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13
Mar

World’s Greatest Dad (2009) Review

World’s Greatest Dad (2009)

After having watched this, I think it was one of the most strangely entertaining films I’ve ever seen. It was written and directed by actor/comedian Bobcat Goldthwait who really seemed to capture something with this film. He has certainly come a long ways since flops such as Shakes the Clown (1991). In my opinion, one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I also remember him acting in indie films like One Crazy Summer (1986) which is a goofy cult-like comedy. One more mention about Bobscratch Goldfarb (Bobcat Goldthwait) one of his nicknames, you might also remember him from the Police Academy movies as Zed.

This story is basically about a man named Lance Clayton played by Robin Williams who is a writer, and dreams to be main-stream published one day. He is divorced and has a very unusual son obsessed with pornography among other things and is a real jerk. Lance works as a high school teacher teaching a poetry class. His son Kyle played by Daryl Sabara is embarrassed about his father working at his school and has but only one friend named Andrew played by Evan Martin. Alexie Gilmore plays Claire one of the teachers at the school who is close to Lance in a romantic relationship. Henry Simmons plays Lance’s rival named Mike Lane.

More of the cast includes Morgan Murphy as Murphy, Naomi Glick as Ginger, Dan Spencer as Dan Spencer, Geoff Pierson as Principal Anderson, Zach Sanchez is Peter, Ellie Jameson is Jennifer, Michael Thomas Moore as Chris, Alles Mist as Metal Kid, Jermaine Williams as Jason, and Lorraine Nicholson as Heather.

I believe this film would be considered a dark comedy; Robin Williams is simply wonderful as Lance and is very believable. His son Kyle played by Daryl Sabara also does a nice job and is equally convincing. The movie is about relationships and life and how we treat one another. It also shows how phony people can be in certain situations as well as some stereotypes about people. I will recommend this as a must see film.

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11
Mar

Up (2009) Review

Up (2009)

A creative film with a very unusual storyline, it is an animated production done by Pixar studios distributed by Disney. If you like the previous films Pixar has done such as WALL-E (2008) or Toy Story (1995) then you may enjoy this one as well. I thought visually it was well animated, but what stood out was the story which was pretty original about a house floating merely by balloons, an old man, a boy, a strange bird, and a dog. This was directed by both Pete Docter and Bob Peterson. Both of them collaborated with Thomas McCarthy for the story and Bob Peterson and Pete Docter did the screenplay.

There were a number of Hollywood talents bringing their voices to these characters. Edward (Ed) Asner is Carl Fredricksen, Christopher Plummer is Charles Muntz, Delroy Lindo is Beta, John Ratzenberger is Construction Foreman Tom, Jordan Nagai is Russell, Bob Peterson is Dug / Alpha, Jerome Ranft is Gamma, David Kaye is the Newsreel Announcer, Elie Docter is the Young Ellie, Jeremy Leary is the Young Carl, Mickie McGowan is Police Officer Edith, Danny Mann is Construction Worker Steve, Donald Fullilove is Nurse George, Jess Harnell is Nurse AJ, Josh Cooley is Omega, Pete Docter is Campmaster Strauch and Kevin.

I don’t think small children will fully understand the story for this film, they may find moments of it funny and amusing. But, it seemed to be tailored towards adults more. There are a few moments of sadness in the story which makes you feel for the character, but it was pretty straightforward from the start to the end. There are a couple surprises along the way which I think you will find interesting. Pixar did well bringing elements to each of the characters such as the gestures they used during many of the scenes and some of the interaction between the characters were mostly expressions without any dialogue whatsoever.

I think this was still worth looking at, you can appreciate the time and effort again spent putting this film together. It is something to share with your family together and it keeps your interest for the most part.

