War Dogs

Movies about getting rich from war are few and far between and when they come out, they aren't exactly hits. The only two that I could think of were Lord of War and Three Kings, both of which show that in the end nothing works out the way you planned. The thing with those movies is that they were completely made up. So what happens when you take one of the real stories about arms trafficking and you make a comedy about it. A whole lot of nothing special.

David Packouz (Miles Teller) is trying to make a living off his massage business in Miami. He wishes things could be better, but he just can't figure it out. That's when he meets his childhood friend Efraim (Jonah Hill) for the first time in years. Efraim has a business in which he sells weapons and various other military equipment to the government through defence contracts. This business becomes quite lucrative and soon they are at the top of the industry. This is until they meet Henry Girardi (Bradley Cooper), who offers them 'help' on one of the biggest contracts in history.

The fact that War Dogs is based on a true story is somewhat restrictive in what you can do with this movie. Todd Phillips has made an attempt to stick as close to the actual story and as a result the movie ends up a little bland. While the story takes the characters to exotic places like Iraq and Albania, Las Vegas and Miami, the events of the movie are kind of boring. A movie like this needs to be crazy and over the top, and this only verges on both of those. A lot of the movie is spent talking about the economics of war and looking at websites for arms contracts and I'm sure a documentary about that would be very interesting, but this is supposed to be an action comedy.

Speaking of the comedy, War Dogs doesn't have too many funny moments and when there are some, they tend to be negated by the seriousness of the events. Todd Phillips' comedy is really about what happens when you put characters in crazy situations and you see their reactions (a road trip to stop a sex tape or experience your baby being born, losing a best friend) and this situation isn't at all surprising or shocking. The funniest recurring thing throughout the film is probably Jonah Hill's choice of laugh, but you know when that's coming.

As for the performances, there isn't anything too exciting going on unless you want to unravel the mysteries of Miles Teller's facial scars that are so distracting. He seems a bit too bland to me, as though he's a blank canvas ready for a character to superimposed, but nothing comes. As I said, Jonah Hill has a very specific laugh that he chose for this movie and that's about the only standout he gives to the character. For me, the most interesting performances were given by Ana de Armas and Bradley Cooper, who both have very little impact on the story. While Ana de Armas, who plays David's girlfriend, gives him a little character motivation, she has a big screen presence. The other presence felt is that of Bradley Cooper, who despite having minimal screen time, is a menacing force throughout the second half of the movie.

Unlike Lord of War, which knew the lives of arms dealers were crazy (why else put Nic Cage in it), War Dogs tries too hard to follow the real events that it's covering, almost as if saying "trust us, true stories are way wilder than something we could come up with". And while that may be true of many crazy real-life exploits, it's not the case with this one. Instead you end up wishing they had made up some more exciting things to pad out the movie.

Joy

David O. Russell is an interesting director with on-and-off successes, and has in particular been responsible for a lot of Oscars buzz over the past few years. So it comes as no surprise that his latest film, Joy has already worked its way onto prediction lists. 

Joy Mangano (Jennifer Lawrence) is a divorced mother whose ex-husband, Tony (Édgar Ramírez) lives in the basement, and whose mother, Terry (Virginia Madsen) spends the entirety of her day sitting in bed watching soap operas. Joy’s father, Rudy (Robert De Niro) owns a local mechanic shop, and whilst he’s been key in her inventive fruition over the years, he’s less than helpful when he moves back in with the rest of them. To call this family dysfunctional is an understatement. Despite juggling all these responsibilities, Joy comes up with a self-wringing mop invention and we follow her as she tries to get it funded and sold in a less-than-hospitable marketplace. 

