Ocean's Eleven

Year: 1960 (Original), 2001 (Remake), 2004 (Twelve), 2007 (Thirteen)
Running time: 127 minutes (Original), 116 minutes (Remake), 125 minutes (Twelve), 122 minutes (Thirteen)
Certificate: PG (Original, Thirteen), 12 (Remake, Twelve)
Language: English
Screenplay: Harry Brown, Charles Lederer (Original, Remake), Ted Griffin (Remake), George Nolfi (Twelve), Brian Koppelman, David Levian (Thirteen)
Director: Lewis Milestone (Original), Steven Soderbergh (Remake, Twelve, Thirteen)
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scot Caan, Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, Shaobo Qin, Eddie Jemison, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vincent Cassel, Albert Finney, Robbie Coltrane, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin

Danny and co. begin to suspect something has gone very, very wrong.

The original Ocean’s Eleven isn't counted among the best movies to come out of Hollywood. As far as I know it's not even counted among the best of the Rat Pack. Without the remake I doubt many would remember it, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have heard of it. As a showcase for the effortless cool of the Rat Pack, it mostly works, with Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) bringing together some wartime buddies to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night. It's enjoyable enough with the gang cracking wise and having a jolly good time in their escapades. It is, unfortunately, really rather forgettable. It turned out that Frankie & co. tried just a little too hard to be effortless.

Steven Soderbergh's remake, on the other hand, employed the coolest cast Hollywood had to offer, having the role of Danny Ocean taken over by George Clooney and bringing along a pile of talent to make up his Eleven. Honestly, Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. had style to spare, but Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould...and more. It's got to be one of the most stellar casts that's ever been assembled for a single film. Soderbergh makes the most complex of camera tricks seem as simple as breathing – just watching it while paying attention to camera placement is a revelation. Frankly, it did everything the original Rat Pack vehicle was supposed to do.

Taking a moment to enjoy their success.

So, we have a rare thing here; a remake that is easily better than the original film it's remaking. The only possible exceptions are Don Cheadle’s worse-than-Dick-van-Dyke’s accent as explosives expert Basher Tarr (although it's so bad, it has a weird kind of charm all its own) and the ending – the Rat Pack don’t get away with it in a great finale (their faces as their loot is being cremated is splendid), but George’s bunch get away free as birds minus a minor jail sentence. Even there though, while the original is funny, the remake's ending is more satisfying. One thing both films fall down on is that women are horribly underserved - Angie Dickinson and Julia Roberts both do what they can in the role of Danny's wife, and while Roberts does have a little more to do, both are almost the only female characters and both are side-lined. Not entirely unexpected for a film released in 1960 perhaps, but in the intervening 41 years you'd think that could have been something they'd have fixed. The sequels barely improve matters, adding little more than Catherine Zeta-Jones. Luckily Ocean's Eight, coming soon, looks set to restore balance.

Still cool, no matter how poor the sequel.

And then we have the curse of all successful Hollywood movies – the unnecessary sequel. Ocean’s Twelve is disappointing and, like the original, it tries too hard to look like it’s not trying at all. The plot is far more complicated, and frankly, I don’t want to be confused, I want to be entertained. Stylistically, it hits all the right beats - the dialogue is generally sharp and funny, and Soderbergh's cinematic flair is undimmed. The big difference is, in the original (that is the remake of the original), as a viewer I always felt like I was on Danny Ocean’s side, almost like I was one of the Eleven. Not so in the follow-up. I'm left in the dark as to what is actually happening until near the end; I feel like I've been kept out of the loop, like I was betrayed; hell, like I was one of the bad guys, and it’s rude to exclude me from the club. It was obviously a lot of fun to make, but nowhere near as much fun to watch. And Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts) impersonating Julia Roberts because – here’s the funny part – she looks just like the real Julia Roberts? Does not work. Not even a little bit. I'm not sure I've ever groaned as loudly in a place in a film where I was supposed to laugh.

Danny sizes up his latest mark.

But then, something miraculous. Well, sort of. Ocean's Thirteen remembers why the original (remake) was so good and Ocean's Twelve sucked, and does something about it. In Ocean’s Thirteen, I'm once again part of the gang, back in on the play, and it’s so cool it’s plainly not trying in the slightest. Al Pacino is a welcome addition as Willy Bank, causing Danny's friend Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) so much grief he suffers from a heart attack. Even on just above auto-pilot, Pacino is so effective at portraying menace, it lifts the whole film. Danny reassembles the crew to go after Bank, not for the money this time, but payback for the way he's treated his friend. A very welcome return to form.

