Well done MTV...but are we ready for gender neutral awards?

On April 6, the nominations for the 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards were announced with one glaring difference from other years and other award shows...the acting categories had gone gender neutral.

Both the Best Actor in a Movie and Best Actor in a Show categories this year contain both male and female nominees, a move that has not been seen before in major award shows (with the exception of the Grammys and Britain's National Television Awards). A split right down the middle occurred with the Film nominations with three male and three female actors in contention, while four females were nominated in the Television show category and two males. Although the MTV Awards do not carry the same prestige as other award shows (Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, etc.), it is a move that certainly shows a move forward in gender equality in Hollywood and the entertainment business.

While this move for the MTV Movie & TV Awards is a very positive one, it makes one ponder whether the idea could catch on and other award shows follow suit. It would definitely be a strong stand for women and one many would embrace and celebrate. MTV can be commended for making such a strong statement and as the awards are voted for by the public, it would not be a surprise to see Emma Watson, Hailee Steinfeld or Taraji P. Henson voted for as the winner for this reason.

However, could this move by MTV encourage other award shows to become gender neutral?

The answer isn't no...it is not yet.

This has nothing to do with the quality of male and female actors in the business. Talent wise both genders are without a doubt on par with one another. The problem lies with lack of substantial roles available to women in Hollywood, especially in film. This is not a new argument. Mary Pickford said in 1935 "It’s becoming a woman’s world, year by year, almost day by day". This still rings true, but more than 80 years later we are still fighting for gender equality in Hollywood in regards to the number of strong female roles among other issues. We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go.

Believing that there should or should not be gender neutral acting categories when awards season rolls around has nothing to do with sexism or feminism, it has to do with fairness. While the quantity of these strong female roles is significantly less than that of males, it would make it a great deal harder for females to compete and win an Oscar or any other award with gender neutral categories.

For example, let's look at this years Oscars in the four acting categories. All four categories had wonderful performances by incredible actors, but the two male categories were seemingly more competitive than the female categories. Both the female categories had clear frontrunners for the majority of the awards season with the other eight nominees giving very good performances, but not strong enough to be competition. On the other hand, the male categories (especially Best Performance by an Actor in A Leading Role) went down to the line on the night as a result of the several incredible performances in strong and intense roles.

So this would have meant that this year Casey Affleck would have been directly competing with Emma Stone and Mahershala Ali with Viola Davis. These would have no doubt been intriguing and unpredictable competitions, but one would fear that the actual nomination fields would have consisted more of males than of females.

The good news is that things are changing in Hollywood as we speak....unfortunately just not as quickly as we would like. There may well be a chance in the future to combine the male and female acting categories at prestigious award shows, but that day is not today. If it was to happen, it would most definitely shorten the length of award shows, which would make many people happy. The other argument here is that many creatives prefer not to label themselves as male or female so eliminating gender specific categories is more politically and socially acceptable.

Without a doubt, it is a great move by MTV to make their awards gender neutral and they deserve praise for initiating a giant step towards gender equality in the film world. It may not be time for the bigger and more prestigious industry awards to do the same, but that day is coming.

Fences (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 139 minutes
Director: Denzel Washington
Writer: August Wilson (based on his play "Fences" and screenplay written by)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, Saniyya Sidney

Denzel Washington once again steps behind the camera to direct himself in Fences, a film based on the play both he and co-star Viola Davis are no stranger to. And unfortunately, this is the greatest problem with the film.

Despite knockout performances by both Washington and Davis, Fences commits the ultimate stage to screen crime...it is obvious. The most successful stage to screen adaptations make people oblivious to the fact that it is an adaptation. In hindsight, Washington would have seemed the obvious choice to direct and August Wilson the perfect choice to write the screenplay, as he also wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning play. Yet, these are perhaps the two biggest downfalls of the film.

Those who did not see Fences on Broadway (which will be the majority of cinema goers) can only imagine how spectacular it would have been to have seen on stage. The best way to sum up the film is in a quote by the film's character, Bono (played by Stephen Henderson):

"Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in. "

Washington's Troy Maxson is an ex-baseball player who despite his sunny outlook on life, is tormented by his past misfortunes. His wife of 18 years, Rose (Viola Davis) has been his tower of strength, but his son, Cory (Jovan Adepo) has felt his wrath more than his love. The family has always kept a strong and happy united front, until Troy brings home an issue from outside their walls and the cracks star to show inside.

Despite the fact that Fences has one major problem as a whole, it does have incredible redeeming features. It is a well-made film, but would have worked better from an entertainment perspective if it didn't look like a play trying to be a film. It is a challenge for a writer to adapt a play for screen and make it seem as though the story was originally made just for this medium. Many films are able to do this well ( eg. The Philadelphia Story, Chicago, Les Miserables, etc.), but Fences cannot hide this fact even though you can tell Wilson's screenplay has tried to. Both director, Washington and Wilson are far too attached to and know too well what works from their previous work on Broadway with Fences. The result is that the film is slow, overlong and lags under the weight of the heavy chunks of dialogue, even though these pieces are delivered brilliantly and are wonderfully written.

