Zero Dark Thirty

 As universally recognised as it was many were oblivious to the pain-staking years of effort that went into the hunt for 'Osama bin Laden'. Unlike various similar situations this hunt was largely a silent one, done behind the closed doors of CIA offices instead of the brutal front line, suggesting that perhaps Kathryn Bigelow's newest Oscar contender 'Zero Dark Thirty' isn't the action spectacular that many expect it to be.

 With Oscar nominated Jessica Chastain leading the hunt as 'Maya' a CIA officer, this film largely follows her inner struggles of desperation as her job and patriotic pride hang on thin strings, and for the majority her performances truly drives the film along with the remaining male cast running obediently behind.She leads the narrative as thin as it proves to ware, showing to be of smaller substance as initially perceived with many scenes showing almost identical subject matter to the previous. It's largely brilliant in captivating it's audience through political discussions and the tedium of the lengthy hunt, however its not helped by it's occasionally poor screenplay that acts as irregular comic relief as unknown sub-characters blurt convoluted phrase's with near to no following explanation. Almost inevitably a huge sense of 'deja-vu' is felt as the film procrastinates in it's progression through bogs of unnecessary dialogue .This may be an unintentional positive however as that's how the process played out in reality, this wasn't a months work as most CIA thrillers display it to be, this was a 10-year hunt, constant revisits to the 'drawing board' are to be expected.

 Aiding in Maya's hunt is 'Dan' (Jason Clarke), a fellow CIA officer with perhaps more brutal tactics than the initially disgusted protagonist, displaying controversial scenes of reportedly 'stylised torture scenes'. This is in fact far from the case with Zero Dark Thirty only providing an all too realistic depiction of the torture involved with such a brutal hunt, little felt stylised with most feeling aptly uncomfortable. In fact looking on the whole the most poignant of positives that this film beholds is in it's terrifying authenticity, every scene of violence is seen through the lens of reality with little left to the imagination. With the majority of the film being dialogue between political and military figures, it comes as quite the expectation to see the resulting raid and assassination, and although it lasts for around 25 minutes it certainly proves to be one of the most accurate and exhilarating action scenes in recent memory. Transitioning between night-vision POV and 3rd person personal view, this scene is a perfect example of directorial excellence, with the audience feeling part of the troop as they squeeze through tight spaces and detonate intense controlled explosions.

 In comparison to Zero Dark Thirty's Oscar nominated, declassified counterpart Argo, this picture proves to be significantly more indulging and interesting, containing a much broader and largely stronger narrative. What this lacks however is dramatic flair with interest barely maintained during the seemingly unnecessary sections of repeated dialogue.  It does however significantly pick up towards the end, showing Bigelow's directorial finesse proving to be crucially accurate in it's depiction of silent and dramatic warfare.

7.5/10- As disturbingly dark as it is terrifyingly realistic

Calum Russell

Django Unchained

 In a medium where little refuses to be transcribed onto screen it was almost an inevitability that the dark story of the slave trade would fall into production and typically into the hands of the universally praised Quentin Tarantino. Famous for his relentless violence and quirky protagonists, recently Tarantino has found his films follow a descending spiral as a victim of his own overactive imagination. With Django Unchained being perhaps his most controversial yet, desires for the 'classic Tarantino' to return ran high and although for the most part this is true he remains undoubtedly shackled to his familiar overindulgence's.

 Following in his trend of re-casting, Django Unchained sees the return of Christoph Waltz after his Oscar winning 'Inglorious Bastards' performance now in the lead role of Dr. King Schultz a German bounty hunter searching for the help of slave, Django played by Jamie Foxx in order to track down the criminal 'brittle brothers'. Soon enough a friendship forms and they both agree to form a pact which results in the hopeful retrieval of Django's enslaved wife. As we follow both heroes on their journey through picturesque 19th century western America we are instantly reminded of Tarantino at his very best. With his heavily stylistic tones and eccentric characters driving the film through vastly entertaining sequences of hilarity and over excessive violence. This coinciding with an excellent score encouraging the characters and providing an extra blow in the action sequences, results in some of the most impressive and restrained scenes of violence in Tarantino's bloody collection  Being based on a very taboo subject it comes as a surprise to say that Django Unchained is a very funny film, heavily working in it's favour  Rarely are Tarantino movies put under the analytical microscope in search of hidden themes and underlying messages, he has a knack of making films that stand alone as being extremely entertaining and subsequently engaging. The comedy is more than appropriate in this picture in order to balance the film's dark tones with uplifting entertainment, less can be said however for the films violence which once again proves to be horribly gratuitous and unnecessary.  It can be argued that this only adds to the enjoyment which is correct to an extent but only if it's within context, most notably a scene in this film where a slave is ripped apart by savage dogs was not only disturbingly unpleasant but also totally irrelevant to the story at hand,  feeling like it was implemented only to bring about controversy.

