Bridge of Spies (October 2015)

Official Australian release date: 22/10/15. Viewed: 24/10/15.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Actors: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd, Austin Stowell

Genre: Drama

Rating: M       

‘Bridge of Spies’ is an espionage thriller at its finest. It’s set in the late 50s & early 60s and certainly looks the part – I always love seeing the old cars driving around New York, looking classy. Starts off like any classic spy film, but then Abel (Rylance) is caught. In comes Donovan (Hanks), an insurance lawyer who is asked to defend Abel, so he can receive due legal practice. The first 45min or so is a good courtroom drama and moves along fast enough, with Hanks giving a few great speeches and making some solid points about what’s right and what’s best.

The movie really captures well the Cold War tension in America and what families would’ve gone through. It helps that this is the best film Spielberg has made in a few years and the best film Hanks has been in for a while. Once the movie turns into political chess, with an exchange of Abel for Powers (Stowell) in Berlin, the stakes are raised and there’s plenty of great subterfuge.

Hanks basically owns the film, with everyone having some good moments (especially Rylance, with his “would it help?”s), but he really plays a great everyman who stands up to both Germany, Russia & his own country (mostly portrayed by the CIA/Shepherd) for what is morally right and just, not just what is politically acceptable at the current time.

Overall: Really well made Cold War true story.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.   

The Martian (October 2015)

Official Australian release date: 1/10/15. Viewed: 2/10/15.

Director: Ridley Scott

Actors: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Michael Peña, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejifor

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M       

‘The Martian’ is based on Andy Weir’s excellent novel – one of my favourite books from last year. It’s a very simple concept – in the near-future, a manned-mission to Mars goes awry and Mark Watney (Damon) is presumed dead, as the rest of the team returns to Earth. However, rumours of Watney’s demise were exaggerated and he just manages to survive, only to be faced with the conundrum of how to stay alive on a freezing planet with almost no food, water or oxygen until he can be rescued?

It’s beautifully shot, with Jordan a good stand-in for Mars on most occasions, and the CGI doing the rest. And there’s obviously a few shots of Earth from space – always a great perspective to see. Scott directs well, with the pacing good, and time spread across the strong cast – Chastain, Peña, Mara, Stan and Hennie on the spaceship home; and Daniels, Ejifor, Bean and Wiig at NASA – showing how everyone involved deals with the initial tragedy and then attempted rescue mission(s).

However, the film belongs to Damon, who has to use all his charm and skills to make one man talking to a video journal interesting. The film’s possibly 15min or so too long, but luckily, it’s a great book & a good screenplay, so there’s plenty of levity to go along with the serious life-or-death/fingernail-chewing moments. Tense/great final 25min or so. Never quite reaches the heights of the book, but comes very close.

Overall: Great, realistic, space adventure.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.   

Everest (September 2015)

Official Australian release date: 17/9/15. Viewed: 20/9/15.

Director: Baltasar Kormakur

Actors: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M       

‘Everest’ is a true survival – man vs nature – film. It’s not necessarily fun, but it is engrossing. Since it’s based on a true story (I haven’t read the ‘Into Thin Air’ novel), it’s a simple plot – in 1996, a group of experienced climbers engage the services of Rob (Clarke) to assist them in their climb to the summit of Earth’s highest mountain – Mt Everest in Nepal. The film spends 40min (probably too long) introducing the characters and staying at Base Camp, but it does give you the chance to get to know them and their motivations – especially Beck (Brolin) & Doug (Hawkes).

That’s the main question throughout – “why”? I think it boils down to ego – man’s desire to conquer everything, even nature’s most extreme obstacles – highest mountain, driest desert, deepest ocean trench, outer space, etc. It is nice to see them fulfilling their dreams on making it to the summit, but once the inevitable storm blows in, it really does make you think “these people are insane for being up there”! I definitely won’t be climbing Everest!

It’s a well-made film, with good pacing once they’re climbing and some truly beautiful shots of the Himalayas – very glad they shot a lot of it on-site. The devastating storm is one of the loudest and most ominous things you can imagine when at the top of a mountain. Rob’s calls with Jan (Knightley – worst Kiwi accent ever) slow things down, but add to the drama.

Overall: A solid character-driven survival epic.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

A Walk In The Woods (September 2015)

Official Australian release date: 3/9/15. Viewed: 4/9/15.

Director: Ken Kwapis

Actors: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Kristen Schaal

Genre: Comedy / Adventure

Rating: M       

‘A Walk in the Woods’ is basically a middle-aged “bromance” movie. It just happens to be based on Bill Bryson’s fantastic 1998 eponymous true-story book. Full disclosure – Bryson is one of my favourite authors, always having something interesting or funny to say. The film is not quite about Bryson (Redford)’s mid-life crisis (as he’s now in his 70s, not 40s like the book), but he and a formerly-estranged friend, Stephen Katz (Nolte) set off on the Appalachian Trail, which spans America’s east coast, from Georgia in the South to Maine in the North – 2,100 miles (~3,500km)!

