DVD Recommendation: Falling Down. 

Directed by: Joel Schumacher 

Written by: Ebbe Roe Smith 

Starring: Micahel Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey. 

Distributed by: Warner Bros. 

There was just something about films produced during the 90’s. Call it nostalgia since I’m pretty much a 90’s baby through and through, but they really did encourage you to question everything. From Fight Club to The Matrix, the whole decade seemed summed up in some pretty introspective films.  

Falling Down is a prime example of this. The premise of this classic holds true today as it did in ’93 when it was released.  

William Foster (Douglas) has lost his job at the defence agency he worked for. He’s divorced, his wife has a restraining order against him and he lives with his mammy and pretends to go to a job he was recently sacked from.

It’s during one of his pseudo-trips from his job that he gets stuck in a traffic jam. It’s a heatwave and his air-conditioner breaks down. Surrounded by the sweating horde of people around him he sensibly elects to just up and leave his car to walk the rest of the way home. 

He ends up bumping coming across the less desirable elements of society as he’s picked the worst route to walk home. His first foray sees him haggle with a Korean shop owner over his high-prices (and by haggle I mean he breaks shit with a baseball bat). 

He then sits in a park and two gang members accost him, again bringing down a Foster-style arse-kicking on them. After that he shops for clothes and bumps into a neo-nazi, of all the luck! 

The whole film goes on like this, with Robert Duvall’s, “Two days from retirement” detective character trying his darndest to catch him. Through Foster’s chaotic scenic route, the film makes a nice commentary about contempory life and touches on commercialism, racism and the ever-elusive American Dream. 

This is a film I think Douglas deserves more credit for. He plays what is essentially a crazy bastard and turns him into a sympathetic figure. Trust me, if at the end you’re not secretly rooting for him you need to sort out your priorities. 

A superb film and major kudos to cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak for his use of the heatwave metaphor as a symbol of America reaching boiling point. It also works well as an interesting plot device to move the story along.I thoroughly recommend everyone to see this film at least once.

****

Immortals:Review

Immortals is loosely based on the Greek myths of Theseus and the Titanomachy.
Directed by Tarsem Singh the film tells the story of Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), King of Crete, who declares war on the gods.

The only thing standing in his way is Superman-to-be Henry Cavill, who plays Theseus, a bastard-born peasant who kicks monumental ass with a spear.

After his mother is killed personally by Hyperion, Thesus swears revenge and goes in search of the Epirus bow himself.The gods have him pegged to be their saviour, and predictably it doesn't go easy on the way to being the hero.

On the way he meets up with sultry Oracle Priestess Phaedra (Freida Pinto of Slumdog fame) and master-thief Stavros (Stephen Dorff).

The rest of the cast is nothing to sneeze at either, with John Hurt giving the film a bit of heart amid a soul-less slash-and-hack "inspirational" flick devoid of any inspiration itself.

For those familiar with the testosterone-soaked 300, there’s nothing really new here. While the fight scenes are visual goodness mixed with killer action, the drama is a little hackneyed and the acting never goes above average.

The storyline itself plays itself out routinely, with nothing unexpected to keep you on your toes (unless you count Stephen Dorff being in it).

A little better than Clash of the Titans, it is enjoyable but overall easily forgettable.

***

Title: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Actors: John Hurt, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberpatch.
Running Time: Approx 127 mins.
Distributer: Studio Canal
Release Date: 16th September



Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy is a riveting Drama/Thriller from director Tomas Alfredson. While the storyline is nothing new, the script, performances, along with the directing, raise the calibre of this film beyond the mere ‘whodunit’ feature.
It is based on the 1974 British Spy novel of the same name by John Le Carré.

Set in 1974, the film follows Smiley(Oldman), a spy forced into retirement along with his mentor ‘Control’ (Hurt) by his fellow colleagues after investigating claims that there is a mole at the top of “The Circus”; the higher echelon of the Secret Intelligence Service.

After recieving news that a botched mission in Istanbul that ended up with the agent shot dead, Control, head of ‘The Circus, believes one fo their own set him up.Thus “His man” Smiley is assigned to uncover the secret under the radar as the suspects are the five main Circus members.

Smiley enlists the help of eager operative Peter Guiliam (Benedict Cumberpatch) and undercover agent Ricky Tarr(Tom Hardy). Tarr is on the run after having an affair with the wife of a Moscow Centre intelligence officer.
While she confirms Hurt’s suspicions: that there is a double-agent within their own agency, the agency places the suspicion on him instead and he must go to Smiley for help.

We are taken right along with the taciturn Smiley as he delves deeper into the mystery behind the identity of the informer.He uncovers more questions than answers, however, the closer he gets to the truth.Danger lurks around every corner as he tries to peel back the folds on the men behind the Iron Curtain.

Oldman plays the taciturn Smiley to perfection, with Hurt, Tom Hardy Benedict Cumberpatch providing solid support.

This movie captures perfectly the paranoia and unease that circulated throughout the height of the Cold War; and composer Alberto Iglesias works well to keep this feeling prevalent with his moody compositions.

