I’m back/Home on the Strange

So I haven’t been posting anything for quite a while but rest assured I have been busy.

It hasn’t all been me going to sexy parties and holding nice glasses of yellow. Just that one time in fact.

I haven’t been posting reviews because any film critique energy I have had has been put into The Film Show with Breffní and Jon, although if you have been listening lately, you will know that I have gone on an indefinite hiatus due to my academic and not so academic commitments. I do plan on posting a catch up list of ratings for all the new releases I’ve been viewing, for posterity.

In the meantime I have been working very hard as a camera operator and the editor of King Kong Club TV, a new extension to The King Kong Club and a channel designed to support local music in Dublin so check it out music fans! As well as this I have been busy editing (so much editing) a short film by my friend Brian Dunster, and helping preparations for a short film in production entitled Sometimes People… which will be a new short written by myself, directed by Bob Gallagher and Produced by Jenny Moylan (exciting times).

In terms of videos I have a new episode of Lonely Days with Bob that can be found on the series’ website here.

And not only that the latest episode of Home on the Strange, a promising online series by good friends of mine, is now available and features a familar face (it’s me) that you just might recognise (because I’m him… the person who appears in it).

It’s hilarious so give it a look!

- Kirk Out

127 Hours

James Franco is Aron Ralston, an eccentric and slightly cocky rock climber, who finds himself trapped and completely alone with a minimum of supplies, as his arm is crushed underneath a boulder in a large crevasse in the Canyonlands National Park of Utah, in 127 Hours the new film directed by Danny Boyle, with a screenplay by Danny Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston, based on the author’s real experience.

Despite the fact that this film completely centers around its protagonist, it doesn’t really feel like a “biopic” so I’ve been rejecting that term when discussing this film. The truth is that 127 Hours is a Ronseal deal, it’s basis and setting are very linear and there are many of us going to see this film (myself included) who already know the film’s conclusion, due to the fact that it’s based on a true story. However, this is not a movie that relies on twists, turns and plot devices but rather it is an experience for the sense… and a very good one.

There is still good drama in this film which is provided mostly by Franco as he gives an excellent performance of a man struggling for both physical and mental survival. The visual style is very grand and charismatic with a surprising variety of shots, considering they’re mostly of the rocky Canyonlands National Park and Aron Ralston’s hallucinations, dream sequences and flashbacks.

The truth is it is very hard to give a deep analysis of 127 Hours considering it is a simple ninety minutes (approx.) but fortunately that is a real solid hour and a half. It’s been a long time since I was so unified with the audience while in the cinema and even though there’s no complex narrative, the film never drags along and delivers a satisfying conclusion. That said, like many Danny Boyle movies, certain elements do diffuse in the final minutes, but this doesn’t debilitate the film.

There are also some unnecessarily stylish and often macro close-up shots, however these never distract from what’s important and the engaging atmosphere of this two-dimensional movie truly defies any experience I have had watching a 3D film. It almost makes me wonder if the choice to give this film a numeric title was some kind of strategic decision to avoid any kind of retro-fitting (in other words, who would go see 127 Hours-3D?). The numeric title does bring up one other weakness in the film and that is, along with the common knowledge of the true story on which the film is based, the name 127 Hours does dilute the tension and leaves the audience with little to guess, hence its being very good a dramatic experience for the sense.

In the end, 127 Hours is an immersive and wholly entertaining film. It’s not going to grip you like other tense films but it’s still a really nice and neat picture show, if you will and is definitely a worthwhile cinema visit, or future rental (with the lights off and the volume up).

4 out of 5

The Green Hornet

Seth Rogen is Britt Reid, the rich and careless son of newspaper mogul James Reid (Tom Wilkinson). After his father’s death, Britt makes friends with his father’s personal barista and mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou), discovering him to be a multi-talented, highly resourceful inventor and martial artist. The two team up and ultimately become superheroes, posing as villians in order to make a reputation in the criminal underworld of L.A. with Britt adopting the moniker “The Green Hornet” in The Green Hornet. Based on the 1930s radio play (and the overall evolving franchise that ensued) The Green Hornet is directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) with a screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (the same writing team that brought us Superbad).

