The Croods

The Croods (2013)
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds
Director: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders
DREAMWORKS

 

 

Ahhh..........school holiday madness. It's always hard to know what to spend those hard earned dollars on during the school holiday period where the kids have you climbing the walls dying to get outside and do something! My 8 year old daughter decided a few months ago that we would be seeing this little gem, The Croods.

Who are The Croods? Well, let's introduce you to the modern version of the Flinstones without all the funky gadgets.

Grug (Nicholas Cage)  - Grug is the father figure of our cave dwelling family unit. Strong and very protective of his family, Grug prefers to shut his family in the cave to protect them from the dangerous world outside. But he doesn't count on his head strong and somewhat pubescent daughter Eep.

 

Eep (Emma Stone) - Eep is the typical teenager, bored with the world around her and dying to find out what's on the other side. She hates being cooped up on the cave and dreams of living her life in the light.


Guy (Ryan Reynolds) - Guy is the young man that changes the lives of the Croods for ever. He's smart, good looking, self sufficient and inventive, and he's been alone for a long time, apart from his adorable companion, Belt.

The rest of the family is made up of Ugga, Gran, Thunk and Sandy, the typical family unit, just trying to stay alive.

This movie was funny, colourful, a little sad and really entertaining. I loved how colourful the landscapes were and how adorable the creatures were, even the ones that were trying to eat them on  a regular basis! I saw a lot of "How to Train your Dragon" in this, which isn't surprising considering it's from the same people that made it. Some of the animals reminded me of Toothless and their facial expressions were very similar, but hey, it worked for that movie, it's bound to work for another.

 

Judging by the laughs in the cinema, and not just the kids either, this will be a hit. Well worth taking the kids to see, big kids included.




Warm Bodies

 

Warm Bodies (2013)
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
Director: Jonathan Levine

 

 

I have a wonderful friend that I have known since I was about 3 years old, who works for Icon Film in Sydney. A few months ago, he leant me a book by a guy called Isaac Marion called Warm Bodies. He told me they had made a film out of it and that he thought it was something that I would really enjoy. I finished the book in four days.

The book was fantastic. I literally had trouble putting it down. It was funny, engaging, romantic, a bit gruesome and over-all, attention grabbing.

The movie is no different.

R, (Nicholas Hoult) is a zombie with a conscience. His inner monologue is his constant companion and while he has the same diet as all the other zombies, R is somehow different. R wanders around the abandoned airport day in, day out. He often stops and looks at the other zombies that inhabit the airport and imagines what they were before the apocalypse hit. He remembers very little about his own life, but is pretty sure his name started with an R.

R has a best friend, M, who he spends some of his time with, having strange, grunting conversations that only a zombie can understand. On occasion, they go out in packs looking for food. On one particular scouting expedition, they come across a pack of humans looking for medical supplies, and the smorgasbord ensues. But there is one human that R just can't seem to digest............Julie (Teresa Palmer). Julie is different and R decides to save her.

Taking her back to the airport is risky, but he decides it's safer to keep her there than to let her stay where she was, and he needs to find out more about her. Why does this human make him feel different?  During Julies short stay at the airport, she comes to realise that R isn't like all the other zombies. R collects vinyl LP's and is more interested in protecting her than making he into a meal, and while this fascinates her, she still needs to go home.

When the boneys find out about Julie, (the boneys are what zombies become when they lose all humanity), R and Julie make a run for it, back towards the city where Julie lives.

Soon, other zombies begin to change, they all begin to 'think' and 'talk', and they know that it's R and Julie that have made this possible, so they follow them to the city to help.

Nicholas Hoult is fantastic in this movie. They could not have picked a better actor to play the conflicted zombie, and this will do BIG things for his career. Sadly, I think it means that he will get a legion of screaming teenage girls whose lives have become empty since the departure of Rob Pattinson and the Twilight franchise. I really hope they do not try and fill their meaningless, self absorbed lives with rants about how 'hot' Nicholas Hoult is etc etc. It would really just spoil it for me.

Teresa Palmer was also fantastic as Julie and her and Nicholas have very convincing on-screen chemistry.

The supporting cast is funny and well worth watching. The gore is almost non-existent and most of it is left up to your own imagination. The boneys are probably the scariest thing about this movie, but I would even let my 8 year old daughter see it.

While it wasn't exactly like the book, different ending a couple of smaller unimportant storylines have been cut, I still really enjoyed it and will be seeing it again.

 

Trouble with the Curve

Trouble with the Curve (2012)
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman
Director: Robert Lorenz

 

 

If Clint Eastwood is attached to something these days, you can pretty much be guaranteed of two things. One, it's going to be good and two, you'll cry. Whether he is behind the camera as well as in front of it, or in this case, just in front , a Clint Eastwood movie is always an experience you won't regret. 

 

The trailer for this was great, very engaging and really set the story. For those of you who see the trailer and think it's a sports movie, yes, it's a movie with baseball in it, but it's not a movie about baseball. It is the story of a father and daughter whose strained relationship comes to breaking point.

Mickey, (Amy Adams), is a successful lawyer whose life consists of work, work and work. She barely has time for a steady relationship let alone a relationship with her father who left her when her mother died at the age of 6.

