Jacob's Film Cabin

The Top Ten of 2014

2014-12-30T14:58:00.000+00:00

As 2014 rolls to a close, I've compiled the film releases which I believe to be the ten best that the year has offered. From big-hitting blockbusters to small-time indies, my list includes films which were released between January 1st through to December 31st. This means that films I have been fortunate enough to see this year but are due for a 2015 release (Inherent Vice, A Most Violent Year, Whiplash) can only be in contention in next year's list.

The films I have not yet seen, which will be ruled out as a consequence, include: Boyhood, Ida, Lucy, Pride, Two Days One Night and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

10. The Guest

2014 threw forward a number of relatively successful films drenched in old school elegance (Cold in July, The Two Faces of January) but it was The Guest – from director Adam Wingard – that impressed more than the rest. Former Downton Abbey resident Dan Stevens showcased his chops as a charismatic yet beguiling screen presence in this old school thriller which is surely destined for cult status.

9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Rupert Wyatt may not have returned to direct the sequel to his resoundingly successful reinvention of the Apes franchise which arose three years previous, but under the direction of Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) and with the greatest WETA performances thus far – both Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell thankfully given top billing as Caesar and Koba – Dawn... didn't propel the overarching plot forward as expected but focused on a crucial battle which left apes as the dominant species going into part three.

8. The LEGO Movie

It's doubtful whether anybody could have predicted the success of The LEGO Movie. Under the guide of duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – who, with sequel 22 Jump Street, scored a cracking 2014 – the year's best kids film (with Paddington a close second) threw in everything it could muster and, somehow, it all proved pretty... well, awesome; if you're searching for a film to bring out your inner child, look no further.

7. The Wolf of Wall Street

Leo DiCaprio failed to win an Oscar once again for his brilliant portrayal of Jordan Belfort in Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street – a film which tracked the real-life story of a wealthy stock-broker's high life to his crime-corrupted dalliance with the FBI. Despite never reaching the heights of the filmmaker's efforts throughout the past decade (The Departed, or even Hugo), this black comedy remains thrillingly debauched throughout and is all the more impressive for it.

6. Gone Girl

David Fincher turned in another reliably twist-laden adult pulp thriller, this time taking the source material of author Gillian Flynn (on screenwriting duties also). If the film's plot concerning Ben Affleck's character Nick Dunne and the search for his missing wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike in one of the performances of the year) has escaped you since Gone Girl's release back in October, then a) where have you been?, and b) great going; there are some films which come along with the need to be simply seen with zero known. Gone Girl, for all of it's screwed-up intensity, is one of them.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy

Cinema audiences have such faith in Marvel, what with their past Avengers-shaped successes, that when Guardians of the Galaxy arrived in the summer based on a fresh group of oddball individuals – including a talking raccoon and walking tree, no less – it still managed to prove the commercial and critical success of the year. Not bad going for a film whose downright brilliant opening credits sequence saw a sitcom supporting star (Parks and Recreation's Chris Pratt) jiving to Redbone's Come and Get Your Love in space.

4. Under the Skin

Scarlett Johansson, hidden in a brown fur coat and under a tousled mop of black hair, driving a van around Scotland while picking up the most unsuspecting of blokes was one hell of a cinematic hook. That Jonathan Glazer's – at times – difficult film (based on Michael Faber's novel of the same name) benefits so gloriously from re-watch is a feat which would be scandalous to dismiss.

3. Interstellar

Up until Interstellar, many would have found it impossible to criticise the impressively illustrious career that British filmmaker Christopher Nolan has crafted for himself in such a short space of time. However, this space opus – which follows Matthew McConaughey's Cooper on a mission to discover new habitable planters – seemed to split audiences right down the middle. In a time of mindless blockbusters, Interstellar remains a lovingly cinematic adventure which is wormholes ahead of the competition.

2. Nightcrawler

The King of Comedy meets Drive by way of Network – but to say that Jake Gyllenhaal recalls characters like De Niro's Pupkin is to somewhat disservice what the actor brings to the table in Dan Gilroy's directorial debut. Gyllenhaal is Lou Bloom, a dementedly driven cameraman who scours the night for crime, in a film which will surely be drawn upon as the influence for many pretenders to come.

1. Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen Brothers's foray into the folk music scene of early sixties Greenwich Village isn't so much a love letter than a pure exploration. Set to the backdrop of the titular Llewyn's muted exasperation at the failure of his singer-songwriting career (in what is sure to endure as a career-defining performance from Oscar Isaac), the brothers Coen once again effortlessly fuse all the required elements (cinematography, screenplay, not to mention a soundtrack to die for) in order to craft a film that would almost definitely be in a list compiling the best films of the past 15 years.

Million Dollar Arm

2014-11-05T12:54:00.002+00:00

PG, 2014, Directed by Craig Gillespie
Starring: Jon Hamm, Lake Bell, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, Alan Arkin

Jon Hamm continues an incredibly lingering transition to the big screen with Disney’s American hit MILLION DOLLAR ARM, part sports drama, part romance, part fish-out-of-water comedy which combines to make up what is essentially a biographical rags-to-riches tale.

Tracking the story of sports agent JB Bernstein (Hamm) and an innovative idea which takes him to India (via a path of self-enlightenment and Britain’s Got Talent), we are introduced to his tough-to-like cynic who, whilst residing in a pristine apartment decorated with a flash car on the drive, spends his days dating models, soullessly shunning hellos from Lake Bell’s kooky tenant, Brenda.

With this being Disney, there is a humanity hiding away under that surface. Hamm conveys it neatly, striding through the 124-minute running time with the sophisticated allure of an actor direct from Hollywood’s Golden Age; a real movie star. Akin to his Mad Men counterpart Don Draper, Bernstein is best utilised communicating for professional gain. Willing to go to uncharted lengths to revive his flagging career, and rather oddly inspired by a convenient bout of channel-hopping (Amanda Holden making her Disney debut…), he travels to India to find the ‘million dollar arm’ – a baseball pitcher to rival the best of them. Step forward two equally as impressive finds with varying techniques; Rinku and Dinesh (Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma and Slumdog Millionaire’s Madhur Mittal, both holding their own).

A film of two parts, the film’s India-set scenes are a real delight with Hamm’s fish-out-of-water arc making him all raised eyes and exasperated glances – aided by Pitobash Tripathy’s true comedic knack as baseball fanatic Amit Rohan. Your laughter may just catch you off guard. Alan Arkin’s arrival as sports scout Ray Poitevint, a dynamite performance which completely steals the film from all, is balanced shrewdly, failing to throw the film wide and reintroducing him when repetition spills through the cracks.

