Brothers

Brothers (2009)
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard

The story of the Prodigal son; a good film, dramatic, a remake that is good but not as taught as the original Danish film. Two diametrically opposed brothers, one a Marine and one a Drop-out fresh out of the slammer are at the center of this story. The young Marine goes off to Afghanistan and goes missing in action, presumed dead, the family have a funeral etc. The drop out brother (gyllenhall) helps out his grieving sister in a law, nurturing her kids, building her a new kitchen to try and win the respect of his father who has always seen him as 2nd best to his younger brother.

The story gets interesting when the brother and the wife get closer, they share a common loss, they are both empty and struggling to come to terms with the death. They like each other after years of misunderstanding. The daughters take a shine to their uncle, who is less strict and more fun than uptight military dad.

The story of Maguire is given a real twist when it's revealed that he is not dead but actually taken as a POW. While a prisoner he is forced to kill one of his own men in a nasty scene, its kill or be killed and so he beats him to death with a pipe, going against all he believes as a soldier and a man - this changes him forever. Soon after he is rescued by an invading platoon of US soldiers and returned to the US and to his stunned and surprised family. He is a different man, the trauma has damaged him for the worse, he is dark and intense. The kids prefer their uncle. Maguire builds to an explosion in his own house, a gun weilding nervous breakdown spawned by his suspiscion of his brother and wife.

It builds to an intense climax, one that we see coming all along but it still delivers. This is Maguire's best acting in years (aside from his cameo in Tropic Thunder). Portman is excellent as usual and Sam Shepard plays the old fashioned dad to a tee. Very enjoyable film, great performances, Maguire is fantastic, worth seeing for his performance alone.

Must Rent DVD

We Live In Public

We Live In Public (2009)
Directed by Ondi Timoner
Starring Josh Harris

Brilliant, fascinating, well worth watching. Winner of the 2009 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this remarkable documentary details the experiences of Josh Harris 'the greatest internet pioneer you've never heard of'. Amassed from footage shot over 10yrs and cut down from over 5000 hours of material, Timoner paints a fascinating, implosive, portrait, a rags to riches to rags tale of a contemporary genius-madman-artist-svengali.

Harris was an early internet hero, a dot-com boomer, a man who turned his vision of 'the future of online communication' into a practical interactive internet experience 10 years too early. In his process of creative invention Harris's net worth shot up to 80 million dollars. The search for personal fame is what truly motivated Harris and we get to share in the excess and experimentation that big money can bring to someone with wild and brilliant ideas. You have to respect Harris for living his dream and spending his money to execute his grand ideas.

Harris uses riches gained from his Silicon Valley backed internet company (Pseudo) to create a one of kind interactive, big brother type experiment on 'the effects of media and technology on the human identity'. It took place over 30 days in NYC using 100 people. Everyone is locked into a building, a mini society where drugs, food and clothes are provided, alongside a shooting range. The participants wear uniforms and sleep in bed-pods, they are interrogated and constantly filmed. Harris creates this society so that he can call the shots, control people, makes the rules, garner information. Its fascinating to see what goes down and how the experiment affects the participants both positively and negatively. The experiment is shut down by the police on the 1st day of the year 2000.

During all the chaos and problems Harris experiences (with his shut down society experiment) he manages to fall in love. Sadly Harris soon turns the cameras on his own relationship, rigging their nyc loft with 30 cameras and broadcasting the relationship on the internet for all to see. This experiment lasts only 6 months and their relationship of course crumbles. With no money left, Harris gives it all in and disappears only to show up years later as an apple farmer.

Harris was right about a lot of things regarding the internet and in this doc its plain to see that his thoughts and prophecies have come true. Its amazing to watch Harris live fearlessly and implode as he experiments with people and money, his brain trying to find patterns and meaning. He is on a quest for information and understanding, but at what cost, his own sanity. Underneath all the posturing and games is a serious man with serious intellect and brilliant ideas who is willing to put it all on the line, so you gotta respect that. Timoner stuck in there and finally got her story after years, all the fragments come together in her compelling and thought provoking film.

Well worth watching, a must own DVD.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side (2009)
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron

See this incredible film, go rent it. Its clear after seeing this film why Bullock won her AA and GG for this role, this is a powerhouse performance.

The film is based on the true story of Michael Oher; an impoverished homeless teenager (from Memphis) who is taken in and nurtured by a loving wealthy family who eventually adopt him and help him achieve academic and athletic success, leading to him being drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens. The sport of football as in the title, is the framing device for this story, about teamwork, family, honor and loyalty. Its through football that Michael finds his voice.

The life changing opportunity and experience Michael receives works both ways, the family benefit greatly from having him around. Michael is not typical, regardless of his rough upbringing and abandoned soul, he is a warm loving gentle giant, who in turn helps the family reach a deep spiritual connection as a unit. The film is all about love and how love has the power to heal any trauma, to break any obstacle.

This is Bullock and Aaron's movie, they are magic together, their chemistry is electric. We believe them and how they affect each-other is quite profound. True stories are always the best, so easy to relate and feel the emotion. This film rocked me, make sure you have a box of tissues. Well I have kids so I guess thats to be expected. This is another movie I avoided in theaters and simply loved on dvd. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover. Bullock is back with this and The Proposal last year she made two solid blockbuster hits. You go girl..

Shutter Island

Shutter Island (2010)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Max Von Sydow

The previews sold this as a horror, at least thats what I got, but its actually a psychological drama and not one of Scorsese's best. The riveting performances and visual style make up for its average story.

The film reminded me of 'A Beautiful Mind' in many ways, but Ron Howard's film was based in truth and had more weight. To me 'Shutter Island' was exciting and dramatic but over long and convoluted. The set-up and early clues in the dialogue gave away the plot too early in the story, I just sat waiting for it all to unfold. But its always fun to watch DiCaprio in action. The casting is what holds the film together. Kingsley plays his creepy role on the line with such skill he steals the show.

The film is a mystery about a Federal Marshall and his new partner who arrive at an insane asylum to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient. Turns out the Marshall has his own dark-past, his wife and child having being killed in a house fire. The investigation of the missing patient reveals connections to the Marshall's own past, fact and fiction get warped on his wild goose chase for the truth.

The rug-pull comes in the form of DiCaprio being revealed to be a patient at the asylum, he is a federal marshall who went crazy and shot his wife after she drowned their three kids. The role playing of detective is revealed to be the asylum's experiment, to let him run role play out his fantasy in the hope of making a breakthrough, to have him realize his own truth. The breakthrough is finally made after two hours, but the light is soon extinguished in a closing scene that I thought was rather un-necessary.

Still this is a compelling movie and there are exciting set pieces and good acting. DiCaprio is brilliant as usual and Ruffalo stands his ground. This not your run of the mill Scorsese movie, its experimental for him. Still worth the money and time to see anything this grand master does.

A must see DVD.

Armored

Armored (2009)
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Ty Hackett, Skeet Ulrich.

American crime drama featuring a revitalized Matt Dillon opposite excellent newcomer Ty Hackett. The story is a run of the mill Heist about a team of armored-car drivers who rob the company they work for, stealing 42 million from a Federal Reserve transfer.

The framing device for the film is the story of Colombus Short (Hackett), a newly retired veteran Marine from Iraq whose parents both died forcing him to return to the USA to take care of his younger brother. The family house going into foreclosure and Colombus needs to make money and so he is lured into the heist by co-worker Dillon.

