If you follow me at all on social media (and you should, I'm hilarious), you'll know that I have been ridiculously excited about the new Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson collaboration, The Internship. The primary reason for my excitement is Dylan O'Brien (Stuart), because I am a huge Teen Wolf fan, and Dylan is going to have an amazing career. I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of this film, to be able to see Dylan on the big screen for the first time since...um...The First Time.
Yesterday I managed to score tickets to an advance screening of the film in honor of New York City's Internet Week, something I hadn't even heard of until I showed up at the theater and people were wearing badges. Josh Brener (Lyle) introduce the movie, which was pretty damn cool, as Lyle ended up being one of my favorite characters. (He didn't stick around after, so I couldn't congratulate him on his performance. Bummer.)
I'm going to be honest, my expectations for this movie weren't that high. I was going to see it regardless, because of Dylan. I don't know why I wasn't expecting much, because I really liked Wedding Crashers, which is the last movie Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn did together. I was very pleasantly surprised, because it was much better than I thought it would be. You know how a lot of times, with comedies, they use the best jokes in the trailer, and then the rest of the movie is just kind of lame, because you already saw the best jokes in the trailer? This is not the case with The Internship. I actually think they used the dumbest jokes in the trailer. (For example, Lyle going for a fist bump and requesting the Vince and Owen "fist him".) There were a lot of smarter jokes, though -- internet and fandom and nerd jokes and references that, as a nerd, I really appreciated. (I think I was the only person in the audience who reacted to the Game of Thrones reference.)
There's even an entire scene focused on Quidditch. I don't think you understand how much I freaked out when I learned that they play Quidditch in the movie. My friends have a Quidditch team, I sometimes play pickup Quidditch with them, and when "regular" people find out they give me a look like I'm nuts. So I was eager to see it portrayed on the big screen. Also, Dylan O'Brien playing Quidditch is the sexiest fucking thing I have ever seen. Ever. I have some nitpicks about the actual play (no one had any set positions, and they didn't have enough for a full team) but overall they portrayed it fairly accurately. Also, IT'S QUIDDITCH. IN A BIG STUDIO MOVIE.
The supporting cast did an amazing job. They were appropriately multi-ethnic and just weird enough that you can see why they were the "leftovers" when the interns were asked to divide into groups. Lyle tries to be cool but falls drastically short. Homeschooled Yo-Yo (Tobit Raphael) has a tendency to pluck his eyebrows as punishment for failure. Neha (Tiya Sircar) is full of false bravado and a dirty imagination. Stuart puts on an "I'm too cool for everything" act and cloaks his insecurities in sarcasm. But Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) inspire them to come together as a team to complete the required challenges that are part of the internship program.
Billy and Nick's main obstacle is overcoming the generational gap between them and their twenty-something teammates. That's the hook of the movie, after all -- two relics from a bygone era are forced to fight for jobs in a world that they know absolutely nothing about. They're allowed to enter the internship program because of their life and career experience, but once in they actually have to keep up. That's the real challenge they face. It's a great message, that you can teach old dogs new tricks.
However, it isn't enough that they have to deal with their own shortcomings, so the film gives you a physical antagonist in the form of Graham (Max Minghella), a stuck-up douche with little to no redeeming qualities, who makes it his mission to taunt and destroy Billy and Nick's rag-tag team despite the fact that none of them ever did anything to him. It's not just that he's out to win one of the coveted jobs (the winning team of interns are offered jobs at the end of the program), because he doesn't seem to give a crap about the other teams.
There is a love story, which thankfully takes a backseat. As I said, the film is about Billy and Nick and how they reintegrate themselves into a society and culture that makes no sense to them, so the relationship between Wilson and Rose Byrne (whose character's name I can't remember, and try finding a cohesive character list for this movie, yeesh) is secondary. There is a really great scene where they have their one and only date, which he got by convincing her that she could get a decade's worth of bad decisions over with in one night. She's upset when he's actually charming, because he's supposed to be a jerk -- so then he starts being a (very convincing) jerk to make up for it.
The Internship is a good movie. It's a feel-good movie that teaches people that hard work and dedication can pay off if you stick with it, but also plays up the importance of connecting with people and working as a team. It was really funny, more so than it may seem in the trailer (and I just rewatched the trailer and there are a lot of scenes in it that aren't in the film, like the ping-pong match and the Rubik's Cube competition, what's up with that?), and I think a lot of you are going to enjoy it. If you're a fan of Dylan O'Brien you're going to REALLY enjoy it, because he was fantastic.
On a personal note, I may be in a commercial for the movie. You know how sometimes they have commercials where they show audience reactions? They interviewed us afterwards for one of those. I'm pretty excited about the prospect.
Showing posts with label film review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film review. Show all posts
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Review: Star Trek Into Darkness
If anyone ever tells you that spending too much time on Twitter is a bad thing, remember this: thanks to Twitter, I got to see Star Trek: Into Darkness ten days early. And it was GLORIOUS. I won tickets in a contest over Twitter and attended a private industry screening on Tuesday. I'm telling you this in hopes you'll forget my six-month absence from this blog. How did I do?
