Tag: movie review

Movie Review // Get On Up – The James Brown Story

Directed by Tate Taylor, Get On Up tells the non linear story of James Brown’s life. Throughout the film we are thrown to different times in James Brown’s life, from the height of his fame to the moment his mother left his family.

We all know James Brown’s funky music but Get On Up shows us parts of his life that many simply won’t have known about. From his poor background, his father abandoning him, his drug problem which seem to have to have attributed to self insecurities and perhaps depression but definitely anger. His control freak attributes cause his band to leave him. Sidenote: At one point, Brown gets extremely angry to learn that he has lost top billing to The Rolling Stones and it is mentioned in the film that they will never go anywhere. 50 years later, The Stones are still going and Mick Jagger is a producer of his film.

Chad Boseman plays Brown with Dan Aykyord playing Ben Bart, his manager, who at one point, on good ole music business fashion, straps a suitcase of money to a security man’s wrist to get it out of the venue. Who needs banks eh?

On several occasions throughout the film, this reviewer wondered if they screenplay has one eye on heading to the stage. A number of times the character of Brown removes himself from the environment he’s in, addressing the camera, or audience, directly. Something that says this has one eye on theatreland.

If you aren’t familiar with Brown or his music, this is a good introduction to his life and his music and but if you’re a hard core music fan, you’re going to want to hear a lot more about Brown’s music. This film tries to combine the two and while we do find out about his personal struggles, it needs a lot more his Brown’s music to keep the music aficionado. Good but not quite there yet.

Thanks to Damaris for the inviting me to a lovely screening event at NBC Universal in London. Damaris provide resources to community groups about films to help promote discussion about some of the themes in films. They work with all types of groups, Youth groups, Church groups, Rotary Clubs all across the UK.

To get your free resources on ‘Get On Up’ for your community group go to http://www.damaris.org/media/getonup.

You can find out more about setting up a Film Club here

November 18, 2014
The Sweeney: Movie Review

Based on the Thames Television series of the seventies, The Sweeney follows the Flying Squad, a branch of the London Met Police force who investigate armed robberies. Add a dash of cockney rhyming slang to flying squad, you get Sweeney Todd, you get the drift.

The 2012 reinvention sees Ray Winston (last seen as a dwarf in Snow White and the Huntsman) in the role of Inspector Jack Regan, while Ben ‘Plan B’ Drew is his ever loyal sidekick George Carter, who seems to have been rescued from a life of crime by Regan. While the ‘Sweeney’ get the job done, they don’t always go by the rules of the law and Carter’s past gives him an insight into how the bad guys work.

The unit is threatened with closure by Lewis (Steven Mackintosh), whose wife Regan also happens to work with and oh, is having an affair with. The Regan character seems set in his ways, he knows how to do his job and doesn’t particularly like being told what to do. So, when the awful realisation occurs that he may have the wrong man, it’s a bitter pill.

Directed by Nick Love (The Firm) who also co wrote the screenplay with John Hodge (Shallow Grave / Trainspotting), The Sweeney is dirty, gritty and real and is a refreshing change from the CSI stylings of many US counterparts. It also gives a great look at the family nature and camaraderie of the unit. The Sweeney beautifully uses London as it’s setting, it’s not just another location. Scenes of gun fights are excellently written into buildings and well known areas of the city.

Ben Drew keeps growing in stature as an actor and ‘Carter’ is easily the most accessible character here. Winston plays the loner/womaniser ‘Regan’ well but his stony exterior is tough to crack and is a little hard to warm to. You want the team to succeed but knowing Regan isn’t always the good guy makes Carter the guy you want to come out clean rather than Regan not get caught.

Your scribe can’t remember the original, now cult TV show, so there are no references. But this isn’t a remake. It’s a reinvention of an idea brought up to date with modern days ideas and scenarios. Great fight scenes, great car chases (you may have seen Top Gear help with the filming of one) and a great script moves the story on nicely. An enjoyable 112 minutes which leaves the door open for a sequel. I dare you not to leave the movie theatre speaking in a cockney accent for the rest of the day.

September 10, 2012
Magic Mike: Movie Review

Magic Mike gives director, Steven Soderberg a chance to redeem himself. After directing the decent Contagion, he came along with Haywire. Yes, it was partly shot here in Dublin but that didn’t help how not great it was.

But something must have worked as Soderberg teams up with Tatum Channing again for Magic Mike. Channing plays Mike, ‘an entrepreneur’, construction worker by day, who dreams of having his own custom furniture business. Along comes Adam (Alex Pettyfer) to work on the construction site with Mike and manages to last one day. Adam sees Mike out on the town and no money to get into the club, asks Mike to get him in. In return, Adam just has to chat up two girls. This is where we find out that, by night, Mike’s a stripper or should I say, part of a Male Erotic dance troupe? Either way, he takes off his clothes.

Thus begins the journey where Mike introduces Adam to the stripper lifestyle while Matthew McConaughey (Dallas), introduces him to the stripper moves. It’s not all fun and games though as Adam’s sister Brooke (Cody Horn), quite rightly expresses her concerns as to what this decadent lifestyle is doing to her brother.

The story of Mike, is one of coming of age, OK, slightly older than most but this is an undercurrent that runs throughout the stripping and dance routines. Ah yes, the dance routines and the stripping. On stage, you’ll probably see the six of the hottest male bodies that Hollywood has to offer right now. Throughout the film, we’re treated to both group and solo dance routines. These are totally over the top, entertaining and very funny. One thing that stood out for me, Tatum Channing can dance!!

Running at 110 minutes, this film could be fifteen minutes shorter, it meanders a tad but it captures a vital thing. Girls want to get with them, guys want to be them (Yes, you do! You want that attention) Couple all this with a great soundtrack and you’ve got one of the most entertaining films so far this year.

Worth it!

Magic Mike is in cinemas across Ireland from July 11th

July 8, 2012
iLL Manors: Movie Review

iLL Manors is the debut directorial feature length from Ben Drew, better known to the masses as Plan B. The film tells the story of an East London area where drug use and the criminal underworld live hand in hand.

As it stands, the film features some great editing and cinematography and for a first time director, Ben Drew does an amazing job. He, of course, uses his musical background in the soundtrack. The in your face title track ‘iLL Manors’ doesn’t make it til the end credits but the rest of the musical accompaniment isn’t there for the sake of it. It cleverly acts as ‘The Narrator’ moving the story along.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this film. It’s just there needs to be a bit more punch to it. If you’re looking at this genre, the banlieu films of France like La Haine and even Noel Clarke’s Kidulthood and Adulthood or Totsi, based in South Africa, have excelled already, leaving iLL Manors open to comparisons.

With these films, the viewer gains an empathy for the characters, even if we don’t particularly like them. With iLL Manors, the film meanders through several events which depict the surburb brilliantly, showing us the outside characters’ back stories. Drew tips an area here that many other film makers haven’t touched but the downside of all this is that we don’t connect with those who end up as our main characters. It’s not until later when Aaron (Riz Ahmed) shows some redeeming features that we connect with the character.

Saying that though, iLL Manors is a fine debut and is well worth a watch. Within the photography and editing, Drew has come up with some really clever ideas. Now that he has his first feature out of the way, your scribe is looking forward to the next visual adventure from Plan B.

June 11, 2012