Starring Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms
Directed by Todd Philips
With such a vast amount of caper themed comedies released over the past 30 years or so, it’s a nice and rare thing to get one that can stand on its own. With such a ‘comedy by numbers’ format the scope for originality has at this stage, run very thin.
The sub genre really hit its peak during the 1980’s; most notably with the string of successful college caper movies by National Lampoons and John Hughes. The latter truly setting the bar for all to reach with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in 1986.
After a brief lull, the popularity of such films was rekindled in the late 1990’s; the likes of the American Pie series and Old School enjoyed decent box office success. But while these films did have their moments, you couldn’t help but get the sense that you were watching an enjoyable homage to the golden days rather than something fresh and new to add to the archives. The Hangover went back to the blueprint, drew a few new angles and got it right.
The story focuses on four 30 somethings as they prepare for a Bachelor weekend in Las Vegas. There’s Doug, the well mannered nice guy and bachelor in question, Phil, the wise cracking school teacher who can’t wait to put his mundane life temporarily on hold, Stu, the painfully organised dentist who is kept on a tight leash by his controlling girlfriend and Alan, Doug’s odd and very unpredictable soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Suitably psyched up, the four head to the vice city where they check in to a luxury hotel suite, dress sharply, and raise a toast to Doug and to the wild night ahead.
The next morning Phil, Stu and Alan awaken, suffering heavily from the titular effect and no one has a clear memory of what happened the previous night. There are a number of unexplainable items in their hotel room and, most alarmingly, Doug is missing.
The Hangover is, for the most part, a very funny film and impressively maintains a consistent comedic level over its duration. Despite the relative simplicity of the plot, it doesn’t waste time and the characters are not overwritten; what we know or think about them is secondary to the irregular situation they find themselves in. Nor is any one of them a vehicle for a sidetracking sub plot.
The film’s only real negative is that that the usually seamless, well timed dialogue has a tendency to become a little overstretched and repetitive when things slow down in the ‘trying to figure things out’ scenes; non essential lines such as “We are completely f**ked!” and so on could have been expressed a little less often.
Overall, The Hangover is a well conceived, solid comedy that excellently marries the “thank god that’s not me” absurd situations of the movie world, with the all too real absurd situations arising from best laid plans in the real one. And I challenge you not to, at least once, proclaim “Oh god that has been me!”
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Terminator Salvation ***
Starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard,
Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Michael Ironside
Directed by Mc G
It’s been 25 years since James Cameron first introduced us to a cold, calculating cyborg from the future with an iconic catchphrase, as well as giving us a fresh thinking Sci-Fi Thriller in Terminator.
Since then we have been gradually tossed in, out and around this cranially demanding franchise for a further two outings. Now we have Terminator Salvation, the fourth instalment and the first in six years, the last being 2003’s Terminator: The Rise of the Machines.
As is becoming de rigueur these days with franchise revivals (Batman Begins, Casino Royale) a complete makeover was the preferred studio option this time around.
It begins in 2003 with a precursor to main events, as convicted murderer Marcus Wright (Worthington) sits in his cell shortly before being due the death penalty. He is urged by a terminally ill business representative (Bonham Carter) from a cybernetic research institute, to sign a release form allowing them to use his remains.
Fast forward to 2018, and in a post Judgement Day wasteland a squad of human resistance fighters, led by the revered John Connor (Bale), stage an attack on a Skynet base in Los Angelas. Successfully entering the base, they discover it to be completely deserted barring some human prisoners. During the search they happen across plans for a new breed of Terminator, the T-800, which appears to incorporate living human tissue in its design.
Upon reporting back to Headquarters, Connor learns that they have intercepted an underlying signal beneath the machine’s communication network that they believe can be corrupted and used to destroy them and Skynet. He also learns that he is number two on a kill-list of names Skynet feels to be a threat to its existence. Number one on the list is a civilian teenager named Kyle Reese. John knows from the recordings his mother left him, that Kyle is in fact his father.
Later, a disorientated figure wandering the wastelands turns out to be, somehow, the aforementioned Marcus Wright. In a state of utter confusion he is found and helped by Kyle Reese. After hearing John Connor on a radio transmission, Marcus heads out to find the resistance. Connor meanwhile, is keen to find Kyle before it’s too late.
Terminator Salvation is, for the most part, a decent piece of work and it should stand comfortably enough on its own within the film franchise.
Bale, Dallas Howard and relative newcomer Yelchin all put in solid performances and Worthington in particular, emits enough tough guy charisma that it should safely see his name attached to bigger future roles, in the action genre at least.
