Moneyball (2011)

Aside from films one of my other great loves in life is sport. My main focus is football, although I do enjoy watching rugby, Formula One, the occasional bit of basketball, and I've always got time for the Superbowl. One sport that has never really grabbed my attention though is baseball. I don't really get it and it's never captivated my interest long enough for me to learn. So when I sat down to watch Moneyball (2011) although I had high hopes, due to a very likable cast and what seemed like a decent story, I was apprehensive about how interesting I'd find a film revolving around a sport which I couldn't care less about. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

I found the story incredibly engaging throughout the film and my lack of knowledge about baseball didn't really become an issue. Based on the 2003 book of the same name Moneyball is the story of Oakland A's general manager, and former player, Billy Beane's attempt to assemble a baseball team on a tight budget by employing computer-generated analysis  to acquire new players. Although it may not sound like the most riveting plot I can assure you it works.

As I said, I can in no way profess to be a baseball fan. I know the basic facts enough to understand what's going on and that's all you really need going in to Moneyball because the film doesn't revolve around the ins and outs of professional baseball, it's all about the interaction between character's and the brutal reality of the sports industry. That's why it works.

A lot of credit has to go to some very impressive performances by the film's leads. Brad Pitt, although beloved by many, doesn't display what a talented actor he can be enough, instead getting drawn into doing too many popcorn flicks with no real substance. In this we see a really subtle brilliant performance by Pitt as he brings struggling GM Billy Beane to life. Philip Seymour Hoffman, although playing a slightly smaller role than you'd usually expect, also turns in a really great performance as the teams head coach. But in my eyes the show is stolen by Jonah Hill.

Everyone know's Hill as the overweight loser who swears too much and smokes copious amounts of weed, but what we get introduced to here is statistical genius Jonah Hill who's painfully socially awkward. I'm a big Jonah Hill fan, I think he's hilarious, but at times I think it's fair to say he plays it safe with his roles. This is totally out of his comfort zone and I think he nails it perfectly, fully deserving his academy award nomination. Another moment of acting that put a smile on my face was by Arliss Howard (I'd never heard of him either) who played a small role as Boston Red Sox owner John Henry. As many of you may know Henry is now the owner of Liverpool FC, the team which I follow religiously, meaning that I've seen a fair share of interviews with him and I think Howard nailed his voice and mannerisms spot on. Not strictly a crucial scene or performance, but one that should definitely bring a smile to the faces of any Liverpool fans.

I think any film that's based on a book which is based on a true story runs the risk of losing its heart through over recreating itself. Moneyball avoids this wonderfully, keeping true to the core that makes this story so interesting and emotional. It's blatant why this film was nominated for six academy awards, because it's a truly brilliant film. The story was fantastic and the acting was superb - although it did make me miss the days when Jonah Hill was chubby, to quote the man himself "there's nothing funny about a physically fit man". I think the biggest compliment I can pay this film is that it almost made me want to go out and watch a baseball game. Almost.

The Great Gatsby

One of the most anticipated films of the year has finally hit the screens. Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of the classic 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, has had fans impatiently waiting since last year, creating an immense sense of anticipation. It's brilliant, yet complicated, story tells the tale of mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his love story with Daisy, portrayed by Carey Mulligan.

A lot of hype has surrounded this film from day one, mainly due to its legendary status as a book. Baz Luhrmann's impressive track record has persuaded many, however his stylistic approach has been questioned by some. Its modern soundtrack, curated by none other than Jay Z, has created a mass of excitement for the majority of fans, although concerns have also been raised about its appropriateness in such a classic story. At each turn this film has split opinion, epitomised in its mixed reception at the Cannes Film Festival.

Personally, I lie on the positive side as I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby. It was always going to be an incredibly tough task for Luhrmann and his crew to assemble an on screen representation of such a legendary novel that's true beauty is in the subtext but I feel he stood up to the task magnificently, making the story his own. There are so many different ways to interpret the book, anyone who has read it will tell you that, so rather than attempting to cover all bases and please everyone Luhrmann instead took its extravagance and brought that to the forefront. A bold move, but one that I felt really worked.

