Review: The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage

UK Release Date: 13th December 2012

Now i must say now that the Lord of the Rings trilogy are the films that really started my love of film so i had high expectations for the film we've being waiting almost a decade for. Well An Unexpected Journey isn't as good as those films, but it gives it a pretty goddamn good try. And the film manages to joyfully return us to middle-earth and me to the magic of the originals. Much has being said about the pacing issue due to the fact that this film is adapted from a little over 100 pages of the novel but for me the pace was no slower then in The Fellowship of the Ring. Once again the casting of film has being done just right, although with such a large cast of dwarves only a few make an impact. Among those standing out are British talents Richard Armitage, James Nesbet, Ken Scott and Aidan Turner. The old cast are all back at their superb best and it is a joy to see Christopher Lee and Ian McKellan share the screen again, and Andy Serkis's Gollum is his usual best. But the star of the film truly is Martin Freeman in the role he was surely born to play. New Zealand  looks fantastic in it's supporting role. Add to this the joy of Howard Shore's score and you've got the ingredients for a successful and brilliant return to Middle-Earth. Oh how we've missed you!!

Review: Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Director: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson

UK Release Date: 5th December 2012

Now Seven Psychopaths may not be a bad film, but after watching it with knowledge of the fact it's meant to be a comedy and that it's made by the same guy who brought us the brilliant In Bruges i can't help thinking that it is quite a bad film ... The problem is the film is just not funny!! You can see where the laughs are meant to be but  there just not there!! The strong cast just seems to be on auto-act and even the usually splendid Woody Harrelson doesn't make an impact. There is a few clever plot twists but unfortunately these twists are not enough to make up for the lack of jokes. Another problem is that the film seems to believe that it is a superb laugh a minute romp and as Film 2012's Danny Leigh said 'If the film was even half as good as it thinks it is then it would be the film of the year' - yeah that's right i've run out of things to say so i'm stealing someone elses words!! You can't get away from the feeling though that this film could of being great if it had aimed not to be a comedy and maybe if their were a few decent roles for women in the film.

Is 2013 Going to be a Dark Year for Cinema?

Now if you've being keeping an eye on trailers for next years releases i think it's there to say you'll be able to see the influences of Christopher's Nolan's Dark Knight series on cinema and that can be seen in the darkness of the look  of two of the teaser/announcement/what ever the hell their calling them now trailers for two of next summers early big blockbusters.

A few weeks ago we got this rather Nolanesk look Iron Man 3:

And then just today we got our first look at JJ Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness:

 
It's obvious from the look of these trailers that both films are going to be a tab bit darker then what has gone before. And it cannot be doubted in my view that they both look like their going to be bloody good!! But when you look at the films been released it does seem that 2013 may be the darkest year in cinema history with Zack Synder's Superman reboot Man of Steel, Hugh Jackman's next bout as The Wolverine, The long Muted Sin City 2, The darkest sounding installment in Peter Jackson's new middle-earth trilogy The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and an even darker test for Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen in Catching Fire.

So you can see from that list that it may not be the happiest year for film but it does seem like it might be pretty awesome all the same and i can guarantee you that i would personally be queuing up to see all of these films. It does seem though that dark story-lines might be the newest trend in Hollywood and it's pretty clear Chris Nolan is probably responsible for this!! And don't worry if your not a fan of darker cinema there's still some great looking happier films coming out this year (if you don't mind going to see a kids film). I mean who isn't looking forward to The Smurfs 2?? Sadly i actually am....

Review: The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption (1995)

Director: Frank Darabont

Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton

UK Release Date: 17th February 1995

Have i mentioned before i'm not a good film student? Well because i've not seen many of the film 'classics' i'm often faced with the issue that when i come to view theses films they fail to live up with the high expectations people created for them. So how was the film that is the highest rated film on IMDb going to cope under the mountain of pressure put on it to be amazing? Well, i LOVED it!! Shawshank is a true Hollywood story of friendship in the face of adversity. It also manages to break one of the biggest film conventions and not feature a romantic subplot. Yes, it's a long film but still manages to hold your attention for its entire run. The entirely engaging way it looks at a setting that many of us will never set foot in is true cinematic brilliance and Darabont manages to get the audience to engage with characters that in any other film would be treated as villainous. At the heart of this is possibly the most likable and lovable actor of all time, Morgan Freeman, who is at the height of his talents here and is the actor who manages to hold the whole film together, surrounded of course by dozens of great performances. The Shawshank Redemption will go down in history as one of the greatest works of film of all time and quite frankly it deserves too. Utter Brilliance.

Review: Brave

Brave (2012)

Directors: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly

UK Release Date: 13th August 2012

Why did i ever doubt Pixar? Ok it's not their best film, but that would need an extremely good film to beat!! Brave is what a family film should be, serious issues wrapped up in a wonderfully visual world and with plenty of visual gags to keep you entertained. The film is based around a not so classic mother daughter relationship set in medieval Scotland and is Pixar's second venture into the real world, after the splendid Up. Of course the setting in Scotland means a stellar British cast including Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Cultrane and Billy Connolly. The core story line is nothing new but is still rather heartwarming and thankfully the main (and superb) twist was somehow not ruined by the promotional material released for the film. The final third of the film is made all the better for this twist (which i will absolutely not ruin!!) and is by far the most entertaining portion of the film and the ending will guarantee you'll leave the film with your heart warmed. So while nothing spectacular in terms of innovation Brave is still a lovely family film, would suggest watching with parents, and maybe even a good idea for a Christmas gift ;)