Burn After Reading

AFTER leagues of mundane Hollywood hits, it is always refreshing to see a Coen brothers movie.
The filmmakers have made a career out of twisting our interpretation of some of the industry’s biggest stars to squeeze out every last drop of comedy potential.
Take Burn After Reading. Chiselled poster boy George Clooney is transformed into a philanderous government agent (acting with his eyebrows as usual) while heart throb Brad Pitt takes the role of fitness geek, Chad, alongside his gormless fellow employee, Linda (Frances McDormand).
John Malkovich plays a bitter, drunken CIA analyst while Tilda Swinton completes the main cast as his cold hearted wife Katie (not that far removed from her turn as the White Witch in Narnia).

As far as the characters go, this is classic Coen brothers in the making, up there with The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona.
The story, too, will keep you entertained. It is a comedy of errors about ‘sensitive’ CIA documents that have fallen into the wrong hands.
It takes great pleasure in revealing its stars as great idiots, all connected through their illicit affairs, and the plot whirls out of control in a life all its own.
But at just 90 minutes, Burn After Reading seems to end almost as soon as its begun and there’s less laugh-out-loud moments than you’d hope for.
Yet give it a while and you may find this film sinking into your subconscious. Picture it in your mind and you’re sure to smile.

Tropic Thunder

BEN Stiller’s directorial debut had the promise of the comedy equilovent of a world war.
But after 107 minutes of luke warm gags, it seems Tropic Thunder can only muster that of a minor skirmish.
Some cinema goers and critics may have praised the film for its refreshingly different and inventive set up but a great premise is not enough when the film does not deliver on its most important commodity — laughs.
Here, real movie stars play fictional movie stars, who think they are shooting a Vietnam War movie, but are in fact hopelessly lost and in the dangerous territory of the ‘Flaming Dragon’ gang.
It starts well with fictional trailers of the stars’ other ‘recent films’, and then goes on to ridicule their spoilt self indulgence and egotism as part of a broad satire on the cult of celebrity.

The best character by a mile is ever-charming Robert Downey Jr’s Kirk Lazarus — an Australian who has a controversial cosmetic operation to bag the role of one of the black characters.
Also expect Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey and Nick Nolte — all great mates of Mr Stiller, no doubt.
With such a stellar cast, you’d expect the belly laughs to be as thick and fast as a hail of bullets but it rarely delivers.
Strangely enough, Tom Cruise (as you’ve never seen him before) is the funniest, whereas comedy stalwart Jack Black might as well have just stayed at home.
An accomplished disappointment, Tropic Thunder certainly hints at better things to come from director Ben Stiller...

Eden Lake

A SAVAGE, relentless, terrifying experience playing on one of UK’s most closest fears.
It may not sound like an ideal night out at the cinema but this is scariest British horror film to curse the silver screen in years.
Eden Lake tells the story of typical middle class ‘Ikea’ couple Jenny and Steve who plan a romantic weekend away at a beautiful old quarry that is soon to become a luxury gated community.
“Who are they so afraid of?” says Jenny. Soon it becomes all too clear.
Everything is perfect until they confront a gang of youths about their antisocial behaviour...
Chavs, townies, scallies, hoodies, louts — there are many slang terms to describe the young people that have caused a blaze of controversy in the press for years.
And director James Watkins cleverly plays on those fears (whether they are justified or not) until Eden Lake’s decisive and shocking ending.

The casting is perfect. The youths look like the kind you might find lurking on street corners and tension is on a knife edge as soon as you realise the direction the film is going in.
Unlike the sinister characters in many other horrors, this threat is much more real. They’re not monsters — they are just young people doing monstrous things — and following the aftermath of the Garry Newlove tragedy, it can be a little uncomfortable to watch.
But more than the film itself, it is the message that makes the most impact, highlighting issues like peer pressure, gang culture and the role of parents in the problem society we are living in.
Hard watching but worth it.

Rocknrolla

GUY Ritchie retreads familiar territory in this Cockney crime caper.
But by returning to what he knows best, the director has created a quality film, that although lacks originality, is engaging and entertaining throughout.
It might not possess the gritty charm of Ritchie’s earlier films, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, but is slick and stylish revealing a director with more experience and confidence.
It’s also refreshing to see Ritchie hit the headlines as a filmmaker rather than being pestered by the tabloids for being Mr Madonna.
Rocknrolla centres on a property development and the tug-of-war between London and Russian gangsters for power, money and influence.
There is a fragile balance until £7million goes missing and troubled rockstar Johnny Quid (probably based loosely on Pete Doherty) steals a ‘lucky painting’.

