Couples Retreat (2009)

I tend to go into films with low expectations. I don't like being disappointed so it's easier to just not expect very much, that way there's a better chance of being pleasantly surprised...

With Couples Retreat I wasn't pleasantly surprised. It was pretty much as I expected. A bit of seriousness, a bit of talking and a few laughs here and there... a reasonable way to spend 2 hours or so.

I suppose you can't help but think of Favreau and Vaughn's 1996 film about relationships - Swingers. The set up for this is kind of like it could be a Swingers 2... 13 years on and those young, free and single guys are married... however their relationships are getting a bit stale, things need to be shaken up, apparently. That's kind of where it leaves Swingers though. In the end this is really just an ok romantic comedy set on an amazing looking island paradise. It really does look fantastic.

The problem with this film is really that I think a lot of critics wanted it to be, for want of a better title, Swingers 2. I wanted it to be Swingers 2. I'd love to believe that Favreau (and Vaughn) are still as sharp as they were back than. In fact I do kind believe that they are. The problem is that they could never really make Swingers 2 now. Not unless they just spend their own money and make it as a pet project. They really are too famous now. Swingers 2 would never be a big blockbuster film, and any film that these guys would star in today has to be a blockbuster... otherwise it would be considered a failure. There were a few scenes in this film that I thought were really good and that were insightful, but it just didn't seem to be what they were going for overall. That was a bit frustrating though, that there was a glimmer here or there of a better film... alas it was not to be.

I don't know if Couples Retreat is going to be a blockbuster but I certainly think it's going to take in a decent amount of cash. It's not half as bad as some are making it out to be. I mean, if you take it as just a normal romantic comedy then it does try to get a bit heavy for a while. And I do think there are too many couples in it, they could have dropped one and had more time to tell more of the stories for the remaining three, but there are some good, funny scenes in it that I think a lot of people would laugh at.

It's not a classic and no-one will be talking about it in 13 years time, but if you have nothing better to see over the weekend and you just want a bit of a date movie then you could do worse.

6/10

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Saw this one courtesy of Phantom 105.2 Thanks guys!

(500) Days of Summer is essentially a love story. I know it says it isn't, but it is. It may be a quirky indie love story, but it's still a love story. I wouldn't let that put you off though; that is, if you are the kind of person who is put off by love stories. Personally I'm not but off by the idea but that's because I like a good weepy film... this isn't actually one of those but it still has plenty to recommend it.

First up is Joeeph Gordon-Levitt; who I suspect will be known as "that kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun" long after the kids who've never heard of 3rd Rock from the Sun grow up. I'd like it if he were known as "that guy from Brick" but that's not going to happen. Brick, by the way, is a great film but to be honest, it's not for everyone...

Anyway... the last film I saw with Mr. Gordon-Levitt was Stop-Loss. I thought he could have done better in that one, it was ok but it was no great shakes, fortunately that isn't the case with this one. I do think he puts on a strong performance as the lead in this, he's likeable as Tom Hansen and not too whiny, which could have been a risk with another actor in this part.

Zooey Deschanel performs ably in her role as well. Summer Finn not as well-developed a character - it wouldn't be, since the story is told through Tom's eyes really - but with a weaker actress it would have been easy for the character to just hang there as a cold bitch and I don't think this was the case.

The supporting characters all worked for me too... in particular there was a line from Matthew Gray Gubler's character that I really liked. I won't quote it here but if you can guess which one is was (I think it's obvious anyway) then comment, I'm just wondering if it stood out to other people as well...

The only problem with me saying that I liked the characters is that (500) Days of Summer is undoubtedly one of those films which will be seen differently through different eyes. It's about a relationship and everyone's lives are coloured by different relationships, good, bad and indifferent. I can't imagine it will be possible for anyone to watch this without relating to it somehow, even if the feeling is a thanks that you're not anything like any of them.

Through my eyes it was a cute story about a mis-matching of emotions, an amusing look at a modern relationship. I liked how it was all told in a very genuine way, after all, it's a story that's been played out a thousand times in real life and on the silver screen and for once it was nice to see the two tellings match. Funnily enough I found myself wishing that Tom was someone I knew, just so I could give him advice like all the other characters... but then again that might just be because I'm nosy.

So, (500) Days of Summer is definitely a film worth seeing if you're in the mood for that kind of thing; but it really is a film you have to be in the mood for. If you fancy seeing The Final Destination or Inglourious Basterds then don't go see this just because they're sold out... on the other hand if you were thinking about The Time Traveller's Wife then this might be a good alternative.

8/10 - but like I said on twitter, I'd like to see it again to be sure it wasn't too clichéd. I'm not sure I was entirely focused on it and I'd like to have been, who knows? Maybe it was better than 8/10...

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Sometimes I wonder if Seth Rogen sleeps... he seems to be in everything these days...

