Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Whiplash

SF: I'm going to have to find out if Miles Teller was a drummer before this film or not, because his playing is incredible. I had no plans to see this as the trailer didn't interest me but something about this film is truly compelling. The performances were fantastic, the pace is good, the characters could have more development but really you're so taken in by the music, don't think I'd want more, or even notice. The whole film is held together by just two characters and works so well you are totally drawn in, cringing and wincing along with Andrew. I can't really describe what I liked so much but I will say go see this, you won't be disappointed. 8/10

50Eggs: Awesome. The last music based film I saw was 'Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit', so you can imagine this isn't the sort of film that would ordinarily temp me to the cinema. So glad I did though as its 2 hours of intense, nail biting drama. JK Simmons deserves all the plaudits for his role as the conductor, but lets not forget Miles Teller who manages to get us to like his character, then hate him, before finishing somewhere between the two. 9/10

DonkeyB: I've liked this film more and more this week as I've got further away from having seen it. I think it is the best film about music I have ever seen, the final scene which is really just a ten minute drum solo perfectly captures what jazz is, the danger and thrilling tension had me on the edge of my seat. I've liked a lot of films we've seen this year but I don't often feel like I have to tell everyone I bump into how great they are (Boyhood excepted I will continue to tell everyone I ever meet how much I loved Boyhood). I found the parts in between the musical performances fell a bit flat but the further I get from having seen it, the more I think that is because of how extraordinary the tension in the music and J K Simmons performance is. 9/10

Overall: 8.8/10

Ex Machina

SF: The cinematography is great, the effects are lovely and they nicely resist the temptation to overuse. But on the whole the film is predictable and at times rather pointless. It asks interesting questions but nothing you haven’t heard before or explored in superior literature, television and cinema. The answers given to the audience are shallow and dull.  The overall treatment is a pale shadow of better science fiction by more talented writers and I spent half the film wishing I was watching something else. Something better. 4/10

50Eggs: Whilst Ex Machina has a very topical and 'current' story line, the film this most reminded me of was Dracula. The protagonist is simultaneously a guest and a prisoner, and the sense of discomfort is palpable, with Oscar Isaac nailing it as the proverbial vampire. So it's not a particularly nice film to watch, but it is engrossing nonetheless. Like a feature length Outer Limits, or Black Mirror...and funnily enough Domhnall
Gleeson actually played the part of a robot himself in an episode of the latter which is well worth catching too. 8/10

DonkeyB: n/a

Overall: 6/10

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Foxcatcher

SF: Channing Tatum can act. Firstly this is another film that isn't fun to watch and I'll most likely never watch it again mainly because I found it dull.  After 45 mins I did almost leave as I just didn't see this going anywhere and I wasn't all that interested but it was Channing Tatum that kept me
watching, he made the film, he was subtly able to deliver a depth of emotions in wasn't expecting . Steve Carell gave a good performance too but I wasn't all that invested in his character. Most of the film is an unindulged drama focused on three people and the real events that unfolded. While films like this can be brilliant, I don't think this is one of them. 4/10

50Eggs: n/a

DonkeyB: Any review should start by saying that the performances in the film are exceptional. Steve Carell is utterly transformed as John Du Pont, and I thought if anything I was even more amazed by Channing Tatum's performance, he got the physicality of a wrestler exceptionally well I though. Once again 3 reviews favourite Mark Ruffalo was just outstanding also putting in a very convincing physical performance with somewhat less raw material (in terms of sheer size) than Tatum. The film is very still and very quiet and seems to be set in a perpetual autumn/winter which adds to the sense of impending doom which you don't need plot spoilers to sense from the outset.

