Produced by: Guymon Casady, David Leitch, Kelly McCormick
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, Zara Michales, Ben Knight.
‘I’m just the stunt guy.’
Ryan Gosling as stunt man Colt Seavers to super star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) brings back the adorable to a tough guy role, ‘Did she say anything about me?’
Because after Colt breaks his back during a stunt on set, he disappears from his girlfriend, camera person, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).
Colt changes his number.
He gets a job parking cars.
Then Colt gets called back to work by Tom’s agent Gail (Hannah Waddingham) directed by none other than his ex, Jody.
Gail tells him Jody wants him back.
Colt definitely wants her back.
He just doesn’t know how to say it. He just does things like cry his eyes out to Taylor Swift and pulls the tie under Jody’s gardening hat snug under her chin.
Did I say adorable?
I was surprised about how much of this movie is a romance between these two: stunt man and camera person turned director.
And as advertised, The Fall Guy is also a stunt movie, based on the TV series from the 80s, filmed in Sydney Australia which is pretty cool, with so very many explosions and I have to say terrible humour.
Think a Post-it note with, ‘Sell cockatoo’ written on one side and on the other, ‘Buy koala.’
The Aussie references hit like a lead balloon.
And the not so subtle dual meaning of the movie storyline and romance was overcooked, as was the fast forward dialogue. It felt like there was one speed and it was run around, talk fast at highly agitated levels and again, explosions. It was too much.
Colt when tied up and trying to talk his way out even talks about movies made with ‘too much.’
But I have to say those hesitations and head flicks from Gosling added just the right amount of giggle because it was subtle.
And yes, the addition of a unicorn to illustrate Colt’s state of mind was clever and genuinely funny.
So, yes there’s a lot of fun here, but unlike the stunts, not all the humour landed.
Based on the Book:American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martine J. Sherwin
Produced by: Emma Thomas p.g.a, Charles Roven p.g.a, Christopher Nolan p.g.a.
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damo, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck with Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh.
‘The most important thing to happen in the history of the world.’
When a film opens with a quote about Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind to then be punished forever in hell, you know you’re in for a heavy ride.
And in the 3 hours of viewing, there was a lot to unpack; the foundation, however, of the film is a character study of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy): the father of the atomic bomb.
There are different threads in the story of the film, as the narrative follows main character Oppenheimer through his introduction, a flash forward in time, then back to his original research and forging of friendships and collaborators such Isidor Rabi (David Krumholtz), Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh) and yes, Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) (and kind of amazing to think of Einstein still alive less than 100 years ago).
At first the film is about the science, about Oppenheimer’s research into quantum mechanics and the idea of a star dying, cooling, the density getting greater and greater creating a gravitational pull so strong that it sucks in everything, even light.
This was the second wave of physicists exploring relativity after Einstein published his theory.
‘Algebra is like sheet music, can you hear the music?’
And Oppenheimer, overseas, absorbed all he could from the universities of England to Germany; he wanted to explore it all, then bring it back to America – no one was researching quantum mechanics in America.
He meets a girl, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) – a member of the Communist party. His brother’s a member too. His personal life is something that is called into question later, the later referenced in black and white, so there’s another layer to the story, like the love life of Oppenheimer is another layer to his personality. His personal life with, later, wife Kitty (Emily Blunt) and children another story added to his life.
Then, World War II breaks out. The atom has been successfully split. Rumours of the Germans working on an atom bomb reach America. They’re already two years ahead.
What choice do they have but to try to beat the Germans because if they don’t, the war, the world is ended.
This is where the suspense ramps up.
It’s the time of creation, collaboration, to experiment and research, the pressure to beat the Germans, while keeping the research secret from the Russians, the threat of spies and suspicion, so the thought of using the bomb is lost in the science of successfully making the weapon.
Then, it’s time for Trinity: the first ignition of the atom bomb’s power.
The way the explosion is captured on screen was like watching rage unfold over and over.
Nolan comes through loud and clear with the way he handles the suspense of the countdown to the explosion and the aftermath literally a tremor in the background of Oppenheimer’s world.
The play of sound and silence and the crackle and vibration all combine like Oppenheimer’s mind has just been set on fire.
There’s the image of many feet stomping and the world softening at the edges to let through a little bit of crazy.
And it feels like this is the end of the story.
But from the beginning, there’s the flash forwards to a time where Oppenheimer is being questioned about his part in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And about his connections to the Communist Party and the suspicion of information leaked to the Russians.
As hinted in the opening of the film, there’s the stealing of fire, then there’s the punishment.
In the film, it feels like the aftermath.
Here is the exploration of guilt.
And there’s a distinct change in feeling as Nolan explores Oppenheimer’s character, showing his exposure as the image of him sitting naked – he layers the feeling.
There’s more to the story than the science and the suspense, Oppenheimer is also about the psychology of a world that now has the capacity to end it – the film continues, and yes it feels long, but the full circle of understanding Oppenheimer and the world’s response to the galactic event of the atom bomb being unleashed needed time to get the full extent of the very human response of the politicians, the scientists who helped create the atom bomb and Oppenheimer.
It’s complicated, suspenseful, political, scientific and psychological. It’s a lot.
But that raging fire and those blurred edges and uncertainty around Oppenheimer’s character to then reveal the truth of all those involved in the creation of the bomb added up to a sophisticated film that demanded full attention.
Somehow, Nolan has captured an aberration using Oppenheimer as a voice. And that takes brilliance.
‘Keep listening,’ signs Regan (Millicent Simmonds), because, A Quiet Place Part II is about the children left, the sons and daughter walking in the footsteps of their father (John Krasinski) so the sequel is a continuation of the previous story, to go, “deeper”: the term John Krasinski (writer and director) used to best describe Part II in the Q&A following the preview screening.
It’s hard not to walk into the cinema with sky high expectations after being blown away by the surprisingly taunt suspense yet moving original (A Quiet Place (2018) got 4.5/5 from me, see review here).
And my expectations were met.
Because the tone and feeling are in the same realm but instead of the surprise of family drama amongst the thrill of surviving a monster invasion – Part II is more than just surviving, this is about hope.
Instead of that linear unfolding of story (remember the nail?!), the suspense here is crushing as the family separates to survive: ‘You got this, you have everything you need,’ Evelyn (Emily Blunt) tells her son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), hand to chest – breathe.
And by separating the characters the film multiplies the number of intense situations. Just waiting, waiting, for that next scare, that hum in the background building to suddenly snap.
I don’t want to give too much away but there’s some clever shifts in time here, seamless, as Marcus remembers Day 1. The invasion.
I wasn’t expecting the father, Lee (John Krasinski) to be back but what a great way to reintroduce the world by going back to the beginning.
There’s that absolute silence that again invites the audience to lean in, to then jump (there are so many jumps!) with explosive action, the audience gasping and twittering as the monsters prowl, purr and claw people apart.
Jumping forward to Day 474. It gets tense.
John went on to say the original was written as a family drama that just happened to be a genre film. That family drama is what made it for me (as well as the suspense, play with sound, story, etc). The father character and the family unit was just so well played the impact still resonates.
So to continue with the family unit but now changed was good but different.
There’s the introduction of friend and neighbour, Emmet (Cillian Murphy).
John describes his character as morally ambiguous and an anchor for the story.
Emmet was an interesting character, a round character that had to be warmed up. But the standout here for me was Millicent as the daughter, Regan: strong, gentle, determined. Just like her mother.
Part II wasn’t quite as good as the original (for me) because some of that, wow this is different, had to be built elsewhere. But with clever direction, steering the tone and build of suspense (really-ramped up this time), while still opening-up the family drama – those scenes of mother and baby so authentic and sweet – made Part II a worthy sequel.
And watching on the big screen, with the audience gasping, jumping and as a whole all holding our breath (breathe) was a treat.
Produced by: David Furnish, Steve Hamilton Shaw, Carolyn Soper
Executive Producer: Elton John
Voices provided by: Emily Blunt (Juliet), Johnny Depp (Sherlock Gnomes), James McAvoy (Gnomeo), Michael Caine (Lord Redbrick), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dr Watson), Maggie Smith (Lady Blueberry).
