Monday, May 20, 2013

Crisp Criticism - "Iron Man 3", "Star Trek Into Darkness", "Spring Breakers", "The Hunt", "Beyond the Hills", "The Big Wedding"


by
Julien Faddoul



Iron Man 3 

When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a terrorist called The Mandarin, he begins a journey of renewal.
A change in director has resulted in an Iron Man film that couldn't care less about Iron Man, opting for more of a feel for the action-comedies of the 1990s. The approach fails: the situations are tedious, the plot, silly, the action, incomprehensible and the jokes, unfunny. The whole experience is energy-sucking.

d – Shane Black
w – Shane Black, Drew Pearce   (Based on the Comic Book by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby)
ph – John Toll
pd – Bill Brzeski
m – Brian Tyler
ed – Peter S. Elliot, Jeffrey Ford
cos – Louise Frogley

p – Kevin Feige

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Paul Bettany, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Dale Dickey



Star Trek Into Darkness **

After the crew of The Enterprise find an overpowering might from within their institute, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to arrest a one man weapon of mass destruction.
A sequel that disregards most of the mythology of the TV series in favour of a carte blanche approach with a muddled plot. It is a little duller and less funny than the 2009 film, but no worse than that, with exciting set-pieces and a deliciously over-the-top performance from its villain.

d – J.J. Abrams
w – Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof   (Based on the TV Series by Gene Roddenberry)
ph – Daniel Mindel
pd – Scott Chambliss
m – Michael Giacchino
ed – Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey
cos – Michael Kaplan

p – J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller



Spring Breakers **

Four college girls who land in jail after robbing a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation find themselves bailed out by a drug and arms dealer.
Litres and litres and litres of philosophical meaning is drunken, smoked and snorted here, not all of it of sound diagnosis. It is mostly hilarious and always disturbing. Make of it what you will.

wd – Harmony Korine
ph – Benoit Debie
pd – Elliott Hostetter
m – Cliff Martinez, Skrillex
Ed – Douglas Crise
cos – Heidi Bivens 

p – Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Jordan Gertner, Chris Hanley, David Zander 

Cast: James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Gucci Mane 



The Hunt *

A Danish preschool teacher is falsely accused of paedophilia by a bitter young girl.
Superb cinematography, excellent performances, opulent compositions/blocking all surrounding a tired cautionary tale that takes the easy dramatic route almost immediately, by a director who seems to be getting less mature the older he gets. An extremely frustrating experience.

d – Thomas Vinterberg
w – Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg
ph – Charlotte Bruus Christensen
pd – Torben Stig Nielsen
m – Nikolaj Egelund
ed – Janus Billeskov Jansen, Anne Østerud
cos – Manon Rasmussen

p – Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum, Jorgensen Morten Kaufmann

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm, Susse Wold, Anne Louise Hassing, Lars Ranthe, Alexandra Rapaport 



Beyond the Hills **

A young girl arrives at a Romanian convent with the intent to salvage a young novice, her childhood best-friend, and bring her to Germany.
Long, slow, austere and difficult; not for the short attention span. Assembled with searing precision of the cinematic image; filled with tension and exquisite compositions until its director begins repeating himself a bit. Like Breaking the Waves without the guilelessness.

wd – Cristian Mungiu   (Based on the Novels by Tatiana Niculescu Bran)
ph – Oleg Mutu
pd – Calin Papura, Mihaela, Poenaru
ed – Mircea Olteanu
cos – Dana Paparuz

p – Cristian Mungiu

Cast: Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, Dana Tapalaga



The Big Wedding

A divorced couple fakes being married as their family comes together for a wedding.
A humungous rectus of embarrassment for everyone concerned.

wd – Justin Zackham   (Based on the Screenplay by Jean-Stéphane Bron)
ph – Jonathan Brown
pd – Andrew Jackness
m – Nathan Barr
ed – Jon Corn
cos – Aude Bronson-Howard

p – Anthony Katagas, Clay Pecorin, Richard Salvatore, Harry J. Ufland, Justin Zackham

Cast: Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Ben Barnes, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Christine Ebersole, David Rasche



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