Tag: p

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) review

Synopsis: Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences. I really feel it's a difficult feat to keep someone's attention when a film is near 3 hours long. Especially when that film doesn't have any explosions, naked chicks or guns. This being said, after seeing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(for a second time in a while), I thought that the performances within the film were stunning, notably from the two co-stars, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, playing Benjamin Button and Daisy, respectively. The chemistry between the two was quite intriguing, and how it evolved throughout the story made for an interesting watch, and the story itself was an interesting concept, although there were a few scenes which were quite slow, ultimately though, the conclusion was quite an event. The small, but obvious references to the theme of the film throughout were clever, albeit simple, but added to the film to make it a more rounded, fuller flick. The CGI in the film for Pitt's character, Benjamin, was quite noticeable at times, but seamless at other points in the film. All things considered, it was acceptable, but didn't seem cheap and corny. A brilliant film, deserved each of the awards and nominations it received, definitely a film for the ages. 8.5/10 Kazed

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The Karate Kid (2010) review

Synopsis: Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master. Now I know there was some skepticism regarding this film, and I can see why many people weren't too thrilled about the reboot/remake/re-imagining of the 1984 film of the same name. It's not an easy feat, pulling off a remake for a cult classic, but one could say that this film almost(just) matches the classic. Maybe not for the 80's kids who grew up on the original, but it could be the NEW Karate Kid for the kids of this generation. Jaden Smith performed extremely well, there were definitely shades of his father coming out in some scenes, but at the same time, there were a lot of cheesy moments, like the scene where he does 'the robot'. It wasn't sweet, it was really corny and clichéd. The fight scenes and the training that led up to it were easily the best parts of the film. Clearly, a lot of effort went into making the fighting seem legitimate, something which I felt was achieved with some of the spectacular fighting which took place. It was nice seeing small nods to the original, still maintaining some semblance of the original Karate Kid film within the new. A fun, family film, personally, I felt this remake was well done, unlike some modern ones today. 6/10 Kazed

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Get Him To The Greek (2010) Review

Synopsis - We were first introduced to Russell Brand’s out-of-control rock star Aldous Snow in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, where he hilariously appeared as the love rival to Jason Segel’s recently-dumped protagonist Peter. While Brand’s role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall was relatively small, and asked very little of him in the way of acting, writer/director team Segel and Nicholas Stoller give him centre stage in Get Him to the Greek, in this, less sequel, more spin-off, to the 2008 comedy. While my expectations of Brand were high after his handling of the role in Sarah Marshall, where he played a rather exaggerated version of himself, he generally failed to impress in this first attempt at a major role. Snow is a role suited to the flamboyant, ex-heroin and sex-addicted,  dandy from Essex, whose stand-up and Ponderland shows I absolutely adore, so it was disappointing when he overacted the part. After Brand bombing as host of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, it is perhaps understandable that the movie’s producers were keen to edge away from his recognizable humour and mannerisms, but, to me, this fell short of the mark; Snow as a character is not far enough away from Brand himself to merit a response praising impressive acting, nor close enough to encourage the kind of hysterical laughter we are used to with his usual antics. In my opinion, Brand should stick to what he knows, and perhaps take a leaf out of one of our other national comical treasures, Ricky Gervais’, book, who has basically made a living out of constantly re-dressing David Brent. Similarly, the film as a whole seemed to be lacking something, which stopped it just short of being a fantastic comedy. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments that left me crying with laughter (see ‘Geoffrey and furry walls’ scene, and Snow’s snidey comeback to a certain heavy-metal drummer), but there was no consistency in the humour. It seemed to sit on the fence between cracking farcical comedy (a la The Hangover and Superbad), and sentimental, yet light-hearted drama. While rom-coms pull this off all the time, Get Him to the Greek just couldn’t get the mix right, and any attempt at tragedy or emotional engagement left me feeling rather flat with the whole experience. It wasn’t all bad, however, and the upsides included some fantastic cameos (of which P Diddy was NOT one) and an excellent selection of pop-culture references, some rather more obsure than others; see aforementioned drummer comment and the best introduction to prog supergroup The Mars Volta ever. Jonah ‘Superbad’ Hill also played his role of  the responsible record company chaperone being led astray by Snow down to a tee, not disappointing but not particularly shining either. In all, Get Him To The Greek is a fun, pretty harmless piece of entertainment, but don’t expect a laugh-a-minute, as you’ll have plenty of time to rest between the sporadic aisle-rolling hysteria. 6/10 Steve