The Cinemasitter

Author: Cinemasitter

  • Review: Life of Pi (2012)

    It might concern the fantastical story of a shipwrecked boy and a tiger that joins him in his lifeboat, and it might feature some astonishing 3D cinematography, but the real star of Life of Pi is director Ang Lee. ‘Visually stunning’ doesn’t really do justice to the cavalcade of ravishing images on display here. That it is also an inspiring and moving tale as well should come as no surprise; the director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sense and Sensibility and – yes – even misfiring blockbuster Hulk has been marrying high quality content and imagery for years. But here it feels like director and material are perfectly matched, with the emotionally turbulent story given both the dramatic and visual weight it deserved.

    Full review: Life of Pi | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

  • Review: Jack Reacher (2012)

    If Tom Cruise were actively searching for a successor to his Mission: Impossible franchise that retained his leading man status while being better suited to an actor of his age (now 50), then he’s found it in Jack Reacher. It’s a role tailor-made for the star (though fans of the book might disagree): an intense, mysterious, resourceful and charismatic loner, who isn’t afraid to use his fists but is just as adept at using his noggin. Adapted from Lee Child’s novel One Shot by Christopher “Usual Suspects” McQuarrie, it might not match the thrills and spills of the last Mission sequel, but it’s a rather entertaining potboiler all the same – presumably in the spirit of the original text.

    Full review: Jack Reacher | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

  • Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

    It’s difficult to recall now, but there was a time back in 2001 when it was far from certain that Peter Jackson could deliver everything his adaptation of The Lord of the Rings promised. A broadly faithful reading of Tolkien’s text matched with sumptuous visuals and a dynamism that could convert even the most fantasy-averse punter? Impossible! That he proved all the naysayers wrong has been largely overlooked since he drowned in the tsunami of awards that were subsequently thrown in his direction. Since then, he has taken a few knocks for his (some would say) overly reverential remake of King Kong and flawed adaptation of The Lovely Bones, so there was more than a little deja vu in the run up to the release of this first chapter of what is now a trilogy based on The Hobbit. Expectations were sky high: could he deliver the goods again?

    Full review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

  • Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012)

    Imagine a world where Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman all exist, and they must join forces to help save all the children whom they serve from a mischievous foe. No, it’s not another sequel to The Santa Clause – it’s Rise of the Guardians, an animated family fantasy adventure from the Dreamworks label that is as likeable and fun as it is instantly forgettable. There’s plenty of action and visual dazzle to entertain the kids, and a sprinkling of amusing lines for the adults in tow. But it never quite escapes the sense that it was dreamt up by a marketing manager; it looks and feels like a computer game that was suddenly diverted on to the big screen at the eleventh hour.

    Full review: Rise of the Guardians | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

  • Review: The Master (2012)

    The Master posterI take no pleasure in saying this, but The Master just isn’t very good.

    It’s currently being feted by critics as one of 2012’s finest movies, shooting to the top of various Best Film of the Year lists (including that of The Guardian), and it’s not hard to see why: it tackles weighty, dramatic themes in its story of a drifter being recruited in to a cult-ish movement led by a charismatic phony; the post-war American setting allows for an examination of that country’s values at a time when it is steeped in nostalgia; the two lead performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix are given plenty of room to breathe and add layers to the narrative; and of course there is the much-trumpeted fact that it was shot on 70mm film, the first full-length US production to do so in more than 15 years.

    But all of that sturdy worthiness can’t disguise the fact that The Master is a chore to watch. Its 2 hours 24 minute running time feels at least double that. The story starts slowly, building a little  intrigue as we watch Freddie Quell (Phoenix) flit from job to job and town to town, and gets a mite more interesting when Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman) turns up on a ship with the rest of his movement and (in the film’s best scene) interrogates Quell before admitting him to the family. And then the film flatlines.

    A battle of wills emerges between the two men, with neither one able or willing to change. Nothing interesting happens. They shout a bit, they party a bit, Quell gets restless, Dodd gets arrested. But nothing happens that draws you in. The story doesn’t evolve. It just goes on and on.

