So then, due to other commitments we were unable to get a film in on Tuesday night, so to redress the balance we treated ourselves to a trip to the cinema today and saw; The Kings Speech.
The story follows George (Bertie) the Duke of York, who has since childhood suffered from a stammer. After trying all manner of cures, he finds, via his Wife, Lionel Logue an Australian Speech Therapist. What ensues is the emotional journey that Bertie and Lionel embark upon, whilst trying to cure his stammer.
The (true) story is handled superbly, and with perfect humour. Without the humour the story may have been a little flat. The injection of some royal jokes and the interplay between Bertie (Colin Firth) and Lionel (Geoffrey Russell), is brilliant. Helena Bonham-Carter portrays Queen Elizabeth superbly and is a delight to watch. The other highlights are; Michael Gambon as King George V and Guy Pearce as King Edward VIII.
Also, watch out for Timothy Spall as Churchill and an aging Anthony Andrews as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
So is all the hype, BAFTA and Oscar nominations worth it? Yes, yes it is. It's a cracker of a film, Colin Firth is sublime as King George VI (he becomes King during the film, hence the title!).
Geoffery Rush is also outstanding as Lionel Logue and is a great counterpoint to the regal leading character.
Also, look out for Ramona Marquez as Princess Margaret, slightly different to her role as Karen in Outnumbered.
We really enjoyed The Kings Speech, it is a deeply moving, powerful story, told with great humour, against the backdrop of the impending war. It portrays a special friendship, forged out of a professional need, between two men who would otherwise never meet.
The screenplay, written by David Seidler is excellent. If you haven't seen this film yet, get to your local cinema and watch it!
Friday 25 February 2011
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Knocked Up - 15th February 2011
Normally, at this point on a Tuesday Night is Film Night night, my head is full of words and phrases to describe the evenings' movie presentation. Tonight however, I am lacking any kind of lexical linguistics, or readable references.
Knocked Up. Thumbs down.
OK, let us not be too harsh. The film follows the lives of Alison Scott & Ben Stone, played by the lovely Katherine Heigl (she was in 27 Dresses a recent TNiFN film) and Seth Rogen. For whatever reason they end up having a one night stand. Which dear reader I am sure you can deduce from the title of the film, left Alison pregnant.
What follows is how these two unconnected very different people cope with the pregnancy. And this is where I see this film was weak, it tried to mix to film genres, that of the Chick Flick and that of the Dick Flick (film where guys dick around)! Hey, it rhymes.
Ben and his mates fool around, smoke weed, and document nudity within films for a website! Whilst swearing a lot, Too much in fact. Don't get me wrong, the well placed expletive has meaning in films, but this was the flagrant use of the 'F' word which didn't prove anything within the context of the story.
Back to the point, oh yes mixing genres, Ben had his boys, whilst Alison had the the girls and the kids, so we have a chick flick going on as well. And for me, this mixing of the genres watered down the story, which was pretty thin anyway.
So we then witness the ups and downs of a relationship that is based on a one night stand. There is a sub plot, which follows the relationship of Alison's Sister; Debbie (Leslie Mann) and Pete (Paul Rudd) and draws parallels with Ben and Alison, but it's all a bit wishy washy.
It's also 129 minutes long, which probably accounts for it being so perceivably weak. A bit more harsh editing may have been required.
The laughs were few and far between, the dialogue was disappointing, the storyline was feeble, all in all it hasn't been one of the better films.
In summation; good in parts, poor for the rest.
Darn! I should start doing a rating for each film. Knocked Up is a 5 out of 10.
Knocked Up. Thumbs down.
OK, let us not be too harsh. The film follows the lives of Alison Scott & Ben Stone, played by the lovely Katherine Heigl (she was in 27 Dresses a recent TNiFN film) and Seth Rogen. For whatever reason they end up having a one night stand. Which dear reader I am sure you can deduce from the title of the film, left Alison pregnant.
What follows is how these two unconnected very different people cope with the pregnancy. And this is where I see this film was weak, it tried to mix to film genres, that of the Chick Flick and that of the Dick Flick (film where guys dick around)! Hey, it rhymes.
Ben and his mates fool around, smoke weed, and document nudity within films for a website! Whilst swearing a lot, Too much in fact. Don't get me wrong, the well placed expletive has meaning in films, but this was the flagrant use of the 'F' word which didn't prove anything within the context of the story.
Back to the point, oh yes mixing genres, Ben had his boys, whilst Alison had the the girls and the kids, so we have a chick flick going on as well. And for me, this mixing of the genres watered down the story, which was pretty thin anyway.
So we then witness the ups and downs of a relationship that is based on a one night stand. There is a sub plot, which follows the relationship of Alison's Sister; Debbie (Leslie Mann) and Pete (Paul Rudd) and draws parallels with Ben and Alison, but it's all a bit wishy washy.
It's also 129 minutes long, which probably accounts for it being so perceivably weak. A bit more harsh editing may have been required.
The laughs were few and far between, the dialogue was disappointing, the storyline was feeble, all in all it hasn't been one of the better films.
In summation; good in parts, poor for the rest.
Darn! I should start doing a rating for each film. Knocked Up is a 5 out of 10.
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Kick Ass - 8th February 2011
So here we are again, after a week off last week, due to the fact that we went out on Tuesday to a real life show, rather than a film. Anyway enough of that and more of this;
Kick Ass!
