Film Review: This is where I leave you

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Abigail Spencer, Adam Driver, August Osage County, Corey Stoll, Dax Shepard, director Shawn Levy, entertainment, Film Review, Film Review: This is where I leave you, Jane Fonda, Jason Bateman, Shawn Levy, This is where I leave you, Tina Fey

After the abysmal August Osage County, This is where I leave you is another painfully humourless attempt at a family drama.

When Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) walks in on his wife Quinn (Abigail Spencer) having sex with his boss (Dax Shepard) he unravels, unsure of who is and what he wants in life.

In the midst of his depression Judd’s father dies and his grieving mother Hillary (Jane Fonda) orders him back to the family home, to sit Shiva with his siblings.

For seven days they must spend time together with their mother as the matriarch at the helm. The siblings fall back into their family roles: big brother Paul (Corey Stoll) as the annoying bossy boots: Wendy (Tina Fey) the nagging, over-protective sister; baby brother Philip (Adam Driver) who still gets away with murder and Judd the odd one out.

Childhood sweethearts show up, family secrets are exposed and old wounds are reopened, but instead of being a bittersweet tale of drama and love This is where I leave you is a mess of bad one-liners, weak characters, predictable plots and a lot of overacting.

This is where I leave you is a film better left unwatched, but if you must see this humourless piece by director Shawn Levy, be warned as it could leave you feeling a little nauseated and bereft for the time you wasted.

Film review: The Book of Life

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3D, animation, animation films, Channing Tatum, Day of the Dead, Diego Luna, director Jorge R Gutiérrez, entertainment, Film Review, Film review: The Book of Life, Films, Ice Cube, Jorge R Gutiérrez, Kate del Castillo, movies, Ron Perlman, The Book of Life, Zoe Saldana

The Book of Life is a quirky animation film by director Jorge R Gutiérrez, celebrating Mexican folklore and the Day of the Dead.

The story begins outside a dusty old museum with a rag-tag bunch of temperamental children showing up for a tour and delightful guide, with long hair and a sexy smile showing them a hidden doorway.

With the help of wooden puppets she begins telling the old Mexican folktale of Manolo (Diego Luna), Joaquin (Channing Tatum) and Maria (Zoe Saldana).

As children the three are the best of friends, playfully teasing each other, both boys already in love with Maria, but on the Day of the Dead the stunning La Muerta (Kate del Castillo), the ruler of the Land of the Remembered, bets Xibalba (Ron Perlman), the lord of the Land of the Forgotten, that one day gentle Manolo will marry Maria.

Xibalba champions the adventurous Joaquin and decides to stack the odds in his favour, so he cheats and gives Joaquin a mystical medal.

The children grow up, each following the path their parents envisions them too, but when Maria returns from boarding school, things change, rules are broken and death happens.

But in this charming story, death isn’t permanent, love triumphs and staying true to oneself is the biggest victory of course there is a happy ending, moral and all.

The Book of Life is an original take on a predictable tale with the colourful take on Mexican artwork adding to its appeal. The figures look like they have been carved from wood and painted in as many colours as possible, but tasteful and endearingly so.

And even if the adventure down to the land of the forgotten may be a little scary for some of the more junior viewers, the happy and huggable Candle Maker (Ice Cube) lightens the mood ensuring that darkness never prevails for long.

With it’s 3D imaging and unusual design The Book of Life is an enjoyable film for everyone in the family and a brilliant Halloween treat.

Film review: Serena

Wrapping in 2012 Serena has sat on a shelf until now, and maybe it was better that way. Director Susanne Bier’s disjointed anti-romance starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper may be highly anticipated but doesn’t seem to capture it’s audience quite as hoped.

The melodrama is set in America in the 1930s and tells the story of logging baron George Pemberton (Bradley Cooper). When Pemberton’s timber empire begins to crumble he leaves the beauty of the North Caroline Mountains to seek help from big city bankers. While sipping cocktails he spots Serene Shaw (Jennifer Lawrence) riding on the back of a white stallion, the wind in her hair and he instantly falls in love.

After a short and passionate courtship, they marry and George returns home to his trees with his beautiful bride in tow. His colleagues aren’t very welcoming but that doesn’t deter the outdoorsy and very capable Serena to soon take over.

Buchanan (David Dencik), Pemberton’s main partner and best friend, isn’t the only one who feels that Serena is overstepping her boundaries, but he is the most vocal about it and a rift between the friends appears.

Serena suspects that Buchanan has homosexual feelings for Pemberton and when George’s ex-lover returns Rachel (Ana Ularu) with a lovechild on her hip, distrust grows just like Serena’s own baby bump.

Trying to keep Serena happy and battling it out with the local sheriff and conservationist McDowell (Toby Jones) proves hard work and expensive business as Pemberton pays off local authorities to keep his timber mill running. But when a violent murder occurs things begin to unravel and the couple drift apart.

Serena takes a long time to get the plot moving, and even when it does everything feels disjointed and superficial. The characters aren’t given the space to develop and their motives are never truly exposed.

Lawrence succeeds to straddle the line between siren and madwoman, her locks perfectly preened, her looks full of emotion. Cooper is the perfect counterpart to her silky presence in his tweeds and the chemistry they displayed in Silver Linings Playbook is evident in Serena, too.

The costume and set design are wonderful, capturing an era long gone, and one can’t help but admire the beautiful Czech landscape that fills in for the unspoiled North Caroline Mountains of the 1930s. But with all this splendour and brilliant acting Serena can’t disguise the fact that it doesn’t take the time to tell the story. Quick edits and abrupt direction changes make it nearly impossible to connect with the characters leaving the viewer somewhat unemotional about the outcome.

Overall Director Susanne Bier has created an anvantgarde-esque film that shows beautiful images but leaves its audience cold, so maybe Serena should have just stayed on that shelf.

Film Review: One Million Dubliners

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art, Daniel O'Connell, de Velera, Director Aoife Kelleher, Dubliners, Film Review, film reviews, Films, Galway Film Fleadh, Glasnevin Cemetery, Michael Collins, Parnell

Named the “Best Irish Feature Documentary” at Galway Film Fleadh back in July One Million Dubliners finally hits cinemas this month.
The documentary tells the story of Glasnevin Cemetery (officially Prospect Cemetery) and the 1.5 million people that are buried there. And since there are more bodies in the ground at Glasnevin Cemetery than people living in the whole of Dublin almost everyone has a friend or relative buried next to some of Irelands most historic figures.
Director Aoife Kelleher intertwines personnel stories with historic facts and creates a unique insight into a world only few of us truly know. And instead of being morbid or depressing the film is funny, interesting, sometimes a little sad but always entertaining.
“To bury people of all religions and none” was Daniel O’Connell’s mission when he established Glasnevin cemetery in 1828 and this is still very much at the heart of the trust today. This means that loyalists and revolutionaries lie side by side, WWI and WWII soldiers lie next to de Velera, Parnell and Collins.
But One Million Dubliners doesn’t just look at the past and Kelleher lets staff and visitors alike share their thoughts on life and death and why Glasnevin plays such an important role in their lives.  Florists, gardeners, historians, tour guides, mourners, and grave diggers all get their say, and even a mysterious French woman, who lays roses on Michael Collins grave, talks about her ongoing love affair with a dead man.
Kelleher uses these different narrative strands to link the past with the present and the future. One of the main narrators is tour guide and resident historian Shane MacThomáis and the camera follows him as he brings groups around the cemetery, enthrals them with tales and historic facts. But MacThomáis  also speaks directly  to  the camera and talks about his father, who was also a tour guide, and about his own connection with the cemetery.  He explains how his father used to tell him that a great tour needs four things to capture it’s audience: tell them something they know, something they didn’t know, something to make them laugh and something to make them cry.
This is the formula that Kelleher also seems to be following as she not only enchants her audience with beautifully shoot images of Glasnevin Cemetery but lets them rediscover what they have seen before, learn what they have never known, laugh at the oddities and cry at the unexpected.

Film Review: Gone Girl

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Ben Affleck, bestseller, Carrie Coon, David Fincher, Film Review, Film Review: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl, Hollywood blockbuster, Kim Dickens, Missi Pyle, movies, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Fugit, Rosamund Pike, thriller, Tyler Perry

This autumns most anticipated thriller Gone Girl is finally here and it doesn’t disappoint. Adapted by the author herself, Gillian Flynn has turned her bestseller successfully into a Hollywood blockbuster.

On their fifth year wedding anniversary Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) arrives home to find his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) has disappeared. He calls the police assuming someone broke in and abducted her, but as the investigation unfolds things just don’t add up.

Detectives Boney (Kim Dickens) and Gilpin (Patrick Fugit) soon change the investigation from abduction to murder and Nick becomes their main suspect.

However the police aren’t the only ones watching Nick’s every move, the media is all too present, dissecting his every gesture and creating a modern day witch-hunt.

As the story unfolds, with many twists, turns and surprises, we learn through flashbacks, narrated by Amy herself, all about how Nick and Amy met, fell passionately in love and had to leave their lives in New York behind and help Nick’s mother unsuccessfully fight cancer.

But things aren’t as they seem as Gone Girl play’s with perspective and the situation looks very different from Nick’s point of view. His problem is: will anyone believe him?

With the media showing the world what they think, Margo’s (Carrie Coon) unwavering belief in her twin brother Nick and an obscure treasure hunt supplying some answers, it isn’t surprising the Gone Girl keeps its viewer enthralled and highly entertained.

Both the well constructed script by Gillian Flynn and the direction provided by director David Fincher successfully manage the delicate balancing act between too much and too little information, unbalancing their audience at the perfect moment.

As further the story unravels the more bizarre the film becomes, but in a very enticing and captivating way. A lot of this great entertainment is down to the main actors; Affleck is both sympathetic and highly suspicious as husband Nick, and Pike is one-dimensional when needed and vindictively complex when called for.

Even the side characters lend both humour and interest to the film: Neil Patrick Harris is fantastically creepy as Amy’s high school stalker boyfriend, Tyler Perry says exactly what the audience is thinking as a high-powered lawyer who made a name for himself defending murderous husbands and Missi Pyle is perfect as a talk-show host with a piranha-esque bite and smile.

But what is really surprising about Gone Girl is the unique look it takes at society, class and agendas, how happiness turns into ruins, how lies, deceit and the ever-present media form and destroy perceptions, even when the truth seems more obvious – and it’s funny! At times so much so that there are laugh out loud moments, but don’t think you’ll leave the cinema with a giggle, your head may be spinning a little, you’ll feel a little confused, a “what the f***” may not be too far from your lips and you’ll definitely be thinking about Gone Girl for a while.

Overall Gone Girl and David Fincher have achieved something rare, a hyped up film that lives up to its promises.

Film Review: The Calling

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Christopher Heyerdahl, Donald Sutherland, Ellen Burstyn, Fargo, Film Review, Film review: The Calling, Gil Bellows, Inger Ash Wolf, movies, screenwriter Scott Abramovitch, Susan Sarandon, The Calling, Topher Grace

Based in a small snowy town in Canada with a female cop as a lead The Calling is begging to be compared with Fargo. Sadly The Calling falls somewhat short as the dark humour in missing and it feels more like a TV drama than a big screen thriller despite its stellar cast.

Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) holds down an undemanding job in a sleepy town in Ontario. Despite taking pain killers and enjoying her booze she seems to know what she is doing which becomes more evident when a gruesome murder occurs.

An elderly woman is found with her head nearly cut off and a silent scream fixed on her face. This is just the first of a series of bizarrely positioned bodies with odd frozen facial expressions, all indicating that some ancient Christian ritual was taking place.

Hazel and her fellow detective Ray (Gil Bellows) follow up the leads and ,with the help of Ben (Topher Grace) – a capable transfer from Toronto- figure out who the murderer is: a creepy religious zealot called Simon (Christopher Heyerdahl) and the cat and mouse game begins.

The best thing about The Calling is the line-up of talent. Smaller roles are filled with big name actors like Donald Sutherland as Father Price or Ellen Burstyn as Saradon’s concerned mother and Sarandon is quite intense in her role as Hazel, if a little cliché ridden. But it is Grace’s usual charisma that fills the screen and an outstanding performance by Heyerdahl is what really grabs your attention.

The premise of The Calling is great, the atmosphere good, the actors terrific, but the script is sluggish. Adapted from Inger Ash Wolf’s novel the screenplay to The Calling is overworked by screenwriter Scott Abramovitch.

So maybe this is the wrong film for Jason Stone to debut his career with, or maybe he is a more creative screenwriter and producer, but The Calling just lacks that little bit of oomph, to make it a great film.

