Monday, November 07, 2011

Yes, yes I know, behind again.

Alas, I know I had high hopes for getting some serious blogging done, but haven't really been that successful. That being said, I have a couple on the go and will try and bang out some shorter than usual [you're welcome ;) ] posts while I try and catch up.
Enjoy your Monday and until next time!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Captain America: The First Avenger

Yes. I know, I'm way behind on my updates. Again. While I try to think of things to write about the movies I've seen in the theatres, let me tell you about a movie out on DVD I think you should watch, 'Captain America: The First Avenger'. And I hear you Canadians, rolling you eyes at me Captain America Andrea? Isn't that just a 124minute propaganda poster? And you might think that, but the fact of the matter is that it you have to remember that Cap's America doesn't exist anymore. This was a country that  had to be dragged into WWII, hard to imagine right? Not only that but their enemies were the Germans and Japanese, countries who are better known for making cars than their militaries these days. What I'm really getting at is that, while even I was initially concerned that it would be a bunch of flag waving, it really isn't, it comes back down to a good ol' good vs evil archetype; where the good is an skinny, idealistic kid from Brooklyn who just happens to be injected with the Super Soldier Serum that makes him practically invulnerable and the evil is a crazy, mutated Nazi who wants to take over the world. Fun, right?
Interesting fact about this movie, Chris Evan turned down the role of Steve Rogers THREE times before agreeing to take it on. Which is pretty amazing, considering how wonderfully he embodies the character. However, it's a pretty big commitment, 6 flicks [down from the 9 Marvel initially wanted] and the pressure to carry the film, as well as the new Avengers franchise on his back. I was a little worried too, while I'm a big Chris Evans fan, it was more his humour that I loved, and I wasn't sure he could be the 'All-American' boy that Cap needs to be. There was no need to be concerned, Evans turns out one the most empathetic and idealistic performances I've seen in a while. Whether it's when he's digitally made into scrawny Steve or after he becomes Captain America he comes off as sincere in his desire to do the right thing, no matter the cost to his own person.
Do you know who Hugo Weaving is? You may say no, but I bet you're wrong, this guy has been in more blockbuster sci-fi/fantasy films in the past decade than most, 'The Matrix' trilogy, 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'V for Vendetta', he was the voice of Megatron in the 'The Transformers' movies, you get my point. Anyways, he's back again as the Red Skull, the creepy head of Hydra, Hitler's super secret science division. And he's awesome at it. I'm sure playing a villain, as an actor, must be super fun, but he really pulls off the psychotic, world conquerer thing in a way I'm not sure another actor would be able to.
There are a plethora of great supporting performances in this film as well. Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones are great as Dr. Erskine and Col. Phillips respectively. Dominic Cooper plays Howard Stark, yes that would be Tony 'Iron Man' Stark's father, and I can almost believe that the two are related. Last but not least in the supporting cast is the lovely Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Cap's main squeeze.
ALRIGHT! For not really knowing what to say, I have certainly rambled on, as per usual. Needless to say, I think if you should go out and watch 'Captain America: First Avenger', especially, if, like me, you'll be waiting to see the Joss Whedon [EEE!!!] directed 'The Avengers' next summer! See you next time....hopefully sooner rather than later.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Moneyball

Let me just get this out of the way before we get too far into this post. I don't like baseball. I understand the rules and I can appreciate the athleticism and talent it takes to play it, but I think it's slow and boring. What can I say, I'm Canadian, hockey's in my blood. Anyways, that being said, I always love a good sports movie, whether it's a sport I enjoy or not. The thing that really elevates 'Moneyball' for me is that it focuses on something that I enjoy, numbers. I'm not a big math fan per se, but I do love me some stats, I'm kind of a nerd for them, which really made this movie perfect for me.
The movie is an adaptation of the book 'Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game', and I think the phrase after the title says it all. Even someone like me, who knows very little about the teams in the MLB knows that the Yankees have a ridiculous bankroll which makes it possible for them to buy pretty much any player they want, while other teams are forced to watch their best players go where the money is. This sets the stage for 'Moneyball', after losing to the Yankees in the 2001 postseason, the Oakland Athletics lose their three biggest names to free agency and teams with more money. This leaves GM Billy Beane [Brad Pitt] in a bit of a lurch; With a salary of approximately $41 million it's hard to compete with teams like the Yankees with their bankroll of $125 million. He can't get any more money from the owners, so he can't get any other big names to come to Oakland, simply because he can't afford them.
One of the most interesting scenes comes watching Beane and his scouts try to pick players for the upcoming year. They talk about 'pretty swings', 'nice strides' and 'good faces'. I didn't realise the game was so much about looks, and while I suppose these people are trying to bring fans to the stadium, wouldn't a winning team do that better than a good looking one? Beane continues to try and build a competitive team in Cleveland, and while he doesn't get the player he wants he does meet Peter Brand [Jonah Hill] a Yale economics undergrad with big ideas on how to assemble a better team, a statistical approach known as sabremetrics. When Beane returns to Oakland ready to wholeheartedly embrace sabremetrics his scouts are actively hostile to the approach that dismisses their years of experience and intuition and focuses almost solely on the players on base percentage. Despite pissing off his head scout, the rest of the scouting team AND the team manager Beane gets the team he wants, but can they win?
At first the team's poor play seems to be proving all the doubters, in and outside the team, right. But Beane is convinced that they aren't winning because team manager, Art Howe [played by the always superb, Philip Seymour Hoffman] refuses the play the team the way he built it, which included playing a former catcher, Scott Hatteberg [the adorable Chris Pratt] at first base. In a bold move he trades the team's best player to force Howe to do things his way. However as the season progresses so does the team's play, in the end having all the critics to eat their words when the A's go on to an MLB record winning 20 games in a row and make it to the post-season, albeit to lose again in the first round.
Despite falling short in the post season many other teams have gone on to take Beane's sabretrics-based approach at building their teams.
Okay, now I know that I've already rambled on for far too long, but just a couple extra little notes. Brad Pitt was superb as Billy Beane. The man doesn't make a lot of movies these days, [how can he with that passel of kids he has?] but it's obvious that when he does choose a role, he chooses one he care about. I also have to say how impressed I was by Jonah Hill. He's made his name being a funny guy, but here he proves that he isn't a one trick pony, and pulls off this dramatic role really well. Last but not least, Chris Pratt, you may not know him, and that's too bad. He's done mostly TV in the past few years, including currently being the adorable goofball Andy on 'Parks and Recreation' [<- this show is awesome, you should watch it]. His portrayal of Scott Hatteberg is wonderful; he brings a sweet uncertainty to his character that really makes you want to see him succeed.
Alright!! That's an awful lot about a movie about a sport I don't like, but it was darn good flick. Getting back into the swing of blogging is a little tricky, but stick with me and I promise to try and be more concise from now on. ;)

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Warrior

I have to say I was wholly disappointed with the options available to me for my birthday movie this year. There really weren't a lot of 'group friendly' flicks out so my good friends Reen, Eduardo and I saw 'Warrior'. Now I have to admit, I wasn't super interested in seeing this movie, seeing as I have literally no interest in MMA. I don't get it at all: two guys pounding the crap out of each by any means necessary? Nope, writing it out doesn't make it sensible to me. However, the cast was strong and it got not bad reviews, so I figured, let's give it a go!
'Warrior' is the story of two brothers, and their completely different journeys to this giant MMA tournament called 'Sparta'. And while the movie is centred around this sporting event, the plot focuses intently on the two main characters. One has just returned from Iraq and the other is a school teacher. Let me just say right from the get go it's obvious who the victor is. From the moment you meet Tom Hardy's Tommy Conlon you dislike him. He's a jerk, I mean he's obviously a jerk with a HUGE chip on his shoulder, returning home to his formerly abusive and alcoholic father [Paddy Conlon, played masterfully by Nick Nolte] looking for a fight, but he's a jerk nonetheless. Joel Edgerton's Brendan Conlon on the other hand is a devoted family man; married with two girls and is a teacher that genuinely wants to impart knowledge to his students....Mmmm, I wonder who we're going to want to win?
Brendon is a high school physics teacher who used to fight but has settled down for his family. However, despite him and his wife working three jobs between the two of them, they're on the verge of losing their home. After a depressing meeting with a loan manager at a bank he decided to go to an amateur MMA fight to try and win some easy money. While he wins the fight, he also loses in a big way. Apparently the school board frowns on that type of behaviour from their teachers, and he's suspended. This puts him on the path to Sparta, he's an out of shape, former fighter, an underdog that you can't help but cheer for.
An odd subplot of the movie that furthers the 'Go Brendon Go' is that Tommy is an Iraq War hero. I know this sounds like maybe it should endear the audience to him, buuut not so much. He saved a group of soldiers...while he was on his way out of the country, abandoning his post. The character is so cold and awful to his now sober and repentant father that his words and actions in America override any heroism he did in Iraq. While his dad just wants to begin rebuilding a relationship with his son, Tommy only wants to berate him, and get out his anger on a man that doesn't exist anymore. No matter how many times he apologises, Tommy is unrelenting in his complete and utter dislike of his father. The final straw is when Paddy goes to talk to Tommy after a fight and Tommy spews out so much hate that his father falls off the wagon in a big way. How can any audience possibly like a character like that?
While watching Tommy alienate his family was hard, for me the worst part was watching the fighting. Just a personal thing, I don't like seeing people get the snot kicked out of them, even if it means they can win five million bucks to save their family. This made the last twenty minutes of the movie a little hard to watch, but I just had to see how the final battle would play out.
Wellll, that was a bit of a long post for the first one back, and probably a little rambly, but hey, I'm a little out of practice! I'll try and be more concise with the next few, until then: Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Wow. Is it really October?!

