I have seen a few documentaries and dramas about Stephen Hawking, and even managed to finish his book A Brief History of Time. And obviously he is the most famous living scientist... so we already know quite a lot about him before seeing The Theory of Everything.
What makes this film different though is that it is based on the memoirs of his first wife Jane, played by Felicity Jones. Quite noticeably it focusses on the Hawking family and how they coped with Stephen's illness. The scientific bits are pretty minimal.
That works well for me. It's not like you are going to get much insight into general relativity and quantum theory from a feature film...
...and the process of endlessly thinking about a unifying theory, working through the maths painfully slowly with colleagues, wouldn't be much of a watch either.
Somehow though I felt we were getting a rose tinted picture of Stephen Hawking. A brilliant man cruelly struck down by motor neuron disease. Battling on. We didn't see him get frustrated and angry apart from just after the diagnosis... until Jane sorted him out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure life was very hard for Jane looking after Stephen, a home and 3 children. But I think it would have been better to see a few rows and tantrums too... since I find it hard to believe there weren't any.
Of course you can pick holes in the film's historical accuracy as much as you like. This is a drama and it works up to a point. Eddie Redmayne carries off the lead role very well, and I'm sure he'll be a strong challenger for the Oscar. There's nothing wrong with any of the characters, really. The film is beautifully shot... etc, etc.
But, for all I did like about it, ultimately this feels like a fairy story. Jane is just too damned nice. Stephen is a saint and a genius. Even when he leaves Jane it is hinted at rather than confronted. And in the end they make friends and visit the Queen.
Screenplay by Jane Austen, or one of the Brontes?
Dare I say it... maybe more of a film for the ladies. [ducks]
Thursday, 22 January 2015
Sunday, 18 January 2015
R: Hit First, Hit Hardest
I knew this was about a guy sent to prison in Denmark. From the title I assumed that maybe he was a hard man who survived by hitting first and hardest. That is completely wrong.
The film is actually a portrayal of the violent nightmare that the main character Rune finds himself in inside. He is hard in the outside world, but in this prison "the other guys are twice your size" and he has to cope with that.
As Rune tries to just survive you don't ever really feel sympathy for him, but thank your lucky stars that you've never had to endure problems like these [I assume. If not then do you think the film was realistic?]
Life for the inmates is brutal throughout... so don't expect much of a happy ending.
SPOILERS
Rune arrives at Horsens prison after being convicted of a violent crime. The guards warn him that the other inmates are bigger, and tougher, and are expecting him.
Given the title of the film I expected Rune to lay someone out in the first 5 minutes to show the other inmates that he isn't scared. But he doesn't. You don't know if he is scared or not, because he hides it well if he is. Instead it looks like his plan is to keep his head down and just try to get through his 2 year sentence.
There are a few interesting Danishisms throughout the film. For one, everyone refers to their cell as their "house"... which I found kind of odd.
In the exercise yard Rune is attacked by an inmate who says the guy Rune stabbed outside was his friend. To make them even, Rune must attack another inmate known as The Albanian. Rune is reluctant, but clearly he wont last long on his ward if he doesn't comply and get in with the gang.
Rune does as he is told and attacks The Albanian. This is horrible and brutal. Cleverly it shows us that Rune is capable of anything and probably doesn't deserve our sympathy. That sets the tone nicely for the film: I found myself interested in Rune's plight, rather than rooting for him. We are not asked to like him, merely to try and understand why he does what he does.
For a while Rune is accepted by the gang and life is easier. He makes friends with a Moslem man called Rashid, which is frowned on by his ward but accepted when Rune figures out a way to transport drugs from his ward to Rashid's.
This bit confused me. I must have missed the part where they explained why he couldn't just give the drugs to Rashid in the kitchen... since Rashid gave him the money for the drugs there. Never mind. The point is that Rune and Rashid gain some standing by setting up this mechanism.
And then it goes horribly wrong. Rune and Rashid get a bit over confident. Rashid's ward leader finds out that Rune is involved and forces him to deliver a bigger shipment than usual. Then he doesn't pay him.
