Oui, a French gangster film...Mesrine Part 1 – Killer Instinct and Mesrine Part 2 – Public Enemy Number 1

I’ve decided to review parts 1 and 2 together. Although the films were released separately, the two films are clearly one whole film divided in two, as apposed to two separate stories.

Mesrine parts 1 and 2, are based on the autobiographical books by Jacque Mesrine (cool name), who was a gangster in France between the 1940’s and 1980’s, and according to the trailer, “To some he was a gangster, to others he was a hero. But to everyone, he was a legend!” During his criminal life he achieved a total of 32 Bank Heists, was jailed in top security prisons 4 times, and managed to escape every single time. Clearly a man with a fascinating story, but can they get it right on the big screen?

Yes they can. I’m not going to dibble dabble with describing the film before revealing my opinion this time, there’s simply no way I can express myself in a seemingly neutral way when describing these films, they’re brilliant. Vincent Cassel, who you might recognise from the disaster film Oceans 12, (he was the baddy), portrays the gangster who’s lust for crime and women can only be compared to his lust for fame and the love he has for himself.

We follow the life of Mesrine shortly after WWII, where he gets involved in small time robbery to avoid a dull life after the excitement of war. He soon works his way up and becomes the head gangster’s, played by the brilliant Cécile De France, right hand man, who almost adopts him as his son, and it’s around this time he meets the beautiful Sofia, (Elena Anaya) who he marries and has a family with. This inevitably leads to her wanting him to go straight for the sake of the family, which hesitantly he does.

Up to this point all we’ve seen of this Frenchman is how suave, sophisticated and cool headed he can be. However, this soon changes when he forces a gun into his wife’s mouth in front of his children and we see what a monster he can really be. It’s this tension which separates this gangster film from most others. Mesrine’s charming nature inevitably draws you in, and despite his monstrous outbursts you always find yourself on his side, which can only be put down to Cassel’s magnificent performance.

As the film(s) carry on, Mesrine’s need for fame grows along with the monster inside him, he craves attention taking every opportunity to talk to journalists and make himself front page news. No doubt Mesrine himself would love the idea of a film being made about him – especially being as good as this.

The cinematography is what you’d expect – no stunning scenes of a sunset or the sea glistening in the moonlight, but gritty and realistic with a hint of sophistication when Mesrine’s at his most smooth.

The score lends itself perfectly to the film, some tracks being well known hits incorporated in appropriate scenes, whereas in the darker scenes an orchestral harmony adds to the tension.

All the supporting actors and actresses are brilliant, especially the various women he has in his life, portraying a strength one would need to be with such a man and a softness which lures you in too.

The overall pace of the films is phenomenal, I found myself enthralled by almost every moment, my only criticism really comes with the length of Part 2, there’s about twenty minutes just after the half way point, where I felt the story wasn’t moving as quickly as it had been previous, but this soon changed; maybe if they had cut the film down a bit, the pace would have continued throughout and I would have given this 10 out of 10.

On the whole a classic gangster film with a certain je ne sais quoi, (what a cliche, I couldn't resist) one of the best gangster films, in fact one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time 9.5 out of 10. Epic.

(3D) Alice in Underland – sorry I mean Wonderland don’t I?

So here we are again sitting in the cinema alone, a habit I’m actually getting quite used to, it’s actually quite satisfying and relaxing, although that might be me just kidding myself. 

I haven’t read the original book, so my only source of reference is the original animated Disney version, which I haven’t seen for years (honest); however I will do my best for you. So here it is, the greatly anticipated Alice In Wonderland certificate PG (which makes it a bit weird that I’m here on my own, however, there are no children anywhere to be seen oddly enough!) we haven’t seen much of Tim Burton Producing and Directing since Mars Attacks, and I’ll probably annoy quite a few of you when I say I hated that film, a lot of people like it using the logic it’s so bad it’s good, but I’m afraid that logic does not cut with me. Just prior to that however he did have James and the Giant Peach which was a good film, and so was Edward Scissor Hands. Burton Certainly has a taste for weird and wonderful so lets what he does with this….

