Review: How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Released March 25, 2010

Hiccup and toothless give Jake and Neytiri a run for their money

Pixar has had a string of animated hits, critically and commercially, unrivalled since Disney’s heyday. DreamWorks animation was never going to challenge that dynasty but their latest is spritely and energetic, and revels in the 3D joy of simulated flight. That it doesn’t strive for the wit, invention and subtlety of Up or Wall-E is a mute point.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel) is an 11-year old Viking whose vernacular seems acquired from too many viewings of Juno. He lives on a coastal village under constant threat from the vicious, titular fire-breathing reptiles. Instead of raping and pillaging, it has been tradition amongst the clan of enormous bearded warriors, which include Hiccup’s father Stoick (Gerard Butler), to hunt these feared creatures. To do so is a rite of passage for every young Viking.

Hiccup is not so sure after downing the dreaded “Night Wing,” who, upon closer inspection, is less a feared predator than a cross between a crafty cat and a lizard. His budding friendship with “toothless” is at odds with his training as a dragonslayer, though his first hand knowledge gives him an edge over the impetuous tomboy – and romantic interest – Astrid (America Ferrera, Ugly Betty).

The story, which wears its young heart on its sleeve, goes where it must. Both adults and children will instead be focused more on the colourful 3D animation (famed cinematographer Roger Deakins is credited as visual consultant), clever humour and the magnificent, heroic score by John Powell; only the most jaded and cynical could not be roused by its energy and scope. An over reliance on action – however well constructed and animated – at the expense of character is the only dampener.

What lingers are the swoops and rolls of soaring flight as Hiccup and toothless skip over the waves and climb into the stratosphere. For those few moments, you’ll feel like you’ve come along for the ride.

News: Scream 4 + Wes Craven = Official

It's official, Wes Craven is to reunite with Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette in the fourth Scream movie to shoot in May. The film will be set ten years later in Woodsboro and reportedly be the beginning of a new trilogy with a new bunch of characters. The original writer, Kevin Williamson, is to pen the script.

Even through Scream 3 had problems and was easily the weakest of the three (also the only not written by Williamson), Sidney's overall story was nicely bookended, so I hope they do it justice here. It's not as if there isn't plenty of new horror territory - torture porn among them - to mine, and with Craven now officially in as director, there's much potential.

Scream 4 is set for release April 12th, 2011.

Review: She's Out of My League (2010)

Released April 1, 2010

Molly, a perfect ten, and Kirk, a modest six in She's Out of My League

This is a slight, occasionally charming broad comedy that would feel more at home on the mouldy video store shelf than at the multiplex. There, it feels like a cheap copy of the Judd Apatow films (Knocked Up, The 40-Year Old Virgin); another valiant attempt to give hope to losers everywhere.

Stuck in dead end jobs, the 20-something male leads pass the time making crass jokes and rating people on a one to ten scale of sexual desirability. Kirk (Jay Baruchel), is a self-professed six, and works as a security guard at an airport. He and his three buddies, who are like the understudies of Jonah Hill, Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd, agree he has no chance with the gorgeous Hard Ten, Molly (Alice Eve). In a refreshing twist, it’s she, blond locks blowing in the breeze, who makes the first move. Family awkwardness, self-inflicted angst and sexual hijinks ensue.

League's concept is tired, but the jokes, when they’re not an American Pie level of crass, sometimes amuse, and nice-guy Kirk’s trepidation with his budding romance will be familiar to many. But his paltry self-esteem is more frustrating than endearing, especially since the traditional boy-meets-girl, boy-looses-girl structure hinges entirely on this character flaw.

Like Zack Galifianakis in The Hangover, it’s the chubby and lovable sidekick who is the funniest creation, in this case an overgrown child played by Nate Torrence. Krysten Ritter, who recently made a memorable appearance on TV’s Breaking Bad, also steals her scenes as Molly’s snappy best friend. They enliven but don't ignite this routine rom-com which, despite its second-tier charm, fails to achieve the elusive sweet-and-sour Apatow mix.

News: Top Ten Movies of 2009 - #6

6. Two Lovers

Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix unhappy in love in Two Lovers

Reputedly this was to be Joaquin Phoenix’s final film before embarking on a rapping career, complete with compulsive beard growing and weird talk-show appearances. Whether or not his career switch is genuine or a stunt for a Casey Affleck mockmentary may soon be revealed, with recent rumours that he is return to acting, playing gothic writer Edgar Allen Poe in an adaptation of Daniel Stashower’s book, The Beautiful Cigar Girl.

Either way, his "final" performance in James Gray’s romantic drama, Two Lovers, is extraordinary. His Leonard is borderline suicidal, but also a romantic with a crush on the blond beauty hauled up in the apartment across the courtyard (a brilliant Gwyneth Paltrow). Though it appears otherwise at first, she's as damaged as he is. They're contrasted by the normal girl played by Vinessa Shaw, who is attractive but is missing the allure of her more volatile competition. Leonard's caring mother outwardly disapproves of his little crush, and is played with grace and subtlety by Isabella Rossellini.

