There's only one problem with Transcendence: everything.
Okay that's not completely true, but it was tough finding positives after seeing it earlier this week.
I think the biggest thing for me was the film would have been a lot more effective if it was made 15-20 years ago. The fact they even name-drop the Y2k thing reinforces that point.
I am ragging on the film a bit but it is a complete shame - I had such great expectation of Transcendence and it failed reach anywhere near the heights I hoped.
The idea of technology becoming self-aware and a threat to human society is one that deserves to be explored a whole lot more in film. It's one of my favourite scinece fiction themes, which leaves an even more bitter taste in my mouth.
Johnny Depp stars as Dr. Will Caster, one of the world's foremost researchers of Artificial Intelligence who is working to create a machine that can develop independent thought and the full range of human emotion. After delivering a keynote presentation, he is shot by anti-technology extremists with a poisoned bullet that will eventually kill him. Caster's wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany) work out how to upload his consciousness to the machine - or transcend. It does more harm than good, with his thirst for greater knowledge posing a deadly threat to human civilisation.
The idea is great but the execution is off. Maybe it was because I wasn't feeling too great, but I struggled to get through it.
Morgan Freeman is solid as always as Joesph Tagger who struggles to deal with the consequences of Caster's transcendence, and I still struggle to see Cillian Murphy (Agent Buchanan) as a "good guy" because he is so good as a bad guy. Murphy does put in a good performance but I feel he is miscast.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
The Lego Movie
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS FILM IS AWESOME.
Sorry I had to get that off my chest but, much like the title song, The Lego Movie is awesome in every way.
Even if it is a 100-minute advertisement for Lego, it is another contender for one of the best films of the year.
I'd been looking forward to The Lego Movie ever since it was first advertised, and I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint.
The story was great, the screenplay was outstanding - everything was awesome.
In the vein of 90s Disney films, The Lego Movie was done in a way that was not only a wild adventure for kids, but a hilarious nostalgia-fuelled ride for parents too.
The story is a simple one: a prophecy dictates a "special" will save the Lego universe from eternal stasis by the tyrant Lord Business (Will Ferrell). Emmett (Chris Pratt), a regular construction worker, is mistakenly believed to be that "special", and is recruited to join the quest to stop Lord Business!
An amazing cast features in this classic, with Pratt, Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Morgan Freeman all lending their voices to various major characters. For mine, its Liam Neeson who is the standout as Good Cop/Bad Cop. His parts are utterly hilarious, and even though Pratt, Ferrell and Banks (Lucy) enjoy most of the air time, Neeson's Good Cop/Bad Cop scenes are filled with laughs. He's the perfect "villain", even if he is the secondary antagonist (behind President Business).
It's such a fun movie and you're bound to leave the theatre with a smile and an "Everything is Awesome" earworm.
Sorry I had to get that off my chest but, much like the title song, The Lego Movie is awesome in every way.
Even if it is a 100-minute advertisement for Lego, it is another contender for one of the best films of the year.
I'd been looking forward to The Lego Movie ever since it was first advertised, and I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint.
The story was great, the screenplay was outstanding - everything was awesome.
In the vein of 90s Disney films, The Lego Movie was done in a way that was not only a wild adventure for kids, but a hilarious nostalgia-fuelled ride for parents too.
The story is a simple one: a prophecy dictates a "special" will save the Lego universe from eternal stasis by the tyrant Lord Business (Will Ferrell). Emmett (Chris Pratt), a regular construction worker, is mistakenly believed to be that "special", and is recruited to join the quest to stop Lord Business!
An amazing cast features in this classic, with Pratt, Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Morgan Freeman all lending their voices to various major characters. For mine, its Liam Neeson who is the standout as Good Cop/Bad Cop. His parts are utterly hilarious, and even though Pratt, Ferrell and Banks (Lucy) enjoy most of the air time, Neeson's Good Cop/Bad Cop scenes are filled with laughs. He's the perfect "villain", even if he is the secondary antagonist (behind President Business).
It's such a fun movie and you're bound to leave the theatre with a smile and an "Everything is Awesome" earworm.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I saw this film the week it came out and have no idea why it took me so long to write about it.
Bluntly, it's one of my favourite movies for 2014 and quite possibly the best in the entire Marvel series.
The Winter Soldier continues the story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as he becomes more comfortable being Captain America.
There isn't too much I'm going to say about this film as it's been a while since I've seen it, but it's one I definitely seeing again, and would advise to watch multiple times.
As someone unfamiliar with the comics it is the first time I've learned of the Winter Soldier, and I have to say I'm a super fan of Sebastian Stan's character. The story arc including the rise of Hydra is an interesting one to me - it seems so early to bring in the super villainous corporation. In saying that, it is the second wave of the Avengers series of films and they won't be around forever, but I felt as if the seeds of Hydra could have been planted here and developed in the third wave.
In any case, Anthony and Joe Russo make this film push all the right buttons.
There is nothing I can point to as being bad - it's really one of the most complete films I've seen.
Samuel L Jackson has a bigger part in this film as Nick Fury, taking a central role in the story's development where Samuel L. goes all Samuel L. on Hydra operatives. Robert Redford is great in his scenes as Alexander Pierce, while Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson continues his growth in the series as we see Falcon for the first time.
But I have to tip my hat to Scarlett Johansson, who is stunning as Natasha Romanoff. This film further showed why Johansson will not have her own film exploring Black Widow's origin, as it (and The Avengers) have developed enough of her character so far. It adds to the mysterious past Black Widow seems to have, and I am completely comfortable with the way they are developing the legend of Black Widow by revealing crumbs of information with each chapter. I imagine they'll do the same with Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye who appeared in The Avengers.
I'm more curious to see what they do next with not only Black Widow, but other characters in the Marvel Universe in the build up to The Avengers: Age of Ultron which is slated for a 2015 release.
Bluntly, it's one of my favourite movies for 2014 and quite possibly the best in the entire Marvel series.
The Winter Soldier continues the story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as he becomes more comfortable being Captain America.
There isn't too much I'm going to say about this film as it's been a while since I've seen it, but it's one I definitely seeing again, and would advise to watch multiple times.
As someone unfamiliar with the comics it is the first time I've learned of the Winter Soldier, and I have to say I'm a super fan of Sebastian Stan's character. The story arc including the rise of Hydra is an interesting one to me - it seems so early to bring in the super villainous corporation. In saying that, it is the second wave of the Avengers series of films and they won't be around forever, but I felt as if the seeds of Hydra could have been planted here and developed in the third wave.
In any case, Anthony and Joe Russo make this film push all the right buttons.
There is nothing I can point to as being bad - it's really one of the most complete films I've seen.
Samuel L Jackson has a bigger part in this film as Nick Fury, taking a central role in the story's development where Samuel L. goes all Samuel L. on Hydra operatives. Robert Redford is great in his scenes as Alexander Pierce, while Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson continues his growth in the series as we see Falcon for the first time.
But I have to tip my hat to Scarlett Johansson, who is stunning as Natasha Romanoff. This film further showed why Johansson will not have her own film exploring Black Widow's origin, as it (and The Avengers) have developed enough of her character so far. It adds to the mysterious past Black Widow seems to have, and I am completely comfortable with the way they are developing the legend of Black Widow by revealing crumbs of information with each chapter. I imagine they'll do the same with Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye who appeared in The Avengers.
I'm more curious to see what they do next with not only Black Widow, but other characters in the Marvel Universe in the build up to The Avengers: Age of Ultron which is slated for a 2015 release.
Oldboy (2003)
No, not the US remake - this is the original South Korean Oldboy.
And boy is it good.
I first heard about Oldboy on The Film Podcast, and the way they raved about it made it a must see.
I'm glad to say they were Bang. On. The. Money... In a big way.
This movie is excellent.
It's one of the best "you screwed my life over, now I'm going to find and kill you" revenge movies I've ever seen.
Min-sik Choi stars as Dae-su Oh, who is kidnapped at the start of the film and imprisoned for 15 years for apparently no reason. While imprisoned, he finds out his daughter has been killed and somehow he is the prime suspect.
Fifteen years to the day since his kidnapping, Dae-su Oh is released from captivity, and driven by revenge, embarks on a mission of finding out who did this to him and why. And after spending much of those 15 years training himself to fight, you know he's going to kick some serious arse on the outside.
I'm not going any further into the plot because it's a film you have to see.
The Film Podcast crew hit the nail on the head regarding at least two memorable scenes.
The first: Dae-su Oh going into a restaurant and asking to eat something alive. The chef, Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang), whacks an octopus in front of him and he promptly, you know, eats it. I don't know if it was seeing the octopus moving, the fact I had just served myself fish and chips or a combination of the two, but I could've been physically ill for quite a while afterwards.
