Summer Movie Preview
Jake Gyellenhall seems to be one of the top 10 actors in Hollywood right now and proves why with his new film Source Code.
In the Source Code we enter the world of Captain Corporal Stevens who is living the last 8 minutes of some else’s life as part of high level government experiment that will make use of this wounded soldiers brain in hopes to have him solve a major crime about to result in a terrorism attack on Chicago. What follows can best be described as a mash up of the movie Memento mixed with Inception and a dash of Clock and Dagger in between. You see Jake’s character only knows he is on a mission to help solve the crime but doesn’t know how he got there and that really what keeps you hooked in the film.
Infact what Duncan Jones who also directed the film Moon, does very well is he paces the film enough to have a strong mainstream appeal and never loses you in the plot. It’s a simple Hollywood tale that has shades of an original story line but at the end of the day is just an intelligent thriller. I can see why people hoping for an action flick might not think there is an enough substance. The movie really never gets into the motive of the villain or his back story at all. I on the other hand feel this is the type of movie that serves its purpose, perhaps for those who like to play along to help solve the mystery at hand.
There is a Canadian connection to the film
Yes not only was Montreal used for more then half the shoot but Brampton’s own funny man, Russell Peters turns his bit part role into a memorable character in the film. So much so that he even gets a few moments to steal some scenes from the better known Hollywood elite in the film. The reason I feel this is significant to point out is that it’s not that often that Canadian comics land Hollywood roles without having some sort of track record and 2)The part could have been played by any comic who would have begged for a role like this and at the end of the day it was nice to see Mr. Peters own it.
Owen Wilson has had some very public personal issues over the last 3 years. With that behind him here’s my take on Hall Pass.
He and The Farlley Brothers team up for this movie starring Owen WIlson and Jason Sudeikas about a couple of guys who are given ‘Hall Passes’ by their respective wives to enjoy a limitless freedom for the a full week and as you can imagine with a grade 4 level imagination hard lessons are learned fast and all you need to do is sprinkle a few gag out loud moments to make it an edgy comedy.
When it comes down to it let’s say we dream a little smaller and we happen to get the night off of nagging children and the whole bit. Let’s say for example that you let your significant other know that you and some guys are going to see a movie and you get his or her blessing. I don’t think I’d tell you to use that ‘pass’ so to speak to watch a movie about a couple of idiots who have a much more liberal pass goof around and get high on a golf course.
I think the biggest surprise to anyone was the success of The Hangover a while back and before that it was the success of SuperBad and Knocked up. The Farlley brothers bring some cache to this genre I just wish they spent more time being innovative as they were in the Dumb and Dumber or There’s Something About Mary and well I guess there is time for redemption as they are working on the New 3 Stooges movie.
Four Lions
The movie Four Lions sounds like the furthest thing from a comedy. It’s about a group of British Terrorists post the london bomb attacks.
Well Inept ones really. An unusually dark comedy set in a world that we are usually seeing just the dark side of. Four Lions is the story of a British Jihadists who after 7/7. It recently picked up the award for ‘Outstanding Debut by a Writer, Director or Producer’ award at the BAFTAs for Chris Morris.
The director was a former radio DJ turned satirist, he’s sort of like a cross between Jon Stewart and Rick Mercer. He’s known for poking fun at the media on the state of the union on a few different shows and that sense of humour is littered all over this movie. Though the Jihadists in the film have the their own reasons for wanting to commit these crimes they also are thrown into a world – that being National Security’ where they can’t simply think of an idea that could actually work and instead finding themselves painting a much clearer picture then they are actually in.
I’m surprised it has not been done sooner or at least I’m surprised that a smart, relevant and original take has been released in North America. I am not sure most of the viewers will forgive the unevenness of the comedy but there are some great moments in the film.
The problem as always will be how the word of mouth spreads on the film. It’s hard for a movie like this to survive in the theatres, it is worth it to check it out but I think the fate of this movie will be more seen on DVD.
