Film Preview: The Double

An upcoming dark comedy directed by Richard Ayoade whose debut film Submarine was impressive and compelling (although it didnt quite fair as well with the critics). He's mostly known for his roles in The IT Crowd and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace whilst also starring in Hollywood comedy The Watch last year with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller that flopped in at the box office. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on 7th September 2013 to excellent reviews.

Simon (Eisenberg) is a quiet shy man whose life seems to be passing him by as he's shunned at work and not liked by the woman he loves, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska). But then he meets James who is his exact physical double but is the opposite in terms of personality, he's outgoing and confident but slowly Simon begins to realise that James is trying to take over his life.

The Double is released in the UK on 4th April 2014 and the trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: No Country for Old Men

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

A film noir from 2007 by the infamous Coen brothers who continue to impress with original films, this time they adapt the book of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. Among its four Oscars at the 2007 Academy Awards were awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film probably has the most in-common with Fargo out of the Coen brothers earlier works with the story surrounding murders and an older experienced police detective trying to solve the crime.

Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem)

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is out hunting and finds the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong in the desert in Texas. He steals two million dollars from a duffel bag and heads home after being chased away by two men in a pickup truck, he escapes into the next county after sending his wife to her mothers to be safe. The problem he has is that Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is the ruthless hitman that has been hired to recover the money and will stop at nothing to find it. Amongst all this experienced Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is tasked with solving the mystery around the drug deal and the string of deaths following the stolen money.

Javier Bardem is excellent as the cold killer Anton who uses a captive bolt pistol to execute his victims and break through locked doors. He portrays almost no emotion and has only one goal, to recover the stolen money. The tension Bardem brings to every scene is incredible, you almost know what he's going to do at each turn but you will him not to do it.Whilst Tommy Lee Jones as the weary police sheriff is clever, wily but tired of the violence that continues to blight his county which leads to a clever but slightly beguiling ending to the film. Its also interesting to note that the three main characters (Moss, Chigurh and Bell) almost never share the screen at the same time.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones)

The film is incredibly faithful to the 2005 book and works hard to depict the gritty violence of the novel, whilst the almost predestined turn of events are nothing new in the Coen brothers work. The Coens are markedly less interested in who (if anyone) gets away with the loot than in the primal forces that urge the characters forward. This isn't just a simple crime drama about who escapes with $2 million but something much deeper.

3.5/4 One of the Coen brothers finest film to date

Film Review: Dallas Buyers Club

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

One of the films taking the latest awards season by storm is based on the true story of Ron Woodruff who contracted HIV and subsequently fought illegally imported drugs not available on the market in the US from abroad. The screenplay was created by Craig Borten who interviewed Woodruff shortly before his death and did the rounds in the mid-90's with little success, at one point Dennis Hopper was slated to direct and Woody Harrelson in the title role but again it never came to fruition. Jared Leto admitted he was once sent a script but never actually read it before he became reinvolved with the project this time with Matthew McConaughey.

Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey)

Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) is an electrician and rodeo cowboy in 1985 Dallas, he contracts HIV and is given around 30 days to live. He struggles to come to terms with his condition as he's strongly homophobic and believes the disease only affects homosexual men. After investigating his illness he realises that the FDA in America is refusing to certify many drugs to help manage AIDS that are available in other countries so starts a business importing the drugs to sell to local sufferers with Rayon (Jared Leto).

The one man campaign against the system that he believes is killing him by denying him the drugs is bold, its not a true story of one man fighting for the silent AIDS sufferers as he sees it purely as a business venture. Ron isn't the sort of man to turn down the opportunity to make a quick few dollars. The relationship created between Rayon is sharply witty at times as they trade jokes and barbs in the early going. In a world of legal and ethical loopholes being exploited on both sides, Jennifer Garner plays the upstanding moral guardian of the story as Dr. Eve Saks. Her role was a bit muddled at times and was more of a character for Ron to play off with some clever lines than a fully fledged character whose developed at any length

Rayon (Jared Leto)

To be honest the dramatic weight loss is one of the less exciting aspects of the roles played by McConaughey and Leto as they both produce excellent performances, especially Leto whose nonchalance masks a brittle and damaged personality after years of  drugs and rejection from his family due to his lifestyle. One scene where Leto is topless though shows the incredible amount weight he must have lost for this role though. In terms of Oscar nominations I'm not convinced McConaughey is a definite winner, outside of the dramatic weight loss which is always a huge plus with Oscar voters, its an impressive but not necessarily leagues apart from his peers. But Jared Leto is possibly closer to being rewarded come March but its still early days in the race.

3/4 Bold but with a dry wit adds to strong acting performances

Film Review: The Bone Collector

Director: Phillip Noyce

This 1999 thriller had disappeared deep into my memory banks and was only rekindled when I was given the original book of the same name by Jeffrey Deaver to read. Having quite enjoyed the book I thought I'd re-assess the film against the original text, as always with films some subplots are cut out and certain developments shelved to keep the running time low. But even with this the film felt rushed through the second half, the subtle nuances of the book and the impressive way that Deaver created the tension and threat were less implied. The serial killer felt more like a clever human being in the book, due to him narrating certain chapters without giving away any of the plot

Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) with Nurse Thelma (Queen Latifah) 

Police Officer Amelia Donaghy (Jolie) is called to investigate a hand sticking out of the ground by the railway tracks, she quickly realises its a dead body with the finger chiseled down to the bone. Tetraplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) is put on the case but insists that Officer Donaghy stay on the case as well to work the crime scenes as a forensics expert due to her good instincts. After initial resistance she agrees as they work out where the next murder will be based on the clues left at the last murder by the killer in a race against time to save lives.

Even with certain parts of the book removed, the film felt rushed through the second half, the subtle nuances of the book and the impressive way that Deaver created the tension and threat were less implied. The serial killer felt more like a clever human being in the book, due to him narrating certain chapters without giving away any of the plot, as in the film he is a remote character who is barely visible except for one scene which made him less human and therefore less threatening.

Officer Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie)

The acting in the film is more than capable from the leads Jolie and Denzel, they both intriguingly portray the brittle but stubborn characters very well. The only thing lacking is the real panic and urgency that would be apparent from two people in charge of chasing down a serial killer before he claims another victim, its almost a detached and emotionless puzzle that they are solving not one involving real victims at times. In searching for a crime thriller you could do a lot better than The Bone Collector but you could also do a lot worse.

1.5/4 Formulaic and almost emotionless crime thriller

This week's releases

Dallas Buyers Club: Ron Woodroof is a hustler in the mid-80's who works outside of the law to get AIDS medication for patients after he is diagnosed with the disease himself. An Oscar nominated movie that is renowned for the huge weight loss by its stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto as they both play AIDS victims.

Full Preview Here

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty: Based around the feelings of a young man who feels terrible after being stood up on a date by a mysterious woman. It questions the ideas of what are the feelings you experience in a momentary meeting with someone you're attracted to?

RoboCop: A remake of the original from 1987 sees Joel Kinnaman play the infamous RoboCop in Detroit in 2028, Alex Murphy is critically injured in the line of duty so OmniCorp sees its opportunity to create a part man, part robot crime fighting machine in the corrupt and lawless Detroit. Exploring similar themes of machines ruling the population and the ideals of what it means to be human.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman: Animated comedy as Using his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand and interact with some of the greatest characters of all time.

Film Review: Inside Llewyn Davis

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

The recent released musical drama from the Coen brothers is a melancholy look at the 1960's folk scene in Greenwich village in New York. The film centers around fictional folk singer Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac) who is partly based on the real singer Dave Van Ronk who wrote an autobiography. All of the songs are sung in full and live with the exception of "The Auld Triangle" at the Gaslight Cafe which is actually lip-synced, the performances are excellent especially by Oscar Isaac who has surprisingly impressive singing voice.

The film shows a week in the life of Llewyn Davis, a folk singer who is struggling after his latest album is bringing him no money and his previous singing partner committed suicide. He lives from day to day sleeping on various people's sofa's and performing in the local folk clubs to earn money, most notably the Gaslight Cafe. He explores many different avenues to try and earn money through his singing all whilst looking after a friend's cat that escaped from their flat when he was letting himself out one morning.

Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) with the cat

In many ways the film is largely plotless, with its ouroboros like structure its more a glimpse into the rather depressing life of a struggling singer regardless of the time or genre of music they perform. The idea for the movie came from a simple yet rather odd question, what if Greenwich Village legend Dave Van Ronk had been beaten up in an alleyway outside Gerdes Folk City in 1961? So from Llewyn Davis being beaten up by a mysterious man for heckling a performer whilst drunk the night before we follow the downbeat and self-pitying Llewyn as he moves around New York searching for his big break and possibly what he feels is missing in his life.

