How To Be Single

How To Be Single is surprisingly good. On the surface it seems like a standard unimpressive rom-com, but it ends up not at all adhering to any of the tropes of the genre. Despite the name of the film, I had thought that the main character Alice would end up with some guy and be happy, but it completely goes against expectations. Something that was promised last year with Amy Schumer's Trainwreck, that that movie ultimately failed to deliver on.

Alice (Dakota Johnson) decides to split briefly from her college boyfriend Josh (Nicholas Braun) so she can learn how to be her own person. She moves to New York where she befriends Robin (Rebel Wilson) who teaches her how to enjoy single life. Meanwhile, Alice's sister Meg (Leslie Mann) is a career oriented doctor who decides that she wants to have a baby and embarks on the IVF process. Alice gets caught up with bar owner Tom (Anders Holm) who shows her his honest tactics when it comes to sleeping with girls and not getting attached with anyone. He does however have a crush on Lucy (Allison Brie), a girl who lives above his bar and is focused on getting married to someone soon. Alice also gets involved with David (Damon Wayans Jr.), a father who is still reeling from the death of his wife two years earlier.

The overall message of the movie is a positive one. Most romantic comedies make it seem like it's the end of the world if your story doesn't end with you meeting that person who is perfect for you. How To Be Single teaches you to just be comfortable with whatever situation you end up in, whether it's being single or in a relationship. I like the realistic way in which this film comes together. All the character interactions are completely organic and the character arcs happen the way they would in real life as opposed to a Hollywood movie. Alice doesn't get back together with her old boyfriend and even though Tom gets his chance at giving his big emotional speech, it doesn't end up working at all. Despite these positives, there are some flaws with the script. Meg comes to the realisation that she wants to have a baby after spending a few minutes with one. It's as if all her ambitions of having a career give way to maternal instincts just because she holds a baby one time. Also there's a bit of a black hole in the third act when we just flash forward to three months later without referencing anything that happened during them.

Watching this movie, I realised that Dakota Johnson can't really act, showing that acting talent isn't exactly hereditary (her dad Don was one half of Miami Vice), but in this movie it's okay because the audience is able to put themselves in the shoes of her character, despite the lack of personality. Also Rebel Wilson plays the same Australian character as in the other films she's in, making me wonder how bad her American accent is (Dakota Johnson on the other hand does quite a passable Aussie accent). Thankfully we don't see Johnson and Wilson for all the movie and the supporting cast actually has a lot of screen time. Leslie Mann has always been a remarkable actress and is great at playing serious against funny which comes in handy here. Allison Brie is fun as Lucy, but can do better. The male cast members take a back seat but are still pretty funny, especially Jason Mantzoukas and Jake Lacy, who I thought was a lot funnier here than his last role in Love The Coopers. Damon Wayans Jr. has the potential to be a hilarious actor, but sadly his role wasn't calling for it. Both Nicholas Braun and Anders Holm play serious guys as well.

How To Be Single offers a refreshing take on modern relationships that is more in keeping with reality. But if you're not into that and just want to watch an easy rom-com, this movie isn't going to hurt you at all either. Poor lead performances aren't enough to make it horrible either.

Trailers Week 86: 28/02/16

Pete's Dragon

White Mowgli is brought from the forest to a small town but is followed by his pet dragon. Does anyone else think this kid looks like Newt from Aliens? Starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Robert Redford.

I Am Wrath

John Travolta has been going down the action road lately, in the same vein as Liam Neeseon. Except instead of his daughter they go after his wife. I'm pretty sure it's just Tak3n again. Also starring Christopher Meloni and Sam Trammell.

Kill Your Friends

It's like American Psycho in the music industry. I'm pretty sure Nicholas Hoult is going to have to face of against his doppelgänger Ed Skrein in this movie and I'd pay just to see that.

The Light Between Oceans

This intense drama has Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander struggling with the ethical implications of raising someone else's baby when she thinks it's dead. Also starring Rachel Weisz.

Precious Cargo

80's teen heartthrob MPG plays a master thief who is trying to pull off the perfect heist for someone else. This trailer has "Jack!" yelled more times than an episode of Lost. Starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Claire Forlani and Bruce Willis.

Maggie's Plan

After an affair goes wrong, a girl tries to get the man back together with his wife. Simple comedies are usually the best. Starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph.