So it’s mid-January and already I find myself reviewing a strong candidate for the 2011 movie that has left me with the most mixed feelings. First of all it seems that, despite some reasonably straight forward marketing from this film, The Green Hornet has attracted different kinds of audiences with its array of elements. In other words this film has different aspects to it that imply contrastingly different things.

First of all, it’s a superhero action/adventure movie, not to mention one that has been passed around and has spent a sizable amount of time in development hell.

And secondively it stars current comedy star Seth Rogen, as well as being co-written by Rogen along with Evan Goldberg (as previously mentioned) displaying itself to be a typical American (in the good way, I like those guys) comedy. Although this may be unfair as I consider Seth Rogen to be a more versatile actor than most mainstream audiences believe him to be, however it is no less the case.

Third and final, this is a film directed by Michel Gondry who has achieved mainstream popularity but with a reputation as an “artist” rather than a producer of big budget Hollywood work, inviting people to freely infer that this film won’t be a typical rendition of the previous two hypothetical versions.

Now, it is not my belief that mixing these three different, uncommonly acquainted, shall we say “things” together spells a perfect recipe for disaster and it was my hope that they would (as I believe possible) compliment each other’s strong points, creating a solid and fun filled, mainstream movie, as the way I see it, a sophisticated, art-house-esque kind of film was complete not in the cards. Unfortunately the conclusion is that while this mix could have made for a winning combination, inevitably each part feels in or around halfway developed.

Similar to Be Kind Rewind, Michel Gondry’s direction feels like its half baked. The film looks and sounds very very nice but is badly missing much needed rhythm and character development, and every now and then we see a nice visual trick that is often (but not always) unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, I love what Gondry does but I often feel like he’s uncompromising or unaware of what he can or can’t do, and often leaves scenes in his films to sort themselves out, which they don’t usually do. This isn’t helped by the fact that this film is just badly edited. The film doesn’t drag completely but rather dips in and out showing good ideas and decent pace, but then frequently dropping in quality.

The script is good and even includes a good story, but it feels like it’s done an incomplete job of marrying a good action/adventure film with a comedy and should have either made a decision either way on one or the other or worked harder on consistently mixing the two, but instead is uncomfortably boxxy. But I still liked the script, very much and felt like good direction could have saved it, as it was, but didn’t.

As a comedy/superhero duo, Seth Rogen and Jay Chou work very well and it annoyed me to see them almost trapped behind this film. Like I said earlier, I believe Rogen’s versatility to be underrated, although in this film his performance is a bit standard, but very likable. Jay Chou manages to be incredibly enjoyable and weirdly dead-pan, leaving me to ask what else is this guy in?

The truth is the entire cast is very good but most of the performances feel like cameos and often its confusing to determine the relevance of each character to the plot, as some of the performances are cameos. Even James Newton Howard feels like he’s just making a few brief appearances in the film rather than being a regular and he’s the music composer.

The Green Hornet in the end, was just a movie that I really wanted to like, and in parts really genuinely did. However it let itself down over and over again and really just felt like an underdeveloped version of a much better film. Although parts of it are just terrible, it wasn’t overall terrible and as a light mainstream superhero film it’s fine but it’s dissatisfying with a careless creative touch and unfortunately is a film that is reasonably entertaining but very frustrating.

Ultimately The Green Hornet is ok. Shame, really.

3 out of 5

The King’s Speech

Colin Firth is Prince Albert, a shy and timid member of the Royal family, in the early 20th Century, who suffers from a paralysing stammer, despite being required to speak publicly as a representative of the English Monarchy, in The King’s Speech. Seeking help he comes to the attention of Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush) an Australian speech therapist with unorthodox and controversial methods. Along the way Albert reluctantly becomes King George VI and ultimately must speak before his entire country about the impending Second World War, in a time of expanding radio and broadcasting technology. Also featuring Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon, this film is based on the true story in English history, directed by Tom Hooper with the screenplay written by David Seidler.

