Yeah, Well. The Dude Abides!

How to start a review of one of my favourite films? The Big Lebowski is almost genre-less. It's mostly comedy, but being the Coen Brothers it's not straightforward comedy; but then it's not the black comedy of True Blood or Fargo. Above all it's a story about an ordinary Dude, who likes bowling, driving around and the occasional acid flash-back, who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or rather with the wrong name.

Jeff Bridges is Jeffrey Lebowski aka: The Dude, a lazy man, who becomes confused with The Big Lebowski (David Huddleston). The Big Lebowski is a successful businessman, but who's young wife Bunny (Tara Reid) disappears. Unfortunately Bunny owes money to a Porn film producer, and when his heavies come to collect, they go to the wrong Lebowski. So The Dude gets caught up in a tale of kidnap, ransom, Nihilists, sex, and of course bowling.

Jeff Bridges is always great in my opinion, but rumour has it that the Coen's had Bridges in mind when they were writing the character of The Dude; and he is just perfect. But not just Jeff, most of the cast is superb. John Goodman gives the best performance of his career as The Dude's best friend: Walter Sobchack. This 'Nam veteran is a great character, has arguably some of the best lines in the film, and on occasion drives the story forward as he influences what The Dude thinks.

                                           "Smokey, this isn't Nam, this is bowling. There are rules!"

John Turturro is also there as the creepy but hilarious Jesus; a fellow competitive bowler with a history of being a sex pest! Add to that the usual Coen brothers crowd - Peter Stormare as a Nihilist, Steve Buscemi as Donny (who essentially gets told to "Shut the Fuck up!" by Walter and then dies of a heart attack at the end!) - as well as great smaller parts by Julianne Moore, David Thewlis, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the Coen's couldn't really go wrong. Of course I can't forget the photography done by Roger Deakins, though there are not so much of his trademark wide panorama shots, he is saving those for No Country for Old Men and True Grit.

                                     Nobody Fucks with the Jesus!

I love this film, one of my all time favourites. If ever I need cheering up, this film will do it; guaranteed laughter within about 5 minutes! So many good moments:

Jackie Treehorn's "sketch" on his notepad.

The Dude getting Donny's ashes in his beard.

Walter and the Dude's reaction to Jesus saying "Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up!"

The Dude paying for a 69 cent carton of milk by cheque.

Walter telling Donny: "You're like a child who has wandered into the conversation".

I could go on, but I really shouldn't. All the Dude every wanted was his rug back. It really tied the room together!

True Grit (2010)

True Grit is the story of Mattie Ross, whose father was murdered by the outlaw Tom Chaney. Mattie wants revenge for her father's death, and hires notorious U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (known for taking no quarter, and often shooting before thinking) to hunt down Tom Chaney and have him brought to justice. Justice for Mattie is, of course, death. As well as the rather reluctant, grizzly Cogburn, Mattie encounters LaBoeuf, a Marshall from Texas who also wants to bring in Tom Chaney (though LaBeouf knows him by another pseudonym) for killing a Senator. The three set out, and amidst reservation of a girl riding with them, Tom is finally brought to "Justice".

Though Jeff Bridges (Cogburn) is first billing, this is really Hailee Steinfeld's film. As Mattie, Steinfeld is witty, ballsy, never afraid to argue her case, won't take no for an answer, and she gives a very lively and mature performance without ever coming across as being arrogant. A great performance for a 15 year-old. Jeff Bridges is great, as usual, though doesn't stand out in the same way that Hailee does. Jeff is perfect for the grizzly, recalcitrant, slightly maverick US Marshall. I did worry in Bridges' opening scene in court, that I wasn't going to understand a word he said in the film (much like Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men), but happily that turned out not to be the case; it just took a wee while to get my ear tuned in! Matt Damon is also good, as he usually is, though his role is somewhat smaller and doesn't get the opportunity to shine so much.

This film sees a return of the Coen Brothers to the style that served them so well in No Country for Old Men: great characters, great cast, great screenplay (isn't it always?) and wonderful scenery. Of course one of the reasons for that wonderful scenery is Roger Deakins, the genius cinematographer behind many other visually stunning films (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men, Kundun etc etc).

I've never seen the John Wayne version of True Grit (actually I'm not sure I've ever seen a John Wayne film!), but I thoroughly enjoyed this updated version. A great western, more in the mould of Unforgiven than others, but not quite that good. I think I expected it to be more epic, but that is not a criticism, just my over-expectation. A brilliantly shot, superbly acted, humorous revenge story.

I am Iron Man!

Iron Man was on telly the other week, and then what should pop through our letterbox from LoveFilm but Iron Man 2! So I thought that I'd review them together; two birds, one stone and all that. I'm guessing that most people are aware of the story so I will quickly blast through the plot.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) of Stark Industries (arms suppliers) is the son of the company founder, robotics genius, and all round suave guy. While demonstrating the latest weaponry in Afghanistan he is kidnapped by terrorists, during which he is wounded in the chest. To prevent shrapnel from burying into his heart and killing him a device is planted in his chest. Tony uses this to power a suit of armour to affect his escape. Back home, Tony uses his robotic skills to upgrade the chest piece and the suit of armour, adding fire-power and much computer wizardry. He then uses the suit to fight evil, starting with the corrupt head of Stark Industries: Obadiah (Jeff Bridges).

