Jules Movie Reviews

Hugo (3D) ****1/2

2012-02-16T21:37:00.003+13:00

"Hugo" based on the novel by Brian Selznick is a meticulously made labour of love by director Martin Scorsese, further demonstrating his extraordinary range with this, his first children's film.

Following a tracking shot from an impossible distance through a bustling 1930 set Parisian train station to the titular character hidden within the station's clock, we know we are in for a treat.

"Hugo" (Asa Butterfield) an orphan following the death of his father (Jude Law), an academic and repair man extraordinaire. Hugo manages to eke out an existence literally within the walls of the train station as he continues to wind the various station clocks for his Uncle Claude (Winstone), to prevent the absence of a parent being detected.

Stealing to eat, his path is hampered by the "Inspector" (Cohen Baron), dressed in a uniform of De Gaulle like splendor, complete with a leather clad leg following a war wound. The Inspector rounds up Orphan children within the station, spiriting them away to the authorities with quiet efficiency and no cause for regret. Chancing on the local toy shop within the station Hugo steals parts to continue his obsessive quest to rebuild the automaton left to him by his father, prior to his death.

The shop owner (Kingsley) has other ideas, despite his daughters (Moretz) attempts to moderate his behaviour, which unusually for a children's film, commences with a scowl and threats and only moderates towards the very end of the film.

This will be like nothing else you have seen before, huge sets, towering clockwork inner workings, with sweeping panoramas all seamlessly integrated into a beautiful 3D world. Clearly Scorsese has been waiting for his 3D moment and his grasp and understanding of this new technique appears complete. Despite the modern techniques on display, the story is almost old fashioned in the telling but suits the material well.

The relationship between Hugo and the Toyshop owner grows from wary beginnings to a supportive but distant role, Hugo however befriends the daughter Isabelle, which allows him glimpses into the family's life, leading to further revelations as to the real identity and history of Isabelle's father. Meanwhile, Hugo introduces Isabelle, desperate for adventure, into his secret world.

The young friends occasionally interact with the stations bookshop owner, portrayed by Christopher Lee playing significantly against type as a gentle avuncular figure encouraging the children's forays into reading.

The whole film is constructed and directed with care and love that it almost feels like the film always existed and merely was waiting to be found. Scorsese draws on his obvious affection and respect for the cinematic art form, it's birth and progress, in the process creating a love letter to the very art of cinema itself.

There are occasions when this moves into a slight director's over indulgence but the overall effect is too winning for this to matter. There are some exquisitely created minor character scenes Frances De La Tour and Richard Griffiths, notably with a fine moment or two but the film rests on the young shoulders of Hugo and Isabelle, who manage to be convincing yet largely avoid "Cute Movie Moppet" syndrome.

The film is created in a hyper realistic world in the same way that "Amelie" existed in a recognizable but slightly unreal setting, both films based nominally in Paris. Cohen Baron is less annoying than usual and does well with a rather odd character, Kingsley is as strong as ever and Emily Mortimer provides her usual luminous presence.

Without doubt worth catching on the biggest screen possible to enjoy each lovingly created frame. Whilst not quite perfect, there is more care invested in the film than a dozen lazy sequels. The director even managing to squeeze in silent, black and white scenes of Harold Lloyd clinging to that famous clock, leaving little doubt of his continuing love affair with film.

Summary

Inventive and beautifully made, children will find much to enjoy although it may be a shock to see real people acting in real ways, after the recent movie diet of animated rabbits, macaws and dancing penguins.

Parents with even a passing interest in the movies will realize this is a classic in the making.

Jane Eyre ***1/2

2012-02-15T16:23:00.004+13:00

Director Cary Fukunaga takes a modern approach to Bronte's most famous novel, exaggerating the Gothic elements and providing Mia Wasikowska with every opportunity stretch herself in the title role and prove her acting skills.

Following a brief introduction we are transported back to Jane's childhood which makes the upbringings depicted by Dicken's seem like a holiday camp. The church kindly taking on the problem child when her guardian finds her tiresome, then systematically mentally dismantling her, advising all other children to shun her and "withhold the hand of friendship", all in the name of pious religion and protecting her from the fires of hell, of course.

Forward to her "release" Jane is fortunate to find gainful employment as a governess in a large isolated house, Thornfield Hall, surrounded by cold desolate moors, only lightened by a well intentioned house keeper (Judi Dench). Jane's ward, a young french girl, according to her guardian has neither looks or intelligence sufficient to gain a husband, occupies her time. The guardian Edward Fairfax Rochester (Michael Fassbender) arrives months later by horseback, Jane failing to make a good first impression on her employer whilst out walking, causing the horse to rear and him to fall.

The gruff but good hearted master of the house is starved of intelligent conversation, he engages in an enjoyable spar of wits and opinions with his governess, intrigued and amused at her obvious intelligence and firmly held views of her own. Isolated house, enigmatic master, pretty governess, albeit made to look dowdy, repressed Victorian social mores, what do you think is likely to happen?

The film plays with timelines jumping forward and back with Jane's later flight into the kindly arms of the local young minister (Jamie Bell) and his twin sisters. Jane, seeking refuge, following an event at Thornfield Hall is nursed back into, if not polite society but at least isolated, school mistress, muddy and wet society.

The film manages to create a real feeling of isolation, repressed desires, things left unsaid and frankly odd behaviour, usually originating from Rochester, who clearly has issues to work though, although all will be revealed.

Wasikowska makes for a very believable Jane, investing her with enough reality and naievity to become a real person we recognize but infusing her with a steel backbone, this is a woman that can and will cope with anything, in this story that's just as well. Jane knows what she wants and does not believe her demands as a woman to live a life of her choosing, to be loved and not subject to violence and cruelty to be unrealistic. Opinions that would have been contentious at the time of the original novel's publication in 1847.

Fassbender continues to impress, Dench provides solid support and Bell does a reasonable job in a difficult and seemingly thankless role. Thornfield House is a character in itself, darkly lit, creaking and exuding menace and secrets from every joist.

The end does appear somewhat rushed, the resolution to some of Jane's woes convenient and these elements may not provide the required redemption for those not familiar with the book.

Summary

Overall a solid effort with engaging acting especially from Wasikowska, trailers might indicate this to be more of a gothic horror which is misleading and might discourage some. There is little to fear for those of a sensitive disposition.

A classic story told in a refreshing way, Jane Eyre rebooted perhaps and might inspire yet more readers to discover this classic in page form.

Oranges and Sunshine ****

2012-02-09T22:15:00.002+13:00

A quietly angry, lightly fictionalized film detailing the systematic, organized UK government sanctioned deportation of up to 150,000 children, often as young as three to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

In case you were under the assumption that this occurred in the dark ages, you would be wrong. The last cases are recorded in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Emily Watson plays Margaret Humphreys the tireless Nottinghamshire social worker, who stumbled across an isolated case and then fought almost single-handedly to undercover the truth. Creating the "Child Migrants" trust by necessity to reunite lost families, sometimes decades later and in many cases too late.

The film is based on the the book "Empty Cradles" written by Humphreys to highlight the plight of the families and children involved and raise much needed funds.

Not only were children sent to countries alien to them, in the majority of cases without parental consent or even with the parents knowledge, many were told incorrectly their parents had died leaving them as orphans. Brothers and sisters were systematically split up and many endured harsh conditions, being treated as slave labour and subject to both mental and in many cases physical and sexual abuse, often at the hands of those supposedly charged with their care and well being.

As in many such cases, the Church and charitable organizations, when confronted with the proof of the neglect they oversaw, denied the charges and repeatedly attempted to frustrate attempts to drag the secret into the light.

Eventually in 2010 the UK Government formally apologised for the migrants treatment, finally acknowledging the mistakes that had been made.

Bearing in mind the shocking truths on display, does the film need to be any good?

Directed by small screen veteran Jim Loach, this is a sympathetic account with quality naturalistic acting from all of the cast, in particular Watson and Hugo Weaving an adult sent as a child to Australia for "Sunshine and Oranges". Humphreys long suffering and supportive husband deserves a medal of some description as his wife continues to travel the world putting wrongs right or at least allowing closure, seemingly with little regard for her own safety, mental or physical health.

The film resembles "Magdalene Sisters", all the more effective for the lack of moralizing, preaching and sentimentality, apart from one off key line "You got my Mum for Christmas", the dialogue and acting are pitch perfect.

There are always concerns as to how fictionalized true stories are, certainly the facts are undeniable, all films compress time, alter circumstances and timelines. The most important factor is, does the film capture the spirit and feel, this does just that.

Summary

A stirring, largely truthful re-telling of an important story in our recent past, not an easy watch in parts but well worth the time to be aware of this travesty, compounded by the initial failure of anyone brave enough to take responsibility for what had occurred

Watson embodies the spirit of Humphreys who quite rightly eventually received recognition for all her efforts.

Recommended

Senna ****

2012-01-30T14:18:00.003+13:00

A documentary about Ayrton Senna, the legendary Brazilian F1 Motor Racing driver with no new material, instead relying on archived interviews, clips and personal home video does not sound like a riveting watch.

Director Asif Kapadia has however managed to produce an interesting, gripping and ultimately poignant tribute to the much loved driver, which will be enjoyed by anyone with even a passing interest in the sport.

Senna burst onto the scene at Monaco in the mid 80's, following a highly successful Karting career. Passionate, quiet in private, patriotic yet monumentally talented he effectively rocked the boat in the stable and stage manged F1 world at the time, the administration of which was held in a vice like grip by Jean-Marie Belstere - "The best decision is my decision!"

The film focuses on the white hot and ultimately acrimonious rivalry between the established champion, Alain Proust and the upstart pretender. On occasion it appears that races and decisions were formulated to preserve the status quo and despite his evident talent, Senna is blocked at every turn.

The sport is dangerous, drivers are considered to be highly paid "monkeys" with few rights, decisions on safety are apparently made arbitrarily without any real thought or implications for those travelling at 300kmh, round slippery wet tracks.

Despite the lack of new material, the film is carefully balanced and constructed, each piece carefully laid, ultimately leading to the crash that would claim Senna's life in front of 300 million television viewers. Treated as a god in Brazil and almost a saint since his death, the film neatly adds the rider that Alain Proust remains an executor for the trust created in Senna's name to help underprivileged children in Brazil.

Senna when asked what the best race he ever took part in, refers back to his Karting days when the racing was pure, man against man in the identical machines with no politics or electronic controls. As many will know, Williams dominated the sport when electronic aids were initially introduced, effectively making drivers mere passengers in their own cars whilst computers controlled many functions during cornering. This ushered in a new era in which no one could match Williams until the rules were changed.

F1 has always been about politics and money, Bernie Ecclestone merely taking the premise to the next level. Senna is shown as very much the outsider, clearly held back until his talent and fan base became too big for the sport to ignore.

The irony being that it took the death of perhaps the sports most enigmatic, enduring and crowd pleasing star to bring about much needed safety improvements and driver participation in decisions affecting them.

As the film notes, to date no F1 driver has died since the incident.

Summary

Intriguing, poignant and quite gripping, this is well worth a watch for anyone even vaguely interested in motor sport.

Recommended

Horrible Bosses **1/2

2012-01-19T19:01:00.000+13:00

Some of us have bosses we don't get on with, it goes with the territory, sometimes it's hard to like the people who tell you what to do.

Nick (Jason Bateman) hates his boss Dave Harken (Spacey), who criticizes him for being two minutes late and accuses him of a drink problem, after he has plied him with Scotch at 8:00am.

Newly engaged Dale (Day) hates his hot boss Dr Harris (Aniston), as her dental assistant he sits close to her all day providing Harris every opportunity for constant unwanted sexual harassment.

Finally, we have Kurt (Buck) who loved his job until his benevolent employer (Sutherland) drops dead leaving his coke addled loser son in charge, an unrecognizable Colin Farrell.

Instead of sucking it up, the trio decide over beers at a bar, that enough is enough, the bosses life expectancy needs to be de-emphasized. Not possessing the necessary homicidal skills they employ a "murder consultant" (Jamie Foxx), to complete their dirty work for them and get their bosses "whacked".

The premise is good and we have some significant talent on display, so does this comedy have what it takes to kill you?

A comedy needs laughs and we do get some chuckles but the tone is very uneven and none of the characters are believable or acts in the manner you might expect. The "A" list cameos add some spice but largely the opportunities for real belly laughs due to the farcical situations in which the trio find themselves, are criminally wasted.

Dale is designated as a "Child sex offender", albeit somewhat falsely accused, this sloppy plot device ensures he cannot leave his employment. Why not just place him in a job where he cannot use his skills elsewhere, rather than this bizarre trait, which will instantly turn audiences off.

There are some funny lines, including why drag racing in a Prius is a bad idea and why it is difficult to put cocaine back in a box. The trio do their best with a weak script and improbable situations but on occasion their commitment is lacking and there is a feeling of "phoning it in".

With a box office take of over $200 million this is yet another example of a very weak "comedy" performing well at the box office. Expect more movies with modest budgets, great trailers and yet disappointing films at a multiplex near you soon.

Summary

Despite an interesting set up and major talent available, this is disappointing and lacks real laughs to pull the story through.

A middling comedy with a lackluster script, you can certainly do better for your comedy dollar.

Sherlock Holmes 2 - Game of Shadows ***

2012-01-08T17:32:00.004+13:00

The first recent Sherlock Holmes film rather cleverly updated the characters into a setting suitable for modern audiences, weaned on action, flash edits and extreme slo-mo.

It was inevitable following the success of the first film, that director Guy Ritchie would be encouraged to produce a sequel therefore allowing for a three film arc.

Most audiences would agree that more of the same with Robert Downey Junior essaying Sherlock with his trusty Dr Watson (Jude Law) would be no bad idea. Here, more or less on schedule and complete with the now obligatory extended titling, we have the second outing.

After a lengthy prologue we establish that seemingly random assassinations in Europe are perhaps connected to Professor Moriaty (Jared Harris), aided in this endeavor by his accomplice Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who is now somewhat compromised by her relationship with Holmes. Meanwhile Holmes is as usual on the very edge of madness as he pursues his nemesis, leaving practical items like arranging Watson's stag party very much on the back burner.

The story is set in 1895 against the pretext of war in Europe, an event that Moriaty positions himself to exploit rather than avoid, all that is needed is a strategic death here and there to push countries over the brink.

Holmes and Watson then pursue their quarry with the assistance of Mycroft (Stephen Fry), alarmingly naked for parts of the film and gypsy fortune teller (Naoomi Rapace), albeit with little to do.

Whereas the tone of the previous film was struck about right, mainly sleuthing with a dash of action. This film moves the balance to full on action with only the odd splash of sleuthing as a nod to Holmes real origins. The first hour, appears to verge on parody and is decidedly camp in nature, with almost pantomine performances as the bromance blossoms between Holmes and Watson.

A significant sequence on a train is well done but largely irrelevant to the plot and by the time we have Watson machine gunning foes in the style of Terminator 2, it is obvious Ritchie has deviated far from the sacred text. There is no question a reinvention was required but this was completed in the opening film and like Bond's "Quantum of Solace" following "Casino Royale", the sequel seems to have lost it's way.

Overall the film fells bloated and whilst it retains many of the elements that made the first film fun, they are cranked up to 11 and tend to obscure the basic "rebooted" characters carefully constructed first time around.

Holmes looking like an ass on an ass will remain a trilogy low point whatever is served up in number three. Holmes is not Indiana Jones in the Victorian era and yet the action continues to push the character in that direction.

The sets, costumes and action sequences are up to a high standard with the Victorian setting a welcome change to modern action films. Ritchie's direction is sometimes inventive, albeit literally in shadows on occasions. Harris makes a more than adequate villain, Law and Downey appear to be enjoying themselves but must have questioned the direction the script has taken them.

The final reel does show what the film could have been with some satisfying plot twists and mental games between the main protagonists. A frustrating glimpse at what the film as a whole could have achieved, with more thoughtful plotting and a more intelligent screenplay.

Summary

Not without merit but overall a disappointing film, which has overplayed much of what made the earlier film fun.

In this case not so elementary Watson, sometimes more of everything is just that, more.

Tintin (3D) ****

2011-12-28T12:30:00.002+13:00

Avatar's motion capture techniques showed what was technically possible with the new computer toybox at film directors disposal. Spielberg and Peter Jackson clearly wanted to play in the digital sandbox but needed a film to demonstrate what they could do.

Tintin is perhaps a suitable choice, realistically he would not work with real actors and creating the action inside the computer, allows literally anything to be shown on the big screen.

Crash landing airplanes in the desert, intricate chases set in a bazaar with impossible stunts, fifty gun galleon's firing broadsides in monstrous seas, Spielberg directs like a kid let loose in a chocolate factory.

Jamie Bell fleshes out the eponymous Tintin with bad guy duties falling to Daniel Craig as Sakharine. Captain Haddock, who spends the entire film in pursuit of his next whisky bottle is provided via Andy Serkis, no stranger to these new acting techniques.

It is interesting to see echos of the actors through their motion capture work, not just in their voices but in their facial actions, the way they move, walk and act.

For the uninitiated, Tintin is a "cub" reporter providing newspaper articles on fantastic adventures and scrapes that he often finds himself embroiled in, all set within a largely recognisable 20th century backdrop. The film is based on three of the many books written by Herge`, this is classic boys own adventure stuff, lots of derring do in a wholesome family kind of way.

The plot revolves around sunken hidden treasure and a model ship, "The Unicorn", which is a good excuse to bring pirates, generational revenge and other dastardly plans into the mix. The story wends it's way through a Junior "Indiana Jones" sequence of events and is accompanied by a rousing John Williams score to suit the action on screen.

Tintin is aided by the "Thompson Twins" (Frost and Pegg) who are part of Interpol but are inherently inept and stereotypically British, including obligatory bowler hats and umbrellas. Whilst they are designed as the comic relief, here they do not add to the story and tend to drag the action down whenever they are on the screen, notably the wallet scene which appears childish and out of place.

The "animation" is beautifully done, clearly pushing the envelope of just what is possible even further ahead. With almost infinite camera angles at his disposal with the new technique, Spielberg has fun mixing up how the audience views the action. Tintin appears real, the audience complaint of "dead eyes" and the simulation of realistic sea and water issues, obviously now fixed. The technique pioneer, "The Polar Express" is already beginning to look quaintly old fashioned and creaky in comparison.

Star of the show must be "Snowy", Tintin's ever present canine friend. Animated to perfection, with all the best action, looks and comic touches. Pet shops will need to stock up on Wire Fox Terriers, to keep up with demand.

The film is fun and obviously orientated towards a family audience, the Thompson twins do mar the action but the film recovers with some excellent sequences, notably a post plane crash propeller incident, dueling port cranes and an exciting motor-cycle sidecar chase.

Interestingly released in the UK and Europe before the US, as the character is perhaps better known on the European side of the Atlantic.

Looks good in 3D with some decent depth gags but probably not compulsory to enjoy the film.

Summary

Provided the film is not taken to seriously, there is much to enjoy. Superb action with fantastic state of the art motion capture and CGI animation techniques.

Kids will love the film and there is sufficient depth to keep most parents interested and the send off certainly indicates there is more of Tintin to come.

Recommended, especially for big "Snowy" fans

Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol ****1/2

2011-12-18T07:42:00.001+13:00

The Mission Impossible (MI) series has had a chequered history, from an impressive opening salvo, the series had meandered it's way through two further films with mixed results.

Think of this film as similar to the "Casino Royale" or "Goldeneye" of the Bond Franchise, a real re-invention.

Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, more focused, committed and believable than before. He has along for the ride a different accidental crew in the form of the unlikely Simon Pegg as "Benji", computer technician, brand new field operative and comic relief. Pegg must wonder each morning when he will wake up from the sudden dizzy heights he now occupies, now starring in two mega franchises including the new Star Trek.

Jane (Paula Patto) adds some glamour to the proceedings but can beat up bad guys with the best of them and Brandt (Jeremy Renner) provides an increasing amount of support as the film progresses. Tom Wilkinson adds yet another high profile film credit to his resume as the IMF director.

We start in Russia with an invigorating and well filmed jailbreak, progressing to a very neat attempted extraction from the Kremlin, albeit book-ended with some slightly dodgy FX.

Nuclear launch codes are missing and the usual rogue Russian elements, in the form Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), are behind an insane plot to launch a nuclear missile, thus cleansing the world of it's sins and allowing it to be reborn.

Following the Kremlin event, which the US naturally gets blamed for, the whole IMF corp are disavowed, leaving Hunt and his team to go it alone and save the world. Luckily they still have plenty of cool gadgets and toys to play with.

In Bondesque fashion, we then globe-trot through Budapest, Dubai and Mumbai as the hunt for the codes and the means of delivery through a spare satellite, hots up.

The action sequences are fast and furious, notable set pieces in Dubai are exciting and with plenty of real stunt work, albeit undoubtedly enhanced with FX work. Is that really Cruise hanging 120+ floors up on the Burj Khalifa, tallest building the world. We are told it most certainly is and contributes to one of the best and most intense action sequences of recent years. The car chases are expertly done within a simulated sandstorm, clearly with BMW's exclusive assistance, many cars are destroyed but all in spectacular fashion. Another scene in an automated car park in Mumbai is expertly choreographed and leads to an exciting and unexpected climax.

Pegg actually works really well here, providing some reality and grounding to all the high tech, displaying a suitably audience friendly look of awe, to all that goes on around him, possibly with little acting required. The film is smart enough to make fun of the whole premise without erring into supposed parody error, see Cruise's own weak "Knight and Day" effort for details. We particularly liked the "message will destruct in five seconds" failure and the obvious impracticality of a retinal scan on a moving goods train.

Like any modern futuristic movie, what is shown as high tech becomes common place within five years or even exists now. If so, security guards will need to be more aware of their surroundings and study that CCTV real hard in the future.

Director Brad Bird of Pixar "The Incredibles" fame, makes a highly successful leap into live action and this provides a late entry as the undoubted best action movie of the year. The story is a bit dodgy and fanciful, the ending taking the peril too far beyond what would make any difference as to the intended result. No matter, the MI series has always been about the action, that theme music and the visuals, none of which disappoint here.

Summary

A globe trotting thriller that truly thrills, mixing the best elements of Bond, Bourne and MI in barnstorming fashion.

Cruise is back on form and reinvigorates the franchise, providing excellent movie escapist fun.

Highly recommended

The Green Lantern ***

2011-12-16T06:53:00.000+13:00

DC Comics The Green Lantern "Darkest night, darkest hour..." was always going to be a tough sell to non comic book audiences. The hero derives his power from a ring and he needs to charge it from his nifty green lantern, really?

Hal Jordon (Ryan Reynolds) is the ultra cocky, handsome and improbable fighter jock, dog fighting sophisticated drone jet fighters as part of an advanced weapons program. Haunted by his test pilot fathers death, Jordan battles his own demons as to whether he feels fear, embraces it or continues to run through a series of empty but very beautiful liaisons.

Meanwhile in a galaxy far far away, on the planet "Oa" a corp of "Green Lantern's" stand guard over the Universe, dividing it into sectors which they are entrusted to defend. Under the overall control of the guardians, think Yoda on very high poles, the Green Lantern corp stand watch. Protecting their charges from evil using the "will" of the people as a source for their power, defined by a very bright Green light. Evil in the form of Parallax, who was cast away into oblivion after dabbling in the even more powerful "fear" power source, is now awakened and is firmly in the yellow corner.

The unfortunate Hal is chosen by the ring following the crash landing of Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison) after he is injured in a battle with Parallax. The ring never fails and always chooses correctly, which is seriously questioned when part of the underlying creed for the corps is responsibility, a character trait Hal does not readily demonstrate.

Aided by his friend Tom (Waititi) Hal shows off his new power, a nifty green suit and powers that appear only restrained by his own imagination, including flying and morphing any objects he wishes to realise. Beating up the local roughnecks at the local bar shows what he is capable of and then flys to "Oa" to receive more formal training at the hands of the local drill instructor, "Tomar Re" (Geoffrey Rush) a colossal green giant apparently made of rocks.

Sparking the interest of Green Lantern corps leader Sinestro (Mark Strong), he disappoints the group and returns to earth in a funk.

Meanwhile, senator Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins) and his son Peter (Peter Saarsgard) are doing some dabbling themselves into the power provided by fear following the postmortem of "Sur". Modern movies always have politicians as bad guys, there clearly is a message there somewhere.

Hal is called upon to defend the earth from the ever more powerful Parallax, drawn to the power that the Hammond's have unearthed. Whether Hal triumphs over evil and peace is restored is not the point, this is a comic book adaptation after all but is it fun?

Following the critical mauling the film received, the end result is not so bad. Director Campbell has kept the whole enterprise moving along at speed, is it silly and preposterous, of course. There are moments to enjoy, the reveal to the beautiful Ferris (Lively) is unexpected and welcome. The decision to provide the suit via CGI does detract from the reality, which in a film of this type is desperately needed due to the fanciful nature of the story.

There are too many effects and on occasion the story is in danger of imploding into it's own pretentiousness but it all just about skates by on the charm of the lead and his ability to mock himself. "By the power of Grey Skull" or "To Infinity and Beyond" are two of the oath's attempted to get the ring to work.

The film is light and breezy, making no claims for a darker vision or Batman inner turmoil and torment. This harks back more to the original Superman's where comic book characters were just that, unreal. The effects are good but there are too many of them, the supporting characters are adequate, there is no real identifiable villain to shout at but the leads acquit themselves well enough in what must have been an orgy of green screen work.

A decision was clearly made that this would be gossamer light, candyfloss fare for a family audience and on that level it just about hits the mark. If you are looking for deeper meanings or complex characters, there are better ways to spend your movie dollars.

Summary

Not as bad as feared, certainly not in the same league as other comic book adventures but perhaps not the train wreck some have suggested.

Mild, competent, implausible comic book fun with too much CGI and little requirement for a sequel, therefore expect number 2 to arrive at your local multiplex soon.

The Hangover 2 **1/2

2011-12-04T18:12:00.001+13:00

The second in what is sure to become a trilogy, breaks a cardinal rule for a comedy, it forgets to be funny.

The cast get to say "I can't believe it's happening again" and the audience feels the same way, the movie is a carbon copy of the first fun and mostly inventive film.

The "Wolf Pack" are back but this time they are somewhere way more dangerous than Vegas, Thailand and more specifically Bangkok. As is mentioned in the tagline "Bangkok has them now", although most audiences will realise that Bangkok has merely replaced Las Vegas, as little else is new.

Still with over $500 million at the the box office director Tod Phillips must have got something right?

Meek dentist, Stu (Ed Helms) is marrying an Asian beauty complete with stereotypical overbearing father, meek mother and idolized talented younger brother Teddy (Lee), a nod to the younger demographic.

