Thursday 20 February 2014

Filmdog Weekly #7 (Dallas Buyers Club, Her)

Awards season is finally reaching it's climax, culminating in the Oscars in just over a week's time, so with that in mind I took the chance to check out Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, favourites to land Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively, as they team up for Dallas Buyers Club. Following that we'll nip into the near future for robo-relationship drama Her...



Dallas Buyers Club (Greenwich Picturehouse)
'Full blown enjoyment'

Dallas, Texas 1985. Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is a Texan electrician, cowboy and serial shagger (of ladies, of course).

Going into the film I wasn't sure whether Ron was gay or straight, based on the subject matter, but that gets dutifully cleared up within the opening 20 minutes as we spend some time hanging out with Ron. He gambles with money that isn't his, bangs a couple of cowgirls at the Rodeo, drinks beer with his buddies and generally lives the life of a budget rock star. His luck is about to run out however, and he discovers the terrible (and mostly uninformed) consequences of his many years of promiscuity and drug abuse. 

After an accident at work, a regulation hospital check-up becomes anything but when Ron is diagnosed as HIV positive and given 30 days to take care of his affairs. A brief period of denial and despair lead Ron into doing some research of the disease and he pleads with the hospital doctor, Eve (Jennifer Garner), to be placed into a clinical trial of a new wonder-drug called AZT.

Failing to gain access to the trial, and therefore the treatment that could potentially save his life, Ron heads to Mexico to find another supplier. It's on this trip that Ron, near death, discovers that AZT is actually doing his body more harm than good, and that the real life-savers come in the form of the legal-but-medically-unapproved cocktail of vitamins prescribed to him by Dr Vass, a US doctor struck-off in his homeland. 

The two men set out to make some serious money by smuggling these drugs across the border and selling them to AIDS sufferers. To gain access to the majority of his potential customers in the gay and lesbian community, Ron, an outcast amongst his old friends after being declared a 'faggot', must tackle his own overt homophobia by partnering up with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman, who provides him with customers for his 'Dallas Buyers Club'.

Ron's character develops from mercenary to man of mercy, as he struggles against the might of the Federal Drugs Agency and their increasingly personal attempts to shut down his operation, in order to save as many lives as he can.

I really liked this film. McConaughey and Jared Leto are sublime as the odd couple thrown together through misfortune and both are rightly tipped to win at the Academy Awards on Sunday 2nd March. McConaughey especially gives one of the best performances I've seen in the past 12 months, right up there alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor's Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. It's full of Southern charm and charisma, hitting all the right notes as his character goes through nearly every possible emotion. 

The headlines have been, and will be, about the weight loss that both men endured for their parts, but it was essential in the telling of this story and making it believable. The film is not quite as good as the acting in it, and like real life, the ending doesn't have a Karate Kid Crane-Kick happy ending, but it's very enjoyable and the chemistry between McConaughey and Leto make it an engaging ride, albeit with a one-way ticket.

* * * * 




Her (Greenwich Picturehouse)
'Digital Love'

Her is a rather touching and sentimental film about the romance between a man and his computer. But just like real life, this relationship is not without it's complications.

Set in the near future, Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a quiet and lonely man in the final stages of divorce proceedings with his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). Still conflicted by the issues surrounding his marriage breakdown, he spends his days working as a professional writer at Beautifully Handwritten Letters, and his evenings playing computer games. 

One day, on a whim, he buys an Operating System, a kind of digital Personal Assistant. He's surprised to find that his OS (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) has the ability to learn and develop her personality. She names herself Samantha, and the two of them hit it off immediately.

Using an earpiece and mobile phone-style device, Theodore talks with Samantha and begins to share the experiences of being human with her, taking her on walks to the beach, nights out at the fair, and even the pleasures of sex. It's a cathartic process as Theodore breaks free of his melancholy and finds new invigoration in his work and social life. 

Their relationship grows into a fully fledged romance and soon Theodore is introducing his 'girlfriend' to some of his more liberal friends (Human-OS relationships are common in the future but still considered something of a taboo), including his neighbour Amy (Amy Adams) who is going through some martial difficulties of her own.

Once the honeymoon period is over however, things start to become more complex. A botched attempt at sex surrogacy creates an awkward tension between the two of them, as she pines to increase her capacity for more human interaction. Samantha also starts to become jealous, as Theodore drifts in and out of his thoughts for Catherine, with several flashback sequences showing the married couple in happier times.

