Movie Review - Semi-Pro

Director: Kent Alterman
Cast: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney

There was a time not long ago when the name Will Ferrell held such a presence in comedy; it was a period of much laughter and originality- oh what a wonderful time it was. But if Semi-Pro is anything to go by, this magical era looks to be coming to a sad, breezy end.

Its not that the man is not funny, because he genuinely is, but it just seems that possibly we have acclimatized to his style of humor and hence it doesn’t possess such a force as it once did in the days of Old School and Anchorman, or it may just be that the script for this 70’s hoop comedy is a little sub-par. Whatever it is, Semi-Pro tends to pass right by your funny bone- there is a definite lack of tickling going on.
This film promised much with the 70’s setting looking like an appetizing slate for Ferrell to wash his unique style over. To some degree this is the film’s greatest asset, with the characters hyperbolizing the style of that decade which in turn links in with the sport of choice. The feel is there, but the spark is oddly absent. I guess there is only so much one man can do to carry a comedy and without the backup of equally crack-up actors, Semi-Pro tends to go down as a missed opportunity. Ferrell generates several chuckles from his typical ego-fuelled man-God character, but Harrelson’s is somewhat serious and Benjamin’s is too for a lot of the time, with little room to get warmed up.

The basis for story in the movie is centered on Ferrell’s Jackie Moon (owner/coach/player) and his Flint Tropics, a struggling lower grade basketball team who face extinction with their league’s upcoming merger with the NBA. In short, the Tropics need to win games and boost their crowd numbers to survive the cut. Of course, hilarity is supposed to ensue. But, well…

For Ferrell fans this will still be an entertaining little movie, one to watch on a quiet Friday night with a bunch of the guys. His classics like Anchorman and the like will, however, not be challenged in the hilarity stakes by Semi-Pro. But onwards and upwards right?

Movie Review - Southland Tales

Director: Richard Kelly
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore

The long awaited follow-up to writer/director Richard Kelly’s 2001 cult hit Donnie Darko, Southland Tales is freakishly similar it its odd little ways. No doubt many were left scratching their heads after viewing his debut film and, well, not much has changed in terms of narrative clarity in his latest offering. But damn is it a good movie.

Featuring an insanely random cast of actors, Southland Tales will not only blow your mind, but physically beat it repeatedly just for kicks. It is an amazing exhibition of an unnerving dystopian world, in this case Los Angeles post-nuclear attack, where everything is unsettlingly distorted and disjointed from the norm. Dwayne Johnson’s character Boxer Santaros leads us tentatively through this unfamiliar society, where pop culture has reached an almost unbelievably, oversaturated degree, and media is king. It plays out like an experiment in filmmaking; a visual explosion featuring wildly over-exaggerated characters who posses similarly exaggerated character traits. To describe the film as a ‘mess’ would not necessarily be a bad thing as its intentions are here in its chaos, but Hollywood traditionalists stand clear.

To outline plot in such limited space would be like attempting to catch a whale in a butterfly net, so I will leave the daunting task of a summary to IMDb. What is almost more important in this film is character. Matching the random list of actor’s names is an equally random mix of characters- a menagerie of strange beings wandering the streets of this futuristic L.A. It is a treat to watch such an eye-jarring gathering of talent sharing a screen in these circumstances- and doing it well.

After shedding 20 minutes of its originally hefty 3 hour weight following Cannes in 2006, the film is a toned down cut of Kelly’s original vision. Unaware of what was discarded to the cutting room floor, I can only speculate as to whether the additional film would have added a greater coherency or if it had simply proved to be excess baggage.

So with film number two out in the open, are we witnessing the birth of a new American auteur, whose artistic output expresses a refreshingly personal, inventive view of the world? I sure hope so.

Movie Review - Iron Man

Director: Jon Favreau

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard

As one of the most anticipated movies of the year, Iron Man was seen as something of an icon of the Hollywood machine in 2008, alongside the likes of Indy 4 and The Dark Knight. When it dropped into theatres at the start of May, it was an event not to be missed by movie fans the world over, whether you were into the comics or not. So was it worth all the hype? Hell Yeah.

It is a comic book movie through and through, which to me is fairly important in viewing this film. Expect big, flashy effects and some good old fashioned action. Sure, this is pretty standard in blockbusters these days, but when they are done this well and in the right context, it’s a beautiful thing. You don’t exactly have to sift through mountains of narrative detail in order to understand what’s going on in this movie, but did we really expect anything more? And that is the beauty of Iron Man; you can just sit back and enjoy the ride. Another great aspect of this movie is its humor, which is laced through the narrative via the charismatic Tony Stark character.
In terms of plot, the movie is relatively straightforward. Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, head of Stark Industries which is a huge weapons manufacturing company. Upon being captured by Afghan rebels and forced into building an incredibly destructive missile for their use, Stark secretly constructs a crude iron suit, capable of resisting bullets and other such unsavory projectiles. He escapes and upon returning to America, continues to refine and improve the suit. Without letting too much else slip out, stylized chaos ensues.