Of course his buddies are invited to the bash at an upmarket resort in Thailand, Phil (Cooper) and Doug (Bartha), although man child Alan's (Galifanakis) invite is not forthcoming. Unsurprisingly left on the sidelines due to his errant behaviour in the first film, will he be left behind this time, need we even ask that question.

Everything is going swimmingly apart from the usual inappropriate behaviour by Alan, until the "one beer" before the big day, turns into another mammoth hangover wake up scene.

Substitute missing teeth for tattoo's, tigers for a monkey, add in a severed finger, several cocaine "bumps" to clear the head, Mike Tyson and stir fry quickly. We are then treated to the stereotypical underside of Bangkok which will do nothing for the Thailand tourist industry. Seedy rooms, criminals in the form of Paul Giamatti and the predictably unpredictable Mr Chow (Cheong), not quite as out of place as some recent films he has appeared in, perhaps the milieu suits his weird character or acting traits better.

Will the "Wolf Pack" be able to re-assemble the night before in time for the nuptials to occur on time with everyone happy, if you think not, then maybe you are watching the wrong film.

The journey is the thing and this is where the film loses it's way, with a scattershot, throw everything at the screen to see what sticks approach. Less funny, same "F & C" bomb heavy dialogue, more raunchy situations and reversing the movie trend from mostly female nudity, to a combination of both in the same body. Certainly Ed's new bride seems more understanding than one might expect a new bride to be in that circumstance.

Galifanakis again reprises his role carried across the original "Hangover", "Due Date" and now the sequel, seemingly popping up in every movie playing a similar part. Cooper of course has gone all "A" List since the first film and Helms is also now gainfully employed in the American version of "The Office".

Cooper is clearly now too good to be in this tosh and his star quality does show through despite the obvious flaws of the film, Bartha is largely sidelined again and Giamatti obviously fancied a free holiday, with almost a cameo part. Tyson apparently taking singing lessons for his big scene, if this is the result post training then clearly the boxing ring was the right career choice.

Do we need another sequel, do the actors need another film to bolster their careers, of course not. With box office receipts north of half a billion dollars, this however will be a foregone conclusion.

Inversely proportional critical & enjoyment value against monetary returns, we are clearly heading in the wrong direction and this trend is unlikely to be reversed in the final installment. Clearly poor reviews nor bad word of mouth will stop the "Wolf Pack" juggernaut, big business has them now.

Curiously the closing credits on the Blu-Ray version, retains the controversial fake recreation still of a real life execution, which is odd bearing in mind the offence the picture has caused. This perhaps emphasizes the apparent contempt director Phillips has for his audience.

Summary

A lazy remake of the original and a poor facsimile. Might raise the occasional titter but largely can be avoided unless the "Wolf Pack", the Asian version, really appeals.

Disappointing

Captain America (2D) ****

2011-12-04T08:07:00.001+13:00

Another Marvel superhero, another origin story although this time we have a superhero with very few powers other than being able to jump higher, bash people harder and a 1941 period setting.

Equipped with a nifty USA emblazoned shield, Captain America (CA) was always going to be the hardest sell to cynical audiences not weaned on 1940 derring do cartoon strips. The clean cut hero with no flaws and a good heart is somewhat at odds with the many complicated, anti-heroes that audiences have now embraced.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a weedy guy, stood behind a lamp post you might not see him at all. His is brave though, throwing himself on a grenade to protect his unit buddies and desperate to go fight the Nazi's in WW2. His buddy Barnes (Stan) has already enlisted but Rogers keeps receiving a "4F" rejected due to poor health from the medical board, despite numerous attempts using false addresses.

Help comes in the form of Dr Erskine (Tucci) recruiting for "Project Rebirth", a plan to create super-soldiers using the usual powers you could not possibly imagine. Being the chosen one, Rogers turns into "Captain America" replete with ripped body, rather dodgy uniform, not yet the right shield and the letter "A" on his helmet.

So far, not that different to many other similar movies. However, we do have the best movie bad guys, no shades of grey here, Nazi's and not just ordinary soldiers but Uber Nazi's. The Hydra research unit, headed by Schmidt/Red Skull (Weaving), a man who despite working directly for Hitler, still believes there is wiggle room to be more extreme.

Due to circumstances, Rogers endures a lengthy period where he is tasked with selling war bonds rather than socking it to the bad guys. Fortunately, it is not long before he is unleashed with his rag tag self assembled squad, onto the unsuspecting Hydra unit. Stevens unit commander Colonel Phillips (Lee-Jones), offering support, great one liners and dressing down's in equal measure.

Rogers is designed as a throwback, a decent man suddenly entrusted with strengths and power that amplifies everything that is inherently good and decent about him. In direct contrast to Schmidt, whose dastardly plans and world domination are stretched to the evil limit, following the application of the unimaginable power source.

Unquestionably Uber Nazi's are the coolest villains, with the best gadgets, planes, cars and submarines which can be disintegrated with ray guns, shot and blown apart with little chance of offending a world wide audience. Dr Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), as a Nazi Scientist ticks all stereotype boxes without breaking sweat, you almost expect a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" coat hanger moment to appear at any moment.

Evans does not get much opportunity to act but does well enough with what he is given, special effect techniques cleverly displaying him as a man 60 kg dripping wet, then allowing his transformation into the real buff super-soldier, Evans post gym, with few technical hitches.

The film is almost old fashioned in it's action scenes, perhaps reminiscent of director Joe Johnson's "The Rocketeer" in style and content. Rogers gets a sort of girlfriend, in the shape of Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) whether CA gets even near first base is debatable. Dammit, there is a world to save after all.

This is the final piece in the Marvel "Avengers" puzzle, the new film due in 2012 incorporating all of the Marvel characters under "S.H.I.E.L.D" (Jackson), all of which have been carefully introduced to audiences over the last few years. Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) destined to be Iron Man's father, also gets a look in as mad inventor/billionaire, again linking the intertwining stories together.

The studio must surely be pleased at the reception received even for it's "lesser" characters, with respectable box office returns for both "Thor" and "Captain America".

Summary

Old fashioned swashbuckling fun in the Indiana Jones style, with a straight as an arrow good guy, pantomime villains and exciting well executed state of the art action sequences.

Fantastic Nazi villain lairs, awesome B-Wing bombers and enormous Nazi limousines, plenty of explosions and a reasonable story to hang all the action on.

What more could one want from a summer superhero movie?

Cars 2 ***

2011-11-16T21:38:00.001+13:00

Pixar has an almost exemplary record, so when the original "Cars" appeared, it somewhat blemished the almost perfect critical record the company had enjoyed to that point.

Pixar would not have been fazed, $5 Billion sales of toys related to the film dwarfed any Box Office return and even those were healthy enough. "Cars 2" aims to correct the previous mistake of a thin plot and a dubious central premise.

The computer animated film starts well enough, with a well paced and exciting Bond pastiche, following a British Aston Martin secret agent Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) infiltrating and escaping from a villains lair, aboard multiple offshore oil platforms.

We then return to Radiator Springs, home of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and his BCF (Best Car Friend) Mater, the rusty pick up truck (Larry The Cable Guy). McQueen has become a successful racer, winning the piston cup, now renamed the Hudson trophy (in honour of the late Paul Newman's character in the previous film) but is taking some downtime in his home time with his Porsche girlfriend Sally (Hunt).

Mater is acting in a manner that would get him slapped with a restraining order in real life but in cartoon land, just wants to spend more time with his best pal. Responding to a TV phone in boast, Mater enters McQueen in the "World Grand Prix", a race organized by Sir Alexelrod (Izzard) to promote his new alternative fuel "Allinol".

This provides an excellent excuse to travel the globe, Italy, Japan and England for races between McQueen and his arch rival, the Italian Formula1 car, Bernoulli (Tuturro). F1 is never mentioned, perhaps due to contractual reasons, Bernie Ecclestone presumably not buying into the whole talking cars approach.

The whole local support team are brought back onto the pit crew to assist McQueen on his quest and somewhat reluctantly, Mater is allowed along for the ride.

Mater quickly messes everything up and inadvertently gets mixed up in International espionage with Finn and Holly Shiftwell (Mortimer), as they attempt to uncover a dastardly plot headed by Professor Zendepp (Kretschsmann). The professor, rather bizarrely, is in charge of an army or fleet of "Lemons", cars that were inherently a bit rubbish. Cue the first torture scene in a Pixar film, admittedly off screen, as information is extracted from the unfortunate Rod Torque Redline.

Various adventures and action sequences follow, crude stereotypes are employed, the Queen in England, Mafia types in Italy, does the main villain really have to be a German with a monocle, really, on a car?

The film ends with a lengthy explanation of who did what and why, emulating the end of a "Scooby Doo" episode. This has never been necessary in a Pixar film before, normally what/why is covered subtly within the film, lengthy exposition has never been necessary, see the start of "Up" for how much can be conveyed in a short time.

As ever, the animation and sound are faultless, the race scenes are more exciting than a F1 race, sound and picture in perfect harmony and the set pieces are fun, exciting and imaginative.

With bright colours and talking cars, younger children will enjoy the film, just as they did the original "Cars".

Adults however, may be very disappointed. Not a word usually used in the same sentence as "Pixar". The idea that cars can talk with their mouths animated and wheels acting as hands, in many ways just does not work. Arguably, too many liberties have to be taken to provide the cars with human characteristics and then you wonder, what's the point?

There are many segments in the film where the story is just, well, boring and yet this is normally a Pixar strong point. Eddie Izzard is a flamboyant comedian and yet here, is allowed to just read his lines with hardly any inflection, something he would likely have resisted given the opportunity.

Wilson is bland, Mortimer a bit more lively but the voice cast is only really saved by a sterling performance by Caine, audiences will recognize his voice anywhere.

Directed by the vastly experienced John Lasseter the head honcho at Pixar, this appears to be more an exercise in getting as many characters on screen, in as many different territories as possible to sell as many toys as possible. Whilst this may have been the net result of other Pixar films, you never felt it was their sole intention. Here it does feel like an extended Toy commercial in parts, sell the toys and wrap a film around that premise, rather than a great film that happened to spawn a line of toys.

Lets hope this is not Disney's pervading marketing influence affecting the company, as the partnership evolves. Certainly we expect better when "Brave", the new Pixar film hits our screens next year

Summary

Fun for young kids but audiences who have left Primary school behind, may find little to interest them here, despite the excellent animation and action.

Better than the original but inherits many of it's flaws and represents a further minor disappointment from a studio that has always promised and delivered so much more.

Bridesmaids ***1/2

2011-11-07T22:45:00.002+13:00

Bridesmaids has enjoyed colossal box office success and will almost certainly spawn a sequel some time soon, "The God Mother" perhaps?

Best described as a female "The Hangover", the film attempts to marry, in every sense of the word, comedy, gross out sequences and high drama.

Lillian (Maya Rudolph) and Annie (Kristin Wiig) are BFF, until Lillian suddenly finds herself engaged, with a huge wedding to organise.

Of course she will turn to Annie as maid of honour to smooth out all the kinks and give her the send off she deserves, luckily the family are monied so all the usual high class US wedding cliche's can be explored. Glorious bridal shower, wedding and bridesmaid dress rehearsals, glamorous wedding location and so on.

All of this would be fine, apart from the fact that Annie is having a bit of a crisis, what starts out as comedy, moves steadily towards life going seriously down the toilet, close to nervous breakdown territory.

The catalyst arrives in the form of the perfect unselected Maid of honour, Helen (Rose Byrne) the bored wife of the fiance's boss. Together with Megan (McCarthy), Whitney (St Clair), Rita (Mc Lendon-Covey) and Becca (Kemper) the disparate group is complete.

The film is billed as a comedy and its starts promisingly enough as Annie displays self worth issues, demonstrated by her "friends with benefits" relationship, with the spectacularly self absorbed Ted (Hamm). Once the wedding planning starts in anger however, the competitiveness to be Lillian's best friend, starts to get out of control and starts messing with her head and life.

What follows are set pieces, some gross but funny, some neither gross nor funny (Plane sequence) and some funny and sweet. Whilst disappointing in parts, the overall film is enjoyable but it is certainly more serious than you might be expecting.

Many comments describe the film as hilarious but like many films of this type, there is a dark vein of humour at work. Emotions are played for real and occasionally it feels uncomfortable next to the knockabout fart jokes. We liked the brother and lazy sister lodgers, "put some peas on that" and Annie will certainly win no awards for salesperson of the year, but in doing so provides some of the strongest scenes in the film.

Annie's relationship with Lillian, her Mum and the local cop, who seems to get all the best lines, holds the film together and provides a good counterpoint to some of the craziness on display. There remains a more touching, sweet film in the edit somewhere, although box office numbers would undoubtedly have suffered as a result.

Wiig can act and the cast do good work around her, McCarthy playing almost a female version of Alan (Galifanakis) from the Hangover, also getting some good lines along with the cynical Rita and her devil spawn children - "I could have cracked the sheet".

Not always as funny as the film thinks it is but certainly no exclusive chick flick either, male viewers may not be the target audience but will certainly find plenty to enjoy.

Summary

Arriving as a cross between "The Hangover" and "The Full Monty" in tone and style, "Bridesmaids" taken at face value, is an enjoyable enough night out for Fiancees and Fiance's alike.

The Kids Are Alright ****

2011-11-06T09:51:00.000+13:00

Jules (Julianne Moore) & Nic (Annette Bening) are a happy couple with two great kids they have bought up well, in a household with love and care.

Nic is a obstetrician, organised and focused whilst Jules is more of a free spirit, repeatedly starting projects and currently dabbling in garden design, which is a source of tension but no more than many millions of couples. The long term relationship is sound, albeit going a little stale, again they may not be alone in that predicament.

The children were born with the aid of an anonymous donor and whilst happy, the kids Joni (Mia Waikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) are curious as to who the person that shaped their lives, actually is.

According to US law they can request this information once they reach eighteen and Joni makes contact on behalf of her brother. Accepting the request for contact is Paul (Mark Ruffalo), a rough and ready bohemian restaurant owner.

Paul is very keen to become of the Kids lives and this has benefits all round despite some initial misgivings by Jules and Nic. Laser gets a father and male influence in his life, perhaps steering him away from his more unsavory friend choices. Joni gets to see an alternative lifestyle at a time when she needs to pull away from her mothers' apron strings.

All is well but then, it becomes more complicated.

All the cast are uniformly good, the acting is natural and the script allows the characters to react in believable ways. Petty jealousies, slights and betrayals, just normal human behaviour played out in ways we can all understand, no matter the orientation of the couple featured.

The film is more serious than might be expected and it is targeted at a "mature" audience, not necessarily in age but for people who know and understand that life is more grey than black and white.

Bening & Moore make a screen couple that are entirely plausible, Ruffalo brings a rough diamond aspect to his role yet manages to make the character likeable and convincing as the plot unfolds. Both the children provide sterling support, accepting without question their two mums.

Whilst stating the obvious, director and writer Lisa Cholodenko, manages to relay the message that children will thrive in any environment where they are cared for and loved, a situation not exclusive to a "straight" partnership.

Summary

A well acted family drama with first class acting and mature themes explored in a believable way, deep but accessible and with just enough humour to make this an enjoyable and easy watch.

Recommended

Battle: Los Angeles **1/2

2011-10-22T11:30:00.001+13:00

Managing to squeeze in every Marine corps cliche within the first ten minutes, is a fair indication of where this movie wishes to position itself in the marketplace.

We receive the briefest of introductions to each Marine platoon character, before we are dumped fair and square into a battle with Aliens attempting to take over Santa Monica, presumably attempting to corner the real estate market.

Aaron Eckhart plays Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz, a man who has seen it all, lost men under his command and wants out, signing his retirement orders just 24 hours before the crisis begins.

When all hands to the pump are required, he regroups with a platoon, complete with an obligatory rookie Lieutenant and is immediately sent to rescue civilians from a beach side Police station. A self created hard timeline is imposed, with the whole area due to be carpet bombed in a few hours, in an attempt to halt the alien attack.

The film is similar to "Black Hawk Down" with a gritty, first person and very shaky camera style, which does not suit all audiences. The gore factor is relatively low but the "Hoo hah" Marine quotient is off the scale, in places coming across as an extended enrolment promo for the Marine corp.

Esprit de corp in battle is necessary to operate as a cohesive unit but it gets very wearing in a two hour film. Endangering an entire squad to save a few civilians, when thousands are seemingly being systematically wiped out, is also rather dubious. The heavy handed sentimentality and US flag waving is also somewhat hard to stomach for an international audience.

The real and CGI generated effects are good and Eckhart, who we know is an excellent actor, tries to inject some believability into the situation. He surrounded by competent no-name players, almost as if he signed on expecting more support from better known actors only for them to fall through, leaving him rather alone apart from Michelle Rodriguez.

The main flaw would be what's going on and why?

We get a very brief explanation that maybe aliens need water but all we get to see is an extended macro battlefield with few characters to care about. The lack of a three act structure, the film starting in the middle and remaining there throughout the running time, does little to help.

Whilst there is a brief forward/flashback we get no feel for the invasion as a whole, other than occasional stock footage of aliens flying over recognizable International landmarks, see "Independence Day" and other similar films. The movie seems unsure whether it wants to be a reasonably serious film about an alien attack or an all out "popcorn" alien movie and curiously falls uneasily between both genres.

Summary

Not a bad film but not a good one either. Think "Black Hawk Down" "lite" with aliens standing in for Somalians as the seemingly disposable "bad" guys.

Following an exciting trailer and some early "buzz", mark down as rather disappointing, unless a two hour "shaky-cam" battle with modern weaponry, little plot and weak characterization floats your spaceship.

3EQCMPXYAM4S

Fast Five ***

2011-10-15T16:25:00.000+13:00

The original "The Fast and Furious" was exactly that, fast furious, silly and laser focused on it's young male target market.

The law of diminishing quality applied to the sequels, if not box office but this fifth installment has well and truly bucked the trend. This latest offering reuniting many of the original cast but also dragging in the "The Rock" to really drive home the message, this is a more substantial film.

We still get the obligatory coupe of scenes with flash cars, models with painted on outfits and the whole project exudes testosterone from every pore. There is however more heart here, it does mean something, not much but there is a heist story in there holding the whole premise together.

Paul Walker and Van Diesel reprise their roles, clearly finding work outside the franchise not as lucrative or productive as they had hoped. There is a lot of gunplay and the body count is high but in keeping with the certificate, everyone dies very cleanly with little gore on display, an A-Team for the new generation.

This time we are firmly based in South America, Rio Janeiro amongst the Fave-la's, read very poor areas, where filming must have been difficult with the crowds that must have accumulated. We have lots of running over roofs, jumps and great helicopter shots, that would presumably would have been impossible in a more risk averse and libelous urban setting.

Following a spectacular "break out", which in reality no-one would have survived, we start with Brian O'Conner (Walker) and girlfriend Mia Toretta (Jordana Brewster) at a low ebb. They are in Rio on the run, visiting their old friend Vince (Matt Schulze), for a bit of a feed and the possibility of another job, as funds are definitely low.

The job on offer involves boosting high end cars from a moving train, an action sequence which is very impressive, in a "looks like somebody is actually doing most of this", kind of way. It is preposterous of course but if you want real life drama and social commentary, anything with Fast and Furious in the title will not be high on your list.

The rather dubious moral aspects of stealing stuff and getting rich quick are certainly not explored, nobody has a real job and as always, driving cars really fast in dangerous situations, is always completely safe and fun.

Once the cars are obtained with Dominic Toretta's help (Diesel), the old gang is assembled as they realize they have stumbled onto something bigger, involving the obligatory king drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). We know he is an overlord as he kills an underling in off hand manner, sometimes it would be good to see a drug lord forgive a minion for a minor infraction, at least it would be something new.

The gang come to the attention of the elite US Diplomatic Security Service (USS) backed squad led by Luke Hobbs (The Rock, Dwayne Johnson). This group act as police, judge and jury, seemingly wasting bad guys at will with apparent impunity. They are aided by the very pretty but initially mousey widow (Elsa Pataky) of the only apparently honest policeman in Rio.

The assembled gang get little to do, apart from add legitimacy to the reinvented franchise, although Tyrese Gibson gets some good lines and comedy is ably provided by Tego and Don.

The closing sequence is probably at 13 on a scale of 10 for believability but certainly will have stimulated the South American car industry with the number of cars destroyed.

Diesel and the Rock dispense with any pretense of acting and just bulge muscles, fight at length and look macho, occasionally all at the same time. There are some unintentional laugh out loud moments but Paul Walker does slip in a few quiet moments of real acting when the crew and director were off planning the next stunt.

Summary

Does what it sets out to do but at least with a little more style and substance than the last three entries.

Will not be troubling Oscar but with top notch "real" stunts and a stronger plot, this shows the franchise may have more in the tank yet for those who like their action Fast, Furious and a bit daft.

Kung Fu Panda 2 ****

2011-09-25T11:03:00.001+13:00

Kung Fu Panda was huge in every sense, $631 million at the worldwide box office and an indelible character amply voiced by Jack Black. This is a voice role that may come to define his career, even though he does not actually appear in a single frame.

Understandably Dreamworks Studios would be failing shareholders not to expand the franchise further and we now have the second film, in what almost certainly will become a trilogy.

Does the film suffer from mid trilogy bloat and irrelevance, well actually no. Everything is subjective but this is the equal or may even surpass in some ways, the original film.

Po Ping or Dragon warrior (Black) managed through his daring deeds and hopeless optimism to save "Kung Fu" in the first film, here he has a much harder task. Finding himself, reconciling his own adoption and achieving "inner peace" all the while fighting off the genocidal Lord Shen (Oldman) of Gongman City. Shen is intent on destroying everything and everyone to fill the emptiness, due to a lack of paternal love.

As Po would say, "It's like, quite deep".

As before, Po manages to complete daring feats and heroic acts, not so much out of bravery but by falling skillfully, more often than not led by his ample stomach in search of a quick feed. He does not do this alone of course, we have on hand his usual fighting crew. Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Mantis (Rogen), Crane (Cross) & Viper (Liu), heavy hitting star power for a children's animated movie.

We also have Shifu (Hoffman) returning as a "Yoda" like mentor and Mr Ping (Hong) as Po's adopted father, who provides comic relief and some touching scenes in equal measure. The film tidying up the slight oddity of a Panda being the son of a Goose. Michelle Yeo voices the soothsayer that predicts Shen's future, who may or may not be useful to his quest in equal measure. Even Jean Claude Van Damme gets a look in as Master Croc, which always looks good on your filmography.

It goes without saying that the animation and sound are top rate and the story unfolds in a natural way and does not feel conceived merely to extend the franchise. We wanted to know more about the character and here we explore Po's past and why this new threat is so personal and debilitating to him, his own Kryptonite if you will.

What made the previous film really stand out was the hand drawn oriental style animation that interspersed the action, fleshing out stories told by the characters. Here we are again treated to similar sequences which lift the film to another level. For every child friendly chase sequence there is a tender scene which manages to appeal to adults without detracting from the onscreen colourful antics.

Will Po manage to vanquish evil again, find balance and reconcile his past, well the deviations from the norm can only be stretched so far but the journey is the thing and there is much to enjoy along the way.

Could well be the the best animated film of the year, Pixar have definite competition in this genre and perhaps mirroring the arc from Toy Story 1 to 2. If so, then the third outing could be special indeed.

Summary

Equalling or even eclipsing the first film, this achieves all the studio could have hoped for. Family friendly with a good heart, exquisite animation and a starry but well used voice cast.

Highly Recommended and as the tagline says, "full of awesomeness".

The Guard ****

2011-09-12T21:33:00.000+12:00

Provided with the right situation, profane dialogue and a hefty dose of pitch black humour Brendan Gleeson is in his element.

Here all building blocks are in place and Gleeson does not disappoint.

Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Gleeson) is an unorthodox Policeman or Garda in Southern Ireland. He interprets the law as he deems fit according to the circumstances. Anyone residing more than a few miles away is considered an outsider and those from Dublin, too fancy, with new fangled ideas and not to be trusted.

Chancing upon the opening car crash, the local boy is stripped of drugs to prevent his "Mammy" from finding out he was high at the time, with a select tab or two squirreled away for the sergeants own recreation. Morally ambiguous at best although Boyle's heart is in the right place, he certainly knows right from wrong, a distinction many of his colleagues appear unable to make.

When the FBI turn up to investigate an ongoing big drug deal, Doyle is able and willing to let go with every stereotypical and racist comment he has stored up. Unloading them with a twinkle in his eye, on the unsuspecting and increasingly incredulous agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle). Everett is a fish nowhere even close to water, with Boyle indifferent or ahead of him at every turn.

Most locals ignore the agent's questioning because he does not speak Gaelic, is not in the Behavioral Science Unit and is obviously "different" to local folk.

On paper this appears crude, rude and off the politically incorrect scale and in lesser hands this would not work. Somehow, like "In Bruges" this does mostly hit the mark. The drug dealers are comic but ruthless, Liam Cunningham, bug eyed David Wilmot and Mark Strong, who like Gleeson, swears better than just about anyone else on screen.

The story takes turns you might not expect, Boyle "hoors" and drinks his way through life whilst caring for his elderly mother. Fionnula Flanagan is quite exquisite in short scenes, that are all the more effective as the dialogue is so minimal.

Cheadle manages to be believable, deftly side stepping all the easy pitfalls such a part might present and provides a neat foil to the sad sack but happy Boyle, who may or may not be "as dumb as he looks". This is not so much a buddy/buddy movie, Boyle is no-ones buddy and is clearly unlikely to change anytime soon.

Not to everyone's taste perhaps, the "F Word" gets a real work out but somehow always said with real skill rather than with any offensive intent. The characters are not supposed to be wholly believable, think "Local Hero" with the "F Bomb" and AK47's. The scenery is bleak, wet and solid, there is no messing about here, the blue line is thin indeed.

There is a sub plot vaguely involving the IRA which appears to help the story but is unresolved as to Boyle's motivation. Some of the scenes are not milked for all the humour potential but overall you may find yourself laughing and then wondering if you reallyshould.

There is quotable dialogue throughout, "When I applied for the position of Drug Dealer, manual labour was not in the job description", Strong is at pains to point out or Boyle offering as an excuse, "I'm Irish. Racism is part of my culture"

From the writer/director John MichaelMcDonagh who is the brother of Martin McDonagh director of "In Bruges", clearly the family has a way with dialogue and the talent has obviously been shared around. Every caricature and affectation is punctured before the balloon even leaves the ground.

Summary

Pitch black humour, with a star turn from Gleeson, an authentic Irish setting and excellent support, there is much to enjoy in this dark comedy drama.

If you can handle the accent and can soak up the earthy dialogue, this one is for you, nearly as good as "In Bruges", which is high recommendation indeed.

No Strings Attached ***

2011-09-10T17:23:00.002+12:00

We meet the young friends at a party when everyone is pairing off, Emma (Portman) and Adam (Kutcher) are not together, just friends despite the ill judged, both story and script wise, vulgar comment from Adam.

We spiral through a few years with the pair meeting again and then again and so forth. At no point does the relationship change until, well it does. Friends no more and now, if not lovers, then "Friends With Benefits" (not to be confused with film of the same name) or "Bed Buddies".

The crux of the story is, can you have a sexual relationship with regular meetings, whenever the mood strikes, without that pesky love thing and petty jealousies getting in the way. In real life this may be more complicated to answer but in the movies, the answer to provide a three act story, is that you cannot.

Adam is an assistant on what appears to be a "Glee" wannabe TV show. He is desperate to write but with little opportunity to do so, whilst he remains in the long shadow of his father "Alvin" (Kline), a much loved TV show character with his own annoying catchphrase. Dad is aging disgracefully and when he starts recycling, not paper but his sons girlfriends, their relationship understandably takes a hit.

Meanwhile Emma, so buttoned up she actually does not have any buttons just in case, is the emotionally barren daughter of a equally frosty mother. Emma is a rather improbable busy hospital doctor with the obligatory movie gay friend mixing it up with her two girl flatmates, the four providing great comedic possibilities that are not really explored.

There is little chemistry between the main pairing, neither are terrible but Portman is not on top form and Kutcher seemingly plays a facsimile of the real Ashton Kutcher yet again. Lake Bell as "Lucy", admiring Adam from not so far, is more amusing. Striking a note just a restraining order's width away from stalker and with the awkwardness to match when presented with her prey.

Kline looks like he is enjoying himself but this is very lightweight film that still manages to strike the odd bum note in tone. Whatever happened to chaste comedies like "When Harry Met Sally" and "Youv'e got Mail", do we really need to know someone is putting on a condom?

Perhaps a comedy where both parents are not rich, with expensive weddings and lives might strike more of a note with cinema-goers. It remains to be seen if the more recent "Friends with Benefits" strikes a better balance in tone. Certainly in this film you may find your female partner shouting, "just what do you want lady?", as the film draws to a close.

Summary

Not without some merit but overall, a middle of the road Rom Com with the emphasis on comedy rather providing any insight on the subject matter or any real life situations.

Arthur ***

2011-09-03T20:56:00.000+12:00

Some might say this is heresy, remaking the 1981 Dudley Moore smash hit. Has Hollywood finally run out of ideas?

In a year of remakes, re-imaginings, sequels and prequels the question has been asked and answered.

Here we have a re-imagining with Gielgud's Oscar winning role of "Hobson" the butler, transformed into Helen Mirren as nanny, lady butler and companion to the spectacularly spoilt, permanently drunk and now, allowing for inflation, even richer billionaire "Arthur" (Russell Brand).

Arthur is the son of an emotionally crippled mother who rules the business empire with an iron fist, an eye to the future and less emotion than a block of butter. Obviously Arthur has responded by never growing up, indulging his every whim from the bottom of a bottle, albeit retaining "a good heart".

Brand is not to everyone's taste but the role fits quite well, certainly he will have plenty of life experience to guide his self indulgent lifestyle and the public will be well aware of his "previous" life and struggle with alcohol.

There are many funny lines and you may find yourself enjoying the film far more than you had expected.

When attempting to find a office job Arthur is asked "Outlook?", "mostly positive" is the reply.

Helen Mirren provides the film's emotional core and anchors the whole enterprise in some form of reality. The relationship between Arthur and Hobson as a surrogate mother, actually transcends the rest of the film, mainly due to Mirren's performance but this appears to bring the best out of Brand.

The unsuitable love interest, illegal tour guide "Naomi" (Gerwig), as opposed to Liza Minnelli's shoplifter in 1981, is rather bland. The more suitable and business synergy enhancing partner, "Susan" (Jennifer Garner) is more interesting from a character point of view.

Geraldine James, Nick Nolte and Luis Guzman do well with relatively small roles and act as the straight man/woman to Brands stick, which here generally does not outstay it's welcome. Brand managing to be more likeable than usual, not lovable perhaps but at least not so actively disliked we want him closer to the rather disturbing circular saw, in one rather odd scene with Nolte. Some kudos to Brand for taking on a role, that almost invites comparison and criticism.

The story follows a similar arc to the 1982 original and largely sidesteps the obvious pitfall of presenting a self indulgent playboy billionaire who does no work and still appears unhappy. At a time when many audience members are not making rent, this is no easy task. Does he find true love and get to keep the money despite the choices he makes, if you can stay around long enough you will find out.

Is it art, no of course not and the project does not appear to even attempt to improve or really emulate the original. One might consider this a cynical recycling of a good story to audiences who would never even know who Dudley Moore was, let alone see the original.

With a take of @ $45m on a budget of $40m it is obvious that the films timing, post economic meltdown and continued financial worries coupled with the general view that this should have been left alone, has hurt the film at the ticket booth.

Summary

Funnier, sweeter and more enjoyable than you might expect.

Certainly not perfect but a very enjoyable slice of light entertainment again proving how valuable Mirren is to any cast list.

Cowboys and Aliens ****

2011-08-19T22:44:00.025+12:00

Concept doesn't get much higher, "Cowboys and Aliens" just about covers it and leaves little to audience imagination, although a dog is also involved.

In a summer brim full with remakes, prequels and sequels, it is a refreshing change to actually see a movie that is new or newish, the film is loosely based on a comic.

Daniel Craig (No Name to start) wakes up in the Wild West circa 1873, looking craggy, sun-baked, wounded and confused. A large futuristic bracelet on his wrist, which he cannot remove despite repeated efforts, he swiftly deals to anyone that messes with him as he attempts to regain his memory.

Stumbling into town, he encounters the usual Wild West characters.

The sturdy doctor/priest (it's a small town), who graphically stitches his wounds, the local downtrodden saloon owner/doctor, (Sam Rockwell), with the improbably hot wife, a principled lawman and a weak, feckless bully (Paul Dano) the son of the feared local head honcho, Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford).

Throw in the otherworldly presence emanating from "Ella" (Olivia Wilde), a cowgirl with piercing blue eyes. Add the advertised aliens, complete with grungy steam punk style spaceships and you have a curious mix indeed, think "Firefly/Serenity" with a larger budget.

Craig continues to impress, intense, brutal and looking every inch like he damn well would hurt anyone getting in his laconic way, more than adept with his sturdy bracelet, when it finally throbs into life.

Mixing Aliens with Cowboys is a commercial risk, recent films daring to use the western genre have not all been successful (True Grit withstanding), throw in a Alien "mashup" and what do you get?

Actually, a lot more fun than some have led us to believe. Whilst undeniably not perfect, some effects are more LowFi rather than SciFi and some supporting characterizations are paper thin, Dano and Rockwell get criminally underused. Overall, perhaps the opportunity to play Cowboys and Indians with this cast was too good to pass up, even for great actors with bit parts.

Quite where a budget of US $163 Million went, is more of an indictment of modern blockbuster film making than a criticism of this particular project. However, there remains plenty of entertainment up on the screen.

The action and jump scares are more down and dirty than you might expect, kids with knives stabbing aliens in the heart, Alien torture chambers and characters being incinerated before your eyes, this is certainly no "Wild Wild West".

It is good to see Ford back in a summer movie, he gets some good lines but the focus of the film clearly falls to Craig, who does not disappoint.

Yes, there are plot holes but again, this is Cowboys and Aliens in the same film, reality expectations should wisely be left in the foyer.

There is a high body count, every one is fair game, especially disposable and certificate friendly CGI Aliens who can be eviscerated at will without troubling the censors. Crucially, the dog is of course kept safe at all times.

The plot is thin - loved ones get captured by Aliens, posse try to get them back and prevent even worse stuff happening. Interestingly the Saloon owner certainly seems fairly non plussed that his wife has disappeared.

Good fun and any movie that dares to be at least mostly brand new with no built in audience and brand awareness, needs to be appreciated.

Director John Favereau of Iron Man fame has done a fair job with workmanlike direction, whether this finds an audience and we get to see more, remains to be seen.

Summary

Does what it says on the tin.

Indiana Jones and James Bond playing Cowboys and Indians, whilst fighting Aliens, what's not to like?

Recommended

The Lincoln Lawyer ***1/2

2011-08-13T21:55:00.016+12:00

Based on Michael Connelly's book of the same name, this introduces audiences to Mick (Mickey) Haller (Matthew McConaughey), a street lawyer in LA who's office is situated in his Lincoln Town car.

Bearing in mind his need to keep on the move in every sense, a mobile office is what he needs, the car driven by an earlier client, Earl (Mason) still paying off his fees.

Haller has the prerequisite messy private life, sometime girlfriend and mother of his daughter in the form of (Marisa Tomei) and exists as a bottom feeder, defending mainly guilty clients and getting them off, even on a technicality if necessary.

Mickey is played as not a bad man, stretching the rules, ducking and diving, working the system but not inherently bad. Of course this is a man that puts drug dealers back on the streets again and gets paid in cash from a biker gang, but there is good in there somewhere.

Mickey hits the big time when he is asked to defend Louis Roulet (Ryan Phllippe), a wealthy realtor who is charged with attempted rape and assault on a young prostitute. Mick can see the dollar signs although it troubles him that maybe he has the most dangerous of clients, an innocent man.

The plot twists and turns and although perhaps a little contrived and unlikely, ends with some exciting court scenes, character redemption and a reasonable denouement.

McConaughey who has been coasting in some terrible romcom's has clearly decided he wants to give acting another chance. He plays Mickey as an arrogant southerner working every angle and it works. McConaughey again showing us that he can actually inhabit a character and make us believe in him, remember Grisham's "Time to Kill". He has good support from Tomei, William H Macy, Josh Lucas and John Leguizamo.

Phllipe is very clean cut and whilst giving indications of the deeper undercurrents at play, is perhaps not the ideal casting for the character that unfolds. The case of course proving to be anything but, straightforward.

The film is light on action which will limit it's appeal which is a pity, as there is some good work being done here. It almost feels like a set up for a better movie down the line, Connelley has written about Haller again, so we may see more of the Lincoln Town car yet.

Workmanlike direction and solid performances provide an entertaining legal thriller, the like of which we have not seen since Grisham hung up his legal pen to holiday in Italy.

Like most films based on books, not as good as the written work but a fair approximation of the style of Connelly's new character.

Summary

A solid adaption of Connelly's work, a much better effort than Clint Eastwood's earlier "Blood Work".

If well plotted, intelligent albeit unlikely courtroom drama with some nifty twists and turns is of interest, then you will not be disappointed.

Recommended

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes ****

2011-08-05T22:58:00.033+12:00

Sequel, prequel, re-imagining or reboot, it is difficult these days to actually know what the blockbuster movie you are about to see is, or where it fits into any franchise.

Here I believe we are safe to call the film an origin story, which attempts to reboot and integrate with what has gone before, excluding Tim Burton's more recent effort.

The film starts with scenes depicting the capture of Chimps destined to be experimented on, in the hope that a cure for Alzheimer's can be found (ALZ112). Laudable work, especially if your father (John Lithgow) has the disease and you happen to be a noted scientist in that field of science, Will Rodman (James Franco).

When an over protective chimp interrupts a PowerPoint presentation in spectacular fashion, this confirms the first batch of the ALZ112 drug is perhaps not quite as stable as the team would have liked.

The lab boss Steven Jacobs (Jacob Oyelowo), takes ruthless steps once he realizes that avenue of research is not paying off, despite the keepers mild protests.

Taking the remaining just born chimp Caeser home, Will realizes that Caeser has benefited from the drug being passed from his mother. Subsequent noteworthy intellect far beyond what they would have expected is the result, with Caeser's signing ability and understanding that far exceeds the norm.

Bringing up Caeser appears somewhat idyllic, until an event causes a chain reaction that impacts Will's relationship with Caeser and ultimately the future of mankind.

The movie obviously has a lot of story to tie into and it quietly lays the foundations for further movies that the studio plan to make. As the events unfold, man is shown blasting off to Mars on flickering TV screens in the background. The astronauts will be gone some time and it is safe to say that earth may be a less crowded place with lower property prices, when they eventually return.

Of course the film will never work without fully believable chimps. Weta workshops the New Zealand based SFX company, have done a superb job in creating believable characters. Motion captured acting (Andy Serkis is Caeser) with a digitally created chimp or Orangutan "skin", the actors performances remain intact. The eyes, expressions and many movements transcend the simple term "special effect" and create living breathing creations.

True, there are a few dodgy shots that pull you out of the action, baby Caeser being a case in point, but 80% of the time we are dealing with seemingly living characters born out of a computer. The scenes with the chimp clearly thinking and his eyes moving knowingly from side to side, are both exciting and disturbing at the same time.

With these very special effects, it does mean that living actors have their work cut out. James Franco is rather bland and his boss is rather a crude stereotype. Freida Pinto as Wills love interest and live in Veterinarian, is as beautiful as she appeared in Slumdog Millionaire but gets relatively little to do. John Lithgow creates a great character and his portrayal of Alzheimer's and his relationship with Caeser are a standout for the film.

There is a feeling that the film pushes as far as it can with the ethical dilemmas inherent with such experimentation. Whether the ends justify the means and are we any more entitled to be saved than the mammals tested upon.

Interesting and thought provoking, the film has built up enough intelligence credits to see it over the line, before it throws in the towel and remembers it's a summer event movie. The film ending with a spectacular Golden Gate bridge set action finale.

It is unlikely that this will be the last we will see of Caesar and his many friends.

Summary

Good fun and may have you wondering whose side you are on and whether empathy or sympathy is the emotion you should be feeling.

Recommended

Black Swan ****

2011-07-30T15:27:00.022+12:00

Natalie Portman in a film about ballet, directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) with a strong psychological almost surreal streak, might not be considered your usual multiplex draw.

$327 million worldwide box office and a best actress Oscar would suggest otherwise and whilst certainly not for everyone, this is undoubtedly top quality entertainment of the disturbing kind.

Nina Sayers (Portman) is a ballerina with a prominent New York ballet company, demure, innocent and driven by mother vicariously living out her own past 'glories" through her daughter.

Nina is good but not yet a star, until an opportunity presents that finally gives her the opportunity to shine in the eyes of company director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) and hopefully the ticket paying general public.

There is a problem, in fact several of them. Outgoing diva Beth (Ryder) is not going to go quietly into the night and whilst Nina is perfect for the part of the White Swan Princess "Odette", she is much less suited to the complex flawed Black Swan "Odile".

To add yet more Greek tragedy to the mix, we have a newly arrived ballerina "Lily" (Mila Kunis) who personifies everything Nina is not. A natural dancer, prepared to take risks, let go, be bad and clearly very sensuous without even trying.

Nina is classically beautiful, a perfectionist, striving for the ideal and realizing perhaps too late that she, like all of us, is doomed to fail. Attempting to embrace the dark side of her character, at the prompting of Thomas, leads Nina to very dark places indeed.

Fortunately, the "Swan Lake" story is clearly outlined for us on several occasions, so even those of us philistines with no clue, have some idea where the play within the play is heading. As you will have guessed by now, most Opera's and Ballet's never appear to end well.

Whilst not a horror film, this skirts dangerously close, touching as it does, on self abuse, psychosis and for a mainstream film, some reasonably graphic girl on girl sex scenes. Perhaps as an indication of her transition from a girl to woman, capable of giving and receiving pleasure. This is not what the film is about but there are certainly occasions where the tension is ratcheted high and with a classical score underlying the point, Nina gets close to the edge and steps, perhaps knowingly, over the line clearly marked, "madness".

Aronofsky knows how to photograph his leads, edgy, close and following the action from differing swirling points of view. This is a standout performance from Portman, taking real risks in pursuit of her art. Not only training enough to give a very fair approximation that she can classically dance but portraying a very fragile girl, in every sense of the word, in a world that is way more brutal than most of us would realise.

Whilst Portman did study ballet at an early age and trained hard for the film, there have been arguments as to how much dancing was done by the star. Arguably, does it really matter, Portman is a movie star not a classically trained ballet dancer at the highest level, does Tom Cruise do all his own stunts?

Portman is helped with some sterling support from both Cassel, Kunis (with some notable ballet training) and her screen mother Barbara Hershey.

There are a couple of missteps, two "effects" in particular jar with the scene, taking you out of the film for a moment or two, hint legs and pictures. These are small points and are balanced out by a very effective CGI sequence as Nina finally "becomes" Odile and marks her transformation, from which she may never return.

The film portrays the loneliness and lack of support Nina has from those charged with her care and the juxtaposition of the beauty and perfection of the ballet scene, with the dirt and ugliness of the graffiti strewn subway is a neat touch. There is a lot of stark lighting, bare walls, mirrors both broken and whole, featuring prominently, which as any movie buff knows is a clear sign, "here be madness".

Incidentally, filmed on a budget of only $13 million, which for a mainstream movie is cheap indeed.

Summary

Disturbing, yes but in a good way.

A film that is mostly definitely not "about" ballet, with an excellent central performance from Portman, in a film that may not be to all tastes but is well worth putting in the time.

Recommended

The Next Three Days ****

2011-07-30T07:18:00.021+12:00

John Brennan (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) have a pretty good life. Good jobs, a six year old son Luke (Sympkins) they both adore, healthy parents and a Toyota Prius, domestic suburban bliss.

That is until Lara gets inconveniently and very quickly, convicted of murder and slammed up in a Pittsburgh prison for life.

The film plays fast and loose with timelines, moving backwards and forwards to the present, which takes a moment or two to grasp but does work very effectively.

The jaundiced Police and Prison guards are all believable but the film is centered on Crowe's performance. As usual, he does not disappoint, he is one of the few "A List" actors able to move believably from playing a 19th Century sea captain (Master and Commander), Robin Hood, Roman Gladiator and here, ordinary man community lecturer.

Lara is in jail for murdering her female boss, her guilt apparently obvious from the circumstantial evidence on display, it is clear to everyone she is not getting out anytime soon.

John is unable to accept his lawyers view and plans to spring his wife, run and keep running with his small family. None of this is a plot spoiler, as it made very plain both from trailers and early in the film.

What is interesting, is the way John gradually slides into a world he does not understand or normally inhabit. The slippery slope that gets steeper and murkier the further you move from the fripperies, light and trinkets of ordinary life. A star makes a cameo appearance and nudges John towards the dark with fair warning, what is he prepared to do, how far will he go for what he wants.

"Show me where the bullets go", he asks when buying his first gun, he certainly gets to use them soon enough.

Good to see Brian Dennehey in a small but pivotal role as John's father, acknowledging the full cost of the actions he is considering with very little spoken dialogue.

Director Paul Haggis has created a film that is exciting with some very neat touches to add to the ever present ticking clock effect. The dragnets that will be in place at fifteen and thirty five minutes are a good device to move the audience towards the edge of their seat, a place you will be familiar with towards the end of the film.

The action sequences are brief but done well and the suspense is ratcheted up high, with you wanting to shout "just get back in the car and drive", on a couple of occasions.

Nit-picks, the escape plot does appear to rely on some very tight time assumptions and appears riddled with "what ifs" despite all the planning. Lara appears to fare very well in prison, looking just as bright and attractive as the day she was incarcerated, obviously prison life suited her.

Look out for House's "number thirteen" (Olivia Wilde), soon to be seen in "Cowboys and Aliens" as her star continues to rise.

Summary

A cracking thriller with a great ending, that is better than some reports and box office returns might suggest.

Crowe adds another creditable role to his diverse resume providing yet another example of his broad acting range.

Recommended

Love and Other Drugs ***

2011-07-25T19:52:00.023+12:00

Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a bit of a player, he is handsome and a massive hit with the ladies but it is obvious he only cares about number one, himself.

He was good at selling expensive, knock off grey import Hi-Fi equipment but he is a whole lot better and richer, when he stumbles into the fast growing Pharmaceutical sales industry.

Of course he is not great from the off, working for Pfizer (yes that drug company), he is mentored by Bruce (Oliver Platt), all worn down and keen to get back to Chicago, civilization and his family, in that order.

Jamie starts to learn, turns on the charm machine, beds the receptionist and before long is pushing Zoloft samples into the slot previously occupied by Prozac. The Prozac goes in the skip and the local hobo appears to benefit in a running movie joke. The local wonder rep from the opposing company is not that chuffed, but he is big buddies with Dr Knight (Hank Azaria), so that works out ok.

All is going well for Jamie until his unethically commenced relationship with Maggie Murdoch (Anne Hathaway) causes him to pause. Maggie is not well, a 26 year old with early onset Parkinson's, which is certainly no laughing matter.

This is perhaps where the film begins to falter as we move from bright and breezy into deeper waters. Jamie and his younger, cash rich but sex starved brother, Josh (Josh Gad) and their parents, are largely played for laughs. Whilst the initial scenes with Maggie are classic romcom setups, the script does take them to darker places.

Both Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are believable, Hathaway taking the acting honours in the more demanding role. The sex scenes are reasonably revealing for a mainstream film, hardly shocking but no "You've got mail" in the innocence or language department.

Of course, the advent of that little blue pill (Viagra) provides many opportunities for innuendo and again perhaps clashes with the drama. Dr Knight as a doctor that needs to be influenced to get the drugs flowing, appears to be a contradiction, all caring one minute and seemingly ready to nail anyone around, given half a chance and a box of blue pills.

There are some good lines and the film sets out to satirize the drug companies but loses it's nerve after a while. The relationship with the doctor and the rep's appears off to a casual observer. One would hope that the relationship was/is not as cosy as this portrays but maybe this is wishful thinking.

Certainly this is no expose on the industry, although loosely based on a book by Jamie Reidy, a former Pfizer salesman. As a comedy there are not enough laughs, as a romance this is diminished by the ever present illness and as a drama it is hampered by both the aforementioned.

The film is certainly likeable enough but the tone is rather uneven with the viewer not quite sure what's coming next. An unusual departure for director Edward Zwick, who in the past has concentrated on epic movies, this aims small but mostly hits the intended targets

Summary

One half rom-com and one half dramatic serious illness movie, director Ed Zwick clearly not sure which genre he prefers for the finished result.

Watchable, with two good looking leads and enjoyable in parts but does not always hang together well.

Mildly recommended

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D) ****

2011-07-16T14:42:00.027+12:00

Who would have thought in 2001 that in 2011 we would be expecting HP 8 to be the biggest film of the year, smashing all box office records before it?

And yet, here we are, with the same characters and almost exactly the same cast, consistent across the whole franchise. Dumbledore being effectively replaced by Michael Gambon, due to the death of Richard Harris

After abruptly leaving audiences in mid story in Part 1, have the loose ends been tied and a resounding and satisfying finale been served?

The short answer is yes with some relatively minor caveats.

All of the exposition was completed in part 1 thus allowing the filmmakers free reign to make the last film, one long running battle. The opening scenes with Griphook (Warwick Davis) are noteworthy for the stillness that he brings to the role, an element that is lacking in the frenetic set pieces that follow. Swathed in make up and razor sharp teeth, he highlights the issue that has beset the films from the start, the young protagonists acting ability has always paled against the wealth of mainly English acting talent. All three have improved over the years but it's a tough ask against the depth of acting experience on offer.

These early scenes set up an adventure to recover another Horcrux within Gringotts bank, beautifully and expensively recreated and then promptly destroyed. The effects throughout the film are outstanding, the studio obviously pushing out every boat they could find, to make this an ending worthy of the name. Tie in's to new roller coaster rides are obvious but in 3D this is great fun, and everything is created believably within the fantasy world.

There a few flashbacks which indicate just how far the cast and crew have come from early beginnings but all of this is just delaying the inevitable final battle and showdown that everyone has paid to see. The final siege of Hogwarts, draped in protective spells, stone guards brought to life and a last stand defense by all those who remain in the Order for good.

Like a fireworks display where the biggest rockets are saved for last, everything is thrown at the screen, mostly very effectively. Characters from the past all get some screen time, albeit brief in some cases. Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) and Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) get the best lines of the film, Walters "Not my daughter, you bitch" receiving a round of applause from the audience, as Bellatrix is brought to account.

Hogwarts far from the sunny refuge it offered in early films, becomes a battlefield liberally strewn with dead bodies, the Quidditch pitch is the first to be set alight. Large scale battles with colossal Trolls are reminiscent of Lord of The Rings in scale and presentation and are equally impressive.

The remainder of the books plot is explained and final motivations revealed, although the film does come to a grinding halt at one point to deal with an out of body experience. Similar to later episodes of the Matrix and Pirates of the Caribbean, this is achieved with an all white set. Whilst neccesary, is does dispel the considerable momentum built up, before the final showdown. Harry against Voldemort, Fiennes yet again achieving acting marvels below levels of constricting make up.

Few actors get a chance to shine as the last film is all about tying up loose ends and providing a spectacle, however we will miss Snape (Rickman) with his billowing cape and drawn out delivery of lines. There are poignant scenes, more so because the young threesome clearly realise this is the end of a journey that none of them could have predicted would last so long. The kiss when it comes is awkward, the actors clearly considering themselves brothers and sisters due to their shared experiences over the years.

Despite the rather questionable ending of the books, in the film all the actors are aged effectively to portray the final epilogue scenes, which if anything, play better on the screen than on the page.

Certainly Warner Brothers must be credited with providing solid, creative and expensive entertainment and could not be accused of just relying on the built in audience. Whilst every commercial avenue has been exploited, as any good business would, at least everything is built around a solid worthwhile piece of popular entertainment.

Is this really the end, well everyone tells us that it is. Rowling has written no more books although fan fiction continues apace, whether Warner Brothers will be able to walk away from such a lucrative Franchise remains to be see.

But for now, this is it, the end, Harry Potter has left the building.

Summary

For those even casually acquainted with the books or films, this will be a must see. For fans it goes without saying, this is compulsory viewing.

We have grown up with Harry Potter, some might argue it has accurately reflected the gradual shift from innocence to the current woes of the world post 9/11.

We will be sad in many ways to see it go but this is the send off the series deserves and comes highly recommended.

Winter's Bone ****

2011-07-16T13:52:00.018+12:00

As far from a Hollywood style movie as one is likely to get, this is an America far removed from coffee bars, flash lawyers and Rodeo drive.

American Missouri Orzak back country, where seventeen year old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) struggles to bring up her young brother Sonny (Isiah Stone) and sister Ashlee (Ashlee Thompson).

Meth cooking dad is AWOL and catatonic mum is past helping the family following traumatic events, hinted at but never explained.

Life is hard in this inhospitable place, broken down cars, houses and people litter the landscape. Humanity has all but been driven out, Ree is alone, resourceful but ultimately helpless and at the mercy of those around her.

Everyone lives on the fringes of the law, which is erratically enforced by a very thin blue line. When it does roll by, it is usually not on their side and and on occasion causes more harm than good. Ree's father, Jessup Jolly is nowhere to be found and if he misses a pending court date, the house and land are part of the posted forfeited bail, leaving the family with nowhere to go.

