Night At The Museum 2: Movie Review

Night At The Museum 2: Movie Review

Rating 5/10
Cast: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria. Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan
Director: Shawn Levy
In the sequel to Night At the Museum, Ben Stiller's night guard Larry Daley is now a full time inventor, having left his twilight job at the Museum of Natural History behind him.
But on learning the gang who live at the museum (and come to life at night as you'll remember from the first film) is to be moved into Federal storage at the Smithsonian Museum, Larry sets out to try and rescue his old pals.
However, an evil Egyptian Pharaoh, (played by Hank Azaria in a scene stealing turn) has other plans and using an ancient tablet, he plots to rule the world - both inside the museum - and out.
Night At The Museum 2 is not a bad film - kids under 10 will love the animated antics and tomfoolery of the cast - and the Jonah Hill cameo as a Smithsonian guard is hilarious.
But as a piece of stand alone family entertainment, it fails to cross the spectrum of broad entertainment - and were it not for the stand out performance of Hank Azaria as a lisping megalomaniac with some great lines - and the wonderful Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart Larry's companion and would be romantic interest, this would have simply been another of those blockbuster films with special effects and little else.
There's nothing wrong with Stiller's performance as Larry, a man who's become so bewildered in life after becoming successful - and yes, there's a heavy handed message about doing what you love with people you love (an inspired message in these recessionary times) - as ever, he does that deadpan humour which has become his trademark but after a while it starts to get a bit thin.
However, the effects in the film are pretty impressive - there's been a lot of effort to bring to life various backgrounds throughout the museum and nothing's spared in making it all seem lifelike.

Ultimately though NATM2 just falls short of the mark.

I Love You, Man: Movie Review

I Love You, Man: Movie Review

Rating: 7/10
Cast: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jaime Pressly, The Guy who was the Hulk!
Director: John Hamburg
Ah, the bromance.
Bret and Jemaine have it, Laurel and Hardy had it - and now to the list of dynamic duos, you can add Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.
Rudd stars as Peter Klaven, a real estate agent, who having proposed to his girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones) suddenly realizes one day that he may have a gaping hole for who to select for best man.
For Klaven is a man who has no best buddies - so in a moment of inspired insanity, he sets out to be set up on a series of man-dates - to fill the emptiness in his heart (and at the altar).
Cue plenty of awkward (and downright amusing) moments as he tries to find Mr Right.
Until one day he meets Sydney Fife (Segel) at an open home - and the pair strike up a friendship - could Fife (deep breath) be the one?
And if he is, what does it mean for Peter's marriage to Zooey&.?
I Love You, Man is a riot - and it's down to Paul Rudd and Jason Segel's easy on-screen chemistry - the pair are perfect and the whole story subverts the usual "Do I call her", "What if she doesn't want to hang out" dynamic of romance flicks.
There are some real laugh out loud moments - mainly due to Rudd's increasing awkwardness (think David Brent from The Office on a larger scale) and attempts to try and be cool around his new BFF.
From a male point of view, it perfectly channels the feelings guys sometimes have as their circle of friends dwindle - and c'mon, how many of you have tried to go for after work drinks/ after gym drinks with people who wouldn't normally be more than casual acquaintances?
It's quite a sweet film - there's the romance of Peter and Zooey and also Sydney and Peter as they negotiate their own hang ups and become good friends.
There's also some great moments from Jon Favreau as one of Zooey's best friend's husband who's compelled to welcome Peter into his circle of man-friends.
In just a few scenes, Favreau manages to channel the childishness of someone forced to hang out with someone they don't know - and is quite brutally funny in his apathy.
But it's Paul Rudd's film again - after Role Models, Rudd's continuing to carve this niche as an actor who plays it so straight and so realistic, that every time he does something out of character (or tries to fit in) on screen, he sticks out like a sore thumb.
He's damn near perfected the art of cringeworthy comedy - where just as you think he can't humiliate himself any more, he manages to plumb new depths - albeit it in a very realistic way.
Kudos also need to be given to Jason Segel - whereas his character Syd could have gone too far into parody, by playing it 100% straight and realistic (with just a hint of crazy) he's the perfect foil to Rudd.

