tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81999070251470414572024-03-05T17:22:00.776+00:00The Daily FlickA film a day to keep the doctor away...
Art is it's own reward and The Daily Flick exists to inform and delight with the wonders of the cinematic arts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-34164906135585355822013-09-14T11:26:00.001+01:002013-09-14T11:26:22.413+01:00Flick of the Day: Jurassic Park<div style="text-align: justify;">
When I was 7 years old, in the summer of 1993, I was brought to the cinema to see a new film. Unlike today, I knew absolutely nothing about what I was about to see. As one gets older, very few things surprise you on the silver screen. You become overpowered with the amount of previews and reviews and blogs and advertising spots to such an extent that you are never surprised by what you see in the cinema and very often have built up your own expectations to such an extent that the film can never live up to it. What made that film I saw in the Forum Cinema in Glasthule so exciting was that I had no expectations, I hadn't read the book or seen the trailer. That kind of experience is something that sadly I cannot relive again and am unlikely to experience again. However, what I can do is re-watch that film and experience the excitement once more of entering Jurassic Park.</div>
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On a stormy night in some remote jungle location, a team of workers and security personnel are delivering some unseen creature to its new enclosure. A terrifying accident occurs and a worker is killed. John Hammond, played by the elder statesman <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000277/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">Richard Attenborough</a>, the visionary showman and founder of InGen is forced to bring in outside advisers for his new theme park. This is a park unlike any that have come before. This is a park filled with animals that have not existed on Earth for 65 million years. Hammond invites the gruff but brilliant palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant, played by the always excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000554/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Sam Neill</a>, and palaeobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000368/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Laura Dern</a>. Along for the weekend are <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000156/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Jeff Goldblum</a>'s oddball mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, an oily lawyer named Gennaro and Hammond's grandchildren Lex and Tim. The grand scale of Hammond's vision soon becomes apparent and how through the wonder of scientific hokum they have managed to recreate living, breathing dinosaurs on a tropical island off the coast of Costa Rica, Isla Nublar. Were this just a trip to the zoo, albeit a quite magical and dangerous zoo, it would not be half as entertaining as it is. The arrival of a tropical storm, as they are wont to do on tropical islands, combined with sundry errors on the part of Hammond's team of wizard like geneticists leads to the inevitable outbreak of chaos. What follows is a hugely entertaining game of survival as the visitors to park seek to escape with their lives.</div>
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Given how much cinema has become overrun with their usage, it is easy to forget how much of a novelty the CGI effects used in Jurassic Park were upon its release 20 years ago. It was only true judicious use of this ground-breaking technology combined with life-sized animatronics that <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Steven Spielberg</a> was able to deliver on the vision of Crichton's best-selling science fiction adventure. Looking back now, the CGI hasn't dated horribly and still looks impressive while Stan Winston's animatronic creations help give the various dinosaurs character as they run amok. The scene involving the raptors on the loose in the kitchen is still as thrilling as it always was.</div>
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Given the visual hoopla on display, it would be easy to fall into the trap so many disaster movies fall into of casting shall we say sub-par performers in the leading roles. I am thinking here of some of the cast of bridge trolls that populate the god-awful 1974 Charlton Heston starring <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071455/?ref_=sr_1">Earthquake</a> (Tagline "When The Big One Finally Hits L.A."). Spielberg thankfully fills the cast with some fine actors. Sam Neill, perhaps the finest antipodean talent of a very talented generation of actors, is superb as the rock around which the cast is built. Laura Dern has since gone on to develop a fine career as character actor and Dicky Attenborough brings gravitas as he always did. There is even an arm-tingling performance from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_cl_t9">Samuel L. Jackson</a> and a deliciously slimy turn from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001431/?ref_=tt_cl_t11">Wayne Knight</a> as the duplicitous Dennis Nedry. Jeff Goldbum remains one of my favourite actors to this day and he has great fun playing the wacky Malcolm.</div>
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The summer blockbuster has changed immeasurably in many ways since Spielberg invented the genre with Jaws in 1975 and in many ways for the worse. Gone are the days when films need to be based off anything as substantial as a best-selling book. I think the nadir has to be basing a film on a theme park ride but who am I to judge? In any case, Jurassic Park still stands out today for its technical prowess and lashings of adventure. Why not watch it once more, luxuriate in the excitement of your youth? I know I will.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-55545541797786670162013-07-30T21:00:00.000+01:002013-07-30T21:00:04.702+01:00Flick of The Day: Children of Men<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've often thought it funny or at least remarkable that the cinematic vision of the future encountered in so many science fiction films is a dystopian one. Think of the vast cityscape of <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/08/flick-of-day-blade-runner.html">Blade Runner</a> or the dark streets of Tokyo in <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/10/flick-of-day-akira.html">Akira</a> or the decaying hedonism of Rian Johnson's recent film <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2013/01/flick-of-day-looper.html">Looper</a>, all visions of the future that are a touch nightmarish. It is a rare enough thing to see a film set in the future where everything is better than it is now, perhaps indicative of the natural cynicism of film-makers or indeed of the world we currently live in and the direction of the human race. Suffice as to say today's flick of the day is just as dystopian but in the hands of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Alfonso Cuaron </a>becomes so much more than that.</div>
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It is the year 2027 and there have been no new human births for 18 years. The human race's hegemony over planet earth is in its final days and the world has descended into chaos. Great Britain remains as a last stalwart against the tide but has become a hellish police state where all immigrants are herded into camps. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654110/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Clive Owen</a> is Theo, a cynical civil servant and cog in the wheels of the state. Once upon a time he was an activist but has become embittered since the death of his son. He spends his days drinking too much and gambling as a means of passing the time. He visits his ageing hippy friend Jasper, played by an excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000323/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Michael Caine</a>, as a means of getting away from things. He is approached by his former wife Julian, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000194/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Julianne Moore</a>, who has become a member of terrorist group called the Fishes that seek to liberate immigrants with an offer. In return for cash, he agrees to help them transport a young girl to the coast so that she can be picked up by the Human Project, a near mythical scientific group based in the Azores. Of course, all is not as it seems and the young girl holds a secret with the potential to bring redemption to the whole human race. A secret that men will kill for and which Theo will have to risk his life to protect.</div>
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There are few bleaker visions of the earth's future than Cuaron's dark stylised take on PD James 1992 book. London is a city filled with despair for the masses but with tiny enclaves of great wealth. In one particularly well executed scene, Theo views the squalor of the city from the safe confines of a Rolls Royce before arriving at the walled splendour of St James Park all set to the tune of King Crimson. This is a London where terrorist bombings are a part of daily life and life itself has become a grim march to the death reminiscent of Orwell's 1984.</div>
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The visuals are often stunning and yet unlike so many films set in the future, it doesn't attempt to overreach in terms of the available technology. The cars and computers are slightly better but combined with the grime and dust which covers everything it leaves you with the feeling that man has given up on technology as he enters his final days.</div>
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This dark vision could become too much to bear for an audience and the film could become something of trek but yet such is the epic scale of Cuaron's vision that it is never too much. There is enough heart and hope for the redemption of man to carry the film to its thrilling end. It makes for at times affecting viewing and combined with a superb soundtrack that moves seamlessly across genres and decades to pulls at the heartstrings. It is never less than compelling viewing and there are some fine performances even apart from the leads. The great <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0611932/">Peter Mullan</a> steals every scene he is in as the deranged immigration officer Syd and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0252230/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Chiwetel Ejiofor</a> excels as the dark hearted ideologue of the Fishes. </div>
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A thought provoking and absorbing tale with a wafer thin premise at the heart of it that remains just believable enough to carry the film. It is an epic journey and perhaps one of the best films of the naughties, if you haven't seen it yet than I urge you to do so.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-2418150300304775482013-06-20T17:10:00.000+01:002013-06-21T13:05:31.448+01:00James Gandolfini 1961-2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“In life, it’s not
men that count, it’s the man.”</div>
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It is with sadness this morning
that I awoke to news of the death of James Gandolfini at the age of 51 of a
suspected heart attack while holidaying in Rome with his son. It is far too
young an age to bid farewell to anyone but particularly for somebody who
brought such talent into the world and through the entertainment he provided
made the everyday lives of millions around the world just that little sweeter.
He was a peerless talent and one who’s passing will long be lamented.</div>
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Mr Gandolfini was born into a
working class New Jersey family in 1961. His father was an Itailian immigrant
who had a number of jobs including bricklayer and stone mason while his mother
was a cafeteria chef. He was not
somebody born to be an actor and indeed worked as bartender and a nightclub
manager before he was introduced to acting at the age of 25 by a friend who
took him to an acting class. His talent and hard work was such that he soon
began to build a career as a character actor making his Broadway début in a
1992 revival of Tennessee Williams classic A Street Car Named Desire. </div>
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Like so many men of his stature
and ethnicity, it was as playing Italian-American tough guys that Gandolfini
first found fame. He brought a brutal charm to the role of Virgil, a Mafia hit
man in Tony Scott’s 1993 film True Romance, based on a script by Quentin
Tarantino. From there he built a steady career as a character actor playing in
small roles in big Hollywood pictures like Crimson Tide, Get Shorty and Night
Falls on Manhattan. He was however still largely an unknown when in 1999 David
Chase cast him to star in his new HBO Mafia-themed family drama The Sopranos as
Tony Soprano. He said of the role in
2001:</div>
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“<i>I thought it was a wonderful script…But I thought they would hire
someone a little more debonair, shall we say, a little more appealing to the
eye.</i>”</div>
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It was a role that made him
famous across the globe and offered him the chance to bring his great acting
talent to bear on a character worthy of it.
To me, what made his performance so compelling was that he made Tony endearing
even lovable at times but yet never compromised on the fact that he was a hard
man, a gangster who could be brutally violent and display little remorse
afterward. The Sopranos went on to change how people viewed television, pushing
the limits of what was thought possible.
By all accounts Gandolfini was a lovely man in person but yet he seemed
to inhabit the role of Tony completely on the screen. If you have yet to see
it, take the time. Across six series The Sopranos brings the viewer on a journey
through an epic saga of family, loyalty and the corruptive power of crime.</div>
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For James Gandolfini, The
Sopranos brought him fame, wealth but above all recognition of his talent. For
me his performance will remain as one of the best I’ve ever seen for many years
to come. It was not however the limit of his talents. In the years since that
final cut to black brought an end to the series and perhaps Tony Soprano
himself, he has taken on a wide variety of roles to great acclaim. He was a
profane and irritable armchair General in the British satire In the Loop and
the voice of Carol in the big screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic
children’s book Where the Wild Things Are. He played a damaged and grieving man
opposite Kristen Stewart in the much underappreciated Welcome to the Rileys. </div>
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He was nominated for a Tony award
for his performance as an angry parent in the Broadway drama God of Carnage
opposite Jeff Daniels who said this morning:</div>
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“<i>If Broadway has a version of a guy you want in your foxhole, Jim Gandolfini
was mine. During our time together in 'God of Carnage,' we played 320
performances together. He didn't miss one. Sadly, I now miss him like a
brother.”</i></div>
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Last year he delivered an
entertaining turns as the CIA Director in Katherine Bigelow’s account of the
decade long hunt for Osama Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty. It was a different type
of role and hinted at the imposing gravitas he now brought to his performances
as he aged. He continued to work with HBO,
producing a number of documentaries for the channel including Alive Day
Memories: Home From Iraq and was next to be seen on a new drama series called
Criminal Justice.</div>
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He is survived by his wife and
two children. I leave the final words to Sopranos creator David Chase and I
include my favourite scene from the show below.</div>
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“<i>He was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his
performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time.
A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. He was my partner… He
was my brother in ways I can't explain and never will be able to explain</i>."<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-23924748088227491542013-06-13T22:25:00.001+01:002013-06-14T07:24:03.151+01:00Flick of the Day: The Iceman<div style="text-align: justify;">
I like surprises. I especially like surprises when I go to the cinema. I like entering the theatre with little or no expectations and being pleasantly surprised by the two hour traffic of my stage. Of course such things are relatively rare in this age of endless interconnectivity and near constant reviews of everything that a human being can consume. Generally you know what to expect. Today was a nice exception. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qWgFkhkcybvfxsIBLJB6PFrMQiL1SfWsnRe1sy3QeLPqXUoIThwSzRdyPTBFUzGmLDbSO_llqx2VtuDDpZzEhLtGK34vS3_qH3QVpbLGl62D0LfmnHYZSbaAoxX873HnnpBGkGCAerpa/s1600/TheIceman2011Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qWgFkhkcybvfxsIBLJB6PFrMQiL1SfWsnRe1sy3QeLPqXUoIThwSzRdyPTBFUzGmLDbSO_llqx2VtuDDpZzEhLtGK34vS3_qH3QVpbLGl62D0LfmnHYZSbaAoxX873HnnpBGkGCAerpa/s320/TheIceman2011Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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Michael Shannon has developed a career out of playing intense and often brooding characters to great effect. He was the crazed young man who is perhaps the only truly sane character in <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/01/flick-of-day-revolutionary-road.html">Revolutionary Road</a>, he was the family man driven over the edge by his nightmares in <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/12/flick-of-day-take-shelter.html">Take Shelter</a> and the crooked cop having a bad day in <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/12/flick-of-day-premium-rush.html">Premium Rush</a>. Such is his talent that with the right roles he will surely become a star. Today he plays Richard Kuklinski, a real life Mafia hit-man who built a career on a pathological coldness yet maintained a relatively happy family life until his arrest in 1986.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHix8LC5JGhunPYGQ9bDqeR49pyKgPxlMX1nBxMhswgFs6PvrrDu8uW37_TqJIzXYUHOulDeeg-YR7JWYiL5y_UI9k5JOsNFikt9JhmEfkocqnnYzo9zJLvsPYAInSiy8wjjiChzxBaqPC/s1600/iceman3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHix8LC5JGhunPYGQ9bDqeR49pyKgPxlMX1nBxMhswgFs6PvrrDu8uW37_TqJIzXYUHOulDeeg-YR7JWYiL5y_UI9k5JOsNFikt9JhmEfkocqnnYzo9zJLvsPYAInSiy8wjjiChzxBaqPC/s320/iceman3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our tale opens in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1965, Richard is a quiet and brooding young man attempting to woo Deborah played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000213/?ref_=sr_1">Winona Ryder</a>. The pair fall in love and marry though Deborah remains unaware that Richard works as a pornography distributor on the fringes of the underworld. He soon displays a propensity for great violence at the least provocation and comes to the attention of local boss Roy Demeo played with a vicious charm by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000501/?ref_=sr_3">Ray Liotta</a>. Richard becomes a man who removes the little problems that Roy encounters. The years pass and the body count rises and meanwhile Richard and Deborah have had two daughters who seem to worship the ground on which their father walks. Business has been good to Richard and he has become a wealthy man. He explains his largesse to his unsuspecting friends as being down to his skill as a foreign currency trader. Things are almost too good and so it proves as the actions of Roy's deadbeat friend Josh Rosenthal, played by an incredibly sleazy <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/?ref_=tt_cl_t5">David Schwimmer</a>, conspire to drive a wedge between Roy and Richard. Richard's life begins to spiral out of control and as his well appointed facade falls apart so does his grip on his psychosis.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwv_HaArLz4YWGqIQq_tm1hmY_HaCDI3TvopT2RFUslOe6hzWFKsy0n3-i4SPkm9VOTUTpLCT4tBJWZSS9t3G4snyg-WwzNNjznfwnE5OBamVzJ0w_Q9qJ9rNG2_kU-RyyvMuJd6HIA7b/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwv_HaArLz4YWGqIQq_tm1hmY_HaCDI3TvopT2RFUslOe6hzWFKsy0n3-i4SPkm9VOTUTpLCT4tBJWZSS9t3G4snyg-WwzNNjznfwnE5OBamVzJ0w_Q9qJ9rNG2_kU-RyyvMuJd6HIA7b/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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What separates today's flick and indeed Michael Shannon's performance is that unlike so many films it does not in any way seek to glamorise the lives of what are deeply disturbed men. They do not live normal lives like the rest of us, they live violently. It is the violence and the underlying psychosis which anchor their lives. Richard Kuklinski is a very scary individual, always on the edge of violence. Yet so is Ray Liotta's Roy Demeo and Richard's fellow contract killer Mr. Freezy played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262635/?ref_=sr_1">Chris Evans</a>. They are men who hurt small animals, men who engage in domestic violence. They are in short, not to be admired or normalised in the manner so many gangsters are in hagiography-like biopics. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5FRb35Ofi1p6WmE8JO4xLCwIUlZ32Xo4abgRqBqc2xcvf2Y3n4XX_sQ5-FGPIqKFT9bOzC3lZX0QA0SDB2q7wVb1E8_PeGeDgobrKxzUy_UU1b08pAYsMylgwnVENfZPczqY6tXkzOreV/s1600/images+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5FRb35Ofi1p6WmE8JO4xLCwIUlZ32Xo4abgRqBqc2xcvf2Y3n4XX_sQ5-FGPIqKFT9bOzC3lZX0QA0SDB2q7wVb1E8_PeGeDgobrKxzUy_UU1b08pAYsMylgwnVENfZPczqY6tXkzOreV/s1600/images+(1).jpg" /></a></div>
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The film is blessed to have a really excellent supporting cast with fine turns from the likes of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001108/?ref_=tt_cl_t6">Robert Davi</a> as a Mafia boss, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0893247/?ref_=tt_cl_t8">John Ventimiglia</a> who is perhaps better known as Artie Bucco in The Sopranos and a blink and you will miss it turn from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290556/?ref_=tt_cl_t11">James Franco</a>. All in all this is a very compelling look at a man consumed by violence. It manages to both detail his crimes and his love for his family which I don't doubt was genuine. Some of the most interesting scenes involve the interplay between Richard and his unassuming family. Shannon's performance makes you feel like anything could happen. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-75381487621493785572013-05-30T18:37:00.000+01:002013-05-30T18:37:38.636+01:00Flick of The Day: The Shawshank Redemption<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In August 1982, Stephen King
released his new book. It was something of a portmanteau novel combining four
separate novellas under the title Different Seasons, linking each with
reference to the changing seasons. One of
the novellas was a little fable called “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank
Redemption”. So was born a tale of hope and its redemptive power. In 1987, an
aspiring young film-maker and screenwriter named <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001104/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Frank Darabont</a> optioned the
rights to make the story into a feature film for the princely sum of $1. He had
impressed the novelist with a previous adaptation and the pair had maintained a
pen pal relationship over the years.
This was to say the least something of a coup for Darabont. The director
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001661/?ref_=sr_1">Rob Reiner</a> has been desperate to acquire the rights to Shawshank having offered
$2.5m in the hope of writing and directing his own adaptation to have starred
Tom Cruise as the main protagonist Andy Dufresne and Harrison Ford as his
friend Red. However Darabont had his own vision for the film and saw it as his opportunity
to make something special. Thankfully for all of us, he got to realise his
vision.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL4z76_BKUz-xSjeVwi-WcP3Rl2e-gZMazBr68W3_3oaSlyMlSorwUype2xEB154IKxMcaMcokJ5zs1MAFvgGF15yqJkokgubEbVQYiyWMAHslKZNUmKYFmYIT7iph9lU4wSs5JWd1GvS/s1600/The-Shawshank-Redemption1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL4z76_BKUz-xSjeVwi-WcP3Rl2e-gZMazBr68W3_3oaSlyMlSorwUype2xEB154IKxMcaMcokJ5zs1MAFvgGF15yqJkokgubEbVQYiyWMAHslKZNUmKYFmYIT7iph9lU4wSs5JWd1GvS/s320/The-Shawshank-Redemption1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In Portland, Maine in 1947, a
wealthy young banker named Andy Dufresne, played with a Scarecrow in The Wizard
of Oz like charm by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000209/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Tim Robbins</a>, is accused of murdering his adulterous wife.
She had left him for a local golf pro and the pair of lovers had been found
murdered the next morning. Andy protests his innocence; he went to the house on
the night in question and sat in his car drinking with a loaded weapon which he
later claims to have thrown in the river.
He is found guilty and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences to be
served at Shawshank State Penitentiary. We soon learn that Shawshank is a
violent and brutal place overseen by the corrupt religious ideologue Warden
Norton, a fantastic career best performance from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0348409/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Bob Gunton</a>, and the thoroughly
evil Captain Byron Hadley, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000317/?ref_=tt_cl_t5">Clancy Brown</a>. Andy’s quiet and aloof
manner is taken by his fellow prisoners as an indication that he sees himself
as a cut above. It is not until a couple of months of passed that he speaks a
word to anyone. The man he chooses is
Red, a prisoner who knows how to get things. Whatever you require, Red will
provide. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000151/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Morgan Freeman</a> delivers perhaps his greatest performance as Red
imbuing the character with wit and charm while retaining a hard edged outlook
on prison life borne of his own life sentence.
Andy asks Red to procure a rock hammer; he was a collector of rocks in
his former life and wishes to do so again. He later asks Red to procure him a
poster of Rita Hayworth. As the year pass by, the pair develop a friendship,
something to hold onto against the bleak landscape of the prison. Andy is
targeted by a gang of rapists, the Sisters, led by the malevolent Boggs. He is
repeatedly attacked, sometimes fighting them off, sometimes not. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SjAtFQfKPd0QfqridtyfFxCF-7MCNlA9v12SLcsdCycM35Pw3cvxMGpO-QIoktmKV9l0dmfQd1Ehgp7po-0aiyy-QBOZFiKy0UwRseRLgYpEfUSUS3PSrU5ZoA6abb_P7oEzkd80DZ8V/s1600/The-Shawshank-Redemption-featured-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SjAtFQfKPd0QfqridtyfFxCF-7MCNlA9v12SLcsdCycM35Pw3cvxMGpO-QIoktmKV9l0dmfQd1Ehgp7po-0aiyy-QBOZFiKy0UwRseRLgYpEfUSUS3PSrU5ZoA6abb_P7oEzkd80DZ8V/s320/The-Shawshank-Redemption-featured-image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eventually Andy manages to find
himself useful in aiding the corruption at the heart of Shawshank and in
particular Warden Norton. Years pass and we find ourselves moving through the
1950s and 60s. Andy is put in charge of the prison library and freed once and
for all from the attentions of the Sisters. Throughout the decades of drudgery
and setbacks, Andy maintains the hope of eventual freedom. Red on the other
hand comes to accept that he may never leave the prison. As we reach a
thrilling and life affirming ending, we are left in n doubt that hope can
overcome all and bring redemption to those who have long given up on it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am determined to keep as much
of the plot under wraps as I can for those unlikely few who have yet to see the
film as it is such a joy to behold. Andy overcomes so much and yet maintains a
lifelong friendship with Red. It would destroy lesser men and indeed the film
certainly hints that Andy has taken all that he can take. </div>
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There are too many superlatives
which could be applied to the film so I will only offer up a few small
thoughts. The nuance and exactitude of Darabont’s storytelling is something to
behold. There are no moments of fat on the script, it is tight, well thought
out and leads to the finest of denouement. In terms of performances, the film
is replete with some really fine turns. Tim Robbins perfectly captures a
vulnerable and quiet man who is thrust into hell but hopes to retain his human
dignity. He seeks only peace where others might need revenge. Morgan Freeman is
equally adept as Red or Ellis Redding to give him his full name. He manages to
bring a sense of loss to the character. A man who knows that but for one stupid
mistake as a young man he could have lived his life. It is this sense of loss
which drives him to survive and not rely on superfluous (in his mind) things
like hope.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWZ1LtDahA_2GMaRz95Bs9hpBYS-09SeRAjiQ0iDHAD7j4v1SABvQ_jvn-x5Je5l_wAKH2lFDbUPadJrTcq1Fh1TK8cUBYap3Rvqefm9wcWZ32Aq4tCTw8NtCoX10QguOEg7hyphenhyphenI7pV56q/s1600/shawshank-redemption-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWZ1LtDahA_2GMaRz95Bs9hpBYS-09SeRAjiQ0iDHAD7j4v1SABvQ_jvn-x5Je5l_wAKH2lFDbUPadJrTcq1Fh1TK8cUBYap3Rvqefm9wcWZ32Aq4tCTw8NtCoX10QguOEg7hyphenhyphenI7pV56q/s320/shawshank-redemption-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Of course every hero needs an enemy and in Bob
Gunton’s Warden Norton, Andy has one for the ages. From the first moment we meet him, he is a
steely eyed zealot determined to enforce absolute rule on the prisoners. Much
like Jesuit missionaries or the crusaders of old, he cannot be reasoned with
and has a quote from the scriptures to justify all eventualities. Yet he is a
deeply immoral man, through the use of Andy’s skills he creates a vast network
of corruption with ill-gotten money flowing toward him. </div>
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Ultimately the central theme of
the film is justice or the lack thereof. Andy may find redemption but he never
gets justice. Neither his wife nor her lover could be said to have received it
either, their true murderer remaining unaccounted for. Warden Norton uses his own method to avoid
the long reach of justice. I suppose the heart of the film is that you can’t
rely on outside forces to deliver you safely; it is only true personal
determination that we can hope to survive.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__eSnkJasdkgryFolFv6OSYQ3lSOMm9chrOKDSRJ3YMR6VXCuV27BRlXKZWIufCwKtvEhq8JQm81sFZoIHEUNd77bllrzsY6riKw_xKVkGp4FbJR8mmnCfdsDQYAaFYattL3RetoBc5q7/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__eSnkJasdkgryFolFv6OSYQ3lSOMm9chrOKDSRJ3YMR6VXCuV27BRlXKZWIufCwKtvEhq8JQm81sFZoIHEUNd77bllrzsY6riKw_xKVkGp4FbJR8mmnCfdsDQYAaFYattL3RetoBc5q7/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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Having watched the film again for
the purposes of this, it is strange to think that it was a commercial failure
on its initial release, earning a grand total of $16m before it left
cinemas. It was however well received by
critics and went on to garner seven nominations at the Academy Awards,
including Best Picture. It was only when it reached the home video market that
it truly began to be seen by cineastes as the triumph it is. In the years
since, the legend has grown to the stage where it is now Number 1 on the IMDB
250 and appears unlikely to be toppled any time soon. It has become something of
a Western cultural touch stone which everyone sees at some point. For that
alone, I think Stephen King got his $1 worth.</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lTSDBhczJMU?rel=0" width="420"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-50580383625490266912013-05-28T18:04:00.000+01:002013-05-28T18:04:41.942+01:00Flick of The Day: Rounders<br />
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To me, defining a film as a “cult
movie” can very often be a kiss of death. It implies a kind of blind faith in
the film’s qualities on behalf of its followers. Very often this means that a
small minority of people have decided to champion the work of a director who
just isn't very good. If the film were the gem they claimed it to be, more
people would like it. This is not always the case. There are those rare times
when a brilliant film is overlooked due poor marketing or a studio releasing it
for a week in only one cinema. It happens. It is often forgotten that The
Shawshank Redemption was a commercial failure on its release and it was only
when it was rediscovered and eventually championed on home video that it took
on the mantle of modern classic which it bears today. Perhaps the original
“cult” movie is Withnail and I, a film beloved by a generation of students
since its release. Then again, perhaps now the film is less of “cult” and more
of a cultural touch point because it has become recognised for the very fine
film it is. I suppose what I am driving at is that a film tends to retain this
mythic “cult” film status until its merits are recognised and the chances are
that it this never happens, the film probably isn't worth your devotion.