Tonight's film was the comic book style super hero comedy thriller; Kick Ass. Yes, well where do you pigeon hole a film like this?
I won't bore you with too much detail of the story, but it follows the adventure of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), who wonders why there are no super heroes. So, he invents one.
Everybody, meet Kick Ass.
Who then gets his ass kicked within minutes. After a spell in hospital, he plots to re-launch Kick Ass and this time, he takes on a gang and wins, whilst being filmed by some locals. This footage gets uploaded to You Tube and you have an overnight sensation.
He gets embroiled with the local mob, led by Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong). This is where his path crosses with Hit Girl and Big Daddy, more wannabe super heroes, played wonderfully by Chloë Moretz and Nicolas Cage.
Big Daddy and Hit Girl take the vigilante super hero persona to a different level, with all manner of weapons in their armoury.
All the while Frank D’Amico's men are getting knocked off. It turns out Big Daddy is actually Damon Macready an ex cop with a score to settle, after being framed by Frank D’Amico.
What follows is an often funny, but more than often than not, very violent and bloody romp.
At first, this was bearable comedic action, with bullets and blades flying, especially the scene where Kick Ass and Hit Girl meet for the first time. They take on Rasul and his gang. The killing spree was carried out to the theme tune of the Banana Splits, it was clearly comedy killing.
It was funny but...... there's something not quite right about an 11 year girl, dropping the "C" bomb, then taking out 8 to 10 grown men with a double ended sword.
Actually, I almost agree with the shock value of the use of the C word. It gave the scene edge and the character of Hit Girl, the right degree of gravitas. However......
After this scene, the film took a sinister twist, the comedic soundtrack made way for a more malignant and portentous accompaniment. The killings weren't from a comic book, they were from a thriller. The special effects were more at home in a first person role playing video game, than a film.
All that being said, I enjoyed the film, the story line was strong and consistent, the plots and sub plots intertwined very nicely. I particularly liked the love interest, in the form ofKatie played by Lyndsy Fonseca, it provided a very good counterpoint to the bloods and guts.
Some points of note, the screenplay of the original Mark Millar story, was written by Jane Goldman, Jonathan Ross's Wife. Who also co-produced the film.
Secondly, the last time I saw Nicholas Cage in a film, was Knowing, where I thought he was not at his best. In Kick Ass he was actually very good.
I am not a fan of horror movies. I'm not a fan of slasher movies. Action thrillers are OK, but the violence in Kick Ass was gratuitous to say the least. The 15 Rating is dubious.
However, if you can see through this and view the film purely and simply as a modern, graphic, comic book style, super hero, special effect laden, comedic thriller and know that it's not real, (although the effects try to tell you otherwise), then it's a good film.
To be sure, I will have to watch it again.
Kick Ass!
Tonight's film was the comic book style super hero comedy thriller; Kick Ass. Yes, well where do you pigeon hole a film like this?
I won't bore you with too much detail of the story, but it follows the adventure of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), who wonders why there are no super heroes. So, he invents one.
Everybody, meet Kick Ass.
Who then gets his ass kicked within minutes. After a spell in hospital, he plots to re-launch Kick Ass and this time, he takes on a gang and wins, whilst being filmed by some locals. This footage gets uploaded to You Tube and you have an overnight sensation.
He gets embroiled with the local mob, led by Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong). This is where his path crosses with Hit Girl and Big Daddy, more wannabe super heroes, played wonderfully by Chloë Moretz and Nicolas Cage.
Big Daddy and Hit Girl take the vigilante super hero persona to a different level, with all manner of weapons in their armoury.
All the while Frank D’Amico's men are getting knocked off. It turns out Big Daddy is actually Damon Macready an ex cop with a score to settle, after being framed by Frank D’Amico.
What follows is an often funny, but more than often than not, very violent and bloody romp.
At first, this was bearable comedic action, with bullets and blades flying, especially the scene where Kick Ass and Hit Girl meet for the first time. They take on Rasul and his gang. The killing spree was carried out to the theme tune of the Banana Splits, it was clearly comedy killing.
It was funny but...... there's something not quite right about an 11 year girl, dropping the "C" bomb, then taking out 8 to 10 grown men with a double ended sword.
Actually, I almost agree with the shock value of the use of the C word. It gave the scene edge and the character of Hit Girl, the right degree of gravitas. However......
After this scene, the film took a sinister twist, the comedic soundtrack made way for a more malignant and portentous accompaniment. The killings weren't from a comic book, they were from a thriller. The special effects were more at home in a first person role playing video game, than a film.
All that being said, I enjoyed the film, the story line was strong and consistent, the plots and sub plots intertwined very nicely. I particularly liked the love interest, in the form ofKatie played by Lyndsy Fonseca, it provided a very good counterpoint to the bloods and guts.
Some points of note, the screenplay of the original Mark Millar story, was written by Jane Goldman, Jonathan Ross's Wife. Who also co-produced the film.
Secondly, the last time I saw Nicholas Cage in a film, was Knowing, where I thought he was not at his best. In Kick Ass he was actually very good.
I am not a fan of horror movies. I'm not a fan of slasher movies. Action thrillers are OK, but the violence in Kick Ass was gratuitous to say the least. The 15 Rating is dubious.
However, if you can see through this and view the film purely and simply as a modern, graphic, comic book style, super hero, special effect laden, comedic thriller and know that it's not real, (although the effects try to tell you otherwise), then it's a good film.
To be sure, I will have to watch it again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)