djmmccorkell's Reviews

An Education (2009)

7/10

1 January 2015

First off, let me say that Carey Mulligan was simply superb in this. I know lots of people outside the UK have called her a breakthrough actress. But as a Britisher who has seen her in many other things I'd say this is as as good as she has given.

Playing the role of a young girl she gives the character maturity but also the naivety that the character demands. For an adult actor to walk the line and create a character that is both a child and a woman must take incredible skill, but Mulligan pulls it off flawlessly.

The film as a whole touches on many aspects of British life, some of which are as relevant today as they were back in the time. We see the foundations of the culture of greed that has dominated our politic.

In summary: What seems like a cute romance movie is a documentary of our time.

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The American (2010)

6/10

Pretty, but lacking

1 January 2015

First off, don't be fooled by the movie poster and trailers. This isn't a Bourne-style spy thriller full of breaking limbs and shoot-outs.

It's the story of a man (Clooney) who has been so devoted to his career of choice for so long, who is finally realizing that there's more to life.

In many ways it parallels the story of Clooney's work, Up In The Air, from a few years prior. A man who symbolizes all the most masculine aspects of personality (single-minded, driven, arrogant) realizing in middle-age that something is missing.

That said, there still is an OK spy thriller underlying this. It's not Bourne; it's much more in the style of the slow-paced spy thrillers of the 60s/70s. It lacks the twists and turns of the genre, but that's only because this isn't really a genre film - it's a story of mid-life crisis that just happens to involve spies.

Visually, it's a beautiful film. From the scenery to the slow pacing that always allows each scene that little extra moment for the actors to do their work, it's quite compelling.

But it just needed a little ...something to make it as good as it should have been. The character depth just wasn't quite there; the underlying spy plot just wasn't intriguing enough.

In summary, it does a lot of things right but just doesn't do enough to elevate itself from watchable to must-see.

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All Things Fair (1995)

6/10

Heart in the right place

30 December 2014

The core story, a young teacher with a disassociated husband, falling in love with one of her pupils is sound. Despite some lurid aspects to the first act, the subject it approached very well.

The turning point comes in a brief scene mid-movie between the husband and the young lover, where it's revealed that the husband knows all the comings and goings of his wife. It's a beautiful piece of cinema - the confrontation between a man and a boy who thinks he's a man.

After that point, what was a sensitive coming-of-age movie goes downhill fast. There's an awkward moment between the lead and a minor character that probably gained the movie more controversy than it was worth. After that, nothing of interest.

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A Summer in Genoa (2008)

8/10

Good, but I can understand why it disappoints

30 December 2014

Warning: Spoilers

I adored this, but I can see why many people felt let down by it. It starts strongly, but in terms of narrative it meanders and lacks any real story or ending.

But to me this was more a snapshot of the life of a family coming to acceptance of the loss of a parent. And, like real life, there isn't always a narrative or happy ending. Things happen for no particular reason and life goes on.

Now on to why I loved this. Firstly, the setting. Genoa/Genova is a captivatingly beautiful place, and the camera-work makes the most of it. I dare anyone to watch this and not want to take a weekend break there exploring that city.

Secondly, Colin Firth. The film starts with the loss of his wife, leaving him the sole parent of two young girls. His performance as a father left as the sole parent is exemplary. Not yet come to terms with his own grief, he ploughs on trying to be the man of the house rather than being a father.

He finds himself left with two daughters. The youngest blames herself for her mother's death; the elder expresses her grief by reinforcing her sister's guilt and exploiting her new-found sexuality. He struggles to cope with properly grieving. He fails to see the psychological scars his younger daughter is carrying. He fails to come to terms with his elder daughter's transition into becoming a young woman.

And while all this is happening he finds himself being offered an opportunity to escape the role (burden?) of fatherhood via the romantic interests of an attractive young Italian student. Ultimately, he places his responsibility as a father first.

The great thing about this film is that all I've just said is suggested. A touch here, a glance there, unspoken conveyance of emotions. There's no heavy-handed exposition, no guiding the viewer down a particular path. You might watch this film and come away with a completely different interpretation and it would be just as valid as mine.

Particular praise goes to Perla Haney-Jardine as the younger daughter. She delivers a really strong emotional performance for a kid. Willa Holland is decent as the elder daughter, striking the right balance between childhood and teenage rebellion/sexuality.

In summary, it's the kind of art-house film you're either going to love or hate. But even as someone who generally hates art-house/indie cinema Genova captured my heart.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

2/10

Unnecessary remake

30 December 2014

I'm all for remakes when the people behind them think they have something new to add to the original tale. That's not the case here. Every aspect of this retelling is somehow less than the original.

Let's start with Freddy. As an original horror creation, he was iconic for the time and quite rightly became an instant pop culture figure (quite a feat for a murderous paedophile). In the later movies he devolved into a wise-cracking almost-camp figure, so maybe he did need a reboot. But the Freddy in this film isn't that reboot. From the Christian Bale Batman voice to the fish-faced inexpressive look spouting out cliché after cliché, this is not the Freddy we want or deserve.

Next, dreams. The earlier movies played tricks with the viewer. Often we were never sure whether what we were seeing was real or a dream sequence. In the original we didn't even know for sure if Freddy was a real threat or just the fevered imaginings of the protagonist. Not here. Freddy is there in all his glory 5 minutes in, and the switches from reality to dream are so ham-fisted that only the addition of the Inception vroooom noise could make it more obvious.

Killings. Yeah, it's a slasher movie; it needs a section about killings. The deaths in the original were wildly imaginative, pushing the boundaries of what was achievable on a limited budget. Here they're dull affairs and badly paced, leaving the second half of the movie killing-free and dogged down by needless exposition (we all know the Freddy back-story and this film adds nothing to it).

Aspects of the original such as the underlying theme of teenage alienation from parents, or the sins of the father being paid by the next generation, are completely dropped here. The original was never exactly deep, but this is as hollow as movies come.

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He Who Dares: Downing Street Siege (2014)

1/10

Avoid

29 December 2014

Ever been sat at a bar and struck up a conversation with some social reject who swears he used to be in the SAS? When most likely the closest he ever got to the SAS was listening to an audiobook of an Andy McNab novel.

This is a film made by that guy, and it's about as believable as his barfly stories. Every single aspect of this is woeful.

The first 20-30 mins are nothing but a muddled recap of the previous film in the series, which I've had the good fortune of not seeing. Once the story finally begins, it's just one wooden scene after another with jarring video effects thrown in, trying (and failing) to make the on-screen action remotely interesting.

If you're even contemplating this as a dumb-but-fun action film -- don't. There's maybe 10 mins of action in the whole thing, and it's appallingly bad.

Walk away and go see a documentary on the Iranian Embassy siege, or many of the other fine drama-docs on the SAS that portray them as they are, and not this insult to their name.

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The Christmas Candle (2013)

2/10

Review of reviews

21 December 2014

This film is a mess of undirected ideas. It tries to capture some kind of classic Christmas feeling, but completely misses. Giving credit where it's due, the costumes and location filming are quite nice.

Beyond those niceties, the film falls apart. The story is a mess, the moral message unclear. For a film that is trying to put the heart back into Christmas this is a soul-less mess that will not endear itself to any casual viewer.

BUT THE REAL REASON I WANTED TO REVIEW THIS ===========================================

The first few pages of IMDb reviews are filled with glowing 10/10 reviews by "people" who have never reviewed anything else on IMDb. Most of them praise this movie for bringing back the true Christian spirit of Christmas.

Pages of 10/10 reviews for a movie that clearly isn't good by any standard. Is that your message for Christmas? That it's OK to lie and deceive other people, as long as it results in conning them into handing over a few more bucks to see your movie.

I'm not a Christian, but that seems immoral to me.

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The Illusionauts (2012)

1/10

A CGI nightmare

1 July 2014

Setting aside all the blatant flaws, such as the utterly insane attempt at a plot or the phoned-in voice acting, this film contains some of the most awful CGI I've ever seen. Every single character has weird floaty eyes where their irises regularly float out of their eye sockets.

It's incredibly disconcerting and I'm sorry I can't describe the effect better. All I can say is that it looks like the character's faces were designed by someone who has never made eye contact with another living human being. Once you notice the weird eyes (and you will within 5 minutes) you'll spend the rest of the movie being freaked out by them.

Fortunately you won't be missing much because the rest of the show is abysmal. It's a complete nonsense story about hating Jules Verne and trying to satirize European politics. Neither topic is a good basis for a kids' movie.

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