Movie Review - Love Actually

LOVE ACTUALLY

(2003) UK, 136 Mins

Dir: Richard Curtis

Love Actually has grown into a much-loved romantic comedy in the 10 years since its release, & while perhaps not strictly a Christmas movie, due to the movies events being based around the build-up to Christmas, has very much become associated with the holiday season. Its stars truly a who’s who of British film stars, including the likes of Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson,  Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightly, Alan Rickman & Bill Nighy.

The plot itself is hard to summize in any detail over just a paragraph or two: essentially the film is made up of eight couples of some description & their stories of love in the month long lead up top Christmas. Whether it’s the brand new Prime minister (Hugh Grant) finding himself falling for a junior household staff member, veteran rock n roll legend Billy Mac (Bill Nighy) making a comeback with a Xmas song with assistance from his manager, design agency director Harry (Alan Rickman) being seduced by his new secretary Mia, while wife Karen (Emma Thompson) manages the kids’ school Xmas play, the film revolves around the relationships that are unfolding as we approach Christmas. The big thing here is, all these stories are intertwined due to the connections of some sort between the individual stories. For example, Karen is the PM’s brother, linking those stories together.

The major theme is reflected in the film’s title, Love Actually. That is essentially what the film focuses on, which just happens to occur over the festive season, which is why it’s argued as not being a true Christmas film. Whatever the case, it doesn’t detract from a very warm hearted film with the focus in the right place (especially at this time of year) as the couples or groups work through their respective relationship/s. The characters are pretty much all kind good hearted people who we can identify with in some way, & the realness of the particular relationship is easy to sympathise with.

The film largely comes to a climax at Christmas as the relationship in question reach their zenith – this is followed by an epilogue a month later, in which we see how the particular groups’ relationships have evolved, basically all working out for the best in each circumstance.

Even as a bloke, you cannot be helped but moved by this film. While it can be argued as being on the sugary sweet side somewhat, an all star cast & very moving performances from all involved along with the Christmas setting, much this a very easy film to fall in love with. We really hope all our characters can work their particular relationships out. We really hope that young Sam (Thomas Sangster) can win the girl he has fallen for, young though they may be. We really do hope that Colin (Kris Marshall) can find love in America.

 Definitely a film to dig out for a watch at this time of the year, Love Actually is an excellent romantic comedy, with its heart in the right place. In the decade since its release, it has found a rightful place in the must-watch-at-Christmas movie collection. Put aside the negative thoughts & bah humbug stuff for a couple of hours at least, & settle down enjoy a heart warming film at Christmas time! I’m giving Love Actually ****

Movie Review - Titanic

TITANIC (1997)

USA, 194 Mins

DIR: J.Cameron

So, I’ve been a bit slack on the movie front so far in 2014, though I did have a good reason for the first few weeks – being on a cruise ship & all! So keeping in the spirit of that until I get back into movie viewing patterns, let’s review a very famous film about a passenger liner! J

OK, we’ve all heard of this one, being one of the highest grossing films ever made. It was almost exactly 16 years ago when I wandered along to see this at the cinema. I was always fascinated by the story of the Titanic & what happened to her on its maiden voyage, so I had been looking forward to seeing this film.

Just in case you are one of those few who haven’t seen the film at some point, we’ll do a quick run-through: In the current Day of the films setting, treasure hunter Brock Lovett & his team, hunting the remains of the famous shipwreck, undercover a picture of a young woman wearing the very necklace they’ve been searching for. This prompts elderly Rose Dawson Calvert to contact Lovett claiming the picture is of her. And so begins a famous story, as Rose tells of her experiences aboard Titanic.

  Jack Dawson is a penniless artist, who won a lucky hand of poker to get his passage on Titanic in steerage, while Rose DeWitt Bukater is a 17 year old engaged girl, travelling in first class with her mother Ruth & fiancé Cal Hockley. Through circumstances, they are brought together & form an unlikely friendship at first, which blossoms into love as Rose sees a way out of an unhappy future marriage to Cal & freedom for the first time in her life.  But their love is doomed as the Titanic hits an iceberg, & putting their very survival at risk, as well as earning the wrath of Hockley & his bodyguard upon discovering the affair between Rose & Jack.

