[Classic Film] Number Six - Fight Club

Trailer:

Information:
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★★★★★★★★★ - Excellent [For rating system, see information tab at top of blog]
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Release Date: 12th November 1999
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Director: David Fincher
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Writers: Chuck Palahnuik (Novel) Jim Uhls (Screenplay)
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Cast: Edward Norton - Brad Pitt - Helena Bonham Carter

Famous Quotes:

1) 'How much can you know about yourself if you have never been in a fight?'
2) 'Only after disaster can we be resurrected'
3) 'Fight Club was the beginning, now it's moved out of the basement'
4) 'Hey, you created me. I didn't create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better. Take some responsibility!'
5) 'Listen, you can run water over your hand and make it worse or...'
6) '....Because we're the same person'    'Thats right'
7) 'My god. I havn't been fucked like that since grade school'
8) 'All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, Capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways you want to be'
9) 'Is that your blood?'      'Some of it yeah'
10) 'When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake'
11) 'The things you own end up owning you'

Explanation

'Fight Club', staring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, is a unique film about two men; one an office employee, the other a soap salesman, who start a fight club to vent frustration and anger. It explores the mindset around depression and insomnia, and questions the different ways in which people tackle various obstacles in life. The narrative is written to the highest standard and flows excellently, accompanied by 'The Narrators' (Edward Norton) voiceovers, it contains a range of twists and action scenes that keep you guessing and gripped to your seat.

The leading roles are performed brilliantly, Helena Bonham Carter alongside Pitt and Norton combine to make an excellent screen chemistry that blends comedy, action, rage and depression in a near perfect manner. The film is focused around the humans basic instincts and how we react to them, and the three lead actors portray this particularly effectively.

Though 'Fight Club' is now regarded as one of the most popular films of its kind, it was greatly overlooked by the award academies. It received only one nomination from the 'big three' film ceremonies, and only won four awards in total. 

Now however, 'Fight Club' is featured in many 'top' film lists; the most notable being 'Total Film's 100 greatest movies of all time' in which it reached number four, and IMDB.com's top 200 films, reaching number fourteen. 'Fight Club' - a clever, exceptionally entertaining film that I would recommend to anyone.

Awards

Oscar Wins:

N/A

Oscar Nominations:

Best Sound Effects

BAFTA Wins:

N/A

BAFTA Nominations:

N/A

Golden Globe Wins:

N/A

Golden Globe Nominations:

N/A

*The videos used in this post are not mine*

[New Trailers] - 20th August 2011

Click the links for the trailers, if you know of any other recent film trailers leave a comment and I will add to the list.

New Teasers:

N/A

New Trailers:

Final Destination 5

The Woman In Black

Underworld: Awakening

Coriolanus

Machine Gun Preacher

The Ides Of March

Like Crazy

Ghost Rider 2

Tomboy

[Review] Super 8 - 9th August 2011

★

★

★

★

★

 - Average [For rating system, see information tab at top of blog]

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Release Date: 5th August 2011
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Director: J.J Abrams
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Writer: J.J Abrams
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Cast: Elle fanning - Amanda Michalka - Kyle Chandler - Joel Courtney - Riley Griffiths

Review

From producer Steven Spielberg, and primarily television writer and director J.J. Abrams, comes ‘Super 8’ a film following a group of friends who witness a train crash whilst making a film of their own. Soon after the crash, strange things begin to happen in a local town; revealing something far more sinister.

Clearly, any ‘Steven Spielberg’ production is bound to attract a large audience who will have very high expectations. However, I was personally disappointed. ‘Super 8’ is a film that worked well in parts, but was weak in others.

J.J. Abrams has made his name writing for television shows such as ‘Fringe’, ‘Lost’ and ‘Alias’, as well as directing popular films like ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Mission: Impossible III’. Therefore, considering ‘Super 8’s’ premise, you would think he was the perfect man for the job – and in terms of direction, this is correct.

J.J Abrams did not try to overcomplicate the film, but instead used simple methods that allowed it to progress at a satisfactory pace. Without trying to spoil the film (for those who have not seen it), the ‘unknown’ sinister element, once revealed, is not predictable – and does not ruin the element of suspense built up throughout the film.

The problems with ‘Super 8’ emanate from its writing. While J.J Abrams directed a good film, it has to be said he did not write to the same standard. The narrative is effective; the story flows fluently and keeps pace. However, development of characters and use of dialogue is substandard resulting in a total loss of realism in some scenes. Another consequence of the poor writing was the two dimensional performances presented by the actors who had little to work with, for example, the scenes of panic contain dialogue that make it very difficult to relate to the events portrayed in the film.

Finally, I also have to take issue with the setting of the film. Its premise states that it is set in 1979, however there was little evidence of this. Objects and props used were in keeping with this time frame, but costumes and house settings were not so appropriate for the era.

‘Super 8’ - a relatively unique film that is well directed, but containing many faults that make it a less than satisfactory experience to watch! 

[New Trailers] - 21st July 2011

Click the links for the trailers, if you know of any other recent film trailers leave a comment and I will add to the list.

New Teasers:

The Dark Knight Rises

New Trailers:

Paranormal Activity 3

The Amazing Spiderman

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World

Johnny English Reborn

I Don't Know How She Does It

The Inbetweeners Movie

[Review] Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part Two - 20th July 2011

★

★

★

★

★

 - Average [For rating system, see information tab at top of blog]

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Release Date: 15th July 2011
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Director: David Yates
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Writers: Steve Kloves (Screenplay) - J.K. Rowling (Novel)
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Cast: Daniel Radcliffe - Emma Watson - Rupert Grint - Maggie Smith - Ralph Fiennes - Alan Rickman - Michael Gambon

Review

‘Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2’ is arguably the most anticipated film ever made. The eight-part franchise has already become the highest grossing film saga, currently touching $5.5 billion in worldwide profit – the final part alone has broken two records, the midnight viewing, reaching $43.5 million, and the first day viewing, reaching $92.1 million. But was the final installment worth the wait?

The film is not perfect, but it is entertaining nonetheless. Along with hundreds of thousands of other Harry Potter fans, I impatiently awaited this last installment. The final book was just as enjoyable to read as its predecessors, and due to the anticipation created in the run up to its release, the film had an incredible standard to meet.

When you look at ‘Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2’ as the final episode in the saga, it is a good film. It flows very naturally, answers all the consumers unanswered questions and keeps itself very true to the final chapters in the book – for a film with such a high expectation, it is very well made and perfect in drawing the Harry Potter saga to a close.

In parts the film is moving, though this was always to be expected as many consider it to be the end of an ‘era’. In terms of direction and writing, the film is adequate. The manner in which the film flows and is constructed is very concise, mystical and impressionistic – perfect for solving the previously inspired mysteries.   

The first problem with the film stems from performances. While the performances from supporting actors and actresses like Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter are excellent, I would, however, take issue with those coming from the leading three roles – Harry, Ron and Hermione. While the three (Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe) perform acceptably in scenes involving action, pace and panic, they do not always bring the required amount of sincerity to the more emotional ones. However, this does not predominate, as in contrast to the previous installments,  ‘Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2’ is very action based, so the acting flaws are not as exposed.

A second problem I have with the film is in relation to special effects. The film has some scenes that do not seem to have had the same effort employed as that given to others. The battle of Hogwarts for example, a very famous chapter in the book, is well depicted - the effects are believable and exciting. However, other scenes throughout the film that require CGI and various effects are of a lower standard – for example, a scene in which Harry, Ron and Hermione are flying brooms through a burning room is very poorly constructed and lacks the standard of realism that is expected from todays productions.

Though there was nothing hugely wrong with ‘Harry Potter & The Deathly hallows Part 2’, I expected something more. In terms of aesthetics, the film had small issues throughout that dragged it down. Having said this, it was a film that I enjoyed purely because I am a Harry Potter fan, the final chapters of ‘The Deathly hallows’ where my favorite throughout the entire series, therefore it was exciting to see it come to life. 

[Review] Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon - 16th July 2011

★

★

★

★

 - Leaves A Lot To Be Desired [For rating system, see information tab at top of blog]

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Release Date: 29th June 2011
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Director: Michael Bay
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Writers: Ehren Kruger
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Cast: Shia LaBeouf - Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - Tyrese Gibson - Josh Duhamel - John Turturro 

Review

Ultimately I feel there is little that can be said about ‘Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon’. The film is a classic example of something that has sacrificed all substance, purely for style.

The film is totally overpowered by special effects, and it has to be said, they are spectacular. In some ways, this makes discussion of the negative aspects of the film not worth mentioning. Not because they are little problems, but because in a strange way you don’t notice them.

‘Avatar’ set the standard for special effects in 2009, and since its release I have not seen a film that has matched its class in terms of visuals on a large scale – Until ‘Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon’. The action sequences throughout the film are exceptional; the near perfect CGI combined with effective use of slow motion, editing and phenomenal sound mixing creates scenes that grip you and leave you mesmerized.

Having said that: while the effects, both visual and sound, are of the highest quality, everything else in the film ranks as average to poor. Performances, narrative and writing all seem to have been forgotten and cast to one side in the wake of the visual effects.

The cast displayed very mediocre individual performances, and as an ensemble attempted to create a screen chemistry that unfortunately never became believable. Shia LaBeouf maintained the same standard performance he set in the previous films. Small comical roles from John Malkovich and Ken Jeong added an element of humor to the film - however, the loss of Megan Fox for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was the biggest problem. It seems she was casted to try and better the appearance of Megan Fox, a cardinal error, as her performance and on-screen presence lacked any impact and bordered on irritating.

The narrative of the film was also unexceptional. The writers added a clever element to the plot by turning the first ever moon landing into a type of government conspiracy, but unfortunately it did not conceal the fact that the films story was a simple ‘good versus evil’ yarn.  A new perpetrator teams up with the old perpetrator, creates a plot that would destroy the world, leaving it up to the heroes to save the human race.  A narrative that worked perfectly for the effects throughout the film, but was still predictable and weak nonetheless. 

‘Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon’ – a very poor film in terms of substance, but exceptional in terms of effects. I would recommend going to see this at the cinema in 3D, just to be mind-numbingly dazzled. 

On Holiday

Im going on a short holiday tomorrow, will be back on saturday the 16th. All posts including the new weekly debate article will resume when I am back.

All the best,
FilmDebate