Remembering Robin Williams

1951-2014

Today the world of film has lost a legend. Robin Williams brought youthful energy, wild improvisation combined with a unique dramatic tenderness to make all of his performances stand out. Grabbing the attention of the public on television he rose to become one of the best comedy actors of our generation. Below are my five favourite performances from an incredible career.

The Genie, Aladdin (1992): Williams and cartoons are a match made in heaven. It seems that Williams was in his element as a voice actor, his rapid improvisation and constant stream of comedy made this character appealing to both children and adults. The shape-shifting mystical being allows Williams to switch between impersonations, stand-up routines and improvised dialogue. The animators found it difficult to keep up, and his performance earned him a special Golden Globe in his honour.

Parry, The Fisher King (1991): Quite possibly one of the best character/actor matches in film history. This performance as a slightly insane, yet kind-hearted homeless man with a tragic backstory gave him his third Oscar nomination and third Golden Globe award. Showing how eccentric and mad he could be whilst still retaining all the necessary dramatic elements make him shine in this heart-breaking tale of redemption.

John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989): Playing an unconventional and idealistic boarding school professor Williams was able to bring the classics to life in fine style. It also earned him a nod from the Academy Awards for his work. It’s undoubtedly a highpoint in an already amazing career that cemented his status as a dramatic actor. This simple and controlled performance proves that he can be at best out of his usual comfort zone.

Adrian Cronauer, Good Morning Vietnam (1987): This performance balanced all the elements that made Williams a great actor. As an army DJ during the Vietnam war he successfully balanced eccentric performing on the air addressing the soldiers to keep morale up, but he also succeeds where many others would have failed in treating the issue of war seriously and with enough dignity to make it believable. His energy is put to great use and earned him his first Oscar nod.

Sean Maguire, Good Will Hunting (1997): He finally took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor with this portrayal of a councillor for a trouble Matt Damon. It has none of the manic comedy that we’ve come to associate with Williams, instead we see a sincere, gentle and highly human performance. However it still includes some improvisation from Williams, including one scene where the cameraman starts visibly shaking, unable to contain himself.

With so many amazing films under his belt, we’re sure we’ve missed a few great performances from an actor who has left us too soon. Leave a comment below if your favourite Robin Williams performance wasn’t on there. As well as this though, take some time over the next few days to reflect on the life and legacy of a great acting icon.

Mood Indigo

Two lovers who are destined for tragedy and, wait a minute…  no this isn’t the Fault In Our Stars. Although now that it’s been brought up, I can certainly say that the teenage drama is far superior to Michael Gondry’s latest film which shares similar themes and messages, just not as well. Anyway to go into greater detail on the plot, Colin seems to have everything in life apart from a woman to share it with. When he meets Chloe it seems that now he really does have everything he has ever wanted, but once again he is wrong when they are struck with something that neither of them want or need.

Like many of Gondry’s films it’s visually pleasing in its simplicity. The set pieces are signed to be small and meaningful to focus on the emotional depth of the characters. If done correctly this can result in great things, but in this case it just falls rather flat. It feels as if too much attention has been put into certain areas of the film and normally that could work very well. But here there is nothing to support these glimpses of imagination.

The biggest problem comes from the main characters. They are likable enough to make their relationship work but not to make it feel believable or emotionally attached to them. The inevitable misfortunes that affect this couple don’t affect the audience at all. The initial likability wears off as the film drags on and we fail to care about them at all.

There are some elements of creativity and moments of goodness in this film. It’s hard not to admire the care that goes into crafting every single frame and the imagination behind it. There are so many great ideas strung together here that Mood Indigo would appear to be destined for greatness. However while the film has the right ingredients there is nothing to soften the edges. As we’ve seen in The Fault In Our Stars tragic romances can have some comedic moments without losing any of its poignancy. But Mood Indigo manages to avoid both, resulting in a generally empty film.

One of the most annoying things is that there is an obvious potential here, but it all feels wasted with the story going down a much less entertaining and route which makes it feel almost lazy. An example of this is the fact that the earliest stage of Colin and Chloe’s relationship, the formation for some potentially great material, is just skipped with an irritating ‘six months later’. This means that we’re not connected to the couple, so we’re just witnessing their sadness from a distance.

