Plot: Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) went to high school together. Schmidt was the geek and Jenko was the popular dim-witted jock. They meet again at the police academy, where they help each other with their weaknesses during training. They become partners, but are stuck on park duty. When trying to get their first big arrest, they mess up. They're sent to 21 Jump Street, where they're put on an undercover assignment to go back to high school to blend in and bust a drug ring.
Review: I'm going to admit this movie surprised me in a great way. I wasn't expecting much when I decided to go see this. I had heard good things about it and that it was funny, but I was still skeptical. Boy was I wrong. I was very wrong.
This film is based on a TV series that aired from 1987 to 1991. I've never seen it. But I don't think it matters. I looked online and there are cameos from people that were on the show. Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson and Peter DeLuise had starring roles in the show and reprise them in this very briefly. I like that the filmmakers wanted to honor the show's original cast members and have them be a part of this production, which introduces 21 Jump Street to a new generation.
I enjoyed the film's premise and plot. It felt fresh for me in terms of a buddy comedy. Of course, the plot can be predictable at certain points but it still feels fresh and I find a fresh plot in comedy films very rare and refreshing.
The acting very impressive, which shocked me a little I'm not going to lie.
I like Jonah Hill and I think he does a very good job in this. His ability to portray his character's change to what I see as desperation to relive his high school days now that he's one of the popular kids. There are times, especially later in the movie that I hated the character because of the character's selfishness but Jonah Hill still rocked it. Channing Tatum really surprised me. We've only seen him in one comedy, She's the Man, which was aimed at teens. Here we see that he has great comedic timing and has a good balance between comedy and drama. I hope Channing Tatum continues to do comedies because he's surprisingly hilarious. Brie Larson plays Molly, a girl Jonah Hill's character likes and I found her very convincing. She felt very real, like any other teenager. She seemed very natural. Ice Cube plays Captain Dickson, who runs Jump Street. I found him to be a great provider of laughs. Every time he was on-screen, I laughed. Dave Franco plays Eric and even though I didn't like Eric because of his cocky attitude, I think Franco pulled it off very well. Franco is also very good at portraying his character's naivety, which made him very funny. Rob Riggle plays Mr. Walters, the gym teacher. Like everyone else, he has great timing and does a fine job. The entire cast is very tight and there's no weak link.
I laughed out loud so many times when I saw this film. I like that not all of the jokes were used in the trailers like most comedies. One gag that I enjoyed is that the characters kept saying that Channing Tatum's character looks too old to be a high school student. And with so many films and television shows where actors in their 20s and 30s play high school students and try to pull of being teenagers, I appreciated those references because it's very true- which makes it funnier. A lot of jokes and gags I didn't expect. While certain plot points I did see coming, a lot of the jokes I didn't see coming which made this movie even better for me. There really wasn't a moment where I wasn't laughing. There's a bit at the end that I'm a little surprised was kept in there. Nonetheless, it was shockingly and disgustingly funny.
21 Jump Street is a hilarious, entertaining and fun film that surprised me and will keep you laughing out loud throughout the entire thing.
Rating: 4.5/5
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Hard Candy (2005)
Plot: 14-year-old Hayley (Ellen Page) meets 32-year-old photographer Jeff (Patrick Wilson) after chatting with him on the internet. She goes to his house and drugs him. Suspecting him to be a pedophile and murderer, she threatens to expose him.
Review: This is probably one of the most disturbing and screwed up movies I've seen in a long time.
What I like about the film's plot is that it takes a scenario that we've seen many times before and turns it around into a completely different direction. The film opens and we see a chat room. And then we see Hayley meeting Jeff. We expect this to be the film where a young girl becomes a victim an deals with the aftermath of the trauma. But it doesn't.
Hard Candy takes that premise and shreds to pieces and come up with something new. We would never expect to see a pedophile being tortured and brutalized. In fact, at some points in the film, we have sympathy for the supposed pedophile, which is really surprising once you think about it. You really start wonder who the real victim is in all of this.
The film's strongest point is the amazing acting. Patrick Wilson is terrific as Jeff. Even though he is a supposed pedophile, we manage to have sympathy when Hayley is after him. That sympathy is because of the brilliant writers and Patrick Wilson's performance. His desperation in the scenario is difficult to watch.
As brilliant as Patrick Wilson is, I don't think he's the film's real star. The real star is Ellen Page. When I watched Juno in theatres a few years ago, I thought Ellen Page was a great comedic actress. But I had no idea that she would be able to pull off this kind of role and performance. And this came out two years before Juno did. Hayley is obsessed with exposing Jeff and her obsession completely drives her. Ellen Page's performance gave me chills. Whether she said something or gave a certain look, a chill went my spine a few times in this. There are very few times that actors are able to show what kind of range they have. I'm happy Ellen Page was able to show us how talented she really is.
The cast is very small and I think that's another aspect that makes the film work. The intimacy of a small cast adds to the intensity of the situation and everything that is happening in the film.
I think Hard Candy is a terrific film. Well-acted, written and directed. Yet it's very disturbing, chilling and shocking. I don't know how many times people can watch this. I think it's one of those movies you can only bare to watch once, but you'll still remember it.
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: This is probably one of the most disturbing and screwed up movies I've seen in a long time.
What I like about the film's plot is that it takes a scenario that we've seen many times before and turns it around into a completely different direction. The film opens and we see a chat room. And then we see Hayley meeting Jeff. We expect this to be the film where a young girl becomes a victim an deals with the aftermath of the trauma. But it doesn't.
Hard Candy takes that premise and shreds to pieces and come up with something new. We would never expect to see a pedophile being tortured and brutalized. In fact, at some points in the film, we have sympathy for the supposed pedophile, which is really surprising once you think about it. You really start wonder who the real victim is in all of this.
The film's strongest point is the amazing acting. Patrick Wilson is terrific as Jeff. Even though he is a supposed pedophile, we manage to have sympathy when Hayley is after him. That sympathy is because of the brilliant writers and Patrick Wilson's performance. His desperation in the scenario is difficult to watch.
As brilliant as Patrick Wilson is, I don't think he's the film's real star. The real star is Ellen Page. When I watched Juno in theatres a few years ago, I thought Ellen Page was a great comedic actress. But I had no idea that she would be able to pull off this kind of role and performance. And this came out two years before Juno did. Hayley is obsessed with exposing Jeff and her obsession completely drives her. Ellen Page's performance gave me chills. Whether she said something or gave a certain look, a chill went my spine a few times in this. There are very few times that actors are able to show what kind of range they have. I'm happy Ellen Page was able to show us how talented she really is.
The cast is very small and I think that's another aspect that makes the film work. The intimacy of a small cast adds to the intensity of the situation and everything that is happening in the film.
I think Hard Candy is a terrific film. Well-acted, written and directed. Yet it's very disturbing, chilling and shocking. I don't know how many times people can watch this. I think it's one of those movies you can only bare to watch once, but you'll still remember it.
Rating: 4.5/5
Love And Other Drugs (2010)
Plot: Maggie (Anne Hathaway), who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, befriends a drug rep, Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal). They eventually become a couple. But as Maggie's illness progresses and Jamie's career continues to grow, will they be able to stay together?
Review: I was surprised by this movie. It's better than most romantic comedies I've seen.
First of all, this a romantic comedy. But it's not aimed at teens. It's aimed at adults and adults only. In this day and age, most romantic comedies are aimed at adolescents and the romance is portrayed as sex-free for a great majority of the time. Everything is happy, there are problems but everything is okay at the end. And with most romantic comedies aimed at teens, you can tell whether or not the couple will actually get together at the end. And in most of them they do. In this film, you're sometimes questioning if whether or not they'll actually stay together or not. It's a realistic approach to romance, especially an adult romance. Most films are prudish when it comes to sex and this one is an exception. We don't see enough of this in movies.
I found the film's plot to be a little unbalanced. I liked the plot of Jamie's job as a drug rep and everything and thought that was well done, but it was how they wrote Maggie's disease. You really forget at some points that she has Parkinson's disease until it worsens. Nonetheless, I like that they made it a core point in the plot later in the film and how it is troublesome to Maggie and Jamie's relationship.
I found the acting very impressive. I think Jake Gyllenhaal pulls off the charm and plays a good romantic male lead. He has a nice balance of comedic and dramatic timing. Anne Hathway is fantastic in this, especially in scenes where her Parkinson's progresses and where she has her emotional breakdown. Like Gyllenhaal, I think she has a good balance of comedy and drama, which shows in this film where she's sarcastic in one scene and crying hysterically in the next. I think she and Jake Gyllenhaal have good energy between the two of them. Josh Gad plays Josh, Jamie's brother. I found him to be a good provider of comedy. He was hilarious in this. I found the rest of the supporting cast to be good as well.
Love And Other Drugs is an entertaining and funny romantic comedy that will be appreciated by the adults I have no doubt.
Rating: 3/5
Review: I was surprised by this movie. It's better than most romantic comedies I've seen.
First of all, this a romantic comedy. But it's not aimed at teens. It's aimed at adults and adults only. In this day and age, most romantic comedies are aimed at adolescents and the romance is portrayed as sex-free for a great majority of the time. Everything is happy, there are problems but everything is okay at the end. And with most romantic comedies aimed at teens, you can tell whether or not the couple will actually get together at the end. And in most of them they do. In this film, you're sometimes questioning if whether or not they'll actually stay together or not. It's a realistic approach to romance, especially an adult romance. Most films are prudish when it comes to sex and this one is an exception. We don't see enough of this in movies.