Sure, I Love You, Man won't change the world too much - but I bet any man who says he doesn't associate with Peter Klaven on some level is secretly lying and plotting how to meet more friends and bring back the bromance.

Toby Hadoke: Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf: Comedy Festival Review

Toby Hadoke: Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf: Comedy Festival Review

Okay, okay I know what you're thinking.
A show with the words "Dr" and "Who" in the title is only going to be for the ggeky among you.
Well, I'm here to tell you you're wrong - and it's safe to head out from behind the sofa and down to Auckland's Herald Theatre.
Toby Hadoke's one man show - or as he calls it a "hymn of praise of Doctor Who" - can be enjoyed on two levels.
Firstly, as a stand alone, self mocking autobiographical show - and secondly, if you are a fan of the series which began on November 23, 1963, you'll understand some of the character references thrown in.
But Toby's fully aware that his passion for this show may not be all encompassing - so when quoting titles of episodes as part of his stories, he leans to the uninitiated part of the audience and includes them by semi-sarcastically explaining the thrust of the episode - eg when talking about the 60s epic, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Toby reveals to those who've never heard of it, that in this serial of the show, erm, Daleks invade Earth.
And it's this kind of welcoming, mocking attitude which leaves you with such a huge grin on your face.
Moths is heavily autobiographical, detailing Toby's teenage years and how his obsession and love of this show, helped him cope with family issues and feeling left out of some social circles.
However, Toby also has an excellent way of straddling the fanboy fervour which is prevalent in so many genres and turning it into something sarcastic, as well as something poignant.
He's quoted in our questionnaires as saying the show is "about growing up, being lost and finding yourself again" - and you can throw into that extrenmely funny.
Toby has an excellent take in acerbic and, at times, slightly self mockingly bitter one liners ("Life sucked all the tears from me") and you guess he was never the kid who fitted in at school - thanks mainly to parental- and sartorial - choices.
But where Toby does fit in in these days is by sharing the love he had for a show during his formative years - c'mon, admit it; we all had something when we were young which we couldn't bear to hear bad things about.
Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf is part memoir (Toby takes us back in time to quote parts of his diary - and those key interactions in his life co-incide with moments from the TV show), part stand up and downright hilarious.
Maybe there's just a little bit too much of myself which I recognised on stage during an hour of his company - but I guarantee the last two minutes when he talks about his son and how they bonded over the show which saw him socially outlawed will leave you with a tear in your eye.
For any parent, Moths is a reminder that your passions can be passed on (no matter how uncool they may have been) and for any fan of anything, it's an ode to holding a torch for something through thick and thin.

Oh, and there's also an appearance from a certain Time Lord which shows just how highly this stage show is appreciated.....make sure you see it before it disappears into the vortex.

Lesbian Vampire Killers: Movie Review

Lesbian Vampire Killers: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: James Corden, Mathew Horne, Paul McGann, MyAnna Buring, Lesbian Vampires
Director: Phil Claydon
Jimmy (Horne) and Fletch (Corden) are English no hopers; loser lads whose lives aren't going the way they should.
Jimmy's been dumped by his missus (after countless prior dumpings by her) and Fletch has just been given the push from his job as a clown.
Broke and down on their luck, they decide to head off on a hiking holiday (as they can't afford to go abroad) and end up in Cragwich Forest in deepest darkest England.
Things start to look up when they hook up with a quartet of young girls who seem to be up for a bit of partying and hooking up.
However, what they don't know is that the women of that village are cursed, doomed to become lesbian vampires at the age of 18&.and that Jimmy's got a part to play in an ancient curse.
Look, let's face it - if you title a film Lesbian Vampire Killers, it's pretty clear what market you're aiming for (for those of you struggling it's the lads and teen boys market) - and this film unashamedly pitches its camp squarely in those quarters.
Despite that, it's actually pretty funny in parts - and the majority of that is down to James Corden's Fletch.
Given the lion's share of the best comments, Corden is the Eric Morecambe to Mathew Horne's Ernie Wise.
The pair have an easy chemistry - and if you're a fan of them from TV ONE's Gavin and Stacey, you'll probably just see their characters as an extension of those two - Horne's the straight man who stares into the camera a lot with a resigned look on his face and Corden's the goofy mate who's always up for it.
The film itself stylistically looks brilliant - it's slightly drained of colour on screen and has a comic book feel (right down to titles plastered over the screen in parts) which suit it perfectly.
It also doesn't appear to take itself too seriously - Paul McGann as the vicar delivers a great performance, full of pomposity and occasional swearing (much to Fletch's mirth).

