The Hurt Locker: Movie Review

The Hurt Locker: Movie Review

Rating: 9/10
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Finally arriving on New Zealand shores after numerous successes at various awards ceremonies, is The Hurt Locker, the front runner for success at the 2010 Oscars.
It's the story of a team of bomb disposal team in Iraq whose lives are put in constant jeopardy on a daily basis - and is based on freelance journalist Mark Boal's accounts of when he was embedded with an American bomb squad.
In a cracking turn, Jeremy Renner plays Sergeant First Class William James, who's brought in as the leader of the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit which heads to just about every perilous situation on the streets of Iraq, never knowing if this is the moment their lives will be forfeit.
James works with Anthony Mackie's Sergeant Sanborn and Brian Geraghty's Specialist Eldridge - and they form an uneasy bond, often fighting off the scene and cool and collected when called out; however, it's not plain sailing for the trio when it becomes clear that James isn't averse to taking risks and avoiding protocol.
But what will be the price of his behaviour to the EOD unit?
The Hurt Locker arrives with heavy expectation - and doesn't disappoint in the slightest. From the moment the film opens, you're thrown straight into the middle of it all. Within seconds, The Hurt Locker grips you in its adrenalin vice and doesn't let go.
Director Kathryn Bigelow's crafted an excellent low budget film which captures the grittiness, the horror and the heart in your mouth moment that the troops in Iraq must face; sure, you can argue that the entire film is simply made up of one set piece after another as we follow the EOD unit, but there is a narrative thread which links it together.
Where The Hurt Locker also triumphs - aside from Renner's simply mesmerising turn as Sergeant James - is the fact the leads are unknowns; a film such as this one rises and falls on expectations and the use of relative newcomers to the lead roles means you're never quite sure who will survive when they head to each call out. At times, it's heart in your mouth cinema which will blow you away in more ways than one (apologies - pun intended).

Emotionally gripping, viscerally thrilling, and an edge of your seat powderkeg of tension, The Hurt Locker remains one of the best films of the year (something which the number of awards it's received only serves to cement). Packed full of moments that will shock and awe you, The Hurt Locker is essential viewing.

Alice In Wonderland: Movie Review

Alice In Wonderland: Movie Review

Alice In Wonderland
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Anne Hathaway, Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas, Crispin Glover, Mia Wasikowska
Director: Tim Burton
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton reteam once again - this time it's for an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland.
Mia Wasikowska is 19 year old Alice, a girl who's facing the possibility of being married off to a man she doesn't love and on the verge of enduring a life she really doesn't want.
As she runs off to consider the proposal, she falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonderland.
However, on her entrance to Wonderland, she finds she has a destiny to fulfill - she must free the land from the tyranny of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and restore happiness to the land she visited as a child in her dreams.
But with the Red Queen on the war path, and the evil Jabberwocky to be unleashed, it looks like Alice really has her work cut out.
Well, Alice In Wonderland is clearly a Tim Burton film - once again, he's reteamed with two of his muses; Johnny Depp onscreen and with composer Danny Elfman. It's also full of the trademark Gothic landscapes and oddball imagery.
Mia Wasikowska is slightly aloof and stifled at the start of the film - which in some ways is befitting as her character clearly doesn't fit into Victorian ways of life; but it makes it hard to feel much for her in the early stages of the film. She's also not the strongest actress it has to be said - her re-emergence at the end from the rabbit hole and re-entrance into society isn't quite as powerful as you'd expect from one who's undergone such a journey.
Johnny Depp is unhinged and ever so slightly sinister as the Mad Hatter, flitting from English and Scottish accents for reasons which don't quite seem obvious - but he makes the Hatter a bit of a crazy zany character - once again, it's another oddball performance for Depp and one which is perfectly suited for the continuing Burton/ Depp partnership.
Stephen Fry is wonderful as the Cheshire cat - thanks to his mellifluous tones, the Cat is a real treat in the film as the wisp-like creature wafts in and out; and it has to be said the star of the film is clearly the CGI and the Wonderland world itself.
Burton's created a nightmarish version of Wonderland - full of odd colours and architecture which seems perfectly in tune with his vision; there's some great images - such as Alice negotiating a raft of heads the Red Queen's had cut off and cast in the moat around her castle. It seems as if technology's finally got to give Burton the chance to create the vision he's always hinted at in previous films - and he's relished the opportunity to create a memorable Wonderland.

Ultimately, this Alice In Wonderland is an insight into Burton's mind - it's zany and visually crazy in parts; however, due to a bit of a lack of an emotional connection, it's a little bit sprawling at times and doesn't quite live upto its initial promise.

Adventureland: DVD Review

Adventureland: DVD Review

Adventureland
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds
Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment
Jesse Eisenberg (who appeared in the fantastic Zombieland) stars as James whose 1980s college plans are scuppered by his father's loss of job.
Faced with the option to abandon his plans for college, James ends up taking a job at a local fairground to try and scrape together the cash. However, it's not really about the money after he falls for fellow carny, Emily (Twilight's Kristen Stewart).

Only she's not as available as he thinks because she's wrapped up with an older man (Ryan Reynolds)&but that doesn't stop James falling hard.

Ah the American coming of age film - it is in its own rights becoming a rites of passage for movie makers. Adventureland is from Greg Mottola who did Superbad - although the humour is of a more subtle and wistful nature in this release.

Adventureland is great fun -wrapped full of humourous well timed lines and pitch perfect performances (including Bill Hader as the carny boss complete with horrendous tache). It's a nod back to the 80s and despite the somewhat tired out genre, Adventureland is a welcome entry - it's fresh, amusing and strangely recognisable.

A soon to be cult classic is tempered only by the relative lack of extras.

Rating: 7/10

From Paris With Love: Movie Review

From Paris With Love: Movie Review

From Paris With Love
Rating: 6/10
Cast: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Director: Pierre Morel
From a story by Luc Besson and from the director who made Liam Neeson an action man in Taken comes From Paris With Love.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as James Reece, a young employee of the US ambassador in France. With his 1920s style spiv like moustache and slightly uptight attitude, Reece is a model employee, deeply in love with his girlfriend Caroline and when his country calls him a bit of a rookie spy.
Except he's a bottom of the ladder kind of spy - the sort who will change number plates. And he yearns to play a bigger role in the espionage world.
He's given that chance - enter John Travolta's dome headed slightly unhinged Charlie Wax who's an operative with the CIA and in France to try and stop a terrorist attack.
But given these two are polar ends of the spectrum when it comes to attitudes and Reece finds himself in a world he never imagined he'd be part of.
What do you say about From Paris With Love? With its tagline, Two agents, One City, no Merci, explosions, gunfights and beatings set to heavy metal, let's be clear this isn't rocket science - or a film you particularly need to concentrate on the plot of (although you do have to keep up).
But against the odds it emerges as a fairly disposable piece of Friday night cinematic action - with Travolta pumped up on energy, cheesy lines (Wax on, wax off) and Rhys Meyers' nicely opposite uptight approach, you end up feeling like you're watching the start of a franchise set of films.
There's plenty of car chases, plenty of explosions and plenty of people being violently shot and hurled across the room but it's thanks to the sparkle and crackle chemistry between the two leads, that it's relatively enjoyable fun. Director Morel brings the same level of energy to the action scenes as he demonstrated in Taken, lending the whole piece with a slick choreographed feel.
To be honest, it's a decent partnership the pair create - and I'm sure a sequel to From Paris With Love (From LA with Love perhaps) won't be too far away.

Oh and it's worth it for just one moment - to see John Travolta finally get that burger he talked about in Pulp Fiction all those years ago....

Crazy Heart: Movie Review

Crazy Heart: Movie Review

Crazy Heart
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall
Director: Scott Cooper
Already one of the faves for awards after early success, Crazy Heart finally ends up on New Zealand cinemas.
Bridges is Bad Blake, a 57 year old washed up, living the twilight of his life country singer playing bowling alleys and bars in deserted American villages. But Blake's loved - while his fans appear to be in the final years of their lives, wherever he goes he gets a rapturous reception - as well as some very pleased to see him groupies.
Blake is the archetypal bad boy of the country scene - battling alcoholism, refusing to write new material and a little envious of the success of his protégé Tommy Sweet (a pony tailed Farrell), he's clearly in need of redemption.
That salvation comes in the form of Jean (Gyllenhaal) who turns up one day asking for an interview - however, a burgeoning relationship blossoms - has Bad finally found what he needs to turn his life around?
Crazy Heart is Jeff Bridges' film - the Dude once again rolls out a suave performance, managing to capture the bitter regret of a hard rocker as well as encapsulating the charm which has seen him continue to garner success through the years. And it has to be said too that Bridges carries the country songs off well - there's certainly some toe tapping to be had while he's rocking the beat.
While Gyllenhaal acquits herself well as a woman who fights her every instinct to fall for a man she knows is bad for her, her character Jean can't help but be drawn to Bridges' Blake- and after some time in his company, it's easy to see why; with old age etched into his face but with a winning charm, Bad Blake's a new rock hero for the decade.
There's a nice juxtaposition between Blake's hardbitten rocking ways and the polished new country style of Farrell's Tommy Sweet - the contrast is an obvious one but it's clear that it's Blake who has the credibility to last the distance rather than this Johnny Come Lately.
The story of Crazy Heart is to be honest, nothing new - a last chance man desperate for redemption is given one last chance to overcome his own demons, it's Cooper's direction which keeps the film moving nicely along.