I found the film's plot to be a little unbalanced. I liked the plot of Jamie's job as a drug rep and everything and thought that was well done, but it was how they wrote Maggie's disease. You really forget at some points that she has Parkinson's disease until it worsens. Nonetheless, I like that they made it a core point in the plot later in the film and how it is troublesome to Maggie and Jamie's relationship.
I found the acting very impressive. I think Jake Gyllenhaal pulls off the charm and plays a good romantic male lead. He has a nice balance of comedic and dramatic timing. Anne Hathway is fantastic in this, especially in scenes where her Parkinson's progresses and where she has her emotional breakdown. Like Gyllenhaal, I think she has a good balance of comedy and drama, which shows in this film where she's sarcastic in one scene and crying hysterically in the next. I think she and Jake Gyllenhaal have good energy between the two of them. Josh Gad plays Josh, Jamie's brother. I found him to be a good provider of comedy. He was hilarious in this. I found the rest of the supporting cast to be good as well.
Love And Other Drugs is an entertaining and funny romantic comedy that will be appreciated by the adults I have no doubt.
Rating: 3/5
Wanderlust (2012)
Plot: A couple (Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) must move to the country when economic issues result in them leaving New York. Car troubles result in them ending up in a hippie commune. They eventually return, getting use to such a liberating and stress-free lifestyle. But when one of them has had enough, will it destroy their relationship? And is there more to the commune itself than initially thought?
Review: I liked this movie for the most part. But I had mixed feelings about it.
I did think the plot's premise was original and clever. But about half way through the film, I felt that the film was becoming slightly cliche. For example, the husband who doesn't want to live this lifestyle and the wife who does. The wife who can't seem to find what she wants to do with her life and when she finds it, her husband disapproves. And we have the supposed good guy who ends up being the bad one. We've all seen this done before and I saw most of it coming before it happened.
Although the plot can be predictable, the cast is extremely talented. It's a big cast and there's no weak link. Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston have worked many times together and they do so very well. They have a great chemistry between the two of them. The cast is quite big and there are several supporting roles so I'll mention a few of them. Justin Theroux plays Seth, who causes a rift between the couple. Kerri Kenney-Silver plays Kathy, one of the hippies. She was a stand-out for me. She was hilarious and she made me laugh every single time she was on-screen. Joe Lo Truglio plays Wayne, a nudist, and I found him to be just as funny. Alan Alda plays Carvin, the elderly owner of the commune. I found him to be hysterical and also a good voice of reason. A voice of wisdom of sorts. The rest of the supporting cast were also funny and convincing in their respective roles.
Because some of the plot was predictable, so were some of the jokes and laughs. I did laugh out loud but the film wasn't as funny as it should've been. Some of it I could see coming so it didn't really make me laugh. The film is much dirtier than I had initially thought. This isn't a movie for kids under the age of 14. This is a comedy that was made for adults I find just by the content.
Wanderlust is an okay comedy but it isn't as funny as it should be. But it's still tolerable.
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: I liked this movie for the most part. But I had mixed feelings about it.
I did think the plot's premise was original and clever. But about half way through the film, I felt that the film was becoming slightly cliche. For example, the husband who doesn't want to live this lifestyle and the wife who does. The wife who can't seem to find what she wants to do with her life and when she finds it, her husband disapproves. And we have the supposed good guy who ends up being the bad one. We've all seen this done before and I saw most of it coming before it happened.
Although the plot can be predictable, the cast is extremely talented. It's a big cast and there's no weak link. Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston have worked many times together and they do so very well. They have a great chemistry between the two of them. The cast is quite big and there are several supporting roles so I'll mention a few of them. Justin Theroux plays Seth, who causes a rift between the couple. Kerri Kenney-Silver plays Kathy, one of the hippies. She was a stand-out for me. She was hilarious and she made me laugh every single time she was on-screen. Joe Lo Truglio plays Wayne, a nudist, and I found him to be just as funny. Alan Alda plays Carvin, the elderly owner of the commune. I found him to be hysterical and also a good voice of reason. A voice of wisdom of sorts. The rest of the supporting cast were also funny and convincing in their respective roles.
Because some of the plot was predictable, so were some of the jokes and laughs. I did laugh out loud but the film wasn't as funny as it should've been. Some of it I could see coming so it didn't really make me laugh. The film is much dirtier than I had initially thought. This isn't a movie for kids under the age of 14. This is a comedy that was made for adults I find just by the content.
Wanderlust is an okay comedy but it isn't as funny as it should be. But it's still tolerable.
Rating: 2.5/5
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Plot: On his journey to find a cure for a curse that will eventually kill him, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and the people of Iron Town. In this quest and hoping to build peace between the two rivals, he meets Mononoke, a human girl raised by a wolf god who has turned against humans.
Review: Everytime I see a Miyazaki film, I am blown away by this man's brilliance. And this film is no exception.
Firstly, this film incorporates the great majority of Hayao Miyazaki's well-known themes and trademarks in film.
We have characters who are good or evil. But like in some of Miyazaki films, we don't always know the distinction. Is a character good or evil? Do they just appear to be? For example, we have the people of Iron Town destroying the forest, led by Lady Eboshi. But this is a woman who also shelters the outcasts of Japan like prostitutes and lepers. Therefore, it is hard to condemn because she has that morality that makes us sympathize with her because she sympathizes with others. We also have the animal gods turning against one another at some point so what you may see as good and evil all depends on your point of view. This is what I like about the film's plot. It allows us to see all sides of the issues and agree and not agree with almost every character.
The film has a big environmental theme, which is another trademark Hayao Miyazaki. It shows us the balance that we have to incorporate between the civilizations of man and the nature of the forest. We also see how deadly man can be to animal. The boar was shot by Lady Eboshi, causing him to turn into a demon that cursed Ashitaka. And we also have the side of how deadly animal can be to man. We have some female characters claiming their husbands to be killed by wolves.
The film also gives us another question- what does it mean to be human? We have San (also known as Princess Mononoke), a human girl raised by a wolf god, who now despises humans for what they have done and continue to do to the forest. Her refusal to accept her own humanity makes you wonder what really makes you human besides your flesh.
This is a film for teens and young adults. I've seen Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, My Neighbour Totoro, all family-orientated films. This is a film for the older audience. The film is surprisingly violent. We have characters getting beheaded, arms being shot off by arrows, blood, violent deaths etc. This has a PG-13 rating for a reason. Don't assume because it's animated that it's kid friendly. I knew that it wouldn't be for young kids, but I was honestly surprised at how bloody this film actually is.
As for the voice casting in the English dub, I do believe that they tried to get as many celebrities that are well known to get good money at the box office and have an audience come. In the English dub, actors like Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Billy Bob Thornton and Gillian Anderson doing voice work. It's not that I think they aren't good actors, but I feel that it was the wrong type of casting. In the other English dubs of his films, we have actors that are known, but not to that extent and it worked better. That's just my own theory.
I still consider Spirited Away to be Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, but this comes in a very, very close second. This is a wonderful, entertaining and brilliant film that should be watched by not only fans of anime and animation but film fans in general because this is a film that will leave you speechless.
Rating: 5/5
Review: Everytime I see a Miyazaki film, I am blown away by this man's brilliance. And this film is no exception.
Firstly, this film incorporates the great majority of Hayao Miyazaki's well-known themes and trademarks in film.
We have characters who are good or evil. But like in some of Miyazaki films, we don't always know the distinction. Is a character good or evil? Do they just appear to be? For example, we have the people of Iron Town destroying the forest, led by Lady Eboshi. But this is a woman who also shelters the outcasts of Japan like prostitutes and lepers. Therefore, it is hard to condemn because she has that morality that makes us sympathize with her because she sympathizes with others. We also have the animal gods turning against one another at some point so what you may see as good and evil all depends on your point of view. This is what I like about the film's plot. It allows us to see all sides of the issues and agree and not agree with almost every character.
The film has a big environmental theme, which is another trademark Hayao Miyazaki. It shows us the balance that we have to incorporate between the civilizations of man and the nature of the forest. We also see how deadly man can be to animal. The boar was shot by Lady Eboshi, causing him to turn into a demon that cursed Ashitaka. And we also have the side of how deadly animal can be to man. We have some female characters claiming their husbands to be killed by wolves.
The film also gives us another question- what does it mean to be human? We have San (also known as Princess Mononoke), a human girl raised by a wolf god, who now despises humans for what they have done and continue to do to the forest. Her refusal to accept her own humanity makes you wonder what really makes you human besides your flesh.
This is a film for teens and young adults. I've seen Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, My Neighbour Totoro, all family-orientated films. This is a film for the older audience. The film is surprisingly violent. We have characters getting beheaded, arms being shot off by arrows, blood, violent deaths etc. This has a PG-13 rating for a reason. Don't assume because it's animated that it's kid friendly. I knew that it wouldn't be for young kids, but I was honestly surprised at how bloody this film actually is.
As for the voice casting in the English dub, I do believe that they tried to get as many celebrities that are well known to get good money at the box office and have an audience come. In the English dub, actors like Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Billy Bob Thornton and Gillian Anderson doing voice work. It's not that I think they aren't good actors, but I feel that it was the wrong type of casting. In the other English dubs of his films, we have actors that are known, but not to that extent and it worked better. That's just my own theory.
I still consider Spirited Away to be Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, but this comes in a very, very close second. This is a wonderful, entertaining and brilliant film that should be watched by not only fans of anime and animation but film fans in general because this is a film that will leave you speechless.
Rating: 5/5
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