While the film doesn't have a wide variety of filming locations due to the nature of the story, it's production design by David Gropman is superb. Fences is wonderfully nostalgic with it's recreation of 1950's Pittsburgh. The time period is replicated beautifully in it's set design of the Maxsons street and house, and with Sharen Davis' costume design.

However, it is the performances by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis that are the champions of the film. Washington directs himself wonderfully, but one can only imagine that it would not be such a hard task as he has played the role many a time before. His Troy is a particularly interesting character, as he continually battles with his inner demons who are tormenting him about his past and missed opportunities. He is particularly likable at the beginning of the film and becomes harder to like as the film progresses showing wonderful character depth and development.

Washington is certainly powerful and undoubtedly perfect in his role, but it is Viola Davis as Rose who is the greatest thing about the film. Even though Washington is a force to be reckoned with, Davis steals the spotlight away from him in every scene she is in. She is such a strong female character who struggles with, but does not give up on her job to keep her family together. With the Academy Awards only two weeks away, Davis is an absolute certainty to win the Best Supporting Female Actor Oscar for this role. There is one scene in Fences where if this had been the only scene that Davis had appeared in throughout the film, it would still win her the Oscar.

Fences is a fine looking film, but is ultimately saved from itself by it's powerful and memorable performances by it's cast.

7/10

Suicide Squad (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 122 minutes
Director/ Writer: David Ayer
Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Joel Kinnaman

Suicide Squad is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed by Warner Bros in the United States and Roadshow Films in Australia.

If Suicide Squad was a school student, it's report card would read "Tried really hard". This is how I want to approach the film. David Ayer's contribution to the DC universe is deeply flawed and not the follow up to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that it should have been, but with a little knowledge about the background of the film and what happened prior to it's release, one can see what went wrong.

The premise for Suicide Squad is so exciting, especially for those who are fans of the DC comics. Villains are called upon to do good because the way US intelligence officer, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) see's it, no one cares if the bad guys get killed. She recruits deadly hitman Deadshot (Will Smith), crazy and loopy villainess Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), grief-stricken Diablo (Jay Hernandez, Occa assassin Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Killer Croc ( Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje). Waller and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman)lead them to battle a supernatural force from ancient times, the Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) who seems undeafeatable in her quest to take over the modern world. They must all work together to achieve the unthinkable, but nobody counted on Harley Quinn's boyfriend, the Joker (Jared Leto) interrupting the party to take his girl home.

Back in April, the news of Suicide Squad reshoots sent rumours flying that the cast and crew were back on set in an attempt to make the film more humorous and light-hearted. Director Ayer responded to this by tweeting:

David Ayer ‏@DavidAyerMovies Apr 11

#SuicideSquad “reshoots for humor” is silly. When a studio loves your movie and asks what else you want, go for it!

And his intentions were reinforced with this tweet from August 6 after his film was released with incredible ticket sales:

David Ayer ‏@DavidAyerMovies Aug 6

Thank you thank you thank you! To the folks making @SuicideSquadWB a success this weekend. It's just a fun Summer movie with a good heart.

Despite it's huge box-office figures during it's opening week, the film has been torn apart by critics. Much of the criticism is warranted, but for almost every part of the film that is criticised there is a reason why that decision was made by the makers. The finished product has come to prove that these creative decisions may not have been the right decisions as far as the critics and members of the public are concerned, but Ayer and his cast and crew evidently tried very hard to make it work and remained true to this vision.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Suicide Squad is that it is not the atmospheric, dark tale of these menacing villains that people were expecting and craving. DC films do traditionally have a dark, dramatic edge to them, especially those that exist in the world of Batman. While their fierce rival, Marvel is known for superhero films that are somewhat lighter and have a humorous edge that is expected and embraced.

David Ayer's tweets above indicate that what he was attempting was to grab a piece of what makes a Marvel film work and use it in his film. Suicide Squad makes the bad guys the good guys and seeks to humanize the villains in order to make them more relatable and likable, especially Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Diablo. It's almost an obvious storyline and concept for the film and it is here that the DC universe darkness is taken away and is replaced with empathy. With this switch, the film is automatically lightened and with that comes the reassuring freedom that it is okay to laugh and have fun with the bad guys.

Yet, it does feel as though this has been taken too far. Suicide Squad is trying so hard to make the audience have fun and you can even see how hard it is trying. If Ayer hadn't denied the rumours that reshoots had taken place to make it funnier, you could have believed them after having watched the film. However, with this information that Warner Bros gave the go-ahead for more of what Ayer wanted in the film, this is also obvious that what was wanted was as much of a heightened sense of fun for the audience as possible.

It cannot be denied even by the harshest critic that Suicide Squad does have it's moments where it is indeed fun, but in many instances they become too over the top and the amusement turns instead into a series of eye-rolls. Many of the attempts at humour are so obvious that they fall flat and some characters so stereotypical and exaggerated that they are cringe-worthy (especially Captain Boomerang, who is played by Australian Jai Courtney, but feels like a caricature of the stereotypical Australian). The soundtrack for Suicide Squad is extremely cluttered with a series of pop-rock anthems playing one after the other creating a sensory overload and annoyance with this bombardment. Such musical hits in a film should make the audience want to tap their feet and smile, not rolls their eyes and think "Not another one".

