Review: Paterson

The last few years has seen my film taste change dramatically. I have been going to films that I would not have even considered going to. I am now discovering some wonderful independent and low budget features.

This latest one by director Jim Jarmusch is another one to fit into that category. I have seen only two of Jarmusch's eleven previous features, Ghost Dog: The Way Of Of The Samurai which was good, and Only Lovers Left Alive which I really enjoyed.

What I got from Paterson, was a very poignant, profound, contemplative and surprisingly charming flick. The more I was watching it, the bigger my revelation came that this looked a lot like a Richard Linklater film. If you are aware of what Linklater is like, then you know that I was enjoying this.
While nothing sudden or shocking happens, it is just shows a slice of life that managed to be intriguing viewing and managed to have me invested by the second act.

There were four very memorable performances. Adam Driver was a great lead in what was a subtle performance. He gave us an interesting character, and it is great to see him do something small after being heavily involved in the latest Star Wars film.
Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani was a real star in this. Her chemistry with Driver was crucial to the success of this film, and it worked a treat. It created a lot of comical and charming moments.
It was nice to see Barry Shabaka Henley lead the minor roles. He certainly had his moments that were as memorable as the leads. Despite all those strong performances, it was the character of Marvin that will last longer in the memories of most people. I must mention, that Marvin is a dog. I was sad to find out afterwards, that the dog (whose real name is Nellie) died before the film was released.

Not many negatives to mention. There were some moments that felt irrelevant to me. But as the film is showing 'a week in the life of'', then I should not criticize it too much.

But overall, I had a nice time watching this. It has plenty of laughs, which I was not expecting. If you like dead-pan humor, then you're in for a treat, as this film is full of it.
The performances are great, it is shot really well, and the film gives the town setting a lot of appeal, and it almost becomes a character in itself. 2016 is certainly a year for the independent films, and this is another welcomed addition.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since the release of the eighth and final Harry Potter film. People from my generation has had this Wizarding franchise as an integral part of their childhood, right the way through to the beginning of adult life.

Now, we have the beginning of another possible franchise within this world. My initial emotions was of high excitement as I really enjoyed all the Harry Potter films. But when I heard about them stretching it out to five films, I was not sure if it would be anywhere near as consistently good as Potter. It is clear to see that they are only doing this as this is the only successful franchise Warner Bros has at the moment, and they need to make more as it still sells.

Now that I have seen it, I have to admit I was disappointed for the most part. But don't worry, I still thought it was good, but only just.

I liked it that you don't need to have seen the previous Harry Potter films to understand what's going on. Yes, there are some small hints and nods for the fans to look out for. But overall, it is most definitely a stand alone feature. I appreciated that they did not rely on fan service for us to like it. I think all of that is due to J.K Rowling being the head writer for this film, and her power will have shunned any interference from various studio executives away.
But as much as I am glad to see Rowling involved in the writing. You can see her lack of experience when it comes to writing for movies. It did feel like a book writer was writing a film for the first time.

Eddie Redmayne was solid overall. He kept my interest and carried the movie well. By the end of it, a part of me thought of him as more of Doctor Who, particularly Matt Smith's version.
Katherine Waterstone's character was strange. While her backstory got me interested, her performance was a mixed bag. I liked her intentions throughout the film, but her execution in the performance felt jumpy. At times it moved the story a long nicely, but there were also long gaps of silence in the scenes she was in. It felt quite awkward and out of place.
I liked Colin Farrell's performance. I am a fan of his, and he was certainly the character I wanted to know more about.  I also found enjoyment from Alison Sudol's role in this film. She was a nice addition to the team and I would like to see her in future films.
As for Dan Fogler, he was solid and joyful at times in his role as the comedic relief. His comedy moments were a mixed bag for me. Some worked (including one very funny moment), the rest was weak. But thankfully he was not annoying at all. I would be happy if we saw him again in future films.
Ezra Miller was creepy and intense. But I was struggling to be interested by him and see what he was supposed to be in this film. There was a nice surprise in the form of Ron Perlman, who made a short appearance.

