For a Good Time Call

I'll put my hands up and admit that I didn't have a clue what this film was about. Starring Ari Graynor (known for appearing in various romcoms...), Justin Long and Seth Rogen, For A Good Time Call provides the audience with a fairly generic setup. A tenant with no money must find a roommate in order to cover her rent, and that very roommate has just been kicked out of her partner by her now-ex boyfriend. Cue various disagreements, bitchiness and polarising lifestyles, until the two discover that they would well as a partnership in maintaining a sex phone line.

For as arduous and long-winded as I've made the premise sound, it's actually very straightforward and Lauren Miller plays off Graynor well throughout, with its various twists, love interests and job offers working out as you'd expect. The two big twists - namely that Katie is a virgin, and that Lauren takes the job she promised she wouldn't - are overlooked because of the nature of their mutual love, in fairly predictable rom-com style, and so the film loses a lot of depth in the way those moments pan out. In fact, one point in the film points to a possible breakdown in the whole business idea, but this is immediately glossed over and doesn't actually seem to have an impact. Which is weird. And pointless.

Both women are attractive in their own way, and they suit their roles extremely well, but the film doesn't really try to do anything other than reinforce the idea that true love between friends trumps - or indeed supports - life's big dramas. Justin Long plays the gay best friend, a role he is worryingly convincing in playing, and Seth Rogen plays arguably his smallest role to date, and is in my opinion appallingly underused.

For A Good Time Call doesn't excel at anything, and doesn't really challenge pre-existing stereotypes. The subject matter means it's not exactly a film you'd want to watch with your family, owing to its fairly graphic - if only verbally - nature, so in a sense it's not a very accessible film. However, it's a fun way to waste 90 minutes and it's always interesting whenever Justin Long (or Seth Rogen) is involved.

7/10

Amour

I don't think I need to explain what this one is about, and although the performances are gripping, and often hard to watch, Haneke's style of filmmaking is a little too passive and slow for me to properly enjoy. I understand the need for it in this instance, but that doesn't make it any more useful (for me).

The structure of the film left me a bit disorientated, and I'm annoyed that this was supposedly chosen ahead of Intouchables, but the lead's Oscar nomination is probably deserved just for its sheer realism. Although the lead in The Sessions deserves a nod as well, if only for the similar style of role.

8/10

Pitch Perfect

Thought it'd be a terrible Bridesmaids-esque clusterfuck, turns out it's very enjoyable. Duno if it was a fault at the cinema I watched it at, but the audio seemed slightly out of sync. Maybe it was just bad editing for the blatantly dubbed singing scenes?

Anna Kendrick's face seems to become more ratty and pointy with every new film she's in, but the ginger was

7/10

For reference, the ginger:

 

Nobody Walks

A Silver Lake family's relaxed dynamic is tested after they take in a young artist so she can complete her art film.

Stars John Krasinski and Olivia Thirlby.

Really well shot, really well paced and the dialogue comes across as being natural. The fallout isn't as dramatic as you'd expect, but who knows if that's realistic or not? Just lacks a proper ending, much like most Indie films. It'd be a better film if Thirlby didn't have a punchable face and shitty hair, her character's far less likeable with Thirlby in the role. Maybe that was intentional.

7.5/10

Hello I Must Be Going

Melanie Lynskey stars as a depressed divorcee living back at home, seeking some form of escape, inspiration or even someone to distract her from her life.

Whilst I've seen Lynskey pop up in a lot of things (Perks of Being a Wallflower being the most recent aside from this), she doesn't seem to stray too far from the sort of character she played in Two and a Half Men. However, she gives probably her best performance here. She's intense and just does a great job, though it doesn't help that Christoper Abbott (who plays her lover) has the charisma and presence of a moldy carrot. His face is irritating, his acting more so.

A good film with a very shitty feeling about it, but it's yet again another 'Indie' film which chooses not to really make a concrete point or finalise all story strands, instead allowing the audience to assume certain things.

7/10

Celeste and Jesse Forever

Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) and Andy Samberg star as a divorcing couple who question whether they can remain best friends even if they both want different things from their love life.

I can't stand Samberg so the fact that I was able to watch this was saying something, then again I think Jones is lovely and interesting to watch, even if her character is whiny and fairly irritating at times.