Where did this summer go?! I honestly can't believe that it's been 5 month since I posted! Bad Andrea, bad! I'll admit that I didn't see too many movies this summer, most of the ones I wanted to see came out early in the 'summer blockbuster' season and I was left with nothing much to watch come August. Then came September, to be quite honest, last month was a bit of a write off, life got WAY out of control.
But now we're on to October, and things seem to finally be coming together. Which means, I'll finally be resuming my posts!
There are a plethora of great looking movies coming out in the next couple of months, so expect to see me frantically trying to watch and then blog about them in a timely manner right here!
See you soon [I promise!]

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Alas, summer thou art a blog suck!

You know all those things that are awesome about summer? Weddings on the beach, trips to visit friends, weddings in parks? Well it's those very things that have caused the disastrous drop in posts from this blogger. I haven't even seen that many movies this summer despite the many that I'm dying to see, I haven't even seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 for crying out loud!!! Sorry, I'm calm now, although still a little distraught.
That being said, I do have a backlog of blogs I intend to get out before the summer is over [HP included, when I finally see it], but it probably won't be this weekend. This weekend I get to take part in something supremely awesome, the annual San Diego Comic Con. I KNOW!!! I can hardly contain my excitement either! I may do a few updates on my Tumblr about the experience, and I DO intend to see Captain America: The First Avenger while I'm there. Who knows, maybe I'll be so inspired by the creativity and geekery I'll bang out a few posts on our off days...we'll see!!
Until then, read some old posts, have a look at my Tumblr here and have a generally fun summer!

Monday, June 27, 2011

X-Men: First Class

Exceptionellement bien fait, a été ma première impression de X-Men: First Class...oh sorry, pardon me, the surprisingly large amount of subtitles in this flick must have rubbed off on me. I have to say I didn't have overly high expectations for this movie. The last few X-Men movies have been so disappointing for a fan like myself, sure I wanted it to be great, but I was prepared to be underwhelmed yet again. Which all leads me to how pleasantly surprised I was by this new installment. I'm not sure if they're going to re-launch the franchise from this point, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing WAY more James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Professor X and Magneto. 
As I mentioned at the start one of the most amazing things about X-Men: First Class is that about half of it is in subtitles. Seriously! As the heroes and villains globe hop we get to find out how many languages they [well Fassbender, really] can speak. We have German, spoken surprisingly well by Kevin Bacon, Russian and Spanish as well. I love that comic book movies nowadays realise that they don't have to pander to the lowest common denominator in the audience. Many of us coming to see these movies are not only fans of the comics, but are also generally intelligent people, who are not opposed to reading subtitles AND love awesome action and explosions! 
Let me get something out of the way before I get into this next bit. I love James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. They are two actors that I will literally follow anywhere, literature, action, I'm there. So when I say that they were wonderful in this movie, you may not quite believe that I'm being completely objective, but that's your loss. These actors have to follow in the footsteps of cinematic giants in the roles that they're playing, Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Patrick Stewart, that's right, two KNIGHTS! However, they bring new life to the characters, now at the beginning of their X-lives. McAvoy is charming and energetic as the young Charles Xavier. While his intentions might not always be pure, they are always good. Watching him want to see the best in not only his new friend Erik, but the rest of the human world that seems hellbent on destroying themselves during the Cuban missile crisis, you really get a sense of Xavier and the man/mutant he will become. 
On the other side we get Michael Fassbender, who is absolutely electric as Erik Lehnsherr, soon to be known as Magneto. His motivations behind his mutant brotherhood from the later movies become perfectly clear. He's forced by unspeakable methods to learn to unleash his powers when he's in a German concentration camp as a child. After the war he spends his adult life tracking down the men responsible for his personal pain, especially Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw. Where McAvoy is charming, Fassbender is charismatic and enigmatic, and, it nearly goes without saying, really sexy. He's a dangerous man who's angry at the human race, he's seen what people can do to each other and is determined to use his powers to rise above them. 
The friendship between these men seems wholly unlikely, considering their opposing ideologies. But in the beginning it was just about bringing mutants together, to train, so they could oppose Shaw's evil mutants. There was a super fantastic cameo during their recruitment campaign, I'm not going to spoil it, but it was AWESOME! And made up for the no Stan Lee cameo in this flick.
Jennifer Lawrence is on a tear. Nominated for an Oscar in the spring, snapped up the lead in a major franchise ['Hunger Games'] AND steals the show from the other ladies in X-Men: First Class. Her portrayal of the conflicted Raven/Mystique was wonderful. What she really wants is to be accepted and loved for who she is, to be 'mutant and proud'. She's grown up being friends with Charles but doesn't seem to share his optimism about humans eventually accepting mutants, quite possibly because she has to constantly hide who she is, even from other mutants. 
On the other hand we have January Jones. Siiigh, sure she fills out Emma Frost's white bra nicely, but she's stiff as cardboard. She's obviously there as arm candy for Kevin Bacon, and that's probably a good thing. 
Like I said before, I was pretty impressed with this flick and would be happy to see more of these characters in X-roles, as long as the studios keep up the character driven stories. It's the reason we love the comics and the thing that makes movies interesting! So way to go Matthew Vaughn! [that's the director, folks] keep up the good work and I'll be in my seat at the theatre!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Kung Fu Panda 2

Oh kids movies! How I love thee! Oh 3D! How I loathe thee! Seriously. This is the dilemma that comes up EVERYTIME a new kids flick comes out. I adore kids movies, they're (usually) so imaginative and cheeky, and just plain fun to watch. However, these days it seems that every kids movie is in 3D, and I'm not going to harp on it AGAIN, but I think we all know how I feel about 3D and it's evil grip on the film industry these days. Now that's out of the way, Kung Fu Panda 2!
I loved the first one, to be quite honest, I was supremely surprised by how much loved the first one, so needless to say I was pretty psyched to see Po and the Furious Five back in action. I have to say when I first found out that the new baddie that Po was going to have to up against was a peacock I was a little apprehensive. A bird? Really? With fancy feathers? However, Shen [voiced by the always amazing Gary Oldman] turned out to be truly menacing, with metal claws and hypnotic spots on his plumage not to mention a psychotic need to be all powerful. Po has to unearth the secrets of his past to figure out how to stop Shen and his gunpowder powered weapons. 
I really loved in the first movie when we were first introduced to Po's dad, the little noodle obsessed goose. They have such a cute dynamic, although one that becomes strained as Po searches for his lost family. What really comes across in this movie is that parents love their kids, whether they're biologically theirs or not; they just want what's best for their kids.
One thing I find very interesting about both Kung Fu Panda movies is that they have all this amazing voice talent that just goes to waste. Don't get me wrong, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman, who have the majority of the speaking parts are wonderful. Jack Black has a voice made for animation and Hoffman's gravelly tones are great in any format. But Dreamworks has gone out and hired an all-star cast that mostly, in my opinion, goes completely underused.   Sure, the story is about Po, and Jack Black, is well, loquacious, to say the least. But why hire Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan if they're all only going to get a line or two at most? I suppose it's so you can say they're in your movie, but only barely.
However, that being said, I think Dreamworks continues to impress. The animation in the movie was gorgeous. The characters look great and the backgrounds are just amazing. Not only that, but the story is well done, sure not overly original considering the first movie and all, but still pretty darn good. 

I'm baaaack!!!

Hello Internets!
I have returned from my not-as-brief-as-I-meant sabbatical from the blogosphere. Hockey is finished for a couple months, and even though Wimbledon is on, a fortnight of wonderful tennis just isn't as all consuming as watching your favourite team almost win the Stanley Cup.
Not only did I miss posting for almost a month I also missed a couple of weeks of movies while I was wrapped in my ice cocoon, but I'm making up for it with a vengeance here! Last week I saw Super 8 and X-Men: First Class and I fully intend to see two more movies for tomorrow's Matinee Monday...although what those two movies are I'm not quite sure yet, there sure are a lot of options out there right now! 
I also have a couple of long overdue posts to put up; Kung Fu Panda 2, as well as the trailer reviews from April and May. So, I hope that it goes without saying that you, Internet, are going to be seeing a lot of me in the next week or so! July's fast approaching and I have massive amounts of travel to do, a couple of weddings and then for the REAL trip, San Diego Comic Con with my most excellent friend Craig. Not to worry, I'm looking forward to all the movies coming out in the next month, so I will spending lots of time at the theatre too!
See you soon!!

