Rate the Last Film you Watched

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

1 minute ago, Con said:

Be honest...did you chuckle or cringe at the "Assist from Helga" scene i mentioned in the Midsommar review.

I think I did both at the same time 😄 

[Con 5,727]

4 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

I think I did both at the same time 😄 

So you basically org*smed too? LMFAO

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Cats

dir. Tom Hooper

Cats is a musical from Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, Les Miserables) based on the stage show by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which itself was based on a collection of poems by T.S. Eliot.  I had already seen the show before seeing this film, so I knew that I wasn't going to like it (I'm not very fond of any ALW musicals), but I had to see if it is as much of a trainwreck as the reviews say.  Before that, a quick synopsis.  The film follows Victoria (Francesca Hayward), who has just been thrown out by her owners and soon meets the rest of the cast.  One by one they are introduced and sing a song about themselves, and at the end Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench) chooses one to go to heaven.  That's about it.  There is a small plot with Macavity (Idris Elba) kidnapping everyone so that he is the only choice left at the end, but it's never treated seriously and is easily resolved, so it's never a threat.  

This isn't awful.  It's not particularly good, but it's watchable.  One of the main criticisms has been about the CGI fur, and it does look a bit blurry or clipped at times, but it looks ok for the most part.  Sometimes there is a problem where the faces seem to float on the front of the characters heads, especially the mice, but most of it looks alright.  It would look a lot better if they used practical catsuits.  There's no reason that it should all be CGI apart from saving time making everyone up each morning.  The music is mostly good.  Like I said, I'm not an ALW fan, but he usually has a couple of decent tunes in each show.  Most of the songs just go on too long, we don't need to hear the chorus repeated 12 times on every song.  The big showstopping number, Memories, is brilliant.  This is sung by Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson) and she knocks it out of the park.  Hudson is an incredible singer and really gets to show off her technical and emotional range with this number.  

Some other cast members aren't so good.  Ray Winston as Growltiger is cringe inducing when he starts to mumble his song in a cartoonish Cockney accent.  Rebel Wilson and James Corden are both bad singers, and also just ruin any scene they're in.  These two are the biggest negatives in this film.  The rest of the cast are great and really give it everything.  Dench and Ian McKellen as Gus bring some class and dignity to this weird experiment, and Hayward gives a really convincing performance as an outsider discovering a whole new world.  My favourite was Elba as the bad guy, really hamming it up and chewing the scenery every time he's on screen, he looks like he's having a blast.

I do like the set design and the lighting, even though the scale seems to be off sometimes.  Things occasionally appear too big or too small.  The dancing is also top notch, if you like that kind of musical-theatre kind of thing.  I can't recommend this too much, but it's not a total garbage fire.  Maybe worth a curiosity watch if you have nothing better to do 6/10

 

==============================================

The Godfather

dir. Francis Ford Copploa

The Godfather is an epic crime drama from Francis Ford Coppola (The Conversation, The Godfather Pt. 2) starring Marlon Brando as the patriarch of the Corleone family, Vito Corleone.  The film opens with the wedding of Don Corleone's daughter, Connie (Talia Shire, Rocky, also Coppola's sister) which also sees the return of his son, Michael (Al Pacino) to the family.  The whole film is about Michael's struggle to live his own life, but he is always drawn back in to his family and their criminal empire.  This empire is under threat from the new racket in town, drugs.  Don Corleone doesn't want to get into that business, but the other New York families see it as the future.  This conflict, along with Michael's conflict with himself, makes up the dramatic core of this film, and the way the two are entwined is masterful.  This is supplemented by the romantic drama between Michael and Kay (Diane Keaton) and for a short section, Apollonia (Simonetta Stefanelli).  Personally, I found the Apollonia section of the film, set in Sicily, to be the weakest part of the film and could have been shortened, if not cut entirely.  

The last time I watched this, over a decade ago, I was slightly disappointed.  Maybe it was so hyped up in my head that it could never live up to expectations, maybe the Apollonia section really soured me, maybe I just didn't have the appreciation and film literacy that I have now, but I wasn't disappointed this time.  This is a masterwork.  The direction is deliberately paced and steady, like the Don himself.  Even during action scenes Coppola keeps a calm watchful eye over things.  The music, by Nino Rota, is iconic.  It's a lush, romantic score that evokes the period and also the history and roots of the Corleone family perfectly.  The performances from everyone in the cast are incredible.  Brando, in a comeback role, is masterful as the Don, and Pacino, in his breakout role, has a real intensity in every scene.  You can really see his internal conflict in every small movement and look he gives.  The supporting cast, including Robert Duvall and James Caan are all brilliant too.

This would get a perfect score, but the Sicily section still drags for me 9.5/10

 

  ===============================================

Guns Akimbo

Jason Lei Howden

Guns Akimbo is a comedy action film from Jason Lei Howden, a New Zealand filmmaker, and stars Daniel Radcliffe as Miles, a developer for a sh*tty mobile game who spends his nights trolling trolls online.  One night he trolls Skizm, an underground group who make people fight to the death, broadcasting it live online.  They don't like this, so the drug him and surgically attach guns to his hands, making his a competitor in their next game where he's up against reigning champion, Nix (Samara Weaving).  If you can imagine a cross between The Running Man and the Jason Statham film Crank then you're imagining this.  

This is a trashy film that has the feel of a higher budget direct to video movie.  That's not to say it's not entertaining for the most part.  The colour palette contains all of the colours you can think of washing the film with a neon rainbow.  The performances from the two leads are solid.  Weaving is threatening, but likeable as Nix.  She injects so much personality into what could have been a very one dimensional character.  Radcliffe  continues his journey away from Harry Potter by taking roles in these mad films.  He has a great sense of comic timing in this as we watch him fumble trying to answer his phone, open a door or p*ss with guns bolted to his hands.  He's also believable when he says f*ck it and just embraces the madness.  Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) has a great cameo as a homeless dude.  The big letdown in the cast is the main villain, Riktor (Ned Dennehy).  I just don't buy him as the leader of this super high-tech group who use drones, and hacking and stuff.  He looks like a satanic cult leader.  I also think he goes too wacky with his performance a lot of the time.

The direction is also a bit all over the place.  Howden loves to flip and spin the camera around and he does it a lot.  If you have motion sickness don't watch this movie.  I get he's trying to sell Radcliffe's confusion and the insanity of the situation, but he just goes over the top with it to where it almost feels like a parody.  If you want to see Daniel Radcliffe in a film with a weird concept you should watch Swiss Army Man, which I loved.  This, while not close to being as good as that film, is still pretty decent 7/10

 

 

[Con 5,727]

I was on Twitter yesterday and saw this...LMAO...I can buy the Finishing Mallet from Midsommar!! LMAO.

A24 is having a prop auction! 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Con

[JuniorChubb 3,360]

 

The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time

 Normal review: Pile of Crap with a few laughs at how silly it is here and there. It’s only saving grace is that it doesn’t take itself seriously.

Score 3/10

Sharknado fan review: Fin is back with a bang! If you are a fan of the series there are lots of laughs here from the low quality CGI to the over the top moves they pull off, the Pterodactyl volleying meteorites into the Sharknado was a highlight. The laughs come thick and fast at the beginning. The pace and humour drops off a little towards the middle of the film but they are back at the end in the midst of the mega-timenado. 

A fitting end to the story with more film references than you can count.

Score: 7/10

[Con 5,727]

3 hours ago, JuniorChubb said:

The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time

 Normal review: Score 3/10

Sharknado fan review: Score: 7/10

Lmao. I should start doing my horror reviews like that....

 Normal Review Score and Psycho Like Me Review Score. 😄 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

dir. Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a historical comedy based on the King Arthur legends written and performed by the Monty Python team, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, and directed by Gilliam and Jones.  The story follows King Arthur (Chapman) as he travels the land assembling his knights of the round table, including Galahad (Palin), Lancelot (Cleese), and brave Sir Robin (Idle).  They are then tasked by God to find the Holy Grail.  The plot of this film serves more as a thin connective tissue for a series of sketches, but that's not a negative here because pretty much every scene is hilarious.  This is genuinely one of the funniest films ever made.  Right from the opening credits with the out of control subtitles to the brilliant, sudden, fourth-wall-breaking ending you will be laughing pretty much continuously for an hour and a half.  

The direction is solid, although some scenes do have a made for TV look to them, but everything is done to serve the joke.  The set design and locations are great.  This was all shot on location and the bleak, misty Scottish countryside and the imposing, crumbling castles all look gorgeous, which heightens the ridiculousness of what's actually happening.  The music is really good too, with a serious score that you would expect from a proper historical epic, which again contrasts with the action on screen.  