So, as Basher might say, after the sequel they were in Barney, but they remembered how to be cool for the finale.

Score:

Ocean’s Eleven (Original): 6/10
Ocean’s Eleven (Remake): 8/10
Ocean’s Twelve: 5/10
Ocean’s Thirteen: 7/10

Back in 1960, Bosley of the New York Times disliked the lack of morality in Sinatra's original, while Emma at Empire loved the remake. Matt at IndieWire makes a very good case for reappraising Ocean's Twelve and Vince at Qwipster also enjoyed Thirteen.

Beetlejuice

Year: 1988

Running time: 92 minutes

Certificate: 15

Language: English

Screenplay: Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren

Director: Tim Burton

Starring: Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, Glenn Shadix, Sylvia Sidney

Betelgeuse, ready to bring the mayhem.

Beetlejuice is a bona-fide modern classic, bringing strangeness and black comedy in spades to a tale of an afterlife with as many frustrations and problems as the world of the living ever had.

Happy, sweet and boring couple Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) meet with a tragic accident thanks to a dog who likes walking in the middle of roads, and come to learn that death finds them stranded in their home with only an indecipherable guidebook for help. To make things worse, weird and dysfunctional family Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and Delia (Catherine O'Hara) Deetz and their daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder), whom the newly-ghostly Maitlands find incomprehensible, move in. Charles has moved out here for some relief from a stressful job, but Delia, an aspiring sculpture artist is aghast, and, with help of her friend Otho, proceeds to completely gut and redesign the house, in the name of modernisation.

Things just get weirder and weirder from here on in, as the Maitlands, looking for help from their book, find they’ve been assigned a caseworker in the afterlife, which appears to be run like the civil service. Juno (Sylvia Sidney) informs them that, basically, if they want the Deetz family out of their house, they will simply have to scare them away. Unfortunately, nobody can see their attempts to terrify. That is except Lydia, with whom they form a bond. After an inspired scene possessing the Deetz family and their dinner guests and making them dance to Harry Belafonte fails to scare them off and only makes them eager to meet them, they take desperate measures and ask for help from the title character, also known as Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton).

Adam and Barbara trying, unsuccessfully, to haunt their house.

Keaton's turn is a comedy whirlwind, full of manic energy, obliterating everything in its path. It moves the film up a gear, from merely great fun, to an unforgettable comedy that ranks up there with Ghostbusters and The Goonies. There is plenty to love about this film – from the bizarre cast of supporting characters to the superb Burtonesque afterlife, but it is Keaton’s turn that stays with you. He’s technically the bad guy, but you can’t help but love him.

Completely bizarre and brilliant because of it, Beetlejuice finds both director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton on top form.

Score: 8/10

A surprisingly mixed bag of other reviews out there for Beetlejuice, from Roger Ebert, who was less than impressed (with the exception of the deliberately overly-whimsical opening - he's well wide of the mark here in my opinion) to Eric at Slant, who loved it.

The Cat Returns

Year: 2002
Running time: 75 minutes
Certificate: U
Language: Japanese
Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida
Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Starring (voices): Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Aki Maeda, Takayuki Yamada, Hitomi Satô, Kenta Satoi, Mari Hamada, Tetsu Watanabe, Yôsuke Saitô, Tetsurô Tanba 

Haru in a brief moment of quiet reflection.

Studio Ghibli didn't always need to rely on Hayao Miyazaki's genius to produce great work. While The Cat Returns is certainly proof of that, it does feel like a lesser work. Rest assured, however - it is gorgeous, engaging and a lot of fun.

As is the trend with many Studio Ghibli films, The Cat Returns explores a fantastical fantasy world through the eyes of a young girl. 17 year-old Haru (Chizuru Ikewaki) is walking home from school when she saves the life of a cat, preventing him from being run over with inventive use of her lacrosse stick. It turns out that the feline life she saves is none other than Prince Lune (Takayuki Yamada), heir to the kingdom of the cats. In addition to gratitude, Haru is betrothed to Prince Lune and somehow needs to find a way to escape the cat kingdom before she turns into a cat herself and marries the prince.

Haru and her new friend, The Baron.

Helping her in this endeavour is The Baron (Yoshihiko Hakamada), the cool top hat, tails and cane sporting cat and fat cat Muta (Tetsu Watanabe). The Baron and Muta have featured in a previous Studio Ghibli feature (the beautiful ode to the awakening of the creative urge in the young Whisper of the Heart, which is truly impossible for me to recommend highly enough) and it's great to see them again, this time in a much more hands-on (paws-on?) role. The escape is packed full of moments of comedy and breathless action brought to life by staggeringly good animation.

