January Goes Boom

Well, I may have missed out on my target last year but with a start this good for 2014, I think I'm going to blow that target of 150 films out of the water! With a grand total of 20 films in this one month alone, the pressure is off. My lack of extra spending money will no doubt help, as I won't be able to go anywhere else in case of the expense. So the films seen this past month include:

American Hustle
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D
All Is Lost
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Last Vegas
47 Ronin
Blue Jasmine
Gravity
Devil's Due
Delivery Man
12 Years a Slave
Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus
American Hustle
Philomena
The Railway Man
August: Osage County
The Wolf of Wall Street
Cuban Fury (preview)
Only Lovers Left Alive (preview)
Inside Llewyn Davis

Now a few of these were released before the New Year and some are second viewings but overall it was a great selection with a lot of awards contenders showing up in the mix. Big cheers go to ShowFilmFirst.com and Total Film with a couple of preview showings at the end of the month too.




American Hustle - up among the awards contenders, this con story is a bit long-winded but with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence driving this film with their strong performances you are soon captivated and waiting for it all to work out in the end. With a cool 1970s soundtrack to boot, the film soon settles into a rhythm that is clever and overall optimistic. 

Walking with Dinosaurs 3D - the CG in this kid's film is excellent, especially the sweeping landscapes with hoards of ambling dinosaurs making their annual migrations. However the story fell a little flat and didn't have the fondness, of say, the characters of A Land Before Time. There were clever moments, when each type of dino was introduced with cross-sections and info in the style of school education video and there was a great surprise visit from Karl Urban to top and tail the film.

All Is Lost - perhaps my disliking of deep water/oceans meant I was a little biased and added towards my overall indifference to this film. The sound production was good, however the lack of dialogue was tiring - why didn't he talk to himself a bit more, especially finding the predicaments he got himself into? I found myself longing for him to be saved - if only so I could leave the cinema a bit quicker.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - this one lacked the emotional punch I thought it was going to have, especially so soon after the great leader's death. Pretty long and rambling, but with so much story to tell it also felt a bit rushed.

Last Vegas - I was worried that all the good laughs were all in the trailer, however I was pleasantly surprised that there was more to the story than meets the eye and the main cast was surrounded by a great set of secondary characters. It was warm and funny throughout with a depth that is usually missing from comedies now.

47 Ronin - many people don't seem to like Keanu Reeves and his slightly wooden performance in this film probably doesn't help any here. But it certainly doesn't detract from the spectacle of this fantasy with roots based on real events. Hiroyuki Sanada pulls the band of ronin together for the funnest and most colourful suicide movie I've seen.

Blue Jasmine - finally got around to seeing this one after its release back in September last year and finally understood the reviews of Cate Blanchett's performance. Even though her character was pretty awful, the raw emotion conveyed by Blanchett was powerful and disturbing. Darkly funny and quietly unnerving to the end.

Gravity - see December's review.

Devil's Due - another cliched 'found footage' horror. Swinging drastically between smoochy young love and impending doom, this film finds it difficult to find a good half-way point to properly create any tension. The ending is an anti-climax rounding out a series of predictable and often derivative plot points. As 'found footage' it's distracting that so many private moments were filmed, leaving you wondering why they didn't just dump that idea. 

Delivery Man - an average comedy, good for a bit of time off from thinking. Most of the characters were likable but overall forgettable, Chris Pratt being the only one that really stood out for me with a deadpan turn as the best friend. The tone and pacing chopped and changed, and slowly descended into thick sentimentality. 

12 Years a Slave - this one was the same length as American Hustle but felt much longer - perhaps they were going for that, the feeling that you had been there for 12 years. It meant that there were long periods of nothing much happening that would start to make you uncomfortable, again maybe that's what they were going for. There was no clear passing of time, however the performances were exceptional - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender especially.

Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus - a trippy and comedic journey through Chile to find the titlular Magical Cactus and get high. Obviously things don't go quite as planned, especially when Crystal Fairy (played by a free spirited Gaby Hoffman) the unwanted crasher joins the trip. Although nothing much happens there is a clear internal journey that Michael Cera's Jamie takes that ultimately leads to a satisfying ending. 

Philomena - see November's review.

The Railway Man - two performances really stood out for me in this - Colin Firth and Hiroyuki Sanada. With the main part set within the Japanese POW camp goes through the motions, laying out the story and showing where the pent up anger/fear/aloofness comes from, but the emotional heart seems to comes from the grown up versions of the characters and their struggle with living life after the events of the war. Which all leads to moving conclusion.

August: Osage County - this family drama starts off with great vigour however it trails off by the end like a ghost with unfinished business. The character driven story benefits from the hugely successful cast that works well together, trying to play with your emotions constantly. There is an excellent twist that throws you, however it all goes downhill a bit after that leaving you with a sour taste in the mouth. 

The Wolf of Wall Street - wild, sexy and outright illegal. At 3 hours long you would imagine the pace would be slow and cumbersome, however you would be wrong - it's 3 hours packed with career best performances, a plot so insane it must be true and spectacular settings. Some of it may be unnecessary but it's enjoyable none the less, and it says a lot when you're rooting for essentially the bad guys to come up smelling of roses. 

Cuban Fury (preview + Q&A with Nick Frost) - this rom-com stands out from the others because it wears its heart is on its sleeve with pride and the cast is immensely likeable. Yes, there are silly bits (car park dance off) and awkward bits but the perfectly formed cast play it out without cheesing it up too much. And of course you have to congratulate Nick Frost for those mean dance moves! 

Only Lovers Left Alive (preview) - there is a desperation that flavours every corner of this wandering eternal love story and adds the depth needed to hit close to home. Music seeps into every scene making them just as haunted as the characters that steal them. This is not an all out vampire flick in my eyes (and if it is, it's one that the film industry has been needing for some time), but a careful peek into a fragile relationship that has stood the test of time. A perfect cast and an intricately tender story. 

Inside Llewyn Davis - bleak, cold and depressing. That is the view projected by the snowy, dark and ultimately desperate character Llewyn Davis. It's hard to find any warmth throughout, except that perfectly ginger pussycat which steals every scene it's in. There were some good performances and great musical interludes but ultimately it feels too long. The wonderfully executed songs are played out in full though, which I'm sure is great if folk is your type of music - for the rest of us it's draining.