If you've not seen this yet then you've definitely heard quotes and references from this in a thousand other things, from the Black Knight ("tis but a scratch") to the holy hand grenade.  One of the best comedies of all time, but there is one scene I don't like so it's getting a near perfect 9.5/10

 

==============================================

Monty Python's Life of Brian

dir. Terry Jones

Monty Python's Life of Brian is another historical comedy written and performed again by Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones and Palin, with Jones directing on his own this time after big arguments during the making of Holy Grail.  This film has more of a plot than Holy Grail, and feels less like a series of sketches.  The story follows Brian Cohen (Chapman), an ordinary Jewish dude who was born at the same time, and in the next stable across from, Jesus.  He grows up resenting the occupying Roman forces, and joins the People's Front of Judea, a rebel group who want independence.  Later in the film he becomes a reluctant spiritual leader totally by accident, and gains a madly loyal following.  The film ends with a really dark sing-a-long of one of the happiest songs ever written.

This is a better, funnier film than Holy Grail, and one whose themes still feel relevant today.  The performances all round are better than Holy Grail, especially Chapman, who stopped drinking before making the film.  Like Holy Grail this film was shot on location and it looks gorgeous, losing the occasional TV feel of Holy Grail.  The music again takes the film seriously, sounding like it could be from a biblical epic like The Ten Commandments.  

In my opinion this is not only the greatest comedy ever made, it's one of the best films ever made regardless of genre 10/10

 

 

[JuniorChubb 3,360]

3 hours ago, Con said:

Lmao. I should start doing my horror reviews like that....

 Normal Review Score and Psycho Like Me Review Score. 😄 

It works quite well for films that fit a certain mould, I done the same for my Humanoids from the Deep review.

Most people will find the film to be sh*t, but if it’s a niche genre you can let people know if it ticks the boxes.

Not that Sharknado is a niche genre 😂

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Audition

dir. Takashi Miike

Audition is a a drama/horror film from Japanese director Takashi Miike, best known for the incredibly gory Ichi the Killer.  It stars Ryo Ishibashi as Shigeharu Aoyama, a widower, who decides to look for a new wife after a suggestion from his son.  To find one, his friend at the production company he works for comes up with an idea to hold an audition for a film they have no plan on making just to find the perfect wife.  This is where he meets Asami (Eihi Shiina), a quiet, timid former ballerina who he instantly falls for.  The first half an hour of this film, if treated with a lighter touch, could almost be a romantic-comedy, but their courtship soon becomes very sinister, leading to a surreal, almost Lynchian sequence which culminates with an absolutely harrowing final act, which includes liberal use of needles.  

Having already seen Ichi the Killer I was expecting this to be a lot gorier and shocking than it is.  Not that this film isn't both of those things eventually, but here Miike really builds up to the climax in a very restrained way.  A lot of the film feels like a noir mystery as Aoyama tries to uncover who this woman really is.  There's a strong use of dutch angles to give an unnerving feeling to these sequences.  When the action kicks off Miike continues to be restrained, letting most of the horror happen in our minds, although we do get some nice gory sights.  

I loved the ending, which makes this really feel like a messed up love story, and the last shot and speech from Asami is almost heartbreaking, making us come close to sympathising with this woman.  This, to me, is a better film than Ichi the Killer (although gorehounds like @Conwill prefer that one), all of the characters are sympathetic and their actions and motives are believable.  The story takes its time to unfold, and is much more about tone and atmosphere than out and out shock.  I think people who don't usually go for this kind of movie, like @djw180 would enjoy this film.  This is the best made "torture" film I've ever seen (not that I've seen many) 9/10

 

 

[Con 5,727]

@LimeGreenLegend I own Audition and Ichi the Killer. Lmao. Haven’t watched them in quite a few years.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

1 minute ago, Con said:

@LimeGreenLegend I own Audition and Ichi the Killer. Lmao. Haven’t watched them in quite a few years.

Which one did you prefer?

[Con 5,727]

25 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

Which one did you prefer?

Audition. Cause it was more realistic. Ichi is just gory over the top fun. Ichi will never kill me. But a woman with a syringe could lure me in with her beauty or brains for sure.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Con

[djw180 7,026]

@LimeGreenLegend The trailer makes it look like it would be too much for me.🩸

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by djw180

[omarcomin71 3,905]

If anyone wants to escape with the exciting action movie I recommend Extraction on Netflix.   The story is somewhat predictable but still kept me interested.  Best part of the movie is the action. It’s so well done and the choreography is awesome. Very John Wick esque. 

 

[djw180 7,026]

Ratings on a few films seen over the last couple of weeks.

