Film Flare

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/3

This FFFD will be slightly different from previous installments due to the fact that I will be reviewing a trilogy of films not as individual parts but as the whole.

 

The trilogy in question is Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.

 

 

After the negative reaction against Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin (1997), the franchise went quiet for 8 years until Batman Begins restarted the whole saga from the beginning.

What is often forgotten about the better sequels is that Batman Begins is a slow film, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne doesn't even look at a black cape until at least an hour into the film. The whole 'soul-searching for the criminal mind' thing doesn't entirely take off although the League of Shadows training set up in the first film gives Batman an idea of the psychological tools to use as well as helps set up Bane in The Dark Knight Rises

The other eaily forgettable fact of Batman Begins is how science fiction Gotham as a city is. There's a crazy monorail which leaps out as being part of the villain's scheme in the first film but then vanishes, making way for the entirely real Chicago to double as Gotham in the two sequels. There is also the narrows, a Spawn-esque slum which again vanishes with The Dark Knight. 

The Scarecrow, Cillian Murphy's super disturbing villain actually has very little to do in all three films as the villain of the first film is Liam Neeson. I found this a big old shame as there was a lot more potential if The Scarecrow had remained the main villain of Batman begins. As it was, Liam appears again and tries to set off his masterplan and gets stopped. It is only in the seminal, The Dark Knight that the villain really takes off: Heath Ledger's Joker is a terrifying character, a true and utter anarchist in the truest sense of the word and it gives Batman an interesting series of morals to face off against, a theme that certainly takes center stage in the Dark Knight. Certainly it is a test of the character that we see in The Dark Knight. Even though Bane in The Dark Knight Rises gives Batman a physical challenge, and beats him at first, it is the Joker that perhaps pushes the character further and darker than in any of the other two films and it is one of the reasons why the Joker is a much more intense and powerful role than Bane's.

 

However, across all three films, Batman's arc spans quite a while and starts in a reasonable enough way although the re-imagining of his parent's death is not as powerful as you'd hope. Instead, the emotional core of the three films come from Rachel Dawes (whose change in actress after Batman Begins is ignored), Alfred (Michael Caine on top form), Lucius Fox and Det. Gordon. They are usually more interesting and emotionally involving than Bruce Wayne/Batman throughout the three films.

The trilogy as a whole is of a very high standard, the slower Batman Begins is the weakest of the three but succeeds in creating the world and the tone that the other two are based on. The Dark Knight is the best and The Dark Knight Rises is very good, but lacks some of the epic feel of The Dark Knight.  But the final films ends on a satisfying (albeit predictable tone) and nicely rounds off the trilogy. 

Whilst the lighter toned Marvel films will (probably) go on for some time, what you had here was a nicely contained trilogy that spans Bruce Wayne's life and includes some of the most memorable friends, enemies and themes of the iconic comic character. A stunning trilogy over all and certainly on par with any other series of superhero films. God help whoever has to do the next Batman film, there'll be a lot to live up to.

 

 

 

Django Unchained review (no spoilers)

 

 

I love Westerns. John Wayne, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Sam Peckinpah, John Ford, Howard Hawkes, Charles Bronson, many famous names have graced the genre but for me, the more cynical European westerns are those that stuck with me the most, the most famous examples being the well known 'Spaghetti Westerns'.

Quentin Tarantino's last few films have paid homage to several genres, martial arts films in Kill Bill Vol.1 for instance but the conventions of the western were only touched upon in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Django Unchained is a proper, full on western. Large expanses of inhospitable land, stock bounty hunters with their trusty horses, gangs of bandits and lawlessness. However, as with any Tarantino film, there is more than that.

Set deep against the back drop of slavery, the title character is Django, no doubt named after similar genre film Django (1966). Anyway, Django is played by Jamie Foxx who is really good, he is cool and emotive when necessary and gets to say/do some awesome things. The man who finds him is German dentist King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz. Now, I was a huge fan of Waltz as Hans Landa in Tarantino's previous Inglorious Basterds but he is better in this film. He is funny, witty, articulate and the character is a really nice one, one of Tarantino's best.

Now we move onto Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, I just wonder why DiCaprio doesn't take more villainous roles because he is really, really good in this. A true southern gentleman who just happens to be a horrible racist and a sadist. A great villainous character at his best when trading words with King Schultz in several tense and extended conversations. Samuel L. Jackson is also chilling as Steven, Jackson being at his best for years and years and years. His character is part uncomfortably exaggerated stereotype but his quick eyes and slight tremor give him a true intelligence and an edge you wouldn't expect from his first scene.

And, perhaps like many of the most famous western films, there are little or no strong female characters in the film, Kerry Washington is well spoken and intelligent but she is mostly the drive for Django and not much more. It is a very male dominated world and she (and other females) certainly aren't center stage much at all.

Indeed, good dialogue is something you expect from a Tarantino film and whilst no individual scene has the sheer power of the opening scene from Inglorious Basterds, the overall quality of the film is fantastic. There are a few scenes with are straight from Blazing Saddles with their absurdist humour and they are very funny. The film feels like two films in tone, but not too dramatically. The second part is much more out and out revenge film than the first part.

 

The film is a long one, several scenes perhaps go on for longer than needed but the film doesn't drag at all. The film looks gorgeous, incredible. The palette of colours is much more vivid than you'd expect and many of the shots are simply stunning to view. Again, the soundtrack is impressive as you'd come to expect.

So really, it's a really good Tarantino film. There are several things you'd expect from a film from the director and to be honest, Tarantino's cameo role shows that he's not a good actor. The nature of a film set in this period also creates some very uncomfortable scenes, the visuals of which will shock you but you end up desensitised to the language used.

But for all the violence and language, you end up with a compelling, cool and funny revenge flick which surpasses Inglorious Basterds and maybe even Kill Bill. Well worth a watch.

 

Trailer:

 

Best of 2012. Honourable Mentions

 

Making a list of the five best new films I saw last year is not as easy as it sounds. You are inevitably forced to cut out several films which were really good, just not quite good enough.

This is simply a very brief list of those that almost made it into the Top 5.

 

21 Jump Street

An oddly touching and often very funny film which seems quite aware of the trend of remaking ideas. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum form a strangely cute bromance but the film is no brom-com (Bromance Comedy), there's action aplenty and there's a surreal streak that runs through it which makes the film a joy to watch. Not quite Top 5 material though.

 

Chronicle

This film would have been 6th. A stunning film that simultaneously is the best use of handheld camera work you've seen and the best portrayal of teenagers with powers you'd have seen too. The idea isn't too original but the execution and the style elevate this film to a thrilling and powerful piece of cinema.

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

This film surprised me because I assumed that it would be a bitter disappointment once the initial reviews started to pour in. However, I was so happy with the film! Seeing the actors from LOTR returning was a great joy and the film completely satisfied my expectations. Looking forward to the next installment out around December this year.

 

Prometheus

Ridley Scott's return to good old fashioned science fiction was a grand affair, epic ideas translated well into the film although the film's descent into more conventional horror was not a match for his previous sci-fi/horror masterpiece, Alien. The visuals themselves were so stunning and Michael Fassbender as David is one of the finest single performances of the year.

 

Skyfall

Sam Mendes brings the good stuff with the twenty third Bond film starring the fantastic Daniel Craig, more suave then ever. The expansion of Bond's character is welcome and the introduction of Bond favourites Moneypenny and Q is handled very well as is Judi Dench's performance as M. The villain's turn from wi-fi super hacker to helicopter wielding bandit doesn't work too well but Javier Bardem is certainly creepy. And as for the silhouette fight in the Shanghai skyscraper? Amazing!

 

 

*If you disagree or have films you think deserve to be either in this list or in the top 5 itself, get in touch and say your piece. Constructive, intelligent conversation is something I'm a big fan of.

Best of 2012. Number 1

Dum dum dum dum dum! (music loses some of its appeal when it is just written onomatopaeic words)

 

 

So here it is. The smartest, most tense, most shocking and (in my opinion) the best film I saw last year. Rian Johnson's time travel character drama, Looper.

Part of the great triumph of the film is watching Joseph Gordon Jevitt acting as Bruce Willis, not Bruce Willis in any of his roles but of the man himself. Add to this convincing prothetics that take a while to notice and you have an extremely convincing way to show off an intelligent idea.

 And it is a clever idea. The initial scenes show off the world and the premise exceptionally well and both primary actors perform admirably. However, the secondary characters are also fantastic, starting with a incredibly menacing Jeff Daniels. Emily Blunt is on top form here and provides a strong female character to the generally male-centric world on display.