The emotional lack just turns this into quite a peculiar piece as well, with no sense of direction or true meaning. Even the visuals begin to lose their affect eventually, unable to compensate for the lack of everything else. The acting is well done but again there is a great waste of talent as these competent actors who look like they could handle complicated characters are just left with blank copies of themselves that are saying things that should mean something. Most importantly the film lacks a central moral with which the events and characters can circle around. Instead it just ends up as a mess. You have to really admire the visual and peculiar nature of this film to like it.

Result: 3/10          

A Hard Day's Night: A Short Look Back 50 Years Later

It’s been 50 years since they released their very first film. They are at the centre of pop culture and some will argue they are pop culture. They are of course the boys from Liverpool, the reason that nearly every single scouser is called either John, Paul or George. The Beatles themselves, several days of their lives depicted in this iconic film. It’s resounding and influential beyond all other music based films.

Released at the height of Beatlemania it was predictably a massive commercial success, but it’s also managed to remain one of the most critically acclaimed musicals of all time as well. It’s smooth fresh and incredibly up-beat, honestly you would have to have a heart of stone not to smile all the way through this film. More than ever that is true today, when too many of the leads are no longer here today.

Nothing captures the brilliance and effect of the Beatles like this film. You can watch all of the documentary’s and listen to all of the songs. But you won’t find the full effect of the Beatles in fact, you’ll find it with this fictionalised black and white film. Their sweet boyish personalities are all captured beautifully reminding you that behind the fame and swinging (metaphorically, not physically or sexually) are these four friends that are living the dream of every aspiring musician and teenager of the era.

Not only did it capture the characters, but this film captured the age in which it was made. If you want to understand what it was like to live in the sixties watch this film. Amazingly the film remains ageless to this day, despite being the embodiment of the sixties A Hard Day’s Night is just as intelligent, humorous and joyful as its release half a century ago. Maybe it’s the nostalgia that we all experience when a certain era gets a little too far away, but whatever the reason, we would all jump at the chance to enjoy this film again. If you are lucky enough to see the fiftieth anniversary addition DVD and Blu-ray version in stores then do not hesitate to buy it and relive the essence of nostalgia.    

Hercules

We now find ourselves in a rather awkward situation where two copycat films are released. Earlier this year we were punished with the not-so-legendary Legend of Hercules, and now we see this simply title Hercules hitting theatres. This is incredibly unusual, normally this situation consists of two films with similar subject matters or setting like Antz and A Bug’s Life, or Armageddon and Deep Impact. But now we see two identical stories released within just a few months of each other. It’s not as if you can find massively different ways to interpret this tale without drastically straying from your source material.

With one studio failing to tell the story how can this one do any better? Well this is a question we were all asking so we might as well start now as it is already chewing its way through both the US and UK charts. Hercules is exactly what you would expect it to be, especially given that it’s a film directed by Brett Ratner and starring Dwayne Johnson. But I can safely say that this is almost certainly Ratner’s best film to date, perhaps even better than Rush Hour. Admittedly this doesn’t have the pop cultured status and also lacks Jackie Chan. But nevertheless this is a rather nice blend of action and quick paced storytelling.

It’s the surprise more than anything that makes this a good film. The action is original if not a little simple, similarly to the story itself. The same can be said for the acting, I am still struggling to think of why Johnson was picked over a selection of more talented actors for the lead role. But the Rock gives a satisfying performance as this tortured hero desperate for redemption.

As well as this the direction of the film is also well-choreographed. Ratner’s style of directing suits this kind of film, quite humorous, action packed and entertaining overall. The big budget is used very well, it’s easy to see where and how it was spent and unlike too many action films all of the effects and stunts seem necessary both to the plot and entertainment value. Speaking of which, the effects are amazing and the 3D technology is utilized really well, we would really go as far to say that almost in a negative way as Hercules loses a lot of its effect as a 2D film.

