Tag Archives: Owun Birkett

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) {Film Review}

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*WARNING – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!*

“The Feel Bad Movie Of Christmas” One of many taglines given during this holiday season, though not a very festive movie at all! David Fincher makes a return to investigative thrillers and making a controversial decision by remaking Steig Larsson’s original best selling book on which a Swedish TV/ Movie was made only two years earlier. Many were already skeptical and assuming it would be set in the United States and the featured sexualised violence would be softened. More talented cast and crew were brought aboard the project encouraging the public to take it more seriously.

The story is of the journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), who has been disgraced after filing a report on his opponent Wennerström. He gets called in to investigate a missing person report for Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), even though this person has been missing for forty years. Blomkvist eventually teams up with computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).

The film is phenomenally well made, all down to the casting, cinematography, writing and direction. David Fincher was born to make these kinds of films, this film all smells familiar from his previous work (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac and even The Social Network). Jeff Cronenworth brings an icy cold presence to the Swedish landscapes but he also creates so arresting cinematography that takes your breath away at times. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross make another hit on their fantastic score, still containing conventional and electronic musical notes that we heard from their score for The Social Network but Dragon Tattoo‘s score delves deep into Lisbeth Salander’s psyche and probably the only thing that shows any sign of humanity within Lisbeth. The editing from both Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall is fast and fluid. The 158 minute running time may put some viewers off but the story goes by before you could even check the time on your watch. The difference between Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo and Niels Arden Oplev’s original is 2011 version is a more cinematic aroma to it (in terms of its direction and production value behind it).

Daniel Craig suits the character of Mikael Blomkvist. It is hard at times to look past Craig as 007 but he shows he can be just as clumsy as we all would be. His dress sense isn’t as elegant as Bond and sometimes has his glasses hanging underneath his chin while he is putting the clues together. Though the driving force of the Millennium trilogy (both from the novels and the films) is Lisbeth Salander, played previously by Noomi Rapace and now played by Rooney Mara. Mara worked with Fincher in a small role as Mark Zuckerberg’s fictional ex-girlfriend in The Social Network and it is not a surprise why Fincher chose her over the likes of Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley and even Kristen Stewart. She looks childlike, almost alien from the bleached eyebrows and jet black hair-style. We find it hard to imagine at first glance that such an intelligent loner can handle herself but when she does get her vengeance back (being raped by her guardian, Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen)), she rises up like a phoenix and we root for her. The difference in direction is the scene where Lisbeth tells Mikael her childhood isn’t done by flashbacks as the original did but keeps focused on Lisbeth telling the story. It is just as emotional and affective without any flashbacks and I prefer Fincher’s simple direction with Lisbeth’s back-story.

For those who have read the novel or 2009 original, it won’t come as a surprise to the reveal. Steven Zaillian (previous credits include Schindler’s List, American Gangster and co-wrote Moneyball along with Aaron Sorkin) adapts the novel very well but brings a few touches that stands apart from the original and doesn’t entirely fall onto the feeling of deja vu. The story itself, written by the late Stieg Larsson, isn’t a masterpiece and it is your basic ‘whodunit’ mystery thriller (though in the hands of Fincher, he creates something as exciting and fresh). Both Zaillian and Fincher both stated they wanted to make an adult thriller from the very start and this really isn’t something a PG-13 rated audience should watch. The as mentioned rape and torture scenes are really hard to watch and Fincher puts the subject matter up-front.

Overall; an intelligent dark thriller that is immensely entertaining and all credit goes to David Fincher and his incredibly talented crew. Rooney Mara makes a career making performance and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of this new Millennium trilogy.

5 out of 5!

Top Best and Worst Films of 2011

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We all had our fair share on films that made us smile and made us frown. To celebrate my recent Writer of the Year award and a step to a new year, I will reveal my list of best of worst films of 2011. I, however, did not get the luxury to see some of the films I would have liked to have seen (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Artist, Melancholia etc.) and this will be a mix of UK and North American release dates.

*BEST*

1) Drive – Nicolas Winding-Refn crafts an artistically pulpy film noir that delivers heart-stopping tension but also brings some humanity to the story. Ryan Gosling is compelling as the nameless driver but it is Albert Brooks that steals the spot-light as the menacing Bernie Ross. The car chases (especially the pre-credits sequence) are brilliantly shot and the editing is fluid. The cinematography brings the darkness to the Los Angeles glamour that we all have been acquainted to from many films set in the City of Angels.

2) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – The thought on making an English version of the novel when there’s already a Swedish TV/Movie made two years ago made us all cry in outrage. Then David Fincher came along and proved the nay-sayers wrong! Even if you’ve already read the novel or seen the 2009 foreign film, Fincher still delivers a dark and intense thriller. Rooney Mara makes a career-making turn as Lisbeth Salander and I honestly prefer her take on the character than Noomi Rapace’s (not saying Rapace’s was bad, just prefered Mara’s a bit more)

3) Black Swan – It is essentially Darren Aronofsky’s Swan Lake, though it’s about a ballerina (Natalie Portman) who gets chosen to play the lead of the new version of Swan Lake. The sense of paranoia from the cinematography, visual effects and even from Portman’s Oscar-winning performance is executed brilliantly. You really feel you are descending into madness, blurring the fine line between reality and fantasy. It’s also a body horror film, as Portman’s character slowly becomes the Black Swan. It was seriously a dark start for 2011 but it got me hooked till its perfect finale.

4) War Horse – Spielberg never ceases to amaze with his filmmaking skills (okay, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull aside). The trailer for this film came off (for me anyways) as a parody, so it’s incredible that a filmmaker like Spielberg was able to make that work! The ensemble British cast is astounding, from the likes of David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson, Paul Mullan and Liam Cunningham. The score by John Williams is one of the best he’s done since Munich and the cinematography by Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan) is breathtaking.

5) The Tree of Life – The biggest Marmite movie you’ll come across; you’ll either love it or you hate it! I, however, loved it and found it incredibly intriguing and ambitious. The film’s story is driven thematically and visually, being an expressionistic piece of work. Brad Pitt delivers one of his best performances in his career (along with Moneyball and The Assassination of Jesse James). A personal film that asks universal questions and it is such a beautiful and majestic piece of filmmaking.

*Honourable mention; Hugo*

*WORST*

1) Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Second highest grossing film of 2011 (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2) but it comes up to my list as the most unbearable film to watch of 2011. The human characters are ungodly annoying, Shia LaBeouf has nothing we could relate to and constantly screams more in this film than the two previous films combined! The new girl in the block, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, is completely emotionless and nothing more to show than her looks. The action sequences are better executed this time around but the Transformers gets shoved aside in favour for the human characters. The film is also way too long, the rest of the film is just filled with filler and characters that don’t need to be in the film (i.e. Sam’s parents). Michael Bay said he didn’t care for Transformers before he made the first film and it still shows he’s not suited for this film.

2) Sucker Punch – This is an unfortunate case where you give too much money and creative freedom to a film director that’s all about style and no substance. The problem is, it tries to bring a message and empower women but there’s nothing to it to get and the women are no way represented in a positive note by wearing corsets and fish nets. The film is completely incoherent (both in story and style), the action sequences have no purpose but to be there and non of our heroines have any characteristics to make them any different from another. It is a complete mess of a film and hopefully Man of Steel will bring Snyder’s reputation back.

3) Green Lantern – Talk about being hugely disappointing. The marketing for this film was far superior than the final product (I have seen an Extended Cut version was released but heard it barely made any improvements). This really could’ve set a new movie franchise for Warner Bros./DC Comics; you had a director that’s competent in action and drama (both GoldenEye and Casino Royale are proof of that) and Ryan Reynolds being the likable cocky hero. This could’ve been as exciting and epic like Star Wars but the script and creative decisions got lost in the abyss. The film looks and feels so lifeless and artificial, you cannot help but feel underwhelmed this could’ve been a great film if more time and effort was put into it. The ending teased with a sequel baiting scene but this bombed at the box-office (even though Warner Bros. were convinced it would be a success that they green-lit a sequel. . . . Beware Green Lantern’s light? I think he should beware of our expectations).

*Dishonourable mention; Cowboys & Aliens*

*BEST BLOCKBUSTER*

X-Men: First Class – The X-Men franchise nearly had the last nail to its coffin, after the dull X-Men: The Last Stand and the terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Matthew Vaughn, after his huge success with Kick-Ass, comes along and tells the story of the complicated friendship between Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) and the origins of X-Men. The film is the best of the series, creating a huge sense of fun but not having the spectacle get in the way of character development (especially between the two leads). Both McAvoy and Fassbender are incredibly engaging from the start, though the project started on being another origin story but solely about Lensherr’s past and eventually becoming Magneto. Although the thing that brings the film down is January Jones as Emma Frost (strong contender for Razzie nomination) but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the hell out of this film.

*BEST TRAILER*

There was some huge decision making for which trailer would win this particular award, so it wasn’t easy to choose from previews of what is about to come in 2012. As much as the latest trailers for The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were hugely exciting but I would go for Ridley Scott’s, Prometheus. All to do with Ridley Scott returning to the genre that got him on the Hollywood map (Alien and Blade Runner) and the fact it looks spectacular. Being an Alien prequel but not featuring any xenomorphs that we all know an love. Though it does show snippets of the origins of the derelict ship featured in the first film (and second film if you watch Special Edition version of Aliens). Also the cast looks fantastic, ranging from Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba. The trailer even pays homage to the trailer of Alien (the title slowly fading in and the eerie sound effect that rings through-out the trailer).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey trailer

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It has been eight years since we saw the end of Frodo’s journey to destroy the one ring in Mordor and bringing Sauron’s reign in Middle-Earth to an close. Now Peter Jackson is back and this time, telling a story from a different Baggins; Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman).

This honestly came as a surprise, as I thought to believe they were still shooting and would be too busy to release a trailer not for another month! Maybe Peter Jackson decided to release his Christmas present to audiences around the world. If that’s the case, then I say “thank you, Mr. Jackson!”

It starts off Bilbo (played by Ian Holm, returning as old version of our protagonist), telling Frodo that he hasn’t exactly told the whole story. As traditional hobbit behavior, Bilbo has no interest in having adventures but unfortunately has no choice when Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellan once again back for the prequel) appears. Though he doesn’t come alone, he introduces the thirteen dwarves; (deep breath!) Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori, and Thorin Oakenshield. You’ll notice that Balin was mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring in the mines of Moria, whose dead carcass was on top of a tomb. Also Gloin was mentioned in the same film, he’s father of Gimli (played by John Ryhs-Davies).

Then the dwarves begin to sing a song and really sets the tone that Jackson knows best when bringing drama. We get glimpses of Gandalf traveling to various ruins, Bilbo first seeing the shards of Narsil (the sword Isildur used to defeat Sauron and Aragorn would eventually wield in The Return of the King) and Cate Blanchett returns as Galadriel. Then Howard Shore’s majestic score kicks in but the theme is entirely new and all the better for it! Finally we see Jackson continue his action chomps with a few fight sequences with the famous scene between the dwarves and trolls.

The ending is very fitting and makes links to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bilbo asking “can you promise I will come back?” and which Gandalf responds quite bluntly but honestly “no and if you do, you will not be the same!” Finally we see Andy Serkis as Gollum in the shadows, crawling sinisterly above our hero.

The movie is a complete reminder on how much The Lord of the Rings has played a huge part in our culture and the way the film industry have viewed on fantasy films (look at Harry Potter series and tell me it doesn’t have some LOTR influence)

Unfortunately, we all will have to wait till December 14th, 2012 to get our tickets back to the world of Tolkien.

Frost Magazine's Writer of the Year 2012

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It’s been an amazing 20 months for us at Frost, and we couldn’t have done it without the passion and hard work of the people that write for us. The sheer variety of backgrounds, specialisms and styles made it incredibly difficult for us to judge who to award the title of ‘Frost Magazine’s Writer of the Year 2011?.

We chose the winner based on a combination of statistics, being prolific and feedback from readers. Our writer of the year showed they had the uncanny ability to consistently pick winning stories.

The Frost Magazine Writer of the Year 2011 is…Owun Birkett.

Hugo {Film Review}

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Martin Scorsese doesn’t shy away on his love and passion for film history and filmmaking itself. He makes subtle homages to silent era films through-out his films (especially the shot of Joe Pesci shooting a gun at the camera in the end of GoodFellas is referencing to The Great Train Robbery (1903). So viewing this film, it doesn’t come as a surprise why Scorsese wanted to make this film. It is based on a children’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

It tells of an orphan named Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station in Paris in 1930s, he encounters George Méliès (Ben Kingsley) at a toy shop. Whilst living in the train station, Hugo is busy fixing an automaton. A mechanical man that was found by his father (Jude Law), determined to get it fixed since his father died from a fire at the museum where he worked. Constantly avoiding the station’s inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), he also meets George’s goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz). Hugo notices a heart shaped key on Isabelle’s necklace, being a vital piece of the puzzle on fixing the automaton.

The story is a fantastical adventure and it is as exciting and magical as Pixar would make it if this was an animated film. The production design by Dante Ferreti (previous credits; Interview With The Vampire, Gangs of New York and The Aviator) continues to make some wonderful sets, especially the clock tower that Hugo often visits from time to time. It all feels authentic but also keeping with the fantasy story. Robert Richardson’s cinematography is gorgeous, making the setting of Paris as bright and glorious (which helps with the 3D). The writing from John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) is very well written, brilliant direction from Scorsese on starting the film with little to no dialogue. There was no need of an opening narration, a case and point on the meaning ‘show don’t tell’. The leading child actor, Butterfield, does hold the film on his own and makes a convincing and likable hero (“we’ll get into trouble” says Isabelle as Hugo pick locks a door “that’s how you know it’s an adventure!”) Moretz has already established from Kick-Ass how talented of an actress she already is and does the English accent spot-on! Sacha Baron Cohen (well-known as Ali G, Borat and Bruno in The Ali G Show) plays the Inspector as a comical villain and does comedy very well as he doesn’t play the character with any French stereotypical traits. His only purpose to uphold the law and capture any orphans in the station (being just as heartless as any mechanical object) but slowly showing feelings for the Lisette (Emily Mortimer)Ben Kingsley as the famous George Méliès makes one of his best performances. You feel for his sadness, that time can be a gift but also a curse. A magician on-stage and behind the camera, where he tells a young boy that this is where dreams get made! Believing there is no such thing as a happy ending. Though Hugo, as he fixes his automaton, attempts to fix George’s life. Which the film asks a question; what is our purpose in life? What happens when we’re made redundant? That’s a question Hugo constantly wants to find out and believing the automaton is the key to the memory of his father.

The thing that amazes me from this film is Scorsese’s eye on historical accuracy, not just from the setting or costumes but of film history itself. Featuring classic silent films; L’arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat/The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station and La Sortie des usines Lumière à Lyon/Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon by Lumière brothers (who invented the cinematograph). Seeing a reconstruction of George Méliès’ films being made honestly brought a tear to my eye, it really is a film lover’s dream. This, without a doubt, will be used as a case-study for Film Studies courses in the future.

Overall; a phenomenal piece of filmmaking! Scorsese really does delve into the fantasy of the story but also celebrating film itself. As George Méliès says at the end of the film; “let us all dream!” You have certainly delivered a wonderful dream, Mr. Scorsese!

5 out of 5!

J. Edgar {Film Review}

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There have been many portrayals of J. Edgar Hoover over the past few years in both TV and film. The last time I saw someone playing Hoover was Billy Crudup in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies in 2009. Now Clint Eastwood has decided to take a personal approach to the story (which resulted on the FBI claiming Eastwood making a bad representation of the man), with the help of Dustin Lance Black (from his Oscar-Winning screenplay and the heavily acclaimed, Milk) and Leonardo DiCaprio. You’d think on paper that these three particular individuals would produce something fascinating but it unfortunately doesn’t exceed on not being more than a moderately interesting biopic.

In case you don’t know what the story is from the movie’s title, it focus’s on the life of J. Edgar Hoover (DiCaprio). First seeing him in the 1960s when he was in his late 60s, he tells about how he came to work for the department of justice and worked his way up on being director of the FBI. Also encountering with Helen Gandy (Namoi Watts) and Hoover’s protege, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). It later focus’s on Hoover’s and Tolson’s personal relationship, first starting on being close friends to having something more.

The performances in this film is a bit mixed, but edging towards positive. DiCaprio reminds us why he’s the best at what he does and doesn’t show any signs of faltering. Hoover is presented to us on being authoritative but also conflicted on his social life. There’s various scenes where he spends time with his mother, played by Dame Judi Dench. Dench plays the character very well and shows where Hoover gets the commanding persona from. Though as much I love Dench (who doesn’t?), her accent is a bit hard to decipher (whether she’s from a different country or was trying but failing on putting an American accent). Naomi Watts kind of plays Hoover’s guardian angel type character, stands by Hoover no matter what situation he’s in and there’s not much else to her character. Hammer, from his brilliant performance as the Winklevoss twins from The Social Network, brings dramatic weight and nearly out-weighs DiCaprio. He’s someone that admires Hoover’s dedication and motivation but becomes conflicted when his feelings are not returned in the same way.

Dustin Lance Black’s script is very well written but the story structure felt a bit of a mess. Which is a huge shame because it could’ve been better on starting from the very beginning rather than going back and forth from the past to the present. Something of a misstep from Eastwood, as he’s done some great films in the past (Unforgiven, Mystic River and Changeling). Where the latter film was gripping on wanting to know if Christine Collins’ (played by Angelina Jolie) son will ever be found. Whilst in this movie, it was interesting to see J. Edgar on establishing the finer details on conducting proof and evidence from a crime to nail on a suspect but there wasn’t much to learn from him as a person. A scene involving with Hoover and Tolson in a hotel room was probably the most interesting scene from its entirety but outside of it there’s nothing much else. Something that writer Lance Black got right in Milk (where you could see the struggle from Harvey Milk at work and socially) and wished he could’ve worked more on Hoover’s personal story than essentially establishing the FBI.

Overall; a shame all this talent was put behind it and the result was just average. The performances is what keeps this movie going (especially from DiCaprio, that might earn him a nomination) but there’s nothing that makes it memorable compared to Eastwood’s previous work.

3 out of 5

The Avengers (2012) trailer

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There hasn’t been a movie so massive in anticipation and scale since The Dark Knight back in 2008. Now Marvel has completed on introducing our main characters; Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, it’s time for the inevitable team-up that has been teasing us with each end-credits scene. On October 11th, we finally get an official teaser trailer of The Avengers.

The trailer shows us that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki will be the film’s main antagonist, but his motives are unclear (world domination or simply causing chaos?). We also get a glimpse of Captain America’s and Thor’s new costume change (not to mention Thor’s hair extension). Each giving witty comebacks, such as Steve Rogers saying;

Steve Rogers: Big man in a suit of armour. Take that away, what are you?
Tony Stark: Er a genius, billionaire playboy and philanthropist.

This is all to be expected from writer/director Joss Whedon, whose previous works are Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly (we’ll just ignore he wrote Alien Resurrection).

From the look of this teaser, it really does show Loki to be more an intimidating villain than he was in Thor. Then we also get to see Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in action and can’t not have shots of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow doing what she knows best. Although we see both Captain America and Thor battling it out in a forest?

It gives a sigh of relief that Joss Whedon does know what he’s doing and does seem to deliver the spectacle but also great characterisation. Though he’s got some strong competition against Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros./DC Comics with The Dark Knight Rises. All will be revealed when the film is released on 4th May, 2012.

Official website; http://marvel.com/movies/movie/152/marvels_the_avengers?fullscreen=1

The Avengers teaser trailer on Apple iTunes; http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/avengers/

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) trailer

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I will talk about the trailer in a bit, but first some context for those who are diving straight in without knowing this particular film. As we all know, it is based on a Swedish novel (and first in the Millennium trilogy) by the late Stieg Larsson and has already been adapted as a TV-movie in 2009 (starring Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander). It received three BAFTA nominations (including Best Leading Actress – Noomi Rapace and Best Adapted Screenplay), though it left with one; Best Film not in the English Language.

It wouldn’t be long till Hollywood would decide to grab their hands on it and develop their own version. It cause some outcry and some saying that it should be left alone. I will admit, I was pretty adamant on the idea of a Hollywood version of the novel/TV-movie. Though the talent behind it started to make me have some sigh of hope; they recruited Steven Zaillian to adapt the novel (previous credits – Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York and American Gangster) and David Fincher was hired to direct the film (previous credits – Se7en, Fight Club and The Social Network) Who was going to play the leading players? Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) as troubled yet talented journalist and Rooney Mara (The Social Network) as the socially awkward goth/punk hacker. This is a team that no one could ask anymore better from them! Fincher, especially, is in familiar ground; a dark mystery thriller that practically runs in his veins.

Now our questions were what was the film going to look like? Would the actors attempt to pull a Swedish/English dialect? Well the look is very slick and top notch, Rooney Mara really becomes Salander but actually more like a punk/goth than Rapace did (sorry fans of the original movies but I quite like this new Salander). It features the Oscar winning composers, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, music in the trailer (Reznor even created a cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin with Karen-O for the teaser trailer). Even the trailer runs at 3 minutes and 40 seconds (usually average running time for a theatrical trailer is 2 minutes 30 seconds) reveals only enough to not spoil anything for those who have not read the book or seen the previous films.

My reaction to the trailer? I cannot wait for it! It has moved from being number 2 to number 1 on my most anticipated list (http://frostmagazine.com/2011/03/top-most-anticipated-movies-of-2011/). Plus it’s directed by David Fincher! Do I need to explain why that’s a good thing? As you’ve seen from his credits, he has made a movie that everyone likes! What do you think? Are you excited for it as much as I am or do you think it should’ve been left alone from the very start?