Movie reviews

Movie reviews this week looks at The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard a riotous comedy produced by Will Ferell (Wedding Crashers)

It stars Jeremy Piven (Entourage) as Don Ready, a car sales man that has been brought in by Ben Selleck played by James Brolin (played Ronald Reagan in The Reagans, and father of Josh, he looks remarkably like an older Christian Bale), to help save his business.

Don brings along his team Ving Rhames (Pulp fiction) as Jibby Newsome, David Koechner (Saturday Night Live) as dependable Brent Gage, the lovely Kathryn Hahn (Revolutionary Road) as Babs Merrick.

In his attempt to improve sales they hire a DJ, and advertise the event, and when the day comes Don and his crew are pretty good at delivering at their promises, using every and anything to "Hard sell" people into buying from Selleck's cars.

However things are not as easy going as Don first thought, as there is a competing car lot, owned by Stu Harding played by Alan Thicke (The Trial of Red Riding Hood), whose son Paxton Harding played by Ed Helms (The Hangover) is chasing a music career with his group "The Bigups" and is a fiance to Tammy, daughter of Ben Selleck played by the lovely Jordana Spiro (My Boys).

Will Ferell makes an appearance as McDermott ill fated friend during a time in Alberquerque.

Don finds out that he would like to settle down rather than be on the road all the time, as expected he soon starts falling for Ivy, but seeing she is already engaged to Paxton, his chances are pretty slim.

It has some classic funny moments, notably including Will Ferell and a sky diving jump, and Babs seducing a man into buying a car by tapping into his fantasy. The always on edge Dick Lewiston played by Charles Napier (Austin Powers 2) who seems to talk about his dislike of others has some memorable scenes, the prelude prior to all the employees picking up on the sole "Japanese" employee Teddy Dang, played by Ken Jeong (his scenes in the hilarious The Hangover has to be seen) is memorable simply for the way Dick stares at him, as Don tries to encourage them for the big sell.

Labels: 'Movie Reviews, film review, film reviews, films, James Brolin, Jeremy Piven, Ken Jeong, Movie Review, movies, Sell Hard, Sell Hard', The Goods: Live Hard, Ving Rhames

Movie reviews this week looks at the suspense thriller The Assassination of a High School President.

It stars Reece Thompson as Bobby Funke (he constantly has to remind everyone his name is not "funky" but it doesn't stop anyone from calling him that) and the lovely Mischa Barton (St. Trinians) as Francesca Fachini, the girlfriend of the High School President.

Bobby is trying to write a paper for the local school and from it get acceptance into North Western's journalist programme, he first has to get the approval of the head columnist Clara played by Melonie Diaz (Be Kind Rewind) who Bobby also likes, but
not as much as he likes the girlfriend of the High School President Patrick Moore played by Paul Taylor, something about this reminds me of "Bart got a room".

It turns out someone has stolen the entire schools SAT's from the Principal's locker, Principal Kirkpatrick a former war veteran who doesn't waste anytime reminding the students how patriotic it is to fight for one's country, played hilariously by Bruce Willis (Die Hard). He apparently has a list of the usual suspects, and calls them in, including Bobby, Bobby innocently asks the reason why he has been summoned, to which Principal Kirkpatrick says "for chewing gum". Apparently Principal Kirkpatrick is a stickler about gum chewing, there is a funny scene where Bobby is trying to convey some important information to the Principal, but replies after a much heated conversation with "is that gum in your mouth"?

Bobby is given an opportunity to find out who stole the school's SATs by the Principal, and he sees this as his big chance to get into North Western, if he can identify the thief/thieves with a well written story.

Although unrealistic, he takes the role of an investigative journalist, interviewing all the suspects, and they all seem candid, which is a little unrealistic for high school, but that doesn't ruin a great story.

