Young Adult

2011, 15, Directed by Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt, Elizabeth Reaser

Jason Reitman’s latest is quite similar to his previous forays into filmmaking, which has established him as somebody who likes to select an actor, then brandish them on screen for pretty much the entire running time. Aaron Eckhart in Thank You for Smoking; George Clooney in Up in the Air; he even went so far as to carve a star out of Ellen Page in Juno, the latter in which he teamed up with credible oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody to churn out an ever-quotable tale about teen pregnancy. Re-teaming with Cody, Reitman’s Young Adult has much of the same appeal, but with a hint of tragedy. The person to take centre stage here is Charlize Theron, delivering yet another performance that could be branded ‘career best’. Here, she plays Mavis Gary, a thirty-something young adult novelist who ventures back to her hometown in Minnesota upon hearing that her childhood sweetheart, Buddy (Patrick Wilson) is now happily married with a child. For someone who carries the film, Mavis’ redeeming qualities are hard to come by; if she’s not fast-food scoffing or coke-guzzling, she’s necking shots or poking fun at a crippled man she barely remembers from her school days (a role with which comedian Patton Oswalt provides unlikely heart and soul in a film largely lacking in optimism.) Tasking herself with basically wrecking the happiness of somebody she still believes she loves, the embarrassing futility of her situation eventually pays off when, in what one could assume is a perfectly nuanced scene from Reitman, Cody and everybody in front of the camera, you realise how deeply scarred our protagonist actually is. It is to Cody’s credit that she ditches the Hollywood detox of unhappiness usually required to ensure an upbeat ending. Instead, as Reitman draws the film to a close with no fear of outstaying its welcome, the overarching feeling of pessimism may come out of nowhere to slap you in the face, luckily with Theron’s performance shining brighter than you ever could imagine. 

4/5 

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The Hunger Games

2012, 12, Directed by Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci

Teenagers placed in peril amongst a dangerous world unfamiliar to our own, with possible love triangles and bursts of action to boot. It would be no effort to dismiss The Hunger Games as the new Twilight on the block with the wave of the hands and an eye-roll. That would be a grave mistake.

Adapted from Suzanne Collins’ mega-selling trilogy opener of the same name (the author of which shares co-screenwriting duties, eliminating sub-plots enjoyable for reading in your back garden, but best left omitted on screen for the sake of your bladder), Gary Ross directs his depiction of District 12, one of many that comprise a dystopian North America after a rebellion gone wrong – albeit one at the lower end of the food chain, if you will. With immediacy, we are informed of the context of this world and how said rebellion brought about the titular Hunger Games, an annual event whereby two teenagers from each District are hand-picked to combat each other in an arena until one ‘lucky’ survivor remains – and it just so happens that this event is a television viewing phenomenon all the world round; Big Brother meets Battle Royale.

Katniss Everdeen is with who we are led through this experience with, slumming it out in her under-privileged District, killing squirrels in exchange for a single slice of bread. Winter’s Bone 2? Strangely not far off the mark, due to the ideal casting of up-and-coming superstar Jennifer Lawrence. She is our eyes, our ears. It becomes near impossible to ponder any other young actress (she’s 20) who it would be as little effort to endure 142 minutes with. Whatever Lawrence conveys, the audience feel its full effect, meaning that Katniss will linger in the memory once you’ve left the multiplex. This isn’t to say that there are not a few more aces in the pack: Stanley Tucci as the facially-tweaked pristine host of festivities, Caesar Flickerman), does his best smarmy, yet somehow charming grin ensuring you want to shake his hand and punch his face in equal measure; Elizabeth Banks proving she has strings to her bow as Effie Trinket, the fame obsessed ‘celebrity’ who gets to pick the tributes’ names out at the Reaping; and Woody Harrelson as drunken, obnoxious previous District 12 winner, Haymitch. All do oddball very well, and when this is combined with Gary Ross’ off-kilter shaky camerawork, the entire product feels largely offbeat. In terms of making The Hunger Games stand out from the crowd, Ross nails it.

Structured in such a way that the running time flies by (a few other films could benefit from this achievement) this invariably leads to some would-be classic moments feeling rushed, scrambled and not nearly as emotive as they should be. Granted, for a film that includes 24 teenagers fighting to the death, time cannot be delegated in forming an attachment with each one – especially when Katniss is our decided heroine. But delegation should have occurred more effectively with Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark, Katniss’ fellow District 12 tribute. His true intentions provide much speculation in the book, but seem to have been somewhat misplaced in the translation to screen making it difficult to form any opinion on the guy.

