Monthly Archives: December 2012

The Beatles Magical Mystery tour  (1967)    58/100

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Rating :   58/100                                                                       55 Min        PG

The Beatles psychedelic patchwork of seemingly incongruent ideas and visual oddities was released nationally on the BBC on boxing day of 1967 and it caused an immediate small furore, departing radically as it did from many people’s image of the Beatles as clean cut nice young boys as well as straying from any familiar sort of storytelling. It follows the loose story arc of a group of people, including the Beatles themselves, albeit in character, boarding a bus for a mystery tour that takes them around the English countryside and eventually to Cornwall.

It’s quite fun, and the suffusion with their music of the period and the wonderful colours throughout (it’s recently been restored and digitally remastered, which doubtless ‘helps’) makes it very easy to watch and to allow one’s mind to meander as the experimental film unabashedly progresses. The Red Dragon’s main complaint with the film is that it’s way too short!

In preparation for the film, the whole of the storyboarding procedure comprised of a single pie chart, with each part of the film occupying one wedge (some parts were idea-less and simply filled in with a smiley face). It’s impossible not to see the imprint of drugs throughout everything, which doubtless had many concerned parents outraged, but there are bad trips in there as well as good ones. Parents had good cause for concern, the Beatles were leaders in the counter revolution not just in the UK but in America too and, by osmosis, many other parts of the world (the spelling of their name is a reference to the ‘beat generation’). This film is a fascinating footnote, not just of the story of the Beatles, but perhaps the story of drugs in rock and roll in general.

At the planning stage their producer Brian Epstein, sometimes referred to as the fifth Beatle, showed a lot of interest and eagerness at getting the project off the ground, perhaps desperate to get his teeth stuck into a new project since the Beatles were on a small hiatus at the time. Whilst the Beatles have maintained their image of experimenting with drugs and coming out afterwards unharmed (though that is debatable), producing some great music and having a pretty good time doing it, Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose before the film was begun. It’s a dark shadow that contrasts vividly with the luminous greens and purples of their Magical Mystery Tour, and one that is often eclipsed by their successful and iconic status, intermingled with acid trips and narcotic inspirations – but there it remains, the other side of the same coin.

Melinda and Melinda  (2004)    59/100

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Rating :   59/100                                                                       99 Min        12A

Woody Allen begins his picture with a discussion of whether or not life is essentially comedic or tragic. This occurs as a conversation between friends having drinks, and the point is made that it perhaps simply depends on one’s point of view. The director then illustrates this through the rest of the film by telling one story in two different ways, each with the central character of Melinda (played by Radha Mitchell).

It’s an interesting point. How often do we see in romantic comedies fairly tragic events being glossed over – perhaps using comedy to alleviate circumstance is a wonderful thing, thus the phrase ‘you have to laugh don’t you?’. Unfortunately for the sake of the film, the two stories have parallels but are actually quite different from each other, somewhat defeating the purpose of the exercise. The tragic storyline is most definitely more tragic than the comedic one. Some of the technical ploys stay true to the purpose, the use of music telling us to be in a good mood, the different cinematography to put a slightly glossier sheen on the comedic story etc. But the main flaw is too large, though the individual stories do hold the viewer’s attention for the most part.

Hope Springs  (2012)    75/100

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Rating :   75/100                                                                     100 Min        12A

A well put together and nuanced comedy with a great performance from Tommy Lee Jones, proving an equal and apt match for the talents of Meryl Streep who plays his loving wife of 31 years as they enter counselling for their stalled marriage. Just the right amount of seriousness and comedy, or comedic seriousness, for the very real and often intolerably difficult subject matter, it paints in many ways a palatable veneer on the inevitability of death as we watch the two central characters wrench their souls to debate whether a dwindling depreciation is the only thing they can realistically expect from their long extant marriage, or whether the final change of divorce or the equally tough facing up to reality might allow for a reversal of the trend.

Given that the timescale is just over one week in their lives, as the wife strong-arms her husband into a couple’s therapy vacation in Maine, the film deals with the issues at hand ably and you will probably recognise at least one person you know in each of the pair, but the inherent constraints do leave us wondering a little what the post-film prognosis might be. With Steve Carell and, briefly, Elisabeth Shue in support.

Interestingly, a recent scientific study looking at the longterm lifespan of couples found that the ones destined for success and stability were those who worked together constantly to solve the little day to day sundries which are precisely the sort of things that often get put to one side, the humdrum such as fixing a leaky tap or getting the shopping right, whereas those who regarded these constant pop-ups in a relationship as merely trivial were the ones who perished in the fires of deceased relationship hell.

Presumably this is all to do with basic communication, but also the constantly reinforced idea of working together as a well functioning unit and being listened to and taken seriously by your other half and indeed that boost of satisfaction from having solved a problem, even a small one, although I think I’m right in remembering that the study also concluded allowing the male partner to indulge in sexual consort with many libidinous women at the same time was also a normal and healthy way to speed the wheels to everlasting marital bliss. Yup, pretty sure …

That’s my Boy  (2012)    59/100

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Rating :   59/100                                                                     116 Min        15

Adam Sandler’s new film has all the hallmarks of most of his work. That feeling of ‘argh, how many times do we have to see the same thing over and over again, the same hammy characters, the same torrid toilet humour, the same douche bag protagonist that somehow wins everyone over by the end?’, and also ‘hmm, that bit was actually quite funny’. It’s a shame he can’t team up with someone who could shake out the detritus and just leave the good comedy. Which, incidentally, would have completely obliterated ‘Jack and Jill’ (11) from existence (his last effort, which won Razzies in every category). The film certainly deserves kudos for playing Meatloaf’s ‘Everything Louder than Everything Else’ at one point, its use of Vanilla Ice, and the casting of ever beautiful Leighton Meester along with Eva Amurri Martino. It does have some genuine good laughs in there, you just have to survive the eye gauging rest of the film to get to them.

To Rome with Love  (2012)    65/100

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Rating :   65/100                                                                     112 Min        12A

Woody Allen’s latest, and it’s nice to see him in front of the camera again here as he joins a raft of other top billed actors in a multi-vignetted tale, much in the vein of his ‘You will meet a tall dark stranger’ (10). Once again, he successfully infuses everything with the feel and character of his setting, this time Rome. There’s nothing really new here and, although it’s pleasant to watch, there’s no real grit to the whole, with some of the individual stories much more whimsical and less interesting than the others. It’s a little light on the comedy front and largely thanks to the not so interesting stories it feels overly long. It’s unlikely to be a classic, but it shouldn’t be a complete disappointment either.

The Sweeney  (2012)    40/100

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Rating :   40/100                                                                     112 Min        15

Rubbish. Incompetent cops bash their way around London, allowing criminals to engage them in aimless gun battles and to shoot random innocent people for no reason. One of said cops is also Ben Drew. Note that does not say played by Ben Drew, as Ben Drew cannot act. Instead he jumps around dressed like a chav, cocking his head to one side while he pretends to think, and mumbling in his incomprehensible and gutturally nauseating accent. Not the first time he’s sold out after making his ‘social crusade’ statement (see ‘iLL Manors‘), and doubtless it won’t be his last. It would be much better for film fans if he went back to making shit rap music that no one buys.

The Dark Knight Rises  (2012)    80/100

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Rating :   80/100                                                                     165 Min        12A

A satisfying conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga. Various issues with plot holes, in fact there’s a lot wrong with the characters, story, and screenplay and yet somehow it’s still a great film. I enjoyed it much more the second time round, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if it became a film that can happily be watched on the big-screen again, and again, and again…

(Incidentally, the aeroplane scene near the start of the movie was filmed near Inverness in Scotland, possibly influenced by similar aerial shots near the beginning of 1980’s ‘Flash Gordon’ filmed over the Isle of Skye …)

The Bourne Legacy  (2012)    73/100

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Rating :   73/100                                                                     135 Min        12A

An excellent continuation of the Bourne film franchise which remains faithful to the elements that made the original trilogy such a huge success. The story takes place chronologically around the same time as the last Bourne film, ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ (07), but focuses on what was happening behind the scenes and also on the story arc of another agent in the program, Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy Renner. The Red Dragon initially had misgivings about Renner’s casting here, as I was getting a little sick of seeing him play yet another soldier/warrior (much like the roles Sam Worthington often unfavourably favours), however he is actually really good here. Also making an appearance, and also very good, is Rachel Weisz, playing I think her first scientist role since ‘Chain Reaction’, whilst Edward Norton takes on a position within the shady confines of the U.S. government.

Easily the best action film on release at the moment, with a high level of intrigue. My main complaint would be that some of the action scenes are shot and cut in such a frenetic way it’s difficult to make out exactly what’s going on. ‘Quantum of Solace’ (08) suffered from similar complaints, and although director Tony Gilroy (who has been involved with the screenplay for all of the Bourne films) does well, it at times lacks the up-close finesse of Paul Greengrass, who helmed both Ultimatum and Supremacy. Nevertheless, worth going to see.

Total Recall  (2012)    55/100

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Rating :   55/100                                                                     118 Min        12A

Total Recall looks very, very good. It’s a remake of the classic 1990 Schwarzenegger film, itself based on the Philip K. Dick short story ‘We Can Remember It for You Wholesale’. The previous two incarnations of the tale all featured Mars – here it’s set in a dystopian future Earth where only the United Federation of Great Britain and the more impoverished ‘colony’ of Australia survive after global chemical warfare. Not too sure why they thought it would be a good idea to reduce Australia to colonial status once again, but the British element does give director Les Wiseman (‘Underworld’ 03) good basis to cast not only his wife, Kate Beckinsale, but also Irishman Colin Farell (Bill Nighy also appears, with what I think is supposed to be an American accent..). Graphically the settings are detailed and convincing, the only problem is there’s not much more to the entire film.

As it gathers pace, ‘Total Recall’ descends into an endless series of chase sequences and set piece gun battles, which are well constructed but nevertheless become tedious. Kate Beckinsale’s ‘Underworld’ training is put to good use and it is fun watching her whirl around like a peeved dervish of destruction, admittedly with trademark skin tight clothes on, but the story really needed a lot more depth put into it. Jessica Biel also has a sizeable role to play, but her character is fairly pointless and only really exists as an accessory to the inevitable conclusion.

It’s been a long time since The Red Dragon watched the original, but I think it’s fair to say it had more going on than here, though pleasingly they have stuck with some of the famous lines (sadly not the one from Sharon Stone and the retort) and also the three breasted girl element. If you like films with lots of mindless shooting and an attempt at a believable plot then there’s no reason you won’t like this.