The Conspirator: Movie Review

The Conspirator: Movie Review

The Conspirator

Rating: 6/10

Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Justin Long, Kevin Kline

Director: Robert Redford

Back to the time of Lincoln's assassination for this very familiar tale of a lawyer torn between duty and a client who may be innocent but facing charges which will see her hanged.

McAvoy stars as Frederick Aiken, a returned Union war hero who's now working as legal counsel as they all cope with the aftermath of events following the assassination of US President Lincoln at Ford Theatre.

Seven men and one woman, Mary Surratt (Wright) are arrested for the murder and conspiracy and Aiken is given the job of defending Surratt of the charges.

But despite initial reticence to defend her, believing it's abhorrent to all he holds dear, Aiken soon begins to realise that she is innocent and fights tooth and nail to ensure she lives.

However, it appears the odds are against them.

An historical drama this may be but in many ways, it's a very traditional run of the mill legal drama; the tenets of every John Grisham style drama are there; the client who's being framed, the young lawyer who doesn't want the case but realises it's his chance to shine - they're all on hand.

And yet thanks to a masterful cast; particularly McAvoy and Wright's Surratt whose  demure outlook makes you empathise with her from the get go; this film is watchable - even if it does fall into the worthy but dull category at times.

In many ways, it feels like you're watching a play with a cast who're acting their socks off but following a legal drama adaptation. Redford's direction doesn't bring a lot of life to the story (he even uses a series of montages of paper headlines at one stage) but it's a well told conspiracy story which doesn't quite reach the heights it aspires to.

The Green Lantern: Movie Review

The Green Lantern: Movie Review

The Green Lantern
Rating: 4/10
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Mark Strong, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Taika Waititi, Temuera Morrison
Director: Martin Campbell
So another superhero franchise looks to take flight.
This time, it's the turn of the Green Lantern to try and sprinkle box office magic and ensure a future for the series.
Ryan Reynolds is cock sure pilot Hal Jordan, who despite his plucky exterior and all American clean cut image, is scarred by daddy issues, having seen his pops blown to pieces when a flight went wrong.
Jordan finds himself chosen by a green light one day (I know - bear with me) after an alien from the Green Lantern corp - a sort of green wearing space police - finds himself dying on the earth.
You see, the corp is trying to fight Parallax, an entity so evil it intends to wipe out the universe and take vengeance on the Green Lanterns, threatening the balance of power and tipping it in evil's favour.
So, Jordan is whisked off to another world to begin his training under the likes of Sinestro (Mark Strong) the leader of the corp; but he soon finds out the threat from Parallax is bigger than any of them could ever have believed.
The Green Lantern is an FX heavy slightly off kilter attempt at launching the franchise. It lacks a real emotional centre and has some completely absurd dialogue thrown in for good measure. Apparently, green is the universal colour for will and yellow is the universal colour for fear. So now you know.
And yet, it's not the massive failure you may expect having seen the very underwhelming trailer; Reynolds is very watchable as Hal and brings a level of performance which is engaging and believable; similarly for his role as Sinestro, Strong (one of the best character actors around) brings the gravitas to the mentor. Blake Lively continues her ascent from Gossip Girl, playing a ball busting pilot and business woman and Taika Waititi cracks a few lines here and there as Jordan's engineer friend.
But the problem with the Green Lantern lies with the evil side of the story; Peter Sarsgaard's Hector Hammond, who's Jordan's nemesis and infected by Parallax early on, seems to simply become the equivalent of Frankenstein's monster as he lumbers around the screen, howling and becoming the Jekyll character. Sure there are jealousy and daddy issues for him to deal with, but it's a one note performance from Sarsgaard which doesn't deliver by any stretch of the imagination.
As for the Parallax creature, a sort of grey Teletubby sun with tentacles, there are some reasonable FX shots and some quite clearly rushed effects as well; and when it comes to dispatching the baddie, it's fairly easily done by Jordan - and quite why these super efficient space cops couldn't do it, is a little beyond me. That said, the end hints at another outing for Jordan et al.
All in all, I don't think The Green Lantern has enough to really stand out in the superhero crowd; it lacks the grittiness of a Batman, the everyman appeal of a Superman and the fun offered up by this year's Thor.