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Hangover Part 2

You may may or may not have heard, but the little comedy that could has a sequel. Seriously, remember when The Hangover came out in the summer of 2009? It was a 'surprise hit', which I personally found surprising; when you put Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifiankis in a comedy in Vegas it's bound to be hilarious. The premise was unique, the dialogue was ridiculous [I'm talking about Zach in particular] and it was just an all around fun flick. I remember sitting in the theatre just laughing and laughing with my friends. Now, I'm going to admit, while I did see The Hangover Part II with my friends again, and I did laugh, it wasn't quite as hard as the first time round. Director Todd Phillips took his first movie and placed it in Bangkok. Literally. While I'm not really as opposed to that as some other reviewers I've read seem to be, it is a little bit of bummer. Nonetheless! I still did enjoy this flick!
Let's start with Ed Helms, you know how I love him. [remember my Cedar Rapids review?] He has this really great innate ability to be completely lovable and hilarious at the same time. In The Hangover II his character, Stu, is getting married. Although not to Heather Graham's stripper from the first movie, which, to be honest, kinda makes me sad. I really hoped those two crazy kids could work it out. Since his fiancee's family is from Thailand that's where they're getting married. However, understandably, after the events in Vegas he's pretty reluctant to have a bachelor party. This brings us to the opening hilarity, of Stu trying to convince his friends that brunch at IHOP is the bachelor party. Needless to say Phil [the always sexy Bradley Cooper] and Doug [the pretty dang adorable Justin Bartha] aren't overly impressed. However, once in Thailand and after a particularly mean-spirited speech from the father of the bride, he's convinced to have a nice safe little bachelor bonfire on the beach. Can you see where this is going? Yeah, I thought you might. Despite the predictability, it still leads to a pretty fantastic adventure through Bangkok. The morning after scene, when they wake up in one hell of a disgusting hotel room, is awesome. 
How did this all happen, AGAIN? Alan, [the completely ridiculous Zach Galifianakis] of course, AGAIN! The weirdo is still fixated on his 'awesome' weekend with the Wolfpack. And after finagling an invite to the wedding, he's desperate for the good times to keep on a rollin'. However, crazy ol' Alan, seems to feel that the group's being infiltrated by Stu's new brother-in-law, Teddy, 'cause he's crazy. Teddy is the apple of his father's eye, and despite the father not being even a little bit fond of Stu, Teddy's a good kid who gets along well with Stu, a little too well for Alan the crazy man. This prompts Alan to spike some marshmallows [yes, you read that correctly] with something he gets from Mr. Chow [Ken Jeong] to take Teddy out of the picture for a little while. As you can imagine that goes horribly awry. And by horribly awry, I mean face tattoos, severed fingers, gun smugglers, tranvestites, riots, kidnapped monks and of course, a chain smoking, drug dealing monkey. 
Needless to say The insanity that happens in Bangkok is much more dangerous and dirty than what happened in Vegas. But it still follows the same line, this time Teddy, not Doug, is missing, and after first checking the roof, the Wolfpack sets out in search of their missing friend.
As I mentioned, Mr. Chow is back, and, unfortunately, so is his penis. I've seen way more of Ken Jeong than I care for . Don't get me wrong, he is hilarious, but I just don't think I need to see him naked again. Although, if you're a fan of his [who isn't!] and you're not watching Community, then get on that, he's WAY funnier on it AND he keeps his clothes on!
Despite rumours of various cameos, from Bill Clinton to Mel Gibson, the ones we get are from Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and, of course, Mike Tyson.
It's no Bridesmaids [which is obviously this summer's The Hangover] The Hangover Part II is still a good time and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first one.
Sorry it took so long for this post get written! More to come soon!

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Just like a puck to the head

I love movies. I think having a blog where I write about them on fairly regular basis would support that statement. However, I have another love. One that consists of grown men skating around on a giant sheet of ice trying to shoot a small rubber disc into a net. Sounds silly, but I assure you it isn't. And the fact that my team, my Vancouver Canucks are in it to win it this year is making me, quite literally, giddy as a school girl. My life has revolved around the hockey schedule for the last couple of weeks, but don't fear dear readers, I've still managed to see a couple new flicks in between games....I just haven't managed to find time to form thoughts about those movies and get them on here.
That being said, expect a flurry of posts in the next week, much like the flurry of shots the Canucks will be putting on Boston's exceptional goalie, Tim Thomas.
See you soon, aaaaand GO CANUCKS GO!

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Bang Bang Club

The Bang Bang Club presents me with a dilemma. Which I think might very well be the intention of the film, but nonetheless I feel conflicted about the movie I saw.
The film follows four combat photojournalists in South Africa near the end of apartheid, and the danger they faced to get their photos. Now seeing as I was only in elementary school at the time, I have to admit, I'm not really 'up' on apartheid. Sure, I know general information about it, the ANC and Nelson Mandela, but I'm sad to admit that I was in the dark about the fierce civil clashes that were occurring in the country as it tried to become a more equal state, although, considering it's often referred to as the 'Hidden War' I suppose I'm probably not the only one.
The four men that made up the Bang Bang Club were Kevin Carter [Taylor Kitsch], Greg Marinovich [Ryan Phillipe], Ken Oosterbroek [Frank Rautenbach] and Joao Silva [Neels Van Jaarsveld]. These four men would literally throw themselves in the middle of the violence to get their pictures, risking life and limb to get images of the conflict so they could show the world what was really happening in South Africa. 
The story focuses mostly on Greg Marinovich, his joining the group and his rise to fame through his Pulitzer award winning photograph of ANC supporters brutally murdering a man they suspected to be a spy. Ryan Phillipe does a pretty good job as Marinovich, even if his South African accent could have used a little work, just a little. 
It also focuses to a somewhat lesser extent Kevin Carter. Despite his passion for the work, his troubles with drugs caused a lot of personal problems that eventually led to a downward spiral culminating in his suicide after winning the Pulitzer Prize for a photo he took of a starving Sudanese girl being stalked by a vulture. 
These two snapshots of the characters bring me back to my dilemma. I find the story interesting, but the characters aren't terribly likable. The photos they take are breathtaking and horrifying, and brought a face to an awful period in their country's history. However, they   remain apart, as media, but also as whites living in a segregated society. The real question of the movie, for me at least, becomes the role of media in a combat situation like this. Do you take action to save a life? Or do you stand apart to document it? When Marinovich tries to step in a stop ANC men from murdering the man they think to be a spy, they take swipes at his back with a knife. Carter takes a heartbreakingly perfect picture of the strife happening in Africa, but when questioned about the fate of the little girl, we're somewhat horrified to discover he has no idea what happened to her. He got his picture and moved on. In a time such as ours, so filled with conflict, and in an age where we can't get our news fast enough, this film is relevant for the questions it brings up about the place and role of media in conflict. 
Now that I think about it, this movie would probably best be seen with another person, because it sparks this kind of discussion. Instead I saw it alone and ended up ruminating over it on my own. The film definitely isn't for everyone, it's well shot, and tells its story well, but it depicts an extremely turbulent time complete with the violence and bloodshed that was occurring at the time. 
Whew! I have to say, I'm really looking forward to my lighter fare for next time, when I [along with most of the movie watching world, I would guess] will be seeing The Hangover 2.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Bridesmaids

Say what you will about SNL these days; particularly how the only consistent funny sketches are now Update and the SNL Digital Short [yeah, I went there.] but some pretty funny folks have come from that show. Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are two such people, and they absolutely shine in the hilarious and surprisingly heart-warming 'Bridesmaids.'
I'm going to be honest, all I knew about this movie going into it is that I was going to laugh, what I wasn't quite prepared for was how much and how hard. The story centers around Annie [Wiig], who's already not-so-great life quickly down spirals after being chosen to be the maid of honour for her best friend, Lillian [Rudolph]. While trying to pick of the pieces of her own life she tries to plan the perfect fitting, bachelorette and shower for her long time friend, while constantly being outdone by the oh-so-glamourous Helen [Rose Byrne]. Needless to say things go from terrible to ridiculously awful in hilarious fashion. 
The easy banter between Wiig and Rudolph is both funny and natural, but even better is the one-upsmanship between Wiig and Byrne. I knew that Kristen Wiig, with her sketch comedy background, could pull this off, what I wasn't quite prepared for was Australian Rose Byrne to be quite so funny. She's never really done comedy, the film she did before this was 'Insidious', not really a comedy goldmine...Nonetheless, she held her own with the SNL alums. What she, nor the rest of the cast, could do was not have their scene stolen by Melissa McCarthy. McCarthy plays Megan, the sister of the groom, who is fully confident of her awesomeness, even if everyone else isn't quite so sure. She's just uproariously hilarious every time she opens her mouth, and in some instances just when she appears on screen. 
I have to say, as a single lady in my late 20s, this movie struck a chord. Like Annie, a lot of my friends are starting to get married, and while I'm super happy for them, it sure does start to remind you of all the ways your life just isn't quite working out the way you thought it would. However, Annie has one up on me. She gets to be Jon Hamm's booty call. Sure, he's a jackass in the flick, but people, this is Don Draper, would you kick him out of bed? No, I didn't think so...although he does kick Annie out of his; he really is awful in this movie. But that's okay, 'cause Annie gets to be wooed by the adorable State Police officer Rhodes. Chris O'Dowd, from 'The I.T. Crowd' [a show I would highly recommend] certainly makes an impression as the Irish cop [I'm not sure, they never really explain how that one happened] who steals Annie's heart. He's best known for his roles in England, but after this I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot more of Chris O'Dowd on this side of the pond and I'm a-okay with that!
I was lucky enough to see my matinee of 'Bridesmaids' with my good friend Nicole [that's right readers, the same Nicole who came with me to '127 Hours']. We just laughed and laughed and laughed. So I would highly recommend grabbing a good friend and going to see 'Bridesmaids'. Unless you don't like to laugh, who doesn't like to laugh?!? NO ONE, that's who. Seriously, people, go see 'Bridesmaids.'

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Thor

Oh Marvel! You've done it again! I know this probably won't come as a surprise to most you, dear readers, but on top of being an ardent movie fan, I'm also a comic fangirl, so Mighty Marvel Matinee Monday was a pretty exciting one for me. That being said I have to admit I was starting to have my qualms about movies being made out Marvel comics. Sure, the recent franchises got off to pretty good starts, 'X-Men', 'Spider-Man', but then the sequels came along...and 'Fantastic Four.' However, those were all co-productions with Marvel Films and other studios. When Marvel Films switched over to Marvel Studios and brought us 'Iron Man' I was ecstatic, think about how awesome that movie was. Pretty awesome, right? I thought we'd put the not so great Marvel movies behind us, and then came 'Wolverine'. I try not to think about it too much, it still hurts my insides with what they did to my favourite character in the Marvel Universe. Then I had to remind myself that this was another co-production. I don't know what it is, but when they have to work with others the movies just aren't as awesome. When Marvel announced 'Thor' along with all the other movies leading up to the 'Avengers' I sincerely hoped it would be more 'Iron Man' than 'Wolverine', and thank the Gods of Asgard it was!
The movie itself is a lot like its' hero namesake, big, brash, heroic and a little bit silly. I think the real coup for the brass at Marvel HQ was getting Kenneth Branagh to direct this movie. Getting a director who is well versed in the ways of the Bard is perfect for a story that has the types of elements that Shakespeare was so fond of; honour, exile, revenge, mixed with a touch of magic. They did a similar thing with 'Iron Man', having Jon Favreau direct. Both men are great directors because not only can they tell a story, they can tell a story that's driven by characters, not the action around those characters. And that's what these movies are all about, introducing us to our comic book heroes.
Speaking of heroes, how about that Chris Hemsworth? When we last saw him on the big screen he was sacrificing himself aboard the USS Kelvin so James Tiberius Kirk could grow up to captain the Enterprise. At the time I thought he would be a good Captain America, but after seeing this movie, I have to say, he makes a damn fine Thor. He's able to play the arrogant God very well, someone so sure of his power and place in life. Up in Asgard his arrogance helps make him into a great warrior, but it's also his downfall Once exiled to Earth that same character flaw makes him hilarious, nothing like seeing someone who thinks they're all powerful get taken out by a Dr with a needle. Hemsworth somehow manages to make Thor both a warrior and goofball, and also pulls off a transition from prideful fool to hero somewhere in there. There are many little intentionally funny moments when Thor first arrives on Earth and he pulls them off beautifully. To be quite honest, he kind of looks like he's having the time of his life, I can imagine it's not everyday you get to fight Frost Giants with an all-powerful hammer, and then ask a curly haired pet store owner for a lizard large enough to ride. Also, I would like to put in a special thank you to his trainer, wow. That's some impressive work my friend, keep it up, and thank you, seriously. Thank. You.
Ahem, moving right along...the rest of the cast was also very good, except for one misstep I'll talk about in a minute. Tom Hiddleston is just fantastic as Loki, the trickster and traitor. Loki's calm demeanor is the polar opposite of Thor's. Where Chris Hemsworth brings us a loud, headstrong warrior in Thor, Hiddleston is quiet, calm and calculating as Loki. After sticking around after the credits I have to say I'm pretty sure we'll get to see Loki again and I'm certainly looking forward to it.
Then we have our supporting characters:
Kat Dennings may be type cast as the quirky sarcastic Darcy, and that would be a shame if she wasn't so damn good at it. Her little moments throughout the movie are some of the best and definitely some of the funniest.
I've always been a Stellan Skarsgard fan, even if his movie choices are sometimes a little odd. ['Mamma Mia'? with that "singing" voice? Really?] However, he pulls off the vaguely paternal and mostly skeptical, Erik Selvig very nicely.
I also really enjoyed Idris Elba as the enigmatic gatekeeper of Asgard, Heimdall. He may not have a lot of screen time, but whenever he was there he commanded every moment of it.
I love Anthony Hopkins, who doesn't? And I really am glad that he's getting some work in this ever evolving industry. But I hope I'm not the only one that felt he maybe phoned in his performance of Odin justalittlebit...
Now for the one casting misstep of the movie: Natalie Portman. I'm a huge fan of hers and there's no doubting her acting prowess. That 'Black Swan' performance and the Oscar that accompanied it are proof of that, and she has previous experience bringing a comic book character to life as Evie in 'V for Vendetta', but she just felt wrong to me as scientist and love interest, Jane Foster. I couldn't quite put my finger on the problem until the second time I saw the movie, she isn't nerdy enough. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I really think that was the issue. She does a fine job acting the part, but I really don't think she was the right choice for the role. I would have liked maybe to see an unknown in the role, or maybe even promoting Kat Dennings from sarcastic sidekick to leading lady.
One last thing before I wrap up. I absolutely LOVE the way Marvel is building up to 'The Avengers'. With Agent Coulson, not-quite-so-mild-mannered S.H.I.E.L.D. agent reappearing and taking a little bit larger role, we see a bit more of what the mysterious organization's all about. There were also references to both Tony Stark [Iron Man] and Bruce Banner [Hulk]. However, my absolute favourite thing, the thing that caused me to have a tiny fangirl freakout in the theatre, was the introduction of Clint Barton. 'Iron Man' might have had Black Widow, but 'Thor' got Hawkeye, and Hawkeye is awesome. 'The Avengers' is just looking better and better.
Welllll, that was certainly a long one, but let's just pretend I'm making up for some short posts in the past couple of weeks, okay? Not rambling on like an crazed fangirl...Until next time, as Stan Lee says, 'Excelsior!'

Friday, May 13, 2011

Late post!

Hello, dear readers!
I have to apologise for the extreme lateness of my 'Thor' review. I was already to get it out aaaand then Blogger went down for maintenance....Needless to say, no review posted yet. I'll have it our by the end of the night! Promise!
Update 11:24pm....so, I'm officially breaking my promise. My second viewing of 'Thor' tonight and the series finale of 'Smallville' interrupted my plans to write a most excellent review. So, new promise. Tomorrow. 100% tomorrow, or you can hunt me down with pitchforks and torches...but I'll definitely get it done tomorrow, so no hunting will be required.

I hope.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Welcome new readers!

Taking a brief reprieve from reviews [since I'm going to 'Thor' tomorrow!] I thought I'd do a post to address all you folks you seem to have started reading. Hi! Nice to see you here, thanks for dropping by and seeing what I have to say!
I've noticed a big jump in readership in the last little while, which I find both amazing and alarming. Amazing; because I have no idea who all of you are, [but am still super happy that you're here] and alarming because sometimes I don't think I'm doing the movies justice, and I have a tendency to ramble on about things that matter only to me. Although those things must matter to a few of you as well...like how 3D is the worst and I wish it would just go away already.
Another little thing I wanted to address is the tendency for my reviews to be generally favourable. There's a good reason for this, and it's not that I like every movie, far from it. But since I have no financial backing for this little project other than my regular job, I really only go to see movies that I think I will like. I mean, think about it, would you really shell out $13 to sit through something you already knew you weren't going to like? If the answer is anything other than no, you're some kind of crazy masochist. Sure, sometimes movies disappoint me, but those trailer making people can be very tricky.
With all that being said there are A LOT of movies coming out this summer that I'm really looking forward to seeing, and I'm sure all of you are as well. So hopefully you folks will be stopping by ye olde blog to see if a movie is worth your time or not, and if you have similar tastes to me I will be sure to let you know! And I know not everyone has the same taste as me, but isn't that what makes life exciting!? So, if you disagree [or agree!] feel free to throw a comment down in the comments section, let's get our conversation on!
Upcoming posts this week will be my late [as per usual] April trailer wrap-up and my review for 'Thor' which I will be seeing for my matinee tomorrow, who knows, maybe I'll see you there!! Until next time, Happy Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Water for Elephants

Monday I went to see 'Water for Elephants' and I have to admit, I wasn't so sure about seeing this movie. First of all I've read the book of the same name that it's based on, and it's fantastic. And while I'm a believer that book adaptations don't have to be 100% faithful as long as they keep the spirit intact[see: 'Harry Potter' and 'Lord of the Rings'] I was concerned that it was going to turn into a 'look we got Robert Pattinson in our movie, let's forget the plot' kind of thing. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Also, my usually reliable sources, Rotten Tomatoes and EW, gave it so-so reviews, but after seeing those same sources give my new nemesis 'Fast Five' generally favourable reviews, I figured I was going to stop trusting those clowns and see it for myself.
To be quite honest I'm pretty happy that I did see it, if only to get proof that Robert Pattinson can actually smile and not look like wood, especially when delivering dialogue that isn't aimed at 12 year old girls. And he had some stiff competition in this movie, his co-stars are two Oscar winners and an elephant!
'Water for Elephants' is the story of Jacob Jankowski [Pattinson] a promising young veterinary student who quite literally runs away to join the circus when his parents both die suddenly and leave him broke. But the circus isn't all fun and games, especially in the 1930s. It's a lot of hierarchy and back breaking hard-work, especially when the ring-leader of said circus is a bi-polar masochist, that would be Christoph Waltz. And while his veterinary skill and willingness to work win August's [Waltz] affections, Jacob's friendship and growing crush on his wife, Marlena [Reese Witherspoon], welllll, don't.
As I mentioned before, the acting in the film was very good, and while I didn't 100% buy the chemistry between Pattinson and Witherspoon, it was close; although his chemistry with Rosie the elephant was totally there. [She must be team Edward, sorry, I couldn't help myself] Pattinson's American accent is MUCH better that in those other movies, and it seemed as if he relished a role where he didn't have to act like an over-protective, sparkly stalker. He's much more natural, and I have to admit I feel pretty bad that he has to follow all this progress with two more 'Twilight' movies. Waltz was in fine form yet again as the slightly off-kilter antagonist, and I'm starting to think he may be pigeon-holed. And don't get me wrong, it's a frighteningly perfect hole, it makes me start to wonder if he can play any other character...anyone else? No, just me, alright then. Witherspoon was lovely as ever, and had the right mix of love and desperation as a woman who both loves and fears her husband.
I will admit that the pace of this movie was a bit slow. However, it may just seem that way because we're so accustomed to the ridiculous pace of everything in our lives nowadays, with instant news and micro-blogging. This movie was set in a slower era and adjusted its pace to its subject.
Overall I will admit that this movie isn't for everyone, with the pace and the casting, it certainly wouldn't appeal to everyone. For example, the crowd of about 15 people I saw it with were all women except for the two boyfriends, who I assume were dragged to it against their wills and the one creepy single guy that was sitting in front of me. However, it was very well done and a fairly true adaptation of the book. If you're one of those people who can't stand Robert Pattinson [for whatever reason, no judgement here] then I would still highly recommend the book, actually I would recommend the book either way.
One last thing, can you feel it? The warming temperatures, the desire to sit in an air conditioned theatre for two hours just to get out of the heat[well, not quite yet], the need to be entertained!?! That's right!! The Summer Movie Season is finally upon us! I already know what I'll be seeing for the next 4 weeks, how about you? Starting with an extra 'M' being added to Monday's review for 'Marvel Matinee Monday' with 'Thor'! The first of three I'm excited to do this summer!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Rio

Yet again I'm a little behind schedule getting my post up, I have a couple of excuses, first of all work's been a bit exhausting this week, plus the Stanley Cup Playoffs [GO CANUCKS GO!]have been diverting a lot of my attention these days, however, I think the main excuse when it comes to the review for this particular movie is that just wasn't that great, so I don't have that much to say.
I didn't hate it, but I most certainly didn't love it. As I've previously mentioned I'm actually a huge fan of animation, and I really thought that 'Rio' would be a good one, but I was disappointed. It certainly had it's moments, the colours are gorgeous, and the carnivale scenes are pretty fantastic. Jesse Eisenberg is adorable as a neurotic macaw and Jemaine Dupuis [from 'Flight of the Conchords' which is awesome] was hilarious as the evil cockatoo, but other than that the movie was just kind of blah.
I went to the movie on Easter Monday, and I have to admit, I forgot it was a holiday. I was promptly reminded when I got into the theatre, that was packed with kids and their parents. And as the movie went on I started to feel bad for those parents. Sure, I paid to be there, and to see it in my old nemesis, 3D, but I don't ever buy snacks at the theatre, so my expenses are down to just the ridiculous $15.5o to get in. However, the poor parents around me had to pay for not only themselves, but also their munchkins [again, for the terribly overpriced 3D]. And all of the kids around me had those snack packs, I'm not sure how much those are running these days, but I'm sure it's not cheap. And after shelling out the big bucks they had to sit through a movie that didn't offer anything for them. I've found in the past that watching kids movies with kids in the audience often improves the watching experience, they laugh at silly things and really get into it, which helps me get into it. Not this time. There were a few '3D moments' that they 'oohed' at, but that was about it, even the kids weren't really into it, which lead to me just being a bit bored.
I really don't like putting out bad vibes for movies, especially animated ones, but I was really hoping for more from 'Rio', and was sorely disappointed. I also have to admit that we seem to be sitting in a little movie lull here. I honestly have no clue what I'm going to see on Monday. I'm not really excited about anything that's in theatres right now. The awards season movies are all gone and the summer blockbuster season doesn't start until 'Thor' comes out on May 6th [which I'm super psyched for]. Sure, 'Fast Five' came out this week. I'm sure anyone who's perused this blog before will remember my absolute astonishment that yet another movie is being made in this franchise. Let me just add that both Rotten Tomatoes and Entertainment Weekly, have given this movie favourable reviews, I expect to see pigs flying past my window any minute now. These are both places I usually check to see if a movie is worth seeing if I'm still on the fence, they have let me down. So, no, I won't be seeing 'Fast Five' on Monday, if anyone has any suggestions, bring em' on!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sprite Suicide, or Why I Hate Commercials

For the first time since I started my blog in January I missed my matinee, but that doesn't mean I lack things to say. Far from it actually, I've been wanting to do a post about this particular blight to cinema for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.
Last week when I went to see 'Hanna' [which was great] I had to sit through eleven, that's right ELEVEN! commercials before I got to see the movie. Now I understand that we're still in a time of economic recovery and all that, but do theatres really need that much corporate sponsorship? Movies aren't cheap to make or distribute, I really do get that, but why does that mean I have to be forced to sit through multiple car, pop and bank commercials before I even get to see the trailers?! I can understand maybe three or four commercials, that's normally about how many trailers there are before movies, so sure, let's make it equal. Having to endure a minimum of 10 minutes of commercials before I get to see my movie does not only make me not want to be a patron of these products but also makes me want to search out a commercial-free theatre, if such a thing exists, or even do something I can barely contemplate, arrive late to a movie on purpose, I hate those people even more...but I digress, that's a blog for another day.
Moving on from the quantity of commercials, I want to focus on one alone. The worst one. The one I hate most of all. Let me paint you a picture. It's a scorching hot day, and two groups of sweaty guys are standing around and playing hoops across a parched playground. Two of these guys look at each other and then suddenly take a run at each other. As they come together they jump in to the air, collide...and burst into water? Apparently this looks like fun and couple more guys run in to each other. All their friends bask in their water, feeling refreshed. WHAT THE HELL!? Am I the only one who doesn't see the connection between these guys essentially committing suicide and refreshment? 'Yay! My thirst is quenched! Hey Johnny, aren't you feeling re- Oh. Right.' Blech, this thing infuriates me. I sure hope Sprite rethinks it's advertising campaign, not that I would switch from Ginger Ale to them for my non-cola beverages anyway, but still.
That's all for now, see you next Monday!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hanna

