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Non-Review Review: Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015.

Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang tells a story that would seem almost too absurd or too far-fetched if it were a scripted drama. The documentary charts the former NBA star as he attempts to organise a friendly basketball game between North Korea and the United States. The idea came from Kim Jong-Un, who had struck up an unlikely friendship with Rodman during an earlier trip to the isolated dictatorship. Over December 2013 and January 2014, Rodman helped to organise the most unlikely basketball friendly in history.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: dennis rodman, documentary, film, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, kim jong-un, matt cooper, non-review review, North Korea, review, the interview | Leave a comment »

Millennium – Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions (Review)

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Darren

This February and March, we’re taking a trip back in time to review the fourth season of The X-Files and the first season of Millennium.

High matter thou injoinst me, O prime of men,

Sad task and hard, for how shall I relate

To human sense th’ invisible exploits

Of warring Spirits; how without remorse

The ruin of so many glorious once

And perfet while they stood; how last unfould

The secrets of another World, perhaps

Not lawful to reveal? yet for thy good

This is dispenc’t, and what surmounts the reach

Of human sense, I shall delineate so,

By lik’ning spiritual to corporal forms,

As may express them best, though what if Earth

Be but the shaddow of Heav’n, and things therein

Each to other like, more then on earth is thought?

– Raphael, Paradise Lost, Book V

This is about to get biblical…

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Filed under: Millennium | Tagged: angels, chris carter, demons, frank black, millennium, review, Television, war in heaven | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: La French (The Connection)

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015.

La French (aka The Connection) looks and sounds beautiful.

Working with cinematographer Laurent Tangy, director Cédric Jimenez manages to capture the scenic beauty of seventies Marseilles. The classic architecture, the sea views, even the hot night spots all look absolutely stunning. Le French manages to capture the crisp feeling of the late seventies without ever feeling stylised or staged. Similarly, Jimenez manages to pull together a beautifully evocative soundtrack, with songs as distinct as Call Me and This Bitter Earth helping to underscore emotionally-charged sequences and giving the film a sense of style and taste.

La French is a stylishly-constructed crime thriller that stretches from the south of France to New York and back again, a family loosely inspired by the infamous “French Connection” that fed drugs into France and overseas to the United States. However, despite its obvious overlap with William Friedkin’s The French Connection, it seems like Jimenez owes more to the work of filmmakers like Michael Mann or Martin Scorcese, constructing a crime epic that flows beautifully and effortlessly, with an impressive soundtrack complimenting a dynamic visual style.

This is perhaps the biggest problem with La French, a sense that there might actually be too much style – that the film may occasionally feel a little too hollow or detached from its twin leads. However, Jimenez cleverly casts Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche in the lead roles, who help anchor the film with a sense of humanity that only occasionally gets lost in the film’s beautifully-crafted production.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: crime, drugs, film, French, heroin, Jean Dujardin, la french, Movie, non-review review, review, the connection, the french connection, thriller | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Electric Boogaloo – The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015.

There is a lot of affection on display in Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.

Sure, it’s the kind of affection that comes qualified with awkward laughter and wry self-aware sarcasm, but it seems like a lot of the participants in this documentary exploring the eventful life of the infamous film studio are pleasantly surprised that the ride lasted as long as it did. If there is one big recurring motif throughout the film, it is sheer wonderment at how the studio managed to continue operating – churning out questionable film after questionable film. There are commentators who seem in awe at the factory-like conditions of the studio.

To be fair, Electric Boogaloo does afford a platform to those commentators with legitimate grievances against the studio. Writers lament the changes that their scripts went through, actors make observations about questionable choices made by directors, partners observe the difficulty of dealing with material churned out by the studio. More than one commentator offers their own crude impression of Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. However, most of these observations come from a place of mild bemusement or open awe at what the studio got away with doing.

Writer and director Mark Hartley covers an impressive amount of material in his documentary, even if it suffers a bit from lack of focus. There is an incredible energy and sense of fun about the whole project – acknowledging that Golan and Globus had a tremendous influence on how the movie industry currently works, without romanticising their process. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is a fascinating watch for any film fan.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cannon films, documentary, Filmmaking, hollywood, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: From the Dark

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015.