I think what I found most fascinating  is that for all the good ideas that are well formed in this film, it is , in the end, an intense and intricate character driven film based around the idea of meeting your future self. The film was reviewed as being similar to the Matrix and that delivers the film a disservice, whilst there is some action in the film, it is certainly not an action film. It is instead a slow paced, deliberate drama/thriller with convincing sci-fi tones and excellent dialogue and performances.

A well deserved first place.

 

Tomorrow we shall run through all the 'honourable mentions'. Films that almost made it into the top 5 but just missed out.

 

Best of 2012. Number 2

I'm going to disrupt usual FFFD proceedings until this gets done.

 

Anyway. Number 2 on my list is...

 

 

Altogether brighter, more fun, funnier and more action packed than The Dark Knight Rises.  

Joss Whedon displays his masterful ability to control a large cast of characters and to give the action a fantastic fluidity. Of course, those who have seen Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc etc know that Whedon has a great sense of giving extraordinary people great human traits and a fantastic sense of humour. This is all continued in The Avengers, a stunning way to spend $220 million.

Having most of the characters already familiar to us thanks to their stand alone films, the only real 'new' characters are Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Window (Scarlett Johansson) as well as persuading us that Mark Ruffalo is Hulk, which is easy because he is really good at Bruce Banner/Hulk.

The plot has pretty basic fare but builds well on the plot points contained in the individual films and it throws all of the characters together and somehow gives them all space to grow and kick arse. At times, though, it is obvious to see that X is fighting Y just to be cool, but it is cool so who cares?

 

So fast forward to today and Joss Whedon is overseeing 'Phase Two' of the Marvel Studio's film assault. Spearheaded by Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World,  Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, before it all culminates in the hotly anticipated Avengers 2, expected release date May 1st 2015.

 

Best of 2012. Number 3

 

The final part of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.

 

Trying to fill the exceptionally large clown's shoes the Joker left behind is no easy task and Dir. Nolan and screenwriters Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer do very well to give us a third film that almost lives up to the expectations of The Dark Knight.

Tom Hardy bulks up again to give Christian Bale's gravel voiced Batman a physical challenge that no other villain in the trilogy has been able to do. And it shows. Within the space of about ten minutes, Bruce Wayne is crippled and in a jail pit somewhere. In the meantime, Bane has set about organising a revolution in Gotham, villifying the 1% in a weird sort of 'Occupy Gotham' movement, with more masks. Batman gets healed and retrained up despite his age and comes back to Gotham where the film suddenly turns to the tired 'ticking bomb' cliche and loses a lot of its magic before the film ends in a way I found disappointing.

Add to this story strands from Batman Begins, a young police officer (Joseph Gordon Levitt) who can magically deduce Batman's identity because, hey, they were both orphans and a fantastic Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway and you end up with a film that isn't as entirely as fantastic as you'd have hoped.

However, despite the film's flaws, The Dark Knight Rises is a complex, emotionally potent film which is also thrilling and action packed. Bane and Batman's fights are gritty and intense and the first scene of the film is SO good. Hans Zimmer's music is as good here as it has throughout the trilogy and Christopher Nolan somehow manages to compact an awful lot into a comparatively short run time.

 

 

However, it's not as good as another certain superhero film which is still to come.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Best of 2012. Number 4

The countdown continues with...

Seven Psychopaths.

 

Marking another collaboration between writer/director Martin McDonagh and Colin Farrell after the excellent In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths is a funny, charming, grisly and sad film all at the same time.

One of the main appeals of the film for me were the trio of principle actors, Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken who are all incredibly good. The film intertwines quite a few story threads and ends up becoming slightly 'meta' without being pretentious or dense. It remains hilarious throughout, the script is very funny and the performances are almost too over the top but remain believable within the confines of the film.

The films runs a little crazy but it's certainly the funniest film on the list and whilst Dredd was ultraviolent in an over the top way, Seven Psychopaths is grisly and gritty where it needs to be.

 

The supporting cast all fulfil their parts really, really well and the film has a natural feel next to In Bruges. In fact, Seven Psychopaths feels larger in scope and feel than In Bruge and it seems McDonagh is more confident with the introduction of many more characters and plots into a single narrative.

 

All in all, a funny and violent film with a hard emotional layer built through a cracking script with excellent performances all round.

