Review: Shooter

Director : Antoine Fuqua
Main Cast : Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover

Latest film from Fuqua (Training Day, King Arthur) about ex-Army sniper Wahlberg on the run after he was framed for attempting to assassinate the US President.

Enjoyable film, though a bit predictable and with gaping plot holes that you wouldn't miss with a bazooka from 10 miles. Wahlberg to me can't shake off his innocent/stupid/funny Marky Mark and Dirk Diggler look, and is not suited for Arnie and Stallone-like one-man-army action roles.

Shooter still thrills when it matters, and it's pure unadulterated sniper porn for the Counter Strike generation.

Review: 300

Director : Zack Snyder
Main Cast : Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham

I’ve read some nerds on the net ranting about how 300 exaggerated things and did not depict what really happened 2500 years ago. Thing is, I DON’T CARE. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a fictionalized tale based on a comic, and I treat 300 no different than Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings.



So anyway, 300 is yet another Frank Miller comic/graphic that has been converted to the big screen. Really loved and enjoyed the last two, Batman Begins and Sin City. And like Sin City, 300 was filmed entirely against green screen, with the background in every scene added digitally. Also like Sin City, the director went out to replicate the look and feel of the source material. It was a real visual treat, with scorched out bronze/brown the main theme - the contrast slider gleefully pushed all the way to the right - and dabs of bright crimson for the blood.

And man, was there a lot of blood. This is violence at its glorious, arty-farty best. Other films may rush through the really bloody scenes, leaving the worst to our imagination. Not 300 though. Every single thrust of the spear, every single limb cut off, is shown in slow-motion. It really is a film for the boys, a genre action film where instead of having one-man-armies such as Rambo or Conan, here we have a whole troop of them, with more six-packs on show than in your local 7-Eleven. So much so that the sub-plot involving the Queen and the Senate back home proved an annoying distraction, something that the director wrongly decided would give the film more character.

So is the film any good then? Well, it’s got great visuals and probably the best sword-and-sandal battle scenes ever – some of the specific scenes would undoubtedly be parodied in the likes of Shrek for years to come. However, I really feel sorry to say that it’s all just a bit too much style over substance. Not enough time was spent developing the main characters, to the point that we didn’t really care when they all eventually perished. And it all felt a little bit too similar to Gladiator, especially the scenes in the barley field with the haunting soundtrack. Gerald Butler, last seen singing his lungs out in Phantom Of The Opera, did a passable if hysteric impression of Russell Crowe. But then, 300 never set out to be a critically acclaimed film. It set out to thrill, to excite, to entertain. And entertain it certainly did. Just do me a favour and catch it in its full glory at the cinema while you can, rather than a bad copy downloaded off the internet on your laptop.

Review: Apocalypto

Director : Mel Gibson
Main Cast : Rudy Youngblood, Jonathan Brewer

Mel Gibson's latest is a beautiful, kinetic, edge-of-your-seat, harrowing and gruesome tale set during the last days of the Mayan empire, cast entirely by locals speaking the ancient language (with subtitles of course).



Though the opening scene ends with the gory killing of a tapir for food, the next 20 minutes shows the humanity, love and laughter of the people in the small village, showing they are just like any other people in any civilisation or time, despite their very agressive and scary appearances. Until disaster strikes, that is. In the most harrowing and grim scenes I have seen since Hotel Rwanda, a rival group of tribesmen invade the village, brutally murdering half the villagers, and tying up the rest and forcing them on a long trek through the jungle.

Much has been said about the violence in Apocalypto, and though it is quite gory in parts, most of the really terrible stuff happens off-screen. But then, I've been used to a diet of B-Grade slasher and horror flicks, and I've seen much worse.

So is Apocalypto a fictionalised documentary of the Mayan empire? Does it, as the name suggests, discuss the reasons behind the fall of one of the greatest ancient civilisations? Well, not really. Take away the loincloths, spears and rainforest, and Apocalpyto is your typical action flick. And a very good one too.