Although the screenplay does have a clear idea of where it is going and what it is saying, it is cliché and once again, far too obvious. How do you create a great villain when the whole film is about villains? Cara Delevingne does as well a job as she could with her character of Judy Moone who morphs into the Enchantress. While she is actually quite likable as Moone, Enchantress is not only a dull villain for the film, but is also an extremely overused type of enemy and is the female version of one in another superhero film from earlier this year, X-Men: Apocalypse. With such a cliché villain comes a disappointing cliché storyline and ending.

The best part about the film is undoubtedly Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and this in itself is a reason to celebrate. This is Harley Quinn's first cinematic live-action venture and the film is undoubtedly hers. Robbie herself shines as she plays a role with a huge amount of character and all attention is on her in every scene she is in. Out of all the members of the squad, she has the most screen time and the most extensively covered backstory. This can be assumed as one of the things that Ayer decided the film needed to have more of after test-runs. Harley Quinn is the source of the large majority of laughs and really almost everything that comes out of her mouth is meant to be amusing. Luckily, she is such a great character that this isn't too much of a problem, but it is obvious that she appealed greatly to test audiences as she will larger audiences.

Along with Harley Quinn comes the Jared Leto portrayed Joker. The unfortunate thing for Leto and anybody who was ever going to sign on the play The Joker was that nothing could ever stop comparisons to Heath Ledger. Leto does what he can with the role and he does well under the circumstances. His character has the menace of Ledger's Joker, but the colour of Jack Nicholson's, which is the way he has been directed and it is just a shame that the role comes with embedded comparisons so that Leto cannot be praised in his own right.

Leto's case is not helped by the amount of editing his character has. Even before Leto confirmed that a great deal of the Joker's scenes did not appear in the final cut of the film, it is obvious. The Joker is one of the most popular villains in the DC universe and his role is edited so much that it feels as though he has only been included as he is Harley Quinn's boyfriend. According to Leto, there was enough footage shot of the Joker for he to have his own film and this is more than believable as so much is left unspoken of. Although there are no guarantees that the film would have been better with more Joker in it, it does suffer from it's obvious editing as no one should be able to acknowledge editing in the final product and this contributes to it's uneven execution and sloppy finish.

Suicide Squad tries and tries hard to be a spectacular film event. Unfortunately, the film which David Ayer wants it to be is not the film that audiences wanted it to be. Suicide Squad will owe it's staying power to the force that is Harley Quinn and falter because of it's over-exaggeration, sloppy creative choices and unwarranted editing,

4/10

What to Expect From The 87th Academy Awards

 

What can we expect from the 87th Academy Awards this coming Sunday?

Although first time host Neil Patrick Harris has this week been confessing to media outlets that he is unprepared and full of nerves, there is no doubt that he will deliver plenty of laughs and entertainment on the night. Harris, who has hosted the Tony Awards four times and the Emmys twice, is no stranger to this type of gig and as a triple threat with his acting, dancing and vocal talents he is sure to delight and have plenty of surprises up his sleeve.

If Harris does feel the nerves, he has plenty of company that will be joining him on stage to share the duties. Among the presenters of this years awards will be Terence Howard, Felicity Jones, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Nicole Kidman, Ansel Elgort, Liam Neeson, Jessica Chastain, Kevin Hart, Shirley Maclaine, Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong'o, Jared Leto, Marion Cotillard, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston and more.

One thing we will be expecting is a song and dance number early in the piece by Harris. The question remains, will this be an individual, joint or group effort? Past Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson has been named as a performer, as has Anna Kendrick, Jack Black and Lady Gaga. The five songs nominated for Best Original Song will also be performed live on the night by John Legend and Common, Maroon 5, Tim McGraw and Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island.

The red carpet fashion is always a talking point, but promises to be incredible this year with some of the most fashionable actresses gracing the carpet. The ones to watch as they arrive are Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones and Emma Stone, and although Keira Knightey's style at the Golden Globes has been scrutinized, she has since been forgiven and is sure to dazzle on Sunday night.

Now for the actual Oscars predictions. What to expect in regards to the best performance Oscars are no surprises. Attempting to predict the recipients of the acting awards this year is particularly easy as all four of the predicted have scooped up every award on the way that would point to a golden man victory. However, it is the Academy Awards for Best Film and Best Director which are the talking point this year and the awards which people are most interested in due to the unpredictability involved.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

 

Our prediction- Boyhood

It seems to be a race to the finish for Best Picture with the frontrunners being Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman and Richard Linklater's Boyhood. Things have been made interesting with Boyhood winning the highest award at the Golden Globes and Birdman winning big at the Screen Actors and Directors Guild Awards. However, Boyhood is still the frontrunner in our eyes for the fact that it has a greater universal appeal. It is true that the members of the academy are all involved in show business and many may relate to Birdman greatly, but the wonderful thing about Boyhood was that everybody could relate to growing up as seen through the eyes of a child. The film which is revolutionary in it's style and mode of storytelling is a loving tribute to the life itself.