Today’s flick of the day is a film that has thrown of its “cult” status and
rightly so for it is a very enjoyable couple of hours indeed, Rounders.</div>
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In the lexicon of professional
poker, a rounder is a player who tours the country looking for gambling action,
a man who lives and dies by the fall of the cards. Legends of the game like Doyle Brunson and
Amarillo Slim could be described thus and it was not a respectable career to
have at the time. It is only really in the last two decades as the internet
poker boom made it more socially acceptable to be a professional player that it
has gained a modicum of respectability. Mike McDermott, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000354/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Matt Damon</a>,
is a young man who wants to play the game at that kind of level. As the film
begins, he is using his poker prowess to finance his way through law school in
New York however he dreams of bigger things. In an attempt to build a bank roll
he can take to Las Vegas he finds himself outplayed by a connected Russian
Mafioso, Teddy KGB, played with wild abandon by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000518/?ref_=tt_cl_t9">John Malkovich</a>. It is a crushing defeat not least because he
now finds himself broke and driving a delivery truck for friend Knish, in a
fine turn from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001806/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">John Turturro</a> as a wise old poker head. He promises his
girlfriend he will gamble no more and as the months pass he keeps this promise.
However when his old friend Worm is release from prison, played by the always
excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001570/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Ed Norton</a>, he returns to his previous ways largely in part to Worm’s
goading and pleading. Worm is like a bad penny and despite paying lip service to
Mike’s attempts to change him, eventually runs up a large debt on Mike’s tab to
local hoodlum Grama. When a long shot attempt to play their way out of trouble
is fatally undermined by Worm’s cheating play, Mike is left with few options. This
is made worse by the discovery that Grama is backed up by Teddy KGB. Ultimately
Mike is left with no option but to attempt to play his way out of a debt that
Worm landed him with.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7w-ynf0fJY1KYnGx0ewXsosjP_QTkeQpcJVYneiFargrfytIFFuc_wHgs-3HDRCrbaKxRVBL7W6kcfVz4LOYBREotp23zrA2IUJkOzGBfO0-eIDchI6JZLbvISw25JGJSbyhanaLz-Y8/s1600/rounders16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7w-ynf0fJY1KYnGx0ewXsosjP_QTkeQpcJVYneiFargrfytIFFuc_wHgs-3HDRCrbaKxRVBL7W6kcfVz4LOYBREotp23zrA2IUJkOzGBfO0-eIDchI6JZLbvISw25JGJSbyhanaLz-Y8/s320/rounders16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There are few elements of
gambling more replete with thrilling moments of drama than the turn of the
final or river card in a game of Texas Hold’Em poker. The most enjoyable
moments of the film are when Mike is throwing it all on the turn of a card. The film-maker successfully wrings every moment of tension out of it by allowing us
to see the cards that Mike holds. Audiences love to see an underdog win, to
beat overwhelming odds and come out on top. It is at the heart of the continued
success of films like Rocky and its sequels. Mike is such an underdog because
we have seen him lose it all before and know that he is only back here because
a supposed friend has mistreated him. It makes the denouement all the more
delicious.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTj_3hinyH2x33jdEcFHWnrbAYVk7F4XtVRUQhWWbxIcDVkxDTbzA9XOHuYsseuAq29yjiubGeEFR0IvaAk7RnDKJQqOWVb36F4g1kZBXK758gs4htnMkdIY05kl8q3EzPTrKlP7Up7vLU/s1600/rounders56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTj_3hinyH2x33jdEcFHWnrbAYVk7F4XtVRUQhWWbxIcDVkxDTbzA9XOHuYsseuAq29yjiubGeEFR0IvaAk7RnDKJQqOWVb36F4g1kZBXK758gs4htnMkdIY05kl8q3EzPTrKlP7Up7vLU/s320/rounders56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In a young Matt Damon, the film
has the perfect blend of sensitivity and charm to carry the role and it is of
course no surprise that he went on the be the star he has subsequent to this
film’s release in 1998. Of course it
helps that film is top loaded with excellent character actors like Ed Norton,
John Malkovich and John Turturro. This is without even mentioning a crucial
turn from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001445/?ref_=sr_1">Martin Landau</a>.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLLFFn8kZbEFhwl3RJ8EMEe7lzae2KjZOkz0ffSxShnPe5KuO-OcR5CzIacVX14BqwYnlG_llypxnip4ZWQk6v53qNHXVviI6Cn6TsD_0STD0S9Qnx0MMS6SncNAZfV93CWEtNtXkxGPF/s1600/Rounders-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLLFFn8kZbEFhwl3RJ8EMEe7lzae2KjZOkz0ffSxShnPe5KuO-OcR5CzIacVX14BqwYnlG_llypxnip4ZWQk6v53qNHXVviI6Cn6TsD_0STD0S9Qnx0MMS6SncNAZfV93CWEtNtXkxGPF/s320/Rounders-movie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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All in all, this is a very
enjoyable film which any poker player can’t help but identify with and indeed
it has been credited in some quarters with helping to foment the massive
increase in poker playing across the globe over the last decade. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-69453772206793024952013-05-22T18:42:00.000+01:002013-05-22T18:42:25.427+01:00Not The Flick of The Day: The Last StandShit Sandwich.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNvesbqgLrGWeOnCienCYqLiACsBJ-rgP7rAXCaZYrr9rh3jgHT4ImtwkLFpTXNW0VL8aAdPyV05boTfp-0nj4M7PJ70y5VgdPmSZn-546esn6Oj_S6cq2HfdD-fpxuouRf-kJ_qFqJlT/s1600/Last_Stand_2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNvesbqgLrGWeOnCienCYqLiACsBJ-rgP7rAXCaZYrr9rh3jgHT4ImtwkLFpTXNW0VL8aAdPyV05boTfp-0nj4M7PJ70y5VgdPmSZn-546esn6Oj_S6cq2HfdD-fpxuouRf-kJ_qFqJlT/s320/Last_Stand_2013.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-70624635083705622972013-05-13T18:58:00.001+01:002013-05-13T19:01:51.114+01:00Flick of the Day: The Name Of The Rose<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
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It is often strange how the
careers of actors and directors tend to move in cycles. When you’re up, you’re
up and studios seem willing to make almost anything your name is attached to no
matter how awful (See the early career of Colin Farrell). The flip side of course is that when you are
out of favour, you can’t get a film made for love nor money. While accepting
his Oscar earlier this year, Ben Affleck noted how his career had been affected
by negative publicity and indeed how he felt like he would never work
again. Of course the cycles come and go
and I’d like to think that if somebody is talented they will continue to find
work. One such example would be the star of today’s flick, <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/sean%20connery">Sean Connery</a>. Now of
course Connery is enjoying a well-earned retirement with a hard fought
reputation as a screen icon. However, it was not always thus. In 1986 when <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000269/?ref_=sr_1">Jean-Jacques Annaud</a> was casting
his adaptation of Umberto Eco’s surprise bestseller, Connery’s name was one of
the last on the list. The studio would have preferred to have cast almost
anyone other than him and when he was cast Columbia pulled their financing.
