Mini Reviews: Mr Right (2016), Urge (2016) and No Stranger than Love (2015)

I have spent the weekend watching the most random of films, mostly due to my new obsession with Justin Chatwin.  

Mr Right (2016)

Martha (Anna Kendrick) meets and falls for the 'perfect' guy, Francis (Sam Rockwell), only he has one fatal flaw...he's a hitman on the run from his previous employers who are trying to kill him.  

This is one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen, but I have to say I really enjoyed it.  Its been battered on Rotten Tomatoes but from reading some of the reviews, they seem to all be overthinking it.  I enjoyed the romance (I wanted them to get together)  and the action scenes were energetic and engaging (I wanted the good guys to not die).  It was weird and confusing but I have already recommended it to Allie (and not in the 'from the makers of Sharknado' kind of way).

Urge (2016)

What happened when you take a drug that takes away all your inhibitions and you play out any urges you so choose.  Apparently, you make an insane film called Urge!!  A group of friends, led by narcissist Neil (Danny Masterson) head for a weekend away on a remote island.  A mysterious nightclub owner (Pierce Brosnan) introduces them to a new drug, Urge with one rule, that you can only use it once.  No one listens of course and the party descends into chaos.

I spent 90% of this movie confused about what was going on, I felt more confused than that characters I think!!  I didn't want to turn it off because I wanted to know how it ended and then when it ended I wished I hadn't bothered!

No Stranger than Love (2015)

Lucy (Alison Brie) has her pick of men in the small town that she lives in but instead chooses to engage in an affair with married Clint (Colin Hanks).  Just one problem, Clint falls down a mysterious black hole that opens up in her living room and mysterious stranger Rydell (Justin Chatwin) turns up to confuse Lucy even more.  

It's difficult to review this, I don't even know what to call it, is it a rom-com, is it a drama, is it science fiction!?  I got more confused as it went on but I really enjoyed it.  I love Alison Brie and she really stole the show here and the whole thing reminded me of Pleasantville from way back when (the sci-fi crossed with rom-coms) and I loved that film.

Review: Moon (2009)

This is another film that’s been sat in a ‘recommended’ list for so long I forgot why it was there in the first place. After watching it the other night, I suspect it was recommended to me after reviewing Interstellar, or maybe even Gravity, but that’s just a guess! As I write this now the UK is going through an insufferable heat wave, and with hindsight, maybe watching a mind-boggling sci-fi whilst melting in my living room was the wrong thing to do.

Moon is a clever little sci-fi film set in the future, where mankind has discovered an alternative fuel source found on the moon, helium-3. Sam (Sam Rockwell) is the sole employee at a lunar station on the moon, where we manges the machines responsible for harvesting the helium-3 from the moon’s surface. As his 3 year contract comes to an end and he looks forward to coming back home to earth, he is injured in an accident.

I think that’s all I can really tell you without spoiling anything. If you’re thinking about watching Moon, I promise to keep this spoiler free for you! Also, you must forgive the sloppy review.Sci-fi is not my forte, and ‘space stuff’ tends to go right over my head. For example, there’s a robot in Moon called GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), that I’m told is a nod to a robot in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I haven’t seen that...maybe that’ll be one for the Blind Spot list next year.

Speaking of GERTY though, he was delightful. He has a little monitor with an emotion-style face which ranges from a grin to crying, which tells us how he’s feeling at any time. Does he feel? Does he have AI? I’m not sure! He does have a ‘kick me’ sign on his back though, which made me chuckle.

It was nice to see Sam Rockwell in such a serious role. I’ve only seen him in comedies so far and I really do think he’s a good actor. There’s a particular scene which really stuck with me where he has a complete breakdown, and it was so moving. He nailed it! The music as well was brilliant, and straight from the start it gave me a feeling that things weren’t going to be happy fun times.

So, as much as I’ve praised Moon, something still doesn’t sit right with me. Sam didn’t freak out as much as I thought he should have done at a certain revelation, and the twist kind of wasn’t a twist, either. I don’t know? It’s hard to explain, but nothing really shocked me in this. It was enjoyable for sure, but I didn’t love it as much as I perhaps should have done. Absolutely worth a watch though!

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!