4 The Week

1. Some Think Old

Requiem for a Dream (2000) 

Director: Darren Aronofsky


Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans and Jennifer Connelly

If the films of director Darren Aronofsky have taught us anything it is that the path to self destruction is both  a process and a journey, Requiem For A Dream is arguably his most shining example of this as we follow the drug affected dramas of 4 individual and interlinked lives. Aronofsky’s craft behind the camera often manifests itself like a duologue of before and after, with one recounting jaded hopes and dreams of the other. Sara (Burstyn) and Harry (Leto) are the mother and son foundation of the story. Sara is a lonely, widowed, TV Junkie blissfully unaware of her sons addiction to hard drugs, but soon she has her own cross to bear when synthetic dieting methods lead to a world of paranoid psychosis. Harry, his friend Tyrone (Wayans) and girlfriend Marion (Connelly) are coke and crack fiends harbouring ambitions of industrialising their drug orientated proclivities into a life that offers less destructive parameters. In front of the camera Aronofsky offers his cast a reduced scope in which to operate forcing them to refine the emotions and characteristics of their journey toward the diminishment of their souls, namely fear or denial.  Behind the camera Aronofsky’s contrast of flash cut trickery and dreary realism  paint a haunting and bleak picture of urban decay.

9/10 

2. Some Think New

Limitless (2011)

Director: Neil Burger
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel and Abbie Cornish
 

 Is greatness something that is earned or incumbent among a chosen few? Well the action packed trials and tribulations of Eddie Morra (Cooper) in Limitless suggest that the answer may not be a simple black and white answer. Cooper portrays as well as self narrates his story  as a down and out writer imprisoned in a mental  cage of creative lethargy,  financial repression and romantic oblivion. There are notions early on when the film is at its most interesting  to suggest that  there is Derren Brown-esque psycho-babble which divides the "Haves" from the "Have nots", that somehow we all innately capable of high achievement but the limits of our mind holds us back. NZT-48 is a super drug that allows full access to the far reaches of the brain, acting as an accelerant for ability, cerebral capacity, inspiration and ambition.

Morra is offered the substance by an old acquaintance and director Neil Burger delivers and exciting visualisation of the subsequent rise from mediocrity of our lead, we see an array of swishing and swirling camera techniques and effects which serve in making the journey aesthetically appealing. The setting is both grimy New York streets and heady Manhattan skylines further illustration of Morra’s upward turn.

The supporting cast slowly but surely become entangled in the ordeal, want away girlfriend Lindy (Cornish), equally bemused and impressed boss Van Loon (De Niro) and Russian mobster Gennady (Andrew Howard) all battle it out to be the dominant sub plot, whilst murder mystery, gun shots and adrenaline fuelled street chases sees the film take on a nightmarish shift in pace and tone  as cracks begin to show in Morra’s utopia. And it’s at this point Limitless may have benefited from some restraint as the multiplicity of narrative threads coupled with a swift run time means  Burger is overstretched, failing to full explore all of the ideas established in the first hour of the film before the action peters out with a rather dissatisfying conclusion which lacks the conviction and sharpness of what preceded.

7/10 

3. Some Think Foreign 

La Vie en Rose (2007)

Director: Olivier Dahan

Stars: Marion Cotillard
 

You could do worse than labeling Edith Piaf a French Britney Spears of her time, but that would only be telling half the story. Olivier Dahan’s biopic is a visceral depiction of the early 20^th century Gallic songstress enduring a range of hardships throughout a turbulent life that made her a celebrated and vilified icon. Marion Cotlliard's Oscar winning recital of Piaf is not so much a tale gutters to stars, but of Piaf simply finding more brightly lit gutters. From growing up as a young child in the foul stench of a Normandy Whore House, to busking for food on the streets which are simply replaced in line with her rise to stardom to glitzier hell holes of New York penthouse suites cloaking clandestine affairs and alcoholic binging among the social elite. The true grace of Cotillard's performance is her physical and emotive metamorphosis which allows her to be immersed in all phases of Piafs life. Be it the enigmatic performer, free falling romantic and final stand of defiance on her deathbed, all whilst protecting a lust for life and quaint religious ideals.

8/10 

4. Some Think Due 


Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) 

Director: Michael Bay
Release: 1st July
Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Tyrese Gibson

It’s difficult  to play down the significance of the 1986 animated Transformers the movie, a movie still etched in the memories of a generation of children and equally treasured in the nostalgic realms of their now adult hearts. Both a shrewd marketing product to showcase the next generation of merchandise but more importantly a celebration of the original band of robots and their eternal Old Skool  good vs evil struggle. The film  was arguable for many young their first experience of loss and first realisation that some day we all have to grow a proverbial pair an take on responsibilities.

  

20 Years, various anime reincarnations, and a dancing Citroen Robot later Transformers (2007) saw our robot friends back on the big screen in Live action format. Guided by Michael Bay's  thirst for the enormity of uncompromising explosion laden blockbusters. Transformers was a success in the box office, fairly typical of a franchise starting movie we are spoon fed the back story and introduced to a plethora of robots and characters. A key difference from the animated version was the lack of dialogue from the Transformers them, choosing instead to focus on the human characters led by the inane posturing of Shia Lebeuf and Megan Fox as well as the chest pumping dynamics of Josh Duhemel's military chums. All of which seem pretty irrelevant when there are giant robots with the ability to destroys cities with their bare hands involved. In the end we are treated decent fun and giant action set pieces that if anything opened up a wealth of potential for the rest of the franchise.

Revenge Of The Fallen (2009) the Sequel however is an ideologically decrepit piece of cinema, containing racist undertone, woefully misplaced humour such as Robot scrotum and fart jokes, as well as being an unimaginative companion to its predecessor failing to enhance any of its charm or excitement. Ultimately Revenge Of The Fallen is a regurgitated template of the first movie naively leveraged by twice the amount characters, robots and explosions. Yet despite being exposed as having half the ideas and creativity Fallen was an even bigger smash at the box office. The result of which means Bay gets a 3^rd crack of the Whip with Dark Of The Moon (2011). The artistic pressure is on however to produce the signature piece of the trilogy. Christopher Nolan’s lastest offerings The Dark Knight and Inception have changed the summer blockbuster landscape for the foreseeable future, proving that huge budget summer releases can be creatively, financial and critically fulfilling.