The Hangover Part II (16/06/11)

The Hangover Part II (2011)

Director - Todd Phillips
Starring - Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms

4 stars

One thing is for sure… whatever I write in this piece will have absoloutly no effect on whether people choose to watch this blockbuster or not. This notion sits comfortably with me. It’s not often that a movie event like this hits our screens and being such a fan of this visual art form I most certainly welcome the buzz. The Hangover was the biggest comedy to flex its proverbial laugh out loud muscle in recent years, and with its popular cast remaining in check, a sequel was always going to be sure to hit the ticket boxes hard.

So put simply, the boys are back. A bachelor party goes horribly wrong and our three heroes are forced to retrace their steps from the night before or else they are in more trouble than they initially thought.

The formula is simple, and is almost exactly the same as the original film, only this time… we go from Vegas to Thailand, we’re searching for Teddy (Stu’s brother-in-law to be) not Phil, face tattoos replace missing teeth and the strippers offer something a little bit different to marriage. This is half the fun. Nothing stray’s too far away from the original but with some genuinely funny writing and some brilliant work from the actors (Zach Galifianakis is once again at is his pants wetting best) you are more than happy to overlook the somewhat predictability of the storyline.

There really isn’t a lot more to say about it. It promises big laughs and it delivers. If you liked the first one then you will be sure to like this one too but just don’t expect it to be something completely different. You will be blessed with the opportunity to repeat lines from this movie with your mates and have hours of laughs because of it. A genuinely funny movie and a truly pleasurable and entertaining experience.

Insidious (17/05/11) [Archive]

Insidious (2010)

Director - James Wan
Starring - Patrick Wilson & Rose Byrne

4 stars

If you’re like me, you’ll be sure to search high and low for a good horror movie. Nobody likes to hear the word ‘good’ used when describing their in-depth thoughts on a film, but there is something about the term ‘good horror movie’ that gets the ears perking of all those adrenaline freaks out there. As a kid, I used to hate horror films. I wouldn’t be able to sleep for extended periods of time and being alone in any respect was a petrifying thought. Now I’m a little bit older, I love the stuff, and there is nothing quite like a good horror flick in a darkened cinema on a massive screen with quality speakers surrounding you to ensure there really is no escape. Sure, watching them at home with your mates and drinking every time ominous music is heard can be fun, but there’s nothing quite like the real deal. Insidious gets the tick of approval from me, and when the boys who originally created the Saw franchise are in charge (directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannel) you know that you’re in for a treat.

On it’s exterior, Insidious can appear to be your ‘run of the mill’ horror film. Young family with kids, big new house with plenty of creaks and some sort of haunting that is plaguing them all. It does have a Paranormal Activity type feel to it but it is in no way a rip off and does eventually take it’s own direction. What’s actually haunting this family (or more so there young son Dalton) isn’t actually the big twist. It’s explained with ample time to go but the process of fixing it still has terrifying consequences. In fact, the entire concept and story line is quite compelling and not the ridiculous and cliché stuff that you can become accustomed to in modern day horror. They introduce new knowledge to the audiences about spirits and astro walking and all kinds of other terms that are justified well enough for viewers to continue on track. So as the family tries ridding their son of this curse-like state and bring peace back into their home, all kinds of stories from (the father) Josh’s past come to the fore. The pieces of the puzzle all start to fall into place (as you would expect from this team) and it becomes edge of your seat viewing.

I will more than happily put my hand up to say that I was genuinely frightened watching this. There was more than one occasion where I whispered to Winga, who was sitting next to me, ‘I’m so scared’. And that’s the beauty of it. Like any film, to truly enjoy it and get into what the director wants you to feel, you really do have to just let yourself go. Get lost in the moment and in a horror film especially, this can really make or break what you take out of it.

The constant question is raised by people who can’t stand this genre, ‘why do you like to deliberately scare yourself?’ It’s valid, and to be fair, I don’t know why I put myself through it half the time. There’s something so exhilarating about getting the blood pumping and adrenaline flying that makes me crave some more. I can one hundred percent guarantee that for me, Insidious most certainly filled that void. It gave me my horror film fix and nowadays that seems to be getting harder and harder to find. I find myself in a position where I put my hands over my face, leave my eyes in the clear and underneath my palms I am just smiling and thinking two, almost contradictory, thoughts – ‘why do I do this to myself’ and, ‘God, I love this’. I’m not going to begin justifying this thought process but I seem to get some sort of (sick) gratification out of it so I just go with it.

As I said, these boys know how to do horror. When they do it, they do it properly and I will promise to continue to seek out more and more of their work over the years. Seriously, if this is your cup of tea, you will not be disappointed. I was still shaking some time afterwards and Joffa almost tripped down the stairs on exit. Now that is what you want to get out of a movie.

Sucker Punch (13/05/11) [Archive]

Sucker Punch (2011)

Director - Zack Snyder
Starring - Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish & Vanessa Hudgens

3.5 stars

I don’t think you can watch Sucker Punch once and walk out of it understanding everything about it in its entirety. It’s actually been a couple of weeks now since I’ve seen it and I’m still scratching my head a little bit. I don’t mind that. I don’t like it when you don’t understand the film’s ending or you get lost half way through and as a result it turns out to be a complete fizzer. I understood Sucker Punch (or so I think). I at least understood it the way director Zack Snyder wanted me to. I could follow the story line well enough to enjoy the narrative but there are elements to this carnival that I’m still wrapping my head around.

