film316-125-427677
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film316-125-427677's rating
For those of you who missed the first one, Insurgent is the sequel to Divergent, Divergent is a series aimed at the new teen girl audience, so think Twilight and Hunger games and you are along the right lines. But the reel question is after the disappointment of Divergent will this second be a Maze Runner or just a Runner Runner? If you look at the poster for Insurgent it looks like it's been directed by the Wakoski brothers, with the two main leads free falling in air, shattered glass surrounding them with guns drawn, but the truth is that Insurgent is nowhere near as physisophrenic as any of the matrix movies. No, Insurgent is a film with it's head on it's shoulders and it's goals always in sight.
I think it's this narrow mindedness that makes Insurgent worth watching, you can feel the movements are counting for something, they are part of a bigger scheme, it's not all juts random or pointless, every scene is measured to fit within it's play in the story and that story is buried within the many levels of social commentary that the movie makes.
Insurgent never gives into the pressure of feeling like "the middle child" with not having any real beginning or end, that's the norm for movies like this, but not Insurgent. Instead it has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end, and just to help us along the setting changes for all three times. It's little things like that which can really lift a film out of the ordinary.
Really we should credit the director Robert Schwentkes for this change. Schwentkes has had VERY mixed success, being responsible for last year's awful R.I.P.D. but before that the quite good Red and the very acceptable Time Traveller's Wife. In Insurgent it feels like Schwentkes has found his calling, he makes something as simple as a shower look incredible, with his expert eyes for framing, but it is in none reality when Insurgent really comes alive.
For at least half the film Insurgent is set in this strange SIM reality which is made to test each of the abilities of a candidate. This setting is both surprising and engaging. I think that's a good way to describe all of Insurgent really. Surprising and Engaging.
It's true Insurgent does not mind bringing out the big guns, with mass suicide being one of the major ones, the entire film has an air that anything could happen and in justice often does. I also like that all those things that no one really cared about from the original, for instance, all the different virtues of each discipline. Yeah that's mostly forgotten about in Insurgent and if not it's made REALLY clear what is required from the given party.
It's interesting to me to see how the 3 main teen leads carry themselves and the film, Shaliene Woodly is clearly trying hard to bring out the level of talent that Jennifer Lawrence has as Tris. Theo James looks like he can have the only troubled expression on his face and nothing else and Miles Teller makes it all look so easy. As for the rest of the players they are all fine, especially Nomi Watt's who I personally didn't even recognise.
The truth is that Insurgent is just flat out better than it's predecessor, it is succinct, clever, brave and beautiful, and I've got a feeling the best it yet to come.
I think it's this narrow mindedness that makes Insurgent worth watching, you can feel the movements are counting for something, they are part of a bigger scheme, it's not all juts random or pointless, every scene is measured to fit within it's play in the story and that story is buried within the many levels of social commentary that the movie makes.
Insurgent never gives into the pressure of feeling like "the middle child" with not having any real beginning or end, that's the norm for movies like this, but not Insurgent. Instead it has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end, and just to help us along the setting changes for all three times. It's little things like that which can really lift a film out of the ordinary.
Really we should credit the director Robert Schwentkes for this change. Schwentkes has had VERY mixed success, being responsible for last year's awful R.I.P.D. but before that the quite good Red and the very acceptable Time Traveller's Wife. In Insurgent it feels like Schwentkes has found his calling, he makes something as simple as a shower look incredible, with his expert eyes for framing, but it is in none reality when Insurgent really comes alive.
For at least half the film Insurgent is set in this strange SIM reality which is made to test each of the abilities of a candidate. This setting is both surprising and engaging. I think that's a good way to describe all of Insurgent really. Surprising and Engaging.
It's true Insurgent does not mind bringing out the big guns, with mass suicide being one of the major ones, the entire film has an air that anything could happen and in justice often does. I also like that all those things that no one really cared about from the original, for instance, all the different virtues of each discipline. Yeah that's mostly forgotten about in Insurgent and if not it's made REALLY clear what is required from the given party.
It's interesting to me to see how the 3 main teen leads carry themselves and the film, Shaliene Woodly is clearly trying hard to bring out the level of talent that Jennifer Lawrence has as Tris. Theo James looks like he can have the only troubled expression on his face and nothing else and Miles Teller makes it all look so easy. As for the rest of the players they are all fine, especially Nomi Watt's who I personally didn't even recognise.
