Sunday 31 July 2011
Bad trailer alert - Fright Night
Is this a comedy or a thriller? The marketing team can't make up its mind.
Film review - Super 8
Super 8 travels the satisfying “life lessons through adventure” path of Stand By Me and The Goonies. And while it might not quite live up to those classics, it is still a great kids’ film which is a little too scary for kids.
Joe (Joel Courtney), a troubled boy living in a small town is spending the summer holidays helping his best friend (Riley Griffiths) make a zombie short on the titular film stock. One night while filming with major crush Alice (Elle Fanning), the gang witnesses a horrific accident which is a lot more sinister than it first seems. As the military takes over the town and people begin to disappear, it is up to the friends to piece together the mystery and save the day.
Like Stand By Me, the film is set around 30 years before present. While this journey into the past is unnecessary, 1979 is obviously a year dripping with nostalgia for writer/director J.J. Abrams just as 1956 was for Stephen King. The main character is also recently bereaved and is distant from his father, like Gordie before him.
If the set up isn’t unique, the execution mostly makes up for it. By combining Abram’s knack for giant creatures (see Cloverfield) and characterisation (see Star Trek, but not Lost, which was dire) we get a, dare I say it, rollercoaster ride as the children come to the rescue. The performances are also great, particularly from Fanning who is just luminous on screen.
Sweet, funny and exciting, Super 8 is a well-told adventure that just falls short of amazing.
Joe (Joel Courtney), a troubled boy living in a small town is spending the summer holidays helping his best friend (Riley Griffiths) make a zombie short on the titular film stock. One night while filming with major crush Alice (Elle Fanning), the gang witnesses a horrific accident which is a lot more sinister than it first seems. As the military takes over the town and people begin to disappear, it is up to the friends to piece together the mystery and save the day.
Like Stand By Me, the film is set around 30 years before present. While this journey into the past is unnecessary, 1979 is obviously a year dripping with nostalgia for writer/director J.J. Abrams just as 1956 was for Stephen King. The main character is also recently bereaved and is distant from his father, like Gordie before him.
If the set up isn’t unique, the execution mostly makes up for it. By combining Abram’s knack for giant creatures (see Cloverfield) and characterisation (see Star Trek, but not Lost, which was dire) we get a, dare I say it, rollercoaster ride as the children come to the rescue. The performances are also great, particularly from Fanning who is just luminous on screen.
Sweet, funny and exciting, Super 8 is a well-told adventure that just falls short of amazing.
Film review - Bridesmaids
When I saw the trailer for Bridesmaids, I thought it was just producer Judd Apatow’s answer to the accusations of mysogeny that followed Knocked Up. “Look, I can’t hate women – I’ve made a film showing them being just as stupid and gross as the men in my films.” Well, it’s so much more than that. The creation of SNL regular Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, this is that rarest of things - a comedy about women that is genuinely hilarious and truthful.
The film follows Annie (Wiig), a single 30-something who is at a seriously low ebb. Her business has failed, she’s back to flat-sharing with randoms (including a strangely placed Matt Lucas), and she’s sleeping with a horrible hunk (the delicious Jon Hamm). When her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces that she is getting married and wants her to be the maid of honour, Annie is forced to organise the wedding with a rag-tag group of bridesmaids, including alpha bitch Helen (Rose Byrne).
As the wedding plans and Annie’s sanity crumble, we are treated to some great set-pieces, including some classic gross-out moments. But there are lots of little exchanges that obviously stem from Wiig and Rudolph’s improvisational background which are even better.
The friendship between the two provides the main emotional story and feels very real. Perhaps the film could have been improved slightly by focusing more on that. The romance between Annie and the Irish cop (Chris O’Dowd from the IT Crowd) is totally adorable but a little too good to be true. Likewise the character of Megan (Melissa McCarthy), the oddest of the bridesmaids, is funny but feels forced – she’s too obviously a stand in for Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover.
Despite the distractions, this is a sweet, funny, uplifting and partially disgusting film which can be appreciated by more than just girls.
The film follows Annie (Wiig), a single 30-something who is at a seriously low ebb. Her business has failed, she’s back to flat-sharing with randoms (including a strangely placed Matt Lucas), and she’s sleeping with a horrible hunk (the delicious Jon Hamm). When her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces that she is getting married and wants her to be the maid of honour, Annie is forced to organise the wedding with a rag-tag group of bridesmaids, including alpha bitch Helen (Rose Byrne).
As the wedding plans and Annie’s sanity crumble, we are treated to some great set-pieces, including some classic gross-out moments. But there are lots of little exchanges that obviously stem from Wiig and Rudolph’s improvisational background which are even better.
The friendship between the two provides the main emotional story and feels very real. Perhaps the film could have been improved slightly by focusing more on that. The romance between Annie and the Irish cop (Chris O’Dowd from the IT Crowd) is totally adorable but a little too good to be true. Likewise the character of Megan (Melissa McCarthy), the oddest of the bridesmaids, is funny but feels forced – she’s too obviously a stand in for Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover.
Despite the distractions, this is a sweet, funny, uplifting and partially disgusting film which can be appreciated by more than just girls.
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