One thing I was completely sure about was the aesthetic brilliance of the whole thing. To put good use to a cop out word, it really was visually awesome. Probably the best thing I’ve seen since Avatar in terms of the visuals. It was wonderfully shot and edited, the scenery was top notch (albeit very much manufactured) and cinematography was quite marvellous. To go with all that the music was also of kick ass standard and did a brilliant job to coincide with the whole feel of the narrative.

The actual plot is not so important. In short, Baby Doll (Emily Browning) has been institutionalised by her abusive stepfather and devises a plan to escape from the mental facility. She devises a plan and manages to progress through it by going into an almost hallucinate-ive state and passing certain challenges in these completely other worlds. This is where the fun with the visuals comes into play. Along for the ride is a group of girls who want the same thing; Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung).

Although this sort of action type stuff isn’t normally my cup of tea, I still did like it. Although it’s impossible not to describe it as ‘cool’ and ‘awesome’, it still got the mind ticking. I think the biggest question you ask yourself is, ‘what’s actually real in all this’. It’s not a bad question to be burdened with on exit and there are certainly worse films going around. If not just for the visual entertainment of it I’d recommend you go see it. If that doesn’t interest you, then how about going to see some bad ass chicks with guns who play by their own rules? Winner, winner. If THAT doesn’t sway you, then I don’t know why you’ve read this far.

The Adjustment Bureau (04/04/11) [Archive]

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Director - George Nolfi
Starring - Matt Damon & Emily Blunt

4 stars

This movie, straight of the bat, is a little more than meets the eye. On the exterior, it can easily appear to be a love story. The catalyst behind every major plot point is due to the characters acting on the desires of their heart. Fighting to preserve a love that may or may not exist. Think you’ve seen it before? It’s probably because you have. I urge you to find a film that doesn’t possess at least one love story in its plot. Whether it dominates the narrative or not, love is always there, and The Adjustment Bureau is just another example where love is a major issue that is addressed. Fortunately, this is more than just a story of forbidden romance.

So what is more than meets the eye for this film, you ask? Anyone who knows me would know that I could easily dish out 4 stars to a film that has a good love story. This couldn’t be more truthful, but for this one, it wasn’t the romance that had me hooked. And this is where the other sceptics come out to play. Anyone who has heard anything about The Adjustment Bureau knows that it revolves around events that don’t actually happen in the normal world. Everything we have come to learn in the past 2000+ years of civilisation on this planet suggests that there is no such thing as a team of unique, slightly supernatural beings who control every little event in your life. A group that abides by the plan that has been given to you and ensures to make slight adjustments if you start to teeter of track. This is not how life works… or so we think? Now, I’m not suggesting that this actually does happen. In fact, I know that it doesn’t. No, this George Nolfi directed feature has not in anyway brainwashed me but I do applaud the way he went about justifying this bizarre notion. Anybody who has at least a little bit of imagination can sit back and think to themselves ‘hmm, this really can be happening’, and BANG, just like that you are able to enjoy this film on another level because you aren’t constantly thinking, ‘yeah but that can’t happen’. It was this aspect that got the ball rolling for me and eventually led into a very enjoyable cinematic experience.

So that’s what it’s all about. Two people meet and hit it off. As fate would have it, they meet again, only this time it is not according to plan. This second meeting was not supposed to happen and as it turns out, the pairing of these two individuals puts their very futures largely off course. So what do you do? You adjust it of course. You bring in the bureau and ensure that they don’t meet ever again. You explain the situation to one of them and make sure he knows that if he blabs about the adjustment bureau he will have his memory erased. Pretty shocking consequences. This is when the story hits off as the question of how hard will you fight for love is asked.

Both of the leads, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, were sensational and brilliantly casted. I think this movie suited Damon wonderfully. He was never out of his comfort zone and was again playing a role that we are so accustomed to seeing him in. Blunt worked well off Damon and really ended up standing out from it all. The on screen chemistry worked a treat and the narrative’s overall success was really born out of the believability of this pair’s relationship.

As I mentioned earlier the idea of this adjustment bureau wasn’t all that difficult to get your head around. It was in no way confusing but so often film goers who aren’t open to the (sometimes far fetched) possibilities in this world will sit there hating every second of it because in the feeble little minds they know this is not actually happening. Still, I thought the process was justified suitably and the movie was able to soar because of this.

The last half hour was pretty action packed and I really can’t remember sitting on the edge of my seat like that for some time. They’d thrown the line in the water, I gobbled it up and I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to see what has going to happen next, what has behind the next door (see the movie, you’ll get it!) and more importantly, how it was going to end. It’s this feeling of exhilaration combined with the plain old unknown that gets the blood pumping. There’s nothing like that feeling when you’re sitting in your chair in front of the big screen. It’s what going to the movies is all about.

So I genuinely do give this the tick of approval. I remember first hearing about it months ago and immediately typing it in my phone in my ‘to watch’ list. It was a long time coming, and the yearning to watch a film for months and months is often a dangerous thing as your expectations, unbeknown to you, cheekily begin to creep up and up. Rest assured, expectations were met, movie was enjoyed and a good time was had by all. I guess it was just part of the plan?

