The Wolf of Wall Street

Manic, crazed, obsessive, extreme, indulgent - these words describe not just Jordan Belfort's life as depicted in the film, but the entire film itself.

It's as if Scorsese, DiCaprio and just about everyone else were on some sort of drug through out the making of this film and virtually every scene contains some kind of out of control element. And at almost three hours long the experience is exhausting.

But this doesn't mean that I didn't like the film. I loved it for all the reasons above. This is Scorsese multiplied by ten and DiCaprio has never been more fascinating than he is in 'Wolf'. All caution was thrown to the wind and the Director and his star seemed determined to push the envelop at every opportunity in terms of taste, explicitness and vulgarity.

Covering similar ground as 'Casino', 'Wolf' shows the rise and fall of a one of a kind man who knows how to make money and dodge the law. Things are rosy and sweet but like any such fable there is a price to pay.

Like a mini Roman Empire, Belfort's financial power knows only how to continually nourish itself with ever more wealth. But all good things must come to an end, or so I'm told.

Perhaps the main downside to the film is that, ultimately, none of the characters are ever really likeable. Belfort is charismatic for sure and we almost cheer his successes despite his greed and bravery to do what he wants, but punching his wife in the stomach and ratting out his friends show him for what he really is, a nasty piece of work. No tears are shed for his eventual downfall and the film might therefore be seen as a warning to avoid such an indulgent lifestyle. But I don't think that was the filmmakers intention.

Cinema works best when it shows us a world we new little about, and 'Wolf' brilliantly shows us the world of the stock broker. I for one though, having had a glimpse of it, know for sure that it is a world I am glad not to be a part of. But I'm still rather keen on casinos...

***1/2 out of *****

Her

Another mind fuck from Spike Jonze and this time he's showing us the pitfalls and promises of what it would be like to have a relationship with a computer program.

Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) seems destined to a single life after his relationship to his rather lovely partner ends, and so he innocently gets an OS (Operating System) with a female personality and before long he is becoming infatuated with her - and her with him.

What follows is, to him, a real relationship. They have sex, talk, go out, have fun, argue et al and the only real revelation is that other people, perhaps lots of others, are doing the exact same thing.

Phoenix carries the film with vulnerable confidence and Scarlett Johansson's sultry, all-to-human voice and persona are an incredible match.

For a while I thought this film could only be a product of the early twenty-first century but then I realised that 'Electric Dreams' back in 1984 kind of did something similar. Ok, Miles loved Madeline and not his computer, but the computer loved Madeline and even wrote songs for her.

At times 'Her' takes itself far too seriously and the weight of meaning and importance begins to smother the rather simple narrative. I'm not sure if that is really a criticism or just an observation, but it's there nonetheless.

I'm also not really sure who to give most of my praise to. Every aspect of this film works perfectly, scarily perfect. How can us mere mortal filmmakers compete with a film like this??

My Siri is still a dumb-arse despite my efforts to corrupt her so the near-future as depicted in 'Her' is still some way off.

**** out of *****

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs and stars in this remake of the 1947 film and while he aims high, ultimately the film fails to achieve velocity.

There's lots of grand visuals and amazing stunts and daring-do but somehow it all just doesn't come together. Perhaps it is because Walter himself is such a dull fellow. Sure, he goes off on a quest to track down a ground breaking photo but nothing he does ever seems to really affect him - or us in the audience.

It's just one escapade after another without any sort of emotional mile stones in place to let us know what it is he is actually achieving. It's all quite interesting and watchable but Walter never really rises above himself; he just stumbles rather blankly from scene to scene.

So far I prefer his more straightforward comedies like 'Zoolander' and yes, even 'The Cable Guy' because in the safety of comedy Ben allows himself to be truly silly. But in Walter Mitty it's like he's reigning himself in and preventing the really cool ideas from being allowed to formulate because he's trying so hard to be 'profound'.

Not a bad effort and it certainly has it's insightful moments, but all up it feels rather hollow with one too many missed opportunities.

**1/2 out of *****

400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups)

Francois Truffaut's very first feature film after being a rather brutal film critic for a number of years.

Partly, even perhaps largely based on his troubled childhood experiences of growing up with indifferent parents, '400 Blows' is Truffaut's recollections of his delinquent life in Paris just after the war and how he fought against repressive authority (school, parents, police) to do his own thing. His actions ultimately lead him to an institution for criminal boys and his eventual escape.