This part of the film is pivotal. Rune has done everything he can to fit in with the gang on his ward, but when he gets shafted by Rashid's boss they just lay all the blame on him. As one guy repeatedly says "There is no 'us'."
You start to feel Rune's terror as, despite his best efforts, he finds himself in deep shit with the hard men on his ward. Even worse, The Albanian has now recovered and is back.
Rune confronts Rashid who surprisingly says that everything is OK and he can explain what to do. He leads Rune to a storeroom but then locks him in and goes to do the washing up, noisily so no-one can hear Rune in the storeroom.
I thought that the room was one of those refrigerated ones and Rune was being punished by being locked in for a while... but when Rashid opens the door after a few minutes two men step out and hurry away. Rashid goes in and sees Rune bloody on the floor. He tries to wake him but is shocked to find that he is dead.
This is extremely shocking. I didn't expect it at all. It immediately slaps down any hopes you might have had for an even remotely happy ending. Any pretence that there is somehow some honour amongst thieves is also dispelled. The guys ruling this prison are evil and self-serving... that's all.
Since Rashid was working next to the room where Rune was killed he is questioned by the guards. He says nothing, but the killers threaten him with Hot Coffee if he talks - a punishment where sugar is melted in hot oil until it is black and thrown at the victim.
The film ends with Rashid preparing himself for death; then informing the guards about who killed Rune, before being beaten and subjected to Hot Coffee.
So both "R" characters, Rune and Rashid, come to a bad end. I've seen this film described as "gritty", but I think that is a bit of an understatement. It is brutal and uncompromising. I wont say I found it entertaining, but it was extremely engaging. The directors, Thomas Lindholm and Michael Noer, get the balance right between hope and despair. There's a very strong message for hard men that prison might be too tough, even for them.
The film is actually a portrayal of the violent nightmare that the main character Rune finds himself in inside. He is hard in the outside world, but in this prison "the other guys are twice your size" and he has to cope with that.
As Rune tries to just survive you don't ever really feel sympathy for him, but thank your lucky stars that you've never had to endure problems like these [I assume. If not then do you think the film was realistic?]
Life for the inmates is brutal throughout... so don't expect much of a happy ending.
SPOILERS
Rune arrives at Horsens prison after being convicted of a violent crime. The guards warn him that the other inmates are bigger, and tougher, and are expecting him.
Given the title of the film I expected Rune to lay someone out in the first 5 minutes to show the other inmates that he isn't scared. But he doesn't. You don't know if he is scared or not, because he hides it well if he is. Instead it looks like his plan is to keep his head down and just try to get through his 2 year sentence.
There are a few interesting Danishisms throughout the film. For one, everyone refers to their cell as their "house"... which I found kind of odd.
In the exercise yard Rune is attacked by an inmate who says the guy Rune stabbed outside was his friend. To make them even, Rune must attack another inmate known as The Albanian. Rune is reluctant, but clearly he wont last long on his ward if he doesn't comply and get in with the gang.
Rune does as he is told and attacks The Albanian. This is horrible and brutal. Cleverly it shows us that Rune is capable of anything and probably doesn't deserve our sympathy. That sets the tone nicely for the film: I found myself interested in Rune's plight, rather than rooting for him. We are not asked to like him, merely to try and understand why he does what he does.
For a while Rune is accepted by the gang and life is easier. He makes friends with a Moslem man called Rashid, which is frowned on by his ward but accepted when Rune figures out a way to transport drugs from his ward to Rashid's.
This bit confused me. I must have missed the part where they explained why he couldn't just give the drugs to Rashid in the kitchen... since Rashid gave him the money for the drugs there. Never mind. The point is that Rune and Rashid gain some standing by setting up this mechanism.
And then it goes horribly wrong. Rune and Rashid get a bit over confident. Rashid's ward leader finds out that Rune is involved and forces him to deliver a bigger shipment than usual. Then he doesn't pay him.
This part of the film is pivotal. Rune has done everything he can to fit in with the gang on his ward, but when he gets shafted by Rashid's boss they just lay all the blame on him. As one guy repeatedly says "There is no 'us'."