The most striking feature of the film was its stylistic approach, unsurprising when you look at Luhramnn's previous projects. Honestly, it was a bit hit and miss for me. There were times when the dazzling colours and amazing landscapes completely immersed me, but in contrast to that some of the stylistic choices made created an dreamlike feel that I didn't really enjoy. For the most part though it suited the film and the atmosphere it was trying to create.

The Great Gatsby's biggest triumph in my eyes was its soundtrack. Admittedly I was slightly dubious when I initially heard that it was going with modern music, however as soon as I saw the advert featuring "No Church In The Wild" I was instantly convinced. Throughout the soundtrack was stunning, hardly any of the songs were didn't suit the scene to perfection and they all featured occasional flashes of jazz which was a nice throwback to the book. My personal favourite was Lana Del Rey's song "Young And Beautiful", which was stunning, but all the tracks were really brilliant and helped create a unique dimension to the film.

The casting was also a great success. As expected Leonardo DiCaprio turned in an amazing performance as Gatsby, going above and beyond what I'd expected and completely portrayed exactly what I'd envisaged  when reading the book. The big surprise for me was how impressive Toby Maguire was. I, like many others, was very skeptical upon hearing he was playing the Nick, the films narrator, but from start to finish I felt he was incredible. Carey Mulligan also put in a brilliant portrayal of female lead Daisy, bringing to life the constant mix of emotions that surrounds the character. Another impressive performance was by Joel Edgerton, who plays Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan. Again it was a casting choice that raised a lot of eyebrows, but he proved many of the doubters wrong playing to part flawlessly.

There were however a couple of disappointments. Personally I felt that the film didn't explore the relationship between Nick and Jordan, a friend of Daisy's whom Nick shares a romantic interest with in the book. Although this may not play a crucial role in the story, it does however offer a bit more substance and development to Nick's character which is something I think they should have given more time to. I also felt they over explained some of the subtle subtext that the book contains. It may sound snobby, or it may just be because I had to study the book at A-Level, but I felt that some of the symbolism should have remained unexplained therefor maintaining its openness to interpretation.

The Great Gatsby is a brilliant film, really brilliant, and it was definitely worth the annoyingly long wait. It was perfectly cast, it looked stunning, and the soundtrack was nothing short of spectacular. It fell just slightly short of my unreasonably high expectations, but this film is in no way a disappointment. It's one of the toughest tasks in the film industry to try and take an already beloved story and try to recreate it as your own, but it's something I think Baz Luhrmann has definitely achieved with The Great Gatsby. A really impressive film, definitely one of the best I've seen this year. Undoubtedly one to watch!





Written by Ash Davies

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Tom Hardy

THE GOOD
Bronson (2008)

Tom Hardy is probably one of the most popular actors currently working in Hollywood. He's loved by British and Americans alike and with a track record like his you can see why. Inception (2010), Warrior (2011), and most recently The Dark Knight Rises (2012) have all been resounding success's and have gained Tom Hardy a massive fan base. However, no matter how many brilliant films he appears in I'd be very surprised if he ever manages to top his performance in Bronson. Released in on a shoestring budget Bronson tells the true story of an infamous prisoner who goes by the name of Charles Bronson. The film is great. It's got a really good story, it's very well directed, and it has some really good dark humour moments in it. However, this would all mean absolutely nothing if it weren't for a stunning performance by Tom Hardy. He transforms himself into a disturbingly intense representation of a savage man with a passion for brutality, as well as narrating the whole story with a surreal brilliance. A really fantastic film with one outstanding leading actor.


