This week's releases

Broken City: Mark Wahlberg stars in this political cop thriller as a man indebted to the mayor who entangles him in a web of lies and deceit whilst investigating his wife.

Full preview here

Stoker: Korean director Chan-Wook Park (Oldboy) is back with this horror about a young woman (Mia Wasikowska) who ends up in a spooky mansion with her mother (Nicole Kidman) and uncle (Matthew Goode).

Safe Haven: From the director of Dear John, comes another romantic comedy about a widower (Cobie Smulders) who falls in love with a new arrival to the tight knit community in which he lives.

Arbitrage: Richard Gere stars in this financial thriller about a man trying to cheat his way to selling his company without revealing the toxic debt whilst also cheating on his wife.

Full review here

Film Review: True Grit

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

The Coen brothers have an impressive track record and with that comes an air of expectation, True Grit came after 2 so-so films that followed the impressive No Country for Old Men. The second adaptation of the Charles Portis novel of the same name that had previously been made into a 1969 film starring John Wayne.

Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfield) wants revenge for the death of her father at the hands of Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), she hears that U. S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) is the meanest sherriff so picks him to help her find Chaney who has fled with the Pepper gang into Indian territory. Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) is also hunting Chaney for the murder of a senator in his state, both groups want to catch Chaney but have different ideas about how and where his punishment should be dealt.

 U. S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfield)

Jeff Bridges is the stand out performer as the one eyed Rooster Cogburn, he is a likeable character who clearly develops a bond with Mattie that he keeps distant in her mind. He's the drunk that you can't help liking but he always pulls through when he is needed, his accent seems accurate for the time. Hailee Steinfield actually won the role over 15,000 other applicants and is impressive as the determined Mattie. Matt Damon is miscast in my opinion, he always turns in a capable performance in whatever he does but here he isn't the right person to play Ranger Lebeouf, a more rugid actor is needed.

It's difficult to create popular Westerns these days but they are starting to have a renaissance which seems to have been started here, they had their day and are quite often looked back upon with disdain but films like this are shaking off that moniker. The plot does lack enough thrilling moments throughout its entirety but overall it is an enjoyable Western and surely that is what they are all about.

3/4 Coen brothers produce an enjoyable light-Western

Film Preview: Broken City

My general dislike of Mark Wahlberg stems from the amount of poor movies he has done where he tends to play the same type of character. But my dislike stems from the fact that he is capable of more, he is better than the usual acting dross like Jason Statham and Vin Diesel. He's put in good performances in films like The Departed, The Other Guys and The Fighter (although I felt the film was over-rated). When I saw that he was starring in Broken City I watched the trailer with skepticism but felt that the premise itself had great potential and that this could be one of the best post-Oscar films this year. The cast also features Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones and the sublime Kyle Chandler.

NYPD Billy Taggart (Wahlberg) is arrested for murder after he kills the man who raped his girlfriends sister, he manages to escape the charges thanks to Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Crowe) who eliminates incriminating evidence and gets him off claiming self defence. Seven years later Hostetler hires Taggart, who is on the verge of bankruptcy, to find out who his wife Cathleen (Zeta-Jones) is sleeping with but ends up finding out a lot more about the city than he bargained for.

Broken City is released in the UK on 1st March 2013 and the trailer is embedded below:

Full list of Oscar Winners 2013

Here is a list of the 85th annual Academy Award winners announced Sunday in LA:

 1. Best Picture: Argo

2. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

3. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (who tripped up the stairs as she went to collect the award)

4. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

5. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

6. Directing: Ang Lee, Life of Pi

7. Foreign Language Film: Amour

8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Argo

9. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

10. Animated Feature Film: Brave

11. Production Design: Lincoln

12. Cinematography: Life of Pi

13. Sound Mixing: Les Miserables

14. Sound Editing (tie): Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty

15. Original Score: Life of Pi, Mychael Danna.

16. Original Song: "Skyfall" from Skyfall, Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth.

17. Costume: Anna Karenina.

18. Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man.

