Ted - 18th February 2014

Tuesday Night is Film Night is here again and this week we cuddled up with;

Ted

Well, what can you say about a film that is about a boy and his talking teddy bear?

What? You didn't know Ted was about a talking teddy bear?

Whoops.

We start the film as the young John Bennett receives a teddy bear for Christmas, a teddy so lovely that John wished he could be real and that they would be friends forever. Well you know, dreams can come true. What makes the start even better, is the superb and extremely funny narration by Patrick Stewart, but anyway to the film.

So John Bennett has a bear that actually comes to life and Ted grows up with John and although Ted initially has some notoriety and indeed some celebrity, in time this fades and he just becomes a good buddy to John, hanging out, drinking beer, smoking dope, that kind of thing. The issue is that John really needs to grow up and spend more time with his girlfriend of four years; Lori Collins. Lori is played by the absolutely gorgeous Mila Kunis who, for the record, looks so damn cute in glasses.

Moving on.

The thing that makes the film Ted so good, apart from Mila Kunis of course, is that it is a successful genre cross-over movie. It's a lad movie, a buddy picture, a romantic comedy, a fantasy reality adventure and a feel good film too. However, it's not just that it successfully mixes the genres, each individual genre element of the film is portrayed so well. And this is due in no small part to the fantastic writing of Seth MacFarlane, who not only supplies the fantastic story, but also brings to the screen his vocal talents as the voice of Ted. (Who in no way sounds at all like Peter Griffin).

Saying that Ted crosses over the boundaries of genres is one thing, however the one genre that you shouldn't place it in is a kid's movie. That cute, cuddly teddy bear may have a heart of stuffing, but he also has a gutter mouth! Which is a key point to make, MacFarlane takes the juxtaposition between the cute and cuddly teddy and crosses that with the laddish, foul mouthed humour and scores a winner. There are so, so many elements to this film that are retold afterwards, by which I mean; fans of the movie will repeat word for word many scenes, which smacks of classic memorable comedy.

Alongside the comedy, there are also interweaving sub-plots which in a lesser film would be declared as pure filler, but in Ted, the sub-plots and minor characters inject an extra dimension to the film which lifts it to an even higher level. We really shouldn't over praise it, but it does do everything that it sets out to do, it will make you laugh, it will also tug at your heart strings, with it's sadder parts. The comedy is sublime, with hearty laugh out loud moments, but if there were to be a downside, some comedic references were lost on us, as perhaps they were too American, but this is a very minor gripe.

So, to summarise; great film, full of laughs, unique in it's format, brilliant writing and Mila Kunis to boot.

And news just in; the promise of Ted 2 in the future. Sequel anyone?

TNiFN Rating  83%

IMDB Link

Lars and the Real Girl - 11th February 2014

Tuesday Night is Film Night has rolled around yet again and this week for our potentially momentous magical movie moment, we have the strange looking story of;

Lars and the Real Girl

My word, what a strange film!

Ryan Gosling stars in this bittersweet, melancholic, romantic, strange tale of love and delusion. Gosling is Lars Lindstrom a young small town man, who lives in the garage of the house, which he half owns with his brother; Gus. Gus (Paul Schneider) lives in the house with his newly pregnant wife Karin (Emily Mortimer). Lars is a shy and retiring character, who seems to be retreating into his shell more and more, until he finds a girlfriend.

Unfortunately, Lars' new girlfriend is a plastic, mail-order "love doll".

Let us just take a moment to take that all in.

That is the premise of the story, Lars becomes a delusional individual who comes to terms with his life by inventing a girlfriend, although the invention is not in his mind, she is real, plastic and came delivered in a large crate.

Gus and Karin are clearly perturbed by this creation, as Lars is convinced that Bianca (for that is her name) is real. The only way to get Lars to see a doctor is to take Bianca as the patient and this triggers off the bizarre notion that to treat Lars' issue, the people around him need to believe as well, that Bianca is real. And so, that is what happens. The whole town starts to play along with the fact that Bianca is real, but they only do this for Lars and to help him.

There are some more layers to story, which fill in some detail and background, but the basic story is just that; Lars and his "real girl".

I believe there are two sides to this story, or certainly two ways to look at the plot. You either go along with it or you simply dismiss totally as complete and utter drivel. It very much depends on how you dissect the story, if you are very matter of fact about it, then you can discard it as a whimsical tale with no real credibility. If however, you look at it as a way of examining mental illness, then there is a whole new aspect to it.

You can very easily dismiss mental illness as just that; an illness and not accept or understand the delusions that the person, in this case Lars, displays, but what if everybody accepted that although this is clearly not what we would class as the norm, it is normal for Lars, so let us be sympathetic to his problems and go along with it. How would that make him feel, how would he react, how would he cope, if what is clearly an inanimate object, is suddenly accepted as reality?

And this is what happens, although Bianca cannot walk or talk, she is included in the community and through Lars she lives her normal existence.

It is a totally bizarre film. It is funny, purely for the basic premise of trying to bring to life a plastic doll. However, it is also sad, as you see how the relationships between Lars and Bianca and Lars and his family change. You get this strange juxtaposition between reality and fantasy. For what is reality for Lars, is a fantasy for others, but this story turns that notion around. It certainly makes you think.

However unique though it is and although Ryan Gosling, Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer are superb acting their individual roles, it is a film you will either love or ignore. Taking it at base level, it is a dire film based on a bizarre notion. If you read into it a lot more you can get sucked into the different perceptions and try to psychoanalyse the plot and the characters and how sympathetic handling of an unfortunate illness can pay dividends in the long run.

The jury is out on this one.

TNiFN Rating: 43%

IMDB Link

The Hangover Part II - 4th February 2014

Good grief Penfold! It's February already. And what better way to celebrate, than to suffer (hopefully not);

The Hangover Part II

So after watching The Hangover (Part I) sometime last year, not as a Tuesday Night is Film Night film I hasten to add, we chance our arm with the second iteration of the story. The characters are the same and the premise of the story is just the same as well. For those of you who don't know or just need a reminding, here's a brief synopsis of the characters.

Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug

(Justin Bartha) are four friends who first suffered the consequences of The Hangover (2009) when they hit Las Vegas for Doug's stag party. A couple of years on and it is Stu's turn to get married. Stu is to marry  his fiance Lauren (Jamie Chung) in a quiet family ceremony in Thailand. However Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, followed by a quiet wedding goes seriously awry.

The film starts with the scene setting, re-establishing the characters and placing them within the current setting. Thus providing a springboard into the action. What essentially happens is that we fast forward to the aftermath, discover that they are totally wrecked and cannot remember a thing, then we wind back time and discover how they got there.

It's not an easy story to quantify without giving too much away. The premise is easy to follow, but it is how they get where they did that is the clincher. There is such a lot of detail that goes into the guys reverse engineering their hungover state, which takes them into the realms of the criminal underworld and the night life of Bangkok, which includes drug running monkeys and dalliances with Lady-boys!

Definitely a lads movie this one and a great deal of fun. As with the first movie Zach Galifianakis is fantastically funny as the idiotic Alan, who manages to get his Wolfpack buddies into trouble. Phil, is the cool character who tries to keep everyone together and Stu is the cry baby who seems to be ruining everything, especially his wedding. Doug doesn't seem to enter into the film at all, only as the sober one back at the wedding venue and as such didn't really add anything.

Mention must also go to the returning character of Mr Chow (Ken Jeong) who is also very funny and seems to add fuel to the lad's wild night. Another returning cameo appearance comes from boxing legend; Mike Tyson at the end of the movie and seems to be a bit superfluous and adds nothing to the film in itself, moreover it seems to be a blatant celebrity placement to endorse the movie. It only went to prove that Mike Tyson cannot sing.

That aside, the film is a great laugh. Even though it is a sequel the idea is still fresh and had sufficient fuel to carry it off, not so sure that Part III will do the same, watch this space. Also, it is one for multiple viewings as there will be jokes and visual gags that would be missed first time around.

