Quantum of Shitice

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Well it’s upon us – the new bond film is here. Again another review that’s gonna be a bit behind everyone elses, but this time I wanted to think things through.

I’m gonna start by saying that I loved casino royale, the rawness and gritty nature of the film gave it an edge that made it feel like a true espionage film rather than an effects outting (granted the million sony references in the film were a tad annoying – but nevermind). The story had an involving plot that took you all the way to a heartbreaking climax – and left it in such a good place for an amazing sequel.

I’ve yet to see this sequel. What we are presented with instead is a film that feels lifeless and dull. The main problem is the plot – which seems to be missing. The film itself has no purpose whatsoever, no momentum, no climax – seriousously, it goes no-where. It’s like the writers (if they can call themselves that) sat down in a room and said; “right guys, let’s have james mill around for and hour and forty five – and throw in a few cameo’s from the last film, that’ll sell”. Then for some reason, they hired marc foster to point a few cameras in the vague direction of the actors – or so it would seem, as this film lacks any kind of direction. The other thing it lacks is anything ‘bond’. Gone are all the phrases, gone is the trademark gun-barrel opener (granted it appears at the end), gone is the vodka martini, gone is th…etc.

I’m not even gonna bother talking about the song, that speaks for itself really – i’m going to get onto the good points (there are a couple). Firstly some of the camera work is very good – foster may have forgotton to direct the actors in the scene, but he does know how to frame a good shot, and consequently the film itself looks very pretty, this is also helped by some of the locations and design, which – unlike the rest of the film – seem to have been thought through.

The other thing worth noting is craig as bond – he has embraced the role, and his portrayal is both excellent and consistant, he really has been let down by poor production values.

All in all not great, its a 5/10 (as it at least features the noise of an aston martin, and the ‘we are teachers on sabbatical – and we’ve just won the lottery’ line is geneious). But seriously i’d rather watch die another day over this because at least the stupidness of it kept me amused.

Nothing else matters except for the bullet in your head

What a weekend reading was this year – two amazing headliners (NO not the killers – they sucked) – metallica and rage against the machine.

The latter of the two did feel a bit dissapointing for some reason. It was nothing to do with the attitude of the band or the music – something lacked. It may have been due to the fact that all of the bands this year were unbelievably quiet (except for metallica who rather awsomely payed a £10,000 fine to have their set louder). Serioulsy, festival republic need to address the issue because there were some amazing acts, but the sound was so bad it made them unaudible. You could hear the subwoofers over the main speakers, and that should say it all really, nevermind though…

The acts this year were far better than seen at reading last year (which was an aweful year – razorshite can take their ‘music’ and stick it up their…), with two legendary bands being the main attraction. Metallica were awesome and they played a truely thunderous set of classics and showcased some new material. The only song that was left out that would have made the set perfect was battery. However the bands actual performance demonstrated why they are so highly acclaimed. Rage were rage – no other way to put it. They came on in a controvertial manner (dressed as P.O.Ws) and made political comments left right and center – but the music was amazing, the renegades lived up to much of their hype and proved that they are still as relevant today as they were 10 years ago.

Another highlight was that of bullet for my valentine who put on an amazing show – and screamed their way through songs that would scare smallish children and make your grandfather shout: ‘TURN IT DOWN YOU YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPERS’. Great stuff.

All in all a great weekend.

How about a magic trick?

Sorry this has taken longer to put up than first anticipated, but here it is – my review of The Dark Knight.

At the start of the film we find bruce wayne in a position of some success – things have been going well for the billionaire and his alter ego batman, with the mob bosses afraid and unsure of what to do about the batman. It is for this reason that they turn to a dark and unpredictable character known only as ‘The Joker’, who promises to kill the Batman. However he proves even to much for the mob bosses and gotham is soon launched into anarchy.

The one thing that seems to be key throughout the film is story – which is highly developed and very well written. It is a deep and involving piece that truley makes you feel part of a larger world. The other majorly strong point in the film is the class of acting – it is amazing. A lot of people went on about how good heath ledgers performance is – and it has been worth the wait. But for me the performance that steals the show is Aaron Eckhaart as the troubled DA Harvey Dent. His rise and fall is so well done and believable that it just clinches it over Ledger for me. That said Harvey Dent never really becomes a villain in the film – more of a mislead idealist.

Ledger however does provide us with probably the best on screen villain seen in cinema for certainly this decade and probably the last. The balance in his character is perfect between funny and psychopathic, and thankfully he appears in all the right places within the film and isn’t overused.

There are however a few niggly things with the film – firstly I feel Bruce/Batman could have been shown to be having his ‘one-rule’ (not killing people) put into more question. There seems to be very little debate about the issue within his character and I feel this could have been expanded on. Secondly hyper-kinetic editing at the end of the movie felt a little to confusing (lots of blue light – people who’ve seen it will understand what I mean).

However these are minor issues on an amazing achievement, and they do not detract from that.

The Dark knight is both involving and entertaining – the balance and the pace of the film is just right and everything is strangely believable. A must see for everyone (although the 12A certificate is a bit mis-leading – this should have been a 15)

10/10