Russell’s past films I Heart Huckabees and Silver Linings Playbook are personal favourites of mine, although I thought that on many levels American Hustle just didn’t work. So I had a decent idea what to hope for with Joy, namely quirkiness and character development before style. Unfortunately Joy still leans a little too heavily on the style for my liking, but more on that later. As the narrator states, this is a story about a ‘strong woman’, although if the aim is to avoid all the patriarchal bullsh*t that plagues so many female characters, perhaps it’s more constructive to consider Joy as an independent woman. Joy supports herself and all those around her, no matter how much they try to undermine her. When she invents the mop and looks for funding, she’s ultimately doing it to support her family. It’s an empowering story that is unfortunately wrapped in an unbelievable world and unlikely background characters. The latter of which is probably the film’s biggest problem. 

Joy is the centre of this film and proves to be another dominating performance from Lawrence; she’s caring and ambitious with enough vulnerability to stay interesting, however the people around her come off as caricatures. It feels like they’re placed in the story solely to pull Joy down and hence provide motivation for her to spring back from. Because of this, they all kinda clump together in an unbearable mass of failed character development. Robert De Niro is good, but Rudy doesn’t really emanate away from what could be considered a stock De Niro performance. Joy’s mother is a loner, hence becomes the butt of many jokes, her sister is just downright annoying and Cooper’s Neil isn’t nearly as fleshed out as he could have been. I also would have liked to see Mimi - probably the next most important character after Joy - become a bit more than just a mentor with a couple cheap lines, and whilst Trudy is a great character, she could have become more worthy of an Isabella Rossellini performance. Tony is one of the few characters you can actually connect with, a sincere support for Joy that doesn’t just turn into a ‘let-the-man-handle-this’ situation, but again he doesn’t really appear often enough to develop as a character. 

My other major issue with Joy is the sense that it’s been constructed as style for the sake of style. Through the costuming and set-design, Russell tries to create this pastiche tribute to the late 80s/early 90s, and whilst it’s not nearly as obnoxious as with American Hustle, it still feels little more than a hollow facade. Although I do think they did a great job recreating the boom of television shopping, helped along by a great sense of humour; and I must say Joy is a fantastically funny movie, which does help to alleviate the issues to some degree. I think the comparison to soap operas is an interesting move - although it possibly adds to the character development problems - and the cinematography is, at times quite beautiful. However I just wish they’d kept the camera still a bit more often! This film is full of ridiculous pans, dolly moves and jibs that do nothing other than draw attention to themselves and honestly spoilt some moments for me because they were just so unnecessary. 

Joy is a funny, at times touching, and ultimately very driven movie. Joy Mangano’s story is worth being told and Jennifer Lawrence nails the role. It’s a shame that it falters due to some directorial decisions and poor character considerations because this had the potential to be one of the best films of the year.

Burnt

At That Other Movie Blog we have a special relationship with the food film. We don't know whether it's just the fact that they are always slightly weird or if it's because we love food porn. Director John Wells dives headlong into this genre, but unlike Chef's take on street food or The Hundred Foot Journey's exploration of a home cooked experience, Burnt takes into the high stakes kitchen of a high end restaurant.

Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) is a chef looking to get back on top of his game. After shucking a million oysters in Louisiana, he journeys to London where he seeks out old friend Tony (Daniel Brühl), who is mâitre d' at a high end restaurant. Adam reveals to Tony that he has come back to get a third Michelin star, the highest honour a chef can attain. To do this he acquires his own dream team of chefs, including Michel (Omar Sy), David (Sam Keeley) and Helene (Sienna Miller).

I'm pretty sure that the food film is the 2010's equivalent of the 80's action movie because it has all the same beats one of them. Guy who was once on top has hit rock bottom and through a series of montages defeats the bad guys and comes out on top. In the case with Burnt, the bad guys are Adam's own demons who are getting in the way of him being able to achieve that third Michelin star. I'm not entirely convinced though that this is an interesting enough conflict for a film like this because it forces the other characters to just fade into exposition or motivation for the main character.