I could go on and on about how this film almost single-handedly began the French New Wave movement, but that has been covered by just about everyone else, and far more eloquently than I could ever accomplish. But now that I mention it, the FNW did embolden so many American filmmakers who went on to create the New Hollywood in the late 60's and into the 70's.

Antoine Doinel, the main character, is not really a bad kid at all, he just can't be bothered following one idiotic rule after another and, with his parents more caught up with their own lives, he gradually descends further and further into petty crime.

What we are left with is a young man with too much time on his hands and too much temptation around him. Of course he's going to get into some kind of trouble and the heavy-handed powers that be seem determined to reform the wayward boy no matter what.

Compared to today's young louts and losers Antoine is almost angelic, so perhaps there is the sympathy we feel for him - he's an okay kid who is just getting lost in a stuffy system that doesn't have the resources to deal with his energy and individuality.

What comes across most powerfully is that Antoine is a real person with needs and feelings that society simply cannot recognise nor nourish. As a result, he drifts away and ends up in the institution, only to escape and eventually finding himself on the beach with whatever has drifted on the high seas and washed up there. He is a piece of flotsam himself, removed from society but still forever connected to it.

***** out of *****

The Eagle

Overlooking the absolute absurdity of two men wandering off into northern Britain to find a venerated piece of Roman identity and returning alive with it, the film does make some fairly noble attempts at recreating 2nd century AD life in Roman Britain.

The film opens pretty strongly and there is some rather stunning cinematography, but once Tatum and Bell pass through Hadrian's Wall and enter the wilds of the far north, the story descends into a totally predictable adventure. And what's more, the filmmakers came up with two equally hopeless endings (one is included as an alternate ending on the DVD).

The Seal People, a vicious tribe living 'somewhere' up there, are depicted as being psychotic killers and are no better than old Hollywood films that depicted native American Indians in the same way. And besides, The Seal People aren't based on any actual people or culture indigenous to the place and the time. They are a complete construct and a cliched one at that.

Jamie Bell seems to be enjoying the journey but Channing Tatum looks rather lost and bewildered in those cold northern climes. He appears to be trying to get into the it all, but I wonder if his heart was really in it.

Still, this film is a better historical recreation than what is usually produced and if you just want a simple story with lots of (rather well done) sword fighting, then have a look.

**1/2 out of *****

Saving Mr. Banks

There's a lot one must ignore and or forgive to allow this film to work its (eventual) magic. For a start, have any of the filmmakers associated with this film ever been to Australia? Apparently not, because their recreation of early 20th century Queensland bears no resemblance to the place whatsoever. Okay, I wasn't present in early 20th century Queensland either but their rendition of Maryborough in that time period looks so fake, phoney and artificial that it is clear it was shot in some back lot in Hollywood. "Ah, it's only Australia. Who'll know? Who cares?"

To anyone who watches this film: here is a statement - Queensland does NOT look like the set of an 'Andy Hardy' film.

Added to this, the audience must endure at least an hour's worth of Mrs. Traver's witty but annoying complaints and put downs. For the first quarter hour or so they are rather entertaining, but after an hour her character becomes a one dimensional bore. Yes, we get it - she's pedantic and picky and strange. Fine. But after an hour of this...

And then on top of all that, the film hinders its own narrative strengths by (over) using flashbacks to Travers as a young girl. Just when the story is gaining momentum we have yet another flashback to ye olde Queensland. Flashbacks are fine, but in this film they slow the pace of the narrative right down to a virtual crawl. Come on, crank this thing up to eleven!

But then, finally and thankfully, the film finds its emotional voice in the second half and from then on it becomes an increasingly joyful and entertaining examination of two people (Walt and Travers) as they battle over the final shape of the film 'Mary Poppins'. They'd been doing that already, but with various details suddenly becoming clear and motivations more understandable, the film really gets going.

Walt Disney comes across as squeaky clean (was there any doubt that he wouldn't?) and Travers' weirdo behaviour becomes easier to explain and forgive, leaving us the audience to be happy that they both got what they wanted. Of course they did, it's the Magic Kingdom.

I don't really know the moral of this story but like all Disney films it has a warm glow about that is hard to ignore and even harder to dissect. Whatever, it is what it is.

