Film Review: Liberal Arts

Director: Josh Radnor

Many people know Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby from the hit TV comedy How I Met Your Mother but this film represents his second film where he has taken up the roles of director, producer and main actor. His first film Happythankyoumoreplease was written in his early days on the show and the film opened to mixed reviews but Liberal Arts seemed to be more appreciated by the critics.

Jesse Fisher (Radnor) is a 35 year old college admissions officer who loves literature and reading the classics, his life is filled with people who have the same opinions as he does on life especially one of his old lecturers Peter (Richard Jenkins). After meeting Zibby (Olsen) who is only 19 years old and studying drama at his old University a spark happens between them after they agree to write to each other that changes his world.

Jesse (Josh Radnor) and Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen)

Liberal Arts is an intelligent romantic drama that believes that college isn't just a time for partying like most films churned out by Hollywood in recent years. But as the film progresses it turns out to be a little less daring in its approach than we originally thought, the final act is rather a damp squib and the main character of Jesse seems to make quite a few unfathomable decisions that makes you question the movie. Olsen's acting seems very natural and real which helps the movie but the star performance is from Zac Efron in a minor role as Nat who Jesse runs into at his old campus.

Radnor clearly had a lot of decent ideas coming into this movie but quite a few are poorly thought out and under developed, the relationship with his former lecturer Judith Fairfield (played by Allison Janney) seemed superfluous with less background behind it and the story surrounding Dean (John Magaro) was critically under utilized which is a shame because it had great potential. Radnor is clearly still learning his trade behind the camera and certainly has potential.

2/4 Sweet natured but disappointing fare

Film Review: Only God Forgives

Director: Nicholas Winding Refn

The much anticipated followup to the 2011 hit Drive unsurprisingly saw Ryan Gosling team up with writer and director Nicholas Winding Refn for the second time. What is produced is something that is similar to Drive in numerous ways, stylish and violent with a superb soundtrack provided by Cliff Martinez, but in reality is so different to its predecessor. The violence portrayed here is extreme in some cases and will certainly not to appeal to the squeamish amongst us.

Julian (Ryan Gosling) 

Julian (Ryan Gosling) runs a kick boxing club in the centre of Bangkok which is actually a front for a drug smuggling ring, his rather peaceful existence is brutally interrupted when his brother, Billy (Tom Burke) rapes and kills an underage prostitute. He hands himself into the police but Lieutenant Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), also known as the Angel of Vengeance, decides to release Billy to the father of the prostitute he kills who beats him to death with a chair. Julian's mother Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) insists that he seek revenge for his death but Julian isn't so easily persuaded.

The immediate thoughts that hit you as you watch Only God Forgives, aside from the violence, is the stark contrast between the grubby and dirty places that the characters frequent pitched against the bright neon lighted bars. Once again Refn produces some stunning and stylish visuals as a backdrop for the mayhem that ensues off the back of one mans actions, Julian's brother Billy's actions of killing an underage prostitute seemed rather odd and unexplained until the film develops and a subtle undercurrent of complicated abuse becomes apparent with the appearance of Crystal as well as the seemingly bizarre scene with Mai in the brightly lit bar.

Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) is superb as the domineering mother

Gosling was without doubt the star of Drive but hear his second rendition of the quiet and brooding lead is surpassed by the quiet brutality of Vithaya Pansringarm as Chang but even more so by foul mouthed mother of his played by Kristin Scott Thomas. Refn couldn't have cast an actress whose reputation for being a classy and well respected person was more at odds with her character in the film but Scott Thomas is simply superb as she berates Julian for his choice of girlfriend and oddly for the size of his penis. But its in the actions of Julian that we see the dilemma he faces, did his brother deserve his fate for his actions? Is Julian growing tired of the violent world he inhabits? The constant shots of him glancing at his hands gave me the impression that he feels he has caused enough damage and is starting to feel remorseful for what had gone before.

A major complaint against this movie is the lack of character development and background, something I would vehemently disagree with. The film is based around Julian, his actions are completely explainable within the context of the film and the development of his character and back story is the subtle backdrop to the violence that dominates your thoughts. Even the actions of Chang are developed in the karaoke scenes, which at first seem out of place and strange but slowly begin to resonate with you. Refn has used an unconventional and subtle method here that requires us to put some of the pieces together ourselves.

