Hardly A Review: Oblivion (2013)

Oblivion is the latest Tom Cruise vehicle which hit cinemas April 10th. The year is 2077 and Earth has been ravaged by war with invading aliens. The majority of remaining humans reside in orbit in a giant space station while a few remain on Earth gathering what little resources are left before the planet is abandoned. Jack Harper (Cruise) is one such person, servicing machinery and protecting it from the alien "Scavs" while haunted by visions of a mysterious woman. When a ship crash lands containing a human trapped in stasis, Harper begins to learn everything is not as it seems, neither for him or the world.

Hardly A Review: Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

In a rare turn of events i have a chance to actually write about a film before it is on general release here in the UK! I was lucky enough to win two tickets a preview showing last night of  "Olympus Has Fallen" which is due out on general release tomorrow, Wednesday 17th.

After having taken the US Box Office by storm (which is an apt saying considering were talking about a film where the white house is taken by terrorists) "Olympus Has Fallen" has arrived in the UK and i must say i really enjoyed it and feel it is well worth a watch.

Hardly A Review - Pitch Perfect

In the current trends of modern movies we have experienced a resurgence of first dance based films with films such as Step Up following on from such 80's classics as Flash dance, Footloose and Dirty Dancing. However now we have the rise of musical, in particular films showing vocal prowess. this seemed to first start with films such as High school musical, but i think we can fairly lay the blame/commendation at the foot of Glee and its phenomenal rise to almost cult status, bringing musicality to the masses and making singing and choirs cool.  Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a visual audio expression of the human condition and journey we call life.

So having made that introduction clear i can round the business to reviewing the actual film i went to see, which was Pitch Perfect. It wasn't a planned excursion to the cinema nor my choice of film, more of a mission of mercy on behalf of my sister so she didn't have to see the film alone after the arrangements with her friends fell through. however it didn't cost me anything as the ticket had already been paid for, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth i agreed to see the film.

Films from Games - Always Bad?

I have often thought when playing some new game that this would make an awesome film. Well it seems that those in Hollywood agree, with the announcement from Ubisoft that they are releasing a film version of Splinter Cell staring Tom Hardy as the lead character Sam Fisher. Not only Splinter Cell is getting the silver screen treatment as we can also look forward to an Assassins Creed film with Michael Fassbender starring. We can look forward to both hopefully reaching our screens in 2013.

However exciting and promising news this is for fans of the games who have for years called out for film adaptations, we must remember that this isnt the film industries first foray into film adaptations of games. i mean who doesn't wish they hadn't bothered with the Prince of Persia film! It was about as close to a worthy homage to the original game, as a punch in the face is to a handshake! We can also look at adaptations of board games, with the critically slated Battleships (2012).

Either way we can just only hope that the makers of these films have learnt from the lessons of their predecessors, and we shall judge them on their own merits when they are released.  

Nosh, Signing Out.

Hardly a Review: The Five Year Engagement (2012)

This film has been subject to mixed reviews and I can see why, it’s marketed as a Rom-Com which it is, but not in the straightforward mindless way that most go for the predictable mundane plots and stock gags. I think the best way to view this film is to not think of it as a rom-com, but more of an exploration of a relationship between an engaged couple.

The plot begins where most predictable rom-com's end, with the lead couple getting engaged. That is really the last time it follows the usual conventions of a rom-com relationship, it takes the device of the inevitable “issue” that arises and is overcome before the protagonists marry, and applies a darker more realistic exploration of how a relationship works and changes.

We meet Tom (JasonSegal) and Violet (Emily Blunt) just as they get engaged, we then follow them over the intervening 5 years as their relationship and circumstances change causing them to put off their wedding on numerous occasions. The film explores the theme of equality in relationships and the effect of making sacrifices on the dynamic of the couple. A successful kitchen manager of a good restaurant Tom decides to give up his job so that he and Violet can move across the country, so she can take up a post teaching psychology at a university. However as Violet begins to thrive in her new job and environment, Tom struggles to find a chef job and is forced to take a job in a sandwich shop.



As time goes by Tom begins to feel frustrated at himself for being unable to do a job he feels proud of and begins to blame violet for forcing this situation. As a fish out of water and an outsider Tom begins to spiral and becomes ever distant from Violet and the rest of society. The film looks at how the relationship changes as Violet becomes successful and Tom begins to resent her for making him lose his life as it was before. As Tom begins to let himself go and live on the fringe of society, Violet despairs and begins to seek comfort in the arms of her boss. The relationship reaches breaking point and they split, starting separate lives which leads to them both being successful but ultimately unhappy, especially in their relationships with new partners.

Meeting again at the funeral of Violets grandmother they begin a casual relationship, before deciding that they have wasted too much time and that it is being together that means more to them than their careers which they can accommodate in each others lives. I realise that sounds cheesy and a little clichéd but that is more my summary than the way it works in the film.

An underrated film that examines what it is like to be in a real life relationship not a Hollywood view of one. It doesn’t take its self too seriously and doesn’t go for the easy laughs and predictable plot of most rom-com’s. Uses dialogue to explore what it really means to be in a relationship and how life is never simple. Definitely not your standard Romantic comedy but that’s a good thing, I recommend watching it if you’re a fan of other off beat rom-com’s like Elizabethtown.

Nosh, Signing Out.  

Hardly a Review: H+

I came across this interesting little web series last week, and after devouring the episodes so far I decided to share it with you lovely people, oh aren’t you lucky! H+ is a post-apocalyptic survival crossed with the sort of conspiracy laden drama you’d expect from the likes of J. J. Abrams. The show deals with the concept of post-humanism and the story centres around the H+ implant, which is essentially a smartphone in your head, and the inevitable pitfalls of technology that have been explored by authors dating back to Frankenstein. The show is set at an unspecified time in the future, with the only reference point being how long it has been from or to the day when “it happens.”

The main driving plot element is a computer virus infecting everyone with a H+ implant and killing them instantly, hitherto referred to simply as “the incident,” for simplicities sake, and because calling any event “the incident” just makes it sound infinitely more badass. Only a few survivors survive through the virtue of either being out of wifi range, or being one of the rural poor without an implant (the one time either of these is a good thing). The show then goes on to show the survival of the human race after the incident, and feeds a drip of information as to why and how the incident came about. The method of telling the story however, proves to be almost as inventive as the story itself, being distributed in extremely small chunks, sometimes only two or three minutes long, on a very regular basis. The ordering of the episodes seems very deliberate, however viewers are encouraged to watch the show in any order then like, to see if they can gain an additional understanding of events.

Hardly A Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

I watched this after it landed on the hall floor from Lovefilm, didn’t really know what to expect. So with some trepidation and a couple of hours to kill having already watched all the TV series I watch (Perks/Curse of being unemployed), I sat down to watch this.

What did I find you ask? Well, what I first mistook to be just a different angle on the Rom-com genre, substituting pensioners in the place of the usual preppy 20/30 something’s. Turned out to be an irreverent comedy following a group of British pensioners who decide to see out their golden years in India at the newly renovated Marigold Hotel, they go seeking opulence, sunshine and elephants.



However what they find after arriving is more Kevin McCloud and Grand Designs than the Ritz, not as in beautiful open plan living spaces with snazzy appliances, in what would be otherwise unaffordable postcodes. Nope the kind where they have no idea what they are doing and by the projected finished date have nothing but a shell and no money. The Marigold Hotel fits clearly in to this category as what they are confronted with is dusty shell filled with junk and rooms with a bed and door if they’re lucky!

The set backs experienced help to bring his group of aging strangers together but I know how clichéd you say but it is the experience of being changed by the culture and each other that makes this film worth watching. The stellar cast give superb performances which are often understated, allowing them to convey real emotion and sensitivity to problems and issues ranging from death of a spouse, through to homosexuality and racism.

A film worth watching with a great cast, if nothing else to understand how poorly I have probably described it. A film that tries to show that the past isn’t what defines the future and that when you let go of it, life and love can be found at any age.

Nosh, Signing Out. 

Hardly a Review: Revolution

This week’s going to be a fairly big week for post-apocalyptic reviews, but seeing as we’re in 2012 did you expect any less from tv show writers? I mean they need inspiration... and if it’s not 12 feet in front of their face it doesn’t exist! Yeah, that was a pretty low joke, but let’s face it, the worlds ending in three months, there’s no way they’ll find me in time. Anyways onto a show I’ve been looking forward to for months, and I’ve finally had the chance to catch the first two episodes.

Revolution is a post-apocalyptic adventure story set 15 years after pretty much every invention and major discovery made since 1850 mysteriously stops working. In the intervening decade and a half, the governments of the world have collapsed and been replaced by the militia’s who were sensible enough to grab the guns before the food. Remember citizens, in a survival situation, always go for the guns first. The story follows Charlotte Matheson and her posse as she tries to rescue her imprisoned brother from their feudal overlords and discover the part her father played in the blackout, and how it can be undone.