Ok so my first thought (beside’s the ridiculously priced ticket (see below) was that there was far too much hype surrounding this film, but it was inevitably going to get some. Not only was Tim Burton back and working on a “remake” (I’ll explain in a sec) of a children’s classic, but we also have Johnny Depp back in yet another role of a crazy person. Last time this happened was with Charlie and the Chocolate factory, which frankly was a pile of chocolate coloured waste, and was only really saved by Depp’s performance. In this film Depp plays the Mad Hatter, and isn’t really in it enough for the film to rest completely on his shoulders, so the rest of the cast, mainly Mia Wasikowska (Alice) really do have to hold there own. 

So why did I say “remake”? Well, it soon becomes clear that this is really a sequel to the original film. The film we know and loved as children has already happened, and this film is set thirteen years later. The older Alice (now nineteen, but looks about 12), has somehow forgotten all about the events of the first film and instead has a reoccurring dream, featuring a rabbit in a waistcoat, a blue caterpillar and a cat that smiles. This whole concept irritates me throughout. All the other characters are familiar with who Alice is, and she has no idea who any of them are, and as we follow Alice through the “Underland” (I know, pointless if you ask me) we are introduced to them as if for the first time. Although I can see the logic in this concept – having an older Alice not only allows the audience to relate to her, but also makes the action sequences more believable – I’m just not sure I buy it; I would have been more forgiving if this was the first time Alice had been to the “Underland” and the film makers simply made Alice older in this version. Nevertheless this is the concept we have, so we’ve just got to go with it.

The film takes about 20 – 30 minutes to actually get going, the build up to “Underland” (yes I’m going to keep doing “that”) takes far too long and is pretty boring. When we eventually get there, although it was very amusing to see Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, both played by Matt Lucas, I still felt like I was waiting for something. Eventually the pace of the film changes once we meet the Mad Hatter – surprise, surprise.

Depp’s performance as the Mad Hatter is brilliant without question, and any scene with him and the March Hare are very entertaining. Shortly after meeting the crazy couple, Alice’s adventures move her on and despite the lack of Depp – the pace continues. Wasikowska certainly seems comfortable and very capable of playing the title role, up until this point atleast, I can only blame the script and direction for failing to excite me, not Wasikowska’s portrayal as Alice.

In fact all the performances are superb, Helena Bonham Carter is very believable as the Red Queen, who seems rather like Queeny from Black Adder. As mentioned before Matt Lucas is very funny as the Tweedles, and all the voice actors, featuring, Stephen Fry as Chesire Cat, Alan Rickman as Blue Caterpillar and Barbra Windsor as Dormouse, to just name a few, are all excellent. By the end of the film I’d even bought into the concept and actually felt fairly satisfied by the end.

However before you all sit there thinking, “Here we go again, another film the Russell loved…” I still felt disappointed by it, and I can’t really put my finger on why. I eventually bought the concept (sort of), the film is visually stunning (although there’s surprisingly hardly any use of 3D), and the performances are all brilliant, but I still somehow feel let down. It just seems to be missing something, it simply didn’t excite me enough and although all the performances were great, I didn’t really care for any of the characters.

So what do I rate the film? And I’m sticking to the “Out of Ten” system for now. If I was rating the performances it would be a very high score however the film as a whole is getting a disappointing 6.5 – 7 (or 6.75 – couldn’t quite decide between the two) out of 10. Good film but you may as well wait for it to come out on DVD or Bluray – it’ll be bloody cheaper that way anyway!

Russ x

OD£ON

Right, this blog was never meant to be anything but a place for me to review tv and films and talk about the odd bit of tv/film news however, I'm going to rant a bit now because I'm so wound up!

Tonight I went to go and see Alice in Wonderland (Review Up tomorrow) and it cost nine pound friggin' 85!!!!! What a joke, you can buy bloody dvds and blu-rays for less than that and watch them again and again - that was even a normal seat! What's the deal with the seat system anyway - "Would you like V.I.P seating?"...Sorry what? So it's costing me 9.85 already but all that gets me is a seat to watch the film, I need to pay more money to be comftable??? Surely that should be a part of the standard service, a comftable seat at a viewing of a film?? And V.I.P my arse - do I get table service with that or something?? The V.I.P seats are the same seats as standard ones at VUE cinemas - standard seats at Odeon don't even have a cup holder.

