Mini Reviews: High-Rise (2016), Triple 9 (2016) & Dirty Grandpa (2016)

As we approach the middle of the year, all the movies that I missed in January and February are slowly released on DVD and VOD, meaning I can finally catch up and rack up a few more 2016 releases on my 'watched' list. That means, for the first time in forever, one of my Mini Reviews posts has a theme. These three movies were all released in the UK at the start of 2016, and I've caught up!

OH MY GOD WHAT WAS EVEN GOING ON HERE. Seriously. I was so excited for High-Rise (2016) when I first saw the trailers. A suited and booted Tom Hiddleston? I’m in. A weird and quirky plot? Excuse me, I already told you I’m in but now I’m excited. I was gutted I missed this in the cinemas, but now? I’m relieved. This movie was so weird. It was like Snowpiercer but in a high-rise building. Snowpiercer also had a plot! This had so many suit-clad characters I forgot who was who. What made it worse was that the movie starts with the ending, so it’s not like I felt the need to stick with it to find out what even happens. Argh!

I had no intention of seeing Triple 9 (2016) in the cinemas, truth be told, it’s not my kind of movie, but I saw it get a lot of decent reviews, so I made sure I gave it a try once I could. It’s your typical action-heist movie, filled with dirty cops and criminals, and takes a few turns that the veteran action fans probably smelt a mile away, but I really enjoyed it! My fiance (probably husband by the time you read this!) plays a game called Rainbow Six Seige, and I got that vibe from this, so he was kind of bummed that I watched it without him. Still, he gives me this proud kind of look when I start spewing lines about breaching the door and stuff…

I don’t know what made me give Dirty Grandpa (2016) a watch, but sometimes you just need to watch some mindless comedy, you know?! These things are so hit and miss and even though general consensus seems to be that this is one a stinker, it just hit my funny bone in a way that a comedy hasn’t for a long time. Maybe it’s my growing appreciation for Zac Efron, or the shock of such foul words coming from Robert De Niro, but this worked for me. Sure, the plot is tired and has been used time and time again, and yep, 99% of the comedy relies on rude jokes, but what more did you expect? I’m still laughing at the ‘Jenny from the c*ck block’ line, and it’s been weeks.

Review: The Intern (2015)

This was my looking forward to film for October, I think but I didn’t think I was going to get an opportunity to see it, alas I went Kickboxing with a friend who then decided they wanted to go to the cinema and 100% trust my judgement on picking a film (tell that to the person I took to see Lucy!!).  However, I was adamant The Intern would be a good shout…. 

I'm so glad it wasn't me who you took to see Lucy! I can only blame myself for watching that one...

Ben (Robert De niro) is 70, retired, widowed and bored out of his mind.  He applies to a Senior Intern programme at About the Fit, an internet company run by workaholic, control freak, Jules(Anne Hathaway) and finds himself in the role of her personal Intern.  The role doesn’t quite turn out at planned with Jules refusing to give Ben any work and Ben finding himself at a loose end in the office. During his time in the office, however he makes countless friends, offers advice and becomes the guy everyone loves (including the in house masseur).  Over the course of his internship, he helps Jules in both her personal and professional capacity as they develop a strong bond. 

I wanted to call this a romcom but it’s certainly not that, there is limited romance to pad out the story, the focus is on Jules and her rapidly expanding business and how she copes with that.  Ben has a really strong work ethic that just doesn’t play well with nothing to do, so throws himself into whatever he can do to help other people’s jobs.  I loved the comparisons between modern organisation and the old school work ethic and how that pans out on screen.

This could work so well in the real world! Older business are forever looking for young talent to join their business so why can't it work the other way?!

There was big focus on the equal opportunities aspect (house husband, affairs and female bosses) which helped the story get from A to B but felt a little bit too forced and sentimental, overpowering the light hearted comedy that came from Ben’s relationships with the cool kids at the office.  Everytime the movie floated off to a realm of Jules home life issues and upset that ‘people’ didn’t think she could run her own company, I was willing the story to head back to Ben giving Jason (Adam DeVine) girl advice or offering Davis (Zack Pearlman) a place to stay. 

I do love Anne Hathaway but I felt Robert DeNiro stole the show here. The role just feels so natural for him. I too was expecting a romcom and honestly, the only reason I watched this was because you did Jenna, but I loved it! It wasn't the movie I was expecting and it took a turn halfway through that  shocked me.

The sentimentality didn’t ruin it for me by any means, I really enjoyed the film and found myself smiling all the way through.  It’s not a comedy, it’s not a drama, it’s somewhere in the middle.

The problem with The Intern is that I don't really know who the target audience is. It's a movie I should really get my movie loving Grampy to watch because he is literally Ben, but I know if he sees the trailer he'll be put straight off! this is one you just have to give the benefit of the doubt, I think.

Review: Taxi Driver (1976)

So the Blind Spot challenge has been a bit hit and miss for me, time constraints meant I missed the first two movies but I'm trying to keep up now.  Therefore, two weeks ago we arranged the movie night to watch our April movie - Taxi Driver.  As an contender for the Oscars Best Picture, I assumed it would be amazing.

The Blind Spot Series is proving to be a great way for Jenna and I to keep putting film nights in the diaries! This month we’re trying to be healthy so whilst Jenna cooked enough stir-fry to feed a wedding party (thanks for the extra lunch by the way!) I picked up some Weight Watchers dessert and headed to hers, armed with Taxi Driver on DVD. It proudly boasted its new ‘Wide Screen Presentation’, oh boy…

An unstable war veteran, Travis (Robert DeNiro) finds a job as a night time New York taxi driver to kill time after developing insomnia.  His obsession with Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) and his determination to save pre-adolescent prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster) lead him down a dark and dangerous path.

It was so strange to see Robert DeNiro in this! I've never seen any of his older films so I had to keep reminding myself it was even him.

I feel like is should love this movie because it is so highly praised by so many people.  I have read countless reviews from both professional critics and the bloggerverse and I just don't understand it.  I just found it a bit boring, it was a interesting subject and a creative take on the effects insomnia can have on a person but it felt like it dragged. 

All the synopsis's I have found for this, imply that him being psychotic and his obsessions lead him to extreme violence, however this seems to take forever to get to and feels dragged at the beginning and the middle.  Now I know this won't be a popular opinion so please be kind :-/ but I just didn't enjoy it.  Once it gets to the latter part of the film, it starts to get interesting and I love the shoot out scenes and the hospital scene near the end.

After Pulp Fiction last month, I wanted to mull over this film for a while before I really made a verdict on it. Taxi Driver to me was like the 70's answer to Drive (although I realise that should actually be the other way round) and it took me several viewings to really appreciate Drive for what it was. I hated it the first time round. I wouldn't say I hated Taxi Driver at all, it was an interesting character story and I was never bored, but I wasn't thrilled either.

Maybe, I need to watch it again to get a better feel for the making of the film now that I know what to expect.  The actors were all great, without a doubt, one of the highlights being Harvey Keitel but I don't feel like there was much of a story to it.  The shooting, I guess was great when it was made in the 70's but now comes across a little bit cheesy to me.

I think I need a second viewing, too! Although it's going to take a serious amount of willpower to get round it it...

I hope I don't get too much of a battering for this but that's the point of reviews I guess, multiple opinions :-)

After 3 cracking Blind Spot films, maybe it was about time we had one I didn't love so much.