The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. The Grandfather of both expressionism and horror. Robert Wiene did an excellent job, moulding this film and he ended up creating one of the most memorable and influential films for the horror genre. We have Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss and Friedrich Feher in the main roles of Ceasare, Dr Caligari and Francis respectively. Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz also get mentioned for superb story that would even hold up in todays standard, let alone 1920.

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari focuses on Francis and his friend Alan who go to the fair and come across Dr Caligari and his somnambulist, who also has deadly predictions for all who are there. What ensues leaves Francis fearful for his life and him trying to get back at Caligari and his Somnambulist.

1920 horror films have a lot more going for them than 2014 horror films. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, does everything right from a horror stand point, by pretty much creating the genre. There were some other, older films that could also be called horror but Caligari was the first film to get it right and to have a wide spread audience that would influence directors for generations. Aesthetically following the war The Cabinet of Dr Caligari has make shift sets, with everything painted on, including shadows and stairs as it was both easier and cheaper to do. This does give it a very unique look, making everything seem creepy and crooked.

From a narrative stand point, this film was also a ground breaker with it being one of the first cases of a twist in a film. With a 96 year old film i don’t believe a spoiler alert should be required , nor do i plan to go in-depth into the story but as a just incase. SPOILER ALERT. The twist which sees francis appearing to be crazy is simply brilliant. Works well and is unexpected. See no spoiler

Give it a watch. If anything you can see a Tim Burton film before Tim Burton was alive

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

One of 2013’s top billed films, Dallas Buyers Club has Jean-Marc Vallée on the directors chair and has Matthew McConaughey as his lead along with Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto. This film has Leto returning to film after a 5 year long hiatus and what a way to return to the silver screen. Dallas Buyers club has been long in development with it being passed around Hollywood quite a fair bit, with Brad Pitt with Marc Foster and Ryan Gosling with Craig Gillespie all being attached to the film at one point or another. Luckily though it ended with McConaughey and Valée with them creating this wonderfully crafted film.

Dallas Buyers Club focuses on Ron Woodroof in 1985 as he finds out he has contracted aids from unprotected sex. After being shunned by his friends for being a homosexual, Woodroof goes to great lengths to get the drugs that he needs to survive. He teams up with Rayon, for his knowledge of the homosexual community and to help him to get the drugs to the people who need them the most, Eve, a doctor at the Dallas hospital, is torn by her oath to do what she can as a doctor and her morals as she knows the drugs the hospital provides just are not effect enough.

This film does an awful lot of things right. The majority of the film is based on a real story, with the likes of Rayon and and Eves stories being add in, with the future of the characters being explained in the the credits. With an exceptionally small budget for a film this big [$5 Million] they made sure that it was all used correctly. Reportedly the Hair and Makeup was only give $250 to work with. wheather this is true or not is unknown but they did go on to win the oscar for makeup. Visually the film is on par with any other film of 2013.

Dallas Buyers Club excels in 2 key areas. Acting. Story. McConaughey and Leto, winning Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, give an out of this world performance. Even visually they both lost 40 pounds for the project giving them a very Ill looking appearance. They gave believable dialogue and made me care for the characters. Story wise, which was definitely helped by the standard of the acting, is a real hard hitting story and may open eyes for people, who may not have realised how bad it was when HIV first came around. Great Film all round, worth a watch

The Lego Movie (2014)

One of 2014’s best animated features The Lego Movie directed by comedy duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also directed Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and both 21 & 22 Jump Streets. They gather an all-star cast with Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman, taking up the main cast. However Lord and Miller also snagged Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams Shaquille O’Neal and even have Chris McKay having a cameo in there.

The story follows a normal construction worker called Emmet. Emmet does exactly what he is told and always follows instructions. This is turned upside down when he discovers a piece of resistance, that is the only way to stop Lord Business and his evil plan to take over the world. Emmet, along with his Master Builder Friends, Wildstyle, Vitruvius, Metal Beard, Unikitty, Benny and even Batman. They will battle with Lord Business, Bad Cop and their armys as Lord Business strives for perfection.

