The French Connection - Film Review

A classic. It was also one I had missed. The film was originally released in 1971 and was a film that cemented Gene Hackman as a force to be reckoned with. It created a character that won Hackman an Oscar for Best Actor.

It was a film that I had heard of, knew little about other than it was a film everyone should have watched!

The first thing that struck me was it was very definitely of its time. The racial language and approach to policing for a start. Now that's not to say modern movies don't have race as a theme or negative racial words are used, but this seemed different. It would be something that would have been re-worded for today, I am not saying re-written as such but how the characters approach a scene would be very different, Gene Hackman did however have trouble saying Doyles racist language without cringing. I know that policing on film is also very different to actual police procedure and approach, but the portrayal of the renegade cop who plays by his own rules is handled differently. Maybe it is that the more modern films are in some respect caricatures of these original films and people, even in the more serious versions. This then brings the question of can anything be original, but that is for another day, place and time.

Knowing about how films today can be edited even within a scene to get the best performances of an actor (there is a great video about how David Fincher does this) I want to highlight one of the opening scenes.

This chase down of a suspect and back street interrogation shows how and why Gene Hackman deserves his plaudits for the film, however about 1 min 40 seconds in Hackman is on a roll and Roy Scheider is clearly corpsing at the questioning of the suspect and "picking his feet in Poughkeepsie" (If you read the IMDB trivia page for the film you learn this was an actual tactic used but the detectives the film is based on).

A few scenes in and the movie feel more like parody than they probably should, and I think this comes down to the imitation of films such as The French Connection. If you don't see the original first, it can skew your appreciation of it when you get to it. Your own knowledge of what the film should do plays with what they were trying to do. My example here is the subway foot chase between Doyle and Charnier. The hopping on and off the subway, changing cars and trains feels almost comical now, but I know that was not the intention. It is because of it now appearing across multiple films, styles and genres that the gravitas and weight that was there for initial audiences is lost on the those of us getting to the film much later in it's life cycle. The same could be said of things like Jaws, Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back) and  James Bond. They are part of our culture and language even though we may not have seen those films. (Arguably that's the same on a greater scale with classic literature like Shakespeare).

It was not until the end that I realised that the film was based around some truth of actual events. It felt while watching it that it was "just a story" and did not do what many modern films now do to attract attention, or add weight to the subject matter by listing it as being based on a true story or true events. It does however list is as based on the book by Robin Moore and the screenplay of Ernest Tidyman.

This film is a classic and one that if you have missed you should rectify, it's on Netflix (UK) and I am sure elsewhere in the world. It has very famous scenes and set pieces that changed the world of cinema and what other film makers strive to do. It is because of the attempts to capture what Friedkin did with The French Connection that make it such a well known film through many other films and television series. That being said Friedkin himself credits other work (Z 1969) as an influence to the style of the film, and will undoubtedly contain conscious or unconscious references to that work.

Whatever the flaws are with this film today, they are only because it created it such a piece of history. That being said, while I enjoyed it, and it is something you need to watch to draw your own conclusions from, it has not made it into my top ten list of great films. It was enjoyable, it is a classic but I think there are many films that may have taken from it and improved what it started.

Jessica Jones - Netflix TV series.

If you have Netflix, I doubt you have missed Jessica Jones. In fact if you don't have Netflix I doubt you have not at least heard about Jessica Jones from someone. After the runaway success of Netflix's Daredevil (not the underwhelming Ben Affleck film), it was an easy sell for them to keep going with the Marvel cannon of work.

 Daredevil and Jessica Jones have both been commissioned for a second series, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Defenders are all set to appear on Netflix in the next year or two, the Marvel TV train is full steam ahead, and keeping pace with the full cinematic universe.

 Many have said they prefer Daredevil to Jessica Jones but they still both rate highly. I might agree with that, but actually there was something about Jessica Jones I think I preferred. Although the production style is similar, there is a much more film noir film to Jessica Jones, this comes from the idea that she is a private detective, but it does it very well. It brings a contemporary take on the genre and while not always following the traits of a noir piece in terms of lighting and pacing, it does use the music to perfect effect and has some very beautiful throw backs to the film genre.

I have to admit I was not familiar with Jessica Jones or Alias the comic book as I was with some of the others that we have seen on screen over the last few years. I think it there are similarities and difference between both which has been written about by others if you are interested.

The cast of Jessica Jones is brilliant, everyone feels like they are there for a reason and not just propping up the main character, is some places you could take Jessica out of the story and it will still be a compelling watch, which to me is testament to everyone involved. The writers and cast have created such deep characters you care about them and want to see where it will lead. They all add to the rich texture of the show and I hope we get to see more of their stories as we get into season 2.

With the Marvel TV world at the moment they are writing self contained series that could have no sequel as that was (as far as I know) the idea. They were there to build the worlds to get to a final series (The Defenders) but actually, the love of superheroes (especially Marvel) series is not going away any time soon, so they are going to keep producing products that appeal to a range of audiences, just like the comics. Jessica Jones is not for kids, it is dark, sexual and in places brutal but I never felt like it was violent for the sake of violence, rude just because they could swear. They have created a character you can see has troubles, issues and character flaws the traditional super hero may not.