The plot too, with the first time absence of time travel and the more sombre feel of a grinding war of attrition, is a welcome break from the over blown action and cat and mouse chases which had become jaded by the last Terminator outing.
Where it doesn’t work well, is in the overlong running time and drawn out separate story lines that don’t resolve for a good two thirds of the film. Considering its intention to distance itself from the previous films’ overall plot, it runs the risk of losing audience interest with slow paced storylines that they cannot relate to what they are already familiar with. The final act is as explosive and action packed as a Terminator fan could hope for, but it seems too rushed by the time we get there.
Terminator Salvation is still an impressive reboot, and thankfully it has the markings of caring creators and not of a hurried attempt to get the last milk from the cash cow. There are also sure fire nods to at least another Terminator outing. Let’s hope then, that it leads to a quality jolt in the form of Batman Begins to The Dark Knight, rather than Casino Royale to Quantum of Solace.
Terminator Salvation ***
Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Michael Ironside
Directed by Mc G
It’s been 25 years since James Cameron first introduced us to a cold, calculating cyborg from the future with an iconic catchphrase, as well as giving us a fresh thinking Sci-Fi Thriller in Terminator.
Since then we have been gradually tossed in, out and around this cranially demanding franchise for a further two outings. Now we have Terminator Salvation, the fourth instalment and the first in six years, the last being 2003’s Terminator: The Rise of the Machines.
As is becoming de rigueur these days with franchise revivals (Batman Begins, Casino Royale) a complete makeover was the preferred studio option this time around.
It begins in 2003 with a precursor to main events, as convicted murderer Marcus Wright (Worthington) sits in his cell shortly before being due the death penalty. He is urged by a terminally ill business representative (Bonham Carter) from a cybernetic research institute, to sign a release form allowing them to use his remains.
Fast forward to 2018, and in a post Judgement Day wasteland a squad of human resistance fighters, led by the revered John Connor (Bale), stage an attack on a Skynet base in Los Angelas. Successfully entering the base, they discover it to be completely deserted barring some human prisoners. During the search they happen across plans for a new breed of Terminator, the T-800, which appears to incorporate living human tissue in its design.
Upon reporting back to Headquarters, Connor learns that they have intercepted an underlying signal beneath the machine’s communication network that they believe can be corrupted and used to destroy them and Skynet. He also learns that he is number two on a kill-list of names Skynet feels to be a threat to its existence. Number one on the list is a civilian teenager named Kyle Reese. John knows from the recordings his mother left him, that Kyle is in fact his father.
Later, a disorientated figure wandering the wastelands turns out to be, somehow, the aforementioned Marcus Wright. In a state of utter confusion he is found and helped by Kyle Reese. After hearing John Connor on a radio transmission, Marcus heads out to find the resistance. Connor meanwhile, is keen to find Kyle before it’s too late.
Terminator Salvation is, for the most part, a decent piece of work and it should stand comfortably enough on its own within the film franchise.
Bale, Dallas Howard and relative newcomer Yelchin all put in solid performances and Worthington in particular, emits enough tough guy charisma that it should safely see his name attached to bigger future roles, in the action genre at least.
The plot too, with the first time absence of time travel and the more sombre feel of a grinding war of attrition, is a welcome break from the over blown action and cat and mouse chases which had become jaded by the last Terminator outing.
Where it doesn’t work well, is in the overlong running time and drawn out separate story lines that don’t resolve for a good two thirds of the film. Considering its intention to distance itself from the previous films’ overall plot, it runs the risk of losing audience interest with slow paced storylines that they cannot relate to what they are already familiar with. The final act is as explosive and action packed as a Terminator fan could hope for, but it seems too rushed by the time we get there.
Terminator Salvation is still an impressive reboot, and thankfully it has the markings of caring creators and not of a hurried attempt to get the last milk from the cash cow. There are also sure fire nods to at least another Terminator outing. Let’s hope then, that it leads to a quality jolt in the form of Batman Begins to The Dark Knight, rather than Casino Royale to Quantum of Solace.
Terminator Salvation ***
Rudo & Cursi ****
Starring Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, Francella Guillermo
Directed by Carlos Cuarón
It’s been a relatively long and steadily successful career road for Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal. Having made their arrival firmly known in Alfonso Cuarón’s excellent Y tu mama tambien in 2004, they have individually made their names known, starring in a number of well received films at home in Mexico as well as some very successful Hollywood productions; Luna co starred with Tom Hanks in Stephen Spielberg’s The Terminal and last year he played a substantial role opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant’s Oscar winning Milk. Garcia Bernal received notable interest after playing Che Guevara - for the second time - in the acclaimed Motorcycle Diaries. Since then He has starred in Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep as well as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s multi Oscar nominated Babel.
