Olympus Has Fallen

I was expecting Olympus Has Fallen to be a thriller, but it is just one brutal, nasty, man winning against a group of brutal, nasty, men and women.

There's nothing to like about this film; unless you somehow think that the thick slice of American patriotism at the end somehow makes up for the stunning stupidity of almost all of the American characters throughout the film.

Blackfish

I should have been an easy target for the documentary Blackfish. I don't like to see animals of any kind kept in confined spaces; so I didn't need convincing that young orca shouldn't be captured, "trained" and displayed in tanks for the entertainment of humans.

There also seems to be a significant amount of evidence to suggest that the male orca Tilikum has killed 3 people and that the owners of the SeaWorld park have failed to take proper responsibility.

And yet this documentary totally fails for me. Most of it is "talking heads" shots of former employees recounting their experiences and reactions to later events. There is little information on who the people are, what their qualifications are, how long they worked there and why they left the park. I was left with the impression that most of them worked there when they were "too young to know better" and now regret the association.

The experts are not presented much better. The lady describing how she put an orca in an MRI scanner and discovered its advanced emotions was just so cringe-worthy. There were some solid fact-based pieces, but they were swamped by the fluff.

How the makers made such a bad presentation of the footage they had, I don't know. There is one section which was completely gripping - where the male trainer survived a drowning attack by staying very calm - but otherwise I think this was an opportunity fumbled, if not entirely missed.

The Wolverine

It's a bit strange to write a review for a film you haven't seen. Based on my tastes I should have seen The Wolverine by now. I almost saw it at the cinema. But I was on holiday the week or so it was on the biggest screen here... and I object to paying so much for the smaller screens that are about the size of some of my friends' living rooms. That was July 2013.

Now the DVD / Blu-Ray is out to buy. Why would I buy it though? I'm probably only going to watch it a handful of times... even if it's good. Why add another plastic box to my already cluttered abode. This is November 2013, a whole 4 months after the theatrical release.

Surely I can rent the movie? Actually, no. The movie service I pay for (LoveFilm) says the rental release date is January 2014, almost a whole 6 months after the theatrical release... and 2 months after the DVD release.

Even stranger. I can't even add it to my rental list until it is released! Huh?

I don't know if this is LoveFilm doing something dumb, or the distributor. But since LoveFilm have offered a pretty good service for years, I can make an educated guess.

So how can I respond? What power do I have against this nonsense? One thing, I guess. I wont watch it when it does come out. There you go. This is my review: The Wolverine - I probably would have liked it, but I didn't watch it because the distributor pissed me off so much.

Me And You

Despite not working on several levels, I found myself quite charmed by Me And You. There's hardly any story beyond "Boy hides in basement for a week". You learn very little about the boy Lorenzo and his half-sister Olivia (who turns up much to the boy's annoyance). The only thing different at the end is possibly Lorenzo... he's still annoying as hell, but might see a better future for himself.

Of course, being a 14 year old Italian boy, Lorenzo is supposed to be annoying.

Olivia is 25. She is at first enigmatic, then annoying, then sad, then pathetic and finally all of those things at the same time... plus a little bit kinder towards Lorenzo than she began.

So this is one of those films which, if you think about it, seems rubbish. If you describe it to someone, it will sound rubbish. But it is quite enjoyable to watch. I don't know why. Two odd characters, not doing much... not brilliant... but engaging... somehow!

A Gang Story

Why the film Les Lyonnais is re-titled as A Gang Story in English puzzles me. What's wrong with The Lyon Gang ... I wonder. I don't think Casablanca would have done so well as A Nightclub Story.

Anyway, this is a great French film. The story spans many decades but slides gracefully backwards and forwards in time to show us key moments from the lives of the two main characters Momon and Serge.

I say 'story' but this feels more like an illustration of the relationship between Momon and Serge through the ages rather than a story as such. You get insights into their characters without forcing too much narrative onto them... and I think that works really well.

The acting is fantastic. Gérard Lanvin plays a wonderful, brooding, dark, but somehow principled Momon; balanced perfectly by Tchéky Karyo as his colder, tougher blood-brother Serge.

Well worth a watch. In fact, I will probably watch it again soon.

