Anything For Her: Movie Review
Anything For Her
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Diane Kruger, Vincent Lindon
Director: Fred Cavaye
This French drama centres around Lisa (Kruger) and Julien (Lindon), a simple
couple whose happy life revolves around their son Oscar.
But their world is ripped asunder when police burst her into their home one
day, arresting Lisa for murder. Despite her apparent innocence, she's given 20
years and sent to jail.
Julien's distraught - and despite trying to appeal and heading down the legal
track, he soon discovers there's nothing he can do in the face of such
insurmountable evidence against his wife.
However, he has an unswerving belief she's innocent and when Lisa attempts
suicide, he realizes he has to do anything he can to free her...
Anything For Her is a good solid - if at times, formulaic, drama; a little
slow to get going but you gradually get hooked in as Julien works out his plan
to get his wife out.
Thanks to Lindon's increasingly desperate performance, it's understandable
how he would do anything for his wife and as he grows more frustrated, then
that's where the tension really cranks up. Yet Lindon's performance remains
plausible as he works out what he can do to ensure his wife lives the rest of
her days as a free woman.
It's the final third of this film which comes alive - and it's a shame that
it takes too long to explode because when it does, it's a mesmerizing watch.
Both the leads are watchable although the direction's a little heavy handed at
times and doesn't do anything to rise out of the ordinary. Fred Cavaye does well
in some early parts of the film, establishing situations but in others, he loses
it using stock shots and flashbacks which are unoriginal.
However, that said, Anything for Her remains a compelling look at what
someone would do for love; it steers out of the implausible by offering up
sensible solutions for Julien to achieve his goals. It's about courage and
having the grit to fight on for your belief.
Just be grateful after watching this, you don't feel you'd have to go to the
same lengths to free your loved one...
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Friday, 16 April 2010
Big River Man: DVD Review
Big River Man: DVD Review
Big River Man
Rating: M
Released by Vendetta Films
Big River Man is the endurance story you have to see to believe - because in places, it's simply nuts.
This doco is the story of the most insane endurance swimmer I have ever seen - hard drinking, hard living Martin Strel, a Slovenian man in his fifties who takes on the Amazon.
Despite advice to maybe tone down some of the excesses while on the swim, Strel decides he knows best and tackles the 3274 mile swim in his own indomitable style.
The eventual results which are filmed by his son, follows him as he basically descends into some kind of madness - I actually didn't think a film like this would be as gripping as it is - but Strel Jr manages to capture the sprial down in an at times hallucinogenic way as both of them negotiate the Amazon.
I can't recommend this film enough - on the small screen, it really is captivating and terrifying in equal amounts.
If you ever thought the kind of people who take up endurance sports are a bit nuts, this may make you reconsider your opinion. Big River Man is gripping and surprising in many ways.
Extras: Q&A at Sydney 2009 film festival and trailer
Rating: 8/10
Big River Man
Rating: M
Released by Vendetta Films
Big River Man is the endurance story you have to see to believe - because in places, it's simply nuts.
This doco is the story of the most insane endurance swimmer I have ever seen - hard drinking, hard living Martin Strel, a Slovenian man in his fifties who takes on the Amazon.
Despite advice to maybe tone down some of the excesses while on the swim, Strel decides he knows best and tackles the 3274 mile swim in his own indomitable style.
The eventual results which are filmed by his son, follows him as he basically descends into some kind of madness - I actually didn't think a film like this would be as gripping as it is - but Strel Jr manages to capture the sprial down in an at times hallucinogenic way as both of them negotiate the Amazon.
I can't recommend this film enough - on the small screen, it really is captivating and terrifying in equal amounts.
If you ever thought the kind of people who take up endurance sports are a bit nuts, this may make you reconsider your opinion. Big River Man is gripping and surprising in many ways.
Extras: Q&A at Sydney 2009 film festival and trailer
Rating: 8/10
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Dear John: Movie Review
Dear John: Movie Review
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
After the Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe and the Last Song, another Nicholas Sparks book makes its way to the big screen.
This time, it's 2001 - Tatum is John, a US military man on leave, who, one day meets Amanda Seyfried's Savannah in one of those spring break coincidences that can only happen in the movies or romantic fiction.
The pair begin an easy and intimate 2 week long romance which is cut short by Savannah's return to school and John's return to the theatre of war.
But pledging their love to each other, the duo promise to write and keep their love alive.
However, life has a habit of getting in the way and the romance doesn't turn out quite like it should.
Dear John is going to appeal to the romantic among you; it's not that I'm not romantic (honest) it's just that this film failed to register any kind of emotion in me at all. I was curiously unmoved by the whole thing. Sure clichés abound (one girl says of another boy -'I'm not his type, he just doesn't know it yet') and there's sentiment flying left, right and centre in this formulaic film.
Half the problem lies with the leads; while Seyfried's enough to carry off the role of the conservative college student who falls hard for John, it's Tatum's performance as John which barely seems to register any emotion at all (save for one scene with his father) - his army man is a stereotype, who in one scene resorts to fisticuffs because he's angry. Oh and he has daddy issues too. (Although given his autistic father is so wonderfully played by the ever great Richard Jenkins, you almost forgive him.)
While you can't blame the actors for this (I'm guessing it's part of the screenplay), it just makes the film feel predictable and disappointing.
The spectre of 9/11 hangs nicely over the relationship and gives the film a welcome touch of reality; but Dear John, complete with its music video style scenes of letters being written, posted and shots of mail travelling and being delivered, offers nothing new to the romantic drama genre.
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
After the Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe and the Last Song, another Nicholas Sparks book makes its way to the big screen.
This time, it's 2001 - Tatum is John, a US military man on leave, who, one day meets Amanda Seyfried's Savannah in one of those spring break coincidences that can only happen in the movies or romantic fiction.
The pair begin an easy and intimate 2 week long romance which is cut short by Savannah's return to school and John's return to the theatre of war.
But pledging their love to each other, the duo promise to write and keep their love alive.
However, life has a habit of getting in the way and the romance doesn't turn out quite like it should.
Dear John is going to appeal to the romantic among you; it's not that I'm not romantic (honest) it's just that this film failed to register any kind of emotion in me at all. I was curiously unmoved by the whole thing. Sure clichés abound (one girl says of another boy -'I'm not his type, he just doesn't know it yet') and there's sentiment flying left, right and centre in this formulaic film.
Half the problem lies with the leads; while Seyfried's enough to carry off the role of the conservative college student who falls hard for John, it's Tatum's performance as John which barely seems to register any emotion at all (save for one scene with his father) - his army man is a stereotype, who in one scene resorts to fisticuffs because he's angry. Oh and he has daddy issues too. (Although given his autistic father is so wonderfully played by the ever great Richard Jenkins, you almost forgive him.)
While you can't blame the actors for this (I'm guessing it's part of the screenplay), it just makes the film feel predictable and disappointing.
The spectre of 9/11 hangs nicely over the relationship and gives the film a welcome touch of reality; but Dear John, complete with its music video style scenes of letters being written, posted and shots of mail travelling and being delivered, offers nothing new to the romantic drama genre.
Hot Tub Time Machine: Movie Review
Hot Tub Time Machine: Movie Review
Rating: 5/10
Cast: John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase
Director: Steve Pink
Let's face it, you're not heading to Hot Tub Time Machine for witty erudite discussions.
It's the story of a group of guys who've got various issues - John Cusack's Adam's just been dumped; Craig Robinson's Nick has an unfaithful wife and a job that involves him sticking his hand in dog's bottoms; Clark Duke is a teen who's going nowhere and Rob Corddry's Lou has just tried to commit suicide.
Spurred into action by the suicide attempt, the quartet head to one of their haunts from their past to live it up. But when they get there, they find the party resort has gone down the dumps - and deciding to get drunk, the guys head to the hot tub to party.
After a night's decadence - and a shoe horned in plot device, they awake to find themselves back in the 1980s and as younger versions of themselves at Winterfest 1986.
That entails of course - the birth of MTV, leg warmers, fears the Russians are about to invade and Ronald Reagan.
As they try and work out how to get back to 2010, all four of them must confront mistakes from their past and ensure nothing's changed.
What can be said about this? The film finds its level in the first few moments as Craig Robinson's failed musician pulls out a pair of car keys from a dog's backside and throws them straight to its owner&subtle it ain't.
Also, sadly, it's not as funny as it could be - unless you're a teen who wants to see plenty of bare breasts, vomit and toilet humour. Granted you know Hot Tub Time Machine isn't going to be anything other than a variant of the gross out comedy, but with a bit more effort in the script, this could have played out a little less predictably.
Despite some sweet moments involving the eternal issues of people growing up and a relatively amusing ongoing gag about Crispin Glover's one armed bell boy being about to lose his arm, there are more gross out moments than anything else.
And it's a shame as most of the cast seem up for this; Cusack is as cool as ever and injects sad loser Adam with a bit of a warmth; and I even had some sympathy and laughs with Craig Robinson's character.
Hot Tub Time Machine was a great disposable concept - sadly the execution leaves you with a hangover without all the fun - and a feeling that you're glad the eighties are firmly in the past.
Rating: 5/10
Cast: John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase
Director: Steve Pink
Let's face it, you're not heading to Hot Tub Time Machine for witty erudite discussions.
It's the story of a group of guys who've got various issues - John Cusack's Adam's just been dumped; Craig Robinson's Nick has an unfaithful wife and a job that involves him sticking his hand in dog's bottoms; Clark Duke is a teen who's going nowhere and Rob Corddry's Lou has just tried to commit suicide.
Spurred into action by the suicide attempt, the quartet head to one of their haunts from their past to live it up. But when they get there, they find the party resort has gone down the dumps - and deciding to get drunk, the guys head to the hot tub to party.
After a night's decadence - and a shoe horned in plot device, they awake to find themselves back in the 1980s and as younger versions of themselves at Winterfest 1986.
That entails of course - the birth of MTV, leg warmers, fears the Russians are about to invade and Ronald Reagan.
As they try and work out how to get back to 2010, all four of them must confront mistakes from their past and ensure nothing's changed.
What can be said about this? The film finds its level in the first few moments as Craig Robinson's failed musician pulls out a pair of car keys from a dog's backside and throws them straight to its owner&subtle it ain't.
Also, sadly, it's not as funny as it could be - unless you're a teen who wants to see plenty of bare breasts, vomit and toilet humour. Granted you know Hot Tub Time Machine isn't going to be anything other than a variant of the gross out comedy, but with a bit more effort in the script, this could have played out a little less predictably.
Despite some sweet moments involving the eternal issues of people growing up and a relatively amusing ongoing gag about Crispin Glover's one armed bell boy being about to lose his arm, there are more gross out moments than anything else.
And it's a shame as most of the cast seem up for this; Cusack is as cool as ever and injects sad loser Adam with a bit of a warmth; and I even had some sympathy and laughs with Craig Robinson's character.
Hot Tub Time Machine was a great disposable concept - sadly the execution leaves you with a hangover without all the fun - and a feeling that you're glad the eighties are firmly in the past.
Daybreakers: Movie Review
Daybreakers: Movie Review
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, Isabel Lucas, Claudia Karvan
Director: The Spierig Brothers
Vampires are all the rage these days and with a plethora of blood suckers out there, you'd have to wonder what story is left to be told - and how well it will do in the wake of the Twilight box office juggernaut.
This latest entry into the vampire genre is set in 2019 and sees the world swept with the vampire pandemic. With pretty much everyone overtaken by the desire and necessity to consume blood, real stocks of the red stuff are in short supply.
Enter Ethan Hawke's Edward Dalton, a haematologist working for Sam Neill's Charles Bromley. Bromley owns a human farm which is keeping the vamp population in blood - but it's running low and Dalton's desperately trying to find a substitute for human blood.
However, when Dalton literally runs into one of the last surviving groups of humans, he finds out from Willem Dafoe's Elvis that there is a cure for vampirism and one which could free them all from their misery.
But will he get that cure out into the population - or will forces stop him from giving every last vampire the chance of survival they need?
Daybreakers is an intriguing entry into the vampire genre with a solid central premise - the idea of vampirism being a condition which is parasitic and debilitating was explored in Let The Right One In. So in terms of bringing something new to the table, Daybreakers doesn't quite make it on that front - but what it does manage to do with its pale sharp colours is create a Blade Runneresque world with a tinge of Nightwatch about it.
All of the cast do a solid job with Ethan Hawke conveying the moral struggle well - and Willem Dafoe providing the out there elements required for his character.
There's also a fair amount of gore too - when the vamps are experimented on, they bubble and sizzle before exploding. The creature effects aren't too bad either - the vamps that have suffered from a lack of blood and mutated will give a few nightmares here and there.
Sure, there's an allegory for corporate greed with Sam Neill's Charles Bromley character doing everything he can to bleed the population dry and keep the company afloat; but overall there's not too much subtlety on show here; with explosions, chases, and shooting, it follows the predictable plot path of films of its type.
With Daybreakers, it feels like a case of missed opportunity - had the Spierig brothers pulled back a little and eased up on the explosions and gore, it could have been a really interesting entry into the genre. As it stands, it's a fairly disposable piece of Friday night entertainment.
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, Isabel Lucas, Claudia Karvan
Director: The Spierig Brothers
Vampires are all the rage these days and with a plethora of blood suckers out there, you'd have to wonder what story is left to be told - and how well it will do in the wake of the Twilight box office juggernaut.
This latest entry into the vampire genre is set in 2019 and sees the world swept with the vampire pandemic. With pretty much everyone overtaken by the desire and necessity to consume blood, real stocks of the red stuff are in short supply.
Enter Ethan Hawke's Edward Dalton, a haematologist working for Sam Neill's Charles Bromley. Bromley owns a human farm which is keeping the vamp population in blood - but it's running low and Dalton's desperately trying to find a substitute for human blood.
However, when Dalton literally runs into one of the last surviving groups of humans, he finds out from Willem Dafoe's Elvis that there is a cure for vampirism and one which could free them all from their misery.
But will he get that cure out into the population - or will forces stop him from giving every last vampire the chance of survival they need?
Daybreakers is an intriguing entry into the vampire genre with a solid central premise - the idea of vampirism being a condition which is parasitic and debilitating was explored in Let The Right One In. So in terms of bringing something new to the table, Daybreakers doesn't quite make it on that front - but what it does manage to do with its pale sharp colours is create a Blade Runneresque world with a tinge of Nightwatch about it.
All of the cast do a solid job with Ethan Hawke conveying the moral struggle well - and Willem Dafoe providing the out there elements required for his character.
There's also a fair amount of gore too - when the vamps are experimented on, they bubble and sizzle before exploding. The creature effects aren't too bad either - the vamps that have suffered from a lack of blood and mutated will give a few nightmares here and there.
Sure, there's an allegory for corporate greed with Sam Neill's Charles Bromley character doing everything he can to bleed the population dry and keep the company afloat; but overall there's not too much subtlety on show here; with explosions, chases, and shooting, it follows the predictable plot path of films of its type.
With Daybreakers, it feels like a case of missed opportunity - had the Spierig brothers pulled back a little and eased up on the explosions and gore, it could have been a really interesting entry into the genre. As it stands, it's a fairly disposable piece of Friday night entertainment.
Winter In Wartime: Movie Review
Winter In Wartime: Movie Review
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Martijn Lakemeier, Yorick van Wageningen, Jamie Campbell Bower
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Set in the last winter of World War II, Nazi occupied Holland is under siege - both from the Germans and a blanket of snow.
15 year old Michiel (Lakemeier) is one of those who is appalled by the Nazis and wants to join the Resistance in some form of other. Despite being inspired by his Uncle Ben and warned off by his father who's the mayor of the town, Michiel ends up helping a crashed pilot (Campbell Bower). It's this act of defiance which sets in motion a series of events which will end Michiel's teenage years in ways he could never imagine as he finds his innocence shattered forever.
Winter In Wartime was the official Dutch entry into the Academy Awards this year - and it's beautifully shot and captures the atmosphere of the time excellently, The story's well told and is captivating from beginning to end - there's an ease to the central performance from Lakemeier which makes it easy to watch. He captures the petulance of the teenage years, the conflict with his mayor father who wants to protect him from the troubles and the desire to grow up and be treated like a man very well.
Campbell Bower (Twilight: New Moon star) interacts well with Lakemeier and the pair invest a fair amount of emotion into their friendship. While all of the cast's performances are solid, the film does follow a slightly predictable path - when Michiel finally bonds with his father, the war comes crashing into their world. It's a little predictable - as is the twist towards the end which if you're savvy can be seen coming a mile off.
However, that doesn't lessen the impact of the film - while there appears to be a glut of war films on the slate this year (Max Manus, Home By Christmas to name but two) each of them deserve your time in the cinema.
Winter In Wartime succeeds as a tale of lost innocence and thanks to the universal story, you may find yourself dragged more into this world than you would expect.
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Martijn Lakemeier, Yorick van Wageningen, Jamie Campbell Bower
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Set in the last winter of World War II, Nazi occupied Holland is under siege - both from the Germans and a blanket of snow.
15 year old Michiel (Lakemeier) is one of those who is appalled by the Nazis and wants to join the Resistance in some form of other. Despite being inspired by his Uncle Ben and warned off by his father who's the mayor of the town, Michiel ends up helping a crashed pilot (Campbell Bower). It's this act of defiance which sets in motion a series of events which will end Michiel's teenage years in ways he could never imagine as he finds his innocence shattered forever.
Winter In Wartime was the official Dutch entry into the Academy Awards this year - and it's beautifully shot and captures the atmosphere of the time excellently, The story's well told and is captivating from beginning to end - there's an ease to the central performance from Lakemeier which makes it easy to watch. He captures the petulance of the teenage years, the conflict with his mayor father who wants to protect him from the troubles and the desire to grow up and be treated like a man very well.
Campbell Bower (Twilight: New Moon star) interacts well with Lakemeier and the pair invest a fair amount of emotion into their friendship. While all of the cast's performances are solid, the film does follow a slightly predictable path - when Michiel finally bonds with his father, the war comes crashing into their world. It's a little predictable - as is the twist towards the end which if you're savvy can be seen coming a mile off.
However, that doesn't lessen the impact of the film - while there appears to be a glut of war films on the slate this year (Max Manus, Home By Christmas to name but two) each of them deserve your time in the cinema.
Winter In Wartime succeeds as a tale of lost innocence and thanks to the universal story, you may find yourself dragged more into this world than you would expect.
Genova: Movie Review
Genova: Movie Review
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Colin Firth, Hope Davis, Catherine Keener, Willa Holland, Perla Haney-Jardine
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Genova stars Colin Firth as a professor whose life is turned upside down by the death of his wife in a car accident.
But it's not just his life which is changed; his two daughters are deeply traumatized by the incident as they were in the car at the time. The youngest, Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine) was a prime factor in the crash and is struggling to deal with the guilt, as well as being wracked by night terrors.
The eldest Kelly (Willa Holland) is bordering on her teen years and so with these two in mind, Firth's Joe moves the pair of them to Genoa, Italy to try and start afresh.
However, the move to Italy has different effects on all of them as Mary begins to see her dead mother (an ethereal Hope Davis) and Kelly begins to discover her sexuality.
Genova is an odd film; shot in hand held close ups in places and with beautiful scenery, it is at times, a little too slow to get into. Granted, it's supposed to be about the build up of the circumstance, but you don't quite know what genre it's aiming for.
At times, it's a teen drama as the family begins to fall apart, but the appearance of the mother appears to suggest a degree of ghost story. Sadly it doesn't quite work as well as perhaps it should.
This is no reflection on the cast who carry the script well and the shots inside Italys myriad mazes of streets do well to capture the claustrophobia of parts of the city. However, it's the end of the film which just slaps across the face. After a build up in the last 15 minutes, and a major incident involving all three of the main protagonists, you're expecting to see some kind of closure and resolution. But what you get is another scene on the end which doesn't suggest there's any kind of end for any of them.
Whilst it's fair to say thats true of life, having invested 90 minutes into these characters, it seems only reasonable to expect a little more.
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Colin Firth, Hope Davis, Catherine Keener, Willa Holland, Perla Haney-Jardine
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Genova stars Colin Firth as a professor whose life is turned upside down by the death of his wife in a car accident.
But it's not just his life which is changed; his two daughters are deeply traumatized by the incident as they were in the car at the time. The youngest, Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine) was a prime factor in the crash and is struggling to deal with the guilt, as well as being wracked by night terrors.
The eldest Kelly (Willa Holland) is bordering on her teen years and so with these two in mind, Firth's Joe moves the pair of them to Genoa, Italy to try and start afresh.
However, the move to Italy has different effects on all of them as Mary begins to see her dead mother (an ethereal Hope Davis) and Kelly begins to discover her sexuality.
Genova is an odd film; shot in hand held close ups in places and with beautiful scenery, it is at times, a little too slow to get into. Granted, it's supposed to be about the build up of the circumstance, but you don't quite know what genre it's aiming for.
At times, it's a teen drama as the family begins to fall apart, but the appearance of the mother appears to suggest a degree of ghost story. Sadly it doesn't quite work as well as perhaps it should.
This is no reflection on the cast who carry the script well and the shots inside Italys myriad mazes of streets do well to capture the claustrophobia of parts of the city. However, it's the end of the film which just slaps across the face. After a build up in the last 15 minutes, and a major incident involving all three of the main protagonists, you're expecting to see some kind of closure and resolution. But what you get is another scene on the end which doesn't suggest there's any kind of end for any of them.
Whilst it's fair to say thats true of life, having invested 90 minutes into these characters, it seems only reasonable to expect a little more.
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