 The narrative is satisfyingly entertaining supplying the film with a base whereby it can splash it's creative features and ambition, however it does ultimately prove to ware thin and tired towards the end of the films tedious running time. Following in the odd tradition of extended running-times Django Unchained would've worked much better as a simple one and a half hour feature film, proving to drag very much in the concluding hour. Including almost three stations in which the film could've and should've ended, the film never ceases to conclude continuing with a story which has now bared thin and contains little relevance or artistry. With this comes possibly some of Quentin Tarantino's worst sequences of film-making the most poignant of which involves a cameo of himself as an Australian miner, which is as idiotic as it is poorly performed. Within the final sequences however also comes some excellent performances inside some creative set-pieces of action and compelling dialogue  The performance of Leonardo DiCaprio most prominently reminded the audience why he's one of the most accomplished actors in the business with his dominating screen presense fueling his intimidatingly sinister nature. Similarly Christoph Waltz also provides an excellent performance no matter how comparable his character may be with his 'Inglorious Bastards' role.

 Upon conclusion an irregular sense of tiresome incompletion is felt. No matter how entertaining the film may have been it is ultimately unsuccessful in leaving a lasting impression. With the shroud of 'style over substance' wavering proud above Tarantino, this film shows to follow having real comedic flair and satisfyingly gruesome action scenes yet no real aim. Ultimately the most recent in Tarantino's proud collection proves to have little substance and relation only providing blood guts and quirky characters to tend to the needs of it's craving audience.

7/10- Despite it's fun nature, Tarantino proves to once again go overboard showing too much and providing little substance.

Calum Russell

Les Miserables

 Tom Hooper, director of the Oscar dominating King's Speech sees a return in search for further success with the adaptation of the much beloved novel turned musical, Les Miserables. Boasting the perfect ingredients for significant Oscar praise including several heartthrob vocalists and a tear-jerking guarantee, Les Miserables sees the gradual continuation of musical adaptations following 2008's dismal 'Mamma Mia'.

 Tending very much to a middle-aged audience this striking period piece follows the life of former criminal ' Jean Valjean' ( Jackman) in 19th century revolutionary France when he breaks parole and finds himself in pursuit from 'Javert' (Crowe), a ruthless police-officer. There is clearly more to this story then its striped narrative makes there out to be, following also the life of a young girl 'Cosette' after her mum tragically dies and 'Jean Valjean' agrees to look after her. However when looked at it structurally it's crucially lacking in any depth following the story of just one man and his inseparable life issues. This isn't necessarily a bad thing however as it does provide for a more detailed analysis to be provided for the plot at hand making it all seem thoroughly more realistic and immersive despite it's inexcusable pacing issues.

 Introduced immediately to the hardship of Valjean's captivity through a visually stunning scene of evident emotional and physical depravity, Les Miserables rarely let's up from this point proving to be just as consistently impressive. Coinciding with the spectacular introduction we are also met by Hooper's ambitious attempt for praise with nearly every piece of dialogue in the film being sung. With such an audacious inclusion the film did reasonably well in making this seem as authentic as possible with the songs also being sung live on set. This inclusion not only helped to make every number seem all the more emotionally engaging but will also considerably aid in the probability of Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman receiving deserved academy awards. Most notably the performance of Anne Hathaway was absolutely breath-taking, most poignantly whilst singing the musicals most universally known song of 'I dreamed a dream' which sent the audience into an emotional silence whilst Hathaway held them in the palm of her hand for what seemed like seconds. This scene is certainly the most memorable with the camera never leaving her face in this impassioned scene which acts as one of the most powerful moments of cinema in recent years, almost making surrounding scenes seem sub-par in comparison.

 After the emotionally draining performance of Hathaway has ended the film gradually descends into a slightly cumbersome and confused picture as it simply procrastinates, lying in wait for the next song and for a performance that fulfils a similar emotion.  This arguably comes at the appearance of comedy duo Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter in their bizarrely extraneous humourous number and performances to match. Surrounding such a light-hearted scene are moments of a somber nature and to see such a contrasting scene in comparison to the remaining narrative felt totally out of place if unarguably refreshing. It felt as if though the film had realised it's depressing features following the completion of the film and simply decided to shoe-horn in a comedic scene to make sure 'audiences were crying for the right reasons'. The performances of both extremely talented actors were of course fantastic, they just felt a little out of place.

