Anomalisa DVD Review

(Adult) Toy Story

Released : March 11th 2016

Certificate : 15

Director : Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson

Cast : David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan

Plot : A man (Thewlis) who is depressed by the mundanity of his life, finds hope in a chance meeting with a stranger (Jason Leigh).

Famously wacky none mainstream filmmaker, Charlie Kaufman returns with Anomalisa, a film adaption of his play of the same name. Most famous for his writing ability, with a number of his films being Oscar nominated for their screenplay, including Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich. For this film he ventures in directing as well (this being his most famous director role), along with little known film maker Duke Johnson. Anomalisa gained an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.

Several imaginative qualities are obvious within the framework of this film. Firstly there is the stop-motion animation work, and as well as this how all but two characters, our leads, are voiced by the same actor, Tom Noonan. This latter feature is obviously a clever way to convey how our lead character, Michael, views everyone as the same and finds no variety or pleasure from his interaction with people. A Guardian article (and others) have suggested, due to this voicing effect, the films dream sequences and how the all the character are animated to look alike (apart from our leads), that Michael suffers from Fregoli delusion. This is a delusion where a person believes everyone else to actually be the same person who changes their appearance. Without further research into Kaufman response or inspiration for the film, I am unaware if this theory carries water. But alike many of the Kaufman’s films, they are so jarring and imaginative in their storytelling, that is seems wrong to attempt to narrow it down to one meaning. If Kaufman’s intention here was to convey messages about the nature of mundanity and depression, instead of the delusion, then these effects are very creative.

The script for the film is much less subtle or effective in this respect of conveying meaning. While not all of his films preach about life’s deeper meanings and the human nature, this film and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, do carry these. Unfortunately ‘Eternal Sunshine…’ far surpasses Anomalisa in richness of dialogue and overall script. The overall negativity and pointless conveyed in the dialogue of Michaels character with everyone else is rather ‘obvious’ and unimaginatively done. People in the hallways of the hotel and always swearing or masturbating. As well as this the dialogue of the romance that ensues between Michael and the shy self-conscious Lisa, who he falls for were lacking in panache . While realistic, the scenes weren’t half as moving or gripping as his previous work which so greatly captured people’s spirits.

As for the story as a whole, without spoilers, the film will likely leave the bulk of the audience feeling unfulfilled. Not that a film is obliged to perform this task, and critiquing of a storyline sometimes feels obtuse, due to its very subjective nature, but I too was left dissatisfied. For those who enjoy and respect ending that rebel against a conventional film ending of boy meets girl, then there may be something here for you. But for a film that examines life and human nature, it would have been nice to have an ending that attempted to answer these questions or approach them a little better.

Anomalisa is alike all of Kaufman’s films, beautifully made, with create creativity and flare. This films approach to the topic matter is a bit more generic and less aesthetically surprising than his other films. But it still packs a lot more heart and craft than many other films of last year, just not up to his regular work.

Verdict : One of Kaufmans weaker films. It’s not quite as entertaining or thought provoking as his other works, but is still a heartfelt well-made study of the human condition.

Verdict : 3/5

Quote : “At last! Another person!”

Ant-Man DVD Review

Age of Antron 

Released : July 17th 2015

Certificate : 12A

Director : Peyton Reed

Cast : Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Peña

Plot : Scott Lang (Rudd) a master thief who has been in and out of prison, resulting in legal restrictions on seeing his daughter, has decided to go straight. However when one last job leads him to rob Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas) he discovers a suit with extraordinary powers.

As the film universe juggernaut that is Marvel continues with one of its biggest years to date, with Deadpool which has become the biggest grossing R-rated movie ever with a total worldwide gross profit of $745.7 million, beating The Matrix: Reloaded which grossed $742m worldwide. Additionally to this Captain America: Civil War is to hit British audience very soon, which contains the biggest development to the story since Avengers Assemble. Ant-Man was the little man slipped in next to Avengers: Age of Ultron, both together bring all the characters and plot points needed for the faceoff that is Civil War. So before Deadpool, Ant-Man was the first origins story that Marvel had put out in the Avengers universe since Thor and Captain America, both released in 2011. So did Marvel still have the capability to pull off the origin story, which had a chequered past with Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America, with only half really pleasing audiences. Of course with hindsight Deadpool has shown that they can, regardless of this films performance. And as with all origins story, there needs to be a different vibe created for each superhero, with Ant-Man they brought on funny man Paul Rudd to give it a light-hearted edge.