***out of *****

The Fifth Estate

This film kinda feels premature, and by that I mean the ultimate consequences of the Wikileaks phenomenon are possibly yet to be felt.

As a result, the film never really successfully develops a sense of danger for the main characters. Sure, they are in trouble, and important American politicians in expensive planes are on to them, but where is the jeopardy?

There's lots of passionate talk about freedom and empowering the people which is fine, but Julian Assange comes across as someone who is really more in it for himself. He even makes it clear at the end that it's about everyone, but that it's also "about me".

Ironically, Assange himself has made it clear in several press releases and interviews that he thinks the film is a "serious propaganda attack on Wikileaks and the integrity of its staff". This may help to explain the film's failure to truly get a handle on who Assange really is. Since Assange himself has condemned the film, what then did we really see? Someone else's propaganda? Does it therefore beg the question, who is blowing the whistle on the whistleblowers?

Benedict Cumberbatch's performance (and his Australian accent) are superb and they help to keep the audience at least nominally interested even while the film devolves into standard weak cliff-hanger moments and a chase scenario that never really kicks into high-gear.

With Assange still hold-up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Wikileaks still in business and no one yet (as far as I know) facing any kind of prosecution, it feels like the third act of this film is still to be written.

** out of *****

American Hustle

Ensemble comedy at its (almost) best. Lies, scams, cons and double dealing in 1970's New Jersey.

(Nerd observation: the opening company logos are shot as if they were produced in the 70's).

Jennifer Lawrence steals every scene she's in and I think Director David O. Russell allowed her more leeway to really go over the top whereas he seems to have held back Christian Bale whose character might have benefitted from such looser reins.

The film therefore is a study in how far actors are allowed to take their characters: some get the chance while others don't. Everyone hits the mark for the most part, but Bale's Irving Rosenfeld seems strangely left behind. He's at first the driving force behind the story but then the other characters seem allowed to take over, to the point where Irving gets kinda left behind.

We know it's his story, so when does he really come into his own? He does sort of eventually but it's too little too late.

The film, despite its vintage burlesque and irreverent attitude never really becomes subversive - it plays the story straight, clear and funny and that's all fine and good. But after a good two hours one wonders if a little anarchy might have been a welcome spice to add.

My petty criticisms aside, this is a self-assured piece of filmmaking that seems to simply enjoy the art of filmmaking with some of the coolest acting talent that the US can currently muster.

In the end it's a feel good story where the good guys win and the bad guys get busted. It might have been a Scorsese film and a brilliant one at that, with lots of guilt and loss and pain, but 'American Hustle' is what it is, a happy piece of entertaining retro fluff.

***1/2 out of *****

Miss Bala

Well I wouldn't want to live in Mexico, based on the this film. Seen through the eyes of Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman), crime and corruption, death and violence seem to be endemic to Mexico with the authorities often powerless to stop the carnage and the drug industry.

What I found most interesting about 'Miss Bala' was that Laura gets caught up, against her will, in this vicious world yet when she does have the chance, more than once, to flee - she doesn't. Her motivations become hazy. Why does she choose to stay with such violent men? These are killers and she's only still alive because she's pretty and they can use her to get to men in positions of power.

The unfortunate effect of this situation is that Laura becomes a character we, the audience,  gradually come to like less and less.

It's almost inconceivable that a nation exists where this level of out-of-control-violence actually exists, but here it is. So this is just an entertainment? Does it serve a need in Mexico, calling upon its citizens to do something about it?

For me, it's rather terrifying that this sort of world exists, but maybe to Mexicans it's a call to action...

*** out of *****

The Invisible Woman

A nearly great exploration of Charles Dickens and his controversial relationship with a young wanna be actress. Lovely scenery, intelligent script and all-round brilliant performances yet this still doesn't seem to really come together.

It felt like the point of the film was forever in becoming clear. Scene after scene and the purpose of the film remained vague, and it wasn't until at least 30 to 40 minutes in that we finally got an idea of what it was about. Way too long.

The result was a rather plodding film that tried really really hard to be something special but just didn't have it within itself to cross that greatness line. Fiennes is the heart and sole of this film despite Felicity Jones' attempts to make it her own. She just gets way to much empty screen time when Fiennes's Dickens is what is truly drives the story and its (hoped for) promise.

