Inherent Vice

IMDB Rating: 7.2
Released – 2014
Director – Paul Thomas Anderson
Length – 2hr 28m
Top Cast – Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston

My final weekday outing of this birthday week promised a fair bit but alas it didn’t deliver much.

I’m not sure I’d say I hated it, since I was grinning and laughing quietly at a few scenes, I just struggled to get into it and care about what was happening.  I’ve since read in reviews a lot of comments about it being a ‘psychadelic’ journey that’s not meant to be easy to follow which makes me feel a little bit better.  I just went into it expecting a film I’d enjoy entirely, I’m fairly sure I loved The Big Lebowski on a first viewing and although it’s a lazy comparison the trailer reminded me a lot of it, but it just wasn’t engaging enough and felt as long as it is.

I’ll give it another try once it’s out on DVD to see if it’s a bit more enjoyable on a second watch.

I know you…
No one in particular although I did think I spotted Dr Beardface from Scrubs in a background scene which made me laugh.  I guess the only other minor character I knew I’d seen in the trailer anyway, Omar from The Wire, and he was only the film for one scene.

Highlight
There’s a great visual in the first hour of the film, I think, of the last supper that made me grin.  You get to see it again soon after as a picture on Bigfoot’s desk.

Honourary mention also goes to Joaquin’s facial expressions and changing hair.  Josh Brolin was also amusing in his treatment of Phoenix too.

6/10 

Wild

IMDB Rating: 7.3
Released – 2014
Director – Jean-Marc Vallee
Length – 1hr 55m
Top Cast – Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern & Gaby Hoffmann

Unlike the second half of this double bill that will follow shortly, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film.  I saw a similiar film last year, Tracks, so I was a bit unsure about this but I’m glad I did decide to see it.

It was nicely done with the film revealing more about Cheryl’s past that had set her on this path, to hike the Pacific Coast Trail, with flashbacks and memory prompted scenes while she was on the actual hike itself.

The relationship between Cheryl and her mother, Bobbi, was nice and obviously sad at how it ended.  There were a number of childhood scenes that were difficult to watch, for how sweet they were and how dramatic others were, but the relationship was acted wonderfully.

I know you…
I recognised Laura Dern’s face but I didn’t know her name, besides having some connection to Bruce Dern from Nebraska I assume, but after checking on IMDB just now it’s a nice surprise to see that she was Ellie from Jurassic Park.

Reese Witherspoon will always be the nice one in Cruel Intentions to me.  I’ve not seen that film in years.

Lowlight
I had to look away during the opening scene of the film, the first time in a while I’ve being grossed out and looked away during a film, where Cheryl removes her boot and sock to then inspect a bloody big toe.  It looked like she was getting ready to remove or pull back the nail just as I decided to look away.  When I braved the screen again she was screaming at her boot that had rolled down the hill.  Urghhhhhhhhhhh.

7/10

Whiplash

IMDB Rating: 8.7
Released – 2014
Director – Damien Chazelle
Length – 1hr 48m
Top Cast – Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons & Melissa Benoist

I was meant to be seeing The Gambler with a brief break after my previous film, yet as soon as I saw the time when I came out I couldn’t resist seeing Whiplash for my 4th cinema viewing.

I’ve already done another entry on this so the only thing I can add is that I still managed to forget to look out for whether the man and his daughter who Fletcher talks to is named, I was wondering if it was Sean Casey.

I also heard a line I think I’d missed previously, probably due to laughing at Andy’s ‘Four words you’ll never hear from the NFL’ line but one of the family members retorts with ‘Or you’ll never hear from the Lincoln Centre’ to Andy.  The screen was on his father after the line but it seemed incredibly out of character.  Something else to try and look out for in future viewings.

I’m also still a bit gutted at how low it’s takings have been at the box office over here after deciding I’d have a look for the first time.  Hopefully it’ll reach a wider audience on DVD if not then c’est la vie, it’s going to be in my top films ever for a long time I’d imagine.

10/10 

Ex Machina

IMDB Rating: 8.0
Released – 2015
Director – Alex Garland
Length – 1hr 48m
Top Cast – Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac & Alicia Vikander

This was great and a film I could have happily gone back into see straight away after it had finished.  The majority of the film, 98%, is spent in a remote mansion/facility, with three primary characters and one other background character, so there’s very little to distract from the main storyline.