The violence alone will be enough for critics to dislike this movie and the lack of straight forward character development may leave some feeling like they are watching a collection of set pieces but the overall ensemble is stunningly impressive when it all comes together.

3.5/4 Deeply unsettling and more complex but still succeeds with all Refn's trademarks

Film Review: The Reader

Director: Stephen Daldry

Hollywood's obsession with the Second World War and the Nazi's continues with The Reader, based on the novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink, it was released in 2008 and went on to give Kate Winslet an Oscar for her performance as Schmitz. Considering it was the same year she was nominated for Revolutionary Road, I'm shocked she was even considered for this but then the Academy loves this type of movie which is why so many get churned out at the end of each year.

Michael Berg (David Kross) and Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet)

Michael Berg (David Kross) is a 15 year old who gets off a bus and takes shelter in a entrance to an apartment as he is sick, he is helped by Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) who takes him back home to safety. After Michael recovers he visits Hanna with a bunch of flowers to say thank you and from there an affair begins between the pair. Inbetween the consistent love making Michael reads books to Hanna but after Hanna is promoted at work she disappears from her flat with her belongings without telling Michael who is shocked and wonders why.

I was initially underwhelmed by Winslet's performance, as an Oscar winner I was expecting a real powerhouse acting display that veritably failed to appear. That's not to say she is bad but certainly not worthy of the award, especially compared to her other performance referenced above, whilst Kross is also capable in the role of the young naive Michael and Ralph Fiennes is decent in the small role he undertakes as the older Michael Berg. The best performer is Bruno Ganz as Berg's lecturer at a seminar on the Holocaust, his character was a survivor from this period.

Kate Winslet as an old Hanna Schmitz

*spoilers*

The opening act which involves the 'happier' times of Berg and Schmitz's relationship is rather dull and uninteresting which says a lot for a period with a lot of sex and nudity in it. This act feels long and needlessly overdrawn whilst the middle act seems to be squeezed into such a short time frame, the emphasis was placed far too deeply on the love story between the pair early on and in the final act rather than the haunting material available in the second act. The book is believed to have some incredibly harrowing yet engrossing material that was completely ignored in the movie and this has to be a mistake.

But the deeper issue I take with the movie is the story itself, the film is expecting us to believe the social stigma of being illiterate is worse to admit to than being the person who ordered 300 Jews to be killed during the Second World War. Also the fact it expects us to feel sympathetic towards Schmitz for the fact she couldn't read is one of the most manipulative and morally questionable things I have seen in cinema. You don't need reading skills to save those people or to know that was being done was incredibly evil. There is also the matter of her seducing a 15 year old boy that is conveniently glossed over but this is an aside to how much hatred the plot conjured up inside me at how it was treating the subject matter at hand.

1/4 Misguided and deceptively manipulative

Film Preview: Venus in Fur

Roman Polanski returns to the big screen after his 2012 film Carnage, which opened to mixed reviews although I personally loved it, and follows a similar path by taking a popular stage play and adapting it for the big screen. Venus in Fur was originally released at the Cannes Film Festival in the main competition for the Palme d'Or, although some were critical of Polanski for taking up the directing of what is essentially a feminists play.

Adapted from the play of the same name by David Ives, An actress attempts to convince a director how she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production. The film is released in French as the action is shifted from New York to Paris.

Venus in Fur is released in the UK on 13th November 2013.

This week's releases

The World's End: When 40-year old teenager Gary (Simon Pegg) recalls his mates to their old stomping ground with plans to drink their way to The World's End pub, their boozy day soon turns into the ultimate fight for survival as catastrophe threatens to call last orders on civilization. Pegg not straying too far from his previous hit Shaun of the Dead here but it is certainly what he does best.

Wadjda: Haifa Al-Mansour’s debut feature is a realist gem, which throws a spotlight on the domestic lives and daily challenges faced by Saudi Arabian women. Set in Riyadh, the film centres on ten-year-old tomboy Wadjda who longs for freedoms that are well beyond her reach. When her mother refuses to buy Wadjda a bicycle for fear of her young daughter’s modesty, Wadjda defiantly sets out to raise the money herself.