I thought all those things were to the film's and the director's and cast's credit, but in the end I just wasn't gripped. There is a theme about american patriotism in the film and also money, and it seems to be saying something about the power of money to corrupt and and the ability to use patriotism to corrupt as well, but I didn't think the story was interesting enough to pay off the deliberate pacing and subtle underplaying throughout. 6/10

PS
I had no idea Sienna Miller was in the film at all until the end credits came up, this might be because she is one of those famous people that I have no idea what they look like, I assume she played Ruffalo's wife, its an easy part to miss, there is not a lot of screen for the female cast. Redgrave gets two scenes as Du Pont's  Hitchcockian/Larkinian matriarch, her presence more expressed through her absence. - Donkey B

Overall: 5/10

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Exodus: Gods and Kings

SF: I’m a fan of these type of epic movies, I watched 10 Commandments, Ben Hur and The Message with my Dad many times. So I was looking forward to seeing this. While Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton try very hard to make this remotely appealing and interesting I have to say it’s a fail. I even thought the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven was good but this left me bored. The action is dull, the story well known but not particularly developed and the characterisation shallow. The only interesting take was having God appear like an petulant child rather than a burning bush, you are also left questioning if Moses is mad or if it’s all real. On the whole though one interesting point isn't enough to save a very long film. 4/10

50Eggs: Before watching this I checked Rotten Tomatoes and saw it had 23% positive reviews. At £10 a pop I came very close to not bothering with Exodus, but I'd been looking forward to it for long enough that I decided to make my own mind up. Glad I did, this is the best telling of the Moses story I've ever seen. Most of the criticism seems to be based on Joel Ederingtons performance as the Pharaoh (I thought he was excellent) and for upsetting various sections of society (so what!). Great spectacle and strong story telling, I heartily recommend seeing this. 8.5/10

DonkeyB: n/a

Overall: 6.25/10

Monday, January 5, 2015

Awards 2015

After a long wait lo and behold the 3-4-1 awards are back! 

You might have missed us, but we are now in line with the Oscars.
Unlike them, we don't need fanfare or some big event so without 6 hours of ceremony here we go!
Nominations and Winners
2015

Best Film
SF: X-men: Days of the Future Past, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Imitation Game
50Eggs: Captain America: Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Gone Girl
DB: I have five nominations which go like this: Boyhood, and then in no particular order, Pride, Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler, Mr Turner. I didn't cry in Grand Budapest Hotel or Nightcrawler, and I laughed in all of them.
WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Director
SF: Paul King (Paddington), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy)
50Eggs: (Russo bros.) Captain America: Winter Soldier, David Fincher (Gone Girl), Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
DB: Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
WINNER: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Actor
SF: Benedict Cumberbatch (Imitation Game), Jake Gyllnelhaal (Nightcrawler), Leonard DiCaprio (Wolf of Wall Street)
50Eggs: Bryan Cranston (Godzilla), Martin Freeman (Hobbit 2&3), Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood)
DB: Ralph Fiennes (GBH), Tim Spall (Mr Turner), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood)
WINNER: Jake Gyllnelhaal (Nightcrawler)

Best Actress
SF: Rosmund Pike (Gone Girl),  Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow), Imelda Staunton (Pride)
50Eggs: Eva Green (300 Rise of an Empire), Scarlett Johanason (Winter Soldier), Rosmund Pike (Gone Girl)
DB: Imelda Staunton (Pride), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Rosmund Pike (Gone Girl)
WINNER: Rosmund Pike (Gone Girl)

Worst Film
SF: Blue Ruin, Locke, Inbetweeners 2
50Eggs: I didnt spend any money watching a bad film, and I even enjoyed Inbetweeners 2!
DB: Horrible Bosses 2, Blue Ruin, Inbetweeners 2
WINNER: Blue Ruin

Worst Performance
SF: The whole cast of Inbetweeners 2 (because it was awful all round)
50Eggs: Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), a trained monkey would have been more convincing. [Ba dum tisch ed.]
DB: Ann Hathaway (Interstaller, I never wanted an inanimate carbon rod so much in my entire life), 
WINNER: All of them because it was all bad

Most controversial Film
SF: Mr Turner
50Eggs: Interstellar
DB: Both the above, I loved Mr Turner I just thought it was wonderful. I'm afraid Interstellar continued Mr Nolan's downward spiral post Inception for me.
WINNER: Interstellar