Updates, News etc.

I hate Justin Bieber. I'm sure he's a nice person.. That produces awful music, sells his soul and ruins Twitter. I hear you shout, "But Phil! This is a movie blog!" And correct you are! Which is why Justin is here. He has just signed a deal to turn his life story, the sixteen years of it, into a film. Now I know plenty of 12 year olds and so on will see this as he is Justin Bieber but surely it's an insult to the biopic film genre?

Anyway, moving on from my extreme anger at this. Woman In Black. One of the most stunning West End plays around. If you haven't seen it, see it. Again, not a film I know but it will be. And Harry Potter is set to star as Arthur Kipps. Good choice? Well we can't judge yet.. But I have my opinions.. Lets hope Daniel Radcliffe proves me wrong.

Finally, Batman 3 update. Just over a month ago, the legendary Christopher Nolan announced that the script was finished and that shooting would start in April 2011. Sounds good right? Though we still know nothing about plot, villains or cast but it looks more and more likely that the brilliant Joseph Gordon-Levitt may be playing the Riddler. I'm totally in favour of this idea as he is an incredible actor. Chris Nolan has also claimed that the Penguin and Mr Freeze would not be in it.

Well that's it. Stick around for reviews on Inception, Shrek 4, 12 Angry Men, District 9 and more.

And The Winner Is....

My word! I have so many films to review!!!

But first things first.

A week yesterday was the end of our annual film week (Woohoo.) Last year was very official.. We had notepads and rated the films to decide a winner. We scraped that. This year was about enjoyment. We didn't decide a winner all together but I know what came out on top for me. (Note: The winner isn't my favourite out of the films on the list. Just the one that I enjoyed most in film week.)

Here are the films:

• DAY 1


• The Beach (****)
  
• Moon (*****)


• Goodfellas (*****)


• The Good, The Bad and The Weird (See previous review)


• DAY 2


• Into The Wild (****)


• The Holy Grail (*****)


• The Pianist (*****)


• Being John Malkovich (*****)


• DAY 3


• In Bruges (*****)


• Brick (*****)


• Walk The Line (****)


• The Shining (*****)


• DAY 4


• Leon (We were half asleep - or asleep- for (ooer))


• Garden State (****)


• Taxi Driver (Which we never got around to.. This year or last year.)


• [500] Days Of Summer (*****)
  

You can tell from my mini star ratings which films I loved.

But the winner is.........

[500] Days Of Summer!

So lets review it.

The story of one man called Tom and his love with Summer. A girl... Not the season. The tag line of the movie is, 'Boy meets Girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't.' Sound original? No? Well it is. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works in an office and falls for colleague Summer (Zooey Deschanel.) She may or may not love him back. We follow the 500 days of their relationship, good and bad, but not in chronological order. We jump from day 22 to 204. (Maybe not those exact days but you get the point.)

The film doesn't take itself too serious. We're randomly treated to a documentary about love with opinions from characters. There is a huge dance sequence complete with an animated bird. There is a split-scene comparison between reality and expectations for a whole scene. The film is very funny. Check out the date scene in Ikea, "Honey. I don't know how to tell you this, but there is a Chinese family in our bathroom." But it is also sad... After all it is (not) a love story.

The soundtrack is epic. Every song is brilliantly selected. Some camera work is outstanding and the acting is just... wow.

Watch this movie. No exception.

Best bit? Either the dance sequence or the first date to Ikea. Classic.

Night At Grosse Pointe With A Wild Target.

I have a list of films to review building up so forgive me for some short reviews. And also I apologise for the extreme lack in blogs recently. I've had exams and performances etc.

Lets start at the most recent film I watched on the television box.

Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian.

This is a film that will be enjoyed by all ages. Kids will love it for the funny slapstick and prat falls and we older folk will enjoy it for the clever references t

o real (and fictional) historical characters. A pity though.. The original had a lot less characters and so it was a lot easier to focus on them and they became very funny. Unfortunately this had twice as many characters and just too much going on to focus on. Larry (Stiller) sets off to DC to save his favourite exhibits but the magic tablet soon falls into the hands of evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah and events begin to get out of hand.

Einstein's clones had been in short supply.

But all is not lost! The few characters that actually had more than ten minutes screen time were as hilarious as ever and very well acted. I'm speaking of course of the wondrous Amy Adams as Amilia Earhart who performed her part very well. But Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan as Jedediah and Octavius stole the show again with their miniature antics like stabbing the toes of the baddies and confronting squirrels.

Overall not a bad film but nothing special. Good if you're just wanting to relax on a lazy afternoon.

Best Bit? The Einstein bobble heads. "All together now! Zats ze vay uh huh uh huh ve like it"

Next up, Grosse Pointe Blank.

Starring one of my favourite actors around , John Cusack, Grosse Pointe Blank already looks good. And it is. I always like a good black comedy and this is almost too light to be put with this particular genre. But I suppose if Martin Blank (Cusack) wasn't a hit man then there would be no comedy or darkness. When a job happens to be in the same place and time as his high school reunion he has a decision to make. Find his high school love? Or do his job?
Cusack is awesome and funny as always and his co-star Minne Driver is stunningly beautiful and incredible. Its a really enjoyable film with some laugh out loud moments and also some real touching stuff. Who says hit men can't have hearts? We'll come onto that next review. The soundtrack kicks ass and the action sequences are awesome.

