It's been a while since I've seen an old-fashioned Hong Kong action film and this most definitely is one of those. Andy Lau's been a Hong Kong star for the better part of three decades now and as a slightly grizzled Hong Kong bomb-disposal expert, he saddles up for another battle with a mad bomber (who goes by the nickname of "Blast" because this is Hong Kong and who needs subtlety?). Blast has isolated himself and his team of criminals in the Kowloon-Hong Kong Harbour tunnel, and is refusing to release around 500 hostages unless he gets a substantial payday and a chance to revenge himself on Lau (who previously betrayed Blast and imprisoned his brother).
There's a reasonable amount of tension in here, along with a bunch of traditional Hong Kong elements - a completely useless girlfriend subplot plus a bit of corruption on the side. This isn't exactly reinventing the form of Hong Kong cinema, but it's pleasant comfort food.
Wednesday, 10 May 2017
Free Fire
This is an interesting experiment, albiet one that doesn't quite make the grade. It's an attempt to make, basically, a feature-long gunfight (barring 10 minutes of exposition at the top of the film). It's the 1970s and a bunch of misfits from Ireland are meeting another bunch of misfits from America (plus one South African) to purchase a large number of guns. But when distrust starts between them, the shootout kicks off.
This doesn't quite sustain - while the idea has merit, in the end too many of the characters are just that little bit too thin. There's a good collection of performers here (Brie Larson, Noah Taylor, Cillian Murphy, plus new to me performers like Sam Riley and Jack Reynor) but I don't feel like this offers enough twists and turns in the shootout to make this anything more than a drawn out experiment - director Ben Wheatley has a reputation for interesting indie material, but this isn't fully fleshed out and ends up feeling like thin gruel. THere's almost enough here but the screenplay needs just that couple of extra twists to bring it all home.
This doesn't quite sustain - while the idea has merit, in the end too many of the characters are just that little bit too thin. There's a good collection of performers here (Brie Larson, Noah Taylor, Cillian Murphy, plus new to me performers like Sam Riley and Jack Reynor) but I don't feel like this offers enough twists and turns in the shootout to make this anything more than a drawn out experiment - director Ben Wheatley has a reputation for interesting indie material, but this isn't fully fleshed out and ends up feeling like thin gruel. THere's almost enough here but the screenplay needs just that couple of extra twists to bring it all home.
Their Finest
This is a case of the "nice enough" movie - it's got a pleasant subject, it doesn't frighten the horses, it's a film you can take your mum to, but at the same time, it isn't really a particuarly filling meal. In this case, it's a look at the World War 2 propaganda films, with a fictionalised wraparound about a young writer (Gemma Artherton) and her involvement from writing additional dialogue for shorts (including varying the dialogue where the lips are offscreen so that the same footage can be re-used for multiple purposes), moving onto a fullblown propaganda feature about Dunkirk. Also intertwined are the stories of a young male writer (Sam Claflin) who she gets involved with, and an older actor (Bill Nighy) not quite prepared to admit that leading roles are behind him.
It isn't quite enough, though. Claflin never quite makes his character particularly appealing, meaning that the romance is stillborn, and while Nighy steals scenes left and right, it's really a pretty mild experience. The occasional grand claims about morale don't quite compensate for the fact that, ultimately, this is a film about making a mediocre film, and is itself somewhat mediocre. Atherton's really more a pinball to bounce between men than a fully fleshed out character (she's being bullied by Claflin, Nighy or Jack Houston as her sometimes lover throughout), meaning this really doesn't do it for me very much. It's inoffensive enough to send your mum but not enough to come with her.
It isn't quite enough, though. Claflin never quite makes his character particularly appealing, meaning that the romance is stillborn, and while Nighy steals scenes left and right, it's really a pretty mild experience. The occasional grand claims about morale don't quite compensate for the fact that, ultimately, this is a film about making a mediocre film, and is itself somewhat mediocre. Atherton's really more a pinball to bounce between men than a fully fleshed out character (she's being bullied by Claflin, Nighy or Jack Houston as her sometimes lover throughout), meaning this really doesn't do it for me very much. It's inoffensive enough to send your mum but not enough to come with her.
Friday, 5 May 2017
Get Out
This has got a lot of hype as the big social-issues horror movie of the year. Which possibly reflects why this didn't quite grab me as much as it has other people - I'm not necessarily backlashing, but it may be a combination of over-exposure to the trailer and a lot of enthusiasm out there (plus never underestimate the power of seeing a horror movie in a full theatre rather than an almost-empty one), but this didn't quite grab me the way it seems to have grabbed a lot of people.
