Project X

The opening is a black screen with white titles, claiming that the following footage was real and never intended to be seen.  I love this authentic approach to film.  Perhaps that it the exact issue that I had with Project X - that while the film had this excellent framework, it failed to strike a sense of authenticity.

The camerawork felt too smooth and professional to truly be conducted by a mysteriously silent teenager in a trench coat.  This often led to the film feeling like an ordinary fictional film, rather than found-footage, which somewhat defeated the point.  The central trio of characters, clearly aimed at high-school boys, also felt like an uninspired repetition of The Inbetweeners.  There is the crude friend with over-ambitious ideas, the unpopular boy who falls victim to his friends antics and is besotted with a girl out of his league, and the overly smart-dressed nerd.  Instead, the true stars of the film had to be the two pint-sized security boys.  Approaching their security roles with absolute seriousness and devotion, they produced by far the best comedy in the film.

The film became increasingly identifiable as the party progressed, until it soared past all realistic possibility in spectacular style.  Interestingly, the film constantly redirected authority to the out of control teenagers, by presenting the adults within the film as either inept or approving of the younger generation's antics.  From a British perspective, given last summer's London riots, this felt like an interesting decision by the filmmakers.

The film lacked emotional weight, of course, but that's not to say that you won't be mesmerised with envy, and then utter despair, as the most epic party tears predictably into absolute havoc.

Casting Catching Fire

After months of speculation, wishing and dread, Lionsgate have finally officially announced the actor cast in this summer's most coveted role.  British actor Sam Claflin will be playing the role of the desirable and very dashing Finnick Odair in the highly-anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Finnick, a former victor of the games, will be thrown together with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as uncertainty and dissent falls across the districts, following the heroes' controversial actions in the last film.  Finnick is introduced as a popular young man, from the oceanic District 4, who is skilled and deadly with a trident.  Charismatic with a seductive reputation, he proves that impressions are not always what they seem.

The twenty-six year old actor is best known for his roles in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and the recent Snow White and the Huntsman.  Claflin has proven his talent at capturing courageous and stalwart characters in his previous roles, and will hopefully bring the perfect balance of charm, intelligence and vulernability to the role.

Catching Fire is scheduled for release next year on November 22nd.

"I think you can't be prepared for life.  Life just happens to you, you know?  Life's what happens to you when you're busy making other plans and that's okay.  You've got to surrender to the adventure and the kind of thrill and the highs and the lows.  And right now all I'm trying to do is keep my eyes open, because I won't get to experience this moment ever again."

Andrew Garfield

The Dark Knight Rises

Dark and thrilling, the final instalment of Christopher Nolan's trilogy delivers a most outstanding and epic conclusion.

Set eight years on from the last film, The Dark Knight Rises follows Bruce Wayne, billionaire and cloaked hero, as he struggles to move on from the harrowing events of The Dark Knight.  Bruce's life as a recluse within his grand mansion is portrayed as meaningless; dust sheets pulled over the furniture in vast, almost empty rooms.  As he slowly loses grasp on the city of Gotham, our hero is faced with a crisis of identity.  Haunted by his past that he cannot move on from, but unable to embrace the masked man that he once was, Bruce Wayne is a man without an identity.  This is constructed through the symbol of the anonymous mask, which the script returns to explore several times, challenging whether the Batman was the hero of the people or a symbol of the everyman himself.  The film's marxist themes were furthermore an unexpected and interesting spin to the storyline, as Gotham is confronted with the perils of revolution and terrorism.

There were several truly excellent additions to the cast, with a significant portion of the cast of Inception reuniting under Nolan's incredible direction.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt shone as Blake, the hard-working, heroic cop who never loses faith in the Batman nor sight of his own difficult past.  But by far my favourite character had to Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle!  Stiletto heels, red lipstick and pearl necklaces, Selina is the definition of style, seduction and deadliness.  The cat burglar, whose intentions are often unpredictable, is the woman that men dream of and women dream of being.  Strong and independent, Nolan successfully delivers a confident female lead who is never once lost amidst the equally strong male characters of the plot.

While Tom Hardy gave a confident and effective performance as the plot's villain, a sinister force not to be reckoned with, he is notably restricted by the mask that consumes his face and distorts his voice.  The absence of Heath Ledger's ever charismatic Joker was therefore hard to miss.  However, where the film perhaps most fell down, at least initially, was within the bleak and ever so slightly depressing tones that surround the film's portrait of Bruce Wayne for the first half or so of the film.  While the storyline of a man unable to move on in a world that has was interesting, it was explored for far too long and made the plot feel slow and wary at times.

It was therefore the truly excellent twists at the end which really led me to be suddenly and completely hooked to every moment of the film's exciting, grand finale.  Two dimensional characters suddenly become rich with deep, intriguing histories and their motives were challenged and rewritten.  Set to the ever-incredible work of Hans Zimmer, the soundtrack perfectly captured the final film's dark and epic tone.  The Inception-esque ending is far from simple, and Nolan will leave you wondering whether it is indeed intended to be literal or metaphorical.

Christopher Nolan's filmmaking has redefined the superhero genre, making it dark, seductive and of an outstandingly high-quality.  It will be both hard and interesting to see how others attempt to follow....

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Surprisingly powerful and somewhat profound, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is a story about the condition of humanity on the edge of an apocalypse.

As an asteroid heads towards earth, the population comes to terms with their soon-to-be end.  As parties, riots and homicides ensue, the film delves into the desperation and darkness that quickly consumes a powerless society.  Focussing on the story of two people caught in the midst of this chaos, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World takes a refreshing step back from a global story, producing an intimate exploration of the emotional repercussions of losing everything.

Steve Carell plays the likeable loner, who ploughs about his everyday business in the false security produced by routine.   His character evokes something identifiable: that sense of despair that you feel when a deadline is rapidly approaching and you realise how much you have yet to achieve.  While his determination to continue life as normal may be construed as frustrating, it offers a sense of steadiness in a quickly unravelling world.  Keira Knightley, meanwhile, stars as an impulsive and nostalgic british girl, lost from home and filled with regret: desperate to see her family one last time.  Although I am not particularly a fan of Knightley in some of her other work, I felt that she was well-suited to the role and made for the perfect contrasting lead beside Carell.  Look out too for a small cameo by the lovely Adam Brody.

Accompanied by a bright-eyed, adorable dog named Sorry (who is impossible not to fall in love with!), they embark on a journey of memory and discovery, as they try desperately to hold onto the past while facing their ominous future.  The story was engaging and provoking, questioning mankind's decisions and illustrating how precious time is.  However, the sudden change in the film's pacing towards the end felt a little rushed and threatened to undermine the plausibility of the story.  A bittersweet story to the end.

Heartbreaking and yet hopeful, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is an interesting exploration of how humanity handles their knowing fate.

Welcome to Star, my blog dedicated to new and nostalgic films.  I am a 21 year old graduate who adores films and is presently working in film marketing.  Thank you for visiting!