Killers, Gangsters, and Writers.

Four short years ago, director/writer Martin McDonagh released an almost immediate hit, In Bruges. A black comedy about assassins running around Belgium contemplating life and death. It is regarded by this humble blogger as one of the greatest films ever made. So imagine the film world's joy upon hearing that McDonagh was releasing a new film based around psychopaths, seven of them. A film that is so meta it hurts, this is Seven Psychopaths.

Out in America, Irish screenwriter, Marty (Colin Farrell) , is writing a new film called Seven Psychopaths. Anyone spot the meta yet? He is having trouble finding inspiration for the stories behind each of his psychopaths and eventually his good friend, Billy (Sam Rockwell), steps in to help, despite objections from Marty. Billy, however, does introduce him to his first psychopath, The Jack of Diamonds, and puts out an advert for any other psychopaths to share their story. This is how Marty gains Zachariah's (Tom Waits) story and two more psychopaths for his film. But Billy leads a life that is likely to get Martin in trouble; he kidnaps dogs for a man named Hanz (Christopher Walken), who promptly returns them for the reward money. Things get out of hand when Billy steals gang boss Charlie's (Woody Harrelson) shih tzu, Bonny (Bonny) and the dog-napping pair and Marty have to hide away from the gang after them. They head into the desert and, as a trio, keep trying to write the screenplay based on the people they've met, the stories they've heard, and what is happening to them in their lives.

This is Christopher Walken holding an adorable puppy.
You're welcome.

When you put several black comedy favourites in one film you are always going to have a good time with your cast. Rockwell shines brighter than the sun in and amongst the dark hilarity. Constantly funny and holds the entire script together by his longing for something more interesting to happen. Billy's peculiar ways of helping Marty only complicate everything further and Rockwell plays it with such a dark naivety that you cannot help but love him but also never, ever want to meet him. Farrell, Harrelson, and Walken all do their parts strong justice. Farrell, as Marty, is ideal for the out-of-his-depth straight man in a world that is too bizarre for him to comprehend. The exasperation, confusion, stress, and anger are all clearly and hilariously portrayed by Farrell to great success. Harrelson is a true psychopath. A soft natured man, caring only for his dog, but who will easily put anyone down who stands in his way, all without acknowledging his own insanity and judging others on theirs. And Walken. Well, everything he does is hilarious unless it is meant to be touching and if that is the case, then you will be touched. A fantastic comic ensemble.

An idea of what the film is not like.
Though this is a scene from the film... It's complicated.

In terms of writing, Seven Psychopaths is nothing short of a piece of genius. It should be nominated for Best Original Screenplay at least. The dialogue will have you constantly snickering and giggling and belly laughing but yet the film is extremely clever. Subverting every expectation of film making at some point and making it work so well is a rarity. As with a lot of McDonagh's work, it also analyses life and death, as well as sanity and people as a whole. How does it fit all that in one film without dropping in quality? It should not work, but it simply does. Some amazing twists and turns along the way but the whole 'film within a film' concept is used so brilliantly that you cannot hep but to want to watch more. The fourth wall is almost non-existent at some points - see Billy look to Marty, almost straight down the camera, and say, 'The film ends my way,' before doing exactly the opposite of what Marty had said he wanted to happen in his screenplay. The post-modernism can even hurt your brain.

A really funny, fresh film. An incredible comic cast and some amazing writing don't just make this a great film, but also likely to be one of your new favourites. Everything is so engaging and enjoyable that it is impossible not to want to watch it again. No doubt it will be a cult classic. (Also works as a perfect prequel to Harrelson's character in Zombieland.)

Best Bit? A lot of people's favourite moment I'm sure, but Billy's imagining of the 'final shoot out scene' is possibly the funniest thing in any recent film.

Druggie Aliens.

With Edgar Wright as their spearhead, these two actors have already shown the middle finger to the zombie genre, they've wiped their arses with cop movies and now they take on alien movies. Alone. That's right. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost team up without Edgar Wright directing to produce their interpretation of the alien sub-genre.

Two nerds, Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), go to live their dream. To visit comic-con and then tour famous alien related sites in a giant RV. Normal behaviour for us Brits then? Well maybe not. Especially not when they help cause a car to fly off the road. Being human, they start to call for an ambulance but aren't quite sure what to do when an alien steps out from the wreckage. Well, Clive does. He faints. However, the three start to become good friends. Clive and Graeme decide to help 'Paul' (Seth Rogen) get back to his ship despite the government on his trail. On their way they encounter anti-evolution bible freaks, hunters, and a rather amusing cameo or two. But it's truly a buddy comedy with bonding experiences despite being shot at every now and then.

The driving cover of Bohemian Rhapsody didn't
quite have the same effect as Wayne's World.

The replacement of Edgar Wright with Nick Frost as Pegg's writing partner has some rather noticeable differences. Where Wright brought in witty dialogue, Frost brought in fart and weed jokes. The big comedic difference here is that, while Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz true British, clever, parody comedy, Paul uses mates humor. Things you may laugh at down at the bar or at a party don't always translate well onto screen. While the silly nature of an old lady sighing, "there goes my pot" may seem humorous at first, you soon realise it was out of place, out of context and completely un-needed. That being said, the movie is hilarious. The fart and weed jokes are outweighed by decent writing with great character work.

