Mr. Turner (2014)

Mr. Turner (2014)
Director : Mike Leigh
Writer : Mike Leigh (screenplay)
Starring : Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson

Hello all, 

After mulling over the choice between ‘Nightcrawler’ and ‘Mr. Turner’ I have plumped for the latter, mainly because my mum said she would come with me, but also because it’s more of a contrast to the previous two reviews which have been intense thrill rides. 

What makes ‘Mr. Turner’ so unique is the way in which it provides an informative and emotional depiction of one of the world’s greatest artists, yet at the same time confronts some of the most important issues in life and death, refusing to be solely bound to the genre of a biopic. 

The film’s opening shot totally sums up J.M.W Turner as a character, an eye catching landscape with two women chatting away unaware of the sun rising behind them. The camera then moves to Turner, sketching away, unaware of the women but so very present with nature and his pencil. Its just one of a number of utterly breathtaking pictures that Mike Leigh, the film’s director, paints with his own paintbrush - the camera. The film is like one big painting really with Leigh using palettes that replicate that of a Turner masterpiece. 

I know a little bit about Turner as an artist, I studied History of Art at A level, but of Turner as a person I knew little until now. Leigh shows us all of Turner’s incredibly complex relationships with women, from his maid who clearly is madly in love with him to his estranged daughter’s both who Turner shows very little emotion for. His most touching relationship though is with his father, who lived with him for the last thirty years of his life acting as his assistant. In the film Timothy Spall, who plays J.M.W Turner, is at his fathers side when he dies. It’s a really wonderful moment, a single tear drops down Spall’s face, its oscar-worthy acting but better because it’s so natural and real. This kind of moment in film tends to draw epic music and a despairing cry of anguish, instead we sit in silence watching Turner lose his best friend and the man he still calls ‘daddy'.
 Although he’s unconventional and certainly a flawed character, Turner is someone who has found their true passion in life and is unwilling to give it up for anything. When confronted with illness, Turner’s doctor, who is a fanatical fan of his, tells him to calm down or face an early grave. For Turner life is not about settling down but it is about grabbing life and extracting the maximum experience the world has to offer, which for him is through a communion with nature. Painting is the only real way Turner can express his feelings. His most common line is a grunt, and Spall does an excellent job of conveying sadness or elation through his grunting and rumblings but he is at his most emotive when silent with a brush in hand at his easel. Nothing else holds meaning for Turner, not sex, not love or money. All that he truly cares about is about painting and leaving a legacy. Turner turns down an offer equivalent to £100 million for all his drawings and paintings, instead he choses to leave his entire legacy to the British public so that they can admire his work for ever and for free.

There’s a scene towards the end of the film where Turner overhears the King and Queen berating his art, but although he is hurt he knows deep down that his work represents something bigger than them - it is a wonderful moment of revelation in the film. As one character says to him “the universe is chaotic and you make us see it”. This is so true. He found a way of showing us the world as it really is in a way that we could not have imagined but that has stayed with us for generations. Turner's impulse and passion to paint is inspiring. His emotions, his experiences and his life are all imprinted in his paintings. This film is telling us to search for that same passion in whatever field that may be. No matter how crazed he may seem, I think we could all do with having a bit of Turner inside us. 

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Next week's review is going to have a serious twist, so be prepared, it may be later than monday though as i'm involving a friend of mine in the process. Exciting times ahead. 

As always share with your friends and family on social media 

Josef 

Fury (2014)

Fury (2014)

Director: David Ayer
Writer : David Ayer
Starring : Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal

Afternoon everybody, onto this week's film - Fury.

There's one big problem with Fury, I feel like it's a film I have seen before. It's your typical generic war film with possibly the biggest Hollywood star around. But it tackles war as it should be shown - brutally. From the outset it shows moments of ruthless bleakness. Like when the tanks, roll lethally and silently over yet another crumpled body. It is as if the soldiers relinquish their personal responsibilities and morality  to the machine. It shows us how utterly horrendous World War 2 was and indeed war  - period.

Set in April 1945, towards the end of the war, we follow 5 soldiers, led by Pitt, who make up the manpower behind the tank named Fury. David Ayer the director does a great job of conveying the chaotic state of Hitler's Germany by this point, as he threw the kitchen sink at the allies despite knowing defeat was inevitable. At one point a troop of enemy soldiers surrender to Fury and its accompanying tanks only to reveal that the troop are in fact children, boys and girls, no older than 12. This perfectly illustrates the desperate and futile attempts of a madman holding on to the phantom of power.