Less sophisticated than most of Studio Ghibli's other output, this is nevertheless another splendid addition to the studio's stellar collection.

Score: 7/10

Opinions of The Cat Returns as a lesser-yet-still-worthy Ghibli release seem fairly uniform across the board - see these reviews from Hannah at T.H.E.M., IGN and Kuma at The Nihon Review.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Year: 2004
Running time: 108 minutes
Certificate: PG
Language: English
Screenplay: Robert Gordon
Director: Brad Silberling
Starring: Jim Carrey, Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, Kara Hoffman, Shelby Hoffman, Billy Connolly, Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Timothy Spall, Catherine O'Hara, Luis Guzman, Jennifer Coolidge, Jamie Harris, Jane Adams, Craig Ferguson, Cedric the Entertainer

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was another book adaptation of a hugely popular series that was released in the wake of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Like The Golden Compass, Lemony Snicket failed to trigger a franchise (corporate shake-ups at Paramount didn't stop years of talk of a sequel that never materialised), but unlike that absolute stinker, it does a fine job of nailing the quirky tone suggested by what I've read of the books. It skews perhaps a little younger than Rings and the later instalments of Potter (although not by much), but is still full of great invention and storytelling smarts.

The ever-resourceful Baudelaire children.

The film covers the events in the first 3 of 13 books, and although it did reasonably well, it didn't do enough to secure any sequels. Although Netflix have produced a new series which is due to launch in January 2017, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Neil Patrick Harris, giving the property a well-deserved new lease of life.

The film has an impressive style all its own, with the muted colours still allowing for striking visuals and the well-suited soundtrack creating an overall effect of dreary negativity which still manages to be funny and emotionally engaging. It’s an odd contradiction, and the makers have made it work well.

Centred around the three Baudelaire children Violet (inventor) (Emily Browning), Klaus (book lover) (Liam Aiken) and baby Sunny (biter) (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) who soon become the Baudelaire orphans after their parents are killed in a mysterious house fire, the film tells of their struggle against the sinister Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), who is trying to get his hands on their late parents' fortune. Shipped from guardian to guardian, it is up to the siblings to outwit the adults who, through sheer bloody-minded incompetence, always seem to place them in danger. I suspect bright children often feel something of the frustration the Baudelaire orphans do here, controlled and written off by useless adults who simply assume they know best when almost always, they are either well-meaning buffoons or malicious idiots.

There are occasional moments when the siblings are given brief moments to grieve the loss of their parents (and their safety), and the rarity of these moments make them all the more affecting - particularly at the end of the film when they visit the ruins of their home. The scene hit me hard enough to bring tears (that is, since having children of my own - this being another scene, like so many other moments in so many other films, that means so much more now than it ever did before).

Count Olaf: Most assuredly, up to no good.

The cast are fabulous; Liam Aiken does well as Klaus, but is upstaged in every scene by Emily Browning's Violet - she deserves much more than to be remembered for this and Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch. She was very brave to take on Sleeping Beauty, and was excellent in it, but the disturbing subject matter and large amounts of nudity means it will only ever be niche. The stellar adult cast including Timothy Spall, Billy Connelly and Meryl Streep all impress. It is, however, the casting of Jim Carrey in the role of the despicable Count Olaf that gives the film its standout performance. A master of disguise fooling all the adults but never managing to outwit the Baudelaire orphans, the role of the dastardly and slightly wired Olaf is perfectly suited to Carrey, and leaves Neil Patrick Harris a hell of a shadow to fill.

A special mention is necessary for the superb end credit sequence, which may just be the best I’ve ever seen, with the animation and music summing up the style of the film beautifully.

Better than I was expecting, I was happy to be taken by ‘supreeze’.

Score: 7/10

Reviews are certainly mixed out there - Scott at Cinemablend liked it a lot with the notable exception of Jim Carrey, while Peter at The Guardian was much less impressed. Interestingly, most of the reviews at the time presumed a franchise.

The Prestige

Year: 2006
Running time: 130 minutes
Certificate: 12
Language: English
Screenplay: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Samantha Mahurin, David Bowie, Andy Serkis 

Borden and Angier, in a rare moment of not scowling at one another.

Every now and again a film comes along and blows minds. Fight Club, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Matrix. There are, of course, many others. In this esteemed company is where, in my opinion, The Prestige belongs. It's an astonishing film from modern day Kubrick (or at least, if not quite there yet, is certainly on his way) and director of Memento, Inception and the glorious cinematic mind-bender Interstellar, Christopher Nolan.

Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) are both magicians who, due to a tragic mistake leading to the death of Angier's wife Julia McCullough (Piper Perabo), go from being great friends to bitter rivals. Borden and Angier each forge their own way and go to greater and greater lengths to outdo and sabotage each other. Eventually Borden gets the edge with the unbeatable trick 'The Transported Man', in which he appears to walk into one door and out another on the other side of the stage. Maddened and desperate to work out how he does it, Angier becomes ever more bitter and vicious. The more the rivalry spirals out of control, the worse the acts Borden and Angier inflict on each other are until murder rears its ugly head.

In the leads, Bale and Jackman are both intense and mesmerising, and Michael Caine as mentor to both of them Cutter threatens to steal the show on more than one occasion.

Michael Caine's Cutter and the under-used Scarlett Johansson as

Olivia Wenscombe, Angier's glamourous onstage assistant.

Everything about the production is extremely high quality, from set design and costumes to sound and cinematography - following Borden's encrypted notes on a possible trail to the secret of The Transported Man, Angier finds himself talking to Nikola Tesla (played to eccentric perfection by David Bowie) and the moment when he is suddenly surrounded by a field of blazing lights is a gorgeous, awe-inspiring moment.

Refreshingly, the film isn't interested in making things easy for the viewer, and you need to pay attention to make sense of the fractured chronology. The meticulously detailed script lays the foundations, but, like the best magic tricks, leaves you astonished and trying to work out exactly what happened. It demands multiple viewings and even then, there is room for near endless debate about exactly what took place.

An incredibly well crafted film, The Prestige  is spine tingling and keeps you holding your breath on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Score: 8/10

The Prestige is well-loved - see this review by Philip at The Guardian and this one from Czarina.

Night Watch & Day Watch

Year: 2004 (Night Watch), 2006 (Day Watch)
Running time: 114 minutes (Night Watch), 132 minutes (Day Watch)
Certificate: 15
Language: Russian
Screenplay: Laeta Kalogridis (Night Watch), Alexander Talal (Day Watch), Timur Bekmambetov
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, Maria Poroshina, Vladimir Menshov, Valery Zolotukhin, Galina Tyunina, Dmitry Martynov, Yuri Kutsenko, Aleksey Chadov, Zhanna Friske, Viktor Verzhbitsky

Anton has his eye on some treaty-breakers.

Night Watch was released to a reputation of hype. Based on the first third of the book of the same name, Night Watch promised a uniquely mind-blowing treat. In truth, it was fun, but ultimately needed to spend more time making sense than trying to be cool. We find ourselves in the middle of an uneasy truce in the eternal battle between good and evil, with each side policing the other to ensure the truce is held to. The light side have the night watch, who keep an eye on their enemies during the darker hours, while the evil-doers have the day watch to maintain constant vigilance on the other side. Without the truce, the two sides are so evenly matched the only possible outcome to all out war would be mutual destruction. A new struggle emerges, with each side relying on the free will of others choosing which side to join, each side trying to find a way to tip the balance of power in their favour.

When we first meet the story's main protagonist Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) he is on the verge of striking a deal with a witch to get his wife to come back to him. A deal which will involve the miscarriage of her child. Before the deal can be struck, the witch is stopped by officers of the night watch and it soon becomes apparent than Anton is an 'other' and then we move forward 12 years where we see Anton has joined the night watch. One striking thing about these films is the shades of grey blurring the lines between light and dark, Anton's terrible unfulfilled deal being an obvious example of this.

What follows is a high octane, tension-filled coolfest that is great fun to watch, if sometimes a little difficult to follow. There are some slightly dodgy effects at times, but considering what must have been a fairly low budget, they hold up relatively well.

While on the trail of a vampire who is intending to feed on 12 year-old boy Yegor (Dmitry Martynov), Anton sees a terrifying vision of a woman who appears to be under a terrible curse, and then manages to kill one of the vampires while saving Yegor. Killing a member of the day watch brings a boatload of crap down on Anton's head and it also turns out that the woman he saw is Svetlana (Maria Poroshina), who has a 'vortex of damnation' above her head (as you do). In addition to this, Yegor is Anton's son, the one he almost killed to strike a deal with a witch 12 years ago.

The climax is suitably spectacular, but it also contains some though-provoking ideas, as the light-side Anton sees bad decisions he made earlier in his life come back not only to bite him, but to significantly shift the odds in dark-side's favour, as Yegor turns out to be a long-prophesised powerful other that has now chosen the side of evil. It elegantly posits the assertion that you can claim to be on the side of good all you like, but if your actions are evil, you will reap the consequences.

That was one way to get ahead of the traffic.