It's very much the style of films I've come to prefer nowadays. Very low-key location shooting, very generic storyline but with good dialogue and sometimes-unpredictable endings.

It's a film that doesn't really try to differ from the norm but it features Chris Messina who's been getting some good roles of late and I've become a fan of, Ari Gaynor, who's not as annoying as she can be, and Elijah Wood, being 'normal', all of whom are worth watching in their own way.

7/10

The Sessions

John Hawkes stars as Mark O'Brien (based on real life), a disabled man who seeks out the help of a sex surrogate in order to lose his virginity before his impending death. Helen Hunt plays the surrogate, and William H. Macy also appears.

It's a Fox Searchlight film so naturally it has an Indie vibe to it, and as such I really enjoyed the pacing and the general feel of the film. O'Brien's character delivers some Allen-esque quips about life, sex and religion and the humour is great throughout, always taking the more uplifting attitude rather than sombre or depressing.

I knew I'd enjoy this film more than the others I'd seen today, and of late, simply because I knew it wouldn't be a 'busy' film, and I was right. Downright enjoyable, really.

And you get to see Helen Hunt's minge and tits

8/10

Killing Them Softly

Feels like a very lightweight Goodfellas in tone, but also has a back-alley Sopranos feel to it, and not just because Gandolfini is in it. Speaking of which, his brief scene(s) are the best part of the film, which is about as interesting the dialogue gets. The film itself isn't particularly entertaining or interesting itself, and I'm sure there's some sort of political message underneath it all but I don't care enough to find out what it is.

Richard Jenkins feels wasted here, and I don't think I've ever seen Brad Pitt play someone who's not a total dick.

5/10

Seven Psychopaths

A waste of a fairly talented cast.

Nice tits though.

4/10

Yeah, that's all I wrote. Not really worth writing any more about this one.

The Impossible

 

Well shot, but a load of sentimental shit. Naomi Watts moans and screams, and looks longingly at the screen for close to two hours, whilst Ewan McGregor actually acts. The children put on a great acting display, just a shame Watts had to be involved. Tragic set of events, but the very Middle Class and vanilla nature of the people involved dragged it down somewhat. You almost feel less sympathy, but as you see later on in the film, there's almost an underlying selfish tone. Some horrifically inappropriate uses of music too.

If you like close-ups of Naomi Watts, this film is perfect for you.

5/10

As a side note, it should be made clear that were it not for the sentimental nature of the film, and the almost generic nature of the family's journey in the film, it would probably be scored higher. McGregor delivers only a few scenes of note, but one in particular is arguably the best overall performance in the entire film. Sadly, I view McGregor as a largely 'take it or leave it' actor as a whole.

If it weren't Naomi Watts in the lead female role (for which she has been nominated, somehow...) I would probably have enjoyed the film more. I can't recall any actresses I would have cast ahead of her, because there aren't many likeable 35 year old females capable of lighting up this role, but I feel she is totally wrong for this film. Hollywood's critics seem to disagree.

So, Django Unchained...

Apparently I didn't actually review this one, though I made my thoughts clear on a certain forum.

Put it this way. Tarantino has a style, which he just fucking loves to employ in all of his films, but I believe I may have outgrown his style, if that's even possible. Django feels like an incoherent mish-mash of Tarantino's brain. It's as if his inner ghetto soul has leaked out at intervals, and he couldn't help but include it in a film about slavery in the 1860s.

I don't get it. I don't understand why someone would randomly include hip hop music during slow-mo scenes.

Also, the film is far too long, and whilst the action scenes are typically Tarantino-esque, he maybe goes a bit OTT on the way the characters' bodies react when shot, and the amount of blood they let out.

Anyway, not a fan.

I'd suggest a 6/10, but that may be generous.

Speaking of films I forgot...

Another perusal of my Internet history presents me with my reviews for The Possession, and Grabbers.

I won't bother with a picture for The Possession but I will with Grabbers, because of the lovely Ruth Bradley.

The Possession

Clichéd mess of a film. Its scares are hard to take seriously, and the exorcism scenes are just laughable, both in terms of tone, acting and special effects.

Gets a better score than House at The End of the Street, simply because I can imagine people actually being scared by it.

3/10

Grabbers
Irish comedy-horror, starring Jeff from Coupling and the very cute Ruth Bradley, as they stave off a sea mutant.

Didn't expect this to be a comedy, but the sense of humour is very good, especially with all the Irish quips and remarks.

The special effects aren't great but it's worth watching. For some reason, Russell Tovey plays a complete mong.

6/10

 

Have a picture of Ruth Bradley, to give you an idea of what you're missing by not watching Grabbers.

 

 

House at The End of The Street

                                             




                                House at the End of the Street


Somewhat ironically, I was browsing through my internet history to find the reviews I'd written lately (they've all been diluted for use on a forum) and found a film I'd completely forgotten I'd watched, starring now-Oscar nominated Jennfier Lawrence. Because of its forgettable nature, I'm not going to bother putting a picture to go with it. That's how I roll.


------------------------

Genuinely one of the worst attempts at a horror film I've ever seen. There is no horror in it. There's suspense, and thriller elements, but no actual horror. In fact, the only parts which could be misconstrued as horror (the disturbed young girl) are ruined because of the haphazard nature of the girl's acting. She genuinely looks like she doesn't know what she's doing, and as if she's looking at the production crew for the most part. It's laughable.

The story is predictable, Elizabeth Shue does her best 'pause, and look thoughtful/horrified' schtick. Jennifer Lawrence's sweaty boobs are the only redeeming feature here, and as such, the film receives the comedy boob score.

2/10

As an aside, the ending features one of the worst 'OH WAIT WE WERE MEANT TO ADD THIS STORY TWIST BEFORE OH SHIT SORRY' I've ever seen. 

Zero Dark Thirty

Following on from the theme of films with bad halves, Zero Dark Thirty follows suit, but thankfully the second body of the film redeems itself. Some surprising appearances from some lesser-known TV actors, and I got hints of The West Wing (namely one incident in the first half of the film) and Occupation (BBC series), but the latter was naturally going to come to mind, given the nature of the film.

I'm not as sold on the film as the other reviews I've seen. I didn't like The Hurt Locker, and whilst I think this is a much better film, and didn't have the Hollywood polish that can be so unnecessary and sometimes ruins some 'war' films, it lacked a certain something.

Naturally, the film had to have a really thoughtful ending too. Again, that's Hollywood for you.

As an aside, I'm not sure if James Gandolfini actually finds it hard to breathe in everyday life, but my God it sounds like it.

7/10

Skyfall

Skyfall

First things first, I'm not a Bond fan, and I find it very hard to rate the films on the whole, as they seem to be a mish-mash of cheese, shitty one-liners, OTT action scenes and as many spy clichés as the director can fit under his belt, and yet people lap it up and consider a few of them to be classics.

However, Bardem is an interesting Bond villain, in a very camp and maniacal fashion. Certainly darker than many of the villains I can remember, and moving away from the stereotypes from the previous films in the series.

However, I have to say the first half of the film is one of the most boring I've seen of the Bond films I've watched. The second half shook things up and was far more enjoyable, even if the narrative is predictable. Wasn't too keen on the final section of the Underground chapter. Very unsavoury, all things considered. Some decent scenes leading up to that, mind you.

As someone who's never really been a fan, I thought it was okay. Nothing stuck out as being exceptional, and some of the utterly nonsensical elements jumped out as a reminder of how ludicrous the whole franchise is. It's too long IMO, but that shouldn't necessarily detract.

7/10

New Year, new reviews...

Seems it's been just over a month since my last review, which was my favourite film Intouchables, a film for which I am yet to see a bad review. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but I couldn't care less.

GO SEE THAT FILM. Incidentally, it's out on DVD and Blu Ray in the UK next month. So yeah, check it out!

Since Oscars season is upon us, and naturally that means all the nominees are now available via illegal means, I was able to watch a few of the 2012 nominees, and some films that weren't. Sadly, some of the films I watched that deserved Oscar nods will never be known outside of the US or aren't even known within the US to any real degree. And of the nominees I watched, the nominations themselves seem somewhat undeserved. Such is Hollywood...

I figured I'd just post the reviews on the next post, because this one just looks like a mess now...