Review: Get On Up

Recent musician biopics seem to be really well made.
From the highly enjoyable Walk The Line, to the emotional Ray, we now have the king of soul James Brown taking centre stage.

I would not call myself a fan of his work, but I have huge respect for the guy and I am always impressed by his live performances from yesteryear.

As for the film, we probably have got the best portrayal possible of Brown played by the ever-emerging Chadwick Boseman. With a great career ahead of him, he could well have already given his best performance. In this film, we get the chance to see a controversial character who paved the way for basically every musician. Like many celebrities, he has many demons and conflicts during his professional career. I was expecting something as gritty as Ray and as enjoyable and energetic as James Brown himself.

I definitely got half of that. As for the a well structured story with true emotion, I felt as if I was missing something crucial.
As mentioned before, Boseman clearly holds this film together. The physical aspect of Brown is a big attraction. Whenever there is a concert moment in the film, all you can do is be highly impressed by Boseman's presence on screen. His explosive performances on stage really shows you how hard he has worked to portray this music legend.
Sadly two big problems was the lack of story structure and the editing. It felt hard to create any sort of flow or tempo. It felt more like you were dipping in and out of a collection of episodes in the wrong order. The whole pace of the film kept being stuck in first gear to be honest.

Thankfully, the performances and look of it still manages to make it a solid and respectable romp. You will definitely learn a lot about who Brown is, how important he was and the inspiration he gave to people. We see his tough upbringing, his rise in stardom and the flawed characteristics. The concert moments are the big highlight, but the unexpected jumps between different moments of his life will leave you frustrated.
Lots of potential that sadly did not hit a lot of the right spots. But Boseman's performance is enough to see this on the big screen.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

One of the highest grossing franchises of all-time returns. After a hugely successful sequel with Catching Fire, we are now back in the world of Panem and the adventures of Katniss Everdeen continues.

I think it is safe to say that the Hunger Games themselves are now over and we are now beginning the war with the rebels and the capital.

After hearing that the final book is disappointing, I had my doubts that the film may also be unable to match my expectations.
However, I felt that the first part of Mockingjay had succeeded in many areas.

One big positive for me was that I was able to enjoy my viewing experience even without an actual Hunger Games. With a film mainly involving build-up for the final installment, it got me hooked and interested to the very end.
It is definitely very different to the previous two. From what I saw in part 1, this final part definitely should not have been split in two parts. But for what it was, it got me psyched for part 2.

I can see a lot of people being possibly bored by it as nothing major happens. But what I will say to defend it, is that we get to see the political side of The Hunger Games. The content is highly interesting, there are some great set-pieces and the final act is pretty tense and it ends with a surprising finale.

As with all Hunger Games films, Jennifer Lawrence is made for her role as Katniss Everdeen. Now the face of the rebellion front, Lawrence definitely brings her A-game by bringing out every type of emotion and really makes it feel real.
A lot of scenes kept me on edge thanks to Lawrence's performance and her relationship with all the supporting cast.
Donald Sutherland is back with another chilling performance as President Snow, the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman gave us another reason to miss him with a memorable performance, Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks gives us some nice light relief as Haymitch and Effie. As for some of the new characters, I found Natalie Dormer to be a solid stand out. After her success on TV with Game Of Thrones, she will definitely get a lot of great chances in the future.
One nice surprise in the film was a cast member from the Mighty Ducks franchise which gave me a huge inspiration for what my life has become. So for fans of those films, except something to be really excited about.

Overall, I felt that even with not a lot to work with, they nailed it for me. With all of its emotional and gripping moments, it made me remember me how enjoyable this franchise is. It may be lacking in action, but it adds in its character drama which managed to win me over. It even got me having goosebumps for one scene which is high praise from me.
I found it hard to pick apart major negatives. It is definitely a slow burner, but it sets you up beautifully. I think once I see part 2, it will definitely look better as one film rather than two parts.
This is definitely one of the most intense franchises around. For those people complaining about it, then I suggest watching this and part 2 back-to-back next November and you will agree that it is a great companion piece.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Imitation Game

In the last few years, the bog-standard best film nomination for the Oscars is usually involving a emotional drama based on a true story.

