MIB3

Below you can find a link to my review of MIB3, a film based on the idea that we live in a Universe determined by causality.

Enjoy!!

http://www.tqsmagazine.co.uk/here-come-the-men-in-black-men-in-black-3-film-review/

The Dictator

You can find my review for the dictator at this web address below:

http://www.dailyonline.co.uk/the-dictator

In this review I discuss the controversial issues that this film deals with as it uses comedy as a way of negotiating these.

Enjoy!

The Dark Knight Rises

The press is picking up for the ever imminent release of the end of a legend, The Dark Knight Rises and there is a new trailer out that will make you very excited!

Christopher Nolan entered this franchise in 2005 with the release of Batman Begins. Nolan took Batman into ever darker territory as he explored the making of this legend. Tim Burton directed both Batman and Batman Returns in the early 1990’s and created a dark, troubled Gotham with a mysterious and dark vigilante. Burton created a Batman that expressed deep anxieties and fears, but Nolan takes it one step further. Nolan manages to do this alongside grounding Batman, ever more, into our reality.

In The Dark Knight Batman faces his oldest nemesis, The Joker, as in Batman directed by Burton. However, Nolan creates a Joker that is particularly unstable and psychotic, more so than Jack Nicholson’s performance. Heath Ledger creates a man who has been engulfed into psychosis and, therefore, has no reasoning to his actions. This leads you to wonder what Nolan has done with the character of Bane in the ultimate end to this legend.

The Batman films that Nolan has directed are based on identity, as Batman states in Batman Begins:

“It is not what is inside you, but what you do that defines who you are.”

Despite not containing the overtly campness that the 1960’s TV Shows and the two films directed by Joel Schumacher, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, did, Batman still offers those queer possibilities, in the sense in which he goes against the essentialist and patriarchal norms, because he is a hyper-masculine symbol, he has no parents, he works on the outside of the law and has no jurisdiction. Batman proves that identity is not fixed, whether it is concerning gender or sexuality, but that, rather, identity is fluid, non-essential and a performance, much like putting on a mask…

I will not bore you with an in-depth reading into the Batman films, but just be aware that the dark symbol of the bat represents a lot more, as it foregrounds the darkest anxieties in our society, mainly revolving around masculinity. Batman illustrates how the subject is never complete or coherent, as a subject is continually becoming, continually negotiating within itself between reality and fantasy. The films play with this idea through the split identity and the constant ‘putting on’ of identities in the form of costumes. The superhero genre is a cultural phenomenon as genre is a cultural construct.

Batman is, by far, the most interesting of all superheroes and I am excited to see what Nolan has done with him next.

I am also intrigued to see what has become of Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer gave us an ironically feminist performance in Batman Returns and so I am intrigued as to whether Ann Hathaway has followed in her footsteps.

The Dark Knight is due out on 20^th July. 

Top Cat: The Movie

Were you a cartoon fiend as a child? If so you may remember the TV cartoon series Top Cat. Well if this sounds familiar then be prepared to feel nostalgic to those days when all you worried about was watching good cartoons. Vertigo Films presents the return of TC and his gang to the screen as Top Cat: The Movie is based on the hit 1960’s TV series from Hanna-Barbara that followed a group of ‘cool’ street cats as they battled with police Officer Dibble.

Top Cat and Boris Johnson at the opening at Leicester Square.

Top-Cat: The Movie had its opening night last night, Wednesday 23^rd May, in Leicester Square and to welcome our feline friends back to the screen after a 50 year hiatus was none other than the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Top Cat: The Movie follows the original characters from the TV series; TC (Top Cat), Benny the Ball, Fancy Fancy, Choo Choo, Spook and Brains. They are back and up to mischief as they are, as always, at war with their oldest nemesis Officer Dibble. The film, however, sees TC and the gang face their biggest threat yet, as Police Chief Strickland moves to town. The gang faces a robot police force and must risk their nine lives in order to save their way of life.

Both Rupert Preston and Allan Niblo, Vertigo Film distributors, stated; "Top Cat is an iconic and much-loved character known by nearly every parent in the UK. We are thrilled to be bringing Top Cat, his mischievous gang and Officer Dibble to a whole new generation.”

The film is promising to bring all the original characters, even including Griswald the Dog and Maharaja of Pookajee alongside the New York swagger that the voice-cast in the TV series portrayed fantastically.  

If you were a fan of the cartoon, or need an entertaining film to keep the kids occupied then this one will hopefully prove to be a ‘tip-top’ production.

This vibrant retro animated film is due to hit UK cinemas next Friday, June 1^st in 2D and 3D.

Prometheus

With the release of Ridley Scott's prequel to the Alien films looming ever closer there is a new trailer to wet our appetites.

However this trailer seems to reveal an awful lot of the plot, despite the attempts to keep the twist and turns hidden. You could probably figure out what is going to happen in this film by watching this trailer. So has the PR campaign gone too far and revealed too much?

Apparently it is in the last 10 minutes of the film are where all the secrets are kept, but the trailer does not hesitate to show us, what seems to look like, a lot of footage from the end of the film. It is an interesting approach to film PR, but I guess we will not know for certain whether too much has been revealed until we are able to watch the film ourselves. I am definitely very excited to see this film after watching this trailer.

You can watch the trailer below.

Dark Shadows

Blood is thicker than water.

We all have our curses and secrets, but it would seem that the Collins family hold the worst curse and therefore biggest secret of them all. Tim Burton brings us another delightfully strange film that is an adaptation of the cult TV series, Dark Shadows that ran in the late 1960’s.

Teaming up with Johnny Depp, Burton’s Dark Shadows follows the story of Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), an extremely wealthy man whose family built Collinsport town after they introduced a fishery to the area. Barnabas was a handsome fellow and during his youth managed to break the heart of a, no ordinary, girl. The girl whose heart he broke turned out to be a witch, Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) that enjoyed holding a grudge. So much so, that she cursed Barnabas by turning him into a vampire and sending any woman he loved over widows cliff.

Two Centuries later, Barnabas is released from the box in which he was imprisoned by Angelique and returns to the Collins home in the year 1972. Barnabas returns to find that the Collins family and home is not how he left it, but instead the family has fallen into shame, due to what happened to Barnabas, and the family business has all but ceased to exist. Barnabas sets out to restore the family business and reputation, but in doing so angers a desperately in love witch that will stop at nothing to destroy Barnabas if she cannot have him.

The film emphasises that family is the most important thing in life, as Barnabas sets out to avenge and protect his. In true Burton style the main characters all have disturbing backgrounds but it is the Collin’s family home that offers them a safe sanctuary.  This film perhaps represents how strange our world has become, as we live in a place where consumerism has taken over, which is beautifully presented to us by Barnabas encountering a Macdonald’s sign, which he admires in awe. Technology has advanced and families have been broken, but the film pushes the audience to return to simpler more traditional values, the idea that blood is thicker than water sums up the films stance, as it suggests that in desperate times, such as those that we are encountering in society, we must turn to family for protection and strength and embrace those dark shadows that cloud over them.

It would seem, however, that the trailer for Dark Shadows leads the audience slightly astray. The trailer suggests that the film is fairly light-hearted and humorous, when in actual fact the film is much darker and the one liners that are present in the trailer are not quite as funny in the context of the film as a whole. However, do not despair as there are plenty of other instances in the film that gets the audience laughing out loud.

With fantastic performances given by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Eva Green and Chloë Grace Moretz as Carolyn Stoddard, this film is definitely worth sinking your teeth into. This fantastically wired story filled with vampires, witches and magic is sure to leave audiences entertained and bewitched.  

3/5 stars

American Pie Reunion

This pie definitely tastes better than the rest!

After watching Jim Levenstein finally loose his virginity 13 years ago in the first American Pie, American Pie: Reunion sees the return of our favourite sex driven teenage boys and girls with one small difference, they are no longer teenagers. The gang are back for their Class of ’99 reunion and end up in the same uncomfortable situations and antics that they were in, in 1999.

