Movie Review-A-Rama!

Ahh, Christmas and New Year.  A time when people are celebrating, good will to all, peace on earth, etc, etc.  But you know what I love most about this time of year?  Time.  Time that is that I can use for things that I want to do, such as watching movies.  My better half J and I always use this time to catch up on things we have been meaning to watch.  Often TV series, but this year the focus has been movies.  Some old, some new, some borrowed, some ... well, I've taken that analogy as far as I can!  And so, I thought I would put them all together in one big Review-A-Rama.  Some have been already reviewed here at the Enterprise, others new, so for your reading pleasure I give you a random collection of movies recently watched by me!


Cowboys & Aliens
2011
Starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Keith Carradine, Clancy Brown
Screenplay by Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby with a Story by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Steve Oedekerk and Based on the comic Cowboys & Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Directed by Jon Favreau

Just read the above list again of how many people worked on the story for this movie, and can anyone tell me a time when having that many writers improved the story?  Anyone?  Didn't think so.  And unfortunately, it happens again here.  Some very talented names (Lindelof from Lost, Kurtzman & Orci from Fringe) but what results is a bit of a mess.  I think the issue is that basically, besides from a 5 second coolness to going "Cowboys ... and Aliens!", there is not enough of an idea to work into a story.

Daniel Craig is actually ok as the grizzled Cowboy who has lost his memory and woken up with a strange looking bracelet attached to his wrist.  People that know me know that Olivia Wilde has moved up high on my "shits me" list lately, but in her defence, she is ok in this film (with what she gets to work with anyway).  But Harrison Ford.  In J's words, he was "so 2-dimensional, I thought he was a cartoon".  It's almost embarassing to watch, to think that this is the man who brought us Han Solo, Indiana Jones and Deckard. 

On the plus side, and yes, there were a couple of pluses, mainly in the form of Sam Rockwell and Clancy Brown.  Rockwell is always good, and brings some real strength to his role.  And I've always loved Clancy Brown who is almost criminally underrated, so good to see him here.

Overall, not a lot to recommend this film, which quite rightly is now recognised as one of the bombs of 2011.


Horrible Bosses
2011
Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Anniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Fox
Written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Directed by Seth Gordon

I thought Horrible Bosses was going to suffer from being another "gross out" style comedy, as that was how it seemed to be pitched.  Now, nothing against this style of comedy, but we have had a run of them (Hangover I & II, Bridesmaids, etc) so I have had this sitting there for ages before finally getting around to watching it. 
However, I was pleasantly suprised.  It is a fairly easy watching movie, helped along by the likeableness (ok, I know the word should be likeability but I prefer likeableness) of the Jasons Bateman and Sudeikis.  Jason Bateman seems to play a very similar character as his Michael Bluth of Arrested Development, which let's face it, seems to be close to the actual Jason Bateman!

Add in some great zaniness by the Horrible Bosses of the title in the form of an asshole Kevin Spacey, a sex-mad Jennifer Anniston (a great change of form for her from the nice-girl roles she normally plays) and a coked-up Colin Farrell, and you get an enjoyable romp that doesn't try too hard but is an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.


Super 8
2011
Starring Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Ron Eldard
Written & Directed by JJ Abrams

Undeniably JJ Abrams' love affair to the Speilberg movies of the 70s and 80s, mixed in with his love of the "mystery box" idea, ie. a danger / villian / thing that is only fully revealed at the end.  And it works wonderfully, with some spot-on performances from the young cast of mainly unknowns.  Of course, the stand-out is Elle Fanning (younger sister of Dakota Fanning) and she really shines here.  The scene where she has to act in the movie the kids are making is wonderful, with the kids themselves blown away by her performance. 

Of course, I remember Ry's review here at the Enterprise mentioned that he preferred the "kids" scenes and when the movie introduces the train accident / monster / alien, that it loses some momentum, and I think he is right.  The first third to half of the movie is pitched wonderfully, very reminiscent of early Speilberg or something like Stand By Me, a kid's coming of age flick.  Not to say the second half is a letdown, but it does change the feel of the movie somewhat.