I'll admit it, I've been at a bit of a loss at how exactly to review 'Hanna'. [and it doesn't help that the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been doing their best to distract me] There's a lot going on in this movie, and I really feel that words can't particularly describe it. Director Joe Wright [Pride & Prejudice, Atonement] whets his action chops with his usual visual style and fantastic cast.
The movie centres around teenaged Hanna, who has spent her life being trained to be the perfect assassin by her father[Eric Bana]; who then puts those incredible skills on display as she searches for revenge against the woman who killed her mother [Cate Blanchett]
Saoirse Ronan [pronouced seer-sha] is angelic in looks but fights like Jason Bourne, as Hanna, taking out men [with guns] three times her size. The fights are crisply choreographed, Hanna is an extremely efficient killer, not expending any extra energy. She also manages to capture the wonder of a girl who is seeing the world for the first time. Her wide blue eyes take in everything both assessing danger and appreciating the beauty at the same time.
The visuals of this movie are fantastic, going from the blinding white of the Northern forest where Hanna was raised to the scorching red desert in Morocco where she ends up after killing her way out of a holding cell. You get the feeling that nothing that is captured on film was there by accident. Wright also has a fondness for long one shots. There are two fine examples in this movie. One follows Hanna's father Erik outside a train station and down underground, all in one steadycam shot. There aren't a lot of things that bring out the extreme film nerd in me, but that type of shot certainly is one of them. The second occurs amid massive containers on a dock, that also bring to light the absolutely fabulous sound design of this movie. The music following the camera and accentuating characters and their actions.
A little more about the sound design. It's one of those things I think gets ignored by audiences because they don't know what it is. If you want to find out, watch 'Hanna'. The music is very unique, [it was scored by the elusive Chemical Brothers] and sometimes hides in the background, but often an essential part of the action.
This film was unique and well done, and actually has an interesting Vancouver connection. The idea for the story comes from Seth Lochhead, a Nanaimo native who attended the Vancouver Film School. If 'Hanna' is any indication of the type of movies he's going to write, I certainly hope he has some more up his sleeve.
Until next time....GO CANUCKS GO! Sorry. Couldn't help it.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Source Code

'Source Code' is odd. But a good odd, an odd that I actually really appreciate in this day and age where it seems like at least 60% of the movies that are released are re-makes, re-interpretations or out and out sequels. While there are little bits of different stories (particularly 'Grounhog Day' with hints of 'Inception') this story feels new and unique, and on top of all that it's very well done.
I think what I appreciate most about this movie is that it doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator; it assumes that its' audience is intelligent enough to comprehend it's vaguely complicated plot. Understanding how Capt. Colter Stevens [Jake Gyllenhaal] is reliving the last 8 minutes is reliving another man's life is not as important as understanding the whys and hows of his task. We're given a scientific explanation by the head of the Source Code program [Jeffrey Wright] that includes a little biology and some quantum physics, with a little parallel universe thrown in, but honestly, I really feel that it's all secondary, although it was a nice touch to have Colter throw the explanation back, showing he gets it and that he isn't just some dumb soldier. This might be a plot that wouldn't have worked 4 or 5 years ago, but with a movie-going audience familiar with TV shows like 'Lost' and 'Fringe' and movies like 'Inception' there's no need explain the science too much and let us just get on with the action.
While there is plenty of action in 'Source Code' it also, surprisingly, has its fair share of comedic moments.[with a fair few provided by Canadian funnyman Russell Peteres!] The first few times he goes through the last 8 minutes of teacher Sean Fentriss' life are fairly funny. [this was the moment that mostly reminded me of 'Groundhog Day'] At first he's just surprised and then he thinks it's a simulation, which causes him to act like a bit of a fool. Being in a pretty empty theatre and laughing as he tries to convince his fellow travelers that they're not real made me feel foolish myself, but that's the way matinees are sometimes. But as he finally realises that all the people, especially the lovely Christine who sits across from him, on this train are indeed real and actually now deceased he starts to take his task seriously. His task is to find a bomb and then the bomber that is on the doomed train, to stop a second bomb from going off later on in the day, not an easy task to do in 8 minutes. However, after many attempts and dying in an explosion over and over again finding the bomber seems almost anticlimactic.
The real test comes as Colter decides that he needs to save the people on the train-even if they're already dead. I found the end to be pretty cut and dry, but I've heard from a few people who saw 'Source Code' and say that it sparked some debates, always a good sign in my books.
On top of a great story this movie was excellently acted by all. Gyllenhaal is always strong in my eyes, whether it's in indie flicks or big blockbusters. The ladies of the film, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farigma are also wonderful, both shine in very different ways opposite their strong leading man. I've been a Farigma fan since she was in the little watched, Hallmark produced, Snow White [I have an extreme weakness for Hallmark miniseries] and more recently in 'The Departed' and 'Up in the Air'. She's no less fantastic in this film, although it was nice the see a more vulnerable performance from her.
To finish up I'd like to say that I'd like to see more movies like this, and I hope that other studios take note that maybe it's time to be more original. One last thing, there are a bunch of movies that I'm looking forward to seeing coming out on Friday, and I'd love a little help deciding which one I should see on Monday, so vote on that poll up on the right!

Sunday, April 03, 2011

March Trailer Wrap Up

Welcome to the March Trailer Wrap Up! I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath to see how long it would take me to get this sucker out! No 16 days late this month!! Last month I had a friend say that she had to go and track down all the trailers that I mentioned but didn't include on the original post! My bad! This time around I'm including even more trailers AND links to all the ones that I don't post here. Now onto this months trailers!

First for February was the 'The Adjustment Bureau'. Unsurprisingly all the trailers attached to this flick were potential blockbusters that are on their way. First there was Transformers 3. Now, I'm not really sure why they've gone ahead and made another Transformers movie, but I'm pretty excited that there's no Megan Fox in this one. I may let myself down and see this one in theatres. There's just something about seeing this type of movie on the big screen, they're so loud and full of explosions that just can't quite be equalled on a home theatre system. Then there's Source Code, when I saw the trailer I hadn't heard of the movie and thought it looked pretty interesting, now I'm thinking it might in fact be the movie I see tomorrow. I'm a Jake Gyllenhaal fan anyways, and a well told sci-fi-ish drama is always good in my books. Then came Fast Five. When the trailer first started, I thought to myself, 'Mmm, this looks interesting.' Then I heard Vin Diesel's voice, and I thought 'Oh no, they didn't, did they?' And then I saw Paul Walker running and I knew, for some, inexplicable reason, yet another addition to the Fast and the Furious franchise was on our hands. And this time Dwayne The Rock Johnson's joined the cast, cue exasperated eye roll from this girl. I haven't seen one since 2 and I won't be seeing this one either. Last but most certainly not least was the trailer for Paul, and I think we all know how I feel about that, see previous post here. It sure made up for having to watch the 'Fast Five' trailer.

Next up was 'Rango'. And I have to admit I was super psyched for the trailers for this one, kids movies are so much fun! However the first trailer was for Born to Be Wild and it doesn't look so much like fun, but educational and heart warming and not something I generally see in threatres. BUT it does have the wonderful voice of Morgan Freeman to make my ears happy.
Then there was the Zookeeper. Kevin James in what appears to be a Doctor Dolittle/Night at the Museum crossover. Pass. I was getting a little concerned that I wasn't going to like any of the trailers I saw but I was finally saved when the preview for 'Rio' started. This looks like another well done flick from the folks who made 'Ice Age', they've replace the ice and snow with the beaches and bright colours of Rio... and a macaw voiced by 'The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg. I'm totally there.
Then from our friends who have now made four, count 'em four, 'Shrek' movies and still can't seem to give up the franchise comes Puss in Boots. Thank goodness, I don't think I could take a Donkey movie. Antonio Banderas is great as this character, but I'm just not sure if it needs it's own movie. I'll reserve judgment until I start to hear the reviews, but the trailer's pretty cute.
My final animated trailer comes from a movie I already know I'm going to see, Kung Fu Panda. I wasn't sure about the first one, since Jack Black's so hit and miss, and it ended up being hilarious, and this one looks like it won't disappoint!

When I finally saw 'Paul' after waiting so long to see I was actually pretty curious to see what previews would be attached to it. They certainly did not disappoint, I'm looking forward to seeing all four of them later this year. I think I mentioned in the February trailer post that I'm really looking forward to X-Men: First Class, even though Marvel has a way of letting me down with characters that I love. Also James MacAvoy is awesome, and I hadn't seen 'Jane Eyre' yet, but Michael Fassbender who played Rochester stars opposite MacAvoy's Charles Xavier as Erik Lehnsherr, the man who would be Magneto, which makes me even more excited! Next up was 'Arthur'. I know that Russell Brand is a little odd, and not everyone 'gets' him, but I personally think he's a comic genius. He stole every scene he was in in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' and now he gets to carry a movie on his in this one, sharing the screen with the always wonderful Helen Mirren. I know it's a remake of the Dudley Moore version, a version I haven't seen, but I don't know if I'll even bother, I don't know if I'll want the running comparison going on in my head while I watch the new one.
Then I got to see another trailer for Bridesmaids. As previously stated, I'm all over this one. Judd Apatow, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph. Yes, yes and yes. The final trailer before I finally got to see 'Paul' was for 'Your Highness'. I'm aware that it looks silly, and is trying to appeal to the men 18-35 demographic, however, I think it looks funny and I'm looking forward to see if Natalie Portman can pull off an outright comedy to follow up her Oscar win, and if James Franco can redeem himself for his not-so-hot Oscar hosting.