 

 

 

 

Best of 2012. Number 5

And we begin, like Top of the Pops circa 1973.

 

 Oh yes sir. Writer/Producer Alex Garland and director Pete Travis take on the 2000AD legend. And it works out very well. Gritty, claustrophobic and ultra violent, the film is a tightly made comic book film that seemed to buck the recent trend of having heroes emotionally vulnerable.

Dredd is Dredd, he starts the film as Dredd and he ends the film as Dredd, Karl Urban does a great job of injecting so little ego into the character. The telltale jaw may clench and move slightly but there is little emotion behind the famous mask except resolve. In stark contrast to other 'hero' films that will make an appearance on this list, the plotting is simple and the spectacle is small scale. It falls to Olivia Thirlby as rookie Judge Anderson to provide the emotional arc of the film and does so admirably.

 

So why does it derserve to be number 5? It's violent, funny, disturbing, well directed and contains a tight plot within a large city of crime. It puts many characters through a huge amount and the film makes the point that it is only one crime among thousands in Mega City One. Very enjoyable, if you can stomach the violence. Finally, it is the Dredd born in the pages of 2000AD as it should be on film.

Whilst rumours of a sequel were denied following the film's poor box office performance, strong DVD and download sales have meant that the rumour mill is milling once more, however, Pete Travis has said that he would not be directing any sequel, if a sequel were to go ahead.

Best of 2012.

Good morning and hello.

 

Since I have been writing this blog for just over a year, I feel able to write a list of my favourite films from 2012. I won't be re-reviewing the films extensively however, instead, it will just be a brief recap with a piece about why I feel that film should be placed where it is.

Simple.

 

Number 5 (of 5) will be revealed.........sooooooooooooon! (evil laugh/lightning/creepy harpsichord music)

(On another note, and because I LOVE parentheses, a massive thank you to everyone who has read, promoted or disliked this blog. I make this point because Film Flare has just passed 11,500 page views, and I'm only responsible for about 13.5% of those views.)

 

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/2

Oh. Hello there and welcome to another stunningly stunning FFFD.

 

Jaws (1975)

 

 I hope no one thinks I am exaggerating when I say that it is your moral obligation to society and culture as a whole to watch this film. 

To be fair, whilst the film is an epic piece of cinema, it owes its reputation mainly down to two things: The first is John William's mind blowing score (you know it, don't even pretend that you don't) and the second is the mechanical failures of the fake shark, which made Spielberg use less footage of the shark itself and really it works to the film's favour.

 

To start with, whilst this is a famous film, it is scary, tense and also pretty gruesome in some places. Also, if you are not a fan of swimming or the sea, it MAY not be the film to get you splashing about in the surf.  

Well, all three principle actors are astounding in this film, both Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss are great. However, Robert Shaw as Quint is sensational. His monologue about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis must be one of cinema's finest. Having Robert Shaw drunk and resenting Richard Dreyfuss for his success at the time really brings out an ackward alliance between the actors that corresponds to the characters in the film.

The shark itself is of course a character in itself and only really has a few close up shows that just about betray how the film might have turned out if the props were working better. For large parts of the film, the location of the shark is shown with the yellow barrels fired into it, in the hope that it will suffocate in the shallow water. This required re-writing and a change in filming style that moved Jaw further in line with thriller films and allowed people to draw stylistic parallels with Alfred Hitchcock.

Another benchmark for a film's success (besides its admission into 'culture') is the extensive critical theories applied to the film. According to various critics, the shark could be symbolic of Communists or contemporary American life. However, what is telling is that the three principle actors are white males, one an everyman who is capable of heroism (Roy Schieder's Martin Brody), one is a wealthy scientist, fixated on possibility using technology to overcome his own inexperience (Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper) and finally, Quint, the old school, experienced fisherman. It is suggested that Quint is not only meant to evoke ideas of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick but is also representative of the old way of American life. Take from this what you will.

 

However, the film is a long one. It is never dull film and the pacing of the film helps with the sense of dread and tension throughout. The film is also important in helping to create the calendar of film's that continue to this day. Along with  Star Wars: A New Hope, released two years later, Jaws was subjected to a huge advertising campaign and opened in many more cinemas than films were used to at the time, therefore starting the model for the 'summer blockbuster'.

 

Watch this film.

I'm super serious.

 

Trailer: