Sports movies can often become boring for the uninitiated, and people who do not like the sport can often be turned off by the film. Dodgeball is not as big in the United Kingdom as it is in the U.S., so I did not know what to expect when I bought the film.
One word: fantastic.
Easily one of the best sports movies I have seen, and it is quite clever that it is mostly about the relationships between the various team members, and to a certain extent, puts the dodgeball related action on the backburner.
Fleshed out characters are rife int his movie, and the group of misfits that encompasses the Average Joe's Gym membership are people that you can root for. Steve the Pirate is my particular favourite, although I'm sure everybody has their own.
The plot for Dodgeball is fairly simple, and therefore gives a straightforward indication of what has to happen in order for the protagonists to achieve their goal. When scripts go too complicated in quite niche films such as this one, it can either pay off really well, or go disastrously wrong.
Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) owns Average Joe's, and things aren't looking too good on the financial scale. However, the closest rival, Globogym, owned by White Goodman (Ben Stiller), are booming and are set to buy out Average Joe's in order to build a car park for the gym, unless Joe's can raise $50,000 to keep them afloat. All seems lost until they find out that a dodgeball tournament, held in Las Vegas, gives prize money of $50,000. Therefore they have to learn how to play dodgeball. They meet a famous ex player, who is determined to turn them from losers into champions, albeit in a weird way, and have them find their own self-respect in the meantime.
Ben Stiller in this movie is playing an unusual role for him, as he is usually the hero of the movie but in this one he is a villain in all senses of the word and he lives up to this fantastically. I would say this would be on his top 5 films list, as it showcases his talents as an actor so much more than one of his typical films.
For me, the highlights of Stiller's character are his hilarious comebacks. They just don't make any sense, but he pulls them off so it makes the audience feel like they are good comebacks.
For the actual tournament itself that acts as the pivot of the plot, it could have easily become boring and uninteresting, but funny opponents and plot twists within the movie change that. Also, the commentary is extremely funny, as "Pepper Brooks" seems like your typical dumb broadcaster, and this is shown even more when he is pitted up against his colleague, who is a much better commentator.
Some of the best scenes are when the quote is mentioned "That's a souvenir for a lucky fan", when talking about a team forfeiting, Pepper saying that it is "A bold strategy, let's hope it pays off for them", and "even a rabid mongoose wouldn't have a chance now!".
Spoilers Alert!!
There is quite a large plot twist at the end that I did not expect with LaFleur signing away his gym, and adds depth to the story that could have been the bare bones rags to riches story. It also gives LaFleur a sense of humanity and vulnerability. Also, the plot builds up to a climax where Average Joe's do not have enough players to play the game.
I would give this film a high 8.5/10 just for its humour and craftmanship, as you can totally believe what is going on, most of the time!
Poll result review coming next!!
Friday, 24 July 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
Cloverfield
Shaky-cam style films are not really for me, and I know some people get physically nauseous just watching these films. The Spanish horror film [Rec], which was recently remade into the American film Quarantine, utilises the shaky-cam. The benefits that I see are that the camera style makes the film feel more personal and believable. It is a handy tool of immersion as well. I have seen a few of these types of film, with by personal favourite being the Blair Witch Project, and Cloverfield would be the second film I had seen. I get travel sick quite easily, so it was to my pleasure that I found I could watch even the most frentic parts of the movie without having to go to the bathroom.
Cloverfield starts off quite slowly (too slowly, some critics have mentioned, as they were expecting the action to happen right away. For me, I prefer it this way as it adds to the believability, and makes me feel more for these people. Horror films work well when they make you care for the safety of the protagonists.) with some of the main character's(Rob, played by Michael Stahl-David) friends preparing a going-away party, as he is leaving for Japan. As the party is in full swing, his ex-girlfriend leaves to go to her apartment further away in the city, and when disaster strikes, he and a group of three of his friends decide that they have to find her encountering beasts along the way.
Cloverfield is the military name for the monster that appears in New York City, just in case you thought that the name was completely random.