Our Runner Up- Birdman

 

 

Best Director

Richard Linklater- Boyhood

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu- Birdman

Bennett Miller- Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson- The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum- The Imitation Game

 

 

Our prediction-Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu- Birdman

The Best Director battle reads much the same as that of Best Picture as it is between Richard Linklater for Boyhood and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman. Yet this time we can see Inarritu taking the Oscar for his direction. Again it is very close as Linklater won at the Golden Globes and Inarritu won at the Directors Guilds, but considering it was him who won at the Guilds and many of the same people will be voting in this category at the Oscars a victory for him seems likely. However, Linklater really is not very far behind. This is certainly going to be an interesting moment of the night.

Our Runner Up- Richard Linklater for Boyhood

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Steve Carell- Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper - American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch- The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton- Birdman

Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything

 

 

Our prediction- Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything

Eddie Redmayne has won every major award leading up to this which is as good an indication as any that he will be the winner of this most coveted acting award, but one has only to watch the five performances nominated to realise that he is miles ahead of his competition. This is no light statement, as this category is perhaps the strongest of all the acting fields for the night. All five performances are terrific and had Michael Keaton or Benedict Cumberbatch been nominated in another year, either of them could well have been certainties. However, Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking is one of the best in years and wonderful on so many levels that he is about to turn his first Oscar nomination into his first Oscar win.

Our Runner Up- Michael Keaton- Birdman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard- Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones- The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore- Still Alice
Rosamund Pike- Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon- Wild

 



Our Prediction- Julianne Moore for Still Alice
With her fifth Oscar nomination, it seems as though Julianne Moore will finally make the conversion from nominee to winner. Nobody else's name has even been mentioned as a true contender in this category and Moore has won every award leading up to the Oscars so there is really no doubt that this is her year. Moore's performance spoke to those touched by a disease that is often ignored in popular culture and is receiving a hero's reception as a result of her superb performance.
Our Runner Up- Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall- The Judge
Ethan Hawke- Boyhood
Edward Norton- Birdman
Mark Ruffalo- Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons- Whiplash

Our Prediction-J.K. Simmons for Whiplash
Much like the rest of the categories, there has only been one name uttered for Best Supporting Actor. J.K. Simmons is in a field with some fine performances, but his performance as the formidable music teacher, Fletcher in Whiplash had everyone talking. His character was the man that haunts you in your nightmares because of his unpredictability and damaging style of motivation. Simmons has, like our other predicted winners, won all the awards leading up to the Oscars and it will be a huge surprise to hear someone else's name besides his called out on Sunday night.
Our Runner Up- Edward Norton for Birdman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette- Boyhood
Laura Dern- Wild
Keira Knightley- The Imitation Game
Emma Stone- Birdman
Meryl Streep- Into The Woods

Our Prediction- Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Patricia Arquette has become the crowning glory performance-wise of Richard Linklater's Boyhood. Arquette played Olivia, the woman so many mothers could relate to and so many children could see their mothers in. It was a fine performance and that along with the twelve year commitment factor look to have secured her her first Oscar.
Our Runner Up- Emma Stone for Birdman

An interesting point is that if our predictions are correct, we will have a pool of first time winners and more than half of the winners will be winning with their first nomination.

Join us in the days following the Oscars for our recap of Oscars week in Los Angeles and of the night itself and it's winners!

Happy Oscars everyone!

Love, Marilyn (2012)

Year: 2012
Running Time: 107 minutes
Director: Liz Garbus
Writers: Liz Garbus (written by). Truman Capote, Elia Kazan and Natasha Lytess (excerpts from memoirs), Marilyn Monroe and Ralph Greenson (personal papers), Norman Mailer and Gloria Steinem (excerpts from book), Norman Rosten (excerpts from poem), Billy Wilder (excerpts from letters)
Cast: Marilyn Monroe (archive footage), F. Murray Abraham, Elizabeth Banks, Adrien Brody, Ellen Burstyn, Glenn Close, Hope Davis, Viola Davis, Jennifer Ehle, Ben Foster, Jack Huston, Stephen Lang, Lindsay Lohan, Janet McTeer, Jeremy Piven, Oliver Platt, David Strathairn, Lili Taylor, Uma Thurman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Now available on DVD through Madman Entertainment. Available to buy from Amazon

Even today, 51 years after her untimely death, Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most popular movie stars in the world. Her name conjures up images of old Hollywood glamour and a brand of sexuality that she brought not only to the screen, but to the forefront of society. Many girls and women still name her as one of their idols as they look up to her for her beauty and talent. We all know who Marilyn Monroe was, but who was Norma Jeane Baker?

Recently two boxes of personal letters and writings of Marilyn Monroe's were discovered in storage which have been able to give us a look deep into the mind of the classic actress. Love, Marilyn is an in depth documentary on the life and inner torment that plagued Marilyn/Norma Jeane. Director and writer, Liz Garbus has employed an unique approach to exploring in great depth who this woman really was, as several well known actors recite Marilyn's own words and the words of other notable Marilyn Monroe biographers and those who knew the woman herself. Accompanied by incredible archive footage of Marilyn before and during her career, as well as interview with people who had come into contact with her including her Gentlemen Prefer Blondes co-star Jane Russell and ex-husband playwright Arthur Miller.

