Pitch Perfect 2

Elizabeth Banks is one of Hollywood’s more savvy operators and her choice of Pitch Perfect 2 for her directorial debut is understandably a smart move. To wit, even if the film is awful, it’ll still make a load at the box office due to the popularity of the first film. So has this turn of events transpired then? Well, it’s made the money (of course), but the film isn’t awful. It’s bloody awful. Banks’ direction isn’t great, but not even Akira Kurosawa would have been able to rescue this due to Kay Cannon’s painfully unfunny script. This is all a bit of a surprise as the original outing of the Barden Bellas was such a blast, aided by a story line that had been properly thought out meaning there was the perfect blend of heart and laughs. This follow up feels like it was thrown together in a one minute lunch break. There’s a few strands of different storylines going on (amongst them the girl group trying to win the World A Cappella title and Beca (Anna Kendrick) looking to move on with her life), but none of them engage the viewer and many scenes don’t progress the story in any way, shape or form. There is the occasional chucklesome moment, with the highlights being the return of Banks and John Michael Higgins with their absurd statements as they commentate on proceedings, and a rival German A Cappella group fronted by the game Flula Borg and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen has it’s moments. Though, viewers of BBC4 may be surprised to see the as-Danish-as-they-come Sørensen portraying a teuton. Overall though, the needle on the laugh-o-meter barely moves as joke after joke falls flat, not least with the introduction of a character from Guatemala who makes borderline racist remarks when talking about her homeland. Overall this has to be considered as one of the biggest disappointments of the year, neatly summed up by the bored look on Kendrick’s face throughout the film. You can almost see her brain chuntering over the decision about signing contracts that include a clause re returning for any possible sequels. To borrow the parlance: acca-crap. Rating: 3/10.

A Walk Among The Tombstones / Run All Night / Taken 3

It's Liam Neeson triple bill time! Let's start with the best of these three, that being Scott Frank's A Walk Among The Tombstones, which, in these times of his cv getting clogged up with by the numbers action roles, is worth catching as it gives Neeson his most compelling role for quite a while. Though there isn't anything too original in his character (a private investigator who, wait for it, is an alcoholic ex-cop!), Neeson gives a nice turn as he attempts to find out who kidnapped a drug kingpins wife. To say anything more would be spoilerific for the smart story line, but Frank's film has a tough edge to it which makes for pleasantly adult viewing, though some people may be disturbed by the scenes of women being tortured (even if it is mainly just implied). The fact that many years ago this was mooted to be Joe Carnahan's follow up to Narc should give you some idea of the tone. Frank's direction is solid (without being spectacular) and you know you're on safe ground when it comes to the screenplay as that has been Frank's main breadwinner for a long time now. The whole film is almost kiboshed though (and loses a point in my review) by "cool urban kid" sidekick character played with zero acting talent by Brian Bradley. His smartass smugness is face slappingly annoying. The next Neeson cab off the rank is Jaume Collet-Serra's Run All Night which, get this, is virtually a re-make of Sam Mendes's Road to Perdition. A serious doff of the cap to who first spotted that. Anyway, we have Neeson as an ex-mob enforcer who, when a drug deal goes south, gets involved in protecting his innocent son from all sorts of heavies (inc. big bad Ed Harris - chewing scenery at some points, acting brilliantly at others). This is the third time Neeson has teamed with Collet-Serra and it's the weakest effort so far. Though there's plenty of gun play and fisticuffs going on, the plot is too convoluted meaning Collet-Serra can't settle on whether this is a drama, thriller or action film and the whole thing gets a bit messy. Worth catching on a Friday night, perhaps. Certainly not worth catching at any point (unless you're a budding director and are keen to learn how not to direct a film) is Neeson's return (surely by reasons of contractual demands only) to the role of former covert operative Bryan Mills in the latest film in the Taken series. If you were one of the seven people on the planet who liked the last film you'll like this one. If you not, forget the plot and actually challenge yourself to see if you can work out what the bloody hell is going on during the toothless action sequences that returning director Olivier Megaton (and, presumably his editor) have cut in such an incoherent manner it suggests that Megaton’s cat tore up the negative the night before the films release with Megaton then reassembling the pieces whilst wearing a blindfold. Also loses marks for Forest Whitaker as a detective with "quirks" (something to do with chess pieces and elastic bands) and the bad guy at the end fighting in a pair of white Y-Fronts. Seriously? Tombstones Rating: 7/10. Night Rating: 6/10. Taken Rating: 4/10.