In 2014, we have this years attempt with The Imitation Game. Based on the true story of Alan Turing, the man who cracked the Nazi enigma code during World War II.

Directed by Morten Tyldum who has previously made films in his native language of Norwegian He has now fledged the nest to make blockbusters with a wider appeal to the big money-making market. He has created a methodical look to the life of Alan Turing before, during and after the war.

Throughout the film, we get a well structured and precisely made story about the ultimate un-sung hero of World War II. This tribute to his achievements will make people realise how much of an influence he has made to today's technology.

Whenever someone asks about The Imitation Game, you will instantly begin with the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing. His performance really shows us Turing's clinical, precise and surprisingly witty focus to achieve the impossible and crack the unbreakable enigma code.
His lack of social skills really shows when he asked to be part of a team when cracking the code, and we start to see the struggles this man has had in the past and eventually has after the war.

But what Cumberbatch manages to show that we did not know, was Turing's compassion for a few notable colleagues and his knowledge of love and relationships during the film that manages to be the key in winning the war.

For the performances, the entire supporting cast contributes when needed. Keira Knightley gives us her most refreshing performance for some time. Mark Strong remains a daunting screen presence, and we get an unbelievable debut performance from youngster Alex Lawther who plays Turing during his school days.
It is as if we are watching a younger Cumberbatch. The characteristics and mannerisms of Cumberbatch's are spot on and in many ways steals the show from Benedict's nose.

As for the rest of the film structure, the screenplay is well crafted and gives us enough depth to appreciate his achievements whilst portraying other interesting aspects to Turing's life. The pace is a romping one where I never felt bored.
The visual effects were satisfactory, but thankfully this is not a film dependent on its CGI. The setting looks perfectly fine for a film like this and the intensity is given out at the right times.

I can confidently say that this will get universal praise. It ticks all the right boxes in terms getting noticed in the awards season and it plays to the widest audience possible.
Cumberbatch definitely delivers his best big screen performance and is a sure-fire candidate for a Best Actor nomination. Whether he can win it or not, we will have to wait and see as there are hints of superior performances coming up in January.

The supporting cast contribute nicely, especially Mark Strong and the incredible Alex Lawther. The story is engaging, memorable, touching and it involves a character that deserves the recognition he never got when he was alive. This film is bringing the story of Alan Turing to the masses. I am in full support of it and I can see a lot of others doing the same.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Drop

It is not often that a trailer has mislead me in my expectations for the worst. However, The Drop has managed to do that.

For many people, they are going to see this for James Gandolfini's last performance.
For others it will be the interesting trailer and Tom Hardy's performance.

I was looking a bit of both, but mainly the latter. Directed by Michael Roskam who is mainly known for directing the pretty solid Oscar nominated Bullhead, the trailer suggests a really gritty crime thriller with intense performances and a killer twist.

For most of the film, I had the sense that we were on the verge of a tense feature. But sadly, it was constantly in the development stage and kept stalling right up to the hugely disappointment ending.

Thankfully, this film does have its redeeming features. This is solely thanks to the performances. Lead by Tom Hardy who is becoming one of the big attractions in the film industry. He definitely keeps you interested, and the supporting cast gave us a lot of potential.
Gandolfini gives us a fine farewell and manages to trump the rest of the cast. There is one scene where I was actually engrossed in the film and felt like the perfect send-off for a career that I saw very little of.
Another performance that was interesting enough to save the film was Matthias Schoenarts who lead Roskam's previous installment Bullhead. His performance actually could have been improved if his character was given more development. As for Noomi Rapace, her best is still from the Millenium trilogy most notably in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I still feel her best performance in an American film is still yet to come.