I was actually surprised by the trailers I saw when I went to see 'The Butcher the Chef and the Swordsman'. I figured seeing as it was a foreign movie there would be foreign trailers attached to it. Not so much, I had to sit through another reminder that 'Fast Five' is actually coming to theatres, blech. I got to see the 'Bridesmaids' and 'Kung Fu Panda 2' trailers again and then there was finally a trailer for Snowflower and the Secret Fan, it looks like beautiful cross-generational film about friendship. When I look back at the previews here I have to think that the theatre didn't know what type of person would be watching 'The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman,' so they attached one trailer for each general demographic, including kids...which is weird, 'cause this wasn't a kid movie at all.

My final movie for March was 'Jane Eyre'. And I finally saw some trailers that I hadn't seen yet. First was the new Brad Pitt/Sean Penn movie 'The Tree of Life'. Visually, it looks really amazing, but I honestly have no idea what the movie's about after watching the trailer. Watch it, let me know if you figure it out. But I guess it does make me curious to see the movie, so I guess the trailer worked.
Then I got to see a preview for the Golden Globe and Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, 'In a Better World'. This Danish film looks like it's right up my alley and I'll have to keep and eye out to see if it actually comes to town.
Next up was 'The Conspirator'. It follows the trial of the only woman co-conspirator in the Lincoln assination, starring James MacAvoy [someone's having a busy summer!] and Robin Wright. It looks pretty darn good, even though I'm generally a fan of American flag waving flicks. It's going on my ever growing list of movies to see this year.
My final March trailer was Miral. It's also politically charged, but this time it's the Middle East, not post Civil War America. However, it looks like it will be quite good, and I think it's received some positive attention at the festivals it's been screened at this year. Another for me too see? Probably. With all the good movies coming out this year, I don't know how I'm going to have the time or the money to see them all, let alone the energy to write a blog post about all of them! I think some time management might be in future!
Until tomorrow [or more likely, Tuesday] have a good one and watch some trailers!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

March Double Feature: The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman/Jane Eyre

This past Monday I did my first double feature Matinee Monday since my very first post. I made my way back downtown to my new favourite theatre, Tinseltown. They get such an interesting mix of movies in and they're about $4 cheaper than the theatres closer to me. I saw two completely opposite movies for this double feature, 'The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman' [TBTCTS for the rest of the review] a Chinese action flick and 'Jane Eyre' the newest adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic. So be prepared for a long one, you know how tend to go on...
'TBTCTS' was, well, it was kind of all over the place. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I've seen some criticism that says the plot is confusing, I disagree, it's pretty straightforward; three stories intertwine with the tale of a powerful cleaver, how it was formed, and how it has been passed down from one person to another. Each sequence, Desire, Vengeance and Greed, has its' own look and feel to it. Desire is the story set most recently and revolves around a butcher who lusts after a beautiful courtesan. We then flashback to the other two sequences. Greed is the furthest in the past and tell the the tale of a swordsman who seeks a swordsmith to make him a new sword from a lump of iron that's made of many powerful weapons melted down together. Desire is really over the top, too silly to really be engaging. The butcher, Chopper, is a completely unsympathetic character, and you could really care less whether or not he achieves his goal. Greed isn't much more interesting, although it had a very interesting visual theme; all in black and white except for things that are red. However, it does reveal the origins of the cleaver used in the next story. The middle frame, Vengeance, was the most appealing portion of the film. The renowned chef at a restaurant is going to visited by a prestigious patron, known for his love of food, and his tendency to kill the chef if he doesn't like any part of the meal. Knowing his life is on the line, he takes an apprentice, a mute, who is working off a debt. He must learn the secret of the eight courses served by the chef, and most importantly the eighth course, [that has a long name that I can't currently recall, sorry!] where the chef must skin,slice and cook a fish so that quickly that it doesn't know it's dead and continues to swim in the soup. This middle frame is genuinely engaging and very well done. In fact, I would have been happy if they had been able to stretch that story out for the rest of the flick. Like I said, didn't love it, didn't hate, probably would only recommend it to those who have odder tastes in movies, like I often do, even though this particular one didn't really appeal to me that much.
The second part of my double feature on the other hand had me enraptured from beginning to end. Let me preface this with an important fact: I haven't read 'Jane Eyre.' I was supposed to read it in school and could never get into it, so I got by with the Coles' Notes version. I've also never seen any of the other many adaptations of this classic. I was coming to this movie with a general idea of the plot, but with a fresh point of view, which very rare for me when it comes to literary adaptations, I love to read, and am more often than not one of those people who say 'The book was much better'. But like I said, that was not the case here, although needless to say, I am reading it now.
This movie has a lot going for it on paper alone, well for me at least; it's produced by my favourite broadcaster BBC and Focus Features who rarely do wrong in my books, and has an excellent cast starting with rising star Mia Wasikowska as the eponymous heroine [you might remember her as the eponymous heroine of 'Alice in Wonderland'], she's joined by Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins and the always wonderful Dame Judi Dench, pretty fantastic right? Well, that on paper goodness sure translates wonderfully onto the big screen under the watchful eye of director Cary Fukunaga. He wanted to bring a darker version of the book to the big screen, something I think he accomplishes perfectly, both in imagery and tone.
The film starts in media res, which is a fancy literary term for starting in the middle, with a distraught Jane wandering through the rain, alone, in the empty English countryside, finally coming upon a cottage where she is rescued. We are then launched into flashbacks, with each flashback informing the audience of how Jane has come to this place in her life. The character is on a near constant search for love and freedom, but was constantly trod upon as a child. By focussing on the darker aspects of Jane's youth, the maltreatment she receives while living with her aunt and cousins after the death of her parents, the poor conditions at the school she goes to attend, Fukunaga makes you want his plain and passionate heroine to succeed and escape from her terrible conditions. She finally seems to have found the life she's yearned for for such a long time at Thornfield Hall, as the governess to only one pupil. She loves to teach and is treated as an equal in the house, but there is something dark and ominous in Thornfield, it's not felt all the time, but is certainly there at night. And it's owner, Mr. Rochester, is as dark and moody as the estate he owns, but Jane eventually wins his heart, although not without the complications and hardships that every good romance needs.
Mia Wasikowska is pitch perfect as Jane, and I applaud director Fukunaga for choosing an actress close in age to Jane in the novel, only 19, [Wasikowska is 21] They've played down her looks to make her as plain as possible, but she has that passion that lies in Jane within her and it shines on screen. She has the ability to give Jane a naivete that older actresses might not have had the ability to do. She also easily holds her own against more veteran actors like Dame Judi and her older leading man, Michael Fassbender.
Michael Fassbender, who's name you might not recognise, was in '300' and 'Inglourious Basterds'. He's looking to have a good year, starting with his wonderful portrayal of the moody Mr. Rochester and then going on to star as Magneto in 'X-Men: First Class'. Rochester is tortured by his past, and while he is a kind employer, he keeps people at a distance. This complex type of character is not easily brought to screen and could have easily been over-acted, but Fassbender is both charming and complicated as Rochester and it's easy to see how Wasikowska's Jane could fall in love with her employer.
I'm going to leave the reveal of the climax out here for those who, like me haven't read the book. I think not being exposed to the novel might have actually been a blessing here. I was able to focus completely on the story being woven in front of me, one that bewitched me from beginning to end. It was beautiful and heart-wrenching, and I'll definitely be renting it when it comes out on DVD.
That's all for this week, and to sum up, see 'Jane Eyre' if you can, rent 'The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman' if you're looking for something a little odd. Until next time!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Change is good

Yup, you may have noticed that I've changed a couple little things here on the blog. The black and white was starting to be a little boring I think, so here's a little bit of colour, plus a few changes to the fonts here and there.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Paul

