Rachel May and the DVD Hallows Part 2

Hello Everyone :-)

Time for part 2 of my DVD catch up!

Now You See Me
‘Now You See Me’ has such a good premise when you hear it you’re surprised you haven't seen this before. Four illusionists, specifically a street magician, an escapologist, a mentalist and a sleight of hand specialist (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco respectively) team up to form the Four Horsemen and perform a series of elaborate tricks in order to steal money. Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is an FBI agent assigned to investigate the Four Horsemen who always seem to be one step ahead.

One of the key components of magic is misdirection and ‘Now You See Me’ is, in itself, an act of misdirection; with all its glitter and pizzaz it distracts you from the fact that it’s not as clever as it thinks it is.

The best thing ‘Now You See Me’ has going for it is it’s pretty awesome cast. The ever-watchable Jesse Eisenberg is on snappy Zuckerberg-ian form, Isla Fisher is the most fun she’s ever been, Woody Harrelson is at his misanthropic best and Dave Franco is a sparky screen presence. Unfortunately we don’t spend nearly enough time with those four, we spend most of the film with Ruffalo’s Agent Rhodes. I think Mark Ruffalo is a brilliant actor and here he makes a nicely grumpy FBI agent but, however good he is he’s just not as enjoyable as the Four Horsemen.

That’s not to say it’s unfunny. There have been plenty of films this year that aren’t as amusing or shiny as this one. The big reveals of how the Horsemen pulled off their feats are especially entertaining and greatly improved by being narrated by the dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman.

‘Now You See Me’ unravels towards the end but it doesn’t make the preceding hour and 20 any less entertaining. Plus there is definitely some merit in trying to go out with a bang and losing a couple of threads as opposed to pissing your ending away through lack of effort. In the same vein of ‘Ocean’s 11’, ‘Now You See Me’ is enjoyable, sparkly fun :-)

‘Now You See Me’ is available on DVD and Blu-Ray now.





Good Vibrations

‘Good Vibrations’ is the story of Terri Hooley (Richard Dormer). A music-lover and part-time DJ, Terri lives in 1970s Belfast when the infamous ‘troubles’ shut down his city. As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations. The film follows Hooley as he discovers punk music and tries to forge his own record label all the while believing in the healing powers of vinyl.

This is the second film from directing duo Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn. The pair’s first film, ‘Cherrybomb’, also tries to capture the exuberance of youth and music but doesn’t quite manage it. This time however, the directorial duo has nailed it.

Filmed on a tiny budget, ‘Good Vibrations’ relies on the charisma of it’s leading man. This film is all about Richard Dormer. He dominates every scene with his boundless energy and enthusiasm. It would be so easy to be cynical about a film who’s central message is ‘music fixes everything’ and trust me I am a ridiculous cynic, but I don’t think you can help but be swept up in it’s warmth and loveliness.

‘Good Vibrations’ isn’t going to change the world but this film has a spark that you can’t quite put your finger on. Somewhere in this cocktail of bad wigs, nostalgia and epic soundtrack, magic has been made. I, along with almost all of my fellow cinema goers, stayed seated well into the credits to see the archive photos but mainly to savour the afterglow that seemed to linger well after the film had finished.

'Good Vibrations' is available on DVD and Blu-Ray now.

 

Trance
Simon (James McAvoy) is an auctioneer and he has collaborated with a band of thieves to steal Goya’s ‘Witches in the Air’ painting in order to pay off his gambling debts. The plan goes awry when Simon gets bludgeoned over the head and forgets where he’s stashed the stolen canvas. When brute force fails to jog Simon’s memory, mobster Franck (Vincent Cassel) insists that he try hypnosis to retrieve the information from his subconscious. This leads him to the office of serene and sultry hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson).

This story takes place in the psyche of an unreliable narrator and as such there is a constant sense that ‘this might not be actually happening’. This is aided (or made worse, depends how you feel) by the visual style which is often distorted, reflected, and generally messed around with a soundtrack that is also designed to twist your melon. 
All this makes it quite obvious that you shouldn’t believe everything the film is showing you. This is both a blessing and a curse for ‘Trance’. On the one hand the film’s constant wrong-footing keeps things interesting and makes it far harder to work out the twist in the tale, but at other times the film attempts to be so mystifying it ties itself up knots.

The main thing is ‘Trance’ looks like Danny Boyle having a whale of a time. He’s made this film whilst doing the Olympic 2012 which could be why it feels a little bit patchy but it’s plain to see he is completely letting off steam, throwing everything at this and seeing what sticks.

The film is very much a result of three pretty good performances. Vincent Cassel makes a great grumpy mobster, James McAvoy is always a nice on-screen presence but it’s Rosario Dawson that come out on top. She is excellent as the femme fatale character and every moment she is one screen the film is elevated to more than what it actually is.

At the heart of it ‘Trance’ is a daft, sexy, slightly over-indulgent crime caper. ‘Trance’ is all surface albeit, very shiny, very colourful surface. Worth a watch if you’ve got a free Friday night and are in the mood for something silly.

The Great Gatsby

For those who haven't read 'the great merican novel' (first published in 1925) it follows Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) a Yale graduate, veteran of World War 1 and most recently a resident of West Egg. Nick has just moved into a small house on West Egg adjacent to a huge mansion belonging to the mysterious Mr Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) who throws lavish parties for the beautiful people of the city every weekend.

Nick catches up with his second cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) who lives opposite West Egg in the more up-market Village of East Egg and is married to the unbelievably awful Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton).

What follows is a story of excess, money, social politics, love and the American Dream.

I liked ‘The Great Gatsby’ and considering I think the novel is a Mary Poppins (practically perfect in every way) that’s not bad going. It is by no means a perfect film but I think it does a good job of straddling the divide between ‘Gatsby’ purists and the general movie going public.

Luhrmann’s adaptation serves one half of the novel very well. His depiction of Gatsby’s lavish parties and the hedonism of the story’s main characters is spot on; it makes you want to dive in and neck a magnum of champagne. Some may find the modern soundtrack jarring with the period setting but I didn’t, I think it added to the riotous feel of the party scenes, in fact someone bought me the soundtrack for my birthday and I really like it.

The film is far too long. There is an entirely unnecessary framing device in which Nick Carraway commits Gatsby’s tale to text on the advice of a psychiatrist on 29^th December 1929 whilst in a sanatorium. I don’t understand why these scenes are there in the first place; it would have shortened the film considerably had they not been and it wouldn’t have hampered the story at all.

Speaking of Carraway, Tobey Maguire is a bad fit from the off. Nick is less an aloof observer and more child-like and intrusive. The only time he feels like he’s supposed to be there is during his scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio. The relationship between Carraway and Gatsby is done with genuine affection.

Carey Mulligan makes a good Daisy. Beautiful, effervescent, shallow, melancholic and happy to let you believe she’s dumber than she really is. Her accent carries the hint of southern belle and is absolutely “full of money”.

Joel Edgerton is perfect as Daisy’s Husband, Tom Buchanan. Tom is crass and awful with a sense of entitlement that makes you seethe when you see him.

The Ace up the sleeve of ‘The Great Gatsby’ is the casting of the titular hero. Leonardo DiCaprio is exactly how I envisioned Gatsby. He is effortlessly charming with an ethereally cool veneer that covers his desperate desire to truly belong in the upper echelons of society.

The fact that DiCaprio has never won an Oscar is the stuff of memes but seriously, why the hell not? I’m not saying this particular performance isn’t Oscar worthy but Shutter Island, Django Unchained, Inception, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed; DiCaprio is one of the most consistently great actors currently working in Hollywood and ‘The Great Gatsby’ continues his upward trajectory.

F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in 1940 so never got to see his book appreciated as the seminal work that it is. Whether he would approve of this adaptation… I’m not sure. Luhrmann’s vision captures the frantic parties and excessive living of those who had more money than sense and, although it doesn’t dispense with it completely, I can’t help but feel this has come at the expense of the emotional detail. It was always going to be hard to adapt ‘Gatsby’ to its fullest but there’s still much to love in this bright, spectacle of a movie.

‘The Great Gatsby’ is out on Blu-Ray and DVD now. 

I've still got a few of these left to do so I'll post another one of these in a bit. As for now I think I need some...

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)

1. Following on from the mid-credit 'Iron Man 3' teaser we have Guardians of the Galaxy news! We've got a bit of a plot synopsis and the first photo which is all terribly exciting. It sounds a little along the lines of 'The Avengers' which isn't a bad thing, I'm looking forward it! I'm a big fan of Chris Pratt, he's gorgeous and funny and I'll pretty much watch anything he's in, Karen Gillan is a villain and Bradley Cooper is a talking, gun toting Raccoon! What's not to like?!?!?!

2. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's awards season! The 2014 Oscar nominees are in! At a glance it all looks as is to be expected. For me notable by it's absence is 'Blackfish' in the 'Best Documentary' category. I know that 'The Act of Killing' is a shoo in but 'Blackfish' at least deserved a nod, I defy anyone to watch that film and not want to storm the headquarters of Sea World like French revolutionaries at the Bastille.

That's it for today!

Goodbye till next time :-)

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