Review: Dark Shadows

Earlier this week I got to go to an early screening of Dark Shadows, the new Tim Burton: Johnny Depp film so I though I'd share some of my thoughts.

 Dark Shadows is somewhat of a pastiche, with bits and bobs taken from here at there. Based on a 1970s TV show never aired in the UK of the same name, the film is centered around Barnabus Collins (who else but Depp), a young man from the 1700s who broke the heart of the wrong girl, the head strong and flirtacious maid Angelique (Eva Green), when he fell for the pure hearted Josette (Bella Heathcote).

After being jilted Angelique was a bit miffed to say the least, so used her witchy powers to not only have Josette placed under a curse to walk off a cliff into the ferocious sea beneath, but also had Barnabus live the rest of eternity in a coffin as a vampire.

Wizz forward 200 years into the trippy 70s to the world that Barnabus awakens to and what remains of his eccentric family, his manor and his town of Collinsport where the Collins used to run the show with a fishing business have been tipped on their head from how he left them.

He is catapulted into a world of hippies, troll dolls and chevvies with his estate fallen into a shadow of its former grandeur. Barnabus sets his mind on restoring the families luster and regaining control of the fishing enterprise, now overtaken by the new Lord of the land, no other than Angelique.


On the surface Dark Shadows has everything a film ought to have to be enjoyable, the opening 10 minutes show us some great film making, a pale faced protagonist, some dark undertones to life as we know it and some close to the wire additions to our established normality; the trio comfortably fall into their bread and butter of film making.

But when it comes to the meat on the bone, cake under the icing, there just isn't much to see. Narratives seem some what disjointed, characters do as they are intended, nothing more, nothing less, and we sail down a Burton/Depp river, running the same familar course as we have eight times previous.

The film certainly isn't bad, some stand out performances come from both Eva Green and Chloe Moretz as the angsty teenage daughter who comes into her own during the climatic final scene. Even the one liners from Barnabus are enough to raise a smile, despite the trailer revealing about as good as it's going to get, but for me this film didn't bring anything new to the table.

Whilst Burton's signature style no doubt will be applauded by his legions of fans, critics have already given the film an understandable beating and for me at least, whilst Dark Shadows has it's moments it's missing that certain something to really make it remarkable.

Review: Avengers Assemble

 

Possibly one of the most highly anticipated film of the year, I was lucky enough last week to attend a multimedia screening of Avengers Assemble, eager to see what all the fuss was about.

Not being a fan of, or had even watched, any of the films which lead up to this, I had expected to be thrown into a two and a half hour long comic book fest, filled with jokes I didn't get, and plot lines I couldn't make sense of.

Luckily for me, only one of the two was true.

The story kicks off with Loki (the one with the horns) making his way into SHEILD, a government agency, via the Tesserac, a blue shiny thing that holds the potential to take control of the world and also acts as a passage way from another dimension into this. In response to Loki's relocation to Earth with the intention of killing us all, as well as hijacking some faces which will be familiar to Marvel fans, Nick Fury gathers Iron Man, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Captain America to sort him out.

Pause for Laughter

One of the elements which made this film so watchable were the frequent breaks for laughter which continued throughout, a product of the double layer of battles, not just the age old battle of good and evil, the Avengers vs. Loki, but the bickering and bantering which goes on between the re-imagined superheroes themselves, separates this film from "just another superhero flick".

A numerous points during the film do we pause for Tony Stark to wise crack his counterparts, or for the self awareness of Agent Coulson's fan-boy to come across and create some subtle, ironic humour. The result is that the two hour geek-athon is noticeably missing those dragging moments films of this scale and length tend to have. A statement which we'll have to wait to see whether the other two blockbuster superhero films to be released this year, The Amazing Spiderman, and The Dark Knight Rises, will be able to match.

Another unique element of this film is the role that the female character, Black Widow as played by ScarJo, plays in the narrative. From the outset Black Widow proves herself to be intelligent, physically strong and persuasive. At no point during the film is there reference to her physical appearance, nor is there an inkling of a romantic relationship between herself or any of the other male characters. Even when she needs to extract information from Loki, it isn’t through her physicality that she achieves this, but through her dialogue. And how many other female leads in blockbuster films can the same be said for?

