Lone Survivor!!!!

Lone Survivor.

Before I even watched this film I kind of knew what would happen, hence the title of the film gives away what the final outcome will be. With this aside I went into the film with interest after seeing Kathryn Bigelow's intense yet seriously impressive Zero Dark Thirty I was expecting something on the same scale. 

Real footage of Navy Seal recruits going through the gruelling training to become a Seal is shown on screen, from laying in cold water side by side to running through mud it is all shown. With the ringing of a bell and a helmet placed on the floor the list of people deciding to leave the training is piled up as finally only a few men make it through to the end and become full fledge Navy Seal's.

Fast track to the present and you see the various characters getting up and going about their usual duties at the camp in Afghanistan. Being part of Seal Team 10's quick reaction force they are all on call, a new mission is set by Lieutenant Commander Erik S. Kristensen (Eric Bana) to track the Taliban leader Ahmad Shah who is responsible for the death of many marines. The four man team sent in consists of medical corpsman and sniper Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), on ground leader Lieutenant Michael P. "Murph" Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), communications Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and sonar technician and sniper Matthew "Axe" Axelson (Ben Foster).

Sent into the mountains they observe and track Ahmad Shah but realise that he is not alone and has a potential small army at his disposal. As some goat herders accidentally stumble upon the four Navy Seal's they have to decide what to do next, leave them tied up, kill them or set them free and say the mission is compromised. 

As they decide to set them free and head up the hillside to be picked up they are soon in the sights of the Taliban and under some serious fire. Using their skills and what they do best they shoot their way out but get into some difficulties causing them to make some dangerous decisions. Shot up and wounded they jump off of cliff ledges and franticly try to survive the attack while trying to call for backup but with no luck.

As each man tumbles down the cliff face and hills hitting every rock and tree on the way down you can do nothing but feel all of them as you hear the cracks. With each gunshot wound you see them suffer and limp around trying to stay alive while still hitting every target. It has to be said the gun fights in the film are impressive and we have not seen footage this intense and on point since Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down.

The film itself does give away the ending just by reading the title of the film but what happens in between is what will get you hooked. You feel every cut, scrape and gunshot wound and you really do root for them and hope that they come out alive but obviously you know that is not the case. With no real backstory of the four men it leaves you floating and not knowing how you truly feel about the people you see on screen. 

One let down for me is the footage of Navy Seal training as it felt like the start of a Navy Seal recruitment video that a young wannabe recruit would have to watch. The whole film felt like a massive advertisement for what to except when you join up and also what to expect when it comes to fighting within the field itself. A nice and respective sombre moment obviously comes at the end with a four to five minute rememberance slideshow of the men who were lost as part of the four man operation. 

An all round impressive film that shows a true story taking place but for me just felt a little bit too distant at times and too propaganderish at the same time.

7/10.

August: Osage County!!!!

August: Osage County.

What started out as a play by Tracy Letts has been transferred and made for the big screen with what is this years biggest high profile cast for a film. The original storyline is that a family is brought back together to the family home after a tragedy takes place, together they all reveal their own problems and thoughts of each other. 

The film itself takes place in the family home in Pawhuska, Oklahoma where husband and father Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard) an alcoholic poet is interviewing a young native american woman Johnna (Misty Upham) to be a stay at home cook and carer to his wife Violet (Meryl Streep) . A drug addict and woman who speaks first then thinks afterwards is certainly a handful and who has been diagnosed with mouth cancer. 

As disaster strikes the family Violet rallies round the family members to return to the family home. First is her sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) and her husband Charles (Chris Cooper), next is the youngest daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) the quiet single one. Barbara (Julia Roberts) the oldest arrives with her husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and her teenage daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin). Finally middle daughter Karen (Juliette Lewis) arrives with her new fiancée Steve (Dermot Mulroney). 

Finally all assembled at the family home they all soon enough start tearing into each other, Violet lets her family know what she really thinks of everyone and lets her bitter tongue do it's work. With Barbara and Bill's seperation revealed to the whole family she is in the firing line of Violet's vicious words. As a late running Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch) arrives revelations are soon revealed as to who he is seeing and also the shock of his real father. The sisters sit down together at last and talk and the truth finally comes out as they open up for the first time and what they think of each other.

The family itself all turn on each other, reminiscing of old times and how each sister is so closed and apart you see the fraught situations life can throw at you. The family you see on screen is how not to be as a family in real life, people cope with life in many different ways and this family on screen does everything the wrong way. 

It has to be said Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts are seriously impressive as they are both stripped right back to just dialogue filled scenes. Streep as Violet the bitter and opinionated mother matriarch is on top form and plays the drugged up mother perfectly. Of course the scenes where we see Streep and Roberts together are just perfect as they both bounce off each other certainly are able to bring out their characters with ease. 

