Review: Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Picking a movie as my ‘Looking Forward to this Month’ choice each month seems to put some kind of curse over it, meaning I don’t even get to see it at the cinema. How does this keep happening?! Hail, Caesar was my choice for March, and I think I had 3 different occasions planned to see it, all of which got cancelled on the day.

I’ve been excited for this since the trailer first came out last year. I think I was on a bit of a George Clooney hype, and the addition of Channing Tatum was too much for me to take. Then I watched (and loved) Inside Llewyn Davis and decided from that point I was a Coen Brothers fan. Still haven’t sat through the whole of Bridge of Spies, though…

So, the plot is fairly simple. This movie is about a guy who makes movies! Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) runs the joint, and spends every living moment of the day solving problems within the studio. Things go a little more pear shaped when his leading star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) goes missing. 

I think even if you didn’t enjoy the movie itself, you have to appreciate how beautiful it is to watch. If the film world in the 1950’s really is this colourful, then sign me up! It’s greatest strengths are ultimately its greatest weakness, sadly. A lot of the movie is filled with snippets behind the doors of different sets. We see Scarlett Johannson put on an incredible synchronised swimming act, and Channing Tatum dressed as a sailor, dancing on tables. I mean come on, what more could a girl want? The only problem is that most of these acts have nothing to do with the plot of the movie at all.

That sounds harsh, especially when I really enjoyed watching Hail, Caesar! It’s just that I hyped it up so much in my head, I was thinking of placing it next to Fargo on my hypothetical shelf. And it definitely doesn’t deserve a place up there. Although the twist is takes is unexpected, it takes a weird, political turn that kind of bored the pants off me. I don’t do politics. Or history. Sorry.

By far, the star here was Hobie Doyle, played by Alden Ehrenreich, as the young actor, famous for his Westerns, that is suddenly thrown into a highbrow drama, directed by the ever patient Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). Would that it were so simple...It doesn’t matter how many times I watch that scene, it will be hilarious every single time! I heard Alden is in the running for playing a young Han Solo? Don’t let Jenna know but I think he would be great!

All in all, and despite sounding negative, I really did enjoy this. I was just my own worst enemy and hyped it up too much. It’s not the best Coen Brothers movie out there, but as a fan of quirky humour, this was definitely my cup of tea.

Review: The Jungle Book (2016)

My upcoming trip to Disneyland has got me on such a Disney movie hype right now! I wasn’t too bothered about seeing this version of The Jungle Book, the fact that 2 live action remakes got announced at the same time confused me too much, but I’m never one to turn down a trip to the cinema, especially as I’ve gone so few times this year so far.  I have been actively avoiding this, I really wanted to see it initially but then I panicked that it would ruin the original Disney version for me! However, my dad really wanted to see it and how can I say no to an old man ;-)

This 2016 version is, simple, a live action remake of the original Disney movie of the same name, only this version stays a little truer to the novel by Rudyard Kipling. Maybe it’s the realness of it all, but this version definitely feels darker. I’d think twice before letting very little young ones see this.  I jumped out of my skin numerous times and hid behind my coat a few more.  Some of the fight scenes were terrifying, I know for a fact that my three year old niece wouldn't be scared of this (she puts donkeys and swans in headlocks for fun!) but I would not like to be the one with her when she does.  I thought she was going to cry in The Good Dinosaur but alas she didn't....I did!

What’s the criteria for a Disney Short? I was expecting one for this, and then it went from the certificate rating to bam! Right in the action. I would have guessed only the animated ones get shorts, but Cinderella got Frozen Fever...or was that just a one off? Either way, I wasn’t prepared!

I had to keep reminding myself that Mowgli, played by Neel Sethi, is the only real part of this movie. Literally everything else is CGI, which is normally a recipe for disaster, but it’s done so well in The Jungle Book! The scenery is gorgeous, and the facial expressions of the animals and the way they move their mouths is so accurate it’s quite scary. Which is weird, because animals don’t talk. So accurate is the wrong word...but I know what I mean!  This made me properly belly laugh!

