Hannibal - Bon Appétit

Hannibal is perhaps the only current network drama series worth watching, and certainly the only that stands up to shows by FX and HBO. The series is an adaptation not of the novel Hannibal, but is an original story featuring characters in Robert Harris' novels. The film follows the lead character of Will Graham, FBI special agent who was also featured in Red Dragon, and Dr Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant gifted psychologist, who helps the FBI in their investigations.

The series is fantastically plotted, suspenseful and tense, and the creators do a good job of maintaining the psychologically thrilling elements of The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. The film is not especially gory, although there are occasional moments of gore. The series is visually highly distinctive, and everything has a certain beauty about it, even the bodies. The series plots Hannibal Lecter as a gifted gastronomist with a highly evolved sense of smell, and food is an important plot point at many moments in the series, Lecter is known for throwing extravagant dinner parties, and he prepares food much in the same way that he dissects corpses, with an almost obsessive precision and elegance.

The series features fantastic performances from it's leads, and the chemistry between Graham and Lecter is almost tangible. Hugh Dancy gives a fantastic performance as Will Graham, a criminal profiler and psychopath with an ability to empathy with serial killers that both terrifies and exhilarates him, it also makes him frighteningly good at catching killers, and useful to the FBI. Dancy is fantastic in the role, and is perfect as the obsessive, catatonic Graham, he plays the role differently to those before him, and is more relatable and empathetic than Norton or Peterson.

Also fantastic is Mads Mikkelsen, who portrays Hannibal Lecter, Mikkelsen has an overwhelmingly difficult part to play, as this role was so iconically played by Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. Mikkelsen's performance in the series is absolutely fantastic, and he differentiates his performance from Hopkins' by making his character colder, darker and more threatening. Hopkins performance was witty and darkly funny, with fast lines and crime dialogue. Mikkelsen's performance is highly different, and he is deadly serious, never smiles, and always seems to be one step ahead, every action seems to be precise and thought out, and Lecter is threateningly intelligent.

Hannibal is a stylish and thrilling series, intelligently plotted and highly suspenseful, the series remains faithful to the spirit of the original novels and the original films, and yet it expands the world of the books and adapts it for a modern audience. The series features fantastic performances and chemistry between its leading actors. Visually the series is stunning and atmospherically beautiful, and the series is the only network show capable of rivaling cable and online television series. Rating:A-

  
"Did you really feel so bad because killing him felt so good?" 

Everyone Hustles to Survive

American Hustle is a 2013 film, directed and written by David O. Russell starring a large ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner. The film is loosely adapted from the ABSCAM sting operation which the FBI undertook during the late seventies. The film is highly fictionalized, and the characters are essentially charicatures of their real life counterparts.

The performances in the film are astounding, and it is worth seeing simply for these alone. Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper have great chemistry, and Amy Adams does a fantastic job of playing a woman who has played so many different people in order to survive, that she has forgotten who she is, plus her british accent is fantastic. But this films real star is Jennifer Lawrence, i have perhaps been a little zealous in my praise of Lawrence in the past, but in this film she really is great. Playing above her years, Lawrence plays a role far too old for her, yet she slips seamlessly into the role, playing a woman who is unstable and manipulative.

The film is fantastic fun, although not as funny as i expected it to be, this is perhaps an example of why you should not read other reviews before seeing a film, but all the reviews said that this film was hilarious, and although it does have occasional moments of hilarity, it falls short of being side splittingly funny. The film is however fantastic fun, featuring great music, lots of dancing, fantastic costumes and wigs that would make a drag queen jealous. For anyone that loves the BeeGees or who likes a perm, American Hustle is sure to delight.

The film also features a fantastic script, and the dialogue feels natural. It comes as no surprise to me that a majority of the film was improvised, and that character is often more important than plot or story. The film gives us detailed three dimensional characters that we are able to root for, despite their flaws or manipulative behaviour.

Overall, i enjoyed American Hustle, although not as much as i expected, David O. Russell's direction is sublime and the chemistry and characterization feel detailed. Despite being perhaps not as funny as it deserves to be, American Hustle is fun, oddly educational and exquisitely performed, a film that is masterfully crafted. Rating: B

Everybody hustles to survive

Spring Breakers Vs The Bling Ring

Well i recently watched Spring Breakers, and i am happy to report that i was pleasantly surprised, i found the film to be surprisingly beautiful and well directed, if being perhaps a little pretentious. Earlier this year, just before the summer break i wandered through the murky sun drenched streets to see The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola's latest directorial effort. Spring Breakers is about a group of college age girls, who rob a fast food restaurant to have enough money to go on spring break, and who descend into a violent subculture of guns, sex and gang warfare.

What differentiates these films most of all is their narrative structure, The Bling Ring is based upon an article by Nancy Jo Sales that first appeared in Vanity Fair, and the film uses the researching of this article to tell the story. The film uses interviews with the films protagonists in order to tell the story, and the film has a tight chronological narrative structure. Spring Breakers on the other hand is more of a collection of images, and the film uses repetitive narration and imagery to tell the story, and the story is much less tightly structured, and narration from scenes at the beginning of the film will be reused at the end.

What also differentiates these films is the motivations of the protagonists, the protagonists of Spring Breakers are motivated not by greed or materialism, but by a culture that has conditioned them to believe that spring break has to be a kind of agressive fun. When the girls get to florida they engage in activities that are repetitive and boring, yet they tell everyone that they are having a fantastic time and that Florida is somehow spiritual. The motivations of The Bling Ring are somewhat different, their crimes are motivated by materialism and by a worship of celebrity culture, their crimes aren't actually committed in the pursuit of things or objects themselves, but by wanting to feel like celebrities themselves, and by wanting to belong to this world.

These films do share similarities in that they both feature spectacular performances in supporting roles. In Spring Breakers, James Franco has a star turn as Alien, a rapper and gangster who pulls these girls into his world of guns, sex and drugs. In The Bling Ring, Emma Watson plays Nicki, a young, glass eyed woman entirely devoid of any personality, Watson is fantastically manipulative in this role, and she proves that it is possible to play a person devoid of personality, who is not a boring or two dimensional.

The films also look different, The Bling Ring is shot in a vaguely cinema verité style, using handheld techniques and digital cameras. Spring Breakers on the other hand uses a more indie feeling, with day glo colors and slow, smooth camera movements. Both films are interesting as showing aspects of youth culture and trash culture, however both films fail to show us inside the heads of their main characters, particularly Spring Breakers, and we never know why they commit these acts. However i enjoyed both films, and i commend their daring and spunk.

Sex Drugs and Debauchery - The Wolf Of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street was the nickname of Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker, trader and convicted criminal who worked in Manhattan during the 1980's as the founder of Straton Oakmont, a brokerage house. The Wolf of Wall Street is also an autobiography written by Belfort in 1999 recounting his escapades during the 80's. Finally The Wolf of Wall Street is also a 2013 film directed by legend Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The screenplay of The Wolf of Wall Street was penned by Terrence Winter, writer of The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire.

The film is essentially a satire of the hedonism of the eighties, while the events portrayed here are apparently accurate and mirror the events spoken of in the source materiel, events which are allegedly real, they are evidently exaggerations. I have no doubt that there really were raucous parties, sex and drugs in the office, and wild continuous drug use, the events shown here outshine anything humanly possible, events from throwing a dwarf at a target, to workers having sex in the office bathroom outside of the cubicle and Belfort pouring an entire vial of cocaine down his nose. Everything in this movie is larger than life, the parties are bigger the people are larger, the sex is wilder and the women are hotter. The Wolf of Wall Street uses satire to intensely criticize the debauchery of this era. Instead of Belmont's ship simply running into turbulent waters, the boat is seen as being flooded, hitting 20 foot waves and the helicopter and jet-skis falling into the water, with the ship finally sinking. Although some may see this film as simply a good ride, and many have criticized it for glamorizing the insane acts portrayed, the film uses hyperbole to show us how ridiculous and destructive this kind of behavior can be.

This is certainly not the kind of film you would want to watch with your parents. The first scene manages to accurately set the tone for the rest of the movie with Jordan Belfort seen snorting coke of a hookers buttocks. The drug use during this film is extensive, most of the main characters are seen relying heavily on drugs particularly quaaludes and cocaine.Characters are also seen drinking and smoking almost constantly and sex plays a huge role in this movie, sex is always being bought, sold or exchanged. In a sense the length of the film and sheer amount of graphic content is needed firstly to portray true events accurately, but also so that towards the end of the film, when we have finally become desensitized to all this, do we truly see how reprehensible and despicable these characters are. One must always remember that at it's heart, this film is still essentially a parody, and one wonders if perhaps we have become so alienated by films such as Scary Movie, that we no longer recognize an intelligent parody when we see one.

The film, in-keeping with its categorization as a black comedy, features numerous instances of faux commercials, and characters breaking the fourth wall, this is a clever way of using the first person, as it subtly reminds the audience that this is based on a memoir, and that it is a first person account, without using any heavy handed narration, there are also moments of Belfort correcting various facts, these feel like a nice touch, and add to the ambiance of the entire piece. The film features a fantastic cast, and DiCaprio shines in what is possibly his best performance yet, funny, charismatic and energetic. Leonardo DiCaprio cements his place as one of the most diverse, daring actors working in Hollywood today.

The supporting cast is also very strong, newcomer Margot Robbie shines in a breakout performance and the always electrifying Jonah Hill gives a fun performance as a truly reprehensible character. This film proves Scorsese's skill at directing actors, and the acting in this film is of a high standard. The direction is superb and the film is beautifully shot, i thank god that Scorsese didn't stoop to the lows of shaky-cam, and the film has a gorgeous smooth feel and look. I will admit that i don't really understand all of the criticisms of The Wolf of Wall Street, the film, although portraying some truly despicable behavior, the film satirizes this behaviour, and attempts to show us how ridiculous and desperate it is, just to be clear, this film is not a how to guide as some have misconstrued.

To be honest, i have very little bad things to say, it is energetic, fun and hedonistic. This satirical comedy is well acted, surely directed and features a strong screenplay. This film featuring one of the best performances seen by Leonardo DiCaprio in a motion picture, and a strong performance by newcomer Margot Robbie is a rambunctious infectious romp. But most of all, it's just really really good fun. Rating: A

"My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week."

Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a 2013 crime drama film starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck as star crossed outlaws, living in Texas, they are caught and Affleck's character Bob is put in jail just as his wife Ruth falls pregnant with their first child, a daughter. Years later Bob makes a daring escape from prison to be reunited with his wife and daughter, who he has never seen.

The film stars Rooney Mara as Ruth Guthrie and Casey Affleck as Bob Muldoon, star crossed lovers and outlaws. During a shootout Ruth shoots a police officer, and Bob takes the fall for it. Ruth has his child and then waits for him, all the wile pondering on the state of their relationship and what to do with her life. The film features a fantastic cast, Rooney Mara gives a dense, complex and conflicted performance as a woman raising her child as a single mother, and struggling to deal with her guilt, her loneliness and her conflicted feelings about her husband. Ben Forter also stands out as Patrick Wheeler, a sheriff who hunts for Bob, and who has to deal with his feelings for Ruth.

The film, despite featuring fantastic performances, suffers from a thin script a wanting plot. Much of the story of the film involves Bob trying to get back to his wife, and Ruth trying to reconcile her feelings for her husband. Despite this being a rather interesting premise, it wears thin after a while, and the film starts to become melodramatic, and only really regains any momentum during the final half hour, the problem is that the film features various characters talking about going places, and leaving Texas, however ironically the film never really seems to go anywhere, and there is very little emotional progression throughout the movie.

The film is undeniably beautiful, and won the best cinematography award at Sundance. The film features beautiful Terrence Malick imagery of sunsets and clouds, and is yet another American film in the style of Mud or Upstream Color featuring beautiful imagery and cinematography. Overall Ain't Them Bodies Saints, despite featuring beautiful cinematography and fantastic performances from it's leads, has a plot which ultimately wears thin and descends into melodrama after the first hour. Rating: B-

Bob Muldoon: Every day I wake up thinking today’s the day I’m gonna see you. And one of those days it will be so. And then we can ride off to somewhere, somewhere far away.