Django Unchained

Tarantino explores cowboys, bounty hunters, slaves and the South in his new film Django Unchained.
The film starts with slave Django (Jamie Foxx) being bought and subsequently set free from German Dr Schultz (Christoph Waltz) somewhere in Texas. Dr Shultz is revealed to be a bounty hunter and employs Django to help identify three particular wanted men. Django agrees in hope of being able to find and rescue his wife.
Tarantino's distinct style is brought to life in this Western genre piece. He both wrote and directed the film and captures the harsh life of the era with a perfect balance of humour and action.
Waltz steals the show as the liberal "nigga lovin'" German bounty hunter surrounded by a sea of ignorant Southerns. Leonard DiCaprio stars in the delicious role of an ostentatious plantation owner.
Jamie Foxx plays our hero, though he is less of a hero and instead a man on a hunt for retribution. He is filled with rage for the entire film and we never see an emotional or softer side to his character. It was obviously Tarantino's decision to steer clear of a sentimental sappy story and play a straightforward, unforgiving, gritty drama- much like the lifestyles of the time.
Sitting down in the cinema, I had no idea what direction the story would take; something that Tarantino is very well at accomplishing. Act three is too overdrawn and seems less polished compared to the rest of the film, leaving us downhearted that Django will not have Tarantino taking the biggest gong at the Academy Awards.

Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect follows freshman Beca (Anna Kendrick) as she reluctantly starts out at college instead of following her music-producing-life-dream. Pretty sweet with the disc jockey skills and owner to a strong singing voice, Beca is convinced to join the college's all-female a capella group. Beca meets colorful characters as she is introduced into the a capella world, including the hilarious Fat Amy, played by Australian Rebel Wilson. The female group The Bellas work hard singing and dancing in hope of winning the national a capella competition.
Highlights of the film include Rebel Wilson in her outrageously funny supporting role, which receives 90% of the laughs. Elizabeth Banks pops up as one of the competition commentators in a deliciously funny role. The music and singing is also one of the highlights, but considering it is a musical, it's not overly surprising. (If A TV show, Glee, can do it every week, surely a Hollywood film can?)
Unfortunately that sums up the only highlights of the film; the comedy and the singing. The story, or lack there of, is terribly unoriginal and on the verge of boring. The constant jokes are used to distract the audience from the nonexistent and unpolished story.  Anna Kendrick has barely anything to work with and is a dull protagonist despite being a talented actress.
Pitch Perfect has been labelled Mean Girls meets Glee but unfortunately it lacks the originality and heart of both.
2.5 out of 5 stars.

Queen Freak / Family Weekend

Queen Freak just finished screening at the Canberra International Film Festival. At the festival it screened under the title Queen Freak but the USA release in March 2013 will see the title changed to Family Weekend.
 This American comedy/drama comes from Benjamin Epps in his feature directorial debut. The film centres on teenager Emily (Olesya Rulin) and her crazy dysfunctional family. When none of her family show up to her big jump-roping competition, Emily decides to take her parents hostage in hope of reeducating them to be a healthy family.
The highlight of this film is the array of colourful characters that form Emily's family, including eleven year old Lucinda (Joey King) who dresses up as famous characters from R-rated Hollywood films, for example Jodie Foster's twelve year old prostitute Iris, from 1976's Taxi Driver. The mother of the family is played superbly by Kristin Chenoweth as a super bitchy, self absorbed business woman. The mother character continues to uphold her bitchiness throughout most of the film, without succumbing to cliche sentimentality. Kristen is one of the only actors who could play this ruthless mother figure, while still keeping the character endearing, thanks to her great comic abilities.
The low-light would have been the handling of act three. It is hard film to wrap up due to the amount of characters and thus the amount of arcs that need closure. The current ending may not have the full emotional impact.
Otherwise this is a great farce comedy in vein of such films like A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
- but with a great family touch.

