I’ve been to a few films this week to keep my self busy, I mean the cinema is only a 20min walk away so were they any good?
Magicians – Starring Mitchell & Webb of Peepshow/PC & Mac ads in the UK. It is a tale of a magic double act which through an incident involving infidelity and a guillotine trick gone wrong split up and go their separate ways only to reform for one last big competition to earn some money. This was funded by the National Lottery through the UK Film Council and I see what they were doing. From the outside it is a similar setup to Shaun Of The Dead and they were taking a chance on UK comedy talent and hoping it could/would compete with the big boys. Sadly it doesn’t/can’t. I’m not saying it is terrible, there were some genuinely funny moments and the dialogue and writing was pretty good but should you go see it? If you have a cineworld pass or the like go for it, it is worth the minimal amount it costs with that but here in London you could be asked for up to £10 to go see this and it aint worth that.
This Is England – Set during the summer of 1983 in England with the Iron Lady, the Falklands War and poverty as the backdrops. Actually I’m not sure about the Falklands as they were very much an important part of the story but that conflict had ended a year beforehand in June 1982 so don’t know what the story was with that. Anyway it is the tale of a 12 year old bullied at school and tormented by the loss of his father in the conflict. He meets and befriends a gang of older original skinheads (i.e. dancehall/ska fans) who take him under his wing and make him a part of the gang (shaved head and Ben Sherman shirt included). It all starts to unravel when a gang member returns from 3 and a half years in jail with a newly found love for the national front, a chip on his shoulder and other issues. I loved this film sometimes uncomfortable to watch but it sums up the despair of lower class England during the mid 80s as Thatcher flushed the country down the toilet. It also sums up how this fostered allegiances as well as prejudices. There is no prototypical happy ending to this film but it doesn’t leave you with a sense of despair either. If you can go see this film.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: World’s End – So the third in the pirates trilogy well what can I say. The first was brilliant, a well acted fluffy piece of Saturday matinee with swashes buckled, damsels in distress and Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Did you like the second? Really? I loved its potential but it was at least an hour too long a lot of fat needed to be cutr from it. Yeah yeah but what of the third? Honestly set faces to disappointed, yes some great laugh out loud pieces(I love that monkey) and some great scenes, hell even Keith Richards does make his appearance a film later than promised. It is however not enough the film is stuffed with plots, sub plots, incidental characters and new pirate myths. There is just too much going on hell I didn’t know who I was meant to bee booing and who I was meant to be cheering and for this type of film that is paramount. I wasn’t sure if I hated/loved/pitied Will or Jack or Barbossa or Davy Jones. The only clear cut character was Keira Knightly’s Elizabeth Swann who was obviously the “hero” of the piece and she started to annoy me. Also the ending? Fooking cack. Go see it if you like pirates but don’t be too expectant this film well over stays its almost 3hr running time.
So not a great week in terms of cinema and the ones on the horiazon I’m looking forward too look like they will be pretty sub par too; Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, Transformers, Shrek The Third, Die Hard 4.0(although Kevin Smith has a cameo in this one) and Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix.
Later days,
Halo.