Colossal (2016)

I was really looking forward to this when I first heard about it. Thought the premise was really original and worse case scenario would be that I would see an ending I couldn't have thought of. Now though it wasn't the worst case scenario for me, it wasn't what I expected nor was it as good as I was expecting. The story follows Anne Hathaway playing Gloria, an alcoholic without a job that has just been kicked out of her boyfriends apartment. She moves back home and bonds with old school mate Jason Sudeikis all the while a giant monster terrorises Seoul. Slowly Gloria realises that she is in control of this monster and has to figure out how to stop the havoc she's caused. Great idea, decently executed, the ending I don't think anyone saw coming, though isn't necessarily that satisfying.

The cast was good but not all were great. They weren't bad but I don't think they all meshed that well. I love Anne Hathaway but her character needed a bit of honing in on. Rocky development but development none the less. She did some things that didn't have much reason to them unless it were just for her wanting to cause chaos. Which would be acceptable if that avenue was explored just a little more in depth. Some of her decisions seemed half assed, yet more half assed from the script than from the character, lazy writing almost, like a space filler to the next part of the story. Little parts of her, like her being a writer, were mentioned quite late in the film and didn't seem to have much acknowledge until the end. And even then it was almost too subtle after the dusting of information we had for it, for it to have some proper weight behind it. Her progress of understanding the monster and owning up and figuring out how to fix it and conquer her demons parallels clearly enough with her drinking problem and it's nice to see her grow even if its just a small amount.



























 I did like Oscar's development, played by Sudeikis, I also didn't. I'm conflicted by this. I stand strong that bad people don't make bad characters. Awful people aren't always awful characters, you can still like them and they can still be integral to the narrative whilst being the antagonist. I'm just not 100% sure that's what this is. It was pretty gradual thankfully, but Oscar spiralled down from being likable, potentially lovable, to pretty awful. With no solid reason, and that's why I think it was a bit of a struggle. No spoilers but I liked that he became basically irredeemable. It's refreshing to not be forced to sympathise with a troubled character. Keeping that in mind the little reveal of back story at the end is okay but again not that satisfying. But maybe that's the message, the lack of justification, the unforgivable behaviour of chaos.

I'm a big fan of Dan Stevens who played Gloria's boyfriend Tim, but they didn't seem believable together. You could somewhat believe that he had put up with a lot, but their opening argument didn't hold enough weight to balance Gloria being kicked out and leaving the city so abruptly. Tim's character actually came back in parts during the film which surprised me somewhat, as from the trailers I had guess he was just used for the sake of starting the story. He was pretty charming but being British in an American cast does that kinda automatically. The other two actors of the film were Joel and Garth played by Austin Stowell and Tim Blake Nelson respectively. Both alright but again had development issues, and we didn't get given enough information to know if we needed that or not. Were okay but in a way not detrimental.

Cinematography was odd, as if now and again it made a point of reminding you you were watching a film and created a poster like shot, something oddly symmetrical or simple. I did enjoy that for almost every scene of the film Gloria wears black. To begin with it appears as if she's in mourning and expressing this with her clothes. She has a slight change when she gets a job in Oscar's bar but soon again she goes back to black. The images in Seoul Korea are good but its hard to make a giant monster in such a big city look uninteresting.

Hathaway was our only real outlet to the real world. We get shown new stories from the worlds point of view alongside being in the city itself to experience the fear and confusion. Personally that's what I found to be the most interesting part of the film, though it didn't go to the degree that I would have liked. It's a very interesting concept to imagine what would actually happen in the world if a giant monster magically appeared and disappeared in a busy part of civilisation. Gloria is the only one to really think about the severity of this and how big of a deal it is. Other than that we wouldn't have felt the gravity of the situation and the risks as well.

If you were expecting a comedy it isn't one. I'll put that there. Described as a dark comedy yes, but even that, its not funny. It's not a funny film. There are the odd awkward interactions that are kinda funny but no jokes. Not necessarily a bad thing just not what I expected, I thought it would have more laughs. 

5/10 go if you're curious but it's kinda whatever. Seeing a woman gain power over her personal monsters should be more empowering but Hathaway's character is still the highlight of this interesting feature.

CINEMATES - A

Mindhorn (2017)

Umm… Mindhorn, where do I begin with Mindhorn. I was fascinated by the very idea of this film as soon as I caught the trailer before watching Going in Style. This was simply because I bloody love Julian Barrett and everything he is involved in, so as soon as I saw that dashing smile I was sold. I couldn’t wait for it to come out, even though I hated the trailer and I wasn’t ready for what the world was going to be shown. 

