So James Stewart didn't get one of his powerhouse films in his random selection then (Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder). I wouldn't be too happy going into the semi-final of the FA Cup of Actors with Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, especially being up against Émilie Dequenne. But that's what he's been given so we better get on with it (even though it sounds like some kind of Chevy Chase film).
Banker Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) plans on taking his wife on a lovely holiday, just the two of them (kinky devil). She has other plans and he ends up on a month long holiday with his whole family. Roger is not too pleased. He turns things around by seeing it as a chance to get his family back together and get them to see the true importance of family. Good luck with that mate.
Everything about this film screams the sixties: the supporting cast, the oh-so-polite teenage dance, and the music by Henry Mancini. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this has the feel of an American sitcom from that period where everyone claps when someone enters the room. The comedy for the most part is smile worthy at best. Apart from one moment which had me rolling about laughing (it's a shame that no-one else will).
The scene in question is when Roger goes out on a bird watching trip with his son-in-law's prospective boss, Mr Turner (in a strange interview process, the boss man spends three days with the family on holiday to get a feel for their moral fibre). When Roger begins to tire, Turner picks him up (not literally) on his walking style. He demonstrates how to walk with the knees bent, keeping the head parallel to the ground in a walking version of the economy run. Roger does this walk for a fair while, which had me chuckling away no end. (I did say that no-one else will probably find this funny due to the vastly obscure nature of the 'economy run' reference.)
One worrying aspect of the film is the casting of Lauri Peters as Roger's daughter who is in her early teens. For starters, she was in her late teens when she made this, but far worse is the plasticky quality of her skin and the fact that she has to do this strange gurning smile (all as part of the script admittedly). She ends up looking like a deranged toothless auton.
One of my favourite sequences involves Roger taking his son on a boat trip and getting lost in the fog (you know I can't resist a good mist.) It adds a much needed slice of variety in the middle of the film and although everyone in the whole universe knows that they're going to be fine, it's still enough to be engaging.
But it's got James Stewart in it so it can't be all bad. He's got the amazing super power of being able to raise any film that he's in up to at least average. He does so here, yet sadly it's not enough to knock out the lovely Émilie Dequenne, who only managed 6/10 herself with her entry. 5/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House, Magic Town.
We return to rank outsider Jamel Debbouze who managed to impress with his first round effort, Outside the Law, in this year's FA Cup of Actors. He is up against some stiff opposition in this match though (James Stewart) so he better be on top form if he wants to be a giant killer. Here he is then in Let's Talk About The Rain.
Agathe Villanova (played by the director) is a politician being interviewed for a documentary by Michel (co-writer Jean-Pierre Bacri) and Karim (Debbouze). Agathe's sister and her husband, plus Karim's mum, get thrown into the mix and the relationships get increasingly complicated due to numerous affairs. None of the characters are particularly happy throughout the majority of the film but will they attain a greater level of contentedness by the finale?
The first half an hour or so is not that engaging and, as you've probably guessed, it takes a while to work out who's who and what their initial relationships are to each other. But once everyone has been identified things start to improve and it develops into a pleasant little tragicomedy that manages to raise a few smiles.
One of the most amusing characters is the sister's husband. His son is choking so Michel deals with it with a good hearty slap to the back. Problem solved. But no. Laddo complains that he did it wrong. He should have used the Heimlich manoeuvre. Brilliant idea mate. Give him serious internal injuries rather than try a less harsh method first. Top parenting. He also moans at his wife for that most heinous of crimes: reading in bed. They really should bring back the birch. Okay, so maybe he's more irritating than amusing, but I laughed at him regardless.
A slightly more traditional comic figure is Michel, who makes documentaries for a living. He is truly a premium quality professional; he doesn't press record before the interview starts and misses getting some cracking footage and has a tendency to be generally incompetent. But at least he's got the cheeky fellow Debbouze to help him out.
He's his usual likeable self and shows that he has a wider range than just war films. Subtlety is the key here as he contemplates having an affair with his co-worker. He is completely believable and is in good company with an equally impressive cast. I wasn't looking forward to his films at the start of this competition but he's managed to get past my gruff miserable shield and be adopted as one of obscurendure's favourite actors.
The film deals with the lofty themes of depression and the role of women but it still manages to throw in a sheep gag. And no, not a dirty one. Dear me. The comedy here comes from the noise they make and their ability to follow people down country lanes. I did say that it was a pleasant little film.