Anyway, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is the new film from Kevin Smith, director of such films as Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy. I've mentioned before that I'm not mad about Kevin Smith. It's not that I think he's a bad director or anything though, he's just never... set my mind alight as it were. Still, I thought the film sounded interesting so I was eager to go along and see it. I mean, it's called Zack and Miri Make a Porno!

In case you haven't heard or guessed what Zack and Miri Make a Porno is about yet, it's about a couple of best platonic friends from high school, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), who finds themselves broke and desperate and, due to an extremely funny chance encounter, decide that the best way to get rich quick is to make a porno. Did you guess right?

Zack and Miri is one of those films that they're calling "a romantic comedy for guys". Forgetting Sarah Marshall was another one and I had a good laugh at that too. Zack and Miri was better than FSM though. What I'm always looking for in a film is heart and there are some really great moments in Zack and Miri. What works for it is the relationship between Miri and Zack, it's believable. Sure, she's a good looking girl and he looks like an ape but they both seem like normal people who could just be friends. In fact that's what's great about the film. Sure, a couple of mates making a porno sounds mad and some of the things that happen are a bit mad but the essence of the film is real. Everything that happens between them seems real, there's none of this overly dramatic romantic crap that you see in some romantic comedies. It's just about two people and how they realise they're in love on the set of a porno film.

But anyway, I feel like I should mention some other stuff... I thought it was very funny, but yeah, it's toilet humour really. Also almost all the reviews I've read of the film so far make mention of the language. So I guess I should too. From an Irish perspective it's not that bad, it sounded natural enough so it was grand. What I hate is when people are swearing in a film and it sounds like they've never sworn in their lives, ridiculous.

The other thing I want to mention is the soundtrack. The music in it is brilliant and there's particularly excellent use of Hey by The Pixies. It's a great song in a great scene. I'd actually never heard it before... had to go for a hunt for it when I got home.

So all in all I recommend this film.

8/10

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Don't know where I'd heard of this film... I think it was probably when I was browsing through Leslie Bibb's filmography while doing the Iron Man review... Anyway wherever I heard of it, I thought it sounded interesting but I put it down as a film I'd never see - didn't seem like the type that would turn up in the local video store. I was wrong, so here's the review!

Wristcutters: A Love Story is set in an afterlife for people who've committed suicide. It's a different kind of afterlife from the traditional winged one (be it above or below)... instead it is, in the words of our main character, "... basically the real world, just crappier".

Zia (Patrick Fugit, best known from Almost Famous, just in case you're wondering where you might have seen him before.) is a young man who's committed suicide because his girlfriend Desiree (Bibb), has left him... their relationship isn't particularly important though. Whatever happened before, he has ended up in this afterlife, working in a pizza parlour, living in a crappy apartment and just existing. So far, so dull - well no actually, the film is interesting so far... A chance encounter in the local supermarket leads Zia to discover that his former girlfriend took her own life a little while after he did. Given that he still has little else to "live" for he decides to take off with his interesting Russian rocker friend Eugene (played by Shea Whigham). While on the road they meet an outwardly interesting young lady called Mikal (played by Shannyn Sossamon) who's on a mission to find the "People In Charge" and explain why she shouldn't be there So far, so interesting - well no actually, this is where the film starts to fall down...

I wanted to like this film... it has lots of interesting ideas, most of which are hinted at early on. Its problems start when they get on the road... from there on in it loses steam... it seems to flounder, the director takes a while to pick the idea he wanted to centre on and in my opinion he picked the wrong one. Then again maybe my expectations were to blame, I thought I was going to see an indie film exploring, I don't know, ideas and concepts - stuff about suicide, naivety of youth, friendship, life after death - the kind of stuff you expect and indie film to cover. I expected it to be smart, funny and quirky... you know, a good indie film... and for a while it looked like it was going that way. Then all of a sudden, to my horror Goran Dukic got lazy and just decided to turn it into a love story. Now I shouldn't have been surprised - the clue was in the title... but I don't know, I just hadn't expected it to be nothing more than a love story in the end. I try so hard to not expect anything of the films I watch, it just sets you up for disappointment... but sometimes... you just can't help it.

Wristcutters: A Love Story just wasn't what I wanted it to be at all and while all the little ideas and side characters made it an enjoyable watch; overall it just didn't live up to the awards and nominations it garnered. I really should have learned after that abominable The Aryan Couple that film festival awards count for nothing and that the only ratings that are worth any consideration and IMDb ratings (after DVD releases) and rottentomatoes.com!

Quickly, to address the other stuff... the acting was commendable, the cinematography and art direction were great. Special mention as well to Will Arnett, I always find him entertaining and his appearence was a well needed laugh, even though the idea behind it did have a feel of an after thought... Overall I'm actually going to give it a decent enough rating because actually it wasn't a bad film at all. For all my complaints about it, the main thing I didn't like was the love story - I wasn't expecting it when I really have no excuse - it was in the title!!