It's by no means a major disappointment; it's just it could have done with a little smarter scripting, a bit more time in post production and then this generically produced light could have shined a little brighter.

Bridesmaids: Movie Review

Bridesmaids: Movie Review

Bridesmaids
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd
Director: Paul Feig
From its opening sex scene and with the first words being spoken being about cupping a part of the anatomy, you can tell Bridesmaids is going to tread lightly.
Wiig plays Annie, lifelong friend to Maya Rudolph's Lillian. Annie's a bit of a self saboteur; her bakery business went down the drains and she's got low self esteem from one night stands with Hamm's sleazy Ted.
She's not heading anywhere fast - and when Lillian reveals she's getting married, Annie's given the role of maid of honour.
However, as she begins to plan the wedding, she runs into the social circle of Lillian's friends; one of whom, Helen (Rose Byrne) becomes her nemesis.
So a rivalry is formed - and despite Annie's best attempts, the disagreements and resentment threaten her place in her best friend's wedding...
Bridesmaids is the best kind of R rated film - raucously funny and really rude in places.
From producer Judd Apatow, you'd be expecting something a little close to the edge - but what actually transpires is probably one of the best examples of an all female led frat pack.
There's a series of set pieces here; an awful dinner which leads to a wedding fitting which ends in the worst possible way; a trip to Vegas that sees the girls thrown off the plane; it's some pretty funny stuff - and in a very unexpected way.
Kristen Wiig (who co-wrote this) is the star of the show; with her natural comic timing and some hilarious dialogue and scenes, she's now finally a star in her own right (after years of honing it on Saturday Night Live); Rose Byrne is also good as the rival and Chris O'Dowd (from the IT Crowd) shines through as a cop who's also a nice guy.
The representation of female rivalry and one upmanship is perfectly captured in the screenplay and while it occasionally reaches hysterical heights, it always feels real - mainly thanks to the persona and acting of Kristen Wiig who clearly is bound for great things.
Of the fellow Bachelorettes, not many of them stand out - perhaps the best (and recipient of the worst treatment during the wedding fitting) is Melissa McCarthy's Megan. In this she's the female equivalent of Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover - and she gets some of the best (and crudest) lines.

Sure, it's not going to be to everyone's tastes but to be honest, Bridesmaids is an unexpectedly good treat; it's crude enough for the boys to enjoy and accurate enough for the women to steal some guilty pleasure from too.

The Reluctant Infidel: Movie Review

The Reluctant Infidel: Movie Review

The Reluctant Infidel

Rating: 7/10

Cast: Omid Djalili, Richard Schiff, Matt Lucas, Archie Panjabi

UK comedian Djalili stars as Muslim Mahud Nasir, a Muslim who doesn't always follow the tenets and commands of his faith.

After his mother's death, Nasir discovers that he's actually adopted by Muslims and was born a Jew.

So with that identity crisis, Nasir sets out to find his real father and finds himself on a journey into the Jewish faith - at the same time of this deeply personal crisis, his son is due to marry and needs his father to embrace his Muslim faith to impress their would be father in law&.

The Reluctant Infidel is cross cultural comedy at its very best - and occasionally at its most predictable.

That said, its pre credits sequence packs in more humorous moments than some comedy films ever manage to cram in during their entire running time.

But it's with its star Omid Djalili that this film triumphs - with a rotund appearance and everyman face, he's immediately identifiable and affable in the extreme. He manages to deliver some brilliant one liners and deal with some broad based comedy of misunderstandings as well.

David Baddiel's script sizzles with smarts and farce in equal measures; but it creaks a little towards the end - some may be put off by the subject matter but it's sensitively handled and ultimately preaches a message of tolerance.

The Reluctant Infidel is a sharp satirical piece which is at its heart, a old fashioned British comedy - with a fantastically funny lead.

Dr Who: Revisitations 2 - DVD Review

Dr Who: Revisitations 2 - DVD Review

Dr Who - Revisitations 2
Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow

The second set of remastered classic Doctor Who releases collects together 1960s tale The Seeds of Death, 1970s The Carnival of Monsters and the 1980s Dalek tale, Resurrection of the Daleks.

