Disney has always done good villains but now it seems that they want us to get to know them better, to understand them. Villain origin stories are officially a thing for the happiest place in the world ™ it seems. First we discovered why the Wicked Witch of the West was quite so wicked in Oz the Great and the Powerful and now we find out what has got the bad fairy from Sleeping Beauty all het up. Meet Maleficent.
Maleficent | Robert Stromberg | 2014 | USA/UK | PG |98 min
Maleficent was a pure-hearted young fairy living in The Moors, the magical place out of bounds for humans. By chance she meets a human boy, Stefan, and falls in love with him. As she grows stronger and more powerful she becomes the guardian of The Moors, but she still can’t turn her back on Stefan. When he betrays her in his own pursuit of power her heart turns to stone and she is consumed by anger and the need for revenge. On hearing of the birth of Stefan’s – now King – daughter, she gatecrashes her Christening to curse the infant. Before the sun sets on her 16th birthday she will prick her finger on a spindle… you know the rest.
Or do you? Maleficent keeps a watchful eye over the cursed Princess Aurora, but is it to make sure her curse is fulfilled, or for another reason?
To be truthful, this film is all about Angelina Jolie. She seems made to play to Disney villain and she does so perfectly. Hitting the right balance between menacing and campy with the arch of a brow she is at once commanding and entertaining. She plays Maleficent’s transition from good to evil to kind of back again with such conviction it gives the slightly convuluted story credibility. Additionally, the make up and costume design is incredible, giving Maleficent such a strong image that after watching the film, any time you think of a ‘bad fairy’, you’ll surely think of Ange.
Unfortunately this is where the good ends. Sharlto Copley (Stefan) is unusually disappointing and has one of the worst Scottish accents committed to screen. His character is supposed to show shades of Macbeth but falls flat. Elle Fanning (Aurora) and the other secondary characters are far too overshadowed by Jolie to remain interesting. Further, the good fairies who are charged with looking after the princess are supposed to provide the light relief but barely managed to raise a giggle from the crowd of kids in the cinema where I watched the film.
If you are particularly interested in costume and make-up design you might like this film. True also if you are a big fan of Angelina Jolie (and who isn’t). The poster images are instant classics, but sadly the film is not.
Godzilla | Gareth Edwards | 2014 | USA/Japan | 12A | 123 min
Awesome posters by Olly Moss.
Her | Spike Jonze | 2013 | USA | 15 | 126min
Magic Magic (Sebastian Silva) | Young, naive girl travels to South America and quickly unravels, possibly due to Micheal Cera’s creepy knitwear. Juno Temple is captivating even as an unstable, hysterical tourist.
Good Vibrations (Lisa Barros D’Sa & Glenn Leyburn) | A feel-good film set against the backdrop of the Troubles? That’s punk for you.
Blackfish (Gabriela Cowperthwaite) | I love a good, biased, cause documentary to get all het up about. Even better when it’s about my major hate – SeaWorld *boo hiss* Free Tilly!
Filth (Jon S. Baird) | This one is a film that grew on me the more I thought about it. James McAvoy is surprising perfect as the twisted Bruce Robertson.
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach) | Definitely my favourite of the year. In the same vein as Girls but Frances is a more relatable, likeable character. I love the scene where she spontaneously dances through the streets. Pitch perfect.
Catfish: The TV Show | I love Catfish! So addictive even though it is ridiculously set up. Spoiler alert – they’re aalll catfish!
Orange is the New Black | Totally binge watched this on Netflix one weekend. The end was so shocking! Can’t wait til it comes back next year.
Trophy Wife | I’ve just started watching this but I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s similar to Modern Family and Suburgatory, the other two sitcoms I’ve been loving this year so thought it was an appropriate choice for this list, it being new and all. I love Bert, he’s so funny.
Girls | Show me a 20-something woman who doesn’t love Girls and I’ll show you someone who hasn’t seen it. I joke, I realise it is quite a Marmite show but on this occasion I’m all for it. And yes, I bought the Patrick Wilson storyline, I’m all for any storyline that involves a naked Patrick Wilson.
Penguins: Spy in the Huddle | EEEE! Penguins! Filmmaking technology! Baby penguins! No one does wildlife documentaries like the BBC. This one was beyond comparison. When Dolphins: Spy in the Pod starts on January 2nd I may spontaneously combust. Just a warning for you there.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire|2013|Francis Lawrence|USA|12A|146min
On Thursday we loaded up the car with blankets and snacks and headed through to Glasgow’s Victoria Park for the Itison Halloween Drive-in screening of – appropriately enough – John Carpenter’s Halloween. The sell-out event boasted the world’s biggest mobile LCD screen, street food units and Micheal Myers themed entertainment.
Pizzas were on offer from So La Ti Dough, but we went for traditional movie-going fare of hotdogs and popcorn from the Glasgow Street Food Cartel. It was seriously the most salty salt popcorn I’ve ever had in my life! Much water was needed!
As we were in a 4×4 we parked up at the back, but we had a great view of the screen. Sound was via the car FM radio so you had a surround sound experience. The pre show entertainment of a themed weather report and a sing along rendition of Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters was a bit off in tone – probably because they were also for the family friendly screenings of Ghostbusters during the day – but were over quickly enough. I would have prefered to see a couple of horror movie trailers personally. A nice touch was a very tall man dressed as Micheal Myers spooking people in their cars and mini-Myers handing out glow sticks on entry. There were a few technical glitches, but nothing severe. I’m sure they gave someone behind the scenes some headaches, but having worked at outdoor screenings, it was nothing surprising. The film itself ran through no problems.
Filth | 2013 | Jon S. Baird | UK | 18 | 97 mins
