Ink drips on lined paper
Whilst eyes flick to times keeper,
Then back down again,
Back to the work which binds them.
This work occupies their Mondays to Fridays,
Rest on the Sat and anxiousness on the Sun
They hate it, but it do it all the same,
For fear of failing the Teach
And disappointing the Guardian
Scares them so.
They hate it all,
But do it all the same.
Monday 16 December 2013
Saturday 29 June 2013
RED LIGHTS: REVIEW
'Red Lights' is the latest film from Spanish film-maker Rodrigo Cortes, who in 2010 made his debut, the very effective, claustrophobic thriller 'Buried' starring Ryan Reynold's. Were that film succeeded in it's simplicity, his latest, 'Red Lights' has a much more ambitious story to tell. The plot of 'Red Lights' is as follows:
Two paranormal investigators played by Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy who work to find every fraud in the business who claims to posses paranormal abilities, which in their experience is every person they've ever investigated. That is until Simon Sliver a world renowned psychic comes back after a thirty year absence and challenges the two investigators in ways they didn't think possible.
'Red Lights' has an intriguing premise, that much is undeniable, unfortunately that's all it has going for it in it's 1hr and 49min running time. In 'Buried' the directors previous film, he was limited by both time and money which led to him crafting a bare-bones story that managed to thrill in unexpected ways. Here, he faces no such budget or time issues but bigger problems manage to arise, the biggest problem of all being while the film sets out to be a thriller with horror elements, it manages to completely fail to either thrill or scare in the entirety of it's running time.
Like 'The Last Exorcism', a surprisingly interesting horror film which came out the year before, the film works best when it's about the two paranormal investigators just doing their job, finding the fraudsters and exposing them for who they are, unfortunately this segment of the film, the most low-key in comparison to the rest only lasts for the first 25 minutes of the film. After that the film just keeps cranking up the craziness until we get to it's absolute mess of a final act. Cortes shows a distinct lack of control in the final third, it feels like he has ran out of ideas by this point so he tries to counter-act this by giving the audience a tacked on feeling ending which at the same time feels over-the-top and anti-climatic.
The performances in the film are fine for the most part, Weaver and Murphy are consistently solid, but it's De Niro who lets down on the acting front. His performance is way to hammy, to ever be successfully intimidated by this "psychic".
Overall 'Red Lights' fails to accomplish what it sets out to achieve, though it does start off strongly the ridiculous final act serves to undo all the good work which came before it.
Two paranormal investigators played by Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy who work to find every fraud in the business who claims to posses paranormal abilities, which in their experience is every person they've ever investigated. That is until Simon Sliver a world renowned psychic comes back after a thirty year absence and challenges the two investigators in ways they didn't think possible.
'Red Lights' has an intriguing premise, that much is undeniable, unfortunately that's all it has going for it in it's 1hr and 49min running time. In 'Buried' the directors previous film, he was limited by both time and money which led to him crafting a bare-bones story that managed to thrill in unexpected ways. Here, he faces no such budget or time issues but bigger problems manage to arise, the biggest problem of all being while the film sets out to be a thriller with horror elements, it manages to completely fail to either thrill or scare in the entirety of it's running time.
Like 'The Last Exorcism', a surprisingly interesting horror film which came out the year before, the film works best when it's about the two paranormal investigators just doing their job, finding the fraudsters and exposing them for who they are, unfortunately this segment of the film, the most low-key in comparison to the rest only lasts for the first 25 minutes of the film. After that the film just keeps cranking up the craziness until we get to it's absolute mess of a final act. Cortes shows a distinct lack of control in the final third, it feels like he has ran out of ideas by this point so he tries to counter-act this by giving the audience a tacked on feeling ending which at the same time feels over-the-top and anti-climatic.
The performances in the film are fine for the most part, Weaver and Murphy are consistently solid, but it's De Niro who lets down on the acting front. His performance is way to hammy, to ever be successfully intimidated by this "psychic".