Wow. I think this is longest for me to ever get a post up. I apologise, but I will give you two very legitimate reasons for this. 1) My Xbox360 is evil. It's taken over my life this week with it's, and 'Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood's complete and utter awesomeness. I've never had time fly past me like this before, I'm sure it's some kind of evil Xbox/Microsoft/Ubisoft plot. And 2) as anyone who's read my blog with a modicum of regularity in the past two months will attest, I've been pretty psyched to see 'Paul'. Well, that might be a bit of an understatment. Anyways, now that I've seen it I wanted to let it soak in, writing various versions of the review in my head, trying to make it come off as non-nerdy as possible, however, I think I've come to the conclusion that that's just not going to be possible, so here we go!
Let me start by asking, do you like aliens? And no, not the stupid aliens that are always attacking the States for no good reason, but more benevolent aliens that pop-up in pop culture, like J'onn J'onzz, E.T. or Marvin the Martian. [I told you this was going to be nerdy!] Do you think a road trip to the alien hotspots across the US would be a fun way to spend your summer AFTER attending the San Diego Comic Con? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you'd probably like this movie. Actually, even if you said no to the latter, you'd probably still like it.
If you hadn't guessed, that's the basic premise of 'Paul'. Two British geeks, Graeme [Pegg] and Clive [Frost] fly to San Diego to attend the annual Comic Convention there, and then set out to visit sites such as Roswell, Area 51, and the Black Mailbox, only to have their road trip derailed when they pick up an intergalactic hitchhiker. I have to admit watching them do all kinds of fun things at SDCC made me even more excited for my trip there this summer [like that's possible!] with my awesome friend Craig. If we have even an eighth of the fun they have it will RULE!
Moving on, the most fun part of this movie for me was Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. They are pretty much the perfect on-screen duo, they've done TV and movies together across the pond since 1998 and have a remarkable chemistry. I would compare them to Laurel and Hardy, but I'm really not that familiar with their work...Their movies 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' are in my top 10...well, at the very least top 25. [actually, that's a list I should maybe actually make sometime; note to self]. And while they are both amazing, Pegg's always been a little bit more the star, however, in 'Paul' Nick Frost gets to take a bit more of the screen, well, at least sharing it equally with Pegg. I don't know exactly what it is about the pair of them that just works, even when they're killing zombies, or stopping rogue townies they seem like the type of guys you could go down to pub and have a beer with and discuss the merits of original 'Star Trek' versus 'The Next Generation.' Mmmm...I think I might have just figured out why I like them so much. However, I think it quite possibly is an accurate guess since they wrote the movie. While it's not from 'actual' events, but there is a lot of love for the nerds that love them, and the nerds they obviously are themselves. One other thing in regards to the script, I was impressed at how few English references were put in, however, seeing as it's the first [of many, I hope!] movie they've made in the Hollywood studio system I guess I shouldn't be that surprised.
While I renewed my geeky love for Pegg and Frost, I do have to admit that they were slightly over-shadowed by Seth Rogen's awesomeness as the title character, Paul. Paul's been on Earth for years, sharing his knowledge and advising the government. Since being stuck here he's developed a penchant for government grade marijuana and practical jokes. Rogen couldn't have been more perfect for the voice of Paul. His comic timing and caustic delivery are absolutely perfect, and hilarious. He brings Paul to life in a way that kind of makes you wish you could have an alien for a friend, even if that friend is pretty rude and takes his pants off in public way more often than you care for.
The supporting cast in this movie were also all wonderful, most notably, Kristen Wiig, who is finally shedding her 'of SNL'-ness. I wouldn't be surprised if she left the show to pursue big screen stuff soon. She is one funny lady. She starts of as the worst kind of American: [in my eyes at least] the religious fundamentalist. But after a life altering encounter, or, well, literally a smack on the head, from Paul, her eyes are opened to all kinds of new things. The funniest part of her transformation is her attempts at cursing, it's all wrong, and because of that, all kinds of right for the flick. Also, the always amazing Jane Lynch makes a quick cameo, as you may have guessed, she was indeed hilarious.
A couple other little fun things that were great in the movie. Steven Spielberg makes an audio cameo as himself, getting advice on an alien movie from Paul, I wonder which movie that could be...? An alien that needs to get back to his home planet, sounds vaguely familar...Also, Agent Mulder from the 'X-Files' was his idea too. Apparently this was all a plot from the government who have been leaking images of Paul for years, so that when the aliens finally do come to meet the humans, we'll be desensitized and not freak out. Although if Graeme and Clive's reactions are any indication, it isn't working. Also, for the nerds in the audience this movie is also an ongoing showcase of awesome geek chic, in the form of Graeme's fantastic t-shirts. My favourite is his 'Empire Strikes Back' tee.
The best part of the movie is that it doesn't try to be anything more than a buddy comedy, which is actually perfectly summed up by Paul near the end of the movie. As he's saying his goodbyes to his new friends he says "Well, it's safe to say we've all learned something from this, be yourself, speak from your heart, some sh*t like that, I don't know." Aaah, I love a movie that doesn't try too hard! Needless to say all my anticipation was rewarded, I wholeheartedly enjoyed 'Paul' and now I guess I just have to wait for when Pegg and Frost reunite with their 'Hot Fuzz'/'Shaun of the Dead' director for when they finally do their take on apocalypse movies. But with the upswing in popularity for these guys in the US that might be a lot longer than I want to wait...sigh.
That's all for this week, sorry it took so long, again, I blame Microsoft and Ubisoft! I promise I won't be so late for this coming Monday's post, now if I only knew what I was going to see...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

February Trailer Round Up

Yes, I'm aware that we are sixteen days into the month of March, so the round up of the February trailers is super overdue, but here they are now!!
Now, technically I saw '127 Hours' in January. But its' trailers didn't get included in the last round up and since February is a short month we're going to go ahead and tack them on to this post. First we have Disney's new Earth Day, feel good documentary 'African Cats.' I didn't go and see their other ones, but I kinda love big cats, so there is a possibilty I might see this one...but probably at home. It feels like a renter. Then came the first of the 'Paul' trailers I saw this month. I honestly CAN NOT WAIT for this movie to come out already. I know I mentioned it before, but I love Simon Pegg and NIck Frost, so be prepared when that review comes, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love the movie even if it's awful, which I sincerely doubt it will be. Then we had a trailer for a festival-y movie that I've never heard of 'Today's Special'. And I'm sure any other Canadian that grew up in the 80s will immediately think of that show with the mannequin in the department store, but sadly this is not a big screen adaptation of that one. This is instead the story of an Indian man who is a sous-chef in a fancy restaurant who has to take over the [failing] family restaurant when his dad gets sick. It looks like one of those sweet rediscover-your-roots kind of movies...thaaaat I'll probably rent. Last and most certainly least was 'Sanctum.' I don't think I can over emphasize enough how much I am done with James Cameron. It's not that I think he makes bad movies, although this one looks pretty stinky, it's just that I can't stand him. And unlike Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, who's movies I never miss in theatres, Cameron's starting to make me want to miss all his movies so that he might not ever talk in public again. Also, he's a big 3D pusher, and I think we all know how I feel about 3D...no? It's the worst.

Next up was 'The Illusionist'. Despite being a total not for kids animated movie the trailers for this were both for animated kids flicks, 'Gnomeo and Juliet' and 'Rango'. Obviously, I've already seen 'Rango'. Thought it was great, think you should see it too. I think 'Gnomeo and Juliet' looks adorable, but I think it's yet another renter from this round of trailers.

If you remember, my mum accompanied me to 'Barney's Version' The first trailer was a second 'African Cats' for me, but it was the first one for her. But, she adamantly told me she wouldn't see it, and I quote, "because one of them will die." This is her reasoning for not seeing a LOT of movies, but she may be right. Then came 'The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman' which is this cool looking Chinese action flick. The movie's foreign, filled with stylized violence and humour. Check, check and check! If it comes to a theatre here in VanCity, I will most definitely go to see it. The last trailer was a Sundance flick, the Jodie Foster directed 'The Beaver'. It stars Mel Gibson, and I think we all know what kind of 2010 that guy had...that being said, this movie about a man who finds a stuffed beaver and starts to use it to relate to his world looks interesting and something that I might like...despite the leading man being bonkers in real life as well.

My last flick of February, and this trailer round-up was 'Cedar Rapids'. Four trailers and four yes' from this girl! First up was 'Paul'...again. I know, you would think that after seeing the trailer so many times my excitement would diminish, but NO! I still want to see it just as much as the first time I saw it! Next was the trailer for SNL's Kristen Wiig's first leading lady role in 'Bridesmaids'. This lady is hilarious. And this movie looks like it probably will be as well. Look for scene stealer, Melissa McCarthy, also hilarious.

Then came the new X-Men flick, 'X-Men: First Class'. I have to share, I'm a GIANT comic's nerd, and I love the X-Men. And while the last couple of X-Men movies were pretty disappointing, I think this one looks like it has promise...and James MacAvoy[!!!] But I'll reserve judgement until I see it. Until then, enjoy the pretty awesome trailer.

The last trailer for February was for 'Water for Elephants'. Let me say first and foremost, READ THIS BOOK! It's amazing and beautiful. That being said, this looks like a pretty good movie in and of itself. Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon are both amazing actors and I'm still on the fence about 'Twilight' pretty boy Robert Pattinson. He's not fantastic, but that could be because he's in a franchise that's written to appease millions of rabid fans [I mean the dialogue's a tad wooden] Other than 'Harry Potter' where he was pretty good I haven't seen anything else with him in it. I feel if he does well it will give me new respect for him but if he ruins one of my new favourite books, SO HELP ME ROBERT! I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN AT COMIC-CON AND GIVE YOU WHAT FOR!!!

That's all for this month's [very late] trailer wrap up! I know what I'm going to see, what about you?