Divergent – One in the crowd

On 07/05/201408/05/2014 By filmrollerIn action, dice roll: 2, radio review, sci-fiLeave a comment

Yet another movie based on a bestselling young adult novel. Can this one set itself apart? I was willing to let a lot slide, considering the message in this film is fairly harmless. But after discussing the film with someone who had read the book, I realised this wasn’t just a case of poor adaptation.

The story’s concept is “what if the world worked according to this random rule”, peppered with characters and general melodrama. This type of story is something I see a lot of in fanfiction. They often sound lame and contrived, but it’s all in good fun, and is (when done well) an experiment to explore other aspects of the characters and relationships of existing franchises. When movies get made out of these “what if” scenarios, you’re almost always in for a long intro with a lot of reading and/or voice-over exposition. Divergent is no exception.

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

On 27/04/201427/04/2014 By filmrollerIn action, dice roll: 5, radio review2 Comments

I was really excited to see this sequel, mostly because I was one of the few people on the internet who liked the first one.

Maybe I exaggerate my dislike for the “originals”, as I know I saw them all in theatres and didn’t really have much to say about them (except the third one). In hindsight I find myself with a bad taste in my mouth every time I see the Goblin’s stupid mask, or Doc Oc’s puppy-like psychic metal puppets. I won’t say The Amazing Spider-Man was perfect, but to me it was an improvement even when it just retreaded the previous films’ steps.

Spoilers for the ending of the last film!

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Aronofsky’s Noah Short Review

On 05/04/2014 By filmrollerIn action, dice roll: 4, drama, fantasy, radio reviewLeave a comment

I remember actually enjoying certain Biblical stories as a child. My favourite was an illustrated version of Samson, which I guess technically makes him my first superhero. Hollywood once knew why the Bible was perfect for the screen, and Aronofsky is apparently the one to remind them, which he undeniably does.

The traditional story of Noah is adapted and embellished in the film, titled simply Noah. The trailer hints at a lot of the additions, but I still wasn’t prepared for how original the story looked. The rock-angels are probably the biggest surprise. Fallen angels who turn to stone upon impact, they now wander the earth being bitter about their decision to help humanity. Noah and his family are far more complex than I expected as well. This isn’t so much a story about saving the animals or surviving the flood, it’s about one man’s struggle with interpreting the Creator’s will, how his family deal with his conviction, and humanity’s capacity for good.

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Tom at the Farm – Tom à la Ferme

On 03/04/2014 By filmrollerIn dice roll: 4, drama, radio reviewLeave a comment

Set in wide empty farmlands somewhere in Canada, Tom à la Ferme surprised, touched and disturbed me. It comes across as an intense personal vision even though it’s apparently adapted from a play.

Tom comes to the farm in order to attend his boyfriend’s funeral. The mother, Agatha, doesn’t know they were together romantically. The brother, Francis, wants to keep it that way, and threatens Tom with violence should he say a word. At the same time, they both insist Tom stay. As the days pass, Francis becomes almost like an abusive boyfriend, one moment dancing a tango and bandaging Tom’s wounds, the next moment choking him. Agatha has more than a few issues herself, and together the three of them form a group with cult-like characteristics.

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The Grand Budapest Hotel Review

On 20/03/201421/03/2014 By filmrollerIn comedy, dice roll: 6, fantasy, historical, radio reviewLeave a comment

I have been a Wes Anderson fan ever since Mum told us to go to the neighbouring town to see The Royal Tenenbaums, because it seemed like a quirky little film. Quirky enough not to be shown at our local cinema, at least. I was a young teenager, and knew nothing about films except that I loved them. I think what I found in Wes Anderson’s strange family tale was a love of every aspect of movie-making. Even though I love his other films, it is only The Grand Budapest that finally replaced Tenenbaum as my favourite. Luckily, it doesn’t feel like a culmination, nor has his style gotten tired or overused. I can’t imagine a time when it will.

The story of the Grand Budapest Hotel is a story in a story in a story. A young girl goes to visit the grave of a famous author, whose book tells the story of the time he met the owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel, and this owner in turn tells of how he came into its possession. But in actuality, the movie is about the great concierge of the Grand Budapest, Gustave H., played by Ralph Fiennes, and his adventures, for lack of a better term.