The CGI work was truly amazing, normally in movies with CGI you can see where the real boy running becomes a computer generated version but there was nothing, it was perfect. In hindsight, I should have not gone to see this film, with my irrational fear of animals and all, I didn't expect them to be so real I was freakin' terrified!

Speaking of which, can we just stop for a moment to talk about the voice actors? Both this version and Warner Brothers’ upcoming version have really hit the nail on the head here. Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, spot on. Idris Elba as Shere Khan, terrifying. Lupita Nyong’o as Raksha, beautiful. Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, mystifying. I’m starting to run out of adjectives here. Bill Murray as Baloo was simply an amazing choice, and I don’t know whether it’s a good or bad thing that he absolutely stole the show. Move along Mowgli, we want more Baloo! Not much I can add to this other than BILL MURRAY is just the ultimate legend, the man can do no wrong EVER!

My only gripe is the character I was most looking forward to, King Louie voiced by Christopher Walken. Don’t we all just love trying to put on a Christopher Walken impression? I know I do! He just didn’t feel right though. In fact, the whole character felt off. This isn’t the King Louie I remember. He’s...scary, and when he sings ‘I wanna walk like you’ it doesn’t fit, seeings as this King Louie walks to little his fur has literally moulded to the floor he sits on. Ew. Even before the moulded soggy butt hair, I found Louie really nasty and horrid to look at but I have to admit for me the voice was perfect.  They made him seem like a bit of a mobster which is pretty appropriate considering his constantly pushing to get to the top.

This really did blow me away, the voices were so perfect for the characters, the CGI was stunning and I loved the story anyway but this took it to another level.  It was just so entertaining, there was no boring middle bits to get through.

That said though, this was much more fun to watch than I originally anticipated, and it’s definitely up there with Cinderella (2015) as one of the better remakes. I’m interested to see how Warner Brothers’ Jungle Book (currently slated for 2018) will compare! For me this blew Cinderella out of the water, by far the best remake of a Disney film yet!

Brilliant, can't wait to see it again when I can spend more time checking out the CGI scenery.

Review: Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The year is 2016. We are neck deep in Superhero Movie era at this point. I have neither the patience nor the will to count just how many bad guys have been taken down so far, but it’s obviously a lot, because our heroes have resorted to fighting each other. In this epic Marvel showdown, it’s safe to say that Jenna and I are #TeamCap, (agreed) so let’s get down to business, reporting live from:

What was the deal with those giant location titles, anyway? It felt like a music video, and all it really did was make me jealous of all the amazing travelling the cast and crew got to do. Although, they will be mighty useful when my Dad gets around to watching it, because my Mum spends too much time reading out the little location reminders to him during movies. This was probably the only thing I didn't like about this movie, I remember hating it but I had forgotten, so if my score is affected, Allie is to blame!

So, to set the scene, bad guy Crossbones (Frank Grillo) is up to no good in LAGOS. Sorry, it’s the giant titles making me want to shout the locations. Captain America (Chris Evans) and the gang manage to stop him, but Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) isn’t able to contain an explosion well enough using her abilities, which leads to the destruction of a nearby hotel, and the many deaths of innocent bystanders. This is the final straw that leads the powers that be to put into force legislation that controls the extent to which The Avengers may get involved in times of crisis, which in turn is what fuels the divide between Captain America and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr).

I need to throw in a little rant here...so I get that the movie concept is pulled from a comic not from thin air BUT surely the Avengers saved more innocent bystanders than they actually hurt.  Did no one think to say "fine we won't save the world anymore" wait for the next bad guy to attack, watch millions of innocent people die and then say "that would have only been 12 if we have been involved" surely that would have shut everyone up and they could have gone about with their business - Is this just me?!

With the inclusion of so many Marvel heroes, this could have easily turned into another Avengers movie, but rest assured this is most definitely still Captain America’s time to shine. His plot line with trying to save Bucky (Sebastian Stan) from the control of Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) still stands at the forefront. As well as some of our favourites returning (no Thor though, sob!) we also get introduced to 2 new heroes. Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), a personal favourite of mine from the cartoons, and the newest Spider-Man (Tom Holland) who is most likely going to be the best yet! He’s also the youngest we’ve had, which is definitely a better fit from the comics.  I thought I was going to hate another new Spiderman after loving Andrew Garfield but he my be the best yet, I think he is going to continue to surprise us.

Which brings us swiftly on to the scene we were all waiting for, the ultimate battle at the airport in BERLIN (sorry). This scene is honestly so perfect I don’t even know what to say. It’s intense, made more so by the fact that these guys were once good friends, but it’s also one of the funniest Marvel movie scenes ever. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) just kills it here! The way he uses his abilities are just hilarious! ‘Sh*t! I thought that was a water truck. My bad!’. I’m honestly laughing just typing this.  This is going to be a very boring review because I basically agree with everything Allie is saying, it's much more fun when we heckle each other!  This scene was the best, I flipped back and forth from tense to laughing, I didn't know what to expect next and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Of course, just like when we were all kids play fighting on the playground, someone takes it too far, and the mood does a full 180 instantly, bringing us back to reality. Obviously I won’t say any more about that here. 

Maybe it’s because I still have the taste of Batman v Superman in my mouth, but I thought the ending to the conflict between Cap and Iron Man was done so well, better than I had imagined it would go. There’s no ‘Oh hey our Mum’s have the same name’ moment here, (damn spoiler alert haha! You have access to the internet, don't tell me you haven't seen 1,000,000 memes about this yet!) the issues are real, and they cut deep, and this isn’t something that can simply end by shaking on it.

That said, as much as I loved this, I do have just a couple of gripes. I know that it’s important for the movie, and it’s only because there are so many superhero movies out there now that this is even an issue, but all the political debates about collateral damage and vigilantes just makes me want to go ‘UGHHHHH’. We knowwww, we know! Oh, and I was so happy to see Martin Freeman pop up in this, but dude what was with that accent? The worst part is, we already know he can do an American accent, so what went wrong here? I’d have preferred him to go full on Fargo than whatever that was.  Argh I had forgotten about the accent, another point deducted thanks to Allie's photographic memory!

Considering I said earlier that the locations were the only thing I didn't like about this movie, I have yet another gripe!!  It was made very clear why the lead characters took the stand they did but the background heroes just seemed to pick a side at random - particularly Clint, I thought he retired to be with his family but now he's willing to fight outside the law and risk going to prison and leaving them?! 

No more issues, regardless of moans, I really did love this and can't wait to watch it again and again when it is out of DVD.

Review: Her (2013)

I think I owe this movie a public apology. Her’s release was pre-blog for me, at a time when I was ignorant towards anything attached to the Academy Awards. Naive me thought Oscar winners were nothing more than boring, serious movies loved by boffin-critics. Now of course I know much better! How bad is it that I watched this and completely forgot about it?!

Her was another recommendation from my Grampy, and before he told me a little about the plot I actually knew nothing about it. I could picture the poster as clear as day, and I don’t know what my mind had assumed it was about, but it wasn’t this!

In the near distant future, when we no longer have to read our own emails or write our loved ones letters, lonely Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling to deal with his recent divorce. When he sees an advert for a new operating system, OS1, he buys it and installs it immediately. This new OS has an exceptional AI and the voice Theodore speaks to calls herself Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). As Samantha learns more about Theodore and indeed herself, the two fall in love, but encounter difficulties when trying to define what their relationship actually is.

Even knowing that this is a work of fiction, it’s still quite harrowing to think that this is where technology is leading us. Actual human contact is becoming less and less necessary, and it’s not difficult to imagine a world whereby we walk alone, but talk constantly to our devices in our pockets.  

Despite knowing the name, Her is the first movie I’ve seen with Joaquin Phoenix (gasp!). I’m not actress myself of course but I can only imagine how hard it must be to act out a script when most of the conversations you have are with a device in your ear. That said, I thought he was amazing, and I’d love to see more of his work. Can anyone recommend me anything? Gladiator? Walk the Line? Signs? The Village?  To name but a few ;-)

The supporting cast were just as delightful, from the instantly recognisable and lovable Chris Pratt to the nearly completely unrecognisable Amy Adams. Honestly, I did a double and triple take before I realised it was her. She is absolutely beautiful!

I thought the cast, particularly Johannson and Phoenix, were amazing playing the key parts of their roles in near isolation and yet they express their emotions perfectly!

Her was such an emotional rollercoaster for me. It was at times heartwarming and yet heartbreaking. It was also hilarious in parts, especially if your reaction to anything sexual is to giggle and look away, like I do. My fiance looked a bit panicked during some scenes as at the time I was watching, he had an active headset on his PS4, and had to explain to his friends what they were hearing through the mic. I was banished upstairs after that!

I found this film so bizarre to watch, its completely advanced of our technology, in a world where relationships with AI's is relatively normal.  However, it felt like a normal love story, Scarlett Johannson did such an amazing job using only her voice that you could actually understand how they could be in love.  It's scary to see how this scenario can seem so normal and yet the world its set in seem so obscure.  The technology is more advanced than our world but the fashions and people seem to have drifted back to the 80's.

I made myself laugh last night when I thought hey, could Her be the sequel to Lucy? What an awesome fan theory!!

Limitless (2011) Vs Lucy (2014)

Sometimes, films sit in my ‘to watch’ list for so long, I forget how they ended up there in the first place. That was the case with Limitless, that I decided to finally watch on New Year’s Day. I didn’t even know what it was about! It was enjoyable, anyway, and it made me think of Lucy, which I hadn’t bothered watching after so many bad reviews. What I thought would be interesting was to watch both and compare them, as they kind of tell the same story after all.

In Limitless, Eddie (Bradley Cooper) is a down on his luck writer, recently dumped by his girlfriend, who is introduced to the drug known as NZT by a friend. The pill boosts his brain’s abilities exponentially and Eddie rapidly rises from a nobody to being highly successful and rich. The horrible side effects of NZT mean that Eddie can’t stop taking it, and his supply is dwindling.

Although I enjoyed Limitless and never felt bored, my overall feeling was ‘just a bit meh’. It wasn’t too predictable and unlike others, I enjoyed the ending, but the whole film was just lacking something that I can’t put my finger on. At times it feels like not much is happening, and then I focused on little annoying things that shouldn’t have mattered. Eddie’s girlfriend for example, who wanted nothing to do with him at his lowest, but was all over him once he was rich. What a cow!

I think Bradley Cooper is brilliant but he didn’t get a chance to use his full potential here. Still, it was an enjoyable film, but that’s about it, really.

Lucy’s (Scarlett Johansson) terrible boyfriend lands her right in the middle of a drug scandal. She winds up as a drug mule for CPH4, a drug that makes a person able to utilise up to 100% of their brain. The bag inside Lucy’s stomach rips as the drug goes straight to her bloodstream. She then seeks revenge on her captors, and well, then it turns weird.

Honestly, I thought the first half of this film was brilliant. I loved how it went back and forth from Lucy as she unlocks more of her brain to Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) explaining his theory, and the clips of nature to tie in with it all. Then it hit 40% brain power, and it all went to hell. No one seemed as alarmed by Lucy as they probably should be, and I have no idea how to explain the scene on the plane. I went from fully understanding and enjoying the film, to a confused mess.

Once the credits rolled, my fiance and I looked at each other and said ‘what?’. That’s my only way of describing it. So, perhaps not surprisingly, Limitless is my winner!

Review: Lucy (2014)

This movie was so hyped up I can't believe I missed it at the cinema, so when I spotted it on the plane movie list it was the first I went for...

Lucy (Scarlett Johannson) gets caught up in a deal gone wrong and ends up as a drug mule for a new drug.  The bag leaks inside her stomach and it unlocks her minds full potential and leaves he ready to take on her captors and get the ultimate revenge.

This film should have been great, it had such great potential and the story concept was brilliant, unfortunately for me it just didn't resonate on screen for me!!  The action is great and Johannson is great stealing every scene, unfortunately she leaves everything else in the shadows including the storyline.  The French Police Captain (Amr Waked) is a useless wet lettuce who blindly follows this random woman into a ridiculous battle for no apparent reason, when technically he probably should be arresting her!! Morgan Freeman's professor Norman adds no real value to the proceedings he just appears to be a narration to explain what is happening to Lucy (which in fairness helped me to understand what the heck was going on as at more than one point I had NO IDEA!!)

This has been raved about and many 'professional' critics think this is great.  I have to disagree, although the story concept was clever it just didn't play out well enough for me.  I spent most of the film waiting for the story to start and then the film ended... Oh!

Might have been a winner for most but not for me, over hyped and mostly a disappointment for me.  Although gaining a growing love for Scarlett Johansson in the last year so that's something.

4/10

Review: Don Jon (2013)

I have every faith in Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I have been a fan of his since his Third Rock from the Sun and 10 Things I hate about you days.  So when I discovered that he has written, directed and starred in Don Jon, it became a must see for me.  I never once doubted JG-L's ability to succeed and I was right not to...

Don Jon has been on my radar for a while now, but knowing I could never bring myself to watch it with someone else has made it difficult to get round to watching! Jenna's review popping up in the drafts list gave me the push I needed.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays 'Don' Jon Martello a cocksure New Yorker who spends his time rating women with his friends and encountering one night stands with the higher scaled ladies and masturbating.  The voice over makes it abundantly clear that Jon is addicted to porn and fails to find the same satisfaction in real women. (This is when I thought it became predictable)  That is until he meets a 'solid 10' in rom-com lover Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) who refuses to sleep with him until she is good and ready. 

I really enjoyed this film, particularly the two halves that seemed like two different films.  The first half was a fast paced raunch fest, cut with porn scenes to emphasise Jon's addiction but still comical and the scenes with his friends in the bars were really funny. 

Yeah, the film's introduction was great, and as cringy as they were for me, the porn cut-ins were fantastically timed and really aided Don's story. I just couldn't stand Barbara though. I tried to picture Janice from Friends whenever she was on the screen (that's who she reminded me of) and that just didn't help me at all!

Then the second half surprised me, it became almost a romantic drama once Julianne Moore's character Esther got her toe in the mix.  It went from a comedy about porn addiction to a drama delving into these characters and finding out why they are the way they are.  This mix of two genres really made the film for me, I didn't expect it and when he met Barbara I thought I had the film penned (maybe Jon's confidence and attitude rubbed off on me) but this gave it a whole new depth.

It was definitely something different, and I do appreciate that. I've seen films that although enjoyable, are completely predictable so major kudos to Joseph Gordon-Levitt here. However, for me, the romance between Don and Esther was just too unbelievable, and a little uncomfortable to watch. I don't blame either actor/ess for that, it's just how I felt.

This movie never holds back, its got all the confidence of the lead character.  It never shies away from awkward, uncomfortable or damn right gross scenes instead it draws attention to them repeatedly.  Although, there were a few moments in this film where I cringed, the corridor scene outside Barbara's apartment had me covering my eyes but it was effective in showing Jon's desperation. I also found the family dinner scenes uncomfortable, but I think that was the effect they were going for, if so it definitely worked.  Basically, anything that made this film uncomfortable, made it better.

I liked how blunt and un-afraid Don Jon is, and it was a film like no other that I'd seen before. I was also surprised at Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor, as I would never picture him in a role like this, and he pulled it off well.

There's a cameo towards the beginning that I just had to text Jenna about (I was excited) and she told me that they were actually meant to have the lead role until Joseph took it for himself. I couldn't help but picture that actor in the role then and I think I might have preferred him!

Brilliant work from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a real surprise, not at all what I expected.

An enjoyable and un-expected film all round, but sadly it's just not one for me.