A film that doesn't have all the big budget effects or seat gripping thrills but what it does have is dialogue filled to the point drama and with such a big named cast they pull it off. If anything this for me has to be one of Streep's best films since The Iron Lady and is Roberts best film in years as she is taken back to basics of just acting and dialogue. For anyone who enjoys a good dialogue filled drama with top performances from top actors showing off their raw acting talent then go watch it as you'll thoroughly enjoy it. 

8/10.

The Wolf Of Wall Street!!!!

The Wolf Of Wall Street.

All people needed to say to me was Scorsese and Leo and I was hooked and bought into whatever film they were making as to me their partnership is incredible and they work so well together. This being their fifth partnership it was to be of a rather over indulgent and at times shocking storyline about the life of Jordan Belfort.

Starting out life with high ambitions, Belfort (DiCaprio) arrives on Wall Street to start his life as a Stockbroker and make his fortune and become a successful millionaire. Finally landing a job he meets Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) a man who's been on Wall Street for years and teaches him his ways and how to survive with a few added tricks. Deciding to go work for a small company headed up by Dwayne (Spike Jonze) he starts selling penny stocks to high rise rich fat cats and soon enough sets up his own company Stratton Oakmont. 

With his new found friend and business partner in the form of Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) the pair soon enough became a massive success, an article calling Belfort the "wolf of wall street" circulates and young financiers are soon wanting to work for him. With lavish partys, orgies on business planes, cocaine being snorted, drugs being taken and all round debauchery they live a high lifestyle. Jordan soon enough divorces his first wife Teresa (Cristin Miloti) and meets a beautiful blonde in the form of Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie) with whom he soon enough marries.

As their thirst for money intensifies they secure the IPO and selling of stocks of the footwear company Steve Madden and make millions from this. With the FBI soon on their tail and investigating Stratton Oakmont for their dodgy supposed dealings Jordan is soon spiralling out of control and needs to make a drastic change. Finally being arrested and having to work in co-operation with the FBI it's the realisation and outcome he was certainly not expecting.

I have to say the film for me at times was abit too overly excessive, the constant drug taking, sex, lavish party's and money dealings didn't feel too real and overly comedic. With lines like "you do work for me you have my money strapped to your boobs" it just didn't resonate to me and felt it was trying to be overly funny. I have to say this is one of if the funniest black comedy films that Scorsese has done in the career and it is a territory he may step into again, who knows. 

DiCaprio and especially Hill are for me really impressive in their roles as Belfort and Azoff, the friendship and relationship they have works well on screen. Robbie who plays Naomi is a great addition and it clearly shows that she has a long and successful career in films as she plays her with such ease and confidence. Their are of course alot of other actors who make the cast what it is and really bring the story perfectly to life. 

A film in my eyes that although at times overly funny and comedis does indeed easily stand alongside Scorsese's other great films Raging Bull and Taxi Driver and it shows DiCaprio's relationship with the director is going from strength to strength. For any fans who want to see a cross between American Psycho and The Great Gatsby with a massive huge serving of black comedy then definitely go see it oh and get comfortable as it's three hours long but you'll love every minute.

8/10.

Delivery Man!!!!

Delivery Man.

I have to admit this was an odd choice of film for me mainly because I don't tend to see comedy films at the cinema not unless I've heard great reviews. But going into this film I went in with open eyes and didn't have a single expectation or prior knowledge about the film with only what I had heard from other people who enjoyed it.

Delivery Man sees the main character David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) living his life day to day as a meat truck delivery man for his fathers butcher shop. Soon enough his past comes back to haunt him as a lawyer turns up from a sperm bank saying a mixup at the clinic states he is the biological father to 533 children and 142 of them want him named.

With a lawsuit on his hands in which he would be named as the father he enlists his out of practice friend Brett (Chris Pratt) to help him with his case. Given a folder of photos of some of his kids he sets out to see them but instead ends up helping each of them with a random act of kindness. Slowly seeing them over time and learning about their lives and also learning to love them as his own kids he has a moral dilemma and needs to work out what to do next.

Vaughn is of course his usual self and what you expect from him is what you get, funny quips about fatherhood and his usual style of humour are all here to see. The storyline is a nice one as it flows along quite well being a straight forward feel of a film with no added frills or tricks. It is at times a very funny film as simple things like falling off a diving board gets alot of laughs, Vaughn is of course in his own comfort zone and he does it well. 

Obviously the film is too generic for me it has the usual themes we have seen a thousand times before, funny it may be it didn't interest me too much. But it did entertain me, this being the key thing it is clearly a film to just sit and have on in the background and even if you miss a part you know what the ending will be.

For fans of any of Vaughn's previous films will love this and for anyone who likes a comedy that has a heart and something to entertain you as well.

6/10.