this film. Visually it is nothing short of brilliant (I'm a space geek). There were so many nice subtle touches in the direction that you are drawn into the the film within moments. It does brilliantly well to make you feel as if your in space without making the audience dizzy. The plot is simple and effective but without giving too much away can be a little over dramatist. Clooney was excellent and Bullock was ok, which did surprise me a bit. Be warned there are a few sort of cheesy lines but forgivable enough. Well worth seeing in the cinema rather then at home. 8/10

50 Eggs: Movie of the year so far. No film ever has portrayed so accurately what it must be like to be an astronaut. Yes there were a couple of errors with the physics, but overall the sense of wonder, loneliness, serenity and beauty  was utterly convincing. Coupled with an exciting story and fantastic effects, this is a must see. The Lynx advert was absolutely right  - 'Nothing beats an Astronaut'. 9.5/10

DonkeyB: In what I think is a first for this blog I decided to tag this post with not just the Director (who my erstwhile colleagues sometimes leave out) but the visual effects studio. They got to display their logo not just their name in the end credits and it is well deserved. As the regular reader (that's not a typo I know who you are) knows I hate 3D, but the reputation of this film had preceded it, so it was with not a little confliction that SF and I eventually opted for the 2D version. The film is visually and audio-logically stunning, so it is without hesitation that I say I am off to find a massive IMAX screen in 3D to watch it again, and I have no doubt I will enjoy it even more second time round. I believe that is enough of an endorsement. Its the film you most have to have seen in the cinema since Inception, it will make no sense whatever to wait for the DVD. 9.5/10

Overall: 9/10

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Thor: The Dark World

SF: Alas not as fun as the first outing.  The effects are fine, the plot passable and the general feel all worked. Plenty of it was filmed in London, which is always going to win me over some what. I enjoyed it on the whole as the action was OK but mainly I wanted Thor to have more substance and Loki to have more screen time. Generally the main thing it lacked was drive, everything was just ok and I might have got a tad bored now and again. 6/10

50 Eggs: A complete snoozefest. I used to love these marvel films but something has gone badly wrong with them recently. This isn't as bad as Iron man 3 (and certainly not as bad as Iron man 2), but it all just feels so...inconsequential. The action is just too much fit-inducing CGI. I want to see Thor hitting things with his hammer, not a shooty laser spaceship battle. Even the poster is a rip-off of Star Wars. Try harder marvel. 5/10

DonkeyB: Bored the arse off me to be honest. Cineworld also decided to leave some lights on throughout the screening, which is very unhelpful in a normal screening, but in a 3D film is tantamount to terrorism. Its hard enough to deal with the light loss and the fact as a glasses wearer I have two pieces of material to look through without having a spotlight bright enough to follow along with the (leaden) script setting up all kinds of internal reflections between the various layers of glass on my face..... So that spoilt it. Back to the film itself, the script is terrible, only lifted when Hiddleston is on screen. A film entirely of Loki might be interesting. James Hunt battling the most boring, existentially pointless, villains in history across 9 invented parallel universes (or whatever) is incredibly not. The scenes back on earth were at least moderately impressive- the problem with the entirely green screened films I seem to spend an inordinate length of time in these days is there is no sense of scale, or drama. 3/10
Overall: 4.5/10