1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 106

Okey dokey another marathon session was employed today (yesterday at the time of writing this!) Totalling an epic 541 minutes = 9 hours worth of viewing! I am very happy that I got my quota of 7 films in for the week, 3 cinema and 4 IMDb here today – even though these marathon viewing sessions are great for catching upon they absorb time like no other so *note to self* must learn not to ‘put all my eggs in one basket’ !

66 / 365 – ‘Stalag 17′ (1953) – 120 mins
IMDb Challenge #36 / 250 – Ranked #204 – Via DVD collection

Set in a German POW Camp for enlisted American airmen, a spy is discovered to be living in one of the prison barracks after an escape attempt fails resulting in the deaths of two inmates. The prisoners at once suspect Sefton, an unscrupulous inside dealer who trades almost anything with the Germans for extra privileges. After Sefton is beaten up, he himself determines to find the real spy and the result is a mixture of intrigue and betrayal leading to a surprise ending.

Directed by Billy Wilder, one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood’s golden age, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. Stalag 17 is a wonderfully entertaining WWII prisoner-of-war mystery drama mixed with great comedy. Boasting credible performances all round, the ones that stand out from the crowd are wonderful comedic double act of Sgt. Stanislaus ‘Animal’ Kuzawa (Robert Strauss) and Sgt. Harry Shapiro (Harvey Lembeck) along with William Holden for his central Oscar-winning performance as the cynical, sharp-tongued wheeler-dealer Sefton.

This was a first viewing experience for me today and even though Wilder later went onto to receive rightfully critical acclaim for the unforgettable, ‘The Seven Year Itch’, ‘Some Like It Hot’ and ‘The Apartment’ to me Stalag 17 easily deserves its place amongst those classics and one that will be enjoyed timelessly by me again.

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67 / 365 – ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’ (1949) – 106 mins
IMDb Challenge #37 / 250 – Ranked #210 – Via DVD collection

Louis Mazzini’s mother belongs to the aristocratic family D’Ascoyne, but she ran away with an opera singer. Therefore, she and Louis were rejected by the D’Ascoynes. Once adult, Louis decides to avenges his mother and him, by becoming the next Duke of the family. Murdering every potential successor is clearly the safest way to achieve his goal…

Featuring an irreproachable eight character performance from Alec Guinness as each of Louis’s unfortunate victims (The Duke, The Banker, The Parson, The General, The Admiral, Young Ascoyne, Young Henry and Lady Agatha). Kind Hearts and Cornets is a delightful, subtly paced revenge tale set in the prim and proper times of dukes and ladies in the country of Britain, recommended viewing.

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68 / 365 – ‘Magnolia’ (1999) – 188 mins
IMDb Challenge #38 / 250 – Ranked #218 – Via DVD collection

24 hours in L.A.; it’s raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge’s son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator’s daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl’s young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations.

Very much in the vein of ‘Crash’ which I throughly enjoyed earlier in the challenge, Paul Thomas Anderson’s (‘Boogie Nights’, ‘There Will Be Blood’) Magnolia (which came before Crash) is a powerful and touching portrayal of human drama that loosely connects a series of stories, exploring the pain and suffering of a number of Los Angeles residents whose life’s ultimately intertwine in a bizarre ‘you’ll never see coming’ ending.

Littered with fantastic performances throughout from a top draw cast of John C Reilly, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Robards, William H Macy. However it is Tom Cruise who steals the show with his tour-de-force performance as the very different kind of self-help character in Frank Mackey who spews some very colourful dialogue, and I would long argue here he stretches his acting abilities farther than he has ever done before. Magnolia isn’t without its faults the story does drag in the last act, where it overruns its length by at least 30 minutes.

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69 / 365 – ‘Ed Wood’ (1994) – 127 mins
IMDb Challenge #39 / 250 – Ranked #212 – Via DVD collection

A biopic of the life and work of the legendary ‘worst director of all time’, Edward D. Wood Jr., concentrating on the best-known period of his life in the 1950s, when he made I Led 2 Lives (1953), Bride of the Monster (1955) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and focusing on both his transvestism and his touching friendship with the once great but now ageing and unemployed horror star Bela Lugosi.

