Showing posts with label Crime drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crime drama. Show all posts

Animal Kingdom Review

Posted by Should I See It on Sunday, June 27, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)




Film: Animal Kingdom
Director: David Michod
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Sullivan Stapleton, Jackie Weaver, Luke Ford and James Frecheville.
Plot: Tells the story of seventeen year-old Josh as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.


Animal Kingdom is the latest offering in Aussie Cinema. It comes highly recommended, having won the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival this year. There's no doubt that Animal Kingdom is going to sweep the Australian Film Institute Awards at the end of this year, but gven it's Sundance win, I will be very interested to see how it fares in the international circuit.

Gang dramas have never really been of much interest. Yet Animal Kingdom intrigued me. It is not nearly as glossy, far grittier and dare I say better acted that it’s television counterpart, Underbelly. (I have never had much time for the Underbelly ‘Phenomenon’ as it glamorises Australian Underworld and don’t even get me started on the way it objectifies women.)

Animal Kingdom is based on the Walsh Street Police Killings that occurred in Melbourne in the 1980s, however the film never pretends to be a true account of the events or the Cody clan, the family at the centre of Animal Kingdom. The film is clearly fictionalised, made most noticeable by updating the story to the present day. However, that doesn’t make the film any less intriguing.



Animal Kingdom is a dark film. I was wary of how violent the film would be, however most of the violence is implied or occurs off screen. The darkness comes from the characters and their motivations. For example, when one family member is shot by another, no one blinks an eye. Rather it’s accepted as part of ‘the life’ they lead. Similarly, the opening sequence that shows Josh watching Deal or No Deal, calmly waiting for the paramedics to arrive to treat his mother who has overdosed on heroin, tells you everything you need to know about his life and the world he lives in. Frecheville, making his film debut here, is particularly good.

Performances are great all round. Ben Mendelsohn as Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody is a particular standout, and Luke Ford is thankfully less embarrasing than he was in The Mummy III.

Jackie Weaver plays the creepiest grandmother you will ever see on screen. I have heard her compared to Lady Macbeth; however, I think she is far more evil. Unlike Lady M, Janine Cody is very maternal. It’s just that her maternal instincts verge on the border of obsession. She insists her sons kiss her on the lips, and is willing to sacrifice the life of her grandson in order to get her sons out of jail. Jackie Weaver’s performance is unashamedly brilliant.



To be honest there are a few issues in the film that could have been addressed: a second lawyer shows up without any introduction, and the scenes featuring Detective Leckie's (Guy Pearce) disabled daughter feel as though they might go somewhere, but never actually do. For the most part though, David Michod directs the feature with a skilled hand. Michod has a clear grip on his characters and does the film justice.

You may need to do something happy after seeing this film; I thoroughly recommend a good dose of chocolate. Though there is an upside to seeing a film like this: After spending two hours with the crazy Cody’s, your family will seem like the Brady Bunch in comparison.

Though, to be completely honest, the most disturbing thing about the movie would have to go to Guy Pearce’s moustache.


Should I See It?

Yes, Absolutely.



Animal Kingdom Official Site here.

Sherlock Holmes Review

Posted by Should I See It on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , | comments (0)





Film: Sherlock Holmes
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong.
Plot: A remake of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock Holmes struggles against a villain who has dreams of taking over London and the world.


There are two words I hate when talking about film adaptations of ‘classics,’ and they are modern re-telling. While the film itself is set in ‘Victorian London’ (and I use those words liberally) Sherlock Holmes, for all intensive purposes, is ‘modern’.

There’s no doubt that some elements of the Sherlock Holmes persona have become stereotyped: The deer stalker hat and ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ never actually appear in the books, and thankfully don’t make an appearance in this film. But Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes who is a boxer, an explosives and chemical warfare expert and a stunt man who doesn’t hesitate jumping out of a window into the Thames, regardless of the diseases he would catch when doing so. This Sherlock Holmes feels even further from Arthur Conan Doyle’s original character.



While watching the film I wondered if the film makers have even read any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. The plot is not so much a whodunit, but a whydunit, which removes any sort of suspense. And of course the why is not really very interesting: like all bad guys, he wants to take over the world.

The film breaks one of the cardinal rules of the detective story: “The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. All clues must be plainly stated and described.” The ‘big’ secret of the film, how bad guy (I can’t even remember his name, that’s how much I cared) manages to ‘rise from the dead,’ (seriously) rests in a super duper wonder drug developed from a flower only found in the Amazon Rainforest, or some such rubbish. The audience’s insight to this remarkable clue rests in a two second shot of the aforementioned flower in a midget’s laboratory (seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!).

The plot vaguely touches on Victorian England’s preoccupation with the supernatural. However, the introduction of the Temple of the Four Orders (read: Knight’s Templar) turns the film into a Victorian National Treasure.


 
There isn’t any air in this film; I know London air at this time would have been smelly at best, but let the picture breathe a little. The shots feel tight and enclosed. When we do get some sense of space is ruined by particularly bad CGI. Surely technology has come so far that doing CGI to buildings should be unnoticeable.

Robert Downey Jr.’s accent makes him unintelligible. Half of the time I could barely understand what he was saying. June Law as Watson is actually very good.

The film bored me. The film was so obsessed with getting as many (poorly done) special effects and fight scenes in as possible, it seemed to forget about the story.


Should I See It?

If you want real mystery, the real Sherlock Holmes, read the books.




All pictures courtesy of Warner Brothers.
Sherlock Holmes Official Site here.

What we learnt in Season 2 of The Mentalist

Posted by Should I See It on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)




In Season 2 of The Mentalist we learnt that...


Rigsby's father was a biker.


Cho is awesome.


Cho is REALLY awesome.


The CBI has no screening policy for it's employees (Case in point: the CBI Psychiatrist, Rebecca).


The CBI has no screening process when people enter the building ('The Fixer' from Episode 2 [who ended up being a murderer] and a man we can only assume is Red John [who is a murderer/ crazy serial killer]).


Lisbon is not as straight laced as she thinks she is.


Sometimes Jane really deserves to be punched.


Patrick Jane is safe for anything short of murder.


Your supervising agent will let you date your co worker, but the big boss won't.


Sometimes the head of the CBI needs to tell the media where to stick it.


There are never any consequences if you are Patrick Jane.


It's okay to blackmail your co workers into doing what you want.


If you want to keep your relationship a secret, don't use the same shower gel.


Kristina Frye might just actually be a real psychic (or in cahoots with Red John, you can decide which is worse).


Red John likes poetry, scary masks, home movies, bloody mary's, and killing people. He dislikes copy cats, even though they (for some reason) think he's the best thing since sliced bread.


Did I mention that Cho is awesome?






The best one liners are.....


‘You're gonna die alone.’ Cho to Rigsby, Episode 2 The Scarlett Letter.

‘Semper Fi, sissy britches’ Jane, Episode 6 Black Gold and Red Blood.

‘Lisbon, I had a horrible dream. I dreamt that Jane escaped the county jail. I dreamt that the sheriff, the AG and the district super all called to yell at me. Now you're gonna wake me up, yes?’ Minelli to Lisbon, Episode 6 Black Gold and Red Blood.

‘Keep an eye on Jane. If he screws up too bad, shoot him. There's not a court in the land that would convict you.’ Minelli to Lisbon, Episode 8 His Red Right Hand.

‘Go to hell and take a toothbrush.’ Lisbon to Jane, Episode 11 Rose Coloured Glasses.

‘You're brain's a fool.’ Cho to a suspect, Episode 11 Rose Coloured Glasses.

‘Is that a useful aha or an annoying aha?’ Lisbon to Jane, Episode 11 Rose Coloured Glasses.

'I'm not the po-po, I'm the po-po consultant.' Jane, Episode 18 Aingative Baa.

‘You're the poster girl for the NRA.’ Jane to Lisbon, Episode19 Blood Money.

‘We’re like the FBI only more conveniently located.’ Cho, Episode 21 18- 5- 4.

'What are you using, dial up?' Jane to Kristina Frye, Episode 22 Red Letter.




Read The Mentalist Season 2 Review here.

The Mentalist Season 2 Review

Posted by Should I See It on Monday, May 31, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)






Show: The Mentalist: Season 2 (WB/CBS)
Creator: Bruno Heller
Starring: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman and Amanda Righetti.
Plot: After is wife and daughter are murdered by serial killer Red John, a former fake psychic joins the Califonia Bureau of Investigation. He uses his extraordinary powers of observation to help close cases often  to the chagrin of Agent in Charge Teresa Lisbon and her team: Agents Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt.


Please be advised that spoilers abound. Don't read if you don’t want to know!





 



In 2008 the first season of The Mentalist burst onto screens, quickly becoming one of the most watched programmes in the United States (and here in Australia, too).

Is the second season of The Mentalist as good as the first? No, not really. It's getting too easy to spot the killer and too easy to recognise when Jane is pulling one of his stunts.

Actually the stunts are getting old, too. And, I never thought I would say this, even Simon Baker’s charm is wearing thin. Patrick Jane is incredibly narcissistic, no doubt about it, but this season he has turned into a downright jerk.

Season 2 has been plagued with inconsistencies and an inability on behalf of the writers to really follow through. Unfortunately, Season 2 suffered from a severe lack of character development and team dynamics. The writers were dropping character based subplots faster than you would hot potatoes. For example:

We learn that Lisbon was in love with Bosco…. And? She looks morose for a couple of episodes, and then it‘s never to be mentioned again.

Then we have Grace give that ‘pretend’ speech about her sister committing suicide…. And…..that’s it. Surely if you were going to the effort of bringing back Kristina Frye, you would have her interact with the only member of the team that ACTUALLY believes in psychics. We could have found out if there really was a dead sister… or we could at least have some clue as to what the ‘trauma’ was that makes her so emotionally unavailable and afraid of commitment.



Well to be fair, the season started of close enough to what we originally knew as The Mentalist. But something, somewhere changed. The tone of the show changed. The show has always had a glossy exterior, but you were always aware of the tension lurking underneath. It’s almost as if Season 2 has been stripped of both the gloss and the tension. I have no idea how that happened. All I can put it down to is poor writing, particularly the character of Jane. So much of the show relies on Jane. And maybe that’s the problem. The focus on Jane means the (incredibly talented) supporting cast are neglected. Unfortunately.

Since we are having a go at the writers, let’s have a look at some of the biggest mistakes they’ve made this season.


THE BOSCO STORYLINE:



The plot of the first eight episodes was enough to fill a whole season. Then we would have at least been emotionally invested in Bosco and his team.

His Red Right Hand (Episode 8) had too much story, too little time. Actually it would have made a great two-part season finale. The introduction of Madeleine Hightower would have been a great way to kick off season 3.

The Bosco storyline did provide some insight to Lisbon's story (though I am finding Lisbon a little bit annoying this season) but as previously mentioned it didn’t go anywhere.

For the record, I actually liked Bosco. I just thought he was terribly under used.


RIGSBY AND VAN PELT:



How could we discuss season 2 of The Mentalist without talking about Rigsby and Van Pelt?

Well, I started out happy that they FINALLY got together. Though when it happened in Episode 5 I was a little concerned that it might be a bit soon. And, my concern was not unwarranted.Unfortunately, they were majorly mistreated by the writers (and that’s not just the disgruntled shipper in me talking).

Red Bulls (Episode 7) gave us the wonderful scene of the pair in the ambulance. I thought it was well written and well played by both the actors. Actually, Amanda Righetti proves that she is a MUCH better actress than her credits (The OC, the Friday the 13th remake) would have you believe. However, I found this scene to be incredibly misleading. After watching this I was convinced that the writers were going to treat the characters and their relationship with respect. I almost feel a little betrayed by writers for giving them the incredibly childish argument that ended with, ‘Fine, do whatever you want, Grace,’ merely six episodes later. We are seriously expected to believe that they decided to announce their relationship to the rest of the team without discussing their future together or the future of their careers (particularly as this was an obstacle for them getting together in the first place)?

Why resolve the ‘will we be able to keep our jobs?’ scenario in Episode 13 only to have it repeated a few of episodes later with the introduction of Hightower. My question to the writers: why would you get them together if they are only going to breakup 13 episodes later???? (and for two of those episodes they were barely speaking to each other). We didn’t learn anything about them in order to actually justify the breakup (or the relationship itself, for that matter).

And as a side note: All that canoodling in the office, did they really expect to keep it a secret?


THE LATE ARRIVALS:



Madeline Hightower and the return of Kristina Frye.

Two of the most poorly though out arcs of the show.

Hightower. DO NOT LIKE HER. She has eyes like a snake. You can never tell what she is thinking. It’s almost as if she is waiting to strike.

And let’s not ignore the way she has made Lisbon completely redundant, undermining her authority over her team, in front of her team, too.

I miss Minnelli. He cared about the other characters. He ALWAYS had the team’s back. Jane was expendable.

Hightower has some weird reversal of priorities. She is ready to off anyone, EXCEPT Jane. Can she not see that he is the root of (most) of the trouble????


And don’t even get me started on Kristina. Who ever had the idea to bring her back should be permanently removed from the writing staff. A LOVE INTEREST FOR JANE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Their ‘flirting’ scenes were embarrassing. Seriously, I had to close my eyes, they were that disturbing.

Did anyone actually care that she was ‘taken’ by Red John? Good riddance, I say.


*exhales* Rant nearly over.

So, overall, there were some good episodes and some …. Well, not so good.

In brief:

Episode 7: Red Bulls

As previously mentioned, I thought the Rigsby/Van Pelt relationship was particularly well written in this episode. However, overall I thought it was an enjoyable episode. I particularly liked the chase scene. Most importantly, I liked the scene between Bosco and Jane at the end. Very insightful, particularly into Bosco’s character. Too bad he was offed in the next episode.


Episode 10: Throwing Fire

I didn’t seem to hate this episode as much as some people did. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Chris Brochu as young Jane. Lack of curly hair aside, I felt he resembled Baker, not only in looks, but he did a particularly good job of capturing the mannerisms of Patrick Jane.


Episode 12: Bleeding Heart

Sean Maher guest stars! Two Simons in one episode! (FYI Sean Maher played Simon Tam in Joss Whedon’s Firefly). I thought I was going to die of excitement! i liked the interviews with each member of the team: particularly Cho's. Omigod. Cho is awesome.


Episode 13: Redline

Welcome Currie Graham as Walter Mashburn! What a breath of fresh air! I would have like to see him romance Lisbon a little bit in later episodes; for example having embarrassingly large displays of flowers sent to the office. As Jane says ‘A little empty glamour, would have been good for her!' I hope he returns soon!!!!


Episode 14: Blood In, Blood Out

The episode was a bit of a mixed bag. It started off well enough, but was let down by a completely unbelievable final act. The best part about it was that it gave Tim Kang a chance to shine; he proved himself to be a very talented actor; with an ability to convey so much with very little. He proved himself worthy of being a leading man.

And NOTE TO WRITERS: one big episode for Cho does not mean that he should be abandoned for the rest of the season. Apart from a couple of Awesome! chase scenes, Cho had very little to do except say ‘yes, boss’.


Episode 16: Code Red

I really disliked this episode. Though there was some classic banter between Lisbon and Jane (‘go and buy yourself a candy bar’). Jane’s behaviour to Lisbon (making her think she was dying) was absolutely cruel. Not to mention some dodgy acting from the guest cast.


Episode 23: Red Sky in the Morning


Great title, but what a waste of a season finale.

First of all, whose idea was it to bring back Kristina Frye?

Secondly, whose idea was it to bring back Kristina Frye?
Apart from the appearance of Red John in the last 4 minutes of the episode (which actually freaked me out a little but more than I would like to admit), this episode was pretty much a joke.

Note to the writers: the season finale is supposed to make viewers excited about the series return, not make them loose all hope that this show will ever be good again.



So, season 3…..

I give them four episodes to win be back. Unless they get back to what made the show good in the first place: the cleverness, the unexpectedness, the charm AND the darkness co existing, I will be switching off The Mentalist for good.

Maybe the writers are just getting complacent, since they have one of the highest rating shows in America. But for how much longer, I'm not sure. FYI for the overseas readers, the ratings for The Mentalist in Australia are far below what they were in it's first season. Most weeks it barely scrapes into the top 20 most watched programs.
Perhaps the writers will pay attention to the outcry and sharpen up their act.

But, I doubt it.



Should I See It?

Meh. Not nearly as good as Season 1, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.



Read What We Learnt on Season 2 of The Mentalist here.

The Mentalist official site here.


All photos property of CBS.