A large part of the joy of From the Dark is the way that the story translates its horror conventions to rural Ireland without breaking a sweat.

From the Dark is a very simple horror story that could be told anywhere. It is the standard story about a young couple who get lost in a remote location, discovering that their phones don’t work just as they stumble across some grotesque evil. It is a standard horror template, which feels particularly traditional once it becomes clear that the grotesque evil exposed by our two lead characters are very traditional vampires. However, director Conor McMahon does an excellent job executing all those traditional tropes against a very Irish backdrop.

A lot of the credit belongs to cinematographer Michael Lavelle who skilfully conveys the sense of rural Ireland as an isolated wilderness. From the Dark unfolds in Offaly, with Lavelle working hard to make the locality seem ethereal and haunted. Long grass sways in the wind, the sky lights up with beautiful colours at sunrise and sunset. From the Dark manages to expertly capture a sense of the countryside that is both breathtaking and alien. It seems like a world that is simultaneously magical and dangerous.

From the Dark is a rather efficient little thriller – one that moves along quite cleanly and efficiently. However, it is executed with a great deal of technical skill and proficiency, making for a satisfying old-school horror film.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, from the dark, Movie, non-review review, review, vampire | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Water Diviner

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015.

The Water Diviner is a solid directorial début for actor Russell Crowe, a well-intentioned and relatively under-explored story that occasionally wanders into clumsy melodrama.

Crowe works both in front and behind the camera, directing himself as a father who embarks on a journey across the world to bring his lost sons home. Set in the wake of the First World War, The Water Diviner charts Joshua Connor’s effort to recover the remains his three sons who perished in the battle for Gallipoli. Travelling from the Australia to Turkey, Connor finds himself fighting against bureaucracy and civil strife as he tries to keep the promise to bring his children back to home soil.

It is a fascinating a compelling story. Crowe is a reliable leading man, imbuing Connor with a sense of humanity and relatability that helps to anchor a somewhat spotty screenplay. Crowe seems to trust his cast a great deal, affording them room to work and never rushing them along. However, he also seems somewhat sceptical of the audience. The Water Diviner is packed with repetitive flashbacks and awkward montages designed to impart information that the audience has already grasped.

The result is a rather uneven film. Much like its title character, it seems like The Water Diviner works best when it trusts its instincts; not when it tries to second-guess itself.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, first world war, gallipoli, greece, Movie, non-review review, review, russell crowe, the water diviner, Turkey, war | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Price of Desire

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015.

I have been informed that reviews for The Price of Desire are embargoed, despite the fact it was screened as the gala opening of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2015, a high-profile event with tickets available to the public that afforded the film a significant public platform. (In the interest of disclosure, I purchased my ticket with my season pass – purchased for €245. Individual tickets for this screening were €20.) As a courtesy to any fellow reviewers affected by the embargo, I have taken down the review.

However, as the film is eligible for the festival’s “audience award”, I am leaving my rating in place.

All audience members are asked to rank films in the festival from 1 (worst) to 4 (best). In the interest of full and frank disclosure, here is my score: 1 thepriceofdesire1

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: biography, eileen gray, films, jameson dublin international film festival, jameson dublin international film festival 2015, jdiff, Movies, non-review review, orla brady, price of desire, review, the price of desire | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: A Little Chaos

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Darren

Perhaps what is most remarkable about A Little Chaos is how deftly the film blends stock romantic comedy tropes with the trappings of a loftier period piece drama. A Little Chaos fictionalises the construction of the gardens at Versailles, undertaken at the behest of King Louis XIV. However, A Little Chaos uses this historical event as the backdrop for a series of quirky romantic misadventures. Matthias Schoenaerts plays André Le Nôtre, the stickler for order who is forced to take on some hired help to ensure that he meets the assigned deadlines.

