This weeks movie viewings

Reaper · This weeks movie viewings

Soooo some new movies for the week, been a bit of a busyish one so took a while to watch the first film.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford:

In fact it took three days to watch this, not due to any problem with the film just time kept on running out but we finished it sunday night. It's one of those films that has some big names in it, a little known director and was big at the festivals last year. Generally for good reason, the film is a technical masterpiece and an acting masterclass, there are few films and few actors that could mould such a distasteful character as Robert Ford is shown to be. Casey Affleck in a well deserved Oscar Nominated role is pure as the slimey, childish, dispicable, empty and down-trodden Robert Ford, the character is almost to much to be believable even in a fictional sense. Right up till the moment that gives the film it's title there is no love in this piece for Ford and it tries to draw none from the audience. The writers and directors have chosen their side in effect and have run with it. Had it not been for Brad Pitt then Affleck would have stolen the entire show but the title character in his paranoid and insane glory is one of Pitts best roles and lets be honest he's had some good ones. It's his sharp and sudden outbursts of maniacal laughter that really sum up the state of mind that James has entered into but that contrasts so sharply with how he ultimately meets his end. The insanity gone and a calm almost serenity seems to befall the man.

Jesse James is a sharp contrast to Andrew Dominik's first film Chopper but both films do skim the edge of sanity in a similar fashion and both films feature a piercing lead that begs to be watched. Dominiks choice of the tone for the film is exceptional, the lack of colour, the slightly disjointed flow and the music which never has a major note (this is the kind of film Nick Cave is made for) all together make this a stark realisation of Jesse James' final days. But it's this stark vision that can make the film hard to get a grip on, or pull yourself into. So detached from humanity it is almost alien in it's movement, it is not a film that can be considered an easy watch, the depictions of the characters will draw an emotional response from you whether it's sadness, respect or disgust as the final frame is played.

7/10

Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:

You know it's going to be fairly good when you have Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, blood, olde London, singing and a barbers blade as the centre piece for a film and what a tragedy the film is..... No not in the bad sense, well atleast not for us. The sixth collaboration between Burton and Depp is as good as ever and what's impressive is that the style of film is very much outside of their normal comfort zone. Yes there is the standard Burton gothic edge to everything and that gothic edge is used to the extreme with the 19th Century London that barely seems to escape gloom regardless of the time of day and yes its Depp acting a slightly unhinged persona. The big difference I'm sure you've guessed is that Depp is singing and Burton is doing theatre, not your average gothic movie.
This is the kind of thing that could have gone very very wrong but they've pulled it off, from the first moment when Depp opens his mouth in a cockney singing tone to the closing tragic shot the whole thing works. Americans doing english accents are traditionally sketchy at best, add in the singing part of that and it would normally be as bad as Brad Pitt in The Devils Own (1997), but Depp pulls it off. He really is the mentally wounded barber who had his whole life stolen from him by a corrupt judge played by Alan Rickman. Rickman in a restrained role considering the rest of the film is part of a small but varied cast, besides the three leads we're treated to Timothy Spall exuding his slimey elegance with a cane, Baron Sacha Cohen as a rival barber and Anthony Stewart Head in an exceptionally short role. All very British which is a fine thing to see.

The vast majority of the theatre music and lyrics have survived to the silver screen though a few parts were removed as Burton thought they were too theatrical, being honest I'm not entirely sure what he means by that especially considering the rest of the film!
Good old fashioned bloody, gore and singing... what a package.

8/10

Cloverfield:

One thing you have to give JJ Abrams credit for is that he does get involved in a variety of projects, Spy genre, Sci-Fi, Mystery and Monster. And he also has the good sense to admit when he can't give enough time to a project and leaves some of the main duties to someone else so the film is made to a good standard. With Cloverfield Abrams couldn't dedicate all the time it required as he was prepping the new Star Trek movie so he gave the directorial duties to his friend Matt Reeves who has previously mainly worked on tv shows. Not the best move you may be mistakenly thinking but thankfully you are wrong, Reeves and Abrams have managed to make the film that Emmerich's Godzilla wished it could be. Cloverfield named for the Boulevard where Bad Robots offices are located manages to be a tense, tragic and interesting monster movie in a genre that has lost most of its previous flair. A fairly widely known fact before the film was released was that it's done from the point of view of a character holding a home video camera, this has been compared to the likes of Blair Witch Project but the major difference here is that Cloverfield is actually a good film. Having the camera being held by Hud for the majority of the film while he follows his friend Rob - who is going to find his leading lady that has been trapped somewhere in the city following the attack on New York - is fairly unusual in it's execution. The idea is to bring the audience directly down to what everyday Joe and Josephine would do if/when a major attack of any kind happened, the film does this by using standard archetypes, the nervous wreak, the focused leader and the rambling twerp (Hud in this case) who doesn't know when to shut up. Speaking of Hud he is really very annoying and could have done with being snuffed from this mortal coil. While these characters are archetypes they are used to good effect in investigating the range of emotions that people go through during devastating circumstances, we've all heard of the five stages of grief, well I'm sure there are a set of stages linked to this kind of situation.
Though the use of the home video equipment lends a different style to the nightmare that unfolds, it does contrast strongly with how we expect films to be shot and thus what we expect to see. There is a scene when the gang of main characters get caught in the crossfire between the Army and the threat, Hud has taken cover behind a car while the others are across the street. Hud looks over at the threat a few times but mainly keeps his focus on his friends, for me this was slightly infuriating as I was expecting/wanting to see more of what was going on around them and not be stuck staring at the cowering New York citizens, but then thats the point of the scene I guess, if you're ducking for your life you're not necessarily going to turn and watch the chaos unfold.

