Mass Review!

The Artist (2011) Dir: Michel Hazanavicius

There is not much I can say about this that has not already been said. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 2 months you should know the critics believe this is an amazing piece of work and I, for once, am not going to differ. It is charming, beautiful and wonderfully nostalgic and I really enjoyed it.

Overall: Delightful echoes of Singing in the Rain. Brilliant 4/5

The Ides of March (2011) Dir: George Clooney

This is a powerhouse of a film and I loved it. It had all the political thriller stuff I earn for and is all about the supporting cast, Philip Seymour-Hoffman is immense, Paul Giamatti is a tour de force, the Clooney sneaks up on you like a sucker punch and even though Gosling is star of the show you can't help but think it's because he's had to raise his game due to the calibre of the supporting cast.

Overall : Love it 4/5

Moneyball (2011) Dir: Bennett Miller

This really is just a classic underdog story and there is nothing wrong with that. It's about failure and redemption, fear and hope and Brad Pitt is ok and Jonah Hill is ok but it's really nothing special. It's like any other American sports movie but with math. I like it but it's lets face it, it is no Raging Bull. One thing I would say about this film is that the artress that plays Brad Pitts Daughter in the film  Kerris Dorsey is definitely one to watch and that they sorely underused Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Overall: Better than average sports film but on amazing 2.5/5

Tinker Talior Solder Spy (2011) Dir: Tomas Alfredson

I'm so glad one of my uber intelligent friends told me that when they watched this the first time they didn't understand it 'coz if they hadn't I would have felt like a right idiot. I just don't think my brain can cope with this type of film, I'm still working on 1 lead when already the main character is on their 4th. I was also glad I was watching this film with James as his brain loves this type of film and I honestly had to stop the film at least twice to get James to explain what the hell was going on. Don't get me wrong the film is very good; it's shot beautifully, keeps you guessing and Oldman is completely fantastic, it's just it's probably going to take me a few watches to completely penetrate the intense web of cold war espionage that is woven. I can definitely tell you Oldman puts in a much better performance than Pitt or Clooney.

Overall: Hoping I pick it all up on the re-watch 3.5/5

Bridesmaids (2011) Dir: Paul Feig

All I can say about this is that it is exactly what I want from a female comedy. I really enjoyed it and laughed very hard. There are so many scenes that I thought 'That is exactly how I would react in a situation like that' that I lost count. Wiig is fantastic and it has perfect comedy timing.

Overall: Ladies you should watch this 4/5

Midnight in Paris (2011) Dir: Woody Allen

Summary: A family travel to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple who are forced to confront their differing views of a perfect life.

Why do I bother with Woody Allen films, I never enjoy them. They are overly wordy, the main characters are needy and often desperate and there is usually this unfulfilled need to obtain this form of an idealised, unachievable, perfect life/situation and Midnight in Paris is no different.

To be fair I actually managed to make it through the whole of Midnight in Paris which is a rare feat for me and an Allen film, it was whimsical and charming, it was brilliantly cast but overall I just didn't connect with the central themes. I often question if I have problems with Allen because I'm too much of a stubborn realist to really grasp this desperate idealism, I don't know. Wilson was the perfect artistic dreamer, McAdams is the obnoxious materialistic spoilt cow, Sheen is the frustrating show off and Cotillard optimises the idea of an artist muse. The film is laboured love letter to the beauty and wonder of Paris and I want to like it but I don't. I can understand why people would love this film but I am not one of them, maybe I'm broken.

Overall: I just don't like Woody Allen films, there I said it 2/5

The Help (2011) Dir: Tate Taylor

Summary: An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maid's point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.

This film reminds me of another film but I can't for the life of me put my finger on it, it's all just so very channel 5 movie of the week it could just be that I've seen so many films similar to it they are all jumbled up in my head.

Don't get me wrong, it's charming and funny but it's so full of stereotypes the character development becomes lazy. All I can say it is a predictable melodrama, the type of film you would put on to do the ironing to. I don't really understand at all why this has got any nominations.

Overall: Perfect for doing the housework to but as a serious example of filmic genius er no 1/5

The Descendants (2011) Dir: Alexander Payne

Summary: A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident. 

Well I can't say I didn't like this film but I can't for the life of me figure out why Clooney has got an Oscar nomination. The film sort of plods along with not much happening, it's all about the inner emotional process rather than emotional conversations. You feel that you are waiting for Clooney to breakdown, to have that big revolutionary outburst but it's all so subtle, it creeps along to it's conclusion and then you wonder how you got there.

I loved the journey of the eldest daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) as the film seemed to be her story from adolescent to womanhood and I also welcomed the light relief created by Sid (Nick Krause) and the younger daughter Scottie (Amara Miller), but this film is not going to stay with me. It's not that it's boring or that it's bad in anyway, it's just that it didn't move me. I mean it is a good interpretation of a family drama and it didn't drag, I just wasn't invested in the outcome.

Overall: The best way to describe The Descendants is that it's disappointingly nice 2.5/5

War Horse (2011) Dir: Steven Spielberg

Summary: Young Albert enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on.

 

What use is an epic war film without an English cast? I'm so please Spielberg didn't fill this with Americans doing awful British accents. I must admit I instantly started smiling when Peter Mullan and Emily Watson appeared on screen. Yes the story is far fetched but it does have simply gorgeous cinematography and the horses are really the star of the show. 

I did go into this worried that I would get bored, bored of war, bored of horses, bored of a boy whining about his lost horse but the story is broken up into chapters of the horse's life making it easier to sustain interest. I completely adored the grandfather and granddaughter (Niels Arestrup and Celine Buckens), and the chief German horse carer played by Nicolas Bro but found other scenes such as the meeting of the British and German soldier in no mans land unoriginal.

I have to say the film over all is very well done and considering the amount of special effects that must have been used all were fantastically done.

 

Overall: The kind of film you could take your Mam and Dad to 3.5/5

Where have you gone Rachel?

Well some of you may have noticed that after the announcement of the Oscar nominations my blog has been rather quiet, well one of the reasons for this is because I was so disappointed with the films nominated. Now I know it's all about who's in and who's out and really the politics of Hollywood plays a huge part in who gets nominated but I really felt quite disillusioned with this years nominations. Every December, in preparation for the Oscars, I compile a list of films I think might get nominated and films/I want to get nominated hence me reviewing a few films that were not nominated before the announcement. Anyway this year I was really excited by my list, here are a handful of the films I was really looking forward to seeing/reviewing:

J. Edgar 

We Need to Talk about Kevin 

A Dangerous Method 

Young Adult

The Whistleblower 

Coriolanus

The Interrupters

Martha Marcy May Marlene 

Melancholia 

Take Shelter

Natural Selection

Bobby Fischer against the world

Instead I have to watch emotional rubbish such as The Descendants and The Help. Does anyone else remember poor David Lynch's campaign to get Laura Dern nominated for Inland Empire (Cow Campaign) or the horror show of Melissa Leo's personal campaign from last year (really what was she thinking?) but even with the Academy's new rules on promoting films to "protecting the integrity of the Academy" has not helped this game of favourites. Anyway I will persevere and tomorrow I will attempt to write about War Horse but next year I am really considering a change to a BAFTA blog.

Rachel out.