You start to feel Rune's terror as, despite his best efforts, he finds himself in deep shit with the hard men on his ward. Even worse, The Albanian has now recovered and is back.
Rune confronts Rashid who surprisingly says that everything is OK and he can explain what to do. He leads Rune to a storeroom but then locks him in and goes to do the washing up, noisily so no-one can hear Rune in the storeroom.
I thought that the room was one of those refrigerated ones and Rune was being punished by being locked in for a while... but when Rashid opens the door after a few minutes two men step out and hurry away. Rashid goes in and sees Rune bloody on the floor. He tries to wake him but is shocked to find that he is dead.
This is extremely shocking. I didn't expect it at all. It immediately slaps down any hopes you might have had for an even remotely happy ending. Any pretence that there is somehow some honour amongst thieves is also dispelled. The guys ruling this prison are evil and self-serving... that's all.
Since Rashid was working next to the room where Rune was killed he is questioned by the guards. He says nothing, but the killers threaten him with Hot Coffee if he talks - a punishment where sugar is melted in hot oil until it is black and thrown at the victim.
The film ends with Rashid preparing himself for death; then informing the guards about who killed Rune, before being beaten and subjected to Hot Coffee.
So both "R" characters, Rune and Rashid, come to a bad end. I've seen this film described as "gritty", but I think that is a bit of an understatement. It is brutal and uncompromising. I wont say I found it entertaining, but it was extremely engaging. The directors, Thomas Lindholm and Michael Noer, get the balance right between hope and despair. There's a very strong message for hard men that prison might be too tough, even for them.
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Transformers : Age of Extinction
The fourth Transformers film has a completely new human cast, but sticks to exactly the same formula. We have a nerdy man (Mark Wahlberg as Cade) who wants to be a hero, one very pretty girl (Nicola Peltz as Tessa) who doesn't do much, and a bag of other people who are more or less useless as the story dictates.
I thought the last film was too long... and this one is even longer, at 165 minutes! That's about an hour too long for a film of this kind. I'd had enough way before the end, and the climax wasn't nearly good enough to make you forget all the padding that you'd had to sit through.
Even so, it is still quite entertaining because Transformers are cool. I wonder how much further the franchise can go though. They need to cut out a lot of the fat and work on the story a bit... otherwise even the fans will give up.
SPOILERS
There's not a lot to spoil here because you know most of the plot before the film starts: some Transformers want to do something that will put the Earth in peril, some humans are helping them because they are greedy / stupid / think there is no alternative, our heroes want to help Optimus Prime to stop the bad Transformers but are hindered by a lack of belief from all other humans... and the heroes win.
Far too much of the film is spent on the new human characters. And even then the characters end up woefully underdeveloped. Mark Wahlberg is a decent actor, but totally unbelievable as a nerdy inventor. Even less so as a single father to the angelic 17-year-old Tessa, who unsurprisingly turns out to have a secret boyfriend despite her father's ban on dating. The boyfriend also unsurpriingly turns out to be a nice guy... although Jack Reynor's attempt at an Irish accent is absolutely criminal.
Instead of a decent plot and a building of suspense, we get confusion about what the hell is going on. Even by the end you don't get much information on who Lockdown is, who or where are The Creators and where did the Dinobots come from?
In fact I spent most of the film just waiting for the Dinobots to appear (having seen them in the trailer). It was very disappointing how they were just thrown in at the end to make a lacklustre finale a bit more interesting.
Why did Optimus have to have that short fight with the (leader?) Dinobot? That didn't make any sense at all. Also, why didn't Galvatron / Megatron join in the battle at the end? He was supposedly a superior Transformer, but just left everything up to the pawns.
Too many loose ends. And too many stupid liberties: for example, Optimus Prime is pinned to a wall by a sword that has to be pulled out by a truck... but then at the end he jets into space on his rockets! I think the force needed to get into space is a bit more that the truck used to extract the sword.
Come on. I'm not asking for a clever story. I like Transformers. I don't need much. But I need something. If the makers can't do a decent story then just give us the robots in disguise doing cool stuff and keep it a lot shorter next time.