Fury's biggest success is it's ability to depict what became normality for war scarred soldiers like Don 'Wardaddy' Collier, Pitt's character. Pitt is at his most watchable when he isn't shouting, when he actually has time to think about his actions. Then he can reveal a touching and childlike vulnerability rather than the blind aggression and anger that comes with war. Each of the 5 heroes show us their profound anger accompanied by a range of raw expletives while fighting, yet given peace and quiet we see beyond the soldier concealed by war. It's so much more revealing to look into the deep emotion behind the eyes of the actor rather than be subsumed by their total rage.

One of my favourite scenes is when all five men are preparing the tank for what seems a certain death trap, yet despite the stress and terror they become incredibly polite all of a sudden, using their pleases and thank yous as they pass around guns and ammunition the size of a small child. It is as if they suddenly realise the futility of war and revert to behaving in a way that reminds them of home and family. You get to really understand the brotherly bond they experience when they imagine the worst. The moments they confront not just defeat but their death too.

Logan Lerman's character drags this film from the brutality of war into the realm of Hollywood endings and reminds us we are watching a blockbuster war flick. Lerman plays Norman Ellison, who has been educated in how to "type 60 words in a minute rather than shoot Nazi's". He is thrust into team Fury as the newbie of the group and finds coming to terms with killing another man virtualy impossible. Lerman is a perfectly adept actor and his puppy dog eyes are convincing but for me he symbolised the problems with this film. That's probably not his fault but it's a Hollywood interlude and it's just too easy to predict the path his character will take. I won't tell you what happens in the end but let's just say Lerman manages to overcome his original fears.

I did enjoy Fury as an action movie and the scenes in the final battle are the stand out moment visually. All the combat shots are wonderfully constructed and are what David Ayer is known for being brilliant at. However, a great tank battle isn't really enough of a springboard to jump Fury from a decent film to a film of real quality and meaning. For me there was too much of a sense of predictability to really pull on my emotional heartstrings. Fury is a good watch for someone who enjoys an action film but don’t expect it to leave you in a state of awe. 

Josef

For next weeks review I'm really can't decide between 'Nightcrawler' and 'Mr. Turner' so if you have a preference please message me on any form of social media. Also I'm planning to do something extra special in two weeks time but thats all a surprise for the moment....

Keep sharing with friends and family

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'71 - (2014)

'71 - (2014)

Director - Yann Demange 
Writer - Gregory Burke 
Starring - Jack O'Connell, Sam Reid, Sean Harris, Paul Anderson

Afternoon all,

I'm fit and healthy again which is wonderful as its time for this week's review.

'71 is a film that I came across by chance, I was on IMDB, flicking through the upcoming projects of the budding star that is Jack O'Connell and found this. A list of very promising actors with a director I had never heard of... I was intrigued. Fast forward a few weeks and '71 is getting rave reviews from basically everyone who has seen it, I watched the trailer and decided it would be perfect for this weeks blog.

'71 makes for a great comparison to 'Gone Girl' in that although they come from totally different stratospheres, in terms of budgets. 'Gone Girl cost $60million and '71 only $8million. But both films aim to grab the audience from the start and tighten their grip until the final moments. As 'Gone Girl' did, '71 succeeds in doing so too.

The story revolves around a group of trainee British solders thrust into Belfast to suppress the IRA riots of 1971. Jack O'Connell plays Gary Hook who becomes separated from the rest of his troop while trying to control a violent mob. O'Connell is probably recognised by most for his role as Cook in one of the later series of Skins. Like most of his Skins co-stars O'Connell drifted, but came back into the public eye a totally different man and actor three years later in 'Starred Up' which is fantastic incidentally. He is on a fast track to becoming a serious super star with a lead role in Angelina Jolie's directorial debut 'Unbroken' finishing off a great year for the 24 year old. O'Connell displays a great variety of emotions here, his most convincing moments come when he becomes vulnerable to the point where you can really see the fear hiding behind what seems an angry young soldier primed to fight.

The person who deserves the most credit here though is Yann Demange, the film's director. An unknown quantity to most, his talents with a camera are instantly recognisable. The film is technically brilliant. Demange manipulates light and colour in the manner of a Renaissance painter. Each shot is like a work of art, with some of the gory images of war reminding me of the intensity of a Goya painting. There's a majestic moment when our band of soldiers are huddled together on the transport truck only for a ray of light to shine through a hole in the canvas, perfectly highlighting the terror encasing every man. Its an image that has lodged in my mind.

