Countdown: Oscar-Nominated Actors Playing Oscar-Nominated Actors

This is a feature that I initially wanted to call "Cineception" as the idea of Oscar-nominated actors playing Oscar-nominated actors on film feels like something that belongs in a Christopher Nolan film. 

We can even add an extra layer of meta-ness when you consider that several of these actors were nominated for an Oscar for their performance as an Oscar-nominated actor - and have even won Oscars! Honestly, it gets all a bit... metaphysical-like. 

But, anyway, here are ten Oscar-nominated actors who have played ten Oscar-nominated actors.

Annette Bening as Gloria Grahame (Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool)

Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee (three as Best Actress [for American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right], and once as Best Supporting Actress [The Grifters]). 

Grahame won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in The Bad And The Beautiful (1952), and was nominated in the same category for Crossfire (1947)

Bening puts in a superb performance as Grahame in Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, about her later years in the theatre and her burgeoning relationship with a young Scouse actor (played by Jamie Bell). An Oscar nomination eluded her, but Bening did get a well-deserved BAFTA nod for Best Actress. 

Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn (The Aviator)

Blanchett and Hepburn both occupy places in Oscar history, so it's entirely appropriate that Blanchett should play Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. 

Hepburn still holds the record for most Best Actress wins, with four (Morning Glory, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The Lion In Winter, and On Golden Pond) from 12 nominations (all in the Best Actress category)

Blanchett, on the other hand, is one of a select group of actors who has been nominated for a Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscar in the same year (for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I'm Not There.). Not only that. Blanchett has also won both a Best Actress Oscar (for her stunning turn in Blue Jasmine) and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for... yep, The Aviator (also making her the first actor to win an Oscar for playing an Oscar-winning actor). Blanchett's performance as Hepburn goes beyond a mere impersonation to capture not only the actress' strident vocal tones but her strength and fragility. 

Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier (My Week With Marilyn)

Just as with Blanchett and Hepburn, there are few actors better to play Sir Laurence Olivier than the man whose career trajectory has so closely followed his: Kenneth Branagh. 

Both men have Oscar nominations in three categories (both acting categories, and Best Director), although Olivier won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Hamlet (1948). 

Branagh takes on the role of Olivier in the utterly charming My Week With Marilyn, which details the making of The Prince And The Showgirl (1957) where Olivier worked opposite- and directed- Marilyn Monroe. Branagh's performance as Olivier isn't just an impression- he gets under the skin of a great actor who has to deal with an actress of great talent but flaky personal qualities. His exasperation, yet deep respect for Marilyn comes out. 

Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin (Chaplin)

Richard Attenborough's 1992 star-studded biopic of the silent movie star garnered the first Oscar nomination for Robert Downey Jr. (his second would come in 2008 for Tropic Thunder, this time as Best Supporting Actor). It's the first time an actor was nominated for an Oscar for playing another Oscar-nominated actor. 

Chaplin was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Great Dictator (1940), and there are scenes in Chaplin where he watches speeches of Hitler to prepare for his role in that film. 

[As a nice bonus, Chaplin features a second Oscar-nominated actor playing an Oscar-nominated actor: Diane Lane (a Best Actress nominee for Unfaithful) plays Paulette Goddard (who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail!)]

Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford (Mommie Dearest)

Joan Crawford won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Mildred Pierce (1945) and had two further nominations (for Possessed and Sudden Fear).

Faye Dunaway won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Network (1976) and also had two further nominations (for Bonnie And Clyde and Chinatown).

Dunaway truly felt that her performance as Crawford in biopic Mommie Dearest, detailing the traumatic upbringing Crawford's adopted daughter had at the hands of her movie-star mother, was going to net her another Oscar. Nothing could have been further than the truth. It's a campy. larger-than-life, very hammy performance (not helped by such ludicrous dialogue as "NO. WIRE. HANGERS. EVER!"). The reviews were terrible, the Oscars gave it a wide berth, but the newly started Golden Raspberry Awards gave the film an (at the time) unprecedented nine nominations. It "won" five... including Worst Actress for Dunaway.

It's become something of a cult classic in latter years, but- even nearly thirty years later- Dunaway is known to stop interviews if Mommie Dearest gets mentioned. 

Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh (Hitchcock)

Like Cate Blanchett, Scarlett Johansson is part of the two-nominations-in-one-year club (garnering a Best Actress nod for Marriage Story and a Best Supporting Actress nod for Jojo Rabbit at the 92nd Academy Awards). Just like buses... you wait ages for one, and two come along at once...

Johansson was part of the ensemble cast of the 2012 biopic Hitchcock, which focuses on the struggles he had to get Psycho (1960) made. In it, she plays Janet Leigh who is famously killed off in the notorious "shower scene". There are moments in the film where Johansson looks so like Leigh, I did a double take, thinking they'd just used stock footage. 

Leigh would receive her only Oscar nomination for Psycho, with a Best Supporting Actress nod for her role as Marion Crane.  

Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly (Grace of Monaco)

I've long felt that Nicole Kidman is her generation's Grace Kelly, so it's again appropriate that Kidman should play Kelly in Olivier Dahan's 2014 biopic, focusing on her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. 

Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for her devastating turn as Virginia Woolf in The Hours (and has further nominations for her roles in Moulin Rouge!, Rabbit Hole and Lion).

Kelly received her first Oscar nomination in the Supporting Actress category for Mogambo (1953) and won Best Actress the following year for her performance in The Country Girl. According to rumour, there were only half-a-dozen votes separating Kelly from her nearest rival, which was... Judy Garland. 

Grace Of Monaco is not a great film. It's soapy, melodramatic and (like many biopics) plays fast and loose with historical events. Dahan's version, which opened the Cannes Film Festival to what might be charitably called "mixed reviews", doesn't really do anyone any favours. That said, Kidman does a solid job bringing Kelly to life. 

Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers (The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers)

It might come as a surprise to some people, especially if they only know him from things like The Goon Show or The Pink Panther films, to realise that Peter Sellers is a double Best Actor Oscar nominee. He was nominated for his three roles in Kubrick's scabrous Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove (1964), and for his turn as the simple-minded gardener turned political adviser in Being There (1979). 

Scenes which feature the filming of Being There are included in Stephen Hopkins' 2004 biopic, The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers, in which the British funnyman is played by Oscar-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush who does a good job to encapsulate the various facets of Sellers' character- even the less than palatable ones.

Rush won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as pianist David Helfgott in Shine (1996) and received further nominations for Quills, Shakespeare In Love and The King's Speech (the latter two in the Supporting Actor category). 

Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin (Beyond The Sea)

There's a scene in Beyond The Sea, Kevin Spacey's 2004 biopic of crooner Bobby Darin (clearly a passion project for Spacey as he directs, stars, and co-wrote the film) where Darin rants about losing the Best Supporting Actor to Melvyn Douglas (who won for playing Paul Newman's father in Hud). 

Darin, better known as a singer ("Beyond The Sea", "Mack The Knife"), played Jim Tompkins, a young Corporal traumatised after his aircraft was shot down, in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) opposite Gregory Peck and Tony Curtis. It was his only Oscar nomination. 

Spacey is a two-time Oscar winner (Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects, and Best Actor for American Beauty). Beyond The Sea is an entertaining enough biopic, but Spacey is far too old to play Darin, and the relationship between Darin and his wife Sandra Dee (played by Kate Bosworth) just looks wrong because of the two-decade age difference.

Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland (Judy)

Judy Garland was nominated for two competitive Oscars during her career- a Best Actress nod for A Star Is Born (1954) [which she lost out to Grace Kelly, in a result which Groucho Marx called "the biggest robbery since Brink's"] and a Best Supporting Actress nod for her role in Judgment In Nuremberg (1961)- but was given a special Juvenile Award in 1940 for "her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile during the past year" (which would cover her performance as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz)

Zellweger is, like Cate Blanchett, an actress who has won both a Best Actress and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. After two Best Actress nods (for Bridget Jones' Diary and Chicago), she won the Supporting Actress award for Cold Mountain (2003), and won Best Actress this year for her superlative performance as Judy Garland in Judy, which focuses on Garland's time in London in 1968 to do a series of sold-out concerts. 

Whilst Judy is a bit patchy (which seems to be a running complaint when it comes to biopics), Zellweger's performance is just sublime, encapsulating the strength, inner turmoil and turbulent life of this great performer. 

Review: Marriage Story (UK Cert 15)

Cinema is awash with films about the beginning of love. But what about the end of it? They are less prevalent, especially any that deal explicitly with divorce. Of course, one of the first to come to mind will be Robert Benton's Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979) with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Well, you can now add Marriage Story to that list. 

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach (The Squid And The Whale, Margot At The Wedding), Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson play the disintegrating couple- Charlie, a theatre director and Nicole, an actress, respectively- negotiating the end of their relationship, including custody of their young son Henry (Azhy Robertson). 

Baumbach based large parts of the screenplay on his own experiences; in 2013, he went through a divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh. That's probably why the film feels so authentic, so real. You can believe these two characters having these conversations. It also highlights things that you wouldn't necessarily think of when a relationship breaks down- such as negotiating extended family relationships (Charlie has a good relationship with Nicole's mum Sandra, for example).

Performances are extremely strong throughout. Johansson is a revelation as Nicole; for anyone who's only ever seen her in the MCU movies, you're missing out. She gets an extraordinary five-minute monologue where she explains to her lawyer (a superb turn by Laura Dern) about how the relationship has curdled; it's done in one take, and she's absolutely transfixing. Matching her in intensity is Driver as Charlie; whilst he's pretty much responsible for wrecking the marriage by sleeping with someone else, there's still a level of sympathy with him. Their climactic fight, when some very ugly truths come spilling out, will make your breath catch in your throat.

In support, Alan Alda adds a warmth as Charlie's first lawyer Bert. Ray Liotta, in contrast, is a typical shark lawyer, who Charlie hires when things start to get nasty. Dern gets a brilliant speech where she bemoans the double standards in divorce proceedings- that women have to be perfect and unimpeachable, while men are often allowed to get away with less than stellar behaviour. The only performance that doesn't quite fit for me is Julie Hagerty as Nicole's mum Sandra- in a film of low-key and unshowy performances, her exuberant, quirky demeanour jars a little (although she gets a good couple of lines which lift the mood somewhat). 

I wish I'd seen this earlier in December so I could have talked about it more in our Review of 2019. It would have definitely made it onto my Nice List. I can see why this has been getting a lot of awards attention, and I think it's going to do well at the Oscars. Not a light, fluffy film by any stretch of the imagination- but it's an exceptionally well-made drama, with a strong script and superb performances. Well worth two hours of your time.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Avengers: Endgame (UK Cert 12A)

Five years after the devastation wrought by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, the survivors of the Snap must find their way in this new world. However, the reappearance of Scott Lang from the Quantum Realm (where he got stuck at the end of Ant-Man And The Wasp) provides the Avengers with an opportunity to reverse Thanos' handiwork and bring back those who were lost...

Do you know, I've started this review three times. Hopefully, fourth time will be the charm. I am going to try and do this spoiler-free because of two reasons: a) #DontSpoilTheEndgame (as if we would!) and b) I know that, once all three of us have seen it, we'll be recording a spoileriffic no-holds-barred discussion, so I'll leave the finer points of my thoughts until then. 

So, I'm going to try and discuss the film in general terms.

There was a lot I liked. Some lovely character moments, some great one-liners, and several strong performances (in particular from Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, and Karen Gillan). There's also several surprise returns from previous MCU films which I liked (and most of them didn't feel like fan-service, although inevitably some did). There are several parts of the film that are visually stunning (as you can imagine) and the score by Alan Silvestri is superb. There are a couple of moments of real emotion- I cried twice in the film, and both moments were courtesy of the same character. 

That said, I did have a couple of issues with the film. 

The run-time of 3 hours 2 minutes is far too long. There's a good 30-40 minutes that could be lost with very little impact. In fact, if you check out any of the non-spoilery 'when can I go to the toilet during Endgame?' articles, you'll get a good general consensus on which bits aren't strictly necessary. One of my biggest niggles with the film comes with a pivotal moment which- although it makes narrative sense- was, for me, the wrong move. 

Something I have praised the MCU for in the past is their general coherence during big fight scenes: no matter how crowded the battlefield, you always know who you're meant to be following at any point and who they're up against. Sadly, this goes right out the window here. The final battle is SO big, SO epic (and rightly so), that it gets a bit muddy- dare I say, even a bit DC?- and the impact is lost. There's also several unnecessary uses of shakycam which annoys me greatly (although that's a personal thing) 

Part of me feels a bit bad for bringing up these criticisms. Anthony and Joe Russo have had an absolutely gargantuan task on their hands, marshalling this utter behemoth, and having to contend with the expectations of some of the most committed and passionate fans in the whole of geekdom. With a task that huge, you're never going to please everyone, and people will find different things they like and don't: several of my criticisms won't even occur to others and vice versa. 

I've discussed the film with several people since I saw it, and I think my overall opinion is this: for the most part, it's an enjoyable tribute to the MCU and a decent conclusion to the Infinity Saga; however, for me, it lacks the focus and the punch that made Avengers: Infinity War such an amazing film. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Ghost In The Shell (UK Cert 12A)

Directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White And The Huntsman), Ghost In The Shell is a live-action version of the seminal 1995 anime based on the manga by Masamune Shirow.

In the near future, cyberisation is now widespread. Criminals are becoming more sophisticated and, as such, a new way must be found to deal with the threat. So Section 9 was set up- a small group of police with various levels of cyberisation to help combat crime. The Major (Scarlett Johansson) is one of the operatives on the team. She has a full cyborg body and a human brain, and is the first of her kind. But whilst working a case, the Major becomes more and more aware that things might not be quite as she imagined...

Despite the furore over her casting and the subsequent accusations of white-washing, Scarlett Johansson was inspired casting as the Major. Johansson imbues the Major with some personality and doesn't just play her as a cipher. Because the script is so focused on the Major and her origins (something which is only mentioned very briefly in the anime), it needed someone with acting chops in the main role- and Johansson has that in spades. There's also a reason given in the story why a Japanese or Asian actress wasn't cast in the role, but to discuss that will take us into spoiler territory.

Generally speaking, the rest of the cast are strong. Pilou Asbaek provides strong support as the Major's partner Batou; 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano is particularly good as Section 9's boss Aramaki- who has an expanded role in this film compared to the anime- and who only speaks Japanese (although the other characters all answer him in English), There are several other characters in Section 9 but none of them have any discernible personality and there are a few too many.

Michael Pitt gives a chilling yet oddly sympathetic turn as Kuze, the nominal villain but (unsurprisingly) there's more to it than that. Doctor Who alumni Peter Ferdinando and Anamarina Marinca are strong as shady businessman Cutter and cyberised Dr Dahlin respectively. Finally, Juliette Binoche lends an air of gravitas to her role of Dr. Ouelet, the Major's de facto 'mother' who is hiding more than a few secrets of her own. I was quite surprised to see Binoche's name come up in the credits, and I did find myself thinking 'what's she doing in a film like this?'

There are a lot- and I mean, a lot- of nods to the original anime and its expanded universe that will give Ghost In The Shell fans a thrill (although some moments do tip over into quite blatant fanservice at times). Jess Hall's cinematography and the visual effects team's work are both superb, The fight choreography is also really strong throughout, especially the fight in the nightclub when the Major and Batou go in search of the mysterious hacker.but it's a shame that the final fight- between the Major and a spider-tank- is obscured by shoddy lighting.

Another problem is that the screenplay- by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, and Ehren Kruger- completely eschews the subtlety and nuance of the anime, instead relying on clunky and obvious comparisons (even at one point spelling out what the title of the film means). Give your audience a bit of credit, for the love of God! We don't need everything spelled out for us!

All said, it's visually stunning with good performances and decent action. As a cyberpunk thriller, it's a decent enough film. But as an adaptation of Ghost In The Shell, it's lacking that spark that made the original so good.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Tez

Review: Captain America: Civil War (UK Cert 12A)

The third phase of Marvel's Cinematic Universe opens with a bang, pitting the Avengers against each other. When political forces plan to put a panel in place to oversee the Avengers- following the destruction in New York and Sokovia as well as a mission in Lagos which goes awry- the team splits with Tony Stark/Iron Man on the side of the politicians and Steve Rogers/Captain America against. In amongst all this, old secrets are revealed causing a further schism between the two former friends.

The cast list is huge and it is truly a more of an ensemble piece, in line with the Avengers films, which has led some fans to wonder whether this should have been an Avengers film, rather than a Captain America one. In some ways that would be right because there are so many characters flying around (literally in some cases) and it's a fine balancing act to make sure that they're not just window-dressing and all have something to do. But the main heart of the story is the relationship between Steve and Tony and Steve and Bucky so it warrants being a 'Captain America' film. 

Performances are superb across the board; most of the actors have played these characters for years, so they fit right back into them. Evans is great as the all-American hero, determined that his own judgement is more valid than government interference, whilst Downey Jr falls back into the snarky, sarcastic Stark whose own guilt leads him to support the Sokovia Accords. Even though a lot has been made in the trailer of the rift between the two men- 'He's my friend'/'So was I'- it is powerful stuff to see the two allies go at each other. 

Of the new cast, both Chadwick Boseman and Tom Holland really impress and really stand out- no mean feat given the calibre of the cast they're working with. Boseman is a dignified yet dangerous T'Challa/Black Panther, whose introduction really works and his own vendetta against Bucky adds yet another layer to the film. Holland is a wonderfully geeky and gauche Peter Parker/Spider-Man and he adds a much needed modicum of levity whenever he's on screen. I have to be honest, I didn't believe they'd actually cast Marisa Tomei as Aunt May- there's a running joke in the film that she doesn't look old enough to be someone's aunt- but they have and she's pretty good.  

The action sequences are generally good, although there's a lot of kinetic shakycam during the Lagos scene which made me feel a bit nauseous (it's a purely personal thing but I can't stand it). The big smackdown- Team Cap v Team IronMan at the Leipzig airport- is choreographed really well and, importantly, you can tell who is doing what to whom. 

From hereon out, the MCU is branching away from the Avengers- with Doctor Strange, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming up next before the third solo Thor film. This will be a good way to rest the characters. Given how the film ends, it'll be interesting to see how they get the team back together to take on Infinity War.

I may run the risk of being accused of being a Marvel fanboy but Captain America: Civil War is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen so far this year and is another strong entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Hail, Caesar! (UK Cert 12A)

Twenty-five years after Barton Fink, the Coen Brothers return to the world of the movies for their latest film Hail, Caesar!

Hollywood in the 1950s. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a fixer for Capitol Pictures studios, keeping any scandalous stories about the stars out of the press. However, when Baird Whitlock (George Clooney)- star of Capitol's latest prestige picture Hail, Caesar! A Tale Of The Christ- is kidnapped, Mannix must try and get the actor back before the press find out. 

There are a lot of competing storylines throughout the film- as well as trying to find a kidnapped star, Mannix has to deal with an unmarried pregnant ingenue (Scarlett Johannson), an actor best known for Western pictures suddenly placed in a period drama (Alden Ehrenreich) as well as fielding off twin gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (Tilda Swinton) whilst on the hunt for Whitlock. He also has to deal with a job offer from aerospace company Lockheed which would give stability but take him away from the movie business. 

Because there's so much going on, several of the roles amount to little more than glorified cameos, with Jonah Hill and frequent Coen collaborator Frances McDormand particularly shortchanged. That said, performances are generally solid across the board, with a strong and stoic performance by Brolin in the lead. Mannix is a tough guy, determined to keep his stars in line and not afraid to let them know their place and their responsibilities, but there's more to him than that and Brolin gives an affable and very real performance. Interestingly, Mannix was a real-life person, who worked as a fixer for MGM. This is a heavily fictionalised version of his life and career.

Clooney is great as Whitlock, a bit of a lunkheaded star who starts to come round to his kidnappers' way of thinking. Ehrenreich is incredibly likeable as young Western star Hobie, struggling with his new role in a period drama and who becomes involved in the kidnapping plot. Johannson is wonderfully spiky as the pregnant ingenue, whilst Swinton gives brilliantly broad performances as the rival gossip columnists. I particularly liked Ralph Fiennes as the effete director of the period drama and Michael Gambon who adds an air of arch knowingness as an omniscient narrator. 

There are some real standout sequences - the aquatic ballet sequence where Johansson channels Esther Williams is particularly well done, as is a Gene Kelly style dance routine featuring Channing Tatum in a sailor outfit. One of the funniest sections comes when Mannix chairs a meeting with a rabbi, a Catholic priest, a Protestant priest and an Eastern Orthodox patrician over the representation of Christ in the Hail, Caesar! script. 

Hail, Caesar! is certainly more coherent than some other Coen Brothers movies, and whilst it is a lot of fun, it ultimately feels quite insubstantial.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Avengers: Age Of Ultron (UK Cert 12A)

2012's Avengers Assemble was- it's fair to say- a bit of a hit. Under the virtuoso direction of Joss Whedon (an absolute maestro with ensemble casts), it pulled together the disparate characters that had appeared in the previous Marvel movies and brought them together as a team. Whedon is back behind the lens for Avengers: Age Of Ultron. 

The Avengers have to face a new threat- one inadvertently created by Tony Stark himself. When Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping programme- the Ultron initiative, designed to bring 'peace in our time'- things get out of hand pretty quickly and the team have to hunt down the rogue Ultron before his plans come to fruition. 

All of the regular actors just fit right back into the characters they've helped create, whilst the new cast and returning faces from previous Marvel films all add to the excitement.

James Spader was a perfect casting choice to voice the villainous Ultron. He has one of those ridiculously silky, sensual voices- anyone familiar with The Blacklist will know what I mean- which is used to good effect here. Ultron's seductive purr as he plots his schemes is a pure joy.

New cast members Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen fit into the already huge cast really well- whilst I preferred Evan Peters' more comedic take on Quicksilver from X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Taylor-Johnson acquits himself well as the super-speedy Pietro. Olsen is just brilliant as Wanda (a.k.a. Scarlet Witch) and her mind-control powers provide the film with some of the best, most freaky and most moving moments. There's a great turn by Andy Serkis as arms dealer Ulysses Klaue and an unsettlingly sinister cameo by Julie Delpy. 

The script, also by Whedon, is jam-packed with smart one-liners and some real laugh-out-loud moments- which is great because there's a lot of drama and one scene in particular which I found unexpectedly very moving. 

The direction is really strong (as you would expect) even if there's a lot more movement of the camera than I remember from Avengers Assemble. Some of the action set-pieces look fantastic and may even warrant seeing the film in 3D- I saw the 2D version.

Go into this film as spoiler-free as you can. Seriously. So much happens that is unexpected and moving and funny and just downright entertaining that to know about it in advance would be to take the enjoyment right out of the film. I could write about this for hours, detailing every nuance that made me laugh or touched me. But I won't. All I will say is this: another absolute triumph for Marvel.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Programme 39: Lucy, The Expendables 3, and Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

The Watchers Film Show: Ep 39 from The Watchers Film Show on Vimeo.

Our latest programme is now available to view! 

In another packed show, we discuss Luc Besson's latest movie, Lucy, starring Scarlett Johannson and Morgan Freeman; Rhys gives his opinion on The Expendables 3, and (as promised) we discuss our thoughts on Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. 

Hope you enjoy it!

Film Review: CHEF

Jon Favreau the Director of Iron Man, Iron Man2 and Elf – comes a much smaller, personal story. Here the director takes the lead roll, in a film that is very much a labour of love.

The plot surrounds a 40 something Chef, Carl Casper. Who is divorced and has a young son – he lives in a small apartment while paying for the marital home. He works at a restaurant which has become uncreative for him, we quickly learn he has been cooking the same menu for the past ten years. Due to events that unfold (not wanting to spoil) he finds himself rebuilding his career from a food truck serving Cuban sandwiches.

What could have been a run of the mill Hollywood comedy without a soul becomes thankfully the opposite. The director makes sure that the characters and the story are at the focus here. A man lost in his life hit his stride ten years previous and now unknowing where, what or even why to bother with life.

The film is heart warming without being sicking, it is by far the best drama I have seen in years from an American film maker. The cast tells you about this director and the project – because these actors of there calibre are not doing this film for a pay check, the budget just isn’t there. The work is why this cast is here and it shows on screen. A supporting cast such as John Leguizamo, Scarlet Johansson, Oliver Platt, Robert Downey Jnr and Dustin Hoffman don’t just work on anything or even just work on it because there friends with the director (helps im sure).

The film will leave you smiling and satisfied with life and the film you’ve seen. What is so brilliantly written in this film is the Father Son relationship, perfectly written, paced and acted. Enjoy this – it will make you smile and also make you want to eat after viewing.

4 out of 5 - Rhys

Watchers Geek Chat: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

BE WARNED THIS IS FULL OF SPOILERS - Enjoy !!!

Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (UK Cert 12A)

Marvel Studios' latest movie and sequel to their 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger. The first film set the scene with Steve Rogers changed into a super soldier by a genetic experiment during World War Two, then he ends up frozen in time to wake in 2012 and become a member of the Avengers.

Jump to 2014 and Captain is struggling to find his place in the modern world while working for Nick Fury ( Samuel L Jackson) and the government agency SHIELD. The Winter Soldier is a assassin who appears to try and kill Nick Fury – call to action Captain America along with fellow Avenger The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to stop this deadly new foe.

The film is a 1970s political conspiracy film in disguise – the film feels like a mix between James Bond and All The Presidents Men. What the Directors, the Russo Brothers, have done is cleverly work on a very complex intriguing plot which without giving too much away – deals with a conspiracy within SHIELD itself.

What could of easily been a by the numbers fan action-athon follow up, basically joining the dots between action set pieces and one liners. Thankfully what you have her is a solid Comic Book movie, which relies on a strong plot, excellently played out character development – not just the lead role too.

Chris Evans here is given a meaty bit a character to own – Rogers here has come to terms with what he has lost and where he is. He is a soldier however who is at a point in his life where he doesn’t know who he’s fighting for any more, he’s a man who is lost to what cause he stands for. Evans is solid in this film and owns the screen when he is on it, in Avengers I thought of him as a weak link in the Marvel armour, but in this film he has shown that Captain America has a place in modern story telling.

The supporting cast are as expect superb – in brief. Samuel L Jackson as ever gives a dominating performance as the mighty Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson has very well written Black Widow here. Unlike when she was introduced in Iron Man 2 – where she was merelypretty fodder for the teenage boys. Here the character is seen venerable, witty and extremely strong woman. Hands down the best supporting actor in this film is the steely Robert Redford – who just by being in this genre fair brings kudos to the film and he as you would expect every time he’s on screen ups all the game around him.

This film in my opinion is the best Marvel Studio film to date – its complex, twists and turns will keep you entertained without the action scenes. Mind you the action scenes here are grounded in a reality and add real jeopardy too the film like no other Marvel Studio film. If you loved the Avengers then this is for you and if you’ve never seen any of the Marvel films this is the film to watch to convert you into seeing that the Marvel Movie Universe has grown up.

5 out of 5 - Rhys

Review: Under the Skin (UK Cert: 15)

It’s been almost ten years since Jonathan Glazer’s second feature film, Birth (starring Nicole Kidman) received boos from festival audiences for its now infamous bath scene (neither Kidman or ten-year-old Cameron Bright were naked, it was all down to clever editing and flesh-coloured suits). Since then, with the exception of a couple of music videos, the director has been absent from our screens. Me personally, I’ve always had a peculiar interest in Glazer’s films. Visually they are staggering to watch, Glazer never afraid to throw something new at the camera, the problem is that neither Sexy Beast nor Birth felt like they had enough ideas to warrant their running time. Despite one of Ben Kingsley’s very best performances, Sexy Beast was a run-of-the-mill British crime thriller, ticking all of the sub-genre’s well-worn boxes. While Birth, cinematography-wise, was a tribute to Stanley Kubrick, the film was nowhere near as clever as it thought it was. Just because a film is ambiguous, doesn’t mean it’s in any way profound. Glazer’s films felt like they could have been classics, but managed to miss out on greatness. After watching Birth, I was hoping that Glazer’s next film would get it right.

Unlike Glazer’s previous films, Under the Skin is impossible to describe so that you get a sense of what is going on. The film centres on an alien-robot-creature that takes the form of Scarlett Johansson. Johansson has one job: search for males, seduce them, and take them to an abandoned building somewhere. There the men are trapped in a literal ocean of black, never to be heard from again. Out of the blue, Johansson’s conscience kicks in and she decides to walk the Scottish landscape, questioning who and what she is, curious about the human race. While all of this happens, a man on a motorbike, who may or may not be an alien-robot-creature like Johansson, is busy searching for her.

Under the Skin is a massive step back for Glazer. The film has received endless praise from critics, which baffles me. The only reason I can fathom as to why the film has received such good reviews is because critics don’t want to turn round and say that they don’t get it.

Virtually everything about Under the Skin is below par, especially compared to Glazer’s previous films. There are only a handful of moments where the cinematography throws you, where you think, “I haven’t seen anything like this”. For the majority of the film, cinematographer Daniel Landin points and shoots, using natural lighting. Maybe this is the point; Glazer wants us to observe life the way that Johansson’s nameless character does. Honestly, I couldn’t work out why the visuals were so workmanlike. There are a couple of exceptions. The film’s opening scene where, as far as I can tell, Johansson’s alien-robot-creature is being born, is beautiful and intriguing to watch; a blank screen gradually getting brighter as a human eye is formed. The other outstanding scene is where we find out what happens to Johansson’s unlucky victims once they drown in the black ooze. Apart from this, Glazer’s renowned visual flare is more-or-less absent.

Johansson has received plenty of fanfare from critics. While she does a decent job, it’s hard to understand why she has been given so much acclaim. During Under the Skin’s hundred-and-eight minutes, she puts on a passable English accent, occasionally takes her clothes off, and spends her time looking dazed and confused. It’s not going to put her in the record books for Oscar nominations, like Meryl Streep.

Under the Skin’s narrative has no pace to speak of. Those who watched Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and complained that film was slow should avoid Glazer’s latest at all costs. Under the Skin is not even two hours, yet it feels much longer. This is due to a number of scenes involving Johansson driving round Scotland’s city streets, searching for her next victim. All she does is drive, and keeps driving, and keeps driving, the monotony occasionally broken when Johansson stops the car and looks bewildered, or has a stilted conversation with a man, only to realise he has family or people who will miss him, so she keeps on driving and we start back at the beginning. The problem is that Under the Skin has no clear narrative. This may be down to Michel Faber’s novel, which the film is based on (and, I have to admit, I haven’t read), yet even when Under the Skin looks like it’s about to get interesting – when Johansson leaves her routine of abducting men behind  – nothing happens. Literally, nothing happens; there is no shift in pace, Johansson’s character does not change in any discernible way, leading to an ending that is far from satisfactory: the film stops and up come the credits.

What is noteworthy with Under the Skin is Mica Levi’s score. Occasionally alarming, always uncomfortable to listen to, the majority of the film’s score is performed by a string quartet, the pitch altered to give an unnatural sound.  It’s terrific stuff, reminiscent of some of the best horror film scores, such as Krzysztof Penderecki’s work on The Exorcist and The Shining. It’s just a shame that the music had to be used for such a sluggish, mediocre film.

I enjoy a bit of ambiguity, where you are left to interpret what you just saw; films such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, or Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, but Under the Skin is nothing like these films. For most of its running time the film is tiresome to watch, at no point do you feel engrossed in what is happening onscreen, and you certainly don’t care about Johansson’s protagonist or what happens to her. Critics have suggested that the film explores sexuality, that it takes the mundane (walking through a shopping centre, football fans on their way to a match) and makes you observe it up-close and first-hand. Personally, I’m not convinced; it feels like critics are trying to grab hold of any subtext they can find. If another director had adapted Faber’s novel, maybe Under the Skin could have been something tender and enthralling. Glazer’s reworking is pompous and shallow. A number of people walked out during the screening of Under the Skin, I wish I’d done the same.

2 out of 5

Matt