In no particular order here's some movie reviews, admittedly I'm half asleep and have *some* alcohol down me, but let's see wot happens eh? Whose with me? Team...
Hitman - based on the computer game. Yes I know that's generally a reason to avoid it. But what the hey, I like crap movies. Well it's got action, it has Timothy Olyphant (from Deadwood - he's the sheriff in DW), Dougray Scott etc, but scriptwriting was a bit lean and the story does require massive suspension from belief. Tim's character (Agent47) from a shadowy group of assassins (And what do you call assassins who accuse assassins, anyway My friend?) gets backstabbed by his mates. Agent47 gets mildly grumpy and goes about trying to find out whats the haps That's largely the story. There's cops, assassins, russians (the main guy is played by the pedophile in prison break) and lots of dodgy accents that fade in and out. Wonderful. The biggest plus is that its only 90mins long and that there is a fair amount of action.
It's hard to review, given it's crap and knows it, but it is fun. I'd recommend it with the warning that it is *shockingly badly written*, acting is hamstrung by poor directing (Tim O is kinda wasted here).
The snappily titled
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Now I'm in the camp of Brad Pitt is quite a good actor but tends to be overlooked as he's easy on the eye. For that reason a meandering western with Pitt as Jesse James seemed a good test of how good he is. Some critics had been bitching about the length of the movie (160min) but given I like meandering movies that didn't seem a reason to not see it. The story looks at the last couple of heists of the James' gang (at this point consisting of his brother and Jesse), and the manlove of a new recruit. So essentially the whole movie revolves around Pitt (Jesse James) and Casey Affleck (the newbie). Pitt more than adequately holds this movie together. He's brillant, moody, funny and convincing. I'm sold. What I really liked about this movie, and there is a lot to like, is that there is little to distract from the story. The scenery is minimalist and there are not too many extraneous characters. Most scenes revolve around the two leads.
There's also a level of humour in here I wasn't expecting. The movie has some very funny (admittedly black humour) scenes, which certainly helps the pace.
Casey's character develops, initially as a simpleton and then becoming more complex as the movie and his relationship with James' develops. Well written and well acted.
Nice cameo by Nick Cave too :)
The killer of Ford is a nice exploration of the reasons for fame and although it could have been superfluous to the movie, it works well.
I'm quite prepared to say its one of the movies of the year. Go see it.
And finally
Eastern Promises, the new Cronenberg exploring the Russian mafia in the UK. Cronenberg seems to have found a muse in Viggo Mortenson and given how good History of Violence and Eastern Promises are, that's fine by me. These two movies have more character and emotional development in them. EP focusses on a baby born to an unknown mother and the nurse who tried to find out who she is and where her relatives are. Viggo plays a prospect in the Russian mafia with style, dealing with the boss' drunk useless son (the boss is a restaurant owner explaining the setting for most of the movie). the twists are excellent, the scriptwriting perfect, the acting stunning. And the directing as exemplary as per norm for Cronenberg.
I loved this movie. Sure there's elements of violence, but it's not over the top and it is tastefully and realistically done.
I'll admit I think Cronenberg is truely the bomb, but this movie should appeal to a wider number of people than his earlier work.
Again one of my favourites of the year. Viggo really turns into a mafia hitman thing, and is absolutely convincing.
B (now even more asleep) xx
