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Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
Well, what a fine romp. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and was quite amazed at how real the weird and wonderful universe of GoTG looked. In one scene there were just two... let’s say, creatures that were not real and weren’t made-up humans... along with various noises offscreen, and yet it all seemed quite real. I loved the music in the film too, much of it from my era. Okay, it isn’t perfect. Some of the plot is a bit woolly and overdone, but let’s face it, the film isn’t exactly plot-driven. It’s character and special effects and humour driven. And it works, at least it certainly did for me.
LaLa Land
We all know the hype about this film. Best musical since... whenever the last great musical was. Lots of awards and nominations. Everyone say, ‘It can’t be that good’, but when they go in to see it they come out saying, ‘But it was.’ Hmm. We watched this on dvd, and perhaps this is one of those films that is much better to see on a full screen. But even so. It was enjoyable. It was bittersweet. Some of the set pieces were good - some of them seemed not so good to me, seemed too artificial. It was definitely worth the £10 for the dvd, but I wouldn’t say it really lived up to all the hype. What did you think, if you’ve seen it?
The Life of Pi
We missed this at the cinema for some reason I can’t now recall, so we got it on dvd instead. I have to say it’s probably the sort of film that benefits from being on the big screen, but even so some of the scenery was breathtaking. We weren’t quite sure whether Dylan, at eight, would be old enough to appreciate this film, but in the event he sat glued to it. That’s partly because it can be viewed at two levels, of course. It’s a good yarn, with plenty of special effects. And it’s a philosophical discourse on the meaning of life and the nature of God. I enjoyed the film, although I don’t think it’s quite the masterpiece it’s hailed to be. I didn’t like the ‘storytelling’ approach to it, but that’s a feature of Ang Lee films so I suppose you have to take the rough with the smooth. Would I recommend springing for the price of a dvd if you see it in a shop somewhere? Yes, it’s certainly worth that, even if it doesn’t, in my opinion, quite make the hall of fame.
Despicable Me 2
I can’t remember offhand where we saw Despicable Me, although no doubt it’s in my film archive somewhere, but I do remember quite enjoying it. So it was with a pleasant sense of anticipation that we went to see the sequel, imaginatively called Despicable Me 2. The cinema was full, most unusual in Ayr, probably because of the film’s hype and it was the first day of the school holidays. Anyway, that always adds to the atmosphere. I thought it was quite a good film, but not quite up to the standard of the first, possibly because it had lost some of the original novelty value. On the other hand, Small Boy said he preferred DM2, and he’s the target audience. You pays your money and you takes your choice. I won’t give the plot away, other than to say that it is actually less plot oriented and more character oriented that DM1, and that there is a truly classic Minion Moment towards the end that had the audience erupting with laughter. If you have a Small Child, I recommend DM2. If you haven’t... hmmm, you might want to wait for it to come out as a dvd, to avoid embarrassment in the cinema, but I’d recommend buying the dvd so that you can view it in the secrecy of your own home.
Man of Steel
"Yet another Superman film?" I hear you ask. "What’s the point?" We’re talking entertainment here, films, watching of; so does there have to be a point? I don’t think so. A more sensible set of questions would be: Is the new Superman any good? Are the special effects okay? Does the film grab the interest and entertain? Does the chief baddie, General Zod, frighten the life out of eight-year-old boys? The answer to all these questions is Yes. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, despite some obvious weaknesses in the plot and a raft of coincidences. I liked the opening scenes on planet Krypton, despite the fact that Superman’s father was played by Russell Crowe and I kept expecting him to burst into raucous song (having just seen Les Miserables). I liked the fact that Superman was genuinely super, not just strong and good-looking, and I liked the way we got a glimpse of how hard it was for him to come to terms with his...uh...superness. All in all, I’d recommend this film. But if you take an eight-year-old boy, prepare to have him want to sleep with Mum that night, for fear of General Zod crashing through the walls during the night.
The Great Gatsby
I confess I’ve never read the actual story, so I was intrigued to go along to see The Great Gatsby, to find out what it’s all about. Reviews have been reasonable, but everyone seems to point out that nobody really knows who Gatsby is, so a) it’s difficult for any actor to portray him and b) even though Di Caprio does well, critics are quick to point out that "it’s only one possible interpretation of Gatsby." Hoity toity. Who cares? It’s a good film and the notion that another actor might play Gatsby in a different way doesn’t exactly enter your head while you’re watching it. My Other Half failed to fall asleep, and instead watched the whole thing, enthralled. It’s a very clever mix of visual scenes, voice-overs and flash backs. That might sound a bit over the top, but it wasn’t at all. I think the whole thing was well done, and would recommend it to anybody - well, with the proviso that, although it’s a 12A, I don’t think anybody that age would get much out of it. Now I suppose I’d better read the story and report on that in another part of this blog.
