Basil review

Posted : 2 weeks, 4 days ago on 5 July 2008 01:08 (A review of Basil)

Awkward and often too slow. The plot is interesting but lacks execution; you actually can't even like any of the characters. The end is maybe the only redeeming factor, as that's just about the only point where any of the actors seem to be comfortable in their roles.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Definitely, Maybe review

Posted : 2 weeks, 4 days ago on 5 July 2008 08:18 (A review of Definitely, Maybe)

Just beautiful! :) I wish there were a lot more romantic comedies like this. I loved that you actually like all the women that Reynolds' character sees over time. His chemistry with Abigail Breslin, who plays his daughter, was also quite endearing to watch.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Revolver review

Posted : 2 weeks, 4 days ago on 5 July 2008 08:15 (A review of Revolver)

I am generally a really a really big fan of Guy Ritchie movies. He blends a great amount of action, with comedy, and great plot twists/mix-ups. For this one, I'm not sure I really "got it." I feel like somewhere along the line I missed something key which is rather frustrating. I find that having to break the film down and understand the concepts and took a little away from the enjoyment. I will say that Statham and Liotta put in fantastic performances and the scenes where they wrestle with their egos is mind-bending.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Be Kind Rewind review

Posted : 2 weeks, 4 days ago on 5 July 2008 07:03 (A review of Be Kind Rewind)

I had high hopes for this movie. The trailers made it look brilliant and hilarious... so an hour into the movie when I turned it off because I could not make it any further, even though it wasn't too much longer, I was highly disappointed. It started so slowly - took a long time to get into the story... and then there were small bits of humour and brilliance surrounded by long periods where nothing exciting happened. I did enjoy small parts of it - Jack Black singing the Ghostbusters Theme which was so NOT the real theme, and the filming of Robocop, but it just wasn't enough to keep me going through the rest of the movie. It felt too much like they had taken all of the good points of the movie and put them in the trailer.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Brilliant action thriller

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 5 July 2008 05:38 (A review of Assault on Precinct 13)

"There are no heroes anymore, Bishop. Just men who follow orders."

Director John Carpenter is distinguished for classic genre-defining films such as The Thing and Halloween. It's little known that in 1976 Carpenter directed Assault on Precinct 13: this taut, fast-paced, thoroughly riveting low-budget action film. The aptitude of Carpenter's film is the way he cleverly takes inspiration from several westerns (most notably Rio Bravo) as well as the classic zombie horror film Night of the Living Dead. Carpenter's overhaul of these films is undeniably one of the greatest action/thriller productions from the past few decades, but unfortunately it's now relatively disregarded (especially with the remake released in 2005). Assault on Precinct 13 is a completely diverse take on the customary police thriller: from start to finish the film is exciting, exhilarating, shocking and fast-paced - yet was backed by a minuscule budget!

Film students should take note of the dexterity in the filmmaking. The film's budget constraints are never palpable due to the technical proficiency: competent editing, focused directing, impressive acting and exciting action. It doesn't take long before the action kicks in. Brief dialogue scenes to set up the plot precede a wholly intense string of action. You will be on the edge of your seat until Carpenter allows you an opportunity to breathe again. As soon as the opening fire-fight and bloodbath erupts, we are then shown the relentless murder of a young girl before moving onto a vigorous siege when the action never lets up.

The film is set in an unsavoury part of Los Angeles where a gang known as Street Thunder rules the streets. They have acquired a cache of automatic weapons which the police force are currently searching for. After several gang members are killed in a police shoot-out, the remaining cohorts swear revenge and begin roaming the streets. Meanwhile, a nearby police precinct is set to be relocated. A skeleton staff supervised by lieutenant Ethan Bishop (Stoker) is brought on board to "baby-sit" the establishment until the official closing in the morning. A distraught father witnesses the death of his daughter, and then shoots the leader of the gang before running to the nearby precinct (the same one, of course) for protection. The gang follow the father to the precinct and declare war on the people inside. Throughout the course of the night, a siege unfolds as people inside work to defend themselves from the never-ending hordes of gang members.