The Wolverine: The disappointing Wolverine franchise rumbles on to fill the gap until the next X-Men film, Hugh Jackman reprises his role to make you forget that he is an esteemed Broadway actor but the synopsis is that in a strange land and with his powers weakened, he is drawn into a series of confrontations that bring his legendary immortality into question...and see him fighting for his life at every turn.

Film Review: Oldboy

Director: Park Chan-wook

With an American remake already being slated for release in the winter of 2013, it was necessary to revisit the original South Korean movie that made waves when it was released and slowly found its way into the public knowledge back in 2003. Based on the Japanese manga of the same name, Park Chan-wook takes into a seedy underworld in Korea as Oh Dae-Su tries to piece together why he was imprisoned. The new film has Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Samuel L. Jackson listed as the main cast but its unsure whether Brolin will be eating a live octopus or not in the remake like Choi Min-sik did.

Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik) is kidnapped in the middle of the night and imprisoned for 15 years without any explanation or interaction with people. The only knowledge he gains of the outside world is through a TV in his hotel room where he is being kept, during this time he gets stronger by shadow boxing and plans his revenge when he is finally able to escape or is released. He is finally released on a rooftop in the city with no reason as to why he was taken or released so he sets out to discover the truth.

Oh Dae-Su eating a live octopus

Its been a popular premise for a while to setup a film where the main character(s) and the audience have no idea what is happening then slowly reveal things gradually over the course of the movie but rarely is it done to such great effect as Oldboy. For so long you're left at a complete loss as to why he was imprisoned and how everything was done, even when he finds his captors it leads him no nearer to solving the riddle and a face to face meeting with the man who took him still leaves him none the wiser, it was genuinely chilling the power he held over Oh Dae-Su.

The final scenes have a shocking resonance in the large penthouse and out in the snow, the ending truly stays with you after you've seen it and leaves you plenty to ponder. It is stylishly shot with a superb fighting scene as Oh Dae-Su has to fight his way out of a building against over a dozen men in a scene all shot in one corridor with one continuous take until it was perfected. This scene instantly reminded me of The Raid: Redemption which was released in 2011 with its grimy and seedy setting for the action. Clever and genuinely surprising thrillers are few and far between these days which pitches Oldboy much above its competition so all I can do is recommend you see this and ditch the American remake.

3.5/4 Dark macabre thriller with cruelly clever plot twists.

Film Preview: Fruitvale Station

After debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale Station has been gathering momentum as the positive critics reviews have drawn people to this compelling drama. Starring Michael B. Jordan (Vince from Friday Night Lights) as Oscar Grant but the names of the two policemen involved in the shooting are changed for the movie. The rights to the movie were hotly contested after Sundance but naturally The Weinstein Company won paying over $2 million.

The film tells the story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and his experiences on the last day of his life, before he was fatally shot by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Police in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.

Fruitvale Station does not have a UK release date yet but early indications are that it will be out in January 2014. The trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: Revolutionary Road

Director: Sam Mendes

The 2008 drama based on the book of the same name by Richard Yates isn't a huge departure from Mendes' earlier film American Beauty, both deal with the issues of the grind of suburban life amongst the  middle aged. It was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor for Michael Shannon.

Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet)

Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet) meet in the late 1940's and get married, the film jumps to 1955 when the couple move into a house on Revolutionary Road in suburban Connecticut after April gets pregnant. Frank works at Knox Machines as a salesman which is the same place his father worked for twenty years and he grows tired of the monotony so the couple plan to move to Paris to break the claustrophobic suburban life they have built for themselves.

Mendes creates a tight and claustrophobic living space for DiCaprio and Winslet to work in, adding to the simmering tension throughout the movie. We almost feel like we are getting a too personal look inside the lives of suburban America and breaking the facade about how idyllic it is, especially in the scenes where Michael Shannon is present and questions them on their lives. Shannon is simply fantastic as the no-nonsense son of the neighbours who doesn't understand why anyone would aspire to this lifestyle and is openly hostile with his parents for putting up with each other.

John Givings Jr (Michael Shannon)

A slight criticism would be that the TV series Mad Men deals with similar issues as this film but in far greater depth and with more style, mainly due to the artistic freedom you get with working in TV with multiple series and longer air time. Both Winslet and DiCaprio turn in good performances if not slightly overshadowed by the few scenes that Michael Shannon appears in. The film does at times feel a bit clinical in its approach that takes away from the emotional feeling that you should take away from the film but the arguments between the pair quickly reel you back in. It's an impressive though not perfect film.

3/4 The end of the American dream is once again shattered to good effect

Film Review: Walk the Line

Director: James Mangold

A 2005 biographical drama about the life of Jonny Cash, it mainly focuses on the early life and rise to fame of the country music artist. It largely ignores the latter 20 years of Cash's life and other controversies that plagued his life but to condense somebodies life into a film that doesn't last 5 hours it was certainly necessary.   Reese Witherspoon deservedly won The Academy Award for Best Actress in 2005 for her impressive portrayal of Cash's second wife June Carter who also performed on tour with him.

Jonny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix)

The film quickly moves from on from the abuse Cash suffered at a young age following on from the death of his brother Jack, a burden he carries throughout his life. We see Cash move from gospel music which he has little love for to his own music and the development of his hit song Folsom Prison Blues to becoming a major hit with the fans before suffering from problems with alcohol and drugs.

Phoenix is impressive in the lead, taking on a role of someone like Cash is always going to be difficult as people will make comparisons the man in real life. The singing by Phoenix has clearly had a lot of work put into it and for me is a decent impersonation of the man himself, for this he should be applauded. Unfortunately for Phoenix his performance is rather over-shadowed by Reese Witherspoon who is simply incredibly as June Carter from her demeanor right down to her accent means she is a joy to watch in what is easily her best performance to date.

June Carter (Reese Witherspoon)

The film focuses on the early days of Cash's life rather than the whole biopic, it does miss his later life and the strife he had with his children. It would have been better to move away from the topic of love and loss which is so standard in Hollywood these days and presented a broader picture about his life especially the social and political reasons behind his nickname of being the ''man in black''. But these are but small quibbles against a film that impresses in its angst amongst the genius that is Johnny Cash.

3/4 Good biopic with great acting throughout

Top 5 Movies of the Year so far

With June now over we have passed the half way point of the year so far so I felt it was time to review the best films released in the UK in the first 6 months of 2013. Here goes:

5. The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Based on a novel that examines the treatment of Pakistani nationals living in the US following the September 11th attacks, the film works in reverse as Changez relays his life in America from unbridled success to a life of oppression and racism against him because of his race and nationality. All subtly set against the backdrop of the fear that he may have become a terrorist due to his treatment. A surprise film that flew under the radar but quietly impressed viewers.

4. Side Effects

Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller was a real pleasant surprise, given Soderbergh's track record it shouldn't have been but it was a clever Hithcockian style film that caught you out with a couple of neat little twists. Rooney Mara is excellent as the struggling wife whose husband is released from prison but is suicidal and takes a new drug to help combat her depression. The whole script is incredibly tight with very little wasted time on superfluous scenes, a rarity in Hollywood today.

3. Zero Dark Thirty

An Oscar contender which was released way back in January, I honestly though it was released last year but it wasn't, is Jessica Chastain's best performance since her role in The Help in 2012. A film that was overshadowed by the fact it shows the torturing of prisoners as leading to the information that captured Osama bin Laden meaning that people spent more time discussing the morality of torture rather than how good this film actually was. A tense and possibly anti-American look at the relentless search for the World's most wanted man.

2. Before Midnight

The final part in the trilogy by Richard Linklater is clearly the best as we catch up with Jesse and Celine 18 years after they first met and 9 years since we last saw them in Paris. The characters are realistic and easily relate-able to whilst the script is rich and compelling as they discuss a variety of random topics before the topic of their lives and their complicated relationship inevitably comes to the fore.

1. The Place Beyond the Pines

A crime based drama that was released a little under the radar early in the year, especially considering the cast included Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes. It is an enthralling look at small town life in America and what people will do to make ends meet when there is a distinct lack of jobs in rural towns. The films makes bold developments in the characters and plot which are decisive and not looked back upon, making it really stand out from the crowd. Derek Cianfrance is rapidly growing an impressive filmography.

This week's releases

Easy Money: Based on Jens Lapidus' best-selling novel, crime-thriller 'Easy Money' sees Stockholm-based student JW getting involved in the drug trade to fund his lavish lifestyle. JW lives a life beyond his means, selling cocaine to pay for his playboy exploits. As he scrabbles to pay for his excess, he becomes entangled in the criminal underworld double-dealing rival criminal gangs. Soon, JW gets mixed up with prison runaway Jorge and mafia muscle Mrado

The Frozen Ground: In 'The Frozen Ground', Nicolas Cage (he's back!!) takes on the role of Jack Halcombe, an Alaskan detective who makes it his personal business to bring a sadistic serial killer's 3-year reign of terror to an end. Faced with an ever-increasing body count, Halcombe must use his instinct to identify suspects in the close-knit community of Anchorage. When a teenage girl escapes the killer's evil clutches, they join forces to hunt down the hunter. 

Monsters University: Pixar's 'Monsters University' takes us back to events before smash hit 'Monsters, Inc' when Mike and Sully were rival alumni at 'Monsters University'; a scary seat of learning where the two first met. Although they are now friends we see what happened when they were originally rivals and what escapades went down.

Pacific Rim: Our future world needs saving and and giant robots known as Jaegers (corporate sponsorship gone mad?) are the only hope.

A full preview is available here

The last two films are available in 3D for some reason.

Film Review: World War Z

Director: Marc Forster

After it was announced that the critically acclaimed zombie novel of the same name by Max Brooks would be made into a Hollywood blockbuster, many zombie fans were skeptical. How many close to the original text would they keep? Or would this be the useful Hollywood butchering of a literary classic? You can see where they've drawn inspiration from the book with certain elements and mainly through the search across the world for the first infected patient but that is where the similarities end, and that is clearly not a good thing.

Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) helps his family to safety

The book looks beyond the obvious and delves deep into the indirect effects of the zombies like the profiteers making money from people's fear of being infected, the mass exodus of people from the infected areas and the political ramifications around the globe. These are largely ignored throughout the film for one long narrative of Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) returning to work to find the cause and possible solution to the zombies taking over the planet. The overall plot itself has its moments but is rather unsurprising throughout, it starts off in a Cloverfield style escape from the streets of Philadelphia before developing into a much grander epic in multiple locations across the world.

The production problems with the movie coming in massively over budget after re-writes and more footage had to be filmed to produce a coherent ending, this meant the third act of the film was shot much later and was written by Drew Goddard (writer behind Lost). The third act is where this half decent movie falls flat on its face with a completely dull and cliché finale which ruins what could have been a passable action movie. The early scenes of escaping Philadelphia and the frantic chases through the streets of Israel are exhilarating and leaves some promise for the sequel that has already been announced. If they can retain the good elements and work on putting some of the more intriguing parts of the book into the film then the sequel has some great potential.

Zombies climb a wall

The film is solely based around Pitt who plays Gerry Lane in a rather dull manner, he has his moments of action against the zombies but aside from this he lacks any of the charisma and charm you might expect from a Brad Pitt performance. The rest of his family are incidental characters purely used to artificially pull the emotional heart strings and force him to return to duty in the first place, Mireille Enos is critically under-used in this film. Other characters within the film purely exist to advance the plot, coupled with the final act and the necessary cuts to make a zombie movie PG-13 in the US, leaves it feeling very clinical and detached. The deaths or trauma suffered by any of the characters are washed over entirely purely to make way for the main character worrying about getting home to his own family. In essence the whole film lacks heart and compassion towards its fellow people, whether it be kindness or hatred towards other people.

1.5/4 Late re-writes and generic action plot add to the disappointing spectacle.

Film Review: Enemies of the People

Director: Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath

A collaborative documentary between the British and the Cambodians as Thet Sambath looks to uncover the truth behind the Killing Fields orchestrated by the Khymer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, an estimated 1.7 million people are believed to have been killed by this ethnic cleansing. Thet Sambath lost his mother, father and brother to the killings then spent ten years trying to discover the truth about what happened.

In this frank documentary he speaks to many of the participants in the Killing Fields who want this terrible part of Cambodian history to be immortalized so that future generations do not forget. Sambeth meets Nuon Chea who was Pol Pot's deputy and over three years refused to having any part in the massacre but finally relented to having some involvement before he was arrested for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The film looks at where the bodies were buried as well as the inhumane ways that many of the people were killed, the men express their remorse at what happened but the descriptions made are truly haunting.

