Limitless

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a writer whose life is going nowhere. He hasn't written a word of his novel, his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) has dumped him, and he's behind on his rent. This all changes when by chance he runs into his shady ex-brother-in-law, who gives him a mysterious clear pill that allows him to access all of his brain power at once as opposed to the 20% that we ordinarily use. Overnight Eddie becomes a charismatic super-genius, capable of wooing any woman and making millions by predicting the stock markets; before long he has gathered the attention of both powerful businessman Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) and other, far more dangerous individuals. And on top of that, his continued use of the untested drug begins to take its toll on Eddie...

I went into Limitless with comparatively low expectations and as such was very pleasantly surprised by a highly entertaining, fast-moving and stylish film that makes good use of its basic sci-fi concept and runs with it to great effect. Cooper makes for a likeable lead, Neil Burger's direction is solid and the script has enough twists and unexpected moments of humour to keep your interest throughout. There are certainly a few issues with regards to unresolved plot threads but ultimately this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film. It's not spectacular, but it is definitely good fun.

VERDICT: Worth seeing.

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Source Code

I'm going to skip the plot synopsis for this review, but that's not just me being lazy - as is often the case with sci-fi films, the less you know about story going in, the more you are likely to enjoy it; the discovery of the various plot revelations is one of this film's most enjoyable aspects.

Source Code is British Director Duncan Jones's follow-up to the excellent low budget sci-fi effort Moon, and shares much of that film's intelligence and heart. However with an expanded budget, this time Jones has managed to craft a superb 90-minute thrill ride constructed around a highly intriguing plot concept that combines action and emotion in equal measure. The compelling and inventive screenplay and excellent direction are well supported by the fine performances of the principal cast (Jake Gylenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright), resulting in one of the best films that I've seen since Inception.

The only potential weakness of the film is the ending -some could argue that it could have ended five minutes earlier and been more effective, but in my opinion I believe that it's justified. I certainly came out of the cinema with a smile on my face and the desire to see it again as soon as possible, which says it all really. Between Source Code and Moon, Duncan Jones has firmly established himself as a director to watch in future and I am very much looking forward to seeing what he does next.

VERDICT: A fantastic film, go see it.

IMDb

Sucker Punch

Oh dear.

How's this for a synopsis: a girl who accidentally killed her younger sister while trying to rescue her from an abusive stepfather is committed to a mental asylum, which is actually a brothel, but plans to escape with her fellow inmates by dancing seductively while entering into a dreamworld full of zombies, robots, ninjas and dragons. And if you think that makes no sense, you'd be completely right.

Sucker Punch is not a good film, to put it bluntly. It's not a total disaster - the visual effects and art direction are very good, some of the action scenes were well executed and there is some very interesting use of music. Sadly none of this matters when the story is complete nonsense and populated by a load of characters you care absolutely nothing about. While I give director Zack Snyder some credit for at least trying something original, the film he has made here is a jumbled mess, which is also surprisingly boring considering it features scantily-clad females battling against zombie Nazis with axes and swords. Being generous I might call it an "interesting failure" but really, it's just a failure. And a failure that promotes cruelty to dragons, to boot.

VERDICT: Skip it.

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Battle: Los Angeles

To be honest, there's not a whole lot to say about Battle: Los Angeles. Take pretty much every alien invasion film you can think of, mix up all the most clichéd plot elements, throw in a handful of stereotypical US marines and a hefty dose of shakey-cam CGI explosions, and you will have a fairly good impression of what the film is like.

It's not terrible; on the other hand it's not exactly good either. There is very little in the way of plot (choosing to focus solely on one squad of marines as they try to escape the city is not a wise choice), and the characters are so poorly defined that I generally found it difficult to tell them all apart, especially in the chaotic action scenes. At one point almost half the cast gets killed in an explosion and I couldn't even work out who had died. There's also a few groan-inducing moments of poor dialogue, but ultimately the worst offender is the frankly awful direction by Jonathan Liebesman - the action is generally incoherent and actually quite dull. That's quite the achievement when there are that many things blowing up...

