WHEN is a film a film and when is a film a cash cow?
The recent trend for splitting the final book in fantasy sagas into two (see Harry Potter and Twilight) has become a real exercise of prolonging a franchise, and with it, the money for studios. Not that it needs too entirely. Young adult franchise controllers Lionsgate are raking in billions in profits as it is, and some source novels seem better placed for a 3 hour film rather than two different 2 hour plus affairs.
The final Hunger Games book nevertheless is going to be a double adaptation, with a second half coming out next year. This is of a slightly debatable point. While criticism that the book is the substantially poorer relation of the first two Hunger Games novels is unfair, it is a book that is very back-ended, and where almost all of the exciting stuff happens towards the end.
So what of Part 1, exactly?
It would be easy to say this is going to be a film on autopilot, but for a film franchise that is already one of the bleakest in modern cinema, this film ratchets up the bleakness to another level entirely.
In the first twenty minutes alone, we have episodes of a PTSD-riddled Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) trying to hide from the guards of her new home, covert emotional manipulation of said Everdeen by her new home's government, and a journey through the bombed out District 12 and all the burned out corpses in the middle of the main city.
When we last saw this franchise, the Hunger Games 75th anniversary had ended with Katniss blowing up the arena and getting lifted out to the previously-thought-to-be-destroyed District 13. The nation of Panem is now in open revolt against the totalitarian leader President Snow (the underused Donald Sutherland), and uncertain times are being faced.
To try and continue the revolt in a positive direction, Katniss is instructed to star in propaganda shorts to inspire the revolution. These are overseen by the comically morose Plutarch Heavensbee (the late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman).
This is one of two ways that demonstrate this film's difference to the previous two. The first two movies in the Hunger Games franchise came of the "distraction by deadly sport" camp, as in Battle Royale (first film) and Rollerball (second one).
Mockingjay by contrast is two movies under one banner. One of these is a war film, as evidenced by the shots of cities and towns engaged in violent battle and in war against the controlling Capitol. The other is a film about media manipulation. Certainly, there are a few moments early on that do amuse when they seem to resemble a film casting session.
Overseeing the operation is slightly menacing new arrival President Coin of District 13 (Julianne Moore), who operates with an icy sheen that is directly implied to be a few degrees from the head of the bad guys.
It is easy to criticise this for being a $125million placeholder lacking action. But its also fair, as the action is fairly simple and distant. Barring the shot in the trailer where she blows up a plane with an explosive arrow, Katniss' ability to do action is very limited by the script, and the plot-driving action sequences are left to nameless rebels in the outer districts.
It doesn't do a lot to satisfy the pre-existing quibble that its trying to make a full length movie about the least interesting part of the book, albeit not quite to the extent that saw the relatively slim Hobbit book made into three bladder-tauntingly-long films.
There also is involvement for the Hunger Games' weakest arc, which is the Twilight rip-off love triangle involving Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth). As ever, these scenes just don't feel like they belong in the same movie, although the scenes with Peeta are given an intriguing tragic complex through his trial-by-television and Ceasar Flickermann (Stanley Tucci) that is used to surprising effect in the final 15 minutes.
This film doesn't do enough to reach the highlights of the engrossing first movie, but after the oddly flat second one, this is a surprisingly decent film. It has a very nimble and extremely high calibre cast, including people that pop in and out more than they had in previous films (Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks' characters in particular).
As ever, the central strand rests on Lawrence to work wonders with Katniss. As ever, its slightly robbed of her inside emotions given this isn't first person, but she does do a lot with her role and remains good value as a central cornerstone of the movie.
There is also an intriguing set-piece where District 13 rebels try and rescue captured men of their side from a power-outaged Capitol, which is played extremely nicely.
This film may have, on another day, been condensed into an hour before the proper two hour grit of the finale. But on its own level, and if you choose to engage with it, then it works very nicely. There's certainly enough to admire, and its a good set-up for what will hopefully be a proper all-guns blazing climax next autumn.
3.5/5
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Thursday, 13 November 2014
Interstellar - Film Review
In the middle of the gallery Interstellar find, there is a planet targeted for exploration that orbits a supermassive black hole.
The sight is an ethereal and superbly calibrated construct of imagery, broadcasting this lone and fragile rock orbiting an enormous spectrum of light being sucked out of existence. But the name of the black hole is (almost) a byword for the film - Gargantua.
Gargantuan doesn't begin to describe Interstellar - although the film's name is similarly grandiose. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, this is a film to test even the most steely of bladders. It equally possesses an A-list cast, a director widely seen as revolutionary, some of the finest CGI effects money can buy, touts some impressive landscapes, and possesses masses of input from scientific luminaries.
