Gems from the Interwebs

From the hard streets of 1970s Glasgow to the magical forest of the land of far, far away… gotta love how cinema can take you to so many different places!

Tangled

• Directors: Nathan Greno, Bryan Howard
• Cast (Voice): Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi (Chuck!!), Donna Murphy
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Rating: U

Before we start, let me just enthuse about how much I love Disney. I love Disney. The cheesy songs, the complete escapism from anything remotely real… So good! 

Tangled is, of course, a Disney fairy-tale movie, so you might think that it’s going to be very predictable. And, to some extent, so it is. You’ve got your Princess Rapunzel locked up in a tower, denied her true destiny by the evil Mother Gotham, with a healthy dose of Disney magic and (admittedly pretty cool) sparkly 3D butterflies.

Happily, our heroine isn’t quite the timid wallflower often portrayed in Disneyfied fairy tales, though she can be slightly dim at times. The principal antagonist is also far more layered than your average crone, and has some amazingly funny quips in her songs - highlight of the movie: “Don’t be a dummy / Come with mummy!”

The soundtrack is great, the atmosphere sublime, and the plot generic but with interesting twists. (And a few requirements for you to completely suspend all disbelief… but it is Disney after all!) 

Overall verdict: go and see it. Now. 9/10.

See also: Princess and the Frog, Toy Story 3, Enchanted.

6pm

ce11.1: NEDs

I haven’t been to the cinema in so long… prior to this, I last saw Harry Potter, and prior to that it was way back in August with Scott Pilgrim. So when thepatter asked me to review NEDs, I thought “why not?”, and went along to the lovely Grosvenor, knitting in one hand (I needed to distance myself from the violence, ok?) and pen in the other. It was a (an?) historic occasion, marking the first time I’d seen an 18 in the cinema, and only the second 18 I’ve ever seen, the other being Sweeney Todd. 

• Director: Peter Mullan
• Cast: unknowns
• Runtime: 124 minutes
• Rating: 18

To put it mildly, NEDs is an uncomfortable watch. It certainly merits its 18 certificate for the harsh language and violence that permeate the movie, and director Peter Mullen is clearly aiming for ‘gritty’ and ‘realistic’ accolades.

The story is that of John McGill (Conor McCarron), a young boy growing up in the shadow of his violent elder brother and drunkard father, who transforms from prize-winning primary 7 pupil to knife-wielding, psychotic gang member over the course of a few short years. There is some exploration of the factors which contribute to John’s fall from grace – the violent youths who surround him on his housing estate, the schoolboys laughing at their swotty coursemate, and a posh young friend who ‘drops’ John for no reason – but overall, the story seems to focus on what he does, without offering many explicit reasons for it.

NEDs stands in stark contrast to Hollywood’s sugary tales. This is no Cinderella story. No happy endings here, for anyone, though the question of redemption hangs over the very end… if the rolling of the credits can be called an ‘ending’, as even after the overly-long screenplay the final minutes brought no sort of conclusion. At times, it is unexpectedly funny; at others, rather offensive (a hallucination sequence in which the crucified ‘Jesus’ beats up John was particularly so, as well as contributing nothing to the plot).

Not having lived in a deprived area of Glasgow in the 70s, I couldn’t argue one way or another for its historical accuracy, but the portrayal of certain issues does ring true today, and it is true that in certain parts of the city this gang culture is still pervasive, as well as the stigma attached to succeeding academically; or rather, the belief that there is no point in doing so. On the other hand, non-Glaswegian viewers are probably best advised that for the most part young people have many things to do other than roam the streets with knives, and the images of a corrupt and toothless policeforce are certainly outdated.

Overall verdict? The film probably wouldn’t have absorbed me if casually watching at home, but on the big screen it certainly made an impact. 7/10.

9am

CE16: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

I don’t think this is officially out in the UK yet, but when it is on the 25th of August, GO AND SEE IT! (And while you’re there, go and see Toy Story 3 and Inception as well, of course, but this is definitely a worthy rival to the other two.)

