Burlesque: Movie Review

Burlesque: Movie Review

Burlesque
Rating: 4/10
Cast: Christina Aguilera, Cher, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell, Cam Gigandet, Alan Cumming, Eric Dane
Director: Steve Antin
Nominated for a Golden Globe for best Musical/ comedy seems entirely apt for Burlesque.
Aguilera (and her warbling pipes) stars as Ali, a small town American girl with a great voice who dreams of making it big in LA. (There's the first cliché for you.)
So, after quitting her crummy job in a bar, she heads to the city of lights and stumbles across the Burlesque Lounge, a failing but stomping club run by Cher's Tess with a little help from Stanley Tucci's stage manager Sean.
Talking her way into a bartending job there, she strikes up a friendship with the bar manager Jake (Twilight's Cam Gigandet) and manages to find her way onto the stage - but not without making an enemy out of Kristen Bell's Nikki.
However, unless Tess can find a way to keep the club afloat, Ali's time in the spotlight may be brief.
Burlesque is essentially a series of extended music videos - broken up by some clichéd plot and some, at times, frankly awful (and unintentionally funny) dialogue.
Aguilera acquits herself brilliantly in the singing portion of the film but brings little extra in terms of acting to the role of Ali; Cher is lacking any real emotional depth (and facial movement) as Tess - so the two leads are a mixed bag.
Thankfully, the wonderfully classy Stanley Tucci lights up every scene he's in and is blessed with some wonderfully witty moments (and revels in them); Mc Steamy aka Eric Dane is just lacking a handlebar moustache to twirl as the evil property magnate - and Alan Cumming is woefully underused as the club's doorman who has great lines like "I should wash your mouth out with Jagermeister" as well as a great risque song and dance moment.
I guess at the end of the day, Burlesque is about the spectacle more than anything else - while the club scenes and songs rock the joint, they certainly do little (with one exception) to capture the sexiness and seductive tease of Burlesque. However, they do showcase some stunning choreography and singing from Aguilera. Cher gets to do a couple of numbers but they're a lot more downbeat than you would expect.
While it's fair to say Aguilera essentially brings her music video presence to the big screen (and therefore nothing new in terms of acting or performance) she certainly lends a much needed musical credence to Burlesque.

The love story between Jake and her is naïve at best and corny at worst; but it certainly provides something for all - overall, Burlesque is an okay spectacle (a tad overlong) but is instantly forgettable the minute you walk out.

The Dilemma: Movie Review

The Dilemma: Movie Review

The Dilemma
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Vince Vaughan, Kevin James, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Channing Tatum, Queen Latifah
Director: Ron Howard
Vince Vaughan's back in this film, pitched as a comedy from the trailer, which is more like a drama with occasional comedy thrown in for good measure.
In the dramedy, Vaughan is Ronny, whose best mate since college days is Kevin James' Nick. These two are tight and are probably one of the best definitions of bromance I've seen for a long time - they work together and party together.
Nick's married to Winona Ryder's Geneva and has been for years - but one day Nick sees Geneva in the arms of another man.
That throws him into a moral quandary - should he tell his best buddy and risk their friendship and business partnership falling apart? Or should he keep quiet?
But as Nick looks further into Geneva's infidelity, he soon discovers the sheen of his best friend is slipping a little and the whole right and wrong leads to plenty of dilemmas for Nick - and those he loves.
The Dilemma falls into the Couples Retreat territory - that is to say, the trailer pitches it as a comedy and you head to it expecting that, and that's a little far from what's actually served up on the big screen.
It's a mixed bag too - some painstakingly raw honest moments are well done and the drama is good too. But with a two hour running time and not enough funny, you may feel in a bit of a quandary yourself about whether this film is good or not.
Vaughan is okay as the suitably downbeat Ronny whose world falls apart amid suspicion and mistrust - and Winona Ryder (who appears to be undergoing something of a cinematic comeback this year) certainly gives her all as the morally challenged wife.
The main quartet are realistic and genuinely well acted to be believable and Ron Howard brings an assured eye to the direction yet The Dilemma lacks that certain kind of pizzazz and oomph which it needs to keep it moving along as it shifts into the more straight acting and out of the humourous territory.

But it is worth seeing for an hilarious scene where Ronny gives a very amusing toast but as you have to wait for over an hour to get to that part, you may feel yourself drifting and entering your own quandary about whether you want to wait that long.

Yogi Bear: Movie Review

Yogi Bear: Movie Review

Yogi Bear
Rating: 3/10
Cast: Yogi, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Ranger Jones, Pic-a-nic baskets - Dan Aykroyd, Tom Cavanagh, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris
Director: Eric Brevig
It's nature vs corporate greed in this latest film for Yogi Bear, partially shot here in good ole NZ.
Dan Aykroyd, a lifelong Yogi fan, voices the brown bear who's notorious in his home Jellystone Park - mainly for attempting to steal picnic baskets (along with compatriot Boo Boo).
Yogi's nemesis is Ranger Smith (Scrubs' Tom Cavanagh) - but both of them face a fresh threat when the local mayor decides to shut down Jellystone Park and sell it off in an attempt to get the region out of debt and stave off his being thrown out of office.
When a visiting doco maker (Anna Faris) turns up, it seems there's some hope for the park in its 100th year.
But it looks as if Yogi and Smith have underestimated the power of the corporate big boys.
Looking at this through a rosy tinted pair of nostalgia glasses may prove fatal for fans of the original Hanna Barbera series.
First up - both Aykroyd and Timberlake (particularly) do excellent vocal versions of their respective characters but they can't save this terribly unoriginal, lazily 3D converted travesty.
With a script that reeks of corny jokes (which only the really young of the audience will enjoy), there's little here that sings from this mercifully short film. The message of love nature is pummeled through at every available opportunity - and fair enough.
But the joy of the original shorts and the antics of the bear are unimpressive and out of place in the 21st century - with really only the very young sector of the audience likely to get plenty of mirth from what transpires on the screen. Parents who remember the original may walk out feeling that they've had a childhood memory destroyed in a bitter disappointment.

Faris and Cavanagh make a good couple and do as best they can - but with a script that appears to have been found where a bear does its business in the woods, that's cold comfort.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Blu Ray Review

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Blu Ray Review

Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent
Based on the comic book series of the same name, Michael Cera stars as Scott Pilgrim, a slightly loserish 22 year old who's directionless and a bit aimless - and devastated after splitting (read: dumped) from his girlfriend a year ago.
So when he meets Ramona Flowers, a hipster girl (Winstead), he's desperate to win her heart.
However, what Scott doesn't realize is that this girl comes with some serious baggage - seven exes who will kill Scott rather than let him steal her heart.
Throw into that mix the fact Scott's band Sex Bob-omb are competing for a contract and the boy's certainly got a lot to deal with.
The tone is set right at the beginning of this film - with the Universal logo being given an 80s style gaming makeover, Scott Pilgrim wears its geek openly - and proudly - on its sleeve.
Cera is pitch perfect as the main character - with his deadpanning delivery and timing, he's instantly engaging and incredibly amusing (although some may argue he's not stretching his career by playing a variant of every other role he's ever done) - but honestly, he will win you over - and not just with the impressive fight scenes where he comes alive (you would really never peg him as an action hero).
But all of the cast are great in this - Winstead brings warmth to her role as Flowers - and Routh, Schwartzmann, Chris Evans really deliver as part of the evil ex brigade - but it's the initial Bollywood style fight of Satya Bhabha's Matthew Patel which is just genius
Eschewing pop culture references left right and centre, this comic book gaming cross over is a real treat from Edgar Wright (the genius who was part of the Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz UK comedies) - it's hard to describe exactly how it takes the worlds of both the comics and 80s style fight games and brings them to life.

Once again, Edgar Wright's demonstrated why he's one of the coolest most inventive and visionary directors in the business - the energy which is liberally sprinkled all over this film stop it ever hitting a lull.

Scott Pilgrim is effortlessly cool and endlessly entertaining - go, get your geek on.

Rating: 8/10

The Joneses: DVD Review

The Joneses: DVD Review

The Joneses

Released by Roadshow
Rating: M
This intriguing little release stars David Duchovny and Demi Moore, as the heads of a family called The Joneses.
Along with their seemingly perfect two kids, the family moves into an upper middle class suburban neighbourhood in America.Within minutes, they're impressing the neighbours with their slick lifestyle, latest mod cons, interior designs, using the latest phone around the high school kids.
But the reality is they're a family used by marketers to sell latest goods and to suck people into a lifestyle - they have quotas to meet - so life isn't perfect. But Steve is new to the family and starts to see the effects the hard sell has on his neighbour - and when it goes too far, the consequences of living the perfect life prove to be deadly.
This film has an intriguing start and a fresh premise - but after an hour in, it all goes a bit awry and becomes a different film as it gets darker. It's supposed to be a satire on consumer goods and the consumerist lifestyle and to a degree it achieves that - although there's little product placement outside of Audi cars.
It looks at the dark side of suburbia but holds back a little - and that's a disappointment - as it leads to quite an obvious ending - and the final third of it almost destroys the good work of the first hour.

Rating: 6/10

24: The Final Season: DVD Review

24: The Final Season: DVD Review

24 - The Final Season
Released by Roadshow Ent
Rating: R13
Jack Bauer's back in the final season of the show which reinvented the thrilling world of serialized television.
In this final year, Jack's eighth, Bauer is racing against the clock to prevent the assassination of a Middle Eastern leader (played by Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor) - as his death could change a peace accord for the worse.
But at the same time as Bauer's pulled into this plot, an audacious terrorist plot against New York City is nearing completion&.
24 The Final Season epitomizes the good and the bad of this show. Kiefer Sutherland is once again mightily impressive as the world weary Bauer (a man who's on the go for days at a time it appears) and the rest of the impressive ensemble cast work well around him.
But creatively the show was clearly nearing its end as midway through the run, the writing team just can't sustain it any longer. As it's the final year, it was perhaps inevitable some of the show's previous villains may return and while you could argue creatively this was an arc begun a long time ago, it somehow feels like the return is shoe horned in. It's a shame because the start is so electrifying and thrilling that by the end, you just begin to understand why it's ending.
Still Bauer will live on in a series of movies and I for one, can't wait to see those - although I will miss the ticking clock motif and clever way this show changed the nature of weekly drama.
Extras: A series of featurettes and deleted scenes as well as a look at a virtual New York. A Little disappointing there's nothing major on the retrospective front given this is the series' final year.

Rating: 6/10

Inception: DVD Review

Inception: DVD Review

Inception

Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

One of the films of 2010, Inception finally arrives on DVD and Blu Ray.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, who works in subconscious security and steals ideas from people's minds while they're sleeping - via a shared consciousness.

He's approached by Ken Watanabe's Saito who wants to bring down a rival company and its head Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) using corporate espionage by getting Cobb and a team to plant an idea into a rival's brain. However, inception of an idea isn't the easiest thing to carry out...

Still mind bending, Inception remains a great watch - even if you've seen it before, you can pick up on the clues of what's already gone before and see how the puzzle fits together.

With a wealth of extras, this is a great release, with stunning effects and an enigma which still requires a lot of intelligence to crack.

Extras: A heap on different formats, but worth seeking out the Cobol Job; a comic prelude which give the movie some grounding. Genius.

Rating: 9/10