Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Written By: Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avery

Produced By: Lawrence Bender

Cast: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis

Plot: There are three separate storylines featured within the film, but are told in a non-linear sequence, told out of sequence. They focus on hitmen Vincent Vega (Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Jackson) and prize fighter, Butch Coolidge (Willis) All three stories intertwine and connect with each other in certain points.

The film is automatically a modern classic, but is also a timeless piece of art. Tarantino has been inspired by several 70's gangster features. However, he was able to create something entirely different and changed the crime genre completely. Each character has two sides to them. One side being completely calm and sociable, and the other being defensive and violent, but without being completely mindless. There is a substantial amount of character development and we get to see all aspects of their personalities without deviating away from the plot.

The cast is absolutely superb, with fantastic performances all round. I was particularly impressed with Bruce Willis character, Butch Coolidge. Willis usually plays the typical action hero in most of his films, and there is certainly action involved for his character, but he gets to branch out and show his emotion towards Madeiros' character, Fabienne. This breaks away from the majority of Willis' films, and I was impressed because I didn't think that he had the ability to show that side of a characters personality.

Much like Tarantino's other films, the feature is shot in an innovative style, with a mix of violence and humour thrown together, this could potentially be homage to Stanley Kubricks 'A Clockwork Orange', as that film also mixes violence and humour. Pulp Fiction was like the Star Wars of its generation.  Because it was seen as more of an Indie film rather than a blockbuster, It inspired many unknown directors to try to do as Tarantino did.

The film is fantastic, and a timeless piece of art.

By Eammon Jacobs

Upcoming films

 Up coming Films

Within the next few years, there are going to be some monumental films entering our cinemas, The Avengers (Marvel Comic's Superhero team up) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy- Based on the book of the same name, and Rise of the Planet Of The Apes, and Paranormal Activity 3 just to name a few.

First off, thundering into cinemas within the next week is Joe Johnstone's take on Captain America: The First Avenger. This film is kicking off The Avengers series that Marvel Comics Studios has comissioned. It sees a scrawny, Americanarmy reject become a super soldier to take on the Nazis. Chris Evans (The Losers, Fantastic Four) is taking on the lead role and the rumour is that he has signed on for three more pictures. I have a high expectation of this film, particularly because it is a great story, alongside a great cast (Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper). Marvel Comics Studios have already given the green light for the sequel, this shows that the film has alot of potential, but also room for some (aggressive?) expansion. It will be released on July 22nd, 2011.

Conan The Barbarian is the remake of the 1982 film starring Arnold Schwarzenneger, this time however, the gargantuan fighter is played by a reasonably unknown actor, Jason Momoa. The film was originally going to start production in 2003 and would've featured Shwarzenneger as an older version of Conan, therefore creating a trilogy of the Conan films. But due to his election as governor of California this was deemed impossible. Whether or not the film will be successful lies upon if it has a substantial plot, or just a mindless bloodbath. At this stage, it looks as though it is in between. It will be released August 26th, 2011.



Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows is the sequel to Guy Ritchies 2009 hit, Sherlock Holmes in which he is also directing. Robert Downey Jr.(Iron Man, Iron Man 2) reprises his role as the title character. Also returning is Jude Law as his partner, Dr Watson. The apparant new comers are, Noomi Rapace (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) as the mysterious Gypsy named Sim, and Jared Harris (Fringe) as Professor Moriarty. Also making an appearance is Stephen Fry, playing Sherlock's brother, Mycroft Holmes. It is unclear as to what the plot is yet, but from watching the trailer it is clear that mayhem is most definitely going to be caused. Hopefully, the second film shall live up to the fantastic plot of the first film, and it looks as though it is certainly going to be another achievement for Guy Ritchie. It will be released on December 16th, 2011.

The Amazing Spider-Man is the reboot of Sam Rami's 2002 film starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. This time around, Andrew Garfield, the co-star of The Social Network and has one of the leads in Never Let me Go, is playing the hapless student turned superhero. Although no promotional poster has been released to the media yet, there have been several pictures of Andrew Garfield in this new version of the suit. However,I cannot help but wonder if it is too soon for a reboot of the franchise, since Spider-Man 3 was released in 2007. However, this is not a remake of the first film, this time, there is a different plot entirely. The villain that he is being pitted against this time, is The Lizard, played by Rhys Ifans. Peter's love interest from the majority of the comics, and all three films, Mary-Jane Watson, will not be featured. However, the character Gwen Stacy from the early comics is going to feature as Peter's love interest and will be played by Zombieland star, Emma Stone. The film is going to be released in both 3D and 2D on July 13th 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises  is the round up to Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy, a reboot of the 1980's films. Christian Bale is once again suiting up as Gotham City's Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan has set the bar for Superhero films with the first two of his dark and gritty installments. Superhero's can no longer be equipped with latex suits and cheesy one-liners, they must now be something more. Nolan and his brother Jonathan (both have written the screenplay) have both confirmed that the villain will not be Mr Freeze or The Riddler. In the last month however, pictures have surfaced of Inception star, Tom Hardy, as Bane, the villain who becomes incredibly muscley after pumping himself full of a dangerous toxin. Anne Hathaway has been confirmed as Catwoman, Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotillard have both stated their involvement with the film. Nolan has confirmed that Batman's sidekick, Robin, will not be appearing in this film, as Batman is still too young, however there have been rumours that he will carry on the franchise, so Batman and Robin could be his next feature. A U.K release date has not been set as of yet, but the U.S release date is July 20th , 2012.

