Patriots Day

Patriots Day is the third movie in an unofficial trilogy directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg (the other two being Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon). I say it's unofficial because no one has come out and said as much, but when you watch all three back to back, you can definitely see a unified theme. And that's the idea that Americans can band together to overcome adversity. The first one was a single man, the second a small group of people and this one a whole city.

The movie starts the night before the 2013 Boston Marathon, where BPD Officer Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) is arresting a suspect of a murder. He is on probation for his unconventional techniques and is told by Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman) that the probation will finish if he patrols the marathon in uniform. As the day of the marathon begins, various people go about preparing for their day, whether it's going to the marathon or baseball, or just another day of school or work. Also preparing for something, although much more sinister, are Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff), two Chechen-American brothers intent on committing a terrorist act in the name of radical Islam. The majority of the movie takes place after the bombings during the subsequent manhunt for the brothers.

This movie does a good job at not stirring up anti-Islamic sentiment in it's characters. There is even a hesitation on the part of the lead FBI investigation to even call it terrorism. There isn't even any dialogue condemning Islam apart from a character asking "Is it Al-Qaeda?" only to be shut down. The only real bias this movie has is a pro-Boston leaning, in which it showcases the strength and unity the people of the city had during the tough few days. The Bostonian elements are also are weakness for the film as there are a lot of over the top stereotypes. There are accents galore, especially from the proud hometowner Mark Wahlberg, as well as a scene where a native husband teaches his wife to say "let's watch the Red Sawx and Fenway Pahk". While it would be fun to satirise in any other movie, it doesn't really have a place here. I think the only two other more Bostonian films you're going to find are Good Will Hunting and The Departed.

Peter Berg does do a great job in building the tension leading up to the bombings. He builds the scene by cutting from the victims (who we've met) to the brothers placing the bombs. This heightens the fear that we have for what is about to happen. Various use of actual news and CCTV footage from the event is edited into the actual film quite seamlessly and this is aided by the fact that Alex Wolff looks shockingly like the real Tsarnaev. The shootout that happens towards the end with one of the brothers is handled well, although it is a little over the top. This sequence has the best (and pretty much only) part of J.K. Simmons appearance in the film. In it he's jumping over back fences spouting one liners, it's a fun five seconds.

That's also one of the more frustrating parts of the movie, the fact that there are way too many characters. We spend the first ten minutes getting to know characters who disappear halfway through, or don't have any importance to the plot until the latter part of the film. Take for instance, Dun Meng (played by Jimmy O. Yang). He is kidnapped by the Tsarnaev brothers three days after the bombing, but we see him at the start of the film. While I understand that this was done to show the widespread impact the whole event had on everyone involved, too much time is used to build a life for these characters. There are a lot of characters in the film who suffer from this because they are all based on real people and I guess they didn't want to do injustice to any of the people. Nearly all of them are real anyway, all except Mark Wahlberg's character. I think they were trying to make him the main character, but failed as they spread themselves way too thin.

Patriots Day has the best intentions. But I think those intentions have made it difficult to cover such a harrowing event. There seems to be a feeling that every aspect of those couple of days has to be covered. Instead of focusing on just the people of Boston or the investigation or the bombers themselves, they try and cover all of it. When you do that there has to be a sacrifice of details and I feel as though that is what happened.

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.

Love The Coopers

I love Christmas movies. I've grown up with every single one you can imagine, from conventional ones like Home Alone and The Santa Clause to more adult ones like Scrooged and Bad Santa. Even cheesy ones like Christmas With The Kranks (when you think about it, Tim Allen has been in a lot of them). So when I came to watch Love The Coopers, I thought it was going to be a cheesy one, especially since it stars Diane Keaton. I wasn't expecting a movie about divorce, unemployment, political differences, child abuse, sexuality and, least of all, a magic dog voiced by Steve Martin.

Charlotte Cooper is hoping to bring her large family together for a big happy Christmas. She wants this desperately because it will be the last Christmas she has before her and her husband Sam (John Goodman) get a divorce after forty years of marriage. Everyone of their relatives are living their own troubles. Charlotte's sister Emma (Marisa Tomei) gets arrested for shoplifting, her divorced son Hank (Ed Helms) is having financial troubles, her daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) can't face her mother's disappointment and her father Bucky (Alan Arkin) is struggling to express his love for the much younger Ruby (Amanda Seyfried).

