Director Focus - Paul Thomas Anderson

Film Review no. 2: Hard Eight (1996)

★★★☆☆

5 word summary:
Gambling won't make you happy.

5 sentence review:
After watching Boogie Nights, this was a bit of a disappointment.
It was a very slow film (based on the Noir genre which I can't claim to be a fan of) and it focused on fairly unoriginal plot about four people who get entangled in a fairly minor crime (for cinematic standards).
The film felt  like an indie film, with techniques used such as shots of items on a diner table and the dialogue simply played over the top, and this was enjoyable to watch (because I don't watch a lot of indie films).
Despite the indie feel, I also found some moments very Hollywood, especially when Samuel L. Jackson reveals something about
Philip Baker Hall character's past which just seems oddly forced and over dramatic.
The messages were slightly crooked and I didn't know how I was meant to take the ending, however its enjoyable moments were enjoyable but there was a lot that could be improved (for my personal need-thrills-every-scene taste).

5 good things:
1. The cast.
2. The casino rate card trick.
3. Small group of characters (only 4 major).
4. It's only 101 minutes.
5. Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't always look perfect.

5 bad things:
1. Everyone smoking constantly.
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character only being in it for a tiny scene and with little explanation.
3. The big reveal of Sydney's motives
4. The title seemed unnecessary and any scene that mentioned a 'hard eight' didn't seem overly important to me. (Although apparently PTA wanted to call it Sydney).
5. How often they hit the hostage man.

Director Focus - Paul Thomas Anderson

Film Review no. 1: Boogie Nights (1997) 

★★★★★

5 word summary:
Inside view of porn industry.

5 sentence review:
Amazing film about an interesting, and often taboo, topic.
This doesn't skirt over some of the more unpleasant details (in fact it dwells on some of them at length) and does not present the life as glamorous or desirable a lot of the time.
Anderson gathered together a ridiculously talented cast, most of whom are still heavy-hitters today, and they deliver his clever and funny script perfectly.
It's a bright, bold and brash film, especially for such a young director, but this makes the film powerful and engaging throughout, despite its 155 minute running time.
Admittedly this film isn't for the faint hearted because there is sex, drugs and disco dancing, however if you stick with it, Boogie Nights will not disappoint.

5 good things:
1. The cast.
2. The way it is filmed (from cinematography to shot angles).
3. The clothes/hair/make up.
4. The humour throughout (it doesn't take itself too seriously).
5. Alfred Molina's scene.
(6. The soundtrack).

5 bad things:
1. Sexist (every women either provides sex or is demonised).
2. Mark Wahlberg's hair.
3. The fact I thought Burt Reynolds was Sean Connery
4. The fact Alfred Molina wasn't in it more.
5. The fact I can't think of a 5th thing (although no. 1 is a pretty big problem).

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2014 -  ) - TV programme on Channel 4

★☆☆☆☆

5 word summary:
Odd-ball police officers solve crimes.

5 sentence review:
I do not understand why people like this TV show so much.
There have only been bout 5/6 episodes shown the the UK and I've seen 3 (or so) of them (I really tried) but I found it boring, unfunny and try-hard.
It follows the typical American TV idea where there is a cast of quirky characters who have to deal with each other, I normally love these types of TV shows (Community, The Office, etc.) however I feel as though this one doesn't create interesting or funny enough character.
I find the characters either unlikeable or uninteresting or stereotypical seen-before types.
I'm not a huge fan of police shows (except for Criminal Minds and Castle) so this may be another reason why I don't really like this programme.

5 good things:
1. The diversity of genders and races.
2. Terry Crews
3. The fact that it's only 20 minute long episodes.
4. The fact that Mose from The Office wrote it.
5.......

5 bad things:
1. The characters.
2. The comedy.
3. The title.
4. The plots.
5. The theme.

Her (2014) - Film directed and written by Spike Jonze

★★★☆☆

5 word summary:
Love is complicated (as always).

5 sentence review:
This film seemed like a self-help book set in the future, which I wasn't expected and was disappointed about, however this is mostly because I strongly detest films like this because they provide a bildungsroman type of character who we are meant to care about and I just don't (Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Way Way Back are other examples that come to mind) .
I was watching hoping to see an interesting and unique love story, instead I was punched in the face with moralistic spiel about how unique and complicated humans and love are.
It follows the trend that many auteur films do because these creator believes that (s)he know a lot, and what they know is worth listening to; as Jonze wrote and directed Her he is an auteur director, in my opinion, and follows the pattern of presenting his views and musings on life as fact.
If Jonze had handed this story over to someone who could have written it from a less personal stand-point I think this film would have improved, but this is clearly just my opinion that not many other people agree with.
Aside from the rather pointless plot and unnecessarily preachy script the film was masterfully directed and acted, I can understand why so many people love it however I find it very difficult to overlook one of my major cinematic pet-peeves, preaching.