My final thought is that I feel the director was trying to make a modern 'Mean Streets'. I am afraid to say that he failed to achieve this. It felt like a short story that was forgotten to be given any development to move on to the next stage. The movie was constantly in first gear. But like I said, the saving grace is the performances. Tom Hardy gave us a sympathetic character that we could root for, Gandolfini's swan song stole the show especially in one defining scene, Rapace was solid and Schoenaerts was gritty and cold. But sadly, none of them was given enough story to develop their characters. For me, it is a failure. But luckily, it still gets a respectable score due to the potential it showed from their actors and it at least it had basic solid structure to it.

Rating: 7/10 

Review: Interstellar

Well, here we are. Many peoples and my most anticipated film of the year.

With Director Christopher Nolan leading the way, we are surely in for something completely different.
The best thing about Nolan, is that his films have stories that we do not ask for and yet they are ones that we need.

With this latest installment, we see Nolan take us to the stars and beyond our own galaxy. The Dark Knight director explores the use of space and time, and not just in our world.

What we get is something seen as more of an event then a feature film.

Firstly, the film may be approaching three hours, but it in no way does it feel like that whatsoever. I was never bored and was totally gripped by the story from the opening scene to the closing credits.
But like with all Nolan features, you cannot lose concentration and highly recommend not to take a toilet break during your visit to the cinema.

As we get to know the situation Earth is facing, we are involved in a story that sees the human race push themselves to the limit of survival.
With the story cranking up more and more across the galaxies, it perfectly sets us up for a finale that will sell the film.
However, the conclusion that Nolan gave was something that will divide audiences, just like 2001: A Space Odyseey did in the 1960's. What I saw, I got and hopefully understood. But it was definitely not the ending I was expectng or perhaps wanting.
One thing that the final part of the movie that it resembled was one of the Doctor Who series finales. I won't say which one as that would spoil it. But it is something that will definitely make or break the film when putting it with other great sci-fi's.

Despite that, the positives for this film are at a high-level and are over-flowing.
Nolan always brings out the best in his actors. Matthew McConaughey's character is great and is an emotional core to the film. However, it is Mackenzie Foy that steals the show as her relationship with McConaughey wins us over in the first half of the film.
As the film goes on, the performances of Jessica Chastasin and Anne Hathaway gives it more depth. There was one great minor role that definitely surprised me, not just in the performance but on who was doing the performing. I obviously will not spoil that surprise.
The script is always Nolan's centre-piece. Always containing complex theories, this is certainly not one to leave your mind at home for.
One positive that I was not expecting to be a notable one, was the soundtrack. Composed by Nolan's regular music writer Hans Zimmer. The introduction to a creepy organ really gives the film the right amount of tension at the crucial moments. I will certainly be listening to the full score multiple times.
The element of the film that will get the highest praise is its visuals. With beautiful and mysterious events in space engulfing the screen, there will be many moments that will literally be jaw-dropping.

So even with the final act not exactly going the way I think it should have done, I still think Nolan has amazed us once again. His level of ideas remain at the top of the directing pyramid and I'm not saying that as a Nolan fanboy.
Interstellar can bring fans of sci-fi and romance together. This film may been on the surface as a sci-fi epic, but also the importance of love within a family and how far humanity can go. Nolan has produced a tribute to humankind's works and achievements since our evolution breakthrough thousands of years ago.
With a story that will be discussed for years to come, in front of a backdrop that is just awe-inspiring whilst a chilling soundtrack is being played. This is certainly Nolan's attempt of a masterpiece. For me, it falls slightly short of the perfect Inception in my opinion, but you just have to give credit where its due for its high level of ambition.

Rating: 9/10.

My Top 10: Matthew McConaughey Films

When you think of reinvention, there is no better recent example then of Matthew McConaughey.

After being introduced to the world in the early 1990's with some promising performances to a lot of impressive leading roles at the turn of the century. We then get an unfortunate change in film roles as we see him get casted into several poor rom-coms. By then, we were all thinking that his career is going down the drain and his talent will become wasted.

