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January 2013

Catching Fire
The exclusive first look at the highly anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games

Oscars 2013
We predict what we think will win, and say what we think should win!

Reviews
The Hobbit, Wreck-It Ralph, Cloud Atlas, Zero Dark Thirty and more!

This is not so much a disappointment of a film as an underwhelming, unsurprisingly and predictable remake of something we all adore. Thats not the description of a bad film, is it? Ive spent weeks deciding whether to see this is 3D 48FPS, 2D 48FPS, 3D 24FPS or 2D 24FPS. IMAX has not yet reached rural Western Ireland. I eventually chose the most exciting option, and the one I have preferred since my birth- two-dimensional 24 frames per second. Yay! I wont therefore be commenting on the new format Peter Jackson has used to make The Hobbit. The opening prologue, which tells of how the dwarves lost their mountain to Smaug (pronounced smowg, fyi), is notably lighter is tone and visuals than anything in LOTR. Its also very beautiful, breathtaking even in the boring old fashioned format I watched the film in. We then begin our time in The Shine literally a few hours before Fellowship begins, with Frodo heading off to read under that tree. I know, I was crying too. We then go 60 years backward, when Bilbo is played by the excellent Martin Freeman, who shines in this as expected. Thirteen dwarves whom vary in annoyance arrive at his front door and barge their way in. Some of them are old and wise, some middle-aged and aggressive and some young and foolish (Do you have chips?) The ones I was most interested in (Dwarf with Axe-head in Head, Dwarf that is Gimlis Dad)

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

didnt speak once, werent referred to at all and featured on screen for less than 5 seconds each. Why? Its not like the film had to be cut down! It was almost 3 hours for Gods sake! I was almost asleep by the end, and it was only 6.30pm by the time it ended! The Shire bits were too long, the bits with the Orcs and Wargs were WAAAAAYYYY too long, and their were at least 3 endings. Jackson has two more films to deal with this story! The highlight of the film by a mile is the Riddles in the Dark portion, which sees a technically improved Gollum appearing on film for probably the final time ever! It was directed by Andy Serkis (who plays Gollum and should have gotten an Oscar for Rise of the Planet of the Apes), whilst PJ was filming some other stuff, and you can really tell that it was a different person behind the camera. Everything about it deserves an award, but especially Serkis performance as literatures greatest schizophrenic, which is way more playful, experimental and absolutely mad than it ever was back in the Noughties films. Smeagol and Gollums personal arguments are absolutely hilarious beyond belief, and had me rolling around on the floor laughing. Sir Ian McKellen (I usually ignore the sir but, you know, its Gandalf!)

is amazing as always as the ol guy, and cameos from Sir Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving and (should be) Dame Cate Blanchett really add to the small amount the atmosphere the film has. Richard Armitages performance as Thorin gets better and the film progresses, and by the end is very good indeed.The main problems I had with the film were the length, the repetitiveness of everything from the music to the dialogue to the fighting and how unsurprised I was by the events that occurred. I predicted exactly how it would end, with us catching a glimpse of Smaugs eye, and I left feeling a bit bored. Who am I kidding, a lot bored. The film has received no Golden Globe noms, and I can see why. It feels like a decent Christmas blockbuster which I wouldnt mind seeing a few times again, but its not the wellmade masterpiece, the work of art that Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings films were. All that said, it was nowhere near as bad as George Lucas first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace.

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Oscars 2013
The Academy Awards are coming next month, and since the nominations were just announced, here are our predictions!

WORDS: JERRY COLLINS

BEST PICTURE Should Win: Zero Dark Thirty Will Win: Lincoln Snubbed: Moonrise Kingdom BEST DIRECTOR Should Win: Michael Haneke Will Win: Steven Spielberg Snubbed: Kathryn Bigelow BEST LEADING ACTOR Should Win: Joaquin Phoenix Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis Snubbed: Joseph Gordon-Levitt BEST LEADING ACTRESS Should Win: Emmanuelle Riva Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence

Snubbed: Helen Mirren BEST SUPPORTING Should Win: Christoph Waltz, Anne Hathaway Will Win: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway Snubbed: Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Should Win: Wreck-It Ralph Will Win: Frankenweenie Snubbed: Madagascar 3 BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL, ADAPTED) Should Win: Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook 2 Will Win: Django Unchained, Argo Snubbed: Liberal Arts, Cloud Atlas BEST MUSIC (SCORE, SONG) Should Win: Skyfall, Ted Will Win: Lincoln, Skyfall Snubbed: Moonrise Kingdom, Breaking Dawn- Part 2
LISTEN TO OUR LIVE REACTIONS TO THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS ON THE FIRST EPISODE OF OUR NEW PODCAST, MOVIE TACO

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Above: Director Francis Lawrence (centre) with Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence Below right: Oscar winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Woody Harrelson

Every Revolution Begins With A Spark

IMAGES: LIONSGATE ENTERTAINMENT

This November, one of the most highly-anticipated sequels of all time will hit the screen- Catching Fire- the adaptation of the second (and best) book in Suzanne Collins record-breaking Hunger Games trilogy. Here, on this page, are the first exclusive images from the film. 3

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REVIEWS
The tension that made The Hurt Locker so interesting is only seen here in small parts, but features enough to keep fans of that film interested. The performances by all actors are excellent, notably Mark Strong on top form. The torture sequences towards the beginning are not particularly graphic or violent, but are still a painful watch. Overall, this is a very solid, tense thriller which I hope to see win some awards, even if not for Best Actress.

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WRECK-IT RALPH

ZERO DARK THIRTY

Jessica Chastain doesnt do a lot of acting in Zero Dark Thirty. In fact, she barely says anything at all in Kathryn Bigelows multiOscar-nominated thriller, which charts the CIAs ten-year search for Osama bin Laden. Chastain stars as Maya, the operative placed in charge of the bin Laden search, and she really does STAR. Shes in almost every scene, yet barely does anything. She makes one decent speech about halfway through, swears at important people a few times, and gets her big moment in the final shot of the film, but its not really the kind of performance that deserves an Oscar. Speaking of the final shot, the films ending came as a complete shock to me, with its subtlety and failure to follow the traditional Hollywood nationalistic, militaristic protocol of welcoming the hero home with applause. Instead, we realise that Maya has nothing to go home to after killing bin Laden. She says earlier in the film to one of her colleagues that she has no boyfriend, not even any friends. We also realise that we know absolutely nothing about Maya, not her surname, age, place of birth- nothing. Joel Edgerton, who we can see this Summer in The Great Gatsby, appeared in the trailer more than he did in the film, and seemed to be wasted in a few quick shots during the extended, incredibly tense Abbottobad raid scene. TVs John Barrowman also made a quick appearance, saying approximately 6 words whilst standing next to a barely recognisable James Gandolfini. Neither Obama nor Bush are named in the film, although they are both seen briefly on screens, and apart from recreations of real terrorist attacks of images of real terrorists being used, the only reference to the real, outside world is when, during an interrogation, a suspected terrorist describes another as being tall, with a long white beard and a cane, and Maya says so, hes Gandalf! It was this, among other things, that made Bigelow and Mark Boals script so engaging, and deserved of awards. There are also many similarities to Argo, a far less superior film released recently, such as the constant scenes of American delegates driving through protesting crowds in Middle-Eastern cities, which was basically all of Argo.

CLOUD ATLAS
Its always sad when you watch a film and you can tell that the filmmakers thought it would be a masterpiece. The Dark Knight Rises is an example, but the difference with that is that we all thought it would be a masterpiece too. David Mitchells novel Cloud Atlas is very well written, well paced and well-structured. Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Twykers overlong, ridiculously complicated and hard to follow film is terribly structured. All the stories from different centuries and decades are mixed together, cutting back and forth. In other words, we have five or six versions of Tom Hanks who all look pretty much the same, on screen just seconds after one another. I had to bring a list of characters and descriptions of the plots to the screening with me, as I was told by a friend that I would get a headache trying to follow the story otherwise. The cast list is amazing, and the performances by most of the actors are great, particularly Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw and, as always, Hanks, who at one point plays an Irish fighter with a book called Knuckle Sandwich, the idea of which and the Irish stereotyping had me in tears of laughter for ages. Although the actors are good, and the CGI settings are delightful to look at, the film is ridiculously overambitious, and its lack of success has proven that people like The Matrix but not The Really Long, Complicated FollowUp.

Disney havent had the best year. The underrated John Carter was a comically huge flop, Brave was probably Pixars worst film, Timothy Greens box office performance was as underwhelming as the film itself, and although they did distribute The Avengers, the biggest film of the year, it wasnt theirs, and so much of the box office takings didnt go to them. It is good however, that those gifted people at Disney Animated Studios, a section of the company who are quickly proving themselves to be more talented that Pixar at the moment, have come up with this geniuslymade, incredibly entertaining and surprisingly sweet CGI romp. In the film, John C Reilly voices Ralph, a lonely game baddie who regularly attends meetings of Bad Guys Anonymous. I am one of a few members of my generation who have never owned, and rarely played, a video game, and so the apparently obvious game character references went right over my head. Give me a film with Hitchcock baddie sidekicks popping up in the background and im there! The fact that I was able to find such pleasure in watching WIR without getting these references is a true testament to how good this film really is, and how it will truly stand the test of time, just like the film it is clearly trying to copy, Toy Story. It most certainly will live on like that, for the next generation, with its quite mature, yet lovable and relatable characters, and its simple, yet not so simple it will bore adults, plot. Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer (not yet forgiven for A Thousand Words- my worst film of 2012) and the fantastic Ed ONeill (Modern Family, in a role far too small for his awesomeness) provide voices

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(Continued) for some of the hilarious characters Ralph meets along the way. The main villain of the piece is an excellently terrifying creation called King Candy, whose voice is a delightfully 100% copy of Ed Wynns turns in Mary Poppins and the animated version of Alice in Wonderland. This is by far the best animated film of the year so far!

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HITCHCOCK
An image from Cloud Atlas, one of the least successful films of 2012, reviewed on page 4. If youve even had a quick glance at my list of favourite films, youll know that Alfred Hitchcock is pretty much my favourite director ever. From The Man Who Knew Too Much to The Birds to my No.1 film ever, North by Northwest, his masterpieces have entertained, educated and astounded me with their brilliance since I first saw them. Whilst BBC and HBOs recent TV movie The Girl was a Hitchcock biopic for the haters and only mild enthusiasts, portraying the great man as a perverted sleaze-bag, Sacha Gervasis star-studded film is a biopic for the fans. That is apparent from the opening, and made me prone to like this, whatever was given to me. Its easy to see that Gervasi is a documentary maker by trade. The cinematography and editing are quite poor, and let down the excellent story and actors. Boy! What a cast! Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hitch, Helen Mirren on top form as his wife Alma, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles the list goes on! I was slightly disappointed however, that Andrew Garfield wasnt cast as Anthony Perkins, as I have always been almost distracted by his startling resemblance to the Psycho star, and thought he would have been excellent in this. Also, the great Michael Stuhlbarg, who has had a busier year than Joseph GordonLevitt, starring in Men in Black 3, Lincoln and this, turns up as Hitchs

agent. This portrays Hitch as the man I believe he truly was- empathetic, funny, kind and easily hurt- this can be seen when he thinks Alma has been having an affair with her screenwriting partner and takes to comfort eating. I dearly hope that everyone who saw The Girl watches this and realises what a great man he really was, despite his somewhat odd fascinations with his leading ladies. I enjoyed this more than I have with many other films this year. Its not an amazing film, but its about as good a Hitch biopic I would expect to see in 2013.

LINCOLN
Im not one of those people who thinks Steven Spielberg is the greatest filmmaker in the world. In fact, I can count on one hand the films of his that I actually like: Raiders, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Empire of the Sun, Last Crusade. The stuff hes made over the past decade has been, in my honest opinion, mostly shit. Lincoln is somewhat a return to form for the Oscarwinning director, however. He has, surprisingly, managed to make a film that is purely 150 minutes of aging actors in wigs sitting in dusty rooms, discussing American history that I, being Irish, know little about, quite interesting and entertaining. Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of his best performances in the lead role, and Sally Field is a lot better than she was in this Summers Amazing Spider-Man. The supporting cast is incredible. If this cast were put together in any film ever made, they would make it enjoyable to watch. Theres Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Jared Harris, John Hawkes, and well give special mention to the excellent Michael Stuhlbarg, who you may know from A Serious Man or Men in Black III. So, although the actors were great and the plot entertaining, Lincoln didnt feel like a film, it felt like a play. A film, especially one that wins awards, should make use of the magical medium, and Lincoln failed to do anything even the slightest bit cinematic.

NEWS
>>>>> Christopher Nolan, the genius behind such masterpieces as Inception and The Dark Knight, is in the process of choosing his next film, and several sources have revealed that it is likely to be sci-fi adventure Interstellar, penned by his brother Jonah, who co-wrote The Dark Knight and Rises. If this happens, it will be Nolans third film with In- in the title! >>>>> Jurassic Park IV has been confirmed for a June 2014 release date, and will be produced, but not directed by Steven Spielberg (whose Lincoln is reviewed on the right of this page!) >>>>>> It wasnt enough for Skyfall to be the biggest movie ever at the UK box office, but over Christmas it crossed 100m, the first film in history to do so!

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IF THE POSTERS FOR 2013S OSCAR-NOMINATED MOVIES TOLD THE TRUTH!

NEXT MONTH: THE HOST, OBLIVION, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES & THE 20 HOTTEST STARS OF 2013!