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17Jun

[FILM REVIEW] F9: THE FAST SAGA Review (2021)

Posted in Action, Film, Film Genre, Home Page | Leave a comment

Summary: Cipher enlists the help of Jakob, Dom’s younger brother to take revenge on Dom and his team.

Year: 2021

Cinema Release Dates: 17th June 2021 (Australia), 15th July 2021 (Thailand), 24th June 2021 (UK), 25th June 2021 (USA)

VOD Release Dates: TBA

Country: USA

Director: Justin Lin

Screenwriter: Daniel Casey, Justin Lin

Cast: Siena Agudong (Young Mia), Vinnie Bennet (Young Dom), Lucas Black (Sean), Jordana Brewster (Mia), Cardi B (Leysa), John Cena (Jakob), Cered (Young Leo), Finn Cole (Young Jakob), Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Vincent Sinclair Diesel (Younger Dom), Lex Elle (Sergeant Reyes), Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey), Martin Ford (Lieutenant Sue), Tyrese Gibson (Roman), Azia Dinea Hale (Young Letty), Immanuel Holtant (Little Brian), Issac Holtane (Little Brian), Sung Kang (Han), Karson Kern (Young Vince), Mark Krenik (Cash), Ludacris (Tej), Helen Mirren (Queenie), Shad Moss (Twinkie), Don Omar (Santos), Ozuna (Young Santos), JD Pardo (Jack Toretto), Jim Parrack (Kenny Linder), Thur Ersted Rasmussen (Otto), Igby Rigney (Young Jesse), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty), Michael Rooker (Buddy), Kurt Russell (Mr. Nobody), Anna Sawwai (Elle), Charlize Theron (Cipher), Jason Tobin (Earl), Ella Walker (Vanessa), Shea Whigham (Stasiak), Juju Zhang (Young Elle)

Running Time: 145 mins

Classification: M (Australia), 12A (UK), PG-13 (Australia)

OUR F9: THE FAST SAGA REVIEWS

David Griffiths’ F9: The Fast Saga Review:

To call me a Fast & Furious fan is a major under-statement. I fell in love with this franchise when I saw the first film on the day it opened back in 2001. At the time I was almost unaware of Paul Walker (Snow Dogs) or Vin Diesel (XXX) but by the time I left the cinema I was wishing I was them. As I write this review right now just above me on my wall is one of my most valuable possessions – framed signed stills from the cast of

Over the years I have never really hated any of the films, sure there have been some that I have enjoyed more than others but I have even found things to like about 2Fast 2Furious and Tokyo Drift which others have described as weaker films in the franchises. What I found this time is that while F9 may not be my favourite in the series it is certainly up there with the best.

This time around the film open with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez – Avatar) are living a quiet country lifestyle with Dom’s son. That quiet life is quickly pushed to the side though when Roman (Tyrese Gibson – Transformers), Tej (Ludacris – Crash) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel – Game Of Thrones) shows up with an encrypted message from Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell – The Hateful Eight) asking for the group’s help.

After viewing the message himself though Dom soon realises that this isn’t going to be a simple search and rescue mission because he recognises the work of his arch nemesis – the dangerous hacker Cipher (Charlize Theron – Monster) and a ghost from he and Mia’s (Jordana Brewster – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) past – their brother Jakob (John Cena – Bumblebee).

What makes F9 work so well is the same as what has endeared me to this franchise for so long – the film’s have heart and are not just big soulless action flicks. As an audience we have come to know and love Dom, Letty, Mia and their crew and here the screenwriters and director Justin Lin (Fast Five) feed off that.

The fact that this film explores the relationship between Dom and Jakob and even shows the moment that Dom changed from being a teenager into a man in a flash second gives this film a heart and soul that the fans are just going to love. Those flash-backs instantly show the haters that there is still a lot more to explore in this Fast & Furious universe. And the way that they intertwine with the action sequences of the modern day action shows that Lin is a director that knows how to tell a story as well as direct action.

As we have come to expect from this franchise the action sequences here are amazing. Lin once again returns back to more car based action (there is even a joke told about tanks and submarines) with a finale that while out of this world is shot so well that the audience are still able to see it as believable.

My only gripes are that with Jakob and Cipher already in the picture Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen – Sunday) almost seems redundant as a villain and that the excuses for Paul Walker’s character of Brian not being around are getting pretty thin, Lines indicating that he is staying at home and looking after his kids while his wife is out battling villains is border-line disrespectful to the character’s memory and you almost wonder whether they would have been better off killing Brian in the franchise after the untimely death of Walker.

All up though F9 is a film that fans of the franchise are going to love, and yes there are a few unexpected surprises thrown in for everyone as well. Casual viewers may find some of the characters confusing given that the screenplay relies on you having seen their character set-ups and storylines in previous films. The action is epic and the heroes are deep and meaningful – once again this franchise has given us all its best.

Dave’s rating Out Of 5

Lee Griffiths’ F9: The Fast Saga Review:

Lee’s rating Out Of 5

Kyle McGraths’ F9: The Fast Saga Review:

The Fast & Furious franchise has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Moreso than that I feel that it’s a film franchise worthy of praise for its immense success in a variety of ways many of which have gone overlooked.

It goes without saying that the films have achieved an incredible financial success at the box office but what film franchise other than James Bond and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made it to 9 movies (10 including the 2019 spinoff Hobbs & Shaw) with audiences still wanting more? For it to have lost then regained for the most part the same main cast of actors, for it to have evolved into something completely different than what it started off as and for it to still work as well as it does in its target audience’s eyes has got to be praised. The franchise is in fact so huge that even successful film franchises like The Expendables or Star Trek have themselves self destructed trying to cash in in one way or another.

It keeps being brought up how ridiculous it is that what started out as a movie about a gang stealing VCRs has turned into a huge budget spy movie franchise with those same characters destroying tanks or going into outer space. This is all true but it’s not something I find myself being irritated by nearly as much as I am by the people who keep bringing it up with every new installment. 2001’s The Fast & The Furious while a popular film that launched Vin Diesel to stardom was itself labled, somewhat justifiably, as a Point Break ripoff with cars in exchange for surfboards. Its always been hard for me to find fault in the fact that one type of shlocky fun action film turned into a different type of schlocky fun action film.

Paul Walker’s tragic passing effected the films greatly. He wasnt just a main character in the movies, from the start he was the actual protagonist of them. On top of that his continuing to star in the initial sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious while Vin Diesel would not return to the franchise until film 4 means that his death would have effectively destroyed the saga’s trajectory. The odd thing is it didn’t, not due to any shortcoming in the quality of the series’ writing or characters, but because “F&F” had grown to something entirely different by then it could survive the loss of a main character.

