Today's Review: Tower Heist

I don't particularly like Ben Stiller or Eddie Murphy, they've turned out some pretty shitty stuff over the years. But I was willing to give this one a go, 'cause it's about a heist. Also a tower.

Tower Heist follows the staff of an exclusive apartment complex in New York called The Tower. Ben Stiller plays Charlie, the manager of all the staff on call to make sure the occupants' needs are met. But when the millionaire owner of the penthouse gets arrested for fraudulent activities, the entire staff pension that he promised to invest for them is gone. Desperate for their money back, and revenge, Charlie and a few other members of staff hatch a plan to break into the penthouse suite and locate the rich guy's safety net cash reserve.

It's an original enough plot, and I actually quite enjoyed watching it unfold. The comedy throughout this movie is not as outlandish as Murphy and Stiller's regular efforts, and it fits quite nicely in with the story, toning down the outright laughs to make sure the robbery element gets enough focus. Stiller and Murphy themselves are pretty good, they didn't annoy me one bit during the movie, and that's quite rare these days.

The only real problem is the ending. I'm not going to spoil anything, except to say I was disappointed. There is a build up and a certain plan of action going on throughout the movie, but the final events leave everything half-assedly resolved and full of plot holes. It's like queuing up for a long time to get on an awesome rollercoaster, but at the last minute you're diverted into a small room where a fat guy shits in your mouth. I can definitely say I was enjoying Tower Heist, and it's certainly not an awful film, but the last act really soured my opinion of the movie over all. Still, good effort, better luck next time.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: In Time

"Time is money", so they say. Well, here is the official movie adaptation of that quotation.

In Time follows the rise and fall of Will (Justin Timberlake), a man working away for a living in a poor neighbourhood. Of course, things aren't that simple, because this is sci-fi. In Time takes place in a world where human beings have been genetically altered to never age past 25 years, but to avoid overpopulation each person gets only a year of time to stay alive after their 25th birthday. To gain more time they must work for it, and everything they do costs minutes, days, or even months. Get enough time and you can live forever, but inflating prices and lower wages means life is ever tougher in the ghetto. But when Will suddenly finds himself with more time than he knows what to do with, he ventures into areas of the country where people can literally throw their time away. But with the local police force, or Time Keepers, on his back, Will is soon forced to take desperate measures to get himself enough time, and perhaps level the playing field between rich and poor.

Yes, if you haven't already guessed it, let me spell it out for you. In Time is purely about the distribution of wealth. It's actually a really neat concept to switch out money with years and hours left to stay alive, and every aspect of the financial situations laid out by the recession and the Occupy movements recently is perfectly mirrored in this universe. There are a lot of neat comparisons and ideas executed throughout the movie, but it all trails off a bit when the plot becomes like a more futuristic Robin Hood. I guess there are several indicators that this is where the plot is going, and while it makes for a stylish and action packed latter half, it seems like the deep thought processes behind the first half are abandoned in favour of guns and heists.

Performances in In Time are pretty good. Cillian Murphy is as great as always, and while I normally can't stand Amanda Seyfried she didn't annoy me too much in this movie. Justin Timberlake is good too, I didn't believe he could really make it in his transition to acting, but he has surprised me in several movies that he's been in. The trouble with the casting of In Time is that everyone has to look 25, so there's no veteran talent to back everyone else up. Some people in the movie certainly look a bit older than 25, but for the most part they got it right, and there was never a point that I thought the acting was terrible.

In Time is a great sci-fi movie. It has a well thought out concept that is executed wonderfully in the beginning stages, but the ending trails off into more of a Hollywood blockbuster. It's definitely worth checking out.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Remember that guy who stuffed his face with McDonald's for ages? Well, he's back, with a new documentary about product placement.

Yes, I'm sure we all know about product placement, but Morgan Spurlock is on a mission to find out exactly how it all works. Of course, to make the movie, he's going to need some money, so Spurlock approaches several brand name companies to ask if they'll endorse his documentary on product placement if he only uses their products during the movie. Yes, it's all very self aware and meta, but it actually gives Spurlock a very good insight into how the whole process works once he's snowed under with contracts and obliged to act in a certain way while filming.

We have interviews with the people who deal with placing the products, as well as those who are mostly against the idea. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is a pretty balanced documentary. It doesn't seek to force an opinion on the viewer, perhaps due to the contracts that Spurlock had to sign with his funders, but instead seeks to inform the viewer as much as possible about how product placement really works, and where advertising may be going in the future.

The whole idea of the funding coming from brands is a pretty good one, but I can't help but feel it wasn't executed as nicely as it could've been. It seems like Spurlock was on a mission to make a statement of some kind, but nothing really results from his constant usage of certain products, or all the branding he does. Sure, it injects a bit of fun into the proceedings, but it all seems a little bit pointless in the end.

Still, I enjoyed the movie. While it certainly could have been put together better, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is an informative and fun documentary.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Carnage

Why people still want to work with Roman Polanski when he is wanted for raping a 13 year old girl in America, I have no idea. But hey, I'm not here to review the man, I'm here to review his latest movie, Carnage.

Carnage is based on the stage play God Of Carnage, as evidenced by the fact that the entire movie takes place in one apartment, and there are only four characters throughout. Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly play Penelope and Michael, the parents of Ethan, a boy who has been on the receiving end of a playground attack by schoolmate Zachary. Zachary's parents, Nancy and Alan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz), have been invited to Penelope and Michael's place to discuss the incident and hopefully settle things between the boys.

Of course, things just aren't that simple. After some polite discussion, and what seems to be the conclusion of the incident, comments are made and the situation quickly escalates into something completely different. Debates flow from the upbringing of children to the state of relationships and outlooks on life, all within the space of an hour and a half, with things only getting more heated with the introduction of alcohol.

Despite its small size, the cast of Carnage is fantastic. Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster are great, as they have proved with many performances in the past, and Christoph Waltz continues to blow me away as he has since I saw him in Inglourious Basterds. The only slightly out of place actor is Reilly, but he blends into the cast wonderfully, and the relationships and arguments between the four parents are fascinating, hilarious, and sometimes embarrassing to watch.

Stage adaptations into film are often a little flat and boring, as movies in a fixed location with a small amount of actors don't provide much stimulation on the big screen. Carnage does suffer from some pacing issues at some points, but really pulls it all together with a great script and wonderful acting. Waltz's facial expressions are spot on, and Winslet plays probably the most realistic drunk that I've seen in a long time. If the movie adaptation can be this good, I'd like to see it on stage.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: We Need To Talk About Kevin

In the wake of a man made tragedy, everybody wants an answer. Why did this happen? Normally the media latches onto the first exploitable thing they can find, but the truth is there are any number of things that can make somebody do something unthinkable. We Need To Talk About Kevin is an exploration of these factors, and more.

Kevin (Ezra Miller) has always been a difficult boy, who has never shown any real attachment to his mother, Eva (Tilda Swinton). After several trials and tribulations growing up, Kevin performs an unthinkable action one day, leaving his mother to look back over her life and wonder where it all went wrong.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is certainly a hard hitting movie. There's not a moment where anything feels safe, there is always the event that has yet to fully unfold lurking in the background, and the snippets of the relationship between Eva and Kevin are often uncomfortable, sometimes cringeworthy. The best thing about this movie is that no one factor is focused on too much. Kevin is a difficult child, sure, but Eva harbours her own resentments and is certainly not a perfect parent. Internal, external, familial factors are all portrayed, but there is no clear winner, which is pretty accurate, as in real life we have no idea what makes any given person snap. 

Swinton puts on a very good performance, but it's probably the actors who play Kevin that shine through. We see Miller in the role for a short while, and he certainly oozes creepiness, but Jasper Newell, who plays Kevin aged six to eight, is quite a show stopper. At such a young age, he immediately instilled me with unease as I watched Eva struggling to communicate and tame a wild, young Kevin. 

Alongside the great performances there is a lot of imagery employed. Little glimpses in the background are portents of events to comes, and I haven't seen such great imagery of blood and violence since the opening credits of Dexter. Still, in creating so much unease and symbolism, the movie does move at quite a fast pace, switching between time periods at many points. If you're not paying attention, it's possible you may get lost.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is a good movie. Perhaps if it were a little bit more straightforward in its approach it would have had more of an impact, but the jumping between scenes and set pieces made the whole thing feel a little bit juddery. Still, it was certainly thought provoking and very well made.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Chocolate Soda

Here is another product I found on my venture into Cyber Candy yesterday. There were many variations of soda, but this one caught my eye the most. Unfortunately, while I do find most off things I eat quite wonderful, this one is not so.

I should've seen it coming, really. How else would chocolate soda taste? There are already chocolate flavour drinks, mostly in the form of milkshake. Soda would have to be fizzy. I'm sure you can work out the vague taste from combining those two ideas, but let me confirm it to you. It's basically fizzy, watery chocolate milkshake. Like if someone made a milkshake with the wrong ratios of powder and then stuck it in a Soda Stream. I've tried to drink this a few times today, but after a few sips it just starts to feel wrong. While it sounds like it could be a match made in heaven, it's just not a good drink.

My rating: 0/5

Today's Review: Jelly Belly Sour Cherry Soda