Credit should also go to Alfredson and Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, who skillfully use interposed shots of city-life London and Moscow between and during scenes, each as bleak as the other, which hints that maybe the two sides aren’t so different as they would like to think.

He (Alfredson) also gets the best out of his actors and the source material, easing us in slowly and keeping the suspense taut well into the big reveal at the end.

This is a story of loyalty, friendship and what it truly means to be a patriot.An outstanding movie not to be missed.

Déan scannán de seo led' thoill!

Sa chuid seo, déanfaidh mé trácht ar rudai ba chóir dóibh déan scannáin ar.
Sa mhi seo, tosnóidh mé le ceann dos na dhaoine is cáiliúla sa domhain: Richard Sharpe.

Mura bhfuil a fhios agat cé hé, mo náire sibh! Scriofa ag Bernard Cornwell(m'údar is fearr riamh!) Is scéaltai ficsean iad faoi shaighdiúr darbh ainm Richard Sharpe, i rith cogaidh Napolean san 18ú haois.
Is scéaltai go han suimiúl iad is ceapam go ndeanfaidh scannán rathúil as.
Seachas mé féin tá na milte lucht tacaiochta ann a léann faoi eachtrai Sharpe is a
Raidhfilli 95ú: Na Seacéidi-Ghlasa.



Is fear giorraisc é, fear a chuaigh ón gnáthballra go dti leiftenant-chornal in airm a shoilse bhreatnach.Mura gceaptar gurb scéal suimiúl atá ann, ni mór duit ciall a bhuail id' cloigeann, 's féidir liom a dhéanamh más gá...
Is aoibheann liom an sraith seo, tá gach leabhar scriofa faoi agam. Tá siad scriofa go réalaioch, len alán greann le fáil is gnéithe diffriúl de dhaoine i rith ham cogaidh.

Len alán caractéiri tacaiochta fresin, mar shampla a chara uasail, Éireannach mór darbh Patrick Harper, is fior rud é go bhfuil go bhfuil go ndótháin ábhar ann a choinneáil suim an lucht féachanna.

Tá caint san idirlion faoi cupla leabhair eile ó Bernard a chur ar an scannán mór ach tá nios mó daoine ina bhfuil ar suim acu i Sharpe ná, mar shampla, i scéal nua faoi Arthur (nach raibh na céadtha diobh déanta cheana féin???)
An t-aon rud a chuirfidh critheagla orm faoin bplean seo ná: an ndéanfaidh siad go leor ceartas de?

Ni mór duit rá liom, tar éis féachaint ar Harry Potter nó The Golden Compass, go dhéanann Hollywood praiseach de leabhair a raibh ar fheabhas is lán le draiocht san sli inar scriobhadh iad.Tógann siad gach rud maith ann is cuireann siad an rud ata comh imeaglach sin "cirte polaitiochata!"

Go dóchasach, léann Peter Jackson an phost seo agus treoritear é cosúil le chonas a rinneadh The Lord Of The Rings.
Féach ar an spás seo...

What I Would Have Done Is...

Reboots and re-imaginings and the wonderful web they weave. One prime example of this being obviously the new Spiderman 4, which promisies to be grittier, more contempory(whatever the hell that means)and darker.

Reboots can be a good thing, so for all those spidey fans claiming this as some sort of movie business version of jesus christs crucifiction, take heart.
The thing with movies is, once they're shot and distributed, there's nothing you can do about it. Anything you may have wanted to see in it, it's too late now.
So on the subject of things we'd like to see in films, in these-"What I would have done is..."-segments is I'm going to talk about films that I would like to have changed somewhat and the stupid most annoying parts. For the first one I'll start off small.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END.

I don't even know where to start with this one, so I'll just do my most annoying two:

1. Tia Dalma is Calyspso.

They deliver this twist with about as much subtlety as KKK member at the Million Man March so that by her end scene you not only know about her past relationship with Davy Joens, you also couldn't give two f***s.
I'd have prefered if they'd kept the devil-may-care attitude she had in the previous film. In this one she has all the makings of a serially depressed ex-girlfriend of a maniacal pirate.
Also, despite being all-knowing, all-mysterious in the Dead Man's Chest, she seems to be out of her depth(excuse the pun) and out of her gourd in this feature.
They even gave her the magical abitiliy to grow big, shout gibberish at people and explode, this being one of her "highlights"

What I would have done:I would not have made her Calypso but kept up with the freaky Vooddoo lady thing she had goin on. The Calyspo revelation was not needed and over-used in the film. If it had been a shocking sudden revelation as opposed to a gradual, ball-breakingly slow reference, then I would have been okay with that.
I would also have made her Jack's love interest and definitely not Davy Jones and kept his love as some faceless damsel who broke his heart. I feel this would have made it more poignant; that he couldn't reconcile and thus make him a kind of anti-hero of a certain extreme.
Cutler Beckett should have been the main bad-guy and they tended to make the love-lorn Davy-Jones out to be some kind of monster because he literally tore his own heart out and went on a jilted-lover killing spree.We all have our issues, it doesn't mean we're bad people. Maybe a redemptive moment for Davy Jones as opposed to getting killed by Will(inadvertantly though not for lack of trying)should have been done.


