INHERENT VICE (full review at The Reel Word)

In 1970 Los Angeles, Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a perma-stoned private detective, hired to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, a wealthy, married property mogul. At the same time, Doc is hired to find a recently released ex-con and a woman’s missing, presumed dead, husband. By accident or design, these cases intersect and Doc must work to resolve them, all whilst being hassled by Detective ‘Bigfoot’ Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), and the stridently anti-hippy LAPD.
Read the rest of the review at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/inherent-vice-review/

IMDB: Inherent Vice

THE REEL WORD

Since the beginning of the year, I have been submitting writing to some other websites and publications and in some fun news, I am going to be writing some reviews for a film website (which confusingly shares a very similar name to my own blog) The Reel Word. I'll be linking to my reviews with posts on here, and I'll still be trying to update Reel Important at least semi regularly, but it may be a little less frequent for a while.

You can visit The Reel Word at the following address:
http://www.thereelword.net/

GONE GIRL

Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) are a not-so-happily married couple. Their five year marriage is seemingly on the verge of divorce.  Nick returns home one afternoon to discover evidence of a struggle in their house, and that Amy is missing. He contacts the police and as the investigation proceeds, further details of their rocky marriage are revealed and the finger of suspicion begins to point toward Nick himself. He must fight not only the charges against him, but also a PR battle against a merciless, judgmental media. As our opinions of Nick oscillate between guilty and innocent, it soon becomes apparent that perhaps all is not as it seems.

Gone Girl is David Fincher's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's popular novel of the same name. Its baffling critical acclaim contrasting starkly with the simple fact it is one of the stupidest films ever made. The plot is utterly, maddeningly absurd. There is of course,  nothing wrong with stupidity in context, but with Gone Girl being compared to Hitchcock and championed as a razor sharp satire, it is asking you to take it seriously. There comes a point at which ridiculous plotting starts to become annoying, and the two and a half hour run time asks you to endure a lot.

In fairness, it is well acted and the cast do well with what they are given, but it is hamstrung by cliche and is alarmingly clunky. The media,  whom it supposedly satirises, are portrayed as one dimensional, reactionary and straight out of The Simpsons. I half expected Godfrey Jones to appear at any second.  Nick's lawyer, the crazily named Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry) is no more a character than Seinfeld's Johnny Cochran parody,  Jackie Chiles. Nick's proposal to Amy, told via flashback, is cringeworthy and soap opera-level naff.  The whole movie is Fincher on autopilot.

Ultimately Gone Girl feels idiotic.  It relies on dumb luck, logic-defying plot holes and character leaps that belie any pretext of reality. The world these characters inhabit has about as much to do with ours as Star Wars. As outlandish trash, Gone Girl might find a niche - or as a movie you might watch on a plane, alongside the novel you might buy in the airport. But as stylish noir or Hitchcockian thriller it's got serious delusions of grandeur.

IMDB: Gone Girl

by Ben Holmes

by Matt Needle

by Fernando Reza

THE ONE

Jet Li's mind bending, high concept, sci-fi, martial arts actioner The One is another addition to the underrated list. Lost to many people in the post-matrix deluge of slow-mo, CGI heavy bullet-time movies of the early 00s, The One deserves reassessment. Bestowed with an intriguing, albeit loopy concept, The One delivers an interesting meld of science fiction and action movie joy.

The bonkers concept essentially sees Jet Li trying to kill all the other Jet Li's across various dimensions, so that he can absorb their strength and become the most powerful Jet Li in the Universe! As his evil bastard alter ago, Gabriel Yulaw, he attempts a spot of interdimensional homicide, but just as Yulaw (Jet Li) gets stronger with each assassination, so too does good guy cop Gabe Law (Jet Li). As the number of interdimensional Jet Li's dwindle, it falls to Gabe and a pair of agents from a parallel universe police force called the Multiverse Authority (MVA) to stop him.

Generally you go into a Jet Li movie wanting to see Jet Li hand some bad guys their ass, but in The One Jet Li hands himself his own ass! Through a variety of  gravity defying action scenes and super pumped fisticuffs, The One's effects have held up well. The wire work fight scenes are convincing as Gabe battles both himself and battalions of cops, and there is an awesome set piece where a powered-up Yulaw attacks a motorcycle plod with a vehicle in each hand!