Review to follow later…

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 105

#65 / 365 – ‘Scre4m’ – 111 mins
Cinema Challenge #30 / 115

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), survivor of Ghostface’s first killing spree and now the author of a self-help book, returns to her home town of Woodboro on the anniversary of the original massacre. There she reconnects with fellow survivors Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Courteney Cox), and meets her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts). The trouble is, you can’t keep a good maniac down, and its not long before Sidney, along with her friends and family, are once again stalked by an unstoppable killer in long black robes.

So after an 11 year absence the grand master of horror slasher flicks Wes Craven, returns Ghostface to our screens. Rarely does a sequel or in particular a fourth film live up to the expectations set by the first one (unless it’s the ‘Godfather: Part II’) and this is brilliant referenced by Sidney “You forgot the No. 1 rule for remakes: Don’t fuck with the original.”

Whilst Craven doesn’t direct anything too fanciful in the film where there very few elements of surprise and jumpy moments, he doe’s brilliantly allow it to self parody itself, particularly in the earlier scenes.

Scream 4 is a definite treat especially for those who have followed the series right from the start, as there are plenty of references here pertaining to it’s earlier instalments. In a nutshell, Scream 4 is a solid and fun crowd-pleasing bloodbath where it delivers an impressive body count and is surefire recommendation for Scream fans to wipe away that bad aftertaste of ‘Scream 3’.

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 102

#64 / 365 – ‘Your Highness’ – 102 mins
Cinema Challenge #29 / 115

Throughout history, tales of chivalry have burnished the legends of brave, handsome knights who rescue fair damsels, slay dragons and conquer evil. But behind many a hero is a good-for-nothing younger brother trying just to stay out of the way of those dragons, evil and trouble in general. Danny McBride and James Franco team up for an epic comedy adventure set in a fantastical world-Your Highness. As two princes on a daring mission to save their land, they must rescue the heir apparent’s fiancée before their kingdom is destroyed. Thadeous (McBride) has spent his life watching his perfect older brother Fabious (Franco) embark upon valiant journeys and win the hearts of his people. Tired of being passed over for adventure, adoration and the throne, he’s settled for a life of wizard’s weed, hard booze and easy maidens. But when Fabious’ bride-to-be, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), gets kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), the king gives his deadbeat son an ultimatum: Man up and help rescue her or get cut off. Half-assedly embarking upon his first quest, Thadeous joins Fabious to trek across the perilous outlands and free the princess. Joined by Isabel (Natalie Portman)-an elusive warrior with a dangerous agenda of her own-the brothers must vanquish horrific creatures and traitorous knights before they can reach Belladonna. If Thadeous can find his inner hero, he can help his brother prevent the destruction of his land. Stay a slacker, and not only does he die a coward, he gets front row seats to the dawn of an all-new Dark Ages.

From the moment the genuinely brilliant trailer landed for ‘Your Highness’ it won me over, whats not to like – a fantastic looking laugh a minute crude humour of a film all set within a medieval fantasy world. Fantastic traditional storybook fantasy narration opens the picture, quickly poking fun of the characters as they introduce their bearing on this story, sadly from there on it all goes badly wrong and for a moment thought someone had sold me the ticket to the wrong film.

The movie falls down in the one area that should have held it all together, its comedy – where it just isn’t that funny. There really is a limit to how many times you can use crude modern swear words in a film before it no longer raises a laugh and here it over-exceeds that limit very early on. That said crudeness in films can be highly effective and to the point where laughter is infectious throughout, take these classics over the years ‘American Pie’ ‘Borat’ and ‘There’s Something About Mary’ . That’s not to say some of the comedy never works in ‘Your Highness’, there some genuine amusing moments – the Minotaur ‘trophy’ necklace scene.

If you look around the web it is well documented that director David Gordon Green (‘Pineapple Express’) exclaims the script is fully improvised and the cast of James Franco, Danny McBride, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux and Toby Jones didn’t do rehearsals and just ‘jammed’ on the day of shooting, this is another major flaw in the film the script at times is desperately calling for some kind of fundamental structure.

After coming out of cinema where ‘Your Highness’ was watched with friends, I really felt like the odd one out as everyone else loved it. I honestly tried to like this comedy, but at times I was nearly forcing myself to laugh as those laughs weren’t flowing naturally. Your Highness features a highly talented cast (Danny McBride, aside) that are ultimately wasted in a pointless rancid fairytale that I very much convey to ‘Year One’, sorry folks this is the first genuine ‘turkey’ of the year for me.

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 100

#63 / 365 – ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began’ – 104 mins
Cinema Challenge #28 / 115

Seventeen-year-old Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey) goes on an idyllic camping trip with her school mates – Corrie (Rachel Hurd-Wood), Kevin (Lincoln Lewis), Fiona (Phoebe Tonkin), Homer (Deniz Akdeniz), Robyn (Ashleigh Cummings) and Lee (Chris Pang). Returning to their hometown, the teenagers discover something is seriously wrong. Power to the houses has been cut, pets and livestock have been left dead or dying and all the people have vanished. With a growing sense of unseen danger, the friends make a shocking discovery. The local showground has been turned into a prison camp and the town’s entire population are being held captive by a foreign military force. When the hostile invaders become alerted to the presence of the teenagers, Ellie and her friends – along with a new recruit Chris (Andy Ryan) – decide to fight back!

This was the first time in a long while that I have been into a film, totally blind, had never watched the trailer and briefly knew about its premise and only decided to watch it upon recommendation from a friend. Sprinkled with lots of references to other films, to me it most notability evoked memories of the 1982 film ‘Red Dawn’ and the brilliant BBC television series ‘Survivors’. Playing out this action film/coming-of-age story is an unknown young cast, where regular viewers (not me) will recognise some of the faces of ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Home and Away’ fame, where during some the early scenes they give off some decidingly dodgy acting which isn’t helped by its equally cliché and clunky dialogue.

Boasting some high-class cinematography of the vast openness of Australia and thrilling action set pieces (check the crucial and spectacular bridge scene) where at times you could be forgiven into thinking you were watching a Hollywood blockbuster. There’s a little dip in the storyline at times as first time director Stuart Beattie (writing credits include, ‘Pirates Of the Caribbean 1-3’ and ‘G.I Joe’) struggles to keep things real. Overall if you are looking for something different if not entirely original then ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began’ is enjoyable and is certainly worth checking out even if doesn’t stay long in the memory after viewing it.

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 99

#60 / 365 – ‘Persona’ (1966) – 80 mins
IMDb Challenge #33 / 250 – Ranked #206 – Via DVD collection

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. Alma eventually confesses her secrets to a seemingly sympathetic Elisabeth.

It’s clearly evident to see from its opening montage of vivid images – a film reel, a cartoon, a spider, a white screen, a silent-era comedy, nails being driven through two hands, this certainly is an innovative film for its time and maybe even today where you are taken on this challenging journey as it explores the tortuous relationship between the two characters whose personalities ultimately consume one another. Final note if you are looking for a happy film, you won’t find it here.

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#61 / 365 – ‘Big Fish’ (2003) – 125 mins
IMDb Challenge #34 / 250 – Ranked #217 – Via DVD collection

This film follows the incredible life of Edward Bloom, through a series of flashbacks that begin when his son Will visits him for the last time. Edward is dying of cancer, and Will hasn’t spoken to him for years because he believes him to be a liar that never really cared for his family. As Edward’s story unfolds once again, Will tries to finally understand the truth about who his father really was…and uncover the facts behind the fiction.

I remember discovering this wonderful Tim Burton masterpiece for the first time a couple of years back, and it is still a refreshingly uplifting and magical tale today as it was then, with its peppering of ‘Forrest Gump’ story. It entices you on a spectacular journey where hearts and lives connect and collide.

The casting is top draw, Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor charm effortlessly as the older and younger Edward, Danny Devito is masterful as the circus ringleader and Steve Buscemi’s is memorable as the poet, turned bank robber, turned Wall Street big fish and then there’s Burton regular Helena Bonham Carter dual role of neighbour witch and secret love.

