Review: The King's Speech

The King's Speech - (12A)

Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

50 years old is generally considered to be a time when an actor considers more background roles, perhaps as the father to a young starlet, or the wise mentor to a heroic action figure. Not so for Colin Firth! After years of dancing around the edge of the limelight, and despite his iconic turn as Mr Darcy - the one your wife, mum and Grandmum all fancy - Mr Firth has seemed doomed to never be a leading man. That is, until now, his 50th birthday, and the release of the critically acclaimed A Single Man, propelling our thoroughly English gentleman to the top of many Director's go-to lists.

The King's Speech promises to solidify this status, as Firth encapsulates perfectly the thoroughly English true story of King George VI, the stammering king who is reluctantly thrown into power on the eve of war, after his brother abdicates the throne to marry a divorced woman (tisk tisk). Trained in elocution by the equally wonderful Geoffrey Rush, it is the inspiring and deeply relatable struggle of one man overcoming his inner-demons to be the king his nation needs him to be.

The opening scene, as Firth stands before a crowd, his microphone booming every floundering failure of speech, his faithful wife - a muted, but well-judged performance from the not-always thoroughly English Helena Bonham Carter - watching on in agony and empathy, is perfectly paralleled by the soaring triumph of the final act. The nuances and depth that Firth discovers in such a tragically isolated and emotionally stunted character, ensure that every expression, every stumbled verb, and every glorious outburst of anger, have the impact of a thousand, more traditionally rousing, eloquent discourses.

The King's Speech stands apart from the classic period drama in both it's exceptional casting (Timothy Spall's Churchill is the only duff note in the film, seeming to be more at place in a pantomime) and it's effortless blend of elegant story telling and humor, with one key, and deeply moving scene, featuring swearing that even the most censorious will revel in. Rarely has a film personified such an inspiring central tale of glorious overcoming, alongside a wealth of rich, fully-developed supporting characters.

And of course, it is thoroughly English, which can never be a bad thing.

Rating: 5/5

DVD Micro-Review: Iron Man 2

In brief: Man in metal suit hits other men/not-men in metal suits, pretty girl does flips and kicks goons, Robert Downey Jr gurns and swaggers, shameless teaser for the Marvel masterplan.

See it if you liked: Iron Man, The Man in the Iron Mask, Full Metal Jacket.

Review: No brainer, but who needs a brain when its so much fun? Static mid-section, but generally a lorra lorra laughs and a salivating prospect for the next few years of Marvel comic epicness.

Best bit: Mickey Rourke with electric tentacles slicing up Downey Jr's car, followed by the old suit in a bag trick.

Rating: 3/5

The Next Three Days Review

The Next Three Days – (12A)

Released: 7th January 2011

Director: Paul Haggis
Cast: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks

Russell Crowe needs a career lift. After the lukewarm reception given to Robin Hood, his fifth collaborative effort with Ridley Scott, and a series of respectable but forgettable performances, the former gladiator certainly has something to prove.

Thankfully, The Next Three Days sees Crowe at the best he has been since A Beautiful Mind. Written and directed by Paul Haggis, the scripting talent behind Crash and Casino Royale, it is a well paced and intense thriller. Crowe is excellent as teacher, John Brennan, who is willing to risk everything to save the wife that he believes is wrongly accused of murder. Even if the end result is never really in question, the single-minded determination and desperation of Brennan is always involving.

With clever dialogue, twisted reveals and empathic characters, The Next Three Days is a focus on how far a person’s passion will take them in order to save the person they love.

Rating: 4/5

5 is the new 10 for 2011

After careful deliberation and much soul searching I have decided to change my film-rating system to 5/5 rather than 10/10. Before your cries for my blood and accusations of "sell-out", consider my 3-fold reasons:

1 - 10 is rather unwieldy and confusing. The differences between a 6 and 7 are fairly indistinguishable. Plus, I rarely have the heart to give a film below a 3, even a film as epically dire as Skyline, though I would willingly give it a 1 out of 5. Such is the underestimated complexity of film reviewing!

2 - For a film to receive 10/10, in
my head it must be the kind of film that only Jesus himself could have made. On the other hand, there are a number of films that would be worthy of a 5, though they would still require an impressive Moses-like effort.

3 - Empire magazine scores out of 5 and I want them to like me.

Top 11 of 2010

These are the films that brought me the most joy all year. Granted, they may not be the best films, they may not be classic films, heck, some may not even be very good films. But I love them and I believe in them. Some made me smile, some made me cry, some even made my desire to have random fist fights increase dramatically, and for that, surely, they are worthy of praise.

Disclaimer:

I have not seen all the films this year had to offer!!! Some notable omissions would be The Social Network (for which I missed a vomit-inducing grand total of 3 preview screenings!) and Toy Story, which I have no doubt would be well up there.

Also, all titles must be on general release before the end of 2010, hence not including films like Black Swan and The King's Speech - both of which are highly likely to make next year's list.

Agree or disagree? Let me know!

11 - Predators
Look, it doesn't deserve to be in the top ten but certainly deserves honourable mention for not being a hideous train-wreck of a movie. Also, a deserved 11th place for going a long way to clear our minds of the abominations that were Alien vs Predator and Alien vs Predator Requiem. It may also play a large part in Ridley Scott's decision to return to the Alien films, which will be a very welcome homecoming indeed!