The King’s Speech is a very formal film, which is a perfectly adequate approach to its story, one filled with excellently placed subtext of the social placement of different classes and the different people of function in its time and place. In fact that’s probably the most interesting piece of the entire film as it cleverly and very sweetly tells the story of two men of different ways of life who become close friends amidst their different lives in which they balance their desires and obligations. But make no mistake, there are other features of interest in this film.

The ensemble cast is wonderfully laden in a way that is almost comedically colourful, which oddly resembles real life in a way, yet subtly so. Firth shows real heroism and determination, hidden behind his character’s shyness and speaking disability as Rush shows an excellent counter balance while having a lovingly quirky and genuinely likable quality of his own. Other performances that really stood out for me were Helena Bonham Carter who plays Albert’s wife Queen Elizabeth, as well as Michael Gambon as George V and Guy Pearce as Edward VIII all of whom fulfill their purposes to the story admirably while maintaining individually entertaining performances of their own.

The film is a very good ensemble piece with an excellent story. Everyone really steps perfectly in place in not just who they are, but who they are to each other. The problem is that for this kind of story and tone The King’s Speech really ought to have been wound up and cut tighter. It’s hard to say where and when exactly, but there is a drifting phase in which the inherit goal of the movie wanders. That said it still accomplishes all that is needed, just not with the most fashionable timing and presentation.

Conclusively, The King’s Speech is a wonderful drama with a subtle quirky edge and a genuine sense of character, the redeeming features of which win out, in spite of a couple of pacing and structural issues.

4 out of 5

Top Ten Movies of 2010

So here we are again. 2nd time round that I have given myself the opportunity to assess my viewings of new releases for the previous year although I must state, as was the case with last year’s list, that there were a collection of seemingly worthy titles that merely are not included simply because I never saw them. I must also confess that my attendance and dedication was somewhat lacking this year due to “real world” concerns (or whatever) that prevented me from providing a more accurate list.

10. Shutter Island

Simple yet oddly endearing, Shutter Island was an entertaining film but what’s curious is how much it resonated more than it entertained. Predictable and more homage than fromage, yet I found myself still talking about it every now and then
in the time after.

Read the original review here.

9. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Almost completely a set piece as a whole, Werner Herzog’s remake-not-really helped tip the currently topical Nicolas Cage Debate Scale in Mr. Coppola’s  favour, with some very interesting performances also provided by Eva Mendes and Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner amongst others.

Sorry. Never wrote a review for this one.

8. Whip It

A surpisingly modest and sweet film, that worked almost as a counter balance to the various in-your-face American feel good films that we’re so used to, Whip It provided subtle performances, cute & genuine characters and an overall good sense of values as well as being an impressive directorial debut for Drew Barrymore.

Read the original review here.

7. Iron Man 2

A perfectly adequate sequel that perhaps didn’t improve on its predecessor’s structural quality but did effectively expand the series’ world and characters.  A proper action/adventure that was perhaps overlooked this year.

Read the original review here.

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Not the smoothest adaptation from Comic to Screen, bearing a few story-telling flaws, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World still proved to be genuinely entertaining and indeed a very very funny film, with excellent set pieces and a look so pretty you’d swear life was so interesting. Although apparently inaccessible for certain audiences and in my opinion not the masterpiece that some have claimed this film was none the less  a more than worthwhile watch and has become a welcome item in my personal collection.

Read the original review here.

5. Four Lions

Simple on the surface yet complex in modern contexts, Four Lions said a lot by saying very very little. Tasteful, poignant and yet initially just really really funny, TV legend Chris Morris impressed even this dedicated fan that he had an even broader capability as a producer of media entertainment than previously believed.

