The Martian Review by Carleton Rutter

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels & Sean Bean
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Strapline: "Bring Him Home"

So, in a nutshell?
A manned mission to Mars goes badly wrong when a fierce sandstorm leaves NASA astronaut Mark Watney missing, presumed dead. He is however alive and must work out a way of contacting NASA and creating enough food for himself to survive alone on this desolate planet whilst NASA come up with a way of rescuing him.

So, what are my thoughts?
In anticipation of seeing The Martian I decided to read or in actual fact listen to the novel written by Andy Weir, via my Audible subscription. I thoroughly enjoyed the book due not only to its content, but also the excellent narration by R.C Bray, anyway, I digress. Ridley Scott was given the task of translating the book into a movie. If not anything else, The Martian rocks a stellar cast. Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, and Jeff Daniels, the movie reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood. However, that is not always not a recipe for success, but in this case it certainly was.

Heck, I'll not beat about the bush, I'll come right out and say it, The Martian is my Film of the Year so far. Front and centre is Matt Damon who gives one of the best performances of his career. Having read the book and visualised all the characters in my head, no more so of course than Watney, Damon is PERFECT. He totally and utterly embodies this character and what horrendous physical and psychological highs and lows Watney has to endure. The actor himself had to undergo dramatic weight loss Tom Hank's style for his role. Hey, that gives me idea if I had to boil the The Martian down to three words it would be Castaway meets Contact.

The rest of the cast are on fine form. There is not one member who does not bring their A-game to the table. There is no phoning in performances here. Of all the cast (Excluding Damon) my favourites were Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders Director of NASA and Jessica Chastain as Commander Lewis, the commander of Hermes the crew's main ship. Chiwetel Ejiofor is also excellent as Mars Mission Director Venkat Kapoor. Side bar on his role, Irrfan Khan (Last seen in Jurassic World) was cast to play Kapoor but owing to a Bollywood contract obligation, it meant Ejiofor was cast only three weeks before filming commenced. It's ironic as after listening to R.C Bray's Kapoor on the audio book I always thought Khan would have been cast, and so he was, but it was not to be. Sorry I have strayed off the beaten track, let's carry on...

​The movie also has a superb visual style. The line between the spotless CGI and Jordan desert where it was filmed is seamless. This is all greatly enhanced by the fact I saw it in 3D. I implore you to see this movie in 3D. The movie was actually shot in Real3D, therefore seeing it in IMAX 3D does the full experience justice. The shots on earth are well done, but the movie really come into it's own when you see Watney set against this vast unforgiving landscape and the shots in space. The visuals are aided by a brilliant score penned by Harry Gregson-Williams.

The movie has Ridley Scott written all over it, huge credit also must go to Drew Goddard who adapted Weir's 369 page novel. Having read the book, I of course knew what to expect, and one could say therefore that this lessened my experience, as there were no surprises. On the contrary, it heightened the experience, as I knew what was coming. The Martian is also extremely accessible for the layman, the one criticism the book came under was that it was too heavy on the science. This is not the case in the movie, Scott and Goddard have managed to make it available to all, one of the things last years Interstellar fell short on.

The humour of the book also translates well to the big screen. There are some really funny moments, whether it be Watney "Sciencing the shit" out of Mars, his love-hate relationship with a crews taste in music or back home with equally funny moments with NASA. The Martian just hits the right spot on all fronts. This upbeat vibe is greatly aided by a soundtrack inspired by not only space, but Watney's peer's collection of music.

Being a huge fan of anything to do with NASA, it's natural therefore that some of my favourite movies of all time have been movies such as Apollo 13, Contact and The Right Stuff. The Martian is reminiscent of those movies in the tense nature of what man is accomplishing. My only issues with the movie would be sometimes it's a little predictable, and after the denouement, there are a few scenes that were not really needed.

