ElephantBoy
Posts: 7401
Joined: 13/4/2006
|
Long over due update Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore,108 Mins) 7/10 Nice twist on a old formula, strong vocal performances from C. Reilly, Silverman and McBrayer, a little too heavy on set pieces and light on plot at times. Loved the short I Wish (Kiseki) (Hirokazu Koreeda,128 Mins) 8/10 Likely to be the best life affulming coming of age tale I will see all year. Beautifully expressionistic cinematography, gender director, breathless music and a very funny and touching tale of the adventures of being young as well as the tough challenges of getting older. The child performances are wonderful also. A real throw back film. Dans la Maison (In the House) (Francois Ozon,105 Mins) 6.5/10 Just noticed that this is GM's favorurite film of 2013 to date, would like to see his review. It is a misfire for me, an interesting idea which works pretty well for about 3/4 of the film, but then the script goes stale and things drag from there with a little too many endings and attempts to tie itself up. It is a funny film, but never truly bites like good satire should, was impressed with both Fabrice Luchini and Ernst Umhauer, but thought Scott-Thomas was a little wasted as the go-between wife. Solid entertainment, but little more than that. A Late Quartet (Jaron Zilberman,105 Mins) 7.5/10 A different take on what is normally a more feel good and predictable genre. It was refreshing than the film decided to focus more on the tension in the Quartet as a result of the Walken character's illness and pending retirement than on his discerse itself. The script got a good blanace between black comedy and drama, the performances were relieabley excellent, with the scenes between Hoffman and Keener having really energy (no suprise there) and it also got across the passion of the characters to play the music. Didn't have such a problem with the soap elements as some, but will admit that the Poots characters realtionship with Ivanir's was not as credible as Hoffman's midlife crisis . The Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez,91 Mins) 6/10 Lacking in the slapstick humour and scares of the original, but at least this remake has its own identity, with some stylish gore moments and funny lines it turned out much better than any of us had any right to expect. The Place Beyond the Pines (Derek Cianfrance,140 Mins) 8/10 A more ambitious narrative and film of themes than Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. No less gripping and stylish, the surreal world he creates and the unerving use of naturalistic sounds really makes for a compelling film for the most part. The first half again boosted by an engaging performance from Gosling worked more as a mood piece with the plot more simplistic, it was the second half of the movie where I became more interested in the actual story. Bradley Cooper gives his best performance to date, and there was strong support from Rose Byne and Ray Liotta. If there is a flaw it is in the final third where the story just tested credibility a little too much, and tried to tie what had been a very challeging film up too nicely. In the end what made BV a better film overall was the small details of the characters and her they reflected real life. Still this is a truly scary and stunning film, and Cianfrance has a very bright future imo. Mud (Jeff Nichols,130 Mins) 4/10 Sorry but I just found this really boring and clitched! The story has been so many times before and there was nothing that really stood out this time around. The cast were decent, but Mcconaughey was in mumbling mode and never carried the menace as he did in Killer Joe, and Witherspoon and Shannon were wasted. Thought there were some horrible southern sterotypes too. Might have to rewatch Shot Gun Stories to get over this one. Coming up I plan on seeing Iron 3, White Elephant, A Hyjacking and The Great Gatsby.
|