Allow me to go on a little here but this is why I’m a fan of the series 20 years later. With 2 Fast 2 Furious Vin Diesel not returning meant the movie instead of pairing Paul Walker’s Brian with Dom paired him with Tyrese Gibson’s Roman as well as other new characters. 2006’s F&F: Tokyo Drift acted as an entire reboot of the franchise focusing on a new character and his story in the Japanese car drifting world. It introduced the character of Han (Sung Kang) who’s death in that film became an easter egg establishing that F&F 4, 5 & 6 were actually all prequels. Those films were when the series took on more of it’s “familia” theme and became more about the ensemble cast on different steadily crazier and crazier adventures.

Then midway during the production of F&F7 Paul Walker was killed in an unrelated car accident. This led to massive delays as the filmmakers tried to decide how to proceed with filming or whether to scrap the movie altogether. Amazingly against all odds F&F7 managed to pull off the impossible and actually worked despite the film initially being rushed into production to achieve a next year release date, the resulting loss of Justin Lin (director of all the films since Tokyo Drift) and death of a lead actor midway through filming leading to the film needing to be completely rewritten to work as not only a coherent film but also as a fitting tribute to Paul Walker and a send-off to his character. Not only was it the most financially successful F&F til that point but many fans see it as their favourite film of the series.

Whats worth noting also is that while he had to initially pull out due to scheduling conflicts with his Hercules epic the delay in filming allowed Dwyane Johnson to rejoin the film. This led to the clashing of his character Luke Hobbs with the antagonist Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). The chemistry they had together eventually leading to their own spinoff movie Hobbs & Shaw. Point being that a tragic event which should have destroyed the series somehow didnt and the F&F franchise remained as strong as ever for 2 more films.

This brings us (finally) to the delayed release of Fast & Furious 9. The story picks up where F8 of the Furious left off with Dom as a father living the quiet life with his child and his partner Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). They become dragged back into the world of espionage and adventure learning that the Blofeld-like Cipher (Charlize Theron) has been captured and as quickly escaped with the assistance of Jakob (John Cena), Dom’s long estranged brother. Dom and the rest of his famila must do what they can to stop whatever it is that Cipher and Jakob must be planning before it’s too late. Along the way there will be revelations as its revealed that Letty isnt the only series character whose death was greatly overstated.

While there were elements of this movie I found interesting or impressive. Its always a bit of a risky move pulling the “long lost character” trope especially after we’ve known Dom’s family story for so long. That said the film did a surprisingly decent job of weaving Jakob into the back story of the Toretto family and there’s ample use of flashbacks throughout the film to establish the rift which grew between the two brothers. John Cena has the charisma and the menace to easily take on the role of a lead villain in a F&F movir. It is a little far fetched that Jakob also became some sort of evil secret agent at the same time that Dom’s life led him down a similar path but it was two other things which bothered me about Jakob’s shoehorning into the story.

First is that while most of Jakob’s interactions and character development understandably are between himself and his brother Dom there wasn’t a whole lot between him and his sister Mia played by Jordana Brewster making her return to the series after sitting out the last film. One of this film’s strengths and also its weaknesses I believe is its large ensemble cast of characters. Telling a full story, giving everyone enough screen time and having plenty of action sequences can lead to an exceptionally long film (little wonder this movie clocks in at 145 mins and similarly Avengers Endgame was over 3hrs). Also getting such a large cast together can have other issues such as Charlize Theron having a quite small role in this film most of her scenes being filmed on the same set. But Jordana Brewster’s Mia does feel left out a lot but with her being in the film at all the audience is reminded often of the elephant in the room, where is Bryan? I felt a lot of those problems could have been resolved by introducing her later in the film but then she does have some scenes with Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty character who is having her own crisis as to whether she belongs in a domestic life.

Another reason Mia may have been added back to the cast is to give the franchise some more female characters. There was talk a while ago about making a “female oriented” Fast & Furious spinoffvmovie which I hope doesnt happen because the franchise has never not included strong female characters. Especially since the move to an ensemble cast it hasn’t felt anything like a boy’s only club. I would be happy if in the future they continued with the multi racial, multi gendered cast of characters they have now working together rather than try splitting up into segregated films for some reason.

Going back the other problem that I had with Jakob’s inclusion in the story is more to do with the trope itself. The F&F films have already had a villain who turned out to be the until unknown brother of another character in Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw in F&F 7 to Luke Evan’s Owen Shaw in F&F 6. The biggest problem with any long lasting franchise to me is when the storytellers start running out of ideas and repeating themselves. I understand there’s only so many storylines possible but I’m always impressed by creativity and when we are told stories or, in action films, shown action sequences we’ve never seen before. While many others were praising the 2012 Bond film Skyfall I couldn’t help but see it as a collection of themes & ideas & plot devices Frankenstein’d together from other Bond films, Mission: Impossible films and even The Dark Knight.

To it’s credit the F&F films have made it this far without repearing themselves too much. With the exception of the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff the films have always impressed me with being able to come up with new and exciting set pieces and in many ways this film achieves this as well with this film filled to the brim with insane stunts and crazy ideas. However it does feel like the well of ideas may be running a little dry as in F&F 9 they not only have recycled the lost brother idea already used in previous films but also the twist of bringing a character long thought dead back to life. I won’t go into detail on that as I feel it qualifies as a spoiler (even if this character is involved in official promotional meterial for the film) but we are getting into MCU territory here with reincarnations.

Fast 9 is the epitome of a “turn your brain off and enjoy it” movie. At this point 10 films into a franchise I feel like if that hasnt been made clear to people it never will be. Through that lens I found myself enjoying the film while accepting that it is by far not my favourite installment and definitely shows signs that the series is in need of retirement before it becomes too late. With Fast 10 Part 1 & 2 in development and allegedly being the final mainstream film in the saga I think that even the filmmakers can see there’s a time to wrap things up.

Kyle McGrath’s Rating Out Of 5:

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18Oct

[FILM REVIEW] FIRST MAN Review

Posted in Biography, Drama, Film, Film Genre, Home Page | Leave a comment

Summary:

A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Year: 2018

Australian Cinema Release Date: 11th October 2018

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: United States

Director: Damien Chazelle

Screenwriter: Josh Singer, James R. Hansen (based on the book by)

