We're the Millers

These types of Hollywood comedies tend to be fairly hit and miss.... in fact more miss.  They rely on a well written script and casting suitable actors who can deliver the comedy in the style intended.  A lot of movies pull this off for bits here and there but end up being too long between laughs.  I'm pleased to report that Guy and I watched We're the Millers together with our wives and we all laughed our asses off!

The movie is genuinely funny from start to finish.  If one of the jokes wasn't quite to your taste you could relax knowing there's another coming straight after.  They just absolutely nailed it.  The perfect casting was a huge part of this...

We have Rose (Jennifer Aniston), the middle-aged stripper who teams up with David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) pretending to be his wife as they smuggle drugs from Mexico into the U.S in a huge R.V.   Also along for the ride are the 'kids' , Kenny (Will Poulter) and Casey (Emma Roberts).

All the actors are brilliant - wouldn't change a thing.  They are all quite funny in their own right but it's together where they really shine.   The drug dealer trying to save his life, the hardened stripper out to make a buck, the innocent weird and nerdy neighbor and of course the teenage runaway with matching attitude.  These different personalities really bounce off each other really well.

Special mention has to be made to Will Poulter and his eyebrows though.  I reckon he looked in the mirror one day and thought "This face has no choice but to do comedy".  And boy was he was right.   The lucky bastard even gets it on with Aniston!!  She is still crazy hot as well and we are treated to some nice scantily clad dancing scene's.  Bet it costs a bit extra for that!

This is definitely one to watch with friends.  It's rocking a pretty solid 7.1/10 on IMDB at the moment which is pretty damn good for a modern comedy.   I'm going to go a bit higher though, I think it deserves it.

8/10

IMDB Info

P.S - we all enjoyed this with some of Kristin's famous chocolate mousse followed by some of Arnott's new Chocolicious Biscuits/Chocolates.  If you haven't tried them give em a go they are awesome and also made in Adelaide so support local!   I'm leaning towards chocolate over biscuit!  (Note: this is not advertising, just spreading the word of tasty movie snacks!)

The Great Gatsby

Baz Lurhmann is a divisive director. People tend to really dislike or love his works and I am happy to report that I tend to love his films. I know they are over the top, flashy, gaudy even, but he is a bit like Tarantino to me in that he has his own style. In 5 minutes I could tell you I was watching a Baz movie and I love that.

The Great Gatsby is of course an adaptation of the extremely famous book by F Scott Fitzgerald and Im sure many of you have read it. Its an iconic book for its style, its tone and its capturing of a unique time in U.S. history. One of my criticisms of the film is that Baz has completely ignored this, or maybe, just translated this into his own style so much that it has lost that amazing allure. The film was fairly good but overall I found it to be more of an effort to watch than I wanted it to be. The flashy sequences in Gatsby's house didn't quite gel for me, which may have been intentional, and the overuse of spectacle and strange composition and glaring colours in quieter scenes pulled me from the film.

Leo DiCaprio is typically brilliant as Gatsby but he seemed to struggle when portraying his emotional fault and unfortunately the chemistry between himself and Carey Mulligan was naught. Tobey McGuire was really great as Nick Carraway and played off the mystery and power of Gatsby beautifully. Joel Edgerton was probably the stand out of the main cast, playing a really different sort of antagonist in a role that shows he really can act. And, Carey Mulligan was her typical wonderful self. She has that amazing capability of being stunningly beautiful and hauntingly humble.

I would recommend seeing this movie at least once for its pinpoint perfect creation of sets, scenery, digital effects, costumes & for the story. But unfortunately I have to say this isn't Baz's finest hour. I know a lot of people had problems with his Australia but I actually quite like that movie, and in my opinion that is a better film that Gatsby.

My favourite scene of the whole movie was actually the last shot, where the title of the book is displayed and it simply says 'Gatsby' then our narrator comes back and writes in handwriting 'The Great' in front of it. This seems to me an unintentionally ironic ending as Baz obviously focused too much on 'The Great' and not enough on the 'Gatsby' when making this film.

SCORE: 5/10

IMDB Info for The Great Gatsby

Europa Report

Europa Report is a pretty damn good movie.  I would say it's a must see for any Sci-Fi lovers who enjoyed films such as Sunshine or Moon.  The production information wasn't available online but I guess it to be quite low-mid budget, yet it's so cleverly shot/edited it's barely noticable.

The film follows the first manned space exploration flight to travel farther than the Moon. Its destination is Europa, one of Jupiter's moons believed to potentially contain traces of life after water is discovered under the icy surface.  Nearly the entire movie consists of footage edited together from the ship and astronaut camera's.   Don't be put off if you're not a fan of the 'found footage' genre, this one plays out quite differently and with virtually zero 'shaky cam'.

I'm no expert on the intricacies of space but to me the entire film feels quite realistic.  The tag line for the film is "Fear. Sacrifice. Contact." so I won't be giving anything away by saying there is an element of alien discovery here, however it is not over done or cheesy and becomes just part of a number of challenges faced by the crew. 

There's a couple of actors in it you might have seen around the place. Probably the most recognizable for me is Sharlto Copley who played Wikus in District 9.  Quite interesting seeing him hiding his quite distinct South African accent but he does a good job actually.

One other thing worth noting is the very clever use of sets and special effects.   They created a few very detailed and beautiful looking sets to represent the inside of the ship and combined these with some quite static yet crisp special effects for outside.  It worked well throughout and presented the effect of a larger budget film.

This movie has made very little revenue so if you get a chance to go see it, hire or stream it I highly recommend giving it a chance.

8/10

IMDB Info

Flashback: Turner and Hooch

Awwww, young Tom Hanks is so adorable. Take that idea and throw in a dog you hate at first then learn to love, a little fling with a veterinarian and a homicide mystery to solve in a sleepy lakeside town and hey presto! You have a warm, fun, endearing and funny movie. It must have been made in the 80's!!

Goddamn I'm glad the 80's did for movies what they did. How refreshing it is to watch a movie like this and find yourself smiling, laughing, putting up with the bad bits without worry, glossing over the editing, seeing straight through the plot, and the whole time just thoroughly enjoying yourself. The 80's had a special quality of film making, something earnest, they were there to allow you to enjoy them. They weren't perfect but perfect was never the goal. Enjoyment was the goal. Marvel, DC, Disney you could take a note out of the books of films of the 80's.

Im sure everyone reading this has already seen Turner and Hootch. Maybe more than once. But I bet many of you haven't seen it in years. Go and get yourself a copy, sit down, crack open a beautiful rich loving bottle of red and have a special someone sit next to you and just enjoy this movie.

Hooch will have you laughing. Turner will have you smiling. The setting and the plot will have you knowingly glance at your special someone and then the movie will end. You and your partner will feel refreshed, happy, like you spent that last 90 minutes on something worthwhile. You feel you are more like a loveable Tom Hanks than you were before, you are more the everyday person you always want to be and the world somehow seems a better place to be.

Awwww, I wish movies were still made like this today.

*sigh*

SCORE: 7/10

IMDB Info for Turnet and Hooch

Now You See Me

Now You See Me is a brilliant idea for a movie. It centres around the idea of four magicians utilising their skills to rob money from different places and share it with their audiences. It all hinges on the four main characters played by Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fischer and Dave Franco, who I am happy to report are the best thing about this movie.

Woody Harrelson is a stand out. You can see how much fun he is having with this role, and its amazingly entertaining and somewhat believable. The way he spouts his 'mentalism' and the way he bounces off the other actors as he does it was my favourite thing about the movie. Not far behind him is the very intriguing Jesse Eisenberg who has that fast talking, magician like face and again is somewhat believable in being the smartest guy in the room (the first rule of being a magician). Isla Fischer plays a great character who started as a lowly assistant but is now right up there with the others, but Dave Franco has to be one of the most underused characters Ive ever seen in a film? He is obviously just a plot device and it was a bit disappointing to see. How about we throw in some smaller roles for Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman and we are on the way to a stellar cast!