Iron Man 3
My other half wasn’t too enamoured of going to watch Iron Man 3, so just Dylan and I trooped up the High Street to watch it the other day. We saw it in 3D and, for a wonder, there were quite a few others watching the film too, so there was a bit of an atmosphere. We enjoyed it. Dylan found some of the plot hard to follow, but he enjoyed all the action. I found some of the plot hard to follow, but enjoyed all the action. I don’t think the plot stands up to close scrutiny, but in a film like this, it hardly matters. I don’t think it’s the best super-hero movie I’ve ever seen, but neither is it the worst. I certainly wouldn’t be trying to dissuade you if you had a mind to go and watch it.
Les Miserables
Ivy, Dylan and I went to see this film with our friend Monique in Malta. It’s something we’d wanted to watch back at home, but when it was showing in Ayr, one or other of us had flu so we never got around to it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Critics seem to be sharply divided as to whether its attempts at realism work (i.e. filming the actors as they actually sing on set) - plus, as more than one critic pointed out, some of the actors can’t sing very well. This last is certainly true - Russell Crowe, for example, can’t really sing for toffee, but he belted it out readily enough and he’s a good enough actor to get the feeling through. It’s good. I could see tears being shed in the audience towards the end. Some of the set scenes are tremendous; in fact the opening scene is pretty dramatic. I don’t know if this will end up being regarded as some sort of classic, but I do know I can recommend anyone (even eight-year-old boys) to go and watch it.
Jack the giant slayer
Weirdly, this film gets a panning by the critics. Don’t believe a word they say. We three (me, my other half and Small Boy) went to see this in Malta and thoroughly enjoyed it. The giants are truly horrible and...well, gigantic. None of this being about the size of a man and a half; these giants are huge and are not averse to picking up a human and biting him in half for supper. The adventure rips along. Jack and the beautiful princess are well cast - in fact everyone is well cast. The ending is a little odd, but apart from that, I thought this was a splendid film and I thoroughly recommend it.
The Croods
This animated film about the ‘first family’ finding its way across a pre-historic landscape, led by a slightly less pre-historic man as guide, is full of good visual one-liners, and plays very neatly on the dynamics of the family. As is becoming normal these days, it works on two levels: lots of visual slapstick for the children, and knowing phrases and looks catering for some adult humour too. I enjoyed this film, although it’s no classic. My only negative comment would be that three of ‘the family’ are not as well developed as the others. If you see the film, you’ll find out what I mean. My favourite line? "Release the baby!”
Three classics
During lockdown we watched a number of films, and both Ivy & Dylan kept asking why Citizen Kane was so often at the top of 'best film' or 'best classic films' lists. So I got it to show them, and I also got The Third Man and Twelve Angry Men while I was about it. All three were big hits. I had forgotten at how Citizen Kane fairly motors through the life story of Kane. There is also more to the plot than I remembered, although of course I knew all about Rosebud from the word go. Parts of the film reminded me of the present time: at one point Kane declares the result of an election (which he lost) fraudulent. Now who does that remind you of? Naturally I recommend this film if you haven't managed to watch it yet. The Third Man benefits hugely from the writing skills of Graham Greene. The overall story is drawn from one of his books, and I believe he worked on the script, too. We are trying to catch up with Harry Lime throughout, to clear his name, which is being besmirched by all and sundry. Only to find, of course, that most if not all of the criticisms levelled at him turn out to be perfectly true. The film is also a glimpse into history. Well worth watching. I always remembered Twelve Angry Men for the knife incident about a third of the way through, when Fonda proves that the 'remarkable knife' owned by the teenage suspect could in fact be purchased almost anywhere for a few dollars. The film itself is remarkable. It is entirely set in one room – the juror's room. None of the characters are named. All of the jury are white men, which would no doubt cause howls of protest nowadays, but that's just the way it was. My only criticism of the film (which went down a storm in this household) is that the jury was more or less trying the case, something which should have been done in court. But maybe that's the point. It's another film you should add to your watch list, if you haven't seen it already.