VERDICT: Don't bother. Even Independence Day is better.

IMDb

The Adjustment Bureau

On the election night of his doomed senate campaign, David Norris (Matt Damon) has a brief encounter with a beautiful, charming woman named Elise (Emily Blunt) and it's love at first sight. Just a few months later he runs into her again - but soon encounters a group of fedora-wearing men who will stop at nothing in their efforts to keep the couple apart, and demonstrate an extraordinary array of powers in their efforts to do so.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Adjustment Bureau - I found the unusual mix of genres (romance, drama, thriller, science-fiction and even a bit of comedy) highly appealing and in some ways the film bears a resemblance to Dark City, one of my all time favourites. Some people I saw the film with were surprised by the strong romantic element to the story, and while normally this might put me off, the chemistry between Damon and Blunt was sufficiently strong to make me invest in their characters. The film moved along at a good pace and was genuinely exciting in its final stages - an impressive effort from first-time director George Nolfi. Add in some fine supporting performances from Anthony Mackie, John Slattery and Terence Stamp, and you have an excellent film that makes a refreshing change from the usual generic fare that tends to fill the cinemas at this time of year.

VERDICT: Go see it.*

IMDb

* Or get the DVD, seeing as I've now almost entirely missed the cinema release window. Ahem.

Unknown

Hmm, it's been quite a while since my last review - and it all started so well this year. For fear of falling behind, it's time to churn out some quick write-ups...

Unknown may as well be called Taken 2.* After all, the plot does ultimately boil down to Liam Neeson travelling to Europe with a dodgy American accent and kicking all kinds of ass. This film does at least have a bit of added depth in that after suffering a car accident and awaking from a brief coma, Neeson's character discovers that his wife does not recognise him and there is in fact another man claiming to be him, which does certainly add a bit of intrigue.

As a film, Unknown is very much throwaway entertainment. It's fast-paced, stylishly shot and keeps your attention throughout. The resolution of the central mystery is perhaps somewhat dubious but at least I didn't see it coming from a mile off. Aside from that, there's not much to be said about it - having only seen it less than two months ago, it's already fading from my memory. At least it's better than Taken.

VERDICT: Silly but it passes the time.

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* The fact that there is in fact going to be a Taken 2 makes this all the more amusing.

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go follows the lives of three childhood friends, Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, growing up in an isolated English boarding school. This is no ordinary school, however; the children never set foot outside the grounds, regularly undergo stringent medical examinations and are constantly reminded how "special" they are by the teaching staff. As they grow older the full extent of their purpose in life is made clear, and their relationships become a tangled web of emotions as they are finally released into the outside world to fulfil their destiny.

If that all sounds a bit vague, it is very difficult to discuss the plot of Never Let Me Go without giving away the most crucial elements of the story; suffice to say this is no ordinary romantic drama, taking place in a familiar and yet subtly different reality from our own. Adapted from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day), the film remains exceptionally faithful to the source material, effectively capturing both the emotional core of the story and its soberingly bleak outlook on humanity. The acting from Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley is excellent and Mark Romanek's direction is assured. The cinematography and music also stand out in what in my opinion is one of the finest films of 2010.

The critical reaction to Never Let Me Go has been surprisingly lukewarm - I suspect many are frustrated by the main characters' general apathy and acceptance of their fate. This is of course missing the point of just how powerful indoctrination of children can be, evidence of which can be found all around us in our everyday lives. Personally I think the film is superior to the majority of the Oscar-nominated films of last year and I am disappointed at how much it has been overlooked. Having been somewhat lax in writing this review, the opportunity to see the film at the cinema has now almost passed, but I would certainly recommend seeking it out in the future.

VERDICT: An excellent, if somewhat melancholy movie, well worth seeing.

IMDb

Paul

Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are two British 30-something sci-fi geeks finally living out their childhood dream of attending the San Diego Comic Con and embarking on a road trip across America. Of course, as make their way through the famous UFO hotspots of the American desert, the last thing they are expecting to do is to run into an actual alien calling himself Paul. Upon meeting the pot-smoking, foul-mouthed and worldly-wise extra-terrestrial their journey becomes a race to return Paul home before they are caught by a parade of secret agents, crazed Christians and angry hicks.

It is inevitable that any Pegg/Frost comedy is going to draw comparisons with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and in that regard, Paul is clearly not in the same league. That said, Paul is still a very entertaining and amusing romp, undeserving of the critical lambasting it has been receiving. The film has also fallen prey to misleading marketing - the trailers made it out to be a puerile stream of toilet jokes when in fact the humour is considerably more intelligent (albeit not ground-breaking either). One of my favourite moments involves a young Creationist woman being converted to Atheism after meeting Paul - although you do get the feeling that Pegg and Frost had to tone this part of the screenplay down to appease the American studio executives.

Overall, Paul is nothing remarkable but still offers plenty of fun, especially if you're a bit of a sci-fi geek yourself.

VERDICT: It's fun - give it a go.

IMDb

Oscar Predictions

(I suspect that most people will see this when it turns up in my Facebook feed, no doubt long after the Oscar Ceremony has taken place. Rest assured that this was posted on my website before that happened.)

It's time again for my annual stab at predicting all the Oscar winners. Looking back through this blog's history I evidently forgot to post my predictions last year, but I did make them and in fact did quite well. Time will tell how this year's picks will fare:

Best Picture: The King's Speech

Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter *

Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland

Best Cinematography: True Grit

Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland

Best Editing: The Social Network

Best Makeup: Barney's Version

Best Music, Original Score: The King's Speech

Best Music, Original Song: Toy Story 3

Best Sound Mixing: Inception

Best Sound Editing: Inception

Best Visual Effects: Inception

Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film: In A Better World

Best Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Best Documentary Short: Strangers No More

Best Short Film (Animated): The Gruffalo

Best Short Film (Live Action): Wish 143

The last three categories are largely guesses, as per usual. Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design and Song could all easily go a different way as well.

* I have a Mar Bar on the line in a potentially mis-guided bet with a work colleague who believes that Geoffrey Rush will steal the Supporting Actor statue away from Bale at the last moment. I have faith!

* EDIT *

So, I got 16/24. Not bad, although I have done better in the past. I tried to be a bit adventurous in a few categories which backfired in a year of generally safe choices. I'm still peeved about Tom Hooper undeservedly winning Best Director, but at least I won my Mars bar...

True Grit

Depending on your point of view, True Grit is either an adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis, or a remake of the 1969 Western starring John Wayne. Either way, it tells the story of Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl whose father is killed by a coward by the name of Tom Chaney. Swearing revenge upon Chaney, the stubborn and precocious youngster recruits Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), an old and drunken U.S. Marshal, to help her hunt down the fugitive. They are joined along the way by LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a self-important Texas Ranger also on Chaney's trail.

I was disappointed by True Grit. Admittedly, Westerns are not my favourite genre but I had hoped that the Coen Brothers would have come up with something more interesting and distinctive. In fact, aside from one or two unexpected bursts of strong violence, the film bears almost none of the Coens' hallmarks and as such ends up as surprisingly generic and forgettable. Things pick up somewhat in the second half but it all eventually peters out to an anti-climactic ending - much like other recent Coen Brothers films. Perhaps they've simply forgotten how to write endings?

The one standout in the film was the performance of newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, a young girl with a very bright acting career ahead of her. My only argument against her recent Oscar nomination is that she has been named in the wrong category; hers is unquestionably the lead character in True Grit and as such a nod in the Supporting Actress category seems more than a little silly. Bridges and Damon are as good as you would expect them to be but both have had better performances in the past. All in all, this is an underwhelming effort that doesn't deserve even close to its 10 Oscar nominations.

VERDICT: Unspectacular. One for Western fans only.

IMDb

The Fighter

I always find it fascinating how, despite personally finding boxing to be completely ridiculous as a sport, boxing movies are more often than not very good. And the latest entry into the genre is no exception.

The Fighter tells the true story of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a down-on-his-luck welterweight boxer struggling to get his "one last chance" at a world championship, and his strained relationship with his older brother Dicky (Christian Bale) - a once-famous boxer who has since fallen into a crack cocaine addiction. There isn't really anything particularly original about the story or its inevitable conclusion, but given that it's based on real-life events you can probably forgive the script writer.

The Fighter features some superb performances, most notably Christian Bale in an uncharacteristically funny and at times heartbreaking role. He acts pretty much everyone else off the screen and absolutely deserves to win the Supporting Actor Oscar (if he doesn't, I'll be angry). In fact, you could almost argue that Bale's role is just as significant as Wahlberg's and could be considered a lead actor, but there you go. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo as Ward's girlfriend and overbearing mother respectively are also excellent. Together the ensemble elevates what is otherwise an entertaining but unremarkable film into something much greater. The boxing scenes are well-executed and put a smile on my face, but ultimately, this film is all about the acting.

VERDICT: Worth seeing for the performances alone.

IMDb

The Green Hornet

My first official film of 2011 was The Green Hornet, a superhero movie based on a 1930s radio serial (not a comic book as many would think, myself included). Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is your typical playboy son of a millionaire newspaper tycoon, partying his life away. However, after his father's unexpected death, Reid finds himself in a position of responsibility and through a convoluted series of events, finds himself teaming up with Chinese tech genius/martial arts expert Kato (Jay Chou) to take on the Los Angeles underworld as a masked vigilante named the Green Hornet.

I quite enjoyed The Green Hornet - there are plenty of laughs, Rogen and Chou play off each other well, the action scenes are well-executed, and the film is nicely paced. There are however a few issues. Firstly, it really doesn't seem to be able to work out if it wants to be a true superhero action film or a flat-out comedy, and haphazardly veers between the two genres throughout.

Then there is the fact that, frankly, the film should actually be called Kato, seeing as he is the one with all the brains and skill. The Green Hornet himself hardly ever actually does anything truly heroic and more often than not just gets himself or others into trouble. On top of that, the character of Britt Reid is somewhat of a jerk and doesn't show much in the way of growth by the time the credits roll. I suspect that much of this comes down to the casting of Seth Rogen in the part (he co-wrote the script as well) - he was never going to have much credibility as an action star, no matter how much weight he lost, but by leaving Jay Chou to do all the heavy lifting the film just about gets away with it.

Christoph Waltz was good fun as the slightly psychotic villain of the piece, but was clearly channelling his Oscar-winning Inglourious Basterds role. Cameron Diaz on the other hand was pretty much only there to provide a female presence and contributed nothing to the proceedings. Michel Gondry's direction rarely showed the creativity of his masterpiece Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and on the odd occasion he did add a bit of stylistic flair I'm not convinced it worked that well. Nonetheless, The Green Hornet was an enjoyable two hours in the cinema and I'd be willing to watch a sequel.

VERDICT: Uneven but entertaining, a pleasant start to 2011.

IMDb

Black Swan

This is going to be quite a difficult review for me to write because, to be completely honest, I still don't know exactly what to think of Black Swan. Having been intrigued, but not necessarily convinced by the trailers, I was ultimately swayed by the near-universal critical praise and awards attention. I'm certainly glad I saw it, but at the same time I'm not convinced that I would recommend it either.

Anyway, let's get the plot out the way first. Natalie Portman plays a young ballerina who wins the coveted dual roles of the White and Black Swan in her ballet company's production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Although her wide-eyed innocence is perfect for the role of the White Swan, her efforts to embody the evil Black Swan (and simultaneously prevent a rival dancer from usurping her) result in fear, paranoia and the beginnings of a complete psychotic break. And then there are the weird scratches that start appearing on her back...

Watching Black Swan was almost certainly the most uncomfortable cinema-going experience of my life. At no point is it possible to relax as the overwhelming sense of foreboding and constant stream of increasingly strange, dark, twisted and flat-out creepy plot developments keep you squirming in your seat. This is a film that can invoke genuine uneasiness at simply watching a character trim their fingernails. And in the sense that this is director's intention, the film is a resounding success. There is much to appreciate here: Darren Aranofsky's direction is excellent, as is Natalie Portman's highly-dedicated performance; the art direction, costumes and make-up are all superb; and Clint Mansell's reworkings of the Swan Lake score set the mood perfectly. Even the grainy Super-16mm cinematography, while not particularly aesthetically pleasing, is undoubtedly a key component in setting the film's tone.

Unfortunately, despite all this, the fact remains that I simply didn't enjoy watching Black Swan. In general I'm a fan of dark, weird films but when the viewing experience is that arduous it becomes difficult to justify the effort. Having browsed through various film websites and forums I get the impression that I am very much in the minority with this viewpoint, which does make me wonder if there's something I'm missing. And yet, the five other people I watched it with all shared my opinions. Either way, this is certainly not the kind of film that I would expect to make lots of money or attract major awards attention, and the fact that it's managing both simply makes it all the more bizarre.

VERDICT: Honestly? I don't know. It's probably worth seeing, but don't expect to have any fun doing so...

IMDb

The King's Speech

No Oscar season is complete with a British period biopic, and this year's contender is The King's Speech. On paper, the plot doesn't sound like much - it is after all ultimately just an account of King George VI's struggles to overcome his stammer - but once you factor in the death of his father, his brother's affair with a divorced woman and subsequent abdication, and the impending war against Germany, you realise that framing the story round his speech impediment is quite an effective idea. By overcoming his stammer, George VI successfully banished his childhood insecurities and rose to the unwanted challenge of leading the country through a turbulent period.

The film certainly ticks all the Oscar-bait boxes - a fine cast turning in excellent performances (Colin Firth is superb in the lead role); a well-written script that hits all the right dramatic notes; strong attention to period detail. Crucially however, The King's Speech is in fact genuinely entertaining and surprisingly good fun. The back-and-forth banter between the king and his Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) never fails to bring a smile to your face and some of the more outrageous moments in their therapy sessions are laugh-out-loud funny. The best of these is a scene where the king unleashes an hilarious stream of profanity after realising that he never stammers while swearing - quite how the film got away with a 12A rating, I don't know...

So, clearly I liked the film. I would not, however, name it as one of the best films of the year and I certainly wouldn't give it a Best Picture Oscar. Nevertheless, it does now seem to have established itself as The Social Network's closest competition in that particular race (last night's win at the Producer's Guild Awards has certainly shaken things up). And if it were to win? Well, there have certainly been worse films to manage it...

VERDICT: An entertaining and rewarding film, well worth seeing.

IMDb

Top 10 Films of 2010

And so I finally get around to my end-of-year wrap-up. All in all I'd say that 2010 has been a fairly average year for films - there have been a few superb efforts but the majority have been fairly uninspiring, which is a shame. On the other hand, this year's crop of Oscar films appear to be unusually strong, so with any luck the next couple of months should be a more enjoyable time at the cinema for me.

As with last year, it's probably worth pointing out that my definition of "best" is vague to say the least. Generally I tend more towards "entertainment" rather than "artistic merit" but there are always exceptions (see this year's No. 6). Additionally, I have once again based this on UK release dates, hence the presence of Up in the Air (which incidentally would have placed in my top 10 for "official" 2009 releases as well).

And so to the list:

1. Inception
2. The Social Network
3. Kick-Ass
4. Scott Pilgrim vs the World
5. Up in the Air
6. The Road
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
8. How to Train Your Dragon
9. Love and Other Drugs
10. The American

Honourable Mention: Tron: Legacy, which despite its silliness was a hugely fun cinema experience (especially on IMAX).

