WATCHMEN

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:
by FranksFilms

I’m breaking my own rule – twice.

Firstly, since this is a ‘video recommendation’ segment, I shouldn’t recommending a movie that’s not yet been released on video ………..but I am. If it helps, you can think of it as a video that you have to go over to your “friend’s house” to watch. You know that friend who’s house is that big building in the center of town, with the big marquee,  and he always has lots of your neighbors over, and treats you with enormous buckets of popcorn and soda ……except that you have to pay him.

Slumdog Millionaire

You must see this movie…soon!

A young boy grows up in the slums of India (and boy does India have slums!).  This slum/ shanty town is miles of tin shacks and insane poverty.  It’s fascinating yet really sad at the same time.  He goes on India’s version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ to reach the love of his life.

I was at the edge of my seat this whole movie.  It’s extremely well directed and the story is gripping.  The child actors who play the two brothers growing up, will win your heart!  The story unfolds as he answers each question, we learn about him and where he’s from.  One of my favourite scenes (and yes there were many) is when he’s working at a Call Centre for a Scottish company – very stereotyped but hilarious!  There are some very funny, light moments in between the agony.

Australia

After all the media poo pooo, I was expecting this film to be total yawn, but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the story and amazing scenery.

Baz Luhrmann has an amazing track record of creating wonderful ‘escapism’.  I loved Moulin Rouge.  The story was gripping and I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know that the Japanese attacked Darwin.  Australia is awfully close to NZ and for the first time I realised how lucky NZ was.

This film is epic as it does cover a long period of time.  While I thought it was an half an hour longer than it needed to be, I still really loved the roughness of the Aussie outback characters and their way of life.  My hubby said that he didn’t mind the love story as there was plenty to distract him.  Yes there’s lots of adventure and topics of interest that you don’t expect.

12 AND HOLDING

This week’s movie:
12 AND HOLDING

I used to be smart once.

I have this theory that we are all born knowing everything. All the mysteries of the universe – the sum total of human knowledge PLUS everything humans have yet to discover – is all there right in our heads from birth. But because the human brain has a limited volume, any acquired experience must ultimately push something else out. The upshot of this is that the older we get, the more we experience, the stupider we become. Ironically, babies are just not physically equipped to deal with omniscience. They might, for example, understand that quarks spontaneously decay in a degenerate spin field, but believe that this just a trivial matter that must be obvious to everybody – and instead, content themselves to totally dominating every other human surrounding them.

Humans tend to peak around 12 or 13 years old

Wanted

I wasn’t sure if I was going to bother and see this film.  I heard some good reviews from colleagues and I’m glad I did.  It wasn’t what I expected… it was better.  This film is surprisingly difficult to describe.  It has influences from The Matrix and Fight Club and its an interesting mix and even comes with the twist ending.

James McAvoy plays a guy frustrated with his job and life.  But life gets interesting when Angelina Jolie turns up transforming his world and turning him into a cold and talented assassin.

This film is over the top! but it’s good and it works.  Whilst James McAvoy is no Keanu Reeves, you follow his journey and his transformation.  There are some amazing ‘must see’ action scenes plus Angelina with ammunition is just too cool.

Great film, enjoyable watch.

Steph’s rating: 8.1/10

BATMAN – THE DARK KNIGHT

WOW…this movie really re-invigorates the Batman franchise. At a cost of $US180m, it looks like Hollywood is going to make a mint on this movie. For instance, in the first couple of weeks in the US, the movie has already grossed $US190m. Not bad!

And why are people going? Well I can think of following reasons -

(1) Batman movies are always worth going to watch;

(2) Like any Hollywood movie there has been a lot of build up, publicity and word of mouth;

(3) Many will want to see how the franchise progresses after Batman Begins;

(4) Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. For those who remember the original Batman movie (1989), it had Jack Nicholson play the part of the Joker. At the time I can remember thinking that no-one would come close to acting in that league in an equivalent movie. Well I guess I was wrong. This performance by Ledger easily matches the earlier movie, if not exceeds it.

WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

No one eats poop in this movie!

