Movie Reviews
Meek's Cutoff
I decided to watch this film after seeing it on a few 'Best of' lists for 2011, hoping for a new revisionist western ala The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It isn't it at all like that film, in fact it isn't at all like any other western I've ever seen. It's very much an indie anti-western, seeking to redraw the genre's boundaries in much the same way that indie films often push the boundaries of drama and comedy. Meek's Cutoff seeks to show the often untold side of the pioneer's story, IE. The pioneers who didn't make it.
Cowboys and Aliens
Jon Favreau started out as "one of us", a film geek who was playing in Hollywood's sandpit and proving that the fans could successfully run the asylum (EG. Iron Man, Zathura). But now it seems that he's losing that common touch as he makes more annd more films. Cowboys and Aliens seems like such a high concept winner on paper (especially with a cast co-led by Harrison Ford in a very welcome return to sci-fi/adventure territory), but all it really manages is the basics. Favreau makes a fun but ultimately soulless sci-fi tribute to the western.
Let's have a look at what they do get right. Well, the best thing about it is Ford playing such a crusty character.
The Iron Lady
Well, she's done it again. Within the first five minutes of Iron Lady I forgot that Meryl Streep was even in this film. It's a cliche to say it, but she's unrecognisable in her much-lauded role as Margaret Thatcher, she disappears into it completely and plays Britain's most divisive Prime Minister across the course of three decades without breaking so much as an actorly sweat. But I have to say that this is where my praise for this film ends. Iron Lady is nothing more than this performance. The whole film is just structured around Streep's powerhouse ability to be Maggie Thatcher.
Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll!
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" (Chopper Read... sorry, I mean Ian Drury)
I went into this knowing next to nothing about Ian Dury. I knew he was a British punk, and I had an inkling that he wanted someone to hit him with their rhythm stick, but that was it. There are times when I was watching this biopic and I thought, yeah, this guy is awesome, how come I never knew about him before now? But there were also times where I cringed, and this is because the film feels very much like a flash-animated TV movie.
A Guide to the 2012 Academy Awards
BEST FILM
Millions of people around the world are probably now scratching their heads over an 'old' movie winning Best Film. Hopefully a small fraction of these people actually go out and see The Artist now, it's a wonderful movie and it's nice to see something so positive and winsome get a bit of recognition for once.
The Descendants
George Clooney plays Milo in this biopic of the famous '80s punk band. Nah, just jokes! Georgey boy makes one of his perennial visits to indie territory, and this time it coincides with Oscar season and a director who shoots to score. It's been a long time between films for director-writer Alexander Payne, his last film was the excellent Sideways in 2004, and here he teams up with the Cloonster in an attempt to create something equally special.
Clooney plays Matt King, the descendant of Hawaiian royalty and executive of a trustee group that owns a rather lucrative slice of paradise in the form of some untapped Hawaiian land.
Moneyball
Ah, America... the land of free enterprise, where money prevails over sportsmanship and fair play. A country where salary caps in sport are considered downright unAmerican. So, if you have a two-bit baseball club with about as much cash as an online businessman, how can you beat that? Moneyball tells the amazing true story of a small fry baseball club who dared to think outside the box in order to compete with the big boys. You don't need to be a sportsfan to appreciate Moneyball, in a way it's more about the talent in recognising groundbreaking ideas and the basic inequity that underlies the Great American Dream.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
I'm a bit of a Pee-wee Herman novice. Maybe I wasn't the right age, but I never watched him when I was a kid and I didn't understand the appeal. My partner Nicole is a big fan of him, so we sat down to watch this movie together. She was in it for the nostalgia (having watched his films and TV show when she was a kid) and I was in it because it's a Tim Burton film. About fifteen minutes into it, and Pee-wee is riding his bike around while being obnoxious, and I turn to Nicole.
"Is there a point to this film? I don't get it".
She was laughing at Pee-wee's antics, and she didn't understand the fact that I didn't get it.
Titanic
Titanic is a 1998 film that daringly swashbuckles a classic tale of romance, betrayal and seafaring mayhem against the backdrop of a good old boat race across the Indian Ocean between Paris and San Francisco. Historically accurate down to the ninth degree, this was director James Cameron's attempt to repair his dwindling relationship with the boat shoe elite that he as a filmmaker had ignored for too many years while busting blocks on efforts such as The Terminator and The Terminator: 2.
Green Lantern
After so many recent, great popcorn comic films (Thor, Captain America, Kick Ass) I guess it had to happen that one of these big event movies would be a disappointment. Green Lantern has the makings of a fun adventure, and there are one or two zing moments, but overall it's a tonal mishmash that just doesn't work. It also suffers from that old chestnut of a problem that often plagues comic book movies: too many villains, characters and subplots. When will these Hollywood chumps learn to ignore the fans and just make a solid movie with a solid plot?
A brief outline of the story for any noobs...
Man who jizz in cash register come into money.
