KON-TIKI ★★★½☆ Stunningly shot adventure. Can see why directors recruited to helm PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES.
KON-TIKI ★★★½☆ Stunningly shot adventure. Can see why directors recruited to helm PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES. LFF day three: PIONEER ★★★☆☆ Director of INSOMNIA, HEADHUNTERS star, music by Air. Old fashioned corporate/political conspiracy, but a bit convoluted. THE ZERO THEOREM ★★☆☆☆ Try-hard quirkiness that doesn't mask vacuousness. Tedious disappointment from Terry Gilliam. THE DOUBLE ★★★½☆ Oppressive bureaucracy has been done before and better, but director Ayoade keeps getting better as a visualist. GRAND CENTRAL ★★★★☆ Léa Seydoux, Tahar Rahmin, Rebecca Zlotowski director of BELLE ÉPINE. What a sophomore pic. Sexy, tense, stylish. LFF day two: A TOUCH OF SIN ★★★★☆ Corruption and violence. IMPORT EXPORT meets KEKEXILI: MOUNTAIN PATROL. TOM AT THE FARM ★★☆☆☆ Starts promisingly, but descends into ludicrousness. Dolan's usual flair absent. Unsatisfying characterisation. HALF OF A YELLOW SUN ★★☆☆☆ Tries to be so much - love story, sibling odyssey, humanitarian cri de cœur - but falls flat. And so it begins! Gladiators ready?
JODOROWSKY'S DUNE ★★★½☆ Engaging doc extolling cinematic what-if. The surrealist director's plans were breathtaking in scope & intent. The 2013 London Film Festival kicks off today! Here are my reviews for some of the silver screen offerings: CAPTAIN PHILLIPS http://www.filmaluation.com/captain-phillips.html 12 YEARS A SLAVE http://www.filmaluation.com/12-years-a-slave.html BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR http://www.filmaluation.com/blue-is-the-warmest-colour.html THE SELFISH GIANT http://www.filmaluation.com/the-selfish-giant.html GRAVITY http://www.filmaluation.com/gravity.html DON JON http://www.filmaluation.com/don-jon.html COMPUTER CHESS http://www.filmaluation.com/computer-chess.html LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON http://www.filmaluation.com/like-father-like-son.html LFF 2013 press screenings day twelve (a really good selection): NEBRASKA ★★★★☆ Payne's lovely paean to re-assessing your parents. Plenty of funny bits sewn together. STARRED UP ★★★★☆ Gripping prison drama. Mackenzie's best film since YOUNG ADAM. Jack O'Connell channels his inner Tom Hardy. WE ARE THE BEST! ★★★★☆ You might not think Lukas Moodysson could get warmer than TOGETHER, but he has. Punk is alive in 1982 Stockholm. One film was embargoed as it is a world premiere.
DRINKING BUDDIES ★★★★☆ Joe Swanberg segues seamlessly from mumblecore to indie. Olivia Wilde rules. MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS ★★★★½ Breath of fresh air in sea of generic music documentaries. One of the funniest flicks of the year. We also saw: HOMEFRONT ★★½☆☆ So random. Retro action flick written by Sylvester Stallone, starring Jason Statham, James Franco and Winona Ryder. Out to own today: Much Ado About Nothing“Thou wast ever an obstinate heretic in the despite of beauty,” Don Pedro As a home movie, where that home movie is made up of accomplished television and movie thespians, we have a template for how to film Shakespeare in one locale, harnessing a brief schedule. So as an exercise in constraints, this adaptation of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING should be a benchmark. However, from the gifted mind that brought us THE AVENGERS, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, he should have taken his time, and acquired a sizable budget, and let his imagination run riot. [To read more, click here.] Epic“What's going on, baby girl?” Mub “Talking snails!” Mary Katherine “Actually, I'm a slug. No shell over here, baby,” Mub In the slew of sequels (a third SHREK, second CARS, fourth ICE AGE, third MADAGASCAR), an original animated feature should be welcomed with open arms. When WALL.E supposedly cost $180 million, I guess cartoons are just as risky as their live action blockbuster counterparts. And unfortunately, lately, they feel as staid and lacklustre as too many; see BRAVE and RISE OF THE GUARDIANS for instance. The smaller animations are the ones delivering – PIRATES! – FRANKENWEENIE – PARANORMAN. [To read more, click here.] Breathe In“The point is: Even the best of the best get nerves,” Sophie Opening on a cheesy family photo shoot involving father, mother and teenage daughter, one hopes it is ironic, as BREATHE IN is the feature follow-up to excellent long-distance relationship drama LIKE CRAZY, from director Drake Doremus. Turns out, well… I won’t spoil the sequence’s significance. [To read more, click here.] We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks“I’m a combative person; I like crushing bastards,” Julian Assange Edward Snowden’s asylum dilemma is ever present in the press. What timing to release a documentary on Wikileaks, the organisation founded to whistle-blow on governmental and corporate wrongdoing. Our privacy has never been more discussed. Funny how Rob Lowe’s Sam Seaborn in THE WEST WING predicted that privacy would be one of the important issues of this century. [To read more, click here.] On Wednesday, special effects maestro Neil Corbould talked about his impressive career. (FYI, special effects deals with in camera effects, such as explosions and hydraulics; whereas visual effects are of the computer generated variety.) Eight things we learned: 1. Clips from THE ELEPHANT MAN and AMADEUS shown. Non-obvious special effects used, fog, steam, etc., without which the shot would not seem right. Directors of photography love them. Prague was covered in four and a half tonnes of snow in AMADEUS. Now, Snow Business is a firm solely dedicated to designing and making movie snow, and it is all biodegradable. 2. Corbould looked at the television documentary series WORLD AT WAR for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; to get realism of explosions, which is what was wanted by Spielberg. 3. He has become a helicopter SFX expert, worked on VERTICAL LIMIT, BLACK HAWK DOWN and the climax of ZERO DARK THIRTY. 4. Corbould's favourite creation: The gadget gun in THE FIFTH ELEMENT. Was also a mixture of visual effects. 5. Neil thinks the truck flip in THE DARK KNIGHT is the one of the best special effects he has ever seen. He wished he'd done it. Actually, it was his brother who did. Now he has to out-do him [laughs]. Chris Corbould worked on the Batmans and Bonds, while third bother Paul worked on CAPTAIN AMERICA. 6. Corbould spent a year planning GRAVITY. Came in early on the project. 7. After having sworn off the use of animatronics, he managed to convince Spielberg to use it in WAR HORSE. 8. The special effects industry is so busy in the UK right now people are being brought in from Australia and America. They need technicians and senior technicians. Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and now Chris Pine steps in... |
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
May 2024
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