Tangled: Movie Review

Tangled: Movie Review

Tangled
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Zachary Levi, Mandy Moore, Donna Murphy
Director: Nathan Greno
It's Disney's 50th animated film.
And to celebrate, they're rolling out an animated version of Rapunzel for 2011.
Mandy Moore stars as the erstwhile long haired princess Rapunzel, who's trapped in the tower by the evil Gothel (Murphy). You see, Gothel knows that Rapunzel's hair has the power to turn back time and make people young again - and in true evil, godmother fashion she wants to keep that power all for her own.
However, as Rapunzel reaches her 18th birthday, she decides what she wants to do to celebrate is to leave the tower and see the lights which appear every year without fail on her birthday. (Unbeknownst to her, those lights are floating lanterns, launched by her parents as they try to find her.)
Gothel says no - but Rapunzel (and her pet chameleon Pascal) finds her life changed by the arrival of thief Flynn Rider (Chuck's Zachary Levi) who is looking for a hideout.
Flynn is coerced into helping - and together, the duo set off into the kingdom&
Tangled is a good ole fashioned Disney film - with songs within minutes of opening (complete with catchy lyrics such as 'Don't risk the drama, stay with Mama' and 'I could be called deadly from my killer show medley') it's clearly aimed at provoking a bit of nostalgia within the audience.
But there's a sharp deftness to the script which sees it veer from being a little too old fashioned - and it's enlivened by great performances from Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore who give their characters a real boost from their subtle vocal tones.
There's also good old fashioned Disney fun to be had from the animals of the piece; the chameleon and a horse from the palace guards known as Maximus. Neither says anything but again, it's their antics which will amuse the kids both young and old.
There's also unexpected moments of adult humour dotted throughout - such as when Rapunzel leaves the tower for the first time, she veers between deep joy and numbing guilt - it's fun touches like this which add to the overall feel.

It's no crime to say Tangled is nothing spectacularly new on the story front or when it comes to the songs- but thanks to a warmth and engaging charm as well as some good solid animation, it's a great family time out at the cinema.

Unstoppable: Movie Review

Unstoppable: Movie Review

Unstoppable
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Chris Pine, Denzel Washington, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee
Director: Tony Scott
A hero with a buzz cut, a runaway vehicle and the potential for disaster.
Haven't we heard that somewhere before? Well, that and Denzel in another Tony Scott train film too&
In this latest from Tony Scott, Chris Pine stars as Will Colson, a newbie in the rail industry - and one who, according to older work colleagues has gained his position as a conductor on the rails in rural Pennsylvania because of nepotism.
Denzel is Frank Barnes, a long time employee of the rail roads who's seen it all before and is now just doing his job and training Colson.
However, their spiky training run is broken by the news another train's broken loose and thundering on the tracks, complete with a chemical payload and no driver because of an accidental mess up from a fellow employee Dewey (Ethan Suplee).
As the owner of the railway tries to work out how best to avert the disaster of a train ploughing into civilization, Barnes and Colson work with yardmaster Connie (ever dependable Rosario Dawson) to try and save the day.
Apparently inspired by true events, Unstoppable is actually better than the premise makes it sound - and thanks to some restrained directing from Tony Scott, it's actually more watchable than you'd believe.
Sure, there's plenty of swooping, circling aerial camera shots and continuous angled camera moments as the train continues on its path of destruction; but Unstoppable also throws in some decent characters and some commentary about old timers being forced out of jobs for young upstarts who know nothing of the industry.
Granted, Colson and Barnes have emotional baggage (Colson's got family problems - and whaddya know, so does Barnes) but thanks to believable, underplayed performances from both Pine and the ever sage Washington, you find yourself sucked into their world - even if you know exactly how it will play out. With dialogue such as "We're not talking about a train - we're talking about a missile" the whole thing seems as if it could swerve dangerously into over the top out of control hysteria.

However, thanks to Scott's assured leadership, this train stays firmly on the tracks - and destined for entertainment.

Splice: Blu Ray Review

Splice: Blu Ray Review

Splice

Rating: R16
Released by Madman

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley team up in this flick about two scientists who splice human and animal DNA together.

But despite a lack of morals and ethics at the start as they're caught up in the heady excitement of the experiment,the pair are quickly divided when the resulting creature is born.

Polley's Elsa wants to keep the female creature but Brody's Clive, despite wanting to be a dad, wants shot of it.

There's little really of the legal and ethical debate but it becomes quite a curious mix of horror and unsettling incest toward the end-but thanks to a sensitive performance from Delphine Chaneac as the creature (who's a mix of Gizmo and the bald chick from Star Trek 1) it's really quite an impressive piece of film and not a bad entrant into the mad scientist/ abhorrent experiment genre.

Sure there's the icky moments and the slightly disturbing moments, but this is sensibly put together scifi horror which is watchable - even if occasionally that is from behind the sofa.

Extras: Interview with director; featurette, behind the scenes and trailer - nothing outstanding but nothing too disappointing either.