Overall 'Red Lights' fails to accomplish what it sets out to achieve, though it does start off strongly the ridiculous final act serves to undo all the good work which came before it.
Sunday 21 April 2013
The Place Beyond The Pines: Review
Black screen. The first thing we hear is the roar of a crowd and the flick of the switchblade, then the man holding the knife is revealed, not his face but only his tanned, muscled, tattooed body. This is our hero, he slams his knife into the the wall and leaves. He walks through a semi-busy carnival shirtless until he puts on a Metallica shirt back to front. He lights a cigarette but we still do not see his face. He walks into a tent filled with an expectant audience and his name is revealed to be Luke by the announcer. He gets on his motorbike and along with his other two riders or 'hearthrobs' he engages in one of the most dangerous stunts captured on film.
The camera has not cut once since we first saw Luke's intimidating physique, which makes the opening shot of this movie to be the most impressive use of a long take since the beach scene in "Atonement". Even though his face has been obscured throughout, we know this is Gosling. His Luke has peroxide blond hair and some of the worst tattoos ever seen on film. He looks sad, distant, his blue eyes shimmer under the carnival lights. Luke sees Romina, a woman from his past who he barely remembers. He learns from her something which changes his entire life, he has a son and he is a father.
With this beginning, director Derek CianFrance has crafted one of the greatest openings ever seen in an American film. Luke feels mythological in his appearance. A cowboy of today's age who rides into town and gets the girl, only this time it is much more complicated then that. Romina has a man of her own. Luke knows he has to prove himself to her so he sets abut trying to get a job, with no skills other than his masterful ability with a bike and a presumed lack of education he goes about robbing banks.
The robbery scenes are stunningly intense in their speed and execution. CianFrance manages to capture the intensity of a getaway without the use of quick-cuts. Luke's plan works and makes money, he starts to spend more time with Romina and it becomes evident what first attracted them together. This is the first act of the movie and it is truly one of the most brilliant pieces of American cinema ever put on film.
Bradley Cooper's character takes over the second act of the film. He plays a cop called Avery who was injured in an accident and becomes a hero at the force. Avery is ambitious and intelligent, he is also racked by a guilt but this only becomes apparent later on. This section of the film is still great but it is quite a by-the- books cop corruption movie that we have seen before. Cooper is fantastic as Avery, playing against type as the most unlikable character of the piece. His performance is all internal and he plays it best with his eyes and not his body language.
The third act of the movie is one i will not discuss. It is better for the viewer to watch it themselves and make up their own minds. All i will say is that the film asks some interesting questions about legacy and forgiveness, it is a film which manages to be both raw and ethereal, Director Of Photography Sean Bobbit has managed to show the viewer the beautiful side of an ugly life. CianFrance has crafted a film of quite power and boiling energy. He is a director unafraid to show people being people and for that i commend him. The Place Beyond The Pines is not perfect, the second act is familiar and the third feels like it could have done with a rewrite but those first 45 minutes are worth the admission price alone. All of this makes Pines a flawed masterpiece, but a masterpiece all the same.
The camera has not cut once since we first saw Luke's intimidating physique, which makes the opening shot of this movie to be the most impressive use of a long take since the beach scene in "Atonement". Even though his face has been obscured throughout, we know this is Gosling. His Luke has peroxide blond hair and some of the worst tattoos ever seen on film. He looks sad, distant, his blue eyes shimmer under the carnival lights. Luke sees Romina, a woman from his past who he barely remembers. He learns from her something which changes his entire life, he has a son and he is a father.
With this beginning, director Derek CianFrance has crafted one of the greatest openings ever seen in an American film. Luke feels mythological in his appearance. A cowboy of today's age who rides into town and gets the girl, only this time it is much more complicated then that. Romina has a man of her own. Luke knows he has to prove himself to her so he sets abut trying to get a job, with no skills other than his masterful ability with a bike and a presumed lack of education he goes about robbing banks.
