Jupiter Ascending Review

‘Could this get any weirder?’ Mila Kunis asks at one point in Jupiter Ascending. With bees that recognise royalty, hover shoes that allow the wearer to skate and surf in thin air, and Channing Tatum wearing pointy prosthetic ears; the answer is definitely no Mila, it probably bloody couldn’t.

Jupiter Jones (Kunis) is an ordinary girl from Chicago, born under a night sky with the stars aligned to spell out her destiny for future greatness. Her reality is cleaning toilets; day in, day out like a modern day Cinderella. Out of the stars, flies her very own Prince Charming... or perhaps that should be Prince Channing, with Tatum playing a hunter who has been sent to Earth to find his princess. He’s a genetically engineered ex-military hybrid; part man, part dog with gravity defying boots and a keen sense of smell. His mission is to discover Jupiter who, unbeknownst to her, is actually an intergalactic royal heir and in line to inherit a fortune that could decide the future of every human on Earth.

The Wachowski siblings have never really dealt in small ideas. Their debut Bound feels light years away from this epic space saga which eclipses even The Matrix and Cloud Atlas for the scope of its ambition. However, Jupiter Ascending is not the masterpiece that either The Matrix was, or that Cloud Atlas may one day be hailed as. It is brimming with action, special effects and imagination, but is sadly lacking when it comes to character and real emotion. This is like The Fifth Element on steroids; if you liked Luc Besson’s vision of the galaxy, strap in for more bonkers creatures and OTT villains than you can shake a misplaced Lightsaber at.

Jupiter Ascending has Hogwarts extras, Koopa Troopas from The Super Mario Bros movie, henchman dressed like gimps and plenty more crazy aliens for its down to earth heroine to contend with. It also has Eddie Redmayne on turbo charged uber-villain duties. As one of a trio of royal siblings that are squabbling over what to do about the threat that Jupiter poses to them, he chews the huge and extravagantly designed scenery to pieces. With his creepy features and strained voice, it is a shame when he resorts to moments of SHOUTING to make sure he tips over into pantomime.

Jupiter Ascending is a film filled with chasing and rescuing, but the action scenes go by in a bit of a blur of special effects and repetitiveness. Kunis gets a few chances to show her charm but spends most of the film going from outrageous costume to costume and either clinging to Tatum or chasing Channing (who forgets to put his shirt on for a large section of the film) for a quick kiss. If Jupiter Ascending isn’t numbing with its action, it’s getting bogged down with the likes of Sean Bean delivering pages of exposition. If you just want to know what's in Tatum's genes, you might want to wait for Magic Mike XXL.

Still, if you like big special effects driven space odysseys more like The Fifth Element than Interstellar, then Jupiter Ascending might just be the star you’ve been searching for. 

Watch the trailer:

More recent reviews from I Love That Film:

Selma

American Sniper

Birdman

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Screen Actors Guild Award Winners 2015

Over the weekend, we had the Producer's Guild Awards and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards announce their winners for the past year of film making. At the PGA's, the producers of Birdman, The Lego Movie, TV's Breaking Bad and Fargo won the big prizes while there was a fascinating spread of movies that won at the SGA's. Below I have listed the nominees (for the movie categories) and in bold are the winners. Not one movie had two winners, meaning that The Theory of Everything, Still Alice, Whiplash, Boyhood and Birdman all picked up awards. It's great to see all these films picking up something and it will be very interesting to see if this is repeated at the Oscars.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
STEVE CARELL Foxcatcher
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH The Imitation Game
JAKE GYLLENHAAL Nightcrawler
MICHAEL KEATON Birdman
EDDIE REDMAYNE The Theory of Everything

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
JENNIFER ANISTON Cake
FELICITY JONES The Theory of Everything
JULIANNE MOORE Still Alice
ROSAMUND PIKE Gone Girl
REESE WITHERSPOON Wild

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
ROBERT DUVALL The Judge
ETHAN HAWKE Boyhood
EDWARD NORTON Birdman
MARK RUFFALO Foxcatcher
J.K. SIMMONS Whiplash

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
PATRICIA ARQUETTE Boyhood
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY The Imitation Game
EMMA STONE Birdman
MERYL STREEP Into the Woods 
NAOMI WATTS St Vincent

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD

 THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

THE IMITATION GAME

 THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

The Theory of Everything Review

After meeting the love of his life, young and brilliant Cambridge PhD student and physicist Stephen Hawking is diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Given two years to live but exceeding all expectations, Hawking goes on to develop new theories of space and time that will make him famous around the globe. His wife Jane meanwhile attempts to take the strain of attending to Hawking as they both learn to cope with his debilitating disease, while also bringing up their three children and putting her own studies on hold.

The Theory of Everything is based on Jane Hawking's own memoir which apparently was first published as a fairly angry expose of her difficult time with the genius behind the crippling illness. It was first written after they divorced (as depicted in the film) but then heavily revised after Stephen divorced his second wife and the pair have become very close again. On the one hand, that means we are getting a heavily sanitised view of Stephen Hawking, a rewritten version of events from a woman who has clearly mellowed with age. On the other hand, it also means that The Theory of Everything isn't a film driven by anger or the desire to destroy the reputation of a incredibly inspiring man, amd is all the better for it.

Yes Hawking has his faults (don't we all?) but this film isn't so much about trawling through his dirty laundry as it is a celebration of the love and the understanding that Jane brought to what must have been a difficult relationship. It is also not a relentlessly grim sob-fest that dwells continuously on the tragedy of Stephen's situation, inviting us to feel nothing but sympathy for him. It does have its moments of heartbreaking tragedy (the croquet game is sure to have audiences choking on their sobs) but more than anything, The Theory of Everything is an inspiring tale of a great mind, perfectly rendered by a powerful and mesmerising performance from Eddie Redmayne.

Watch the trailer:

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London Film Festival 2014

Buy my book on The Blair Witch Project

Golden Globes Gambling

Once a year, I like to have a little flutter when it comes to awards season. OK maybe two or three times a year as I'll probably throw a tiny bit of cash down on the BAFTAS and the Oscars. Anyway, the point is I'm not an addict. I just like to liven awards season up with the potential of winning a little money. I'm too stingy and scared and skint to throw down any real money so I keep things very low key, only betting very small amounts.

Last year I came out a tiny bit up after betting on a couple of the awards ceremonies, but this year I'm trying not to play it so safe by betting on a couple of outsiders that may not be the favourites but still have good chances of winning.

I placed my bets at William Hill this year on the following nominees in the following categories:

Julianne Moore - Maps To The Stars @ 12/1 Best Actress - Musical/Comedy

Stake: £1.00 Potential Returns: £13.00

Amy Adams - Big Eyes @ 10/11 Best Actress - Musical/Comedy

Stake: £1.00 Potential Returns: £1.91

Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel @ 9/1 Best Actor - Musical/Comedy

Stake: £1.00 Potential Returns: £10.00

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Birdman @ 11/2 Best Director

Stake: £1.00 Potential Returns: £6.50

Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything @ 1/3 Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama

Stake: £2.00 Potential Returns: £2.67

Boyhood @ 1/6 Best Motion Picture - Drama

Stake: £2.00 Potential Returns: £2.33

Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything @ 16/1 Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

Stake: £1.00 Potential Returns: £17.00

Highlighted are my winners.

TOTAL STAKE £9.00

TOTAL POTENTIAL WINNINGS (I can dream): £53.41

ACTUAL TOTAL: £6.91

What do you reckon are my chances? Will I get my £9 back at least or will I lose it all?

Les Miserables at the Open Air Cinema at Hedsor House

Thanks to Marlow FM, I got to go along to see Les Miserables at an open air cinema at Hedsor House on Thursday evening. It was the first time I've ever watched a film outside in my life. 31 and I've never watched a film outdoors... can you believe it? I'm well and truly hooked now though and on the look out for more opportunities to watch films under the stars. It was an amazing evening. It certainly didn't hurt that the screening was held in the grounds of Hedsor House, a beautiful location that has been used for such films as Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut Quartet and The Golden Compass.

It took a long time for the sun to set and the weather was amazing so the film started a little behind schedule at around 9.45pm (on a school night)! Fortunately there was no rain and it stayed warm enough to be outside even as the film ended at just after midnight. There was a slight mist by the end which you could see in front of the screen and the light from the projector was gorgeous.

We got to have a little walk around the grounds before the film started and watched the sunset over the valley. Then I thought watching Les Miserables for the second time this year might be a little boring but actually I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. I was blown away by the two best songs in the film and the performances of Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne, so much so that it got me wondering about the performance and script enough to write this post.

Anyway I'd like to thank the organisers and Marlow FM for the ticket. It was a magical evening and a superb film. I hope they do it again next year and I'm now going to keep an eye out for more films being shot at Hedsor House in the future.

More from I Love That Film:

Les Misérables Review

How much of a great performance comes from a great script?

Watching Les Miserables the other day for a second time, I was reminded of how truly breathtaking Eddie Redmayne and Anne Hathaway's performances are, particularly in the Empty Chairs and I Dreamed a Dream songs. But I was also thinking that Hugh Jackman is also fantastic in his main role but none of the songs he sings are as powerful as the last two mentioned.

It got me thinking how much of a great performance comes from a great script. It seems strange to choose Les Miserables as the film to discuss but the songs are the script so why not? Do I think the best performances are during Empty Chairs and I Dreamed a Dream because those two songs are the most powerful in my opinion? Are Redmayne and Hathaway at an advantage over everyone else because those two songs capture the emotions of the whole story the best?

Is it the lyrics or the music? This is why I think so much of the performances are down to the script because those two songs have great lyrics and come at highly emotive moments of the narrative. Hathaway's Fontaine has endured all manner of awfulness and is at her absolute lowest, as is Redmayne's Marius. She has lost her job, her pride, her hair, teeth and freedom and he has lost all his friends. And then Marius belts out these lyrics:

There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone.

Here they talked of revolution.
Here it was they lit the flame.
Here they sang about `tomorrow'
And tomorrow never came.



And Fontaine gets the immortal lines:

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving



It's all too much. Just reading them makes me sad! Do actors get a head start with a script/lyrics like these?  Of course they do! I'm not dismissing Hathaway or Redmayne's work because I'm sure two less talented actors could have done far worse at conveying the emotions of the songs but still, I wonder if the reason I don't come away from Les Miserable banging on about Hugh Jackman (who carries most of the film) is because he doesn't get two songs as good as those above.

I a quick Google search of great movie performances shows up:

These are mostly very modern but it does make me wonder about the strength of the scripts that gave birth to the magnificent performances. I don't wish to take anything away from these actors but would they have created such brilliant performances without such great scripts?

On the other hand can a great actor turn a crappy script into something that sounds like Shakespeare? What do you think?

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