Mindhorn is the story of Richard Thorncroft (Barrett), who is the star of the hit TV show Mindhorn, in which he plays a detective on the Isle of Man, alongside Patricia (Essie Davis) his significant other, and stuntman Clive (Simon Farnaby), who is after Patricia, as we get a glimpse of the dynamic of the relationship the three of them share right at the beginning of the film, and then watch this unfold throughout.

Fast forward 30 or so years, and Richard is a fat, washed up, loser living in a flat in Walthamstow, who can’t get any work and is doing embarrassing television commercials, because he didn’t want to give up acting unlike his co-workers, who all appear to be doing swimmingly.

Back on the Isle of Man there has been a murder and the suspect only wants to speak to fictional Detective Mindhorn, this means the police can do only one thing, and get in contact with Richard so they can get a helping hand to catch the bad guy. Richard agrees, and from there the chaos and finally – a solution occurs. But for that result the ‘TV cop has to work with the real cops'.

As I already said, I adore Julian Barrett, and I am so glad Farnaby was involved in this film too, as he is also gold. Why do I love them? Because I am a massive fan of The Mighty Boosh, of course. Aside from that, though, I think Barrett possesses a genuine talent, and I have seen him in every role he has played and could never complain. I think he is so versatile and can take on any weird and wonderful role and make it his own. He owns Howard Moon in the Boosh, he left me speechless after playing Maurice Flowers, which was a touching performance… and yet again, I didn’t have any bad words when he played Thorncroft.

The only issue I feel this film has, however, is that very fact. The only people that will definitely see this film, are people like myself, who know what they are going to get before they even head into the film. It is, as I expected made for Boosh fans… from Mindhorn’s use of the phrase ‘Pow!’, to the use of the famous ‘you have passed the test!’ comment right at the end. The fake teeth and afro that remind us all of Rudi Van Disarzio, the dancing stroke fighting that Mindhorn uses. SO MANY SIMILARITIES THAT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE.

Although I cannot fault the acting, or writing, or pure creative genius, the work of Barrett and Farnaby is an acquired taste, and I think if I wasn’t already so in favour of anyone who has been in the Boosh taking over the world, I’d have a problem with this film. I thought it was funny, but in such a tacky way, which is because we all know who wrote it, and the tackiness here, worked. The costumes, again were tacky, but it worked. The storyline, also cliché and god damn tacky! But again, it so worked!

The only aspects of this film I feel I can review are those that are obvious, as it is not going to compare to any other film I’ve chosen to review, making it quite a difficult task. Further to this, if you haven’t got it already I LOVE Julian Barrett… so I am biased. I am going to worship the ground that man walks on for as long as I can.

I would buy it, so Barrett gets recognition. I would say watch it so he gets recognition, and I believe the rest of his fan base will do the same. This is not just a film; this is a work of art that will come with a cult following.

Weird as hell film… 6/10.

CINEMATES - S

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

You might have seen the tweets about this a few weeks ago, and thought… well, is a review coming? It was, it is, it’s here. I was lucky enough to catch an early showing of King Arthur two weeks ago now, and unfortunately couldn’t get my thoughts out sooner due to an embargo.

But that time is up and I can finally talk about it!

As I said, on April 27^th I managed to catch a sneaky preview of the film, with thanks to ShowFilmFirst. I had seen the trailers once or twice, but was never gripped, and I don’t think I would have bothered with seeing this film had I not had this chance.

The trailer gives no indication of what the story is about, or how it develops and so on, so I did have no idea how this film was going to play out once I’d headed in and the film began. King Arthur is about Arthur (funny that…), played by the wonderful Charlie Hunnam, and how he lost his right as heir when he was a young boy, and was essentially left in the streets to fend for himself, and with the help of his friends, or workers, having no idea who he was, and he got on – obviously, just not with what should have been set out for him. Eventually we see the big scene where Arthur removed the sword from stone and it then becomes his duty to accept the hand he was dealt and overthrow the already ruling, King Vortigern (Jude Law).

I mean that seems straight forward, right? Not at all surprising for a film called King Arthur? Well, correct, nothing about this story was surprising, but at the same time it was. Written and directed by Guy Ritchie the traditional medieval story was adapted to fit a modern audience (in terms of language use most noticeably), I think very well. In addition to this, it took on the responsibility of including an element of fantasy. 