The drama outweighs the comedy heavily in this movie about a supposedly happy time of year. Some of the themes alluded to are quite obvious, such as Sam and Charlotte's divorce and Hank's redundancy, but others, like Ruby's abusive childhood, are a little harder to identify. The most heartbreaking part of the movie comes when Officer Percy (played by a hard faced Anthony Mackie), the officer who arrests Emma, reveals that he could never live up to the expectations of his mother, despite the fact that she is welcoming of his homosexuality.

This film has a lot of weird film techniques that I would not expect in one like this. Whip pans and crash zooms that you'd expect in some Paul Greengrass political thriller are used liberally and with almost every character's situation. I found the use of an extreme close-up on Olivia Wilde but not on the person she was talking to very unnerving, but I suppose that might be a personal taste issue.

As you'd expect from an ensemble film like this, everyone brings their best. The standout performances for me come from Amanda Seyfried, Timothée Chalamet, Anthony Mackie and June Squibb. All of these actors have a small parts, but they all make them their own roles. Especially June Squibb, who doesn't love her? Anthony Mackie is almost unrecognisable without his signature facial hair and Amanda Seyfried brings her character an underlying pain that I didn't even know she could pull off.

Despite all these deep and dark themes, the film does come together nicely at the end. It's definitely one worth watching if you like Christmas movies, but not really too much of a stretch for comedy fans.

Mark Reviews: The Gambler

Hey guys, I'm back. And this time I was in a serious movie because a lot of you guys have been running around saying I'm not a serious actor. But you know what? I am. And you can count your lucky stars that I'm here today to explain it to you, because you probably won't get my ambition of being in a movie like this.

This time around, I play another character which I'm not at all. An English professor. And you better believe that I do it well, because I'm the greatest actor to have ever lived. So what, my character has a gambling problem, you're probably at home watching too much porn.

And because I'm bad at Blackjack in real life, I'm not good in it in this movie. But I make it seem convincing that I know what I'm doing. But still, I end up owing money to Michael K. Williams and some Korean guy.

Even when pissing in public, I'm a better actor than you

You probably already know this, but I don't like working with other people, mainly because I have to carry the film. But I have to say, Brie Larson is a dream. If I wasn't already married with 15 kids, I'd definitely get in there. Not because she's beautiful, but because she's an amazing actress. And when I say in the film that she's a genius, I meant Brie herself and not the character she played. Oh yeah, John Goodman was good too, but hey, I've worked with Burt Reynolds, so what you gonna do.

So I can hear you all saying, "Hey Mark, isn't this a remake of the Jimmy Caan 1978 film?", well let me tell you something, this ain't the first time I've been in a remake before. You may remember I was in a remake of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes and I made that character my own instead of just doing a Charlton Heston impression. See I bet you didn't expect to come and read me doing a pretty good self evaluation of my own performance. You don't need to go Harvard or MIT to get a education these days.

My recommendation for if you are going to see this movie, don't take your brother Donnie because the smarts are just going to go over his head and Ma don't want him gambling no more.

Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen brothers are fantastic filmmakers. They can make light-hearted films (The Big Lebowski), brooding pseudo-action films (No Country for Old Men) and crime films (Blood Simple). Almost all their films are funny. And so is Inside Llewyn Davis. At times. Mostly though, it's just cold and a little sad.

Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a struggling folk singer. He used to be doing okay until his partner committed suicide. He drifts around staying at his friends apartments in Greenwich Village. The film centres on a week in his life as he tries to get recognised for his solo music, playing gigs, helping his friend Jim (Justin Timberlake) record a new song and traveling across the country to visit a manager.

The film was very weak on story, which is very unlike a Coen brothers film. Normally, they fill a film with so many plot points and characters, it's hard to keep up. But this film is more character based. I'm not sure how I feel about that approach.

On the other hand, the performances are fantastic. Oscar Isaac has really shown that he has what it takes to be a lead actor. In the past he's only been in supporting roles, but he shows an emotional range in this film that can't be ignored. Carey Mulligan (who played Isaac's wife in Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive) is fantastically cold as Jean, a fellow folk singer. There are some great performances by Adam Driver (Girls) and John Goodman (everything!) too.