I was gripped the whole way through and there were some nice moments where it was unclear whose intentions were sincere, and in the end it’s clear who you need to feel the most sympathy for.

The ending might be seen as predictable to some people I imagine, I had a feeling it’d end slightly differently so I was pleasantly surprised, but the journey to get there is one I’d happily take again even with hindsight.

Great film.

I know you…
Oscar Isaac is still Llewyn Davis for me and I’ve only seen Domhnall Gleeson in About Time and Frank previously.  There’s obviously not much else of a cast to look out for.

Highlight
The dancing scene.  I was holding in tears of laughter during at the cinema, I try and hold in laughing out loud where I can, and I’ve already watched the clip a few times after discovering it had been posted online previously by Digitalspy.

I’M GONNA TEAR UP THE FUCKING DANCE FLOOR DUDE, WATCH.

7/10

#9 – The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear

IMDB Rating: 6.8
Released – 1991
Director – David Zucker
Length – 1hr 25m
Top Cast – Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley & George Kennedy

I couldn’t resist and the best I could manage was to delay seeing it last night and instead save it for a Sunday morning instead.

I think I laughed more during the first film but this still had the same silly humour of the first and some great scenes.   There wasn’t too many repeated gags, if any in fact, so it wasn’t as bad as most sequels can be in just rehashing the same material but with a slightly different cast.

I can comfortably see this being a series I’ll continue to watch repeatedly.

I know you…
The only one was the actor, Richard Griffiths, who played Dr Meinheimer, and the imposter, but after trawling through his IMDB it appears I must only know him from his death being in the news in 2013.

Highlight
The death scene yet again.   I sort of saw it coming after seeing a news report about the escaped animals a few minutes before but it still made me crack up.

7/10 

#8 – Argo

IMDB Rating: 7.8 (IMDB Top 5000)
Released – 2012
Director – Ben Affleck
Length – 2hr
Top Cast – Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston & John Goodman

Another purchase I’d made a long time ago, I believe soon after it was released on DVD, and that had been gathering dust on my shelf…until tonight.

It’s a nice feeling to be unwrapping DVDs.

This was as good as I was expecting it to be as I remember the buzz it had around the Oscars two years ago.   The opening sequence was tense and the ending was even more tense as the ‘houseguests’ made their way to the airport.  I’d avoided reading anything about it online, since it’s based on a true story, and naturally it wasn’t something I was aware of previously so I didn’t know how it was going to unfold.

Nice cast with a few familiar faces although it was a bit disappointing on a personal level to see Cranston in the film briefly a few times.  I remember Godzilla at the cinema last year so it’s not an unfamiliar feeling…

It won’t be up there at the top of my films to rewatch list but I enjoyed it and I’d happily watch it again.

I know you…
A couple of big names in minor roles I’ll ignore and instead go with the main guy from Office Space as a government official above Bryan Cranston.  It turns out that one was wrong as the actor is Kyle Chandler and it’s Ron Livingston in Office Space.  Oops.

Highlight
Argo Fuck Yourself.  I remember the line from around the Oscars but I had no idea it was an actual line used during the film, repeatedly.

On a serious note the airport scene was incredibly tense.

7/10 

#7 – The Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad!

IMDB Rating: 7.6 (Top 5000)
Released – 1988
Director – David Zucker
Length – 1hr 25m
Top Cast – Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J Simpson

There’s a lyric from a Savage Garden song that sums up how I felt about this film before I started.  ‘I knew I loved you before I met you….’ as I’d recently watched Airplane! for the first time at the end of the year so I had a good feeling that this would be perfect for me as well.  It was.

I need to find more films like this, especially if there is still a director somewhere making them, as it had me laughing the whole way through.  Upon finishing the film I ventured straight onto Youtube to watch another sequence yet again and it’s only my need to do some shopping that’s preventing me from watching even more.

The only downside to this, and it didn’t stop me enjoying it at the time, was that I once again had a case of Family  Guy getting there first for me with the opening scene of Frank attacking the terrorists and then riding around in his police car with the focus on the police siren.    I still cracked up but it was just frustrating for me again to think that because I’ve been so crap in the past about watching films that I’ve seen parodies before the actual original film itself.

This will definitely be a comedy I’ll be coming back to many times and I’m already looking forward to watching the next two films although I might have to talk myself into saving them for the next two Saturday mornings instead.  Laughter is a great way to start any day.

I know you…
I’ve probably seen him in something else as well but I know Ludwig purely from the poster and some images from Fantasy Island.  Ricardo Montalban.

Highlight
Frank investigating Ludwig’s office for prolonged laughs but the death scene at the end of the film had me in tears.

8/10 

#6 – Tyrannosaur

IMDB Rating: 7.6
Released – 2011
Director – Paddy Considine
Length – 1hr 32m
Top Cast – Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan

I’ve had this in my collection unopened for far too long after hearing good things about it a couple of years ago on the Empire Podcast I believe.   I only knew Olivia Colman cast wise but with it being a Paddy Considine film I was willing to give it a try albeit it took longer than it should have obviously.

This comfortably takes it’s place on my very small list, I know there’s a few more to add to it if I sit down and think about it a bit more, as being a film I can appreciate for how good it is but it’s just too bleak to want to sit through more than once.

The story was brutal from the opening minutes, where the lead character kicks his dog to death in anger, and didn’t let up with everyone involved having something horrible in their lives.  I’ve finished it nearly 90 minutes ago at the time of trying to write this little review of sorts and yet I’m still struggling to get over how horrible it was in places, the subject matter rather  than the film, to the point where I regret not watching it earlier so I could have more time to fit in something to try and wipe away some of the imagery in my head.

Great film but it’ll be a while before I can bring myself to watch it again.

I know you…
No surprises on this front but as someone who only knows Eddie Marsan as the burp talking guy from The World’s End it was shocking to see him play such an utter arsehole in this film.

Highlight
The house visit by Peter Mullan.  There was a lot of tension in this scene and the reveal was more shocking than I could have imagined and went down a different path that I wasn’t expecting either.

7/10

#5 – Birdman

IMDB Rating: 8.7
Released – 2014
Director – Alejandro González Iñárritu
Length – 1hr 59m
Top Cast – Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis and Edward Norton

Unlike my other cinematic outing  of the day, I had a nice 40 minute gap between Enemy ending and Birdman beginning, I knew a fair bit about Birdman and I’d been awaiting it’s release since my first viewing of the trailer in November I think.

When a trailer makes you desperate to see the film and even the poster leaves you in awe you’re onto a good thing and Birdman more than delivered on it’s expectations for me.   There were plenty of great laughs while telling an interesting story as the play lurched from one disaster to the next before it had reached it’s opening night on broadway.

Perhaps the most impressive thing for me, and this isn’t something I’d usually notice, let alone find myself hunting for articles about on my commute home, but it was shot beautifully as well with the film appearing as if it was a documentary.   There were some incredible transitional shots where a character would walk through a door and travel into the future, poorly worded explanation, or the camera would pan upwards to a night skyline that would then slowly change to daytime before resuming.   Lovely.

The cast was great, something I was already aware of from the trailer, and I could easily see a flurry of Oscar nominations.   Emma Stone, to give a lesser character some praise, was great as the troublesome daughter of Riggan (Birdman) and it was good seeing Edward Norton in a prominent role as well.

I could happily go and see this again tomorrow but I’m going to do my best to avoid that 🙂

Highlight
The whole film, ha.

8/10

#3 – Back to the Future Part III

IMDB Rating: 7.4 (Top 5000)
Released – 1990
Director – Robert Zemeckis
Top Cast – Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen

This was a great way to end the trilogy with a nice and sweet final scene too that I wasn’t expecting.

I enjoyed this a bit more than the second film, none of the confusion here with the film being more stand alone than Part 2 was, and the story itself was similar to the first film with a new romance angle to go with the Western Biff.

There were more nods again to the previous films, a nice touch, and I laughed yet again at the manure scene even though it was lacking in the shit proclamation beforehand.

The romance between Doc and Clara was nicely done and not as predictable as it could have been and I genuinely expected them to go in a different direction during the big action scene towards the end.   I should have known better obviously.

I know you…
No one besides Mary Steenburgen who I knew beforehand after seeing the cast list.  I know her from 40 Year Old Virgin and a cinema trip to see Last Vegas this time last year.  Memories.

Highlight
The final scene, nice touch that made me smile.

7/10