Protecting The Private Life

Drinking Buddies is a subdued drama depicting very real relationships. What might seem like an open-and-shut plot actually turns out to have a very human story. In fact it appears to be right on track to have a fairy tale ending, until you realise that it’s only 90 minutes long, not 120. It’s important to keep this mind, because the otherwise satisfying ending might come as a bit of a shock to some and feel very abrupt. With a story like this, success rests almost entirely in the hands of the script and actors. Fortunately, Drinking Buddies delivers on both. The chemistry between Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson is a pleasure to watch, and leaves the audience in no doubt that “Drinking Buddies” was a good title choice. The chemistry between Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick is also great, but in a much more intriguing way. Their relationship shows just how much complexity can be involved when trying to define “love”, and avoids all the standard tropes for a relationship like theirs. Th...

In my mind, “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil” is the other half of a parody duo with “Cabin in the Woods”. While nowhere near as intelligent as Cabin in the Woods, it tackles the same absurdities found in modern horror, but from a great new angle: the “psycho rednecks” are completely ordinary people, and rather than being tragic heroes, the college kids are utter morons who manage to repeatedly kill themselves. It’s absurd, over-the-top, over-acted and silly, and all of it is completely intentional. The movie knows exactly what it’s aiming for from start to finish, and doesn't stray from it for a second. While the premise might not have been enough to last 90 minutes on its own, the decision to add an actual psychopath into the mix added perfectly to the parody and made for a great climax. In the end, it’s not as clever as Cabin in the Woods, nor does it pull off the impossible and parody the horror genre while also being a horror itself – it’s simply a comedy. There’s definitely nothi...

I went into this movie with hardly any expectations, which is pretty rare for me. I was rewarded by a surprisingly good plot, a great main theme, perfect pacing, and some pretty cool fight scenes (special mention to the bullet train fight). Unfortunately, about halfway through, things started going downhill. A random love story was thrown in, and the great pacing was shot in the foot and never recovered. Not only does the romance contribute nothing to the plot whatsoever, it actually actively hurts it: five minutes after Wolverine commits adultery, he chastises the husband for doing the exact same thing and doesn't even blink an eye. Then the main theme gets quickly tidied up with some ridiculous self-surgery and is never addressed again. Then a couple of gimmicky “twists” are mixed in and all sense of a cohesive plot is thrown out the window. Even the fight scenes started getting more bland and uninspired, with the final showdown being nothing short of boring. To top it all off...

Pacific Rim is made up of two entirely separate movies. There’s the “robots punching monsters” movie, which is what everyone is there to see, and then there’s the “humans talking about stuff” movie, which nobody is there to see. The disjoint is so extreme that I'm going to review each part separately: Movie 1 – "Robots Punching Monsters" It’s as awesome as it sounds. The recipe is pretty simple - you take martial arts, add missiles and swords and acid, make the opponents taller than skyscrapers, and then bask in the piles of money you make. There’s not really much else to say about it, except for one complaint: there was a lot more potential. Cool, unique robots are just instantly killed off, without them doing a single thing that sets them apart from the other robots. That’s just plain wasteful. The only excuse I can think of is they couldn't fit it in, which brings me to Movie 2... Movie 2 – "Humans Talking About Stuff" I can’t think of ...

What a weird movie. I can’t decide if the absurdity of the plot was intentional (perhaps how events looked through the eyes of the 12 year old?) or just a by-product of 90’s action tropes. Either way, I loved it. The storyline was incredibly original, and remains original to this day – a famous hitman with the maturity and worldly knowledge of a 12 year old, and an actual 12 year old who’s been messed up and forced into adulthood. It’s a risky premise, and the sexual tension in some scenes is extremely uncomfortable to watch, and it all adds up to a movie that could have easily been a monumental failure. But one thing saves it: the acting. Holy shit, the acting in this movie is off the charts. Gary Oldman is quite likely the greatest “crazy villain” actor of all time. Natalie Portman was actually 12 when making this movie, and I have never seen someone so young act so incredibly well in my life. And last but not least, Jean Reno: the eccentricities he put into his character just pou...

There’s a reason there haven’t been many Superman movies – when you have a hero designed with no weaknesses, how the hell do you give him a tough fight? The creators did well to focus on his upbringing and self-discovery: that’s where the real story lies. Unfortunately, it’s a story that required an absolute mountain of explanation, and the creators apparently couldn’t think of a better way to tell it than with monologue after monologue. Exposition aside, the story and themes are interesting and successful, and they display Superman’s internal struggles. That’s not to say the villain doesn’t provide external struggles. As fellow Kryptons, they have all the same advantages he does, and boy does that lead to some entertaining fights. Seeing two invulnerable people punch each other at the speed of sound never really gets old. Easily stealing the show was General Zod’s right-hand woman, who had some of the most badass fight scenes I’ve ever seen. Weirdly, Superman matched the bad guys p...

Stoker aims to be unsettling, and it pulls it off in spades. From the mysterious plot, to the ever-so-slightly odd camera angles and camera movements, it achieves something that is surprisingly difficult: everything feels “off”, but you can’t really put your finger on it. You simultaneously feel uncomfortable but intrigued about what the hell is going on. Thankfully, the ending is extremely satisfying (with some great juxtaposition to the introduction), making it all worth it. While solid, the script occasionally seems pretty average when compared to the excellence of everything else, but this is a tiny complaint. A much larger complaint however, is that what should have been a powerful monologue was ruined by the trailer showing the punchline. I concede that that’s not directly a fault in the movie, but it was extremely annoying nonetheless. Fortunately the acting more than makes up for any dialogue complaints, and Mia Wasikowska impresses me more with every movie I see her in. I...