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“Real Steel” clings to lead at the box office

October 18, 2011 /

I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about “Real Steel” when I saw the trailer. Sure, the special effects look great, and Hugh Jackman is an excellent actor. Also, the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” storyline had some appeal. But it looked like another typical crowd pleaser put together just because we now have CGI. It just wasn’t one of the new films of 2011 that I wanted to see.

But the movie delivers. It gives you exactly what you would expect, and it does it fairly well. That’s what we really want from movies, except for those rare instances where we don’t mind being surprised by a great film. Audiences are naturally responding, thus the success at the box office. Go see it at a good theater like the Leicester Square cinema.

Movies

Is William Shatner’s love/hate relationship with “Star Trek” finally over?

October 17, 2011 /

He’s a god among geeks (and more specifically, “Star Trek” fans), but William Shatner hasn’t always returned that affection when it comes to talking about his career-defining work as Capt. James T. Kirk on the “Star Trek” TV series and movies. Shatner has even gone on record as saying that he doesn’t “get” Trekkies and sometimes comes across as if the iconic role was more of a burden than a blessing. But it sounds like he’s finally starting to appreciate what the show did for his career, and even said as much in his recent interview with Bullz-Eye:

No, I knew from the very beginning – or at least when it made me popular – what a profound effect it had, but to bring yourself to understand it again, to have another insight, is helpful about everything, whether it’s the love you have for the people around you or your work or…eating an apple. (Laughs) As long as you live in the moment and appreciate it, that’s really what makes you happy.

Check out the interview for more about Shatner’s new documentary, “The Captains,” as well as some of his other past and future projects.

Actors, Documentaries, Interviews

Horrible Bosses Blu-ray extras: a lesson in comedic economics

October 12, 2011 /

Click here to read our review of “Horrible Bosses”

The thing about people who are naturally good at making people laugh is that they often lose sight of when it’s time to drop the mic and walk away. Now take a movie like “Horrible Bosses,” which is 96 of the funniest minutes you’ll spend this year or any other. For a movie so packed with humor and wit, there is surely something just as awesome that didn’t make the cut, right?

Well, maybe. The truth is, we have yet to watch the extended version of the film (it’s eight minutes longer, and if we knew where those eight minutes were, we’d go straight to them), but if the deleted scenes in the Special Features section on the Blu-ray are any indication, the makers of “Horrible Bosses” left nothing in the bag, as it were. There are a couple of alternate openings, neither of which is as good as the one in the final film, and we get to hear the full recording of Kurt’s tryst with Nick’s boss’ wife (hint: it doesn’t take long). The only other scene worth the film it’s printed on is Colin Farrell at the supermarket, accosting the pharmacist (a snippet of which you can see in the closing credits of the movie). There are featurettes on working for horrible people and how much fun it is to play mean, but the general tone of the featurettes is pretty dry. This is a movie worth owning, no question, but don’t expect the bonus features to serve as the motivation for the purchase. They’re really just a pleasant addition.

Of course, we may change our minds on that once we’ve seen the Totally Inappropriate Edition of the movie, but we’re betting against it. ‘Unrated’ tends to mean ‘overrated’ when it comes to these things.

Actors, Actresses, Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

BLU-RAY REVIEW: Submarine

October 7, 2011 /

Hype isn’t an easy thing to manage, and in some cases, it can even prove to be downright deflating. That’s the biggest issue at the center of Richard Ayoade’s directorial debut, “Submarine,” which fails to live up to the impossibly high acclaim that it earned on the festival circuit. Based on the novel by Joe Dunthorne, the film tells the story of Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), an eccentric teenager who becomes smitten with feisty pyromaniac Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige) and sets his mind on losing his virginity to her. But while his new love life is going just swell, Oliver’s parents have hit a rough patch in their marriage, and when he discovers that his mother (Sally Hawkins) has been fraternizing with her ex-boyfriend (Paddy Considine), a new age mystic who happens to lives next door, Oliver takes it upon himself to intervene.

A quirky coming of age tale that skews more towards drama than comedy, “Submarine” falls somewhere between the whimsy of Wes Anderson’s oeuvre and the dry cynicism of a Noah Baumbach film. That’s not to say that the movie is particularly dark or somber, but the comic moments aren’t nearly as prevalent as some would lead you to believe. What the film does do well, however, is deliver an incredibly realistic depiction of what it’s like to be a teenager in love, thanks largely to the likeable performances of Roberts and Paige. The adult actors are also really good in their respective roles, although Considine’s character lacks the depth that he had in the novel. That’s partly because writer/director Ayoade has cut out some of the book’s less important subplots, and while that makes the movie a lot more focused as a result, it comes at the cost of a few of the story’s bigger payoffs. It’s a solid debut by Ayoade regardless, who thrives from the freedom of being able to experiment with a variety of styles, but for a movie as buzzed about as this, “Submarine” really could have been better.

Click to buy “Submarine”

External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVDs, Movies, Reviews

MOVIE REVIEW: Bunraku

September 30, 2011 /

Not every cool idea is necessarily a great idea, and that’s never more apparent than in director Guy Moshe’s genre mash-up, “Bunraku.” Set during a post-nuclear future where guns have been banned but swords, knives and pretty much anything else with a sharp edge is still fair game, the film takes place in a neon-drenched city controlled by a warrior named Nicola (Ron Perlman) and his gang of killers. When two drifters (Josh Hartnett and Japanese pop star Gackt) arrive in town with their own reasons for wanting to take down the tyrannical crime boss, they serendipitously cross paths at a local bar and decide to team up to increase their chances. But before they can get their shot at Nicola, the warriors must first face off against all nine of his elite assassins.

The first thing you’ll notice about “Bunraku” is that it has a very distinct visual style that falls somewhere between the graphic novel aesthetic of “Sin City” and a children’s pop-up book; not all that surprising considering the film’s title is a reference to a form of Japanese puppet theater. The action sequences are also fun to watch and benefit from the film’s unique look, but unfortunately, they never amount to more than a series of flashy distractions to hide the fact that there isn’t much of a story. And when Moshe does try to slow things down in order to develop his characters, he’s forced to rely on some dreadful dialogue that not even reliable actors like Woody Harrelson, Kevin McKidd and Demi Moore can improve. The best you could say about “Bunraku” is that it would make for an entertaining late night movie when nothing else is on TV, because this self-serving piece of fanboy drivel is not even close to being as good as it pretends to be.

Action Movies, External Movies, Movies, Reviews

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