The jealousy is not all one way however. As Samantha starts to make friends with other members of the OS community, she begins to understand that her appetite for new experiences are not limited by human restrictions, such as a physical body or a life-span. In the digital world, there are no such boundaries.

Her is a beautifully constructed world. Spike Jonze has done an excellent job on visualising a future that doesn't seem too far from the realms of possibility. Even the film's futuristic fashion of high-waisted trousers has inspired a recent trend among young hipsters. The technology, including a hilarious adventure video game and personalised Operating Systems feels realistic, and just maybe this film will inspire the next generation of scientists much in the way the original Star Trek series did. 

Her definitely hints at satire, focusing on our growing dependance upon gadgets and how far we might take that obsession in the next few decades, but it does it playfully, celebrating our diversity and multiculturalism, as several characters warmly embrace Theodore and Samantha's unorthodox relationship, just like they would a regular couple.

Just like Theodore, Her is full of heart and very gentle, sometimes getting a little too caught up in it's own sentimentality, but it's terrifically acted, especially Scarlett who manages to flesh out a whole character just with her voice. I can see it becoming a cult Valentine's Day classic in the future, much in the same way as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, with which this film shares the same tone, if not quite the same originality and visual magic. They would make a great double bill, but beware, you might be thoroughly down in the dumps by the end.

* * *

Monday 10 February 2014

Filmdog Weekly #6 (Inside Llewyn Davies, Nebraska)

After our most recent forays into the hidden gems of Netflix, I finally managed to make it out of my front door to watch a couple of new releases. First up it's the Coen brothers' take on the 60's folk scene in Inside Llewyn Davies. Once the gig's over we'll be taking a road trip to Nebraska...


Inside Llewyn Davies (Greenwich Picturehouse)
'Reality Bites...'

We spend a week in the damp shoes of Llewyn Davies (Oscar Isaac), a character based on Dave Van Ronk, a singer on the 1961 Greenwich Village folk circuit, as he faces poverty and a string of misfortunes in an attempt to make it as a successful solo artist. 

He's talented, no doubt about it. The opening song, 'Hang Me, Oh Hang Me', played to an attentive audience in a smokey folk club, is a nice little tune and indicative of the kind of soundtrack we can expect throughout the film. It benefits from the authenticity of Isaac's own skill as a guitarist and singer, and it's an involving performance.

Without a guitar in his hands, however, he's King Midas in reverse. Everything he touches turns to shit. The film follows Llewyn's fraught journey from New York to Chicago and back again, sleeping on whatever couch is available and offering a less-than-romantic portrayal of life as a gigging folk musician, the realities of which often involve a lot of boredom between the highs of playing live gigs.

It has the typical Coen quirks. Regular contributor John Goodman turns up as a condescending, jazz-loving junkie on Llewyn's road trip to Chicago (a section of the film I found fairly pointless). Garrett Hedlund may as well have not been in it at all. His role as an almost mute rocker serves no purpose to the story whatsoever. Cary Mulligan and Justin Timberlake are almost cameo-like in the brevity of their screen time as Llewyn's long suffering friends Jim and Jean. 

The focus is solely on the title star and we're lucky that Oscar Isaac is talented enough both as an actor and musician to make his performance an engaging one, otherwise this would have been another to add to the list of Coen Brother bore-fests (The Man Who Wasn't There, A Serious Man). 

I liked this film but it's not something I'd urge you to go and see if you're fussed about story or plot because there isn't one really, just a straight forward narrative of a man going from A to C, stopping at B to sleep. Despite being categorised as a comedy by some media outlets, it's certainly not that. There are a few amusing moments, mostly to do with a sub-plot involving a runaway cat, but generally it's a serious and quietly contemplative drama about one man's inner turmoil, as he racks his conscience about whether music is really worth all the hassle. 

When you're cold, broke, miserable and constantly having to struggle for your art it can be a lonely place and that's what the directors have chosen to show here. In many ways it's the most realistic portrayal I've seen of life in the music scene. It struck a chord with me, and will do to anyone else whose played a handful of live gigs, but there are no peaks or troughs to entertain the average film-goer. Just a long, often bleak journey with plenty of time for self-contemplation. It's stylish though, and judging by the audience in my cinema, those with fond memories of the 60's folk scene will dig it. Younger audiences may struggle to appreciate either the music or the sombre tone of the film but credit to the Coens for their authenticity.

* * *


Nebraska (Prince Charles Cinema)
'It's in the middle somewhere...'