2010 - a year in summary

2010 - a year in summary

Since 2001 I have collected movie tickets to every film that I see at the cinemas. I keep them all in a small notebook (one per page) and I write the name of the movie along with the date. Don’t ask me why I do this. It’s something I started a decade ago and couldn’t imagine not doing now. Anyone who has been to the movies with me would know how adamant I am about keeping my ticket. Due to this, I have it very easy when looking back on what I saw in the year. Since 2008, I have rated my top 5 films of the year that I saw at the cinemas. I have kept this to myself (for the record, the winners for the previous two years were Slumdog Millionaire and Avatar – just a couple of small ones you may have heard of) but come 2010, with a few (courteous) people admitting to reading my reviews when I write them up, I thought it would be appropriate to make these choices a little more public.

First things first, this is obviously a very subjective list. Criticism is always welcomed but I am by no means proclaiming that the higher rated films are better made movies. It is merely a case of how they affected me personally and how much I enjoyed them. I have also cut this off to the movies that I saw at the cinema. Although I have seen other flicks that were released in 2010 not at the movies but to keep it more clear cut and maintain a more level playing field (watching a movie at the cinemas is always going to be a greater atmospheric experience) I will keep it to just the movies I saw at the cinemas.

Just so you know what I’m dealing with and the field that I am choosing from, here is the list of movies that I saw this year. In chronological order: Mao’s Last Dancer (12/1), Invictus (24/1), Bran Nue Dae (3/2), Valentine’s Day (11/2), Shutter Island (18/2), The Hurt Locker (25/2), The Blind Side (1/3), Brothers (21/3), Dear John (30/3), How To Train Your Dragon (2/4), She’s Out Of My League (18/4), I Love You Too (11/5), New York I Love You (19/5), The Back-Up Plan (22/5), The Losers (10/6), Get Him To The Greek (20/6), Animal Kingdom (22/6), Mother and Child (23/6), Toy Story 3 (27/6), Predators (13/7), Inception (22/7), The Waiting City (2/8), The Ghost Writer (26/8), Charlie St. Cloud (28/9), Eat Pray Love (11/10), Buried (21/10), Paranormal Activity 2 (28/10), Saw VII (31/10), The Social Network (4/11), The Town (11/11), Lebanon (6/12), Due Date (9/12), The King’s Speech (30/12).

So of that list of 33, I have come out with a top 10. This was a difficult process.

10. How To Train Your Dragon (Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders)

Not being the biggest fan of animation, this one was a nice breath of fresh air for me. A very fun and enjoyable plot combined with some witty humour and inspiring character

growth ensured that this one will go down as one of my favourite animated films.

9. The King's Speech (Tom Hooper)

The new kid on the block and it’s all the rave at the moment. The King’s Speech was the last film I saw for 2010 and was aided by some absoloutly brilliant performances by Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth. A very interestingly shot narrative but emotionally poignant and a beautifully captured story.

8. Buried (Rodrigo Cortes)

My love for Ryan Reynolds helps to bump this one up the list but it is a love that is truly justifiable. How can you not respect a film that keeps you gripped until the end when you never once leave the confinements of one man in a single coffin? Reynolds is brilliant in a unique and challenging role and this different and risky idea worked a treat.

7. Get Him To The Greek (Nicholas Stoller)

Bursts into the top ten (and almost crashes the party for top five) on a pure comedic level. The gut busting combination of Russell Brand and Jonah Hill ensures that laugh out loud moment’s come too quickly for you to even catch your breath from the previous scene. The film itself doesn’t need to pride itself on narrative structure and character development as much because it relies (successfully) on making their audience piss themselves. At the end of the day, people go to the movies to be entertained and unless you have a funny bone of steel then this is sure to tick the box.

6. The Waiting City (Claire McCarthy)

The best Aussie film of the year for mine and was very, very unlucky not to make my illustrious top five. Had the premise for a pretty sound narrative but was directed and portrayed in a way that was truly captivating. Nothing that was revolutionary cinematically but so emotionally engaging none the less. There were probably only two other films that I found more emotionally poignant in 2010. It’s a film that has stuck with me and although fictional, it just seemed like a story that had to be told. The passion for telling this story came out strongly in Claire McCarthy’s directing and the ability to portray the numerous character developments was also a real treat. Joel Edgerton was brilliant and Radha Mitchell also very good. It was a fascinating take on relationships, love and the ability to cope in an array of circumstances. A real winner.

5. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)

I’m not really jumping out on too much of a limb here by placing this beauty into my top five. It cleaned up at the Oscars last year and for very good reason. Not being a real fan of wartime films at all, this movie still had the ability to speak to me and convey a real message through the screen. Unlike any war film I’ve ever seen, The Hurt Locker had this incredible ability to portray the circumstances in such a clear, realistic and believable fashion. It was also able to place the audience in the minds of those who choose to put themselves in these positions and have people understanding of why the elect to do so. T

his was done through incredible filmmaking and an amazing portrayal of human emotion that is so rare in

the cinematic world. On top of all that, Jeremy Renner put in a colossal performance that I believe was worthy of an Oscar himself and it was his contribution to this wonderfully crisp masterpiece that really helped to mark it so proudly in the history books.

4 – Inception (Christopher Nolan)

The only real surprise about this one being in the top five is probably that it wasn’t placed higher. Inception was no doubt the blockbuster movie event of 2010 and all it had to do was live up to half of its hype and moviegoers would be impressed. As it turned out it probably did more than that. I’m yet to find someone who was disappointed in Inception and I am no exception. First things first I do love a blockbuster event. Being a movie lover, when a well-hyped film comes out it’s a bit like the sporting equivalent of the beginning of a finals series. Anything that can live up to big hype should get marked extra points right away. What I loved about this was the whole movie experience. It was a treat for so many senses. I loved the aesthetics and scenery of it all, the score was incredible and the cast was a closet A-grade line up (excluding the obvious A-grader being Leo). I was fascinated by the originality of the idea and loved how the narrative never got boring in its two and a half hours on screen. Most of all I loved the way Christopher Nolan created a film that treated its audiences as intellects but in a way that didn’t bombard them. He forced a lot of assumed knowledge on them and trusted the fact that they would be able to follow without having dumb proceedings down. I’ve never seen another film that gets this balance so right.

3. Mother and Child (Rodrigo Garcia)

This was such an incredibly touching emotional journey. It so powerfully captured the relationships of (as you would have thought) mother’s and their children in a way that I’ve never felt before. I never expected to understand some of the situations that these woman go through on screen, and although I’m not suggesting that after watching it I know exactly how they would feel dealing with adoption, parenting and other various relationships, I certainly feel closer than I ever had. Kerry Washington puts in one of the performances of the year as she abosloutly rips her role to shreds and helps to ensure that this sometimes dry and insensitive film maintains its heartbeat. It’s her contrast with the characters of Annette Benning and Naomi Watts that helps to highlight the true love and spark that exists in the beauty of childbirth and how motherhood can be such a life defining process. Sometimes you will walk out of a movie feeling entertained, humoured, satisfied, educated or even just content that you’ve just killed two hours doing something better than lying on the couch. Mother and Child touched me in a way that perfect story telling is supposed to. I felt breathless trying to take in what I could from the film and left the theatre knowing that I had been treated to something pretty special.

2. New York, I Love You (various directors)

Interestingly enough, this is the only film in my top 10 that I have actually seen more than once; such was my craving to check it out again. It’s hard for me to sit there and totally rave about this one because a part of me can understand why people wouldn’t love it the way I do but for me it has changed a lot about how I watch films. What I loved so much about New York, I Love You was the way it made me think and in turn, the way it made me feel. I left The Rivoli with about a million thoughts running through my head about life and the people in it and how fascinating every single moment can be to certain individuals. It made me realise that everybody has a story to tell and although it may not mean something to you and me, by golly it means something to them. The interesting part about this notion is that it is the unwritten rule about all forms of cinema. You sit in an audience and watch someone else’s story unfold. It wasn’t until I watched New York, I Love You and saw all these short stories, some which seem small from the outside but so poignant on closer inspection, that I realised that these situations are happening all around me, every single day. It was such a refreshing realisation that had me appreciating every asp

ect of what I was being treated to on screen. It’s a film that I will always fall back on and still be able to feel the same way I did on first inspection. A real find for 2010.

1. Brothers (Jim Sheridan

On a cloudy one Sunday afternoon in March, I walked out of a cinema at Knox and said to Winga and Doodles, “that’s the best movie I’ve seen this year”. It wasn’t a massive call with the year only being three months old but as a sit down and write this eight months later, those words still ring true. As fate would have it, this little talked about drama starring Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal would join the prestigious company of Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Avatar (2009) as MJ’s number one film of the year.

It was probably the heaviest emotional journey that I went on this year (in the comfort of a cinema seat of course), which says a lot about the meticulous filmmaking job done by the cast and crew of Brothers. It’s not easy to dish out some of that material, deal with some of the issues and portray some of those sequences and to get it all so right. That was the beauty of it though; it was all done so, so right. I guess the essence of the film is still a war story, but more a case of dealing with the post traumatic stress elements of it. It’s such a touchy subject, and so easy to get it all wrong that my respect simply grows for Jim Sheridan for nailing this emotional journey. There were moments that were harsh and brutally poignant and the incredible cast kept every scene ticking along with renewed life. Tobey Maguire played a very difficult role extremely well and I saw him in a light I’d never seen him in. A sign of a truly great performance. Natalie Portman also worked wonders on screen and if that wasn’t enough, it was Jake Gyllenhaal who stole the show for me. His incredible portrayal of mass but believable and heart warming character development is as well performed as I’ve seen on screen. To go along with these applaudable performances was the amazing effort of 11-year-old Bailee Madison who strung together one of the best efforts I’ve seen from a child actor ever. Her role played a vital part in the narratives flow, the character developments and emotional journey as a whole.

It was hard to find something that I didn’t like or respect about Brothers. It’s the reason you go to the movies. Some people will always think of going to the cinema as entertainment; a form of being distracted from their lives for a couple of hours. If that’s you, then great. Never lose sight of the fact that films are made to entertain their audiences. But that is just a part of it. Seeing a film, for me, is always going to be appreciating an art form. Cinema is the greatest art form in the world in my biased opinion. When you sit back and realise the work that has gone into making a film, it is hard not to agree with this. Every element of a film is planned and worked on in a meticulous fashion of perfection. Every shot is planned with perfection, every speech is spoken with perfection, every line is written with perfection. So many people take so much time and put in so much effort to find this perfection that it’s impossible not to appreciate this medium as the work of art that it actually is. For me, that was the only approach to watching Brothers. Wish an unashamed respect for what has been created, and what I’ve just witness. A remarkable film, and one that will sit with me for a very long time.

So there you have it. Why bother checking out the Golden Globes or Oscars? All your movie goss has been analysed and discussed right here!

That’s 2010 ticked off, can’t wait for another bumper year in front of the big screen in 2011! See you at the movies!

MJ 10/01/2011

Lebanon (08/12/10) [Archive]

Lebanon (2009)

Director - Samuel Maoz
Starring - Yoav Donat & Itay Tiran

4 stars

The last time I went and saw a foreign film at the cinemas it was on the back of a five star review from Leigh Paatsch. The movie was Tulpan, a Kazakhstani drama, and although I didn’t hate it, I was lost as to locating where Paastch had discovered the perfection in it. I vowed never to be sucked in again and when I heard about Lebanon my early captivation with it was riddled with trepidation. Still, seeing review after review of near perfect verdicts ensured that there is obviously something worth seeing about this foreign war film. By the time I first heard about it, to the time it got released in Australia, a couple of months had passed and my yearning to see it had only enhanced with time. A trip to Cinema Como on South Yarra and the itch had been scratched.

Branded as one of, if not the, greatest war film of the modern era isn’t something that strikes a huge chord with me but being a fan of The Hurt Locker meant that I had to see what the fuss was about. Lebanon is based on the true events that took place during the First Lebanon War in June 1982. It follows the day and journey of a tank and it’s four crew members as they undertake a routine mission that all goes horribly wrong. It powerfully captures the raw human emotion that is so present in times of desperation and highlights the sheer violence and vulgarity that occurs on a war zone.

To make matters interesting, the entire film is shot from inside the tank. A brave and effective technique that enhances the films uniqueness. This works wonderfully because all the shots of the exterior are shown through the eyes of either the driver or shooter as they look through peephole type things. Everything the audience see’s for the first time, the character is always seeing. This allows for gripping reaction shots as the characters are reacting with the audience – a technique that humanises their existence. In a film where the importance of playing on human emotion is paramount, this contributes wholly to the cause.

It’s important to note (well I think it is anyway) that Lebanon was written and directed by one of the blokes who was actually in this platoon. Samuel Maoz lived this day back in 1982 and survived to tell the story. As it turned out, telling this story was easier said then done. It took him 27 years to pen out the screenplay as he was constantly plagued by the demons from his experiences. It was impossible for me, when watching this, not to constantly think about the fact that the man who is directing this had been there before. Is there a better way to get a true reflection of what actually transpired in that tank? I don’t think so, and that’s one of the reasons why it was such an effortless process to be sucked into each life threatening situation with the characters.

The actors were great. Their roles were incredibly important when you consider that you are shooting a film that doesn’t leave a tank. The audience’s ability to connect to the characters becomes make or break. One notion that was portrayed brilliantly was the fact that these four men were just that – ordinary men. No amount of training can prepare you for the situation where you are forced to fire to kill someone. Especially when that someone is a person you know nothing about. Why should you kill someone you don’t know? Well that’s war, and that is what these characters had to come to grips with.

If nothing else, Lebanon highlights the frailties of the human spirit when put in such a position. What these four men went through, on what was supposed to be a routine mission, was gut-wrenchingly horrific but sadly not uncommon procedure for a war. It illustrates how disgusting war is, questions its purposes and educates its audiences. It emphasises the human capabilities but also recognises the human limits. People will crash in these situations. There will be a part of them that can no longer function in this way, and that is a haunting truth.

It would be remiss of me not to mention in blatant terms (although I’m sure you would have picked it up from my words) that this is an incredibly full on movie experience. Not so much visually – but yes, there are images that will remain with me – more so emotionally. It’s an intense emotional journey that I’m glad I took. It truly is a wonderfully made, emotionally poignant film that I believe realistically captures a part of life that nobody wants to experience. It is not something I would rush to see again because… well I’ve seen it now and whatever I take out of it I will keep with me.

The Town (18/11/10) [Archive]

The Town (2010)

Director - Ben Affleck
Starring - Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall & Jeremy Renner

3.5 stars

First things first, it’s important to note that there is nothing terribly unique about the premise behind The Town. It’s founded on a common plot, familiar motives and customary settings. The characters, although always fresh with a new driver behind them, aren’t dissimilar to your typical crew that you would expect in your everyday heist film. So normally you would expect this to be quite a mundane and tired movie experience, and that’s where you’re wrong. The Town uses quite a number of recognisable themes that have been flogged on screen for years but still has the ability to soundly entertain.

Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is a long time thief. As is mentioned, in Boston, the thieving way of life is handed down through the generations. It’s almost like a hereditary illness (or gift, depend how you want to look at it). As he juggles a relationship with a bank manager who was a victim of a previous heist, MacRay realises that his life is going nowhere in a hurry. Still, getting out of the business isn’t as easy as just walking out. When you lead a dangerous life, dangerous consequences are always just around the corner and for MacRay, he knows that he must complete this one last job if he’s ever going to be able to turn a new page. As you would expect though, that final job is always the big one, and with the shaky James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) as his right hand man, the FBI hot on his trail and an ex girlfriend who doesn’t know what’s best, getting out of the business was always going to be far more complex than it should be.

So there’s no doubting that this idea has been more or less done before (bar the minor tweaks of a generic plot that are only humanly possible to occur) but half the beauty of The Town is that it is more than happy to accept this fate. I’m not suggesting for one second that the idea has been copied from other film (although it is important to mention that the screenplay is based on the Chuck Hogan novel ‘Prince of Thieves’) but you only have to watch the trailer, read the plot or see an advertisement to know that it’s not ground breaking, revolutionary cinema. As we all know, cinema nowadays doesn’t have to be revolutionary to be enjoyed. Sure, 3D is adding a bit of spice to our viewing and the emergence of the imagery in Avatar was a haven for the eyes, but it’s impossible to doubt the brilliance of getting lost in a narrative. The Town, along with the aid of professional acting, plays on this notion with a pinch of success.

