MOVIE INFO
Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything -- his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months is a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet-and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.
So finally a film about crazy people that are good looking yeah?
Alone in the cinema again, some new kid on the till tried to over charge me two quid for a pack of revels. When they say all the action starts in the foyer they weren't wrong. So to the film then. I first saw Jennifer Lawrence in X-men first class and now I try and see her whenever I can, in what ever capacity. In this she outshines Bradley Cooper quite comfortably who isn't really trying anything new here.
At the end of this film I could hear many people sobbing in the theatre. For once I was not part of the chorus of sniffles or sobs, but I was moved, slightly. The film has undeniable charm, and the finale ticked a lot of the right boxes.
Rotten Tomatoes (critics 90%)
Rotten Tomatoes (audience 87%)
Peter-Meter (84%)
Now onto The Omega Man (available on DVD at Braintree Library)
MOVIE INFO
This second film adaptation of Richard Matheson's science-fiction novel I Am Legend (the first version being The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price) unfolds in a post-apocalyptic 1976. Charlton Heston is Robert Neville, the sole recipient of a serum that enabled him to survive an onslaught of germ warfare between Russia and China - which seemingly rendered him the last (normal) human alive. Neville lives in a garish, antique-strewn L.A. penthouse. During the day, he roams through the vacant city. At night, he fends off a bloodthirsty horde of mutant scavengers garbed in Spanish inquisition robes and sunglasses, led by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), a former television newscaster in his good ol' pre-mutant days. Matthias and his half-human vampires want to kill Neville. Neville's last man on earth status is shattered when he comes across a group of young people, presided over by the sexy and cynical Lisa (Rosalind Cash). Neville begins to form an interest in her, as the two try to keep Matthias and his minions at bay. The Omega Man was filmed in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoons, an area that consists almost exclusively of office buildings, and therefore was suitably vacant at the the time of production. In 2007, Matheson's novel received yet another incarnation - this one with Will Smith in the Heston role.
You remember in I Am Legend how cool the mutant vampires looked and how tense it was whenever they showed up on screen? Well there is none of that in this. Instead replace the cool looking mutant/vampires with the little pointy hooded Jawas that were scavengers of the desert in the first Star Wars movie. Remember in I Am Legend how Will Smith had metal shutters on his house, turned off all the lights and slept in the bath tub with his dog and shotgun? Well in this one of the first scenes features Charlton Heston drinking brandy on the balcony, all the lights and music are pumping out of his villa like he's fucking Rod Stewart, but in the evening time! He is making no attempt to hide from the living dead at all!
The only thing I really like about these kind of films is how they manage to empty all the streets to make it look deserted. Reading the info above now I know. But sometimes scenes in films where the streets are deserted look amazing. I'm thinking perhaps more of the opening to Vanilla Sky where they shut down Time Square for Tom Cruise to run around in. GREAT GREAT visual. Imagine how much money that one scene would have took and the amount of work involved in shutting down Time Square during the day! And it was just a dream sequence aswel, not even integral to the plot!
Anyway this film has nice ideas, but the ideas are in the book so it gets no kudos for that.
Oh and christ the music in this is bad. Probably the worst soundtrack to a film I've ever heard. Please check it out for that reason alone.
Rotten Tomatoes (critics 59%)
Rotten Tomatoes (audience 35%)
Peter-Meter (24%)
If Silver Linings Playbook had been slightly funnier I may have put it in my top 5 films of the year. If you want to see a film with crazy people played in a more humorous way then invest in As Good as it Gets. It has the right level of sentiment and humour. So watch AS GOOD AS IT GETS, and not SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and certainly not, THE OMEGA MAN.
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