Love, Marilyn is incredibly touching, especially to those who are fans of her or who have studied her career and her persona. With the discovery of her personal writings and the way which they are incorporated into the film, it is as though we can really hear Marilyn talking to us. Marilyn was an extremely complex and interesting person and her words are haunting. It is really devastating how when her words are being spoken, we are seeing the actual documents which the words are being spoken from on the screen. Although when spoken by these actresses, you do forget for a moment that they are Marilyn's words because you are not hearing the husky voice which Marilyn was so popular for, but when you actually seen her handwriting you are instantly reminded of this fact. The film is incredibly sympathetic towards her and does the best job of any documentary previously released of getting to the core of who the woman underneath the Marilyn Monroe persona was.

The film is really like watching a biography play out on screen. This is of course what a documentary is, but Liz Garbus's film is like the perfect Marilyn Monroe book. There is insight from the ones who knew her and also from historians who have studied her life in great detail. Yet it is better than a biography as you are able to really see the visuals of her writings, film clips and amazing archive footage of Marilyn's early modelling days and interviews. Love, Marilyn doesn't flow from the beginning to end in chronological order, but visits her troubled childhood when discussing how Lee Strasberg started to work with her. This does work because it is able to continue the audiences empathy with Marilyn throughout the film at appropriate intervals.

Although as off putting it can be to see and hear other actors speak as Marilyn and not have any of the same mannerisms, the actors who are speaking as her do a good job, particularly Marisa Tomei, Jennifer Ehle and Uma Thurman. The male actors also do wonderful jobs. The stand outs for the men are Jeremy Piven speaking as Elia Kazan, Ben Foster as biographer Norman Mailer and Oliver Platt as Billy Wilder.

Personally, Love, Marilyn brought up a lot of feelings about Marilyn Monroe which I have felt over the years. After seeing several of her films, I decided to read Barbara Leaming's biography "Marilyn Monroe" to find out more about this character. What hit me upon finishing this book was how incredible it was that Marilyn really had  no ego and was plagued by depression and self esteem issues her whole life. I understand why she did have so many psychological problems as having a loveless childhood will do that to anybody, and none of that was ever her fault. Her self underneath the persona of Marilyn Monroe was shaped by the tragedies in her life which always coincided with feelings of abandonment, lack of love and that constant feeling of not being good enough. Marilyn Monroe was always a persona, she was never really that person underneath all the make up and beautiful clothes. She was little Norma Jeane who just wanted to be loved, taken care of and wanted desperately for someone to take her seriously.

Marilyn once said "Men go to bed with Marilyn Monroe and wake up with Norma Jeane". This quote always makes me feel numb. This poor woman wanted so desperately to be loved, but not for the character that made her a star. However, as her third husband, Arthur Miller found, she was often emotionally unstable as a result of this feeling of being unloved. She never felt that she was good enough or that she was ever taken seriously.

This floors me. Again I can understand why she felt this way as she was never really acknowledged for her acting, although towards the end of her career she absolutely showed what she was capable of in films like Bus Stop, The Prince and The Showgirl, Some Like It Hot and The Misfits. How could this be? This movie star who will always be remembered and who is still one of the icons of Hollywood, was afraid that people saw her as a joke and would never remember her? It's a devastating thought. Marilyn will be remembered forever. I wonder if things would have been different for her if she somehow knew that half a century later she would still be talked about her image seen by millions, even if they haven't seen her films. It's a tragedy how short her life was cut. As it is said in Love, Marilyn, the days before her death were filled with positives and I would love to think that this was just the start of amazing things for her.

Marilyn Monroe is such a tragic figure. To many she is a icon of beauty and glamour, to me she represents sadness and tragedy that plagues many of us. I love learning about her and she is an extraordinary character to study, but I feel an overwhelming sense of sympathy for her and I am so sorry she didn't know or live to find out how wonderful she really was. Love, Marilyn brought up these feelings again for me, and there is no doubt that it will have the same effect on others.

8.5/10

Prisoners (2013)

Year: 2013
Running Time: 153 minutes
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: Aaron Guzikowski
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard

Prisoners will open in Australia on the 17th October 2013 and is distributed by Roadshow Films. Now showing in the UK and USA.

What would you do if the thing you love more than life itself went missing without a trace?

While Prisoners is a story about the search for two young girls who have gone missing in extremely suspicious circumstances, it delves deep into the psychological states of those who are most affected by the situation. As well as being suspenseful, confronting, intriguing and giving way to some wonderful performances, Prisoners leaves you pondering who you would be in this film and how you would react if you were faced with the same situation.

On Thanksgiving, two little girls go missing and the only clue the police have is the suspicious RV which the two girls were playing on during the day. When Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) tracks down the suspected RV, it's driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano) is ruled out as a suspect due to his mental capacities. However, one of the girls fathers, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) does not believe for a moment that Jones does not have a role in his daughter's disappearance and takes matters into his own hands.