Read the original review here.

4. TRON: Legacy

Implausible, curious and bizarre, TRON: Legacy retained all these elements from the 80s classic and brought them forward with a new story, state of the art effects and a defining moment of rejection on my part of this thing called 3D (despite pondering it’s potential the year previous after seeing Avatar). TRON: Legacy proved to be a wonderfully enjoyable and faithful spectacle with some crooked storytelling but a great sense of scale.

Read the original review here.

3. Toy Story 3

A beautiful return to a classic saga, this installment being perhaps not as strong as its predecessors, but still very very strong. Funny, charming, tense and cute (so cute) Toy Story 3 was perhaps the least ballsy (if you’ll forgive the expression) but still not a lesser film than many, certainly not to the ones seen by myself this year. My personally favourite feature was Jeff Garlin’s small role as the laid back, and seemingly all round nice guy, Buttercup the Unicorn.

Read the original review here.

2. Inception

Some old fashioned fun (perhaps not that old but still fashionable) was brought to us by way of Chris Nolan this year and it was goooood. Inception was criticised by some for seemingly making up some of its rules as it went along, however this treatment was somewhat unfair as it often was made, implying that this was a trait not present in previous Chris Nolan movies, but let’s be honest, his films are a lot more insane then they let on. This one just didn’t let on as much.

An excellent and witty action movie that took itself as seriously as any film should, when it’s about a bunch of well dressed architects that venture inside a dream inside a dream inside a dream to determine the future of the corporate world or something, and also Leonardo DiCaprio just wants his wife and kids back. Thumbs Up.

Read the original review here.

1. The Social Network

Brainy and brilliant, this collaboration between director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin about the origins of the phenomenally popular social network website Facebook, really strikes a chord and the result is a very smart ensemble piece that may be jam-packed even for a two hour movie. However, The Social Network still manages to maintain an awful amount of focus the entire way through, allowing its audience, remarkably, to digest every important piece of information it has. Clearly and unashamedly a Hollywood dramatisation of the true (not to mention recent) story, The Social Network is the thinking man’s cross between Primer and Revenge of the Nerds and for me it was the most entertaining and mesmerising piece of work I had the pleasure of experiencing this year.

Read the original review here.

Stinker of the Year: The Last Airbender

Nickelodeon provided this year’s bottom stinker, The Last Airbender revealed itself to be a visually impressive spectacle with an endearing musical score but despite these adequately pleasing features the result still turned out to be a boring and soulless article which was remarkably dismissive towards it’s young audience, the makers of which seemingly thinking, “Kids like this kind of thing. Also these things. Ok, we’re done”. Utterly confusing and thrown together The Last Airbender delivered zero charm or humour and an absolute indecision of any clear protagonist or protagonists. Interestingly it seems many serious fans of the original source material avoided seeing this film in any shape or form, fearing they might endure a warm oozing sensation around their nostrils as their brains met their upper lips. Good call guys.

Rather misguidedly, the film was marketed as a piece of work worthy of auteurship as it appeared on many posters as M. Night Shymalan’s The Last Airbender and even maintained this moniker upon McDonald’s Happy Meals, despite most children not giving a shit about who the director may be especially if it’s someone whose previous work has been too mature for anything under the age of ten. And even the film projected itself as a creation of Shymalan’s, despite it’s adaptation from the seemingly superior television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko, I feel that, when it comes to article like this with such a level of value, he can have it.

Read the original review here.

- Hedlund Out

TRON: Legacy

Sam Flynn, heir to the computer program corporation ENCOM and son of missing innovative programmer Kevin Flynn, finds himself in his father’s computer world of living humanoid programs and cruel gladiatorial games where his father Kevin has been all along, in TRON: Legacy, a sequel to the 1982 film TRON by Steven Lisberger. TRON: Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn and Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn (as well as Kevin Flynn’s program Clu), along with Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen and Bruce Boxleitner and is the directorial debut by Joseph Kosinski with a screenplay by Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal.

