The King's Speech - Review

Widely acclaimed films can quite often be over hyped, leaving viewers who heard such praise to have overly high expectations. Needless to say The King's Speech is a superb film; however it is not a film of grand events but a focused struggle on one man’s affliction with his own voice.  The plot see’s King George VI (Colin Firth) fighting to cure his stammer in light of his recent Kingship and the outbreak of war. With the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), the Kings ultimate goal is to be able to deliver his first broadcasted wartime speech to the nation.

The propulsion of this film is fuelled by some of the finest character acting I have seen in film coupled with a sharp, witty and well paced script. Now prepare for gushing, you’re likely to know who it’s about. Colin Firth puts in an astounding performance as King George VI, with searing attention to detail in his mannerisms and obviously his voice. There is a moment in the film where Lionel delves into the King's past; the way his character changes quickly as he reflects on various memories is like watching the seasons change. There’s such natural grace in his performance. Coupled with his ferocious outbursts and sense of humour, Firth just is King George just as Daniel Day Lewis is Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood, you never stop to realise it’s an act.

The supporting cast are equally impressive and it comes as no surprise that both Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush have been nominated for their supporting roles at the Oscars, a testament to how crucial they are to the film. It never fails to impress me when not only are the characters convincing but the settings also. The producers and crew have constructed a rich and realistic 1930’s London and impressive CGI extensions in outdoor scenes help bolster this realism. The cinematography does well to highlight these details by not invading the space of the characters and letting the audience take in the surroundings.

The appeal of the film isn’t too hard to pinpoint, it is a solid as a rock crowd pleaser, and at the heart there’s conflict as Logue digs into King George's past. Logue and Bertie (Georges nickname) are at polar opposites. The Royal family's personal matters are closely guarded and Logues approach is focused on being open, this creates such great friction between the two and results in moments of great drama and delightful humour. As Logue navigates a way to get Bertie to open up, he too deals with a few of his own insecurities; these moments are brief due to the focus on the King. The deeper meanings of the film are laid on thick with several scenes revolving around Logue and Bertie's children where kindness and encouragement are abundant, contrasted to other scenes involving relationships Bertie has with his father and brother, where expectations and demands are rife.

What I loved about this film is the way the story is treated, with it being inspired by real events it never loses pace which can be an all too common problem. Also it doesn’t have a Eureka moment, you know the one, where everything is solved and the final scenes are met with this cliché of ridiculous self confidence and the character changes.  The change in the character is mainly in his relationship with Logue, one that helps him with his problem, but also gives him something he’s never had before, a true and honest friend.

A huge contender in the Oscar run, will those nominations turn into wins? I have no doubt that a number of them will but one thing’s for certain, Colin Firth will be crowned Best Actor. Go see it now.  

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Click here for trailer     

The Oscar nominations are in . . . no surprises here

So as I collect my thoughts on 127 Hours and the Kings Speech the Oscar nominations are finally in and I can’t say that any of them are a surprise. In a year that has delivered some superb cinema it’s been clearly cut and dry as to which were going to be considered this year. With 12 nominations for The Kings Speech and 10 for a film I can’t wait to see, True Grit, you can sure as shit guess who’s up for best actor.  Jeff Bridges and Colin Firth are clearly the front runners here and although I haven’t seen True Grit, my moneys on Colin Firth taking it for his incredible performance as King George VI.

Best Actor Nominations
Javier Bardem – Biutiful
Jeff Bridges – True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King's Speech
James Franco – 127 Hours

Inception and Social Network both have 8 nominations; however Christopher Nolan hasn’t received recognition for his Directing talent amongst them. Right now I couldn’t pin a favourite for Direction as True Grit and The Fighter have not yet been released in the UK.

Best Director Nominations
David O. Russell – The Fighter
Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
David Fincher – The Social Network
Joel And Ethan Coen – True Grit
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

The Fighter and 127 Hours have 6 nods with Black Swan, Winter's Bone and Toy Story 3 receiving 5. Black Swan obviously see’s Natalie Portman being nominated for her role as Best Actress and even without seeing half the film’s nominated it seems like a sure fire winner for her.