This is perhaps not surprising given where his career was at the time. He was on quite a streak of failures
stretching back to 1979’s misbegotten Cuba and including an ill-advised and
unofficial return to James Bond in 1983’s Never Say Never Again. Included in this period is something called
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which I
will admit to knowing almost nothing about beyond its thoroughly awful rating
on Rotten Tomatoes.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXfURi4EVJUSpL3nUUVSYpUlaNHW-bu2XtCPG_f3EDCw-jGMRFgNTGEZo06NaUQZEYFgfEybnZxJ4qwjTNPiEWKu3njyDyx-HsrZEd1SFpMTnMvgD4tK1cEvDisenMEFMWU0fiqBL3MOn/s1600/the-name-of-the-rose-original-quad-1986--83-p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXfURi4EVJUSpL3nUUVSYpUlaNHW-bu2XtCPG_f3EDCw-jGMRFgNTGEZo06NaUQZEYFgfEybnZxJ4qwjTNPiEWKu3njyDyx-HsrZEd1SFpMTnMvgD4tK1cEvDisenMEFMWU0fiqBL3MOn/s320/the-name-of-the-rose-original-quad-1986--83-p.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Connery was eventually cast in
the role of William of Baskervile, a Franciscan monk and intellectual who
strives for knowledge while Europe is in the dark ages. Together with his young
disciple Adso, ably played by a very young <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000225/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Christian Slater</a>, William travels to
a Benedictine Abbey in the mountains of northern Italy. Upon his arrival, it
becomes apparent that all is not well with the monks. One of their number has
fallen to his death from a tower above the library which the abbey is famed
for. The Abbot, played with characteristic understatement by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003909/?ref_=tt_cl_t5">Michael Lonsdale</a>,
asks William to investigate the death. Together with Adso he sets about the
desk with a zeal for finding the truth. Along the way he attempts to impart
something of his knowledge to the naïve Adso. However as further deaths begin
to occur, William realises that he is in a race against time to catch a killer
intent on covering his tracks before the arrival of the evil inquisitor
Bernardo Gui with whom William has a complicated history. He quickly becomes
drawn into a plot involving a lust for knowledge, sexual power and the very
nature of religion.</div>
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Half the battle in any production
such as this is having a good story around which to build your film. In this
case Umberto Eco’s superb novel is rich in detail and atmosphere and offers a
bounty for any film adaptation. Annaud’s tone is consistently dark throughout
which feels to me to be in line with the novel and helps to create an
atmosphere of dread as it sweeps through the Abbey. The monks are men of
learning and language who live in splendid isolation from the squalor of the
peasants who live outside their walls yet they are if anything equally immoral
if not more so than the flock they seem to despise. Ultimately nothing is black
or white and all of the monks are cast in shades of grey. The film also deviates from the book in
avoiding great detail of the ecclesiastical split between the different orders
of monks and how it had affected the Church at the time, something that while
interesting would not make for thrilling viewing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyp5ImwKru0Tv_J7xq6m5C8BFvb4v02pt5sMa8OkOJAMpQSR1Al2aa_wAlKoCzfsZknQw0t_FleLo6ewDpk8USADIndAzOebp1WUGRVuft19kkX9zVUAd1XuTZKyQHJQ6zJvU9EwcYCunS/s1600/images+(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyp5ImwKru0Tv_J7xq6m5C8BFvb4v02pt5sMa8OkOJAMpQSR1Al2aa_wAlKoCzfsZknQw0t_FleLo6ewDpk8USADIndAzOebp1WUGRVuft19kkX9zVUAd1XuTZKyQHJQ6zJvU9EwcYCunS/s1600/images+(4).jpg" /></a></div>
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Of course it helps to have a
great cast and in this regard the film’s cup overfloweth. For all the travails around his casting,
Connery is nothing less than superb in the role of William bringing wit and
charm to the character. Plaudits must also go to the then hilariously young
Christian Slater who really makes you wonder how all that talent was pissed
away over the years. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000579/?ref_=tt_cl_t12">Ron Perlman</a> is
almost unrecognisable as the brutish grotesque Salvatore and he is joined in
the cast by the likes of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000719/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">F. Murray Abraham</a> and the gorgeous <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889926/?ref_=tt_cl_t11">Valentina Vargas</a>.</div>
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A commercial failure in the US,
the film became a runaway success in Europe including being the highest
grossing film of the year in France. For Sean Connery it marked the start of a
welcome return to form. He would close out the decade with hits like The
Untouchables, The Presidio with a young and irritating Meg Ryan and of course
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and The Hunt for Red October. Such is the
nature of career cycles . </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-78325006138532008102013-05-06T16:42:00.000+01:002013-05-06T16:42:07.085+01:00Flick of the Day: Elefante Blanco / White Elephant <div style="text-align: justify;">
Argentine film-maker Pablo Trapero has over the years developed quite a knack for successfully marrying complex social issues in his native Argentina with excellent story telling and an eye for dramatic flair. Over the years, we have reviewed a number of his films for The Daily Flick including <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/04/flick-of-day-el-bonaerense-buenos-aires.html">El Bonaerense</a>, an engaging look at police corruption and 2010's thrilling <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/03/flick-of-day-carancho-vulture.html">Carancho</a>. The latter film stars <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/ricardo%20darin">Ricardo Darin</a>, perhaps the best and most definitely the busiest actor in South American cinema. Darin and Trapero are reunited again in today's flick of the day, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2132324/">White Elephant</a>, set in the teeming slums of Buenos Aires.</div>
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In the Villa Virgin shanty-town of Buenos Aires lies a long incomplete hospital, an icon of broken government promises around which a vast slum has built up. In this melting pot of humanity toils the good priest, Julian, played by Ricardo Darin, Julian strives to complete a new social housing project to free the people from poverty while working with crusading social worker Luciana, played by the incomparable <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1089900/?ref_=sr_1">Martina Gusman</a>, to help the local young people escape drug abuse. At the film's open, we are introduced to Julian looking ominously at a brain scan and before long he welcomes a new priest to his staff, the idealistic and conflicted Nicolas, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0753737/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Jeremie Renier</a>. Nicolas has recently survived a vicious attack on the jungle mission where he was working. Together the three fight to try and make the lives of the slums residents a little bit better while interacting with a clerical hierarchy who wish to keep the area at arms length and an organised crime element involved in bloody internecine conflicts between the narrow streets of the favela.</div>
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At times this is bravura film-making from Trapero, we are immediately drawn into the life at the heart of this neighbourhood, the living and the dying. The film has an epic feel from the beginning as the excellent cinematography by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0631286/">Guillermo Nieto</a> manages to both highlight the scale of the slum and its conflicts while also accentuating the narrow claustrophobic streets that criss cross it. While the work of Julian and his team is worthy, it would not make for enthralling cinema were it not for the fact that as the tensions mount in the favela over the lack of construction progress and a bitter bloody feud between two rival gangs, the faith and belief of Julian, Luciana and Nicolas is shaken if not shattered. </div>
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How this conflict and testing of the character's beliefs plays out is the emotional heart of the film. Ultimately the question asked by Trapero is what is the cost for people who give everything to help people with less than them? This is an often dark film but it is never less than compelling. If the film has a flaw it is that its ending doesn't live up to what has come before. Yet despite this, there is much to enjoy here not least another fine turn from Ricardo Darin. There is enough talent evident in Trapero's work to make me want to see where he goes next because it will surely be something special.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-69537001389533999922013-04-25T19:01:00.000+01:002013-04-25T19:01:38.278+01:00Flick of the Day: Cross of Iron<span style="text-align: justify;">There is no doubt that certain film-makers and their work are so adored by their fans that even the biggest
turkey in their filmography will find its defenders. There are still people who
will vigorously claim that Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut is a masterpiece.
Who knows, perhaps they’re right and it’s the rest of the world that’s wrong.
We all have our blind spots but the point is that the overall quality of the
work of such auteurs is such that it engenders deep support from viewers. </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001603/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" style="text-align: justify;">Sam Peckinpah</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> was such a film-maker and when on form and when his work was allowed
to speak for itself (something that was rarely the case during his career), he
was a prodigious talent. Perhaps his most well-known and celebrated film is the
slice of revisionist western that is The Wild Bunch and it is an enjoyable, if
violent, epic. However in my humble opinion, his best and indeed one of the
greatest war movies ever made, is 1977’s </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074695/?ref_=sr_2" style="text-align: justify;">Cross of Iron</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
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Cross of Iron is one of those
rare things in a Hollywood film, a WW2 story from the side of the German
army. There are many historical reasons
why this is the case, not least the crimes of national socialism and the
holocaust, however Peckinpah manages to side step this by focusing on the lives
of the average German soldier on the Eastern front. These enlisted men have
nothing but scorn for Hitler, the party and their officers.</div>
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It is 1943 and the German
campaign in Russia is rapidly beginning to reach its nadir. We are introduced
to the hard bitten Sergeant Steiner, played with grim determination by an
excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000336/?ref_=tt_ov_st">James Coburn</a>. Steiner is a decorated hero and winner of the Iron
Cross who is beloved by his men. While he is difficult and often insubordinate,
he is tolerated by his superiors Colonel Brandt, a weary <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000051/?ref_=tt_ov_st">James Mason</a> and the
resigned (to defeat if not death) Captain Kiesel, played with a rakish charm by
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001831/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">David Warner</a>. Into this steps the patrician form of Captain Stransky, a
wonderfully malicious <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001703/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Maximilian Schell</a>. Stransky is an officer of the Prussian
aristocracy and has arranged his transfer to the front in order to obtain an
Iron Cross. His brusque and often brutal leadership immediately puts him into
conflict with Steiner. After Steiner and his men lead a bloody and victorious
counterattack against the oncoming Russian forces, the cowardly Stransky who
had hidden from battle, attempts to claim credit for the assault. He requires
two men to corroborate, one he obtains by blackmailing a closeted homosexual
and for the other he enlists Steiner. Steiner refuses to corroborate his tale
even when urged by Colonel Brandt with the knowledge that it will rid them of
Stransky. An enraged Stransky enacts a brutal revenge however. As the Russian
army threatens to overrun their position he fails to pass on the order to
retreat to Steiner and his men, leaving them trapped behind enemy lines with
the only option of fighting their way out. </div>
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Filmed in Yugoslavia behind the
then iron curtain, Peckinpah’s film has a real veneer of authenticity to it.
War is brutal and the stark conditions of the front lines are continuously
exposed to the viewer. In James Coburn’s Steiner, we are presented with an
almost legendary example of soldiery. He is abrasive yet fair and not open to
the kind of corruption which Stransky wallows in. Throughout the film Steiner
defies death to lead his men to safety. It is a bravura performance form
Coburn. Yet Schell deserves equal plaudits for his portrayal of the slimy but
driven Stransky. He is the kind of patrician who looks down on all other men
yet has a grudging respect for the abilities of Steiner who has achieved the
one thing he could not, the iron cross. This leads him to dishonour himself in
an attempt to enact revenge on Steiner, something he would not need to stoop to
for other lesser men.</div>
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Like much of Peckinpah’s work,
this contains sexual politics which can seem out of touch with modern times. At
one point Steiner and his men come across a farmhouse full of female Soviet
soldiers with consequences that can be expected. Now I’m aware the Russian had
a lot of female participation, certainly far more than the other Allies, and a
lot of it was concentrated at the front lines but the scene as it plays out
feels bizarre at such a remove.</div>
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Even upon release the ending of
the film stood out for its abrupt nature and over the years a legend has grown
up that the production ran out of money and was forced to throw together an
ending on the last day of shooting that wasn't to Peckinpah’s liking. While the
ending was not as outlined in the original script, it was something that
Peckinpah had Coburn improvise on the day. Regardless, it doesn't detract from
the film and contains one of the best lines in the film:</div>
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<i>“Then I will show you where the Iron Crosses grow”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The film’s production is almost
as legendary as its story. It was financed by a West-German pornography
producer and filmed in Yugoslavia using mainly extras from the local army. Peckinpah
was at this stage of his career a full blown alcoholic with reports that he
drank four bottles of whiskey or vodka during every day of filming, sleeping
only 2 to 4 hours a night as he struggled to complete his only WW2 film.</div>
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Overall, this is a film which
just has to be seen. It is brutal and epic in a way that few films are these
days. It showcases a director at his best and a fine cast of actors giving
career best performances. Is it of its time? Absolutely but it doesn't detract
from what is a great story.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-17986023908772601922013-04-16T18:42:00.000+01:002013-04-16T18:42:38.111+01:00Flick of the Day: Good Vibrations<o:p style="text-align: justify;"> </o:p><span style="text-align: justify;">It can often be the case that
history on screen can feel somewhat remote and detached from modern life,
sometimes the frame of reference can be so different that it is difficult to
take in the historical events playing out on screen. This is not always the
case; the events depicted in Schindler’s List are as harrowing today as they no
doubt were at the time. For me, the
events and happenings in Belfast during the Troubles of the 1970’s and 80’s can
feel somewhat remote when played out on screen given the long period of peace the people of
Northern Ireland have enjoyed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in
1998. Today’s flick of the day however, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1920945/?ref_=sr_1" style="text-align: justify;">Good Vibrations</a><span style="text-align: justify;">, manages to bring to
life the difficult and often harrowing events of those times while also
immersing us in the Belfast punk music scene through this fine tale of the life
and times of Terri Hooley.</span><br />
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At the opening of the film we are
introduced to a young Terri playing in his front garden where all is right with
the world until after an exchange of words with some local children he gets a
toy arrow to the face and requires a glass eye. At this point, I was slightly
worried that the film might turn out to be a tad too grim to be enjoyable but
it isn't the case. We fast forward in a bravura sequence of carefully edited
news footage to Belfast in the 1970’s. Terri is a music fan and he saw all the
greats come to Belfast in the 1960’s : Dylan, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the
list goes on until of course they stopped coming because nobody went out at
night anymore. </div>
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We find Terri, played by the
excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0233807/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Richard Dormer</a>, scratching out a living in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0602836/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Dylan Moran</a>’s dive bar
