Howl

Howl
Year: 2010
Director: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
Cast: James Franco, David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Jeff Daniels

In My Own Words
I have a great respect for James Franco. I have great respect for anyone who tries to balance completing a university degree with a full time career. Could you imagine trying to complete a university degree while being one of the most popular male actors on the planet at the present time? Franco must have wanted a challenge, but good on him! He started acting while completing his Creative Writing degree at UCLA and he is currently enrolled at NYU's Graduate Film program and Columbia University's Graduate program for Fiction Writing. That's what I love, when an actor appreciates the art form behind what they do and continues their education in what they love.

That is not all I appreciate about James Franco. He loves to take risks. He was critically acclaimed for his role of James Dean in the TV movie of the same name, Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man trilogy, the lead male role in "Tristan + Isolde" and of course, as Aron Ralston in his Oscar nominate role in "127 Hours". The scope of his acting roles is very impressive. I think we need to give him a break in regards to his performance as an Oscar host. He wasn't Billy Crystal, but there are not too many people who could do the job that Franco did in front of the whole world. And there isn't too many people who could host the Academy Awards and be at class the next day. Kudos Franco!

I have to mention one of my favourite Franco roles, as himself in "30 Rock". Yes, I am a big fan of "30 Rock" in general so that may contribute to the fact that I find the idea of Franco having to find a fake girlfriend in order to cover up the fact that he is in love with a Japanese body pillow extremely hilarious.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
"Howl" proves that it is possible to be captivating and weak at the same time. It is not boring and not slow, but it is also not suspenseful and not powerful either. It is extremely unusual for a film to be all of these things at once, but then "Howl" isn't an ordinary film. The elements that go into making "Howl" the film that it is show complete originality and creativity. "Howl" is almost two stories in one, with the centre of the film being Allen Ginsberg's poem, "Howl". From one angle, the film is about Allen Ginsberg (James Franco) and his life, specifically focusing on his life and loves in the time in which "Howl" was written. While Ginsberg talks about his life from his New York apartment, on the other side of the country in a San Francisco courtroom "Howl" is on trial. The question is, is "Howl" a work of art, or just a work of obscenity?

The people who will find "Howl" the most interesting are literary fans and fans of James Franco. People who don't fit into these categories will most probably find this film bizarre and lack lustre. It is the biopic aspect of this film which makes the film bearable. "Howl" would have perhaps been more of a success if the whole film had in fact been the story of Allen Ginsberg and the courtroom drama been left out. You can see what directors, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman are trying to do by trying to capture what "Howl" meant to the poet and the readers and the cause and effect, but they would have been better to have left it at the poet. The courtroom scenes have no suspense, no drama, no depth, the acting is poor and the best thing that comes out of these scenes is that you find out what makes a piece of writing credible.

However, the scenes with Ginsberg are quite enthralling and the animation segments are almost hypnotising. It is a surprise to those who had not heard much about the film beforehand to find so much simple yet brilliantly creative animation involved in the film's editing and cinematography.  Franco's performance of Ginsberg is fantastic. He becomes Ginsberg in this role and masters his voice and tone. He can also be quite heart breaking in some flashback scenes, such as when he realises that his lover has left him. Franco makes Ginsberg's character lovable and brings emotion to the film. In short, he saves the film.

"Howl" is quite simple, but it is not hard to determine that it wasn't supposed to be. It is obvious that it was supposed to work as a film in two parts, yet one part of the film fails to really do anything at all. Epstein and Friedman should thank those at The Monk Studios for their amazing animation and James Franco for his accurate performance for the successes in this film, as without them "Howl" would be completely unfulfilling.
6/10

The Fighter

Year: 2010
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams

In My Own Words
I know, I know, but better late than never! I wanted to see "The Fighter" as soon as it was released. It just made it a tad difficult that it was released when I was overseas in a country where it hadn't been released yet, and was going to be released after Ieft. It would have made a lot more sense if I had reviewed this film before the Oscars...but better late than never! It's always hard trying to judge whether someone will win an Oscar for their acting talents in a particluar film when you haven't seen the film. However, these days you can pretty much telll whether they are going to win or not based on how many awards they win before the Oscars. Now, having finally seen "The Fighters", I can say that Christian Bale and Melissa Leo are deserved of their Oscars. Leo has redeemed herself slightly in my eyes now that I have since the film she won the award for, as I was really not impressed with her dropping the "F bomb" onstage upon recieving her award. There are some places that that word is just not appropriate for, and the most prestigious film event of the year is one of those places. She does have...interesting fashion sense as well as she showed at the Independent Spirit Awards. But she was given the Oscar based on her performance in "The Fighter" so let's just focus on that.

On that subject, the Best Supporting Actress category at the Oscars this year was probably the most competitive I have seen in years and any one of the five actresses nominated could have walked home with it.  Amy Adams was brilliant in this film, just as Melissa Leo was. Adams is another star who has come so close scooping up an Oscar and still hasn't taken the gold man home. This was her third nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category, with her first two being for her roles in "Junebug" and "Doubt". Adams is one of those rare actresses who is completely versatile. She can do the sugar and spice roles and make everyone fall in love, and she can also do the dramatic roles which will, more often than not, land her an Oscar nomination. I have no doubt she will eventually scoop one up. You never know what her playing Janis Joplin in the upcoming film "Janis Joplin: Get It While You Can" will do for her!

On another note, we all know what is going on in Japan at the moment with the earthquake and the tsunami. It is completely heartbreaking and terrifying to watch. There have been several world events in the past few months like this such as the floods in Queensland in Australia and the eartquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, which are horrifying to watch and can make you feel pretty horrible. In times like this when watching the news gets us down, we can be thankful for film. Film provides you an escape from reality, if only for an hour or two. They're not going to fix the world, but they can take you away from the terror for a few hours and depending on the film, can help you to remember that there is so much beauty in this world and many things we can be thankful for. Say a prayer for those in Japan, we're thinking of you.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

David O. Russell's masterpiece, "The Fighter" is one of the best sports films to come out in years. Whether boxing is your thing or not, this film completely captures you from beginning to end. "The Fighter" isn't so much about boxing than it is about the character in it and the relationships they form. It is a perfect character cased film, and how many awards and nominations it had for the stars during awards season is perfect proof of this. The film is based on the true story of boxer, Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his brother and trainer, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). Dicky, once a boxer himself, has plummeted into cocaine addiction and eventually lands himself in prison. "The Fighter" looks at the relationship between the brothers and the whole Ward family and the lingering question is, does Micky stand a better chance of taking the world welterweight championship with out or without Dicky and his family's influence?

The best part about this film is indeed the acting. Mark Wahlberg gives a splendid performance as Micky Ward. However, it does feel as though he is constantly overshadowed by his supporting actors. Wahlberg's Micky is perhaps the easiest role to play in the movie. He does it well, but it isn't too much of a change from Wahlberg's other roles and he isn't taking any great risks in his role. However, Wahlberg is one of the producers of "The Fighter" so credit must be given to him in his achievement of the film overall. Christian Bale gives a career best performance as Dicky, the older brother with the addictive and slight offbeat personality. Bale completely becomes his character in every way and you completely forget that you are watching Christian Bale and truly believe that you are seeing the real Dicky Eklund on the screen. He is definately deserving of his Oscar and every other award he has taken home for this role. Melissa Leo also gives a superb performance as Alice Ward, Micky and Dicky's obsessive mother. Like Bale, she completley transforms herself into the character, both in mannerisms and in appearence. She isn't a likable character, but great to watch and captivating in every scene she is in. One tends to back Mickey's girlfriend, Charlene Fleming, played by Amy Adams over Alice. Adams plays smart mouthed Charlene perfectly. Although she can be quite crass at times, she is generally likable and the audience identifies with her as the one who stands by her man through thick and thin. She captures just the right amount of emotion for every scenario in every scene and is completely relatable.

The acting isn't the only thing about this film that is brilliant about this film. The construction of these characters and the way they are portrayed on screen is the result of a great achievement in direction by David O. Russell. He knows the ins and outs of all of the characters and passes on all his knowledge to his actors. The film is tightly knit and absolutely captivating from beginning to end. The script is very well written and every scene is meaningful. The cinematography is also brilliant. One of the great moments of cinematography is the way which Russell focuses in on Micky's fighting hand and the way which his hand shows the way he feels about each of the charcaters he forms a relationship with. Unlike the majority of other sports related films, this film isn't as feel good as the others. Yet it does make you feel good. It is another one of those amazing films which make you happy just by watching it and witnessing something fantastic.

"The Fighter" is a masterpiece by David O. Russell. He has brought to the big screen a story of tragedy and triumph with colourful characters and beautiful film making. This film will always be remembered for the amazing performances by the amazing actors who took part and shined.
9/10