Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 [2013] *** Stars (vocally) Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samburg, Benjamin Bratt and Neil Patrick Harris Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn I honestly did enjoy the first serving as it focussed on young Flint Lockwood trying to achieve his dreams of being an inventor of some renown, constantly knocking off invention after invention, most quite ingenious even if their potential is not fully realised. But therein laid the genius of that movie, the ingenuity of his foodie creations and landscapes. And there was some heart at the core, with Flint finding himself, connecting with his father and doing an ingenious reverse on the typical female character. Loved that, putting the glasses back on the girl. Picking up where the first movie left off, the food that began to show semblance of life has now evolved to various lifeforms. Flint is sent by his idol, Chester V, to locate his machine (that wasn’t really destroyed at the end of the first movie) and insert a USB drive that is presumed to stop the machine. At first, it seemed like there was nothing much to the plot, and it felt much like a Jurassic Park thing, our heroes trekking through the island discovering new and unusual life-forms. There is more to the plot, of course, and while cliched (Karate Kid III comes to mind, unfortunately), it works within the context of this movie. The writers and directors are treading a fine line here trying to keep things at a level for kids while tackling a couple of complex issues. The animation is gorgeous, particularly the design aspect with the foodimals on screen and the landscape they inhabit, which does add to the fun factor of the movie itself. The characters are pretty much the same although town cop Earl Devereaux is a little different due to the change in actor (Terry Crews taking over from Mr T). Aside from Sam Sparks and Flint’s dad, Tim, the others do seem very superfluous to the plot. As a sequel, it is quite reliant on the first movie, and almost on par to boot. Despicable Me 2 [2013] ** Stars (vocally) Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove,Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud As we catch up with former villain, Gru (Steve Carell), he’s settled into semi-domestic bliss catering to his three adopted girls, and setting his minions into a jam-making business. When a research base in hijacked, the Anti-Villian League recruits Gru to assist in the investigation, partnered with AVL agent, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig). That’s about it as far as the plot goes, which doesn’t really go very far as the focus is more on Gru being distracted by his eldest daughter getting interested in boys, and being occasionally pushed into a relationship. At east the original had the novelty of being focused on the villain and his grand scheme to pull off the greatest theft ever. Here, the plot goes nowhere, the characters barely advance and the minions steal every scene. That’s not to say it’s bad in any way, since it is a cartoon that has its minions aimed at the kids. They might have just skipped this and gone straight to the inevitable Minion Movie. Although, the minions might be okay in small doses, and not for an entire movie. The animation is an improved from the previous movie (obviously) with far more slick moves and obvious 3D effects put to good use, but it might try the patience of anyone who might be looking for more beyond those minions There’s really nothing much going for this one.
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After Earth [2013] **1/2 Stars Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Glenn Morashower and Sophie Okonedo Directed by M Night Shyamalan Looking at the credits roll by and noting that the story was by Will Smith, one might have to wonder if this was a passion project, a vanity project or a little gift to his son. Or was it all three combined? It might be saying something when the opening prologue is far more interesting than the rest of the movie, and you end up wishing they had made a movie about those five minutes instead. The fall of Earth, colonising a new planet, fighting for survival… That would hold my attention far more than this movie. And does director M Night Shyamalan equate quiet with dramatic? Everybody speaks in same quiet and low monotone. It might have worked in something like The Sixth Sense and even Unbreakable, but as he continued to wrangle his actors the same way in the following movies, it gets dull very fast, as it does here. At least, the movie gets action driven for most of the second half- yes, it takes a while to get going- but even then, young star Jaden Smith (son of Will), has a ways to go if he’s to carry a movie by himself. His expressions barely vary between worried and fearfully worried. The elder Smith, in the meanwhile, sits and watches the adventure of his son trekking across an unfamiliar Earth as if he were one with the audience. The saving grace (and extra half star), as with Shyamalan’s previous movies, is once again the amazing score by James Newton