The One also has a pretty great cast going for it. Veteran character actor Delroy Lindo provides the acting chops, as World-weary MVA Agent Harry Roedecker.  Dean Norris from Breaking Bad also features; and it has an early appearance by Jason Statham who stomps around with another dicey accent, but gives the film cred by playing it totally straight and taking the material seriously. In fact, Crank aside, this might very well be The Stath's finest hour, despite the fact he doesn't really get to show off his fighting prowess.

Director James Wong and writer Glen Morgan have a notable back catalogue in the form of the first, surprisingly enjoyable, Final Destination movie, alongside consistent work on both Millennium and The X Files.  I doubt there are that many folk who are enamoured enough with this movie to sit down with the director’s commentary on, but let the record show I am that person. In an enlightening talk track we learn that one of the characters in the hospital morgue scene is played by none other than Mark Borchardt from the incredible against-the-odds movie making documentary American Movie. We’re then hit with the revelation that Jonathan Ke Quan aka Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Data from The Goonies, assisted on the fight choreography! Much is made of the fact the production was hit with budget constraints and a studio desperate for a PG13 rating, resulting in the elimination of a spectacular souped-up car chase, and a planned Statham versus Li dust up.  We are therefore left to only imagine the lofty heights The One might have soared to, were its wings not clipped by a reduced budget and a concession to tone down the violence.

Critics have accused The One of being too similar to Highlander, but ultimately that's a little lazy and unfair. That assertion overlooks one crucial fact... Highlander is cack. If there are a couple of negatives it's that the excellent Carla Gugino is wasted in a generic-wife role, and I could have done without the Nu Metal on the soundtrack.

Otherwise, there is plenty of fun to be had with The One. It does everything you want it to, and it’s just a tall, frosty glass of enjoyment.

IMDB: The One

BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) follows - quite literally - Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton), the ex-star of Hollywood's hugely successful Birdman franchise, as he courts legitimacy with a Broadway production of the Raymond Carver story ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’.  Riggan is staking everything - his financial stability, his professional reputation, his sanity - on the success of  his play, as he encounters problems with his cast and his own brittle metal state. His internal monologue, personified by his famous Birdman character, is constantly questioning whether he wants critical acclaim or global celebrity.

Alejandro González Iñárritu has crafted a strange and enigmatic movie. Birdman's two hour duration is presented as one long, glorious tracking shot. It's an inventive device that succeeds in depicting the whole movie almost as if it were itself a play; and it lends itself to some very inventive problem solving when faced with the progression of time and location. Likewise, the superhero motif of Riggan's past glory is used to illustrate the movie's bigger, art v commercialism pondering, and creatively sketches Riggan's mental unravelling.

It's Keaton's show, and no mistake, but he's ably abetted by the likes of Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis testing their acting mettle here. But for all its great performances, it does over-egg itself at times. Emma Stone's grandstanding,  wide eyed gesticulating is a gnats cock away from being Jack Nicholson on the stairs in The Shining shrieking "gimme the bat", and even Keaton himself ramps up the 'actor face' a bit much.  Edward Norton excels above all others as Mike Shiner, the best actor in the production, which has one wondering if this is intentional - if the actors in the movie are supposed to be mimicking the skills and qualities of the actors in the theatre production - or if that's reading too much into it?

Birdman is a weird,  interesting cinema experience, but is ultimately a little unsatisfying.  Is Birdman just musing on relevance in the digital age, and creative success versus commercial success  like it's conflicted protagonist? Or is there a message in the madness? Perhaps it is merely asking questions of itself and its audience, despite feeling like it has a point to make. On the one hand Birdman is taking pot shots at Hollywood and comic book movies, while on the other, it rails against the critic who dismisses Riggan outright for his celebrity and populist career. It's message therefore, IF it has one, is left feeling a little inscrutable.

Nonetheless, Birdman is an absorbing watch. I'm not sure if it is quite the challenging piece of cinema it is being held up to be. Nor is it perhaps fully deserving of all its attendant hyperbole.  But it is certainly an intriguing curiosity, with a very pleasing oddness about it. And that alone makes it worth a look.

IMDB: Birdman