At times throughout the film, parts where the tape is stopped shows the footage that was on the tape before it was taped over for the making of the movie. It immerses you more, without getting too unbelievable. It fills in some of the backstory as well, including why Rob is so intent on reaching the girl in time, and that he still has feelings for her. I liked those parts, as it let you get your breath back, and broke up the action sequences nicely, instead of the actors having lengthy monologues.
I don't think that not seeing the monster much throughout the film affected the enjoyment at all, because when you did see it, it was somewhat believable. Twists and turns were deployed throughout the film, making the piece seem breathless, and you never knew what was going to happen next.
The camera used was a full-HD camcorder, so it looks just as good as a blockbuster epic would, as I know some people were uneasy about that.
I enjoyed the film, though I wouldn't call it a horror, I was uneasy at some points and to me it was an action adventure.
I did enjoy this film in the cinema and at home and for this reason I am giving it a 7/10.
N.B The results of the voting for the next review will culminate into the next review I do after the voting has finished, just wanted to add some more detail to the site.
Thanks very much for reading and have a good day.
Cloverfield starts off quite slowly (too slowly, some critics have mentioned, as they were expecting the action to happen right away. For me, I prefer it this way as it adds to the believability, and makes me feel more for these people. Horror films work well when they make you care for the safety of the protagonists.) with some of the main character's(Rob, played by Michael Stahl-David) friends preparing a going-away party, as he is leaving for Japan. As the party is in full swing, his ex-girlfriend leaves to go to her apartment further away in the city, and when disaster strikes, he and a group of three of his friends decide that they have to find her encountering beasts along the way.
Cloverfield is the military name for the monster that appears in New York City, just in case you thought that the name was completely random.
At times throughout the film, parts where the tape is stopped shows the footage that was on the tape before it was taped over for the making of the movie. It immerses you more, without getting too unbelievable. It fills in some of the backstory as well, including why Rob is so intent on reaching the girl in time, and that he still has feelings for her. I liked those parts, as it let you get your breath back, and broke up the action sequences nicely, instead of the actors having lengthy monologues.
I don't think that not seeing the monster much throughout the film affected the enjoyment at all, because when you did see it, it was somewhat believable. Twists and turns were deployed throughout the film, making the piece seem breathless, and you never knew what was going to happen next.
The camera used was a full-HD camcorder, so it looks just as good as a blockbuster epic would, as I know some people were uneasy about that.
I enjoyed the film, though I wouldn't call it a horror, I was uneasy at some points and to me it was an action adventure.
I did enjoy this film in the cinema and at home and for this reason I am giving it a 7/10.
N.B The results of the voting for the next review will culminate into the next review I do after the voting has finished, just wanted to add some more detail to the site.
Thanks very much for reading and have a good day.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Public Enemies
The movie posters had been splashed across the cinema and around town for too long, so this drew me to the film directed by Michael Mann. I had seen Heat previously, and I enjoyed that film intensely, so I had an idea that the film would have some credibility behind it, unlike a film that I have seen recently...
Anyway, Public Enemies is about the first Number One Public Enemy in America, John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. Excellent performance by one of the best actors of his generation. He really cared for the role that he played, and this was evident in its execution. Dillinger was famous for robbing banks, and being a "gentleman's" criminal, as it was seen in the media that he was robbing from the corrupt rich, and sending out a message to America. He reached the popularity heights of a rock star, and this is shown where he is about to be taken into custody, and people have lined the streets just to get a good look at the man!
Along with his gang, he systematically takes out banks, but before long, the police finally step up their search for him, as they were being labelled a mockery. They are led by Melvin Purvis
(played by Christian Bale) as they try to hunt down this criminal with a force that is not really up to scratch ( I was reminded of the film The Untouchables at times throughout the movie, as common mistakes were made).
Early on, Dillinger sees a beautiful woman, and sets out to make her his, and her name is Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). He feels differently about this woman than any of his previous courts, and feels like he would do anything for her. A large chun of the movie is dedicated to the romance between these two, and her growing panic for her and his safety. It can be said that this movie is quite slow paced, and clocks in at about 2 and a half hours, but the action scenes more than make up for it. I believe that Mann was trying to make it more than the average action film, and make you care for the characters, annd for me, at least, it did.
However, some of the police force and some of Dillinger's gang were not fleshed out enough for me, and so when they met their ends, you couldn't care as much for them as you could if they had been given more of a backstory.
Spoilers alert!!
Finally, when Dillinger meets his end, I thought he would have gone out more in a guns blazing type of way, but I think this is for the better because for films these days, we are expecting the Hollywood glitz and spectacle, but we must accept difference in the films if we want to see this trend die off. I prefer the way the film ended than if it had been one intense shootout. It made more of a statement to me, and even though he was a criminal, it made me care for him more.
Even though Bale is given a large portion of the film from his point of view, I always felt that the movie was taken from the angle of Dillinger, so you were rooting for the bad guys even at the very end, and at some parts the gangsters looked better people that some of the cops ( especially with the woman torture scene-if you've seen the moie you will know what I'm talking about.).
I would give this film an 8/10.
Thanks very much for reading.
Anyway, Public Enemies is about the first Number One Public Enemy in America, John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. Excellent performance by one of the best actors of his generation. He really cared for the role that he played, and this was evident in its execution. Dillinger was famous for robbing banks, and being a "gentleman's" criminal, as it was seen in the media that he was robbing from the corrupt rich, and sending out a message to America. He reached the popularity heights of a rock star, and this is shown where he is about to be taken into custody, and people have lined the streets just to get a good look at the man!
Along with his gang, he systematically takes out banks, but before long, the police finally step up their search for him, as they were being labelled a mockery. They are led by Melvin Purvis
(played by Christian Bale) as they try to hunt down this criminal with a force that is not really up to scratch ( I was reminded of the film The Untouchables at times throughout the movie, as common mistakes were made).
Early on, Dillinger sees a beautiful woman, and sets out to make her his, and her name is Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). He feels differently about this woman than any of his previous courts, and feels like he would do anything for her. A large chun of the movie is dedicated to the romance between these two, and her growing panic for her and his safety. It can be said that this movie is quite slow paced, and clocks in at about 2 and a half hours, but the action scenes more than make up for it. I believe that Mann was trying to make it more than the average action film, and make you care for the characters, annd for me, at least, it did.
However, some of the police force and some of Dillinger's gang were not fleshed out enough for me, and so when they met their ends, you couldn't care as much for them as you could if they had been given more of a backstory.
Spoilers alert!!
Finally, when Dillinger meets his end, I thought he would have gone out more in a guns blazing type of way, but I think this is for the better because for films these days, we are expecting the Hollywood glitz and spectacle, but we must accept difference in the films if we want to see this trend die off. I prefer the way the film ended than if it had been one intense shootout. It made more of a statement to me, and even though he was a criminal, it made me care for him more.
Even though Bale is given a large portion of the film from his point of view, I always felt that the movie was taken from the angle of Dillinger, so you were rooting for the bad guys even at the very end, and at some parts the gangsters looked better people that some of the cops ( especially with the woman torture scene-if you've seen the moie you will know what I'm talking about.).
I would give this film an 8/10.
Thanks very much for reading.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Transformers 2
Today I witnessed the movie that they call Transformers the Second: Revenge of The Fallen. One word that pretty much sums up what is the main point of producing this movie: explosions. This movie is just a Michael Bay vehicle to put as many explosions as he can into one feature viewing.
Transformers 2 follows the first in following Sam (Shia LeBeouf), a "normal" kid who just happens to have a bunch of large robots wanting him to partake in their actions. The robots, for someone who has never seen or heard of the Transformers franchise, are separated into two different camps: the Autobots (good robots) and the Decepticons (the bad). As the All-Spark was destroyed at the end of the first movie ( this is the main component that will give life to any mechanical being and is a source of great energy), but slivers still remain, and when Sam find one stuck to his shirt, all hell breaks loose. After he touches it, his mind is possessed with strange symbols and he dips in and out of trances which involve him writing down sequences of these symbols. He later finds out that this is an ancient robot language which is a map, and will lead him to the Matrix-a very powerful life force that was left by an ancient race of robots that had visited Earth many years ago- which can save one of his friends ( will not ruin this part of the film for you!).
Megan Fox also is in this movie, and she is very easy on the eye, but she does suffer from some bad acting at various times. Also, one thing that gets me is that at the end of the first movie, the two sets of robots were battling it out in the middle of the city, but in the follow-up, no-one still doesn't seem to know anything about them. This makes no sense! It is as if everyone is ignoring all the blatant goings on that is happening right under their noses and this breaks the immersion and believability factor for me.
A transformer, to me, is hard to comprehend on its own, so when two or more were fighting, I could not for the life of me figure out who was who and to be honest, the motion blur made me feel sick at times. As most of the robots look quite similar, or are not mentioned much, you cannot root for them in large battles where there are lots of robots, as you do not know which ones are good and which ones are bad.
Explosions are rife in this movie, as I have stated, and some pretty poor and clumsy acting is apparent with some of the humans. Bay tries to inject humour by using some funny voice acting for some of the robots, but this tone does not fit the rest of the film.
I thought the plot was rather stupid, and I did not enjoy this film, at all really.
I would give this film a 2/10 because I left the cinema not knowing any more about the Transformers themselves. Not enjoyable, and a 5 year-old could have written a more cohesive and engaging plot.
More soon....
Transformers 2 follows the first in following Sam (Shia LeBeouf), a "normal" kid who just happens to have a bunch of large robots wanting him to partake in their actions. The robots, for someone who has never seen or heard of the Transformers franchise, are separated into two different camps: the Autobots (good robots) and the Decepticons (the bad). As the All-Spark was destroyed at the end of the first movie ( this is the main component that will give life to any mechanical being and is a source of great energy), but slivers still remain, and when Sam find one stuck to his shirt, all hell breaks loose. After he touches it, his mind is possessed with strange symbols and he dips in and out of trances which involve him writing down sequences of these symbols. He later finds out that this is an ancient robot language which is a map, and will lead him to the Matrix-a very powerful life force that was left by an ancient race of robots that had visited Earth many years ago- which can save one of his friends ( will not ruin this part of the film for you!).
Megan Fox also is in this movie, and she is very easy on the eye, but she does suffer from some bad acting at various times. Also, one thing that gets me is that at the end of the first movie, the two sets of robots were battling it out in the middle of the city, but in the follow-up, no-one still doesn't seem to know anything about them. This makes no sense! It is as if everyone is ignoring all the blatant goings on that is happening right under their noses and this breaks the immersion and believability factor for me.
A transformer, to me, is hard to comprehend on its own, so when two or more were fighting, I could not for the life of me figure out who was who and to be honest, the motion blur made me feel sick at times. As most of the robots look quite similar, or are not mentioned much, you cannot root for them in large battles where there are lots of robots, as you do not know which ones are good and which ones are bad.
Explosions are rife in this movie, as I have stated, and some pretty poor and clumsy acting is apparent with some of the humans. Bay tries to inject humour by using some funny voice acting for some of the robots, but this tone does not fit the rest of the film.
I thought the plot was rather stupid, and I did not enjoy this film, at all really.
I would give this film a 2/10 because I left the cinema not knowing any more about the Transformers themselves. Not enjoyable, and a 5 year-old could have written a more cohesive and engaging plot.
More soon....
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Dumb and Dumber
As my first review on this blog, I decided to choose a film that I deemed good enough to start this (hopefully) successful chain of reviews with a bang (well..at least not a damp squib), and for this task the film Dumb and Dumber was chosen. Before I get into the review, I must warn readers that there will be plot spoilers. Don't say I haven't warned you.
The basic premise of this film is that it is of course a comedy, as you can tell from the many posters of the film that were seen around the time of its release, way back in April 1995, in the U.K. The first thing that I must say about this movie is that Jim Carrey is in it, and he plays up his normal comedy routine, which mainly consists of using his body, or facial expressions to gain laughs. If you are not a fan of his work in other films such as Ace Ventura, or Me, Myself and Irene, both of which I hope to review another time, then the best bet is that you will not enjoy this movie that much, as there is not that much plot progression, and it falls into the comedy trap of involving a love role, played by Lauren Holly. As I was going to say, the basic premise is that two mentally challenged friends,(Jeff Daniels and Carrey) take one long road trip to Aspen, Colorado to return a suitcase left by the woman that Carrey has driven to the airport. Unbeknownst to Carrey, however, the suitcase was left on purpose to pay the ransom for the safe return of her husband from some shady gangster types, who serve the purpose of making the plot slightly less one-dimensional. There are a few laugh-out loud gags to be had very early on in this movie, which of course, is the purpose of a comedy. This film requires you to not think too much about the plot and immerse yourself in the characters, at least the two protagonists, who they flesh out a little at least.
Of course, when the gangsters follow the hapless duo (who take the form of a two man team, with the exception being that one of them is a woman), they believe them to be professionals, when it was only their blind stupidity that had saved them. Quite a lot of the laughs are directed off of these, and it is these parts that are funny as well.
They reach Aspen, and of course, they both fall in love with the same girl (Holly), and the climax of the film is brought when they are confronted by the ringleader who had wanted the money. When things don't go directly to plan, however, he ends up pointing the gun at the three.
Things were evened out nicely at the end, but I was waiting for more of a finale to the piece, whereas it felt to me that it just fizzled out. To me, at least, there were a few spots in the film that were not populated with enough jokes to keep me interested, and it just felt like it would end up being a Benny Hill sketch, with people ending up on the floor, and a slapstick comedy would be evident.
Overall, there were a few scenes that stuck in my mind, such as the tuxedos in the bar, "Gas Man" and the hot tub scene that made me laugh, and the film was good, but not as good as some other Carrey films I have seen. I don't know if this is because Jeff Daniels was constantly with him, and he had no space to take comedic liberties, but it didn't live up to the high standards of some of his other work.
I would give this a 7.5/10.
More reviews will be on the way shortly and thank you very much for reading. If you could send me any constructive criticism or suggestions on what to review, I would be very grateful.
The basic premise of this film is that it is of course a comedy, as you can tell from the many posters of the film that were seen around the time of its release, way back in April 1995, in the U.K. The first thing that I must say about this movie is that Jim Carrey is in it, and he plays up his normal comedy routine, which mainly consists of using his body, or facial expressions to gain laughs. If you are not a fan of his work in other films such as Ace Ventura, or Me, Myself and Irene, both of which I hope to review another time, then the best bet is that you will not enjoy this movie that much, as there is not that much plot progression, and it falls into the comedy trap of involving a love role, played by Lauren Holly. As I was going to say, the basic premise is that two mentally challenged friends,(Jeff Daniels and Carrey) take one long road trip to Aspen, Colorado to return a suitcase left by the woman that Carrey has driven to the airport. Unbeknownst to Carrey, however, the suitcase was left on purpose to pay the ransom for the safe return of her husband from some shady gangster types, who serve the purpose of making the plot slightly less one-dimensional. There are a few laugh-out loud gags to be had very early on in this movie, which of course, is the purpose of a comedy. This film requires you to not think too much about the plot and immerse yourself in the characters, at least the two protagonists, who they flesh out a little at least.
Of course, when the gangsters follow the hapless duo (who take the form of a two man team, with the exception being that one of them is a woman), they believe them to be professionals, when it was only their blind stupidity that had saved them. Quite a lot of the laughs are directed off of these, and it is these parts that are funny as well.
They reach Aspen, and of course, they both fall in love with the same girl (Holly), and the climax of the film is brought when they are confronted by the ringleader who had wanted the money. When things don't go directly to plan, however, he ends up pointing the gun at the three.
Things were evened out nicely at the end, but I was waiting for more of a finale to the piece, whereas it felt to me that it just fizzled out. To me, at least, there were a few spots in the film that were not populated with enough jokes to keep me interested, and it just felt like it would end up being a Benny Hill sketch, with people ending up on the floor, and a slapstick comedy would be evident.
Overall, there were a few scenes that stuck in my mind, such as the tuxedos in the bar, "Gas Man" and the hot tub scene that made me laugh, and the film was good, but not as good as some other Carrey films I have seen. I don't know if this is because Jeff Daniels was constantly with him, and he had no space to take comedic liberties, but it didn't live up to the high standards of some of his other work.
I would give this a 7.5/10.
More reviews will be on the way shortly and thank you very much for reading. If you could send me any constructive criticism or suggestions on what to review, I would be very grateful.
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