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Director of photography Tom Townend stated a few years ago that a natural consequence of today's trailers increasingly mimicking the three act structure of main stream films meant that every moment of the finished product played as rote. Ridley Scott's latest is an interesting case in point as, not taking the actual trailer into account, how can a film that is based on such well known source material (in this case the biblical tale of Moses) not come across as routine? In Scott's case his approach is to make the film as loose an interpretation as possible. Now based on Darron Aronofsky taking the same approach with the awful Noah, coupled with the fact the last film Sir Ridley directed was the dire The Counsellor, this doesn't bode well at all. However, Exodus is passable entertainment. It does have a problem when it comes to reviewing it though. Scott is an agnostic and has stated that means he was the perfect choice to direct such a tale. Really? Whatever your religious beliefs, surely if you're presenting one of the Old Testament's most iconic episodes you would want to make it as accurate to it's source material as possible? In addition, doesn't this also make Scott a massive hypocrite? He's not sure he believes (which is fair enough), but that doesn't seem to stop him trousering plenty of dosh for helming this production. Anyway, I digress and this argument is for another time and place. The best thing to do when watching Exodus is to put aside thoughts of historical accuracy and just enjoy this for what it is and no more. If you're not au fait with the story of the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, we have Moses (Christian Bale) taking a stance against the Pharaoh Ramesses (Joel Edgerton) - death and destruction does follow. Scott's love (read - ridiculous overuse) of CGI has been a joke for years now and there's many scenes here that you could pretty much just cut and paste into some of his other "epics". That's not to say there isn't some great visual moments here (the ten deadly plagues are impressively realised), but any characterisation (despite Bale's best efforts) gets lost amongst the stop / start mayhem. Things aren't helped by some odd casting choices and costumes, with Ben Mendelsohn drawing the short straw here by being applied with so much make-up he looks like a camp oversized Oompa-Loompa. If you've got a spare two and half hours (gulp) there's just enough here to grab the attention, but it's been a long time since Scott made a really great film and it's clear his powers have been on the wane for quite a while now. Rating: 6/10.

The Theory Of Everything

James Marsh is best known for his documentaries Man on Wire and Project Nim, but his subject matter here is somewhat more hefty than a spiky Frenchman and, er, a chimpanzee, as TTOE is a biopic of Stephen Hawking, one of the most famous and well known people on the planet. Marsh is a skilled film maker though and, coupled with Anthony McCarten's sharp screenplay, this is a highly enjoyable film. To be blunt, Hawking is pretty much known for three things; his theoretical analyses, his disability and marrying his nurse. Marsh's picture covers all three, but the majority of the picture is spent analysing Hawking's relationship with his first wife Jane. The film itself is actually based on Jane's memoir of her life with Hawking, but it's balanced throughout neither painting Hawking as saint or sinner and gives an adult examination of how disability can affect a relationship. Both lead performances are superb, with Eddie Redmayne impressively nailing the hefty challenge of portraying Hawking's physical deterioration. Felicity Jones is, arguably, even better in her role as Jane, stoically coping with the complexities of the hand that has been dealt to both her husband and herself. Marsh's direction is fairly static throughout (though it doesn't really need to be anything more), but one of his main skills is getting tasteful laughs from difficult issues and Theory continues this trend, especially is capturing Hawking's well known wit and dry humour. There are a few problems though towards the end of the film with Marsh throwing in a mawkish dream sequence where Hawking rises from his wheelchair and picks up a pencil during a presentation. It feels both patronising to Hawking and us, the paying audience, and it's a bit of a mystery as to why it's included as it goes completely against the grain of not laying it on thick as throughout the rest of the film. Also, any need for a flashback sequence as well? I'm pretty certain most of the audience don't need reminding of what they've just say through during the previous 120 minutes. Overall though this is a entertaining picture being in terms romantic, funny, poignant and thought provoking and, yes, that is Frank Leboeuf cameoing as a Swiss doctor. Some things even Hawking wouldn't be able to explain.....Rating: 8/10.

