Jameson Empire Awards 2013

Today marks the preliminary round of voting for the 2013 Empire Film Awards. The best thing about these awards is that it’s all down to the real movie fans of this world, not in the hands of an Academy. Obviously there are going to be a great many more films that will be released before voting closes, so this is our opinion as it stands. It would be premature to list The Hobbit and Life of Pi already given the fact their worthiness still hangs in the balance! Similarly, the typically award-like films are being with held for later in the award season. Therefore, a lot could change between this vote now and the Jameson Empire Awards!

 

Follow this link to vote for the Awards!

 

 

BEST MALE NEWCOMER

Dane DeHaan

From his explosive debut in Chronicle to his supporting role in Lawless, this young actor is showing that he's far from being type-cast. This is going to be a tough category this year, we also considered Craig Roberts (Submarine, Red Lights, Jane Eyre) but Dane just pips him to the post!

 

BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER

Elizabeth Olsen

Feel free to disagree with our labelling as 'new'. Although Martha Marcy May Marlene was released last year, it seems like 2013 has really been Elizabeth's year. Despite having few films under her belt, it already felt like her character in Redlights (alongside Cillian Murphy) was too small for her!

 

BEST SCI/FANTASY

Chronicle

Would not like to be fighting it out in this category this year. With films like The Avengers, Prometheus and Looper it was very hard to pick - but Chronicle was a refreshing take on super powers because the kids become the opposite of super heroes.

 

BEST COMEDY

American Reunion

Perhaps you have to be a long time American Pie fan to appreciate the sheer nostalgia of this beauty, but it packs many a laugh no matter what. Fingers crossed for many more reunions for Stifler and the gang...

 

BEST HORROR

The Woman In Black

If anyone votes for the Devil Inside they will get a virtual tap on the wrist... The Woman In Black, however, was a classy remake of a classic play and novel. Plus who doesn't love Daniel Radcliffe?

 

BEST THRILLER

Contagion

As if the outstanding cast wasn't enough, Steven Soderbergh's disaster movie was laced with doom and anyone who didn't feel scared to touch a door handle after watching Contagion is a very brave person...

 

JAMESON BEST ACTOR

Tom Hardy

No surprises here then! Just look at Lawless, This Means War, The Dark Knight Rises... This man can act anything! Close contenders for the title were Michael Fassbender (Prometheus, Haywire) and Javier Bardem (Skyfall).

 

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain

Gracious and believable in the majority of her films, especially Lawless and Corialanus.

 

BEST DIRECTOR

Christopher Nolan

Making people choose between Sam Mendes and Christopher Nolan hardly seems far, but any man who managed to round off the Batman Trilogy after the dizzying expectations set by its predecessor deserves the award. Well done Mr Nolan.

 

BEST BRITISH FILM

Skyfall

How can it not be Skyfall?

 

BEST FILM

The Dark Knight Rises

With a plot twist to rival all Nolan plot twists and a stellar cast, it's hard not to be excited by this film. Absolute class.

 

THE ART OF 3D

Avengers Assemble

Outstanding use of 3D by director Joss Whedon, managed to avoid the issues which have plagued 3D in the past. Dark and lacking in detail are not phrases you would use to describe The Avengers


Follow this link to read the review of Skyfall

The Dark Knight Rises Review

Prometheus Review

Avengers Assemble Review

The Woman In Black Review

Chronicle Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inception - Modern Classics

INCEPTION

2010

12A

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The next review in our modern classics series is Christopher Nolan's 2010 release Inception. Now it's no surprise that Amateur Reviews are a huge fan of this director's work so it seemed like high time to justify some of this immense adoration with a modern classics review. Pretty certain alot of you will have already watched this film so if you fancy leaving your opinion, it's very much appreciated. Here we go...

“True inspiration is impossible to fake”. But what if that was not the case? If we said “Don’t think about elephants” we’re fairly certain you just thought of elephants. How could you claim that was your own idea when you know you were given it? Well, imagine if, when you were fast asleep, someone could delve far enough into your subconscious and plant a thought so deep that the real origin of the idea is no longer detectable. Due to Nolan’s iron curtain of secrecy, you probably knew as much about this film as you did astrophysics before going into see it, but there lies the central feature of Christopher Nolan’s offering.

If there’s one thing ‘The Matrix’ did for us, apart from bringing back leather, is that it gave way to a whole new genre of sci-fi. The type that makes you question your very existence. And although Inception is similar in that sense – it’s refreshingly original and completely unique. Take note Michael Bay: this is how you make a Hollywood Blockbuster.