Jones and her character just don't have the power to make this film fly and that's such a shame because this film either lives of dies based on her. Without that driving force the film languishes along at a three knot pace driving the audience to distraction. Come on, give us something to get us through the lean scenes of quiet poise and knowing stares.

And what's with all the intense close ups? One or two are fine but I felt I was invading the actor's personal space with so many intimate in-your-face shots.

Fiennes does a fine job of acting in this, but his direction gave us a story that was just too stolid and deathly slow that all the visual good will was lost. It was a film that we, the audience, just had to endure.

Bummer.

** out of *****

Spectre of the Gun - Star Trek Third Season 1968

Hadn't seen this in many many years and was really quite impressed with how good an episode it is. Not only is the set design eerie in a surrealist way but there is also genuine tension and a real sense of danger facing the landing party from the Enterprise.

The third season of the show was hampered by a reduced budget and a mostly awol Executive Producer (Roddenberry) but the limitations imposed on the the show actually helped to get people's creative juices flowing and this episode is a case in point. By not having enough money to create a Western town on the sound stage the Producers and the Production Designer settled on an almost Dali like environment that was unnerving and visually compelling.

Another Year

Mike Leigh's a year-in-the-life of a blissfully happy autumn years married couple and the lonely people who come into their lives.

It's virtually non-stop dialogue from beginning to end but Leigh allows the actors to really ply their trade and create interesting and memorable characters. Life just unfolds - there's no clever plot devices or surprise twists here, just ordinary people going about their lives as best they can. Some have wealth and comfort while others have much less and are trapped in their feelings of failure and desperation of wanting a better life.

As the narrative unfolds it is Mary, played by Lesley Manville who we really come to like and feel for. She's in her mid 50's, single and lost while her friends Tom and Gerri have a successful and upper middle class life of ease and material wealth. Mary just can't get herself together despite all the support around her, and that's ultimately the film's major strength: there's no trite happy ending or one last ditch effort for a better life - life is what we make it and we all have to live with the consequences.

The performances cannot be faulted, the script (which benefitted from heavy ad-libbing) feels natural and smooth and the film is shot without fanfare of fancy cinematic tricks. It all just works in perfect harmony.

**** out of *****

The World's End

What starts off as a reunion to finally undertake and complete a pub crawl ends up being a fight for survival against an invasion of alien robots.

Lots of laughs, lots of fun and certainly lots of violence, I can't help but feel though that this is slightly derivative of 'Shaun of the Dead'. In that film there were zombies running amok in an English village; here we have alien robots running amok in an English village.

In all honesty I was rather enjoying the story of these guys getting together again and using the pub crawl as a way to revisit and heal old emotional wounds and I was a bit disappointed when the whole sci-fi stuff started. From that moment on I could see how the film was going to turn out; fights, laughs people standing up to the bullies and then saving the world.

Loads of fun yes, but predictable.

Everyone in the awesome cast has several moments to shine yet Simon Pegg definitely carries the film throughout. I've often thought he would make a very good Doctor Who and this film kind of feels like a Doctor Who type story, except for the rampant alcoholism.

All said and done this is still a brilliant comedy from a team of people who make consistently brilliant comedies. Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

***1/2 out of *****

Satellite Boy

A cliched, tepid and ultimately uninteresting tale of a young indigenous boy travelling far and wide only to learn that his real home and place of belonging is the very place where he started.

Full of good intentions that are unfortuntaly severely let down by a Director who doesn't allow the performances to shine through and an Editor who is way too fond of cutting scenes that should really have been left to run uninterrupted.

Potentially powerful scenes are chopped up to the point where they become trite and meaningless. This hurry-up attitude prevents the film from becoming a truly remarkable work and only succeeds in being a mildly passable diversion, mainly for overseas viewers.

It's all so predictable. The innocent little boy on a grand quest to find his place in the world. Along side him is his best friend who is swayed by 'modern' ways and foibles leaving our young hero to fight the good fight for a vague and in the end unanswered conclusion.

A nice try for sure but it feels more like a rough cut.

** out of *****

The Counsellor

I've never really been a fan of Ridley Scott and his attempt at a cool/stylish/thriller is a dreadful failure in my opinion.

The plot is weighed down by pointless and confusing long-winded dialogue that doesn't seem to mean anything and for a thriller there is very little that is actually thrilling.

Plot threads are left dangling, Michael Fassbender's character (known only as the Counsellor) is a wishy-washy fellow who cries at the drop of the hat, and the film just plays way too long.

All the actors do the best they can and some of the (very brief) action scenes are done well, but overall this is a movie that really needed to be taken back to the shop, reworked and repaired and then given to a Director who could actually make something of it.

Avoid!

* out of *****

Mickey Rooney 1920-2014

I was a huge fan of the 'Andy Hardy' films back when I was a little kid and later went on to absolutely love 'The Human Comedy', a film he made during World War 2. I still think it was his best performance.

I'm not sad that he is gone, for he did what he loved and people love him for it. He was an old man, he made his mark on this world and now he has moved on. Ok, that's cool.

Star Trek: Nemesis

OR

Star Trek: Cliche

OR 

Star Trek: Vacuous

A totally un-fitting end to the adventures of the Enterprise D (E) crew. This was filmmaking at its most unimaginative; stolid, by-the-numbers extreme. The trailer looked great and I was really looking forward to seeing it, after all, the even numbered Trek films were generally the better ones, but this one plumed the depths of cliche after cliche. No risks taken, no vision offered, nothing to remember it by.

Standard fight scenes, vacuous action scenes, cardboard villain - this film has it all. 

After the more than tepid response to 'Star Trek: Insurrection', it seems the filmmakers wanted some big-screen-action yet their television mentality crippled this film from being little more than yet another extended TV episode. 

Ok, it holds one's attention and it's always nice to the see the gang together, but they are just doing another film without any apparent passion. 

I know everyone dumps all over 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier', but at least that had the guts to have a unique vision and a new and challenging point of view, whereas 'Nemesis' was the worst kind of filmmaking: boring.

Too many contrivances, too many plot predictable plot devices. You have a huge screen to play with, so go play with it for heaven's sake! Make it epic, make it cinematic! But you didn't, you made a flat, dull expensive TV two-parter.

Why couldn't you do the mirror-universe?? That would have been awesome! Give us some real drama, not this juvenile comic book story. Give us something we can sink out teeth into. 

Though I think that JJ Abram's re-imagined 'Star Trek' films are just as vacuous and derivative, at least they are cinematic taking full advantage of that beautiful, terrifying silver screen. 

** out of *****

GREY GARDENS

A fascinating HBO feature starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, it is the story of a mother and daughter who shut themselves away from society for decades in a crumbling house and yet cannot escape the attentions of the outside world.

Lange is awesome while Barrymore is absolutely brilliant. The film's strengths are its attention to detail, intelligent handling of two very eccentric characters and its wonderfully realised script. One cannot but be enamoured by these two women despite their skew-wiff take on life and existence.

They were the subject of a groundbreaking documentary by the Maysles brothers back in the early 1970's and this film so perfectly recreates the house and the actresses bring the characters to life so accurately that it is sometimes impossible to see where the doco ended and this film begins.

It does slightly drag towards the end but that is a minor quibble for the film is a near perfect blend of love, pace, comedy, drama and almost voyeristic insight into the lives of these two very strange women.

**** out of *****

Star Trek: First Contact

I watched this again after not having seen it for several years and I still think it's one of the better, more audience friendly Trek films so far. Picard and Data get the majority of the scenes while the other main crew members, Crusher, Troi, Geordie etc get very little to do. There's also some cool cameos from Barclay and The Doctor from 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

What was most disappointing about the movie was the confrontation on the deflector dish on the exterior of the Enterprise. What should have been a nail-biting, edge of your seat scene instead came across as stagey, flat and rather dull. Director Frakes just doesn't seem to know where to put the camera in this scene with the result that the camera work was un-dynamic and uninspired. Perhaps because the Borg are so slow moving, and the Enterprise crew are in clunky space suits means that this supposed action scene was doomed to be a lethargically paced battle.

James Cromwell was terrific in the role of Zefram Cochrane and is usually the most interesting person to watch in whichever scene he is in, however it would have been great if Tom Hanks had played the role. He was originally going to do just that but his own film, 'That Thing You Do', got the green light and so he had to withdraw. 

I still think the movie looks like a TV episode, there's just something so 'TV' about it despite the very impressive special effects. The JJ Abrams Star Trek movies have successfully avoided this TV look.

Rating:

***1/2 out of *****