Best and Worst Films of 2014

Ah, it's the middle of June 2015 so obviously it's time for my lists of the Best and Worst Films of 2014. Ahem. Getting on with it then and to quote Filth: “same rules apply”, i.e. a film is classified as “2014” if it had its mainstream UK release in that year and that the ten best films are an heterogeneous collective that should have something in there for most peeps to enjoy (plus honourable mentions to Dallas Buyers Club, The Babadook and Paddington that didn’t quite make the cut). Though the eagle-eyed amongst you may spot that Whiplash didn’t get a full UK release until January 2015, but as it was the first film I’ve ever given full marks to out of over five hundred different reviews it deserves it’s place as 2014’s brightest shining light. Looking over the top ten list its good to see the majority of films are (relatively speaking, of course) low budget productions meaning that perhaps the battle against Marvel, Michael Bay etc. isn't lost yet. Finally, The Golden Bug was the worst film I saw all year, but in sticking to the rules, as I actually walked out well before the end I can’t honestly say I can give it a full review.........

Best Films of 2014
1) Whiplash
2) Edge Of Tomorrow
3) Blue Ruin
4) Begin Again
5) Starred Up
6) Nightcrawler
7) Guardians Of The Galaxy
8) Birdman
9) The Imitation Game
10) 12 Years A Slave

Worst Films of 2014
1) A Million Ways To Die In The West
2) Transformers: Age Of Extinction
3) Lucy
4) Noah
5) The Inbetweeners 2
6) The Expendables 3
7) Robocop
8) The Book Thief
9) The Monuments Men
10) Fury

Round Up of 2014, Part Three: The Judge / The Drop / The Maze Runner / St Vincent / Gone Girl