And then I see an advert for the Odeon Loyalty Card - "film fans should be rewarded" or something along those lines - the advert explains that you gain points each time you see a film to earn points towards tickets and popcorn. What a good idea I thought, being someone who reviws films it would be worth my while. HOWEVER, on exiting the film and asking for a card - they cost!!! Eithr £4, £7 or £9.99!!! The more you spend the more points you get to start with? ARGH! Having to pay for a loyalty card - absolute joke.

Anyway, rant over, I just can't believe how expensive the cinemas are getting, and what you get for your money - just an annoying reminder that films are used as money making machines and not just made for the pure love of the art. Tomorrow I'll share my view on the greatly anticipated Alice In Wonderland.

Russ x

24

I was chatting to someone at a party the other night about 24 and it reminded me of how amazing it is so it deserves at least a mention - 24 in 24 sentences - starting now...

Jack Bauer is an agent working for CTU (Counter Terrorist unit), he's their best agent and will do whatever’s necessary to get results. This will often involve putting himself in harms way, torturing people, disobeying direct orders and undergoing torture himself.

The action in seasons 1 - 7 is phenomenal, which goes without saying, but in my opinion what gives 24 the edge over many action packed dramas and is the depth of Jack Bauer. To be the man he has become, an unstoppable sometimes out of control machine, he has become a very disturbed person, pushing away the people he cares about most, and hardly trusting anyone. Although watching Jack getting tortured and refusing to break is brilliant telly, it's the torture he causes within himself which makes the show. He will do anything to save the country from attack, which often means sacrificing himself, and on occasion putting his own family's neck on the line for the greater good.

The whole concept of 24, being set over 24 hours does add a great intensity, but can bring up a few questions. How can all this happen in just one day? What does Jack Bauer do the other 364 days of the year? When does he wee and poo? After watching a whole 6 seasons and now currently watching season 7, the poor bugger goes through so much in a day and doesn’t even stop to relieve himself - he never gets the chance.

Another thing that slightly annoys me is how they move from one season to another. Jack has died about 3 or so times now, right at the end of a season, then miraculously at the beginning of the following season, he either faked his own death, we misunderstood and he wasn't actually dead or found a cure to whatever he was dying of, when previously we'd been told there was no such thing.

I don't think I've given too much away by telling you he comes back to life, presumably you realize there's seven seasons with him in.

Don't get me wrong I love that they keep making more, but maybe they should stop killing him off and bringing him back to life. Just let him retire, and then come out of retirement again if they need another series.

Finally my last criticism and I don't want to dwell on any of these because I love the show to bits. The unpredictability of the show has ironically made some bits quite predictable. If Jack captures the baddy pretty early on you know that it'll either turn out there's a bigger baddy, or the baddy is actually a goody and that the real baddy is Jack's informant/mate/brother/mother/dog. It's like being told by a friend that there's a twist in a film "but don't worry I won't tell you what it is." Great, but now I know there's a twist I'm going to be looking out for it and probably guess it now anyway. But I guess that's apart of the 24 experience, guessing who's doing what for whom.

Overall though I recommend it to everyone, Keifer Sutherland's performance as Jack Bauer (probably the coolest character on t.v ever) is brilliant, he draws you to the edge of your seat in times of action and can also make you shed a tear in times of troubles. No scoring this time - just my highest recommendation.

Done - and yeah I know a couple of sentances are a bit too long, but cut me some slack, I immediatly regretted the 24 sentances idea, but I went through with it as I said I would - that's the kind of guy I am.

Exit through the Gift Shop - (The Banksy Film to everyone else)

Exit through the Gift Shop - (The Banksy Documentary)
Being the “arty farty” type like myself (yeah right!), when I heard that there was a documentary coming out about Banksy, I was somewhat intrigued to say the least. Banksy is renowned for his anonymousness, so why would he agree to be in a film where he is the centre of attention?

As I sit here in the picture house (on my own) with a small pepsi and small box of sweet popcorn, listening to some kind of reggae music with additional accordian (yes it got sadder!) the anticipation has actually made me quite excited, which I wasn’t really expecting. Nowadays, and certainly more recently now with the blog, I try to avoid reviews of any kind before I see the film for myself, so my first impression isn’t tainted at all. However, just the description of this film, “the first art disaster movie”, seems somewhat opinionated and “breaks all convention”, leads me to believe that I’m either going to love this film, or hate it - films and documentaries which “break convention”, I think usually have that effect on everyone.
So, now the lights are dimming, I’ve eaten half the box of popcorn already and I’m eager for the film to start, so I’ll see you on the other side…..