Through the film this idea grew on me, and eventually paid off, but at the start I felt a bit lost in regards to some of the creatures… why is that elephant so big? Who’s that spooky guy they keep showing? Then it all wrapped up, the story began to unfold and it all settled down and ended up making (somewhat) perfect sense. 

The locations that were selected, or created for this film were taken advantage of in some scenes, and parts were shot great. Alongside the musical score that was popped in it gave the film a certain ‘feel’, a sense of almost… uniqueness. I didn’t feel like I was watching something I had seen before because the nitty gritty aspects were quite individual. From reading other reviews, I have seen the Guy Ritchie has repeatedly been named the best thing about this film, and everyone is right. He is, and did we expect anything less? I am a fan of his work, and I think if nothing else – the fact that he is involved in this film is reason enough to watch it.

If you didn’t guess already from me calling Charlie Hunnam wonderful…. I thought he was wonderful. I was excited to see him in this, and he didn’t bloody let me down did he! He was casted perfectly to be honest, and it was a memorable performance, for which credit is due. The rest of the cast… it did its job, Jude Law is Jude Law, we don’t expect a bad performance, and we don’t get one. Did I believe he was the baddie? Yes, sure, the performance was fine. But other performances weren’t as particularly favourable as that of Hunnam, and some were even expected... of course we're going to have Aidan Gillen helping the lads out in a medieval themed film!

The issue King Arthur had, wasn’t necessarily the acting, it was more the pacing. Don’t get me wrong we had some great fight scenes, they packed them out, and they were great… but at the same time some were long. In fact, some scenes were really long, and I felt like I was in the cinema for ages.

This film wasn’t bad in the slightest, and now that I’ve had that time to digest what I’d seen before writing up, and being surprised with the trailers popping up everywhere again, I’d like to see it again. I think I would buy this, and would watch it (if I could dedicate to the what felt like 5 hours, again).

If you’re on the fence about this film, watch it. You never know – you might unexpectedly enjoy it. Overall, I’d give it a solid 6/10. It had its flaws, but had its fair share of redeeming qualities too. Not a bad film after all!

CINEMATES - S 

The Transfiguration (2016)

The Transfiguration movie, oh my goodness. Just wonderful. So interesting. Great storytelling. So first time feature length writer director Michael O'Shea brings us the story of vampire obsessed troubled teen Milo as he befriends alienated young girl Sophie. As their relationship grows his obsession slips further from fantasy into reality. This film created buzz at numerous film festivals and after watching Raw earlier this year I was heavily invested in realistic coming of age stories with a twist and I'm so pleased I am. Which means unfortunately for me I have to add another director to my list of people to keep an eye on.

Milo our protagonist is played by a young Eric Ruffin, who I think was somewhat captivating. Our first interaction with him is as he sucked the blood from a strangers neck, followed by him sat in a school counsellor's office ready to start his summer break. We see how he behaves slightly differently with them as with his brother. And different again with the gang living in the same block of apartments and again with Sophie, played by Chloe Levine. Their relationship is a somewhat beautiful one though different. His character doesn't emote all that much, his independence on vampire lore takes the forefront so he struggles to begin with to relate to her. After finding that they have both lost their parents they spend more time together and a relationship forms. He misses some normal social cues and even walks a little odd, as if he glides and doesn't step, all small things that match both with his lack of social practise and his obsession with creatures that have similar traits. Levine is believable as a teenage girl, clearly having to deal with difficult times way before being old enough to deal and adjust with them. She's taken by Milo and it's very sweet to see her deal with her own feelings separate to his.

The style of the film is something I picked up on immediately. The entire film is shot handheld. Whether it's the intimate close ups with high depth of field, focusing on one part of Milo's face. Or the wide location shots with Milo and Sophie very very small on the edge of the frame, there's actually a shot so wide that I didn't spot them at first. But the style is purposeful, so it lingers and you don't miss anything. It's rarely from the protagonist's perspective, we watch everything from the outside often with a wide angled distance. All you could say in a predatory manner, we are hunting throughout the film.

Another thing I noticed within a few minutes of the film was the lack of music. Only a handful of moments in the film was any extra sound used. And it was the same high pitched ringing, an uneasy alert that wasn't all that loud, it never stole focus, but it highlighted the action at the time. From not appearing at all they got more and more prominent in Milo's vampire homages as the film went on. Both the sound and the visuals were realistic, something Milo says a few times, is that he only liked realistic vampire movies. The film appears to be shot using almost all natural lighting, it takes place over the summer between the school year. Mostly during the day, in Milo's room or in the city's night. So some shots get quite dark with only the streetlights to spark the dim screen. Some shots have a bit of noise in them because of this but I enjoyed the cinematography greatly.

