Interstellar

For F*** Magazine

INTERSTELLAR

Director : Christopher Nolan

Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Ellen Burstyn, Mackenzie Foy

Genre : Sci-Fi/Adventure

Rating : PG13 (Brief Coarse Language) 

Run time: 169 mins

Following the conclusion of the Dark Knight trilogy, director Christopher Nolan could only head in one direction – up. Way up. In this sci-fi adventure, we journey into the cosmic unknown with engineer Cooper (McConaughey). It is the near-future and with most of its natural resources depleted, earth is dying. NASA scientist Dr. Brand (Caine) ropes in Cooper to embark on a mission through a wormhole in search of a new planet to call home on the other side. Rounding out the crew are Romilly (David Gyasi), Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Brand’s own daughter Amelia (Hathaway). Cooper leaves behind his teenage son Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and young daughter Murph (Foy). Because of the time slippage that results from being near a black hole, Cooper stays the same age while his children back home grow older. The now-adult Murph (Chastain) holds out hope that her father will return home as the situation on earth worsens.

            The marriage of heart-tugging sentiment and awe-inspiring sci-fi spectacle in Interstellar brings the work of director Steven Spielberg to mind. Indeed, Spielberg was attached to the film in its early stages, with Jonathan Nolan hired to write the screenplay. Eventually, Jonathan’s brother Christopher came on board to rewrite the script and direct. Just as we’ve come to expect from the director, big ideas are tackled in grand fashion. Going to see a movie in the theatre isn’t quite the event it used to be and sure, big-budget blockbusters are a dime a dozen, but Nolan seems keen on delivering a true film-going experience. Shot and finished on film as per his insistence, this is quite a visual feast on the giant IMAX screen, enhanced by theatre-shaking sound effects and Hans Zimmer’s ethereal, techno-tinged score.

            Of course, just as Spielberg’s work is often decried as schmaltzy, more cynical viewers might be unmoved despite the best efforts of Nolan and his cast. There are moments when the seams are visible and the film strains under the weight of its ambition to appeal to both heart and mind. The line “love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends the dimensions of time and space” could be described as “hokey”. Nolan does make full use of the anguish inherent in the idea of time passing faster for one party than the other, having played with the concept differently in Inception. Interstellar attempts to explore the themes of how tenacity and the survival instinct in mankind might be a two-edged sword when push comes to shove.  Interstellar is inspired by the work of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who is the technical consultant and an executive producer on the film (and for whom one of the robots in the movie, KIPP, is presumably named). The film does feel well-researched and credible and once it inevitably enters metaphysical territory, suspension of disbelief has been well and truly earned.

            Fresh off his Oscar win for Dallas Buyers Club and having broken free from rom-com purgatory, Matthew McConaughey makes an appealing leading man here. Cooper has his eyes towards the stars, refusing to be bound by the mundane despite what society dictates. The scenes McConaughey shares with Mackenzie Foy are sufficiently touching. Any other film would have an obligatory shoehorned-in romantic subplot between Cooper and Anne Hathaway’s Amelia Brand, but that’s not the case here, with Cooper’s arc driven by his desire to return home to see his children while time keeps on slipping. Unfortunately, the emphasis on the emotional core of the movie is at the expense of meaningful character development for the crew of the space mission. The grown-up Murph is still angry at her father for seemingly abandoning her but this is only because she misses him so, something Chastain conveys effectively. We never thought a comic relief robot would show up in a Christopher Nolan movie, but here we have the garrulous TARS, entertainingly voiced by comedian, clown and character actor Bill Irwin.

            Nolan has made no secret of being inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey, and that film’s influence is very much evident here. It would be an injustice to call Interstellar a “rip-off” because of the care taken in realising the film, the photo-realistic visual effects work supervised by Paul Franklin of Double Negative particularly impressive and a shoo-in for the Oscar. As is his style, Nolan played his cards to close to his chest, keeping the production secretive and while there are a few great surprises, Interstellar feels more familiar than one might expect. Perhaps this familiarity makes the sweeping epic with its wormholes and spacecraft that much more accessible.

Summary: Interstellar is a thrilling, moving sci-fi adventure and while the end result isn’t as earth-shatteringly profound as the filmmakers probably intended, it’s still a superb movie-going experience.

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

The Wolf of Wall Street

For F*** Magazine

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast:        Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Margot Robbie, Jake Hoffman, Shea Whigham, Jon Bernthal, Ethan Suplee, Kenneth Choi, P.J. Byrne, Christine Ebersole
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Run Time: 175 mins
Opens: 9 January 2014
Rating: R21 (Coarse Language, Sexual Scenes And Drug Use)

We all know the catchphrase popularised by Michael Douglas’ Machiavellein stockbroker character in 1987’s Wall Street, so say it with us: 1, 2, 3: “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”. Part of the controversy surrounding The Wolf of Wall Street is that the film not only makes greed look good, it makes it look like immense amounts of fun. Based on former stockbroker and convicted fraudster Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name, The Wolf of Wall Street takes viewers on a rocket ship ride into the stratosphere – but the interesting part is when the engines cut out and the vessel plummets down to the ground.

It is 1987 and Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) becomes a Wall Street stockbroker, his boss Mark Hanna (McConaughey) teaching him that drugs and prostitutes are the only things that will keep him going. Belfort falls victim to the Black Monday crash, losing his position at the prestigious firm L.F. Rothschild. His wife Teresa (Milioti) finds him a job dealing in penny stocks in a dingy boiler room and being the gifted pitchman he is, Belfort soon earns a fortune. He befriends his neighbour Donnie Azoff (Hill) and they gather a band of misfits to found the Stratton Oakmont firm, which attracts the attention of the likes of Forbes magazine who dubs him “the Wolf of Wall Street”. It also attracts the attention of FBI agent Patrick Denham (Chandler). Belfort continues his extravagant existence, taking on blonde trophy wife Naomi (Robbie) as he dumps Teresa and getting addicted to cocaine and Quaaludes. As he must, the man who has everything realises it’s all slipping through his fingers. He does, right?

The wolf that Jordan Belfort (as depicted in the film) most resembles is the “insanity wolf” internet meme, the one all crazy-eyed, baring its fangs and favouring mutilation and immolation as solutions to all problems. Belfort is a wolf in wolf’s clothing: he’s already a wolf, but he’ll skin another wolf and wear the skin to prove how hard-core he is. Martin Scorsese has created what is essentially Contact High: the Movie, a film that is a wildly unmatchable thrill ride that also has something to say. The person this reviewer saw the film with described it as being the cinematic equivalent of getting drunk – complete with the hangover afterwards.

It is inevitable that a film of this sort will get called out for supposedly glorifying its subject. After all, this won’t be the first zeitgeist-y button-pusher of a movie to get misunderstood: how many guys went “hey dude, Tyler Durden’s so cool, I wanna be just like him”, “Patrick Bateman is the greatest!” or “that Travis Bickle has got it all figured out!”? This reviewer would argue that because The Wolf of Wall Street pulls no punches in its depiction of the sybaritic excesses Jordan Belfort wallows in, it doesn’t feel sanctimonious when the message of “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” eventually kicks in. There are times in the film when Belfort comes off as utterly pathetic, a noteworthy one being a scene in which he is almost paralyzed by a drug overdose and makes an agonising crawl out the door, down the stairs and to his car – it’s an inspired moment of physical tragicomedy which is almost Three Stooges-esque.

Between this and The Great Gatsby, Leonardo DiCaprio sure was partying it up in 2013. While both Jay Gatsby and Jordan Belfort are immensely wealthy, relatively young men who harbour a certain hollowness deep within, there’s no question that Belfort is more openly a maniac and boy, does Leo have the time of his life with this part. Yes, there are the lines and lines of coke, the gratuitous, wanton lovemaking, the white Ferrari “like Don Johnson’s in Miami Vice” and the pet chimpanzee.  But of course there’s the wounded, directionless, broken little boy at the very centre of it all who is drowning in the waves just like his luxury yacht caught in a storm - and you can bet that DiCaprio nails that in his portrayal of the character. Look out for a cameo from the real Belfort as the host of a seminar at the end of the film. Unfortunately for Leo, it seems Chiwetel Ejiofor is still the prime awards favourite at this point.

