BEFORE MIDNIGHT, RUSH, PACIFIC RIM & THE HOUSE OF HADES

It's been ages since I got to indulge myself in three new movies in the space of seven days, each completely different to the other, in addition to chalking down the latest and penultimate adventure in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus series. But I'm short of time to go into each of these in full depth at the moment, so I'll just briefly go through them and perhaps individually go into detail at another time.

First off... FILMS:

1) Before Midnight

2) Rush

3) Pacific Rim

BEFORE MIDNIGHT:

I'm not a guy who enjoys romantic movies that much. Most of them are schmaltzy works of garbage over-saturated with pop songs and populated with actors and actresses who look as if they walked off a modelling runway. I sort of blame these films for the increased divorce rates around the world for creating false notions about romance and relationships. Sure, there are a few films now and then that get it right but it's quite, quite rare and Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise trilogy is one such exception. 

The history behind these three films is as interesting as what goes on in the story. Each movie was made nine years apart- Before Sunrise in 1995, Before Sunset in 2004 and now, Before Midnight in 2013. The same time lapses within the trilogy, where we catch up with the protagonists first when they're 23, then when they're 32 and lately when they're 41, capturing them in three different moments in life, each offering a different perspective on love, romance and life. It doesn't hurt that all three films are the rare golden trilogy (on Rotten Tomatoes, they hold scores of 100%, 95% and 98% respectively).

As of now, Before Midnight is my favourite film of 2013. It's brilliant, it's gut-wrenching and it's a jarring reminder of how even the best relationships can get worn down by the realities of day-to-day life. It's also probably the film in the trilogy where both young and older audiences will connect with best. More on Before Midnight at another time.

OSCAR POTENTIAL: Before Sunset received a nomination for Adapted Screenplay, so chances for Before Midnight are good. The other categories are doubtful- Julie Delpy might have a shot at Best Actress but given the predictions already for Best Actor, Ethan Hawke might not be so lucky. Best Picture and Best Director also cannot be entirely ruled out (given Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris earned nominations for Best Picture, Director, Art Direction and Screenplay, winning the latter).

 

RUSH:

Ron Howard made one of the best films set in space (at least, probably until Alfonso Cuarón made Gravity) in Apollo 13 before striking Oscar gold with A Beautiful Mind. After that, his most successful films- commercially, at least- were the adaptations of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. Finally, with this year's Rush, he's returned more or less to the kind of films that made him initially famous.

Think of it as "Fast and Furious" in real-life with a more sensible story and bolstered by some truly great performances by Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda. Brühl, in particular, is commendable but Hemsworth also delivers. The story, in particular, was approved by the real Niki Lauda for its authenticity and even though Formula 1 fans know the outcome of that final race in '76, it doesn't stop Rush from being any less thrilling- indeed, it doesn't have the bells-and-balls and glossing over historical facts that many biographical films usually do, inclining closer towards the realism of Apollo 13. It's a reminder that it isn't the end result that's fun but the journey in getting there.

OSCAR POTENTIAL: Difficult to say. Might get nominated for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Daniel Brühl at least as well as spots in the technical categories. Best Director for Ron Howard is 50-50 and depends if there will be any slots available for him.

PACIFIC RIM:

When Guillermo del Toro makes a movie, you are guaranteed to have a great time. When he combines brilliant storytelling with iconic visuals, you end up with films like Pan's Labyrinth. When he's working from other people's scripts, you get Blade II (the best of the trilogy, in my personal opinion). At other times, you get the Hellboy films and this year, Pacific Rim. 

It might not sport the intelligent themes of his superior films but Pacific Rim is still a good deal of rollicking fun, where giant robots fighting monsters is actually fun instead of an incoherent mess like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon, not to mention being bolstered by the calibre of Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and others. On top of that, the visuals are simply eye-catching and splendid.

OSCAR POTENTIAL: Virtually nil when it comes to the top awards. It has a chance at the technical categories, however, and might be a likely candidate for Visual Effects.

And now... BOOKS.

THE HOUSE OF HADES:

Have you ever felt like walking up to the people behind the dismal Percy Jackson films and hitting them with a sledgehammer while screaming, "DO YOU IDIOTS HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT A POTENTIAL GOLDMINE THESE BOOKS ARE?!". I mean, with nine books and one more on the way, it could easily beat out the Harry Potter films if done right. Instead, they gave us a generic Young Adult fare with a terrible botched adaption where, for some inexplicable reason, they thought the action-packed story of the book was inferior to the stupider ideas they chose instead for the films. 

The House of Hades is, by far, the most action-packed story yet. It was also a radical departure from the formula of the stories being driven by a prophecy while being narrated by all seven characters for the first time- this one was really the Avengers version of the Percy Jackson universe. 

* SPOILERS FOLLOW *

At the end of the Mark of Athena, Percy and Annabeth fell into the depths of Tartarus (basically, the worse version of Hell) and must now make their way across the treacherous landscape to the Doors of Death where they've arranged to meet their friends to shut off the doors once and for all. Of course, they've also got to contend with every single monster they've ever faced in the past who are out for their blood.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Argo II's crew must face equal treacherous foes out to stop them from reaching the House of Hades and in the process, make life-altering decisions which will affect the rest of their quest. 

I keep saying it with each book but the House of Hades is by far one of the superior books though it isn't without a few stumbling blocks here and there. What gives it the edge this time is Rick Riordan's treatment of the characters- they may be demigods, gods, Titans and Giants but never have the cast been more human than in The House of Hades. Secrets are revealed, familiar faces make an appearance and for the first time, EVERYONE has a huge personal stake in surviving their dangerous mission. Probably the most touching is Leo Valdez's story where he finally has a person worth returning to and it affects his character drastically by the book's end. Somehow, out of the new cast, Leo is possibly the most three-dimensional and fun but that's most likely because he fills up the humourous shoes Percy left behind when he disappeared for a while. 

All in all, it's been a great week.

Cheers!