With a vocal cast of A-grade actors most other films can only dream about, those entertaining garden gnomes are back in a sequel to the 2011 animated comedy Gnomeo and Juliet, which borrowed freely from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Sherlock Gnomes, the 3D computer-animated comedy sequel, you guessed it, uses a lot of the ideas and characters from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic crime sleuth Sherlock Holmes, along with his partner Dr Watson and nemesis Professor Moriarty, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of garden gnomes.
Since the first film the gnomes have been forced to relocate to a new garden in London, where Juliet is so focused on getting everything sorted out or tidied that she has little time for Gnomeo, who tries to keep the romance alive in their relationship.
This situation helps to emphasise the importance of not taking what you have for granted, with Gnomeo and Juliet’s relationship subtly mirroring that of Sherlock and Watson, although the latter relationship is not romantic but more a partnership based on friendship and intellect. It takes a major threat to make Sherlock appreciate Watson’s equal contribution to their crime-solving escapades.
Adults accompanying their children don’t miss out entirely on being entertained, as there are plenty of references throughout the film to classic Sherlock Holmes stories and characters, not that the mostly young audience will be aware of this!
While this film has a fairly straight forward plot, what distinguishes it from other animated fare is the way it doesn’t dumb down the clues, which are quite complicated for Sherlock Holmes to figure out, ensuring audiences are kept engaged and guessing throughout its entirety.
Children will be entertained by the colourful and varied inanimate objects that come to life, and how they interact with each other. The backgrounds are beautifully realised and the animation of the characters is suitably cartoonish as one would expect. The film is quite fast-paced and seems to cram a lot of action, plot and subsidiary characters into its running time, so at least it doesn’t drag.
The catchy soundtrack music is provided by Sir Elton John, the executive producer, who also sings some of the songs, along with other artists who do cover versions from some of his extensive catalogue.
I haven’t seen the first film, but I gathered from my young companion’s comments that unlike Gnomeo and Juliet, which was apparently light and fun with some nice puns and an entertaining supporting cast, Sherlock Gnomes is darker, with less use of the supporting cast from the previous film and more focus on solving the crime, fixing mistakes and renewing relationships that are endangered. Younger viewers may find some of the scenes slightly scary, such as those involving the gargoyles (which look large and menacing but whose personalities balance out their appearance) or Moriarty’s penchant for destroying garden ornaments (although this is never done on screen).
While this film is obviously aimed at a young audience, the presence of such skilled vocal talent, along with lots of sly references to Sherlock Holmes, will hopefully ensure that adults will be entertained as well and not feel punished by having to sit through this animated offering.
Produced by: Michael Bay, p.g.a. Andrew Form, p.g.a. Brad Fuller, p.g.a.
Story by: Bryan Woods & Scott Beck
Screenplay by: Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds and Cade Woodward.
To put it lightly: A Quiet Place is a horrifically quiet family drama.
And I say drama as there’s two layers to this film: how the old familiar wound of guilt effects a family and the way aliens with supersonic hearing can tear any living creature into pieces, seemingly driven by a mission to exterminate.
The film is made simply, staying with Abbott family; husband, Lee (John Krasinski) and wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) doing everything they can to protect their young children after the devastating arrival of aliens 89 days previous to the opening scene.
The only way to survive is to stay quiet.
The audience is shown again and again what happens when the creatures hear, so there’s this constant tension that doesn’t let go for the entire film.
An unpretentious film, with the focus on the Abbott family and their struggle to survive the everyday, I was on the edge the whole time, jumping in fright more than once (not usual for me), living the terror right alongside pregnant Evelyn (need I say more about trying to keep quiet while giving birth) and Lee and the kids, young kids brought up in a world of silent terror.
What really got me was how Lee and Evelyn tried to keep their family safe and happy – trying to be the best parents in the worst circumstances. So there’s this emotional attachment because of the outstanding performances of Blunt, who continues to amaze, showing absolute terror but controlled through hard-won courage, and the drive shown by Krasinski as the husband and father to protect his family: heart breaking.
It’s not often I cry in a suspense horror, but this film had all the best of an edge-of-your-seat-scare-fest with a driving soundtrack (Marco Beltrami) and nasty killing, sharp-fanged monsters alongside the reality of a family trying to survive in the worst of circumstances.
The whole cast was just so believable, you could see the fear in their eyes.
And because the characters couldn’t make sound or speak, the music and facial expression to convey emotion was just so much more important – the quiet to the complete absence of sound when focussed on the eldest child, daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), from her perspective of being deaf changed the whole feeling of the film, like the silence was used to draw you further in so when there was a clash or sudden scare, you could really feel it.
Superficially, a simple story; but the mechanics and thought put into the presentation of the film, the soundtrack, the drama of the family dynamic shown in the facial expressions and eyes of the cast pushed the suspense to maximum.
Based on: ‘The Girl on the Train’ by Paula Hawkins
Starring: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramírez; Lisa Kudrow.
Alcoholism, restlessness; hurt – The Girl on the Train is a film about the possibilities, the capabilities of someone lost.
The focus of the film surrounds the mystery of the main character, Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) watching the world go by through the window of a train.
Sure, Rachel’s got her problems: she drinks, she lies, she has blackouts, and she wants what she can’t have. And the audience, watching the world with her, sympathise: her heart’s in the right place – right?
But the slow reveal of Rachel’s unravelling makes us wonder just what she’s capable of.
And there lies the mystery. What is really happening here? Just how lost is Rachel?
The Girl on the Train is a movie of perspectives. Of what people see compared to what goes on behind closed doors. This is a film about what’s revealed to the audience and when. And I think the mystery was handled well by director Tate Taylor (who won a BAFTA Award for best adapted screenplay for, Help (2011)).
I’m just going to say it – I found the book a slow read. So for once and a rarity for me to say, the condensing of the story into a movie length narrative made for a more dramatic reveal. The film concentrated on the main thrust of the story, of Rachel, of her illness, about her blackouts; about what actually happened on that fateful day.
No one can say that Emily Blunt can’t act, and indeed, her acting kept The Girl on the Train firmly on track. Blunt is phenomenal in Sicario (2015), one of my favourites and I recently re-watched Looper (2012) – another fantastic movie starring Blunt. I like her authentic, down-to-earth style and think she’s fast becoming one of the greats. And her performance here is to be commended.
Also to note was the performance of Haley Bennett as the saucy Megan Hipwell and Justin Theroux as Rachel’s ex, Tom Watson.
In conclusion, I have to say there’s no real punch here and I wasn’t on the edge-of-my-seat, but The Girl on the Train is an absorbing mystery, shown well.
Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin.
I can’t fault this film.
This is a story of Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) an FBI Critical Incident Response Group Agent, thrown into the world of a Mexican drug cartel and the CIA’s fight to control the violence. And like Kate, we, the audience don’t know where it’s all going to lead.
This was a very well thought-out film: story, characters, soundtrack, cinematography and editing all combined to create tension and to keep the audience guessing.
Sicario is more about the tension then violence. If the violence didn’t add to the story, then it wasn’t included. Clever devices and the imagination of the audience was left to piece the action together.
The cinematography (Roger Deakins) was a stand out for me: skies of rain, grainy black and green, infra-red; the silhouette of figures in army fatigue against an apricot sunset. The change in the visual imagery was used to create different moods and to keep the eye interested. With the ominous (there really is no other word) soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson adding to the darkness and intensity.
There are some great characters here. Particularly Alejandro, played by Benicio del Toro (fans of The Usual Suspects will recognise) – likable yet terrifying. And I have to say I enjoyed the added texture of Spanish throughout the film. Matt, played by Josh Brolin (think, No Country for Old Men, also cinematography by Roger Deakins and another favourite of mine) was also a very interesting, well-rounded character who could make you laugh, but then turn you cold with a smile. I will be on the lookout for any upcoming films featuring Josh Brolin.
But it really comes down to the directing in the end. Denis Villeneuve has been around for a while: Incendies, (2010), Maelström (2000), Prisoners (2013). He is also set to direct the sequel to Blade Runner – very exciting stuff!
Denis Villeneuve is fast becoming a name to look out for.
If you haven’t watched Sicario yet, you’re in for a treat.