Sadly, there are more negatives or frustrations than positives. The pacing was really off-putting and was my biggest problem with the film. It was certainly not a smooth and flowing ride and more of a constant stalling instead. If it was tighter, then I think we would be talking about a more enjoyable feature that could praise more than criticize. I think maybe that there were two different films in this, and neither could go hand-in-hand to make it an enjoyable or highly memorable feature.
With the pacing feeling mainly slow, it made the duration feel long. I reckon I could have taken off about 20 minutes.

I feel like I'm giving this film some stick. So I will mention the good stuff and there is a fair amount of it. I like the setting of it. It certainly felt like I was transported to 1920's New York. I really liked the ideas and I could see real potential in the characters for future films.
I loved the designs of the creatures, and some of them managed to steal the show many times during the film. However after seeing it, there are some scary similarities to Pokemon. It's not completely identical, just some parts of it are similar. It will be interesting to see how many other people see that as well.
The visual effects was good overall. There is certainly much more CGI then in the Harry Potter films. Whether that is seen as a negative, that is open for debate.

In the end, the movie ended up being kind of flat. But with that in mind, I still enjoyed enough of it to give it a pass. It is certainly not a bad film. But the lack of emotional weight and coherence won't make this one of the more memorable films of this year. I was struggling to see what the priority story-line was. But I still came out of the film mildly pleased.

For anyone going with young kids, I don't think it's one for them (unless they could handle ALL the Harry Potter films). I honestly think their attention span won't last.

I will say though for a ninth film in a franchise, I am impressed that they are all good at worst. If I had to rank it with the Harry Potter films it would be near the bottom, or possibly at the very bottom.
I am not sure if they could carry this on for four more films as initially planned by the studio. Nevertheless, I remain excited for where they could potentially go. But I think I will set my standards a little lower for the next installment.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Sully: Miracle On The Hudson

When a new Clint Eastwood directed film comes out, you know you are expecting a solid film at worst.

His style of film-making is very simple, straight forward and can usually satisfy many demographics.

With this latest release, it looked like it was going to be something similar to American Sniper, i.e. a heroic American story where the director goes a bit too 'flag-wavey' with the content. However, I did have hope that it may be something more than that, as I remember when the story initially broke and like many, I found it to be a great story about your every-day worker becoming a national hero over-night.

As for the film, it was a pretty satisfying watch. The beginning was certainly not what I expected. It was not structured the way I thought it would be, and that certainly got me intrigued from the very beginning. I'm glad they did this, as I felt doing the events in chronological order might have been less compelling, as it would have been too safe, even by Eastwood's standards.

As I said before, it is a really interesting story. But I can't believe some of the things that happened after the event that the film shows. Also, the way the incident that we know about is executed onto film is really well. I was fairly tense throughout that segment.

Tom Hanks was in the lead, and you know what to expect with him. His performance is no different. It is another strong and solid performance. It's not going to win him any Oscars. But it will be one that won't be ignored when we look back at his previous work.
It was great to see Aaron Eckhart again in the main supporting role, and in a good film which he is not known for. Yes he was in The Dark Knight, but that was one of the few exceptions.

One performance I have to mention is Mike O'Malley. While it is just a minor role, his character is such a douche, and he plays it so well. His smarmy look instantly gives you that feeling of, "you are not going to like this guy".

There are only minor negatives to speak of. There moments of cheesiness from a few minor characters and in the dialogue as well. Also, there are some overly-patriotic moments that reminded me of American Sniper. But thankfully, there was not as many that would have changed my overall view.

Also if I was being harsh, I could probably say that it felt too safe. I think if the tone was edgier, then this might have been great instead of good.

One part of the film that is both a positive and a negative, is the duration. While I am glad that this was the duration (96 mins) that it probably needed to be. The story still felt stretched at times. But I am glad Eastwood and his team did not extend it to a stupid amount as I know Eastwood films can usually go over 2 hours.

