KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Killing Them Softly is director Andrew Dominik’s third film in twelve years. Racing out the blocks with Chopper in 2000 followed by The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in 2007, Killing Them Softly marks the third installment of a directorial career that is firmly in the quality over quantity camp. But what quality it is!

Killing them Softly is excellent. Focusing variously, on the three culprits behind an armed raid on a mafia card game, and the mob enforcer employed to sort the mess out. All set against the backdrop and compared/contrasted to the onset of the global financial crisis and Obama’s hopeful electoral messages. The robbers are a jailbird chancer (Scoot McNairy) and his junkie mate, played with a constantly sweaty, grimy intensity by the fantastic Ben Mendelsohn.  The card game is ruled by a dithering, unseen committee of mobsters who communicate through a mild mannered conduit in the form of the ever great Richard Jenkins.  Brad Pitt is always good value, and impresses once again in the role of enforcer Jackie Cogan, adding yet more quality to his CV. The cast is otherwise filled out with impeccable genre stalwarts like Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini, and Sopranos fans will be further enamoured by the presence and performance of Vincent Curatola a.k.a. Johnny Sac.

The violence is brutal. Flaps of skin blow off the top of a character’s head when he is shot, and dollops of blood leap everywhere. There is a crunching, rain drenched beating scene, exacerbated by a realistic, unsettling soundtrack; and as the noise of knuckles cracking on nose cartilage reaches you it makes you feel like you are present, and perhaps even on the wrong end of some of those punches.

There is also a stunning shooting scene wherein I don't think I've ever seen anybody get shot in the face look more beautiful! ‘Killing Them Softly’ is Jackie Cogan’s preferred method of dispatch. Offing his quarry from afar in order to avoid any unpleasant ‘touchy feely’ emotions. It is also the deft measure of this gracefully visceral assassination, with all of it’s hypnotising slow motion and sickening violence.

Killing Them Softly reminded me very much of a Coen Brothers movie with less overt dark humour (although there were still blackly comic moments), as you get duped into thinking incidental characters and plot threads will end up leading to integral places, and they don't. Finally it wraps up with one of the best ending/payoff lines that I can remember hearing in recent cinema. The more I think about this film, the more I like it and that is always the sign of a great movie. Highly recommended.

IMDB: Killing Them Softly

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (M.I.F.F.)

The resolutely excellent Toby Jones stars as Gilderoy, a British film sound man in the 1970's, hired out of his comfort zone of wildlife documentaries to work on an Italian Giallo. Despite some early promise and a nice tip of the hat to Argento on more than one occasion - black gloved POV shots of sound dials being turned, a Goblin character, and the horror movie's plot centering on witches in a horse academy - it tailed off into massive self indulgence and incomprehension. In fact I really don't know what the bloody hell was going on for the entire second half of the film, and ultimately it degenerated into an irritating mess, which was disappointing as I had earmarked it as one of the more interesting sounding movies (no pun intended) from the get go! A highly appealing idea reduced to an inexplicably confusing muddle. Not good at all.

M.I.F.F. Rating 1 out of 5.

IMDB: Berberian Sound Studio

RAMPART (M.I.F.F.)

Woody Harrelson stars as Dave Brown, an LA cop spiralling further and further out of control, as corruption and alcohol abuse erode his life away. Faced with departmental suspension after being caught on camera beating a suspect, Dave tries to juggle his work problems alongside his bizarre home life (living with two ex-girlfriends with whom he has children).On top of all this he takes a decidedly vague approach to what constitutes policework and finds himself getting mired in a situation he is unable to extricate himself from. It has a fantastic cast with even the smallest part filled out by an actor of high quality.  Amongst others it features Sigourney Weaver, Ned Beatty, Steve Buscemi, Ice Cube and Tim Russ (Tuvok from Star Trek Voyager!). But the main draw for me was that it was co-written by the utterly peerless James Ellroy, of whom I am a massive fan. His Underworld U.S.A. trilogy is jaw droppingly stunning, and as a crime author he holds his head high amongst the giants of the genre. Therefore I was very excited to see how his work on this film would turn out, and I was largely impressed. Dave Brown is a typically conflicted Ellroy character; there are no ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ in his books -  just people lurking in varying degrees of shadow, and Harrelson is incredible in the role. There are definitely sections in here that feel like they could have come from one of Ellroy’s novels, but unlike his briskly plotted prose, the movie takes a more laidback approach to getting to where it needs to be. Nevertheless, it is a gripping study of one man’s life pouring into the toilet.