Trance

There's often a fine line between intrigue and confusion. The film Trance treads not so carefully and just about gets away with it.

We start out with an auctioneer telling us about art thefts. So we immediately expect the film to be about an art theft. Then we are caught by surprise and slapped into wondering what happened. Intriguing. Then we are offered a possible explanation. But that doesn't really seem to make sense. Confusing. We go along with it... and eventually there is a big reveal. And a not unsatisfying conclusion.

I thought most of the performances were good and carried the plot along nicely. James McAvoy is great and Vincent Cassel is a good opponent for him. I wasn't sure what Rosario Dawson was trying to show with Elizabeth but, since she is at the centre of the confusion, I guess that was deliberate.

An enjoyable watch if you don't think about it too much, or too little.

World War Z

Sometimes a zombie film comes along that totally changes the genre. In the meantime there are zombie films like World War Z which are just like all the other old zombie films; maybe with a bigger budget and a bigger star.

There's action, a few frights, and lots and lots of zombies. It's not a bad film. It's actually quite fun. And so are many other zombie films that are better than this one.

The Stoning of Soraya M.

Occasionally I make myself watch a film for my own good, rather than because I expect to enjoy it. The Stoning of Soraya M. is such a film. The title doesn't leave you in much doubt that this isn't going to be a barrel of laughs... or have a happy ending.

Living a comfortable life in the West, I think it's worth reminding yourself that life in other countries is significantly harder; particularly for women.

So this film has been on my watch list for a while. Waiting for the right moment. And I eventually started watching last night. But I didn't finish it.

The film opens well and builds some intrigue. Then it goes into a graphic description of the abuse that Soraya suffers before (I assume) her false conviction and stoning. I had to stop watching at about 40 minutes. The depiction seemed to be escalating horribly and was very realistic. Much as I wanted to know why she was killed, I didn't want to see it. Maybe because this is supposed to be based on a true story? It felt like I was a voyeur on the actual real suffering of this woman. I bottled out.

I've just read the wiki page about the film and I'm glad I stopped watching. I can't bear to watch real violence against women. The men who commit these crimes disgust me so much.

Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths is supposedly a British crime comedy. But it is set entirely in Hollywood and has a mostly American cast... plus Colin Farrell, who is Irish. So I'm not sure what Film4 and the BFI were doing funding it.

The film's construction is just as confusing. I didn't find it particularly funny, so I wouldn't class it as a comedy. I suppose there are crimes involved, but I wouldn't call it a crime movie. I don't know what it is, because it isn't really much of anything.

Colin Farrell is unconvincing as a drunk screenwriter. Christopher Walken is wooden. Only Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson make the best of the bad parts they have been written.

Overall, pretty much a waste of time.

Watchmen

Last night ended up being a Watchmen night. I had other things to watch, but wasn't in the mood for them.

I remember being given a copy of the graphic novel (call it a comic if you prefer, I don't mind) when the movie was in production. My friends were big fans and wanted me to read it before the film came out. Of course, they were worried that the film wouldn't do the book justice; and after reading it so was I.

But Watchmen is a great film. It captures the spirit of the book brilliantly. From the alternate 1985, to the very gritty violence and the dilemmas posed by the conclusion. The ending differs in some details from the book but, if anything, I prefer the movie ending, which is more believable than the original.

The brilliance of the story in Watchmen is what makes it interesting. I think the film succeeds because the director understood that. He concentrated on telling the story and didn't get distracted by the fact that the characters happened to be superheroes.

All Superheroes Must Die

As low-budget superhero movies go All Superheroes Must Die is a pretty good effort. The characters are engaging, the acting is mostly good and the sets have some substance compared to the abandoned quarry you usually get when money is tight.

The plot is quite mysterious, from the opening where we meet the main characters, to the end where we... finish. Nothing is given away too soon, and many things aren't given away at all; leaving plenty for the viewer to wonder about during and after the movie.

There are a couple of slips into cliche, and some dodgy dialogue, but all-in-all my complains are very minor.

Well done to everyone involved in making this movie. It looks like a close-knit crew from the credits. I hope they had fun making it. I enjoyed it much more than many of the multi-million dollar hero flicks that are trotted out as so-called blockbusters.