Although boasting a considerably talented cast with the likes of Bridges, Howard and Paltrow, it really is Robert Downey Jr.’s show. He is perfect for the role of the macho, womanizing weapons mogul; this is one of his best performances to date in my opinion.
What had a lot of die-hards salivating over the release of this movie was the Iron Man suit itself. Any CGI to do with it is super-slick (reminiscent of Transformers, though on a smaller scale) and nothing looks too fake which is always a bonus. In all its shiny maroon and gold glory, it really is one of the highlights in itself.

Big-budget and ultra badass, Iron Man for me well-and-truly lived up to the expectations surrounding it. And is $100 Million in its opening weekend isn’t enough of a giveaway; I think pretty much everyone else loved it as well.

Movie Review - Made of Honor

Director: Paul Weiland

Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Busy Philipps

It’s easy to see that this one has romantic comedy written all over it, but what they neglected to mention was that it attempts to be every other type of comedy as well, all at the same time.

The plot and main characters are all straight out of the textbook, but there are a few incredibly strange and random choices for jokes and minor characters it must be said.
Dempsey plays Tom, a playboy type of guy who enjoys sleeping around but who enjoys the company of friend Hannah (Monaghan) most of all. Tom and Hannah have never slept together, but instead share a best friend type of relationship. So when she meets a strapping young Scottish man whom she is to marry, Tom is pretty cut up. She asks him to be her maid of honor and he agrees with the secret intention of breaking up the wedding from the inside and taking her for himself.

Made of Honor is a slightly alternative set-up on the classic romantic-comedy formula but it’s still rather standard in the scheme of things. However where they lost me was about halfway through when the narrative takes us to Scotland. The film became wildly unbelievable and lost any of the good work that it had done in the build-up. What worked for the movie was in its jokes and humour based around the obvious gender issues of Dempsey’s character’s position. These were genuinely funny and were much needed. But instead of exploring this further, it fell back onto weak attempts at cheap laughs by using obvious quips. The random nature of these simply didn’t fit the genre and the movie lost its credibility to me.

The overall concept of the film had promise but the execution was not so hot. It had perfect casting choices for the leads, with Dempsey and Monaghan blending together really well, but it really was a missed opportunity overall.

Movie Review - Street Kings

Director: David Ayer

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans

Co-written by tough American crime writer James Ellroy, Street Kings was always going to be a gritty and brutal portrayal of the seedy side of modern-day LA. And it is just that, a fast-paced excursion through a noir-ish world led by Keanu Reeve’s veteran cop Tom Ludlow. However thrilling the ride might be though, the film does not score a perfect A+ by any means.

Our protagonist is Ludlow, a classic Ellroy anti-hero. Driven but flawed, he is our eyes and ears in this environment where the line between cops and criminals is extremely blurry. After his wife is killed, Ludlow takes on the world with a bottle in one hand and a gun in the other. Our man comes under fire from police corruption investigator Biggs (Hugh Laurie) but is seemingly well protected by his superior Wander (played faultlessly by Forest Whitaker). But in true cop movie fashion he becomes consumed in his pursuit of a pair of killers and the line gets even blurrier.

Street Kings is pretty much a tutorial from MACHO 101; it is heavily geared towards a masculine audience who revels in violence. This may well be its downfall, as it always looks to beef things up with a tense confrontation or the like- as though it is too conscious of its need to be hard-hitting. Action is frequent and so is Keanu’s screen time, he is in almost every scene. This is not necessarily a bad thing as he gives a strong performance, but his character’s obsessive and racist nature can be a little tough to watch for so long. A major pro for the film is its considerable plot twist towards the end which helped to separate it from your run of the mill cop flick. Although it is slick and gritty

Street Kings will not go down as a classic of the genre, but it is definitely a solid shot of testosterone if you are in need.

Movie Review - How She Move

Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid

Cast: Tre Armstrong, Rutina Wesley, Dwain Murphy

The second in a duo of dance movies released early this month, How She Move attempts to be a gritty, passionate film based in the seedy little world of underground dance, or step to put it more accurately. But where the movie fails is in its inability to deliver anything new or exciting- it just leads you quietly down the well-trodden path of predictability.

Our protagonist is the Jamaican-American Raya (Rutina Wesley), a smart girl who returns to her poor neighbourhood high-school after a year at a swanky private school only to find her old friends reject her due to her success and ambition. Apparently she ain’t ‘street’ enough anymore. So in a world where conflicts are resolved by dance-offs, sorry step-offs, Raya attempts to up her cred and prove that she can hold her own in the big, bad world of step. So with this absolutely dynamite plot set up for us we are in for a hell of a ride right?! HA! The only thing that’s worse than its paper-thin plot is its wildly unimaginative ending. The movie is littered in cliché characters and plot-devices which give you the feeling of having seen it all before. And to top it all off several of the dance scenes (when mixed with some freaky camera angles) tend to resemble epileptic fits instead of controlled, impressive movements. I must admit however, there are one or two striking dance sequences towards the end but you still feel as if you are watching an extended R&B music video.