A sub-plot to the bulging personality of the main narrative is the love story between Cosette (Seyfried) and Marius (Redmayne) which may be touching and emotional but is also undoubtedly jagged and unsettled. The relationship felt forced and un-established feeling almost devoid of emotion at times. The only element of this plot which was fleshed out was the relationship between Marius and his envious secret lover Eponie (Barks) who provides a powerful performance with a fantastic solo number to match standing almost as impressive as Anne Hathaway's effort. Although it feels shoe-horned it's oddly fitting that the relationship feels this way as this coagulates with the feelings of both characters, whether this was intentional or not is impossible to tell, never the less this felt more of a hindrance than a fitting love story.

For a picture that is a proud musical, of course actors of a fine-tuned vocal nature are expected and are mostly provided but are not helped with the occasionally disjointed background score that came as no fault of the actors. Most notably the performances of both the award nominated Hathaway and Jackman were outstanding as well as the overlooked performance of Russell Crowe who although leans towards a cabaret singing style on occasion, mostly holds his own and provides a passionate performance giving heart behind a character who is widely hated.

 Les Miserables is even more impressive when considering it's ambitious properties and although it falls flat at points proving to be more overly-excessive than cinematically fascinating it remains to be a truly commendable piece of cinema. Each and every performance is fantastic with help to their finely tuned vocal chords of even the extras, an aspect which is excellent and highly overlooked. Similarly to nearly every Oscar contender this could do with a cut down in running time with it's conclusion edging on tedious, however it proves to be a momentous achievement despite it's (les) miserable features.

8/10- An enthralling picture with fantastic performances full feeling sure to make your eyes water.

Calum Russell

2013- An alternative guide

2012, a year dominated by superheros, hard hitting blockbusters and breakthrough indie hits has finally come to a close; forcing audiences to look ahead to the seemingly dull year to come. In comparison to 2012 this year has a lack of assured blockbuster successes with only films such as Man of Steel and Star Trek: Into Darkness really standing out from the crowd. Yes there are further 'blockbuster epics' being released like sequels to both The Hunger Games and The Hobbit however neither seemed to create substantial buzz on release or in the hunger games 2's case it's miniature teaser. If 2013's a year for anything it looks as though it'll be a year for Horrors and big budget sci-fi's with over 20 horror films being released this year and widely discussed sci-fi's such as Pacific Rim and Elysium.

But what about those breakout films that aren't your typical blockbuster, whats going on behind the facade of  superheros and sci-fi? Well that's exactly what this article is intended to inform with 10 (mildly) alternative films to look forward to in 2013.

 Antiviral

David Cronenberg, most famous in the 1980's for his wacky horror classics has given his son (Brandon) a chance in the limelight with his directorial debut surrounding the virus/medicine of the future. This dark thriller  has an extremely interesting and original premise that concerns a futuristic injection that allows average civilians to have a taste of celebrity stardom no matter how grim the consequences. With no trailer available, only an image of a psychotic man (seen on the left), it's utter intrigue and originality that makes this film so exciting. We saw it with Looper last year, a sci-fi that seemed to come out of nowhere and steal the show being gritty and knowingly intelligent it proved to deliver on many different levels. Similar hype for Antiviral will hopefully be supplied as it sounds a perhaps even better premise than it's 2012 counterpart.

 Insidious: Chapter 2

Excluding it's vague release date of 2013 near to nothing is known about the sequel to arguably one of the best Horror films of the last decade. It had bulging miss-steps and idiotic sequences appearing mostly in the concluding half hour however for the most part this film proved to be not only oddly stimulating but also refreshingly terrifying. Using jump scares sparingly with most coming from it's simplistically uncomfortable atmosphere and eerie concept. Fan excitement is perhaps the only thing keeping the sequel anticipated with a lot of things that can go wrong but a lot of things that could go magnificently right. Totally clueless of what the narrative could follow this could go either way.

The Place Beyond The Pines

Debuting at Toronto international film festival last year, The Place Beyond The Pines has already seen momentous praise from audiences and that's no surprise coming from fan favourite Ryan Gosling and the director of the acclaimed Blue Valentine, Derek Cianfrance. Although this looks almost identical to the universally loved Drive with the inclusion of a motorbike instead of a car, it remains to look boastfully stylistic and appealing to the gritty thrill seeker. With an almost jaw-dropping cast including Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes this film should surely deliver to a impressive extent, well given the undoubtedly awesome title how could it not.

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07pSbHLXgg

Only God Forgives


Ryan Gosling seems to have the knack of choosing films with the most stylish titles, with his second most notable film of the year Only God Forgives concreting him yet again to the role of 'the king of cool'. Perhaps even more anticipated than the previous film mentioned this sees the return of Nicholas Winding Refn, director of the critically acclaimed Drive in which Ryan Gosling also starred. Containing maybe the most simple yet oh so appealing premise of any film to be released this year Only God Forgives follows the story of a police lieutenant and a gangster settling their differences in a Thai boxing match. With this film already winning the award for the coolest poster of 2013 expect a considerable amount of buzz to come it's way when it's released later this year.

This Is The End

With nearly every 21st century comedy icon included and the writers of the hilarious 'Superbad' at the helm, This Is The End has the perfect formula for success  With a story which is to be recycled this year in another comedy, This Is The End follows the story of various celebrities as there faced with the apocalypse whilst attending a party at James Franco's house. Following a dire year for comedy a much needed 'raunchy-romp' is required for this year, with this release looking to most likely to fill those shoes. As comedies go this one looks to go further than most with a seemingly hefty budget and A-list cast, this film can't afford to flop which is why it should almost definitely be a comedy success on unprecedented levels.

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgClpA2HS64

Alan Partridge: The Movie

To all the state-side readers this man will be perhaps unheard of however the fairly old yet undoubtedly gleaming comedy Icon played by Steve Coogan is widely recognisable in the UK. As previously mentioned 2013 follows a year awful for comedy releases and tragic for one in particular that involved  the use of televisions most disliked star, Keith Lemon. With such an embarrassing attempt being made last year it seems all too fitting to have another more sophisticated attempt with the much more accomplished Alan Partridge. With writers of the nationally successful series returning this TV adaptation is sure to be a hit especially when considering the last TV adaptation of this kind was the beloved Inbetweeners movie.

The World's End

There are few directors with a winning streak similar to Edgar Wright creator of Shaun of the dead, Hot fuzz and comic adaptation Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. With this being his 5th directorial picture and his final film in the 'cornetto trilogy' it's justified to say that there is significant hype surrounding this release. The Worlds End sees of course the return of two of Hollywood's most accomplished comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as well as a small collection of British acting talent including Martin Freeman and Paddy Considine and follows the story of five friends who reunite to improve upon their 'epic' pub crawl of 20 years earlier only to discover they'll soon become mankind's last hope of survival. Evidently the narrative isn't structurally clear however that's the magic of Mr Wright he seems to create masterpieces out of the most simple of ideas.

Oldboy

In a remake of the highly acclaimed South Korean Drama, Oldboy, a man finds himself unwittingly imprisoned for 15 years until he's released and given 5 days to discover why. Although not perfect the original film was fantastic and totally undeserved of a remake with worldwide fans worried the remake will curse the original. However with previous foreign remakes they've usually been of films with a fairly simple narrative, Oldboy is quite the contrary proving to not only be significantly more convoluted then remakes of a similar nature but also significantly darker. Directed by the respectable but by no means perfect director Spike Lee and with an impressive cast including Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Samuel L Jackson, Oldboy is above all intriguing.

A Field In England 

Much like Edgar Wright, a relatively upcoming director Ben Wheatley has got an impressive run of three brilliant films including one of 2012's only comedy hits, Sightseers. This horror release follows the events of an aftermath of a civil war battle whereby soldiers are captured by treasure hunting alchemists and psychedelic happenings follow. Perhaps one of the only reasons this film looks considerably better than surrounding releases is the fact that Ben Wheatley is at the helm who already has shown that he can perfectly combine gritty violence with blood curdling fear. This coinciding with a brilliant cast of Michael Smiley, Julian Barret and Reece Shearsmith mean A Field In England could prove to be the surprise Horror hit of the year.

Mama

Any film that's even associated with a relatively successful director seems to pick up momentum these days with Mama boasting the executive producing skills of Guillermo del Toro. Aside from this fact however this Horror film based on a intensely unsettling short film by the same director looks to hopefully get the Horror proceedings off to a bang. When two nieces are taken in to a relatives home after living on their own in the forest for five years ghostly occurrences begin to in sue. Starring the increasingly impressive Jessica Chastain and  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Mama looks as though it could be a groundbreaking Horror for the first time director.

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Am7i7uM9r0
Short film- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRqS6pBC42w

Calum Russell