Cosmopolis ☆☆☆☆

After seeing another Cronenberg film only recently – A Dangerous Method – I had my expectations set quite low for this one. I wasn’t blown away by ADM, but Cosmopolis is something else entirely.

This film truly captures Cronenberg’s filmmaking vision. It takes the quiet, characterisation of a single figure and juxtaposes that with shocking violence and graphic sex. Alongside these traits previously seen in A History of Violence, there was also commentary upon the changes to our technology and the arrogance of the super rich.

For this is what the film is about, Robert Pattinson riding around in limosine through New York while his company loses hundreds of millions of dollars and a threat is made against his life. But Pattinson? He just wants his hair cut.

The film is entirely focused on Pattinson, his whims, his desires, the sex he is having, the effect he has on others. It feels very staged and very ‘other’, but not so out of the box you can’t follow. Or at least it didn’t lose me despite how tired I was when I watched it. I’ll admit to almost falling asleep once or twice, but then some extreme violence would occur and I’d be snapped back to being fully engaged.

For an actor looking to shake off the chains of a teen saga Pattinson could not have done better than get this role, as Cronenberg could have gotten no one else to quite pull off the arrogance mixed with this strange aura of innocence. The supporting cast were a mix of sublime and truly odd, with Juliette Binoche and Samantha Morton taking up brief residence in the limo to advise the young billionaire, while Paul Giamatti turns up toward the end as what I can only describe as a true madman.

Personally I feel like I wouldn’t watch this film again, but like a lot of brilliant filmmaking it deserves a high rating. The acting was superb across the board, the idea completely odd, the setting and way it was filmed more art than traditional movie making. But then this isn’t your average Hollywood movie, it’s one that deserves some thought and attention.

I would say if you enjoyed A History of Violence, or even David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, you should give Cosmopolis a try. Chances are you may find it too much, but then again you may just engage with Pattinson enough to want to know why he is worth filming.

Despicable Me 2 ☆☆☆☆☆

What Universal discovered upon the release of the first Despicable Me was the sheer popularity of the Minion. Much like Dreamworks discovery that the penguins were the most popular part of the Madagascar films, Universal have taken on board the Minion madness and put a LOT more of them into this film.

As you can tell by my star rating it was worth the extra minions.

This film was HILARIOUS. In my humble opinion. I base this on the fact I was wiping away tears at the end and had some difficulty breathing. Also the five stars goes to say I would watch this again tonight if possible.

It follows on from the first film where evil villain extraordinaire Gru adopts three girls as part of his plan to steal the moon. Of course he ends up loving his new role as Father and it ends with him giving up his villainy. In this new film Gru is still the devoted father, making Jams and Jellies with the help of his Minions and Dr Nefario (who is on his hilariously slow motor scooter once more).

Gru is recruited to stop other super villains by the AVL (anti villain league) and paired up with Kristen Wiig voiced Lucy, an enthusiastic and kind hearted agent with whom Gru has a chemistry. Its all very PG though so parents don't worry. They are assigned the task of stopping a villain who is using a monster-serum out of a mall, this involves going undercover as bakery owners and checking out the locals who include a wig shop owner voiced by Keon Jeong (Hangover, Community) and Eduardo the Mexican restauranteur voiced by Benjamin Bratt.

While Gru is undercover, the Minions are slowly being kidnapped in batches and then turned into monsters using the serum, Agnes is pining for a Mother, Margo is falling for an exotic boy (son of Eduardo), and Edith is...well she's Edith but with ninja skills.

I won't profess to say that this is a laugh-a-minute movie, but then to me it wouldn't be a good enough story if it was just joke after joke. Instead it is a clever blend of fart jokes, engaging storyline, movie references, and even some mild peril which made me a bit worried. Not scared, just worried. And yes I'm aware a 26 year old shouldn't feel worried during a U rated movie but I did.

The animation continues to be superb, without it being obvious until the final Minion based credits that it was designed in 3D. Regular readers will know I cannot watch 3D.

The voice talent were excellent, really bringing the characters to life. Agnes as always is such a sweetie you just want to buy her the biggest, fluffiest unicorn possible. Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig are talented comedic and voice people, while Russell Brand's Dr Nefario is by far the greatest thing he has ever done.