The heist goes wrong at the rendezvous point (a stunning abandoned steel mill) when the guards are spotted by a homeless man. Fishburne shoots and kills the homeless man causing Colombus to have a change of heart and go against the team to try and stop the robbery. He sounds the alarm on the armored truck and soon a local cop is patrolling the steel mill. Fishburne shoots this cop and Colombus saves him, dragging him successfully into the armored truck. The bad guys try to get into the truck before the cops send cars out looking for the missing officer. The action builds from there to an inevitable climax.

There are a couple of implausible twists, but its action packed and fun watching Colombus use his military skills to outwit the amateur security guards. Antal does a decent job of framing the action and creating suspense. Skeet Ulrich has a decent role and delivers an edgy performance. The ensemble is very good, it just felt small and shallow emotionally, it moved so fast it was hard to connect to anyone in the story. Hackett saves the film with his vital naivete, his energetic emotional performance, he was surrounded by Lions and stepped up.

Dillon is great in this film, its a different role for him, worth watching just for his performance. He looked lean and mean, years have been taken off him somehow. This is a good popcorn, sofa film; just don't expect to be moved, shocked or enlightened.

The Box

The Box (2009)
Directed by Richard Kelly
Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella

This was some truly unwatchable rubbish. Convoluted nonsense about a test of human nature, a complete waste of time. This film felt like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone. Its amazing considering the cast they had for this turkey. I turned it off after 20 minutes. I don't even know where to start with this film, so I wont bother. In a phrase, snore-fest. I'd be fascinated to hear from anyone who liked this film and why. Please leave comments

Amelia

Amelia (2009)
Directed by Mira Nair
Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewen McGregor, Christopher Eccleston

This film did not fair well at the box-office or on home video and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, but I was surprised. This bio-pic starts off a little bumpy, suffering mostly from structural problems with a lot of jumping back and forth in time - but by 30mins in the film is on track and focusing on Earhart's around the world attempt.

Swank is spot-on as Amelia, she looks, talks and moves just like her, as seen in archive footage; its a remarkable transformation. She hams it a little but its the 30's and she's playing a strong independent siren. Gere plays Puttnam her publisher husband and biggest supporter, his loyalty and faith in Amelia are at the core of this tender love story. The ending I wont give away (unless you know your history) but it really moved me, I had no idea of her fate. The end to me almost made the film, it was bitter sweet, just like Earhart.

McGregor plays the love affair interest, a single-parent/aeronautics-genius who helps Amelia gain recognition. She is a person who cant be tied down. Their love affair is short lived and eventually she returns to her husband. This film is a love-story at heart, and we get all the facts of her aeronautical success neatly wrapped in. The films focus is not on the love triangle, the anchor of the story is the undying support of Gere for this remarkable free-spirited woman.

The effects are not so great but not bad enough to take you out of the story. There's not much action in general but the flight sequences are good and capture the risk, the old planes were very dangerous, communication was bad, no satellites, only morse and radio. One cant even imagine doing what Amelia did 8o years ago. The film brings the danger and her heroism to light. The performances hold together a fairly undramatic story. The era is captured well in the visuals, the wardrobe and make-up felt and looked right. The music was also a good fit. Ok some movies aren't for everyone and usually I agree with the mass, but in this case I enjoyed a film most people told me was crap. Rent the DVD to polish up on your history..

In The Loop

In The Loop (2009)
Directed by Armando Iannucci
Starring Peter Capaldi, james Gandolfini, Mimi Kennedy, Tom Hollander

British political satire based on a successful BBC TV Show 'Thick of it'. The film is a satire of the Anglo-American governmental wranglings leading up to the invasion of Iraq. A UK minister played brilliantly by Hollander is used as a pawn by both sides when remarks he makes to the press are used as key phrases to start the war.

The film is bitingly funny. Capaldi steals the show as the Prime Ministers enforcer, a hard-core foul mouthed Scotsman who fears no man and takes no prisoners. Gandolfini is also hilarious as a US General. The film reminded me in parts of Kubrick's Dr Strangelove (Peter Sellers), In the Loop is a whole new take but it felt similar in tone. The film is very well written and the performances were dead-pan and spot on.

The approach is anti-West Wing in this film, its raw, doco, hand-held, gritty and real. The performances never become silly which is what keeps the satire in tact. It's a very funny film that has done well in Europe. Not sure how it will go down in US. Shows like The Office are a good appetizer for a film like this. If you like Gervais you will enjoy In the Loop.

The film is worth seeing just for Capaldi's performance alone. Must rent DVD.

Good Hair

Good Hair (2009)
Directed by Jeff Stilson
Starring Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, Andre Harrell,

Funny and entertaining documentary starring Chris Rock that digs deep into the wonders of of African American hair, the salons, the customers, the product manufacturers.

When Chris Rock's daughter asked him 'Daddy why don't I have good hair?' he went on a mission to find out who put this question in his daughters head. The film follow Chris around from Salon to Salon interviewing working class women who spend upwards of $1,000 on their hair. He visits an insane hair contest in Atlanta and interviews the makers of the top selling products. They visit manufacturer processing plants etc. We learn all about the art of the weave. Chris visits India to look at where the hair comes from for the weaves. He interviews an independant chemist and they do a lab-test on hair straightener, the #1 hair product used by African Americans, the straightener eats through a coke cans in minutes.

Rev Al Sharpton makes an appearance and is quite amusing with his tales. Maya Angelou also shines a light. The doco is informing and cute, not ground breaking or revelatory film making in any way, but worth checking out. Ice T makes a cameo and reflects his Pimp take on the whole hair issue, this had me cracking up. My good friend at Video Hut recommended this and I must say I enjoyed it. Chris doesnt dominate the documentary at all, I learned and laughed, always a good thing.

Must rent DVD.

Taken

Taken (2008)
Directed by Pierre Morel
Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser.

Saw this movie in theatres last year and just watched it again on dvd, what a treat. Morel knows how to direct action, his style is raw-edgy and abrupt. This director doesn't cut around the action, he shows the fight with great choreography, stunt work and a moving camera.

The story is simple; a pretty American student and her best friend take a trip to Paris to follow U2 in concert. Her nervous father Neeson doesn't want her to go, she is only 17. Her mother and wealthy step-father want her to go. Neeson is over-powered and gives in. The girls get tricked at an airport in Paris and kidnapped by Albanese Human Traffickers forcing them into the sex slave trade. The girls only have a 98hr window before the chances of them being found alive again disappear.

Neeson plays the lead girls' father, an ex CIA paramilitary operative who puts his skills to work hunting down the men who kidnapped his daughter and rescuing her. His daughter calls him as the kidnapping goes down and the limited scraps of information he hears on the call - the accents, his daughters descriptions of the men as she hides under the bed etc - are all Nesson needs to piece together a plan.

Nesson travels immediately to Paris and recruits an old friend in French Intelligence to help locate the Alabanese gang neighborhoods. He travels into the underbelly and carves a trail in blood and broken bones that eventually leads to his daughter, he discovers her best friend dead from an overdose. The French Intelligence officer gets in Neeson's way and double crosses him, but Neeson makes it to his daughter as she is being auctioned off. He gets caught but manages to escape and kill the kidnappers and save his daughter.

The action is top notch and the performances are taught and realistic. Neeson is a great actor, he embodies strength. When he says to the kidnappers in this movie "I will find you, I will kill you.." we believe it and know that he will. It's great to see an action film with a kick ass super-dad fighting for the life of his daughter. In the end Neeson's connection to his daughter is strengthened. Great action, simple story, well directed, shot and edited.

