Sherlock Holmes - Game of Shadows

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace
Director: Guy Ritchie

NOW that the hype over the TV series of Sherlock (the one with Benedict Cumberbatch, or Cumbercob if you’re from Nuneaton) is beginning to die down, it is worthwhile taking a look at the recent film.
Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are back at it again, investigating super crimes by super villains. This time they’re up against the dreaded Moriarty, the Blofeld of the Holmes world.
What Downey Jr and Law brought to the first film, they bring again to the sequel. In Law, Downey Jr has found another collaborator and like his partnership with Gwyneth Paltrow in the Iron Man series, these two complement each other, bouncing off each other’s charisma.
And director, Guy Ritchie, is on fine form too, showing off his bravado with magnificent sets, shot in the same muted colour as his previous films.
Secondary cast members help us along our journey, this time with Swedish actress Noomi Rapace playing Gypsy girl Madam Simza Heron searching for her brother; Stephen Fry as Sherlock’s elder brother and statesman Mycroft; and Jared Harris as the evil Professor James Moriarty.
They all play to the backdrop of an impending war between France and Germany.
So the pieces are in place but does the action meet the hype?
The first film in this interpretation of Sherlock, did not grab me like it did other people, but I understood its popularity.
Game of Shadows opens with Sherlock running into old flame Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) but gets into trouble when he finds himself surrounded by hoodlums, under the pay of Moriarty.
This is the first of the well choreographed set-pieces, and they must be impressive. I say that because the action was going far too quickly to absorb it all in, so I couldn’t tell what was happening between each cut. All I was aware of was that Sherlock was able to despatch the four men he was fighting. I’m not against fast editing, so long as the eyes a chance to take it all in.
And unfortunately this set the tone for what happened throughout the rest of the film. Like the complex plot, the audience were forced to keep up with what was happening on screen. There was no chance to catch your breath and work out what was happening. Yes, the audience were swept along with action, but it was more frustrating than exciting.
And despite all the set-pieces, some of which were spectacular – the scene on the train is a terrific gambit – there was not enough observation, and a bit too much explosion, a case of bigger and better and the action was spectacular.
But it all detracted away from why we loved Sherlock Holmes in the first place, not enough detecting, too much fighting. It seemed as if we were watching a 19th century James Bond rather than our beloved super-sleuth.

The Woman In Black

Director: James Watkins
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe; Ciaran Hinds

THERE’S the old saying that less is more, and when it comes to The Woman In Black, that is certainly true.
The premise for star Daniel Radcliffe’s latest film is pure gothic – set at the end of the 19th century, solicitor Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) is ordered to head to Northumberland to negotiate the sale of a derelict house.
The grieving solicitor (he lost his wife Stella in childbirth four years ago) is given this last chance to redeem himself in the eyes of his employer.
But on arrival in Northumberland he finds that the locals are not very welcoming and when he makes it known that he is there to negotiate the sale of the house, the villager are even less charming.
From the moment Kipps arrives at Eel Marsh House at the end of Nine Lives Causeway, the tradition of Hammer Horror comes alive.
The approach to the house is brilliantly atmospheric with an eerie, nauseous feeling as the cab makes it’s way along the path.
Then Kipps arrives at the house which appears like Edgar Allen Poe’s House of Usher – a sense of dread pervades the viewer.
Once inside Radcliffe sets about going over the paperwork but inevitably he gets distracted by the sounds of the brick body that he is trying to sell.
Be warned, despite being a 12A this is one of the most terrifying films for a long while. It is more than just jumpy, there are moments of pure horror which will cause psychological damage with children.
Director James Watkins has perfectly mastered the composition and style of the genre. With previous work Eden Lake behind him, he has once again proven to the suits that less is more.
Rocking chairs, freaky wind-up toys and exploding pipes add to the atmosphere. Then there’s the appearance of our monster.
Flashes of the Woman are all that is needed and we never really see her features until the very last moment.
But the true star is neither the Woman, nor Daniel Radcliffe, who is convincing as a subtle solicitor trying overcome his own demons, but that of Hammer Horror.
It is back to basics before they went down the road of lesbian vampires, and this feature shows they can make ‘em like they used to.
There are a few moments where the film loses it a bit, such as towards the climax where Kipps vows to make amends for past misdeeds, and the ending is bit clichéd.
But, armed with a great script by Jane Goldman, adapted from Susan Hill’s original book, with Watkins at the helm they have created a proper horror movie, and one that is not only jumpy but will linger long in the mind. You won’t look at a rocking chair in the same way again.

You can also see this review on Boolean Flix. Here's the link:
http://www.booleanflix.com/2012/02/02/the-woman-in-black/

The Artist

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo

SOMETIMES all you can say is they don’t make ‘em like they used to – and The Artist proves that.
Superlatives have been thrown at this film with many tipping it for Oscars, others claiming that it is the greatest movie ever made.
Both those statements are a little premature but there’s no denying that Michel Hazanavicius’s is a tour de force but I will try not to harp on about how great it is rather than just describe it.
The film is a riches-to-rags tale about silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) who refuses to adapt to the new technology of sound.
Opening with his latest film being screened to acclaimed response and rapturous applause, Valentin is a man who appears like a caricature of the era – handsome features, slick back hair and pencil moustache.
He is at the top of his game, he can command anything in Hollywood and no one can turn him down. He has fame, friends, a career and an adorable and loyal companion in his dog, Uggie, (seriously, just watch it for the dog). The only thing that’s wrong is the loveless marriage he is stuck in.
Aspiring actress Peppy Miller, played by the Argentinian wife of Hazanavicius, Bérénice Bejo, bumps into him and steals the show during a chance encounter outside the premier of his film, they meet again on set the next day where he gets her a part in his next film.
It is obvious the two are in love but the scrupulous Valentin is not going to let this fidelity get in the way of his marriage, no matter how terrible it is.
Inevitably the technology of sound comes along and changes everything and Valentin, a man who believes the innovation to be a fad becomes redundant while Miller, a woman who realises that people want to hear her, becomes a star.
When our two protagonists meet later on the stairs, she on the way up, he on the way down, we know exactly what it means and what will happen: she will be the most sought-after woman in town, he will plumb the depths of despair.
Knowing what is going to happen could turn people off, but Hazanavicius keeps us enchanted. Both he and Dujardin and Bejo know that less is more. The actors only have to raise an eyebrow, cast a glance, just move one muscle on their faces and the audience understands their thoughts. And Hazanavicius just has to angle the camera like so and that scene, that picture, tells a thousand words.
There are other scenes which linger in the mind – the climax is heart-clutching and edge-of-your-seat stuff, and another when Valentin sees his head reflected in a shop window over the top of a dinner jacket brings you to despair.
A refreshing take on an old tale, it is unmissable and Hazanavicius has made the glamour of Hollywood never look better and made today’s effects-laden films look superfluous. It is effortlessly warm and tender and despite harking from another age, its innovation could change the landscape of movies for the next few years.