The establishment of this story has some issues that are not of concern for the target younger audiences, but might prove tiresome for everyone else. The film later in the story arc has its benefits but within its set up there was some annoyances. Firstly the film was very cliché and generic dealing with issues of the villain (Stoll) having a rather purpose built back story. Additionally the setup of the relationship with Rudd’s character and his daughter had scripting and an overall feel that had didn’t feel very genuine, of course not that Marvel has got to where it was today solely on the strength of its stories. Then there was the issues of Rudd’s team of thief friends, which were there for the purpose of providing extra comic relief to Rudd’s efforts, but Marvel could have been a bit less 2D. As despite the high quality humour they did provide, the racial stereotypes that were made are cringe worth at some points, no doubt the children will love them, but they at points bared resemblance to Skids and Mudflap (the two racially stereotyped mess that featured in Transformers 2). Of course not to the same severity by far, as Ant-Man had a tongue in cheek effect that makes it just about bearable. But having the thief gang of a Mexican, Russian and African American, was initially alike the film annoying.

Joined with this was an overall set up of the story that while was light hearted and fun in nature, wasn’t quiet as rich in origin story as Thor or Captain. With Thor having the fall from grace story which was well executed enough, and Captain being the down trodden weak man (which as familiar as it might have been, functioned, regardless of the rest of the films quality) used as propaganda piece. With Scott Lang it was just a lovable bad guy who happens across the suit, and has the skills that Douglas’s character needed. Of course this is all quiet hyper critical for a kids film, but these little things slightly gave the film a bumpy start in regards to appealing to a wider audience age group (something that Marvel has since addressed again with Deadpool) as it all felt a little purpose built and rushed in order to progress the narrative into Rudd’s training as the Ant-Man, lucky enough from here on out the film retained great entertainment to allow for the other aspects to be mostly forgotten. As once again the special effects joined with the needed good presentation, this time from Peyton Reed (a director with little mainstream success but experience in the comedy genre) which made for a thrilling visual rich action comedy flick vibe to continue throughout the film.

There was even has the film got into its full swing some dregs of the predictable and generic, most obviously revolving around the plot point introduced in the training, to avoid spoilers will just be referred to as the quantum realm. But overall there was great entertainment here with a friendly unique tone that hasn’t been quiet present in the Marvel world before, as all others did contain there darker elements for thrills. Ant-Man was able to effectively provide a light-hearted fun time, via a moderate dose of tongue in cheek humour (for some might translate into corny understandably) that dealt with the superhero element very well. This provided laughs and great vibes that joined with the lack of death and destruction present in most other Marvel films, made for a film that felt like a true children’s film (mins the use of ‘shit’ now and again). To summarise, it can be seen here the level of self-awareness and less serious approach that resembles where the series has been now taken with Deadpool, except in that film, there is the possibility to be more mature in the way it pokes fun at the source material. Rudd’s place in the film is a good choice which didn’t over sell his comedic side to push the film over the edge.

Ant-Man is a welcome treat to the Avengers universe, resembling Better Call Saul in the sense that it takes the structure and formula of the ‘originals’ and slaps more of a smile on its face. There are some aspects that where present in the other origins films that could have been used here. This could be in the form of a much stronger back story for our lead, a stronger villain, and a ditch of a cliché generic script that thinks it can slip by audiences with the bribery of jokes. Luckily the film is saved by the imagination that is behind the hero’s powers, as all scenes that bugs are on screen is a joy, an overall attitude and the jokes which a dosed well enough through the film. The laughs aren’t hysterical, but bring a grin to the faces of audiences that get us on board with this fun little flick. So while it can be argued that this is another pawn in the money making machine of the Marvel world, that gives you little extra than a good guy versus bad with some good special effects, it is the film recognition that it isn’t trying to be anything more than simply that joined with a fun script that makes Ant-Man a worthwhile watch.

Verdict : Welcome the next side man of the Avengers. He might be the least relevant, and you get what you expect, but he makes for a good time.

Verdict : 3/5

Quote : “That is one messed up looking dog.”

Review: The Hateful Eight

Year: 2015

Certificate: 18

Director: Quentin Tarentino

Screenwriter: Quentin Tarentino

Cast: Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Demian Bichir, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern

Tarentino returns for his (arguably) eighth feature with a frost-bitten tale of treachery in the outback of post-civil war Wyoming. Bounty hunter John ‘the hangman’ Ruth (Kurt Russell) is on the way to deliver captive outlaw Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock for the pleasure of watching her hang when the arrival of a blizzard forces his stagecoach to spend the night at Minnie’s Haberdashery en route. Cooped up together under trying circumstances, suspicions begin to run rife between the Haberdashery’s incumbents. Is Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) really the new sheriff of Red Rock? Why is Domergue so blasé about her situation? And- since this is Minnie’s Haberdashery- just where, exactly, is Minnie?