Bernstein struggles to add ‘mentor’ to his capabilities once back in the States, and this paves the way for Lake Bell’s Brenda to complete his transition. Her character is adorable as hell and simply adds to the mixture pot of never-overwhelming sweetness. The friendship she develops with the two strangers in a strange land rings true, with Brenda becoming the mouthpiece for Rinku and Dinesh’s confidence issues. As the story propels forward, the main cast all click nicely into place offering the film its share of memorable moments (just try not to grin when Rinku and Dinesh catch Bernstein sneaking out of Brenda’s room the morning after the night before, each actor nailing what director Craig Gillespie asks of them).

Despite no uncertainty of the ultimate destination, MILLION DOLLAR ARM somehow keeps your attention held, providing a well-structured if overlong journey that has no right to be this charming. While not the home run Disney may have been aiming for, Gillespie’s film will fix a smile onto your face – and it will be worth a million dollars.

4/5

Sin City: A Dame to Kill for

2014-11-05T12:50:00.001+00:00

15, 2014, Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller
Starring: Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Powers Boothe, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke

Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s long-awaited Sin City sequel, A Dame to Kill For, arrives on a nine year wave of expectation, ready to soak you up and hurl you around with such ferocity you’ll feel as if it’s been mere days since the original unleashed itself back in 2005.

Concocted of a series of short segments, one of which – Booze, Broads & Bullets – was torn from Miller’s very own pages, here the writer and returning co-director Rodriguez have created two completely fresh escapades for these inhabitants to endure: The Long Bad Night, in which Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s smarmy gambler learns what it’s like to lose, and Nancy’s Last Dance, which features Jessica Alba’s stripper hell-bent on avenging a crucial death from the previous film. Everything is much the same, differences be damned: the ensemble remain largely intact (with notable additions and numerous brilliantly-conceived cameos), the disparate segments integrate in lean ways designed to not only emphasise the ‘sin’ in Basin City but to broaden this monochromatic universe presented with noir qualities which are rolled up into one giant graphic novel joint.

Mickey Rourke’s beast-like powerhouse Marv slams onto the screen in an opening sequence that will reintroduce and recalibrate. Moody voiceover dialogue is mumbled – part poetic, part mumbo-jumbo; almost immediately fans of the original can consider themselves reacquainted and new inductees welcomed. Gordon-Levitt’s venture into darkness serves as a refreshing addition to the film’s mix bag of characters, perhaps serving to reintroduce the villainous Senator Roark (Powers Boothe, one of a fair few 24 alumni getting their hands dirtier than ever) which segues nicely into our villainess of the piece, Ava Lord.

In Eva Green, Sin City 2 finds its subtitle. Appearing in Dwight’s story, a returning character here played by Josh Brolin rather than Clive Owen (this is set before the character’s facial reconstruction), her incredibly nude titular (stop your sniggering) dame to kill for manipulates everything within her sights and beyond; audiences may be privy to Ava Lord’s motives, yet her alluring screen presence threatens to lull you at every turn. Eva Green relishes every second and elevates this section into becoming the sequel’s high point.

It’s with Nancy Callahan’s tale that the steam shows signs of dissipating. Spending the majority of her scenes before it dancing even more provocatively than the last (you’ll lose count) all Alba’s revenge-seeker amounts to is the film’s weak link. Minus the ripeness of the original, a Sin City sequel was never going to blindside audiences with something authentic – if it ain’t broke, etc. With each foray into this murky underworld feeling more of a sideshow than the main attraction – a tantalising block off the wedge – you will pointedly be left feeling gluttonous for more. How sinful.

3.5/5

Venus In Fur

2014-07-27T16:44:00.001+01:00

2014, 15, Directed by Roman Polanski

Starring: Matthieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner

Having not so much challenged than entertained audiences with play adaptation Carnage in 2010, capable filmmaker Roman Polanski - recently inducted into his eighties - treads familiar ground with Venus In Fur, a stage-for-screen re-telling of David Ives' play, which itself follows a playwright-turned-director in the process of auditioning actresses for the lead role in a new play based upon 1870 novella Venus In Furs by Leopoldo von Sacher-Masoch.

After a lengthy day turning down sub-par and prima donna actresses, enter Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner), a unique fast-talking female who shares fluent knowledge of every line in the play, as well as name with the lead character. Finally agreeing to audition her, Thomas (Matthieu Amalric) reads the role of masochistic character Henri, whilst Vanda slips effortlessly into her counterpart. Manipulation leads to domination in a two-hander set singularly in a dimly lit theatre, which goes some way to heightening Vanda's mysticism, Thomas' confusion and the two's sexual tension, rising with every passing second.

Flitting between audition to analytical debate of the play's themes, the dialogue soon becomes concurrent with the situation, as Polanski employs the camera to do nothing but crawl around the two with a simultaneous dramatically-charged build up of unease, as gender dynamics - and as the audition progresses, roles - overwhelm the increasingly debauched situation (original author Masoch derived the term 'masochism').

For some, the material may not justify the structure, but Venus In Fur's entertainment - nowhere near as overt as seeing Foster, C. Reilly, Winslet and Waltz throw touchy put downs at one another for 90 minutes - stems from the overarching sense of dread, in itself not all too justifiable. Still, Amalric and Seigner dazzle like it's their last performance they'll give, which should provide recommendation enough to take a seat, drape yourself in the nearest blanket and witness an intriguing slice of French-language fun.

3/5

22 Jump Street

2014-06-29T13:47:00.000+01:00

2014, 15, Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube

A sequel to 2010’s sleeper hit big-screen re-tooling of US teen drama 21 Jump Street (which made a star of Johnny Depp) was an inevitable notion. What wasn’t so inevitable was just how funny it would be. With an identical plot which pits Jenko and Schmidt as college students, undercover in order to investigate the dealing of deadly drug WhyPhy, this outing plays as a parody of itself, sending up the jackpot-minded, over-bloated idea of what sequels actually are to side-splitting degrees. The beauty lay in the fact 22 Jump Street is over-bloated in the one aspect all comedies aim to be, but rarely succeed in being – laughter. From the opening sequence which sees Messrs Hill and Tatum (the most effective on-screen partnership this side of the decade) attempt to infiltrate an Italian cartel, the two actors bounce around the screen with a camaraderie you just know extends beyond the screen, heightening the hilarity of the fractures which begin forming in their cop partnership (‘I think we should investigate other people’, deadpans Tatum to a morose Hill who wears the eyes of a long-suffering partner who has just heard the word ‘divorce’).

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, fresh from dealing out the two funniest films of the year (with this sitting alongside mega hit animation The LEGO Movie), simply appeals to precisely what cinemagoers yearn to see. Sending yourself up is a bankable win, but 22 Jump Street manages to remain leaps and bounds ahead of audiences – stick around for the genius end credits sequence which sees the duos dabble in a world of potential future instalments; a genuine treat for the majority, but a inconceivable nightmare for those who struggle to ride this bandwagon.