where he acts a DJ to an empty room. There he meets Ruth played by an equally
excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2092886/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Jodie Whittaker</a>; he explains that once upon a time he had lots of
friends, both Protestant and Catholic and that once the troubles started, they
fell into opposing groups with Terri alone in the middle. We see how his former
friends now despise him for not siding with either side. After marrying Ruth,
they try and form a life together despite the maelstrom which is erupting
around them. However after Terri is the
subject of an attempted kidnapping at gunpoint while walking home one night, he
decides that he had to do something to foster peace and hits on the idea of a
record shop. With the help of Ruth’s idealistic group of friends and a mortgage
on his house, Terri sets up Good Vibrations. The story would have ended there
but for the fact that Terri becomes drawn into, almost by accident, the emerging
punk scene in Belfast. Despite being older than the young people that are the
focus of this movement, Terri finds himself drawn to the energy of the music
and a scene which is truly cross-cultural and without the infection of
sectarianism. He sets out to try and bring as much press and airplay to the
burgeoning scene and its various bands including most famously The Undertones
and their anthem “Teenage Kicks”.</div>
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The real strength of this film is how it
perfectly captures the raw energy and emotion of the punk movement and how
influential it would prove despite its short initial lifespan. Yet the film does not ignore the fact that
punk was not the only game in town. In a poignant scene, Terri notes how
talented musicians from the oft-maligned show band circuit kept the Belfast
music scene alive.</div>
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The film displays a light touch
with a period of Northern Ireland’s history which was grim to say the least and
is to be commended for this. The casting of some of the young bands feels spot
on, in particular Fergal Sharky of The Undertones. Ultimately the rise and fall
of punk in Belfast did not bring about a sea change in relations between the
two factions and it can’t be ignored that the Troubles thundered on for another
15 years with perhaps the darkest days in the 1980’s. Yet this film feels like
a celebration of a time and place when change felt possible and one can’t help
but be caught up in Terri Hooley’s story. As the man himself puts in the end:
“When it comes to punk, New York may have the haircuts, London may have the
trousers but Belfast has the reason”.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-52199831768079450352013-03-22T17:34:00.000+00:002013-03-22T17:34:07.911+00:00Flick of the Day: Nine Queens / Nueve Reinas<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since I first started writing this blog, I have always made an effort to label the leading actors as a way of tracking old posts and films. It was a surprise then and perhaps a testament to the talent of the man when I noticed that today's flick of the day would be the third to contain the talents of Argentine actor Ricardo Darin, the previous films being the excellent <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/06/flick-of-day-secret-in-their-eyes-el.html">The Secret in Their Eyes</a> and the equally compelling <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/03/flick-of-day-carancho-vulture.html">Vulture</a>. One of the biggest names in Argentine cinema, he is a superb talent has only begun to be appreciated over the last decade outside of his own country.</div>
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Nine Queens is the tale of two con artists who meet in a supposedly random fashion on the streets of modern day Buenos Aires. Marcos, played by Darin, is the older wiser head of the two with an eye for a quick buck wherever it can be had regardless of the effect on his relationships with friends and family. He is quick, sharp and charming when he needs to be. Juan, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0667282/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Gaston Pauls</a>, is the earnest and naive younger man who needs to raise money to get his father out of prison. The pair meet in a petrol station one night when Juan is caught attempting a scam and Marcos manages to talk him out of it. He offers Juan the chance to work with him foe one day as his partner has split town. Juan is hesitant at first but eventually agrees. They set off into the busy streets of the city to hatch money making schemes as and when they present themselves. Their focus soon turns to a wealthy Spanish businessman who is staying at a nearby hotel and has a passion for collecting stamps. They plot to sell him fake copies of a rare German stamp much to the annoyance of Marcos's sister who as well as being an employee of the hotel has also fallen out with her brother when he attempted to rob her inheritance. A tense and entertaining crime drama, one begins to feel early on that the protagonists are attempting to con each other and that all is not as it seems but who is the true master con artists and who is the mark?</div>
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Ricardo Darin is excellent as the sleazy yet likeable Marcos, a man who survives and thrives on the strength of his own wits. He is the focus of the movie and carries it at times. His fellow compatriot Gaston Pauls also gives an entertaining as the supposedly naive young thief Juan. He is the perfect foil to Marcos, helping the old hand out of a few tight scrapes as the film heats up. </div>
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Director Fabian Bielinsky makes the most of his tightly written script and allows the actors performances to flow. The story such as it is could not be accused of being too original and if you are the kind of movie goer with a penchant for seeing twist endings before they announce themselves then you will probably see this one coming a mile off. That said, the film moves along at a breezy base and there is enough humour to keep you entertained. While none of the characters involved are nice people, let us not forget they are all some form of con artist or scam artist, they are entertaining portrayals and it makes for an enjoyable ride.</div>
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Ricardo Darin's career has gone from strength to strength over the past decade and though the number of Argentine films which make it to release in European cinemas, even art house cinemas, is still low with talent like this on show the future is bright.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-12761718772959771082013-03-14T22:01:00.000+00:002013-03-14T22:01:47.045+00:00Flick of the Day: Robot and Frank<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ageing is only very rarely dealt with in cinema and even rarer still is for it to be looked at in any kind of positive light. To lose one's faculties is to lose ones grip on reality or the ability to lead any kind of reasonable life or so the movies would have you believe. Today's flick of the day, Robot and Frank, is that rare event and while not detaching itself entirely from reality manages to be funny, charming and sad. </div>
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In the near future, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001449/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Frank Langella</a> is an ageing cat burglar who is beginning to lose track of his thoughts on a regular basis. He finds himself wandering through his remote up-state New York home not quite sure of where he is. His house is a mess and he has begun to miss meals and misplace his children's names. He spends his days wandering into town to visit the library to pick up books to read and flirt with the librarian Jennifer, played by an excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000215/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">Susan Sarandon</a>. His son Hunter, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005188/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">James Marsden</a>, comes up with the ingenious idea of an expensive next generation robot who has been programmed to look after Frank and keep his memory from deteriorating further much to Frank's irritation. Alone in his rambling old house with his new robot nurse, Frank initially rails against this electronic interloper. However gradually as he gets used to the rhythm of life, he becomes attached to the robot. He soon realises that his new friend can be used for more nefarious means and the possibility of one last big score presents itself. He trains Robot to pick locks and case potential robberies. Frank is determined that together they will pull off another job despite the best efforts of his free spirited daughter Madison, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000239/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Liv Tyler</a>, who attempts to remove Robot and move in with Frank in an attempt to assuage her own guilt.</div>
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This film is very funny at times, finding humour in many of the little foibles of Frank's life without ever seeming to laugh at him. His self involved children are perfectly drawn characters and the story is relevant to us all given the way we all try to hive off ageing and the aged into a particular corner of society. However, the real joy and pathos of the film is the relationship between Frank and Robot, voiced by the talented <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0765597/?ref_=tt_cl_t5">Peter Sarsgaard</a>, while Robot continues to remind Frank that he is not human, Frank begins to develop a friendship with him and as they spend more time together, he becomes increasingly protectful as he begins to rely on Robot and by the end of the film does not wish to part from him regardless of the cost.</div>
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Langella gives a wonderful performance as Frank, a man unwilling to comes to terms with effects of getting older. He is nuanced in how he handles the ups and downs of the script and displays perfect comic timing. It is at times a master class in how to act a part with subtlety, wit and a sly charm. Kudos also to Sarsgaard whose voice of Robot brings the character to life and gives him a presence on the screen. </div>
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The film is full of laughs but yet is possessed of a great heart and can only leave you feeling wistful at the end for Frank and Robot. A genuinely unexpected triumph, I urge you to see it if you get a chance. It shines a light on ageing and memory loss without being trite or overly sentimental yet gives you two characters whose company you will delight in.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-5202786512552446152013-03-11T20:31:00.002+00:002013-03-11T20:31:28.706+00:00Flick of the Day: Witness for the Prosecution<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001452/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Charles Laughton</a> is one of the greatest actors ever to grace the silver screen and yet he is not anything like the kind of household name of a Brando or DeNiro or in receipt of the same plaudits as Olivier or Gielgud. A versatile talent he worked until his premature death in 1962 from liver cancer with starring roles in classics such as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026752/">Mutiny on the Bounty</a> and <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/charles%20laughton">Hobson's Choice</a>. A fine entry in his later career work is today's flick of the day, Witness for the Prosecution, an adaptation of an Agatha Christie play of the same name from writer and director Billy Wilder.</div>
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Laughton fills the role, in every sense of the word, the role of Sir Wilfrid Robarts, an eminent barrister and legal scholar who at the films open is recovering from a recent heart attack despite his own best efforts to the contrary. He is determined to return to his legal practice despite the opposition of his nurse Miss Plimsoll played by Laughton's own wife <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006471/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">Elsa Lanchester</a>. However a most interesting case soon falls into his lap, that of a down at heel inventor named Leonard Vole, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000061/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Tyrone Power</a> as an Englishman with an inexplicable American accent, who has been accused of the murder of a wealthy widow. His only defence is the alibi of his wife, an immigrant whom he rescued from the ravages of post war Germany played by the excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000017/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Marlene Dietrich</a>. Sir Wilfrid is immediately suspicious of Vole's wife and of her willingness to appear in his defence though there is no doubt in his mind that Vole is an innocent man. He launches himself into a new trial putting his health in danger to defend an innocent man whilst investigating the machinations of Vole's supposedly loving wife.</div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000697/?ref_=tt_ov_dr#Director">Billy Wilder</a> could easily lay claim to being one of the great director's of Hollywood's golden age with a filmography to rival anyone including highlights such as Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sabrina, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. He is on top form here, carefully weaving the various strands of the tale into a suspenseful legal thriller. Of course it helps when the cast is as strong as that on offer here. Laughton dominates the screen both with his immense bulk and his deep booming diction, a performance perfectly suited to that of a barrister. Dietrich and Power are equally strong with Power giving one of his final performances before his untimely death while filming Solomon and Sheba in Spain.</div>
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Wilder was always a director who could turn his hand to any kind of film and in this case, he manages to transcend the genre of courtroom thriller to make a film that is enjoyable and thrilling in equal measure. It doesn't really have any weak elements and would have surely swept the board at the 1958 Oscars were it for the stiff upper lip juggernaut that was The Bridge on the River Kwai. He deviates from Christie's play by inserting humour into the script where it can bare it such as the verbal back and forth between Laughton and his put upon nurse. </div>
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While the ending might stretch the believability stakes in an attempt to keep the film from falling foul of the Production Code which stated that crime must not go unpunished, it is an entertaining drama all the same. If for no other reason then to admire Laughton at somewhere not even near his best, this is a film worth seeing.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-7578401249463063402013-02-26T21:07:00.000+00:002013-02-26T21:07:25.223+00:00Flick of The Day: Little Miss SunshineIt is a rare enough thing to come across a film that you see without any preconceptions or expectations. It is rarer still for such a film to be joyously fantastic with every frame from beginning to end. Little Miss Sunshine is such a film and remains a personal favourite some 7 years after I first encountered it. It combines a quirky tale of modern family life with a diverse and vibrant cast of characters. It's funny, sad, and wickedly life affirming throughout.<br />
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Sheryl, the divine <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Toni Collette</a>, is an overburdened mother in Albuquerque, where she lives with her precocious daughter Olive played by the excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1113550/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Abigail Breslin</a>, her delightfully huffy and unhappy in the way only teenagers can be son Dwayne, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200452/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Paul Dano</a> and her husband Richard, a self help guru with a clue played by the always watch-able <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001427/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Greg Kinnear</a>. The family is rounded out by Grandpa Edwin, a foul mouthed <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000273/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">Alan Arkin</a> who enjoys snorting heroin and speaking his mind. Into this family unit steps Sheryl's brother Frank played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0136797/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Steve Carell</a>, the nations foremost Proust scholar who has recently attempted suicide and needs a place to stay. Olive has been prepping for her upcoming début as a beauty queen in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Due to a series of complications, the family are forced to set out across the country in a yellow VW bus to reach the pageant in Redondo beach, California. Despite each having their own problems and goals, they band together to get Olive to her goal. Dwayne has taken a vow of silence until he becomes a test pilot, Richard is trying to sell his self-help programme and Frank is struggling with depression.</div>
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The real strength of the movie is Michael Arndt's script which is just packed with humour and carries and emotional punch not often seen in an ostensibly comic film. He creates a world and a cast of character that are a pleasure to spend time with. The dialogue ebbs and flows with a ring of authenticity, and the stellar cast reflects this quality. As an ensemble, the cast are very well chosen. There are no weak performances but a special mention must go to Alan Arkin who is superb as Edwin. </div>
