Last night I saw Yesterday, starring Himesh Patel and Lily James.
A world without The Beatles or Coca-Cola isn't a world I'd ever want to live in, but it's the warped reality that struggling English musician, Jack (Patel), experiences when he wakes from an accident. Jack was hit by a bus during a freak, 12-second worldwide blackout and seems to be the only person who remembers the most famous band that ever existed and the iconic soda.
Of course he doesn't have the formula for Coke, but he does remember a fair amount of The Beatles catalog of songs, so he begins to "write" them one-by-one and pass them off as his own. Of course, the world (again) loves them.
Side note: For those of us who are die-hard Beatles fans who absolutely hate covers of their songs, listening to him play their sacred hits throughout the film is as excruciating as you'd imagine.
By his side on his rise to fame is Ellie (James) who has known him since childhood and acts as his manager until he's recruited by a bigger fish, who arrives in the form of Kate McKinnon as Debra. She is a very welcome distraction, as is Ed Sheeran who portrays himself.
Although the film is marketed as this philosophical "what if" regarding the cultural shift that would happen if the band who influenced nearly every major rock act that came after them never happened, it's really just a mediocre romantic comedy about two people who don't have much chemistry and struggle to get past the friend zone. In fact, the film should have been called The Friend Zone.
As someone who counts Love Actually among the greatest rom coms of all time, I hoped that writer Richard Curtis would sprinkle his fairy dust on this couple as well, but instead all we got were a series of groan-worthy jokes (re-naming "Hey Jude" to "Hey Dude") and an odd twist at the end that contemplates what John Lennon would be doing today if he hadn't been murdered (for what it's worth, I don't think they even came close).
A film exploring an alternate Back to the Future-ish reality about how music would suck had rock 'n' roll never been blessed with John, Paul, George and Ringo? Now that would have been compelling.
Unfortunately, the greatest part of this film was the very end—when the real Beatles sing "Hey Jude" over the credits.
~~~
Showing posts with label Danny Boyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danny Boyle. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 03, 2019
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
127 Hours
On Monday, I saw 127 Hours, starring James Franco.
When I heard about the real news story that inspired this film, I was simultaneously repulsed and fascinated. How could anyone cut their own arm off to free their body from a rock? What conditions could be so dire that would leave no alternative?
Director Danny Boyle does a good job of spelling it all out for us viewers using James Franco's convincing talent to mimic what the real Aron Ralston must've endured.
When we meet Aron on-screen, he's a twentysomething adrenaline junkie seeking a Saturday hike in the canyons of Utah. He meets some cute girls, flirts with them and continues on his solo expedition. He jumps and climbs and leaps with reckless abandon. The angles and shots we see when we're experiencing his point of view are so dramatic, I had to wonder how close to danger the camera crew really came.
Very soon after leaving his new friends, a boulder falls during one of his climbs and pins his arm to a canyon wall. The remainder of the movie is his struggle to free his arm and eventually the desperate act of amputating it with a dull knife.
I wasn't sure I'd make it to the film, as I'm the squeamish type, but the buzz surrounding Franco's allegedly Oscar-worthy performance left me too curious to pass it up.
I'm glad I had the courage to go (even if I had to turn my eyes away from some of the most graphic parts) because his acting is first-rate and the story, though spoiled years ago by the nightly news, is still compelling. A man who was careless enough to go on a dangerous hike and not tell a soul where he was headed also turned out to be smart enough to survive—a feat many people probably couldn't have accomplished under the circumstances.
The only drawback for me was the distracting, almost Indian-sounding score that was overbearing at times.
Silence, I believe, can illustrate tense moments better than anything.
~~~
When I heard about the real news story that inspired this film, I was simultaneously repulsed and fascinated. How could anyone cut their own arm off to free their body from a rock? What conditions could be so dire that would leave no alternative?
Director Danny Boyle does a good job of spelling it all out for us viewers using James Franco's convincing talent to mimic what the real Aron Ralston must've endured.
When we meet Aron on-screen, he's a twentysomething adrenaline junkie seeking a Saturday hike in the canyons of Utah. He meets some cute girls, flirts with them and continues on his solo expedition. He jumps and climbs and leaps with reckless abandon. The angles and shots we see when we're experiencing his point of view are so dramatic, I had to wonder how close to danger the camera crew really came.
Very soon after leaving his new friends, a boulder falls during one of his climbs and pins his arm to a canyon wall. The remainder of the movie is his struggle to free his arm and eventually the desperate act of amputating it with a dull knife.
I wasn't sure I'd make it to the film, as I'm the squeamish type, but the buzz surrounding Franco's allegedly Oscar-worthy performance left me too curious to pass it up.
I'm glad I had the courage to go (even if I had to turn my eyes away from some of the most graphic parts) because his acting is first-rate and the story, though spoiled years ago by the nightly news, is still compelling. A man who was careless enough to go on a dangerous hike and not tell a soul where he was headed also turned out to be smart enough to survive—a feat many people probably couldn't have accomplished under the circumstances.
The only drawback for me was the distracting, almost Indian-sounding score that was overbearing at times.
Silence, I believe, can illustrate tense moments better than anything.
~~~
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire
Today I saw Slumdog Millionaire, starring Dev Patel and Irrfan Khan.
I have mixed emotions about this story, perhaps because I went in expecting too much or maybe because its distinction is earning it an exorbitant amount of praise.
The setting is an Indian ghetto so horrific it's hard to watch. Our main character Jamal (Patel) has just made it to a record high on the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and been arrested under suspicion of cheating. His interrogator, played by the always-great Irrfan Khan, repeatedly orders his policeman to torture Jamal until he finally realizes those tactics aren't doing any good, and decides to listen to what his captor insists is the truth.
This leads to the audience getting a virtual flashback into Jamal's entire childhood, which includes unspeakable suffering and eventually a forced separation from his brother and would-be girlfriend. Explaining why he's telling all of these life stories would somewhat spoil the film, but I can say that the screenwriter ties everything up in a very clever way.
There is also an unmistakable authenticity to the film because Director Danny Boyle risked his life (and that of his cast and crew) to shoot on location in the incredibly dangerous slums of Mumbai. There is no question that this helps the viewer sympathize with the characters and grasp their desperation.
Unfortunately, for me the weak link was the star—Dev Patel. We toggle between him sitting on the set of the game show and sitting in the police inspector's office, reacting to the questions he's being asked in both circumstances. Despite the vast contrast of these inquiries, his expression is the same: a confused "What's my name?" sort of stare that doesn't really suit either situation.
This lack of varied expressions made it even harder for me to believe Latika (Freida Pinto), one of the most breathtakingly beautiful women on the planet, would remain hopelessly in love with him throughout all of their trials and tribulations.
And speaking of Latika, I would've liked the love story to have more time to grow, even if it needed to be at the end.
All in all, it's an original story that moves very quickly toward a somewhat predictable ending that was diluted by its main actor.
Worth seeing? Sure. Best Picture candidate? I don't think so.
I have mixed emotions about this story, perhaps because I went in expecting too much or maybe because its distinction is earning it an exorbitant amount of praise.
The setting is an Indian ghetto so horrific it's hard to watch. Our main character Jamal (Patel) has just made it to a record high on the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and been arrested under suspicion of cheating. His interrogator, played by the always-great Irrfan Khan, repeatedly orders his policeman to torture Jamal until he finally realizes those tactics aren't doing any good, and decides to listen to what his captor insists is the truth.
This leads to the audience getting a virtual flashback into Jamal's entire childhood, which includes unspeakable suffering and eventually a forced separation from his brother and would-be girlfriend. Explaining why he's telling all of these life stories would somewhat spoil the film, but I can say that the screenwriter ties everything up in a very clever way.
There is also an unmistakable authenticity to the film because Director Danny Boyle risked his life (and that of his cast and crew) to shoot on location in the incredibly dangerous slums of Mumbai. There is no question that this helps the viewer sympathize with the characters and grasp their desperation.
Unfortunately, for me the weak link was the star—Dev Patel. We toggle between him sitting on the set of the game show and sitting in the police inspector's office, reacting to the questions he's being asked in both circumstances. Despite the vast contrast of these inquiries, his expression is the same: a confused "What's my name?" sort of stare that doesn't really suit either situation.
This lack of varied expressions made it even harder for me to believe Latika (Freida Pinto), one of the most breathtakingly beautiful women on the planet, would remain hopelessly in love with him throughout all of their trials and tribulations.
And speaking of Latika, I would've liked the love story to have more time to grow, even if it needed to be at the end.
All in all, it's an original story that moves very quickly toward a somewhat predictable ending that was diluted by its main actor.
Worth seeing? Sure. Best Picture candidate? I don't think so.
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