Wolf of Wall Street - Film.

Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993846/?ref_=nm_knf_t2

Wolf of Wall Street left me with many conflicting thoughts. I couldn't help but enjoy Wolf yet at the same time kind of feel incredibly icky and dirty about liking it. Wolf is a good, fun film about horrible horrible people and perhaps the biggest criticism is that it forgets that it's about horrible people.

DiCaprio puts in a great performance as Belfort and is totally in his element. Jonah Hill and the rest of the supporting cast are also great. They best word for all the performances is "energetic" there is a certain energy to Wolf that is hard to escape and it radiates through the actors.

It perhaps glorifies Jordan Belfort a bit too much. His pretty terrible habits are painted in too fun of a light and the "bad guys" in this film appear to be the police doing their job. One scene in particular which paints cocaine in a similar light to spinach in pop-eye. It's a little bit daft and unneeded. Jordan Belforts cameo at the end of the film feels like it's in poor taste considering the film just showed us what a bad human being he could be.

All the problems I feel can be attributed to the source material. The film is adapted from Belfort own memoirs and it does feel entirely one sided. Scorsese probably didn't intend to pick a side when it came to Wolf but by the end it's hard to not think Wolf is painting Belfort as "just an American" or even something of an anti-hero.

Maniac Cop - Film.

Maniac Cop (1988)
Director: William Lustig
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Robert Z'Dar, Tom Atikins
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095583/

I was expecting much worse than what I got with Maniac Cop and honestly, that kind of disappointed me. It's definitely in the exact same vein as most cheesy 80's slashers but it's actually a half decent film. It also didn't have nearly enough Bruce Campbell for my liking.

Robert Z'Dar plays a massive terrifying shadowy cop who just loves killing people. He's actually a little unnerving when the film doesn't finally devolve into silly bang bangs and car chases. It maintains something of a tense atmosphere throughout although it does feature a pretty great performance from Sheree North as Maniac Cops crippled girlfriend. Campbell as ever has a boyish charm and charisma that makes him so god damn lovable.

Whilst for the most part it maintains some semblance of reality it finally does give it in by the end. Turning from a decently made low-budget horror to your standard poorly made action film. It also features what seemed to be some weird social commentary on how cops treat other cops when it comes to crime within the police force.

Maniac Cop isn't terrible and for me, that's the worst thing about it.

Stoker - Film.

Stoker (2013)
Director: Park-Chan Wook
Starring: Nicole Kidman,  Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682180/

Stoker is an interesting film for a number of reasons, the main two are behind the camera. Firstly, it's Park-Chan Wooks first english-language film. He's already incredibly well established with South-Korean films like Oldboy and I Saw the Devil. Secondly, the writer behind Stoker is none other than Wentworth Miller. He wrote it under a pseudonym whilst we was breaking out of prison and it was only a couple of years ago that it was picked up by Park-Chan Wook.

Now, back to what's in front of the camera. Stoker is an intriguing film that has stellar performances from the 3 leads. It maintains a tense atmosphere throughout and features some well-done twists and turns scattered throughout. It's got some lovely imagery and Park-Chan Wook brings a lot of beauty with a gothic look.

My only real problem with Stoker is something of an immature ending. It feels a little brutal and pointless. It ruins any sort of mystery I could have about the characters after the credits have rolled. It turned Stoker from a film that could have perhaps lingered in my mind into just a pretty intriguing thriller.

Lincoln - Film.

Lincoln (2012)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee-Jones, Sally Field
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/

It's hard not to talk about Lincoln without wanting to just rave about Daniel Day-Lewis. It's also hard to use superlatives that haven't already been said a dozen times over. I don't know Abraham Lincoln personally, but Day-Lewis brings him to life in a way befitting of the legend. He exudes charisma and makes it hard to turn away whenever he is on screen. Without any shadow of a doubt, Day-Lewis is one of the main reasons to watch this film.

Despite how great he is, he's backed up with other stellar performances. Sally Field in particular plays Mary Todd Lincoln. Field is superb and her character is believable as a woman who is Lincolns equal, just as fiery and strong-willed. Tommy Lee Jones is also fantastic as a hard as nails republican.

The problem with having a performance like Day-Lewis gives is that when he isn't on screen, you find yourself a little bored, just waiting for him to come back. Lincoln for the most part avoids this trap. However, even with an interesting world, and pretty huge events going on, it's easy to feel like you're just waiting for Day-Lewis to show up again.

For the most part though, Lincoln is thoroughly enjoyable throughout. It retains a sense of humor despite the enormity of the events going on. A grand test for a biopic is whether it can keep events you know the outcome of, tense. Spielberg pulls that off with ease. The final vote being gripping, tense and also pretty joyous at the end.

It's impossible to not recommend Lincoln. Even if you know the events off by heart, it does the next best thing to actually bringing him back to life and it's a joy to see Daniel Day-Lewis.

Tearaway - Game.

Tearaway (2013)
Developer: Media Molecule
Platform: Vita

I love my Playstation Vita, it's the best handheld I've owned and one of my favourite pieces of gaming hardware, which is what makes the admittedly lack of original games a bit of a bummer. Media Molecule more than make up for the drought with the delightful Tearaway.

Tearaway is visually incredibly. It's got one of the most original and inventive art styles I've seen. Everything in the game appears to be made out of paper. This isn't just limited to things you see in the environment, walking threw a puddle creates a little paper spray. Rain drops and snowflakes are little bits of paper that fall to the ground. It's a really delightful game to just explore, to see what things look like and to appreciate the insane amount of effort put into it.

The visuals are backed up with some very clever mechanics. Tearaway is a rare game that actually takes advantage of the PS Vitas numerous inputs. It uses the Vita to the fullest and aside from the gyro stuff it's all pulled off pretty well. From creating bridges by peeling paper, to poking your finger into the world through the rear panel, it's all pretty joyous. It does get a tad boring being told to take a picture of yourself over and over, my vanity can only stretch so far. Then again, it's cool when the images you capture are planted in the world for you to stumble across. I also realised that I have an incredibly un-scary roar.

The story in Tearaway is a little basic, but has some clever turns. You play as an envelope turned messenger called Iota who needs to deliver a message to "you", the player. The story has two narrators who lead Iota through the world of Tearaway. Theirs a few interesting moments when the story is deviated by a narrator but overall the story remains basic and pretty uneventful.

Tearaway needs to be played. It's a special game, especially on a system so lacking in killer software like the Vita. It's got gorgeous visuals and clever mechanics to back it up. Just be ready to be more enthralled with the visual design over the storytelling.

The Butler - Film.

The Butler (2013)
Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1327773/

The Butler is a solid if pretty unremarkable film that is carried by a strong Whitaker performance. Despite a serious subject nature, it's a relatively light watch and perhaps suffers from one too many cameos.

At times The Butler feels like something of a conveyor belt of actors appearing as famous political figures. You're almost waiting with bated breath to see which star will turn up in pretty bad make-up as a president. When the film is out of the white house it's at its strongest.

As mentioned Whitaker is great. Having a disarming charm and being instantly likable. Winfrey also has a good turn as an alcoholic turned sober wife who has to deal with a husband serving in the white house and a son who is fighting for basic human rights. David Oyelowo is great as Louis Gaines, a man who transforms many times trying to fight for his rights. The only problem is that it all seems a little too convenient and maybe a little forced that his involved with literally every major historical event.

There are many big names in The Butler and it's difficult to talk about them all. Nobody really sticks out as bad, except maybe John Cusacks prosthetic nose, everyone plays their part well. At times it falls into the oscar bait catagory, but overall it manages to remain an interesting if at times uncomfortable watch.

The Desolation of Smaug - Film.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Luke Evans, Sir Ian McKellen.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1170358/

I haven't been a fan of anything related to Lord of the Rings films since The Fellowship. Two Towers was fine, Return of the King was an overlong CGI mess and The Hobbit was just bad. I therefore wasn't expecting too much from Smaug, I was pleasantly surprised then that I actually enjoyed Smaug, although it still has quite a few faults.

Let's get the good out of the way though. Smaug is a much, much improved take on The Hobbit than The Unexpected Journey. It's more involving, it's fun and it doesn't feel entirely self-masturbatory from Peter Jackson. The first film was a film made by Jackson for Jackson whereas Smaug is made for normal people who want to watch something good. 