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From the opening sequence where the various characters are introduced at a family dinner, there is a sense that everyone has a real purpose and motivation in the story and that their actions which may seem random will eventually pay off at the story's denouement. Making this effort to ensure that the audience knows and likes the characters is time well spent before we set off on our road trip across the south-west United States. The various foibles of the cast are ripe for comedy and this is a very funny film. The humour is carefully balanced with the emotional depth of real human drama. These are real people not comic caricatures.</div>
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A superb film, from beginning to end the script is packed with humour and pathos. The ensemble cast are perfectly chosen and play their parts with an obvious love for the role. Even the soundtrack with cuts from Devotchka and Sufjan Stevens is apt. If you haven't seen this film yet, you really should.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-63811922734284396602013-02-18T22:06:00.001+00:002013-02-18T22:06:56.163+00:00Flick of The Day: For Ellen<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200452/">Paul Dano</a> is one of the best young actors working in Hollywood at the moment. I first saw him in the excellent Little Miss Sunshine as the misanthropic angst ridden teen Dwayne. Since then he starred opposite Daniel Day Lewis in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood in the duel roles of Paul and Eli Sunday. He was last seen on Irish screen's in last year's Looper with Joseph Gordon Levitt. Today's flick sees him playing the aimless Joby Taylor, an indie rocker with a young daughter he has never met in So Yong Kim's subdued drama.</div>
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Joby is the misanthropic lead singer of a band that appears to be struggling for survival though this is only hinted at. We meet him as he drives through the night after a gig to meet his lawyer to finalise his divorce. His lawyer Fred, played by Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite fame, is equally unsure of himself in the world but in a much different way. He lives at home with his mother and some of the funniest scenes involve the interplay between the mismatched pair. Joby is on the point of signing the divorce papers when he realises that he is signing away his right to see his daughter Ellen. Though he has never met Ellen, played by a precocious Shaylena Mandigo, he tries to make contact and create a bond. The scenes shared between the two are touching and filled with hope of a better relationship. Yet time and again Joby is unable to deal with his own problems. Ultimately he wants to do what is best for his daughter regardless of what that might mean for him. Will he continue to run away or will he face up to his responsibilities?</div>
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There is a sparse quality to the snow filled scenery of the small town in which Joby finds himself and its empty loneliness reflects his mood. It is obvious he is not a bad guy just immature and unable to function outside of his own little world as a touring musician. It is obvious that Joby felt that the years he put in as an aspiring rock star in LA would pay off and that as he drifts toward his late 20's it may not happen. At one point he justifies his absence to Ellen by saying that he couldn't give up his record deal. He now has a second chance whether he will take it or not is thrust of the film.</div>
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While it is an interesting story to tell at first, the film is ultimately not fully satisfying because by the end Joby has made no real progress as a human being. The world is filled with bad parents why should Joby's tale be any more compelling?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-63258863356893730932013-02-12T18:42:00.000+00:002013-02-12T18:42:45.259+00:00Flick of The Day: Moonrise Kingdom<span style="text-align: justify;">There are few mainstream film-makers that are as “ Marmite” as </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0027572/?ref_=sr_1" style="text-align: justify;">Wes Anderson</a><span style="text-align: justify;">. For those who love his work,
I included, his films are a blend of fine storytelling, quirky wry humour and a
distinctive visual style. For those who don’t, the visual style and humour are
undone by their off kilter sensibility. This view is often summed up by an
exasperated “Oh that film is so annoying”.
His best and probably best loved film is </span><a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/02/flick-of-day-royal-tenenbaums.html" style="text-align: justify;">The Royal Tenenbaums</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> while
Rushmore, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Darjeeling Limited and The Life Acquatic with
Steve Zissou have all found a willing audience. This latter film remains my
personal favourite, a beautiful and deeply funny look at the life of renowned
oceanographer Zissou played by the incomparable </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/?ref_=sr_1" style="text-align: justify;">Bill Murray</a><span style="text-align: justify;">. It would be fair then to say that I was
looking forward to Anderson’s latest film, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748122/?ref_=sr_1" style="text-align: justify;">Moonrise Kingdom</a><span style="text-align: justify;">. </span><br />
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Opening with a typically melancholic credit sequence, we are introduced to the inhabitants of the island of New Penzance, an idyllic New England community in 1965. These include the Bishop family led by Walt and Laura, a pair of duelling attorneys played by Bill Murray and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000531/?ref_=sr_3">Frances McDormand</a> and their “troubled” teenage daughter Suzy, an excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4442319/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Kara Hayward</a>. There is also the Island’s policeman Captain Sharp, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000246/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Bruce Willis</a> in fine form and a troop of scouts at Camp Ivanhoe led by Scout Master Ward, a hilariously earnest <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001570/?ref_=sr_1">Edward Norton</a>.</div>
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One fine morning, the Scout Master awakes to find that one of his charges has flown the coup in the night, in a funny scene reminiscent of The Shawshank Redemption. We soon learn that the missing boy is a 12 year old orphan named Sam Shakusky who has disappeared off into the hinterland of the island. He has however not gone alone and is joined as a runaway by his lady love Kara Bishop, much to the chagrin of her father Walt. The pair have been pen pals since meeting the previous Summer at a church performance of Noye’s Fludde and have resolved to run away together to escape their uneasy family life. Sam has absconded with enough camping equipment to enable a nomadic existence while Kara has brought a stack of her favourite books and borrowed her brother’s record player. Together they set off for a secluded cove which they name Moonrise Kingdom.</div>
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Of course, they are soon captured
by the good hearted Captain Sharp and the deputised scouts. Walt vows that the
two shall never see each other again and social services in the form of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0842770/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Tilda Swinton</a> are soon on their way to take young Sam into care. However fate in the
form of an epic storm intervenes. Will the island survive its onslaught? Will
Scout Master Ward lead his troop to safety? Will Sam and Kara be reunited or
will he be dragged off to be a ward of the state? Time will tell.</div>
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Anderson has assembled another fine ensemble cast for this film. Each actor brings an undoubted love for the script and their character to the table. Bruce Willis gives his most nuanced performance in years and that’s a sentence I did not expect to write. Bill Murray plays what now seems to be a recurring performance as a cuckolded husband in Wes Anderson films, that together with Frances McDormand forms a loving if emotionally distant parent group. The real stars are the two young protagonists Kara Hayward and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4442068/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Jared Gilman</a> who bring a self-assured maturity to their roles.</div>
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The real joy of the film is how
Anderson, together with co-writer <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178910/?ref_=sr_1">Roman Coppola</a> has managed to capture the feel
of a childhood summer which feels endless at the time and yet so quickly is
overcome by a return to normalcy at Summer’s end. The attention to detail and the quirky
eccentric nature of his work are spellbinding in my opinion. </div>
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It is Anderson’s most complete film and I think possibly his best live-action film to date. It, like so many of his previous films, manages to transport the viewer to a time and place that they really would like to visit in real life. This is the magic of cinema.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-51901239326819892922013-02-05T18:22:00.000+00:002013-02-05T18:22:09.458+00:00Flick of The Day: Flight<a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/denzel%20washington" style="text-align: justify;">Denzel Washington</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> has been
bringing his square jawed presence to Hollywood blockbusters for the better
part of two decades. He has been one of the pre-eminent actors of his
generation and yet over the last few years his films have been hit and miss. While
his performances have been up to his usual high standard, the films have often
not been. Sure </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477080/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" style="text-align: justify;">Unstoppable</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> was an entertaining and thankfully brief vehicle for
his co-star </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1517976/?ref_=tt_ov_st" style="text-align: justify;">Chris Pine</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> and </span><a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/06/flick-of-day-american-gangster.html" style="text-align: justify;">American Gangster</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> was a fine film however the less
said about the remarkably ill-advised remake of </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" style="text-align: justify;">The Taking of Pelham 123</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> the
better. I won’t even go in to the likes of </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037705/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" style="text-align: justify;">The Book of Eli</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> or </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453467/?ref_=sr_1" style="text-align: justify;">Déjà Vu</a><span style="text-align: justify;">. What you
can say is that he is a buy man with today’s flick of the day Flight being his
2</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">nd</sup><span style="text-align: justify;"> film of 2012 after the enjoyable if formulaic </span><a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/06/flick-of-day-safe-house.html" style="text-align: justify;">Safe House</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
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The film has received somewhat mixed reviews since its release on the other side of the Atlantic late last year however what has not been in doubt is the quality of Washington’s performance. It earned him a well-deserved nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars though one which he is unlikely to win given the unstoppable freight train that is Daniel Day-Lewis in award season. Washington plays the alliteratively named Whit Whitaker, a full time commercial airline pilot with an equally full time alcohol and drug addiction. We first meet Whitaker on the morning after the night before, slumbering in a messy hotel room strewn with empties with a naked woman beside him.</div>
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He is soon up and about and after a quick line of blow he is out the door where we are shocked to learn, or would be if we hadn't chosen to see the film, that Whip is an airline captain and the aforementioned woman a stewardess. Bleary eyed and under the influence he takes control of his plane for the short hop flight from Orlando to Atlanta. There we meet his young co-pilot who frowns and tut-tuts but otherwise does nothing. After guiding the plane through some early turbulence, a scene which establishes that half-cut or not Whitaker can fly a plane better than most, Whip settles down to a triple vodka and orange juice before a light nap which allows the young co-pilot to take over. However the plane suffers a mechanical failure and Whip is woken to the sight of his plane in a rapidly descending nose dive with the earth rushing up to meet him. It is perhaps one of the most spectacular air crash scenes since Tom Hanks was Cast Away, which is incidentally also a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000709/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Robert Zemeckis</a> film. Of course, Whip manages to avert disaster by flipping the plane upside down and flying inverted thus avoiding the nose dive. The plane glides to a landing in a field with only 6 casualties. Whip is a hero, at least until the toxicology reports show that he was drunk and high while driving the plane. However events and people begin to conspire to keep Whip out of trouble for their own ends. We meet his dealer, an entertaining turn from <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/john%20goodman">John Goodman</a>. There is his well-meaning union rep played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339304/?ref_=tt_cl_t15">Bruce Greenwood</a> and their appointed attorney Hugh Lang played by the always excellent <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/don%20cheadle">Don Cheadle</a>. Together they want to keep Whip out of prison regardless of how much they enable his alcoholism and drug addiction. Indeed perhaps the only person with his interests in mind is the recovering junkie Nicole, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0717709/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Kelly Reilly</a>, who Whip picks up along the way.</div>
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Ultimately the film is tale of a man coming to terms with his own demons even if he has to go to great lengths before he realises the extent of his troubles. This may not be the kind of movie many people expected to see given the advertising campaign which preceded it. That’s not to say it is a bad film, it’s not, and is entirely worthy in its cause but might explain some of the negative reactions. The problem is that it is just not terribly compelling. Sure Denzel Washington is excellent but so what. There is little real drama here and a pat ending which you will see coming a mile away.<br />
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Another irritant and this is something which must be incredibly obvious if I managed to pick up on it while watching the film rather than reflecting on it afterwards, is the sheer obviousness of some of the musical cues in the film. In almost every scene the music will be a direct reference to the events on screen. Nicole is shooting up heroin; well here comes Red Hot Chilli Peppers with "Under the Bridge", a song about shooting up heroin. When John Goodman’s coke dealer arrives, guess what his signature tune is? Yes, it’s "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Stones. When Whip tries to quit drinking and pours away his remaining liquor bottles, we are treated to Bill Withers singing "Ain’t No Sunshine". When Whip does coke, we get Joe Cocker singing "Feelin’ Alright" because he does you know.</div>
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It is breath-taking how overtly
obvious some of these song choices are. It could only be made worse by the
addition of a commentary track telling you how to emotionally react to each
scene. So there you have it, a couple of spectacular actions scenes, a broken
man seeking redemption and some hackneyed musical choices, Flight.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-37472424570143652832013-01-29T18:57:00.000+00:002013-01-29T18:58:18.482+00:00Flick of The Day: Lincoln<span style="text-align: justify;">There are few historical figures
more clothed in the endearing embrace of the passage of time than the 16</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">th</sup><span style="text-align: justify;">
President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Time makes saints of the worst
of men and Lincoln was a statesman and leader for the ages in his own
lifetime. In the years since his death
he has become an almost mythic figure, the great emancipator and a man who
symbolised all that could be borne of political will. The greatness of the
United States, if such a thing can be said to exist, is tied up in men and
women like Lincoln. To attempt a biographical film on his life and times is a
tall order and one which Hollywood has attempted on more than one occasion.
