Moonrise Kingdom review

Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” is pure joy. What’s more, it does something nearly impossible in cinema: It captures innocence.

The scene is set at an Atlantic Coast island called Summer’s End. It’s like Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland, a bucolic reserve with paths but no actual roads and plenty of forests, fields, coastal inlets and rushing rivers. The boys all seem to belong to the Khaki Scouts while the girls read adventure books and long for their own adventures. Watch out — they’re about to begin!

The time is 1965. A 12-year-old Khaki Scout named Sam (Jared Gilman) runs off with a dreamy but rebellious local girl named Suzy (Kara Hayward). He dresses in a coonskin hat, a corn pipe and bottle-thick glasses. She packs sensibility in a pink suitcase that seemingly contains every library book she has stolen and enough kitchen implements so no one will starve. (The young actress, who wears permanent eye shadow and make-up, reminds you somewhat of Emma Watson in the earlier Harry Potter movies.)

The runaways cause the island to mobilize — the Khaki Scouts under their chain-smoking troop leader (Edward Norton); a sad local cop (Bruce Willis); and Suzy’s parents, the Bishops (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), each living in his own world with the mother’s secret liaisons with the policeman coming under more scrutiny than either party wishes.

If you enjoyed Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Royal Tenenbaums then this is a must see film.

Moonrise Kingdom will be screened on September 9th at 7.00pm in Nantwich Civic Hall. £5 on the door.

13 Assassins – Review

The story of 13 Assassins is rather simple. A group of samurai in feudal Japan secretly plot to kill a brutal, viscous lord. But the distance between this revelation and its ultimate conclusion is rather vast. In between there are rich, complex characters, stunning action sequences and thoughtful drama – all set to a film whose plot is actually inspired by true events?

In feudal times, a nobleman commits ritual suicide to protest the actions of Naritsugu, the Emperor’s depraved brother, whose barbaric cruelty has dishonoured the throne. The scene is shot with chilling restraint. Only the actor’s expression and the sound of intestines spilling on the soundtrack indicate the bloodletting taking place just outside the frame.

With Naritsugu next in line to succeed the Emperor and impossible to remove from power, hara-kiri is the only conceivable form of protest — unless the heavily guarded tyrant can be eliminated, through what surely would be a suicide mission against his 200 bodyguards. After complex political manoeuvring, the secret assassination plan is drafted and a dozen samurai sign on for a noble death in service to their nation.

The team comes together a few at a time until a dozen patriotic swordsmen are assembled. (The identity of the 13th team member is too good a surprise to spoil.) This men-on-a-mission film is superbly cast, impeccably shot, riveting even in static dialogue scenes, and overwhelming once the blades are unsheathed. The finale, a slashing 40-minute battle royal employing an endless variety of traps, strategies and weapons (including flaming bulls!) is action moviemaking at its most agile, extravagant and incredible. As the aging leader of the samurai squad, Koji Yakusho makes a strong, stalwart impression. For the stout of heart, this is a spectacle that demands to be seen on the big screen.

Filmed with inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai

Casablanca – Review

As time goes by, the appeal of Casablanca shows no sign of diminishing. Originally intended as a WWII propaganda movie, it remains a marvellous blend of bittersweet romance, wisecracking comedy and wartime intrigue. Wonderfully acted by its cast, it’s the story of a laconic nightclub-owner Rick (Humphrey Bogart), whose life in Casablanca is shaken up by the arrival of old flame Elsa (Ingrid Bergman) with her Resistance leader husband.

Despite a famously troubled production (including a conveyor belt of scriptwriters and a failure to secure the likes of Ronald Reagan), the finished film, directed by Michael Curtiz, unfolds with effortless professionalism. Indeed, when re-watching Casablanca, one is reminded how many of its choice lines – “Round up the usual suspects!”, “Here’s looking at you kid” – have entered our collective cultural consciousness, together with the all too-familiar tones of that ‘As Time Goes By’ theme song.

Casablanca’s durability can also be connected to its old-fashioned values: Duty must come before love, and making individual sacrifices for a just cause is a necessity, or as Rick would say, “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world”. It’s a work of skilful fantasy, allowing us to imagine that in a similarly perilous situation we too might act, dress and talk like the stoical Bogie and the luminous Bergman. The gaping plot hole – why would the Germans respect letters of transit signed by General de Gaulle? – is largely irrelevant. In fact, by the time the credits roll, you’ll be too misty-eyed to notice.

50 Great Movies You Can (Legally) Watch for Free Right Now

A great year for film in Nantwich

Trailer for our next film – Casablanca

Casablanca will be screened at Nantwich Civic Hall on July 8th, 7:45pm (doors 7pm). Full service bar available before and after the show.

Headhunters – Monday June 10th 7:45pm (Doors 7pm)

I can’t remember the last time a movie surprised me as much as Headhunters: not just its story twists and turns, which are considerable, but its continual stripping of character veneer and overall audaciousness left me breathless. I haven’t read any of the growingly-popular novels by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo (whose reputation has grown in the past few years, possibly in the wake of Sweden’s Stieg Larsson), but if this is indicative of his storytelling skills, I’m impressed.

The film captures our attention right away by introducing us to its highly unlikely “hero,” a smug, high-level corporate headhunter who plays to win. He’s even won himself a beautiful wife, although he admits that the expensive, ultramodern house in which they live is more her taste than his. Then he explains, in voice-over narration, that he has a second source of income to support his expensive lifestyle: he is a successful art thief. When his wife opens a stylish new gallery and befriends a newcomer who happens to own a valuable Rubens painting, he simply can’t resist going after it, with the help of a partner who works for a home-security firm. Headhunters is a sleeper that ought to generate strong word-of-mouth. A Hollywood studio is already preparing a remake, but I doubt if an American filmmaker will pull off the story with the same gutsiness that marks this striking Norwegian import.

Untouchable – Monday 6th May 7:45pm

If you are sceptical about French films, don’t be for this one … it is a must see film, my personal favourite of 2012. 

I know that I am a little bit late to the party celebrating the film “Intouchable*” but better late than never.. It has heart, humour, hope and in the end happiness. The fact it is based on a true story, is just the icing on the cake.

The film tells the story of Philippe (Francois Cluzet), a rich man living in Parris who is a tetraplegic as a result of a paragliding accident. His condition requires 24 hour care and when he advertises for a carer, he gets Driss (Omar Sy) as an applicant. Driss doesn’t really want the job; he just needs to get his paperwork signed showing he applied for the job. That way he can get his unemployment benefit.

Philippe however sees something in Driss that he thinks will work and he offers him the job. Driss takes it on a trial basis but the luxurious life it offers him is hard to refuse. Driss edges his way into being Philippe’s carer and almost involuntarily makes Philippe’s life better. From the time Driss walks in the door, Philippe is either laughing or has a smile on his face.

The charisma and rapport between these two actors is amazing. Their warmth spills off the screen and into the audience’s hearts. Driss is a charmer, that’s for sure, but so is Philippe. He has an infectious smile and a radiant essence for life, He has been handed a tough deal with the accident and other tragedies in his life, but he is still pursuing happiness. Cluzet perfectly captures each longing and each triumph.

Sy gives the character Driss his spirit and gives him his heart. If Sidney Poitier was a younger man this is a role he could embrace… Sy also throws in some smooth dance moves that show his roots.

Some people may choose not to watch this film because it is French with subtitles. That is a shame because hearing the French language enhances the film…

* Intouchable is the U.S published title

Silver Linings Playbook – Monday 8th April 7:45pm

There are few films that hit home to the degree Silver Linings Playbook does. The filmmakers and cast seem to have an excellent working knowledge of mental health, specifically Bipolar Disorder (which in itself is a complex task). But never once is the illness put before the person and that is what makes Silver Linings quite a remarkable film. The story is about two characters with Bipolar Disorder searching for stability from their illness. Subtly, it plays on the fact that we all have issues in our lives by giving us quirky seemingly normal characters peppered throughout the film. Both Cooper and Lawrence hit it out of the park (and if Daniel Day Lewis wasn’t such an amazing actor, the Oscar would surely have gone to Bradley Cooper). De Niro and Weaver playing Cooper’s father and mother in the film complete amazing roles. However it is through the mother’s eyes, we view the pain and concern for her family as a result of her son’s illness plus her husband’s compulsive habits.

Talking to people who have seen this film – some find it funny whilst others see the broader picture, people may laugh along and alone, but the film carries a more serious message regarding the capacity to cope with mental health. Silver Linings Playbook whilst entertaining, attempts to reduce the stigma, however It is clear we have a long way to go………

The Angel’s Share – Monday 11th March 7.45pm

Ken Loach’s bitter-sweet Scottish comedy is the story of four friends who meet on a Community Payback programme and, after being inspired by a visit to a Whisky distillery, plan an audacious crime to finance a better future. The film won the Jury Prize at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival

The Angels ‘Share starts off with a bit of exposition via court room scene, introducing us to our main characters as they are sentenced to community service. The scene is laughing out loud funny one moment, soberingly sad the next, which sets up the tonal shifts that occur throughout the movie. It starts off as a working class tragedy-in-the-making, only to take a pleasantly unexpected turn into something altogether breezier, a lightly comic story about whiskey tasting and redemption.

Paul Brannigan makes his screen debut as Robbie, a man waging a seemingly hopeless struggle to escape his past and make a life for himself. His downhill slide begins to level out during a visit to his parole officer’s house and a glass of whiskey, which leads to a newfound interest in tasting, and a bit of mischief in the 3rd act that I won’t spoil here.

The highlight of the film is Charles MacLean, a real life whiskey taster playing himself and essentially just doing his job on camera. It’s a job he’s obviously very good at, because onscreen he has charisma and upper-class eccentricity in spades, and an obvious, infectious passion for whiskey.

The working-class milieu of Glasgow creeps around the edges of the film, including a truly disgusting scene involving Robbie’s alcoholic flat mate, and a volume of profanity that would be bracing if it weren’t so amiable in that Scottish kind of way. The Angels Share circumvents a lot of redemption-story clichés, delivering something that’s grounded in reality but finds room for some well-earned warm fuzzies.

A Big Cheese film fan