A central theme to the film is a ginger tabby cat that Llewyn looks after and loses which continually re-appears thoughout the movie in different places, was it the same cat that he sees in many different places or different cats that look the same? One theory being that the cat represents Llewyn's dead singing partner Mike, constantly trying to escape the life he had (by committing suicide) with Llewyn chasing him trying to stop him from doing so. With one of the final scenes showing him stopping the cat from escaping the apartment unlike the beginning of the movie which is him severing the ties for being responsible for the cat/Mike.

Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean (Carey Mulligan) sing with Troy Nelson (Stark Sands)

The folky soundtrack is simply beautiful throughout, even with the help of Marcus Mumford who I personally can't stand normally on the track "Fare thee well", its an absolute triumph. Justin Timberlake is clearly a singer based on his career and Carey Mulligan already proved her vocal prowess in the movie Shame with an almost acapella rendition of New York, New York, but Oscar Isaac has lovely smooth voice that is totally befitting of the genre he is performing.

One quite funny scene cuts to the very core of Llewyn's failure in the movie, he is asked to be a session guitarist for Jim at a recording studio for the cheesy song "Please Mr. Kennedy" about an astronaut not wanting to go into outer space. Llewyn mocks the song before realising that Jim wrote it and it quickly shows why he cannot get off the bottom rung of the musical ladder, his strict morals for the music he loves clearly holding him back.

3.5/4 Charmingly melancholy with a beautiful soundtrack

Top 5 Movies of 2013

With the end of 2013 long gone, now is a good time to grade the top 5 films of last year. This is different to any Oscar list for Best Movie because I'm not paid to vote for a certain movie, but mainly because it only includes films realised in the UK in 2013 which excludes most Oscar films as they don't make it to the UK till 2013 (think Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, Her for example this year). Last years winner was the French film Untouchable which just beat Margin Call.

The link for the top 5 movies at the half way point is here.

Honourable mention to Gravity and Side Effects as they both came close but just missed out ahead of the list above. If you'd asked me halfway through Gravity I'd have said it was #1 but unfortunately it did tail off quite badly. So on to the list:

5. Only God Forgives
The ultra-violent yet highly stylish thriller which reunited Drive compatriots Nicholas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling polarized critics like no other film in 2013. It was a more subtle and less straight forward affair where Gosling has his thunder stolen by Lt. Chang played by Vithaya Pansringarm whose the ruthless cop who spends his spare time singing karaoke about his pain and lost love. The violence may be too much for some but its a beautifully shot film that has a lot more going on beneath the surface than you may realise.

4. Zero Dark Thirty
A well nominated film at the Oscars last year that is included due to its January release date in the UK. Jessica Chastain as Maya is pushed to the limits of her sanity in tracking down the worlds most wanted Osama bin Laden. Kathryn Bigalow strips away any American patriotism in favour of showing the dark side of how the Americans used torture tactics at Guantanamo Bay to help find their suspect. The film itself was overshadowed by the debate over the use of torture and its effectiveness unfortunately but its a supremely dark thriller.

3. Fruitvale Station
Technically not formally released in the UK yet, the story of the final day in the life of Oscar Grant III after he was unlawfully killed by a police officer after riding the BART transportation system in San Francisco is harrowing and upsetting. Michael B. Jordan is excellent in the lead role giving a troubled yet determined performance whilst Octavia Spencer is the mother constantly worried about the choices in life her son has made.

2. Before Midnight
The third and possibly final piece in the series by Richard Linklater that spans nearly two decades is an excellent piece on a love that has lost its spark as the couple have been ground down by life, children and previous relationships. Once again the film relies almost exclusively on its script to entertain you with only one scene that isn't just Jesse and Celine talking to each other. But its authenticity whilst being entertaining and compelling that makes it such a great film.

1.  The Place Beyond the Pines
A film released just after the film world had calmed itself after the Oscars but still without doubt the film that sticks in my mind is being the most impressive and enjoyable. Derek Cianfrance pulls no punches with his plot twists and adds to his already impressive repertoire with this downbeat look at small town America in this crime drama. A stellar cast featuring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper as its stars more than do justice to the screenplay.