00s Movie Review - Tropic Thunder

Director: Ben Stiller
Genre: Action/ Comedy
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 2008
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Bacl, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Steve Coogan, Tom Cruise, Matthew mcConaughey, Bill Hader

Description: Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Review: We all know the prototype war movie: the brave leader, the cursing black guy with a big heart, the scary newbie and the villainous opponent. We also know the prototype actors: the tough action hero on detour, the lame comedian who only knows to tell one joke in many different ways, the serious Oscar winner and the rapper that wants to explore his acting career. “Tropic Thunder” mocks both of those groups, but also Hollywood, agents, producers and entertainment shows.

The film, that starts after a few fake trailers, is about the filming of war movie Tropic Thunder. It’s the fictive memoire of Vietnam veteran ‘Four Leaf’ Tayback. Director Daniel Cockburn can’t control the actors in his crew. He’s dealing with action hero Tuff Speedman, whose try on more serious acting failed. But also the Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus and the addicted-to-many-things comedian Jeff Portnoy. To control them, they are send to the real jungle, where they unfortunately also have to deal with real drug dealers.

The most interesting and elaborate storyline is the one of Lazarus. An actor who always stays in character and even had a procedure to make his skin darker so he can play the role in Tropic Thunder. It sounds harsh and an easy way to provoke, but it’s deeper than that. The other characters aren’t thought through as much. Jack Black does nothing new, hysterical and over the top. But that doesn’t make it less funny. And Ben Stiller’s character is mocking Tom Cruise, a bit too much sometimes. Tom Cruise himself also shows up, as the fat, bald and cursing producer. Funny? From time to time.

The movie is overall very funny and Robert Downey Jr. is just fantastic in his part. And the many supporting actors, Jay Baruchel, Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Matthew McConaughey and Nick Nolte, are all good. “Tropic Thunder” is always praised and I like it too. But not as much as most people.

Rating: 3,5/ 5 

10s Movie Review - The Secret Life of Pets

Director: Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud
Genre: Animation/ Family
Runtime: 91 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan

Description: The quiet life of terrier Max (Louis C.K.) is upended when his owner (Ellie Kemper) takes in Duke (Eric Stonestreet), a stray whom Max instantly dislikes.

Review: After the resounding success of “Despicable Me” and the immensely popular spin-off “Minions”, Illumination Entertainment is looking for something new. A second franchise perhaps. With its explosion of non-verbal humor and cuteness, does “The Secret Life of Pets” have the right ingredients?
The film starts with a fun compilation of all the pets and their owners, with an introduction to our main character Max. The main premise of the film is what happens to the pets after their owners have left the house.
New York is portrayed colorfully, as well as the many pets and owners the city has. It’s not just a simple series of visual jokes like a dachshund using a mixer as a massager. Dog Max doesn’t build a party like his friends, but sits desperately waiting at the door, wondering where his owner Katie is. He is completely obsessed with her return. The opening scene beautifully depicts the world of pets and the relationship with their owners, and carries a Pixar-like atmosphere. Possibly a little too much, at least more then the previous films from the studio.
Max leads a lazy dog life in an apartment complex, where the animals lead a completely different life once the owners are out of the house. He himself is very happy with his owner, until competition is brough into the house in the form of Duke. The huge Duke and little Max compete for the household and in an attempt to frame each other, the both end up in the outside world.
The life of the New York pets is portrayed beautifully and playfully, with a nice balance between uncomfortable and homely. Unfortunately, this balance is not maintained throughout the film, in the middle part of the film everything revolves around confrontations between Max, Duke and crazy animals they meet along the way.
The conflict between Max and Duke is set up well, but they never develop a memorable chemistry. And the psychotic bunny Snowball is just a bit too much. And maybe that’s because Kevin Hart voices him. It doesn’t really fit and he always annoys me.
Nevertheless, “The Secret Life of Pets” has more atmosphere and content than the infinite joke storm of “Minions”. It is also a better film for young and old. It’s beautifully animated, filled with witty characters and occasionally offers more than superficial animal madness.

