BharatSamra
Joined Aug 2010
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Loosely based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty explores the idyllic fantasies of its titular protagonist, as he attempts to escape the mundane motions of his daily routine employment at Life Magazine. When Mitty (Ben Stiller) discovers that photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) has misplaced negative 25, intended for the cover of the final print of the publication, he sets out on a larger-than-Life journey to locate the missing photograph, while reducing his need for daydreams as he discovers that not even his wildest fantasies are a match for an adventurous reality.
In addition to starring, Stiller also takes on directing duty, and does a mostly wonderful job of collaborating with writer Steven Conrad in adapting Thurber's classic tale of a man's yearning for more out of life.
A fantasy adventure with glimpses of comedy, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is, in one word, pleasant. Envision a pyramid of qualities; the film's dreamlike sequences comfortably and rightfully sit atop its magnitude of highlights. With the lines between fantasy and reality often being blurred in Mitty's zoned out state of paralysis, he invites us into his crazy, hazy, even mazy lapses into daydreams of romanticism, adventure and pleasure.
Why are The Secret Life of Walter Mitty's fantasy sequences so successful? Because of their relation to our own imaginations: the things we wish we could say but don't; the places we wish we could go but won't. The film's fantasy references are inspired by popular movies such as The Matrix, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Harry Potter and pretty much every superhero film ever. This hilarious and creative approach to Mitty's fantasies offers an insightful look into how uninsightful our own imaginations can be, as they crave originality but settle for what has been imagined before.
Perhaps a slight disappointment to Mitty's on screen daydreams is their quantity. While Thurber's short story is dominated by the character's constant drift into his fantasy worlds, Stiller's adaptation favours reality and narrative over fantasy and themes. The film's aforementioned highlights are too few and far between throughout the 114 minute feature. Thus, it may have been Beneficial for Stiller to lengthen the film slightly in order to incorporate more of Mitty's fantasies, which would have better established his dissatisfaction with life.
Despite this, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty does have a story investing and intriguing enough for it not to be the film's demise. The secrecy behind negative 25 drives the film along, with love interest Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) also spurring Mitty on in the passenger's seat, inspiring the anxious and rigid dreamer to take his unpredictable ride and become the person he desires to be.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is refreshing in its lack of reliance on dialogue. Instead, the film's beautiful soundtrack and score, cinematography in exceptional landscapes and even the quietness of Mitty, tells us pretty much everything we need to know. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty consists of visual wonderment, with superbly selected and composed music to harmonise the scenery, complementing each other as they stroll hand in hand through Mitty's perfectly paced journey.
"Life is about courage and going into the unknown." If you fail to relate to Mitty's early illusory state, cautiousness and absence of courage, then you probably live a somewhat audacious lifestyle, in which case good for you! For the rest of us, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a relatable, pleasant and semi-inspirational modernisation of Thurber's story.
Just as the film's concluding third appears to have little payoff considering its memorable opening two, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty wraps up with a revitalising, picture-perfect moment, fulfilling enough to make cinema-goers reconsider 2013's most impressive movies.
In spite of its imperfections in almost keeping Mitty's secret life somewhat of a secret from the audience at times, and preferencing the film's plot over his fantasies, this adaptation is nonetheless a satisfying, fun, visually and audibly pleasing present for the holiday season. Not even Walter Mitty would fantasise about battling you through the streets of Manhattan if you waited for The Secret Life of his on DVD or Netflix, but this delightful film is definitely worth the time and box office cost if you find yourself looking for inspiration for your own imagination.
In addition to starring, Stiller also takes on directing duty, and does a mostly wonderful job of collaborating with writer Steven Conrad in adapting Thurber's classic tale of a man's yearning for more out of life.
A fantasy adventure with glimpses of comedy, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is, in one word, pleasant. Envision a pyramid of qualities; the film's dreamlike sequences comfortably and rightfully sit atop its magnitude of highlights. With the lines between fantasy and reality often being blurred in Mitty's zoned out state of paralysis, he invites us into his crazy, hazy, even mazy lapses into daydreams of romanticism, adventure and pleasure.
Why are The Secret Life of Walter Mitty's fantasy sequences so successful? Because of their relation to our own imaginations: the things we wish we could say but don't; the places we wish we could go but won't. The film's fantasy references are inspired by popular movies such as The Matrix, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Harry Potter and pretty much every superhero film ever. This hilarious and creative approach to Mitty's fantasies offers an insightful look into how uninsightful our own imaginations can be, as they crave originality but settle for what has been imagined before.
