Tag Archives: Fury
4 Shots From 4 Films: Sabotage, The Raid 2, John Wick, Fury
Posted on June 27, 2015 by Arleigh
2014 had it's share of very good action films and here are four that I was particularly drawn to. While the film themselves were of varying degrees of quality in terms of storytelling. These 4 films all had one thing that I enjoyed despite their films' flaws. They all had action scenes that I thought were quite excellent.
You have gritty present-day action thriller, an operatic gangster epic, a revenge thriller and a war film. One stars an aging action star back from playing politician. Another a foreign film whose filmmaker and star have set the bar for all action films for years to come. Then there's the stunt coordinators and 2nd unit directors finally making their mark with their first feature-length film. Lastly, a war film that brings the brutality of World War II tank warfare to the forefront.
4 SHOTS FROM 4 FILMS
Sabotage (dir. by David Ayer)
The Raid 2 (dir. by Gareth Evans)
John Wick (dir. by Chad Stahelski & David Leitch)
Fury (dir. by David Ayer)
Posted in 4 Shots From 4 Films, Film | Tagged 4 Shots From 4 Films, action film, action films, action thriller, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Brad Pitt, Chad Stahelski, David Ayer, David Leitch, Fury, Gareth Evans, Joe Manganiello, John Wick, Jon Bernthal, Julie Estelle, Keanu Reeves, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Sabotage, Shia LaBeouf, The Raid 2 | Leave a comment
What if Lisa Marie Picked The Oscar Nominees!
Posted on January 14, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman
With the Oscar nominations due to be announced tomorrow, now is the time that the Shattered Lens indulges in a little something called, "What if Lisa had all the power." Listed below are my personal Oscar nominations. Please note that these are not the films that I necessarily think will be nominated. The fact of the matter is that the many of them will not. Instead, these are the films that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for deciding the nominees this year. Winners are listed in bold.
(You'll also note that I've added four categories, all of which I believe the Academy should adopt — Best Voice-Over Performance, Best Casting, Best Stunt Work, and Best Overall Use Of Music In A Film.)
(Click on the links to see my nominations for 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)
*Guardians of the Galaxy*
Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
Jonathan Glazer for Under the Skin
James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy
*Richard Linklater for Boyhood*
Jean-Marc Vallee for Wild
Macon Blair in Blue Ruin
Nicholas Cage in Joe
Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel
*Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler*
Tom Hardy in Locke
Michael Keaton in Birdman
Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin
Angelina Jolie in Maleficent
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Emmanuelle Seigner in Venus In Fur
Shailene Woodley in The Fault In Our Stars
*Reese Witherspoon in Wild*
Josh Brolin in Inherent Vice
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
*Gary Poulter in Joe*
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash
Patrica Arquette in Boyhood
Laura Dern in Wild
Emma Roberts in Palo Alto
Rene Russo in Nightcrawler
Emma Stone in Birdman
*Mia Wasikowska in Only Lovers Left Alive*
Best Voice Over Performance
Scott Adsit in Big Hero 6
Bradley Cooper in Guardians of the Galaxy
Kate del Castillo in The Book of Life
*Vin Diesel in Guardians of the Galaxy*
Morgan Freeman in The LEGO Movie
Chris Pratt in The LEGO Movie
*Boyhood*
The One I Love
*Wild*
*The LEGO Movie*
*Jodorowsky's Dune*
The Last Patrol
Private Violence
Under the Electric Sky
Best Foreign Language Film
Illiterate
*Venus In Fur*
We Are The Best!
Best Casting
Best Cinematography
California Scheming
*Palo Alto*
Best Costume Design
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One
*Into the Woods*
Best Editing
*Under the Skin*
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Best Original Song
"Lost Stars" from Begin Again
"The Apology Song" from The Book of Life
"Split the Difference" from Boyhood
"Yellow Flicker Beats" from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One
*"Everything is Awesome" from The LEGO Movie*
"Sister Rust" from Lucy
"Mercy" from Noah
"Hal" from Only Lovers Left Alive
"Rock Star" from Palo Alto
"Summer Nights" from Under the Electric Sky
Best Overall Use Of Music
Best Production Design
*The Grand Budapest Hotel*
Winter's Tale
Best Sound Editing
*Fury*
Best Sound Mixing
*Captain America: The Winter Soldier*
Best Stunt Work
*Dawn of the Planet of the Apes*
Best Visual Effects
Number of Nominations by Film
14 Nominations — Guardians of the Galaxy
9 Nominations — Boyhood
8 Nominations — Nightcrawler
7 Nominations — Wild
6 Nominations — Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Lego Movie, Under the Skin
5 Nominations — A Field in England, Palo Alto
4 Nominations — X-Men: Days of Future Past
3 Nominations — Birdman, The Book of Life, Capt. America: The Winter Soldier, The Fault In Our Stars, Gone Girl, Inherent Vice, Into the Woods, Joe, Only Lovers Left Alive, Venus in Fur
2 Nominations — Begin Again, Big Hero 6, California Scheming, Dawn of the Planet of Apes, Fury, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One, Maleficent, Snowpiercer, Under the Electric Sky, Whiplash
1 Nomination — Art and Craft, Blue Ruin, Borgman, The Box Trolls, Chef, Divergent, Edge of Tomorrow, Godzilla, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Ida, If I Stay, Illiterate, In Secret, In the Blood, Interstellar, Jodorowsky's Dune, The Last Patrol, Life Itself, Locke, Lucy, Noah, The One I Love, Pompeii, Private Violence, The Raid 2, Raze, We Are The Best!, Winter's Tale
Numbers of Oscars By Film
5 Oscars — Guardians of the Galaxy
3 Oscars — Boyhood
2 Oscars — The LEGO Movie, Under the Skin, Wild
1 Oscar — Capt. America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Plaent of the Apes, Jodorowsky's Dune, Fury, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Into the Woods, Joe, Nightcrawler, Only Lovers Left Alive, Palo Alto, Venus In Fur
Posted in Film | Tagged A Field In England, Art and Craft, Begin Again, Big Hero 6, Birdman, Blue Ruin, Borgman, Boyhood, Bradley Cooper, California Scheming, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chef, Chris Pratt, Dan Gilroy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Divergent, Edge of Tomorrow, Emma Roberts, Emmanuelle Seigner, Ethan Hawke, Everything Is Awesome, Foxcatcher, Fury, Gary Poulter, Godzilla, Gone Girl, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hal, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Ida, If I Stay, Illiterate, In Secret, In The Blood, Inherent Vice, Interstellar, Into the Woods, J.K. Simmons, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Gunn, Jean-Marc Vallee, Jodorowsky's Dune, Joe, John Brolin, Jonathan Glazer, Josh Brolin, Kate del Castillo, Laura Dern, Life Itself, Locke, Lost Stars, Lucy, Macon Blair, Maleficent, Mark Ruffalo, Mercy, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Keaton, Morgan Freeman, Nicolas Cage, Nightcrawler, Noah, Only Lovers Left Alive, Palo Alto, Patricia Arquette, Pompeii, Private Violence, Ralph Fiennes, Raze, Reese Witherspoon, Rene Russo, Richard Linklater, Rock Star, Rosamund Pike, Scarlett Johansson, Scott Adsit, Shailene Woodley, Sister Rust, Snowpiercer, Split the Difference, Steve Carell, Summer Nights, The Apology Song, The Book of Life, The Boxtrolls, The Fault In Our Stars, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part One, The Last Patrol, The Lego Movie, The One I Love, The Raid 2, Tom Hardy, Under the Electric Sky, Under the Skin, Venus in Fur, Vin Diesel, We Are The Best!, Wes Anderson, Whiplash, Wild, Winter's Tale, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Yellow Flicker Beats | 4 Comments
Here Are The SAG Nominations!
Posted on December 10, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman
Earlier today, the Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced and I love them! Not because I agree with all of them but because they're a nice mix of the expected and the surprising. Every category had at least one surprise and really, it's the surprises that make Oscar Season so much fun.
For what they are worth, here are a few observations from yours truly:
When it comes to predicting the actual Oscar nominations, the SAG are usually an excellent precursor. It makes sense — the Actors Branch is the biggest of the Academy's voting branches and many of the same people who determined the SAG nominees will also be casting ballots for the Academy Awards.
At first, I was really shocked to see that Selma was totally snubbed. However, I then read over at Gold Derby that apparently, because of production delays, a screener of Selma was not available for the SAG voters. So, a lot of the voters made their nominations without having seen Selma.
Foxcatcher did not receive an ensemble nomination but it did receive nominations for Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo. That's especially good news for Carell, who has yet to be much of a factor in the precursor voting.
