Rob at the Movies- True Grit and Paul

Rob at the Movies!

Latest Movies- Feb 2011!

Hey all! Welcome to this week’s blog, a bit later than usual... things just get busy, it’s life and that’s the funky cookie. Anyway, what’s been happening... well still trying to get the right amount of money from the Jobcentre, hopefully that’ll be sorted soon. Of course, have been watching a few good films, but there’ll be more on that soon. One of the great things has been just how much top notch TV has been on, and is still ongoing. Sky Atlantic is the main culprit for this, but there’s plenty of goodness flowing from E4, FX, and the BBC.

Top amongst pleasures at the moment is the glorious second series of camp yet whip-smart high school musical satire Glee, which bounces into my life on Monday nights at 9pm on E4. A blizzard of musical energy, crackingly dry and sharp dialogue (mainly courtesy of the sublime Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester or Heather Morris as Brittany) and some great characters. It’ll always have its detractors, but I guess it’s not for everyone... one thing that always tickles me is the view that it’s for kids, going from the current series, I would say in no way I’d show it to a kid, it’s been way too raunchy... but that’s fine, it’s a show for teens and fun loving adults and it balances fine on that level.

   

I don’t want to go on for ages, mainly because the blog isn’t about Glee; it’s about True Grit and Paul (which features Jane Lynch- link pointer-outers!) so I’ll just say it’s a humongous burst of energy into my life each week, making me laugh out loud at some priceless zingers and sing along to every covered song, unlike most, I don’t really care if it’s a good or bad version, it’s just fun and the plot of the show is a music class covering songs so why shouldn’t they? And as with Rocky Horror the other week, its boosted sales of the original versions, with Rocky Horror sailing up the Play.com charts after the episode aired two weeks ago! If you’re not watching, then that’s what you’re missing on Glee!

Sky Atlantic as I mentioned is well responsible at the moment though for some of the best TV around, from the Scorcese-produced gangster period epic Boardwalk Empire (truly sublime with a back on form Steve Buscemi) via the hysterically inappropriate Curb Your Enthusiasm (starting from the first series, it’s basically like my life in sitcom form, though I wouldn’t say half the things he does, just get into the embarrassing situations!) and The Sopranos from the beginning too (pretty good so far) as well as shows like Big Love and Treme which I haven’t watched yet, but hear brilliant things! Also brightening up my week is of course True Blood (the dark and gripping Vampire drama, way too adult for some but far too exciting and with great writing and characters throughout) and my new favourite show How I Met Your Mother, which since I bought the every series boxset at Christmas, I am discovering back from the beginning! Think of it as the new Friends, but so much better, mainly because the cast already have careers before and after!

Also this week, had a great fellowship meal at Ben Cockayne’s house for cell on Wednesday along with Ben Houghton (some may know him as care bear, but that’s growing a bit old now) and Richard Edwards, top guys all three! We had the most yummy Meat and Potato Pie and then a lovely cake, Ben C undersold it way too much it was great! Then we watched footy, Two and a Half Men and South Park, good times! We also just had another cell meeting last night (Wed Feb 23) again at Ben’s; this was a fantastic night full of yum yum snacks and great talk and prayer, plus a cracking warm fire. Cell is usually the highlight of my week, also great this week was going back to Deans gate in Manchester to see Sir Daleo Brooks and seeing Paul (more on that in a minute!), top times!

In this week’s blog, I’m simply going to plough throw the great films I’ve seen recently, these two especially....

True Grit (15) (In Cinemas Now!)

One of the big Oscar contenders, yet the one most likely to walk away empty-handed, not because it’s the least; in fact it’s my favourite film of the year so far, but the hype surrounding it doesn’t really eclipse Black Swan, King’s Speech or Social Network (which I will admit is the best film of the bunch, but it was 2010). The Coen brother’s new take on the classic western that sees young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hire disorderly marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) the man who killed her father, was first adapted into the 1960’s John Wayne epic, is absolutely fantastic from start to finish. With great shootouts, a stellar cast and sumptuous vistas all alongside some fantastic dialogue, this is a real cinematic treat and well worth checking out. Here’s exactly how the west was won...

Acting (9/10) – Out of the acting talent on display here only Jeff and Hailee have been nominated, which is great in a way but it overshadows the fantastic turns by both Josh Brolin and Matt Damon as Sheriff La Beouf, who tags along with Mattie and Rooster along the way, as they would both benefit from some recognition. Jeff Bridges is of course, brilliant as Cogburn, both very shambling and sometimes quite drunk, but always fierce and determined and still very handy when needed, it’s a straight forward turn by Bridges but still a great one... probably the best role in this is Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie, a really level headed and determined young woman who won’t take no for an answer and is determined to the last, Hailee is absolutely fantastic, a force of determined energy and also touches of naive innocence in the mix, it would be great to see her grab an award, but it’s sadly unlikely.