My Rating 
5*/5*

Having read the book, I went into The Martian with much anticipation, and thankfully it did not disappoint. It excelled on all fronts, whether it be Damon front and centre or the superb supporting cast on top form. The movie is masterfully directed, shot, and the seamless CGI are made real by the superb use of 3D, making you feel that you are a really there with Watney. If there is one film you must make the time to see it's this one. As I said, The Martian is my Film of the Year so far, let's see if another movie set in space, come December will change that.

The Martian is released in the UK September 30th

Review by Carleton Rutter

http://www.carletonrutter.com

Hail Macbeth - in cinemas Friday 2 Oct

Regression Official Trailer - In UK and Ireland Cinemas 9th October

Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.

The Peanuts Movie - TRAILER # 2

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the beloved “Peanuts” gang make their big-screen debut, like they’ve never been seen before, in state-of-the-art 3D animation. Snoopy, the world’s most lovable beagle—and flying ace—embarks upon his greatest mission as he takes to the skies to pursue his arch-nemesis The Red Baron, while his best pal, Charlie Brown, begins his own epic quest. From the imagination of Charles M. Schulz and the creators of the ICE AGE films, THE PEANUTS MOVIE will prove that every underdog has his day.

THE PEANUTS Movie OFFICIAL Trailer
An animated film directed by Steve Martino
Release Date :
Genre : Family, Kids, Animation

Sicardo Movie Review by Carleton Rutter

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal, and Josh Brolin
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Strapline: "The Deeper you go, the darker it gets"

So, in a nutshell?
Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is an idealistic FBI agent who is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Sicario features an excellent cast.

So, what are my thoughts?
Today, is the first day of fall, and with Sicario, summer is very much over. Despite featuring some impressive set pieces, the movie acts as more of an insight into the depressing and horrifying war on drugs as opposed to a summer blockbuster that may have championed it's action. What we are offered therefore is an unflinching look at this ruthless world.

Sicario marks the third English language drama for the 47-year-old French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, after his engrossing child kidnap movie Prisoners and Enemy which also starred Jake Gyllenhaal. Front and centre of this movie though is Emily Blunt through whose eyes the movie unfolds. Blunt proved her action credentials on last year's Edge of Tomorrow. The project for which the English actress was brought to Villeneuve's attention.

Sicario get's off to an explosive start, literally but unfortunately it then loses it's way in the world of Mexican Cartels. From a technical standpoint the movie is extremely impressive. Featuring thrilling sequences, that are well shot, lit and edited. My favourite of them being a high speed convoy in and out of Mexico to bring back a captured drug lord. The movie also features some beautiful aerial shots that are near perfection. All of this is aided by Jóhann Jóhannsson's chilling score that helps raise the tension to a steady series of crescendos that well never really happen.

And well, that's the problem, the movie walks the walk but it does not talk the talk. The movie is very well cast though with Blunt further proving her acting credentials front and centre as a plausible tough central heroine. Del Toro (My favourite character by far) is on fine form as the mysterious Alejandro. A sidebar on his character by the way, I read in the news that there may well be a sequel to Sicario with Del Toro's character taking centre stage. Del Toro's bad cop-bad cop partner is Josh Brolin who is also excellent as the hard hitting "Take no prisoners" Matt. Daniel Kaluuya who plays Blunt's on screen partner Reggie holds his own against more experienced hands and provides the much needed comic relief at times. Victor Garber and John Bernthal are the only actors that a really underused.

So all the ingredients are in place, but the movie just doesn't come though the way it should. With the quality of directing, cinematography, acting and film scoring on offer, Sicario whilst successfully hard hitting enough to distance itself from the popcorn summer fayre, never really hits it out of the park. The movie provides you with a series of set pieces that never really pay off. In style, one could say that at times it felt like several episodes of a TV series pinned together. They could have even called it CSI Mexico. 

My Rating 

3*/5*

Sicario is a missed opportunity. All the pieces are lined up, direction, acting, cinematography but they never really fall into the place. It's beautifully shot, and features another great central turn from Blunt with solid support from Del Toro and Brolin. My issue with Sicario is that it's all build up and no delivery, the cinematographer is writing cheques the script writers can't cash. From a visual standpoint this holds it's own on the big screen, and fans of Blunt, Brolin or Del Toro will no doubt check it out. But for the rest of us, just check this out when it's released at home.

Sicario is released in the US 2nd October and UK 9th October

Review By Carleton Rutter
http://www.carletonrutter.com

FILM NEWS (UK): New sci-fi thriller feature from Johnny Kevorkian goes into production

AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, a darkly monstrous tale of tyranny and television, will start a five-week shoot on Oct 5 at GSP Studios’ studio facilities in York.

Produced by Jack Tarling of Shudder Films and Alan Latham of GSP Studios and directed by Johnny Kevorkian (The Disappeared) from a screenplay by Gavin Williams, the cast includes David Bradley (Games of Thrones), Sam Gittins (The Smoke), Holly Weston (Howl), Kris Saddler (The Hour), Neerja Naik (Hackney’s Finest) & Grant Masters (Silent Witness). Key crew members include: Annika Summerson (DOP), Nina Topp (Production Designer), Dan Martin (Special Effects) & Ben Louden (VFX).

It's Christmas Day and the Milgram family wake to find a mysterious black substance surrounding their house. Something monumental is clearly happening right outside their door, but what exactly - an industrial accident, a terrorist attack, nuclear war?

Descending into terrified arguments, they turn on the television, desperate for any information. On screen a message glows ominously: 'Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions'. As the television exerts an ever more sinister grip, their paranoia escalates into bloody carnage.

Kevorkian commented: “I want to create a pressure cooker atmosphere, which ultimately explodes on screen! By the end of the film we’ll be shooting mostly handheld, really ramping up the pace with lots of camera moves to create an unstoppable climax to match the extreme situation”.

The film has been further developed with the support of public agencies Northern Film + Media and Digital City Innovations. Film London facilitated financing and Creative England have backed the development of marketing strategies for the film.

Beyond Science. Beyond Sanity.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip | Official HD Trailer #2

Through a series of misunderstandings, Alvin, Simon and Theodore come to believe that Dave is going to propose to his new girlfriend in New York City…and dump them. They have three days to get to him and stop the proposal, saving themselves not only from losing Dave but possibly from gaining a terrible stepbrother.

Welcome to the official 20th Century Fox Family Entertainment UK channel - the home of previous family entertainment films such as Ice Age, Rio, The Croods and Home. This channel will bring you exclusive trailers & clips, behind the scenes action, interviews and featurettes for our best and latest releases.

Keanu Reeves Retrospective

Keanu Reeves Retrospective

From mop-headed rock wannabe Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan to kick-ass action hero John Wick, Keanu Reeves has provided us with some memorable movie moments in a career that spans over three decades and encompasses over 40 films.

His latest action thriller John Wick is released on DVD on 21st September, so what better time to look back at some of our favourite Keanu performances.

7.  Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Cue air guitars as high school slackers Bill and Ted take charge of a time-travelling phone booth to salvage their seemingly doomed history project and avoid being thrown out of school.

6.  My Own Private Idaho
Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self-discovery and find their relationship on the way.  The film featured one of the last performances by River Phoenix who tragically died of a drug overdose in 1993.

5.  River’s Edge
One of Reeves’ first major roles came in this bleak portrayal of teen alienation.  When a group of high school friends discover that one of their peers has killed his girlfriend they choose not to inform the police, opting to protect their friend instead.

The friends’ apparent lack of shock or remorse over what has happened feels even more sinister when you realise the story is based on true events.

