Lincoln

• Released Internationally on 16/11/12
• Released in Malta by KRS on 30/01/13

Preview (first published 01/01/13 in VIDA Magazine)

I have yet to watch a Steven Spielberg film I didn’t enjoy, and which didn’t showcase his huge talent and knack for storytelling. And I have yet to see a Daniel Day Lewis performance that was not completely convincing. Few actors have gained as much respect as he has recently, especially after his seminal There Will Be Blood. So when Spielberg has a long-standing desire to make a film about Abraham Lincoln, and Day Lewis looks uncannily like the famous US President, the board is set for a piece of classic Americana storytelling. Any US president would probably be worth making a film about, but if you abolish slavery and end up assassinated, that film might just be all the more important and poignant.

Review (29/01/13)

This film might not provide you with many edge-of-your-seat moments, and its main plot point - the abolition of slavery in the US - is an outcome that all viewers will (hopefully) already know was successful. But it still manages to portray the time and the process with the gravitas that such a historic moment deserves, and much of that gravitas is carried and dished out by Daniel Day Lewis' Abraham Lincoln. 

It's a restrained but stunning piece of acting, and in ways far more impressive than the over-the-top performances he excelled at, such as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York. There's a wonderful mix of the serious side and the playful side, as well as both his political facade and his struggles as a husband and father. During the family scenes, he jousts with another veteran - Sally Field as his pained wife. The rest of the cast are far too numerous and wonderful to mention individually, although Tommy Lee Jones does stand out, and his wizened character is given probably the best ending in the whole film.

Spielberg evidently has great respect for the subject matter here, and he delivers this wonderful historical chapter without much gloss, but with loads of class. Some might argue that this is more a film that needed to be made rather than one that was released for entertainment purposes, but I for one enjoyed it from beginning to end, and every aspect of what you see and hear on screen is top notch work from quality artists. 

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/lincoln/

Inception

 

• Released Internationally on 16/07/10
• Released in Malta by KRS on 21/07/10

Preview (first published 01/07/10 in VIDA magazine)

In a nutshell

Once in a while a film comes along that makes you want to rush to watch it without even knowing exactly what it's about. Sometimes it's hype, sometimes it's reputation, sometimes it's a brilliant marketing campaign of trailers and posters that look great without giving too much away. Sometimes it's all three.

Why we're hyped

Christopher Nolan (and DiCaprio).

Who's in it?

If the name Christopher Nolan doesn't ring any loud bells, it's probably because his Hollywood star is relatively young, and because his genius is behind the scenes. After exploding onto the scene in 2000 with one of the most original films of the decade, Memento, he proceeded to reinvent, reboot and revitalise the Batman franchise, collaborating with his screenwriter brother to bring us the excellent Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. This time around he's done the writing himself, and the film is being promoted as a psychological thriller, with mind-boggling trailers and taglines that tell us our 'mind is the scene of the crime', but little else. Which is fine by me - if there's a truly original story to be enjoyed, I'd rather not have it spoiled or spoon-fed beforehand. Based on his flawless reputation, Nolan has attracted a string of respected names to the project - Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose), Ellen Page (Juno), Michael Caine (The Dark Knight) and Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins). The special effects look just as stellar, and in a summer congested with sequels, remakes and filler material, this stands out as something truly creative to look forward to. Let's hope it's even half as good as his previous films.

 

Review (22/07/10)

Whether Inception ends up being the best film of the year is hard to predict, but it's hard to imagine anything more original, inventive and complex coming along anytime soon. From the opening piecemeal scenes, the films quickly establishes itself as a story that will take some unravelling, and set in a world, or worlds, with a strong sense of style.

So what's it all about?

To try and summarise the plot would make this review into a minor thesis, and would be a disservice to the masterful way director Christopher Nolan feeds us the rules of the game as we delve deeper into his labyrinthine creation. Suffice to say that the film is about dreams, and the main characters are individuals trained in creating dreams for individuals to inhabit while they sleep, inside which these conmen can steal ideas from the person's mind. This process of navigating one's dreams to covet their inner thoughts is called ‘extraction’, and presents a useful but potentially dangerous possibility. Much harder to achieve, but much more devastating in its effect is 'inception' - the opposite of extraction - whereby an idea is planted like a seed inside a person's mind, there to take root and grow to affect his decisions and life. Cobb (DiCaprio) is the most skilled extractor around, and he is given the job of a lifetime when a powerful Japanese tycoon (Watanabe) offers him his former life back in return for an inception assignment. Cobb assembles a team of experts, and the game is on.