Cast: Christopher Abbott (Dave Scott), Mark Armstrong (Paul Haney), Chandler Barron (Scott Carpenter), Skyler Bible (Richard Gordon), Connor Colton Blodgett (Mark Armstrong), Leon Bridges (Gil Scott-Heron), Callie Brown (Young Bonnie White), Kyle Chandler (Deke Slayton), Jason Clarke (Ed White), Steve Coulter (Guenter Wendt), Ethan Embry (Pete Conrad), J.D. Evermore (Chris Kraft), Ryan Clay Forbes (Bill Anders), Claire Foy (Janet Armstrong), Patrick Fugit (Eliott See), Matthew Glave (Chuck Yaeger), Ryan Gosling (Neil Armstong), Edmund Grant (Older Ed White Jnr.), Choppy Guillotte (John Young), Lukas Haas (Mike Collins), Oliver Hamilton (Pat White), James R. Hansen (Dr. Kurt Debus), Robert Hatch (Joe Schmitt), Braydyn Nash Helms (Young Eddie White Jnr.), Ciaran Hinds (Bob Gilruth), Helen S. Jackson (Louise Sheron), Brian d’Arcy James (Joe Walker), Shaun Eric Jones (Wally Schirra), Jonathon Kankolenski (Young Edward Higgins II), John F. Kennedy (himself – archive), Michael Lee Kimel (Bill Moon), William Gregory Lee (Gordon Cooper), Dutin Lewis (Ralph Morse), George Linkenback (Col. Frank Borman), Ben Owen (John Hodge), Greg Puckett (Charles Berry), Willie Repoley (Jim Fucci), Kermit Rolison (George Mueller), Pablo Schreiber (Jim Lovell), Margo Schroeder (June Hoffman Armstrong), Brady Smith (Butch Butchart), Claire Smith (Older Bonnie White), Corey Michael Smith (Roger Chaffee), Lucy Brooke Stafford (Karen Armstrong), Andrew Stahl (Ken Mattingly), Jim Stearns (David Hammock), Corey Stoll (Buzz Aldrin), Kris Swanberg (Marilyn See), William G. Tomek (Donald Babbitt), Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (himself – archive), Kent Wagner (Fred Haise), Gavin Warren (Young Rick Armstrong), John David Whalen (John Glenn), Shea Whigham (Gus Grissom), Luke Winters (Older Rick Armstrong), Perry Zulu Jnr. (Robert Lawrence)

Runtime: 141 mins

Classification: M

OUR FIRST MAN REVIEWS & RATINGS:

Dave Griffiths Review:

When you think of space exploration we now days think of the romanticised Hollywood version of space travel. Unless you can think back to realistic movies like Apollo 13 it is easy to forget that it only takes a second for space exploration to become a nightmare for all involved. Sure we have sci-fi movies like Aliens that enhance the extra-terrestrial horror that many believe might be out there, somewhere, but very few films capture the horrors of the unknown and the impact it had on its first explorers like First Man does.

Director Damian Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land) doesn’t have to develop scary looking aliens in order to create horror for intrepid test pilot and engineer Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling – Drive, Blue Valentine) and his wife Janet (Claire Foy – Season Of The Witch, Vampire Academy). Like he did with Whiplash Chazelle just shows human life in its purest form… which for this family provided more horror than most couples could withstand. From the loss of their daughter which led to Armstrong joining the NASA Space Program in the first place, dangerous test missions that place Neil’s life in danger nearly every day through to the anguish that Janet endures on the days she knows that her husband is doing such tests. Chazelle just stirs the pot and lets the human emotions in the film bubble and boil until they explode.

Neil and Janet’s solace come from their best friends Ed White (Jason Clarke – Zero Dark Thirty, Terminator Genisys), his wife Pat (Olivia Hamilton – Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot, The Last Tycoon) and Neil’s immediate boss the caring yet determined Deke Slayton (Kyle Chandler – Friday Night Lights, Argo). Even so Pat and Janet’s ‘talking’ is normally disguised as children’s play dates, Neil seems happy to talk to Ed about the mission but pushes him away when the talk turns personal and while Deke does what he can to help his test pilots at the same time he is the man who has to make tough calls like switching off intercoms so wives can’t hear their husbands in peril and writing death announcements for missions he has to appear to be ‘confident’ for.

First Man could have easily suffered from Titanic-syndrome, a film where the audience knows the ultimate outcome and therefore just sits on the edge of their seat waiting for the expected finale but here Chazelle, who is aided brilliantly by his screenwriter Josh Singer (The West Wing, The Post), takes the audience on a different kind of journey. He captures moments they never told us about during our High School science classes. The raw, claustrophobic feel a test pilot feels as he hurled into orbit in what seems like a sardine can that they aren’t even sure will make the journey, the moments that wives find out that their husbands haven’t returned from a flight and the protests that occurred in America when the loss of life made people realise that these test pilots were really guinea pigs in what seemed like a cruel experiment. Then of course there is the tension an astronaut’s job puts on his family life and here we see painful moments such as the one where Janet has to plead with Neil to tell his children that he may not come back from his moon mission.

Just like he did with Whiplash Chazelle also brings out the best in his cast and helps them bring their character’s pain and anguish to the fore. Claire Foy delivers her best role to date and if she doesn’t at least receive an Oscar nomination for this performance then something is seriously wrong. As an actress she delivers on every level as Janet is put through an emotional ringer and these are the kinds of performances that the Academy should be applauding – ones that test an actress and her acting abilities. Equally good is Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong. When cast as an All-American hero, a real life Captain America if you will, you wouldn’t expect an actor to have to become emotional dark and foreboding, but that is exactly what is expected of Gosling here. Forget his pretty boy looks because here Gosling calls on the acting skills that saw him create memorable characters in films like Drive or The Place Beyond The Pines… he is absolutely brilliant.

First Man is the first film of 2018 that I have seen where my thought throughout was ‘this needs to be an Oscar film.’ From start to finish it felt like the film was taking me on a claustrophobic ride with its characters. The sequences in which the pilots are conducting test flights are moments of sheer cinematic masterpiece, where visuals and sound effects come together in a way that creates a horror that you never expected. This combined by outstanding dramatic acting performances from its leads and again I find myself putting the five stars down on a Damian Chazelle film. First Man is sheer brilliance, a lesson in dramatic filmmaking.

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10Mar

[FILM REVIEW] KONG: SKULL ISLAND Review

Posted in Action, Adventure, Film, Film Genre, Sci-Fi / Fantasy | Leave a comment

Summary: After the Vietnam war, a team of scientists explores an uncharted island in the Pacific, venturing into the domain of the mighty Kong, and must fight to escape a primal Eden.

