Captain Phillips

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Warren

Thank god I remembered this was a Paul Greengrass film and chose to sit further back from the screen than I normally like to. His usual shaky cam is on full display here and that coupled with the rocking high seas makes for a very sickness inducing movie, so you have been warned.

After what might be the most offensively scripted opening sequence I've ever seen (not even Tom Hanks and a cameo from Catherine Keener can make that work) we quickly get to the Somali pirates and out to sea. From there the film is a slow build of tense events all leading to the inevitable conclusion. And with a far more engaging script.

Much like the similarly themed A Hijacking that came out not long ago, it's a long ride and the film really wants you to feel it (although everyone gets off way easier in this film). I'd like to think that cutting down the running time would make a more effective film but that agonising waiting is a big part of it. I was certainly more engaged in the first half though and loved the staging of the hijacking. Once the navy becomes involved everything for both the characters and the story is downhill.

Tom Hanks gets his big showy performance right at the end which will probably make you forget the very grounded work he does throughout the film. And the newcomers that form our Somali pirates do some good stuff too.

It's a pretty thrilling ride (albeit a long and bumpy one) and could possibly get some awards attention this year.

King Kong

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Write Up.

After watching the original we thought we'd better watch this one too (and do my king kong jigsaw puzzle that's been sitting in my room for 3 years). Maybe I should find those two from the late 70's...

Man, for all its faults it has some ridiculously crazy action set pieces. With dinosaurs. Gotta love that.

A Letter to Momo

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Michael

Managed to squeeze this in before the Anime festival this year came to a close. Good thing too, because it was by far the most enjoyable of the films I saw. Every time I saw those goblins in press releases and on posters I couldn't help but crack up. What great character design. And they are even better when animated and speaking.

It's a sweet little story about a girl coping with a big shift in her life. I guess traditionally she'd be whisked away to a magical land to learn to find herself but here, the magic invades her life and manages to screw it up even more.

The character drama works much better here, none of the melodrama the Japanese seem so fond of, much more realistic and even handed. And the goblin characters are adorable and hilarious. Looks shmick, as you'd expect from Production I.G. A real winner. Seek it out!

Diana

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Probably should have called it Diana and Hasnat, but I guess that doesn't have the same ring to it. The film focuses almost exclusively on this relationship and consequently much of the running time feels like repetition, going through the "I love you / you're too famous we have to break up" cycle again and again.

Naomi Watts does a good impression though.

I don't want to seem hypocritical, considering I've been annoyed at biopics like Jobs, which tried to tell the whole story and end up not being interesting at all but I think this film needed a better angle, there's not much here which just makes it feel more exploitative. 

And for a film that's primarily close ups in fancy rooms, it should have been more in-focus.

The Family

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael

For a guy that said he'd be retiring in 2005, Luc Besson has just been churning them out. If you know his films, you should know what to expect from this one. Some nice wise-cracking dialogue from cool characters and a bit of action thrown in as well.

This one has a pretty good cast that elevate the stock standard story of a family in witness protection. Must have been an alright pay-check and holiday and france, and it's just entertaining enough to keep the audience happy for the duration but won't live on much longer after that.

There's some nice bits here and there but ultimately it feels like a fun filler movie from everyone involved, to pass the time until the next real job came along.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Steve Coogan and team take his most famous character to the big screen. When television characters make the jump, the results are usually less than stellar but thankfully this film is absolutely hilarious, the cast are great, the story works as a self contained film and you don't need to know anything about the character to enjoy it. 

The brand of humor the character is known for is intact. Very enjoyable and a must for fans.

About Time

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Treated myself to an early gold class screening.

So this is the second time-travel romance Rachel McAdams has done. I must say, I prefer the time traveling mechanics in The Time Travellers Wife but this is a happy Richard Curtis comedy of magical realism, I don't think you're supposed ti think to hard about it.

The film is out to make a very simple point. And it's probably not too hard to work out from the trailer, or even just knowing that it involves time travel. However it makes this simple point over a very long running time but showing you plenty of examples. Really the journey here is an important part of making an impact at the end, the longer you spend with these perfectly amiable characters the more you'll want to see their lives work out for the better I suppose. I just thought the obvious pay-off didn't really warrant all this length.