Thankfully, after a two year gap from the film industry. We see some glimpses of hope with performances in The Lincoln Lawyer and Killer Joe.
Then in 2012, we officially see the start of what is known as the 'McConaughsence' era. With a scene stealing in Magic Mike and a truly amazing leading role in Mud to the culmination of his comeback with his Oscar winning role in Dallas Buyers Club.

This top 10 list shows us how promising the beginning of his career and how great it is now. But it definitely does not feel definitive just yet.
I would have had Tropic Thunder at 10 in my list. But I felt to discount it as there was not enough of McConaughey to be seen as a film involving the man himself.

Out of his 50 films, I have only seen 26 of them. I will rank all of the films I have seen and give a short review for each of my top 10:

26) The Return Of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
25) Angels In The Outfield
24) The Paperboy
23) The Dark Tower
22) Magic Mike
21) Fool's Gold

20) Sing 2
19) Sahara
18) U-571
17) A Time To Kill
16) Reign Of Fire
15) White Boy Rick
14) Gold
13) Killer Joe
12) The Lincoln Lawyer
11) The Gentlemen

10) Sing - A really fun animated family film that sees McConaughey plays a theatre owner looking to save his building by hosting a singing competition.

There's lots of great characters, very crowd-pleasing songs and has great re-watchability.

9) Lone Star - Highly under-rated and not well known by many mainstream audiences.

When one skeleton is found, a local sheriff discovers unearths many other buried secrets in his local town.

McConaughney plays the sheriffs father, a legendary sheriff who put great success to his own.

8) Free State Of Jones - A really well made war drama where McConaughey an army deserter during the Civil War. He leads a militia of fellow deserters to rise up against the Confederates.

McConaughey is a big draw and holds the film together really well.
It's hard-hitting powerful stuff and does not hold back on the violence.

7) Mud - One of 2012's hidden gems that includes and over-looking performance by McConaughey.

This gripping drama sees two boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact with him to help avoid some vigilantes that are out to track him down.

McConaughey is brilliant and makes this film essential viewing.

6) Kubo And The Two Strings - McConaughey voice the character of Beetle who becomes a companion for Kubo, who is on a quest to avenge his fathers death.

The stop-motion animation and imagery is breath-taking and is very mature in its story-telling.

McConaughey plays good comedic relief.

5) Dazed And Confused - McConaughey's debut on the big screen which sees his character steal the show.

If you like American Pie and American Grafitti, then to many people this is american teen genre gem.
The film is all about the last day of school for a group students in 1976.

4) The Wolf Of Wall Street - He may have only been in Martin Scorsese's latest feature for only the opening few scenes. But McConaughey's presence was so unforgettable that it added extra spice to this enjoyable over-the-top tale on famous stock brocker Jordan Beflort.
McConaughey plays Belfort's first boss within the stock-brocker business world.

3) Dallas Buyers Club - McConaughey's ultimate transformation that landed him the Oscar for Best Actor in last years Academy Awards.
Leading the way as electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof who suddenly gets diagnosed with AIDS.
After realising his situation, he helps fellow patients to get their much needed medication in order to survive.
Also, check out the mesmerising supportive role Jared Leto gives.

2) Interstellar - McConaughey's newest role in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic.
With an over-populating world losing food supplies. It is up McConaughey's character and a group astronauts to find an alternative beyond our own galaxy.

It is an ambitious film but one that must be viewed. For many, a second viewing may be needed to crack the story.
But McConaughey's performance only needs one to confirm how talented this guy is and how much deserved credit he is getting.

1) Contact - Many people forget how great this late 1990's sci-fi epic was.

McConaughey stars alongside Jodie Foster as scientists searching for proof intelligent life beyond Earth.

With his latest film Interstellar, this could be a great companion piece to watch before heading off to the cinema.