Another Earth

Starring: Brit Marling; William Mapother.
Director: Mike Cahill

CELESTIAL concepts generally tend to be heavy on the mind – about as weighty as a planet.
Another Earth begins with images of a big planet – the largest one in our solar system as it turns out – Jupiter, with a voiceover explaining where our protagonist, Rhoda (Brit Marling), comes from.
Her journey begins one drunken night when she drives while intoxicated and hits another car, killing a composer’s (William Mapother) pregnant wife and five-year old boy.
Four years later and Rhoda, fresh out of the slammer, is hoping to be one of the lucky few to go on a voyage of discovery to the other Earth while she takes up a job as a cleaner both at a nearby school and also at the composer’s, John Burroughs, house who has fallen into drink and is consumed by grief.
The horrific incident at the start of the film happens on the same night as Earth has a galactic visitor and it doesn’t take long for us to work out (the clue is in the title) that what is up there is the same as down here.
But how similar is it, or could it be? And that is the underlying message that continues throughout this film.
It is a psychological question that requires a lot of pathos, and unfortunately this film has a lot of it.
Science-fiction theory is a wonderful genre in films and one that when it is done right can be really entertaining, when it’s done wrong it can be boring.
This year there has been several films that are now included in that canon, The Adjustment Bureau and Source Code being possibly the best and certainly most popular for 2011.
Another Earth is a great stab from debut director-screenwriter Mike Cahill who is joined by Marling on the penning credits.
But it is just too full of itself.
It is clear that Marling and Cahill are two very intelligent and well-read young people but Another Earth could easily have been cut in half.
There were far too many pretentious shots and long camera shots of characters gazing off into the sunset, fingers tapping on wood, quiet moments of reflection.
But if the editing was as strict as the overall craftsmanship then the running time would struggle to get past the hour.
Moments such as when a NASA scientist makes first contact and the subsequent confusion are nail-biting. Similarly a beautiful moment with a musical saw shows that Cahill has great strength.
But the concept of the film is something that would be better suited to a bigger budget – it is drowned by the ordinariness of the world that surrounds it.

You Only Live Thrice

In case you haven't heard the next James Bond film has a title – Skyfall.
It’s interesting to note that the announcement of a film title can become an event itself.
True, it’s been 50 years since James Bond first graced our screens and despite a couple of delays threatening to kill off Bond for good (a legal wrangle threatened the franchise between Timothy Dalton’s and Pierce Brosnan’s turns as the super spy; and the recent financial problems of MGM) he has been able to live not just twice, but three times.
So it was probably not much of a surprise that at the announcement of the film’s title at the West End’s Corinthia hotel Bond himself, Daniel Craig, was there sporting a beard while one on side was French actress Bérénice Marlohe as one Bond girl and British actress Naomie Harris as another.
Of course producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson were there too along with the fictional head of MI6, Dame Judi.
What really made this movie buff get excited were the appearances of Oscar-winning director (and fellow Reading boy) Sam Mendes at the top table as well as everyone’s favourite bad guy, Javier Bardem.
The news that thesps Ralph Feinnes and Albert Finney will be in the film too can only add to the impact.
Let’s be honest how many other Bond actors and actresses can you name beyond the main man? Christopher Lee, Grace Jones, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Christopher Walken, Eva Green. There are plenty more (Teri Hatcher for instance, and film buffs will remember a youthful Benicio Del Toro in Licence To Kill) but it’s difficult to pin them down – yes, I’m sure you will be able to remember others I’ve temporarily forgotten, Famke Janssen, for example. But now we’ve got an ensemble cast and director that’s almost worthy of a Christopher Nolan film.
Have the Bond producers set themselves up for a fall? There’s so much weight on the screen, combined with the three year delay (although that’s hardly the producers’ fault) there will be a lot of expectation for delivery of the goods (there are rumours that Mendes wants this film to be less Bond and more Smiley).
Twenty-three films is no mean feat for a franchise although I can imagine many of today’s blockbuster film making a considerable run.
But now I wouldn’t be surprised if a press conference was called for future franchise instalments.
After Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises he has said he will hang up his hat, but something tells me that if he comes back for a fourth, there will be a similar buzz about that one as there is for this.
And what of other franchises and other comic books? The Pirates of the Caribbean episodes, another Bourne movie, the list goes on.
Perhaps 007 can be more than just a series based around one character – it could have been the inspiration for all the movie blockbusters we have today.
And once again, perhaps that could be down to the success of Bond’s cinematic home, Pinewood Studios, and British technicians.

