Earlier this week I had quite the few days of catching up on the new releases in cinema. Sunday I caught A Star is Born, Monday was First Man and Tuesday I was taken on a ride with Mandy. Three very different films and I've reviewed them all for you in another Quick Reviews post. So please read on and enjoy.
A Star is Born
This is my first time seeing one of the many versions of A
Star is Born and I can see the appeal. A drunk rocker living like there's no
tomorrow, bringing a new musician into the world. What I didn't consider was
that despite not seeing the original version, I feel like I've seen this
before. I guess that's kind of ironic that the original premise now feels tired
and clichéd. It runs a lot like a typical musical biopic; where the rise is a
lot more enjoyable to watch than the fall. And there is no doubt that the first
half of this film is great; a building crescendo of emotion until that powerful
duet between Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper blows you away. Gaga really does have
an incredible voice and now we know that she can act pretty darn well too. In
fact, this whole film is full of powerful performances. They'd have to be as
well because it's semi-obvious that this was directed by an actor as the camera
rarely leaves a close-up position; it's all face and emotion. I don't blame
first-time director Bradley Cooper for doing this - he's got hell of a cast to
work with - but I would have appreciated a little more creativity at times. I
had fun with this film, the second half feels a little too long and I wasn't as
moved as I think the film wanted me to be. Overall though I liked it, even
though nobody ever says that they’re “gaga” for Ally…
3.5/5
First Man
I wasn't particularly excited for this film: it felt like a
strange route for Damien Chazelle to go from La La Land to a biopic about Neil
Armstrong. I should never have doubted him though, as he takes a massive part
of history and turns it into an intimate story of grief and achievement. Not
only is this an interesting way to present the story, he also gets a lot more
experimental behind the camera. The camera is shaky, the use of zooms and even
the graininess of the footage gives you the sense you’re watching an old
documentary at times. It's got such a human atmosphere, making something big
feel very small and personal. There's even a sequence in the film, a mission to
dock two ships together in space that shows the lift off from inside the rocket
only. Inside a small pod, nuts and bolts shaking everywhere under the extreme
thrust: it's very claustrophobic and I could barely breathe throughout the whole
sequence. It was quite something. Ryan Gosling plays the stoic Neil Armstrong and
Claire Foy plays his wife Janet; both incredible in their roles and no doubt will be
getting some Oscar attention for it. At times I felt like I needed some more
meat to their relationship, I was not as satisfied with their final scene
together as I would have liked to have been. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of
their scenes; the children running around the house and playing cut with NASA figuring
out how to get to the moon - really hammered the point that they themselves
were just playing, the game just costlier. Don't sleep on this one, Chazelle
really knows what he's doing, a very powerful film.
4.5/5
Mandy
Having gone in blind I wasn’t really sure what to expect
from this film, except that it was going to take me on quite the ride. The film
follows Nicholas Cage as Red Miller and his wife Mandy played by Andrea
Riseborough, whose haven is destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeramiah
Sand played by Linus Roache. You may not have heard of this film and - unless
you’re ready for a gore filled psychedelic revenge thriller - you might not
want to either! If that sounds like your thing then you’re in luck, this film
is quite something. It’s a slow burn, completely capturing you with its synth-y
soundtrack and gorgeous visuals. The atmosphere is almost dreamlike: the
slowness is rarely a problem as you are almost put into a trance throughout the
running time. I did think some trimming could have been done to tighten things
up but the first-time experience of seeing this was unlike anything else. As
things heat up in the second half, it almost turns into a different film. Cage
is unleashed and allowed to do what he does best; creating some terrifying and
hilarious moments of badassery. You could freeze frame the film at any moment
and make an awesome metal vinyl from it and stick on the side of van. The revenge story is one that
has been done before but never in this approach. This is cinema at its best; knowing
the experience is one unlike any other you will have again. Striking both visually
and audibly: this is easily the most insane film of the year.
4/5
What did you think of any of these films? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading!
