Review of Drive

The thing about this film is, I just couldn’t get it out of my head for the next two hours. Usually that’s something we equate with music not film, but in the case of Drive that is the effect it had on me. It got under my skin and infiltrated me in a way music does and it was all down to the atmosphere it created. Watching Drive is like a long summer evening after a barbeque, when your still a little tipsy and then suddenly out of nowhere a thunderstorm erupts. 

Nicolas Winding Refn’s film is so aesthetically pleasing that he really could have got away with anything in it. The music by Kavinsky and the use of the colour purple gives the film an eighties quality that is very Prince circa Red Corvette era. It’s these choices by Refn that give the opening of the film an exciting feel, as a viewer you immediately become attached to Ryan Gosling’s ‘Driver’. You don’t really understand who he is but when he meets Carey Mulligan’s ‘Irene’, you sense the beginnings of a love story and that everything will be all right. 

Refn said eloquently on BBC breakfast ‘Violence is like fucking...it’s all about the build up’. As the film progresses it emerges that this opening with it’s cool eighties soundtrack, cars and edgy protagonist has all been one massive tease, suddenly the film kicks off into a violent orgy of shootings and beatings. Yet Refn continues to titillate his audience with that soundtrack and all the things we were turned on by at the beginning of the film.  ‘Driver’s’ varsity-style jacket remains on him throughout, gradually getting more and more soaked in blood. 

What Refn does is give us something stylish and sexy to entice us and then he sabotages it right in front of our eyes. We see our hero do things we could never of imagined he was capable of. I have to admit that at this point in the film I got slightly frustrated with it, it reminded me of the Cohen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men where things just get a little confusing and dragged out. But NCFOM didn’t have the atmosphere that Drive has, so it didn’t stay with me as long. 

I turned the film off feeling a little unsatisfied, yet the mood of the film remained within me, so whether I enjoyed the film or not seems irrelevant as it certainly seemed to have had an affect on me. After hearing interviews with Refn it is clear he knew what it was he was making and so I find it hard to simply dismiss this film as violent. 

If you like Tarantino then you’ll love this film and probably not worry about the violence. For those of you who are little more squeamish or have issues with cinematic violence, I’d still say give it a go as this isn’t violence for violence sake. 

The Ides of March Review

Let’s not beat around the bush here, American politics and the hype around it’s inhabitants could be likened to a circus. It’s the whole Campaign trail thing that being British we don’t get or understand. It makes sense in America because it’s such a big country and divided by state lines but from the outside it just comes across a bit creepy, ‘Roll up, roll up come and see the latest god loving, silver haired pillock with unnatural white dentures.’ 

So as a British viewer of George Clooney’s ‘The Ides of March’ I’m intrigued to go behind the scenes of one of these campaigns, to see into the world of the consultants pulling the strings. What this film does is very clever! It takes it’s audience into the heart of the circus and although it’s showing us something that we’re all guessing is going on anyway (cover ups blackmail etc.), the film gives us something human. That’s the thing these campaigns always miss, they go for the spin and the staged photos, but the rawness of what it takes to be a politician is tidily tucked away, just off to the side of the stage. That’s where this film takes place, at the side of the stage with the political consultants puppeteering the whole operation. Steven is one of Governor Morris’ consultants and he becomes caught up in the fast moving and unforgiving world of the ‘campaign’. Ryan Gosling’s Steven is smart and suave yet his unshakable faith in Morris reveals a hidden naivety to this character.  He is warned by a reporter that his boss Morris (Clooney) will ‘let him down eventually’ because he’s a politician and ‘they all do sooner or later’. 

There’s some first rate acting from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti as they become embroiled in an odd political triangle with Steven stuck in the middle. However it’s the influence of a seductive intern that acts as the trigger for the drama in the film. Her after hours shenanigans leads to all sorts of trouble. The result of this produces a hefty dichotomy for poor old Steven. Will faith alone get Morris to the White House?

If you’re into political thrillers and have enjoyed any of Borgen lately then this one is for you. 

Chronicle Review

Science Fiction has long been obsessed with normal people becoming overnight superheroes after gaining superpowers through a freak accident. Radioactive spiders, fallen space ships and genetic experiments gone wrong have been the catalyst for many a graphic novel turned blockbuster. So what can Josh Trank’s new film Chronicle bring to this big and well used table?

Well for a start a beguiling film that features hand-held cameras, no scientific spiel and a serendipitous absensce of a soundtrack. 

Chronicle is shot on hand-held cameras, which gives the film a gritty naturalism usually absent in Sci-Fi thrillers. Think Cloverfield bumping into X-Men in a cinema playing a US Teen comedy. The main protagonist Andrew films much of the action on his new camera, capturing his mother’s terminal illness, father’s abuse and high school drama. However the footage gets interesting when he stumbles across a mysterious object in the ground while at a party with his older and cooler cousin Matt and high school jock Steve. The find has a profound effect on the three characters when they discover they have developed incredible powers including flight, telekinesis and supernatural speed. 

The POV style plus superb acting from Dane Dehaan and co make this discovery believable and watchable for the audience. You get a sense of this being a natural response from teenagers suddenly finding out they have new superpowers. The plot darkens as they learn to control and strengthen their powers. Andrew’s dysfunctional home life begins to affect the way he uses and manipulates his new found kudos. 

This film is clever and unpredictable right up until the last twenty minutes when unfortunately it loses some of it’s maturity. The intelligent progression of character and plot suddenly end in a drawn out hollywood style smash em up up fight and things get a bit boring. 