As the original series of DVD releases near an end, it's inevitable some of the earlier releases would be put out again given they didn't have the wealth of extras and weren't as polished as the later releases have become.

It's almost as if the BBC knew there would be a degree of cynicism about this trio of releases because the extras lavished on the sets are quite simply excellent and worth the money alone.

The stories themselves are a decent bunch and showcase some of the best and worst of the show - it's great to see the Ice Warriors and Daleks back and there's something curious about the technicolour spectacle which is Carnival of Monsters.

But the effort which has gone into the remastering and the wealth of docos is the main reason to cherish the Revisitations 2 set; the piece de resistance is an hour long doco presented by David Tennant (The 10th Doctor) looking at the time Peter Davison spent in the role as Dr Who No 5 - it's a solidly entertaining piece which picks up the tensions, restraints and the successes of the era.

I'll continue to welcome these Revisitations Sets as long as the wealth of special features on this six disc set continues to be as excellent as this latest outing.

Rating: 8/10 

Motorstorm Apocalypse: Game Review

Motorstorm Apocalypse: Game Review

Motorstorm Apocalypse
Released by Sony
Platform: PS3
Back to the heady world of racing we go - this time though, with a mix of motion comics and street racing.
But essentially this is street racing with an ever changing environment requiring you to adapt and lose the race.
Set against the backdrop of Apocalypse's MotorStorm Festival, you race as one of three participants, labelled Mash "The Rookie", Tyler "The Pro", and Big Dog "The Veteran"; across a series of terrains and a growing number of bikes, cars, trucks et al.
But as the races progress, the difficulty level increases; and the cityscapes you race around change as they begin to crumble and fall apart in keeping with the apocalyptic tone of the game.
Motorstorm Apocalypse is an all right sort of racing game; graphically, it's an odd mix using motion comics to tell the story is akin to watching an anime cross with a Gorillaz video; but when it comes to the gameplay, there's little radical on show. Sure you get to boost around the track but have to soon realize that could lead to over heating and explosions; so that means any acceleration has to be done in small bursts to ensure you make it to the end of the track in a qualifying position.
Sadly there's no in game map making it difficult to gauge where your competitors are - which makes it somewhat tricky to plan manoeuvres or any kind of race track strategy.
Disposable fun Motorstorm Apocalypse it may be - and an addition of multiplayer adds to an element of fun and competition- but once you complete the tracks, there's little incentive or reward to go back and finish first and claim anything - other than bragging rights.

Rating: 7/10 

Lovely, Still: Movie Review

Lovely, Still: Movie Review

Lovely, Still
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, Adam Scott
Director: Nicholas Fackler
Set against a backdrop of Christmas, this is the story of Martin Landau's Robert, an elderly gent who's working in a supermarket and who lives alone.
One day, he meets Mary (Burstyn) and spurred on by the potential for romance, the pair begin to date.
And that's really all I can say about the plot of this film - as you really don't want to know too much more about it to be honest.
Fackler's created a wondrous piece which will leave some on the verge of tears and may even melt the most cynical of hearts as this romantic tale plays out - but it's in the casting where he's really triumphed; both leads have wonderfully expressive faces, etched with the lines of life, hopes, regret and possibility. Theirs is a courtship of confusion, simplicity and above all heart.
Landau is an absolute stand-out as Robert; scenes of him asking his shop manager for help about going on a date, coupled with close up shots of his daily routine in front of the mirror are quirky, different and engaging from the get go. Coupled with Burstyn, there's a warmth and ease to both their performances which will have you thinking about grandparents, parents and lost loved ones as the story plays out. Throw in some solid support from Banks and particularly Scott, and this story is a compelling watch from beginning to end (even if you are a little cynical, it's hard not to be won over).
Suffice to say there is a twist in this tale of old love and it's one which really whips the carpet out from under your viewing eyes and demands you watch again to pick up the intricacies of the plot - but in this day and age of instant gratification and visual satisfaction, it's commendable to see story comes first.

Tugging at the heartstrings and leaving you with a warm glow, Lovely, Still is a perfect two hander, beautifully played and engaging; it's also one which will command you curl up with your loved one afterwards.