That a film-maker of the calibre of </span><a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/steven%20spielberg" style="text-align: justify;">Steven Spielberg</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> combined with a stellar
cast is behind this latest effort should be a cause for excitement among
cine-philes everywhere.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilTlSmThALSdc16KSxxfZmsAV5qnCCc8o54sGldHKZST3pU0ZyWW7MqTDw0lqBiQ0M7wtfD5ztfTGAOMvqtDTvj3zEWhhHugc28MvSs3aatEQ9Djol9FqDHd1phwB0zZS6TQfd0iG3fZF/s1600/Lincoln_2012_Teaser_Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilTlSmThALSdc16KSxxfZmsAV5qnCCc8o54sGldHKZST3pU0ZyWW7MqTDw0lqBiQ0M7wtfD5ztfTGAOMvqtDTvj3zEWhhHugc28MvSs3aatEQ9Djol9FqDHd1phwB0zZS6TQfd0iG3fZF/s1600/Lincoln_2012_Teaser_Poster.jpg" /></a></div>
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Eschewing, correctly in my opinion, the approach of previous directors of attempting to tell the story of Lincoln’s life’s work in favour of a focus on a brief few months toward the end of the gruelling civil war, Spielberg’s film attempts to document the passage of the 13th Amendment which abolished once and for all the abomination that was and is human slavery. We meet Lincoln on the margins of a rainy battlefield as he talks jovially with a pair of young black soldiers fighting for the Union side in that most bitter conflict. From this one scene it becomes apparent what an incredible performance <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000358/?ref_=sr_1">Daniel Day Lewis</a> has once again drawn forth from within himself. He inhabits the role completely down to the gait of the President. From this conversation with pair of soldiers, Lincoln resolves to pass the amendment in the democrat controlled house of representatives no matter the cost to his personal prestige or relationship with his fellow republicans.</div>
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Despite the protests of his Secretary of State, an excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000657/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">David Strathairn</a> and his much put upon wife, a fine <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000398/?ref_=sr_1">Sally Field</a>, he pushes on seeking to grasp by any means necessary the votes he requires. To accomplish this, he must do two things. Firstly he has to secure the votes of his own party led by an aged <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001358/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Hal Holbrook</a> who demands that a negotiated peace be sought with the confederacy. This will lead inevitably to the defeat of the bill so it must be held off. Secondly, he must procure through the use of state favours, 20 democratic votes. To this end he hires a firm of lobbyists led by Mr W.N. Bilbo, a fantastically entertaining performance from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000652/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">James Spader</a> to procure the necessary votes. Yet even at this point, the passage of the bill is not assured with Lincoln having to involve the noted radical and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, again another superb performance from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000169/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Tommy Lee Jones</a>. Were these political troubles not enough, he also suffers with a wife who grieves for her lost son and another son, Robert, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330687/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Joseph Gordon Levitt</a> who yearns to play his part on the battlefield. That he manages to walk this difficult personal and political path while also fighting a war along with his most trusted General, Ulysses Grant, played by the always watch-able <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364813/?ref_=sr_3">Jared Harris</a>, is a tale in and of itself.</div>
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There is not a single weak performance in what is an excellently assembled cast. I realize reading the above that I have yet to even praise actors of the calibre of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0370035/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">John Hawkes</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0355097/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Jackie Earle Haley</a> or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625789/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Tim Blake Nelson</a>. </div>
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The real achievement of both Spielberg and Day Lewis is that on one hand they shake the dust off the mythic status of Lincoln and humanise him so that he may be viewed as an ordinary man with flaws and difficulties while on the other they manage to put his achievements in a proper light and eulogise them for how ground-breaking they truly were. This is proper old school Hollywood film-making on a grand scale and deserves to rewarded as such. It will be a surprise if it fails to win most of the main acting awards as the forthcoming Academy Awards and yet this is a fine year for cinema with a number of equally excellent rivals.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-31198380879609401582013-01-28T18:06:00.000+00:002013-01-28T18:06:36.615+00:00Flick of The Day: Zero Dark Thirty<span style="text-align: justify;">Prior to 2008’s </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/?ref_=sr_1" style="text-align: justify;">The Hurt Locker</a><span style="text-align: justify;">,
director </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000941/" style="text-align: justify;">Kathryn Bigelow</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> was perhaps best known for her 1991 surfing-bank
robbers epic </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102685/" style="text-align: justify;">Point Break</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> which although it contained the combined acting talent
of Keanu Reeves and Anthony Kiedis was not without its charms. Her surprise
Oscar nod ahead of ex-husband James Cameron’s unstoppably awful behemoth Avatar
has since propelled her career to new heights and there was considerable
anticipation ahead of the release of her new film and today’s flick of the day,
</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/" style="text-align: justify;">Zero Dark Thirty</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
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The film is a dark and epic
account of the decade long search for Saudi terrorist Osama Bin Laden, perhaps
the most wanted man in history. Boldly proclaiming itself to be based on actual
events from the opening was always bound to lead to doubters digging away at
the plot and this has certainly proved to be the case. Much of the controversy has centred on how the
explicit use of torture by CIA operatives led to the capture of Bin Laden with
various politicians of different hues up in arms at the idea that an American
serviceman would engage in such nefarious activity and showing a shocking lack
of self-awareness in the process. This does not strike me as being a
particularly controversial point of view but the controversy has dogged the
film since its release in the US and may yet see it miss out on Oscar nods. It
would be unfair to the film to review it without tackling the issue head on.</div>
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Onward to the film itself them, and it is every bit the exciting and engaging thriller you would expect it to be. Taking the point of view of Maya, a driven CIA operative played by an excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1567113/">Jessica Chastain</a>, we take up the chase for Bin Laden two years after the events of September 11th 2001 when the war on terror is in full swing and information is gradually being extracted via torture from various detainees in various CIA black sites. The torture scenes are every bit as uncomfortable viewing as you might imagine and the film must be lauded for asking the moral question at the heart of such actions. Personally I found the Mandingo fighting scenes in <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2013/01/flick-of-day-django-unchained.html">Django Unchained</a> more unpleasant but such is the way of things. Maya learns of a man close to Bin Laden, a courier who carries his messages, known as the Kuwaiti. She is the first to spot the potential of this lead and much to the consternation of her superiors drives it above all other considerations from the streets of Pakistani slums to the deserts of Afghanistan and across the Middle East following every new lead till the events of that fateful moonless night in Abbottabad.</div>
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Chastain has justly earned plaudits for her performance as the unbending Maya but credit is due elsewhere in what is a fine cast. The various spies and managers in the CIA have a kind of grey unremarkable nature as if they could fade into the background at any given time which perhaps they do. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835016/?ref_=sr_1">Mark Strong</a> is excellent as George, a high level manager who harasses his agents into delivering targets to be killed in drone strikes and is himself harangued by Maya as she seeks to push for a mission in Abbottabad. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0164809/">Jason Clarke</a> is also excellent as the torturer Dan who seems to care more for his pet monkeys than the prisoners under his watch. At one point he delivers a piece of sage and yet chilling advice to Maya about not being the last person holding a dog collar when the congressional sub-committee come calling. There is also a brief turn from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001254/?ref_=sr_1">James Gandolfini</a> as the slow moving CIA Director who ultimately recommends an attack.</div>
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It is I think an interesting choice to leave almost all of the significant characters either unnamed or with a first name only. It increases the feeling of authenticity, of these spies as being the kind of people who will fade into the pages of history they are writing unnamed and unknown. </div>
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The film should suffer more from the fact that every member of the audience knows how it will end. It doesn’t really and remains fraught with tension until the final scenes perhaps in part due to the level of operational detail about that night which is included in the film for the first time. </div>
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All in all, this is the definitive account of a dark chapter in world history and how the awful deeds of one man were brought to an end. A fine and engaging piece of modern cinema, it deserves to be recognised as such and not slandered for political ends.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-16551394854511535852013-01-20T22:05:00.000+00:002013-01-24T23:12:04.096+00:00Flick of The Day: Django Unchained<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ah, Quentin Tarantino, what genre will he bring his usual mix of exploitation cinema, sharp dialogue and stylised violence to next? Such is the question we have asked ourselves every few years since he burst onto the scene in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs. His best film remains 1994's <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/02/flick-of-day-pulp-fiction.html">Pulp Fiction</a>, a walk on the dark side of the Los Angeles underworld. Since then we have had <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/">Tarantino does Kung Fu</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1028528/">Tarantino does Exploitation</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/">Tarantino does World War 2</a> with varying degrees of success. All of them had their moments of greatness but so often the director's sense of style has overburdened the film's storyline. It becomes too much. His latest opus is a slavery themed western and is perhaps his best film in over a decade. It is perhaps the perfect match between genre and director.</div>
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In 1858 on a dark and cold Texas night, a group of chained slaves are wandering through the darkness after their new owners. Into this scene steps Dr King Schultz played by the excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0910607/">Christoph Waltz</a>, a German ex-dentist and bounty hunter on the trail of three n'er do wells named the Brittle Brothers. One of the slaves is in a position to help the good doctor as he can put a face to the names on his list. This slave is Django, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004937/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Jamie Foxx</a>. After our first bout of brutal violence, Django falls into the hands of Dr King and together they set off after their bounty. A bond soon develops between the two and on their travels Django reveals that he has been separated from his wife, Broomhilda. Having captured the evil Brittles, they vow to work together to save Broomhilda from the evil clutches of Calvin Candie, her new master and owner of the Candyland plantation played with wilful abandon by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000138/">Leonardo DiCaprio</a>.</div>
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The spaghetti western as envisioned by masters like Sergio Leone, is a genre close to my heart and is obvious from the opening frame that Tarantino both loves and understands the mechanics of such films. They are an epic battle between the irredeemably bad and the indisputably good. In our case, the good are Django and King Schultz while the bad are undoubtedly Calvin and his evil house servant Stephen, a fine turn from an unrecognisable <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/">Samuel L. Jackson</a>. Another telling trait of the Italian westerns made by Leone & Co from the 1960's onward were that they very much approached the old west from a revisionist position, it was a dark, bloody and lawless place full of bad men. This is definitely something which <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853728/">Django Unchained</a> plays up. While at times beautifully shot and filled with gorgeous scenery, this is ultimately a brutal tale of revenge and Tarantino as is his wont doesn't shield us from this violence.</div>
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Much has been made of both the level of violence and its supposed effect on society and indeed that somehow the film belittles the horrors of slavery through its copious use of the N word. I fail to see how it does anything other than shove the sheer terror that was slavery in the antebellum south into our faces and says look this is how it was. It is brutal and feels terribly real all the same.</div>
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The western and Tarantino are a perfect match because his usual excesses feel at home here and they never grate as they might in a different genre. This is above all an enjoyable film and it wears its running time well without overstaying its welcome. A definite must see.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-77731253949909937042013-01-08T18:35:00.001+00:002013-01-08T18:35:21.910+00:00Flick of The Day: LooperA few weeks back in my review of <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2012/12/flick-of-day-premium-rush.html">Premium Rush</a>, I noted that it had been a big year career wise for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it would seem unfair not to mention perhaps his most challenging role in <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/search/label/rian%20johnson">Rian Johnson</a>'s mind bending time travel flick <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/">Looper</a>. A bravely original story, it didn't break any box office records but found solid reviews wherever it opened.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/" style="text-align: start;">Looper</a></div>
