La La Land Movie Review

Released: January 12th 2017 (UK)

Length: 128 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend and Rosemarie Dewitt

The classical age of Hollywood is quite the distance away, the stylised look of the fifties having all but disappeared from the medium. Merging together elements of musicals, drama and classical Hollywood, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land is a hypnotising piece of entertainment without any real stumbles, even if you’re not a fan of the musical genre.

Set in the glitzy city of Los Angeles, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) are two average individuals looking to make their way in the entertainment world. Both have their dreams and both end up meeting each other by pure coincidence. Sebastian wants to start his own Jazz club whereas Mia wants to leave her average café waitress job to become an actress. We follow them through the ups and downs of their lives as they form a bond and try to reach their goals while contending with the difficulties of modern life. With the changing circumstances faced by the characters, the film effortlessly swaps in and out of numerous musical pieces, while also getting across its more emotive moments without falling into cheesy territory. Then of course, there’s the film’s namesake in which the ordinary fades into “La La Land” as it were. It’s a series of dreamlike shifts that replace the mundane with a soothing, artsy backdrop, one which the characters use to escape from their problems. In effect, it becomes its own setting, shutting out all the facets of the real world and switching to a dazzling, idealistic backdrop. It speaks to the escapades in the audience while also conveying its themes of passion and the notion of modern times pushing people down, driving them away from what they want to accomplish. The film is clearly a love letter to those who dream and in this regard, a hopeful uplifting tone continues to hang over the narrative.

La La Land focuses almost entirely on the two main leads and their perspectives allow the film to maintain an unwavering grip on the audience. Both Gosling and Stone pour their hearts into their performances and the chemistry between them delivers a tremendous amount of heart. The relationship between them, shown through singing, dance and traditional acting creates a trifecta of styles which enhances the film’s central theme. Whenever they burst into song, there’s a real passion to it, showing how much the dreams mean to the characters, to the point of romanticism. Sebastian and Mia stand external from the side characters who are all portrayed in a realistic manner. John Legend supplies his singing voice and an anchor for the demands of today’s society while the others bring a heap of talent to bear in the musical moments. Despite their dips in and out of reality, the characters all feel human, their struggles conveying a sense of relatability typically reserved for serious drama productions.

La La Land is a fantastically produced film; in fact, many of its techniques have a theatre-like edge to them; the lighting drains out of scenes to focus on the main characters, the city lights turn to a beautiful blue and purple and the proceedings launch into full-blown musical at all the right moments. All of it is endlessly engrossing but the use of music is the lifeblood of the film; it always serves to set the tone and keep things humming along. It pours out the emotions to gel with the character’s highs and lows whether it’s a subdued solo song or rocking jazz piece. The heavy use of an older text style, swinging drums and trumpets marks the film’s tribute to its past contemporaries, something which has been deftly woven into its presentation. A hefty contrast between the saturated colours of reality and the imaginary world creates an ambience, as does the shift between a sunny studio backdrop and the neon-lit exteriors of nightclubs and other venues. The camerawork takes great advantage of the film’s musical tendencies as well, expertly panning around the extravagant action and following the main characters. It provides a gorgeous view of the action, transplanting the audience fully into the setting without a single drop in immersion.

La La Land is a pure dose of delightful escapism, a lovingly crafted homage that seamlessly blends our modern society with blissful, absorbing imagination. Far from being confined to its cinematic outlet, the film reaches above that bar to become one of the best modern musicals ever produced.

Rating: 5/5 Stars (Exceptional)

The problem with Xbox today

Microsoft and Xbox seem to be stagnating in today’s gaming landscape; the cancellation of Scalebound is a substantial loss, one which may shift popularity away from them. They may have recovered from the gimmicks that held them back for the first half of the current decade but Microsoft just seems rather ho-hum these days when compared to the likes of Sony, Nintendo’s push with the Switch and the bigger games on PC. With Scalebound having been cancelled by Microsoft, their overall strategy and direction in the console business is in question. Where are they going with the Xbox brand? Is the system losing its way? Can it last the next console cycle?

1. Integrating too much with PC and Windows 10

As a company, Microsoft is active across computers and the gaming scene so to them it would make sense to pair up their business ventures. However, this may bring difficulties to the Xbox platform. This is a problem that began back at Microsoft’s E3 2016 press conference; just about every major game at the show was set to come to PC as well as Xbox One. They want to target both markets but when it comes to digital distribution, Microsoft has absolutely no chance against Valve’s Steam program, a well-rooted service which has grown over twelve years to become the centre of PC gaming. Microsoft aims to boost its audience and sales while expanding its reach by marketing outside of the console market. But by having few “real exclusives” for its console, ones that require owning the system, Microsoft is slowly killing any reason to purchase its system outside of brand loyalty. Both Sony and Nintendo have always had great exclusives to sell their systems; without these the Xbox brand won’t make much of an impact on the gaming community anymore.