19. Documentary (short subject): Inocente

20. Film Editing: Argo

21. Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Miserables

22. Animated Short Film: Paperman

23. Live Action Short Film: Curfew

24. Visual Effects: Life of Pi

Film Review: The Master

Director: Paul Anderson

Within days of its release, the subject matter of The Master was quickly compared to Scientology as Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) promotes ''the cause'' which many think is similar to Scientology itself. The film is set in the same year that Scientology began with many critics saying that Lancaster Dodd is very similar to L. Ron Hubbard who started Scientology after the Second World War. Paul Anderson and Harvey Weinstein both denied that there is any link stating that the film is about a drifter living his life after WW2 where it became common for ex-soldiers to join cults.

Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a sex-obsessed alcoholic who following the end of World War II who is struggling to adapt to civilian life, he clearly struggles from post-traumatic stress disorder but never receives any help for it given the era. After a few close shaves he stows away on a boat which is owned by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is the leader of a movement called ''the cause'' and takes a shine to Freddie. Dodd tries to initiate Freddie into the group by ''processing'' him and turn him away from his violent alcoholic ways whilst promoting his beliefs.

Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seyour Hoffman)

*possible spoilers ahead*

The acting throughout the film is simply brilliant, Joaquin Phoenix is the star turn as the troubled and vulnerable Freddie whilst Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent at subtly conveying a man of great sympathy and compassion whilst being strangely threatening through his philosophical movement. Amy Adams is also quietly impressive as Dodd's wife Peggy especially during a particularly disturbing scene where she masturbates Dodd over a sink.

Quite often the pacing of the film is quiet slow and this could leave it to be a bit boring but blunt nature of Freddie's character is at odds with the subtle nature of the rest of the film. Like Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene, which also deals with the issue of cults, the true reasoning behind Dodd's actions is never fully explored. Yet the cult in The Master on the surface is a lot less sinister on a physical level but can be perceived as psychologically disturbing when members are ''processed'' and put in touch with themselves in former lives. The ending is a slow build up and slightly disappointing but it still doesn't take away from a intriguing film which has a superb score running right though it.

3.5/4 Superbly acted and subtly unsettling

This week's releases

Cloud Atlas: When it was first announced that the book would be made into a film there was a lot of hype but since then everything has died down after allegations of racism in the movie and whether the film could actually truly convey everything from the book.

Full Preview Here

To The Wonder: Terrence Malick's latest film about a man trying to make one relationship work whilst escaping another.

Full Preview Here

Song for Marion: A British Comedy about a pensioner called Arthur (Terence Stamp) who joins a local choir much to the delight of his wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) who hopes it will lift his grumpy ways and make him closer to his son.

The Rolling Picture Awards Nominations

The second year of the prestigious Rolling Picture Awards, last years winner can be found here. I hope to create Awards that recognize some different films that were overlooked or excluded from nominations due to the rules the Golden Globes and Oscars have around eligible films.

Best Picture:

Silver Linings Playbook
Untouchable
Argo
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Detachment
Zero Dark Thirty
The Master

Best Actor:

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Omar Sy (Untouchable)
Francois Cluzet (Untouchable)
Adrien Brody (Detachment)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

Best Actress:

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Emannuelle Riva (Amour)
Marion Cotillaird (Rust and Bone)

Best Supporting Actor:

Alan Arkin (Argo)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Tom Hardy (Lawless)

Best Supporting Actress:

Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Amy Adams (The Master)
Jessica Chastain (Lawless)
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Best Director: 

David O'Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly)
Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano (Untouchable)
Tony Kaye (Detachment)
Kathryn Bigalow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Documentary:

Undefeated
The Imposter
Room 237
Into the Abyss
Marley

The Christ Rock in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back Award (Best small role/cameo):

Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)
James Gandolfini (Killing Them Softly)
John Goodman (Flight)
Chris Tucker (Silver Linings Playbook)
Matt Walsh (Ted)

Best Soundtrack:

Skyfall
Killing Them Softly
Lincoln
Marley
Les Miserables

Worst Film:

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Cosmopolis
Taken 2
Ted
Contraband
Project X
Gangster Squad