Showing posts with label Bradley Cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bradley Cooper. Show all posts

Favourite Soundtracks Part III

I would like to apologise for my half year hiatus from this very blog! My absence can be explained by the fact I have just started studying at university so have been busy settling in, meeting new people and finding time to bury my nose in Law books on occasion... But fear not and rest assured that I am back and ready to reignite my passion for film. 

Actually, it's rather presumptuous to assume anyone has actually missed activity on Amateur Reviews but I have certainly missed writing it...

FAVOURITE SOUNDTRACKS PART III

1. Les Miserables I Dreamed A Dream - Anne Hathaway I love this musical but the stand out track as cliché as expected is Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the musical theatre great. Ideally my favourite song from the musical is One Day More, however something about the movie version did not quite gel for me as much as some of the stage versions.


2. Great Gatsby Back To Black Beyonce and Andre 3000 This was one of my most listened to CDs of the summer so I was torn between a great many of the tracks. The hip hop edge of the sound track is to our ears what jazz was to Gatsby and co. in the 1920's. Genius from Baz. And as a side note, my second favourite would be Together by The XX.


3. The Vow England The National Yet another track by The National makes it onto one of my favourite lists (About Today from Warrior being the other). This is the instrumental version which ends the movie, however the original with lyrics is beautiful also.


4. Flight Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones Now I know that this song features in so many films other than Flight, but this is the most recent use of it that I am aware of therefore I decided to pick Flight as the soundtrack from which it's from. The intro of this song is summer personified in a song.


5. Social Network In Motion Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Incredible Oscar worthy soundtrack, the movie would not be what it is without it. I also particularly enjoyed the choral cover of Creep by Radiohead which accompanied the trailer too though is not part of the score.


6. Inglourious Basterds Cat People David Bowie Great song to accompany an even greater tracking shot by Quentin Tarantino.


7. Romeo + Juliet Talk Show Host Radiohead Another inspired Baz Luhrman soundtrack. The modern music in the modern take of Romeo and Juliet keeps the movie feeling fresh and relevant nearly 20 years on. Impressive film making.


8. Requiem For A Dream Lux Aeterna This song is used in so many other contexts nowadays that I sometimes forget that it is from this movie by Darren Aronofsky. I believe it was used for a Lord of The Rings Trailer? Either way it is a cracking piece of soundtrack to a cracking movie.


9. There Will Be Blood Convergence Johnny Greenwood I actually struggle to listen to this. It is not something that you'd put on for a bit of easy listening, or at a party for that matter. But I included it in the post just for the sheer fact that it encapsulates the urgency and unease of the movie ridiculously well. There Will Be Blood is truly brilliant but an undeniably hard watch; this soundtrack contributes to quality. 


10. Silver Linings Play Book Buffalo Alt-J Feat. Mountain Man And finally to round off the list... Alt-J is one of my favourite bands so when I heard their distinctive sound on the Silver Linings OST I was very happy indeed.


So that rounds off Part III. There will probably be a Part IV as I have always got my ears trained on the songs that come from some of my favourite films. Until then you can by all means check out Part I and Part II via the links below if it takes your fancy (or perhaps not if you hate my music/film taste!) 

Part I
Part II

The Palace Beyond The Pines - Review

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES


2011

15

Starring Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes

Directed by Derek Cianfrance 


The Place Beyond The Pines is a story about the lives of two men that intertwine surrounding one moment of panic. Ryan Gosling plays motorcycle stunt rider Luke who decides to use his special skills to rob banks in order to support  his newly found family. The middle of the movie surrounds Bradley Cooper who plays a police hero who encounters corruption within the force and deals with his own family life. Eventually 15 years progress and the children of these two men (Emory Cohen and Dane DeHaan) collide with one and other in an explosive fashion.  

This film was so nearly perfect and it started off perfect. Towards the end of the second act the movie fell away from perfection when it became slightly padded out and perhaps lost sight of the freshness that defined the opening hour. It's not that the film went bad by any means but it fell away from how good it had started. What's nice about the directorial skill is the fact that Cianfrance is unhurried in his approach and takes a long time to let the story unfold naturally and organically. There are a great many lovely moments that allow the characters to express elements of themselves through seemingly mundane and commonplace conversations. The sobering realism that starts off the film however becomes marginally lost towards the end of the second act when the story begins to relying too heavily on coincidence and potentially implausible twists of fate.

The action sequences of motorcycle getaways are thrilling and found myself literally on the edge of my seat. You get the impression from the beginning that these are real people, not superheroes, they are dispensable and fragile; so it was never clear who would survive to see the final credits. There are some truly skilful directorial aspects, the film opens with an incredible long take tracking shot of Ryan Gosling's back as he walks through the circus into the tent where he performs his stunts, as far as film openers go, it is the most memorable I have seen for a long time. The acting was sound and all participants were able to bring unexpected depth to the movie because even though a lot of our main characters were flawed you still found yourself caring and rooting for them as they were personable. 


Dane DeHaan is awesome as the son of Ryan Gosling. He's kind of similar to his Chronicle character Andrew Detmer but he's different in that Jason is nonchalant and not meek. Amateur Reviews have been following his films from the beginning and his performance in The Place Beyond The Pines confirms that his career will be nothing short of illustrious. 

Darker and more realistic there was no rose tinted perspective on things. The Place Beyond The Pines is a character study first and foremost - and then a thriller. It's study of our lives and how they can interlink and how one moment can affect the entire lives of many. Cianfrance did not disappoint.

Rating: 8







MTV Movie Awards - Pictures

Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook

Amanda, Bradley and Steve

Emma Watson picking up her Trail Blazer Award

Brad Pitt presenting 

Emma Watson's co-stars, Logan Lerman and Eddie Redmayne 

Tom Hiddleston with his Best Villain Award 

MTV Movie Awards - The Winners


Movie of the Year 
  • The Avengers 

Best Female Performance 
  •  Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Male Performance 
  •  Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Breakthrough Performance 
  •  Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect

Best Scared-As-S–t Performance 
  •  Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi

Moneyman, funnyman? Will Ferrell wore a dollar-covered suit as he accepted the award for Comic Genius
Moneyman, funnyman? Will Ferrell wore a dollar-covered suit as he accepted the award for Comic Genius 
Best On-Screen Duo 
  •  Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane, Ted

Best Shirtless Performance 
  • Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

Comic Genius
  • Will Ferrell for his work in movies such as Anchorman and Elf
  •  
Quirky award: Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson won the award for Best WTF Moment for Django Unchained
Quirky award: Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson won the award for Best WTF Moment for Django Unchained
Best Fight 
  • Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner vs. Tom Hiddleston, The Avengers

Best Kiss 
  • Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Best WTF Moment 
  • Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson, Candieland Gets Smoked in “Django Unchained

Enlarge Winner: Bradley Cooper scooped the award for Best Kiss with costar Jennifer Lawrence and Best Actor in The Silver Linings Playbook
Winner: Bradley Cooper scooped the award for Best Kiss with costar Jennifer Lawrence and Best Actor in The Silver Linings Playbook 
Trailblazer Award
  • Emma Watson for her work in films such as Harry Potter and The Perks Of Being A WallFlower

Best Musical Moment 
  •  Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean and Hana Mae Lee, Pitch Perfect

Best Villain 
  •  Tom Hiddleston, The Avengers

Kick Ass 2, Hangover Part III - Trailer

Bit late on the uptake with this, but here it is for any people who live under a rock (such as myself). Also, maybe pop back later today to read my review of Side Effects starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum.



The Academy Awards 2013: all the pictures!

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture

Jessica Chastain in Armani

Best Actress Jennifer Lawrence: every inch the superstar

Amy Adams in Oscar De Lorenta

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones

Bradley Cooper and his beautiful mum Gloria 

Naomi Watts 

Reece Witherspoon in Louis Vuitton

Silver Linings Playbook: Jen and Brad

Eddie Redmayne

Meryl Streep and Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis

Technically the best actors in Hollywood this moment
L-R Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Waltz
The night's big winners 

Stunning medley from the cast of Les Miserables 

Love young dream: Cosette and Marius aka Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne  

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway

The greatest actor of our time: Daniel Day-Lewis 

Amanda Seyfried looking fierce in Alexander McQueen 

Golden Globes 2013


Motion Picture, Drama: Argo

Actor, Motion Picture Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Actress, Motion Picture Drama: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Les Miserables

Actor, Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Director, Motion Picture: Ben Affleck, Argo

Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement: Jodie Foster

Actress, TV Musical or Comedy: Lena Dunham, Girls

Animated Film: Brave

Actress, TV Drama: Claire Danes, Homeland

Foreign Language Film: Amour, from Austria

Actor, TV Musical or Comedy: Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Screenplay, Motion Picture: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Supporting Actress, Motion Picture: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or TV Movie: Ed Harris, Game Change

Actress, Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Actor, Miniseries or TV Movie: Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys

Original Song, Motion Picture: Skyfall (music & lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth), Skyfall

Original Score, Motion Picture: Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Series, TV Drama: Homeland

TV Series, Musical or Comedy: Girls

Actor, TV Drama: Damian Lewis, Homeland

Actress, Miniseries or TV Movie: Julianne Moore, Game Change

Miniseries or TV Movie: Game Change

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or TV Movie: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Supporting Actor, Motion Picture: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained