The Cinemasitter

Category: The Digital Fix

  • 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: 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: 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

  • Review: Skyfall (2012)

    Arriving amidst a blizzard of marketing and publicity the likes of which has rarely been seen, it’s some sort of miracle that Skyfall delivers the goods. Despite worrying surface similarities with Die Another Day – Bond put out of action during the pre-credits sequence, overt nods to earlier films in the franchise – this film doesn’t make the same mistake of thinking bigger is better. Skyfall is arguably the most personal entry yet in Daniel Craig’s run, and perhaps (with the possible exception of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) the series as a whole. Director Sam Mendes brings a gently melancholic perspective to cinema’s most famous spy, where Bond is on the backfoot for much of the time and only has drink and an old-fashioned sense of duty to keep him company.

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

  • Review: Frankenweenie (2012)

    Tim Burton scratches a long-standing itch with Frankenweenie, his third light-hearted stop-motion horror after The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. Returning to a short film he made back in the 1980s at Disney before he was fired, he has logically expanded the story out to feature length without compromising the original’s charm. It’s as Burton-esque as they come, which means there’s nothing here that will convert those who haven’t got on with his characteristic preoccupations with gothic gloom and fairytale horror in the past. But for those who do, it’s a true return to form. After the ravishing but hollow Alice in Wonderland, the director’s journey back to his roots sees him rediscover the simple joys of a childhood obsessed with darkness.

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

  • Review: Looper (2012)

    Looper is probably the second greatest Bruce Willis time travel movie ever made. The comparison is an unfair one of course; unlike Terry Gilliam’s bleakly apocalyptic Twelve Monkeys, writer-director Rian Johnson’s entertaining blend of The Terminator and – curiously – the western genre has much broader appeal. Simply put, it is an action-packed chase thriller involving both the present and future versions of an assassin (played by Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) battling it out with each other, until Emily Blunt’s arrival around the halfway point when the film throttles back and moves in to darker, more emotional waters. It’s to Johnson’s credit that the switch feels organic, but even as it dishes out the twists and violence while straddling different genres, there’s not much you won’t have seen before.

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

     

  • Review: Holy Motors (2012)

    My review of the closing night film at the Cambridge Film Festival:

    One of those films that appears to exist solely to divide audiences, Holy Motors is an audacious and bewildering experience that reminds you how fun and versatile cinema can be. Regardless of whether director Leos Carax intended the film to be indecipherable or not, he has fashioned a work that will delight as many as it will disappoint. For those who enjoy a walk on cinema’s wild side and are happy to go along with a film whose narrative makes very little sense at all, then a treasure trove of curiosities awaits them; scenes that serve no other function than to play with the medium and bounce ideas around onscreen, or try to tell a story all on their own. Those seeking a conventional story, or even one that eventually reveals its agenda, will go away disappointed.

    Full review: Holy Motors | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix