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The latest offering from Wallace and Gromit studio Aardman is Arthur Christmas which follows the exploits of the Santa family on a particularly hectic Christmas Eve. As with similar films like Fred Claus and Santa Claus The Movie we get to see a contemporary imagining of how the Father Christmas lore operates in the 20th/21st century whilst getting an understanding of how things of changed by getting to know the three generations of the clan.
This is a rather splendid Christmas family movie that performs a fantastic balancing act on many different levels. You’ve got modern CGI animation mixed with Aardman’s traditional character designs, there’s a high tech North Pole balanced with the timeless magic of old, there’s a perfect balance between family drama and broad sharp comedy and the unexpected balance of a quirky British story with a more sentimental American appeal. This is well written stuff with a great race-against-time plot and some wonderfully timed visual gags.
The voice cast is exceptional with McAvoy almost unrecognizable as the naïve and enthusiastic title character, Hugh Laurie as his authoritive older brother expecting to inherita the Santa Claus title, bumbling Jim Broadbent as the leader (in title only) of the Santa clan and the scene stealing Bill Nighy as the irrepressible Grandsanta. Witty, clever, warm and charming this is exactly the sort of thing I want to watch post-Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day afternoon.
Happy Feet Two is a bloody mess with some aspects working well while others just end up annoying (although not the stuff you might think). The singing and dancing tribe of penguins are nowhere as irritating as you might think with some songs (Queen’s Under Pressure) being particularly well arranged being powerful and uplifting as a result. As with the first film there’s a clever mixing of live action and animation while the dark, underlying themes commenting on climate change, man’s attitude towards wildlife and even the harmful, corrupting nature of religion are welcoming to be sure. Story wise the stakes are much higher and it’s a sequel which allows secondary characters to step forward and shine whilst also being a visual feast for the eyes.
Unfortunately Mad Max director George Miller doesn’t know when to calm the fuck down and the film often feels chaotic with Miller’s restless swooping camera frequently pissing the audience off. The film does work in the quieter moments and when the story takes a grip but it’s too infrequent for the film to gel. Happy Feet Two is notable for the humorous subplot involving Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as two curious and adventurous Krill (yes Krill, I freaking kid you not) which ultimately impacts on the story in a meaningful and significant way. If only the whole film had followed their adventures.
The Cell director might very well be the most striking visualist working in modern cinema since Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam came onto the scene, but his grasp on storytelling still needs work. Following his striking work on Immortals late last year, Tarsem is back with Mirror Mirror, a reworking of the Brothers Grimm story Snow White with rather mixed results.
As expected the film is magnificent to look at (it has that stagy/theatre feel) and is the antithesis of Immortals being bright, colourful and family friendly, but the director never quite nails the tone while the writers fail to get anywhere near the level of wit required. Mirror Mirror is a light, breezy and whimsical pantomime…and that perfectly fine. But what it’s aiming for is a blend of an old fashioned Disney romp and the contemporary irreverence of Tangled, and while it succeeds at the former it dramatically misses the mark with the latter.
Julia Roberts hogs the screen as the Evil Queen, Armie Hammer is an adequate Prince Charming, the impossibly cute Lily Collins is perfectly cast as the doe eyed, softly spoken heroine Snow White (although she lacks depth as an actress) and Nathan Lane is left alone to ‘get‘ what‘s required of the story. Beautiful looking but irredeemably witless, Mirror Mirror feels overlong at 95 minutes long.
Venturing into the oddball world of international horror films I discovered Phase 7 (or Fase 7) a Carpenter-esque siege movie from Argentina. Although it has the set up of a classic Zombie film, Phase 7 chooses to go with a straightforward pandemic story focusing on a young couple holed up in their modern apartments block after government forces impose a strict quarantine.
As with all good films of this nature, the suspense comes from the interaction of the paranoid and frightened characters trapped within the location and not so much the virus that threatens them. There’s a welcome helping of splatter, some offbeat characters, a smart, socially relevant subtext and cool direction and musical score that riffs off John Carpenter movies circa 1988. Suspenseful and atmospheric.
Mum & Dad
is a low budget, British horror movie that has no right being as good as it is. After befriending a co-worker in her new airport cleaning job, a Polish immigrant is taken back home to meet her new pal’s family…with unfortunate consequences. Riffing on the cannibalistic family motif of Texas Chainsaw, this is a well made and fresh reworking of the over-familiar horror story.
The cast are strong, the direction tense and unsettling, there a nice line of darkly black humour and the focus on the sick, twisted family unit allows the film makers to explore the ‘values’ a family can impose on it’s kids, especially in a sheltered environment. You can strike UK airports off the list of places I’d be willing to take employment.
It’s pretty unusual for a director to undergo a complete change of direction so far into a successful career but that’s what’s happened to Jay Roach. The man behind three hit Austin Powers movies and two stellar Meet The Fockers films switched to political TV movies back in 2008 with HBO’s acclaimed drama Recount. It was a change that was also strengthened by Roach’s disinterest in making his next comedy, the disastrous Steve Carrell starrer Dinner For Schmucks, a comedy in any way, shape or form. Fortunately Roach happens to be a dab hand at the ol’ political drama as proved by his Recount follow up Game Change.
This time Roach is interested in the John McCain Presidential Election campaign of 2008 where the Republican candidate chose the infamous Sarah Palin to be his running mate for the Vice Presidency, mainly told from the perspective of the Woody Harrelson’s campaign team. This is riveting stuff showing the choices that lie before a political candidate when navigating their opponent’s strengths, the perception of malleable population and the restraints and reality of the election system. Into this mix comes Palin, a major gamble designed to rally the Republican base and inspire women voters to come and vote for a conservative, right wing agenda. In an award baiting performance, Julianne Moore bring Palin to life in a mix of over confidence, loving mother and wife, and clueless bimbo forced into a situation way beyond her intellect and understanding.
A fascinating behind the scenes story of the making of a monster…not Palin herself necessarily…but the arrogant, lying, God fearing, creationist, fact lacking, greedy, fundamentalist, uncompassionate and dangerous ideologists the modern Republican has become.
The great thing about director Steven Soderbergh is that no matter what type of story he turns his hand to, you know he’s going to make it his. Haywire, Soderbergh’s take on spy thrillers, is no exception with the twisty, action packed tale utilising his art house approach to storytelling from colour coding the story strands, minimising the dialogue, a retro David Holmes score, a classy ensemble of top of the line acting talent all pulled together by a magnetic central performance.
In this case Gina Carano might not be the most natural actress in the world but her sheer physical presence, undoubted fighting ability and calm, direct and confident persona means we’re transfixed on her as an audience. The action sequences (where she beats the living shit out of the male cast) are frenetic but the camerawork and editing is restrained meaning we can appreciate Carano’s bone crunching combat abilities in all their glory and the chase set pieces clear, excellently paced and filled with suspense.
Best of all is the lean, pared down script which makes the audience pay attention and catch up on all the shady double dealings going on. Haywire is an excellent minimalist espionage thriller with a kick ass leading lady and a dash of art-house retro cool.
