Movie Review: End of Watch (2012) Dir. David Ayer

End of Watch by David Ayer
Rating 4 out 5 stars

Blurb: From the writer of Training Day, End of Watch is a riveting action thriller that puts audiences at the centre of the chase like never before. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña star as young LA police officers who discover a secret that makes them the target of the country's most dangerous drug cartel

End of Watch was chosen as the Blahblahblahgay 5th Best Movie of 2012.

Thoughts: Powerful and enjoyable movie making that is hamstrung by not following its own rules, with better direction this could have been a truly great film.

We ride along in the lives of Taylor and Zavala as they kick down doors, tell jokes, get deep and meaningful, make drug busts, face down criminals and interact with their family. It's a disjointed plot that really works, time passes at strange intervals but life for these two cops continues apace. There's a lot of great humour and some in your face violence, you might find the discovery of a gold-plated AK47 in the back of a 4WD to be a little unlikely but the movie zips past and doesn't allow you to reflect on some of it's more implausible moments.

The penultimate scene is what this movie is really all about, Ayer builds and builds to it's heart pounding climax in such a subtle way that you don't realise you're holding your breath until it's almost too late, and it pays off big time in what could be an unforgettable sequence comparable to the best of the genre. To go any further in to details leads to spoiler territory but for me it makes all of the issues with Ayer's direction an acceptable annoyance whilst at the same time highlighting the effect his lack of vision had on the film.

Ayer sets the film up with its handheld camera gimmick "I'm making an art project about us being cops" says Gyllenhaal, and then doesn't stick to it. Aside from the fact that this cop who's an amateur film maker has over $10k worth of video equipment and the gang bangers are running around with uzis and Sony HD cameras, he also cuts in shots that so obviously couldn't be taken from the handhelds already established as part of the world. Not just little 2-shots but aerial footage and some ghostlike third person in the room during a sex scene like a fake amateur porno.

That aside it's a decent movie with some superb performances from the two leads. Gyllenhaal and Pena at the top of their game with the mix of violence and comic moments, friendship and love, the job and home life; I've read calls for Oscar nominations for both of them but the major problem would be who's supporting whom? Both actors are just as important to each others performance as the characters are to each other as friends and partners. The two cannot be separated, perhaps a joint Oscar nomination?

The relationship between Gyllenhaal and Pena is wonderful and must have been worked on for a great deal of time in pre-production but the seemingly natural chemistry with Kendrick is the kind of thing film makers usually only dream of capturing. We are not treated to movie stars playing a young in love couple, the kind of performances you usually find in movies, you find yourself taken beyond the fact that it's Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick to a place where the simple beauty of discovering that you can't live without another person is the only aspect of the story you are experiencing at that particular moment. And a dance scene that would put Travolta and Thurman to shame.

An enjoyable ride for sure, with many laughs, some serious downers with a  truly powerful and tense ending that is ruined by the director adding on an additional scene.

Leave all feedback in the comments, you know I love it.

Movie Review: Bachelorette (2012) Dir. Leslye Headland

"Look at these people. It's like a Jane Austen novel on crack."

Bachelorette by Leslye Headland
Rating 4 of 5 stars

Blurb: Regan is used to being first at everything. Imagine her horror and chagrin when she finds out the girl everyone called Pig Face in high school is going to tie the knot before she does! But Regan sucks it up and takes on bridesmaid duties along with her childhood pals: substance-abusing, promiscuous Gena and ditzy Katie. The single ladies are determined to put their bitterness aside and have an awesomely hedonistic bachelorette party. Armed with acerbic wit and seemingly endless supplies of coke and booze, the foul-mouthed femmes embark on one very long and emotional night filled with major wedding-dress panic, various bodily fluids, and cute ex-boyfriends.

Thoughts: I expected nothing and was beyond pleasantly surprised at finding it to be a funny movie about some mean women. I really liked this movie, to the point where I felt a positive review was required to counteract all of the negativity surrounding.