M.I.F.F. Rating 4 out of 5.

IMDB: Rampart

THE ANGEL'S SHARE (M.I.F.F.)

Excellent comedy/drama from Ken Loach as we follow the fortunes of young Dad-to-be Robbie (Paul Brannigan), who having narrowly escaped jail finds himself serving a community service order as a result of not only a murkily violent past, but an inescapable cycle of intergenerational violence with a local family. Robbie is befriended by the community service organiser, Harry (John Henshaw) and together they bond over an unlikely common interest: whisky.

As Robbie struggles to make a new life for himself with his girlfriend and new baby, he does find camaraderie with the new friends he made on his community service. When news filters through that an extremely rare barrel of whisky worth 1 million pounds, is going on sale in the North of Scotland, Robbie and his friends plan an elaborate heist; seeing it as an opportunity to finally make something of themselves and escape to something better.

The Angel's Share is absolutely fantastic. Massively funny and hugely enjoyable. Despite some dark corners, and aspects of Robbie's character that are extremely unlikeable, you're rooting for something good to happen to these misfits. It manages to make Robbie sympathetic and the film as a whole is totally rather heartwarming. Highly recommended.

M.I.F.F. Rating 5 out of 5.

IMDB: The Angel's Share

SIGHTSEERS (M.I.F.F.)

Highly enjoyable third film from Ben Wheatley, the director of Down Terrace and Kill List. A pitch black, hugely violent comedy about a couple on a caravanning holiday, whose journey around the North of England quickly descends into a kill crazy rampage (if you can have a kill crazy rampage when you're visiting cathedrals and pencil museums). Much like Kill List it was more of the same contrast between mundane everyday Middle England-isms and sudden bouts of ultraviolence, that give the most surprises. But it was also bleakly very funny and tonally a bit of a headscratcher. Again, like Kill List if you stop and think about it all, it comes apart very easily (particularly in terms of character logic etc) but you really don't stop to overanalyse it because the ride is so much ruddy fun. As blackly comic as it's possible to get. Well worth a watch.

M.I.F.F. Rating 4 out of 5.

IMDB: Sightseers

BAD BRAINS: A BAND IN D.C. (M.I.F.F.)

A decent enough documentary on legendary D.C. punk band Bad Brains. Charting their story from school friends to influential hardcore band. We see a history punctuated by incendiary live experiences but scarred by the side effects of religion and (probable) mental illness.  The filmmakers leave us many times laughing at H.R. rather than attempting to understand what is wrong with him - and there is very evidently something wrong. Although it is exciting indeed to see the live footage and hear the stories of their early live prowess, the film is ultimately unrewarding in its inability to offer any insight into the dark side of the Bad Brains that has blighted their existence. The infamous incident of their homophobia toward the Big Boys is brushed under the carpet as nothing more than youthful indiscretions; and the fact there is no discernible attempt to understand what is going on with H.R. left it feeling like there was an interesting story here that went untold. Over all it was a little too long and a little lightweight.

M.I.F.F. Rating 3 out of 5 (mostly for the live footage)

IMDB: Bad Brains: A Band In D.C.

HARA-KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI (M.I.F.F.)

