True Grit

Year: 2010
Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper


Finally, I have found a Coen brothers film that I can actually understand.

It's not that I hated No Country For Old Men, but for me, it had one of the weakest endings ever. And then there was Burn After Reading, which I couldn't take anything away from, except Brad Pitt's hilarious performance. I hadn't watched their earlier films, so I really wasn't a fan of theirs. But True Grit seemed good on paper, and it's been a while since I saw a western, so I had to see this.

True Grit begins with 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) getting her recently murdered father's body being delivered back home. Mattie's father was killed by a small time crook called Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and Mattie wants to find him so that justice may be served.

To facilitate this, she hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a US Marshal who's slightly drunk, old and not to mention cranky, but someone who is tough and resilient enough to get the job done. Hiring Cogburn took a bit of effort, but eventually the old man agrees, even though he dislikes the idea of Mattie coming along for the hunt. They are joined by LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a Texas ranger who has a bounty on Chaney for a murder in Texas.

Cogburn and LaBoeuf constantly get into arguments because of their pride, and at many instances, it almost seems Mattie will never get the justice she seeks. That is until, she stumbles on Chaney along the way, and the true grit of the two men and Mattie are put to the test.

This film is actually a remake of the 1969 film starring John Wayne, which won Wayne his only acting Oscar. But now as you already know, it didn't do the same for Bridges. However, that's not to say that he didn't do a great job. Bridges has tremendous screen presence, and what's best about playing Rooster Cogburn is the fact that the Coens' script gives plenty of room for Bridges to exercise some comedy chops, which augments his performance as the drunk but determined lawman. Damon successfully supports Bridges as LaBoeuf, who initially seems like someone who doesn't walk the walk, but redeems himself in the end.

But the best thing about True Grit is 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld, who puts in an awesome performance as the spunky Mattie Ross. She gives Mattie the much needed charm and streetwise attitude required to stand up to the two men she follows on the hunt for Chaney. Her Oscar nomination is truly deserved. Brolin is severely underused as Chaney, and is somewhat outshined by Barry Pepper, who is almost unrecognisable as Lucky Ned Pepper, Chaney's gang leader.

I have to give credit to the Coens for finally coming up with a film that is not only NOT boring and overstaying its welcome, but also one that is truly entertaining. The western genre is hard to create a hit film from, because if not done right, it can turn out to be quite dull and uneventful. True Grit garnered 10 Oscar nominations, but unfortunately took home none. I think it ought to have won a few, instead of letting films like Inception and The King's Speech take one or two that they didn't quite deserve. But that's just me.

My verdict is, you should watch True Grit, even if you're not a fan of westerns. (4/5)

Drive Angry

Year: 2011
Director: Patrick Lussier
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, David Morse


Every now and then, along comes a film that is totally insane, violent and filled with cheesy dialogue. Drive Angry is one such film.

Nicolas Cage stars as Milton, a man who escapes from Hell with a purpose: to hunt down Jonah King (Billy Burke). King is a satanic cult leader who had murdered Milton's daughter and kidnapped her baby girl, and plans to sacrifice her in a couple of days. Milton has to find King and save his granddaughter before it's too late.

Along the way, he meets Piper (Amber Heard), a gorgeous waitress and subsequently rescues her from her no good boyfriend. Together they pursue King, but the mission isn't easy at all when King is constantly surrounded by his supporters. To top it all off, a bounty hunter from Hell called The Accountant (William Fichtner) is on earth and very determined to bring Milton back.

Patrick Lussier, who directed the similarly bloody My Bloody Valentine, and also shot it in 3D, directs Drive Angry, except this time he trades horror for action. And unlike the former, the latter has a much better cast. Drive Angry is filled with lots of R rated elements like sex, nudity, coarse language and over the top violence, most of which were censored by the local board here. Sigh. It seems only Americans have all the fun.

Cage, who seems to be in almost every film nowadays, plays Milton as the unforgiving badass he should be, with the same Cage drawl we're all accustomed to. But at least it works, and he is never boring to watch. Heard, whom I'm not a fan of, but looks good in all of her scenes, overacts a bit as Piper, but still manages to bring a lot of energy to her role which could have been forgettable. Billy Burke, whom everyone knows as Bella Swan's father in the Twilight films, successfully plays against type here as the villain King, and he is just awesome to watch. Gone are the squeaky clean police uniform, boring moustache and unenthusiastic tone, now it's long hair, sideburns and a Southern accent. Ha. But the real show stealer is Fichtner as The Accountant, who is reminiscent of the detective role he had in What's The Worst That Could Happen? except not as flamboyant. But he's still a riot to watch, oozing with charisma and an equal dose of deadliness.

