The Ben Affleck career renaissance continues apace with this masterfully measured and understated piece of directing, which adapts the so-bizarre-it-can-only-be-true story of a fake movie used as cover for a CIA rescue operation, into an old-school '70s-style political thriller laced with shades of self-reflexive Hollywood satire. Argo successfully balances scenes of seat-gripping tension and joyously grouchy humour that feels effortless but takes a sure hand to pull off. Minor historical inaccuracies have to be swallowed along the way for the benefit of snappier pacing. But overall this remains a fascinating true story, delivered with great performances, pin-sharp dialogue and award-winning facial hair, and would make a fine double-bill with the underrated Charlie Wilson's War. The new Eastwood? ...maybe.
Rating: 4/5
Monday 26 November 2012
Sunday 4 November 2012
Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren ) (2010)
Post-Blair Witch found footage faux-doc shenanigans meets old-Norse fairytale mythology in this delightfully fun romp of a movie which attempts to address that age-old philosophical dilemma, "if a Troll can smell the blood of a Christian, can it detect a Muslim?".
Rating: 4/5
Rating: 4/5
Friday 2 November 2012
Frankenweenie (2012)
Tim Burton resurrects his pet project
In 1984, Tim Burton, a young animator / director working at Disney, made a thirty minute short about a boy who brings his dead dog back to life. His employers took one look at his mutant creation and promptly showed him the door.
Nearly thirty years on, and "Disney Presents" his feature length stop-motion reworking of that nascent project, and, after the wobbles of Alice In Wonderland and Dark Shadows, it's the most charmingly Burtonesque feature he's made in some time. Featuring all the hallmarks of his instantly recognisable style (crazy angles, spindly-legged bug-eyed protagonists, chiaroscuro lighting, all set against a fat-bottomed, shock-haired variant of 50s suburban Americana) writ large in animated form, but at the service of a simple, sweet-natured slice of gothic fantasy.
An amiable riff on the classic Frankenstein tale, the story of young Victor and his re-animated beloved pet doesn't really offer much meat to put on the bones of his short story. But it does deliver a sympathetic portrait of childhood out of whack with the mainstream and all the healthier for it (no doubt somewhat autobiographical, in feel at least if not in the corpse-meddling details). There's plenty of fun to be had soaking up the loving homages to the likes of Universal Studios 1930s back-catalogue, a classroom full of Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney lookalike kids chief among them, leading to a small-scale monster mash that takes much the same route as Wallace & Grommit's Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, and to similar grin-inducing effect. Ghoulish fun.
Rating: 3/5
In 1984, Tim Burton, a young animator / director working at Disney, made a thirty minute short about a boy who brings his dead dog back to life. His employers took one look at his mutant creation and promptly showed him the door.
Nearly thirty years on, and "Disney Presents" his feature length stop-motion reworking of that nascent project, and, after the wobbles of Alice In Wonderland and Dark Shadows, it's the most charmingly Burtonesque feature he's made in some time. Featuring all the hallmarks of his instantly recognisable style (crazy angles, spindly-legged bug-eyed protagonists, chiaroscuro lighting, all set against a fat-bottomed, shock-haired variant of 50s suburban Americana) writ large in animated form, but at the service of a simple, sweet-natured slice of gothic fantasy.
An amiable riff on the classic Frankenstein tale, the story of young Victor and his re-animated beloved pet doesn't really offer much meat to put on the bones of his short story. But it does deliver a sympathetic portrait of childhood out of whack with the mainstream and all the healthier for it (no doubt somewhat autobiographical, in feel at least if not in the corpse-meddling details). There's plenty of fun to be had soaking up the loving homages to the likes of Universal Studios 1930s back-catalogue, a classroom full of Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney lookalike kids chief among them, leading to a small-scale monster mash that takes much the same route as Wallace & Grommit's Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, and to similar grin-inducing effect. Ghoulish fun.
Rating: 3/5
Thursday 1 November 2012
Skyfall (2012)
When, just a few years ago, Bond was stunningly re-invented with Casino Royale (new Bond, new grittier, leaner style, and starting over with his career chronology from year dot), there was but one element carried over from the bloated tail-end of the Brosnan era: Dame Judi Dench's powerful, acerbic, matriarchal "M". How Sam Mendes and his team behind this latest adventure must be thanking their lucky stars for that decision, for without her there could be no Skyfall. This is a story, more than any other Bond before in all its 50 years, that doesn't revolve around 007. He is the hurricane of action that revolves around her, the eye at the centre of the storm.