Right let’s shoot through this final round up and if David Dobkin's new film (The Judge) is anything like his last film (the atrocious The Change-Up), then this first review shouldn’t take much time at all. Dobkin’s drama has Hank (Robert Downey Jr), a successfully smarmy attorney, return from the big city to his small home town on hearing that his mother has passed away. Whilst there he knocks heads with his father Joseph (Robert Duvall), a respected local Judge, and eventually ends up defending him in court when Joseph is accused for killing someone in a hit and run. There’s some good moments here (at one point Downey Jr and Duvall have a great verbal set to), but they’re few and far between and you’ll spend the whole film wondering how Dobkin and the casting agent thought it was credible to have people believe that Downey Jr, Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeremy Strong are all brothers (no, seriously). You just know this isn’t going to grip you when the courtroom scenes are ruined by a soppy soundtrack and Dobkin not even giving Billy Bob Thornton (as “Dwight Dickham” – seriously, who comes up with these names?) free reign to ham it up as a rival solicitor. The father / son part aside, this is basically Gross Pointe Blank, but with lawyers, less guns and a lot less fun. Talking of not much fun (for the characters in this case), Michaël R. Roskam’s The Drop is based in New York, concerns family and secrets, and is written by Dennis Lehane. I think you can conjure up the rest for yourself. For added info though, Tom Hardy plays Bob (though clearly not at the age yet where anyone would call a Robert, “Bob”), a bartender in a Brooklyn bar through which dirty money passes. A robbery gone wrong later and Bob finds himself involved in an investigation he’d rather not be, whilst at the same time trying to woo local girl Nadia (Noomi Rapace) and not falling foul of her intimidating ex Eric (Matthias Schoenaerts). In reality there isn’t anything here you haven’t seen before, but there’s a few nice twists and good turns from all the main leads. Though I still can’t tell, following Schoenaerts’ performances of few words in Rust and Bone and Bullhead, whether he’s actually a good actor or not (see “Mark Whalberg” for further details). Talking of things you’ve seen before here comes Theodore Melfi’s directorial debut St Vincent. Bill Murray stars as the eponymous character, a rude hedonistic Vietnam vet who by some plot machinations finds himself baby sitting the timid son of his new next door neighbour (Melissa McCarthy). Now can you guess what happens next? If you think its “Does Vincent teach the son how to be a man and the son teach Vincent not to be such a horrible git”? you don’t even win a prize – it’s just too obvious. That isn’t to say this is a bad film mind. It’s good to see McCarthy expanding her range into more dramatic territory and Naomi Watts is great fun as Vincent’s bonkers Russian “friend”. Melfi’s script and direction is economic enough that you don’t really notice any low or high points, but people who don’t worship the cult of Murray will probably best be advised to steer clear. Plus, any fans of singer-songwriter Annie Clark will be bitterly disappointed (a gag for the yoof there). Moving on we have another directorial debut with Wes Ball’s The Maze Runner (and if that isn’t a title for I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’s sound charades round I don’t know what is), which is, wait for it, a science fiction dystopian action thriller drama – for kids! Well, young adults. Yep, we’re into the latest release for teenagers along the lines of The Hunger Games, Divergent et al. This time we have a group of teenage boys living in “The Glade”, an enclosed exterior environment, in which they have been deposited for reasons unknown and from which they can only escape by trying their luck in a huge and deadly every changing maze that surrounds them. You want a mash-up? Lets say the TV Series Lost v Vincenzo Natali’s Cube. Though the premise is old hat now (subjugated teenagers v shadowy governments / unseen forces) the target audience will lap this up. It doesn’t really crossover into full attention grabbing entertainment for adults, but if you do see the film (young or not so young) Ball does pull off the nifty tricky of having a payoff that leaves you wanting to see the next instalment. Finally we have David Fincher’s latest, Gone Girl, based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn (who provides scripting duties here). GG is one of those films where the entertainment value correlates with how much you know beforehand as the film pivots on a twist half-way through. The high-end overview is that one day Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home from work and discovers his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is AWOL. The police and media get involved and before long the finger of suspicion is pointing in Nick’s direction. I’ll leave it there story wise. Overall this has plenty going for it. On the acting front Affleck is solid, but it’s the usually (relatively) bland Pike who pulls out all the stops here. Clearly relishing her chance to show off her chops as one of the leads in a major production she gives a cracking turn showing hitherto versatility. In fact the whole film is nicely cast with, get this, even Tyler Perry providing great fun as Nick’s laid back wise-cracking solicitor. As this is Fincher the direction is visually spot on and the whole film has a stylish sheen to it. Where it starts to fall apart is the actual story which doesn’t grip as it should (not helped by a poor ending) and there are plot holes galore. In addition the tone is all over the place. Fincher is hardly known for his sense of humour (though his films do have a number of genuinely funny (usually black) moments), but here it's hard to tell if we should be taking the whole shebang seriously or not (the films only real scene of shocking violence is as bonkers as it is bloody). Usually a director of such stock as Fincher would mean his film would have it’s own separate review, but, including this, three of his last four films suggest he isn’t operating at full throttle at the moment. Let’s hope his rediscovers some of his old mojo next time round. The Judge Rating: 5/10. The Drop Rating: 7/10. Runner Rating: 6/10. Vincent Rating: 7/10. Girl Rating: 7/10.

