Film Review: Blade Runner

Director: Ridley Scott

A 1982 American Science Fiction film that despite indifferent reviews on release, became a huge hit as many discussed the more subtle questions around the improvements in technology to the detriment of society and the issue of being human. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Blade Runner has many different versions as the original featured a much parodied narration by Harrison Ford as Rick Dekard but subsequent releases took this out and also changed the ending.

Downtown Los Angeles in 2019

Retired Police Officer Rick Dekard (Harrison Ford) is forced to meet his former supervisor to return as a blade runner to catch four bio mechanical beings known as replicants. The plan is to find them and "retire" them (basically kill them) as they are no longer allowed on Earth. The Voight-Kampff test is performed to try and promote an emotional response from the subject to prove whether they are human or not. The film continues with the theme of what it means to be human throughout.

The main criticisms of the original release of the film was the narration and poor choice of ending which were both changed for this release. A bigger issue lies in the pacing of the film as after the opening scenes, which basically setup the films premise, it slows to a crawl that spends the next hour not really going anywhere before an intriguing climax. The films presents some very good ideas to consider over the course of the film but at times they are so lost amongst everything else. It feels like a film that is remembered fondly because people forget how dull it is in parts.

Rick Dekard (Harrison Ford) and Replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer)

The special effects for the time were very impressive and the overall look of the film especially the downtown shots of Los Angeles are excellent. The constant stream of light shining into peoples homes and the buildings of the city show the negative effect that improved technology has had on society, along with the omni-present police and huge corporate advertisements. Harrison Ford is surprisingly off form here and is easily overshadowed by the violent yet intelligent Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty. Sci-Fi fans will be guaranteed to love this one but the rest of us may struggle.

2/4 Plot too often takes a backseat to special effects

Film Review: Gravity

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

The latest film from Mexican film maker Alfonso Cuaron takes him firmly away from any of his previous films and into the world of sci-fi with Gravity. It received rave reviews after being premièred at the Venice Film Festival before moving onto many other film festivals where it continued to impress the critics. The project saw many actors and actresses linked to play the main role with Robert Downey Jr interested before George Clooney took the role of Matt Kowalski. For the lead Angelina Jolie was initially interested whilst Marion Cotillaird and Natalie Portman both passed due to scheduling conflicts before Sandra Bullock agreed to the movie.

Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (Clooney)

Dr. Ryan Stone and astronaut Matt Kowalski are on a space mission floating above the Earth and have been in space for a number of weeks. Their mission is aborted after mission control in Houston (voiced by Ed Harris) warns them of a Russian missile strike on a satellite that has caused a cloud of debris to orbit the Earth at high speed and is heading their way. The two astronauts and the crew on-board the Explorer must battle to survive and return to Earth.

The opening shots of the shuttle just floating above Earth with the voices of the crew members slowly becoming louder and more clear is beautiful, it sets the tone for the whole movie and its simply sublime cinematography (hats off to Emmanuel Lubezki). The shots of the astronauts against the deep blue sea and the infinite skyline are a joy to watch and simply remind you of 2001: A Space Odyssey in its beauty, the comparison was inevitable so got it out of the way early. Although its worth noting that I only saw it in regular 2D so cannot comment on how good the 3D effects were.

Debris strikes the space shuttle Explorer

Sandra Bullock is soft yet steely determined in the lead role whilst Clooney is his natural easy going self as the experienced astronaut doing his last space mission. Ed Harris lends a familiar voice to mission control in Houston essentially picking the role he took in Apollo 13. The terror of being alone drifting in space is incredibly real here on many occasions and rarely has it been done to greater effect, unlike so many sci-fi movies that have gone before it didn't need an actual physical enemy to create tension and difficult situations for the main characters. As the film progresses it does lose its way in parts but this doesn't detract from the superb impression it leaves upon you.

3.5/4 Beautiful yet tense sci-fi thriller

This week's releases

Gravity: The much anticipated release of the new sci-fi film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney is finally here, reviews in the States have been very good upon its initial release. A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space desperate to survive.

Seduced and Abandoned: This film is described as the exploration of film world from the Cannes Film Festival to money and fame. It features many famous people from the business like Ryan Gosling, Martin Scorcese, Jessica Chastain and Alec Baldwin to name just a few.

Film Review: Runner Runner

Director: Brad Furman

A 2013 crime drama which moves the high stakes world of the casino into the online realm. This film will feel very familiar to fans of films like 21 but the glamour of Las Vegas is replaced with a off-shore venues where the internet casino is king. Unfortunately Runner Runner doesn't match the slick casino dramas that have gone before with a very familiar and unsurprising plot. Brad Furman is mostly known for his previous films The Lincoln Lawyer.

Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) is trying to pay his way through Princeton University by referring students to an internet gambling site and receiving a fee for his referral. He is told to stop this by the Dean of the university who receives complaints so he decides to gamble all his savings online and loses. But Richie believes it was because he was cheating so goes to Costa Rica to speak to Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) about the loopholes in his website and to claim his money back. Ivan agrees to pay him back and offers him a job with him working on the website but how legal is Ivan's operation?

Richie and Ivan

The plot is formulaic and unsurprising in its twists, its no shock to learn that Richie won't be having an easy trouble free life whilst he earns millions working for Ivan. Gemma Arterton appears as the dull femme fatale who tries to make you second guess her intentions when really you know all along what she will do in the finale. It's a lazy film that spends most of its time by the pool or at a party without creating characters you're really rooting for or even care about.

1.5/4 Dull and lazy crime caper

Film Review: Killer Joe

Director: William Friedkin

The experienced director William Friedkin has an excellent record with previous films, he produces films that stay with you for different reasons. The French Connection is remembered for one of the best car chase scenes and The Exorcist is known for its shocking scenes and is generally seen as one of the best horror movies of all time. Here many critics left the Venice Film Festival shocked at what has now been named "the fried chicken scene".

Set in Texas, Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) owes a local gang boss for gambling debt so decides the best way to make the problem disappear is to have his mother killed for the insurance money. He agrees this with his dad Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) who has separated from Chris' mother and now lives in a trailer with Sharla (Gina Gershon) and Chris' naive and innocent sister Dottie (Juno Temple). They agree to claim the $50,000 in insurance and pay half to local cop "Killer" Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) but naturally not everything goes to plan.

Chris (Emile Hirsch) and Cop Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) 

The brutal finale in the trailer is completely lead by the psychotic Joe Cooper played by Matthew McConaughey who is unrecognizable from almost every other role I've seen him play. His quiet menace builds throughout the film to this incredible crescendo. The role of Dottie played by Juno Temple is also beautifully played as the naive childlike younger sister who is suddenly forced into this adult world.

At times Friedkin almost makes this a black comedy as the trailer trash characters delve into a world far too complex and dangerous for them to understand. Their dim-wittedness at times is amusing but also expected as Hirsch's character lurches from one problem to another usually of his own making. The move of taking this story from a play to a feature film isn't without its problems, the final scene works beautifully but I think the claustrophobic feel of a theatre stage would suit the material very well. The final act has to be entirely carried by McConaughey which isn't always possible and Hirsch portrays a particularly uninteresting character that struggles to bring much to the screen.

2.5/4 Slow developing thriller quickly smashes its way to a brutal climax

Film Review: Prince Avalanche

Director: David Gordon Green

An American independent film that has just been released in the UK, the film was only brought to the attention of the movie world upon completion. Director David Gordon Green said he wanted to get back to his indie roots after his last few films like Compliance and The Sitter were major studio productions. Paul Rudd found the role difficult at times and was quoted as saying  "I found the biggest challenge of working on this was trying to stifle my alpha-male [masculinity]."

Alvin (Paul Rudd) is a line painter in Texas following the wild fires in 1987 that ravaged the state who employs his girlfriends brother Lance (Emile Hirsch) to help him. Alvin likes the solitude and to meditate whilst Lance is mainly interested in sleeping with women and loud rock music. Their personalities clash in the strange wilderness as they argue about their lives back home. Then film is loosely based on the Icelandic film Either Way.

Lance (Emile Hirsch) and Alvin (Paul Rudd)

The plot itself is an incredibly loose concept in this film as very little actually progresses through the movie, the story is more driven by the interactions between the characters which for the most part are wholly uninteresting. The script is key in a film based mainly on dialogue between two people and here it is severely lacking. The parts where the plot does progress are completely predictable and the characters reactions to these developments even more so.

The character of Lance is a cliché although in parts quite accurate portrayal of a late teen stuck doing a dead end job whilst Alvin is a slight over the top nerdy type. Some moments are sweet with Alvin as his heart is clearly in the right place even is his brain isnt and some of the shots of the Texas wilderness are impressive but not good enough to warrant the length of camera time devoted to them.

1.5/4 Sweet but very dull and unfunny comedy

Film Preview: The Immigrant

An American drama that was released at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the illustrious Palme d'Or this year but lost out to epic French movie Blue is the Warmest Colour, which clocks in at over three hours and was labelled soft-core pornography by many. Director James Gray is mostly known for the film We Own the Night. This will be the fourth time he has cast Joaquin Phoenix in one of his movie with his first film Little Odessa being his only film not to star the aforementioned Phoenix.

Set in the 1920's, Ewa (Marion Cotillaird) travels to America with her sister Magda (Angela Sarafyan) in search of the American dream. When they finally reach the US, they are separated as Magda is ill and alone Ewa falls into the arms of Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) who looks after her but then forces her into prostitution.

The Immigrant is released in the UK on 27th November 2013