Weekly Film Round-up – Friday 28th March, 2014

Film of the Week: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Total films seen so far this year: 97
Films seen in the last week: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (again), Muppets Most Wanted, The Borderlands, Dangerous Acts, The Fold, A Thousand Times Goodnight

Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me) 

There are twelve new films out this week, though two of them (The Legend of Hercules and Almost Married) weren't screened for press and I didn't manage to see Leave The World Behind. Of the twelve new releases, a whopping six of them have made it into this week's Top Ten. They include: Marvel's superhero sequel (though it works as a stand-alone thriller) Captain America: The Winter Soldier, writer-director Asghar Farhadi's follow-up to A Separation, The Past (starring The Artist's Bereniece Bejo and A Prophet's Tahar Rahim), Finnish documentary My Stuff, Muppet sequel Muppets Most Wanted, British found-footage horror The Borderlands and Oscar-winning backing singers documentary 20 Feet From Stardom. I will also put in good words for both Veronica Mars and The Zero Theorem, both of which are likely to disappear from their single venues very soon. A full round-up of this week's releases appears after the Top Ten below.

1) The Grand Budapest Hotel
2) Under the Skin
3) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4) The Past
5) Starred Up
6) The Borderlands
7) Veronica Mars
8) Labour Day
9) My Stuff
10) 20 Feet From Stardom


This week's new releases in full:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (4 stars)

Hugely enjoyable sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, who teams up with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and mechanical-winged agent The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to take on mysterious assassin The Winter Soldier (identity a SPOILER) and a high-level conspiracy with a deadly master-plan. My review for The List is here.


The Past (4 stars)

French drama, written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, starring Ali Mosaffa as an Iranian man who returns to France when his separated wife (Berenice Bejo) asks him for a divorce so she can move on with her new partner (Tahar Rahim). My review for ViewLondon is here.


My Stuff (four stars)

Finnish documentary directed by Petri Luukainen, who decides he has too much stuff in his life so he locks away every single one of his possessions in storage and restricts himself to retrieving just one item a day for a year. My ViewLondon review of it is here.

Bonus feature! Interview with My Stuff director Petri Luukainen: Interview with My Stuff director Petri Luukainnen.


Muppets Most Wanted (four stars)

Follow-up to 2011's hugely successful reboot The Muppets, in which Kermit and company face the tricky decision of what to do for the sequel. The opening song (”We're Doing A Sequel”) acknowledges the difficulty they're facing (“Everyone knows the sequel's never quite as good”) and so it proves, though there are more than enough gags, songs, celebrity cameos and general Muppet mayhem to keep fans happy. The plot (suggested during the aforementioned song) is that the Muppets embark on a World Tour after employing new manager Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais). However, once they reach Berlin, Kermit is kidnapped and replaced by Constantine, the World's Most Dangerous Frog, who is working in cahoots with Dominic in a series of Da Vinci Code-style heists aimed at stealing the Crown Jewels. And once Constantine and Dominic have pulled off their first robbery, the Muppets find themselves under investigation by Sam the Eagle and Clouseau-like Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell). Meanwhile, Kermit is shipped off to a Russian gulag run by Nadya (Tina Fey) and ends up directing fellow prisoners Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo and Jemaine Clement in the annual Gulag Revue. With most of the same team from The Muppets on board (director James Bobin, co-writer Nicholas Stoller, songwriter Bret McKenzie), this does at least deliver the goods in terms of its high gag rate (both verbal and visual) and musical numbers – fans of Flight of the Conchords should note that the songs are even more Conchord-like this time round, with Interrogation Song and I'll Get You What You Want (Cocktaoo in Malibu) standing out as particular highlights. Similarly, Ty Burrell and Sam The Eagle make an enjoyable double act and there are lots of good throwaway jokes, such as a line about comedy heists never working, a subtle reference to the original Muppet movie sequel, 1981's The Great Muppet Caper. Things get trickier with Ricky Gervais, whose constant mugging and grimacing wears thin very quickly, while the constant stream of celebrity cameos is so ridiculous (many of them, like Tom Hiddleston and Saoirse Ronan, don't even have any lines) that you strongly suspect that's actually the joke. (That said, it's worth it for moments like “And now, Christoph Waltz dances the Waltz!”). On top of that, it's probably fair to say that the film is a little too long at 113 minutes and some of the gulag stuff could easily have been cut, as should a terrible CGI effect at the end of the film that reunites all the film's cameos.