2. A lack of excitement for Project Scorpio

Announced at last year’s E3, Microsoft’s next system is set to be released by the end of 2017. It’s promised to be the most powerful console ever made, rivalling the best PCs on the market. But with the way Microsoft is going, will it really be the system to plant them back on top? The Scorpio is releasing very late in the current console cycle, almost a year after its biggest rival, the PlayStation 4 Pro. It will also be in competition with PC hardware which may well progress and update beyond its specs from 2018 onwards. Add to this the previously mentioned problem of Microsoft releasing across console and PC and we may have a powerful system with little to no incentive for purchase. Phil Spencer and company haven’t said very much about how the Scorpio can stand on its own, making a case for why we should buy it over both a PlayStation 4 and top-range gaming PC.

3. The continuing fallout from the Xbox One launch

The recovery of Xbox’s brand image has been a slow, drawn-out process; rarely had there been such a tremendous backlash against a tech company back in 2013. Treating customers with such contempt left Microsoft floundering at the start of the eighth console generation. It then took them several years to switch around their leadership, retract their controversial policies and last, but certainly not least, ditch the Kinect before they could finally get back to focusing on games for their system. Phil Spencer has been doing his best to repair the damage but there’s only so much he can do when the system, in the eyes of some people, remains a shady, corporate machine designed to separate them from their money.

4. An insistence on continuing franchises with unremarkable entries

When looking at its time in the current generation of consoles, Microsoft’s focus has been tailored towards ensuring profitability. To do that, they wanted to keep their franchises going, rather than investing in new ones. Halo, Forza and Gears of War are its three heavyweights and while Forza Horizon 3 carried on the series in a deep, detailed way, Halo and Gears of War have been slipping from their once lofty perches. Halo 5: Guardians is widely regarded as the weakest mainline game in the venerable shooter franchise whereas Gears of War 4 stood out as unremarkable, not doing enough to push the series forward on new hardware. Even Dead Rising 4, another timed exclusive for Microsoft fell short last month, marking itself as a title that veers far from what made the first two games successful. On top of that, the way Microsoft has handled its biggest IPs has been rather controversial with microtransactions sneaking their way into all three franchises. It’s off-putting for long-term fans of franchises when you surprise them with options designed to take more of their money after the initial purchase.

5. Not taking risks with developers and flopping IPs

How long has it been since Microsoft produced a proper exclusive system-selling franchise that really shows off the creative talent of the Xbox brand? Arguably not since Gears of War was launched back in 2006; the company just hasn’t been able to rekindle that flame, a series that really takes the gaming community by storm the way Halo did with the original Xbox. Buying up exclusive deals hasn’t been the best move to take; with their purchase of Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusivity back in 2014 and more recently Minecraft, Microsoft sticks out as a gaming corporation very reluctant to push the boundaries of the industry and carve out a full identity for themselves. 2016 wasn’t the best year for the Xbox One either with Recore and Quantum Break both falling well short in terms of player reception. Microsoft’s fourth exclusive franchise Fable also came to an unfortunate end with the closure of Lionhead Studios and the cancelling of Fable: Legends. It speaks volumes of Microsoft’s attitude towards AAA development when they’re willing to close studios down and give up on games while Sony released The Last Guardian in December 2016 after years of delays and pushbacks.

The reason for Scalebound’s cancellation remains vague but it stands as a massive disappointment; alongside Sea of Thieves it was one of the biggest games coming up for Xbox in 2017. What happened? Did Microsoft and Platinum Games have a falling out? Was the game not running well on current hardware? Or was it not going to be profitable enough, considering Microsoft’s failed console ventures in Japan? Game director Hideki Kamiya has been known to want complete creative control over his team’s projects and arguably the most likely reason is that development problems and friction arose between developer and publisher. Kamiya himself said that he didn’t like how Microsoft had been marketing Scalebound towards the end of 2014.

Ultimately Microsoft needs to find their way out of the rut they’re stuck in or they might end up bowing out of the console business; they certainly have decent leadership, but their choices regarding game development and intervention as a publisher need rethinking in the future.

