My Frozen review is actually Tangled

Like coming to a party when the lights are coming up, I was treated to a viewing of Disney's Frozen in the company of my wonderful girlfriend who has seen it on numerous occasions.

Now, I don't want to rock the boat nor be controversial but the film Frozen is okay. However, it is not the most amazing animated film of all time (that remains Toy Story 2 or the opening of Up). I can though see why the film has made near to £1 billion worldwide.  Strong female characters who hold our attention and are independent without the influence of their parents, the allure of royalty and the most Marmite of songs since Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' from Titanic, another chick flick. If you get the girls in the cinema you get box office for sure.

Yet, the film as a whole left me confused due to plot holes and convenient narrative twists.  Elsa leaves her homeland and in doing so freezes it in an eternal winter, yet creates a talking snowman without knowing. Anna chases her sister to make her return and break the spell, and builds her character creating her own true love without knowing.  

Anna is the optimistic sister, beguiling and hopeful that a new day will bring change and joy. Yet it is Elsa who gets the stand out track of independence - the song Let It Go, is about Elsa embracing her powers and not being bothered by what people think. The Broadway show tune is the sort of number to end the first act as the lead character reveals a change of perspective or intention, yet the message of the song proposes that she will face her detractors and yet she remains in a less than fully furnished ice castle with no nourishment, in essence she is Disney's first refugee.

The message of true act of love coming from one sister to another is one to be lauded in this day of selfishness and something I hope young viewers embrace in the cementing of familial ties in this day and age of vanity.

Frozen is good but it borrows a lot from another Disney film about a young princess banished from a kingdom who has to find her way home with the help of a young suitor and his trusted steed, I am talking about Tangled. A film that will be easily forgotten in the memory of cinephiles due to the overpowering juggernaut of Frozen. 

Tangled had better characters, better animation, a better set of songs albeit devoid of a smash hit Oscar winning song, and better comedy in the form of repartee between Eugene and his horse with good action set pieces.

Upon reflection, the addition of Olaf seems a last minute gamble and or risk as the dialogue between Anna and Christof would have been too telegraphed and perhaps reminded viewers of Tangled. Tangled was helped by the presence of a villain from the outset whereas here the narrative does not have a villain reveal himself until the last fifteen minutes, whereas we feel of Elsa as the villain. This makes our affection to her uneasy due to her self imposed exile and alienation from her sister, and all the more surprising that it is she who gets the stand out solo number.  And even more surprising that people want to be Elsa at parties and fancy dress, when Anna is the true star of the film learning about love, life and finding strength within herself she did not know she had, and rekindle the relationship with her sister when all was lost.

Elsa and Anna

Perhaps the placing of two female characters at the heart of a film will conflict emotions for viewers, whereas in Tangled you had the one princess to root for.  

Last week it was announced there will be a sequel and Frozen 2 will be upon us. For me though, I'm going to let my hair down and watch Tangled again.

The Case for...BYU

As we enter the madness of March and the current Championship week, there are still some teams being slighted or expected to be slighted by the committee come Selection Sunday.  The most obvious being Murray State who lost the OVC (Ohio Valley Championship) to Belmont at the weekend, and despite having 27 wins may well miss out.

Whereas, you look at Brigham Young Cougars, currently 25-8 before this evening's WCC championship game versus Gonzaga; and the team have to win to be guaranteed an automatic bid  in case the resume comes up short for an at-large bid.

This strikes me as silly, that a team that like BYU is even being considered to be left out of the tournament. The tournament needs teams like BYU who can mix it with the big boys of the powerhouse conferences and play without fear.

This season BYU are
- 2nd in the nation with points per game scored - 83.8
- 5th in the nation with assists per game - 17.0
- 16th in the nation with rebounds per game - 38.4

In contrast they are ranked 306th nationally on points allowed (72.0) but at least the game they are involved in will have points in it, making for more possessions, high tempo scoring and excitement during the early rounds of tournament play.

Tyler Haws - 22.1ppg, 4.5rpg, 2.2apg

They have a great mixture of experience in senior Tyler Haws who is averaging 22.1ppg and junior Kyle Collinsworth the triple double machine who has had 6 for the season - 13.5ppg, 8.7rpg, 5.9apg.

Kyle Collinsworth - 13.5ppg, 8.7rpg, 5.9apg

Yes they have 8 losses (twice to Pepperdine who went 10-8 in the WCC) but the first four were to at large teams in the tournament - San Diego, Purdue, Utah and the Zags. Following the second loss at Pepperdine on February 5th, they have reeled off 8 consecutive wins including the road win at Gonzaga by an average of 13.8 points.  The closest game was in the first round against Santa Clara which they won 78-76 but Tyler Haws stepped up with 30 points for the win.

They are winning by landslides but they are winning tight games which will be a regular occurence in the tournament, they have a desire to succeed and if they win the WCC they will be a team that people will want to avoid in the bracket due to the high possession, high percentage shot making and interior presence of Collinsworth.

The case for BYU is made.  The committee need to make it happen.

Follow me @JamieGarwood

Marvel's Daredevil

Out on Netflix from 10th April 2015, premiering thirteen (13) one hour episodes, Marvel Studios is pleased to announce the release of Daredevil.

Blinded as a child, Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox) fights injustice by day as a lawyer, and by night he hands out vigilante justice as the superhero Daredevil in modern day Hell's Kitchen, New York City.

Following on from the television success of Agents of SHIELD, the trailer shows us Murdoch as a little bit more conflicted in Cox's performance in contrast to the star billing acting of Ben Affleck in the feature length film from over 10 years ago.

For Cox, it is a real shot in the arm to be given this role, he has done solid work for a number of years starting with Stardust and more recently in Hello Carter where he played a variant of the Hugh Grant type and as the love interest of Jane Hawking in the Theory of Everything. Cox seems to pull off the feat of being an action hero whilst also displaying the inner torment so common in them.

Daredevil is available from Netflix on 10th April in all territories where available 

March Madness Preview

This is a March Madness preview from a College Basketball fan in the UK. Now it is important to state that the UK stands for the United Kingdom, not the University of Kentucky. Ironically, this year is the year that Kentucky Wildcats will be pursuing perfection and end the season 40-0   Winning the National championship and becoming the first perfect team since Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers team of 1976.
 
John Calipari has successfully navigated his platoon troops through a tricky non-conference schedule before a breezy SEC schedule that almost came unstuck in the first game against Texas A&M. They have fallen behind to some teams like they did on the road to Georgia on Tuesday night, and took the best shot of Florida, yet this team of mostly freshmen and sophomores have found abundance of character and desire to win.
 
Their defence is second to none, and now the offence is gaining traction and putting up numbers. The player turning heads though is Willie Cauley-Stein, a monster at both ends who has assumed the mantle of on court leader for the team. Think of Ralph Samson but taller.





Kentucky, even if they lose in the SEC tournament, will be the overall No 1 seed so who will be joining them at the top table. Remember a No1 seed has never lost an opening round game at the tournament. Chances are it will be Virginia and Duke, two ACC rivals who have played the best basketball in that division and in Jahlil Okafor, Duke have the prospective overall No1 pick in this years NBA draft. Duke have had to overcome some belief in their ability though the recent home win over North Carolina was one of fortitude and toughness embodied by Tyus Jones, a young point guard who is probably Duke's most important player.   

Virginia for me are an odd group, they have kept winning despite the absence of Justin Anderson who is having an appendectomy, so credit to Tony Bennett and his system and whilst they can rival Kentucky for the nation's best defence, they do not score enough offensively. If they were to meet a high possession offence team from the Big 10/12 they will be tested there.
 
So who will be the fourth No1 seed and have the chance to avoid Kentucky until the Final Four, it might be Villanova who benefited from Gonzaga losing at home to BYU. They sit 4th overall and if they win the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden they will cement it, however, lose and a team like Wisconsin with Frank 'The Tank' Kaminsky, Kansas Jayahwks or Arizona might get in. For geographical purposes they may well take Arizona, but they have to win the fast improving Pac 12 to convince the committee.
 
Who are the dark horses?
A lot has been made of which teams offer the best threat of going deep from a No7-10 seed like the current National champions Conneticut did. Will there be a Butler or VCU this year? Probably not as no team is leaping off the page when you do the eye test. 

Perhaps an Arkansas team led by Bobby Portis may well do, but you are most likely looking at a team like Iowa State or Ohio State to come to the dance, with George Niang and Dangelo Russell leading their squads respectively. 

D'Angelo Russell 19.3ppg, 5.8 rpg, 5.2apg

A lot has been made of Maryland who in their debut Big 10 season have made some noise most notably by Dez Wells who is capable of shooting 30 points any night, but can their defence be disciplined enough to tournament action where turnovers must be minimised and chances taken. 

Dez Wells 15.2ppg, 5.0rpg, 2.9apg

For that reason do not discount Louisville, who have that stifling defence but explosive offence which won them the title two years ago. And ACC rival Notre Dame (led by Jerian Grant) after a 20-2 opening are rebuilding momentum helped by a 71-59 win on the road at those same Louisville Cardinals this week.

Jerian Grant 16.7ppg, 2.8rpg, 6.6apg

For all the talk about dark horses, cinderellas and bubble teams. There is only one bubble fit to burst during this tournament. If Kentucky do not win and go perfect 40-0, that will be a bigger story than the team that does cut down the nets eventually.

My final four prediction (before the actual bracket is drawn up is): Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin and Iowa State.

Follow me on twitter @JamieGarwood

Life of Riley (Aimer, Boire et Chanter)

The final film of Alain Resnais Life of Riley is his third adaptation of British playwright Alan Ayckbourn after Smoking/No Smoking (1993) and Private Fears in Public Places (2006), is a farewell to the world from a truly great artist.

In the midst of rehearsals for a new play, amateur dramatists Colin (Hippolyte Girardot) and Kathryn (Sabine Azema) receive the news that their friend George is fatally ill.  Life begins to come apart at the seams - not just for the lead pair, but also their friends Tamara (Caroline Silhol) and Monica (Sandrine Kiberlain), who along with Kathryn all hold a candle for the dying George. Long buried dreams begin to surface, and much to the chagrin of their husbands the three women fight amongst themselves to see who accompanies George on his final journey on holiday to Tenerife.

Placing the action in an almost entire studio world, Resnais succeeds in creating an artificial world for the characters to perform in.  The fact they are breaking into reading of lines from time to time, whilst discussing the welfare of George, means the wall is broken in terms of performance by the couples.  Especially Colin and Kathryn who break character to carry on bickering about their marriage.

In some ways, Resnais being the natural observer of life he is, he allows his characters to follow their hopes and desires to the extreme and have it front and centre instead of repressed and simmering under the surface.

Shot with full of colour in the set design and the costumes worn by the characters especially the three women who all wear bold colours throughout, the film stands as a testament to the Resnais oeuvre and a fitting finale to his career.

Life of Riley is out now from Eureka Entertainment

Focus

Will Smith returns to the big screen for the first time since the abysmal After Earth which was an excruciating episode of vanity and nepotism.  Smith's comeback is in a film written and directed by the pair of Glenn Ficarra and John Fuqua, who have directed I Love You Philip Morris.

Much like that film which was primarily about a con-man, the pair have form and continue the trend with this film about Nicky Spurgeon (Smith) a con man who is looking for that one last job to retire on, yet his head is turned by the new rookie for his crew, Jess (Margot Robbie).  Jess is a small time hustler who works for cash and watches from businessmen in hotels.

The first encounter between the pair is when Jess tries to play Nicky, leading to Nicky being held at gunpoint by Jess' partner where Nicky does not blink at the threat of being shot. Nicky tracks down Jess and she asks to be tutored by Nicky, leading to her following him down to New Orleans and a huge American football match where Nicky's crew hopes to fleece millions from tourists for the big event.

Ficarra and Fuqua are extremely confident in their visual style, the scene in the French Quarter which serves as Jess' initiation to the group is shot with panache and creates a laidback temp to the film. Yet when it needs to be slowed down with the key scene in a luxury suite opposite Chinese gambler, Liyuan (a scene stealing B.D. Wong) is efficient in not showing its hand too soon and leads the audience on convincingly.

The fallout leads to a separation between Nicky and Jess, leading to the second act in Buenos Aires and a scam involving technology and Formula One race teams.  The film does get drawn into an inevitable resolution of conscience for the criminal wanting to go clean and straight, leading to a change of heart.  There is a shock twist that leads to you being embedded in the character.  This is in part down to the telling performance of Smith, who plays Nicky with a little less charisma than his usual self.

All huge movie stars at one time or another play a con man in their career - think of Robert Redford and Paul Newman in The Sting (still the epitome of con men movie), George Clooney and Brad Pitt in Oceans 11 and even Hugh Jackman in The Prestige (yes, they were magicians but aren't all magicians confidence tricksters). Smith is seemingly playing this role so he can slow his body down, he has to carry the film purely on the strength of acting and playing it cool; yet there are moments when Smith is seen being contemplative and still, in all essence he is trying to maintain focus.

Is the Fresh Prince finally worrying about ageing and the onrushing of time to his body and persona?  Perhaps that is why he plays the scene when he and Jess separates in New Orleans so solemnly and devoid of emotion, maybe Smith does not like being cruel or distant as it is so against his public persona both on-screen and off.

All in all though, the film is brilliantly entertaining and gives credence to supporting characters such as Farhad, a sexually starved pest played delightfully by Adrian Martinez and the driver of Garriga as we follow him on his lifestyle before he does his handiwork is the sort of scene not normally allowed in Hollywood film, but give the henchmen his due sometimes. Funny, entertaining and worth your attention, sorry focus.

Focus is out now in all cinemas

Difret

Produced by Angelina Jolie and directed by Zeresanay Mehari, Difret empowering dramatic film from Ethiopia won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance 2014.

Three hours outside of Addis Ababa, a bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. The brave Hirut (Tizita Hagere) grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. In her village, the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia’s oldest traditions.

 

Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet), an empowered and tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defense. Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal-aid practice to save Hirut’s life.

Based on a real-life story, this film goes beneath the layer of polite social customs to explore an aggressively rooted patriarchy that perpetuates inhospitable conditions for women in Ethiopia and portrays the complexity of a country’s transformation toward equal rights, featuring the courageous generation that dares to own it.

The film due to the strong subject matter may have wavered through the conviction of the oppressive state of gender politics in Africa.  However, thanks to the two amazing central performances by Hagere and Gernat, the film not only is a brilliant portrayal of women in Africa but also one with a powerful statement and comment to make.

Due to the influence of Jolie perhaps, the film has a real sheen and look that you would not commonly associate with African productions due to the technological restrictions sometimes placed upon them.  However, the evolution of digital technology means there is no such restriction in the production quality with frequent dollies and moving camerawork placing us in the shoes of the character, as opposed to merely observing the action as a bystander or casual observer. It follows in the footsteps of such work as Life, Above All a South African film that again told the story of a young woman in a harsh world.

The need to make a comment in this world of inequality and the boundaries of rules and law breaking are expressly portrayed with clarity, precision and level headedness from the male director Mehari, who looks like a director to watch out for in years to come.

The film is a triumph and a convincing piece of work that deserves a larger audience not just for the message but that world cinema can supply acting to match that of western powerhouses.

Difret is released from Soda Pictures on Friday 6th March.