The Borderlands (four stars)

Written and directed by Elliot Goldner, The Borderlands is a found-footage British horror (no, wait, come back, etc) set in a remote West Country village. Gordon Kennedy (best known as a comedic actor) plays world-weary Deacon, a Vatican investigator sent to look into claims of a miracle at a dilapidated mediaeval church. He's accompanied by blokey techie Gray (Ben Wheatley's collaborator Robin Hill, best known for his role in Down Terrace) and, eventually, by his sanctimonious boss Mark (Aidan McArdle). Gray's job is to set up recording equipment all over both the church and their base (a nearby house), as well as to ensure that all three men wear their camera headsets at all times, the footage presumably transmitting to a hard drive, hence the eventual finding of the footage. The script is excellent, successfully combining the scariest elements of The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and The Descent without ever feeling derivative; there's also a darkly funny streak running throughout that's reminiscent of Wheatley's Kill List. The performances are equally good: Kennedy and Hill make an effective double act and their gradually softening relationship is nicely handled, while there's strong support from Luke Neal as troubled local vicar Father Crellick. Similarly, Goldner's direction is assured throughout, expertly building tension until its brilliantly creepy and frankly terrifying finale. Superb location work too.


20 Feet From Stardom (four stars)

Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning documentary focuses on the female backing singers to some of rock's greatest hits, from Ike and Tina Turner's River Deep Moutain High to The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter to David Bowie's Young Americans. Many of the singers have been a key factor in some of the most famous songs of all time, yet their contribution to rock history has gone largely unacknowledged (it's Merry Clayton who sings “Rape! Murder! Is just a shot away...” on Gimme Shelter, by the way, and the sequence with Mick Jagger recounting how he first heard her sing that is one of the highlights of the film). Neville's film includes candid interviews with the likes of Darlene Love, Táta Vega, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton and Lisa Fischer and their stories are equally heart-warming and upsetting, since many of the women also tried and failed to find success as solo artists. This leads to a number of intriguing questions about talent, passion, the nature of the industry and finding your place as a musical artist – it's heart-breaking to hear Tata Vega (who sang with Madonna, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, among others) reveal how she's repeatedly turned away from auditions for being too fat or too old, for example. That said, the tone of the film is largely positive overall, celebrating both the women themselves and their extraordinary voices. Incidentally, this would make a great double-bill with Muscle Shoals, another excellent recent music doc that took a similar approach to the session musicians at the Muscle Shoals studio.


The Fold (three stars)

Low-budget British drama starring Catherine McCormack as Rebecca Ashton, a priest who moves to a small Cornish village with her teenage daughter Eloise (Dakota Blue Richards). Struggling to cope with the recent death of Eloise's older sister, Rebecca becomes fixated with improving the life of self-harming migrant worker Radka (Marina Stoimenova), who clearly reminds her of her lost daughter. However, Radka has emotional problems of her own. This is a superbly acted drama (McCormack is terrific as Rebecca) with a strong sense of place and well-meaning points to make about grief and obsession, though the conclusion is slightly underwhelming and Richard's character is curiously underwritten throughout. Worth seeing though.


Dangerous Acts Starring The Unstable Elements Of Belarus (three stars)

New York-based filmmaker Madeleine Sackler directs this urgent and moving documentary about the eight members of the underground Belarus Free Theatre troupe, who are dedicated to protesting against the dictatorship of “President” Alexander Lukashenko, despite the constant threat of arrest or police raids. Eventually, the members of the group leave the country and take their provocative act to Manhattan, via an award-winning show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with some members choosing to remain in exile while others return. This is an engaging film that's by turns moving, inspirational and genuinely shocking. There's also a touching cameo of sorts by Philip Seymour Hoffman at the end.



Afternoon Delight (four stars)

Enjoyable US comedy starring Kathryn Hahn as a frustrated wife and mother who hires a stripper (Juno Temple) as a live-in nanny. I agree with Jennie Tate's ViewLondon review of it here.


Also released:

Almost Married (not screened for press)
Leave The World Behind (not seen)
The Legend of Hercules (not screened for press)


There now follows the weekly plea to See Smaller Films First (#SSFF). If you are planning on seeing The Borderlands, My Stuff, The Past, The Fold, Dangerous Acts, Afternoon Delight or 20 Feet From Stardom this week, then please, please, please, PLEASE see them this weekend as smaller films need opening weekend support to survive and the likes of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Muppets Most Wanted will be around for several weeks yet.