4/5

Godzilla

2014-06-28T13:41:00.000+01:00

2014, 12, Directed by Gareth Edwards
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe

When Gareth Edwards strolled onto the scene in 2010 with DIY indie masterpiece Monsters, ears were pricked as to what this new-found talent (previously a BBC cameraman) was to do next. In a superhero-gone-serious age of moodier landscapes where gritty realism is embraced over light-hearted entertainment, it comes as no surprise that the Warner Brother sharks circled the Edward's fresh blood as the man to reinvent the Godzilla franchise, locked away turgidly in a mammoth vault thanks to Roland Emmerich’s failure to do so back in ’98.

Whereas that attempt simply threw 'Zilla' into the mix of things in New York City, this attempt – in 3D IMAX, no less – fleshes out the origins akin to the Japanese Toho originals back in the 50s. Embracing the ancestry of their fear of crafting films explicitly to do with Hiroshima, by the time Godzilla – the baby of such fears – makes his appearance on screen (you’ll be waiting a while…), disappointment will most certainly not be the overriding feeling.

Beginning with a taut opener in which we see the destruction of a nuclear plant in Janjira, Japan, American plant supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) lives years in a reclusive manner attempting to uncover the real cause of the explosion, long since attributed to an earthquake. Assisted by his hesitant son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a US Navy bomb disposal officer living in San Francisco with wife Elizabeth Olsen and son, the two find themselves in the mixer of an awakening of a winged MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) – a creature which wreaks devastation upon the world, always conveniently in the places where our protagonist roams.

The visuals may be magnificent, the sound design thrillingly overwhelming and the intentions admirable, yet after a brilliantly-edited opening half an hour, you can sense the pressure getting to Edwards, the cinematography of the film appealing more than the actual events playing out on-screen (big up Seamus McGarvey). The monolithic one-note characters can be forgiven (Sally Hawkins as an exposition-spewing scientist whose name you’ll struggle to recall; Olsen criminally wasted as the doting wife rescuing the injured in a hospital whilst the apocalypse occurs around her) – after all, something has to give in a two-hour long film with a scope such as this. Much like Man of Steel’s disastrous final act, it’s in Godzilla’s substitution of emotion in favour of destruction - with every shot comprising of a city crumbling, building by building, and unknown masses of people meeting unseen grisly ends. Such problems lead to a desensitisation against what happens next, thus removing most of the tension and almost all of the engagement.

All Godzilla manages to amount to is an entertaining but criminally unchallenging way to spend a few hours – a squandered opportunity from a filmmaker whose early masterpiece could now be cited as sheer beginner’s luck.

3/5

300: Rise of an Empire

2014-03-06T23:10:00.000+00:00

2014, 15, Directed by Noam Murro
Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro, Lena Headey

‘Show them we chose to die on our feet rather than live on our knees!' bellows - no, not Gerard Butler - but Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton, taking lead role duties in 300: Rise of an Empire, a prequel-of-sorts to Zack Snyder’s 2006 mammoth cult hit, 300. Whilst the original focused on King Leonidas, his army of 300 Spartans and their part in the Battle of Thermopylae, the action here is transported to the seas with Stapleton starring as Themistocles, a Greek general who must lead a fleet against Persian forces. Stapleton - spotted in Animal Kingdom (2010) and The Hunter (2011) before making movements to Hollywood in Gangster Squad (2013) - makes an attempt to carve out a character amid the hordes of oiled-up extras befit with rippling torsos, but is met with fiercer opposition than simply the viewing audience; in Eva Green, we have the villainess of the piece, Artemsia - the vengeful, soulless leader of the Persian navy, a screen presence who quenches audience’s thirst for blood more readily than most. Teasing unpredictability with every movement, Rise of an Empire struggles to meet her standards.

Expanding upon the universe introduced by Snyder, director Noam Murro takes time to flesh out backstory (using Frank Miller’s unpublished graphic novel Xerxes as a basis) before ditching the prequel formula around the quarter-way mark, the remainder of the action running parallel to that of 300. Time enough for a strand or two about how Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) became the God-King we remember him to be, or how Themistocles sought the aid of the Spartans via Lena Headey’s returning yet criminally underused Queen Gorgo; if Butler’s presence is missed, it’s her shortage of presence that is felt.

Despite the unprecedented success of 300, some naysayers criticised the visuals and now with added 3D, the sense is heightened that somewhere nearby lurks a kid clutching a Playstation controller - for a film largely dependent on these impressive visuals to dazzle, it’s unfortunate the universe remains a strangely uninvolving vessel.

But there is no denying the film zips along at one hell of a pace with the well-choreographed action only dulling towards the end as the tempo-manipulation begins to irk (slow-mo conveniently deployed as weapon meets flesh, blood shooting out towards the screen by the bucketful). It's during these scenes that the obscured positives float freely to the surface: a pulsating soundtrack from Dutch composer Junkie XL ticks many right boxes, not to mention the impressive mixing of said score with the sound of sword-slicing; a memorable turn from rising star Jack O'Connell (of Skins fame) as young Greek warrior Calisto counters the more outlandish moments - the success of which solely relies on Eva Green, simply put, giving it hell.

...and yet, for a film depicting the Rise of an Empire, it all feels familiarly one-note.

2/5

You can find my review of 300: Rise of an Empire on Film Juice

Best Picture Nominee #9

2014-03-02T17:55:00.001+00:00

The Wolf of Wall Street

Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest teaming with Martin Scorsese was met with huge critical acclaim, many touting The Wolf of Wall Street – the story of infamous New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort – as his best performance to date. Filled with debauchery galore and at a running time of 3 hours, Martin Scorsese delivered a true classic, with enough memorable moments which would make picking a favourite impossible. A nomination was a guaranteed welcome, but it’s doubtful anybody involved thinks they even stand a chance at a win tonight.

Film: 4.5/5

Chances of winning: 2/5

What will it win? Nothing – but it's okay; it's one of the best of the bunch and would have probably been nominated had there been the five-nomination rule.

Best Picture Nominee #8

2014-03-02T15:03:00.000+00:00

12 Years a Slave

Undoubtedly one of the year’s strongest nominees, 12 Years a Slave has all the makings of a Best Picture winner: the sensitive subject crafted in an articulate and astounding way by a director rapidly crawling to the top of his game. Sure, Steve McQueen has a taste for the bleak (Hunger, Shame), but this does not detract from the film’s credibility. Naturally, controversy has hit surrounding its depiction of slavery. But the fact its closest rival is fundamentally a two-hander sci-fi blockbuster speaks volumes about how interesting this year’s race is…

If I was a betting man, my money would be splashed on 12 Years a Slave to beat Gravity to the Best Picture Oscar.