4.  Speed
This adrenaline-pumping thriller finds Keanu in true action hero form as LA Bomb Squad expert Jack Traven facing the ultimate challenge from crazed extortionist Dennis Hopper:  to diffuse a bomb on a passenger-filled bus that will explode if its speed deviates from 50mph.  Sandra Bullock’s commute home takes a turn for the worse when she is pressed into service as the bus’s substitute driver.

3.  Dracula
Reeves stars as Jonathan Harker alongside a stellar cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s reimagining of Bram Stoker’s gothic horror novel.  While Reeves and other cast members drew some flack for their shaky grasp on an English accent, any criticism is more than compensated for by dazzling camerawork, lavish production design and some amazing costumes in a sumptuous, seductive take on this literary classic.

2.  The Matrix
This sci-fi classic wowed critics and audiences when it came out, employing the best state-of-the-art visual effects 1999 had to offer as well as some explosive stunts and gravity-defying fight sequences.   Reeves plays Thomas A Anderson, a computer programmer who leads a double life by night as a hacker known as Neo.  When he is contacted by fellow hacker Morpheus, Neo discovers that the ‘real world’ is far from what he thought it was.

1.  John Wick

Keanu kicks ass on an epic scale as he plays John Wick, a former hitman hell-bent on revenge.

After the sudden death of his beloved wife, John Wick receives one last gift from her, a beagle puppy named Daisy, and a note imploring him not to forget how to love.

But John’s mourning is interrupted when his 1969 Boss Mustang catches the eye of sadistic thug Iosef Tarasov. When John refuses to sell the car, Iosef and his henchmen break into his house and steal it, beating John unconscious and leaving Daisy dead. Unwittingly, they have just reawakened one of the most brutal assassins the underworld has ever seen.

John Wick is released on DVD and Bluray on September 21st

I Smile Back - Official Trailer

Laney Brooks does bad things. Married with kids, she takes the drugs she wants, sleeps with the men she wants, disappears when she wants. Now, with the destruction of her family looming, and temptation everywhere, Laney makes one last desperate attempt at redemption.

Carol - New Trailer: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara‏

Carol 

Synopsis
A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage.  As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens.

While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) threatens her competence as a mother when Carol’s involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) comes to light.  As Carol leaves the comfort of home to travel with Therese, an internal journey of self-discovery coincides with her new sense of space.

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s seminal novel, The Price of Salt, adapted by Emmy nominated screenwriter Phyllis Nagy, directed by Todd Haynes, CAROL stars Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy and Sarah Paulson and is set for release on 27 November.

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www.instagram.com/carolfilm

CLINGER - in Cinemas and VOD October 23

Michael Steves directs the supernatural horror he co-penned with Gabi Chennisi Duncombe and Bubba Fish.

When her possessive high school boyfriend dies in a gruesome accident, Fern Petersen’s life is thrown into turmoil. Things go from bad to worse when he returns as a love-sick ghost to kill her so they can be together for eternity.

Vincent Martella, Jennifer Laporte, Julia Aks, Lisa Wilcox and Debbie Rochon star.

CLINGER in Cinemas and On Demand October 23

Blunt Force Trauma - Trailer

Synopsis:
From cockfighting rings and train yards, to basements and barns across South America, modern-day warriors put on bulletproof vests and battle one another in underground gunfights to gain riches and respect. It’s known only as “The Game” and Zorringer (Mickey Rourke – Sin City) is its elusive champion.

Professional dueler John (Ryan Kwanten – True Blood) is losing the rush of excitement that once fueled his desire to succeed in his sport of choice. Only one man remains as his next worthy opponent, the legendary Zorringer, so John sets out on a journey for the ultimate contest. Along the way he meets Colt (Freido Pinto – Rise of the Planet of the Apes), a female duelist who is seeking revenge for the death of her brother. Together the two gunslingers travel from one shootout to another on a dangerous journey of love, violence and clandestine battles.

Macbeth - Trailer

Director: Justin Kurzel

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Elizabeth Debicki, Marion Cotillard

Macbeth, a duke of Scotland, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.