Tuesday 31 July 2012

Looking Back... July 2012

July in a Tweet: summer blockbusters reign supreme as Scrat breaks the continents, Bane breaks Batman and Spider-Man breaks in his web-slingers once more.

Everyone was talking about... Bane's voice! I can't understand him! He sounds like Ian McKellen! And so on.


Best Film: The Dark Knight Rises - a darker, superbly-cast, masterfully-executed swansong to Nolan's Bat trilogy.

Best Actor: Andrew Garfield, The Amazing Spider-Man - Garfield's Peter Parker is much more charismatic, engaging and believable than Tobey Maguire's interpretation. Finally, we have a Peter Parker every bit as watchable as his web-slinging alter-ego.

Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises - those hoping Bane would be another Joker-esque villain were disappointed but Hathaway's Catwoman is the next best thing: crowd-pleasing, wise-cracking, ass-kicking and she looks stunning in a catsuit.

Best Director: Marc Webb did a terrific job reinventing Spider-Man but this accolade could only go to Christopher Nolan who has crafted a satisfying conclusion his Bat trilogy against insurmountable expectation.

Best Scene: Bane versus Batman in Gotham's sewers. Brutal.

Other Best Scene: the revelation regarding Ras Al Ghul's child. A brilliant twist, well-delivered.

Best Line: "So that's what that feels like." - Batman turns around to find Catwoman has vanished without saying goodbye.

Missed Opportunity: Martin Sheen's Uncle Ben and Denis Leary's Captain Stacy were the best supporting cast members in The Amazing Spider-Man. And both were killed off. We knew their deaths were coming but why not save them for a sequel?

RIP: Oscar-winning Hollywood veteran Ernest Borgnine passed away at the age of 95.

Films Seen: Ice Age 4, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises.

Average The Big Fairbanski Star Rating: 4.33

Sunday 15 July 2012

Looking Back... June 2012

June in a Tweet: Tom Cruise rocked out and Ridley Scott sold out (Prometheus is the new marmite) against a backdrop of forgettable horrors and comedies.

Everyone was talking about... Prometheus. The Facebook newsfeed was divided into lovers and haters.

Best Film: The Raid - rightfully-dubbed the Indonesian Die Hard. Thankfully I saw this in June or I would have little to choose from.

Biggest Disappointment: Prometheus - barely recognisable as a relation to Scott's superior 1979 Alien.

Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Prometheus - Fassbender's android David was the saving grace in a film loaded with two-dimensional, uninteresting characters.

Best Director: Gareth Evans, The Raid - Evan's stylish direction of Iko Uwais' hectic Pencak Silat deservedly earns him the reputation as a rising maestro of action scenes.

Best Scene: David killing time whilst Prometheus' crew are in hyper-sleep: basketball, cycling and impersonating Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.

Other Best Scene: Rama and Andi take on Mad Dog in The Raid.

Missed Opportunity: Prometheus needed some twists: Vickers should have been an android, David should have been human and the classic alien should have appeared much sooner or not at all.

Cinema Anecdote: upon walking out of the cinema after watching Prometheus, I overheard a guy saying: "I bet they make a sequel." Mate, they made the sequel thirty years ago. It's called Alien and it is way better.

Films Seen: The Raid, Prometheus.

Average The Big Fairbanski Star Rating: 2.5

Best Excuse for not going to the Cinema: my honeymoon.