Horror/drama is accurate, there are some tense scenes that could be regarded as scary, both due to the visceral images and the possible real life repercussions. The normality of the violence is arguably as unsettling as the violence itself. We watch online videos with Milo as well as many clips from vampire movies. Some with uncomfortable potential but none worse than what we see the actual characters do. There is a good balance between Milo's relationships and his own personal gain and his actions. The ending of the film was in my eyes, perfect. I've said it before and I will say it again, it is always great when a film has a purpose. It started knowing where it was going to end. It was well rounded and came full circle with the character development. Could not think of a better way for it to end.

8/10 Unsettling, intriguing and almost delicate. Wonderful independent film. What Milo says about vampires not being able to kill themselves will sit with you for a while.

CINEMATES - A 

Boss Baby (2017)

So after a bit of a cock up at the cinema, I ended up seeing a showing of Boss Baby. You know what, hilarious. I love Alec Baldwin, fancied him in Beetlejuice and adored him in 30 Rock, was intrigued on that alone. Did not realise how many other well known actors were involved in this film either. So little Timothy Templeton has a great life with him and his parents, unfortunately Tim's mum, played by Lisa Kudrow, is pregnant. Baby Baldwin shows up in a taxi in a suit and starts running a muck.  Tim's mum and his dad, played by Jimmy Kimmel, are oblivious and try to make them bond as brothers. Soon Tim unravels that Boss Baby comes from a huge corporation of babies, Baby Corp, of babies with adult minds that make business. And that the reason Boss Baby is here is due to the world finding puppies cuter than babies and they need to get that love back to be top dog, figuratively. Cute imaginative concept with equally silly execution.

I gotta talk about the animation, there's no way I can't. I loved it, I loved the animation. Its not just the standard Dreamworks that you see in the trailers, though that it the main animation. Its a story told by a child so his imagination runs wild and you can see that. Some really gorgeous homages from some classic cinema styles. They were quite creative with how they showed some scenes. Some plot points were pushed forward with a once upon a time type trope with a character literally sitting you down and telling you the back story, but fine, it's a kids film. My favourite parts were probably those little tidbits and they came at a good pace, visually fantastic, definitely brought the average imagery of the film up. Hans Zimmer has a chuck at the music so there that is. Not much more to say about that, he's quality at what he does and is always whats needed for which ever film he does. Follows along with the more creative visuals with theatrical sound to parallel.

The film was jokes though. Kids jokes yes and adult jokes also, but I mean it has Alec Baldwin, he has a great voice, a voice that juxtaposed with a baby is ridiculous. And that's something I think they did well. Had a funny balance between grown up and baby, yes some jokes in that vein were unoriginal but you know why? Because all babies behave the same, that's why. There's only a finite amount of things that babies do. Boss Baby having tiny power naps was adorable, him throwing money at Tim to buy him sushi as a pretentious little businessman was great in contrast. There were a few surprise jokes for me, ever have a joke just catch you by surprise and you're a little bit shocked that you are actually laughing out loud? Well that happened a few times in this film. Just a few jokes that were breezed over so casually that caught me off guard. Definitely a kids film, a lot of silly jokes, but most of them worked. I'd say Boss Baby is the funniest character, Tim Templeton isn't meant to be as funny, he's meant to be more of a genuine little boy. Boss Baby's little entourage wasn't particularly memorable but did they did fine to tag along in a couple scenes. The villain played by Steve Buscemi wasn't that funny either. Debatably the funniest character was actually Tim's wizard alarm clock, played by James McGrath doing a wonderful Gandalf impression. No doubt kids will be giggling a cartoon baby bum cheek and lets be honest adults probably will too.

The constant message throughout is that love can be shared. It's not one over another it's huge worldwide, parental love for everyone equally. It's great for a young child trying to accept a new addition to the family, no one is replaced people are just added to the love pie chart. Templeton learns, after a while that there's no need for competition. He struggled with the idea of neglect and being 'fired from your own family', neither of which is true of course. Boss Baby also deals with this competition at work and the villain also has this same theme of not being the favourite.

6/10 Funny but not thaaat memorable adaptation of a successful children's picture book. Good cast, great animation and sweet message. Kids will enjoy it but not every joke will get a laugh from the adults.