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The Founder (2016)
Kroc. The man who revolutionized the food industry and drove two brothers out of their own business
The Founder was directed by John Lee Hancock and stars Michael Keaton, Laura Dern, Patrick Wilson, Nick Offerman, John Carrol Lynch and Linda Cardellini and tells us the true story of the rise of one of the most recognizable brands in the world McDonald's mainly focused on the period of time when Ray Kroc joined the business and effectively "robbed" the McDonald brothers of their creation, a truly fascinating story that many of us would never even think about when tucking into a Big Mac and fries.
Hancock is no stranger to biopics having bought to the big screen Saving Mr Banks and The Blind Side in previous years and while those films had some compelling performances they also had some really great source material to work from. We have been blessed with some great biopics in the past the social network and the big short but I felt that at times the McDonald's story was lacking elements of what those great stories had for example unlike Eddie the Eagle or Hacksaw Ridge you feel that there was no heroic figure to get behind and root for as such.
Nevertheless the film works well within the confines of what they could do with regards to script writing and direction. We can begin with the obvious highlight of the film being Michael Keaton. Seriously I hope this guy doesn't become the next Leonardo DiCaprio and having to wait forever for an Oscar but will this film finally bring home the trophy? Is very hard to say considering that we have the likes of Casey Affleck and Ryan Gosling also making waves.
Keaton was perfectly cast as the lead role of Ray kroc in the film he's ruthless, he shows so much emotion and is simply energizing to view on screen. He's got all of Kroc's mannerisms that I had seen in YouTube footage and such In fact it felt like he studied Kroc inside out.
The McDonald brothers were played by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch and I have to hand it to them because they also did really well in their performances especially when there was tension between the McDonald brothers and Ray kroc.
Unfortunately not all the performance were really up to scratch. For example Laura Dern's character really didn't have too much screen time when compared to Keaton, Offerman and Lynch and I guess it shows in her so so performance.
The script was enjoyable enough to hold your interest but as is the case with every biopic these days those typical montages of information both in the beginning and also at the end are in this film as cliché as it is. Here it happens when we get the McDonald brothers back story. You'll also find unlike the recent film The Big short where they had a really good way of explaining technical things in this film, in this film business ideas were discussed but not necessarily explained for the layman.
But did they get the cinematography right? did they get the look and feel of the fifties and sixties right? You bet indeed they did which was a big plus from me and the soundtrack was one that matched the film perfectly.
The Question is the will I come back to watch this film again and Have my perceptions changed about McDonald's after watching this movie? The answer to both questions is probably not. This film just doesn't seem like it warrants a rewatch due to the nature of the subject matter nevertheless I'm sure everyone will end up seeing it in the same way everyone see the new Marvel movies. My perceptions of McDonald's haven't changed because I always knew McDonald's for the ruthless corporation they were and without giving away spoilers I can say that the way Kroc acted as a businessman has really had an effect on the McDonald's business itself as a whole and I can attribute the current business model and any issues and scrutiny that has arisen from the way that Kroc turned the company from a small burger stand to a multi billion dollar international empire.
Ultimately the performances are what really draw you into this film. The Story while after seeing the film no longer seems like a great American success story as such was as interesting as they could've made it on the big screen and even if you don't eat McDonald's it's worth checking out. I always think of the founder every time I walk past my local golden arches now and I think the film deserves a worthy 4/5 based on Keaton alone. Its no birdman but still compelling viewing.
Would you like some fries with that?
Project Almanac (2015)
a time travel flick from that Transforrmers dude
Project almanac is another one of those found footage films. Like other films in the past such as Chronicle and paranormal activity the film documents the experiences of a group of teenagers who film their experience on a video camera and in this case time travel. Teenager David Raskin is one of the smarter achievers at school and discovers plans for a time machine in his basement left behind by his late father. He and his friends then go about constructing the time machine. What happens next is reminiscent of your typical time travel movie, a chain of unfortunate events unfolds when they try to use the device for their own personal gain something reminiscent of "Biff " stealing the Sports Almanac in Back to the future II hence the name "project almanac". But the film is far from perfect it has shaky camera angles, a lot of inconsistencies in the plot and science of it all. Could have worked better as an actual film instead of a found footage film but that's just my opinion. If you are not a fan of sci-fi/time travel/found footage types of films then I guess this one won't appeal to you but otherwise it's a pretty cool flick.
Boychoir (2014)
Another feel-good musical film.
Every so often there are the stories of the "Battle against the odds". The plot line has been done countless times before in cinematic history and here we have another one. When I heard about this film I was under the impression that it would be akin to a "choral" version of "Whiplash" (I think others picked up on that one too) but how wrong I was. Rather than the music teacher being the "JK Simmons type" menacing type our music teacher in this film is more of a nurturing talent type.
The premise is simple. Our main character, young Stet has a troubled childhood but has a gift of a voice and can sing. When he loses his mother, his father takes him to an elite music school where he meets his mentor "Carvelle" (Dustin Hoffman) and there he learns to craft his singing ability.
Musically the film was simply breathtaking no doubt about that and it represents a return to form for Dustin Hoffman but the story was a little predictable as others have already stated in other reviews. It's nothing new and the feel-good film genre has been overcrowded for some time.
However this Is still something good for a night in with the family. Something that everyone will agree on. It doesn't take a lot to understand the ideas conveyed in this film. It won't win any major praises from critics but it has made me want to book tickets to the next Vienna Boys Choir concert
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
phenomenal, groundbreaking a masterpiece.
A culturally significant masterpiece of its time. 2001 A space odyssey is quite possibly the greatest science fiction film (and book) of all time. When people mention the notion of space travel in film this movie arguably one of the greatest of the 20th century always springs to mind. Just the ideas and themes presented in this film are truly ground-breaking. Before we had Gravity, interstellar, star wars, we had 2001, the film that started it all. From the dawn of time sequence where the film begins we soon witness one of the most awkward plot changes in cinematic history. Suddenly we are thrust into outer space, into the modern era witnessing a spacecraft descending into a space station and we soon witness a group of astronauts on a journey to the planet Jupiter. Kubrick's attention to detail and predictions of future technologies were simply spot on. The video phone in the space station, recognise that? It's what we now know as Skype. There doesn't have to be a lot of dialogue for one to understand the very notion of what is happening during the film in fact at least half an hour of the film there is no dialogue whatsoever. I wouldn't even consider there to be a lead actor in the film, in actual fact the central character in this film happens to be an artificial intelligent being known as the "HAL-9000", the central computer that helps the crew control their ship en route to Jupiter. 2001 A space Odyssey set the benchmark for idea of 'Man Vs Machine' and these ideas were later evident in future works such as Bladerunner and Bicentennial man. Also we must remember this film was released before the days of flashy CGI style special effects yet the way Kubrick gave you the sensation of being in outer space was just awe inspiring. Not to mention quite possibly one of the most spectacular uses of Strauss's music in cinematic history. This film does everything a science fiction film should. It also was the first film to get all of the science behind space travel accurate. So if you haven't already done so, do yourself a favour and watch this groundbreaking, phenomenal film.
The Martian (2015)
Cast away meets Apollo 13
As I sit here writing this I am also listening to an interview with author Andy Weir. Andy Weir wrote the book on which this film is based and its quite interesting how the book now film came to be. Andy like me was also a Sci Fi nut so went about writing science fiction and posting it online. However when he began writing "The Martian" there were no aliens, no star cruisers, no lasers this time round. Instead it was all researched scientific fact and it revolved around a manned trip to the planet Mars. Each week he would post new chapters online and would "update" chapters each time his readers corrected his factual inaccuracies. Eventually he had completed a book, it soon got published from online to paperback and the rest is history.
We have been graced with several poor adaptations of mars in recent times from the likes of the pitiful "Red planet" and "Mission to mars" and I don't think Hollywood wanted to finance big budget sci fi films after several flops
but then blockbusters "Gravity" and "Interstellar" came round and we all know how amazing they were
This brings us to the newest member of the Science fiction film family 'The Martian'. Ridley Scott created some Sci Fi masterpieces in Aliens and Bladeunner so when I heard he was attached to this film I was already anticipating this one. The premise is simple. A manned mission to mars in the not too distant future encounters a freak windstorm. Forced to evacuate the planet in the chaos they drop everything, leave behind astronaut Mark Watney believing he is dead and begin the journey back to earth. In actual fact Mark survived but has been injured after being impaled by his communication antenna. With no way of contacting NASA or his crew and the next mission to arrive on Mars another 4 years away not to mention dwindling food supplies Mark is left with a pretty tricky situation.
What happens next has been described as cross between cast away and Apollo 13. The film alternates between 3 main facets. NASA mission control on Earth, The crew members of the Ares 3 mission en route to earth and Mark Watney now stranded on Mars and the actors chosen for each portray them brilliantly. Note to Jeff Daniels try a serious role like this one rather than a silly sequel to Dumb and Dumber. Matt Damon portrays the role of Mark Watney perfectly from his mannerisms to his humour. Far from thinking this future is bleak and I'm gonna die on this god forsaken planet Watney takes a Bear Grylls style approach to survival and proclaims If I'm to survive here 'I'm gonna have to science the $#!@ out of this'. Each "Sol" (means Mars day) he updates us on his situation via his "Video journal" For the budding science minded individual like me many of his ideas also came into my head as I viewed the film but for the average Joe the film is not difficult to understand. I was afraid of the film having a lot of scientific jargon but was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to understand what was going on.
When NASA caught wind of this film being in production they were more than happy to lend their expertise to help this novel translate to the big screen. Legally you are not allowed to portray NASA in any other form without their express written permission anyway... In a way you could say this is a product placement promotion for the future of NASA which in a way it is but hey that's a good thing. Its not fully 100% accurate. We do know that the winds on Mars are no way near as strong enough to generate the storm style winds but by and large the film gets the science right. We have to remember it's a film not a science lesson. Author Andy Weir even calculated the trajectories, distances among other things to ensure everything is told as it will be when we finally make that mission to the red planet.
This film is simply stunning simply amazing but it will also have some good competition with the upcoming Oscar awards. "The Walk" and "Everest" come to mind. If this film doesn't win any awards I will be bitterly disappointed because I can already foresee Matt Damon standing on stage accepting an award for "Best Actor" So with that in mind go out and watch this film already if you haven't done so you WONT regret it.