• Director: Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shawn of the Dead)
• Cast: Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick, Jason Schwartzman
• Runtime: 112 minutes
• Rating: 12A

The story is that Scott Pilgrim (Cera) has a massive crush on a girl, Ramona Flowers, who comes with a whole load of baggage in the form of a league of 7 evil ex’s who all try and kill him. Fortunately, albeit somewhat inexplicably, he is well equipped to deal with them, turning ex after ex into nought but some coins on the floor and +1000 points.

Sometimes films with as much style as this end up with no substance (I’m thinking of, for example, Up In The Air), but Scott Pilgrim vs The World was just all-round fantastic. I mean, Michael Cera practically acts! The movie does still follow the “how to make a Michael Cera movie” diagram*, but even so you can almost see another side to him. And even his co-stars aren’t the normal host of awkwardly indie characters.

As you may have noticed from the above reference to points, references to geek - and specifically gaming - subcultures infuse the movie, in a way which I suppose makes it similar to Kick-Ass at basic plot level, although Pilgrim is definitely a far superior film. There’s animation and randomly inexplicable objects and people appearing and disappearing, and Scott’s initial attempt at a pick-up line with Ramona involves the word-history of “Pac-Man”.

All in all, the film was utterly enjoyable. It also contained some very quotable quotations, my favourite of which was probably:

“Todd Ingram: Talk to the cleaning lady on Monday. Because you’ll be dust by Monday. Because you’ll be pulverized in two seconds. The cleaning lady? She cleans up… dust. She dusts. And she has weekends off, so… Monday, right?”

Verdict: 10/10. I can’t think of anything I’d have changed about it.

* If you haven’t seen it:

1pm

CE15: Knight and Day

Maybe it was after the brilliance of Toy Story 3 and Inception, but I thought this was an appalling film…

• Director: James Mangold
• Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz
• Runtime: 109 minutes
• Rating: 12A

The story is that an ordinary women gets caught up with a spy who has been framed as having gone rogue, and goes on the run with him. Not very original. Shouldn’t have needed almost 2 hours to portray. The acting was mediocre, the directorial work average, and the “humour” very forced and un-funny.

Verdict: 2/10. Save your money. I went to a free screening of this, and would have left had I not been constrained by the removal of my crutches (kudos to Odeon staff, though, who were ridiculously nice and accommodating in letting me find somewhere I could put my injured leg up). With so many other amazing films out at the summer, there’s no point in seeing a rubbishy action-rom-com.

2pm

CE13: Inception

This year has definitely been one of excellent movies… Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and now Inception. Well, ok, that does only make 3 so far, but in the scheme of things, Hollywood’s doing very well, and I still have high hopes for Scott Pilgrim vs The World!

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Michael Caine
• Runtime: 148 minutes
• Rating: 12A

The latest film from Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has had everyone talking. A cast full of known names, an amazingly original plot, and stunning graphics combine to give very good reason to all this buzz.

The basic (!) idea is that Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and a few others including, latterly, Ellen Page, combine to make a team that can enter someone’s dream, moulding it as they like to find out their deepest secrets. But Leo’s troubled past with his wife who forgot the difference between dream and reality infiltrates the dreams he is part of, threatening the whole team. In one last bid to see his children, Leo agrees to try and plant an idea in the mind of a director of a top company… which he can only do in a dream within a dream within a dream. With me so far?

What the plot lacks in simplicity, it makes up for in originality. Some people have compared it to the Matrix, which I can see, except for the fact that the graphics and special effects here are far more elaborate and well-done (understandably, of course, given how long ago Matrix was made). It was also vaguely reminiscent of Donnie Darko, though compared to that, much easier to understand.

Verdict: 9/10. My only criticism of it would be that it was a tad long. However, I don’t care what else you’re doing this summer; you should definitely make time to see it. And also Toy Story 3. Speaking of which…

7am