After tonights 5th viewing of the lego movie, i can safely say that i enjoy this film. It has the perfect number of jokes and stupid gags that keeps the story going. The film makes you love how gullible and stupid Emmet is and makes you care for Lego blocks in a way that just was not possible. Every character in this film has a shinning moment. From Batman to Vitruvius and even Bad Cop/Good Cop has his great moments. With all Animated films, in some instances whats happening in the background is almost as funny as what happens front a centre stage, so just be sure to just keep an eye out for anything that may be happening back there. They even got a song that just cant get out of your head…Everything is Awesome.

One last thing to mention is the aesthetic of the film. The Lego Movie as would be expected to made out of lego. Instead of going the stop motion route they digitally created all of the pieces to make the film out of. Even the effects like smoke and waves are also made out of the lego bricks. The film is even true to real legos with them showing common breaks as in Benny’s helmet and the joining lines on Emmets hair. This all adds to the enjoyability of the film. Would recommend even if you don’t have kids to watch it with.

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl is the 2014 Mystery-Thriller from David Fincher and has an all-star cast consisting of Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry. The film follows Nick Dunne trying to prove himself innocent after his wife Amy is kidnapped and Nick is the one and only suspect. Twist and turns follow Nick as the media turn on him and the evidence keeps amounting up against him.

Well. Wow. This film. David Fincher pulled out all the stops for this one. The entire film as that dark aesthetic after teaming up with Jeff Cronenworth, who previously did Fight Club, The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Fincher also teams back up with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who also worked on Seven along with a majority of Fincher’s other films. This team works perfectly and wonderfully compliments Gillian Flynn’s story, who was the original author of the book and was brought back to adapt her own story.

Rosamund Pike’s performance is absolutely spectacular. There at least one name that should be on the cards for the Oscars and it is Pikes. She controls the screen, making it her own and totally smashed it. However you can’t forget Ben Afflecks performance. Playing the part of the gullible husband, he doesn’t give a blow me away performance as Pike gave but Affleck definitely puts on a top notch show and is quite easily one of his best acting jobs.

Essentially go see this film. Don’t read anything about the plot, stay away from spoilers, watch a trailer and that’s it. The book the film is based on is also excellent however for extra twist the third act of the book being different to the film. A lecturer once said you know if you have a great shot if you would frame it on your wall. I would personally wallpaper my room with this film.

Locke (2013)

Locke is the 2013 minimalist drama by Steven Knight and stars Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman and Andrew Scott. In a single night Ivan Locke’s life gets turned upside down with his family, his job and his own morals coming into question throughout the entirety of the film.

The film is set inside Locke’s car with the exception of 3-5 shots, and was filmed over the course of 8 days. Locke has to head to London to go see the women be bad an affair with, as she is about to give birth to his child. On the way he also must get one of his biggest work projects sorted as he won’t be there to oversee it himself and instead gets Donal, one of his workers to get it sorted for him, giving him instructions along the way.

When films attempt to only use one location they can either work very well or be simply impossible to watch. And for me two key ways to make a one location film work boils down to the story and how good it is and how it can keep you entranced and by the actors, how we’ll they can keep you entertained as the normal visual stimulation isn’t there. Locke does this very well, with a story that makes you wonder what happens next and with Tom Hardys performance being gripping and emotional. A truly great film that is definitely worth the watch.

However that said as with every movie there are some cons. As much as I love Tom Hardy and his wonderful face, some more general shots of the countryside wouldn’t have gone a miss. I’m not wanting every other shot to be of a field, but when the drama of the film is at quiet point a couple of star lite fields would have broke it up a bit better. The other con I have is that even at only 1 hour 25 minutes, the movie still felt long, this however I would say was an effect of the one location problem. Nevertheless this film is a wonderful piece of storytelling and throughly makes your marvel at the simplistic idea of driving in your car and how entertaining it can be as a film.