It features way less shots of Jackson longingly starring at the mountains and poking us telling us to love it, LOVE IT. Instead there is much more action and fun to be had in Smaug. Speaking of Smaug the dragon is definitely the highlight of the film. Incredibly well designed and realised. I'm not Cumberbatches biggest fan but he plays a mean dragon! Probably better than he plays Sherlock. 

Despite the improvements, Smaug still has problems with pacing and length. It's about 30 minutes too long and at times feels incredibly stop and start, it never quite flows properly and gets kind of boring to watch at times. Also, Orlando Bloom is pants. 

For me, the biggest problem with The Hobbit is the director. He is too in love with the source material to consider anything worthy of cutting out. Most of the stuff that I hated would have made for great extras in the extended cut, but in the cinema, it just doesn't work. 

Seriously, why couldn't have Del Toro stayed on board?

Pain & Gain - Film.

Pain & Gain (2013
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/

I'm not gonna lie, I was always going to have a good time with Pain & Gain. I knew it was going to be loud, fun and have Dwayne Johnson in it, which is all it normally takes. With the truth bombs out of the way I can say that Pain & Gain is a helluva lot of fun and worth watching to see one of the more bizarre true stories about.

Wahlberg, Johnson and Mackie play three body builders who take it upon themselves to make the American Dream a reality. By working hard and paying your debts? Nope, by kidnapping a rich dude and taking over his life - and that's as normal as I can make it sound.

This film is the antithesis of the phrase "fact is stranger than fiction." It features some absolutely bonkers scenarios that if it wasn't adapted from a true story would be marked down for how ridiculous it seems. If one director was going to handle this film, it was going to be Bay and all in all he pulls off the relatively low budget film well. There's a few "bay-esque" moments (see: loud noises and explosions) that feel a little out of place in the film and make the tone go all wonky.

The performances are where the film really shines. All three of the leads work incredibly well together and bounce off each other like I imagine all inept criminals do. Johnson in particular is funny, empathetic and the best god damn coke-head-who-isn't-actually-on-coke you'll ever see. Tony Shalhoub, pulls off a rare feat of making it hard to be sympathetic with a guy who is having his life ripped apart.

I would have enjoyed Pain & Gain with or without being pre-disposed to it. Even if Bay has never been your cup of tea, it's a fun ride and one well worth taking, if just for The Rock on coke.

Sightseers - Film.

Sightseers - (2012)
Director: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram.
Netflix: https://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Sightseers/70243245?sod=search-autocomplete (US)

Sightseers continues my "catch-up of lots of films I missed." I'm a bit annoyed I didn't watch it sooner because it's actually quite a bit of fun.

It's hard for me not to have a soft spot for Sightseers though. It's British through and through. The idea of a caravan holiday, what people are murdered over as well as the knitting. Even without my pre-disposal to enjoying British things, Sightseers is a darkly comic roadtrip film that is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

It's anchored by two good performances from Lowe and Oram who really work well together. It's also hard to not root for them as they brutally kill some particularly annoying people (don't arrest me.)

My only problem is that perhaps veers too far into the violence a few times making for some unnecessarily brutal images that don't quite mesh with the rest of the film. It's more an examination of a pretty bizarre couple and what they're willing to do for each other. The violence sometimes stands out in a way that it didn't need too.

Overall though, the violence is only a minor blemish on an otherwise solid, darkly funny roadtrip film. It does put me off caravans though.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Missing Link - Game

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link (2011)
Developer: Eidos Montreal
Platform: PC

Human Revolution was a great game. It pulled off the rare feat of allowing you to play how you want to and balancing the play styles really well. I was looking forward to getting stuck into Missing Link, sadly it's no where near the quality of HR and really, it's just not very good.

Like I mentioned what made HR so good is that I could pick and choose how I wanted to approach a situation. Did I want to sneak about? Shoot up some dudes? Stun them? WHO CARES IT WAS UP TO ME. It was therefore pretty saddening when the opening forced stealth upon me. I'm dreadful at anything but light stealth elements so the entire opening hour was a dull and painful trial and error.

The lack of enjoyment in actually playing the game was matched by the look of it. HR had a lot of really varied and beautiful environments, TML foregoes that with grey corridors, grey buildings and grey grey. It barely picks up when you do get your gear, instead just featuring more bland corridors with the odd vent to get lost in.

The Missing Link, is a pretty unfun 4 - 5 hours of content. It features nothing that made Human Revolution the great experience it was and I really wish I had just left this gathering virtual dust.

Bad Teacher - Film

Bad Teacher (2011)
Director: Jake Kasdan
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1284575/

I watched this film in a haze when I was too lazy to turn over the channel. It was pretty much exactly what I was expecting, probably a little worse.

It's pretty hard to enjoy a film especially a comedy film, when you absolutely despise a main character. I mean, not in the way the film wants you to where you still find them funny. I mean in a way that makes it pretty painful to sit through it and this is the character that Cameron Diaz plays. Someone who isn't funny and is just pretty offensive.

Now like I said, this may be the point of the character but a film is supposed to have at least some arc with a character like that, give them something of a redemption. Bad Teacher does not. Cameron Diazs character is continually rewarded and never really changes by the end of the film. Also, characters who do appear to be doing the right thing are painted as the "bad guy." Just because it's a comedy film doesn't excuse it from not having any semblance of character development.The only person who plays someone who has any resemblance to an actual human being is Segel and it's no surprise he gets all 3 of the slight laughs.

Overall, muster up enough energy to change the channel if it comes on.

Zero Dark Thirty - Film.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Zero Dark Thirty has been sitting on my Hard Drive for about two years now. In fact, I don't know how I'm going to cope considering it's unwatched state was the one constant in my life. The only benefit I can think of is that I ended up watching a pretty good film.

You don't really need to be told what ZDT is all about do you? I will anyway, it's about the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden and eventually, the killing of OBL. Bigelow and writer Boal create a tense, interesting film and at times, pretty uncomfortable one. However, I couldn't at times help but be a little bored?

I kept comparing it to Hurt Locker and kept feeling just not as enthralled, just not as on the edge of my seat* as I was watching Renner donning a massive bombproof suit. I put it down to watching it two years later when all the details are much more common knowledge, something that I therefore blame on procrastination.

One thing that does stand the test of time are the performances, Chastain is fantastic as a no-holds barred, ass-kicking CIA analyst, who will stop at nothing to get Bin Laden. To be honest, I was more rooting for Bin Laden's capture for her rather than anything else. It's also nice to see Mark Strong playing a good guy for once. I did worry he was going to turn out to be a double agent, or at least the bad guy from Robin Hood again.

ZDT is still worth a watch, but I think it's lost some of its impact a couple of years on from release.

*I was in bed, but that doesn't sound as good.

American Hustle - Film.

American Hustle (2013)
Director: David O'Russell
Starring: Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800241/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4

American Hustle has been gathering quite a bit a buzz lately and after seeing it, I can't entirely agree with all of the praise.

The performances in Hustle are all pretty good. The novelty of seeing Bale going from Batman to fat man never quite wears off and he plays con man down to a tee. Cooper plays drug addled cop pretty damn well but more impressive is that he actually does pull off the hair. Renner stands out as being particularly dull especially when put next to the energy and larger than life performances of the rest of the cast.

Hustle is a fun watch but that's it. It's incredibly messy throughout. Often veering into incoherent non-sensical land a few times. However, there is a certain amount of infectious energy from the cast that kind of drags you along for the ride, whether you can tell where you're going or not.

The big "pay off" or "fake out" is also entirely underwhelming and left me feeling a bit deflated coming out of the cinema. In fact the more I think about it, the less I can remember about Hustle. Everything but Coopers hair is slowly fading away.

Worth a watch though.

12 Years a Slave - Film.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I often find it difficult to go into a film that is so hyped, so tipped for Oscars like 12 Years is. I find it impossible to just not look for flaws, it's a bad habit that I want to break. 12 Years is a film that passes my horribly cynical test by being really damn good with one big exception. Good stuff first though.

It's an incredibly well directed film, featuring pretty magnificent shot after pretty magnificent shot. There are a few absolutely amazing scenes that have McQueen lingering quite a while on one particular thing. They are scenes that could easily be overly long and boring, but they work. One in particular is tough to keep watching but also fantastically well done.

The acting from nearly everyone is spot on. Fassbender and Ejiofor are of course the actors getting most of the recognition, I personally loved Paul Dano as a weasel of a man. Paul Giamatti is also someone who plays his role of scumbag perfectly. It's almost sad that 12 Years move at such a speed with some of the actors. It does really effectively bookmark Solomons life though, and gives the film a pretty interesting structure.

The only real problem I had with the film is Brad Pitt. Pitt can be a great actor, but in 12 Years he was geniunely bad, downright bad. The film is grim, murky and pretty brutal, Pitt does not gel with that at all. He has a comical beard only matched by his comical accent. It's almost as if he was channeling Inglorious Basterds.

Pitt aside, 12 Years is worthy of all its buzz and a film that is well worth watching.

DLC Double: Enter the Dominatrix & How the Saints saved Christmas.

Saints Row IV - DLC (2013)
Developer: Volition
Platform: PC

Saints Row IV was one of my favourite games of last year. It was fun, it was funny and more importantly, it was a video game. A god damn video game. However, due to past bad, very bad, experiences with Saints Row DLC I'd held off on playing these two until they were reasonable. Thankfully, it paid off and I had fun with the two packs of DLC.

Enter the Dominatrix

ETD was originally meant to be DLC for Saints Row the Third but was famously expanded and changed into Saints Row IV. ETD is akin to a mockumentary, it features a select scenes from the DLC with the characters talking about their involvement as well as some scenes playing out via storyboards.

On paper it should be perfect however, it's actually a little weak. The humour only hits occasionally and everything that would have been super fun about ETD I'd done already in SR4. There is however one thing that saves it, and it's the ending. That god damn ending. Everything falls into place it's funny, bizarre and most importantly, it's fucking Saints Row.

How the Saints saved Christmas

Despite the perfect premise of the Boss re-discovering his christmas cheer whilst defeating a "god-tyrant" Clawz, I wasn't too excited for this. Considering ETD had been only average, I wasn't expecting much. I was surprised then that Saved turned out to be a lot, lot better than ETD. It featured the holiday season with the trademark SR craziness which is all I could have asked for. Christmas dubstep, licking a candy cane to open a door and blowing up naughty kids houses with coal.

Despite the fun I had with the bulk of the gameplay in Saved, I most enjoyed the ending montage of the saints doing christmassy things. Mainly because it was actually a pretty bitter sweet moment. I'm not normally a festive guy, and considering it's the 3rd of Jan, it was weird to feel slightly fuzzy inside.

Overall

I managed to grab the season pass for £3 when it was on sale, however, I wouldn't have felt too terrible picking it up at full price. Both of the packs have their moments and are way above the drivel that was the SR3 DLC.

Pumping Iron - Film.

Pumping Iron (1977)

Director: Robert Fiore, George Butler
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno.
Netflix: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Pumping_Iron/60031683?trkid=50000009 (U.K)

In order to make myself feel even more inadequate at the start of 2014 I decided to watch a documentary about bodybuilders entering the Mr.Universe and Mr. Olympia. The film features muscly men winning awards for being more muscly than other muscly men.

As a documentary about bodybuilding, it's interesting but nothing special. More interestingly and what you should probably watch the film for is seeing the roots of Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as a Lou Ferrigno who has apparently looked the exact same age his entire life.

It shows Arnie in a pretty different light to what I've become accustomed too. He's cocky, arrogant but at the same time really does have a presence that goes beyond muscles bigger than a normal humans head. It's easy to see why he became much more than just a body builder.

 It's also got something of a narrative about a rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Ferringo. Most of the time however this feels entirely forced and not convincing in the slightest. It introduces a lot of other bodybuilders and then seemingly forgets about them. The forced narrative only distracts from what could have been a really interesting look into many different bodybuilders way of lives.

Despite being a little shallow and maybe only scratching the surface of the subject, it's still an interesting watch but it's less about the world of bodybuilding and more about the world of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Introduction.

In 2013 I did an excel spreadsheet and listed everything I watched and played. I realised that my film buff and game playing person credentials were seriously lacking. To remedy this my New Years resolution was to watch 10 films and complete 5 games a month.

This is a terrible new years resolution. It's the opposite of what a good new years resolution should be. In order to make it a little bit productive I've decided to write between 200 and 300 words on each film/game I watch/play.

Well yes. Here is the blog.