This being a Scorsese picture, it’s a given that the supporting cast comes out guns a-blazin’. Young Aussie actress Margot Robbie goes all Real Housewives, complete with a Brooklyn accent and a coiffed hairsprayed ‘do and pumps up the sex appeal yet manages to make Naomi more than a mere object in a turn reminiscent of Daryl Hannah’s in the afore-mentioned Wall Street. Who would’ve thought Jonah Hill, more Apatow’s type than Scorsese’s, would end up an Oscar nominee for Moneyball and star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in this film? His turn as a panting, sycophantic lackey is comedy gold and it is to Hill’s credit that he’s also able to bring the sadness and shame in the part to the surface. Kyle Chandler’s FBI agent character is described as a “boy scout” and the strait-laced authority figure is a glimmer of order in the chaos that swirls around Jordan Belfort. Matthew McConaughey is in this for really just about two scenes, but he makes an impact as the guy who inducts Belfort into the wolves’ den. Jean Dujardin is also a hoot as a suave Swiss banker and money launderer.

The Wolf of Wall Street distinguishes itself from the awards contender pack by completely shedding any self-seriousness and being in-your-face irreverent. Scorsese pulls off that rare, glorious feat by crafting a film that’s wild and looks fast and loose, yet he knows where all the pieces are on the board every step of the way and juggles all those plates with impeccable precision. Sure, at 180 minutes, this is a long movie – but the time does zip by and then again, it fits the theme of excess (even though a good 20 minutes could have been cut without major consequence). It all adds up to an intriguing effect of subtly wearing the audience down after sending them corkscrewing into europhia, which seems to be exactly what Scorsese and company intended.

SUMMARY: While some might find it too rich for their blood, The Wolf of Wall Street is raucously funny, showcases Leonardo DiCaprio at his best and is entertaining without being inconsequential. This Wolf is on a bull run.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

Magic Mike

As published in Issue #31 of F*** Magazine, Singapore

Movie Review                                                                                                             20/6/12

MAGIC MIKE

2012

Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Matthew McConaughey

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

            Everyone starts somewhere. Elvis was a truck driver, Peter Parker was a nerdy high-school student and Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter. Before he was taking out Cobra vipers in G.I. Joe or teenage drug dealers in 21 Jump Street, Channing Tatum was taking off his clothes as a 19-year-old male stripper in Tampa Florida. With this premise as a jumping-off point, Magic Mike tells the tenuously autobiographical tale.

            Channing Tatum plays Michael Lane – odd job working and erstwhile furniture designer by day, the stripper of the title by night. At his roofing job, he comes across Adam (Pettyfer), a 19-year-old ne’er do well who lives with his disapproving sister Paige (Horn). Mike takes a shine to the kid, whom he nicknames, well, “The Kid”, and brings him along to Xquisite Male Revue, where he dances. There, Adam meets the gang of male strippers, led by the cocky (pun totally intended), charming Dallas (McConaughey). It’s not long before Adam finds himself onstage and he becomes an instant hit. However, life in the spotlight (and in g-strings) soon gets to Adam’s head, with Mike and Paige caught in the crossfire.

            With every female starlet stripping to their skivvies onscreen as a rite of passage, the guys finally get their due, and this is sure to be a welcome change for the gals and gay men in the audience. The knee-jerk reaction is to point and snigger and yes, director Soderbergh doesn’t underestimate the power of his target demographic (which this reviewer is not a part of) and hands out what you came for in spades. However, if he thought that putting Cody Horn and Olivia Munn into bikinis and slipping in one scene of Mircea Monroe’s silicone-enhanced bare breasts would even the playing field, he was sorely mistaken. Brace yourselves for a boatload of butts though thankfully, you don’t get to see Tatum’s pole.

            It would easy to slap the label “Showguys” on this film and call it a day, but Soderbergh is a better director than Paul Verhoeven by far and the movie treats the vocation with a fair amount of dignity – well, as much dignity as leather vests and star-spangled thongs deserve. The cry of “strippers are people too!” is present in the form of Mike’s sensitive custom furniture design aspirations and the attempt to show he has a life outside of the strip club. Also, the film doesn’t look as flashy as one would be led to think; Soderbergh doesn’t treat the cast the way Michael Bay treats helicopters and sunsets. However, if you came to see Tatum and co. wiggle their collective behinds, you’ll be counting the minutes till the movie moves back into clothes removal mode.

