Year: 2009
Director: Roland Emmerich
Screenplay: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser
Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson
Synopsis is here
Lets say certain filmmakers are artists in more of an impressionist sense. Kubrick would be precise pencil drawings, Haneke would draw harsh pictures with black charcoal, Tarrintino would be pop art and Roland Emmerich would paint with big bright colours with a massive roller brush, such is how broad he is.
Subtly isn't one of Emmerich's strong points. Everything is in your face, obvious and blatant. What you see is what you get and if you are going into 2012 to see something high brow and classy, then you may be a little bit slow and will never get to see the next Jane Campion film because your clearly too simple. If however you wish to see the destruction of the world (read; America) then your in the right place. I have no problem with Emmerich's constant desire to fuck with the planet as Independence Day is one of my favorite memories of cinematic nostalgia. My issue with Emmerich is since then I haven't felt that any of his disaster flicks dizzying heights of enjoyment since. Godzilla was a farcical remake, and The day after tomorrow had far too much navel gazing pandering for it's own good.
Watching 2012 has realized how much I've grown since ID4. Emmerich has pretty much traced over the work he's done before. It's not so much that the motifs are the same (of course there's destruction of famous architecture) but now, Emmerich has now resigned to nabbing characters from his work and merely giving them different names and actors to play them. Two examples of this would be Woody Halerson's Charlie character is Randy Quaids Russel Casse with longer hair (swap aliens for end of the world), while Oliver Platt's Carl Anheuser should be swapping notes with Albert Nimzicki such is their shared dislike for humanity. 13 years since Will Smith K.O'd an alien with his right hook, Ol Roland is still writing the same script, with the same arcs and only slightly modified lines. It was fun when I was 12 and now it's still enjoyable to a point, but to say that it's not getting a little bland would be a lie.
It's not all bad, Emmerich is a good judge of casting and fills the film with a glut of respectable character actors to make the film watchable. Don't expect any turns that will have you blubbering in the aisles, but at least your going to watch reliable performers. If I'm going to be sat in a cinema for almost three hours I'd rather be watching John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor than say Channing Tatum and Paul Walker. Also Emmerich as a director of disaster, does a satisfactory job in building moments of tension and generally creating some arresting visuals if you were to really place any thought into them. Trouble is, in no way are you supposed to doing anything of the sort. Emmerich reminds you of this by filling the film with huge piles of Gorgonzola throughout, usually to fill in the films dubious science and plot holes.
To be honest Emmerich's lashing of cheese dose much to show that he appears to be at heart quite a bloody minded optimist and in a cinematic world that is filled with "dark" franchises and cynicism it's quite reassuring to see a director championing the human spirit (albeit with a kindergarten logic). It's a shame he shows such positivism with a plodding pace, simplified characters and three plot strands too many.
But who cares about that? In a film where the worlds gonna end, no one gives a damn about character and plot! It's all about the effects! Fair enough, however despite Emmerich doing an admirable job of upping moments of tension, the CGI payoff still isn't as strong as his previous efforts. In fact it boarders on overkill. I may have been spoilt on the superb effects work on District 9 but that's still not really a reason for sloppiness. In 2012, nothing beats any of the moments that took place in ID4 (expect for when that golden lab escapes). While the film is (rightly) relentless in it's set pieces, it's over reliance in what are quite average effects weaken the film considerably. Add this to the films simplified logic and moments of absurdity and you have a film that is quite uneven. Only a film like this could have the BBC still broadcasting so easily despite the fact that England would probably have been ravaged beyond repair. The Murdocks have no right to complain about the Beeb if the taxpayers money can produce a channel that will have news broadcast through wind, sleet, snow and of course the complete destruction of the world as we know it with such ease.
Bizarrely coming out in November (this is a summer blockbuster if ever I've seen one) 2012 is an interesting alternative to the upcoming tweeny boppingness of New Moon this week. But only if you can stand it's overlong plot, moments of ludicrousness and average at best effects. I dare not watch Independence Day again in fear of trading it in to a second hand shop.