I find that a good indicator of the quality of a comedy is whether or not anyone ends up eating poop. In a lesser comedy, one that’s not intrinsically very funny, the film-maker will try everything in the Porky’s / American Pie / National Lampoon bag-o-tricks – even if it doesn’t fit – to try to get you to laugh. It often works because they know it will stimulate a little dangley bit on the underside of the brain that causes you to find amusement in the stupidest things – it’s a cheap shot – they don’t even have to work for it. You’ll probably laugh because you can’t help it, but you’ll immediately regret having done so – it’s not really funny when you think about it, and it gets old very fast. It’s an old trick. The old vaudevillians were always trained that when the audience wasn’t responding – do a pratfall – they have to laugh, they can’t help it. What can I say, humans laugh at stupid stuff. Why else would people tune in to television every week to watch home movies of people falling down, or getting hit in the nads with a soccer ball, or getting a pie in the face? This week’s movie, WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY, is funny from the opening scene to the very last fade-to-black. You’ll laugh, guaranteed, but those laughs will have been earned the hard way – with clever dialog and sincere adherence to the story’s premise and material.

A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

Most people know that World War I was no walk in the park. A few films even do a decent job of dealing with the horrors of trench warfare. Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front come to mind. As great as these two movies are, this week’s film is better.

A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is not really meant to be about the war. It features the war, it graphically depicts the gruesome realities of the war, it even deals with the devastation that the war produced on the loved ones left behind – but it’s not about the war.

It’s about Mathilde……………….

Kung Fu Panda

I think Jack Black did a great job as ‘Po’ the Panda. He brought a level of comedy to the film that is just ‘Jack Black’ awesomeness.

It was great to hear the kids laugh through out – and I confess I laughed with them, because it had some great characters and funny scenes. This is definitely an animated film for all ages and one you could watch over and over.

Personal highlights from the film were the action scenes, Jack Black ‘fat jokes’ and Po’s ‘noodle’ dad!

Steph’s rating: 8/10

LITTLE OTIK

We Love Movies – The – you’ll wish you were really high before you watch – Video recommendation of the Week:

I knew that when I started to classify movies (comedy, drama, horror, western, etc.), I was eventually going to run into trouble. Some films just don’t fit into a single category. So …… you start to combine genres: part drama + part comedy = dramady; part horror + part comedy = black comedy; etc. Sometimes you get longer combinations. Take the Stephen Chow movie, Kung Fu Hustle – described as a “martial arts -30’s -gangster -action -comedy”. Now, would that be a “kung-fu gangedy”? or maybe a “com-martial actionster”? Or ……..shall we come up with a whole new word, not based on any other description, like “schma”? “Schma” is good, and I don’t think it’s being used for anything else – and even if it is, so what? “Kung-Fu Hustle? What kind of movie is that?” “Why, it’s a delightful schma.”

However, ….. I can’t even think up an entirely new word to describe LITTLE OTIK……..

TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

I can’t help it – but sometimes I just think about everything that’s wrong with the world.

In an effort to keep this review to a reasonable length, I’m limit myself to one thing – ghost stories. Ghost movies are inherently funny and not at all scary like they’re suppose to be. You might not notice it unless you actually think about it. If the movie isn’t scaring the beejesus out of me, my mind starts to wander and think about – well, logic. I start to ask too many questions, and then the movie is doomed. Ghosts just can’t stand up to logic. Try it yourself sometime – when you’re watching a ghost movie, see if one or more of the following questions don’t come to mind…….

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

When I think about it, I realize that it could have all gone terribly wrong!

I know that Stephanie recently reviewed this film but I thought it was time to add my recommendation to hers.

I never doubt the power of a film to reestablish faith in my fellow human beings ……especially those human beings in the film. Film people are so fascinating. When they’re well written, they lead fascinating lives, they experience perfect fascinating romances, they have exciting and fascinating adventures, and – and this is very important – always say just the right things – fascinating. They have problems – they resolve problems. They have conflicts – they resolve conflicts. They sometimes die, but you can always restart the DVD …….and there they are again! The Kinks’ song says, “I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show.” Maybe they were onto something.

BUT ………when a film is NOT well written or directed or produced, it could easily all go terribly wrong.

I live in small town USA. It’s not really that small. It’s not small enough for everybody to know everybody else – but it IS small enough for a lot of people to know a lot of other people, plus there are little sub-communities of families and neighbors who are very close-knit. But I can only imagine an entire town, even a small one, pulling together the way people do in this week’s film, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL.

Now here’s where this review can all go terribly wrong.

THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA

We Love Movies – SciFi Geek video recommendation of the Week:

Full of insane goofy sci-fi goodness.

When I was a little kid, one of my greatest joys was staying up late at night. I would stay up after my parents went to bed (on the weekends, of course) and watch the late night movies on TV. These consisted mostly of B-grade science fiction and monster movies. My 10 year old imagination readily sucked up features like The Forbidden Planet, Dracula, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and Plan 9 From Outer Space.

They weren’t necessarily great movies, but they were simple – and had the prerequisite elements for an exciting time. Aliens, monsters, vampires, commies, atom bombs, etc. And of course, there was at least one scientist who would figure out how to kill them all. The scientist was always the hero of the story (exactly the opposite is true in today’s films), and maybe because of that, I always wanted to be a scientist ………………….and do science.

THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA (TLSOC) is not just a parody of these films. It doesn’t make fun of them. It’s more of a tribute…….

10 ITEMS OR LESS

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

If you like Morgan Freeman, this film is for you!

This movie revels in all that is Morgan Freeman. It glows with brightly colored Freemanosity. It’s thick with Morganess and punctuated with Freemanitude. Characters are buoyed up with giddy Freemanistics, and are propelled along the film’s arc on the Morgan Freeway of life.

OK, you get the idea. This film has a lot of Morgan Freeman in it. But, that’s actually a good thing. Morgan Freeman is like the Labrador Retriever of actors – he’s easy to like. Everybody loves him, and everybody loves him in this film. And, on top of all that Freemanism, it also stars Paz Vega! You may remember her from such films as Sex and Lucia, and Spanglish.

Morgan Freeman plays a character that is ………well, Morgan Freeman. He’s an actor – although he’s never really called by name. He’s referred only as “him” – as in, “Hey! You’re him, aren’t you?” The only effort they (the filmmakers) have made to suggest that he isn’t really Morgan Freeman, is that he claims not to have worked for 4 years. That is obviously fiction, because, as we all know, Morgan Freeman has been in every movie during the last four years.

He is researching a role as a store manager for a new movie, and so he spends the day at a grocery store. The exquisitely beautiful Paz Vega plays Scarlet, who works the day at the “10 items or less” express checkout line. At the end of the shift, he doesn’t have a ride home and, for some reason, he can’t remember his telephone number. Scarlet agrees to give him a ride – but she’s got some errands to do first.

Thus begins their afternoon of fun and adventure together.

BUG (2006)

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

Film makers have some nerve these days.

If you’re going to make a film called “BUG”, you should at least have the decency to make it about a government lab near an isolated rural community. The refuse from a secret experiment infects some cockroaches (movie rule #154: always use cockroaches for maximum “bug” effect), making them both super intelligent and super aggressive (plus they reproduce quickly – so they’re also super ……what? horny). They get out and head for toward town. Here’s where you can take time to introduce the main characters and give a little back-story. Cliff is a stranger in town. He’s just passing through, really – but he has a secret he’s not telling. Trevor, the sheriff, years ago had a relationship with Sally, the woman who owns the diner. Sally’s been widowed for four years now but has a teenage daughter who is dating (sort of) the smart kid at school – even though the football jock keeps hitting on her. Then, of course, there’s Professor Evans who, by coincidence, is an entomologist (he studies bugs). He will eventually find a way to destroy the bugs, but will be horribly killed before he can tell anybody. There’s the mayor who will refuse to contact the authorities or admit that there’s anything wrong. Then there are the Gladwells (Molly and Dan) who run their farm out on RFD 122, but don’t get too attached to them – they’re the first ones to get killed.

WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

I cried at the end of Old Yeller.

Of course I was only six, but still …… so what? I also teared up a bit for Grave of the Fireflies, and Love Story, and Ghost, and My Girl, and Bambi, and Pandora’s Box, and The Bridge to Terabithia, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. You know …….the usual tear-jerkers. The point is, I consider myself relatively normal. My black sense of humor non-withstanding, I usually react to films the same way that most people do. So – when I say that I found this week’s movie, about an afterlife populated by people who have committed suicide, rather sweet and endearing, it’s not because I have a warped sensibility (I do, but that’s not why), it’s because the movie really is sweet and endearing.

Second-Hand Wedding: Celebrating NZ Film

NZ Film is really coming of age. We’ve had some remarkable examples, Sione’s Wedding, The Piano, Whale Rider, Eagle vs Shark and now Secondhand Wedding.

I love the honesty of this film. It depicts typical NZ streets, suburbs and characters. Geraldine Brophy has always been one of NZ’s most likable actress. Here she plays a well-meaning Mum who is a Garage Sell junkie. It’s so delightful, you even convince yourself ‘maybe you wouldn’t mind going to a few yourself’! Geraldine’s character ‘Jill’ is well supported by her husband Brian (Patrick Wilson) and Cheryl her daughter played by Outrageous Fortune’s Holly Shanahan.

The plot is simple, a daughter is reluctant in telling her mum of her engagement as she is afraid that the wedding will turn into a jumble sale. The rest is predictable comedy,but delightful all the same. Highlights of the film include the ‘garage sign’ robber and the consistent references to popular 60’s NZ music icon John Rowles.