Prisoners is a wonderful piece of work. The screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski is near flawless, as it is never for one moment dull and it is a very clever thriller. The connections made throughout the film and the twists and turns are all well done. It is great to see a thriller which is not always predictable and has several layers to reveal. However, the subject matter and violent images in the film may be a little too much for some people to completely enjoy the film. It can be quite confronting and disturbing in its delivery, particularly in the scenes with Keller and Alex and towards the end of the film.

As Prisoners deals with child abduction, this will not be an easy watch for many parents. It is impossible to watch this as a parent and not be moved as you start to see yourself as one of the four parents who are dealing with the disappearance of their daughter. Whilst you feel you are forced into seeing the wrong that Hugh Jackman's Keller Dover is doing, you are also faced with the question of what would you do if you were in his position. What would you do if you felt that the police were not doing their job and that they do not believe what you have found out? Prisoners does well in encouraging you to contemplate these questions. Also, putting aside the information which Keller Dover is aware of, how would you handle the situation if it was you in the parents place? The four parents of the two girls all demonstrate different behaviours in their grief. While Keller is being proactive and trying to find his daughter himself, his wife, Grace (played by Maria Bello) is consumed by her grief. She cannot perform daily tasks as all she can do is just sleep and wait for her daughter to come home. The other mother and father pair, played by Terrence Howard and Viola Davis' are not as extreme in their emotions (that we see). Franklin Birch (Howard) is in a state of confusion as to the situation and although he is clearly distressed, he is at a lost as to what he should do. His wife, Nancy (Davis), seems like the strongest of the parents. She does show her vulnerability at times, but believes in doing the right thing. All four of these characters are dealing with something so tragic in a different way to each other. It is a great thing to be able to delve so much into character and get people to try and put themselves in their shoes whilst maintaining the suspense and intrigue of the story.

The cinematography works wonders for the film. The decision for the majority of the film to take place during the pouring rain adds to the eerie and sinister feel of the film. The photography in the rain is not particularly polished, but this works as it makes you feel as though you are really there with the characters.

All performances in Prisoners need to be as perfect as they can be in order for the film to really have an emotional impact on the audience. With perfect casting, this has all been made possible. Hugh Jackman gives a performance unlike any other he has ever done. He is completely terrifying in his madness, but is also heartbreaking as the father who has lost the apple of his eye. His first scene with Gyllenhaal is incredible in the way he portrays the man who is trying his hardest to fight back tears and stay strong for his wife while trying to get across the importance of his words to the detective.

Maria Bello is also heartbreaking in portraying a broken woman. She falls apart bit by bit throughout the film and is completely convincing as the grieving mother. Jake Gyllenhaal is also fantastic. His Detective Loki doesn't say much about his private life, but from what he does say and do, you can see how much this case is effecting him and there is something deep and dark that has happened to him in his past. Terrence Howard and Viola Davis also do well in their roles, as do Melissa Leo and Paul Dano.

Prisoners is one of the best thrillers which deal with family to be released in years. It's psychological edge makes it disturbing yet a wonderful piece of cinema.

8.5/10


You may have also seen Hugh Jackman in....
The Wolverine as Logan/Wolverine
Les Miserables as Jean Valjean

You may have also seen Jake Gyllenhaal in.....
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as Dastan
Source Code as Colter Stevens

You may have also seen Viola Davis in.....
The Help as Aibileen

You may have also seen Melissa Leo in....
The Fighter as Alice Ward

The Help review- Is it wrong for a serious matter to be beautified?

Year: 2011

Director: Tate Taylor

Cast: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard

In My Own Words

                Ron Howard has got one talented daughter.

                Don’t get me wrong, I think all the actors in The Help are very talented women and I have a tremendous respect for each one of them, but Bryce Dallas Howard is one actor I have kept my eye on for the past few years.

                I know M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village has a lot of haters, but I didn’t mind it. It was one of those films people went into expecting a horror film with a lot of blood and guts, monsters and ghosts. So if you were expecting that and weren’t open to anything else, then yes, you would be disappointed. I liked it because it was actually a really good period piece film and it had a difference to it. And Ms Howard’s breakout performance as the blind, wise girl was extremely memorable.

                Since then, I have been waiting for another performance like that from her. Manderlay and As You Like It weren’t bad, as wasn’t The Loss of A Diamond Teardrop. However, I had been waiting for her to take on meatier role to show her true talents. In The Help, she does a great job at the sweet but evil Hilly Holbrook and I was so pleased to see her in this role. I still believe she has more in her than what we have seen though. Get her in the right role and she is one of the future Academy Award winners. How’s that for a big prediction?

                These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

                If you want to see how perfect character development in films should be done, it is right here in The Help.

                The characters in The Help are so well constructed that you as the viewer truly feel as though you have made true friends and enemies in the space of 146 minutes. The acting is brilliant, as is the background of the south in the early 1960’s. The only drawback is that it can be a little bit too pretty at times for a film which has very serious undertones. It isn’t all doom and gloom though.

                Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone) is an aspiring writer in 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi, a time when women weren’t supposed to want a career, just a husband. After approaching, the maid of one her friends, Aibileen (Viola Davis) for help with her column, she realises how much Jackson’s help has to tell. Skeeter undertakes the ambitious and dangerous task of writing a book from the point of the Help about the white families they work for. The further Skeeter explores, the more she sympathizes with the Help and realizes the evil that is all around her in Jackson.

                Kathryn Stockett’s novel is brought to life in brilliant fashion. The time period of the 1960’s in the south is very well represented. It is startling revelation to many that this time of unease and cruelty was not so long ago. There are some startling and very emotional moments throughout The Help, but also some comedic and triumphant moments. The script provides some memorable moments as well, particularly when the Help are telling their stories.

                Visually, the film is rather gorgeous. The town of Jackson is picturesque and the town’s milk bars make you long for that part of the 60’s with the music of the times blaring while you drank your milkshake. The classic Cadillacs are a novelty and the costumes for the women are stunning.

The only problem is that these things can make the film a little too pretty. The poster for The Help is bright yellow, which is a funny colour the make a poster of a film where the main subject is the cruelty towards the coloured Help, as yellow normally symbolises happiness. The lives of the white women in Jackson come across as enviable as visually everything looks so perfect and fun and pretty for the female audience. It turns The Help into a chick film based purely on the visuals. It does seem strange for Tate Taylor to make a film with content like this so pretty, but it does open it up to a larger audience of females of all ages by doing so. However, making the film so “pretty” does take away the seriousness of the full picture.

                The characters are wonderful. The best thing is you know exactly who all the characters are and where they have come from. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer give tremendous performances and they are so real. You know the background of each of the characters and you feel connected to the two of them and feel everything they go through.

                Emma Stone does well in a role that is unlike her comedic roots. She has one very touching moment when she finds out the truth about her old maid. Bryce Dallas Howard is great as the sweet and sour Hilly Holbrook. Her character is the type of person every fears, the one people feel they have to be friends with because otherwise they will tear you to shreds. Both her and Stone are completely natural in their roles.

                Jessica Chastain, who plays Celia Foote, does well at times, but her character does come across as a bit too silly and plays the dumb blonde stereotype a bit too over the top. The small roles in which the men of the film have portray the white men of Jackson to be just as much dumb blondes as what Chastain’s character is.

                Enjoyable and visually fun, but is it wrong for something of such a serious matter to be visually fun?

7/10

               

               

Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love
Year: 2010
Director: Ryan Murphy
Cast: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, James Franco

In My Own Words
The worst thing about living in Australia is that you hear the whispers come from overseas about films which have yet to be released here. So when I started to hear that “Eat Pray Love” was getting bad reviews, it wasn’t a massive surprise to me. I read “Eat Pray Love” in the middle of last year and I loved it. I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s tale of self discovery while travelling over the world. Some people severely dislike the book or find it really hard to get into. I think I loved it so much because I went through a stage of selfishness where I jet-setted to the other side of the world to do something for myself after giving too much of myself to someone else. However, my journey took me to LA, not to Italy, India and Indonesia. LA was the right place for me to go and find myself though so I’m not complaining! Being big on travel as well, I loved hearing about the three countries that Gilbert visited. Italy, India and Indonesia are three countries I am dying to go to, even though I have been to Bali before. Again, films act as a great tourist tool. I stand by this fact because people love going places and identifying with it because of a movie. And there is no better way to get excited about going somewhere than to watch movies about it.

Anyway, before I went into “Eat Pray Love”, I knew what to expect of it and why it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. “Eat Pray Love” is a selfish memoir. It is all “me, me, me” for Gilbert. It doesn’t bother me, but I could see how it would other people. And memoirs are great storytelling for books, but they are not always well interpreted on the big screen. I knew “Eat Pray Love” would be one of those memoirs that wouldn’t be. There is no real beginning, middle or end and no major conflict where the story takes a turning point. Gilbert’s book is really a collection of thoughts, which can only be thought, not seen. It may seem like a great idea for a film, but it should have just been left as is. It’s a good book, let’s not destroy it.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert could well be known as the most successful girls book to be released in the past 10 years, the movie is very far from the best chick flick to be released in the past 10 years. It is purely a case of the book should have been left alone and not meddled. There are some good points about the movie, but it isn’t a story. The book isn’t even a story, it is a collection of Gilbert’s travels and thoughts about her life and her past few years. There is no suspense in the book at all as it is not that type of story. Therefore, putting it on the big screen was never going to work and was always going to leave a sour taste in audiences and critics mouths who were going to see it. Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) has decided for the first time in her life to devote her life to herself rather than her ex husband or current boyfriend. She has decided to go on a journey of self-discovery by spending 4 months in Italy, 4 months in India and 4 months in Indonesia. Along the way she meets lots of people who make a difference in her life and make her see the world differently.