I will do my best to be spoiler-free in this review, but I don't know how well I'll stick to it, so this is your warning that there may be spoilers so you may want to proceed with caution.
Here's the thing: I love Star Trek. I do. And there are probably tons of little things about Into Darkness that I could rag on for this or that reason but the fact is that it was epic and awesome and even though I had to pee throughout virtually the entire movie, I didn't realize it. This movie made me forget that I had to pee. Glowing praise right there. It's about two hours and fifteen minutes, but it didn't feel like it at all.
I saw it in IMAX 3D. I am not a fan of 3D in general and ordinarily I would not choose to see it in that format, but this was a free screening so I wasn't going to complain. It is not necessary to see this movie in 3D. Other than a few sight gags at the beginning (I did actually flinch as an arrow fired at McCoy seemed to fly right at my face), the 3D didn't really add to the movie at all. If you want to see it in 3D, if you love 3D, then of course do what you want, but my recommendation is that if you don't really care, save your money and see the regular version. It's not going to be any less awesome.
This is the second Star Trek reboot movie, and as such, there were echoes of the original second Star Trek movie, Wrath of Khan. There's a scene in one of the trailers that sent people into fits because of the throwback -- if you've seen Wrath of Khan, you know which scene I'm talking about (there are hands involved). Yes, it's just as incredible as you hoped it would be, and yes, you should definitely bring tissues. There's also another, bigger one. I won't ruin it for those who don't know, but if you do know what I'm talking about, then...you...know what I'm talking about. (Who you thought he was? He is.)
Some of you probably want to know about Benedict Cumberbatch. In a word: chilling. There's a scene near the end where he does this thing, and it seriously freaked me out. He's so cold and calculating when he speaks, and then he fights, and you need to get the hell away from him or die. Just ask the Klingons. (Yes, there are Klingons! Yes, Uhura speaks to them in Klingon, and she's not generally my cup of tea, but Zoe Saldana speaking in Klingon is sexy as hell.)
A lot of the focus in the movie is on the big three: Kirk, Spock, and that guy played by Benedict. They get much of the action, although the opening sequence throws in some McCoy -- and he and new crew member Carole Marcus get a scene that's pretty dramatic -- and Scotty gets some great lines (if you've seen the preview clip where he calls Kirk Captain Perfect Hair), as well as Uhura's awesome Klingon-speak.
There is plenty of action and drama and suspense and humor, and since it's a JJ Abrams movie there are lens flares for all. There will be laughs and tears and gasps galore. Is this movie going to win awards? Probably not, except maybe an MTV Movie Award. Is this movie going to entertain the crap out of you? Yes. Yes, it is. You should all be prepared to have your socks sufficiently rocked.
I will do my best to be spoiler-free in this review, but I don't know how well I'll stick to it, so this is your warning that there may be spoilers so you may want to proceed with caution.
Here's the thing: I love Star Trek. I do. And there are probably tons of little things about Into Darkness that I could rag on for this or that reason but the fact is that it was epic and awesome and even though I had to pee throughout virtually the entire movie, I didn't realize it. This movie made me forget that I had to pee. Glowing praise right there. It's about two hours and fifteen minutes, but it didn't feel like it at all.
I saw it in IMAX 3D. I am not a fan of 3D in general and ordinarily I would not choose to see it in that format, but this was a free screening so I wasn't going to complain. It is not necessary to see this movie in 3D. Other than a few sight gags at the beginning (I did actually flinch as an arrow fired at McCoy seemed to fly right at my face), the 3D didn't really add to the movie at all. If you want to see it in 3D, if you love 3D, then of course do what you want, but my recommendation is that if you don't really care, save your money and see the regular version. It's not going to be any less awesome.
This is the second Star Trek reboot movie, and as such, there were echoes of the original second Star Trek movie, Wrath of Khan. There's a scene in one of the trailers that sent people into fits because of the throwback -- if you've seen Wrath of Khan, you know which scene I'm talking about (there are hands involved). Yes, it's just as incredible as you hoped it would be, and yes, you should definitely bring tissues. There's also another, bigger one. I won't ruin it for those who don't know, but if you do know what I'm talking about, then...you...know what I'm talking about. (Who you thought he was? He is.)
Some of you probably want to know about Benedict Cumberbatch. In a word: chilling. There's a scene near the end where he does this thing, and it seriously freaked me out. He's so cold and calculating when he speaks, and then he fights, and you need to get the hell away from him or die. Just ask the Klingons. (Yes, there are Klingons! Yes, Uhura speaks to them in Klingon, and she's not generally my cup of tea, but Zoe Saldana speaking in Klingon is sexy as hell.)
A lot of the focus in the movie is on the big three: Kirk, Spock, and that guy played by Benedict. They get much of the action, although the opening sequence throws in some McCoy -- and he and new crew member Carole Marcus get a scene that's pretty dramatic -- and Scotty gets some great lines (if you've seen the preview clip where he calls Kirk Captain Perfect Hair), as well as Uhura's awesome Klingon-speak.
