in retrospect - issue 18

3-13: Reviews of this month’s film....

14-19: On DVD this month...15 - 19: What’s being released on DVD this January

20-21: In cinema next month...21: What’s being released in cinemas next February

Contents:

2

Creator:

Charlie Derryhttp://[email protected]

Editor’s Note:What an amazing start to the year for cinema, am I right? 2013 is already looking good.

4-5

8-9 10-11 12-13

6-7

Contributors:

Darryl Griffiths @LegallyBODhttp://moviemarker.co.uk/

Ben Harris @benh4rrishttp://mrreviewblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Daniel Prinn @DanielPrinnhttp://filmcraziest.wordpress.com/

Reviewsof this

month’s film...

3

4

Les MisérablesDirected by Tom Hooper

and based on the musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, which is in turn based on the 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables is set in 19th-century France against the backdrop of the 1832 Rebellion in Paris. Following the lives and interactions of several characters, the film focuses on ex-convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who has spent decades being hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) after breaking his parole and agreeing to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Anne Hathaway) daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen/Amanda Seyfried).

Just to give a bit of background on my viewing of the film to start off with, firstly – I have not read the book, seen the theatre production or any of the other adaptations, so I went into this with a very open mind, and secondly – I do like musicals. However, to say you should only watch this if you like musicals would be wrong, as the genre of musicals is extremely varied. Lately, they are often mixed so much with comedy that they become laughable, for example Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, and High School Musical. Les Misérables is something very much different.

With only a few words spoken throughout the whole film, the entire story

is told through song. The film therefore relies heavily on its performances, which are – unsurprisingly – superb all around. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway are absolutely incredible in the main leads, and it is their characters who give the most impact. The fact that the cast all sang their songs live on set means that you get to hear every choke in their voices, and therefore feel every emotion that their characters are feeling. This is why scenes of Jackman and Hathaway stand out above all else; their characters aren’t made to look pretty when the cameras are put so close to their faces, and the actors aren’t made to sing every key perfectly (though they do a bloody good job of it despite their range of emotions whilst singing), instead their performances are all about looking and feeling as real as they can. The two undeniably deserve the awards they have received for their performances so far, but the whole cast is worthy of appraisal, though.

Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen bring in some much-needed comedy, as their characters really help to lighten the mood between constant scenes of despair, and they are absolutely hilarious every time they are on-screen together. What will really break your heart, though, is the relationship between Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks and Amanda Seyfried, who bring in

the romantic side of the story. Eponine (Barks) is my favourite character in the whole film, as it’s not often that you get to see a character from her point of view. Her scenes are where I cried the most (my cry total was four!), as they bring in a sense of reality and pure passion to the somewhat unrelatable situation that the cast are in.

The addition of comedy and romance work amazingly well against the already compelling but deeply rooted story of hope and redemption, giving something for everybody to take away from the film. What draws you in even more, however, is the larger performances where whole groups of the cast come together. These songs work incredibly to make the audience feel a part of the revolution itself, especially with the final rousing chorus of “Do you hear the people sing?” This is a key quality of the film, completely drawing you in to every character and situation, as you are made to feel both uplifted by their actions but also drawn to tears because of the consequences. The nearing on three-hour length was almost a drag, but whilst it felt like you had seen the whole lives of these characters during these – albeit compacted – three hours, the length works as more of a positive as you are able to engage with the characters entirely. Even Russell Crowe didn’t sound that bad.

5

Release Date:11th January 2013

Director:Tom Hooper Famous Faces:Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway

Leaving the cinema in tears, I have to admit that this is genuinely one of the most powerful films I have ever seen, and it is another incredible piece of work by director Tom Hooper. Much like his previous film A King’s Speech, the sets and costumes of this period drama bring such colour to the already popular story and the whole choreography of the cast and their settings is done perfectly. I can’t help but love everything about it.

This is definitely one of the best musicals of recent years, if not, ever.

6

Gan

gst

er

Sq

uad

7

Faraday not even existing). I don’t know much about the real story behind Cohen to go into this any more, but from what I’ve read online it seems that his life was very different from the one we are presented with.

What I can say for certain is that Gangster Squad is an extremely glamorised re-telling. Everything from the costumes to the use of colour looks appealing, and it is this style and feel to the film that kicks it up a notch, albeit the quality that takes away the focus from its flaws. As a fairly average gangster drama, its appearance is what gets the extra half a star from me.