This is a must own DVD.

The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth (2009)
Directed by Nick Luketic
Starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler.

Decent romantic comedy set in the world of television. Hiegl plays a control freak female TV producer who is having problems with with her ratings. Her worst nightmare is realized when, in an attempt to boost the ratings, the network hires a crass Butler to work alongside her and spice up the show. Butler runs a sleazy hit local television show 'The Ugly Truth', a cynical 'relationship advice' call-in program. The two do not like each other, they are opposites and so at first their friendship is rocky.

Soon Butler has charmed her and is giving her relationship advice, 'tests' straight out of his 'Ugly Truth' manifesto. Heigl follows his advice and it works, she gets the man she wants but soon realizes she doesn't love him. She has fallen in love with the exciting and fresh Butler, who speaks his mind and knows what's up. These two are so opposed its refreshing when they actually connect, they have good on screen chemistry.

Heigl is forced to follow and beg Butler to stay at the network after he appears on Late Night With Colin Ferguson and is offered a bigger and better deal elsewhere. They almost have drunken sex but don't. Her ex shows up and Butler leaves, but the two ex's don't connect. Pretty soon Heigl and Butler are both working a state Fair for different local networks. He tells her he turned down the big network to stay close to home. They get in an argument on a hot air balloon which takes off. He tells her he loves her and they fly off in the balloon.

It sounds rather milquetoast but it's not, its good fun. The two leads make it happen. Its a date flick, good for some giggles just dont expect 'Wuthering Heights'. Must see DVD.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear (1991)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis

One of the best from Martin Scorsese. This is masterful dramatic work with suspense, horror, violence, eroticism and unforgettable dialogue. This story is a tightly wound spring that keeps winding until it eventually snaps setting hell loose and leading to one of the best climaxes in film history.

The story opens with murderer/rapist Max Cady (De Niro) being released from jail. Cady has come back to seek revenge on his rich Southern Attorney (Nolte) for burying evidence that could have prevented his 14 year jail sentence. Nolte plays an attorney so perfectly fragile, he is a man with everything but a backbone. Even though Cady is a demon we relate and sympathize with his 14 years in jail, sodomized and beaten. As the plot thickens and pets start dying, Nolte begs and offer money to Cady to go away but Cady doesn't want money and he isn't going away. Cady wants truth and justice, so he terrorizes the family.

Cady seduces the daughter (played brilliantly by Lewis) in a scene with superb tension and dialogue. Cady gets into the mind of the teenage girl, using her anger towards her parents to manipulate her. Cady is an intellectual, very well read, versed in law from his time spent well in prison. He quotes scriptures and authors in almost every monologue. This is one of the best film psychopaths ever to hit the screen. De Niro embodies malevolence in this role.

Nolte hires a dumb private-eye who arranges thugs to attack Cady with pipe, scare him off. Cady is attacked but overcomes the gang, takes their weapons and beats them up instead. Nolte watches all this from behind a dumpster, Cady has a hunch and shouts out loud 'Counseller, are you there, could you be there?' classic stuff. The murder of the nanny sets the family on the run to the Florida Keys to get away from Cady, who straps himself under their car traveling with the family for the big climax. The family hide on their houseboat in the keys and of course Cady follows them where he attacks the family beating up Nolte and preparing to rape the wife and daughter. A storm intervenes and the houseboat is sent into a swirling hell of ocean storm. Cady is not match for the elements and is overpowered by the family fighting together to beat him. Classic moment with lighter fluid in the face set alight.

Cady is eventually over-powered and drowned by being handcuffed to a boat rail by Nolte, the boat sinks Cady drowns. We think right up to the last moment that this man cannot be killed, and there is even a few teasers thrown in to suggest maybe he didn't die. The family jump to safety off the boat and all survive, brought closer by this nightmare event.

Lange is astounding in this film her arc is dramatic. This is the best role Nolte ever played. Lewis is smouldering cute and gives a brilliant performance as a curious teen. De Niro needs to be seen to be believed in this film, its not only a physical mountain he climbed but his transformation of face and voice should have won him the Oscar that year. The story is thrilling and the action and tension start from the first frame and don't let up until the last. Its fantastic Noir, Scorsese borrowed a lot from the original in terms of tension and mood but he made this Cape Fear 100% his own.

A must own dvd.

Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Directed by F Gary Gray
Starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx

Loop de loop Thriller about a man (Butler) who exacts Justice on the 'killers' who brutally raped/killed his wife and daughter and the 'justice system' that failed his family. It's 10 years after the crime and Butler has come back for revenge. Foxx plays the egomaniacal city-prosecutor who in protecting his trial success rate takes a plea bargain letting the 'real killer' serve 5 years while the 'accomplice' gets the death sentence, this destroys Butlers life and belief in the justice system.

Butler intervenes in the lethal injection execution, making the inmate suffer greatly. He then captures the other criminal (the real killer) and dismembers him using a skill saw in warehouse, while videotaping the event. He sends the dismemberment videotape to the Prosecutor's (Foxx) family. His wife and kid see it, yuk. Butler is apprehended by police and eventually confesses to the murder blaming the justice dept for failing his family. He targets Foxx and while in jail wages a terror war on the police of Chicago, how does he do this? Keep reading, haha. It felt a lot like Cape Fear. I actually rented and watched Cape Fear again because this reminded me so much of it.

So while Butler is in jail the rampage and destruction continues. How, does he have cohorts? It is then revealed in an OMG rug-pull that he is in-fact an ex Special Ops, Black Ops, best in class, whatever, blah blah blah. Anyhow the ridiculous plot then has Butler tunneling his way out of the prison to pull off the terror attacks and going back to his jail at night - yes stupid. This reveal makes the film a farce. I guess they needed a way to explain how this regular guy could get hold of missile launchers and robot machine guns from jail, hahaha.

Anyway it was ludicrous but I must say very entertaining. Both actors have great chops and it was fun to see them go head to head. Foxx delivers and Butler is good, just his old Scottish accent pokes through. Also Butler must make 10 films a year. He is in everything, a new film a month, enough already. It's good to see Butler stick it to the man because he has been very badly wronged, but the whole film goes to far and uses a sentimental hinge (daughter) to explain and justify his rampage. The film is an excuse to blow shit up and shoot guns and for the two actors to look mean and be stressed and act all melodramatic. I don't think anyone mentioned the word plausible in the script meetings. If you are willing to switch off and go with the flow, you will enjoy it. It not so terrible its unwatchable, not by far, its just schlocky entertainment.

Rent it on DVD, the action will keep you entertained, if you like that kind of thing.

The Wolfman

The Wolfman (2010)
Directed by Joe Johnstone
Starring Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins

Remake of the Hollywood classic. I went in hoping to be impressed given the stellar cast involved, but the film was crippled by its B-movie approach to the story, bad dialogue and over the top melodramatic music. The film gets more interesting as the action ramps up and the characters talk less. The plot is easy to figure out and there is nothing new in the story or the visual effects that makes this an original or unique werewolf film. There is nothing in this film that we didnt see in the early 80's in 'American Werewolf In London' by John Landis; if you cant better that classic then why bother. It's basically the same story wrapped in a different coat. Surprisingly the visual effects are no better than in AWIL; okay there are some cool closeup inner mouth transformation shots that are crazy cool, but all in all it didnt feel new or have a 'wow factor monster'. The film is actually quite a snooze as we wait through tedious set-up for it all to go down exactly as we predict. No guess work needed with this plot.

