Starring Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Sean Combs, Rose Byrne & Colm Meaney
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Sacha Baron Coen, Ricky Gervais and now Russell Brand. The comic English man in Hollywood has proved bittersweet over the years, as the CV’s of some of the above would attest. Thankfully, Brand’s first lead outing proves to be on the sweeter side.
Reprising his brief role from 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshal, Brand plays Aldous Snow, a British rock star in the classic bad boy vein, whose intoxicated off stage antics are as crowd pleasing as the pumped up attitude of his songs. Once a multi-platinum selling artist however, his popularity is beginning to dwindle and his decision to go back on the wagon as well as release a dreadful ‘awareness’ record prove to be the final nails in the coffin.
Suffering alongside him is his record company, which on top of taking a hard hit from illegal downloading has not managed to sign a decent act in the last few years. Aaron Green, one of the label’s junior execs, has an idea; since it’s approaching the tenth anniversary of Snow’s classic concert at Los Angela’s Greek Theatre, a comeback gig at the same venue to mark the occasion might just be the financial break they so desperately need. The idea is taken on board by Label Boss Sergio (Combs) and Greene is given the responsible task of flying to London and personally escorting Snow to LA in time for the gig along with some lucrative promotional spots.
Not too difficult a task it would seem, if it weren’t for the fact having just been dumped by his girlfriend, barely credible pop star Jackie Q, Snow is now back on the booze and drugs in a big way. Thus, we join the pair on a hell bent journey of excess, personal breakdowns, missed flights, parent issues and a few destinations that were never on the itinerary.
Overall, Get him to the Greek is a good comedy with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments along with some credible sombre ones. Refreshingly, it also has enough originality to spare it from too many comparisons even though the ‘turbulent rock star’ sub genre must be close to death at this stage. This is largely thanks to an excellent overall cast and a convincing central performance from Brand (too real perhaps?). Jonah Hill too, is effortlessly natural and hugely likable in equally measure, finally getting to build on the talent we saw three years ago in Superbad. Most surprising perhaps, is the fine comic turn from former Puffser Sean Combs, who is hilarious as the power hungry/plain mad corporate suit and his performance is totally clear of the over baked irony you might have dreaded.
Get him to the Greek is a superior film to Forgetting Sarah Marshall; while that film had some great moments I felt it balanced them poorly against the romantic interest side and eventually lost its way completely as a result. Here it follows a similar narrative but never quite falls into that same trap. That said, the film does lose its momentum somewhat when the hijinx turns to morality lessons and thus can appear to be low points even when they don’t deserve to. Then again, I thought exactly the same thing about The Hangover and most people I know thought that was flawless. This is a film that won’t be to everyone’s comedy tastes but one that certainly carries more weight than your average weekend box office caper.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Splice***
Starring Adrian Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Good grief, here’s an interesting one; ethical warnings, parental fears, the cost of opening Pandora’s Box and oedipal desires, all in the one film.
Splice, the latest shock horror from The Cube’s Vincenzo Natali, is an example of that great movie marketing that does the circuit from time to time, the kind that excites some and appals others in equal measure. Over the last while this film has been turning industry boffin’s heads and firmly making itself heard. How firmly? Why its director even had the audacity to dare describe it as our beloved ET, coupled with the kind of activities we’d all rather not imagine our lonely alien friend having anything to do with.
The film begins as ‘too cool for school’ scientists Clive and Elsa (a bit too, too cool for school) are making genetic science history with a couple of rather bizarre looking creatures, artificially created in their lab for the benefit of scientific advances in animal protein or some such.
In light of this break through, the pair can’t wait for their meeting with the Chairman of N.E.R.D, the company they work for, as they are eager to get the go ahead to move on to the ‘next stage’; combining animal and human DNA. To their dismay, they are turned down and despite protesting about the possibilities the study could have for disease research, the corporation is only interested in fast cash (boo!) and want to put all of its resources into marketing the protein product they have already created. Not the sorts to take a refusal easily, they secretly conduct their own experiments and eventually make a successful combination splicing various animal DNA with that of a human.
Due to the highly controversial nature of what they are doing they decide to freeze the embryo in storage. However, at the last minute Elsa has other ideas and is all of a sudden determined to see it go full term. Eventually persuading a very reluctant Clive to go along with her, the two agree to let this happen just for their own curiosity and for what they might learn from it. The gestation period completes much faster than anticipated though, and before they know it they have to deal with a rapidly growing animal/human hybrid, which Elsa names Dren.
Splice succeeds very well in putting forth its cautionary tale; whereas other stories warning of the perils of DNA research might focus solely on the medical ethics and be content with generic Doctors A and B, here not only are so many of the relevant questions so cleverly raised, but the blind ambition and personal flaws of the lead characters adds much welcome richness to the plot.
It’s not as grotesque or heavy going as some media makes it out to be, nor does it take itself too seriously. It is a horror film and is mostly occupied with creating suspense and a feeling of dread but it is also, when it wants to be, blackly comic.
Where it disappoints is with the child/creature itself; Dren is an overly clean hybrid of easily recognisable human and animal appendages. After seeing various parts appear you get the feeling they are to suit plot devise instead of being a supposition of what such splicing might actually create. While David Cronenberg’s excellent The Fly made for pretty disgusting viewing, its science fiction treatment in the same territory seemed a lot more plausible. Towards the end of this film you begin to feel like you’re watching an episode of the X-Files and not what the suspenseful build up might have delivered. It’s a pity because otherwise it’s a successful and intelligent treatment of a subject that usually tends airs toward the silly and barely credible. Worth viewing but could have been a lot better.
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Good grief, here’s an interesting one; ethical warnings, parental fears, the cost of opening Pandora’s Box and oedipal desires, all in the one film.
Splice, the latest shock horror from The Cube’s Vincenzo Natali, is an example of that great movie marketing that does the circuit from time to time, the kind that excites some and appals others in equal measure. Over the last while this film has been turning industry boffin’s heads and firmly making itself heard. How firmly? Why its director even had the audacity to dare describe it as our beloved ET, coupled with the kind of activities we’d all rather not imagine our lonely alien friend having anything to do with.
The film begins as ‘too cool for school’ scientists Clive and Elsa (a bit too, too cool for school) are making genetic science history with a couple of rather bizarre looking creatures, artificially created in their lab for the benefit of scientific advances in animal protein or some such.
In light of this break through, the pair can’t wait for their meeting with the Chairman of N.E.R.D, the company they work for, as they are eager to get the go ahead to move on to the ‘next stage’; combining animal and human DNA. To their dismay, they are turned down and despite protesting about the possibilities the study could have for disease research, the corporation is only interested in fast cash (boo!) and want to put all of its resources into marketing the protein product they have already created. Not the sorts to take a refusal easily, they secretly conduct their own experiments and eventually make a successful combination splicing various animal DNA with that of a human.
Due to the highly controversial nature of what they are doing they decide to freeze the embryo in storage. However, at the last minute Elsa has other ideas and is all of a sudden determined to see it go full term. Eventually persuading a very reluctant Clive to go along with her, the two agree to let this happen just for their own curiosity and for what they might learn from it. The gestation period completes much faster than anticipated though, and before they know it they have to deal with a rapidly growing animal/human hybrid, which Elsa names Dren.
Splice succeeds very well in putting forth its cautionary tale; whereas other stories warning of the perils of DNA research might focus solely on the medical ethics and be content with generic Doctors A and B, here not only are so many of the relevant questions so cleverly raised, but the blind ambition and personal flaws of the lead characters adds much welcome richness to the plot.
It’s not as grotesque or heavy going as some media makes it out to be, nor does it take itself too seriously. It is a horror film and is mostly occupied with creating suspense and a feeling of dread but it is also, when it wants to be, blackly comic.
Where it disappoints is with the child/creature itself; Dren is an overly clean hybrid of easily recognisable human and animal appendages. After seeing various parts appear you get the feeling they are to suit plot devise instead of being a supposition of what such splicing might actually create. While David Cronenberg’s excellent The Fly made for pretty disgusting viewing, its science fiction treatment in the same territory seemed a lot more plausible. Towards the end of this film you begin to feel like you’re watching an episode of the X-Files and not what the suspenseful build up might have delivered. It’s a pity because otherwise it’s a successful and intelligent treatment of a subject that usually tends airs toward the silly and barely credible. Worth viewing but could have been a lot better.
Greenberg ****
Starring Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Greta Gerwig
Directed by Noah Baumbach
Anyone who has heard word of mouth about Greenberg will probably have heard that it marks Ben Stiller’s first 'serious role'. This is not entirely the case but while he hasn't quite done a Robin Williams or Jim Carrey-esque U-turn, what he has done is give the best and most interesting performance of his career.
This is the story of Roger Greenberg (Stiller), a New York based carpenter who, upon having just completed a spell in hospital following a nervous breakdown, agrees to move back to Los Angelas to look after his brother’s house while he and his family are away on business. Also looking in on the house, as well as on Roger, is his brother’s young assistant Florence (Gerwig). Though awkward at first, the two eventually embark on an unlikely (and indeed bizarre) relationship.
As events develop and Roger reluctantly reacquaints himself with a past he ran away from, we learn that he not only chose to opt out of the life he had but also left behind a lot of bitterness in the process. So he tackles old ghosts and tries to justify past doings, all with the help of former college/band mate Ivan (a fantastic Rhys Ifans), who is not only the closest thing he has to a best friend but also the most likely to still tolerate him.
Ultimately, Greenberg is a wonderfully off beat, heartfelt, tragic and often hilarious journey of reluctant amend making and the desperate search for identity even at the cost of those closest to you.
Although at times it can enter the realm of the less-than-believable it is difficult to fault this film; the script is quite brilliant (most notably in the exchanges between Roger and Ivan) and it boasts a hat trick of superb performances from a relative newcomer (Greta Gerwig), a sturdy supporter (Rhys Ifans) and a lead very well known for very different works (Ben stiller). All three have award season written all over them. I highly recommended it.
Directed by Noah Baumbach
Anyone who has heard word of mouth about Greenberg will probably have heard that it marks Ben Stiller’s first 'serious role'. This is not entirely the case but while he hasn't quite done a Robin Williams or Jim Carrey-esque U-turn, what he has done is give the best and most interesting performance of his career.
This is the story of Roger Greenberg (Stiller), a New York based carpenter who, upon having just completed a spell in hospital following a nervous breakdown, agrees to move back to Los Angelas to look after his brother’s house while he and his family are away on business. Also looking in on the house, as well as on Roger, is his brother’s young assistant Florence (Gerwig). Though awkward at first, the two eventually embark on an unlikely (and indeed bizarre) relationship.
As events develop and Roger reluctantly reacquaints himself with a past he ran away from, we learn that he not only chose to opt out of the life he had but also left behind a lot of bitterness in the process. So he tackles old ghosts and tries to justify past doings, all with the help of former college/band mate Ivan (a fantastic Rhys Ifans), who is not only the closest thing he has to a best friend but also the most likely to still tolerate him.
Ultimately, Greenberg is a wonderfully off beat, heartfelt, tragic and often hilarious journey of reluctant amend making and the desperate search for identity even at the cost of those closest to you.
Although at times it can enter the realm of the less-than-believable it is difficult to fault this film; the script is quite brilliant (most notably in the exchanges between Roger and Ivan) and it boasts a hat trick of superb performances from a relative newcomer (Greta Gerwig), a sturdy supporter (Rhys Ifans) and a lead very well known for very different works (Ben stiller). All three have award season written all over them. I highly recommended it.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
It Might get Loud ****
Starring Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
As a guitarist myself, I might not be considered the most impartial person to review Davis Guggenheim’s frank, honest and highly entertaining guitar documentary, It Might Get Loud. I will however, do my best to inform from a non primary as well as primary demographical point of view; indeed, this should be the appropriate stance to take because it is how well this balance is kept throughout that ultimately makes this film so enjoyable.
The premise: Three guitarists from three different generations discuss the electric guitar and what it means to them and their careers. The three musicians in question are Jimmy Page (late of Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2) and Jack White (most notably of The White Stripes). The format sees them sitting together on a stage surrounded by their various set ups as they converse about favourite guitars, most inspiring records and so on. This is interspersed with footage of their various careers as well as visits to notable locations such as were they grew up and where they wrote and recorded classic songs.