Round Up of 2014, Part Two: Pride / Mr Turner / Black Sea

A few local (relatively) low budget films here which I've lumped in together as they're all noble efforts, enjoyable in parts, but unlikely to lead to you shelling out for the Blu-ray. At first glance you might hesitate at using your hard earned free time to watch Matthew Warchus’ Pride – I mean, do we really need yet another British production (regardless of the decent quality of previous efforts) concerning lefties and the miners? Warchus’ film has a USP though, as its based on the true story of a group of lesbian and gay activists who, back in 1984, raised money for miner’s families affected by their battles with the man (well, wo-man in this case – you know who). The crux of the film concerns the local community coming to terms with differing sexualities and accepting financial and moral help from the activists. Warchus hasn’t directed a film since 1999’s Simpatico (though since then he’s become a fairly large cheese in theatre land) and his direction is one-note all the way through. However, the film is elevated by some great performances (an understated Bill Nighy gives one of his best performances ever as he doesn’t play Bill Nighy for once) and Stephen Beresford’s sharp script provides many a laugh. This is an old fashioned crowd pleaser which, despite it’s flaws (it doesn’t have a tough edge to it like Billy Elliot, Brassed Off et al.) we should still be rejoicing in its appearance – I mean, could you see such a film ever being green lit in the States? You’ll be unsurprised to hear that a musical adaptation for the stage is being planned. Lets move on to Mr Turner - an effort that is as British as a Mike Leigh film starring Timothy Spall. Which this is. The film charts the last quarter of the life of celebrated artist JMW Turner (Spall), but its probably best you come prepared for this with a bit of background knowledge as Leigh does little to help out the average viewer. The film itself is hit and miss. Though Spall gives his usual solid performance, do we really know that Turner spent his whole time mumbling or grunting? On that front, Leigh doesn’t really get under the skin of Turner, though as all we have is written accounts of the man that’s hardly surprising. Spall’s Turner is basically a curmudgeon and at times its hard to really care what he gets up to. The film is actually stolen by the actresses who play two of the main women in the latter stages of Turner’s life. Marion Bailey brings quiet dignity to the role of Sophia Booth (Turner’s landlady and lover), but it’s Dorothy Atkinson as Hannah Danby (Turner’s housekeeper) who really tugs at the heartstrings with her lifelong unrequited love for Turner only being acknowledge by him via sexual exploitation. Though why Leigh continues to cast the dull as ditch water Ruth Sheen (a lacklustre cameo here) remains a mystery. The film has some great moments (look for the scene at the Royal Academy of Arts where Spall smugly improves one of his paintings) and Dick Pope’s cinematography is beautiful. Overall though it’s not as entertaining or informative as you’d hope and its way too long. Finally, lets finish off with some silly goings on in Kevin Macdonald’s submarine based thriller Black Sea. Jude Law puts on a (hit and miss) Scottish accent as Robinson, a recently laid off captain of under-sea salvages who, backed by a mandatory shadowy figure in the background, rounds up a crew of men in order to help locate a sunken German U-boat that is allegedly laden with gold. Each man will get a cut of anything they find, but it doesn’t take them long to realise that the less crew there is, the more there is to go round. Dennis Kelly’s script is no great shakes (amongst the crew we have people playing to type - Scott McNairy as a snivelling suit; Ben Mendelsohn, wait for it, twitchy and unhinged), but instead of making it the standard free for all, Kelly nicely pitches the men at loggerheads via cultural divides (Brits v Russians). This is mainly Friday night dumb fun (there’s a ludicrous bit on the submarine involving a lottery ticket), but there’s a frustrating hint that this could have been a lot more in a stupendous scene where the men attempt to transfer the gold from the U-boat. It’s unbelievably tense and a masterpiece in direction by Macdonald. It’s a shame the rest of the film doesn’t hit similar heights, though Black Sea will go down in history for having one of the greatest ever entries on the films Trivia page on IMDB – “Jude Law is not actually Scottish”. In summation re all three films, they’re all enjoyable in their own different ways, but unlikely to elicit further viewings. Rating (all three films): 7/10.