Larry Crowne - 30th December 2014

Christmas is nearly over and the new year is just creeping around the corner and here at Tuesday Night is Film Night it is business as usual. The festive films have been put away for another year and we're back to the old routine. Tonight we are out to discover all about;

Larry Crowne

Larry Crowne is a Tom Hanks movie and not to put it under pressure but we here at TNiFN Towers have not seen a bad Tom Hanks film. So does Larry Crowne live up to the heady heights of the Tom Hanks pedestal of movie greatness? Let us find out.

Larry Crowne is the title of the film and the name of the character played by Tom Hanks, who also co-wrote the storyline and produced the film. Crowne is the amenable staff member who works at the local U-Mart store. He never went to college, instead went straight into the Navy and after spending twenty years serving his country, as well as the sailors, since he was just a cook, he went onto the U-Mart. Unfortunately his glittering sales assistant career is cut short, when the affable Crowne is down-sized, essentially fired. Which comes at a bad time, as he has just bought out his ex-wife's half of the marital home and so he is in debt and really needs the job. The reasoning behind the firing was that Larry had no college qualifications, so would have no future with the company.

So he decides to go back to college, gain some qualifications and find a job.

That all sounds very simple and not really a tantalising prospect for a film, but the beauty of this film is its simplicity. There are no overtly complicated plot twists, no minor details of apparent insignificance that resurface later with massive consequences. It is just Larry enrolling in a college course and then falling in love with his tutor.

Oh. Did I not mention the tutor? Mrs Mercedes Tainot is teaching "Speech 217: The Art of Informal Remarks". Tainot is played by the absolutely fantastic Julia Roberts and she is sublime as the college tutor, who is far too close to the recreational rum bottle and not very close to her work shy husband.

When Larry hits college, as a mature student, he clearly shows his age, but forms an unlikely friendship with a younger student called Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who makes it her mission to restyle Larry to fit in with the in-crowd, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend.

That's about it really, there is not much plot, but there doesn't need to be as the film explores the juxtaposition between the old and new Larry, along with the relationships he has with his neighbour, his college peers, his work colleagues and of course his college tutor. Intrinsically it's a journey through the vagaries of college life played out by Larry, his fellow students and his tutor. Look out for some brilliant pieces by George Takei who plays an Economics professor, another course that Larry has enrolled for.

Larry Crowne is partly a feelgood film, partly a romantic comedy and partly a dramatic comedy. It is short, sweet and innocent which could have been a recipe for disaster if it wasn't for Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts. Roberts just shines through the screen, her broad smile could melt the coldest heart and her warmth of character resonates superbly with the Hanks played Crowne. A delicious chemistry is produced when both share the screen and you can sense an electricity between the pairing, albeit in a low key scene. Any other actors would probably not have produced the goods, but here the Roberts and Hanks combination seems to fill the screen with a palpable, organic dynamic which conveys this simply spun story into a beautifully knitted piece which can delight a perceptive audience.

Reading the reviews, it didn't get received very well. A 6.0 rating on IMDB and only grossing $13 million on it's opening weekend in the USA. Compare that to Captain Phillips which grossed twice as much in it's opening weekend. Also, if you pop across to Rotten Tomatoes another film site, that might get a bigger audience than this one, Larry Crowne is dwindling with a rating of 35%. Either way Larry Crowne is a film that you need to make your own mind up on. We thought it was a whimsical jaunt, through a simplistic plot, portrayed by a superb cast, which kept us entertained for the full 98 minutes. It also had a superlative soundtrack with songs arranged by James Newton-Howard, that complimented the on screen action with a subtle nuance and a deft poignancy that added another layer of shine to an already sparkling example of filmography.

We liked it. Happy New Year to both of loyal readers!!

TNiFN Rating 83%

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Surviving Christmas - 23rd December 2014

So here we are, we have reached another festive film finale here at TNiFN Towers. We have already been to the cinema to see Nativity 3, but we round off our Christmas movies with;

Surviving Christmas

Well Nativity 3 was a little disappointing to be honest, so we were hoping that Surviving Christmas would make up for the earlier mediocre offering. It certainly looked like it would be good judging by the trailer and starring Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini what could go wrong?

Affleck plays the millionaire advertising executive Drew Latham. Latham is at odds with his fiance as she has never met his family and cites this as a lack of commitment. Drew never talks of his family and says he certainly does not want to spend Christmas with them, this causes a split in the relationship, so Drew goes off to fight his Christmas demons and ends up back at his childhood home, to try to recapture the memories of Christmases past.

This is when the trouble starts.

James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara play Tom and Christine Valco who now live in Drew's childhood home with their family and they discover the somewhat bemused Drew on their drive, a big clout with a snow shovel later and Drew is recovering in the house. (You'll have to watch it to fill in the gaps in this synopsis!)

This is when Drew dreams up this farcical notion that he can 'adopt' the Valco family for Christmas, to relive and revive his thoughts of Christmas. And so we are then taken upon a journey with a reluctant family lured in by financial reward from Drew and a rather eager eccentric intent on going back to when Christmas was fun.

As a story it had all the promises of something worthy of a film, but even though we had the delights of Affleck and Gandolfini as the lead characters, it was somewhat lacking in substance. The comedy was fine, but not sufficient. The absurdity of the situation, somewhat overshadowed the story and not sufficient effort was put in to make this a great film, it only just scrapes in as a good one. Don't get us wrong, it was entertaining, it was funny, at times it was romantic, at times it was heart warming, but at Christmas you need to turn these up to the maximum, Surviving Christmas didn't quite get the temperature right.

TNiFN Rating 53%

And there we have it, another festive film rundown complete and it only remains for us to say; thank you so much for stopping by and reading the blogs and supporting our little film night. It is just our attempt to spend some time together and be entertained and then pass that onto you via the blogs.

So Merry Christmas and here's to a happy 2015 and more films!

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Scrooged - 16th December 2014

The penultimate Tuesday Night is Festive Film Night before the big day, turns back the Christmas clock to 1988, as we sit back to watch and enjoy; 

Scrooged

As a modern spin on A Christmas Carol, Scrooged is up there amongst the best. Bill Murray is absolutely sublime as the power crazy TV executive;Frank Cross who is determined to win the ratings war over Christmas with his live screening of A Christmas Carol, using whatever methods he can. That is until he is visited by the obligatory three ghosts.

There are so many great aspects to this film, firstly there is a magnificent cast. Bill Murray obviously, but you have the likes of Robert Mitchum, John Forsythe, the very squeaky Bobcat Goldthwait, Jamie Farr, Robert Goulet, Lee Majors and John Houseman to name but a few, although some may only have cameo appearances, they certainly add to the glamour. Notable performances apart from the brilliant Murray, are the lovely Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who provides a playful, albeit rough time for Frank Cross. David Johansen is the Ghost of Christmas Past and plays it as a crazy time travelling taxi driver, taking Frank back through his early years. Interestingly, both Carol Kane and David Johansen appeared in the 2008 festive film Four Christmases.

On to the love interest for Frank and we have the cute Karen Allen playing Claire Phillips, who gets unceremoniously shunned by Frank and decides to take a caring approach to life, which is the complete juxtaposition to Frank's heartless route to fame and fortune.

One more actress of note to make the story complete, is the long suffering secretary to Frank Cross; Grace Cooley played by  Alfre Woodard. This is an essential character for the storyline, as Grace's son has not spoken for years, so therefore supplies a great opportunity for a miraculous finale.

Even though the film is 26 years old, the special effects used are not dated at all and add another layer to the film, especially in the early sequences with the very dead Lew Hayward (John Forsythe). Also special note should go to Bobcat Goldthwait as the hapless Eliot Loudermilk who returns to seek revenge after being fired by Frank Cross.

All in all Scrooged is a great seasonal favourite, it is funny, scary, frantic, touching, irreverent and has that feelgood factor akin to that of its inspiration; A Christmas Carol, that will make the festive season just that little bit more cheery.

In the unlikely event that you haven't seen Scrooged, then make it your aim to watch it if you can, you will not be disappointed. Although some comments here at TNiFN Towers suggest that it is not the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Well that certainly is true, the Alastair Sim version of 1951 is the best in the traditional sense and The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best in the comedic sense. However, we would like to suggest that Scrooged is a close third to these iconic movies. Muppets? Iconic? Well, maybe.

As for the ratings, it scored very high on one end of the sofa and not so high on the other end! Still do not let this put you off from watching. Merry Christmas!

TNiFN Rating 82%

IMDB Link

Home Alone - 9th December 2014

Tuesday Night is Film Night is back for some more festive film fun. This week we hope to overcome the disappointment of last week, with a good old favourite from 1990, as we watch;

Home Alone

It has to be said that Home Alone is a Christmas classic, whether you like it or not it deserves it's place in the annals of the Christmas film favourites. We all know the story, it follows the escapades of young Kevin McAllister (Mcaulay Culkin), who during the lead up to a family trip to France, manages to alienate himself from his rather large family, so much so that his absence from the holiday party was not noticed until everyone else was halfway across the Atlantic! Allied to this we have the villains of the piece; Marv Merchants (Daniel Stern) and the brilliant Joe Pesci as Harry Lime, who has been eyeing up the street dressed as a police officer, checking to see who will be away for the holidays, so that himself and Marv can rob them in relative safety. However, they did not reckon on the evil and very young genius Kevin and his ingenious efforts to keep the bad guys out of the house.

Obviously the slapstick moments are the best loved scenes in the film, where Marv and Harry are trying to get past Kevin in the McAllister home and although not unique, the general premise of the film was clearly a fresh and new idea in 1990 and it has stood the test of time as the best of the genre and certainly the best in the run of all four Home Alone films. It's clearly this fresh approach that makes it so enjoyable. Also having the fresh faced Culkin being the hero, outwitting the dimwitted villains, gives the film that family appeal, so it can be enjoyed by young and old.

There is also a lovely sub-plot which runs through the film, where the grouchy neighbour (played by Roberts Blossom) is made out to be a murderer by the kids, but who is in fact a rather kindly man who has fallen out with his son and is also home alone at Christmas. This parallel sub plot sits in a nice juxtaposition to Kevin's own plight and provides a tender, seasonal joy side to the story.

Yes, Home Alone is a feelgood festive film, with fantastic slapstick comedy. Alongside this you have a child star who was clearly made for the role, making the film such a hit when it came out. And ever since it has been a regular Christmas film, which you just cannot help watching when it is on. The jokes are just as funny, Pesci and Stern are fantastic as the hapless villains and Culkin is a delight to watch. The story is well written and directed. It's just a great Christmas film. It was certainly a high scoring film here at TNiFN Towers.

More festive film fun next time.

TNiFN Rating  89%

IMDB Link

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie - 2nd December 2014

It's the second day of Advent and the second festive film in our countdown to Christmas. This week we are watching; 

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

Oh dear, we might have unwrapped the first Christmas turkey of a movie tonight. That was not quite what we expected.

Basically, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie follows the very weak plot line where the Muppet Theatre is due to be repossessed by the bank due to lack of payments, unless of course they can scrape together the funds with their last show. Of course all of this is happening on Christmas Eve. Luckily, there is a guardian angel watching over them, who implores God (Whoopi Goldberg) to give them a chance of divine retribution on the bossy bank manager Rachel Bitterman (Joan Cusack). And on the way to the inevitable happy ending there is a lot of Muppet mishaps and Christmas craziness.

And there you have it, one thing is for sure, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is no Muppet Christmas Carol, which is superb. No unfortunately the Muppet brand is let down badly by this 2002 movie, which seemed to be cashing in with a very weak plot and the gratuitous use of American TV stars making cameo appearances, to bolster a lack of substance between the start and the foregone conclusion of a feelgood finish.

Not to be totally negative, Joan Cusack (seen in previous TNiFN films; The Perks of Being a Wallflower and My Sister's Keeper), was very good as the villainous bad guy of the film, hamming up the tyranny with decent effect. Whoopi Goldberg only featured in a separate thread and never mingled with the Muppets, but was nevertheless OK. Daniel; the guardian angel was played by David Arquette and was just plain annoying. The rest of the cast were made up by the Muppets and were fine, just your bog standard Muppet mayhem. Although there was one major laugh out loud moment when Beaker appeared, said "Mee mee me me mee me mee meee" and that was enough to set us off in a fit of giggles, just not enough to offset the disappointment with the rest of the made for TV movie.

To summarise; a very weak story, insufficient laughs, a modicum of pathos, predictable formula, pointless cameos and a disappointed TNiFN audience. We hope for a better choice next week. Don't forget, we watch these films so you don't have to.

TNiFN Festive Rating 49%

IMDB Link

While You Were Sleeping - 27th November 2014

Yes, it is finally here! The first festive film of the season. We know today is a Thursday, but we were otherwise engaged on Tuesday. We kick off our Christmas cavalcade of cinematic crackers with a film from 1995 as we discover what happened;

While You Were Sleeping 

There we are then, the first Christmas film of 2014 complete. Although While You Were Sleeping is not a Christmas film in the traditional sense, it is a film set at Christmas and Christmas plays a part in the story. The story is all about Lucy, played by the beautiful Sandra Bullock, who falls in love with a man she has never really met. Lucy works at a train station ticket booth and Peter (Peter Gallagher) buys his train token from her, but has never really noticed her. However, Lucy has noticed Peter and fantasizes about him. On one such day, Peter is involved in a scuffle on the platform and falls onto the tracks, knocking himself out. Lucy comes to his rescue and saves his life by moving him out of the path of an oncoming train. The unconscious Peter ends up in hospital and this is where the fun begins.

Lucy ends up at the hospital and tries to see Peter, but it is family visiting only. However, a series of misunderstandings follow where Lucy is made out to be Peter's fiancée, this small lie soon spreads and Lucy is introduced to Peter's family and at each opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding, the deeper involved Lucy becomes. So while Peter is in a coma, Lucy is becoming one of the family. However, a love triangle ensues as Peter's brother Jack (Bill Pullman) starts to fall for Lucy and Lucy clearly starts to fall for him.

That is the basic layout of the plot and yes it does follow the feelgood, set at Christmas, romantic comedy formula and you know the outcome will be favourable and as predicted, but how you get there is important. While You Were Sleeping is a very pleasant film, ticking all the boxes. All the central characters are clearly important, but what is nice about this film is the supporting cast, who make up Peter's family, they add layers of comedic overtones that provide a distraction from the main thread, making a fuller rounder story, with plenty of, what we will class as; giggle points, periods in the film where allied to the main story, the supporting cast fill in the gaps of the story with funny lines or divert our attention away with short comedy moments.

The film was made in 1995 and Sandra Bullock is stunningly beautiful as Lucy. Her cute good looks and glinting eyes make While You Were Sleeping so watchable, even if the story is a little weak. As the first TNiFN Christmas movie of this year, it was certainly most enjoyable, the sort of film that you can lose yourself in for a couple hours quite easily. It is not pretentious or overtly demanding, it is just plain and simple with a great cast, a pleasant story and a wholesome sentiment. Certainly a film that can be popped on for some seasonal cheer at any time of year.

TNiFN Rating 76%

IMDB Link

Filth - 18th November 2014

In our last screening before we hit the festive films, we take in a homegrown comedy drama starring James McAvoy, it's time for some;

Filth

Well, having said that we were not starting the Christmas films until next, it was delightful to discover that Filth started with a Christmas song and was set in and around December. However any other link to festive cheer can be dropped down the chimney as Filth is a very dark and bleak trip through Advent for it's main character; Bruce Robertson played superbly, it has to be said, by James McAvoy (who was also a producer on the film).

Bruce Robertson is a tough Edinburgh police officer, who is intent on bagging himself an impending promotion, to achieve this he is manipulative and devious, setting his colleagues against each other and generally being rather subversive and underhand. The premise being that if he gains the promotion he will also win back his wife and daughter who, it transpires, have left him. Which is no small wonder, judging by the shenanigans that Bruce gets up to. He is a heavy drinker, very much into recreational drugs and it seems, a sex obsessed individual, who tries to satisfy his carnal pleasures in the most extreme and perverted manner. Therefore, this comedy drama is aimed at the more broad minded individuals. It has been compared to Danny Boyle's Trainspotting. So, if you enjoyed Trainspotting (the film, not the nerdy platform pursuit), then you will like Filth.

That aside the actual story of the character destruction of Bruce Robertson is intriguing, although the first hour is potentially a tricky period to get through, your patience will be rewarded at the end, as things come to a conclusion and the route that takes you to the end becomes clear.

What also aids the film is the fantastic supporting cast, who really add a layer of gloss on what, at first viewing, is a very dour film. Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot fame is great as Robbo's colleague Lennox, throwing off any balletic moves that you may have thought was a legacy of his better known film. John Sessions puts in a sterling performance as Bruce's boss. Imogen Poots adds some glamour to the police force as another colleague. Outside of work Bruce's best mate is Clifford Blades played superbly by the inimitable Eddie Marsan. All these well known faces put in very admirable performances to add to the film, which it has to be said needed a bit of a boost.

And there's more!

Jim Broadbent is outstanding as Bruce's doctor and the totally gorgeous Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) makes an appearance as Mary who adds another layer of complexity to Bruce's life and is a bit of a love interest giving hope to a happy ending.

Do we get a happy ending? Well, you will have to watch the film to find out, but don't expect a feelgood movie, 'cause Filth is not that at all, it is a hard hitting, gritty comedy drama, with the emphasis on drama. It portrays the sordid and seedy side of Scotland, as we travel down a road of destruction with Bruce and his tortured soul. It is grim, but powerful, seamy and prophetic. As a result it will divide the audience, you will either like it or loathe it. Some parts you might like, others you may not. It has received mixed reviews, some lauding it as a masterpiece, others suggesting it as a waste of time and popcorn.

It's a difficult one. As for us here at TNiFN, we have mixed feelings, we thought the start was poor and confusing, however things became clearer as the story progressed and there were parts that were rewarding and entertaining. The segment with David Soul was particularly good. (Watch out for that bit). Also we cannot underestimate the performance from McAvoy, although the film as a whole was not a hit for us, we cannot knock the acting one iota, praise where it is due.

One hates to use the phrase, but it is a Marmite movie. You will either love it or hate it. As for the scores, they are going to be a tad disappointing for those who ultimately love the film.

TNiFN Rating 60%

IMDB Link