New DVDs: Chuck Season 1 and 2, The IT Crowd Season 3, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers in Goldmember
Apologies once again for the delay, and for the long post this time around. Life and university got in the way.
The Bounty Hunter
(viewed 18th March 2010)
Synopsis: When bounty hunter Milo (Gerard Butler) is tasked to arrest his ex-wife Nicole (Jennifer Aniston), he thinks it's the perfect job, until they find themselves on the run from criminals whom Nicole was investigating for murder.
Here is another film to add to the list of Films Whose Trailer Had All the Good Bits. The trailer was amusing, and I'm a fan of Butler's, so I figured, what could go wrong? What I saw was a generally unfunny comedy wherein two ex-lovers bickered for an hour and a half and eventually made up.
There were a few small parts that, from memory, made me laugh, but would have done better had I not seen the trailer. So, if you're thinking about watching this when it comes out on DVD, try not to watch the trailer beforehand.
Aniston wasn't anything special; not terrible but not really any good either. Butler didn't do much better than her, but he's hot enough to make up for it. There isn't much else to be said for this film; if you fancy Gerard Butler, then you'll at least be able to sit through it. (That's my excuse, anyway.)
In short: unfunny. 1.5/5
Cop Out
(viewed 19th March 2010)
Synopsis: A veteran cop (Bruce Willis) has his rare baseball card, and only way to pay for his daughter's (Michelle Tratchenberg) wedding, stolen. His partner (Tracy Morgan) helps him find the thief, who turns out to be more dangerous than expected.
I went to see this movie out of pure boredom, and wished afterwards that I'd stayed at home instead. It was boring, unfunny, illogical and just generally stupid. It tried to be a comedy and a thriller at the same time, two genres that I still maintain just don't work together. Bruce Willis really needs to get his career back on track.
The characters, rather than being funny, were simply annoying, Tracy Morgan's character being the prime example. Seann William Scott's thief/ninja was funny for the first five seconds, but afterwards I just wanted to punch him in the face. There was also a second pair of dimwitted cops, one of whom was played by Adam Brody, who hindered the film rather than helped it.
There wasn't really anything good about this film. There might've been a few short instances that made me chuckle, but on the whole, it was a pretty lame effort.
In short: boring and unfunny. 1/5
How To Train Your Dragon
(viewed 30th March, 7th April 2010)
Synopsis: A young Viking, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), aspires to fight dragons like his father (voiced by Gerard Butler), but his dragon-slaying view is changed when he befriends a dragon in the flesh.
This movie is AMAZING. It seems the season for crappy comedies and brilliant animated films. I can only rave about HTTYD; the computer animation is fantastic, the voicework is top-notch, it's written really well, etc. etc. Just, go see it. Please.
I especially love the differet types of dragons introduced; often, in a kids film, they'll just have one type of dragon, but the myriad of versions introduced here is both interesting and unique, especially when the hierarchy of the dragons' lives is introduced. The plot is always interesting and engaging for both kids and adults. Also, the main dragon, Toothless, is easily THE CUTEST animated creature you will ever see. Words cannot describe how simply adorable he is, and yet, he can switch to menacing and back again in the blink of an eye.
The voice cast is amazingly talented and diverse; as well as Baruchel and Butler, there is Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wiig, among others. Cookies for anyone who spots David Tennant's character. There are a few scenes that might be a little scary for kids, which is actually yet another praise to the animators.
Overall, How To Train Your Dragon is a brilliant film that is gorgeously animated, well-voiced and written and thoroughly entertaining for both children and adults. It well deserves its place in IMDb's Top 250.
In short: amazing. 5/5
She's Out Of My League
(viewed 5th April 2010)
Synopsis: Airport security guard Kirk (Jay Baruchel) falls in love with a gorgeous woman, Molly (Alice Eve), but both he and his family think Kirk isn't good enough for her.
Yay, another crappy rom-com! [/sarcasm]
This film is no different to the rest; geeky guy meets hot girl, falls in love, thinks he's not good enough, she says he is, happily ever after. There is really nothing else to this film. It's not awful, it's just awfully generic.
I'm a big fan of Jay Baruchel, and it's not his fault that the film sucked, so the only thing I'll criticize him for is perhaps agreeing to be in the film in the first place. The main problem here is simply that nothing new is brought to the table; it's just the same old romantic comedy formula all over again.
One thing that really struck me was Alice Eve; I don't know if it was the way she was lit or shot or so forth, but it seemed like every time she was on screen the whole film turned into a soap opera. It might've been the effect they were going for, or it might be a figment of my imagination, but there you go.
