Film Review: The LEGO Movie

Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller

The latest LEGO movie (there have been many previous that went straight to DVD) goes all out with a bigger budget, a renowned cast and a far reaching marketing campaign. The LEGO brand is experiencing a bit of a renaissance at the moment as young kids are introduced to it and adults are becoming re-acquainted with one of their favourite childhood toys. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are mostly known for writing and directing Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs.

The Wizard Vitruvius attempts to protect the "Kragle", a superweapon, from the evil Lord Business. He fails to do so, but warns Lord Business of a prophecy where a person called the "Special" will find the Piece of Resistance capable of stopping the Kragle. Meanwhile, Emmet is an ordinary construction worker who happens to come across a woman named Wyldstyle and whilst following her falls down a hole and finds the piece of resistance, so its down to him and Wyldstyle to stop the world from being destroyed.

Emmet with Batman

The opening scenes showing a far too enthusiastic Emmet in his world preparing for work is arguably the funniest part of the movie, the trailer really does show most of the best jokes unfortunately. Batman also swoops into make some decent jokes and some arguably terrible bat puns, whilst the film does have a laugh at its on expense on many an occasion.

All of the animated CGI effects are grand in scale and in impressive whilst keeping the slightly flawed features of LEGO itself. Its a film that entirely embraces its retro look and combines it seamlessly with the latest animated technology. The film itself is presumably not really aimed at me so its not really worth going into much depth on that but one thing that stood out for me is that I want to make a double decker sofa for my living room.

2.5/4 Oddly funny and likeable

Film Preview: The Raid 2: Berendal

The original film released in 2012 was a slow burner on release that quickly became a cult classic by fans of the martial arts movie from Asia. It was also surprising to note that it was written and directed by Gareth Davies who hails from Hirwaun in South Wales. The sequel was an idea thrown around by the production crew after they failed to get funding a film called Berendal ("thugs" in Indonesian) and went for a simpler film which turned out to be The Raid. The success of the original film gave them the funding they required for a larger scale production on a more ambitious script.

The sequel literally follows straight on from the end of the first movie, Rama (Iko Uwais) having survived the apartment block goes undercover and looks to infiltrate the gang responsible in Jakarta. All whilst protecting his family from retribution for the previous events as he continues to uncover corruption in the police force.

The Raid 2: Berendal is released in the UK on Friday 11th April (great day) and the trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: The Passenger

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

The 1975 French-Italian drama that was released at the Cannes Festival and competed for the Palme d'Or but lost out to Chronique des Années de Braise. The film is often praised for its excellent use of camerawork and the fantastic locations used including Barcelona, the province of Almeria in Spain and the North African desert.

David Locke (Jack Nicholson) is a frustrated TV journalist who is searching for rebels who are fighting a civilian war in an un-named African country. He has been unable to find them so far and his Land Rover has just broke down in the desert so he heads back to the hotel where he meets an Englishman named Robertson who says he is there on business. After Locke finds Robertson dead in his hotel room he decides to swap identities with him and report that Locke has died to escape his monotonous life.

David Locke with his stricken Land Rover

Jack Nicholson is impressive as the nomadic David Locke who ditches his mundane life to live the life of another and possibly bites off more than he can chew. His life in England was uninteresting living in suburbia with his wife so he escapes to become the man he thinks he wants to be. The film does present some great ideas around identity and personality but the plot itself is excruciatingly slow in developing after the first act, Antonioni is ponderous in his direction and pauses to admire the view on many an occasion.

2/4 Beautifully shot but achingly slow plot

BAFTA Winners 2014

Best Film:12 Years a Slave

Best Leading Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Leading Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Director: Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

Best Animated Film: Frozen

Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle - Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell

Best Adapted Screenplay: Philomena - Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

Best Documentary: The Act of Killing

Outstanding British Film: Gravity

Fellowship: Dame Helen Mirren

Interesting things of note were the absence of Jennifer Lawrence who was apparently shooting a movie so was unavailable, maybe she didnt want to risk a long trip to lose the Best Supporting Actress award like last year when Emmanuelle Riva was surprisingly chosen for her role in Amour. Films like Her and Dallas Buyers Club were ineligible for the awards due to their late release date in the UK which meant films like Captain Phillips muscled their way into contention for the main awards. At the end it was announced that The Act of Killing won the Best Documentary and it is a truly excellent piece from what I've heard, I'm still summoning up the courage to sit through it.

Film Review: Airplane!

Director: Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker

Released in 1980, Airplane set out to mock the slew of disaster movies that were released throughout the 1970's but is mainly based on the 1957 movie Zero Hour! The film went on to be a huge financial and critical success with many lauding it as one of the greatest comedy films of all time. It also opened the door for a whole genre of spoof movies that followed including a less successful sequel released two years later.

The auto-pilot, Elaine and Ted in the cockpit

Ex-fighter pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays) is dumped by his girlfriend Elaine (Julie Hagerty) for his refusal to move on from the past. Ted is still traumatized by an accident that happened during an unknown war (generally seen to be the Vietnam War) which means he has a pathological fear of flying and has struggled to hold down a job since. He nervously boards a flight to Chicago though to be able to speak to her just as problems start to arise for the passengers and crew.

The jokes range from puns to slapstick and are plentiful throughout the movie with some running gags thrown in for good measure. Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack instinctively has excellent comic timing and Lloyd Bridges produces a performance that instantly put him in the frame as a great comedic actor for future films (Hot Shots films for instance). Bridges is also spoofing his 1970–1971 television role as airport manager Jim Conrad in San Francisco International Airport. My rating is biased as I've always loved this film but its still a classic.

4/4 Hilarious parody movie that created a genre

Film Review: It All Starts Today

Director: Bertrand Tavernier

With the current political landscape completely mired in talk of recession, budget cuts and government deficits. The cost of living is increasing whilst wages are stagnant, it is leaving a lot of people in poverty especially in poor towns up in the North of England. It All Starts Today is a French movie released in 1999 set in a small Northern town in France that is suffering from the same economic malaise, the rundown housing in the towns are almost identical to what you would see around any city in the UK. Its a film that has become even more relevant since its release and centers round the suffering the children at a kindergarten go through as their parents have no money.

Daniel Lefebvre (Philipe Torreton)

Philipe Torreton is simply incredible as the headteacher Daniel Lefebvre of the small kindergarten that is suffering due to overcrowding in classrooms and a lack of funding from the local government. The local mine has shutdown meaning the loss of thousands of jobs for the local people. He is constantly forced to go beyond the call of his job to help pupils who are sent to school with no food or are being bulled by other pupils or even their families. Throughout the film you can see the losing battle that the teachers are facing as more pupils fall into poverty whilst a government turns its back on its problems.The interactions between Torreton and the pupils were filmed 'as live' and involved a lot of improvisation as the children just responded like they would do in a classroom rather than it being rehearsed beforehand.

The disgusting squalor that some children have to live in is truly shocking and depressing. This is a film that packs a real emotional and political punch as we starkly follow the struggles of the town with families having there electricity and gas cut off just ahead of winter by energy companies to pressure them to pay. The local mine has shutdown meaning the loss of thousands of jobs for the local people and naturally there is no assistance for the town to help those most in need.

4/4 Truly stunning and touching film

This week's releases

Her: A lonely writer, played by Joaquin Phoenix, straight from a breakup falls in love with a new computer operating system much to the surprise and chagrin of his-ex. Believing he is in love with more just a computer but somebody with a consciousness as he experiences joy but then inevitable doubt. Also starring Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Scarlett Johansson as the voice of the computer.

Cuban Fury: A British ballroom dance based comedy starring Nick Frost as the overweight former salsa prodigy who re-kindles his love of dancing to impress a woman he likes (Rashida Jones). He naturally struggles to get back into dancing after 22 years away from the floor whilst also competing against his nemesis Drew (Chris O'Dowd).

The LEGO Movie: An ordinary guy/lego figure called Blake (Craig Berry) is mistaken for the Master Builder and forced to fight against an evil lego tyrant called The President (Will Ferrell). He enlists the help of a lego Batman (Will Arnett) and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) in his quest to stop the Lego universe being glued together.

The Monuments Men: Based on a true story of an American platoon which was tasked with retrieving stolen art pieces from Nazi thieves towards the end of World War Two. A stellar cast including Matt Damon, George Clooney, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett come together for one of the most impressive ensembles in recent months.