The Summit

Climbing Mount Everest is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences any adventurer can have. Yet despite being the second-highest mountain on earth, K2 which lies between the borders of Pakistan and China, with its high altitude, lack of oxygen, and its tendency to be victim to severe storms, is by far one of the most dangerous mountains on earth. It is renowned for being extremely difficult to conquer.

For every four people who have reached the Summit, one person has either died trying or died on the descent, the most dangerous part of the climb. Along with the four base camps to reach before the top, there are treacherous crevices and passageways, (known on K2 as the ‘bottleneck’) to overcome as well as impossible vertical walls of ice and snow. One slip up and you’re history. In the past 17 years, all fatalities on K2 have occurred in or around the bottleneck, proving K2’s history of deadly upper slopes.

2008 proved to be one of the worst and most tragic mountaineering disasters in recent history, when 11 men out of 22 people from several different hiking groups were killed when a large piece of ice (known as a ‘serac’) fell during an avalanche destroying lifeline rope equipment and killing instantly any mountaineer in its path. Among the dead were three men from South Korea, two of which were cousins, and Gerard ‘Gerry’ McDonnell, the first Irishman to ever reach the summit.

Director Nick Ryan and his team travel to K2 to uncover exactly what happened that day in an extraordinarily insightful, factual and engrossing documentary, with heart breaking discoveries. With the use of archive footage, recreations and interviews with survivors from the tragedy and relatives from those who were killed, the end result is very moving and emotional.

The superb cinematography and quality of filming gets as close to the action as you would ever wish to be. A gripping tale of man versus nature.

VERDICT: * * * * *

This compelling and haunting film was shown at both the recent London and Sundance Film Festivals, highlighted as one of the best documentaries of the year. 

If you enjoyed the excellent The Wildest Dream back in 2010, then this is definitely up your alley. A superb film and one that lingers with you.

To find out more about The Summit and to see the trailer, visit: http://www.sundance-london.com/event/summit

The Power Of The Critic

The Film Critic – are they a mighty powerhouse capable of conquering, influencing and making people bow to their opinion? Are they a band of monsters, who enjoy inflicting negative responses for the sake of boosting their own name and career while taking some sadistic enjoyment making fun and criticising someone else’s work? Or are they merely humble servants to the profession?

Ultimately it’s the question that divides all film journalists, does the film critic really affect and even influence the box office? Can one damning review really be responsible for destroying a film’s chances of success?

Speak to any journalist, and you’ll get a different answer. One of the most respected film journalists, the BBC’s Mark Kermode, mentioned on his recent Radio2 Film review show that he does not think the critic affects how well a film does or how much money it makes, something he has always believed and stated. Where some film journalists can be slammed for a bad review, it’s also a sore subject, after all a reviewers job is to say what they think. It’s their opinion.

There are several types of cinemagoer. Those that go because they like to see a book or comic book they love translated to the screen. Those who admire art-house films or beautiful animation, and those that just simply want to be entertained, relax in front of a good story and have fun. Finally there are a growing minority of people that love ALL kinds of film. These are the ones who are more likely to become a critic.

Lets face it, if film journalists and critics were so reviled, there would be no jobs for them. Directors and actors alike would refuse to be interviewed and films would never have press screenings or preview festivals. With the popularity of film review magazines, websites, cinemas pamphlets and TV shows on the rise, it’s clearly obvious they are going nowhere.

 In the DailyMail today, regular writer Christopher Tookey has shared his brutally honest reaction to the latest US comedy, This Is The End, the latest offering from the likes of Seth Rogan and James Franco. His review of the film is not good to say the least. That’s his opinion. On the Empire film website, they have given it a moderate review. The film is already garnering ratings from 1 to 3 stars from several different sources.

So will one bad review stop people from seeing it? Perhaps so in some cases, but mostly, its unlikely not. If you are thrilled by the trailer, or you’re already a fan of the actors, you’re going to see it whether you read a review or not. How many people actually have time or are interested in reading a review?

Last year saw the sci-fi action blockbuster John Carter finally hit the big screens. Adapted from the successful novels, the filmmakers and production team had high hopes, along with the fans high expectations. John Carter sunk at the box office, big time. It was one of the most unsuccessful films of the last decade, with a $200Million budget it made a staggeringly embarrassing financial loss, and with all the TV spots and marketing campaign costs on top, it never broke even. The critics loathed it, and so it appears did audiences. For those who didn’t know anything about the story or the original book, the trailer provided non the wiser with a trashy mish-mash of CGI monsters, laughable and unpronounceable names of characters, dumb action scenes making no sense and a script that was atrocious; a fantastic film idea and concept gone horribly wrong.

Could the film critics be blamed for this? Certainly negative word-of-mouth didn’t help it, but the state of the film spoke volumes for itself. It was clearly a stinker!

Press screenings are a great way for the film distributors to get their films seen to the professionals before the general public. However in some cases, films are embargoed and no screening takes place? Why? Do the studios fear one critic’s bad review will ruin an opening weekend? Of course that’s why! In truth, this makes very little difference.

Lets not forget that the whole point of a film critic is to give their opinion…not the opinion of the masses, but a personal feedback and reaction. Film journalists sees hundreds of films a year, it’s their job and its what they love to do. They don’t go into a screening wanting to hate a film, they want to be entertained and surprised, and sadly they are frequently let down. The reasons for this are arguable – less originality, too many lazy sequels, good narrative sacrificed for the sake of a big thrill and splashy explosions, dreadful acting, dreadful casting, poor direction or editing. The choices are endless.

Perhaps many filmmakers are being too sensitive these days, but if they are so confident and pleased with their work, then it shouldn’t matter what one bad review has said. They shouldn’t care.

Hollywood will continue to make films to make money. Cinema’s still show bad films that make a fortune, while smaller budget sleepers fade into the background.

Does this mean the critic is to blame? What rubbish!

This Is The End is released in UK cinemas today. 

The Great Gatsby

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan.
Released UK: 16th May
Released on DVD: Out Now 

Nearly 40 years since Farrow and Redford graced our screens in the 1974 film, and the rights for a new adaptation having been floating around Hollywood for years, finally one of the greatest novels has been transformed once again for a modern audience. It’s taken this long to bring a fresh, modern take on the classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, an adaptation fit for the twentieth century audience. So is it all it’s cracked up to be?

New York 1922, a time of jazz, opulence, money and beauty. However while the filthy rich splash their obscene amounts of cash on clothes, cars, champagne and parties, the poorest of the poor scrape by barley being able to eat and living in filthy conditions working their bones raw building a new city. The great depression is on the cusp, the class division has never been greater and yet, New York is one of the most desirable, decadent and intoxicating cities in the world.

Isolated away from the hustle and strains of city life is Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), an aspiring writer suffering from alcoholism, depression and anxiety. As a means to work his way through his problems Nick begins to recall his experiences in Long Island, the friendship with his playboy neighbour Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the tragic love affair between Gatsby and Nick’s married cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan).

It has been a while since the last attempt to bring this to the screen, which is not surprising due to the nature of the story. Considered one of the Great American novels, Gatsby is actually much more complex and difficult on screen. It’s not an easy story to bring to life, with no hero as such and all leading characters with major flaws. All previous adaptations have failed to incorporate all the elements.

The original novel is beautiful and subtle, which is why Baz Luhrmann is such a fascinating choice of director. The man who is responsible for the modern masterpieces Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet, has taken the novel and blown it out of proportion, making it bigger and wilder. Some may like this, but for others it misses the point of the story.

The sparkling array of colours and costumes, champagne, glitter and capers cannot disguise the fact that the characters are lacking in any deep sentiment and feeling. Tobey Maguire is an ideal choice for Carraway but his performance is perhaps a little too plain. Carey Mulligan looks very pretty and drifts across the screen like a Greek goddess, and yet its hard to have any real feeling for her troubles, her underlying selfishness revealed to its true form at the finale. It’s hard to see what Gatsby sees in her, why he’s so enthralled and in love.

The chemistry between the two leads is actually quite disappointing.

Leonardo DiCaprio shines here and is at his best, quite litereally glowing in some scenes, with a  glint in his eye, but even he struggles to bring any warmth to Gatsby. An already broken man, his character is greatly flawed. This may not entirely be his fault and may be down to the novels difficult depictions.

The sets and costumes do indeed look sumptuous and grand. The cinematography however is distracting. In classic Luhrmann style, the rich sets are crisp and clear, and it’s hard to believe in the story with an enormous blatantly CGI set overshadowing the scene in the background. It’s disorientating at times too. Car chases scenes are sped up to immense ferocity, and so what should be a thrilling ride for the audience, actually leaves them behind flailing to keep up. While this worked beautifully for the wacky Moulin Rouge, its not quite at home here. The supercharged scenes flash by in a blink of an eye, but when the party dies down how bothered are you about the characters?

The music is a crucial factor in Luhrmann’s world and he has left no stone unturned here. Once again choosing to focus on ‘fish out of water’ music inappropriate for the times to make it kitsch and trendy. Jay-Z was the musical producer and was given a lot of freedom here to choose his music. In some cases it works beautifully and adds to the suspense, but in others it flops and spoils the atmosphere. Alicia Keyes and Beyonce’s warbles will be liked and disliked dependent on your love of the novel and your love or not of modern music.

The 3D row will continue long after this release, but why a novel of this magnitude was chosen is puzzling. Its quite obvious in certain scenes that artistic liberties have been taken purely to enhance anything that might pop out of the screen at you. It’s forced and quite obviously so. The opening snow scene looks very pretty, as does the window sashes flowing through the wind. Did they need to be there? Or was it a trick purely added superficially.

Either way, Luhrmann’s Gatsby is indeed a wonderful spectacle, but it will divide audiences alike.  As loyal as he has been to the material, it never quite flies. It may help a younger generation discover the book, but If you’re looking for period entertainment with more depth, seek no further than TV’s hit Boardwalk Empire.

VERDICT * * *

Razzle dazzle in old New York has never been grander, but the mixture of modern music, speedy action scenes, and weak character focus results in something quite shallow; much like the characters on screen. Gatsby will charm but it will most certainly divide.

The Great Gatsby is in cinemas across the UK now, in 2D and 3D.

West Of Memphis

(Documentary)

Director: Amy J. Berg

Producers: Peter Jackson and Damien Echols

The deaths of three innocent eight year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 shocked and disturbed many. The young victims were found partially mutilated, had been sexually assaulted and bound. Rumours regarding the nature of this hideous crime soon became well known, and it was asserted by the prosecution that the murders had taken place as part of a satanic ritual.

Frightening and fascinating, West Of Memphis documents the events that followed and the subsequent trial and conviction of local teenagers, Damien Echols, Jessie MissKelley Jr and Jason Baldwin, known as ‘The Memphis 3.’

The teenagers were sentenced to life in prison, yet a lack of theoretic and forensic evidence, and suggestions rumours had been the direct result of inaccurate police assumptions, divided public opinion. For 18 years, the judge who had presided over the case refused a retrial, resulting in a strong backlash of dedicated followers and supporters who rallied in they’re hundreds in attempts to pressure the courts for a retrial and to get The Memphis 3 released.

In 2007 fresh DNA evidence came to light suggesting the innocence of the convicted men, and provided new material to posit the more likely perpetrator.

The evidence on which the men were convicted is scrutinised in this film, with fresh investigations offering alternative conclusions as to how the murder victims received their wounds, also attributing material which suggests the teenage suspects were bullied by the police and coerced into giving false confessions.

In 2011 after public pressure, a deal was made with the prosecutors and Echols, MissKelley Jr and Baldwin entered Alford pleas, were acquitted of murder and released with suspended sentences. They had each served 18 years and 78 days in prison for a crime they did not commit. The sad truth is that the real perpetrator/s have never been caught.

Directed by Amy Berg (Academy Award nominee for her work on Deliver us from Evil) and produced by Echols himself with help from Hollywood filmmakers Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh, who themselves supported the release of the three men, this is one of the finest documentaries of the past decade.

Images are shockingly graphic and disturbing, while interviews are insightful, revealing and honest. You are left with very mixed feelings that at the beginning of the film.

Such is the focus of this film, and the unusual collaboration which is why the director had such extensive access to sealed footage and police photographic evidence, including interviews from inside the prison where Echols was being held, which makes this film such a compelling and enthralling watch.

VERDICT * * * * *

Nothing will grip and yet frighten you as deeply as this superb documentary. West Of Memphis is one of the bravest films of the past decade, and one not to miss. 

West Of Memphis will be released on DVD Monday 20th May.