The idea behind the plot is sound. The audience can very easily track and follow proceedings without getting lost in irrelevant information and a flurry of minor characters. The ability to follow a story with ease is incredibly underrated and although having an intellectual film that works to test the audience can pay massive dividends when done effectively, it no doubt walks a fine line. So along with a plausible and traceable set up, the work of Mr Ben Affleck is also commendable.

It’s hard to fathom the magnitude of the workload that one must undertake when writing, directing and starring in a film but it becomes clear that one thing is for sure: you must live and breath the narrative. Affleck was clearly very close to the idea from the get go and it definitely came out on screen. His character, although the lead, stood out above the rest. This takes nothing away from the other actors – both Jeremy Renner and Blake Lively were also very good – but you did feel a difference between them. This can work both ways. It’s impossible not to applaud Affleck for his work. The man is genuine talent (common knowledge that all movie goers will know prior to even watching The Town) and his work in this film was amazing. Still, when you notice a gap between the abilities of actors working on the same film you can easily slip out of movie world and back into reality. Nobody wants to know they are watching a film when they are watching it (stupid as it may sound). They want to be entranced and embedded into the storyline. That entrancement is what all film makers want to be able to capture. Sadly for me, The Town didn’t quite cast its spell on me.

With all due respect, I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw. It was a pleasant cinema experience, but the whole time I was very conscious I was watching a film. Did it have twists? Not really. Did it need twists? No. A lot of this narrative felt very familiar but still allowed itself to be enjoyed. A lot of people will really like The Town especially if you are a fan of heist films or Ben Affleck. In fact, I can’t really imagine anybody walking out of a session and genuinely hating what they have just seen. It’s hard to go wrong and as a result, they’ve got it right. It was a safe choice, but a good one. And that’s the same notion you can take into account if you a tossing up whether to watch it for yourself or not.

The Ghost Writer (06/09/10) [Archive]

The Ghost Writer (2010)

Director - Roman Polanski
Starring - Ewan McGregor & Pierce Brosnan

3 stars

The Ghost Writer was an interesting one for me. I didn’t go into it with the highest hopes. At the beginning I was very much enjoying it, then it got to a stage where proceedings were dragging out and I got a little bored with it, then things wrapped up nicely until the final scene made me feel angry and cheated. Fair to say it was quite a rollercoaster of emotions, which makes it that much harder to critique.

Based on the novel by Robert Harris, the story revolves around a man (The Ghost, played by Ewan McGregor) who has the job of writing the memoirs for a controversial former Prime Minister of Britain (Pierce Brosnan). The Ghost has his concerns at first but takes on the job, only to discover some dark secrets of the past. When he learns that the man originally hired to do his job may have in fact been murdered, he begins to fear for his own life and wonder what on earth he has got himself into.

As a whole, the story is done quite well. It’s a pretty exciting and gripping plot and has no reason not to be successful. Ewan McGregor is brilliant. He plays his role with the witty charisma that we have come to love from the Scot. The beauty of the way the narrative plays out is that the audience is learning different parts of the investigation (so to speak) as The Ghost learns them. So in effect, we are riding in the passengers seat the whole way through and with McGregor behind the wheel it is always going be a super trip.

As I mentioned, I was really captivated early on. The film set itself up beautifully for what I expected to be a top-notch mystery and I was so keen to see how everything was going to pan out. Although I was satisfied with how it eventually did, it unfortunately took its time doing so. There was a stage late in the second act when so much new information was being thrown forward but with little explanation of why. Although most of this knowledge was justified in the ending, at the time it became quite a tedious watch. New characters and clues were being introduced but no one was to know why. I can’t fault (director) Roman Polanski for selecting to put in this information because it was no doubt critical for the endings justification, but the way it was done felt slow and insignificant.

The end did justify the means and that was one of the films strong points. The final scene (without giving anything away) did not. Anyone who has seen it will know what I’m talking about and I thought it was a horrid curtain call. Audiences always like to know why something is happening on screen and two weeks after my viewing I still can’t answer this question. Maybe that says more about me than the film, I don’t know?

Regardless of this, The Ghost Writer is still an enjoyable and satisfyingly challenging movie. Not challenging in the way that makes it difficult to follow, but it does require an active and thinking audience. Brosnan is solid in his role as Prime Minister although it is lead man McGregor who carries the show. Definitely worth a look, especially if you love a good mystery.

The Waiting City (06/08/10) [Archive]

The Waiting City (2009)

Director - Claire McCarthy
Starring - Radha Mitchell & Joel Edgerton

4 stars

It’s always nice to see a good Aussie film. Unfortunately for ‘The Waiting City’, it probably didn’t receive the kudos it deserved. Even though the entire film is based in India and it has a large Indian influence, I am comfortable in saying that this is one the better Australian films that I have seen.

Starring Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell as an Aussie couple who travel to India in order to adopt a young girl, The Waiting City is shown through the eyes of these two who, like most of the assumed targeted audience, have very little understanding of this foreign country. The basis of the narrative revolves around the journey the pair undertakes as individuals in this far from aesthetic yet somewhat magical land. They both learn so much about themselves, each other and the rest of the world in comparison. It is an emotional journey with massive ups and downs and a remarkable amount of highs and lows that make this cinema experience truly memorable.

Australian writer/director Claire McCarthy has done a wonderful job in creating an emotionally poignant movie. The importance of having this story told comes through in every scene and it is almost impossible not to get drawn into the narrative from the get go. I cannot begin to applaud her enough because she has genuinely nailed every aspect of storytelling and film making that I have come to love and I will certainly attempt to pursue her previous and future work. Job well done.

In conjunction with the brilliant directorial work was the aid of two very good leads. Joel Edgerton just continues to rise in stature every time I see him. He really is a remarkable actor and his character in The Waiting City was performed brilliantly. He wonderfully captured the comic side of such a role but combined it with an eye-opening understanding of his surroundings and his place in the world. It was a wonderful performance from a man I will continue to seek out on screen. As for his co-star Radha Mitchell, she also put in a solid performance. Her character epitomized the growth and development that was so vital to the narrative’s progression. She always captured this quite well.

The Waiting City really was a wonderful movie experience. It was so deeply touching and emotionally engaging and it certainly exceeded the expectations that I had for it. It’s a beautiful story of growth, love, togetherness and finding yourself. A lot of things really worked well and for me, it just seemed to fall into place beautifully. One of the most emotionally poignant and relevant films I have seen in a long time.

Inception (22/07/10) [Archive]

Inception (2010)

Director - Christopher Nolan
Starring - Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Ellen Page

4 stars

There is nothing quite like a big, blockbuster movie event. They are the movies where you say to yourself, ‘I have to see it’, and when it doesn’t live up to expectation, you feel royally jibbed. But sometimes, it is just the event itself that can be half the fun. Recent movies like Shutter Island, Avatar and Public Enemies have all hit our cinemas with a massive amount of hype surrounding them. I am beginning to warm to the hype. That whole blockbuster movie experience is a very exciting thing and it’s wonderful to see hundreds of people crammed into a packed cinema on opening night when we live in an age of downloads and DVD burning. Inception no doubt falls into this category.

I’m sure everybody at some stage or another has had that conversation with another person discussing the possibility of screenwriters running out of fresh ideas to captivate the audience. ‘Surely one day every original idea will be sourced and eventually there will be no new stories to tell?’ If you haven’t had that discussion about movies, you’ve probably had it about music, ‘how do they keep having original ideas for songs?’ Well, anybody concerned about Hollywood running out of narrative options should just sit down and have a chat to Christopher Nolan. The idea for Inception is so incredibly complex and unique that even after watching it I sat there and thought, ‘how the hell does one originate an idea like that?’ It truly is fascinating.

In a nutshell (and it really isn’t a movie that can be done justice with a nutshell synopsis), Inception is a film about a small team of individuals who enter peoples dreams and subconscious with the intention of either stealing valuable information or planting ideas there. The latter is more or less where the main action of Inception comes from. Main man Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his right-hand man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) have access to this pretty cool gizmo that allows them to enter other people’s dreams. In order to get back to his family, Cobb accepts a job from Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant the idea of selling the family business into the subconscious of Robert Fischer Jr (Cillian Murphy). This will in turn improve the chances of Saito’s business becoming the powerhouse in energy. Sound complicated? It’s really not.

The beauty of this potentially complex idea and narrative is the fact that despite what you may have heard, it isn’t terribly difficult to follow. Nolan (refreshingly) treats his audience as intellects in the sense that he doesn’t meticulously explain all smaller details of his concept in the expectation that the viewer will in fact understand. After the first ten minutes you will feel completely rattled but not long after things will begin to fit into place and you can relax again. The beauty of Ellen Page’s character, Ariadne, is that she begins in a similar mind space to that of the audience. She is completely oblivious to the art of inception and extraction of ones thoughts so Cobb and Arthur go through a number of tutorials with her to explain what she needs to know. This explanation also functions to educate the audience on a topic that is completely foreign to them as well, without trying to spell it out to them like idiots. It is a very effective technique.

Everything about Inception just screamed, ‘blockbuster’. It was epic in every sense of the word. Written and directed by Hollywood heavyweight Christopher Nolan (the famous creator of such works as Momento, Batman Begins and most recently The Dark Knight) immediately stamped Inception as a ‘watch this space’ project. Add in the hype and rave reviews from people in the know and it soon became a must watch. Also adding to the epic nature of it was, in my personal opinion, the cast. Obviously DiCaprio is one of the biggest icons in the world and the match up with Nolan made this film all the more appetizing. It seems now that Leo won’t take any work now unless he believes it will be a blockbuster - and for good reason because the man can act. What really impressed me though, was the work done from the rest of the cast. Although a lot of them are quite well known names, none of them would be classed as real superstars of their industry. For me, Joseph Gordon-Levitt stole the show. His classy, mysterious but always in control character Arthur was always a felt presence on screen - an ability that was important for the overall feel with the unstable Cobb behind the reins of the whole mission. Page was believable as the intellectual college architect who’s role was incredibly important to the teams success and Tom Hardy’s character, Eames, provided some subtle comic relief and a breath of fresh air from the intensity. Combined with solid performances from Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine (it wouldn’t feel like a Nolan film without him) and you had what felt like an A grade line up. The perfect fit for its blockbuster expectations.

The music and cinematography were also quite outstanding and it is for these reasons alone that a viewing of Inception in the cinemas would be a highly recommendable experience. Music really can make or break movies and in this case it probably helped lift it up that little bit further. It certainly added to the notion of ‘epic’ that I continue to harp on. As for the visuals, well you only have to see one of the 15-second advertisements on television to see how stunning it really is. Combine that to feature length and then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Inception really did have it all. A unique idea with a pretty captivating storyline combined with enough complexities to get the brain stimulating without having to call on all your cells for back up. I guess one criticism would be that it wasn’t really edge of your seat cinema. Sometimes that isn’t a bad thing but for me it could have got me slightly more emotionally involved. This may have had to do with a lack of ability to empathise with any of the characters. With that said, I was entranced enough to keep me eyes firmly fixed on the screen for the whole 148 minutes.

Still, Inception certainly does live up to its blockbuster hype. Here I am, 1067 words in, and I know that what I say will hardly contribute to whether you actually go and see it or not but I’m doing my preach anyway! There are so many reasons to go and see it and if you are struggling to find one, I reckon that says more about you then it does say about Inception. So get in on the hype, see it while it’s still out in the cinema, make a night out of it even, and enjoy the journey. It’s a lot of fun.

Predators (14/07/10) [Archive]

Predators (2010)

Director - Nimrod Antel
Starring - Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne & Topher Grace

2 stars

I think it’s important to have movies like Predators hitting the big screen. Every now and then it’s nice to go out one night, switch off the brain and witness a big kill-fest on screen. Predators was one of those films that I went into without any expectations. It’s probably a good thing I did.

Every time I review an action flick I make mention of the fact that it’s not my favourite genre so take my opinion with a grain of a salt, and even though this is still the case, I really can’t see many people raving about this one. It did follow the cliché action guideline so it is quite easy to figure out what is going on and it does stay true to its form and genre. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not, so I guess that can be a positive.

I always reckon it’s hard to keep audiences entertained with a narrative that revolves around people in an environment where you know they won’t have long to live. This was made harder in Predators because the characters never really had a goal or a target to reach. Early on I was somewhat intrigued as all the characters were introduced and I was excited to see where they would go and how they would get out of this. Before too long I discovered that they didn’t really have much of a plan and the majority of the story revolved around them walking around aimlessly, trying not to be killed. Movies like this can often be redeemed by a just, relevant and explanatory ending. This didn’t even slightly tick one of these boxes. In fact, the ending was so horrible that to me it honestly seemed like they had decided to make an action film about a bunch of killers, put them on a planet with a bunch of killer aliens and see what happens. Once they did all this they then thought, ‘shit, we have to end this somehow’ and the whole wrap up really did seem like an afterthought. I think they may have attempted a twist at some point but I wasn’t sure? If they did, it sucked. It didn’t explain anything and if anything had me asking further questions about the narratives plausibility.

Casting Topher Grace as the doctor and one of the main men was a bad move. Not because Grace did an ordinary job, but the bloke is so typecast now. Instead of seeing the doctor amongst killers, all I could see was Eric Foreman from That 70’s Show in the wrong environment and decade. Although I reckon he is capable of playing other roles, they do have to be similar to the one that brought him all the fame (eg. I thought he was good in Valentine’s Day).

I gave it two stars because I didn’t hate it. Some decent actions scenes, a few good kills and the leads, Adrien Brody and Alice Braga, were pretty likeable. Brody, who played main man Royce, especially was enjoyable. Just your typical action hero with the ripped body (that was witnessed thanks to a pretty unnecessary top’s off fight scene), cliché action one-liners and always in control.

There’s no way I’d rush back to see this and no way I’d bother watching it on the TV. It is definitely a big screen watch and regardless of all the negatives I found with it, it is still one of those movies that you can watch on your night off and just switch off and enjoy (well try to) the ride.

Toy Story 3 (30/06/10) [Archive]

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Director - Lee Unkrich
Starring - voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen

3.5 stars

Woody and the gang are back with another new, exciting adventure to undertake and the loyal fans simply can’t get enough. In this final instalment of the Toy Story trilogy, the toy’s owner Andy is now seventeen and moving out of home to go to college. The toys haven’t been played with for years and they begin to realise that there worth is slowly becoming redundant. As fate would have it, they find themselves in a day care centre and the thought of being played with all day long is initially wonderful but they soon realise that this gig isn’t all it was cracked up to be and they need to find a way out, quick smart.

Toy Story 3, just like 1 and 2, is a very enjoyable family experience. A ‘family’ movie is becoming such a cliché term nowadays but I just want to stress that it does have some substance in this situation. There is everything in this film to satisfy people of all ages. The animation combined with the fact that toys are actually leading a life of their own is sure to satisfy the youngsters, generation Y has been lucky enough to grow up with the Toy Story phenomenon and as a result have an investment in the characters and yearn to see the whole journey wrapped up neatly. The adults and parents can still relate to a lot of the humour involved. I found myself genuinely laughing out loud on numerous occasions. In fact, there were times when everybody in the cinema, no matter what age, joined in for a team lol to truly emphasise the family experience. This was quite a refreshing moment.

The story as a whole works. The characters are as fun and exhilarating as ever and the emotional content thrown in plays a very powerful role. It’s become evident to me that Jesse Nugent wasn’t the only person I know to have shed a few tears upon the ending and although I am not one of them, I’d have to have a heart of glass to not have been touched in one way or another.

The 3D element doesn’t add a whole heap to the cinema experience. If you get caught up enough in the story you will eventually forget you are even wearing the glasses. I do love the way everything is wrapped up by the end of it because these toys do deserve a just result and botching the conclusion in anyway could have severely hampered the entire franchise.

It’s one of those movies that anybody can enjoy and you won’ t walk out of the cinema feeling cheated. As I said, the characters are brilliant and I have enjoyed the journey that they have been on over the past fifteen years! (That’s right, Toy Story first came out in 1995). I have no doubt all of them will remain in the hearts of many people for a long time… to infinity, and beyond!