    Director Paul Thomas Anderson has been compared to Stanley Kubrick in some quarters, given his undeniably intellectual approach to cinema. But what worked in There Will Be Blood and Magnolia fails to work here. The only aspect of The Master that recalls Kubrick is its cold, distant approach to the characters. Oh, and its obsession with sex – in particular the nude scene, which was laughably pretentious and merely drew attention to itself.

    As for the 70mm footage, it felt entirely wasted. If Anderson wanted to make a film visually dominated by personalities and faces, then fine. But did he need to use such expensive materials to do so? It wasn’t even proper widescreen. Imagine what David Lean could have done with all that film.

    It is entirely possible that The Master will reveal greater depths upon subsequent viewings, but I can’t imagine I’ll ever have the desire to try and get through it again. It was a big disappointment in a year that has otherwise offered plenty of very good, though not great, films. If it ends up scooping the big prizes in the imminent awards season, I’ll be even more disappointed.

    [xrr rating=2/5]

  • Interview with Jeff Blyth

    I recently interviewed cameraman and director Jeff Blyth for TAKE ONE – here’s a link to the full article…

    The memorable opening sequence from THE SHINING, with the camera snaking through the air above trees and a mountain lake, was shot by Jeff Blyth, a photographer and director with over 40 years’ experience in Hollywood. With the recent re-release of Stanley Kubrick’s seminal horror, we caught up with him to find out how he got started in his career, and just how tricky it was to capture the right footage for the notoriously perfectionist director.

    Full article: Interview with Jeff Blyth | TAKE ONE

  • Review: End of Watch (2012)

    ‘Once upon a time in South Central’ states the slightly pretentious opening title card, in David Ayer’s found-footage action drama. A more accurate subtitle might be ‘The LETHAL WEAPON Project’, being a mostly by-the-numbers tale about two LAPD officers who bite off more than they can chew when they start sniffing around a drug-pedalling gang. Its only innovation is to present the story as if it had been recorded by the lead characters, and even then it drops that approach after a while, mixing in some Bourne-style shakycam action so that things stay intelligible.

    Full review: End of Watch | TAKE ONE

  • Review: Argo (2012)

    Suspenseful, technically accomplished and skilfully judged, Argo is another strong entry on Ben Affleck’s burgeoning directorial CV. The one-time Pearl Harbor star continues the resurrection of a Hollywood career that was all but dead after falling off a cliff in the early 2000s. Not only has he made a gripping drama based on true events, he has crafted a popular and critical hit from a story set in the Middle East – a subject normally poison at the box office. There is already (maybe prematurely) talk of success in the forthcoming awards season, and even if it doesn’t quite measure up to classic thriller status, there’s no denying it’s a polished piece of work.

    Full review: Argo | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

  • Review: The Shining (1980)

    The Shining is, paradoxically, a horror film with barely a single shocking scare throughout, and yet remains a hypnotically chilling experience. Stanley Kubrick’s classic adaptation of Stephen King’s ghost story is now on general re-release in its US version, which runs 24 minutes longer than its later European counterpart after the director took it back in to the editing suite. Whether the film benefits from the additional material is open to question, but the opportunity to see any Kubrick film on the big screen is not one to be spurned.

    Full review: The Shining | TAKE ONE

  • Review: Rust and Bone (2012)

    On the surface Rust and Bone is a less frivolous, lower-key approach to the same plot we recently saw in Untouchable: the friendship that emerges between a settled, comfortably well off person who is suddenly struck down with a severe disability, and a drifter on the fringes of society who shows them that life can go on. But where Untouchable was unafraid to tug at the heartstrings and stay largely up tempo, Rust and Bone takes a different tack. Its measured, thoughtful pacing and carefully rounded characters make this much the more powerful of the two, even if there is little you won’t have seen before.

    Full review: Rust and Bone | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix