Tag Archives: Film 2013

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

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THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTYRoze-Rating: 4 / 5

Ben Stiller returns to the directors chair with this remake of short story adaptation of the same name. If trailers could win awards (can they?) then The Secret Life of Walter Mitty would win hands down, but because of that it may have left some viewers disappointed. As for me, it was everything I thought and wanted it to be. I didn’t expect it to be deep or emotional, if there was something I knew it would be, it was fun. As for viewing experience it totally did it for me, this is my perfect film for those time’s I feel wanderlust or just bored with life. That being said, maybe with a bit more finesse and fine tuning of the characters and the development of the story, it could have been something really special.

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is just your average Joe stuck in a trance called life. Not the thrills of it but the repetition of it. Ironically Life magazine is where he works. He’s quiet, polite and in the shadows. Initially when first introduced to his place of work, we wonder how a man that works in such lively conditions could be as stuck as he is. Until we actually see where he works; a dark, cluttered space with only his subordinate as company. The film truly starts with a bang as we’re introduced to his first zone out while talking to an employee of a dating website. He spectacularly jumps off a bridge into a building window in order to bravely save the dog of the woman of his dreams (Kristen Wiig) before the building explodes. It’s a great opening, capturing just how imaginative Mitty can be, and honestly haven’t we all done that before? To get the synopsis out of the way, what finally encourages Mitty to take that leap of faith and live his fantasies is a lost negative, taken by loyal photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn).

There’s a lot I love about this film, the cinematography, music, locations and characters. First of all Mitty is one of those guys that we can all relate to. He wants to get out and explore the world but just can’t seem to do it. Maybe he feels he’s past that time and now he should be sticking to other commitments like his job or maybe he’s just scared of what he might find. That’s where we can identify ourselves in him. There’s moments where we should feel sorry for Walter but we don’t fully give into it because we know he has it in him. Just like most of us we aren’t aware of our potential either until we truly test ourselves. I think as a character he’s someone you can easily care about which is important in films. All this is of course due to Ben Stiller’s honest depiction of him, definitely his best performance in a while.

I’d also like to mention Kristen Wiig’s performance, it was actually so refreshing seeing her play such a normal character for once. Usually she takes on these oddball characters with eccentric personalities and what not, but watching her just tone it all down for a more real character was quite pleasant.

The locations are absolutely stunning given justice by the cinematography. From start to finish the film is filled with great shots and smart transitions, utilizing the camera at its best. For an actor who stars in a lot of comedies with silly humor and story lines, he sure has an eye for a great looking film. Ultimately that’s what makes this film so entertaining. We’re absorbed in vast scenery and its lush colours, making us slightly envious of Mitty. As for the sound track, any film with Rogue Wave in it will be in my good books.

The only negative I would say about this film is the comedy. When intended to be funny it produced laughs from me and the people around me but I felt some of the jokes just didn’t fit the tone of the film. It’s such a minor thing but you can definitely see some of Stiller’s influence with certain jokes. I like his films and his brand of humor but in terms of the films overall tone, the more satirical and indie jokes fitted in more than the mainstream ones. To be honest it didn’t bother me that much, it was just something that I noticed affected the film a little bit.

I can understand why critics were so split with this film. In terms of emotional substance, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty doesn’t produce much of it. There’s quite a few avenues that could have been explored a tad more, like love, growth and the meaning of travel. They are definitely present but for those viewers hoping for a little bit more, they may be left disappointed. In my opinion I like how light hearted it is. I didn’t want it to have moments which would bring the film down, I wanted it to be fun and charming and that’s what it delivered. I had a smile throughout most of the viewing and I think that says a lot about how much of a feel good film this is.

Runner Runner (2013)

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runner-runner-review-photoRoze-Rating: 2.5 / 5

Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) used to have a job on Wall Street until the economic meltdown forced him out of the business. To make his way back up to a high paying job again, he refers university students to an online gambling website to finance his masters degree. After getting caught and threatened to be kicked out of Princeton, Furst carelessly bets his money away on an online poker site with hopes of gaining enough winnings to pay his tuition fees. He soon discovers that he had been beaten unfairly and goes straight to the source to rectify it, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck).