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No Need – Need for Speed Review

On 13/03/2014 By filmrollerIn action, dice roll: 4, radio reviewLeave a comment

Cars worth more than I could make in two lifetimes, proper physical stunts that leave you winded, and adrenaline fueled driving by Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul. What more could you want from a driving movie? Absolutely nothing. So, why then does Need for Speed feel the need to assault me with bad jokes, eye-rolling clichés and an added-on ending that feels like executives securing their franchise options?

I don’t play racing games, but I am a car fan, and an even bigger driving movie fan. Need for Speed looked like just the right bit of serious, hard driving I needed after years of over-the-top (but admittedly fun) fooling around in the Fast and Furious franchise. The movie stars Aaron Paul as Tobey Marshall, whose workshop is in financial trouble. Along comes his rival on the track, Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), who offers him a great deal. An “accident” happens, however, and Tobey ends up driving across America to seek his revenge.

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Rise of the Sequel – 300: Rise of an Empire Review

On 06/03/201406/03/2014 By filmrollerIn action, dice roll: 2, fantasy, radio reviewLeave a comment

I reviewed this on the radio, as usual, but between then and now I have been trying my hardest to see if I shouldn’t change my final dice roll for this film. I have to stand by my convictions, however. Sure, maybe the movie will age well and I can see it again in two-three years and not feel the same. Until then, here is my rather mean rant about 300: Rise of an Empire. Not the actual review, but the scribbles I wrote down immediately after I left the theatre. I decided to do it this way to see if it helped people understand why I simply did not like the film, even though I had every reason to considering the premise, my personal tastes, and those involved.

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A Weird Winter’s Tale

On 20/02/201408/05/2014 By filmrollerIn dice roll: 3, drama, fantasy, radio reviewLeave a comment

I knew absolutely nothing about the film Winter’s Tale when I sat down in the theatre. The title made me think of adventures in the snow, maybe some sweet story set in winter, but what I got was very different from expected. I think not knowing anything about it made it an experience I won’t forget, but I’m not sure that makes it a good movie.

The story, when I explained it simply, is a fairy-tale romance. A young orphaned thief falls in love with a dying girl. It turns out the evil forces of the universe (read demons and Satan) doesn’t want him to save her, because they’re all about destroying all the good in the world.

When I tried to explain the details, including which actors are playing the different roles, I got a reaction somewhere between skepticism and laughter. Colin Farrell plays the lover of Jessica Findley (Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey) and although the age-difference isn’t a stretch in Hollywood, it still felt odd compared to all the other supernatural romances with young, unknown, actors in them. Then we have Russell Crowe as an Irish gangster-boss/demon. And it’s all set in 1913, Brooklyn. Oh, and Will Smith is Satan. That’s when I lost most people.

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The Legend Continues

On 07/02/2014 By filmrollerIn comedy, dice roll: 4, radio reviewLeave a comment

For myself, I have to go all the way back to Leslie Nielsen’s Golden Age, or perhaps 1993’s Hot Shots: Part Deux to find a comedy sequel that I feel surpassed the original. Simply keeping up with the first one is an enormous challenge. But I did feel, in my heart, that if anyone could pull it off, it had to be Ron Burgundy himself.

Ron and his wife, Veronica, have a perfect New York life, but it all comes crashing down (or at least Ron’s part of it) when Veronica gets the evening news, and he gets fired. Told by his hero that he’s the worst newsman in history, he crawls back to San Diego to work at Sea World. Hope blooms again when a new network, GNN (Global News Network), asks him to join them for a new era in news: the twenty-four-hour news channel.

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The Big Awesome Wolf

On 30/01/201431/01/2014 By filmrollerIn biopic, comedy, dice roll: 5, drama, radio review1 Comment

The Wolf of Wall Street has so far gathered one Golden Globe and a tidy little pile of nominations and awards. It is in the running for four Oscar statues. My hopes could not be higher for Martin Scorsese’s new epic. Thankfully, my hopes were met with copious amounts of alcohol.

Jordan Belfort’s real life already inspired the movie Boiler Room (2000) according to Wikipedia. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Scorsese’s version of course. We begin the story when he’s hired as a stockbroker at Rothschild in 1987. When the firm goes broke on Black Monday, Jordan has to go sell penny stocks for chump change – only he’s really, really good at it. Soon, he and his buddy Donnie (Jonah Hill) are making more money than they can spend – except they do spend it, on drugs, alcohol and women. Their enterprise soon attracts the FBI.

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Film Dice

Category: radio review