So It’s almost been thirty years and a lot has changed since the original, for one thing I was born, so forgive my assumption of authority as I talk about this film.

TRON: Legacy does a very good job of continuing and expanding from the original while still maintaining a sense of continuity from its predecessor not to mention an amount of respect for it too. Its balance between its own versions of the real world and the computer world are very in tune with the portrayals made in the original film and, much to the pleasure of this reviewer, the film has gone forward in dramatising the bizarre nature of the film saga’s fantasy elements. Unfortunately there are no real big reflections on current technology, aside from a small bit of satire in an early scene, however what is contained within this film is a wonderful mix of homages to various classic science-fiction and fantasy films (2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Star Wars to name a few) ultimately mixing into a very interesting story of its own, that contains surprisingly mature themes about religion, good & evil and concepts of fascism. The problem is that the pace in which this story is told is quite convoluted, leaving an uncomfortable amount of exposition sprinkled over the progression of the film, despite some admirable story-telling choices, an example being the fact that the film’s plot only really kicks in after the first hour (good thing).

These issues aside, there is an excellent sense of adventure and atmosphere as well as a collection of very entertaining action sequences. The characters that drive the story of the film prove to be very likable and followable as they are backed by very good performances, particularly with Garret Hedlund as the typically heroic lead Sam Flynn, a combination of John Connor and Chris Pine’s portayal of James T. Kirk in last year’s Star Trek.  As well as this Jeff Bridges’ return as Kevin Flynn is warmly welcomed, especially with his father-son relationship with Hedlund. Michael Sheen also appears with an unexpectedly charming and eccentric performance as the program Castor and Olivia Wilde’s performance as Quorra, Kevin Flynn’s right hand (wo)man, proves extraordinarily sweet while giving the character much strength, similar to the character Leeloo from The Fifth Element.

One defining thing this film has marked for me is that it has finished any remaining interest I have had in 3D as a feature in cinema as the wearing of the 3D glasses, while watching this film, has taken away more than it has added to the experience once again. I’ll watch Drive Angry in 3D but I don’t plan on watching anything like TRON: Legacy with it again.

In the end the return of the world of TRON has proven worthy of expansion and continuation with a new chapter that is just as good, if not better, than the 80s classic. Although this film has something of a broken pace in its story telling, it is still a largely fun and rewarding film with excellent action and impressively interesting themes and atmosphere.

I happily await its sequel. Don’t think there will be one?
Two words: Cillian Murphy.

4.5 out of 5

RST Video – Boisterousity at the Movies

Announcing a previously unmentioned development, I introduce the first episode of a movie podcast featuring myself and Breffní O’Sullivan, as well as being produced and edited by Breffní.

Click the image below to download:

This week we discuss this year so far and bitch a little about films of 2009. More episodes planned for each week!

- Kirk Out

Machete

Danny Trejo slashes limbs, gets the chicks and in general kicks ass as Machete Cortez in Machete. Also starring Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Tom Savini, Jeff Fahey and Robert DeNiro this is, like the previously reviewed Predators, a Troublemaker Studios production directed by the original “troublemaker” (and producer of Predators) Robert Rodriguez, along with Ethan Maniquis and written by Robert Rodriguez and Álvaro Rodriguez, acting as something of an extension to the originally faux Machete trailer seen in the Grindhouse double feature.

You may or may not have noticed that I have not referenced anything about the plot or premise for Machete outside of Danny Trejo kicking ass. Well the truth is that if you need to know more about Machete other than the fact that Danny Trejo kicks ass and that there are chicks in it, this movie is not for you. But if you must know Machete is about trafficking immigration over the US/Mexico border, an assassination gone wrong (or did it or something), a mythical female revolutionary and a dangerous man with a dark past (Trejo) but were I to go into any more of a detailed explanation, I fear I might begin to take it seriously, which the film clearly doesn’t want you to do. So yeah, basically Danny Trejo kicks ass.