Helping hand

It is no mean feat keeping a sense of urgency going for nearly two and a half hours, but Nolan succeeds brilliantly, and this is one film where you will not want to take your eyes off the screen for fear of missing something crucial, or amazing. When Cobb's team start delving deeper and deeper into dreams within dreams, Nolan makes use of new team members who need some explaining and guidance, so as to help us, the audience, who desperately need both. But the script manages to finely balance the explanation and theory with extremely vivid action and practice, preventing the storyline from becoming too tedious, as had happened to the Matrix sequels, which you might be reminded of when Cobb and co. plug in and conk out.

Technical brilliance

Just like his previous films, this one looks and sounds great. Even if you're struggling with the finer plot details, it's hard not to sit back and awe at the sheer class of what you're enjoying on screen. The cast shines without exception, and lesser-known Tom Hardy deserves a special mention for managing to hold his own as the smooth-talking Eames, the forger of the team. When called for, the visual effects are top-notch, and include some dreamy sequences we're unlikely to see anywhere else. Frequent collaborator Hans Zimmer picks up where he left off with his Dark Knight musical score, and delivers a similarly harsh soundtrack which helps propel the action forward but delivers some melody and moments of respite when needed. Nolan has apparently been fine-tuning the script for roughly a decade, and apart from a few 'not again!' moments, it's slick, smart and as far as I can tell, watertight. But don't expect everything to be gift-wrapped and nicely resolved, because like many of the best thrillers this one leaves room for interpretation at a number of points.

In the end

A film to be marvelled at, seen more than once, reflected upon and discussed. If you want something refreshingly different this summer, take a leap of faith into the intricate imagination of the one of the best filmmakers in the business.

Mark's Mark?

Trailer:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/inception/

(500) Days Of Summer

 

• Released Internationally on 17/07/09
• Released in Malta by KRS on 07/10/09

 

In a nutshell

"This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.”

Summer

The above warning opens the film, so don't take it out on me for spoiling any surprises. A few breaths later, the solemn narrator (veteran voice actor Richard McGonagle) also provides an explanatory note about the film's title. Summer is the name of the girl in question. The boy, a young romantic named Tom, is an architect who somehow ends up working in a greeting card company, writing those funny or touching few lines inside the cards we buy for loved ones. He's not particularly fond of his workplace, until Summer breezes in to work as his boss' assistant. Thus begins Day 1.

The days between

As expected the film covers the 500 eventful days in this love-struck man's life, from the moment he sets eyes on Summer, to the time he finally manages to move on. The film jumps back and forth between various key days amongst those 500, and very early on we meet him on a particularly bad day, when he has been unceremoniously dumped. By slowly unveiling his states of misery and elation in different points in the relationship, the non-linear narrative of the film manages to be interesting and occasionally surprising, without getting too complicated.

Love is grand

Resisting his pathetic advances at first, Summer eventually warms to his boyish charm and something more than friendship blossoms, despite her being adamant about not wanting a relationship. As tends to happen, he quickly falls head over heels in love, and before you know it even strangers in the street seem friendlier, and his walk to work becomes a march of fresh air and a bouncy celebration of what's right in the world (as well as a hilarious set-piece resembling something out of Enchanted). Everything about Summer makes him glow - her knees, her hair, her lips, her quirks. His work performance follows suit, but we all know it's short lived.

Love sucks

Despite returning his affections, Summer isn't exactly skipping to work herself, and once some bickering and strained feelings set in, she calls it a day. Shocked to his core, Tom unravels within days, reduced to a bed-bound depressive wreck and eventually risking his health and job. Everything about Summer makes him seethe - her knees, her hair, her lips, her quirks. He looks back in anger, and like every heartbroken young man he declares that he doesn't want to get over her - he wants her back. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who looks uncannily like the late Heath Ledger, and who appeared opposite him in 10 Things I Hate About You) is instantly likeable as Tom, whilst managing to symbolise pathetic love-casualties everywhere.

Time heals

The only advice his friends, co-workers and sister can offer him is a selection of overused clichés of the 'many fish' variety, but ultimately Tom manages to slowly stagger to his feet and get his life back on track. Like the rest of the film, his attempt at recovery and closure is complex but refreshingly genuine and realistic. This persistent sense of realism is largely due to the wonderful performance by Zooey Deschanel (The Happening, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Her Summer is a true girl next door - a three-dimensional, lovely yet flawed person whom we can easily fall in love with one minute and despise the next. Her unconventional portrayal is possibly the one ingredient that makes this romantic comedy trump many of its peers.

In the end

The ‘love’ section at any DVD store is quite crowded, but with different facets, settings and characters we are occasionally still treated to something fresh and memorable. This unassuming film doesn’t try to be too epic or authoritative on the subject, but by narrowing its focus it manages to hit many nails on many heads, and also to be one of the most pleasant films of the year.

 

 

 

Trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/500daysofsummer/ (High-res QuickTime)