The Man Who Knew Infinity

An Indian mathematician leaves everything behind to go study in Oxford. Starring Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Stephen Fry and Toby Jones.

Trumbo

Since the end of Breaking Bad in 2013, audiences have been quietly anticipating a performance from Bryan Cranston that lives up to his role of Walter White. Now with his turn as Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, that wait is over. But the film is not just an impressive performance from Cranston, it also touches on a period of film history that is often forgotten in the larger context.

Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) is a successful screenwriter who is among the elite of Hollywood. He is also a member of the Communist Party, something that makes him and fellow writers somewhat of a target in post-war America, especially for staunch anti-Communists like former actress Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren). Because of his involvement, Trumbo soon has to testify before a hearing by the House Commitee on Un-American Activities. Because he refuses to answer any of the questions, he is charged with contempt of Congress and is sent to prison with ten other writers, including Arlen Hird (Louis C.K.). On the outside world, Trumbo's family are struggling with not having him around and his friend Eddie Robinson (Michael Stuhlbarg) leaves him high and dry when he names Trumbo as a communist. When Trumbo is released from prison, he and his fellow writers decide to sell scripts written under pseudonyms.

Bryan Cranston really steals every scene he's in and understandably too. With this performance he delves completely into the character, more so than any character he's ever done before (in real life I imagine him to be a mix of Tim Whatley from Seinfeld and Hal from Malcolm in the Middle). There was even a part where I had to force myself to see Bryan Cranston in the character. Not only is this a testament to the committed performance by him, but it is also glorious praise of Dalton Trumbo. The real man had an intoxicating and humourous quality to him and all the existing footage we have of him is fantastic to watch because he was such a larger than life figure.

Praise must also be heaped upon director Jay Roach's approach to this film. He comes mainly from a background of making comedy movies, namely the Austin Powers and Meet the Parents series of films. While this film has a large amount of comedy, it is at its heart a serious story about the hysteria that surrounded the spread of communism in 1950s America. It was crazy to watch Hedda Hopper to get up in a stir about reasons that are not at all apparent. The look of this film is also amazing, but primarily because it has the look of being shot on a set. Now normally that would seem quite out of place in any other film, but here it works fantastically, especially since it is about a period in film where sets were used prolifically.

The supporting cast are also wonderful, even though Cranston steals the show. Diane Lane plays Trumbo's strong supportive wife remarkably well and even though I'm not a fan of Elle Fanning, she does a good job in this movie. The same can be said of Helen Mirren. Both Louis C.K. and Michael Stuhlbarg show incredible range and in the case of Louis, he shows some incredible dramatic acting because he does not have a single joke in this movie. Also the makeup was fantastic enough to make Dean O'Gorman look exactly like Kirk Douglas.

Trumbo is one man's tribute to another. Cranston gives a performance so authentic, it's easy to hold up footage of the actual man and see how good it is. The supporting cast are also wildly brilliant.

Our Oscars Picks - 2016

Best Picture


Nominees:

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight

Jack Thinks: 
This year's best picture category seems to be split between big action movies and big dramas. The standout however is the low-budget indie film Room. While it may not have been an easy watch, it was definitely enthralling.

Ed Thinks: 

This year feels like the race for best picture is closer than ever, with a few key contenders. The Big Short and Spotlight both have a decent chance of getting top prize. Many of the others like Room and The Martian were also very good but are less likely given the rigorous competition and their run at other awards ceremonies. As much as I’d love Fury Road to get the praise it so deserves, it would be very unlike the academy and is the improbable dark-horse of the category, so The Revenant seems like a deserving front-runner for Best Picture.

Best Director

Nominees:

• Lenny Abrahamson - Room
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant
• Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
• Adam McKay - The Big Short
• George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

Ed Thinks:

Whilst Adam McKay and Tom McCarthy have a chance at getting honoured, it seems to me that this one’s a close race between Iñárritu and Miller. Given Iñárritu picked up Best Director last year for Birdman, and even though he deserves it more for The Revenant in my opinion, it seems more likely the academy will award George Miller the prestigious prize, especially given the incredible production hurdles involved with Fury Road. Though honestly this is one of those years where all the directors deserve it in one way or another.

