Inside Llewyn Davis

Genre: Drama
Directed: Joel and Ethan Cohen
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan and John Goodman. 
Running: 104min

The Cohen Brothers, or better known to close friends (in which I am not) as Joel and Ethan, are known for their brotherly love on set. They have gone on to write, produce and ultimately direct some of Hollywood's finest movies. I have gone on to see a few such as Fargo (1996) and The Big Lebowski (1998). Both movies supply a comedic premise with a dramatic twist with Fargo offering a darker concept; one we have come to recognise in No Country for Old Men (2007) and True Grit (2010) A Cohen Bros. movie is renowned for leaving stones unturned with the credits most likely to show unexpectedly. It is a crafty way of film making, it's unusual but as a fan it's satisfying, but not for everyone. 

Inside Llewyn Davis is just that; grey skies, dry humour with little or no plot. However it is a recognised creation by the Cohens; meaning it thrives on your engagement regarding the protagonist, putting this musical and slightly depressing drama down to your consensus on Llewyn's troubles - if you think there is any. 

The year is 1961 and the scene of New York is frosty, so cold that the majority of folks spend their days listening to live music in the Gaslight cafe; an independent stepping stone for upcoming musicians. One such is Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) who sets the tone of the movie by performing a wonderful song titled "Hang Me". Llewyn and his guitar is a recognised image but far from liked. Llewyn's past is one that tends to haunt him through-out and one that prevents him from achieving the solo height he so strongly feels he deserves. However his habit of moving from couch to couch in order to survive the cold sees his once close friends look upon him in despicable ways (ways in which I found myself disagreeing with, anyway). 

Llewyn Davis (Issac), Jim (Timberlake) and Al Cody
played by Adam Driver

Llewyn is not aloud forget his former partner in which they had wider success and to rub it in, close friends Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean (Carry Mulligan) are moving on from his burden. At the same time, Llewyn's hopes of financial regain hit a brick wall when his manager tells him that his latest album is not selling.  All of Llewyn's troubles seem financially focused along with the presence of Jean and his moral ambition to return a cat is what may seem to be the plot of this movie. 

But it is the travels of Llewyn is what is most engaging as the story doesn't necessarily unfold to anything, it just becomes deeper and more personal as he seeks to forget a past in order to help prolong a career that has struggled to pay the bills - you either ride along with Llewyn in support or to witness him fail. The characters in his life are placed to paint a picture of a man they either know too much about or nothing at all. Nevertheless, this is a Cohen Bros movie so there is no consensus regarding the leading protagonist. That said, the down an out character portrayed wonderfully by Oscar Isaac shows little or no personality but he is darkly humorous in parts and goes on to perform out of his skin for the most as everything you hear is live.

The trouble for some people seeing this movie may be just that; all style no substance. I found myself singing along from the off but I also enjoyed each of the character's dialogue and the simple film making involved within it. I can see where some people may despise this film - particularly as it ends in typical Cohen Bros fashion. 

Overall: Great characters portrayed wonderfully by Oscar Isaac, Carry Mulligan and not forgetting John Goodman. With a plot that is not entirely obvious, Inside Llewyn Davis thrives off self-motivation, ambition, selfishness and crude personalities, this musical story is simply crafted but may not answer all of your questions. 

Tomorrows review:
Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Woody Harrelson. 

Only God Forgives

It is almost impossible to start off this review without mentioning two things; Nicholas Winding Refn’s cinematic impact, captivating audience global with “Drive” (2009), and of course the continuity of Ryan Gosling’s on-screen success. So of course fans were looking forward to what the two can come up with next in Only God Forgives; a game of who blinks first, who can create the most tension using strictly facial expressions, in fact Refn’s latest vision is so overly pretentious, you just wonder if his ambition to match that of Drive led to sleepless nights, resulting in a very average movie.

Based in the slums of Bangkok, prostitutes and drugs are extremely rife and Julian’s Thai boxing club is at the centre of it all. The club is a smokescreen to hide a family run drug operation in which Julian (Ryan Gosling) runs alongside his brother Billy (Tom Burke). We are not forced to indulge in Billy’s psychotic persona for too long as he is hacked to pieces in a brothel. The savage murder sees the involvement of Julian’s mother Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) whose deranged character has clearly rubbed off Julian, resulting in a Norman Bates style relationship

The Bangkok area is patrolled, tortured and extremely feared by the corrupt Chan (Vithaya Pansringarm); a sergeant of the police who murders his victims in a ferocious way.

On one hand we have Crystal who seeks revenge for her son’s death, and then we have Julian who continues to mourn in the creepiest ways possible as he slowly patrols the darkly red corridors of a brothel, aimlessly looking at the walls. Julian spends his nights fantasising about sexual affection, and drifting in and out of the possibility of a showdown with the murderous Chang.

As expected, Refn hits us with a retro themed sound bite that was so significant in Drive. However, while the stage is set in the gritty visuals of Bangkok, Only God forgives fails to provide an efficient story to back up the design. While the plot is supposed to focus on vengeance, the lack of dialogue from the apparent protagonist (Gosling) is surprising as the director goes on to exaggerate his “knack” of creating tension with facial expressions in every scene. And while Julian and Chang do this very well when they match up, the Dracula style piano tune and the consistent thump of a loud drum really creates the atmospheric tempo as its consistent noise becomes a substitute for any potential dialogue.

The movie survives on small talk, strange looks, slow-motion and unnecessary violence. While Refn expressed his grotesque side in Drive previously, he also had characters to back it up. Sure, we can look at Gosling’s on-screen presence all day but the man lacked any soul this time around. Same goes for the small cast involved who spent most of the time advertising stand-stills. 

The Concept of the movie is recognisable coming from Refn's point of view. It is visually satisfying with the sound similar to that of Drive. The "artsy fartsy" clan may claim to acknowledge a sense of enjoyment from Refn's latest but what seemed obvious to me was that Only God Forgives sounds great, it looks pretty slick and while some sequences may be entertainingly weird, it is very far from wonderful.

5/10

Only God Forgives - Trailer 

The Wolverine

Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, 
Running: 129 Mins

If there is one thing we can all agree on in terms of X Men's prolific Wolverine character, is that Hugh Jackman enjoys the hell out playing him. And while X Men: The last stand (2006), along with Wolverine (2009) have been pretty much steam rolled and crapped on by not only comic book fans but movie buffs as a whole. Hugh is undoubtedly adamant in providing cinema-goers with a longer lasting taste in their mouth this time around, and that taste doesn't necessarily have to be a bitter one.

The Wolverine is a more in depth focus on Logan's struggle to overcome the fact that he has and will more than likely continue to struggle with his mutant ability. Following the events of The last stand, Logan is located out in the cold (literally) as his wolverine skills are put to good use as his choice of a nomadic lifestyle results in a homeless rugged wolverine. His dark days are spent suffering with regrettable nightmares relating to Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Logan is hunted down as the great "Wolverine" by Yukio (Rila Fukushima) and invited to Japan where he will be tested of his true desire with Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi) offering him the chance of immortality. It is the event of that meeting that leads Wolverine into a physical battle of emotion and choices as Logan is caught up in an internal war, as Yashida's niece (Tao Okamoto) is targeted by the sleazy Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) and her cohorts. 

Logan is attacked from all angles as he begins to realise that the Viper is after much more than Yashida's niece,  leading him into the fight of his life even if it means losing a lot of blood. Wolverine embarks on an exciting warpath, one that involves less exaggeration (Helicopter battles free) and some straight up gut wrenching!

Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line), The Wolverine is an explosive adventure when it needs to be, adding a touch of drama when it mattered. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is far more engaging this time around, as you follow him from the events in Japan, to the cold woods right through to his battle with immortality, you pity the Wolverine at times, particularly in his struggle to let go of his true love that was Jean Grey (X.Men).

The staging premise in Japan is a wonderful set, giving off quite a comic book feel with a dark twist. While the overall cast is not much to brag about, the chemistry between Jackman and Rila Fukushima is very surprising as you will find yourself rooting for Rila's kick ass character just as much as Wolverine.

The Wolverine stages some satisfying action scenes such as the scrap on the bullet train, and while it is probably the most far-fetched scene in the entire movie, you understand the concept and quickly adapt to the vision of Mangold which ultimately leads to a showdown of many battles. Numerous villains such as The Viper, Shingen, Noburo (excluding the abundance of cohorts) is one flaw of the movie as it appears messy at times and quite direction-less as there is no official focus on a particular villain which can lead to you completely forgetting who you should fear until they get screen time. The Viper is probably the worst villain played in any Marvel movie so far. Maybe it was the actor or the writer's job, but she was plain and simply crap, dull, characterless and just down right careless. She reminded me of Uma Thurman's poison Ivy performance; poor and downright irrelevant. The Viper is noticeably filled in to add a touch of dangerous femininity which turns out to be boring!

We could talk of the bullshit romance that unexpectedly develops for Logan, but let's not be too harsh; with great cinema comes great stupidity, and the wolverine, make no mistake, throws in some stupidity but nowhere near the car crash that was X.Men Origins.

The Wolverine is really enjoyable, with Hugh Jackman's admiration for the character shining brighter than ever. Whether this will lead to another X.Men flick time will tell, but if it was a choice between another "tired" Patrick Stewart X.Men, or an official Wolverine sequel, a Wolverine sequel would probably come off better.

Overall: A great action flick under a well designed premise, and while the villains could have had more character, it is still highly entertaining.

7/10



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