Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Director: John Pasquin
Year: 2005
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Regina King, Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson, Heather Burns
OK, I admit it. I wasn't exactly paying this movie full attention - at least initially. Which turned out to be a good thing, because when I tried to, about half way through, I got bored and annoyed (in equal measures) really rather quickly. After Miss Congeniality, this is such a letdown.
After the first movie's beauty pageant, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) is now a big star and can't go anywhere without being spotted. So she becomes the "public face" of the FBI. Somewhere along the way she ends up having to save Miss America (an old beauty pageant friend) from a kidnapping plot. To help her, she gets a gay stylist and a woman bodyguard.
None of the characters here, particularly Gracie herself, are likeable. They are all terribly stereotyped, entirely over-the-top and incredibly annoying. Every scene just made me dislike them more. The plot itself isn't that good either - I guess the nicest thing I can say is that there was one.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Wednesday 29 December 2010
Strictly Ballroom
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Year: 1992
Stars: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson
I've seen this before. Admittedly not for some time, but I enjoy it every time I watch it, and it seemed like a good excuse to be lazy for a couple of hours on a Christmas afternoon!
Paul Mercurio plays the dancer Scott Hastings. He is on track to win the next dancing competition, but wants to dance his way. However, the only person to share his view seems to be Fran (Tara Morice). Unfortunately, she can't dance.
As with all other Baz Luhrmann films, this is a wonderful mix of mad comedy, bright colours and fast editing. For me, it doesn't reach the wonderful heights of Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge, two of his later films (and two of my favourites), but it certainly paves the way for them. I think it's fair to say that without Strictly Ballroom, neither Romeo + Juliet nor Moulin Rouge would be likely to exist.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Year: 1992
Stars: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson
I've seen this before. Admittedly not for some time, but I enjoy it every time I watch it, and it seemed like a good excuse to be lazy for a couple of hours on a Christmas afternoon!
Paul Mercurio plays the dancer Scott Hastings. He is on track to win the next dancing competition, but wants to dance his way. However, the only person to share his view seems to be Fran (Tara Morice). Unfortunately, she can't dance.
As with all other Baz Luhrmann films, this is a wonderful mix of mad comedy, bright colours and fast editing. For me, it doesn't reach the wonderful heights of Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge, two of his later films (and two of my favourites), but it certainly paves the way for them. I think it's fair to say that without Strictly Ballroom, neither Romeo + Juliet nor Moulin Rouge would be likely to exist.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Tuesday 28 December 2010
I Am Legend
Director: Francis Lawrence
Year: 2007
Stars: Will Smith
A slightly less cheery film than the last one, but one I had wanted to see for a while, and that was being shown on TV this evening.
Here, Will Smith plays Robert Neville - one of the last survivors (along with his dog Sam) in New York , and possibly the world, after a plague kills off the rest of the population. As the film goes on we slowly find out more about what happened to those human beings that weren't lucky enough to survive, and why Neville does odd things such as shutting his house down completely at night.
This is a perfectly enjoyable apocalypse movie, with some interesting ideas and twists. It's not the best example out there (see Children of Men or The Road for some properly different takes on the whole idea), but it's a good example of what it is, and well worth a watch.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Director: Francis Lawrence
Year: 2007
Stars: Will Smith
A slightly less cheery film than the last one, but one I had wanted to see for a while, and that was being shown on TV this evening.
Here, Will Smith plays Robert Neville - one of the last survivors (along with his dog Sam) in New York , and possibly the world, after a plague kills off the rest of the population. As the film goes on we slowly find out more about what happened to those human beings that weren't lucky enough to survive, and why Neville does odd things such as shutting his house down completely at night.
This is a perfectly enjoyable apocalypse movie, with some interesting ideas and twists. It's not the best example out there (see Children of Men or The Road for some properly different takes on the whole idea), but it's a good example of what it is, and well worth a watch.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Monday 27th December 2010
Stranger than Fiction
Director: Marc Forster
Year: 2006
Stars: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal
I wasn't 100% sure about this movie. It was on on Christmas Day, but at the same time as Dr. Who, so we recorded it to watch a couple of days later. Reviewed as being an existential comedy, it's the kind of movie that I either love, if well done, or hate if it's rammed down your throat in a nonsensical way.
Thankfully, Stranger than Fiction fits into the former category. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a character in Karen Eiffel's (Emma Thompson) book, but is actually also a real person living in a real life. When he discovers that he might soon die, he has to find the author of his life and convince her not to kill him.
This is an interesting premise, cleverly written and with plenty of funny moments along the way. And somehow it manages to do all this without causing your brain to go into meltdown. Just right for some post-Christmas thought.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Director: Marc Forster
Year: 2006
Stars: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal
I wasn't 100% sure about this movie. It was on on Christmas Day, but at the same time as Dr. Who, so we recorded it to watch a couple of days later. Reviewed as being an existential comedy, it's the kind of movie that I either love, if well done, or hate if it's rammed down your throat in a nonsensical way.
Thankfully, Stranger than Fiction fits into the former category. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a character in Karen Eiffel's (Emma Thompson) book, but is actually also a real person living in a real life. When he discovers that he might soon die, he has to find the author of his life and convince her not to kill him.
This is an interesting premise, cleverly written and with plenty of funny moments along the way. And somehow it manages to do all this without causing your brain to go into meltdown. Just right for some post-Christmas thought.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Sunday 19th December 2010
Mrs. Miracle
Director: Michael Scott
Year: 2009
Stars: James Van der Beek, Erin Karpluk, Doris Roberts
This is the first movie I've watched all month - it's just been a bit crazy recently! On the (perhaps) bright side, it was a Christmas movie; so at least it put me in the right mood!
As Christmas movies go, it's not a bad one. There's nothing particularly special about it, but it's not overly sentimental and it's not full of cute kids. It does have kids, but the focus is, for once, actually on the adults. Seth Webster (Van Der Beek) is a widow with two six year olds he can't control. However, this all changes when a new nanny - Mrs. Murkle - appears.
Yes, it's all very Mary Poppins. No, it's nothing like as good as Mary Poppins. Mrs. Miracle herself generally annoyed me and it all felt a bit obvious. But thankfully the film spends a lot of time focussing on Seth and his inevitable love interest, Reba Maxwell (Erin Karpluk), make it more of a romance than a frustrating Christmas movie.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Director: Michael Scott
Year: 2009
Stars: James Van der Beek, Erin Karpluk, Doris Roberts
This is the first movie I've watched all month - it's just been a bit crazy recently! On the (perhaps) bright side, it was a Christmas movie; so at least it put me in the right mood!
As Christmas movies go, it's not a bad one. There's nothing particularly special about it, but it's not overly sentimental and it's not full of cute kids. It does have kids, but the focus is, for once, actually on the adults. Seth Webster (Van Der Beek) is a widow with two six year olds he can't control. However, this all changes when a new nanny - Mrs. Murkle - appears.
Yes, it's all very Mary Poppins. No, it's nothing like as good as Mary Poppins. Mrs. Miracle herself generally annoyed me and it all felt a bit obvious. But thankfully the film spends a lot of time focussing on Seth and his inevitable love interest, Reba Maxwell (Erin Karpluk), make it more of a romance than a frustrating Christmas movie.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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