Rating: 7/10

Triangle: DVD Review

Triangle: DVD Review

Triangle
Rating: M
Released by Warner Bros
A mindbender, riangle is the tale of Melissa George's Jess who one day goes sailing with 5 friends.
Out on the water, they end up capsized when a storm passes by.
From out of nowhere, a ship appears and the remaining survivors jump up on it-finding it deserted, they try to see who's onboard and how they can get home-but soon, one by one, they're dying.
All except Jess...
Triangle is a superior piece of film; it draws out the tension by leaving it for quite a while before the horrors begin to unfurl.
But if you're expecting horror on the boat of the nutter on the loose kind, you're on the wrong track as director/writer Chris Smith throws in a time travel plot as well.
It's really smart, suspenseful stuff and holds you right until the very end. Sure you may guess some of the tricks(if you've seen the marvellous TimeCrimes)but the pieces don't fall into place until the very end.
Mindblowing and head-scratching, this needs your love and time.
Extras: Making of doco, story boards, look at the special effects for the storm, deleted scenes and audio commentary with the director - a decent bunch for a good film.
Rating: 8/10

The Simpsons S13: DVD Review

The Simpsons S13: DVD Review

The Simpsons: Season 13

Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: PG
With the beaming face of simpleton Ralph Wiggum on the front, the latest Simpsons release hits the shelves.

With some 22 odd episodes and a raft of features - including a lovely little collection of Ralphisms, this set is a welcome addition to any fan of the show - or any casual viewer who wants to appreciate the genius of the writing.

Sure, after 13 years, there's some creaks here and there - but the misses are outweighed by the hits and the cameos keep coming. Included on this set are REM, Pierce Brosnan in a great Halloween cameo, Paul Newman, Julia Louis Dreyfus - to name but a few.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this release - it's just after 13 releases, you'd kind of hope the creators would do something a little different with the format as it's feeling a little tired. Don't get me wrong, that's not a criticism of the quality merely that there's nothing overly new in the format of these releases.

That said, it's still money well spent.

Rating: 7/10

Love And Other Drugs: Movie Review

Love And Other Drugs: Movie Review

Love And Other Drugs
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt
Director: Ed Zwick
It's back to the heady mid 90s with this new film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
Gyllenhaal plays Jamie Randall, a man who has the gift of the gab. This guy can sell you anything with his charm - as well as himself to the ladies. After being kicked out of his latest job, Randall (a med school drop out) decides to enter the world of pharmaceutical drugs sales with a company called Pfizer.
So Randall applies his talents to selling the drugs and staking out the doctors to encourage them to sell their brand of anti depressant rather than Prozac. Throw in Viagra into the mix too and Randall's in heaven.
And that's where Randall meets Maggie (a brown doe eyed Anne Hathaway) who's at the doctor's to get drugs for her stage one Parkinson's disease. But there's an instant attraction and the pair end up having a one night stand.
Randall falls hard for Maggie - but the road to romance is always tough - particularly if both sides have their own problems and demons to battle.
Love And Other Drugs is an odd sort of film - it starts off with tremendous, lusty gusto with wide-eyed Jake charming the pants (literally)off everything that moves. That bravado and braggadocio are pushed even further when he pairs up with Anne Hathaway and the film heads into a sex comedy (particularly with the addition of Jamie's down on his luck, kicked out by his wife brother played by Jack Black/ Jonah Hill cross Josh Gad) complete with plenty of sex, smut and humour. There are some great, funny moments in this portion of the film - however, there's a slight problem with the film.
Halfway through, there's a complete tonal change and it becomes romantic drama with a good dose of obstacles thrown in for good measure.
That tonal change happens so fast (although, to be fair, it's signposted from early on) that you almost feel like you're watching a completely different film as it heads towards the end.
But, when performances are as compelling as they are from Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway (who have sizzling steamy chemistry), you can almost forgive them anything. The duo has an easy chemistry and a sparky rapport which works well on the big screen. But it's Hathaway who delivers the more naked performance of the two - both physically and emotionally. She has a warmth and is so believable that you can't help falling for her character.
However, those are nearly derailed by some of the staples of romantic drama - the sweeping speeches over piano music threaten to ruin all which has gone before.

Love And Other Drugs is like a pill in many ways - it may offer you dizzying highs but as with any wonder drug, there's side effects afterwards.

Gulliver's Travels: Movie Review

Gulliver's Travels: Movie Review

Gulliver's Travels
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Jack Black, Amanda Peet, Chris O' Dowd, Emily Blunt, Billy Connolly. Jason Segal
Director: Rob Letterman
There seems to have been numerous versions of this story - so does the world need another one? And one in 3D?
Jack Black stars as Lemuel Gulliver, a long term mailroom attendant at a New York travel magazine.
He's been there for years, with no real thoughts about promotion or advancement - a geek with a love of Guitar Hero and Star Wars - and a seriously long brewing crush on the travel editor Darcy (Amanda Peet).
One day after deciding to finally act on the crush and ask her out, he chickens out last minute and ends up offering to take on a travel assignment in the Bermuda Triangle.
However, that job finds him stranded in Lilliput - and a towering presence to those who live there.
And not everyone's impressed with Gulliver's arrival - least of all, General Edward (The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd) who feels threatened by the new face - and plots to get rid of him.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about Gulliver's Travels - firstly, the 3D adds nothing to the film (aside from the opening titles which are so cutely done, rendering a miniature world to life as they do) and secondly the plot is entirely predictable.
Sure, the story's been told many times before - and this one at times, appears to have its tongue firmly in its cheek with some of the acting. But it didn't feel to me like those involved in it really knew 100% what they wanted it to be - either a parody or satire or outright comedy.
Jack Black plays another variation on himself as the lovable schlub, who this time is "never going to be big" - and even busts out his dance moves at the end (which we've all seen before); the rest of the ensemble cast are fine - and Chris O'Dowd stands out from them with his predominantly lead role as the buffoonish bad guy.
However, there's a bit of charm thrown in here and there - and it may keep the very young end of the family amused.

Just one final thing - it's worth getting there early to make sure you don't miss the extremely hilarious new outing from Scrat The Ice Age critter who's always worried about his nut. It's head and shoulders above Gulliver for humour and packs more in in 4 minutes than the actual film itself.