While a lot was not exceptional, everything is done well. Eastwood's direction I felt gave us story that he wanted to tell. Hanks continues to show he is one of the best actors of all-time and his chemistry with Eckhart is one of the films strongest components.
I managed to see this in IMAX, and it is pretty good in that format. It is worth your money, especially when it was filmed entirely in IMAX, rather retro-fitted after initial filming.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Nocturnal Animals

This is certainly the week for Amy Adams, as two of her three 2016 releases is coming out in the space of six days here in the UK.
Director Tom Ford has done very little within the film industry. He is more known for his work within fashion. But his work in his only other film as director 'A Single Man' showed us his potential.

In this one, Ford has the amazing talents of Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal to use. I am a big fan of Gyllenhaal. His choice of projects hardly ever ends up being a stinker. He is consistently strong and anything that I see him advertised in, that is enough for me to go and check it out.
As for Adams, apart from Catch Me If You Can, her career has effectively kicked off in the mainstream world, in 2007 with Enchanted. Now, she has become a huge A-lister that you can almost guarantee any film she is in to be in the running for possible awards success.

Not expecting will certainly be the theme of this review. I went into this with very little knowledge of what to expect, except that it was being billed as a thriller. A thriller I got, but not one that ended up being so hard-hitting. Even the story structure was made in a way I have not seen in many films. I had no idea where it was going, it had lots of nice twists and turns, it was tense pretty much all the way through and I found it to be a very powerful and engrossing story.

Jake Gyllenhaal continues to show the vastness of his talent with another strong performance. Maybe not as worthy of an award nomination like his performances in Nightcrawler, Demolition or Brokeback Mountain. But still another memorable role to be added to his consistently strong back catalogue. It was a more subdued outing for Amy Adams. Nevertheless, she was the right person for the role and did it well.
A couple of shining stars in the supporting roles. Michael Shannon is great as always. He makes any performance feel natural and effortless. He continues to be one of the best actors to be in a supporting role. Who knew Aaron Taylor-Johnson would be really good in his almost unrecognisable role as an incredible vile character.
Also, there are a surprising amount of cameos that would even challenge the amount in Anchorman 2.

A lot of technical aspects to the film that I must praise. It's shot really well. Once you see it, you will be impressed more then your usual cinematographer, as there are different types of cinematography needed for this film, and they all work.
Some other aspects that I don't usually mention is the use of sound and the editing. I don't usually know what is great use of sound or editing. But in certain films, you can tell when something clever has been done in those departments to give more depth to the story, and I noticed it in this one. Props to those respective crew members.

A big thumbs up for this. Tom Ford has great job. It is a very well crafted film that deals with some interesting and disturbing content. This film shows where he can go and how wide his variety can be. His attention to detail is as top notch as ever. The performances as a whole are strong and the story is one of the most unique ones this year. It is tense, a real tough watch and executes the upsetting scenes rather well. I can see this being in the running for possible awards nominations.

Additional, I must mention that the opening credits are certainly one of the strangest ones I have seen. You will instantly go "What On Earth Is This?!" But trust me, it does mean something once the film gets going. Also, the score in those credits sounds great.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Light Between Oceans

I remember first hearing about it this last year when it looked like it would be released in the heart of the Oscar contenders.

However, due to post production taking a year to develop, they pushed the release date to about 8 months.

I was honestly not interested in finding out what the story was. As soon as I saw Derek Cianfrance was directing, and Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz leading the cast, that was enough for me.

On face value, I can certainly see some people seeing this as 'Oscar bait'. But I truly felt afterwards that this deserves high praise and any awards nominations that it may get.
While elements of the film may fall under the category of a schmaltzy Nicholas Sparks feature. Director Derek Cianfrance had other sub-plots to work from the novel that I felt made this a much more believable story.

People who have seen Cianfrance's previous work such as Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond The Pines, know that he can get the best of his cast. This is most definitely no different.
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander are wonderful together, and you can see why this film brought them together in real life. I am a huge fan of both of them, and I am glad to see these big stars continue to show everyone their talent on-screen. Their chemistry is so strong and it sells the film superbly. Becoming a couple in real life has given this film more life then any other romance drama would normally have.
Rachel Weisz was a good support also, and did well with what she had as this film is eclipsed by Fassbender and Vikander.

