July 2012 - Movie Train

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Movie Train - July 2012

Ted: Review

July 24th 2012 17:15

Two stars have been born - Ted and writer/director Seth MacFarlane.

We know who MacFarlane is - think of the madness behind Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.

In Ted, he steps out with his first non-animated effort and it is a beauty.

But who is Ted? If you think he is a cuddly, childhood teddy bear, you'd be partly right.

If you added a sexually charged, foul-mouthed and wild best mate then you'd be closer to the truth.

This movie is one of the funniest you are going to find this year, if sexual content and some foul language don't upset you.

MacFarlane brings a refreshing brand of humour to this story and the plentiful laughs sneak up on you when you least expect them.

The story starts with a young and lonely John Bennett wishing his teddy could come alive and be his best friend forever.

When he wakes to find that Ted is alive, his life will never be the same again.

Fast-forward a few years and John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted are inseparable even though John now has a lovely girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis).

While Lori wants John to grow up and settle down, Ted is still all about partying and continues to be a bad influence on his mate.

If John doesn't want to lose the love of his life, he must put some space between himself and Ted. Ted has to go it alone, find a job and move into some new lodgings. This is some of the funniest material as Ted lives life to the full. It is not often you see a teddy bear chatting up beautiful girls and getting his way with them.

Ted is just one of John's problems - Lori's rich boss Rex (Joel McHale) is determined to win her over, too. Then a crazed father kidnaps him so he can be the best friend of his son.

John must work out exactly what Ted means to him if he wants to keep both Lori and Ted in his life. Trailer is below:

Running Time: 109 minutes
Rating: PG
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars

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Posted By: matt-jackson93 - Category: Reviews

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Dark Knight Rises: Review

July 20th 2012 17:48

Seven years ago, Nolan changed the way we looked at superheroes. Batman Begins arrived as a thought experiment: what would a modern vigilante, a haunted orphan bent on a mission of revenge, look like? How would he fight? How would his city react?

With 2008's The Dark Knight, Nolan refined that image by pitting Batman against what he wasn't. As the principled hero's nemesis The Joker, Heath Ledger personified chaos and an unhinged psychosis.

Now, to the chagrin of fanboys everywhere, Nolan is closing the book on Bats. Though DKR doesn't have the ultimate opposition the late Ledger provided, in many ways it's a bigger picture than the second instalment -- literally, in terms of Nolan's expansive use of the IMAX format, and figuratively, in the sheer scope of its plot.

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Picking up from the threads of The Dark Knight, the new film begins eight years after the death of Harvey Dent, Gotham's white knight-turned-villain (a secret harboured by Batman and Commissioner Gordon). When we first see Bruce Wayne again, he's a wasted relic. Hobbling around with a cane and bearing a goatee, he's the subject of whispered jokes that he's becoming Gotham's Howard Hughes.

A brazen Wayne Manor break-in by Selina Kyle reanimates the crime-fighter. To the dismay of his faithful butler Alfred, Batman gets back in the game. But he's a wounded warrior now, more dependent than ever on his arsenal of tricks and toys.

Soon, bridges are blown up, the stock market is hijacked and, for a time, it seems as if Gotham is alone. Like The Dark Knight's treatise on justice and fate, Nolan and his screenwriting brother Jon bring Batman closer to our realm by targeting the One-Percent. In DC's gritty stand-in for Manhattan, their images of bridges blasted to dust and an island of skyscrapers turning into a war zone are potent.

This is where DKR is at its best: a dispassionate action thriller as audacious as it is impressive. In our CGI-addled age, Nolan is an old-fashioned filmmaker. May the lords of celluloid bless his cinematographer Wally Pfister, one of the last anti-digital holdouts. Nolan avoids CGI whenever possible, which means when you see the stunning opening -- featuring a mid-air hijacking -- you're watching a real plane plummeting over Scotland. To film a woman capable of controlling the Batcyclepod, Nolan recruited Jolene Van Vug, the first female motorcross rider to perform a backflip.