Takashi Miike's follow up to the amazing 13 Assassins remakes a 1962 film of the same name, wherein a lone samurai (Ebizô Ichikawa), living in poverty, requests from a lord the chance to allow him to commit a seppuku (hara-kiri) and honourably take his own life. From there, we hear in flashback, the tale of what brought the samurai to this point; and of a younger ronin who had come to the lord a few weeks previously with a similar request. Similar in style to 13 Assassins, and once again featuring the excellent Kôji Yakusho, it sits as an interesting companion piece courtesy of its excellently recreated feudal Japan settings. Despite some largly unnecessary 3D (when is it EVER necessary?) the story drags you in, however it is a far more sombre affair than 13 Assassins. Whilst Assassins was a fun exciting adventure, Hara-Kiri is bleak and introspective. A worthy view, and no mistake, but certainly a more complex and downbeat experience than Miike's last outing.

M.I.F.F. Rating 4 out of 5

IMDB: Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

ROBOT AND FRANK (M.I.F.F.)

Set in a near future, Frank (Frank Langella) is a bored retired cat burglar, rattling around his old house, trying to cope with the onset of senility, with his grown up children living far away. Frank’s son Hunter (James Marsden) gets him a robot helper to assist him around the house and try to keep him active and alert. Initially standoffish and unimpressed,  Frank gradually forms a bond with Robot, as he learns the Robot’s moral compass is not quite as centred as he first believed. Under the auspices of keeping Frank’s mind active, the two chums plot a heist together and the tale that ensues is both uplifting and bittersweet . Fantastic performances from a great cast (also including Susan Sarandon and Liv Tyler), Robot and Frank is a cracking movie.

M.I.F.F. Rating 5 out of 5

IMDB: Robot And Frank

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (M.I.F.F.)

Excellent comedy with sci-fi undertones (or should that be overtones?), as Aubrey Plaza (who has a boy’s name) plays Seattle Magazine intern Darius (also a boy’s name); who along with 2 colleagues - smarmy journo Jeff (Jake M Johnson) and earnest college boy Arnau - goes forth to investigate a cryptic, provincial classified advert seeking a companion for time travel (“Must Bring Your Own Weapons. Safety Not Guaranteed”). As Darius becomes closer to the advert’s author, Kenneth (Mark Duplass), and his unconventional plans we follow their progress; along with Jeff’s goal to track down a childhood sweetheart. Funny, heartwarming and one hundred percent enjoyable. It’s brilliantly acted and thoroughly enjoyable. Plaza , Johnson and Duplass have charisma by the bucketload and it’s a funny and truly entertaining movie.

M.I.F.F. Rating 5 out of 5
IMDB: Safety Not Guaranteed

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN

Straight off the bat, I’ll lay my cards on the table and say I had very low expectations for The Amazing Spiderman. The sheer pointlessness of remaking the origin story a mere 10 years after Sam Rami’s first version largely overwhelms everything else about this film. So blatantly aimed at kids too young to have seen the first version, I am surprised they didn’t retitle it ‘The Totes Amazeballs Spiderman’.

Let’s be frank here. This is no ‘reboot’. It is practically a straight up remake, bar a few minor details and fresh coat of paint. Substitute the Lizard for the Green Goblin and there is precious little here that you have not seen already in Raimi’s first movie. Even the Lizard’s motivation and the way he gets transformed is almost identical to what happened to the Green Goblin in the first Spiderman. Switch Gwen Stacey for Mary Jane, and ditch the organic webshooters in favour of the more comic friendly Parker inventions, and there’s really not a lot else that’s different to the plot.

This is not to say it’s terrible though. For the most part I had a pretty decent time with this film which is surprising considering the amount of ‘been there, done that’ on show here. First up, Andrew Garfield is an excellent Peter Parker. The movie struggles with the fact that both he and Emma Stone are just waaaay too old to be playing high school kids. It just doesn’t work AT ALL, but Garfield is so good as Peter Parker that you can actually see your way to forgiving it.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the usually excellent Emma Stone who struggles with a Gwen Stacey character that’s deeply dull and barely has more to contribute than being an expository device.

Rhys Ifans is good as the conflicted Dr Curt Conners, and Martin Sheen and Sally Field bring a gravitas to Uncle Ben and Aunt May that probably helps lift this film up higher than it deserves.