Tarentino’s trademark fondness for loquacious exuberance shines through, and the dramatis personae is littered with raconteurs who, by and large, feel well-realised and (although they are indeed as hateful as the title suggests) are entertaining to watch. This character-based drama drives the narrative until the splashy final half when everything goes to hell in a tainted coffee tin and the bullets (and viscera) begin to fly in typically hyperbolic style. The cast go all-in, with Samuel L Jackson putting in a commanding performance as Major Marquis Warren, a Union soldier turned bounty hunter who, facing a room partially populated by ex-confederate racists, is determined to give as good as he gets. Jennifer Jason Leigh is also mesmerising as the delightfully despicable Daisy Domergue, her scenery-chewing antics contrasting well with Kurt Russel’s perennially wry John Ruth, to whom she spends most of the film handcuffed.

Although the language and violence is unarguably gratuitous and the film is perhaps a little baggy at just under 3 hours, The Hateful Eight is a surprisingly coherent and entertaining piece featuring a well-told story and exciting performances.

Verdict: 4/5

Image credit: facebook.com/thehatefuleightmovie

Mini review: Joy

Year: 2015

Certificate: 12A

Director: David O Russell

Screenwriter: David O Russell

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Dascha Polanco, Bradley Cooper, Isabella Rossellini

David O Russell and Jennifer Lawrence’s latest collaboration is a frustratingly histrionic dramedy loosely based on the life of Joy Mogano, inventor of the self-wringing mop. While Lawrence is- as always- note perfect and the supporting cast all put in strong performances, O Russell’s love of surreal hyperbole obstructs rather than enhances what should be an inspiring story. While there are several strong sequences (such as a particularly fist-pumping late-stage confrontation with a rival businessman), it feels overlong at just over two hours and one can’t help but feel a little more simplicity and a little less self-aware oddness would have created a more cogent piece.

Verdict: 3/5

Image credit: foxmovies.com

The Martian Review

Straight From Being Saved In Interstellar, Damon’s Back At It 

Released : September 30th 2015

Certificate : 12A

Director : Ridley Scott

Cast : Matt Damon, Jessica Christian, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean

Plot : During an expedition to war, an unexpected storm means that the crew lead by Melissa Lewis (Christian) must abandon the planet immediately. In the chaos Mark Watney (Damon) is left behind and presumed dead by the crew, with limited supplies and no way home. Back on Earth NASA is shocked to discover his condition, after telling the whole world he was dead.

Ridley Scott is returning to the genre which made him, Sci-fi, after the last entry to genre of Prometheus, and due to his established Hollywood position, for his latest film he was able to bring together a hugely talented cast, and when the story comes from a best seller, it has all the making to be a real science fiction treat. But a successful book and a great cast combined with Scotts talent hasn’t proved to hit the target in the past, with The Counsellor as an example pleasing few audience members, and even less critics. Scott followed The Counsellor with the equally unpopular Exodus: God and Kings, providing Scott with a slight dry spell in the way of successful films.

The storyline of The Martian is one so fully of humanity that even if the all other aspects failed, it would prove to be a tale worth hearing. Just as the like of Saving Private Ryan and Apollo 13 did, the story of rallying together to save one man is hard not to enjoy, from the emotion and the humanity it conjures up. The Martian storyline does this beautifully, from Watney all alone, to the crews felling of guilt, to the team of NASA working around the clock, it makes the film into a big sci-fi epic that utterly absorbing. The storyline is not only layered with different setting and varying characters proving for a range of emotive responses to the situation, making the film a joy to see the character drama, but also unpredictable. Additional to this, without giving lot point away, the story arc over its prolonged actual time, doesn’t falter for a second. Each act of the film proves as entertaining as the last for different reasons. From the chaos of the start, the progress of the survival, the reality of death and the drama of the climax all prove the be a equal in weight and entertainment as each other. In sort its one of the most entertaining plain stories brought to cinema so far this year, if nothing else.