• The Duke of Burgundy

  • A film about a woman, Cynthia, who studies butterflies and moths (that is where the title comes from) and her lover Evelyn. I don't know if S&M is quite the right way to describe their relationship, but Evelyn likes being dominated. This isn't 100% clear at first but when the film replays almost exactly the same scene again we start to realise what is going on. They have this routine of Evelyn being the cleaner doing a bad job and being punished. She really likes being treated badly and punished, the phrase"human toilet" is something we hear but do not actually see and also she wants to be locked in a box overnight under Cynthia's bed. Cynthia is clearly not quite so into into it. No nudity and very little s*x, just enough to let us know they do have s*x but there is so much more to their relationship. The setting both in terms of place and time is ambiguous, I assume deliberately. The hair says late 60s / early 70s to me. The cast is entirely female and I think only 4 or 5 characters ever speak. Well shot, nice scenes to look at.

    • 7/10

• Effie Gray

  • The story of the disastrous marriage between the title character to the Victorian art historian John Ruskin (quite famous if you' re into that sort of thing, but I'd only heard of him because there is a gallery named after him here in Sheffield). She was 19, he was 29. She was expecting to play an active part in his job (studying and writing books about art), but he did not want any assistance and seems to have not really wanted a wife at all. Effie's life is miserable. She has more than one opportunity to have an affair, but stays faithful to her husband. Eventually after a frank conversation with one of the few friends she finds (played by the brilliant Emma Thompson who also wrote the script) she realises she can sue her husband for divorce on the grounds that they have never had s*x! I'm not sure if anyone knows exactly why, but the general view seems to be that John Ruskin lead an incredibly sheltered life. He was the only child of a wealthy Victorian couple, still living at home, mother did everything for him and of course the Victorians were incredibly prudish. He had probably never seen a naked woman in real life before his wedding night, and was so shocked by what he saw he couldn't go near her. Of course in his work he'd seen plenty of pictures of naked women. But nudes in art at the time tended to not have p*bic hair. His wife, we assume, did have some and it was that that is said to have repulsed him. Great cast, Dakota Fanning in the lead, Ms Thompson's husband (Greg Wise) as Ruskin, Julie Walters and John Suchet as Ruskin's parents.

    • 8/10

• Love and Freindship

  • A comedy based on the Jane Austen short story 'Lady Susan', played by Kate Beckensale. She's not your typical period drama lady. She's a widow, not that wealthy (in terms of the top level of society she exists in, of course unbelievably rich compared to most people at that time). So she gets used to inviting herself to stay with friends and relatives, a bit of a sponger, never pays a bill if she can get out of it. She is having an affair with a married man but is always flirting with others. It's quite subtle humour, often, as in a lot of Jan Austen adaptations, more about silly characters to laugh at. In terms of the rest of the cast it doesn't seem that big budget. I had never heard of it and it's the sort of thing my wife would have pointed out if we saw a trailer for it. It's well made and beautiful to just sit and watch the scenes and costumes at times. The plot is a little confusing though, maybe a result of the writers padding out a much shorter original story?

    • 7/10

Edited April 26, 2020 by djw180

[Con 5,727]

LOVE IT!!!! Keep those reviews coming everyone!!! Wooooo!! 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

1 hour ago, Con said:

LOVE IT!!!! Keep those reviews coming everyone!!! Wooooo!! 

 

I'm still waiting on your Rocky Horror review 😉 

[Con 5,727]

7 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

I'm still waiting on your Rocky Horror review 😉 

Sorry. That's terrible of me not to have paid my debt yet. I will get to it within a day or two. 

[Con 5,727]

21 hours ago, omarcomin71 said:

If anyone wants to escape with the exciting action movie I recommend Extraction on Netflix.   The story is somewhat predictable but still kept me interested.  Best part of the movie is the action. It’s so well done and the choreography is awesome. Very John Wick esque. 

 

This film is quite the rage at the moment. People talking about his performance as a must watch. 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

17 minutes ago, Con said:

Best part of the movie is the action.

It was directed by the stunt coordinator for Avengers Endgame, guy seems to know his fight scenes.  

18 minutes ago, Con said:

People talking about his performance as a must watch. 

Chris Hemsworth is a great actor who needs to be known as more than Thor.  He's fantastic in Rush, In the Heart of the Sea and Bad Times at the El Royale.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Top Hat

dir. Mark Sandrich

Top Hat is a musical romantic comedy directed by Mark Sandrich, starring the legendary screen duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and with songs by Irving Berlin.  If you've seen The Green Mile then you've seen a bit of this film as this is the movie they let John Coffey watch before he has to be executed, "they is angels, sir, angels just like they got up in heaven."  The plot sees American dancer Jerry Travers (Astaire) in London to star in a new show for producer Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton).  While there he meets Dale Tremont (Rogers).  Dale is a friend of Horace's wife Madge (Helen Broderick), but she hasn't met Horace yet.  After a flirty evening together Dale comes to the mistaken belief that Travers is Horace  and is trying to cheat on Madge with her.  This leads to a series of comedic confrontations and incredible dance scenes.  

