Review: Ides of March

Words by Yazen Al-Salman and James Rednall

 

As president Obama comes to the end of his first term in office and the race for the 2012 elections are starting to take shape; George Clooney’s film, The Ides of March, gives an indication to the American public’s changing perception of politics.

The on form Ryan Gosling stars as Stephen Meyers, the media officer to the democratic Mike Morris, played by George Clooney. Stephen is an idealistic young man, with strong believes, a character we’ve seen before.  Stephen meets a young woman (Molly); an intern in the campaign; played by the delightful Evan Rachel Wood. The relationship between Stephen and Molly lead to some uncomfortable and disturbing findings; which changes Stephen’s view on everything. The film has a very strong supporting cast, with Paul Giamatti, as the opposing campaign manager who tries to lure Stephen away, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the democratic campaign manager, with Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright and Jennifer Ehle all giving strong performances.

George Clooney examines modern American politics in a calm, perceptive direction. The movie does not provide anything new or ground breaking and lacks some sort of emotional impact; it does however show very well Stephen’s changing view. The strong supporting cast’s performances add a lot to the movie’s theme. Overall, this is a good film, Clooney delivering a convincing performance and another step in the right direction for Ryan Gosling.

Review: The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

Words by James Rednall and Yazen Al-Salman

The author of “TinTin”, Herge, once said that the only filmmaker able to bring his famous comic books successfully to the screen would be Steven Spielberg. With Peter Jackson attached to produce it; this raised the anticipation level even more.  This film was not going to be a mere adaptation, but made with the new and rather debated technology, performance capture, as well as using 3D.

The movie, consisting of three TinTin books plunges straight into the story; he and his dog Snowy encounter a bearded man who wants to buy a model ship off them. When TinTin refuses, it sets off a series of events and adventures that makes the plot of the movie, in classical Spielbergian-Indiana Jones style.

The movie simply delivers. It’s a throwback to old Spielberg charm of E.T and Indiana Jones. It’s very well written for an action movie, with some very funny dialogue. Especially for the extravagant Captain Haddock; wonderfully played by Andy Serkis, in yet another performance capture role. The technology as a whole is perfected in this movie. The 3D is well worth it, bringing the visions of Spielberg and Jackson to life. There is a fight scene with cranes which just demonstrates how effective 3D can be.

The film is great entertainment.  It’s gripping, rousing, well-directed, well-edited, and full of multi-dimensional characters. It uses a technology to perfect an art instead of just a gimmick. Herge was right to entrust Spielberg with his classics. This is one of the best films of the year.

Note from the Editor

As we approach the credits of the 2011 show, a recap of its colourful events seems a worthy end. A mass of shocking headlines and world developments filled our phone hacking newspapers and totally unbiased news channels. For those in the terrorist or dictatorship business it was not a good year. To be frank it was not a good year for virtually all businesses, especially those based in Italy, Greece or ones called Curry’s and JD Sports based in and around London.

In a not so strange correlation the world of film also had its number of peaks and troughs. Though a few pictures helped retain an already dwindling faith in the California studios; most were definitely and clearly not up to par. Suicide inducing films like Age of Dragons and Season of the Witch were thankfully counted by films such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Warrior. Unfortunately the volume of horrifically terrible far outweighed the brilliant; innovation took a backseat to redundant sequels, clichés; and plot lines more familiar than those Christmas songs we are bombarded by each year.

So in recognition of the varied standards achieved Rabbit Awards have been allocated! Traditional categories are accompanied by some newer more specific ones. In reflection of the quality this year has produced accolades of merit as well as shame has been presented. Understandably there are slightly few more in the latter category; the perpetration of crimes against film cannot be forgiven! Equally those who have championed moving photography have also received their honours.

Check out the blog for all past articles and pieces from this year, as well as new material uploaded directly to it, find it at the rabbitfilm.wordpress.com. I hope everyone has a truly awesome Christmas; eat, drink, enjoy your time with the family, study, and be grateful for all you receive. Be good and have a wicked new year.

Take care film lovers, catch you next year!