LVK won't shake the vampire genre on its head and it plays to pretty much softcore versions of lesbians and vampires (the vampires spend most of their time hissing and waving their hands about or making out), but if you're willing to check your brains at the door and just have 90 minutes of fun, this is a perfect night out.

Defiance: Movie Review

Defiance: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell
Director: Edward Zwick
1941 Belorussia.
As the Nazis round up the Jews, a quartet of brothers seek refuge in a nearby forest, after their father is slaughtered on their farm.
Before they know it, other survivors have found the home the Bielski brothers have set up in the forest - and desperate for an end to their persecution, they join them.
However, numbers begin to swell and a community develops - a community desperate to survive the ongoing attacks and desperate to eat.
But as the Nazis grow ever closer, there's a split in the Bielski brothers' ranks - will they fight against the Nazis or will their fight be one of survival?
Both Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber are all steely determination as brothers Tuvia and Zus - and their fractious relationship and ideals are conveyed well by the pair - and Jamie Bell is passionate as Asael Bielski.
However, Defiance is not an easy watch - and not just because of its subject material, based as it is on a true story
The first hour is slow - and while the brothers' characters develop, it is at the expense of some of the pace of the film overall.
Daniel Craig does that thing he does with his piercing blue eye stare (which he exploited well as Bond)- and Schreiber once again proves why he's much under-rated, turning in a performance that is bravado, bluster as well as fragility and pain.
Defiance explores well the ideas that freedom under persecution brings - the community is forever under threat of attack and that creates simmering tension and resentment within.
Director Zwick, who did Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai, adequately exploits that tension but could have done a little more to hurry along the pace - and maybe been a bit more expeditious in the editing suite.
There are some interesting ideals which come sharply into focus - as Tuvia protects his community, he has to lay down the law more and more which puts him at odds with those around him; Zus refuses to consider any other action but violence - and the pair are changed forever by the course of action they have to take as they personify two different views of how to live under horrific pressures none of us hope ever to see again.
As well as the pace of Defiance, the inevitable downbeat nature of parts of the film begin to take its toll and when the final credits scene rolls and the reality of what the Bielskis achieved is catalogued, it feels oddly lacking in emotion.

Defiance isn't an easy film to spend 2 hours with - but as a portrait of what some were forced to do under conditions we may never see again, it's saved by the performance of its main protagonists.