It all adds up to a well-made subtle film that is quietly entertaining. But for me, the spark that takes it into the above average category just wasn't there. For you, it may well be. I enjoyed it but it's not a film that I'd watch again. James Stewart will be raring to go and donning his shin guards when he sees the rating this one's been given (if he was still alive, admittedly) and I'm doubtful that Jamel can pull off anything better than a draw in this match. It's a shame. But you never know... 5/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: Look At Me, Two Days, One Night.
Radha Mitchell managed to get through the first round of the FA Cup of Actors despite a relatively poor showing: 3/10 for Surrogates and 4/10 for Thick as Thieves. Her second round opponent, Ellen Page, has had a good rest since her first entry but Mitchell is thrown straight back into the action with Melinda and Melinda. Will those tired legs let her down or will quality shine through?
Directed by Woody Allen, Melinda and Melinda looks at what happens when you tell essentially the same story as a tragedy or a comedy (it's not exactly the same story but we'll come back to that later). It's all a little bit Sliding Doors and it gives Radha Mitchell a chance to show off her acting chops. Her performance is probably the most impressive thing about this film. Although it's impressive on a technical rather than an engagement level. She plays the two Melinda's in different ways: one is a likeable friendly lady who has problems but is getting on with life, the other is an irritating smoking obsessed curly haired neurotic. Yet the writing didn't lead to me particularly care about either of them.
The story starts with Melinda crashing her friends' dinner party. She's had a bad time with her relationship and needs a place to stay. Her buddies try to set her up with a lucky fellow. But obviously things aren't that simple.
As you can see from above, the story is pretty slight. This is a consequence of the fact that it's told twice. My problem with Melinda and Melinda is that the tragedy isn't that tragic and the comedy, while the better of the two, isn't that funny. In my mind a tragedy should have a really bleak ending, worse than the majority of things that generally happen in real life. Yet here the ending is a tad too pleasant for my liking despite being the downer that tragedies require. It also cheats on the endings because the finale of the comedy is upbeat. I would have liked to have seen exactly the same story told in the two different ways.
The comedy is okay but only ever managed to squeeze a smile out of me (rather than the belly laughs that The Sleeper promotes). I never like the idea of watching Will Ferrell in films. I don't know why but I'm not that keen. Yet I've liked him in the only two films that I've ever seen him in: Elf and this. I never said I wasn't highly irrational. All the way through his performance I could picture Woody Allen: the writing and Ferrell's delivery add up to a quality Woody Allen impression. This was probably the role Allen would have played in the days when he feasibly could have wooed Radha Mitchell.
One upside of Melinda and Melinda is that it has dispelled the horrible visions of Mitchell dancing with Banderas in Thick as Thieves. Here she gets to dance again, with another slimy character, but it's not disturbing in the slightest. This shows that the blame lies squarely at the unmoving feet of Banderas.
To surmise, Melinda and Melinda fails to deliver as either a tragedy or a comedy. And as a drama it fails too due to a lack of empathy for the characters. It seems that playing too many games in a short space of time has led to some serious crampage for Radha Mitchell. It's likely now that the semi-final beckons for Ellen Page (unless Inception or X-Men: The Last Stand come up that is). 3/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: Sleeper, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
I put Jennifer Jason Leigh into the FA Cup of Actors hoping that Last Exit to Brooklyn would miraculously pop up as her random entry in her first round battle against Jamel Debbouze (Outside the Law reached the giddy heights of 7/10). But no, Miami Blues is her chosen film, something that I'd never heard of. Starring Alec Baldwin, its not the type of thing that I'd normally watch. (Plus Alec isn't even my favourite of the Baldwin brothers. And no, it's not Daniel, William, Stephen, or erm... Mike, either. My favourite would have to be Adam Baldwin from Serenity and Chuck. Shame he's not related.)
Fred Frenger, Jr. (referred to as Junior, a bit like Junior Giscombe) has just got out of prison and decides to go on a one-man crime spree. As a twist he tends to steal from other naughty people. He meets a prostitute called Susan - as occasionally happens - and they fall in love. (Funnily enough the prostitute happens to be Jennifer Jason Leigh, who despite always getting her top off at the drop of a hat, still comes across as a quality actress.) Susan knows nothing of Junior's slightly dubious activities and dreams of a perfect family life. Things are not all rosy though, Junior is being chased down by jaded grizzled cop, Sgt. Hoke Moseley, (Fred Ward of Tremors fame) a man who has not only got a brilliant name, but also a set of false choppers. (Sadly, not a collection of Vindec High Risers.)
