When the Cheshire emerges...: comedy

Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts

Monday, September 01, 2014

Review of the Week: Magic In The Moonlight

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

Magic In The Moonlight (PG)

THE MAGIC and mystique behind love and how humans come to have such feeling has been long explored by Woody Allen. While his films range dramatically in the form his central characters take, his creations predominantly deal with the mishaps and other dramas love brings to their lives. For his latest offering we're taken back to the 1920s, a time when the world was becoming that little bit more liberated. With that came more public shows of affection from those embracing the social change - but marriages of convenience over pure emotion were still just as acceptable.

Stanley (Colin Firth) is a man of convenience and righteousness, refusing to look past his narrow-minded views on the world. His success in life acting as magician from the Orient Wei Ling Foo and engagement to Olivia (Catherine McCormack) lend to his views being perfectly rational. A trip to southern France at the insistence of long-time friend Howard (Simon McBurney) quickly threatens to shake up Stanley's entire existence. As the master of trickery he heartily accepts a challenge to debunk spirit medium Sophie (Emma Stone), who is seen to be fooling the Catledge family.

Defining what is real and what is not is harder for Stanley than meets the eye, Allen giving both he and Sophie layers to masking their identities. Uncertainty is paramount, delivered with more than enough of the snappy wit so familiar within Allen's work. Firth and Stone, both newcomers to Allen's ways, create an intriguing love/hate central relationship. This is despite the fact Stanley is such an unlikable man - his pessimism is obnoxious to the point of exhaustion. Firth is great at it, but the character presents as overwritten even with the inevitable twist. Stone on the other hand, is a delight.

It's a flamboyant film, using a simple idea and amplifying it with extravagance to emphasise a point. On what will depend on how you view the world - the pessimists' ability to prove their views are logical, or the optimist's ability to crack the pessimism and reveal there's more to life. Which in essence fits in with typical Allen themes – characters' boredom with life, anxiety and uncertainty about relationships. His films much of the time become a moral compass, asking you to reassess where your views on life sit, and this is no exception.

Allen assembles a great cast, which also includes Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver and Eileen Atkins. He also creates a whimsical setting with a southern France backdrop, further creating a dreamy world amidst the almost-sinister intentions at play. While entertaining, it will not rank among Allen's best. For those unconcerned, it remains a fun piece of snappy comedy with style.

Rating: 3/5

To be published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 3/9/2014.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Inbetweeners 2.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Review of the Week: The Inbetweeners 2

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

I was forced to see this when my cinema had not yet received the copy of my nominated film. It was 7pm on the Thursday and they hadn't received it. How ridiculous. So then I had to join all the British backpackers in town and sit through this car crash of a film.

The Inbetweeners 2 (MA 15+)

TO the odd few absolute cluelessness is an endearing quality to come from a person. Though as the number of people in close proximity with that quality increases, that feeling dissipates. And then there's the utter lack of despair felt when looking at the quartet that make up the Inbetweeners.

They're a truly sorry mob, with Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) still having absolutely no idea about how to deal with girls or the world. Life goes on, but for these guys it really is all that much more difficult.

Running away from problems is something done very well by a large proportion of humans, as a way to clear the mind and supposedly grow as a person before actually dealing with the issues still waiting there.

This lot does exactly that – Will, who hates his university life, Neil, who has no direction, and Simon, who wants to escape girlfriend-from-Hell Lucy (Tamla Kari), decide to spontaneously travel to visit Jay during his working holiday.

The Poms will still never miss a chance to have Australia on, in jest showing our sunburnt country as a haven for hippies and opportunity to land easy sheilas. It's hard to take anything seriously when breaking the fourth wall includes kicking koalas and knocking people out with boomerangs. But to the boys it's the lucky country where they hope those problems of theirs will wash away.

Unfortunately for each of them things seem to get worse – a hundred times more than anyone could ever imagine. Their journey to Byron Bay, for Will's benefit after bumping into school friend Katie (Emily Berrington), brings obstacles thought impossible for such a laidback town. Down on their luck in every department, things appear that they will never change.

The sheer stupidity shown by the group raises serious questions about how they have become such endearing characters to watch on both the small and big screens. Their complete lack of sensibility and understanding about general interaction is like a car crash, the misogyny too rampant to warrant giving it detail.

And that's how the film feels as a whole as things get from bad to worse. An uneasy, cringing feeling lingers as their trip unfolds, with jokes covering everything from paedophiles and spirituality to getting shitfaced. They wear thin across the 96 minutes which is maximised by a slow plot.

Directing/writing duo Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, the creative minds behind these characters, do at least work the film around a story. The plot is filled with mishaps, but the story is a development on their previous outing. The script gives equal time to each of the group, but there's too many crude jokes and too much of Will's obnoxious-but-I-don't-know-it nature, making you want to cry for help.

Only fans knowing the group's history and understanding their aspirations will appreciate this mess of a story. New audiences will see the film in a different light, unable to accept that quality of cluelessness they all possess - or for that matter the complete lack of respect for women.