The robbery scenes are stunningly intense in their speed and execution. CianFrance manages to capture the intensity of a getaway without the use of quick-cuts. Luke's plan works and makes money, he starts to spend more time with Romina and it becomes evident what first attracted them together. This is the first act of the movie and it is truly one of the most brilliant pieces of American cinema ever put on film.
Bradley Cooper's character takes over the second act of the film. He plays a cop called Avery who was injured in an accident and becomes a hero at the force. Avery is ambitious and intelligent, he is also racked by a guilt but this only becomes apparent later on. This section of the film is still great but it is quite a by-the- books cop corruption movie that we have seen before. Cooper is fantastic as Avery, playing against type as the most unlikable character of the piece. His performance is all internal and he plays it best with his eyes and not his body language.
The third act of the movie is one i will not discuss. It is better for the viewer to watch it themselves and make up their own minds. All i will say is that the film asks some interesting questions about legacy and forgiveness, it is a film which manages to be both raw and ethereal, Director Of Photography Sean Bobbit has managed to show the viewer the beautiful side of an ugly life. CianFrance has crafted a film of quite power and boiling energy. He is a director unafraid to show people being people and for that i commend him. The Place Beyond The Pines is not perfect, the second act is familiar and the third feels like it could have done with a rewrite but those first 45 minutes are worth the admission price alone. All of this makes Pines a flawed masterpiece, but a masterpiece all the same.
Monday 25 March 2013
The Raid: Redemption: Review
To get the boring stuff straight out of the way, we must first explain the plot. We are in Jakarta, Indonesia. A SWAT team consisting of twenty heavily armed are given the job of breaking into a safe house run by one the fearsome gangsters in Jakarta. Getting into the building is not the problem, they do that efficiently and silently. It’s when the SWAT team get discovered on the buildings Seventh floor that all hell breaks loose and The Raid truly begins.
From here-on-out The Raid is a bloodthirsty, hyper-kinetic, thrill-ride of a film. As the residents of the apartment block become aware of the SWAT team it turns into a battle of survival, one which has many casualties. The film’s protagonist, Rama, is young, seemingly inexperienced man who has a wife at home with a baby on the way. These character details feel quite throw-away in the greater scheme of things.
Plot is not integral to what makes The Raid such an entertaining movie. This is a film you watch for the fight-scenes, and boy are they worth watching. When Rama is separated from the rest of his force and without his gun he is forced to use the two weapons he knows he can rely on, his fists.
The fight scenes of The Raid are some of the most memorable in years. The editing is quick but never too quick that it leaves the audience unaware as too who is fighting who. The soundtrack by Mike Shinoda, of Linkin Park fame, is a pounding, energetic thrill by itself. The soundtrack adds to the visceral feel of the whole film leaving the watcher breathless.
The film is well directed by Welsh-man Gareth Evan’s. He manages to keep the quieter moments of the film as tense and thrilling as the louder one’s. The final fight is the only real misstep of the film. It goes on for longer then it needs and could have benefited from a sharper edit.
But nonetheless The Raid is a slick, brutal, thoroughly entertaining film from Evan’s. It is low on both plot and character development but there is time for that on the planned sequel. For now The Raid is exactly what it wants and needs to be.
Monday 28 January 2013
Zero Dark Thirty: My Review
Zero Dark Thirty is simple in its idea, a movie about the ten-year search to find and kill Osama Bin Laden, enemy No 1. That's it, and while the synopsis is simple the story is anything but. To understand the gravity of this situation you have to go back to the beginning, when on the 11th of September 2001 a fully booked American airliner crashed into the side of the first Twin Tower. After that everything changed, America most definitely did and so did its citizens. People no longer felt safe in the country they called home, they demanded that the American Government should react and that whoever committed this act of terrorism must be found, and react they did.