If this sounds bleak, frankly it is. If you are expecting knights on white chargers and social services to sweep in and help, this is the wrong film for you. Is it depressing, well actually no, due mainly to the quality of the acting, especially from the young lead in a Oscar nominated role.

Ree is world weary, knows how to shoot a squirrel, gut it and make a casserole, whilst teaching her younger siblings the basics of survival. Sonny is not keen to get his hands dirty, get over it as there ain't nobody coming to help, is the message given in a long American drawl.

Dad was mixed up in some bad business with even badder folk. Everyone looks pale, ill and the gene pool is perhaps not that deep in this part of the woods. Lots of lanes to nowhere and sheds to hide stuff in. Bad things happen here, although fortunately we do not get to see too much detail.

Ree gets the slimmest of help from the supporting "family" and friends who all appear as afraid and controlled as she is. Borrowing a car is a monumental task, which one assumes was paid for dearly off screen .

Not a horror film, although it could easily have been and barely a thriller. More a character study of a time and place that most of us, thankfully, will neither experience or perhaps begin to understand. Not a lot happens although a mystery is resolved, however as a slice of life we know nothing about, this is finely detailed film and appears entirely convincing.

Powerful and with some of the best screen acting seen this year, with many natural performances largely from first time actors, gently coaxed out by writer/director Debra Granik. The cinematography is plain and unfussy, suiting the subject material. Everything is broken, worn out and in need of help and from the message here, it's unlikely to come anytime soon, so best make do with what you have.

An unsentimental message to send but ultimately perhaps a realistic one

Summary

Bleak and unflinching with powerful performances and implied violence and repression of the "weaker sex", not seen on screen but all too evident none the less.

A niche film but ultimately rewarding and with just enough hope to keep you watching.

Highly recommended

Monsters ****

2011-07-09T14:03:00.031+12:00

Made for $500,000 which would barely cover the catering bill for Transformers 3, this is an undiscovered treat from writer/director Gareth Edwards.

The film establishes that following the crash landing of a deep space probe, extra terrestrials have landed and taken up residence on earth causing a massive "Infected Zone" between the USA and Mexico.

Walls are built to keep the creatures out of the US and regular bombing runs are conducted, to kill the Octopus like aliens. The spraying of poison is also widespread, to wipe out the growing tree borne infection.

The film follows Sam Wyndem (Whitney Able) and photographer Andrew Caulder (Scoot McNairey) as they try to find their way home. Sam is the engaged rich daughter of the newspaper owner for whom Andrew works, he is reluctantly tasked with bringing her home safely around the "Infected Zone".

The film is everything that a modern blockbuster is not. Thoughtful, poetic, full of languid looks and periods of silence. The effects are low key but highly effective when used, in a Jurassic Park kind of way. Clearly the crew had plenty of Extra Terrestrial street signs which prove very handy in establishing the story as the film progresses.

The journey home should be simple but due to various circumstances, the couple find themselves increasingly reliant upon each other to get through. The fact that neither actor is well known, adds to the "what will happen to them" feeling and they bring no previous audience career baggage to the roles. Both act well and bring a freshness to the film as these are new actors to most audiences.

The chemistry between the "couple" is very evident. Sam, dressed in a Lara Croft type outfit throughout and together with her obvious cuteness, is not unpleasant to watch. However, the relationship between the pair is anything but your normal Hollywood stereotype, relying instead on nuance and believable characterization. This causes you to truly care about the characters and even those they meet briefly on their journey.

Filmed on a shoestring budget with two crew and off the shelf cameras, often without permission and using whoever happened to be in the location at the time. This is guerrilla film making at it's finest and a testament to what can be achieved with relatively low priced equipment and software in 2010.

Edwards wisely keeps his monsters at a distance and under wraps for lengthy periods, when they are in plain sight, they prove to be reasonably believable and menacing.

More character piece or even strange love story, than out and out actionfest, there is time for creative cinematography in amongst the action. Characters faces are well lit, locals are brilliantly captured with the subtext of "are they happier where they are", despite the ever present danger hiding in the jungle.

There appears to be a political subtext if you care to look. The heavy handed US military, apparently causing more harm than good. The bunker mentality, walling off all the nastiness whilst establishing an ever diminishing "protected zone". The possible analogy with the current real world border discussions are alluded to on more than one occasion, whether intentionally or not.

Not as commercial as District 9 but certainly more intelligent than the Transformers movies, this is an undiscovered gem that will repay viewers who are able to hunt down a copy. Some may find the pace a little slow, after all not that much happens but this is entirely in keeping with the mood and tone of the film.

The ending may be a little mystical for some but overall this ties together the films short running time neatly enough.

Summary

An intriguing premise executed well, this makes for a very different watch from your usual blockbuster fare.

Defying easy pigeonholing, this might be "District 9", crossed with "Jurassic park" and "Apocalypse now".

Whatever it is, it comes highly recommended.

The Fighter ****

2011-07-09T13:09:00.013+12:00

Christian Bale again suffers for his art, here portraying a character physically and emotionally as different from his other roles, "Machinist" notwithstanding, that on occasion, it is difficult to truly believe it is him.

Mark Wahlberg takes on the less showy role of Welterweight "Irish" Mickey Ward, an aspiring boxer in Lowell, Massachusetts. Living in the shadow of his "coulda been a contender" and "Pride of Lowell" brother Dicky Eklund, who lost to Sugar Ray Leonard but not before he allegedly knocked him down on the canvas.

Eklund does not take the loss well and when we first meet the extended family in 1993, he is at a low ebb, addicted to Crack but just managing to train Mickey as he sets him on his own long road to boxing fame and fortune.

Mickey comes from a large family with a bevy of shrill sisters and a perma blond matriarch in the form of Oscar winning Melissa Leo as Alice Eklund. Tough as old boots and fiercely protective of her brood, her long suffering husband George Ward (McGee) is merely along for the ride and to keep the peace as best he can.

Following a disastrous fight that he should never have fought, events spiral out of control and Eklund finds himself in prison with Mickey forced to make hard choices for his stalled career.

This is a very effective and believable film based on true events. The period setting is good and the acting on display is first rate by all the supporting actors. Bale is astonishingly good, a bundle of ticks, constantly mugging for the documentary camera that follows him around, his lost dreams permanently etched on his face. He is constantly only seconds away from his come back that everyone, apart from himself, knows will never come.

A later scene where he is forced to watch "his Hollywood moment" is impressive in so many ways, realization slowly dawning upon him, his bravado ebbing away, as he accepts that without real change, his life is effectively over.

Wahlberg is solid as Mickey, adequate but no more and is really the only character, along with girlfriend Charlene (Amy Mcadams), that the audience may actually sympathise with. Mother Alice and her brood are portrayed as monumentally blinkered and ignorant, certainly their acting, especially Leo, is enough to set your teeth on edge and may instill a desire to lob anything handy at the screen, whenever they are around.

Eklund too presents an unlovable figure, he clearly has the biggest character arc to follow and Bale makes no mistakes in sketching him and remains believable throughout. The boxing scenes are well filmed, Wahlberg certainly looks the part and at no time do the bouts appear fake.

The story is very linear and follows a well worn path, on occasion you almost miss the Rocky theme music during the training montages, which are now almost a cliche but are necessary for the story.

There is a lot of shouting and realistic swearing, which is entirely in keeping with the film but on occasion the film does not make for an easy and enjoyable watch. If you have an aversion to boxing this may not be for you, whilst not "about" boxing, the film does spend a fair bit of time in and around the ring.

Summary

Realistic, superbly acted with two Oscar winning turns, this is Rocky for the new generation but stripped of all glamour and based on a true story, this is stirring stuff indeed.

Recommended as long as the subject matter interests.

Transformer 3 - Dark of The Moon (3D) **

2011-07-03T09:45:00.034+12:00

The first Transformers movie was fun, silly but highly enjoyable. The second film was successful but critically panned as it turned the volume up to 11 and made no sense.

Pre-release, director Michael Bay confirmed he had learned his lesson from episode 2. This third film was filmed from the ground up in 3D, we were told we would enjoy a decent story and a more mature structured film. All of the above, whilst retaining all the fun, explosions, soft and car porn a fourteen year old boy could want or at least wish to handle.

Has he succeeded?

The movie from a technical point of view is a tour de force. The 3D effects are fantastic, the set pieces colossal, see the previous 11 and raise you double. The CGI and animation on display is perhaps the finest and seamless we have ever seen at the cinema.

How can it be then, that I would describe this as perhaps one of the worst films ever?

The story begins with the Apollo moon landings, where it transpires the moonshot was about more than just going to the moon, the US needed to photograph and investigate a crashed Cybertronian ship. The remainder of the film revolves around huge fight scenes between the Decepticons (bad) and Autobots (good) led by Optimus Prime striving to prevent Cybertron being called to earth - very bad.

This an interesting premise and the first twenty minutes hold together reasonably well following a lingering first shot which sets out the non-feminist agenda of the film. Sam (LeBeouf) is now with Carly (Victoria Secret underwear model - Huntington-Whiteley). Megan Fox leaving the series after she compared Michael Bay to Hitler, which will always dampen your career aspirations somewhat. Carly is gorgeous to look at and a large proportion of the film traces her sun kissed body and ogles her curves, at every and any opportunity.

Can she act, no. However, for many this may be a moot point. LaBeouf also does nothing to dispel the illusion that he has yet to be involved in any movie where decent acting is actually required.

The story then vaguely unfolds into, well it is difficult to tell, because from a thematic and structural point of view the film is a complete and utter mess. Each scene merely a very brief interlude or bridge to the next orgy of CGI created Robot on Robot fight scenes. Perhaps 80% of the films running time is used in this way, even reverting to a FPS (First Person Shooter) view at one point, confirming beyond all doubt, the continuing convergence between action movies and computer gaming.

Interestingly the fighting is more brutal than ever, execution style sequences, ripping of robot body parts and spines, in slow motion with what appears to be blood on occasion. Quite why this would be the case is not explained.

This is a short list of the talent on display, all of which without exception are wasted and on reflection may well be ashamed to have been part of the film. Stand up, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, John Turro, Patrick Dempsey and most sadly of all Buzz Aldrin, the only genuine character briefly on display.

Ken Yeong of "Hangover" "fame" also appears in a bizarre sequence and yet again manages to confound as to why he is popular with audiences. The scene when ex-agent Simmons is reintroduced to the film appears to come from a different movie and jars to such an extreme, it is difficult to believe it was not intentional.

Leonard Nimoy does a decent job of voicing the new character "Sentinel" but there really is no film of any substance to comment upon, just a string of CGI show reels, some appalling dialogue and misjudgements in taste. Quite how a shot reminiscent of the Challenger explosion was considered suitable is difficult to understand and a later tattered US flag waving moment, that even the staunchest of American redneck would blanch at.

On this and recent evidence, Bay has to be one of the most technically savvy but shallow and incoherent directors working in modern cinema today. When compared with intelligent yet blockbusting cinema from Christopher Nolan, there is no comparison.

Summary

Technically and visually arresting but otherwise an appalling film, lacking any humanity, story or structure. A "Marmite movie", either you love it or hate it

One star for the CGI and animation alone, one for the film.

Not recommended

The Tourist ***

2011-06-26T07:29:00.049+12:00

Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in Venice, looking beautiful, sophisticated and exotic and that's just the location.

How could any film fail with these attributes?

Jolie is Elise, the mysterious lover of the unseen Alexander Pearce, a thief who has stolen billions not only from the British Inland Revenue but also a pseudo Russian Mafia boss, the reliably typecast Stephen Berkoff. Clearly not knowing which adversary is more dangerous, Pearce is in hiding, a master of disguise.

Enter stage left, a moderately willing decoy in the shape of unkempt, innocent American math teacher, Frank (Depp). Elise befriends him on the train to throw off an army of Scotland Yard watchers who follow her every move and morning Latte. Inspector Acheson (Bettany) and Jones (Dalton), ensure the surveillance budget is well spent, Acheson in particular appears particularly obsessed with the case.

Docking in Venice the couple stay at the finest hotels and eat at the most expensive restaurants. The idyllic existence only broken when random baddies start attempting to kill Frank at every opportunity. We are spared James Bond style Gondalo chases but a Venice speed boat does not fare well in one reasonably well executed action scene.

There is little chemistry between the A-List screen couple and the tone of the film is very variable, presenting as a comedy in places, yet with earnest declarations of undying love the next. Perhaps this film confirms that you cannot truly make a terrible movie with good actors on board, despite all of the above.

There are a few twists and turns, nothing to trouble an undemanding audience and the film moves towards a rather weak denouement. Neither actor is required to act, Jolie appearing to be used more as a clothes horse for various costume changes, rather than displaying her thespian talents. Depp is clearly enjoying some time off, although he flirts dangerously close to a Jack Sparrow like running escape at one point.

The film might be described as a light thriller with comedic overtones, occasionally these are intentional and some, not so much. The first declaration of love comes so far out of left field as to require a quick rewind just to confirm it was muttered.

Directed by the splendidly titled Florian Heneckel von Donnersmark, this is a rather cold film that largely squanders the talent and budget in evidence. A director with a lighter touch might have made a modern "Breakfast at Tiffany's", Donnersmark serves up "Breakfast at Denny's", which is adequate but not worth remembering by mid morning.

Summary

Not as bad as you might have feared but despite a promising first start, rather average over all.

Fans of both actors or Venice, will still marvel at all the glamour on display, anyone else may find better uses for their time.

Buried ***1/2

2011-06-26T07:29:00.030+12:00

Be warned the film starts and continues with a black screen for at least a minute or so, do not adjust your set. Listen carefully and sound effects begin to slowly emerge, a scrape here, a rushed breath there, the sound of sand slowly moving against wood.

So starts an interesting film by director Rodrigo Cortes, who snags a Hollywood A-Lister in the form of Ryan Reynolds and puts him in a box. Not figuratively speaking, but quite literally and keeps him there for 95 minutes.

Paul Conroy (Reynolds), is a civilian truck driver in Iraq and finds himself living out his own worst nightmare. This is a film that is as diametrically opposed to Reynold's turn as the "Green Lantern", as it is possible to get.

One actor is seen throughout and there are no costume or set changes, minimalism is the keyword. Paul Conroy wakes up in a coffin, buried alive with only a few meagre items, Zippo lighter and pencil to his name. It's pitch black, the only lighting we see is the simulated illumination from his lighter.

If you suffer from claustrophobia, this is not the film for you. This plays as a thriller but at it's core, this is a an exhausting human drama. What would you do, how might you react in similar circumstance. Would you be able to use the only really useful tool at your disposal, your mind?

Latterly finding a mobile phone, Conroy makes ever more frustrated and terrified phone calls, and we share his exasperation and increasing desperation. Never have answer machines sounded so callous and uncaring, automated responses and switchboards representing possible life and death delay.

Whilst we never see another actor, we do get to hear both sides of various telephone conversations with rescuers and family members. Alan Davenport (Tobolowsky) is particularly chilling as the HR director you cannot believe could exist but secretly know does. Modern audiences know that companies might act in exactly the same way portrayed, if circumstances demanded it.

Cortez decides to play a non political game, focusing on one man's predicament rather than the wider picture. In doing so he exposes many of the larger truths that exist in the involvement of the US in Iraq and the indigenous populations reaction to their presence.

Not so much terrorists and invaders, rather desperate people on both sides attempting to make a living in whatever way left open to them.

Not for everyone but if the concept is interesting to you, the film is well written, well acted and well directed. Bearing in mind the static location, the camera remains fluid and the angles and obvious slight deceits on height and width, keep the viewer interested.

The ending is not what you might expect or maybe it is, this will depend on your world outlook and glass half full/half empty philosophy.

The film is relatively brief, which suits the subject matter and was filmed in 17 days in a Spanish studio, utilizing seven different coffins. The screenplay leaves the actor stripped of almost all props or artifice and as a consequence, the film completely rests on Reynolds acting ability and he does not disappoint.

Summary

Certainly not a horror film, despite the title. Whilst the film will do little for the Iraq tourist industry, it is certainly well worth a watch if the concept interests you.

Recommended

The Conspirator **1/2

2011-06-21T18:07:00.016+12:00

Venerable actor and director Robert Redford is well known for his liberal views and decides here to have less than subtle swipe at the post 9/11 and Iraq human rights abuses, authorized or at least tacitly approved, in the wake of the fear of terrorism (Patriot Act).

Redford chooses to focus on the assassination of Lincoln by the actor John Wilkes Booth (Tony Kebbell) and the subsequent trial of his co-conspirators and more importantly, Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the lone female "involved".

Anyone vaguely connected with the conspiracy is quickly rounded up and charged with assorted crimes, the political motivation is clear. Convict quickly in a military court, hand out heavy sentences, execute by hanging and move on. Revenge satisfied, a frightened populace reassured, the civil war well and truly won - balance restored.

As secretary of war Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) declares, "we want to make sure the war stays won".

Patriotic Union veteran Captain Frederick Allen (James McAvoy) is persuaded to defend Mary after congressman Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) is considered unsuitable due to his southern heritage.

The ending is never really in any doubt for those with access to history books or Wikipedia but we should be able to enjoy a historical thriller with obvious parallels to recent events. Courtroom dramas can conjure up thrilling verbal sparring and tense "you can't handle the truth" like moments.

Unfortunately, Redford has chosen to make a ponderous, clumsy period piece that is filmed in such soft tones as to make some scenes visually difficult to watch. Maybe courtrooms were filled with smoke at the time but do we really that much period authenticity. The earlier courtroom scenes are reminiscent of a poorly acted documentary re-enactment in places, the whole film feels almost entirely stage bound, despite being filmed on location in Savannah Georgia.

James McAvoy, Kevin Kline and Tom Wilkinson deserve some credit for trying hard in difficult circumstances. Robin Wright does the best she can with a character that does little to help herself and who does not invoke much audience sympathy, despite her dire circumstances.

It is difficult to be involved with any of the characters, whilst dressed in period detail and facial hair in place, none of the actors feel believable. Justin Long looks especially out of place with a rather fake looking mustache. The last ten minutes perhaps generates a small head of steam but by then, many of the audience may have left or ceased to care. At least two members of the audience left in this screening.

Summary

We should expect better from Redford, the film preaches to the converted and makes no attempt to entertain. There is no point in having a valid message that demands to be heard, if no one is there to listen.

Worthy but rather dull, not recommended

The Green Hornet **

2011-06-19T17:50:00.017+12:00

Marvel have had another rummage in the superhero store and found another character at the very bottom bottom of the barrel.

The Green Hornet, Britt (Seth Rogan) is the bored playboy son of rich newspaper owner, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson). With no discernible talent for anything other than living the high life, drinking, womanizing and enjoying well made cappuccino's from his fathers car mechanic, Kato (Asian singing star, Jay Chou).

When his father mysteriously dies, Britt decides to fire all the staff apart from his Cappuccino making buddy. Deciding that doing nothing is kinda, like boring. Britt decides he will do something, dress up in an outfit and fight crime or, on more than one occasion, the local police.

What follows is a kind of bromance between the two characters, throwing in Lenore Case as a new assistant (Cameron Diaz) to provide a vague love interest, although neither character has any chemistry with her despite the ructions she supposedly causes.

The Green Hornet like Britt, has no skills other than a very competent martial arts side kick, a questionably cool car (Black Beauty) with lots of retro gadgets and of course, as all superhero's do, a limitless budget.

The action sequences are weak and seem to involve clashing with the local police followed by high fives celebrating saving the local populace from crime, which appears to be somewhat of a contradiction. Supposedly this is a ruse, cleverly playing baddies they get can get close to the real criminals to discover the truth, how many people are merely "collateral damage" in this fiendish plan, is rather unclear. The truth they are working so hard to uncover is whether the paper went "soft on crime" and the reasons for doing so, which as MacGuffins go, is not that exciting.

This is one of several recent movies where businesses have been built up and solidly run and then passed to bored, indifferent talentless offspring with no interest in doing any work other than enjoying the fruits of their parents labour, an interesting trend.

Of course the amateur crime-buster's will eventually get the attention of more serious criminals, in this case Benjamin Chudnofsky (Oscar winning Christopher Waltz). In a role, not a stretch from his previous most famous part in "Inglorious Basterd's", he plays a cold and calculating villain, offing his own minions as fast as his non paying customers. Waltz is wasted here, looking very exposed and with some truly dreadful dialogue, his transformation when deciding to adopt his own super villain persona, a case in point.

Adding a smidgen of depth, is DA Scalon (David Harbour) who may not be all he purports to be. Whether Britt's father was a bad man, deserving of his son spontaneously decapitating his statue or not, is the film's failed attempt at adding gravitas.

With a more capable lead this might have worked, but Rogan is just plain wrong. Shouting his appalling dialogue, remaining unfunny when he is attempting to be witty, he is not not dashing nor displays any charisma or acting ability, on the basis of this film. And yet, he clearly remains popular in "R" rated comedies and has writing credits to his name, so clearly he must be doing something audiences like to watch.

The film displays poor acting by all concerned, apart from Tom Wilkinson who yet again proves he can improve any film, however dire. Waltz needs a better agent and Diaz needs another certified hit some time soon to reaffirm solidify her star power again, she is great actress but again is not used effectively here.

The film did languish in development hell for some time with several director and lead changes, which does not always spell disaster for a movie but perhaps is not a good start.
Summary

A very muddled adaption of a relatively little known graphic cartoon superhero who should have remained so.

With some wildly implausible set pieces, notably the final sequence in a newspaper office building, adding nothing to the overall film.

Not recommended

Due Date **1/2

2011-06-19T17:49:00.014+12:00

Peter (Robert Downey Junior) is about to have a baby, courtesy of his rather lovely wife, the rather underused Michelle Monaghan.

Following the completion of his business meeting, Peter rushes to the airport for his trip home to be there for the birth, a simple plane hop from Atlanta to L.A. At the airport drop off point, he accidentally bumps into a complete stranger, an unkempt, prissy, man child in the shape of a very full bearded and hairy stomached Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis).

Various misunderstanding's later, Peter and his new found non-friend are on the "no fly" list. They go their own way, but reconnect due to Peters wallet and drivers license being mislaid. This leaves him no choice but to face the road trip from hell. Diametrically opposed characters are now firmly in place, uptight, successful businessman jammed together with a man who thinks the Grand Canyon is man made, carries his pet pooch like Paris Hilton with added camp and has the personal habits of a fourteen year old.

If you are thinking, this has been done before, minus the dog and camp, you would be right. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (PTA), Steve Martin and the late John Candy, created the template for the entire movie.

Both Galifianakis and Downey are good actors and the possibilities for belly laughs are obvious but somehow the film manages to get the tone very wrong, squandering the comedic possibilities at every opportunity. PTA had an underlying affection for the characters, a sweetness that you did not necessarily see but underlined the whole story. Here, neither character is likeable and the abrupt change in Downey's attitude towards his travelling companion, seemingly occurs off screen.

The film is also derailed by two scenes that are poorly judged and executed, which ruin the reasonable work both before and after. These involve a Iraq war veteran and Tremblay's method of relaxing before bed. Presumably both scenes are inserted for the younger crowd but they are neither funny nor advance the plot in any meaningful way.

Another sub plot involving Darryl (Jamie Foxx) as Peter's best friend, goes nowhere and again undermines the film. This further amplifies audiences dislike of Peter, leaving no one to actually root for, aside of the unborn child who must remain blameless.

If you were expecting another "Hangover" from producer Tod Phillips, this only represents quick drinks after work, with some left over stale finger food, rather than the all nighter you might have been expecting.

Overall, very disappointing, as there is a good film in there but the story needs a deft touch and the heavy handed approach leaves the actors little room to create plausible, two dimensional characters. Note to writer, adults punching young children deliberately in the stomach is just not funny, even if they are the neglected offspring of wasted drug dealer (Juliette Lewis) and are annoying.

Summary

A mismatched buddy/buddy comedy with few laughs, some poor scenes and an underlying tone of cruelty and meanness.

Go watch "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" instead

Super 8 ****

2011-06-14T21:27:00.032+12:00

Set in Ohio 1979, childhood friends Joe (Courtney), Cary (Lee), Preston (Mills), Charles (Griffiths), Martin (Basso) & Alice (Fanning) set out to make a Zombie film using their much prized Super 8 camera.

Whilst nighttime filming at the local railway station, a pick up truck unexpectedly drives down the track into the path of an oncoming train.

No ordinary train but a Airforce locomotive carrying something they would rather no-one gets to see. By the time the colossal, spectacular and very long explosion subsides, there is not much left, apart from a still running camera and plenty of terrified children.

What emerges from the train is the point of the movie, so no spoilers here. Just think small time town, mild horror and the local police deputy doing his best to keep the town safe and calm, sound familiar?

It should, within moments most audiences will recognize the influence of Spielberg who produced this J.J. Abraham's (Star Trek) directed film. The period detail, children in distress, extensive use of sound effects to signpost incoming danger, you would be hard pressed to miss the references.

This is not a criticism, early Spielberg films were massively popular and with the added benefit of state of the art effects, this takes the original concept and if anything improves on what came before.

Joe's father (Chandler) is the deputy in question, at odds with his neighbour and father of Alice. This follows the death of his wife at the steel mill, which is neatly sketched out in the opening scene, broken families being another early Spielberg trademark.

The children are good, acting naturally and the dialogue is believable. In between effects there are some well drawn quiet character driven scenes, notably the practice scene before the crash and when Joe carefully turns Alice into a Zombie with his homemade make up kit. Proof that you can care about characters in between exploding tanks & trains. The period setting is great, with ELO and other topical bands punctuating the soundtrack.

There is a stand out sequence aboard a bus which is classic "Jurassic Park" and together with a electrical pole repair scene, almost cries out for a John Williams penned music score. Abraham's wisely keeps his creature hidden for most of the film and yet shows creativity when finally the reveal is made. The writers also manage a satisfactory ending, just when you start to wonder how this will all turn out.

Initial trailers indicated a monster movie with subsequent clips revealing the film skewed much younger, focusing on it's young protagonists. The finished film achieves both, enough jump scares and peril coupled with a well sketched coming of age story. Joel Courtney is a good find, carefully showing wonder, terror and an inner resolve whilst facing an even greater terror, talking to Alice, the girl he fancies. Ellen Fanning showing her sister Dakota did not steal all the acting genes.

Make sure you stay for the credits where the fruits of all that amateur filming are shown in all their glory. Always fascinating to see actors acting badly, which is good acting in itself.

Summary

If you are looking for a summary, think Jurassic Park crossed with ET and the Goonies, which are all good references.

Add some fine child performances, lots of explosions and scares for older children and you have an easy recommendation, go see it.

X-Men First Class ****

2011-06-08T07:43:00.048+12:00

As if the X-Men franchise was not complicated enough, what with spin off Wolverine and more to come, we now go back to basics with a prequel set in the 1960's, complete with reasonable period detail.

The film starts, not unsurprisingly, with the cause of Magneto's reason to hate. Mother and young son are swept up in the persecution of Jews, led by a scene stealing Nazi doctor, Sebastian Shaw. Kevin Bacon, an inspired and unlikely casting choice for this particular role. Whether such background material is suitable for a pure entertainment film, is perhaps debatable but the opening scene is strong and very effective.

Perhaps anything that makes a new generation hit Wikipedia to find out more, is no bad thing.

Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Fassbender) has every intention of enjoying his revenge stone cold and follows the ex-Nazi trail through South America and ending with an early standoff with his nemesis. There follows a very effective SFX scene with a quite spectacular use of a super yachts anchor chain, possibly the most realistic CGI sequence in the film.

The story switches to Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), initially using his telepathic powers to seduce women in leafy Oxford, whilst attempting to persuade his sister Raven/Mystique (Lawrence) that turning blue occasionally is really not the end of the world.

Charles and Erik come together in an uneasy friendship, following Erik's doomed attempt to kill Sebastian and his henchwoman Emma Frost (January Jones), a character that struggles to keep her clothes on throughout the film.

The pair come to the attention of the CIA via agent MacTaggert (Rosie Byrne), who discovers mutants led by Sebastian, are keen to push both the USSR and USA towards World War III. A task made easier as the Cuban missile crisis looms large with the very real possibility of nuclear Armageddon.

The CIA initially are somewhat reluctant to trust the mutants, but subsequently realise their potential and place them under the very loose control of MIB agent (Oliver Platt), who happens to have a ready built facility for just such an eventuality.

The team recruits more mutants and soon we have, Beast (Hoult), Havoc (Lucas Till), Darwin (Gathegi) and Angel (Kravitz) in training for the coming battle ahead.

The film is a risky move, prequels or reboots are not always successful; certainly we have a talented cast, good script and competent director in the form of Matthew Vaughan. The studio knows that a successful restart should spawn at least another film, if not two.

On the basis of this film they need not worry, this as good as it gets for a comic book reboot. X-Men never intended to emulate the moral complexity and darkness of the Batman franchise, the series always represented a brighter, more colourful world and that tone generally continues here.

There are certainly plenty of scantily clad women to attract the target audience but they do get some decent screen time and something to do, notably Jones and Byrne.

There is occasional humour to lighten the mood and Fassbender and MacAvoy make a good job of recreating the characters we already know. Bacon is a stand out, especially in the earlier scenes, although there is the faintest whiff of Austin Powers as the story progresses but this is a minor quibble.

The film does lag slightly in the middle phase, after a very strong start but picks up for a rousing although necessarily CGI heavy, send off. Most loose ends are tidied up and the stage is set for X-Men the “middle years”.

Whether audiences need another rebooted comic book franchise, remains to be seen but this is quality fare and certainly no quick cash in.

Summary

Yet another comic book blockbuster but representing solid entertainment, with some fine character recreation, excellent effects and an unusually strong storyline.

Recommended

The Switch ***

2011-06-04T09:39:00.019+12:00

Jennifer Aniston is clearly unable to break away from these similar roles, despite the fact she is capable of so much more, "The Good Girl" as an example.

Kassie (Aniston) is a 40 something successful NY career woman with everything, including her best friend Wally (Jason Bateman) and BFF Debbie (Juliette Lewis). There is a gaping hole in her life though, she has no baby to look after. To make matters worse, no real opportunity exists for one to miraculously appear as the whole dating thing is not going well.

The fact that most viewers will know that to some degree art is imitating life, does make some of the scenes more poignant. The ever dependable Bateman plays Wally as a neurotic nice guy, hopelessly in love with Kassie but completely unable to make his intentions clear. We know this because he tells his best friend Leonard (Jeff Goldblum) which provides much of the humour in the film.

Quite why Kassie cannot see what is clearly front and centre i.e. Wally, is not immediately obvious. Anyway, Kassie decides a baby is what she needs and rounds up a suitable AI donor in the form of good looking easy going, Roland (Patrick Wilson), who represents everything Wally is not.

At the "I'm getting pregnant" party, yes you read that right, circumstances dictate that Wally gets drunk and the "offering" gets mistakenly lost and a spare is required. Fortunately Wally can stand in, providing a suitable magazine can be found to set the, er, right mood.

A couple of mentions of turkey basters later, Kassie gets pregnant and promptly moves out of town, making Wally rather sad but then returns six years later and guess what?

Sebastian (Robinson) acts like, bonds with and obviously is, a mini Wally. Eventually, despite the denial and the, "can't remember that night as too drunk", even Wally can recognize.

At the Zoo Sabastian asks what Hypochondria is - "Oh my god, I have that too" he defiantly claims.

For a movie Moppet, Robinson does very well, all wide eyed and natural and the scenes between him and Bateman are touching and feel genuine. When tucking him into bed there is real emotion on display as Wally realises what he has to lose. The dilemma he faces is to admit to the swap and likely forfeit everything or say nothing to derail the rather improbable proposal from the newly divorced Roland and lose again.

The interaction with Glodblum is fun, Aniston plays "Rachel" yet again but it serves the films purpose in this particular context. The potential for crude humour is kept to a minimum and the film is reasonably mature in its outlook.

The voiceover provided by Bateman is unnecessary and attempts to add depth where none is required. The central premise of Wally's unsuitability and the amnesia plot device necessary to make the story work, are difficult to ignore. There is nothing groundbreaking here but generally the film fulfills a feel good movie criteria and hits most of the bases, as it should with the talent on offer.

Summary

A likeable enough comedy with some touching scenes, recommended for an undemanding night in.

Thor *** 1/2 (2D)

2011-05-31T22:20:00.029+12:00

Marvel has rummaged in it's cupboard full of superheroes and dusted off another lesser known character, "Thor" the Norse superbeing with colossal powers party attributed to his trusty Hammer "Mjollnir".

The film opens with a neat car versus person interface, followed by some witty oneliners from Rick (Skellan Skaarsgard), Darcy (Kat Dennings) and Jane (Natalie Portman). The three offbeat scientists, discovering Thor (Chris Hemsworth) by accident, following a tornado like weather event. The story then backtracks to find out where the stranger arrived from, surely he cannot just fall out of the sky?

An extended period of exposition details the other world struggle between two fantastical realms lead by King Odin (Anthony Hopkins) in Asgard and the Bi Frost people lead by the very cold, in every sense, King Laufey (Colm Feore). Despite being groomed to be King, Thor is reckless, arrogant and keen to fight at any and every opportunity. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has always played second fiddle to his brother and without a cool hammer to his name, stays firmly in the background.

Events transpire that cause the wise King to excommunicate his chosen son to earth, stripped of his powers and only able to use the hammer, sent with him, if he becomes worthy.

Returning the story to Earth, the scientists find the newly arrived impostor entertaining but weird, speaking in a strange "old English" accent and smashing cups on the floor when another drink is required, all standard Norse superbeing type behaviour. These classic fish out of water scenes, are the strongest part of the film. Portman is new to the comic book universe but does well with the limited screen time available. Hemsworth is surprisingly good, buff, entertaining and more than willing to make fun of himself, essential attributes in any comic book film adaptation.

Of course on earth S.H.I.E.L.D gets involved, any opportunity for men in black suits, sunglasses and black vans is never missed. Marvel, as most readers will know, are attempting to tie all the characters together for the upcoming Marvel "Avengers" movie, to maximize the synergy (i.e. Comic book geek fanbase) that exists between all the characters.

Cutting between the real world and Asgar, it is clear that Loki with only a rather boring staff to his name, will make mischief whilst his brother is away. Anthony Hopkins as Odin, is the Anthony Hopkins we know and mostly love to watch, although his wife "Frigg" (Rene Russo) all but ending up on the cutting room floor.

There are many sweeping CGI shots of gleaming cities, large scale battles with the Bi Frost people, think deep freezers in human form. Monstrous beasts awakened and slain in short order, whilst trusty watchman Heimdall (Idris Elba) guards the bridge to other dimensions. Unfortunately, Lord of The Rings has done many of these sequences better and with more gravitas. Thor's comrades at arms are essentially the Fellowship in barely disguised form and on occasion, the huge sites, throne rooms, outfits with elaborate shoulder pads and capes, are difficult to accept with a straight face.

The stand out sequence in the small town between the "Destroyer" and the merry band is entertaining, as the medieval knight like automaton, dispatches obstacles in it's path with a rather nifty heat lamp hidden behind it's mask.

The film, bizarrely although competently directed by Kenneth Branagh is wise enough to laugh at itself and puncture the pompous nature of this mythical tale at every opportunity. More focus on the actors and their interaction, with less cityscape CGI would make for a better film but this is certainly not as bad as you might have feared.

Clearly the producers are looking ahead with an ending begging for a continuation. Box office suggests that audiences have room for yet another superhero. Why such stories should be so popular in these straitened times may not be so hard to ascertain.

Summary

Yet another comic book character to get to know, whilst fun and self knowing enough, the extended CGI sequences on occasion ruin the good work on offer when the characters are earthbound.

Lightly recommended

Easy A ****

2011-05-28T20:54:00.015+12:00

The phrase "Teen comedy" conjures up many things to many people, some good, most bad. Crass humour, lewd stereotypes, racist, sexist, the list can be very extensive.

"Easy A" loosely based on the "Scarlet Letter" is none of the above.

Witty, smart, mature, funny and with a sassy sharp tongued but vulnerable lead, all wrapped up in a package that will be as acceptable to the target audience as it will their parents. Believable teen dialogue, peppered with the judicious use of made up words, representing references that might not have got past the censors, this is a good as it gets for teen comedy.

Emma Stone is Olive, the daughter of a family all named after edibles, Dill (Tucci), Rosemary (Clarkson) and their adopted son Chip (Jenkins). Olive is anonymous at school, not disliked nor bullied just non existent to those around her.

One easy lie to her BFF, Rhiannon (Michalka) and suddenly her star is rising due to the dubious honour of losing her "Vcard" to a mysterious and entirely imaginary lover. The school rumour mill does the rest and before you can say "Scarlet Woman", she is unknown no more.

The local deeply religious school Christian group, headed by the prissy Marianne (Amanda Byrnes) provides a neat foil to all the wickedness, although the group has it's own issues in the form of one of the flock, Mica (Bigandet), straying onto forbidden pastures.

Rather than tamping down her notoriety, Olive then proceeds to assist struggling Gay classmate, Brandon (Byrd), to prove his "straightness". This is achieved by indulging in very loud and public pretend sex at a party, actually achieved by jumping on the bed and punching Brandon to produce the required climactic sound effect.

Following this piece of showmanship, students are queuing to pay Olive to create all sorts of elaborate sexual falsifications to enhance their standing in the school. Initially fun, Olive soon realises that she has created a monster, which begins to hurt those around her. Olive relies on her family, beautifully and wittily played by Clarkson and Tucci, to pull her through.

Does everything turn out all right, of course, this is after all a teen comedy.

As the principal says, "This is public school. If I can keep the girls off the pole and the boys off the pipe, I get a bonus."

In other hands, this story might have careered out of control and descended into teen comedy hell. Director Will Gluck and writer Bert V Royal must take credit for turning their back on crude stereotypes and crafting a tale that has comedy, emotional heft and believability. The presence of the supporting cast, including Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDonnell and Thomas Haden Church, all testify to the simple fact, that good writing attracts talented actors.

With many references to 80's John Hughes comedies, this harks back to simpler times when comedies could be just that, without resorting to anatomical jokes every two minutes. The film does not shy away from harder edges and truths. Ultimately you are responsible for your actions and how it affects others but somehow Stone makes it all work without the film preaching to it's audience, she is definitely one to watch.

Summary

A funny yet touching teen comedy that takes all of the best parts of 80's comedies and presents them in a new 2010 setting, complete with a likeable lead, ably supported by great character actors.

Recommended.

Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides (2D) ***

2011-05-24T22:33:00.028+12:00

Following the colossal success of the first three films, it will surprise no one that Disney would wish to unfurl the sails for another adventure, with everyone's favourite pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) back on board.

Parts one and two were fun, three took a turn for the surreal and lost it's way almost entirely, so where does number four stand in the "Canon" - near pun intended.

This episode is back in the real world, or whatever passes for the real world in the series. Jack is chasing the Fountain of youth with Captain Barborossa (Rush) and Captain Blackbeard (McShane), either on on his side or attempting to kill him through the long running time. The "Spanish" also provide a competing rival bid, inserted in the plot to add a sense of urgency to the task. Various eclectic items are required, silver chalice's, maps, mermaids tears, the usual household items, before the quest can be fulfilled.

Having ditched both Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly, new blood is needed and found in the shapely form of Penelope Cruz as Blackbeard's daughter, possibly, nothing being what it seems, the plot being largely irrelevant anyway.

After a rousing, albeit preposterous, well staged escape onto the streets of London, we finally get to sea with some fine ship work. This anchors the film where we should be, on the high seas with pirates and stereotypical pirate talk, timbers shivering and casual acts of PG friendly sadism.

Almost pantomime levels of acting and dandifying are much in evidence, Sparrow always was somewhat ridiculous and here all but achieves a caricature of a caricature. Depp is clearly still having fun but the act is wearing thin and the addition of Philip (Claflin) as a missionary, yes that joke will get used, with Syrena (Berges-Frisbey) as a mermaid, adding fresh faced interest to the story, incidentally both acting better than anyone on display here.

Watch out for a heaving bosom cameo from acting royalty, followed by aging rock n' roll god, clearly everyone wanted to be part of the fun.

The ships look glorious, the effects are generally good, the mermaid sequence a clear stand out. Strategic long locks protecting mermaid modesty and PG ratings, certainly Syrena provides a believably attractive siren lure for doomed seamen to follow.

However, whilst the tone is consistent there is no real emotional heft to any of the scenes and with no real peril on offer, it is difficult to care about about characters, who appear able to die and be reborn throughout the series as and when required.

The film is artistically unnecessary, advancing the series in no way other than reinvigorating a highly profitable franchise. Without doubt an exercise in box office returns but in many ways, better and certainly longer than you might have feared.

With an ending that indicates that the producers clearly feel there is more they can squeeze from the series, be warned the Black Pearl will be back, if anyone can figure how to release it from the bottle safely.

Summary

Moderately entertaining pirate adventure, the whole premise is running thin and number 4 scrapes through largely on goodwill alone.

Weakly recommended as undemanding fun, provided you approach the film expecting a high budgeted pirate themed pantomime.

Water for Elephants ***1/2

2011-05-17T21:35:00.019+12:00

Jacob Jankowski is an aspiring trainee veterinarian at the prestigious Cornell US University during the depression.

Abruptly torn from his studies he quite literally, albeit unintentionally, runs off to join the circus.

The story is told in flashback by the 90 year Jacob (Hal Holbrook), recounting his story which segues into Jacob as a young man (Robert Pattinson).

The Benzini Brothers circus is exciting, rough, brutal and desperate for money. Preying on the abandoned remains of other circuses that failed to attract an audience.

The whole travelling troupe are governed by the less than benevolent ringmaster, in every sense of the word, August (Christopher Waltz). One of the star attractions also happens to be his wife, the bare back horse riding Mariena (Reece Witherspoon).

Jacob's veterinary skills are soon uncovered, used and then boasted as a badge of honour by August, his constant desire to beat other circuses even extending to a full time Ivy League Vet.

The circus is pulled from town to town on a very cinematically filmed train, well illustrated by a beautifully played scene atop the train. Punters are fooled, amazed and generally relieved of any spare cash they have, before the whole enterprise pulls up tent pegs and moves on.

This is set during the depression, the animals are looked after little better than the humans who may be tossed from the train at any time, if the wage bill needs a little trimming.

This is at heart a love story and whilst the leads are effective and Pattinson, probably enjoying not looking pale for a while, does not let the side down in this post Twilight starring role. However, there is little chemistry on display with Mariena and even the many animal scenes, curiously leave you emotionally disengaged.

The period setting is interesting to watch and it is clear that Waltz's recent Oscar win for "Inglorious Basterd's" was no fluke. He again scorches the screen in every scene, displaying another well dressed psychopath who can be charming one moment and chillingly murderous the next. Compared to the other performers, his characterization holds the film together and demands audiences attention.

Witherspoon clearly has learn't some performing tricks and does well but seems more alive and believable whenever Waltz shares the screen. There are short periods where the story flags but it's difficult to dislike any film with a performing circus elephant (Rosie) for too long.

The reality of the times and struggle to live, for everyone, animals, circus and staff alike, is intriguing and the suggestion of a more innocent townsfolk, is neatly evoked. In the Internet age, a few tigers, lions, clowns and even the performing elephant, would not be enough to hold many children's attention for long.

Based on the book by Sarah Gruen

Summary

A romantic historical circus drama, formulaic in places but enjoyable enough entertainment with another winning performance by Waltz.

Megamind ****1/2 (2D)

2011-05-14T13:14:00.019+12:00

When Toy Story first burst onto the screen we witnessed a whole new wave of film making. Pixar followed up with further crowd and critic pleasing films, as other studios struggled to catch up.

We are now entering a more mature phase, not only do all animated films now look superb, voice characterizations are usually spot on, with the added benefit of "A" list talent. Now even non Pixar film have actually expended time and thought on the most important effect of all, a decent story.

We have come a long way since the rather weak "Sharks Tale".

Supervillan "Megamind" (Will Ferell) is matched against his nemesis "Metro Man" (Brad Pitt) in a opening pastiche of early superman movies.

Crashing to earth from two destroyed planets, the two are raised in very different environments, Megamind succumbing to his nascent dark side whilst Metroman evolving into the squeaky clean, goody two shoes protector of Metro city. All white outfits, flowing locks and patting babies on the head whilst saving the world, again.

So far so good, classic animated cartoon mega battles to save Roxanne (Tina Fey) who is almost perpetually being captured by the evil Megamind, only to be rescued in the nick of time by Metroman. Reset and repeat as required. Even Roxanne is bored with the whole proceedings, as it interferes with her job of reporting the very events in which she plays a central part.

Not content with providing solid animated superhero fun, the plot then completely inverts itself by seemingly destroying the very dynamic it has so comprehensively created.

If there is no one to fight or to stop you when you are bad, what's the point. If you can steal all you like, do anything you want, with no responsibility whatsoever, what is there left to get out of bed for?

You could of course read into this dilemma all sorts of deeper adult themes and the story does hint at this but clearly something must be done, as we have an hour of screen time left.

Megamind decides to create another "good" superhero to spa against, cue "Titan", the spectacularly socially inept and slightly sleazy cameraman (Jonah Hill). When this does not go according to plan, this spins the story in another direction. If good goes bad and you want to stop it, does that mean you are becoming "good"?

The story messes with convention and is a delight to follow but whilst this provides a solid framework for the action to occur in, we are certainly not short of spectacle. Megamind is a joy to watch and his interactions with his bizarre minion, a fish swimming in a goldfish bowl atop a robot gorilla body, called rather ingeniously and helpfully, "minion" (David Cross), are a delight.

Ferrell gives it his all, crazy one moment, showing real pathos the next, all wrapped up in a pseudo Bond supervillan, Brando inspired, very confused cartoon hero.

Fey is feisty and sarcastic, the very archetypal sassy reporter she is portraying. Minion and Megamind get the best lines with Pitt mainly acting as the thankless straight man.

There is nothing really to fault here, sound, animation, voice acting are all excellent but the point of difference here is the plot, it's new, subversive and leaves a satisfying grin on your face.

What more could you ask for?

Summary

Further evidence that computer animated films have come of age. Exciting, funny, intelligent and enough depth for adults yet still containing thrills and spills for the younger audience.

Excellent

Morning Glory ***1/2

2011-05-14T13:12:00.022+12:00

Becky (Rachel McAdams) is the hard working producer of a local breakfast show, likeable, tough and sassy.

It is obvious she will get promoted right up until the point she is unceremoniously fired.

Several hundred resumes later, she finally lands a executive producer gig at struggling national morning show "Daybreak". The sort of show that makes you glad that you do have to go to work, rather than stay in to watch the slow motion train wreck it represents.

Making changes to turn ratings around, there is a need for a new co-anchor in the form of contractually obliged, seasoned, celebrated and permanently grumpy Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford). The sort of man who will not cook, share his medical appointments, say the word "Fluffy" or engage in other normal mindless breakfast TV pursuits.

The film covers the struggle to return the show to satisfactory ratings figures, as decided upon by the believable studio boss, Jerry (Jeff Goldblum), who is not interested in details, either they are up or the show is gone.

McAdams does a fine job in sketching the character who's whole life revolves around work, despite her well intentioned fumbling with a work colleague Adam (Patrick Wilson). Ford is well cast, bringing his fading superstar status to a similar role, gruff, emotionally hollowed out, his conversion is always going to be the stuff of Hollywood movies but enough fun has been had by that point.

Colleen (Diane Keaton) the female co-anchor sparks well off Pomeroy's gruff exterior. The studio set scenes depicting the chaos, bitchiness and immediate calm that descends whenever the red light goes on, is entertaining and believable to watch. John Pankow, as "Lenny" the long suffering co-producer, does good work providing a moral anchor to the proceedings.

There is nothing new here but if you are looking for a relatively light, romantic comedy with enough real world sentiment and realism to get by, this is your film. There is no real message here, other than make sure you actually have a life away from work, which is hardly new.

In a time when most romantic comedy's involve all sorts of gross out scenes and scatological type humour, this comes as a refreshing change. Sure it is Hollywood with a capital "H" but a bit of clean, amusing, inoffensive escapism is what is required sometimes.

A bit like a Royal Wedding, a guilty pleasure that you know, just know deep down is not "real" but is good to enter that world for a couple of hours.

Watch out for the weatherman's (Matt Malloy) jet plane ride, hands down the funniest scene in the film.

Summary

The very definition of a "fluffy" and light romantic comedy, not that anchorman Pomeroy would ever be able to say the word.

Recommended

Source Code ****

2011-05-10T22:34:00.016+12:00

Don't you hate it when people want to summarize a film in one tagline or "pitch"?

Let's try here - "Inception meets Groundhog Day" and similar in tone to the recent "Adjustment Bureau".

Useful in this circumstance, as to give too much detail will spoil your enjoyment of the film.

We can safely allow that Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on a train, it does not end well, despite meeting the very finely cheek boned Christina (Bridget Monaghan).

This will not happen just the once, another clue. The military are involved, a prerequisite in any film involving conspiracy theories and shadowy going's on.

The film achieves a delicate balance of thriller, romance, Sci-Fi and drama, no easy task if the tone of the film is to remain consistent. Director Duncan Jones, has crafted perhaps not a classic, but a solid piece of entertainment, whilst also broadening the film into something more than might be suggested or expected.

The characterizations are good, Gyllenhaal makes a believable protagonist with many and varied possible work occupations and through some acting skill, makes the completely unbelievable, believable. No easy task, compare with early Harrison Ford for a fair comparison.

Gyllenhaal is perhaps not in this league yet but this is a solid step in the right direction. Monaghan is delectable, changing her attitude and reactions appropriate to the situation and Vera Farmiga (Colleen) as a controller type character, makes some headway in a difficult role.

Jeffery Wright, as Dr Rutledge seems somewhat uncomfortable in his role, not really buying into the character he is tasked with selling. Choosing to play the character a little more malevolent and chewing a bit more scenery, metaphorically speaking, might have added to the film. This might also provide more credibility for Colleen's later character arc.

The effects are solid although not intrusive, serving the stories purpose and not the other way round. The story is inventive and just when the tension appears to have dissipated, finds another worthwhile plot strand for a thoughtful and intriguing ending.

Not quite "Inception" level spinning top debates, or endless blog ruminations perhaps but this should be good for a discussion when the credits run. Which may be sooner than you think with a relatively short running time for a modern film.

Summary

Intriguing, thought provoking thriller with a good blend of sci-fi, drama and a fine sprinkling of humour.

Recommended

Made in Dagenham ****

2011-05-02T08:06:00.028+12:00

At a Ford factory in Dagenham (UK) 1968, a group of female seamstresses set a chain of events in motion that would have a profound effect on the modern workplace.

It may appear largely nonsensical now but women were not paid the same as men, even if carrying out exactly the same tasks. Some might argue times have not changed that much but legally they have, equality in pay has been on the statute books for some time in most developed countries.

Of course, Rita O'Grady (Sally Hawkins) was not thinking in such global terms, she and her fellow workers were fed up getting poorly paid, due to a spurious regrading of their skills to a "non skilled" rate. Ironic, bearing in mind they are required to patch together car seat fabrics with no template or instructions detailing how to do so.

This was a time when Union shop stewards called the shots and management and Union officials had never been further apart, agreeing only to disagree in a series of highly damaging strikes.

The women had always resisted striking, clearly they were already hot under the collar as they performed their work in their undies, there being no air con available. Albert the kindly shop steward (Hoskins), remembering to avert his eyes whenever he comes to talk to the ladies.

Reluctantly, O'Grady gets involved due to her friend Connie (Geraldine James) family issues, at which point a star is born. O'Grady asks simple questions and when she does not receive simple answers, just keeps asking. Much to the chagrin of the Union negotiator, who seems more interested in Union reimbursed "Bernie" meals, than securing any advantageous deals for his union members.

The ending is not in doubt, refer to current employment law for details, however the journey is worth taking. Hawkins is both vulnerable, offended, demure and dogged in her pursuit of what seems right, mostly ably supported by her kindly sad sack of a husband Brian (Mays). Brian, a handy motion picture caricature, meant to represent all hopeless 60's men, unable to cook, wash or look after the kids. O'Gradys response to his desire for praise is also telling, not drinking too much, not hitting his partner and not womanizing, is that where minimum bar should be set?

Miranda Richardson steps not far from her comedic Blackadder Queenie role, to play another domineering woman, Barbara Castle. A noted and formidable female politician at the time, Richardson now with typecasting she may never live down.

The film is more drama/comedy rather than the reverse and those looking for lashings of knockabout humour may be disappointed, the story skewing more serious than trailers might suggest. This after all, is a serious subject deserving of serious treatment. Director Nigel Cole also directed "Calendar Girls", a similar film with real events depicted in a real way with a light dusting of movie magic.

Rosalind Pike stands out as a frustrated wife of a Ford Executive, her declaration of who she really is, is great to watch. Richard Schiff (of West Wing fame) has the thankless task of making US senior management, if not likable at least not monsters, this he achieves admirably.

Budget constraints are obvious but do not detract from the film, the period detail is adequate for the story and whilst the story is old fashioned in the telling, this perhaps suits such a film.

The message received is loud and clear. Life may not be perfect now but in comparison to the accepted mores, roles and unquestioned sexism that existed before, we are light years apart.

Dependent on the audience there maybe laughter, anger and tears in equal measure, for the other 51% there is much to enjoy.

Summary

A thoroughly likable film, not as humorous and freewheeling as you might be expecting but a well produced slice of 60's life, the humour growing organically from the believable situations the characters find themselves in.