THE BAD
This Means War (2012)

This is a pretty strange one, because I didn't dislike this film. In fact at times I'm ashamed to say I actually quite enjoyed it. The thing is, it's a bad film. There's no escaping that. I'm comfortable enough to admit that I'm partial to the occasional rom-com, because let's be honest sometimes you just want something that will put a smile on your face and give you a laugh whilst maintaining minimal emotional drama. Rom-coms provide that. The problem is that if you genuinely take a step back and look at most of them they're just plain rubbish. This Means War falls firmly into that category. Yes there's a few moments that genuinely had me laughing and yes Chris Pine and Tom Hardy make quite a likable duo, but the story is so weak no amount of occasional niceness could ever make up for it. Not to mention some truly poor acting in places. Tom Hardy is so much better than rom-com's, especially ones that are this poor deep down. Not by any means a terrible film, but it's definitely a blemish on Tom Hardy's CV.


THE UGLY
Sometimes it's easy to forget that almost every time we see a famous actor or actress they're made up to perfection. I'm not saying Tom Hardy is a bad looking, quite the opposite, he's a fantastic looking man. But I think we can all take a little bit of joy in seeing a celebrity looking ugly. So, here you go:

Kevin Smith: Fab Four

Since Kevin James burst into our hearts in 1994 with his cult classic Clerks he has grown into a well respected director. His consistent casting of close friends has led to a family feel throughout his pictures which have audiences laughing for nearly twenty years. Through good and bad Smith has always remained faithful to his beloved cast, as well as his unique writing style, which has more often than not resulted in success. A brilliantly funny man who's work I am definitely a fan of. Here are my fab four (yes it's a Beatles reference) Kevin Smith flicks:

1) Clerks (1994)
Not only is this my favourite Kevin Smith film, but it's probably one of my favourite comedy films of all time. Smith's directorial debut has been a resounding success throughout the cinematic world, gaining legendary status as a cult classic. Set in a small convenience store this film shows us a day in the life of two of it's employees. A low budget movie, shot completely in black and white, using almost all amateur actors yet somehow it manages to be amazing. The script is perfect, the acting fits the feel of the film, and it introduces one of the most memorable duo's since Batman and Robin. I am of course talking about Jay and Silent Bob. They're raw yet always hilarious first outing as the infamous double act is the cherry on top of this epic indie legend.

2) Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Possibly his most popular film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back exchanges the clever and satirical humour of Clerks for plain, simple silliness and it works. The ridiculous nature of the comedy is forgivable because of the emotional investment you have made into the two most lovable characters Kevin Smith has ever written. The concept is funny and the constant homages and links to his previous works always bring a smile to the face and give you the feeling like you're "in on the joke". However, there is one man who takes this film from being a pretty decent silly comedy into a hilariously quotable classic goofy film - Will Ferrell. One of the most popular comic actors in Hollywood puts in a massively underrated performance in this movie. Playing inept Federal Wildlife Marshall Wilenholly Ferrell, not for the first time in his career, absolutely steals the show. Almost every line he has in the film had me in stitches and have become irresistibly quotable to me an my friends. An absolutely outstanding performance in a really good film.

3) Clerks 2 (2006)
It's not often that sequels are actually any good, especially when they're sequels to cult classics, and even more so when they go through a massive stylistic change from the original everyone loved so much. Surely then a follow up to Clerks could only end badly for Kevin Smith? Amazingly not. I find myself reiterating the phrase "somehow it works" so many times whenever I talk about Kevin Smith films and this is another perfect example of why. Everything points towards this film being a terrible idea, yet it's not. It's actually incredibly funny. Clearly it was never going to be as good as Clerks, a very tall order by anyone's standards, yet by changing the approach of the film, as well as maturing the characters, but still keeping the same fundamental reasons of why we fell in love with them in the first place Smith manages to create a fantastic follow up to his debut picture. It features some classic Jay and Silent Bob moments, a whole host of hilarious new characters, and has a really decent story behind it. I was genuinely surprised at just how much I enjoyed this film, it's great.

4) Dogma (1999)
An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and re-enter Heaven. Doesn't really sound the best does it? Usually you'd assume a film with that plot line to either be overly complicated and hard hitting, or just plain silly. Amazingly enough Dogma manages to avoid falling into either of these tracks whilst managing to remain clever, interesting, and continually funny. It also heavily features my beloved combo of Jay and Silent Bob (a common theme among most liked Kevin Smith films) along with many other thoroughly enjoyable characters, my personal favourite being Alan Rickman's fantastic performance as a particularly grump angel. A good film with a sprinkling of Religious Education.

Films You Should Be Looking Forward To In May

Star Trek Into Darkness (Thursday 9th May)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg

As a life long fan of Star Wars is pains me to admit just how much I loved the 2009 Star Trek film. It was absolutely outstanding. The cast was great, the story was great, and overall I felt it was a pretty brilliant effort. So, understandably I'm very excited for the sequel. As the Starship Enterprise enters our atmosphere once again it brings with it a fresh new tale of  Captain Kirk fighting an unstoppable force of terror from within his own organisation. The villain, a one man weapon of mass destruction, is played by Benedict Cumberbatch which I think will prove to be an excellent choice. If you're partial to a bit of sci-fi then you will not want to miss this one.


Great Gatsby (Thursday 16th May)
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio, Carey Mulligan, Toby Maguire, Joel Edgerton

It was only ever going to be a matter of time before someone cracked and decided to try and recreate F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic book The Great Gatsby (1925). That someone was Baz Luhrmann, and to be honest I'm quite glad. Luhrmann's greatest success came in the form of his fantastic 1996 re-telling of Romeo and Juliette which gained great critical acclaim. Now he's back with his leading man, Leonardo Di Caprio, and I'm very confident they will be able to recreate the same on screen magic for us all over again. The Great Gatsby is a really good book, which I'd wholeheartedly recommend to anyone, but it's a very hard story to try and explain. At it's very core it's a love story, but a love story with a whole heap of subtle undertones and social commentaries weaved in throughout it. It's a tall order attempting to recreate the subtext of a book onto the big screen, yet I have the utmost confidence that Luhrmann will stand strong to the task. Will it be as good as the book? Maybe not. But from what I can gather it'll be one brilliant film with one hell of a soundtrack.


Fast and Furious 6 (Friday 17th May)
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Jason Statham

Seriously now, who genuinely doesn't enjoy the Fast and Furious films? Yes they maybe slightly generic, yes the acting may not warrant any academy awards, yes the story may be pretty much the same in every film, and yes they may just take any excuse to blow things up. But none of that matters, because every time I watch the latest installment I get the buzzing excitement of a child in a sweet shop. I'm not really that big on cars, if you opened up the hood of a million pound sports car I'd probably only be impressed by how shiny it is. But again none of the matters because Fast and Furious doesn't require you to have a good grasp on automotive engineering, all you need to know is that the cars go fast and the people behind the wheel are badass. Fast and Furious 6 does appear to be breaking the mold slightly, the story has shifted away from pulling off a heist and more into stopping bad guys, but honestly it doesn't really matter that much. This movie is going to be epic and I can almost guarantee I'll leave the cinema with a big beaming grin on my face.



Epic (Wednesday 22nd May)
Director: Chris Wedge
Starring: Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Chris O'Dowd, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Beyonce Knowles

Just take a look at that cast and tell me you don't already want to see this film? It's rare a film comes along where the term "star studded" doesn't do it justice, yet somehow Epic has managed it. So many famous names can sometimes result in attempting to make up for a poor script, although with animated films this is rarely the case. I'm a fan of animated film, something about them just appeals to my inner child, and I think this looks like it could become a real classic. Of course there's always going to be an element of risk with films of this type. You don't know whether they're going to be slightly too childish too enjoy, or just another money maker the studios have churned out. But personally I like the look of this film and if it's done the way I'm hoping it could be a real success. Also, I'll pretty much watch anything with Aziz Ansari in it. Definitely one to keep an eye on.





