Film Shapes

As the picture above suggests, Guardians of the Galaxy is a bit reminiscent of such films as Seven Samurai (and its remake, The Magnificent Seven ) and The Dirty Dozen . An unlikely bunch of misfits come together to fight something or somebody. Hatred and tension within the group leads to respect and friendship. Victory is achieved, albeit at some loss. This is not to undersell Guardians, though. It's a fun film with many things to like about it. It reminded me of Firefly and Serenity , especially the costumes and the design of the spaceships and planet vistas - the giant floating skull of 'Knowhere' is a stand-out. It's also a nice coincidence that Nathan Fillion (Mal in Firefly ) has a pretty funny cameo. Most of the humour in Guardians works. Not too esoteric (though I missed the joke about 'baby gravy') or American focussed, even the 1980s cultural references fit the lead character's situation. The lines are played straight and Chris Pratt h...

Or as some wag writing in to the BBC's film review show put it - Saving Private Groundhog. Wish I'd though of that. The similarity to Groundhog Day is pretty clear but it doesn't lose anything for it. Someone was going to re-use that high-concept conceit and I'm pretty glad it was a Sci-Fi film and not some dodgy rom-com or something (Richard Curtis missed a trick here - though About Time treads similar ground). In fact, here in Japan they've gone with the name of the original manga book, All You Need is Kill . Wait, what? Kill can be used as a noun, can't it? Good enough for me. Apparently the book differs slightly in that the protagonist is a raw recruit, not the cowardly press officer that Cruise plays in the film. If you have Cruise, you have to fit the part to him, not t'other way round, but this works as the character has a pretty curvy arc. A word about Mr. Cruise. He's not terrible here. I'm not his biggest fan and he did his signat...

I managed to see the newest X-Men film, Days of Future Past just before the World Cup kicked off. And if my memory serves me correctly, this is my third favourite, after X-Men and X-Men: First Class. It starts with a nice showcasing of some new mutants - Blink takes the gold here - being torn new ones by robotty fellas called Sentinels. The overall pace is fairly sprightly and blends the typical three act structure of super-hero films better than most. Much has been made of the lack of a smashy-smashy finale but I liked the more thoughtful climax. The cheeky decision to all but remove Wolverine from many of the action scenes shows massive brass balls, as he is pretty much the main draw in these films, especially when he gets to slice some muthas. There's quite a lot of Mystique in this film. This works well enough as a MacGuffin of sorts, but I couldn't help thinking this may have been more due to the fact that the writers and director needed to give Jennifer Lawren...

A rainy morning/afternoon meant I had the chance to slip away to the cinema to catch the second part of the Hobbit trilogy in Kobe. Now that I've seen two of these films, I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm a bit dwarfist. Not in reality, of course. Some of my best friends are dwarves. And Tyrion Lannister is the business. But in these films I have found myself wanting that lot off screen. Martin Freeman as Bilbo - great, more please. Sir Ian as Gandalf - say no more. Even Orlando "Legoman" Bloom as Legolas was fine. But I'm terribly underwhelmed by the dwarves. I hope this is due to the rather one-dimensionality of the characters and not a deeply hidden mistrust of the wee folk. Time will tell, I suppose. I still think this film had too much dwarf action and not enough Hobbit (or Gandalf. Or Smaug. Or even Galadriel. And don't get me started on the dearly absent Gollum). Thirteen dwarves is about ten too many I reckon. Of course it's fai...

So here are the ten best films I saw in 2013. These may have been new films last year or they may just have been first time viewings for me. I'll start with the ten best from July 1st 2013 (following on from the mid-year report ) and then an amalgamated yearly top ten. From July 1st 1. Captain Phillips (2013) 2. Rust and Bone (2012) 3. The World's End (2013) 4. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) 5. The Raid: Redemption (2011) 6. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 7. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) 8. World War Z (2013) 9. Gravity (2013) 10. Carancho (2010) All Year 1. Captain Phillips (2013) 2. Rust and Bone (2012) 3. The World's End (2013) 4. Wish You Were Here (2012) 5. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) 6. The Raid: Redemption (2011) 7. The Imposter (2012) 8. We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011) 9. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 10. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) As for the dregs, I'll just list the ten worst films I saw in 2013. No pictu...

I'd heard good things about this film but it was actually better than I had imagined. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's great, probably the best new film I've seen this year. A lot has to do with Tom Hanks. I never thought I'd say this, but his performance was brilliant. For much of his career, I'd had him down as a jobbing everyman, appearing in formulaic, populist fare and so I'd actively avoided him. Under the astute guidance of director Paul Greengrass however, Hanks rips this film open by downplaying the role of Richard Phillips, real-life tanker captain. No histrionics, no money-shots. Just a paunch, some grey hair and a number of stares and glances that tell us exactly what he's thinking. Greengrass is responsible for giving Hanks his head and 'under-directing him'. When asked on Wittertainment how you direct Tom Hanks, Greengrass replied "Get out of the way. Let him get on with it". And it worked, as did the prepping of...

Saw this for free in Kobe at a preview screening, so I've still never paid for a Sandra Bullock film. Well done me. She's alright in this, to be fair, and she needs to be, as it's pretty much a two-hander with Clooney as the other hand. So where to start.....? Probably the visuals. They are suitably spectacular and they'll sweep the boards at the major awards ceremonies. The 3D was fine and didn't give me a headache (unlike The Hobbit ) - I even flinched from the screen a couple of times. More impressive was the stillness, the lack of sound. Even when disaster was pitching up all around, we (and presumably the astronauts) don't realise it until we actually see the speeding metal debris. The lack of a whizzy, zoomy, bangy, boomy soundtrack is shocking and, I reckon, the standout point of the film. Storywise, it's fairly basic and I'm reasonably impressed with the pared-down nature of the plot. Without spoiling too much, it's fundamental...

Elysium .  A conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects and cults. Initially separate from the realm of Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes. Later, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, and indulging in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life. (Thanks again Wikipedia) This space-station world, at odds with the filthy, poverty-riddled Earth mainland seems a sound stepping off point for a really meaty Sci-fi satire, or at least a social conscience drama. So why is it so unsatisfying? I'll see if I can work this out in the next few paragraphs (I'm still not quite sure, if I'm honest). Due to the need to pick over the bones of this film, there'll be some spoilers to follow. I reckon Elysium is let down quit...