Filed under Drama …

Apr 17 2012
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Action, Comedy, Drama, Movies, Reviews

Three Surprises and Battleship

I’ve seen four movies over the last four weeks. Three of them surprised me. One of them was Battleship.

21 JUMP STREET

21 Jump Street

Level of Surprise: Quite Pleasant

I was expecting very little of this, having never seen the TV show, or having never liked Jonah Hill. But this was quite a pleasant surprise. The script cleverly plays with high school genre conventions in a fish out of water way. Hill and Tatum are the best buddy cop duo I’ve seen in a long time – Hill proving there’s more to his comedic skills than loud-mouth swearing and Tatum proving to all his detractors that he is more than just rom-com eye candy. He’s a funny guy. Continue reading →

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Mar 29 2012
1 Comment
Comedy, Drama, Movies

You’re my favourite customer

Mar 28 2012
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Drama, Movies

What makes him tick… Like a bomb?

image

Didn’t realise how funny the tagline for Rebel Without a Cause was until I spotted this poster in the bathroom of a cafe in Newtown.

And yes, somebody had painstakingly drawn moustaches on every single poster. Even Barbarella.

Either they were making a bold statement about Hollywood misogyny and the lack of developed roles for female actresses in the film industry, or they were taking a really long shit and happened to have a pen.

Feb 27 2012
5 Comments
Comedy, Drama, Movies, Oscars, Reviews

The Artist: (All the good silent puns have been used already)

The Artist is an easy film to like. It’s funny, charming, endearing and simple. And it just won most of the good Oscars. What the Academy likes is rarely what I like, but this is an exception.

It’s easy for a film to be swallowed up by its own hype and awards-praise and this can often result in disappointed viewings from those expecting one of the greatest films of all time. The Artist is not one of the greatest films of all time, but it is a fun and light-hearted tribute to an era of cinema we don’t talk about much (I crack myself up). It’s a fine accomplishment and deserves all the attention its getting, whether or not it was the best film of 2011. Continue reading →

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Feb 22 2012
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Drama, Movies, Oscars, Reviews

The Descendants: Clooney, cousins and comas

The Descendants George Clooney

Peek-a-Cloon!

Alexander Payne has quite a distinct directorial and writing style. His characters feel real, his films look earthly and his dialogue is touching and humorous. The Descendants ticks all those boxes nicely and as long as you’re not dead inside (or in a coma – eh? Eh?) it should evoke some sort of emotional response. Continue reading →

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Feb 16 2012
3 Comments
Drama, Movies, Reviews, The 59 Sci-Fi Movie Challenge

The 59 Sci-Fi Challenge: #2 Slaughterhouse Five (1972)

Dave is undertaking a challenge. This is it.

Slaughterhouse Billy Pilgrim Tralfamadore Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse Five is an absolute mindfuck of a film. I still don’t think I quite understood what it was all about, but I’ll do my best to make sense of it.

Slaughterhouse Five opens on Billy Pilgrim (played really strangely and brilliantly by Michael Sacks, who I had never heard of either), typing a letter to the editor of a magazine. We see as he types that he has a problem: he is unintentionally time-travelling throughout moments in his life, past, present and future. From there, the disjointed narrative structure kicks in and we start to be propelled (often very suddenly and unexpectedly) through various points in Billy’s life, primarily his time in WWII Germany and post-war America. It’s a fascinating and useful device, allowing for random moments from Billy’s future and past to deepen our understanding of him as a character. It allows for some pretty nice fades and scene juxtapositions, but on the downside can feel a bit disorienting at times. Continue reading →

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Feb 11 2012
3 Comments
Drama, Movies, Oscars

Right Now: About to watch The Descendants at a cinema in the water at the Opera House

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You should all be jealous.

UPDATE: Great movie. Great venue. Spoiled only by the party boat that sailed by, pumping Kanye West through one of the quieter moments. And bats flying past the screen.

Feb 07 2012
6 Comments
Drama, Movies, Oscars, Reviews

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Candlestick Maker Not Included

Spoiler Alert: There’s no tinkers or tailors in this movie.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film about lies. It is an incredibly slow, subtle and grim depiction of cold-war paranoia and mistrust, told from the perspective of a veteran spy investigating the very people he should trust. It’s very British and very old-fashioned, but both lend themselves perfectly to the 60s setting and the classic feel.

Oldman’s performance is so quiet that you could miss it if you blinked. Besides a standout scene in which he describes a meeting with the enemy, his performance is reserved and powerful, expressing a life-long weariness and a stubborn determination through Smiley’s slow, deliberate dialogue. Continue reading →

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