The basic setup is sound - young black man goes to meet his white girlfriend's parents in their cut-off-from-the-outside-world country home, only to become increasingly disturbed by their attentions and their strange treatment of their two black employees. As the weekend goes on, will he be able to escape before it's too late?
I am, of course, a white guy, so it's very possible I'm not getting the subtlety of how this film captures the icky nature of cross-racial interaction, but for me this felt a little flat and obvious - and the late-film reveal as to what's really going on seemed to muddy the underlying symbolism rather than improve it (no, it's not quite what it seems in the trailers, but this is a case where going with what was in the trailers may have been the better option). Performances are mostly pretty solid - Daniel Kaluuya is a sympethitic hero, Bradley Whitford has moved his old yuppie skeeviness into a more academic-style skeeviness, Catherine Keener uses her calm no-bullshit persona and weaponises it, and Stephen Root has a crucial role to play that's both intriguing and ultimately part of why I'm not entirely convinced the film utterly works. But this didn't quite click with me - it's interesting but not best-of-the-year material for me.
The basic setup is sound - young black man goes to meet his white girlfriend's parents in their cut-off-from-the-outside-world country home, only to become increasingly disturbed by their attentions and their strange treatment of their two black employees. As the weekend goes on, will he be able to escape before it's too late?
I am, of course, a white guy, so it's very possible I'm not getting the subtlety of how this film captures the icky nature of cross-racial interaction, but for me this felt a little flat and obvious - and the late-film reveal as to what's really going on seemed to muddy the underlying symbolism rather than improve it (no, it's not quite what it seems in the trailers, but this is a case where going with what was in the trailers may have been the better option). Performances are mostly pretty solid - Daniel Kaluuya is a sympethitic hero, Bradley Whitford has moved his old yuppie skeeviness into a more academic-style skeeviness, Catherine Keener uses her calm no-bullshit persona and weaponises it, and Stephen Root has a crucial role to play that's both intriguing and ultimately part of why I'm not entirely convinced the film utterly works. But this didn't quite click with me - it's interesting but not best-of-the-year material for me.
Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Table 19
The wedding film has a long history, often somewhat in the romantic vein. Frequently it's focussed either on the groom or the bride and whether or not they will actually go through with the ceremony (although in the case of "The Philadelphia story" or its musical variation "High Society", the groom is pretty much an afterthought - the bride gets two far more impressive options).
In the case of "Table 19", though, it's the mob who are invited almost as an obligation, who maybe shouldn't have accepted - the table furthest from the wedding party. In this case, it's made up of a bunch of misfits - disclaimed cousins, distant children of friends, a long-ago nanny, vague business associates and, in one case, the former matron of honour, also the recently-dumped girlfriend of the best man and bride's brother. This mismatched bunch end up supporting each other somewhat as various trials start to make the occasion that is happy for someone else very much not okay for them...
As a way into an ensenble comedy, this is an interesting way to do it, though, as with a lot of ensemble comedies, the subplots don't quite balance. Anna Kendrick's subplot is sorta the prime mover as the aforementioned discarded matron of honour, and she has a suitable melencholy and mild bitterness, but Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson have to do a hell of a lot of work with their own charm as there isn't much in the scripting to support them as a pair of business associates whose marriage is in trouble. Stephen Merchant and Tony Revelori both manage to steal scenes as two of the goofier characters, and June Squibb brings a nice heart to the proceedings as the ex-nanny.
This detours into darker territory as we get a sense how these discarded people view themselves, but there is a little too much of a push to get a tidy ending to round things off. But for a gentle film with a few twists and turns and a couple of giggles, this does have a certain sweetness.
In the case of "Table 19", though, it's the mob who are invited almost as an obligation, who maybe shouldn't have accepted - the table furthest from the wedding party. In this case, it's made up of a bunch of misfits - disclaimed cousins, distant children of friends, a long-ago nanny, vague business associates and, in one case, the former matron of honour, also the recently-dumped girlfriend of the best man and bride's brother. This mismatched bunch end up supporting each other somewhat as various trials start to make the occasion that is happy for someone else very much not okay for them...
As a way into an ensenble comedy, this is an interesting way to do it, though, as with a lot of ensemble comedies, the subplots don't quite balance. Anna Kendrick's subplot is sorta the prime mover as the aforementioned discarded matron of honour, and she has a suitable melencholy and mild bitterness, but Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson have to do a hell of a lot of work with their own charm as there isn't much in the scripting to support them as a pair of business associates whose marriage is in trouble. Stephen Merchant and Tony Revelori both manage to steal scenes as two of the goofier characters, and June Squibb brings a nice heart to the proceedings as the ex-nanny.
This detours into darker territory as we get a sense how these discarded people view themselves, but there is a little too much of a push to get a tidy ending to round things off. But for a gentle film with a few twists and turns and a couple of giggles, this does have a certain sweetness.
