The Graduettes

So my blog has been created to do films, however I'm making an exception for The Graduettes and doing a short review for a local stage show.

The Graduettes is a live sitcom which focuses on the lives of three girls. The live performance is set at Christmas and revolves around solving a murder, which has happened in the girls flat. I had the privilege of attending the opening night of the two nights of performances.

The best description I can give this to try and give it comparative value would be a Scottish 2 pints of lager in a packet of Crisps. Which was suggested by my better half. It was exceptionally funny from start to finish and I found the characters interesting and like-able each in their own way. All three girls were exceptional, Anna Kennedy playing Sophie, Heather Haddow as Grace and in my opinion stealing the show Holly Jack as Rachel.

The three characters all have their own quirks. Sophie is the self obsessed pregnant character dreading telling her partners mum about the baby. Grace is the erratic charcacter, lost in her own world with strange perceptions and possibly a little sheltered. Finally Sophie is the most balanced of the characters in some ways but also the maddest in others. The role of Rachel is the strength of the show for me however I don't want to take anything away from the rest of the cast I believe they all engaged with the audience well.

This was a lighthearted show providing a lot of laughs some of which may be close to the bone for some. Some good writing giving the cast some excellent lines to work with. The whole audience laughed a lot throughout and everyone left pretty pleased with what they had just seen and I hope the get a big turn out for their next show.

If you've not got anything planned for your Friday night (29th August) check out http://www.cottiers.com/events/graduettes-2014-08-29/ and see if you can pick up tickets to see the show at the Cottiers in Glasgow.

Lucy

Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman touches on the idea of humans being able to access more of their brain than we currently do at the moment. It is a really quick paced look at it through the eyes of Lucy who as a result of absorbing a synthetic drug can now access a larger proportion of her brain.

So I was pretty excite going in to this, I love Johansson as an actress and I’m yet to find someone who doesn’t love listening to the voice of Morgan Freeman if nothing else. My immediate thought when I left the cinema was that it was a poor man’s ‘Transcendence’ however on reflection I had high expectations which meant this was always going to struggle to match them. The film does some things really well as it attempts to touch on a few really interesting ideas such as the ethics of humanity, the meaning of life and of course what could we achieve with more access of our brain.

They are all really interesting ideas and the film definitely gets you thinking about them. I don’t think I’ve ever said a film was shorter than it should be but I fell this may be the case with Lucy. It touches on so many issues but almost rushes through them, which is good as it doesn’t get bogged down, however I’d have liked a little more time on some of them. Despite the thought provoking side of things it did become more of an action film taking care of the aesthetics more than the plot and it definitely loses its way with about twenty minutes to go. In its defence it manages to bring it back for the very end.

The cinematography is simply incredible. Everything is shot with precision and purpose and the graphics are tremendous making parts feel almost other worldly. The acting is also superb, Johansson deliver a difficult part well and captures the human and non-human aspects of her character well.

Overall I love a good story being told and while the ideas within the film evokes a lot of thought within me, looking at morals and the way I perceive life, these ideas are evocative on their own and haven’t been overly heightened. I am disappointed by the film as a whole would rate it 6 out of 10 though as it does some things well. I would recommend Transcendence over this and I know that will receive criticism but both films touch on some similar ideas.

Expendables 3

So Expendables 3, the latest instalment in the Expendables franchise. Before I go any further I guess I should fill you in on my opinion of the first 2. The original as far as I was concerned was over-hyped, all action no story didn’t really interest me but it was generally ok, good action scenes and a stellar cast, a 6 out of 10 in my book. The second one I wasn’t going to bother with until the opportunity to review it came about. I sat down expecting the worst and I was blown away, the second film had a good fast paced vibe to it and a couple of excellent cameos it was great to see Chuck Norris on screen, I walked away surprisingly happy and it was one of the best action films I seen that year 8 out of 10 from me.

So after the second Expendables I had expectations, these expectations were lifted further by the fact one of my favourite actors Kelsey Grammer was in it as well as Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford. I could list all the stars in it but these three were the reason I was excited about this one. You can see its full star power on the picture at the top! One of the things I did always like about the Expendables films was the usage of their cast. They have a massive cast, no doubt one of the most successful set of actors ever if you look at box office numbers and longevity. It’s not like some films where they have this extraordinary cast and then they just have a fleeting cameo and you wonder what the point really was.

So this brings me to Expendables 3, which again uses its cast well. The crew are tracking down a former Expendable who is wanted badly for war crimes at The Hague, I could tell you more about the plot but there is not a lot of it and I’d rather not spoil it and if you’ve seen the first two you’ll have the gist of what’s going to happen. Explosions, lots of testosterone, comic relief and Sylvester Stallone opening his mouth just enough so words actually come out.

It opened much like the 2^nd film; action packed quick paced, couple of jokes, and really quickly moved in to the story. However unlike the second one it slows down a couple of times. I mean really slows down. There’s a section after a recruiting expedition where it really drags quite a bit and I found myself checking the time however it did start to pick up pace again and the more and more Mel Gibson is in the film the more I got reinvested. He is fantastic in this, a wonderful blend of suave, cerebral and tough in the character which is well written.

The cast were all excellent, even Ronda Rousey who I was worried may be a bit wooden and in a couple of scenes she was but for the most part she did well. She’s excellent to watch in the UFC by the way absolutely destroying her last opponent, she’s one of the reasons Marie (My other half) has got in to it a bit.

I think my criticism is that one of the things I really enjoyed about the first 2 were the wee cheesy insider jokes and there really was only one in the whole film. The other complaint was it was clearly a building film. Building for the next few films by introducing a new batch of characters and this is fine. You’ve got to protect the franchise, from a business point of view you need to keep looking forward and we all make jokes etc. but some of the cast won’t be able to carry on believably for much longer. It was very noticeable though, lacking any form of subtlety in this regard.

Overall it’s an enjoyable flick, I’d recommend it to everyone who enjoyed the first two and give it a solid 7 out of 10. Not as good as the second but better than the first, I look forward to Expendables 4 and probably 5 and 6 and . . . .

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

So the follow on from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the reincarnation of the original Planet of the Apes franchise. We have moved on from the first film 10 winters have passed, humanity has pretty much wiped itself out (not that unrealistic given the current global circumstances) however there are some of us left. The apes have created their own colony, developing education and working together led by Caesar played by Andy Serkis and his wing man Koba played by Toby Kebbell. Everything has been going well for them and queue the re-appearance of human in to their lives.

I must admit the first time I watch the Rise of the Planet of the Apes I wasn’t overly impressed, I felt the story dragged a little however upon second viewing it captured me and I feared it may be the same with this, thankfully this was not the case I immediately took to the characters which were well developed, loved the communication between the apes using sign language to communicate with each other, I felt an immediate connect to the apes. 

The battle between peace and war is conveyed superbly, because of the tension the small moments become so much more emotionally heightened. The writing has obviously been fantastic however the execution by the actors is superb led by Andy Serkis. His powerful and warm performance as Caesar is sensational in my opinion and that’s not to take away from the rest of the cast, he just stands out being the lead character. Gary Oldman also puts in another strong performance and another good performance from Jason Clarke who plays Malcolm the representative of the humans.

Overall it’s an excellent film, it gets to the heart of the matter well, performances are all strong and it really captured me from start to finish. Looking at it from a negative point of view it’s a bit predictable at times and I would love to go back and force them to cut bits out of the trailer as they showed too much but there’s not much new there!

Personally I’m going to give it 9 out of 10. There were rumours over the net about a Marvel style credits scene but it was a bit underwhelming, thankfully it’s after the first section of the credits and not the full 10 minutes of credits.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Apologies for the gap in film blogs, it was not planned and sadly real life takes over from time to time. However I made it out to see Guardians of the Galaxy, the heavily advertised film from the Marvel franchise. These characters are less well known to the passive Marvel fan however the hard core comic book reader already knows them intimately. I’m chuckling away to myself as I type this I’m watching the legendary Stan Lee walk in to Hell’s Kitchen the Gordon Ramsay show (yes I’m a fan). Stane Lee – “I’ve got to find a way to turn this in to a story! Super Chef.”

So it introduces us to the Guardians of the Galaxy: Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper - voice) and Groot (Vin Diesel - voice). All coming from unique backgrounds we learn a bit about their past and see them coming together. It’s typical marvel colourful bad guys and damaged heroes.

There are so many positive things to say but I’m going to start with the most important thing in my opinion, the characters. They were introduced simply but in an exciting way, all showing a bit of their past and a glimpse of what they could be. I have to complement the casting, really just the perfect selections for all 5 and a massive coo getting cooper for Rocket. They’ve done something I never thought possible; putting Vin Diesel in a role where he was tolerable in any way. I’ve hated everything he’s been in since Fast and the Furious (Original). This may have been down to the fact he had the same line for the majority of the film but Groot was one of the most enjoyable characters.

The action scenes were also excellent, they were never too long like Transformers and the gentle humour intertwined throughout them for levity was fantastic! The whole film is just enjoyable, it’s good clean fun and I’ve been quite surprised at some of the negative responses. It’s got a score on IMDB of 8.7 out of 10, which is fairly impressive however I do believe this will come down over time.

If you have enjoyed any super hero movies at all then I definitely recommend it and it’s one for the family as well I think it moves quickly enough and is easy enough to follow that the kids would thoroughly enjoy it as will. I’m giving it a solid 8 out of 10!