Review: The Number 23

Director : Joel Schumacher
Main Cast : Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen

Actually the number 23 itself has personal meaning for me. I was born on 2nd March (2/3), and the number of letters in my full name (Mohammad Ozairi bin Othman)? You guessed it right - 23. That fact, an intriguing teaser trailer, and the involvement of one of my favourite actors made me look really forward to watching the film.



Sadly, all the hype, all the excitement came to nothing. The Number 23 aspires to be one of those much-discussed about films of mystery and mystique. But the end result falls as flat as a burnt piece of roti canai. Jim Carrey does his best to play a man slowly losing his sanity while burying himself ever more deeper in his obsession with the cursed prime number. For you anti-Carrey people out there, this is him in his "serious-pity-him-loser" mode, similar to his role in the great Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. For a truly magnificent piece of acting in a similar role though, you can't beat Richard Dreyfuss' in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Agent Dana Scully look-a-like Virginia Madsen is passable as his supporting wife, though The Number 23 essentially hangs on the strength of Jim Carrey, being present in almost every scene.

The Number 23 does not have much substance in plot, and relies on unnecessary stretching of "flashback" scenes and Da Vinci Code style step-by-step explanations to the viewers to pad out the film to its measly 96 minutes, a movie length usually reserved for cartoons that serve ADD-suffering 6 year olds. Oddly, it still felt too long - by 23 minutes, I might guess.

Finally!

So the Oscars are finally over. No real surprises in the major honours based on pre-Oscar forecasts and awards shows in the last month or so. My only disappointment was that Pan's Labyrinth didn't win Best Foreign Film, despite winning Oscars in other categories.

Scorsese finally won his first Best Director gong, though by my guess more on a kesian basis. Don't think that The Departed is as good as The Aviator or Gangs Of New York, let alone seminal classics like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Liked it when the great Lucas, Spielberg and Coppola presented his award though.

Review: The Holiday

Director : Nancy Meyers
Main Cast : Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Rufus Sewell

Supposed to be a nice little family-friendly romantic comedy made for the holiday season, about two women on opposite sides of the Atlantic swapping houses for Christmas. In fact it turned out to be a dreadful film.



The worst mistake made was having two separately independent storylines. If ever it were possible, it made the film feel both too short AND too long at the same time! You are sat there in the cinema, PRAYING for the film to end, looking at your watch every 5 seconds or so. However, each half of the film is given so little time to have any sense of development of plot that it leaves it feeling rather hollow.

A shame though, considering the likes of Winslet and Law, both underused and a waste of their respective talents, and though I am a BIG fan of Jack Black, I honestly think that he was horribly miscast and proves that no way can he repeat Jim Carrey and do "serious" roles. Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy the occasional schmoozy holiday romantic comedy, and really liked Love Actually, and not Crap Actually which The Holiday is.

Review: Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny

Director: Liam Lynch
Main Cast: Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Tim Robbins, Dave Grohl

This is the film that Jack Black was born for! It's an air guitar-playing, side-splitting, foul mouthed comedy musical which is brings out the best in Jack Black, especially for those familiar with his Tenacious D songs.



Admittedly, the plot is a bit absurd, if there is one to speak of in the first place. But who cares, with scenes that would make you laugh your arse off. The opening pre-credits sequence, featuring none less than Meatloaf and Ronnie James Dio, is in my opinion one of the best Rock & Roll scenes ever put to screen, beating the likes of anything in Spinal Tap or even the Bohemian Rhapsody head-banging scene in Wayne's World.

A movie purely only (and a must-see!) for fans of Jack Black and/or Rock & Roll, or better still, both. Definitely the This Is Spinal Tap of our times. Jack Black kicks a$$!!!!