Speaking of which, everyone keeps taking about how Foxcatcher hasn't been a major player in the precursors. What about Unbroken? For a so-called Oscar front runner, Unbroken certainly hasn't received much from the critics groups.
(I should note that I have yet to see either Foxcatcher or Unbroken so I don't have an opinion on whether either one of them deserves awards.)
Among the big snubs: Amy Adams for Big Eyes, Jessica Chastain for A Most Violent Year or Interstellar, Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night, and Oscar Isaac for A Most Violent Year.
My favorite nomination was Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler. I haven't seen Cake but I was happy to see Jennifer Aniston nominated because it was unexpected. Robert Duvall's great but wow, was the Judge ever a disappointing movie.
I was shocked to see Naomi Watts nominated for St. Vincent but it actually makes sense. Her role in St. Vincent really was awards bait. And who doesn't love Naomi Watts? (That said, I thought her performance was a bit cartoonish.)
Both the Grand Budapest Hotel and especially The Theory of Everything are looking more and more like probable best picture nominees.
And here are the nominees:
Best Ensemble:
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything
Jennifer Aniston in Cake
Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon in Wild
Robert Duvall in The Judge
Edward Norton in Birdman
Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep in Into The Woods
Naomi Watts in St. Vincent
Outstanding Stunt Ensemble
Posted in Film | Tagged A Most Violent Year, Academy Award, Academy Awards, Amy Adams, award, awards, Benedict Cumberbatch, Big Eyes, Birdman, Boyhood, Cake, Eddie Redmayne, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, Felicity Jones, Film, Films, Foxcatcher, Fury, Get On Up, Gone Girl, Interstellar, Into the Woods, J.K. Simmons, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, Julianne Moore, Keira Knightley, Lisa Marie Bowman, Marion Cotillard, Mark Ruffalo, Meryl Streep, Michael Keaton, movie, Movies, Naomi Watts, Nightcrawler, Oscar, Oscar Isaac, Oscar Isaax, Oscars, Patricia Arquette, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Rosamund Pike, SAG, SAG Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Selma, St. Vincent, Steve Carell, Steve Carrel, Still Alice, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Imitation Game, The Judge, The Theory of Everything, Two Days One Night, Unbroken, Whiplash, Wild, X-Men: Days of Future Past | 2 Comments
The Brief Thrill Of The Phoenix Film Critics Nominations
Posted on December 9, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman
I have to admit that, when I first looked at the just-released Phoenix Film Critics Nominations for 2014, I got really excited. I saw The LEGO Movie listed among the nominees for best picture and I thought to myself, "Oh my God! Could The LEGO Movie be set to be the fourth animated film to score a best picture nomination from the Academy!?"
Seriously, my inner movie trivia lover was so excited!
Then, of course, I remembered that critical recognition doesn't necessarily translate into Oscar nominations. And I was forced to admit that The LEGO Movie probably will not be nominated for best picture, though it definitely remains a front runner for best animated feature.
But, for a few moments there, I was truly an excited Oscar watcher.
Anyway, here are the Phoenix Film Critics Nominations!