From the director of Zombieland, as well, there’s a lot of great gorey moments, which also adds to the films aesthetic appeal. Compared to this month’s release of Django Unchained it’s nothing, but it the

killings are certainly made a lot more interesting with the use of exaggerated violence and pools of blood.

What really makes this film, however, is the cast – Josh Brolin is fearless as the lead Sergeant in the squad and he has some fantastic fighting scenes which almost make you fear him yourself; Ryan Gosling is charming as ever but whilst he doesn’t give his best performance he works great in the role; Emma Stone isn’t in the film enough for my liking but she looks stunning in her role (and it’s great that we get to see her and Gosling’s chemistry once again!); and Sean Penn is pretty bad ass, fitting the role superbly.

These qualities combined set Gangster Squad aside from your average gangster film, but only slightly. It’s not brilliant, but it’s certainly worth a watch, maybe even more than once.


Director:Ruben Fleischer Famous Faces:Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, and Emma Stone

Directed by Ruben Fleischer and loosely based on Paul Lieberman‘s seven-part series based on true events, Gangster Squad is set in Los Angeles in 1949 and follows a special task force known as the Gangster Squad – consisting of Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin), Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie), Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), and Max Kennard (Robert Patrick) – who have been recruited to dismantle the crime empire of the ruthless gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) and force him out of LA.

To say that the film is based on a novel based on the true events, it seems that Gangster Squad is far from realistic (from small changes such as the squad consisting of only white males to much bigger changes such as Emma Stone’s character Grace

8

Lincoln is a film that is much easier to respect or admire,

than it is to enjoy and be thoroughly entertained. It’s

often funny, but it mostly goes for fascinating its audience. It is impressive how much the writers insert humour into

such serious subject matter. Lincoln follows Abraham

Lincoln’s endeavors, during the American Civil War, to pass

a constitutional Amendment to free the slaves. The

performance by the great Daniel Day-Lewis adds layers to Lincoln. His reserved and kind voice makes him seem quite real. The relationships

he has with everyone are all kind, and he even treats his

enemies with respect. He’s the kind of guy one would want as a neighbor, or maybe even the president of the United States

of America. The general film is

impressive with a great cast (especially Day-Lewis, Fields, Lee Jones and Gordon-Levitt),

and fine cinematography. Steven Spielberg feels like a director, at this point in his

career, that is not interested in directing blockbusters like Jaws or Jurassic Park, but ambitious biopics like this. With past works like

LincoLnWar Horse, Schindler’s List, or Munich, it is evident that

he [Spielberg] possesses an interest for history. For

movie-goers, this is both an entertaining and educational film - and you’d like it more

if you’re a history lover. There is a lot of information

intricately thrown your way so it’s somewhat hard to absorb.

Monologue after intelligent monologue just gets packed

on, and sometimes they can be hard to follow. Make sure your mind is fresh before you see it, and be open to two and a half hours of absorbing intriguing

information.


Director:Steven Spielberg

Famous Faces:

Daniel Day-Lewis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Sally Field

10

Dja

ng

o

Un

ch

ain

ed The latest from director

Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained is an epic western Set in the antebellum era of the Deep South and Old West, which follows slave-turned-bounty hunter Django (Jamie Foxx) who, with the help of his German mentor Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), sets out to rescue his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner named Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Nominated for five Academy Awards and winning two at this year’s Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor (Waltz) and Best Screenplay (Tarantino), this is now my second favourite Tarantino film and it certainly bettered my already high expectations.

Firstly, I didn’t expect this to be funny at all, but I surprisingly found myself laughing throughout. Scenes such as an argument over a set of KKK masks are completely out of the blue and not at all expected, but they fit perfectly in to the setting that Tarantino has so masterfully created. I’m not usually a fan of westerns but as everybody has already said, Tarantino has definitely made this genre his own. It’s far from anything else anybody has done with the genre, in comedic value, but also because of its serious nature as it looks at the darker side of slavery that is often washed over.

11


Director:Quentin Tarantino Famous Faces:Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio

Whilst westerns are known for their violence and classic shoot-outs, it’s never been done quite like this before.

Even the scenes of brutal violence, something that is often a strong factor in Tarantino’s work, become comical; it’s unbelievable how much blood comes from one body. In the final scenes, especially, the gore is taken beyond what is necessary, but there is no arguing with how brilliant these scenes are. This is undeniably Tarantino’s bloodiest film yet, although I did still crave for more at times. Just like a large part of Pulp Fiction, many of these scenes stand out as brilliantly directed pieces of cinema, and by the end of the cinematic year they will undoubtedly remain some of the most memorable. With the best scenes nearly always involving a gun, I think it’s safe to say that Django has topped my list for the best shoot-out of all time, as well.

