The Wolf of Wall Street

2014, 18, Directed by Martin Scorsese  
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Jon Bernthal  

You'll realise the moment The Wolf of Wall Street begins that your life has been lacking a Martin Scorsese film for quite some time. In fact, you’ll find yourself counting your fingers to discover that The Departed - the last time Marty dealt an 18-certificate, y'know, Scorsese film - was unveiled in 2006 (not to detract from criminally overlooked Shutter Island or Hugo - his mesmerising modern classic for all ages). But with this film, it's fair to say he delivers debauchery in a way we have never seen the directing maestro dabble in before - yes, The Wolf of Wall Street is a sweary (with its record-breaking amount of F-bombs), drug-fuelled, sex-addled trip seen through the eyes of Jordan Belfort, a young businessman corrupted upon his rise to respected stockbroker in Wall Street. It almost goes without saying Belfort’s shoes are filled by Leonardo DiCaprio, an actor so at the top of his game, you’d be hard-pressed to imagine him not being there. After four films under the guidance of somebody who has undoubtedly left their imprint upon cinema as we know it, it’s taken this fifth outing to reach the seismic heights of, dare it be whispered, Taxi Driver.

Terence Winter (creator of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) handles script duties, delivering a 3-hour doorstop of a screenplay, providing opportunity for opulence; Belfort - based on the real-life counterpart - leads a team of disciples who hang onto every word of his many power speeches, marries a trophy wife (rising talent Margot Robbie - fresh from an appearance in About Time - a long long way from Cornwall) and lives a life of luxury. Belfort's progress is tracked from wide-eyed Wall Street whippersnapper to wealthy titular wolf by way of his first boss, Mark Hanna - Matthew McConaughey in an extended cameo near the film’s start which remains a solid highlight by the end. Before too long, crime and corruption is as much a part of Belfort’s day as are stocks and shares, assisted by his memorably bespectacled close associate Donnie Azoff. Played by Jonah Hill, this progressive actor offers terrific support for Leo, the two striking chemistry not entirely dissimilar to the Liotta’s and Pesci’s of Scorsese’s back catalogue - none more so than in a scene involving the pair scoffing pills, only for the effects to rain down on them with hilariously slapstick results - a slacks-wearing DiCaprio especially impressing in a scene that re-defines his career all over again.

The entire cast embrace everything they're expected to do, making it tough to consider how this was once a film Hollywood didn't want itself tagged to. A who's-who cast of recognisable faces - Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and Joanna Lumley (needs no introduction) all wade in when the scene requires - as well as cameos from fellow directing peers poking their noses in every now and again; Scorsese is as much a director's director as he is an actor's.  

Part black comedy, part crime biopic, The Wolf of Wall Street is a cautionary opus; to criticise the film for ignoring the detrimental effects these money-grabbing crooks had on their unsuspecting victims (as many have) is one hell of a patronising notion, not to mention one that misinterprets the film. More fool them. To not enjoy this film would be as criminal as the on-screen antics. Its cross-generational scope conveys the sense that it will be around forever... the kind of film watched over and over by University students on lazy Sundays, and parents once their kids have been sent to bed - one that completes the perfect Scorsese movie marathon alongside his esteemed classics. With this running time though, you'd best prepare for an all-nighter. Knock half an hour off, this'd be getting 5.
  

4.5/5

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The World's End

2013, 15, Directed by Edgar Wright

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike

Teased for what feels like an age, the final slice of Edgar Wright's genre-juggling 'Three Flavours: Cornetto' trilogy (kick-started with the near-decade old Shaun of the Dead, followed four years later by the somehow superior Hot Fuzz) arrived this summer amongst a wave of superhero sequels and animated minions. All it takes is a few short scenes to settle into the company of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and the remainder of the ensemble before realising the territory is identical to those previous yarns, allowing the viewer to approach the entire thing as comfortably as a catch-up down the local with your pals. The World's End is almost identical in tone to the films that have launched the careers of all three to heights they'd have never expected sat on that Spaced apartment circa '99: both zombie horror of the 60s and buddy cop actioners of the 70s have come before, with attention now fixed upon 80's sci-fi. The plot sees Gary King (a never better Pegg, on dickhead form) beg his former teenage beer-guzzlers to reunite in their old sleepy town of Newton Haven. Why? Well, to neck a pint in each of the 11 pubs that make up 'the golden mile,' beginning with 'The First Post' and culminating at 'The World's End'. The more boozed up the gang get, the more awry things becomes - largely thanks to the strange beings that seem to have occupied the sleepy town's residents.