Hear Byron talk more about this movie at Geekplanetonline
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Review: The Men Who Stare At Goats
Year: 2009
Director: Grant Heslov
Screenplay: Peter Straughan
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey
Synopsis is here
The Men Who Stare At Goats is a film which reminds me of one of my favorite films of 2002: Confessions of a dangerous mind. Both deal with larger than life characters who may or may not have had self-confessed influential roles with American government agencies. Confessions dealt with Game Show host/creator Chuck Barris' run ins with the C.I.A while TMWSAG tells the story of a group of Army men with Physic abilities. The entertainment isn't in how true these stories might be but how amusing the delusions can get and while TMWSAG's gets extremely goofy with it's flashback tales of the new earth army, it doesn't have the slick direction of confessions, nor does it have the narrative structure to keep the hi jinks going.
TMWSAG's strongest aspect is it's acting. Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and George Clooney (whose on a bit of a roll with me as of late) play the films lunatics so deadpan it's impossible not to smirk at the very sight of them at times. Played completely straight, the more absurd the the tale gets, the funny the characters become. It helps that the best roles are being taken by The dude, John Doe and Danny Ocean. All three are having a great time with the bizarre nature of their roles, it is only Ewan Mcgregor and his dubious American accent that struggles as the films straight man. After a brief chat with my podcast co host, we both agreed that Jason Bateman would have been just as entertaining in that role, if not more so.
It's great to have such a cast as it allows director Grant Heslov less to worry about. Although it would have been nice if he didn't allow his debut film to run out of narrative steam at the end of the film. This mostly stems from the films screenplay but by the time the film reaches it's climax it's clear that the film has gone as far as it can go with the material, which is odd because a film as batty as this should have almost limitless potential. With this being Grant Heslov's first film however, the man shows that he has more then enough talent to not only work with an ensemble cast but managing to craft an amusing film which for the most part is very funny. Heslov also knows his genre well and makes sure his film isn't bloated. The film does lose momentum but unlike many other comedies, it doesn't outstay it's welcome.
The Men Who Stares At Goats is a quirky little film with some great laugh out loud moments and a cast that manage to keep the film going during the films dry spots (mostly occurring near the end). I may not have found it as entertaining as Clooney wonderfully dry Confessions of a dangerous mind, but for a first time director being in the same ballpark as that film is nothing but a good thing in my book.
Listen to me yell about this at Geekplanetonline
Director: Grant Heslov
Screenplay: Peter Straughan
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey
Synopsis is here
The Men Who Stare At Goats is a film which reminds me of one of my favorite films of 2002: Confessions of a dangerous mind. Both deal with larger than life characters who may or may not have had self-confessed influential roles with American government agencies. Confessions dealt with Game Show host/creator Chuck Barris' run ins with the C.I.A while TMWSAG tells the story of a group of Army men with Physic abilities. The entertainment isn't in how true these stories might be but how amusing the delusions can get and while TMWSAG's gets extremely goofy with it's flashback tales of the new earth army, it doesn't have the slick direction of confessions, nor does it have the narrative structure to keep the hi jinks going.
TMWSAG's strongest aspect is it's acting. Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and George Clooney (whose on a bit of a roll with me as of late) play the films lunatics so deadpan it's impossible not to smirk at the very sight of them at times. Played completely straight, the more absurd the the tale gets, the funny the characters become. It helps that the best roles are being taken by The dude, John Doe and Danny Ocean. All three are having a great time with the bizarre nature of their roles, it is only Ewan Mcgregor and his dubious American accent that struggles as the films straight man. After a brief chat with my podcast co host, we both agreed that Jason Bateman would have been just as entertaining in that role, if not more so.
It's great to have such a cast as it allows director Grant Heslov less to worry about. Although it would have been nice if he didn't allow his debut film to run out of narrative steam at the end of the film. This mostly stems from the films screenplay but by the time the film reaches it's climax it's clear that the film has gone as far as it can go with the material, which is odd because a film as batty as this should have almost limitless potential. With this being Grant Heslov's first film however, the man shows that he has more then enough talent to not only work with an ensemble cast but managing to craft an amusing film which for the most part is very funny. Heslov also knows his genre well and makes sure his film isn't bloated. The film does lose momentum but unlike many other comedies, it doesn't outstay it's welcome.
The Men Who Stares At Goats is a quirky little film with some great laugh out loud moments and a cast that manage to keep the film going during the films dry spots (mostly occurring near the end). I may not have found it as entertaining as Clooney wonderfully dry Confessions of a dangerous mind, but for a first time director being in the same ballpark as that film is nothing but a good thing in my book.