Del Toro looks bored and he resembles an overweight Paul McCartney with bad hair, bad make-up and some real bad acting until he becomes The Wolfman, then he steps it up. I wont even get into the story or plot, its not worth it. The big problem is that the film lacked character development of any kind. The dialogue and performances are so hammed up its hard not be chuckling while you watch the splatter-fest. Yes it is very gory and this makes up for the lack of suspense or tension.

Hugo Weaving plays a supporting Role as a Scotland Yard detective who 'knows all along', and he is quite good until the very end of the film when its made clear he will be playing the next Wolfman. What does that mean? The Wolfman 2. No, please!

Danny Elfman's music (in my opinion) was a bad rip on Wojciech Kilar's score for 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (91) by Francis Ford Coppola. Through and through its a clear rip-off, the beats, the tones, the movements, all of it - very disappointing.

There is no real twist in this film and the reveal of Hopkins as the Daddy Werewolf comes as no surprise. When father and son duke it out in a wolf-fight its quite comedic instead of climactic. An old grey and hairy Hopkins-wolfman had me cracking up.
Emily Blunt is fabulous as usual but she has nothing to do apart from 'fall in love' with her brother in law, yes yuck. When this happens it crushes the lead characters with bad taste and bad writing. Blunt looks beautiful as ever and cries on cue (a lot). She should have passed on this turkey. Its just a big corny laugh.

Props must be given for the fact that the Wolfman looks exactly like Wolfman from the Hollywood legend, ripped white shirt and all, the face is a total dead-ringer. The 3D is okay but clearly animated and the matte paintings are well below average, one too many timelapse moon shots. This film sat on the shelf for 2 years. Its easy to see why, it just doesnt hit the mark for such a classic title. Rent it on DVD to support these great actors regardless of the content. If you like Gore you might enjoy it, just don't expect to be gripped, moved or scared. It wont happen.

The Informant

The Informant (2009)
Directed by Steven Soderberg
Starring Matt Damon, Lucas McHugh Carroll, Eddie Jemison

Off beat comedy based on a remarkable true story. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a corporate executive for ADM (drug-manufacturer) who turned out to be one of the 'highest paid' whistler blowers to emerge from corporate America. Whitacre was a biochemist with a conscience (or so it seemed) who worked as an informant for the FBI, helping to expose the ADM 'lysine price fixing conspiracy' of the 90's. Whitacre wears a wire for 3years working with the FBI making tapes, betraying his colleagues and the damaging effect on his mental health is what the story focuses on, his unraveling and its fun to watch. Damon does a grand job, overweight and out of touch.

Whitacre is a simple, uncomplicated man with a good wife, sweet kids and a penchant for fast cars. He loves money and is a corporate kiss-ass, meanwhile he is burning the house down under his bosses noses. He leads the FBI on a wild goose chase for many years, lying, planting false evidence, weaving stories to detract and cover up the fact that he defrauded ADM for $11 million dollars (in illegal kickbacks from company deals). Whitacre stashes the stolen money in Swiss accounts and didnt report it to IRS. In exposing the company he worked for he exposed himself and end up ironically being sentenced to jail-time 3x that of the white collar criminals he helped convict.

The film is typical Soderberg with a layered narrative. It's exciting and moves fast. The film is kept fresh with lots of new faces in the cast. The pacing is tight as it scans through quite a few years in less than two hours. Damon makes this film, his performance is obtuse and vulnerable, he is a man on the edge and plays it perfectly. Ive always liked him but have often thought he chose easy roles; this role was a challenge, different for him and he pulled it off.

My fav-movie of Soderbergs's is 'Traffic' also I love 'Sex, Lies and Videotape'. This isn't his best, but its better than the Oceans 11 series, its different, political and corporate, making it less appealing to a mass audience. I was suprised, didnt think I would like this movie going in, but I actually enjoyed it thoroughly. With every film Damon makes I like him more and more; the Bourne movies were great (he kicked ass in them) but with The Informant he gets to show his chops and its refreshing. Soderberg is a movie-factory he pumps them out. He is one of the most prolific film-makers of our generation, every now and then he makes an important film that people need to see. This is one of those films.

Must rent DVD.

Frozen

Frozen (2010)
Directed by Adam Green
Starring Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers

Simple concept, very cool film, clearly inspired by Spielberg's Jaws. Three friends gets stuck up on a ski-lift chair on their last ride at a ski resort. By twist of fate the lift operator thinks they have already come off the mountain and shuts down the ski-lift; meanwhile the friends are trapped on small steel seat 75ft above the frozen ground in sub-zero temperatures. The friends think its a malfunction until all the slope lights are turned off and the mountain goes deathly quiet. Its only then that the real terror sets in, its Sunday night and the ski-resort is closed for next 5 days.

The film takes place mostly over the 1st frozen night. After a few hours of hours of panic the heroic boyfriend decides he will jump off the lift-chair to the snow below and go for help, injured or not. Of course he snaps his legs in the fall and is immobilized with nasty compound fractures. Within short order Hungry Wolves are baying in the nearby forest, smelling the blood. The worst that you can imagine happens as the wolves have a hot dinner. This death scene is made extra disturbing by the camera mostly staying on the ski-lift and the reactions of the friends while they hear their friend getting ripped apart and devoured, screaming through gargling blood. This is a brutal death from sound alone and it takes a minute or so but it really works - almost turned my stomach.

The death of the boyfriend leads to some reflective dialogue that could have been skipped as the adrenaline is drained from the momentum of the story. Daylight breaks. The two survivors have frostbite, they must get off the mountain. The friend decides to climb along the wire (regardless of wolves below) to a nearby pole. He risks his life twice but finally makes it only to be encountered by the wolves but he fights them off and escapes down the mountain on his snowboard pursued by the wolves.

The girl is left alone on the seat overnight, no one comes to help her. At dawn, almost frozen to death, she attempts to climb down and is tossed to the ground with a broken ankle, but not killed. On her way down the hill (sliding on her belly) she encounters the wolves feeding on their friend, horrific realistic scene. The wolves are distracted so she escapes, makes it to a road and is rescued by a passing car. Thats it. Her escape is so welcome, its the proper ending.

Ok so there are some flaws in this film, acting mainly and some average writing, but overall given how simple the idea is I think the director really pulled it off and created a very suspenseful thriller that at times is incredibly disturbing. Man Vs Nature. Big epic theme in small explosive movie. I was impressed. GO see this in theaters, it just came out.

Bronson

Bronson (2009)
Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn
Starring Tom Hardy, James Lange, Matt King

Superb film. A startling bio-pic of UK's most violent prisoner 'Mickey Peterson', a bare knuckle street fighter re-named Charles Bronson by his fight promoter played by Matt King. Mickey is sentenced 7 years in jail for robbing a post office at 19yrs of age. Once in Jail he finds himself very much at home, in fact he loves it. It doesn't take long for Mickey's alterego 'Bronson' to take over and cause as much trouble, violence and mayhem as he possibly can. Bronson is also a one man media blitz, his own best publicist, he loves the attention from the newspapers. Bronson's sentence is extended to 30+ years (as a matter of fact he is still imprisoned in the UK).

The film is set in prison but is not about a prison break, its about someone who loves being in prison -this is a cool twist. The story is chock full of violence and madness as Bronson carves his legend in blood and broken bones, disabling and breaking as many prison guards as he can along the way. He is moved from jail to insane asylum to jail throughout the film, the background changes but its always the same landscape. In real life Bronson was moved 120 times, wow.

The story of his time in jail is intercut with a fantasy 'one-man show' stage performance with Bronson in a theatre, in front of a black tie audience. On stage he is the narrator, the ring leader (who wears clown make up at times). He is the bully who's violent reality is pure entertainment for others, shining a bright light on our morbid curiosity. This element attempts to humanize the character by showing his soul as the artist, a man misunderstood, crushed by his own ignorance. Its powerful stuff and it works.

Bronson's arc reveals the man to be an artist and a very good one; his works actually sell in the UK. Bronson's path of destruction and violence leads to a door of artistic expression, this subtext is about someone's path to becoming an artist, reaching self-consciousness. The film is brutal real life portrait wrapped up in fantasy jacket, like a candy coated pill.

Hardy's performance is astounding, ground breaking, he was the best thing in RocknRolla but in this film he is King. I was amazed by his performance, both physically and emotionally and if this doesn't propel him to international stardom I will be surprised. Hardy literally becomes Bronson, it's a physical role equivalent of climbing Everest and he does it with ease. I was shocked that this film was snubbed in the USA, not nominated for any major awards. Perhaps the film is too raw, too brutal, too close to truth or too stylized for a US audience. The influence of Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' permeates this film enhanced by the classic music running throughout .

The film was a breath of fresh air, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Usually when you go in to film with high expectations you're setting yourself up for disappointment, not with this movie. Great stuff.

The Escapist

The Escapist (2009)
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Starring Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Liam Cunningham, Dominic Cooper, Sue Jorge, Steven Mackintosh.

A rather off kilter' prison escape' movie fresh out of the UK. An old inmate, played by Brian Cox, attempts a dangerous Jail Break in order to visit his terminally ill daughter whom he hasn't seen in over a decade. A gang of inmates assemble to participate, all with good reasons to want out of the 'circus type prison' in this surreal story. Its The Great Escape meets Snatch, not really. but almost that silly.

The co-lead played by Cunningham is a quiet young man, a new inmate who is threatened by a pair of homosexual brothers, inmates who 'run the jail'. This is where reality starts to bend somewhat but the stellar UK cast holds it together and makes up for most of the trangressions. It feels like an art-film and Im not sure if its deliberate or accidental, its visually poetic but too over-stylized for such a gritty hard-core narrative.

The film intercuts the escape in parallel with the build up to the escape, throughout the entire story. This becomes a frustrating plot device as the story jumps back and forth. The climax reveals why the story was presented in non-linear format as part of the escape is revealed to be a 'dream sequence' (dah-nah!!!) from a dying man. Yes, Im not lying, I was stunned. It really threw me for a loop, also made me chuckle. It was not predictable at all but very corny and implausible. I know it sounds odd, but it reminded me of the dream sequence in 'Last Temptation of Christ' (1st entry on this blog). There are effects sequences at the end of the film, when the inmates escape through the sewers that almost suggested these men were dead in heaven or hell.. only to be explained as dream sequence later, rather odd.

Check it out if you like British films, the acting is good but the story is out-there..

Parts of the movie were great, essentially the acting. UK actors have the chops sadly this film doesnt.

Strangers On A Train

Strangers On A Train (1951)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker

My favorite Hitchcock film. A classic suspense thriller, visually stylish with nail biting tension.

Guy, a 'semi-famous tennis player' and Bruno 'a rich psychopath' are two strangers who meet on a Train. The men drink, talk and open up; Guy is disgruntled because his ex-wife, a vulgar cheating small town girl, refuses to give him a divorce so he can marry the woman he truly loves Anne, the rich socialite daughter of a Senator. Bruno the psychopath wants his controlling father dead and so he suggests to Guy (on the Train) the perfect murder, criss-cross: for each man to commit the other mans murder. Guy laughs it off and exits the train, leaving behind his engraved cigarette lighter. Bruno in his madness assumes Guy has agreed to the plan and takes Guy's lighter.

Bruno strangles and kills Guys ex-wife at a fun-fair at night. Bruno goes to Guy expecting him to kill his father in return. Guy is sickened, recoiling from his involvement with this psychopath and his prior knowledge; he is riddled with paranoia and guilt although innocent - very clever stuff. Guy immediately threatens to go to the police but Bruno knows Guy is a key suspect in the murder of his ex-wife; Guy had the Motive and he has a weak alibi for his whereabouts the night of the murder. Bruno uses Guy's lighter as evidence to blackmail him, threatening to set Guy up for the murder if he doesn't go through with his part of the deal and kill his father.

Guy agrees to go through with it but instead when he arrives at Bruno's mansion, he confesses to the father (sitting in the shadows) all about Bruno's plans to kill him; but the father isn't there its Bruno sitting in the shadows. Enraged by Guys betrayal Bruno contacts Guys fiance (Anne) and tells her of his plan to frame Guy for the murder of his ex-wife. Guy and Anne must make it to the Fun-fair (where the murder was committed) before Bruno can plant the lighter as false evidence.

The two men get into a climactic fight scene at the fun-fair aboard a spinning carousel which crashes, collapses and gets destroyed while rotating at high-speed. This is some of the best action model work ever done. The suspense built in this last scene alone puts this film up there with the best of the best. It has to be seen to be believed. Finally Guy's lighter is found by the Police on Bruno's dead body that is crushed by the collapsing Carousel. Guy is no longer a suspect and is free of suspicion and guilt. It's an uplifting ending with Guy and Anne back on a train, but this time when a stranger asks him 'Are you Guy Haines?' (the same way Bruno introduced himself) Guy ignores the question and exist the compartment with Anne, a wiser man.

This movie is a real treat, it can be watched over and over. The dialogue is superb and the story plays out how you would truly hope, it builds to a fever pitch. Robert Walker's 'Bruno' is one of the most disturbed villains ever to grace the silver screen. Its magical stuff this film. The opening sequence follows the two lead actors shoes as they walk into the train station and onto the train, its says so much about the characters before we even meet them. Hitch was and remains to be the grandmaster. A must rent, must own DVD.

Zombieland

Zombieland (2009)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woddy Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

I had a lot of fun and laughs watching this new horror comedy set amidst a zombie apocalypse. Mad Cow disease became Mad Human disease turning the population of the USA into zombies. Very few humans have survived and we follow a gang of them, some unlikely heroes, as they team up on a road trip to find a sanctuary free of Zombies.

On their journey they have fun killing Zombies in lots of creative ways. Of course there is a perfunctory love-story thrown in for good measure. Emma Stone is gorgeous, she smolders on screen and actually gives the film some heat and heart. Woody is especially funny in the climax, which takes place at a fun-fair. He enjoys killing zombies, 'nut up or shut up' is his motto. I enjoy watching Eisenberg; to me he is a mix of Ben Stiller and Michael Cera, his deadpan humor works well next to Harrelson's red-neck. In the story Jesse has created a set of rules he lives by to survive Zombieland, the posse end up following these rules that serve as a framing device for the film. Its simple stuff but very well done and silly as all hell. Breslin stood out to me in this comedy, didn't really have chemistry with the ensemble in my opinion.

Don't expect this film to be the best Zombie film ever made, but if you are a fan of the flesh-eaters Im sure you wont be too disappointed. You cant compare Zombieland to the comic genius (and originality displayed) in 'Shaun of the Dead' and the horror isn't shock factor heavy as in Romero's original opus. Ironically Zombieland is now the biggest grossing zombie film of all time. The set-pieces and stunts in the climax make the film worth-while.

I wished it could have been longer than 81 minutes, the ending came abruptly making the overall film a little anti climactic. It was still a fun ride. How do you spell sequel.

Must rent DVD

The Book Of Eli

The Book Of Eli (2010)
Directed by The Hughes Brothers
Starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis

Yet another post apocalyptic melodrama, whoop de woo. This film tries for but doesn't reach the heights of 'The Road Warrior' or 'The Road'; it's the same world, the same thematic, but Eli is too bogged down with religious context. The story is one note and there is not enough dramatic meat for either great actor to get their teeth into.

The film opens with a long montage of a strong-able-fighting-loner Eli (Washington) walking in the desert heading west, says he's been walking for 30yrs since the apocalypse. He carries with him a King James Bible that he protects with his life, a large knife that he wields effortlessly and a pair of scratch free designer sunglasses he never takes off - we find out why later. He carries with him the last Bible on earth, hmm. It turns out Eli is heading to Alcatraz Island where men now live free - what? At Alcatraz there is a printing press and a library run and protected by fuddy duddy Malcolm McDowell. Eli is taking the good book to its proper home.

Along the way Eli encounters Carnegie (Oldman) an evil wild-west style Boss who runs a ramshackle town. Oldman has been sending henchmen out looking for a copy of The Bible for years; he wants to use the Book to control people. We've seen this all before. Eli fights to stay alive and protect the good book which Oldman eventually steals but alas cant read WHY because its a Braille Bible. Eli is BLIND - what!! Trust me this comes as a zinger. Its okay because Eli has memorized the entire book and when he finally makes it to Alcatraz (on a rowing boat with Kunis) he dictates the Bible word for word from memory to Malcolm McDowell. I kid you not thats what happens.

Oldman is a serious actor and even he couldn't save this film. It was over stylized (visually) and the religious theme was ham-fisted. Also Denzel's expression did not change from start to finish, he held an icy grimace the entire time, until we realize he is blind. No big arc here. Mila Kunis makes an strange appearance as visual eye-candy but she stands out like a sore thumb next to the two heavyweight leads.

It is entertaining in parts with Eli's impregnable samurai fighting style, but its too serious overall and gets bogged down by its religious context. The climax is fun to watch as the two stars duke it out. The Hughes brothers have a sleek style but this film didn't work for me. It felt to me as if this story may have come from a Graphic Novel, typically too undeveloped for the big screen, but alas didn't. The film didnt have enough twists or a dynamic engaging plot and this combined with so little action made it a bum number for me. Its not a terrible film but considering the quality of the actors and the size of budget I expected way more..

Surrogates

Surrogates (2009)
Directed by Jonathan Mostow
Starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, James Cromwell

Set in a future where humans stay home plugged into computerized machines while sexier ROBOT versions of themselves (surrogates) function for them in the outside world. This has created a world of zero crime, peace and harmony. All this changes upon the murder of two surrogates and their controllers (the humans at home plugged in). This is the first incident of its kind and Willis the Cop (how original) is brought in to investigate.

Willis uncovers a plot to kill all humans, or is it a plot to kill all surrogates, such nonsense. This is the Matrix all over again, only a re-hashed mess. It's just silly. There is some good action and a couple of classic Willis moments, but overall it just didn't work and cant compare to a Star Trek or District 9. The ensemble didn't have any chemistry and the story and effects felt old-hat. The digital enhancement of the actors (when they play robot surrogates) felt photoshop fake, it just looks plain bad to me. The film is full of empty characters (of course they are robots); Willis wants his wife back, but she is addicted to being a surrogate, she wants to remain plugged in forever. Her real self is old, disabled and scarred so through her surrogate she can live the life of suspended 'perfected' reality, be a younger more beautiful woman. Willis wants her to get off the machine - its hilarious really. Ving Rhames appears to chew up the scenery like a bearded lion. Did the director and producer phone this movie in?

The film's climax felt cheap. The film is full of actors playing robots and in my opinion this lent itself to a lot of robotic performances, everyone was stiff. The plot twist was such a rug-pull I almost fell off my seat - it involves Cromwell playing multiple surrogate characters. OMG, enough said.

Towelhead

Towelhead (2007)
Directed by Alan Ball
Starring Summer Bishil,Peter Macdissi, Aaron Eckhart

Fantastic film. The story focuses on Jasira (Bishil) a 13yr old Lebanese/American girl who is sent to live with her very strict Lebanese father in Texas, after her mothers boyfriend (in NY) shaves Jasira's pubic hair. Jasira is curious about sex and the outside world, she wants to get away from her controlling over protective father who alienates her from friends and society.

13yr old Jasira gets embroiled in an creepy relationship with her next door neighbor, an army reservist played by Eckhart. The interaction results in a sexual molestation that leads to a later rape; awful themes that are handled correctly as seen from Jasira's perspectivem through the innocent eyes of a child. Jasira also has a sexual relationship with an African American boy from her new school. Her father's racism will not allow Jasira to see this boy, forcing her to move out of the house and live with a friendly watchful neighbor, played by Toni Collette; someone who is suspicious of Eckhart.

The climax comes when the father demands Jasira return home; blaming the school boy and Collette for corrupting his daughter when he finds a used condom in the neighbors spare room where his daughter stays. Jasira confesses to everyone present that Eckhart took her virginity in her fathers house. In this moment reality hits and for the first time the audience hears appropriate reactions to the crime; we are reminded again how young Jasira is, how fast kids grow up these days, how important it is to love and communicate with your children etc. It's a heavy conclusion. Her father instantly realizes that his alienation was partly responsible for his daughter searching for comfort in the arms of other men. Eckhart is then arrested.

It's a very profound coming of age drama. It captures the curiosity of youth perfectly, it shows how teens may act adult but they have no real comprehension of consequence. Bishil is truly brilliant as Jasira and Macdissi is wonderful as her father, a character we love to hate. The film deals with relationships in a gloves off style, its old vs new, refreshing and very exciting. A must see, rent or own on DVD

A Serious Man

A Serious Man (2009)
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring Michael Stuhlbar, Sari Lennick, Fred Melamed.

I was stunned at how bad this film was and I've been a Coen Bros fan for decades. I watched it last night with a friend and we only made it through the first 20 minutes before we both had had enough and turned it off. I woke up this morning to be told that the film is nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. I must say I almost choked on my bacon and eggs :)

I was so happy when 'No Country..' was a big winner but this film.. please, I cant believe is even nominated. Let me clarify one thing for me to turn off a Coen Bros after 20 minutes is a 1st, I think they are up there with the best directors of our times.
Maybe I'm not the right demographic or maybe the fact I'm not Jewish stopped me for staying at full speed with the story. I just couldn't connect and I found all the characters way OTT and heavily stereotyped. Stuhlbar didn't capture my interest once, he came across as duller than dull.

This film has had great reviews so it proves all movies are not for everyone, that's cool. In my opinion it may be the Coen's most personal film to date but it is also their worst, too small and too secular. I like the concept of a film being about a man who is trying to find balance and understanding in the world, its big, so this felt like too small a box.

It is a film written and directed by the Coen Bros so I would never say don't see it -- please give it a go and tell me (in comments) if you disagree with my take. I'd love to hear from someone who loved this film and be explained its redeeming qualities. Maybe then I will try and sit through the whole film.

I Love You Man

I Love You Man (2009)
Directed by John Hamburg
Starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones

Paul Rudd delivers a note-perfect performance as the 'ultimate boyfriend' whose fiance, a stunning Rashida Jones, is nervous that he has no friends (apart from his mother) and so for their upcoming wedding he needs to find a best man. That's the plot plain and simple and it works, this film is very funny.

Rudd finds Segel by accident and together they have a 'bromance', their courtship being the meat and potatoes of the story. It's a great spin on a buddy movie and Segel is a comic revelation, his laid back performance is off beat and confident. He shines. Rudd steps up and delivers way beyond his regular mode.

The writing is witty and clever and the climax of the story delivers a wise twist, it's a tender film underneath its brash, schoolboy moments. Its a film about love, loving yourself, loving the ones around you and loving life. The film has real heart. Its a great date film, the perfect 'Chick Flick'. I was reluctant to go see this when it came out, I was over the Apatow onslaught, but this film cant be denied.

Good stuff. A must rent DVD.

Look

Look (2007)
Directed by Adam Rifkin
Starring Rhys Corio, Hayes MacArthur, Giuseppe Andrews

The premise - we live in a world blanketed by surveillance cameras. 30 million cctv cameras film us daily in the USA, nothing we do is private. This drama follows 5 interweaving stories over a week in an ordinary town.

Shot entirely from the POV of security cams, what I thought would be unique ended up being predictable and ffwd-able. The 1st big problem was that the scenes were cast with actors who gave average performances, breaking the illusion of real-world 'security cameras' off the bat. The 2nd problem was that the stories were implausible and they all interconnected far too neatly. The film feels like an exercise in style, mostly titillation. I'm always impressed by film-makers that try new things and some scenes in the film are well staged and clever but overall LOOK was a decent idea with average execution.

Worth seeing if you are looking for something different. Rent and watch RED ROAD if you want to see a film that successfully twists and commands the CCTV big brother surveillance concept.

This Is It

This Is It (2009)
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Starring Michael Jackson

This film offers an upclose glimpse behind the scenes at MJ's rehearsals and preparation for a 50 date world tour that never happened due to his sudden tragic death. The film lifts the veil demonstrating what a hard working, uber-talented perfectionist this man was, on-top of his game at 50 years old. No joke, MJ moves, looks and acts like a man half his age.

We get treated to seeing Michael rehearse on stage, we watch him talk and work with dancers and musicians as he works out changes on the fly to the music and dance, perfecting the performance. It's great stuff. Watching him work is fascinating and this is a first, getting to see his talent 'behind the scenes' brings home how truly gifted he was. The film opens with his principle dancers talking to camera, talking about how they have been chosen for the tour; none of them can hold back the tears, its wonderful to see how much one person can inspire others.

Some additional footage of the creation of visual effects for the show shines light into the depth of resources needed to create this visual spectacle, trust me they spared NO expense. The film works best when we get to see MJ rehearse on stage, his mind working as he figures out his moves. Fifteen or so songs are performed in full in the film, its pretty much wall to wall music. I've always been a fan of MJ like most people but this film showed me something I hadn't seen, him working, thinking, processing, creating..

Its not a documentary per say, there is no story, MJ doesnt need one - he is the story. A must see DVD.

The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying (2009)
Directed by Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson
Starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill

Middle of the road comedy about a chubby loser who lives in an alternate reality where no one has ever lied, in this world everyone is so truthful its hurts and insults are what makes up most of the jokes. Remember Liar, Liar?

A man discovers 'how to lie' on his mothers death bed, when watching her suffer, he lifts her fear of dying by making up a story about eternal happiness; seeing all of your family and friends, living in a mansion (etc) when you die. This scene is very emotional, Gervais is crying for real, its top notch stuff and nails the whole point of the movie. Wish there were more scenes like this in the film. The doctors and hospital hear him say these words and the message spreads; pretty soon the whole world believes Gervais and he becomes a blue collar messiah (no-one assumes he is lying because no-one even knows what a lie is).

Parts of this film draw from The Life Of Brian, Gervais grew under that influence. Ricky makes best out of an average screenplay that he co-wrote.. There is a love story that frames the film but Garner never seems to Gel. She is stiff in straight comedy, in my opinion. Rob Lowe plays a characters so slimy he stands out like a sore thumb with his scene chewing.

There are some touching moments in this movie; like in Ghost Town, Gervais knows how to connect to our inner loser, he is good at making us cringe in humiliation. I'm big fan of his tv work and stand-up, but the movies he makes are so-so, still I enjoyed it even if let down by its predictable ending. I wasn't watching this for great cinema just to have a laugh and I did. Im sure Mr Gervais would be happy with that.

DVD rental for sure.

District 9

District 9 (2009)
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starring Sharlto Copely, Jason Cope, David James

A stunning sci-fi thriller written, directed and visually conceived by Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson. The film originated as a short created by Blomkamp that clearly depicts the complete visual style of the film with fully realized 3D animation integrated; you can find it on youtube. Blomkamp is a sci-fi visionary in my opinion; this film reaches stunning visual heights with the visual effects and 3D animation, incredible for the budget, better composites than Transformers. Everything is in full sight, all the effects are shot wide. Blomkamp is a master at this stuff, creature design and 3D integration is something he's been doing for years in TV commercials.

The film was a breath of fresh air. Set in Johannesburg, shot in Soweto, the visual tone is unique. The film is set 20 years after the aliens or the 'Prawns' arrived on earth, they are refugees. They look like human prawns and eat garbage so are named after the bottom feeders. Humans now understand their language and the aliens are treated as 4th class citizens, caged in terrible slum squalor. The residents of Johannesburg are sick of the prawns; interesting doco-style confessionals to camera of people reacting to the situation keeps the film exciting. Themes of segregation and xenophobia drive the subtext here with strong echoes of apartheid. Nigerian ganglords abuse and humiliate the prawns, selling them cat-food (their favorite dish) in trade for Alien weapons, the big stretch in the film. Its funny, gross, socially relevant and quite sad.

Sharlto's performance is wacky, he is fun to watch as a man in way over his head and in charge of relocating the 1.8 million Aliens from District 9 to a camp 200 miles outside of the city, far from the sight of humans. The prawns/aliens don't want to move, they are literally ousted and put up a fight. We are made to feel sorry for them and it works.

The twist is something-else in this movie, I don't want to give it away if you haven't seen it. The character arc that the Sharlto goes through is fully rounded and quite brilliant. His biggest fear is made manifest, a fear that consumes and literally transforms him. The alien weapons featured in the story are spectacular, Avatar could have borrowed ideas from this film instead of using Bullets and machine guns in 2135.

The biggest issue I had with District 9 was that if the aliens are sitting on a stock-pile of weapons that only they can operate why don't they put up a fight? This is offset in the story by the fact that the prawns are described as peaceful race without leadership. Small point really but something that got to me.

The crescendo fight scene is well worth the wait, nothing is concealed in the visual effects, its bold. The gritty look of the film helps smooth everything out but still it has to be seen to be believed. The manner in which the story ends makes it's clear there will be a sequel, fine by me. In speaking to friends its obvious this movie polarizes people, they either love or hate it. Some are thrown off by the documentary style opening 20 minutes, some think the acting is OTT the mix of ironic wit and drama, not me, I fell for it hook line and sinker. A must-see, must own DVD.

Notorious

Notorious (2009)
Directed by George Tillman Jr
Starring Jamal Woolard, Mohamed Dione, Derek Luke

The life and death story of the Notorious BIG. It's hard for any actor to fill the shoes and imitate, impersonate, embody the soul of a Legend but Woolard nails it, his Biggie Smalls is spot on. This film blew me away. My friend Jonathan Silver edited a few very cool 'montage sequences' in the film so I was lucky to get a screening pass and see the film early. I didn't know what to expect as biopics are hard to get right, especially when the subject is someone recently deceased who is imprinted in the public consciousness.

I was very impressed by the performances and the up-close intimate approach to the storytelling. The film humanized BIG and connected to his story in an easy to follow, realistic manner. Woolard plays a sexy-cool BIG in the movie, defining the seductive side of BIG and how the ladies loved him. The film was respectful of everyone involved in the violent incidents involving Tupac and the eventual murder of BIG; it didn't point any fingers which is best given the case is still unsolved.

The film is really all about the music and how BIG made it happen, from rags to riches literally. The music is wall to wall in the film, the recreation of famous scenes of BIG on the street in rap-battles are just brilliant. Woolard raps in the exact same style and flow as BIG, very impressive. Its an excellent drama that clearly defines the pit-falls of overnight success and fame. It's a real shame what happened to BIG given how super talented and young he was. I remember listening to underground mix-tapes featuring BIG before I came to the US, in the very early nineties. Looking at him then who would have thought he'd become the super-star that he did; BIG had that one in a million voice..

Good movie, well recommended even if you are not a fan of RAP or dont know who BIG is. This film towers over the awful film 'Hustle and Flow', this is the real-deal, no fun and games just a hustler hustling, living the American Dream. Such a pity his dream was so short-lived. A must see, rental on DVD.

London to Brighton

London to Brighton (2006)
Directed by Paul Andrew Williams
Starring Lorraine Stanley, Georgia Groome, Johnny Harris

A startling UK drama captured in a gritty-raw-documentary style and featuring outstanding performances from the two teenage female leads. A young prostitute befriends a runaway then convinces her to do a small job for her pimp; escort a rich man to a hotel for one hundred pounds. The date goes wrong when the man gets aggressive and by twist of fate, he ends up getting killed.

The dead man's son is a renowned gangster who pursues the girls, threatening to kill the pimp if he doesn't hand them over. The girls flee to Brighton on the train from London. Alone by the bleak ocean they are double crossed by so called friends. The climax is a little strange when the son of the dead man finds pity, but its a movie, not real life and it works. I was sold.

Really enjoyed the harsh realism of this film, it didn't pull any punches it was brutal and honest. Lessons for most teens to be learned from this movie. The movie draws your attention right away and doesn't let up until its over. It's a well directed film well worth looking out for on the DVD rack.

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Directed by Spike Jonze
Starring Max Records, Pepita Emmerichs, Max Pfeifer.

This movie was a visual treat but a let-down narratively. In my opinion it wasn't long enough and it didn't reach an emotional climax, it was over intellectual with no pay-off. The story is just getting interesting when suddenly it ends. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the film and was swept away by the elegant, eccentric, direction of Mr Jonze, it's just that the film is from a Mendack kids book with little or no exposition and the film is the same, so I ended up finding it hard to care for the characters. In short it left me cold.

I thought the talented VO actors did a good job wrangling with elements of dialogue to bring the Furry characters to life. Ok the message is good if very ham-fisted and simple. I guess I was expecting a lot with Jonze behind the helm. It should be said that the visual effects were outstanding, seamless, even if the characters had a Sesame Street naivety to them; the eyes were fantastic. The music is also very good. Really I guess I wanted more layers, more subtext in the story, more of a grand payoff, regardless its still a competent film and well worth seeing.

Some friends of mine swore this was the greatest film ever, they loved it. So I went in ready to be blown away. That's what I love about movies; we all get such different things from them.

Drag Me To Hell

Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver

A return to form for Raimi. This was the 'loudest' film I have ever seen and I'm not kidding; it was blasting when I saw it at Arclight with my son River. No joke the sound was at 11, this of course made the film scarier.

Raimi knows how to scare and gross out an audience, he's been doing it for years; starting with Evil Dead almost 30 years ago. Years of making big Hollywood movies has polished his style, making his return to horror a slick high-end package, well crafted and very scary. Well, when I say scary I mean Raimi scary, it's always tongue in cheek which makes his gross-out spectacles easier to stomach.

I laughed and screamed at this movie - it was scary, silly, gross and full of suspense. Alison Lohman was perfectly cast as the smart young bank worker, vying for the assistant manager position. Trying to impress her boss, she refuses an over-extended old lady (who happens to be a witch) an extension on her mortgage; essentially throwing her out of her home. All hell breaks loose as the witch sets a demonic curse (the Lamia, a goat demon) on the poor girl, sending her life spiraling into hell. The climax is double barreled with a good twist, that if you're watching closely you can see coming.

In this film Raimi drives the train with confidence and delivers 100% on the thrills. I really enjoyed it and I saw it again on DVD and it was just as good 2nd time around. I am a fan of most kinds of horror and usually PG-13 means it will be not very frightening, not in this case. The gross out action is insane, blood and guts were restricted, so Raimi makes up for it in buckets of vomit and a terrifying creepy witch. Good late night DVD rental and if you're a fan of Horror, its a must-own.

Julie and Julia

Julie and Julia
Directed by Nora Ephron
Starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci

A film that parallels Julia Child's education in French cooking with Julie Powell's 2002 Blog challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book. This is a very clever film adapted from two memoirs, Ephron is in total control here writing and directing; its flawless and the performances are top-notch.

Amy Adams character has a terrific arc; she loses her mind and we believe her, we share her anxiety, watch her overcome by fear of failure and feelings of inadequacy. Streep is brilliant as usual and she nails Julia Child so accurately its hard to imagine the real Julia without seeing Meryl's face - like Val Kilmer's 'Jim Morrison'.

Tucci plays the husband of Julia Child; he loves her, encourages her, never loses sight in her potential. The two love stories in the film are worlds apart and this contrast makes for stimulating comparisons; of course the paths never cross even though there is a chance they might and we hope the do. It's masterful film-making, inspiring and heart warming; we see two women overcome fear by challenging themselves, in the end creating inspiration for others. Ephron hits a home run.

I loved this movie so much, it moved me, had me in stitches and tears. The music, production design and cinematography are all excellent in this half period, half modern day comedy. A must see, must own.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire
Directed by Danny Boyle
Starring Dev Patel, Saurabh Shukla, Prem Kapur

Film of the decade in my opinion. Shot for a mediocre budget on HD handicams, on location in India. This film is a breath of fresh air. The story is quite insane; a young clever man from the slums of India wins the popular TV game show 'Who wants to be a millionaire' and so he is interrogated by the police who believe he cheated.

The brutal torturous interrogation uses flashbacks to explain how the contestant knew all the answers, we learn he is honest and see how he falls in love. The game-show and interrogation are basic framing devices for the heroic love-story at the core of this film, a love story set against the odds that lifts the heart at the climax of the story.

The end credit scene in the train station will bring a tear to anyones eye. Finally a cross-over Bollywood masterpiece brought to us by a man I consider to be the most relevant director of our Generation, Danny Boyle. This director can cross Genres like Kubrick and still command his stories.

The performances in this film are genuine and committed, a lot of non-actors again delivering brilliance; Boyle clearly knew what he wanted. The cast are also so interesting and beautiful to look at set against the primary color landscape of India. The film is very much so a visual treat.

Who would ever think a small indie film centered around the TV show 'Who wants to be a millionaire' would win Best Picture Academy Award. The reason is simple, Mr Boyle takes the impossible cliche and makes it stimulating, relevant, vibrant and exciting. The music is outstanding 'Jai Ho' is an intoxicating groove.. it won best song!

This is a must-own dvd.