Tuesday Trailer: IRON MAN 3
As if the insipid Iron Man 2, in addition to Tony Stark getting all the juicy lines in The Avengers weren’t enough, here comes Iron Man 3. The latest trailer is just a teaser that gives away little of the film’s plot, but it certainly hints at the movie’s feel — the star of this one looks [...]
Continue readingTuesday Trailer: CARRIE
Chloë Grace Moretz (KickAss, Hugo, Let Me In, Dark Shadows) stars in this adaptation of the Stephen King novel Carrie, which was also filmed in 1976 by Brian de Palma. The story is about a young girl with a telekinesis who unleashes her considerable powers on those around her after being bullied in high school. This new trailer is a tease, not offering much by way of suggestion of the movie’s tone, style, or treatment of the material. Being big King fans here at The Film Brief, we had to give this one a look this week.
This new version of Carrie is directed by Kimberley Peirce, the interesting director who made the Academy Award-winning Boys Don’t Cry (Best Actress, Hilary Swank) as well as the insightful Iraq war film Stop-Loss, which featured yet another fine performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Wednesday Movie Review — MARGIN CALL
By Guest Contributor Tim Hoar
The Verdict
out of
The intelligent Margin Call belongs at the pointy end of 2012 releases. Despite the fact that this is barely more than a series of business meetings, the film is never anything less ultra engaging. This can be attributed to a wonderful script that carries the ebb and flow of these befuddling financial discussions really well. The performances from everyone are fine, especially from Zachary Quinto (and his eyebrows) and Simon Baker. This film is highly recommended to all, a wonderful examination of the disconnect of modern corporate finance, and its impact on the rest of us. Continue reading
Tuesday Trailer — ARGO
The trailer for this week is the upcoming Ben Affleck-directed Argo, a thriller about the bizarre lengths that the CIA went to in order to rescue six Americans who escaped from the Iranian hostage crisis at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
This film proclaims to be based on real events, but only loosely. Ben Affleck, who was already an accomplished mainstream actor who could guarantee a $100 million opening with his name alone, has demonstrated himself to be a literate director able to coax fine performances out of his players — his brother Casey Affleck in Gone Baby Gone, and a range of cast members (including himself) in The Town.
Argo, from the trailer (not always the best indicator of a film’s tone), looks to be a peculiar mix of oddball and thriller — a distinct change of pace and material from Affleck’s last two efforts. We watch with interest to see if Affleck’s stab at versatility pays off…
Argo opens in Australia on October 25th
Friday Movie Review: Looper
The Verdict
4.5 out of 5
Looper is an exciting and thrilling science fiction film with panache and an active interest in the development of its characters. The world that director Rian Johnson details here is creative and thoughtful, and he manages to keep control of his film’s winding time-travel plot. With its exciting build-up, action-packed mid-section and satisfying conclusion, Looper is one of the best films of the year.
The Background
Looper is the second film by young director Rian Johnson. His first feature was the widely acclaimed but underground high school drama Brick, also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. That film was one of the best films of 2006, and was noteworthy for the way in which Johnson managed to insert the essence of film noir into a story about a middle school student playing detective in a modern-day high school. Continue reading
Tuesday Trailer: Knuckleball!
We’re massive ball fans here at The Film Brief, and we’re tickled pink by the trailer for this upcoming documentary about the rarest, most out-of-place pitcher there is in the game of baseball: the knuckleballer. Knuckleball! is this week’s Tuesday Trailer (yes, I know it’s Wednesday…), and is a movie that any ball fan should be excited [...]
Continue readingMonday Movie Review: The Watch
The Verdict
1 out of 5
Sloppily crafted, juvenilely written and way too penis-centric, The Watch is not saved by the comedic talents of its actors. This is one of the worst movies of the year, made even more disappointing by the modicum of good ideas present in the script.
Tuesday Trailer: Robot and Frank
This week’s Tuesday trailer is a movie that caught my eye because of how odd the trailer looks. Will it be Frank Langella’s Bicentennial Man? Judging from the hackneyed trailer, quite possibly. But this is also the actor that played Nixon to such good effect in Frost/Nixon and was absolutely stellar in Starting out in the Evening. He was also in the woeful The Box, but let’s keep trying to forget that that movie happened, shall we?
Unforunately this is the kind of trailer that gives away most of the movie, so consider yourself warned…
Tuesday Trailer: Skyfall (Extended Trailer)
One of the year’s most anticipated movies, Skyfall‘s marketing campaign has been tantalisingly shadowy. At last an extended trailer has been released, giving us a look at Ben Whishaw as Q and, perhaps most intriguingly of all, Javier Bardem as the villainous Raoul Silva. As directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead, Road to Perdition), Skyfall looks to be a [...]
Continue readingLove
The Verdict
2.5 stars out of 5
A highly ambitious film, Love wears its heart on its sleeve. Unfortunately a lot of its rhetoric regarding the social needs of humans comes across as rather twee, and it doesn’t find a narratively exciting or interesting way to tell its story of a man going insane from isolation. There are some wow-worthy visual moments, but the movie’s story just doesn’t hold together.
The Background
Love is an indie science-fiction film which has been heavily marketed as featuring a soundtrack by Angels & Airwaves, the alternative rock band fronted by former Blink-182 guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, who also produces the film. The film was popular at several bigg-ish film festivals in the States, including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film has been given a limited release in Australia, and opened on August 31st, 2012. Continue reading