There is a well played scene, where Bobby is interviewing the little sister of the High School President, Chrissy Moore played by Gabrielle Brennan, she tells him she will tell him all of Patrick's secrets if he gets her a unicorn, to which he replies unicorns aren't real, and she makes a scowl pointing at she wants one of the unicorn dolls they are surrounded by.

In his investigations Bobby inevitably gets the attention of the current High School President's girlfriend, and amazing as it seems she falls for him after his article, much to the surprise of all involved, there is a great scene where he asks her what she sees in him, to which she replies she gets the feeling he would still look at her in the same way if there was no school.

He also interviews the Vice-President played by Luke Grimes (Ryan Lafferty in Brothers and Sisters), the half-brother of Francesca, who seems at first to have no problems with Byron going out with his half-sister.

It is an interesting story, focusing on the challenges of high school for acceptance, and getting along with those who are popular. It also has a few unforeseen twists and plots that makes it that little bit more interesting, and Bobby gets to find out that not everything is what it seems.

Labels: Bruce Willis, film review, film reviews, films, Luke Grimes, Melonie Diaz, Mischa Barton, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Reece Thompson, The Assassination of a High School President

Movie reviews this week looks at the ecological suspense thriller The Day After Tomorrow with Dennis Quaid (Inner Space) as a climatologist Jack Hall, who for years has been warning the U.S. government and the world in general that its' reliance on fossil fuels is causing a great deal of harm to the planet (a couple of years before Al Gore's Oscar winning An inconvenient truth).

His estimations of a global disaster from global warming which would usher in another ice age, which he predicts as a best guess estimate certainly not in his lifetime, that polar melting with disrupt the North Atlantic current, suddenly escalates to the present, with an ice age hitting the vast majority of America, and Jack in a desperate rush against time to save his son Sam Hall played by Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), who is trapped in New York, which unfortunately is at the epicentre of this ice age.

This is one of the first movies to highlight the environment impact of our reliance on fossil fuels, with several scenes to ponder the potential disaster on our hands, one of these is a helicopter going over Scotland that suddenly just freezes at minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit and there is a great scene, where Jack has been telling the scientific community would happen albeit with some scoffing, that the sun would accelerate the rapid decline in temperature to beyond freezing point, immediately freezing structures, and anything that happens to pass within the rays of the sun at that particular time, unfortunately he gets to witness this phenomenon first hand in a desperate race against time to find shelter while everything around him freezes as the sun comes up.

There is also an unforgettable scene as the Tower of Liberty freezes solid.

Not only does he have to breach the bitter cold, he also has to fend off dogs that have gone insane from hunger, looking for anything warm blooded to eat, ergo any humans they can find.

We find out that Jack feels he has let down his son a little, and this journey to find him is something he has to do to make up for their relationship, there is a brilliant conversation at the beginning, where Jack finds out Sam has failed Calculus, and Sam replies he got every question right, and the only reason the lecturer failed him was because he didn't write out the solutions but did it instead in his head, Jack asks him if he told the lecturer, he told him he did, but the lecturer said if he couldn't do it in his head neither could Sam.

Labels: Dennis Quaid, disaster, drama, film review, film reviews, films, global warming, ice age, Jack Gyllenhaal, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, suspense, The Day After Tomorrow, thriller

Movie Reviews this week looks at the suspense thriller The Taking of Pelham 123.

It stars Denzel Washington (Training day) as Walter Garber, as he puts it a "lowly public sector employee" looking after the trains that run through the intersections at New York, except this day he didn't know what he was getting himself into when he puts his socks on this morning.

It also stars John Travolta (Pulp fiction) as Ryder , straight out of prison and looking to for some kind of revenge on the City of New York. He and his accomplices Phil Ramos played by Luis Guzman (Traffic) and Bashkim played by Victor Gojcaj manage to hijack Pelham 123, so called because it arrives at Pelham at precisely 1:23 p.m. As Walter's job this day is operating the trains (it turns out he has been demoted penning an investigation if he took a bribe) so it is left to Walter to bargain with Ryder for the lives of the several passengers on board, while Ryder asks the City of New York via it's mayor placed pretty well by James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), it turns out Ryder wants $10 million dollars and one cent after making Walter calculate what the current rate is for the "commodities" on the train, Ryder says he wants $10 million dollars, Walter sarcastically asks him about the one cent, and he says Walter can keep it as a broker's fee.

In comes a special Hostage Negotiator Camonetti played by John Turturro (You don't mess with the Zohan), there is a particular well made scene, where Walter is told he has done a good job, while Camonetti takes over negotiating with Ryder, that leads to some disastrous consequences.

Walter is chased and brought back to negotiating per Ryder's request and as the two get to know a little about each other, Ryder asks why he is doing control work for the trains, Walter explains he has been demoted pending an investigation, what follows is a brilliantly shot scene, where Walter is made to confess in front of the Mayor, his boss, and all his colleagues that he did take the bribe, how he did it and what he used the money for, or else hostages would be killed, at first the audience is not sure if the confession was on the spur of the moment to save lives, but from Walter's expression it seems genuine.

This is a brilliant suspense thriller with the usual twists we have come to expect from movies where hostage negotiation is involved.

Labels: crime, Denzel Washington, film review, film reviews, films, James Gandolfini, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, The Taking of Pelham 123, Victor Gojcaj

Movie Reviews this week looks at the animated feature Nine.

It tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world, where humanity has all been wiped out by the machines it created to help them, and the only remnants of humanity are stored in little gingerbread man toys, fabricated from clothing, buttons zips, and any material lying about the house, and designated numbers for each one made as their names, our protagonist is number nine.

It stars the voices of Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) as Nine, Christopher Plummer (Dolores Clairbone) as One, the lovely Jennifer Connelly (A beautiful mind) as Seven, John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) as Five, Marin Landau (Ed Wood) as Two, and Crispin Glover (Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels Full Throttle) as Six.

We join our protagonist Nine as he awakens to life, without a voice, looking at his make-up consisting of house-hold items, old cloths, and a zipper which he is conscious of opening (which is a little strange, seeing that there is nothing inside), he sees a little talisman with strange objects on it and picks it up, puts it in his body, and goes out onto the world. The world is typical of a post-apocalyptic version, machinery strewn everywhere, and crumbled buildings littering the streets. He happens to bump into Two, who fixes his voice, and in so doing sees the talisman Nine has brought along with him, but just as Two is about to take him to a sanctuary, there are attacked by a malevolent machine, seizing Two and taking him away to it's lair, along with the much prized talisman.

As Nine tries to figure out how to save his new found friend, he meets others like himself, led by the careful One, and his body guard, who charades Nine for getting himself in trouble, there is a great exchange between Nine and One the voice of experience and survival, with the voice of youth and adventure. Despite One's warnings, Nine manages to convince Five to join him on a quest to save Two, it seems a daunting prospect, such small beings against a much powerful and stronger malevolent force, on their journey, they find out that the talisman is a lot more powerful than they ever thought, but is there any hope for them or their remnants?

This is a very enjoyable animated feature film, with brilliant scenery throughout, and a gripping storyline equally well suited to children as well as adults, with the suspense beautiful captured especially for an animated movie.

Labels: 9, animation, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Elijah Wood, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies

Movie Reviews this week looks at the science fiction comedy Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.

It stars the hilarious Chris O'Doyd (The IT Crowd, something about him reminds me of the sidekick priest in father Ted), as Ray, a science geek, fresh from losing his job, who along with two of his best friends Toby and Pete played by Marc Wooton and Dean Lennox Kelly (Shameless) respectively, are discussing time travel, in their local pub one day as only nerds can.

As Ray goes off to the bar to order three pints, he comes back to his friends and tells them an unbelievable tale of having met a girl at the bar who tells him she is from the future, his friends laugh it off, assuming he is either pulling their leg, or she maybe a local stripper with an American accent. The girl Cassie played by the lovely Anna Faris (Scary Movie) is really from the future, and is here to fix a "Time Leak", apparently in the future agents can go back in time with their bodies hardwired with it's own time machine, and of course the usual rules of not interfering with the future still applies, so strict about going back and interfering in a historical event, that could wipe out several blood lines, such as going back to prevent World War II.

Of course Ray's friends don't believe a single word he says, until one of them, Pete, goes to the toilet, but on returning to the bar sees that everyone in the bar is dead, he runs back to the toilet, comes back out again and apparently he is back at the bar with his friends and everyone is still alive, he tells them the unbelievable story, and although they laugh it off, he suggests that for it to happen to them, i.e. for them to travel in time, they would have to go through the same motions he did, to witness the future, and follows a hilarious scene where they follow his exact movements, even down to the way he shakes his hands after using the toilet. They go back to the bar, apparently not noticing anything odd, until they are almost at their spot in the bar when to their amazement, they see themselves, sitting at the bar only moments earlier, discussing what they were talking about earlier.

From this apparent "Time leak" they try to get back to their own time, meeting Cassie along the way who is trying to fix the time leak, apparently not succeeding each time, on one of their trips to the future, they find that they have been immortalized by humanity, with a huge gravity painting of them at the bar, discussing a very important piece of paper Toby has penned in his many attempts to write a good science fiction script, Hollywood would accept.

It is an enjoyable movie, combining comedy from both sides of the Atlantic many will sure to enjoy.

Labels: Anna Faris, Chris O\'Doyd, comedy, Dean Lennox Kelly, film review, film reviews, films, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, Marc Wooton, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, science fiction

Movie reviews this week looks at the animated feature film Battle for Terra.

This is an enjoyable animation, adults as well as children will enjoy, and as usual, the animation quality is top notch, and knowing how the characters portraying the voices look in real life, you can tell a great deal of attention to detail was done.

The plot of the story is that a peaceful civilisation have wake up one day and find this giant space ship blocking the light of their sun, soon afterwards, the aliens invade their land, capturing several of them, including the father of our heroine.

During this mission, one of the aliens loses control of his aircraft chasing our protagonist Mala Evan voiced by the lovely Evan Rachel Wood( Mickey Rourke's daughter in The Wrestler), in the process he is injured and she takes him to her home to tend to his injuries, and it turns out the alien is a human, i.e. we are the aliens invading another civilisation/planet.

The twist on the frightening alien civilisation taking over our land is unique this time, as we are seeing things from the point of view of the peaceful aliens, who the humans have ear marked to take over and named "Terra".

It turns out Earth is no longer habitable, in fact it's resources have been depleted by man's wanton desire(a stark warning, for global warming), and humanity have already "terraformed" our closest planets, Mars and Venus, but it turns out that the colonies wanted independence, and a war broke out that wiped out all three planets, so the remnants of humanity have been in space looking for a permanent home. The planet nicknamed "Terra" is chosen as adequate, but there is a problem, it's atmosphere is poisonous to humans, and the only solution if humanity is to take over the planet is to convert it's atmosphere to one of oxygen, but that would mean making the atmosphere poisonous to the local indigens.

The unassuming hero for humanity Stewart Stanton voiced by Chris Evans(Push, The Fantastic Four) whose craft was damaged is now faced with the very civilisation he has sent to annihilate. It also stars the voice of Brian Cox(X Men 2, Troy) as a no-nonsense pragmatic General Hemmer, and the voice of Danny Glover(Lethal Weapon, The predator 2) as the leader of the last colony of humanity, President Chen.

The star quality emanating from the voices, do a very good job, passing over the various emotions, desperation, survival, extinction, all themes very relevant in the current era.

Labels: Battle for Terra, Brian Cox, Chris Evans, Evan Rachel Wood, film review, film reviews, films, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies