Dance Flick (2009)
The Wayans family pull another parody film off the production line, this time staring Shoshana Bush and Damon Wayans Jr. A girl from the suburbs ends up at an inner city school, some dancing happens.
I have not seen a lot of the films that this film sets out to parody which probably does not help matters but it does seem like someone forgot to include the funny here. There are a few funny moments but largely the parody elements included do not actually seem that funny and are just included for the sake of having a reason to make the film. Most of the “humour” included seems to come from the standard Wayans style of jokes and has little to do with the main subject matter.
2/5
Friday, 7 October 2011
Thursday, 6 October 2011
KKKKKHHHHHHHHAAAANNNNNNNNNN
My Name is Khan (2010)
This Bollywood film is directed by Karan Johar and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol. A Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome moves from India to the US and has to deal with the changing attitudes of Americans to Muslims in the post 9/11 era.
Before we even really get to the content this film has problems. Either the film is about an hour too long or is two films jammed together. The first 1/3-1/2 of the film is a romantic comedy in the style of Adam (2009) and the second half is more of a Muslim version of Forest Gump (1994) set in the last 10 years. While the first part of the film is well executed it probably should have been vastly shortened given that the meat of the film is all in the second half.
What the majority of the film is about is western misconceptions and fear of Islam in the modern era. While the film does not get overly preachy it does stray into melodramatic territory on occasion. It is interesting to see a different point of view on the topic but it is a real shame there are very few positive western/white/Christian characters in a film and while the message may be that there are only good and bad people, people are not divided by religion I do wonder if the film missed some of it's own message.
3/5 an interesting if flawed film
This Bollywood film is directed by Karan Johar and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol. A Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome moves from India to the US and has to deal with the changing attitudes of Americans to Muslims in the post 9/11 era.
Before we even really get to the content this film has problems. Either the film is about an hour too long or is two films jammed together. The first 1/3-1/2 of the film is a romantic comedy in the style of Adam (2009) and the second half is more of a Muslim version of Forest Gump (1994) set in the last 10 years. While the first part of the film is well executed it probably should have been vastly shortened given that the meat of the film is all in the second half.
What the majority of the film is about is western misconceptions and fear of Islam in the modern era. While the film does not get overly preachy it does stray into melodramatic territory on occasion. It is interesting to see a different point of view on the topic but it is a real shame there are very few positive western/white/Christian characters in a film and while the message may be that there are only good and bad people, people are not divided by religion I do wonder if the film missed some of it's own message.
3/5 an interesting if flawed film
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Fishing
Alamar (2009)
This Mexican film is set in Banco Chinchorro, a coral reef off the coast of Mexico. A young boy spends some time living with his father and grandfather,who are fishermen, shortly before he is due to move to Italy with his mother.
What this film does excellently is capture a snapshot of a way of life that has probably changed very little for hundreds of years. There is some great scenery and the film definitely captures the way the family co-exist with their environment. On the down side the film really lacks a plot and comes across more as a documentary than a dramatic piece, the characters also lack a strong personality to make up for this. Maybe this project would have been better executed as a pure documentary than a quasi piece of fiction, either way the short run time and exotic locations make the film watchable.
3/5
This Mexican film is set in Banco Chinchorro, a coral reef off the coast of Mexico. A young boy spends some time living with his father and grandfather,who are fishermen, shortly before he is due to move to Italy with his mother.
What this film does excellently is capture a snapshot of a way of life that has probably changed very little for hundreds of years. There is some great scenery and the film definitely captures the way the family co-exist with their environment. On the down side the film really lacks a plot and comes across more as a documentary than a dramatic piece, the characters also lack a strong personality to make up for this. Maybe this project would have been better executed as a pure documentary than a quasi piece of fiction, either way the short run time and exotic locations make the film watchable.
3/5
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Needs to grow up
Cyrus (2010)
Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass write and direct this comedy-drama staring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei. A divorcee meets a single mother but their relationship falls foul of the woman's 21 year old son.
There are elements of this film that are good but I am not sure it really knows what it wants to be. I thought the relationship between the main characters provided a good base but the comedic elements were not pushed far enough to be a full comedy. The wobbly faux-amateur camera work was just annoying and seemed pretty pointless. In the end despite the positive elements this film just feels like wasted potential.
2/5
Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass write and direct this comedy-drama staring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei. A divorcee meets a single mother but their relationship falls foul of the woman's 21 year old son.
There are elements of this film that are good but I am not sure it really knows what it wants to be. I thought the relationship between the main characters provided a good base but the comedic elements were not pushed far enough to be a full comedy. The wobbly faux-amateur camera work was just annoying and seemed pretty pointless. In the end despite the positive elements this film just feels like wasted potential.
2/5
Monday, 3 October 2011
Sea dog
The Sea Wolves (1980)
From the same team that made The Wild Geese (1978) this war film stars Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard, Barbara Kellerman and Patrick Macnee. An ageing group of soldiers look to do their part in WW2.
The plot for this film may seem fairly unrealistic but it is based on real events of a British attack on a German ship in a neutral harbour during WW2. Despite the large and interesting cast this film has a number of problems and those mostly stem from the script which takes far too long to get going, offers little in the way of personality and generally wastes the talent available. There seems to be a lot of pandering to perceived audience expectations as Roger Moore's character for example is nothing more than a second rate James Bond.
2/5
From the same team that made The Wild Geese (1978) this war film stars Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard, Barbara Kellerman and Patrick Macnee. An ageing group of soldiers look to do their part in WW2.
The plot for this film may seem fairly unrealistic but it is based on real events of a British attack on a German ship in a neutral harbour during WW2. Despite the large and interesting cast this film has a number of problems and those mostly stem from the script which takes far too long to get going, offers little in the way of personality and generally wastes the talent available. There seems to be a lot of pandering to perceived audience expectations as Roger Moore's character for example is nothing more than a second rate James Bond.
2/5
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Incidental?
Yangtse Incident (1957)
Based on real life events this film from director Michael Anderson stars Richard Todd and has a cast including William Hartnell. In 1949 China is in a state of civil war and a British ship is attacked on the Yangtse river.
This film is similar to a number of other black and white war films made in Britain during the period in that it sticks largely to the facts and does not get overly involved in the characters or their back story. There are some moments of tension but for the most part the film is more documentary and less cinematic, overall it is a watchable if unremarkable effort.
3/5
Based on real life events this film from director Michael Anderson stars Richard Todd and has a cast including William Hartnell. In 1949 China is in a state of civil war and a British ship is attacked on the Yangtse river.
This film is similar to a number of other black and white war films made in Britain during the period in that it sticks largely to the facts and does not get overly involved in the characters or their back story. There are some moments of tension but for the most part the film is more documentary and less cinematic, overall it is a watchable if unremarkable effort.
3/5
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Robbing in the hood
The Town (2010)
For his second film as a director Ben Affleck returns to Boston and crime with a cast including himself, Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall. The net is closing in on a gang of robbers while one of them wants to break free from his life of crime.
There is not a huge amount that is original about this adaptation but it is very well executed. All of the action sequences are decent and there is a good amount of suspense through the film. While the character relationships are pretty common to many films in the genre they hold up well enough and provide a decent foundation for the film.
4/5 slick crime drama
For his second film as a director Ben Affleck returns to Boston and crime with a cast including himself, Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall. The net is closing in on a gang of robbers while one of them wants to break free from his life of crime.
There is not a huge amount that is original about this adaptation but it is very well executed. All of the action sequences are decent and there is a good amount of suspense through the film. While the character relationships are pretty common to many films in the genre they hold up well enough and provide a decent foundation for the film.
4/5 slick crime drama
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