Jack Goes Boating

Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, Joe Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Jack Goes Boating is the directorial debut for acting wonder kid Philip Seymour Hoffman highlighting a role reversal that has become endemic in the world of cinema.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – well, some considerable distance for mere mortals in Leicestershire – Hollywood was a social hierarchy.
Directors wanted to be in front of the cameras as well as behind; writers and cinematographers wanted to direct while the technicians who actually made the movie were just happy to be.
Then actors wanted to show they were more than just a pretty face. Luvvies like Richard Attenborough were the first get behind the camera and were swiftly followed on the other side of the Atlantic by Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and then the likes of Sean Penn.
It was inevitable that a man known for playing Truman Capote, an actor who could easily be considered the best of his generation would want to direct.
He made difficult films like Happiness watchable; he stole Mission Impossible 3 from under Tom Cruise’s, his own star vehicle blockbuster. In short he can’t put a foot wrong.
And the same can be said with Jack Goes Boating when he’s in front of the camera. Every second on screen Hoffman is engaging and he performs his role as Jack, a socially awkward middle-aged limo driver in New York with aplomb.
He has all the tics and mannerisms you would expect of someone who is nervous around women, and when betraying thoughts and emotions, even down to a well-placed cough like a drying throat. Hoffman does everything you would expect him to and more.
A tenderness rarely seen in Hollywood actors shines through his performance especially when he confronts his phobia of being in water and his determination to cook a meal.
Co-star Amy Ryan also puts in a fine performance as Connie, a sales woman trying to turn her life around despite a lot of emotional baggage.
She is more than a match for Hoffman while Jack and Connie develop their relationship at a patient pace while they plan to go boating in the summer.
But perhaps Hoffman’s acting in front of the camera is distracting him from his first experience at helming.
The film plods along at just too slow a pace and while less can be more at times, in this case the more you get, the better it is.
Joe Ortiz as Clyde and Daphne Rubin-Vega are welcome additions to a film about real people with real issues but they are not utilised as much as they should be.
There’s a hidden issue about what happens the trials and tribulations and couples that is looked at, but never explored to its full potential.
For a first stab at directing, there are moments of brilliance.
In the moments leading up the film’s climatic scene the fast editing and hallucinatory sequences are awesome, and clearly an influence of his previous boss Paul Thomas Anderson. But more of that is needed.

A New Horror - A New Hope?

HALLOWEEN is the time of year where, as everyone knows, you have to get out the horror collection.
But recently there have two new sub-genres that people can curl up in front of the tv with a tub of ice cream – torture porn and trolls.
The first of those is a category which I really don’t see the point because it really just likes to bathe in blood, and has no scary aspect about it.
The Saw franchise is similar in ways to that of the Final Destination saga – elaborate deaths portrayed as something clever but ultimately really predictable and boring. There is a morbid curiosity with all horror films, but while all the others inspire fear, torture porn just makes people go “oooh, that’s clever”. Well, no it isn’t.
At least the Final Destination was able to laugh at itself. You know that the characters won’t die as you first think they will and the humour is in how ridiculous the deaths become. The film makers can string out one death over the course of an entire film and it would be worthwhile, perhaps that’s where they’ll do next for their next film.
But the Saw and Hostel films are just plain boring without any thrills, just a fascination on blood and gore that really isn’t healthy. They just shock for shock’s sake while The Human Centipede is a one-trick pony that should be a ten minute short, at best.
But the second new sub-genre that I think has come about is trolls. Have we ever had a troll movie before? I don’t think we have. Recently I got to see Trollhunter for the first time. (Living in a “provincial city” means that we get most films a few weeks after everyone else.)
It’s a terrific film and one that really deserves to be shouted about and I hope that it will inspire other films of its type.
Yes, it lends itself to the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity films, but at least this one spoofs those documentary films and becomes a great mockumentary.
The comedy and the horror are blended perfectly to create a fantastic film that is at the right length, and really shows up the flaws of those films I’ve mentioned.
At every step of the way you feel for the characters despite knowing little about them, and Otto Jespersen’s performance is spot on.
Like Shaun of the Dead, I think it could really open up a new type of film and one that will see film makers across the planet making their own type. Here’s hoping that there will be more leaders than imitators.