In any other case, these squabbles would hinder the enjoyment of the film. But here we have a blistering opener and a successful introduction to the universe of Panem. The beauty of The Hunger Games’ potential stems from the way in which a widespread appeal combines with questions that arise being relevant to today’s society. Rather than being conducted in an obvious manner, instead it will leave thoughts strong in your mind afterwards.

The Hunger Games will leave you peckish for more.

 3.5/5

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Battleship

12, 2012, Directed by Peter Berg
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, Liam Neeson

When a film is promoted as coming from ‘the same company that brought you Transformers’, there is good reason to be wary. Hasbro is that company, and their latest money-making venture (c’mon, why else would they promote it that way?!) is a film version of the love-it-or-hate-it game Battleships, as seen by Friday Night Light’s creator and Hancock director, Peter Berg.

The film takes an early misstep with Berg making the fatal error of painting his world and the worn out characters that fill it as loveable comedic buffoons, even going as far as to include the Pink Panther theme as part of the soundtrack to enhance the hilarity of an extraordinarily bizarre opening segment to what is promised to be an effects-driven action flick. The error be fatal due to the attempted veer in the direction of seriousness when the alien life forms that prove trouble for our navy fleet make one hell of a splash on earth. Taking these characters seriously proves troublesome in itself, hindered even more so by the dialogue (written by brother’s Eric and Jon Hoeber) that is so disastrously clunky, it could sink ships no matter what battle was thrown its way (perhaps this was realised, leading to an exchange where a scientist responds to a certain patriotic line by quipping 'who says that?'). All the acting talent do their best with what they have, which happens to be not a lot. Lead Taylor Kitsch as Hopper manages to escape without being as unlikeable as he should be – kudos to him.

It is fearful that everybody involved feels that they are involved in something of a game-changer; a blockbuster to rival rich vigilantes, men dressed in black and those Avengers. Okay, so the entire affair is not an unbearable one, with Berg proving he can capture impressively crafted effects-driven action that the most uninterested person wouldn’t roll their eyes at, as well as a few (read very few) scenes of promise (not to mention an out-there scene where the fleet adopt the actual rules of the game Battleships in an attempt to save the world... and you know, justify the film.) But everything else is too lacklustre to make it count; not even Neeson can salvage this. At 131 minutes, fit with sentimental sub-plots and people quipping snappy lines before blowing things up, the game here needs to be drastically raised if it wants to rub shoulders with the big dogs.

But if mindless, unrewarding mayhem is what you’re searching for - or you just fancy seeing Rihanna fire some heavy artillery - watch Battleship on repeat. 

1.5/5

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Like Crazy

2011, 15, Directed by Drake Doremus
Starring: Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Alex Kingston

Like Crazy is a love story with a twist: Jacob is an American student, whilst Anna is a British student living in America. They fall in love, pre-empting Anna to make the decision that she will outstay the expiry date of her visa, all to spend the summer with her one true love. This is the initial plot of the film, showing us (weirdly fleetingly) the process of how the two met and why they love each other so much (naturally as a furniture designer, he romantically builds her a chair…). When Anna returns home and attempts to visit Jacob back in America, she is denied entry forcing them both into a battle to prevent them from being kept apart. But it all grows tough, especially when new interests enter the fray. Cue lots of nights out where one text’s the other, the recipient reading said text and sheepishly putting the phone back into their pocket.

The problem with Like Crazy is minimal, bearing in mind the many positives. The structure preambles along, with no clear sense of direction; the whole film seems like a series of repeated events played out with different emotions often bordering on tedious. But it is to the credit of Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, who play the hapless romantics, that everything remains watchable and grounded in reality (even though the events are said to be based on the director’s real-life experiences). Mention must go to Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the new girl Jacob sees when in America – this actress, most recently seen in The Hunger Games, is definitely the next big thing. For those who can relate to the idea of a long-distance relationship and the struggle in the up-keep of this, Like Crazy will be everything you want from a romantic film. For everyone else, you will feel all the emotions the film wants you to feel, but without leaving you anything to chew on afterwards.

All in all, a bittersweet film elevated by the performances, providing some sort of promise.

