Do time travel storylines do your head in? Then this may not be the best film for you. Because I love time travel stuff, but I drifted off for a moment in this and suddenly was totally lost.
Essentially, it starts in a future where everything is a bit crap, with bad guys coming from everywhere and the X-Men can’t cope. So, somehow (mutant skills. Don’t question it), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back into the past to change history. And things get awesome.
There are all of the usual fighting and explosions and all of that stuff. Plus the older X-Men folks and the younger ones – we got them all. Really, if you are a fan of the X-Men films, I think you’ll like this. Be hard not to.
X-Men : Days of Future Past was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects
During World War Two, Logan (Hugh Jackman) is being held in a POW camp in Nagasaki when the atom bomb is dropped. He saves the life of an officer, then in the present day, he is summoned to say goodbye to the now-dying, elderly Yashisa (Hiroyuki Sanada), but the invitation is not what it seems, and heaps of running, chasing and fighting ensues.
Spectacular and stunning, with a whole heap of Japanese sensibilities and style. I found the start a bit odd – if Wolverine is so amazing, how did he end up as a prisoner of war? And later, when he is having issues regenerating, why does that not hurt more? But perhaps I am being a bit picky – I really liked it.
The mutants are out, the whole world knows about them. Then someone comes up with a cure (source from a mutant whose power is that he strips people of their powers) and there is outrage. Some mutants want the cure and to be normal, but there is also the sinister side of things – the government will force the cure on the mutants. Plus, it will be weaponised. Oh, and the good chick who died at the end of the last film? She’s not dead. But she’s evil. Awesome.
I quite liked this film, although I didn’t like Wolverine’s attempts to be cheeky. He is brooding and, for once, I like that brooding. Don’t make him have snappy one-liners and the like. Just don’t. Oh, and there was a guy with amazing wings. Oh, and finally, how is this the last stand when there are more films to come? Stupid title for a film.
Magneto (Ian McKellen) is in prison, a plastic prison that he can’t control the metal bits and pieces. Stryker (Brian Cox) has turned up, a military guy who, as it happens, wants to destroy all of the mutants. He goes after Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his school and it is all on.
Heaps of explosions, fighting, supernatural stuff, and yet I was a bit bored. There were certainly part that were most impressive, but whatever. But everything was made better by the presence of Alan Cumming. Let’s face it, he can make anything better.
There’s a girl, Rogue (Anna Paquin) who drains people of life, and mutants of their power. And a guy, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) who has a skeleton made of a weird metal called Adamantium and has claws and can’t get hurt. They go to a school run by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) with tutors including Storm (Halle Berry), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Cyclops (James Marsden). But, because it is a superhero film, there are the bad guys: leader Magneto (Ian McKellen), Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), Toad (Ray Park) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn). And politics. And taking over the world. And some running and explosions.
Yup, I liked it, although perhaps it was just knowing that it is part of a series of films that made it feel like an extended television episode. Even though things were full on and exciting and life threatening and all of that, I didn’t really fire up on it. I quite liked Wolverine, loved Xavier and Magneto, Mystique was pretty awesome. Wasn’t much of a fan of the other characters, and found Cyclops just really annoying… I can’t tell if it was just because his character was treated as a main character yet portrayed in a very two-dimensional manner or if it was just because I couldn’t see his eyes. I wanted to like it more than I did. But, as always, I will keep watching. I’ve heard the more recent films are pretty darned fabulous.
What happens when Pitch, the bogeyman, decides to take over the world to make every child scared of the dark by taking away their belief in the magical characters that make their lives better? The Guardians must assemble – Santa (called North, a massive, Russian, knife wielding dude voiced by Alec Baldwin), the silent Sandman, the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and the Aussie Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman). Not only battling Pitch (voiced by Jude Law), the Guardians must welcome the new and reluctant Guardian, Jack Frost (Chris Pine).
It’s a really good kids film. It’s beautiful, even when watched in 2D on a television. There is some good humour, a splash of emotional schmaltz and a pretty cool storyline. If you are around kids and need something to watch, this is a decent watch with quite a few laughs.
The Rise of the Guardians was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature.
The story of Les Miserables is long and complicated. In short, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is a criminal who absconds during his parole, taking on a new name and starting a new life, running from Javert (Russell Crowe). Along the way, he adopts the daughter of Fantine(Anne Hathaway) one of his ex-factory workers whose firing leads to her descent into prostitution, illness and eventual death. Then, there is a revolution against the rich ruling classes. There’s death, betrayal, love and the whole lot.
It was a very long stage play, and it is a very long film. The one problem I often have with musicals is the amount of singing. Really keep it to one or two verses and a chorus – get back to the story. That goes doubly for this film – everything is sung, like an opera, only it’s not an opera. It’s fine for the songs, but the dialogue and the single lines just seem odd.
But, ignoring my impatience with songs in musicals, it’s a very good film. It is as grand and epic as it needed to be. The casting was fantastic, apart from Russell Crowe. Crowe was perfect for the acting of Javert, but his singing was noticeably weaker that all of the other leads, which made his seem like a weak performance.
Hugh Jackman has been nominated for a Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar, won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Leading actor
Anne Hathaway has been nominated for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar, won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture and won the for a BAFTA for Supporting Actress
Paco Delgado has been nominated for an Oscar for Costume Design and a BAFTA for Costume Design
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell have been nominated for an Oscar for Makeup and Hairstyling
‘Suddenly’ has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song – Motion Picture
Les Miserables has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Film, an Oscar for Best Production Design, won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Film, was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film, won the BAFTA for Production Design and won the BAFTA for Sound
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes have been nominated for an Oscar for Sound Mixing
Danny Cohen was nominated for a BAFTA for Cinematography
I don’t like magic. It’s not that I need to know what happens, I just don’t really like it. I quite like little close-up magic tricks, like having a coin appear from behind my ear, but the whole stage-show, big effects with the man strutting around and a woman in sequins flashing about… not my scene. The only time I’ve ever liked watching anything magic related was Jonathon Creek, and that’s more for the mystery bits and pieces.
The Prestige follows two magicians – Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) as they compete to be the best in London. It’s a long film and I got frustrated, but I think it was not so much the length, but the fact that I didn’t really believe the rivalry between these two men. Despite events which clearly set up the rivalry, I just didn’t feel it. And Christian Bale’s accent drove me nuts. But, as always, I persevered, and I’m so glad I did. This is one of those films which sets a lot of stuff up without you even realising it, and then suddenly it all pays off. I want to see it again to find all the hints and to see how much is foreshadowed.
The Prestige was nominated for Oscars for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Best Achievement in Cinematography.
ireckonthat 