As I turned to my favourite newspaper liftout yesterday to read this week's film and music reviews, I noticed a strange turn of events. This has prompted me to borrow the fantastic line from the Britpop band Blur (second album title) for the title of this little rant - modern life is rubbish!
Rubbish, because some idiot at our cinema chains has decided that they will stop publishing the times of the movies in the newspaper ads! How stupid is it that they run an ad in the newspaper to show what movies are on, then don't publish the times of those movies? To get the times, you have to go to their website or use the mobile phone app. IF I CAN GO TO YOUR WEBSITE FOR MOVIE TIMES, I WOULD HAVE LOOKED THERE FOR WHAT MOVIES WERE ON AND WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN OPENED THE NEWSPAPER! God, don't they know that nobody reads the newspaper anymore? Except I do!
It just makes no sense to me - if you aren't going to publish the times because you want people on the website, why spend all that money on the newspaper ad at all? It would be more logical to just cease publishing the ads altogether. Now I just get really annoyed as I think "ooh, I could make the 8pm session of a movie, wonder what's on, I'll just have a quick peek in the paper" and I can see where the movie is showing but I have no info. I have to wait for my laptop to load up to find the times (I think I might be Amish, I don't use the internet on my phone and only recently discovered that it even works after thinking for about a year that it didn't work). I'm the first to admit that I'm not very tech savvy and I'm definitely not a 'gadget' fan, but surely I am not alone. How do 70 year olds find out what time the movies are on these days?
This trend was started by the ever so hip and trendy and price-gouging Event Cinemas, but now Hoyts have followed suit. I can only hope that the other chains do not also decide to do this. I think I might write some feedback to both, but I have very low expectations after the completely moronic responses I got from my last feedback on the excessive length of the pre-show programs (ads and trailers). One actually wrote back to me 'We do not control how long the movie is' - DUH! Thanks Captain Obvious. At no stage did I mention the length of the movie in my comments. Do people even know how to read anymore or can't they handle anything longer than LOL or 27 characters of Twitter? Is the cancellation of movie times in the newspaper ads some kind of acknowledgement of our dwindling attention spans for the written word? I guess if you're reading this, you're going against the trend since I'm well over 27 characters. But maybe we're the last of the old guard. Who reads newspapers anymore?
End of rant
Friday 31 August 2012
Thursday 30 August 2012
Movie #21 - Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson, I could kiss you! Your latest movie is a gift to the big, cruel world out there, a salve to a work-weary, sarcasm loving person whose head is down and shoulders are tensed. Perfect timing then that this movie hits our screens now, just when the world seems to be getting so dark and scary if you pay attention to what's happening outside our doorstep. Whimsical, fluffy, innocent, delightful. These words do not do it justice though.
I don't really know whether to describe the plot of this movie or let you find out for yourselves. Just a quick sketch though so you can see if it's right for you. Set in the 1960s, the film tracks the adventures of two very young teens who decide they're in love and they should run away together. The fact that they live on a quirky little island with no roads and are tracked by a lonely scout master, scout troop, lonely cop and the girl's disconnected parents, plus the slow reveal of what these teens are really like, is what makes this different to any other movie. Any other movie except another Wes Anderson movie of course (being The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Bottle Rocket and Darjeeling Limited). Wes' movies are always set in this little self-contained world that bears no resemblance to reality and yet the movies are full of wisdom about human relationships and all those touching little moments that make life worth living.
The acting is top-notch by all the adults (regular Bill Murray, newbies Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand) and while the kids are mostly first-timers and a little awkward, it adds a certain charm and realness to the story of young love tipping everyone's life into chaos. The set design (especially Suzy's family home - I want to live there!) and desaturated cinematography in the outdoor scenes are splendid and the period detail is amazing, along with the kitschy cute soundtrack.
I don't think I stopped smiling at this movie from the first minute. If you don't walk out with a smile on your face, I think you should immediately check your pulse, stop reading the news and stop trying to be so cool! Unless you only like movies with guns and explosions, this is a must-see movie. Quite odd and yes, again, whimsical, but it's just so sweet I guarantee you'll love it.
I don't really know whether to describe the plot of this movie or let you find out for yourselves. Just a quick sketch though so you can see if it's right for you. Set in the 1960s, the film tracks the adventures of two very young teens who decide they're in love and they should run away together. The fact that they live on a quirky little island with no roads and are tracked by a lonely scout master, scout troop, lonely cop and the girl's disconnected parents, plus the slow reveal of what these teens are really like, is what makes this different to any other movie. Any other movie except another Wes Anderson movie of course (being The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Bottle Rocket and Darjeeling Limited). Wes' movies are always set in this little self-contained world that bears no resemblance to reality and yet the movies are full of wisdom about human relationships and all those touching little moments that make life worth living.