There is plenty of action and drama and suspense and humor, and since it's a JJ Abrams movie there are lens flares for all. There will be laughs and tears and gasps galore. Is this movie going to win awards? Probably not, except maybe an MTV Movie Award. Is this movie going to entertain the crap out of you? Yes. Yes, it is. You should all be prepared to have your socks sufficiently rocked.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Review: Warm Bodies (5 Things You Can Expect)
Last night I attended a special advance preview screening of Warm Bodies, the movie (based on a book) that people are calling "Twilight with zombies" possibly because none of these people have seen or read either. The only similarity between Warm Bodies and Twilight is that the girl is 100% human and the guy is not.
This is your warning for possible spoilers. It's a book, and it's a book that's been out a while, but whatever, if you don't want to spoiled, you might not want to read this. I'm just saying.
Warm Bodies, based on the novel by Isaac Marion, takes place in post-apocalyptic America, where unknown circumstances have caused part of the population to turn into zombies. As is the case with most zombie lore, if you're bitten by a zombie, you turn into a zombie, but unlike most of the fare, these zombies apparently still retain a bit of their humanity, as evidenced by the main character (and narrator), R (Nicholas Hoult). His name is R because all that he remembers about his pre-zombie existence is that his name started with "r". He is able to think, and occasionally speak, but most of the other zombies that join him in his daily airport wanderings are not.
(It's important to note that there are two different kinds of zombies. There are the "corpses", like R, the ones who still look like people. And then there are the Bonies, who are corpses who have just given up and become these skeletal predators who eat anything with a heartbeat.)
One day while out hunting with his best friend, M (Rob Corddry), and others, they run into a group of humans from "behind the wall", who are on a supply run in the unguarded city. R has a moment with Julie (Teresa Palmer), our heroine, in that he is momentarily stunned at the sight of her, before he attacks and kills Perry (Dave Franco), Julie's boyfriend, and eats his brain -- and therefore his memories. Perry's memories seem to make him extra protective of Julie, and instead of killing her, he covers her with his blood, masking her scent from the others, and brings her back to the airport.
The rest of the movie revolves around Julie and R's burgeoning relationship and the change it's causing in R -- and eventually the others. But whereas R wants to keep Julie at the airport with him, she wants to return behind the wall to her father (John Malkovich), the leader of what is possibly the only human settlement left on the planet.
So here are 5 things that you can expect from Warm Bodies:
1. Zombie violence.
You think this is pretty self-explanatory, but as I was reading the warning on my ticket, I kept going, "Zombie violence? How is that different from regular violence?" Well, the difference is, they're zombies. So there's biting, and brain eating, and though none of it is too graphic, the very squeamish might want to look away during some scenes, especially when you learn about Bonies near the beginning and witness someone becoming one.
2. Humor.
It's narrated by a zombie, after all, who has a very realistic outlook on his current circumstances. The humor lies mostly in R's voiceovers, which make him sound like a completely normal person until you look at the screen and you realize he's, you know, eating someone's brain. One particular moment that really got the audience laughing was when he's trying to pass as human, and he tells himself to "say something human", and he says, "How are you?" and then goes, Nailed it.
Points must also go to Julie's best friend, Nora (Analeigh Tipton), who plays a small role in the beginning that gets larger at the end, because she's just awesome.
3. Romance.
It's billed as a "zombie romance", hence all the Twilight comparisons, because the main plot point is that R is slowly becoming more and more human through his interactions with Julie. It's got one of those "love conquers all" themes that some people might find ridiculous but in this sense kind of works, because R and his friends still look human, as opposed to the Bonies, who are beyond all help.
4. Kickass soundtrack.
R is a hoarder, and one of the things he collects is vintage vinyl records, because he's a purist and the sound quality is better, as he explains to Julie when she asks why doesn't just get an iPod. He sits on his abandoned plane full of random crap that he brings back after hunting trips and listens to his albums like the sad sack hipster zombie that he is.
5. Kickass characters.
And by "kickass", I mean they kick ass. Julie's affect on R starts spreading to the rest of the Corpses, and this causes a huge chain reaction that culminates in a gigantic battle at the end. R is a pretty awesome fighter, which apparently is par for the course when you become a zombie, but Julie is no slouch either. She shoots moving targets while on the run in a scene that made me excited just because she wasn't the typical damsel in distress. Every time R saves Julie from the zombies, it's because she's quite literally surrounded, but she's still attempting to fight them off with whatever she can find, like weed whackers.
I haven't read the book, so I can't make any comparisons (although I can tell from the Wikipedia summary of the book's plot that there are differences, so be aware of that), but I can tell you, as someone with no previous knowledge and as such no expectations, that this movie was funny and touching, and there were points in the movie where the audience actually cheered. I really enjoyed this movie, and will probably go again when it officially gets released in February.
This is your warning for possible spoilers. It's a book, and it's a book that's been out a while, but whatever, if you don't want to spoiled, you might not want to read this. I'm just saying.