The truth is this film doesn’t really stand alone and only really caters to anyone who is already a fan, or willing to be a fan of Rodriguez. It’s kind of an added chapter, or just an extra to the Grindhouse double feature Rodriguez made with Quentin Tarantino. It’s ridiculous, implausible and cheesy, but that’s the point so you can enjoy all that knowing that the film has it’s tongue wedged right into its cheek, as Rodriguez has done before. The problem is that this time there’s no edge.

The film is in no way surprising and you get exactly what you expect out of it. This isn’t helped by the fact that Rodriguez’s home-made special effects kind of leave the film tame. It’s not that his low budget ingenuity doesn’t often pay off, it’s just that, having seen what he’s done before and how he’s done it, I feel that this time round there’s no challenge for him and that these stunts and effects are things he has done before and is comfortable with. The same issue arose with Predators where the known methods for the special effects and action subtracted from the experience, more so for Predators though as it dealt with a well known creation not originally associated with Troublemaker Studios.

There are still some funny moments and slick ideas in Machete, but sadly they are let down by their poor frequency. The concept and aesthetic choice for Machete aren’t what are stupid, it’s that they have much more potential and the end result is a very basic version of something that could have been put to better use. That said I can’t say I didn’t like the film or that I regret seeing it, it’s just that like Predators, Machete is only a bit of fun when it could’ve been a lot of fun. I will certainly go see the sequels that are promised at the end of the film and I believe that the saga can be saved if  things improve with the next two installments because I really do love the idea of a series of movies in which Danny Trejo slices people up and acts cool while doing it.

In the end Machete is fun but its makers, who have been breaking other filmmaker’s rules haven’t upped the steaks this time around and have simply delivered more of the same as before.

3 out of 5

Read the UCD Observer edition of this review here.

Movie Review Catch Up IV (2010) [Trilogy Special]

Hey guys. Here’re a few little ones, I admit some late ones too.

Note: Each film in the following collection of reviews complete the trilogy of the sagas they are in.

Predators

Quick and fun. Includes some nice set pieces and enough cool and cheesy ideas to let you know you’re watching a sharp non-pretentious slightly self deprecating movie. However, it in no way expands on the intriguing science fiction elements of the previous film (I haven’t seen Predator 2) or on any of the film’s characters.

In short it has a shelf life but basically as something you’d rent for a bit of fun with some beers. Not a classic, but still fun.

3 out of 5

Jackass 3D

Contains some of the best use of 3-D I’ve ever seen but the use of the technology doesn’t make a big difference to the experience over all (as usual). Some of the segments don’t even require 3D and others don’t have it at all.

Not the big event that some of the marketing may have implied but rather is another one as good as the other (hate to repeat myself in such a weirdly particular way but I haven’t seen Jackass 2).

Just as fun and tense as any other Jackass installment. Very entertaining but nothing hugely new.

3.5 out of 5

Toy Story 3

Yeah, this one went right over my head. I saw it during it’s run in cinemas but never posted about it. To be honest I struggled.

Before I say anything else I need to state that despite what I say, Toy story 3 is a fantastic film. It has everything all the other two have had (Yes I’ve seen 2 and it’s my favourite). I still felt slightly underwhelmed just because it was just as sweet, funny and smart as I had expected it to be (which for the record is very very).

Perhaps the problem is that I’m not 9 – 12 anymore like I was when I saw the first two in the cinema. But as subjective as I may be being right now, it doesn’t take a genius to see that Toy Story 3 is a brilliant and lovely film and that it is a more than worthy chapter to a wonderful trilogy.

4.5 out of 5

I feel weird.

- Kirk Out

A Belated Happy Hallowe’en!

The sincerest well wishes on one of my favourite times of the year. Hope you all had a good one.

Your pal,

Snake Plissken.