Dawn of Planet of The Apes

Some Serious Monkey Business

Director: Matt Reeves
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 12
Running Time: 130 mins
Genre: Action/Drama
Starring: Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke

"I always think Apes are better than humans, I see now how similar we are"

Before I was forced to sit down and watch this with some of my family on boxing day just gone, I had never been interested in the Planet of The Apes series at all, nor had I even bothered to watch any of them in the past. To me, monkeys had just never been that interesting on screen. I once tried watching Peter Jackson's King Kong but just couldn't get into it. So having no motivation to watch this CGI'd primate epic with no idea of what had happened previously in Rise of The Planet of The Apes, I sat down recovering from my hangover and tried to watch it and it really didn't take long until I was completely hooked.

I found the whole thing fascinating, it speaks not just on a moral level, but a human level as well, begging the question can we all find a way to live in peace. It speaks truths that not all species are bad, but not any are perfect and there's good and bad on all sides. Despite the war and violence that goes on, its a film that I'm sure all audiences can relate to. Having not seen any of the others in the series previously, I'm not sure if all are similar to it's latest instalment. Though I have got to say, it has now made me determined to watch them all and find out.

Andy Serkis revives his role as Cesar, leader of the apes, and its got to be said that, although he may not have been at all recognisable, he still plays the role incredibly well. I would've thought he'd be up for best actor in a leading role at this years Academy Awards, though maybe that's just my opinion. It made me think of how long it would've taken him, in a CGI suit for weeks on end, to get the role just right. Though having played characters such as King Kong and Gollum previously, I'm sure he's no stranger to those climbing into those tight suits with light bulbs stuck all over them. The human characters are also well acted and make it really difficult for us to pick sides on who to support. There's a clear message that there's good and bad on both sides and it's how we choose to act that's important.

There's no denying Dawn of The Planet of The Apes is a film that will really make you think about morals and how we aren't too different from other animals if we work together. It's a film that's got everything from action to romance. An exceptional film.

8/10

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

The Show Must Go On

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 15
Running Time: 120 mins
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Starring: Michael Keaton, Ed Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts

"Aren't you worried people will say you're doing this play to battle the impression that you're a washed up comic strip character?"

As the Oscars draw nearer there are some clear frontrunners for this years nominees coming forward. Birdman is no exception. Nominated for 9 Oscars in the Academy Awards 2015 I reckon that quirky Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu should be feeling pretty confident with his original comedy. There's no doubt Birdman deserves to win something.

When thinking of this film, the thing I've found to have stuck with me the most is it's extraordinary way that it was filmed. Laid out to be one long tracking shot depicting event after event with no cuts what so ever, we soon become wrapped up in the story following the characters over the next few days (literally). We begin with Riggan Thompson (keaton), a washed up actor/celebrity known for his portrayal of the superhero "Birdman" over 20 years prior. Having written, directed and now starring in his new play "What we talk about when we talk about love", we are taken backstage and follow Riggan through a series of bizarre events leading up to curtain call on opening night. We follow the characters through their interactions constantly changing settings, scenery and places but never once does the camera choose to cut away from the continuous tracking shot, making it so fantastically filmed and directed. We follow characters into scenes and leave with different ones so it really does feel like a backstage pass as we explore behind the scenes of the Broadway Theatre.

I suppose quite suitably, the film is made to feel a lot like a play, due to it's continuous flowing motion, never jumping ahead. The feel is one perhaps similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) where the film is laid out in the style of a stage performance with only one jump cut in the entire piece. Birdman despite being similar to this, has managed to take the idea one step further and produce film that flows so naturally you notice no cuts or edits in the film despite being filmed over a range of different locations (differing from Rope as the set was only 3 rooms). Mainly we're taken through corridors backstage of the theatre and are shown the way actors work during a performance, but we also go out into the streets of Broadway and into various different locations lead by characters with the camera following the entire time.

This is certainly one of Keaton's finest roles, even giving Beatlejuice a run for his money and I suppose this means the time has come to finally forgive him for the year he had previously. I'm ready to let Robocop and Need For Speed go now Mike, you've definitely still got it. Emma Stone has come along way from Zombieland now and it's fair to say she can only get better, especially now she's in with a chance of winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. And Ed Norton once again is filling a role he was born to play, is there anything this guy hasn't wowed us in? He brings a big comedy presence to the film playing the douchebag actor who needs the right person to bring the good guy out in him. All the actors bring something different to the role, but above all, they all show the darker side to acting making us not envy working on stage one bit. One of the best moments in the whole film is where we follow Keaton from leaving his dressing room right onto the stage in front of hundreds of people, it's quite an experience being shown how actors work.

It's an amazing achievement to have filmed Birdman in the way that they did, and it's certainly a frontrunner for Best Directing this year, there's a lot of potential in this film that really does deserve to be credited. Funny, original and sharp.

9/10

Horrible Bosses 2

They're Back With A Plan...Alomst As Bad As Their First

Director: Sean Anders
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 15
Running Time: 110 mins
Genre: Comedy
Actors: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx

"Y'all are criminals, you tried to kill your bosses, you're trying to perpetrate a kidnapping, you can't have it both ways."

Everybody's three favourite worst criminals are back for more plotting, revenge and plain stupidity in the next instalment of what I'm so hoping will become a franchise. It's a few years on since Dale, Kurt and Nick planned a rather unsuccessful (though not entirely) scheme to kill their bosses that they so loathed, but after time to reflect they're back and this time, not with a bloody motive, but instead with their invention of the "Shower Buddy". With the hope of selling it on to millionaire father & son; Burt and Rex Hanson (Waltz and Pine) they're plan of earning instant wealth and fame is distorted when their invention is ripped off by the Hanson's, leaving the three hopefuls with only one thing on their mind. Not murder, kidnapping.

If you're a fan of the first one then I really don't think you're going to be disappointed with what this sequel's got to offer. The characters have in no way changed or evolved and are still just as dim-wittingly funny as they were in the first. Charlie Day still brings his irrational yet innocent personality he carried through the first, Jason Sudeikis still as charming but massively juvenile as ever, and Jason Bateman still continues his dry sensible father figure role but still just as naive as his two co-conspirators. Together forming perhaps the three dumbest and funniest comic heroes of recent years, (suck on that "The Hangover guys"). Jennifer Aniston still carries a huge presence in this film, quite rightly so, and it's fair to say, she's still got it. Both in the sense of remaining incredibly attractive, but also in the sense that she is still so funny. Kevin Spacey as always is phenomenal, and despite lacking a major role in this film, he is still delivers a fantasticly funny performance. As for Jamie Foxx reviving his role as Dean "Motherfucker" Jones, well the guy's still got style and quite rightly so, gets a slightly bigger role in this sequel, and you never know, there may even be a spin off film "Motherfucker Jones".

Though not being or feeling exactly the same as the first, this sequel is still heavily bedded with the jokes that makes the film's have a very original comedy. The jokes do have a real Horrible Bosses feel to them, and I think that's got something to do with these characters working so well as a trio. Despite their rather serious story lines. the film just keeps managing to steer well away from all drama keeping the genre pure comedy, which for this particular film works perfectly. It does manage to avoid the cliché American toilet humour that we've seen in other recent comedies but still carries a slightly boyish undertone, what with the protagonists basically being three grown up children. I'll be honest, if you're expecting Citizen Kane or The Godfather, then this may not be the right one for you, but as a film lover myself, I do rate this film very highly.

8/10

A Long Way Down

You'll Wish They Just Jumped

Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 15
Running Time: 95 mins
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette

"We belong together, we're a team. I mean, we're the worst team ever and if I was picking none of you would've made it onto the subs bench but still."

I'll be honest, I'd heard this film wasn't all it was cracked up to be long before I actually came to watching it. But you have got to ask yourself how good can a film really be when it's about 4 suicidal people pledging they won't kill themselves no matter how bad life is? Answer, not very. I decided I'd still give it a watch none the less, even if it was just in the hope that Aaron Paul would redeem himself after Need For Speed.

It wasn't that it was a bad film but I would've thought the Britishness in the film would bring out some of the dark humour us brits love, and it did, perhaps a little too much though. Though whole film was so morbid and depressing, even when they try to be happy they can't. It just felt like a drama about 4 people with serious problems that should really be in therapy rather than flying off together for a holiday away from all the drama back home. It did, I suppose, carry a message (though not very well), that no matter how hard life can be, you can solve your problems..if you see a therapist, not going travelling with three other people as damaged as yourself. Sad to say you will have to sit through a lot of stuff that might make you want to jump off a roof.

Overall, there just wasn't anything too it. A Long Way Down was never going to win Oscars, but you'd think there would be more too it than what we can all predict just from the poster. I'll try not to spoil it, but everything you think will happen probably does and you're also probably not going to come out of watching it a changed person. But hey, as long as they had fun making it right?

Come on Aaron, we all know you can do better, you were Jesse Pinkman for crying out loud!

4/10

Before I Go To Sleep

50 First Dates Gone Seriously Wrong

Director: Rowan Joffe
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 15
Running Time: 90mins
Genre: Thriller/Drama
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong

"As I sleep tonight my mind will erase everything I knew today"

One of the main things I'd always hope to see in cinemas are films with good twists. Though you should never ideally expect them to appear when watching a film, there's no denying that if you know there's a good one, you'll want to see the film. What I've found is that audiences either love to be tricked, or love to be able to guess endings and avoid the tricks that films can play. Either way, they can be great fun. So when I first saw the trailer for Before I Go To Sleep, everything about it screamed "twist", and one that would keep you guessing at that.

Christine Lucas (Kidman) is an amnesiac waking everyday with no memory of what had happened the night before, not knowing who or what she can trust, even herself for that matter. As she tries to peice together the incidents leading up to her memory loss, she realises that each person around her begins to hold a potential threat to her. No one will know who to trust. She is faced with the dilemma of who she can really rely on, the estranged man she wakes up to everyday who she is married to (Firth), or the man who calls her everyday claiming to be a psychiatrist wanting to help recover her memory (Strong). Both of whom she has absolutely no recollection of causing her to be unsure of whether she can trust either of them.

In a way, without our memories then we aren't really anything. It's our memories that make us the people that we are. Everything we do has a reaction that can shape our personalities. For Christine, we're shown how life can become unbearable to live, if the people closest to us are strangers. For the audience watching, we ourselves can't even work out who is trustworthy and who isn't and when you think one thing, it's probably the opposite. The way Before I Go To Sleep is written is actually very clever. On the outside it's a seemingly peaceful life, an ideal husband and beautiful house. But inside, she's plagued by fear that her history is being written for her instead of by her, and as she learns more about her feared past she realises how much danger she's actually in. There's a real darkness embedded in the film that will straight away pull you in as you grow determined to find out what's really going on.

7/10

12 Years A Slave

The True Story of Slavery

Director: Steve McQueen

Release Date: 2013

Rating: 15

Running Time: 120 mins

Genre: Biography/Drama

Actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt

"I don't want to survive, I want to live."

It's been out for over a year now and I have only just managed to see 12 Years A Slave. I'd heard people say what an amazing film it was, and then seeing it go on to win the Academy Award last year for best film, it was a film definitely worth seeing. Yet, I had also heard how many had found it a hard film to watch. It's of course obvious that a film about slavery, particularly this story of a man stripped of his life and sold into another, would cause some upset, but having finally seen it, I must be honest, I loved it.

The film opens with Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free black man from New York, happily living his life with his wife and children. Known for his talent on a violin he's approached by two men keen to have him play in Washington with them, Solomon agreeing to this ventures to Washington with the two men but it's not long before he wakes up shackled and chained with a handful more black people and made to become slaves. We follow Solomon on his incredible story stretched over 12 years, where against all odds he fights to get home.

Though perhaps not the most well known actor before this, there's no doubt Chiwetel Ejiofor will be much more renowned now after his performance as Solomon. The man is a terrific actor and plays the role so well despite not even being American, plays a believable and immediately likable character, we feel everything he feels with him. I thought that at last years Academy Awards Matthew McConoughey did deserve the Oscar having been utterly brilliant in Dallas Buyers Club, but now having seen 12 Years, it must've been a tremendously close call between the two. Having seen Ejiofor previously as Okwe, in the British Drama Dirty Pretty Things (2002) it was great to see him again ten years on still performing as inspirational people, whose stories are centred around survival and hope. I'm sure there's more to see from the actor that's got an Oscar waiting for him to steal.

Solomon Northup's story is one of survival and the evil that existed in the 19th century. It shows a much different world to one that exists today but a world that should never be forgotten. 12 Years A Slave can be regarded as one of the most inspirational stories of freedom against slavery and they picked the right man to show it to us. There's no denying that Steve McQueen is an absolute visionary when it comes to his cinematography and style of filming. Having started his career in the art world anyway, he has this unique way of showing the world from it's beautiful scenery contrasted with the cruelty against humanity that went on. The two contradictions emphasize the decay of humanity in such a horrible place that had such beauty.

Though it is a harrowing film, and not one for a feel good Friday night, 12 Years A Slave is a story that everyone should know, and no one should forget. An inspiring and moving film.

10/10