Rating: 3 / 5

00s Movie Review - Hot Fuzz

Director: Edgar Wright
Genre: Action/ Comedy
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Rafe Spall, Paddy Considine, Olivia Colman, Bill Nighy, Steve Coogan, Martin Freeman

Description: Exceptional London cop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is involuntarily transferred to a quaint English village and paired with a witless new partner. While on the beat, Nicholas suspects a sinister conspiracy is afoot with the residents.

Review: Supercop Nicholas Angel is transferred from the hard crimes in London, to a sleepy town called Sanford, because Nicholas makes all the other cops ‘look bad’. He is just simply too good. Sanford is in the running for the title ‘Village of the Year’, which they have won multiple times before. When Nicholas arrives, he soon discovers that the citizens and local cops don’t really take crime very seriously. Even when several people are murdered, they all think it’s just all an accident.
You can say a lot about “Hot Fuzz”, but not that it’s boring. There is a lot of action, violence and a load of great jokes. And there isn’t one joke that doesn’t make you laugh or is predictable or cliché. That makes this film fresh and original.
Of course the on screen duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost work like a charm. Pegg is an adrenaline rushed cop and Frost is the very naïve and looking-for-action partner. Like a tradition of buddy cop movies, who are complete opposites of each other, but yet again it’s never cliché.
“Hot Fuzz” is fast paced, action packed and fresh. An original film with lots of laughs, even after rewatching it many times, with a dark undertone. “Hot Fuzz” is a winner!

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Battle: (500) Days of Summer Vs. Ruby Sparks

I’m not a very big fan of romantic comedies, unless they are a bit unconventional. The two I can think of are going to battle it out in today’s movie battle: “(500) Days of Summer” Vs. “Ruby Sparks”

ACTORS

(500) Days of Summer: This was one of the films that brought us back Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is now one of the more successful actors in Hollywood. Together with Zooey Deschanel he forms an amazing couple. Their performances are amazing.

Ruby Sparks: Paul Dano is an extraordinary actor, I really like him. He does a great job in “Ruby Sparks”. And Zoe Kazan, as Ruby Sparks, is amazing! Fun supporting roles by Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Chris Messina and Steve Coogan.

STORY

(500) Days of Summer: When Tom meets Summer, he falls far her immediately. Summer doesn’t believe true love exists, Tom does. We see the 500 days Summer is in Tom’s life. It sounds like your average rom com, but it’s anything but that.

Ruby Sparks: The story doesn’t sound straight forward and isn’t. It’s about a struggling writer, who writes about a woman who can love him and actually coming to life. It’s an original story (written by Zoe Kazan) and executed very well.

EFFECTS

(500) Days of Summer: The cinematography of “(500) Days of Summer” is magnificent. First off, the story isn’t told chronologically, but there are also some great effects used. Like the split screen, where we see Tom’s expectations and reality of a moment.

Ruby Sparks: The film looks beautiful, but more straight forward then “(500) Days of Summer”.

WINNER

Although I really loved “Ruby Sparks”, “(500) Days of Summer” has been one of my all-time favorites ever since I first saw it

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 35: Minions

Director: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin

Genre: Animation/ Comedy/ Family

Runtime: 91 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin

Description: Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm), hatches a plot to take over the world.

Review: After the successful animation “Despicable Me” it was expected that there was going to be a spin-off/ origin story about the cute little yellow helpers: the minions. And they are capable of carrying their own movie.

In ”Minions” we see that the yellow men have been around for millions of years and they don’t grow older or reproduce. The minions always want to serve the biggest and most evil villain. After a war, they decide to build their own life in a cave. But after many years, they think it’s time to find a new master.

Three of the minions are send out for this mission. The relatively serious Kevin, the stubborn Stuart and the childish Bob. To focus on only three of them it’s easier to follow for kids and because of the three different characters there is a certain group dynamic. The fact that the minions speak an unknown language could be the films handicap, but interesting enough it isn’t. Their tone and body language often say enough for us to understand them. The comedy of the film is of the slapstick kind, for young viewers it’s a hilarious film.

I read several bad reviews for “Minions”, but I think it’s a perfect film for the targeted audience and I enjoyed the animation.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 91: Ruby Sparks

Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Genre: Comedy/ Romance/ Drama

Runtime: 106 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould, Wallce Langham, Alia Shawkat

Description: A novelist (Paul Dano) struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.

