Winter's Bone: Movie Review

Winter's Bone: Movie Review

Winter's Bone
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garrett Dillahunt
Director: Debra Granik
It's being touted for Oscar success next year - and now Kiwi audiences get the chance to see Winter's Bone after its time with the New Zealand International Film Festival.
17 year old Ree (a career defining turn by Jennifer Lawrence) is the sole carer for her family; with a mentally ill mother and two kids, she's the rock of the family in the hillbilly mid-America homestead.
One day when the local sheriff (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles' star Dillahunt) tells them their errant dad put their home up as bail and then skipped, Ree realizes he has to be found before they lose everything.
So in spite of massive opposition locally and from her father's brother, she's forced to begin a journey to find her pa and ensure the family doesn't get evicted.
However, little does she realize the path which she's embarked on.
Winter's Bone is one of those films which you'll sink into - or hate intensely. It's got a slow burning feel to it and is a piece of slow cinema.
Yet because of that Granik's crafted an absorbing film which is unflinching and, at times, harrowing - but somehow still manages to offer hope at its conclusion.
But the central performance by Jennifer Lawrence should be the sole reason to see this - her subtle and unshowy acting marks a star in the ascent. Her performance has already garnered acclaim on the festival circuit and is seeing her touted as a potential statue winner (or at the very least nominee) come the 2011 Academy Award season.

The film won't be for everyone - for some the pace will be offputting; but for those who like a mystery film with engrossing characters set in mid-America, Winter's Bone is worth seeking out.

The Losers: DVD Review

The Losers: DVD Review

The Losers
Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video
It's the adaptation of a DC Comics series.

A CIA black ops team led by Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Clay is left for dead during an operation in Bolivia.

But this team of five guys with names like Roque, Pooch, Jensen, Clay and Cougar are determined to fight back - and get Max the man who set up the team.

However, Max has bigger plans for world domination (when don't they?) and soon Clay and the gang are trapped, desperately trying to clear their names.

Along the way, they join forces with the mysterious Aisha (Zoe Saldana) who appears to have a grudge against Max too - but who's playing whom?

If The Losers sounds familiar, then that's probably because it is.

It's a similar plot to most other action thrillers and to be honest, there's nothing fabulously new to see here.

Trademark slow-mo action shots, things exploding, a hammy villain (yes Jason Patric I'm looking at you) and gratuitous long camera shots on the lead actress are all present and correct.

Also present is the continual cliché of what I like to term The A Team syndrome - which is where the good guys are seriously outnumbered by the bad guys, but it seems the villain's hired the worst shooters in the world as none of them can hit anything, regardless of how well stacked the odds are against the goodies.

But if you don't take the Losers too seriously, it's fairly good disposable fun.

Extras: Zoe Saldana talks about holding her own with the predominantly all male cast

Rating: 6/10

Winter In Wartime: DVD Review

Winter In Wartime: DVD Review

Winter In Wartime
Rating: M
Released by Vendetta Films
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 (Martikn 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 (Twilight's Jamie 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.
Beautifully shot Winter In Wartime 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.
There's a twist at the end which you can see coming a mile off - but 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

The Prince of Persia: Blu Ray Review

The Prince of Persia: Blu Ray Review

The Prince of Persia

Rating: M
Released by Disney DVD
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dastan, a young street urchin orphan boy who's taken into the Persian royal court at an early age and who comes to love the ruler as if he were his dad.

However, later on as the Persians are laying siege to a city they believe is hiding weapons which have helped their enemies (spot the parallel here), Dastan finds himself cast out from the royal court after he's believed to have assassinated the king.

Forced into hiding and into an uneasy alliance with Princess Tamina (a dusky sultry Gemma Arterton) Dastan tries to unravel the plot.

From the opening chase scene through to the FX laden final scenes, the problem is this film is relying a little too much on its source material - and the medium it came from. That is, it feels like it's a computer game on the big screen.

Scenes are held together by one of three plot devices - either a fight scene, a chase scene or plot exposition. There's also some humour thrown in in the form of Alfred Molina's comedy relief Sheik (and his brilliant ostrich racing - when was the last time you saw that on screen?) but it feels like less than the sum of its parts.

It's reasonable family fare but nothing as thrilling as it could be.

Extras: A chance to take control of the dagger and go behind the scenes is a nice touch on the Blu Ray release.

Rating: 6/10

Cyrus: Movie Review

Cyrus: Movie Review

Cyrus
Rating: 8/10
Cast: John C Reilly, Jonah Hill, Catherine Keener, Marisa Tomei

Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Pitched as an odd comedy in its trailer (which you can watch here),Cyrus stars John C Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei as a mismatched trio.

Reilly is John a divorcee who meets Marisa's Molly at a party and they hit it off; so much so that after 7 years' estrangement from his ex Catherine Keener,he thinks she could be the one.

And Molly is the same - so the pair begin an easy relationship.

There's only one problem - her 21 year old son Cyrus (Hill) who initially welcomes John to their home but soon starts to act up in order to get him out.

So the battle lines are drawn and the two begin to clash openly when Molly's not around - and make nice when she is.

Cyrus is a polished little gem of a dramedy of a film, delightfully quirky and confounds every expectation - while still delivering plenty of laughs and a good dose of heart.

The style is interesting as well - as it appears to have been shot on handheld cameras so they swoop in and out capturing every awkwardly odd moment.

The reason it works though is because of the leads - it's played very straight by the cast and Hill delivers a knockout performance of comic menace via Cyrus. Reilly's equally as good at the deadpan too- and Tomei is great as the mom who can see nothing wrong with the relationship.

Cyrus is an unexpected treat in more ways than one and it shows that both Hill and Reilly can really reign it in when they need to on the performing front - and the end result is a real novel success.

Made In Dagenham: Movie Review

Made In Dagenham: Movie Review

Made In Dagenham
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Daniel Mays, Bob Hoskins, Richard Schiff, Jaime Winstone, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Miranda Richardson
Director: Nigel Cole
From the director of Calendar Girls comes a new UK film with a cast that reads like a Who's Who of Brit talent.
It's 1960s Britain, where Ford (sorry Holden lovers) is at the height of its power - pumping out thousands of cars daily to the world.
But in the town of Dagenham, where one of the company's major plants is housed, trouble's a-brewing.
Well specifically in the machinist section of the plant populated by some 187 women.
Downgraded to a lower unskilled band, the women are not happy - and in one of them, shy and quiet Rita O'Grady (a wonderful Sally Hawkins) they find the voice to complain to the management at Head Office.
Spurred on by Bob Hoskins' shop steward, Albert, soon she's declaring an all out walk out for the staff and the cause begins to spread.
Initially it's about being upgraded to skilled - but soon it becomes about equal pay for women - and as the struggle to get their cause noticed increases, the tensions for all of the women (Rita's family too) escalate.
It's fair to say that Made in Dagenham is crowd pleasing in the extreme; with the usual kind of humour that pioneered the mold with The Full Monty, this Brit flick sings in terms of soundtrack, dry humorous moments and some great performances.
Every actor turns in solid performances - but it's Sally Hawkins who really impresses in this role of the mousey, put upon Rita whose voice rises up when it's most needed. She's the emotional centre of the film and she succeeds because she's never showy and immensely watchable.
The whole film's steeped in a UK nostalgia of the 1960s which is weaved in throughout - talk of colour TVs, puppet Sooty and vintage UK roadside diners will resonate more with some than others.
Sure, it's predictable in places - and you can see where the cracks will come dramatically (which may irritate the purists who feel that it's UK film making by numbers in terms of script, jokes and direction) but if the formula ain't broke, then I guess you don't need to fix it. There's nothing inherently wrong with the film and audiences will lap it up but in places, it does feel like a feel-good-film-by-numbers style flick.
The only disappointment in this empowerment flick is the end credits where you actually see the women who were the inspiration for the film - but any emotional resonance over who they are is lost due to a lack of pointing out who's who.

Chalk Made In Dagenham up to another of those barnstorming, crowd pleasing, publically adored feel good UK films which the motherland continues to churn out.

RED: Movie Review

RED: Movie Review

RED
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox, Ernest Borgnine
Director: Robert Schwentke
Call it The Grey Team.
Bruce Willis stars as retired former Black Ops CIA agent Frank Moses, who's spending his retirement days in a big house and phone flirting with pension worker Sarah (Mary Louise Parker).
One day and without warning, a hit squad breaks into his house and attempts to assassinate him - after thwarting their attempts on his life, Frank heads to Kansas to snatch Sarah from potential harm and to try and work out who's trying to kill him; and perhaps more importantly, why.
As the conspiracy begins to unwind, Moses ends up meeting up with former colleagues Joe (Freeman), Marvin (a deadpan Malkovich) and Victoria (Mirren) to try and establish what's going on.
But time's running out - and ruthless CIA Agent Cooper (a brilliant Karl Urban) edges ever closer to tracking them down.
What can you say about RED?
Adapted from a DC Comics series, the film wears its colours on its sleeve within the first 10 minutes as the hit squad goes through countless bullets and destroys Moses' house in perhaps the most explosive and destructive sequence committed to celluloid this year.
And that's where the problem arises for this film - there's nothing inherently wrong with it; Bruce Willis once again smirks his way through a film and does his action man schtick and the plot's somewhat similar to the likes of The Losers and The A Team from earlier in the year. You can't help but feel that in some form or another, you've seen this before.
Yet, there's some things to really love about RED - principally, the wonderful performance of Karl Urban, who has grit, determination, steely cool and effortless screen presence; Mary Louise Parker who is long overdue a lead; Helen Mirren with a really big gun (finally putting to bed her image as an English stage dame) and John Malkovich for just out-performing most on the screen. There's also a very cool scene where Bruce jumps out of a spiralling cop car with all guns blazing which is true to the comic book world the film inhabits.
But these are some highs which are balanced by some lows - the plot sags after a while and you may struggle to be as emotionally invested in it as perhaps you should be. However, if you love guns, explosions and a slightly off-the-wall tongue in cheek kind of action film, you'll be happy.

It's just I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu from what's already been up on the big screen this year.