(Images in the public domain used for the purposes of review and criticism)

Assassin's Creed Movie Review

Released: 1st January 2017 (UK)

Length: 116 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: Justin Kurzel

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson

As the latest video game adaptation to come to cinemas, Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s first foray into the silver screen. With a well-established series bursting with interesting stories to tell, you’d think that it would be a great fit for the big screen. Regretfully the answer is yet again, no.

The film follows Calum Lynch, a rebellious individual executed for murder; he wakes up no longer existing in the world, as a patient (or prisoner) of Abstergo Industries, an organisation aiming to eradicate violence through the removal of free will. After a flimsy, incomprehensible opening with Calum’s family, we’re tossed into the bland, uninteresting world of Abstergo headed by Alan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons) and his daughter Sophia (Marion Cotillard). Calum is strapped into the Animus, a virtual simulation very much like The Matrix where he relives the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha during the Spanish Inquisition. Here lies the film’s biggest problem; there’s far too much time spent in the present day; this was an issue in the games but in the adaptation, it takes up three quarters of its runtime, desperately trying to create a journey for Calum with no success; you’ll constantly be checking your watch, waiting around for the film to go back into the virtual world. Both sides of the plot suffer immensely because of this focus; the modern story never becomes engaging and the one within the animus is one of the most hackneyed and rushed I have ever seen. The Inquisition scenes start with a chase across a desert then suddenly we’re placed into an execution scene with no sense of progression or passage of time. The absence of basic storytelling here is abhorrent; there is no flow, no smooth transitions. It’s as if the filmmakers picked a few moments from the games, threw them in and hurriedly wrote in the modern plot around them.

The characters are equally sluggish and completely uninteresting; Michael Fassbender is average here, he’s trying his best with the material but his character is just too basic and one-note, making his supposed struggles completely mundane. While Calum is painfully simplistic, the cast surrounding him is utterly worthless. Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson are all equally wasted for this production, their performances amounting to little other than standing around in rooms and talking with blank, monotone looks on their faces. The characters in 15^th Century Spain are even worse; there is absolutely no development to be found here and thus the film leaves no impact on the audience whatsoever. Instead the film chooses to rely purely on fan service in a checklist fashion; the eagle soaring around? The air assassination? The parkour chase? They’re all here for fans but this is a poor substitute; considering how the games (Particularly the Ezio trilogy) created well-written characters, it’s inexcusable for the film to have done this. Characterisation in Assassin’s Creed is non-existent; because none of the characters are worth caring about, any investment in the action is immediately lost.

Boasting a drab, desaturated look on both sides of the animus, the aesthetics of Assassin’s Creed, the film, are quite indicative of its sheer dullness. The scenes in the Spanish Inquisition are blurry, with a constant dusty yellow hue that really muddies its entire presentation. Cutting is something the Assassin’s Creed movie really likes to do and by that I’m not talking about the franchise’s titular hidden blades. The action sequences are overly-loud and horribly edited, constantly bouncing from shot to shot with intrusive uses of CGI without a hint of coherency; often you’ll find that several moments within a sequence were skipped or cut out completely, making them wholly disjointed. The 12A rating, which sits below all its gaming counterparts doesn’t do it any favours either, with the more violent moments that could have had impact concealed from view. Then there’s the horrible idea of constantly switching back and forth between past and present as Calum performs the actions of his ancestors from the animus; while intended to bring a more cinematic flair, instead it ruins any chance of immersion.  At least the film does bring a light level of authenticity; Spanish dialect has been worked into the past scenes and the costume work is capably executed. When it isn’t obscured by the awful camera-work, a few stunts look OK as well; the iconic leap of faith is a highlight, despite being quickly cut off before the landing. Outside of a few select moments, Assassin’s Creed is an ugly, lazy looking film, lacking any kind of personality to match the universe it is set in.

In every way imaginable, Assassin’s Creed fails as a cinematic experience, embarrassing its source material in the process. Even the biggest fans of the game series will be left bored and confused by this film which somehow takes the weakest aspects of the series it’s based on and magnifies them before disregarding all semblances of coherent filmmaking. This is one of the worst adaptations to be released in some time and another misfire from the infamous game-to-film transition.

Rating: 1/5 Stars (Terrible)

Post-Viewing: The many perspectives and interpretations of Silence

January is usually a wild month for film here in the UK; while across the pond for US audiences the month is treated as a dumping ground for all sorts of rubbish, over here the big hitters come at us thick and fast. Silence from Martin Scorsese is the first of these and its complex themes resonate far beyond its narrative and characters. It asks difficult questions about human nature, its attachment to religion and how it affects us. The film pulled me in and got me thinking; for those of us who don’t believe in any specific religion, that’s a huge achievement. Here are my own thoughts and interpretations on the film, mostly concerning its final act.