Weekly Film Round-up: Friday 21st March, 2014

Film of the Week: Starred Up

Total films seen so far this year: 91
Films seen in the last week: Oh! What a Lovely War, Battle Beyond the Stars (again), About Last Night, The Unknown Known

Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me) 

There are twelve new films out this week, though one of them (The Robber) wasn't screened for press and I didn't manage to see G.B.F., Peter Gabriel Back to Front or Salvo. Of the twelve new releases, three of them have made it into this week's Top Ten. They include: David Mackenzie's British prison drama Starred Up (starring Jack O'Connell), Ivan Reitman's drama Labour Day (starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin) and Svengali, a charming British comedy starring Jonny Owen as a hopelessly optimistic wannabe music promoter. I will also put in a good word for both Errol Morris' The Unknown Known and French fashion designer biopic Yves Saint Laurent. I would also urge you to see Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem this week, as it had a terrible first week and is likely to disappear from cinemas very soon. A full round-up of this week's releases appears after the Top Ten below.

1) The Grand Budapest Hotel
2) Under the Skin
3) Inside Llewyn Davis
4) Starred Up
5) Stranger By The Lake
6) The Zero Theorem
7) Veronica Mars
8) Labour Day
9) The Lego Movie  
10) Svengali


This week's new releases in full:

Starred Up (four stars)

Gripping and sharply written British prison drama, directed by David Mackenzie and starring Jack O'Connell as a violent young offender transferred to an adult jail where his estranged father (Ben Mendelsohn) is also incarcerated. ViewLondon review here.


Labour Day (four stars)

Emotionally engaging drama, directed by Jason Reitman and based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, starring Kate Winslet as a depressed single mother living with her 13 year-old son (Gattlin Griffith), who harbours a wounded fugitive (Josh Brolin) they meet in the supermarket. ViewLondon review here.


Svengali (three stars)

Enjoyable British comedy based on the cult Welsh internet series. Jonny Owen (who also wrote the screenplay and created the series) stars as warm-hearted Welshman Dixie, a wannabe music promoter who heads to London with his girlfriend Shell (Vicky McClure) in order to persuade the members of a band (Michael Socha, Dylan Edwards, Joel Fry and Curtis Thompson as The Premature Congratulations) he's seen on YouTube to let him become their manager. The film is a lot of fun, largely because Owen's Dixie is such an infectiously enthusiastic and effortlessly charming character. There's also palpable chemistry between Owen and McClure (chemistry that translated into their real-life relationship) and strong comic support from the likes of Michael Smiley, Matt Berry (very funny) and Martin Freeman, though your mileage may vary on Katy Brand's comedy Ukrainian landlady. In addition, the savvy script delivers lots of decent laughs and there's some commendably accurate location work to boot. Indeed, the only real problems are that a) the film cops out of letting us actually hear the band's music, and b) McClure's character is shunted offscreen for too long in the middle section.


About Last Night (three stars)

A remake of Edward Zwick's 1986 romantic drama, itself an adaptation of David Mamet's play Sexual Perversity in Chicago, although Mamet had no hand in the script. Kevin Hart plays inveterate woman-chaser Bernie, whose best friend Danny (Michael Ealy) reluctantly tags along as his wing-man during bar crawls, even though he's still not over his ex-girlfriend (Paula Patton). However, when Bernie has a second date with his latest conquest Joan (Regina Hall), Danny ends up bonding with Joan's introverted roommate Debbie (Joy Bryant) and the pair begin a relationship. As Danny and Debbie's relationship goes from strength to strength, Bernie and Joan's fizzles out and descends into bitter slanging matches whenever they're forced to hang out together. However, both Danny and Debbie start to wonder if they've moved too fast and the reappearance of Danny's ex threatens to split them apart. My tolerance for Kevin Hart's brand of motor-mouthed comedy is lower than most, but he's on moderately amusing form here and the film does throw out the occasionally amusing off-the-wall moment (chicken costume sex – is that a thing?). Similarly, Hall is good value and Patton's cameo is fun, but it's hard to care too much about Ealy and Bryant, as they're both rather mopey. On top of that, while the script retains the original film's Mametian commitment to foul-mouthed dialogue, the film-makers have made the curious decision to strip away the only thing anyone remembers the 1986 film for, notably the copious and explicit for the time sex scenes.

Yves Saint Laurent (three stars)

The first of two French biopics about the fashion designer, directed by Jalil Lespert. Beginning in 1958, with young Yves Saint Laurent (Pierre Niney) already making a name for himself under Christian Dior, the film chronicles his rise to fame and fortune, through setting up his own couture house and the establishment of his pret-a-porter collections. However, much of the film's focus is on Yves' relationship with Pierre Bergé (Guillaume Gallienne), who became his business partner and long-term boyfriend and was a loyal, supportive and patient presence throughout Yves battles with coke addiction, anxiety and depression. Niney and Gallienne are both superb and the film looks gorgeous, thanks to some stunning production design work and an obvious devotion to detail in the costume department. However, the film suffers somewhat because it ends up painting Yves as a largely unsympathetic character (Gallienne's character narrates the film), so the overriding impression is of Berge waiting until his lover is dead until he can properly tell his side of the story. Similarly, there are some frustrating gaps in the script – a bit of background on Yves' childhood and initial interest in fashion design wouldn't have gone amiss, for example, while the ending feels rather arbitrary.  

The Unknown Known (three stars)

Director Errol Morris won a Best Documentary Oscar for 2003's The Fog of War, in which he interviewed former US Secretary of Defence Robert S. McNamara, eliciting illuminating and fascinating commentary on World War II, the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam and so on. The Unknown Known attempts the same trick with Donald Rumsfeld, but it's neither as engaging nor as satisfying, largely because Morris gives his subject too easy a ride in person, preferring to score his points by intercutting video evidence that contradicts what Rumsfeld is saying (e.g. Rumsfeld declares no-one in the Bush administration ever hinted that Saddam Hussein was implicated in 9/11 and then Morris cuts to Rumseld indicating exactly that at a press conference). The film uses Rumsfeld's multitude of internal memos (or, as he calls them, “snowflakes”) as a jumping off point for discussions on 9/11, the Iraq War, the targeting of Saddam Hussein, Abu Ghraib and a number of other subjects, but Rumsfeld barely scratches the surface of what's already part of the official record and Morris never forces him to dig any deeper. That said, the section of the film on Rumsfeld's early life and career is interesting (1960s / 1970s Rumsfeld bears an uncanny resemblance to Mad Men's Don Draper), particularly his time under Nixon (with uncanny prescience he got out just before the Watergate scandal broke and there's a Nixon tape where Nixon and his cronies discuss whether Rumsfeld would be prepared to “go down with the ship”), as well as the thwarting of his obvious ambition to become President, when Reagan chose Bush over Rumsfeld as his running mate in 1980. Overall, Rumsfeld comes across as a likeable, intelligent and often charming presence, but you can't shake the feeling that that's a carefully constructed facade that Morris fails to crack.

The Machine (two stars)

Low budget British sci-fi thriller starring Toby Stephens as a military robot designer whose assistant Ava (Caity Lotz) becomes the model for a new form of artificial intelligence. Despite strong performances and an admirable use of its limited financial resources (almost the entire film takes place in concrete bunkers), this never really came together for me. As an actor, Stephens is so cold and emotionless that he might as well be playing one of the robots, though Lotz is good value in her dual roles as Ava and Robot Ava. There are also some nice allusions to films like Blade Runner and Metropolis, but the limited setting eventually becomes claustrophobic and I found the whole thing frustratingly repetitive in places. That said, it's definitely worth a look if you like that sort of thing and it will be interesting to see what writer-director Caradog W. James comes up with when someone hands him a bigger budget.


A Long Way Down (one star)

Comedy, adapted from the 2005 novel by Nick Hornby, starring Pierce Brosnan, Imogen Poots, Aaron Paul and Toni Collette as four strangers who meet at a famous London suicide spot and make a pact to support each other. One of the worst films of the year. ViewLondon review here.

Also released:

Peter Gabriel Back to Front (not seen)
The Robber (not seen)
Salvo (not seen)
G.B.F. (not seen)


There now follows the weekly plea to See Smaller Films First (#SSFF). If you are planning on seeing Svengali, The Unknown Known, Yves Saint Laurent, The Machine, The Robber, Salvo, GBF or Peter Gabriel Back To Front this week, then please, please, please, PLEASE see them this weekend as smaller films need opening weekend support to survive and the likes of Under the Skin and Need for Speed will be around for several weeks.