Jack Thinks:
Unlike with last year's Birdman, Iñárritu did not really break any new ground with The Revenant, apart from making me squirm uncomfortably for two hours. Because people seem to equate real stunts and explosions with good direction might give George Miller a chance at the award. But again I really enjoyed Room and I think that Abrahamson did a remarkable job at bringing out such amazing performances from his two leads.

Best Actor

Nominees:

• Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
• Matt Damon - The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Jack Thinks:

Because Eddie Redmayne won last year for a role in which he takes a physical transformation, giving the award to him for the same thing would just subject us to an entire career where he does the same thing. Although Leo has been long overdue for his award, this film and performance is the wrong one for him to win for. Because Matt Damon really has nothing going for him, it boils down to Bryan Cranston and Michael Fassbender, who are both playing men who were important to their industries. Cranston's Trumbo is a fun portrayal of the man, but Fassbender gives a deep and twisted performance of the Apple CEO, so I have to choose him.

Ed Thinks: 
DiCaprio. Hands down. He’s been nominated for better performances in the past but his is still the absolute standout. The next best option would be Fassbender who was also great, but honestly Dicaprio and maybe Damon are the only two performances that don’t feel specifically tailored for awards season, and – putting aside the overwhelming public support for Leo – awarding Best Actor for another visceral performance might just prove that the Academy is willing to look outside the proverbial box of formula films that they have been stuck in for so long.

Best Actress

Nominees:

• Cate Blanchett - Carol
• Brie Larson - Room
• Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
• Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn

Ed Thinks: 
A closer race than with Best Actor, Blanchett and Lawrence have both won in recent years and for better performances. Brie Larson is the standout and most likely to get it. The other performance I really enjoyed was Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years, by far the most genuine and understated of the lot.

Jack Thinks:
Jennifer Lawrence is awards darling having won both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress already, but I have to go with Brie Larson because her performance of the traumatised Ma is just heart-wrenching to watch.

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

• Christian Bale - The Big Short
• Tom Hardy - The Revenant
• Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
• Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
• Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Jack Thinks:
The only one of these performances I have seen is Tom Hardy in The Revenant and he gives another hard to understand verbal performance with a character that wasn't too likeable. Whoever gets it, I just hope it isn't Stallone, purely because I can't stand Rocky.

Ed Thinks:
Everybody predicts the academy is going to go full nostalgia and give the award to Stallone, in my opinion the weakest in a category of incredible performances. But out of some misguided hope I’ll give my prediction to Mark Rylance who has absolutely earned it, both over the years in his previous performances as well as in Bridge of Spies.

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees:

• Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara - Carol
• Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
• Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
• Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

Ed Thinks: 
This category’s even more difficult to choose from. Jennifer Jason Leigh was delightfully devilish in The Hateful Eight and Alicia Vikander deserves the nomination a lot more for Ex Machina than for The Danish Girl. I must say I’ve never been a fan of Rachel McAdams, but as a crucial part of the ensemble cast in Spotlight, she was extremely good. Ultimately though I think Winslet will get a safe and well-deserved win.

Jack Thinks:

While I am a huge fan of both Alicia Vikander and Rooney Mara, Kate Winslet's pivotal role in Steve Jobs as the titular character's confidant is so amazing to watch and see her transform as much as Fassbender did for his role, I think it would be very disappointing to give it to one without the other.

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees:

• Matt Charman & The Coen Brothers - Bridge of Spies
• Alex Garland - Ex Machina
• Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve & Josh Cooley - Inside Out
• Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer - Spotlight
• Jonathan Herman & Andrea Berloff - Straight Outta Compton

Jack Thinks:
Ex Machina had such a compelling and human script for a film about artificial intelligence that it's hard for me to overlook it. None of the other films in this category stick out to me.

Ed Thinks:

There are some great choices in this category with Ex Machina and Inside Out both totally deserving screenplays. Bridge of Spies was well written but not really a standout and unless the #OscarsSoWhite controversy pushes Straight Outta Compton to the top, it’s most likely Spotlight will win for a well-conceived, gripping piece of writing, especially for such a dialogue heavy screenplay.

Trailers Week 85: 21/02/16

The Preppie Connection

Rich coke addicted students think it would be a smart idea to go straight to Colombia for their fix. Starring Thomas Mann.

Bastille Day

Get ready for Idris Elba's James Bond audition...