There are fun moments despite the familiarity though. Peter Parker’s discovery of his new powers on a subway train and in his bedroom is some slapstick joy to behold; and Spidey leaps about the city in a fun, kinetic jumble of limbs and webbing that feels lifted straight out of Romita Jr or McFarlane's sketchbook. There are some nice wisecracks and set pieces too. In particular the trapping of a car thief and subsequent sassing of a dimwitted plod, was a fun 5 minutes. Finally, Stan Lee's cameo in this one must rank up there as one of, if not THE best cameos he’s done. It’s hilarious.

Overall though, the crashing pointlessness of it all just washes over the movie like a tidal wave. The plot is full of holes, and yet another Spiderman movie insists on unmasking him at every given opportunity (a real bugbear of mine) .It’s a hard one to assess. The Amazing Spiderman is undoubtedly flawed, and it’s hard to tell if the things I enjoyed about it were solely down to its familiarity, or down to how well this film carries itself despite knowing exactly where it is headed at every possible moment. I had a fairly good time with it but rather than being ‘Amazing’ it’s more like ‘The Unnecessary Spiderman.’

IMDB: The Amazing Spiderman

THE AVENGERS

So here we are finally, from the very first seeds of the idea sown in Nick Fury’s post-credits appearance in Iron Man, through the end credits pay offs in every one of the Marvel canon’s movies that followed, The Avengers movie is upon us. Opening to megabucks and global fanfare the question that wants answering is “Is it any good?” and the answer flat out is “Damn right it is”!

Carrying on story threads from both Thor and Captain America, the plot follows the creation of the Avengers team to defend the Earth against Thor’s brother Loki; who plots to invade and conquer the planet with a little help from the Chatauri and the Tesseract, the source of unlimited power that the Red Skull craved in Captain America. The action kicks off right from the word go as Loki pinches the sparkly power cube from S.H.I.E.L.D h.q. and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) finds his only real means to get it back, and effectively save the planet is to resurrect the dormant Avengers Initiative and compile a team of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as our last line of defence. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are all signed up and get to throw down in the streets and skies of New York as the alien horde arrives.

The key to Marvel’s adaptations has been in their near perfect casting choices for their heroes. There is no doubting the characters are great. Years of comic book storylines and legions of fans are testament to that. So the casting for these iconic superheroes has had to be spot on and they’ve nailed each and every one.

Downey Jr’s take on Tony Stark is still amazing. Narcissistic and arrogant, yet somehow Downey Jr makes these into likeable qualities and you’re rooting for him every step of the way. Iron Man paved the way for this movie and it must be said, the first Iron Man is still my personal favourite. With the Iron Man series Marvel has created the very best of the superhero genre and in the Avengers it’s just business as usual. He cannot put an iron clad foot wrong.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor is equally great. Thor was hugely enjoyable in its own right and he brings an amiable pomposity to the God of Thunder that’s hard to dislike. Some of his ridiculous Asgardian dialogue and speech mannerisms could have faltered were his conviction and believability not one hundred percent.

Chris Evans plays Captain America perfectly. Of all the Avengers, Captain America obviously had the potential to fall prey to hokey American patriotic fervour and was perhaps the one potential stumbling block for transferring the characters from page to screen. Fear not however, as Cap rises to the challenge as always. Cap is a man out of time. Old tyme values in the modern age. The emphasis is always on him being a good guy doing the right thing rather than any notion of overt nationalism (other than y’know, the costume, the shield and the name!).

Scarlett Johansson returns as Black Widow, first seen in Iron Man 2. A master of interrogation and a deadly fighter, she is also very good in this. Her introductory scene in particular is a lot of fun, as she turns the tables on some low life interrogators, calmly dispatching them with some crunchy, brutal fisticuffs; And Jeremy Renner, reprising his role from Thor as the conflicted, archery obsessed Hawkeye, plays a blinder with one of the lesser known heroes.