Howard that drives the actions and emotions. It is a score that stands very well on its own (just close your eyes even as the movie plays and you’ll get every beat of the movie, just try it with any of Shyamalan’s other movies). Still, it doesn’t plumb the depths of The Happening, but it doesn’t reach the heights of The Sixth Sense. It might be considered on par with The Last Airbender though… that would get your sixth sense tingling about whether you’d want to watch this or not. The Possession [2012] *** Stars Jeffery Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Natasha Calis, Madison Davenport, Matisyahu and Grant Show Directed by Ole Bornedal I’m not usually one for horror movies. A lot of the modern horror movies don’t aim to scare so much as to gross you out with its effects and make-up and blood splattering. It’s more horrifying that those movies are what passes for horror movies these days. I suppose it’s more as to what I might consider to be a horror movie, and it’s usually the ones that give me the creeps that I might consider worthy of the classification. So while I would consider The Exorcist (1973) as a horror movie, I felt this one would come close, treading almost similar ground. A young girl is seemingly possessed by a demon and the broken family has to try to figure out what exactly is gong on. The unique aspect is simply that it deals more with a Jewish demon and exorcism rather than the Christian (usually Catholic) version. There are some very notable scares and effects work on screen, and the stars do well, particularly Jeffery Dean Morgan carrying most of the show as the father, Clyde, to the possessed daughter, Em (Natasha Calis, quite remarkable). Director Ole Bomedal keep things on a more realistic level, eschewing the typical grandstanding (jump scares) for more subtle scares, slowly building up the dread to the ultimate reveal, through medical devices, no less. Playing more to its PG-13 rating, the movie does well enough without the usual splatter of crimson and managing to keep things creepy, if not utterly disturbing for prolonged periods. Perhaps, that is where the movie fails a little, not to say that the rating restriction would have held back more gore (look at any episode of CSI). The CG effects, while obvious, are kept to a minimum. The editing works well with the lighting. It might even be considered a prep movie for young horror fans before introducing them to The Exorcist. Killing Season [2013] **1/2 Stars John Travolta, Robert DeNiro, Milo Ventimiglia Directed by Mark Steven Johnson A couple of soldiers on opposing side of the Bosnian War cross paths again over 20 years later. One (Robert DeNiro), haunted by the events of the war, hides away in the forest, trying to forget the past. The other (John Travolta) just can't let go and wants… it's not quite revenge, nor vengeance. Essentially, this is a two-hander with the two actors carrying the movie entirely. A cat and mouse thriller where tables are turned more than once in their game of one-upmanship relying on the talents of the stars. Without them, it's very much cable fodder - and it might have been a touch more intriguing. Of the two, it's Travolta who has to convince, playing the foreign soldier with accent, mannerisms and skills (traditional longbow). He does underplay it, reining in performance to keep it cool and calculated. DeNiro is no slouch either as one might expect, although given his output of late, this might feel a little like the method actor given some meat to chew on. Director Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil, Ghost Rider, When In Rome) keep things very real with some rather gruesome injuries inflicted on both characters. Away from the previous effects heavy films, Johnson still delivers a competent thriller but the material itself doesn't give very much to work with. Coming in at a slim 80 minutes (with a 9 minute credit crawl at the end), the movie is taut enough to entertain for its duration. It just doesn't rise to the occasion the stars might have promised a decade ago. Stars Danny Trejo, Demian Bichir, Amber Heard, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara With Carlos Estevez, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexa Vega and Mel Gibson Directed by Robert Rodriguez The first Machete (2010) was an end result of a mock trailer featured in Grindhouse (2007) a double feature project by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. It was an over-the-top trailer with outrageous action and scenes that invoked the nature of B-grade grindhouse cinema.Other directors were invited to create similar trailers that were screened in the theatrical edition of the double feature, but the Machete trailer drew a cult following, and director Robert Rodriguez decided that he could create a whole movie out of that trailer. Utterly a B-Grade Grindhouse movie, Machete was an outrageous - some would say "insane" - action movie (one 'gut wrenching' scene in particular would apply). It was entertaining, to a certain extent, but I wouldn't say it was all that great. With Machete Kills, I was expecting more of the same, and since I do enjoy a huge majority of Rodriguez's flicks, I did catch this in the cinema… and have a ball of a time. The structure almost follows a Bond film. Machete is given an assignment by no less than the President of the United States (Charlie Sheen, going by his birth name of Carlso Estevez) to investigate a potential maniac with a nuclear weapon in hand.Things don't go as planned (obviously) and Machete has to somehow drag Mendez (Demian Bichir) from Mexico to the US while being pursued by a couple of wild women (see the movie for the circumstances). At the midway point, the real villain pops up and the movie shifts gear into a whole other genre, something Rodriguez has done before with From Dusk Till Dawn (1996 - speaking of which, one of the original props from there turns up here). It's no surprise that Mel Gibson is playing the vilain who has a scheme worthy of the Bond Villains from the 80s, Moonraker in particular. And that is not the only movie reference from the 80s as Rodriguez cherry picks bits and pieces from quite a few movies, including one from his own Once Upon A Time In Mexico. Gibson's villain is a unique one, which does deserve some credit. It's also obvious that Gibson is having a ball playing this particular character, fitting in very nicely into the heightened nature of the film. There's even a quick visual reference to his Mad Max character. The stars do as well as you can expect and given Rodriguez's style with making these films, it also becomes very obvious that a lot of the movie was not done in sequence, but done in a way to accommodate each of the actors. Very obvious being scenes involving Charlie Sheen who doesn't really share any screen space with the other stars..Anyone who's ever seen any of Rodriquez's many 10-minute film schools on the DVDs of his movie will be aware of his techniques in use here. After all, the entire movie was filmed in less than a month. Like one of the greatest sequels of the 80s, Machete Kills is a roller-coaster of a flick that ends with a set up - and a trailer - for the next part of the series, Machete Kills Again… In Space! Outrageous, improper, illogical and utterly bonkers, Machete Kills roots itself in that B-Movie grindhouse genre, but it appears to be making things up as it goes along while ripping apart a few rules. There are things to complain about, obviously as with any B-grade movie, but it's part and parcel of the type of film it's trying to be. My suggestion is to just let yourself go, sit back and go with the flow of the film and don't question its utter illogicalness (the invincibility of Machete himself being one of them… but then, most action heroes of the 80s were like that too). Don't think about it either. This is not going to appeal to those who take cinema seriously. It's just meant to be fun. Oh yeah - there's a bit more after the credits too. Nothing really related to the movie, but still… fun. Stars Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Aaron David Johnson, Parker Bagley, JR Osborne, Walter Perez, Jonathan Park, and Dane Cook Directed by Joseph Kahn This is one of those films. It's the kind that is discovered rather than noticed. You know the kind. It seems typical of a particular genre on the surface, easily dismissed., The poster doesn't do much to sell the movie. Neither does the trailer. It seems aimed at a niche audience. There's maybe one or two known stars in the cast list. There isn't anything that maybe you haven't seen before. But there is something else lurking underneath it if you pay a little attention. There's an intelligence at work. And given time, it forms a cult following. And after you discover it, you can't believe you've never seen it before. You know the kind of film, right? Detention has its preachers, its haters and its critics although there is very little middle ground between the love and the hate. The appeal is more towards those who watch movies as a hobby and those who enjoy genre movies, particularly horror, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy et al. Detention makes no qualms about being an R-rated teen movie, which starts off with a stab at the horror genre. Then again, it does suffer a little from the various genres the movie appears to be flipping through. However, therein lies the fun of the movie. Now, this is not a movie that is going to appeal to everybody. No movie actually does that. Some might find Detention to be rather gross in some of its approaches. The main titles design alone end with the director's name formed in vomit. There is a gratuitous bit of nudity, played as a joke. The gore itself, however, is not that far from a typical horror movie, complete with bloodletting and dismemberments. Even in that, it's not quite frightening nor scary. Humour permeates throughout and there is a sense of the movie being a spoof as it touches on and plays up various influences spanning three decades. Just to give you a feel, there are shades of Scream, Ferris Bueller, Donnie Darko, Back To The Future, The Matrix, Freaky Friday, The Fly, The Breakfast Club and many more mixed into the plot, the dialogue and numerous back-stories that are peppered throughout the movie.Some might feel that the writer / director might be trying to hard, but it felt far more organic compared to the other spoof movies by Friedberg and Seltzer (see Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Meet The Spartans, Date Movie and the upcoming The Starving Games, each more abysmal as it goes). So falling into that category of movies, there would be some complains against it. Don't let it deter you from checking it out and discovering Detention for yourself. I enjoyed the humour of the movie, the odd quirks of the characters and Josh Hutcherson brings to life one of the coolest teen heroes in Clapton Davis since Ferris Bueller. I laughed quite a bit throughout the movie. And I love the sci-fi detour in the final act (although it is highlighted very early on with lots of hints dropped along the way) and there's that cool meta joke about… it's hard to explain that one. You just have to watch it to see what I mean. Chances are, it might surprise you and you've discovered a unique movie along the way. Stars Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Faran Tahir, Vinnie Jones, Curtis Jackson, Amy Ryan with Sam Neill and Vincent D'Onofrio Directed by Mikael Håfström So this is the one some movie fans have been waiting for since the 90s. Action heavyweights then, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are finally in a proper movie together. No, The Expendables movies don't really count as Schwarzenegger's role in those movies are nothing more than glorified cameo. This one, they share the screen, their characters are pivotal to the story, they interact- it's not just here-for-a-moment-and-back-later-for-some-coolness bit part. Of course, this is also over twenty years past their prime action star status, but there are a few surprises. For one, this is old school film-making. CGI effects are regulated to explosions and fire… which means the lead stars, aged as they are, actually manage to deliver some convincing action beats when the time comes. They're also relying more on dialogue and character, and their off-screen friendship fuels the on-screen chemistry. So, given the nature of the plot, it becomes very obvious that the action was going to be back-loaded. The title, Escape Plan, does give it away and with a movie like this, the structure is predictable. We establish our hero, Ray Breslin (Stallone), being a pro at his job, which is breaking out of prisons as a way to test their systems. We're given some information how breakouts generally occur and what is needed. Then we have the ultimate test, in this case, a new kind of prison, that Ray is asked to break out of. Once he's in, things go wrong and he has to break out anyway (hence the title), but having to team up with some of the inmates, one in particular being Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger). There has to be some credit to the set and production designers for utilising the space in the creation of the mysterious prison called The Tomb (the original title of the film). In a real world scenario, the way the individual cells are designed is a massive waste of space. For the movie, they are eye-candy and unique. The location and nature of the prison itself… well, that was easy to figure out given the space they were in. Stallone and Schwarzenegger deliver some decent performances that does surpass their efforts earlier this year (see Bullet To The Head and The Last Stand), but it's the supporting stars (Faran Tahir, Sam Neill, Vincent D'Onofrio among them) that shine. Jim Caviezel in particular makes full use of his screen time to deliver a chilling and cold antagonist, with some odd physical habits. It's perhaps a physical performance meant to distance himself from his other 'well-dressed' action hero in the excellent Person of Interest TV series. You can't really complain about the performances except for perhaps Amy Ryan and Curtis Jackson, who really don't have very much to do. Their characters don't really get established very well beyond a few lines of dialogue. Then again, the movie being what it is, you're not expecting award winning performances here. Still, it's a fair movie with mostly solid performances and decent action well delivered (expect for some dodgy CGI effects). Fans of Stallone and Schwarzenegger are not likely to be disappointed if compared to their current output. Of course it's not going to hold a candle to the likes of the original Rocky or Terminator 2: Judgment Day but it would be better than some of their worst. At least they make the escape itself something that has to be worked out logically…. maybe except one part of it. But then, would it be this kind of movie with Stars Sandra Bullock with George Clooney and Ed Harris Directed by Alfonso Cuarón An amazing movie that just has to be seen. Hopefully, you might have already seen a trailer or two, and keep it at that. The less you know, the more effective it is. And then watch it again just for the technical aspects of the movie. Fr a full review, head over to my WordPress blog. |
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