And the other characters do suffer. Daniel Brühl's Tony only serves to hint at the life that Adam used to live. Young up-and-coming chef David goes around and tells everyone what a god Adam used to be. Characters like Michel and Helene are both different motivations that drive Adam forward, but that's all they serve as. There was a real missed opportunity in making rival chef Reece (played by Matthew Rhys) a bigger part of the film. The same could be said of Adam's ex-girlfriend Anne Marie (Alicia Vikander), who appears in only two scenes just to make a little bit of unnecessary conflict.

I'm not sure if the London setting was a good choice, or why they didn't take advantage of it more. I understand that it is a city where the Michelin Guidebook holds a lot of weight, moreso than any US city, but at the same time not as much as other European cities, but Burnt doesn't really go out of its way to show that London is a culinarily interesting city. Yes, we do get shown a lot of the multicultural influence that immigrants have on the food culture, but these forays are all too brief, oftentimes being shown in the films many montages.

The performances are all fairly average, with no one really sticking out. Cooper's sociopathic performance doesn't really make him relatable apart from a heart touching scene where he makes a cake for Helene's daughter. Sienna Miller reunites with Cooper again after American Sniper and proves to me once again that they have no chemistry. Brühl can make any performance his own, but Tony feels too much like a weak background character. Omar Sy is very understated in this film and would probably give a better performance in a better film, which this is not.

I wouldn't say I disliked this film, but I also wouldn't say that I liked it either. It's definitely a movie that you have to go and eat at a restaurant after, even if it's Burger King, because the one thing I did learn from Burnt is that there's nothing wrong with a Whopper.

American Sniper

You can almost hear the chorale of chanters reacting to Clint Eastwood's latest film American Sniper with "Oorah! USA! USA! USA!". The project, co-produced by, and starring Bradley Cooper, serves as a biographical depiction of Chris Kyle, known as "the most lethal sniper in U.S history".

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a Texan that aspires to be a famous rodeo cowboy, but following the 1998 attacks on U.S embassies in Africa, Kyle enlists in the Navy, where he trains to become a SEAL. A competent marksman, Kyle becomes a sniper and after 9/11 is sent into Iraq on his first tour of duty. Before he leaves, Chris marries Taya (Sienna Miller), and after serving his duty, returns home in time for the birth of their son.

After making a name for himself as a deadly sniper, and motivated to serve his country and protect his family, Kyle returns for second, third and fourth tours, racking up over 160 confirmed kills. But each time that Kyle returns home, he seems dislocated and different from how his family remember him, which puts his life on the home-front in jeopardy.

Clint Eastwood has often been described as politically conservative in his direction, yet some of his more recent films such as Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino have not only focused their attention on underdogs, or long-forgotten veterans, but have managed to depict a variety of perspectives that motivate the audience to reflect. However, in American Sniper, the view is all too clear, Chris Kyle is a hero, serving in a war against evil. There's barely a single Iraqi who's not portrayed as an extremist, or associated with one, and any effects of the war are only seen on Kyle or the U.S soldiers, mainly on the homefront after their return. The elderly woman sitting next to me in the cinema repeatedly mumbled "shoot them" and "boom! yeah" as Kyle knocked them back on-screen, which was not only distracting, but proves that this film is aligned to a one-sided audience. The film is based on Kyle's autobiography and it's clear that Jason Hall's script is paying tribute to Kyle's service through his own eyes, but I would have hoped that Eastwood could have broadened its ideological scope.

Hall's dialogue, which I'm sure is a reflection of Kyle's book, is clever, well-written and delivered through an astounding performance from Bradley Cooper. Sienna Miller perfectly conveys the anguish and frustration that Taya Kyle would have been going through, and a solid supporting cast portray the numerous soldiers and veterans. The film is well shot by Eastwood's go-to cinematographer Tom Stern, and aside from a few dodgy CGI explosions, I was totally immersed in the action. It's perhaps not as engaging as Kathryn Bigelow's two similar features The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, but nonetheless, American Sniper places the audience right in the middle of a war zone and to great effect.