This is the perfect film to watch right now.  It's a screwball slapstick farce with whipcracking dialogue and fantastical art-deco sets.  There's not a single dark moment in the film.  The direction is great, really letting Astaire and Rogers let loose across the sets with their incredible movement.  The script is as sharp now as it was in 1935, with some great comic relief coming from Horace's valet Bates (Eric Blore) and Italian fashion designer and rival for Dale's affections, Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes), "for the woman a kiss, for the man a sword."

The highlight of the film is every scene with both Astaire and Rogers together.  They made several films together and you can see the chemistry crackling between them.  Even though I'm a musical fan I've never been fond of extended dance sequences, but here watching Astaire and Rogers define their whole relationship with the way their bodies move together is enchanting, almost hypnotic.  There's an incredible vitality to them that you can't help but feel yourself as you watch them.  There's a short review for this on the website letterboxd that I think sums it up perfectly, "Some hundred years from now when people have turned into robots for good, this is the movie they will show kids in school to teach them what it meant to be alive." 9/10

 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

The Godfather Part II

dir. Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather Part II is a sequel/prequel to The Godfather, again directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by Coppola and Mario Puzo.  Most of the cast from the first film return, Al Pacino as Michael, the newly instated Godfather, Diane Keaton as his wife Kay, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen and John Cazale as Michael's brother Fredo.  The big addition to the cast is Robert De Niro as the young Vito Corleone in the flashback sequences tracing his arrival to the USA and his rise to power in early 20th century New York.  This empire building is contrasted with Michael's struggle to keep his father's legacy alive in the face of ever increasing threats.  

This is another masterpiece.  Everything about the film is so well done.  The performances are brilliant all round, especially Cazale as Fredo.  The scenes between himself and Michael are some of the best in the movie.  The music, again by Nino Rota, perfectly accompanies the visuals.  Coppola's direction is very deliberate, lots of slow zooms and long takes so we can take in the gorgeous set design.  The one negative for me is that we don't get enough De Niro.  I feel like I was robbed of seeing a full movie of Vito's rise to power.  

I do prefer the first movie, Brando was a presence that can't be replaced, and lie I already said, I wanted more De Niro, but this is as close to being as good as that film as you could possibly get 9/10

 

====================================================

Citizen Kane

dir. Orson Welles

Citizen Kane is the debut film from Orson Welles who directed, produced, co-wrote the Oscar winning screenplay (with Herman J. Mankiewicz) and starred in as Charles Foster Kane.  It is considered the greatest film ever made by a lot of people who know a lot more about movies then me.  Not only did he achieve all of that with his first film, he did it when he was just 26 years old.  The film opens with the death of Kane, an old lonely man in his huge mansion, Xanadu.  Just before he dies he utters one word, "rosebud".  The mystery over the meaning of this word leads a journalist to interview people who knew Kane at different times in his life to try and find out what it means.  We then flashback to different times in his life, his childhood when his family came into sudden wealth, him as a young man taking charge of a newspaper just for fun, running for political office, and a couple of failed marriages.  

I was nervous about watching this because of its intimidating reputation.  What if I didn't like it?  I had no nerves after the first scene, an incredible montage of the grounds of his house, the unique way Welles frames his shots really shows that he isn't playing by anyone's rules but his.  Mostly because he doesn't know the rules, but he's such a genius that he doesn't need to.  He just knows what he wants to see, and that is precisely what he presents to us.  I doubt there is a film from the time period that looks like this does, with camera movements and lighting and shot compositions that are just breathtakingly good.  Welles is also an incredible actor, showing huge range as he goes from playing a cocky young man of 25 to an angry, sad, lonely old man in his 70s.  You won't believe that it's the same actor playing the role throughout the whole film, but it is.  The brilliant make-up helps as well.  You wouldn't think that old age makeup would look that good in 1941, but there it is.  