But it belongs to Jeff Bridges - not since his turn as the Dude in The Big Lebowski has he managed to command your attention on the screen as he does in this - it brings up memories of Mickey Rourke's turn in The Wrestler last year - showing there's still life in this old dog yet. And it's clear to see why he's the front runner for the Oscars this year - let's hope this time the Dude comes up trumps.

9: Movie Review

9: Movie Review

9
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Elijah Wood, John C Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer
Director: Shane Acker
In a post apocalyptic world, it appears that it's the puppets who will save us.
In the latest computer animation to hit the big screen, 9 tells the story of the world after the machines attacked the humans. In a devastated land, a sack puppet with the number 9 wakes up and suddenly discovers that he is not alone.
After being attacked by a beast, and reunited with others of his type (all numbered from 1 onwards), 9 begins to realize that he holds the key to getting answers about what happened - and how they can live on.
9 is an odd piece of film - meshing Terminator style end of the world horrors with the kind of Sackboy characters of the PS game Little Big Planet, it certainly looks different and has been described as stitchpunk characters at the end of the world.
The dystopian world in which everyone is a number certainly brings memories flooding back of The Prisoner - and certainly with the secrets kept by the likes of Number 1, there's many a parallel.
However, it's there that this ends - because 9 is visually engaging - full of deep browns, greens and bright reds, it's hard not to fall for the burlap dolls as they try to work out what's happened.
That's not to say they're a cute bunch - in fact, it's anything but as many scenes will leave younger ones absolutely petrified.
Part of the problem with 9 is the story - while it's a nice idea, it soon becomes a little too stuck in its own groove. Characters are abducted time and time again and it gets a bit repetitive.
The performances are all perfectly fine - Elijah Wood has the right amount of mirth to be our eyes in this world; John C Reilly provides enough humour and pathos as 2 and Jennifer Connelly is on feisty form as 7, a fighter who left the pack to try and save the world.
Overall, 9 is a little disappointing - with some genuinely scary moments and some brilliant visual touches (some of the creatures are wonderfully inventive and a newsreel scene evokes powerful touches of War of the Worlds), I just came away wanting to have been a bit more engaged by the storyline.

However, thanks to a slightly odd ending and turn of events, 9 will haunt you as you try to work out exactly what message Shane Acker wanted to get across.

Funny People: DVD Review

Funny People: DVD Review

Funny People
Released by Universal Home Entertainment
Rating: R16
Cast: Adam Sandler, Eric Bana, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill

Adam Sandler stars as comedian George Simmons, who has made his name from a series of lowbrow comedies and stand up (sounds familiar doesn't it?)

But despite the fame and fortune, he's not a happy man - and is alienated from his family and lacking friends.

One day, out of the blue, he's told by doctors that he has a rare form of leukaemia - and on learning this, he falls into a depression.

Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) is a budding stand up comedian who wants to quit his day job working at a deli and hit the big time on the comedy scene. Ira and George's paths cross at the comedy club - and Ira's quickly hired by George to help him write some material (although it's clearly a screen for getting someone into his life that he can share his depression with)

As Ira begins working for George, it becomes clear that Simmons has a lifetime of regret to deal with - from family rifts to his aching loss of what he believes to be his one true love - Laura (Leslie Mann)

And when doctors tell him he may have beaten the illness, Simmons realises he has a second chance - so what will he do with it?

Funny People is a film of two halves and at nearly 145 minutes, it is a little too long and meandering in its second half - and with an extended version of the film on the disc you've got to be in it for the long run. However, it's also incredibly impressive in places - and that's mainly due to Adam Sandler (and to a lesser extent Seth Rogen)

Both these actors manage to shake off their perceived personas - but Sandler in a relatively straight role also mocks his own on screen personality - the films Simmons has chosen to do are exactly the kind of films Sandler's made his career from.

But Funny People is a career defining role for Sandler - and with a second version of the film enclosed, it remains an intriguing look at the dramatic potential he has when he plays it straight - throw in some actually funny stand up from him and Funny People remains a slightly missed opportunity from Judd Apatow.

Extras: 2 versions of the film - one of which is extended, gag reel, commentary with Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, and Seth Rogen give the package a decent if unspectacular element.

Rating: 7/10