I thought the last film was too long... and this one is even longer, at 165 minutes! That's about an hour too long for a film of this kind. I'd had enough way before the end, and the climax wasn't nearly good enough to make you forget all the padding that you'd had to sit through.
Even so, it is still quite entertaining because Transformers are cool. I wonder how much further the franchise can go though. They need to cut out a lot of the fat and work on the story a bit... otherwise even the fans will give up.
SPOILERS
There's not a lot to spoil here because you know most of the plot before the film starts: some Transformers want to do something that will put the Earth in peril, some humans are helping them because they are greedy / stupid / think there is no alternative, our heroes want to help Optimus Prime to stop the bad Transformers but are hindered by a lack of belief from all other humans... and the heroes win.
Far too much of the film is spent on the new human characters. And even then the characters end up woefully underdeveloped. Mark Wahlberg is a decent actor, but totally unbelievable as a nerdy inventor. Even less so as a single father to the angelic 17-year-old Tessa, who unsurprisingly turns out to have a secret boyfriend despite her father's ban on dating. The boyfriend also unsurpriingly turns out to be a nice guy... although Jack Reynor's attempt at an Irish accent is absolutely criminal.
Instead of a decent plot and a building of suspense, we get confusion about what the hell is going on. Even by the end you don't get much information on who Lockdown is, who or where are The Creators and where did the Dinobots come from?
In fact I spent most of the film just waiting for the Dinobots to appear (having seen them in the trailer). It was very disappointing how they were just thrown in at the end to make a lacklustre finale a bit more interesting.
Why did Optimus have to have that short fight with the (leader?) Dinobot? That didn't make any sense at all. Also, why didn't Galvatron / Megatron join in the battle at the end? He was supposedly a superior Transformer, but just left everything up to the pawns.
Too many loose ends. And too many stupid liberties: for example, Optimus Prime is pinned to a wall by a sword that has to be pulled out by a truck... but then at the end he jets into space on his rockets! I think the force needed to get into space is a bit more that the truck used to extract the sword.
Come on. I'm not asking for a clever story. I like Transformers. I don't need much. But I need something. If the makers can't do a decent story then just give us the robots in disguise doing cool stuff and keep it a lot shorter next time.
Saturday, 10 January 2015
Shock Head Soul
This is a pretty serious film. It depicts the mental illness of a real-life German lawyer Paul Schreber beginning when he was appointed a high court judge. The case is apparently famous because he wrote down a lot of his thoughts and published them as his memoirs in 1903: the book was then studied by many early psychologists / psychiatrists including Freud.
The film is a mostly a fictionalised reconstruction, but it also has documentary-like features. There are contributions from several present-day medical experts... all dressed up in period costume and answering questions as if present at a legal hearing to decide whether Schreber was fit to be released from his forced confinement.
I found it all quite heavy going. There were passages that seemed quite informative; and other sections where the actors depicted the madness of Schreber and the stress placed on his wife and family. I can't really fault the construction. There are some subtle repetitions which make you feel a bit mad yourself... and some subtle repetitions which make you feel a bit mad yourself... and some blatant repetitions which repeat over and over and give an impression of how frustrating it might be to try and work with the mentally ill.
Don't bother watching this film if you are looking for some light entertainment.
There is some CGI, but nothing too ostentatious. The director wisely avoids trying to depict madness as wacky other-worldly spirits and monsters... mostly.
A friend of mine once spent time in a psychiatric ward. I visited a couple of times and it was the scariest place I have ever been. This film did bring that back a bit. But his illness was nothing like Schreber.
So, hard to watch this film is. If you are interested in understanding mental illness or the history behind some of today's treatments, then it is worth the effort. It is quite grim though. I felt quite sad by the end of it... not so much for Schreber, because we only really see him broken, not as he once was... mostly I was sad for his family, especially his wife, who carried on and supported him to the end.
The film is a mostly a fictionalised reconstruction, but it also has documentary-like features. There are contributions from several present-day medical experts... all dressed up in period costume and answering questions as if present at a legal hearing to decide whether Schreber was fit to be released from his forced confinement.
I found it all quite heavy going. There were passages that seemed quite informative; and other sections where the actors depicted the madness of Schreber and the stress placed on his wife and family. I can't really fault the construction. There are some subtle repetitions which make you feel a bit mad yourself... and some subtle repetitions which make you feel a bit mad yourself... and some blatant repetitions which repeat over and over and give an impression of how frustrating it might be to try and work with the mentally ill.
Don't bother watching this film if you are looking for some light entertainment.
There is some CGI, but nothing too ostentatious. The director wisely avoids trying to depict madness as wacky other-worldly spirits and monsters... mostly.
A friend of mine once spent time in a psychiatric ward. I visited a couple of times and it was the scariest place I have ever been. This film did bring that back a bit. But his illness was nothing like Schreber.
So, hard to watch this film is. If you are interested in understanding mental illness or the history behind some of today's treatments, then it is worth the effort. It is quite grim though. I felt quite sad by the end of it... not so much for Schreber, because we only really see him broken, not as he once was... mostly I was sad for his family, especially his wife, who carried on and supported him to the end.
Friday, 9 January 2015
Taken 2
Ah. The sequel trap bites me again. Much as I enjoyed Taken I avoided the sequel because I didn't think it would be any good. Then out comes Taken 3 and I think "Oh, maybe 2 was OK... if they made a 3rd."
What's Eddie's Law Of Sequels? Some people never learn.
Yes, they got me. Taken 2 is rubbish. Maybe that's a bit strong; quite disappointing would be a fairer assessment. It's clearly something knocked out for the money, with little thought. You can bet I wont be wasting any time on part 3.
SPOILERS
For a short action film (90 mins) we get a very long (20 minute?) build up at the start to tell us that the Albanian people traffickers are annoyed at Bryan for killing their men, his daughter isn't over her ordeal from the last film (but does have a boyfriend) and his ex-wife Lennie is breaking up with her new partner.
Yawn. It's just all a bit dull. A decent writer would have woven this into the story instead of just flopping it onto the screen as a lame intro.
But the prospect of the action to follow isn't that great either. The Albanians are coming to get Bryan and make him suffer. They have plenty of chances to kill him, but manage to f*ck it up every time because inexplicably they also want to kill his ex-wife and finish the job of selling his daughter into slavery.
So the Albanians have come all the way to Istanbul in 3 cars and have captured Bryan and Lennie. What do they do? Oh yes, put them in a room together and go to sit somewhere else leaving them with one guard outside who can't stay awake for more than 14 seconds.
The villains are just so staggeringly incompetent that you think you must be watching an Arnie film from the 1980s... but without any jokes. Sigh.
And don't get me started on the stupidity of a learner driver managing to crash a taxi through the anti-truck-bomb defences of a US embassy whilst under heavy machine gun fire!!!
It's stupid, humourless and formulaic. Compared to the first movie it is terrible. By itself it is simply mediocre. Shame. I can't believe it took over $300,000,000 at the box office... but that explains why it was made.
What's Eddie's Law Of Sequels? Some people never learn.
Yes, they got me. Taken 2 is rubbish. Maybe that's a bit strong; quite disappointing would be a fairer assessment. It's clearly something knocked out for the money, with little thought. You can bet I wont be wasting any time on part 3.
SPOILERS
For a short action film (90 mins) we get a very long (20 minute?) build up at the start to tell us that the Albanian people traffickers are annoyed at Bryan for killing their men, his daughter isn't over her ordeal from the last film (but does have a boyfriend) and his ex-wife Lennie is breaking up with her new partner.
Yawn. It's just all a bit dull. A decent writer would have woven this into the story instead of just flopping it onto the screen as a lame intro.
But the prospect of the action to follow isn't that great either. The Albanians are coming to get Bryan and make him suffer. They have plenty of chances to kill him, but manage to f*ck it up every time because inexplicably they also want to kill his ex-wife and finish the job of selling his daughter into slavery.
So the Albanians have come all the way to Istanbul in 3 cars and have captured Bryan and Lennie. What do they do? Oh yes, put them in a room together and go to sit somewhere else leaving them with one guard outside who can't stay awake for more than 14 seconds.
