Released June 25, 2009
Eric, Linus, Hutch and Windows are Star Wars fans, the kind that dress up as Stormtroopers and argue over whether Luke would still kiss Leia knowing she’s his sister. It’s 1998 and they are in rapture over the imminent release of Episode I. Desperate for another shot of Star Wars opium, they set out to break into the Skywalker Ranch to be the first to see the completed film.
Thus begins a series of loosely connected comedic adventures as they cross the continent in a van that doubles as their Millennium Falcon, complete with a temperamental hyperdrive. There’s an ongoing gag about the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek fans and cameos from a half dozen famous actors such as Seth Rogen, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Kevin Smith and an hilarious turn by William Shatner as a mysterious source who provides the boys with blueprints of the Lucasfilm HQ. Fanboy favourite Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) plays Zoe, their friend, fellow fan and voice of sanity.
The film was originally slated for release in 2007, but was delayed by reshoots and an ongoing battle between the filmmakers and the Weinsteins (who produced) over the terminal illness of one of the characters. A fan campaign and Vanity Fair advertisement later and director Kyle Newman won his fight to keep the story close to his original vision. It’s this cut of the film that has been released in cinemas.
Ironically it is this serious story thread that clashes with the in-jokes and slapstick that dominate much of the runtime; it’s hard to have a knob gag and then suddenly be sincere. Nonetheless, Fanboys is lovingly made by fans for fans and is an enjoyable, if indulgent, road-movie.
3/5
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Valkyrie (2008)
DVD Released June 4, 2009
Tom Cruise doesn't deserve half the flak thrown at him. Regardless of whether he believes there's an alien named Xemu ruling a "Galactic Confederacy", he seems like an affable fellow and does an admirable job playing good-German Von Stauffenberg in Bryan Singer's taut WW2 thriller.
Plagued through much of its production with controversy due to Cruise's involvement and Hollywood’s hijacking of the German July plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944, Singer wrings every bit of tension out of the concept while remaining close to the facts. The title comes from "Operation Valkyrie", a contingency plan if the ruling Nazi government were to fall. This plan is hijacked by a team of conspirators played by British stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and Terence Stamp, who, led by Cruise, attempt to overthrow the Nazis and make peace with the allies before their beloved Germany is destroyed.
Shot in many of the real locations and historical buildings in Berlin, it feels authentic even through it’s still clearly a big-budget American production. Cruise is almost a physical doppelganger for Stauffenberg, and the actors chosen to play our favourite Nazis are well chosen – Harvey Friedman is especially great in a small role as the slimy Goebbels. By ignoring much of the cultural context to the assassination attempt it’s not the complex film it could have been, but it remains tight and consistently engaging.
This single-disc DVD release contains two commentaries, a making-of documentary and a feature about the German resistance, all of which are informative without succumbing to excessive back-slapping.
3.5/5
Tom Cruise doesn't deserve half the flak thrown at him. Regardless of whether he believes there's an alien named Xemu ruling a "Galactic Confederacy", he seems like an affable fellow and does an admirable job playing good-German Von Stauffenberg in Bryan Singer's taut WW2 thriller.
Plagued through much of its production with controversy due to Cruise's involvement and Hollywood’s hijacking of the German July plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944, Singer wrings every bit of tension out of the concept while remaining close to the facts. The title comes from "Operation Valkyrie", a contingency plan if the ruling Nazi government were to fall. This plan is hijacked by a team of conspirators played by British stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and Terence Stamp, who, led by Cruise, attempt to overthrow the Nazis and make peace with the allies before their beloved Germany is destroyed.
Shot in many of the real locations and historical buildings in Berlin, it feels authentic even through it’s still clearly a big-budget American production. Cruise is almost a physical doppelganger for Stauffenberg, and the actors chosen to play our favourite Nazis are well chosen – Harvey Friedman is especially great in a small role as the slimy Goebbels. By ignoring much of the cultural context to the assassination attempt it’s not the complex film it could have been, but it remains tight and consistently engaging.
This single-disc DVD release contains two commentaries, a making-of documentary and a feature about the German resistance, all of which are informative without succumbing to excessive back-slapping.
3.5/5
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Released June 4, 2009
James Cameron’s probably rolling his eyes, wondering how his original slice of 80s science-fiction horror has been hijacked by a director with the name “McG” and turned into an action-heavy, CGI-laden war film. While sporadically infused with some of the suspense and fear of the original, Salvation more often plays like a sepia version of Transformers without the Shia LaBeouf wisecracks.
