Standard Saturday night family fare in this animated superhero movie. It wasn't a bad film, in fact it was about as average as a film can be. As I normally do with animated films, I spent most of it trying to work out who was voicing the characters. The voice of the villain - whose name I don't recall - proving very recognisable but one I couldn't quite work out without the help of Wikipedia which reliably informs me that it was Jason Lee, most famous for My Name Is Earl.
The animation, as always with Pixar films, was excellent and the action sequences were fun as well. The main drawback of the film was the storyline which seemed rather generic and derivative of superhero movies and any film in which the protagonist comes out of retirement for 'one last fight.'
For kids a bit younger than me, the film is almost perfect but, after watching Inception, kids films don't have the required complexity for me.... although I do still want to see Toy Story 3.
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Film 16 - Inception
Only the second film on this list I've actually seen in the cinema, and one of the best of the sixteen films I've seen this year so far. It's the only film that I've ever seen in the cinema that provoked such an audience reaction; the whole cinema was willing Cobb's totem to stop spinning at the end and there was a collective groan as the film ended on that cliffhanger.
When you take a step back, the totem was a brilliant ending and so much about the film was constructed with such care, the concepts all made sense in their world and the introduction of Ariadne was an inspired move, forcing the whole process to be explained by someone new to it and thus us the audience. Before that point it had been a fairly average and thoroughly confusing film.
After that point the film became a classic caper movie but with an added emotional edge, the whole idea Cobb was doing this final mission to get home to his kids. The insight into his dreams, showing his children but Cobb never seeing their faces, set up for the finale - which almost reduced me to tears - of Cobb walking through immigration at a US airport, walking home and him seeing his kids faces as they turn round from the pose they strike throughout the film, the spinning totem spinning forever and the realisation for me, almost a day later, that he must be in limbo.... I really hope I'm wrong.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Film 15 - Capitalism: A Love Story
On an earlier blogpost, about Bowling for Columbine, I linked to a Morning Star article which put forward the theory that Michael Moore is a closet socialist.
After watching this film I can see exactly why you could think that. Moore takes the audience through a whistle-stop tour of capitalism, from the good old days where everything was fine, to the mortgage foreclosures and bank bailouts of the current financial crisis. He handles it all with his usual humour and thoughtful discussion, approaching the subject almost from the standpoint of someone who knows little about the subject. This was how he pulled off stunts like putting crime tape around Wall Street and the hilarious segment when he tried to find a trader who would explain derivatives too him. I don't think anyone really understands those financial terms.
Whilst the rest of the film was interesting and informative - especially in relation to Dead Peasant funds - it didn't change my opinion about anything. The end however was genuinely touching and inspiring, showing the raw people power that the 99% have that isn't possessed by the privileged few, and how when workers unite, great things can be achieved.
Fight the power!
After watching this film I can see exactly why you could think that. Moore takes the audience through a whistle-stop tour of capitalism, from the good old days where everything was fine, to the mortgage foreclosures and bank bailouts of the current financial crisis. He handles it all with his usual humour and thoughtful discussion, approaching the subject almost from the standpoint of someone who knows little about the subject. This was how he pulled off stunts like putting crime tape around Wall Street and the hilarious segment when he tried to find a trader who would explain derivatives too him. I don't think anyone really understands those financial terms.
Whilst the rest of the film was interesting and informative - especially in relation to Dead Peasant funds - it didn't change my opinion about anything. The end however was genuinely touching and inspiring, showing the raw people power that the 99% have that isn't possessed by the privileged few, and how when workers unite, great things can be achieved.
Fight the power!
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Film 14 - Napoleon Dynamite
Apparently, this is supposed to be a really good film... I just don't get it. I spent an hour and 45 minutes watching it and I saw no complexity to the storylines, no reason to really like any of the characters, and despite purporting to be a comedy, none of it was funny.
If Dead Poets Society was a huge hit, this was most definitely a miss with me.
If Dead Poets Society was a huge hit, this was most definitely a miss with me.
Film 13 - Dead Poets Society
Occasionally I get the inspiration to watch a certain film from a strange place. A couple of weeks ago, when watching How I Met Your Mother, Barney and Ted parodied Dead Poets Society and then professed their love for the film.
So a couple of weeks later, I finally sat down and watched it, and I loved it. Chock full of memorable lines "O captain, My captain", "Carpe diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary." Stuffed to burst with brilliantly written characters, from Prof. Keating, to Neil Perry and Todd Hamilton. Exquisitely sad, as Neil finds he can't take life any more.
Just truly breathtaking, I know I keep saying this about ever film I see... but this may be the best yet.
Carpe diem.
Friday, 21 May 2010
Film 12 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream
Some films you watch purely by accident, sometimes just because you watch five minutes of a four hour film and are determined to see it through to the end. That was what I did with this documentary about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
I was no huge fan of them before hand, not having listened to them much if at all, but the documentary was excellent and really turned me on to their music. It had the right kind of mix of new interviews, archive interviews and live footage.
Four hours was a bit long though, despite the fact that it remained interesting throughout, I struggle to maintain my attention span that long.
I was no huge fan of them before hand, not having listened to them much if at all, but the documentary was excellent and really turned me on to their music. It had the right kind of mix of new interviews, archive interviews and live footage.
Four hours was a bit long though, despite the fact that it remained interesting throughout, I struggle to maintain my attention span that long.
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Film 11 - Brokeback Mountain
Needless to say... I cried. An increadibly emotional film, about two guys who just fell in love. This blogpost is about a month late, and I only got around to writing it because I watched Film 12, so the details are a bit hazy in my mind.
But I can remember the best bits, that first night of passion, the denial, the acceptance, and then finally the love. Sometimes you forget that not everywhere is a secular and liberal as London in 2010, and this film reminds you of the harsh realities of life for gay people in the south of America, then and now. You see them lose work because of it, have to hide this love story from everyone they know, and the flashback into the brutal homophobic killing which reminded them why they had to keep this a secret.
Then, near the end Jack Twist dies, and for the last fifteen minutes of the film, Ennis wanders alone, picking up fragments of Jack's life, the two shirts they wore on Brokeback, and just as Jack kept them to remember him by, Ennis does for Jack.
But I can remember the best bits, that first night of passion, the denial, the acceptance, and then finally the love. Sometimes you forget that not everywhere is a secular and liberal as London in 2010, and this film reminds you of the harsh realities of life for gay people in the south of America, then and now. You see them lose work because of it, have to hide this love story from everyone they know, and the flashback into the brutal homophobic killing which reminded them why they had to keep this a secret.
Then, near the end Jack Twist dies, and for the last fifteen minutes of the film, Ennis wanders alone, picking up fragments of Jack's life, the two shirts they wore on Brokeback, and just as Jack kept them to remember him by, Ennis does for Jack.
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