Its a really thrilling film, one that brought genuine gasps from some of the audience at certain moments. That being said there are some quite obvious plot holes that for me held the film back from being really classy. I think that can always be a slight problem when a thriller film mainly focus's on just one character. I always have in the back of my mind they will probably make it through the whole film in one piece. I don't want to include any spoilers but let's just say that a lot of things seem to fall a little too perfectly into place for Gary Hook. I think this made me slightly drift back into the real world and not stay inside the story as I would have liked to.

Despite its setting '71 does well to stay away from making a massive political statement regarding the troubles that occurred in Northern Ireland at this time, instead it gives its main focus to the look and feel of the film and for that I credit all involved. Gregory Burke, the writer, couldn't completely resist from giving his view on war with one character summing it up as "posh c*nts telling thick c*nts to kill poor c*nts". Its a pretty shocking line, but its not something the film dwells on so neither will I.

Even with a few plot holes '71 is a really intense thrill ride that gives a real sense of the horrific state of Belfast at the time with burning cars in the road being a common sight. It's a film that I would highly recommend going to see even just for its visual quality. Its a film that most of you probably won't have heard of and it doesn't have a hollywood a-list hook but it represents the start of something very special for both O'Connell and Demange.

#JKfilmreview

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Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl (2014)

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon.
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Gillian Flynn (Novel and Screenplay)

Hello all, 

Its been far far too long. I apologise for the lack of post last week, I was really ill and had to go to hospital so the doctors put me under house arrest until yesterday. Thankfully I was able to drag myself out of the house on Sunday to go and see Gone Girl and I am so glad I did. 

Since 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' in 2011 David Fincher has been fairly quiet, he brilliantly directed the opening episode of House of Cards but that was about it. Has it been worth the wait? Yes, 100%. This film oozes the classiness that Fincher has brought to all his previous projects with a wonderfully adept cast and a film that plays your emotional strings. 

The film follows the story of Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck, whose world begins to fall apart following the dissapearance of his wife Amy Dunne, Rosamund Pike. What makes this film special is it's ability to constantly play with the mood and draw out invisible tensions and deceits. From the first minute we see Nick taking out the bins, a dark atmosphere hovers that puts the audience on the edge of their seats waiting for something dark to be revealed. Fincher develops this mood throughout the film and leaves you gasping for air at the end, quite literally.

Affleck himself said what attracted him about playing the part of Nick is that "its like having a character role inside a lead". Nick is not your normal male lead, he is complex and Affleck plays the role so wonderfully that you really question whether to empathise with him, something rare for a male lead in a big budget film. At first Affleck pushes you in the direction of believing he is completely guilty, his actions being so mysterious and disturbing that you want to get out of your seat, grab him by the scruff of his neck and shout at him to stop being so obvious. Affleck's wry smile when being photographed with a poster of his missing wife sends shudders down your spine, as well as when he swallows before his interview with a national news station. These two magical details add to what is a very well polished performance from Affleck as he continues to make great strides in the world of cinema.

It's not just Affleck who deserves credit, the whole cast is great but Rosamund Pike is the other stand out performer, possibly outdoing Affleck. Pike brilliantly captures Amy's creepy and distorted persona, her facial expressions do all the work for her, as she maps out the torturous plot she has concocted. When writing my notes during this film, I wrote Rosamund Pike down 4 times, each at different points and each with more and more exclamation marks.

I have spoken in previous blogs about the curse of beauty and how it can conceal real talent but here Pike cleverly manipulates her beauty as a veil to conceal her dastardly deeds. It is a practically faultless performance. I've had the pleasure of meeting Pike once and the fact that she was so talkative and unpretentious only adds to her liveability as an actor. There is one scene towards the end that is so hypnotic it left me with my mouth totally agasp, but I will save if it for you to see yourself.

A special mention also goes to Tyler Perry as Nick's lawyer, I love it when an actor delivers a performance that makes you completely change your perception of them. Perry really does that here, bringing a touch of dark comedy to proceedings. 

What Gone Girl makes terrifying real, as in the best espionage stories, is the existential truth that however well you think you know someone, you can never really know what they are thinking. In the context of a relationship or in this particular case a marriage that is a disturbing thought. Nick and Amy know each other so well that the real twists and turns come as they constantly read one another's behaviour, this makes for a wonderful physiological thriller.