Review: The Prestige

Director: Christopher Nolan
Main Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson

An overall interesting film by Christopher Nolan, director of Memento and Batman Begins, about 2 rival magicians trying their vicious best to outdo each other and come out tops. While the storyline is simple, the editing is a bit unusual, which is no surprise coming from the director of Memento. There are lots of flashbacks, and more flashbacks within those flashbacks, which at first do make you somewhat confused, but adds to the fascination of the film and at least stops you from dozing off!



What does intrigue me, not only in this film but many others, is why producers can't just cast Americans in American roles, and English in English roles, rather than torture our ears with horrid fake OTT accents. For example, The Prestige:

1. Hugh Jackman (Aussie) doing American
2. Scarlett Johansson (American) doing English
3. Andy Serkis (English) doing American
4. David Bowie (English) doing East European (Serbian to be exact, but who cares!)

Anyway, good film. Very gothic, with a plot that kicks dirt in the face of linearity. Shame about the last act though, felt cheated a bit when the film came up with something out of fantasy that cannot be explained. Took away a lot of the "magic" of the film, so to speak.

Eagle-eyed

Just finished watching Return Of The King on the telly, first time I've seen it since I saw it at the cinema. And then too I didn't watch it fully, as I dozed off a third of the time! Anyway, watching the ending again, I'm compelled to ask the following:

If Gandalf can use the giant eagles to go rescue Frodo and Sam from Mount Doom, if it seems so easy, why not just use the same damn eagles to send them there in the first place? Would save a lot of humans, elves, dwarves and whatever creature from dying, me reckons.

All you Lord Of The Rings fans, I expect your answer!

Review: The Departed

Director : Martin Scorsese
Main Cast : Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg

Yet again I have to start a review by apologizing for the crime of abandoning this blog for so long. The excuse is really simple, really. Going to the cinema was such a horrible experience that I actually STOPPED going to the cinema again!

However, things have turned for the better now, and my how things have turned! I’m proud and happy to announce that I’M NOW BACK IN LONDON! Finally! No more subtitles that take up half the screen, no more bad prints, no more being directed through some dodgy backdoor route at the end of the film, no more censors, and no more crying babies in a supposedly 18SG film! Actually, the only thing I’ll miss is the fact that I’m now unable to have one of those tasty 1901 hotdogs in the cinema.

So what better way to kickoff this return to the good ‘ol days of film-going than to write a review of The Departed, surely one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year in terms of director and cast. And it can’t get more mouthwatering than having Martin Scorsese directing Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio, easily the best actors of their respective generations. Add Matt Damon, Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg to the mix, and you can understand the hype surrounding the film.

To the uninitiated, The Departed is a Hollywood remake of the Hong Kong smash hit Infernal Affairs. The plot is quite interesting actually, the story of two moles on the opposite sides of the police and the Irish mafia. They are played by DiCaprio and Damon, two actors in my opinion who still look in their early 20s after so long a time. This I feel is partly why they were cast in the film, two young apprentices, both trying their best – for different objectives, and through different means – to impress mafia boss Jack Nicholson. I would have to say that they both had familiar, clichéd roles, which weren’t a real change from what they’ve done in the past – DiCaprio, the boy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, a livewire, prepared to fight his way through any problem, and Damon, the smartly-dressed, clean-looking all-round good guy. It’s interesting to note though that DiCaprio has taken over from the great Bobby De Niro as Scorsese’s muse, this being their 3rd film together, after Gangs Of New York and The Aviator.

The real star of the show is undoubtedly Jack Nicholson. His character here is nasty, violent, cold-blooded and merciless. Someone you definitely don’t want to mess with. Nicholson also manages to somehow restrain himself for most parts of the film, but there were one or two scenes where we do see the good ‘ol OTT Jack.

Though good the movie may be, I still feel that there was just something missing. Maybe because of the cast, and especially the director, I expected more. Maybe I hoped that this was going to be THE film to finally win Scorsese an Oscar. Sadly it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, The Departed is still a very good film, and I recommend it fully to fans of Scorsese, gangster films, or a combination of the both.