Review: The Wrestler

Sweet is not the word I thought would best describe The Wrestler.

Darren Aronofsky's latest film treads very familiar ground. The Wrestler is the riches to rags tale of once champion wrestler Randy "The Ram" Ramzinsky trying to find a place in the world outside the ring when he realises his glory days are long passed.

In terms of tone this a seismic shift from Aronofsky's last movie "The Fountain", a film which divided viewers straight down the middle. To say The Fountain was ambitious is an understatement, but whereas that film pondered the nature of death and life on a grand scale, The Wrestler focuses on the smaller and more intimate aspects of real life. Here the director chooses to pull everything back, shooting the film in minimalist docu syle to let the story shine through.

Review: The Road

The Road is a very difficult film to watch. It's a film about struggle, despair, hunger and fear. Aesthetically and tonally it's very very grey.

The effect can be exhausting, but in the best way possible. The film is about exhaustion, both physical and mental. The effect brings you closer to the story, as the characters become more and more weary, a sense of fatigue engulfs the film which draws the viewer in even further.

Based on Cormac McCarthy's critically lauded novel, The Road is remarkably faithful to the source material. Unsurprising really considering the book is actually very low on plot, instead opting to focus solely on the relationship between a man and his son struggling to survive an unnamed apocalypse.

When adapting a story like this it must be very tempting to pull the camera back and reveal more of the ravaged world and attempt to fill in the blanks. Director John Hillcoat wisely avoids this, realising that the tension comes from the unknown. McCarthy went out of his way to reveal as little as possible about what happened to humanity. It's what made the book so horrifying and it keeps the tension high in the film.

Review: Milk

Sean Penn's party piece is biopics.

He's brilliant in everything, but he really truly shines when he is portraying a real person. In The Assassination of Richard Nixon, he showed what he can do when he has a real person with a real life and history to draw from.

As Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to major office in the state of California, Penn gives a subtle, human and very accurate portrayal, channelling Milk's persona and mannerisms without letting it descend into parody or simply impression. As a man Milk was strong and courageous but with a deep vulnerability and Penn nails the balance between shy mild mannered man to emotional and angry leader expertly.

Mikey's Musings: Why Cars 2 will be brilliant

Cars is Pixar's weakest film. It's not as funny or as touching as the likes of Toy Story and the characters never quite resonate in the same way as the Parr family did in The Incredibles.

It's still far superior to 90% of animated features released these days.

When it's sequel was announced in 2008 (the first Pixar film to get a sequel since Toy Story) it was met with bemusement. Why were we getting a sequel to Cars when Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo were so much better?

It's because Pixar aren't in the business of churning out sequel after sequel of their most popular works. They care about their stories and characters, aggressively defending and protecting them from corporate tampering. If Pixar were in it for the money we would currently be looking forward to "The Incredible Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo 3: Where'd he go now?"

Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Fox Executive 1: So, Wolverine is still popular right?

Fox Executive 2: Sure.

Fox Executive 1: And Hugh Jackman is a big big star?

Fox Executive 2: You bet!

Fox Executive 1: I got it! We'll make one of them prequel things. We can put all those characters in that we couldn't cram into the last one. How much money have you got on you?

Fox Executive 2: $50

Fox Executive 1: Terrific, that can go to the FX department. Get me a photo of Hugh Jackman, I'll make the poster myself. Start shooting it right now.

Fox Executive 2: OK but shouldn't we write the script fir...

Fox Executive 1: Guy, I got this ok!

Fox Executive 3: Hey guys i'm going to go and burn some money.

I have no proof that that conversation took place. However I remain absolutely convinced that the actual studio meeting that greenlit X-Men Origins: Wolverine was, if not quite that moronic, definitely that brief. It didn't matter what the film was, it didn't matter if it was good just as long is it came out before Joe Public forgot what an X-Man was.

It's quite apt I suppose that the X-Men series deals with evolution, Fox have managed to make the next evolutionary step in turning a respectable film franchise into nothing more than a revenue generator. If X-Men: The Last Stand was Homo Habilis on the "Evolution of Dumb" chart then Wolverine is using tools and making fire.

Review: Inglourious Basterds

No one else could have made this movie.

I know that sounds incredibly obvious. From the opening moments its clearly a Tarantino movie through and through. What I mean is that no other director working today could have gotten away with what he has. Not Scorcese, not Spielberg, not Scott.
He has made a 70 million dollar World War Two movie that is 60-70% subtitled, he cast Brad Pitt in a supporting role and cast relative unknowns in the main roles, the film features pretty horrific imagery and ends with somone machine gunning Hitler in the face.

He made a film with no concessions whatsoever. That needs to be admired and applauded.

He also made it very, very "Tarantino".