Film Review: The Maze Runner

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Ami Ameen, Black Cooper, Director Wes Ball, Dylan O’Brien, Film Review, Film Review: The Maze Runner, Films, James Dashner, Kaya Scodelario, Lord of the Flies, Maze Runner, movies, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Will Poulter

A mix between Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games, the latest YA book to receive a Hollywood makeover is The Maze Runner. Like so often the story is set in a post-apocalyptic world and author James Dashner refrains from any vampire fangs or werewolf bites and centers his trilogy around a group of young boys.

Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) wakes up to find himself in a vacant filed surrounded by a group of modern day lost boys. He tries to make a run for it but soon discovers that the field is surrounded by towering stone walls with only a tantalizing gap into the unknown as a way out. But before Thomas can escape the boys catch up with him and he discovers a whole new problem, his memory has been wiped.

As Thomas struggles to remember, the boys explain that they all arrived exactly the same way he did, and they are trying to find a way out. This new found tribe have created their own form of society every one has tasks, everyone has rights but there are rules to follow too, the main one being: only runners are allowed into the maze.

Quickly Thomas adapts to this new world but as he learns about the maze hidden behind the walls, the Grievers that kill whoever ventures inside after dark and the mysterious letters W.C.K.D he decides he needs to leave and rescue everyone.

But when he breaks the rule and runs into the maze the carefully crafted world the boys have created threatens to collapse. And then, without warning, a girl is left for the boys to find, Theresa (Kaya Scodelario) and she seems to know more than they do.

The Maze Runner is a better than your average YA film, and it’s low-tech vibe and handcrafted charm adds to a retro feel, making it more believable than it’s excessively CGI’d contemporaries. The cast is well picked, teeny heartthrob Dylan O’Brien stepping out of his sidekick role in the 80s throwbacks Teen Wolf, makes for a strong lead and a buff hero. Camp bully Gally is perfectly played by Will Poulter, Ami Ameen cuts a good figure as the mature leader of the group Alby and lovable chubby kid Chuck is brilliantly captured by Black Cooper. Only the stunning Kaya Scodelario seems out of place as Theresa. But that may not actually be her fault as she is not really needed for the plot and has no real input to any of the twist and turns The Maze Runner takes.

Director Wes Ball has done well in translating James Dashner’s book onto screen, but he does take his time in setting up the story, giving background and building characters. However once the Grievers make their long legged, metallic scorpion-like appearance and the Maze begins to reveal its secrets the plot picks up speed. But since it is the first of a trilogy the ending is left open and those few YA who haven’t read the books are left wondering what the whole thing was really about.

The Maze Runner is enjoyable, just not really much more than that, it holds no real surprises and doesn’t really vary too much from any of those other blockbuster YA films out there. But if you like teenage action and a enjoy a bit of escapism, The Maze Runner may be just perfect for you.

Film Review: Get-On-Up

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biopic, Chadwick Boseman, Director Tate Taylor, Film Review, Film Review: Get-On-Up, Films, funk, Get-On-Up, Godfather of Soul, gospel, James Brown, movies, R&B, Tate Taylor

Funk, swagger and a lot of hair add up to the biopic that is Get-On-Up, a story about the life and music of the legend that is the “Godfather of Soul”: James Brown.

Raised in South Caroline Brown grew up in poverty, was handed around from relative to relative and at the age of sixteen he ended up in jail. His love for music was rooted in gospels but he found his first success through R&B and later established funk.

Working off no consistent timeline Director Tate Taylor jumps around Brown’s life story, throwing in bits of his early childhood, his troubled youth, his rise to stardom and his demise. It is a colourful potpourri of James Brown in his constant reinventions. But what makes it hard to follow is the array of characters that appear but are then never seen again.

And while the film is unapologetic about Brown’s flaws, his erupting temper, his drinking and drugs, his inability to stay away from beautiful women (he was married three times and has more than the nine children he acknowledged) over all it doesn’t really do the Icon James Brown justice.

However, whatever might be said of Get-On-Up ,one thing is certain, Chadwick Boseman’s performance as James Brown is magnificent to watch. He’s got the moves, the look and while he is mostly moving his lips to Brown’s vocals he definitely does capture those mesmerizing performances that made Brown famous.

