Crisp Criticism - "The Theory of Everything", "What If", "Men, Women & Children"

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Julien Faddoul

The Theory of Everything *

A retelling of the relationship between famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife.

Flat and dull biopic with only the occasional insightful observation seeping through its tameness. It’s ironic that a film about a man who was so revolutionary can be so stodgy.

d – James Marsh

w – Anthony McCarten   (Based on the Book by Jane Hawking)

ph – Benoit Delhomme

pd – John Paul Kelly

m – Johann Johannsson

ed – Jinx Godfrey

cos – Steven Noble

p – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Maxine Peake, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, Simon McBurney, David Thewlis, Abigail Cruttenden, Guy Oliver-Watts

Crisp Criticism - "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1", "Maps to the Stars", "The Homesman"

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Julien Faddoul

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Katniss Everdeen reluctantly becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the autocratic Capitol.

Under-lit, choppy and shapeless film that serves merely as set-up for the next installment.

d – Francis Lawrence  

w – Peter Craig, Danny Strong   (Based on the Novel by Suzanne Collins)

ph – Jo Willems  

pd – Philip Messina 

m – James Newton Howard  

ed – Alan Edward Bell, Mark Yoshikawa  

cos – Kurt and Bart

p – Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone

Interstellar (2014/US)

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Julien Faddoul

* (1 star)

d – Christopher Nolan

w – Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan

ph – Hoyte Van Hoytema

pd – Nathan Crowley

m – Hans Zimmer

ed – Lee Smith

cos – Mary Zophres 

p – Christopher Nolan, Lynda Obst, Emma Thomas

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Wes Bentley, Matt Damon, Mackenzie Foy, David Gyasi, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, Timothée Chalamet, Bill Irwin, Josh Stewart

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is a bold film. It has an urgency and a sense of concord that is evident in all his films. Regrettably, as his career has progressed, that urgency has turned to bombast and that sense of concord has become more like pacification. Interstellar contains all these things, but unfortunately, the latter outweigh the former.

Crisp Criticism - "Fury", "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya", "Listen Up Philip"

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Julien Faddoul

Fury

As WWII approaches its end, a tank of five men are ordered to go on a mission behind enemy lines.

Violent American WWII film that despite clear attempts to take the material seriously becomes marinated in its own heavy-handedness. It remains merely a wallow in machismo dramatics.

wd – David Ayer

ph – Roman Vasyanov

pd – Andrew Menzies

m – Steven Price

ed – Jay Cassidy, Dody Dorn

cos – Owen Thornton

p – David Ayer, Bill Block, John Lesher, Ethan Smith

Cast: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, Jim Parrack, Brad William Henke, Kevin Vance