Mini Reviews: The Driftless Area (2016), Mojave (2016) & Central Intelligence (2016)

As the middle of the year got closer, I was able to catch up on 2016 releases that I'd missed at the cinema. Some were great, others not so, and a select few were just plain 'meh'. I find an odd sense of pleasure writing a review about a movie I hated, but movies that fall into that middle ground are harder to write about, so today I present a Mini Reviews special for those!

The Driftless Area (2016)

What even is this movie?! It felt like it was trying to be two very different things. On one side, it was a dramatic romance, with what I think is a huge plot twist I won’t mention, but it’s so glaringly obvious I’m not even sure if it’s meant to be a twist. On the other side, it’s a thrilling cat and mouse chase, full of danger. The Driftless Area (2016) could have been either of these, and done it reasonably well, but it failed by being both. I watched this solely for the cast, whom I love, but I was left pretty disappointed. I expected more from Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel and Aubrey Plaza, they are some of my favourite faces! An interesting watch, but forgettable.

Mojave (2016)

I spotted Mojave (2016 here in the UK) on a VOD platform, mainly because of the beautiful Oscar Isaac’s face. It was tempting to watch it there and then, but I checked out the plot summary at least before I made up my mind. IMDB describes this as ‘A suicidal artist goes into the desert, where he finds his doppelganger, a homicidal drifter’. Um, what? I spent 50% of the time watching this raging about the fact that Tom (Garrett Hedlund) looks nothing at all like his ‘doppelganger’, until I looked it up and realised the word has two different meanings. The other 50% I was cringing every time Oscar Isaac said the word ‘brother’ in that accent. Ugh.

Central Intelligence (2016)

Comedies are always hit and miss, but I was hoping to enjoy Central Intelligence (2016) more than I did. It was decent, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have great chemistry together, but the plot fell a little short. In fact, it felt like the exact same plot from another comedy I can’t recall right now. I’d like to see these guys pair up again, though! It was nice to see some of my other favourite faces, although *spoiler alert* because his reappearance was the plot twist, Aaron Paul saying ‘bitch’ made me laugh and cringe at the same time.

Thursday Movie Picks - Unrequited Love

It’s been ages since I took part in Wanderer’s weekly Thursday Movie Picks, I really need to kick myself up the backside and get involved more often because I’m loving the look of this year’s themes! If you want to take part check out the master post here.

This week the theme is Unrequited Love, and I er, had to look it up to find out what it meant. You learn something new every day, right? Well now I know! This theme is more challenging than I originally thought, but I had great fun scouring my brain for movies I’d seen that fit the subject. Here’s my list!

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Possibly my favourite movie of his, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays broken-hearted Tom, who reflects on the time that he spent with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) - all 500 days, funnily enough. The tale is told in a non-chronological way, which really sets it apart from similar movies.

Tom falls for Summer almost instantly, but the feeling sadly isn’t mutual and Summer admits that she doesn’t believe that love is real. That doesn’t stop Tom, and for a time, the two of them seem to have a relationship, but it sadly doesn’t last. It’s a brilliant movie, and it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Worth a watch!

Love Actually (2003)

Hold up, don’t worry! I do understand what unrequited love is. Google told me, remember? Love Actually is one of my all-time favourite movies, and one of the tales sums up unrequited love perfectly. Juliet (Kiera Knightly) is convinced her husband’s best friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln) hates her, but when she finally convinces him to show her the wedding video that he shot, she realises that the camera was focussed on her for every moment.

It all concludes with a beautiful scene of Mark stood on her doorstep to silently explain with the use of signs that he loves her.

All About Steve (2009)

This one came to me as I was scouring my Letterboxd account for inspiration. How could I forget All About Steve? Easily, clearly, as it wasn’t the best movie around. But it’s Sandra Bullock! Of course I can forgive it, and it’s a more lighthearted take on the unrequited love theme. Mary (Sandra Bullock) is a crossword puzzle creator and a bit of an oddball. She gets set up on a blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a news cameraman, and she’s besotted with him. Unfortunately, the feeling isn't mutual, but Mary doesn’t see this.

It’s a nice twist on the usual romantic comedy tale of the guy trying to get the girl to be honest!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 6 Elf (2003)

How can Christmas ever go by without watching this bit of movie gold.  I actually hated it the first time I watched it, but I learnt to love it for what it is. I had a funny experience seeing this in the cinema. It was my brother's 8th birthday and my Mum and I took him and a group of his friends. What's wrong with that you ask? It was the middle of January. To this date I don't know why it was still showing!

Buddy the Elf a normal sized human is raised in the North Pole as an Elf but his size wreaks havoc on the small community.  Soon he is sent to the US to find his real father but finds it harder to fit in, in the real world than he anticipated.

This is by far the silliest, most random, off the wall Christmas movie going but that is what I love about it.  You have to watch it with no expectations and try to switch your brain off completely so you just see the funny side of it all.  I'm not a huge Will Ferrell fan, in fact I usually hate films he is in (don't shout at me but I really dislike Anchorman, I think its massively overrated and not in the least bit funny!) but this tugs on my Christmassy heart strings and some of the one liners in it are amazing. "Santa's Coming? I know him" probably more about how it's said than the actual lines haha!

I love Will Ferrell already, but it's definitely the over the top 'ness' of it all that makes Elf so funny. It's so quotable as well, I really can't help but shout 'I know him!' when the name Santa is mentioned!

The story is ok, but it is overshadowed by Ferrell's overpowering verbal and physical comedy, much of the time the story is forgotten over an elaborate comedy sketch.  For me, that may be what makes it likeable, it's extremely easy to watch, you don't even really need to follow the story just enjoy gag after gag.  The escalator scene being my personal favourite:

Not the greatest story on Earth but certainly an entertaining jaunt perfect for watching while wrapping presents or with family (safe for kids as well as Dad, the train and planes!)

This is one of my personal favourites and I hope I can find to watch it this year before the big day!

Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

It's rare that I get to do the whole 'Oh my god what do you mean you've never seen *insert amazing film here*' thing. It's normally done to me. I can't even remember what I was referencing to my other half when I mentioned The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but he said he'd never seen it! In truth, my Dad forced me to watch it at the same time as I watched the Monty Python films with him, and I probably haven't seen it since. I bought the DVD a few days ago though, and last night, we watched it.

Have you got your towel? Okay, let's do this...

Poor Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is having a bad day. The council is trying to knock down his house to create a by-pass, even though his is the only house for miles around. Just to make things worse, his home planet is destroyed, but he is rescued by his friend, who he never knew was actually an alien. Still with me? Arthur's friend Ford (Mos Def) is a researcher, and he's putting together a new edition of  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Honestly, I think this is a bit of a marmite film. You either get it, and think it's hilarious, or you just don't, and how can you like a film that you just don't understand? I for one love it. It's the perfect mixture of silliness, irony, and great storytelling. A little bit of slapstick, anyone? I probably would love this film if I hadn't fallen asleep, twice, trying to watch it!!  I promise I will give it another go soon, maybe on a plane ride this weekend and then I can add more to this but until then, enjoy Allies review...

The story does move at a bit of a crazy pace, and if you enjoy the film I recommended that you read the books, as a lot has been crammed in to a short space of time. The cast is just perfect in my opinion, although I read a post on the IMDB boards where people were discussing who they would have cast, or who they would cast now. I think that would make a great future post!

I think I may have to create a '10 Things I Love About...' post for this, because I could ramble for hours at this rate!

Getting back on track, the visual effects are great for the age of this film. If you watch it for the first time now, you probably won't be impressed, but 9 years ago they were great. If you liked Monty Python, give this a go, and if you've got a book-shaped hole in your life at the moment, then you should definitely give the books a go. For now though, so long and thanks for all the fish!



 

I haven't seen any of the Monty Python films, is that bad?! Oops! That's terrible! Forget Flick Chicks movie nights, we need Flick Chicks movie marathons!

Review: Our Idiot Brother (2011)

I watched this on my iPad (thank you Sky Go Extra) on route to Geneva for work.  I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, I knew it wasn't going to be intellectually stimulating or hilariously funny but it was going to be an easy watch, and that it was...

 

I think that because I didn't put too much pressure on this film to be amazing, I just enjoyed it for what it was.  It is the story of Ned (Paul Rudd) who unwittingly gets himself arrested for selling weed to a cop.  Once out on probation his (mean) girlfriend has moved on and taken his lodgings with her and he finds himself in the big bad world by himself.  Enter his three controlling sisters played by Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel and Elizabeth Banks - who do nothing but try to change Ned.

 

The rest of the film is the development of the relationships between Ned and his sisters and how all of their lives are changed because of his arrival.  It has really lovely moments between the family and also some very realistic moments, the argument between the three sisters near the end of the film (I can't say anymore because it would be a spoiler) is so much like my three cousins, they absolutely nailed it.  The film flowed well but it was lacking the comedy that the cover/trailer promised and replaced it with drama which I wasn't expecting when I started watching it.  The drama however is good enough to keep you watching even though it doesn't make you laugh.

 

Now I want to say that Jenna's review is a bit of a shame, because Our Idiot Brother has been on my radar for quite some time now, but when I think about it, the only reason it was ever on my radar is because of the cast, none of the plot really gripped me. I'll probably give it a watch at some point, I'm just not rushing out to do so.

 

Overall, I probably wouldn't watch this again but I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy watch that takes no real thinking.

 

 

Review: Bridge to Terabithia

Last week I posted a message on the IMDB boards, asking for some recommendations. I asked about films that had a huge plot twist, after watching The Usual Suspects. Now I know, asking for that is kind of a spoiler in itself, but I was curious! I had several replies with the usual Sixth Sense, Fight Club, etc, but one post stood out to me in particular. They suggested Bridge to Terabithia, which I'd heard of, a Disney film! That alone was enough to make me dig this film out.

Although curious, I was a little apprehensive too. I love Disney films, don't get me wrong, but at 24 years of age I worried I was too old to appreciate this. Oh, how wrong I was!

Do you recognise that baby face by the way? It's Peeta from The Hunger Games! I couldn't get over just how young he looked, this film isn't even really that old! It even has Zooey Deschanel in it, but I got really confused because she is basically Jess Day in it...

Anyway, the film is about two children Jess and Leslie, who have a really tough time at school, and in Jess' case, at home too. They find some land just a rope swing over the river away, and turn it into their own imaginary, magical land. Each creature they imagine is based on someone in their lives, which is an interesting and often comical idea.

I won't ruin the twist for you, but I didn't see it coming at all, and I was looking for it to, and it really hit me hard. This is a Disney film, folks! I almost turned it off just so that I could imagine it never happened...

I really loved this film and I knew my Mum and littlest Brother had seen it, so I asked them what they thought about it. They had a completely different opinion to me and thought it was boring and depressing! So this film isn't for everyone, I now know. But if you have a spare hour and a half, and you feel a little curious too, just give it a try.