When I first heard of this film I assumed it was a version of the novel by Ted Hughes I read as a kid. When I found out this wasn't the case I was first disappointed, and then, having seen all the hype about the film, very wary, and stayed away. Hype does that to me, I didn't see Moulin Rouge for years for the same reason. When I finally did see Iron Man, I was very pleasantly surprised. Robert Downey Jr is perfect for this role, smooth and arrogant without being smarmy and annoying. Jeff Bridges is great as usual, and great support from Gwyneth Paltrow as well.

                                                         Was that my White Russian?

While watching the beginning of the second film, actually I might say up to about 45 min or something, I thought it was a bit flat. I thought that this could be because for a lot of these hero-style films, the first film is usually more interesting as the main character discovers their super-powers. Mmmm. I was about to back up that statement with examples, but could only come up with Spider-man really. X-2 better than X-men, Superman 2, Hellboy II!

Anyway, I thought the first 45 min were a bit aimless, until Sam L Jackson showed up and told Tony to stop arse-ing about. At that point the film developed some plot and became a whole lot more enjoyable, though I was confused with why they replaced Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as Rhodey. Jon Favreau has done a great job with these two films, including a massive cameo for himself (actually I think it goes beyond a cameo).

Best bits:

Mickey Rourke slicing Grand Prix cars up in Monaco with his electric tentacle things.

Tony creating a Small Hadron Collider in his apartment to create a new element!

Any section of film with AC/DC playing in the background.

Tron Legacy

Twenty Seven years ago. That's when I saw Tron, and I remember being really blown away by it. The Light Cycles (in all their right-angle turning glory!), the disc battles and all the state of the art computer graphics! My love of the film was enhanced by my possession of a ViewMaster with the Tron collection, which my Mum was able to instantly put her hand on last week (best Christmas present this year!):

So I was torn between really wanting to see Tron Legacy, and not wanting to get too excited. But I wasn't not going to see it, and I wasn't really disappointed. I did enjoy it, a very fun film which I don't think tried to take itself too seriously, but also tried to tie in nicely with the first film (if we remembered what happened!).

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), having escaped from "The Grid" at the end of the first film now has a seven-year-old son. One night while tucking him into bed, Kevin is telling the story of Tron, and promises his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) that he will take him to the arcade tomorrow. He then goes to "The Office" to work through the night, but disappears!

Not seeing his Dad for 10 years or so, Sam grows up still having a stake in his Dad's company: software company Encom, but not really having a interest in it. That is until his Dad's friend (also on the Encom board) tells Sam about his Dad's arcade. Sam discovers his Dad's "Office" below the arcade (hidden behind the Tron game), and gets zapped into The Grid.

Sam is captured and forced into the Gladiatorial arena, fighting with discs and the notorious Light Cycle chase. He is noticed by Clu (computer programme developed in his own image by Kevin Flynn in the first film) who looks like a younger version of Kevin. Clu tells Sam that he is not his father, but that he is pleased to see him. During the Light Cycle race, Sam is rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde) who takes Sam to meet his father.

There is then some exposition where Dad Flynn explains to Sam/us that Clu looks like him because he is a programme created by him to create the perfect world, and now he wants the disc from Pa Flynn to be able to send his army into the real world. By sending the army into the real world Clu of course wants to apply his idea of a perfect civilisation to the world, which would most likely destroy us. The only way to get over this is for Sam to make his way back to the portal which will send him back to the real world, so he can shut down Clu from outside.

Essentially that is the plot. Sam trying to get back to the real world and shut Clu down. That's it, oh and if Kevin Flynn and Clu ever merge, then everything in the Grid will be destroyed. Mmmm, important plot point?! But, despite the plot being fairly thin on the ground, and Garrett Hedlund coming from the Hayden Christensen Attack of the Clones school of acting, the film is still really good fun. And I think that's how the film should be taken, simply as being fun.

Clearly the special effects are better than the 1982 Tron, and the 3D does lend itself to this kind of film (though I don't really think it added anything extra over seeing it in 2D, except perhaps the Light Cycle race). The musical score by Daft Punk was great, fitting perfectly with a digital world, and it was LOUD!

Jeff Bridges was by far the best actor, his performance seemed effortless compared to the others. I know that the Cohen Brothers wrote the character of The Dude imagining Jeff, but it's amazing how much like The Dude Jeff really is; I don't think there will be another film with Bridges in that doesn't make some nod to The Big Lebowski! Of course Bridges has to undergo youngification to appear as Clu; and the effects are brought to us by the same people responsible for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Jeff's face is great, there is no doubt that Clu is a younger version of Kevin Flynn, the only thing that let's it down is the lip sync. Sometimes it is perfect, more often it looks like his lips can't articulate properly; much like women who have had too much collagen put in their lips and consequently can't talk properly! But I guess this is only a minor gripe; far less intrusive than the crap cg cold breath in The Social Network!

I must also mention Michael Sheen who was also great. He just has the uncanny ability to bring credibility to whatever role he plays, whether he is a Werewolf, David Frost, Tony Blair, or in this case Zuse: a club owner/respectable programme with contacts in high places. And he based his performance on David Bowie!!

There was one clever little plot twist; the fact that Sam believes that the new Encom OS should be freeware and that the company should not charge for it. Nicely echoed by the fact that Clu wants his army to break out to the real world and that his perfect world would be available to all.

There are only a few niggles about this film regards plot, wooden main character (much like Christian Bale in Batman); but the chance to see Tron, on a  big screen, in 3D, with a pumping soundtrack, just like I imagine Tron should have been (I think seeing original Tron now would shatter my illusions of how good it was), is just great.

Light Cycles. Cool!

Olivia Wilde. Very Nice!