The villains are just so staggeringly incompetent that you think you must be watching an Arnie film from the 1980s... but without any jokes. Sigh.
And don't get me started on the stupidity of a learner driver managing to crash a taxi through the anti-truck-bomb defences of a US embassy whilst under heavy machine gun fire!!!
It's stupid, humourless and formulaic. Compared to the first movie it is terrible. By itself it is simply mediocre. Shame. I can't believe it took over $300,000,000 at the box office... but that explains why it was made.
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Never Let Me Go
There is a lot to like about this film. But plenty to dislike too. I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on the faithfulness of the adaptation. Maybe the original material is just as depressing.
The performances of the 3 leads are good and I think setting everything in familiar surroundings is a good idea. But there is an elephant or two in the room that I just couldn't ignore. As much as I tried to focus on the love story, I couldn't stop thinking that they just wouldn't be so damned accepting of their lives. For me that just ruined everything.
SPOILERS
Very early on it is clear that the protagonists are being raised as live organ donors. Whether they are orphans, clones or some other kind of engineered people is never explained although there is a reference to them being all but human late in the film.
In this sense the film is quite like The Island. But it is much more brutal than that, because here the people know that they will be donors and that their lives will be short. That's what I found hard to believe: the protagonists barely seem to question their fate. They clearly don't want to die and try to delay the donations if possible... but they don't seem to fight as you'd expect... there's no talk of escaping... or questioning the morality of what is happening to them.
Within this mess there is a nice love story. A love triangle. In a different setting I might have enjoyed it an awful lot more. But I kept coming back to the question "why are you just accepting this?"
I think I know what the writers were trying to do. They put the characters in a bad situation to show how they try to make sense of their short lives. But to me it doesn't work, because the situation is not credible.
The performances of the 3 leads are good and I think setting everything in familiar surroundings is a good idea. But there is an elephant or two in the room that I just couldn't ignore. As much as I tried to focus on the love story, I couldn't stop thinking that they just wouldn't be so damned accepting of their lives. For me that just ruined everything.
SPOILERS
Very early on it is clear that the protagonists are being raised as live organ donors. Whether they are orphans, clones or some other kind of engineered people is never explained although there is a reference to them being all but human late in the film.
In this sense the film is quite like The Island. But it is much more brutal than that, because here the people know that they will be donors and that their lives will be short. That's what I found hard to believe: the protagonists barely seem to question their fate. They clearly don't want to die and try to delay the donations if possible... but they don't seem to fight as you'd expect... there's no talk of escaping... or questioning the morality of what is happening to them.
Within this mess there is a nice love story. A love triangle. In a different setting I might have enjoyed it an awful lot more. But I kept coming back to the question "why are you just accepting this?"
I think I know what the writers were trying to do. They put the characters in a bad situation to show how they try to make sense of their short lives. But to me it doesn't work, because the situation is not credible.
The Raven
It has taken me a while to get round to watching The Raven. I missed it at the cinema, then it was unavailable on video rental for some reason. I finally caught it on TV over Christmas. It wasn't worth the wait.
This is one of those films who's premise is appealing but which just doesn't deliver.
A killer is copying Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Poe is enlisted by the police to help. It all gets very personal. The story is sold as a fictionalised explanation of Poe's real unexplained death.
But it doesn't work. I thought the acting was OK and the sets were good. But there is no tension. It just bobs from one scene to the next. The characters don't develop at all. Poe seems insane at the beginning and just stays that way. The policeman is vaguely interesting, but no more. The villain is boring. The ending is boring.
Total disappointment.
This is one of those films who's premise is appealing but which just doesn't deliver.
A killer is copying Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Poe is enlisted by the police to help. It all gets very personal. The story is sold as a fictionalised explanation of Poe's real unexplained death.
But it doesn't work. I thought the acting was OK and the sets were good. But there is no tension. It just bobs from one scene to the next. The characters don't develop at all. Poe seems insane at the beginning and just stays that way. The policeman is vaguely interesting, but no more. The villain is boring. The ending is boring.
Total disappointment.
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