DVD review: the losers

A group of soldier is betrayed and left for dead, now they are out for revenge.

Yes this movie feature a group of soldier on the loose, no this is not the A team movie, this is the other one and even if the team behind “The losers” insist that this is an entirely different affair I can’t help but muse that somebody, somewhere, thought that the A team movie would be an huge success and that therefore a redacted version could sneak in some free cash. Sadly for them out of the “summer of ragtag group of mercenaries’ blockbusters” this one felt short and was almost bombed at the box office.

This is honestly a shame, this movie is certainly not really that good but is certainly miles ahead of the expendable, at least it got a plot, a very obvious and banal one, but a plot nonetheless.

The secret weapon of this movie is the cast; they got a bunch of actors on the crisp of superstardom, so they weren’t that expensive, with spades of charisma and something to prove. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana, this is a very good line up.

Sadly all this acting power is squandered in an unbelievably silly plot. This movie got “Eco friendly” nukes, for the terrorist who doesn’t wants to pollute the planet, I’m not joking, check it out if you want. It’s not unwatchable, not at all, it actually held easily our attention for the whole running time, but it did it just barely. There were nice ideas every now and then, like an awesome fight between Zoe Saldana and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but they were too few in a sea of banality recycled from countless other movies.

The direction and the overall manufacture of the movie are also really subpar. The explosions look fake, like those from 80s movies, and the action fails the deliver the initial promise. It’s a glorified tv movie but maybe in ten years it will be ailed as this generation “commando”.

Honetly I don’t think so.

TV review: Fringe season 3

The Fringe team battles the menace from the alternate reality.

In retrospect is not rocket science but after the dismal failure that has been Lost ending, Fringe philosophy is noteworthy. On one side they slowly advance the various character arcs while on the other side they feed us the “Monster of the week”. Every couple of episodes they reveal a little bit more of the back-story of the world. It all works like a well oiled machine.

The main theme is the alternate reality which becomes so much of a focus that we have many episodes entirely settled there with alternate version of the entire main cast. This trick rejuvenates a serial that in the second season was becoming too formulaic. Of course it also means that it’s a little bit less newbie friendly but it’s still a far far cry from the byzantine non sense of lost. Speaking of that I can report that, standing the ending of season three; We are steadily getting answers to our questions, those answers makes sense, new question are arising from the show in a steady but not overwhelming number, those questions are interesting, the overall world building is top notch, we want to know about these places.

As far as characters go this is the season where Anna Torv proved to everybody that she is a great actress and that actually is Olivia, her role in the serial, that it’s a bit boring. Not only she managed to develop a believable Alt Olivia, she even had a couple of episodes of fun playing Leonard Nimoy in her body, don’t ask you don’t want to be spoiled.

John Noble of course still plays the archetypical mad scientist Walter Bishop to a pitch perfect level. In the more dramatic episodes he can get a bit annoying with his grief but in the end he’s wonderfully “out there”.

Mid season there is a moment of slow down with sup par writing and a couple of aborted plots, clearly filler material. If only they axed some episodes we would have ended with a masterpiece, as it is it’s just good fun.

Cinema Review: Puss in boots

Puss in Boots, the one from “Shrek” on his own solo adventure.

Puss in Boots is certainly the breakthrough character from the “Shrek” franchise. Everybody loves Puss in Boots, I love him too, so isn’t a surprise that they developed a spin off for him after realizing that Shrek story really ended with the first movie, is more a question of “It’s incredible they took so long”.

This movie clearly proves that Puss in Boots, in this strange Mexican incarnation brought by an independent Antonio Banderas decision, works as a main lead. Not every sidekick manages the jump but he’s clearly able to hold an entire movie, even saddled with a not very good plot (more on this later) on his feline shoulders. Maybe the trick is that, citing Antonio Banderas, “He thinks he’s six foot tall”, which means that Puss in Boots manages to be the comic sidekick and the epic lead all in one furry persona.

With the plot sadly they resorted to standard Hollywood fare so we get the obligatory origin story, a very banal one to boot, the obligatory personal problem to overcome and the obligatory love story. Regarding the last the movie introduces us to Kitty Softpaws who is practically a version of Puss in Boots with added tits but with virtual no characterization, no back story and a fairly annoying attitude. Apparently in “Shrek” world there are normal cats and crazy talking acrobatic cats that walk around in boots, I wonder if they are two distinct races….

The new setting is basically Zorro’s Mexico, with added fairy tales characters wandering around. It got his charms visually and stylistically but in the end it’s all missing it’s spark, it’s nice to look at but compared to some recent masterpieces like “Arthur Christmas” it simply comes short.

With all his short comings “Puss in boots” in the end is still fairly entertaining. There are some decent laughs while the plot comes along at a nice pace, all probably due to the charisma of his feline protagonist. There’s something to be said for a movie that is simply enjoyable, it’s just that from “Puss in Boots” we were expecting much more.

Book review: Triumph of the sun

Against the backdrop of the siege of Khartoum two men battle for their lives and their love.

This is one of the best Wilbur Smith novels. Of course it’s still Wilbur Smith so his heroes are all incredibly handsome and successful his heroines irresistibly drawn to them and so on. If this kind of stuff irks you then you should move away because these things are part of the genre.

For the people willing to overlook the usual stereotypes, or maybe willing to enjoy them, “Triumph of the sun” is a riveting, dramatic story. It starts slowly, Smith takes the first hundred pages just to present all the characters, but then the tension really builds up.

One aspect where Smith is underrated is how well researched his books are, this one is an interesting account of the Mahdi rebellion and the siege of Khartoum. Maybe this spoils it somewhat for us history nerds who already knew how the siege of Khartoum ended but nonetheless it provides an amazing immersion into the period.

Another noteworthy thing is how Smith, often accused of being racist for his depiction of black people manages to paint here some Arab villain who are somewhat really sympathetic but still worthy antagonists. Actually nobody is a saint in this novel, even some of the so called heroes engage in somewhat despicable actions.

At his heart, as are the rule of the genre, of course there is the love story with the two main protagonists, each representing one of his most famous series, the Ballantynes and the Courteneys, both going for the same woman. Midway through the siege ends in an unexpected way and, as is Smith custom, the plot transforms with different settings and a broader scope. This is really one of those novels where everything could, and eventually will, happen.

Recommended for lovers of exotic adventure.

TV review: The thick of it season 1

The inner workings of the fictional ministry of social affairs.

After watching “in the loop” I went back and recovered the original series that sparked the movie.

As a first impression I must say that the camera is really awkward, they are clearly aiming for that fake documentary feeling that it’s all the rage lately but honestly the camera jerks around Blair Witch style and so it can be really uncomfortable for some viewers.

Also the production values are really low, it’s clear that they were still testing the waters and that the BBC didn’t invest too much money in it.

Luckily they got the wonderfully foul mouthed Malcolm Tucker from the beginning and so we really didn’t care about that stuff. Up the certain extent it flows even better than the movie because the tone is all even, there is no style clash between the UK part and the USA part. Moreover this kind of stuff works better in 30 minutes episodes, the plot is still not really that important and so when is taken in such small bits is more like a starting point from where all the various characters can go on a tangent.

In the end I can’t help but wonder if our government really works this way….

DVD review: Dear John

A soldier enlisted abroad falls in love with a young girl at home.

This is not really my genre of movies but I was curious about this one. To scathing reviews it managed to dethrone “Avatar” from the box office top while collecting more than 100 millions along the way.

This is certainly not a very good movie, the plot starts in a fairly linear and relatable way but it quickly degrades in a hopeless mess, the pacing is glacial while the characters are living clichés.

Yet this movie faced the issue of the Iraq war with much more box office success than legions of critically acclaimed efforts. Probably the general public doesn’t really want to hear that war is a bad thing, most likely they already know that and generally speaking the war in Iraq is a really depressing affair, nothing that inspire “Epic war film”. So when “Dear John” quietly shoves everything under the carpet because John can’t tell us what he’s doing for security reasons the public is left with the sad and stony eyes of John Tyree (Channing Tatum) where they can project they feelings and their insecurities. This clearly struck a chord somewhere, apparently we don’t want to see what they are doing in the desert, we just want to cuddle them when they come back.

Now this is actually a good thing, every movie should be judged on his own terms so even if I find John Tyree a terrible and boring character the silent but strong type is a mainstay of romantic movies so disapproving of him is like banning elves from fantasy. The reason this is still very bad is that Channing Tatum is one of those pouty “I got only one facial expression” guys, he really lacks the intensity that a role that is required by the role.

Also the ritual “Now a bunch of complications separates the star crossed lovers” is plotted and handed very badly. The characters don’t react in a believable way and it’s all so confused.

Amanda Seyfried of course was born for roles like this but while she manages to sail through the first part practically on the strength of her indubitable charm alone not even her smile manages to salvage the ending, she is good but not even an Oscar winner could do that.

For all the mess that is the plot the direction is by a spotless Lasse Hallstrom who manages trough sheer cinematographic experience to craft a watchable movie, albeit with a lot of help from Seyfried.

In the end if you like romantic movies go for it, maybe you’ll even love it.

DVD review: Cemetery Junction

The coming of age story of three boys.

At least I have to admit that this movie has a highly topical subject. The transition to the work force and what it means for the dreams and aspirations is not a very popular subject. Obviously this is caused by his own very nature, if you think about it this is very depressing stuff, in the 80s young boys faced the prospect of joining a daily grind with the real possibility of never getting to a nice financial situation (which by the way is still better than what we are facing now which is the prospect of joining the masses of unemployed with the real possibility of not ever getting to the daily grind part).

Ricky Gervais, the creator of “the office” for the uninitiated, approached the subject as a comedy and even managed to squeeze a laugh or two out of it. The problem, as always with these dramas – comedies, is that there is an incredibly fine line between the two, so when he manages to stick to it Gervais obtain riveting stuff but often he gets a clash of tones where the dramatic part is set aside.

Probably I’m getting cynical but I can’t really sympathize with what the protagonists do on their work place, if I must take it seriously I would have them fired because “it’s you workplace and you don’t act like a moron on your workplace!”.

Also the whole dichotomy “daily dream crushing grind” versus “going away” that permeates the movie is too simplicistic. I understand that this is symbolic of taking our chances and trying to better ourselves but I can’t help but snicker when they declare that “They are going away, don’t know where”, you know that you have to pay your rent also abroad? It’s not like they give away free stuff in Paris.

On the other side the adult population of Cemetery Junction is depicted in a much more interesting way, their casual racism, their understanding of the world and their quiet strength beneath the anonymous façade is pitch perfect. In retrospect I would have much preferred a movie about them.

CInema review: Hugo

Paris 1930, a young orphan embarks on a mysterious quest.

In the last few years it looked like Scorsese was suffering from the “Important auteur” syndrome. Regarded by many as the best filmmaker in the world his movies became longer and longer with very confuse plotting and lethargic pacing. I don’t know if he realized this but first he directed last year the excellent “Shutter Island” and this year finally he returned to the top form of his beginnings.

“Hugo” is a magical story. I don’t want to spoiler the plot and the various revelations, suffice to say that this is an extended homage to the cinema beginnings. An homage that manages to capture the magic of those pioneeristic works without being pedantic. See it’s often very difficult to quote an earlier work without sounding like a textbook or, even worse, without making it an inside joke for those “smart” fans. In a stroke of genius Scorsese makes his protagonist actually go to the cinema and see a bunch of those earlier works before redoing them for the modern audience so that everybody is up to date on what’s going on.

In a fascinating move Scorsese decided also to do a movie about cinema beginning using the most advanced technologies at his disposal. So this movie is in 3D, native 3D not awful conversion job, and it’s probably the best 3D ever. Scorsese uses it in a marvelous way; James Cameron itself said that its way better than what we did on “Avatar”.

This is a dramatic fable with an original plot that will capture you from the beginning till the very end. The movie eschews those boring Hollywood formulas to give us a letter of love to the power and the magic of storytelling.

Highly recommended.

Dvd review: The fighter

The true story of boxer Micky Ward.

I used to loathe Mark Wahlberg, I really couldn’t see what his director saw in him, he was the blandest white male American actor possible, he was incredibly boring. Then I saw him in a comic role, in “The other guys”, and I saw good comic timing, nice pacing and a willingness to go where many other actors didn’t dare.

Then I saw this movie where he gave a beautiful understated performance that is also noteworthy for what it says about him as a person and as an artist with integrity. See, to put it bluntly, Micky Ward family was full of lunatics and so the most interesting roles, the role that give people Oscars, were those of his familiars. Now, abusing his lead actor status, he could have obtained a pumping up of his role with more saucy one liners and dramatic stuff, instead he left things as they are and therefore the Oscars went into his costars directions. I can say that he obtained my respect but I think that he probably preferred a golden statue for the fireplace.

This movie is really a labor of love for Wahlberg, he comes from a background similar to the titular fighter and he kept the movie afloat trough development hell using every ounce of his star power. He actually kept preparing for his role during this long period, four years, by keeping himself in the physical shape required to realistically portrait a boxer.

For all the flash that runs into the movie it’s his performance that keep it all together, he is like the straight man in a buddy comedy, the pillar that make all the other performances possible.

Christian Bale portraits Micky’s half-brother, Dicky Eglund, in another terrific performance. It’s astonishing how somebody dared to say that his prodigious weight losing is just a publicity stunt. Him losing weight is like Wahlberg gaining muscles, just another tool, albeit a very hard one, in the actor toolbox to make the performance more realistic. Dicky Eglund was a crack addict at the time and so he had to lose weight if he wanted to look the part.

Bale was pulled into the movie by Wahlberg himself, their daughters go to the same school, and apart from the weight loss he really managed a mimetic performance. He spent some time with the real Dicky Eglund and he really sounds the same, It’s astonishing and a really well deserved Oscar for supporting actor.

Melissa Leo won also the supporting actress for her portrayal of their mother. Her is a performance that it’s not easy to like, we all know too many parents who are a little bit like her, but her interaction with the rest of the cast is sparkling.

Amy Adams got another deserved nomination for best supporting actress, apparently she wants to flee that “Amy Adams” character that she’s been doing lately. She certainly got the acting chops for that and in this movie managed to move from her stereotypical image while remaining true to herself (which is something that not many actress managed to do, too many resorted to the old “lot of steaming sex” in a bid to be taken seriously).

The movie itself is very good and original. It takes a while to get into it with is large and peculiar cast but give it five minutes and you’ll be captured. The fight scenes are good and realistic, they still owe a lot to Rocky but this is not such a bad thing. The themes are interesting and nailed correctly without being to overt. Micky wants to live his life without too much interference from his family, he wants to succeed beyond his little town but at the same time he wants’ his family near him and he wants to remain in the place that he loves.

This movie deserves every accolade that it gained.