It’s rare to find a "romantic" movie that dares to treat its characters like real people, flawed and complex, instead of succumbing to the romantic comedy clichés that have all but killed the genre. Beautifully shot in a cold, icy Brooklyn, Gray's film is a beautiful, moving and heartbreakingly realistic gem. It certainly deserved more than a limited cinematic release.

News: Top Ten Movies of 2009 - #7

7. Watchmen

The Comedian and Ozymandias, dsyfunctional superheroes of Watchmen

The audacity of Zack Snyder. It was the most celebrated graphic novel ever written, and also deemed “unfilmable,” by Terry Gilliam, who was at one point attached to the project when it was stuck in developmental hell. And yet the director of 300, with a tremendous respect for the source material, has fashioned an exhilarating comic book film like no other.

It is remarkable that this movie even exists. With no name stars, a meandering non-linear narrative, brutal violence, sex, and, god forbid, such a thing as character complexity, Warner Brothers and Paramount firstly deserve credit for green-lighting a $130 million dollar comic-book movie with uncertain box office potential.

As a movie, it has its problems. The plot doesn’t have a totally satisfying structure, there is one retched performance (a stone dry Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre) and Snyder is slavish, to a fault, to the source text. Yet to do otherwise would result in a movie that does a disserve to the immense achievement of the original novel. This movie is the unadulterated Watchmen, rough edged, complex and provocative. It retains the shades of the book while delivering an exhilarating visceral ride of image and sound. Be sure to check out the more robust director’s cut, which contains 24 minutes of extra footage that brings the running time to a more satisfying three hours.

News: Top Ten Movies of 2009 - #8

8. In the Loop

Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), keeper of the curse words

One feels a review of this scathing British political satire is not complete without a requisite dose of expletives. Whether it’s lubricated horse-cocks or a fucking master race of highly-gifted toddlers, manic PR spin doctor Malcolm Tucker has a curse word for all occasions. And they flow freely as he attempts to manipulate UK and US power figures into a war in the Middle East.

While a satire of politics and the random decisions that can sometimes lead to war, In the Loop is genuinely hilarious. Aside from Tucker (played brilliantly by Peter Capaldi), there’s Tom Hollander as Simon Foster, a bumbling British politician who draws laughter through his ineptitude, and the US Assistant Secretary of State Linton Barwick (David Rasche), who perplexingly mutters random inanities such as “All roads lead to Munich.”

The screenplay (the movie is derived from the BBC series The Thick of It), written by director Armando Iannucci, among others, was nominated for an Oscar, and was a more deserving than the eventual victor, Precious. There’s few witter, funnier and outrageously satirical scripts around, and it’s a perfect antidote to the flag waving, idealistic portrayal of Washington we usually see. Instead In the Loop presents a political world closer to reality, one that is, in the words of its director, “a bit rubbish.” The film itself, though, is quite the opposite.

Review: Cop Out (2010)

Released March 18, 2010

A game Tracey Morgan and a bored Bruce Willis in Cop Out

Kevin Smith’s (Clerks, Chasing Amy) peculiar blend of witty dialogue-driven humour and sly observation is completely absent from this tired attempt to revive the buddy-cop genre. Those movies, epitomized by minor classics of the 80s such as 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop, worked both as action and as comedy. Cop Out works as neither, and can’t decide if it would rather be a homage or parody.

Take Tracey Morgan. Playing a variation of his manic 30 Rock character, in one scene he’s playing the good cop during an interrogation, endlessly quoting movies in an improvised sequence that could have been born as a Saturday Night Live skit. In another dramatic (TM) scene, he’s having a heart-to-heart with his wife (Rashida Jones), whom he suspects of cheating with their hot-and-single neighbour. This juxtaposition could have worked if either were (a) funny or (b) dramatic, but neither is the case.

Both Morgan and Bruce Willis, who sleepwalks through his role as the more sensible partner, are likeable stars at the whim of a mediocre script by Robb and Mark Cullen. Why Kevin Smith was inspired to make this his first directorial effort from material other than his own is baffling. He admitted that it was “not MY movie,” but “a movie I was hired to direct.” In which case, I would ask, why bother at all?

If it was a test of his directorial ability, then the pacing and sloppy handing of the few action scenes reveal areas for improvement. The plot, meanwhile, is based around the coincidence of Willis’ search for his missing baseball card – worth over $40k and to fund his daughter’s wedding – and a drug dealing ring.

Despite its problems, I didn’t want to flee from the theatre. Both Morgan, and Seann William Scott as a childish petty thief, have their moments, and the score by 80s-synth master Harold Faltermeyer is a snug fit. But Smith, at his best, is capable of greatness, whereas the best I can say of this soulless project is that it lives up to its title.