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

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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.