The other scene is the hammer fight scene. The long take sees Dae-su Oh, armed only with a hammer and his awesome fighting skills, take on a whole bunch of bad guys in a corridor. And it is awesome.
Stick around as the twist at the end of the film is worth waiting around for (it took me by surprise though it probably shouldn't have), and you will be rewarded with having seen one of the best revenge/action films in world cinema.
And boy is it good.
I first heard about Oldboy on The Film Podcast, and the way they raved about it made it a must see.
I'm glad to say they were Bang. On. The. Money... In a big way.
This movie is excellent.
It's one of the best "you screwed my life over, now I'm going to find and kill you" revenge movies I've ever seen.
Min-sik Choi stars as Dae-su Oh, who is kidnapped at the start of the film and imprisoned for 15 years for apparently no reason. While imprisoned, he finds out his daughter has been killed and somehow he is the prime suspect.
Fifteen years to the day since his kidnapping, Dae-su Oh is released from captivity, and driven by revenge, embarks on a mission of finding out who did this to him and why. And after spending much of those 15 years training himself to fight, you know he's going to kick some serious arse on the outside.
I'm not going any further into the plot because it's a film you have to see.
The Film Podcast crew hit the nail on the head regarding at least two memorable scenes.
The first: Dae-su Oh going into a restaurant and asking to eat something alive. The chef, Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang), whacks an octopus in front of him and he promptly, you know, eats it. I don't know if it was seeing the octopus moving, the fact I had just served myself fish and chips or a combination of the two, but I could've been physically ill for quite a while afterwards.
The other scene is the hammer fight scene. The long take sees Dae-su Oh, armed only with a hammer and his awesome fighting skills, take on a whole bunch of bad guys in a corridor. And it is awesome.
Stick around as the twist at the end of the film is worth waiting around for (it took me by surprise though it probably shouldn't have), and you will be rewarded with having seen one of the best revenge/action films in world cinema.
Bad Neighbours (Neighbors)
I really didn’t expect Bad Neighbours to be any good when I
caught it on Friday night.
Starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron as a married father and
frat boy respectively, I had the preconception the movie would be full of
unfunny jokes, a ridiculous amount of nudity and an endless supply of drugs.
They succeeded in ticking two of those boxes, with Bad
Neighbours turning out to be one of the funniest movies I’ve watched.
This film is off the chain.
The perfect setup sees Rogen and Australian actress Rose
Byrne as married couple Mac and Kelly Radner, who are raising their infant
daughter in a quiet neighbourhood. Their next door neighbour suddenly moves out
one day, and after a small period of anticipation, discover the new occupants
are one of their worst nightmares.
Teddy Saunders (Efron), Pete (Dave Franco), Scoonie
(Christopher Mintz-Plasse, or McLovin from Superbad as he’s more widely
recognised) are just three of the college kids who are part of Delta Psi, a
fraternity house known for their amazingly wild parties.
The rest of the film is focuses on the Radners attempting to
continue their lives as per normal, but a lack of peace causes them to do all
they can to get their new neighbours evicted.
I found myself laughing for most of the movie – and not just
the “ha ha it’s Seth Rogen doing drugs and being crazy” laugh, I mean I was
bursting at the seams. The lengths the warring neighbours go to to drive the
other out aren’t original (apart from the Delta Psi crew “relocating” the
Radner’s car airbags – that was amazing), the way they are presented is simply
brilliant.
Lisa Kudrow has a small but brilliant role as Carol, with
Ike Barinholtz and Ali Cobrin hilarious as divorced couple Jimmy and Whitney
who the Radner’s turn to for help.
For me the winning performances (apart from the gags) are from
the Delta Psi crew. I’ve avoided many Efron films because he was “that guy from
High School Musical”, but this has made me want to check out his other recent
roles. Franco continues to be great in everything he does, Mintz-Plasse is all
class while Jerrod Carmichael (Garf) and Craig Roberts (Assjuice) deliver some side-splitting
scenes.
Lastly the soundtrack is freakin sweet. There’s quite a bit
of dubstep and doof-doof that sets the parties alive and feeling the cinemas
subwoofers struggle made me feel like I was there.
Watch it in a cinema as I’m not convinced it will be as
awesome on the small screen.
Note: Released as "Bad Neighbours" in the UK and Australia and "Neighbours" everywhere else.
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