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thirteeninchwinch
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The Dark Knight (2008)
RIP Heath
Overall an excellent movie. A great cast, though Maggie was the least. Heath played a great joker and mostly chewed up the scenery, though the lip smacking became a bit distracting (even if the character was trying to remind himself of who he is by licking his scars etc). The dichotomy theme worked well with all of the internal character conflict, and I forgive the forced pretext of the action sequences because they really were great. Perhaps the movie should have had less side plots and finished at 1 hour 45, but again, they were all riveting. Harvey Dent's turn and then demise all seemed a bit rushed in the last 1/3 of the movie. Another great effort though in a superbly revitalised franchise.
Last Holiday (2006)
A Bad Holiday
Last Holiday lacks anything resembling wit, humour, or heart, and meanders along while tripping over its own feet. Watching a dullard is pointless, watching a romance with no chemistry is irritating, watching horrible random slapstick (the snowboarding) is painful, and watching Queen Latifah laboriously marvel at mundane everyday things with a goofy grin is unbearable. The writing for this thing was absolutely atrocious. Presumably the point of such a movie is to be uplifting, but this was pedestrian and pointless. Just one last thing - why does Queen Latifah criticise staff and make a furore on the plane, and then turn into a hypocrite and jump down Alicia Witt's throat for lambasting a masseuse?
The Happening (2008)
Stay Away
I can't warn you off this enough, but I know you'll watch it for the sake of curiosity. It really is that bad, and somehow continues Shyamalan's trend of diminishing returns. But how can you get any worse than this hokum? The script is awful - every sub character's dialogue is either pointless, or over-the-top informative. The two college boys who get shot act completely out of character, and completely out of common sense. How and why do you bother trying to run from the wind? Why is the wind so selective all of a sudden? Small groups? Small groups???? Come on! Mark Wahlberg has carved out a good career and was great in The Departed, but here he is shown up as being as wooden as a fence post. And Zooey's character was just ridiculous - why does she have to explain her bog standard character foibles to everyone she meets? The only redeeming feature of the movie was John Leguizamo's performance, doing the best with what was in front of him. How Shyamalan is getting mainstream release is no doubt a mystery of his contract.
Sex and the City (2008)
A Long Episode
For the greater good of the plot, the first hour was dedicated to breaking down everything that had been so neatly wrapped up on the TV series. In the end this was forgivable as the back end was an enjoyable and redeeming experience, recapturing the wit and humour of the TV series. By the end of the movie 3/4 have refound their happy ever after, and while the end result was good, it just seemed, well, pointless. Samantha being left single again was almost too easy, as she was always the most happy single. Just as I was before viewing the film, I remain ambivalent towards the concept of a sex and the city movie.
The Guardian (2006)
3/4 Of A Good Film
The first three quarters of the film were gripping, focusing on tough training, tension filled relationships, and a bit of romance. Then the last quarter focuses on actual coast guard rescues, which feels like it has been wrenched in to contrive a dramatic ending. From a realistic and tough training programme, we're suddenly fed some hokum about a magical guardian ghost who's saving people? Forget about it. I would have equally disliked the final scene having Costner and Kutcher escape safely though, because the film should have ended before that point. I largely forgive all this though, as overall the story is treated well enough.
Annapolis (2006)
An Advertisement For The Navy
This was a tale that didn't really need to be told. In fact, it was more of an advertisement for the navy than an actual movie. Franco does little to create a 3 dimensional character, and is not helped by being thrown into 2 hours of navy recruitment without first establishing why he's there, or why he's facing such adversity. Other weak plot points included the silly coincidental bar flirt...................which turned out to be a superior officer! What, no way! Who would have thought? Plus the entire end of the movie became a determination to win a boxing match, which was irrelevant to the previous plot of the movie - getting into the navy.
No Reservations (2007)
Largely forgettable fare.
The central relationship walks on well trodden ground - some friction and to and fro, a resistant woman eventually gives in to charm, they get together, then they break up before the finale where they amazingly reunite. Typical Hollywood tripe. Everything about the relationship and the adoption was lifted out of a manual. But the worst part of the movie was the meandering silences - in total the movie had about 10 minutes of actual dialogue, the rest of the time we watched with overlaid music as the characters wandered around performing everyday tasks failing to emit any emotions that added value to the plot. Largely forgettable fare.
