"Horns" "Fury" "Interstellar"

Due to time, I am offering a brief outline of my thoughts on three recent cinematic visits.

"Horns" - Ig, short for Ignatious is in deeply in love with girlfriend Merrin, but soon finds himself the most loathed man in town when she is found brutally murdered. Naturally he is main suspect #1. Feeling no love from his fellow town folk he gets drunk and pisses on a great height upon the religion that Merrin enjoyed. Someone high above takes exception to this, and the next morning Ig finds himself starting to sport some rather fetching horns. Along with the horns, which no-one finds unusual, comes the ability for people to tell him quite openly their deepest desires and secrets. A lot of these desires are soon being acted upon. He hopes to use this new honesty that people throw at him to find the real culprit behind Merrin's death.

It is a bizarre concept, and a bizarre film. At times interesting, at times amusing, especially involving two Cops who fancy the pants off each other, and at times just odd. For the most part it fails to entertain, it is quirky and different but just does not deliver.

Merely ok, and only scores what it does for sheer audacity and the humour.....5 out of 10

"Fury"  - A bleak and honest look at the futility of War, and all that it brings with it. We join a group of Soldiers who serve together as a unit in their Tank home, they call Fury. When one of their number dies, the replacement is less than promising. A young Soldier who barely knows one end of the rifle from the other. And it mostly through his eyes that we see the story unfold.
As the War is drawing to a close, and defeat is inevitable for Hitler, the German leader seems determined to throw every last Man, woman and child into the conflict, they will not go down without a fight.
Even despite the day to day horrors of War that they see, Don (Pitt) and Norman (Lerman) still try to enjoy some civility, and this is beautifully illustrated when they dine with two German ladies. But the peace and calm is soon shattered as normality comes crashing around them when fellow soldiers barge in and become unwelcome dinner guests.
When their tank team and two other groups are assigned a mission, they head off but come under heavy fire, and soon Fury is the only left to carry out its duty. After going over a mine the Fury is out of commission and a large contingent of German and SS Soldiers is heading in their direction. Woefully outmanned and outgunned, it is the ultimate choice. Stay and fight, and almost certainly die, or make their escape and hopefully live to fight another day.
Strong performances in a great movie, which is wonderfully photographed. It pulls no punches, but if I do have a very minor quibble, it is that the ending is just a little too Hollywood.

That aside a truly great movie.........8 out of 10

"Interstellar" - This was always going to be a must see movie, especially on the IMAX. The latest from visionary Director Christopher Nolan.
The Earth is in trouble and it would seem that our planets days are numbered.A huge dust cloud regularly causes havoc,this has led to starvation on a huge scale, and many more problems besides. But Scientists believe that they may have a solution. A wormhole has been discovered and they have been secretly sending probes and manned ships into to find if their is an alternate World that we can inhabit. The solution comes in two possible scenarios. The pereferred is that we find a new alternate planet, and then send the Population of Earth to it to live happily ever after. The other option is if this is not possible then with this new voyage will go the DNA of so many of Earths inhabitants for possible cloning to populate a new Earth.
So in act one we discover the plight of the Earth.
In act two we get the possible solution, and see it being implimented, mainly thanks to the help of Professor Brand (Caine)and his astronaut daughter (Hathaway). Given the amount of time needed to reach the wormhole, which is near Saturn, they will sleep for the duration of the journey, thus time will passby differently for them as for those on Earth. They do find new worlds, and there are surprises in store, not least of which is a revelation from Earth.

Will the Earth recover from the ravages we have inflicted upon our Planet?  Will the crew make it to and find a new home for us?

As one would expect, the visuals are literally out of this worlsd, and have to rank as some of the most stunning sights I have ever seen on film. And it is this fact that stops the film from being a total letdown. This is an event film. And it was a disappointment. Not a complete loss, as I say the visuals are worth the price of admission. But the film is all over the place, trying to decide what it wants to be, but clearly is an homage to "2001: A Space Odyssey". Kubrick would be very happy. I am reliably informed that the science is very quesitonable, and the end.....well it defies belief.

The cast are all good, but none really shine, and for me Michael Caine is woefully underused, but then again I am a huge fan.
A lot has been said about the overuse of sound, and it drowning out dialogue, and this is the case in quite a few scenes.

It is worth seeing on the big screen, and will not be for everyone. It is good, but a sci-fi classic it will not be.......7 out of 10

"Zero Dark Thirty"

Following on from the major Oscar winning success that was "The Hurt Locker", Director Kathryn Bigelow returns to similar territory with "Zero Dark Thirty", well certainly geographically, with this latest film which documents the ten year hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

The film opens with emergency phone calls, and also personal phone calls that were made by people trapped in the twin towers of The World Trade Center on September 11th 2001. It is a haunting reminder of horror that occured on that day.
The film then documents a timeline which follows the journey taken by the CIA in the quest to bring an end to the reign of the Al Qaeda head.
Maya, a CIA operative starts the film with her being present during a questioning of a suspect. Some rather heavy handed tactics are used during the talks, something she is clearly uncomfortable with. But she stands in the background and watches, as they try to extract information that will bring them closer to their target.
There is a chain of command, and following that chain is a long and ardous task, one that takes commitment, and Maya has that in bucket loads, she conveys a sense of determination so strong, she will not stop til the job is done. Others before her have long since gone on to other jobs back in the US, but she stays in her post, and will hopefully see the job through to the end.
When the team get a major break through in their intelligence, it leads them to a physician who can hopefully lead them ever closer to their goal. In a truly memorable sequence, events unfold, though they clearly show how desperate the CIA were to obtain valid information, leading to an attack actually inside a US base in Afghanistan.

Although the powers that be are keen to have Bin Laden captured, they seem reluctant to trust in the intelligence that Maya provides them with. Had we not already known the result, one would wonder whether he might have evaded capture or his death.

Her resilience and determination prevail, and the team are led to Pakistan, and a compound, which is heavily fortified. Given the security involved within the compound, they believe that someone seriously is evading being seen, and believe that Bin Laden is hiding out there. A task force is sent from Afghanistan to raid the compound and hopefully bring an end to the decade long man hunt. The latter part of the film is the Compound attack, virtually done in real time. It is compelling, brilliantly shot, almost documentary style. The film does not end with some big morale message, it just quietly fades out.

There is a strong cast, ranging from James Gandolfini as a top CIA head to Jason Clarke as Dan a CIA operative who works closely with Maya in those first few years. There are also a lot of unknowns on screen, which for a film like is makes it more like a documentary, sometimes it is easy to relate to a character when it is well recognised face playing the role.
Got a major surprise when a well known face on UK television popped in the film, thankfully very briefly.
But at the end of the day, the film belongs to Jessica Chastain, who has become quite prolific of late thanks to roles in films like "The Help", "The Debt" and "Lawless". We follow the journey she takes in her lead role as Maya, from those early days, uncomfortable with the torture used to obtain information, to her feeling of helplessness following the Suicide bomb at the US base, to her grit and determination to confirm where Bin Laden is, and initiate an Operation to capture or kill him. The said journey takes it toll, and this we see reflected in a great piece of acting.
As one has come to expect, the Direction is of the highest calibre coming from the Oscar Winning Director Kathryn Bigelow. Her attention to detail, style of film making make her one of the most brightest talents behind the Camera of her generation.

Some my find it a long haul, others, hopefully like myself, will find it absorbing, and an example of great film making....the two and a half hours of viewing time just fly by.......9 out of 10