So the film opens with some old footage of street artists, from the 80s or early 90s, with the opening credits, and the song “The streets are ours” play in the background, the words “don’t buy this crap” are also heard just as the film starts. We immediaty see Banksy, dimly lit, sitting in a chair with his hood up, being asked what this film is about; he replies, with his voice disguised, “This is a story of a guy who tried to make a film about me, only he’s more interesting than I am.” So straight away it clearly isn’t going to be the film I thought it was. It’s about the Frenchman called Thierry Guetta, who when we meet him explains that ever since he first picked up a video camera, filmed literally everything in his life, never letting the camera out of his hands. With in the first few minutes of meeting Guetta it’s clear that he is a very colourful and eccentric character, and I immediately felt a warmth towards him; his slightly childish mannerisms with his passion for filming everything, instantly gets audience’s on side.

Very early on we see how he’s also slightly obsessed with celebrity, forcing his camera into faces of celebrities as they walk by; Jay Leno and Liam Gallagher to name a few.

He soon gets involved in filming street artists at night,  his cousin “Invader”, who’s known for tagging images of space invaders all over the place, hooks him up with various street artists such as, Buff Monster, Sweet Toof, Borf and specifically ends up following Shepard Fairey, who created This famous piece. Fairey eventually asks the question, why is he filming everything, and being put on the spot Guetta claims to be making a street art documentary, when in actual fact, he just stores the tapes, never to be watched again.

Banksy still remains a mystery to us the audience, as we havent seen him at all yet, and also to Guetta who is still trying to meet him. Eventually, due to sheer luck, Banksy needs a guide to where all the best walls are, and Guetta gets hooked up with him. It’s here at this half way point that the film takes a bit of a turn and we see more about Banksy talking about Guetta, rather than the other way around, describing him as a nice guy, useful to have around, but clearly a bit crazy.

As street art becomes more popular, and pieces are selling for ridiculous amounts of money, Banksy suggests that Guetta makes the film, to show the public that the art is not about the money, having never made a film before, the film that Guetta makes, as put by Banksy, is “a pile of shit.” Bansky sends him away telling him to maybe do some art work himself, and put on a small gallery, whilst he keeps the tapes to make a film himself. It’s here that the film takes a sudden twist - and I’ll leave what happens for you to see, it’s not really a great surprise, but I’d rather not give anything away.

So Guetta started out making a documentary about street art and Banksy, but ironically what we end up with is a documentary about Guetta by Banksy.

Now there’s many rumors going round that this film is a bit of a hoax and Guetta (or Mr Brainwash, as he’s later known) is completely made up. Either way, it is very entertaining and myself along with all the audience I was watching with, were in stiches to some of the comments made both by Banksy and by Guetta.
As to whether or not this film goes against convention, I’d have to say not. There's a clear structure to the story, a clear beginning middle and end, and it’s shot how you would expect a documentary of this kind to be shot. Hand held camera footage, mixed in with interviews and odd sequences to music.
“Exit through the gift shop” - which title becomes more meaningful once the film is over, referring to the museums and galleries making money from art - wasn’t what I’d thought it was going to be at all but it was excellent. I recommend anyone who has an interest in Banksy to go and see it for that reason, and those of you who do not, the sheer comedy factor of the charismatic Thierry Guetta, is worth the ticket money alone. I’m not sure what to rate this, is was brilliant but not what I expected -

I’ll go for a strong 8 out of 10 - I might stop with the “out of ten” scoring system soon, it’s come apparent that I might watch a film, think it’s an 8, but think it’s better than say Knowing, but scoring it it’s fair 8 would make it seem an equal. Not sure.
Anyway bottom line, if you can go and see this film - do it, it’s only out in a few cinemas around the country for a little while, hopefully though, we’ll see a dvd or bluray soon.
Russ x

Twilight my arse - this is how you do a vampire romance - Let the Right one in (Låt den rätte komma in) 2008

Let the Right one in (Låt den rätte komma in) 2008

Well here we have Swedish “horror” film, I put horror film in inverted commas because although this is billed as a horror, and believe me it is, its also a very endearing love story, so I’d feel more comfortable calling this a “romantic horror”, which for me, I think is a first.