Aside from the cast the opening of this movie is excellent. It builds intrigue, introduces the characters and has a great time doing it. I was sitting there with a big smile on my face totally engrossed. Then comes the first big show and the alarm bells started ringing. They use CGI for most of the tricks. And bad CGI. I mean, if you are trying to do a movie about tricking the audience, how can you cop out and use obvious fakery such as CGI? It was the start of growing disappointment as the movie wore on.

You see, the whole film is setup for a payoff at the end. You as the audience is sitting there in expectation awaiting the reveal to hopefully squeal with delight and clap you hands together. But if you set a movie up like that, you HAVE to deliver. You cant have half a great movie and be done with it. Im not sure if its a casting issue, a script issue, an editing issue or a little bit of everything but by the end (even though I didn't guess the right twist) I was just left feeling flat.

SCORE: 5/10

IMDB Info for Now You See Me

White House Downnnn!!!

Mutha Fucka!!!!!

This should have been called Die Hard:  White House Mother Fucking Down... Bitch.

I'm not even going to try and compare Channing Tatum (man his parents must have hated him) to the legendary Bruce Willis... but hey... you gotta give him points for trying.  This definitely has a similar feel to the franchise.

As Human Traffic would say... Absolute cheese on toast BOLLOCKS but goddamn I hate to admit it was bit of fun.   Directed by Roland Emmerich who gave us that beautiful piece of cinema - Independence Day but since then has been pretty disappointing with shit like Day After Tomorrow and 2012... bleahhh..

I hate to admit it but as my tastes 'mature' and I enjoy more artsy stuff... I still get sucked into action porn like this.  If  I was to go in blind I would have said directed by Michael 'The Mother Fucking' Bay for sure...

Don't really know what else to say about it really.  The usual story, the usual characters, huuuuuge mother fucking special effects budget.   The best acting award goes to the young daughter... Tatum and Foxx take notes boys.  (Just kidding Jamie.. you were a'ight in Ray and definitely Unchained)

Can't forget Maggie Gyllenhaal though...anyone who has seen Secretary will know what I'm talking about.  Yizzles.

Anyway, as far as big budget action goes this certainly does the trick.  It doesn't belong with the greats but it's definitely a decent bit of eye candy.

7/10

IMDB Info


P.S - Wine intake was quite high for this one so sober viewers maybe take a point or three off :)

P.P.S - Apologies for all the 'Mother Fuckers'...  I think I just really wanted Jamie Foxx playing the President to spout it off a few times.  Never happened by my count :(  What is the world coming to?

#AdlFF: Particle Fever

Particle Fever is a documentary that seems to have been created over the last 5 years or so around the creation of the Large Hadron Collider for CERN in Switzerland. If you have not heard of the LHC it is the single biggest science experiment mankind has ever undertaken costing $6 Billion Euro's, taking over 20 years from concept to go live and using one third of Switzerland's entire power consumption when its running.

When its switched on, its also the coldest known thing in the universe running at close to minus 200 kelvin. This is cooled by liquid helium running around its 27Km circumference in pipes surrounding tubes with protons flying through them at nearly the speed of light.

Gravity

What is going on here? Three 9/10 movies in a week .. what a week of movie watching! I was struggling to decide whether or not this was an 8 or a 9 which might sound worrying but the thing is, if I'd seen it during any other week other than the one I saw Rush in, it would have been a no brainer. It's just such a different flick that I felt confused about my feelings at the end. Plus I felt like running screaming from the theatre and throwing myself on the ground and just gripping handfuls of dirt, squeezing them through my fingers and feeling them fall to the ground so close to my face!

The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a damn good horror movie.  Flawless filming and production help create a perfect combination of tension, creep and scares further supported by some really interesting characters and locations. Some might argue this is just another haunted house tale however when it's done well ... who cares! 

What makes this film even more interesting is that it's based on real people - Lorraine and Ed Warren. Real life paranormal/demon hunters associated with such cases as Amityville and Haunting in Connecticut (both of which also made it to film).  Reading up on them after the movie I was surprised to find they were quite respected and are reported to have helped many people over the years with 'supernatural' problems.  I'm a sucker I know, but I love seeing 'Based on real events' at the beginning of a horror - it just makes it easier to relate to the story...  Horror is no place for skeptics.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are brilliant playing the Warren's.   Their chemistry on screen is great.  Lorraine is the medium and Ed is the warrior and together they make a powerful team.  If the movie is accurate Ed was the only non-ordained person authorized by the Catholic Church to perform exorcisms.