It was under this intense pressure from the people demanding justice that began a ten-year long manhunt which ended on the 2nd of May 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This is where Kathryn Bigelow and her Hurt Locker screenwriter/journalist come in. Their aim with ZD30 is too document and dramatize the events leading up to and eventually the climax of this story.
This is a procedural drama disguised as a thriller, its a film that surrounds characters who sit and stare at computer screens looking for one piece of information that could give them a lead, this is their story and Bigelow tells it brilliantly. Jessica Chastain plays Maya, an idealistic young woman fresh out of highschool and willing to help, we also learn she's a killer at what she does. Throughout the course of the films 2 and a half hour running time this is all we learn about our heroine.
Maya is a blank canvas, as brittle as a child when the film begins and as hard as stone by the time it ends. She is molded by her job and shaped by the journey she is forced to go on. At the beginning the search is simply her assignment, by the end its her obsession, and Chastain plays it brilliantly, she slips into the role with such ease and plays it to perfection that it makes you wonder has there ever been an actress with the same range and versatility of this woman.
Bigelow has always been unafraid of taboo and she proves this once again in her tackling of the horrible treatment and torture of suspected Al-Qaeda members. She never tries to answer the question of if torture is ever acceptable, she only asks it, leaving the viewer to decide.These sequences are grueling and by far the toughest aspect of the film.
Zero Dark Thirty is a film which will infuriate and intrigue audiences evenly, by Bigelow refusing to make a statement about what she thinks of the situation she instead chooses to only show it for what 'it' is. She has crafted a fantastic film here with two hours of engrossing manhunt and then the final 30 minutes, the payoff we have all waited for with baited breath, the storming of the compound. Who would have thought that knowing how it ends can leave you feeling the same tension as if this was simply great fiction.
Chastain should be showered with awards and Bigelow should be commended for her courage, this is simply great film-making.
It was under this intense pressure from the people demanding justice that began a ten-year long manhunt which ended on the 2nd of May 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This is where Kathryn Bigelow and her Hurt Locker screenwriter/journalist come in. Their aim with ZD30 is too document and dramatize the events leading up to and eventually the climax of this story.
This is a procedural drama disguised as a thriller, its a film that surrounds characters who sit and stare at computer screens looking for one piece of information that could give them a lead, this is their story and Bigelow tells it brilliantly. Jessica Chastain plays Maya, an idealistic young woman fresh out of highschool and willing to help, we also learn she's a killer at what she does. Throughout the course of the films 2 and a half hour running time this is all we learn about our heroine.
Maya is a blank canvas, as brittle as a child when the film begins and as hard as stone by the time it ends. She is molded by her job and shaped by the journey she is forced to go on. At the beginning the search is simply her assignment, by the end its her obsession, and Chastain plays it brilliantly, she slips into the role with such ease and plays it to perfection that it makes you wonder has there ever been an actress with the same range and versatility of this woman.
Bigelow has always been unafraid of taboo and she proves this once again in her tackling of the horrible treatment and torture of suspected Al-Qaeda members. She never tries to answer the question of if torture is ever acceptable, she only asks it, leaving the viewer to decide.These sequences are grueling and by far the toughest aspect of the film.
Zero Dark Thirty is a film which will infuriate and intrigue audiences evenly, by Bigelow refusing to make a statement about what she thinks of the situation she instead chooses to only show it for what 'it' is. She has crafted a fantastic film here with two hours of engrossing manhunt and then the final 30 minutes, the payoff we have all waited for with baited breath, the storming of the compound. Who would have thought that knowing how it ends can leave you feeling the same tension as if this was simply great fiction.
Chastain should be showered with awards and Bigelow should be commended for her courage, this is simply great film-making.
Saturday 26 January 2013
Killing Them Softly: My Review
Business is everything no matter what kind of work your involved in .... Plumber, Doctor, Gangster it all boils down to hard cash or the lack thereof. I'm not sure if i believe this to be completely true but Director Andrew Dominik most certainly does. The Australian on his third feature after the originality and brutality of Chopper and then the somber brilliance of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford the director reunites with his Jesse James leading man Brad Pitt to film Killing Them Softly.
