Still Alice - Cinema Review

Still Alice is the best horror film i have ever seen. Does it have jump-scares, gore, monsters and suspenseful music? No, it has none of those things. I feel it's best described as horror because of its brutal accuracy. It's horrifyingly eye-opening and unsettling in its relatability. My recommendation for this film is very strange because i can't say you will leave the cinema feeling uplifted, entertained, hopeful or even satisfied and yet i would urge almost anyone to go and see this film, if only to be informed.

Now even as i think about typing the words "spreading awareness" i'm reminded of the constant barrage of charities we have thrown at us everyday, and whilst worthy causes, through sheer frequency and persistence we grow numb and complacent towards them. With that in mind i'm adding a slight anecdote of my experience in the cinema and perhaps the worst thing i've had to witness in a cinema ever (Even worse than Transformers 2).

If you have no intention of seeing, have already seen the film or for some other reason don't care about spoilers click here to see the specific scene described in detail. Otherwise it was a climax of a story thread that was planted early on and had been building up to. Alice's disease causes her to say something about the scene that she definitely would not have were she not afflicted with Alzheimers. The lowpoint of my cinema going experience was not actually from the film itself but rather the fact that the audience i was amongst laughed at this scene...

Not just the few ignorant teenage shitheads you often get who never had interest in the movie to begin with, but a good eighty percent of the crowd, ranging from teens, young adults right up to grey-haired seniors. I hope that the laughter was somehow awkward or perhaps hysterical because otherwise i'm quite frankly disgusted and it would be damning evidence supporting the film's message of an overlooked and underestimated illness.

So, that slight rant aside, the film is exceptionally good. Julianne Moore is heartbreakingly phenomenal in her performance. The film swiftly and effectively builds up this character of a successful, intelligent and compassionate woman and then we see her slip away piece by piece along with her own realisation and understanding of what's happening to herself and its truly tragic and deeply uncomfortable. The rest of the cast are solid as well with moments of greatness from the likes of Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart playing the struggling supportive husband and distant, turbulent but loving daughter respectively.

I haven't read Lisa Genova's novel on which the film is based so i'll commend both her and the writer-directors for the film's plot. The late Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland. The directing being important along with the cinematography choices on how to display a primarily internal mental illness. There weren't a multitiude of different methods used for symbolising Alice's mental state which may have been a wise or unwise decision but the blurring, out of focus effect they choose and stick with is utilised to great effect.

Many of the film's most significant revelations happen when you least expect it, during everyday casual activities and i think this is perfect because it's another way Still Alice feels like real life. Not every film needs a setpiece for its "biggest" moments and a film that wields its uncanny realism so prominently makes total sense to have the film's events occur seemingly out of nowhere.

Much like Alzheimers in reality there is no happy ending here and the ending given may seem abrupt but i can't fault the film for that and much prefer it to a tacked-on or forced in unrealistic, magic solution.
The film reaches its climax and then fades away much like its protagonist. The story is very much from Alice's perspective and so it could be argued that a lot is missing or that the later scenes degenerate too quickly but then...maybe that's the point. Maybe we're supposed to feel like something is missing and incomplete. Perhaps that's the best way to encourage us to ruminate on the horrors and loss the film depicts.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - Cinema Review

I almost didn't see this film due to a pretty bland, cliched and tasteless marketing poster. I can thankfully say that is the worst thing about Kingsman and what actually lies beyond the advertising is quite well thought out and enjoyable. It's nothing mindblowing or groundbreaking but it wears its influences on its sleeve and feels like a tongue-in-cheek spy movie/James Bond homage whilst retaining enough style and gravity on its own to not turn into a full blown Austin Powers.

So what sticks out most from the trailers is Colin Firth taking on a working-class "chavvy" protege into his secret spy organisation. This had the potential to be incredibly cringeworthy and stereotypical and while i imagine many will debate its success in different class portrayal, i personally think it manages sufficiently. The two lead characters are well-written and performed with plenty of jibes slung at both the lower and upper class whilst also dipping into some much darker themes often associated with those of these social status. Then again, i'm a middle class, minimum wage, arts graduate so perhaps i don't know enough about either of these groups.

"Shaken or stirred blud?" "Well that's a grenade so i'd advise neither."

 Returning to the film's influences, there is certainly a self-awareness to the proceedings that boosts the comedy and credibility of events and dialogue. It never directly breaks the fourth wall but the characters are aware of their own stereotypes and emerging cliches which helps the audience relax and connect with them without making them seem smug (at least the ones not intended to be smug). This may feed into one of the main issues of the Kingsman however and that is the juggling of tones.

When the film juxtaposes its darker moments with comedy too suddenly it can be a little jarring and uncomfortable. The action scenes in their own right are exciting and intense with a flowing "long-take" style of cinematography that literally follows the action, conveys momentum and suits the film's comic book roots perfectly. It almost falls into the Batman Begins problem of being too close to the action to understand the logistics but just dodges this pitfall depending on your skill at those following shuffling cup games...

"You can stand in front of my umbr, ella, ella, ella, aim, aim, aim"

 The handling of the hyper-violence is quirky, cinematic and clearly meant to entertain rather than shock, something director Matthew Vaughn has become proficient at by this point. Its the other mature drama elements however, that do not sit as well. The most prominent of these personally was a scene near the end of the film where we switch between our protagonist exchanging quips and goofy expressions with a robotic blade-legged villain in a supervillain's underground bunker and a woman stabbing wildly through a door with a knife trying to reach and murder her defenceless child crying in its pram...

Occassionally mishandled tonal shifts aside there is little else to fault the film on. The plot is mostly cliched but admittedly very polished and alleviated by the aforementioned self-awareness. There are parallels to draw between Kingsman and Kickass as the film puts its own twist on tried and tested spy and action movie scenarios. There's some memorable and unique moments, some genuine laughs, engaging brutal action and thanks to a top-class cast, great acting all around with enough heart to remain invested in the core drama tying all the goof together. Nothing to set the world on fire but thoroughly enjoyable in all the right places.

<Rejected captions for the first image>
1. "These ballpoints serve as limitless untraceable credit cards."
"Sounds a bit moneypenny"
2. "If i become a spy do i still get disabled benefits? I've got a bad back y'see?"
"Well...does your doctor know?"
3. "Do you expect me to talk?"
"No, my boy i expect you to try."
4. "What's the most expensive thing here?"
"The watches. They have their own bodyguards."
"Alright but who watches the watchmen?"

Mortdecai - Cinema Review

The trailer for this film looked so painfully unfunny that a friend of mine actually dared me to go and see it. I thought i might at least get some mileage out of it as an example of the fetid state of film comedy. How Mortdecai is nothing more than a glorified Carry-On film with crude disgracing stains of performances on the respectable actors it has roped into it.

Instead i just left feeling bored and unsatisfied. Mortdecai isn't so bad it's mockable yet certainly isn't good enough in its own right. It isn't entirely the "ooer missus" tripe the trailer suggests but instead offers the same tired old action-comedy heist hijinks we've seen a thousand times before. That is not to say the film isn't laden with sexual innuendo, guys in embarassing pants, women in revealing or sexualising attire and things of that ilk. It just also has some rather unremarkable slapstick action sequences and a bland cliched plot involving missing famous paintings and hidden nazi treasure.

Film of the year however if you can forever find humour in the noise "EOEHW?!"

It's difficult to certify what audience Mortdecai is actually intended for. It feels numbingly similar to movies like Johnny English or other goofy spy romps but the frequent sex themes prevent it being advisable as a family film and the calibre of the comedy isn't high enough to overlook the uninteresting plot and give it any appeal to adults. The cinema i viewed it in was moderately populated and whilst a few laughs were heard, they were nowhere near as frequent as the film signposted and begged for.

I admittedly found mild amusement in the interactions between Mortdecai and his "manservant" Jock who is just unashamedly a thuggish bodyguard who follows Mortdecai around and constantly prevents his death while being repeatedly battered, shot and beaten. It's like any protagonist from a Jason Statham film being ripped out and having to play butler to a blithering, oblivious toff. Others seemed to find some humour in the sexual frustrations of Johhny Depp and Ewan McGregor's characters both fighting for the affections of Gwyneth Paltrow but it's all so mishandled...for want of a better term.

 The film is not so bereft as to call it empty but with nothing else to offer but its lacklustre humour, it's a thin strand of grass masquerading as a rope bridge. I don't quite think the character of Mortdecai and his world is without comedy potential but it was thoroughly squandered and poorly executed here.

In conclusion, Mortdecai should have been a sequence in a sketch show at best, not attempting to support an entire film with globetrotting gangster chases, upper-class marital troubles, spies, terrorists, art aficionados and their boners in a posh British accent.

In this scene he is caught groping another woman by his wife...There is no consequence to this action or most of the other actions present anywhere in the film...