Pegg and Frost are in their element as nerds. Who needs to act? Throughout the movie, they remain the same characters. There is no unexplained Epiphany where they decide to become awesome and help aliens. They're just nerds. Rogen's Paul is the main centre for the comedy. His forwardness and almost pathetic invisibility powers are comedy gold. And the entire films comic timing. For example:
"Clive: What if we wake up and find him inserting a probe into our anus?
Graeme: Well apparently they don't do that.
Paul: [Paul wiggles his finger inside the hole of a bagel] Anyone want one of these? Yeah? Anyone?"
At first Seth Rogen's voice seems wrong, and I still don't think he was the right choice, but it grows on you. I kinda just want him to do a role that doesn't involve smoking weed or talking about his own dick.
On the other side of the scale, the 'baddies' are brilliant. The fumbling pair of agents, Haggard (Bill Hader) and O'Reilly, (Joe Lo Truglio) are the real fools of the movie and Jason Bateman throws in a great turn as Agent Zoil. He's serious and funny. Even if he is completely overshadowed by his boss, The Big Guy. (Don't want to ruin this cameo. It made me laugh. A lot.)

There's aliens around here. And that's how Sue Cs it.

A geek's paradise is very similar to this film. It's full of references to every alien movie. From E.T to Alien. Spielberg's voice even makes an appearance on the phone. If you're like me and my friend, you'll find these hidden moments hilarious and laugh aloud in the cinema and everyone else will judge you. And it will be good. The only other film with this many alien references is Planet 51 (which, surprisingly, isn't too bad.) It even has a nerdy soundtrack and particular camera shots echo those from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Director Greg Mottola's input on the comedy will ring bells with fans of his other movies such as Superbad. But this is certainly better.

Overall a good film. Not quite Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead, and certainly not to be confused with the third of that trilogy. But it's still a load of laughs and great to watch with you (nerdy) friends.Best Bit? There's a lot of good bits. One of my favourite lines has to be "Hey fucknuts! Probing time."

A Man Who Doesn't Seem To Be Very Fun.

The Coen Brothers' last production, released around this time last year for awards season. Leading up to their next release, True Grit, I thought it'd be an appropriate time to review this. This being, of course, A Serious Man.

At the end of the credits, the film claims, 'No Jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture.' Could have fooled me. A black comedy focused on the life of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) as he goes through the more difficult times of his life. Divorce, teenage kids, a brother prone to gambling, court cases, lawyer's bills, land feuds and job problems involving bribes and complaints. Not a lot is going well for Larry. In more detail, His wife Judy (Sari Lennick) wants to leave Larry for her lover, Sy. (Fred Melamed) At work, a Korean student is bribing Larry to change a grade and complaints about Larry are flowing into the complaints box. On top of all this he has to deal with his law breaking brother and his teenage kids who steal money from him and just want him around to fix the television ariel. And that is pretty much the movie. There a few side plots: Larry's son Danny (Aaron Wolff) has issues with pot and bullies, Larry's daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) wants a nose job and the next door neighbour.. well lets just say she has no problem tanning in clear view.

Sometimes, all you need is a hug.

Depending on your sense of humour, you'll either love this movie or hate it. Personally, I found it hilarious. It's so clever, so intelligent, so funny. There's all kinds of humour. There's visual comedy, intelligent jokes, religious humour and just plain funny reactions. The script is so well written but best of all: it's real. The issues that plague Larry are the same things that you or I may face. Okay, perhaps my son won't get high at his bar-mitzvah but it could happen. It's believable. The acting, particularly from Stuhlbarg, is just so good. It makes everything work. The reactions are funny yet real etc.

Direction, like always from this pair, is spot on. The Coen brothers are two of the best directors around at the moment and while this is no Big Lebowski or No Country For Old Men, it is still a brilliant movie. The camera work is so well worked, especially with comedy moments. In fact, the camera shots often make the scene even funnier... In a really good way.

'Teach, you can't be serious!'

'Oh, I'm serious. I'm a serious man.'

And a quick note on the ending, (Fear not, I avoid spoilers if I can... But this will cut it pretty close... No film ruining facts... but if you don't want to know anything about the end, look away,) the claims that the ending of this film isn't any good are completely unfair. The story that the Coens are telling the viewer is over. Like reality, when one story ends, another begins but it is a different story. And, in this case, the end is based on real events. Go use google if you wanna know what happens next.

Oh just go watch it. Stop reading this and go watch it. If intellectual comedy or religious humour isn't your cup of tea, it may not be your thing. But otherwise go watch it.

Best bit? I'm going to pick two. Cheeky I know.
1) Larry's explanation of Schrodinger's cat - with equation and all. (See second picture)
2) When Larry bids Arthur and his canoe goodbye, only to get a horrid shock.