2.James Norrington Dies.


A man out to reclaim his honour.Unrequited love.Complex character developement. These are the things not asscociated with any of the so-called "leads".
James Norrington was an upcoming British navy Captain before he met jack sparrow. After letting free this (career making) pirate and also giving up his love to Will in the first movie's end scene("How To Self-Sacrifice,Chapter one")he was to be cemneted in my mind as one of the most underrated characters in movie history.
The one where you feel he could carry a film all on his lonesome.

He then chases after said freed pirate, even sailing through a hurricane (thouroughly bad-ass) and resigned his comission in shame when he couldn't catch him. He ends up a drink-sodden mess and this is where we're introduced to him again as he becomes part of Sparrow's crew and what he'd always spent his life hunting: a pirate.
Out to reclaim his honour as I've said above, he then makes a deal with the devil and regains his comission. That is until the Devil,Cutler Beckett, gives him his old sword back.
This has the undesired effect of reminding Norrington of how honourable he once was and his connection to Will(who forged the sword)Elizabeth(his love) and by extension Jack(the enemy and erstwhile hope for redemtion).
He then turns to the side of good once more and after saving Elizabeth (again)he gets the shank by Will's dad of all people and refusus Davy Jones' offer of immortality to die with honour intact.

To be honest, I think in the end he essentially dies a broken man and his death is utterly swept under the rug and not mentioned again by any chracter for the rest of the film.
The only good thing about his death is that he didn't have to take part in this travesty of potential anymore and got a heroes send-off if not a heroes return.

What I would have done: Given him his own series goddammit!

DVD REVIEW:Shank

Shank, the latest offering in the post-apocalyptic-themed batch of films to hit theaters, sees a 2015 London overrun by gangs.The main commodity is food and the means are less than lawful.

The rules are simple; get hard or get beaten. That is the lesson that Fourteen-year-old Junior , played here brilliantly by newcomer Kedar Williams-Stirling, has to learn when his brother Rager (played here by Grime superstar Bashy ) is murdered by gang rival gang members.He then sets out with his gang The Paper Chaserz,with only one thing on his mind:revenge.

Directed by music video producer-cum-film director Mo Ali,this is a typical grimy street drama but with a dystopian twist. The London accents are as thick as spoiled gravy whether it be in the dialogue or the pumping Grime soundtrack so be prepared not to understand everything the characters say unless you happen to be from london or familiar with the slangand the cinematogrophy is indie in feel.

The setting and acting (for the most part) is realistic, as is the violence.The first half of the film sets the tone with every character from different walks of life contributing to the emotional nitty gritty, marking as close to a political statement on federalism and capitalism as it is ever going to get.

Then the second half plods along unsure of where exactly it’s going so ends up giving the intended audience what they want/love from a film of this caliber; sex, booze, video game graphics and beatings.

Let that not deter you from watching it though as it is a thoroughly watchable film. Even though most of it may come off as a slightly eccentric polictial statement on gang culture, it's through the eyes of the disadvantaged in a world gone literally to hell that is the focus of the film.

RATING:***
DVD FEATURE:three behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast and crew interviews, footage from the premiere, a photo gallery, and a short film and music video.

DVD REVIEW: Kick-Ass

The latest offering from director/producer Matthew Vaughn (Who also produced Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and directed hit movies Layer Cake and Stardust) and none other than Brad Pitt, is Kick-ass, the new kid-on-the-block for the superhero movie genre.
Based on the comic book series by scottish scribe Mark Millar, the film takes a more realistic(if somewhat goofball) take on the philosophy of and what it means to be a superhero. SO don't expect to see heroes dodging bullets(or cars for that matter) or even having an iota of responsibilty.

Dave Lizewski, the movies main protaganist,played here by Nowhere Boy star Aaron Johnson,is a typical teenage boy, who wonders why no one has ever decided to become a real-life superhero like the heroes in his favorite comic books. His friends at a comic book store tell him that if anyone did become a superhero, they would literally get their "asses kicked". unperterbed, Dave dons a green wetsuit to fight crime.
After a disastrous first attempt his resolve is set and he meets other costumed heroes in his battle for justice, namely Big-Daddy (Nicholas Cage in brilliant form playing a Gun-toting knock-off Batman) and his foul-mouthed daughter Hit-girl(relative newcomer Chloë Grace Moretz)




The whole philosophy behind the rights and wrongs of vigilante justice and what it truly means to be a superhero take a back-seat somewhat to the awesome fight scenes with the antagonists and witty,albeit at times crude, dialogue.

This movie is funny and as true-to-life as it is possibe for a superhero movie to be and a great joy to watch.The humour is sharp at times and is a breath of fresh air after a slew of disappointing super-hero themed movies, proving their may be life yet in the genre.

No doubt a sequel will be (or is already) in the works and we get to see more of Kick-ass' antics in the future. Watch this space.

Rating: *****
DVD Features: Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Matthew Vaughn; Featurette: It's On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass; The Art of Kick-Ass Gallery