Reviews Special: Blue Is The Warmest Colour, The Family, Vendetta, Parkland, Hunger Games
Friday is here, and with it comes a set of movies that truly cover all bases. You’ve got a romantic, French art-house option, a star-studded action-fest, a gritty Brit-flick, a historical, all-American true-story and a bona-fide Hollywood blockbuster. But what are you going to see?
This film went down so well at Cannes, Steven Speilberg changed the rules to celebrate the achievements of its two stars, Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. It was the first time the Palme d'Or was picked up by both the director (Abdellatif Kechiche) and members of the cast.
Watch the trailer for Blue is the Warmest Colour here
“The surprise winner of the top prize at Cannes, this three-hour French drama is unlike any movie we've ever seen, getting so deeply under the skin of its central character that we find universal truths in the story even if we can't identify with it. It's an extraordinary film that holds us in rapt attention, shaking us up until we are forced to look into our own souls.”
Read the full review of Blue is The Warmest Colour here
The Family
How many bad films do you have to be in to wipe away the brilliant reputation your good films brought you? That’s a question Robert De Niro might have to start asking himself soon. Another stuff-it-with-movie-legends-and-see-what-sticks attempt that, like many others of a similar ilk, seems to have failed miserably.
Watch the trailer for The Family here
“Despite a promising trailer and a great cast, this French-American comedy-thriller is a complete misfire because Luc Besson seems unclear about how to create a black comedy. He merely mixes silliness and violence, but the script is so lazy that it's neither funny nor suspenseful. With the talent on screen we keep hoping everything will come together at some point, but it never does.”
Read Rich Cline’s views on The Family here
Vendetta (The grimy Brit-flick)
Danny Dyer’s penchant for British crime drama is relentless. But in equal measure, his lack of acting talent predicates them. Here in another typecast role, Dyer’s hard-man role wears thin, as an attempted portrayal of broken Britain fails to come off for the new Eastenders star. Still, he’s funny to watch if nothing else.
Watch the trailer for Vendetta here
“Packed with cliches, there's nothing remotely original about this East London crime thriller, which seems to be based on other similar movies rather than an original story or characters. It's also not particularly well-made, stretching a clearly low budget to the breaking point. But at least it has the always watchable Danny Dyer on board.”
Read Vendetta’s full review here
** Parkland (Based on a true story, sort of)**
Parkland certainly looked promising from the early snapshots we saw. But those snapshots seem so very long ago now. A stellar cast, including the great Paul Giamatti, and the re-born Zac Efron promised so much; coupled with the emotive subject matter, we’re forgiving ourselves for contributing to the considerable – yet unfounded – hype.
Watch the Parkland trailer here
“This starry drama has documentary realism going for it, although without a single well-developed character it never finds any resonance. By recounting JFK's assassination from a variety of previously unseen angles, we learn some new things about that fateful day in November 1963. Oddly, the script doesn't even focus on the hospital that gives the film its name. That might have helped give the film some focus.”
Read the full review for Parkland here
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (That one with Jennifer Lawrence in it)
If you’re at all interested in the movies, you’ll have heard all there is to know about the latest entry in the Hunger Games franchise. Unsurprisingly, Jennifer Lawrence stuns as Katniss once again, but rather surprisingly, director Francis Lawrence has managed to channel the considerable pressure that comes with a book-to-film project into something really quite good.
Watch the Hunger Games Catching Fire trailer
"After 2012's The Hunger Games caught us off-guard with its subtle themes, this sequel more than lives up to the hype, dramatically expanding the scale of the action while letting the actors deepen their characters. It's a full-on action epic that cleverly retains author Suzanne Collins' narrative trick of telling the story through a flawed perspective. And it provides the needed push to give the whole saga real momentum"
Read our review for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire here
**The Verdict**
Don't worry, 'The Verdict' isn't a film you haven't heard of. It’s pretty simple this week: The Hunger Games Catching Fire and Blue is The Warmest Colour should dominate your attention. Things get harder when you try and decide which of those to see, but considering they’re really quite different, the decision should come eventually.
Prior warning to any single males visiting the cinema, though: Blue contains a 7-minute lesbian sex scene; so solo viewing might appear creepy. You have been warned.