Down to Scotts work himself, regardless of the top class story he is dealing with, The Martian proves to be his best work since Hannibal, plain and simple. So many directorial aspects of the film were executed so well to make the film appear as real as possible which took the enjoyment of the film to the high standard that it is. Scotts presentation as Mars a huge obstacle for Watney to overcome, the action both on planet and out in space was beautifully tense to watch, and the presentation of the atmosphere on earth that is working to bring him home was all orchestrated by Scott superbly, added with the high production value of the film made for a spectacle. Hence the film succeeded with what all sci-fi space films should do on a basic level, which is to entertain the audience, and at the same time keep the audience believing that the science of the film is real, as a audience memeber you could picture the films reality, aspects not as present in other films of the genre. The aspect of the film that was most surprising about Scotts work here was how he was able to blend the varying emotions of the film together, despite there polar oppositions, as the film is both moving as well as genuinely funny. Scott was able to blend the contradictory feeling of the film without letting one take away from the other, resulting in a film with a really enjoyable vibe whilst still keeping on the edge of your seat.

The Martian himself, was on brilliant form, as astronaut Mark Watney has been one the most entertaining film characters of this year due to Damon’s ability to tackal as Scott did the combination of gallows humour as well as fear of death, keeping the film to feel just as real as the aspects that Scott had constructed. Most poignantly impressive about Damon’s performance was that of the classic scene that takes place in most ‘disaster’ or man against nature films which is that of the breaking point, where the hero losses faith that he can make it. Scenes such as that and other particularity emotional scene were delivered by Damon to top standard, executed with the same results as some of his best roles. The supporting cast as well as this was a joy to watch, even when the characters weren’t as likeable, which was in the case of Jeff Daniels who played the role of the stern head of NASA, and the role fitted like a glove. Other actors of the huge cast who made a particular impression during their screen time was of course Chiwetel Ejiofor (as he always does) as one the minds eager to get Watney home and Jessica Christian who plays the captain filled with the guilt of leaving him behind. The cast of the crew who left Watney all worked very well together, constructing a feeling of friendship present within the groups despite having very little screen time with Watney.

The Martian is without a doubt one of the best and most entertaining film of the year, a space thriller that can be up with the greats, baring particular resemblance to Apollo 13, making it this years Gravity. But a welcome surprise is the unexpected humours vibe that the film brings, distinguishing itself from Gravity in that aspect, and making the film so more enjoyable that it would have been otherwise. This aspect of the film really makes it something that is pleasantly re-watchable, this is helped by the deliciously layered set of characters portrayed by a excellent cast making the film a big scale sci-fi epic, which will stay with the audience long after viewing.

Verdict : Some of Damon’s most memorable work, and a film that has raised Scotts recent career out of the dumps, and then some, placing him back as one of the kings of the sci-fi genre. A wildly entertaining epic.

Verdict : 4/5

Quote : “Fuck you Mars.”

Before I Go To Sleep Mini Review

You Can’t Handle The Truth

Released : September 5th 2014

Certificate : 15

Director : Rowan Joffe

Cast : Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong

Plot : Christine (Kidman) wakes up in bed with a man she doesn’t recognise, in a house she does not recall. The man awakes to inform her that he is her husband, Ben (Firth). Christine has a meory condition in which every time she goes to sleep she forget everything about her life, with the help of Dr. Nash (Strong) she sets out to find the truth about her identity.

Another memory thriller stage in which the heroine clambers through her past to grasp at the truth of her past, with a Memento like approach through the main characters employment of pictures, and also video diaries. The film took a mostly recognisable storyline and used top actors to tackle the roles to add reality to the mind teasing thriller.

The film itself had no originality, merely recycling the story of a characters chaotic scramble for the truth of themselves, which when executed correctly can make for cult classic films. This film unfortunately lacked the intelligence or any original spin in order to set this film about from any mind bending thrillers before it. To the films credit, the actors did hold there own to portray the different characters in a way that made it difficult to predict the final outcome. So it that sense the film succeeded in being an effective ‘who done it thriller’.

But in order for a film like this to become memorable, it needs to be different from what has come before it, despite being for the most part a well acted thriller. The film tried to recreate a chaotic, frantic feel to thrill the audience, but instead due to its formulaic structure it became merely a cast almost a model for how mind thrillers are made. An film that offers good performances and entertainment as you try and guess the villain of the story, but there is not much else to see here.

Verdict : 2/5

Quote : N/A

Dawn of The Plant of The Apes Review

Any Which Way You Can

Released : July 17 2014

Certificate : 12A

Director : Matt Reeves

Cast : Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Plot : The film is set 10 winters (ape talk for 10 years) after Caesar led his fellow apes into the forest. In which time the human race have all but been wiped out by the ALZ-113 virus, and Caesar and his fellow apes have built a community in the forest. But the apes peaceful life is threatened when a colony of surviving humans arrive.