In short: formulaic and boring. 1/5
Kick-Ass
(viewed 8th, 15th and 19th April 2010)
Synopsis: A teenage boy, Dave (Aaron Johnson), trains himself to become a superhero named Kick-Ass, only to become intertwined with real superheroes and very real villains.
I - freaking - LOVE - Kick-Ass!! Based on the comics/graphic novels of the same name, it is the perfect action/comic book movie, effortlessly mixing comedy, drama, action and etreme violence and language to great effect.
Firstly, there's the cast. Johnson is great as Dave/Kick-Ass, conveying comedy and drama very effectively. Starring as fellow superheroes are Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl and Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy. Moretz is a brilliant little actress who, at just 13, has a great career ahead of her (and no, I have no qualms about her doing the majority of the ass-kicking and swearing). As for Cage; I used to have a rule that basically said, don't watch a film if Nicolas Cage is in it. Well, Kick-Ass has restored my faith in him. He is positively hilarious in this film, and does well in the dramatic scenes too.
There's also Mark Strong who, despite being arguably typecast, plays a brilliant villain in Frank D'Amico, and Christopher "McLovin'" Mintz-Plasse as Frank's son Chris/Red Mist, prevailing in his usual comic territory and surprisingly holding his own dramatically too.
The film is overly violent and has a lot of swearing, so no, it's not cool for anyone under 15. However, this adds to the film rather than hindering it; the violence is comic-like and not realistic, and both it and the language is mostly used in a hilarious manner. There are a few scenes that are a bit full-on, but adequate for their individual scenes.
All in all, and to be incredibly cheesy, Kick-Ass is, well...
In short: kick-ass! 5/5
Date Night
(viewed 9th April 2010)
Synopsis: A married couple (Tina Fey and Steve Carell) take another couple's booking at a restaurant and are subsequently forced to run for their lives when they are mistaken for a pair of criminals.
I hope whoever is in charge of advertising these movies is getting paid extra, because here's another film whose best bits are in the trailer.
Date Night is nowhere near as funny as it should have been. I'm a big fan of both Carell and Fey, and whilst neither quite hits their stride in this film they don't really do badly either, so the blame should fall on the writers. A lot of the jokes fall short and, apparently realising that they have fallen short, last longer than they should, making them more awkward than mildly funny.
Mark Wahlberg is refreshing, however; out of his usual action comfort zone, he fares reasonably well in a comedy, providing the majority of the few laughs here. There is also a scene later in the film in a strip club that is mildly amusing, but aside from that, keep your eye on Wahlberg's scenes.
Mila Kunis and James Franco play the criminal couple Fey and Carell's characters are mistaken for, and should also have been funnier than they were, which is again down to the writers. Sure, they are only guest stars at best, but with the characters and screen time they were given they didn't really have room to flourish.
In short: less funny than it should've been. 2/5
When In Rome
(viewed April 2010)
Synopsis: At her sister's wedding in Rome, Beth (Kristen Bell) takes five coins out of the Fountain of Love, causing five men to fall in love with her.
I am quite glad I didn't pay to see this. I won the tickets and, quite frankly, if I could see the future I would never pay to see it. The film was mostly boring and unfunny, and the problem was, the film thought it was HILARIOUS. There is one scene at the start of the film where Beth is trying to smash a jar that won't break, and it just goes for way longer than it should.
Beth is a boring character; it's not Bell's fault, it's just the way the character is written. Beth's attempted suitors are terrible, too; Danny DeVito, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Dax Shepard should all really know better. Although, granted, Arnett's character gets better as the film goes on.
Really the only good thing about this film is Josh Duhamel; he's cute, he's funny, he's charizmatic and surprisingly very good at physical comedy. He provides most of the very sparing laughs.
In short: Duhamel fans only, please. 1/5
Hot Tub Time Machine
(viewed 28th April 2010)
Synopsis: Three friends, Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Coddry), and Adam's nephew Jacob (Clark Duke), go on holiday to a crappy motel, only to be transported back to the eighties when their hot tub inexplicably becomes a time machine.
Crap comedies ahoy!
Whilst, admittedly, this film is slightly better than the other comedies that are out at the moment, Hot Tub Time Machine is nothing to really rave about. There are a few lol-worthy moments and some talented actors thrown in (e.g. Crispin Glober, Lizzy Caplan and Lyndsy Fonesca), but on the whole it's not anything special.
The main characters, besides Jacob, are generally annoying, as is Chevy Chase's character. Some jokes are also really forced, such as a Michael Jackson joke early in the film, but there is some nice breaking of the fourth wall, too. Arguably the best part of this film is that it never takes itself too seriously; the film knows it's just a comedy, and that the storyline is wholly far-fetched, but rather than try to explain it away the film just makes fun of it.
