Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn

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Ben Mendelsohn Thinks Brie Larson Is The "Perfect" 'Captain Marvel'


Ben Mendelsohn Brie Larson

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to go from strength to strength, with recent release 'Black Panther' officially becoming the biggest superhero cinematic release of all time. Showing no signs of slowing down, Marvel Studios are clearly set on ploughing ahead with their slew of planned big screen projects, one of which is 'Captain Marvel'.

Ben Mendelsohn's role in 'Captain Marvel' is shrouded in mysteryBen Mendelsohn's role in 'Captain Marvel' is shrouded in mystery

The comic book world is one that has seen a number of characters take on the mantle of Captain Marvel, but in the MCU it'll be one taken by Carol Danvers. Played by Brie Larson, the movie will serve as the first female-led superhero flick from the MCU, and could prove to be a major success if the love for the DC Extended Universe's 'Wonder Woman' is anything to go by.

Continue reading: Ben Mendelsohn Thinks Brie Larson Is The "Perfect" 'Captain Marvel'

Ready Player One Trailer


It’s the year 2045 and the only way to survive on Earth is to escape it, by living in a virtual reality game called the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). Based on Ernest Cline’s bestselling novel and directed by Steven Spielberg, ‘Ready Player One’ hits theatres this spring.

Tye Sheridan stars in ‘Ready Player One’

Wade Watts is an orphaned teenager whose parents gave him a name that sounded like a superhero’s alter-ego. But in the reality of 2045, Wade is living in the ‘stacks’, an overpopulated, poverty stricken area of Columbus Ohio,

Continue: Ready Player One Trailer

Darkest Hour Trailer


Given the legend that surrounds him, you might be surprised to know that Winston Churchill was by no means the government's first choice of Prime Minister during World War II. Still, he had many qualities that would make him perfect to lead the country at its most desperate hour of need; he lacked vanity, he was charismatic in many ways, and had a determination and forcefulness that few could hope to match. He was simply the country's last hope. But within days of being in office, he was faced with the biggest challenge of his career: the battle of Dunkirk.

Churchill knew what he was getting into from the start, with the War having already been waging for at least eight months. But with so many British and Allied soldiers stranded on the French beaches in 1940, surrounded by enemy planes at every turn, the probability of their evacuation seemed miniscule, the probability of German invasion extremely likely. While the people around him urged him to begin negotiating peace talks with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, Churchill knew that the only way they were going to survive was if they stood and fought to the end. Surrender was not an option.

With the might of his colleagues and the brave military behind him, not to mention his loving and devoted wife Clementine Hozier, Churchill led his country to one of its greatest victories.

Continue: Darkest Hour Trailer

Ben Mendelsohn at the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story UK Premiere held at Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom - Tuesday 13th December 2016

Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn attending the premiere of Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm's 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California, United States - Saturday 10th December 2016

Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn at the World premiere of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' held at Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles, California, United States - Saturday 10th December 2016

Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn at the 2016 GQ Men of the Year Party held at Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, California, United States - Thursday 8th December 2016

Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn , Emma Forrest - Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2016 held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills - Los Angeles, California, United States - Sunday 28th February 2016

Ben Mendelsohn and Emma Forrest

Mississippi Grind Review

Good

As the story snakes south through the United States along the Mississippi River, this movie builds up a bleak, mopey vibe that's difficult to engage with. It's the story of two gambling addicts who think that the answer to all of their problems lies just around the next bend in the river, and it's sharply well written and directed, with astute performances from the lead actors. But it's also relentlessly grim and unsympathetic.

They start their journey in Iowa, where estate agent Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) is at the end of his rope when he meets cocky gambler Curtis (Ryan Reynolds). There's a spark of recognition between them, as Gerry sees Curtis as himself 10 years younger, thinking maybe he can kickstart his life again. So they hit the road together, heading for a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. Along the way, they stop to visit Curtis' favourite prostitute (Sienna Miller) in St. Louis and Gerry's bitter ex-wife (Robin Weigert) in Little Rock. And in between, they visit Memphis to win some extra cash. But by the time they reach New Orleans, things are starting to look desperate again.

 

Continue reading: Mississippi Grind Review

Mississippi Grind Trailer


Gerry's gambling addiction has gotten way out of hand. He's already lost everything in his quest for winning, so now he's thousands of dollars in debt to nearly everybody he knows. Continually losing doesn't stop him hitting the casino, but when he meets casual poker player Curtis - who unlike Gerry doesn't let a desire for the win take over his life - he forms an unlikely bond and finds that his luck is beginning to turn, but not necessarily in the money stakes. The pair team up in order to go for the big bucks on New Orleans' legendary poker scene, and Curtis soon finds that Gerry needs something big to pull him out of the rut that is his life. He's got to learn that there's more to life than winning, but is he willing to take a gamble on the advice of his mysterious new friend?

Continue: Mississippi Grind Trailer

Slow West Review

Excellent

First-time feature filmmaker John Maclean takes a strikingly original approach to the Western, creating a realistic road trip for two very different men. Genre fans might wish it was more of a shoot-em-up (the massive final gun battle is astonishingly earthy), but it more than makes up for that with a strong sense of its characters and settings. And by shooting it in New Zealand, Maclean found an unspoiled, spectacular landscape that has its own memorable impact.

The story centres on Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a tenacious 16-year-old travelling from Scotland to find his beloved Rose (Caren Pistorius), who has moved to the Wild West with her father (Rory McCann). As Jay enters dangerous bandit country in Colorado, he meets bounty hunter Silas (Michael Fassbender), who offers to accompany him through the perilous forests and mountains ahead. What Jay doesn't know is that Silas used to be in the most feared gang in these hills, led by his old pal Payne (Ben Mendelsohn). And as they traverse the landscape, meeting various robbers and some angry Native Americans, Payne is never too far behind, because he's hoping they'll lead him to Rose and her father, who have a $2,000 bounty on them, dead or alive.

What makes this movie so engaging is the growing connection between Jay and Silas, who aren't quite as different as they seem to be on the surface. Smit-McPhee plays Jay as soft and naive, and yet his fearlessness shows a steely inner strength that should never be underestimated. Meanwhile, Fassbender gives Silas a jaded charm as the stranger who doesn't want anyone to know who he really is. While Jay wears his emotions on his sleeve, Silas clearly feels them just as strongly but has learned the hard way to keep them bottled inside. Especially while living in a place like this, where any true sense of civilisation has yet to take root.

Continue reading: Slow West Review

Slow West Trailer


When a young boy in Scotland falls in love with young girl, he is prepared to travel across the world to follow her. When she travels to the United States, he follows her, and travels forever west in order to find her. In a lawless land where only the most deadly can survive, the boy, Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is forced to team up with the mysterious Silas (Michael Fassbender), and work under his mentorship as they travel west together. The only problem is, that there is a bounty on his head, and a team of people desperate to collect it. 

Continue: Slow West Trailer

Lost River Review


Weak

With his writing-directing debut, Ryan Gosling shows audacious skill as a visual artist but never quite manages to recount a story that grabs hold of the audience. It's a stunningly gorgeous film packed with strong, earthy performances from a starry cast playing against type. But there's no momentum at all to the narrative, which is packed with random symbolism that never quite resolves into anything either meaningful or emotionally engaging.

Lost River is a decaying, abandoned city on the edge of a lake created by damming up a river and flooding another town. In what's left of their neighbourhood, Billy (Christina Hendricks) lives in her family home with her sons: a toddler and a teen named Bones (Iain De Caestecker), who helps support the household by scavenging for copper in the vacant buildings nearby. But he's encroaching on the turf of self-proclaimed gangster Bully (Matt Smith), who is intent on exacting vicious revenge. Meanwhile, next-door neighbour Rat (Ronan) is caring for her delusional granny (Barbara Steele) and trying to help Bones. And when the new bank manager Dave (Ben Mendelsohn) turns down Billy's cry for help, she takes a job at his seedy underworld nightclub alongside Cat (Eva Mendes).

Aside from some blood-soaked cabaret, what goes on in this nightclub remains rather mysterious, as Billy finds higher-paying work in the purple-hued basement fetish rooms. But then everything in this film is enigmatic, as Gosling deliberately refuses to connect the dots. This gives the film an intriguing David Lynch-style tone, although it lacks Lynch's eerie resonance. There's also a touch of John Waters-style trashiness and Terrence Malick-style natural beauty, plus the clear influence of Gosling's heavily stylised past directors Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive and Only God Forgives) and Derek Cianfrance (Blue Monday and The Place Beyond the Pines). In other words, almost everything in this film feels like a reference to another movie, but it's expertly assembled to look fabulous from start to finish, with some seriously striking sequences along the way.

Continue reading: Lost River Review

Lost River Trailer


Dark times have engulfed the world. With the steady rise of economic depression across the globe, a small town has found itself under the thumb of a feared bully (Matt Smith). Single mother, Billy ('Firefly' and 'Mad Men''s Christina Hendricks) has to engage in a dark lifestyle to provide enough for her family to survive, and provide the best life possible for her children. Her eldest son is desperate to help take some of the load off her shoulders, and ends up stealing from the Bully, earning his hatred. All the while, they town lurks on the banks of a flooded town, known to everyone as the Lost River.

Continue: Lost River Trailer

Exodus: Gods And Kings Review


Good

Aside from impressive 21st century digital effects, this new take on the Moses story pales in comparison to Cecil B. DeMille's iconic 1956 version, The Ten Commandments, which is far more resonant and intensely dramatic. Biblical epics are tricky to get right, and Ridley Scott certainly knows how to make them look and feel terrific (see Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven), but his films are generally about the spectacle rather than the human emotion. So this version of the biblical story will only appeal to viewers who have never seen a better one.

It's set in 1300 BC, when the Israelites have been in captivity in Egypt for 400 years. Now rumours of liberation are circling, centring on Moses (Christian Bale), the adopted son of Pharaoh Seti (John Turturro), raised as a brother alongside the future Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton). When it emerges that Moses is actually a Hebrew, he is sent into exile in the desert, where he finds a new calling as a shepherd and marries his new boss' sexy daughter Sefora (Maria Valverde). Moses also has a run-in with the Jewish God, who appears in the form of a young boy (Isaac Andrews), challenging Moses to free the Israelites. As Moses attempts to spark a slave revolt, God sends seven horrific plagues to convince Ramses to let his people go.

The script struggles to have its cake and eat it too, finding rational explanations for the plagues and miracles while still maintaining God's supernatural intervention. It's a rather odd mix that demonstrates just how compromised the movie is: it's a big blockbuster rather than a story about people. Several elements work well, such as depicting God as a boy, although the screenplay never manages to make much of the female characters. And only Ben Mendelsohn manages to inject any proper personality as the weaselly overseer of the slaves. Bale and Edgerton both catch the complexity of their characters' situations, privilege mixed with personal revelations. But Scott is more interested in parting the Red Sea than taking them anywhere very interesting.

Continue reading: Exodus: Gods And Kings Review

Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn Quick Links

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Ben Mendelsohn Movies

Ready Player One Trailer

Ready Player One Trailer

It’s the year 2045 and the only way to survive on Earth is to escape...

Darkest Hour Trailer

Darkest Hour Trailer

Given the legend that surrounds him, you might be surprised to know that Winston Churchill...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review

With the tagline "A Star Wars Story", this first spin-off from the saga isn't actually...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a standalone Star Wars film which acts as...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

The Galaxy is on the brink of a major war being won by dangerous rulers...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

We all know the story of Luke Skywalker and the legendary Jedi and rebels who...

Mississippi Grind Movie Review

Mississippi Grind Movie Review

As the story snakes south through the United States along the Mississippi River, this movie...

Mississippi Grind Trailer

Mississippi Grind Trailer

Gerry's gambling addiction has gotten way out of hand. He's already lost everything in his...

Slow West Movie Review

Slow West Movie Review

First-time feature filmmaker John Maclean takes a strikingly original approach to the Western, creating a...

Slow West Trailer

Slow West Trailer

When a young boy in Scotland falls in love with young girl, he is prepared...

Lost River Movie Review

Lost River Movie Review

With his writing-directing debut, Ryan Gosling shows audacious skill as a visual artist but never...

Lost River Trailer

Lost River Trailer

Dark times have engulfed the world. With the steady rise of economic depression across the...

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