Film: 4.5/5
Chances of winning: 4.5/5

What will it win? The main award of the evening (Best Picture) - yet its other two best chances are slightly shadier: Best Supporting Actress for Lupits N'yongo is threatened by Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) in the ceremony's closest battle, and Best Adapted Screenplay for John Ridley.

Best Picture Nominee #7

2014-03-02T14:41:00.001+00:00

Philomena

It’s great to see Philomena amongst this year’s crop, not only alerting those who weren’t aware of an astounding true story, but championing the British side of things. Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope’s script, adapted from Martin Sixsmith’s book, tells the story of political journalist Sixsmith himself (here played by Coogan) and Philomena Lee (Dame Judi Dench), who attempts to find her son who was cruelly taken away from her five decades previous when she fell pregnant in a convent. The film is fantastic, putting the audience through countless emotions all at once, but the nomination - sadly - is a case of filler.

Film: 4.5/5
Chances of winning: 1/5

What will it win? The suspicious has sneaked in how Philomena could pull a blinder in the Adapted Screenplay category, snatching the statuette away from John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave. It's a big shout, one that would be praised, but when it comes down to it, may just be too good to be true.

Best Picture Nominee #6

2014-03-02T14:22:00.002+00:00

Nebraska

Alexander Payne is no stranger to the Academy (Sideways, The Descendants, etc.) so a nomination for the heartwarming Nebraska was not a leftfield appearance – but is an outside bet. Not to take anything away from the film, Nebraska is shot in black and white, and stars Best Actor nominee Bruce Dern as Woody Grant, a stubborn, senility-stricken pensioner who is convinced he has landed a windfall of cash when a leaflet telling him so falls through his front door.

Film: 4/5
Chances of winning: 2/5

What will it win? Nebraska will walk away empty handed.

Best Picture Nominee #5

2014-03-01T15:33:00.000+00:00

Her

The cult following behind Spike Jonze’s Her carves this out as the underdog of the year. A futuristic tale, the film follows Joaquin Phoenix's Theodore, a man who enters a relationship with an Operating System (seductively voiced by Scarlett Johansson), a machine designed to keep people company and meet their every need. It’s unfortunate to have to discount a film so easily - however a win is near impossible. Success for Jonez’s original screenplay has the potential to prove one of the more popular wins of the night.

Film: 3.5/5
Chances of winning: 2/5

What will it win? Though American Hustle is its closest competitor, it seems Original Screenplay is Spike Jonze's to lose.

Best Picture Nominee #4

2014-03-01T15:20:00.001+00:00

Gravity

Alfonso Cuarón’s space spectacle has proved a mammoth success all-round; critics adored it and audiences lapped it up, immersing themselves into the rollercoaster ride of a film in their millions. Stripping the bravado away, a question is raised as to whether Gravity floats as well, but regardless the film remains one side of this year’s fight. Tying as the ceremony’s lead nominee, the good money would be put on Gravity to be the evening’s biggest winner – however, a best picture win will be one too many. Cuarón looks set to pull an Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and scoop Best Director for the sheer mind-boggling scope of what is unarguably the most visually impressive film in quite some time.

Film: 4.5/5
Chances of winning: 4/5

What will it win? Well, where do we start? Best Director, a Cinematography win for Emmanuel Lubezki, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects. A win for Steven Price in the Original Score category solidifies this as Gravity's evening, despite 12 Years a Slave scooping the main prize.

Best Picture Nominee #3

2014-03-01T13:49:00.002+00:00

Dallas Buyers Club

Every year, the awards circuit features an underdog in the truest form, and in Dallas Buyers Club, we have the little film that could. Telling the story of AIDS sufferer Ron Woodroff, and his attempts to work around the medical system in order to share the right medication with fellow patients, Matthew McConaughey stars in a lead role that continues to solidify his position as one of Hollywood’s elite. An Oscar nomination for the film was a nice touch, especially considering it's one of the more heartfelt films in the category, however a win is hugely unlikely. It’s down to the two lead stars (Jared Leto, starring alongside McConaughey in a remarkable turn) to sweep up one half of this year’s acting categories.

Film: 4/5

Chances of winning: 2/5

What will it win? As mentioned above, McConaughey and Leto look set to run away with the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor award. A nomination alongside Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa and The Lone Ranger in Best Makeup and Hairstyling could see Dallas Buyers Club emerge as one of the night's biggest winners. A Tonto-shaped upset could prevent that, though...

Best Picture Nominee #2

2014-02-28T12:28:00.001+00:00

Captain Phillips

It was almost a breath of fresh air to see Captain Phillips nominated for Best Picture on announcement day, enhanced even more so when Tom Hanks’ baffling lack of appearance in the Actor category hit (for the final five minutes alone, he would have been the worthiest of winners...). Paul Greengrass’ taut, thrilling feature (and by thrilling, read: so tense it will leave you speechless) wracked nerves like no other. Setting the true-to-life story of Hanks’ Captain Richard Phillips, whose cargo ship is held captive by Somali pirates, Greengrass barks down those who mauled the underrated Green Zone (2010) through deliverance of one of the films of last year. Its chances of winning are slim, yet its inclusion remains well deserved; a reminder that the best films do get nominated - let's just ignore Inside Llewyn Davis' snub.

Film: 4.5/5

Chances of winning: 2/5

What will it win? Nada. Unfortunately, Barkhad Abdi won't replicate his BAFTA win for Supporting Actor here.

Best Picture Nominee #1

2014-02-27T17:30:00.002+00:00

This year's Oscar race is perhaps the most interesting one in sometime; what is fundamentally a two-horse race, there are a whole array of other eclectic nominees which ensures the annual ceremony remains an exciting one. Time for analysis...

American Hustle

David O. Russell's tale, loosely based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the 70s, is something of an enigma. The film isn't bad - it remains, in fact, great fun - and it’s not that the film doesn't deserve awards recognition. But somehow, for a film that happens to be tied at having the most nominations (with Gravity, fact fans), its severe lack of heart remains a problem. With O. Russell clearly loitering in voter’s regards following 2012's Silver Linings Playbook, the fact remains that American Hustle is quite the contender. If anything, the wheels are in motion for Jennifer Lawrence to steal the Supporting Actress gong from right under the nose of Lupita N’yongo (12 Years a Slave), perhaps lessening its chances in the Best Pic category. Let it be said: a shock upset isn't on the cards, however there's no denying the film's continued prowess throughout the entire awards season. Would it have been nominated had simply five films made the cut? Certainly. Yet is it the weakest one out of this year's bunch? Definitely.

Film: 3.5/5

Chances of winning: 3/5

What will it win? Its best bets are success in the Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay and Costume Design category - my prediction is that N'yongo will reign supreme in the evening's closest battle, and Her will take the Original Screenplay crown. Costume Design it is.

Inside Llewyn Davis

2014-01-23T20:59:00.000+00:00

15, 2014, Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman

Pluck a film from the back catalogue of those brothers Coen and sure as anything it'll have a leading character oozing hapless self-obsessed schmuckery; a leading character who - in any other filmmaker's feature - would traipse around on-screen with an air of teeth-baring unlikability; someone that you'd walk past on the street and never ever look back at.

...and so, add Llewyn Davis, our titular guide through the 1961 New York folk scene, to that list (the same one including both Barton Fink and Jerry Lundegaard, just resting under Larry Gopnik). An immensely talented guitar-strumming musician attempting to make a break in a scene that offers him no breaks, Llewyn is fundamentally a sofa-dwelling layabout who makes no effort to appease those closest he has to friends.

With the loving attention-to-detail the Coen's are so adept at layering over every shot, their films live a life different to most others with Inside Llewyn Davis bearing no difference. Such is the conviction of their period setting, dabbled with the effortlessly fluent screenplay setting a tone that flows with no specific apex, at times it is saddening to recalibrate to the notion that you aren’t watching a biographical documentary, but a work of fiction inspired by real-life musician Dave van Ronk (which, if you didn’t know, makes for a world class soundtrack - songs come in full here).

That’s no negative. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel creates a lavishly bleak locale for the events that befall ole’ Llewyn and bleak has rarely looked so beautiful. Oscar Isaac embraces the opportunity to become somebody, breathing life into this character potentially having the worst week of his life. In between performing songs to a near-packed Gaslight Café (the basement coffee house situated in Greenwich Village, which famously introduced an unsuspecting world to Bob Dylan) and deciding whose sofa-space he can scrounge the following night, Llewyn’s half-hearted futile attempts to earn a record deal are dampened further by his unwitting theft of the hospitable Gorfein’s orange tabby cat and Jean, the girlfriend-of-a friend that he may or may not have knocked up (a deliciously frosty Carey Mulligan, churning Coen Brother dialogue like a pro and Justin Timberlake at home in woollen jumpers).

An offbeat middle section follows, with Davis hitching a ride to Chicago with a strangely menacing John Goodman (no surprises) as a travelling jazz musician and his beat poet driver (Garrett Hedlund). Serving as an opportunity to make discoveries of his troubled past he wouldn’t dream on reflecting upon otherwise, the sequence also presents that now-classic Coen notion of presenting a sequence of importance that leaves as rapidly as it comes - introducing a scenario that departs before a resolution - capturing that unknowing essence of life: if we encounter a stranger on the street, what happens to them later on that evening will simply never be known.

But here is a Joel and Ethan film with a beating heart that pulsates a little harder than usual; in Davis, we’ve a protagonist that bit different to the others featured throughout Coen canon. Sure, his future remains as uncertain, yet you’re left with a tint of optimism that if returned to in years to come, Llewyn Davis could be a cat-owning, home-dwelling, sofa-lender all of his own. In what has been a milestone year for cinema, these brothers effortlessly show that you don’t need 3D glasses or tear-jerking subjects to provide cinemagoers with what is quite evidently yet another emotive masterclass in filmmaking.

5/5

The Wolf of Wall Street

2014-01-16T16:40:00.000+00:00

2014, 18, Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Jon Bernthal

You'll realise the moment The Wolf of Wall Street begins that your life has been lacking a Martin Scorsese film for quite some time. In fact, you’ll find yourself counting your fingers to discover that The Departed - the last time Marty dealt an 18-certificate, y'know, Scorsese film - was unveiled in 2006 (not to detract from criminally overlooked Shutter Island or Hugo - his mesmerising modern classic for all ages). But with this film, it's fair to say he delivers debauchery in a way we have never seen the directing maestro dabble in before - yes, The Wolf of Wall Street is a sweary (with its record-breaking amount of F-bombs), drug-fuelled, sex-addled trip seen through the eyes of Jordan Belfort, a young businessman corrupted upon his rise to respected stockbroker in Wall Street. It almost goes without saying Belfort’s shoes are filled by Leonardo DiCaprio, an actor so at the top of his game, you’d be hard-pressed to imagine him not being there. After four films under the guidance of somebody who has undoubtedly left their imprint upon cinema as we know it, it’s taken this fifth outing to reach the seismic heights of, dare it be whispered, Taxi Driver.

Terence Winter (creator of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) handles script duties, delivering a 3-hour doorstop of a screenplay, providing opportunity for opulence; Belfort - based on the real-life counterpart - leads a team of disciples who hang onto every word of his many power speeches, marries a trophy wife (rising talent Margot Robbie - fresh from an appearance in About Time - a long long way from Cornwall) and lives a life of luxury. Belfort's progress is tracked from wide-eyed Wall Street whippersnapper to wealthy titular wolf by way of his first boss, Mark Hanna - Matthew McConaughey in an extended cameo near the film’s start which remains a solid highlight by the end. Before too long, crime and corruption is as much a part of Belfort’s day as are stocks and shares, assisted by his memorably bespectacled close associate Donnie Azoff. Played by Jonah Hill, this progressive actor offers terrific support for Leo, the two striking chemistry not entirely dissimilar to the Liotta’s and Pesci’s of Scorsese’s back catalogue - none more so than in a scene involving the pair scoffing pills, only for the effects to rain down on them with hilariously slapstick results - a slacks-wearing DiCaprio especially impressing in a scene that re-defines his career all over again.

The entire cast embrace everything they're expected to do, making it tough to consider how this was once a film Hollywood didn't want itself tagged to. A who's-who cast of recognisable faces - Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and Joanna Lumley (needs no introduction) all wade in when the scene requires - as well as cameos from fellow directing peers poking their noses in every now and again; Scorsese is as much a director's director as he is an actor's.

Part black comedy, part crime biopic, The Wolf of Wall Street is a cautionary opus; to criticise the film for ignoring the detrimental effects these money-grabbing crooks had on their unsuspecting victims (as many have) is one hell of a patronising notion, not to mention one that misinterprets the film. More fool them. To not enjoy this film would be as criminal as the on-screen antics. Its cross-generational scope conveys the sense that it will be around forever... the kind of film watched over and over by University students on lazy Sundays, and parents once their kids have been sent to bed - one that completes the perfect Scorsese movie marathon alongside his esteemed classics. With this running time though, you'd best prepare for an all-nighter. Knock half an hour off, this'd be getting 5.

4.5/5

Oscar Nominations 2014 - Jacob Predicts...

2014-01-15T17:59:00.000+00:00

The Golden Globes have been and gone, with the BAFTA jury out until the ceremony in February. You can eye roll. You can sigh. You can pfft all you want. The Academy Awards - presented by Ellen DeGeneres on Sunday 2nd March - are the master of them all. With Oscar nominations poised to be announced tomorrow, I assess the films, actors, actresses and directors I believe will come away with a chance at claiming a golden baldie come March.

Best Picture:

Get ready for a two-horse race with 12 Years a Slave currently edging Gravity, with help from its Golden Globe win on Sunday night. Coming up the outskirts though, we have American Hustle, building stead and proving itself as a worthy opponent. The other two dead certs for a nomination are Nebraska and The Wolf of Wall Street - no surprise considering one is an Alexander Payne film and the other a Martin Scorsese.

The Coen Brothers won in 2008 for No Country for Old Men, and every film of theirs since has featured in the extended nominations list. Inside Llewyn Davis will be no different. Expect to see Captain Phillips there also; it was nominated at the Globes, is up for a BAFTA and would be a damned worthy appearance. The nomination list doesn't necessarily have to be 10 films, but let's go under the impression there will be... Spike Jonze's latest Her will probably tail the nominations. The tough one is whose shoes will fill that final nomination. Will the Academy buckle and go with The Butler? Or will Philomena rear its British head? Other films that are sure to get Oscar recognition have a shot too (Dallas Buyers Club, August: Osage County).

My Prediction: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street

Shock Omission: The Butler

Best Actor:
An extremely easy category to call, surely all of these are going to be nominated? Other surprising, but not unwelcome entrants would include Joaquin Phoenix (Her), Forest Whitaker (The Butler), Christian Bale (American Hustle) and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis). In fact, don't be surprised if Bale makes it on there what with the glory American Hustle has been receiving. As for who he would replace, I don't even want to hazard a guess. The person who should be nominated - Robert Redford for his incredible, largely-silent performance in All Is Lost - will be snubbed.

My Prediction:

Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips, Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club, Bruce Dern - Nebraska, Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave, Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

Shock Omission: Robert Redford - All Is Lost

Best Actress:
We can probably call off all bets now, right? Cate Blanchett has this one (and so she should) - however, as for who will be set up for disappointment is another question entirely. Surely Meryl Streep is a nomination shoo-in because Meryl Streep has delivered a good performance this year, as is Sandra Bullock for carrying what many perceive to be 2013's greatest film. It would be nice for Judi Dench and Emma Thompson repping the British side of things for their fantastic appearances as Philomena Lee and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, respectively. But American Hustle has something over voters, and this will trounce somebody's chance of a nomination - Amy Adams is in (especially considering her many nominations and Golden Globe win), and shockingly, I predict Streep will be out.

My Prediction:

Amy Adams - American Hustle, Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock - Gravity, Judi Dench - Philomena, Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks

Shock Omission: Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor:If American Hustle deserves one nomination, and I never thought I'd catch myself saying this, it's for Bradley Cooper who manages to steal every scene he's in. Jared Leto's Dallas Buyers Club Golden Globe win has just sealed the fact his name will be read by presenter Chris Hemsworth on Thursday, and these Supporting categories love a newcomer... so step forward, Barkhad Abdi who deserves some form of accolade for appearing unfazed opposite Tom Hanks, let alone his gripping performance as a Somali Pirate in Captain Phillips. I'm hoping that this is the year Michael Fassbender's incredible acting skills are rewarded with some recognition - delivering a harrowing performance in 12 Years a Slave. You'd be brave to not expect Jonah Hill to build on his former nomination (for Moneyball) in Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. Things appear clear-cut here, but could Steve Coogan pull a blinder for Philomena? Or will Daniel Brühl's portrayal of F1 racer Niki Lauda be lauded, despite a poor box office performance for Rush in the States? I'm discounting Tom Hanks' slim-pickings performance as Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks right now, as well as a posthumous appearance from the late James Gandolfini (Enough Said).

My Prediction:

Bradley Cooper - American Hustle, Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips, Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club, Daniel Brühl - Rush, Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

Shock Omission: Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Supporting Actress:
Alongside guaranteed nominees - awards darling Jennifer Lawrence and beloved newcomer Lupita Nyong'o - expect appearances from some very credible actresses who delivered top-rate performances. June Squibb was electric, lighting up the black-and-white bleakness of Nebraska, whilst Sally Hawkins did an incredible job at playing the polar opposite to Blanchett's Blue Jasmine. Julia Roberts has stepped up to the plate in the Harvey Weinstein-produced August: Osage County, as has The Butler's Oprah Winfrey. Only five can be nominated however, and I'm saying Hawkins will wrongfully be ousted.

My Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle, Julia Roberts - August: Osage County, Oprah Winfrey - The Butler, June Squibb - Nebraska, Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years a Slave

Shock Omission: Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

Best Director:
Clear as day, the below five directors will be nominated come tomorrow. All displayed stellar work in fantastic films, and will continue to do so. Lee Daniels, Alexander Payne and the Coen Brothers have a slim chance of causing a shock announcement (remember that time Chris Nolan never got nominated for Inception?), but it's doubtful.

My Prediction:

David O. Russell - American Hustle, Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips, Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity, Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave, Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

Shock Omission: Alexander Payne - Nebraska

Golden Globes 2014 - The Predictions

2014-01-12T14:27:00.000+00:00

Best Motion Picture – Drama

12 Years a Slave; Captain Phillips; Gravity; Philomena; Rush

Prediction: Discounting all but 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, the entire awards season truly is a two-horse race this year; Steve McQueen’s challenging film tackles slavery, whilst Alfonso Cuarón’s blockbuster embraces spectacle – you really couldn’t get two more different films, and it could go either way. Judging by the HFPA’s past winners, I predict Gravity will be the evening’s big winner meaning 12 Years a Slave will have to wait until March for its statuette

Who I Want: Gravity – an immersive rollercoaster ride of a film.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock – Gravity; Judi Dench – Philomena; Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks; Kate Winslet – Labor Day

Prediction: The awards buzz has surrounded Blanchett since Blue Jasmine landed last summer, and although strong competition has manifested in Sandra Bullock and us Brits (with Judi Dench building prominence for her role in Philomena), it would be one hell of a shock if Cate Blanchett didn’t emerge victorious in a completely deserved win for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

Who I Want: Cate Blanchett – her role in Blue Jasmine is one that will never be forgotten.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave; Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom; Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips; Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club; Robert Redford – All Is Lost

Prediction: As astounding as it would be to see Ejiofor finally recognised for the terrific actor he is, Tom Hanks put forward a true masterclass in Captain Phillips. Could he commandeer the win? It will be close, but I still think Chiwetel Ejiofor will come away with the win for his role as Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave - with Matthew McConaughey the dark horse just outside the ring.

Who I Want: Tom Hanks for that final scene alone, although would be incredible to see acting legend Robert Redford take to the stage.

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
American Hustle; Her; Inside Llewyn Davis; Nebraska; The Wolf of Wall Street

Prediction: A category specific to comedy and musicals featuring no out-and-out comedies or musicals, it would be easy to assume this is American Hustle’s or The Wolf of Wall Street’s. Yet I’m putting my chips on Nebraska – Alexander Payne is an HFPA favourite.

Who I Want: Inside Llewyn Davis – the Coen Brothers have made a love-letter to 60s folk that rivals their back catalogue and veers towards perfection.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Amy Adams – American Hustle; Julie Delpy – Before Midnight; Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha; Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said; Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Prediction: An understated output, Meryl Streep will win for no other reason than it’s another great performance from Meryl Streep…

Who I Want: Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha may not have been perfect, but her performance was one of the year’s most memorable.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Christian Bale – American Hustle; Bruce Dern – Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street; Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis; Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Prediction: A category filled with top rate performances and no clear favourites means this will be the exciting one; as great as Bale is in American Hustle, he has been better, and even though Oscar Isaac is incredible in the Coen Brothers’ entrancing Inside Llewyn Davis, it’ll be down to Dern and DiCaprio to truss this one out… Expect Bruce Dern to get the gold for his role as Woody Grant in Nebraska.

Who I Want: Leonardo DiCaprio – this is one actor who deserves to be rewarded, especially for a performance such as this.

Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods; Despicable Me 2; Frozen

Prediction: Quite a tough one to call, but Disney’s Frozen will come away with the win here – despite fierce competition from those Minions

Who I Want: No preference really –Despicable Me 2, because it was my little brother Isaac’s favourite film of last year. Yep. I'm a good bro.

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue is the Warmest Colour; The Great Beauty; The Hunt; The Past; The Wind Rises

Prediction: Upon first look, this appears a straight forward category. What with Blue Is the Warmest Colour being winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes. All of the other nominated films have critical acclaim behind them however - especially Sorrentino's The Great Beauty - meaning this is one of the evening’s tougher ones to call. Still, I’m opting for Blue Is the Warmest Colour.

Who I Want: The Hunt – a mesmerizing film, with a jaw-dropping performance from Hannibal’s Mads Mikkelsen.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle ; Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave; Julia Roberts – August: Osage County; June Squibb – Nebraska

Prediction: Some great performances in yet another category with no clear frontrunner, June Squibb should win for her show-stealing role in Nebraska. However, awards darling Jennifer Lawrence – fresh from her Silver Linings… success – has gained heat as the night has crept ever closer.

Who I Want: June Squibb for taking a character and transforming her from frustrating matriarch into one of the most heart-warming roles of 2013.

Best Performance in an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips; Daniel Brühl – Rush; Bradley Cooper – American Hustle; Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave; Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Prediction: It’s really great to see newcomer Barkhad Abdi recognised amongst these other terrific performances, but I can see all being trounced by Jared Leto’s appearance in Dallas Buyer’s Club.

Who I Want: Michael Fassbender or Daniel Brühl, for his fantastic portrayal of FL legend Niki Lauda.

Best Director – Motion Picture
Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity; Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips; Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave; Alexander Payne – Nebraska; David O. Russell – American Hustle

Prediction: It will be damned difficult to beat Alfonso Cuarón, who I am assuming is a shoo-in for his fascinating work on display in the ground-breaking Gravity. In many ways, it should be his.

Who I Want: I believe that Cuarón deserves every accolade laid upon him; an extraordinary filmmaker who delivered a show-stopping film.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Spike Jonze – Her; Bob Nelson – Nebraska; Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan – Philomena; John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave; Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell – American Hustle

Prediction: I’m going to opt for Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell’s American Hustle screenplay – their re-telling of the ABSCAM operation back in the 70s (albeit with caper twist) seems like a script that would take the gong.

Who I Want: Philomena – seeing Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan scooping the award for their heartfelt re-telling of Martin Sixsmith’s account would be a great moment.

American Hustle

2014-01-10T11:45:00.001+00:00

15, 2014, Directed by David O. Russell
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

American Hustle's tone is set from the opening caption, citing the events of the film as 'mostly true'. David O. Russell's 70s-set caper - which is, yes indeed, loosely based on the FBI ABSCAM operation which saw a pair of con artists forced to set up a sting corruption in order to frame several politicians - is the follow-up to his adorned Silver Linings Playbook (2012), recasting both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in roles secondary to The Fighter's (2010) lead talent, Christian Bale and Amy Adams. With the zaniness amped up, here they play the con artiste counterparts Irving Rosenfeield (complete with hilariously terrible toupee) and Syndey Prosser (complete with hilariously terrible English accent), with Lawrence impressing (who'd have thought it...) as the former's erratic wife, and Cooper slipping into the shoes of undercover agent Richie DiMaso - damn near stealing the film from under everybody's wigs..

Throughout, however, O. Russell distractingly conveys the feel of a picture attempting to capture Scorsese movie magic, instead lacking the required punch that pushes that filmmaker's features towards modern classic status. The whole aesthetically-charged setting of the decade is realised well, with each actor throwing themselves into their assigned role with aplomb. Bale and Adams both impress, dealing with quite a script that captures screwball wit well - most brilliantly utilised by Cooper, his scenes with comedian Louis C.K. reigning most supreme in the membrane. As is the norm ever since her role as Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone, no review would be complete without talk going the way of Lawrence, proving as firecracker Rosalyn that comedy still remains no biggy.

With every character untrustworthy up to their eyeballs, it doesn't prove teeth-sinking material, one questioning whether you would gladly decide to spend time in their company for a rewatch once the screen fades to black. The hard irony O. Russell befalls is that American Hustle would probably benefit from such a rewatch, it's sprawling tangential editing not as slick as all involved believe it to be. But with many a laugh-inducing moment, and a neatly played cameo (that adds to the earlier Scorsese theory), American Hustle is perhaps a bit too ahead of the curve for it's own well-being, but still exists on a scale above most films released this January.

3.5/5

The World's End

2014-01-06T23:35:00.000+00:00

2013, 15, Directed by Edgar Wright

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike

Teased for what feels like an age, the final slice of Edgar Wright's genre-juggling 'Three Flavours: Cornetto' trilogy (kick-started with the near-decade old Shaun of the Dead, followed four years later by the somehow superior Hot Fuzz) arrived this summer amongst a wave of superhero sequels and animated minions. All it takes is a few short scenes to settle into the company of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and the remainder of the ensemble before realising the territory is identical to those previous yarns, allowing the viewer to approach the entire thing as comfortably as a catch-up down the local with your pals. The World's End is almost identical in tone to the films that have launched the careers of all three to heights they'd have never expected sat on that Spaced apartment circa '99: both zombie horror of the 60s and buddy cop actioners of the 70s have come before, with attention now fixed upon 80's sci-fi. The plot sees Gary King (a never better Pegg, on dickhead form) beg his former teenage beer-guzzlers to reunite in their old sleepy town of Newton Haven. Why? Well, to neck a pint in each of the 11 pubs that make up 'the golden mile,' beginning with 'The First Post' and culminating at 'The World's End'. The more boozed up the gang get, the more awry things becomes - largely thanks to the strange beings that seem to have occupied the sleepy town's residents.

The screenplay, as you'd imagine, is filled with dialogue placed to destroy you with laughter, and each amassed cast member (Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Martin Freeman) ensures their character could stagger about on their own two legs in their personal sitcom. But this is Pegg's moment. In an at-first alienating switcheroo with the former catalogue of Frost, everybody knows a Gary King (read: annoying 'mate' you'd like to punch in the jaw but can't help but greet with laughter.) The quickfire montages - long since a trademark that sets these comedies apart - take tongue-in-cheek form here, becoming neat visual gags (4 pints and a tap water), repeated but never repetitive, wittily-choreographed sequences that would've made Chaplin chortle, the aesthetically-pleasing 90s soundtrack: these are five ordinary guys doing something ordinary, but it's the talent, not the budget around them, that makes the whole thing extraordinary.

Between this and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, the magic of British comedy shines oh-so brightly.

4/5

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

2014-01-02T17:40:00.004+00:00

12, 2013, Directed by Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn

Not a remake of the 1940's Danny Kaye classic, but a re-imagining of the short story that inspired it, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty bounced from hand-to-hand before settling in Ben Stiller's mitts. An actor/director not known to take the understated approach (he struck a pose in Zoolander and shot a war flick in Tropic Thunder), here he does just that both behind and in front of the camera; astounding for a film that features an outlandish sequence involving the central character daydreaming himself as a Benjamin Button figure, cradled in the arms of his 'young' love.

Stiller juggles most of the elements carefully, introducing characters to root for (the voice of Patton Oswalt's eHarmony customer rep pre-empts his later appearance) and others to boo at (step forward Adam Scott, clearly having a chuckle playing cocky company man Ted Hendricks) whilst providing genuine awe. Setting off around the world to find a missing negative taken by Sean Penn's mysterious photographer, Mitty - aloof daydreamer of elaborately heroic scenarios (segued into seamlessly) - begins an adventure of his very own. Tone-juggling, genre-shifting and with a finale that'll leave your heart warmer than a summer's day, this film could be Ben Stiller signalling to us all how he his career path is headed in an unexpected direction, and one tinted with intrigue.

4/5

Saving Mr. Banks

2014-01-01T13:15:00.000+00:00

2013, 12, Directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell

One of the most frustrating factors in biopics are usually the wasted opportunity to explore the most interesting of characters. 2013 was the year of Diana, remember. Conversely, there are those that present us with a blurred real-life figure who is shifted sharply into focus by an enthralling piece of cinema (George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind springs to memory.)

It's something of an alarm to realise that somebody whose life hasn't been placed under microscope and in front of camera is one whose very influence still shapes cinema today - Walt Disney; a powerhouse historical figure, who audiences would gladly delve into a film of... But be sure, Saving Mr. Banks is not it.

Instead, John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) opts to show us the fortunately screen-friendly story of the legendary Mary Poppins' journey from the English page of P.L. Travers to the Hollywood studio of the moustachioed mouse-creating maestro. Uppity tea-sipping author Travers is played by Emma Thompson, an actress so adept at doing pretty much anything and achieving the desired response - here, she frustrates at her refusal to give up her novel to a bunch of savages who she's convinced would rip the pages to pieces and destroy the character she so lovingly crafted. Sitting in on - and recording every word of - the read-throughs with producer Don DeGradi (Bradley Whitford) and composing Sherman brother duo (B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman), these scenes shine with an air of irrationality, and will glisten with your giggle (ironic, considering their later assurance of hatred for Travers.) Thompson takes the irrefutably tough-to-like and difficult to encrypt author, and turns her near-stereotypically fuddity into a comedic flourish.

Yet this is very much a film of two halves. Providing context behind the creation of Mary Poppins ('never ever just Mary,' she scolds at one stage) and her longing to preserve the beloved character from becoming just another pretty woman who sings, are childhood flashbacks. Travers grew up on a ranch in Australia, where her father Mr. Banks (Colin Farrell) fed her fairytales and fantasies, whilst swigging bottles of alcohol and destroying his family on the sly. There's hints to quite a tragic upbringing, and moments in the film's present that correlate with specifics of the past, yet whenever we flit back to that ranch, the film loses the very magic ole' Walt would have ensured was there. They seriously endanger the fluidity of Saving Mr. Banks, despite some pleasant performances from Farrell and child actor Annie Rose Buckley.

Much like a Beatles fan gets joy from hearing original recordings of classic tracks, Mary Poppins fans can revel in seeing the creation of now-familial tunes. With much to love on the surface - genuine laughs, and a charmingly sweet appearance from Paul Giamatti as Travers' driver - and the closest the film allows her to have as a friend - the structure is toppled by the tedious reversion to backstory. Omitting these would have done the film some saving.

3.5/5

World War Z

2013-12-08T11:29:00.000+00:00

2013, 15, Directed by Marc Forster

Starring: Brad Pitt, Meirelle Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox

The cinema incarnation of the zombie has seen radical changes since George A. Romero’s ground-breaking Night of the Living Dead crawled it's way onto screen. With every new zombie film comes the sniffy critics, microscopically analysing all elements - with the agility of the killing machines as much the focal point as the political subtext they inevitably must convey (not to mention what the characters brandish them - something TV show The Walking Dead deals with whilst pressing tongue firmly in cheek.) World War Z, based on the 2006 novel by Max Brooks (son of Blazing Saddles director, Mel,) takes an interesting stance on the genre; the film – after a heart-pumping opening montage sequence - begins in Philadelphia, introducing us to the Lane’s, comprised of Gerry (Brad Pitt,) Karin (The Killing’s Meirelle Enos) and their two children. Within ten minutes, hell is breaking loose, cities are being overrun, and it is the double helping of Marc Forster’s snappy direction and Roger Barton and Matt Chesse’s quick-fired editing that will leave you questioning the image you’re sure you’ve just witnessed…this causes an unsettling air to descend upon the film, the slots falling into place for what is to come.

...It's unfortunate then that World War Z dips in a second act which sees Pitt’s former UN employee reluctantly agree to scale the world in hope of finding the source of the outbreak. Lazily structured, Forster relies upon striking imagery and standout set-pieces to ensure the film remains watchable – with not enough made upon the novel’s commentary on overpopulation. You may have heard about the whole thing somehow ending up in Cardiff, yet these are the scenes where the tension of the opening segment is thankfully restored in an extended set-piece captured so annoyingly well that taking a few ‘hold-your-breath’ lessons wouldn’t have gone amiss. Save for these solid moments, World War Z remains largely unremarkable, falling short of the promise conveyed in act one.

3/5