Quick Reviews #21

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!

Quick Reviews #16: Oscars 2017 Edition

Another year, another Academy Awards. This year, apart from the snub of Silence, is not as controversial as many before it, in fact I would go to say that this is one of the strongest years of the Oscars yet, I would happily give the Best Picture award to most of the nominees. Why can’t we have these kinds of films spread out across the year, I spent most of 2016 thinking it was a bit rubbish for films, how wrong was I! Now I’ve already spoken about a few of the nominees in previous posts, so I’m allowing this edition of Quick Reviews to be focused on the one’s I haven’t spoken about yet. So read on and find out what I thought about some of this year’s Oscar nominees.

La La Land

The film industry’s darling and the favourite for nearly everything at this year’s Oscars, and do you know what, it’s actually quite good. It’s mix of exciting drama and musical numbers really helps elevate it as something quite special with the performances of its stars, especially Emma Stone, being the cherry on top. Personally not my favourite film on the list of nominees but a great film none the less and one that I would not be upset about if it does end up winning best picture.

4.5/5

Moonlight

Incredibly well shot and beautifully acted, Moonlight brings us a story not like one we’ve seen before, but one we can all relate to in one way or another. It’s great to see these kind of stories on the big screen, characters that haven’t been represented enough before. It’s easy to see that director Barry Jenkins has poured his heart out into this script but has weaved it together into a poetic and moving piece of cinema. For me it lacked that final bit of something to make this stand out among the rest, it slowed down too much for me near the end and it left me wanting something more to go home with. Maybe that was the point…

4/5

Manchester by The Sea

This film will make you laugh and it will make you cry, almost in equal amounts, it’s an emotional roller-coaster of a ride. It’s a story so well told and structured in a way that keeps you engaged at all times, a true character piece and one that reveals layers upon layers of depth all the way until the end. If this one doesn’t win Best Original Screenplay I will be very surprised. A really beautiful and human film.

5/5

Loving

This is an incredible true story but the film’s slow pace failed to get me more invested in the characters rather than just on a surface level. I loved some of the story choices made, such as choosing to focus on the relationship rather that what it meant on a bigger scale for social injustice, though this is still of course embedded throughout. It had great potential but it unfortunately failed to grip me like.

3/5

Jackie

This film was absolutely stunning and truly uses the full scope of the medium to tell a small and incredibly important snapshot from the life of Jackie Kennedy. The film is almost dreamlike, it cuts around from at least three different timelines, held together by a beautiful and haunting score that creates a sense of dysphoria, much like the mind state of Jackie herself, a woman who is simply trying to process an horrific experience which nobody around her wants to talk about. She’s lonely, isolated, lost in the world and every aspect of the film reflects this.

5/5

Arrival

One of the most gripping Sci-Fi’s I have seen in a long time. This film is one of the most beautiful looking, amazing sounding and really thought provoking films to have come around recently. I’m not even sure I blinked when I saw it, I just wanted to soak it all in and understand it. It’s not a cold film either, it hits you emotionally and this is very much helped by the performances from its great cast. I’m sure it won’t be for everyone but I personally couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

5/5

Hacksaw Ridge

The first half of this film does not deserve an Oscar as much as the second maybe does. It’s quite corny and not very subtle in its approach when it comes to the drama. The war scenes however, are as viscerally amazing as they are brutal, they are very well done and truly pack a punch. It’s a solid war film that’s heart-warming but also a bit heavy handed at times. At least it earned Andrew Garfield the nomination that he definitely deserved for Silence instead… (he’s still very good in this though!)

3.5/5

Moana

I loved how colourful this film was, some of the visuals were absolutely gorgeous. The music is really powerful and I loved how it was used thematically and not just for the big set pieces (though ‘How Far I’ll Go’ is on repeat right now…). A great story for both adults and children, a brilliant and well-rounded family film. Just as good as Disney Animation’s previous film Zootopia, are they becoming the new Pixar?

4.5/5

Hell or High Water

This film is one that’s smart with its simple approach. It’s deeply layered in a way that never makes you root for one side of the characters over the others, the cops or the robbers. It’s a solid thriller with some great performances from all involved, worth a watch but probably not going to rake in the awards like some of the other films in this post.

4/5

Well there you go, I'm actually a little excited to see how this Oscars goes down, is it La La Land's show or is something going to come out a steal its thunder? Do you care? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! 

Podcast: Cinebois2Cinemen

So this week I wanted to share with you a podcast that I have been listening to called Cinebois2Cinemen. It's a new project from three of my friends that I studied with at University, Daniel Smith, Alfie Martin and Ben Kersey. Now I'm not just promoting this because they're my friends but also because the content they are creating is really good! I'm big fan of podcasts in general and the quality of their production and the depth of their discussion is just as good as the best. I'm hooked already, it's like being back in Falmouth, having serious discussions about film and the industry but also having a good laugh as well. If I haven't hooked you then they have also written a little something themselves to entice you in:

'Cinebois2Cinemen' is a weekly film podcast that aims to provide in-depth discussion and analysis on the weeks releases with a veneer of casual silliness and self deprecatory humour that permeates 99% of all our conversations away from the microphone. Our aspirations for the podcast are simple; As we approach our one month anniversary it seems fitting to expand our listening base away from friends and family who listen just to be polite. In the future we've planned (perhaps rather over zealously) a few changes to the formula, such as dragging guests on from all walks of life and even livecasts should you wish to put the horribly high voices to the constantly greasy faces. All jokes aside, we genuinely love talking about films, and would love people who share that love to have a listen, get in touch and provide feedback (good and bad). This week, we chat about Moonlight, and follow that on with a discussion about masculine portrayals in film. We've got a few others in the back catalogue where we discuss other films and what we felt were subjects relevant should you be feeling fruity. Thanks to Alex for sharing the podcast. Love, Cinebois2Cinemen

I urge you guys to check this out, what I've heard so far is great and it can only get better. If you love film then this is definitely one for you. You can check out the latest podcast on Moonlight below:

I'm going to have to wait on that one because I have yet to have seen Moonlight as my local cinema will not be screening the Oscar nominated and highly critically praised film (not bitter...). If you're like me or want to start the podcast from it's very beginning then you can check out the first episode on La La Land here:



Check out their Facebook page here.

Thanks for reading!