No surprises what my No. 1 turned out to be. It was also evidently a good year for graphic novel adaptations. I did unfortunately miss quite a few important films and certainly didn't see enough foreign or arthouse cinema - I hope to change that this year.

And while I'm at it, my 5 Worst Films of 2010:

1. Prince of Persia
2. Skyline
3. Alice in Wonderland
4. Splice
5. The Expendables

To be fair, I tend not to go to films that I expect to be bad so calling these the worst films of the year is probably a bit harsh. Only Prince of Persia is genuinely terrible, the others were either just a bit rubbish, boring or disappointing.

Now let's see how 2011 turns out...

Other Films of 2010

Now that I've finally written my final two reviews of 2010 cinema releases, I thought that I may as well add a quick summary of the various films from last year that I managed to catch up with on DVD/Blu-Ray:

Daybreakers - A stylish and enjoyable vampire film with a twist, albeit one let down by an average script.

Exam - An intriguing, Cube-inspired low-budget British psychological thriller that holds the attention well despite the single-room setting. Unfortunately the ending isn't handled very well. Still worth a look.

The Lovely Bones - Peter Jackson's adaptation of the best-selling novel is visually striking and well acted, but ultimately the story just never seems to go anywhere and the tone seems wildly misjudged at times.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - A very well-made, entertaining thriller that I enjoyed a lot, but perhaps not quite worthy of all the hype that seems to have surrounded the franchise. I actually believe that David Fincher's remake could be just as good if not better.

How to Train Your Dragon - I was genuinely surprised at just how good this film was - funny, exciting, wonderfully animated and genuinely touching, this is my favourite animated film of the year and easily better than the mysteriously overrated Toy Story 3.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed - Excellent performances and a twisty plot keep you interested in this intricate, small-scale kidnap thriller featuring just 3 characters in its entire running time. Gemma Arterton displays genuine acting talent that seems to have vanished from her Hollywood efforts.

Bad Lieutenant - Nicolas Cage gets another chance to play a crazy man, this time as a drug-addicted New Orleans cop on the verge of a psychotic break. His superb performance aside, this bizarre film is perhaps not quite worthy of the high praise it seems to have gotten from the critics.

Black Dynamite - I saw this hilarious film at the EIFF in 2009 (read my review here), but it finally got a cinema release last September.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Love and Other Drugs

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

After the comparative box office failure of Prince Caspian, Disney unceremoniously dumped the franchise and allowed 20th Century Fox to pick it up instead. Unfortunately it may not have been the wisest move, considering that the latest film in the series has been even more underwhelming in terms of its grosses. And I can see why; much like the first two films, Dawn Treader is absolutely unremarkable in every way. It's reasonably entertaining and passes the time well enough but everything about it seems unoriginal and derivative of any other fantasy film. Add in some sledgehammer-subtle Christian allegories and possibly the single most obnoxious child character I've ever seen in a film (in the form of the Pevensie children's cousin Eustace), and I think it's fair to say that I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.

VERDICT: A Christmas TV time-killer, nothing more.

Love and Other Drugs

A romantic comedy-drama loosely inspired by the true story of a pharmaceutical rep working for Pfizer in the mid-90s, Ed Zwick's latest film features Jake Gyllenhaal as the lady-killer drug rep in question and Anne Hathaway as the beautiful, free-spirited artist he falls for. So far, so generic. What sets this apart from the average rom-com is the fact that Hathaway's character suffers from early onset Parkinson's disease, the effects of which have a huge impact upon their relationship.

I really enjoyed Love and Other Drugs. It's genuinely funny, the acting is excellent (Hathaway in particular), and as someone who has personally had family members afflicted by Parkinson's and similar degenerative diseases, the more serious moments of the film hit home quite hard for me. At the end of the day, despite the standard romantic comedy plot structure, I thought this was among the better films of 2010.

VERDICT: Entertaining and moving, a very good film.