Perhaps a slight disappointment to Mitty's on screen daydreams is their quantity. While Thurber's short story is dominated by the character's constant drift into his fantasy worlds, Stiller's adaptation favours reality and narrative over fantasy and themes. The film's aforementioned highlights are too few and far between throughout the 114 minute feature. Thus, it may have been Beneficial for Stiller to lengthen the film slightly in order to incorporate more of Mitty's fantasies, which would have better established his dissatisfaction with life.
Despite this, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty does have a story investing and intriguing enough for it not to be the film's demise. The secrecy behind negative 25 drives the film along, with love interest Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) also spurring Mitty on in the passenger's seat, inspiring the anxious and rigid dreamer to take his unpredictable ride and become the person he desires to be.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is refreshing in its lack of reliance on dialogue. Instead, the film's beautiful soundtrack and score, cinematography in exceptional landscapes and even the quietness of Mitty, tells us pretty much everything we need to know. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty consists of visual wonderment, with superbly selected and composed music to harmonise the scenery, complementing each other as they stroll hand in hand through Mitty's perfectly paced journey.
"Life is about courage and going into the unknown." If you fail to relate to Mitty's early illusory state, cautiousness and absence of courage, then you probably live a somewhat audacious lifestyle, in which case good for you! For the rest of us, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a relatable, pleasant and semi-inspirational modernisation of Thurber's story.
Just as the film's concluding third appears to have little payoff considering its memorable opening two, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty wraps up with a revitalising, picture-perfect moment, fulfilling enough to make cinema-goers reconsider 2013's most impressive movies.
In spite of its imperfections in almost keeping Mitty's secret life somewhat of a secret from the audience at times, and preferencing the film's plot over his fantasies, this adaptation is nonetheless a satisfying, fun, visually and audibly pleasing present for the holiday season. Not even Walter Mitty would fantasise about battling you through the streets of Manhattan if you waited for The Secret Life of his on DVD or Netflix, but this delightful film is definitely worth the time and box office cost if you find yourself looking for inspiration for your own imagination.
Thor: The Dark World expands on the beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe, quite literally, this time with one of the least exciting Avengers taking the spotlight for Hammertime.
Despite the devoted fan-base of this incredible world of Marvel superheroes, you can't help but feel that Thor: The Dark World is the first instalment in the franchise to feel most contrived and out of place. Yet, this sequel is still a mild improvement on its predecessor, though together they combine for the weakest in the series of superhero films, even though Thor is probably the strongest out of the bunch. The film finds Thor doing his thing in Asgard, before his lady love Jane Foster conveniently stumbles upon a weapon known as the Aether, which the Dark Elf Malekith intends to use to destroy the universe. Asleep yet?
Negativity aside, Thor: The Dark World is a mostly enjoyable comic-book flick with some superb action, actors and, I can't think of another word that begins with 'a' so, humour.
For an incredibly cheesy character, Chris Hemsworth still has the oh my demigod factor to bring a great balance of confidence, charisma and physicality to the role of Thor. This can be said of all of the Asgardians, including Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Tom Hiddleston's fan- favourite portrayal of Loki. While narratively Thor: The Dark World is predominantly yawn-inspiring, the presence of Hiddleston's Loki compensates as fans are genuinely interested to see his current personality and relationship with Thor following the events of The Avengers in 2012.
It is the human characters that are the dull, annoyingly cheesy and unnecessary obstacles that often get in the way of the overall pleasant 112 minute sequel. Notably, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is used as a pathetic damsel in distress signal masquerading as a character with any significance, while Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) is pretty much the idiotic joke machine waiting for her cue. These characters, along with the contrived villain Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) are really the Aether to what could have been a very promising second outing for Thor. With no disrespect to these actors whom deliver fine performances, it is their characters that suppress absolute enjoyment of Thor: The Dark World.
Apologies for this tennis match I am having with myself in complementing and then hammering Thor: The Dark World's qualities; still I'll continue to play. More positively, the film is possibly the greatest comedic achievement for the superhero squadron on screen to date. One moment had the audience in an uproar of laughter; those that have seen it will know the moment, and those that are yet to see the film will know when they bear witness to its hilarity. Even during other scenes where the humour feels slightly inappropriate given the circumstances, you'll easily yield with laughter, or at the minimum, a low-key grin.
It's almost superfluous today to commend a modern blockbuster for its CGI quality. However due to its stark visual improvement over its 2011 predecessor, Thor: The Dark World is certainly worth mentioning as an aesthetically potent force which makes the movie a Thorful lot of fun!
Whilst the Thorsome Asgardian actors, humour and visual effects are enough to keep Marvel fans entertained for two short hands around the clock, it doesn't take too long to realise that Thor: The Dark World is probably the most forgettable and forced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though by no means the first for Marvel (I'm looking at you 'Amazing' Spider-Man). Thor's lack of character development since the end of Thor, along with the villain out of nowhere and no care Malekith make this sequel feel pretty purposeless in the grander scheme of things. And that's not even mentioning Jane Foster: Marvel's version of Daphne from Scooby-Doo, except more pointless, boring, unconvincing and no fun for anyone.
After a Thortless and needlessly dull opening 45 minutes, Thor: The Dark World has plenty of surprises along the way to amuse the fandom inside of devotees, that'll shadow its flaws until you really start to think about the film, but it's some fun while it lasts.
Despite the devoted fan-base of this incredible world of Marvel superheroes, you can't help but feel that Thor: The Dark World is the first instalment in the franchise to feel most contrived and out of place. Yet, this sequel is still a mild improvement on its predecessor, though together they combine for the weakest in the series of superhero films, even though Thor is probably the strongest out of the bunch. The film finds Thor doing his thing in Asgard, before his lady love Jane Foster conveniently stumbles upon a weapon known as the Aether, which the Dark Elf Malekith intends to use to destroy the universe. Asleep yet?
Negativity aside, Thor: The Dark World is a mostly enjoyable comic-book flick with some superb action, actors and, I can't think of another word that begins with 'a' so, humour.
For an incredibly cheesy character, Chris Hemsworth still has the oh my demigod factor to bring a great balance of confidence, charisma and physicality to the role of Thor. This can be said of all of the Asgardians, including Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Tom Hiddleston's fan- favourite portrayal of Loki. While narratively Thor: The Dark World is predominantly yawn-inspiring, the presence of Hiddleston's Loki compensates as fans are genuinely interested to see his current personality and relationship with Thor following the events of The Avengers in 2012.
It is the human characters that are the dull, annoyingly cheesy and unnecessary obstacles that often get in the way of the overall pleasant 112 minute sequel. Notably, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is used as a pathetic damsel in distress signal masquerading as a character with any significance, while Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) is pretty much the idiotic joke machine waiting for her cue. These characters, along with the contrived villain Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) are really the Aether to what could have been a very promising second outing for Thor. With no disrespect to these actors whom deliver fine performances, it is their characters that suppress absolute enjoyment of Thor: The Dark World.
Apologies for this tennis match I am having with myself in complementing and then hammering Thor: The Dark World's qualities; still I'll continue to play. More positively, the film is possibly the greatest comedic achievement for the superhero squadron on screen to date. One moment had the audience in an uproar of laughter; those that have seen it will know the moment, and those that are yet to see the film will know when they bear witness to its hilarity. Even during other scenes where the humour feels slightly inappropriate given the circumstances, you'll easily yield with laughter, or at the minimum, a low-key grin.
It's almost superfluous today to commend a modern blockbuster for its CGI quality. However due to its stark visual improvement over its 2011 predecessor, Thor: The Dark World is certainly worth mentioning as an aesthetically potent force which makes the movie a Thorful lot of fun!
Whilst the Thorsome Asgardian actors, humour and visual effects are enough to keep Marvel fans entertained for two short hands around the clock, it doesn't take too long to realise that Thor: The Dark World is probably the most forgettable and forced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though by no means the first for Marvel (I'm looking at you 'Amazing' Spider-Man). Thor's lack of character development since the end of Thor, along with the villain out of nowhere and no care Malekith make this sequel feel pretty purposeless in the grander scheme of things. And that's not even mentioning Jane Foster: Marvel's version of Daphne from Scooby-Doo, except more pointless, boring, unconvincing and no fun for anyone.
After a Thortless and needlessly dull opening 45 minutes, Thor: The Dark World has plenty of surprises along the way to amuse the fandom inside of devotees, that'll shadow its flaws until you really start to think about the film, but it's some fun while it lasts.
A story so compelling and worth telling, Captain Phillips is the biographical account of one Captain Richard Phillips' actions in response to a hijacking by Somali pirates on his cargo ship in 2009. Despite accusations of the film's depiction of real events as misleading, as a standalone piece, Paul Greengrass' thrilling direction and Tom Hanks' phenomenal performance combine for one of 2013's most surprising, intense and breathtaking cinematic offerings.
The less you know about the factual events going into Captain Phillips, the more enhanced the experience of seeing a recreation of others' experiences will be, due to the surprising turns and uncertainty of the film's climactic moments.
The severe intensity and feeling of insecurity shroud your senses throughout the 134 minute duration of Captain Phillips. Like watching Breaking Bad, the sensations that the film evokes in you are indescribable, plentiful and so miscellaneous, causing you to become a servant to Greengrass' masterful filmmaking. This is how a biographical drama should feel: real, regardless of the fact that most watching will never experience the actions represented on screen.
An area in which the film arguably lacks is in its treatment of the sensitivity of piracy as less of a one-dimensional issue as it can often be perceived. While the themes around the social issues of Somali piracy are present, they are not entrenched into the narrative as the most memorable aspect of the film. More so, the film emphasises and brings attention to piracy more broadly as a global issue to be taken seriously. Prior to the intense hijacking sequences, Hanks, as Phillips, is consistently undermined in his concerns about the threat of piracy upon the MV Maersk Alabama, until of course the ship is successfully boarded by the four pirates. Captain Phillips favours thriller over drama, intensity over the propensity of piracy for many, but this by no means is a downfall for the film, just an observation I've spent too long writing about so let's move on.
Hanks' portrayal as the seemingly heroic Captain is not only one of his most memorable, but one of the most unforgettable performances in recent history. It is literal insanity how tremendously the actor clutches us all in to his character's palm, in order to give us an almost POV seat into the tribulations of his character. In addition to the film's perfect pacing, Tom Hanks' portrayal completely makes you lose track of time as your awareness is at one with the film's pace; you go wherever the Captain or Captor Abduwali Muse (brilliantly played by Barkhad Abdi) go. The film's concluding scene alone is a triumph in cinema, in acting and in emotional expression as Hanks delivers a heart-wrenching, throat- lumping and tear-inducing performance, so powerful it almost makes his acting throughout the rest of the film seem like a school play, but not quite...or at all.
Though not executed perfectly, Captain Phillips brings to light the darkness and seriousness of piracy. With a heavier concentration on Richard Phillips and its thriller genre, the biography based on the book by the Captain is a heart-pounding survival film that leaves you sweating, in awe and only able to reclaim your breath once the credits begin to scroll. In spite of the numerous bodily functions the film's wonderful score, masterful direction, talented actors and overall experience have you performing, they are functions worth having. Exhaustingly intense, Captain Phillips is an undoubted contender for the year's most outstanding feature.
The less you know about the factual events going into Captain Phillips, the more enhanced the experience of seeing a recreation of others' experiences will be, due to the surprising turns and uncertainty of the film's climactic moments.
The severe intensity and feeling of insecurity shroud your senses throughout the 134 minute duration of Captain Phillips. Like watching Breaking Bad, the sensations that the film evokes in you are indescribable, plentiful and so miscellaneous, causing you to become a servant to Greengrass' masterful filmmaking. This is how a biographical drama should feel: real, regardless of the fact that most watching will never experience the actions represented on screen.
An area in which the film arguably lacks is in its treatment of the sensitivity of piracy as less of a one-dimensional issue as it can often be perceived. While the themes around the social issues of Somali piracy are present, they are not entrenched into the narrative as the most memorable aspect of the film. More so, the film emphasises and brings attention to piracy more broadly as a global issue to be taken seriously. Prior to the intense hijacking sequences, Hanks, as Phillips, is consistently undermined in his concerns about the threat of piracy upon the MV Maersk Alabama, until of course the ship is successfully boarded by the four pirates. Captain Phillips favours thriller over drama, intensity over the propensity of piracy for many, but this by no means is a downfall for the film, just an observation I've spent too long writing about so let's move on.
Hanks' portrayal as the seemingly heroic Captain is not only one of his most memorable, but one of the most unforgettable performances in recent history. It is literal insanity how tremendously the actor clutches us all in to his character's palm, in order to give us an almost POV seat into the tribulations of his character. In addition to the film's perfect pacing, Tom Hanks' portrayal completely makes you lose track of time as your awareness is at one with the film's pace; you go wherever the Captain or Captor Abduwali Muse (brilliantly played by Barkhad Abdi) go. The film's concluding scene alone is a triumph in cinema, in acting and in emotional expression as Hanks delivers a heart-wrenching, throat- lumping and tear-inducing performance, so powerful it almost makes his acting throughout the rest of the film seem like a school play, but not quite...or at all.
Though not executed perfectly, Captain Phillips brings to light the darkness and seriousness of piracy. With a heavier concentration on Richard Phillips and its thriller genre, the biography based on the book by the Captain is a heart-pounding survival film that leaves you sweating, in awe and only able to reclaim your breath once the credits begin to scroll. In spite of the numerous bodily functions the film's wonderful score, masterful direction, talented actors and overall experience have you performing, they are functions worth having. Exhaustingly intense, Captain Phillips is an undoubted contender for the year's most outstanding feature.