This is first class storytelling at it’s very finest from Burton, my only criticism is I didn’t want the journey to end, and as the tagline goes this is….“An adventure as big as life itself”

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#62 / 365 – ‘Let The Right One In’ (2008) – 115 mins
IMDb Challenge #35 / 250 – Ranked #215 – Via DVD collection

Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can’t stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people’s blood to live he’s faced with a choice. How much can love forgive?

Having watched the American remake ‘Let Me In’ last year before this hauntingly Swedish original (am always doing things the wrong way round, when it comes to films!) this edges it slightly as director Tomas Alfredson more bewitching and delicately weaves the tale of friendship and loyalty set against the beautiful atmospheric backdrop.

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 98

#59 / 365 – ‘Sucker Punch’ – 110 mins
Cinema Challenge #27 / 115

Locked away against her will, Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls – the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) – to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm). Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurai’s to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey – if they succeed – will set them free.

If you’ve seen any Zack Snyder’s live action films (‘300’, ‘Watchmen’) before , then you just about know what to expect when his latest offering comes along, lots of slow-mo signature sequences and an eclectic selection of pop music peppering the background where Emily Browning does an excellent cover of Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams. Essentially Sucker Punch is Snyder’s version of ‘Inception’ with its multi-layered dream platform, the difference being here is everything plays out like an exaggerated video game, with Snyder’s fingertips on the Playstation controller as he moves the girls into battle, the problem is these characters never seem to face any immediate danger from their enemies and their quest for freedom on the battlegrounds is all a little too easily played out.

Casting wise the only noteworthy positives were, Carla Gugino (‘Sin City’) being highly effective as Dr Vera Gorski, Oscar Isaac (‘Robin Hood’), who portrays the villain of the film, was menacingly believable and Jena Malone and Abbie Cornish were enjoyable as sisters Rocket and Sweet Pea, respectively. Emily Browning is stunning as the vulnerable Babydoll but her performance was decidedly muted throughout, Vanessa Hudgens’ acting was non-existent but as Vicky brilliantly (in our film club discussions) quoted to me “Now High School Musical as finished she is just looking for….any kind of pay cheque” which explains why in the few lines Hudgens’ pouts here, she is excruciatingly awful.

Sucker Punch is ambitious and visually flawless with this being its major winner even if some of the action sequences do come off a little disjointed at times, but ultimately it lacks any coherent story to coordinate these wizardry visuals. However even with this big plot negative, the DVD purchase is definitely on the horizon for me. One final word of note though to Zack Snyder – on this evidence are we really ready for you be taking the helm on the prized possession that is ‘Superman: Man of Steel’….

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 95

Tonight it was the weekly film club outing and I was bound by certain rules when writing my review – to not use key words…

#58 / 365 – ‘Source Code’ – 93 mins
Cinema Challenge #26 / 115

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is bewildered to find himself trapped in the body of a man he doesn’t know, travelling on a train with a woman named Christina (Michelle Monaghan) who thinks he’s a teacher called Sean. When the train is destroyed in an explosion, Stevens is transported into a hi-tech laboratory, where he is confronted by a military officer (Vera Farmiga) and a scientist (Jeffrey Wright). They reveal that Stevens is on a mission to find the terrorist who bombed the train earlier that day. Stevens is part of a government experiment called the Source Code which enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last eight minutes of his life. With an even greater threat looming, Stevens must return to the train again and again, gathering clues each time – before it’s too late to save the city.

When director (son of a famous musician, guess who??) Duncan Jones brought us the high concept/low-budget and ultra impressive ‘Moon’ in as his debut feature, I thought hang on a minute, here is a man who really knows his science fiction stuff. Two years later, he as returned to earth with his follow-up ‘Source Code’, with a much higher budget and a bigger cast.

Filmed in Chicago it opens up with some beautiful and sweeping cinematography, of the city’s skyline. Acting-wise everyone outside of Gyllenhaal are definitely good, and there is subtle chemistry between him and Monaghan, but Gyllenhaal makes the movie his own and is proving himself a rare actor able to perform well in pretty much every genre, with every performance he rolls out.

Source Code is an engaging mystery puzzle with a science fiction edge where you’ll find yourself drawn into the mission, where a certain day is fused with a ’90s TV series using the technology of Minority Report – but there are enough quirks and differences to keep it fresh and interesting,

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 88

#57 / 365 – ‘Limitless’ – 105 mins
Cinema Challenge #25 / 115

If you could unlock the full potential of your mind, what kind of wonders – and dangers – would await?

