Very quick 2008 reviews

Married Life

Well cast, well acted drama about (un)happily married life in 40s suburbia. The Ira Sachs penned adaptation of the John Bingham novel is a nicely paced, convincingly plotted yarn that allows the cast (Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan in particular) to shine. Lacking that special something to elevate it to greatness, this is nevertheless worth your time.

B

Journey to the Centre of the Earth (3D)

Whilst Beowulf gave us an exciting glimpse of a 3D future, 'Journey' simply shows us how irritating it can be when a director tries to hard to make the audience go "wow - it's 3D". Fraser, who's great in the right role, looks too much like a second string all-American quarterback who's been hitting the cheeseburgers, yet is still the least annoying screen presence in a bumbling triumverate who go looking for the mythical Jules Verne location. The whole thing is tedious and I bailed as soon as they hit the centre of the earth and I realised things were not going to be any more exciting there than they were on the particularly unexciting surface.

F

Death Race

Absurd, ludicrous - at times completely non-sensical - yet somehow a bit of a guilty pleasure, although not really since it is never quite good enough for that. I did like the cinematography and set design however, and Ian McShane is always good value these days. God only knows what Joan Allen saw in the script though - maybe her copy was written on 100 dollar bills? Statham is what he is and the plot has more holes in it that a hula hoop factory, but it actually speeds by at a fairly decent pace and is always reasonably watchable. It is directed by Paul Anderson - no not the good one - the other one. The good one is Paul Thomas Anderson. This one is Paul WS Anderson. The helpful middle name/initials is how you tell which one directed which film. That and the fact that one directs stuff like Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, and the other does stuff like Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil. Would be a bit surprising if WS's resume read Mortal Kombat 2, Soldier, Alien vs Predator, Punch Drunk Love. Maybe the WS stands for What a load of Shit? Bit unfair really though cause I *almost* enjoyed this.

D+

Beowulf

Beowulf arrived in cinemas a couple of weeks ago and is offered in both 2D and 3D. Unfortunately only certain cinemas are capable of showing it in 3D and therefore many fans will be leaving this picture thinking that they'd seen nothing special. I suspect, and judging by the applause in the theatre at the end of the showing I was at, those watching in 3D had seen a different film altogether.

Watching a product as visually impressive as Beowulf, it is hard to imagine that 2D films will be continued to be made once movie theatres worldwide have installed the hardware, and filmmakers work out how to cut production costs associated with producing in 3D. There are still flaws that are noticeable onscreen, particularly around the edges of the frame, that need to be ironed out. Filmmakers will also hopefully resist the temptation to create certain shots just for the gimmicky 'coming at ya' 3D effect. Zemeckis and co were reasonably restrained here. The 3D actually works better when you forget your watching it and instead are marveling at the sweeping vistas that we zoom through with impossible camera angles and gloriously animated sets.

Beowulf is not the first film to be shot in 3D. Far from it. 3D technology has been in around in one guise or aniother since the late 19th Century and the first feature film shot in 3D was back in 1939. But what Beowulf offers is a huge advancement in the quality of the process. Never have visuals been as wondrous as here. Plus you have a film that's telling a pretty decent tale to boot. Ray Winstone, in motion-capture animated form, takes on the role of Beowulf and must have appreciated the rather generous touching up (or complete creation) of a set of perfect 6 pack abs. Beowulf, at the request of a Danish king (Anthony Hopkins) slays a monster in order to rid a town of its curse, but he then becomes enchanted by the beasts' seductive mother and the curse he thought he lifted lives on. Angelina Jolie is perfectly cast in the latter role and is, unnervingly, unbelievably hot despite the not quite perfect clay-like appearance in the face that motion capture offers, although the rest of the body seems pretty damn perfect - all the way to the end of her huge golden tail. The supporting motion captured cast are all good too - Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich and, particularly, Brendan Gleeson as Beowulf's right hand man.

Leaving the theatre I cannot believe for a second that 3D is anything other than a new era of film - a breakthrough as every bit important as sound or colour. It's obviously just one that is taking much longer to perfect. It has been reported that Steven Spielberg is amongst a group involved in patenting a 3D cinema system that doesn't need glasses. A computer splits each film-frame, and then projects the two split images onto the screen at differing angles, to be picked up by tiny angled ridges on the screen. This may be the advancement needed to bring 3D into all cinemas.

Whatever it is that needs to happen to either make the shooting of a film or the projection of it profitable even for small budget, independent films, I expect this will happen. I suspect that eventually 3D will be the norm and Beowulf is proof that that's something to look forward to.


B+