An unusual instance for a monster film is that there are scenes which are genuinely nerve racking or maybe scary, a scene in the Underground tunnels is used to impressive effect with the extreme lack of light except for the video camera light, it reminds us that what we don't appreciate is that we rarely experience true darkness these days as everywhere is lit up by something inside the house or in the street.
The film obviously throws up a few comparisons with 9/11 with the suddenness of what happens and the destruction that is caused, to dwell on the potential meanings of the similarities is to rob the film of it's impact especially when you see the cause. Having said that I'm sure it's still stung pretty close to the American memory and more than likely has helped it's box office gross with people not necessarily wanting to see it happen again but maybe trying to come to terms with the possibility that it may just do so.

9/10

Aliens vs Predator - Requiem:

This will be a short one as it doesn't really require a long article to discuss it. As I'm sure some of you will have read on this here forum, my views of the last AvP film and the prospect of this sequel were somewhere disparaging, severely hinting that I don't agree with the way they've done them. Some said I was being overly harsh.... well you were wrong. AvP Requiem is one thing we really could have done without, the scripting is awful - "People have died.... We need guns!" a line that is said with as much wood as it is written with - , the acting is on par with that, the amount of sense certain parts of it make, rival that thinking Batman and Robin needed more glowsticks and we have been introduced to Hollywoods newest crap directors the Strause Brothers.... Come on guys take up your positions with Paul WS Anderson and Uwe Boll. The Strause Brothers and the rest of the hackneyed crew that worked on this have managed to make a worse film than AvP though you would be forgiven if you didn't agree with this, but I think I have worked out why... Its because the film is actually quite amusing, some of the dialogue is so badly acted out and thought out that it requires hearty laugh to get through it. Imagine this, you've just seen your husband/wife being mauled by an Alien beast, so you sweep up your daughter and run out of the house - Note you don't give a second thought to dying husband/wife - . You then manage to hook up with a gang of people in a sports shop, live through another attack and when it all settles someone asks you 'Are you alright' and your response is.... 'Its been a rough night' without a hint of irony or mourning for dead husband/wife. It really does have to be seen to be believed. Actually no... don't bother, if you want comedy watch Superbad, Spaceballs or Knocked up but hey at least some of the SFX are ok.
Save yourself the wasted time and don't see AvP-R..... Film makers take note leave our favourite characters and film series ALONE! I'm just glad I didn't pay to see it.

2/10

Xeall

we can always hope for 'AvP begins' and they base it on the book

CatFang

Great reviews there.

Made me want to see the Assassination of Jesse James all the more, and tipped me over into wanting to see Sweeny Todd - I wasn't quite sure before.

Quick question - how does Jesse James stand up against "The Proposition" (if you've seen it)?

The Rascal King

Tony Stewart Heads 2 line cameo in Sweeny Todd was fantastic.

Reaper

In relation to the Proposition I think I need to watch it again because I should comment, however I don't have time to re-watch it at the mo so... Proposition is far bleaker and dirtier in style that Jesse James though the characters aren't quite as interesting. Theres a good chance if you like one you'll like the other.

Web of Fear

I saw Sweeney Todd last night and thought that it was good fun. Disappointed at the lack of car chases and angry policemen shouting "you're nicked." Wink

Apparently everyone was required to audition for the roles, but I really find it hard to believe that there was no one that auditioned that was a better singer than Depp or Bonham-Carter, or that anyone other than those two would have got the roles anyway.

Still, did have a hankering for a meat pie afterwards .....

Reaper

You know theres something fishy about you..... You're Nicked!

Longshot

Althought I will conceede the point about Depp, I thought that this film really turned me round on bonham carter. I never liked her, not even in fight club, but I thought that she was actually quite good in this film, and pulled off the singing quite well. I really liked it, both times I saw it at the cinema.