Kate Winslet is Sabine De Barra, who is hired to design one of the garden’s fountains. Whereas Le Nôtre advocates for order, De Barra argues for a little randomness. The two are introduced at loggerheads, their philosophical positions made clear when De Barra presumes to move a single potted plant in a sequence arranged by Le Nôtre. Inevitably, attraction blossoms as the two find themselves working harder and harder to meet the targets set by the sitting monarch.

Another feather in her cap?

For all the promise of the title, A Little Chaos packs very few surprises. The formula is quite clearly honed, and it is easy enough to plot the various character arcs and dynamics across the movie’s runtime. Indeed, A Little Chaos might even have benefited from some tightening, feeling quite stretched across its two-hour runtime. At the same time, Alan Rickman has assembled quite the cast for his second film as director. A Little Chaos can count on a superb ensemble – both above and below the title – to carry it when things get a little indulgent.

A Little Chaos is not as fun or as playful as it might be. On the other hand, it looks and feels very impressive, with an occasionally clunky script brought to life by a talented array of actors.

Long live the king!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: a little chaos, alan rickman, films, france, kate winslet, louis xiv, Matthias Schoenaerts, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, rickamn, Television, versailles | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Focus

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Darren

Focus is a fun old-fashioned heist movie that suffers from the lack of a central plot.

In some respects, Focus plays as a con itself. While movies about con artists are inevitably built around charismatic rogues and antiheroes, the stories practically structure themselves. Cons are visually interesting and dynamic, they are fun and exciting. Watching characters trying to out-wit one another in rapidly-escalating situations creates instant dramatic tension, and it is easy to see why the genre has remained popular. The beats are familiar – the “big one”, the “revenge con”, the “try to get alive game.”

Off the clock…

Focus keeps teasing the audience with possible plot hooks that might sustain a two-hour film, diverting the audience’s focus and keeping them off-balance. “So what about the big con?” Margot Robbie’s Jess teases Will Smith’s Nicky. “You mean the one where we all make so much money we all retire?” Nicky teases back, dismissively. What makes Focus so interesting – and what also arguably prevents it from working as well as it might – is that it consciously plays against these recognisable elements. There is no big con, there is no story.

This is the long con that Focus plays – and plays very well. For all that it teases the plot-driven trappings of a caper movie, Focus is a good old-fashioned star-driven drama, a movie built around Will Smith’s movie icon charisma. It is one hell of a gamble, and one that doesn’t play off as well as it might, Focus‘ unwavering commitment provides a charm and energy that carries movie through. Offering advice to Jess, Nicky insists, “You never drop the con. Never break. Die with the lie.” It seems that Focus lives by its own words.

A star vehicle…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art of misdirection, con artist, con game, film, focus, margot robbie, misdirection, Movies, review, will smith | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Cake

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Darren

Cake is very much a performance piece, in the style of Wild. It is a film built around a fantastic central performance that lives or dies based on the strength of that performance. The film itself is almost irrelevant – a collection of familiar emotional and character beats given life by a stellar cast that are all present to support a lead actor offering what is clearly intended to be a career-defining (or even -defying) performance.

Cake is a movie that is carried by Jennifer Aniston’s superb and moving central performance as a woman living with chronic pain – literal and emotional. It is a movie that could easily seem crass or exploitive, focusing on a physically incapacitated and mentally damaged woman who is trying to piece her life back together. Director Daniel Barnz and writer Patrick Tobin find themselves walking a very fine line.

St. Jude, don’t make it bad…

Cake manages to stay on the right side of that line. Barnz might be a little fond of long tracking shots of Jennifer Aniston being driven through areas covered by foliage, and Tobin’s script occasionally seems like it is trying just a little bit too hard, but the film itself is comfortable enough to allow Aniston the spotlight. Cake is very much an actor’s vehicle, and it is unashamedly so.

Aniston does great work here, demonstrating the same credibility and vulnerability that she brought to The Good Girl, another example of the performer playing largely against type. Aniston fleshes out the character of Claire Bennett, taking an arc that is perhaps a little too familiar and too formulaic, and gives the role an emotional core that holds everything together. It is a great performance in a solid film.