RIP Edward Woodward

For me, he will always be remembered as The Equalizer. He was also great in the 1973 version of The Wicker Man.

Tuesday, November 17 2009

Short Reviews #45

2012 (2009)
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DESTROPORN! Yes Roland Emmerich delivers yet another disaster movie with special effects up the yin-yang and paltry character arcs. But if you expect more from the German filmmaker, you will be disappointed. This is perhaps his finest film in terms of f/x work and watching the world crumble on a huge screen is worth the price of admission alone. The sequence where John Cusack and co flee the destruction in a limo is so outrageously unbelievable yet undeniably thrilling, it makes for great popcorn fun. The same applies when they ditch the limo for the small plane. Of course, character drama is scattered throughout and it’s awfully grating at times that you wish someone would throw Emmerich down a molten volcano cavity, but he makes up for it with ultra destruction. Sadly the best sequences are in the trailer and I was expecting perhaps a little more that they just didn’t show but with a reported US$260 million budget, I guess money has to run out somewhere. Emmerich is now apparently eyeing off Independence Day sequels. Yeeeeeeeep.

Paranormal Activity (2007)
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Paranormal Activity sat on the shelves for a while, filmmaker Oren Peli then starting playing it at festivals and eventually Spielberg got hold of it, told Peli to change the ending and the rest is now cinematic history. Costing US$15,000 to make and breaking the US$100 million box office draw, the film is easily one of the year’s best horror/thrillers and if you bought into the whole Blair Witch Project, chances are you will be scared out of your mind with Paranormal Activity. The film focuses a couple living in a house that are haunted daily by a demon in the early hours of the morning and decide to film the events on digital video over a series of October nights. Such a simple premise, director Peli starts with a slow build and eventually revves it up for a terrifying conclusion. He uses the exact same scare technique as all the best horror films – the fear of the unknown. Horror fans who like their films oozing with gore will be disappointed but rest assured, if you watch this sucker just before bed with an audience of people who buy into the whole premise, good luck trying to get to sleep! PS – There are apparently three endings to the film, I’ve seen two and much prefer the original, non-theatrical ending. You can read or see them online (Google is your friend).

A Christmas Carol (2009)
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This latest update of the classic Dicken’s story is certainly one to test purists and cinema goers alike. For one, Zemeckis sticks largely to the original source material with characters spouting word-from-word from the text. Secondly, he continues to utilise his performance-capture techniques to realize the characters and world in which the story takes place. I remember reading quite a backlash against the film initially with people saying why doesn’t he just shoot everything live action but once you see the film, you realise it’s far more seamless doing it with performance-capture, 3D and CGI. That’s not to say it’s perfect by any means but Zemeckis is such a master of cinema and 3D performance capture, he knows how to tell a story that is ultimately cinematic and will appeal to all audiences. Of course, if you actively despise performance capture, then this probably won’t appeal to you at all. Jim Carrey plays a number of characters in the film and his performance is one of his best in years, even under the performance-capture mask. Silvestri’s score is also a highlight, with plenty of Christmas carol’s beautifully rendered. The film is actually very dark thematically in places (much like the book) and this is probably too dark for the very young, but teens and above should enjoy what’s on offer here and seeing it in 3D at a cinema is a must. But yeah, we still want another live-action Back to the Future trilogy thanks Zemeckis!

Funny People (2009)
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Judd Apatow’s attempt at a Cameron Crowe film? At least in the first half. Then it loses steam and at just over two and a half hours, it does seem to go on, and on, and on, and on…. It’s almost as if because of the success of 40 Year Old Virginand Knocked Up, executives have given him free reign with anything he does. However someone should have informed him “You really need to cut out forty-five minutes to an hour of this second half”. Had he listened, this would have been a much tighter, less conflicted film because all the elements are there – the characters, the laughs, even some drama. But it outstays its welcome in that last half and I really wanted it to end to be honest. Rogan (who lost a fair bit of weight since Observe & Report) was actually likeable this time around, with solid support from his room-mates Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman. But this is Adam Sandler’s film and he does very well in the role. We all know Sandler showed dramatic promise with Punch Drunk-Love and whilst this role won’t win him an Oscar, it does paint him in a different light – especially since the character he is playing is a representation of himself in some way, albeit a more obnoxious and self-centred version. There is much to like here but the film is such a jumbled mess, it’s hard to recommend it.

Bored to Death (TV) (2009)
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Jonathan Ame’s HBO mystery noir comedy is a fun show, with Jason Schwartzman playing a struggling New York writer/unlicensed private detective who just broke up with his girlfriend, his friend and occasional sidekick played by Zack Galifianakis and Ted Danson, who plays Schwartzman’s magazine editor friend. The entire ensemble is fantastic and although I’ve never been a big Danson fan before, he surprises here. The show doesn’t really have a definitive arc and meanders from episode-to-episode but there are some truly comedic gold moments scattered throughout the eight episode first season. Schwartzman was born to play the lead (he also performs the theme song) while Galifianakis continues to play awkward yet hilarious characters. I prefer this to HBO’s other drifting comedy ‘Hung’ only because it’s much funnier but I just wish the next season knows where it’s going from beginning to end.

Monday, November 16 2009

Film General

2012 A Christmas Carol Bored to Death Film Review Funny People Paranormal Activity

Lifeline’s Big Day Out 2010 SMS Competition

With BDO tickets now sold out (although ballots are still in place) and the 2nd announcement of acts just released, why not win some double passes? Lifeline has 5 double passes to give away to each of the Big Day Out festivals in Gold Coast, Sydney #1, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.