As far as biopic go Get-On-Up isn’t bad, if a little messy but one thing is for sure, its star Chadwick Boseman and the music is worth the watch.

Film Review: The Equalizer

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Antoine Fuqua, Chloë Grace Moretz, Denzel Washington, director Antoine Fuqua, Film Review, Film Review: The Equalizer, Films, Liam Neeson, Marton Csokas, movies, reviews, Robert McCall, The Equalizer, Vladimir Kulich

A remake of a 80s TV series The Equalizer is familiar ground for Denzel Washington. The aging action hero, unlike Liam Neeson, has been saving the world from bad guys since the beginning of his career and his latest collaboration with director Antoine Fuqua is no different.

Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) works at a hardware store by day and sits and reads in a Hopperesque diner at night. Sticking to a routine is obviously some sort of coping mechanism but when McCall meets prostitute Lena (Chloë Grace Moretz) is tightly wound world begins to unwind, and all it takes is 28 seconds.

McCall decides to help Lena and takes out Lena’s Russian pimp but by doing so he unwittingly gets involved in a massive Russian crime syndicate. Unhappy about his loss of revenue the head of the organisation, Puskin (Vladimir Kulich), sends his enforcer Teddy (Marton Csokas) to kill the unknown troublemaker and soon people are killed, things are blown up and body parts end up where they really shouldn’t.

As the plot slowly lumbers on to a showdown in the hardware store you can’t help but wonder about the invincibility of McCall, could a 59-year-old really be as deadly as Denzel unwaveringly portrays him to be?

And that sums up The Equalizer’s weak spot: it just isn’t believable. While Denzel does cut a good figure as a close to retiring age ex CIA agent, his shirts can’t quite hide his middle-age spread and this doesn’t really convince us that he could highhandedly take down the Russian Mafia.

But the action sequences are entertaining, the showdown shot in a very unique location and Chloë Grace Moretz tugs at your heartstrings as call-girl Lena.

The Equalizer is engaging enough but just can’t quite reach the needed sizzle to make a really good action film. But it is obvious that there is an intention to follow The Equalizer up with a sequel, and who knows maybe the next storyline will be kinder to the aging action hero.

Film Review – The Giver

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Alexander Skarsgård, Brenton Thwaites, director Philip Noyce, Divergent, dystopia, film reviews, Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes, Logan’s Run, Lois Lowry’s, Meryl Streep, movies, Odeya Rush, reviews, screenwriters Michael Mitnick and Robert B. Weid, Taylor Swift, The Giver, The Hunger Games, young adult fiction

Based on Lois Lowry’s 1993 novel The Giver shows the darker side to young adult fiction and a dysfunctional dystopia.

The idea is similar to Logan’s Run, Divergent or even distantly to The Hunger Games, however less action packed.

Set in a colourless world that has eliminated all emotions, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is selected to be the new ‘Receiver of Memory”. Since no one can remember the past and no one is able to feel pain, anger, desire, joy and love one citizen in this bland utopia is chosen to feel and remember.

The Chief Elder (Meryl Streep in a wig) hints at a tragedy that accord to the last receiver, but one talks about it, even remembers properly. So when Jonas meets is mentor, The Giver (a craggy Jeff Bridges) he tries to find out what the secret is.

But unable to share what he is experiencing when the Giver shares his knowledge and allows emotions to erupt, Jonas soon finds life hard in the community, especially when he is at home, which they call dwellings. His dutiful but distant parents (Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgard) notice the changes and are concerned.

Luckily his best friend and love-interest Fiona (Odeya Rush) is more open to the idea of something new, but she is afraid of the strictly monitoring Chief Elder.

As the plot moves on and colour is infused into the scenes it becomes obvious that The Giver never quite grips it’s audience and just muddles along, a little like the community it is criticizing.

And while director Philip Noyce and screenwriters Michael Mitnick and Robert B. Weide have stayed close to the original story, it doesn’t translate to screen well, especially the bombardment of images at the seems like trying to hard.

Overall the strong cast just isn’t enough to turn The Giver from a bland tale of an unhappy future into a vivid story you can emotionally attach to. And even though newcomers Thwaites and Rush do try their very best, and receive good support from Taylor Swift, in a thankless walk-on role, they are just not convincing as 16year olds.

So if you want an action packed dystopia with a strong story and convincing actors maybe wit for The Hunger Games later this year.