But if you apply that level of scrutiny to the story itself, The Dark Knight's comic book roots begin to show. The characters are stoic, but shallow, rarely deviating from their preassigned path. The always-capable Joseph Gordon Levitt is simply a good cop who gets better, a younger policeman standing in for the ailing commissioner. Matthew Modine is Deputy Commissioner Foley, more a politician than police officer. We know he's eventually going to crumple the minute we first lay eyes on him.

As Bane, a mercenary building his own private army, Tom Hardy is elemental. Physically, his Bane is monstrous, but little is said about why he wants to grind Gotham under his boots. Evil is as evil does, I guess.

Of all the new additions to Nolan's repertory company, surprisingly it's Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle who fares the best. She has always been an ace pitcher when it comes putting some spin on her delivery of lines. Here, she drips with scorn, scowling at the boys and their toys while she steals from the rich and gives to the poor (mainly herself). It's never quite clear which side Kyle is on, which is what makes her so watchable.

Then, there's the other woman in Wayne's life: Miranda Tate, the wealthy philanthropist over whom he unexpectedly swoons just weeks after crawling out of his cave. Tate is played with a haughty air by Marion Cotillard, the French actress who Nolan adores and for whom he delayed the production. Still, the director forgets to outline the reason for Wayne's affection (beyond Cotillard's radiant glow from the recent birth of her first child.)

A look back at Batman Begins and even further into the Nolans' oeuvre indicates the brothers have a knack for precisely crafted plots. In The Dark Knight Rises, you'll find the pieces slip together with more than a few breathtaking twists. But, if you're looking for the motivation behind it all, you're probably better off revisiting the source material, including the Batman comic book collections Knightfall, No-Man's Land and The Dark Knight Returns. Where viewers of the film might be hard pressed to explain how easily Bane gathers his underground army, in the comics, creator Frank Miller painted a vivid picture of a lost, aimless generation looking for a leader.

Visually, DKR is sumptuous. Chances are you'll want to watch it again just to take in the vertigo-inducing footage (I know I do). However, as you savour the Batcrafts and the film's complicated climax, don't peer too closely at the details. DKR is at its best a ride built by one of contemporary cinema's master mechanics.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Posted By: matt-jackson93 - Category: Reviews

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Savages: Review

July 15th 2012 15:17

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Films are like puzzles. Ideally, each aspect of a film is like a particular piece that links together to create one beautiful piece of art. Many times though the pieces just do not fit together and we end up with films that are mediocre or worse. Savages is one of those films.

Despite having a great concept, a legendary director (whose legend may be a little overinflated) and a cast of actors most films would die for, I felt Savages was such a mess of a film that I openly questioned myself on if I got it or not. I came to the conclusion that I did not care because ultimately it is just a bad piece of entertainment and my getting it would not help it one way or the other.

Director Oliver Stone has been riding his past successes for years now. Personally, I have not been impressed by anything he has directed since Any Given Sunday, which was over a decade ago and the quality of that film is generally up for debate (I just really like Al Pacino in it). With Savages, Stone has a simple concept where a pair of small time pot distributers get mixed up with the wrong side of a big Mexican cartel and ultimately flip the bad back on the cartel by playing things smarter. It should be tense and exciting as the two try and outsmart the larger and more dangerous cartel, instead most of the film is devoid of any excitement or tension.

The script’s handling of the characters leaves no room for development, everyone is just a cardboard cutout and as such I never cared for any of the plethora of characters in play. This would not be a problem if the film just played everything straight and was a generic action movie but Savages is not an action movie, it is a thriller without any thrills. The entire back half of the film is reliant on the audience feeling something for the actions being forced upon Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) as they try to save their shared girlfriend, O (Blake Lively).