Warm Bodies, based on the novel by Isaac Marion, takes place in post-apocalyptic America, where unknown circumstances have caused part of the population to turn into zombies. As is the case with most zombie lore, if you're bitten by a zombie, you turn into a zombie, but unlike most of the fare, these zombies apparently still retain a bit of their humanity, as evidenced by the main character (and narrator), R (Nicholas Hoult). His name is R because all that he remembers about his pre-zombie existence is that his name started with "r". He is able to think, and occasionally speak, but most of the other zombies that join him in his daily airport wanderings are not.
(It's important to note that there are two different kinds of zombies. There are the "corpses", like R, the ones who still look like people. And then there are the Bonies, who are corpses who have just given up and become these skeletal predators who eat anything with a heartbeat.)
One day while out hunting with his best friend, M (Rob Corddry), and others, they run into a group of humans from "behind the wall", who are on a supply run in the unguarded city. R has a moment with Julie (Teresa Palmer), our heroine, in that he is momentarily stunned at the sight of her, before he attacks and kills Perry (Dave Franco), Julie's boyfriend, and eats his brain -- and therefore his memories. Perry's memories seem to make him extra protective of Julie, and instead of killing her, he covers her with his blood, masking her scent from the others, and brings her back to the airport.
The rest of the movie revolves around Julie and R's burgeoning relationship and the change it's causing in R -- and eventually the others. But whereas R wants to keep Julie at the airport with him, she wants to return behind the wall to her father (John Malkovich), the leader of what is possibly the only human settlement left on the planet.
So here are 5 things that you can expect from Warm Bodies:
1. Zombie violence.
You think this is pretty self-explanatory, but as I was reading the warning on my ticket, I kept going, "Zombie violence? How is that different from regular violence?" Well, the difference is, they're zombies. So there's biting, and brain eating, and though none of it is too graphic, the very squeamish might want to look away during some scenes, especially when you learn about Bonies near the beginning and witness someone becoming one.
2. Humor.
It's narrated by a zombie, after all, who has a very realistic outlook on his current circumstances. The humor lies mostly in R's voiceovers, which make him sound like a completely normal person until you look at the screen and you realize he's, you know, eating someone's brain. One particular moment that really got the audience laughing was when he's trying to pass as human, and he tells himself to "say something human", and he says, "How are you?" and then goes, Nailed it.
Points must also go to Julie's best friend, Nora (Analeigh Tipton), who plays a small role in the beginning that gets larger at the end, because she's just awesome.
3. Romance.
It's billed as a "zombie romance", hence all the Twilight comparisons, because the main plot point is that R is slowly becoming more and more human through his interactions with Julie. It's got one of those "love conquers all" themes that some people might find ridiculous but in this sense kind of works, because R and his friends still look human, as opposed to the Bonies, who are beyond all help.
4. Kickass soundtrack.
R is a hoarder, and one of the things he collects is vintage vinyl records, because he's a purist and the sound quality is better, as he explains to Julie when she asks why doesn't just get an iPod. He sits on his abandoned plane full of random crap that he brings back after hunting trips and listens to his albums like the sad sack hipster zombie that he is.
5. Kickass characters.
And by "kickass", I mean they kick ass. Julie's affect on R starts spreading to the rest of the Corpses, and this causes a huge chain reaction that culminates in a gigantic battle at the end. R is a pretty awesome fighter, which apparently is par for the course when you become a zombie, but Julie is no slouch either. She shoots moving targets while on the run in a scene that made me excited just because she wasn't the typical damsel in distress. Every time R saves Julie from the zombies, it's because she's quite literally surrounded, but she's still attempting to fight them off with whatever she can find, like weed whackers.
I haven't read the book, so I can't make any comparisons (although I can tell from the Wikipedia summary of the book's plot that there are differences, so be aware of that), but I can tell you, as someone with no previous knowledge and as such no expectations, that this movie was funny and touching, and there were points in the movie where the audience actually cheered. I really enjoyed this movie, and will probably go again when it officially gets released in February.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Review: The First Time
I'm not going to lie: for the longest time, I was convinced this movie was some sort of collective hallucination by the fangirls on Tumblr, since the official trailer wasn't even released until several weeks ago, despite the massive amount of .gifs that exist for it. Luckily for myself and all of my fellow Dylan O'Brien fans, this is, in fact, a real movie, and it was released in theaters yesterday...if you live in New York City, Los Angeles, or Phoenix.
I'm not sure why Phoenix and not, say, Chicago, but I strongly suspect - though it isn't really confirmed - that the movie takes place in Phoenix? At least, one of the characters mentions Scottsdale Road, and not saying there couldn't be a Scottsdale Road in other cities, but when I hear Scottsdale, I think, you know, Scottsdale. Also, I used to work in Scottsdale, and the ridiculous houses that some of these characters live in leads me to believe that that's where it's set.
The story of The First Time is simple and well-known: two high school students, Dave (O'Brien) and Aubrey (Britt Robertson), meet at a party on Friday night and have an instant connection, as so often happens in movies of this genre. The obstacles to their budding romance include his massive crush on his friend Jane (Victoria Justice) and her older boyfriend, Ronny (James Frecheville). Not to mention that they have literally only known each other for a couple of days, since the film takes place between Friday night and Monday morning.