Bruce Dern gives a potential Oscar-Winning performance as Woody Grant, a booze-addled grouch prone to bouts of detachment from reality, who's intent on getting to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect the million dollars he's won after receiving a winning 'mega sweepstakes' coupon in the mail. 

Of course, we know that there is no million dollar prize. Woody's wife and sons know it too, but that doesn't stop him from making several failed attempts at the journey, mostly by foot (he's lost his drivers licence on account of his age) before being taken home by the police or his family who think he's finally lost his marbles.

Woody's son David (comedy actor-writer Will Forte) finally agrees to ferry his old man on the 1700 mile round trip from their hometown in Billings, Montana in order to spend some time with his father. Their road trip sees them take in Mount Rushmore ("It's just a hump of rock...doesn't look finished to me") and various small town bars along the way before paying a visit to some extended family in their old hometown of Hawthorne.

The director, Alexander Payne, a native of Nebraska, shoots in a beautifully cinematic black and white, showing a state that has been left behind, run-down and rusty compared to the modern metropolises of coastal America. The effects of the 2008 financial crisis have taken their toll on these quiet mid-west identikit towns, each bar looking like the last, full of the townsmen sitting around drinking, docile and content with their insignificance in the world. 

When news of Woody's good fortune breaks out he becomes something of a local celebrity, however this bring it's own pitfalls as old friends and family alike form and orderly queue for hand-outs from poor old Woody, still convinced he's won enough money to buy his dream wish-list; a brand new truck and an air compressor. 

It falls upon hapless David to fend off the vultures, aware that the more the rumour of his father's fortune spreads, the more their lives will become increasingly complicated. He finally gets to share the burden of responsibility once his mother (June Squibb) and brother Ross (Breaking Bad's Bob Odenkirk) show up in Hawthorne for the Grant family reunion, leading to several blackly-comic episodes.

As Woody and David eventually make it to Lincoln, is it too far fetched that Woody has actually won a million dollars?

It's an enjoyable ride if you have the patience for it, but you're going to need a lot of it. Bruce Dern doesn't have a great deal of dialogue as Woody but he's absolutely brilliant. He gives a wonderfully moving performance, often without saying anything. There's confusion and inner conflict going on behind his eyes, face blank and emotionless, with a childlike quality to contrast his stern, brash exterior. He's well supported by Forte and Odenkirk who provide the humorous sit-com moments, and Squibb is great fun as their foul-mouthed mother, worn out by Woody's fantastical escapades. 

I've had a couple of small bets on both Dern and Squibb to win at the Oscars for their roles in this film. They're both long shots, around 40/1 and 33/1 respectively, but I wouldn't be stunned to see either win, based on Dern's masterful performance and the lack of strength in the Best Supporting Actress category. 

Nebraska isn't a thrill ride, it's tonally more in tune with Inside Llewyn Davies, thought-provoking and focused on great individual performances rather than telling a wonderful story.

* * *





Sunday 2 February 2014

Filmdog Weekly #5 (Thank You For Smoking, A Beautiful Mind, Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Welcome to #FilmdogWeekly. This week we're attempting to wean ourselves off the addictive Thank You For Smoking. Once we've quit we're off to spook Russell Crowe's paranoid John Nash in A Beautiful Mind before soaking up the Catalonian sun in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona...


Thank You For Smoking (Netflix)
'It's cool'

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is handsome and charming. So why is he one of the most hated men in America?

It's because he's the chief spokesperson for Big Tobacco, lobbying hard on behalf of the multi-million dollar cigarette companies to ensure they are fairly represented in the media. Nick's the perfect PR guy. He spins and he wins. Smooth talking, movie star looks, ultra confident. So he's a monster right?

Well no, not at all. In fact he's probably one of the most likeable characters you'll see in a film and probably the best role Aaron Eckhaart has played. Nick possesses such a school-boyish enthusiasm, like a scout eager to keep earning badges, that he's essentially portrayed as 'the good guy' while William H. Macy's Senator Finistirre, a hard-line campaigner against the dangers of cigarettes, is this movie's bad guy. 

A Business trip to California provides Nick with the chance to spend some quality time with his son Joey and re-establish his paternal credentials, and we're more than happy to come along for the ride as he finally has to face up to the potentially hazardous consequences of his 'moral flexibility'. Along the way we're treated to an awkward 'What Does Your Father Do?' day at school, a masterclass in winning a debate and a litany of great characters as Nick's luck runs out faster than it takes to smoke a Marlboro Light.