Review: Make up your ideal woman and then all of a sudden she is in standing in your house. This is the story in “Ruby Sparks”. Calvin is an ordinary young man who wrote a successful book in his high school years. He lives in a beautiful apartment and still holds lectures and presentations about that book. Everyone is waiting for his next novel, but Calvin is struggling with writer’s block. When he dreams about a beautiful girl, his psychologist advices Calvin to write about her. He names her Ruby Sparks and starts writing about her. And she comes to live. Calvin starts a romance with Ruby and whenever he wants something from Ruby, he just writes it down. It looks like the ideal situation, but it isn’t.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris already made “Little Miss Sunshine” together, a movie that won over a lot of hearts. This time the duo creates another comedy, with a romantic touch. The script is by Zoe Kazan, who plays Ruby.

Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano form a great couple with great chemistry. In the first hour of the film it’s more comedic and Dano shows of his comedic talent. Kazan didn’t only write a fun and original script, but she is also a really pleasant actress to watch. Chris Messina, as Calvin’s brother Harry, is also great in his role and has some great scenes. With them there is also Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Elliot Gould and Steve Coogan, all in relatively small roles.

The high level the movie has the first hour, gets lost a bit in the second half, because the comedy has to make room for more drama. That drama doesn’t work as well as the comedy. It feels forced. In “Little Miss Sunshine” it did work.

“Ruby Sparks” is a fun and sweet film, that sometimes feel like a fairytale. It’s never overly sweet or cliché and it is very original. An unconventional love story.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 113: The Look of Love

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Runtime: 101 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton

Description: The life of Paul Raymond (Steve Coogan), the controversial entrepreneur who became Britain's richest man.

Review: “The Look of Love” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in januari 2013. It’s a visually good looking movie, a light biopic that is enjoyable even without knowing about Paul Raymond. The lightness of the film is both its strength and weakness. Raymond is portrayed by Steve Coogan, a role perfect for the comedian. The comedy part is solid, Coogan doesn’t disappoint. It’s the dramatic side of the film that doesn’t have enough depth. The sparkle of the first half is totally lost in the second half.

Imogen Poots, who plays Raymond’s daughter Debbie, isn’t experienced enough to give “The Look of Love” the balance between drama and comedy. And even Steve Coogan struggles more with the more dramatic scenes, while he sets the tone for the film very well.

“The Look of Love” reminds you of movies with a similar theme like “Boogie Nights”. Off course you can’t compare them, because “The Look of Love” isn’t anywhere near the success “Boogie Nights” had. A fun film, basically thanks to Steve Coogan, but not very memorable.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 89: Philomena

Director: Stephen Frears

Genre: Drama
Runtime: 98 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan

Description: World-weary political journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) picks up the story of Philomena Lee’s (Judi Dench) search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.

Review: After fifty years Philomena Lee decides to tell her deepest secret. When she was very young, Philomena became pregnant. Because she didn’t know where to go, she went to an Irish convent. The nuns see it as a sin, so right after the birth of Philomena’s son the two are separated. They are allowed to see each other one hour a day. The child is then taken from her completely, when he joins another family. Fifty years later Philomena tells this story to her daughter, who enlists the help of journalist Martin Sixsmith. Together they try to find Philomena’s long lost son.

Even though Dame Judi Dench is close to 80, she’s still one of the finest actresses in the field. Dench proves that as Philomena, where she can show a bitter side but also manages to give her a humoristic edge. Dench is not the only one worth watching. Journalist Sixsmith is portrayed by Steve Coogan, who also wrote the script for the film. Coogan is a comedian and it’s great to see a heartfelt and more serious performance by him.

Especially the combination of the two characters is what makes this movie interesting. They both have a different way of thinking, but get a stronger band while they get closer to their goal. While Philomena still blames herself and not the nuns, Sixsmith sees hypercriticism and corruption from the Irish convent.

“Philomena” is based on a book by Martin Sixsmith: ‘The Lost Child of Philomena Lee’, from 2009. He wrote it based on actual facts. The movie keeps surprising you and has some funny twist and unexpected anecdotes. Keep your tissues ready, because it’s one of those films.

Rating: 4,5/ 5