Eisenberg has been keeping rather quiet since the success of The Social Network and returns with director Fleischer whom he worked with on Zombieland in this action comedy as Nick the pizza delivery guy. Rather surprisingly this story is based loosely on real events that happened in 2003 when Brian Wells was forced to rob a bank after having a time bomb strapped to his neck.
30 Minutes Or Less follows Nick's mundane life as it collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds (McBride and Swardson). The volatile duo kidnap him and force him to rob a bank. With mere hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Ansari). As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers, and their own tumultuous relationship.
If the trailers are anything to go by then I have a feeling I will be laughing quite hard during this so long as it doesn't stray into the Your Highness levels of laddish vulgarity. This film is also another chance for Eisenberg to distance himself from his look-a-like/act-a-like Michael Cera tag which I think he has been unfairly handed.
Green Band Trailer 1:
Green Band Trailer 2:
I'm looking forward to this one and expecting good things from it.
12A - 105mins - Action/Crime/Sci-Fi - 17th June 2011
First off, I have to say my knowledge of the Green Lantern extends as far as knowing that somewhere along the line a ring, a lantern, lots of green and a rhyme are involved and that's about it. Before the film I didn't even know our hero's name so in that respect I know not if this did the comic justice and stuck closely to the ideas and themes or it varied wildly. Feel free to leave feedback/comments below if you do know. On the plus side this means I get to learn about a whole new character from scratch and that's what I love about the movies.
The story follows Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) a jet fighter test pilot following in the footsteps of his father. However his life is turned upside down when he finds himself face to face with an alien who gives him a ring which bestows unto him magical powers that enable him not only the ability to fly but allow anything he imagines to materialise. He is not the only one with a ring though and but part of a larger collective known as the Green Lanterns who are tasked with looking after the universe and protecting it from evil.
Unfortunately I found the action somewhat disappointing not only in its quantity (there wasn't much) but also in respect to its quality. The options available to our green lanterns are endless, whatever you can think can become real, it's a scriptwriters dream as anything is feasible as long as they could think of it and yet we are treated to an array of shields and various guns where just a bit more thought could have given us so much more. CGI was a massive factor in this movie as well and for the first time in while I noticed it with the effects feeling slightly incomplete on occasion.
In the supporting cast there was one impressive performance with Mark Strong as Sinestro who should have had more screen time and no poor ones as the cast went about their parts with a minimum of fuss. Reynolds does not quite suit the superhero role but that could just be because I cannot see past him as any character other than a comedic Van Wilder type.
My main gripe with the film though was the characters who were mostly underdeveloped- Hal's friend picks up Hal in his car and says wow when he sees him showing off his suit. That was it, no other point to him at all. Even stranger, Hal's sibling's and nephew were in the start of the movie and then completely cut from the script never to be seen or even heard of again. Also Hal's love interest Carol (Blake Lively) added looks but no real emotional connection with Hal questioning the inclusion of her at all.
As enemies go Parallax never had me worried and I never felt Hal was in real trouble. The Green Lantern has no weaknesses- Superman has kryptonite, Spiderman has limited powers but the Green Lantern can create anything and go anywhere which led me to never be concerned and so for a rather average viewing experience. I'm assuming in the lifetime of the comics, there were better villains that could have been used for the big screen than Hector Hammond (the giant head) (Peter Sarsgaard) and Parallax (the giant smoky head)?
I think that if this had been released before Thor [my review] or X-Men: First Class [my review] then it might have faired slightly better but it never captivated me in the same way those movies did. It seems set slightly more towards the younger generation with a few too many plot holes for my liking and I just hope that if a sequel does come about from this, who am I kidding, WHEN a sequel is made, more effort is put into developing the characters. It seems a bit like I hate this movie but it's not a bad film (remember Catwoman and Daredevil?), it's just I'd rather save my cash and go with something else instead.
Next movie up is Troll 2. For those of you unaware of this movie, it's known as the best worst movie ever made. Will it live up to expectations? If the trailer is anything to go by then yes, yes it will!
Farm
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Back in 1984 the original Footloose was released unto the world and was a massive success grossing $80,035,402 and coming in at 5th on the all time dance genre total grosses leaderboard. It told the story of a city boy coming to a small country town where dancing and rock music were banned and similar can be said for the remake.
After a group of students dies on the way back from a night dance, the town outlaw public dancing for minors. Of course this just drives it underground as our city slicker (Wormald) starts to become one of the locals and works his way in with the preacher's daughter (Hough), he campaigns for the ban to be lifted.
Over the past few years we have had a plethora of dance movies make it to the big screen (Step Up 1,2,3; Honey 1,2) and they don't have the same effect they used to. Sure with so many reality TV shows plugging dance groups and dance acts there has been an increase in interest for street dance but I can't see the appeal. I understand the skill involved (I could never pull of any of what they do) but I tend to see these films as musicals without the singing- kinda pointless. Maybe I've finally lost touch with the youth of today!
I've not seen the original and have no desire to so the prospect of a remake does not fill me with any sort of joy. I will personally steering clear of this one and so it gets an...
Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) has somehow found herself as a school teacher during her life when all she wants to do is grab a man with lots of money who can provide for her. With her former fiancé having worked out the truth and ditching her, Elizabeth has to return and teach for yet another school year much to her frustration. Not only does she have to teach the children but also has to keep the principal (John Michael Higgins) and goody two shoes teacher Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch) off her back while all the time fending off the gym teacher Russell's (Jason Segel) advances.
Things start to look up then when she discovers the new substitute teacher Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) is sitting on a family fortune. But Elizabeth has competition from the ever perky/mentally unstable Amy so sets about getting money for a boob job that will be sure to win over Scott and his money. Confrontations get even more extreme when Elizabeth discovers there's a bonus for the teacher who achieves the best academic results.
Timberlake once again shows that he is more than apt in the role as a dorky geek with his transitions to the screen a lot more impressive than some other wanna be pop star actors out there. During the movie, there was a moment when I thought they were going to get him singing properly but luckily he knows how to rip on himself very well. I'm still not sure whether most of his laughs come from the fact that the audience knows he is Justin Timberlake and he is doing weird things or whether it is because of his character. I'm inclined to say the former but he still got the laughs.
The others did their jobs with nothing spectacular but no duds either. Special credit goes to Phyllis Smith who plays Lynn the introvert teacher who is always pushed around and Segal who's performance merited more screen time. It also wouldn't be a Diaz film if there wasn't some point at which she lost a few layers and despite being just shy of the big four O she sure knows how to pull off a car wash scene.
There was something with the soundtrack that I liked as well. It suited the mood and gave that scheming feeling which was apparent whenever Diaz or Punch were on screen.
Bad teacher impresses more than I thought it was going to with a combination of over the top characters that play off of each other well and several cringe worthy moments leading the way in the laughing stakes (I actually laughed quite a few times). Sure there were some jokes that didn't quite make the cut for me and the reverting to toilet humour cropped up a couple of times but these instances were few and far between. It's certainly better than the long list of mediocre comedies that have been shown so far this year (Hall Pass [my review], The Hangover Part II [my review], The Dilemma) and is certainly worth a watch.
So my blog has been up and running for three months now and taken in over four and a quarter thousand views which means I must be doing something right. Thanks to all who have and will continue to tune in. I'm a fan of this becoming as interactive as possible and so in that vein I have created a Forum to get those discussions flowing. Check it out HERE!!!
One of the things that I've always enjoyed is finding out about new films and seeing those new trailers for the first time so I thought I'd bring that to you guys and gals by introducing a new feature to my blog in the form of 'Trailered' where I hunt down the latest trailers and get you all excited about the future projects from the film world. And to kick all of this off I have a couple of old faces that I'm sure we will be happy to see again.
That's right people, THE MUPPETS are returning to the big screen!!!
It has been 12 years since we last saw the muppets on the big screen with The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland and even longer since they made a commercial success of it with, the quite amazing if I do say so myself, Muppet Treasure Island in 1996. With their return (which will undoubtedly be accompanied by a huge marketing campaign) Disney will be hoping to introduce a new generation to the muppets and their unique ways. Whether puppeteering will be able to captivate the target audience in a world where CGI has taken over is yet to be seen but I for one welcome them back with open arms.
Although a few teaser trailers have been released in the past months we recently got our first full length trailer to help appease the mystery surrounding the teasers.
The first teaser trailer:
Another teaser trailer (sorry Sweden!):
Full length trailer:
As you can see we are not only being given the old gang back but even get a new muppet in the form of Walter (being thrown into the electric fence in the trailer) described as "a sweet, slightly naive twenty-something Everypuppet who is the kind of guy who faints when he sees Kermit" by Bobin (writer behind The Flight of the Conchords series) the director. Actor and co-writer Segel also adds that "Walter has a little bit of a self-confidence issue because he's the only person like him that he's seen aside from the Muppets. His dream is to meet the Muppets and be around people who are like him". [EW]
So should you go and see it when it comes out? O hell yeh, the muppets are awesome!!
There you are then, not only have I brought you lot a new regular feature but I've given you the ability to slag off my reviews even more easily than before with the new FORUM. Next I review Bad Teacher [my review] with Cameron Diaz. Another trailer below for you- it's your lucky day!
Farm
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