Well folks, for the third year in a row, me and my
co-panelist on ‘The Feature Presentation’, Matthew Goudreau, embarked on a
cinematic double-header as we did our third straight post-Christmas double
feature, as we went to go see a pair of potential award contenders yesterday,
which has basically been the case with every film we’ve seen in this fashion
since we started doing this. In 2012, we went to go see the musical epic ‘Les
Miserables’ and Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, ‘Django Unchained’. Last year,
it was Martin Scorcese’s hilarious, and in some cases rather underrated, black
comedy ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and ‘American Hustle’, the film that
unfortunately I wasn’t as big a fan of compared to most critics; I was more in
the line with the general reaction from most audiences. Like I did these last
two years, I’m not going to do full reviews of these two films, only because
I’m currently busy prepping my end-of-the-year ‘Best of’ list. So instead, I’m
just doing a pair of quick short reviews for each of the two films that Matt
and I watched yesterday. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
INTO THE WOODS
Disney has been known for some truly iconic movie musicals,
from animated films like ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Frozen’ to live-action classics
like ‘Mary Poppins’. Their latest musical, ‘Into the Woods’, certainly has
quite the pedigree in terms of talent both behind and in front of the camera.
It’s based off of the multi Tony Award winning musical of the same name by
famous composer Stephen Sondheim and writer James Lapine. It’s directed by Rob
Marshall, who helmed 2002’s Oscar-winning musical ‘Chicago’, and it’s got an
all-star cast from top to bottom… and overall it’s a pretty damn good musical
with stunning visuals and a nice light-hearted atmosphere that contrasts
solidly with the darker turns of the second act. As some have joked, it’s sort
of the fairytale equivalent of something like ‘The Avengers’ as it brings
together many famous characters from classic fairytales, from Cinderella (Anna
Kendrick) to Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) to Jack from Jack and the
Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone). It’s primarily focused around a Baker (James
Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who embark on a journey to lift a curse of
infertility that was set upon the Baker’s family years ago by an old witch
(Meryl Streep) by bringing her four items; “a cow as white as milk, a cape as
red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold”. And while
they’re on this journey, they come across all of the aforementioned fairy tale
characters who just so happen to have the items that they need.
There’s been much talk about whether or not Disney would
‘tone down’ some of the darker parts of the musical, like the sexual undertones
of the scenes between Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (Johnny Depp, who I
kid you not is literally in the film for only about five minutes). And it’s
true that certain parts were definitely toned down to maintain a family
friendly PG rating. But, for the most part, I think it’s for the better. While
the story certainly does get dark near the end, this is, for the most part, a
fairly light-hearted story with a lot of humor and some fairly over-the-top
moments but it’s ‘over the top’ in a good way as it’s a fairly heightened
reality being that it’s a fairy tale. The musical numbers are solid and the
cast is spot on from top to bottom. A lot of people have been focusing on Meryl
Streep as the Witch and while she is great in the role, I have to say the
biggest standout of the cast would actually have to be Emily Blunt as the
Baker’s Wife, as she provides a much more ‘down-to-earth’ persona compared to
most of the other characters in the story. My only real complaint about the
film is that sometimes it feels like the story rushes through some moments,
like when Jack climbs the beanstalk. I mean, this was probably the case with
the musical as well but I do kind of wish that we could’ve gotten to see some
of these moments. Still, ‘Into the Woods’ is a solid musical and while I can’t
really say how much it stays true to the original musical due to the fact that
I haven’t seen it, I have the feeling that this film at least does it justice.
Rating: 4.5/5
THE IMITATION GAME
Then we have ‘The Imitation Game’, based on the true story
of Alan Turing, the famous computer scientist who was one of the key figures in
cracking the Enigma Code of Nazi Germany during the Second World War by
developing a special deciphering machine known as the ‘bombe’ that could
encrypt these secret messages much faster than any human can. This story is
truly fascinating and in some cases fairly sad due to some key events that happen
near the end. I mean, this was a man whose work saved countless lives during
World War II and, as some have predicted, it shortened the length of the war by
at least two years. And yet unfortunately, in 1952, he was prosecuted for being
a homosexual, a way of life that was outlawed in the UK at the time. He died
only two years later in 1954 on account of suicide, and it wasn’t until
recently (just a year ago, in fact) when his work was finally given the proper
recognition it truly deserves. With that in mind, this is without a doubt a
must-see ‘true story’ film as Turing was a man who truly left a major impact on
all of our lives. You know those devices that you and I use every day… computers?
His work is what laid the groundwork for that technology and the fact that he
was prosecuted just for being gay (which is just total BS) makes this film even
more important in today’s society, where currently only 35 states in the U.S. (and
the District of Columbia) allow same-sex marriage.
The main highlight of this film is easily Benedict Cumberbatch’s
performance in the role of Turing. I can definitely see a bit of Cumberbatch’s
version of Sherlock Holmes in this performance as both men have this sort of
awkwardness to them. But while Sherlock is more confident in what he’s doing
despite the fact that he seems awkward and strange to everyone around him,
Turing is fairly shy in terms of his awkwardness, which makes sense due to the
fact that he’s holding in a big secret from everyone around him. Keira
Knightley is also superb here as well as Joan Clarke, a fellow code-breaker who
Turing gets into a romantic relationship with before finally revealing his
secret to her. Not only are the performances great, but the film is really
captivating as we see Turing and his team in a race against time to break the
Enigma Code as they only have a set amount of time each day to figure it out
before it switches at the end of the day. All in all, ‘The Imitation Game’ is a
well-acted and well-directed film that truly shines a light on a man who
thankfully has begun to receive the recognition that he truly deserves and the
struggles that he went through near the end of his life will certainly resonate
for many people today.
Rating: 5/5!
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