Review: Mr. Turner

Director Mike Leigh has always been a British treasure. From his touching Secrets & Lies to Another Year, Leigh makes some terrific features that usually portray the British working class.

However, this one is a bit off-piste for him as we get the life of eccentric painter J.M.W Turner. Lead by a regular of Leigh's films Timothy Spall, we get to see the life of a genius with an odd personality.

Even just looking at the duration of this film (150 mins), you can see we are going to be in for a life story. From the very start, you can already see the tone and pace of the film. Slow, striking and highly visual in terms of landscapes on show.

His style of story-telling is still there but the expected grittiness is not there. However, the extraordinary performances make up for all of that in what was an interesting story that has an entertaining mix of emotional drama and cheeky comedy.

Spall will be the biggest attraction. His dense and cryptic look at this 19th century artist gives us a great insight into the man, the surroundings and what that this time-period was like, mainly in the upper class region.
It was really odd seeing a Mike Leigh film based on a biopic. His back catalogue scripts more or less start from scratch. But even with that, he manages to create an untraditional structure that we all can associate with Leigh. In the end we get something that is rather pleasant which is definitely new territory for Leigh.

In the end, I felt it to be really interesting and visually spectacular. I was perfectly fine with the pace of it. However I would have made it shorter, and I can see a lot of general moviegoers become impatient or bored with the film. That is where I think this film will only appeal to certain target markets.
Now that I have given a word of warning, I will continue my conclusion. Spall gives us a proper tour-de-force performance and he could very well be grunting his way to at least a BAFTA nomination.
I cannot see myself watching it again as I do not see it as a film fit for multiple viewings compared to your summer blockbusters. Sadly, I did not feel engaged enough to give a high rating despite the great visuals and top performances. The slowness of the story was its biggest downfall for me I'm afraid.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Nightcrawler

It was only a few months ago that I first heard about Nightcrawler.
As soon as I saw the trailer, I instantly put it on my list of films to watch this year.

I am a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal. But when I saw him in the trailer, it did not look like him at all. He has completely changed his look for his actor and that just intrigued me even more.

What I saw was possibly the performance that could get give him his best chance of nominations in the upcoming awards season.

From the first scene, you could already see that his character is someone that you should not encounter. From then on, despite his creepiness we manage to care for Gyllenhaal's character even when this thrill ride gets cranked up to the slightly disturbing.

Everyone will be talking about Gyllenhaal, but the story is still a very gripping one that has quite a fresh look to it. We get to see a job that we never really think about, and we get to know a pretty dark profession that some people would kill for.

Apart from the obvious, the big positives that I got from this was how the idea was used and I think director Dan Gilroy makes best use of it. Throughout, the choice of landscape and cinematography style was tip-top, especially during the night scenes which there was a lot of.
The pace was pretty solid throughout. It even got me biting my nails towards the end which is something that I never do even when it it supposed to be a thriller.
However the tone of it I felt could have been improved. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. But there were moments that I felt it lowered the quality of the characters and the story and that is probably what will stop me considering this as one of the years best.

Outside of Gyllenhaal, there was one particular performance that was outstanding and that was Rene Russo. Like Gyllenhaal, from the opening scene you quickly get engaged with her character and never want her to leave the screen. Whether she has good intentions or not, her screen presence gets you interested and hooked and that is tough to do as a supporting role.

There were hardly any major faults apart from maybe how it ended. It is one that I think a lot of people will not be satisfied, but just about fine with.

In the end, I really enjoyed this movie and was really proud to see Gyllenhaal give a career best performance. It is definitely something completely different from his previous films. The closest comparison would be from Donnie Darko, and I would relate it to Christian Bale's character from American Psycho.
Nightcrawler gives us a great idea that we can think about long after the credits have ended. The whole experience is tense, dark, disturbing and even turns your stomach on a few scenes. There is also a surprising amount of comedy moments, which was nice to see. This could get a few nominations come awards season and Mr. Gyllenhaal will be leading the charge with his full-on creepy character.

Rating: 8/10