Clearly, there is some high-level work put into this, which has led to a $165million budget - although it was initially budgeted for $10million more than that - and there is much for Paramount to bank on this being major success. In terms of being Oscar-nominated, it certainly will get at least nomination for its SFX work.
There is much to compare Interstellar to previous sci-fi epics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metropolis, Star Wars, et all, but it begins with influences from documentaries of American history of the 1930's. Clips from 2012 documentary The Dust Bowl permeate the opening of the film, which is superimposed to a screen world a few decades in the future and existing within major problems.
The world has regressed to an agricultural society, with the human race put towards farming, even in spite of large numbers of crops being claimed by blight or dust storms, and some going extinct completely. Indeed, its just corn left to grow, and even that is dying.
Stuck in the dust and dirt is former NASA pilot and now farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), who lives on a corn farm with his family and trying to combat the problem of humanity running out of its food supply.
Following the death of his wife, he lives with his wife's father, as well as two kids - one of whom, his daughter Murph, is complaining of a ghost living in her room. Through a few tricks, the ghost leads Cooper and Murph to the remnants of NASA.
With humanity now denying even the Apollo missions, the mission has been created in secret. Led by Professor Brand (Michael Caine) and his excellent facial hair, this secret mission is all about finding humanity a new home. Cooper is sent to go out and help him solve an equation that can get humanity on a space station and off the dying Earth.
Before then, Cooper and Professor Brand's daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway) lead a four-man and one sarcastic robot team to find a destination. To help with that, a mysterious wormhole has opened up just beyond the orbit of the planet Saturn, which will help the team go to some other far-away corner of the universe in an instant.
At this point, the film is overtaken by pain-staking explanations of science, including one explanation of how a wormhole works. Rather pointlessly, this is taken just as they are about to enter said wormhole, although you would have thought someone would have explained to Coop what a wormhole might be like before the final hour on the Earth side of the damn thing.
Many in the know have questioned the scientific credentials of this film, and how much the film tries to balance accuracy with entertainment. It is fair however to say this is not a perfect note-for-note cinematic interpretation of science, and it is perhaps unfair to ask it to be anything else to using real science ideas and creations as a launchpad for something more cinema-ready.
But for people with less knowledge, it can feel like being hit over the head with a big book of science-y sounding stuff at times, and throughout the piece, there are long sequences of explanation. Some is necessary. The idea of time dilation is a major factor, and it is played extremely proficiently, and indeed, serves as a key and engaging plot point for the middle and final parts of the movie.
But some of the science does toe the line for entertainment and wonder. Not that this is a bad thing. The proficiency of the visuals is excellent. Much of the space-bound sections of this movie take place in sumptuously detailed vistas, ranging from the surface of icy and rocky planets to black holes to collapsed vistas.
To his credit, director Christopher Nolan prefers real to CGI shots, which gives the planets a realness beyond the simple use of over drawn CGI that punctuates most sci-fi. This is particularly felt on the second planet, which was shot on location in Iceland and shows a myriad of beautiful, slippery glaciers. Plus even when it does GCI, there is no spectacle denial when confronted with a planet filled with nothing but water, and where hyper-gravity leads to 100ft-high tidal waves.
Yet for all its undeniable beauty, it feels laboured at times. At 2 hours 45 minutes, this is a herculean movie, and requires major force of will not to fall asleep during at times. This is not to fault the plot, which doesn't move at that slow a pace and kinda works when analysed in a straight line, but even then, a number of sequences could shortened, and one or two could even be removed.
This is not to fault the actors, who do their best even when the dialogue lurches into the unintentionally hilarious. McConaughey has enjoyed a revival in his fortunes in the last six years that led to an Best Actor Oscar earlier this year, and despite the odd tendency to murmur his vocals from time to time, he is an engaging presence. He and his sandy Carhartt jacket get a ton of screen time across this production, yet he doesn't feel like he's hogging the airtime.
Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine are also excellent on-screen presences, and provide a captivating fluid performance despite being lumpen with most of the faux-science jargon. There are other roles from A-listers that crop up later down the line - Jessica Chastain receives a credit on the film poster, but one other notable one does not. But they do excel when they appear, and give the film a lot of propulsion.
There is also a lovely background role for John Lithgow as the father-in-law to McConaughey's character, and during the opening 45-odd minutes where he appears with him on Earth, the duo bring a great sheen to roles of people who yearn for a time that promised more than the bleak Earth they reside upon.