Recommended

Tron - Legacy (2D) ***1/2

2011-04-25T20:28:00.023+12:00

Light cycles, neon all in one suits, we must be back in the grid, circa Tron 1982 a film stretching technology to it's limits at the time.

2011 now offers film makers the technology to achieve whatever they want and director Joseph Kosinski certainly has a gigantic technological toy box of tricks from which to choose.

The film starts with a short prologue where Kevin Flynn (Bridges) tucks his young son in for the night, nothing odd in that perhaps but Bridges looks like his former self in 1982. His face, motion captured and placed within the film digitally. So Jeff bridges acting and talking now but looking thirty years younger, weird.

A taste of what's to come - Indiana Jones 9 anyone?

Flynn is quickly AWOL leaving his son to career out of control, whilst ostensibly being head of the company Encom that Flynn created.

A few sly digs at Microsoft later, Sam Flynn (Garett Heldlund) responds to a page that takes him to his deserted fathers arcade, where he eventually manages to access the grid.

From this point on the world becomes almost totally digital, in the sense nothing is real and is almost total CGI.

This is both good and bad.

The effects of course are awesome, the sound and animation is superb (even in 2D), lightcycles always were cool and they remain so here. We also get nifty dune type buggies and majestic spaceships all existing within a world reminiscent of "Bladerunner".

It's good to see Olivia Wilde (Quorra - known to you maybe as House's "#13") and we have the odd screen pairing of old and young Bridges. This is where the "youthing" effect is most exposed, it just does not look quite right. Saddled with almost a perma grin in places, the subtle inflections a human face can portray just do not appear correct, close but not quite there yet.

Hedlund does reasonably well, managing to put a little bit of humanity into his character. Not easy when you are probably acting against green screens and talking to stand in floor mops for correct CGI eye levels, for hours on end.

Special mention must be made of Michael Sheen, playing Casto/Zuse. Portraying him almost like a inter galactic Freddie Mercury (Queen) but without the inhibition and shyness. Presumably this is intentional but certainly does jar with the rest of the movie. Kudos also to James Frain wearing the most ridiculous helmet since Gary Oldman in "The Fifth Element".

The plot loosely follows on from the earlier film with Flynn stuck in in his own creation, unable to get back to the real world and his son. "People" he had trusted/created have run with his idea have become his dark side alter ego, leading the grid to places he never expected or hoped for. Beautiful grid creations "Iso's", are considered imperfections to be destroyed by Clu, with a faceless mega army, which is now almost a prerequisite in modern Sci-Fi movies.

There is not a lot of depth on offer but the visuals are fantastic, a standout Light-cycle sequence and thundering sound effects carry a large segment of the film. A loose plot of redemption and reconciliation for Flynn are somewhat half hearted but that is not what most people want to see.

Think more Light-cycles, tight leather outfits with subtle lighting and monolithic spaceships that would not shame George Lucas.

Summary

Hi Tech fun with excellent special effects and visuals.

Story tends more to low tech and the intricacies are not always easy to follow with no fore knowledge but no matter, if you are in the mood for a imaginative digital mind candy sugar rush, this is your film.

The American ***

2011-04-25T08:42:00.022+12:00

George Clooney tends to spend his onscreen time in both big budget and indie fare, here we are most definitely in Indie country.

Jack/Edward (Clooney) is a cold blooded contract killer dispatching his victims whilst seemingly carrying no emotional baggage. We know this because we briefly see him in action on a frozen lake in Sweden, cold in every sense of the word.

Realising he needs to lie low for a while, at the suggestion of his handler Pavel (Leysen), he decides a remote Italian village is an ideal location. Interestingly he actually settles in another village, indicating his constant level of paranoia.

This is well justified, as bad people have a habit of finding him. Leading to a Vespa/car race that represents one of the few action sequences in the film, even this is short and not overly dramatic.

This is a very languid film, we know Clooney can act and he does well here with many telling small gestures and mannerisms but there is very little going on. A sliver of excitement arrives when he is tasked with a request to provide a specific weapon for another killer.

In these enjoyable scenes, it is obvious he is highly skilled and the recipient of the weapon Mathilda (Reuten) certainly acts the part. There is some pleasure to be had from their methodical preparations, similar to the much older "Day of the Jackal".

Jake/Edwards relationship with his paid companion Clara (Placido) and the local priest are minor diversions but overall this is this is a very slight tale albeit with a reasonable ending.

However, it is difficult to know what director Corbijin desires from his audience, sympathy is unlikely, certainly this is no thriller nor is it a love story as such. Suspense is minimal, despite the occasional jump scare. Perhaps a meditation on a life and what has been achieved and so forth, which in this case is killing lots of people, which obviously limits one's ability to build a fulfilling private and social life.

Slow films can be interesting but usually they have a destination in mind, here it appears the director has little to say or add. Twenty seconds of film time showing the opening and closing of an electric door can have huge significance, here it is just a door opening and closing.

Contract killers finally realising their lives are empty and filled with remorse wanting out, is hardly a new plot angle and has been done before better. The attempts to shorten his stay by the "Swedes" are almost comical in nature, many opportunities exist without resorting to skulking around like bad 70's Euro thriller wannabees.

At times it feels like the film is travel porn with beautiful panoramic vistas of mountainside villages bathed in evening light, pretty but difficult to stretch over two hours.

Based on the book "A Very Private Gentleman" by Martin Booth.

Summary

Glacially slow and despite some good work by the cast and solid direction, rather an empty film and difficult to recommend to anyone not in the Clooney fan club.

The film leaves the audience with a feeling of "what was that all about", a feeling not likely to have them queuing round the block for tickets.

Tangled **** (2D)

2011-04-23T22:27:00.014+12:00

Clearly deciding that "Rapunzel' may defeat cinema title writers, the more easily spelled "Tangled" is now with us.

Disney has long given into the CGI trend and here we have a thoroughly modern, exquisitely animated state of the art children's movie, loosely based on the brother Grimm's classic fairy tale.

A benevolent King and Queen (from a requisite land far, far away) manage to lose their beautiful young daughter who is snatched away by Mother Goethel, eager to retain the youth prolonging flower formula now residing in Rapunzel's hair.

Not only losing daughter Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), the royal couple effectively lose the fountain of youth activated whenever Rapunzel decides to sing, something she does fairly frequently. For those with Musical Phobia, these traditional Disney musical numbers numbers are not too intrusive but can come as shock to those brought up on standard (song free) Pixar fare.

Incarcerated within a tall tower by her "Mother", Rapunzel is smothered in motherly love and kindness blind to the world that exists outside her tiny window. Apart from the stars that appear rather coincidentally, once a day every year on her birthday.

When required, "Mother" is hoisted gently upwards by the long locks Rapunzel allows to cascade to the forest floor from the upstairs window. "Mother" caring for her every need, apart from freedom of course, a right that Rapunzel does not realise she lacks.

Despite the dogged determination of the castle guard, the princess has never been located. Even with the help of a trusty steed "Maximus", who clearly has some identity issues, comically believing himself to be a blood hound rather than the Horse he so clearly is.

Meanwhile local charming bad boy thief Flynn (Zachary Levi) chances upon the tower and is promptly kidnapped by the girl with the long hair. Over time and many frying pan applications to the head later, she exploits the situation to find her way in the world, much to "Mothers" annoyance.

Moving away from the tower, the story opens out into a rollicking adventure with a traditional fairy tale ending, no surprise there but there is much enjoyment and fun to be had. Of course we have some unlovable comic side kicks but they do generate some menace, under Goethels malevolent guidance.

The animation is state of the art, voice casting and acting is excellent and the script is blessedly free of topical comments and jokes that plague lesser animated features. The steady hand of producer John Lasseter of Pixar fame can be seen and felt throughout. The story makes sense, the heroine feisty and the hero, very much an anti hero, as now must be the case in 2010.

Maximus is a wonderful creation and the wordless interaction between him and the leads is joyous to watch. Yet again indicating what sharp story boarding and animation can do, with little or no dialogue.

The kids will love it and parents will have enough to entertain them, despite the film not reaching for or attaining true Pixar levels of depth. Curious in many ways, definitely not quite a traditional Disney film nor a Pixar film but a hybrid feature incorporating positive attributes from both studios, producing a very enjoyable film.

Summary

Something for everyone, a fine return to form for "Disney". Funny, witty, entertaining, with a good story and some musical numbers to hum along too.

What more could you want from a Disney film?

The Town ****

2011-04-22T11:02:00.025+12:00

We have come a long way from the paparazzi filled "Bennifer" days, Ben Affleck increasingly deciding to spend his time on the other side of the camera, directing films.

Here he gets to play on both sides with a character set very much on his home turf, Charlestown, Boston, apparently the bank and armed robbery capital of the US.

"I'm proud to be from Charlestown. It ruined my life, literally, but I'm proud." - Charlestown Man, Boston Globe

Doug MacRay (Affleck) is the son of a bank robber and appears to have inherited these skills from his incarcerated father (Chris Cooper). With all jobs bizarrely masterminded and bank rolled from the local florist where "Fergie" (the late and much missed Pete Postlethwaite), acts as a brutal puppet master for all things illegal.

Following another successful raid with his "Skeletor masked" lifelong buddies and crew, "Jem" (Renner), "Gloansy" (Slaine) & "Des" (Burke), it becomes necessary to "manage" one of the bank witnesses taken as a hostage. The pretty, spirited and understandably traumatized Rebbeca Hall (Keesey).

Whilst bumping off witnesses is not high on Doug's to do list, he is after all a living oxymoron, a caring bank robber, his somewhat psychotic cohort "Jem" has no such scruples.

Doug pacifies the requirement to do something by befriending the witness on the pretext of learning what she knows and this rapidly turns into a relationship. Much to the concern of "Jem" who also sports an easily identifiable tattoo noted during the robbery.

There is much to like here, the action scenes are believable and well staged in a urban style that "Heat" pioneered. The interaction between the characters is believable and the dialogue rings true. The group are actively and almost obsessively pursued by FBI agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) who again presents a seemingly realistic portrayal.

Blake Lively (Krista Coughlin) adds some "trailer trash" vulnerability to her character as Doug's casual ex, in love with him for all the wrong reasons.

There is an obvious feeling of inevitability that this cannot and will not end well and it is obvious that hard choices, disappointments and loyalties will be questioned. Doug remains trapped within an imagined destiny, knowing he should break away whilst weighed down by inertia and guilt.

There are flaws, seemingly the robbery crew can spray police cars from point blank range with automatic weapons with little or no discernible casualties. The tattoo reveal is somewhat wasted, being replaced with yet more hi tech firefights which is disappointing bearing in mind the good plot ground work that has come before.

Renner shows again he can act and Affleck is solid and certainly does not let the side down in his dual role. Postlethwaite proves once again what a fine actor he was but if there is a stand out, Keesey shows a very impressive mix of vulnerability, steel, hope and disappointment, in a role that will do no harm on her CV.

The film is slightly let down by an over busy and noisy denouement, subtlety would have had a more profound effect. However, as a director Affleck remains someone to watch, he can and hopefully will do even better but this is a solid effort.

Summary

A very competent character driven action thriller with a great story and some solid performances.

RED ***

2011-04-22T10:12:00.017+12:00

Where do old CIA agents go to retire, well they either get really old and lecherous, go crazy, assimilate into polite society or just get lonely and bored - RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous)

Frank Moses (Willis) is going down the lonely route, phoning his pension benefits clerk each week for a chat to chase his benefits cheque (Louise-Parker), all perky nosed and cute. A cheque he has already received, which he deftly rips in half as he talks to her.

Following a re-modelling of his house courtesy of the "9 Millimeter" interior design company, Moses gets to meet face to face with his long time phone buddy. Seconds later they are on the run picking up Moses old "Wet Ops" CIA buddies, Joe (Freeman), Marvin (Malkovich) and Victoria (Mirren) as they seek to uncover the truth behind recent events and clear their names.

The group is closely followed by the dogged and government authorized assassin William Cooper (Urban), all set to kill Moses for reasons not specified, let alone barely mentioned.

Moses of course is trained in everything, adept in the use of weapons, hand to hand combat and Mandarin if and when required. A colossal fight with his younger counterpart inspired partly by being called "Grandpa".

The premise is good and with a great cast including Richard Dreyfuss and Brian Cox, this should be a rollicking action comedy, with the oldies kicking serious butt.

The tone for such a film is very important, comedy sits very uneasily with brutal action and here the balance is not quite right. Whereas the A-Team is all about fantasy, this skews closer to reality in places and feels uncomfortable at times with the mix of humour and "movie" real life, this is especially true of Marvin's paranoid fantasies.

Heavy weapons, gunfire and exploding cars can be fun but this is a heavy hitter cast list and yet we get very few chances to hear or see the interplay between the group. We see the occasional glimpse, a wry Willis smirk or glance from Helen Mirren, admitting the occasional contract on the side as she misses the thrill. The actors are just not utilised enough, why assemble a great cast and then present nameless stuntmen/women perform cool stunts for most of the running time?

Of course anything with Mirren firing heavy weaponry with a sardonic grin cannot be all bad but it cannot sustain a 115 minute film on this alone. Hopefully breaking into the Pentagon is easier than having old soviet spy buddies help you out but one ever knows these things for sure.

Moses might also be reminded that driving around heavy traffic with a duct taped woman in the back seat, with the world and his wife owning mobile phones, might, just might, raise suspicion?

Summary

Undeniably mindless fun perhaps but a real let down following the initial trailers and expectation of a character driven film with added action, not the other way round.

File under rather disappointing, or alternatively, somewhat wasted opportunity.

Limitless ***1/2

2011-04-07T06:38:00.018+12:00

If you could take one tablet to make you smarter, faster, more entertaining, probably richer and maybe even sexier, would you take it?

Apparently we only use 20% of our brain function, some less than others of course but imagine if you could suddenly use all of it. Everything you ever learned, read or seen, instantly at your disposal with the communication skills and confidence to match.

Struggling New York writer Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is faced with this dilemma, not for long, as the pill is on the way down before you can say, was that FDA approved?

Suddenly Morra can finish his book, start trading derivatives and other complex financial instruments, whilst learning several languages and getting a hair cut.

In a nicely played moving montage, it is clear he has made it or is certainly well on his way.

Of course this is a movie, so the path to true success and happiness cannot run true and many scenarios are thrown in his way before the well played and slightly ambiguous denouement.

If you can get through the opening nausea inducing credits, this a fun film which does not take itself too seriously. Plenty of thrills and spills and whilst dabbling in the ethical dilemma the screenplay poses, it stays firmly in the shallow end, leaving deeper waters to other films.

Of course with so many illegal substances freely available in many parts of the world, the opening question is somewhat moot, the answer increasingly being, hell yeah. Of course whilst the real life upside is likely to be lessened, the downside is about the same, albeit without hit-men attempting to assassinate you in most cases.

Cooper, a late replacement for an injured Shia Le Beouf, does well in his first starring lead role. Perhaps not a true breakout role but another solid entry into his filmography and increasing star status.

The film does veer off track when the inevitable downside and side effects present themselves, few moviegoers like watching "Junkie" acting but the story picks up a good head of steam for a rousing send off.

It is good to see De Niro back on the screen in a more serious role and although solid, he adds little star power here. Lindy (Abbie Cornish) adds more to the proceedings as Morra's long suffering girlfriend.

The violence is occasionally more than you are expecting but the transformation of a Eastern block drug dealer (Howard) is rather amusing to watch.

"More finesse, I like that word, I did not know it before"

Summary

Good fun with a neat concept that it is not fully utilized but provides a solid couple of hours of entertainment

Enjoyable, entertaining and confirms that Cooper might yet become a true star, even before the inevitable "Hangover 2" arrives.

The Ghost Writer ***

2011-04-04T19:21:00.018+12:00

Let's put the record straight, this is not a film about Tony Blair.

The main character Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), may have a similar political history, be married to someone remarkably like Cherie Blair but no, this is not about Tony Blair.

This is perhaps a story about a very similar (the same) character as Tony Blair, an ex Prime minister being dragged kicking and screaming into a war crimes tribunal.

Adam Lang has written his autobiography for an advance of ten million pounds and yet despite being the size of the London telephone directory, is a cure for insomniacs everywhere.

Many famous figures use Ghost Writers and one becomes necessary in more ways than one, when the previous writing partner leaves his shiny BMW X5 on the car ferry, due to him being somewhat deceased and gently nudging the shoreline.

The Ghostwriter (MacGregor) is called to America to help out. Arriving at a rather odd futuristic beach house with requisite swirling mist outside and far more dangerous swirling eddies inside, everything is obviously not right, not right at all.

Based on the novel by Richard Harris, this follows the plot fairly closely but lacks the tension in the book and struggles to portray the obvious power and influence of the main character. Perhaps limited by budget, the production feels stage-bound with creaky dialogue more suited to an old London theatre than a modern cinematic thriller.

There is no feeling that anything is real, perhaps the point of the film but certainly not the novel.

Director Polanski presents the film in a workmanlike fashion, no neat camera angles or directorial flourishes and for a director with his name above the title, there is little to suggest his best work here.

The are some neat touches, a hastily written press release suddenly appearing on the news to the obvious delight and then concern of the Ghostwriter, who is never actually named in the film.

Brosnan plays Lang as suave, unrepentant and genuinely shocked at the turn of events, although he does not get as much screen time as you might expect or desire. Macgregor seems somewhat bland and lost, whether this is acting or him portraying a genuine concern for his motivation and part within the film is not clear.

Kim Cattrall as Lang's "Executive assistant" adds to the murkiness, she appears perky and slightly unbelievable only being eclipsed by Olivia Williams, as Lang's spurned and troubled wife, again seemingly motiveless for some of her actions.

Initially the film provides an interesting glimpse into the life of Lang following his resignation as Prime Minister. This is the most intriguing part, someone with power, private jets, the White House, the press hanging on every word, suddenly bereft of the baubles and symbols of power.

What does one do, "Special Envoy" sounds important with a few token bodyguards on offer and a convoy of two cars, but it's is never quite the same.

Tom Wilkinson makes a welcome late appearance and even in a short scene, adds some much needed mystery and depth to the film.

Reverting to a more traditional suspense thriller in the latter half, the ending may surprise, certainly it appears quite abruptly, leaving a feeling of, "is that it?"

Incidentally, filmed in Germany and made to look like Martha's Vineyard due to Polanski's ongoing legal issues if he ever sets foot in the USA.

Summary

Not quite the sum of it's parts, quite enjoyable but we could and should expect more of it's famous director, Roman Polanski.

Entertaining and not without merit but the book is better

Harry Brown ****

2011-03-29T21:10:00.015+13:00

A desolate, bleak urban waste ground populated only by drug addled hooded thugs with guns and knives, hope does not live here, not even close.

Not Northern Iraq but England, right now.

But close the curtains and it's all gone, keep the nastiness at bay, keep the darkness out.

Harry Brown (Michael Caine) has been metaphorically drawing the curtains for years, turning his back on his long past life as a Marine serving in Northern Ireland.

Harry just wants to be left alone to grieve for his departed family. "Content" to play chess with his friend Len on their god forsaken housing estate and sipping half pints at the local with landlord Rourke (Cunningham).

Circumstances dictate that Harry, 75 and in failing health, is drawn back into a violent world, marking him as not your typical vigilante in a cape.

This film goes to dark places, into the unlit subway underpasses we dare not go. There is no holding back on strong language, violence, drug abuse and treatment of women.

Caine again proves the consummate actor he has become, delivering lines in a way no-one else can. Stilted, syntax round the wrong way, you can try and imitate and many do but the original is still the best.

Dubbed unfairly the British "Gran Torino", or "Death Wish OAP" the film is deeper, more desperate, more urgent than any of these titles might suggest. One has a sense of a film crying out but with no-one listening.

The murders that occur on the desolate estate are investigated by D.I. Frampton (Emily Mortimer) and her partner D.S. Hicock (Creed-Miles). Frampton spends most of the time looking surprised and mortified at what her temporary assignment from Fraud has landed her with. Both Mortimer and Creed Miles come across as believable city cops, cynical, accepting and at the point where "doing their job" is becoming enough.

Harry of course is not a suspect, he can barely shuffle around and drink half pints, it's unlikely he is knifing and shooting his way through the local thugs, could he?

A stand out scene reminiscent of "Trainspotting", with two wasted drug dealers, an excellent Stretch (Harris) and Kenny (Gilgun), sets Harry on a path he had not contemplated, quiet rage boiling over into action far removed from his earlier chess games.

Perhaps this is a weak spot, whether his aim and skills would remain this true is debatable but this is not the point of the film. This is no "who done it" either, this is never in doubt. The emphasis is more "why does it not happen more", a far harder question for society to answer.

There are some interesting plot turns and we will ignore the cardboard stereotype the Police Superintendent represents (Iain Glen), all spreadsheets and flow charts and with no apparent street smarts, sapping the film's credibility at key points.

The ending is suitably ambiguous but tends to a view point that perhaps undercuts the message you might have expected. This can be discussed at length in your safe, well lit neighbourhood when you get home.

Summary

A small, devastating film that at times is difficult to watch. Well acted and in many ways a more realistic and true picture than that portrayed by Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino".

Violent, abusive, bleak and necessary in equal measure - Caine notches another excellent performance under his belt.

Never Let Me Go ****

2011-03-27T22:30:00.003+13:00

Imagine a world without incurable diseases, diabetes, alzheimer's and cancer, would anything be worth sacrificing to achieve that aim, anything at all?

England 1978, Hailsham is a mixed, mysterious, strict boarding school located in a Victorian gothic pile, where discipline is important but keeping oneself fit and healthy is also a prerequisite.

It is here we meet as young children Tom (Charlie Rowe/Andrew Garvey), Ruth (Emma Purnell/Keira Knightly) and Kathy (Meikle-Small/Carey Mulligan). A tender friendship develops between the three, leading to an awkward romantic relationship between one couple.

Everything at the school is firmly in it's place, ordered, controlled with disobedience neither tolerated, expected or even considered.

The subject of not conforming, not playing by the rules or rebelling is never mentioned, either at school or later. Perhaps the children and adults are so conditioned, to ask "why" is not even a thought process, let alone ever acted upon. A sheep like mentality pervades throughout the film, curiosity appears in short supply and sometimes the characters interact with a seemingly real world but practicalities such as money, news, jobs etc are never mentioned.

Whether this is an omission or flaw in the story is debatable or maybe this hints at the core question the movie poses.

This is a very languid film posing more questions than perhaps it is determined to answer. Based on the book by Kazou Ishiguru, of "Remains of the Day" fame and adapted by Alex Garland - the author of the "The Beach".

There are many long periods of silence and symbolism, much screen time being expended before the children grow into the adult actors. There are times when judicious editing might speed the story along but when the destination remains unknown, is there any rush to arrive.

The very young (pre-adult) cast do well, the "sale" event a particularly poignant scene when toys can be bought from the "bumper crop" with tiddlywink tokens as money substitutes.

Whilst Knightly is generally a fine actress, Mulligan again proves herself to be operating at another level, managing to convey a huge range of emotions on occasion without saying a word. "An Education" proved she could act and bigger films, notably the Wall Street sequel have squandered her talents. Here they are treasured but may not be seen by a mainstream audience. Harvey (soon to be the new Spiderman) does a fine job in a difficult role but Knightly is simply outclassed on this occasion.

The supporting cast is strong, Charlotte Rampling as the headmistress and Sally Hawkins putting in a fine turn as Miss Lucy, providing more education to the classes than was obviously intended.

There are moments of humour, notably ordering food for the first time in a cafe but they do little to lighten the overall mood. Occasionally frustrating, everyone appears free to drive and travel which seems at odds with the aims of the project, the funding & scalability of which, again is not mentioned.

The central question of ethics, what it means to be human and free will, all weigh heavily upon the story. There are no easy answers or clear messages here, audiences are left adrift in sea of possibilities, none of which are neatly resolved. Hints are given towards the conclusion, only seemingly dashed again in the same sentence.

For audiences brought up in the world of CSI where crimes are committed, motivations discovered and plots resolved with 60 minutes, including ad breaks, this may not play well.

Summary

A well made, well acted, thoughtful and melancholy film, that may not be to everyone's taste.

Unlikely to set the box office alight and recommended to those drawn to fine acting but as a "date movie" or anyone looking for answers, this is not a good choice.

Rango ***

2011-03-12T20:50:00.000+13:00

Imagine the plot and story board meetings when this movie was created.

Lets make it animated, everyone loves animation. Let's get Johnny Depp to voice the main part, everyone loves Johnny.

Let's make Johnny's character a chameleon who pretends to be a gunslinger in a town that has run out of water. Lets make all the supporting characters very odd animals with weird character traits and deformities, all highlighted with hyper realistic animation. Oh and lets make one of the characters have an arrow through his eye, in place for most of the later scenes.

Somebody at the back might also add, lets remove most of the humour and have some very odd lines - "I found some human spine in my fecal matter" and lets make the theme of the plot something only adults might even begin to comprehend.

Lets get some things straight, the animation, voice work and characterizations are a joy. But and this is a massive but, who is the film aimed at. It would be financial suicide to make an expensive quirky animated film about strange animals just for adults, wouldn't it?

Lets just accept that the film is not aimed at children and has perhaps been marketed in a way that the filmmakers had not intended.

The film involves a chameleon (Rango) attempting to save a town from assorted bad guys voiced by Bill Nighy and Ned Beatty. This all transpires in the town of "Dirt", a spaghetti western town with no water, apparently exclusively populated and terrorized by characters straight from "Deliverance", the animated version.

We have mystical surreal sequences, very long words, high decibel classical music (Ride of the Valkyries), an owl Los Lobos group and plays within plays. All of the above, in Disney fashion, book ended by massive chase sequences, all thrown together in a gigantic mashup on the screen.

There are long periods of boredom, Ray Winstone picks the film up but then promptly disappears again. We gradually drag ourselves to a grand finale but it is a very long time coming and many will not worry or care too much about the outcome.

There are numerous in jokes but it would appear the film makers, director Gore Verbinski of "Pirates of the Caribbean" fame, have way too many ideas. Normally 20% would make it into the movie, here everything is on the screen and it is not always easy to watch.

The young audience in this reviewers screening seemed very confused and remained resolutely quiet, not a good sign. The film is likely to be too scary for young children with some very inappropriate images for a film certainly marketed at youngsters - owl characters in nooses ready to be hanged.... anyone laughing at the back.

This is Industrial Light & Magic's (of special effects fame) first full feature and is perhaps just too clever for it's own good. Diverse film references from "Apocalypse Now" to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" abound throughout the film.

Pixar have little to worry about here apart from the almost photo realistic animation, hang that on a decent story aimed at a particular audience, then maybe the famous Pixar angle poise light might start to tremble, just a bit.

Summary

Intermittently interesting but also boring, weird, slow and difficult to watch in places, all descriptions not desirable for an animated film marketed for younger people.

Some may love the film, however it remains difficult to recommend to a wider audience, especially young children, despite stellar animation and great voice acting.

The Adjustment Bureau ****

2011-03-08T22:37:00.000+13:00

What if your own free will was nothing of the sort. Every move you made was in accordance with a master plan, any kinks or imperfections "adjusted" by persons unknown, constantly on hand to ensure you stayed on track.

Many people might assume that their lives are quite the reverse, with all the bad decisions they have made, anything resembling a master plan is unlikely.

David Norris (Matt Damon) is a rising New York Congressman with his heart set on becoming a young Senator, everything is going according to plan until he meets the beautiful quirky ballerina, Elise (Emily Blunt) in a mens restroom.

Elise inspires him in ways that he could not have imagined but any longer term relationship is not part of the plan the "Men in Grey" have mapped out. They do not like their careful plans messed with, ever. Although they do get to wear Trilby's, which not only look cool but are also a necessary tool for their profession.

The many scenes between Blunt and Damon are very believable and natural, real chemistry in action and is fun to watch. Blunt is a breath of fresh air in the congressman's driven life, living more in the moment than he possibly ever did before.

Just when you think the film will descend into a smorgasbord of special effects, the story goes into the opposite direction. A thoughtful and character driven piece about choices and the ripple effect each path taken, or not taken, has on your own and other peoples lives.

Terence Stamp, still with one of the best voices in the business, together with Anthony Mackie & John Slattery, do good work as the agents attempting to get everything back on track.

There are some good lines and Damon can play an aspiring politician with ease, no doubt he could be one in real life if he chose to move in that direction.

The central question of defining who we are by the choices we make is explored and it is good to see another movie messing with our heads, if only just a little. If we have no free will are we still the people we thought we were, very deep but don't panic, the film does not get too caught up in this existentialism.

The action is limited, there are no cars exploding and the body count is non existent, a refreshing change from most modern films. A film that could have been made in the 50's from a story point of view, although actually based on a short story by Phillip K Dick of "Do Androids dream of electric sheep" fame, the inspiration for "Blade Runner".

Production values are good, although not of the highest flight. The costumes worn by the adjustment police are rather dodgy and look like guys with spare motorcycle helmets sprayed black. Not what you would expect in a big budget Hollywood movie, a small point but quite noticeable.

Similar to many films of this genre, the movie has to decide how to wrap everything up neatly. The final reel is perhaps a little disappointing but that depends on how you would want the film to end, somehow it feels that the easier option was taken.

Summary

A well made and more thoughtful film than you might be expecting.

Well acted with a believable romance, a light dusting of Sci-Fi and a great story. "Inception" lite perhaps, which is certainly recommendation enough for any film.

The Social Network ****

2011-03-05T10:29:00.000+13:00

Director David Fincher attempts and achieves the impossible, turning scenes depicting writing computer code and interminable court depositions into engrossing cinema.

Interweaving time lines proves an effective way of presenting the somewhat painful but hell of a lot of fun, birth of "Facebook". Love them or hate them, social networking sites are here to stay, their tentacles spreading further and wider every passing day.

Jesse Eisenberg both looks and certainly acts like the Mark Zuckenberg that we know and inhabits the role in a way perhaps no one else could. Andrew Garfield (soon to be the new Spiderman) plays Eduardo Saverin, Mark's only friend, Garfield here displaying real acting ability.

The film claims no interaction or help from either Facebook or the man himself, therefore we must approach this story as "based on fact" or even worse, "inspired by true events". Whatever it is, with an Oscar winning screenplay by Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame), this is tightly written and filmed with an inventive eye by Fincher.

Is it any fun? - absolutely.

We follow the creation of the site from humble beginnings at a very preppy Harvard, to the birth of the corporate behemoth that Facebook, however trendy & wacky it appears, has now become.

Social networking sites have not always been with us & most of the responsibility for their creation, can be directly attributed to Zuckenberg. As the movie tag line indicates - with 500 million friends you will make a few enemies. Based on the depictions in the film it is not difficult to see why, some characters being entirely justified in their enmity, together with those miffed they failed to board the gravy train in time.

The film is both fluid and exciting, presenting what might be considered a boring subject in a very digestible format. Zuckenberg is an interesting character, the film barely scratching the surface of the complexities he represents. Perhaps he really is entirely altruistic, with a real desire to make the world a better, friendlier, more connected place. Zuckenberg is famously disinterested in the money aspect, apart from the ability it provides to grow his concept further.

Many people see what he has achieved as a gross invasion of our diminishing privacy whose very boundaries shift on a daily basis. Perhaps the very term "private life" is in need of an overhaul, no such thing exists anymore, whether we like it or not.

Zuckenberg is presented here as someone almost bored with having to deal with pleasantries. He is brilliant in his chosen field, able to see solutions within seconds, whilst being intolerant of anyone not able to do.

Was the apparent treachery down to simple and childish jealously, played out with high priced lawyers and many millions of dollars. Maybe, but then when you are a billionaire in your twenties, maturity is always going to have to play catch up with your ambitions.

All performances are believable, Justin Timberlake as "Napsters" Sean Parker is surprisingly good, although the character does not emerge unscathed from the film. Fincher keeps the story humming along and the running time zips past, almost leaving you wanting more.

Certainly the end scene is very poignant and provides a neat coda to the opening effective disassembling of Zuckenberg's character by his then girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). Now potentially a footnote in history, destined to be remembered as the girl who dumped Mark Zuckenberg.

Summary

Is the story heavily or lightly fictionalized, only a few people really know and they will never tell.

An interesting, thought provoking film, highly recommended even for those thinking, isn't this just about computer coding and court cases?

True Grit ****

2011-02-18T17:40:00.001+13:00

The Coen brothers, as both joint directors and writers, continue their march towards the cinematic mainstream with this highly accessible film. That can only be a good thing, allowing a wider audience to experience their gift for storytelling.

The brothers here remake or re-imagine the classic western "True Grit", made famous by the iconic presence of John Wayne.

Each movie must be judged on it's merits so lets leave 1969 in the past.

1880, the father of fourteen year old Mattie Ross (Steinfield) is callously killed by "no good" Tom Chaney (Coen regular Josh Brolin). Mattie hires local reprobate Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), to hunt down Chaney to avenge her father. Shot down or hung, it makes little difference to the no nonsense Mattie.

Steinfield is a revelation as Mattie, tough speaking "with no varnish on her words", her deconstruction of a local trader during their negotiations is a joy to watch. Sensitive, vulnerable and yet tough as old boots, the film simply would not work without her.

The cantankerous Cogburn, along with his beloved whisky, reluctantly takes Mattie on the trail, where she proves her worth. The pair joining forces with Texas ranger La Beouf (Damon), in the hunt for the missing fugitive.

This is a down and dirty western, attempting to portray the way of life in a more honest way. It's rough, messy and life is cheap. No one helps anyone if there's no money in it. The one exception to realism is a prevalence of "Hollywood teeth", which does juxtapose with the realistic array of "tombstone teeth", the splendid character "Lucky Ned" (Barry Pepper) possesses.

Characters speak slowly and in a roundabout poetic fashion, an approximation of a time when everything took, just that bit longer. Justice was enforced sporadically and generally to settle petty personal scores rather than founded on any legal direction, despite the presence of courtroom scenes.

Bridges gets to act drunk in his underwear again, following his Oscar winning turn in "Crazy Heart". The screenplay sketches a character that is hard to like but allows the audience to warm to over time, Bridges makes very effective and enjoyable use of the freedom allowed to him.

The normally ultra urbane Damon, despite initial misgivings, looks and acts the part helped by his character being effectively a fish out of water, far from his usual hunting grounds.

"We have no rodeo clowns in Yell County", as Mattie points out upon their first meeting. The subsequent screen chemistry between the three is enjoyable to watch.

Rooster, emotionally thawing visibly throughout the film, also gets some good lines which are delivered to perfection.

"Ground's too hard. Them men wanted a decent burial, they should have got themselves killed in summer. "

The film is simple enough tale, good bad and the grey that exists between the two. Everyone struggles and people die violently, with little ceremony, as was the case at the time. People mostly doing right by others if they can, but if inconvenient, well what's a man to do.

This is not a showy film, there is no mysticism or characters being at one with their surroundings, see "Dances with Wolves". However, the film is directed with an assured hand and most importantly does not take itself too seriously, a liberal sprinkling of humour keeps the linear story moving along and picks up pace nicely towards the end.

It is good to see the brothers have not completely left the slightly surreal, we have a character dressed head to foot as a bear, buying a dead body, “for two dental mirrors and a bottle of expectorant”, pure Coen.

Summary

Not as iconic as "Unforgiven" by which all such films need to be judged but well acted and displaying enough humour to pull the story through.

Recommended for all western fans and a solid slice of entertainment for those new to the genre, this is a great place to start.

Eat, Pray, Love ***

2011-02-16T18:00:00.000+13:00

We do not get to see Julia Roberts on screen that often, so any return is a welcome treat.

The smile and acting ability are still firmly in place and there are reminders of why Roberts became one of the biggest female film stars in the world.

Liz Gilbert (Roberts), bitterly unhappy with her perfect life, decides that enough is almost certainly just too much and files for divorce from her spectacularly self absorbed husband - Stephen (Crudup).

Struggling with the decision, Gilbert uses the support of her friends to pull her through, but ultimately appears even more lost than when she was married.

Deciding she needs time away to find her "balance" she travels to Italy, India and finally Bali on a journey of "self discovery".

It is made very clear that following her divorce settlement, she loses everything. Quite how this year long trip is then financed, receives scant mention other than beautiful idyllic villas are cheap in Bali, "due to the bombing".

Roberts and all the supporting actors notably Javier Bardem, James Franco and Richard Jenkins are effective but the story is where the tale singularly refuses to catch fire.

Based on the best selling novel of the same name by Gilbert, what appeared in print as an authors heartfelt journey to find herself, through a cathartic writing experience, here somehow translates into a self indulgent odyssey through over eating, comic meditation & "Karate Kid" style Balinesque soothsaying.

Many people in the world get divorced and go through unimaginable heartbreak, most of them have to get up the next day and go to work or look after their kids. Many might think that jet setting around the world might be an attractive option but do not have the resource or time to do so.

Having spent much of the film suggesting she can function very well without a man, suddenly, well you probably get the picture by now. Although the final few scenes might have many shouting at the screen asking exactly "what do you want?".

There is much to like, Bardem in particular looks and sounds the part, his relationship with his son is well played and early suitor Franco, looks and feels suitably tortured. A stand out scene from Jenkins gives him a chance to really exercise his acting chops.

Director Ryan Murphy, strives very hard not to present locally costumed Julia Roberts in photogenic Rome, locally costumed Julia Roberts in photogenic India and so on. Choosing to try to relate the story to real life emotion and situations. This is a classic and simple tale, do you really believe we take all our problems with us however far we run or can we only get perspective when we are away.

However, by the time we get to India all pretense is cast away and movie cliche's run amok. Certainly, India is a mighty big place for one stray "on the loose" ceremonial elephant to choose that moment to be petted by a global film star. Audiences are inconveniently left to suspend belief to breaking point or mumble audible "ah's" at the screen, dependant on your ambient level of cynicism.

The reviewer is not the target audience but box office does suggest that the film did connect with viewers in some way. However, such a story is perhaps best suited to the printed page where you can experience the story within your own imagination, rather than selected film images being placed in your mind, however carefully.

Summary

Undeniably well acted and photogenic but loses focus after a while, a film where you might want to shout at the screen but not in a good way.

Cautiously recommended for Roberts fans, travelogue lovers and anyone recently divorced hoping there really might be an easier option, if only they had the time, resources and circle of friends to support them.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps **1/2

2011-02-01T08:08:00.000+13:00

After 23 years we finally have a sequel to the iconic "Wall Street", a movie very much part of the times it both portrayed and so effectively skewered - "Greed is Good".

Earning Michael Douglas an Oscar for his portrayal of "Gordon Gekko" an amalgamation of everything that was wrong with Corporate America at the time.

Of course history has shown that humans tend to learn nothing and history often repeats itself. With a Global meltdown of unprecedented scale in 2009, the timing could not be better for another clash of of good and evil played out against the backdrop of Wall Street. Perhaps supplemented with informative background on what the hell actually happened, so that the average Joe might better understand where his bail out tax dollars went.

Who better then to provide this than the original director, no shrinking violet, Oliver Stone and the returning Michael Douglas.

So we are set for an insightful, entertaining, possibly scathing indictment of the Wall Street's recent excesses and bail out. After all, there is so much material for illustrating the inequity of what has and is occurring, it has accounted for many books and documentaries already.

Unfortunately, whilst superficially glossy, the film is structurally a bit of a mess.

The actors are not to blame, Carey Mulligan continues to remind us why she is going to be a star, if she is not already. La Beouf admittedly is rather bland, Douglas reprises his role, minus all of the best one liners and the supporting cast including Josh Brolin, Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon all do fine work.

The blame must lie with the screenwriters who appear to have little idea what message they wish to convey. All pretence of the film being about the crisis is dropped half way through and the film resorts to pure melodrama. Characters intentions are unclear, the story makes little sense and is actually quite difficult to follow.

Stone must also shoulder responsibility, there are dubious directing flourishes that detract rather than add, pacing is poor, dialogue weak and it is impossible to care for the characters. A directors cameo and "for old times sake" appearance, are also misjudged. The direction is leaden, muddled and the metaphors piled on, there is just no substance to the film as a whole.

The "plot on the back of a matchbox", concerns Gordon being released after eight years in jail with nothing but a book deal to keep the wolf from the door. Meanwhile his daughter (Mulligan), the very antithesis of him, is ironically in love with an ambitious young stockbroker (La Beouf).

Will Gordon help them, has he learned his lesson, is he really human after all?

What follows involves lots of numbers, double dealings, characters acting apparently in or out of character, a bit of Green Eco speak to update the story, plot turns that make no sense and a denouement so weak, you may be surprised to see the credits start to roll.

Very disappointing and a real opportunity missed. Strange, that bearing in mind this is the man who made "JFK", "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July", there is no anger here.

If there was ever a time to be angry, recent events would certainly provide a perfect excuse.

Summary

Difficult to recommend other than to those in love with Carey Mulligan or die hard Michael Douglas fans.

Watch the documentary "The Inside Job" instead

The Kings Speech *****

2011-01-23T08:59:00.000+13:00

Stuttering can be a debilitating condition, many people given time and help, can and do overcome, or learn to adapt and cope with the condition very effectively.

Of course, if you are required to speak to a large audience on occasion or even worse, on an important occasion, one understandably might find that prospect truly terrifying.

If you have also been teased about your stutter since you were five, had an overbearing father who did not truly understand you. Perhaps, due to a sense of duty and conformity you were also obliged to keep a "stiff upper lip" and just get on with it, well you might not be the King of England, but just suppose you were?

Colin Firth is King George VI, ceremoniously dragged into a role he was not expecting following the abdication of his feckless brother, Edward (Guy Pearce). Edward, busy chasing Mrs Simpson and appeasing Hitler, was clearly never cut out to be King and decided to cut and run leaving "Bertie" in charge of the "Firm".

Bertie is ably supported by his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) who desperately wants to help him overcome his affliction and with their children Elizabeth and Margaret, provide him with a solid support group. Corgi's are also generously displayed, hammering the point home for those with no historical knowledge at all.

The Duke of York, as he starts out, has asked everyone for help, before alighting on Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue, is a most unusual and formally unqualified speech therapist fresh from Australia, where he had helped shell shocked WW1 returning soldiers overcome speech difficulties.

The two men form a bond despite the yawning chasm in their social places, there is a delightful scene when the the King and Queen "come for tea", unbeknown to Logue's wife. The story is about finding a friend when you have none and learning to trust when you are in a position where you can trust no one. There is real humanity on display and many of these early scenes are poignant and take the film into serious drama you might not have been expecting.

The scenes between Rush and Firth are perhaps the strongest and Director Tom Hooper keeps the interplay believable but allows Firth to crackle with repressed energy and inner rage, at his frustration that he cannot fully realize who he wants to be. There is perhaps, some intended irony in Logue's amateur attempts to play a King (Richard III) at the same time he is effectively doing so by proxy.

Like Churchill (Timothy Spall), history is about being the right man/woman for the time. In this case "Bertie" was the right man for the job, if only his voice would allow him. Staying in London during the war and caring, as much as royalty can, for the common man, the King and Queen were much loved by that generation. Nominally, a much needed figurehead behind which resistance and strength could be built, to pursue the war with Germany. It is difficult for a modern young audience to realise the importantance, when modern heroes or role models are now in such short supply.

The film is sumptuously staged, costumes and settings are a delight, albeit staged almost like a play. The creaking leather and floorboards, the quietly clashing ceremonial swords and the methodical preparations of the BBC announcer are all beautifully done.

Firth has never been better, showing a full range of emotion but notably sheer terror before making speeches he knows he will struggle to articulate. Firth embodies the role and shows again his range following his part in "A Single Man". This is not just a "grab a stutter off the shelf" type role, you can see the effort, care and respect he has for the part and those affected by the affliction, which hopefully will finally introduce him to his new friend, "Oscar".

Bonham Carter is also highly effective as his supporting wife, caring for him but also knowing the role he/they must play in the unfolding tragedy of war. Geoffrey Rush is both respectful and familiar with his unusual charge and it is difficult to see how the role could have been played better. Guy Pearce is a strange choice for Edward (being conspicuously Australian) but does well in the circumstances.

A highly enjoyable, insightful glimpse into a private yet very public battle, the Royal Family suddenly expected, due to the advent of wireless, to do more than "not fall off their horse". There is a real feeling, acknowledged in the screenplay, of the Royal Family acting parts with which they have been blessed/cursed but can rarely, if ever, not play in public.

A historical biopic with none of the usual dirge such a summary might suggest, instead a superbly acted drama that anyone with even a passing interest in the subject matter, will surely enjoy.

Interestingly, screenplay writer Seidler requested permission from the Queen Mother (Berties wife) who agreed but on the condition "not in her lifetime", Seidler not expecting she would live to 101.

Summary

Respectful, beautifully staged and brimming with excellent performances, highly recommended.

Expect to see the film, crew and cast members at Oscar time.

Despicable Me (2D) ****

2011-01-14T22:55:00.002+13:00

This CG Animated movie, together with "How to Train your Dragon" is further proof that Pixar now has competition at the highest level. Not there yet perhaps but not as far behind as many efforts used to be.

Steve Carrell voices "Gru", a super-villian in the James Bond or Dr Evil mold. His day to day evilness is demonstrated by stealing replica landmarks whilst attempting to make the Bank of Evil, signposted "formerly Lehman Brothers", appreciate the return on their investment.

The bank are pressing for more spectacular larceny events and Gru quite literally promises them the moon, using a shrink ray gun to make it more manageable and then bringing it home, what could be easier?

Unfortunately for Gru, there are several flaws in this outlandish plan. He does not have a Shrink Ray, which is currently in the possession of his much younger and more successful nemesis, "Vector" (Segel). His behind the scenes boffin De Nefario (Russell Brand) is hard of hearing and frankly a bit hopeless. Finally, his assistants are multitudes of minions who look like "Spongebob" cast offs, cute and obedient but generally a bit useless for achieving world domination.

Needing to break into Victors impregnable fortress, Gru adopts three adorable children from the girls home, Margo, Edith & Agnes, employing them as his Trojan or My Little Pony horse, whilst ostensibly selling cookies door to door.

Obviously Gru is a mean uber villain who likes to make balloon puppies and burst them after he gives them to children. From this start point, he has an interesting and extensive character arc to follow if he is to become a doting parent by the end of the film. His journey is predictable but fun and rather touching towards the end. Not Toy Story 3 blubbing perhaps but you do get to care about the characters.

The animation is excellent, this is almost a given in CG films now. There is some excellent use of both new and old music, the characters are almost caricatures in appearance but that approach works really well.

The film does cater more for younger children and there is less depth and complexity for adults to discover, however there are very few popular culture references and the nastiness of Gru is fun to watch.

Agnes asks for a bedtime story with huge cow like eyes, "No" Gru confirms and slams the door.

Edith accidentally falling into a closing "Iron Maiden" only for a trickle of what turns out to be Blackberry Juice to appear, is not what you would see in most children stories.

Carrell has fun with a rather bizarre eastern European "Igor" type voice and Brand's distinctive tones work well in the film as the haphazard boffin Dr Nefarious.

Good fun, does not take itself too seriously and does not outstay it's welcome. 2010 has been a good year for CG animation and continues an amazing run of success for the genre.

Summary

A decent rival to Pixar's consistent output, great fun for children and with enough adult material to keep an older audience entertained.

Recommended

Unstoppable ***1/2

2011-01-09T17:44:00.000+13:00

Director Tony Scott is clearly going through a train phase as this is his second foray into the locomotive cab following the recent "The Taking of Pelham 123" also with Denzel Washington on board.

Washington plays "Frank", an everyman Locomotive driver but with better teeth. Frank is soon to retire after 28 years on the job, with half benefits as the company are attempting to bring in new blood to cut costs. Chris Pine (Will) is exactly that, new blood estranged from his wife and son following an "incident" and will be watched like a hawk due to his family connections to the management of the business.

Rosario Dawson also does some good work as the yard supervisor attempting to manage the heroic boys on the train whilst keeping a caricatured management (Kevin Dunn) off their back. The spectre of what losses will be encountered and what it will do to the company stock price is ever present, something that audiences now accept as the reality of the world we live in.

The set up and hymn to the common working man with earthy tones, huge hulking trains with dirt grime and the sheer physicality of the railroad are very real in the first segment. You can almost smell the oil, feel the cold hard steel of locomotives and the pride of the staff that work there.

Due to some gross stupidity, a train gets loose with no driver, that's alright as the "coaster" will come to a stop due to gravity or automatic application of the air brakes. Unfortunately the brakes are not set and gravity will not be able to fight the "full on throttle setting" dialed in before the driver left the cab.

So we have a great premise, few can resist the idea of a driver less runaway 1/2 mile long train hauling a hazardous and highly inflammable cargo into a populated area. Add in sharp low speed bend that must be traversed, a trainload of school children coming in the opposite direction and cinematically we have all the right ingredients.

Washington can do this in his sleep but he is again very believable and Chris Pine plays off him very well, the old timer versus the rookie type routine but done well. I liked the way Frank explains his daughters working at "Hooters", he's done it before, doesn't like telling people but would rather just get it out there. Neither actor gets too much screen time, Washington makes the best use of the time allocated.

There is a lot of excellent real stunt work on display, Pine apparently doing his own and the sheer size and potential destructive capabilities of a runaway train is portrayed cinematically through multiple camera angles.

Some of the film is shown through news report "Live Cam" shots which is effective but annoying for a non American audience, some of the comments of the news reports appear to be there for audiences with extremely short attention spans. We got several unintended chuckles at our screening when 20 police cars are chasing a train for no reason and helicopter rotor wash impedes rescue attempts when they are only feet away trying to get the best news shot.

The continuity of train speed shots is also a bit dodgy at times, very fast one minute and then clearly travelling at low speed at others. Obviously 70 Kmh when you are running on top of the train is dangerous but it is difficult make it look fast to a modern audience.

It is also difficult to keep the suspense alive when the outcome may be known to many as this does stay reasonably true to real events. The suspense and excitement is allowed to dissipate towards the end but the film keeps to a short timetable at 98 minutes, so it's a blast whilst it lasts.

There are times when the movie wants to say more about the common worker and what is becoming of him/her but after the opening salvos but this fades, almost as if the director opened that box and did not like what he saw.

Summary

Good fun action thriller, the first and mid sections are the best.

The end sequence feels formulaic and rather cheesy but overall, well worth a watch.

A Single Man ****

2010-12-27T09:13:00.000+13:00

A film by Tom Ford the designer with an impeccable, Oscar worthy performance by Colin Firth as a British lecturer mourning the loss of his companion in LA.

Staged almost as an extended suicide note, this is not the depressing spectacle you might be expecting and if anything, is life affirming in many ways.

We are in 1962 and following the death of his long time partner "Jim" (Goode), George (Firth) decides that life is really not worth living. He is tired of the world and rails inwardly at the unfairness of his "lifestyle", still widely unaccepted or tolerated at the time.

George enjoys a long standing relationship with his female friend and sometime lover, "Charley" (Julianne Moore), Charley wishes the relationship remained physical but seems content to accept whatever George is willing to give.

Lecturing, George attempts to hint at his "secret" with little success apart from acquiring the attention of a young male student "Kenny" (Nicholas Hoult), who appears deliberately lit in a way to suggest a perfect Adonis like figure.

We follow Tom through his intended last day on earth as he makes meticulous plans to end his life by causing the minimum of fuss and mess. Resulting in a somewhat macabre yet amusing wrestle with a sleeping bag and revolver. He meets various characters including Charley, Kenny and the gigolo/hustler "Carlos" (Kortajarena) during the course of 24 hours.

There are many flashbacks, illustrating how George finds himself at this point in his life. There is a sense of inevitability as the day wears on but the film may not take you where you expect.

There is no question that the highlight of the film is Firth's beautifully nuanced reaction when advised of his lovers death by phone, he conveys every emotion possible without saying a word. The phone voice gently but coldly advising that only "family" will be allowed at the funeral. George personifying a man with his emotions so in check on the surface but an emotional time bomb underneath.

The period detail and suits are excellent and everything is presented in a pristine, aesthetic, ordered way, with everything is in it's place including his immaculate 60's modern home.

This could easily descend into mawkishness and it is a tribute to the director that this is largely avoided. There is no film without Firth's performance, for which he was Oscar nominated and the supporting characters are colourful but exist solely to influence George's state of mind.

Charley is the exception, a well acted fading beauty lashing out as her life turns out in ways she never expected. A good time girl long after the party has moved on, with cleverly crafted scenes clearly illustrating the predicament she finds herself in.

George and Charley's dance together, somehow managing to be funny, happy and sad all at the same time.

Adapted from Chris Isherwood's original novel of the same name.

Summary

Perhaps unfairly labeled a "Gay" film, this is about a human being suffering loss and attempting to find a reason to carry on.

Life affirming in many ways and certainly worth the price of admission for Firth's acting alone.

Recommended

Brooklyn's Finest ****

2010-12-27T08:36:00.000+13:00

Anton Fuqua director of the award winning "Training Day" brings to the screen another highly authentic slice of Street life centered and filmed amongst the more dangerous streets of New York.

This is a view of New York missing from most visitors trips, no Central park or Fifth avenue locations, we are in the Projects and it doesn't get more real than this, at least not on screen.

Of course to make it real, it needs to be foul mouthed & violent, the film is both and has an especially high body count. We also need great actors, and fortunately Fuqua has assembled a great cast. Washed up veteran Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere), undercover cop Tango (Don Cheadle) and gangster friend Casanova (Wesley Snipes) and finally "dirty", for all the right reasons, Sal (Ethan Hawke). Ellen Barkin and Will Patton also fill out the supporting parts.

The three stories are not essentially interlocking but happening simultaneously, with most of the actors sharing little or no screen time together.

Gere always underrated, plays a cop who is essentially a walking time bomb. Fine on the outside but ready to shoot anyone including himself, due to an intense self loathing for the man he has become. Reliant on a 20 year old hooker for comfort, seven days from retirement when maybe, just maybe, he can put his soul back together and find some redemption.

Cheadle undercover since being in prison is rapidly going native, siding with his gangster buddies more than the police brass, who distort and spin every event to protect the NYPD name. Desperately wanting to claim his life back, even he realizes he may have gone too deep to come back. Snipes also puts in some good work here and it's good to see him back on screen in a cinema release rather than DTV fodder.

Finally and perhaps the strongest segment, Hawkes looking somewhat emaciated, is struggling to get the house not only he deserves but needs, due to health issues for his family. Obtaining that on a police salary is not happening but there is always plenty of drug money lying around that no one will miss. Of course once you cross that line there is no coming back, the deal with the devil is done.

All actors, including the supporting cast are believable and the location settings give the whole film a real down and dirty reality. Fuqua keeps the stories moving and there is almost a Shakespearean feeling of inevitable tragedy running like a thread through the movie. The director pointedly looking for the heart and humanity in each fatally flawed character. They maybe bad but you do care about the people, which is a rarity in this genre

The swearing, sex and violence, none which feels excessive in context, will keep some audiences away. A pity as this is a great story highlighting the unseen pressures and choices big city street cops may face everyday.

Summary

An intelligent, gritty cop thriller with action and dialogue to stand with the best but with a beating heart of humanity within the chaos.

Not quite packing the impact of "Training Day" but recommended nonetheless

The Losers **1/2

2010-12-26T10:17:00.000+13:00

Yet another comic book creation few have heard of, gets dusted off and dragged into the cinematic light, whether the source material is strong enough no longer appears to matter.

We have four soldiers each with specific tactical skills, think "A-Team" with a small modicum of reality tossed in. Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is in charge, with Jensen (Chris Evans), Roque (Idris Elba), Pooch (Columbus) and Cougar (Jaenada) fulfilling the various military specialties required, from transport to communications, sniper and heavy weapons.

When a mission in Bolivia goes tragically wrong the Black Ops team find themselves betrayed and inconveniently still alive, despite the worst intentions of shadowy uber villain "Max" (Jason Patrick). Brimming with one liners and despatching even his own minions for daring to drop a sun umbrella in his presence, he his hell bent on acquiring and using the usual, "weapon of unimaginable power".

The team are ostracized, living in the Philippines forced to work in sweat shops making toy dolls and other menial tasks, whilst idly plotting their revenge on the architect of their downfall. However, with no money and resource, any efforts they make are doomed to failure. Enter Aisha (Zoe Saldana) who not only bank rolls the team but provides some soft lit action movie type sex scenes rather incongruously with Clay. Whilst her motives are unclear, her line of credit is clearly good and essentially she wants the same end game, Max dead hopefully in an action movie painful, slow mo' sort of way.

The premise has been done before and much better in other films, wronged team seeking bloody revenge, explosions and wall to wall wisecracks. The action is passable, in a teen friendly rating sort of way. Most cold blooded deaths occur strangely just off screen but the interplay between the team is plausible enough. However, this movie from director Sylvain White adds nothing to the genre, apart of course from Zoe Saldana firing a bazooka, which admittedly is quite cool.

None of the actors get to stretch their acting abilities, perhaps Roque gets the most work and appears believable in the role. Patrick chews scenery at every opportunity but somehow comes across all wrong, almost a parody of a super villain. The whole premise and storyline is preposterous of course and none of it stands up to any close inspection.

The film is slickly put together and at 93 minutes, thankfully does not hang around long enough to annoy anyone but ultimately this is no more than a brief diversion. Probably more suited for a a male audience looking for a quick "lite" action fix.

Box office would suggest that the title predicted how well this was received by audiences.

Summary

Big, loud, dumb action fun that adds nothing new but is moderately entertaining whilst it lasts.

Cautiously recommended for a wet Wednesday afternoon, when the sock drawer is already sorted.

Shrek 4 - Forever After (2D) ****

2010-12-18T10:00:00.001+13:00

Original Shrek director Adam Adamson was famously nervous before the original Shrek premiered at the Cannes 2001 festival. As he said, the film commences with an animated naked green ogre in a mud bath farting and speaking with an incongruous Scottish accent, would anyone get it?

We must have eclectic tastes, because nearly three billion dollars in box office receipts later, we have the fourth and concluding film in the hugely successful franchise.

Like Toy Story, the characters created in the series are much loved and they deserve a satisfying and meaningful conclusion. Shrek 3 was not that film, riddled with popular culture references and with no discernible plot, it did well (of course) but did not advance the story.

The writing team under director Mike Mitchell have done a good job, they have found a way to essentially remake the original film but in a fresh believable way and bring the story to a satisfactory, even somewhat touching end.

Shrek (Myers) is bored and suffering a mid life crisis, domesticity has robbed him of his Ogre roar, nobody fears him and all he does is change nappies and mend the outhouse.

A new and marvellous character Rumpelstiltskin appears, who seduces Shrek with offers of his previous carefree bachelor life. Doing what he likes, when he likes, pitchforks, torches the whole nine yards. Offering his old life back, if he signs a magical contract giving up just one day of his early life. Shrek signs, not realizing that his birthday is the day chosen and in 24 hours he will cease to exist.

This is essentially "It's a wonderful life" with Shrek able to see what the world would have been like without him, no wife, family or friends, it's a neat trick.

We get to meet all the favourite characters, Donkey (Murphy), Puss in Boots (Banderas) and of course Fiona (Diaz), none of which recognize Shrek. He must now woo Fiona again, although she is much changed since she rescued herself from her tower prison. Now leading the Ogre resistance force, she is big on fighting skills and low on romance. Fiona does get her own spectacular heroine introduction but Puss in Boots steals all the laughs, cue slow slide down a kitty pole due to his ahem, slight weight gain.

One true love kiss is all that is required to put everything back as it was but you know it's never going to be that easy.

The animation is of course excellent, the characterizations are better than ever and real care and love is evident in the treatment of the story and characters, all largely absent from the third episode. There is more heft to the story and whilst the sweetness and freshness of the first two is difficult to attain, this makes a genuine effort.

The broomstick ride through Rumpelstiltskin's palace is largely unnecessary, unless you are watching in 3D and the necessity for all the troupe to dance at every opportunity as soon as the pied piper appears, does grate but these are minor quibbles.

Kids will love the action and parents will no doubt relate to the references to the sometime monotony of family life but the central message of not knowing what you have until you have lost it. Well, that is universal and not a bad theme for the series to end on.

Is it just me or does Rumpelstiltskin sound just like a soprano Jack Black, the part was voiced by Walt Dorhn, so obviously it is just me but he certainly is the cynical black heart of this film.

"Bring me my angry wig", he screams at one point, to his constant retinue of witches.

Incidentally, this may be the end for Shrek but Puss in Boots may well be back in a spin off adventure. Certainly if you thought those kitty eyes could get no bigger, then this episode proves this not be true.

Summary

A cracking end to a highly successful series and while it may not have you grabbing the tissues a la Toy Story 3, it's good to know someone cared enough to give the gang a rousing send off.

Recommended, even if you hated Shrek 3

SALT ***1/2

2010-12-17T22:59:00.001+13:00

Originally written for a male actor, this movie was famously rewritten when Tom Cruise passed on the role and the gender was swapped.

Angelina Jolie took the part, playing the titular character Evelyn Salt, a CIA field based employee. It is difficult to imagine any other female actor being able to carry off the role.

When Salt and her partner Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) interview a "walk in" defector, he casually announces that the US has a deep cover Russian agent about to assassinate the Russian President, in town to attend the funeral of the US Vice President.

The assassins name is Salt, Evelyn Salt which makes for a difficult end to the interrogation.

Suddenly under suspicion, Salt decides to run and run she does. Jason Bourne with longer hair and better dress sense. Resourceful and masterful at armed, unarmed and anything in between combat. Suddenly possessing the knowledge to create weapons out of a few industrial cleaning agents and a plastic tube. Later, leaping from one speeding truck to the next on a freeway full of vehicles in a desperate bid to escape capture.

If she is not a Russian mole then CIA basic training must have been very thorough.

There is some impressive real world stunt work and whilst there may be wires wiped in post production, someone is doing this stuff and it is refreshing to see a less CGI green screen approach.

Salt goes rogue, very rogue, with the CIA including Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and latterly the Secret Service, chasing her across a Washington landscape. Her partner Ted in hot pursuit, vainly pleading her innocence despite growing evidence to the contrary.

Salt is suspected of being the deepest of moles, groomed from an early age, following the death of her parents in Russia. Trained specifically to carry out a spectacular act of terrorism against the USA. She discovers or already knows, there are lots of sleepers, trained from birth to attack the US when "awakened" from their sleeper state by their mentor Vassilev Orlov (Olbrychski).

Is this really Salt, well she certainly does nothing to dissuade that viewpoint, in fact quite the opposite.

Plot spoilers would be necessary to give too many details but essentially this is a chase movie with a neat twist, which those who watch these type of movies may spot. More superficial and action based than the much older "No way Out", whilst certainly no "Inception", the thin plot messes with your head just enough to matter.

Director Phillip Noyce keeps the action humming along in the modern style, getting up close and personal, with a variety of camera techniques, including first person running and shaky cams. It looks good and is exciting in a preposterous daft movie kind of way.

Certainly if this was all preplanned and preordained in Russia, there must have been a lot of meetings, as chance certainly appears to play a large factor. No matter, this is fun and Jolie pulls off the required physicality of the role and makes a believable assassin dispatching or disabling opponents, with consummate ease.

Not as complex and troubled as Bourne but effective nonetheless and an opening has been left, with a totally implausible ending, for a further adventure.

Healthy box office returns might suggest that more Salt for audiences around the world is required, therefore we may get another pinch or two.

Summary

Preposterous, implausible fun, with good action sequences and some neat twists, which don't necessarily make sense.

Not the best in the genre but certainly worth spending some time in Salt's exciting and extremely competent company.

Shutter Island ***1/2

2010-12-15T23:04:00.000+13:00

Director Martin Scorcese leaves you in no doubt the type of movie you are about to watch, a ferry shrouded in mist glides gently towards a mysterious isolated island, ominous music swells as the characters enter the psychiatric hospital and their firearms are taken away. The crescendo diminishes as it must and the stage is set.

US Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Di Caprio) and partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are sent to Shutter Island to investigate a missing inmate or patient, as the head of medicine corrects him. The mysterious island houses an asylum for the criminally insane which is run by Dr Cawley (Ben Kingsley), a man who smiles a lot but never in a good way.

Dr Cawley is attempting to move psychiatry out of the dark ages, lobotomies and strong drugs turning human beings into somnambulant zombies. Dr Cawley suggests talking to them about their issues might help, a radical approach in 1954. That all mental patients would be shipped to an island, out of sight and out of mind in every sense, might seem somewhat inhuman but might have been common practice at the time.

He receives help from his shadowy assistant Dr Naehring (Max Von Sydow), with a splendid introduction camera pan and German accent, who may conform to movie stereotype or not, before the film ends.

However before you can say cognitive therapy, doctor witnesses start to go missing and patients start providing odd clues and notes that say "Run", which is never a good sign. Strange conversations are held and slowly the difference between the marshals and the patients they have come to investigate, begins to blur. A storm blows up and no one can get off the island, a movie precursor for mayhem to ensue.

This is not a horror film, however there are many disturbing images and scenes, with the action particularly intense when the Marshal's visit ward C, the wing for the most dangerous of patients.

The period detail and production values are excellent and Caprio continues to grow as an actor, finally shedding the "but he looks too young" persona, that was hardly his fault but did detract from his earlier serious work.

There are many, many flashbacks and divulging too much of the story would skirt perilously close to spoiler territory. Safe to say that strange lighthouses, concentration camps and Daniels own past are fully explored.

If the film feels like a throwback to a 1940/50 noirish thriller filled with stagey scenes and clean cut policeman, I believe this is entirely intentional. This is Scorcese having fun, occasionally at the viewers expense, with a plot that darts and turns and ultimately will have different meanings & understandings to different people, when it comes to a close.

The film is all about mood, claustrophobia and isolation and it does achieve this effect well. However like any movie where you don't know what is going on and why, when you do, sometimes the effect is lessened. Perhaps such a film is all about the journey and not the destination. This is certainly a wild ride while it lasts.

All the performances are strong but the film does rest on Caprio's shoulders and much like "Inception", he comes through with a believable depiction of a man adrift, searching for answers.

Unfortunately Shutter Island is not the place to look for answers, there are only more questions.

Faithfully adapted from best selling novelists Dennis Lehane's Novel, which in itself a radical departure from his usual Kenzie and Gennaro franchise.

Summary

A great experience, masterfully filmed and a good story told well but your enjoyment may rest on your ability to suspend disbelief and accept the movie for what it is.

As with any movie of this type, the end reveal may colour what you think of the film as a whole, certainly the journey to that point is engrossing and unlike any other mainstream film in 2010.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (****)

2010-11-21T22:15:00.000+13:00

Harry Potter has come a long way, from sunny Hogwarts, Butter Beer and Quidditch. Moving steadily and stealthily throughout the intervening years, from the light to darkness.

This seventh outing has been split into two parts, with the concluding part 2 released in July 2011. This is either because the story is too big to be compressed into one film, or perhaps more money can be made from two separate films, depending on your level of cynicism.

There is precious little sunshine in this episode, moving the franchise into ever murkier and complex themes, stretching the limits of scares, mild horror and peril, that the child friendly certificate will allow.

Following an excellent opening, we are left with Harry or multiple versions of Harry, attempting to flee from the enemies ranged against him. The importance of possessing "True Blood" is now consuming the wizarding world with random "interviews" and detainment at the whim of the persecutors.

There is a strong inference of an almost Third Reich like pursuit of anyone not conforming to the ideal and this truly takes the story into a disturbing underlying direction, if one chooses to look.

The action is centered on Harry, Hermione and Ron as they flee to desolate windswept moors, dense woods and rolling seascapes, searching for the elusive Horcruxes to destroy. Well loved and new characters appear briefly and just as effectively as before but it is the young wizards show in this episode. It seems strange to see the characters interacting with the real world in a mundane way, strolling down Shaftesbury avenue, ordering cappuccinos in a bedraggled cafe, something we have not seen before.

An ever more dangerous and ruthless Voldemort (Fiennes), continues to pursue Harry who is again aided by his friends Hermione and Ron, all actors returning to roles they have effectively grown up with in real life. The acting abilities of Ratcliffe, Watson & Grint has always been the franchises weakest link, especially when playing against a roll call of top flight English character actors. Grint has always fared best, largely playing a representation of himself, Watson has improved, leaving Ratcliffe trying hard but always appearing to act rather than just being, which is what screen acting is all about.

The production values are off the scale, Warner Brothers knows this film will make money and together with Director David Yates, have really pushed the boat out. The film is long but well paced and breaks up the action with differing film styles, shaky cam, flashbacks and a beautifully animated sequence where the Deathly Hallows tale is recounted.

The story is well known by all those who have read the books and again the film stays largely true to the source material. A standout scene being a visit to Harry's childhood home, which in the book lends itself to a cinematic outing and here it does not disappoint.

To enable infiltration into the Magical ministry the three characters swap with older employees and we are then treated to three different actors playing the parts of Ron, Harry and Hermione. This allows a sliver of humour which is a welcome relief as the plight of our heroes grows ever more dire. Bill Nighy, always a welcome addition to any cast list, also joins the ensemble as the Minister of Magic.

It is interesting to see the action straining the envelope of what is acceptable to a young audience that have grown up with the films. There are occasions where a slightly extended shot would have added more dramatic impact, rather than a cutaway to blood artfully splashed against the wall. This is not to say we want full on gore but noticeably the transformation at Godric's Hollow would have been more effective with just a few seconds more.

The extended death scene of a character is perhaps a slight misstep, loaded with emotion for a character that some, may not regret passing on. To be fair, JK Rowling does not give the film makers much to work in this regard, as readers of the books will know. A slightly awkward dance scene, does end up as somewhat touching but does flirt perilously close to giggle territory.

Overall this is fun, exciting and scary in parts for younger children. Emotion was perhaps never the franchises strong point and this episode is no exception. However the tone, story and quality throughout the series has always been consistent and if this is anything to go by, we are in for a treat as the series completes.

This is very much a setup film for the final denouement and for those who do not know how this works, expect an abrupt end to this episode, ensuring your return in 2011.

Interestingly the film was to be released in 3D but the conversion process was halted as the target release date could not be met. Part 2 should be ready to be shown in the extra dimension if you prefer.

Summary

A very effective thriller or almost "horror lite" in places, a film that can stand on it's own, with or without what has come before.

Let us hope, that similar to the Lord of the Rings, on which some of these themes are loosely based, we will enjoy an equally strong finish for part 2.

Recommended

How To Train Your Dragon 2D (****1/2)

2010-11-20T09:42:00.000+13:00

Pixar have effectively sat on the very top branches of the CG animated movie tree for some time, looking down with pity at the dreary CG movies produced by other studios.

Dreamworks has bucked this trend with the Shrek Franchise and with this offering, those top branches are going to need to carry a bit more weight.

The splendidly named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is the accident prone, spindly son of the great Viking leader Stoick (Butler), living in the inhospitable town of Berk. It rains or snows constantly and all the buildings are new, despite the town existing for many generations. Why new, well because the town has pests that destroy them, in the shape of dragons, lots and lots of dragons.

There is a whole catalogue of Dragons detailing their various attributes, from fire breathing to dragons that will turn your insides out. The townsfolk fear the dragons and kill them at every opportunity, largely to stop them stealing sheep or anything else not bolted down. Why do they kill the dragons, because they always have and always will, that's just the way of it.

Hiccup is a bit of a disappointment, he sharpens swords and bashes stuff in the forge but really wants to kill a dragon to set his world to rights and please his father. This clearly is not going to happen, as he can barely lift a sword let alone slay a dragon.

Circumstances conspire to provide him with an opportunity and this is where the movie deviates from standard fare and enters into Pixar territory.

In a well constructed scene we see our feeble hero attempt to dispatch his dragon kill but as he later admits, "I couldn't kill him as he was just as scared as I was".

Even at this point it could all descend into standard toon mawkishness, but it does not and praise must go to the co-directors who surely must have resisted studio pressures to take the easy route. The interaction with the characters especially Astrid (Fererra), the object of his young affectations, rings true and is consistently amusing in a clever way. There is no attempt to play down to an audience, although all ages will enjoy the tale. Astrid is another feisty female role with her boneheaded comic relief friends but on this occasion it works, Hiccup is particularly amusing and self deprecating at every turn.

The animation, sound effects and voice casting are all superb. You truly care about the characters almost immediately and the relationship built up with "Toothless" the pet dragon may have you checking the tissue box in case anything bad happens.

The voice cast is relatively free of celebrity voices, Gerard Butler being the only notable exception. We get a strange hybrid Scottish, Norse, American type vibe which fits very well in this mythical land.

Young kids should have nothing to fear and adults will have plenty to cheer and relate to.

Making your father proud and being accepted by him for what and who you are, these are deep themes for a children's movie. Yet it seems that this is one of the few formats where these issues can be successfully explored. There is more feeling and characterization's in this movie, than ten live action "Prince of Persia's". The scene where Hiccup's father is "having a talk" is touchingly and beautifully played out.

Certainly if the scene where Hiccup gently reaches his hand out to cautiously touch his new found dragon friend, does not give you even a slight chill, you may want to check your pulse.

There is sneaky message tucked away about learning to understand what you have always been taught to hate and that ignorance can flourish anywhere if not challenged. None of this gets in the way of the story but it is a neat trick that the screenwriters have so successfully integrated these themes into the story, from the original novel by Cressida Cowell.

The film manages to feel hip and trendy without being plagued by phrases that will date within six months and would definitely stand up to repeat viewings, very handy if you have young children from both points of view.

As good as Toy Story 3, well there might only be a dragons whisker in it. When we get movies this good, marketed supposedly as children's entertainment, who cares which studio produces them, bring them on.

Summary

Excellent, go watch it.

The A-Team ***1/2

2010-11-20T09:24:00.004+13:00

There are few people of a certain age bracket that are not going to hear the familiar opening theme music without breaking out in a smile, which will only broaden in the first five minutes of action.

The A-Team was always superficial, daft, dumb fun and here it's no different. We have excellent recasting which works well, Hannibal (Liam Neeson), Face (Bradley Cooper), Murdoch (Sharlto Copley) and finally B.A. Baracas (Rampage Jackson), perhaps the weakest link. After all, who can play B.A. Baracas other than Mr T himself, declining the part for unspecified reasons.

If you are looking for depth, you will not find it here. The movie unapologetically setting out to be exactly what the series was, with a larger budget and real movie stars.

We are treated to many action sequences which grow ever more preposterous but are staged with such verve and a tongue firmly in cheek, that they remain enjoyable all the same. The teams plane is shot down and the whole crew pile into a tank plummeting to earth, meanwhile Face shoots down drones from the turret, obviously reality left on an earlier flight.

Clearly the film does not take itself too seriously and the tone is light and is all the more effective for this approach. By the way, you cannot fly a helicopter upside down, it's impossible unless modified to do so, I checked.

The plot is largely irrelevant but essentially sketches the series back-story where the gang are wanted for a crime they didn't commit, adding a contemporary edge by setting the action in Iraq.

Jessical Biel as a Military Intelligence officer, gets to look tough and business like, this is clearly indicated by the severe pony tail, tight jeans and cool sunglasses. Lynch (Patrick Wilson) is the CIA agent who flits in and out of the shadows as required. Clearly the CIA needs a better PR agent, as in many recent films, they are not shown in a good light.

Face, Hannibal and especially Murdoch are great fun and clearly enjoying themselves. Rampage falls in the long shadow of the inimitable Mr T and certainly struggles, literally on occasion, to be heard clearly above the action.

In similar fashion to the TV series, automatic weapons are used almost constantly but the body count is very low, although we do see some casualties. If you remember your TV show correctly, a jeep can be crushed by an 18 wheeled truck three times but the occupants will always emerge with nothing more than headache.

This is mind candy but does not set out to be anything else and that honesty is somewhat refreshing. There are many faults e.g. an absence of any discernible plot, but that is not important here.

There is a impressive showdown in a container port where on occasion the CG effects are noticeable and more time could have been spent with the characters interacting. Certainly the army should get themselves one of those bazookas, if one single firing can create that much damage.

The series ran for five seasons and there is certainly room on this evidence for this franchise to grow further still.

To paraphrase Hannibal, "we love it when a movie comes together"

Summary

Great mindless enjoyable fun, if you liked the series you will love this.

If "A-Team" means nothing to you, you will probably enjoy this anyway.

Prince of Persia - Sands of Time **1/2

2010-10-24T07:38:00.001+13:00

Video game to movie conversion do not have a good pedigree. See Mortal Combat, Doom and Hitman for details.

Surely though with Jerry Bruckenheimer uber producer on board, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Anterton and Ben Kingsley taking acting duties and Mike Newell directing, what could go wrong.

Put simply, everything and nothing, encapsulating everything that is right and wrong with modern blockbuster movie making.

Gyllenhaal is Dastan, the adopted street urchin bought up as a prince, standing proudly at the side of King Dharaman of Persia (Ronald Pickup), in a vaguely situated 6th Century "Middle Eastern" country.

Falsely accusing the Holy City Alamut of supplying weapons, the city is raided and the beautiful Tamina (Anterton), queue lots of veils and handmaidens, is taken into custody. The plan being for Tamina to be married to Tus, the heir apparent, which should shore up a bit more solid support for the kingdom. When the king dies in strange circumstances, quite literally cloaked in mystery, Dastan is accused and goes on the run, taking Tamina along for company.

Thrown into the mix is Dastan's remaining foster brother Garsiv (Kebble) and Uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley), Nizam acting as confidant to Dastan. Nizam is on hand to stoke or calm the incestuous plot machinations as and when required.

During their travels, Dastan and Tamina bump into the not so mysterious group led by Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina). Amar acts as comic relief and bolsters the travelling band's fighting ability with the very handy knife throwing Seso (Touissant). Just as well, as those pesky drug addled Hassasin get dragged out of the cinematic cliche cupboard again, to throw more road blocks in the way of our muscled, long haired, acrobatic hero.

Of course all of this is a mere hors d'oeuvres to the main event, the Dagger of Time. A nifty McGuffin, or plot device, which allows the film to mess with events by turning back time, as the sand drains through the bejeweled dagger. This allows all sorts of time shenanigans, so loved by movies in recent times and allows Dastan to pursue his destiny and hopefully clear his name.

The locations are fantastic, Morrocco standing in for the loosely described Persia. Set designs and costumes look marvelous and the acting talent available is undeniable. So why, allowing for all of these positives, is the dialogue so uniformly terrible.

As an example, we have horses, extras, explosions, whole cities created on sound-stages but when the lead character stops, cinematically turns and says "I know it hasn't been easy between us Garsiv, but still, we are brothers", the moment is somewhat lessened.

Technically, the film is well put together in a slick Summer Blockbuster way but there is no soul, or characterizations other than the cardboard kind. At no point could you imagine the characters behaving or talking as they do here. Films can be preposterous, silly and downright weird but you have to feel that the actors believe it, here they are reading lines and it shows.

The film is the equivalent of a cinematic magpie, stealing shiny bits off other movies, "The Mummy", "Indiana Jones" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" but remains less than the sum of all those parts. Sure, the heroine is feisty but in an era when even hand drawn cartoons have strong women characters capable of doing it themselves, this is not good enough.

Ironic how things have turned out. Critics used to complain that CG Animated movies had no feeling, no humanity. Now we have the reverse, Pixar's "Up" has more emotion in the first five minutes than this film can muster overall. Some big budget movies have become so sterile, so focus grouped to death that they represent almost a live action cartoon, stripped of all spontaneity that live actors can bring.

The action is universally average, probably due to the leaden dialogue and the extensive use of CGI. The action is skewed young and there are references to the titular characters ability to dangle and acrobatically swing from place to place with consummate ease, just like the "platform" game that inspired the movie.

Everyone looks to be having fun, perhaps more than the audience. Kingsley gets perhaps one decent line and presumably consoles himself with many hundreds of thousands of reasons for taking the part, all with the Queens head on them.

Summary

The movie equivalent of a Big Mac. Tastes good for a while but you feel bloated and guilty afterward. You know deep down, that eating or watching this stuff, is not going to do you any good.

Eminently forgettable, a film that the word "average" could have been invented for.