The prequel that rebooted the franchise, with surprisingly impressive results, left a lot of anticipation and pressure for the sequel. And despite the huge box office successes of the ‘rise’ (taking more at the box office than the other main prequel of that year, which was X-Men: First Class) , the only person who stayed to take part in this sequel is Andy Serkis, who is fast becoming the Lon Chaney of the growing animated cinema world. Andy was even allowed to use his monster voice much more in this film, as Caesar’s vocabulary and enunciation has dramatically improved in the ten winters since the first film. But luckily this version of the franchise still remains the only one in which apes don’t take to speaking in British (or American) accents.

In these ten winters Caesar as been able to build a peaceful and functional community of apes which comes with its own education system, run by the wise ‘Yoda’ like Orangutan featured in the first film. The human race has not been seen by the apes in two winters, until a party of humans scouting for a power source in the woods stumbles across two playful teenage apes. Drama escalates from this point rapidly.

The film does not waste any time demonstrating the power of the apes, with an opening sequence of mass hunting, because of this seeing the apes in action is not as surprising as in the ‘rise’ but instead shows how the apes function as a family and as a community. This is short lived, but satisfying to see the apes way of life in their tree house village. But as the story progresses as the apes inevitable become embroiled in conflict with humans, these battles are much more dramatic and brutal than the small skirmish featured in the previous film on the Golden Gate Bridge. These fight scenes were made more interesting and added a certain degree of depth as it shows the varying levels of ‘humanity’ between the different apes, and likewise with the humans. But for some who have a soft spot for the apes, these prolonged sequences of violence might be too much, as in the ‘rise’ only one or two apes are injured in the making of the movie. But due to the story having ‘bad guys’ and ‘good guys’ on both sides, its was refreshing and enjoyable to not be rooting for either side, an effect that the ‘rise’ did not posses, nor do many blockbusters we see today. This allowed you to be absorbed in the ape/human character drama and the surprisingly impressive large scale special effects, again this version of the franchise being the most credible in its depiction of the ape movements, made possible through modern special effect.

The change in director for this sequel from Rupert Wyatt (for the ‘rise’) to Matt Reeves was a change for the better, but Wyatt had done a good job in showing Caesar grow into the ape leader he is today, but Reeves was able to skilfully take the story into the next darker chapter. Reeves showed the rapid decent into war between the two species seem enthralling, brutal and believable, a skill of blending these emotions that he employed in Cloverfield. Reeves was effectively able to present the multiply large set pieces, most notable of which are the opening hunting sequences and the battles of the apes against humans, but the previous film was more effective in its character drama between Caesar and the human hero (in this film was played by Jason Clarke instead of James Franco). When viewed in this senses the ‘dawn’ could been seen as a typical sequel, more action, bigger set and bigger budget, without capturing the original magic. The ‘dawn’ does tick 3 out 4 of those boxes and although Reeves might not have been able to capture the same level of impressive human/ape bonding as Wyatt was, he was able to submerge you into the wars aura and different layers without turning the film into an over the top repulsive violent sequel, crafting a chaotic atmosphere and not presenting an obvious species to morally side with.

Andy Serkis gives a performance which resembles a believable super smart ape such as in the first film, but unlike the first film Serkis employs his ape voice more frequently, and it sounded like what one might have guessed an ape would sound like if it could talk . But due to Caesar having more lines, the shock factor of him talking does not create the same jaw dropping effect as in the original. Some might be inclined to say that the quantity of apes speaking English is too much, making the film less liable. Keri Russell’s ape acting on the other hand are up for criticism, as the bounds of believability or more importantly plausibility of Kobas coordination is dubious. As in one scene he is seen riding a horse whilst wielding two full automatic machine guns, so anyone who was expecting fight sequences out of Avatar, with the spear being mightier than the gun will be disappointed. This level of skill from Koba is slightly over the top, it stands out as being a falter in a film full of believable ape actions. The power of modern special effects has enabled this reboot of the franchise to make the apes look more real than ever, and to see a monkey firing two machine guns whilst on a horse is a throw back to unrealistic origins of the series with men wearing ape masks. So Kobas acting is slightly laughable.

But if you are restrained enough to let that very minor fault slide and stomach the apes using guns and getting hurt, than there is no reason why you can’t enjoy this film just as much as the previous one. This sequel has turned up the heat very well, as it moves the story into the darker days of war. Its more spectacular, dark and theatrical than its predecessor but in the best possible way, with an ending that can be neatly picked up for the next chapter in this franchise reboot. This is turning into the best series reboot since Christopher Nolan’s Batman series.

Verdict : If Rise of The Planet of The Apes was Batman Begins, then that makes this The Dark Knight. A brilliant sequel that is just as good as the original.

Verdict : 4/5

Quote : “War has begun”

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