Movie Reviews: Hacksaw Ridge, Sing, Denial 0 1771

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Hacksaw Ridge

MEL Gibson steps behind the camera for the first time since 2006’s brutal Mayan action adventure Apocalypto for this similarly uncompromising gut shot of a WWII film. This isn’t an ordinary war film about brave men joining to fight for their country, bearing arms to do so. No, this is the tale of Desmond Moss (Andrew Garfield), an idealistic young man who wants to serve without firing a single bullet.

Despite pleadings from his battle-scarred WWI veteran father Tom (Hugo Weaving) and distraught bride-to-be Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), he signs up and goes off to fight as a conscientious objector. However, his obdurate refusal to even touch a gun, much less take another human being’s life, causes troubles during his training – “You know, quite a bit of killing does occur in a war,” he is blankly told by his miffed Captain (Sam Worthington) – and he is even threatened with a military prison. But refusing to back down from his principals, he is eventually allowed to serve as a pacifist medic among the madness.

It’s an unashamedly idealistic film through and through. The earlier scenes almost feeling cosy (sometimes to a fault) as Desmond courts his future fiancé and speaks with pride about how, “while everybody is taking life I’m going to be saving it, and that’s going to be my way to serve”.

This is to reflect the principled path Desmond has set for himself: from the beginning right up until its credits – which inevitably show the real life man himself – the film holds him up as a special kind of war hero.

The Hacksaw Ridge of the title is the so nicknamed main battleground during the Battle of Okinawa and the centre-piece of Gibson’s unrelentingly brazen approach to wartime action. Although violence within his directorial work is certainly not a new thing – lest we forget how brutal and bloody the likes of Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ are – it nevertheless feels like a fresh and reinvigorated directorial style. The initial assault as the men climb up and over the ridge on a massed web of rope is a masterclass in horribly, unflinchingly realistic carnage: bullets whizzing and thudding against and through bodies as they run and shoot and fall and blow up, engulfing the frame to give a realistic sense of what it would have been like. It’s one of the best war movie sequences since the opening of Saving Private Ryan, one that contains some truly stark imagery that stays with you.

The film presents an interesting dichotomy between Desmond’s wide-eyed, almost romantic view of what war will be like for him and the horrors of what it’s actually like once he’s up on the ridge, scrambling with his medical kit among the bloodshed. Is it arrogant for him to think he can serve without firing a gun while other men gladly put their lives on the line at the barrel of one? And what happens when he’s posed an immediate him-or-me threat on the battlefield?

Set to an at once rousing and pounding score by Rupert Gregson-Williams and anchored by Garfield’s committed and powerfully moving performance, this is Gibson back after a decade to show that he can direct the hell out of any story. The fact that it’s such an incredible true one makes it all the more effective. 4/5

Sing

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IF last year’s Trolls didn’t give you enough brightly-coloured, peppy-animated energy then here to fill that void is Sing – the music-filled animation from Illumination Entertainment, aka the studio that the Minions built.

Matthew McConaughey leads an all-star voice cast as Buster Moon, an eternally optimistic koala bear who has the idea of holding a singing competition for every creature great and small of the city – from the tallest giraffe to the smallest mouse – in an attempt to save his struggling theatre from closing down.

When a harmless mistake occurs with the prize money amount on the fliers ($100,000 instead of just $100) he finds himself overrun with amateur singers all desperate to make the big time and claim the prize he can’t afford. These include Johnny the gorilla (Taron Egerton), Rosita the housewife pig (Reese Witherspoon) and Mike the con artist mouse (Seth MacFarlane).

Last summer’s mammoth hit Zootropolis – also about animals going about city life as if they were human – comes immediately to mind and it just doesn’t have the same sort of consistent wittiness and depth beyond its pretty single-minded concept. It’s essentially an animated X Factor but with singing animals and it plays that note to the Nth degree. But it’s a note that it hits with a polished slickness and enjoyable bravado.

There’s something inherently funny about seeing a pig, so fed up with her domesticated and repetitive housewife lifestyle, singing Shake It Off ;or a gorilla, desperate to avoid the life of crime his overbearing father has earmarked for him, belting out Stay With Me. It’s all a bit like being hit over the head with a jukebox but, you know, in a fun kind of way. 3/5

Denial

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DIRECTOR Mick Jackson’s courtroom drama – adapted by playwright David Hare from the non-fiction book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier – focuses on the quite galling true story of American writer and historian Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz).

In 1996, she had a libel suit brought against her and her publisher Penguin Books by British historian and infamous Holocaust denier David Irving (Timothy Spall). Deborah is then forced from her relatively quiet teaching life in New York to the courts of London, where she is presented with a very different legal system to the one of her homeland; over here, the burden of proof is on the accused rather than the accuser.

With the help of a formidable but regulation-hampered legal team – including barrister Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson) and solicitor Anthony Julius (Andrew Scott) – she mounts her case against a man she professionally discredited and personally loathes for denying an atrocity, the occurrence of which she can’t believe would ever be doubted.

Most of the film takes place in and around the court as the trial goes on, both sides adamant and presenting their case like fighters throwing punches in a ring. Their lightbulb moment of defensive approach is to make Irving’s prejudice and thinly veiled twisting of facts the thing on trial.

The talky drama presented by the rather pedestrian direction can feel stagey and televisual, like it belongs more as a multi-part BBC series than up on the big-screen. And it’s one of those films where the outcome – even if you don’t know the true story – is earmarked from the beginning. That and the general feeling that “of course he’s in the wrong” does drain a lot of the tension out of the unfolding drama.

But there are some excellent performances – particularly from Weisz as the inspirationally steadfast Deborah and Spall as the self-righteous Irving – and there’s no doubting its timeliness as a film about kindness and understanding going up against bigotry and hate. 3/5

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I'm a freelance film reviewer and blogger with over 10 years of experience writing for various different reputable online and print publications. In addition to my running, editing and writing for Thoughts On Film, I am also the film critic for The National, the newspaper that supports an independent Scotland, covering the weekly film releases, film festivals and film-related features. I have a passion for all types of cinema, and have a particular love for foreign language film, especially South Korean and Japanese cinema. Favourite films include The Big Lebowski, Pulp Fiction and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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Tolkien Biopic to Be Released in May 0 4942

10th May, 2019 is when Tolkien will be released to the world, an autobiographical film that will revolve around the early days of legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien before he became the literary giant that he is today.

Here on Thoughts on Film we are big fans of his work and the recent films made by Peter Jackson. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (LOTR), are responsible for originating a universe that has gone on to inspire movies, animation, fiction, and modern media interpretations.



This is why Tolkien is regarded by many as the greatest fantasy author of all time. His creative stamp can be seen nearly everywhere in modern media. There’s the direct reinterpretation of his work in the recently released action roleplaying game Middle Earth: Shadow of War, where players are thrust into a major role in Tolkien’s literary canon. George R.R. Martin, who originated the now globally-popular Game of Thrones series on HBO, openly reveres LOTR as the inspiration for his work, citing the early death of Gandalf in Fellowship of the Ring as having a profound effect on his “own willingness to kill characters at the drop of a hat.” On the web, more Tolkien-inspired work can be found on leading slot portal Slingo and its many online titles dedicated to the fantasy genre, including Amazon Queen, Fae Legend Warrior, and Magic Castle, all of which feature elements that can be traced back to the author’s massive body of work. Technically speaking, the same can be said of nearly every major fantasy brand out there today, from Dungeons & Dragons to Magic: the Gathering. In short, almost every type of entertainment that features western fantasy can be traced back to the works of Tolkien.

In the upcoming Tolkien movie, the man will be played by Nicholas Hoult, whom is best known for Mad Max: Fury Road and Hank McCoy in the most recent X-Men movies. And now, the actor’s versatility will be tested as he steps into the shoes of the most iconic fantasy writer of all time. Starring alongside Hoult will be the actress Lily Collins as Edith Bratt – the woman whom Tolkien loved above all and is reportedly the inspiration for all “elven princess characters” in the LOTR series.

Helming the film is director Dome Karukoski whose CV includes 2017’s Tom of Finland, a critically acclaimed chronicle of the life and works of the controversial artist of the same name. And while media outlets haven’t yet heard from either the cast, director, or crew of the film, an official synopsis of the movie has been released via Collider. “Tolkien explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the “Fellowship” apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-earth novels.” It sounds like a real treat for film, literature, and Middle Earth fans.

Feature: 2019 Oscar Predictions 0 4022

I think it’s fair to say that the run up to this year’s Oscars has been a little messier than usual, from unexpected and bizarre wins at other awards shows (Vice winning Best Editing at the BAFTAs, anyone?) to ridiculous decisions by the Academy to change the show around.

The latter has proved a particular point of contention with both those in the industry to onlookers on social media, with choices such as not letting all the songs be performed to introducing a Best Popular Film category (whatever that means) to not airing four categories live; Editing and Cinematography proved a particular issue, sending the folks of Film Twitter into a Hulk-like rage.

Thankfully all of these decisions except for the one to not have a main host have taken the walk-back of shame; I look forward to Clint Eastwood talking to an empty chair again. Of course there’s still the issue of plenty of thoroughly deserving films, filmmakers and performances not being up for any Oscars at all (*cough* Toni Collette! *cough*) but of course that’s not an issue unique to this year.

The show must go on, as they say, and I thought a week out from this year’s ceremony I’d throw my hat into the ring as far as predictions goes. Below I’ve listed what I think will win in each category, as well as what I personally would like to see pick up that little gold man come next Sunday evening.

Best Picture

Want to win: A Star is Born
Will win: Green Book

Lead Actor

Want to win: Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)
Will win: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Lead Actress

Want to win: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
Will win: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Supporting Actor

Want to win: Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Will win: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Supporting Actress

Want to win: Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Will win: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Director

Want to win: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)
Will win: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Animated Feature

Want to win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Will win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Adapted Screenplay

Want to win: BlacKkKlansman
Will win: BlacKkKlansman

Original Screenplay

Want to win: First Reformed
Will win: The Favourite

Cinematography

Want to win: Roma
Will win: Roma

Documentary Feature

Want to win: Free Solo
Will win: Minding the Gap

Foreign Language Film

Want to win: Roma
Will win: Roma

Film Editing

Want to win: BlacKkKlansman
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Editing

Want to win: A Quiet Place
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Mixing

Want to win: A Star is Born
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Production Design

Want to win: Roma
Will win: The Favourite

Original Score

Want to win: If Beale Street Could Talk
Will win: Black Panther

Original Song

Want to win: Shallow (A Star is Born)
Will win: Shallow (A Star is Born)

Makeup and Hair

Want to win: Mary Queen of Scots
Will win: Vice

Costume Design

Want to win: Black Panther
Will win: The Favourite

Visual Effects

Want to win: Avengers: Infinity War
Will win: Ready Player One

Animated Short

Want to win: Bao
Will win: Bao

Live Action Short

Want to win: Marguerite
Will win: Marguerite

Documentary Short Subject

Want to win: Black Sheep
Will win: Lifeboat

Do you agree? Disagree? Feel free to leave your predictions/wishes for the winners below or tweet @TOF_UK or @rosstmiller.

Roll on Sunday!