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In the year 2044 in a post-collapse America, time travel has yet to be invented but thirty years from then it has been. While the technology is quickly outlawed, criminal organisations harness it for nefarious uses. Those people who have to be made disappear are sent back in time where designated assassins known as Loopers dispose of them. One such hired gun is Levitt's Joe, a man in it for the money with a longing to escape the life and move to Paris. He spends his days learning French and his nights using drugs in hedonistic night clubs. One of the unfortunate elements of his job is that one day his employer will send his older self back in time to be murdered, a process known as closing the loop. Of course that day soon arrives and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000246/">Bruce Willis</a> turns up as older Joe. Joe hesitates for a moment and his older self knocks him out and goes on the run. Joe is left with little choice but to track down himself and see the loop closed or face the consequences from his boss Abe, an excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001099/">Jeff Daniels</a>.</div>
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not an obvious younger version of Bruce Willis and he deserves credit for undergoing the requisite make-up which makes him largely unrecognisable. The film opens very well, creating a wonderfully realised dystopian setting. Indeed so well done is the set-up and the flash forward's to the next thirty years of Joe's life that the rest of the film can't really live up to it. The pace slows as we reach the middle of the film and the lack of any real action is a real shame because the film picks itself up again as we head for a thrilling finale. Please do not take this as a scathing criticism however for their is so much to enjoy and take in, it is just a shame that it doesn't fully realise its potential.</div>
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The film possesses an excellent and well thought out cast beyond the leads. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200452/">Paul Dano</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1289434/">Emily Blunt</a> give fine turns and special mention must go to newcomer <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3163952/">Pierce Gagnon</a> who is excellent for such a young child in a role that very much carries the second half of the movie. Ultimately this is a satisfying if imperfect slice of mind bending sci-fi in the manner of Christopher Nolan's Inception. There are so many great ideas throughout the script, much like Rian Johnson's earlier neo-noir in a highschool film <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2010/12/film-number-3-brick.html">Brick</a>.</div>
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Johnson deserves particular credit for bringing a new idea to the table in terms of time travel, something which is littered throughout the genre. The film is also particularly stylish and self assured and this combined with a fine concept and a stellar cast carry the whole thing off.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-61262217532157120982013-01-02T19:00:00.000+00:002013-01-02T19:00:00.134+00:00Flick of the Day: The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was with decided trepidation that I ventured to the cinema over the Christmas holidays to view the first instalment in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001392/">Peter Jackson's</a> much commented upon Hobbit Trilogy. Between The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, Tolkien's writings were a cornerstone of my childhood and there is nothing as disappointing in a pop culture sense than seeing a book you've adored poorly adapted for the big screen.The Hobbit is not a small book but it is about a quarter of The Lord of The Rings in word count so the idea that it required a trilogy of films struck me as odd. I read the early reviews and was not hopeful. So it is a delight then to report that all my fears were largely unfounded and that Peter Jackson has once again delivered a well thought out version of Tolkien's middle earth in today's flick of the day <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/">The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/" style="text-align: justify;">The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</a></div>
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Our return to middle earth opens with a visually stunning preamble telling the tale of how the Dwarves were driven out of their kingdom beneath the mountain by the dragon Smaug. Forced to abandon their homes and great wealth, the dwarves roam the land taking up metal work were they can get it, a wandering people. We fast forward to an ageing Bilbo Baggins, once again played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000453/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Ian Holm</a>, attempting to tell his story for the benefit of his nephew Frodo. Before long we meet a young Bilbo played with a sturdy air of confusion by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293509/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Martin Freeman</a>. He is idling away his days in The Shire smoking his pipe and enjoying the quiet life when much to his chagrin, the wizard Gandalf,who is again played by the excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005212/">Ian McKellen</a>, seeks to send him on an adventure. Soon enough he is best with a party of dwarves arriving on his doorstep seeking to eat him out of house and hobbit hole. After initially turning down their offer of employment as burglar in their company, Bilbo eventually sets off into the wilds beyond the Shire in the company of Gandalf, Balin, Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin,Nori, Dori, Ori and of course the leader of the company Thorin. There are many obstacles to face along the way from Trolls to Orcs and the action proceeds apace across the gorgeous New Zealand countryside. Given the massive running time Jackson time has afforded himself, it is nice to see him put The Hobbit in the context of the wider Lord of The Rings tale and there are lengthy scenes explaining the rise of the darkness in Mirkwood. As this episode ends, we leave the company in sight of the Misty Mountains.</div>
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When the film gets going, it is an enjoyable thrill ride of a journey and makes for compelling cinema. If there is one criticism however it is that it does take awhile to reach this point. The opening chapter of the novel is called An Unexpected Party and this one party takes a good 45 minutes to take place. Jackson cannot be accused of not being due care and attention to the text, rather he luxuriates in it being as faithful as he possibly could be to every twist and turn in the narrative.</div>
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The dwarves feel well cast but it is difficult to judge because we don't really get much of a chance to know each in person, there is just too many of them. However hopefully this will be resolved over the course of the trilogy. It would be a shame were the characters to remain undeveloped. </div>
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The action scenes are well judged by Jackson though it does feel like CGI is in a much greater use than in The Lord of The Rings. This is not necessarily a problem but at times the screen feels almost cartoonish, the landscape too soft edged but it is a minor criticism.</div>
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I cannot comment on the quality or lack thereof of the much vaunted 48 frames per second 3D effect for I chose to view the film in good old fashioned 2D. Perhaps that is comment enough. I was irked to see however that there was a much smaller selection of 2D screenings on offer in comparison to 3D. This would seem like a new method of coercion by the studios to force you into paying extra for an inferior viewing format. Alas was it ever thus.</div>
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I look forward to the next instalment eagerly.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-66119234530025542832012-12-19T22:00:00.000+00:002012-12-19T22:00:14.247+00:00Flick Of The Day: The SweeneyOi you diamond geezer? Fancy a trip to the flicks? I've got the one for you if you can Adam and Eve it and all for under an Ayrton Senna. You should go and have a butchers at today's flick of the day, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0857190/">The Sweeney</a>. So hop in your Jam Jar or a Sherbert Dab and head to your local purveyor of home entertainment so you can feast your Mince Pies on this big screen adaptation of the 70's British cop show.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAPpH1ynZy-gBHCreFAze1aYR4e9EHIWIYvGqgaVYXi5URPpg9VLOScufaMslwtvoTK5KOlP9K3FzNyL3P2YTSEwv1BtvclWRQbXpbJvtN3ghLQyK7qB3-Lamc6chdahjFRtoS5NtyaKw/s1600/220px-Movies_the_sweeney_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAPpH1ynZy-gBHCreFAze1aYR4e9EHIWIYvGqgaVYXi5URPpg9VLOScufaMslwtvoTK5KOlP9K3FzNyL3P2YTSEwv1BtvclWRQbXpbJvtN3ghLQyK7qB3-Lamc6chdahjFRtoS5NtyaKw/s1600/220px-Movies_the_sweeney_poster.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0857190/" style="text-align: start;">The Sweeney</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935653/">Ray Winstone</a>, a man never afraid of playing the gangster, stars as Jack Regan a member of the old Sweeney Todd with a yearning for a Barney and a Bang Up and a proclivity for finishing his sentences with "We're the focking sweeney, son!" and "You're nicked mate!". Regan leads a group of old school cops with a penchant for clichéd dialogue and the sexual politics of a bygone era. Regan's main partner in (stopping) crime is George Carter played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2304008/#Actor">Ben Drew</a> while their unit is overseen by Frank Haskins played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507073/">Damian Lewis </a>in upper class fop mode. Between extended scenes of Regan's illicit affair with a married woman in an impossibly palatial high rise Holiday Inn, he gets around to some actual police work. Granted this mainly takes the form of police chases, beating suspects and saying his catchphrase "We're the focking sweeney, son!" but he gets it done. Of course things can't go on like for this forever eventually a crime is committed and Regan and Co are forced into some investigative work.</div>
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There is nothing wrong with an enjoyable well made action picture. All too often I find myself being accused of being unable to enjoy simpler pleasures such as this in favour of obscure foreign language pictures and independent American cinema. However this is not the case, a well made action film can tick many boxes on the entertainment form. Unfortunately for all concerned, The Sweeney is not such a film. As much as I like Ray Winstone and his honest performances, this film is a terrible waste of his talents. The script is awful, plumbing every possible cliché to drive the film onward. The story is boredom punctuated by car chases. There is nothing original, everything feels like something you've seen before in better movies. It's big action scene, an extended shoot-out in the centre of London feels ripped off from Heat. The bad guys were rubber masks reminiscent of Point Break. </div>
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This of course begs the question why was this film made? The Sweeney TV show ran for 3 series between 1975 and 1978 starring <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0857177/">John Thaw</a>, better known as Inspector Morse and everybody's favourite misogynistic wife beater <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913993/">Dennis Waterman</a>. However that was more than 30 years ago, who was crying out for the jump to the big screen? As with so many of these ill advised adaptations, it is something perhaps best left untouched. Nostalgia is popular because it shows us the rose tinted view of how things used to be. You never remember the crap elements, only the sunny days. Starsky & Hutch, The A Team, The Brady Bunch, The Dukes of Hazzard, Charlies Angels, Bewitched, Miami Vice, all awful television shows made into worse movies. You can add The Sweeney to this list. You're focking nicked son!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199907025147041457.post-72987112659675168482012-12-10T20:10:00.001+00:002012-12-10T20:10:15.600+00:00Flick of The Day: Premium Rush2012 has been a big year for American actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330687/">Joseph Gordon-Levitt</a>, there was his crucial and justly lauded turn in Christopher Nolan's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/">The Dark Knight Rises</a>, followed by the mind bending science fiction action of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Looper</a> alongside Bruce Willis and he is currently filling the screen space opposite Daniel Day Lewis in Steven Spielberg's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/">Lincoln</a> however perhaps his best performance of the year is in the little seen recent release <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547234/">Premium Rush</a> about bike couriers on the streets of New York.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547234/" style="text-align: start;">Premium Rush</a></div>
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Levitt is a recent law school graduate named Wilee who spends his days in the (supposedly) high octane world of bike couriers criss crossing the streets of Manhattan as he delivers and collects his packages. It turns out to be an interesting sub culture and David Koepp's fast paced storytelling is well suited to pulling the audience into the this otherwise unseen brotherhood of wheelies. One afternoon Wilee arrives to collect a package with a difference. This letter contains something which corrupt cop Bobby Monday played by the excellent <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788335/">Michael Shannon</a> is desperate to get his hands on. There is a whole sub plot involving money laundering and people trafficking which explains the letter but I'm not going to bore you with it. It's merely a MacGuffin to drive the film on. All you need to know is that Wilee has it and Monday wants its, so begins a chase across the streets of Manhattan.</div>
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Levitt excels in the role of the underachiever with a clear moral code. Wilee may not be making the right decisions in his own life but he knows what the right thing to do is and puts himself on the line accordingly. The other impressive aspect of his performance is the sheer amount of fitness required for it. The cycling chase scenes are spectacular at times and they rely largely on Levitt's skill at the wheel. Michael Shannon's role is perhaps underwritten and we know nothing other than he faces a gambling debt and needs to score a large some of money in short order. Shannon is perhaps the best character actor in American cinema today though and he brings a gruff realism to the role.</div>
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The film is slight at barely 90 minutes and there isn't really and fat on the script that I can see but its fast paced nature never really lets up even in the flashback scenes and the film is all the better for it. It's enjoyable and it doesn't hang around long enough to overstay its welcome. Director David Koepp made his name as a screenwriter with a credit list of blockbusters that has to be<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0462895/#Writer"> seen to be believed</a> but after 1999's <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/04/flick-of-day-stir-of-echoes.html">Stir of Echoes</a> and 2008's <a href="http://thedailyflick.blogspot.ie/2011/04/flick-of-day-ghost-town.html">Ghost Town</a>, this confirms his talent as a director of intelligent mainstream cinema.</div>
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All in all, this is an enjoyable break neck chase movie that makes the most of a talented cast and some excellent cinematography. The backdrop of the Manhattan streets is the perfect setting for such a high octane thriller as we have seen countless times for. A fine film.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0