From the director of ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ and ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ – not a promising pedigree! – Kwapis nonetheless does a good job of keeping the pace up, which can be hard when it’s mostly two guys just walking and talking! But therein lies the beauty of the film – it’s simple and sweet, with plenty of jokes and wit between the two old friends, some quick interactions with other hikers on the Trail (such as Schaal, gratingly funny!) and some breathtaking wilderness shots.

It did remind me of my time in the U.S., when I did visit the Pisgah Forest in North Carolina and the Great Smoky National Park in Tennessee, where they start their hike. The scenery is helped by Lord Huron’s soundtrack, which is folky, but upbeat. The final third is not as engaging as it could be, but there’s some sincere moments to be found amongst the humour and everything is propelled by Nolte & Redford’s enjoyable chemistry.

Overall: As good as the book? Of course not, but fun and light

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (August 2015)

Official Australian release date: 3/9/15. Viewed: 23/8/15.

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Actors: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Molly Shannon

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Rating: M       

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ is a solid coming-of-age film – it’s charming and funny and definitely not as depressing as the title may have you believe. It’s a simple concept – the not-quite nerdy, not-quite cool high-schooler, Greg (Mann), is forced by his mum to hang out with a classmate who has just being diagnosed with leukaemia, Rachel (Cooke). It’s starts off as an awkward friendship, but slowly turns into genuine friendship.

Earl (Cyler) is great as Greg’s only friend (or “co-worker” as he calls him) and lots of the film’s fun comes from the parodies they make together of classic films – such as ‘Senior Citizen Cane’, ‘The Seven Seals’, ‘A Sockwork Orange’, ‘Eyes Wide Butt’ & my favourite, ‘Grumpy Cul-de-Sacs’! – most featuring clever animation and hilarious ultra-low-budget imitations. Earl acts as Greg’s conscience when he turns into a shellfish teenager and forgets about Rachel’s actual problems. The parents (Shannon, Offerman & Britton) all have some great scenes.

The film’s score, by Brian Eno, is fantastic and really adds to the emotion, especially towards the end. The finale is handled well and shows impact we can have others’ lives by just being there for them. Sure, it’s sad in parts, but it’s realistic and it is nice to watch how Greg and Rachel handle the situation mostly with good-humour. The funny moments outweigh the sad ones and make this an enjoyable film.

Overall: Realistic, sometimes poignant, and mostly-fun film

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (August 2015)

Official Australian release date: 13/8/15. Viewed: 12/8/15.

Director: Guy Ritchie

Actors: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki

Genre: Action / Adventure

Rating: M       

‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ is a 60s spy film, based on a 60s cold-war-era TV show, and it is great! While spy movies might be overdone this year (‘Mission: Impossible’ 5 just came out, ‘Spectre’ is out in three months and ‘Kingsman’ is similar), there’s always room for fun, classy, well-made films – and Ritchie’s eighth film is up there with ‘Snatch’, in my opinion. It’s certainly as good as, if not better, than the two ‘Sherlock Holmes’ films.

UNCLE stands for “United Network Command for Law and Enforcement”, although you don’t see this until the final credits – it’s just another lame acronym, a la SHIELD. The film keeps lots of it’s 60s elements – the cars, clothes, editing/split screens, the cool yellow/bold subtitles when required and the fantastic score/soundtrack. The story is simple – a KGB agent (Hammer) and a CIA agent (Cavill – Superman himself) are forced to work together with a German (Vikander) to find the bad guys who are making their own nuclear weapons. It’s funny that Cavill is British, playing an American; Hammer is American, playing a Russian; and Vikander is Swedish, playing a German.

The film doesn’t mess around, and while it goes for almost two hours, it is very well paced, with never too much downtime – there’s a car chase in the first 5min, boat chases, plenty of fight scenes and always a joke or funny quip not far away, as the American and Russian take turns to emasculate each other. The chemistry between the three leads is great and makes the film – aided by the Italian scenery – as the film draws you in expertly and has a very satisfying ending. I hope there's more!

Overall: Genuinely fun, classic spy romp.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.   

Man Up (July 2015)

Official Australian release date: 23/7/15. Viewed: 29/7/15.

Director: Ben Palmer

Actors: Lake Bell, Simon Pegg, Rory Williams, Ophelia Lovibond

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M       

‘Man Up’ is a really well made & executed romantic-comedy. It’s a simple story – the old blind-date mix-up, where Jake (Pegg) meets Nancy (Bell), both disillusioned with relationships, but they happen to find each other and have a great night out, before it’s revealed that she’s not his intended blind date.

Very fast-paced (only 85min long), with no time for dull moments, and plenty of laughs throughout to keep everyone happy. Williams is great as the creepy/stalker-ish ‘friend’ and Lovibond plays the starry-eyed, optimistic intended blind-dater. The soundtrack is great and there’s some fun/memorable scenes, including the teens running through the streets, the race to the bar and the fire extinguisher.

What really makes the film work is Pegg’s unflappable charm and his chemistry with Bell, who’s the real star – endearing and unassuming, she’s cute, but also witty and just enjoyable to watch. It’s also refreshing to see Pegg doing something simple. In this film’s case, easy doesn’t = poor.

Overall: The Brits still know how to make great comedies.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.