Gus, (Clint Eastwood), is a successful baseball scout who has a knack for picking some of the best players the sport has ever seen, but age is catching up with him. Gus realises that he is starting to go blind, but being stubborn, he refuses to believe it will affect his job and takes on a scouting job in North Carolina.

 

Mickey is forced to realise that her father needs help and even though it's a bad time for her with her firm pushing to make her a partner, she takes the road trip and meets up with her father to try and convince him that he needs help.

Along the way we meet Johnny, (Justin Timberlake), a washed up baseball player that has now become a scout for the Red Sox. Johnny's career only came about due to Gus picking him for the Braves many years ago, but he is forced to give it up when his arm is injured.

Together, Mickey and Gus check out the Braves newest target, Bo Gentry, a hot headed, cocky player who supposedly has the best batting skills anyone has ever seen. Gus thinks the only way to know if a player is good or not is to watch them in action. But back in the office, younger and less experienced Phillip (Matthew Lillard), believes you can pick a player by looking at his stats on a computer, making Gus an antique and due to be put out to pasture.

Some of the most powerful scenes in the movie are the simplest, which is why I loved this so much.

Amy Adams was fantastic as Clint Eastwoods equally stubborn daughter and they worked very well together. Even Timberlake keeps proving he can not only sing, but he can act as well.

This was a brilliant movie, and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone, whether you're a baseball fan or not.  



Skyfall

Skyfall (2012)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Wishaw.
Director: Sam Mendes

 

 

Bond.................James Bond.

We've been hearing those words for 50 years now. Can you believe it? I grew up with James Bond because my father was a huge fan. I remember a very tattered copy of Ian Flemings "Diamonds are Forever" on my Dad's bedside table all the time. It was yellow with age, and very dog eared from many a read.

Our favourite Bond was always Sean Connery. He was tall, sexy, cheeky and to die for. Even I could see the appeal at a young age. While I still enjoyed the franchise after Connery had moved on, things started changing with the times. I could understand the need for some things to be modernised and for technology to finally play a larger role in the biggest action franchise Hollywood had ever seen, but in the later years, especially with Pierce Brosnan and more recently Daniel Craig, the movies seemed to be more about how much product placement they could fit into two hours.

With Skyfall, the 23rd in the series, Hollywood it seems, has seen sense.

While watching the opening credits, I questioned whether this was the first time they had used the actor in the title credits rather than just the silhouette of what we should assume was Bond. Daniel Craig grapples with scantily clad women, suggestive shadows and bullets flying all around. Adeles beautiful song just fits. There is no other way to describe it.

The story here is simple, but powerful. M, played once again by Dame Judi Dench, is shown to be ruthless and cold at the beginning of the film. But one is left wondering if it's because she has lost so many under her command, or whether it is part of her tough exterior as a woman in a mans role. We are also introduced to Gareth Mallory, (Ralph Fiennes), who has been brought in to investigate the loss of yet another agent and to force M to retire.

After a chase through the streets of Istanbul, Shanghai and Macau, Bond eventually comes face to face with an entirely new bad guy, one who knows MI6 intimately, and has the skills to topple them in the blink of an eye. Mr Silver, a maniacal performance from Javier Bardem (What is with the bad hair on this guy in every single movie he's in?!) has to be one of the creepiest Bond villains I have ever seen.  The scene where he's feeling up Bond just made me cringe.

The scenery and visuals in this film are stunning. Amazing locations, including the breathtaking Glencoe in Scotland where we visited last year, and fantastic performances from all the cast make this a Bond not to miss. And while I'll always been a Connery girl at heart, Daniel Craigs piercing blue eyes are just something to be seen.

This is Bond gone back to basics. No Tag Hauer watches, no Nokia phones, just good old fashioned guns and sex.

In a word.................brilliant.





50/50

50/50 (2011)
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogan, Anna Kendrick, Angelica Huston

Director: Jonathan Levine

I've looked at this a few times in the video shop, even rented it once but never got around to watching it, so this week, I grabbed it and watched it while folding washing.

Joseph Gordon Levitt is just everywhere right now. He is the 'it' boy of the moment. He's in Looper, The Dark Knight Rises and Lincoln and has a few more projects coming up. I remember this guy as the long haired alien in 3rd Rock from the Sun, and he was pretty impressive back then.

Giving him a meaty role like this is the sort of thing that turns a good actor, into a great one. Levitt plays Adam Lerner, a twenty something year old who goes to the doctor after having a bad back for a while, only to discover he has a tumour on his spine. This turns his world upside down.

This is the story of how everyone around Adam deals with someone so young being given a fifty fifty chance at survival after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumour.

 

Seth Rogan is hilarious as the best mate, Kyle, who is mildly freaked out by the prospect of losing his best friend, but uses it to his advantage to score chicks and get high with Adam from his medicinal marijuana.

The cast includes the seasoned Angelica Huston as his over protective mother who is also looking after Adams father who has dementia, and Bryce Dallas Howard as the vain and nasty girlfriend who turns Adams cancer into her own drama.

Some of my favourite moments involved Seth Rogan and the two older guys that Adam meets while doing chemo.

There is also a bit of a romantic story here when Adam is sent to see a student Doctor, Twilights Anna Kendrick, and ends falling for her.

 

I'm really glad I watched this as the director, Jonathan Levine, has also recently directed the next 'must see' movie for me, Warm Bodies.

This movie was great. Sad, extremely funny and just full of great performances. I highly recommend it to anyone who would like to see a movie that deals with cancer in a light hearted fashion.

Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff
Director: Sam Raimi

The 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz has long been a favourite of mine. When I was very young, I remember going down to my Grandmothers retirement village flat and watching it on television with my Mum as the boys were watching football or something on our tv. The colour, the singing, the munchkins, the costumes, how can you not have fallen in love with it? It was, forever after, an all time favourite movie. When my daughter was very little, we watched it together and she fell in love with it as well. I ended up having to buy a second copy of it as she wore the first one out from watching it so much.

When I first heard about this pre-quel by Sam Raimi, I was pretty excited. The trailer was full of colour, fantasy, magic and just enough promise to keep us salivating. Then I heard that Danny Elfman was doing the music and it just topped it off for me.

Well, today the wait was over. We took our daughter to see it as an end of softball season treat.

I didn't love it.

As soon as the music starts over the top of the opening sequence, I was in Danny Elfman heaven. I don't know what it is about Elfman, but he has this bizarre way of transporting you to another world with a minute of music.

However, as soon as the story began, I felt flattened and cheated. James Franco plays the Great and Powerful Oz, the title character. In my opinion, the title character should be strong and engaging, and he just fell short. He is meant to be a con man, a swindler and a cheat, and while he does make you dislike the character, he just doesn't play it strong enough.

There is a small scene at the beginning where he is visited in Kansas at the travelling circus by Annie, played by Michelle Williams. In this scene, Annie tells Oscar that she will marry a man called Tony Gale. Now for those of us who know the Judy Garland movie, I put two and two together and figured she was meant to be Dorothy's mother. They never elude to anymore than this and it was a bit disappointing.

When Oscar gets blown into the land of Oz by one of those pesky twisters that seem to hang around Kansas a lot, he is met by the beautiful Theodora, played by Mila Kunis, who tells him where he has landed and to get out of the water before the water faeries attack. These things were so cute, just with sharp teeth and very cheeky!



 

Theodora believes Oscar to be the great and powerful Wizard of prophecy and immediately takes him to the Emerald City to meet her sister Evanora, played by Rachel Weisz.

Along the way, Oz meets a smart mouthed winged monkey, played by Zack Braff and a little China Doll who has had her whole village destroyed by the wicked witch. Evanora and Theodora send Oz out to kill the wicked witch, who he believes to be Glinda at this stage.

He soon finds out that the sisters in Emerald City have led him astray and Glinda, Michelle Williams again, tells him what has really happened to the land of Oz.

We end up being introduced to three different races that are under Glindas care, the Tinkers, the farmers and the Munchkins who decide to work together to defeat the evil sisters who have overthrown the Emerald City.

The film was visually stunning, apart from the sweeping shots of the Emerald City which were just too fast and ended up being blurry in some places. The colour of the flowers in the field of sunflowers was gorgeous, but I it did look a bit like some of it was borrowed from Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland.

Mila Kunis for me, was the strongest character in this, and I really ended up loving her even though I'm not a fan of Mila Kunis. The costumes and make up were great, but it was hard to admire some things with so much green screen in use.

I really wanted to love this, but ended up just 'liking' it. I wish there had been more explanation of why things were the way they were in the Wizard of Oz and a bit less focus on Oz being a womanising, slimey, con man.

I won't give some parts of the story away as someone gave it away for me a few months ago and spoilt it for me. '

It's colourful, it's cute and some great scenes, but all in all, not as wonderful as I wanted it to be.

 

Argo

Argo (2012)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman

Director: Ben Affleck

 

This years nominees for Best Picture for the Academy Awards were an odd bunch. I must admit that I had only seen one of them and knew very little about the others.

This one, while I thought I'd get around to it one day, didn't really peak my interest, until it won for Best Picture.

Based on the true story of Tony Mendez, an expert in exfiltration working with the CIA is called in to rescue 6 Americans who managed to escape the take over of the American Embassy in Iran in 1979.

From the very beginning, this is a gripping movie. I thought I would be a bit bored in parts, but the opening sequence, showing the past history of the leaders or Iran and how they rose and fell really sets up what you're in for with this movie.

Tony (played by a very hairy Ben Affleck) enlists the help of some friends in the movie industry, specifically a make up artist who has close contacts in the industry. They devise a plan to promote a movie called Argo, an intergalactic love story, that doesn't actually exist. They use the movie to build up fake identities for the six Americans who are stranded in the house of the Canadian Ambassador in Iran after having escaped when the embassy was overthrown. Tony decides that they are a film crew scouting locations for the new film and spends weeks building up a movie that will never be made, all in order to get the six home safely.

Fantastic acting, especially from Ben Affleck, who also directed the movie, and Alan Arkin.

This was a well deserved win for Ben and the crew and I hope he makes more of this calibre.