There appears to be some confusion about this, but it seems (according to Wikipedia) the sequel Day Watch, filmed at the same time, covers the events in the final two thirds of the book Night Watch, and not, confusingly, the book sequel Day Watch. It seems that there was an intention to make it a trilogy, but we're still waiting on Twilight Watch. Like the first movie, Day Watch is fast paced, beautifully stylised and occasionally baffling.

Early on, we're introduced to the highly unusual McGuffin, the Chalk of Fate. Apparently this is a piece of chalk that one can use to change decisions you made in the past that have turned out shitty. Despite his son choosing the dark, Anton tries his best to protect Yegor and covers up his treaty-violating attacks on humans. Agents of both sides race for the Chalk, Yegor resents Svetlana's growing relationship with his father and the whole thing culminates in most of Moscow being destroyed when the centuries old stalemate is broken. Not many people get the kind of second chance Anton does here, as he uses the Chalk of Fate to reverse the terrible decision he made right back at the start of Night Watch, thereby restoring Moscow, the truce and wiping the events of the two films from history (although not from the memory of some of the main characters).

To some this might seem some kind of Bobby Ewing-in-the-shower type of cop-out, but it feels right to me having events come full circle, leaving you with the determination not to make bad decisions before it's too late to reverse their consequences.

Lots of fun. Not as mind blowingly revolutionary as The Matrix, which is clearly a big influence, but enough smarts under the extensive special effects to get you thinking.

Score:
Night Watch: 7/10
Day Watch: 7/10

Opinion on these movies seems to be mixed to good, so I seem to generally be with the majority - for example this review of Night Watch by Steve and this one of its sequel at Cherub Cow.

The Holiday

Year: 2006
Running time: 138 minutes
Certificate: 12A
Language: English
Screenplay: Nancy Meyers

Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Rufus Sewell, Edward Burns

Amanda and Graham take refuge in a home-made den.

I am ashamed to admit that I have a prejudice. It’s true. Romantic comedies are generally crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. I’m sorry, I can’t help it. It was a wonderful genre, back in the time that scenes in this movie allude to, when they had sparkle, originality, when they were fun (see Some Like It Hot, It Happened One Night, Pillow Talk and countless others). But now, the genre is choking to death on one too many Sweet Home Alabamas (and that’s nothing against Reese Witherspoon, who in the right role is wonderful).

Well, there are always exceptions, and The Holiday goes some way to restoring some of my faith in the rom-com. Of course, casting four cracking lead actors goes a long way to make this what it is; without them, this would likely be barely average.

Iris (Kate Winslet) is a journalist writing a wedding column suffering from unrequited love; she pines after Jasper (Rufus Sewell), a sorry excuse for a human who clearly intends to string Iris along for as long as he can while continuing his other relationship. Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is a trailer producer in LA who has just kicked out her unfaithful boyfriend Ethan (Edward Burns). In an attempt to leave their disastrous relationships behind, they spend some time in each other's homes via a house-swap holiday website.

While on the other side of the world for a holiday, both women fall in love with new men, because of course they do. Amanda meets Graham (Jude Law), Iris' brother and impossibly perfect widowed father of two adorable children. Iris meets elderly retired screenwriter Arthur (Eli Wallach) and composer Miles (Jack Black). It is Iris' story that I find to be more absorbing, as both Arthur and Miles are infused with a love of film, be it explaining the 'meet-cute' or discussing favourite soundtracks, and, frankly, I could listen to that shit all day long.

Iris and Miles talk soundtracks.

Other things lifting this out of the myriad of mediocrity that is this genre include the lovely English Winter scenery and the accomplished direction of Nancy Meyers - I think being a writer-director in this type of genre means she may not have got the credit her skill deserves - What Women Want and Something's Gotta Give are other examples of her quietly professional style.

It's not all good, though - Meyers' direction is better than her writing here. The dialogue is clunky at times, and it is Winslet that gets the majority of the most difficult lines. Even with so fantastic an actor, some moments of dialogue just don't work. In addition, the final scene of all these fabulously rich and deliriously happy white folks enjoying themselves in a giant mansion having overcome their problems which were never really problems to begin with (like not being able to cry - turns out she just needed to be away from Jude Law for a while) genuinely makes me want to punch them all. I do try not to let that ruin the rest of the film for me, however.

Overall, this is funny, warm and romantic but entirely unmemorable; just what you need for some brain-disengaging entertainment for the holidays. Which begs the question why I'm reviewing it in August. Oh well.

Score:  6/10

The Holiday is not particularly well-reviewed out there - see this one from Richard Roeper, for example. And Peter at the Guardian really didn't like it.