The truth is that Insurgent is just flat out better than it's predecessor, it is succinct, clever, brave and beautiful, and I've got a feeling the best it yet to come.
Predestination is an indie film which had an EXCEPTIONALLY limited release in the UK for around a week. However at some point in time in that week, I found myself sitting in the cinema waiting for the movie to start, so I suppose the reel question is, will this new time thriller have me wanting to close my loop or go Back To The Future?
Predestination is brought to us by the Spierig brother, who many might remember for the strange motion picture that was Daybreakers. Well this time they are back and toying with another stable genre in time travel, and honestly? There second outing is far superior to their first.
Predestination is a movie that really tries to push your mind to the limit with what is acceptable in a film, it is frequently borderline flat out absurd however more often than not it's also gripping.
Now I'll be the very first to admit that parts of Predestination don't make sense and it tries far too hard to have an insanely complicated twist, in fact there is a remark made in the film which completely undoes the entire thesis of the movie, but really if you want to enjoy a film (and you will want to enjoy Predestination) you can overlook almost any plot fault or issue that can be found.
If you decide to forget the minor problems with Predestination you will find an exceptionally complicated story presented in one of the simplest ways, with the classical "man walks into a bar" set up. It's this sort of inter genre breeding that makes the Spierig brothers interesting to watch, they did it in Daybreakers and they do is in Predestination.
Predestination is probably better thought of as a biography as the large percentage of the film is the back story of one of the two main characters. The film shifts and moves with the ever changing demands and pacing of the story without ceasing or faulting, it is fluent in its feel and style.
What I like about the Spierig brothers is that they use what they have to their advantage. They (once again) have Ethan Hawke so they use him to his fullest, making him the on screen version of the audience, he's a sounding board to tell the main characters story too. The other counterpart in the film is Sarah Snook who, I've never seen before but puts on a really quite remarkable performance in Predestination. Making a brief appearance is Noah Taylor, but he is only in the film for a handful of scenes.
I think that one of Predestination's greatest assets (and possibly biggest downfalls) is that it's so subtle with how the story arch's play out, they constantly seem inconsequential when really they have an massive impact on the world of the film.
That or the entire movie is just a confusing, random mess that is so ridiculous and stupid it can't even make sense of its own plot threads.
Predestination is a film whose ideas and story almost outreach it's own personal limitations, a movie that is so clever and intelligent that it's own subtlety could well be it's downfall. One that I'm sure most will miss, but any who have seen it won't forget.
5/5
Predestination is brought to us by the Spierig brother, who many might remember for the strange motion picture that was Daybreakers. Well this time they are back and toying with another stable genre in time travel, and honestly? There second outing is far superior to their first.
Predestination is a movie that really tries to push your mind to the limit with what is acceptable in a film, it is frequently borderline flat out absurd however more often than not it's also gripping.
Now I'll be the very first to admit that parts of Predestination don't make sense and it tries far too hard to have an insanely complicated twist, in fact there is a remark made in the film which completely undoes the entire thesis of the movie, but really if you want to enjoy a film (and you will want to enjoy Predestination) you can overlook almost any plot fault or issue that can be found.
If you decide to forget the minor problems with Predestination you will find an exceptionally complicated story presented in one of the simplest ways, with the classical "man walks into a bar" set up. It's this sort of inter genre breeding that makes the Spierig brothers interesting to watch, they did it in Daybreakers and they do is in Predestination.
Predestination is probably better thought of as a biography as the large percentage of the film is the back story of one of the two main characters. The film shifts and moves with the ever changing demands and pacing of the story without ceasing or faulting, it is fluent in its feel and style.
What I like about the Spierig brothers is that they use what they have to their advantage. They (once again) have Ethan Hawke so they use him to his fullest, making him the on screen version of the audience, he's a sounding board to tell the main characters story too. The other counterpart in the film is Sarah Snook who, I've never seen before but puts on a really quite remarkable performance in Predestination. Making a brief appearance is Noah Taylor, but he is only in the film for a handful of scenes.
