Film Shapes

Nerd disclaimer. I quite like the whole Star Trek world/universe, specifically The Next Generation and DS9 , even Voyager had its moments. With that in mind, I didn't take much convincing about the quality and punch of the first 'rebooted' Star Trek back in 2009. The second film in the new series continues the style of its predecessor, probably because it comes from the same writers and director (Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J.J. Abrams, with Damon Lindelof also getting a writing and producing credit for this new film). Most of the Enterprise crew get something to do here, Kirk and Spock hogging possession, of course, but Scotty, Bones and Uhura all have important scenes. Once again though, the villain comes away with the film (I was reminded of Iron Man 3 in this regard) as Benedict Cumberbatch was bloody top notch. Trekkies (Trekkers?) will have already guessed the name of his character and also noticed one scene - possibly more - lifted...

World War Zed ? World War Zee ? I'm naturally inclined to go with the former but there's a fair reason to go with the latter, namely the book this film is based upon was written by an American, Max Brooks. Also Zee rhymes nicely with Three, suggesting this is the second sequel to 'The Great War' (aka WW1). Anyway, I digress. Onto the film itself. In preparation for this screening, I read the aforementioned book and quite enjoyed it. I was also ready for the vast differences between the book and the film. These didn't really matter too much in the wash up. The changes from the book to the screen were mainly due to necessity, with one major exception - that being the decision to finger China as the source of the zombie plague being carefully switched to the less lucrative box-office zone of India. Cynical? Maybe, but no real damage to the film. Other changes have created slightly more controversy. The major issue has been with the 'fast' zombies. This ag...

So here are the ten best films I've seen so far this year (up to June 30). This time round, I'm only picking films I've seen for the first time. In order, they are: 1. Wish You Were Here 2. The Imposter 3. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4. Argo 5. Even the Rain 6. Iron Man 3 7. The Kid with a Bike 8. Django Unchained 9. 500 Days of Summer 10. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists And here's the offal. Worst first. 1. Intouchables 2. The Tree of Life 3. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 4. Life of Pi 5. Mamma Mia! 6. Morning Glory 7. Ted 8. Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai 9. Amazing Grace 10. Haywire

The Cannes Film Festival of 2013 has just finished with the Palme d'or going to a French film called La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitre 1 & 2 ( Blue is the Warmest Colour ) by Abdellatif Kechiche. Seems to be a 3 hour lesbian romance starring Lea Seydoux. I'm on board. The Grand Prix went to the Coen Brothers for Inside Llewyn Davis , which has garnered some pretty good reviews. I'll watch anything they do but the setting doesn't really grab me (1960's New York folk music scene). Here are the other films that were vying for the top awards. BEHIND THE CANDELABRA directed by Steven SODERBERGH BORGMAN directed by Alex VAN WARMERDAM GRIGRIS directed by Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN HELI directed by Amat ESCALANTE INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS directed by Ethan COEN, Joel COEN JEUNE & JOLIE (YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL) directed by François OZ...

This Japanese poster seems to suggest this will be the last outing for the titular Iron Man/Tony Stark character (さらば　- 　アイアンマン。= Farewell Iron Man) but as long as the box office continues to ching-ching, I'd say that's a premature assumption. Certainly, he'll reappear in the next Avengers movie at least. And I kind of hope he doesn't disappear. He's one of the most likeable 'superheroes' I've seen - a flawed smart-arse who runs like a 'suit' avoiding the rain and reacts to surprises with either a cocked eyebrow or a look of exasperated acceptance. All credit must go to Downey Jr. for this - he's good in other films but this is his Harry Potter or Alan Partridge, he may never be able to shake this role. But the film itself? I'd have to say it's better than it's immediate predecessor but not quite as good as the original. Kind of what you'd expect from a third installment. The script has some gems but at the same time...

Here are some brief appraisals of a few films I've seen so far this year, cinema trips not included. Some of them have been for my ongoing movie lesson but most have been for my leisure. Ted   (2012) Seth McFarlane - Not half as funny as it wishes to be and annoyingly referential. Haywire (2011) Steven Soderbergh - Boring 'covert ops' action film from a very over-rated director. I don't understand how he always seems to attract the big(-ish) name stars to appear in his films. I can't recall actually liking any of his movies. The Hunger Games (2012) Gary Ross - A bit slow to get going and, of course reminiscent of Battle Royale but watchable enough for a lark. First part of another fucking franchise as well. The Tree of Life (2011) Terrence Malick - Eye-burningly terrible. My wife accused me of making her watch 'a two hour screen saver'. Guilty as charged. I can never get back the time that I wasted watching this dross. Wish You Were H...

The second of my two trips to the cinema while I was back in Aus, this time I enjoyed the surprisingly tranquil surrounds of the Bunbury Grand Cinema. The film was Quentin Tarantino's latest, Django Unchained and I had a pretty good time while watching. It was only a few days later that a few reservations began to leak out. Now, I quite like Tarantino as a film-maker. He's smart and he knows his film history. Pulp Fiction was one of the movies that defined the 1990s and Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown are brilliant. I didn't like Kill Bill (1 or 2) and I've yet to see Death Proof but Inglourious Basterds was great fun. So that basically leaves us with Django . And (of Tarantino's work) I reckon it's just above the Kill Bill films in quality. Well, maybe quality is the wrong word - more like.....heart or emotion. As with much of his portfolio, Django comes across as a cocky, smirking movie, one that's a little too clever for its own good. I get...