The choice of protagonists works well as they are markedly different from each other in terms of background, musical style and their reasons for getting on the career path they chose. Page comes across as an endearing gent whose articulate storytelling and life long passion for music makes for compulsive viewing; The Edge is his enthusiastic, likeable self as he takes us on a trip through Dublin’s North Side, taking in Mount Temple secondary school where it all first happened for him and his fellow band mates. Jack White appears as the most elusive of the three, yet his demeanour and bare bones attitude display him as an admirable iconoclast to a degree not often seen in the showy ego fuelled world he frequents.
The film flows well as the various stories shift between the three and there are some great moments along the way; The Edge’s wry sense of humour, the Amish-like old worldliness on Jack White home life, but the highlight has to be the wonderful expressions on the The Edge and White's faces as Jimmy breaks into the infamous opening riff of Zeppelin’s ‘Whole lotta Love’ (think wide eyed children on Christmas morning).
In the end, It Might Get Loud comes across more as a testimony of three artistic people who stuck to doing to exactly what they wanted to do, as opposed to being solely a concentrated deconstruction of an instrument and its history.
Sure, if you don’t care to cast much thought on the ins and outs of guitar adoration, then you might find The Edge discussing the finer details of his effects pedals or Jimmy Page pinpointing moments of greatness in his aged vinyl collection a little dragging. Ultimately though, to truly dislike this film would be to dislike Rock n’ Roll at its warmest heart. Would you really be telling the truth?
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
As a guitarist myself, I might not be considered the most impartial person to review Davis Guggenheim’s frank, honest and highly entertaining guitar documentary, It Might Get Loud. I will however, do my best to inform from a non primary as well as primary demographical point of view; indeed, this should be the appropriate stance to take because it is how well this balance is kept throughout that ultimately makes this film so enjoyable.
The premise: Three guitarists from three different generations discuss the electric guitar and what it means to them and their careers. The three musicians in question are Jimmy Page (late of Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2) and Jack White (most notably of The White Stripes). The format sees them sitting together on a stage surrounded by their various set ups as they converse about favourite guitars, most inspiring records and so on. This is interspersed with footage of their various careers as well as visits to notable locations such as were they grew up and where they wrote and recorded classic songs.
The choice of protagonists works well as they are markedly different from each other in terms of background, musical style and their reasons for getting on the career path they chose. Page comes across as an endearing gent whose articulate storytelling and life long passion for music makes for compulsive viewing; The Edge is his enthusiastic, likeable self as he takes us on a trip through Dublin’s North Side, taking in Mount Temple secondary school where it all first happened for him and his fellow band mates. Jack White appears as the most elusive of the three, yet his demeanour and bare bones attitude display him as an admirable iconoclast to a degree not often seen in the showy ego fuelled world he frequents.
The film flows well as the various stories shift between the three and there are some great moments along the way; The Edge’s wry sense of humour, the Amish-like old worldliness on Jack White home life, but the highlight has to be the wonderful expressions on the The Edge and White's faces as Jimmy breaks into the infamous opening riff of Zeppelin’s ‘Whole lotta Love’ (think wide eyed children on Christmas morning).
In the end, It Might Get Loud comes across more as a testimony of three artistic people who stuck to doing to exactly what they wanted to do, as opposed to being solely a concentrated deconstruction of an instrument and its history.
Sure, if you don’t care to cast much thought on the ins and outs of guitar adoration, then you might find The Edge discussing the finer details of his effects pedals or Jimmy Page pinpointing moments of greatness in his aged vinyl collection a little dragging. Ultimately though, to truly dislike this film would be to dislike Rock n’ Roll at its warmest heart. Would you really be telling the truth?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Paranormal Activity ***
Starring Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
Directed by Oren Peli
2009 has shown itself to be a promising year for the horror film; after the Asian wave of originality had just about run dry and Hollywood’s best answer was to remake nearly all of those films one by one and scene by scene, the future was looking decidedly bleak. Then earlier this year hopes were significantly raised with the arrival of superb Swedish vampire yarn, Let the Right One. Now Paranormal Activity ensures that the year also closes on a reasuring high.
Young couple Katie and Micah (respective actual names) are enjoying a spell of pre-engagement cohabiting and life is going well. That is, until Katie becomes worried about strange noises at night and a general feeling of unease while she sleeps. Feeling her concern, Micah buys a home video camera in the hope that filming their night’s sleep might shed some light on the situation. But resulting footage reveals some unnerving evidence as things move, mysterious shadows appear and strange voices can be heard.
Spooked by these inexplicable phenomenons, Katie enlists the help of a paranormal medium. After she informs him that this is actually not the first time in her life that such strange incidents have occurred, he fears that there may be a demonic presence at work. He recommends an expert, wishes them luck and urges them not to do anything foolish such as try to make contact. He also advises Micah not to continue filming fearing it may only make matters worse. He is, however, quite reluctant to heed this last warning and as the recording continues things get worse, much worse; doors slam, loud noises echo through the house and Katie undergoes some alarming bouts of sleep walking.
Paranormal Activity is a highly admirable piece of work because it gets maximum effect from its concept in the most regular of settings. In doing so it has also broken an impressive record; in its short theatre life to date, it has already become the most profitable feature film of all time. Quite a feat for a production shot entirely in its director’s own home and in just ten days.
Although the shaky amateur footage of the ‘reality video' film has been seen a fair number of times by now, the closest in style to this is the one that brought the technique to the mainstream back in 1999, The Blair Witch Project. But while TBWP deserves its credit for being the first to bring the technique to box office breaking levels (this writer believes it was unjustly received in this territory due to effect sapping over hype), Paranormal Activity achieves a far more effective result with the same restraints. It's a case of pure simple genius when you consider the concept of successfully creating palpable dread and fearful suspense in perhaps the most comfortable environment we have; our own beds. This is also probably the strongest evidence yet that budget busting CGI technology doesn’t do much for the horror genre. It is still the believability factor and leaving plenty to the imagination that get the true scares. “Don’t see it alone” if you don’t wish to, but as long as you have rattling plumbing at 4am or a wardrobe door with self opening tendencies, it won’t be much help.
Directed by Oren Peli
2009 has shown itself to be a promising year for the horror film; after the Asian wave of originality had just about run dry and Hollywood’s best answer was to remake nearly all of those films one by one and scene by scene, the future was looking decidedly bleak. Then earlier this year hopes were significantly raised with the arrival of superb Swedish vampire yarn, Let the Right One. Now Paranormal Activity ensures that the year also closes on a reasuring high.
Young couple Katie and Micah (respective actual names) are enjoying a spell of pre-engagement cohabiting and life is going well. That is, until Katie becomes worried about strange noises at night and a general feeling of unease while she sleeps. Feeling her concern, Micah buys a home video camera in the hope that filming their night’s sleep might shed some light on the situation. But resulting footage reveals some unnerving evidence as things move, mysterious shadows appear and strange voices can be heard.
Spooked by these inexplicable phenomenons, Katie enlists the help of a paranormal medium. After she informs him that this is actually not the first time in her life that such strange incidents have occurred, he fears that there may be a demonic presence at work. He recommends an expert, wishes them luck and urges them not to do anything foolish such as try to make contact. He also advises Micah not to continue filming fearing it may only make matters worse. He is, however, quite reluctant to heed this last warning and as the recording continues things get worse, much worse; doors slam, loud noises echo through the house and Katie undergoes some alarming bouts of sleep walking.
Paranormal Activity is a highly admirable piece of work because it gets maximum effect from its concept in the most regular of settings. In doing so it has also broken an impressive record; in its short theatre life to date, it has already become the most profitable feature film of all time. Quite a feat for a production shot entirely in its director’s own home and in just ten days.
Although the shaky amateur footage of the ‘reality video' film has been seen a fair number of times by now, the closest in style to this is the one that brought the technique to the mainstream back in 1999, The Blair Witch Project. But while TBWP deserves its credit for being the first to bring the technique to box office breaking levels (this writer believes it was unjustly received in this territory due to effect sapping over hype), Paranormal Activity achieves a far more effective result with the same restraints. It's a case of pure simple genius when you consider the concept of successfully creating palpable dread and fearful suspense in perhaps the most comfortable environment we have; our own beds. This is also probably the strongest evidence yet that budget busting CGI technology doesn’t do much for the horror genre. It is still the believability factor and leaving plenty to the imagination that get the true scares. “Don’t see it alone” if you don’t wish to, but as long as you have rattling plumbing at 4am or a wardrobe door with self opening tendencies, it won’t be much help.
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