I think that one of Predestination's greatest assets (and possibly biggest downfalls) is that it's so subtle with how the story arch's play out, they constantly seem inconsequential when really they have an massive impact on the world of the film.
That or the entire movie is just a confusing, random mess that is so ridiculous and stupid it can't even make sense of its own plot threads.
Predestination is a film whose ideas and story almost outreach it's own personal limitations, a movie that is so clever and intelligent that it's own subtlety could well be it's downfall. One that I'm sure most will miss, but any who have seen it won't forget.
5/5
Documentaries are a difficult format because they will always, always be criticized, in some format or way someone will find fault with them. That's why it's always better and more fun to make a mockumentary, and this is where we find What We Do In The Shadows, a spoof documentary about a set of vampires in New Zeland who are flat sharing, so I suppose the reel question is will this have me howling From Dusk Till Dawn or will it just feature Lost Boys?
It's an obvious statement to make but vampires have been around a LONG time in cinema, and we have seen many different interpretations of them from Nosferuatu, to the Bram Stoker's Dracula and now modern age of Twilight. They are probably the 3 hall marks of Vampire films, but there are so many more; 30 Days Of Night, Underworld, Daybrakers and Blade are just a few of the movies that people quickly forget that still have vampires as a main feature, and in the past if we are honest with ourselves all we have ever really seen is spoof films of other Vampire movies, The Fearless Vampire Hunters and Darcula Dead And Loving It are two that leap instantly to mind, but that's where What We Do In The Shadows is strongest, because it's not a spoof of another movie, it is it's own film that makes jokes about vampires as a whole and not just one plot strand.
The principle of having a film crew follow vampires around is funny all on it's own but once you start mixing in well thought out characters, jokes that have pace and a story that develops perfectly you get a movie which all on its own can stand up and be counted as classic. The movie is written and directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement.Jemaine is one half of The Flight Of The Concords and Taika is a man who wrote many of the episodes for them as well as chunks of The Inbetweeners. I think that sort of inner madness and logic that is clear in The Flight Of The Concords TV show spills over into What We Do In The Shadows, there are so many off beat unpredictable moments that you can't help but laugh at them all.
It's true I could pull out sections of the film and highlight them as funny but what would be the point in that? However I will give you a small measure of how clever the film is, there is a sequence in which the trio are preparing to go out on the town, however because they have no reflections they have to sketch each other so they can see what outfits work and don't. It's that sort of clever overlooked humour which is imbedded into What We Do In The Shadows.
What We Do In The Shadows is a witty, clever, funny comedy which is far superior to most of the main stream trash we have to suffer in cinemas.
It's an obvious statement to make but vampires have been around a LONG time in cinema, and we have seen many different interpretations of them from Nosferuatu, to the Bram Stoker's Dracula and now modern age of Twilight. They are probably the 3 hall marks of Vampire films, but there are so many more; 30 Days Of Night, Underworld, Daybrakers and Blade are just a few of the movies that people quickly forget that still have vampires as a main feature, and in the past if we are honest with ourselves all we have ever really seen is spoof films of other Vampire movies, The Fearless Vampire Hunters and Darcula Dead And Loving It are two that leap instantly to mind, but that's where What We Do In The Shadows is strongest, because it's not a spoof of another movie, it is it's own film that makes jokes about vampires as a whole and not just one plot strand.
The principle of having a film crew follow vampires around is funny all on it's own but once you start mixing in well thought out characters, jokes that have pace and a story that develops perfectly you get a movie which all on its own can stand up and be counted as classic. The movie is written and directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement.Jemaine is one half of The Flight Of The Concords and Taika is a man who wrote many of the episodes for them as well as chunks of The Inbetweeners. I think that sort of inner madness and logic that is clear in The Flight Of The Concords TV show spills over into What We Do In The Shadows, there are so many off beat unpredictable moments that you can't help but laugh at them all.
It's true I could pull out sections of the film and highlight them as funny but what would be the point in that? However I will give you a small measure of how clever the film is, there is a sequence in which the trio are preparing to go out on the town, however because they have no reflections they have to sketch each other so they can see what outfits work and don't. It's that sort of clever overlooked humour which is imbedded into What We Do In The Shadows.
What We Do In The Shadows is a witty, clever, funny comedy which is far superior to most of the main stream trash we have to suffer in cinemas.