Year: 2017

Australian Cinema Release Date: 10th March 2017

Australian DVD Release Date: 19th July 2017

Country: United States, China

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Screenwriter: Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly, Dan Gilroy, John Gatins (story), Merian C. Cooper (characters), Edgar Wallace (characters)

Cast: Will Brittain (Young Marlow/Marlow’s Son), James Michael Connor (General Ward (voice), Eugene Cordero (Reles), James Edward Flynn (Sgt. Dren), John Goodman (Bill Randa), Corey Hawkins (Houston Brooks), Tom Hiddleston (James Conrad), Mark Evan Jackson (Landsat Steve), Samuel L. Jackson (Preston Packard), Richard Jenkins (Senator Willis), Tian Jing (San), Rachel Joseph (Iwi), Toby Kebbell (Jack Chapman/Kong), Brie Larson (Mason Weaver), Thomas Mann (Slivko), Thomas Middleditch (Jerry (voice)), Jason Mitchell (Mills), Miyavi (Gunpei Ikari), Terry Notary (Kong), John Oritz (Victor Nieves), Allen Rachel (Secretary O’Brien), John C. Reilly (Hank Marlow), Shea Whigham (Cole)

Runtime: 118 mins

Classification: PG

OUR KONG: SKULL ISLAND REVIEWS & RATINGS:

Kyle McGrath’s Kong: Skull Island Review:

The second film in Legendary Pictures “MonsterVerse” Kong: Skull Island is the story of a team of soldiers, scientists and explorers who at the end of the Vietnam war set off to an uncharted island in the Pacific. Almost immediately they encounter the wrath of the mighty King Kong who destroying their military helicopters leave them stranded on Skull Island. The survivors must traverse this unknown land to reach their originally planned evacuation point completely unaware that there are things on this island much worse than a 100 foot tall monkey.

I thoroughly enjoyed 2014’s Godzilla. While I thought the movie had some issues I feel it captured the perfect tone and representation of the titular King of the Monsters. I had heard about Kong: Skull Island from one source that it didn’t take itself too seriously and then from another that it took itself too seriously. After seeing the film I think it’s a mixture of both and it isn’t alway pretty.

From the beginning the filmmakers attempts to make “Apocalypse Now but with monsters” comes off as comedic. The opening scene which itself is set at the height of WW2 as both a US and Japanese soldier crash land on the island and duke it out before being interrupted by Kong feels more like a parody than anything. I was seriously expecting it to turn out to be “golden age of Hollywood” crew making some schlocky movie as a reference to the storylines of other “King Kong” films before being attacked. But no, this is the tone of the movie, rather than awe or drama I’m expecting a punchline and usually getting one from one of the movie’s many comedy relief moments. At a moment of high tension as Kong is about to eat some unfortunate soldier it jump cuts to a man biting into a sandwich. This is comedy stuff and drives a steamroller through any tension the film has built up and turns it into a joke.

The other serious moments, or attempts at serious moments come from the characters mostly, all of whom are non entities. There are simply way too many characters in this movie and not enough plot to go around to flesh them all out in 2 hours. One of the shortcomings of Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005) was the amount of time early on spent on supporting characters who either weren’t going to make it or weren’t going to be relevant at all by the halfway point.

Their stories felt genuine at least however. Here every other character has some monologue about their past. They talk about writing letters to their mama back home, or their newborn son they’ve never seen or they reminisce about some village they obliterated in ‘nam. All of it feels so melodramatic and ridiculous, again like it came from a parody film such as Black Dynamite and it comes from characters who probably shouldn’t be in the movie at all as their only purpose is to be fodder for some beastie or in some cases not even that. I know it’s complaining about “forced diversity” or “trying to appeal to the Chinese audience” in movies is low hanging fruit but it helps if in a movie your writers give a black guy and a Chinese girl something more substantial to do than just exist, follow the main characters around and talk to each other every now and then to remind us they’re there.

All of this damages the movie. I don’t care about the plot or Samuel L Jackson’s Colonel Kurtz-surrogate insane military commander because so much screen time is dedicated to redundancies. I would say it feels like a movie that has had 30 minutes of story cut out of it if it wasn’t for the low quality of what IS in the movie telling me otherwise.

Now while the actual monster on monster action fares much better and let’s be honest that’s what people came to see even that I found to be harmed by the need at comedy relief. We’re told about “Skull Crawlers”, the REAL threat on the island and what our hero Kong is up against, in a scene which needs to be interrupted for some jokes from long marooned soldier John C. Reilly told in exactly such a fashion that you’d expect from him. The result is on par with a Bond villain slipping on a banana peel in the middle of his master plan speech to James.

That said fans of the genre may get more out of this movie than out of Godzilla 2014. Purely from the fact that while in that film the filmmakers wished to hide the monsters from us as much as possible, here they can’t seem to wait to show it to us.

The film is what it is, a monster themed popcorn movie with cheesy comedy, wafer thin characters and story and 100 foot ape. I do believe that much more could have been done with it however if the filmmakers just knew more what tone they wished to take and story they wanted to tell. The film is tries to mix serious moments with comedy but comes off more like Hot Shots 2 than Mash.

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26Feb

Non-Stop (2014)

Posted in Action, Film, Home Page, Thriller | Leave a comment

Summary: An air marshall must spring into action aboard an international flight.

Year: 2014

Australian Cinema Release Date: 27th February, 2014

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: USA, France

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Screenwriter: John W. Richardson, Christopher Roach, Ryan Engle

Cast: Jon Abrahams (David Norton), Josh Bodenhamer (Giovanni), Nadia Bowers (Mrs. O’Reilly), Alejandro Cardenas (Arturo Lucci), Edoardo Costa (Herve Philbert), Frank Deal (Charles Wheeler), Michelle Dockery (Nancy), O.T. Fagbenle (Jack Rabbitte), Jason Butler Harner (Kyle Rice), Corey Hawkins (Travis Mitchell), Christine Hitt (Camila D’Agostino), Charlotte Kirk (Amy Harris), Perri Lauren (Stella), Quinn McColgan (Becca), Scoot McNairy (Tom Bowen), Omar Metwally (Dr. Fahim Nasir), Julianne Moore (Jen Summers), Anson Mount (Jack Hammond), Liam Neeson (Bill Marks), Lupita Nyong’o (Gwen), Bar Paly (Iris Marianne), Nate Parker (Zack White), Amanda Quaid (Emily Norton), Linus Roache (David McMillan), Corey Stoll (Austin Reilly), Liz Thomas (Madeline), Michael Thomas Walker (Michael Tate), Shea Whigham (Agent Marenick)

Runtime: 106 mins

Classification:M

OUR NON-STOP REVIEWS & RATINGS:

David Griffiths:

Remember the time when you could sit down and watch a good action thriller and you wouldn’t actually know who the bad guy was until just before the end credits? That certainly hasn’t been the case over the past few years when you’ve sat down to watch a Hollywood thriller but the good news is that director Jaume Collet-Serra manages to recapture the thriller feeling of old once again with Non-Stop.

Liam Neeson again seems to have forgotten that he once said he would never make action films and this time brilliantly plays Bill Marks, a jaded former New York cop who is battling an alcohol problem and depression while working as an air marshall.

The day in question starts off just like any other for Bill, he is not only fighting a killer headache as the morning goes on but also feuding with his ex-wife. Then while boarding the flight he sees that he has his usual bunch of suspects to protect – the rude and obnoxious Travis Mitchell (Corey Hawkins) who seems to think the world revolves around him and the nervous child flyer Becca (Quinn McColgan). At least as he settles into his routine he does notice some friendly faces around including his friend Nancy (Michelle Dockery) and the chatty passenger he is seated next to the mysterious Jen Summers (Julianne Moore).

But then shortly after take-off the flight suddenly becomes anything but ordinary when Bill receives a text message telling them that has twenty minutes to place $150 million in a bank account or people start to die. Quickly Bill tries to work out which passenger could be involved – perhaps it is the Muslim gentleman Dr. Fahim Nasir (Omar Metwally), the jittery Austin Reilly (Corey Stoll) or the flight crew member who was rushed onto the flight at the last moment, Gwen (Lupita Nyong’o). However it is they are good at their job and Bill soon realises this when it seems like they are making him look like the person that is behind the hijacking.

Creating the perfect thriller is also a double edged sword for a director or a screenwriter. The fact that they can call upon the fact that nearly everybody has a small hint of being a nervous flyer can really enhance the film but the fact that an entire movie also has to be kept in such a small space can also prove too much for many filmmakers and their films end up lacking that certain something that holds the audience’s suspense all the way through.

The basic criticism that many will level at Non-Stop is that Neeson is playing the same character he played in Taken, and that is true to a certain extent, but there also seems to be more of a sense of realism around his character here. Yes Bill is substance affected while he is supposed to be looking after a plane full of people, but just like you did with Denzel Washington in Flight you quickly warm to the character, which only raises the suspense even further when those on the ground begin to assume that Bill is in fact the hijacker.

Credit also has to be paid to a great script that pretty much leaves the audience with no idea who the real hijacker is until it is supposed to be revealed… the way it should be with a good thriller. The script is further enhanced by director, Jaume Collet-Serra who feeds the audience false paths all the way along, something that works and just makes the elusive hijacker even harder to pick.

Non-Stop further cements Liam Neeson as one of the best action stars going around at the moment. He mixes dramatic acting and action sequences together with absolute ease and he is well supported by the likes of Julianne Moore and Michelle Dockery who also do credible jobs. Kudos also to Scoot McNairy and Corey Stoll who don’t have to do much but still have a couple of screen stealing moments.

Non-Stop is one of the better thrillers to have surfaced over the past few years and if you are a young filmmaker who wants to learn all the ins and outs of this genre then this is one film you just have to check out.

Average Subculture Rating (out of 5):

IMDB Rating:

Other Subculture Media Reviews of ‘Non-Stop′: Nil.

Trailer:

23Jan

The Wolf Of Wall Street (2014)

Posted in Biography, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Film, Film Genre, Home Page | Leave a comment

Summary: Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) is the son of an accountant, hoping to make it big on Wall Street as a stockbroker. Following the crash of 1987 Belfort reinvents himself with the help of Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) and close group of unscrupulous friends, starting brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont. Rapidly becoming wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, Belfort develops a hard-partying lifestyle that soon attracts the attention of federal government.

Year: 2014

Australian Cinema Release Date: 23rd January, 2014

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: Australia

Director: Martin Scorsese

Screenwriter: Terence Winter, Jordan Belfort (book)

Cast: Ashlie Atkinson (Rochelle Applebaum), Jon Bernthal (Brad), Loretta O. Booz (Wendy), P.J. Byrne (Nicky ‘Rugrat’ Koskoff), Chris Caldovino (Rocco #1), Katarina Cas (Chantalle), Aya Cash (Janet), Kyle Chandler (Agent Patrick Denham), Kenneth Choi (Chester Ming), Robert Clohessy (Nolan Drager), Shea Coleman (Skylar Belfort (14 months old)), Carla Corvo (Pam), Dan Daily (Honorary Raymond Samitz), Leonardo DiCaprio (Jordan Belfort), Bo Dietl (himself), Jean Dujardin (Jean Jacques Saurel), Christine Ebersole (Leah Belfort), Giselle Eisenberg (Skylar Belfort (4 Years Old)), Michael Engberg (Smith), Jon Favreau (Manny Riskin), Danny Flaherty (Zip), Marcus Antonio Gonzalez (Rocco #2), Ted Griffin (Agent Hughes), Jonah Hill (Donnie Azoff), Jake Hoffman (Steve Madden), Christina Jeffs (Venice), Spike Jonze (Dwayne), Dustin Kerns (Ben Jenner), Stephen Kunken (Jerry Fogel), Stephanie Kurtzuba (Kimmie Blezer), Aaron Lazar (Blair Hollingsworth), Ben Leasure (Brantley), Fran Lebowitz (Honorary Samantha Stogel), Joanna Lumley (Aunt Emma), J.C. MacKenzie (Lucas Soloman), Johnnie Mae (Violet), Rizwan Manji (Kalil), Matthew McConaughey (Mark Hanna), Madison McKinley (Heidi), Mackenzie Meehan (Hildy Azoff), Cristin Miliroti (Teresa Petrillo), Ron Nakahara (Rocky Aoki), Michael Nathanson (Barry Kleinman), Sandra Nelson (Aliyah Farran), Dierdre Reimold (Nicole), Rob Reiner (Max Belfort), Margot Robbie (Naomi Lapaglia), Barry Rothbart (Peter DeBlasio), Brian Sacca (Robbie ‘Pinhead’ Feinberg), Jon Spinogatti (Nicholas the Butler), Ethan Suplee (Toby Welch), Natasha Newman Thomas (Danielle Harrison), Emily Tremaine (Cristy), Shea Whigham (Captain Ted Beecham), Joe Zaso (Bernardo), Henry Zebrowski (Alden ‘Sea Otter’ Kupferberg)

Runtime: 180 mins

Classification:R18+

OUR WOLF OF WALL STREET REVIEWS & RATINGS:

Adam Ross:

Please check Adam’s The Wolf Of Wall Street review of that is available on The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show Ep #65

Greg King:

Please check Greg’s The Wolf Of Wall Street review of that is available on www.filmreviews.net.au

Nick Gardener:

Please check Nick’s The Wolf Of Wall Street review that is available on Southern FM

David Griffiths:

First I do have to admit a real bias when I am reviewing The Wolf Of Wall Street – I am an avid Martin Scorsese film and also an avid Leonardo DiCaprio, yes I have been in heaven for the past few years while they are collaborated together on five films. And yes while films such as Shutter Island and The Departed would make my ‘Greatest Films Ever Made’ list, I am not biased enough to admit that these two have made some ordinary films together, especially The Aviator.

So where does The Wolf Of Wall Street fit on the Leonardo DiCaprio/Martin Scorsese scale. Well to be honest it is pretty bloody high up, because this is a good… no make that… great film. But to preface that I should say this film does go above and beyond to get its R18+ rating because Scorsese has pretty much made a film about a world of sleaze.

Under Scorsese’s wonderful direction DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a young man who is introduced into the world of Wall Street finance by the ‘out there’ Mark Hanna (Matthew McCounaughey) who teaches Jordan the things he needs to succeed are cash, drugs and sex… and that you get them anyway you can.

Jordan’s first journey into Wall Street though doesn’t last after the crash of 1987 and soon Hanna disappears out of the picture and Jordan is left to resurrect himself, this time through a backyard operation that pretty much just sells worthless penny deals. But Jordan sees promise in that and soon he, and his new found buddy the loud Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), begin their new operation that has the sole aim of making them money.

Once Jordan is once again wealthy he again reaches Wall Street doing illegal deal after illegal deal while his weaknesses are still cash, drugs and sex… this time with his future wife, the beautiful Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie). Everything is going well until a Federal Agent (played by Kyle Chandler) starts sniffing around Jordan and aims to bring him down.

With The Wolf Of Wall Street Scorsese is once again at the top of his game. He is cunning with the way that he tells this story – yes at times he glorifies the sick lifestyle that Jordan lives, but he also dramatically shows the downside of this lifestyle to the point where anybody watching the film would be an idiot to want to get involved in the finance world. At times Jordan appears to be a God, but that image is shattered when Scorsese allows the grime to reach the surface in shocking acts such as seeing Jordan punch his wife in the stomach. Those that criticize The Wolf Of Wall Street and point out that Scorsese is trying to glorify this film are on the wrong track completely because he is trying to do anything but that.

The critics that have pointed out that Scorsese goes back and reuses some of his old Goodfellas style are right, but always the inventor Scorsese also uses comedy to full affect in The Wolf Of Wall Street… perhaps to give his audience a rest from the onslaught, while he is also creative in the way that he allows Jordan to narrate this film, especially in the sense that Jordan seems to be able to pick and choose what he feels the audience will understand. He may be in his seventies but at least Scorsese is still a director willing to try new things.

Once again Scorsese also gets the best out of Leonardo DiCaprio. Just like he did in Django Unchained DiCaprio relishes the fact that he gets to play an unlikable character here and he is well deserved of all the awards he has been nominated for. But this isn’t just the DiCaprio show, oh no Matthew McConaughey steals the show with his brief performance, Kyle Chandler is once again smooth in his role while Jonah Hill provides more than just comedic relief showing that he is a genuine dramatic actor these days. However the person that deserves a big tick for The Wolf Of Wall Street is Australian actress Margot Robbie who shows that she is more than just a pretty face and delivers some intense acting during her sometimes vicious scenes with DiCaprio. Yes she well and truly deserves her ‘star on the rise’ label.

As previously mentioned The Wolf Of Wall Street is not a film that will be enjoyed by all. It is a powerful, and yes at times graphic film. It may be a little long (some of the scenes wouldn’t have suffered if the editor had been a bit more brutal) but this film once again shows why Martin Scorsese is a living legend when it comes to filmmaking.

Average Subculture Rating (out of 5):

IMDB Rating:

Other Subculture Media Reviews of ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street′: Please check The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show Ep #65 for our full The Wolf Of Wall Street review.

Trailer:

13Dec

2013 SAG Awards Nominations

Posted in Film, Film News, News | Leave a comment

The 2013 SAG Awards nominations are now in. Here they are:

FEATURE FILMS

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role

Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave)
Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
Daniel Bruhl (Rush)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)
James Gandolfini (Enough Said)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role

Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)
Julia Roberts (August: Osange County)
June Squibb (Nebraska)
Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture

12 Years A Slave – Bendict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garrett Dillahunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodward
American Hustle – Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Louis C.K., Bradley Cooper, Paul Herman, Jack Huston, Jennifer Lawrence, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Pena, Jeremy Renner, Elisabeth Rohm, Shea Whigham
August: Osange County – Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Julia Roberts, Sam Shepard, Meryl Streep, Misty Upham
Dallas Buyers Club – Jennifer Garner, Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Denis O’Hare, Dallas Roberts, Steve Zahn
Lee Daniels’ The Butler – Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jnr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams, Oprah Winfrey

TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Television Movie or Mini-Series

Matt Damon (Behind The Candelabra)
Michael Douglas (Behind The Candelabra)
Jeremy Irons (The Hollow Crown)
Rob Lowe (Killing Kennedy)
Al Pacino (Phil Spector)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Movie or Mini-Series

Angela Bassett (Betty & Coretta)
Helena Bonham Carter (Burton And Taylor)
Holly Hunter (Top Of The Lake)
Helen Mirren (Phil Spector)
Elisabeth Moss (Top Of The Lake)

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Drama Series

Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones)
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Drama Series

Claire Danes (Homeland)
Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Coven)
Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)
Kerrry Washington (Scandal)

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Don Cheadle (House Of Lies)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Comedy Series

Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Julia-Louis Dreyfus (Veep)

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire – Patricia Arquette, Margot Bignham, Steve Buscemi, Brian Geraghty, Stephen Graham, Erik La Ray Harvey, Jack Huston, Ron Livingstone, Domenick Lombardozzi, Gretchen Mol, Ben Rosenfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jacob Ware, Shea Whigham, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jeffrey Wright
Breaking Bad – Michael Bowen, Betsy Brandt, Bryan Cranston, Lavell Crawford, Tait Fletcher, Laura Fraser, Anna Gunn, Matthew T. Metzler, RJ Mitte, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, Aaron Paul, Jesse Plemons, Steven Michael Quezada, Kevin Rankin, Patrick Sane
Downton Abbey – Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Jessica Brown Findlay, Siobhan Finneran, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier, Allen Leach, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Matt Milne, Lesley Nicol, Amy Nuttall, David Robb, Maggie Smith, Ed Speleers, Dan Stevens, Cara Theobold, Penelope Wilton
Game Of Thrones – Alfie Allen, John Bradley, Oona Chaplin, Gwendoline Christie, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Mackenzie Crook, Charles Dance, Joe Dempsie, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Nathalie Emmanuel, Michelle Fairley, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glenn, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Kristofer Hivju, Paul Kaye, Sibel Kekilli, Rose Leslie, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Michael McElhatton, Ian McElhinney, Philip McGinley, Hannah Murray, Iwan Rehon, Sophie Turner, Carice Van Houten, Maisie Williams
Homeland – F. Murray Abraham, Sarita Choudhury, Claire Danes, Rupert Friend, Tracy Letts, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin, Morgan Saylor

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series

30Rock – Scott Adsit, Alec Baldwin, Katrina Bowden, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, Tina Fey, Judah Friedlander, Jane Krakowski, John Lutz, James Marsden, Jack McBrayer, Tracey Morgan, Keith Powell
Arrested Development – Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, John Beard, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia De Rossi, Isla Fisher, Tony Hale, Ron Howard, Liza Minnelli, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Henry Winkler
The Big Bang Theory – Mayim Bialik, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Jim Parsons, Melissa Rauch
Modern Family – Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Aubrey Anderson Emmons, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ed O’Neill, Rico Rodriguez, Eric Stonestreet, Sofia Vergara, Ariel Winter
Veep – Sufe Bradshaw, Anna Chlumsky, Gary Cole, Kevin Dunn, Tony Hale, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Reid Scott, Timothy Simons, Matt Walsh

