Safe House (2012)

Safe House (2012)
Denzel Washington is a needy house guest.

Action film starring Ryan Reynolds as a rookie agent charged with looking after high priority fugitive Denzel Washington in a safe house, but is soon forced into the open when the house is attacked by armed gunmen.

Matt Weston (Reynolds) is a bored CIA agent looking to prove himself, but never being given the chance by the agency. He spends most of his time looking after an empty safe house, whilst maintaining a double life with his girlfriend. However, his tedium is soon interrupted when an international criminal, and former agent, Tobin Frost (Washington) is brought into his safe house. Matt has little time to get a hold on the situation though, as the place is soon stormed by baddies, killing most of his CIA comrades, and Matt only barely manages to escape with Frost hidden in the boot of a car.

Once on the run from these villains, Weston also faces the keen intellect of his prisoner. Frost, having been-there-done-that, seems one step ahead of the game, making the chase even more complex.

Thrilling and sturdy, Safe House doesn’t disappoint on its promise. It is an action-crime film through and through, with two main leads who deliver decent performances. Reynolds veers away from his usual jester persona, leaving the witty one-liners at home, whilst Denzel is still his usual determined self - which is still excellent.

The film offers little more in the way of depth, but instead relies on a workable formula, and clever set pieces.

Waterworld (1995)

Waterworld (1995)
Apocalyptic swimming pool

Arguably one of cinema’s most notorious flops, Waterworld is the story of a future planet Earth, where the ice caps have melted, and the population live, mostly, on the water.

Kevin Costner plays Mariner, a man with a few mutations which give him a distinct advantage in the water, who lives the life of a trader amongst the floating shanty towns. He uses his finds to bargain for supplies, and spends the rest of his time evading the “Smokers” - a bandit group of baddies who terrorize the waters with their speed boats and jet skis under the watchful eye of the Deacon (Dennis Hopper).

Mariner is one day arrested in a port for being a mutant, and is awaiting death when the Smokers attack. During the ensuing battle, Mariner is freed by a woman and small girl under the condition that they escape with him. Once free of the siege, Mariner and his new stowaways attempt to elude the Deacon whilst finding the holy grail - dry land.

Nowhere near as bad as rumour had it, Waterworld is an adventure-filled story with plenty of crazy stunts and theatricality, enough to entertain most viewers. The main idea is engaging, and the execution is daring - having these floating sets and complex structures must have been a demanding job.

Where the film falls down, tragically, is a nuisance script that ripples with childish folly, and a lead actor who leaves less than an impression. Costner is a difficult actor to like in certain roles, and Mariner is one of them.

This being said, Waterworld is, at the very least, a decent cult film - if only for its daring attempt to present a dystopian water civilization with such zeal.

Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
Children-In-Need meets Collateral Damage

Based on the real man Sam Childers, an American ne’er-do-well, who becomes a pivotal character in the Sudanese civil war.

Gerard Butler plays the aforementioned Sam, a hard-man biker with the inevitable bevy of tattoos, addiction problems, and trailer-trash violence. After one-too-many evil deeds, Sam finds God along with his endlessly patient wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) and sorts his feckless life out, becoming a successful building contractor. Then, during an influential speech in his church by a minister from Africa, Sam decides to travel over to the troubled continent to see if he can offer help, and maybe atone for his sins in some way.

Whilst there, Sam ignores the advice of others and travels into the war zone in the Sudan, where he discovers the widespread chaos and misery. Moved by the children who sleep on the streets (as it is safer than their home villages), Sam vows to protect as many children of the conflict as he can by building an orphanage. However, Sam’s efforts do not go unpunished by the rebels, who seek to continue their decade-old tradition of transforming the nation’s children into child-soldiers. Hence the film’s title, Sam takes up arms against the rebels, whilst doing God’s work for the kids.

An affecting and moving film, Machine Gun Preacher offers a war movie with a strong personal journey. Butler’s performance of Childers is excellent, making the character seem more complex than some born-again Hick with a halo, and explores the issues with his violent approach to humanitarian work with welcomed depth. In places the story does still seem too heroic, but the overall effect is very engaging, and the film works well to bring attention to the atrocities still occurring in this troubled land.

Submarine (2010)

Submarine (2010)
Absolutely nothing to do with naval ships!

Director Richard Ayoade (best-known for his performances on Channel 4’s the IT Crowd) puts together this whimsically funny black-comedy set in the bleak Welsh countryside, about a teenage boy on the cusp of manhood.

Oliver (Craig Roberts) is the film’s central character and narrator, and we see the world through his eyes. Primarily focused upon losing his virginity, we see Oliver initiate, and attempt to maintain, a relationship with a girl from his school called Jordana (Yasmin Paige). The two teenagers experience all the awkwardness of pubescent love, but do so with a charming mockery of the whole ordeal, intelligently insulting the ridiculousness of it all.

Alongside Oliver’s developing romantic life, his home life begins to crumble, as his mother is reacquainted with an ex-boyfriend, and fears his parents will get a divorce. In the innocent, and misguided, way children do, Oliver tries to solves the situation with creative thinking, only to make matters worse.

A charming and very funny movie, Ayoade proves his comedy chops with this film adaptation of Joe Dunthorne’s novel. The script is painfully sharp, and the natural moments of life’s crippling tedium are delivered in a fresh, contemporary manner that is extremely British.

Six Days Seven Nights (1998)

Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
Harrison Ford makes a good drunk-pilot-cum-wife-stealer

From the latter stages of nineties twee comes this nonchalant rom-com starring Harrison Ford, David Schwimmer and Anne Heche, that makes Disney films seem nightmarish.

Heche and Schwimmer plays a young couple who have escaped their busy New York lives, and gone on a short holiday on a tropical island. Their romantic getaway is soon riddled with PG problems though. The first one comes in the form of a surly pilot played by Ford, who takes them on his bordering scrapheap plane to the island - a journey made even more irritating by Ford’s heavy-bosomed, and dangerously upbeat girlfriend.

Once at the resort, our young couple soon experience another setback. Shortly after accepting a marriage proposal from Frank (Schwimmer), Robin (Heche) must leave him to go on a work trip several hours away, which requires another trip in the rickety plane. The inevitable happens, and Heche and Ford are stranded after their plane hits a storm, and must explore their equal distaste for each other whilst attempting to survive. They encounter lack of water, snakes in their pants, and the odd homicidal pirate, but their romantic feelings for each other become the film’s biggest danger.

Nineties feel-good does not come more concentrated. From the off, Six Days Seven Nights is an adventure-filled comedy, with plenty of mild romance to round the package off with. Characters are ridiculously flat, making them appear like they are in a sit-com, but the overall effect is entertaining…as long as you loved nineties movies.

It was a pre-cursor for many films that now seem set in beautiful locations in order to obscure the fact that the plot is infantile (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Just Go With It), but there is a lot more charm in this movie, in particular in Ford’s performance which is lovable throughout.

Gone (2012)

Gone (2012)
Lost and Frowned

Abduction films are a staple of the thriller genre, with some rip-roaring successes and some utter fumbles. Taken (2008) became a surprising mainstream hit, starring Liam Neeson as a father attempting to find his daughter who has been “taken” in Europe. This film from director Heitor Dhalia, starring Amanda Seyfried, received little attention at the box office, but is a well-structured, compelling abduction movie.

Set in small-town USA, Seyfried plays a paranoid waitress named Jill, who lives with her younger sister Molly (Emily Wickersham). Jill is paranoid for good reason. According to her, she was abducted from her bed one night, taken deep into the woods where she was thrown into a hole by a masked attacker. Managing to escape, Jill now believes the would-be killer now hunts her down. The police searched the woods and found no trace that Jill was taken there, and subsequently had her sent into a mental facility.

The film takes place some years on, only this time, Molly is taken during the night and, having tested the authorities patience already, Jill becomes a one-person search party for her sister, whilst evading the police who are afraid Jill is becoming dangerously unstable.

Tense and quick-moving, Gone is a forceful thriller that weaves through a simple horror plot. Whilst the storyline is ultimately quite simple, the few twists and turns which are thrown in the road do make for compelling viewing, and add grace to what can only be described as a brilliant performance by Amanda Seyfried. Pretty much the main character on screen throughout, and alone for most of that, she does well to convey the tension in the scenes, whilst giving small outburst of character which reveal herself slowly for the audience.

Gone lacks the gold-studded plot of a film like Taken (and its budget/locations), but is a decent abduction film which relies heavily upon a great central performance.

John Carter (2012)

Disney’s adaptation of the John Carter comics, in which a 19th Century American war hero is beamed onto Mars, where he encounters warring alien races.

Arguably 2012’s biggest cinematic flop, JC (that’s John Carter not Jesus Christ) was hoped to be the big, bold adventure film to compete with this year’s cooler, darker movies (The Dark Knight Rises, The Bourne Legacy etc). However, if cinema tickets are anything to go by, Disney executives will be ready to hang themselves by their Mickey Mouse ties.

John Carter is a calamity of a movie, offering an array of wild creatures battling out on a desert-stricken version of the red planet, without giving any sense of character, plot or point. The movie manages to wile away two hours of screen time, moving from battle to battle, and we see plenty of four-armed aliens and super-technical spaceships, but are never given any hint of depth.

The script is predictably hollow, and the villains are predictably linear (how many times can Mark Strong play this role?). Where JC does thrive is in the special effects, with plenty of striking visuals and daring stunts - in particular the lead character defying gravity on Mars as he makes stupendous leaps across battlefields.

Without any chance at a sequel, this film will probably go down as an epic cult failure.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
A little bit less Cockneys-and-eel-pies

Guy Ritchie’s second Sherlock Holmes film sees our British detective, and his reluctant partner Dr. Watson, investigate a series of crimes across Europe, which all seem to be linked to Holmes’ archenemy - Professor Moriarty.

Whereas Ritchie’s first Holmes film seemed a grandiose bombardment of British stereotyping and green screening, A Game of Shadows seems far less crude. The tone is more familiar to other Holmes portrayals, London doesn’t have the unfiltered haze, and the film relies a bit less on comic calamity and more on plot. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are back as Holmes and Watson respectively, and do a decent job of maintaining the quick-witted, insult-slinging, danger-dodging relationship we saw in the first movie, only this time with more character development.

Stephen Fry does an excellent job as Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, delivering a wonderful contempt for the common man.

The film offers Ritchie’s tried and tested formula for filmmaking, plenty of fast cuts and edgy music, but these are not the main strengths of the film - the script is. Line after line, A Game of Shadows offers an extremely intelligent story, filled with humour and sarcasm, that makes it seem like a A-Grade play, and a cut above its predecessor.

If Ritchie can top this then his carrying of the Sherlock gauntlet shall not have been completely in vain.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Global Warming in the Bathtub.

In the primitive wetlands of the Delta, amongst the snaking vines and alligators, a small community known as the Bathtub attempt to survive outside the reach of “regular” society, but face destruction from the rising waters - and some pre-historic beasts.

“The entire universe depends on every piece fitting together.”. This is the message from our juvenile narrator, known as Hush Puppy, a six-year-old girl who lives in the Bathtub with her father Wink, and sets the tone for the movie, which exists as an atmospheric fantasy bulging with ulterior meanings.

With a superb opening sequence, Beasts of the Southern Wild greets you with a recklessly chaotic set-piece showing how these primitive, separated villagers live - with flowing fireworks, a carnival-style joviality and dreamlike xylophone music. This upbeat atmosphere soon dissipated though, once the village is flooded, and the survivors attempt to stick to their stubborn solitude. For Hush Puppy, her predicament is deepened with the failing health of her father, whose heart is on the brink of collapse. Wink, in between living on a diet of bugs and beer, has been training HP in the ways of life in order to make her a “warrior”, hardening her, and giving her the skills he thinks she will need to survive the Bathtub - which includes no crying, and sometimes calling her a boy.

A plethora of subtext can be drawn from BOTSW, such as the savagery of predation - how the survival instinct brings out the animalistic traits in us that civilization has hoped to curtail, but can also be our defining moment in terms of our humanity/redemption. This is embodied within Hush Puppy, whose determination and fierceness are equalled by her innocence. Her war cry is no more than a squeal. Other themes include the enduring human spirit, and our personal choices on how to live in this world.

Parts of the film are a little too abstract, which causes the story to lose traction, but the overall journey that Hush Puppy makes is fulfilling and compelling, and the moments of natural comedy (such as our six-year-old hero lighting a stove with a flamethrower) give the film the special touches it needs to keep it refreshing.

A memorable and touching movie.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The worthy culmination of an unforgettable trilogy.

Since the release of The Dark Knight (2008), the world has held their collective breath to see how Christopher Nolan would finish his record-breaking Batman franchise. Never before has so much expectation been placed onto a comic-book series, one so enormously popular and beloved. This final film in the Nolan trilogy sees Christian Bale’s Batman, go toe-to-toe with an impressively muscular Tom Hardy as maniacal terrorist Bane, who threatens to blow Gotham City out of the water.

Set eight years after the climax of the second movie, we find Bruce Wayne is now a social recluse, bedridden and broken, avoiding the city who blames him for killing their saviour - Harvey Dent. Whilst Batman did not kill Dent, he did take the rap in order for the politician’s legacy of hope to endure, making the city a safer and promising place to live in. However, a threat to the peace exists in the form of another masked man - Bane. Said to have been born in an pit, and raised in a prison, Bane is a massively powerful terrorist, with links to the League of Shadows (a little nod to Liam Nesson’s character in the first film). With no other option, Bruce comes out of hibernation to save Gotham from this brutally evil baddie.

Utterly superb, The Dark Knight Rises is why people love movies! Everything is there for any viewer to enjoy, and the result is a compelling, thrilling and engaging watch throughout. Nolan’s keen eye for complex set-pieces which flow effortlessly is unmatched, and the film enjoys some stunning visual taken from this bleak metropolis.

Many will ask, and rightfully so, why all the fuss? What is it about Nolan that is so captivating, why are his films so popular? And while the easy answer is that they are just so damn entertaining, the answer, more likely, lies in the man’s ability to pick the perfect players for his theatrical games.

The casting of all the new Batman films has been immense. Bale reinvented the comic-book hero with an understated charm and finesse, more relatable to the original source material. The villains have varied, but all have been spectacular examples of how evil characters can be represented. In TDKR, Hardy delivers an immense portrayal of this bulging, bomb-threatening nasty man, which is a million miles away from the ridiculous portrayal of Bane in the unmentionably horrific Batman & Robin (1997) - where Joel Schumacher almost signed his own death warrant. Hardy’s performance is laden with gripping ferocity, and although his vocals sound like Ask Jeeves with a muzzle, he still presents himself as a force to be reckoned with.

Other performers worth mentioning include Anne Hathaway’s subtle depiction of Catwoman - a career-thief whose moral indecisiveness makes her an engaging character. Michael Caine must be applauded for his dedicated portrayal of Alfred - whose moments of pain and anguish at Bruce’s despair make for some of the most compelling moments in the movie. Also, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does well as the naïve but determined cop, and Gary Oldman puts in another solid depiction of Commissioner Gordon.

The actors are awesome, the storyline is complex and challenging, and the themes of the films are brutally relevant. Few films will come along each decade with this amount of bite. Nolan has created an unforgettable series of movies. Each stands alone as an outstanding film, but together they have created an incredible story, one that will endure the tests of time.

The Change-Up (2011)

A magical fountain causes two friends to swap bodies, and live out their fantasies of experiencing the other’s life.

Nobody sprained any brain muscles coming up with this plot - two guys, one married the other single, end up swapping lives and realise life is not so sweet on the other side. Ryan Reynolds plays Mitch, an uncouth layabout actor, whose approach to meeting women to have sex with knows no bounds (he even attends single-mothers-to-be meetings). Whilst Jason Bateman plays Dave, a successful lawyer and family man, who has the picture perfect life, but desires a lifestyle like Mitch where he can sleep around and have no responsibilities.

The result is a foul-mouthed comedy, with some gross-out moments thrown in, and no real direction in sight. As the two buddies attempt damage control in each other’s lives, they are also hunting down the fountain, which has moved, in the hope to reverse the change.

Films with out-of-body experiences (17Again, Freaky Friday et al), are always filled with unanswered questions, but The Change-Up doesn’t even attempt to explain the phenomenon, and instead focuses on the ultra-tired notion that all men care about is sex, and are willing to sacrifice any shred of decency to get it. In fact, the film’s depiction of the sexes is quite offensive - men are shown to be shallow morons, whilst women are depicted as helpless servants, only there to aid their male counterparts.

These types of movies are what they are, simply comedies reliant on swear words and pretty people. Expect nothing more, and the Change-Up will be an entertaining yarn for just over an hour and a half.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

A startling and daring condemnation of American society during the Great Depression, as a family attempts to find work and refuge after being moved off their farm. Originally a novel by John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath has become a classic story amongst American popular culture, and the film, starring Henry Fonda, regularly appears in Top Film lists.

Fonda plays a character called Tom Joad, an ex-convict, who makes an arduous journey after leaving prison back to his family’s home, only to find them gone, and the land repossessed by the owners, who have sold their farm. Eventually, Tom catches up with the Joad clan, who are making their way West, to California, where they have been told there are jobs to be had. Homeless, near-penniless, and only a rickety truck to carry themselves and their belongings, Tom and his family experience the harsh reality of being poor during this tumultuous period in American history; they are preyed upon by hustlers, beaten by the police, and set upon by townsfolk who want to keep any jobs for themselves.