We are immediately presented with your classic horror opener, silent credits followed by eerie orchestral stings and a creepy half naked boy muttering, “Squeal like a pig.” to his own reflection. With a chilling back drop of snowy Stockholm and howling wind, you would be forgiven for thinking that this is your classic horror film, and in many ways it is.

Oscar is a 12 year old boy who is getting bullied at school, and so far has had no courage to fight back despite his clear wish for revenge. His slightly morbid outlook on life and interest in murder only isolates him more and evidently makes him lonely. However, he soon makes a new friend, Eli, a strange girl who moves next door, who’s father is the mass murder Oscars been reading about. These murders aren’t for his own lust for killing, but for his daughter who lives off of his victim’s blood. That’s right; Eli is a 12 year old vampire.

Don’t be mistaking this for a soppy love film between a human and a vampire, this is no Twilight. For those of you who have a blood lust with horror films, this will satisfy your every need; there’s something really disturbing about watching a 12 year old girl attack a grown man for his blood. Equally those of you who enjoy love stories will also be satisfied, there are some particularly touching moments between Eli and Oscar, strangely one of the most touching being a kiss between Oscar and Eli, who’s mouth is covered in her latest victims blood. The juxtaposition of the romantic love story between our two protagonists, and the sheer gruesomeness of the horror is fantastic.

It seems at least where the music is concerned the director intended to focus mainly on the love story, the score is wonderfully constructed and emphasises the children’s love for one another, and it seems he held back during the horror scenes, and just let the images and sound effects do the talking.

The cinematography is also beautiful; the crisp blacks and cool whites of your typical horror give the whole film an unearthly feel, even during the warmest of moments, reminding us that despite the inevitable warmth we feel towards Eli, she’s still a cold blooded killer.
The performances of all concerned is brilliant – especially from Lina Leandersson who plays Eli. To be an 11 year old girl, playing a cold blooded killer and still manage to win over the hearts of an audience is quite an achievement, and in my opinion her performance makes the film.

I do have a couple of criticisms, but I feel I may be nit-picking, Kåre Hedebrant, who plays Oscar, is a great little actor but from time to time he pulls a weird squinty face, as if he can smell something strange that he can’t quite put his finger on , and I have no idea why and it’s really annoying. There’s also a scene where a few cats go crazy, hissing and spitting at the vampire – all of these cats are computer graphics, and obviously so. I can’t understand why the film makers didn’t use trained cats or cut the scene completely, as it felt like an unnecessary scene anyway.

Overall though, I recommend this film to everyone, there simply isn’t a film like it. It’s both brilliantly beautiful and deeply disturbing. Go and rent it or buy it now, I don’t think as a nation we watch enough world cinema as it is, and this is a must see.

9 out of 10

Oh and guess what? The bloody americans are currently making a re-make, suprise suprise - completly pointless.

Russ x

New Tricks tonight at 9pm BBC1

New Tricks is on again tonight if you missed the number 1 Crime Drama last time round, keep an eye on the credits, the camera trainee in particular :P

I can’t Adam and Eve it, Hot Monocles have returned to doing what they do best!

“Who ?” I hear you ask, well for those of you who don’t know, Hot Monocles are from the wonderful city of Birmingham, made up of four great musicians and friends of mine; according to their Myspace and Facebook, “Matt Bangs, Jon Slaps, Will Plucks and Dan Screams” sounds simple, but believe me they do it in style.

After a long 9 month break from gigging to concentrate on writing new material and recording their debut album, “The Medium and the Message”, they returned Saturday night to play at the Adam and Eve pub in Digbeth. The plan for them was to play a standard 30 – 40 minute support set, playing first to get back into the swing of playing to an audience. In a random turn of events, they ended up headlining the evening, playing longer than originally intended and getting an encore. Thank you kind randomness.

In all honesty I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’ve always loved their music but having talked to Dan, he told me that most of the material tonight was all new and a lot of my favourites such as “Fairer Eyes” and “Take your best shot”, had been cut out of the set, although I was excited to hear the new material, I was slightly disappointed.