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10
Mar

2012 (2009) Review

2012 (2009)

You quite certainly get what you might have expected after seeing this one; it delivers enough edge of your seat moments, and the film is on par with other end of the world disaster films. Maybe at times some of the scenes were far too Hollywoodish, and were dumbed down a bit much. I anticipated this being visually exciting to see with all the special effects, and I wasn’t let down. Some of the scenes were surreal in their appearance; you can’t help but appreciate the hard work that went into bringing these disastrous moments to life sort of speak. German director Roland Emmerich directed this, he is known for his past contributions to end of the world films. He has been the executive producer and director for the hit film Independence Day (1996) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). Harald Kloser worked on the screenplay with Roland Emmerich.

Although I respect a number of the actors who play parts in this film, it seemed like they were a bit off in their performances and didn’t match the story as unknown or upcoming actors might have. I think this would have made the film better overall. I guess what I’m saying is there is a lack of depth to the characters; the film’s leading characters are the CGI special effects that really stood out among everything else. Perhaps the actors didn’t have enough to work with and it fell short somehow.

Many people were disappointed from the lack of the Mayan prophecies which were not explored or explained in some way and then projected into the film. Basically, the story follows around a man named Jackson Curtis and his rocky relationship between his children and wife. Liam James plays Noah Curtis and Lilly Curtis played by Morgan Lily wife. John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis and his wife is played by Amanda Peet as Kate Curtis they share many scenarios together. These trials and tribulations lead them to a somewhat predictable ending.

We also see Adrian Helmsley played by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as a geologist who has read many books as a child and helps to predict what will happen next. Thandie Newton appears in this as the president’s daughter Laura Wilson. Danny Glover is President Thomas Wilson, Oliver Platt is Carl Anheuser, Thomas McCarthy is Gordon Silberman, Woody Harrelson is Charlie Frost, Zlatko Buric is Yuri Karpov, Beatrice Rosen is Tamara, Alexandre Haussmann is Alec, Philippe Haussmann is Oleg, and Johann Urb is Sasha.

This would be considered an action film, with some almost comedic moments of cheesy unrealistic scenes which play out. I still think however it is something you can enjoy at home while eating some popcorn.

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8
Mar

Alice in Wonderland (2010) Review

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Many know of this famous childhood story originally written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in 1865 titled “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. The screenplay adaptation was written by Linda Woolverton, and it was based upon the Lewis Carroll books.

This is director Tim Burton’s take on the famous story. I think you will find it very Burton-like in many respects. It certainly has his style of film-making all over it. I don’t think some people will find it to be that appealing; however it will strike a note with fans of the novel and story. It certainly holds pretty true to how the book was written with some tweaks here and there.

Again, Tim Burton reunites with his longtime friends giving them roles in this particular story. This pairs Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter who both starred together in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) as well as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). There are several other notable castings such as Crispin Glover as Stayne – Knave of Hearts, he is probably best known from other roles such as the character George McFly in Back to the Future (1985) as well as the sequels. Also he starred as Willard in the 2003 film Willard. Anne Hathaway appears in this as the White Queen sister to the Red Queen.

Finally, I will give my opinion of Alice who is the leading character after all; she was played by Australian actress Mia Wasikowska who was voted in Variety magazines top 10 actors to watch in 2008. I think you will find her performance in this quite acceptable, and she certainly did well enough to pull off the part as we see the antics of 19 year old Alice. Tim Burton captures the essence of Alice in some way and brings her to a CGI (Computer-generated imagery) filled screen of different creatures, backgrounds and other eye candy moments. Some of these includes the performance of Tweedledee and brother Tweedledum both played by Matt Lucas who brought the animated facial expressions to the parts.

British actor Stephen Fry appears as a cat in this known as Cheshire Cat. You might also recognize the voice of Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit. And the distinctive voice of the Blue Caterpillar is played by none other than Alan Rickman. Unforgettable Barbara Windsor is the voice of the Dormouse, Paul Whitehouse is the March Hare, Timothy Spall is Bayard, Marton Csokas is Charles Kingsleigh, and Tim Pigott-Smith is Lord Ascot.

I will go ahead and recommend catching this one while it’s still playing in the theatre, it has an element of fantasy and you are along for the ride with Alice as she adventures into the rabbit hole. You kind of know what to expect going into the theater to see this, and it was entertaining enough.

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6
Mar

Moon Over Parador (1988) Review

Moon Over Parador (1988)

This is a charming film that stars Richard Dreyfuss as Jack Noah an actor who impersonates President Alphonse Simms the leader of Parador. In reality there is no such country, but a franchise chain of luxury hotels exist including the Aigua Blava Parador, which overlooks Aigua Blava Bay in the Costa Brava in the country of Spain. Director Paul Mazursky did a really nice job working again with Dreyfuss since their previous teaming from the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). He has also made acting appearances in such films as 2 Days in the Valley (1996). Moon Over Parador’s story was written by Charles G. Booth. The screenplay was written by both Leon Capetanos and Paul Mazursky.

The late Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia also stars in this as Roberto Strausmann. Brazilian actress Sonia Braga stars as Madonna Mendez. Jonathan Winters is Ralph, Fernando Rey is Alejandro, Michael Greene is Clint, Polly Holliday is Midge, Milton Gonçalves is Carlo, Charo appears as Madame Loop, Marianne Sägebrecht is Magda, Reinhard Kolldehoff is Gunther, José Lewgoy is the Archbishop, Richard Russell Ramos is Dieter Lopez, Dann Florek is Toby, and Roger Aaron Brown is Desmond.

The film is rather humorous at certain moments, and you can’t help but get caught up in the story following what will happen next. I will recommend this to everyone as I think they will get at least a few laughs out of it. The story follows dictator Alphonse Simms aka Jack Noah as he tries to win over the people with the watchful eye of Roberto Strausmann looking over him at all times. Along the way, he meets Madonna Mendez the wife of the real Alphonse Simms and they begin to connect to one another. It is considered a comedy with romance and adventure.

If you enjoyed this film, you will like others such as the film Dave (1993) starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, and Frank Langella. Only this story takes place in the USA, but the story is very similar.

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4
Mar

Monster (2003) Review

Monster (2003)

This is an astonishing tale of a true life story about an abused prostitute who faces many tragedies in her life. She sees things from her own flawed vantage point. It is an intense roller coaster ride of sorrow and depression as we get a chance to follow Aileen Wuornos through the spiraling whirlwind of self destruction and self loathing in Daytona Beach. The film was written and directed by Patty Jenkins.

The film focuses mostly on the relationship between Selby played by Christina Ricci and the leading character Aileen played by Charlize Theron. Not only did she give an incredible performance, but the academy didn’t overlook her efforts, Charlize walked away with the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar in 2004. She also won a number of other awards around the world for her performance in this. It is rare to see such a character come to life on screen and command each scene. I would compare this to Angelina Jolie’s performance in the HBO movie Gia (1998) for example.

Bruce Dern appears in this as Thomas who is kind of friend to Aileen. Lee Tergesen plays Vincent Corey, Annie Corley is Donna, Pruitt Taylor Vince is Gene / Stuttering “John”, Marco St. John is Evan / Undercover “John”, Marc Macaulay is Will / Daddy “John”, Scott Wilson is Horton / Last “John”, Rus Blackwell appears as a Cop, Stephan Jones is a Lawyer, Tim Ware is Chuck, Brett Rice is Charles, Kaitlin Riley is the Teenage Aileen, and Cree Ivey is the 7-Year-Old Aileen.

The film’s facts are pretty accurate; you see the beginnings of her life briefly, and understand what lead her to this path in life. She is constantly plagued by physical, emotional as well as drug abuse living in Michigan, she moves to Florida later on. There things change even more dramatically for her and the story focuses on her meeting with Selby followed by their relationship together.

The film had an older look about it in the way it was filmed; it reminded me of the films from the early 1970’s in the way the scenes were done on the flip side, it also at times seemed like an artsy horror film. I think you will find the story interesting and the acting was fantastic. What a tragic tale of a woman who loses her humanity and spirit.

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