Still, I came away very impressed and enjoyed this a lot.  In this day of sequels, movie franchises and adaptations (with 14 of the top 15 highest grossing movies in 2011 being sequels, spin-offs or based on comics*), it is pleasing to see JJ out there continuing to try original ideas.  While we here at the Enterprise obviously love our comics adaptions & horror franchises, we really like to see fresh ideas, so more please!

(* And just so you know, the one movie in the top 15 that was not a sequel / franchise / etc?  Bridesmaids.  Yep, Super 8 was about 20th.)


Somewhere
2010
Starring Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Michelle Monaghan
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola

After watching Elle Fanning in Super 8, we decided to watch her earlier performance in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, which came out last year but we never got around to watching.  And again, Elle Fanning shows that she will be a force for a long time to come in movies, with a more supporting role than in Super 8 but again putting in a great performance.

If you have ever seen any other Sofia Coppola movie - Lost in Translation, Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette - you will know what to expect and Somewhere is very similar.  And by that, I mean the style, the look, the slow, drawn out scenes.  And they are beautifully shot, starting with the opening fixed-camera scene of Stephen Dorff doing laps in his car, with the sound of the engine rising and falling as he goes around, and around, and around. 

Coppolla loves these long scenes which approach the uncomfortable, and then go straight past and you can then relax and be part of the movie.  Somewhere tells the story of a movie star (Dorff) who basically has no life - he is aimless, and when not involved in something basically has no life.  His daughter (Fanning) comes to stay with him and he starts to slowly come to a realisation that he needs to start living his life.  And that's basically it - the story is just there to show the characters, and both Dorff and Fanning are great.  My other half J mentioned that is was great in the way Fanning's character is depicted - a young girl, she is not "sexualised" at all, which is rare for modern movies, and she acts like a true kid which is nice.

But for all that, the movie doesn't quite work.  It's almost if there is just not enough story here to hold it together, and for all the great filmwork and acting, it's a bit of a letdown at the end when you think - "is that it?".  Having just visited LA, it was good to see some of the locations, but I don't think anyone else will feel like that :) One thing the movie did do, was make us want to watch ...


Lost in Translation
2003
Starring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola

After getting a taste of Coppola with Somewhere, we decided to follow on with a re-watching of Lost in Translation. Coppola's most successful film to date, it stars Bill Murray as an ageing movie star, in Tokyo for the filming of a Japanese whiskey commercial, and unable to connect with the world around him, until he meets Johansson, in Tokyo with her husband (Ribisi) who is off making videos and leaves her to fend for herself.  The two connect in a very touching way, in a week-long adventure lost in the strange world of Tokyo.

There is a reason this movie was successful, and it rests in the relationship between Murray and Johansson.  Two very different people, you can really understand and follow how they come together and how they develop feelings for each other, and then the sense of loss as they realise Murray must leave to return to his normal life (and wife, and Johansson her husband).  It's funny, because obviously both characters are married, so this would be an affair, but you really find yourself wishing they could work it out and be together, which is testament to the way it is handled.  Possibly the dramatic role of Murray's lifetime, and Scar Jo's break out performance.  A wonderful movie, and a real actor's piece.


Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
2011
Starring Tom Cruise, Jeremey Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
Written by Andre Nemec, Josh Applebaum
Directed by Brad Bird

Ry has reviewed this film very recently here on the Enterprise, so I don't want to say much here except that I really enjoyed MI:GP and the dynamic between the four major characters worked well - so well in fact that, like Ry, I would like it if they kept it the same for a while and allowed us to build up some familiarity with the team.  Make another movie with the same people, please!  I understand the IMF is a large organisation, but surely when a team works well you would keep them together.  Simon Pegg brings his usual comedy to the fore and lightens the mood, but the stand-out is clearly .. Brad Bird?!  Yep, the director.  To graduate from animated movies to something this high-profile is clearly a big step, but Bird handles it brilliantly from start to finish.  Unlike Ry, I didn't even mind the Rhames and Monaghan cameos at the end, with the only glaring issue is, as Ry said, just how can Nyquist's character outrun Tom Cruise??  But small quibbles aside, some great action, which is what is needed from these movies.


Unknown
2011
Starring Liam Neeson, Dianne Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella
Written by Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell (based on the book Out of My Head by Didier Van Cauwelaert)
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

When I came across Unknown, I thought I had already seen it.  It just seemed familar, but I think that is because I saw both Kruger and Neeson promoting it on shows such as Graham Norton.  But apart from that, it was quite a good movie, continuing the re-emergence of Neeson as a bit of an 'action hero', after movies such as Taken and A-Team. 

Uknown tells the story of Neeson and his wife Jones, attending a science conference in Berlin, when a car accident robs Neeson of his short-term memory and leaves him in hospital for several days.  When he leaves the hospital, he finds that someone has taken his place and his wife no longer recognises him.  Turning to the cab driver who saved him from the accident (Kruger), they then have to work out what has happened while fleeing from the strange people trying to kill them.

A fairly stock-standard thriller, Unknown is lifted by the performances of Neeson and Kruger.  January Jones plays her normal self (I really don't think she has that much of a range, but there you go).  Some reasonable action and chase scenes through Berlin, and you get a decent movie that flew under the radar.  A good "Saturday Night" movie, just don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.


New Years Eve
2011
Starring Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Héctor Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, Sofía Vergara, James Belushi, Cary Elwes, Carla Gugino, Alyssa Milano (man that's a long list!)
Written by Katherine Fugate
Directed by Garry Marshall

My last comment about Unkown applies doubly here - if you really don't expect much, at all, this movie is ok, for what it is.  An American take on the ensemble love movie, with intertwined stories set in New York on New Year's Eve 2011 (which was when I saw it by the way, which did add a nice feeling to it, but obviously that is now hard to replicate unless you go back in time!).  An absolutely enormous cast, with names such as Cary Elwes, Carla Gugino and Alyssa Milano with tiny roles right down the list you must be doing something right.  Some strange "pairings" in this movie with some noticable age differences, which I think was the idea to make it seem different, but not sure if it works - ie. you get Jon Bon Jovi & Katherine Heigel, Ashton Kutcher & Lea Michele, and Zac Efron & Michelle Peiffer!

No surprises at all, but good to see Abigail Breslin growing up as she has a bright future.  I believe this was also the first Zac Efron movie I have ever seen, and he's actually ok in this - I didn't even realise it was him
until the end.  Look, this movie is what it is - it was never going to be an award-winning, blow you away blockbuster, but for a sappy rom-com it was passable.



Love Actually
2003
Starring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Claudia Schiffer, Ivana Miličević, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Shannon Elizabeth, Denise Richards
Written & Directed by Richard Curtis

On the other hand, after watching New Year's Eve we thought we would go back and watch it done right, with Richard Curtis' Love Actually.  What is there left to say about this movie, which really sets the standard for the ensemble rom-com, with actual comedy, touching scenes, and a "realness" which is refreshing.  Curtis' script is perfect, and the casting spot-on with some of the best names in British cinema.  I find myself watching this movie with a huge smile on my face the whole way through, which is a good sign that I thoroughly enjoy it.

The best bit?  For me, it is a tie - 1) the extended scene with Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz, when they have to dive into the lake to save his book sheets through to the kitchen afterwards - both speaking different languages, and the comedic bits but also touching scenes when they are revealing themselves.  And 2) with Laura Linney, when she invites Rodrigo Santora back to her place, she has to leave him for a second to literally do a little happy dance, and the quick cleanup of her bedroom, when she grabs her obviously favourite teddy to hide him, gives him a quick kiss.  It's the little touches like this that really make the movie. 


In Time
2011
Starring Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Vincent Kartheiser, Johnny Galecki
Written & Directed by Andrew Niccol

On paper, In Time has both huge positives for me (great sci-fi premise and some actors I like such as Cillian
Murphy and Vincent Kartheiser and even JT) but also some negatives (I've already mentioned Olivia Wilde moving up my "shits me" list and Amanda Seyfried seems to be doing that as well).  So I went into this movie not knowing which way this one would go.  It starts promising - People only age until 25, and they then stay at that age physically for the rest of their lives - which is only 1 year, unless they can earn more years through work, bartering, however they can.  The currency is literally time, you can use it to buy things but you are shortening your life-span.  People live in "time zones" with the rich (ie. long-life) living separate to the poor, people living literally minute to minute.  JT is one such person, who lives with his mother (Olivia Wilde, remember, just because you look young doesn't mean you are inside).  Life is a constant struggle to ensure that they have enough time to keep living, until one day JT saves the life of a stranger who gives him 100 yrs.  Using this to get into the rich time zone, he finds Amanda Seyfried, the daughter of the man (Vincent Kartheiser) who runs the "time lenders", a really rich family.  Through normal movie magic, they find themselves thrown together on the run, and trying to survive but also to break the cycle and change the world ...

As I said, it starts well, and the underlying premise is really interesting.  It is just a shame that the movie turns into a bog-standard thriller which doesn't really make sense.  I mean, there is some things that happen that make no sense at all - for example, when JT and Seyfried team up, they become Robin Hoods - stealing from the rich (her father) and giving to the poor.  You would think she could use her knowledge of her father's operations to have a technical way to be able to steal, but no, instead they simply seem to be standard bank robbers and do smash and grab break ins.  I mean, no-one else in this world ever thought of doing that?  They don't seem to be very well protected, if two absolute beginners can achieve so much.

And Cillian Murphy's character, a timecop basically, does some very strange things which are never really explained - including being so caught up in chasing JT that by the exact time he catches up to them, he runs out of time himself, basically killing himself.

So, unfortunately it doesn't quite work.  The problem with having such an interesting premise is that expectations start to rise, and when you don't reach them, you end up disappointed when it probably wasn't that bad overall.  Probably not a movie that I will ever watch again, but I'm not sorry I watched it in the first place, if that makes sense.


Attack the Block
2011
Starring Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter, Nick Frost
Written & Directed by Joe Cornish

And finally (thank fuck I hear you say!), Attack the Block.  Set on a council estate in South London on Bonfire night, the movie follows a street gang which have to defend themselves from hostile alien invaders.

Attack the Block doesn't muck around - it gets straight to it, and it needs to with an official running time of only 88 minutes, but around 79 minutes from my reckoning when it actually finishes.  As you know, I like a short movie, so this is on a winner here already!

Much like Super 8 in a strange way, the film is carried by the predominantly young cast of the gang, and they perform very well.  The characters themselves are not that likeable, which, reading some reviews on the Net, has turned off a lot of people from the movie.  But I feel they have missed the point, which is yes, the gang of kids do lots of bad things, including ultimately being the reason why the aliens are after them, but the main character Moses comes to realise the results of his actions, and does stand up and take responsibility.  And let's face it, you don't need to love every character in a movie, that's not the point, this is a horror-comedy much like some old school filmaking - tight environments, being attacked by an enemy you are not sure of, and having to survive to the end of the night.

For what it is, I quite enjoyed Attack the Block (once you get past the London-slang of the street gang which makes them a bit hard to follow to start with!).  Jodie Whittaker really reminds me of someone, but I can't quite put my finger on it - Emily Mortimer maybe?  Anyway, she is good as the victim who ultimately has to rely on the gang to save her life.  I see that Joe Cornish hasn't directed anything before this, but he does have some good writing credits, including the current Tintin movie and the maybe-one-day coming Ant-Man movie!

You could do worse than watch Attack the Block.  It certainly doesn't try and make the young gang-members into angels, and for that I am grateful, as it makes it much more realistic.


Well, that's it for this Review-A-Rama.  If I ever find time to watch this many movies in such a short space, I'll do it again!