Ten years ago, the idea began to germinate in Nolan’s mind, not as the sci-fi heist you’ve grow to know, but as a horror film. A decade on, we have a knotty thriller that surpasses The Prestige and even, Nolan’s successful release, Memento. Following on from his supremely victorious second instalment in the Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight, Nolan is a director well and truly at the top of his game. Naturally, there was a certain amount of trepidation surrounding the film, but rest assured, Inception did not disappoint.

Make no mistake, this is a proper film. Nolan has rejected fashionable 3D (thank God) which often makes films feel dark, gimmicky and lacking in detail. He has shunted ostentatious tracking shots and constant reliance on green screen in order to make a film based on dreams feel surprisingly real. Together with cinematographer Wally Pfister, who used a variety of frames to capture breath-taking landscapes and claustrophobic close-ups, they have achieved the extraordinary. Shot in IMAX with superb editing, flawless visual effects and Hans Zimmer’s epically intense score makes for a ridiculously immersive viewing experience.

Aesthetically stunning, the plot flitters between four layers of a dream. From the grimy, industrial city level which Nolan gave his signature tough Gotham-look, to the corporate hotel layer with its warm colour palette and soft lighting – it is easy to differentiate between them. One minute you’re in Paris, the next Mombasa and the third act transpires in a snow fortress which strongly resembles the architecture of the Geisel Library at UCSD. The difference between this film and the Bourne Trilogy is that you don’t find yourself suspending disbelief as they trot across continents. Dreams mean no boundaries, no laws of physics and plenty of creative licence.

Beneath the films complex exterior, the occasional car chase and expertly placed explosion lies a love story laced with redemption, grief and the inability to let go of those who have left us. The core of the piece is anchored by our

protagonist Cobb (DiCaprio) as the serious and introverted “Extractor” burdened with the seemingly impossible task of planting an idea in someone’s mind. His sincere performance is the glue that holds the ensemble together. As one of his finest portrayals, it's hard to imagine anyone managing to encapsulate the depth and hidden turmoil faced by Cobb as impressively as DisCaprio.

Mimicking a classic heist movie, Cobb wastes no time in quickly assembling a skilled team with characters that complement each other with chemistry and spirit to rival any strong ensemble cast. Ariadne (Page) as the young, quirky student is given the role of replacement “Architect”, but not in the traditional sense. Niftily taken from Greek mythology, her namesake was responsible for leading Theseus out of the Minotaur’s maze and her character arc shares some uncanny parallelism to our plot. Dileep Rao plays “Chemist”, funny-man and designated driver Yusuf, named after the Prophet, gifted with the ability to interpret dreams. Good luck to all the sceptics who like to pick at loop holes and flaws, because, unlike The Prestige, you won’t find any. This movie is watertight.

Cobb’s “Pointman” and sidekick is played by the indie-film staple Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is a far cry from his usual hopeless romantic. He instead exhibits some mind-bending stunts and brings an element of Bond-style panache to the film. Cillian Murphy, one of Nolan’s go-to actors, is back as Robert Fischer, the sleek heir to energy giants Fischer Morrow and the subject of the nail-biting assignment. His vulnerable and helpless representation of Fischer shows an impressive amount of versatility and proves there’s more to him and his protuberant blue eyes than the crazed Scarecrow from Batman Begins. Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard takes on Cobb’s wife and tortured soul, Mal, and provides a remarkable amount of grace and elegance to a male dominated cast. Her name translated means ‘bad’ in both French and Spanish, but of course that’s a coincidence… A stand-out performance comes from future leading man material Tom Hardy. Virtually unrecognisable from the 2008 biopic ‘Bronson’, Hardy is the actor most starved of screen time, his roguish charm and sarcastic disposition of the clandestine “Forger” Eames lights up scenes with playful wit and effortless timing.

With the backing of an international, A-list cast and one of the best directors of recent years at the helm, Inception is a dream come true for any studio and good on Warner Brothers for not padding it out and diluting the smartness with incessant shooting. The complexity of Inception is not the flaw that some reviews are jumped on; it’s what makes it successful. For a film so intricate, it is not overambitious because it would be all too easy to feel lost and left out. Nolan’s tremendous narrative skill and trademark slight of hand keeps viewers on the inside and guides them along as a member of the team. So when you see Inception, which let’s be honest, you all probably have, be prepared to debate the ending for the rest of forever. What Christopher Nolan has succeeded in creating is an immensely intelligent film that challenges the audience but isn’t self indulgent and non-accessible. Inception is outstanding and quite frankly, bloody genius. Just don’t fall asleep in the middle of it – or else you could be waking up with some “radical notions”.

Guest Review - The Dark Knight Rises

Amateur Reviews are quite aware of the subjective nature of film, so when a friend of the blog came to us asking to review TDKR, it seemed like a great opportunity to showcase another opinion besides our own! Harriet's review analyses the villains in great detail, and although wasn't as blown away with the film as our official review, raises some interesting points of view. As ever, a quick spolier alert, other than that - enjoy this guest review and feel free to comment!

I recently went to see the new Batman film, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ after devoting two evenings to watching its predecessors; ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight’. Needless to say, judging from the quality of the previous two films, I was extremely looking forward to watching the final instalment of this highly entertaining, and beautifully written trilogy.

I sat in the cinema, and felt the rustle of excitement as the opening screens played forward and the lights dimmed, however by the time the end credits had rolled and the cinema was light again, I didn’t feel the rush of adrenaline and wonder that I had felt after the end credits had rolled for Nolan’s previous Batman films. I would like to point out now, that this film is by no means a flop, I found the acting by the cast was stellar and it was thoroughly entertaining, not to mention my pleasure at seeing so much British talent in one film. But, for me it lacked what I usually attribute to Nolan’s films; the ability to make the highly unlikely a worrying possibility.

What I liked about Nolan’s Batman was he was realistic; he wasn’t bit by a nonexistent spider, or genetically engineered in some post-war science experiment. He was trained by a secret organisation, which is a little farfetched but at least plausible in some respects. What’s more, Bruce Wayne has the ability to be Batman, and Nolan doesn’t shy away from the fact that, you can’t just wake up one day and be a superhero, you need resources. In short, you need to be a billionaire, which Bruce Wayne is. This time round however, we see the fall of our hero, he is crippled, he is bankrupt and he is lonely. Who wants to spend three hours, watching a lonely, poor crippled man, after watching the rich, powerful, fearless superhero of films past? I know it’s a message that ‘all good things come to an end’, but still, we want action, excitement and a bit of envy that he can live out his dream, whilst we sit here wasting our money on popcorn.

On another note, we are introduced to the new villain ‘Bane’, who is played extremely well by Tom Hardy. What I enjoyed about Bane was his eloquence, eloquence which was released to Gotham City through a mask which mirrored that of a dog’s mussel and helped to reinforce the idea of Bane as a wolf like creature. It was like seeing Scar, if he was human, a desperately evil person with no understanding of pain and a target of only destruction and death. I enjoyed Bane as a villain, but not as much as Heath Ledger’s ‘Joker’.  Although Bane was articulate, which served to make his speeches ever more terrifying, it was the Joker’s plausibility which made him so creepy; his dishevelled appearance and face paint, the scars, the idea that he festered and grew in Gotham, like mould in a forgotten fridge. Whilst Bane, controlled those around him through explosions, and the threat of a bomb, the Joker gained control through manipulation of those weakest in society, through clever schemes and infiltration of society’s highest orders. It was this indifference to humanity that augmented the Joker’s psychosis, the line “some men just want to watch the world burn”, summed up entirely what drove the Joker to murder and maim those around him, plus the idea that he placed himself outside of what society valued most-money- coupled with Ledger’s brilliant performance, made the character even more terrifying and chilling.

The villain in this film is less substantial. We never really see him without his mask, so you never see the injuries which have served to make him a legend, which also make him less relatable. What’s more we never know his back story, how he came to Gotham, how he was in prison and in the end, we see him cry, which, whilst perhaps giving his character depth, completely breaks the illusion of him being a  cold and callous master criminal with little care for anyone or anything.

You are probably wondering why I have devoted almost 3/4 of this review to the villain and not to the lead, and this is because we rarely see the lead. He pops up now and then to have a fight, be angry, and be ultimately destroyed and then placed in a prison by Bane from which there is ‘no escape’ , where he builds himself up to go back for his final fight for Gotham. It was all very predictable, with a predictable twist in the end and the film spends most of its time focusing on Bane, Wayne Enterprises and the Police officers.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the film, there was some brilliant performances from all of the cast, and some hugely emotional scenes. There was lots of heart-stopping action and brilliant dialogue. However, I felt as the final instalment to what has been largely, a brilliant trilogy it was lacking that emotional element which is supposed to drive home to the audience that this is the end. There was not enough of a relationship built up between the antagonist and the protagonist for the rise of the Dark Knight to be seen as the final showdown between good and evil. The loose ends were tied up, but in a half hearted way, and there was no big tragedy that befell any of the main roles, or that let you feel like it was done, over, finished caput. It was a well made movie, that was not awarded the huge confrontation or destruction that is awarded a final instalment, instead it was awarded mystery, with the film feeling as though it was setting itself up for new plot lines and new stories to appear.

All in all, I was blown away by the ultimate production level and the cast of the film, but not by the plotline itself, which I felt lacked depth, intricacy and realism.

http://amateurreviews25.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-review.html

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

12A

2012

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy

Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

The wait is over, The Dark Knight finally Rises. And it did not disappoint. The Dark Knight films have become, in our opinion, the best superhero trilogy yet and the latest movie is an amalgamation of this. It’s the perfect balance between Hollywood action and character acting; this is, and has been, Nolan’s greatest achievement. The action is necessary and artfully crafted, there’s none of those senseless explosions that go on in a Transformers movie for 90% of the time. This movie is visually striking, emotionally gripping and clever – Nolan is never one to placate the audience and people seem to appreciate that. The plot is as intricate and twisting as ever which makes for some magical moments of revelation.

The film loses momentum ever so slightly in the middle which makes the ending happen very quickly but that's splitting hairs. The Dark Knight Rises even surpasses that of its predecessor (The Dark Knight) because it largely avoided any of the slower bits in the second act. Now we’re not a review site who sit there and discredit other critics reviews because they are, of course, entitled to their own opinion. But would Christy Lemire quit harping on about the length, that’s not a reason to hate a film, how old are you? Anyone with an average attention span will have no trouble keeping interested. People are throwing around the word ‘bloated’ which implies boredom, but no one complained at Inception which was practically the same length.

The casting for The Dark Knight Rises was en pointe. It has to be said, when Anne Hathaway was cast as Catwoman there was a certain amount of trepidation that she would be right for this role, but really we’re sorry we doubted her. Selina Kyle was perfectly feline without camping it up, subtly sexy and down right captivating with her skin tight cat suit and seductive drawl. Nolan’s Catwoman bought a lot of fun to a film that is otherwise quite steely.

Tom Hardy once again has shown why he’s one of the most talented actors of the moment. Even with most of his face covered he managed to portray so much emotion through his expressive eyes. Staying largely true to the comics he was a true mercenary, with a colossal physique to prove it, and say what you want about the voice, Bane is marvellous. An adversary who more than matches Batman’s strength, intellect and unlike the undirected chaos of The Dark Knight, has a real purpose.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was especially impressive in a non showy way. He really made Blake his own, and became more than just a GCPD cop turned detective. TDKR is not devoid of emotion either, which makes the film all the more worthwhile. Some of the most touching aspects of the movie come from exchanges between Michael Caine and Christian Bale - to find Oscar worthy acting in a superhero movie is a rarity, in The Dark Knight Rises it’s present in abundance.  

The plot is fantastically relevant also. From economic collapse at the Stock Exchange to talks of terrorism, The Dark Knight Rises is firmly placed in reality which is all the more impressive for a Hollywood blockbuster. And it's this grounding that resonates strongly with the audience in an admirable way. Again, Christopher Nolan has managed to create a film that is visually immersive, thought provoking and superbly entertaining. This is a solid task on it’s own but when you add to it the pressure to match the dizzy heights of The Dark Knight it seemed like this movie could only disappoint. But it didn’t. And he rounded off a trilogy in an immensely satisfying way that left no loose ends or unanswered questions. The spectacular score, acting, effects and cinematography make for a proper cinematic experience which you'd struggle to match. 

The Dark Knight Rises is truly a masterpiece, it's breathtaking, suspenseful and utterly blood pumping. It seems fair to say that The Dark Knight definitely Rose.   

Rating: 10

Have your say - Was this movie worthy of full marks? You know where to comment!

Click here to see our correspondence from the European Premiere!

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

Just an update on what's in the pipeline for this momentous week! As you all probably know, the third and final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy graces theatres this week and as promised, we're going to cover it all for you. The New York Premiere is tonight and pictures will be up in due course. As well as this Amateur Reviews are planning on corresponding from the London premiere this Wednesday so will hopefully have coverage from there. Our review of the movie will most likely be up on Saturday the 21st so make sure you pop back to read the verdict! We will then be off on a week long hiatus, so don't be surprised if the blog slacks for a while - until then, enjoy all that's to come!

The Dark Knight Rises - New Trailer

BATMAN 3: Trailer #3

Batman fans of the world unite: summer is nearly upon us and anticipation for the return of the Dark Knight is literally reaching fever pitch! A fire is about to rise on the 20th of June and the thrid trailer in the teaser campaign has been the best yet. For all those naysayers complaining about not being able to hear Bane, are you happy now!? Tom Hardy is sounding and looking like a whole new level of menacing. A down-trodden Bruce Wayne has a younger, stronger villain to contend with who is terrorising Gotham City in any number of ways. 

After watching this bad boy in excess of a dozen times, it's safe to say this looks EPIC. So, does Spiderman fancy bringing out a trailer any time soon!?