“Silence” as a word connotes many meanings; in the film, its central theme is that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit do not respond to prayers or communes therefore how can they exist? It also applies to the Japanese villagers who are persecuted and must therefore practice covertly. Finally, it refers to the pivotal scene in which Jesus speaks to Sebastian, the sound completely draining out of the scene; it’s a remarkably poignant moment as he finally gives in.

Towards the end of the film Sebastian finally finds his missing teacher and right from the offset there’s a look of intense resignation on Liam Neeson’s face. He tells his pupil that he has dedicated himself to a study of astronomy and science and attempts to compel him to do the same. When Father Ferrero says the words: “Mountains and rivers can be moved, human nature cannot” it can apply to any point of history. Is there an inevitability to us as a species, the notion that differences and incompatibilities will forever divide us? You can argue that both sides of the narrative are stubborn and intolerant. The Judaist priests believe with such conviction that Christianity should be spread everywhere that they are unable to understand the other side, whereas the Japanese will not tolerate even a hint of Christianity in their country because it may serve a reminder of the defeated Roman Catholics, thus galvanising support for an enemy that was already put down. In the end though it is Sebastian who must learn that his religion simply “cannot take root in a swamp”; there can be no common ground or understanding between the two perspectives.

After Sebastian renounces the Christian faith, a new life begins for him as he works with the Japanese and at this point the film’s perspective is split between him and a Dutch trader. The trader is fascinated by Sebastian’s seemingly docile state, but later he comes across Kichijiro, the film’s Judas archetype one last time and a beautiful split shot conveys the positions of the two characters. Sebastian is in light and Kichijiro is in shadow, emphasising the way he is consumed by sin and darkness just as Judas was after his betrayal. Silence ends with Sebastian's burial, which shows his crucifix still in his hands; this implies the sheer power of faith and religion to carry on its existence within the mind; even after all his suffering, did Sebastian still carry some parts of his belief all the way to the end? You could ask the same of anyone who has been persecuted for their religion. The character of Kichikiro himself is caught in between the two sides throughout the film, unable to choose between his own desires and following God; he is someone who has lost everything, his entire family executed by the Shogunate and yet he keeps coming back despite his deeds. You can choose to believe in his commitment or label him a coward for his actions and this divides the film’s ultimate message into two opposing perspectives.

A quote hangs over the end credits dedicated to those who were abused for their religion, almost an epitaph for the people who attempted to spread and practice Christianity but were brutally crushed by the Shogunates of the time. It encourages an emotional response towards a group of people who had their religion stripped from them. This lack of intolerance caused unbelievable suffering which speaks to the violent nature of man and our need for control; is full co-existence truly impossible for us? The film has a sad, almost tragic conclusion if you choose to view it in this way.

Or could the film be more anti-religious? Christianity compels people to believe in something logically impossible, an invisible being and his son in the sky who promise paradise to those who believe. Yet religion itself is show to control people, to the point of indoctrination; the villagers bow down as the priests approach, hold their heads low when spoken to and constantly have them on their minds. But it’s Sebastian and Francisco who appear the most swept up in Christianity, something which could have made them more rational people if their seemingly endless devotion was toned down. One moment comes when Sebastian imagines a reflection of Jesus in the water; he laughs hysterically, believing his own struggle to be a parallel of Jesus’s own hardship at the hands of the Romans. Similarly, Francisco finds himself at a horrid position; on a beach, the Japanese are drowning villagers for practicing Christianity while he watches. Like a shepherd to his flock, he charges into the water, vainly trying to save them, only to drown himself in the process. Both times religion is seen to have an almost brainwashing effect on the people who believe it and the film has an immensely grim futility to it as the priests are made to suffer. As I mentioned, the Japanese attempt to sway through words but turn to unspeakable acts to make their point. When looking at it from their perspective, have they exhausted all other options to show people their way? They commit barbaric acts, yet appear civilized when discussing their viewpoint. It’s a breakdown of the good-evil archetypes and holds a greyer area close to its chest while perhaps viewing religion with an almost disdainful gaze.

Whichever way you choose to look at it, Silence is an incredibly difficult, yet engrossing work of art to come to grips with. If my review is any indication, I can’t recommend it enough, particularly for those who are fans of meticulous, challenging cinema. Go and see it and make your own judgements.

(Images used for the purposes of review and criticism under fair use)

Silence Movie Review

Released: January 1st 2016 (UK)

Length: 161 Minutes

Certificate: 15

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Yōsuke Kubozuka and Tadanobu Asano

Having long been a passion project of Martin Scorsese, Silence has been several decades in the making. Arguably his most unflinching and ambitious project yet, this delve into history and conflicting cultures opens 2017 with a hard-hitting flourish.

In the 17^th Century, two Jesuit priests, Sebastian Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francesco Garrpe (Adam Driver) journey to Nagasaki in Japan, intent on finding their lost teacher (Liam Neeson) while also spreading the Catholic Christian faith. However, the mission proves dangerous as they are working in the time of “Kakure Kirishitan” (Hidden Christians) in which the Tokugawa Shogunate outlawed the practice of Christianity. Adapted from the book of the same name by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, Silence takes place mainly from Rodrigues’s perspective as he journeys through the islands and later endures numerous hardships at the hands of the ruling power, with some brief flashbacks in-between. The film is incredibly slow-moving, but it maintains a strong, ominous tension that builds towards moments of intense impact and hardship; as the priests are put through a hellish torment, countless philosophical questions are woven into the narrative seamlessly. It’s the humanisation and flaws of the characters on both sides that bring in a sense of ambiguity; Sebastian’s mission is driven purely by his own belief, but it also makes him tremendously stubborn, almost entirely naive to opposite viewpoints, which adds a sense of futility to his motives. On the other hand, the Japanese attempt to sway through words but give in to unspeakable acts of violence and torture to achieve control. It’s a psychological tug of war based on two points of view that simply cannot co-exist and the way it swings back and forth adds further intrigue to the plot. Much of the film’s surprises come through the lengths the characters go to; every fibre of Sebastian’s will is put to the test as the tactics of the Shogunites become more deadly. Will he give up his faith or resist? This question hangs over the proceedings, a constant source of fascination for the audience.

The performances in Silence are incredibly well-realised in that they hold the film’s subject material in an unyielding grip across the entirety of its running time. Andrew Garfield rests at the film’s centre, his mission and later crisis of faith pushed to the forefront; he puts such a vast array of emotions on display here to form a character with numerous dimensions. Steadfast in his belief, at times Sebastian is worked into a confused stupor; and at other points he sees the people around him staying just as loyal to the faith and believing his mission to be a successful extension of God’s will. It is perhaps his most outstanding performance to date. Adam Driver, while not holding the spotlight also conveys a great deal of emotion; his character’s belief is far more hard line than Sebastian’s and this clearly shows through his actions. Yōsuke Kubozuka plays Kichijiro, a conflicted villager. Acting as a middle ground and a parallel to Judas, he appears cowardly yet constantly comes running back to Sebastian; he’s a character torn in half by his belief and a focus on himself. The Japanese Shogunites are also well portrayed; their somewhat calm and collected demeanour contrasts greatly with their sadistic methods to drive religion out of the people; an interpreter played by Tadanobu Asano personifies this and the conversations he has with Sebastian are among the most interesting aspects of the film. The rawness of the side performances is often astonishing; you will feel the conviction and the devotion that religion holds on the people, before the narrative lays the horrific suffering and persecution on thick. The sheer grief shown through the people’s faces and cries cuts deep, instilling a sense of tragedy, a lack of tolerance that destroys their lives. Much of the film is built on suffering but it is portrayed in such a visceral way that it never loses an ounce of its impact.

As its title implies, Silence opts for pure atmosphere and in this way, it succeeds beyond reasonable doubt. The lack of music is immediately obvious as the film relies on the natural sounds of the Japanese landscapes to set an appropriately haunting mood. The squalor of the villages visited by the priests delivers further depth to the plot, highlighting the difference between rich and poor while also emphasising why the latter have turned to Catholicism. The cinematography is also very intimate with many point of view shots, panning around the scenery to pull the audience into the character’s predicaments; add to this the use of natural lighting and weather effects and you have an absorbing effect that works over the entire film. The authenticity and attention to detail is impeccable throughout with costuming, set design and input from Jesuit priest James Martin working together to form a detailed portrayal of the time. Working alongside the plot and characters, not one aspect of Silence’s presentation falters at drawing the viewer deeper in.

Silence is masterfully produced and altogether uncompromising in its presentation. It is not an easy film to watch and doesn’t go for pure entertainment; instead it aims to challenge the audience with an immensely powerful, often harrowing depiction of religion, violence and human nature across differing perspectives. With that goal in mind, it becomes one of the most mesmerising epics put out in years.

Rating: 5/5 Stars (Exceptional)