Sex and the City (2008)

For the past couple of months I've been living in a double room in a friend's house with all my worldly possessions around me in boxes... This rather limited the maneuverability in said room. Anyway, finally I have moved into my very own apartment so hopefully this means that in the near future life will settle down I will be able to get back to writing more film reviews...

Tonight I'm sitting here on my own, listening to (and sometimes watching) Germany play Austria in the last Group B game of Euro 2008. What better time so, to write my review of Sex and the City!

So I'll get to it... I'm not -not- a fan on the series... when it first started up I hated it. I thought it was overly sexist and more than a bit ridiculous. As time went on however I think the series grew up as the characters did. In the end it became very easy watching - like much TV of that ilk, the characters became comfortable and you didn't need to know what happened last week to enjoy it because you know the characters so well. I liked it, but it was over and I didn't really miss it... I couldn't, it's repeated all the time on cable.

Anyway fast forward to 2008... it turns out a lot of people have been missing it. For what is effectively a film for a niche audience, it has generated an amazing amount of press. Quite apart from the "news" about the stars and their dresses, the promotional opportunities taken by various brands in Ireland and I'm sure all over the world, have been so omnipresent it's hard to know which brands are officially associated and which are just jumping on the band wagon. The film really has been a phenomenon.

But it is any good...? this is the question we always have to ask. In my eyes, yes. I enjoyed it. I went along on the first night with a crowd of about thirty girls and saw it in a packed out cinema. I spotted two guys but rumour has it there were a few more hiding somewhere. I find that hard to believe.

To be honest, it's a very safe film. They know their audience, they've written for them for years, and they haven't bother to stray from their tried and tested formula. Which is fine... I think at the one point, when things were looking a bit bad for ol' Carrie, people were quite worried that they might try to do something different. That didn't happen though, phew! Oh, have I given something away?

The only criticism I might have is that it was a bit TV. I don't think it mattered that much but they did move through things a little too quickly, there were fast cuts, short scenes - all things you need to do to tell a good story on TV but I don't think they needed to on the big screen. As a result there were some bits and bobs that they really could have left out. Most notablely Jennifer Hudson's character. I didn't mind her, but there was just no point really. Oh yeah... and I almost forgot, that scene at the end - What was that about!? I didn't need to see that! If you've seen it then you know what I'm talking about...

So in the end, after all the anticipation... what we got was some great outfits, fabulous shoes (though I myself have no interest in shoes) and some good girlie fun. If they never come back I won't miss them but if they did, I would surely watch their antics with a smile on my face again...

btw - apparently 50 is the new 40... or is that 30...

7/10

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

In a fit of honesty I'm going to admit it... I don't really remember much of the old Indiana Jones films. I think Indiana Jones is cool but honestly, I really don't remember what happens in any of the films and I never really watch them when they're on TV. There, I said it, I'm not really a fan. With that out of the way, on to the review...

I was looking forward to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I was quite disappointed with Iron Man and it's going to be a while till a new Transformers movie (yay!) so I was hoping Indiana Jones would do the business... It kind of does, I liked it anyway, it was a big bag of popcorn fun but it was no Transformers, no siree.

Anyway, to be honest, there isn't that much I can say about Indiana Jones I think. I'm sure you all know the story by now, an intrepid professor who globe-trots around the world stumbles into trouble and then takes off to try and solve the great mystery. Unfortunately for him he keeps bumping into people who want him dead.

Reviews on the whole have been quite mixed I think, quite a few people don't seem to like the end, not the very end... the other bit... and it's really put them off the film. Personally, I'd read a good bit about crystal skulls a few years ago from a variety of sources so I was fairly familiar with where the legend goes so sure, no bother. Also I'm ready to forgive all kinds of outlandish stuff and even inconsistencies as long as it's entertaining and Indiana Jones fits the bill there.

What did I like about it? I liked the relationship between Marion, Mutt and Indy, I thought that was done well. Shia LaBeouf was great... and I'm not just saying that because he was in Transformers. Not really sure what Indy's buddy was doing there (the guy at the start, I forget his name) but sure whatever... I don't really let surplus characters annoy me too much either. There were also a good few great action scenes, some people were saying it looked over CGI'd, personally I didn't notice that much and apparently there was less than in the usual blockbuster so I've no complaints there.