Nuon Chea with Thet Sambath

The film caused a lot of controversy mainly for the graphic descriptions of the deaths of millions but mainly because the filmmakers refused to hand over the footage as evidence to the courts investigating the Killing Fields as it would breach the agreement they made with the men involved. The perpetrators agreed for their comments to go into the public domain as long as they weren't for the use of law enforcement agencies. The footage was then used after the film was officially released which got around the issue. Regardless of this legal issue, it was a hugely important piece to be committed to film for the years to come.

How Sambeth is so measured and calm throughout the movie is extraordinary, normally films of this nature are made by detached directors with an interest in the topic rather than someone with direct experience amongst their family. He hides his history with the genocide from the men he speaks with until after the event but in some cases his questioning and filmmaking is a little misleading and manipulative which is a slight detraction. But considering its such a taboo subject in Cambodia its shocking revelations and relentless search for the truth.

3.5/4 Haunting and truly astounding portrayal of genocide is just short of perfection.

Film Review: The Express

Director: Gary Fleder

Released in 2008, it covers a lot of the same ground as the recently released 42 about Jackie Robinson being the first African-American to play in the Major League of Baseball. Here we follow Ernie Davis as he becomes the first African-American to win the Heisman trophy (the top honour for a player in college football), the issues faced in the late 1940's are very similar, unfortunately I saw 42 before The Express but the similarities in story are uncanny and make me look back on 42 in an unfavorable light for striking such a similar tone and plot to this. To add to this Chadwick Boseman even plays Floyd Little at the end of the movie who Ernie Davis speaks to recruit him for Syracuse like Jim Brown did for him.

Ernie Davis (Rob Brown) grew up in Pennsylvania during the time of race segregation but impresses at high school football in Elmira, he is chased by many colleges to play football for them but is convinced to join Syracuse with Coach Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid) as they bring legend Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson) to talk to him. At Syracuse he slowly adjusts to life at college and becomes a star player before becoming winning the Heisman.

Ernie Davis with Coach Schwartzwalder

The film hits the usual expected notes during the film of triumphing over oppression whether it be due to race or a hostile away crowd and officials that give decisions against them, it really turns this into an underdog film for both Ernie Davis and Syracuse Orange with constant references to the fact they've never won a National title. Unfortunately this approach to the film means its incredibly flawed due to historical inaccuracies, chief among which was the abuse suffered by Ernie and the team in a game at West Virginia which did not happen and embellishments over the events of the Cotton Bowl game against Texas.

The acting is capable within the film, Rob Brown takes on the role model for black athletes everywhere in the limelight of a team pushing for a perfect season and a national title. That aside the film is quite formulaic in the triumph over adversity but does have a twist at the end for anybody who doesn't have any prior knowledge of the life of Ernie Brown.

2/4 Formulaic Sports drama about a great player

Film Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Director: Mira Nair

A political thriller which looks to examine some of the roots of religious fundamentalism and its disdain for the United States. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mohsin Hamid who wrote the novel in 2010, there's no evidence to confirm that this is based on a true story. The film hopes to lift the lid on the other side of the argument with regards to terrorism and extremism amongst Muslims.

Changez witnessing the September 11th attacks on TV

Changez (Riz Ahmed) meets Bobby (Liev Schreiber) in a restaurant in Lahore to discuss his life in America and his beliefs. They play a game of cat and mouse as they both try to work out what the other is up to, Bobby wants to know if Changez time in America has turned him to religious extremism and Changez believes Bobby might be working for the CIA. Changez tells the story of his time in America at Princeton University and with a top job as a Financial Analyst on Wall Street, but his time in America changes after 9/11 when he is subject to prejudice for his looks and nationality.

The plot of an older Changez telling the story of how he got to this point is a well used device but to good effect here, the exchanges between Changez and Bobby are intriguing as both try to figure each other out. The story of his life in America as a high flying student and then executive makes for interesting viewing but the love story with Erica (Kate Hudson) is superfluous and uninteresting, it is solely there to show Changez's dis-satisfaction with his life in America later on in the plot. This part of the plot should have been replaced with some deeper questions behind fundamentalism and the plight of Pakistani's and other ethnic minorities in America.

