The King's Speech Review

"I BLOODY WELL STAMMER!" - Prince Albert

Speech impediments are extremely frustrating. For a long time I couldn't pronounce my "g"s and still have a little trouble with "s"s. The King's Speech focuses on England's Royal family and the ancension of a son to his father's place as voice and face of a nation, during a time when we were on the brink of our second World War. All of this is happening, yet this film, which walked away with the major awards at the 2010 Academy Awards, focuses not on Albert's reign and how he finds an enemy in Adolf Hitler, but on his crippling and embarrassing stammer that threatened his family's image, and perhaps even the country's image. The film works through precise directing, intelligent writing, a superb cast, and a lead performance that brings it forth into greatness.

The film is set in a time when speech impediments were seen as physically curable. Perhaps some were, but the physicians of this time failed to see the problem stemmed from something deep rooted into a person's psyche. Such is the case of Albert, the man who would come to be called King George VI. When the frankly retarded methods of Royal doctors prove ineffective, Albert's wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), goes around her husband's back to find one who is effective. She finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian family man, Shakespearian actor, and full time speech therapist. Lionel is the more therapuetic one, who tries to find and overcome that deep root. His relationship with Albert is at first rocky, as Albert is very sensitive to criticism and humiliation. Lionel, however, encourages the prince to keep at it as they slowly make progress. At the same time, it seems with an ailing father (Michael Gambon) and irresponsible brother (Guy Pearce), the throne will soon be going to Albert. Having already failed numerous times when speaking publically, Albert and Lionel must work together and persevere if he is to bring any hope to his nation.

The movie is pretty clearly genius. It is masterfully directed, extraordinarily acted, with great dialogue and characters, as well as production designs that are very cool. Watching the 2010 Oscars, I was a little skeptical of Tom Hooper receiving the award for Best Directing (it was out of guys like Danny Boyle and David Fincher, and for some reason not Christopher Nolan). After watching the movie, however, I don't think they made the wrong choice. When he is not displaying the amazing set pieces and locations, his direction of the actors, especially Firth and Rush, is remarkable. My favorite moments involved the unique camera angles he shot to symbolize Albert's struggles. It's kind of weird but there is a training montage scene in this that was, even though it was about speech therapy, on par with those montages you see in sports movies like Rocky. David Siedler's writing creates a compelling story with even more compelling characters. It is very nuanced and perceptive, which I suppose it would have to be with a psychological story like this. Music, editing, and cinematography are also worked to perfection.

Now for the cast, and The King's Speech has a great cast. I seem to be very drawn toward British ensembles (watch Gosford Park). I will start right off saying that if anyone has ever earned a Best Actor Oscar it is Colin Firth. I was, again, a little skeptical about all of the awards the film received before seeing it, but after seeing it I knew they were well deserved. Firth manages to do something fascinating here. He performs a role involving a horrible speech impediment, and convinces us 100% that he actually has it. It isn't just public speaking either, it's all the time. There are moments when he's stammering and you just are wincing because it seems so humiliating and sad. We have all mumbled, we have all gotten tongue tied, we've screwed up our speech in some way before, but what Prince Albert had was literally something off in his subconscious. Being a great actor, Firth doesn't let his mastered stammer carry the film or his role, because Albert is more complex than that. He feels shame, bitterness, embarrassment, all leading to wounded pride. All he really wants is to be better, is to overcome his issues not so much for family and country (though both are crucial to him), but really to help himself. Colin Firth conveys all of this, so bravo. But where we had a perfectly convincing portrayal of a man whose speech was broken, we needed a perfectly convincing portrayal of a man who specializes in fixing speech. Geoffrey Rush reestablishes himself as a powerful actor, because, let's face it, most of us younger viewers first knew him as Captain Barbossa. Rush gives a superlative yet very entertaining performance as Lionel. He is great at showing someone who is very passionate about one thing (Shakespearian acting) despite being infinitely more talented at something else (speech therapy). Rush portrays Lionel as everything he needs to be and more: Intelligent, understanding, even loving but regretful and unaccomplished. Helena Bonham Carter was, well, Helena Bonham Carter. I'm kidding, but she does do what she does well and that's not really a bad thing. She portrays Princess and later Queen Elizabeth as a clever, articulate, and compassionate woman of action who loves her man and tries to help and support him to the best of her ability, even when he wishes she'd leave him be. In playing this, Carter is very good. Besides, I don't think I've ever disliked her in a movie, so she already has a plus. Starring as Prince Albert's father and brother, Michael Gambon and Guy Pearce perform very well as very douchy guys (surprise, surprise). When he's not a gay head wizard, Gambon often plays cold men. In his few scenes here, we get an idea of what Albert's life of Royalty has been like. Pearce doesn't play the brother as stupid but just afraid. He falls back on being the dick older brother when frustrated at his own situation. Other cast members such as Jennifer Ehle as Donal Logue's wife, Derek Jacobi as Cosmo Gordon Lang (The Archbishop of Canterbury), and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill. I must say, out of all of the performances, Spall as Churchill may have been the one I enjoyed the most. So yes, as you can imagine, they brought it in the acting department.

