Prisoners (film review)

Prisoners begins with a beautiful shot of a deer edging across a snow clad forest while two hunters, father and son, take aim with a rifle. The fragility of life is emphasised from the very start of the film and sets up the scenario of every parents nightmare, the disappearance of their young daughters. With Jake Gyllenhall's investigation stalling, one father, played by Hugh Jackman, feels the helplessness of the situation too overwhelming and he decides to take matters into his own hands. Their are many layers to Prisoners but the pacing of the film is key: it's a slow burner which brings a real sense of tension and urgency to the unfolding plot. You really don't know what is going to happen and the film has you gripped and on the edge of your seat without any cheap thrills or having to be flashy and action packed. The superb acting across the board and an intelligent and thoughtful script is crucial in making the characters actions, thoughts and feelings authentic and believable. One of the year's best thrillers. 8/10

With Malice Towards None: A Biography Of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B Oates

After watching Steven Spielberg's film about Abraham Lincoln I was keen to learn more about this fascinating character. This biography by Stephen B Oates is generally regarded as the standard one volume book about Lincoln and I can understand why. Oates really brings Lincoln to life, building up a vivid picture of a man who overcame an impoverished upbringing and grafted his way to the top by sheer talent and industry. The reader really gets to know Lincoln and admire him despite his faults and failings. In this sense it is a very objective book, and Oates is not afraid to shy away from Lincoln's human failings, both as a man and as a president. There is a good balance to this book. Oates develops Lincoln's character well while weaving historical circumstances around him, and is usually accessible to the layman, which would include myself. With Malice Towards None is very well researched, written with good economy and a high standard of prose. But it is not without its faults. The ending to the book is a bit abrupt. Oates should have told us what happened to his wife and children and how the civil war ended. The book basically ends with Lincoln's death. The emancipation proclamation, as portrayed in Spielberg's film, is not given enough clarity and emphasis and the whole issue is a little confusing. There is also a glaring omission of Lincoln's planned monetary reforms. If Lincoln had survived to serve another term as president then the world's economy might be in a much better state today. Still, these failings aside, With Malice Towards None is a very readable account of a great historical man. 8/10

Edinburgh Festival with Alexi Sayle, Rory McGrath and Philip Pope and others

                                                  Alexi Sayle

 

First up was Adam Strauss at the Underbelly Delhi Belly in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh. My friends and I arrived in the old town with plenty of time to find our venue and sneak in a cheeky pint. It was pleasant to nurse a pint in the bowels of the Underbelly in what seemed to be a converted beer garden. What the Underbelly is outwith the Edinburgh Festival remains a mystery to us but it's an interesting old building, full of nooks and crannies. Before we finished our pints I told Alan and Tony that Adam Strauss had got a very good review in a newspaper the previous day but there was still a sense of uncertainty about a show called The Mushroom Cure. It turned out that the title itself was a bit misleading. There is no 'mushroom cure' - just psychedelic trips on mushrooms. Strauss was not a comedian, more a performer giving a monologue about his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and his existential angst, which he seemed to have a lot of. To give him his due he's an articulate and smart guy and I was sympathetic to his OCD related problems but his performance left me a bit nonplussed. It could have been a lot worse but it wasn't what we were hoping for. We then legged it straight over to the other side of Edinburgh's city centre for our next show, Alexei Sayle at the Stand Comedy Club. Our expectations were high and we were not disappointed. It was uncompromising stand up from a witty and colourful character that often had us laughing very hard. I was surprised to find out that this was his first stand up show in about 14 years but, as Alan rightly pointed out, he's still got it. After that we dined at KFC and then headed back across town to the Old Town for a stage adaptation of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest at The Space. It turned out to be an all female cast, which instantly had my attention, and I tried in vain to appreciate their acting skills and not judge them by their looks. To be fair the acting was very good. The problem was that there was one sole male performer, dressed in a blouse, which didn't make any sense on an all female psychiatric ward. We were expecting his character to have gender identity issues but his presence among a group of female patients was never explained. Apart from this puzzling mystery the play was very well thought out and executed. I particularly liked the use of sound and light, especially when one of the main characters would give a short soliloquy about the effects of her illness in relation to the hospital. It was very effective. Next up was Rory McGrath and Philip Pope at the George Square Two. McGrath is a well known tv personality but I knew next to nothing about Pope. Their show was similar to Rich Hall's Hoedown - humorous songs on guitar and keyboard. The lyrics were funny and they interacted well in between songs with the audience and each other. I agreed with Tony that they were sort of Rich Hall but not quite to the same standard, both in terms of music and comedy, but it was still good entertainment and a nice cheerful way to end the Festival. After the show we had a very important decision to make - run for the midnight bus or stay and have a few drinks and get the 1.30AM bus. We wisely chose the later.

 

          

                                Rory McGrath

                 

 

Rush (film review)

There's so much to enjoy and admire in this fascinating and exciting biopic about the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, two Formula One drivers at their peak in the mid 1970's. Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Lauda are both superb in their roles; Hemsworth captures Hunt's playboy antics and maverick approach with great charisma, while Bruhl is very convincing as the calculating and clinical Austrian. Screenwriter Peter Morgan and director Ron Howard get the right balance between thrilling car races and an intelligent and colourful script revelling in the contrast between the two very different protagonists. Their relationship is vital to the film's success and there are moments of humour and moments of poignancy, all handled very nicely. The car races are very realistic and exciting, although one slight flaw is that Hunt and Lauda drive cars of a similar colour and at times it was hard to distinguish who was who, especially at speeds of 170 MPH. The cinematography of the races and the different landscapes around the world is very striking, and composer Hans Zimmer provides a soundtrack that further heightens the excitement of the intense rivalry. One of the best films of 2013. 9/10