The Reunion sees the return of Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), who have a toddler but are in desperate need of spicing up their, currently non-existent, sex life. Do not despair, however, as Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) shares some great advice. Meanwhile, Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is a house-husband, who works from home and never misses an episode of Gossip Girl, whereas Oz (Chris Klein) has become a famous sports reporter on TV. Stifler (Seann William Scott) is, well, Stifler, the same rudely obnoxious guy that he was in high school and he manages to get the party started, which includes getting Jim’s widowed dad drunk and telling him to ‘dust off his dick and get some ass!’ You have to love Stiflers way with words! Finch however, seems to be the most interesting one out of the lot with his exotic tales of his extensive travels. However, the one thing that this film does lack is any action between Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Stifler’s mum (Jennifer Coolidge), but the film does find a humorous solution for this.

It would seem that the reunion brings with it an air of nostalgia, as the film takes us back to the first, American Pie, where the legends were born, in Great East Falls. The story is not centred so much on Jim and Michelle, but more the guys as a whole. The film seems to give Michelle, Vicky (Tara Reid) and Heather (Mena Suvari), who represent old flames for Kevin and Oz, a back seat, whilst the narrative focuses on the antics, friendships and troubles of the five main men. The film, therefore, has a very nostalgic undertone. The group drinks a lot of alcohol, attends highs schools parties and get themselves into some horrifically hilarious situations. However, it is Jims’ dad that definitely steals the film this time round, as he reverts back to high school behaviour by drinking, smoking and finding a new lady.

Despite the sexist nature of this film, meaning the reduction of women to objects through the use of the male gaze, the script is tastefully written which makes this film incredibly enjoyable to watch. American Pie: Reunion is laugh out loud funny, to the point where the entire audience in the movie theatre laugh simultaneously together throughout the entire film. This is definitely a film worth seeing if you wanted to give your stomach muscles a workout.

This film definitely contains all the ingredients for making a great pie, as it has; comedy, parties, high school girls, issues with sex, cringe worthy moments, that embarrassing you tube video of Jim from the first film, a surprise visit from Nadia and Jim’s dad, who by far is one of the funniest characters in this film. This is definitely a recipe for success. 

The Lucky One

From the great mind of Nicholas Sparks, who brought us The Notebook (Casavetes 2004, USA) and Dear John (Hallström 2010, USA), and director Scott Hicks comes another heart-warming tale of the need of purpose and belonging.

The Lucky One follows US Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) who is stationed in Iraq on his third tour and is caught up in a night raid. The next morning he finds a photograph, lying on the ground, of a girl (Taylor Schilling) and on the back a message that says ‘take care’ with a kiss. The girl in the photograph ends up becoming Logan’s guardian angel as he escapes death numerous times. His journey to find the light in this dark hell has just begun as Logan vows that when he arrives home he will find this girl and thank her for keeping him alive. 

This film sets off to a promising start as you expect that it will be filled with drama and heart break, just like Nicholas Spark’s other stories. However, we are given a disturbed ex-marine who is in search of a quieter life, which is exactly what we get. Logan arrives, with his dog, at the local family-run dog kennel and training centre where Beth, the girl in the photo, lives and works with her Nan (Blythe Danner) and son, Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart). Logan takes a job as a helper at the centre and soon a romance blossoms between himself and Beth. 

However, Beth has many complications in her life, including her ex-husband, Keith Clayton (Jay R. Ferguson), who has a hold over her as he threatens to take her son away if she leaves town or sees another man. The film, unfortunately, then takes a very long time to play out the rest of the narrative and leaves the audience unsatisfied at the end as there are no twists or turns in the narrative just a simple conclusion. Logan’s secret about the photo fizzles out and leaves the film struggling to keep the audience gripped.

The film is saved, though, by the great performances given by Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling. Efron gives his troubled character a depth that is broken and mysterious, but also turns out to be sensitive, a good piano player and chess player and, well, pretty good at everything, while Schilling gives a fantastic performance of a vulnerable broken young lady that seems to have aged well past her actual age. Therefore, the film brings us two broken people who are destined, by fate, to become soul mates. The acting, therefore, redeems the film to a point.

This promising film, about purpose and belonging in this world, starts out to be heart wrenching and romantically touching, but soon starts to slow down to a snail’s pace, which unfortunately makes the film a little less exciting to watch. With such high expectation from the fantastic Notebook, The Lucky One does not prove to be quite so lucky after all.  The Lucky One is a film for a rainy day, when you are in the mood for an easy watch that you do not need to pay too much attention to.  