But amazingly, not even Fassbender and Vikander could topple the real star of the film. The choice of landscape is stunning and the cinematography by Adam Arkapaw certainly makes the most of it, with many gorgeous images from start to finish that I would happily frame on my wall at home.

If nothing I said before indicated to you that this is a possible Oscar contender, then the choice of composer may confirm it for you. Alexander Desplat has created another hit with this particular score. He is certainly becoming the composer if you want your film to feature in the major awards season.

The only negative is the cliched moments. Those moments did down-grade fractions of the films overall strength.

A part of me was expecting a possible awards contender. But the other part was certainly thinking that this was made just to make Oscars and it would be a disappointment. Thankfully, it was the former. This really tugs at the heart strings. Yes, there may be some cliche moments. But the performances by Fassbender and Vikander, and the heart-breaking story made me totally invested in the story. They are a big draw and just made this viewing experience a pleasure to witness.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Arrival

Sci-Fi films contending for the major awards is slowly becoming the norm now as highly acclaimed directors seem to be trying their hands on a genre that has never won Best Picture.

This particular Sci-Fi is being directed by Dennis Villeneuve, who is becoming one of the most exciting directors of recent years. With the releases of brilliant films such as Prisoners, Sicario and currently filming the sequel to Blade Runner, the Canadian director seems to know how to get bums on seats.

Like with many films lately, I have avoided the trailers, as the stellar cast and Villeneuve running things was enough for me to go and see it. Well goodness me, I was not expecting it to be that good.

It is hard to know where to start. If you know what Villeneuve's films are like, then you know that they are slow burners. But while it may seem slow, it somehow never manages to lost steam at the same time. It was only until towards the end of the second act that I was beginning to notice that I was watching something special. Then when the pay-off came, it had me leaving on the biggest high that I have not had from a new release in quite some time.
This is certainly his most complex work. I was still trying to piece everything together when leaving the screening, and I can tell many others were. The story felt like a living puzzle, and I feel I have a pretty fixed idea on how it all ended.

Despite all of this praise, I will say that while the performances were good, none of them were worthy of winning any awards. That being said, Amy Adams was by far the strongest and memorable performance out of anyone. It was great to see her take the lead and prove to us that she can hold a film. Whilst subtle, I really believed in her character.
Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker were solid throughout. But I don't think they were that strong, and I feel those performance could have been done by anyone. It was nice to see Michael Stuhlbarg make an appearance in this also.

But I think clearly what makes this movie the success that it deserves to be is the complex and profound non-linear style of story-telling that you would normally see in a Christopher Nolan film.
Also, the editing plays a huge part in making the pacing and story-telling so perfect. A combination of those two has given us a really clever story that is making us trying to piece everything together. In fact, the style of the editing I felt was mirroring the dilemma our main characters are trying to work out as well. It that was done on purpose, then that is some seriously smart work by Villeneuve and his team.

As for the technical side, the cinematography by Bradford Young was really good at times. Some moments managed to feel similar to '2001: A Space Odyseey' which I was not expecting.
Also, the score by Johann Johannsson was both haunting and tense. There is also a great use of a piece of classical music that was used really well in the highly emotional moments.

If you like your sci-fi, then there are lots of references and influences that I spotted in this film from other classics from this genre. From Interstellar, to Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Contact, District 9, Flight Of The Navigator and even small doses of Independence Day. There are even moments that reminded me of a typical Terence Malick film, which I was not expecting.

Now that I have seen it, I went to see how much the trailers have given away. Amazingly, they haven't. In fact, it looks as if they are making it look like something similar to Independence Day or District 9. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. While I like the deceptive approach to the marketing, it might bring in the wrong type of audience. It will be interesting to see how that fairs in the box office.

I am happy to say that this is Villeneuve's best work that I have seen. It was going to take a lot to beat something like Prisoners. But I feel he has done it. You could say this is Villeneuve's 'Interstellar', this is his '2001: A Space Odyssey'. But unlike Interstellar, I felt the ending was much more satisfying and not divisive in the slightest. I am now confident in saying that Villeneuve is the perfect man to direct the sequel to Blade Runner. Seeing Arrival shows where that film can go and how good it can be. That project is most definitely in safe hands.

It is rare these days that I rate a film this highly, and this is surely going to be a big awards contender. However, I can see some people losing patience with this. So if you're not into slow burners, then I can see you not being as into it as others might. But I still feel everyone should at least experience this on the big screen. Don't worry if you are having trouble figuring everything out. Stick with it, be patient with it and just listen carefully and keep an eye on everything on screen.

It is hard for sci-fi films these days to give the audience a real sense of wonder and amazement. This film managed to do that. It also can make you have great discussions afterwards with others that have seen it to get their take on it. Those things alone should be enough for everyone to go and see this. The best films are the ones you think about weeks after seeing it, and then is certainly one of them.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Doctor Strange

2016 has been a mixed bag on the whole for the superhero genre.

Despite the noticeable potential, both DC blockbusters 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' and 'Suicide Squad' did not seem to live up to the hype with the majority.
As for Marvel, it's been pretty good. It started back in February where Deadpool became more of a success then anyone could ever have imagined. It is now high up in many peoples films of the year lists. Then we had 'Captain America: Civil War', which was another very good installment from not just the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the Captain America franchise. Then in the summer we had 'X-Men: Apocalypse'. It had mixed reviews, with the majority being satisfied with it.

Now we go into new territory for Marvel Studios with Doctor Strange. The last time they went for source material that sounded pretty odd on paper was Guardians Of The Galaxy, and director James Gunn and his team gave us one of the best reviewed and most loved films within the genre.

The stellar cast and marketing certainly had many people thinking this had potential to be up there with the best. It certainly is one of the most entertaining and is a welcomed addition to the MCU.

The one element that people were most nervous about is that would the mythology work on screen to fit into other Marvel movies. Yes there is a lot of mythology, and I certainly got swept away with it. I understood it by the end of it, it got me excited when certain things were happening and it made me think how the other Marvel superheroes would cope with the mystical power of Doctor Strange.

With the film going into magic effectively, it will be hard for some people to take it seriously. I can confidently say that the cast and crew certainly knew when to take it seriously and inject some fun into it. That will be a big reason for this to be a big success in the box office and with the critics.

The cast is probably the most high-calibre Marvel have ever conjured up, and they did a good job. Benedict Cumberbatch was the perfect choice for Dr. Stephen Strange. You believed his origin story and transformation. He IS Dr. Strange.
Tilda Swinton was terrific was The Ancient One. I am big fan of her work and she definitely brought it in this one. Sadly, there were moments where I was confused as to why her character was not there. But that is the fault in the departments.
Chiwitel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams were serviceable as the main supporting roles. Benedict Wong also had great comedic relief when needed. The big question in any Marvel movie recently, is if the villain will be a memorable one. While Mads Mikkelsen's character was certainly not the worst, it still was not a strong one.

The strongest parts of the film for me were the action and the visual effects. The action is certainly some of the best in the MCU and in all of Marvel's films. They make great use of the abilities are characters had, and it had moments that even Christopher Nolan would have liked to have used in Inception. I loved those moments as I consider that film to be perfect.
The imagery that the visual effects used was mind-blowing and really messed with your mind at times. The fantastic opening scene and use of visual effects will certainly give you a taste of what is to come.

The only stopping me from giving a very good rating is the writing and story development. While it is perfectly fine and serviceable, it is nothing exceptional. The writing was nothing to shout about, and the story development felt the standard Marvel structure that I have seen with many of their features.

That being said, there is lots to enjoy and I had a lot of fun with this. The action and visual effects is some of the best from this studio. A lot of the acting was great and helped the source material make sense to the mainstream audience. Another thing that worked like all Marvel films do, is the comedy. There are some good laugh-out-loud moments that are all well executed, and never felt forced or out of place.

Another usual thing with Marvel films is the credits scenes. In this particular one, there is both a mid and post credits scene. The mid-credits scene is a cool idea, but I felt the execution of it pretty much felt like an spoon-feeding moment to tell everyone what is coming up next. The post-credits scene was better executed and was a nice tease to see which path the next Doctor Strange installment might go down.

Rating: 7/10