The villain in this series is Kilgrave, a strong part of the Jessica Jones comics who actually in the comics holds less over Jessica to start with but becomes more prominent as the adventures continue. Not wanting to spoil too much, I will say that David Tennant plays bad so well, and that you do start to feel even for him. Again a sign of great writing and not just adding in a bad guy to beat up and be done with. (The same can be said for Wilson Fisk in Daredevil as Vincent D'Onofrio plays him perfectly and at times leaving you empathising with the character you should be against).

This is a great TV series and if you have Netflix one you need to add to your watch list as soon as you can. If you have also not seen Daredevil, chain them together and watch them one after the other. Netflix are producing fantastic original TV series and films at the moment and these Marvel tie-ins are great examples of how to do a series well. If you are not a fan of the super hero thing, then Jessica Jones is also for you. It is less super hero and more classic hero from a troubled but brilliant women.

Inside Out - Film Review

So to start 2016, Happy New Year and I hope you had a lovely Christmas. This year I was given a lot of lovely presents, and I may do a review of some board games over the coming weeks that I think people are more likely to have missed, however, I was given a few films on Blu-ray. Jaws, E.T and Inside Out.

It would be hard to miss anything that is put out by Disney Pixar. It's not like they are small indy films. However, there are people like myself who don't get the chance to go to the cinema anymore (with any regularity) and rely on Netflix, Amazon Prime streaming and getting Blu-rays for presents at birthday or Christmas time.

I love Pixar and Disney films, and recently I have watched Tangled, Frozen and Princes and the Frog from Disney more than I ever thought I would thanks to a 2 year old little girl. So when I was given Inside Out I was really pleased. It might be another one to add to the rotation list for her, but we thought we had better watch it first to see how suitable it is.

We sat down to watch the film knowing a rough out line of what the film might offer, but had actually (and not on purpose) avoided most of the hype when it came out.

The film takes you through the growth of a child and how the emotions in her head drive her. How each emotion controls aspects of your life and can change your perception of events.

The main focus of the story is the journey of two key emotions trying to get back to the main control room after an accident puts them into her general memory banks. It looks at their own personal approach to situations and why each emotion plays a key role in making us who we are.

It cleverly sets up the change from child into teenager and then from the parents perspective and emotions into adulthood.

Reading the IMDB trivia for this film there are quite a few really lovely notes about who controls each person and how, but the one I want to touch on is that it was born from the Director watching his daughter growing and imagining from inside her head what could be happening. It's the imagining of how we process daily information and how it is then retained and recalled later. It's the perfect look at what a child goes through in the developmental stage of their life and how our emotions change over time to form us into who we are today.

It is a lovely tale and easily my favourite film to have been released in such a long time. It hit a chord with me because of having a 2 year old and watching her learn and develop her own personality. Although I know it's not really how the human body works, like with anything Pixar does, a part of you likes to imagine it is actually true, like toys coming to life, cars being the actual driver and rats being top chefs. You don't need a child to appreciate the beauty in this film but it really did add something for me personally. I think this is where Pixar excel! Making any of their films personal to you, your life and experiences, even in the Incredibles. There is something in all their films that will connect to you on some level.

I don't want to give too much plot away as half the beauty I had was coming to it almost completely fresh and with no preconceptions (other than the "I like Pixar").

From what I have read, the film was meant to have more emotions in each head, and while I think there could have been a few more to develop other areas of the plot, I think the 5 they used are perfect and are cast to perfection. Even before they started any animation, they had Lewis Black cast as anger and his performance makes this film even more perfect. For some people they may not know the name Lewis Black, but might recognsie the face or voice, (he had been in an early episode of Big Bang Theory) but has also been a stand up comic for years.

To put a face to the name, check out this video!
(has some harsh language)

Amy Poehler from Parks and Recreation plays Joy wonderfully and it took me a while to even realise it was her. The whole cast is perfect and brings this film to life with such fun and enjoyment that it's hard to think of anyway this could be a much better film .

If you have not seen Inside Out, then I can not recommend it enough, however for a 2 year old, I think I will leave it a year or two. It's not inappropriate for children, but has a few "scary" moments that some younger viewers might not be so good at understanding or processing (the clown is much more scary in the subconscious than it is when we see them in the credits at the end).  It is also actually quite an advanced concept. The idea of these people in your head, the concept of emotion. So for now, I am destined to watch Frozen again as it is a simple thing to understand, To be honest out of the other films I had mentioned we watch most, Tangled and Princess and the Frog are so much better than Frozen, in nearly every way. These other films are simple princes tales, or are the toys / cars / animals talking which a 2 year old gets, to them the toys are people too, animals have the same feelings we do. I would argue emotions are harder to understand at this conceptual level and the reference point is not quite so clear for them. My daughter knows when she is upset but would not see it as a person quite in the same way we can for the film.

This film is wonderful and gets a full rating (if I rated films), so if you have missed this gem of a Pixar film, watch it as soon as you can.