Finally we get to The Hulk. What to say about The Hulk? I am fond of Ang Lee’s movie. It is flawed, but underrated nonetheless. The Norton starring Incredible Hulk was also decent, if unremarkable. But The Hulk in the Avengers gets the best treatment of all. Mark Ruffalo is a revelation as Banner. He is PERFECT, and the most enjoyable parts of a movie that is more or less TOTAL enjoyment, fall to The Hulk. To say precisely why the Hulk is so great would be to give away some of the best moments, but suffice to say the scrap he has with Thor and his face off against a gigantic enemy are highlights of the whole film. If nothing else, go along to this movie and feast your peepers on the rampaging Hulk smashing aliens to bits. Incredible.

The excellent Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki, the seething, petulant brother to Thor. Sly, cunning, and pulling the strings of megalomaniacal World dominance, he is a fantastic villain and perfect for this.

Stellan Skarsgard and Gwyneth Paltrow are on board as their respective characters from Thor and Iron Man, and although their parts are diminished this time around it’s fantastic they are present for the continuity of the movie and the Marvel universe. All the boxes are ticked and the details considered. They leave nothing out – even going so far as to explain the absence of Jane (Natalie Portman’s character from Thor) from the action.

One of the real joys to this movie is that no character feels left out. Many times with larger ensemble movies, some characters in a large cast need to take a back seat (even my beloved Star Trek has fallen victim to this on occasion), but that is not so here. Nobody gets lost in the mix. All the main Marvel heroes serve the story well without feeling like they are there merely to be included. They each have their own arcs from Iron Man to Hawkeye to Agent Coulson and everyone has something to do and to contribute. And on top of all that they don’t skimp on using Loki either. Everything is evenly balanced and calibrated and the credit for that must go to Joss Whedon.

Whedon knows his onions. This is fact. To be honest I’m not much of a Buffy fan (from series 3 it all started to go a bit pear shaped for my money), but Firefly/Serenity is masterful science fiction and my hat is most definitely off to the man for that. He tests his mettle here with the Avengers and juggles multiple character arcs with raucous action that provides giddy excitement. Moreover it is funny. The tone is light without being too insubstantial, and the dry sense of humour that runs through the likes of Firefly and Buffy has found a comfortable home here alongside some more overt genuine belly laugh slapstick.

It’s a strong movie indeed.  Again, its appeal is probably that this is one for both the fans and the casual Marvel dabbler, as well as your average Joe Cinemagoer. What’s all the more impressive is that although it certainly helps to have seen the other films, Thor and Captain America in particular lend a lot of character and story strands, you don’t HAVE to have seen them to be able to understand  it on its own.

To call something ‘a popcorn movie’ or a ‘blockbuster’ seems almost like a dirty word these days, but maybe that’s because they so rarely deliver on their promise. The Avengers takes back the blockbuster and delivers… and then some.

I’ve seen it twice already (it’s been out 2 weeks), and I would go again. Make of that what you will!

IMDB: The Avengers

Since the official poster is beyond appalling, and far and away the worst thing about the movie (Iron Man and Captain America unmasked on a badly photoshopped mess) here is a way better version from poster god Tyler Stout.

C.H.U.D.

Let’s kick things off with some personal background to C.H.U.D., or Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, if you prefer. This particular sci-fi horror opus has always been something of a white whale to me. Let us travel through the hazy mists of time back to the early/mid 80’s where I was but a film obsessed child of a marvellous new technological age. Yes friends, I was witnessing the birth of a brave new dawn for humanity as the cinema found a new home in our living rooms. The home video boom was upon us.  Many was the time when I would go into Flickers, our local video library (as they were called in them days) perusing the many titles that I was both allowed and forbidden to rent. C.H.U.D. fell into that latter category. The cover of the video staring down at me from the racks, was both scary yet intriguing at the same time. Part of me wanted to see it desperately, and another part of me was too terrified of it, much like the large Reanimator poster they had in there for a time.  Also I’m sure my friend Chris Purser had claimed, at the time, to have seen C.H.U.D. thus elevating his credibility in those long gone days when having watched (or merely having claimed to have watched)  a 15 or 18 rated film was a badge of honour. Now, thanks to the sterling work of the Melbourne Horror Film Society, who screened it in the back room of a Northcote pub in a double bill alongside fellow mutation sensation, The Stuff, I have finally clapped eyes upon C.H.U.D. and I can once again hold my head high in the playground.