With yet another excellent script, minute-long conversations are able to keep your full attention throughout. Reminding me a lot of Inglorious Basterds at this point, you can see influences from all of Tarantino’s previous work here, which is the key factor allowing Tarantino to craft this western genre into something of his own. Django captures many of the great techniques that are unique to his brilliant film-making style, and as

he pieces the best elements of each, it’s no wonder that this is his best piece of work in years.

Another strong quality to Tarantino’s films is the characters, and subsequently the brilliant actors he reigns in to play them. Here, we see some familiar faces to Tarantino’s films but also some excellent additions. Christoph Waltz is brilliant in the lead role and it is him that I have been rooting for in the Best Supporting Role nominations. Despite his implausible actions, his character is extremely likeable because of the brilliant lines of dialogue that he is given, as he manages to talk himself out of every situation he is faced with. Jamie Foxx, as well, gives another brilliant performance to follow, as we find ourselves commending his character even though he is only out “to shoot white folks for money” (although there is the more meaningful side to the story as his intentions are to save his true love and seek revenge on those who have hurt her). The two make a brilliant double-act and in the end it is only their relationship that I was concerned with, despite the fact that Kerry Washington gave a strong performance behind all of this.

As for Leonardo DiCaprio, he gives one of his best performances in years. He completely inhabits his character, at one point even carrying on

acting after accidentally cutting his hand on a piece of glass. At first I thought DiCaprio may have looked a little out-of-place in a Tarantino film, but I take that all back. We must also give mention to Samuel L. Jackson at this point, who gives an incredible performance. Despite not having as big of a role as the other three actors, his character is far from what we are used to and for that reason it is his role that makes the biggest impression.

Sure Django Unchained has its controversial moments, some of which may shock part of the audience,, but why would you expect anything less? The only flaw I found with this film is that it dragged on a bit towards the end, with me thinking it had finished at least three times before it eventually did. Whilst it did begin to ramble on slightly, each of these final scenes were brilliant, and in the end I was pleased that it did keep going. I can’t wait to watch this again!

13

With Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow proves she is one of the best directors in the business. She is especially one of the best directors to direct a war or history drama.

Zero Dark Thirty is a chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

The only main character, Maya (Jessica Chastain), is followed closely during this feature. The beautiful and talented Chastain does an astounding job of portraying her, she has a real capacity to be furious or timid. She is a highly ambitious character whose motivations get fueled by deaths of her friends over the years. As they go through a series of leads, they get to Abu Ahmed, said to be Osama’s messenger. While Maya is the main, and practically only (for the most part), protagonist, Osama is most obviously the antagonist, no matter how hidden he may be.

This film depicts the manhunt for bin Laden extremely well. While we, the audience, don’t know what exactly happened, this film gives us a general idea. The engaging and enthralling last hour is one of the best

sixty minutes of cinema this year. The first 97 minutes of the feature is a solid introduction of what’s to come. While it may not be entertaining through and through, it is fascinating and I was compelled to listen to what the flick had to say.

This feature is mostly controversial for its disturbing yet oddly compelling and inarguably intense torture scenes. Bigelow’s intention wasn’t to be an advocate for torture, and she isn’t. It is simply an aspect that did happen during the hunt for Osama. Would you give up Osama’s location that easily, if he knows who are? He’s the monster that ordered the 9/11 attacks. You wouldn’t give him up, because he is a powerful man whose people will find and kill they have to be tortured for information, no matter how bad that sounds - it’s the honest, unfortunate truth.

The controversy is imbedded in the film, but this gripping feature’s purpose is to rouse the spirits of patriots everywhere. Even if you are not American, the 9/11 attacks shook the world, and this is simply a story everyone would enjoy watching unfold. No matter how sensitive the case of something like 9/11, this is an important film depicting, yes, the greatest

Ze r o Da r k Th i rT y

manhunt in history. While this may not be as magnificent as The Hurt Locker, this is nonetheless a very unique and memorable experience.

In a nutshell: Zero Dark Thirty is an extremely important film that depicts the greatest manhunt ever executed. It also shows us that Osama really isn’t the ultimate winner at Hide’n Go Seek, that’s Waldo. This feature is controversial because of its disturbing torture sequences, but it is necessary to be included in a film such as this. Bigelow’s direction, Mark Boal’s expert writing, its gripping story, its astounding final sixty minutes, and Jessica Chastain’s incredible portrayal of Maya make it for one of the best history dramas of 2012. You did it again Bigelow, I can’t wait to see what you give us next.