As you may have guessed from the inclusion of false teeth Miami Blues has a certain level of endearing quirkiness to it that I wasn't expecting from an Alec Baldwin film. Junior commits a murder early on in the proceedings, but it's not the usual kind of murder, I'm not even sure if it's a murder at all: he kills a Hare Krishna by bending his fingers back. Now, I know that this violent act may cause some slight soreness, but death is maybe taking it a tad too far. The quirkiness doesn't end there. Sgt. Moseley and Susan meet in a supermarket and she gives him a recipe for Vinegar Pie. And that isn't even a savoury pie, it's sweet. For a recipe of this disgusting sounding dessert, click here. It looks rank.
As previously stated Alec isn't my favourite Baldwin and his performance here does nothing to greatly improve things. Given that, he actually does quite a good job of switching between a fellow who yearns for a normal family life and a complete finger-bending psychopath. But there's one scene in particular that is cringe worthy. He is lying on his bed pretending to be different shady characters. It looks like something that he just started doing for a laugh and the director got the camera rolling. Perfect fodder for outtakes. Not for the proper film. (And it's high time I started including some screen shots from the film. I'll put in a few to catch up.)
Jennifer Jason Leigh meanwhile does a great job. She plays it in an ambiguous fashion that can be read as Susan just being extremely naive, or that she knows about Juniors dodgy ways but puts it to the back of her mind so that she can pursue her dream of a happy family life. As for Fred Ward, he's as watchable as ever and should probably have a place in a future FA Cup of Actors.
Despite the occasionally violent scene (a machete incident is particularly noteworthy) Miami Blues feels pretty light and fluffy. It's enjoyable enough and better than I was expecting, but it's no classic. Average is the best that I can say. (Although when I'm watching some films, I dream of seeing something average.) 5/10 evlkeith (The mathematically able amongst you may have worked out that Jennifer Jason Leigh is out and rank outsider, Jamel Debbouze, charges through into the second round. He could be one to watch, that sneaky little tinker.) If you like this you could also try: Last Exit to Brooklyn, Something Wild.
I was secretly quite pleased when this was randomly generated as Nathan Fillion's entry for his FA Cup of actors match against Émilie Dequenne. To be honest though, the odds are stacked against him; Émilie's entry looks pretty decent.
I saw this on its original release and despite the passing of time my opinion of it hasn't changed: it's fun, but ironically lacking in any real meaty goodness to get your teeth into. This is the directorial debut of James Gunn, writer of the Dawn of the Dead remake (not bad nipper), the live action Scooby-Doo (ah well, we'll allow him one mistake) and Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed (ooh, he's pushing it now).
Bill Pardy (the legendary Nathan Fillion) is a sheriff in a small town that becomes the landing place for a very small meteor. As luck would have it, inside the lump of space rock there's some kind of alien creature that latches on to an unwilling human host. The unlucky victim then proceeds to become rather hungry and has a proboscis or two peep out of their stomach that can make ladies pregnant with lots of lovely cute slugs. The slugs then infect yet more people and what you have is a cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Slugs (obviously) and a zombie film. How bad can that be?
Not bad at all, despite his Scooby-Doo origins. It's a pretty tight B-movie experience that cracks along at a fair old pace. There's never a dull moment. Conversely, there aren't many fantastic moments either. There are a couple of highlights: the naming of the character Grant Grant (which always makes me chuckle) and his obsession with eating meat. Raw meat. Tonnes of raw meat, that is occasionally rancid. Sweet. His desire for meat is up there with your average football supporter at half-time (shame there's no meat content in football pies, just gristle, spinal cords and floor sweepings: gorgeous).
Nathan Fillion is eminently watchable, as he is here, yet its not his greatest role (that would have to go to Serenityin my book). This is down to the writing as it doesn't allow Fillion to be at his wise-cracking best. He does get his fair share of good lines but it's quite telling that the best Fillion action in Slither is in one of the special features where he constantly repeats, "I am Bill Pardy". Okay, it doesn't sound like the greatest of things but you would have to watch it to appreciate it.
Fillion is surrounded by some other accomplished thespians: Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry for two. I still find it hard to accept Michael Rooker as an actor. His performance in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is so great that I can't help thinking that he is a real serial killer and they were just making a documentary of his unsavoury ways. Gregg Henry steals his fair share of scenes as the inappropriate mayor. He basically swears and rants a lot but it is very funny.
Things fall apart in the final third when it starts to resemble a low budget zombie film more than anything else. Gurning people surrounding cars and dragging them out in a shuffling manner hadn't been overdone in 2006 but now it's starting to get a tad tiresome. Luckily, the ending manages to pull it around.
A mention has to go to the special effects which are quite good to say the least. The slugs in particular are really realistic, which is a rarity for CGI creatures. There's even an infested deer that enters the fray, this time it's a practical effect, and it fulfils its comedy role beautifully.
James Gunn seems to be a director to watch on the basis of this and the excellent Super (I'm really hoping that comes up as Ellen Page's entry in the next round so I can watch it again). He's currently working on Guardians of the Galaxy which looks pretty splendid too. Anyway, it's not about him, it's about our beloved Nathan Fillion. Will this just above average rating be enough to take Fillion into the next round? He is after all facing the might of Émilie Dequenne. We will see very soon... 6/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: Splinter, Super, The Crazies.
I had relatively high hopes for Sharknado. A friend had recommended it, saying that it was completely stupid but fun. Sounds like my cup of tea.
I had visions of tornados. Tornados filled with sharks. Maybe the first one that sweeps past our characters could contain some small sharks - maybe a pale catshark or two? - causing some minor nipping. Nothing that Salvon couldn't cope with (is there anything that Savlon can't cope with?). As this tornado moved on, more would appear containing larger and more violent sharks. Hammerheads, bull sharks and tigersharks would all make an appearance. Finally in the largest tornado - one that would whip your pants off you from a mile away - the great white sharks would appear causing pointy toothed mayhem.
I was expecting it to be cheap, but I thought that this would be offset by some sparkling creativity and ingenuity. There surely must be some great shark/tornado related kills, I thought. Sharks whipping past people in the wind and whisking them away for some chompy chomp? Or taking a cheeky bite out of someone as they pass? The possibilities are huge and surely this is where the majority of the time writing the film should have been spent.
Sharknado is nothing like what I thought it would be. My hopes dropped rapidly when I saw that it was a Syfy presentation and that The Asylum were also involved. But even so I gave it a chance. Sadly, I needn't have bothered. A fair proportion of the running time is spent looking at the characters sat in a car that is obviously in a studio/the producer's garage, driving away from tornados. To be fair they do mix it up a bit to create some visual interest, they get in a helicopter. A fair few shots of a studio bound helicopter follow. It's pretty dull stuff.
There is some slight entertainment value at times. I raised an appreciative eyebrow when a huge Ferris wheel chased our heroes down a street. There are some minor moments of tension too, but they're few and far between.
Out of the kills, I can only remember two, both chainsaw related. They are completely preposterous but that's fine in this type of film. The problem is the completely uninventive way they chose to shoot them. I know it's a low budget production but they didn't even try to solve any problems creatively (for good examples of this try Manborgand the classic The Evil Dead). Way more ingenuity is shown by people inspired to make fancy dress costumes.
For once, this could have done with being a mega-budget blockbuster, like Twister with added sharks and death. The stupidity of the (admittedly brilliant) premise could have done with the excesses of 3D, CGI, an 18 certificate and ridiculously paid film stars. It could have been a gloriously stupid fun-filled shark/breeze fest. But no. The gore is tame and the closest it gets to film stars are Tara Reid (big deal, but watching her stare at a hedgecutter for ages has to be one of the funniest bits of the film by far) and John Heard, the dad from Home Alone. Heard is the only cast member with any personality and gravitas, so it's a shame when he leaves the film at such an early juncture.
You may have noticed that I've not even bothered giving a plot synopsis to whet your appetite. Let's face facts, it's obviously not worth my time writing it or your time reading it. It's a shame but the idea, and screenshots, are way better than the actual film. Sharknado is a real missed opportunity and possibly for the first time ever I'm looking forward to the remake. 3/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: Throwing a kipper into a headwind.
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