Friday, 3 May 2013

Silver Linings Playbook

If you can stomach a heavy dose of swearing and are comfortable watching movies with mental health themes then Silver Linings Playbook is well worth the watch. 

A beautiful, near-perfect film, by the director of 'The Fighter', David O. Russell, who seems to have a knack for bringing out the best performances from his actors, having brought Christian Bale and Amy Adams to Oscar glory before helping Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper on their way with this latest effort. Okay, so Cooper was only nominated, but he absolutely deserved it. 

Another stand-out is Robert De Niro, who gives his finest performance in over fifteen years, as well as the surprisingly subtle turn from Chris Tucker. 

The film deals with loss and pain, showing how it can bring people to the edge of sanity only to find it's way through to forgiveness, and ultimately love. 

There are moments throughout that brought me close to tears. But there are funny moments too. One in particular was a riff on the famous dance move from Dirty Dancing that had me howling with laughter. 

Watch this film! It's dark. It's sometimes tough. But like all the best movies with dark, tough moments, it also offers hope and leaves you engulfed by the silver linings that only life can bring.

9/10

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Iron Man 3

An excellent edition to the franchise with Shane Black's stamp all over it.

The twist involving the Mandarin is both the film's strength and weakness. The fanboy in me feels a little let down by it, especially after the mega bad-ass he's painted out to be in all the publicity for the film, but the fact that a major studio has allowed the rug to be pulled from under us in such a way shows balls. The filmmakers therefore deserve respect, Black in particular, for the misdirection that they have so successfully managed to get away with.

What also makes this action so forgivable is the fact that the film is just so darn entertaining in every other respect, and Aldritch Killian more than makes up for it in the villain department, played brilliantly by the ever underrated Guy Pearce.

8/10