The screenplay, as you'd imagine, is filled with dialogue placed to destroy you with laughter, and each amassed cast member (Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Martin Freeman) ensures their character could stagger about on their own two legs in their personal sitcom.  But this is Pegg's moment. In an at-first alienating switcheroo with the former catalogue of Frost, everybody knows a Gary King (read: annoying 'mate' you'd like to punch in the jaw but can't help but greet with laughter.) The quickfire montages - long since a trademark that sets these comedies apart - take tongue-in-cheek form here, becoming neat visual gags (4 pints and a tap water), repeated but never repetitive, wittily-choreographed sequences that would've made Chaplin chortle, the aesthetically-pleasing 90s soundtrack: these are five ordinary guys doing something ordinary, but it's the talent, not the budget around them, that makes the whole thing extraordinary. 

Between this and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, the magic of British comedy shines oh-so brightly.

 4/5

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World War Z

2013, 15, Directed by Marc Forster

Starring: Brad Pitt, Meirelle Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox

The cinema incarnation of the zombie has seen radical changes since George A. Romero’s ground-breaking Night of the Living Dead crawled it's way onto screen. With every new zombie film comes the sniffy critics, microscopically analysing all elements - with the agility of the killing machines as much the focal point as the political subtext they inevitably must convey (not to mention what the characters brandish them - something TV show The Walking Dead deals with whilst pressing tongue firmly in cheek.) World War Z, based on the 2006 novel by Max Brooks (son of Blazing Saddles director, Mel,) takes an interesting stance on the genre; the film – after a heart-pumping opening montage sequence - begins in Philadelphia, introducing us to the Lane’s, comprised of Gerry (Brad Pitt,) Karin (The Killing’s Meirelle Enos) and their two children. Within ten minutes, hell is breaking loose, cities are being overrun, and it is the double helping of Marc Forster’s snappy direction and Roger Barton and Matt Chesse’s quick-fired editing that will leave you questioning the image you’re sure you’ve just witnessed…this causes an unsettling air to descend upon the film, the slots falling into place for what is to come.

...It's unfortunate then that World War Z dips in a second act which sees Pitt’s former UN employee reluctantly agree to scale the world in hope of finding the source of the outbreak. Lazily structured, Forster relies upon striking imagery and standout set-pieces to ensure the film remains watchable – with not enough made upon the novel’s commentary on overpopulation. You may have heard about the whole thing somehow ending up in Cardiff, yet these are the scenes where the tension of the opening segment is thankfully restored in an extended set-piece captured so annoyingly well that taking a few ‘hold-your-breath’ lessons wouldn’t have gone amiss. Save for these solid moments, World War Z remains largely unremarkable, falling short of the promise conveyed in act one.

3/5

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Wreck-It Ralph

2012, PG, Directed by Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch

Ralph is bad. Ralph – with his over-sized block hands - is programmed to wreck things in the arcade game he has long been a part of. When the arcade lights go down at the end of a tiresome day, Ralph is ostracised in favour of the game’s hero Fix-It Felix, Jr., left out of the parties held at his penthouse and the cakes baked by his fellow characters. This day-to-day occurance is what brings Ralph to Bad Anon, a support group for video game villains. ‘I will never be good...and that’s not bad,’ villains ranging from Mario baddie Bowser to a House of the Dead zombie are told. Not content with this rationale, Ralph (voiced by ultimate supporting actor John C. Reilly) decides to take matters into his own large hands and does the unthinkable: skips games (via Game Central Station, of course!) in hope of winning his very own gold medal. 

The latest Disney outing may not reach the heights of Pixar movie magic, however Rich Moore's animation does have a hint of the untouchable Toy Story; once the gamers have departed the Arcade for the day, we are drawn into the game, unveiling a whole world beyond the screens. Moore immerses us into the virtual world seamlessly, delivering the film in the guise of an actual video game. With the world comes the rules (namely the one Ralph breaks - stick to your game,) the video game character interaction (two fighters from Street Fighter calling it a day and heading for a beer is priceless,) and the fears (Toy Story's characters feared the shelf...these characters fear the 'Out of Order' sign.) It is a broadly well-realised concept that really succeeds. Add to the mixer the nostalgic element at play, and Wreck-It Ralph becomes equally as watchable for adults as it is for kids.

As Ralph bumbles his way into a first-person shooting game (in a standout scene, we see how the characters incorporate the paying gamers into their world,) right through to landing in Sugar Rush, a sickly-sweet racing game populated by saccharine little children and fulsomely sprightly adults, a smile will be firmly fixed on your face. It is in this game where he meets 9-year-old Vanellope Von Schweetz, a candy-pun-spewing handful who forges a friendship with our titular hero. Voiced by comedienne Sarah Silverman, the character may irritate a touch to begin, but it is doubtful her existence as a 'glitch' (for the techno-phobes: a system fault) won't tug at the heartstrings by the end; left out by her fellow characters, just like Ralph, there is more than a hint of Monsters Inc.'s Sulley and Boo here. Not a twosome as near as memorable, however Ralph and Vanellope are endearing enough to make you root for 'the Wreck-It guy' to aid the 'glitch' in realising her dreams of participating in a cup race...a true underdog story.

Wreck-It Ralph may not reach the heights of Pixar's best, but don't be fooled - this is still a cut above the rest, and superior to Disney's recent offerings Filled with references galore, laugh-out-loud quips and top-notch characterisation (including a homeless Q*bert,) this - as well as the charming pre-feature short Paperman - is an unadulterated joy to be shared with all.

This game is not over.  

4/5

 

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The Woman in Black

2012, 12, Directed by James Watkins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Roger Allam

For anyone who has seen the stage play of Susan Hill’s chiller, you will be certain that The Woman in Black requires a great amount of courage to witness without peeking through your fingers, but also a lead with enough scope and credible chops to make cautiously opening doors and being genuinely terrified seem fresh with every scene. Step forward, erm, Daniel Radcliffe, ready to prove he isn’t just the scar-bearing Boy Who Lived, but lawyer Arthur Kipps, a widowed father tasked with sorting out the belongings of Alice Drablow in a house where things don’t just go bump in the night, but a whole lot more.

Let’s get this out the way: Radcliffe is good. He charges his way through the film with grace amongst the chaos that will undoubtedly make you jump, but quite bluntly will either petrify you or bore you. He carries the film – although any more heavy lifting thrown his way, and the struggle may have been effervescent. Kipps has lost his wife to childbirth and is a loyal father to his sole son (who you will be forgiven for thinking looks more suited to be his  younger brother). Yes, you care for the character, and yes, you fear for his safety. Commendation then to Jane Goldman, who has again proved she can write effective screenplays from respected source material (and can make a rocking chair the single spookiest thing on earth.)

But by the time the film’s divisive climax comes about, whether you’ll remember much about the whole affair long afterwards is somewhat debatable.Still, after becoming the most successful British horror flick in 20 years, and with a sequel already in the works, The Woman in Black evidently has a huge audience that will continue to lap up the antics. It's fair to say that there is a lot to sink your teeth into, but could do with more to chew on.

3/5

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We Need to Talk About Kevin

2011, 15, Directed by Lynne Ramsay

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, John C. Reilly, Sioban Fallon

 Her first feature film since 2002's Morvern Callar, director Lynne Ramsay need not make another film to prove her worth; We Need To Talk About Kevin does so in an effortless manner that countless filmmaker's strive to master throughout embittered careers.  Let it be said, this is an uneasy watch. Adapted from Lionel Shriver's 2003 bestseller, the film centres on Eva Katchadourian, a mother attempting to deal with the anguish and backlash following a traumatic act committed by her son, Kevin. Tilda Swinton plays Eva and it is near impossible to imagine anybody else tackling such a role; flitting back to her days before Kevin arrived, through to his birth and her inability to conect with her son even as a toddler, Swinton connects instead with the watchful audience, providing a true insight into what it is to be this woman pushed to the edge by motherhood (just try and prevent your heart from sinking when, in a rare moment of affection, Kevin snuggles up with his mother whilst she reads him a bedtime story, causing Eva to have a fist-in-the-air moment). Her every action evokes an emotive response; you yearn to acquire the ability to reach into the screen, simply to reassuringly pat her on the back. In one word, Swinton is a knockout - quite possibly the performance of the year.

John C. Reilly as the ignorant father who sees Kevin as the inocent angel he definitely isn't, does quite a bit with not a lot. As for Kevin himself, he is a malevolent on-screen force; an out-and-out pure villainous creation - Ezra Miller plays the part so perfectly that he is in danger of becoming typecast for a long time to come.

The film is non-linear but somehow does not feel so due to a fathomable format that Ramsay adopts. There appear to be narrative lapses that are stitched together come the film's climax, and after glimpsing Eva's character before and then after the event that the film is moulded around, you piece the puzzle together, formulating debatable ideas in the process. Is it entirely her fault? Definitely not. Is she blameless? Probably not. Either way, this is one film that will have you talking all the way home. Although the difference in timeframe is present, you never once feel isolated in the plot - all you know is that something truly terrible occured. It is to Ramsay's credit that you wait so patiently to find out what. In lesser hands, the feature would have used this potentially gory event as a harrowing set-piece, but here, emphasis is placed on the interaction between mother and son, followed by mother's way of dealing with a situation she should never have had to deal with. Fearfully doing her weekly shop; unable to smile in the street at the risk of passers-by spotting her... Swinton plays it so it could be somebody down the stree, grounding the film with a sense of overwhelming realism. 

Barely any blood is spilt on screen. Ramsay knows the imagination is enough; so much so that when visceral images are shown, the shock and awe are enhanced. Pair this with a highlight on innocent imagery (Eva's house being repeatedly pelted with red paint), paired with the claustrophoic probing camerawork refusing to release the grip around Eva, and the sense of dread is unpalpable. This is truly remarkable filmmaking, aided by a talented visionary and performer at the top of their game. If there's one thing to talk about, it is most certainly We Need to Talk About Kevin.

4.5/5

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Oscar Nominee #10: Winter's Bone

Say hello to the dark horse of this year’s nominations; the fact that the bleak Winter’s Bone has been nominated is an undeniable blessing. An affecting, harrowing tale of Ree Dolly’s search for her wayward father will endure as one of the greatest largely-unseen films of last year. Jennifer Lawrence’s performance is one of the most believable and unassuming of the nominations, (and as much as I love Portman, it would be a victory, albeit a bittersweet one, if Lawrence nicked it from under her nose). If anything, the fact that Winter's Bone is in the list makes me extremely glad so as to raise its profile and get it seen. Again, Debbie Granik did not receive a Directing nomination, so there won't be a repeat of last year's Kathryn Bigelow female victory, but Granik's passion for her craft is evident. But like I said, its inclusion is enough and its chances are better than most.

Would it have been nominated before the 10-nomination rule?

I’m going to say no. It would have been between this and True Grit, but I can’t quite explain why I think the Academy wouldn’t have swung towards this. Probably would average out on other nominations, and whilst True Grit has got a Direction and Screenplay nomination for the Coen’s and noms for Bridges and Steinfeld to boot, Winter’s Bone has only been recognised for Lawrence and John Hawkes, for Supporting Actor, who fully deserve their nominations, and Screenplay. Also, more people know True Grit and the Academy are generally quite lazy, so less members have probably seen Winter's Bone. The extension to 10 nominees is effective when films like this get noticed for their worth.

Rating out of 5: ●●●●●

Chances out of 5: ●●●●●

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Winter's Bone

2010, 15, Directed by Debra Granik

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser, Garret Dillahunt

Winter’s Bone, like its title might suggest, is a bleak, cruel and unhurried adaptation of Daniel Woodrel’s novel, which sees newcomer Jennifer Lawrence’s Ree Dolly searching for her wayward father in the frozen backdrop of Arkansas. Although extremely slow in pace, this is the point; lines are delivered tediously and monotonously to reflect the surroundings, and not for one second do you doubt Lawrence’s truly great, naturalistic performance. Never doubting her desperation to avoid the imminent danger that beckons, this causes for truly tense encounters. Another highlight is the casting of Deadwood’s John Hawkes as Teardrop, Ree’s unpredictable uncle. The beauty of Hawke's performance is in the way the audience can fear him and rely on him from one scene to the next. Once you’ve glimpsed the landscape where the town folk live by their own rules as opposed to the ‘law’s’, it becomes astoundingly easy to translate this into reality. If you fetch Winter’s Bone, you will be rewarded.

4.5/5

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The White Ribbon

2009, 15 Directed by Michael Haneke

Starring: Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi 

A German-speaking black and white film two and a half hours in length is not everybody’s cup of tea… unless Michael Haneke is at the helm. Shocking, boring and baffling audiences alike for some time now, the Austrian filmmaker is no stranger to crafting challenging features. The White Ribbon, his overdue Palme d’Or winner, is a dark depiction of a rural town in Northern Germany where disturbing incidents are occurring. We are led through the landscape of Haneke’s lens by a narrator who creates anticipation, but also helps identify the many characters. Although the pace slows, this can be overlooked for what Haneke offers is a ridiculously intriguing insight into a rural town that are being plagued by the unknown. Much like his previous films, most notably Hidden, the route to answers is not as clear-cut as some would prefer – but this is now to be expected. This cup of tea comes with no sugar, but biscuits.

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