The production of “Eat Pray Love” has good intentions behind it. It is bringing Gilbert’s book to the big screen in order to send out a message to women out there, who may not read the book that sometimes you do need to be selfish and let yourself go in order to be at peace with yourself. It is a good message to be sending out, but it gets entangled in this film that falls short of the bar which its enormous amount of promotion has set. The movie just comes across as an enormous amount of selfishness set up against some amazing landscapes. The best thing about the film is definitely the presentation of Italy, India and Bali. These three countries are sure to attract many tourists because of the beautiful way in which this film was shot. The camera techniques chosen are amazing, and Julia Roberts is a wallflower compared to the scenery. For the life changing experiences that Gilbert goes through, there isn’t as much emotion as what you would expect. There is no feeling to the beginning or any part through it. It’s all nice is the only word to describe it. The majority of the film is just bland. It is also not a short film as there is so much to cover. Two and a half hours of this film may be way too long for some people.

Julia Roberts is not bad in this film. She does give her role as Gilbert everything she’s got and performs to the best of her ability role the role she played. It is certainly no “Erin Brokovich”, but she does well in a bland film. Richard Jenkins also does well in his role as Richard from Texas. His character perhaps has the most amount of character out of any in the film. On a side note, it is interesting that Tuva Novotny, who is a Swedish born actress, can manage to play Swedish girl, Sofi and speak with an American accent. Something has gone wrong there.

It is sad to see a film which is hyped up so much fall short of everyone’s expectations. What is even more depressing is that the book shouldn’t have been made into a movie at all and should not have been subject to the back lashing it has received just by existing. It should have been left as a type of self-help book for girls and the peace would not have been disturbed. On the other hand, it will always be a good movie to watch if anyone is planning on eating gelato in Italy, meditating in India or just chilling out in Bali.
5/10

Knight And Day

Knight And Day
Year: 2010
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Paul Dano

In My Own Words
Some actors can just create box office magic out of anything they touch. I’ve decided to coin the term “box office magic” as there was a term in the Golden Hollywood days of “box office poison”. Katharine Hepburn was at one point in time, as were many other old time stars. Though some stars just make everything they touch turn to gold, such as, in this case, Tom Cruise. The man could be in anything and it would generate millions just from people seeing him on the posters and reacting by going and purchasing a ticket to the film. These actors who generate box office magic don’t have to be in more than one movie a year or two years, but when they do, they don’t need to work for more than those few months that they are filming and promoting because of the money the studio pays them for being box office magic. Other actors in this category besides Mr Cruise are John Travolta, Brad Pitt and his squeeze, Angelina Jolie. Being box office magic doesn’t mean that your most recent movie is a particularly good one, but nevertheless it will still bring in the millions just with their billing. So needless to say “Knight And Day” was extremely highly anticipated, has generated $161 million worldwide so far and it’s not that great a movie. Box office magic! Spread the word!

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“Knight And Day” is Tom Cruise’s long-awaited return to the action film. If you are going to see this film purely to see Cruise complete amazing stunts and kill all the bad guys, then you will love this movie. If you are expecting anything else, chances are you will be disappointed. The first thing that strikes you about “Knight And Day” is that it seems extremely dated. The film would have been a hit if it was released at the most the early nineties, but now almost every aspect of it seems old and dated. June (Cameron Diaz) boards a plane to Boston with a handsome stranger, Roy Miller (Cruise), whom she is immediately attracted to. Little does she know, she has now become involved in a dangerous game of cat and mouse between Roy and his ex-partner, Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard). Once Roy lands the plane by himself, June tries to go on living her life, but she is about to be taken on the adventure of her lifetime by this fugitive that she has just met.

For a mindless action film, “Knight And Day” isn’t too bad, but from a critical point of view, it is a miserable failure. The majority of the special effects and even the scene backdrops look terribly fake to the point that they can just look ridiculous. The film seems completely amateurish compared to some of the other action films that have come out in recent days. As said before, the story, musical score and the special effects resemble that of a 1980’s/1990’s action film. Harsh, but true. There is nothing worst then watching an action movie and the only thing you can think of is how fake the crashes look and how you can tell that they really aren’t underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. A film is supposed to suck you in and make you believe that what you are seeing on the big screen is the real thing. However, “Knight And Day” is an extremely unrealistic film. The plot is very unrealistic, not that this matters in an action film like this the majority of the time. However, the unrealistic nature of the script is also transformed to being that of pure fun on the screen. Many viewers will enjoy the continuously changing location of the film and seeing the beautiful cities featured, while others will just scoff at the silly antics and how far from the truth everything is. On the other hand, it really is quite comical in parts and there are quite a few giggles to be had throughout the film.

However, Cruise is worth going to see this movie for. He is still likable and is definitely the hero of the story, in both the story and in the mind of the movie viewer. As he is the reason for people going to see this film, he will be the reason many people will also enjoy it. The role he plays isn’t very emotionally challenging, but he still plays the part well. Cameron Diaz is just fine. There is nothing amazing about her performance and, again, it isn’t a very hard role. However, she can be very funny at times. Peter Sarsgaard and Viola Davis are both good in their roles. They bring to the table everything they can in the roles they have been given.

“Knight And Day” will be a delight for Tom Cruise fans as they will enjoy seeing him in his return to action. However, it will be one of the more forgettable films of the year and is really just a load of silliness.
4.5/10