We learn through elderly Rose telling her story in the current day that Jack didn’t survive the tragedy, while urging Rose to go on & make her life count. Rose does survive, and assumes Jack’s surname as an honour to his memory & goes forward with her life. Finally, back in the current day, we discover she still had possession of “The Heart Of The Ocean” necklace all along, & having finally told her story for the 1^st time of how Jack saved her from her meandering life, alone on deck of Lovett’s ship, she tosses the necklace into the water over the wreck site.

It’s not like the film needs a recommendation from me – Titanic swept up in every film awards show, including a record-equally 14 Academy Award nominations, going on to win eleven. It also boasted a very successful song in Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, which cleaned up in the Grammy Awards. But here goes anyway!

I can only remember two occasions when I’ve walked out of a cinema having been absolutely blown away, lost for words. Titanic is one of those times. Was just simply amazed at the film - & coming from a bloke, too -at every aspect of the film. Everything was near-perfect in this film, the design, effects, direction, the background of the impending disaster, & the characters themselves. No more so that Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet. They MAKE this film, with flawless acting & amazing chemistry with their characters. We desperately want them to both survive this tragedy & go on, but know right from early on in the film that this is very unlikely. A good measure of Titanic’s quality can be measured by when released back into selected cinemas in 3D a couple of years ago & it still stands up incredibly well. It still has the rare magical quality that draws you in, even 14 years later.

So yeah, fair to say Titanic still stands as one of my favourite films of all time. Maybe you could argue the film takes its time to get going, with Lovett & his treasure hunting crew, along with current-day Rose, (Gloria Stuart) dominating our screens for the first half hour. But once we are taken back to Titanic’s initial sailing day in April 1912 as Rose starts her story, it’s all A grade stuff, & by the end you would completely forget that you've been sitting engrossed for over 3 hours. How on earth DiCaprio wasn't even NOMINATED for an Oscar for Titanic, & how Winslet lost out to Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets, is unfathomable.  The film did manage to win just about every other award though, so that’s consolation enough I guess.

In summation, if you for some reason have never seen Titanic, put it straight on top of your to-do list. An amazing & triumphant film on just about every level, every credit goes to director James Cameron here for following through with his vision for an epic film. I gotta go the full monty here – Titanic gets *****

Movie Review - The Wolf Of Wall Street

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)

USA, 179 Mins

Dir: Martin Scorsese

I know I promised to review my all-time favourite movie this week which was becoming a musical, so don’t panic, they’re certainly not turning The Wolf Of Wall Street into a musical! Just I had the opportunity to catch this film at the cinemas last week, & thought to review it while it’s still relatively fresh in the mind! You’ll just have to hold on for an extra week for my review of my favourite film! J

The Wolf Of Wall Street is based on the true story & memoir of Jordan Belfort – a New York stockbroker that rose to huge fame & wealth, only to fall foul of the law in his controversial career ways, & wind up losing almost everything. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the star role of Belfort, producing an arguably career-best performance here (& mind what I said of his effort in Titanic a few weeks ago) in his 5^th collaboration with famed director Martin Scorsese. The film also boasts the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill & Australia’s own Margot Robbie, and a big step up from appearing in Neighbours to this role as Belfort’s wife Naomi.

The film tracks Belfort’s start in his career as a stockbroker, only for the Black Monday Wall St crash of 1987 to hit, causing him to lose his job. He uses his aggressive sales techniques in penny stocks to establish a business along with friend Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), & the firm soon goes from strength to strength. We witness life at the top of the tree as a lifestyle of sex, drugs & rock n roll is enjoyed by Belfort & his companions. But his questionable techniques soon draw the attention of the law, & this forces Jordan to go to more extreme measures to wide his wealth & dubious ways by opening a Swiss bank account. When one of his operatives is arrested, Jordan has the chance to confess to some smaller level crimes & essentially hold on to his millions, & model wife. However, he elects to continue pouring his efforts into making money, & soon the consequences of his actions catch up with him & he is forced to co-operate with the law in order to avoid a more severe jail term, thus resulting in the end of his company.

This is a very engrossing film, well worth of its Oscar nominations – I hardly registered that it went for 3 hours. As someone not overly familiar with the story of Jordan Belfort, I was really interested in how someone could have so much yet still want more. Like I said before, DiCaprio gives an amazing performance as Belfort – in my opinion, you may as well hand over the Oscar to him now, ain’t nothing topping this performance here! Margot Robbie also gives a fantastic performance – look out for her to become a big Hollywood name in the next year or two!

All that being said, this film certainly is not for everyone! It well & truly earns its “R” rating here – in fact I believe it set a new record for the number of “F” words in a feature film! There is no holding back in revealing to the audience the rich & famous lifestyle that Jordan Belford becomes accustomed to. So if you are easily offended by sex, drugs or coarse language, you will probably want to give this film a miss.  

For the more mature minded film goer however, The Wolf Of Wall Street is an engrossing, captivating & very open look at the life of Jordan Belfort. Nominated for 5 Academy Awards in total including Best Picture, & still screening at most decent cinemas, the film is well worth a look. I’m actually very intrigued to go out & read the book which the film is also based on too.  I’m giving The Wolf Of Wall Street  ****

Movie Review: Ghostbusters

GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)

U.S.A, 105 Mins

        Dir: Ivan Reitman

Sadly last week we sadly lost a very talented actor/writer/producer in Harold Ramis. So in honour of his passing, & having had requests for a review of this film, let’s look back at arguably his most famous on screen role!

Hard to believe this year marks 30 years since the release of Ghostbusters! Obviously still a very famous & well known film that has immersed itself into pop culture. A star studded cast including Bill Murray, the afore mentioned Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver & Rick Moranis all-star in this light horror-comedy film about a group of eccentric paranormal investigators forming a business called the Ghostbusters & attempt to save New York from an upcoming attack from an ancient God named Gozer.

I’m sure we’ve all seen the film at some point or another over the years, so I won’t give a blow-by-blow description of the film this week. Suffice to say we meet Peter Venkman (Bill Murray, is his usual sarcastic wise-cracking best), Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) & Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) as they are attempting to further their investigations into the supernatural while employed at Columbia University. When they are turfed from their jobs & their funding, they decide to go into business for themselves.  People are sceptical & business is slow to start, but when Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) brings her case of her paranormal experience to the trio, & then they capture their first ghost at the Sedgewick Hotel, business starts booming. They rapidly grow into celebrity status & become overworked due to their demand.  The group run afoul of the EPA however, & are arrested. When things escalate in New York, they are released from jail by the mayor to tackle the crisis & attempt to save the city.

I watched this again last night, & it still holds up really well 30 years on. Still very funny, plenty of laughs, & so many great lines – some of which have entered pop culture – e.g. “We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its Ass!” Suitable for the whole family, the ghosts are of the more amusing kind rather than scary for the most part, making it suitable for kids as well as adults. Murray, Ramis & Aykroyd combine together very well. The budding romance between Dana & Peter adds a nice side touch to the ongoing paranormal battle, Rick Moranis as the nerdy Louis competing for Dana’s affections is amusing, & of course who could forget the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?

In summation, Ghostbusters is still a very funny & enjoyable film 30 years on. It was one of the most successful films of the 80’s & spawned spinoffs such as video games, cartoon series, heaps of merchandise, & of course a sequel, Ghostbusters II in 1989. The theme song for the film, Ghostbusters, was huge hit for Ray Parker Jr in 1984 as well, with the very catchy line – “Who You’re Gonna Call?”

As a huge Bill Murray fan, I love this film just as much as anyone. Murray’s wit combined with the wisdom of Ramis, & the keenness of Ackroyd, makes this a very funny & enjoyable film. Rumours are still abound of a 3^rd film in the series – I for one hope this doesn’t eventuate, especially with the passing of Ramis last week. It’s not like it could come close to the original in any case, which is often listed in film critics & magazines listings of the best comedy films, & best 80’s films. As good today as it was when first released, Ghostbusters is an easy **** ½