Finally, the movie ‘Of God’s and Men’ is based on a real life story many people may not be familiar with
Of Gods and Men is Based on a true story that took place in 1996, when seven
French Catholic monks were allegedly executed by Islamic fundamentalists
during the Algerian Civil War. This french movie with a mix of Arabic has been a critical hit around the world and is now finally opening up in limited release in Toronto.
The story is a wonderful piece of film making Matt and I am not sure how I got so engrossed with what was going on but before I knew it I was completely in the loop on what was happening in this part of the world. In the months leading up to the events the Monks and their Muslim neighbors lived in peace side by side and that’s where the film picks up the story of a gentle peace that is victimized through radical thought.
The film was the winner of the Grand Prix at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, it has also received wide acclaim from festivals in SInapore, Telluride to right here in Toronto. The NAtional Board of Review picked this title as the Best Foreign Film recently as well. Another gem not to be missed releasing in the city this weekend.
the big story at this time of year is that filmmakers who feel they have award worthy films need to get them out before Dec 31st to qualify as a 2010 release regardless of when the film was made. This is especially important for movies like The Fighter, a somewhat independent film that took years to get off the ground, starring (and produced by) Mark Wahelberg as Micky Ward, who rose from his blue-collar roots and overcame family turbulence and earned a title shot in 2000, when he was in his mid-30s.
Boxing movies and sports themed movies in general tend to have a predictable story arch, how does this movie keep you interested?
Quite simply, the performances. First we have the work of Christian Bale who plays Mickys brother Dicky in the movie and is a guy who had his shot, against Sugar Ray Leonard in the late 1970s, and can’t stop reminding people of it. He is a drug addict in the non tradidional sense and his spiral includes a prison term for a variety of crimes. You forget that this is the same actor that played the Dark Knight, he is excellent in this role.
This is a performance based film that has boxing as a theme and not the other way around. Mellisa Leo who plays the mother is down right evil in her role, the type of character you have to hate to watch but you admire at the same time. You also have the work of Amy Adams as his girlfriend who does an excellent job as the motivatoer Micky needs to focus on his career. The way David O’Russel the director captures the late 90’s is borderline nostalgic, from the music to the fashion it all adds up to a movie that has easily made my top 10 list for the year.
Moving onto a bigger budget film, The remake of Tron hits movie theatres today.
Disney’s great holiday hope as I like to refer to it is the action re-up of TRON, which simply means its not quite a sequal and more of a re-imagining of the 1982 version. IN this one Sam is the son of Kevin Flynn played by Jeff Bridges. The film begins with Sam as a young lad and a motion capture version of Jeff Bridges as a younger man in 1982.
So is this the movie that bridges the 80’s babies with the 90’s web surfers and the Millenium minded?
IN many ways yes, from the block rockin beats of Daft Punk to a 2 D film that morphs into 3 D imagery like I’ve never seen before the movie Tron is truly a visual feast. However, where it falls short is a weak script that relies too much on the audio/visual distractions. I feel like the film should do well based on the cool factor but I must warn those fans of the 80’s franchise that my ears are still ringning from the intense music in the movie.
And last but not least, Nicole Kidman is back on the big screen in a much different role then we are use to seeing her in. Tells us about the drama Rabbit Hole.
Rabbit Hole was a film I screened at the Toronto Film Festival and it there I was in the middle of this family drama at the Elgin theatre crying my eyes out. On the surface the movie is about a couple who is dealing with the tragic loss of their child in a freak accident. Rather then recount the details of the accident the movie takes us on the up and dopwn journey the couple is forced to make 5 years later while they continue to cope.
There is so much subtle comedy in the film that breaks the tension in the movie, leaving the audience with plenty of breathing room. The other reason is the performances by both Aaron Echart and Kidman are phenomenal . They go through such a range of emotions in this film that you have no choice but to fall in love with them while they struggle to maintain there relationship, hate them when they take those wrong turns and feel for them when they remind you that this could happen to any happy family.
