David Fincher directs one of the most intense and absorbing thrillers to hit the big screens this year, with his wonderful adaptation of the best selling novel by Gillian Flynn. This film is pure jaw-dropping, edge of your seat stuff, and fans of the novel will not be left disappointed.
Continue reading “Film Review: Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher”
I found this film extremely interesting to watch and critically analyse with there being a lot more to it than the seemingly basic narrative. The film stars Brad Pitt who plays ‘Jackie Cogan’, an enforcer who has been hired to restore order after a mob protected card game has been robbed. This causes the collapse of the mobsters economy, as it is not the first time the game has been hit, with many members pointing the finger at Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), a fellow member. It turns out that three local petty criminals undertook the robbery as a way of fixing their own economic woes and Brad Pitt goes about trying to settle the matter and deal with them. The undercurrent to the main storyline is the collapse of the American economy as a whole, showing clips of presidential speeches and radio snippets with the film reflecting the downturn of the American society, as the economy falls people become desperate for money and are willing to go to drastic measures for a quick way to become rich. The films shows the juxtaposition between what president Obama is saying and what the reality is through the characters stories, with them referencing and explaining this. Set in an unspecified poor Boston neighbourhood, where dreams and hopes are all but gone, the cinematography is very good with the actors being equally, if not, better playing there roles superbly. It is an intriguing film and if you scratch beneath the surface it can leave you with a lasting impression, something I feel all good films should do. A very good watch.
8/10
First published: March 15, 2013
Where?: https://willgcollege.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/killing-them-softly-by-andrew-dominik/
Finally got round to watching this last night and despite having extremely high expectations I was pretty impressed. The film is really well shot and visually looks very clean and pristine with superb acting coinciding with this. Ben Affleck directs and acts brilliantly playing the role of Tony Mendez, an exfiltration expert who has the job of rescuing six Americans from the volatile revolutionary Iran. They have managed to escape after the embassy was attacked and ram-sacked by revolutionaries, holding out in the Canadian embassy. It won’t be too long before the Iranians discover that six Americans are still out there though and the CIA needs to act swiftly and carefully with Tony Mendez devising a cunning and daring plan to get them out. The film is a gripping tale and is based on a true story, which will leave you on the edge of your seat. Ben Affleck builds up the tension extremely well and if you haven’t seen it yet I would strongly recommend it. Despite all the superlatives that I have used to describe the film I don’t think it deserved best picture at the Oscars. It was a good film, yes, but I feel that it will go down in history as an Oscar winner that just ticked all the right boxes and that no-one disliked. Still very much worth a watch though.
9/10
First published: March 2, 2013
Where?: https://willgcollege.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/argo-by-ben-affleck/
Well, its official, Bond is back and better than ever before. After recent flop ‘Quantum Of Solace’ many, myself included, felt like the Bond franchise was slowly dwindling out to an end, but in true Bond fashion the iconic character returns with a vengeance. A lot of credit has to be given to the director Sam Mendes who manages to en-capture everything that we love about the Bond movies whilst keeping to the expectations of a 21st century action thriller. Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond, is proving to be the perfect front man performing exquisitively with equally impressive performances from Judi Dench (M) and Javier Bardem (Silva), the latter being the sinister revengeful baddy. The film centres around a failed assignment by Bond where a hard drive containing a list of secret agent operatives is stolen and MI6 becomes exposed. MI6 is now compromised with the threats not only coming from the terrorists themselves, but the media as well. It’s now up to Bond and his accomplice Eve (Naomi Harris) to discover who is behind the attacks, leading them to the mysterious Silva, whose hidden motives and powerful demeanour causes terrifying consequences, vowing to stop at nothing until his debt has been repaid in blood. The film had much hype around it before its release and it well and truly lives up to this, proving to many to be one of the, if not, the best Bond film ever made.
9/10
First published: February 22, 2013
Where?: https://willgcollege.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/skyfall-by-sam-mendes/
This film will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout, with sublime acting and a gripping narrative it’s without doubt one the best films I have ever seen. Set in LA it follows the leader of a white supremacist gang (Edward Norton), who commits racially motivated crimes throughout the city. After Edward Norton, who plays Derek Vineyard, is sentenced to three years in prison for killing two robbers his viewpoint however changes. His time in prison has drastically changed his outlook, but soon realises that getting out of the gang is not so easy and that his younger brother has been greatly influenced by him. Derek becomes determined to keep Danny (Edward Furlong) from going down the same violent path that he went down, but with what consequences will their past actions have. This film will leave you stunned, a must watch.
9/10
First published: February 1, 2013
Where?: https://willgcollege.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/american-history-x-by-tony-kaye/
Will Garnett 