To summarise; good film, lots of laughs, will watch again.

TNiFN Rating 73%

IMDB Link

The Book of Eli - 28th January 2014

The Tuesday Night is Film Night film tonight is yet another genre departure for us, as we delve into a post-apocalyptic tale and find out what is between the covers of;

The Book of Eli

Well, where can on start with a review for a film such as this? Saying too much about the film will give away the plot, saying too little and you may not be interested. I'll try to strike a happy medium.

The Book of Eli follows the story of a post-apocalyptic world, where civilisation has all but disappeared and small bands of people either try to re-establish a community or conversely roam around preying on others for their own gain. The central character, unsurprisingly called Eli, is played superbly by Denzil Washington, who is totally sublime as the cooler than cool solo maverick, who has been roaming the wilderness for thirty years, intent on delivering a promise. Without giving too much away, his mission is to deliver, and again no prizes for guessing, a book. And it is no ordinary book, it is a prized possession whose notoriety has become legendary within the desolate world that the film is set in.

The story of The Book of Eli is fairly unique, with sufficient plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. It is also beautifully shot. The film has a sepia tone about it, which really sets the mood for the dismal post-apocalyptic desolate wasteland.

Eli travels west, guarding his secret and protecting it in some extreme fashion from the hijackers that he meets along the way. Yes, there is some guts and gore, as the knife swinging Eli clears his attackers out of the way, but if you can overlook this and stick with it, it is a really gripping tale.

Along the way, Eli meets up with Solara (Mila Kunis) who was born after the world was devastated, so has no knowledge of the earth prior to the apocalypse, apart from what she has learnt from her blind mother; Claudia (Jennifer Beals). Solara lives in a small community led by Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who has heard of the legend that is "the book" and is determined to find it, so it's an added bonus when Eli turns up with the book in his back pack.

As for the rest of the story, you'll have to watch the movie to find out. It is interesting, gripping and dramatic. The twist with the book is worth the wait and the way the film rounds off is a near perfect ending.

The cast is many and varied, including appearances from Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour, who play an old couple holed up in a quaint house in the middle of nowhere. They are not so quaint when the house comes under attack and the expletives coming from their mouths does inject some humour into a tricky situation! I'm sure Rigsby would be shocked by Miss Jones' gutter mouth. (That's a Rising Damp reference, if you're too young to remember then Google it.)

So in summation, The Book of Eli has a great start, a brilliant story, fantastic characters, it's beautifully shot, with some incredible special effects, some superb acting, with exquisite plot twists, a modicum of humour and a touching end. All in all a great film.

Does the summation get reflected in the scores? Well, it's a two hour film, and you need to be prepared to stick with it, some of the panel here at TNiFN Towers found it a little hard, but it came out with a decent rating.

TNiFN Rating 82%

IMDB Link

What to Expect When You're Expecting - 21st January 2014

For our second film night of 2014 we are totally changing genre to view a film from 2012 and we have no idea what to expect from;

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Actually I think we did know what to expect; a film about pregnancy and how it affects the lives of the people that are going through it. I guess it can be likened to Love Actually with babies. Unfortunately, unlike Love Actually it wasn't that good. Hold on, let me clarify that, the female contingent of TNiFN towers enjoyed it, the lone male here, not so. And I am quite partial to a chick-flick, but I felt somewhat let down by this one.

Let me fill out sme of the finer details then continue with the critique. What To Expect When You're Expecting boasts a big cast, with some top names; Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick, Dennis Quaid, Elizabeth Banks to name just a few. And maybe this is where it falls down, too many big names and not so much content? Essentially there are five couples each going through the process of becoming pregnant, or adopting, or accidentally conceiving, or considering a baby and the film interweaves their stories into each other as their paths cross and their lives progress.