            Tatum is a famously wooden leading man, but he is a good dancer – after all, he is a Step Up alum. Soderbergh seems to know that the rest of the cast can’t offer a lot beyond their chiselled abs and wisely lets Tatum do the bulk of the dancing. It does stretch credibility to think Adam would become an ace dancer overnight, as it is shown he doesn’t have much dancing experience to start with. Tatum and Pettyfer have a decent bromance that doesn’t reach the heights of Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law in the Sherlock Holmes movies or the Wolf Pack in the Hangover flicks, but it works and is portrayed fairly realistically. Pettyfer has been pushed hard in recent years as a pretty-boy hunk to watch, but frankly he’s not a great actor though he is better than Tatum. He’s got a persona that falls exactly in-between clean-cut and bad boy, and that alone would make most girls go weak at the knees.

            Cody Horn has pretty much sprung out of nowhere to take the female lead, but a little research reveals she’s the daughter of former Warner Bros. Studio head Alan Horn. Before you shout “nepotism”, let it be known that she’s... just okay. She pulls off the watchful, strait-laced older sister thing decently, though she does have trouble with more emotional scenes, and her sexual tension with Tatum doesn’t fully ignite. She looks like if Kristen Bell and Kristen Stewart had a daughter, which does sound slightly appealing, but it’s hard to see her as a prominent Hollywood starlet in future.

            Just when you thought Matthew McConaughey was back on the straight and narrow with the legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer, he’s back to his shirt-phobic ways playing, in essence, himself. If anyone can pull off the cowboy huckster thing, it’s McConaughey and his built-in Texas drawl. He even sings a self-written ditty and plays the guitar. He’s backed by a bunch of TV stars: Matt Bomer from White Collar, Joe Manganiello from True Blood and Adam Rodriguez from CSI Miami. As eye candy, they fit the one-dollar bill, but it’s a good thing they’re given supporting parts because they’re very clearly small screen actors.

            It’s tempting to write this one off based on the two words “male” and “strippers” and, guess what – you won’t be completely wrong. It’s a celebration of the intriguing double standard where women are allowed a night of squealing, voyeuristic debauchery whereas a man who does the same would be considered a pig (the real pig that does appear in the movie is adorable). Perhaps it’s revenge for how a girl who sleeps around is labelled a slut, while a guy who does the same is a stud. Even though there is an effort made to construct a semi-serious drama around the premise, we’re left with more flesh than fleshed-out characters, and a very unsatisfying ending.

SUMMARY: It’s more than just almost-naked men, but only barely – the “magic” here is mainly smoke, mirrors and buttocks.

RATING: 2.5/5 STARS

Jedd Jong

The Lincoln Lawyer

 

THE LINCOLN LAWYER

2011 release

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei

Directed by: Brad Furman

            Matthew McConaughey takes a break from being the poster boy of awful romantic comedies to return to his A Time to Kill roots in The Lincoln Lawyer. He plays LA criminal defense attorney Mick Haller, never seen too far from his beloved Lincoln sedan.

            Haller has spent his whole career defending common criminals and thugs, until he scores the case of a lifetime, defending Louis Roulet (Phillippe), a young real-estate heir accused of rape and attempted murder. Everything seems a little too straightforward; until Haller is forced to reopen an old case as his professional and personal life begins to unravel.

            This is a very watchable film, filled with flashy camera angles and a jazz-and-R&B soundtrack. McConaughey is in his element, and is far less annoying than he usually is. The character starts out as your average smug snake lawyer, complete with the eponymous fancy car and the vanity plate “NTGUILTY”. However, it’s when there’s a crack in the façade and we get to know Haller a little better than McConaughey finally gets a chance to act.

            The supporting cast is generally pretty good – Ryan Phillippe makes a good spoilt rich kid who may or may not be hiding something, Marisa Tomei lends some emotional backbone as Haller’s ex-wife and the mother of his young daughter (they’re still on good terms), William H Macy is fun as the shaggy-haired investigator Frank and Mick’s good friend, and John Leguizamo rounds the cast out doing his best Steve Buscemi impression.

            Unfortunately, the film never really draws the viewer in, always staying a little too slick or artificial to actually matter. There’s a little too much emphasis on the “procedure” aspect, which dilutes the intriguing “whodunit” plot a little. Also, a reliance on CSI Miami-style flashbacks and uniformly perfect locations doesn’t help the detachment.

            The Lincoln Lawyer is equally effective as a murder mystery and as a courtroom drama, but tries way too hard to up the cool factor and as such never becomes as engaging as it should be. One can only hope McConaughey keeps his shirt on, regulates the pearly-whites flashing and continues on this track.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

Jedd Jong