Overall, The King's Speech is very much an Oscar Film. By that I mean that it was pretty clear that this was the kind of movie that would immediately make those leading Academy members and movie loving celebrities all hot around the award season. Having great reviews also helps. But an Oscar Film is such because it is spectacular. The King's Speech is such a movie. It's a unique and very thoughtful idea brought to the big screen, or small screens now, I guess. I enjoyed every second of it and knew walking out why it had gained such praise. It earned what it got, that cannot be denied.

Five out of five Royal Weddings. This has been a long awaited (I'm sure (:) review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

Sucker Punch Review

"For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know." - The Wiseman

The promos for Sucker Punch made me think two things, "it would be the ultimate adolescent nerd boy fan fiction on the silver screen" and "it looks totally ridiculous." I really don't know what people were expecting. It was clearly promoted as big dumb fun. Did you notice that Zach Snyder's descriptions of the film before release were utterly vague and confusing, most of the trailers gave not the slightest inkling as to what the story was but plenty of TA&A. It's a prime example of modern day over hyping of films, which happens on a very broad level. If you watched the theatrical trailer for Sucker Punch and expected anything more than a sub-par plot layered under a face fucking of CGI and fine figures, you watched the wrong trailer.

Well, first thing's first. I will give the premise, so bare with me. Sucker Punch's story is told through the fractured point of view of Baby Doll (Emily Browning), a young woman who is set up by her malicious step father and imprisoned inside of a shady mental institution. As she waits for a lobotomy, Baby Doll retreats into 'Inception-esque levels' where she will work through her traumas to save herself and fellow tormented patients. Okay, so she mainly sees her mental institution setting as an even shadier gentleman's club, where her and the other patients are dancers forbidden to leave. The level below this one is what we came for, a series of nonsensical scenarios meant to symbolize the far less exciting mechanics of her gentleman's club level escape. And it's around this time, I stopped waiting for something more and just let every last firework fly high and fizzle out until it was over.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is an absolutely horrible movie. It had a lot of potential, but Snyder didn't have a clear idea about what he was doing. I would complain a little about the rather lack-luster special effects, but to be honest Snyder's CGI is always pretty lack luster. But being an apparant expert on that kind of thing, he is able to use it very well even if it isn't that good. The same can't be said of his script (which he co-wrote). Fundamentally, the story has its heart in the right place, but it is very, very, very, very poorly executed. I will end mine and everyone else's excessive bitching about the story only existing as a weak linking of all of the action scenes. The dialogue was pretty universally cheesy or flat. The movie attempts again and again to try to make itself character driven, but it doesn't quite pan out when, for the most part, the characters are just barely above cardboard and we are unable to compel any emotion toward them. I suppose when a movie goes balls out with insanity for 70%, the other 30% that attempts to be serious just feels kind of awkward. As for the levels of consciousness, the order of importance seemed disorganized. We cut away from the very gothic mental institution like five seconds after we get there and are introduced to the very bland misogyny club section. I wouldn't be surprised if Snyder chose to include the club section more solely because the set was more colorful. The single transition from the institution to the club was very abrupt almost like it was a next scene and not a transition, but all transitions from the club to the Snyderverse occur when the Baby Doll character prepares to perform an intoxicatingly magnificent dance that brings all, even the villain, to tears. An intoxicatingly magnificent dance that we never see; I assume Snyder wanted to include something in his director's cut. What he really fails on is this female empowerment theme that is constantly addressed while being contradicted at the same time by poor examples of empowered women (whose wardrobe screams jail bait). I will try to cease from describing what I think the director should have done now.

Now for the acting. This is a rare occasion where I have little to rave about. Like I said, whether or not the cast was extremely talented or not, the characters were weak and the story they were placed gave them very little to do other than shoot digitally polished cartoons and look sad. Emily Browning, an actress who hopefully will be getting bigger and better roles, plays the messianic Baby Doll character in a sort of lovely way, but, again, she mostly just looks at the camera with a bit of a pout. Thanks to Hollywood magic, Browning does manage to come off as a very appealing image for the modern action heroine. Abbie Cornish no doubt brings the most acting chops out of the female leads; though the situations were almost hilarious, she still managed to convey emotion. Jena Malone plays the fierce yet innocent girl of the group, to which she is portrayed as sweet yet damaged. Malone has played this kind of role many a time, and has done it much better. Vanessa Hudgens, who is looking better and better to me as time goes by, seemed to be doing well acting-wise and even had me feeling for her at the end of her arc. She was however little more than an additional teammate. Jamie Chung was pretty, but the attempts to give her character an arc were pretty empty so she ended up being additional teammate 2. Carla Gugino does not appear with her usual charisma here because I had no idea what to make of her character. Oscar Isaac plays the main villain, Blue, a head orderly in asylum level and a ruthless gangster in club level. Isaac's performance is one of the movie's highlights. He is so unapologetically, seriously over the top that he should smoke a filtered cigarette and twirl his moustache. Scott Glenn comes out of nowhere as the Obi Wan Kenobi of the girl's action adventure scenarios; I enjoyed this thoroughly. Even more out of nowhere is Jon Hamm, who I think got lost on his way to the set of Mad Men and just decided to be this movie's looming threat.

The action scenes, I will say, are fun as hell. I knew they would be. It's pretty much why we all went to this thing. As he is prone to do, Zach Snyder gets lost in his own little world of nonstop slow motion, epileptic rushes of color and motion, and plenty of Michael Bay degree explosions. Still the settings were cool, the effects cartoonish yet exciting, and the action was pretty damn awesome. The shogun scene was really cool. The Nazi Zombies scenario was especially interesting to watch, with a lot of fast paced martial arts and gun fu. The dragon and train scenarios, however? There's excessive, then there's EXCESSIVE, then there's Sucker Punch's action scenes. Still, if you just turn your brain off and watch a bunch of shit get rocked than you won't be entirely disappointed. Where he fails at storytelling, Snyder succeeds in atmosphere. With the use of a unique soundtrack and very crystal clear visuals, he creates a dark and rebellious mood. Emily Browning's vocals and Snyder's visual style in the opening sequences are haunting. New versions of songs such as Pixies "Where is My Mind" and Bjork's "Army of Me" are employed carefully well. This combination, though particularly amazing, makes the movie seem more like a music video, however.

Will you like Sucker Punch? It's hard to say. I will say don't expect too much from it. Well, a better answer is don't expect more than what you see from the trailers. Overall I saw the film as admittance from the director that he is a one trick pony, especially if this is supposed to be his passion project. It's the same magician doing the same tricks with a few tweaks instead of a new act. There is very little real passion within this movie. It is merely an engine for a series of blood pumping video game cut scenes and vivid soundtrack bits. Good editing, action, and visuals cannot save a movie, though. Sucker Punch was no 'experience' like, say, Inception or Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I would never compare it to. My mind was fully prepared and not at all blown away. It is a meh movie. Just "meh." I'm sure if you are tripping or drunk it will be far greater than it actually is, but I was neither so...

Two and a half out of five dragon eggs. This is a pretty underwhelmed review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

Limitless Review

"What would you do?" - Eddie Morra

Limitless presents a very unique idea. A drug that can alter you into a perfect person. A pill that drastically enhances your recall and consumption of knowledge, as well as your focus and motivation. You are intelligent, suave, and tactical on an almost superhuman level. How would you use such power?

Eddie Morra is first seen standing atop the balcony of his fortress apartment, preparing to jump as armed men try to break in. We see a few months earlier that he was a struggling writer, but more easily recognizable as a loser. While lamenting his writer's block and recent break up, he meets his former brother in law from a past marriage who offers him a drug that he claims will soon be on the market. He takes it, because when your life is shit you might as well get high, right? After experiencing the overwhelmingly positive effects, Eddie manages to get well stocked on the drug and soon goes about taking the world by storm. Soon Eddie is writing brilliantly and quickly, he tidies up, gets cultured, starts befriending the right people, masters mathematics and soon the stock market. With the drug, he knows all the right things to say, every angle to play, and can think his way through any situation. Of course, when your on top in a thriller you are sure to run into trouble. Eddie runs into a lot of trouble. He is stalked by a mysterious man, a ruthless Russian loan shark soon wants more than Eddie's money, and his new and powerful business partner (Robert DeNiro) in the brokerage firm is doubling as a formidable rival. Worst of all, the repeated use of the pills has fatal side effects that may be the end of Eddie. The movie soon becomes a man's fight to survive.

Limitless is a gloriously entertaining movie. With Neil Burger's unique directing style, Leslie Dixon's well crafted screenplay, and a top notch performance by Bradley Cooper, it rarely misses. Sure it could have gone further into the deeper possibilities of the drug, but it works just as well as a thriller in my opinion. The idea of science used to benefit the human mind is not as new an idea as people excited about the movie think; I was repeatedly reminded of that story Flowers for Algernon when watching it. It's like that story meets The Game. I love when a story starts off fairly simple and then, little by little, descends into the extraordinary territory. I knew I was in for a bit of a ride, but this movie does some hardcore things I wasn't expecting. One in particular near the end involving the main character's desperate need for the drug.

The drug (called NZT-48) itself is a character in the movie, the most pivotal in fact. Once the trailer went viral, a thing with commenting users was discussing whether or not they would take the drug and if they did what they would do. The drug has its downsides, that is very apparent in the movie, but then again it REALLY does open you up to limitless possibilties. Early on Eddie wonders if it was made for the anal retentive. In that case, I definitely would take it. The drug is a subtle, fascinating, and simple science fiction element. The drug doesn't really "access all of your brain" as it is said in the movie (because I guess we have access to all of our brain all the time but at different instances). The drug more accurately allows a person to perfectly recall all past memories and integrate them into your bank of knowledge, as well as increase your comprehension and consumption of new knowledge. By the end of the movie, NZT is looking pretty freaking good to the audience.

Acting time. First off, Bradley Cooper, who I liked as an actor before, nails his lead performance here and proves that he is a very talented actor who deserves the roles he's getting. He pulls off playing Eddie Morra as a procrastinating step above a bum (kinda like me), as well as the ultra smooth and sophisticated NZT version of himself (kinda like the guy everybody wants to be). Along with the drug, he sells this movie and firmly establishes himself as a leading actor. Abbie Cornish stars as Eddie's loyal and caring ex-girlfriend. Cornish is naturally good in movies it seems; as you recall, she was the only actress I really thought gave it her all in Sucker Punch. Robert DeNiro's roll is small in the movie, but he's Robert freaking DeNiro and we love seeing him in movies. I disagree with critics I admire who claim DeNiro is sleep walking through this movie, because I really enjoyed his character here. Those who are familiar with DeNiro's filmography will find it amusing when the articulate and cold-calculating Robert DeNiro we have known for decades starts looking poorly matched against the bi-winning Bradley Cooper. Andrew Howard as the loan shark Gennady was a very snake-like villain, one who goes through an intriguing evolution as the film progresses. He is always a gleefully vicious bastard. Anna Friel performs well in the small role of Eddie's tragic ex-wife, as does Johnny Whitworth as the smooth talking brother in law who introduces him to the drug. So, all around, no one is winning an academy award bu the acting was enjoyable.

I definitely urge all to see Limitless. It is just a cool as hell movie. And its smart. That was refreshing after Sucker Punch. It has suspense, drama, action, smart dialogue, cool characters, and the one drug they didn't include in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'm definitely gonna see it again. It might be one of those fun movies that I'll have to come back to often every now and then. I like to think that I don't steer you guys wrong. So go see it.

Five out of five NZT tablets. This has been a fun movie review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.