The fact is, Drive Angry could have been a very fun film, but I felt that even if it had not been censored so badly, it would still have had continuity problems. Certain characters pop in and out for no reason, others are there for the sake of being there only. Plus some of the lines uttered are downright corny and quite laughable, but I suppose if you can suspend your disbelief long enough, you might like that.

Overall, it's a semi-fun way to spend 2 hours, but don't expect anything meaty. If you like Grindhouse type flicks, this is right up your alley. (3.5/5)

The King's Speech

Year: 2010
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce


As you know by now, The King's Speech was a big winner at the recent Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Director and Actor for Colin Firth. I had a chance to catch this film last week.

The movie follows how the Duke of York, who is essentially the second son of the royal family, became King of England. Our protagonist happens to suffer from a serious case of stammering, which makes him incapable of partaking in public speaking.

The Duke has met with many speech therapists, but none have been successful in curing him. His wife Elizabeth then finds a man named Lionel Logue, an Australian living in a tiny loft, who has unorthodox methods in curing speech impediments and asks for his help.

Lionel chooses to treat the Duke as an equal rather than as royalty, for example by calling him 'Bertie' and insisting that he follow Lionel's rules in his office. This doesn't sit well with the Duke at first, but as time passes they learn more about each other and Lionel even becomes a confidante of the Duke. When the Duke's older brother, Prince Edward chooses to give away the throne so that he may marry someone that the church disapproves of, the Duke suddenly finds himself the next in line for the crown. Thus begins the Duke's immense preparation to ascend the throne and overcome his condition.

I'm pretty sure that this film is a champion for people who have speech disorders, or anyone who had suffered a disease that they were embarrassed about, for it certainly helps them find a way to overcome it. More importantly, this film isn't just about overcoming adversity, it's also about friendship, and a meaningful one at that. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush have great chemistry together as the Duke and Lionel respectively, as two men who are at first, patient and specialist who slowly become friends and equals. Their friendship brings about plenty of touching scenes as well as hilarious moments.

Helena Bonham Carter finally gets to play herself after being the screeching Bellatrix in Harry Potter for too long, and lends good support as the Duchess of York, while Guy Pearce plays Prince Edward with just the right amount of nonchalance.

Director Tom Hooper has done a good job in bringing out the best from his cast, though I wouldn't have given him the Best Director Oscar (it should go to David Fincher). And similarly I wouldn't give The King's Speech the Best Picture Oscar. But that certainly doesn't mean this isn't a great film. It is, it does take a bit of time to warm up to, but it is ultimately inspiring to all. Go see it. (3.5/5)

Black Swan

Year: 2010
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder


It's finally here!

After being disappointed with the absence of The Town, I had my doubts that Black Swan would make it here. Thankfully my prayers were answered, and I was truly delighted to see this film which is regarded highly among critics and is a frontrunner for Oscar night.

Black Swan centres around Nina (Natalie Portman), a young ballerina who puts in a lot of effort in perfecting her craft and is regarded as one of her company's best dancers. For her company's next production of Swan Lake, their artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) plans on presenting something different, and for that he requires a ballerina who can play both the pure and innocent White Swan and her evil and wild twin, the Black Swan.

Nina's excellent ballet skills makes her a shoo in for the White Swan, but Thomas isn't convinced that she can play the Black Swan, complaining that she's too rigid, but eventually gives her the role. At Thomas' brutal and sometimes sexually invasive direction, Nina pushes herself day after day to embrace both roles to perfection. However, it soon begins to affect her mind and body as she starts to experience hallucinations and self-inflicted injuries. Worse still, she keeps thinking that a new ballerina named Lily (Mila Kunis) is after her role, even though Lily treats her like a best friend and encourages her to live a little. To top it all off, Nina's mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) constantly worries about her well-being, which puts even more pressure on the poor girl.

Let me get this out of the way first. I know very little about Darren Aronofsky, other than word of mouth that he is one of the best directors working today. Films like Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler made him famous. But this reviewer caught only one of his films, which is The Fountain. I found it too taxing and difficult to enjoy, even when Hugh Jackman, one of my favourite actors is in the lead.