On the whole, it's nothing brilliant, but better than most other comedies on offer at the moment.
In short: okay, but not great. 2/5
Iron Man 2
(viewed 29th April, 8th May 2010)
Synopsis: Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Iron Man's real-world identity and now an international celebrity, is forced to deal with pressures from the Ameican government, shady competing weapons designers such as Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), his own deteriorating health and a villainous Russian out for revenge (Mickey Rourke).
This film ROCKS. It's like Iron Man 1 times two. It ups the ante in all aspects; the cast is great, the action is great and the special effects are AWESOME. In Iron Man 1 it was kinda obvious that they'd superimposed Downey Jr.'s head into Iron Man's suit; now, thanks to technological advancement, we can see an almost flawless image of him literally stepping into or out of an Iron Man suit. The fight scenes are also fantastic; cars get sliced in half, people are strangled with electric cables, stuff explodes, robots get lasered; it's just awesome.
The cast is great, too. The whole main cast from Iron Man 1 is back, save for Don Cheadle who replaced Terrence Howard, albeit to no detriment of the film. Scarlett Johansson is a nice addition as Natasha Romanoff, as is Rockwell as Justin Hammer. I am such a big fan of Sam Rockwell; he's a brilliant actor and is greatly underestimated. People would be wise to keep an eye on him, because I feel he has a big role coming up in future Iron Man film endeavors, as well as his career in general.
On the filp side, and although he was pretty badass, I didn't really like Mickey Rourke as the primary villain, Ivan Vanko. They couldn't have picked someone who looked less Russian; he had the accent down, but there's a scene at the start where he's in Russia speaking with some skinny, pale, obviously-Russian men, whilst Rourke is standing there being the big, tanned, dreadlocked beefcake that he is. His acting is also laughable in parts, but really, for me, he was the only downside to this awesome film. Bring on the Avengers!
P.S: Stay after the credits.
In short: awesome. 4.5/5
I Love You Too
(viewed 12th May 2010)
Synopsis: Commitment-phobe Jim (Brendan Cowell) tries to win back his British girlfriend Alice (Yvonne Strahovski) when she leaves as a result of him being unable to say "I love you".
Holy shit - a GOOD Australian film!
I Love You Too is really sweet, and reasonably funny. Written by comedian and Rove Live regular Peter Helliar, it defied my expectations and is one of very few Australian films that I actually like (and I'm Australian, so I can say that). Helliar's writing is funny, touching and good all-around.
Cowell is good as Jim; relatable, moderately interesting and funny at times. The same goes with Bridie Carter and Travis McMahon as Jim's sister and brother in law, respectively. Helliar is good too, but I couldn't stop thinking "Hey, it's Peter Helliar!" every time he came on screen.
The real standouts are Strahovski as Alice; I'm a big fan of hers, and anyone who watches the TV series Chuck will know how great an actress she is. She's an Aussie, but puts on a flawless British accent. Another great performance comes from Peter Dinklage as Charlie, who almost moved me to tears at one point. Megan Gale is also great as supermodel Francesca Moretti; she does quite well in dramatic scenes and, surprisingly, does a great Italian accent. Overall, it's a nice, well-written Australian comedy. It's not amazing, but it's better than a lot of other Aussie films.
In short: sweet and funny. 3/5
Robin Hood
(viewed 21st May 2010)
Synopsis: A retelling of the classic story of how Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) became the legend known as Robin Hood.
Me seeing this film was another result of pure boredom; nothing inclined me to see it, it just seemed the most bearable out of everything that was in cinemas. And I feel like I made the right choice.
Robin Hood was exciting, interesting and generally a good film all around. The action sequences, in true Ridley Scott style, were incredibly well executed, action-packed and adequately violent without going over the top. The story was written well, too; it put a fresh spin on the story that most people will know by now, whilst still being reasonably easy to understand.
The cast was great; Crowe surprisingly, and Cate Blanchett was fantastic as Marion. Mark Strong was, again, a great villain, and newcomer Oscar Isaac was very convincing as the conniving Prince John. My other favourite, among many other great performances, was Kevin Durand as Little John; being Canadian and arguably best known as villain Keamy from TV's Lost, it was great to see Durand providing an essentially flawless accent and a good performance as a hero.
There wasn't really anything overly negative about this film; the two-and-a-half-hour runtime might be too long for some viewers but I personally didn't feel it dragged on. I wouldn't say I'd go and see it again, but it was an entertaining film nonetheless.
In short: exciting and entertaining. 3/5
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