This is a well made, but very one-sided war film that manages to be affecting in many ways, as long as your patriotic, American sensitivities are highly-tuned. It pays tribute to a man that was undoubtedly worthy of recognition, but ultimately I was left a little disappointed by Eastwood's efforts.

Christian Bale as Steve Jobs

So fresh on the heels of the previous Steve Jobs biopic that nobody saw (although I hear Ashton Kutcher did a passable job) comes news of another biopic of the Apple founder. It will be written by the prominent Aaron Sorkin, who is famous for his work on the TV shows The West Wing and The Newsroom, as well as winning Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network. He will this time be adapting Walter Isaacson's biography and if The Social Network is anything to go on, this film should be sharp.

Sorkin has recently stated in an interview that Christian Bale has been cast in the role. He praised him for his work and said that "we needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that was Chris Bale". Sorkin also said of the film that role will be extremely difficult and that "he says more words than most people in three movies combined". Other actors rumoured for the role were Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Leo DiCaprio was attached at one stage too. Danny Boyle will direct.

Where this will fit in terms of previous films about Jobs is anyone's guess. Whether it will focus on his early career like jOBS (2013) or his rivalry with Bill Gates a la Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) is a mystery. Certainly due to the scope of both the biography and Sorkin's method of writing, I'm sure that it will be dialogue heavy and epic in scope.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Before I get into the film itself, I have to just say that I'm absolutely sick to death of Marvel's releases. I used to really like their characters but with film after film, franchise after franchise, I feel that they've really diluted in quality and have over-saturated the market to the extent that I now don't want to see any more superhero movies, even from DC or any of their other competitors. Not to mention all the good that their hyper-budgets could do with smaller productions and better script treatments. Anyway, rant over. It's time to see how their latest release Guardians of the Galaxy stacks up!

In 1988, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is abducted from Earth, with only a Walkman and a present from his mother as possessions. 26 years later he steals a sought-after orb that lands him in prison, before he teams up with a tree-like humanoid (Vin Diesel), a genetically engineered raccoon (Bradley Cooper), an orphaned alien (Zoe Saldana) and a pissed off guy with tattoos (Dave Bautista) to escape, sell the orb and hunt down Ronan the Accuser.

The plot wasn't quite as convoluted as I was expecting, but was still as ridiculous as in most Marvel films. Having said that, it's really nice to have some fresh characters in the mix, instead of the constant rinse and repeat that we've become accustomed to. It's also great to have more of a pure sci-fi film from Marvel.

There's plenty of decent humour to keep it rolling along, although some of it is a bit cringe-worthy and there were also several jokes (such as the fact that Groot can only say "'I am Groot") that were repeated to death, which got tiring very quickly. But other than a few cliches here and there, and an ending that seemed to go on and on, the plot's really not that bad and is enough to keep you entertained throughout.

There's also nothing particularly wrong with the casts' performances but at the same time, they're nothing special. The only two characters which I actually enjoyed were Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Peter Serafinowicz's character, Denarian Saal (mainly because it's Peter Serafinowicz), and they were basically the two biggest arseholes in the whole film.

Of course, with a budget of $170 million, it's going to have plenty of eye-candy, and trust me, you won't be disappointed. It's absolutely jam packed with explosions, lasers, spaceships and a CGI racoon, whether that makes up for all it's issues depends on what sort of sci-fi films you enjoy. If you're a fan of Michael Bay, this film will blow your mind with it's strong presence of plot!

At the end of the day, it's a big-budget blockbuster with tonnes of special effects that look fantastic and jokes that will keep you watching. I quite enjoyed this but it still doesn't change my stance on Marvel.

New 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Stills

After the release of new trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy over the weekend, Marvel has provided Empire Magazine with exclusive stills from the set of the film. Guardians of the Galaxy is slated for release in the next couple of months, depending where you live. What do you think of the new stills? Do they tantalize your interest in the film? Head to the Empire article link below to see all of them.

