Film Review: The Sisters Brothers

"Charlie, When You Kill A Man, You End Up With His Father Or His Friends On Your Tail. It Usually Ends Badly..."

Acting as a cinematic vessel for his first work in the English language after the critical success of foreign language gems including Rust and Bone and the 2015 Palme D'or winner, Dheepan, French filmmaker, Jacques Audiard, brings to life the 2011 novel, The Sisters Brothers, by Canadian-born author, Patrick deWitt, for a "revisionist" Western tale which blends True Grit style black comedy with Hostiles levels of realism, one all held together by a simply stellar cast led by the brilliant one-two of Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here) and John C. Reilly (Stan and Ollie) as the titular brothers, Charlie and Eli Sisters. Already classified as a box office bomb after making just over a quarter of its' respective budget, Audiard's latest is a prime example of a finely crafted move which deserves to be subject to a wider audience but due to the likes of the awful, Hellboy, among others taking up cinema screens due to their "blockbuster" appeal, The Sisters Brothers is unfortunately not likely to be seen by many at all, a real shame indeed considering how enjoyably dark, comedic and thoroughly engaging Audiard's first foray into the English language is, with an added Jake Gyllenhaal. 

Working from a central narrative which primarily focuses on the blood-bound titular siblings, a pair of very differently minded yet infamous hit-men working under the command of Rutger Hauer's (Blade Runner) ruthless Commodore, Audiard's movie sees the bickering duo attempt to track down the whereabouts of Gyllenhaal's (Nightcrawler) John Morris, a fellow employee of the Commodore and private detective sent to locate Riz Ahmed's (Venom) Hermann Kermit Warm, after he is accused of theft. Whilst the movie does indeed follow particular genre conventions with hard-edged shootouts, campfire musings on the meaning of life and of course, alcohol-laden bar brawls, Audiard is undoubtedly much more interested in his central characters, with each performance wonderfully directed and expertly written, creating individuals rather than templates which make the drama much more emotionally engaging that I would ever have expected. With Phoenix blending that off-kilter comedic edge he has shown in the past in the likes of Inherent Vice with murderous sadism, his reckless ways are balanced by the lighter touch of Reilly, who amidst murdering people for money, comes across as the much more focused and rational of the pair, with certain set pieces in particular so well designed, you immediately recognise both the strengths and weaknesses of each without the need for exposition or clumsy dialogue. With superb supporting performances from Ahmed and Gyllenhaal, The Sisters Brothers is a tale of greed, redemption and brotherhood, and for a film which is being shown exactly nowhere in my local area, ironically Audiard's movie is one of the best of the year so far. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: Hostiles

"Sometimes I Envy The Finality Of Death. The Certainty. And I Have To Drive Those Thoughts Away When I Wake..."

Reuniting with Christian Bale after their work together on 2013's Out of the Furnace, Black Mass director Scott Cooper returns this week, screenplay in hand, with Hostiles, a taut, uncompromising and viciously gritty Western set in the final years of the 19th century which follows Bale's Captain Joe Blocker as he is tasked with escorting Wes Studi's aged and dying war chief back to his sacred homeland in time for his oncoming passing. Developed from a manuscript left by the Oscar winning screenwriter, Donald E. Stewart, before his death in 1999, Cooper's latest combines the nihilistic harshness and visceral violence of his previous works with an elegant, thematic fuelled character study which utilises the treacherous backdrop of the rocky plains of Native America to discuss notions of death, forgiveness and the mirror image qualities of right and wrong, and whilst many will head into the movie ready in wait for an abundance of action, Hostiles is brilliantly akin more to the likes of Unforgiven and Bone Tomahawk in its' fascination with the complexity of the human spirit over the generic and cliched Westernised shoot em up style action, and with some standout performances from its' leading stars, Cooper's latest is his most mature and richly rewarding release to date.

With Bale giving an outstanding full body performance, moustache and all, as the grizzly war torn Army Captain, who against his fundamental beliefs is forced to work alongside Studi's equally murderous and contemplative Native chief, the narrative weaves and twists through themes which touch onto the strangeness of human nature and the idea that man's true belonging is one of a fundamental survivalist nature which cannot ever be deceived. Setting the drama within a stark and desperate period of time of American history, the environment of the piece is beautifully presented by cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, a regular counterpart of Cooper, who captures the soaring, rocky vistas in eye-widening fashion, whilst the handling of the film's darkest elements are too expertly managed, with Cooper's presentation of the on-screen violence unnervingly realistic, with the opening act involving Rosamund Pike's family a blueprint intended to both set a baseline for the tone of the movie and reassure its' audience that Hostiles is a movie not at all for the faint of hearted. A few missteps aside, including the unnecessary inclusion of Ben Foster's character which somewhat sidetracks the pacing of the piece, Cooper's latest is an emotionally engaging and overwhelmingly powerful drama which follows in the footsteps of Bone Tomahawk, Slow West and Hell or High Water by being a contemporary Western which manages to be both fresh on its' own terms and respectful to its' inspirations, and on that basis alone, Hostiles is a wholly rewarding cinematic experience. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: The Dark Tower

"You Can't Stop What's Coming. Death Always Wins..."

