Casino Royale

Casino Royale is directed by Martin Campbell & stars Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench & Mads Mikkelsen.

Casino Royale is Daniel Craig's debut in the role of James Bond, and a film that represents a major change in tone for the classic British series. While before he was a suave, (quite cheesy) ladies man, Bond is now a violent, cold-hearted killer right at the start of his career as a 00 agent. The first scene of the film is shot in black and white, which illustrates this new direction from the get-go. It switches between Bond conducting his first two kills, a feat which is required to become a 00. The first (chronologically) is brutal & uncontrolled; He fights the second victim's agent in a bathroom, smashing his head against the wall and drowning him in the sink. The second assassination is in a posh office building. Bond is wearing classic black spy clothes and has a silenced pistol, having a calm conversation with his opponent before shooting him dead in one shot. The juxtaposition of these opposite murders develops Bond's character in a single scene, showing how the more you kill, the easier it gets. This scene ends with the classic shot of 007 shooting down the middle of the screen before the red blood drips down the scene, which reassures fans that despite the fact that this is so different, it is still James Bond.

Daniel Craig is perfect to take Bond into this brand new direction, pulling off both a tough & empty alcoholic assassin and a charismatic spy. Obviously, his performance carries the film, and the series would not be as good as it is now without him. Another highlight is Eva Green, who plays Vesper Lynd, what some people may call the 'Bond Girl' of the film. However, like Daniel Craig, this portrayal was completely different to any of Green's predecessors. Before her, all a Bond Girl was was an object for 007 to save and then presumably sleep with. In this film, Vesper is actually a strong character who is a match for Bond on an intellectual level, and Eva Green plays her perfectly. This makes the love story between them believable, but more importantly, all the more heart-breaking when she eventually betrays him.

A special mention must be given to the film's opening title sequence. After the aforementioned dripping blood shot, we enter into an incredible sequence based on the idea of playing cards backed by this film's song- 'You Know My Name' by Chris Cornell. This sequence shows the viewer all the main themes of the film, as well as the characters, in an extremely visually appealing way. The song is also great- like the rest of the film it brings the classic tradition of every Bond film into the 21st century.

Casino Royale reboots Bond into a brand new, modern spy franchise, while still remaining faithful to the almost 50 years of cinema before it. Many elements are made more appropriate for films and audiences of today, while others are kept exactly the way they were, as THESE are what made the James Bond franchise the quintessential British classic that it is.  

Birdman

Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and stars Michael Keaton. Co-stars include Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis.

Birman is an extremely interesting film to watch, because it appears as though it is all filmed in one continuous shot. There are no clear cuts (although obviously there are some, shooting a two hour film in one go would be near impossible), with all scene changes managed by the camera either panning away to the next one, transitioning through TV screens, or even a transition made possible by one characters drug hallucinations. This effect obviously makes watching the film a very smooth experience, with every shot transition visually logical, but this can sometimes be confusing as well. As a viewer, it is sometimes hard to tell how one particular scene connects to the previous one, as although you can see how the camera got there, you can't always tell why. For example, when you have just watched a scene that follows Michael Keaton's character Riggan Thompson, the camera pans away, only to land on Riggan again, only this time he is in a completely different setting and scenario. This can be extremely confusing, as you can't tell how much time has passed in between each scene, or what is actually happening at the moment.

Despite this however, the cinematography in this film is outstanding- the one continuous shot is still extremely impressive, leaving you often wondering when they cut and how long this scene has been rolling for. It also makes the viewer feel like they really are watching real events through their own eyes, as if they are present with the characters of the film.

Another important aspect of Birdman is the duality between the life of Riggan Thompson and that of his real life actor Michael Keaton. In the film, Riggan is an ex-superstar: The man who played the legendary superhero Birdman in a trilogy of blockbuster films. The problem is that most film critics feel that these films were dragged out too long for the purposes of making a prophet, rendering Riggan "not a real actor". This is a direct parallel to Michael Keaton, who was a comedian before landing the role of a lifetime- Batman. He made 2 films helmed by Tim Burton, before leaving the franchise because the studio wanted to make it more child friendly. This new direction was very poorly received, nearly leading to the permanent demise of Batman in cinema, before Christopher Nolan revived it with the Dark Knight Trilogy. The poor reception of the later Batman film franchise meant Keaton found it hard to find work in the 90's and early 2000's. This made Birdman a huge comeback for him into the world of "real acting" once again, just like the play Riggan is writing in the film.

All of this means that in my opinion, the plot of the film itself, which is by no means bad, takes a back seat (or is vastly improved) by the knowledge of the meaning behind the film, and its cinematography.  

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron is directed by Joss Whedon and stars... Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, James Spader & Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on the 23rd April 2015.

'Age of Ultron' is the follow-up to the HUGELY successful 'Avengers Assemble', and is the 12th movie in the titanic moneymaking machine known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU for short. This means it has a lot to live up to, especially since in many people's eyes, Marvel hasn't yet put out a truly bad film, but is this one a different story? Or in fact, does it up the anti to never before seen heights that will truly change films forever?

Well, neither really. While it is definitely not bad, and probably even good, it certainly doesn't live up to expectations and all feels somewhat rushed, as if the Marvel bosses were looming over Joss Whedon telling him that he needs to fit absolutely every story arc into the film.

The film opens with a great scene set in Sokovia, a fictional eastern-european country. In it, the Avengers are raiding a HYDRA base in search of Loki's sceptre from the first film, fighting their way in through a snowy forest. Whedon opens with what looks to be one continuous shot that still covers the actions of all the characters, concluding in a fantastic group shot that was probably made specifically for the trailers. As usual with movies of such a large budget, the CGI is almost photorealistic, highlights being Iron Man and the Hulk, who is believable despite being an "enormous green rage monster".
This scene also begins what some feel is a more negative feature of the film, the incessant quipping and joking from all the characters, including the villain Ultron, no matter how serious the situation they are in. While these are mostly funny, and are there to make sure younger viewers will still enjoy the film, they feel a little excessive after a certain point in the film.

Age of Ultron globe trots a lot more than its predecessor, visiting New York, Wakanda (another fictional country, this time in Africa), Seoul, London & a farm in rural America as well as Sokovia. This means that there is great variety in the cinematography of the film, with some locations being bright and vibrant, and others dark and dull. The vast amount of locations also provides numerous situations for the characters to get stuck in, upping the anti from Avengers 1's singular main location of New York.

As you may expect, the performances are all great- all the returning cast retain their previous standard, most notably Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, who has a lot more to do this time with a much more fleshed out character. The new additions to the cast are also good: Elizabeth Olsen turns in a great performance as the mystical Scarlett Witch, as does Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver. Many people as criticised him in this film because the same character was portrayed 'better' by Evan Peters in 2014's 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', but I feel that both performances are incredibly different and therefore shouldn't be compared. Finally, James Spader's titular character 'Ultron' is witty, threatening, and surprisingly emotional for what is basically a glorified robot.

In conclusion, Age of Ultron is a good follow up to the Avengers, and while it doesn't quite reach the same heights as before, it still provides a fun 2 hour adventure across the world, even if it is a bit heavy on the humour at times.

What Makes 'Hush' British

Hush is a 2008 film directed by Mark Tonderai, and, similar to '10 Rillington Place', has many clear signs that show that it is a British Film. To start with, the setting of the film, a pile-up on the M1, is an instantly recognisable location for most people living in Britain, whether or not they have actually driven on that motorway, since they are all very similar. In addition, the dark, rainy atmosphere present throughout the entire film is quintessential to the UK, which is famous for its seemingly constant downpour of weather that it possesses. The main characters are also from Northern England, going by their accents and location of the M1, which further ties the film to this country in particular.

Behind the scenes the film ticks many of the boxes required to be a British Film as well, with the director being from London, and most of the money funding the film originating in the UK too. The British Film Council, as well as Film4, a popular TV channel, provided the majority of Hush's £1000000 budget, as well as a few other smaller companies from this country. One notable exception from the British cast of the film is Andreas Wisniewski, who plays the villain of the film, called 'The Tarman'. He is from Germany, which is odd, because his character doesn't actually have any lines in the film, and his face is never shown, so any actor of a similar build could have played the part identically.   

What Makes '10 Rillington Place' British

The first and foremost reason that 10 Rillington Place is British is the fact that it is set in, unsurprisingly, 10 Rillongton Place, which is in Notting Hill, London. This of course also means that all of the main characters are from the UK, with Mr Christie having a slightly cockney accent and John Hurt's character clearly originating in Wales. Also present in the film itself is a British court trial with a jury, and capital punishment by hanging, something which at the time of the film was legal in this country.

Behind the scenes, the film is distinctly British as well. The director, cast, and crew are mostly all British themselves, and the money behind the film comes from the British Film Council (?). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the film is based on a true story of events that actually happened in England, which makes it an authentic British film more than anything.

Chef

'CHEF' is directed by and stars Jon Favreau, and was released on the 30th May 2014. Guest Stars include John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson & Robert Downey Jr.

The film tells the story of Carl Casper (played by Jon Favreau), a chef working in Los Angeles who's food critics once raved about. However, he is suffering creative differences with the owner of the restaurant that he works at (Dustin Hoffman), who wants to continue selling the same food they have always sold, while Casper wants to innovate with new and fresh ideas. Everything comes to a head when a big critic is coming to review the restaurant, which eventually leads to Carl suffering a breakdown in front of him.

Social Media is a big catalyst for this, and the way the Chef utilises it is very clever and inventive, perfectly mirroring how these things work today, the film having only come out last year. Twitter is the main form shown, and its nuances as a service are shown perfectly by the not exactly technically-minded Carl, who mistakes a tweet to the world as a private message, leading to the events mentioned above. His millennial son Percy is the polar opposite to this, who of course knows exactly how all of this stuff works and is therefore able to use it to his fathers advantage when trying to attract customers when they travel the country in the second half of the film.

When a character sends a tweet, there is a clever visual representation too. The words appear next to the character as they are typing them, in a style akin to that of BBC's Sherlock, and when it is sent, a small bird flutters from it and off the screen, which is a great way to show how something 'flies' from your phone on to the world wide web.

The musical score in Chef is outstanding. It is comprised of a wide variety of Latin American songs and other music, which fits the feel-good tone of the film perfectly. It is all up-beat and dance-worthy, with even the more sombre parts of the film (not that there are many) accompanied with a more positive tune so the audience don't get too sad. It really is one of the best parts of the film.

Another highlight is the extensive guest cast. John Leguizamo puts in a great performance as Carl's sous chef Martin, as does Sofia Vergara, who plays his ex-wife Inez. As they are both Latin actors themselves, they only strengthen the film's ties to South America. Back at the restaurant, Dustin Hoffman's is instantly unlikeable as stick in the mud 'Riva', and Scarlett Johansson's waitress Molly provides some great comedic scenes with Favreau, as well as some more heartfelt ones. Finally Robert Downey Jr. himself plays Chef Casper's ex-wife's ex-husband Marvin. As usual, he plays a heightened version of himself, but this time he is more unlikeable while still entertaining, clearly thinking he is better than Carl every minute he is one screen with him. 

In fact, my only negative with Chef is this: I think it should be 20 minutes longer. While it is a relatively low budget film, which may have affected its length, I feel that the end was too contrived, so that once the road trip ended, the whole film decided to as well. This wouldn't be a problem, except that Favreau still needed to wrap up the story at this point, leading to a final scene that squashes too many events into one.

Despite this minor drawback, 'Chef' is still one of my favourite films of all time, and I am sad that so few people know of it's existence. It just makes you feel happy, a theme that itself is present in the story, and every role is masterfully acted. While it could be a little longer, what is here is a Latin Masterpiece.