January Pick 'n' Mix - Part 2

With a rumoured Avatar sex scene to appear on the DVD, here's what it may play like...



James Cameron himself promotes his Avatar follow up, co-starring Sigourney Weaver...



Then there's this compilation of the 100 cheesiest lines of all time (there's actually some brilliant one-liners in this lot, including my favorite quip of all time from They Live)...



Anna Faris in Hollywood recession short film...



Wes Anderson's cool acceptance speach for Fantastic Mr Fox...



This amusing Vinnie Jones sketch...



And Adam West doing what West does best...

The Perm Metal Prom Massacre

There are times when watching an Oscar nominated movie seems too heavy going. There are times when watching one of your favorite blockbusters seems like deja vu...after all you might have watched it 500 times before tonight. And there are time when watching a new movie is too risky...after all, if it's boring then it's a waste of 90 minutes. That's where watching crap comes in. Guaranteed to entertain, especially if you haven't seen it in two decades, and never bore you.

Trick or Treat is THAT crap movie. Cut from the same comedy/horror cloth as the Elm Street sequels it has bullied, metalhead, loser 'Ragman' play the final demo of recently deceased, hair-metal legend Sammi Curr. The ghost of Curr initially allows Ragman to get revenge on those high school, jock bullies...but Sammi becomes corporeal again, whenever his music is played, and causes havoc.

God, this is dumb. Why the ghost of a deceased, Ozzy style, heavy metal singer would want to assist a twat like Ragman is beyond me. Surely he'd have better stuff to do?
It thinks it's funny (it's littered with cartoonish sight gags)... but it's not. It's not scary, gory or even remotely disturbing. But what it is, is a cheesy teenage heavy metal fantasy of the fabled institution of 'rock' kicking the popular kid's asses. And with the helps of some spectacularly dated, but amazingly still cool (in a cheesy, marooned forever in a land made of cheese kind of way) Fastway tunes, Trick or Treat made my night. Ozzy himself makes an amusing cameo as a preacher disgusted by suggestive Metal lyrics, while Gene Simmons turns up as a rock D.J.

A film to unintentionally laugh at, as well as watch in the conventional sense, I had a nostalgic ball watching this turkey again. Now if only I could find my copy of Wes Craven's Shocker...

Precious 2: The Blind Sided Sequel

What is it with deprived-people-make-good, coming of age stories this awards season? There's the middle class Brit version in An Education and there's the abused kid from The Bronx version in Precious...all up for major film awards. Joining that group comes yet another variation on the theme in The Blind Side, starring Golden Globe winner Sandra Bullock. Newcomer Quinton Aaron plays Big Mike, a fat, practically homeless black kid who, with the help of a friends dad, gets into a posh, christian high school based on his athletic abilities. Bullock, feeling sorry for the lad, takes him in to her 2.4 family mansion and selflessly takes on the role of his mother. Sports opportunities soon follow in this true story (aren't they all).

While I've always liked Sandra Bullock I've never seen anything in her body of work to suggest she's capable of an Oscar worthy performance. But The Blind Side does indeed prove there's more to her than rom-coms. Her Leigh Anne Tuohy is an abrupt, no nonsense, plain speaking, stern, force of nature. But, unusually for such a ultra-privileged business woman, her confidence extends to doing what is right, even if it means walking into dangerous inner city neighbourhoods or falling out with her white, elitest, racist friends. It's a different side to Bullock we've rarely seen and, to her credit, she mostly disappears into the role. Hers is a role with an iron exterior, but gets to show the warmth and humor that lies beneath the gruffness.

Tonally this isn't anywhere near as dark as Precious, being a lighter studio friendly, star vehicle. It does, worryingly promote Christian values a little too much at times...but at least shows the darker side of those that would think of themselves as Christians, yet behave in a prejudiced, unhelpful and immoral way.
It doesn't get over sentimental either, staying just the right side of heart warming and uplifting.

The supporting cast, including country and western singer Tim McGraw, Kim Dickens (as yet another teacher who makes a difference) Kathy Bates and newcomer Quinton Aaron all turn in strong roles. But it's Bullock's show and she gets to remind everybody just why she's still on the Hollywood A-list. I'll be honest that I still prefer An Education's Carey Mulligan to run away with the best actress Oscar, but you'll now get no complaints from me if the bird from Speed gets it this year.

Come In Double 'O' Fourteen...Your Time Is Up

My reason for watching The Informant! was because it's directed by Steven Soderbergh and not because I'm trying to catch up with as many potential award winners before the Oscars in February. Strange then, that the overriding thought when viewing this adaptation of a true story is, "Why hasn't Matt Damon been recognised for his fine work with more award nominations?"

Informant is loosely based ("so there!" states a pre-credit disclaimer)on real life informer, Mark Whittaker, who after working with the FBI in the early 90's to bring down a corporate corn producing entity due to global illegal price fixing, decided to profit from his double dealings and make millions. Damon plays Whitaker as a flake. A dreamer. A man who thinks he's far cleverer than he actually is (given a wire taping device he thinks he's 0014...because he's double James Bond's 007) and a man who can never stop lying, no matter the sincerity of all those around him (his wife, colleagues, lawyers, FBI) to tell 100% the truth. Damon is both mesmerising and embarrassing to watch as you see him test the patience and intelligence of those he's both trying to help and trying to deceive.

Soderbergh directs with style, as always. Despite having a 90's setting, the film is shot and designed like a late 70's early 80's piece of cinema, aided by Marvin Hamlish's period style score. Script wise it's rather meandering and a bit repetitive as Damon gets more and more entwined in his own lies. As with most Soderbergh efforts the humor is of the dry and reserved variety...but not always as funny as it thinks it is. Still this is worth watching for Damon alone. He got a Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role in Eastwood's Invictus...but did practically bugger all to deserve it. Here, the man is a legend.

Goats Who Stare At Clooney

The third offering from Mr Clooney, this month, comes in the for of 'The Men Who Stare At Goats', directed by Mr C's long time producing partner Grant Heslov (who you may know better as the middle eastern-looking actor who plays sidekicks in True Lies and Scorpion King...yeah, him). As with Fantastic Mr Fox and Up In The Air it's an amusing, offbeat tale that is told with a straight face and dry humour.

It follows a newly separated reporter (Ewan MacGregor) who, looking for a way to impress and win back his ex-partner, starts investigating the U.S. Army's psychic research brigade. Run by hippy warrior Jeff Bridges, it has psychic soldiers, or 'Jedi' as they'd prefer to be known (including George as well as Kevin Spacey as his rival), developing their skills so that they can brainwash the enemy, locate anything on the planet or kill a man (using goats to practice on) using only the power of their mind.

It's a lightly told comedy drama that's all about finding purpose and belief in ones life. It zips along pleasantly and has a smattering of laugh out loud guffaws amongst the wit and subtle silliness. I especially like Spacey's attempts to develop subliminal DVD's for trainee soldiers, including the one that suggests "not to drive a tank in the desert if high on acid". Nice.

Listen Bud, He's Got Radioactive Blood

If I'm going to watch one of the three Spider-man movies, it's usually going to be the second movie, as it's a perfect blend of character, action and plot. But with Columbia Pictures announcing that they're dumping Sam Raimi, who's shepherded all of the Spidey movies so far, in favor of a college set reboot, I'd thought I'd check out the first one again.

At the time I though this was THE best superhero adaptation I'd ever seen. As time wore on I felt it was a cliched rather plot that played the 'Universal Superhero Origin Playbook'...step by step. And for that I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing. It being a David Koepp script, it's meticulously structured, condensing plot points and character development into seemingly simplistic scenes. But it's got a three act structure that's all too familiar; hero's background is established, he obtains superpowers and discovers how to apply them for good, then when the parallel story of the super villain comes to fruition...they fight to save the city/the world.

What I'd forgotten about the first movie was how much director Sam Raimi's signature is all over this movie. Raimi has two styles; the off-the-wall craziness of The Evil Dead and the restrained dramatist of A Simple Plan and I'd kind of remembered Spider-Man having a style that was more of the latter, than the former. But that's not so. The tone, while nearly always played seriously, has a heightened comic-book feel throughout. Be it Danny Elfman's Batman-ish score, the wild Spidey-eyed viewpoint as he swings through the city or the maniacal, Deadite inspired cackling of The Green Goblin, this is clearly Raimi's movie. Even more tellingly is the trademark way Raimi puts his lead actor/character through hell (making Peter Parker run for the bus/get bullied at school/pine for Mary Jane as his best mate dates her). This is reallly prominent in the wrestling sequence where poor Parker gets abused in and out of the ring...I love it where the poor guy even has to argue his name...originally The Human Spider! Raimi is the other kids on the bus. And he's the wrestling audience...laughing all the way at Parker's misfortune. Of course, with a character this beaten down, there's a great positive release for the audience when Peter gets to fight back using his new found powers.

I remembered Spider-Man as a pretty standard origin movie. But it isn't. It's better than that thanks to a director whose not afraid to let the disturbing voices in his head tell him what to do, every now and again. Even if that does mean picking on Toby MacGuire for entertainment value. At the time the reboot announcement was made, I felt it a big mistake to restart a franchise that was still at it's very peak of popularity (unlike the Joel Schulmacher butchered Batman franchise which required a Christopher Nolan resuscitation kit). Now they're replacing Raimi, it's highly unlikely we'll see a movie that comes close to Raimi's vision. But here's hoping...

Loom With A View (To A KIll)

I haven't watch Wanted since it's initial cinema release...although I can't fathom why as it's ultra-violent batshit fun from start to finish. It adapts prolific comic book scribe Mark Millar's tale of an everyday white collar office worker who discovers he has a destiny as an assassin employed by fate itself. It's the usual mythic structure of average guy with father issues who is pre-ordained to get trained up in the ways of killing people in cool ways...to fight evil.

The cast is amazing from the appropriately non-pretty boy looks of McAvoy (struggling with a yank accent, or is it just me?) to the elegant intensity of Jolie (in Tomb Raider action mode) to the devious classiness of Assassin boss, Morgan Freeman.

The real star, of course, is Russian import director Timur Bekmambetov, fresh off of the fantastic Daywatch and Nightwatch. Like Raimi, Jackson, Burton and Nevildine & Taylor...Bekmambetov is one of those rare breed that can think outside of the box; how he edits, where he places the camera...never being afraid to defy physics, reality and common sense in pursuit of a great shot. So gunmen can leap through a 50 storey window to the adjacent rooftop 100 feet away, can flip cars through 360 degrees whilst performing a gruesome hit and (in a truly astonishing sequence) trains can plunge thousands of feet down a near bottomless gorge...only to have the occupants still ready to scrap once more.

On the downside this has a touch of the "Hard Targets" about it. Like John Woo's debut there's a feeling that with a better understanding of the English language, a more sophisticated, less bullshity tone might have emerged (not the nutty Loom of Fate thing...more so the dialogue).
But it's only a minor gripe. Best of all is the "get a life" message that is the spine of the plot. How many of us end up in boring admin jobs when we want to be out there living the dream. Maybe a career in assassination isn't the answer but it sure looks pretty goddamn attractive as presented here.