Changez in a Lahore restaurant with journalist Bobby

It's an impressive film considering its original narrative, it never judges its characters and lets people make up their own minds on such a controversial topic. The acting is impressive from the lead Riz Ahmed whilst Liev Schrieber and Kiefer Sutherland are certainly capable, its Kate Hudson who lets it down as the love interest. There was no passion in her performance with Changez and she just came across as whiney and frustrating. It's far from perfect and is a little simplistic in it's overall message but it's still one of the better films released in 2013.

2.5/4 Intriguing drama that poses some interesting questions

This week's releases

The Bling Ring: A look at just how shallow and self-obsessed youngsters can be these days, The Bling Ring revolves around a group of girls who target celebrities homes that they've found online and rob them. Starring Emma Watson as one of the robbers and Paris Hilton as herself (she'll still struggle to put in a convincing performance) claims to lift the lid on fame and money in modern society, lets hope it does.

A Field in England: The latest film by Ben Wheatley, the director of Sightseers, is presumed to be set around the English Civil War as a group of deserters who are captured by two men. After finally eating in a mushroom field, they soon descend into paranoia and fighting as the effects of the unknown mushrooms kick in.

Now You See Me: A group of magical illusionists pull off major bank heists at the same time as performing on stage and then reward the audience with the money they've stolen in the heist. Interpol and the FBI look to track them down as to how and why they do it. Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson reuniting after Zombieland.

Film Review: Compliance

Director: Craig Zobel

A 2012 drama based on the true story of a prank caller pretending to be a police officer calling a fast food restaurant claiming one of their employees stole some money from a customer. It's more or less based on the worst story from this scam which happened in Mount Washington, Kentucky where an employee at a McDonalds was adjudged to have stolen but things got incredibly out of hand over the hours following.

Becky (Dreama Walker) is accused of stealing some money from a customer at the Chickwich fast food restaurant by a police man over the phone, her boss Sandra (Ann Dowd) is dealing with the complaint over the phone where the police officer requests they check all her pockets and her purse before asking the manager to strip search the employee. Sandra is unsure about this but the police officer is very convincing and charming towards her, as the restaurant gets busy she calls on other employees and her fiancee to watch over Becky and speak to the police officer where things take a turn for the worst.

Becky waits to see what the police officer wants next

The whole film flows with a wave of frustration and disgust as throughout the entire sequence we know that the man posing as Officer Daniels on the phone is in fact a prank caller. Knowing that the staff, and especially Sandra, at the fast food restaurant are being duped from the outset makes the following 90mins difficult viewing. On its release at the Sundance Film Festival it was subject to much debate and some walkouts of the first screening which was to be expected given the subject matter.

The acting within the movie is extremely impressive especially from Dreama Walker and Ann Dowd, they genuinely come across as innocent people who are coerced by the extremely manipulative prank caller. Its upon these performances that the entire movie is held together. The storyline itself seems far-fetched but is actually similar to what happened in real life, the only criticism would be that the film differs too far from the truth which is infact more thrilling and interesting than the amendments made to the plot here. Possibly more time should also have been dedicated to dealing with the aftermath between the characters but for displaying the shocking and most likely unknown events of these calls it should be lauded

2.5/4 Shocking and deeply unsettling docudrama.

Film Review: Reality Bites

Director: Ben Stiller

The directorial debut of Ben Stiller occurred way back in 1994 with a romantic comedy that is so incredibly 90's in its filming, style and dialogue. It has a very mid-90's MTV look about it. That isn't necessarily a bad thing but it gives it a real dated quality that is often quite divisive among fans and critics alike. Instead of looking at the carefree days of high school or college it looks at the hard life faced by graduates after they leave education and join the working world.

The film focuses on four friends who end up living in the same apartment for various reasons. Troy (Ethan Hawke) who is a layabout with delusions of grandeur, Lelaina (Winona Ryder) who wants to be a film maker but has a complicated relationship with Troy, Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) who embarks on a a string of one-night stands but then worries about the possibility of AIDS and Sammy (Steve Zahn) who is gay but won't start a relationship until he comes out to his parents. The main focus of the film is on Lelaina's attempts to get her film on the group shown on TV after she meets Michael Grates (Ben Stiller) as well as the relationship the two try to have.