Source: Empire Online

The Hangover: Part III

Most of comedy is about the set-up and repetition and then the punchline goes against the grain. In that case, the Hangover: Part III is the biggest punchline in cinematic history. This movie doesn't follow the formula set up in the previous two movies.

Instead the movie begins with Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) escaping from a Thai prison in a very Shawshank Redemption kind of way. Meanwhile in the States, Alan (Zach Galifinakis) has gone of the rails and the Wolfpack comes together to take him to a rehabilitation clinic in Arizona. This is where things go crazy. On the way there, the gang gets attacked by Marshall (John Goodman), an international criminal, who had been robbed by Chow and Marshall wants him. So the Wolfpack are given three days to track down Chow. This leads them on a chase throw the country and finally culminates in a showdown in Vegas.

This movie is more about Alan coming grips with adulthood and finally leaving his abusive relationship with Chow. The other three guys take a back seat to his character development. That's not to say that there aren't some funny situations that happen to the other two.

Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms are pretty funny and most of their jokes come from the reactions to Alan and Chow. Most of the comedy comes from Chow, who we find out is much more ruthless than had been previously depicted. But he still gets a few laughs from his antics.

Verdict: Todd Phillips crafts a funny end to his trademark franchise that could've been better, but still made me laugh.

The Place Beyond The Pines

One of the first descriptions I read of this movie said that it was a multi-generational saga. And boy, you better believe it's a saga. But at no stage during the 158 minute running time did I want it to stop. Also, Ryan Gosling.

The Place Beyond The Pines has three consecutive stories that all affect each other and, more importantly, the characters within them. The first story follows Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling), a stunt rider in a traveling carnival (so basically he's a carnie), who finds out that he has a son from a fling that he had with Romina (Eva Mendes). Because he doesn't want his son to turn out like he did (with an absent father), he promises to provide for him. But Romina has moved on, with a new man in her life, Kofi (Mahershala Ali). Luke still wants to provide for his son, so he starts to rob banks with the help of his friend, Robin (Ben Mendelsohn). This life soon takes a heavy toll on him.

The second story follows Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), a young hero cop who becomes involved in police corruption. He turns to his father, a former judge, for advice. His father tells him that the best course of action would be to take down the corrupt officers, which include Pete DeLuca (Ray Liotta). He turns them into the district attorney, Bill Killcullen (Bruce Greenwood). He also has an infant son with his wife (Rose Byrne).

The third story picks up fifteen years later. Both Luke's son, Jason (Dane DeHaan), and Avery's son, AJ (Emory Cohen), become friends in high school. It is only after Jason becomes aware of Avery's involvement in his father's death that things start to go off the rails.

This movie is fantastic. This is Derek Cianfrance's second film after Blue Valentine (which also starred Gosling). He has crafted an immense flowing storyline, that whilst doesn't explore every single possibility, is still coherent and easy to watch.

The film also looks amazing. It is set in upstate New York and some of the scenery is amazing. So too is the set design in the small town in which it is set.

In my review for Gangster Squad earlier this year, I said that Ryan Gosling works best when he's outside the Hollywood system. Whilst he's not in this movie for too long, his character resonates and you can see a little bit of him in his son. Because he has worked with Cianfrance previously, you can see that relationship come through. At first I thought his character was going to be similar to the Driver, but not at all. You can see that all Luke wants is what's best for his son.

The character who we see the most in this movie is Avery Cross, so that meant just a little bit too much Bradley Cooper for me to handle. When he's in a movie like the Hangover where he has other actors as a buffer, I find him more tolerable.

The women in this movie are also very strong. Mendes' Romina still shows feelings toward Luke, but ultimately knows what's best for her son. We don't see a lot of Rose Byrne, but when we do, you know that she is a stronger person than her husband.

I always feel good when I see Australians in American film, so to see Ben Mendelsohn in this movie made me feel good. Here, he plays an extremely toned down version of the character he played in Animal Kingdom, a man who has lived the life but is happy to settle down. Ray Liotta on the other hand, plays the greediest person alive. His character knows that because this is a small town, he can get away with his corruption.