STUNT ENSEMBLE HONORS

Outstanding Action Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture

All Is Lost
Fast & Furious 6
Lone Survivor
Rush
The Wolverine

Outstanding Action Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Comedy or Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Game Of Thrones
Homeland
The Walking Dead

12Dec

American Hustle (2013)

Posted in Crime, Drama, Film, Film Genre, Home Page | Leave a comment

Summary: Manhattan-based con artists Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are forced to work for FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) to avoid prosecution following a sting operation. Pushed into a world of New Jersey power brokers and ‘wise-guys’, Irving and Sydney find efforts to clear their names made all the more difficult thanks to DiMaso’s erratic behavior and the unpredictability of Irving’s wife Roslyn (Jennifer Lawrence). Directed by David O. Russell (Silver Lining’s Playbook, The Fighter, Three Kings) and based on an incredible true story, this 1970’s-set award-season contender defies genre, hinging on the comedy of raw emotion, and the drama of life and death stakes.

Year: 2013

Australian Cinema Release Date: 12th December, 2013

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: USA

Director: David O. Russell

Screenwriter: David O. Russell, Eric Singer

Cast: Amy Adams (Sydney Prosser), Christian Bale (Irving Rosenfeld), Martie Barylick (Helen), Charley Broderick (Rep. John O’Connell), Louis C.K. (Stoddard Thorsen), Colleen Camp (Brenda), Alura Carbrey (Elizabeth Polito), Bradley Cooper (Richie DiMaso), Danny Corbo (Danny Rosenfeld), Sonny Corbo (Danny Rosenfeld), Gary Craig (Jerry Catone), Robert De Niro (Victor Tellegio), Sal DiMino (Lou Salvano), Richard Donnelly (Rep. Sanders), Andres Faucher (Don Hirxel), Kayla Feeney (Lorna Polito), Steve Gagliastro (Agent Schmidt), Armen Garo (Dick Helsing), Robert Glenn (Jerry), Barbara Guertin (Denise), Shannon Halliday (Doreen Polito), Richard Heneks (Al Kalowski), Paul Herman (Alfonse Simone), Jack Huston (Pete Musane), Jennifer Lawrence (Rosalyn Rosenfeld), Adrian Martinez (Julius), Thomas Matthews (Francis Polito), Alessandro Nivola (Anthony Amado), Michael Pena (Paco Hernandez/Sheik Abdullah), Jeremy Renner (Mayor Carmine Polito), Elisabeth Rohm (Dolly Polito), Matthew Russell (Dominic Polito), Zachariah Supka (Young Irv), Bob Taraschi (Rep. Stelford), Chris Tarjan (Agent Stock), Volieda Webb (Melora), Josh Philip Weinstein (Peter Scott), Shea Whigham (Carl Elway), Gary Zahakos (Congressman Keshoygan), Anthony Zerbe (Senator Horton Mitchell)

Runtime: 138 mins

Classification:M

OUR AMERICAN HUSTLE REVIEWS & RATINGS:

Adam Ross:

Please check Adam’s review of ‘American Hustle’ that is available on The Crat

Greg King:

Please check Greg’s review of ‘American Hustle’ that is available on www.filmreviews.net.au

David Griffiths:

At the moment director David O. Russell is Hollywood’s darling. It seems everything that he puts in his hands on becomes Oscar fodder. His movies like ‘The Fighter’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ have garnished plenty of Oscar nods over recent years and actors of the calibre of Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo admit they owe their Oscars to him.

As a director the past has seen Russell fight with his main stars and even have people say they will never work with him again – for that reason it is surprising that he has worked with most of the cast of “American Hustle” before. That certainly being the case with Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

This time around Russell focuses on actual events… albeit with some changed names and some poetic licence. An almost unrecognisable Christian Bale, complete with gut and hard-working comb over, plays Irving Rosenfeld a conman who lives a comfortable life making money before returning home to his strange wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) and much loved son each night.

Rosenfeld’s career as a con artist though really takes off after he meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) who becomes his lover and partner-in-crime, although their new found scam soon comes to the attention of a desperate young law enforcement officer, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso’s eagerness soon sees Sydney and Irving wrapped up in an –in-over-their-heads undercover sting designed to bring down community minded mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner).

Russell is somewhat of a frustrating director to watch. There are times during “American Hustle” when Russell eclipses perfection. The style, feel and plot of the film mirrors what Martin Scorsese has done so well over the years but the difference between the master and Russell is that Scorsese knows when to cull. Where the frustration seeps into “American Hustle” is that Russell will deliver a scene that leaves you gasping at its cinematic brilliance and then follow it up with a scene that should have found itself on the cutting room floor.

That problem leads to bigger problems for the film. Firstly the running time of 138 minutes is way too long and then there is the problem that the audiences’ focus drifts in and out depending on the relevance of the scene. Having said that though “American Hustle” is a good film it just doesn’t ever reach the greatness that it should.

What really saves “American Hustle” are the performances that Russell gets out of his cast. These are obviously actors that completely trust their director. How else could you explain Christian Bale going from Bruce Wayne to a man whose gut hangs over his trousers or the normally modest Amy Adams deciding to play a role where her cleavage is on show more often than not? To their credit though both actors deliver. Bale is his usual smooth self while Adams brings a brand of sexiness to the film that would be beyond most other actresses.

Then there are Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper’s performances. Russell just directed them amazingly in “Silver Linings Playbook” and he manages to repeat that here. Lawrence brushes aside those who label her as ‘the hunger games girl’ with her best performance since “The Winter’s Bone” while Cooper plays the manic yet immature DiMaso so well he creates one of the most interesting characters to ever hit the screen. Cudos should also go to Jeremy Renner who is also his usual brilliant self.

Despite its flaws “American Hustle” is still a film that demands a viewing. It’s good not great but it will be the film that everybody is talking about this holiday and awards seasons.

Average Subculture Rating (out of 5):

IMDB Rating:

Other Subculture Media Reviews of ‘American Hustle′: Please check our American Hustle review on The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show Ep 62.

Trailer:

06Jun

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

Posted in Action, Crime, Film, Film Genre, Thriller | Leave a comment

Summary: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of all-stars as the global blockbuster franchise built on speed races to its next continent in Fast & Furious 6. Reuniting for their most high-stakes adventure yet, fan favorites Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Elsa Pataky are joined by badass series newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano. Building on the worldwide blockbuster success of Fast Five and taking the action, stunts and narrative to even greater heights, Fast & Furious 6 sees director Justin Lin back behind the camera for the fourth time. He is supported by longtime producers Neal H. Moritz and Vin Diesel, who welcome producer Clayton Townsend back to the series.