The story, whilst depicting some of the most vile behaviour in people, also shows the generous and loving side of human nature too. At a small café, the Joad’s attempt to buy some bread (which they cannot afford) asking only for the amount they can purchase, but the diner owner lets them have the whole loaf; whilst the waitress sells the kids sweets for a heavily discounted price. Tom’s mother, played by Jane Darwell, frets at one of the camps they encounter, when she discovers a raggedy band of malnourished children, whom she quickly cooks up a batch of soup for.

The film has plenty of relevance to our current situation, and the lessons are there still to be learnt.

Combined with a script that’s as sharp as a pitchfork, the plot moves effortlessly on screen, utilizing a Road-Trip format with plenty of drama, humour and pathos. The characters are varied and intriguing, and the dialogue between Fonda and Darwell near the end is a piece of cinematic beauty.

Spectacular.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Hilarious comedy about a maid-of-honour, whose happiness for her best friend’s upcoming nuptials, is spoilt by her own life’s constant despair.

Taken on face value, Bridesmaids appears as the worst of Chick-Flick syndrome - a mainstream title, an obnoxious poster, and a subject matter that just screams noughties decadence. However, this film delivers on so many levels, and the fact that it subverts the genre, and would have given plenty of doe-eyes couples a shock in the cinema, makes it even more appealing.

Kristen Wiig (co-writer of the film) plays the aforementioned maid-of-honour with the tragic life, Annie, whose disappointments include: a bakery business which was shut down during the recession, an ignorant sex-buddy who treats her like a maid, and a job selling jewellery to loved-up couples whom she offers her “expert” counsel. So when her best friend announces she is engaged, Annie is at once thrilled at the news, but also heart achingly reminded of her life’s misery.

Bridesmaids benefits from some brilliant improvised banter between the characters which separates it from other, more glossy wedding movies, whilst the vulgar language and crude moments place it within the contemporary comedy movement (alongside a bevy of Katherine Heigl movies).

A couple of British actors make a worthwhile appearance, such as Matt Lucas as Annie’s disturbed room-mate, and Chris O’Dowd as the movie’s hero-in-waiting.

If you want a genuinely funny comedy, with plenty of romantic overtones, this is a gem.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Arthur Penn’s extraordinary classic about the lives of two notorious bank robbers.

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty star as the title roles, depicting Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow during their career of crime which raged through the U.S. during the thirties. We see a dramatized account of their relationship, romantically portraying them robbing stores and banks, eluding the authorities, and engaging in shoot-outs with the cops, which ultimately led them to be depression-era celebrities.

Gene Hackman also stars in an early role, as Clyde’s brother Buck - a man pulled between his brother’s criminal lifestyle and his wife’s morals, whilst Michael J. Pollard plays a runaway car mechanic who joins the gang as the getaway driver.

As the group become increasingly famous across the states, their experience of the criminal lifestyle changes, and the excitement turns to paranoia and fear. In addition, the cops begin the blame any crime they can on the infamous “Barrow Gang”, regardless of their involvement.

A spectacular cinematic achievement, Bonnie and Clyde is an enduring crime classic for its wide appeal, and daring representation of violence. The plot contains plenty of action, romance and comedy (in particular once Gene Wilder arrives for a short cameo), and represents the era with a delicate authenticity.

Reminiscent of the genius of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, if you are a fan of classic cinema, this is a must-see.

End of Days (1999)

The apocalypse is coming, and only Arnie can save us!

Just before the turn of the millennium, the devil has emerged in New York city, where he plans to bring about the end of days, annihilating the world. His plan to consummate with a chosen woman, who will give birth to the antichrist, is ruined though, when an alcoholic ex-cop stumbles into the dark prince’s path.

Gritty and dark, End of Days is an explosive action movie, engaging religious themes with contemporary society. The storyline, a biblical nightmare, maintains a workable balance between dogmatic theory and character development, making the film far more personal than it could have been.

Moments of cinematic artistry reveal themselves, in particular during scenes where the devil causes havoc: such as having a three-way with a mother and daughter. Otherwise the movie is an action-packed thrill ride, moving through the urban landscape with a bucket loads of guns and fire.

Arnie gives a decent performance, playing the surly, bitter cop with a degree of authenticity - reminiscent of his Terminator days, and Gabriel Byrne is excellent as Satan with some bad-ass brimstone moments.

Think Dogma, without the laughs but plenty of ammunition.