It's a very fine satire and a great film for an afternoon on the sofa. Despite the various plot politics you're not required to use a lot of brain power as the script practically does all the work for you. It's punchy, full of great dialogue and I highly recommend it. You'll thank me for watching.

* * * *



A Beautiful Mind (Netflix)
'I've got a question...You're crazy'
'I don't give a fuck who you are. Who on earth had the fucking audacity to take out the Best Actor's poem? You fucking piece of shit - I'll make sure you never work in Hollywood...'
...said the polite Mr Crowe to BBC Director Malcolm Gerrie after the latter had cut the Gladiator star's four-line poem from that evening's scheduled television coverage of the 2002 BAFTA ceremony. Reports at the time suggest Crowe was so furious with the decision to edit his reading of 'Sanctity by Patrick Kavanagh that he ordered two heavies to bring the beeb man to a private room before pinning him to the wall and delivering an ode of an altogether different manner.

As Gerrie stood, pinned to the wall, hot Victoria Bitter spittle spraying into his face, how he must have wished he could turn back the clock to reconsider his options and change the course of history. If only he'd left Crowe's speech in the planned broadcast, then the world would've had the chance to experience Crowe's life-changing poem. As things stood, those not attending the ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel that evening would spend the rest of their days in ignorance.

The film itself is somewhat underwhelming and more than a little anodyne. John Nash is a brilliant mathematician and code breaker but is lacking in basic fundamental social skills. We follow his journey as a young student at Princeton University as he competes with his peers for greatness, spurred on not by the reward of financial grants but by the desire for acclaim. He has a roommate, Charles, played by Paul Bettany (he and Crowe would go on to star in the excellent Master and Commander two years later) who helps John cut loose when his work starts getting the better of him.

As his career as a successful maths theorist progresses, so do his troubles begin to flourish. Several paranoid episodes lead to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and suddenly we find ourselves not quite knowing what is real and what is in John's (beautiful) mind, leaving his faithful wife (Jennifer Connelly) holding the baby. 

Once the full scale of Nash's psychological problems are revealed, the final third of the film quickly runs out of steam, and I couldn't help but think it a shame that the beautiful mind in question seemed to be situated within the skull of a complete arseholeI'm surprised this garnered such critical acclaim too, winning four Oscars, four Golden Globes and two BAFTAS, but then again the subject material fits the bill perfectly. No doubt the real John Nash must have had a hard time of it, but this film seems less focused in addressing the realities of his mental illness and more on Russell Crowe's ability to turn his 'overact button' up to 11. 

If anything, A Beautiful Mind feels like an extended episode of Quantum Leap, albeit one in which Sam Beckett doesn't save the day and therefore doesn't make the leap out of John Nash, leaving him doomed to spend the rest of his days traipsing around New Jersey in the body of an old man while Al desperately hits his colourful remote control. Shame really. Sam Beckett's next leap was going to be into the body of Malcolm Gerrie just as Russell Crowe delivers his poem.

* * (* scrapes 3 Filmdogs)




Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Netflix)1
'¡Amigos Amigos Amigos!'

Two New Yorkers spend the summer in Barcelona in this Woody Allen effort from 2008. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is a brunette. This, dear Filmdoggers, indicates she is the conservative one. She's engaged to be married to a boring guy back in the USA at the end of the summer. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) has blonde hair and is a free spirit searching for her true calling.

Our two girls arrive in Barcelona for the summer intent on soaking up as much sun and Catalonian culture as they can but soon find their heads and their hearts going into meltdown with the introduction of Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a handsome and very charming artist who persuades the girls to accompany him on a weekend to Oviedo.

I won't spoil it but the story involves some rumpy-pumpy and the re-evaluation by several characters of what they actually want from life and ironically it turns out to be Cristina who has her head screwed on the most, finding peace in a new hobby and adapting to the European lifestyle while Vicky desperately ponders whether she's making a huge mistake by marrying Doug (Chris Messina). The film sparks into life with the arrival of Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), Juan Antonio's ex-wife and muse who really sets the cat amongst the pigeons.

I enjoyed Vicky Cristina Barcelona but probably less for the actual story and more for the film's themes and setting. I felt most empathy for Cristina, coming to the realisation that she's not blessed with any divine talent like Juan Antonio or Maria Elena, but finding a sense of belonging to her surroundings. 

If you can rate a film on how it left you feeling then I'd say this was a success, at least to the point where I felt like opening a bottle of red wine, playing my guitar and buying some paint and canvas. Olé!

* * *