ROSHAN CHANDY
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Must-see Movies
  • Cult Corner
  • Film Diary
  • Contact
  • Journalism
  • Interviews

MR.DEPP, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

11/14/2017

0 Comments

 
Johnny Depp’s drunken premiere appearance is the latest in a long line of muck ups. What happened to this matinee idol?
With the release of every star-studded blockbuster of sorts comes a premiere. What’s less common is for one of Hollywood’s biggest stars to stumble onto the red carpet slurring and reeking of booze…unless you’re Johnny Depp that is.

Yes. The 53 year old A-lister arrived bladdered to the London premiere of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ greasy-haired, dry-skinned and looking a shadow of his former self; appearing aggressive towards screaming fans, smoking indoors and relying on his Cockney-accented bodyguard Jerry Judge to hold him up.

For an actor of Depp’s standing and respect, this would seem a surprise to many yet recent years have suggested that the quirky leading man may not quite be the saint some might believe. Think back to last year when a distressing video leaked online of Depp drinking from a giant wine goblet before heading on a drunken rampage around his home and grabbing the phone from his wife Amber Heard who was filming the entire thing. The incident took place during Depp’s stressful divorce from Heard. Months earlier the couple faced charges over bringing dogs into Australia leading to a bizarre video apology.

Depp’s on-screen front hasn’t been up to scratch lately either. Ever since the Box Office bomb of ‘The Lone Ranger’ back in 2013, Depp has been scrambling his way through poorly-constructed rehashs of previous rambling, half-drunk heroes of which he has been making a niche out of for the past decade. A niche which modern movie audiences have grown increasingly tired of and have been left begging for a return to the more “traditional” roles of Depp’s early twentysomething career.

With all Johnny’s boozy antics, it’s perhaps easy to forget this was not how it always was.

Think back to 1987 when ’21 Jump Street’ hit US TV screens. It was at this point that the world was introduced to John Christopher Depp. Blessed with tanned skin, windswept hair and defined cheekbones while strutting around in denim, he was a teenage girl’s walking wallpaper and yet possessed an exotic charm that separated him from the conventional blonde, blue-eyed buffness of, say, Brad Pitt.

Needless to say, he was gorgeous and such gorgeousness helped him soar in hyper-hip teen flicks such as ‘Cry Baby’ (1990) which saw him don a leather jacket and Pompadour haircut that sent the girls going wild.

Perhaps, however, he suffered from what some might call, dare I say, being “too pretty”. Being cripplingly shy off-screen, he seemed to spend most of his post-90s career attempting to cover up his perfection with Guy Fawkes-like goaties, tattoos and neurotic-looking glasses.

Making fashion choices more often associated with a rebellious rock star than a matinee movie idol, he appeared to be a classic case of a “pretty boy gone bad”; battling Anxiety and Depression and getting into hotel brawls with London Police (an early indication of his troubled relationship with the bottle).

And yet Depp’s increased eccentricity allowed for something altogether more edgy on a big screen front. Using his heartthrob persona to his advantage, he began to embrace his “stranger” side that was hidden within. Unlike Tom Cruise, George Clooney or Keanu Reeves and somewhat similar to Leonardo DiCaprio, Depp never allowed his looks to cloud his acting chops; possessing the physical ability to disappear into parts and embody roles utterly unheard of for actors of A-list appeal.

Overseeing such a transformation was Depp’s close friend and long-time collaborator Tim Burton. Identifying with each other’s various quirks; the two began to find their artistic flourish by specializing in creating whacky personas often based on real-life icons.

Their first arrived in 1990 in the form of ‘Edward Scissorhands’. A twisted spin on the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ fairytale, the film saw Depp essentially inhabit the role of Burton himself; portraying a socially awkward outsider with a heart of gold. Something which Depp was able to relate to during his high school days.

Depp’s knack for physical impersonations worked wonders with critics and audiences alike. Some of his most memorable moments included a Michael Jackson-riddled take on Willy Wonka in Burton’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ (2005) and when he channelled David Bowie for a throat-slitting rendition of ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ (2007).

By far the star’s most bankable career move, however, set sail (and arguably for the worse) in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Films (2003-) as his boozing, Cockney-accented, Keith Richards-inspired Captain Jack Sparrow set the Box Office on fire. Not only was Depp a global superstar, but an unconventional one at that and generally considered one hell of a nice guy if his various fan encounters are anything to go by. So what made him lose the plot?

Perhaps the answer lies in the industry itself. With Hollywood’s Paparazzi-flooded lifestyle, privacy is an absolute no-brainer. Is it a surprise that shy celebrities of Depp’s status should crack under the pressure?

I wonder whether Johnny Depp’s fall from grace should be a message to many fellow actors similarly struggling to stay afloat…


0 Comments

PADDINGTON 2 (2017) FILM REVIEW

11/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture


*****

PG, 103 Mins

A succulent slice of Marmalade-lathered toast.
Considering what a big bear hug of a movie 'Paddington' (2014) turned out to be, no one was more trepadatious than I about this second big screen iteration of Michael Bond's classic creation. Would Director Paul King pull off the trick two times lucky?

Within 5 mins, however, any anxieties disappeared into a puff of smoke and 'Paddington 2' (2017) swallowed one up into its pools of Marmalade. It's a truly adorable movie that puts to rest any woes about Trump and Brexit with the gentle assurance that we might just all be alright...

A Peruvian prologue sets the scene with a superhero-style origins story concerning how our favourite got to don that blue petticoat and red top hat; replete with cameos from his ursine parents (Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon) that will send bear lovers going barmy! From here its back to London though and in with the domesticity of the beloved Brown family (Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins leading the crew).

Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is seeking employment cleaning windows for a delightful abundance of familiar faces ranging from Sanjeev Bhaskar to Peter Capaldi to Ben Miller. His contentment is swiftly turned upside down when he is wrongly indicted of robbing a bookstore which lands him in the slammer and forces him to cook Marmalade sandwiches for beefy inmates.

Of course, the real robber is still at large in the form of a narcissistic, shape-shifting actor deliciously named Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) leading the Browns to set out on a quest to prove their teddy friend's innocence...

From its sweeping London landmarks to a spectacular train showdown played out against the quaintness of the Home counties countryside, there's something profoundly British about this film that needs to be cherished. It certainly scoffs in the face of Jean-Luc Godard's infamous quote that "in order to lose faith in UK cinema, you'd have to believe in it in the first place"!


With 'Paddington 2', us Brits prove we are as much the masters of feelgood fun factor as we are of Loachian realism. There's physical comedy here worthy of Chaplin and Keaton - a particular standout being Paddy's clipper-chopping, room-spinning incision of a poor customer's receding hairline. Had me laughing like a hyena!

There's tears too, though, that are largely provided from our lovely bear's pair of doe eyes as he comes to terms with being stripped of innocence by virtue of a prison sentence. Such saccharine schmaltz might be irksome in any other setting, but all I wanted to do was give big bear a warm cuddle as I sniffled with the blubbering intensity of a Shakespearean sonnet.

In the titular role, Ben Whishaw brings a puppyish vulnerability that seeps through in his emphasis of certain consonants while shaking us to the bone with his hillarious hard stare. In Paddington's own movie, however, it's ironic that the spotlight is "stolen" from him by a wonderfully camp villain.


​Hugh Grant delivers a note-perfect comic performance as the faded and jaded wannabe actor Mr. Buchanan in a role reminiscent of his part as a "faded and jaded wannabe actor" in 'Florence Foster Jenkins' (2016). It's also a deeply personal one for the pretty, but vanilla star that pokes fun at the bumbling crooner personna his on-screen self has personified for the majority of his career. In this film there is a suggestion that he has now past that teething stage and is ready to flex his comedic acting muscles.

Thanks to well-judged Atkinson-esque slapstick, a pantomine baddie and heaps of cushy sentimentality, 'Paddington 2' proudly joins 'The Dark Knight' (2008), 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' (1980) and 'Blade Runner 2049' (2017) in the pantheon of sequel greats. A succulent slice of Marmalade-lathered toast for all the family to share!

​
0 Comments
    Picture

    Meet Roshan Chandy

    Freelance film critic, journalist and writer based in Nottingham, UK. Specialises in cinema.

    Roshan's Top 5 Films of the Week

    1. Minari (on multiple platforms)
    2. The White Tiger (on Netflix)
    3. Judas and the Black Messiah (on multiple platforms)
    4. News of the World (on Netflix)
    5. Sound of Metal (on Amazon Prime)

    Follow Me on Twitter
    ​

    Tweets by chandy_roshan

    Rating System 

    ***** 2 Thumbs Up
    ****  Thumb Up
    *** Waving Thumbs
    **   Thumb Down
    *   2 Thumbs Down
    ​

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2015

    RSS Feed


    DVD OF THE WEEK
    ​

    Picture

    County Lines (DVD and Blu-ray)
    (15, 90 Mins)

    Henry Blake's bruising drama combines the poetics of pure cinema with the news-worthy grit of a first-rate documentary. Genuinely powerful viewing.

    TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK
    ​

    Picture

    I, Tonya (2018)
    (15, 119 Mins)   
    Sun Apr. 18th, 10pm, BBC2

    Margot Robbie is dynamite and unsexualised in this literally bare-knuckle biopic about Tonya Harding. Swoons and startles in equal measure.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Must-see Movies
  • Cult Corner
  • Film Diary
  • Contact
  • Journalism
  • Interviews