A must see if you ask me. Really fun and really cool.

Best bit? The awesome fight scene near the end.

Finally another comedy about a hit man, but this time with an aura of British humour. Bill Nighy stars as Victor Maynard, the best British hit man around. But when he's put on a job to kill the beautiful Rose (Emily Blunt) things get out of hand. It's a British film through and through and very funny. But the show stealer here is Rupert Grint. His comedy timing is superb and he's actually a really good actor. Well done to him for moving on before the end of Harry Potter to show his range.

Bill soon realised his mistake; never trust a ginger with a gun.

Their lack of souls makes them born killers.

Sure the film had some jokes that weren't funny and some scenes which didn't quite make sense but brilliant performances all round. It's worth a watch if you like British humour. In Bruges fans.. Pre-order the DVD now.


Best bit? Any of Rupert Grint's moments. He's perfection in the form of a ginger.

Korean Cowboys?

I'm beginning to really love foreign language films. Here is a film that took a famous western and put it in South Korea.

The Good The Bad The Weird pays tribute to the classic, The Good The Bad And The Ugly. Plenty of little in jokes for fans of the western to pick up on as well as little character traits. (The weird/The ugly both brush their teeth with their fingers.) The plot is far simpler than the original. Set in the 1940's, two outlaws and a bounty hunter go on the search of treasure due to a map. Following them are Chinese gangs and the Japanese army. Far less side plots. Not that side plots are a bad thing... But if you have a short attention span like a lot of young people nowadays, this film is easier to watch. Unless you dislike subtitles.

"Check out this backwards shooting!"

Firstly, I noticed straight away how awesome the camera work was. I mean.. It's really incredible at some points. The chase at the end... WOW. So there's not that much of a score (Though during the chase listen for the background tribute to The Good The Bad & The Ugly's score.) but the other technical aspects make up for that. The action sequences are suburb and wonderful to watch. Not only are they full of action but they're also cool and fun. The cast are wonderful. Some may think Byung-hun Lee was the wrong choice for Park Chang-yi / The Bad, but they're wrong. His 'pretty boy' exterior may seem odd for a crazy killer type person but it just makes it all the more effective when he whips out his knife and starts madly slashing people up. Kang-ho Song (Yoon Tae-goo / The Weird) fits his role perfectly. He is weird. There is very few other ways of describing it. But he was brilliant. Woo-sung Jung (Park Do-won / The Good) is just plain cool. From the moment we first see him shooting at The Bad and The Weird plus henchmen, till the very last second. Especially his part in the chase scene.... Wow.

 

Guess Who is Who

Some fun facts about the film... Woo-sung Jung, The Good, broke his arm during filming... This was the most expensive South Korean Film to be made (as of 2009)... And something that made me chuckle: Director Woo-sung Jung claimed he would like this to be called a 'kimchee western' after the Korean food made with fermented cabbages. He says he thinks the plot and film are spicy and vibrant, like the Korean culture and people. Of course, The Good The Bad And The Ugly was a 'Spaghetti western' due to it being a western made by Italians. Really worth a watch if you can be bothered to read subtitles. I dislike it when films aren't given a fair chance because people won't read a little.

 

Best Bit? The Chase Scene. It's awesome. Armies, gangs, outlaws, weirdos, cars, horses, moterbikes... It has everything.

The Meanest Yard

Two birds with one stone here. A film and it's modern remake.

The Longest Yard, (Or Mean Machine in England,) was made in 1974. 36 years on and it is still a very funny film.

Burt Reynolds/Adam Sandler is Paul Crewe, an ex American Footballer, sent to prison for violently abusing his wife, escaping the cops in an amusing fasion, ditching the car in a body of water then beating up a couple of policemen. In prison, The Warden (Eddie Albert/James Cromwell) convinces him to start a football team to face the guards semi-pro team. With help from Caretaker (James Hampton/ Chris Rock) and Nate Scarboro (Michael Conrad/Burt Reynolds) he forms a team of big bad convicts to help him beat the guards.

Burt Reynolds was secretly Iron Man under his shirt.

The warden was shocked.

The original first. I have no problems with the acting. The four main characters are all brilliant. Reynolds is sly and witty but also shows some heart at points when with (and at some points without) Caretaker. Speaking of Caretaker, James 'Jim' Hampton was also great as his part but he wasn't quite outgoing enough... Just my thought. Eddie Albert was, personally, the highlight acting wise. He started warm and friendly but became a domineering, power hungry, reputation focused man. Michael Conrand was also fantastic as Nate Scarboro.

What I do have issues with is the pace. It's a good half an hour from the cop chase to when he pieces the team together and even then it's still slow... It drags. When they start picking up crazed murderers and training it gets good. The final 47 minutes are taken up by the final game between the guards and the convicts and it's a pleasure to watch. I also disliked the editing.... How it was nominated for an Oscar I will never know. It looked like someone had done the scene transitions on Movie Maker.

"Hi Paul Crewe... I'm Paul Crewe.... From the past."

Now I'm not normally a fan of remakes but I make an exception in this case. I like most of Adam Sandler's comedy but it does grate a little I suppose. This was the beggining of his transition into more serious films. He provides very little of the humour and does more serious stuff. Chris Rock is funny and has a much stronger personality than James Hampton and I think that's better in a prison, don't you? Burt Renyolds is also a better Nate I think. He's more amusing and he looks stronger, like an ex football player. The supporting cast are equally as funny as the original though the dumb jokes fall flat more. Nelly is awesome as Megget the running back.

Oh the soundtrak is all R 'n' B, some is good.... Some is too much.


There are scenes in both that I really like that aren't in the other or that are better.

1974-The 'Why did you throw that game' scene, the police chase, the ripped shirt in the game.

2005- The try outs, the game plays, the rehearsing in the mud, the final plays (A lot less cliche!)


All in all these are both good films but the remake is certainly one to watch with your mates with some drinks and snacks whereas the original is a Sunday afternoon sort of film... Know what I mean?


BOTH FILMS:

In 2 No Arm.

The title is an anagram... Try and get it :)

This film was undoubtedly less cool than its predecessor but very cool none the less. It also wasn't as good but I think it may just be for that reason. Why wasn't it as cool? Hmmm a fair point.... I don't think it was as fun as the first film. I mean Stark (Downey Jr) was facing inner demons etc.. But then it didn't feel touching either. And the 'big' fight scene at the end is a real disappointment.

Whiplash never looks both ways before crossing the road

But that's the bad out of the way. The acting was suburb. Robert Downey Jr was still brilliantly funny and just seemed to shine with coolness. Sam Rockwell was a brilliant 'villain.' He is officially one of my favourite actors (Check out 'Moon') and he is awesome in this as Stark's business rival. Mickey Rourke is insane as Whiplash or Ivan Vanko, the homemade Iron Man person. With his home made suit that has electric whips that can cut a car in half, he portrays a troubled Russian with pure excellence. Oh bloody hell! I almost forgot Don Cheadle! He stepped into Terrence Howard's shoes like a pro. I forgot he was a different actor. Excellent. Other performances by Samuel L Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson are equally cool and not a single decline in quality.

Direction by Jon Favreau is brilliant and so is his little supporting role. It's edited really well and has an awesome AC/DC-full soundtrack. The camera work is a little generic though.

It is still a good film and super cool. A film to watch with friends and a couple of beers/ cans of coke. (I have 14 year olds read this blog you know. Drinking is bad kids.)



Best bit? The race car fight scene... Brilliant. Funny and full of action.

17 And Sexy. It's.... Matthew Perry?

Yes yes it's that teen hunk, Zac Efron, and everyone's favourite FRIENDS actor, Matthew Perry. They've teamed up to make a kind of touching comedy. And it's pretty good.

I know what a lot of you are thinking. I'm not a twelve year old girl; why would I like it? Well for Matthew Perry of course! But also everything else in the film. Seriously, I decided to watch it because of my love of Matthew Perry and found myself actually enjoying it. Once you get the topless Efron scene out the way at the begining it's clear sailing.

Perry is a middle man (Mike O'Donnall) who's wife and kids don't want anything to do with him. He's just missed out on a promotion which was given to some lady with a nice ass. His bed friend lives in a house full of geek drugs. (Lightsabers, toys etc.) He suddenly gets flung into his 17 year old body (Efron) and given a second chance to re-do life. Get the basketball scholarship instead of a pregnant teen girlfriend. That sort of stuff. You can image the silly situations he gets into. *Giggles*

There were some really dirty scenes in the film

The majority of acting is pretty good. Efron shows he isn't just a Disney produced pile of crap. *COUGH* JONAS BROTHERS *COUGH* He has talent. Check out his last big scene if you don't believe me. He caught some of Matthew Perry's mannerisms through rehearsal but he lacked something... He was too... Zac. Matthew Perry was brilliant of course. Michelle Trachtenberg also put in a good turn as Maggie O'Donnell, Mike's daughter. Also worth a mention is Thomas Lennon. Very funny man.

What brings this film down is everything else. The score/soundtrack is generic, the plot is very familiar and there is nothing special about the camera work. It seems very mediochre in the end but nevertheless enjoyable.



There are certainly films of a lot higher standard but don't just pass this one by. It is worth a watch on a lazy sunday or something.





Best bit? Hmmm... tricky.....

Mike O' Donnell: [after Alex sees his mom, Scarlett and "Mark"/ Mike dancing] She's just nervous... it's creepy, right?


Alex O'Donnell: [stares at him, still weirded out] A little bit.


Mike O' Donnell: She's so old; it's like... [stops himself and immediately walks away]


Alex O'Donnell: You dance with all your friends' moms?


Mike O' Donnell: Pretty much