3/5 

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The Guard

2011, 15, Directed by John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong

It may come as a surprise to hear that Brendan Gleeson, eclectic character actor of countless well-known films, turns in a career best performance in The Guard, a tale that sees an international drug smuggling ring collide with a small town in Western Ireland, much to the dismay of eccentric and extremely unorthodox policeman, Sergeant Gerry Boyle. Here we have a member of the Irish Garda who is not afraid to taste confiscated drugs, to spend his days off visiting prostitutes, or to spout racism towards visiting FBI agent, Wendell Everett (an extremely welcome Don Cheadle as the fish-out-of-water American in Connemara.) John Michael McDonagh nails the downright immaculate screenplay, in which every scene is a genuine joy to behold. The unlikely pairing of Gleeson and Cheadle is enough to put you to bed content with casting talents, and even the drug smugglers themselves – led by a tongue-in-cheek effort from Mark Strong – cannot resist joining in to assist with the belly laughs. It would be scandalous not to mention the fact that McDonagh, who enjoys sole directing and writing credit, is brother of In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh – meaning it is no mistake the two flicks would be the perfect double bill (even if Ralph Fiennes steals the trophy from Strong when villains are involved)… But what does this matter when Gerry Boyle’s escapades are to be witnessed? Okay, the ending – like his brother’s film before him - may be a tad contrived, but this is a minor squabble. Heaped with quotes only Gleeson can serve justice to, filled with vibrancy that Connemara has doubtfully ever seen, and loaded with moments that will have you spitting your Guiness out down the pub, this is one to be closely guarded.

4.5/5



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Oscar Best Picture Nominee Rundown:

The Artist

From the minute The Artist hit the festival circuit last year, it became apparent that this would be the film to beat come awards season. So far, Michel Hazanvicius’ love-letter to the Silent Era of cinema has lived up to this expectation - not just because of the self-reflexive way in which the film is actually a black-and-white silent (…well, largely silent), but because it is a truly magnificent watch, which plays around with the technicalities of film in a way that appeals to generations worldwide. The Artist really is the one to beat.

My Rating: 5/5

Chances of winning: 4.5/5

The Descendants

Whenever Alexander Payne decides to make a film (not as often as he should, that’s for sure), Oscar always pays attention. The Descendants sees no difference, emphasised even more so by the star presence of George Clooney in what people are (boldly) claiming to be a career-best performance from the superstar. Merging darkness with hilarity, this is a truly worthy nominee with a sharp script, not to mention quality acting and skillful direction. This is the only film that could (but probably won’t) threaten The Artist’s chances. The big question is whether The Artist's Jean Dujardin will steal the Best Actor gong from Clooney...

My Rating: 4.5/5

Chances of Winning: 4/5

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

This be the only film on the list I have yet to see... From the initial response to its being nominated, I'm guessing its chances of winning here are not as strong as others.

The Help

The Help is a nice film. But nice doesn’t generally mean a nomination is deserved. Here is one of those films that is included by the Academy mainly due to the subject matter at hand, not to mention the fact that, when all is said and done, it is a bittersweet crowd-pleaser. Not that its recognition is entirely undeserved – both Viola Davis and (likely Supporting Actress winner) Octavia Spencer are certainly something to shout about – but at the expense of other films (Drive, Tyrannosaur, We Need to Talk about Kevin to name a few...), The Help is rather lucky to be here.

My Rating: 3/5

Chances of Winning: 3/5

Hugo

Martin Scorsese’s foray into 3D filmmaking knocked pretty much everyone for six upon release. Much like The Artist, this is heavily influenced by the creation of cinema – an art that Scorsese is clearly more passionate about than most. Winner of a single Oscar (for The Departed in 2006), Hugo has earnt him his sixth nomination for Best Director, pitting him against little-known French director Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist. It is common knowledge that the film of the winner of Best Director usually goes onto win the main award, so this is where Hugo's chances are really heightened, what with Scorsese winning at the Golden Globes in January. Either way, both films are awe-inspiring and it is truly apt that they have been included in this year's Oscar race.

My Rating: 5/5

Chances of Winning: 4/5

Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris is a breath of fresh air; a return-to-form for Woody Allen that critics and audiences loved in equal measure, it may have been an initial surprise to hear this film had been nominated, but when thought is paid its way, it is completely understandable. Well-written and acted (it has a nomination for Screenplay, but nothing for acting; sorry Owen Wilson), it also boasts Allen's first nomination for Directing since Crimes and Misdemeanors in 1989. Perhaps this is due to his refusal to attend the ceremony. As it remains, if there is one film that Woody Allen has directed in the past decade, this is the one that deserves to be here. Kudos to the Academy. 

My Rating: 4/5

Chances of Winning: 1/5

Moneyball

A project spurred on completely by its star Brad Pitt, Moneyball is a true rarity; a sports movie that isn’t really about what happens on-pitch, but about the true-life tale of how Billy Beane used the Oakland Athletics baseball team to find ambition in his own life. Perhaps this is why Moneyball is slowly enduring as a dark horse amidst the heavyweight contenders in this year’s Oscar race. (See The Artist, Hugo.) Rightfully so. One of two Pitt films in the line-up, this is not only the better of the two, but showcases a performance of an actor who you thought had reached his game only to leave you cruelly mistaken, and excited for what's to come. Okay, so I wouldn’t throw money(ball) on it winning, but it’s reassuring to see its inclusion... If only it means more people see it. 

My Rating: 4/5

Chances of Winning: 3/5

The Tree of Life

Together with Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, this was the annual shock nomination on the list – but not necessarily for the same reasons as the former. The Tree of Life is Terence Malick’s first feature after quite a lengthy cinema absence and not only did critics lap up the film, which depicts the evolution of earth, but Cannes awarded him with the coveted Palme D’or. Which may explain why it’s here. Whilst it’s exciting to see such a divisive film be in with a shot, quite frankly there were better films the Academy could have chosen. If Lars Von Trier had kept his mouth shut, maybe The Tree of Life’s complete opposite, Melancholia (which is about the destruction of Earth) would be here instead. I guess we’ll never know.

My Rating: 3/5

Chances of Winning: 2/5

War Horse

Scanning your eyes over the list of this year's nominated flicks, if underwhelmed, you would probably be relieved to see War Horse thrown in at the bottom. The most commercially successful of the nominees this year (followed by The Help), War Horse has basically been a shoo-in from the moment Steven Spielberg announced he was to adapt Michael Morpurgo’s book of the same name (Animals + War = Oscar bait). Interestingly, War Horse hasn’t been dealt as many nominations as one might have expected - most notably Spielberg not being credited for director - but after several shocking omissions for the 'berg in the past (not to mention Christopher Nolan’s for Inception last year), sometimes these omissions have to be overlooked. Apparently, War Horse is the most googled of the nominees, which gives it some weight in, what is looking to be, a one-horse race.

My Rating out of 5: 4/5

Chances of Winning: 2/5



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The Artist

2011, U, Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, James Cromwell, John Goodman

The hype surrounding The Artist is, put simply, massive. French filmmaker Michel Hazanvicius’ love-letter to the Silent Era of cinema which has so obviously influenced his career hit the festival circuit to immediate acclaim, not to mention imminent awards recognition. The plot follows silent movie star George Valentin who struggles to adapt to the introduction of sound in cinema, his stubbornness to evolve meaning his career falls by the wayside, whilst new actress on the block Peppy Miller’s blossoms. The Artist’s heavily-scrutinised trick is that the film itself is filmed in black and white silent, the self-reflexivity ensuring this be like no other you have seen for a while. The trick is no gimmick with the lack of colour and sound never once feeling like forced art for the sake of art. In fact, The Artist manages to stand head and shoulders above the rest because of this technique, which ironically ensures its originality. In a contemporary industry that focuses on money-churning dead-behind-the-eyes blockbusters, The Artist provides the breath of fresh air that could last for a decade. Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo’s central performances are two of the most charming performances in recent memory – the chemistry between the two will make you want to exclaim your delight wherever you watch – not to mention the supporting cast’s effort (John Goodman, James Cromwell).

Not content with purely reminiscing upon his favourites, Hazanavicius includes a 21^st century twist that will have audiences gawping in the aisles in sheer unexpected excitement. Who needs large budget action sequences when you can have a sound technician play around with what you hear, all to emphasise fear in a character that cannot be heard. The word that springs to mind is ingenious. It is these things, plus more (three words: Uggy the dog), that stand The Artist alongside classics of the past. This will be a film spoken about in decades to come. This is a film that will deserve every award it will undoubtedly receive. This is a film that will charm generations to come, no matter how many times they decide to watch this magnificent feature. 

5/5

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