Now, five years on, they not only pair up for the first time since their initial smash, but also work again with one half of that film’s writing duo, and in a production markedly similar in style. Carlos Cuarón, who co-wrote Y tu mama tambien with his brother Alfonso, has this time taken on sole writing and directing duties, making a superb and equally fresh film in the process.
We are again offered delightfully skewed takes on contemporary Mexican society whilst also, more crucially, reminded of just how wonderfully Luna and Bernal play off each other; telling evidence that this reunion could not have come a moment too soon.
Rudo & Cursi is the story of two brothers with small town lives and big dreams. They spend their days harvesting bananas in the sweltering sun and their night’s drinking and gambling into the early hours.
It’s all about Saturday afternoons however, when they both play for the local football team; Rudo, a promising goal keeper, longs to make a name for himself in the game while Cursi, despite being an equally promising striker, is a bit too much of a showman. His real ambition is to be a successful singer and he believes he will make it to the United States where this will happen for him.
A chance encounter with a flashy stranger, whose car has broken down outside the town, proves to be more than it seems when he turns out to be a freelance football scout for a number of the big clubs in Mexico City. He’s impressed by the boys’ natural skill and all of a sudden, they have a chance to escape their rural humdrum lives for the glare of the big city and the allure of the soccer star lifestyle.
While the plot might seem like something you feel you’ve seen a number of times before, be assured that this is not the case; Cuarón eschews the familiar aspects of the moral sports tale, skilfully removing the clichés. The characters are also very well conceived and the seamless screenplay rests comfortably with the two stars, nurturing their obvious adlibbing ability.
Whilst the testy chalk and cheese relationship between the brothers is the backbone of the film, the weight of the narrative is carried with ease thanks to a terrific supporting cast; Francella is perfectly dubious as the sports agent in it for whatever he can get, and model Jessica Mas is disgustingly materialistic as the TV presenter come wannabe football ‘WAG’. As for the family, they are suitably dysfunctional and don’t exactly instil you with hope for the boys as they begin to swim out of their depth.
Rudo & Cursi is a highly entertaining morality tale with the firmest of tongues in its cheek, and it offers just the right measures of belly laughs, frustration and heartfelt empathy. Garcia Bernal and Luna have probably already guaranteed themselves a DVD box set of their two co-works. It would be nice if they could score the hat trick.
Directed by Carlos Cuarón
It’s been a relatively long and steadily successful career road for Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal. Having made their arrival firmly known in Alfonso Cuarón’s excellent Y tu mama tambien in 2004, they have individually made their names known, starring in a number of well received films at home in Mexico as well as some very successful Hollywood productions; Luna co starred with Tom Hanks in Stephen Spielberg’s The Terminal and last year he played a substantial role opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant’s Oscar winning Milk. Garcia Bernal received notable interest after playing Che Guevara - for the second time - in the acclaimed Motorcycle Diaries. Since then He has starred in Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep as well as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s multi Oscar nominated Babel.
Now, five years on, they not only pair up for the first time since their initial smash, but also work again with one half of that film’s writing duo, and in a production markedly similar in style. Carlos Cuarón, who co-wrote Y tu mama tambien with his brother Alfonso, has this time taken on sole writing and directing duties, making a superb and equally fresh film in the process.
We are again offered delightfully skewed takes on contemporary Mexican society whilst also, more crucially, reminded of just how wonderfully Luna and Bernal play off each other; telling evidence that this reunion could not have come a moment too soon.
Rudo & Cursi is the story of two brothers with small town lives and big dreams. They spend their days harvesting bananas in the sweltering sun and their night’s drinking and gambling into the early hours.
It’s all about Saturday afternoons however, when they both play for the local football team; Rudo, a promising goal keeper, longs to make a name for himself in the game while Cursi, despite being an equally promising striker, is a bit too much of a showman. His real ambition is to be a successful singer and he believes he will make it to the United States where this will happen for him.
A chance encounter with a flashy stranger, whose car has broken down outside the town, proves to be more than it seems when he turns out to be a freelance football scout for a number of the big clubs in Mexico City. He’s impressed by the boys’ natural skill and all of a sudden, they have a chance to escape their rural humdrum lives for the glare of the big city and the allure of the soccer star lifestyle.
While the plot might seem like something you feel you’ve seen a number of times before, be assured that this is not the case; Cuarón eschews the familiar aspects of the moral sports tale, skilfully removing the clichés. The characters are also very well conceived and the seamless screenplay rests comfortably with the two stars, nurturing their obvious adlibbing ability.
Whilst the testy chalk and cheese relationship between the brothers is the backbone of the film, the weight of the narrative is carried with ease thanks to a terrific supporting cast; Francella is perfectly dubious as the sports agent in it for whatever he can get, and model Jessica Mas is disgustingly materialistic as the TV presenter come wannabe football ‘WAG’. As for the family, they are suitably dysfunctional and don’t exactly instil you with hope for the boys as they begin to swim out of their depth.
Rudo & Cursi is a highly entertaining morality tale with the firmest of tongues in its cheek, and it offers just the right measures of belly laughs, frustration and heartfelt empathy. Garcia Bernal and Luna have probably already guaranteed themselves a DVD box set of their two co-works. It would be nice if they could score the hat trick.
Let the Right One In ****
(Lat Den Ratte Komma In)
Directed by Thomas Alfredson
Starring Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson
I’ll begin with a personal claim that many may find haste and irrational; there are two stories you need to know regarding the vampire myth; one is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the other is John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In.
I base this claim on the fact that upon seeing this superb film adaptation of the latter book, I have not known the vampire myth to be so poetically and emotionally enacted since the former masterpiece, which to many, is the very origin of the modern vampire yarn.
Set in Stockholm during the winter of 1982, the story concerns Oskar, a lonely 12 year boy, who endures extreme bullying at school and spends virtually all of his free time by himself. He either plays in the yard in the dark evenings or collects murder headlines from newspapers and fantasises about acting out revenge on his tormentors. That is, until the sudden arrival of Eli, the girl next door of the same age who is accompanied by a mysterious and much older male companion. Oskar is at once drawn to Eli and a bond between the pair quickly develops, as he entertains her (a Rubik’s cube lesson is a particular nostalgic highlight) and she encourages him to stand up to the bullies.
What Oskar does not know is that Eli is a vampire, suspended in her childhood state for over 200 years and condemned to feed on human blood in order to survive.
Flawless performances from the two leads and wonderfully eerie cinematography make for compulsive viewing with plenty to ponder along the way. Most notably the tragedy of her older accomplice, who’s sole existence appears to be to kill (and drain) her hapless victims.
The vampire film has, for far too long, digressed from the haunting, tragic and (more often than not) doomed romantic story so well portrayed in Bram Stoker’s classic or in the initial screening of that book, Nosferatu. Most attempts to date have relied solely on the horror aspect and the clichéd trappings of the genre. What truly separates this one from the rest is how brilliantly it chooses when and when not to eschew the familiarities, playing equally to the knowledge you already have while also adding some of its own, all the time keeping you locked in its grim social reality.
There is talk of whether or not Let the Right One In is really a horror movie.
I say it certainly is; just one with an emotional depth rarely seen in its contempories. Highly recommended.
Directed by Thomas Alfredson
Starring Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson
I’ll begin with a personal claim that many may find haste and irrational; there are two stories you need to know regarding the vampire myth; one is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the other is John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In.
I base this claim on the fact that upon seeing this superb film adaptation of the latter book, I have not known the vampire myth to be so poetically and emotionally enacted since the former masterpiece, which to many, is the very origin of the modern vampire yarn.
Set in Stockholm during the winter of 1982, the story concerns Oskar, a lonely 12 year boy, who endures extreme bullying at school and spends virtually all of his free time by himself. He either plays in the yard in the dark evenings or collects murder headlines from newspapers and fantasises about acting out revenge on his tormentors. That is, until the sudden arrival of Eli, the girl next door of the same age who is accompanied by a mysterious and much older male companion. Oskar is at once drawn to Eli and a bond between the pair quickly develops, as he entertains her (a Rubik’s cube lesson is a particular nostalgic highlight) and she encourages him to stand up to the bullies.
What Oskar does not know is that Eli is a vampire, suspended in her childhood state for over 200 years and condemned to feed on human blood in order to survive.
Flawless performances from the two leads and wonderfully eerie cinematography make for compulsive viewing with plenty to ponder along the way. Most notably the tragedy of her older accomplice, who’s sole existence appears to be to kill (and drain) her hapless victims.
The vampire film has, for far too long, digressed from the haunting, tragic and (more often than not) doomed romantic story so well portrayed in Bram Stoker’s classic or in the initial screening of that book, Nosferatu. Most attempts to date have relied solely on the horror aspect and the clichéd trappings of the genre. What truly separates this one from the rest is how brilliantly it chooses when and when not to eschew the familiarities, playing equally to the knowledge you already have while also adding some of its own, all the time keeping you locked in its grim social reality.
There is talk of whether or not Let the Right One In is really a horror movie.
I say it certainly is; just one with an emotional depth rarely seen in its contempories. Highly recommended.
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