Gone Girl is what going to the cinema is all about, I didn't want it to end and I certainly didn't to go back to reality. I urge you to go and see Gone Girl in the cinema, don't wait for it to come out on DVD because it becomes less real. I don't have anything against watching films at home or on DVD but Gone Girl is a film that deserves the atmosphere of a cinema and for the viewer to be taken out of their comfort zone in order to really be drawn in by the story. The father in law of Gillian Flynn, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, had some advice for his son when he read the book, "always sleep with one eye open”, you might well do the same after seeing Gone Girl.

As always feel free to like, comment and share with your friends on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or even just showing the link to your family. There was a really fantastic response to the last blog so let’s keep it going!

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#GoneGirl

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Josef

         

The Riot Club (2014)

The Riot Club (2014)

Director : Lone Scherfig
Writer : Laura Wade (play and adaptation)
Starring : Max Irons, Sam Claflin, Douglas Booth, Holliday Grainger 

Morning everyone, hope you've had a good week. Once again we take a massive jump from last weeks review of Pride and find ourselves knee deep in the Riot Club.

I have to say I was very sceptical about this fantastic play about debauchery and class issues being adapted for the screen. When I first saw the cast list, it only deepened my nerves, a group of trendy good looking british actors playing a bunch of snobs who do not deserve to be glamorised at all.

My fears were realised before the film even begun. In the cinema a group of girls ran up to the poster (see left) screaming "Oh my god, he's so fit!" "Ahhhhh Douglas Booth" "I'm literally so excited for this film". I stood there watching in amazement as they asked someone to take a photo of them with the poster as a backdrop. I understand totally understand the fact that they clearly fancy the pants off these boys but surely they don't expect to worship the revolting characters they are about to portray. This poses a massive challenge for the actors, can they do enough to make the audience (predominately teenage girls) forget their looks and actually credit them for the skills they display. Its 50/50 for me, some of the actors deserve great acclaim for doing this, others rest on their laurels and are outshone as a result.

Lets look at the negatives first - The opening 30 or 40 minutes. Laura Wade's dialogue in the original play (Posh) was great but what has been added to bulk up the film's running time sticks out like a sore thumb. There's an incredibly pointless opening montage trying to explain the origins of this club but it just felt like a blur of overly posh accents and dire dialogue A whole new character is created named Lauren played by Holliday Grainger. She becomes the state school educated love interest of Miles (Max Irons). Grainger tries hard and I don't want to nit pick her performance because I don't think it should be there in the first place. It's very Hollywood for Miles, by far the most likeable of the boys, to fall for a state school girl who wants to drag him away from the group. She is not in the original play, which was a massive success, so why put her in. The cliché doesn't add anything.

There are also some genuinely cringe, look away now, moments such as Douglas Booth's ridiculous hair swish after he has defeated his opponent at fencing followed by winking at the girl who has rushed to his opponents aid. The worst of these though comes when Lauren and Miles are comparing the ways 'posh' and 'non-posh' people use different words while they lie entangled in each others arms. They both united on 'dick' being 'dick' as opposed to 'desert' and 'pudding' and seal it with a kiss.... a really lazy and un-amusing piece of writing. Some of the smaller parts really lack conviction, or maybe thats because their performances in no way match up to those of Sam Claflin, Irons and at points Booth.

Onto the positives. Sam Claflin being a massive one. I have to confess before this film I had him down as just a pretty face. My prejudice. I take it all back as this is an outstanding performance. Rarely in a film are my eyes drawn away from the person speaking but it happened on numerous occasions here. It's hard not too, Claflin is so in the moment its wonderful to watch. There is a fantastic anger building behind his eyes that is so evident through out the film that you are just waiting for him to explode. When Claflin does lose his cool it represents the best 30 minutes of the film, you forget about the pretty faces and focus totally on the brutality taking place in front of your eyes. The film takes no prisoners during the chaotic climax in the pub and I only wish this could have been the case the whole time. 

There are some humorous moments to try and lighten the mood and some of them work to great effect namely Claflin trying to explain to a potential mugger that the 'N' in PIN actual stands for number so he is repeating himself by saying Pin number. I wont ever make that mistake again myself.... 

All in all Claflin's performance is worth going to see. A lot of very attractive actors are taken less seriously because of their looks, we could all do with giving them a break and focus on their acting talents. 

Sorry for the slight delay in this week's review I had a massively busy monday and didnt get a chance to publish. Until next week, hopefully going to review Gone Girl which I'm already stupidly excited about....

Josef

Pride (2014)

Pride (2014)
Starring : Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine
Director : Matthew Warchus
Writer : Stephen Beresford 

Good morning everyone, it's Monday, time for another review! 

I've had a few people recommend Pride to me over the past weeks and some great reviews have started to generate real momentum. You might think a film about a group of gays and lesbians raising money to support the miners strike of 1984 is niche but for me it's a prime example of what British cinema should aspire to be (the film is produced by BBC films), it is a film that speaks to everyone. Pride fills you with joy, passion and a desire to make a difference. I came out of the cinema in a sort of trance, feeling like I could go and change the world, what better sense of purpose could you have in life? Granted I went home and watched 4 straight hours of football but I am still holding onto that feeling - it's that sort of high that only cinema can give you and makes me want to come back for more. 

Pride follows the true story of how the group, Gay's and Lesbians United helped to raise money to help support the miners strike of 1984. They come together under the incredibly uncatchy name LGSM (lesbians and gays support the miners). Knocked back by the National Union for Miners they instead go direct to a tiny mining town in South Wales. The town, like much of the the rest of the country at the time, has a very prejudiced view of homosexuals, but it is the challenge of overcoming that prejudice that brings the miners and the LGSM together, united in their determination to alleviate suffering. Paddy Considine, an actor I have always admired but didn’t really understand why, but now I do, plays Dai, the mining leader of this minutely populated town. It is Considine who delivers the first spine-shivering moment. His speech in a fantastical gay club, about the uphill challenge they both face in their respective fights against the government and the press, leaves the crowd roaring in delight and it marks the point in the film when you just want to get up and join in the fight. This theme of determination and defiance is what generates such passion in the film. 

It's a breath of fresh air to see a cast who obviously bonded during the filming process and clearly had a really great time making it. There are performances of equal quality to Considine, Dominic West, the drag queen of the group as Jonathan, has a stand out moment when he parades his dancing skills inside the town hall, dancing on tables and spinning all the screaming girls  who are delighted to see a man on the dance floor for the first time. It really makes you want to stand up and dance along, and it certainly does this for a few of the mining lads who enrol Jonathan to be their dance coach, culminating in both miners 'pulling' at the 'Pitts and Perverts' benefit concert. Andrew Scott, who seems to completely excel in every role he plays, is also worth a mention playing Jonathan's boyfriend Gethin with an incredible range of emotions all accessed with such simplicity. 

George Mackay plays Joe, the shyest member of the group, who as well as dealing with the demands of fundraising, has yet to find the right time to tell his parents about his sexuality. Inevitably they find out and are furious, something I sadly think a lot of gay men and women will have experienced in their lives but one hopes a film like this will do a lot to change peoples perceptions. Joe finds support and a second family within the town folk and the other LGSM members. A recurring theme of this film is the importance of supporting your friends and family through tough times and being able to rejoice together when you come out the other end still standing. 

The interaction between this small minded Welsh town and the LGSM, opens the eyes of the community to the endless joys this gay community bring, and one would hope to any sceptical audience members who see this film. Pride won the Queer Palm award at Cannes, a fitting tribute which comes at a moment when we can now celebrate the legalising of gay marriage. I urge you to go see Pride, allow yourself to become inspired, motivated and see all the fantastic elements of Britain played out in a beautiful film.  

Josef

#PRIDE

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Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Director : Gurinder Chadha 
Writer : Gurinder Chadha
Starring : Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightly, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Happy monday to you all, This week I've chosen one of my childhood favourites.

Bend It Like Beckham is a film that I used to watch on an almost fortnightly basis. When I recently re-watched the film for what might be the 100th time in total, I found myself looking at it in a completely different light. What I used to see as a fun comedy, which of course it is, actually holds a wonderful message and tackles some serious issues at the same time.

Bend it like Beckham looks at how an obsession for football completely changes the lives of a traditional Indian family living in Hounslow. Being a Sikh Indian herself, Chadha and her predominately Indian cast (which features some very strong performances) bring all the wonderful sounds, traditions and colours of the Indian culture which most of us know little about. One of my favourite images from the film is the shot of the backgarden of the Bhamra family (on which the film centres on) and its next door neighbour. They are two totally contrasting images, one of vibrancy and culture (the garden is playing host to one of the many events during an Indian wedding), the other a typical English women taking her clothes off the washing line. This isn't to say that there are none of these qualities in the English household, but the film shows that despite these differences in appearance, the two cultures,  centre on love for family and friends and dreams for the future.

What I never properly picked up in past viewings is some of the acting talent on show here. Most notably Anupam Kher, who plays the father of Jess Bhamra, of whom the film revolves around, and Juliet Stevenson who is the mother of Jess's best friend Jules. Kher's performance is effortless and his love for his daughters and wife is totally convincing and heartwarming - especially his final few lines. "Two daughters happy in one day, what more could a father ask for". Stevenson is just laugh out loud hilarious, with some quality one liners such as, "it's your Indian friend from football" or "Get your lesbian feet out of my shoes!". Another wonderful moment comes when she is being taught the 'offside rule' in football using teriyaki sauce, posh french mustard and sea salt.

In this film its the parents of Bhamra who are by tradition and fear unwilling to take the leap with their daughter into the unpredictable world of a professional athlete. Its a situation which a lot of families face today with incredibly talented kids giving up education to chase a dream with no real backup to fall on. The risk is huge, especially for Bhamra who has a place at university to study law. It posses an interesting question as how far are you willing to go to chase a dream that may end in nothing. When I was younger I had a chance to start taking tennis really seriously, whenever I watch tennis now I think of what could have been and honestly I do sometimes regret not really going for it, even though it was definitely the right decision. So in this sense I can connect to Jess's determination to succed as an athlete.

Onto the main theme of the film. Football. Here the film focuses on women's football something that its a hot topic for debate over the huge differences with the men's game, but Chadha has created a film that highlights all the truly unique qualities of the game. If you didn't already know I am a total football fanatic with my love seeming to scarily grow day by day. It may sound quite silly but football is not just a game to me its a way of life. Around the world there are millions if not billions whose lives in some way revolve around the beautiful game. Most of my friends who I hold dearest I have connected with because of football, think back to the playground, everyone awkwardly standing around, until someone brings out a football and suddenly there is an immediate connection between every person within a second.

Like for many football is an escape for Jess Bhamra, she tends to reveal her true feelings to a picture of a bald David Beckham stuck up on the ceiling of her room. Although these monolouges are slightly cringy, it does show how much football can be a way out of reality for many - with only one thing on your mind, the final score. I am lucky enough to be able to go to watch my team, Arsenal, every week, it's wonderful to be in a stadium with 60,000 other people, all united in the one desire. Football even helps in the hardest of situations, when my mum introduced me to my now step-father I honestly found it very hard to deal with him, but when he told me he was not only an Arsenal fan but had a spare season ticket, we had an instant shared passion which bonds us together to this day. Incidentally said season ticket see's me sit next to someone who has now become one of the people I value most in the world. All through Football. I think what I'm trying to say is that Football is something that brings people together who wouldn't know each other otherwise. Bend it like Beckham is the prime example of this.

Chadha's film made me laugh, cry and feel impassioned all in 114 minutes. Of course it helps that I'm a football fan, but I would like to think that this film is more about following your dreams. What I previously saw as a good fun sport film now represents something deeper, yes its not the greatest film ever made - there are bits where the film dips and some of the actual football highlights are totally ridiculous. But it incompases the massive passion we have for football, particularly in England, and the ways this wonderful game can affect all of us, no matter of gender, culture or race.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for next monday. Remember to comment and share with your friends and family via social media. #jkfilmreview I would love a request for next weeks blog.

Boyhood (2014)

                                                      Boyhood (2014)

Director - Richard Linklater

Writer - Richard Linklater

Starring - Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater

Hello again! 

It's fair to say it would be pretty hard to chose a film that is more different from Captain America 2 than Boyhood. Here we have the best reviewed film over the past ten years, and one that will surely have a large amount to say in this years awards season costing $4m compared to Captain America's colossal $170m.  

It's rare for me to go and see the same film twice in two days in the cinema and that was for Mean Girls so clearly it takes something extra special for me to make that second trip. When I go to the cinema, or the theatre, I want to be transported, I hate the feeling of knowing I am watching a film. Boyhood managed to transport me like no other film ever has, it didn't seem like a film, more of a documentary of watching a boy turn into a man. Boyhood was filmed over a twelve year period, with Richard Linklater bringing the cast together for a few weeks every year to create footage that would eventually be brought together to form this 2 hour and 45 minute epic. I know for sure that for a lot of you that seems like a bloody long time for a film, and it is, but Boyhood makes you so present in the moment that you become disillusioned with time. "We are always in the moment" is the films ending line and pretty much sums up the whole experience in six words.

What makes this film so unique, is that anyone who watches it can associate to a character like never before. Whether you are a teenage boy remembering the first time you were passed a flirty note from a girl in class, as Mason is after his horrendous haircut. Or you are a mother watching your child leave home for good and bursting into tears at the thought (mine did just by watching this scene!). All these events occur in Boyhood and it means the film is personalised to each audience member in a different way. Every individual leaves with an image printed in their mind that they themselves have either experienced or watched another experience. For me it was the final image, which just gave me the widest smile possible ever, of Mason (the film's pivotal character played by Ellar Coltrane) sitting next to a girl he has only just met. They awkwardly smile and glance at each other knowing theres an instant connection but both slightly too embarrassed to say or do anything just yet. It is an image that still makes me smile thinking about it now, and there are plenty more. There is a fantastic cameo role from Richard Robichaux as Mason's boss who makes a hilarious impromptu speech at Mason's graduation party in front of his whole extended family, just one of his many moments that made me laugh out loud.

When people have spoken to me negatively about this film it was mainly with regard to the acting, particularly that of Coltrane. They have said that he was a bit dull, and it seemed liked Linklater had forced a certain character upon him. I could not disagree with this more. For one, Linklater himself has said that he wrote the script as it went along (in conjunction with the actors) and that he based the story around how Coltrane himself grew up. I quote Linklater "I am totally ready to adapt the story to whatever he is going through". That solves that second point. Now onto the acting, it may sound a bit wanky and pretentious but I don't think what we see in Boyhood is acting, especially in terms of Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater, who plays Masons older sister Samantha. They effectively grew up into this role, so for them I would guess that it is more like playing themselves rather than 'becoming' a character. For two more experience actors in Hawke and Arquette, who play Mason's parents; Mason snr and Olivia, they are acting, but in my eyes at such a high level that you see all the dynamics of a real family life, such as the hilariously awkward hug/kiss on cheek greeting between Olivia and Mason snr's new love interest Annie.

By watching a boy become a man in the space of 3 hours Boyhood really tells us how short life is and that you should embrace every moment it gives. Yes there are tough times in life, as Mason finds out with his series of monstrous step-fathers, but the tough times can be outweighed by love and passion. This is completely the case with Mason and his father. Their relationship was something that completely hit home for me. They brought all the elements of love, humour and anger that you would expect into a father-son bond that felt so real. It made me fantasise about how much I would have loved to had a chance to form such a bond with my own father and how I wish he could have seen the man I have become today. Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian film critic said of Boyhood, "There is hardly a better, or nobler thing a film can do than inspire love" and this is what Boyhood did to me. That is why I would like to dedicate this to my father Jan Kaplicky who passed away almost 6 years ago. He inspired many, as Boyhood surely will too.

I'm going to write these on a weekly basis, every monday so stay tuned to Twitter, Facebook or Google plus. Please share with your friends,  comment and give recommendations for future blogs.

Josef

                                                     

Captain America - The Winter Soldier

The aim of this blog is not to tell you what films I have liked and disliked and therefore what you should go and see, but rather to spark discussion about a certain film and in a broader sense, the world of film. I was inspired to do this by a friend of mine and will hope to bring in the opinions of others in future blogs. I would massively appreciate any feedback, positive or negative. I have picked Captain America 2 as my first review for many reasons, ones which will become clear as you read on. I imagine that some of you are either massive fans of the so called 'marvel universe' while others couldn't think of anything worse than watch another beefed up actor travel through time to defeat his great enemy. Since the Marvel universe has fully exploded I have steadily flowed between the two ends of the spectrum just mentioned. For me Captain America 2 lands very firmly in the realm of what I would consider to be an enjoyable, interesting film that actually manages to subtly bring up some serious issues at the same time. This made even more impressive by the fact that the first Captain America was by far my least favourite of Marvel's recent creations as I'm sure most of you will agree.

The opening scene of the film did leave me fairly worried for what lay ahead in the next 2 hours of my time. We open to Steve Rodgers aka Captain America, played by the ever one faced Chris Evans, sprinting round Washington, lapping the tiring ex marine Sam Wilson played by Anthony Mackie. The two men somehow begin to engage in some friendly morning chat as they run, which becomes the birth of their friendship, questionable to say the least. When I run in the park I hardly expect to become best friends with each person who runs past me. The relationship develops as the film continues but I never feel particularly convinced or interested by the connection between the two. On the other hand I felt a genuinely real bond between Rodgers and his female companion, Natasha Romanoff played by the red headed Scarlett Johansson. It always amuses me how Romanoff's cat suit like costume is always fairly open at the top to leave little to the imagination, incidentally I'm not complaining. Open or closed body armour, her relationship with Captain America for me sparks a real turn around in the lack of imagination super hero movies have shown in the past with hero and heroine relationships. The highlight of this summer's Amazing Spider-Man was easily the obvious connection between Spider-man and his love interest Gwen Stacy aided hugely by their off screen bond, it makes the dialog seem natural and relaxed. I saw glimpses of this between Romanoff and Rodgers, I found it even more interesting when I read that apparently some of the dialog between the two of them had been written by Johansson and Rodgers. This gives a nice move away from the usual marvel shot which tends to last no longer than 10 seconds before someone has some sort of one liner to throw in before the camera shoots to another more interesting explosion. In context of other marvel films lack of genuine heartwarming or comedic male-female relationships, that of the Captain and Romanoff is a welcome break.

Whenever I come out of watching a marvel film, or any action film for that matter (except The Raid 2 which has possibly the most incredible end fight scene ever, but thats for another time)  I almost always feel disappointed by the final duel with the bad guy, or guys... in Captain America 2 though I wasn't so. The reason being I don't think the directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, tried to close the film with JUST a fist fight between Rodgers and the steel armed Winter Soldier with more explosions and fireballs than the rest of the film put together. Yes, that did happen but it worked because it was supplemented by other duels that were happening at the same time. The cutting between the different pieces of action, all slightly different to one another made the ending of the film happen on a wider scale than just between two people. This I think fulfilled me far more than just watching different angles of the same fight, which will only ever have one winner no matter how unlikely it may look at any given moment. That being said I still think Marvel has a long way to go before it makes the ending of their films equal to the main body of the film.

I have always found with superhero films that the more human the lead character and his respective villain tend to be, the more I enjoy the film. Take Batman vs. Thor for example, its a lot harder for me to relate to a norse god that pops out of the sky wearing a long red cape and carrying a supercharged lighning hammer to fight his brother, who has an equally long green cape for the right to rule a mythical land somewhere between Sweden and Iceland. Batman on the other hand represents a self made hero who lacks the ability to conjure up forcefields at will. That being said I don't see myself similar to Batman either, but you get my point, the less super the powers the easier it is to relate to. Chris Evan's arms in this film are a superpower of their own, but apart from that and his fairly malleable shield he represents one of the more human characters in Marvel's world. As I mentioned earlier with the first Captain America it takes more than just a less fantastical hero to convince me. What really turned me here was the villain, no not Sebastian Stan and his metal arm but the threat that comes from within. For the first time ever in a Marvel film I felt that the terror caused here could potentially happen in real life. The idea of killing a person before he has committed a crime because a computer thinks he will in the future due to his DNA is a very real prospect we may face in the future. Which way would you swing? Do you risk an innocent man or woman's life because an algorithm tells you they are evil, or do you live in fear of the crimes they could commit in the future, IF the computer proves to be right. It's a very interesting and topical idea and the reason why Robert Redford's sly character Alexander Pearce and the rest of Hydra who have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D for me are Marvel's best foe to date.

In terms of enjoyment, I have to say I fully enjoyed this film pretty much from start to finish, yes there are some rocky moments are corny lines written in for dramatic effect but overall the film delivers for me. Marvel are receiving a lot of stick at the moment for the hold they have on the cinematic universe but it doesn't look like that is going to change for a while, especially with films sketched up until 2018 and beyond. Since this is the case I think there is very little point in saying "oh another Marvel film... Great, they are all the same" one should look to find aspects that are different, because they are there if you look for them. If your thinking that it sounds like I would like to see Marvel films continue to dominate as much as they do currently, I wouldn't, but as a general rule they do tend to be fairly, if not very, entertaining so try not to take them to seriously or get into too much of a funk about another one coming out next summer, cough cough Avengers 2, because at the end of the day they are only a bit of fun.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it and hope you have found it says something a bit different to what you would read in the paper. Feel free to give me any feedback negative, or positive via twitter (@josefkaplicky) or For the next post I would love someone to ask for something particular to be reviewed, feel free to message me on twitter or facebook. Thank you once again.