Director:Kathryn Bigelow Famous Faces:Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, and Chris Pratt

On DVDthis

month...

14

January DVD Releases:

15

Shadow Dancer Date: 14th January

Set in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son’s welfare.

The Imposter Date: 7th January

A documentary centred on a young Frenchman who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

V/H/S Date: 28th January

When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.

Dredd Date: 14th January

In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.

Holy Motors Date: 28th January

From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the life of Monsieur Oscar, a shadowy character who journeys from one life to the next. He is, in turn, captain of industry, assassin, beggar, monster, family man...

The Campaign Date: 21st January

In order to gain influence over their district, two CEOs seize an opportunity to oust congressman Cam Brady by putting up a rival candidate. Their man: director of the local Tourism Centre.

16

Written and directed by Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz follows 28-year-old freelance writer Margot (Michelle Williams), a seemingly happily married woman to chef Lou (Seth Rogen), who falls for an artist who lives across the street. Will her new relationship with Daniel (Luke Kirby) open up the hidden cracks in her marriage? Or will Margot realise that what she’s looking for has been in front of her the whole time?

Take This Waltz is one of those films that if you don’t find anything/anyone to relate to, then you won’t really enjoy it. Without the engagement that I felt I wouldn’t have appreciated it nearly as much, but it was constantly tugging on my heart-strings and I thought about it for days after first watching it.

Michelle Williams is one of my favourite actresses and her performance here is exceptional, as always. As the main reason I wanted to watch this film at

all, her role in this anti-romance also meant that it was only too easy to compare this film to Blue Valentine, in which she starred alongside Ryan Gosling in 2011. Being able to make these comparisons so early on is what opens up the flaws to this film, not quite having the same raw emotion and character depth that Blue Valentine was brilliant for. Nevertheless, Take This Waltz is still a very heart-felt story as it looks at the more realistic come down of a relationship rather than the happy-ever-after’s we never seem to find (Yes, I’m a pessimist when it comes to love).

With the engaging story line being the film’s biggest quality, there were a few parts to the story that I felt were misplaced, mainly the “sex montage” at the end. Whilst the cinematography was constantly aesthetically appealing, in this scene especially, the montage of the character’s new lives together just didn’t fit with the rest of the


Director:Sarah Polley Famous Faces:Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, and Sarah Silverman

film. This is where the story line took a bit of a wrong turn, but it does finally come back together in the end.

Whilst I can see the flaws that this film has, it was, again, the effect that this film had on me that made me see it as more than average. With a witty script and a couple of stunning moments, namely the fairground scenes, this is one of the films that stuck out most for me last year, although it is far from the best.

17

An adaptation of Matt Bondurant‘s 2008 novel The Wettest County in the World and directed by John Hillcoat, Lawless follows these three brothers – Forrest (Tom Hardy), Jack (Shia LaBeouf) and Howard (Jason Clarke) – who, in a Prohibition-era Franklin County, Virginia, find their bootlegging business under threat by a new deputy (Guy Pearce) and other authorities who want a cut of their profits.

Let’s start off by saying that before I watched Lawless for the first time, I was adding The Assassination of Jesse James to the top of my favourite westerns. A very similar film in terms of story, Lawless also follows a true story and is set in a similar time period. Unfortunately, I found myself less interested in the plot of Lawless then I thought I would as the film lacked any kind of engagement. With no single point drawing me in or gripping my attention at any point, there was very little I reacted to and I

L aw L e s s

therefore remained on the fence throughout.

What I thought would swing this film in my favour was the acting, but this was another factor that I was let down by. Shia LaBeouf was pretty decent and I’m enjoying more of his recent roles, but Tom Hardy was somewhat inhuman and completely let me down; I barely understood a word he said (I understood Bane more, let’s put it that way) and his movements were so rigid that I was starting to believe he was just a block of pure muscle. Instead, it was all about Guy Pearce, who gave an excellent and somewhat fearful performance. What would have been even better though was if Gary Oldman had a bigger role, as there wasn’t nearly enough of him.

Also starring Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain in the female supporting leads, both are brilliant actresses but again their characters didn’t have enough of an impact to stand out much.

There was no real chemistry between any of the characters and their relationships therefore didn’t matter enough. It all felt very empty, I felt, with this lack of depth entertaining me about as much as Tom Hardy smiled (not at all).