Listen to me yell about this at Geekplanetonline
Review: Jennifer's Body
Year: 2009
Director: Karyn Kusama
Screenplay: Diablo Cody
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons
Synopsis is here
There's a shot in Jennifer's body that stayed with me for quite a while after I watched it. It's not the lesbian kiss (although that scene has more sexual energy flowing through it than most of the drab, dry screen relationships we can get during a year of cinema). It's the shot of Megan Fox (the movies titular Jennifer) looking dead on at the camera. She is battered, bruised and bleedling. She begins to grin manically at the camera and blood oozes from her mouth. To many it's a nothing moment but to me it got me. It's the moment that I realized that I didn't mind Jennifer's body. In fact by the end of the movie I found that I quite enjoyed it. It's the horror film fan in me.
Yes Jennifer's body suffers from having try hard dialogue that's "too cool for school" and of course Megan Fox will never win awards for what she considers acting. But the film is what it is, a movie in love with the 80's style horror flicks it tries to ape. It's a little undercooked, but it still has moments of intelligence which are more enjoyable to watch than many of the sequels and remakes that are taking place at the moment.
What I enjoyed about the movie is how fun Diablo Cody's screenplay actually is. Her imprint on the movie is just as strong as it was in Juno, however here she is playing around with conventions and doing the best to subvert them in a genre she clearly loves. When the dialogue isn't trying its best to be "hip" the film is actually quite funny. The films best moments stem from the screenplays skewed view of the media idolization (reminiscent of the jedward hubbub of the past few weeks or the Jade Goody manipulation of her first big brother outing). The idea of a band selling a soul to the devil in order to be as big as Maroon 5 is as absurd as it is droll.
Also Cody's positioning of females in the forefront is every refreshing. Both the characters of Jennifer and Needy are more rounded than a sub-genre like this one usually allows. In fact despite Jennifer being a demon for most of the film in the beginning, she's not a complete bitch merely a naive young girl. It's no surprise that the screenplay uses sexuality to cloud the judgment of all the young minds on screen, as Jennifer's transformation is a well used but nicely executed metaphor for hormonal changes. With that said, considering the films influences, I'm surprised that it's not as sexy as it could be, and I'm mean that in the best possible way.
It's clear that Jennifer's body is more Cody's film than that of the films director Karyn Kusama. While she manages to give the movie some well crafted moments there's a struggle to keep the balance of the films tone. The screenplay is amusing, however, Kusama's direction lacks the suspense and horror that would send the film in the big leagues of your evil deads, Shaun of the deads etc. An issue that many have had within the comedy-horror sub-genre.
Kusama however is a female director who has shown that she can get a watchable performance from Megan Fox. She ain't no Streep, but this is a film that plays to her strengths well enough and to be honest, she does get a good grip on Cody's dialogue here. Compare this turn to her risible performances in those toy movies and you do see a small jump in quality. It also helps that she is carried though the film by a steady display by Amanda Seyfried. While she's a woman whose a little bit too attractive to be a frump, she shows that she has the just as much potential and range as her Mean Girls cohort Rachel McAdams. The male performers aren't nothing to write home about bar a nice take on the douchebag lead singer by Adam Brody who gets the biggest laughs of the movie.
Jennifer's body hasn't had the great time at the box office, nor did it stand a chance with film critics who constantly do their best to show horror movies as a lesser genre. But it's a film with a nice screenplay by a strong writer whose quickly finding her voice and a director who may not be Kathryn Bigalow but still puts in a truckload of effort and succeeds more often than this review may claim. It's fluff but it's watchable fluff.
More Jennifer's body talk at Geekplanetonline
Director: Karyn Kusama
Screenplay: Diablo Cody
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons
Synopsis is here
There's a shot in Jennifer's body that stayed with me for quite a while after I watched it. It's not the lesbian kiss (although that scene has more sexual energy flowing through it than most of the drab, dry screen relationships we can get during a year of cinema). It's the shot of Megan Fox (the movies titular Jennifer) looking dead on at the camera. She is battered, bruised and bleedling. She begins to grin manically at the camera and blood oozes from her mouth. To many it's a nothing moment but to me it got me. It's the moment that I realized that I didn't mind Jennifer's body. In fact by the end of the movie I found that I quite enjoyed it. It's the horror film fan in me.
Yes Jennifer's body suffers from having try hard dialogue that's "too cool for school" and of course Megan Fox will never win awards for what she considers acting. But the film is what it is, a movie in love with the 80's style horror flicks it tries to ape. It's a little undercooked, but it still has moments of intelligence which are more enjoyable to watch than many of the sequels and remakes that are taking place at the moment.
What I enjoyed about the movie is how fun Diablo Cody's screenplay actually is. Her imprint on the movie is just as strong as it was in Juno, however here she is playing around with conventions and doing the best to subvert them in a genre she clearly loves. When the dialogue isn't trying its best to be "hip" the film is actually quite funny. The films best moments stem from the screenplays skewed view of the media idolization (reminiscent of the jedward hubbub of the past few weeks or the Jade Goody manipulation of her first big brother outing). The idea of a band selling a soul to the devil in order to be as big as Maroon 5 is as absurd as it is droll.
Also Cody's positioning of females in the forefront is every refreshing. Both the characters of Jennifer and Needy are more rounded than a sub-genre like this one usually allows. In fact despite Jennifer being a demon for most of the film in the beginning, she's not a complete bitch merely a naive young girl. It's no surprise that the screenplay uses sexuality to cloud the judgment of all the young minds on screen, as Jennifer's transformation is a well used but nicely executed metaphor for hormonal changes. With that said, considering the films influences, I'm surprised that it's not as sexy as it could be, and I'm mean that in the best possible way.
It's clear that Jennifer's body is more Cody's film than that of the films director Karyn Kusama. While she manages to give the movie some well crafted moments there's a struggle to keep the balance of the films tone. The screenplay is amusing, however, Kusama's direction lacks the suspense and horror that would send the film in the big leagues of your evil deads, Shaun of the deads etc. An issue that many have had within the comedy-horror sub-genre.
Kusama however is a female director who has shown that she can get a watchable performance from Megan Fox. She ain't no Streep, but this is a film that plays to her strengths well enough and to be honest, she does get a good grip on Cody's dialogue here. Compare this turn to her risible performances in those toy movies and you do see a small jump in quality. It also helps that she is carried though the film by a steady display by Amanda Seyfried. While she's a woman whose a little bit too attractive to be a frump, she shows that she has the just as much potential and range as her Mean Girls cohort Rachel McAdams. The male performers aren't nothing to write home about bar a nice take on the douchebag lead singer by Adam Brody who gets the biggest laughs of the movie.
Jennifer's body hasn't had the great time at the box office, nor did it stand a chance with film critics who constantly do their best to show horror movies as a lesser genre. But it's a film with a nice screenplay by a strong writer whose quickly finding her voice and a director who may not be Kathryn Bigalow but still puts in a truckload of effort and succeeds more often than this review may claim. It's fluff but it's watchable fluff.
More Jennifer's body talk at Geekplanetonline
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Review: Vicky Christina Barcalona
Year: 2008 (U.K release 2009)
Director: Woody Allen
Screenplay: Woody Allen
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall
Synopsis is here
Woody Allen is a director I admire for a few reasons, but one thing that always gets me is effort. Now, drifting into his 70's Allen is still consistently making product (still one film a year) drenched in themes that mean the most to him. However, the successful merge of critical and commercial plaudits have managed to escape him for the most part. With Vicky Christina Barcelona Allen manages to grab back some of the praise that has been missing for the most part of his latter career (not like that's what drives him of course.).
Picking up an Oscar (Penelope Cruz in a spicy supporting role), Vicky Christina Barcalona is a bright and breezy affair that once again delves into the complexities of love and logic that Allen enjoys toying with. It's a film that's relatively sharp and is in love with it's surrounding. For the most part, it's an entertaining movie. It's a pity that Allen has decided to go with the idea of having the story narrated throughout the whole movie. The narration (Voiced by Christopher Evan Welch) is one of the worst decisions considered by a filmmaker who is usually a little more savvy in his judgment.
The film's narration brings down a lot of what makes the film interesting. Instead of characters displaying their emotions, we are patronizingly told by a narrator who has no qualms about stating the obvious as well as ruining the films more delicate moments. This turns the movie into a kind of "Woody Allen for dummies" in which you don't have to use your brain to process the movie as everything is laid out on a plate. The drab statements made on the films scenes are made worse due to the fact that they're not even amusing. It's bad enough that they wreck some of the character interplay but at least be funny!
It's not all bad as Allen fills the screen not only with the gorgeous scenery but with attractive performances from the films leads. The film plays with the idea that we as human beings may not be as grounded in our monogamous lifestyles as we think. While on paper the peculiar love square comes across as ridiculous but the choice of cast and their charm make it work. Bardem's voice is full of seductive promise, while Cruz is the perfect destructive foil for their relationships gone wrong. My favorite performance comes from Rebecca Hall who manages to sneak in the "Allen" neurotic turn under the guise of an uptight culture student. Placing all the hang-ups upon her is the best move of the film. Scarlett Johansson whose been slowly picking some dubious choices as of late (He's not that into you, The fucking Spirit) picks up her game slightly but unfortunately seems to be resigned to merely being the eye candy.
Direction-wise Allen is still a solid craftsman, with the films story being an entertaining (if a little fluffy) one. It's also good to see the director branching out to different locations in his later years (I haven't seen his London excursions as of yet) as the change of scenery really does his ideas good. From a writing point of view his screenplay (narration aside) still has an ear for what sounds good in peoples mouths and while some may complain that these characters are "wordy", the actors once again make sure it doesn't sound too out of place.
Despite having the film speaking to me as if I'm some sort of child, Vicky Christina Barcelona is still a lively piece of work from a man who will never stop to take a break. Lets hope that his upcoming "whatever works" manages to keep up the trend. Lets just hope that we get show and not tell.
Director: Woody Allen
Screenplay: Woody Allen
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall
Synopsis is here
Woody Allen is a director I admire for a few reasons, but one thing that always gets me is effort. Now, drifting into his 70's Allen is still consistently making product (still one film a year) drenched in themes that mean the most to him. However, the successful merge of critical and commercial plaudits have managed to escape him for the most part. With Vicky Christina Barcelona Allen manages to grab back some of the praise that has been missing for the most part of his latter career (not like that's what drives him of course.).
Picking up an Oscar (Penelope Cruz in a spicy supporting role), Vicky Christina Barcalona is a bright and breezy affair that once again delves into the complexities of love and logic that Allen enjoys toying with. It's a film that's relatively sharp and is in love with it's surrounding. For the most part, it's an entertaining movie. It's a pity that Allen has decided to go with the idea of having the story narrated throughout the whole movie. The narration (Voiced by Christopher Evan Welch) is one of the worst decisions considered by a filmmaker who is usually a little more savvy in his judgment.
The film's narration brings down a lot of what makes the film interesting. Instead of characters displaying their emotions, we are patronizingly told by a narrator who has no qualms about stating the obvious as well as ruining the films more delicate moments. This turns the movie into a kind of "Woody Allen for dummies" in which you don't have to use your brain to process the movie as everything is laid out on a plate. The drab statements made on the films scenes are made worse due to the fact that they're not even amusing. It's bad enough that they wreck some of the character interplay but at least be funny!
It's not all bad as Allen fills the screen not only with the gorgeous scenery but with attractive performances from the films leads. The film plays with the idea that we as human beings may not be as grounded in our monogamous lifestyles as we think. While on paper the peculiar love square comes across as ridiculous but the choice of cast and their charm make it work. Bardem's voice is full of seductive promise, while Cruz is the perfect destructive foil for their relationships gone wrong. My favorite performance comes from Rebecca Hall who manages to sneak in the "Allen" neurotic turn under the guise of an uptight culture student. Placing all the hang-ups upon her is the best move of the film. Scarlett Johansson whose been slowly picking some dubious choices as of late (He's not that into you, The fucking Spirit) picks up her game slightly but unfortunately seems to be resigned to merely being the eye candy.
Direction-wise Allen is still a solid craftsman, with the films story being an entertaining (if a little fluffy) one. It's also good to see the director branching out to different locations in his later years (I haven't seen his London excursions as of yet) as the change of scenery really does his ideas good. From a writing point of view his screenplay (narration aside) still has an ear for what sounds good in peoples mouths and while some may complain that these characters are "wordy", the actors once again make sure it doesn't sound too out of place.
Despite having the film speaking to me as if I'm some sort of child, Vicky Christina Barcelona is still a lively piece of work from a man who will never stop to take a break. Lets hope that his upcoming "whatever works" manages to keep up the trend. Lets just hope that we get show and not tell.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Best Person to play Sinatra?
So the reports are flying in that Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are fighting it out for the role of Frank Sinatra in Marty Scorsese's biopic... Right ok. I don't know about you but what I wouldn't do for a talented unknown who ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE OL' BLUE EYES to jump ahead of them and get the part..
Just a thought.
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