Director Sang-soo Im follows up THE HOUSEMAID with another tale of the super-rich. Out on Friday, my review of THE TASTE OF MONEY: http://www.filmaluation.com/the-taste-of-money.html
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The Punchdrunk theatre troupe have teamed up with the National Theatre for their latest epic, THE DROWNED MAN: A HOLLYWOOD FABLE. For more information, click here.
On Monday and Tuesday, we watched six films, including three press screenings (two of which are embargoed). THE TASTE OF MONEY ★★★☆☆ Im Sang-soo delivers another heavy-handed capitalism as feudalism tale. Starts strong, descends into histrionics. THE FIFTH ESTATE ★★★☆☆ In light of Alex Gibney's excellent documentary WE STAEL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS, the Benedict Cumberbatch starred feels slightly shallow. Does capture some of the importance of the debate though. ESCAPE PLAN ★★½☆☆ Was rooting for the Stallone-Schwarzenegger team up to be at least moderately decent. Unfortunately, it was predictable and uninspired. Their charisma and likability prevents boredom. WALESA: MAN OF HOPE ★★★½☆ Director Andrzej Wajda tells the important story of Lech Walesa's struggle for justice in Poland over the course of some 20 years. An interview structure permits the jumping over time to be relevant. Not a hagiography, but one cannot but be impressed by the man.
Nice! Marvel knows how to keep the excitement levels up:  Out to own today: World War Z “Is anyone doing better than we are?” Gerry Lane Any zombie movie lover surely has pondered the potential result, if the resources of a tent-pole summer blockbuster were allocated to the subgenre? When Brad Pitt was aligned to get Max Brooks’ inventive and intelligent-beyond-the-realms-of-the-expected book onto the big screen, I was salivating at the prospects. Pitt’s choices have been savvy in front of, and behind, the camera. Don’t forget, he produced THE DEPARTED and KICK-ASS, as well as THE TREE OF LIFE and THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD - evidence of pedigree and integrity. And it thus saddens me at the resulting mess of this movie, and the direness of the adaptation. [To read more, click here.] The East “We are The East and this is just the beginning,” Izzy So says the intimidating voice over from Ellen Page, commencing on images of an oil spill devastating sea life. Fifteen million barrels worth have infected the environment, and the C.E.O. of the corporation responsible has gone unpunished, until now – a group of anarchists are caught on CCTV in his mansion delivering their own (fire)brand of poetic justice. We are then told that the C.E.O. has decided to step down for personal reasons. [To read more, click here.] Renoir “A painting should be something pleasant and cheerful,” Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The French Riviera, 1915, a beautiful flame-haired woman rides a bicycle in the countryside, shot through in warm dappled light. An effigy of a German soldier hanging above the road breaks the image of a kind of paradise. The film sets out its stall immediately; we could have been looking at a painter at any point in his career, the choice of creating art amid a world war raises an enquiry of relevance. In times of global conflict and austerity, does it have a place? Well that is the question initially asked, but is barely explored. And that typifies RENOIR; a piece that poses, in more ways than one, but chooses luscious imagery and melodrama over analysis. [To read more, click here.] 
Saving Mr. Banks
LFF day twelve, the final day: SAVING MR BANKS ★½☆☆☆ Is this the future of cinema? Cannibalism? Feels like a corporate advert. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE ★★★½☆ Vampirism, ageing, creativity, languor. Fun, but slight, synthesis of elegance and naffness. 
Only Lovers Left Alive
 The Lunchbox LFF day eleven: THE LUNCHBOX ★★★★☆ Winning mixture of charm and melancholia. Bold ending. Irrfan Khan cements his status as a riveting leading man. NEW WORLD ★★★★½ Thematic mix of INFERNAL AFFAIRS and CONAN THE BARBARIAN, in a violent contemporary Korean cops-gangsters thriller.  New World
LFF day ten: OUR SUNHI ★★★★☆ My 13th(?!) Sang-soo. Deals with same male-female relationship hiccups & confidence woes, from myriad of perspectives. MANHUNT ★★★☆☆ Engaging, but in the hands of a Gibney or a Morris such a documentary might have been so much more. Will make a complimentary double-bill with ZERO DARK THIRTY. THE PAST ★★★★½ Three aces in a row from director Asghar Farhadi. A narrative onion of emotional culpability. LOCKE ★★☆☆☆ Clunky and padded. Director Steven Knight. Tom Hardy. Joins other recent in-car misfires VEHICLE 19 and COSMOPOLIS.
Going to the pictures this weekend? My takes on: Captain Phillips “They’re not here to fish,” Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) Underhill, Vermont, the United States. March 28th 2009. Phillips is getting ready to leave his home. On the way to the airport with his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener – the only time we see her. One wonders if a bigger part was written for Keener, but will now be a DVD extra?), they discuss the toughness of the business world. There is the acknowledgement of a merciless economic climate. Cut to Ell, Somalia. Muse (Barkhad Abdi) awakens. His village denizens are forced by armed gunmen to put together a team to hijack a ship. They complain about already having carried out one recently, which falls on deaf ears. The boss pulling the strings is unseen. Muse is regarded as one of the brains, and given command. [To read more, click here.] Like Father, Like Son “I hope it’s nothing messy,” Ryota Nonomiya (Masaharu Fukuyama) Anyone who caught writer-director Hirokazu Koreeda’s previous project, I WISH – a magnificent film about childhood, must have been anticipating his next. Broadening his scope, LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON is a moving exploration of two disparate families finding themselves inextricably entwined. The situation is unusual to say the least, but is used to consider the nature versus nurture debate, and who we might be as parents. [To read more, click here.] Prince Avalanche “Here’s to the fire in our hearts.”
We are told immediately: In 1987, 43,000 woodland acres burned down in the state of Texas. 1600 homes were destroyed and four lives were lost. The cause remains unknown. We then jump to the summer of 1988, and join Alvin (Paul Rudd) and Lance (Emile Hirsch) at a dawn tent-site. The start is meditative: A campfire, we follow in slow-mo behind the duo, and a metal stake is hammered into the ground. As much as I thoroughly enjoy director David Gordon Green’s stoner comedies (PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, YOUR HIGHNESS), I’ve been waiting for him to return to GEORGE WASHINGTON and ALL THE REAL GIRLS to see what he can bring to his earlier, almost Terrence Malick-ish, sensibility. The commencement of PRINCE AVALANCHE swells my heart, as I question, could the former new hope fuse his humorous and sensitive sides? And largely he does, to entertaining effect, thanks in great part to Hirsch and Rudd putting in some of their best work. [To read more, click here.] |
This website is written by Hemanth Kissoon.
Filmaluation is dedicated to arts culture, with a particular focus on film. I care about intelligence, quality and entertainment. Need some movie and TV show recommendations? See the drop down to the right of the Home tab. Enjoy. The vital ambitions of art and entertainment: - Perceptiveness - Illumination - The unexpected - Innovation Brains and soul are key; but adrenaline junkies do not fret, there is also much love for an experience that delivers a sucker-punch to the guts via stunningly delivered thrills. Noun, “filmaluation”: The evaluation of a film Verb, "to filmaluate”: To evaluate a film I am well aware how difficult it is to make a film, put on a stage play, create a television show, write a novel, let alone make something of note. (That appreciation doesn’t stop me from having high standards though.) This online magazine is edited by Hemanth Kissoon. Filmaluation is owned by Filmaluation Limited (Company number 8549302. Registered in England and Wales) Archives
September 2024
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