After the unmemorable and confusing mess that was Quantum Of Solace, it takes about two seconds to establish that we are back in safe, familiar Bond territory, with a blistering opening chase, leavened by touches of sly wit. What then follows is a confident, pacey, well handled thriller, that front-loads most of the big set-pieces and espionage shenanigans in the first hour, before stripping down in a surprising but effective change of mood to something simpler, starker and emotionally more engaged.
Worthy of high praise indeed is Roger Deakins' beautiful cinematography. This is almost certainly the most stunningly photographed of any Bond movie. Segments set in Shanghai (or soundstages purporting to be Shanghai) are bathed in a rich, noirish black and orange glow and framed with gobsmacking detail and poise. One particular standout fight, brief and brutal, is viewed entirely in silhouette against a languorously drifting illuminated backdrop from a single near-motionless viewpoint. His camera moves with such effortless elegance it's almost mocking the post-Bourne shaky-cam intensity that all other action movies now feel they somehow have to ape.
Daniel Craig seems less of a revelation this time round, but this is no bad thing. He's utterly comfortable in the role now, and we are comfortable with him. It's astounding to remember now the controversy and vitriol that accompanied his casting in the role not so long ago. The supporting cast is about the strongest a Bond movie has ever been blessed with, so much so that it's occasionally a tad disappointing that some of these characters don't get more time to shine (The wonderful Naomie Harris in particular gets relegated to the background far too soon), but hopefully this sets up one or two for good use another day.
But performance wise, it is Dench's "M" that anchors Skyfall. She's central to the most significant scenes and gets the meatiest and most touching dialogue. Hard-edged, bold and feisty, but with subtly evinced layers of regret and vulnerability, she gives this movie its beating heart.
Less successful perhaps are the machinations of Javier Bardem's full-tilt baddie. He can of course play unhinged, disturbing full-on wrongness better than just about anyone alive, as No Country For Old Men easily attests, and is great fun in the role. But the motivations and logic behind the events leading to the third act feel unfocussed and ill-conceived, making the stakes seem perhaps a touch less perilous than in the best Bonds of yore.
Overall though, none of these minor misgivings really surfaced until sometime after leaving the cinema. For a near two-and-a-half hour movie, Skyfall barrels along just fine, delivering thrills and cool in equal, well-balanced measure, and booting you out at the end with a big smile on your face. Job done.
Rating: 4/5
After the unmemorable and confusing mess that was Quantum Of Solace, it takes about two seconds to establish that we are back in safe, familiar Bond territory, with a blistering opening chase, leavened by touches of sly wit. What then follows is a confident, pacey, well handled thriller, that front-loads most of the big set-pieces and espionage shenanigans in the first hour, before stripping down in a surprising but effective change of mood to something simpler, starker and emotionally more engaged.
Worthy of high praise indeed is Roger Deakins' beautiful cinematography. This is almost certainly the most stunningly photographed of any Bond movie. Segments set in Shanghai (or soundstages purporting to be Shanghai) are bathed in a rich, noirish black and orange glow and framed with gobsmacking detail and poise. One particular standout fight, brief and brutal, is viewed entirely in silhouette against a languorously drifting illuminated backdrop from a single near-motionless viewpoint. His camera moves with such effortless elegance it's almost mocking the post-Bourne shaky-cam intensity that all other action movies now feel they somehow have to ape.
Daniel Craig seems less of a revelation this time round, but this is no bad thing. He's utterly comfortable in the role now, and we are comfortable with him. It's astounding to remember now the controversy and vitriol that accompanied his casting in the role not so long ago. The supporting cast is about the strongest a Bond movie has ever been blessed with, so much so that it's occasionally a tad disappointing that some of these characters don't get more time to shine (The wonderful Naomie Harris in particular gets relegated to the background far too soon), but hopefully this sets up one or two for good use another day.
But performance wise, it is Dench's "M" that anchors Skyfall. She's central to the most significant scenes and gets the meatiest and most touching dialogue. Hard-edged, bold and feisty, but with subtly evinced layers of regret and vulnerability, she gives this movie its beating heart.
Less successful perhaps are the machinations of Javier Bardem's full-tilt baddie. He can of course play unhinged, disturbing full-on wrongness better than just about anyone alive, as No Country For Old Men easily attests, and is great fun in the role. But the motivations and logic behind the events leading to the third act feel unfocussed and ill-conceived, making the stakes seem perhaps a touch less perilous than in the best Bonds of yore.
Overall though, none of these minor misgivings really surfaced until sometime after leaving the cinema. For a near two-and-a-half hour movie, Skyfall barrels along just fine, delivering thrills and cool in equal, well-balanced measure, and booting you out at the end with a big smile on your face. Job done.
Rating: 4/5
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