The Vintner's Luck: Movie Review

The Vintner's Luck: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Gaspard Ulliel, Jeremie Renier, Vera Farmiga
Director: Niki Caro
From the much loved book by Elizabeth Knox, and with the reteaming of Niki Caro and Keisha Castle-Hughes, there's a lot of attention and a lot riding on The Vintner's Luck.
It's the tale of Sobran Jodeau (Jeremie Renier) and is set in 19th Century France.
Sobran is a peasant wine maker who has the ambition and desire to produce his own vintage but faces difficulties from not only the land, but also the problems of his place in society.
One day, he's confronted by an angel Xas (Gaspard Ulliel) who tells him that he will give him the help he needs to produce an exquisite vintage and make his name in the world.
Sobran accepts the offer - but is unprepared for what the future has in store for him, his family and those around him.
The Vintner's Luck is a sweeping sumptuous tale of lust, ambition, desire, wine and majestic countryside - but it's also an ode to the earth around us. Director Niki Caro peppers the film throughout with shots of the nature all around - as workers cull the grapes from the vine, we're shown shots of bugs, creepy crawlies and worms permeating the earth. It's a nice touch of respect to the world around us.
There's a very pagan feel to this celebration of the land - and it manages to convey the majesty of nature's bounty.
However, when it comes to the human talent in the story itself, it's a slightly different story.
Jeremie Renier puts in a fair performance as Jodeau - he conveys the right amount of petulance and ambition for someone who wants to better their position but I never really warmed to him through the film's duration - even when he's put through the emotional wringer, it's hard to sympathise for him.
Keisha Castle-Hughes is all scowls and lust - and puts in a wonderfully understated performance; however, you can't help but feel that she's underused in this. It would have been great to see more of her onscreen as she's such a presence.

The Angel Xas infuriates after a while as he dispenses bon mots such as life is pleasure and pain and you have to have both. And as for the scene which is supposed to see Xas and Sobran in love, it ends up feeling more of a weird wrestling fight than an intimate moment.

Overall, The Vintner's Luck is beautifully sumptuous in some parts and soars in places - however, I'm afraid to say it's slightly flawed in others. While it's not as bad as the savaging reviews from Toronto would suggest, you may leave feeling ever so slightly cheated and a little let down.

Eden Lake: DVD Review

Eden Lake: DVD Review

Eden Lake
Released by Madman Entertainment
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kelly Reilly, Jack O'Connell, Thomas Turgoose
Rating: 18
If you go down to the woods today, you're in for one hell of a ride.
And a visceral shock.
Eden Lake is the tale of a London based couple, Jenny and Steve (Fassbender and Reilly) who head to the idyllic countryside for a weekend away.
The couple is happy and Steve's got a proposal in mind.
As they head to the Lake to begin their break, they find the area's being slowly turned into a building site - however, amid Steve's protestations, they end up staying after finding a beautiful flooded quarry, complete with beach.
Only they're not the only ones on the beach - and a gang of hoodies (nothing like the Reservoir Hill lot) set up camp nearby, complete with growling dog and thumping music.
Steve politely goes over and asks them to turn it down - and that's when the proverbial brown stuff hits the fan. One confrontation later - and the pair are set on a path which will see their lives ripped apart.
Eden Lake is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a comfortable film to watch - even the back says you don't watch it, you survive it. And that's none too far from the truth.
Over 85 minutes, a sadistic game of survival turns murderous and violent - with a conclusion which may leave you wanting a very stiff drink.
The problem with UK horror Eden Lake, is that at its very worst, it's all very plausible - the gang mentality's prevalent worldwide - and this latest incarnation doesn't seem like too much of a leap from the UK I remember.
All of the main cast acquit themselves well, with the strongest - and most horrifying - performance coming from leader of the yobs Jack O'Connell. If he's channeling something within him, then we should worry because his violent gang leader is psychotic and frightening in the extreme.
Sure, there are a few of the horror clichés (idyllic countryside, a blissfully happy couple) but what's most unnerving about Eden Lake is how close it is to reality.
The ending's not as shocking as the filmmakers would have you believe, but quite honestly, by the time I'd sat through this, I was pretty numb and was really in no state to take another shock.
Eden Lake is not a film to recommend; it's a film which has to be seen because of its powerhouse performances - just be aware, you may find yourself appalled in many places and glad you get to turn the lights on and the film off at the end. As an experience, it's a powerfully unsettling and challenging one.
Extras: Behind the scenes, cast and crew interviews, trailers, galleries.

Rating: 7/10

Defiance: DVD Review

Defiance: DVD Review

Defiance
Cast: Daniel Craig, Live Schreiber, Jamie Bell
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: M
Daniel Craig swaps Bond's tux for the grizzly outdoors look in Defiance.
He's one of the Bielski trio of brothers who live in 1941 Belorussia and find their lives changed forever, once the Germans invade during World War II.
After seeing his family killed Tuvia (the steely eyed Craig) grabs the rest of them and heads to the woods to see if they can survive - one narrow escape later and suddenly this band of brothers is attracting other stragglers to come and live with them - whether they want it or not.
As the community grows, factions grow between the brothers as they try and keep their freedom. Schreiber's Zus wants to fight the Germans and repel the invaders; Tuvia wants to hold the community together.
But as the Nazis get ever closer, the brothers' find their loyalties to each other, the community and their country are tested beyond belief - can they remain free?
Director Ed Zwick (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) does a good job of holding them all together - but after the initial attacks, the pace of the film slows a little and it begins ever so slightly to drag.
Schreiber, Bell and Craig are all good in this tale of family, honour and vengeance but it's Zwick who fails to accurately nail the pace - and despite some of the ideas on show here about how far you go for your beliefs (Craig's Tuvia finds he can't take a soft approach and be an effective leader), it's only thanks to the performances that the film's saved.
Extras: None;

Rating: 6/10

Observe and Report: DVD Review

Observe and Report: DVD Review

Observe and Report
Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta
Director: Jody Hill
Released by Warner Bros Video
Rating: Restricted 16
Seth Rogen stars as Ronnie Barnhardt, a bi-polar head of mall security in this odd mix of comedy and downbeat humour written and directed by Jody Hill.
Bargain hunters at the Forest Ridge Mall are being terrorized by a flasher - Ronnie sets out to catch the pervy perp; figuring after a visit from Ray Liotta's Detective Harrison that this collar could lead to a career in the police force.
And the flasher makes things personal when he exposes himself at the object of his desire, Brandi, the make up counter girl (Anna Faris).
But Ronnie soon learns that the way to the top cop is never an easy one.
Observe and Report is not your average comedy - and it's not all comedy. It's a curious mix of downbeat melancholy, peppered with generous amounts of swearing and a general lack of overtly funny material.
Throw in a controversial sex scene involving Faris and Rogen and it's an uneasy beast which spans 83 minutes.
Rogen is his usual self but is tinged with an odd streak of human loser in this one - there's not too many hilarious lines or endlessly quotable moments throughout. Whether I was missing the point a little, I'm not entirely sure. Had some of the "laughs" been removed from the script and you'd have probably been left with an interesting look at the mentality of mall security and how, in this case, they're a bunch of underachieving oddballs.
The appearance of Liotta's Harrison sparks jealously in Ronnie and also gives him that push to try and leave this life behind. Sadly though what it doesn't do is push the film into sparkier territory; despite the truncated running time, it feels long in places.
Observe and Report serves as a tangential curio in Rogen's career - whether it'll be one he wants to forget further down the line, is anyone's guess.
Extras: Gag Reel - seriously, when did people laughing and corpsing as well as messing up constitute a decent extra? Disappointing - but given the source material, there was little else to pull together.

Rating: 5/10

Blindness: DVD Review

Blindness: DVD Review

Blindness
Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal
Rating: 18
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
From director Fernando Meirelles, who did The Constant Gardner, Blindness is a thriller with an intriguing premise and some genuinely unsettling moments.
As the film opens at a busy intersection, a man stops dead in his car, claiming he can no longer see. Helped by those around him, the man ends up still without sight (he says he feels like he's swimming in milk with his eyes open) and in an A&E asking for help.
But within 24 hours of contact with this mysterious Patient Zero, all those who helped are struck blind - and suddenly without warning, an epidemic begins to sweep the world.
The initial carriers are placed in an isolation ward - the doctor who treated him (Ruffalo) is bundled off to an isolated hospital. However, the doc's wife (Julianne Moore) isn't affected and to make sure she's not separated from her loved one, she feigns blindness to be with him.
However, as the White Sickness (as it's monikered) spreads, more and more people find themselves in the hospital. As the numbers swell, a society begins to grow - and the situation brings out the worst in some...will the world come through the epidemic?
Blindness is a strange experience; initially compelling and a fascinating portrayal of what happens when society goes to hell in a hand cart, it becomes nasty and unsettling when the psychos on the ward come out.
Moore does well as the wife - her vision isolates her from those around her and also give her the insight into the horrors around; and while the ensemble cast are perfectly fine (though Danny Glover's wasted in his brief appearance), it's quite hard to offer up your sympathies to the afflicted as very few of them are likeable characters.
Given the subject matter, it's also quite cold emotionally to engage with the story - and you find your feelings are ones of repulsion and shock as the situation unfolds. But then, that's probably what Meirelles wanted you to feel. There's also a degree of frustration as there are no clear answers or solutions offered - however, as a study of a crumbling society, Blindness is a shocking, gut wrenching watch - it's just not a comfortable one.
Extras include a doco about the making of the film and deleted scenes.

Rating: 6/10

A Christmas Carol: Movie Review

A Christmas Carol: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Bob Hoskins.
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Before I start I need to get two things out of the way. First this new adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is NOT a comedy, despite Jim Carrey's name above the title. And secondly this is NOT for young children; parents should note that the movie has some dark and scary moments.
Director Robert Zemeckis (The Polar Express and Beowulf) returns with more motion-capture animation, and while the film is stunning to look at, it is missing the key ingredient in Dickens' work - heart.
The tale is faithfully told - Carrey plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a money man who "bah humbugs" his way through Christmas. Gary Oldman plays his faithful, and put upon assistant Bob Cratchit while Colin Firth pops up as Scrooge's nephew. All the cast are made to look like "Dickensian" versions of themselves, with Carrey in particular given lean, menacing features.
But while Carrey is famed for his manic physical comedy, that is on limited display in A Christmas Carol. It seems strange to have a man used to extorting his body on screen to be hampered by animation.
The ghostly appearance of his old business partner Marley (Oldman's voice again) sets the dark tone for the movie - his pounding at the door and the sound, and sight, of his shackles are brilliantly realised.
He warns Scrooge of the error of his ways and that he will be visited by three ghosts of Christmas. And so Scrooge goes on his journey of self discovery to realise that life is worth living.
The story is so well known that at times you end up asking why, despite all of the stunning graphics and 3D elements, yet another version was needed.
One major irritation is the accents given to the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present (both Carrey).
Our Christmas Past ghost is represented by a candle with an otherworldly Irish lilt straight out of the pages of "Hollywood Orish accents circa 1955" but that's not a patch on the bizarre English-Scottish brogue given to Christmas Present.
The typical jolly interpretation is handed an accent which laughable moves from Scotland to Liverpool to Newcastle to Wales - all in the space of one sentence, it truly is terrible and distracting.
Thankfully things pick up for the very scary Ghost of Christmas Future (mercifully no speaking for him), which is likely to frighten more than its share of adults as well as kids.
The ending won't surprise anyone who knows the novel or the countless other movie adaptations of Dickens' tale and perhaps the problem with Zemeckis' version is that it does suffer in comparison. Despite it being a visual treat it doesn't seem to offer anything new.

Films such as Scrooged and, dare I say it, The Muppets Christmas Carol, had more heart and emotion.

My Sister's Keeper: Movie Review

My Sister's Keeper: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva, Jason Patric, Alec Baldwin, Thomas Dekker
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Take the tissues.
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Jodi Picoult, this is the tale of Kate and her dysfunctional family, the Fitzgeralds.
They're as dysfunctional as any normal family - except for two differences: Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) has leukaemia and her sister Anna (Breslin) has been created for the sole purpose of donating organs/ blood/ cells to help get her through the treatment.
Only there are two problems with this - one, Kate's getting sicker and two, her sister Anna's gone to a lawyer to seek medical emancipation so she can live her life and not always endure painful operations for Kate.
With that in mind, the scene is set for a showdown, heartbreak and plenty of tears - as well as a sprinkling of flashbacks to life before the illness.
My Sister's Keeper is what you'd expect - it's emotionally manipulative in parts (right down to the slow motion backed with piano music and power ballads) and will be guaranteed to move even the most hard hearted of cinemagoers to succumb to tears.
However, while there is severe over milking of the emotional issues at stake - a family torn apart trying to do the right thing, a dying young girl wanting her family to heal and a couple of moments - and dialogue - designed purely to pull at the heartstrings, what will surprise you is the unshowy performances of the ensemble cast.
Sofia Vassilieva doesn't make Kate mawkish and sad sack - she brings a quiet dignity to the dying girl who has realized her time is up; likewise Abigail Breslin does well as the sister grown purely to help her sister and failing to do so; Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric play admirable roles in making the suffering parents whose lives have been dragged through the wringer a reality; and Thomas Dekker's fellow sufferer shows a depth of subtlety hinted at during TV2's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

My Sister's Keeper won't win any prizes for originality and there are a few cloying plot holes (how can a mother who's a lawyer be involved in the case of her daughter without it being a conflict of interest is just one), and perhaps the sentimentality has been heaped on a little too much. But what it does do is show the importance of family at times of crisis and how devastating a disease cancer continues to be during and after life.

If you're in the mood for having your heart strings pulled and want an emotional release which will see you crying buckets, then My Sister's Keeper strays on just the right side of sentimental mawkishness - thanks to the performances of its cast, you'll be heading out into the foyer sniffing and holding on tightly to the one you love.