Hardly a Review: Continuum

I don't make it a secret that I'm not a big fan of Dr. Who. Don't get me wrong, I do watch it on occasion, and I do enjoy it, and every so often I come across a villain I do enjoy, and at the end of the episode I'm reminded of the reason I probably won't watch next week. The basic fact is that Dr. Who is, for me, an example of time travel done wrong. The fact that we jump to a different point in time every week, with a different villain every week, is a real barrier to me, and I honestly can't become immersed in the episode or feel like the Dr. is in any real danger when I know the next time I see these villains will probably be in some monster mash-up at the end of the series. On top of that there's very little continuity in time travel. Spending most of their time in the present or near future, and then darting to random far-off dates, makes it very hard for me to believe the universe the show takes place in has any continuity or is in fact believable. I want to know what the culture and society of the year 4252 is like, I want to know what problems mankind is facing, and I want to know if they're resolved, but what I do know is that after the 45 minutes is up I probably won't see this setting ever again. All it's problems seemingly solved by one fleeting visit by the Dr.. This I can't buy into.

Now I know what you're thinking, that's a pretty big preamble, and the show I'm about to spend the rest of my time writing about is completely different from Dr. Who, to the point where they're basically incomparable. You want to know if I've lost my mind and if I'm going to turn myself in to be tried for crimes against good taste and politeness. Well, dear citizens, it may not all be apparent at first, but sit with me, and like a good Dr. Who episode every single thing will become clear by the end.

Hardly A Review: Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy (2011)

Enigmatic

This adaptation of the John Le Carré novel of the same name boasts a rare example of a film with a fantastic cast, paired with both great writing and direction to produce an insight to the paranoia filled,  murky world of betrayal and mistrust during  the cold war of 1970’s MI6.

Hardly A Review: The Almighty Johnsons

Plain

Ok, so I’m not a writing person. Usually it takes about 8 hours before a deadline until I finally pull my finger out and create something. With this in mind, I am hoping my contributions to Hardly a Review will be of a higher quality than the streaming river of shit that must be flowing from Nosh’s arse after that Chinese food we consumed about two hours ago.

So with a fist full of dictionary, and another fist full of gin, I started to scour the web for a show worthy of my critique. I came across just the show, a low budget sci-fi series produced and set in New Zealand. Perfect, I thought, I should be able to get a few jokes out of that.

Hardly A Review: The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) (2011)

Vaginoplasty

Another world cinema movie (Spanish), which features scenes of torture, and also rape this time! (By the way I really need to stop watching movies like this otherwise people might start thinking I'm a little odd). Anyway, back to the film, The Skin I Live In is described as a drama/thriller, featuring Antonio Banderas in the lead role as Dr. Robert Ledgard, an obsessed plastic surgeon with a troubled past, which is slowly revealed as the film progresses.

In all honesty the film took a while to get into its stride, with the first half of the film being a little slow, I was beginning to think the film wouldn't live up to the hype. But, live up to the hype it did. The second section of the film features a real WTF moment and resulted in me releasing an audible 'Nooooooo,' with the realisation of what Ledgard had done as we delve into his past (let's just say it's kind of messed up).

Hardly A Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Enjoyable Tosh

Whilst Captain America is an enjoyable film to watch with great set piece action scenes, the film seems to move clunkily between them. Although there is a relatable back story and fairly good depth of character in the main protagonists, it appears as fairly irrelevant to the film maker and is also full of holes which therefore reducing its ability to enhance the film.

The film is set just prior the beginning of WWII and focuses on Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a scrawny kid with heart; who having been rejected from enlisting in the military several times under different guises meets Dr Erskine (Stanly Tucci) who offers him a chance to be considered for a special project. Although physically weak and scrawny; his determination, courage, ingenuity and compassion get him picked for a test of a new process that could enhance him to the maximum of Human physical potential.

Hardly A Review: Martyrs (2008)

Horrific

Let me begin by clarifying that when I say 'horrific' I don't mean that the film is awful, I mean that I was mentally disturbed by this film due to its subject topic and graphic violence. However, it was bloody brilliant.

Martyrs is an extreme horror/thriller movie from French director Pascal Laugier telling the story of a twenty-something year old girl (Lucie) who is out for revenge after being tortured as a child. Lucie and her friend (Anna) track down the house of the people who tortured her and it is from this location that the majority of the film takes place.