Midnight Special

A kid with special powers is hunted down and protected by an all star cast, including Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver and Sam Shepard.

Meet The Blacks (NSFW)

This all-black parody of The Purge doesn't look at all funny, but then again I wasn't a fan anyway. Wait, shouldn't that mean I'd like the look of this?

Born To Be Blue

Ethan Hawke stars in this biopic about Jazz musician Chet Baker.

Florence Foster Jenkins
Meryl Streep plays an American opera singer who was known for her horrible singing voice. Also starring Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg and Rebecca Ferguson.

Colonia
A young couple join a Chilean religious cult amidst the violent coup led by Pinochet. Starring Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl and Michael Nyqvist.

A Country Called Home
People who used to live in small towns always need to go home and find themselves after a parent dies. Starring Imogen Poots, MacKenzie Davis, Ryan Bingham and June Squibb.

45 Years

Andrew Haigh, the assistant editor turned filmmaker, is known for his relationship focused dramas Weekend and the HBO series Looking. Now he teams up with two giants of British cinema, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay with 45 Years. 

Kate (Charlotte Rampling) and Geoff (Tom Courtenay) are happily married retirees who are preparing to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. After a health scare for Geoff, the pair had to cancel their 40th anniversary, which makes their upcoming event all the more important. A lavish dinner party is planned, but a tragic spanner is thrown into the works when it’s revealed that the body of an ex-lover of Geoff’s from the 1960s has become visible in a melting glacier, perfectly intact. Over the following six days, this reopening of old-wounds threatens to destroy a lot more than just their anniversary party. 

It’s refreshing to see a marriage that isn’t blatantly and inexplicably dysfunctional on the surface, one that doesn’t end up with pots and pans being thrown every other day. Instead, after the discovery of Geoff’s past flame, 45 Years presents a subtle breakdown and dislocation between a couple, one that only hints at the brooding underneath. This is a very simple, minimalistic film that really doesn’t set out to entertain but rather to tell a story that it believes is captivating in and of itself. Which it most certainly is. For a ninety minute film whose composition can be broken down into long-shots of the English countryside, dog-walking, party-planning, smoking and a couple who are generally avoiding the subject it’s amazing how effective 45 Years is at holding your attention. You become invested in Kate & Geoff, yearning for their past secrets and hoping to preserve their future, which no longer seems as certain as it once was. 

Tom Courtenay gives a doddery performance which paints a picture of a gentle old man struggling with a re-awoken piece of his past. A memory which he genuinely seems to have repressed but one which is obviously capable of breaking him down. He becomes quietly obsessed with what once was, and starts to distance himself from the present moment. The news affects Kate on a much more serious level, remaining resilient on the exterior whist her whole simple world for the first time has the capability of imploding around her. Much of this is communicated through Rampling’s nuanced facial expressions and short dialogue-free scenes that exhibit the power of images in their simplest form. One such scene sees Kate go up into the attic alone, using a slide projector to uncover probably the most crucial and tragic part of the story. The projector is the only source of light and the scene plummets into darkness between each slide. The simple composition of these scenes, and the film as a whole really bring out the unseen elements of these two fantastic performances. Courtenay and Rampling even more so, are able to dominate this film in a way that you don’t see very often. 

45 Years is an extremely genuine, empathetic piece of human-interest cinema which is most accomplished in its subtlety. It’s certainly not for everybody, but for what it sets out to do, it’s a real achievement. Towards the end at the party, you’d be flawed not to think that things have been mended between Geoff and Kate, but the final few frames hint at an internal conflict, a confusion, a deep-seated apprehension that suggests that things will never be the same, that you can’t just start again.

Deadpool

Right from the get-go, Deadpool lets you know that it's not going to be like any other superhero movie that you have ever watched. The opening credits themselves break the fourth wall by not even naming any of the people who are in the film and just given descriptions by Deadpool. I fit into the target audience of this movie perfectly, so I'm going to try and give it as fair a review as possible, but that might be a little difficult.

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a mercenary with a reckless abandon for life that soon settles down once he begins a relationship with prostitute Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Soon he discovers that he has incurable lung cancer and is preparing to die until he is offered the chance at a new life if he participates in a super soldier program led by mutant Ajax (Ed Skrein). After being tortured at the hands of Ajax, Wade is mutated into an ugly man who has the ability to heal himself constantly. Driven by revenge he embarks on a mission to find Ajax and be returned to his old handsome self.

Normally a film told entirely in flashback would be hack and boring to watch, but in the case of Deadpool it suits the character perfectly because he is given the opportunity to comment on events to the audience as they happen. This fourth wall breaking sometimes extends beyond the limits of the film with references to Reynolds former appearance as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, his co-star Hugh Jackman in that movie or his much maligned performance as the Green Lantern. These jokes all cement Reynolds perfect casting as the character, primarily because he has the charm and wit needed to carry it off.

Although Reynolds is the main attraction in the movie, the supporting cast are also fantastic. Morena Baccarin carries the emotional core of the movie and there are some surprisingly sad moments that she pulls off that seem out of place in a regular superhero movie. TJ Miller's comedy also makes him the perfect fit for his role as Weasel, Deadpool's sort of sidekick. The movie makes no qualms about having Ed Skrein as the generic interchangeable British villain and to me he faded into the background, solely because of his similarity to Nicolas Hoult, who plays Beast in 20th Century Fox's other superhero franchise X-Men. The rest of the supporting cast do just that, with no comedic standouts apart from classic actress Leslie Uggams who is just delightfully charming.

Because it isn't aiming to be a generic superhero movie, Deadpool elevates itself to become a truly original and enjoyable film that bounces around genres as much as its manic protagonist's personality.

Room

From the creative genius of Tommy Wiseau comes the long-awaited….what? This isn’t a sequel to The Room? YOU ARE TEARING ME APART LISA! So...Lenny Abrahamson’s Room may not be the same emotionally nuanced masterful work of cinema as Wiseau’s not-at-all-related film of almost the same name is, but what it does promise is a unique experience and some hefty story matter. 

Joy is twenty-four years old. She has a son, Jack who’s five years old, and they live in Room; a small shed with a toilet, bath, television and squalid kitchen. Their only source of light is a skylight and they have limited furniture, including a wardrobe. Once a day at the same time, Jack goes into the wardrobe as their captor and Jack’s father, Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) enters Room and rapes Joy. After planning and executing an escape plan the two adjust very differently to the outside world. 

Room is based on the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue, which was inspired by the sickening Fritzl case where a father imprisoned and abused his daughter for nearly three decades, fathering seven children. Room may well be toned down in comparison, but it’s still an intense, often brutal story. Taking inspiration from such things would be challenging enough but adapting them into a novel and then for the screen would certainly have its hurdles, and indeed Emma Donoghue should be praised for her screenplay. Whilst there are a fair few supporting cast, the two leads are the focus and are both brilliant. Brie Larson gives an extremely honest, often understated performance as Joy, who seems to have adapted herself to the Room so well that her plans of escape feel selfless, although this is challenged in the second half. Jacob Tremblay is astoundingly good as Jack, capturing the innocence, inquisitiveness and ultimately the transformation of his character with a surprising amount of nuance, especially given the subject matter he would have had to deal with. 

Room is essentially split into two acts, before and after the Room, and it feels as if it puts near equal amounts of time into each portion. Abrahamson hasn’t made this film nearly as dark as it could have been, where the first act and back story could have conceivably been History X or Requiem level dark. I don’t think this is because he wants the story to be more family friendly but rather that it would clash with the second act where Jack is first seeing the hope and the beauty of the world. However if building this contrast is one of the underlying intentions of Room, then it could have had a stronger emotional payoff in parts, however nit picky that issue may be. 

That’s not to say Room doesn’t have some other frustrating issues. The sequence between the two acts has a montage from Jack’s perspective that feels sentimental when it should really be about the awe of the outside world in that moment. William H. Macy is criminally underused, elements of the cinematography seem ill-conceived and overall there are some pacing issues that make sections of the film feel rushed. The second act seems to have a lot more focus and was for me more interesting than the intense first act. At times I wondered if the film would have been better served to put more time into one of the periods over the other. These changes however would lead to a drastically different film and it’s undeniable that Room holds a lot of weight as is. 

Room is a captivating, sometimes challenging and thought-provoking film that feels like a unique release in a period where a lot of different films are following the same formula. Where in parts the direction lets it down, its writing and performances more than make up for it.

Steve Jobs

Apple founder Steve Jobs has become a rather scrutinised figure in both documentary and film after his death in 2011. This latest biopic however, comes at the hands of both director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, both of whom are known for their rather honest depictions of the world as it is and portrayals of famous people in not so flattering terms. This already fixating combination of talents is made complete with a subtle but powerful performance by leading man Michael Fassbender.

Steve Jobs is split into three acts, each covering a specific period in the life of the man, taking place prior to a product launch that was important in his life. The first takes place in 1984 at the launch of Jobs' (Michael Fassbender) latest dream product, the Macintosh. He is supported by his marketing manager and confidant Johanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) as he contends with the mother of his daughter Chrisann (Katherine Waterston) and technical problems with the launch that he blames on Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg). In 1988, Jobs has left Apple and is working on a new project NeXT, which he thinks will be an important educational tool despite its high price. He also clashes with Apple CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) about leaving Apple and Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) over comments made during an interview. Finally in 1998, Jobs is back at Apple and is about to launch the iMac G3, the product that revitalised the company.

Where this film succeds that past films have failed (particulary 2013's Jobs) is that is not an ambitious film in its scope. Instead of covering every aspect of Jobs' life, the film covers three important moments in his career. That's not to say that the film is lacking for details about Jobs' personality or where he came from. We learn a lot from brief flashbacks where characters discuss his background. Despite Sorkin's snappy writing, the film does have a certain level of predictability when it comes to each of the segments. It seems that Sorkin just had a formula for each one and just changed certain details. Somehow this dragged out the movie for me and made the film less riveting than it should have been.

Which was a lot, considering Fassbender's remarkable performance is completely riveting. He plays Jobs as a sociopathic egomaniac who just wants to make the world of his genius. And you do believe that he believes he is the smartest human ever because Fassbender plays him with the right amount of charm, Kate Winslet's role I found difficult to categorise. I was trying to figure out whether she was a lead character orm a supporting one, but I suppose they all are next to who the movie is about. She really was the emotional core of the movie. Seth Rogen's boyish lovability comes in handy as Steve Wozniak and Jeff Daniels plays a more depressing version of the CEO he played in The Martian. Newcomer Perla Haney-Jardine is a strong presence as Jobs' daughter Lisa in the older sequences.

Boyle's biopic is convincing at times and peters out at others and this has to do with a shaky script from the usually strong Sorkin. Fassbender's performance I think will be strong enough for him to take home the big prize at the Oscars.

Trailers Week 84: 14/02/2016

High-Rise:
We saw the teaser a few weeks back, now we get a better look at Ben Wheatley's upcoming thriller. This film looks like they took Snowpiercer, 70's styling and hints of The Matrix and mixed them all together. Certainly makes for an interesting trailer.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates:
I think the title speaks for itself.

The Purge: Election Year

The third film in James DeMonaco social horror films where all crime is legal for an evening every year. This time one of the Presidential frontrunners vows to eliminate the purge. Yeah, good luck with that.

A Bigger Splash:

The star-studded story of famous people seeing old friends again and getting jealous. Well as far as I can tell anyway. 

The Program:

Once again we see Lance Armstrong's controversial story on the big screen. Only this time it's a biopic not a documentary. Ben Foster and Chris O'Dowd both look great in this so could be worth a see. 

The Darkness:
There's nothing scarier than handprints, black paint and dogs in tree houses.

Cabin Fever:

There's nothing scarier than a remake of an already shit horror film.

Hardcore Henry:

Shot entirely in first person, the film follows Henry, a cyborg who's trying to save his wife. It looks interesting but there's a huge chance the first-person technique will turn into a distracting gimmick pretty quickly. However you've got to praise innovation I guess. 

Equals:

Another Dystopian film, this time in a world where human emotions no longer exist.

Criminal:
There's some sort of diabolical plot going down, and the CIA recover the memories of a dead operative, implanted into a convicts mind in the hope that he can help stop the plot.

Mr. Right
A romance between a surprisingly ethical hitman and a girl.

The Boss (NSFW):

Melissa McCarthy returns. This time she's disguised herself as an intelligent Sharon Osbourne or something. I swear she's like the Gary Oldman of bad comedy movies.

Mother's Day:
From the creator of Happy Days and director of Valentine's Day Garry Marshall, comes Mother's Day. Up next St. Patricks day. Yeah, I didn't really watch this trailer.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The final trailer for the upcoming superhero dual that everybody's talking about. Features superhero stuff.

Zoolander 2

Like Anchorman 2, Dumb & Dumber To, and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles; Zoolander is getting the sequel that fans of the comedy have long-awaited. Directed once again by Ben Stiller, Zoolander 2 promises outdated supermodels grasping the complexities of modern fashion, full-lipped divas, hipster designers and evil super-villain schemes, but much like that CSI thing, most of us are only here to see Justin Bieber getting shot. 

15 years after the events of the first movie, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is in hiding after his ‘Centre for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too’ collapses, crushing his wife (Christine Taylor) to death and scarring his friend Hansel’s (Owen Wilson) face. Derek and Hansel are convinced by Billy Zane to return to the fashion industry after “the world’s most beautiful people” are being assassinated, all with Derek’s trademark looks on their faces. Interpol - Fashion Division agent and ex-swimsuit model Melanie Valentina (Penélope Cruz) is investigating the mysterious deaths, with some uncertain link to Rome. Unfortunately, the only man who can help is no longer so hot right now. 

Stiller deals with the Canadian elephant in the room swiftly, killing off Bieber in the opening scene in a gratuitously long, extremely pleasing death that also serves to set up the mysterious plot that drags Zoolander out of hiding, encouraged to leave his snow covered retreat in the Alpine region of New Jersey by his good friend Billy Zane, one of many, many, many, many cameos in the second Zoolander. Much like the original, this film is stupid. It knows it’s stupid and the fans know it’s stupid. However it’s certainly not the first stupid American comedy to come out, so instead it tries to set itself apart from the others. Sadly though it seems to be living in the shadow of the first film - however small that shadow may be, and indeed one of the issues with 2oolander - as it's also know - is its constant references to the original film. Now I actually like Zoolander (the first one - I know this is confusing), however these references don’t serve to explain the first film to those who haven’t seen it. Instead they seem to be there purely as fan-service. Strike one. 

One of the other major issues with the film is Penelope Cruz. Her character is bland, annoying, appallingly acted and seems to only be there as a sexual object for teenage boys to ogle over. Yes, this is a film that mocks superficiality and there’s a reason her character is in this but she could at least get some decent jokes like her vain male counterparts Derek and Hansel. Otherwise the acting overall is fine. This is a close-knit circle of comedic actors that are always able to deliver, but none of them really stand out. Will Ferrell reprises his role as Jacobim Mugatu, who is decidedly Will-Ferrellish and Kristen Wiig is unrecognisable as the floating pile of cologne Alexanya Atoz, one of the more memorable performances. 

That isn’t to say that Zoolander No. 2 doesn’t have its good points. There are certainly plenty of chuckle-worthy moments throughout. It pays homage to a tonne of different movie tropes and farcically exaggerates them with several Bond-esque moments that could easily have been lifted straight from Austin Powers. The story in the original was certainly stronger, and you really can’t beat the petrol fight, but for a light comedy there’s certainly plenty of entertainment. However you can’t escape the somewhat formulaic similarities and rehashed jokes that make you question the creative incentive for a sequel here. 

Zoolander 2 is a decently funny sequel to what could probably be considered a cult movie by now, and there’s reason enough for die-hard fans to fork out for this one. However the endless parade of cameos, idiotic jokes and reused story beats indicate that in time it will probably join the likes of Airplane II, Hangover Part II and Blues Brothers 2000 in the forgotten sequels club, destined to forever live in it’s older brother’s shadow.

Trailers Week 83: 07/02/2016

Miles Ahead:

Don Cheadle directs himself as the legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Music biopics seem to have got the rough end of the stick in recent years, but with Straight Outta Compton, this and Scorsese's biopic about Frank Sinatra, perhaps that's about to change.

The Confirmation

Another story about rekindling father-son relationships, although this honestly doesn't look too bad. Starring Maria Bello, Clive Owen and Spencer Drever.

Me Before You:

Based on the novel of the same name by JoJo Moyes this romance looks like a blend between The Intouchables and a Nicholas Sparks novel. Starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin.

Get a Job:

Something about employment challenges in your 20's. All I care about is Bryan Cranston has a small role! Hopefully not like his 'small role' in Godzilla. Actually starring Anna Kendrick, Miles Teller & Alison Brie.