Best Actress Nominations
Natalie Portman  – Black Swan
Annette Bening  – The Kids Are All Right
Jennifer Lawrence  – Winter's Bone
Michelle Williams  – Blue Valentine
Nicole Kidman  – Rabbit Hole

It’s also surprising but not totally unwelcome to see The Kids Are Alright nominated for 4 Oscars, a film I enjoyed, but for its characters, rather than the plot. However it has been nominated for Best Picture and in all fairness it’s the lame runner amongst a pack of tremendous films including Toy Story 3, which is also nominated for Best Animated Film.  It boggles my mind as to which film deserves the accolade but a big part of me believes Nolan should receive recognition for proving smart films can be palatable to worldwide audiences with Inception.

Best Picture Nominations
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

The rest of the nominations include some real deserved runners with The Way Back up for Make Up which it should really win. It’s disappointing to not see Tron: Legacy recognised for its stunning visual effects. And to see Of Gods And Men ignored in Foreign Film seems weird as many people included Mark Kermode have raved about this film, I really can’t wait to see it. It is great however to see How To Train Your Dragon nominated in Animation and Score, a deserved nod. It’s really down to Social Network or Inception on the Score front, both were mesmerizing.  As for Supporting Actors/Actresses the lack of True Grit and The Fighter here in the UK yet stops me from pinning a favourite just now. Anyway here are the rest of the main nominations. Let me know who your favourites are, which ones you are stunned to see nominated/not nominated.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale  – The Fighter
John Hawkes  – Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner  – The Town
Geoffrey Rush  – The King's Speech
Mark Ruffalo  – The Kids Are All Right

Best Original Screenplay 
Another Year - Mike Leigh
The Fighter - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington
Inception - Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech - David Seidler

Best Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours -  Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich
True Grit - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter's Bone - Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Best Animated Film
Toy Story 3
The Illusionist
How To Train Your Dragon

Best Foreign Film
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dog Tooth (Greece)
In A Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law (Algeria)

Best Score
How to Train Your Dragon – John Powell
Inception – Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech – Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours – A.R. Rahman
The Social Network – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Song
Coming Home from Country Strong – Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
I See the Light from Tangled – Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
If I Rise from 127 Hours – Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 – Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Cinematography 
Black Swan – Matthew Libatique
Inception – Wally Pfister
The King's Speech – Danny Cohen
The Social Network – Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit – Roger Deakins

Best Costume Design 
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Best Art Direction 
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Best Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Best Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Best Sound Mixing 
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Documentary Feature 
Exit through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

Best Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

Best Make-up 
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Black Swan - Review

It's hard to collect my thoughts on Black Swan. When leaving the cinema with my friends none of us could shake the feeling of adrenaline coursing through our veins, so much so the first words uttered when we left were 'I could use a stiff drink'. Black Swan focuses on a ballerina Nina who lands the dual lead in Swan Lake, a role that requires her to play the innocent white swan and the sensual black swan. Her character and her state of mind change dramatically as she becomes her own worst enemy in her efforts to fit the role of the black swan.

Right here I'll tell you this is not for everyone, even if you enjoyed the companion piece The Wrestler, this approaches the psyche of Nina with so many visual metaphors and hallucinations that it becomes one hell of a mental affair, with the last 20 minutes being a rollercoaster of maniacal cinema. You never know what might be real or not, the characters are intense and the visuals are haunting, like a kind of nightmare. Thriller is a genre that is tossed around these days with no passing thought on what that really means. The Black Swan is full to the brim with such intense claustrophobic drama that almost every scene is weighted with tension and uncertainty, the very definition of what a thriller should be. It almost feels out of control, yet it is painstakingly composed and well structured.

This film references and owes a lot to many mad scientists of cinema. Imagine watching a film with David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Dario Argento as well as Darren Aronofsky at the helm and you might see where I'm coming from when I say that this film is 'intense'. That documentary feel that Aronofsky used so well in The Wrestler is pretty much copied and pasted here with the gritty look and a realistic, almost industrial feel to the world around the characters. The attention to detail on dancing as a profession is revealing and often cringe worthy as Nina practices daily rituals, cracks her toes, sustains injuries and modifies her shoes.
 

The ferocious plot is only made a reality thanks to the incredible acting by Natalie Portman who is sure to land an award or two for her powerful performance. The supporting cast are equally brilliant, especially Barbara Hershey, who plays Nina’s dominating mother with such ferocious guile it makes their scenes together chillingly unnerving. The haunting soundtrack by Clint Mansell intensifies the visuals; that focus so closely on the characters faces it’s almost like coming up for air when watching long shot dance scenes.

Aronofsky has created a film with such potent cinematic language that a viewer can wax lyrical on interpretations of what Nina’s hallucinations mean.  As you can probably tell I utterly applaud this film. It’s daring, original, haunting, sexy and intoxicating, a film I would gladly revisit. The ballet on show is astounding and the way it is captured and represented on screen is balletic in itself. It is not for everyone but if you are looking for a film that boils with drama and assaults your senses then this is the fix you need.    

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Click here for trailer

Brooklyn's Finest - Review

A not so typical cop movie that focuses on the blurring of right and wrong. Three stories of three very different cops and how they face their overall challenges. They are all linked by life's huge moral issue, choice. All three are given a rough time, each having their own understanding of the world around them but all with goals to have their lives the way they want it. Not one of them is inherently bad but neither are they good, the film maker here is giving you a real understanding of why the characters do what they do. With issues of race, religion and greed and paths leading to redemption, just desserts and misguided vengeance, there's more than enough on offer to keep cinema goers involved.

A well directed and poiniant film that lays foundations for it's morals and direction from the very first shot. The first page of dialogue encompasses the dilemmas that our characters will face and leads on from there. Casting wise this is brilliant, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere and Don Cheadle play the main protagonists and each have some stirring moments with Gere being particular excellent as a 'Bad Lieutenant' type character. There is no new ground broken in terms of the way its shot or how the film feels, its a cop movie and it is rather glorified in places, but it also hits on some stark realities too. Clearly the film maker wanted to bring some sense of realism to the proceedings but still maintain an exciting narrative with explosive events. The final act sparks off in a way you anticipate and ties a bow to well wrapped package that doesn't feel weak.

A good solid cop movie with some good performances, some neat and enjoyable writing and nice cinematography. Rent or buy it now, it's worth a look.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Click here for trailer

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Review

I finally got around to watching this the other day, here's my verdict.

Detective movies rarely strike me as interesting, with a habit for under exploring characters, not filling out all of the plot holes or lacking a sense of realism. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a fine example of a well structured and properly explored story with a real grasp on its characters, ones that are not just your run of the mill detectives with gimmicky tactics, rather real humans who suffer profound psychological effects from delving deep into the mind of a potential killer.

This lengthy film takes its time in developing its two central characters, but with good reason as both are starkly different yet they end up working together and in time become involved with one another. Lisabeth, the shining star of the film, is an icy and striking private investigator. She starts out the film gathering information on Mikael, a social campaigning journalist who is silenced by liable charges; he is given a chance to flex his detective skills in a murder mystery. Lisabeth becomes involved through her spying on him. Mikaels past is pretty cut and dry however Lisabeth, with her icy disposition, has deep psychological problems that stem from a chequered past. During the plot she becomes a victim of abuse, and this has a profound effect on her choices throughout the film.    

The murder mystery at first seems typical, but over time becomes intriguing with results that won't surprise you but will satisfy the pallet of most fans of cinema. It serves more as a back drop to the characters development, just as the mystery served as a back drop to Silence Of the Lambs. But just like Silence Of the Lambs the third act see's the mystery take to the fore and the result is explosive. The characters motives and decisions toward the end are already justified thanks to the groundwork done in the development earlier in the film. There are not many stones left unturned, however flash backs referring to Lisabeths past suggest there's much more to explore here.

The joy of this film is that, although fictionalised, it never really loses too much grip on reality. Sure the premise of the business centric family living on their own private island is pretty far fetched, but it works. The use of technology, which can be hideously over glorified and unrealistic in most films, is very real and you believe that the characters actually know what they're doing rather than just hitting keys magically hacking into things.

The camera work and the soundtrack are first rate, with locations and sound scape giving a real sense of foreboding, and it will be interesting to see if David Finchers remake can top what has already been made. The length is at first questionable in places, however by the end you know that without all the back story the actions and weight of them would not have as big an impact.

Needless to say many people rate this film, and for good reason. I enjoyed watching it, even if the outcome of the mystery is rather predictable. It's not for the faint of heart it's rough and real in places, especially the rape scene. I would gladly watch the next two films as the two main characters have definite room to explore.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Click here for trailer

The Way Back - Review

With such an immense journey to transfer over to a two hour piece of cinema the first problem is clearly condensing scenarios down to fit the plot. Some of this is done well here, but with such little time to invest in some interesting characters played by such brilliant talents, the film eventually suffers by having to skip through long periods of time in order to role in at a decent time. This makes the whole film seem like a paint by numbers affair, but when you're dealing with a 'true story' the events don't always result in a more heightened drama. One of the more colourful characters in the film is played by Colin Farrell who persistently represents a threat in the party and gives each event a sense of uncertainty, once his character abandons the party that sense of uncertainty disappears and makes the plot more about just getting through rather than worrying about each others psyche. 

In total three people make it through this epic journey and for the most part of the film these characters are given an even hand in the plot, but for some reason Weir seems more concerned with the plight of the main protagonist Janusz, rather than giving the other characters an ending to suit. All it would have taken were some titles to tell the audience what happened to each, yet for some reason any information is totally disclosed. When a large part of the emotional weight of this film is invested in the support cast and not just the main protagonist it seems ungratefully self serving to just focus on his journey, which although noble, is not the only story the audience is interested in the end.

This is not to say that the film is not enjoyable, it's a triumphant story of mans will to be free and to gain it at any cost. The production is brilliant with some awe inspiring landscape shots and incredible make up as the characters face the toils of the wilderness. The cast is stunning, it's just a shame that with so much to cram into a film no significant emotional weight is ever gained for any of the characters. There's a horrible sense of disconnection, but ultimately this is an entertaining film and one I did enjoy.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Click here for trailer

Obligatory Top 5 of 2010

Evenin' all and welcome to my new cinematic inspired blog. I have been writing movie reviews on and off for over 5 years now and have mostly been confined to using Flixster and just telling friends what I thought of movies. But now I have my own personal space to share my thoughts about film. I'm aware there are thousands out there doing this, but I enjoy sharing with people what I think about a film, but even better I like hearing other opinions.

To give you an insight into what my taste is like I'm going to give you my Top 5 films of 2010. It was one hell of a year and I saw a good chunk of films but didn't get to see everything I wanted. I have a copy of Monsters waiting to be watched and I am about to get my hands on the much talked about Catfish so expect reviews for these to follow soon. . . . . so my top 5 of 2010 goes like this . . . 

. . . in 5th place - Buried
Ryan Reynolds buried alive in a box. I was stunned by this film, by its writing, Reynolds' acting and the tension that mounts throughout the plot, yet the whole film was confined to a box. Very entertaining and gripping, a cinematic experience I won't forget and it wasn't scared to deliver at the end.   

4th - Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
A superb mashing of video games, foolish attraction and raucous music in the pseudo reality of Toronto. Edgar Wright has perfected his style and painted it over a very original graphic novel. It's perfectly cast, the soundtrack is ballsy and original and the production has so many layers you'll pick up something new every re-watch.

3rd- Toy Story 3
Pixar finish up their first trilogy with a style and grace that is expected but is also a relief, other cgi animation franchises have a tendency do deliver weak and pointless revisits, but this felt like a necessary step, as if this is what the toys had been leading up to. Its goes without saying that the Toy Story trilogy is one of finest made as each one is comparable to the other.

2nd - A Single Man
A ferociously intoxicating movie delivered by someone who has a clear sense of cinematic language. It oozes cool, the story is gripping, the soundtrack superb and Colin Firth and the supporting cast are simply brilliant. All of this from a first time feature film Director, it astounds me, Tom Ford please make more movies.

1st - Inception
It comes as no surprise that in my opinion Inception rules the roost of 2010. Why? The simple fact that it takes an idea that is pretty complex and has managed to captivate a global audience. For once a main stream hollywood movie caters to all tastes. It's also a perfect example of how to make a brilliant action film. There are many set pieces in this film that have foundations built, for real, on set, with CGI laid over. Inception is a perfect example of how CGI should be used wisely, to enhance a shot and not to take complete precedent in it. The casting is superb and the soundtrack is menacingly epic. Nolan is the king of blockbuster action and he's bet on the right horse in terms of cinema technology; IMAX.

I look forward to the next year of movies and if you want to find out what I think of them and any other films I happen to watch then keep checking in here on my blog. Please comment and follow. Also let me know what your Top 5 films of 2010 were and if you agree or disagree with mine.