But while there isn't flaw with actors, there is problems with the final 20 minutes. While experts like Neil deGrasse Tyson have provided something approaching a decent explanation for it, narratively speaking, it feels like a cop-out. Scientifically speaking, it also provides something unsatisfying, even if at least did possess some decent imagination in using it. Like the rest of the film, it looks good, and it also sees composer Hans Zimmer really turn things up to 11 on the church organ.
However, it feels like something approaching a cop out, and it feels like it wants to tie the film up in too neat a bow. It also takes a fair bit of the plausibility out of proceedings, and while it was perhaps fair for it to not be continually obedience to semi-realistic science, it ends on a bum note that dilutes the piece's rating.
In all, Interstellar is a puzzling film. There is a lot of information dotted throughout the plot, almost as a constant underneath to the action itself. To deny it is filled with spectacle is a fallacy, and certainly, in IMAX, it will be looking sumptuous.
There is also nothing wrong with the actors in the piece, but to say this isn't a film without flaws is to overlook the final act's narrative failure, and the clunkiness of the pace.
To say this is among Nolan's best work is to forget The Dark Knight and Inception, and its also not really among the best sci-fi films in the last 5 years, even in spite of the fact it enjoys some of the best visual treatments in that time. But nevertheless, its a thrill ride worth seeing, and there is enough in the movie to at least feel like you haven't wasted your ticket price getting through the screen doors.
Plus if it inspires a wave of trans-galactic explorers, it could be one of the most important films of all...
3/5
The sight is an ethereal and superbly calibrated construct of imagery, broadcasting this lone and fragile rock orbiting an enormous spectrum of light being sucked out of existence. But the name of the black hole is (almost) a byword for the film - Gargantua.
Gargantuan doesn't begin to describe Interstellar - although the film's name is similarly grandiose. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, this is a film to test even the most steely of bladders. It equally possesses an A-list cast, a director widely seen as revolutionary, some of the finest CGI effects money can buy, touts some impressive landscapes, and possesses masses of input from scientific luminaries.
Clearly, there is some high-level work put into this, which has led to a $165million budget - although it was initially budgeted for $10million more than that - and there is much for Paramount to bank on this being major success. In terms of being Oscar-nominated, it certainly will get at least nomination for its SFX work.
There is much to compare Interstellar to previous sci-fi epics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metropolis, Star Wars, et all, but it begins with influences from documentaries of American history of the 1930's. Clips from 2012 documentary The Dust Bowl permeate the opening of the film, which is superimposed to a screen world a few decades in the future and existing within major problems.
The world has regressed to an agricultural society, with the human race put towards farming, even in spite of large numbers of crops being claimed by blight or dust storms, and some going extinct completely. Indeed, its just corn left to grow, and even that is dying.
Stuck in the dust and dirt is former NASA pilot and now farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), who lives on a corn farm with his family and trying to combat the problem of humanity running out of its food supply.
Following the death of his wife, he lives with his wife's father, as well as two kids - one of whom, his daughter Murph, is complaining of a ghost living in her room. Through a few tricks, the ghost leads Cooper and Murph to the remnants of NASA.
With humanity now denying even the Apollo missions, the mission has been created in secret. Led by Professor Brand (Michael Caine) and his excellent facial hair, this secret mission is all about finding humanity a new home. Cooper is sent to go out and help him solve an equation that can get humanity on a space station and off the dying Earth.
Before then, Cooper and Professor Brand's daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway) lead a four-man and one sarcastic robot team to find a destination. To help with that, a mysterious wormhole has opened up just beyond the orbit of the planet Saturn, which will help the team go to some other far-away corner of the universe in an instant.
At this point, the film is overtaken by pain-staking explanations of science, including one explanation of how a wormhole works. Rather pointlessly, this is taken just as they are about to enter said wormhole, although you would have thought someone would have explained to Coop what a wormhole might be like before the final hour on the Earth side of the damn thing.
Many in the know have questioned the scientific credentials of this film, and how much the film tries to balance accuracy with entertainment. It is fair however to say this is not a perfect note-for-note cinematic interpretation of science, and it is perhaps unfair to ask it to be anything else to using real science ideas and creations as a launchpad for something more cinema-ready.
But for people with less knowledge, it can feel like being hit over the head with a big book of science-y sounding stuff at times, and throughout the piece, there are long sequences of explanation. Some is necessary. The idea of time dilation is a major factor, and it is played extremely proficiently, and indeed, serves as a key and engaging plot point for the middle and final parts of the movie.
But some of the science does toe the line for entertainment and wonder. Not that this is a bad thing. The proficiency of the visuals is excellent. Much of the space-bound sections of this movie take place in sumptuously detailed vistas, ranging from the surface of icy and rocky planets to black holes to collapsed vistas.
To his credit, director Christopher Nolan prefers real to CGI shots, which gives the planets a realness beyond the simple use of over drawn CGI that punctuates most sci-fi. This is particularly felt on the second planet, which was shot on location in Iceland and shows a myriad of beautiful, slippery glaciers. Plus even when it does GCI, there is no spectacle denial when confronted with a planet filled with nothing but water, and where hyper-gravity leads to 100ft-high tidal waves.
Yet for all its undeniable beauty, it feels laboured at times. At 2 hours 45 minutes, this is a herculean movie, and requires major force of will not to fall asleep during at times. This is not to fault the plot, which doesn't move at that slow a pace and kinda works when analysed in a straight line, but even then, a number of sequences could shortened, and one or two could even be removed.
This is not to fault the actors, who do their best even when the dialogue lurches into the unintentionally hilarious. McConaughey has enjoyed a revival in his fortunes in the last six years that led to an Best Actor Oscar earlier this year, and despite the odd tendency to murmur his vocals from time to time, he is an engaging presence. He and his sandy Carhartt jacket get a ton of screen time across this production, yet he doesn't feel like he's hogging the airtime.
Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine are also excellent on-screen presences, and provide a captivating fluid performance despite being lumpen with most of the faux-science jargon. There are other roles from A-listers that crop up later down the line - Jessica Chastain receives a credit on the film poster, but one other notable one does not. But they do excel when they appear, and give the film a lot of propulsion.
There is also a lovely background role for John Lithgow as the father-in-law to McConaughey's character, and during the opening 45-odd minutes where he appears with him on Earth, the duo bring a great sheen to roles of people who yearn for a time that promised more than the bleak Earth they reside upon.
But while there isn't flaw with actors, there is problems with the final 20 minutes. While experts like Neil deGrasse Tyson have provided something approaching a decent explanation for it, narratively speaking, it feels like a cop-out. Scientifically speaking, it also provides something unsatisfying, even if at least did possess some decent imagination in using it. Like the rest of the film, it looks good, and it also sees composer Hans Zimmer really turn things up to 11 on the church organ.
However, it feels like something approaching a cop out, and it feels like it wants to tie the film up in too neat a bow. It also takes a fair bit of the plausibility out of proceedings, and while it was perhaps fair for it to not be continually obedience to semi-realistic science, it ends on a bum note that dilutes the piece's rating.
In all, Interstellar is a puzzling film. There is a lot of information dotted throughout the plot, almost as a constant underneath to the action itself. To deny it is filled with spectacle is a fallacy, and certainly, in IMAX, it will be looking sumptuous.
There is also nothing wrong with the actors in the piece, but to say this isn't a film without flaws is to overlook the final act's narrative failure, and the clunkiness of the pace.
To say this is among Nolan's best work is to forget The Dark Knight and Inception, and its also not really among the best sci-fi films in the last 5 years, even in spite of the fact it enjoys some of the best visual treatments in that time. But nevertheless, its a thrill ride worth seeing, and there is enough in the movie to at least feel like you haven't wasted your ticket price getting through the screen doors.
Plus if it inspires a wave of trans-galactic explorers, it could be one of the most important films of all...
3/5
Friday, 7 November 2014
Band of Skulls at Oxford O2 Academy - Gig Review
Things have been on a peculiar trajectory for Band of Skulls.
While third album Himalayan charted lower than its predecessor and hasn't produced something with the hit power as the previous two records, the band's live profile is still expanding. They were a big draw at festivals across Europe in the summer, and have also had experience down the years of supporting bands such as Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
The band's parade of hefty thumping rock has been enough to escalate their live profile, with the band now on a UK run-through of their biggest ever headline dates. With a sold out hometown gig at the Southampton Guildhall immediately after this one, and a largest ever headline show at the Hammersmith Apollo set to come, things are certainly looking big for the trio.
It would be easy to take it easy ahead of these big nights to take it easy, but ahead of a lively crowd, there is full-throttle rock from the off. Light of the Morning and Himalayan represent a punchy, hefty opening to the gig. But its 3rd song You're Not Pretty But You've Got It Going On that really gets the crowd moving and dancing, with the tantalising earworm of its spindly guitar enveloping the track.
Most of the sound is based on Emma Richardson's bass guitar, although one wonders about the mixing - while there's nothing wrong with the proficiency of her bass playing, it overpowers the guitar to a degree.