I heard a lot of talk about Bridesmaids last year but thought it was terribly derivitive with obvious humour and no subtlety, Bachelorette on the other hand really does play like a female centred Hangover but funny and with superb performances, most notably from Ms Dunst. It's dark and chaotic, with just the right amount of sarcasm and most importantly nothing like Bridesmaids.

We play that game from time to time, us film bloggers, the game of dream casting and I think if you were to give me a romantic comedy with an edge as my casting task I might not be able to get past Adam Scott or Lizzy Caplan. Isla Fisher would simply be a massive bonus. The three of them together in this are wonderful, a real pleasure to watch.

The girls are absolutely horrible people that it's easy to dislike at the start of the film but by the end you can't help but like them; they don't change, there's no epiphany, no growth, they're still mean but you see that quality inside them, that reason as to why they're still friends after so many years of being mean.

Of course the word "mean" doesn't cover it but with the star of Mean Girls involved it's an easy word to use. Lizzy Caplan needs to be in more movies, she is beautiful, interesting and funny plus she can pull off the quirky Zooey Deschanel thing without being saccharine sweet to the point of making your head explode.

I think right now I'd watch Adam Scott take a shit for 80 minutes and be full of praise for it but my mancrush du jour hasn't blinded me in this instance, he is actually perfect opposite Lizzy Caplan. The stars of Party Down reunited is big news and their familiarity with working together is a massive plus for Bachelorette, especially in the more dramatic moments that set this film apart from those gross-out wannabes.

Of course this is a comedy and it actually works as one, you know with jokes, witty one liners, absurd behaviour, Isla Fisher in her usual role, physical comedy and honestly the most surprising thing is how funny Kirsten Dunst is. What I'm essentially trying to tell you is that this is worth your time and to forget those negative associations with Bridesmaids and most importantly to find both seasons of Party Down as soon as possible.

Book Review: The Prestige (1995) by Christopher Priest

The Prestige by Christopher Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not even close to what I was expecting, thankfully.

Blurb: Turn of the 20th Century London, two stage magicians embark on a feud of a lifetime propelling both of them to fame and fortune, pain and despair and a couple of shocking discoveries along the way, also framed by the meeting of their great grandchildren still living with the aftermath of the feud.

Thoughts: At its core Christopher Priest's The Prestige (completely different entity to the Christopher Nolan movie adaptation) is an alternative history piece of science fiction but it is rendered in such a way that the reader is misdirected by all the literature that is happening around it.

Told in five and a half parts from five different points of view Priest treats the story as if it too is an illusion or a magic trick, carefully crafting The Setup with three fascinating sections that leave you asking many questions about the content before moving on to the main body of The Performance in which your questions are largely answered, your confusion explained and preparing you for the expected yet still surprising Prestige in the final one and a half parts.

Part of the pleasure in the novel is the way Priest carefully shows you his methods, drawing your attention to the illusion he is creating for you, and then after reaching the conclusion looking back at all of his machinations in wonder.

As a reader I came to this one via two Goodreads friends recently reading it, I remember enjoying Christopher Nolans movie and upon belatedly realising it was a novel first I knew I had to read it. And I really enjoyed reading it, almost compulsively devouring it from the opening chapter, enamoured with the voice and atmosphere created and despite having a fair memory of the plot of the movie still excited by what I was reading.

I've recently been having some serious doubts about Christopher Nolan and his film making abilities and this novel did little to assuage them. Priest, much like Angier in the novel, has created something insurpassable and with his novel he makes Nolan look like a cheap imitator, dumbing down his trick for a wider audience. I'm going to return to the film once Leah has read this book but I can't imagine it will be for much more than to poke holes in the script.

Not that any serious reader will need this warning but I recommend reading the novel first as I felt I lost a little bit of pleasure in having the surprise held in The Prestige ruined for me by the movie. For those that have seen the movie I highly recommend reading this book to add a whole new level of wow to your experience.

Book vs movie, if you've done both what was your preference? Has anyone read any other Christopher Priest books? He seems to have written many books on many different subjects, it's hard to know where to start.

Additional viewing:
The Prestige (2006)
The Illusionist (2010)
The Magician (1958)

Additional reading:
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Carter Beats The Devil by Glen David Gold
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

View all my book reviews