Before Sunset (2004)
An Equal Sequel
Quite an engaging gab fest - loved the long dialogue scenes, loved the to and fro, and loved some of the acting. But I think I preferred the first meeting. Sure they were young and naive then, but that gave them an excuse for spouting optimism and romance. Here they're a bit older and wiser and the conversation feels less natural and more forced. The randomly deep insights, while impressive, clash a bit with the other insecurities and awkward jokes. Their current relationship is possibly too stuck in romanticising the original, therefore giving them false expectations of what they have now, but this doubt can probably go down as a plus for the film. A definite minus was some of the occasionally excessive false smiling, which I have to mark up against Ethan.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Forrest Gump In Reverse
Brad Pitt did an excellent job of playing a very young old man struggling because he just didn't fit in. The whole thing was beautifully shot, and the underlying quirk of the main character was rather interesting. But overall I wasn't drawn that far into the romance, mainly as I was unconvinced by their meeting and the assumption that their love was unequivocal. Even if I were to believe that it all started when Cate Blanchett was a young girl and he was an old man, I just wasn't sold. It also seemed that she was more mature as a child, because as an adult she became more of a selfish and immature upstart.
Last Chance Harvey (2008)
Bah
This movie largely fell flat with the only redeeming feature for me the supposed mass murdering Pole living next door to the mother. Otherwise the main characters were generally monosyllabic losers in life with very little chemistry between each other. Emma Thompson may be elegant and endearing and Dustin Hoffman may be Dustin Hoffman, but there wasn't much for them to do here. I got their sadness, and I got how they found solace in each other, but there was nothing happening here, not in the plot, not in the dialogue, and not in the clichés of an 86 year old being crass or a couple of adults having to sit at a kids table. Bah.
Death Race (2008)
Mindless Racing & Destruction
There was plenty of racing and shooting, though most of it was out of context and had little riding on it. The movie's purposefully simple premise is easily excused but the smaller details are roughshod - sexy women forced unrealistically into the story and two-toned villains filling out the necessary clichés. That all of the death racers had accumulated long and successful records was made laughable by the fact that 90% of them died in this one race - talk about an unsustainable franchise. This may seem like excessive criticism for a B-movie set in a fictional world, but it still needs to be grounded in a certain amount of realism.
The Invention of Lying (2009)
Proof That Gervais Isn't Perfect
The only disappointment of Ricky's career so far. Had a few subtle moments of humour and some of the cameos were worth the price of viewing. The romance didn't really work simply because the love interest was shallow and completely anti Ricky's character, which means he's only interested in her because she's beautiful. Not being able to lie doesn't excuse these poor character traits. But the world in this movie didn't really fit with a world where people can't lie, it just fitted a world where people are rude and shallow. In a world where people can't lie being polite would still exist, it would just mean people talk less in order to being rude. The highlight of the entire DVD is the behind the scenes presentation with Ricky embarrassing the round headed mank, Karl Pilkington.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Pro: Fighting Robots
If anything the action in this movie was far better than the first as Bay zoomed further out from the battle scenes. So in terms of providing some pointless popcorn entertainment this movie ticked the main boxes. However, the main plot and the historical set up was muddled and somewhat stupid, the characters were even more cartoonish and the dialogue even more fragmented, unprovoked and out of context. The humorous parts from the first movie were replaced with a series of misplaced and increasingly inappropriate p###s and urination jokes with the only successful comedy being delivered from the ever reliable John Turturro.
The Proposal (2009)
Filling Out The Middle Of The RomCom Genre
This film was put together well, directed well, edited well, had some reasonably good acting, some funny parts, and even had some heart and believable chemistry. But it was Green Card lite. As usual far too many contrivances, conveniences and coincidences were crammed into a 72 hour period and simply undermined the story. There were also a couple of over the top and unfitting slapstick pieces including Betty White having to perform some Indian Earth chant that leads to Sandra Bullock performing an even sillier rap. A typically good Betty White was an otherwise believable spunky grandma, but was suddenly recast as a cartoonish loon. Ramone the wacky mr-do-it-all was an even worse distraction, while the ex-girlfriend was an unxplored sub-plot gone missing. I can only presume that the meaning and utilisation of this character was left on the editing room floor.
2012 (2009)
Mindless Rubbish
An amazing last line for the ages - "Daddy, no more pull ups". An uninspired combination of Deep Impact, Titanic and Day After Tomorrow that adds very little to an already formulaic genre - the disaster movie. The usual array of characters have their little stories told, many suffering, many being conveniently located very close to a coincidentally large number of catastrophic events, a couple managing to fall in love despite the mass destruction and death, and a couple taking time out at the most ridiculous moments to have inane conversations. The whole thing was a pointless romp with no consequences and no truth. John Cusack has possibly run out of good scripts coming his way.
Couples Retreat (2009)
Below Average Fare
Tries to be a zany comedy and a touching drama at the same time, and fails at both. Any yoga scene in a movie is a reach at comedy and I don't even need to point out what's wrong with Sctanley with a c. I thought the funniest part was the sauna scene where Favreau and Vaughn just riffed on ridiculous sex themes like in the good old days. Otherwise, it was just a bit boring and seemed like more of an excuse for a bunch of actors to have a holiday. Throwing a movie together and making some money seemed like an afterthought, while there would have also been pay cheques coming in from guitar hero and the Bora Bora Tourism Authority. The scenery in Bore Bora was amazing though.
Fred Claus (2007)
Pointless & Forgettable
A pointless and forgettable plot and a rubbish villain and 'twist' waste a cast that should be able to make a good movie. If you're going to sacrifice all the warmth and joy of a typical Christmas movie in order to try and make a comedy, then you should at least make it funny. The reality of this world is poorly constructed and I can't get past the fact that this family's immortality is largely ignored. Not only should Vince's immortality completely undermine his big romance, but it should have been mined for the humour and the calamity that it would cause within his existence in the real world. It seemed like the only idea for humour that the makers of this film had was to direct Vince to ad lib and go off on an angry and disjointed aside. Just bad.
3 Idiots (2009)
A Star For Each Idiot
Based on the book Five Point Someone this is the story of three new friends trying to survive the universe and the university of information technology. The first half was quite entertaining with a series of flashbacks creating a college comedy where the rambunctious students clash with the strict and traditionalist teacher/school. Some of the messages about suicide, peer pressure, parental expectations and teaching methods were presented quite well, though possibly a bit heavy handedly, and generated some of the genuinely heartfelt moments. The second half relied on a clunky and forced mystery plot device that undermined the previously laid platform and required a character to act completely and unrealistically out of character. It also became more manipulative, corny and overwrought in excessively turning on the tears and trying to wrench the audiences hearts every second minute.
The romance was all right, though it took too much of centre stage too late. A couple of generally well known adages were passed off as original dialogue which detracts from the credibility of the rest of the script. Specifically these were anecdotes about the million dollar American space pen being trumped by the Russian pencil and the toothpaste that's unable to be put back in the tube. The actors were all on cue with the comedy even if they weren't really age appropriately cast. I found the 44 years old Aamir Khan to play it a bit over the top with his attempts at boy genius mannerisms (putting his finger to his mouth) offputting.
The songs were certainly catchy, though the lyrics tended to be rather simplistic eg: "Give me some sunshine, Give me some rain, Give me another chance, I want to grow up once again". However, the dance scenes were excellent with the highlight the main romantic to and fro which was only let down by the inclusion of the chicken dance. I still don't understand whether these dance scenes are fantasy or real especially when they are included in a character's real flashback memories. I will continue to presume they are fantasy despite cinematic liberties being taken.
The Indian locations provided some beautiful scenery and were well shot and served the scenes well. The total running time of three hours was unnecessarily long and some needless scenes (eg the birth scene) could have been significantly shortened. Overall it was an enjoyable film, but it was only good and not as great as it is being touted by some.
The Learning Curve (1999)
A Bad B Grade Outing
A bit silly in parts with much of the acting and drama turned up to an excessive frequency. The style of this flick is quite cool, but then is belied by the unstylish plot and dialogue where the motivations of most actors just don't match up with their actions. One problem was a lack of gravitas given to events - out of place music and lengthy shots of no consequence. However the major problem for me was the main villain and protagonist played by Vincent Ventresca. This was a guy who was presented as gangster, powerful, and the head of a record company - yet his entire livelihood depends on a new mall? Seriously, a mall? Why is he interested in malls, where is the money for building the mall coming from, surely even if the mall is approved it will take years to get any return on investment etc etc. So the main plot device is nonsensical and the rest does little to make up for it. Perhaps if this were a blue movie all of the above may make some sense.
Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
Very Little Actual Storytelling
I'm sorry, but this is just manipulative and serves no other purpose than to tug the heart strings. How does it do that? By exploiting just about every human's love and affection for animals and personal experiences with their own pets. Yes, this movies is well filmed, well acted, and effective in tightening the audiences throat. But let's not forget that this is a film, and there is no plot or dialogue here - nothing happens. What does happen is a perfect idea for a 1 minute heart-warming TV adver. Instead it is stretched to movie length. Also, if you're going to steal a real-life event from Japan, steal it properly and drop the forced links with Japan - the professor hangs out with a Japanese guy and happens to get a Japanese dog....aha, OK.