Tag: Jennifer Aniston

Horrible Bosses / Captain America

By إبن البيطار (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsWith the kids safely ensconced at Grandma’s, we took the opportunity to indulge in junk food and two very enjoyable movies.

Horrible Bosses

“I’d like to bend her over a barrel and show her the fifty states.”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Three guys with three awful bosses decide to kill them. With hilarious consequences.

See it if you like… the concept of Throw Momma From The Train mixed with The Hangover.

This is one of those films with a storyline a lot of people could relate to. I’ve certainly had bosses in the past who’ve made my life miserable, though not as miserable as certain ex-neighbours, and in honesty if pushed hard enough the brain does start to wish evil things up on them. So what if a couple of your friends were in the same situation? How would you help each other?

Well, the three friends in this film (played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) find themselves up against an overbearing asshole (Kevin Spacey, in a role possibly out-evilling Lex Luthor), a drug-addled toss-pot (a brilliantly hateful Colin Farrell) and a sexually harassing vixen (Jennifer Aniston, who I have never, ever seen sexier. Wow. I mean… WOW). They are aided and abetted by dodgy man-in-a-pub Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx). So a superb supporting cast, then.

The story is nicely paced and the boss characters wonderfully portrayed as the evil individuals they are while our hapless heroes try their best to convince themselves to go through with this. Seth Gordon has done a great job with the pacing of the story and the little incidents throughout are both hilarious and – in many cases – feed back into the story as plot points.

OK, it’s a little predictable. As soon as you see the mobile phone being dropped (no, that’s not a huge spoiler) you just know where the story is going. But it’s not the end that’s important, it’s the journey getting there and this is a genuinely funny one. I wouldn’t say I laughed quite so much as with The Hangover, but it still got a large amount of giggles. We weren’t along, either, as it seemed the whole (fairly busy) cinema audience at our showing thoroughly enjoyed it.

Definitely worth watching for the laughs. And for putting Jennifer Aniston into the spank bank. Did I say “WOW”?

Captain America: The First Avenger

“And Hitler looks for trinkets in the desert.”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Origin story of the superhero used by the US as a morale-booster during WWII

See it if you like: well, superhero films. Dur. Oh, yes, and mom. And apple pie. And kicking nazi ass.

The final “prequel” to next summer’s The Avengers hits the screens and it’s not bad. It’s certainly better than Thor which I thought was incredibly weak, but also not as good as the two Iron Man films, which lead the pack predominantly due to the excellent script and banter.

Most of the story is told back during WWII when the US is recruiting as it finally gets off it’s arse and realises it’s part of the “world”. Young men are queueing up to become cannon fodder, including one young Steve Rogers (Chris Evans – not the ginger **** who ruined Virgin Radio). Thing is, little Stevie is a wimp. Up for the fight, but physically a wreck.

Special effects are used to reduce the somewhat buff Evans to a 9 stone weakling, and they work surprisingly well. Except for one close-up sequence in a car with leading lady Hayley Atwell (who plays Agent Peggy Carter) where Rogers appears to be taller, shorter, nearer and further away from her all depending on the camera angle.

A fleeing Nazi scientist (aided by Tony Stark Sr., father of the modern-era Iron Man) imbues him with muscles, power and the likes and off he goes to start kicking nazis around (via a music hall tour to raise war bond sales). Of course, Hitler’s not good enough as a super villain, so we’re introduced to Johann Schmidt (a.k.a. The Red Skull, played by an as-usual excellent Hugo Weaving) who was the first human to be given the power serum and who didn’t come out of it quite so well.

Visually the film is stunning, although the animation of Cap jumping is reminiscent of the recent Spiderman films and a little jerky. The sets are fantastic and very much the kind of thing you’d expect from a film of the era in places. That is, not exactly an accurate depiction of the times, but a slightly comic-book version. Perfect.

There’s the usual moral message that you get from the Marvel comics (this one – “bullies are mean”), but mainly it’s a good spy/action/superhero film which introduces the character well.

To nitpick – I’m prepared to forgive the fact that Cap has a shield made from something called “Vibranium” that absorbs all vibrations. But if that’s the case, why does it make a ringing sound when it’s shot by a bullet?

Stay past the end credits and you’ll see a trailer for next summer’s picture as well.

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Dragon tattoos, Phillip Morris and bounty hunters

I Love You Phillip Morris
Jim Carry does not have a dragon tattoo

Due to a timetabling cockup I ended up going into town earlier than anticipated. And then due to a very fortunate piece of scheduling I managed to cram in three films rather than just the one I’d intended. Thus Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), I Love You Phillip Morris and The Bounty Hunter all in one afternoon/evening.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Plot-in-a-nutshell: A journalist is tasked with finding a girl, missing for fifty years and on the way discovers a far murkier history to the story

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this film. At all. I’d not seen a trailer and the only review I’d heard was part of one on Radio 5 a week or so ago where I was warned about the violent nature of the sex scenes. All I knew was that it was based on a novel and it was in Swedish. Thankfully with subtitles.

The lack of forewarning is always good when seeing a film based on a novel, Swedish or not. Mainly as it’s very rare for those who’re read the book to enjoy the film. I’ve still yet to meet anyone who’d read The Lovely Bones or The Time Traveller’s Wife also recommend the film afterwards. Such is, I gather, the case with TGWTDT.

This is a shame as it’s not bad. It’s long – almost 2 1/2 hours – but it rarely seems to drag. The pace is a little slow to start, but once the additional depth is added and the characters are explored it all moves along nicely.

Michael Nyqvist plays the journalist, Michael Blomkvist, and Noomi Rapace takes on the role of Lisbeth Salander, the titular Girl. The one thing that surprised me was that very little was made of the tattoo itself. She does have one. You see it. That’s it.

It’s her character that’s the most intriguing, though, even more-so than that of the missing girl. She’s damaged, under guardianship… but we don’t know how or why. This thread runs from almost the beginning of the film until almost the end.

Some of the sex scenes are indeed brutal. There are only two to really watch out for and they’re not hugely graphic, just unpleasant. A few people did leave the cinema but not during or immediately after either of these, which seemed strange.

It is a long film, and it’s not exciting as most Hollywood-made thrillers and mysteries have to be. There are maybe a couple of adrenaline-pumping moments in it. The rest is slow, methodical, thoughtful and captivating.

If you like a film that makes you think and don’t mind sitting around for long then this is worth the effort. On the other hand, if you need a shooting or a car chase every thirty minutes then definitely look elsewhere.

I Love You, Phillip Morris

“It’s really expensive being gay”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Great husband Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) decides to stop living a lie and come out of the closet… and jumps into debt, resorts to fraud and lands in jail where he meets the real love of his life – Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor)

Amazingly based on a true story (how closely based, I’m happy not knowing), this is a great story with some equally impressive performances from all those involved. Narrated by Russell, we hear about his beginnings as a wonderful family man before a car accident makes him realise that life’s too short to live a lie.

You do need to be pretty open-minded to watch this film. There are some overtly (homo)sexual sequences that some may be uncomfortable watching and there’s a fair bit of strong language. However, this is all balanced with some genuinely funny moments and great dialogue.

Russell simply lets his life run away with him and doesn’t realise what he’s doing half the time. He just happens to be good at it so he runs with it. McGregor is excellent as Morris and the pairing of the two just works.

There is a near-twist at the end that works up well and I confess I wasn’t expecting it – though I’m sure half of the cinema was. I shall say no more in case I spoil it!

Not the best film ever, and there are more insightful commentaries on the issue of gays in society (Philadelphia still has to hold the award for that) but it’s simply enjoyable as it doesn’t pull any punches about its subject matter.

The Bounty Hunter

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Milo (Gerard Butler) is a bounty hunter who has to bring his ex-wife Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) in for skipping bail – hilarity is supposed to ensue.

Seen the trailer for this film? Then you’ve seen all the good bits. Like Ms Anniston, it’s got a couple of good parts but the rest is all filler.

The funny parts are genuinely funny, but they’re few and far between. The central section where the couple start to get all mushy over each other again is just slow and painful. The ending, though, isn’t bad.

Basically, it’s a bit of a mess. I’d happily recommend maybe half of it. Unfortunately, without providing you with a timetable of when you can walk out of the cinema and come back in it would be hard to miss the dross.

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