Written by Ash Davies

Iron Man 3

So Marvel's big blockbuster of the year has finally hit our screens, prompting mass hysteria from movie freaks, comic geeks, and anyone who enjoys a good superhero flick. Iron Man 3 will probably prove to be the biggest film of 2013 and will almost definitely have the largest budget. But the real question is, you guessed it, is it actually any good? Well, here's what I think.

For those of you who don't know, although how that could even be a possibility is beyond me, Iron Man 3 is the story of Tony Stark rebuilding himself after radical terrorist The Mandarin, superbly played by Ben Kingsley, tears his world apart. Decent story right?

Wrong. Somewhere along the way the writers of the latest Iron Man installment got far too ahead of themselves and as a result the story just didn't sit right with me throughout the majority of the film. I felt it was overly complicated, not particularly well explained, and at times just a bit annoying and silly. It wasn't that it was hard too understand what was going on, it was just that it became increasingly hard to understand why the hell it was going on. However, in it's defence a lot of people have thoroughly enjoyed the film so it could easily be just a personal preference on that particular choice of story line. In my eyes though, it just didn't work.

That said, this film does tick all the boxes in the "epic" checklist. Iconic superhero? Check. Relatively attractive female? Check. Badass villains? Check. The occasional hilarious moment? Check. Good special effects? Check. An unfathomable amount of explosions? Check. No matter what opinions you hold on this film it can't ever be described as anything other than epic. Or maybe just pretty epic if you really didn't enjoy it.

WARNING. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER.

Yes, there's a bit of a spoiler in this review. But I promise it won't ruin any of the story, however it is possibly one of the most cardinal sins any film fan can commit. This sin of which I speak is to tell you this: there's a twist. I know, I know, I'm a bastard. I apologise! The only reason I bring up the fact that there is a twist at all is because it has created such a massive divide in opinion over whether or not it was a good idea. Some people are adamant it was a shocking move, yet others have seen it as one of the best aspects of the whole film. Personally I fall into the latter category. I thought it was a really smart move by the writing staff and I genuinely enjoyed a really uncharacteristic twist. However, the law of averages dictates that many of you will hate it just as much as the many who have already voiced their hatred. Again, all personal preference.

ATTENTION. THE SPOILER SECTION IS NOW OVER. 

One of the real problems I had with this film, apart from the story line, was a really underwhelming performance by Robert Downey Jr. I think it's fair to say that Iron Man wasn't the most popular superhero before Downey Jr got his hands on the role, yet five years on from the first movie and he's probably most people's favourite Avenger. You could say this is down to good writing, or the fact that such fantastic special effects available these days they are able to truly bring the character to life. I would argue that it's simply Robert Downey Jr's influence. Some people are just made to play a role. Johnny Depp was made to play Captain Jack Sparrow, just like Harrison Ford was made to play Han Solo, just like Robery Downey Jr was made to play Iron Man. Everything about him is perfect for the role. Yet, somehow, it just doesn't quite click in this film. His coolness isn't there in the abundance we'd experienced in the earlier installments, his jokes rarely get much more than a disappointing chuckle, and from start to finish I just couldn't get as emotionally invested into Tony Stark as I would've hoped. A victim of attempting to break free from the stereotypical Iron Man character we saw in the previous films? Possibly. Either way I just didn't get the classic swagger I'd come to expect from Tony Stark.

That said, this is a pretty good film, I don't think many people would say otherwise. It's got all the ingredients that make up a successful Hollywood blockbuster, as well as featuring a superhero the world has come to adore in recent years. It's main problem is just that it lacks heart. Downey Jr doesn't perform to the very high standards he has set and the story line was disappointing, two things that have basically made the Iron Man films so successful. If you're a fan of Marvel films you have to see it, and you'll probably enjoy it. But I can almost guarantee when you leave the cinema a small voice at the back of your mind will be telling you "that SHOULD have been better".





Written by Ash Davies