There are a few problems of course, this is a very easy-going film. It’s far from edge of your seat stuff as it may have been advertised as. It also seems overly frantic and doesn’t properly display the character development that is potentially there. And the biggest issue by a mile is the constant change between campy over-the-top style and the gritty serious attempts to toughen this story up. It makes for a slightly shambolic style in which not only the acting but the entire tone of the film changes every couple of minutes.

The script is also rather predictable, honestly the lines begin to feel like de ja vu because you’ve subconsciously formulated a response to the last piece of dialogue in your head before it’s been said on the screen. With so many films that do what Hercules has attempted to do within the same target audience (only much better) this summer such as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Guardians of the Galaxy we can’t really imagine why anyone would pay to see this in the cinema.

But anyway, this is certainly a pleasant surprise that offers you a light hearted action packed trip into the sword and sandals genre. Maybe if you hate all forms of science fiction… or you have already seen the bigger summer blockbusters and still haven’t successfully scratched that action itch. I promise you, even if you’re expectations are hideously low you will be pleasantly surprised.

Result: 6/10          

Tammy

I’m not going to brush around the facts here. Let’s just get straight to the point, Melissa McCarthy has often had to carry her comedy films. Some of them may follow a good story and have a string of popular supporting characters, but at the end of the day she is completely the heart and soul of both Bridesmaids and The Heat.

In this one however, not even her usual clumsy antics can save Tammy from falling very short indeed. Ironically this could have one of the finest supporting casts of any of her previous films, but it still isn’t enough. Starting with the plot, after Tammy is fired from her job and finds her husband cheating on her she decides to hit the road and as you can expect various incidents follow. These comedy sequences have lost a lot of originality by now though. There are a few laughs throughout but many of them come from the fact that it reminds us of similar yet funnier scenes in her previous films.

Also the main characters lack any sympathy or emotional attachment at all. This may sound like a humorous version of Thelma and Louise, but instead it just feels like a series of random events that are emotionally and comically empty. This time it relies far too much on McCarthy’s performance to be comedic. But her character just isn’t up to scratch, and we don’t care about any of the twists and turns in the film because there’s no tension in them, nor is there any connection with even the main character. This could be the problem with making McCarthy’s character the central one, in Bridesmaids and The Heat she was important to the plot, but not the most important. Whilst she may have been a fan favourite and the most comedic, she allowed other characters to take the emotional weight and then you could have a successful story.

The problem is that they don’t try to stray towards any particular brand of comedy either. Is it sentimental, is it gross-out, or is it just random? It tries to be all of them and fails rather pitifully. The direction is slightly off as well, a good enough director could have salvaged something from this poor script. I feel rather guilty for criticising this as well because it’s McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone, so now I’m just criticising their entire family, sorry. But I have to say it, a good script and sensible directing are sorely missed and obviously absent.

There are some plus points about this film. As I said before there is an impressive supporting cast and most of them give some good performances. However Susan Sarandon looks very out of place as a senior citizen. Once again McCarthy gives the same up to shape performance that we have come to expect from previous outings.

But as I also said before, none of this can make up for how little emotional depth and comedy this film contains. As well as this, even at 97 minutes it feels overly-long, the short paced comedy falls flat fairly quickly and for the last half an hour we’re left with this weak story and wishing that the credits start rolling. In summary it misses nearly every target and falls short of so many others.

Result: 3/10

1994

Looking back 20 years it's clear that 1994 was an incredible year for cinema. Five great films that are still remembered fondly today were all released during those twelve months.
Pulp Fiction: Still the best film to come from Quentin Tarantino, three crimes for the price of one presented in a film noir style, as well as being charged with enough energy to make it halfway around the world and all set to a fantastic soundtrack.
Forrest Gump: The role we still associate with Tom Hanks more than any other, an inexplicable life story garnished with humor and heartfelt moments that could have you crying one minute and laughing in the next and relies just as much on secondary characters as the title one.
The Shawhank Redemption: The stunning adaptation of Stephen King's novel was the perfect combination of classic storytelling a modern sensibilities with one of the greatest friendships of cinema history and surprises littered throughout that somehow remain shocking even if you know them prematurely.
Four Weddings and a Funeral: A hidden British gem from Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant displays the best elements of comedy and romance mixed up with no small amount of tragedy, it's offered as a chocolate box of delights and surprises with great amounts of charm.
The Lion King: Disney's most recognizable and emotionally hard hitting animation, accompanied by some of its best visuals and music (even Elton John steps in) the mature themes set to a child friendly enviroment has proved to be a formidable combination.
So which is your favorite, you can vote in the poll at the side of the screen and by the end of the year we will have some kind of result (hopefully). Unless there's a film from the same year you think has been left out, leave a comment if you think so. Let the poll begin.