Dominik's third feature is set in New Orleans in 2008 during Obama's election. This piece of information is very important because the whole film is basically a metaphor for America's own political system, this is where all the problems with the film lie because Dominik does not just make the point but he hammers it home until it feels so blatantly obvious that it becomes more irritating then insightful. Throughout the film TV's and Radios blast out speeches from Obama and Bush and it all starts to grate your patience.
This all sounds quite negative but don't worry the films positives outweigh its problems. This is most evident in the acting, Dominik has knack for getting terrific performance and this feature is no different. Brad Pitt is on fantastic form here as Jackie, a hitman who prefers to take his targets out from a distance to avoid all the touchy-feelings of murder. Then there's Scoot McNairy and Scott Mendelsohn who play two degenerates looking to make a quick buck by robbing Ray Liotta's underground card game. This is why Jackie gets called to sort out the who and why of the robbery.
The film is gorgeously shot which is in contrast to drab and dreary location its set. Dominik is known for his inventive and often genius use of visuals and Killing Them Softly is no exception. One scene involving McNairy and Mendelsohn having a conversation while both being out of their mins on heroin is superbly directed and written, while another scene that involves a brutal murder taking place between two cars with heavy rain pouring down is one of the most memorable of the year, Dominik's use of slow motion, editing and sound design is masterful stuff.
Killing Them Softly is a great third feature from Dominik, he compliments his fantastic cast with his own exceptional directing skills to film this slow-burning, engrossing crime drama with a political message that's too on the nose to be truly effective when all the need is Jackie's final lines to tell the viewer all that needs to be said.
Dominik's third feature is set in New Orleans in 2008 during Obama's election. This piece of information is very important because the whole film is basically a metaphor for America's own political system, this is where all the problems with the film lie because Dominik does not just make the point but he hammers it home until it feels so blatantly obvious that it becomes more irritating then insightful. Throughout the film TV's and Radios blast out speeches from Obama and Bush and it all starts to grate your patience.
This all sounds quite negative but don't worry the films positives outweigh its problems. This is most evident in the acting, Dominik has knack for getting terrific performance and this feature is no different. Brad Pitt is on fantastic form here as Jackie, a hitman who prefers to take his targets out from a distance to avoid all the touchy-feelings of murder. Then there's Scoot McNairy and Scott Mendelsohn who play two degenerates looking to make a quick buck by robbing Ray Liotta's underground card game. This is why Jackie gets called to sort out the who and why of the robbery.
The film is gorgeously shot which is in contrast to drab and dreary location its set. Dominik is known for his inventive and often genius use of visuals and Killing Them Softly is no exception. One scene involving McNairy and Mendelsohn having a conversation while both being out of their mins on heroin is superbly directed and written, while another scene that involves a brutal murder taking place between two cars with heavy rain pouring down is one of the most memorable of the year, Dominik's use of slow motion, editing and sound design is masterful stuff.
Killing Them Softly is a great third feature from Dominik, he compliments his fantastic cast with his own exceptional directing skills to film this slow-burning, engrossing crime drama with a political message that's too on the nose to be truly effective when all the need is Jackie's final lines to tell the viewer all that needs to be said.
Saturday 12 January 2013
Seven Psychopaths: My Review
Seven Psychopaths starts very simply, two hitmen, Michael Pitt and Michael Stuhlbarg to be exact are having a conversation about how the infamous bank-robber John Dillinger died. As this conservation continues we begin to make out a figure approaching the two men. What happens next perfectly establishes the brutally bloody and always funny tone of Seven Psychopaths.
Psychopaths is Martin McDonagh's second feature as a writer-director. His first stab into the medium was 2008's instant cult classic 'In Bruges' a film which reignited star Colin Farrell's career and introduced to the world a completely original and exciting new directorial voice. Bruges had everything, memorable characters, bloody violence, laugh out loud comedy and some of the best writing to be seen since Tarantino first introduced us to Mr Pink.
Bruges is a tough act to follow but McDonagh gives it a damn good shot. Colin Farrell is once again the central character in this piece, he plays Marty, an alcoholic-writer who has the title Seven Psychopaths but not one word on a page. His intention is to write a film with psychopaths but make it about peace and love. This is a problem for his best friend Billy played by Sam Rockwell, Billy's in the dog kidnapping business and wants to co-write the screenplay with Marty.Billy wants to see a movie about psychopaths killing each other that ends with a shoot-out in his own way.
The story seems quite simple so far but trust me its not, Billy steals dogs with his partner in crime Han's played by the brilliant Christopher Walken, they have made quite a lucrative business out of their partnership but when Billy steals local gangster Charlie's(Woody Harrellson) beloved Shih Tzu things go from bad to worse.
Its after these events that Psychopaths really takes off. McDonagh does not restrict himself to telling you're ordinary crime-comedy, no he has too much imagination for that. He makes every character memorable, they all come with their own niches. He constructs and deconstructs the tropes of a run of the mill crime movie by making sure his own is anything but.
This is very much a 21's century, post-modernist film with one scene involving Hans telling Marty he writes awful female characters, Marty's response is that its a tough world for women, but this no excuse. We know as watchers that McDonagh inserted this conversation to cover his tracks as his screenplay mirroring Marty's own also has completely redundant females. But its hard to excuse McDonagh when you know he can do better then that.
Psychopath's seems to have it all but is missing the key ingredient which made Bruges such a masterpiece..... heart. Psychopaths is more shallow then its predecessor, its comedy is more broad and its violence less affecting, played for laughs rather then drama. Seven Psychopaths is a surreal, violent, entertaining ride, its just a shame its not a personal one.
Psychopaths is Martin McDonagh's second feature as a writer-director. His first stab into the medium was 2008's instant cult classic 'In Bruges' a film which reignited star Colin Farrell's career and introduced to the world a completely original and exciting new directorial voice. Bruges had everything, memorable characters, bloody violence, laugh out loud comedy and some of the best writing to be seen since Tarantino first introduced us to Mr Pink.
Bruges is a tough act to follow but McDonagh gives it a damn good shot. Colin Farrell is once again the central character in this piece, he plays Marty, an alcoholic-writer who has the title Seven Psychopaths but not one word on a page. His intention is to write a film with psychopaths but make it about peace and love. This is a problem for his best friend Billy played by Sam Rockwell, Billy's in the dog kidnapping business and wants to co-write the screenplay with Marty.Billy wants to see a movie about psychopaths killing each other that ends with a shoot-out in his own way.
The story seems quite simple so far but trust me its not, Billy steals dogs with his partner in crime Han's played by the brilliant Christopher Walken, they have made quite a lucrative business out of their partnership but when Billy steals local gangster Charlie's(Woody Harrellson) beloved Shih Tzu things go from bad to worse.
Its after these events that Psychopaths really takes off. McDonagh does not restrict himself to telling you're ordinary crime-comedy, no he has too much imagination for that. He makes every character memorable, they all come with their own niches. He constructs and deconstructs the tropes of a run of the mill crime movie by making sure his own is anything but.
This is very much a 21's century, post-modernist film with one scene involving Hans telling Marty he writes awful female characters, Marty's response is that its a tough world for women, but this no excuse. We know as watchers that McDonagh inserted this conversation to cover his tracks as his screenplay mirroring Marty's own also has completely redundant females. But its hard to excuse McDonagh when you know he can do better then that.
Psychopath's seems to have it all but is missing the key ingredient which made Bruges such a masterpiece..... heart. Psychopaths is more shallow then its predecessor, its comedy is more broad and its violence less affecting, played for laughs rather then drama. Seven Psychopaths is a surreal, violent, entertaining ride, its just a shame its not a personal one.
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