Sammy, Lelaina, Vickie and Troy

Despite the aged look of the film, it is still an easy to watch film and enjoyable at times. The group have a great rapport between them which gives it a very genuine quality and you can feel the characters get under each others skin especially with Troy and Lelaina. Unfortunately the film seems to have a bigger message on weightier topics like AIDS etc that is just washed away by the romantic elements of the plot. The ending to the film is possibly touching but the end to the romantic story line is more a case of bad triumphing over good.

2/4 Fun film but wishes it was more

Film Preview: Lovelace

The independent movie scene has been awash recently with biographical films about people who lived more controversial lives in the past. Behind the Candelabra and The Iceman being two recent examples that have been released detailing the lives of Liberace and Richard Kuklinski respectively, who lived very different lives indeed! After being initially released at the Sundance Film Festival, Lovelace is the biographical film of the life of Linda Lovelace the renowned porn star surprisingly played by Amanda Seyfried.

Linda Lovelace gets under the all-consuming influence of her abusive husband and self-declared manager, Chuck Traynor, who uses all means possible to persuade her to comply with his demands. The fragile woman becomes an infamous porn star, seems to be happy, but eventually breaks free from her husband and discloses the truth in order to prevent other women from getting similarly exploited.

Lovelace is released in the UK on the 23rd August 2013 and a teaser trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: Breaking the Waves

Director: Lars von Trier

*possible spoilers*

von Trier's 1996 film is the first in his 'Golden Heart' trilogy which also featured The Idiots and Dancer in the Dark. It was filmed shortly after von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg founded the Dogme 95 movement in cinema which was a manifesto outlining that films should be shot without special effects or elaborate editing to retain the pure qualities of plot, characters and acting. Festen by Vinterberg is one of the other films notable for using these guidelines although Breaking the Waves wasn't shot entirely to this standard. Emily Watson was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Bess and the film was known, like many of von Triers movies, to polarize popular opinion.

Bess McNeill (Emily Watson)

Bess McNeill (Emily Watson) is a deeply religious woman whose the member of a Calvinist church in a small town in the Scottish highlands, she marries Jan (Stellan Skarsgard) whose a Norwegian oil rig worker whose big drinking friends are the antithesis of the local town who are all very mild mannered. When Jan is seriously injured in an accident working on the oil rig it throws chaos into their young relationship as the naive Bess McNeill is forced to face things she isn't prepared for.

This is a very disturbing and thought provoking film, it has some extremely difficult moral questions regarding religion and marriage but is at times difficult to watch. The opening four or five chapters, the film is split into numerous chapters split by a Scottish scene with a popular song played over it, are patiently building up to a final hour of torment and distressing viewing. On several levels von Trier has mirrored, through powerful acting and awesome direction, that small closed societies whose fundamentalist nature brings out hatred in anything or anyone different to their perceived way of living. In this case the naive and slightly simple nature of Bess is exploited by the church to the level that she believes God is talking through her and she acts to his wishes regardless of her own well being, its an alarming sense of foreboding.

Bess with her husband Jan Nyman (Stellan Skarsgard)

Emily Watson is simply outstanding as the inexperienced Bess, it is arguably one of the best and most troubled acting performances I have ever witnessed. The acting around her especially from Skarsgard is good but Watson is what the film is centered around and she produces a performance that is hard to look away from. The true intentions of Jan after the accident are never really explored leaving a confused idea as to what his motive was, the ambiguity gives the whole film a different and more seedy edge. As Bess' conditions worsens as Jan's improves there is no relent from von Trier in her suffering.

It's an incredibly difficult film to judge, it has some incredibly unique ideas that leave you with some very difficult lingering questions as mentioned above but as you watch the final few chapters its hard not to hate what is being shown happening in front of you. von Trier clearly wanted a dramatic ending to the film and he certainly found it but I felt the ending was too bizarre and Bess' motives unclear as to why should we do that, the bells ringing at the end seemed like more of a sick joke than a nice touch. Collecting my thoughts on this movie sees me swinging wildly with intrigue and adoration to downright disgust, it's certainly difficult viewing and it's guaranteed to not leave you indifferent.

2.5/4 Disturbing, thought provoking drama left me filled with admiration and hate.