Runner Runner was probably the longest hour and a half film that I’ve sat through this year, which says a lot. It’s disappointing as the film has a promising premise. The opening initially set up the potential for a decent flick but its intelligent characters ultimately didn’t fit in with the shallow narrative.

The film could have been genuinely thrilling as it had the ingredients for an explosive thriller. It had interesting characters and an uncommon premise. But the film feels bland as it has no particular direction or form of development. Ultimately it’s a film telling a series of events. What it needed was more emphasis on Richie and even Rebecca (Gemma Arterton), as the film covers the themes of greed and entrapment within the criminal world. They grow as characters but Runner Runner doesn’t even explore these themes or even the development of these characters. In the end we don’t really know who Richie is.

He’s obviously attracted by the prospect of high finance and because of that he doesn’t do the most ethical things. Although he believes in fair gaming in the business sense and is also a business wiz, yet we see him partake in immoral forms of business negotiations. There’s contradictions in his values because of money. So I was expecting some form of change from his character once sh*t got real, but only until he sees his life in danger does he change, but that’s a totally meaningless reason. The only meaningful moment in the film is when Richie’s dad tells him to leave him behind since he’s been a “dead man walking for 15 years”. That is the only defining moment where Richie realizes greed’s negative effect. But by that time, it’s way too late.

The only positive within this film is Gemma Arterton (duuh) and the locations. Both are stunning and sun kissed. The cinematography is colourful and glossy which make’s Runner Runner easy on the eyes. That being said we should have seen more of Arterton, not because she wears those dresses flawlessly (probably accounts for quarter of my rating) but because I think her character could have had a bigger impact on the story. Though it still would have taken more to improve this flick.

Europa Report (2013)

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europa report 4Roze-Rating: 3 / 5

Europa One will be the first spacecraft to carry Men and Women deeper into space than ever before. Their mission is to board one of 63 of Jupiter’s known moon’s, Europa, one of the closest habitable places in our Solar System. The crew set out for a long journey to their destination leaving them alone in space after communication breaks down with earth. They have to conquer the danger’s of space but also their mental well being.

Europa Report adopts the found footage style of film making, and with editing it literally feels like a documentary/news report. Since the premise sets up a groundbreaking time for mankind and space travel, camera’s are set up within the spaceship so that earth can follow the crew’s every move. This gives the films style a rational reasoning. For its low budget I think this was a pretty smart move because it made little weaknesses in special effects forgiving and added some form of realism to the film. Overall we’re given an even better insight to life in space, if not thrilling it is definitely interesting.

What I found is that this film really focuses on it’s science more than cheap thrills or cliched disasters. Europa is actually the closest habitable place in our solar system and could possibly hold some form of life, we have no idea and in that respect it is quite thought provoking. I’m not much of a space nerd but it does provoke questions about space and life that I rarely think about. If your truly into Sci-Fi and enjoy the Sci more than the Fi then Europa Report may be up your ally. To me it’s what diminished the enjoyment of the film, I quite like thrills and good special effects when it comes to Sci-FI and this didn’t offer much. There was definitely a sense of suspense when intended but I’d like to see more out of a film set in a place that’s actually reachable. All the science stuff kinda went in one ear and out of the other because you expect it to be nonsense.

It was nice seeing some familiar faces in the cast. Sharlto Copley probably the bigger of the few, known for his work in Sci-Fi. Of course he plays more of a tame character in a realistic setting this time as opposed to his over the top badass’s. If your a fan of Dexter, it will be quite a reminiscent moment seeing Christian Camargo again AKA Rudy; luckily over his serial killer ways. The rest of the cast includes Michael Nyqvist (Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol), Daniel Wu (The Man With The Iron Fists), Anamaria Marinca (Five Minutes of Heaven) and the lovely Karolina Wydra in her first major film role. In honesty there are no major performances, what the film lacked was chemistry between the group. The only character that seemed to be connecting with other characters was Sharlto Copley. Other than that they were solid.