Rubber

Rubber

Directed By: Quentin Dupieux

Written By: Quentin Dupiex

Produced By: Julian Berlan, Gregory Bernard

Cast: Stephen Spinella, Roxanne, Mesquida, Jack Plotnick

Plot: In an American desert, an abandoned tire comes to life, and embarks on a killing spree using psychic powers.

I once believed that Richard Kelly's 'Donnie Darko' was the strangest film I had ever watched, as of now, I have proved myself wrong. This is French director/musician, Quentin Depieux's second film, he has both written and directed this absurdly stylish feature. The idea is completely surreal, "an inanimate object comes to life and kills people". Its logic is questionable, how does this tire see? How does it hear? Does it have a brain? Where do these "powers" come from? The list could go on.

The film starts off with a small town sheriff speaking as if he is breaking the fourth wall, communicating with the audience, telling us about how most films have "no reason". He finishes his speech by announcing that this film too, has no reason. As he drives away, we see that he was actually talking to a group of people, who are given binoculars, and watch the events unfold. This could be some kind of subliminal metaphor about the worlds leaders and governments watching us at all times via CCTV and telephone hacking. That they are aware of everything we do or say.

There is no real logic behind the tire's lethal rampage, killing without mercy. The tire becomes a movie villain in its own right. The film has a certain, arthouse film feel to it, with relatively unknown actors and actresses,and a bizarre scenario. I do think that 82 minutes is a little too eager, and you may find that after an hour, things start to drag slightly. The films ending makes us believe that it is destined for a sequel, and I dare Dupieux to make an attempt at an even more bizarrely entertaining arthouse style film.

Eammon Jacobs

(500) Days Of Summer



(500) Days Of Summer

Directed By: Marc Webb
Written By: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinski, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolf
Produced By: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt(Inception), Zooey Deschanel (Elf+Yes Man)

Plot: When Tom Hansen meets Summer Finn, he believes that she is the one he is searching for. After a karaoke night at the local bar, Tom realises he is very attracted to Summer, and over the next few months, he realises he's in love with her. The isn't a love story, it's a story about love.

This film surprised me, i had a pre-concieved vision that it was going to be just another chick flick. It isn't. It is a well presented view into the world of the dumpee. It is told in a non-linear narrative, meaning that it jumps to different days within the 500 days of their relationship. This is an interesting, innovative retelling of the typical "Rom-Com". ItThe film is clever because typically, it is usually the male lead who is commitment shy. However, in (500) it is Summer Finn who is commitment shy. This clever twist provides a fresh perspective on the "Rom-Com" genre. The film doesn't sugar-coat a break up, it shows how raw people can be afterwards.

Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel have such chemistry together, they are delightful and heartbreaking at the same time.  They have the ability to bring something new to the worlds oldest clichéd genre, which is something that won't happen very often within a film and is astounding. They also master the art of story telling by noting the rise and fall of a great relationship.

It is sweet, very sweet in fact, but it does lack something, a proper ending. (Apologies for the spoiler) The film ends on a romantic cliff hanger, will he, won't he? If we could see past this drop, then I feel that the film would have rounded off nicely.
But it is one of the most honest, heartbreaking films I have ever seen.

Written By Eammon Jacobs

Taken

Taken

Directed By: Pierre Morel

Written By: Luc Besson, Robert mark Kamen

Produced By: Luc Besson

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen

Plot: A retired CIA operative (Neeson) is trying to repair his broken relationship with his daughter (Grace). When he allows her to go travelling in France with a friend, they are both kidnapped by Albanian Sex Traffickers. He sets out to find them, and kill them.

Liam Neeson is simply astounding in this role which sees him essentially, as an over protective father. He shoots first and asks questions later. Which shows the true desperation that this man has to retrieve his daughter. He puts himself through so much, and sacrifices his health, and almost his life, even though this looks like a gritty action flick, this is something so much more. If we break the whole film down, basically, this man is trying to repair a very fragile relationship. He is attempting the unthinkable to become a father again, he is fighting to be the parent he should've been and is therefore making up for lost time.

The audience is thrust into the action, and goes along with Neeson as he leaps without looking, regardless of the consequences, and what happens is, we watch him deal with those consequences, dealing with them with lethal force and heroic actions. Most action flicks are mindless, with no control over all the madness and with no character development whatsoever. But in the first thirty minutes or so, we see Neeson's character attempting to become the father he should've been, which shows how emotional the film really is, but honestly, this is a revenge picture.

Maggie Grace's limited screen time was slightly disappointing, she spends what little time she has on screen crying and screaming, which is an anti-cliax from an actress with such great potential. There have been rumours for a sequel entitled "Taken II", I strongly feel, that this a bad move on the production team's part, the first film is brilliant, with a fantastic atmosphere and emotion, I feel that a sequel would ruin that.

Eammon Jacobs

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go

Directed By: Mark Romanek

Written By: Alex Garland (Orginal book by Kazuo Ishiguro)

Produced By: Mark Romanek, Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Casey Mulligan, Kiera Knightley

Plot: The film is set in an alternative history, where people are grown as scientific experiments to provide organs, limbs, blood for their 'Originals'. The story focuses on three characters, caught in a love triangle.

At first, the film is somewhat confusing. It starts off in a school full of children and they are all frightened of going outside of the boundaries. I can understand how the producers wanted to keep this as a method of suspense, but I feel that when we find out why they are frightened to go beyond the boundaries (a lie told by their teachers) it is rather disappointing. However, this is probably one of the only negative points in the film. Throughout the entire duration, there is a strange atmosphere, as if the entire cast are waiting for something to happen.

The connection between Andrew Garfield and Casey Mulligan's characters throughout the film is magnificent, all the way through, we know that they are perfect for each other and that they belong together. Having read the original book myself, I feel that the film encaptures every single aspect of the authors unpredictability and sombre tone. This isn't an edge of your seat piece, this is a laid back, easy to watch piece of art. We also experience how horrifying human beings can be, forcing these people into existence, just for them to be harvested for other peoples personal gain. It is almost a metaphor for some of the horrific things that carry on aroundd the world today, for example, dictators killing mercilessly purely for land.

But, I do feel that the script was compacted in places, they should've made certain parts elongated, so that the audience could get a better feel for the emotions that really run raw in the finale of the film. For example, the heartbreak of both Garfield and Mulligan's characters, i think the feature would have benefited greatly if the audience was granted a better insight.

The film is most certainly an odd one, and is not something you would expect, but is also definately the kind of thing from one of the producers of The Beach and 28 days later, even though all three films are completely different. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie simply because of it's emotion and humanity.

Eammon Jacobs

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part II

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part II

Directed By: David Yates

Written By:

Produced By:

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman

Plot: In the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry must destroy the remaining horcruxes to defeat Voldemort and save his fellow wizards in an epic battle.

If this is viewed as a stand alone film, the plot, the context and the characters would be confusing, out of place and without meaning. However, as the final chapter in the adaptations of J.K Rowling's series, the film is terrific. If a little slow to pick up from where Part 1 ends, the film gradually builds up the pace until we are thrown into the midst of a rather emotional battle. The majority of audiences over the past ten years have grown up with the characters, and to see them fighting for their lives leaves the viewers desperate for them to survive. The first and last film are polar opposites of each other. The first (Philosphers Stone) is a light hearted adventure, the last, is a much darker tale.

Whilst watching, i was extremely surprised at the amount of blood, and effects used on the characters and scenery, as this is essentially a childrens movie, I didn't expect this. This doesn't distract us from the story however, it makes us more aware, that our characters have grown up and are practically adults, and that the danger for them is real. 
The finale of the film is completely gripping, as the stakes rise, and the body count of both heroes and villains become higher. It does not seem possible for there to be a happy ending, but I assure you, the ending is most certainly a happy one.

And so, we wave goodbye to the films that have lasted ten years, that we have grown up with. We have watched the characters themselves turn from innocent children, to young adults, as the majority of audiences, have done so themselves.

Eammon Jacobs

Shutter Island

Shutter Island

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Written By: Laeta Kalogridis, Steven Knight (Based on the book by Dennis Lehane)

Produced By: Martin Scorsese, Bradley J. Fisher, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams

Plot: U.S Marshall Edward "Teddy" Daniels (DiCaprio) and his partner, Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) are sent to a psychiatric facility on "Shutter Island" to investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of their patients.

Martin Scorsese is reknowned for his complex and dark films, for example, Taxi Driver and The Departed. Shutter Island follows this pattern. But Scorses is clever in the way that he has crafted this film. He tries to convince us that this is a fairly simple thriller, when in reality it is a smart picture, and extremely complex. However this could also be a negative, simply because some people do not want to have to think, and try to work out the ending, the just want to enjoy the cinematic experience. But the end result, is mind blowing, fantastic and leaves us mulling the plot over in our minds numerous film times to grasp the concept of the finale.

The musical score that accompanies Scorses artful piece, is wonderous to listen to, and is a superb companion to the film. In certain scenes, the score is what makes this film so emotional and raw. Once we get deeper and deeper into the storyline, the picture starts to become slightly clearer, and we see that what seems like a sup-plot, is the main plot. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley give absolutely superb performances right through out the film. Definately a must see.

Eammon Jacobs