Kubo and the Two Strings

A unique looking animation with an all-star cast, including everybody's favourite southern actor, George Takei! Also starring Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara.

Demolition:

Second trailer for this black comedy about loss and...uh...taking apart a marriage? Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Heather Lind.

Stealing Cars:

The repercussions of playing too much Grand Theft Auto, this looks like a terrible version of One Flew over the Cookoo's Nest and is undoubtedly a waste of William H. Macy's talents. Also starring Emory Cohen and John Leguizamo.

Gods of Egypt - Super Bowl Spot:

Another look at Alex Proyas' upcoming Gods of Egypt. I'm still taking in Geoffrey Rush's bald-cap/eyebrow combo. Also starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler and Brenton Thwaites. 

Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman’s films are definitely an acquired taste. Kaufman’s scripts for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind certainly have both rabid fans as well as critics, despite a couple of them approaching cult-film status. His directorial debut Synecdoche, New York is also an immensely polarising film. In comparison, Kaufman’s latest film Anomalisa is less ambiguous and is his first foray into animation. 

A black screen, hundreds of voices (Tom Noonan) growing in volume. An Englishman, Michael Stone (David Thewlis) sits in a plane full of the same people, and no, they’re not all John Malkovich. He lands in Cincinnati, the Taxi driver recommends the Zoo. He arrives at the hotel, the bellboy takes his luggage. He calls home. He pours a drink. He rings an old flame. He smokes a cigarette. Life offers nothing new for Michael, that is at least, until he meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh). 

Anomalisa’s funding began on Kickstarter, promising a unique short-film that couldn’t be made as-is under the studio system. After raising nearly half a million on the platform, the film secured additional funding to be stretched out to near feature length. I should start by saying this film features some of the most extraordinary animation yet seen, incredibly lifelike and backed up with astounding cinematography. There are long-continuous shots where the camera follows the characters through doorways and around corridors, all of which would have required months of preparation and complex animation. The result is a surreal world that could only really exist in a Kaufman film. 

As I mentioned earlier, it’s probably the least unusual of his films. Having said that, Kaufman and co-director Duke Johnson use the animation as part of the psychological disconnect that Michael has with his world, and thematically, Anomalisa touches on the correlations between the mundanity of life and the male ego. In essence, it’s about a man going through a mid-life crisis, who turns to adultery. Not an easy premise to sell to an audience, but Kaufman & Johnson are able to find empathy in Michael’s situation, where all the other inhabitants of his world look and sound the same, even his wife and child. Lisa, is the only other person like Michael and becomes his only hope of salvation.

These themes and their embodiments are executed as a darkly comedic look at older life in a bland face-value world, and there were many laugh out loud moments amongst the consistently giggle-worthy script. This is essentially Charlie Kaufman’s version of Lost in Translation. About half way through there is a rather intimate, realistic sex scene which I suppose verges on the side of soft-core porn - I mean, they’re only made of plastic at the end of the day - and that saw about ten people walk out of my screening. However I’d put that down to the cinema I saw it at, which in my experience attracts a pretentious type of audience that only seek out the oxymoronic concept of “safe” art-house films. It’s a rare occasion where I’m the most mature person in a room of pensioners. Also, if you’re going to walk-out of a film, don’t sit there chatting for about ten minutes before leaving, just go. Apologies if this has turned into a rant on cinema etiquette.

I have to give credit to Tom Noonan for playing handfuls and handfuls of different characters; somehow making them distinct, whilst still the same (that’s the best way that I can describe it). Jennifer Jason Leigh’s shy, soft-spoken Lisa is a far cry from her wicked Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight, and the immensely talented David Thewlis gives a dejected lead performance as Michael. The three actors carry the film immensely well, with some challenging scenes that just about always manage to strike the perfect balance between dark comedy and self-reflection. 

Anomalisa is a tragically-funny film that wants us to talk about the secret fear we all have of losing hope, losing interest, slipping into a mundane life where everybody melds into one. A significant portion of the film is devoted to developing this concept, and it ends abruptly just as you’re hankering for more. I’m not even sure if that’s a complaint, but as with any great Kaufman film, it’s likely you’ll leave in an introspective mood. This definitely deserves multiple viewings.