The script is just as good as everything else in this film, with each character feeling real and having actual depth and development, especially Kane himself and his two wives.  After watching it I can't find a good argument against this being called the greatest film ever made, this is another movie that if I could make you all sit down and watch it right now I would 10/10

 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Honey Boy

dir. Alma Har'el

Honey Boy is a drama and the debut fiction film from music video and documentary maker Alma Har'el.  It was written by and stars Shia LaBeouf and is based on his own life and relationship with his father when he was a young child actor.  LaBeouf plays his father, in this film called James, an ex-con and rodeo clown who is four years sober but still struggles with lots of demons.  The film opens in 2005 with Lucas Hedges as a 22 year old Shia (called Otis in the film) getting put into rehab after getting in a drunken fight with the police.  As part of his therapy he has to talk about what makes him angry, and that's his father.  We then flashback to 1995 where a 12 year old Otis (Noah Jupe) is living in a motel with his dad and working on a TV show that is obviously Even Stevens, but they don't refer to it by name.  

LaBeouf originally wrote the script as part of his therapy while in rehab and you can feel the raw emotion in every scene, not only the negative ones, but the brief flashes of happiness and laughter.  Hedges and Jupe are both fantastic as Otis, you can see the evolution from the child to the man in their performances, and the way the film jumps between present and past really helps to show how similar they are and how his experiences have shaped him.  The star if this is LaBeouf however, he is incredible in this.  It would have been easy to make this a one dimensional monster of a character, but he give it so much depth.  He can be funny and charming and almost loving, as well as angry and depressed and jealous of his son's success.

The scenes between LaBeouf and Jupe are so good, and hard to watch a lot of the time.  I highly recommend this film, especially if you have only seen LaBeouf in Transformers of Indiana Jones, he is a fantastic actor and this incredibly personal film brings out everything he has to offer 9.5/10

 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Brassed Off

dir. Mark Herman

Brassed Off is a British drama written and directed by Mark Herman (Little Voice, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) and stars Pete Postlethwaite as the conductor of the Grimley colliery brass band, whose coal mine is under threat of closure.  Stephen Tomkinson plays his son, who is having serious debt issues and arguments with his wife, and Ewan McGregor is a shy, quiet trumpet player who falls for Tara Fitzgerald's character, who just arrived in town and plays a mean flugelhorn.  All of these characters are facing stress but come together to make beautiful music in spite of, or maybe because of, their shared troubles.

The music is incredibly beautiful too.  If you've never really heard a brass band before then you're in for a treat, they can convey such a wide range of emotion, not just the oompah marching style stuff.  There's a scene early on where they perform Concierto de Aranjuez which is such a haunting piece of music, I was transfixed the entire time.  This is also emphasised by Postlethwaite's performance, he is brilliant in this.  He radiates an old-school dignity throughout that is so touching, especially in the moments when he does break.  He also gives an passionate final speech which left me in tears just from how much righteous fury he had.  My favourite parts of his performance though were the scenes where we see him conducting the band.  He has such an expressive face and you can see how much music means to this man, it's a joy to behold.

The film does suffer from a couple of moments of Hallmark channel schmaltz, but Herman does a pretty solid job of balancing social drama and grittiness with lighthearted moments of entertainment. This is mostly an 8/10 film, but because of the music and Postlethwaite I'm giving it 9/10

 

 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,303]

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

dir. François Girard

32SFaGG is a Canadian biopic of the pianist Glenn Gould.  This is unlike any biopic I've ever seen.  As the title suggest, it is broken up into 32 segments, each between 30 seconds and 5 minutes in length.  It has a similar structure to regular biopics, we start at his childhood and progress through his life up until his death, and it features interviews with people who knew him, but the fragmentary nature of the film gives it a rhythm that is intoxicating.  Colm Feore plays Gould, and he gives a superb performance as a gentle, eccentric genius.  He is also able to convey his skill with the piano without every actually playing one during the film.  We see him conducting as he listens to playback in a recording studio, watching the face of a hotel maid as he plays her one of his records, and we see the inner workings of a piano as it is being played in a gorgeous montage, but not once do we see Gould actually play the piano.

It's hard to talk about this film without just describing all of the different scenarios as there isn't an overarching plot, just a few threads that link some of the segments together.  The music is gorgeous, being a combination of Gould's original works and his performances of classical pieces, one of which was sent up with the Voyager mission, and pretty much every scene is accompanied by music, showing how it enveloped this man's entire life.  The direction is fantastic, feeling different in each scene, some are very documentary like, others are surreal and very art-house, without ever crossing the line into pretentiousness.  

This is something that needs to be experienced, and will make every other music biopic look like a boring basic b*tch 10/10

The whole film is on YouTube, so why not give it a whirl.