C.H.U.D. then, is a rollicking good fun sci-fi horror yarn about a subterranean bunch of glowy eyed toxic beasties, picking off homeless folk and errant dog walkers while Jaws-style beaureacrats try to cover it up. Starring future Home Alone alumni John Heard and Daniel Stern as a photojournalist and soup kitchen chef who soon get hip to the fact that something is decimating New York’s underground street people population. They team up with maverick cop Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) whose ragged pursuit of the C.H.U.D. investigation stems from a mysterious and personal vested interest.

It was a bit of a slow burn to begin with. It took a little while to crank itself up, and I could perhaps have done with a bit more actual screen time for the C.H.U.D.’s, which I can only imagine must have been due to some budgetary reason. But when the C.H.U.D.’s attack they up the ante with a rather excellent head hacking set piece. The upshot of it all is that there is a lot of fun to be had here. There is an early career appearance from John Goodman and the geezer off of Mork and Mindy as a couple of beat cops, and the C.H.U.D.’s themselves are excellent hulking, slimy fiends.

I’m stoked to have finally seen it, and once seen, not only will you have enjoyed a tasty slice of 80’s mutant horror, you’ll be able to fully understand the C.H.U.D. reference in The City of  New York Vs Homer Simpson!! Predictable 80s staples are easily forgiven, as this flick got heart.

IMDB: C.H.U.D.

 

Excellent (but sadly sold out) C.H.U.D. t-shirt design from Fright Rags

KILL LIST

Before we go any further with this review, if you are pondering going to see Kill List, do so now without reading any further; as you will be doing yourself a big favour by going into this movie totally fresh. The fact I knew very little about it going in, helped heighten its impact a great deal. Now with that in mind, whilst I won’t give away anything crucial, in the context of how best to enjoy this film, the following review does contain spoilers of a sort.

Kill List is the sophomore feature from Ben Wheatley, and focuses on the story of two hit men getting gradually and inexorably drawn into a situation they cannot escape. Jay (Neil Maskell) is a family man. Albeit one with a short fuse and a temper to match. We meet him having been out of work for 8 months. Financial woes and the resultant stress is putting strain on his marriage. The slow reveal of his line of work tells us he was in ‘private security’ (a contract killer) and he has not worked since an apparent botched job in Kiev. His partner Gal (Michael Smiley - who will no doubt be known to most as ‘Tyres’ in Simon Pegg’s Spaced series) comes to him with an offer of work. The eponymous Kill List of the title. Three hits, for a lot of money. They agree to do the job together and set about the task of assassinating the three targets. The film is then divided into corresponding segments: The Priest, The Librarian and The M.P.

Right from the start, Kill List cuts an unsettling tone.  It reminds me of three great films in particular. For aspects of the story you can’t avoid thinking of The Wicker Man - provincial devil worshippers going mental; For the look and style of the movie, it brought to mind Shane Meadows’ excellent Dead Man’s Shoes - grimy, low budget bouts of ultraviolence, slap bang in the middle of mundane English settings; And finally Takashi Miike’s gloriously beserk Audition – in the sense that you think you’re watching a different kind of film, and gradually, every so often, small odd things start happening until you realise this movie is not heading in the direction you were thinking it was going. That’s not so say this film is derivative, but rather that it has a lot in common with three fantastic movies, not least the fact that it is an excellently effective piece of horror cinema.

If I have a small quibble, I would say that the violence is a tad gratuitous, or at least uncalled for. Too much modern horror relies upon bravura scenes of violence at the expense of genuine scares; creating a talking point in movies that are otherwise devoid of anything else to talk about (see: the Saw franchise, Hostel, Wrong Turn etc). In the wake of Hostel, torture scenes have become as gimmicky as an orchestral powerchord designed to make you jump out of your seat during a quiet moment. To that end, I felt some of the violence on show in Kill List was unnecessary because the movie already has the audience hooked and baited well before it’s graphic bloodshed. Kill List creates an uneasy, seedy, creepy atmosphere well before it kicks up a gear in the final third.

Admittedly things start at a slow pace. But it works. It’s building blocks for what lies ahead. The plot twists and turns at right angles, all the time heading  toward a gobsmacking climax. When we get there, the ending does feel a little rushed. But WHAT an ending it is. Its speed and brevity compared to the rest of the film only heighten its impact, and to be honest if you stop to actually think about it for a second, you begin to realise that it’s utter nonsense. However you don’t have that time to think until well after the credits have rolled and by that stage, taking the movie as a whole, you should be well reconciled with the fact that this is a proper, genuine horror movie.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste, and the plot holes are gaping, but it’s so well handled that it ended up being highly effective. As a whole entity Kill List was a properly creepy and unsettling watch and for me this is exciting, interesting and crucial horror filmmaking.

IMDB: Kill List

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

Guy Ritchie’s follow up to 2009’s, hugely enjoyable Holmes escapade, is timed interestingly (coincidentally?) to arrive at almost exactly the same time as the BBC’s second series of Sherlock. Both movie and TV series are resoundingly enjoyable, both fun and interesting in their different interpretations; and this second outing for the Downey Jr / Law partnership is well worth a look.

Downey Jr’s Holmes is a Victorian action hero. If you read that on paper you would think it conceptually brainless, yet it carries itself with enough charm, panache and haughty swagger that you get fully on board with it.

This time around Holmes is tasked with facing off against his greatest adversary. A man whom in the intervening period since the last movie, Holmes has discovered is the focal point for virtually every dastardly crime going. Played by Mad Men’s Jared Harris, Professor James Moriarty is a magnificent bastard. In a superbly villainous turn, the greatest crime on show is his threat to run off with the movie. Some further inspired casting sees Stephen Fry appearing as Mycroft Holmes, providing comic relief and starched shirt pomposity in equal measure.

As the adventure takes them from a train bound for Brighton (woo!), to dense German forests, to the Swiss Alp finale, Robert Downey Jr and Jude law instill enough fun chemistry in it to make a jolly fun ride. Ritchie too, handles it all well despite threatening to overegg the slo-mo at times. It follows on well from the first movie and overall it’s a good, fun caper.

IMDB: Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows

REVIEW OF 2011

Ok so it’s time for the old annual review of the year here at Reel Important. The following thirteen films are my favourites from 2011. I couldn’t narrow it down to a Top 10, and the rough order of preference is likely to fluctuate at any given moment. Anyhow, these here are this year’s best to my reckoning. A couple of these have not had reviews on the blog yet, but are likely to follow.

1.    Super
2.    Submarine
3.    True Grit
4.    13 Assassins (a.k.a. Jûsan-nin no shikaku)
5.    Tucker & Dale Vs Evil
6.    Melancholia
7.    Super 8
8.    Beginners
9.    X-Men: First Class
10.    The Trip
11.    Attack The Block
12.    Captain America
13.    Thor

1. Super

James Gunn’s fantastically violent and hilarious vigilante / superhero movie. Left me grinning like an idiot and wanting to watch it all over again the minute I stepped outside the cinema.

2. Submarine

Richard Ayoade’s sublime directorial debut. A hugely enjoyable and funny coming of age story, set in 1980’s Wales. Wonderful stuff.

3. True Grit

Although technically a 2010 release, the Coen Brothers stunning western hit Australian shores in January so qualifies for the 2011 list.  A mesmerising central performance from Hailee Steinfeld either side of the excellent Jeff Bridges and the outstanding Matt Damon made this absolutely riveting stuff. It is nigh-on perfection.

4. 13 Assassins (a.k.a. Jûsan-nin no shikaku)
Takashi Miike’s awesome samurai scrap sees the eponymous 13 Assassins sent on a suicide mission to kill a brutal feudal warlord. Thrillingly exciting and joyously violent, Mr Miike considers it a ‘family film’. Despite what he says, don’t take your Nan to see it.

5. Tucker & Dale Vs Evil

Fantastic, funny twist on the college-kids-attacked-by-hillbillies genre. Slipped under the radar of most, yet deserves to be seen by all. Review to follow.

6. Melancholia

Lars Von Trier’s polarising, 2 hour-plus study of a woman with chronic depression, set against the backdrop of catastrophic global annihilation. Dunst, Gainsbourg and Sutherland were all incredible in this movie and I loved it. Review to follow, hopefully.

7. Super 8

JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg channel Stand By Me, Close Encounters and E.T. and come up with a charming, heartfelt coming of age/creature feature medley.

8. Beginners

Endearing comedic drama following Ewan McGregor embarking on a new relationship in the aftermath of his father’s recent death. Warmed the cockles and tugged the heartstrings without being too saccharine.

9. X-Men: First Class

Rollicking good fun origin story; shifting the excitement meter back into territory last seen in X-Men 2, and helping aid the suppression of X-Men 3 and Wolverine memories.
(I still have a review of this that’s only about ¼ completed. I hope it sees the light of day in 2012)

10. The Trip

BBC TV series pared down to feature length. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon traverse the Lake District in a 4x4, eating in posh restaurants and trying to outdo each other’s Michael Caine impressions (sounds like an Alan Partridge TV pitch!). Gently hilarious. It made me miss the U.K.

11. Attack The Block

Joe Cornish of Adam & Joe fame directs his debut movie, as a bunch of London kids defend their estate from alien attack. Played out as more serious sci-fi than broad comedy, and with a set of principal characters that are largely hard to like, it defied some expectations and garnered some not undeserved comparisons to early John Carpenter.

12. Captain America

Marvel geared itself up for the Avengers with a nifty, Red Skull smashing, WWII winning, origin story spectacle that laid off any distasteful patriotism in favour submarine punching heroics and 1940’s ‘derring-do’!

13. Thor

Flash Gordon-lite as Hemsworth, Hopkins, Skarsgard and Portman make a fine fist of one of Marvel’s less appealing heroes. It’s no Iron Man, but it is another splendidly entertaining entry in the Marvel canon. (Another half finished review lurks, unpublished, on this blog.)

Honourable mentions:

I enjoyed the slow burn adaptation of Murakami’s Norwegian Wood; Snowtown, although very good indeed, just failed to make my list on account of the fact it is so grim I can’t imagine when I would want to sit down and watch it again; Natalie Portman going berserk in Darren Aranovsky’s Black Swan was certainly of note; The Inbetweeners Movie was a fitting swansong, although let’s be quite clear that the whole thing has run its course now; and Rise of the Planet of the Apes soothed away the pain of Tim Burton’s ill conceived remake.

Other films I enjoyed from 2010, too late to make it on to last year's list, included Alexandre Aja’s grisly Piranha reboot; Emma Stone comedy vehicle Easy A, replete with Stanley Tucci scene-stealing; and Sally Hawkins proving that it is flat out impossible for her to make bad film, with the warmly enjoyable Made In Dagenham.

Worst: The Future

I’m not sure that I can properly convey, within the confines of the English language, just quite how much I despised The Future. Having been utterly revolted by it at M.I.F.F. this year, the reviews upon its general release seemed to be largely positive, thereby proving beyond any doubt that people have absolutely no taste whatsoever. It is the nuclear bomb of cinema – humanity wishes it could be uninvented because we are stuck with it and it’s ruining lives. A strong, strong contender for being quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen (bearing in mind that I HAVE seen Crash).