But I knew I had to see this, not just because of Natalie Portman, but because it had great reviews all over. And I'm glad I did. If I wasn't convinced Aronofsky was a genius then, I am now. I mean, you'd think that ballet isn't something you can make a movie out of and make it fascinating, but damn, Aronofsky pulled it off perfectly. Black Swan presents the world of ballet from the eyes of its dancers, showing the brutal and punishing methods they use to perform so well on stage. But more than that, the film is a psychological thriller that takes you through the eventual breakdown of a perfectionist, trying so hard to rise beyond her limits but succumbs to her darker side.

What can I say about Portman? This is HER moment. I always thought she never found the right role that suited her talent. Prior to this, I thought her best role was a small supporting character opposite Jude Law in Cold Mountain, because she seemed so believable in it. Now I believe she has finally found her defining role here. Portman is a tour de force as Nina, who from the beginning is viewed as a girl who has literally built her world around ballet, so much that she has never quite grown up and enjoyed life like other people. Her obsession in making her performance flawless drives her over the edge, and the entire process Portman puts us through is so intoxicating.

Vincent Cassel plays his familiar asshole character here, but it's quite fitting actually. Mila Kunis provides good support as Lily, who might seem like Nina's evil twin while Barbara Hershey has some good chemistry with Portman as Nina's overbearing mother. Even Winona Ryder does well as Beth, the spiteful retiring dancer, despite not getting much screentime.

The cast performances aren't the only good thing about Black Swan. Kudos must be given to production design and set design for presenting the world of ballet in the film in mostly black and white colours, with mirrors everywhere you turn, creating a somewhat claustrophobic and creepy feel. Cameraman Matthew Libatique also deserves credit for his near perfect camerawork. Last but not least, Clint Mansell is awesome in composing a haunting score for the film. Even if you're not a classical music fan, you'll love it.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Black Swan. Yes, it's tragic, sometimes horrific and uncomfortable to watch in certain parts. But Aronofsky has done the impossible: he has taken a story about ballet and turned it into a masterpiece. Recommended. (4/5)

The Green Hornet

Year: 2011

Director: Michel Gondry

Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Edward James Olmos

The 1960s TV series The Green Hornet is known to be the show that launched Bruce Lee's Hollywood career. Like most TV shows these days, it gets made into a film, and here it is.

Seth Rogen plays Britt Reid, son of newspaper owner James Reid (Tom Wilkinson). Britt is a playboy who enjoys partying and isn't like his dad at all. Then one day, his dad dies and Britt inherits the paper.

At first, Britt doesn't quite know what to do, that is until he meets Kato (Jay Chou), a mechanic that works for his father. Together they discover that they both dislike his old man for the same reasons and decide to do something about it. In the process of doing so, Britt learns that Kato is an expert in martial arts, and with his help, they successfully rescue a couple from being mugged.

Britt then comes up with an idea: he and Kato will put on costumes and pretend to be bad guys as they fight crime and run from the cops at the same time. Using the newspaper to spread the word on their activities, Britt dubs himself The Green Hornet and takes Kato all over town causing havoc amongst the gangs. This attracts the attention of Chudnovsky (Christoph Waltz), the Russian crime lord who is determined to take control of the city's crime empire.

The first thing you'll notice about this film is director Michel Gondry's visual style. He loves retro and it shows here. The closing credits is an homage to retroness and the old TV show. It's a refreshing change from people who have come to expect superheroes in tights. In The Green Hornet, our heroes wear suits and hats even if this isn't 1960. Gondry as well as producers Rogen and Evan Goldberg also chose to make this an action comedy instead of an all out serious superhero flick, which sort of works, but since it's Seth Rogen we're talking about, it's only fitting.

Rogen plays to his strengths here as a comedian, utilising his comic timing to good effect. However it's Jay Chou that steals the show as Kato. His English isn't all that good, but he manages to bring a certain charisma to the role. He also excels in the fight scenes, though I wished Gondry didn't use CGI to either speed up or slow down his moves as it became a tad cartoonish after a while.

Christoph Waltz of Inglourious Basterds fame hams it up as the villain, and he's even more ridiculous than Col Hans Landa. But he is funny here, I'll give him that. I did not like Cameron Diaz being cast as Britt's assistant Lenore Case though. Diaz is just playing her usual self here. Someone with a little less popularity than her would have been more suitable.

Overall the plot isn't great and some parts lack continuity. However Gondry almost makes up for it by staging an absolutely insane action sequence in the last 15 minutes of the film. I didn't expect that from Gondry, which is nice.

To sum it up, The Green Hornet is like popcorn. It's fun to digest, but you won't remember it later. (3.5/5)