Summer blockbuster edition! (the real)

 
It's been a short dreary summer, perfect weather for sitting inside the cinema! There have been a score of great film which I have seen since the last issue. I wont list them all, only the best ones, which have been: The Tree of Life, Super 8, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Cowboys and Aliens, The Guard and the film I saw most recently The Skin I Live In – which is one of the most disturbing films I have seen in a long time. To some people that should be a recommendation! I would take it as one, sometimes feeling uncomfortable at the cinema is great experience (as long as it is caused by the film and not the cramped seating.)
 
When I was ten years old (1989) it was best friend’s birthday, and his Dad took three of us in the car on a trip to the park. On the way there my friend didn’t say much because going to the park for your 10th birthday is pretty lame. We pulled up across the road from the park and got out the car, and his Dad said “Before we go to the park we are just going to pop in here first” We stepped into a dark building which I soon realised was a cinema! His Dad walked right up to the ticket desk and said “Four tickets to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade please” and the three of us went crazy! We couldn’t believe it! When it comes to summer blockbusters, Steven Spielberg is the master. And although he does more producing nowadays than directing, you can still clearly see the magic Spielberg touch in the films that he has a hand in, like two of this summer’s biggest films: Super 8, and Cowboys & Aliens.
 
Like the Indiana Jones film I saw on my friend’s birthday party, Cowboys and Aliens pairs Harrison Ford with James Bond. Unlike previous Bond actors who get typecast and don’t really get many other good roles outside of their Bond films, Daniel Craig has appeared a variety of different characters besides Bond (I’m looking forward to seeing him soon as Red Rackham in Spielberg’s upcoming Tintin series). In Cowboys and Aliens he plays an excellent cowboy, mainly due to the fact that unlike other Bonds (Sean Connery being the main culprit) he can do an American accent! Harrison Ford is equally good as the bad guy, who turns out to be not all that bad in the end. Aliens have landed in the old west and begun abducting the locals, like all good westerns a posse is formed led by Daniel Craig, who has full on Jason Bourne syndrome (amnesia) and a strange alien device attached to his arm. Great Fun.
 
Continuing the aliens theme, Super 8 is directed by JJ Abrams, (creator of Lost, and director of Cloverfield, Star Trek…) and produced by Spielberg. The film follows a group of young friends who are spending the summer of 1979 making a zombie film. During the process the accidentally film a train wreck (best on screen train wreck since The Fugitive – starring our old friend Harrison Ford!) and the escape of an alien creature which then wreaks havoc on the local town.
 
You can almost split this film into two parts, the first half is pure Spielberg, and almost feels like a follow on to E.T.  With young kids riding around on BMX's, the absent father, coming of age and loss of innocence. All very Speilbergy. At about the halfway mark JJ Abrams takes over, and the film gets a Cloverfield injection. Most alien/ monster films are good until you actually see the alien/ monster up close, then poor special effects let you down. In Super 8 there is a long wait until you see the alien, but the special effects were impressive, the alien looked great and I was scared!
 
I want to finish by telling you about a film which is definitely not a summer blockbuster, but for me will probably the best film of the year: Terrence Malick's The Tree Of Life. You may ghave read some mixed reviews about this film, and I will admit that it is not for everyone, but for those of you with open minds who want to experience something moving and meaningful at the cinema, then The Tree Of Life is for you.
 
The film revolves around a three boys growing up in 1950's Texas, with a strict father (Brad Pitt) and angelic mother (Jessica Chastain). We dip in and out of various times in their lives, as like previous Terence Malick pictures, The Tree of Life is non linear, and in parts surrealist but always powerful and magnificent. It is laced with beautiful montages and powerful classical music. It is similar in parts to 2001 A Space Odyssey (Malick uses the same special effects supervisor, Douglas Trumbull). There are scenes depicting the creation of the universe, the evolution of life on earth, and even a short dinosaur sequence (which might put some people off!). Watching this film is an experience, and I came out of the cinema deeply moved. It’s the type of film that stays with you for a long time, and I could write pages and pages about it but would not do it any justice. You will have to see it for yourself, and that now means waiting for the DVD.

June 2011 - Senna and not much else

started off the month by watching 'Senna' a documentary on the life of the Brazilian Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna directed by Asif Kapadia, which was absolutely brilliant. Before I went into the cinema I was not really a fan of F1, and all I knew about Ayrton Senna was that he was a dead racing driver. But there is nothing better than a good documentary, and it turns out that 'Senna' is one of the best, and I came out of the cinema a changed man!

The film follows Senna’s career all the way from his go-carting days through to his fatal accident on during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The filmmaker has interwoven racing footage, interviews, television appearances and private footage with commentary from Ayrton Senna’s family, close friends, and rivals. This gives a very intimate and personal profile of the man, and the racing scenes are thrilling to watch on the big screen.

At the start of the documentary, the young Ayrton Senna seems like a doomed figure, as you know the fate that awaits him. But as the film progresses you get sucked in, enthralled, and that thought goes to the back of your mind. As the film eventually builds up to the fateful 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, you then remember what is about to happen, and start to slide towards the edge of your seat for the remainder of the film.

I think ‘Senna’ should still be showing in cinemas as you are reading this, and I can definitely recommend it to everyone. The day after I watched it I went out and bought F1 2010 for my XBOX 360, and a steering wheel and pedals!

The next film I was supposed to watch was ‘Green Lantern’ but after watching ‘Senna’ I just couldn’t lower myself, so I didn’t bother. The only other two films I watched were ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The Conspirator’. ‘Bridesmaids’ is like a female version of ‘The Hangover’ and it had me in stitches, and ‘The Conspirator’ is a historical courtroom drama, following the assassination of President Lincoln, it was interesting but slightly dull. Does that make sense? Ok let me re-phrase: it was interesting some parts but dull in others.

The next film that I am looking forward to, is Terrance Malick’s ‘Tree Of Life’ which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. I’ll be reviewing in next month (as long as it doesn’t get postponed again). If this were Film 2011, I would leave you with a clip of ‘Tree Of Life’ while the credits rolled, but alas all I can do is direct you to YouTube: http://youtu.be/WXRYA1dxP_0

May 2011 - Superhero's & Hanna

This month I have seen the following films: Hanna, Thor 3D, 13 Assassins, Water for Elephants and The Hangover 2, which I would recommend to people who have seen the first Hangover film and want to watch the same people hungover in a more exotic location. By the way, anyone expecting a high brow critique of foreign and intellectual cinema will be disappointed with my article this month (as disappointed as I was with The Hangover 2) but there hasn't really been that many good films out at the cinema this month.


So I did go and see Thor after all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it did remind me a bit of He-Man in parts. Thor is a comic book character from the Marvel Universe, which also includes: Spider Man, The X Men, Iron Man, Captain America, and The Incredible Hulk. These Marvel Superhero's will be dominating our screens this summer, with: X-Men First Class, The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man 3 and a revamp of the Spider Man franchise (which won't be starring Toby Maguire). I am looking forward to all these movies (like a 13 year old!) but I think after watching all the trailers, Captain America looks the best.

Anyway, back to what I have been watching, this month my favourite film has been Hanna. It stars Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett and Saoirse Ronan, who plays the title character. Hanna is a 16 year old girl who has been brought up in the Finish wilderness by her father Eric Bana. They are hiding from Cate Blanchett who plays a government agent who killed Hanna's mother when she was a baby. Since she was born Hanna's father has been training her to be an assassin, to one day kill Cate Blanchett in revenge for her mother.

Hanna is like a 16 year old Jason Bourne, she goes out into the world on her own to start her mission, and having never encountered modern technology it is interesting to see how she reacts when she comes across something as simple as a light switch, a tv set, or music. It is exciting to watch her beat up teams of thugs twice her size, and The Chemical Brothers are responsible for the soundtrack. You shouldn't need many more reasons to watch a film than that. It also comes with my recommendation.

Next month I will be watching: Senna, X-Men First Class, and if I have nothing better to do, Transformers 3, and (at the bottom of the barrel) Fast 5.

April 2011 - Nicholas Cage's hair & Source Code

So, what have I been watching this month? Too much as usual. Cinema is an addiction for me; I have been going to the cinema at least twice a week since Saving Private Ryan (that’s 1998 in your years). In all those years i have only walked out of one film (Windtalkers – a terrible Vietnam film starring Nicolas Cage). Nicolas Cage is like a certain nursery rhyme character; when he is good he is very very good, but when he is bad he is awful! When deciding to see a new Nic Cage film at the cinema I use the toupee rule to decide whether its going to be good or not. Generally speaking the films where he wears a wig are awful, the ones where he has his own hair (what’s left of it) are good.

Anyway, enough about Nicholas Cage. The best film out at the moment is ‘Source Code’, a sci-fi action thriller with Jake Gyllenhaal (when did movie stars stop using cool sounding, made up stage names?). I knew that this would be a great film because the Director is Duncan Jones, who directed Moon, one of the most original sci-fi films in ages. Source Code is about a former US Army helicopter pilot who finds himself in the mind of a person abut to die in a train bombing. Jake Gyllenhaal has to keep reliving the last 8 minutes of the man's life until he can work out who blew up the train. It's really good, and it's still out at the cinema so I recommend that you go see it!

This month I have also seen Scream 4 and Limitless. I wouldn't really recommend either, in fact I could probably write 10,000 words about how stupid Limitless was! It doesn't look like there are many good films coming out in the next few weeks, although there's Thor which I was looking forward to until I found out it was in 3D (I've decided that 3D films are rubbish). However in May both Apocalypse Now and Taxi Driver will be rereleased in cinemas, and thank god NOT in 3D!