So it's a perfectly charming and happy film. I was waiting for the inevitable drama to kick in during the 3rd act and it did, right on queue, but even the drama was pretty fluffy and happy. The film well and truly had the audience on the hook by then, they could have done much more but chose to play it safe and keep things pleasant. I think if the struggles were harder the end would have mattered more.

It's a tricky balance. I guess it didn't quite work for me, but hey it's really great, well made light entertainment and maybe you'll think you've learnt something at the end of it.

Lovelace

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Gravity

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Mum, Dad

Write Up.

Took the folks to see it during the day. So small crowd but man it still works wonders. In a difference Vmax cinema, this time the sound was much better but the image was ever so slightly washed out. I wonder if that was my 3d glasses though.

4 times in one week. Still love it.

Gravity

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Leith, Froud

Write Up.

This time, Saw it at a Vmax cinema. The sound was not nearly as impressive but the film was still amazing and there was a great crowd.

Gravity

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Tyler, Naomi, Kim, Kate, Chris, Josh, David, aaron, Adam, Antony, Rebecca, Louise, Fabio, Paul, Jaemie, Warren, Claire, Jay, Tim, Natalie, Bel, Ethan, Cicely, Breeahn, Brett, Xoe, Steve, Alex, Clint, Matt, Grady, Tara, Bec

Back in Perth for another IMAX screening, this time with the biggest crowd I've taken to a film so far, 40 people. What an amazing screening. And what a great film!

Where to begin? It's a technical marvel. Alfonso Cuarón's love of long takes is in overdrive here coupled with the 3D, creates a very immersive experience. As does the sound design, really using the whole surround system to great effect whilst closely following the laws of physics in space. Then the music, which sometimes takes the place of sound design, is appropriately sparse, tense, operatic and emotional.

The effects work is subtly mind blowing. I don't think people will realise how much of what they are seeing is actually cg animation. When you couple that with Emmanuel Lubezki's creative cinematography techniques you got 90 minutes of pure eye candy.

And then at the heart of it all is this elegantly simple story, a classic hero's journey structure boiled down to bare essentials and set in a non-stop tension filled environment. It's lean, but has all the thrills you could want and has just enough character work and backstory to make the emotional beats work.

That's in large part to the performances of the two leads, who I can only imagine would have had a hell of a time pulling this off and making it natural in what sounds like the most technically specific of conditions to work under.

I could nit-pick a few things, but I'm not going to. I just want to gush right now. Absolutely love it.

King Kong

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Write Up.

Watched this on the plane back from Melbourne, where we were witness to the live musical version... Yeah... What a confused production. Thank goodness we always have the original to go back to. It's always awesome.

2 Guns

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

So Baltasar Kormákur, who made the thoughtful The Deep and remade his own film Contraband has now been tagged to do a graphic novel adaptation. And it does have a nice set up for a Shane Black-esque 90's buddy cop comedy action with some delightful banter and a good cast.

The trailer gives away quite a lot but through the twists and turns, everything is kept fun and fast paced so it's a perfectly enjoyable distraction.

The Smurfs 2

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Yikes. It's just so brash, the humor feels mean spirited and the jokes all involve someone else in pain or doing something rude or stupid. It just doesn't feel like the Smurfs I thought I knew as a kid. This one had an army of writers on it and they managed to concoct a pretty obvious story for the sequel and get stars to reprise their roles.

And once again, no 3D so any novelty or interest I might have gotten from the film was lacking.

There's quite a bit of using cheap digital stock footage of paris and sticking smurfs on top, at a noticeably higher resolution. for something with so many effects in every shot it feels very cheap.

Brendan Gleeson why are you here?

Planes

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This one feels more like a practice film for all involved. Disney Brought the lifeless but money-making franchise from Pixar and made their own quick spin-off that is even less engaging and heartfelt that the 2 Pixar entries. Not just in terms of story, but voice acting, the level of detail in their backgrounds, lighting and yes, the actual animation.

Once again, due to lack of 3D screens in Australia, the films best asset was unavailable to me so I can only imagine what the flying sequences in 3D looked like.

The film lazily hits all the required beats. If you've got obsessed kids they'd probably get a kick out of it but there's really nothing else here.