This soon changed though, from the off I could see what a 9 month period of purely concentrating on development had done to Hot Monocles. They have managed to successfully maintain the distinct sound that the current fans have got to know, and just added a whole lot more, (or with the risk of cliché, they’ve cranked it “up to eleven”) All of their songs are “Epic” with lack of finding a better word.

By the end of the night I didn’t even miss my old favourites, I’d just gained a whole lot more, “I want it all”, “I have an aching” and “To the Wall” are all great tracks to look out for. If this is what we’ve got to look forward to with “The Medium and the Message”, I for one can’t wait.

For an example of some of their older stuff and videos some new tracks go to Hot Monocles Myspace
There’s also a fan page:
Facebook Fan Page

Russ x

Ben Stiller at the Oscars

I wasn't going to meantion the Oscars, news from the event is plastered all over the place, we all know that Hurt Locker walked it, and Avatar walked away disapointed, Ben Stiller deserves a meantion for his effort though - genius. See the video here--->

Click Here

"Knowing" 2009

First off this is my first reveiew - hope you find it interesting, it just so happend this was a film I currently had on LoveFilm

So here we have another film with Nicolas Cage with a ridiculous plot, featuring another ominous film title. After films like Next, Ghostrider and the terrible re-make of Wickerman, I really haven’t got high hopes.

So we come to the plot; a time capsule, filled with drawings made by elementary children, is dug up after 50years of being underground. One of these drawings is discovered by Professor John Koestler, isn’t your average robot or spaceship, but is a series of numbers correctly predicting every major disaster to happen over the last 50 years, and there are predictions that more are to come. Armed with this knowledge, can Koestler prevent these future disasters from happening?

To be honest, the whole premise of this film failed to excite me, a school girl scribbles some numbers down and it just so happens that they predict the future? Right, I see, it sounds almost as bad as a film about someone who can see two minutes into the future with no explanation what-so-ever. Despite my premonitions of this film, I remained open minded and professional (*cough*) at the opening of this film, so I could deliver an honest review of it.

So, what did I think? In all honesty when those closing credits rolled my initial thought was “Wow!”, and not in a “Wow, could that have been any worse?” way that I predicted, but a “Wow, that was surprisingly really good” kind of a way. From the opening scene’s set in 1959, it’s clear that this wasn’t going to be another one of those terribly cheesy cliché movies, which Cage has seemed to pick up recently, but a different type of movie all together. The cinematography, the score and the performances set a dark and disturbing tone form the very beginning. From a personal point of view any film with slightly eerie children in, freaks the hell out of me, and this is no exception.

The film quickly gets going, and once the discovery of what the numbers all mean is made, there really isn’t any time for breath. The lighting the sound and the music in this film really makes this feel like a mixture of a horror/sci-fi film, and that, with an ounce of special effects, (including a spectacular 2-3 minute scene where we see a plane crash and Cage running to save the burning victims, all in one shot!) we really are given a thrill from start to finish.

With the films themes, of faith vs science, being presented with just enough emphasis to not seem like an annoying lecture, we are left asking the right kind of questions once the film ends. “Is there such thing as fate, or is life and creation just a series of random events?”

So surprisingly I’ve been left with hardly any criticism of this film at all. I think it’s biggest problem is the misconception which will come with this film, it could easily be dismissed as another film with Nicolas Cage, with another ridiculous plot, so audiences may not even want to see the film in the first place – I almost dismissed it myself. Granted it does have a seemingly ridiculous plot, but give it a chance, you may think that it looks like another ludicrous film, but you don’t know and “Knowing is Everything.”

Overall a strong 8 out of 10.

Well well well, this is blogging...

Hello all, and by all I probably mean no-one at this moment in time, as this is my first post I'm currently addressing no-one, but hey maybe someone will stumble across this eventually!

A freind of mine suggested I start blogging and at the time I wasn't sure if I could be bothered, but now I've decided to pull my finger out and get on with it. I'll mainly post Film Reviews, however I will also be adding criiques of t.v shows, music any other media I stumble across, and also general life - I hope it interests some of you as I continue on.

Chow for now
Russ x