I have read a couple of reviews that compare this film to Say Anything or a John Hughes movie like Sixteen Candles, but given the subject matter I was reminded of The Sure Thing (also starring John Cusack, I think I'm beginning to see a pattern - but it's kind of hard not to, John Cusack was in a lot of these types of movies in the 80s). All of these films have one thing in common in that they're coming of age tales about the trials and tribulations of young love. (Also, they're all awesome.)
The film relies heavily on dialogue, which makes sense - the timeline only spans a matter of days and these are high school kids, not Jason Bourne, so a lot of the movie consists of heartfelt discussions about whether or not virginity is meant to be something preciously guarded and what the characters want to do after high school. I think a lot of people will relate to it, both teenagers who are living through those awkward years right now and us older folks who fondly remember what it was like. Not that I have many fond memories of high school, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I am a massive, massive fan of Dylan O'Brien to the point where it's kind of embarrassing, considering my age, but I tried not to let that bias my opinion of The First Time. To be honest, it probably did, but I like to think that I would have enjoyed it just as much with someone else in the main role. Regardless, I think he did a fabulous job and was definitely one of the, if not the, high points of the film. He really held his own, and I think he could be this generation's John Cusack (since we were just talking about him). Because really, he's perfect in these types of roles - he's adorable, he has great comedic timing, and he's attractive but not in an unapproachable or intimidating way. Dave Hodgman is, essentially, Lloyd Dobler or Lane Meyer or Walter Gibson or...some other John Cusack role from the 80s, he had a ton of them.
Dave's best friends Simon (Craig Roberts) and Big Corporation (Lamarcus Tinker) are hilarious. Simon, biting and British, blunders through the film acting like he knows everything about women when he really knows nothing, but Big Corporation reminded me strongly of Silent Bob. Anyone who has ever seen Chasing Amy will see the similarities, especially during Big Corporation's monologue in the diner near the end of the movie.
The other high point of the film, for me at least, was the soundtrack. I have been unable to find a soundtrack listing anywhere and am seriously considering seeing the movie again just to write down the songs as they scroll up the screen during the ending credits. Seriously. The only song I know is The Naked and Famous's "Girls Like You", and that's because it was in the trailer.
If you're able (like, if you live in one of the three cities in which this movie is actually showing) and you like sweet romantic comedies that are cute and endearing, you should see this movie. If you're a fan of Dylan O'Brien and his adorable spasticness, you should definitely see this movie. No, seriously, if you live anywhere near those three cities you should make plans to go see it. If you live near NYC I can tell you that it's playing at the AMC Empire on 42nd St and the Village 7 on 3rd Ave.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Review: Fast Girls
Some of you may have read this entry, where I lament that one of the problems with liking a lot of British actors is that they do British movies, which tend to not play in the United States because of reasons.
Imagine my extreme excitement when I was online yesterday and discovered that Fast Girls, the very reason for the aforementioned post, is available on Netflix Watch Instantly (also on iTunes) for those of us in the States, a week before the DVD comes out in the UK.
It makes absolutely no sense to me, but I'm not about to complain.
Last night, after giggling for about five minutes at the prospect of finally getting to see this movie (which did, consequently, play in the States...in Hicksville, NY, for exactly one week, so I was sadly unable to schlep out there to see it -- stupid job), I actually watched this movie. I will do my best to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, but be warned, I may not succeed.
In retrospect, this may be less a review and more of a general summary with some thoughts attached, but bear with me, I'm kind of new at this reviewing lark.
I found this movie to be, as I predicted in my earlier post, ridiculously awesome. I really enjoyed Bend It Like Beckham, and this film had much the same flair and energy -- a girl power movie that was mostly about girls being awesome and becoming friends, with, oh yeah, that pesky romance thing. It was fun and uplifting, and it made me want to take up running, except I can't run.
The movie is centered around Shania Andrews (Lenora Crichlow) and her struggle to make the UK national women's track team, a struggle made difficult both by her humble upbringing (she lacks for proper equipment and training grounds, and her coach is a shopkeeper) and the jealousy of her main rival, golden girl Lisa Temple (Lily James).
Side note: the Netflix description of the movie claims that Lisa and Shania have been competitors since childhood, but I saw no evidence of this. It would explain things a little better, but as it stands, Lisa apparently dislikes Shania because she beats her in the qualifying race at the beginning of the movie, which doesn't really matter because Lisa already has a spot on the team thanks to nepotism -- her father (Rupert Graves) basically runs it. On the one hand, this seems to make the character of Lisa seem extremely shallow and petty. On the other hand, I have both witnessed and experienced the kind of envy that comes from devoting your whole life to one particular pursuit to the point where it basically defines your identity, and then someone comes along seemingly out of nowhere and is better at it than you. It sucks, and it makes you want to hit things. Or people.