The plot is straightforward, simple and easy to comprehend. Film students should further take note of the way Carpenter treats the simplicity of the plot. Carpenter employs the simple premise for a tense, compactly composed succession of action sequences, emphasising discreet character development and escalating tension. The action is so shockingly memorable due to the violence levels and high body count - it's so skilfully choreographed it totally belies the limitations of the small sets and no-name actors. The lighting is used to best effect, with the streets shown as dark and gloomy. This makes the situation even more menacing because the enemies are hiding in the unknown. John Carpenter also created the remarkably memorable and haunting score. It's catchy, stylish and incredibly original. The main theme is as unforgettable as his Halloween music. Also thrown into the mix is a cast of unknowns. Even though the film industry hasn't seen much of them since this film's release, they all complete their jobs outstandingly! If you're working on a low-budget action picture, this is definitely a film to turn to for inspiration.

Overall, Assault on Precinct 13 is an excellent action film. No-one can congregate restricted claustrophobia like John Carpenter. The cast of relative unknowns do a terrific job, providing potentially two-dimensional characters with genuine depth. This provides the audience with something real to be concerned about, rather than an assemblage of people we feel indifferent towards. Assault in Precinct 13 is certainly not the best film Carpenter has made, but it is still an unbelievably sturdy primitive effort and was a good indication of the master Carpenter was destined to become. Remade in 2005.

1 comments, Reply to this entry

Overrated, but solid comedy/drama

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 5 July 2008 01:18 (A review of Little Miss Sunshine)

"There's two kinds of people in this world, there's winners and there's losers. Okay, you know what the difference is? Winners don't give up."

Little Miss Sunshine is ostensibly a road trip movie concerning the realisation that family is family. It's a wholly daunting task to reinvent the family road trip genre in this contemporary era of cinema, especially if the filmmakers are aiming for realistic as opposed to hyperbolic. Either the production is going to be entirely over-the-top akin to National Lampoon's Vacation, or the filmmakers strive to maintain a sense of reality: portraying the adventure to be tediously dull, reminiscent of an actual road trip. With Little Miss Sunshine, the action and comedy derive commonly from the people involved as opposed to a peculiar state of affairs the screenwriter desired to place them in. The film captures the dull nature of a road trip while also being highly entertaining. Problems are realistic, characters are poignantly pragmatic, atmosphere is enthrallingly convincing and locations are lifelike. This is an enormously unsullied and original idea: one of the most innovative pieces of American cinema for years. The film relies solely on a dexterous script that recognises the dissimilarities between generations in the same family. Each character is idiosyncratic and eccentric yet believable due to the amazing cast.

The film's title is derived from a beauty pageant in California. Young 7-year-old Olive Hoover (Breslin) has aspirations of winning said beauty pageant, and drags her dysfunctional family on a road trip bound for California. Olive's family consists of an interesting bunch of characters: chain-smoking mother Sheryl (Collette), bankrupt lecturer father Richard (Kinnear), suicidal Uncle Frank (Carell), mute-by-choice brother Dwayne (Dano), and quirky Grandpa Edwin (Arkin). To fulfil Olive's dreams, together the family hit the road in their VW bus, heading from Albuquerque to the pageant in Redondo Beach, California. During the trip the whole family are so burdened with their own quirks, neuroses, and problems that they can scarcely make it through a day without disasters befalling them.

One of the greatest facets of Little Miss Sunshine is that the majority of the film feels as though it could happen in the reality we all live in. The family home appears to represent the typical family home with no exaggerations or hyperboles present. Their reactions to the events that transpire continue to be as realistic as they can be even when the situation becomes increasingly cartoonish. However, the film's style is threatened in the last 30 minutes. When the VW bus drives all over the side-walks dodging pedestrians the humour had suddenly changed from subtle, clever black comedy to American slapstick. One of the most commendable things about the scripts is its tendency to avoid conventions and clichés. Even so, this praiseworthy predisposition simply becomes far too over-the-top with the events that occur during the film's final third. It would be an understatement to say that a better ending should have been concocted for Little Miss Sunshine. Its poignant messages about life ring true, that family should always stick together and that life is full of tragedies as opposed to miracles. But the message could have been delivered without being so depressing! What happens to the entire family towards the end is just ghastly. There's no reason for these happenings within the context of the story. There's no reason for it in the reality in which these characters subsist in. Most importantly, it doesn't ring true in any kind of veracity for the audience.

An aspect of the film I must mention is in relation to the beauty pageant. In a time succeeding Jon Benet Ramsey's death, it's sensitive territory to show little girls parading around like high class hookers with skimpy clothes. It feels wrong. Even though it's meant to be funny in its depiction of the extremes parents will force their children to endure, it's impossible to find any humour due to the scary thought that children have been murdered for doing this stuff. Of course, the film had to show some of the girls doing this to get the impression of the overwhelming competition Olive is up against, but perhaps there's just too much time dedicated to showing this. I felt uncomfortable watching this stuff for such a prolonged period of time.

The characters are perfectly executed by a perfect cast. These characters, the six we spend the entire film with, aren't the perfect, beautiful people commonly found in most "feel-good" American films. They have problems and imperfections, they are unhappy in life and, despite all that, try to do the best they can for as many people as possible. It is in the little moments where the most realistic moments come to life. Abigail Breslin cannot be faulted for her radiant performance. She's still extremely young, but has one heck of a career ahead of her. Greg Kinnear perfectly represents the typical father figure. Moments of poignancy also shine in Toni Collette's performance as the mother of the family. Both Kinnear and Collette feel true to life. Steve Carell is a real stand-out in the cast. Carell is also poignant as an uncle figure. Never is his concentration broken. This performance proves that Carell doesn't need to rely on overacting to be funny. This is one of his funniest performances just because of the subtle wit and dark humour. Alan Arkin is in a career best performance as the quirky grandpa. Paul Dano is also fantastic as Olive's brother. It's interesting to note that all characters experience a revelation (with the exception of Arkin's character). Most notable is Olive. Although the end of the film finds the world of everyone else completely crushed, Olive is just as happy to do what she's been doing, and she doesn't give a damn about what everyone else thinks.

Overall, Little Miss Sunshine is a good film...not a great film. The film is entertaining and I will watch it again for sure, but the hype was over-the-top and the Best Picture nomination wasn't deserved in lieu of the other great films released during 2006. There's an ideal cast, a terrifically suitable slate of music and an original reinvention of the family road trip genre; however the final 30 minutes are too depressing for the film's established context. It's a shame that another, dissimilar ending couldn't have been devised for Little Miss Sunshine. For the majority of the film, it is one of the best and most poignant films of all time. However, in the final 30 minutes the wheels completely fall off. So, does the ending destroy what has come before it? It'd be great to say no, but the fact of the matter is it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. All the fantastic performances we've witnessed on the screen and all the laughs we had at the expense of the characters are incapable to salvage a conclusion to which there is no acceptable explanation for.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Oodles of action

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 4 July 2008 08:04 (A review of Wanted)

I didn't have high hopes for this movie because the story seemed so ridiculous and as much as I adore James McAvoy, I had difficulty seeing him as an action start.

But consider my doubts dispelled. Yes, some of the plot points are so out there but in the context of the film they work. Mainly it's because the movie has so much action - 90 plus minutes of completely over-the-top, humor-laced action, that you don't have time to consider the preposterousness of it all.

What holds it together is actually James McAvoy's character, Wesley Gibson - an ordinary guy who goes from zero to hero in less than 6 weeks. His sense of awe and wonder at discovering this secret world and realizing that his universe is completely off-kilter is shared by the audience.

The key to this movie is to just have fun watching it - you'll probably leave the cinema like I did, smiling and shaking your head at the audacity of the filmmakers.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Laughably bad

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 4 July 2008 11:38 (A review of The Happening)

I'm honestly not exaggerating when I say this may be one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I've seen low budget slasher flicks and student films that were better than this.

Some dodgy acting. Terrible dialogue. Characterisation was poor so I really didn't care whether anyone in the film died or not, even with the added cliche of throwing a child into the mix to try to elicit some sympathy.

It fails in pretty much everything it tries to do/be. Scary? Nope. Tense? Not at all. Funny? Only unintentionally. Hitchcock-like? HELL no. Message? Buy an Adidas tracksuit and an iphone? That's the only message I spotted.

Only positive things I can say about this are the cinematography was decent and the film reminded me to water my plants ; )

0 comments, Reply to this entry

The Spiderwick Chronicles review

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 4 July 2008 10:22 (A review of The Spiderwick Chronicles)

I read a couple of reviews before seeing this movie on various blogs where the blogger did not like the movie at all, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. While I really wanted to see this movie, I normally do not enjoy book adaptations very much. I was pleasantly surprised.

I read the books about four years ago, and while I loved the illustrations in the books and the general idea of the story, the books themselves did nothing for me. The narration wasn’t enjoyable and there was no real character development. If I had been in the age group these books were aimed at, I would’ve loved them, but as an older reader reading them, they just didn’t do anything for me. Since then, I’ve gone back and looked at the illustrations (because they are beautiful) but haven’t reread them.

The first time I saw the trailer, I got so excited to see this movie. As I said, I loved the general idea of the story, so this seemed like it would work for me better as a movie than the books did. And in the end, I was right - I loved the movie. This is one of the very few times you’re ever going to read me saying this - I did enjoy the movie so much more than the books.

It did have its flaws, the main one being that Freddie Highmore did not have a great American accent. But then again, he’s still young, still learning, so he did well considering all that. It also took liberties with the book. What book adaptation doesn’t? And considering the fact that they had to put five (albeit short) books into an hour and a half movie, it’s not surprising.

But it had a lot of good points too. It was very funny. It could have been the fact that we were surrounded by a bunch of kids and their amusement was infectious, but there were other times when my friend and I were the only two in the theatre laughing. Mary-Louise Parker was wonderful as always, and Sarah Bolger was adorable. The fairies in the movie - well, they ran anywhere from being cute and lovely and gorgeous to slightly frightening. They looked so real most of the time that it was, at times, hard to remember that they weren’t real.

This was definitely one of the most enjoyable movies that I’ve seen in theatres in a while, and I will definitely be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Iron Man review

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 4 July 2008 10:16 (A review of Iron Man)

I had the chance to see Iron Man opening week with a friend of mine, and oh was it fun! I will admit that the first 15 minutes of the movie had me worried that this movie was going to be all kinds of American propaganda supporting the war on terrorism. I was pleasantly surprised after that first section to realize that it definitely more about the accountability of our own actions.

Marvel definitely did not disappoint with this movie. But then again, it’s Marvel, so what did I expect? I mean, other than Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand, when has Marvel ever really disappointed me? Oh wait, there was the travesty that was Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer too. BUT other than those three movies, when has Marvel Studios ever let me down? It had what I enjoy in movies - great soundtrack (how could it not be good when it opens with AC/DC’s Back in Black?), great cast, awesome special effects and snarky humour. On the topic of the humour in the movie, let’s face it, Pepper Potts had most of the best lines. And she was not some wimpy female superhero’s girlfriend like a certain Mary Jane Watson.

The villain left a little bit to be desired… I can understand his lust for power would drive him to do what he does, but … there’s no mystery! I like my villains to be a little bit more in-depth, to make me wonder what drives them, and why they are the bad guy. I suppose, in the next installment, they can have more time to focus on the villains as the movie won’t be so much about introducing Iron Man. At least one can hope.

Of course there was the scene after the credits that I loved. Ah, how could one not be excited about Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance? I mean, dude. Excitement! Stuff to look forward to! Yay!

Overall, a fun and entertaining movie, but not one that I’m going to buy on DVD.

1 comments, Reply to this entry