6.5/10

Chasing Amy (1997)

There are some directors that I'm really into, like Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson and Tim Burton... however there are far more directors that I really have no particular thoughts on either way, I've seen a good few of their films but I'm still ambivalent. Paul Thomas Anderson is one - which I noted in the There Will Be Blood review - the Coen Brothers, Wong Kar Wai, Spike Jonze... I'll watch their films and enjoy them but to be honest I just don't see anything in particular about them that makes me think "Wow, that's a good director!". Kevin Smith is another one, I've seen a few Kevin Smith films. They're fine.

Chasing Amy is one of Kevin Smith's earlier films. It's basically a love story between comic book writers. Or if you want to be a bit more deep about it, it's about relationships. Ben Affleck and Jason Lee star as best friends, Holden and Banky, who write a cult comic book together - Bluntman and Chronic. All is well on the comic con circuit until Holden (Affleck) meets a woman who rocks his world (Alyssa, played by Joey Lauren Adams). Unfortunately for him, she's a lesbian with quite a past. Fortunately for him, lesbian thing is negotiable. Anyway, the film looks at the way the relationships between all the characters change, Holden and Banky, Holden and Alyssa, Alyssa and her friends.

Actually it's quite interesting, there's a certain realism to it, it does make you wonder what you would do if it happened to you and it's not your typical Hollywood romantic comedy / drama. I liked the dialogue and I liked how the different relationships were treated different, I liked that the characters were normal people leading normal lives. On the other hand I did think it was a bit melodramatic in parts, there were a couple of scenes where I did think "Are you kidding??". Also I don't think it was as clever as it thought it was, but then again that's not really a fair comment. First of all it's eleven years old and secondly, what do I know about how clever Kevin Smith thought he was being...? but in any case, it was the impression I was left with.

All in all I did enjoy the film, it was a nice little satisfying package, few laughs, bit of a distraction for two hours. However, like other Kevin Smith films, I didn't really better for watching it. It was fine.

Oh yeah, I thought Jay and Silent Bob were very funny in it. Also, I learned a new definition of finger cuff.

The Science of Sleep (2006)

Until a few years ago Michel Gondry was primarily known as a music video director. His videos include Around The World by Daft Punk, Everlong by Foo Fighters, Come Into My World by Kylie Minogue and my personal favourite Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground by The White Stripes. His first foray into feature films in 2001 with, Human Nature written by Charles Kaufman, was generally ignored however it was his next collaboration with Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, that really made people take notice. With such a critically acclaimed film to his name it seems only fair that Gondry be allowed to be somewhat... indulgent with the next film he wrote.

The Science of Sleep is that film. Starring Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the film tells the story of an innocent man, a man who lives in a fantastic land where his dreams can help him realise a relationship with a women he's just met. It's a sweet story and I'll come straight out and say it. I thought it was great. I will say this, the weirdness hits you from the outset, everything I had heard before seeing this pointed to the fact that it would be strange but I had expected the film to build to it in the same way that we would have seen in Eternal Sunshine.

The plot itself is quite simple. Following the death of his father in Mexico, Stéphane (Gael García Bernal), a shy dreamy fellow, agrees to move to Paris to be closer to his mother as she has promised him that she has an apartment for him and a creative job in a calender company . He moves into the apartment and becomes entranced with his next door neighbour, Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). However his life keeps getting in the way, his aspirations to be a graphic designer are stifled in the calender-making company as his actual position is completely mudane and is driving him further into his dream world. He shares a delicate bond with Stéphanie however he has become caught up in a lie pretending that he lives in another building. As he becomes more frustrated his fantasies start to consume him however his relationship with Stéphanie is growing and it all has to come to a head sometime... a fairly classic tale of boy meets girl.

That said, a simple plot can be worked into a great film and that's what Gondry has done here. His strength lies in his visual style and whereas in Eternal Sunshine he understated the stylistic end and carried a more complicated plot, in this film he fills out the plot with intricate visuals. If you're familiar with Michel Gondry's music videos at all then you'll notice different elements from the likes of Everlong throughout the film. From cellophane water to the patchwork horse, the details in this film are immense and, if I'm being honest, some people will probably find that this overwhelms the film. Even as a fan of Gondry I think do it’s somewhat indulgent however as weird, whimsical and sometimes engulfing, some of images are, I never felt that Gondry lost sight of his characters. Through it all I cared what happened to this two… kindred spirits if you will… and end of the day this is something that so many film makers fail to do.

Anyway, this is my first review for this blog and I’m afraid that I’m waffling on too much so I’ll stop now… let me know what you think, anything else about the film you want to hear? I hope you found this interesting, good bye!