The acting is top-notch by all the adults (regular Bill Murray, newbies Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand) and while the kids are mostly first-timers and a little awkward, it adds a certain charm and realness to the story of young love tipping everyone's life into chaos. The set design (especially Suzy's family home - I want to live there!) and desaturated cinematography in the outdoor scenes are splendid and the period detail is amazing, along with the kitschy cute soundtrack.
I don't think I stopped smiling at this movie from the first minute. If you don't walk out with a smile on your face, I think you should immediately check your pulse, stop reading the news and stop trying to be so cool! Unless you only like movies with guns and explosions, this is a must-see movie. Quite odd and yes, again, whimsical, but it's just so sweet I guarantee you'll love it.
Movie #20 - The Campaign
Movie #20 has arrived about 2 weeks earlier than last year it seems, so I'm on track towards my stated mission of seeing more and more movies. Which is surprising really since I've been working so very much in the last few months. I guess it goes to show that movies are a great escape from reality if I'm making time to go see so many.
The honour of being movie #20 has gone to The Campaign. After a nice day wandering around the city shopping, we went to see this with relatively low expectations given the lack of hype. It turned out to be a great date afternoon but I really think that I might not have enjoyed this as much if I didn't see it with Ben. The way he laughs at things just scoops me up and makes me laugh more. It wasn't the totally crazy over-the-top Will Ferrell movie that we were expecting but it did have some very funny moments.
I apologise in advance to all the parents I know, but Will Ferrell as a sleazy politician on the campaign trail, punching a baby, in slo-mo, is one of the funniest things we've seen this year. It's so wrong, I know. But you won't be able to stop yourself laughing. I also know that it sounds like this is a crazy, over-the-top Will Ferrell movie, but it's not. The movie spends a fair bit of time on the political machinations of running for Congress, such as the ad campaigns, shadowy back room deals and debates. This is meant to be done in a humorous way, and while it IS funny, you kind of get the uncomfortable feeling that some of the scenes could be straight out of the real life campaigns and possibly even downplaying what really goes on. A scene where Zach Galiafinakis 'accidentally' shoots Will Ferrell is totally ripped from the headlines from the Dick Cheney hunting accident a few years back. The American political system is clearly totally messed up!
The scenes between Will and Zach are very good, they bounce off each other well. Zach's character, Marty Huggins, is pretty off the wall if you met him in real life, but again you get the sense that he really wouldn't be that strange in America. There is some good support from Jason Sudeikis as Will's campaign manager, and Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow as the mega rich evil dudes backing whoever is winning but otherwise this is the Zach and Will show. Although Will's John Kerry hair does a fantastic support job as well.
We enjoyed this but it sits pretty far below the best nutty comedies like Step Brothers, Anchorman and Talladega Nights.
The honour of being movie #20 has gone to The Campaign. After a nice day wandering around the city shopping, we went to see this with relatively low expectations given the lack of hype. It turned out to be a great date afternoon but I really think that I might not have enjoyed this as much if I didn't see it with Ben. The way he laughs at things just scoops me up and makes me laugh more. It wasn't the totally crazy over-the-top Will Ferrell movie that we were expecting but it did have some very funny moments.
I apologise in advance to all the parents I know, but Will Ferrell as a sleazy politician on the campaign trail, punching a baby, in slo-mo, is one of the funniest things we've seen this year. It's so wrong, I know. But you won't be able to stop yourself laughing. I also know that it sounds like this is a crazy, over-the-top Will Ferrell movie, but it's not. The movie spends a fair bit of time on the political machinations of running for Congress, such as the ad campaigns, shadowy back room deals and debates. This is meant to be done in a humorous way, and while it IS funny, you kind of get the uncomfortable feeling that some of the scenes could be straight out of the real life campaigns and possibly even downplaying what really goes on. A scene where Zach Galiafinakis 'accidentally' shoots Will Ferrell is totally ripped from the headlines from the Dick Cheney hunting accident a few years back. The American political system is clearly totally messed up!
The scenes between Will and Zach are very good, they bounce off each other well. Zach's character, Marty Huggins, is pretty off the wall if you met him in real life, but again you get the sense that he really wouldn't be that strange in America. There is some good support from Jason Sudeikis as Will's campaign manager, and Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow as the mega rich evil dudes backing whoever is winning but otherwise this is the Zach and Will show. Although Will's John Kerry hair does a fantastic support job as well.
We enjoyed this but it sits pretty far below the best nutty comedies like Step Brothers, Anchorman and Talladega Nights.
Friday 24 August 2012
Movie #19 - Magic Mike
Beautiful bums. Bulging biceps. Buff chests. Boobs. Magic Mike is bounteous in eye candy. I seriously considered leaving this post as just that. Nah...you already knew about the eye candy and you want to know if it's any good, don't you?
This is a fun film for chicks to go see with a group of girlfriends, as I did with the lovely D & B. This is not a good movie for a girl to drag her boyfriend along to see. The 2 guys dragged into this by their girlfriends when we went probably felt really embarrassed, they looked embarrassed as they walked out! The aforementioned boobs are only seen twice and only briefly compared to the enormous slabs of man flesh on show, as you'd expect in a movie about male strippers!
Based on the actual life experiences of actor Channing Tatum, who was a male stripper before turning his hand to acting, it's ostensibly meant to be a story about a guy who realises that he eventually has to grow up and stop being a male stripper and get a real job/life. So the fact that in real life he became an actor and then acts as himself in a movie about his life seems to really demonstrate the moral of the story. Not! Obviously the movie is a fictionalised version of real events but I think the serious side of the tale doesn't really come through that well. The problem is that Magic Mike is a little too magical. He's just such a 'perfect' guy, there just aren't people like that in real life. He's handsome, funny, rich, charming, intelligent, running 3 businesses in addition to the stripping, good with his hands, and an amazing dancer. I couldn't find a single flaw in the guy and that was annoying.
The stripping scenes are fantastically fun and in your face, the whole cinema full of chicks were giggling and fanning ourselves throughout. Extreme closeups of the action put you right in there without the embarrassment you would feel at a strip club if it was you being picked up and dry humped on a stage. Channing Tatum is actually an amazing dancer with some ridiculously fast moves. Alex Pettyfer does okay as the new boy Mike recruits so casually who of course makes good. The other guys have some pretty good moves on stage but little else to their roles, but Matthew McConaughey puts in a funny turn as the man-child who will never give the business away. He has a few blush worthy scenes. A new actress on the scene Cody Horn is the uninterested love interest. She had some good dialogue with Channing but I found her 'disapproving' face a bit annoying after a while until she suddenly became interested.
There's not much to this movie so I'd suggest that you not go along purely if your interest arises from this being the latest Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich, Out of Sight, Ocean's Eleven etc) directed film. I'd have to say this would be the lightest, fluffiest movie he's ever done. But it is a really good chicks' night out and we've already decided that we will be getting this on DVD for our next girls' night in!
This is a fun film for chicks to go see with a group of girlfriends, as I did with the lovely D & B. This is not a good movie for a girl to drag her boyfriend along to see. The 2 guys dragged into this by their girlfriends when we went probably felt really embarrassed, they looked embarrassed as they walked out! The aforementioned boobs are only seen twice and only briefly compared to the enormous slabs of man flesh on show, as you'd expect in a movie about male strippers!
Based on the actual life experiences of actor Channing Tatum, who was a male stripper before turning his hand to acting, it's ostensibly meant to be a story about a guy who realises that he eventually has to grow up and stop being a male stripper and get a real job/life. So the fact that in real life he became an actor and then acts as himself in a movie about his life seems to really demonstrate the moral of the story. Not! Obviously the movie is a fictionalised version of real events but I think the serious side of the tale doesn't really come through that well. The problem is that Magic Mike is a little too magical. He's just such a 'perfect' guy, there just aren't people like that in real life. He's handsome, funny, rich, charming, intelligent, running 3 businesses in addition to the stripping, good with his hands, and an amazing dancer. I couldn't find a single flaw in the guy and that was annoying.
The stripping scenes are fantastically fun and in your face, the whole cinema full of chicks were giggling and fanning ourselves throughout. Extreme closeups of the action put you right in there without the embarrassment you would feel at a strip club if it was you being picked up and dry humped on a stage. Channing Tatum is actually an amazing dancer with some ridiculously fast moves. Alex Pettyfer does okay as the new boy Mike recruits so casually who of course makes good. The other guys have some pretty good moves on stage but little else to their roles, but Matthew McConaughey puts in a funny turn as the man-child who will never give the business away. He has a few blush worthy scenes. A new actress on the scene Cody Horn is the uninterested love interest. She had some good dialogue with Channing but I found her 'disapproving' face a bit annoying after a while until she suddenly became interested.
There's not much to this movie so I'd suggest that you not go along purely if your interest arises from this being the latest Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich, Out of Sight, Ocean's Eleven etc) directed film. I'd have to say this would be the lightest, fluffiest movie he's ever done. But it is a really good chicks' night out and we've already decided that we will be getting this on DVD for our next girls' night in!
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