As a comically exaggerated take on the London underworld, it is at its best when it is most absurd. One of the best and most hilarious bits is
a relentless fight and chase scene between two rival gangs after a less-than-perfect heist.
Some bits may also make you think of Tarantino. For example, the ‘lucky painting’ is constantly mentioned but never seen, just like the contents of the brief case in Pulp Fiction and one character is almost tortured to a hazy soundtrack just like in Reservoir Dogs.
Ritchie’s never going to set the world alight with his movies but what he does, he does extremely well. Definitely worth a watch.

The Clone Wars

FROM the outbreak of war in Attack Of The Clones to the closing battles of Revenge Of The Sith, The Clone Wars is a largely untold chapter in the Star Wars saga.
This film, of the same name, effectively attempts to plug part of this gap in the series’ mythology.
For any Star Wars fan, it is an important story to tell. After all, this was a time when Jedis Anakin Sywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi were brothers in arms, something the other films had limited time to portray.
This close bond between master and former apprentice gives Anakin’s final betrayal and ultimate transformation into Darth Vader even more resonance.
But somehow this seems a world away from the other episodes and it’s not just because it’s an animated adventure.
It’s the first film in the series to be released via Warner Bros instead of 20th Century Fox meaning the familiar fanfare is absent...as is the opening crawl.
Instead, the viewer is thrown straight into the action in an expressionist animated landscape...it’s Star Wars but not as we know it.
The main thrust of the story is that Jabba the Hutt’s son has been kidnapped and Anakin and Obi Wan have been dispatched to rescue him — along with Anakin’s new precocious apprentice Ahsoka Tano.
Cult favourite Asajj Ventress also makes a welcome return as the Sith villain.
But even by George Lucas’s standards, the plot is simplistic and aimed exclusively at kids and fans. The voice acting is also pretty wooden even with Hollywood heavyweights like Samuel L Jackson and Christopher Lee lending their vocal chords.
Nevertheless, it is entertaining throughout and a worthy introduction to the forthcoming Clone Wars TV series...

Wall-E

IT may be a film about two robots but WALL-E is filled with more human warmth and emotion than probably any other picture you’ll see this year.
Set almost a millennia into the future, it is the story of a garbage strewn, uninhabitable Earth abandoned by its population for a plush life in a space cruiser.
To clean up the mess while the humans are away, hundreds of bots were deployed but have gradually shut down.
WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class) is the last of his kind and has developed a flaw in his programming — a personality.
In between his bold efforts to sort out the planet singlehandedly, he collects trinkets from the junk and listens to show tunes.

With only a spritely cockroach for company, he longs to meet a kindred spirit until the slick robot EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) arrives on the scene, looking for signs of life...
Almost harking back to the silent movies of the past, the first half features only the beeps and whirrs of our robotic protagonists.
While the second is a play on the bland corporate lifestyle that is slowly but surely infiltrating our lives and a haunting reminder of the environmental damage we are causing the planet — a strange message for a film made with Disney money.
What gels WALL-E together though, is this unlikely love story that will melt every heart (despite the fact our two heroes don’t have one).
Once again, Pixar has set another milestone in animation standards with characters the kids will adore and a message strong enough to make the adults love it too.

Hancock

WHEN the American TV series Heroes emerged on the small screen, it wasn’t long before people started taking an interest.
Championed as a more ‘realistic’ approach to a world with super-powers, it focused on how ordinary people dealt with having extraordinary abilities.
Hancock seems to be the next natural phase in this reinterpretation of the super-hero mythology. Based on the novel, Tonight, He Comes, it is the story of a man (Will Smith) much akin to Superman living in Los Angeles.
No gaudy outfit, no cape, no underwear on the outside of his trousers, just a man struggling to come to terms with what he is.
Hancock never asked for his abilities yet he is expected to be the city’s saviour. And his incredible power often means he does more harm than good.
Feeling like he has a curse rather than a gift, he turns to drink.
The premise is excellent but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Once Hancock rescues a PR guru who offers to give him an image makeover, the plot loses its sense of fun and you just feel like you’re going through the motions.
A pretty good twist livens things up towards the end but ultimately it’s not enough from saving the film from being anything above average.
The first 10 minutes or so were by far the best showing a devil may care ‘hero’ and more of the film should have certainly stayed along this line.