Oh, I never commented on Harrison Ford! He totally still has it. ;)

Anyway, I'm waffling again... final score - a solid 7.5/10.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

When I saw Jason Segel from How I Met Your Mother was the lead in a new comedy I thought, I really gotta go see that. I really like How I Met Your Mother, it's a great show and well deserves to stay in the network schedules this fall. It's well written, sharp, funny and most of all it has a great cast of characters. Well actually, most of all at this stage I really want to find out who the kids mother is! Then I saw that Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars was also in it, another great TV show! Then I saw that Russell Brand was it... and unlikely many many people over here, I actually like Russell Brand, I saw him once on Jonathan Ross and I just thought he was hilarious so as far as I'm concerned, he's a-ok. So, I really wanted to see this film.

So back to the film. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is pretty much a romantic comedy, but more along the lines of Knocked Up than 27 Dresses (actually, did I write a review of 27 Dresses yet? No? I'll have to get around to it soon). Anyway, it's not that surprising really, since FSM and KU share the same producers, current favourites Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson. In general, I've enjoyed their films and FSM was no exception. I laughed - job done. Being honest, it wasn't the best film these two have produced, that honour goes to... I'll have to say Anchorman (of the ones I've seen anyway) but it was good fun at the time.

"What was good about it?" I hear you ask... well, I liked the main character, though considering the guy playing the main character wrote it; it's hardly surprising that he was the most well rounded and sympathetic character of the lot of them. Russell Brand was very good too, a likeable lothario and while hardly the brightest bulb, still had a brain in his head - exactly the kind of caricature he should be playing. Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock was very funny to in a small but memorable supporting role. Aside from those three the characters weren't great, Sarah Marshall in particular was pretty one dimensional but it didn't really matter. It's just a comedy, a fluffy light film to eat popcorn to.

I can't really recommend it to be honest, certainly not in the cinema, but it was entertaining at the time and I don't think you'd regret it if you got it out on DVD.

Iron Man (2008)

My my, I have been lax lately, I really need to write more reviews... it's not like I haven't seen any films lately... it's just that I haven't had a chance to write any reviews...

Anyway so... I saw Iron Man the other day. You may have heard of it, it's directed by the multi-talented Jon Favreau (Jon Favreau is great, you should watch Swingers, everyone should watch Swingers.) and one Mr. Robery Downey Jr. as Tony Stark - inventor, industrialist, womaniser and part-time superhero, Iron Man.

It's important to note part-time there...

Look, don't get me wrong, I liked Iron Man. It was an entertaining film. I enjoyed it, I thought it was good. It's just that it was no Transformers. I loved Transformers, it really set a standard for me... Transformers was everything a film with giant robots should be... and may I point out that there pretty much is a giant robot in Iron Man.

To be entirely fair to Iron Man though (because it just can't compare to Transformers - edit re: comment - and yeah, it's not really the same kind of film) I'll put it on the scale with some other superhero films... It was vastly better than all the Spider-Man films, not to mention what little I saw of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer before I fell asleep. It was also better than Superman Returns and Batman Begins but no way was it as good as the X-Men films. I'd say it was on par with Hellboy. Entertaining but not amazing.

I hate to say it because I'm not all about the huge action scenes and great effects but Iron Man could have done with bigger and better action scene and special effects. There's nothing wrong with an origin story, everyone likes a good origin story, but mostly what we saw was a guy hanging out in a cave building a suit... then hanging out in a basement building a suit... this is not an origin story, it's a guy building a suit. Tell us a bit about his dad, tell us a bit more about the villains... you could even tell us a bit more about Pepper Potts! I mean I couldn't really give a crap about her but maybe if you'd told me something I might, she was as bad as Rachel Dawes. I just thought that there could have been more to Iron Man... watch it again and tell me where the actual story was because I certainly didn't see it... and if I'm not getting a story with real characters and emotion then damnit, I wanna to see big explosions!

Anyway whatever, it just didn't do it for me... I realise there are lots of people out there who did think it was great and I'd love to hear what you liked about it... so please... let me know!

Oh I forgot to mention one thing that was amazing about this film. The car - the Audi R8... what a car... where can I win one...