10 - Expendables

Granted the majority of it is disappointing, charisma-lacking dross, but Sly's dream project can make it into the top ten for three reasons. 1 - The cast is "freak-me-right-out awesome"! 2 - The last 30mins are the most outrageously entertaining from this or any other year. 3 - The cast is "freak-me-right-out awesome"!

9 - The Town

Ben Affleck (yep, the guy who wore red spandex for that film that no-one liked) should easily win the Oscar for "most surprisingly brilliant director of all time ever" (new category for 2011). A layered, gripping portrayal of life below the breadline in Charlestown, Boston, and a showcase of the current hot-list in Hollywood (Jeremy Renner is pitch-perfect and WILL be great!) The Town is a mature and exciting crime-caper.

8 - Shutter Island
Whether you will like this or not really depends if you like having your head metaphorically placed in a blender. Tricks and turns and unresolved questions will leave you ultimately gazumped, but the journey is definitely worth the fare. Leo is as good as he has ever been, and while it's not classic Scorsese, it's certainly a whole heap better than The Aviator!

7 - Robin Hood
Probably the one on the list most likely to cause much wailing, gnashing of teeth, and exclamations of "WHY?!?!". However, such uneducated Philistines are no doubt those who believe this should have been a Gladiator in the woods, and so were miserably disappointed when it actually turned out to be quite good fun.





6 - Buried
Ryan Reynolds in a box for a couple of hours would keep most people happy (male and female, for entirely different reasons). However, the genius of Rodrigo Cortes' debut English feature is that he couragesouly sticks to his initial premise. Never leaving the box - not for introduction, flashback, or shots of loved ones/embassy members furiously working to "Get him outta there" - Buried is nail-chomping, surprisingly dynamic and very, very claustrophobic. Plus, best promo poster of the year (see left)!


5 - Catfish
Don't let anyone tell you what it is.
Not much more I can say, other than make sure you see it so you know what it is, because to know what it is is to know why it is, and to know why it is is to thoroughly confuse oneself to the point at which it is simpler to tell you what I initially told you, which is WATCH THIS! Got that?!




4 - Monsters
Much has been made of the fact - by myself - that this entire film was made on the same budget as the costume budget alone for Tron: Legacy, and is roughly 500,000 times better (stats may vary). Ignore the title, as a Hammer-esque alien schlok-fest, this is not. What it is, is a splendidly beguiling romantic road trip, punctuated by the occasional attack of alien creatures. It's aces.




3 - Up In The Air
Clooney has rarely found a role like this that suits him like...well...a good suit. Ouch-sharp dialogue (what else from the director of Juno?), brilliant supporting performances, and the universal theme of "Why life?", set this apart as far more than just a Clooney vehicle, which it also is. Easily one of the most moving and damn-hard-to-shake films of the year.




2 - Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Eye-melting, ear drum-pelting, crazy-as-a-spanish kukubura, and the best fun you can have without pogo-sticking along to the Chicken Song in a Spiderman outift - though combine the two and it is ON!







1 - Inception
Nolan is my favourite director of all time - there, I said it. No-one makes films that are more consistenly entertaining, utterly unique, with perfect casting and mind-boggling set pieces. Inception is UNDOUBTEDLY the cream of Nolan's incredibly healthy crop (I must stress, to date!) and stands head and shoulders above anything else this year - except possibly The Social Network, which I think I mentioned I haven't seen yet.



There you go - argue, scream, curse, laugh in pity, or comment.

Narnia Competition

COMPETITION!!!



Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is out now. Here is a whole heap of goodies you could win - perfect for kids/really immature adults.

To enter, either:
1 - Tweet this: RT @alibianchi Win some really cool Narnia stuff - http://j.mp/f43OHY
2 - Facebook message - Ali Bianchi
3 - Comment below

Tron Legacy

Take what is real as reference, then manipulate, extend and fantasise until it becomes something wholly new and yet strangely familiar. This was James Cameron's philosophy while creating Pandora, and is the inspiration for Tron: Legacy, the belated sequel to digital fantasy Tron. While Avatar took the natural world as it's inspiration, Tron: Legacy instead builds a corporate landscape, now far more advanced than the 1983 version, and imbues it with a digital, luminescent quality that is both beautiful and devastating. Light-cycles race around clear multi-level race tracks, skyscrapers highlighted in neon reach impossibly high, and a simple game of dodgeball becomes something far more dangerous.

It is in this alternate dimension that Kevin Flynn (Bridges), the protagonist of the original outing and creator of the digital world of Tron, has been missing for 20 years. His son Sam - a strong enough performance from Heglund - finds his way into the system, only to be greeted by Clu, the digital counterpart of his father, who has his own agenda.

The first half hour sizzles with energy, and creativity, culminating in the film's centrepiece, a breathtaking spectacle of light and sound, as light-cycles weave in and out of each other at impossible speeds.

Unfortunately, that is the first half hour. After such a promising start, even the reintroduction of Bridges fails to bring extra inspiration to proceedings. Too much dialogue, confusing plot contrivances and the lack of any further creative flair, mire the production in a paint-by-numbers, save-the-world, get-the-girl retread of recent sci-fi efforts (perhaps the best comparison being with the Matrix sequels, including the irrelevant participation of a "Merovingian"-type character who serves no purpose other than to be annoying).

While the original is certainly dated, at least it centred on a unique and imaginative central premise. There is very little of that flair apparent here, with key characters reduced to footnotes (including an inexplicably brief and inconsequential appearance of the title character Tron) and attempts to expand the myth coming out contrived. There is enough eye candy to pull it out of average but could have been so much more.

6/10