Growing up with Stephen King books going as far back as I can remember, the cinematic accessibility of the American's many novels has resulted in a variety of classic movies over the course of nearly half a decade, and whilst The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me are arguably the standout examples, even when Kubrick's famous horror barely resembles the source material, The Dark Tower series has seemingly been in production hell since the first whispers of a possible adaptation came to the floor at the turn of the 21st century. With previously attached filmmakers J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard both passing on the project, the task has fallen into the hands of Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, who along with King's own blessings and Howard's descent into a production role, has finally managed to create a live-action adaptation of King's monstrous fantasy epic. Being an avid reader of all things King, The Dark Tower series is indeed a collection of novels which I have enjoyably devoured, and whilst King's own notion of such a series being a cross between The Lord of the Rings and Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy, the novels do have weaknesses, particularly within the concluding three releases, and whilst many have bulked at particular high profile changes which have occurred in the transition from paper to screen, Arcel's adaptation is a release I have been eagerly awaiting since the first trailer was announced and with the fundamental and historical issues some stories have when making the jump to the big screen, the question on everyone's lips is; was it worth the wait?

In a nutshell? Not quite, and whilst Arcel's adaptation of King's novels suffers from a wide range of basic filmmaking issues, The Dark Tower was a movie in which I was never bored, never lost in the rapid overlapping of plots and crucially, never bothered by the gargantuan and radical differences that have occurred between the process from paper to screen, and because of this, the movie was a rare case of a film which seemed to be rather enjoyable even when the weaknesses are so apparent on screen. In my own view, my ability to overlook such downfalls such as awful editing, ear-scraping dialogue and cheesy special effects, is ultimately down to my affinity to the source material and although the convoluted plot will undoubtedly seem incoherent and completely bonkers to an audience coming to the film with no previous knowledge of the characters or the setting, Arcel's movie is so obviously an adaptation made solely for the readers of the series, and for that alone, I applaud the ballsy approach to create such. With obvious production problems at the heart of the finished article, The Dark Tower is a movie which worked more than it failed, and whilst the rafter of negative reviews and poor box office numbers will unfortunately class the film as a failure, Arcel's adaptation will no doubt be the beginning of a series which is destined to be explored much, much more either on the big screen or the small. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Bone Tomahawk

"Say Goodbye To My Wife. I'll Say Hello To Yours..."

Whereas in most cases a film that has casting credits that include Kurt Russell and David Arquette may be mistaken as being one that is heading straight-to-video, unless directed by Quentin Tarantino of course, Bone Tomahawk, written and directed by new guy on the block S. Craig Zahler is a feat of slow-burning exploitation greatness, a film that attempts to ramp up the tension and then swiftly cripple it with swift acts of merciless violence, violence which as well as being extremely graphic and tough to swallow, is among the most horrific examples of such in recent memory. Forget the comic book violence of Deadpool or the B-Movie splatter fest of The Hateful Eight, Bone Tomahawk is a film that wants you to feel the pain in every scalp-scraping moment in which it occurs. Although many could argue the unwanted exposure to recent depths to which the genre of "torture porn" has decided to delve into has desensitised film goers of the current generation into believing gore can no longer be an effective notion within film, director Zahler understands the shock value of less being more, with Bone Tomahawk being a horror film that doesn't dwell on its' resorts to violence and instead wants to use them when they are most effective, and boy, does it work. 

After an attack on the overtly civilised town of Bright Hope leaves one of its' township dead and three missing, Sheriff Franklin Hunt, played in a brilliantly moustache twisting fashion by Kurt Russell, leads the charge to locate the missing townsfolk, one of whom is the wife of Patrick Wilson's Arthur O'Dwyer, the town proclaimed cowboy recently injured yet determined nonetheless to reclaim his lost love, alongside Matthew Fox's narcissistic John Brooder and the elderly deputy, Chicory, played majestically by Richard Jenkins. Although made aware of the troglodyte clan to which such an attack can be blamed upon, the quartet soon realise the cannibalistic dwellings to which their townsfolk have been captured within and begin to wonder whether their return will indeed be a safe one. The recent explosion of the western genre in recent years with films such as Django Unchained, Slow West and this years' The Hateful Eight may indeed have met the prime contender for the best example of the genre in recent times, with Bone Tomahawk being a compelling, well written and gruesomely horrific thrill ride which bends the two genres of western and horror rather well. Although the desire to play the script out as long as possible leads to a film that could possibly lose 20, 30 minutes from its' runtime, not once could I say I was bored, owing much to the films' credit to find tension in the smallest of places as well as getting the quartet of leading actors cast to a sharply fined T, with Russell and Jenkins stealing the show.

Although one scene of complete exploitation greatness may steal the limelight, with YouTube searches rather inevitable in the foreseeable future, Bone Tomahawk is much more than just a set piece and is a film that requires attention in the most sombre of moments in the fear of quick-fuelled blood lust being right around the corner. Never before have I jumped at the sight of an unexpected arrow or been set so aghast at the speed to which one of our leading heroes loses a certain appendage, a testament to the films' desire to create and display an enemy so intense and ruthless the audience will fear their every move. R-Rated greatness is what Bone Tomahawk strives for and blimey does it achieve it with a culty sensibility that will inevitably become a firm favourite within the formidable, if isolated, clan of violence loving exploitation in which I'm glad to say I'm part of. I look forward to your next body of work Mr. Zahler. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: Slow West

Into The Wild

I recently took up the chance to add to my ever-increasing film knowledge and finally, after years of them being on my "to be watched later" list, sitting down and indulging in "The Man With No Name" Trilogy, the classic Western trio of movies including The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, featuring Mr Macho himself, Clint Eastwood. Although my knowledge of "Spaghetti Western's" in general is pretty limited to say the least, Sergio Leone's magnum opus's were pretty darn good and has led me to search out and broaden my horizons when it comes to this particular genre. How fate has intervened therefore with the release of Slow West this week, a action Western thriller featuring the brilliant Micheal Fassbender (Prometheus, Shame), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) and Ben Mendelsohn (The Place Beyond the Pines) whilst being directed by first-timer John Maclean. With the limited amount of Westerns that are released in the current cinematic environment, Slow West had the opportunity to shine and bring fresh life into my newly-found genre of movies but with Clint Eastwood thoroughly in the back of my mind throughout, it had an uphill challenge from the start. 

The premise of Slow West is one that is very reminiscent of the Coen Brother's True Grit (and obviously the original, of which, I haven't seen) whereby the hunt for the wanted is the main direction of the character's goals with McPhee's Jay and Fassbender's Silas essentially being carbon copies of Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn respectively, if for a little gender change on one part. In the case of Slow West however, the hunt for the wanted is due to the absence of love in contrast to the absence of cash with Jay searching the West for his long-lost love whilst Silas constantly being at his side acting as his protector and guide. Although the film contains strong levels of action and violence throughout, it was the underlying sense of black comedic value that made it hold its' ground so astutely, with it being very reminiscent of Joel and Ethan Coen as well as Wes Anderson, particularly in moments that could arguably be classed as entering the ground of "zany". 

The film's bright demeanor throughout contrasted the fundamental dark tones of the movie in which murder, betrayal and violence are particularly rife, only adding credence to the notion of the films' aim in making light of such matters by mixing in a strong comedic undertone which, for the most part, was its' strongest moments. Fassbender is ace once again in a leading role whilst young McPhee produces a strong performance as the heartbroken teen lost in the wild. Aside from a rather predictable ending and falling on rather similar territory in terms of the Western genre, Slow West was an enjoyable addition into the Western catalogue of movies, propped up by the strong element of dark humour that was prevalent throughout. 

Overall Score: 7/10 

The Lone Ranger - The Not So Quicky, Quicky Review! - SPOILERS -

Another Disney movie with Johnny Depp in. Again, playing the weirdest character possible. For me, it's lost it's charm and really reflects Disney's desire to ride off of the success of Jack Sparrow in alternate realities. Within recent weeks, The Lone Ranger has suffered largely from a flop in America and critics bashing it left, right and centre. It's $220 million budget was one of the big problems that Disney has had on this project and it's expected that it may not see an actual return on the investment. With thee American results over a month ago, it is extremely unlikely that it will achieve over $190 million from the worldwide box office. Personally, I wasn't aware that The Lone Ranger was a radio show, TV show and loads more avenues. I thought it was a kids books from back in the day. Not experiencing the avenues, I don't know much about The Lone Ranger and Tonto but this movie focuses on the beginning of the pair which could mean it is an origins story with the potential for more. However, due to the sales, this is very unlikely even though Gore Verbinski directed it and is renowned for his Pirates of The Caribbean trilogy (Not the Black Beard one!)
Instead of just jumping into the story, we join the world in the 1920's (Bit of a stab in the dark!) A young boy dressed in Lone Ranger attire wanders through a Wild West carnival exhibit and stumbles across a Native Indian statue which turns out to be real. Soon we find out it's Tonto (Johnny Depp) whose grown old. From this point, he beings to reactant the story of how he and the Lone Ranger met and the story that formed the bond between them, only to be interrupted a few times in the midst of the story to clear up things that Tonto left out (presumably because of age), this could have been used to aid the plot but it felt intrusive and stopped the motion of play at certain points but really aided the ending with the explosion of a bridge by deviating before it blew and returning about 20 minutes later to finally watch it go up in flames. The overall story was one that was very simple and could have ended at multiple points. Skipping through the usual 'How our heroes came to be' we know that Tonto is a nutter and John Reid - The Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) is a city lawyer broken apart by the death of his Texas Ranger brother. Seeking justice, the pair ride together to find Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner), an infamous posse leader who is known for eating the organs of his fallen foes, right in front of their corpse. With a mix of plot twists and turns, the story doesn't grind to a halt but it could easily have ended much sooner rather than being dragged along for a 2 1/2 hour journey.

A big budget, a collection of famous names and faces with a talented director and Disney's backing, you can see that a lot of work and dedication has gone into the movie. As a group, the writers have worked together to create something both adult and child friendly while reflecting the complexity of the situation that was happening at the time with the conflicts between Americans and the Natives

over control of the land and its natural resources. Alongside the cinematography the overall filming was stunning and the cunning use of the props was an intriguing and clever idea. The prop use that sticks out to me was when Tonto was looting the bodies of the dead rangers and was doing a traditional Indian trade when he gave him a packet of nuts that was given to him by the young child he is telling the story too. Lighting was heavily considered for certain areas. The most prominent area was the silver mine which has the brightest lighting combined with the natural light of the area, the whole area glistened white. The shots ranged from extreme close-ups to long shots that captured the landscape brilliantly and transitioned between areas extremely well. The general construction of both the settings and the costumes should be applauded as they were well manufactured and fit the area perfectly.

Out of the whole cast, the best acted character was Butch Cavendish. One - his make-up was impeccable and I didn't know it was him until I looked at the IMDB list. Two - Fichtner managed to keep in character without losing character by over exaggerating. Once again, the typical duo of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are gracing the screens together. Nothing new and exciting there but Helena only appears 2-3 times and doesn't really do much to warrant the huge pay check that she received, especially with the accent that didn't sound very 'western'. As usual, Depp plays a weird character that is placed out of the regular confines of modern society in a changing world. He plays the crazy characters fine, the feeding of the dead bird was entertaining and his blank stares were much the same but it's nothing that we haven't already seen and I would really like to see him in something a little more serious, perhaps Rum Diaries. Finally, we have the main hero John Reid. Arnie Hammer doesn't appear to have done a huge amount and I would hazard a guess that this is his first leading role so far and it wasn't bad. He was a little weird and points and spent most of the time being a bit of a liability with very little character development apart from his brothers death and his brothers wife who he loves... One of my problems is with the casting of Reid's nephew, why can they not cast a child who can act a little?

In typical Verbinski style, this movie is just an action movie. It is also filled with comedy and crazy shenanigans which made the Pirates series so popular. A personal favourite was the rabbits. Not just ordinary rabbits, savage mother fuckers who will quite happily feed on their dead cooked cousin while snarling at the screen bearing its teeth, bundling in with a brawl between seemingly normal animals. The rest of the comedy was the over zealous explosions, fight scenes with witty one liners, The spirit horse that appears from nowhere and the heroic duo who spend moments arguing like a married couple in Asda's drink section (Walmart to the Americans), Alongside that you have Tonto's weird behaviour coupled with that bloody crow can be funny.

So overall, the movie is fun. Not a masterpiece of cinema, or a brilliantly scripted piece that grabs you by the balls and pulls you into the dark room. There was no tension builders that could have assisted the story but in total I feel it is worth the watch, seeing as we won't be seeing a follow-up to it. 6/10 feels right to me. 7/10 on a good day.