X Men Origins: Wolverine - Movie Review

X Men Origins: Wolverine - Movie Review

Rating: 4/10
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds
Director: Gavin Hood
Origins films are notoriously difficult.
Their writers are saddled with two options when it comes to a back story they either completely ignore whats been set on the celluloid screen before them and take it off on a new tangent (and risk alienating the fan base) or they embrace 100% whats been created before and stick rigidly to the characters, creating no real room for character growth or expansion.
It's even worse when the character in question is an iconic comic book hero - in this case, Wolverine.
When we met Wolverine in the first X Men film, Logan aka buffed up Hugh Jackman was desperate to find out more about his past and in the subsequent films, Wolverine's back story was a little more fleshed out and his involvement in the Weapon X project and with General Stryker was dealt with.
So it's curious to think that in X Men: Origins: Wolverine, you wouldnt expect too many new revelations.
Basically, in this film, we get to see just a little bit more of Wolverine's past (and a heck of a lot of shirtless Hugh Jackman who's once again spent some serious gym time building those pecs).
Shrouded in mystery (until the recent Origins comic and some of the recent X Men films) Origins saddles Logan with a past in the 1840s, a troublesome half brother Victor (played with menacing relish by Liev Schreiber) and a mercenary past working for General Stryker and his team of mutants who choose to wreak havoc for no real reason other than because the general tells them to.
However, with his moral compass acting up, Wolverine leaves the team and goes to Canada to follow the life of a lumberjack and set up little house on the prarie with a local school teacher.
But when Stryker returns with the news former comrades of the crack elite are being picked off, Wolverine's forced to make a choice about re-embracing his violent past or facing a tormented destructive future -at a lethal personal cost.
X Men Origins Wolverine is, to be frank, a disappointment - while Jackman comfortably embraces the role of Logan (and adds a bit more depth and humanity to him this time round as well as bringing yet more glowering), the rest of the film's a bit of a muddle.
The opening titles which show both Logan and Victor's involvement in various wars since the American Civil War are stunningly created and morph effortlessly from one combat to the next.
Sure, comic book films aren't exactly Shakespearean works even if their themes are tragedy, redemption and betrayal (which date back to way before old Will's time) but some of the dialogue in this is clunky beyond belief.
Granted, some of the humour comes from those moments when Wolverine's claws get him into trouble in a bathroom amuse - but the endless scenes of Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth character running at Jackman's Wolverine simply seem lazy.
Some of the fight scenes are impressive but they quickly fall into this repetitive mould and for a film which sees a lot of people impaled, picked off by guns and swords, there's a remarkable lack of blood.
Perhaps the heart and humanity of Wolverine's been ignored - a couple of particularly senseless deaths halfway through the film sharply bring into focus the tragedy in Wolverine's life and those around him - but those poignant scenes are shattered with yet more slow mo-explosions.
The end fight scenes (which I won't spoil for the X fans) go someway to retrieving the X Men mojo as they're impressive in scale - and there's a crowd pleasing cameo very near the end but too much of X Men Origins Wolverine feels like a misfire (don't even get me started on a fat suit reminiscent of Austin Powers and various scenes of Jackman growling and howling in anger).

There's already talk of a sequel and a Magneto origins film is in the works as a fan, I'd ask them to ease up and maybe go back to basics and actually concentrate on the characters before the whole X Men genre becomes a parody and I forget why I enjoyed the first films so much.

The Grocer's Son: Movie Review

The Grocer's Son: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Nicolas Cazalé, Clotilde Hesme, Daniel Duval, Jeanne Goupil

Director: Eric Guirado
30-year-old Antoine Sforza (Nicolas Cazalé) left his small village ten years ago to follow the dream of a new life in the big city.
However, when his father has a heart attack, and with no other choices (either financial or personal) he finds himself drawn back into the parochial world of the village and thrust back into the family grocery business.
But Antoine is not a fan of life in the country - his attitude on being given the mobile grocery van and taking the shop on the road, is one of contempt for those around him.
Will his return to his former life work out?
Or will simmering family tensions finally bubble over and forever destroy the Sforzas?
The Grocer's Son is, at its heart, a retread of the story of the Prodigal son.
Only this time, it's told with a lot gentler humour - and some truly stunningly beautiful countryside.
While the characters aren't exactly original (Antoine left his village years ago tired of the small life, the father is a bit of a tyrant) The Grocer's Son works because of the gentle subtle way he becomes part of their life.
Granted Antoine's change in attitude is no surprise and can be seen a mile off - however, his initial interaction with those who rely on his services as the driver of a grocery delivery van, recall simpler times - I'm sure in some parts of the world people still buy from these vans and use eggs to trade or fake deafness when it comes to paying (as some of these characters do) - but bit by bit that doesn't detract from the overall feeling of this film.

Perfect for a rainy gloomy day, The Grocer's Son will transport you away to the beauty of Provence and the rolling hills - heck, it may even tempt you to give up the rat race and start a delivery business of your own.