Verdict

Overall I’d say this film is well worth a watch even if you’re not a comic book fan, or are even familiar with the franchise which surrounds this film. Whilst I’m sure knowing about all the ins and outs of the characters back stories would help you in really getting 100% out of the experience, as well as appreciating the real comedy behind the quips, it stands its ground without and the clever script, special effects and cinematography of the climactic battle all impress.

I give this film 4 stars.

One Day

Anyone who’s gotten on a train, tube or bus during the last 18 months will be familiar with the distinctive orange jacket which covers David Nicholl’s One Day. After seeming to penetrate the book market the inevitable has happened and it’s been turned into a film.

Whilst it’s tempting for anyone who’s read the book to pick out omitted passages and chapters which were integral to the plot, the fact that the screenplay was written by Nicholls himself reassures you that he can’t have heartlessly shredded pages without any sentimentality or thought, surely? And if he hadn’t played a role in journey from text to screen it’s exactly what I’d be doing.

One Day follows the lives of geeky, grounded, northern-lass Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and priviledged, underachieving and cocky Dex (Jim Sturgess). The pair is followed over a span of 20 years and revisited every July 15^th starting from 1988, where their nearly-but-not-quite romance starts on their graduation from Edinburgh University, until the present day in a story which everyone will surely be able to relate to in some way. We all have our own Dex or Em’s, the people with whom a relationship is never really off the cards, but it’s never really on them either.

Director Lone Scherfig (An Education) does a near perfect job of capturing the essence of each year and the soundtrack similarly has the ability to transport you back in time, however compared to the book the film seems to rather heavy handed-ly rack through the years at breakneck speed. Without the character’s internal dialogues to carry the plot, to someone who is unfamiliar with the original narrative the speed may be a little hard to keep up with. I could imagine the motivations of Em struggling to find her way post graduation, spending years working in a tex-mex restaurant and even her attraction to Dex difficult to truly understand without the detail we get in the book.



Nevertheless the on screen chemistry between Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway keeps you interested. Sturgess plays Dex throughout his egotistical years as a late night TV presenter overindulging in booze and drugs, through to his break down without fault and whilst the casting of an American lead in Hathaway to play Emma has been criticised, by the time the transformation from gawky and lost to successful and self assured does eventually arrive she is able to do her justice and to me it seems that late 30s Emma is the only place where Hathaway was really able to deliver the goods. Until this point it’s hard to buy into a beautiful Hollywood actress playing a lost-her-way Yorkshire lass, no matter how thick rimmed her glasses are or how frizzy her hair.

When the final plot twist does arrive in such a quick, unexpected and dry way, only a colder hearted person than me will be able to stop themselves from shedding a tear. By skipping the “happily ever after” Hollywood ending you’re left with a touching and emotional film that’s hard to shake off.

 

 

Pixar's Brave

Pixar's latest release is set to be Brave, a 3D animated spectacular set in the Scottish highlands. The synposis from Disney reads as follows:

Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In Brave, a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts. Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

The first thing that strikes me about this film is that it's a completely new direction for Disney. Firstly, Merida is visually distinctive from other females Disney have presented us with. She has firey red hair, no hour glass figure, I wouldn't expect her to break into song or her movements to be light and graceful and she certainly doesn't seem as if she needs rescusing by a Prince.

Secondly, the aesthetics just of the trailer and the poster alone set a very dark tone for the film. Comparing just the colour palette and the pace of the trailer with that of previous Pixar releases, Up or Toy Story 3 even, we can gather than we're not in for a comedy caper or a light hearted adventure.

To me this seems like a breath of fresh air in terms of female representation. My dissertation was written about the representation of females by Disney so I like to think I know a fair but about the subject. From the looks of Merida so far I can anticipate a female who's able to stand on her own feet, far removed from the passive females we taught children about in the 1930s and 1950s where Snow White waited for her Prince to rescue her and Cinderella's only worth came through marriage.

Children do learn about the world they live in and the role they're expected to take in adult life from the films they watch as children, so it comes as a great relief that we're finally starting to see Disney re writing some of the outdated ideas they taught us years ago.

If you're interested in reading my dissertation you can download it here. All I ask is that you please don't re write my ideas and claim them as your own (duh!) and if you do use it at all reference me. Enjoy. :)

In terms of Brave, I can't wait to see the full length feature and see where it fits in with the rest of the Disney view point.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYg0VgPy6Uk]

The Rise of the Funny Women

Following the box office success of Bridesmaids, there has been a lot of talk surrounding the changing roles of women in comedy.

By all accounts Bridesmaids didn’t stick to the formula which makes for a box office smash, the central cast are all female, and this fact alone is something which makes the film somewhat of a boundary breaker. But even more than this, it’s actually laugh out loud funny, and it’s the women who are getting these laughs!

Past Trends

If we look back at the comedy genre during the last 10 years the highest grossing have been as follows: Meet the Fockers ($279m), The Hangover ($277m), Bruce Almighty ($242m), My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($241m), Wedding Crashers ($209m), What Women Want ($183), Hitch ($180m), Elf ($173m), Meet the Parents ($166), The Proposal ($164).

One out of ten of these films has a female lead, the other nine only represent women as being defined by her man or quite frankly, off her rocker and playing a very attractive, but ultimately subsidiary, character. Very few of these women generate the laughs independently or are seen as being funny in their own right. Instead, they are quite often the straight character for whom the comedy happens around.

Evolution

Germaine Greer seems to think that this phenomenon is because women don’t need laughs. Funniness is seen as a trait which males adopt in order to get the girl whereas girls rely on the gifts Mother Nature bestowed on them to attract a man and so inherently women are put on the sidelines to be nothing more than a pretty face. However, is it evolution which is to blame for the lack of female comedy in these films or is it the fact that the overwhelming majority of writers of these films have been male?

This is where Bridesmaids has also bucked the trend with a team of two female writers, Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. And low and behold, females can infact be funny! Who knew?!

My prediction is that Bridesmaids will lead the way for more female lead comedies in the future, getting women away from the undeveloped, “stand there and look pretty” roles they’ve been forced to occupy up to now, and instead really driving the comedy themselves without the assistance of a man.

Flawed Women

If we take a closer look at the films driving this change of direction we can already see a significant shift in the messages these films deliver about the role a female ought to adopt in her life. We see Kristen Wiig continually messing up, having a tantrum at her best friend's bridal shower, not quite being able to find her way in any area of her life in Bridesmaids , Cameron Diaz as the cigarette smoking, not giving a shit Bad Teacher and Jennifer Anniston giving what is cited to be one of her strongest performances as a bad girl with the execution to do whatever the hell she wants in order to satisfy her somewhat deviant sexual needs in Horrible Bosses.

These women are allowed to mess up, make mistakes and act, if we're honest, exactly like men have been acting in comedy for the past decade. And in my opinion it's a breath of fresh air for women everywhere to see females on screen demonstrating that they have flaws, they're just like you and I and sometimes their ever perfect lives and appearances aren't quite so perfect.


In September we also have the release of What’s Your Number starring Anna Faris as the ever single Ally who has got through a string of men and is still no closer to finding the infamous, and rather notorious, "one". Already it looks as it this film will be another film in the sub genre to propel the idea that a woman is perfectly able to generate laughs (and box office success) without relying upon a male.

Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits is the second title within six months to centre around the hypothetical “can friends have casual sex” question following the rather unremarkable No Strings Attached staring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.

Unlike No Strings Attached, Friends with Benefits plays on its self awareness of the rom-com genre to invite the audience into a playful inside joke. Passing references are made to Nicholas Sparks novels, Katherine Heigl’s lies about love and a faux rom-com staring Segel drives much of the narrative. The effect is to nearly, but not quite, convince you that Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are just like you. They have relationship problems, family problems, they make fools of themselves and even make references to TV programmes and series you’re familiar with! (Passing references are made to tropes any audience member will be familiar with, Harry Potter, the Hudson river crash, Will and Grace)

And it’s the chemistry between Timberlake and Kunis which prevents this film from becoming just another rom-com. Timberlake gives a shrewd performance as Dylan, a web site editor from LA who is head hunted by Jamie (Kunis) to become the editor of GQ. Following a weekend of selling the sites and sounds of New York, Dylan predictably caves and accepts the job, leading to a friendship forming between him and the bolshie but privately vulnerable Jamie, whom Kunis is able to credibly pull off.



Following a late night viewing of the pseudo rom-com which is both the inspiration and the differentiating factor of Friends With Benefits, the pair decide to give no strings sex a go, leading to the sort of sex scenes which have always been excluded from the genre. There’s certainly no pans across the room resulting in the action slowly slipping from the mise en scene here. Yes it’s beautiful people having sex, and your eyes can’t help but wonder to the strategically placed sheets which hide two of the hottest properties in Hollywoods’ frames, but let’s be honest, this is half the reason why we’re here and the film certainly delivers on that front.

Rather unsurprisingly feelings between the two aren’t dropped at the foot of the bed, and the pair end up falling for each other in the sort of scene the film has satirised throughout. Whilst the script did somewhat let down the potential chemistry between these two, the performances were for me spot on and injected new life into what is an over worked genre and what the film lacked in plot, it certainly made up for in it’s zeitgeist references and comedy one liners.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxfaGMuiniI&w=560&h=349]

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Review

I was lucky enough to go to a press screening of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never last night. (Friends in high places ;)) How much you like this film is dependent on how much you already like Bieber. I suspect that if you served up any sort of Bieber related content, put it on a cinema screen and let his fans at it they’d love it. But what’s more surprising about this film is that it’s watchable by anyone.

3D

The 3D element is a clever way to make a documentary work on a big screen and increases the amount of visual interest there is in the film. As Bieber reaches out and grabs the air ahead of him, or as the rows of girls frantically wave their hands in the audience, there’s at least something to keep those accompanying younger guest's attention.

The documentary follows Bieber on an 86 date tour, as his voice threatens to give up and the excitement builds for a show in Madison Square Garden, which is presented as being the holy grail of having ‘made it.’ Interspersed with tributes from the team surrounding him, his friends and family the clichéd messages most commonly attached to children’s films of hope, faith, and belief in yourself are plied on thick and fast. But coming from Bieber, and set alongside his story from talented musician at a tender eight years old, to badgering Usher for the chance to sing to him, to his meteoric fame of now, the message seems to have a lot more credibility.

A light hearted, self mocking tone is present throughout. We see Bieber promising his voice coach that he hasn’t been shouting, immediately followed by footage of his shouting and screaming with his friends. Even a montage of his fans declaring their undying love for him is edited in such a way that you laugh instead of feeling awkward at the exact lengths these girls will go to to get close to him. You almost expect one to say “One time Justin Bieber punched me in the face. It was awesome.” a la Mean Girls to go along with the theme of self parody.

Real?

The one problem I have is the exact extent to which we’re seeing the real 16 year old boy. He does indeed come across as normal. His “team” are clearly doing a good job of keeping him grounded, it’s unquestionable that he is extremely grateful for each of his fans and for the privileged position he is in. He’s cheeky, likes the attention of girls and is as vulgar as any other boy his age as he eats a donut found left in the bin. But what there is little of is Bieber in his own words. At no point does he talk genuinely to the camera or speak completely naturally, and how many of the words coming from his mouth have been put there by publicists? As he gives some money to a violinist playing in his home town where he used to bust and tells her to always follow her dreams, it’s hard not to wonder who might have instructed him to do that.

Whilst the film does have elements which makes it read more like a promotional film than a documentary, that’s not to say it isn’t at heart very watchable and even, dare I say it, enjoyable. It goes without saying Bieber fans will leave even more in love with the Bieber brand than when they entered, and those who despise him undoubtedly will find many a reason to continue doing so during the 90 minutes. But the real test is those who are indifferent to his work, and I suspect they’ll find it difficult not to come out a Bieber convert and having seen a fascinating insight into the way in which a star is born in the 21st century.

Toy Story 3- My Review

[caption id="attachment_213" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Lotso Huggin' Bear shows Buzz around"][/caption]

One of the movie releases of the year I’ve been most anticipating is Toy Story 3. Anyone around the age of 20 will have grown up watching, and most likely, loving the Toy Story franchise.

We first met Woody and the gang in 1995, then again in 1999. But by 2010 those initial fans are likely to be a lot older and college or University students like me. This was something Pixar certainly did not ignore. In the US free screenings of 60 minutes of the film where shown to college students which they signed up for via the dedicated Facebook page. They were left with a cliff hanger ending in the hope that they’d return and pay for a ticket to see the remainder.

In addition, this age of viewer is also likely to blog or talk about their viewing on social networking sites, which would then create an online buzz about the film and get people talking, creating yet more anticipation for the release.

Alongside this, they also released three teaser trailers as well as gradually releasing character profiles of the latest additions online. My favourite trailer was an IM chat between Woody and Buzz but all are pretty funny and clever, and again likely to get people talking and excited about the film.

