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

Elysium

'And the meek shall inherit the earth'. Unfortunately in this film they inherit a diseased, overpopulated earth while the wealthy live it up on Elysium, a luxurious space station orbiting the planet. It's an interesting and relevant idea from the mind of Neill Blomkamp, the same guy who wowed audiences in 2009 with sci-fi thriller District 9. The action comes thick and fast as Matt Damon finds himself with only a few days to live and must get to Elysium where he can be cured of radiation contamination. His fate becomes intertwined with the fate of humanity and the bigger picture overshadows his own life. The relevance of the film is in the vast gulf between rich and poor and the determination of the rich to hold onto what they have. It's nice to have an action film with a social conscience, although I feel Blomkapp could have fleshed out this part of the story more and also focused more on character development. The special effects are very good and Sharlto Copley, of District 9 fame, makes a brilliant baddie. All in all it's good entertainment but not the film that could fully redeem this summer's disappointing cinematic releases. 7/10

Edinburgh Festival with The Shawshank Redemption, Brainsex and Craig Campbell

Our first show, Brainsex, is probably the main reason that you are now viewing this blog. Sorry to disappoint but it is not as dodgy as it sounds. My own interest was purely educational. Honestly. The show took place in what seemed to be a small shipping container called the George Square Box, which was a bit strange. As my friend Alan retorted, we were half expecting to find ourselves in Afghanistan on rendition by the end of the show. Regardless, we dutifully lined up in a fairly long queue - obviously many other people were interested in Brainsex from a purely educational point of view. I felt sorry for the girl collecting the tickets. "Are you here for Brainsex?" she would ask. We were all very mature about this of course and did not emit a single giggle or chuckle. The show itself proved to be an interesting and amusing hour about the differences between the male and female brain. The science part went a bit over my head at times, but the presentation was often injected with much needed silliness and humour. Overall it worked quite well and I can think of many less pleasant ways to spend 60 minutes in a small shipping container. Our next show was a stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption at the Assembly Rooms Music Hall. It was an impressive venue, complete with glittering chandeliers, for a much loved film and novella and I wasn't surprised that the hall was packed almost to capacity. It was always going to be impossible to live up to the emotional power of the film but despite watching the play from a slightly defensive position I still managed to enjoy it. I particularly liked Omid Djili as Red, the convict who befriends the main protagonist. His American accent was so convincing that I wasn't sure it was him at first. The set props, movable steel cages, were cleverly used to create each prison scene and there was an authentic prison feel to the stage presentation. (I've never been in prison, in case you are wondering) The story unfolds fairly well and the acting is thoroughly solid but the screenplay doesn't really capture the intimacy and importance of the relationship between the two main protagonists. Also the twist at the end could have been given more thought by the director, it just doesn't work as well as the film. Alan was impressed, being one of maybe ten people in the world never to have seen the film before. He promptly resolved to put that on his to do list, so I guess that in itself is a good testimony to the stage version. Our final show of the day was Canadian stand-up comedian Craig Campbell, at one of the smaller venues within the Assembly Rooms. We had seen him last year as part of a trio of Canadian comics and having been the best of the three we decided to give his solo show a go. He is a very likable, winning character and there is just something naturally funny about him, like Tommy Cooper or Eric Morcambe. Even some of his weaker material of the night still got a laugh due to the way he would tell the story or the facial expression he would pull. He started the show off by interacting with the audience and for a few minutes I thought he was going to go fully improv on us, but somehow he managed to overlap the audience jokes with his prepared material. Funny guy and it was good to end the day on a cheerful note.

Only God Forgives

Only God Forgives is a dark, violent story set in Bangkok about the unfortunate human need for revenge. The plot is fairly simple, although at times I wasn't quite sure what was going on, especially with Ryan Gosling's strange character. The acting is very good, especially Kristin Scott Thomas as the ice queen bitch from hell. Gosling acts with a lot of controlled intensity, similar to his portrayal in Drive. On the down side there is a lot of slow, purposeful walking and posing that seems unnatural but maybe it was meant to add to the surrealism of the film. Some of the cinematography is quite striking, and you get the feeling each scene has been carefully thought out and rehearsed. It doesn't always work but I admire the director's ambition and vision. The violence cannot go unnoticed - there are a few scenes of graphic violence that are really quite disturbing and don't add anything to the film. Only God Forgives is an atmospheric, stylish, strange film that never reaches the heights of Drive, the directors previous film and a far superior one at that. 7/10