I don't mind hand held so long as it's hand held through out and it's not edited to fuck. It's hand held plus constant mega-editing, that Bourne movie effect that makes me dizzy. I think teenagers are well used to it now so they probably think action movies from the 80s look pretty slow and static.
A Place beyond The Pines
Oh isn't he gorgeous ? Just look at him there, Swoon!!!! he's dreamy. And maybe a little wild, but who could tame him, oh my. Yes it's Ryan Gosling again and no there won't be a dry seat in the house because he's playing a bad boy. Tattoos and a leather jacket, yes prepare to have that pocket ottered ladies.
Is he any good though ? Well yeah he is in a way but in another way doesn't he just play the exact same character in every movie ? He mumbles he broods and he flies off the handle from time to time and that seems to be his schtick right. Here Gosling plays a loner biker who gets into doing some shameful shit because he finds out he has a baby. (yes ladies he even holds a fucking baby!!!! Swooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon faint etc) Don't get me wrong this schtick certainly suits the role he's playing and he does a convincing enough job. But the real acting clout here is provided by Bradly Cooper. Cooper has the much harder role. A character which begins likable and becomes less so as the film progresses. Cooper manages the near impossible, he somehow imbues this man with the kind of ambitious arrogance which drives the film forward while still managing to portray him as a real human being and not completely unsympathetic. Often at the centre of a film like this there is a character who holds the film together. They have to remain under pressure, with their fears internalised and though the real acting fireworks get set off by the more stirring fraught performances by cast around them they have to make the central figure believable and engaging enough for the film to work, without overplaying the role and overawing the louder characters at the films fringes. Or worse underplaying it and coming across as boring. Think of him as the holding midfielder. A good example of this role and how it can seem unexciting is how Marc Wahlberg plays the lead in The Fighter. Amongst one of the most dysfunctional families ever portrayed on screen Wahlberg did a fine job disappearing into the foreground and allowing most of the cast to walk off with Oscars. Here Cooper gets a lot of screen time but his central performance is most memorable for the fact that the central figure is dislikable but at least real.
Derek Cianfrance is making a name for himself as an actors director. The performances are absolutely brilliant throughout. Cooper is the stand out to us critic types and of course Gosling will probably have another zero pasted into his next pay check for his performance here, as it is good to be fair. It's the smaller roles where Cianfrances directorial methods seem most impressive. Ben Mendlesohn is excellent as a down and out mechanic, although he seems to be hollywoods go to guy for that role these days. Eva Mendes is also great as a dowdy (yes Eva Mendes = Dowdy !!!) mother who can't seem to afford bras. Emory Cohen is near perfect as a completely disgusting privledged teenager who really gets under every cell of your skin and Dane Dehann is great also as the sort of loner teenager that will probably grow up to write film reviews on message boards at 4 AM. And then there's Ray Liotta who steals the show with a performance so slimey you'll feel dirty just looking at him. Unfortunately He's under used in a role that could have added an undercurrent of filthy dread. The small town setting with it's mix of privledge and poverty is well used and the tone and pacing suits the film in creating both forboading and menace. In many ways it's similar to Bullhead or Revanche from europe or Frozen River or Winters Bone from the dirty poor of America. There are also a few directorial flourishes, turning bank robbery into a sort of frenzy of adrenaline of kinetic extreme sport is excellent and basically this is a very good film.
But here's the rub. While Cianfrance is a great actors director and the performances are uniformly excellent, he isn't quite up to the task of presenting a "crime" film. The great directors of that particular genre like Tarantino or Scorsese or even Peckempah or Wells for example know that the story has to take the reigns of the film and keep the audience on or as near as possible to the edge of their seat. To this end Scorsese and Tarantino occasionally structure their films in such a way as to keep the audience guessing. The first scene in Goodfellas for example is actually a pivotal point from the middle of the story. Scorsese just yanks it out, in the process he tears up the rules so to speak and the result is something quite brilliant. Tarantino took this even further by structuring his films as novels and up that worked too until film makers in the late 90s started doing this en mass and ruined it's appeal and effectiveness. Whatever way it's structured crime films have to have a building of tension throughout. Cianfrances film suffers because it's structure is too straight too linear and as such it becomes a little predictable and much of the early promise and tension dissipates too soon. Liottas small role in the film is endemic of Cianfrances adherence to a sort of cinematic rule book. While showing more of Liotta might have deviated from the films first person narrative, it's undeniable that the scenes which feature him add just the kind of tension that's lacking from the films middle section. What's worse is that this story, which is really three short stories which themselves have tree acts, feels fragmented so you can feel the peaks and troughs go by. Most of the peaks are at the beginning of the film and this contains the best moments of tension and of release. Unfortunately once this initial engrossement peters out and there is space for the characters and performances to shine the film falls a little flat and it seems overly long even though it really doesn't deviate from its very deliberate pace. The result is that the middle of the film feels protracted and while the end has the same kind of tension it really doesn't reach the same heights it's earlier glory.
If A Place Beyond the Pines had been directed and edited by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu the man behind 21 Grammes and Amores Peros for example or if Cianfrance had a bit more "crime" experience this crime drama might have been structured differently and may have been a classic. As it is and as uneven as it is, it's still excellent and well worth a look. Especially if you own a vagina.
Apparently.
A Place beyond The Pines
Oh isn't he gorgeous ? Just look at him there, Swoon!!!! he's dreamy. And maybe a little wild, but who could tame him, oh my. Yes it's Ryan Gosling again and no there won't be a dry seat in the house because he's playing a bad boy. Tattoos and a leather jacket, yes prepare to have that pocket ottered ladies.
...
If A Place Beyond the Pines had been directed and edited by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu the man behind 21 Grammes and Amores Peros for example or if Cianfrance had a bit more "crime" experience this crime drama might have been structured differently and may have been a classic. As it is and as uneven as it is, it's still excellent and well worth a look. Especially if you own a vagina.
Apparently.
Doesn't everyone ?
get to fuck. Documentary made by cunts, about cunts, for cunts. In a way I found this funnier than Some Kind of Monster in places, in that they're even more delusional. At least Metallica were good; once.
That's a matter of opinion.
whatever
Yeah I guess, I don't know why I can laugh out loud at Some Kind of Monster and yet this just left me nauseous.
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