The movie boasts a largely unknown cast who, despite their talents on the d-floor, never really get going. Their performances are neither inspiring nor entertaining; they seem to just run through the motions. The trailer tends to present How She Move as a fast-paced flick with attitude a-plenty, but in reality it’s a dud- not firing a shot whatsoever. You get more attitude in Coronation Street.

Movie Review - 4

Director: Tim Slade

Cast: Shoji, Niki Vasilakis, Cho-Liang Lin, Pekka Kuusisto

4 is a joint Australian/American production which, through the thoughts, views, and most importantly music of four extremely talented violinists, explores the varying extremes of our planet’s seasons. This visually stunning documentary is centred on the classic violin concertos of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, which act as bases for the four musician’s insights into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The name of this piece of music may not be familiar to you, but when you hear it you will instantly recognise it.

We enter Tokyo at springtime and are guided through the city’s unique spectacle of blooming cherry blossoms as the locals revel in the festival-like atmosphere. Next we journey to sun-baked Northern Australia and take in the scorching summer and monsoon season in the Torres Strait area. Autumn brings us to New York, and the fast-paced urban lifestyle is presented through the changing colours of this season. Finally we end in the snow-covered fields of Finland and experience the freezing temperatures of this harsh but beautiful region.

We are guided through each season by one of the four violinists, who each lead a brief performance of their chosen season of Vivaldi’s score. The talent that they possess is incredible; they are masters of their instrument. With their dramatic performances combining with the strikingly rich visuals of the regions, the film really is a treat for the senses. Cameras beautifully capture the true essence of the seasons which go hand-in-hand with the musician’s individual takes on what that time of the year means to them in their environment. Their insights guide us through the landscape and how it has shaped the people who live there. It is both interesting, and entertaining- and is miles from being in any way commercial.

This film showcases four unique areas of the world along with four exceedingly gifted people who are all bound by the same love: their world and the music in it.

Movie Review - Dan in Real Life

Director: Peter Hedges

Cast: Steve Carell, Dane Cook, Juliette Binoche, Emily Blunt

Steve Carell is one of the most bankable actors working in Hollywood right now and his latest offering, Dan in Real Life, proves just that. While it may not be the most original or funny of his works, it is an enjoyable little movie all the same.

Carell’s Dan is a widower with three young daughters who, on a trip to his parent’s house on the coast, meets Marie (Binoche) at a bookstore in town. However when he returns to the house, he discovers that Marie is in fact his brother’s (Cook) new girlfriend. This is the main drive behind the plot for rest of the film, as the two try to deny their attraction to each other in front of his extended family. But rather than simply sticking to this basic rom-com style set-up, the narrative explores themes connected with Dan’s daughters, and his own job as a newspaper columnist. These underlying themes add a whole lot more to what would otherwise have been a fairly basic narrative. The film really ties up well as a package, and I feel this is one of the major selling points of it.

Dan in Real Life has been categorised as a ‘dramedy’, that is, with equal parts humour and drama and this is quite fitting when looking at this film as a whole. When there is humour, it is a lot more subtle than what you may expect. It is more the Steve Carell of Little Miss Sunshine than anything else, which to me is not a bad thing as it fits with the pace and overall feel of the film.

If you can excuse some token genre clichés and the slightly odd family set-up that they have going, then Dan in Real Life will be enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Movie Review - In the Shadow of the Moon

Director: David Sington
Cast: Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins, Alan Bean, et al

This documentary won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival last year and when viewed, it’s easy to see why. It is a film wholly designed for its audience’s pleasure, never getting caught up in its own sense of importance.

In the Shadow of the Moon is a captivating exploration of the USA’s early space program and their attempt at putting a man on the moon for the first time. Narrated by the men who travelled in the Apollo voyages of the 1960s, it really is a firsthand look at another world. The journey covers America’s early unsuccessful attempts at space flight and everything between until the last of the Apollo missions touched down on the moon’s surface.

For what could so easily have been a film destined only for the eyes of space geeks and wannabe astronauts, the makers of this documentary have done an amazing job at keeping it so widely appealing. The astronauts themselves play a huge part in this, as their narration is both interesting and highly insightful. A natural flavour of humour is laced through their words which makes it even easier to be caught up in their compelling story. They don’t come across as boastful or brash as one might expect from such American ‘heroes’. They are just a bunch of guys speaking truthfully and frankly about their exploits in the sky.

Of course the notable exemption from the array of astronauts narrating In the Shadow of the Moon is the man who made first contact with it, Neil Armstrong. But I don’t believe the film is at a loss without him, as the others did exactly what he did. Accompanying their voice-over is incredible footage of their trips to the moon and the years they spent preparing for it, testing and training. It makes both fascinating listening as well as viewing. I highly recommend this film to anyone.