I was not expecting (and a little stupidly on my part) for all the songs to be played in full. I was a little taken back by this, but it is a movie about a musician so I should have seen it coming. Folk music just isn't my thing.

Verdict: I was a little let down by this film, but then again I don't know what I was expecting. Oscar Isaac gives a fantastic performance.

Monsters University

I was 10 when Monsters, Inc. came out. Twelve years later, I'm studying at university and this movie comes out. It's great how life comes full circle. I should note that I was the oldest person in the theatre watching this (who didn't get dragged along by a child at least).

The story tells of how James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) became best friends at university years before they were the best scare team at Monsters, Inc. Their introduction to each wasn't smooth sailing, however. Whilst they are both in a scare class, they get thrown out of the program by Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) for having a fight. Together they figure out that they can back into the course by competing in the Scare Games, a group of challenges for fraternities and sororities.

I feel as though this isn't really a kids movie, as the majority of the jokes are aimed at a mature audience but at the same time aren't crass. Charlie Day's (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) character, Art, is an obvious stoner type and the film also lampoons the hazing process that takes place in fraternities (there's a great documentary by Todd Philips if you want to know more about that, Frat House). At one stage during the film, the kid behind me started crying.

John Goodman and Billy Crystal were okay in their roles, but since this film takes place earlier than the original film, I thought maybe some younger voices wouldn't have hurt, but since it's only voice acting I don't think anyone would really care.

The other voice cameos are quite a surprise. Apart from the aforementioned Helen Mirren, there is Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall). And of course I get excited when Charlie Day is in anything.

The ending of the film was a bit of let down to me as well. Both Mike and Sully's career within the Monsters, Inc. corporation is crammed into two or three minutes at the end of the film. They could have just left that out all together.

It does kind of bug me that Pixar has so much potential from their roots as innovators for originality, but now I feel as though they're doing the same things over and over (the soon to be released Planes is a perfect example).

Verdict: A decently funny prequel that could have been stronger in terms of story, but will suffice for kids and adults alike.

Also, a bonus if you live in either the UK or Australia (these are the only two countries I know of at present). Prior to the movie actually starting, there is a screening of The Blue Umbrella, a charming love story of two umbrellas that will tug at the heartstrings.

The Internship

It has been eight years since Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn last starred together in 2005's Wedding Crashers. At the time, I didn't find that film too funny as it did not appeal to me for I was too young and/or naive to get the jokes. The Internship on the other hand appealed to me a lot more. As a member of the Internet Generation, I got all the jokes presented in this smart and funny fish out of water comedy.

Vaughn and Wilson are playing Billy and Nick, two grown man-children, who find themselves out of a job when they discover that their boss (John Goodman) has folded the company they work for as sales reps, without telling them. Down on their luck, Billy manages to finagle an internship at Google over the summer. They are teamed up with a group of young university students and through a set of gruelling challenges, have the opportunity to win full time positions at the company.

This movie is fantastically funny. To see these middle aged men try to navigate around computer based problems from a generation that they are not native to. But to be fair, I am also from the aforementioned generation and I would have difficulty with some of their challenges. It is filled with humourous references that transcend the generation gap for audiences. Everything from music and allusions to things from the 80s, right down the guys participating in a game of Quidditch are involved.

Vaughn and Wilson also have a chemistry that makes them a believable partnership within the world of the film. Vaughn's tough no-nonsense Billy is right out of Old School and Wilson really does have a great chemistry with his fellow actors, particularly Rose Byrne (Two Hands).

A great part of this comedy comes however, from the young actors playing the university students and how each of them play well known (to me, anyway) archetypes of young people in today's world. There is the hardworking, over-achieving Asian, Yo-Yo (Tobit Raphael), the detached, self-involved hipster, Stuart (Dylan O'Brien), the excitable, enthusiastic girl, Neha (Tiya Sircar) and the awkward white guy Lyle (Josh Brener)(definitely me). There is also the cool yet douchey guy, Graham (Max Minghella) and the boss/hard-ass head teacher, Mr Chetty (Assif Mandvi).

For a younger audience, all these characters are relatable. As for an older audience, they fill the shoes of Nick and Billy, and provide an insight into the younger generation.

Verdict: A hilarious comedy that will please both younger and older audiences and will be super relatable in this modern technological world.

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.