If for nothing else, Lawless looks pretty great and the scenes of violence are done well, but that’s as much as I got out of it. I was hoping for more, to say the least.


Director:John Hillcoat Famous Faces:Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain

18

Taking place in the year 2044, Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson, follows Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a killer working for the mob who soon realises that one of his targets is an older version of himself (Bruce Willis). Transported back with the intention to close the loop, Joe must decide whether he should stick to doing his job, ultimately putting an end to his life, or to help his future self save the future from a mysterious crime boss known as the Rainmaker.

Looper quickly flew to the top of my favourite films of 2012 on its release last year, as n all-round brilliant sci-fi that is exceptional on so many levels. With Johnson creating a brilliant dystopian future and futuristic setting, the whole look and feel of Looper is incredible. Not including too much technology to take the focus away from the story line, there are minimal changes to the setting which help to make the audience see this future as one almost believable.

The biggest quality of Looper, however, is the telekinesis sub-plot, as none of this could have been expected from the film’s promotion. Because of this, the plot has a depth to it that you wouldn’t expect, as I found myself constantly being surprised despite going into the cinema thinking I knew all that was going to happen. This part of the story also opens up some visually striking scenes of slow motion action, which looked absolutely fantastic.

LooperEven the characters looked

good, especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis in the lead roles. The prosthetics used to make them look believable as the same character were brilliant and was such a small quality that added to the ever-growing focus on detail that Johnson took time to think about. Both actors give solid performances, each of them suiting their roles incredibly well. Emily Blunt, as well, is great, but her and JGL definitely needed more chemistry, or a chance for their chemistry to fly at least, as the lack of emotion here would be my only real flaw.

The real star of this film, however, is the child actor (Pierce Gagnon), who give such a strong performance for someone of his age. This is where the film could have gone terribly wrong if this character didn’t give the effect that Gagnon created with his flawless acting. What did put me of a little though was that the actor was only five years old when he was acting as a ten-year-old. This may emphasise the child actor’s brilliant performance, but an age gap this big didn’t work visually.

On a whole, Looper was powerful from start to finish, leaving a huge impression on me, from the scene where a man’s limbs disappear making my stomach knot to the film’s end which even made me shed a tear; that was something I certainly didn’t expect, and for that reason I was tremendously impressed.


Director:Rian Johnson Famous Faces:Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt

The concept is traditional and the film’s main problem is its poor execution and lack of a good story.

Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) and her mother Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) have just moved out to the country. They are able to rent their home for such a low price because of the gruesome events that took place four years ago down the street. A small girl, Carrie-Anne, killed her parents in the middle of the night and it is believed she later drowned that evening, but her body was never recovered. The surviving son, Ryan (Max Thieriot), still lives in the house as a way to hold onto a memory of his parents. Elissa soon strikes up a relationship with Ryan, and learns that the local horror story is far from over.

I like the traditional concept, but it’s a bore that doesn’t hang onto my attention. Jennifer

House At The End Of The Street

Lawrence is great in her role, as much as she can be for a horror film. The performances aren’t special, but some characters are effectively creepy.

The execution of the film is poor and it drags. The film really just relies on its okay twist that comes near the end, and there isn’t much substance to the story besides that. The twist is memorable, but mostly because it gets sillier when one thinks about it. The scares are lackluster, and far between. The character of Ryan is interesting, he’s living at a house where his parents were murdered as a way to hold onto them – despite the actual horrific memory it really is. His character is nonetheless well developed, even though some questions for his character are unanswered by the end of it all. His character is really the only one they spent a lot of time developing, so all of the


Director:Mark Tonderai Famous Faces:Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, and Max Thieriot

19

others were pretty forgettable. Especially Lawrence’s character, she’s just another dumb horror girl protagonist.

House at the End of the Street is about as dull as its title. This film offers a traditional concept and story that gets butchered mostly with a poor screenplay, a story that relies primarily on its twist, and lousy execution. The bad visuals and attempted scares make it very lame.

Incinemas

nextmonth...

20

February’s Cinema:

21

Cloud Atlas Date: 22nd February

An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries.

Wreck-It Ralph Date: 8th February

A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfil his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.

This Is 40 Date: 14th February

A sort-of sequel to Knocked Up, we look at the lives of Pete and Debbie a few years later.

Hitchcock Date: 8th February

A love story between influential filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho in 1959.

Flight Date: 1st February

An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling.

Warm Bodies Date: 8th February

After a zombie known as R saves Julie from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

in retrospect - issue 18

Documents