Guardians of the Galaxy

This is undoubtedly the biggest risk in Marvel’s arsenal so far. Amid their seemingly unstoppable run in the cinematic universe and now just one stop away from the big one, Age of Ultron, we have found this Star Wars-like action superhero film. We were sceptical at first, did we really need to introduce another set of heroes this close to the climax of the last three years’ worth of films, it just felt like an unnecessary blip on the radar. However, as snippets began to come through we appreciated the colour and other-worldly feel that was present there, it would obviously further expand the Marvel universe and Bradley Cooper as a talking racoon, it doesn’t matter how many times you say that, it never loses effect, Bradley Cooper as a racoon.
So what is it then, this mad, visual, heartfelt and action packed blockbuster. It’s about as far as you can get from anything that will be appearing in cinemas this summer. It’s packed full of strange stuff but Marvel is in perfect territory there, but this film perfectly embraces the absurdity and uses it to their own advantage. It’s nice to finally have a fun-loving blockbuster again, what they used to be before they became dark and Nolan-like, it’s no use to try and take a concept like this and try to make it super serious. Instead they have fun with it, and good for them.
The story relies very heavily on the characters, people who the film itself describes as ‘a thief, two thugs, an assassin and a maniac’. They are all drawn together to track down a mysterious and powerful orb before it falls into the wrong hands. The chemistry between them is some of the best I have seen in recent film history. We see the Avengers having small tiffs but getting over it, these five however… even the character that can only say one line somehow gets involved in arguments. Imagine if you took Han Solo and split the scoundrel’s personality into five different aspects, and put them in a room together. Watch the sparks fly, that’s all I can say to describe it.
But looking at the acting individually is an entirely different matter. Starting with Chris Pratt I can say that the star of the Lego Movie has moved to physical acting in flying colours, all of the charismatic voice talent that we saw earlier is still there but he has the screen presence to match. Sorry to bring up everyone’s favourite smuggler again but he resonates the spirit of Han Solo more than any other character in the film, and I love it. Cooper seems to have found new life (not implying his other one has ended) as a voice actor. In the same way that Pratt gains screen presence from physical acting, Cooper loses none in voice for this role. Vin Diesel is immensely enjoyable as Groot, and strong performances from the other Guardians only help to cement this team’s appeal individually ind as a group.
Perhaps it risks being too overstuffed with action and excitement at times. But the tone is kept fairly light and that works heavily to its advantage to remember that not everything in the film needs to be taken too seriously. It certainly doesn't feel forgettable in any way. The characters and imagination more than make up for any hyperactivity by carrying this film into the stars. Perhaps they'll need more serious stuff for any possible sequels, but for now everything works brilliantly.
Visually this is the biggest film Marvel has made, even bigger than the Avengers, for one simple reason. However hard you try the Avengers is still mostly rooted on Earth, but here we ae shown the cosmos and beyond. It disbands the usual superhero genre which allows the makers to just throw us into the mad world they’ve created. It’s much easier to look at this as full on science fiction rather than superhero, but it has the attitude and richness combined with the humorous and slick style that we have come to expect from all of their films. As ever of course, the effects are all up to the standard that both enthrals us in the story but avoids overshadowing it.
This film has succeeded in expanding the entire Marvel universe in ways which Thor and Avengers have only been able to offer us a glimpse of. Far from our original beliefs it has proved to not be an obstacle in the way of Age of Ultron, instead they have perfectly set up a much larger set of stakes for our existing heroes and a new set of characters to intertwine with them. Marvel continues to stun and captivate with this Star Wars-like take on the superhero.
Result: 8/10