I also want to make reference to the audio.  It is always one of the most important factors in a good horror film and The Conjuring absolutely nails it.  The key tension sounds were just so clear and defined - for example a simple loud knock on the door almost made me double check someone wasn't knocking on mine. 

Oh, and then there's the doll.  If your creep-o-meter doesn't spike to max when this damn thing comes on screen, there's something wrong with you.  *shudder*


Give me this over the modern torture porn any day.

My only criticism with this movie is it made me break one of my good wine glasses.  Watching horror in pitch black is a must however next time I must remember to pause it on a light frame when needing a loo break.  The walk back was trecherous!

If you're a fan of haunted house style horror then definitely give this a go.  I would compare it to movies such as Poltergeist, Insidious and maybe even The Others.  Like all good horror, watch it alone and in the dark.

9/10

IMDB Info

Rush

Rush is a simply brilliant movie. Ron Howard has been one of my favourite directors since A Beautiful Mind, he has a distinctive style that resonates extremely well for drama and emotional stories, so to go on an action packed, Formula One racing movie was an interesting move.

However, if Ron has shown one thing its that he really knows how to handle an epic production. I can feel how much fun he must have had putting this movie together. The research and planning is phenomenal! I was lucky enough to see this with a mate who is an F-1 fanatic and he was filling me in on all these little details that were in the background and how important they were in real life (thankfully they weren't necessary to know to move the story along) and my mind was blown. Apparently there was a six wheeled F-1 car in the 70's! WTF?!?! And its in this movie. Apparently sponsorship wasn't really done before this period of time and all of the sponsorship thats in the movie is as real as it was in the day. You will see Marlboro, Heuer, Texaco and all of the real brands splashed across the cars and the outfits which makes the whole deal feel real.

More than the research and attention to detail though is the attention to the acting of the main characters. Daniel Brühl looks just like Niki Lauda. Its mesmerising. His performance is spectacular and the makeup after his accident is spot on. When you see some of the real footage your mind does a bit of a double turn as you can realise how closely matched he was. I think Chris Hemsworth was supposed to be the 'main' character but for me Daniel Brühl stole the show.

Thats not to say that Chris's performance is lacking. He is a really beautiful man and its put on full display here with his charisma dialled up 13 notches, his million dollar smile flashing everywhere and his very convincing explanation of why racing car drivers are so idolised by us mere mortals. Its because they live so close to death, and that is what makes us shiver as we see them, see them truly living and living more than we ever will when on the track. The beauty in that statement is that Daniel's portrayal of Niki Lauda is the complete opposite. He is the German who calculates the percentages and anything over 20% danger to life is unacceptable. The simple beauty in these two very opposing, but realistic ways to live life and drive a Formula One car is what drives (no pun intended) this movie along. Without top tier performances from these two lead actors it would fall in a heap, but on the shoulders of Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth it shines!

I really can't recommend this movie enough. And I really can't stress enough it should be seen on the big screen. There were only 5 people in the cinema tonight, on late night shopping, at a blockbuster movie. I know its been out a couple of weeks, but come on people. If we don't keep going to see these amazing films, we are going to be lumbered with Transformers 57, Avengers 35 and some other Marvel retread, DC Comics cross over crap every year and nothing as special as this will ever be made again.

Ron Howard is amazing, but he is only a mortal and wont be able to make movies one day. Once he is gone, the list of people capable of creating films like this will dwindle by one and I can't think of many non Zack Snider-esque big budget directors left who will take these risks. If we don't show the money people we want them, we wont get them, so get out and see this beauty of a film and sit back and relish that these super heroes were real people with real skills and could still capture the imagination of the world without needing a brand and a toy catalogue to make them exist.

SCORE: 9/10

IMDB Info for: Rush