This is something that Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is about to discover. Eddie is a former cocaine addict, and an author who has failed to write a single word of his novel. But when he is introduced to a mind-expanding drug, his brain starts to function at the full 100 per cent, unlike the reported 20 percent we currently use which enables him to write his novel, learn new languages at light speed, and master the complexities of Wall Street. Of course, a man with these skills is going to draw attention from some powerful characters.

From a stunning opening sequence with a dizzying camera shot that whizzes from the heights of a skyscraper to the pavement, through the back windows of a string of cabs and beyond is one of the immersive and memorable shots we have had in recent times – note to other film-makers, look what you can achieve without all your gimmicky 3D.

Bradley Cooper does an outstanding job in the central performance of down on his luck Eddie Morra and proves he not limited to the one-trick pony comedy roles he as been served in the past and this will certainly lead to more prominent offers in the future. Abbie Cornish’s role of Eddie’s girlfriend Lindy is briefly thrust into danger when things start to get ugly and this one plot area that should have clearly been used to greater extent, or just left out completely.

Robert De Niro is on good form as the villainous financial kingpin and marvelously named Carl Van Loon, who wants Eddie for his own purposes.

There is one scene that the audience will grimace at where Eddie induces the smart drug in a rather unorthodox method involving the humorous russian loan shark. Overall ‘Limitless’ director Neil Burger (‘The The Illusionist’) provides a very smart, stylish and satisfying piece of high concept entertainment.

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 85

#56 / 365 – ‘Dial M for Murder’ (1954) – 105 mins
IMDb Challenge #32 / 250 – Ranked #211 – Via Sky Movies

Margot Wendice (Grace Kelly) is framed for murder when she stabs the hitman hired by her cuckolded husband, Tony (Ray Milland). However, he hadn’t counted on the tenacity of her whodunit-writing lover, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings) and Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) of Scotland Yard.

Adapted from Frederick Knott’s successful West End and Broadway play, Dial M For Murder is another fabulous Hitchcock one-room murder mystery, firstly done with ‘Rope’ and then the unparalleled ‘Rear Window’ which was also shot and released in the same year of 1954. In true Hitchcock fashion the pleasure of the film comes from intricacies of the plot, where nothing is simple and it really is an exercise workout for the brain as you follow the latchkey.

Ray Milland portrays great malice as the plotting Husband who coolly try’s to pull off the perfect crime. Subsequently this was stylishly remade in 1998 in the aptly titled ‘A Perfect Murder’ starring Michael Douglas in the title role, but isn’t a patch on this classic mystery. Grace Kelly is smart but vulnerable as Margot where its always a delight to watch the exquisite fairytale princess on the screen.

For some unknown reason of all the Hitchcock tales that I have watched, Dial M For Murder as always slipped under the radar – but I am glad I have watched it now.

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1 Man 365 Films 365 Days – Day 82

#55 / 365 – ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ – 118 mins
Cinema Challenge #24 / 115

L.A. criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) signs on to defend slick, suave playboy real estate agent Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe). Roulet has been charged with assault, and his overbearing mother will do anything to clear the son’s name. Cost is no issue – Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. Digging into the case, Mickey and Investigator Raul Levin (William H. Macy) reveal a blacker picture of Roulet’s personality and evidence of a sinister past. Another sudden death and new links to a notorious double-homicide, make Mickey question if he’s finally in over his head. His pursuit becomes a question of morality and even a question of his own mortality.

After a run of mediocre to poor roles in mediocre to poor romantic comedies, it’s nice to see Matthew McConaughey land a role where he has to try and he redeems himself here playing the ruthless lawyer who operates his business from the back seat of his Lincoln car, hence the title. Cash is the only language he understands, but in time he’s our anti-hero who cares just a little more about justice than winning as he stands by moral codes.

So in this nutshell of a review – With its mix of courtroom drama and conspiracy thriller it all adds up to make The Lincoln Lawyer a throughly entertaining watch, whilst all the time reminding us of those great movies of John Grisham novels of the nineties.

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