Click here to view trailer.

PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

I’ve decided that I don’t read enough books.

This week’s movie, PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER, is the big screen adaptation of the highly acclaimed bestselling novel by Patrick Suskind. It has been translated from the original German into English and various other languages. It was long thought unfilmable as a movie because it’s about the sense of smell – which is difficult to convey in a visual medium like film ……..but I guess they were wrong!

Once

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

Perfect!

It has occurred to me that, of late, my recommendations have been getting – shall we say – wordy. That is, long. I sometimes have a tendency, when I can’t think of what to write, to start off in an arbitrary direction (like now) and approach it from another angle. It also occurs to me that a lot of you don’t have time to waste and so, are not reading my post. I understand – you mainly want just enough information to decide whether or not this is a film you want to watch. So, I’ve decided to get this part over right at the beginning and let you go on with your day – and for anyone that wants to stay, I tell you WHY you should watch this film.

VERDICT: Yes! You should definitely see this film! You will love it! You will adore it! It will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and make you want to call your best friend that you haven’t seen since high school. Go out and hire it or buy it today! It’s one of the best movies of the year (2007 not 2008)!

Definitely, Maybe

No maybe’s about it… this is a great chick flick. I was surprised at how much I liked Ryan Reynolds as I have seen him in other films and was not that impressed. Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher are fantastic in this film.

This film was very humorous and watchable, all the characters were endearing and the storyline refreshing.

PARIS, TEXAS

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

The tall man walked out of the desert.

When I was in junior high school, I wrote a short story that began with this sentence. When I wrote it, I thought it was pretty deep. The man later goes on to rob banks but I thought the opening was pretty good. Years later, in a college writing course, I wrote a short story that began with …..

A solitary robed figure emerged from the desert….

I thought the opening line was so good, that I wanted another shot at it. This time the man has amnesia. He can’t remember who he is, or why he was in the desert, and he robs only one bank. I’ve been thinking lately that I might try writing it again. Maybe this time, the man robs a bank THEN escapes INTO the desert. He wanders about for years – lost – until the statute of limitations runs out, then …….

Bearded and tattered, the solitary man emerges from the dessert.

There’s something compelling about this concept. It’s not just me. A few years back, reminiscing with an old high school friend, I brought up this story that I wrote. He told me about a story he wrote that started out almost exactly the same way. A year or so ago, talking to a friend about this film I just saw, PARIS, TEXAS. He hadn’t seen it but told me about a short story he’d written in which a man staggers out of the Sahara Desert and falls dead. The people in the village who find him try to fit clues together to figure out what happened to him. Why is this idea so universally compelling?

KUKUSHKA (THE CUCKOO)

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

The Tower of Babel was a cruel joke ……………….funny though.

Here’s a question for you. If everybody in the world spoke the same language, would we fight less …..or more? I’ve been to other countries. Places where I neither understand nor speak the language – where I don’t know what anybody is saying, and where nobody knows what I’m saying. And yet – I’m still here. Contrary to what many people believe, one can survive this experience.  The same can be said for movies.

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

We Love Movies – Video recommendation of the Week:

I’m writing this recommendation because I’m a firm believer in symmetry.

 

 

During my many years of studying Physics, I’ve developed a deep appreciation of symmetry in nature – of balance. I don’t believe much in God – but if I did, Physics would be his play-book, His Bible. Physics describes the rules that God himself follows right down to the atomic level. You want to know how he created the universe? Physics tells you how. It describes the basic building blocks that form every rule and law of nature from the microscopic to the cosmological. For every particle there is an antiparticle. For every equation there is a symmetric (or antisymmetric) equation that link different phenomena. Balance is key. You eat a balanced diet for good physical health. You balance work and play for good mental health. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For each heads there is a tails with equal probability. The only reason we tolerate evil is because we know there is also good to balance it. Wax on ………wax off.

 

 

What all this got to do with this week’s video recommendation? Nothing – except………..

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone is based on a novel by Dennis Lahane. The plot is set in Dorchester Boston a rough area where dysfunctional individuals abound and centers on a little girls abduction.

The mothers Aunt hires two detectives Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) as they are familiar with the tough neighbourhood. At first they are unwilling to help but the pleas from the aunt have an effect and they start down an investigation that at first seems simple enough but in the end will endanger their lives and test their relationship. The movie is filled with morale decisions and justification of actions that will test all involved.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

For anyone who is has an interest in business, this is a must see DVD. The documentary looks at the failed Enron company. It looks at all the players and explains how this was the biggest and most significant corporate crime of the century.

I was absolutely ‘fixated’ on this whole, horrible story. Similar to the old fable ‘The Emperor has no Clothes’, Enron is a financial fantasyland until one day a Fortune Magazine journalist asks ‘How exactly does Enron make it’s money?’. Not such a dumb question.

MULHOLLAND DR.

We Love Movies -Video recommendation of the Week:

People are strange, when you’re a stranger …….then again, ’strange’ is relative.

Last week I recommended a movie called The Straight Story by David Lynch (of Eraserhead and Twin Peaks fame). I said that the film was probably the most accessible of Lynch’s movies. Unlike most of his other movies, it has wide appeal. It’s played straight (no pun intended), without venturing into the Twilight Zone. It delivers a feel good pay-off. It promotes positive social values. In fact, it has been praised both by film critics and spiritual leaders for its life-affirming message.

MULHOLLAND DR. ………..is not like that.

3:10 to Yuma

I finally get the appeal of westerns! This movie worked.

Russell Crowe is magnificent as gang leader and robber Ben Wade. His messy good looks and squinty eyes are incredibly charming even for such a Bible quoting killer as he. Christian Bale plays the honourable farmer who brings him to justice in order to save his own family.

The Good:

Everything about this film is excellent. From the plot to the acting, to the scenery. An amazing modern western to say the least. The dialog was interesting and witty. Thankfully, it had amazing gun fight scenes without been too violent. It also didn’t really have any boring bits.

THE STRAIGHT STORY

We Love Movies -Video recommendation of the Week:

Let me tell you about my lawn mower.

I have a Honda self-propelled, super mulching push lawn mower. It’s the kind that doesn’t need a bag because it shreds the grass clippings so fine that they just disappear into the lawn. And you don’t really have to push it – it goes all by itself and I just have to walk behind it. It’s pretty slick and I’m pretty sure that I’m the only person in my neighborhood to have one. I proudly use it once a week to cut my grass and make my lawn all even and beautiful. However, this isn’t quite the status symbol of suburbia it used to be, since all my neighbors have riding tractor mowers. I, myself, am not allowed to have a riding lawn mower for exactly the same reason that I’m not allowed to own power tools. The logic being – the greater the power, the greater the potential for disaster.

THE HOST

We Love Movies -Video recommendation of the Week:

Ode to the monster movie:

I just saw an outstanding monster movie recently called Cloverfield. It wasn’t like Frankenstein or Godzilla or any of the others I can remember from my childhood, and it will very likely change the nature of monster movies to come – a new benchmark – and when it comes out on video in a few months, I’ll have more to say about it then. But in the meantime, it reminded me of another great monster film I’d seen recently – this week’s movie, THE HOST.

Across the Universe

We Love Movies -Video recommendation of the Week:

There are two kinds of people in the world….

People are always saying this – about all sorts of things. But if you think about it, it’s the most absurd generality – that is, it’s true about almost everything.

Examples may include: “There are two kinds of people in the world ………”

• …those that put people into two categories, and those that don’t.”
• …those that like to carve dinosaurs out of baked potatoes, and those that don’t”
• …those with ears shaped like bake potatoes that are then cut in half then baked some more – maybe with a little pat of butter, and those with ears shape like potatoes that haven’t been baked at all.”
• …those who like to keep a baked potato on a string around their neck, and those that prefer to keep their baked potato ……..er ……….elsewhere.”

…and I haven’t even begun to explore the myriad possibilities of other types of baked vegetables. However, the saying only really has any meaning when it is used to make a distinction between groups of people that are approximately equal in number – like I’m about to do.

No Country for Old Men

A local deer hunter stumbles upon a crime/ drug scene in the middle of nowhere. He takes the $2m then finds himself being hunted by a psychotic killer.

The Good:

I really enjoyed the suspense and thrill of the chase scenes. The storyline flows at an enjoyable pace and I was engrossed in the characters. The most interesting character for me was the Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones). I’m surprised that Javier Bardem’s performance has been recognised more then other characters played by Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones. Both of these performances were way underrated in my opinion.

27 Dresses

Katherine Heigl plays ‘Jane’ a hardworking, loyal person who finds herself always the bridesmaid and never the bride.

She has a longtime crush on her boss, but things are made complicated when her sister catches his eye.

I really enjoyed this movie. Katherine Heigl is adorable, her wardrobe stunning (not the bridesmaid dresses which are purposefully horrible). Follows the light, fluffy, feel good, chick plot to a tee. Loved it.

Steph’s rating: 8/10