(h/t to Awards Circuit)
BEST PICTURE/ TOP TEN FILMS OF 2014
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Brendon Gleeson, Calvary
Tommy Lee Jones, The Homesman
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Hilary Swank, The Homesman
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Logan Lerman, Fury
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J. K. Simmons, Whiplash
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Carrie Coon, Gone Girl
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
BEST ENSMEBLE ACTING
BEST SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN
BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTED FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM
BEST LIVE ACTION FAMILY FILM
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Muppets Most Wanted
OVERLOOKED FILM OF THE YEAR
Obvious Child
The Skeleton Twins
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
Jodorowsky's Dune
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
Everything is Awesome, The Lego Movie
Immortals, Big Hero 6
Lost Stars, Begin Again
Miracles, Unbroken
BEST FILM EDITING
BEST STUNTS
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE ON CAMERA
Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BEHIND THE CAMERA
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child
Jon Stewart, Rosewater
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH – MALE
Daniel Huttlestone, Into the Woods
Jaeden Lieberber, St. Vincent
Ed Oxenbould, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH – FEMALE
Lilla Crawford, Into the Woods
Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar
Sterling Jerins, And So It Goes
Posted in Film | Tagged A Most Violent Year, Academy Awards, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Alexander and the Terrible, American Sniper, Amy Adams, And So It Goes, award, awards, Begin Again, Benedict Cumberbatch, Big Eyes, Big Hero 6, Birdman, Boyhood, Bradley Cooper, Brenden McCormack, Calvary, Carrie Coon, CitizenFour, Damien Chazelle, Dan Gilroy, Daniel Huttlestone, David Fincher, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Ed Oxenbould, Eddie Redmayne, Edge of Tomorrow, Edward Norton, Ellar Coltrane, Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, Felecity Jones, Film, Films, Force Majeure, Foxcatcher, Fury, Gillian Robespierre, Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, Gone Girl, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hilary Swank, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Ida, Inherent Vice, Interstellar, Into the Woods, J.K. Simmons, Jaeden Lieberher, Jenny Slate, Jessica Chastain, Jodorowsky's Dune, John Wick, Jon Stewart, Kiera Knightley, Life Itself, Lilla Crawford, Lisa Marie Bowman, Logan Lerman, Mackenzie Foy, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Mood Indigo, movie, Movies, Muppet's Most Wanted, Need for Speed, Nightcrawler, Obvious Child, Oscar, Oscars, Patricia Arquette, Reese Whitherspoon, Richard Linklater, Rosamund Pike, Rosewater, Snowpiercer, St. Vincent, Sterling Jerins, Supermensch, The Boxtrolls, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Homesman, The Imitation Game, The Lego Movie, The Raid 2, The Skeleton Twins, Theory of Everything, Tommy Lee Jones, Tony Revolori, Unbroken, Wes Anderson, Whiplash, Wild | 1 Comment
A Most Violent Year Is A Most Unexpected National Board Of Review Winner!
The National Board of Review has spoken! They named their picks for the best of 2014 earlier today and — to the shock of many (especially me) — they picked JC Chandor's crime drama A Most Violent Year as the best film of the year!
I love surprises!
Now, a lot of us were expecting A Most Violent Year to be an Oscar contender, with practically everyone expecting Jessica Chastain to either be nominated for best actress or supporting actress. (The NBR named her best supporting actress.) But I think a lot of us were expecting to see the NBR select Boyhood, Birdman, or maybe Selma.
Also of note is that Clint Eastwood won best director for American Sniper, which appears to be coming on strong as a potential Oscar nominee as well.
(Also of note: Foxcatcher was totally ignored by the NBR.)
Here are the NBR winners!
Clint Eastwood, "American Sniper"
BEST ACTOR (TIE)
Oscar Isaac, "A Most Violent Year"
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, "The Lego Movie"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "Inherent Vice"
BEST ENSEMBLE
"Wild Tales"
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Chris Rock for writing, directing, and starring in "Top Five"
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES
Jack O'Connell, "Starred Up" and "Unbroken"
DEBUT DIRECTOR
WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD
"Rosewater"
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
"Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem"
"Two Days One Night"
BEST DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES (alphabetical)
"Keep On Keepin' On"
"The Kill Team"
BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS (alphabetical)
"The Skeleton Twins",
"Snowpiercer",
"Stand Clear of the Closing Doors"
"Starred Up"
Posted in Film | Tagged A Most Violent Year, A Most Wanted Man, Academy Awards, American Sniper, Art and Craft, awards, Birdman, Blue Ruin, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Edward Norton, Film, Force Majeure, Fury, Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem, Gillian Robespierre, Gone Girl, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Inherent Vice, Jack O'Connell, JC Chandor, Jessica Chastain, Jodorowsky's Dune, Julianne Moore, Keep on Keepin On, Last Days in Vietnam, leviathan, Life Itself, Lisa Marie Bowman, Locke, Michael Keaton, movie, Mr. Turner, National Board of Review, NBR, Nightcrawler, Obvious Child, Oscar Isaac, Oscars, Paul Thomas Anderson, Rosewater, Scott Eyman, Selma, Snowpiercer, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Starred Up, Still Alice, The Imitation Game, The Kill Team, The Lego Movie, The Skeleton Twins, Top Five, Two Days One Night, Unbroken, We Are The Best!, Wild Tales | 2 Comments
Review: Fury (dir. by David Ayer)
Posted on October 25, 2014 by Arleigh
"Ideals are peaceful. History is violent."
1998 saw the release of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.
Prior to this most films depicted World War II as a noble endeavor that needed to be done to help rid the world of Hitler and the horror he was inflicting upon Europe (beyond if given the chance). It gave birth to the "Greatest Generation" that people still look up to even to this day. These were young men who volunteered for a conflict that would change history and for the millions involved. Yet, World War II films were always cut and dried. It was always the good guys (American, British, Canadian, etc…) fighting against the nameless and efficient Nazi war machine.
In time, so many of these films followed the same formula that character stereotypes came about. We always had the cynical, older veteran who becomes a sort of father figure to a hodge-podge group of young, untested soldiers. What these films also had in common was the fact that they remain bloodless despite the nature of the story being told. Some filmmakers would try to buck this time-tested formula (Sam Fuller being the most prominent), but it would take 1998's Saving Private Ryan to set a shift in how we saw World War II.
Spielberg lifted the rose-colored glasses from the audience and dared to show that while noble, World War II was still war and it still had the horror and brutality that all wars have. 2014's Fury by David Ayer would continue this exploration of the last "Good War" in it's most gritty and blood-soaked detail.
The film shows the last gasp of the German war machine as Hitler gives one of his final orders for the German people to repel the invading Allies. It was to be a scorched earth defense. Whether by choice or forced into this desperate tactic, every man, woman and child was to take up arms to their last breath to defend the Fatherland. It's in this nightmare scenario that we find the veteran Sherman tank crew led by Don "Wardaddy" Collier trying to survive these final days til war's end. Their home for the last two and a half years since North Africa has been a modified Sherman tank they call Fury. It's a crew that's been battle tested from the sands of North Africa, the maze-like hedgerows of France's bocage and now the countryside of Germany itself.
We can see right from the start that this crew has been through hell and back many times and already resigned to going through hell many more times before they can eveb think of getting back home. It's a crew that's already lost one of it's own minutes into the film. Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) looms over his crew like a weary father figure. This ragtag group consists of Bible (Shia LaBeouf) as the born-again Christian who sees their survival battle after battle as a sign that God's grace is upon Fury and her crew. Then we have Gordo (Michael Peña) who has been so traumatized by the war and what he has had to do to survive that he has numbed himself from these memories by being in a constant state of drunkenness. Lastly, we have the tank's loader Grady (Jon Bernthal) whose misanthropic attitude comes as a crude and brutish counterpoint to Bible's religious fervor. Into this misanthropic soup of a crew comes in the replacement to their recently killed comrade.
Logan Lerman's character, the young and naive clerk typist Norman Ellison, becomes the audience's eyes in the brutal world of Fury and her crew. We're meant to see the war's brutality and horror not through the jaded and cynical eyes of Wardaddy and his men, but through a young man who has never killed an enemy or even fired a weapon in anger. Norman becomes the surrogate through which we determine and decide whether there is such a thing a nobility and honor in war.
Honor and nobility have always been used by those always willing to go to war to convince the young and impressionable to follow them into the breach. Fury takes these two words and what they represent and muddies them through the muck and gore left behind with each passing battle and tries to see if they remain unchanged on the other side. Norman is a literal babe in the woods as he must adapt or die in a war nearing it's end but also becoming even more deadly and dangerous than ever. His very naivete quickly becomes a hindrance and a real danger to Wardaddy and his crew. He's not meant for this world but has had it thrust upon him.
The film treats Norman's humanity as a liability in a war that strips it from everyone given enough time. We see Wardaddy attempt to speed up the process during a tense sequence where Norman's being forced to shoot a German prisoner. It's a sequence of events that's both unnerving and disturbing as we see the veteran soldiers encircling Norman and Wardaddy cheering or looking on with indifference in their eyes. They've all been in something similar and one can only imagine what they had to do to make it this far.
Fury straddles a fine line between showing and explaining it's themes to the audience. It's to David Ayer's skill as a writer that the film's able to use some finely choreographed scenes both violent and peaceful to make a point about war's effect on it's participants both physically and mentally. Whether it's through several well-choreographed battle scenes to a sequence of tense and quiet serenity in the apartment of two German women that bring back the plantation segment from Coppola's Apocalypse Now Redux, the film does a great job in showing how even when stripped down close to the bone, Wardaddy and his veteran crew still has semblance of humanity and the honor and nobility they all began the war with.
As a war film, Fury brings a type of combat to the bigscreen that has rarely been explored and never in such a realistic fashion as we watch tank warfare at it's most tactical and most horrific. Ayer doesn't fall for the jump cut style that many filmmakers nowadays sees as a way to convey the chaos of battle. Ayer and cinematographer Roman Vasnayov have planned every sequence to allow the audience to keep track of the two opposing sides and their place in the battle's geography. And just like Spielberg's own Saving Private Ryan, Fury shows the very ugly and bloody side of World War II. There's a lot of bodies being blown apart and torn to chunks of meat yet they never seem to come off as gratuitous. Every bloody moment makes a point on the horrors of war and the level of inhumanity that another man inflicts on another man.
If there's something that Fury does lag behind on it would be some of the narrative choices dealing with Norman's character. The film takes place literally over a day's time and the quick change in Norman's mentality about the war seem very sudden and abrupt. While this day in the life of Fury and her crew worked well in Ayer's past films (both as writer or director) here it puts Ayer stuck in a corner that made it difficult to fully justify Norman's sudden change of heart from babe in the woods to hardened Nazi-killer. We can see throughout the film that the war is affecting him in ways that could lead up to this change, but to have it happen in just under a day really stretches it's believability to the breaking point.
Yet, despite this the film is able to stay on course and recover from this misstep on the strength of Ayer's direction and the performances of the ensemble cast. Brad Pitt has been the focus of the media campaign leading up to the release of Fury, but every actor who comprises the crew of Fury leave their own mark in the film. Shia Labeouf has had a tough past year both professionally and personally, but one has to admit that performances like the one he had in Fury is a reminder that he's a damn fine good actor. Whether this film has become the path to his redemption in the eyes of the public is irrelevant. One doesn't need to like the man to respect the talent he's able to put up on the screen.
Awards season is in full swing as Fall 2014 arrives and Fury makes it's case known that genre films (and make no mistake this is a genre film) can more than hold it's own with the more dramatic life-exploring films that critics tend to put on the pedestal as examples of great filmmaking. While Fury is not perfect it is a very good film full of great performances that just misses being great.
Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged Alicia von Rittberg, Brad Pitt, Brad William Henke, Branko Tomović, Columbia Pictures, David Ayer, Eugenia Kuzmina, Film Review, Fury, Iain Garrett, Jason Isaacs, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Vance, Le Grisbi Productions, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, QED International, Roman Vasnayov, Scott Eastwood, Shia LaBeouf, Sony Pictures, Stella Stocker, Steven Price, war film, Xavier Samuel | 2 Comments
Trailer: Fury (International)
Posted on September 8, 2014 by Arleigh
I must admit that World War II films are a favorite of mine. Even bad ones I tend to enjoy. Whether it's alternate fantasy fares like Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds or something that combines historical accuracy with dramatic license like Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, the World War II genre always manage to hit straight and true to my film wheelhouse.
This October there looks to be another World War II film that seems almost tailor-fit for me. I'm talking about David Ayer's follow-up to his underappreciated film End of Watch. This follow-up is Fury and tells the story of an American tank crew in the waning days of World War II in Europe. Just from the two trailer released I already know that I'm seeing this. Ayer looks to be exploring the bond of a tank crew that has seen war from the deserts of Africa and now to the urban and forested landscapes of Germany.
The film is already getting major buzz as a major contender for the upcoming awards season and I, for one, hope that it's a well-deserved buzz. Even with Shia LaBeouf being part of the cast is not dampening my excitement for this film. Even if it doesn't live up to the hype I know that I'll probably still end up enjoying it.
This trailer looks to be selling the utter brutality and carnage of World War II's final days in Europe when German forces were literally fighting for their homeland and that makes for a desperate enemy (who still had weapons and soldiers that were still hands down better than what the Allies had one-on-one).
On a side note, I like the fact that the tracers in the film actually look like tracers which means they look like freakin' laser blasts. That's how tracers behave.
Fury is set to hit theaters on October 17, 2014 in the United States and October 22, 2014 internationally.
Posted in Film | Tagged Brad Pitt, Brad William Henke, Branko Tomović, Columbia Pictures, David Ayers, Eugenia Kuzmina, Fury, Iain Garrett, Jason Isaacs, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Vance, Le Grisbi Productions, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, QED International, Scott Eastwood, Shia LaBeouf, Stella Stocker, Steven Price, trailer, war film, World War II film, Xavier Samuel | Leave a comment