Brolin is great in his limited screen time as Chaney, both very disturbed and clearly with some learning difficulty, but also displaying a fierce and rough side that makes him dangerous, you feel slightly sympathetic but never too much, and if Judi Dench can nab some Oscar recognition for her average turn in Shakespeare in Love then surely Brolin deserves some for making a fantastic job out of a very small amount of screen time but a pivotal character. There are other small roles like Barry Pepper, suitably nasty as Cogburn’s nemesis Ned Pepper, whose gang Chaney joins, as well as a few other nice support characters, but lastly it’s Matt Damon as La Beouf who is suitably fantastic, at turns a real annoyance of a authority figure but then someone to root for alongside Cogburn, he seems very brash at first but he slowly settles into a great sidekick character, and as much as I love Damon, he’s been rarely better!

Writing/ Direction (9/10) – It’s essentially based on the original novel by Charles Portis, so that is the source for much of the dialogue and writing... but the Coen’s have probably twisted it enough and meshed it some of their own material to make it indelibly their own. Some fantastic one-liners and really great dialogue match up to the usual fantastic writing you can expect from the Coen Brothers previous work.

Tone (9/10) – Think of any western and you can imagine some of the stuff going on here, you have the gruff conversations and banter, the shootouts on cliffs, and sieges on huts. Plus there are grim scenes in both the trees and the forests, and a deadly pursuit of outlaws on the run from justice. This is a brisk and very enjoyable tale, with fantastic characters and a lot of tense action and drama.

Look (10/10) – As with most westerns, the look of this film is absolutely stunning, from breathtaking western vistas to the tone and look of the characters through to the sweeping scale of the movie’s action. It would be superb to see this movie walk away with an Oscar for its cinematography and it is pretty much note perfect and beautiful.

Truly a great film, a great western, a great action film and a great drama... this is my favourite of this year’s films so far... and as you’ve seen from previous blogs it’s been a fantastic year already so far! The cast are uniformly fantastic and it’s superbly enjoyable and thrilling... check it out now!

Rating- 10/10

Paul (15) (In Cinemas Now!)

They’ve encountered zombies in Shaun of the Dead (2004), blown the neighbourhood up in Hot Fuzz (2007)... and now they’re headed for America as two sci-fi comic book geeks who stumble upon a foul mouthed Alien and have to help him get home, whilst avoiding various authority types and picking up a young woman named Ruth (Kristen Wiig). Yep it’s time for some more Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, in their first film without director Edgar Wright (was busy making the amazing Scott Pilgrim vs. the World but will re join the duo on World’s End, the third in the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy with Fuzz and Shaun) and whilst lacking some of the nuance and warmth of the other two movies, this is still a hugely fun film with great gags and references throughout, plus some great dialogue and memorable characters plus some cracking cameos. Hugely inspired by Spielberg in particular and science fiction in general, it’s a love letter to the genre and its greatest and most popular movies, read on to discover what makes it tick...

Acting (7/10) – If you’ve seen Shaun and Fuzz and anything else they’re in, you know what to expect from Pegg and Frost and they’re as charming, bumbling and funny as ever. Wiig in particular is very charming as the young woman they pick up, whose whole world is shattered upon meeting Paul, and the consequences of that are very funny indeed. Main source of joy though is the various federal agents, chief amongst played by Jason Bateman with superb deadpan glee and the best character name of the year surely? Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio are also extremely funny as the two bungling sidekick agents. There are plenty of cameos I won’t spoil here; needless to say they’re all very funny in their own ways. There is nothing of Oscar worthy acclaim, but a great and very enjoyable cast of familiar faces.

Writing/ Direction (8/10) – Though Pegg and Frost are lacking the support and direction of collaborator Edgar Wright this time around, the dialogue and story are still very witty and funny and fast paced, courtesy of Superbad/ Adventureland director Greg Mottola. The dialogue is great and hugely memorable, a lot of the time riffing on classic sci-fi quotes and names.

Tone (9/10) – Hugely fun from start to finish, whether it’s the various funny cameos or the endless nods and references to sci-fi classics such as Back to the Future, the Alien franchise, the Star Wars and Star Trek series, and very much in particular, Steven Spielberg’s E.T. It’s hugely entertaining and very good fun, and as such, the tone is more or less fantastic!

Look (7/10) – Nothing to write home about, but nothing wrong with it either... it’s not really a film that needs to thrive on its look, but the various US vistas are perfectly lovely though, and Paul is a great CG creation.

It’s fantastic fun from start to finish, a great cast of characters and familiar faces, plenty of great gags and dialogue, and one heck of a fun movie. Get straight to your nearest cinema now, and get beamed up!

Rating- 8/10

Also Seen

Never Let Me Go (12)

A simply beautiful futuristic (yet not quite) drama, to talk too much about the plot would spoil some of the plot nuances, but all three of the main cast excel, most notably Keira Knightley in what could be her best turn yet. Truly tragic, yet beautiful and very moving

8/10

Sanctum 3D (15)

I guess the 3D isn’t really necessary but it also doesn’t hurt in this underground and underwater epic with the lovely tag ‘James Cameron presents’, meaning he helped somewhere along the way. Plot wise or acting or dialogue wise, it isn’t special but it’s suitably tense and gripping throughout and really keeps chugging along until it slightly stumbles towards the end... well worth checking out in the cinema if anything

7/10

Valentine’s Day (12)

A really cheesy but extremely enjoyable romantic comedy set around the most lovable of days, featuring a cast of literally thousands from Ashton Kutcher through Jessica’s Biel and Alba plus Patrick Dempsey, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Anne Hathaway and more... it’s delightfully charming, pretty funny, sweet and really enjoyable. A true guilty pleasure film, it’s just so lovely

8/10

The Bodyguard (15)

One of the many movies of the 90’s that most people remember for its chart busting power ballad (see Prince of Thieves, Armageddon, maybe even Titanic but surely it wasn’t Celine Dion that made it the biggest (till Avatar) of all time?) This is fairly generic stuff, but passes the time... strangely Kevin Costner doesn’t act at all (Whitney is ok), he’s fairly plank like yet his character is decent and grips... in fact the best person in the whole thing is Ossie Davis in his (too brief) screen time. It’s fairly generic silly stuff, but I guess there’s a love story somewhere... even if the film ends in such a way that makes you wonder exactly why they didn’t end up with each other? Answers on a postcard!!!

7/10

Armored (12)

A very straight forward B-movie that covers the usual tropes and clichés, rookie cop on his first day stumbles upon something, rag tag band of misfits trying something which goes wrong, plus a cast that includes B-list regulars Fred Ward, Larry Fishburne, Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, and even Skeet Ulrich (not seen much since the late 90’s)... basically Columbus Short’s rookie armored car driver is let in on a heist plan by his buddies (inc Larry, Matt, Skeet and Jean plus Sucre from Prison Break) where they plan to rob one of the armored cars they’re driving, but everything goes wrong when Columbus locks himself in the van and doesn’t want to help... then a cop appears. It’s terrifically enjoyable, and terribly predictable but great undemanding fun.

7/10

Sleeper (PG)

A truly tripped out and surreal futuristic comedy by Woody Allen, truly genius and truly mad... and truly hilarious, mixing political allegory with superb silent slapstick sequences of giant fruit and more... it’s truly hard to sum it up but basically Woody Allen wakes up in the future and goes on the run to infiltrate an underground movement. Other than that, I was never 100% sure what was going on, but that’s the hysterical joy I guess sometimes... it’s truly witty and inspired and truly insane, great stuff!

8/10

The Crazies (15)

Only just finished this one, and my goodness... what a corker! It’s both truly terrifying and an action-packed thriller. Basically, the government accidentally unleashes a deadly virus in a peaceful town, and everyone goes mental and starts killing people... like zombies, but alive and more deadly! Timothy Olyphant has always been a legend and he’s truly great here, a great leading man plus Radha Mitchell is also cracking as the leading lady. Switching between great action scenes and nasty inventive shocks, it’s a truly cracking little (or big) horror movie with an explosive finale!

8/10

So that’s this week’s blog, the reviews may seem a bit shorter at points but I think they get the job done, then again some may say they’re too long! Who knows what the next week will bring, a job? Some actual money from the Jobcentre? (They’re not doing great at making the right decision for my allowance at the moment, read the paperwork I’m sending!!) But hopefully some really great times none the less, already there’s I Am Number Four, Rango, Drive Angry 3D and The Adjustment Bureau on the way to name a few, plus more cell group, a party, and of course, The Oscars... very late night on Sunday but it’s going to be great... can’t wait to see what Franco and Hathaway bring to the table on the night, can’t wait!!

Until next time

You stay classy.... Planet Earth! X