Savages attempts to shock audiences but, fails to reach those lofty goals. Some of that may be pinned on the fact that entertainment has reached a threshold where hardly anything is capable of actually shocking people but some of that needs to be pinned on Stone for not realizing his film fails to achieve its intended goal. Without the shock value, Savages is less than mediocre and at a run time of over two hours, the film can be something of a slog.

While much of the film’s tone is bleak and unfun, John Travolta continues his descent into Nic Cage territory with his performance here. It is not good enough to suggest anyone goes to see this but one might want to catch this when it comes out on Netflix a few months from now just to witness it.

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Posted By: matt-jackson93 - Category: Reviews

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That's My Boy: Review

July 11th 2012 14:13

Lowbrow comedy goes subterranean in "That's My Boy," a product of the Adam Sandler movie factory unpolluted by a trace of ambition or wit.

This film forgets that good comedy is rarely dumb, it just plays dumb. Sandler, treading water in a sea of bodily fluids, retarded sexuality and antisocial behavior, makes you yearn for the rib-tickling sophistication of "Ernest Goes to Camp." The movie should be buried in a time capsule to teach future generations what to avoid.

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The deluxe-stupid script positions Sandler as Donny, a washed-up minor celebrity who rocketed to national fame when he impregnated his red-hot math teacher at age 13. Now he's a beer-bloated, middle-aged child-man who needs his successful adult son's financial help to avoid a prison sentence for tax evasion.

The boy (Andy Samberg), whom he christened Han Solo, changed his name to Todd and severed all ties for reasons that should be obvious. On Todd's wedding weekend, Donny re-enters his life, wreaking havoc at every turn.

As he has done before, Sandler makes his character a babe magnet with mythological stamina and the benevolence to confer his sexual favors on elderly women, too. Sad sack Samberg is Donny's mirror image. He's the poster boy for mousy repression — his pretty, domineering fiancée is obviously interested in the rising executive for his money alone — and when he grasps the situation, Dad changes his mission, deciding that a good, gutter-wallowing hookers-and-booze bachelor party is what his dweebish boy needs. Cue the urine and barf jokes.

If this summary is unpleasant, I assure you the film is a lot more fun to read about than to endure. It is about as funny as watching an obese stripper eating an omelet while upside down on her dance pole. Which they actually show.

The standard Sandlerisms repeat themselves. The notion that older women might have sexual urges is treated with comic mockery. Roly-poly guys jiggle across the screen in revealing attire. Surprise Star Cameos drag a veritable Who's Who of familiar faces out of retirement and repurpose them as objects of our derision. Why else cast Tony Orlando in a supporting role that requires him to wear the world's ugliest toupee? At least I hope it's a toupee. When the sex gags flout one taboo act that will never have its own Pride Day Parade, the spiral of misery and torment reaches whirlpool velocity.

The mix of hackery and self-regard on display here is amazing. The film is the work of professionals who have the resources to make a well-constructed comedy. They simply don't respect their audiences, or their craft, enough to make the effort.

Rating: 6/10 - Watch the trailer below:

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Posted By: matt-jackson93 - Category: Reviews

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Chernobyl Diaries: Review

July 10th 2012 10:37

Most good horror movies are rich with subtext. You could read “Psycho” as an Oedipal parable, say, or George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” as a sendup of voracious consumerism. “Chernobyl Diaries”? You could conceivably consider it a warning about nuclear power, but it’s really about the dangers of seeking adventure in a foreign country and trusting former Soviets. But please, don’t give it that much thought.

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We’ve been on similar tours: “Turistas” tossed young people to their deaths in Brazil; “Hostel” tortured them in Slovakia. “Chernobyl Diaries” follows six travelers — the sensitive Chris (the cherubic pop star Jesse McCartney); his girlfriend, Natalie (Olivia Taylor Dudley, unfocused); her sensible friend Amanda (Devin Kelley); Chris’s impetuous brother, Paul (Jonathan Sadowski); and a couple they meet, the Norwegian Zoe (Ingrid Bolso Berdal, underused) and the hippie-ish Australian Michael (Nathan Phillips) — on an “extreme travel” expedition in Ukraine to Pripyat, the dilapidated town beside the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

Their guide, Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko), says Pripyat was abandoned during Chernobyl’s notorious disaster in 1986. He’s mistaken. Vicious dogs and bears prowl the premises, as do furtive, hairless, carnivorous humanoids fleetingly seen in deep shadow. (Actually, it’s hard to get a good view of many things in this picture, thanks to its unrelentingly restless hand-held camera.) Standard-issue genre accessories (dank stairways, flashlights, overcast skies, frosty windows) abound; shocks are mild and few.

The story for “Diaries” comes from Oren Peli, of the “Paranormal Activity” brain trust, and like that franchise, it toys with viewers’ expectations, but without the sense of play. The “Paranormal Activity” movies don’t teem with metaphor, and neither does this film, directed by Brad Parker. The original “Night of the Living Dead” left you with plenty to chew on, so to speak; “Chernobyl Diaries” just leaves you feeling empty.

“Chernobyl Diaries” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for strong language. Gore levels are strictly PG-13. Watch the trailer below:

Rating: Poor 2/10

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Ice Age 4:Continental Drift: Review

July 8th 2012 15:59

We've had three movies to get to know what to expect from the Blue Sky Studios' world of prehistoric animals and this instalment delivers the regular natural disaster and the same reliable family entertainment.

Though the core cast remains and the opening features Scrat's ongoing acorn gag, there are plenty of new characters to freshen things up, although it's getting hard to ignore how familiar the formula is.

Manny (Romano) and Ellie's (Latifah) baby mammoth, Peaches (Keke Palmer), has now grown into a teenager, and this unusual family of loveable misfits is still together - but not for long. As the title suggests, the cataclysmic breakup of the Earth's continents launches them on their next adventure.

Though most of the herd remains trapped on land, Manny, Diego (Leary), Sid the Sloth (Leguizamo) and his granny (Wanda Sykes) are cast out to sea on a drifting iceberg.

They survive tidal waves and the perfect storm, only to come face to face with a bunch of pirates led by Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage), a ruthless gigantopithecus (a gorilla-looking dude) who is determined Manny and friends will not return to shore.

By jumping on the popular pirate genre bandwagon, Ice Age 4 is able to introduce a whole new shipload of entertaining characters, including a delightfully dimwitted seal called Flynn (Nick Frost) and Shira (Jennifer Lopez), a smilodon tiger.

It also provides the opportunity for a musical number in the form of a sea shanty and for chases on iceberg ships to keep the action moving - even if the fighting scenes and escape plans get increasingly outlandish.

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As far as animations go, Ice Age 4 isn't as preachy as many, with the themes of loyalty and the importance of family treated with a light touch.

And that's not a bad summary of what you get here; fun, whacky and snappy entertainment from a madcap cast of characters that's not too scary (even in 3D) for the littlies to enjoy, and with just enough funny lines to keep their parents entertained.

Stars: 3/5
Cast: Ray Romano, Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah
Director: Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier
Running time: 93 mins
Rating: PG (Contains low level violence)
Verdict: More of the same, but still adorable.

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The Amazing Spiderman: Review

July 4th 2012 10:47

Who would have thought a Spider-Man film without Mary Jane Watson, Norman Osborn, and J. Jonah Jameson would end up being the web-slinger’s definitive adventure? With Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler is taken “back to formula” with a spectacular reboot.

When Joel Schumacher’s 1997 film Batman & Robin completely destroyed the Batman franchise, it took Warner Bros. eight years to resurrect the caped crusader. It took a colossal, rubber-nippled failure to give birth to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, and I think we can all agree it was worth revisiting the Batman mythos.

Similarly, Sam Raimi’s 2007 movie Spider-Man 3 ruined Marvel’s most popular (and profitable) superhero series beyond repair. The reason comic book characters like Batman and Spider-Man have survived for decades is because they are constantly re-imagined by new writers and artists. It took Ang Lee’s underwhelming Hulk to bring us The Incredible Hulk, which ultimately led to Mark Ruffalo’s excellent portrayal of the character in The Avengers.

There will always be an interest in these heroes as long as the writers and directors involved remain faithful to the source material and honor the spirit of the characters. Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) does just that by focusing on Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and his interpersonal relationships. Most comic book movies use relationships as a way of segueing from one action sequence to another, but in The Amazing Spider-Man, there is real weight and reverence given to Parker’s interactions with those around him.

Garfield is spot-on as Peter Parker. He effortlessly exudes the shy, awkward, wisecracking genius of his comic counterpart in a way that Toby Maguire never could. The ‘secret origins’ storyline of Peter’s father as an OsCorp scientist (and his parents’ subsequent mysterious death) gives depth to his relationship with mentor Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and the “radioactive” spider responsible for his gifts and curses.

There’s also the family drama with Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), struggling to decide when and what to tell Peter about his parents. In Raimi’s trilogy, Parker isn’t affected by the loss of his parents – but here, he is defined by it. He’s just a kid, with serious abandonment issues, and he wants an explanation for his parents’ sudden disappearance and death. He digs too deep and uncovers things that should have stayed buried in the past – which makes him responsible not only for Uncle Ben’s death (as always), but Connors’ transformation into The Lizard.

The wonderful Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacey, Parker’s first girlfriend and all-around awesome female character. Complete with her trademark boots, skirts, and headbands, the blonde-banged Gwen is more than a damsel in distress or mere love triangle bait. She’s an emotionally mature companion to Peter, someone who can provide comfort and care when he’s beaten up. And she’s intellectually on the same level, making Pete the second smartest kid in his class – gotta love that.

Gwen’s father, Captain Stacey (Denis Leary) represents yet another relationship with Parker and Spider-Man. To Stacey, Spider-Man is a masked vigilante that is seemingly sabotaging the NYPD’s investigations. Peter has to juggle his relationships with Gwen and her father, as well as his responsibility to Aunt May and his family all while dealing with Curt Connors increasingly aggressive attacks on the city.

The Amazing Spider-Man isn’t all character study, though. The action sequences are fantastic – a seamless combination of practical and special effects that brings Spidey to life in a way that Raimi’s films failed to do. There’s a sloppy, improvised style to Spidey’s movements that feel natural – like there’s a real teenager under the spandex exploring his newfound superpowers.

The first-person shots of Spider-Man swinging through the city are equally impressive, and in IMAX 3D you’ll feel completely immersed in the action as Spidey frantically attempts to escape The Lizard’s razor-sharp claws. I really hope Marc Webb is on board to do the next Spider-Man films, as I can’t imagine anyone else carrying out the Gwen Stacey story arc. His emotional, relationship-heavy storytelling is a perfect fit for Spider-Man – and this is a great first entry in a new franchise that has tons of potential.

While ultimately I think The Amazing Spider-Man is the web-slinger’s best film yet – I must admit I miss Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson – perfect casting choices that can’t be improved upon. It’s going to be hard to top Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock too, but hopefully the creators choose new and interesting villains like Kraven or Electro before revisiting the first trilogy’s baddies. Then again, it would be awesome to see an actual Green Goblin (not some guy in a green motorcycle helmet) and a real Venom (not Topher Grace) eventually.

I hope people give this film a chance. It’s hard to say if The Amazing Spider-Man will get the attention it deserves or if it will get lost in the shuffle of a superhero summer already occupied by The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. If Spider-Man 3 is this generation’s Batman & Robin (and it is…), then Webb’s reboot is Marvel’s Batman Begins, a second chance for a hero that deserves further exploration.

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Posted By: matt-jackson93 - Category: Reviews

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