5 good things:
1. Joaquin Phoenix's performance.
2. The realistic and relaxed presentation of the future.
3. Amy Adams!
4.The look of the film (especially the use of space).
5. People being accepting of Operating System relationships.

5 bad things:
1. Joaquin Pheonix's unexplained moustache.
2. The preachy nature of the script
3. The ending (I didn't understand it so may need to watch again)
4. How little Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt and Olivia Wilde were in it.
5. The beauty spot the surrogate Samantha wore.

The Lego Movie (2014) - Film directed/written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

★★★★☆

5 word summary:
Normal is not always bad.

5 sentence review:
This film is very funny but with a certain type of humour, similar to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (which is also created by Lord and Miller), and this could leave a lot of audience members cold but I thoroughly enjoyed the geeky, immature humour (especially after the rather exhausting Oscar fodder we've all been fed recently).
To enhance your enjoyment of the film you have to connect with your inner child, not only because you are being asked to relate to Lego figures, but because of the amount of butt jokes throughout.
The plot does suffer slightly from being simplified; this could also be attributed to the self-aware nature of the film, however it does make the film quite boring and predictable (and reminds you that you are watching a children's film).
Maturity can be found in the animation which is impeccable, they use Lego for everything (EVERYTHING) from water to fire to smoke and it is amazing.
For such a random film they could have gotten away with much worse, and less time consuming, animation but it is wonderful that they decided to really put their all into the film because it elevates all the less interesting moments because you can just stare at the animation.

5 good things:
1. Lego sea (the animation in general).
2. 'Spaceship! SpAcEsHiP! SPACESHIP!'
3. The real world moments (not being specific to avoid spoilers)
4. Voice cameos
5. ♫ Everything is awesome! ♫

5 bad things:
1. Some jokes fell a little flat.
2. Batman, Superman, even Green Lantern...where is my Spiderman?
3. Makes me feel as though I have inadequate Lego skills.
4. Bloody. Love. Triangle. (of sorts)
5. ♫ Everything is awesome! ♫ stuck in my head.

Change of format:

After a rather wonderful seminar with Helen O'Hara and Alastair Plumb, from Empire, I have decided to change up the formula of this blog.

My reviews will now rotate around the number 5:

Rating out of 5
5 word summary
5 sentence review
5 good things (if possible)
5 bad things (if possible)

This is still in beta-testing phase so this may change again, but we'll have to see how much I like this.
Hopefully I'll be posting a lot more (especially because now I won't have to write such long reviews) and hopefully this format will be more enjoyable to read as well as write.

Thank you,

Skruff :)

America Hustle (2013) - Film directed by David O. Russell

* * *

This film was so disappointing. It is incredibly hyped everywhere but it really didn't meet my expectations for two reasons. Firstly, the performances were solid but not exceedingly masterful. Secondly the plot was confusing.It follows two con artists who team up with a police officer to catch some dodgy politicians in the act of exchanging money for deals.

The film looks really interesting, aesthetically. I kept staring at every characters' hair! Amy Adam's in particular often looked perfect for most of the movie (although not in this poster). Similarly everyone moves dynamically which draws you into their acting. However this is ruined at bit for me because the camera then explicitly moves to show you a characters hands or some other body part with very little explanation. It seemed as though O'Russell was trying to point out, 'look at the acting, they even use their hands!' which is odd. You should allow the audience to look where they want, not float the camera around random body-parts of the actors.

I like a good fraud film (like Catch Me If You Can), I love a good confusing and layered plot (like Inception), I do not like this plot. The film opens with a scene that comes later on, so immediately you are a little confused, sadly this doesn't end. Throughout the film I was confused as to who was meant to be who and why everyone was doing everything. There was also a slight twist ending which I didn't find very interesting or shocking. To add to this, I didn't understand how they were hustling people. This could be me being really dense, although the other people I saw the film with agreed.

The performances were good. Everyone performed well, as you would expect with such big names. They seemed to milk the fact that Jennifer Lawrence was in it, giving her a useless but relatively funny scene of her dancing to Live and Let Die. Once again, unfortunately, it is the fact that I had heard so much about the acting that I thought it was going to be amazing and it wasn't. It was good, but nothing special.

This film seemed to me to be trying to be something it wasn't. There is a huge cast, lots of boobs and flashy outfits on display and this seems to be able to distract a large percentage of cinema goers into liking the film. Unfortunately I couldn't get past the fairly mediocre script, which thought it was profound, and overly complicated and not well explained plot. It isn't a bad film, it is simply over-hyped which makes me feel as though it is worse than it actually was.