Monday, 24 April 2017
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Sequelising is a tricky business, particularly when you know (or at least intend) to have further sequels further down the line. How much does the individual film standalone, how much should it, how much should be deferred for later?
In the case of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2" it feels slightly like a couple of key boxes are being ticked. Mysteries established in the previous film are paid off (in particular, Peter's father is indeed introduced). Former enemies are brought into the fold (in the form of Karen Gillan's Nebula and Michael Rooker's Yondu). And of course there's whole new threats, worlds and impossible situations for our heroes to get themselves out of.
For all that, this is a tad more intimate than the original galaxy spanner. The team is split up and, perhaps surprisingly, Chris Pratt's ever-charming leading man is slightly more of a plot device than a central character here - the supporting cast get a lot more to play with. The film certainly enjoys every moment it can give us of Baby Groot, scene-stealing as always. But there are things that don't quite sit right - Rocket Racoon is ragey and impulsive, but one or two things he does early on feel more like plot stupidity to get things rolling. And it feels like Peter and Gamora's relationship is stalled in the same holding patter as it was in the last film more because the film doesn't want to pay off the tension between the two of them until a later film, and the jam between the two of them feels more like empty dynamics than something that really comes from the characters themselves.
Still, this is a gorgeous, silly interplanetary adventure with all kinds of surprises in it, and it's not an unenjoyable film, with at least one moment that provoked a gasp from my screening. So ... yeah, it's enjoyable. Maybe not quite the magic we were hoping for. More like "a good time".
In the case of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2" it feels slightly like a couple of key boxes are being ticked. Mysteries established in the previous film are paid off (in particular, Peter's father is indeed introduced). Former enemies are brought into the fold (in the form of Karen Gillan's Nebula and Michael Rooker's Yondu). And of course there's whole new threats, worlds and impossible situations for our heroes to get themselves out of.
For all that, this is a tad more intimate than the original galaxy spanner. The team is split up and, perhaps surprisingly, Chris Pratt's ever-charming leading man is slightly more of a plot device than a central character here - the supporting cast get a lot more to play with. The film certainly enjoys every moment it can give us of Baby Groot, scene-stealing as always. But there are things that don't quite sit right - Rocket Racoon is ragey and impulsive, but one or two things he does early on feel more like plot stupidity to get things rolling. And it feels like Peter and Gamora's relationship is stalled in the same holding patter as it was in the last film more because the film doesn't want to pay off the tension between the two of them until a later film, and the jam between the two of them feels more like empty dynamics than something that really comes from the characters themselves.
Still, this is a gorgeous, silly interplanetary adventure with all kinds of surprises in it, and it's not an unenjoyable film, with at least one moment that provoked a gasp from my screening. So ... yeah, it's enjoyable. Maybe not quite the magic we were hoping for. More like "a good time".
Sunday, 16 April 2017
Personal Shopper
Every so often you get a film that plays its cards very close to its chest. So much of the film remains open to interpretation, and what you are left with is more mood and sensation than a rounded story with beginning middle and end that all logically holds together. Such a film is "Personal Shopper". It's a kind of a ghost story, and a kind of an obsessive stalker story... but it's also a story of grief and of wanting to be anything but who you are.
At the centre of the film is Kirsten Stewart, who plays an American in France whose brother has recently died. As they both believed in spiritualism, Stewart is looking for a sign that he's still around in some kind of afterlife - but her quest for him leads her to find something entirely different. Meanwhile her day job of being, as the title suggests, a personal shopper for a fashionista becomes entangled as she tries to resist the urge to enjoy the outfits she's buying for someone else.
I don't know that I entirely love this but I do appreciate the attempt to do something different with the ghost-movie genre. I do find Oliver Assayas' script and direction ultimately falls a bit short on committing firmly to a set of events that have actually happened and, particularly in the first twenty minutes or so, the pacing gets awfully slack, but the events towards the finale make this a not unrewarding watch.
At the centre of the film is Kirsten Stewart, who plays an American in France whose brother has recently died. As they both believed in spiritualism, Stewart is looking for a sign that he's still around in some kind of afterlife - but her quest for him leads her to find something entirely different. Meanwhile her day job of being, as the title suggests, a personal shopper for a fashionista becomes entangled as she tries to resist the urge to enjoy the outfits she's buying for someone else.
I don't know that I entirely love this but I do appreciate the attempt to do something different with the ghost-movie genre. I do find Oliver Assayas' script and direction ultimately falls a bit short on committing firmly to a set of events that have actually happened and, particularly in the first twenty minutes or so, the pacing gets awfully slack, but the events towards the finale make this a not unrewarding watch.
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