Finally, Dane DeHaan is someone to watch out for. I recognised him from Chronicle and I hear he will be playing Harry Osborn in the new Spiderman movie. In this role, he has to carry a lot of emotional weight on his shoulders and he pulls it off perfectly.

Verdict: I'm not afraid to say that this film might have to compete with Django for my favourite movie of the year, because it really deserves it. And, of course, Ryan Gosling.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is an uplifting movie about mental illness. It asks us what is normal and that everyone is crazy in their own little way.

It follows the story of Pat (Bradley Cooper), who has just been released from a mental health clinic after an eight month stint there because he nearly beat to death the man who his wife was having an affair with. He is then diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, which had previously gone undiagnosed. As he is trying to re-assimilate with normal life and planning a way to get back with his wife (who has a restraining order on him) from his parents attic (played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver), he runs into an old friend, Ronnie (John Ortiz), who invites him for dinner with his wife. Pat reluctantly agrees to come.

At the dinner, Pat meets Ronnie's sister-in-law, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who has been dealing with depression since the death of her husband. She is also a recovering sex addict, after losing her job by sleeping with everyone in her office. Pat finds a kindred spirit in Tiffany, who he finds out is able to get a letter to Pat's wife. She will only do this on the condition that Pat will dance with her in an upcoming competition. He agrees to do this because he realises it will demonstrate that he has changed to his wife.

Meanwhile, Pat's father is running a bookie after he lost his job and hopes to open a restaurant with the money that he is making from the bets. He believes that Pat is his lucky charm and makes a big bet on the Philadelphia Eagles and wants Pat to be at the game. Pat has dance practice with Tiffany, but promises to go anyway, telling Tiffany that he'll be a little late to practice. At the game, Pat and his brother get in a fight with some heated Eagles fans and he ends up missing the dance practice. Pat's father loses his bet as well as all the money he wanted to use on his restaurant. Tiffany is also mad that he didn't show up so that they could try their big finishing move. She storms over to the house where everyone is and interacts with Pat's father for the first time. Pat's father is upset that Pat is spending all his time with Tiffany, as well as the fact that he just lost all his money to his friend Randy. Tiffany proposes a parlay to Randy that he will double the cash if the Eagles win the match on the same night as the dance competition. They also have to get an average of five for their routine to win the bet.

Pat thinks that this is insane and leaves. Tiffany comes up with a plan that if Pat thinks his wife will be there then he has to do it. He is convinced by it and the two continue the rest of their training until the big night arrives. They do their routine and win the bet. Pat then reveals that he had been in love with Tiffany the whole time, thus cementing that they will be together forever.

Bradley Cooper is on the rise. After his breakthrough in The Hangover, he has followed through nicely in Limitless and this film. To know that one of his idols in acting is De Niro makes the scenes that he shares with the legend all that more touching. He plays the bipolar Pat with an intensity that is sometimes needed.

I know a couple of weeks ago I said that I was in love with Emma Stone, well I think I am also in love with Jennifer Lawrence. She is an amazingly diverse actress. I have only seen her in Winter's Bone and X-Men: First Class, but she plays two polar opposites in those roles. Here she goes in another direction completely, but that's not a bad thing. Her chemistry with Cooper is electric and heartfelt as they go through the highs and lows.

De Niro is a powerhouse as usual, but he does have a vulnerable side as Pat Sr. We gradually learn that he has OCD, which explains his rituals to do with watching the Sunday games. His character feels as though he didn't give his son the time of day when he was younger and is trying to redeem that. Other stellar performances come from Jacki Weaver, John Ortiz and Chris Tucker, who plays one of Pat's friends from the mental health clinic.

Verdict: Writer/director David O. Russell has not only written a thought provoking and emotional story, but he has also pulled together a powerhouse cast that showcases past and future talent.