But lets face it, its the Minions who absolutely steal this movie. From the start to the finish it is Minion mayhem, with the finale enough to make me cry with laughter. If you have seen the Banana song online it is NOTHING compared to what is in store in this movie.

So, in short, I loved it. The Minions were amazing, especially Kevin, and you won't regret a trip out to the movies to see it. The little ones in the screening I was in had a riot, as did the adults.

Man of Steel ☆☆☆☆

A self-professed Marvel girl I have only really loved one of DC’s outputs of late, which was Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. This was because it was dark, removed any hint of silly or goofiness, but really explored the depth and breadth of a character and his world. Which is why I wanted to see Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel so badly, firstly Christopher Nolan co-wrote and secondly it looked to be so much more serious and dark.

I am openly admitting that Henry Cavill’s pectorals had a LOT to do with me wanting to see it, but also I adore Amy Adams and wanted to see her take on Lois Lane and think that Michael Shannon is one of the best actors in his generation. Shannon plays Zod, a Kryptonion who is set on creating a new Krypton on Earth by destroying the humans and beginning the Krypton race once more using their artificial baby growing pods. The Empire reviewer was right when she likened those pods to the Matrix, but then I guess both the Matrix and Kryptonions were powers that had lost their, for lack of a better word, ‘humanity’.

What I really enjoyed about this film was that it explained so much about the world of Kal-El: exactly why he was special enough to be sent to Earth, why Zod had this crazy and unrelenting pursuit of the Earth’s destruction, how the ‘Ice Fortress’ came to be and how his father, Jor-El, could communicate with his son despite being dead. I am positive that previous Superman outings have also explained this but I am not well-versed in this area. I simply appreciated the tale being told in a clear way that didn’t feel like a lecture on the lore of Superman and Krypton.

A lot of reviews have commented on the lack of humour in this film and fine, there is no belly laugh moment, no bad guy being swung around like a rag doll by a green giant. But that wasn’t what this film or this story required. I did laugh at some points and not when I wasn’t supposed to – there is some really good dry humour in this movie. I especially enjoyed seeing the man who was never supposed to lose his temper absolutely go nuts when his mother was threatened – it proved so much about Clark Kent and the importance of family.

As for casting, despite being from Jersey (British Isles Jersey not the short term for NJ) they genuinely could not have found better than Henry Cavill. He looked so much like the comic in build, that poor boy must have worked ridiculously hard and eaten hardly anything fun to get to that odd, triangular shape. He is also a pretty good actor and his chemistry with Amy Adams worked well. That is probably not hard on Adams’ part as she frequently admits that she found any excuse to touch his chest.

I am still unsure what I made of Adams’ Lois Lane. Yes she had feisty reporter down to a T but…I don’t know, maybe its the years of seeing her as a brunette that I am still swayed toward that image. Acting wise and chemistry wise, just brilliant. And as this is the only Superman film I would consider buying perhaps her version will become my ultimate Lois.

Russell Crowe’s Jor-El was pretty damn good. He got to be the most action-y I’ve seen for a while, his fights with Zod were really entertaining and quite brutal. I also really liked seeing Krypton and liked its grand setting and clothing. It provided a modern explanation for Superman’s suit, removing the underwear on the outside (which was a reflection of 1950s strong men) and making the whole suit armour with a fancy cape, as was the fashion on Kyrpton.

Laurence Fishburne as Perry White was brilliant because I wasn’t expecting it, plus even more links to the Matrix. I think the casting of Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury has sparked a change in comic to film production, realising that just because at the time the comics were written people of a different colour or culture to Caucasian were not in these pivotal roles does not mean the man or woman on the screen cannot be. Its great that it actually comes down to talent, which I hope will spread like a disease among new comic adaptations.

Fishburne’s casting was just one of the many geeky moments of delight I had watching this film. Fans of Dollhouse would recognise Boyd as General Swanwick, Gaeta from Battlestar Galactica/Dr Hamilton from Smallville gets a small role, and Tahmoh Penikett from both Dollhouse and Battlestar Galactica also appears. I internally squealed lots.

What I have seen amid the moans of the lack of comedy are complaints that the final fight meant the destruction of a lot of Metropolis. Yes, a lot of buildings are destroyed and you do wonder at the actual death toll, but to me it was a visual representation of just how strong these Kryptonions are, to not leave you under any kind of impression that the humans might win in a fight. We are puny, the Kryptonions are gods.

I genuinely enjoyed this movie. Zack Snyder brought his visually arresting style and talent for glorious action while Nolan and the other writers made sure the story was solid and engaging. The special effects were incredible and I seriously urge people to see this on the big screen, its worth it.

Life of Pi ☆☆☆☆½

First thing I have to say is OH how I wish I'd gone to the cinema to see this one.
Second: don't ever watch films that are meant to be this stunning on television that either has no HD or said HD has broken. Like mine. Also you need a TV that won't cut the subtitles out of the screen no matter at which setting you have it. Like mine does.

Despite these set backs owing to poor quality hardware, I loved this film. It was beautiful and majestic and I really really need to see it on a huge HD telly using a blu ray disc.

Based on the prize winning novel by Yann Martel (which, horror of horrors, I have not read), it follows the story of Piscine, a boy who is the sole survivor of a terrible tragedy as the ship taking him and his family to Canada sinks beneath the waves in a terrifying storm.

Pi is left with only his wits and a tiger, Richard Parker, on a boat drifting across the Pacific ocean. Fending for themselves, forming a relationship, encountering such strange and wonderous but equally terrifying sights, serves to make this one of the most extraordinary and visually arresting films in quite some time.

Even on my slightly pants telly I could tell how spectacular the CGI actually was. Poor Suraj Sharma who played Pi was absolutely battered by waves, rocked on the partial boat that was one of the few real pieces of the set, and thrown overboard by the ferocity of the wave machines. You felt you were watching a real shipwreck and seeing real animals panic and attack one another in confined spaces.

This is a heartbreaking film. The animals just mentioned are injured, scared, trapped with Pi and at the end of the day act on instinct. The revelation at the end causes you to really pause and think about the differences between humans and animals, which I have always felt was a superior attitude of humans to believe themselves so much better.

If you have not yet had the chance to see Life of Pi I wholly recommend you do. It is a relatively simple story, two protagonists trapped on a boat having to survive. But it is extraordinary and a delight to watch.

A Dangerous Method ☆☆☆

When I first started watching this film I thought "Yes, this is going to be a four or four and a half star review I get to write, or very least it will be a little more than 'worth the watch'".


It totally had me at the start, but lost me about halfway through. The problem? I'm not entirely sure, its as though the story had so much momentum at the beginning that when it got to the middle it just ran out of steam, floundering a little in the failing relationship of Freud and Jung. It was also edited quite badly (IMHO), as I found it to jump from one thing to the next without much in the way of storytelling.

I know Cronenberg has his own unique style, as all good directors do, but I found this film a little flat compared to the other films of his I have seen.

Perhaps it was due to the fact I know very little about Freud or Jung, apart from their work in psychoanalysis and anything remotely sexual in conversation is often called a Freudian slip. I knew nothing of Sabina Spielrein, the Russian patient of Dr Jung's with whom he has an affair.

The film follows the early years of Jung and Freud's relationship and the impact of Spielrein upon it. It is beautifully acted by all involved, how Keira Knightley wasn't nominated for an Oscar or BAFTA is slightly beyond me because she was incredibly convincing. Michael Fassbender is wonderfully repressed as Jung, his stilted marriage and stiff mentality proved a great dilemma when faced with Spielrein's need for sexual punishment - he couldn't resist. He portrayed Jung as this man who was not unfeeling, but also didn't realise quite how much his wealth affected his relationship with Freud.

Freud was excellently played by Cronenberg's favourite, Viggo Mortensen, whose lack of money compared to Jung was obviously quite a sting for his ego. He was also authoritative but evidently felt hi mini-me was not quite living up to the clone he had hoped for.

This is going to be a terribly short review as there's not much more I can say except: it was all very well acted, the scenery and costumes were gorgeous, it had a great build up but just didn't hold my interest the whole way through.

I'd love to hear from others who have seen it, whether or not they agree or hold an entirely different opinion.