Mirror Mirror

Who’s the fairest of them all?

Why it must be Snow White!

This year, the film industry witnesses two remakes of the classic fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Mirror Mirror is the first of the two and is still out in cinemas, which will be shortly followed by the release of Snow White and the Huntsman in June.

Mirror Mirror, directed by Tarsem Singh who brought us Immortals, has again worked his magic and delivered us this beautifully remade Snow White tale. This tale is loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Schneewittchen (Little Snow White), with elements also taken from another of their tales, Snow White and Red-Rose, one of these elements being the thieving dwarves.

Singh has managed to successfully make an original film, with its essence still intact. Singh brings us a crazed alluded Queen (Julia Roberts) who fears growing old; an extremely clumsy Prince (Armie Hammer) who is in constant need of saving; thieving dwarves who wear stilts to make them look like giants and an extremely determined female heroine, Snow White (Lily Collins). The film is brought together with camp humour, with some particularly delightful exchanges between The Queen and the Prince, alongside a narrative that, refreshingly, privileges feminist self-determination and success. It would seem that Snow white is not in need of saving as she is quite capable, after some training by the dwarves, to defeat the evil Queen. The handsome Prince, on the other hand, appears to be very clumsy and is the one saved by Snow after all.

Overall Mirror Mirror is a refreshing take on the original fairytales written by the Brothers Grimm. The film is light-hearted and enjoyable to watch, but unfortunately seems to lack the darkness that the original fairytales hold. This could be due to the fact that this film is tailored to a family audience, as it is a fantastic family film, but for the older audience at times it may seem a little too childlike.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: A Review

From director, Lasse Hallström, and the writer of The Full Monty, Simon Beaufoy, based on the best-selling novel by Paul Torday, comes a fishy tale about much more than just salmon fishing.

Ewan McGregor stars in this British romantic comedy drama, alongside Emily Blunt and Kristen Scott Thomas, as a Scottish Ichthyologist, Dr. Alfred Jones, who is asked to work on a project which will bring salmon to the river Yemen. A visionary Sheikh (Amr Waked) finances this multimillion pound project, as he believes that fishing brings people together and could be the answer to uniting people and countries worldwide. Alfred and Harriett (Emily Blunt), the Sheikh’s representative, must embark upon this upstream struggle to prove that the theoretically possible is, in fact, realistically possible.  However, the over-enthusiastic Press Secretary (Kristen Scott Thomas), from the Prime Minister’s office, is chasing at their heels as she sees this project as a media opportunity to spread some ‘good will’ that will act as a distraction from the bombings in Afghanistan. In this funny light-hearted comedy anything seems possible as long as you have a bit of faith.

This film, however, appears to question more than just the possibility of fishing in Yemen. The Press Secretary, Patricia Maxwell and the particularly vain Prime Minister allow the film to inadvertently criticise Government and their handling of the press, as they only seem to care about image, rather than what is right for the individual people. Humour soon becomes a tool for subverting authority in this film. The media is represented as Maxwell presents herself; cold-hearted, manipulative, overzealous and intrusive. The project for Maxwell becomes all about the press coverage, rather than the intentions of the Sheikh. It is, therefore, the character of Maxwell and the outrageous ways in which she deals with situations that brings out the humour.

The character of Maxwell is contrasted by the Sheikh who believes fishermen to be the most faithful, because they do not dwell on their fellow fisherman’s backgrounds or ethnicities, but share common ground, the fish. The Sheikh, throughout the film, promotes this idea of multiculturalism through fishing. However, this idea, when put into reality, is an upstream struggle, but if one can have a bit of faith, like the fishermen who wait for hours for a bite, and if one is willing to swim against the current, like Dr. Jones, and open one’s mind then it is possible to turn the theoretically possible into the realistically possible, if the right approach is taken.

This philosophically uplifting film, where fish become metaphors for humans, who are in need, now and again, to swim upstream rather than downstream, is a delight to watch. Salmon Fishing is a film about people, rather than fish, however, it does not dwell on these heavy issues that it presents, but focuses on the humour that comes from such a preposterous project and, therefore, is a light-hearted and entertaining romantic comedy drama to watch. It is a film about making the ever impossible possible.