Year: 2013

Australian Cinema Release Date: 6th June, 2013

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: USA

Director: Justin Lin

Screenwriter: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson (characters)

Cast: David Ajala (Ivory), Lee Asquith-Coe (Sgt. Sheldern), Jin Au-Yeng (Jimmy), Revil Beat (Benito), Jordana Brewster (Mia), Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges (Tej), Gina Carano (Riley), Man William Crane (Baby Jack), Benjamin Davies (Adolfson), Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Luke Evans (Shaw), Gal Gadot (Gisele), Tyrese Gibson (Roman), Dwayne Johnson (Hobbs), Sung Kang (Han), Kim Kold (Klaus), Thure Lindhardt (Firuz), Stephen Marcus (Davies), Jhony Mendez (Santiago), John Oritz (Braga), Clara Paget (Vegh), Elsa Pataky (Elena), Andy Pointon (Terry), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty), Jason Statham (Ian Shaw), Samuel M. Stewart (Denlinger), Matthew Stirling (Oakes), Johannes Taslim (Jah), Paul Walker (Brian O’Connor), Shea Whigham (Stasiak)

Runtime: 130 mins

Classification:M

SUBCULTURE MEDIA/THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY FILM SHOW REVIEWS/RATINGS OF ‘FAST & FURIOUS 6’:

David Griffiths:

Please check Dave’s review of ‘Fast & Furious 6’ that is available on The Helium Entertainment Channel

Adam Ross:

Please check Adam’s review of ‘Fast & Furious 6’ that is available on The Crat

Greg King:

Please check Greg’s review of ‘Fast & Furious 6’ that is available on www.filmreviews.net.au

Nick Gardener:

Please check Nick’s review of ‘Fast & Furious 6’ that is available on The Wednesday Motley Crew

Average Subculture Rating (out of 5):

IMDB Rating:

Other Subculture Media Reviews of ‘Fast & Furious 6′: Nil.

‘Fast & Furious 6’ Interviews: http://www.mediafire.com/folder/ca4ibww3wdam9/Fast_%26_Furious_6_Cast_Interviews

Trailer:

31Jan

Silver Linings Playbook (2013)

Posted in Comedy, Drama, Film, Film Genre, Home Page, Romance | Leave a comment

Summary: Life doesn’t always go according to plan…Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything — his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circu…mstances of their separation. All Pat’s parents want is for him to get back on his feet – and to share their family’s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

Year: 2013

Australian Cinema Release Date: 31st January, 2013

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: USA

Director: David O. Russell

Screenwriter: David O. Russell, Matthew Quick (novel)

Cast: Richard Adams (Ramon), Ted Barba (Doug Culpepper), Fritz Blacnchette (Fritzy), Regina Boies (Regina), Brea Bree (Nikki), Phillip Chorba (Jordie), Bradley Cooper (Pat), Robert De Niro (Pat Sr.), Vaughn Goland (Robert), Tiffany E. Green (Tanya), Paul Herman (Randy), Anupam Kher (Dr. Cliff Patel), Jennifer Lawrence (Tiffany), Anthony Lawton (Dr. Timbers), Patsy Meck (Nancy), Dash Mihok (Officer Keogh), John Oritz (Ronnie), Jeff Reim (Jeffrey), Matthew Russell (Ricky D’Angelo), Julia Stiles (Veronica), Chris Tucker (Danny), Jacki Weaver (Dolores), Shea Whigham (Jake)

Runtime: 122 mins

Classification:M

Dave Griffiths’s ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Review:

It’s funny how Oscar Buzz can win some people over so quickly. ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ has come in for some deserved Oscar nominations but calling it ‘film of the year’ is a little bit of a stretch. Yes this is one romantic film that has the right mix of drama and comedy (even better is the fact it’s comedy that will make you laugh) and the acting is out of this world, but at the end of the day it’s script is seriously predictable, so much so that you’ll be able to predict the ending from the start of the film.

Based on a novel by Matthew Quick, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ begins with Pat (Bradley Cooper – The Place Beyond The Pines, Hit And Run) being picked up from a mental hospital by his mother, Dolores (Jacki Weaver – The Five Year Engagement, Summer Coda). It turns out that he was placed in the hospital by the court after he viciously bashed a man who was having an affair with his wife, Nikki (Brea Bee – TV’S General Hospital, TV’S Breaking In).

However, the news that Pat is out of hospital doesn’t exactly thrill his father, Pat Snr. (Robert De Niro – Freelancers, Being Flynn) who believes that Pat may not be ready to be back in society. At first Pat does all he can to break his restraining order and tries to see Nikki but after being picked up by Officer Keogh (Dash Mihok – 2^nd Serve, TV’S Greetings From Home) a couple of times and because of advice from his doctor Dr Cliff Patel (Anupam Kher – Midnight’s Children, Jab Tak Hai Jaan) Pat decides that while he does still want to end up with Nikki but is going to have to work slowly at it so he can show her that he has changed.

Then his life changes forever when his friends Ronnie (John Oritz – Jack Goes Boating, TV’S Luck) and Veronica (Julia Stiles – The Makeover, Between Us) introduce him to the damaged Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence – House At The End Of The Street, The Hunger Games) and while many feel they are bad for each other they soon form a strong bond that the others, aside from Danny (Chris Tucker – Rush Hour 3, Rush Hour 2), just don’t seem to understand.

Normally a film’s good script can make bad actors look good, but this time around it is a string of good acting performances that make a predictable script a worthy watch. It’s a shame that David O’ Russell’s (The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees) script is easy to predict from the get go because the script works on so many other levels – it gives a great insight into mental illness, has wonderful relationships between most of the characters and provides a few laughs along the way.

But the best thing about ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ are the remarkable performances of its key cast. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence both show that they are most remarkable talents that are well and truly above the franchises that have made them famous while Robert De Niro also puts in one of his best performances for years.

‘Silver Linings Playbook’ also helps out some of Hollywood’s fringe dwelling actors to show their worth as well. Jacki Weaver is absolutely sensational and does Australia proud while Chris Tucker reminds Hollywood that he can be a talented actor when given the right script to work with again.

‘Silver Linings Playbook’ may be a little predictable but it is still an enjoyable journey and should certainly be classed as a must see.

Other Subculture Media Reviews of ‘Silver Linings Playbook′: Check Episode #18 of our The Good The Bad The Ugly Podcast for a more in-depth review of ‘Silver Linings Playbook’. Dave’s other review of ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ can be found on the Helium Entertainment Channel

Rating: 4/5

IMDB Rating: