Review: Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Picking a movie as my ‘Looking Forward to this Month’ choice each month seems to put some kind of curse over it, meaning I don’t even get to see it at the cinema. How does this keep happening?! Hail, Caesar was my choice for March, and I think I had 3 different occasions planned to see it, all of which got cancelled on the day.

I’ve been excited for this since the trailer first came out last year. I think I was on a bit of a George Clooney hype, and the addition of Channing Tatum was too much for me to take. Then I watched (and loved) Inside Llewyn Davis and decided from that point I was a Coen Brothers fan. Still haven’t sat through the whole of Bridge of Spies, though…

So, the plot is fairly simple. This movie is about a guy who makes movies! Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) runs the joint, and spends every living moment of the day solving problems within the studio. Things go a little more pear shaped when his leading star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) goes missing. 

I think even if you didn’t enjoy the movie itself, you have to appreciate how beautiful it is to watch. If the film world in the 1950’s really is this colourful, then sign me up! It’s greatest strengths are ultimately its greatest weakness, sadly. A lot of the movie is filled with snippets behind the doors of different sets. We see Scarlett Johannson put on an incredible synchronised swimming act, and Channing Tatum dressed as a sailor, dancing on tables. I mean come on, what more could a girl want? The only problem is that most of these acts have nothing to do with the plot of the movie at all.

That sounds harsh, especially when I really enjoyed watching Hail, Caesar! It’s just that I hyped it up so much in my head, I was thinking of placing it next to Fargo on my hypothetical shelf. And it definitely doesn’t deserve a place up there. Although the twist is takes is unexpected, it takes a weird, political turn that kind of bored the pants off me. I don’t do politics. Or history. Sorry.

By far, the star here was Hobie Doyle, played by Alden Ehrenreich, as the young actor, famous for his Westerns, that is suddenly thrown into a highbrow drama, directed by the ever patient Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). Would that it were so simple...It doesn’t matter how many times I watch that scene, it will be hilarious every single time! I heard Alden is in the running for playing a young Han Solo? Don’t let Jenna know but I think he would be great!

All in all, and despite sounding negative, I really did enjoy this. I was just my own worst enemy and hyped it up too much. It’s not the best Coen Brothers movie out there, but as a fan of quirky humour, this was definitely my cup of tea.

Review: Sicario (2015)

Argh, I was so gutted to have missed Sicario in the cinema! It’s one of those movies that only came on my radar because of being a part of the movie blogging scene. There wasn’t much promotion of it at all in the UK in the run up to its release, but once it came out in the US my Blogger feed was full of reviews, and every single one was singing its praises. It just turned into a moment of too many movies and not enough time, so I had to wait till the DVD release before I got my chance.

Sicario is the story of FBI Agent Kate (Emily Blunt) who volunteers to join a government task force with the aim of ending the escalating war on drugs at the border of the US and Mexico. The cartel they are hunting down are responsible for the deaths of multiple of Kate’s team members, and that’s her reason for joining, although she quickly finds herself way out of her depth.

It sounds like a typical, generic ‘war on drugs’ plot but it’s just done so well. Straight off the bat you know what you’re in for, as the first scene throws gruesome images at you and sets your stomach on edge. This is not your everyday action movie, and should not be watched with your Sunday lunch, as I did…

Emily Blunt is just my hero at the moment. She’s so badass! If you loved her role in Edge of Tomorrow you’re going to love her in this. There’s a scene early on in the movie where you see she’s clearly the only woman in this task force, surrounded by menacing men, and in that scene she seems so small and vulnerable, but just minutes later she’s absolutely holding her own, and I love it!

I didn’t realise a movie that wasn’t a horror could have so much tension. Seriously. There are a few scenes like it, but a fairly early one takes place on the road leading right up to the Mexican border, and the pacing, coupled with the music, had me on the edge of my seat hiding behind a cushion. I was almost glad in that moment I wasn’t in the cinema where I couldn’t hide! 

What I wasn’t expecting was the performance by Benicio Del Toro. Holy moly, this guy was terrifying! His character started off as fairly quiet and sort of faded into the background a little, but then he came out of nowhere!

Sicario is simply a must watch. As someone who has very little interest in movies like this, it was one of my favourites of the whole of 2015. Now why did I have to write that list just a week before watching this?!

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema....October 2015

We say this every month but I really can't believe its nearly October, nearing the countdown to Christmas.  I'm in full swing of preparing my Christmas gifts (I'm usually skint so I make rather than buy my presents!) as I need plenty of time to get ready!!  Anyway back to what I'm supposed to be writing about... what I'm looking forward to seeing in October.

It's obviously the end of Blockbuster season because there is hardly anything worth mentioning being released in October.  However, I am looking forward to The Intern because it seems like something I would like - maybe like a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and The Proposal?!

If you haven't seen the trailer, here it is:

The Intern is released in UK Cinemas on Friday 2nd October

After taking a blogging break throughout August I've felt completely out of the loop with new movie releases, so when I checked the UK's October release schedule my reaction was nothing short of 'what?!' as I didn't recognise anything other than Spectre, which I could honestly care less about. Hence an hour session on IMDB catching up on all the trailers I've missed. One movie in particular really caught my eye and I hope I can catch it in the cinema this month!

At face value, the plot didn't sound like anything groundbreaking to me. An FBI Agent played by Emily Blunt is enlisted to a government task force to aid in the war against drugs at the border between the USA and Mexico. Then, I realised that Sicario is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who also directed Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013) and Incendies (2010). I love all three of those movies. Sicario is going to be dark and gritty, and I'm so excited to see it now!

Sicario is released in UK cinemas on 8th October 2015.

Review: Everest (2015)

We managed to get together the other Friday night for an actual night out! These nights are very rare, in fact the last proper night out we had might have been just before Christmas last year. With bellies full of amazing American-style food and cocktails at Birmingham’s Smoke Rubhouse (my cocktail was far from amazing, it has the taste and consistency of vomit...yak!!), and 2 hours spent watching the harrowing movie Everest, we ended our night curled on the sofa watching Family Guy! Real party animals, we are! You're lucky I made it to the cinema after that cocktail!

Everest was Jenna’s most anticipated movie for September and although I’d heard little about it the cast and the real-life story was enough to sell it to me. Plus, we got to see it in IMAX which is always a bonus!  I have now seen this twice (my Dad was desperate to see it and I couldn't let him go alone) and I thought I might be bored the second time but far from it!

It’s based on the real life story of the expedition teams climbing Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth in 1996. on May 10th, the teams start their final ascent to the summit, after finding a window of opportunity in between the bad weather. A horrendous storm approaches the climbers without warning, and their expedition rapidly turns into a fight for survival as the conditions get worse.

My first thought whilst watching Everest was how quickly it got into gear. There was a brief introduction to the main characters, and very soon after we were already in Nepal at Base Camp, and found out more about each character as they went on with their trek. Too often I find myself bored with the introductions so this was perfect for me, especially with such a large cast. There are some brilliant names here, Jason Clarke, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley to name just a few!  My biggest criticism of this film (and personally I found it hard to find any) was the fact that is was ensemble, I wanted to get to know the characters and their relationships more, especially as it was a true story.  There just wasn't enough time to delve into each character and tell the story it was trying to tell.

The IMAX was just the icing on the cake of Everest. I’m sure there’s an icing joke to be made here, but my funny bone just isn’t tingling right now - argh I can't think of anything clever!!. When the storm hit, I could literally feel it through the power of sound. How weird is that? It’s not that it was overly loud or anything, it just felt like the air around us vibrated in some way. This is definitely the way to experience this film, I just don’t think it would translate as well on your home TV.

I can't really explain my feelings towards this film, I want to say I loved it because I was completely engrossed throughout but I feel like saying you love something that was so devastating and true feels a bit off.  I think the story was told well (I may change this statement when I've read 60 different books on the subject!).  The whole thing really stuck with me after it finished, I couldn't forget about the characters nor the sheer determination and pain it takes to summit Everest, I don't think I ever really thought about it before!!

The IMAX, what can I say about that, I don't think you can truly experience this film without IMAX.  The ladder scene where Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) topples and is hanging precariously over a terrifying chasm, the camera shoots downwards and its terrifying, I was on the edge of my seat!  The sheer volume and giant screen make you feel like you are there (all they need is a good snow machine and aircon and it could be 4D!).

I knew nothing about the real life story, neither have I read Into Thin Air, so I had no idea what would happen, and if you haven’t either, I won’t ruin anything explicitly for you, but you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph. There’s definitely a sense of ‘real life’ to Everest in the sense that it was entirely realistic. That sounds stupid I know, of course it’s realistic, but in the movies the characters always seem to defy all odds and even in worst case scenarios there’s some sort of happy outcome, which just wasn’t the case.  I have since downloaded every book I can find on this disaster because I just want to know more about these people, who they were and what happened on the mountain.  It's fair to say that I can get a little obsessive over some things and this is one of them, I can't stop thinking about the film and I'm desperate to know more.

Everest was exhausting and mind-blowing at the same time, and I’m really glad Jenna chose it for us to watch!

I watched the whole film tensed upright in my seat and I found myself exactly the same the second time round.  If you don't care about the story, go and see it for the visuals, they are truly stunning!

Review: Labor Day (2013)

I had forgotten all about wanted to see this when it was on at the cinema so when I saw it on the selections on my recent flight to the States, I jumped at the chance.  I have loved Josh Brolin since his first outing as Brand in the Goonies and Kate Winslet has to be one of my top 10 favourite actresses (see if I remember that when I actually do the top 10 post). 

Labor Day was one of those films where I see the trailer, tell myself that it looks great and I should see it, then forget about it for a year until I bump into the DVD at a store somewhere! I'm glad Jenna reviewed it because that was my final push to see it.

Tobey Maguire narrates this film as the older version of Henry who lives with his damaged mother Alele (Kate Winslet), who, although it's never stated, is clearly suffering from crippling depression and anxiety that has slowly taken over her life.  She is scared to drive her car and going to the supermarket is incredibly traumatic for her. Cue Frank (Josh Brolin), an escaped convict who forces them to take him home until he can rest his injuries from jumping out of a hospital window.  A nervous Adele agrees and nurses him back to health, allowing him to stay longer than either of them intended. Frank becomes the partner Adele craves and the father figure that Henry desperately needs.

I am a shameless romantic so films like this are perfect for me but that's not the only reason I loved it.  The main part of the story is told in chronological order, however the flashbacks to both Adele and Frank's pasts are told in fleeting images, that build and grow throughout the film so you only know the whole story of their pasts once you get to the end of the film.  It's really cleverly shot and so different to anything I had seen before.  Plus, this film is quite slow in pace so the flashback images break it up and keep you interested throughout.

At one point I actually wondered if the flash-backs were actually flash-forwards to Henry's life, but as the actor in the flash-backs aged I realised he was definitely meant to be Frank. I agree that the film itself is very slow, and yet at no point was I bored in the slightest. The slow pacing actually worked really well.

Brolin and Winslet are both amazing in this film, many scenes have no words just slight shifts in movements and they manage to tell a whole story with just that.  Winslet's portrayal of the fragile Adele is incredible, she used subtlety over big gestures which makes the panic and fear feel so much more real, in many scenes she uses one look to indicate how Adele is feeling and it's so powerful.

I haven't seen much work from either Brolin or Winslet but I thought they did a cracking job in this, Winslet in particular.

Hopeless romantic or not, you may actually like this film.  It's slow paced but at no point boring and Brolin and Winslet are at their best.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I did, and although I won't say what happened, the ending was incredible. I shed a tear or two, and I would recommend Labor Day to anyone who's a fan of romantic films.

Review: The Goonies (1985)

This is by far my favourite film of all time, so I had to review it at some point.  I have read numerous reviews on this film that have found reasons not to give it a full 10 stars! 

I know this film isn't perfect and it's fair to say, it's hasn't aged particularly well but that doesn't take anything away from this film for me.  It has the action, adventure, bad guys, good guys, a giant squid (if you watch the deleted scenes), water slides, skeletons, friendship and the good looking older brother.  It feels to me like they are ordinary (ish) characters, in an extraordinary situation, similarly to the reasons why I love E.T: The Extra Terrestrial.  These kids argue, fight, swear and pick on each other, like I did with my cousins and friends when I was a kid.  The truffle shuffle scene is one of the key scenes that makes the characters seem so realistic:

Some of the lines throughout the film have stuck with me over the years and I still quote them on a regular basis.  The action keeps the film on pace and the bond between the friends makes you want to see how it ends.  Mikey's monologue at the bottom of the well is one of my favourite quotes of all time and as a child made me feel involved and like I was a Goonie myself and I could do anything. 

This nostalgia has carried through the years with me, leaving me unable to criticise this film, there is too many memories and good feeling tied to it.  You may way to read Allie's opinion on the film to get a slightly less biased review!

Yeah see I'm coming at this from a totally different angle, about 6 months ago I watched this for the very first time! Shocking, and totally unacceptable I know, but I was re-watching Jumanji too many times as a kid to even notice this film.

I did enjoy this film, honestly I did, but I have to agree with you when you say that it hasn't aged well. I watched this with friends and there were certain parts that people were quoting and really laughing at, that I just didn't get! Please don't hate me...

All in all a great action film with clever, comical dialogue by a great group of young actors that can be watched again and again.

Everything else aside, this was a really heart-warming film and I would definitely watch it again!