It’s 2018 and the war between the humans and Skynet rages across the nuclear wasteland of Earth, or at least of California. John Connor (Christian Bale), the leader of the human resistance, broadcasts angry radio messages in an attempt to unite the survivors against the machines. Bale seems to be monotonically channelling the rage that he vented on that cameraman; this is not a film that requires an acting range. The evil machines prowl the rubble of deserted cities, on the ground and in the air, sometimes capturing humans for, presumably, extermination.
The real story, if one could call it that, concerns Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) who is executed by lethal injection in 2003 only to be reborn as a bionic machine. Through his wavering American accent he attempts to grapple with his new identity and what it is (or was) to be human. There’s also something about protecting Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), Connor’s father, because without him the first three movies would never have happened.
This is perfunctorily draped around intermittently exciting but always excessive action scenes that drown out the tension. The world feels like a post-apocalyptic Blade Runner, but while it is bleak it doesn’t properly convey the magnitude of the recent holocaust and feels softened for the multiplex (cuts were made to achieve a PG-13 rating at the behest of the studio). Save for a sympathetic character played by the fantastically named Moon Bloodgood and a cameo from Helena Bonham Carter, there’s surprisingly little humanity in a film eager to argue for the resilience of the human heart. Maybe that’s because McG was more interested in designing 200ft-tall terminators and the ensuring, admittedly enjoyable, mayhem and destruction.
2.5/5
James Cameron’s probably rolling his eyes, wondering how his original slice of 80s science-fiction horror has been hijacked by a director with the name “McG” and turned into an action-heavy, CGI-laden war film. While sporadically infused with some of the suspense and fear of the original, Salvation more often plays like a sepia version of Transformers without the Shia LaBeouf wisecracks.
It’s 2018 and the war between the humans and Skynet rages across the nuclear wasteland of Earth, or at least of California. John Connor (Christian Bale), the leader of the human resistance, broadcasts angry radio messages in an attempt to unite the survivors against the machines. Bale seems to be monotonically channelling the rage that he vented on that cameraman; this is not a film that requires an acting range. The evil machines prowl the rubble of deserted cities, on the ground and in the air, sometimes capturing humans for, presumably, extermination.
The real story, if one could call it that, concerns Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) who is executed by lethal injection in 2003 only to be reborn as a bionic machine. Through his wavering American accent he attempts to grapple with his new identity and what it is (or was) to be human. There’s also something about protecting Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), Connor’s father, because without him the first three movies would never have happened.
This is perfunctorily draped around intermittently exciting but always excessive action scenes that drown out the tension. The world feels like a post-apocalyptic Blade Runner, but while it is bleak it doesn’t properly convey the magnitude of the recent holocaust and feels softened for the multiplex (cuts were made to achieve a PG-13 rating at the behest of the studio). Save for a sympathetic character played by the fantastically named Moon Bloodgood and a cameo from Helena Bonham Carter, there’s surprisingly little humanity in a film eager to argue for the resilience of the human heart. Maybe that’s because McG was more interested in designing 200ft-tall terminators and the ensuring, admittedly enjoyable, mayhem and destruction.
2.5/5
Lucky Country (2009)
Released 16th July 2009
In Lucky Country Australia is not so much mythologised as a frontier, like the American West, but more a prison – we were, after all, a colony teaming with criminals, outcasts and gold diggers. Kriv Stenders’ ironically-titled sparse psychological thriller creates an image of a country filled with desperate people fighting for survival in an inhospitable land. It’s the antithesis of Baz Luhrmann’s Hollywood fantasy version of Oz.
It’s 1902 and Nat (Aden Young) clings to the dream of maintaining a self-sufficient farm in the outback with his two children, Tom and Sarah (Toby Wallace and Hanna Mangan-Lawrence). Those aspirations, which are becoming more distant as they struggle for food and money, are given a boost by the arrival of three ex-soldiers: “strangers may be angels in disguise” says Nat. One of them is harbouring secret gold, however, and their real intentions are not so much disguised as in plain view.
As an experience, Lucky Country is not entirely pleasant. Except for the sympathetic children, from whose point of view the story is mostly told, the characters are wretched and without a moral compass. Even their father, who begins with noble intentions, is consumed by the desperate dream for his family that is always out of reach. Minimalist in its production, use of music and direction, the film somehow makes the expanse of the outback feel claustrophobic like the psyche of its characters. It successfully expressing screenwriter Andy Cox’s opinon that the land “fundamentally doesn’t want us here” but is overly sincere and not always compelling,
2.5/5
In Lucky Country Australia is not so much mythologised as a frontier, like the American West, but more a prison – we were, after all, a colony teaming with criminals, outcasts and gold diggers. Kriv Stenders’ ironically-titled sparse psychological thriller creates an image of a country filled with desperate people fighting for survival in an inhospitable land. It’s the antithesis of Baz Luhrmann’s Hollywood fantasy version of Oz.