The Artist

It is the late 1920's silent films are at their peak and silent film star George Valentin is the most successful silent film actor in Hollywood. But with the introduction of talking films, George wonders where he will fit in with this advancing industry.
The Artist is a black and white silent film, and perhaps is one of the funniest films of the year. It is a charming film about trying to find a new dream while fighting inner turmoils of pride and denial.
There is so much to love about this film; the acting, the cinematography, the music, the homage to the beginnings of Hollywood.
Audiences may be turned away at the thought of a black and white silent film, but The Artist is the best film of the past year. It will hopefully take the top award at the Academy Awards, being forever shelved as a masterpiece.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Super intelligent nine year old Oskar tries to deal with the death of his father (Tom Hanks) on the 'worst day,' the 9/11 Terrorist attacks. A year after the event, Oskar finds a key in his late father's possession and decides it is a clue left behind for him. Oskar goes on an adventure, meeting an array of colourful New Yorkers, in hope of finding what the key opens and thus finding a meaning in his father's death. All the while Oskar becomes further isolated from his mother played by Sandra Bullock.
This film could have failed terribly with the poor casting of Oskar, but fortunately Thomas Schell brings such a mature, captivating and heartbreaking performance to this pivotal role. The film has some beautiful drama elements, exploring such a terrible moment in recent history, through the eyes of a young boy. The one issue with the film is that it is too long and the ending wasn't the most cleanest.
This film is also nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and while it is not touted to win, it still is an interesting and relevant film.

The Descendants

Set in Haiwaii, The Descendants follows a family in crisis after the mother is in a boating accident and won't wake from a coma. Husband George Clooney has to step in as the leader of the family to his two teenge daughters.
The trailer may not sell the film very well but this is actually a solid drama. George Clonney stars in a very un-George Clooney role and successfully pulls off the portrayal of a father in crisis, who is getting to know his daughters for the first time. George Clooney may very well win Best Actor at the Academy Awards due to his truthful role.
The greatest strength of the film is the fact that it feels like a real family. The family dynamic and truthful connections, sets this film apart from so many other average dramas. This is of course the reason why it is nominated for Best Picture at the Acaemdy Awards and while it may not win against The Artist, it still deserves the recgonition.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher's Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo, based on the novel published by the late Steig Larsson, is a Hollywood remake of the 2009 Swedish film. Although it could be said that it is more of an adaptation than remake, as the two films are substantially different from each other.
Disgraced Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is lured by Swedish industrial tycoon Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), to uncover the 40 year old mystery concerning the disappearance of his niece. Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a withdrawn, socially awkward but very talented computer hacker, is enlisted by Blomkvist to uncover the truth behind this epic mystery.
The film is a bold thriller, covered with David Fincher trademarks throughout (the amazing opening credits is one fine example). It is beautifully shot and has an exquisite use of sound to help tell a very haunting tale of murder and rape. 
The plot includes more points from the novel than the Swedish original did, with some very interesting changes to the final twist. For an audience member who has read the book and seen the Swedish film, I was surprised to find myself on edge in the final crisis point. The beginning (long) hour; saw inter-cuts between Blomkvist and Salander before they finally meet. Whether it was the screenplay or the final editing of the film; these cuts between the two separate stories felt lengthy and unnecessary. The film was forever over explaining the situation instead of leaving an air of mystery or hey, even some nice subtext. The Hollywood film takes far too long to bring these two characters, Blomkvist and Salander, together. One could argue that the Swedish film takes about the same duration to bring the pair together, but Salander is forever checking up on Blmokvist's activities and actually has a pivotal role in joining their destined fates. This brings me to screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who has done well in capturing the themes from the novel. But really his main job was to write a screenplay to sell to the market comprised of dead-shits, unwilling or incapable of watching the original film, because lord forbid they should have to read subtitles.
Cue the comparison from the Swedish film to the Hollywood remake. Firstly the Hollywood version obviously has a massive budget, meaning the production is a lot more sleek and modern. Even the appearance of both films rival each other. The Swedish film, while capturing the beautiful European landscape, wasn't also afraid to show the dark, less and glamours side of Sweden. But the remake with its American cinematographer, who was obviously blown away with the sheer beauty of Sweden... only captured the beauty of Sweden. The Hollywood film subsequently loses the grunginess of the original that perfectly matches the atmosphere set in the novel. The Swedish film also has a shorter act three which is important because the source material has a mother-fucking-long third act. Instead the Hollywood film's third act, feels like it drags on and on once the mystery is finally resolved.
The acting in the Hollywood film doesn't annoy me as much as I thought it would. Daniel Craig does his shit and is a fitting Blomkvist. Stellan Skarsgård as Martin Vanger is also very good. But it is naturally Rooney Mara's performance of Lisbeth Salander that is the most outstanding. Mara brings her own flair to this great female character and she will probably be nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards. She however did not outshine the original performance by Noomi Rapace who perfectly nailed the essence of this intricate character and will forever be in my heart; the real Lisbeth Salander.
The Hollywood film is an admirable thriller with its glossy production, but it's the Swedish original that still retains a puncher, more emotional and more rewarding cinema experience.