Throughout most of the film, Shania and Lisa cannot stand each other, and it leads to many problems when Tommy (Noel Clarke, who also wrote the screenplay) asks Shania to be a member of the 4x200m relay team. Lisa -- the anchor position -- does not agree with this at all, which is fine with Shania, because she doesn't do well with teams. She does join the team, it's kind of the point of the movie, and chaos ensues. There are moments, such as when a few of the members go out for drinks, where you can see that things might not be as bad as they seem. But whenever the team is competing -- be it at an exhibition meet in Barcelona or at the World Championships in the film's climax -- all hell breaks loose. Things of course work out nicely by the end, but I did feel that the conflict between Shania and Lisa was resolved too quickly.
The film also gave some focus to the different familial relationships, which I felt weren't developed well enough to deserve their own sideplot but nevertheless served what I believe to be their intended purpose -- to show the difference between Lisa and Shania. Lisa, daughter of a gold medalist, grew up in wealth and privilege. As I said before, she didn't need the qualifying race because she already had a spot on the team, and we can tell that she's been raised and groomed to be a track star like her father. Shania, conversely, sleeps on her aunt's couch but eventually ends up staying with her coach after her aunt kicks her out because of her sister's bad girl ways. Still, we shouldn't judge by appearances -- Lisa feels trapped by her father's win-or-else approach, while Shania's coach, Brian (Philip Davis), genuinely encourages her to do her best. The contrast helps us see that Lisa and Shania really aren't that different -- Lisa ignores her mother's quiet encouragement to concentrate on her father's all-or-nothing disapproval, and Shania can't hear her coach over her family's dismissive attitude.
And we mustn't forget the love, because what's a girl power movie without a love interest? (Answer: Brave.) Despite rules against fraternization between athletes and staff, Shania develops feelings for the team physio, Carl (Bradley James). Yet it turns out that Lisa is her rival here, as well. Bradley did well for his first film role, but like most of the sideplots, there could have been more development. Carl and Shania do have their moments, and I actually kind of appreciated that the romance was almost an afterthought -- yes, it's there and oh my god boys, but this isn't what distracts Shania, and the overall feel of the whole situation was more, "well, this would be nice, but really I just want to kick ass at the championships". It's a nice change from all of those movies which hide the idea that a woman is never truly complete without a man behind empowerment.
Overall, as I said, it was great fun. Enough comedy to balance out the angst, and even though no one is ever in real peril, I was on the edge of my seat for the final race. I like sports movies, and there aren't enough of them that are about female athletes. As much as I love Bull Durham and Miracle, I'd love it if there were more like A League of Their Own and Bend It Like Beckham. Is this one of the greatest films of all time? No. But I can almost guarantee that you'll enjoy damn near every second of it.
Imagine my extreme excitement when I was online yesterday and discovered that Fast Girls, the very reason for the aforementioned post, is available on Netflix Watch Instantly (also on iTunes) for those of us in the States, a week before the DVD comes out in the UK.
It makes absolutely no sense to me, but I'm not about to complain.
Last night, after giggling for about five minutes at the prospect of finally getting to see this movie (which did, consequently, play in the States...in Hicksville, NY, for exactly one week, so I was sadly unable to schlep out there to see it -- stupid job), I actually watched this movie. I will do my best to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, but be warned, I may not succeed.
In retrospect, this may be less a review and more of a general summary with some thoughts attached, but bear with me, I'm kind of new at this reviewing lark.
I found this movie to be, as I predicted in my earlier post, ridiculously awesome. I really enjoyed Bend It Like Beckham, and this film had much the same flair and energy -- a girl power movie that was mostly about girls being awesome and becoming friends, with, oh yeah, that pesky romance thing. It was fun and uplifting, and it made me want to take up running, except I can't run.
The movie is centered around Shania Andrews (Lenora Crichlow) and her struggle to make the UK national women's track team, a struggle made difficult both by her humble upbringing (she lacks for proper equipment and training grounds, and her coach is a shopkeeper) and the jealousy of her main rival, golden girl Lisa Temple (Lily James).
Side note: the Netflix description of the movie claims that Lisa and Shania have been competitors since childhood, but I saw no evidence of this. It would explain things a little better, but as it stands, Lisa apparently dislikes Shania because she beats her in the qualifying race at the beginning of the movie, which doesn't really matter because Lisa already has a spot on the team thanks to nepotism -- her father (Rupert Graves) basically runs it. On the one hand, this seems to make the character of Lisa seem extremely shallow and petty. On the other hand, I have both witnessed and experienced the kind of envy that comes from devoting your whole life to one particular pursuit to the point where it basically defines your identity, and then someone comes along seemingly out of nowhere and is better at it than you. It sucks, and it makes you want to hit things. Or people.
Throughout most of the film, Shania and Lisa cannot stand each other, and it leads to many problems when Tommy (Noel Clarke, who also wrote the screenplay) asks Shania to be a member of the 4x200m relay team. Lisa -- the anchor position -- does not agree with this at all, which is fine with Shania, because she doesn't do well with teams. She does join the team, it's kind of the point of the movie, and chaos ensues. There are moments, such as when a few of the members go out for drinks, where you can see that things might not be as bad as they seem. But whenever the team is competing -- be it at an exhibition meet in Barcelona or at the World Championships in the film's climax -- all hell breaks loose. Things of course work out nicely by the end, but I did feel that the conflict between Shania and Lisa was resolved too quickly.
The film also gave some focus to the different familial relationships, which I felt weren't developed well enough to deserve their own sideplot but nevertheless served what I believe to be their intended purpose -- to show the difference between Lisa and Shania. Lisa, daughter of a gold medalist, grew up in wealth and privilege. As I said before, she didn't need the qualifying race because she already had a spot on the team, and we can tell that she's been raised and groomed to be a track star like her father. Shania, conversely, sleeps on her aunt's couch but eventually ends up staying with her coach after her aunt kicks her out because of her sister's bad girl ways. Still, we shouldn't judge by appearances -- Lisa feels trapped by her father's win-or-else approach, while Shania's coach, Brian (Philip Davis), genuinely encourages her to do her best. The contrast helps us see that Lisa and Shania really aren't that different -- Lisa ignores her mother's quiet encouragement to concentrate on her father's all-or-nothing disapproval, and Shania can't hear her coach over her family's dismissive attitude.
And we mustn't forget the love, because what's a girl power movie without a love interest? (Answer: Brave.) Despite rules against fraternization between athletes and staff, Shania develops feelings for the team physio, Carl (Bradley James). Yet it turns out that Lisa is her rival here, as well. Bradley did well for his first film role, but like most of the sideplots, there could have been more development. Carl and Shania do have their moments, and I actually kind of appreciated that the romance was almost an afterthought -- yes, it's there and oh my god boys, but this isn't what distracts Shania, and the overall feel of the whole situation was more, "well, this would be nice, but really I just want to kick ass at the championships". It's a nice change from all of those movies which hide the idea that a woman is never truly complete without a man behind empowerment.
Overall, as I said, it was great fun. Enough comedy to balance out the angst, and even though no one is ever in real peril, I was on the edge of my seat for the final race. I like sports movies, and there aren't enough of them that are about female athletes. As much as I love Bull Durham and Miracle, I'd love it if there were more like A League of Their Own and Bend It Like Beckham. Is this one of the greatest films of all time? No. But I can almost guarantee that you'll enjoy damn near every second of it.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Review: Struck by Lightning
WARNING: May contain spoilers. But so does the movie's description, so keep that in mind.
Last night, I had the pleasure to see Struck by Lightning, the first feature film for "Glee" star Chris Colfer (for which he also penned the screenplay), at the TriBeCa Film Festival. I shivered in a ridiculously long line for approximately half an hour just waiting to get inside the theater, because I already had tickets to the sold-out screening. The line of ticket-holders stretched down the block, and another, smaller line stood next to us, eagerly hoping that someone wouldn't show up and they could get seats. No doubt Colfer, who was unable to attend this screening due to filming commitments for "Glee", would have been pleased to see the turnout.
I wrote most of this review on the subway on the way home, running on very little food and slightly less sleep (having worked 4-12 the night before), so please forgive me if it sounds rambling and incoherent. My handwriting got steadily more atrocious.
When you hear about all Chris Colfer has done at such a young age, it kind of makes you want to hate him. To be so talented and accomplished before you've even reached your quarter-life crisis makes those of us who have already passed ours feel as though we're wasting our potential. But that's what's amazing about Struck by Lightning -- it makes you think that maybe you can still achieve something. As Colfer's Carson tells his mother, "It's never too late to change your life."
Struck by Lightning is a well-written, well-acted dark comedy. After all, any movie where the main character is killed (he is, in fact, struck by lightning) in the opening moments isn't going to be all light-hearted and fluffy. Carson narrates the film from beyond the grave, which would normally annoy me because I hate voice overs, but in this case I enjoyed his snarky asides, especially when viewing his own funeral. Which sucks. Overall, it had an old school vibe for me, like one of the offbeat comedies from the 80s. When Carson and his friend Malerie decide to blackmail their classmates into writing for the newly-formed school literary magazine, it reminded me very strongly of Heathers.
Colfer has written an extremely relatable cast of characters that, while admittedly cliches, are still flawed and human enough to have been plucked from any high school in America. It may especially resonate with someone who, like me, grew up in a small town and devoted my life to getting out, yet lived in constant fear that I never would. These people are all trying to fit into the mold of who they think they should be rather than who they are, and Carson, outspoken and different, doesn't understand why. In a scene with head cheerleader Claire (Sarah Hyland), he asks why she gave up her first grade dream of being a ballerina. She says, "Everyone laughed at me," and he says, "I didn't." Carson's school is peppered with stereotypes, but they all acknowledge that's what they are, and by the end of the film you get the sense that they are trying to change.
The script is laugh-out-loud funny, a mixture of straight reads as well as improvisation (Rebel Wilson's famous line, "spread that shit like Nutella", was improvised), as well as heart-breakingly poignant. I was genuinely moved to tears, though I confess it isn't all that difficult to make me cry. As much credit for this must go to the fabulous cast. Allison Janney's breakdown when she learns of Carson's death is gut-wrenching, but the scenes with Carson's Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother (Polly Bergen) affected me the most. This was a great cast with incredible chemistry, and it comes across as a fun movie to film.
I appreciated all the subtle references to the title, to the metaphor of being struck by lightning (which is not as much of a metaphor as I originally thought). That's how Carson explains inspiration to Malerie, how you get an idea and it goes through your body and needs to come out. When Carson's mother's doctor tries to convince her to put him on anti-depressants in order to ground him, I may or may not have snorted.
What is most refreshing is that this is, essentially, a teen movie, yet with a main character who has ambitions and goals outside of the immediateness of high school life. Carson doesn't have the obligatory love interest, nor does he seem at all interested in having one. Colfer told E! Online that he worried kids wouldn't focus on the message if they were too busy worrying about Carson's sexuality, so he just didn't focus on it. And the message I got out of it was that, while you should have goals, you should also live for the present, that you need to take the bad memories with the good, because at any moment you could be struck by lightning.
I believe that Struck by Lightning would be a success even without Colfer's avid "Glee" fanbase. It's fun and witty and different -- a teen movie that falls just outside the realm of typical, a film to which all sorts of people can relate. Four for you, Chris Colfer. You go, Chris Colfer.
Last night, I had the pleasure to see Struck by Lightning, the first feature film for "Glee" star Chris Colfer (for which he also penned the screenplay), at the TriBeCa Film Festival. I shivered in a ridiculously long line for approximately half an hour just waiting to get inside the theater, because I already had tickets to the sold-out screening. The line of ticket-holders stretched down the block, and another, smaller line stood next to us, eagerly hoping that someone wouldn't show up and they could get seats. No doubt Colfer, who was unable to attend this screening due to filming commitments for "Glee", would have been pleased to see the turnout.
I wrote most of this review on the subway on the way home, running on very little food and slightly less sleep (having worked 4-12 the night before), so please forgive me if it sounds rambling and incoherent. My handwriting got steadily more atrocious.
When you hear about all Chris Colfer has done at such a young age, it kind of makes you want to hate him. To be so talented and accomplished before you've even reached your quarter-life crisis makes those of us who have already passed ours feel as though we're wasting our potential. But that's what's amazing about Struck by Lightning -- it makes you think that maybe you can still achieve something. As Colfer's Carson tells his mother, "It's never too late to change your life."
Struck by Lightning is a well-written, well-acted dark comedy. After all, any movie where the main character is killed (he is, in fact, struck by lightning) in the opening moments isn't going to be all light-hearted and fluffy. Carson narrates the film from beyond the grave, which would normally annoy me because I hate voice overs, but in this case I enjoyed his snarky asides, especially when viewing his own funeral. Which sucks. Overall, it had an old school vibe for me, like one of the offbeat comedies from the 80s. When Carson and his friend Malerie decide to blackmail their classmates into writing for the newly-formed school literary magazine, it reminded me very strongly of Heathers.
Colfer has written an extremely relatable cast of characters that, while admittedly cliches, are still flawed and human enough to have been plucked from any high school in America. It may especially resonate with someone who, like me, grew up in a small town and devoted my life to getting out, yet lived in constant fear that I never would. These people are all trying to fit into the mold of who they think they should be rather than who they are, and Carson, outspoken and different, doesn't understand why. In a scene with head cheerleader Claire (Sarah Hyland), he asks why she gave up her first grade dream of being a ballerina. She says, "Everyone laughed at me," and he says, "I didn't." Carson's school is peppered with stereotypes, but they all acknowledge that's what they are, and by the end of the film you get the sense that they are trying to change.
The script is laugh-out-loud funny, a mixture of straight reads as well as improvisation (Rebel Wilson's famous line, "spread that shit like Nutella", was improvised), as well as heart-breakingly poignant. I was genuinely moved to tears, though I confess it isn't all that difficult to make me cry. As much credit for this must go to the fabulous cast. Allison Janney's breakdown when she learns of Carson's death is gut-wrenching, but the scenes with Carson's Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother (Polly Bergen) affected me the most. This was a great cast with incredible chemistry, and it comes across as a fun movie to film.
I appreciated all the subtle references to the title, to the metaphor of being struck by lightning (which is not as much of a metaphor as I originally thought). That's how Carson explains inspiration to Malerie, how you get an idea and it goes through your body and needs to come out. When Carson's mother's doctor tries to convince her to put him on anti-depressants in order to ground him, I may or may not have snorted.
What is most refreshing is that this is, essentially, a teen movie, yet with a main character who has ambitions and goals outside of the immediateness of high school life. Carson doesn't have the obligatory love interest, nor does he seem at all interested in having one. Colfer told E! Online that he worried kids wouldn't focus on the message if they were too busy worrying about Carson's sexuality, so he just didn't focus on it. And the message I got out of it was that, while you should have goals, you should also live for the present, that you need to take the bad memories with the good, because at any moment you could be struck by lightning.
I believe that Struck by Lightning would be a success even without Colfer's avid "Glee" fanbase. It's fun and witty and different -- a teen movie that falls just outside the realm of typical, a film to which all sorts of people can relate. Four for you, Chris Colfer. You go, Chris Colfer.
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