Real Steel

Hugh Jackman plays an unreliable unwilling father in this slightly future forward and a little backward tale about robot wars and family in an attempt to show the world that it doesn't matter what you're made of, you should never go down without a fight.

The movie gets into the swing of things -pun not intended- pretty quickly which I was quite happy about, as Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) finds out that his ex-girlfriend has passed away and he is now left with a son that he doesn't want. Happy to take him off his hands is his late ex-girlfriends sister, but her husband has another plan in mind. Offering Charlie $100,000 to keep son Max (Dakota Goyo) with him for the summer so that him and his wife can enjoy a pre planned European trip.

Bargaining half now and half later, Charlie excepts and so begins a summer of unwilling bonding between father and son. Luckily one thing they do have in common is their love for Robot Boxing.

Max finds an old sparring bot who he names Atom and with the help of his dad, an old boxing champion they begin training him up and slowly gain attention from the media. Way over his head and caught up in the moment of what his robot has managed to achieve thus far Max challenges the reining World Robot Champion Boxer Zeus (and his wealthy sponsor and designer) to a fight.

I didn't watch this film out of choice and I should have kept to my original intuition, as I felt the father son relationship was predictable, the only differentiation from any other dysfunctional family problems was that it involved robots. Though the actors managed to make their roles look convincing, I couldn't quite place what year they were supposed to be in because though these robots were pretty technical, I saw no flying cars or particularly amazing new age cities. It lacked real steal in developing what kind of world we would be living in at a point where we can have 10 foot robot toys to play with.

The Three Musketeers

As with most of the movies I end up going to see, if it's not because of the interesting plot then it's because of a choice actor or actress, in this case his name in Matthew Mcfayden. Pride and Prejudice being on of my favourite movies and that voice just being so hypnotic, I was just also fortunate enough to have him star in one of my favourite stories. The Three Musketeers.

The movie starts out with a smooth introduction of our protagonists, Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans), as they are right in the middle of a mission for their beloved France. Sadly all to soon before they can fully complete their task they are betrayed and humiliated by someone close.

Time goes by and we are introduced to a young and agile D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) who after being trained by his father, an ex-musketeer, looks to France to be recruited by those he has held as an Idol for so long.

On arrival he finds that the men he has heard so much about in stories seem nothing like he was led to believe, but who other than a strong willed young man is best to bring back up the trios spirit to once again fight for what they once believed in.

Milla Jovovich plays femme fatale Milady de Winter the object of more than one of our characters hearts, though who her heart truly belongs to we never really know as she does a good job of keeping us on our toes throughout the movie. Definitely one not to be mistaken for a damsel in distress.

This revamp of a classic tale that has been told many times before and this is another good remake, though at times the plot seems rushed and the goal a bit bland, it was comical and well casted. Though one thing I would have liked to see more of was the epic sword fighting scenes that the musketeers are know so aptly for. Maybe next time as the movie left us with a very open ended scene that hinted heavily towards a sequel.

Melancholia

My First Showroom watch.

Its been a while since we've seen Kirsten Dunst on the big screen, but she's back with her natural hair colour playing a woman whose progressive depression coincides with the possible end of the world in this post apocalyptic drama. First shown at the 64th Cannes Film Festival where it received a lot of praise, and I can see why.

The start of the movie is like a prophetic dream sequence where we are introduced to some of the prominent characters of the movie, and feel almost a sense of confusion and connection to the beautiful events that unfold before our eyes.

The movie is then split in to two parts, the first one titled Justine. Where we are introduced to happy couple
Justine (Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) on the way to their wedding reception. But as the night

goes on Justine finds it harder and harder to keep up the façade of false pretences. Thus we begin to feel the night from her point of view; It drags and we're surrounded by the same unnamed faces, longing to have some alone time. It's with Justine that we are first made aware of trouble in the stars.

The second part titled Claire is shown from Justine's sisters point of view, in this part we learn more about the planet Melancholia that has been hiding behind the sun and is said to 'Fly By' the Earth in the near future. This part deals with how the characters cope with the approaching 'Super Earth'. Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is fearful and relies on husband and astrologer John (Kiefer Sutherland), to convince her that they're all safe.
In this part we also see a role reversal between the two sisters which I felt was both subtle and effective as it danced well with the themes of the movie.

The casting was wonderfully done as the sisters especially we're believable and relate-able to as a family. The cinematography itself deserves it's own standing ovation as it it put you into the movie itself at times, pulling on your emotions until you were in the same position as the characters on screen. At times i caught myself and other around me starring up with mouths open as certain shots and sequences literally took your breath away.

Don't let the melancholic plot of this movie stop you from seeing it. Truly beautiful.  

Abduction

I honestly went and saw this movie as a joke. That and to see just how well this generations up and coming actor can adapt to playing a whole new character, as Taylor Lautner leaves the pack behind and plays a boy whose entire life is literally a lie. Psh, original. Take a number buddy. 

Steve Harper (Lautner) is your average teenager, he stays out all night getting drunk with friends and gets grounded for it. He is also seeing psychiatrist Dr Geraldine Bennett (Sigourney Weaver) for a recurring dream he has that involves an unknown woman.
Like a formation of domino's, one normal day Steve's life falls apart whilst doing a school project on missing kids when he finds a photo of himself as a child on a database.
Less than 24hours after he confronts his parents about the photo and the information on the website things get interesting as his world is literally blown apart and he is left wondering if anyone has ever once told him the truth. Not sure who to trust, Steve and project partner and girl next door Karen (Lilly Collins) embark on a journey to discover the truth about Steve's birth and why all of a sudden three different people are after him.

This movie was filled with almosts and halfways,  the plot had potential but lacked depth and detail to make it substantial enough to satisfy me. As for the performance, heck we can't all just blame Lautner, we have to equally blame whoever cast him. Although I do give him credit for trying, as there were a few choice moments where you actually believed he was Steve Harper.

However you look at it, the movie was background television at best and the jokes on me because regardless of this starting out as a joke I still paid £5.95 for 106 minutes of my life that was Abducted from me and I'll never see again.

Showroom Cinema Sheffield

So I guess I'm in a city that has a lot of artistic integrity or something. I don't know. Either way we have an independent cinema that works closely with the University and is Student friendly and what not. Therefore I'm going to try and see one movie there a month.

So this month I think I'll start with Melancholia. I vaugly remember reading about it in one of the only copies I have ever bought of either Total Film or Empire (I was reading them at the same time) Either way I'm actually quite excited.
I think the feelings generated from somewhere along the lines of; it makes me seem like a serious movie watcher who knows what they're talking about when essentially I just pick movies to go and watch based on if the trailer is flashy enough......
But don't quote me on that.