Robin Hood: Movie Review

Robin Hood: Movie Review

Robin Hood
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Max von Sydow, Mark Addy, William Hurt, Oscar Isaac
Director: Ridley Scott
And so the Legend begins...
Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have reteamed for their fifth collaboration - and a new take on the folklore hero of Robin of the Hood.
It's 1199 and a glowering Crowe is Robin Longstride, an archer in King Richard The Lionheart's army, who's been fighting in the Crusades for the past decade.
Following the death of the king in battle Longstride and three comrades (Will Scarlett, Little John and Allan A'Dale) head back to England to try and restart their lives. But before Longstride can resume his life (despite never knowing exactly who his father was), he has to keep a promise made to a dying knight, Robert of Loxley.

The problem is that when he returns to Loxley in Nottingham, Robert's father (a frail Max von Sydow) asks him to impersonate his son to keep the village alive with hope - particularly as the recently crowned King John (Isaac) has started a crusade of taxation.

But all of that pales into insignificance with the treacherous machinations of the half French half English Sir Godfrey (a wonderful as ever Mark Strong) who's leading a charge to help the French invade...

Ridley Scott's Robin Hood is a good epic take on the story - sure there will be some who'll feel that he's taken liberties with the story - but what he's crafted is an intelligently told and thoughtful story which in no shape or form is simply Gladiator with Bows and Arrows.

Russell Crowe is restrained as Robin; plenty of scowling but you can tell he is the kind of man who does the right thing. Longstride's relationship with Cate Blanchett's Maid Marian works well as the flick takes time to build it up - giving it more of a realistic feel and one which feels human. The film becomes a thoughtful piece with more of an accent on characters rather than action.

There's some pretty impressive action sequences in the film too - thankfully not too many clichéd slow mo shots of arrows being fired. Each battle scene is bloody, brutal and violent - reminders that combat in those days was painful and difficult.
The final epic sequence which culminates on a battle on England's Dover cliffs is stunning - cameras swoop in and capture every nuance of the action.

If there's to be one complaint of the 150 minute running time, it's that you may leave feeling there were some lulls; coupled with a feeling that very little actually happens over a long time, it's fair to say that Ridley Scott's Robin Hood hits the target - but just narrowly misses the bullseye.

Mary and Max: DVD Review

Mary and Max: DVD Review

Mary and Max
Released by Warner Bros Home Video
Voices by Barry Humphries, Toni Collette, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana

This beautifully funny, wry and affecting stop motion claymation film tells the apparently true story of an Australian 8-year old girl, Mary, socially outcast and awkward.

One day in 1976, she decides to start a pen friendship with a random name she pulls out of the phone book.

That person turns out to be Max, a 40something clinically obese, diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, NY resident.

So they begin corresponding and an unlikely friendship grows thanks to the extraordinary frankness of these two penpals.

Mary and Max is a beautifully dour piece of claymation animation, tinged with a sadness and dark (at times bleak) humour.

It's narrated by Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna) and has its main characters voiced by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette - it's hard to pin down exactly what its appeal is.

It's a nice mix of humour in unexpected places - laugh out loud funny in some and reflective in others. There's also some sadness in the film but overall Mary and Max is a crowd pleasing treat. It takes a little while to get used to - but before you know it, you've invested so much in this delightful pair and are hanging on every letter to be delivered between these two unlikely penpals.
Mary and Max is just a sweet and oddly engaging film; it's dripping with poignancy and black humour - and a real celebration of the simple joy of unadultered friendship.

Rating: 8/10 

Letters to Juliet: Movie Review

Letters to Juliet: Movie Review

Letters to Juliet
Rating: 4/10
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal, Christopher Egan
Director: Gary Winick
Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Surely one of the most iconic phrases from many an English lesson and thanks to numerous films, that balcony scene involving Romeo and Juliet is etched into many a romantic mind.
Amanda Seyfried stars as the soon to be married American researcher Sophie, who heads to Verona with her fiancée Victor (Garcia Bernal) to enjoy a pre marriage break.
But instead of splurging on the culture or her, Victor spends a lot more of his time meeting with suppliers for his restaurant and leaves Sophie to her own devices.
So, Sophie ends up under that infamous balcony where many a star crossed lover posts a "letter to Juliet" asking for help. As Sophie follows a gaggle of ladies who answer these letters, she finds herself questioning her own life and destiny.
And that confusion is made even worse, when she answers a letter sent by a girl called Claire. The response she dishes out sees the older Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) head to Verona to pursue her destiny - along with her grand son Charlie (Egan) - how will their intertwined destinies play out?
What can you say about Letters to Juliet? It's another romantic comedy which is light and frothy and pitches squarely for a certain audience who'll be happy with it - high art it certainly is not. Beautifully shot though it is - still, with a canvas like Verona to work from, that's not surprising.
It's scattered with bon mots throughout which will amuse some ("Husbands are like wine - they take time to mature") but irritate others; likewise some of the characterisation is a bit lazy. Victor is clearly not the man Sophie should be with - and thanks to that, you don't actually feel Sophie's choice is as painful or as dramatic as it could be. I know it's still supposed to be romantic comedy with a tinge of drama but it would have injected a bit more bite into it.

There's a few cheesy contrived moments as well as some predictable moments but all in all Letters to Juliet delivers exactly what you'd expect.

The Secret in Their Eyes: Movie Review

The Secret in Their Eyes: Movie Review

The Secret In Their Eyes
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Ricardo Darin, Pablo Rago, Guillermo Francella, Soledad Villamil
Director: Juan Jose Campanella
El secreto de sus ojos (to give it its Argentinean title) arrives on our shores having collected the Academy Award this year for Best Foreign Language Film.
Set in 1999, Ricardo Darin (a popular Argentinean actor) plays former investigator Benjamin Esposito who's retired but not been able to put one case out of his mind.
25 years ago, Esposito investigated the brutal rape and murder of a 23 year old woman - but despite pursuing several leads, Esposito and his partner Sandoval never managed to close the case.
One suspect emerges and the duo try everything in their power to get him convicted - but as Esposito recalls the case for a novel, he begins to realise that he has to reopen the case.
Not only that, but he must rediscover the feelings he buried a long time ago for his boss Irene&.
The Secret In Their Eyes is a solid crime drama; gritty and involving. It also has some wonderful character moments and the partnership between Esposito and Sandoval has some brilliant quirky and humorous moments.
But there's an undercurrent of tragedy in this slightly over long film thanks in part to the lost love theme running throughout. Esposito suffers from a destructive unrequited love and the murdered victim's husband suffers from a mournful desire to find out exactly what happened to his wife. As the truth begins to unravel at the denouement, there's a powderkeg of emotions waiting to explode as the slow burner finally ignites.

The Secret In Their Eyes will drag you in - it may take a little time to get going but once it's got its nails into you, it won't let go.

Where The Wild Things Are: DVD Review

Where The Wild Things Are: DVD Review

Where The Wild Things Are
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: PG
Bursting onto the small screen is the adaptation of the perennially popular book Where The Wild Things Are.

Max is your typical kid - rambunctious, lacking in boundaries and discipline and blessed with a fiercely imaginative mind.

He spends his time building igloos in the snow and wandering around in a wolf costume.

One day after a fight and heated argument with his mum, he runs off, gets in a boat and heads to an island. That island is Where The Wild Things live - and under the cover of darkness, he meets Carol (James Gandolfini) and the rest of the gang - a group of 10 foot tall hairy creatures wreaking havoc for no reason.

Granted, there's not much story to build on from the book but what the ever creative director Spike Jonze has dreamt up is stunning in places - and his decision to turn the Wild Things into toweringly tall animatronic full suits (with creatures made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop) is nothing short of cinematic genius.

Shot with a handheld camera, the film is full of beautiful visuals - as well as nightmarish visions and will amaze you from the very moment the Wild Things appear on the screen. They look like cuddly puppets in places - but Carol's temperamental behaviour and tantrums which rock Max's world are brilliantly brought to life by the vocal work of James Gandolfini of Sopranos fame. In fact, it's possible to say Gandolfini's Carol is a creature version of his Tony Soprano - charming and charismatic but with the capability of turning at just the bat of an eyelid.

Where The Wild Things Are is a charming and sweet piece which will win you over.

Rating: 7/10

Red Cliff: DVD Review

Red Cliff: DVD Review

The Battle of Red Cliff
Rating: M
Cast: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro
Released by Warner Home Video

Director John Woo returns to Chinese soil with millions of dollars in Red Cliff, a historical epic about Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), and the scheming Prime Minister to the Han dynasty Emperor.

The Prime Minister is leading a massive Northern army to quell the rebel warlords of the South.

Filled with sumptuous battle scenes and brutal recreations of the battles which dominated Chinese history, Red Cliff is in places a visual treat. Don't get me wrong, while it looks gorgeous - it is probably a dream film for those who want to study how wars were conducted in years gone by.

But it's ever so slightly hollow - I wasn't quite sure whether some of the close ups of the evil Prime Minister laughing sinisterly were ironic - because if not, they certainly verge on the hammy.

The Battle of Red Cliff is a good story which appears to have been told with a set formula in mind and that hasn't helped.

That said, the battle scenes are quite stunning in places (even if it does come with Woo's trademark slow mo shots)- Red Cliff is an interesting film which doesn't quite engage 100% but as a spectacle it looks fabulous.

Extras: Interview with director John Woo, and a behind the scenes doco
Rating: 6/10 

The Blind Side: Movie Review

The Blind Side: Movie Review

Rating: 5/10
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head, Kathy Bates
Director: John Lee Hancock
So the film that netted Sandra Bullock an Oscar on the same weekend as she scored a Razzie is finally upon us.
Based on a 2006 book, The Blind Side is the story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a towering gentle giant who's from the wrong side of Memphis. Homeless, apparent family-less and with no prospects at all, Michael's life is changed when his path one day accidentally crosses with Sandra Bullock's brassy, Southern sassy Leigh Anne Tuohy.
The Tuohys are from the right side of town; Leigh Anne's husband owns a heap of Taco Bells and with their Christian way of life and ethics, they never want for anything.
So in the true spirit of altruism, the Tuohys take in Michael and begin to offer him some hope - and some of that hope gives him the belief he needs to play American football.
I know exactly what The Blind Side is aiming for - it has aspirations to be inspirational and is clearly pitching purely and simply at uplifting. But sadly, personally it didn't strike the chord.
Sandra Bullock is good as Leigh Anne but I couldn't shake the feeling having seen other Oscar nominated performances that she didn't quite deserve to walk off with the statuette - she does ballsy and headstrong with a heart well but is it Oscar winning? Well that's for debate I guess.
The supporting performances are good - including Quinton Aaron who does a reasonable job of portraying the down on his luck kid in need of a break.

I can see why The Blind Side did well in America and I can see how it will resonate with some here but I didn't really feel like I was watching something that was told originally; it follows a very set formula and is entirely predictable in its story - although there was a hint of something a bit more of a moral at the end (which was left unexplored), sadly The Blind Side didn't give me the feel good factor that had been promised.