Stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt, Will Forte and Doug Jones Directed by Akiva Schaffer This is a love it or hate it deal, very much depending on your personal tolerance for the antics of Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn or Jonah Hill. They pretty much play some variation of any other character they've done before, which is either tiresome or you might still find it funny. So, I'm setting that aside in favour for the movie as a whole. Plot-wise, it's fairly simple. A mysterious death leads a concerned individual to create a neighbourhood watch in order to catch this murderer. Despite being extremely active within his own community, he barely manages to muster enough interest in his new project and ends up with a bunch of individuals who have different intentions for joint the watch. What they find instead is an alien and a rather nasty looking one at that - which is actually rather cool since he's played by one Doug Jones. Jones is a very physical actor and often Guillermo DelToro's go to guy for playing creatures be it in Hellboy, Hellboy: The Golden Army or Pan's Labyrinth. But going on plot alone and there's really nothing else much to it as the movie really does rely on the talents of the stars and their antics. As mentioned, Stiller, Vaughn and Hill are pretty much the same as they've been, so the wild-card of the pack is British actor/writer/director, Richard Ayoade. Ayoade doesn't really does much in the first half, keeping things on a very low key with the occasional quip and joining in on the frat-boy antics (so that's what you do with an alien body). The design of the alien itself is rather cool with some greet make-up for physical effects, amplified with CG effects. Jones does a fantastic job for the most part (we'll forget that one crazy bit in the man-cave) giving the alien a slightly out of this world physicality. The movie is incredibly rude and crude with lots of off-colour jokes of the frat-boy/man-child mentality. Some hit the mark and do elicit laughs, as do some of the antics, but most fall flat - again depending on your personal taste and tolerance for this kind of comedy. There were a few jokes that tickle my funny bone, and I did laugh at some stuff. It's not really something I want to watch again, not that I would mind if it popped up on cable. Just have to switch off my moral compass rather than my whole brain, and maybe I'll still enjoy it. The movie knows how to have fun at times, but it feels like it works hard to find it. If you've enjoyed most of Vaughn's movies, you might enjoy this one. I think a decent yardstick would be Dodgeball (also with Vaughn and Stiller). If you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, you might want to steer clear.
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Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Diana Ramirez, Michael Shannon, Jaime Chung, Wolé Parks and Aasif Mandvi Directed by David Koepp joseph Gordon-Levitt has been really busy what with The Dark Knight Rises earlier this season and Looper coming around later in the year, and between these two is this little thriller from Dvid Koepp, normally known as a writer more than for directing. Koepp has had a hand in writing some of the more popular movies, working with directors such as Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, War Of The Worlds), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), Brian DePalma (Carlito's Way, Mission: Impossible, Snake Eyes) and David Fincher (Panic Room). In directing, Koepp has had success with some small and effective thrillers such as Stir of Echoes, The Trigger Effect and Secret Window. His last film was a comedy, Ghost Town. Here, he's tackling an action thriller and what a ride it is. It's still a relatively small film with a simple plot. A bike messenger, Wiley (Gordon-Levitt) has to deliver one little envelope across New York, and he has approximately ninety minutes to do it. On his tail is a cop (Michael Shannon) with an ulterior motive for wanting the envelope as well as a bike cop (Christopher Place) who has been chasing him down for recklessness. Mixed in that is Wiley's crumbling relationship with fellow courier, Vanessa (Diana Ramirez) who might be going with rival Manny (Wolé Parks). What's in the envelope is the MacGuffin, and the overall plot surrounding it takes about half the movie. The rest of the movie is filled with some of the most astounding street level vehicular action filming ever committed to film. It's tough enough when it's car chases, but here we have the stars on bikes speeding and swerving around New York traffic, with the camera following close by. If you ever thought cycling might be boring, the filming and the editing here will convince you otherwise. There's even a little tag midway through the end credits to prove this was filmed on the streets. Gordon-Levitt shines, fully committing to the role, and he does especially well in his scenes with Shannon, who turns in another remarkable performance (see Take Shelter) as the cop whose desperation pushes him into reckless acts. It's their double act that drive the movie while the rest of the supporting cast give solid back-up, especially Ramirez and Parks as fellow couriers. Aasif Mandvi is a blast in his few scenes as their dispatcher. The movie is a thrill ride, probably more so for audiences who aren't trying to figure out is the routes used in the film actually make sense when edited together (say, audiences from New York). There have been cases where numerous locations are used for films but after editing, the locations do not necessarily make sense*. Still, it shouldn't matter as the action itself will keep your mind from wandering too much and the simple plot really drives the overall pace of the movie. I just had to wonder if Koepp using The Who's 'Baba O'Rielly' for the opening would make viewers think they might be watching a CSI movie… *For us in Malaysia, the more notorious bit was in Entrapment, which had Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones on a sampan somewhere in Melaka while the KL Twin Towers loomed over in the background. Or another old film, 'The Dadah Connection', where a traveller arrives in Malaysia via the Penang ferry, gets onto a trishaw, navigates around Penang and somehow gets off at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. That was a real eye opener for me way back when... Stars (vocally) Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzin, Anna Kendrick, Casey Afflack, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, John Goodman with Tempestt Bledsoe, Bernard Hill and Jodelle Ferland Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell There is a certain magical quality to stop motion animation, be it as simple effects work on classics such as King Kong by Willis O'Brian to the works of Ray Harryhausen in 'Jason and The Argonauts' and 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad', to even the bits in "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,' or a full fledged animation feature in this particular format. A gold standard held up often is "The Nightmare Before Christmas," conceived by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick. Others include the work of Aardman Animation such as "Chicken Run", "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit" and their latest, "The Pirates in An Adventure With Scientists." We don't count "Flushed Away because despite its look, that one was fully computer animated. Tim Burton himself moved on with "Corpse Bride" and the upcoming "Frankenweenie". Henry Selick's last feature was Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" and the animation was done by a studio called Laika. With that one, Laika pushed to boundaries of what could be done in stop-motion animation, opening up the scale of the production. Computers were used to help build the numerous pieces for facial animation alone. It's reported that the lead character, Norman, has over 200,000 mouth pieces to help him articulate the dialogue and show off other expressions. Coraline had a reported 208,000 facial pieces and Norman supposedly has more. When you consider the effort it takes to create a full animated feature in this format, considering all the moving parts that have to be synchronised in each shot of the frame, it's hard not to be impressed. The plot for ParaNorman is actually simple. Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an 11-year old boy who is far from normal. He loves zombie movies and his room is filled with posters and other paraphernalia related to zombie. He can also see ghosts, and talk to them. This, apparently, is common knowledge around the small town he lives in although no one actually takes him seriously despite how he would casually greet each ghost he meets on his way to school. He does find an unlikely ally, believer and friend in a similarly bullied kid in school, Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), who is a hilarious and sweet character, the best friend you could ever want. Then, Norman is informed that the town's fabled witch's curse is true and that he's the only one who can prevent it from happening. What follows is a very colourful, imaginative and surprising adventure that treads very delicately into fairy tale territory. There are moments of horror and humour that are balanced very finely, and a reaction to zombies that would make you question as to why it never happened in other movies. Expectations and clichés get ground a little, but not everything is completely unexpected either, and that works to the benefit of the movie itself. It's great that Norman is not that angst-ridden kid, constantly haunted by the (supposed) horrors around him, or utterly ground down by the bullying inflicted by the slightly dim Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). And as advised by his grandmother (Elaine Stritch), he never allows any of it to change who he is, but instead does the opposite. It is strange, though, that with all the ghosts around, none of them become really significant as one might hope or figure as the story goes on. It's like with the Harry Potter movies, they're there in the early instalments but largely forgotten towards the end unless vitally important to the plot. Still, the vocal cast are great with Anna Kendrick and Casey Afflack bringing some contemporary humour where their characters are concerned. Norman's parents (voiced by Leslie Mann and Jef Garlin) are nicely formed characters instead of basic parental ciphers. The townsfolk - and there are many - are a colourful bunch with many distinguishing characters among them, even if they are just background. There is a lot of love and passion in the work on screen here. The 3D presentation is absolutely gorgeous with more depth effects than actual protrusions. Creating an animated feature in stop motion means that you have physical characters in a physically built environment, and that lends itself to 3D amazingly well. The amount of depth they have here is surprising given how big the sets might possibly be. To have an idea of how big the model for Norman is, sit through the end credits for the tag. It's not an additional scene but it's a nice little piece where we see the construction of the Norman character in time-lapse and more. Even if you have kids, have them see this bit at the very end. Just maybe one of them will get inspired. This is pure family entertainment, very much a throwback to those 80s type kids-on-an-adventure movies (from 'The Goonies' or 'E.T.' to 'The Monster Squad' and more recently, 'Super 8') and easily one of the best movies of the year so far. It leans close to being a fairy tale, so there danger and some scary moments. By the end of it, there is a kind of lesson as well but it doesn't preach or whack you over the head with it. It plays well to kids and it it doesn't talk down to them, keeping things on a level that even adults will enjoy. As pricey as a 3D screening may be, this is exactly what family entertainment should be. Stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Nan Yu, Scott Adkins, Jet Li with Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris Directed by Simon West The Expendables return, albeit with a smaller team and some fresh faces, and the action remains as over-the-top as you might expect given the line up of action superstars on call this time around. Sylvester Stallone still leads the pack, and given the nature of the film, he takes things a little too seriously unlike, say, Jason Statham or Jean Claude Van Damme or even Bruce Willis. Statham is the king of the action movies these days, and you get the sense that despite this being just another paycheck, he knows how to enjoy himself, even with one highlight set-piece. Van Damme gets the benefit of playing the villain named Vilain (really) and does it with some gusto. It's been a long while since he's played the bad guy and he adds some interesting quirks to this character. Between the big three, Willis is the one who gets that what goes on in the film is meant to be an over-the-top fan dream of action heroes banding together, and he plays it tongue-in-cheek, coming across far more relaxed (and cooler) than Stallone or even Schwarzenegger who appears to be over-enunciating his dialogue. Still, having the big three share the screen again is something to savour, especially since it's more than the glorified cameo of the first movie. Many a catch-phrase is traded, sly references are dropped in as are certain pop culture references, particularly with Chuck Norris, and if you know what you're looking for, every typical cliche is dragged out kicking and screaming. It's more gun action than hand to hand, what with Jet Li opting to make an early exit, leaving the more brutal showdown to Statham and upcoming action star, Scott Adkins (who will be appearing in Universal Soldier - Day Of Reckoning alongside Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren). Director Simon West manages to wrangle the stars, but it's more Stallone's show this time around, and everyone else is pretty much in guest star mode. There are a couple of quiet moments just to spread the story out, but its the action set-pieces that count and there are many. The plot is simple enough, starting with a couple of retrieval jobs, the last which turns south and it becomes something of a revenge track the rest of the way, with a slight detour that wouldn't be out of place in a war movie or even a western. In all though, there is nothing very much you can expect out of this, staying just one step ahead of your typical cable action movie. At least, it's a shade better than the original, although that one had the benefit of seeing some showdowns among the stars. Stars Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton with Stacy Keach and Scott Glenn Directed by Tony Gilroy For as much as an average audience would enjoy the Bourne trilogy for its action scenes, there is a flip side to all that, which is the political thriller that underlines each of the movies, and that continues here. The Bourne Legacy actually focusses on that, starting off with events that overlap with the previous movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. Particularly the investigation by one Simon Ross that kicked off the previous movie and set Jason Bourne on his path back to Treadstone and New York. While there are many references to the events of Ultimatum, Legacy deals more with the periphery and shows what else is behind the curtain of the Treadstone and Blackbriar programs mentioned in the previous movies. Like most of these secret programs where one arm does not know what the hand or fingers are doing, matters get fairly convoluted very quickly, and the average viewer would just have to 'go with the flow'. There are some moral questions brought up over the actions of these men and they are dismissed just as quickly in one very telling scene. So with the events here overlapping with the events in Ultimatum, as well as the fallout the what happened at the end there, the focus isn't so much on Jason Bourne himself but on another agent named Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), from a more advanced program called Outcome ("Treadstone without the inconsistencies" as one charter puts it.) As with Jason Bourne, the programs are meant to create the perfect operative and this becomes very apparent only in the final action sequence when we see the next level agent hunting Cross behave during the chase - cold, calculating and so driven that even collateral damage is not a consideration anymore. At least Bourne himself regained some humanity by the end of his story. The Bourne Legacy is very much about world-building as writer and director, Tony Gilroy, opens up the rest of the world we got a glimpse of the first three movies which Gilroy himself had a hand in crafting. We do see what happened to a couple of characters from Ultimatum, in particular, Noah Vosen (David Strathrain) and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), and even those scenes seem to suggest that it's never going to be over, and they're just the fringes of the whole puzzle. A lot of the movie is focussed here, and we see the fallout of that impacting on Aaron Cross. While the movie starts off much like The Bourne Identity (a body in water), Cross is nothing like Bourne in that he isn't trying to figure out who he is. His quest is a little different, but his path is very much like Bourne's and by the end, you might feel that you've just seen a remake or a reboot, mixed with a sidequel. While the action, usually with Cross, feels a little more toned down - or less frenetic due to the loss of Paul Greengrass and his herky-jerky handheld documentary style - Gilroy manages to keep things on edge well enough. Series stunt designer and coordinator, David Bradley, is also the second unit director and it feels like he took full charge of the extended closing action set-piece which includes just about everything we've had before - running and jumping across rooftops, extreme close-quarters fist fights, car-chases and motorbike chases. the lack of more hand-to-hand may disappoint some viewers, but what little there is remains as brutal as ever and the action is intense. Renner plays Cross more sympathetically than one would expect, and he manages to have his character be nothing like Jason Bourne. The idea that Cross and Bourne may cross paths is an intriguing one as, ultimately and more than coincidentally, they have similar agendas in the end. The only thing lacking is a sense of finality. The rest of the stars do well in their given roles, with significant cameos from the returning stars. Rachel Weisz also steps up significantly, and it took a while for me to even register that it was her in the role of Dr. Marta Shearing. While Edward Norton brings the smarm as you'd expect of him, but it also feels like he's a touch wasted, manipulating behind the scenes and hiding away in rooms or behind monitor screens. In all, even with the attempt to take things in a new direction with a new star and new characters, the spectre of Bourne isn't too far away with the many references throughout the movie. The score by James Newton Howard retains several themes created by John Powell for the previous three movies. Even Moby returns to close the movie with another rendition of "Extreme Ways". It really feels transitory, but at least, the makes some progress and it sets up a lot of things which we can only hope will be tackled in the inevitable follow-up. |
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