Having pre-booked my tickets for the first day of release (yeah a bit sad I know), 3D glasses in hand I sat down to watch the third instalment, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

This time around Andy is leaving for college and the toys are facing their inevitable expiration, much like the franchise itself. They end up in Sunnyside play school where they encounter a host of new toys, Barbie meets her Ken, and a strawberry scented fuzzy bear called Lotso Huggin’ sets a cruel agenda for them to live by.

Unusually for an animated sequel, or even a third instalment, this one actually bucks the trend and is really good! The new characters as well as the old are as good as ever (I particularly like a new dinosaur called Trixie) but there is a sense of sadness and finality which runs throughout.

A lot of high hopes were placed on Toy Story 3 but ultimately I think it not only lived up to them, up also surpassed them. Entertaining from start to finish, without a dull “nothing’s happened for a while, I’m bored” moment in sight and just enough twists and turns to keep you interested without losing you, Toy Story 3 is definitely one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year- although admittedly I never got round to seeing either Avatar or Slumdog Millionaire)

A stand out sequence has to be the gang’s ultimate escape from Sunnyside, as well as the inspired character of Mr. Pricklepants (a thespian hedgehog) and the adorably cute Bonnie.

The ultimate message is that although you may be attached to something, sometimes you have to accept that it’s come to the end and it’s time to move on. However, as we learn in the open ending of the film as one door closes, another opens. It’s a tear jerker but ultimately delivers all we expected and more.

Princess and the Frog: My review

Not too come across as too big headed, but I consider myself a bit of a Disney buff. I’m 20 years old, so that would make such classics as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Pohcahontas the narratives I grew up on and, rather inevitably, fell in love with as a child.

Not only that, but last year I wrote my dissertation on the topic of morality in films to come out of the Disney studios, focusing mainly on what was at the time the most recent Disney Princess movie- Enchanted.

Princess and the Frog

In the process of writing my dissertation however the first entirely hand drawn Princess movie since Beauty and the Beast in 1991 was released- The Princess and the Frog and it’s about time I gave my thoughts on it.

Initially Princess and the Frog attracted a fair bit of attention because our protagonist Tiana is the first African-American Princess and therefore is the first Princess to go against the Disney mould of being fair skinned. (Ariel, Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella) That’s not to say she’s a complete first for Disney; Jasmine was from the middle-East, Mulan was of Chinese decent, Pohcahontas was Native American and Esmarelda I believe was Spanish. None the less, none of them for some reason or another were let into the Disney Princess “club” and she was, and that got people talking given the claims of racism which have fallen at Disney’s feet over the years.

Disney Morals

The general conclusion of my dissertation was that Enchanted provides a far from a perfect moral blueprint for your child to grow up with, assuming they internalise all of the ideas. However, Gisele knew what she wanted and went out to get it herself and this was a definite step in the right direction when compared to the weak and submissive females to come out of the 30s and 50s. (Snow White, pull your finger out love!)

And for the most part I think Princess and the Frog similarly updates the Disney morality to make it far more appropriate for children growing up in 2010.

Tiana displays the desirable traits of hard work and determination in the face of adversity as she works to fulfil her dream of owning her own restaurant and this represents a significant change from the Disney who seem to have always put success and dreams coming true down to “wishing on a star”, fate and destiny, as opposed to sheer hard work and graft.

The Bottom Line

Overall I must admit I liked it but it’s hard to say whether that’s for genuine brilliance or for aesthetic reasons. I am already a Disney fan, anything practically anything wrapped up in Disney magic is going to appeal to me, the cute alligator, the catchy songs and the style of animation are all things I find hard, if not impossible not to like.

But looking strictly at the narrative, and then comparing it to the latest films to come from Pixar, like Up, Toy Story 3 and Wall-E I’ve got to admit that I found all of these films far more watchable and enjoyable than I did Princess and the Frog. Maybe it’s because I’m not 8 anymore but I maintain that the best children’s films are those that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike, and so far Pixar’s attempts seem to be far more qualified at doing that than Disney’s hand drawn nostalgia films are.

Tangled

Later this year we will also see the release of Tangled (based on Rapunzel), said to be a hybrid of hand drawn animation and CGI so that images appear more like paintings on the screen so it’ll be interesting to see once again whether what Disney has made its name for, adapting classic narratives with its Disney stamp, is really working anymore when up against the excellence of Pixar.