This is nevertheless a minor quibble. Russell Marsden and his army of guitars provides a nice array of riffing power that possesses the power to hypnotise and then bounce the crowd with an impressive proficiency.
Its easy from afar to deride a samey element to some of the songs, but the power and the force when faced with it in the live arena is still extremely pleasing. The title track from 2nd album Sweet Sour is a particularly beastly tune, as is Asleep At The Wheel.
The moment that really gets the crowd pumped and bouncing is a marvellous three-prong attack at the close of the main set, with Death by Diamonds and Pearls flowing excellently into The Devil Takes Care of His Own, and even nicer into breakthrough single I Know What I Am. This hit parade to close off the main set is especially delightful, and shows off the best part of the band's playing and writing styles.
Marsden says its a conclusion to the gig, but the band do return for a brief three song burst, which includes the evening's most chill song in the form subtler, more introspective Cold Fame. The blistering Hoochie Coochie and spindly Hollywood Bowl then bring curtain down in style.
In all, its a very pleasant endeavour in all. The power of Band of Skulls is mostly prevalent on the live circuit, which is part of the reason why they make for compelling opener for many of the biggest names in rock. On show here, it makes for a compelling presence, and in smaller rooms like the Oxford O2, it works excellently well.
4/5
Opening were Japanese acid-punk proposition Bo Ningen, whose attempts to make a first impression weren't helped by the first song sounding messy thanks to the poor mix. After taking a few songs to adjust to things, the impressively calibrated and perhaps slightly demented squawk begins to take shape. The final song takes things to bombastic levels, with the lead singer playing her bass virtually on the front row, while the guitarists pull shapes and the drummer layer on solo after solo. It ends superbly well, and certainly, the band eventually does enough to leave a positive mark on proceedings.
While third album Himalayan charted lower than its predecessor and hasn't produced something with the hit power as the previous two records, the band's live profile is still expanding. They were a big draw at festivals across Europe in the summer, and have also had experience down the years of supporting bands such as Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
The band's parade of hefty thumping rock has been enough to escalate their live profile, with the band now on a UK run-through of their biggest ever headline dates. With a sold out hometown gig at the Southampton Guildhall immediately after this one, and a largest ever headline show at the Hammersmith Apollo set to come, things are certainly looking big for the trio.
It would be easy to take it easy ahead of these big nights to take it easy, but ahead of a lively crowd, there is full-throttle rock from the off. Light of the Morning and Himalayan represent a punchy, hefty opening to the gig. But its 3rd song You're Not Pretty But You've Got It Going On that really gets the crowd moving and dancing, with the tantalising earworm of its spindly guitar enveloping the track.
Most of the sound is based on Emma Richardson's bass guitar, although one wonders about the mixing - while there's nothing wrong with the proficiency of her bass playing, it overpowers the guitar to a degree.
This is nevertheless a minor quibble. Russell Marsden and his army of guitars provides a nice array of riffing power that possesses the power to hypnotise and then bounce the crowd with an impressive proficiency.
Its easy from afar to deride a samey element to some of the songs, but the power and the force when faced with it in the live arena is still extremely pleasing. The title track from 2nd album Sweet Sour is a particularly beastly tune, as is Asleep At The Wheel.
The moment that really gets the crowd pumped and bouncing is a marvellous three-prong attack at the close of the main set, with Death by Diamonds and Pearls flowing excellently into The Devil Takes Care of His Own, and even nicer into breakthrough single I Know What I Am. This hit parade to close off the main set is especially delightful, and shows off the best part of the band's playing and writing styles.
Marsden says its a conclusion to the gig, but the band do return for a brief three song burst, which includes the evening's most chill song in the form subtler, more introspective Cold Fame. The blistering Hoochie Coochie and spindly Hollywood Bowl then bring curtain down in style.
In all, its a very pleasant endeavour in all. The power of Band of Skulls is mostly prevalent on the live circuit, which is part of the reason why they make for compelling opener for many of the biggest names in rock. On show here, it makes for a compelling presence, and in smaller rooms like the Oxford O2, it works excellently well.
4/5
Opening were Japanese acid-punk proposition Bo Ningen, whose attempts to make a first impression weren't helped by the first song sounding messy thanks to the poor mix. After taking a few songs to adjust to things, the impressively calibrated and perhaps slightly demented squawk begins to take shape. The final song takes things to bombastic levels, with the lead singer playing her bass virtually on the front row, while the guitarists pull shapes and the drummer layer on solo after solo. It ends superbly well, and certainly, the band eventually does enough to leave a positive mark on proceedings.
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