It’s 1902 and Nat (Aden Young) clings to the dream of maintaining a self-sufficient farm in the outback with his two children, Tom and Sarah (Toby Wallace and Hanna Mangan-Lawrence). Those aspirations, which are becoming more distant as they struggle for food and money, are given a boost by the arrival of three ex-soldiers: “strangers may be angels in disguise” says Nat. One of them is harbouring secret gold, however, and their real intentions are not so much disguised as in plain view.
As an experience, Lucky Country is not entirely pleasant. Except for the sympathetic children, from whose point of view the story is mostly told, the characters are wretched and without a moral compass. Even their father, who begins with noble intentions, is consumed by the desperate dream for his family that is always out of reach. Minimalist in its production, use of music and direction, the film somehow makes the expanse of the outback feel claustrophobic like the psyche of its characters. It successfully expressing screenwriter Andy Cox’s opinon that the land “fundamentally doesn’t want us here” but is overly sincere and not always compelling,
2.5/5
Is Anybody There? (2008)
Released June 4, 2009
Is Anybody There? is a small and affecting tale of the friendship between a young boy and an old man in a seaside rural home in 1980s England.
Bill Miner from Son of Rambow plays Edward, a ten year old whose house has been turned into a retirement home by his parents (Anne-Marie Duff and David Morissey). Detached from his family, he becomes obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife and attempts to record the sounds of their escaping souls as the senior citizens pass. He resents his mother for attending to the eccentric oldies more than him, and his father for being more interested in their perky young assistant Tanya. His focus changes upon the arrival of a retired magician, Clarence (Michael Caine), with whom he forms an unlikely friendship.
The overly conventional story is made noteworthy by a touching performance by Caine and the well-intentioned honesty of the characters. None of these people, which includes an eclectic array of older actors, notably Rosemary Harris as the ex-dancer-with-a-plastic-leg, Elsie, have malicious intent. Even the wandering father, misguided though he may be, is a bit of a simpleton and hence we feel more sympathy for him than anger.
Writer Peter Harness was raised in similar circumstances to Edward, and the script was partially based upon his experience. Written and performed with such noble intentions, it is let down by an ending which is overly simplistic and trite. Michael Caine’s meditations on growing old however, make it worthwhile.
3/5
Is Anybody There? is a small and affecting tale of the friendship between a young boy and an old man in a seaside rural home in 1980s England.
Bill Miner from Son of Rambow plays Edward, a ten year old whose house has been turned into a retirement home by his parents (Anne-Marie Duff and David Morissey). Detached from his family, he becomes obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife and attempts to record the sounds of their escaping souls as the senior citizens pass. He resents his mother for attending to the eccentric oldies more than him, and his father for being more interested in their perky young assistant Tanya. His focus changes upon the arrival of a retired magician, Clarence (Michael Caine), with whom he forms an unlikely friendship.
The overly conventional story is made noteworthy by a touching performance by Caine and the well-intentioned honesty of the characters. None of these people, which includes an eclectic array of older actors, notably Rosemary Harris as the ex-dancer-with-a-plastic-leg, Elsie, have malicious intent. Even the wandering father, misguided though he may be, is a bit of a simpleton and hence we feel more sympathy for him than anger.
Writer Peter Harness was raised in similar circumstances to Edward, and the script was partially based upon his experience. Written and performed with such noble intentions, it is let down by an ending which is overly simplistic and trite. Michael Caine’s meditations on growing old however, make it worthwhile.
3/5
Two Lovers (2008)
Released June 4, 2009
Two Lovers is an uncomfortably real depiction of love, lust and loneliness in contemporary Brooklyn. Joaquin Phoenix is stunning as Leonard, a drycleaner for his father’s business and part-time photographer. He’s battling bipolar disorder and becomes infatuated with his new neighbour, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), whose apartment lies across a Rear Window-esque courtyard in the building where he lives with his parents. He’s smitten of course, who wouldn’t be, but she’s having an affair with a married man and his parents are trying to hook him up with the lovely, but bland, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw).