Rating: 2/5

To be published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 27/8/2014.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of Begin Again.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Review of the Week: 2 Guns

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

2 Guns (MA 15+)

WHEN corruption within the US government is presented in film, more often than not it has to do with the country’s president. This film by Baltasar Kormakur doesn't touch on that for a change, but still shows corruption on multiple levels to say that everyone’s the bad guy.

Bobby (Denzel Washington) and Stig (Mark Wahlberg) are a team that liaise in deals with Mexican drug kingpin Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos). They rob a bank meant to be containing Papi’s money as a revenge plot for a double-cross before Bobby is found out by his partner to be a DEA agent. Stig’s no different though as a naval intelligence officer, and while the double double-cross is usually a bit of fun, it creates a snowball effect of confusion for the plot that follows.

The script mistakes its flaws as suspense. Characters are introduced without proper explanation, and a failed relationship between Bobby and fellow agent Deb (Paula Patton) serves only to get Patton topless.

Photo: digitaltrends.com

Washington and Wahlberg are a pair constantly at each other’s throats with endless banter that amounts to sheer stupidity. Walhberg’s drawling and chewing is excessive, and reduces him to his failsafe archetype of a wannabe ladies man.

There’s plenty of shoot-offs and menace from everyone involved. Bill Paxton and James Marsden get their hands dirty as government and military officials respectively, while Olmos gets a bit of a laugh out of it all.

What is evil then? In this case it’s everything - the film is not clean in character, story or look. Two guns recur as a motif throughout the film but don’t give us anything to draw from. It’s a mindless journey with typical, but still disappointing, results.

Rating: 2/5

*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) and Rotten Tomatoes from Saturday 12/10/2013

MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of Gravity.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Review of the Week: This Is The End

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

This Is The End (MA 15+)

NOW seemingly embedded into the consciousness of Generation Y is the sort of comedy to come from the mind of Seth Rogen and his comrades. An expectation of crass language and sexual innuendo hangs high over any of their material.

The success from a series of films that started with Judd Apatow’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin back in 2005 has rarely waned. Moviegoers have flocked to see their crazy, unrealistic-yet-still-relatable stories.

We’ve also been receptive to watching films about the end of the world - the threat of it or what happens afterwards. Cinema has been obsessed with the idea before the Mayan calendar’s 2012 prophecy, but this year we’ve received nothing less than a steamroll of ideas telling us how we might all go.

It’s no surprise that Rogen and regular partner in crime Evan Goldberg wanted to get in on the trend. They had already toyed with the idea on the short Jay and Seth versus the Apocalypse (2007).

It should also be no surprise that Rogen’s success is enough to warrant a film about him and his friends. In this case, reacting to news of the apocalypse as comedic actors would - by locking themselves inside James Franco’s fortress of a Hollywood mansion.

Photo: media-feed.com

Jay Baruchel would much rather be in Hell to begin with. Dragged along to Franco’s house for a typical Hollywood party by Rogen, he feels removed from Rogen’s new set of friends, who also include Jonah Hill and Craig Robinson.

Danny McBride makes up the six who survive the panic and quickly manages to make himself the unpopular one as they fight for survival on rations of food, drugs and alcohol.
It seems nearly too... normal for much of the first half - the natural disaster, taking refuge in shelter, attempting to work out personality differences.

But of course, the comedy we expect rears its head as they ponder the chances details of the Bible’s Book of Revelations have come to pass.

It slips into ridiculousness with a supernatural villain and threats involving semen before the realisation that their end is based on basic human values.

The ability to parody oneself is admirable though, and Rogen and Goldberg stretch that successfully further by focusing on the relationships between the six men, particularly Rogen’s relationships with Baruchel and Franco.

The bromance is well and truly prominent, and while girl power gets a look in thanks to Emma Watson, this is another episode of The Boys Club. Thankfully, that’s not an alienating element. This unique look at the end of the world has enough laughs to sustain the story’s slow pace and proves for Rogen and co that playing their most comedic selves is most effective.

Rating: 3.5/5

*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 20/7/2013

MISSED THE LAST REVIEW? See what I thought of Pacific Rim.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Review of the Week: Any Questions for Ben?

0 comments Posted by Katina at 11:28 PM

Any Questions for Ben? (M)

A film with a questioning title can, for some, present the idea that the film questions itself. Working Dog shouldn’t have to do so after their success in film and television, but even with a big cast you wonder if the exploration of a man’s crisis is a metaphor for their recent hiatus.

There are some guys who just can’t get it together in life. Ben (Josh Lawson) would win Olympic gold in that category, fidgety with his time as he’s unable to settle into a long-term job, apartment or hold a girlfriend for more than that crucial three-month period.

But he’s still successful in the marketing world, living among the posh Melbourne crowds and partying through life with best mate Andy (Christian Clark), flatmate Nick (Daniel Henshall) and Nick’s girlfriend Emily (Felicity Ward). It’s when he meets up with former university colleague Alex (Rachael Taylor) that Ben finally begins to doubt his place in life.

It’s a lot of mulling over what could’ve been as Ben has his quarterly-life crisis, not understanding his feelings and in turn not following through. The film seems to plod along with him at times, dragging us into a more boring state of mind for much of the second half.

You end up forced to sympathise with Ben though, as his confidantes fail to pay any sort of attention to his issues. Most troubling is Clark as Andy, a prototype of the best mate that somehow has no capacity to register any sort of emotion.

Although its release is timely after the hype of this year’s tennis Australian Open with scenes tied into the film, constant establishing shots get tiresome. A walk the not-couple take through Melbourne is almost like watching an ad attempting to make those not living there envious.

Music (mostly Australian) is used way too frequently, and while the film initially succeeds as edgy the same ideas aren’t freshened up by the halfway mark. The story chops and changes with Ben’s indecisiveness, but while mildly annoying it still manages to remain engaging. An amusing credit sequence especially shows the Working Dog boys have still got it.

Rating: 3/5

*As published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 11/2/2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Review of the week: A Few Best Men

0 comments Posted by Katina at 6:00 PM

After joining as a university student and being lucky enough to represent them for part of Festival de Cannes 2011, my time as a senior contributor for Cut Print Review has come to an end after three years.

A large part of that comes down to my move and a new role that emerged as part of it.

The opportunity that came up some seven or so weeks ago to be the Daily Liberal's film reviewer, and since I've returned to a favourable routine of a film a week.

I've decided to let everyone in on my reviews as they're published in print so you can expect my new release look-in every Saturday, just in time for any pending decision on a weekend movie.

Read on, and please feel free to return the favour with your opinion!

A Few Best Men (MA)

Australian comedy in cinema hasn’t been overly memorable in recent years, something that doesn’t reflect our country’s light-hearted nature. What we’re about seems to be a difficult thing to capture because of our unique, laidback perspective on things.

This film has gone in a totally different direction to tackle that issue, which somehow makes perfect sense. Many are fans of the wry humour of the Brits and with our colonial connection it seems interesting that we haven’t really gone down this road before.

And what better way to do it than going straight to the top? The writer of both the English and American Death at a Funeral films has teamed up with the director of The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert to bring an Australian-English mix of, well, everything.

It seems like the ideal combination, both Dean Craig and Stephan Elliott respectively having been hugely successful with those particular efforts. They certainly have not held back in this instance, pouring every comical subplot possible into the space of 96 minutes.

English David (Xavier Samuel) meets Australian Mia (Laura Brent) on holiday and falling completely in love, decides to marry her. With his three best mates he makes the trip from London to NSW’s Blue Mountains for his big day, which in the space of 24 hours goes from bad to worse, and then some.

David finds surprises from the moment he steps off the plane, with best men Graham (Kevin Bishop), Tom (Kris Marshall) and Luke (Tim Draxl) finding trouble very easily and not knowing how to handle it. But it’s not restricted to one particular party.

The family are also something to handle, a powerful unit that perhaps provides a good satirical look at those who are considered to be elitists in this country. For David, it’s a case of everything that goes wrong does, one thing after another. What happens on the buck’s night definitely does not stay there, as a touch of influence from films like The Hangover sets the course for what David’s friends make of the big event.

It comes across as a blend of a few sub-genres seen in cinema over the last five years, taking from the aforementioned film as well as Craig’s Funeral, and reminiscent of producer Judd Apatow’s fare (think Pineapple Express). It holds onto the recently popular buddy theme, while chucking in a bit of ‘bromance’ which is a particularly entertaining element between Graham and drug dealer Ray (Steve Le Marquand).

Enjoyable for the masses, this is a decent effort to bring a mix of Australian and English comedy together. While odd that Adelaide’s Twilight star Samuel plays the lead Englishman, he does an understated job of it. Marshall, so lovable in Love Actually, reprises some of his role from that film as Tom, but Bishop as Graham has the most interesting character to work with as the butt of the gang’s jokes.

It’s on the Australian side where the expectation doesn’t necessarily hold up. The cast is noteworthy - Le Marquand and Rebel Wilson as Mia’s sister Daphne easily deserving more screen time than they get, but Olivia Newton-John is over the top as mother-in-law Barbara, and not necessarily in a good way.

While only with a few key plot points, there’s so much drama around them that it’s hard to believe they could possibly endure any more. It’s a surprise Mia is still there halfway through the film (and that’s not giving anything away) because you wouldn’t blame her if she did a runner.

There are crude moments, but not in the vein of the graphic scenes audiences are becoming used to, and there are definitely laughs. Although lacklustre in its ending with said laughs wearing thin, it’s a good effort on the path of reshaping Australian comedy for the early part of this century.

Rating: 3/5

*As published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 28/1/2012

When the Cheshire emerges...

Monday, September 01, 2014

Review of the Week: Magic In The Moonlight