Obstensibly if you’re a Sci-Fi fan this film will probably impress you, however if you’re yet to be convinced, you might want to wait for the next Trank film. 

The Descendants

We’re used to seeing George Clooney as an affable rogue in films like Ocean’s Eleven. The Descendants sees him toning down his charisma in order to play Matt King, a Honolua lawyer and land land owner whose world is turned upside down after the revelation of his wife’s infidelities. As if that wasn’t hard enough the news emerges while she’s in a coma after a boating accident. 

This is one of those films where many people will come away going ‘but nothing happens...’ These are the kind of films I love because they’re atmospheric and the story is subtle. Throughout the duration of this film the complexities of family relationships are woven alongside cultural and historical responsibilities within a community. 

Heavy stuff...

Well yes... but the script is full of humour, and life affirming character interaction. It’s beautifully shot and there’s a great soundtrack as well. 

This is one of those films that really is a must see. 

However it’s not really doing anything new or exciting, so part of me asks the question would I see it again? Well er maybe...I don’t know, it reminds me of Revolutionary Road in that respect. It was a great film but I’m not convinced it’s a classic. 

The Mysterious 'Lost Generation'

So yet again in the news, journalists, politicians and other various supposedly important people are talking about this ‘Lost Generation’.

Ok so the Oxford Dictionaries definition of generation is:

1. of all the people born and living at about the same time. 2) The average period in which children grow up and have children of their own (about 30 years)

etc etc

and lost pp of lose is just alot of negative explanations including fail to win, earn less, waste etc. 

Hang on, so let’s back up a second, am I included in this ‘Lost Generation’? Yes apparently I am as I’m still within the 30 years from the financial crash and I haven’t had kids yet. 

This makes me so mad. How dare those people use that phrase as a way of describing the world we’re living in. How dare they. This is pure generalisation and quite frankly patronising to thousands of people. This statement implies that an entire generation are to be associated with ‘waste’, ‘failure’ and ‘earning less’. There is no denying that times are tough and things will get tougher in the next few years. However to simply sum it up as being ‘lost’ is grotesque. It’s interesting to note that the majority of people who use this phrase tend to be older (I may be generalising here) and do not consider themselves part of this ‘lost generation’, e.g older people with full time jobs looking down on younger unemployed people. 

I think I find this statement so offensive because it implies blame and it’s labeling in the same way that the Victorians labelled their working class. How is anyone in this so called ‘Lost Generation’ supposed to succeed when they are starting out with this ridiculous banner hanging over them like a black cloud. 

Young people are standing up for themselves and others in a way that hasn’t been seen since the 60s and 70s. They aren’t just laying down and accepting the appalling treatment they are receiving, which has resulted from the greed and dishonesty brought about by older generations. More young people then ever are going to University, not because there is more opportunity but because they have more ambition and imagination then previous generations. There is a small minority that may have given up and some that may also do so, but for the most part this ‘Lost Generation’ is not lost. It’s fighting and it’s fighting hard to right the wrongs of what has gone before. To stare these challenging days in the face and say I’m going to start a family or I’m going to University or I’m going to start a business or I’m going to live the life I want are not actions of a ‘Lost Generation’. So the people that use this phrase should not think lightly of it and for those older more comfortable generations we don’t want sympathy because we’re not lost, we just want support and action in order to get through these tough times. 

The Tiger's Wife

Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife is a marvel of a novel! Set in a wounded Balkan country in remission, this novel interweaves several narratives that centre around Natalia and her grandfather. 

Natalia is grieving for her grandfather and while working as a doctor visiting orphanages she picks up the trail of her grandfather’s last expedition. Through memories of her grandfather and his stories she delves into a world where fiction and reality blur. One of the main reference points of the book is Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which is the grandfather’s favourite book in the novel. The use of it and the plot involving the Tiger and ofcourse his wife is reminiscent of Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi. Highlighting the power of books over film, this particular storyline was mystical and ambiguous rather than cartoonish. 

Obreht’s book encompasses myth, legend, superstition and good old fashioned story telling. The narrative flicks from past to future yet the themes remain the same; destruction, war and the dichotomy of death.

You will enjoy this book if you don’t like reading things that are obvious and predictable. It’s not necessarily an easy read as it can be a little hard to follow the place names and the  cultural references, however it flows and becomes a page turner towards the end. 

Sherlock

Right so I went to see the new Guy Ritchie Sherlock last night and I couldn't help but compare it to the BBC's modern Sherlock. I have to say the BBC's Sherlock is far superior in terms of script and production, mainly because it is more engaging than the films. The films are great entertainment and there are some stunning visual effects. The penultimate scenes where Sherlock and co are running through the woods being shot at by Moriarty's men is the highlight of the film and brings to mind the action sequences from films like House of Flying Daggers.

However the BBC's version is just a lot slicker and there seems to be more thought behind it. Both productions use slo-mo but the Cumberbatch version justifies the use as a way of glimpsing into the working of Sherlock's mind. One episode sees Sherlock delving into his mind palace and the production helps the viewer to comprehend this. Ritchie's Sherlock uses the slo-mo to predict the fighting which doesn't really have the same effect as it gets a bit predictable by the end of the film.

The differences in the two portrayals of Sherlock are amusing, Downey's muscular but emotionally weak Sherlock is a mirror image of Cumberbatch's lanky but mentally strong detecive. The two Dr Watson's are pretty much identical with only Law's Watson being slightly more energetic and charismatic than Freeman's characterisation.

I would recommend seeing the film and then buying the serialised version for repetitive viewing.