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4 items from 2012

19 May 2012 4:12 PM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

The Grey; Haywire; The Descendants

From the outside, The Grey (2011, Entertainment, 15) looks like just another tired riff on the dreary "man v (his own) nature" theme that in the not too distant past gave us the ponderous tedium of the David Mamet-scripted The Edge. In that self-important dirge-fest, an air crash left Alec Baldwin and (Sir!) Anthony Hopkins to sort out their manly differences in the North American wilds while being pursued by a clumsily symbolic bear. The Grey similarly ditches its mismatched airborne characters into an inhospitably freezing landscape where their interpersonal conflicts will be played out against a background of baying – and occasionally attacking – wolves.

Liam Neeson, who has recently morphed from admired thespian to existential action hero, plays the lone wolf-hunter, a marksman who understands the call of the wild: Le Samourai in snowboots, with a hint of Jim Jarmusch's underrated Dead Man thrown in for good measure. »

- Mark Kermode

28 January 2012 9:46 AM, PST | newsinfilm.com | See recent newsinfilm news »

As harsh as winters may get in your neck of the woods, they won’t seem as troubling after experiencing The Grey. It’s a film unlikely to be endorsed by the Alaska State Parks Board — by comparison, it makes Lee Tamahori’s man vs. nature flick The Edge look like a pleasant picnic in the forest — but viewers prepared to endure a bleak and brutalizing look at the frozen wilderness will have it delivered, with gusto.

Ottway (Liam Neeson) is a lonely, depressed sad sack with a self-admitted run of terrible luck. Employed to protect oil company workers in the Alaskan wilds, the man’s life spirals from bad to worse when a plane wreck strands him in the middle of nowhere with a small group of survivors. Facing death, not only from the elements but from the unfortunate crash site (which is dangerously close to a den of »

- Glenn Kay

26 January 2012 6:00 AM, PST | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news »

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently streaming on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to The Grey, Man on Ledge, and Albert Nobbs.

 As Sundance talk overruns the blogosphere, three star-studded efforts aim to win your box office dollar this weekend. Liam Neeson takes on wolves; Glenn Close binds her breasts, and Sam Worthington threatens suicide, all for your entertainment. But if you crave more tales of survival, high-society and revolt, we’ve got a selection of the best titles now streaming on Netflix.

Following a harrowing plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness, a team of oil riggers are forced to face the elements and a blood-thirsty pack of wolves in the latest from Joe Carnahan. Liam Nesson, Dermot Mulroney and Frank Grillo co-star.

Often a plane crash is just the beginning…

The Edge (1997) Also set in the Alaskan wilderness, »

- jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)

9 January 2012 12:00 PM, PST | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news »

Boasting a kinetic and visually-adventurous filmmaker, a battle-tested and diverse action star and a supporting cast equal parts testosterone and heartbreaking vulnerability, not to mention its stripped-down, man vs. nature plot, The Grey promises a lot. That it doesn’t quite make good on its promise demonstrates the strange state movies are in right now. Half actioner, half drama, Carnahan’s film reflects a time for cinema in which we expect to know everything about the movie we are seeing before we see it. Trying to go against the grain here might severely hurt The Grey‘s commercial chances after the first weekend.

With a star like Liam Neeson and its Taken-mimicking release date (not to mention it’s deceiving marketing campaign), writer/director Joe Carnahan‘s film appears to be an action extravaganza, much like Unknown was last year. This time around, the film in question is not what is hinted at. »

- jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)

4 items from 2012