Both Phoenix and Paltrow are outstanding. His is a performance where every line of dialogue is layered with internal meaning. We know what he’s thinking, but the other characters are oblivious. And she is perfectly cast: we believe her as the object of his obsession (he takes photos of her from his window) but also as someone who’s clearly a mess and stuck in a relationship she knows is doomed. Trapped in the gloomy and rainy streets, Leonard is torn between the two sides of his personality – the steady, and to his mind depressing, Sandra, and the manic Michelle.
Director James Gray, who also co-wrote the script, is able to convey emotional depth without using a sledgehammer, and seems intent on making us squirm at the uncomfortable rawness of it all. It ought to be a downer, but it isn’t. Like human behaviour, it is what it is: equally wonderful, sad and peculiar.
4.5/5
Two Lovers is an uncomfortably real depiction of love, lust and loneliness in contemporary Brooklyn. Joaquin Phoenix is stunning as Leonard, a drycleaner for his father’s business and part-time photographer. He’s battling bipolar disorder and becomes infatuated with his new neighbour, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), whose apartment lies across a Rear Window-esque courtyard in the building where he lives with his parents. He’s smitten of course, who wouldn’t be, but she’s having an affair with a married man and his parents are trying to hook him up with the lovely, but bland, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw).
Both Phoenix and Paltrow are outstanding. His is a performance where every line of dialogue is layered with internal meaning. We know what he’s thinking, but the other characters are oblivious. And she is perfectly cast: we believe her as the object of his obsession (he takes photos of her from his window) but also as someone who’s clearly a mess and stuck in a relationship she knows is doomed. Trapped in the gloomy and rainy streets, Leonard is torn between the two sides of his personality – the steady, and to his mind depressing, Sandra, and the manic Michelle.
Director James Gray, who also co-wrote the script, is able to convey emotional depth without using a sledgehammer, and seems intent on making us squirm at the uncomfortable rawness of it all. It ought to be a downer, but it isn’t. Like human behaviour, it is what it is: equally wonderful, sad and peculiar.
4.5/5
The Escapist (2008)
Released June 18, 2009
The characters in The Escapist are damaged goods; being in prison does that to you. Brian Cox plays Frank, a man in resigned acceptance of his crime after having served a dozen years of a life sentence. He silently observes the internal workings of the prison that revolves around its head-honcho, Rizza (Damian Lewis), who speaks in hushed Irish tones, and his psychopathic brother, Tony (Steven Mackintosh), who speaks gibberish and wields sharp objects. When a new cellmate arrives, Lacey (Dominic Cooper), who reminds Frank of his younger self, and with the news of his estranged daughter falling ill, he plans an escape with a group of sympathetic inmates, including a scruffy Joseph Fiennes as Lenny.
Well shot and well acted, the film tries hard to be distinctive through a non-linear narrative and sparse dialogue. The latter is supposed to make it arty and sophisticated, when really it just makes it pretentious and overdone. There’s a strong feeling of physical and emotional claustrophobia but, despite Brian Cox's commanding presence, we are not engaged with the characters. We're left to observe the details of the escape which, aside from a clever but improbable exploitation of the strength of diamonds, are unremarkable and consist mostly of running through endless tunnels and sewers.
The Escapist’s claim for originality comes in the final act, with a revelation that almost convinces us that the prior coldness was justified. It’s an intriguing idea that finally brings some feeling to the otherwise subdued narrative.
3/5
The characters in The Escapist are damaged goods; being in prison does that to you. Brian Cox plays Frank, a man in resigned acceptance of his crime after having served a dozen years of a life sentence. He silently observes the internal workings of the prison that revolves around its head-honcho, Rizza (Damian Lewis), who speaks in hushed Irish tones, and his psychopathic brother, Tony (Steven Mackintosh), who speaks gibberish and wields sharp objects. When a new cellmate arrives, Lacey (Dominic Cooper), who reminds Frank of his younger self, and with the news of his estranged daughter falling ill, he plans an escape with a group of sympathetic inmates, including a scruffy Joseph Fiennes as Lenny.
Well shot and well acted, the film tries hard to be distinctive through a non-linear narrative and sparse dialogue. The latter is supposed to make it arty and sophisticated, when really it just makes it pretentious and overdone. There’s a strong feeling of physical and emotional claustrophobia but, despite Brian Cox's commanding presence, we are not engaged with the characters. We're left to observe the details of the escape which, aside from a clever but improbable exploitation of the strength of diamonds, are unremarkable and consist mostly of running through endless tunnels and sewers.
The Escapist’s claim for originality comes in the final act, with a revelation that almost convinces us that the prior coldness was justified. It’s an intriguing idea that finally brings some feeling to the otherwise subdued narrative.
3/5
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