cinema Eat Pray Love Director: Ryan Murphy Talent: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem Released: 24th September
The Town Director: Ben Affleck Talent: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively Released: 24th September It’s easy to forget that despite having made some terrible films, Ben Affleck is in fact a triple threat; writer, director, actor. The danger of being seen as an egotist are huge, especially if you have a mug as cheesy as Affleck’s but luckily, he proves with The Town as he did with his directorial debut Gone, Baby Gone, and indeed Good Will Hunting that he is an extremely competent filmmaker with a natural talent for bringing stories to life, whether he’s behind the camera, in front of it, or holed up in an apartment bashing out a script with Matt Damon. The Town is set in Charlestown, Boston; an area notorious for producing bank robbers. As the film informs us, being a bank robber is seen as a trade of sorts and comes to the kids in the area naturally, as they learn all the tricks from their fathers from a young age. When a gang of robbers knock over a bank in a thrilling heist towards the start of the film, they take blindfolded bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage, then let her go when they’ve made their getaway. Afraid that she has been talking to the FBI, bank-robber Doug (Affleck) begins to tail her and in the process, of course, falls in love. That’s the basic setup of the film, which is a pretty bog-standard heist movie story. What sets this film apart is how well the story is told and the stylishness with which it is presented. The script is nearly flawless, every actor perfectly cast and every scene a nail-biter. This is not just a crime movie; it has the epic vastness of a film that’s showing the audience a snapshot of a marginal part of society and immersing us in their world as fully as possible. The cops are mean, the robbers are mean, the only likeable thing about any of these characters is the tragic inevitability of their ultimate demise. This way of life is different to a story like Goodfellas. It is not about falling in with a bad crowd, or getting caught up in a whirlwind of sex and drugs, it is simply what these kids were born into. The Town is what cinema is all about. It is an engaging ride throughout, with an instant classic car chase through the North End of Boston that made me feel slightly queasy with tension. Despite a slightly disappointing final coda, this gem of a thriller is pitch-perfect and exciting, but packing enough of an emotional punch to keep the characters engaging. Highly, highly recommended; they don’t come much better than this. Charlene Lydon
This frothy story, based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir of the same name sees Liz (Roberts) dump her husband (Crudup) and embark on an adventure to “find” herself. The adventure she embarks on is funded by the advance she received to write the book which adds an unfortunate layer of artificiality to the quest to fill the void she never quite filled with her “settled” life. One can’t help suspiciously eyeing every experience she has as nothing more than a possible chapter in her book. This is an entertaining film and doesn’t bore the audience. It contains the same kind of “travel porn” that the likes of Mamma Mia and Letter to Juliet have made so marketable. If you are one of the thousand who have found inspiration in the book, you may be disappointed with the over-long and under-written story of Liz’s adventures abroad. Strictly for escapism and wish-fulfillment purposes only. There’s not much going on upstairs but the journey is juicy. - CL
Mr Nice Director: Bernard Rose Talent: Rhys Ifans, Chloe Sevigney, David Thewlis, Crispin Glover Released: 8th October Where the Nodal at? Heavy on the velvet suits, shag haircuts and shagging, Bernard Rose’s Mr Nice blazes through whole decades of the life of Howard Marks, arch weed importer and all-round Dude. Rhys Ifans, who seems to have carved a career from looking as though he’s just stepped off Carnaby Street circa 1966, shows the gravity and comic timing of a true leading man. His personal brand of unlikely Welsh cool is tempered by an artfully understated performance from Chloe Sevigney (although her ‘British’ accent conjures up a Bostonian Eliza Doolittle...) and an hysterically over-stated one from David Thewlis, who eats the scenery as Jim McCann, the rabid IRA bogeyman of a thousand 70s newscasts (complete with a fondness for green-dyed smoke bombs, knee-cappings and imported ‘Cock Movies’). For all its hipster credentials and moments of surreal humour, Mr Nice turns out to be a protest film with a heart, an openminded, unpretentious ‘drug film’ which never falls back on Doors-soundtracked cliché. - RK
Charlie St Cloud
Collapse
Director: Burr Steers Talent: Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Charlie Tahan Released: 8th October
Director: Chris Smith Talent: Chris Mulkey, Karen Landry Released: TBC
The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud is a pretty interesting, dark story of mental illness and grief unfortunately wrapped in the swaddling of a cheesy, majorly “Disneyfied” disaster of a script. Charlie St Cloud (Efron) and his little brother Sam (Tahan) are best friends who are torn apart by a tragic car accident. Charlie survives, Sam doesn’t, but soon after his death Charlie starts to meet Sam’s ghost every evening at sunset to play baseball. Five years later, Charlie is working in the graveyard where Sam is buried and completely unable to move on with his life, foregoing a college scholarship in favour of hanging out with his dead brother. This is as cheesy as it sounds. However, there is a drinking game to played during this movie. Every time the camera lingers on Zac Efron’s naked/wet torso, you do a shot. Might make it more enjoyable. - CL
The main draw of Chris Smith’s Collapse is that peculiar romance of the apocalypse. The sense of community. The excitement of something new. The promise that all of your current problems are about to become obsolete. Total helplessness. Sit back and repeat to yourself: It’s not your fault and there’s nothing you can do. The central thesis of the documentary is that Michael Ruppert, former police officer, and semi-retired freelance journalist is going to explain how oil production has peaked, how everything from real tires to Lego tires require absurd amounts of oil in their manufacturing and how the current financial crisis is the proof. How much of the film’s information you take seriously will depend on you finding Ruppert either emphatic or unhinged. Genuinely shocking facts come quick and Smith has borrowed the best bits from Errol Morris and Adam Curtis to please those who have fantasized about an Etch a Sketch approach to modern society. - DM
DM - Daniel Martin CL - Charlene Lydon RK - Roisín Kiberd
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