Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
It is fair to say that The Interview has caused a bit of a fuss. However, hacking scandal and threats of violence aside, there is still a film at the centre of all of that and it has finally seen a release in UK cinemas. The second film to come from the combination of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the first being This is the End, The Interview once again sees Rogen teaming up with James Franco to try to deliver comic success.
Most studios would be horrified at the idea of an animator filming three seconds of footage a day and it being seen as a good thing. Then again, most studios aren’t Aardman Animations. The studio who are most famous for Wallace and Gromit and uses stop motion clay animation, have long been famous for their incredible attention to detail and wonderfully crafted movies. Yet, even for them their adaptation of Shaun the Sheep felt like a stretch. Based off a show that airs on CBBC and generally runs for around seven minutes, it is the story of Shaun and the farm he lives on. The added hitch in big screen plans, is its complete lack of dialogue.
At this early stage of the year, I don’t think it’s a stretch to call American Sniper the most controversial film released so far. It is yet another one based off of a book, this time the autobiography of Chris Kyle, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US History. A title that should probably flash a big red blinking light in the direction of where this film could go wrong.
Foxcatcher is a film that gives a lot of people a chance to shine. A look at the lives of David and Mark Schultz, both of whom were Olympic amateur wrestlers and John E. Du Pont, an American millionaire and wrestling fan who runs Foxcatcher Farms on his mansion estate and wishes for it to be the headquarters of the USA’s wrestling program. It’s a true life story and one that I shall not spoil for those of you that are unaware of its outcome, needless to say, there is a reason it has made its way onto film.
The Theory of Everything is the story of Stephen Hawking, a figure that even the most scientifically block headed will be well aware of. Directed by James Marsh and based off the memoir of Hawking’s first wife, Jane Wilde Hawking, it stars Eddie Redmayne as the scientist who goes from a young and hopeful Cambridge PHD student, to a disabled, but world-renowned, scientist. Hawking’s story is fascinating and even if this film occasionally views like a hagiography, it still has a lot in it to recommend.
Six films, more money than I count and a running time that goes over 1000 minutes (that’s not even talking about the extended editions) and Peter Jackson’s time in Middle Earth comes to an end with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. It has been one of cinema’s most ambitious projects and has seen the wonderful world that Tolkin created enter the mainstream in a way it had never done before. However, there is no denying that there are still question marks over The Hobbit. Particularly, as to whether it ever needed to be three films at all.
Continue reading “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
Horror in 2014 is a strange genre. Modern films seem to fall into two categories. Every now and then you get something smart and interesting, for example the great You’re Next, which took traditional horror tropes and twisted them in a dark and amusing way. However, more often than not we are left by Paranormal Activity inspired cattle-prod cinema. Horror movies that rely mainly on the idea of being quiet for a while, before making the audience jump with a big bang. Into this fray now enters The Babadook, a movie written and directed by the possibly twisted mind of Jennifer Kent.
It’s been a mixed year for animated films. On one hand we have had the brilliant Lego Movie and the wonderfully dirty Box Trolls. On the other hand, there has been a lot of crap. Films like The Postman Pat movie seemed to fail on nearly every level. The latest fighter to enter the fray is The Book of Life, a film, which at least on paper due to the involvement (as a producer) of Guillermo Del Toro, looks set to be a prize fighter.
When The Inbetweeners hit our TV screens in 2008, it seemed to explode, you couldn’t walk down the street without hearing a quote from the show. After three seasons this success transferred itself off our tellies and onto the big screen, becoming one of the biggest British comedy movies off all time, despite failing to make it over the other side of the pond. In spite of this success, the first movie never quite achieved the brilliance of the TV show, it lost a lot of the charm that had made people fall in love with this group of misfits in the first place.
Continue reading “How The Inbetweeners 2 Improves on the Original.”
Coherence is currently playing at the Edinburgh Film Festival and is a small independent sci-fi thriller. It was directed, in his first feature film, by James Ward Byrkit, who is best known for his role as a writer on Rango. Shot inside his own home, he decided against the use of a traditional script, instead just mapping out the major plot points. This allowed the actors to improvise and brings a realist feel to the dialogue.
Ramblings About Wrestling 