Unfortunately, the storyline, although full and intricate, lacks momentum. The film is a romantic comedy, with touches of sentiment, but although there are laughs, they are not big enough to carry the film in my mind and the story relies heavily on supporting cast members to supply the funny lines and this is at least it's one saving grace. Both Chris Rock and Rebel Wilson provide the perfect comedic foils to the other cast members, dishing out some superb moments, which really injected some much needed punch to lift the film. The main cast although having some moments of levity, failed to deliver some killer comedy. Alongside which, apart from some odd moments, the main cast also failed to deliver even a modicum of gravitas. Even when there were scenes that required emotion, sentiment and some seriousness, they failed to capitalise on this fact and the audience may feel a little cheated that they were not drawn into the film as much as could have been possible. Yes, there are moments of sadness, but with quality chick-flicks they can take you from laughter to tears with one swipe of the screenwriter's pen, unfortunately, this did not happen here. It was good, but could have been so much better.

All in all, it's an OK film, but it failed to allow the big cast to deliver big performances. Obviously the female contingency in the audience will enjoy it much more, but I for one felt a little let down and as I'm the one writing the words. I get to have my say.

One sure fire test of a film's appeal is by the length of the TNiFN review. This one is a bit short.

TNiFN Rating 66%

IMDB LINK

Die Hard 4.0 - 14th January 2014

Tuesday Night is Film Night is back for the New Year! Did you miss us?

And we are coming back with a vengeance! Which is apt, as the first film for 2014 is;

Die Hard 4.0

Yes, we are back after a prolonged lay off over the Christmas and New Year period. And we do indeed come back with a bang with the fourth installment of the Die Hard series. Bruce Willis is back as the seemingly indestructible John McClane, this time pitting his wits and dirty vest against a gang of cyber criminals who are intent on toppling the infrastructure of the US and creaming off a massive financial gain.

Yet again, McClane is the innocent cop drawn into the terrorist attack, this time he is sent to pick up one of America's top young hackers as a suspect in the cyber break-in. When McClane arrives at the young man's tech hideout, he is not alone as it's not just the FBI after our hacker, but the super cyber-criminals are too. Of course McClane saves the kid from the massive hail of bullets and drags him off to Washington.

The young hacker is Matthew Farrell played by Justin Long. The other stars of this out and out shoot 'em up are; Timothy Olyphant who plays the ex-government employer turned super-criminal Thomas Gabriel, ably assisted by the delightful Maggie Q who plays the high-kicking Mai Linh, who becomes a victim of McClane's charms and having ".... a SUV rammed up her ass!" One of the best lines in the movie!

On the side of the "goodies" we have McClane's daughter Lucy played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and heading up the FBI investigation is Deputy Director Bowman played by Cliff Curtis.

Of course with a Die Hard film you know what to expect, there are guns a-plenty, car chases with not just cars, there are trucks, vans, helicopters and near the end a F-35 fighter jet!! Totally incredulous and gratuitous over-the-top action, with the bad guys dropping off one by one whilst the indefatigable McClane crawls, hobbles, limps and struggles away from crash after crash, all the while being shot at, falling down lift shafts (with or without a SUV), falling out of trucks, sliding down broken bridges. Totally unbelievable, but totally, totally great action, with tremendous special effects.

The one downer that I would put on this film and films of this ilk, when dealing with Information Technology, make it believable. I don't recall seeing one Windows server being hacked into! The action is over the top, but I would like to see the technology grounded in a modicum of reality, but hey; it's a minor niggle and a question of personal preference over artistic licence.

So all in all, you know where you are with Die Hard and John McClane, you are immersed in two hours worth of action packed escapism, where the underdog will always pull through and win the battle and even though you know this fact, the cinematography, the script, the action will keep you enthralled for the complete 128 minutes of this movie.

You can't beat John McClane and you can't beat a Die Hard movie! Great stuff.

TNiFN Rating 80%

IMDB Link

Nativity 2 - 17th December 2013

So with Christmas Eve just a week away we take on another new film, but is it second time lucky for;

Nativity 2 - Danger in the Manger

Following on from the success of Nativity back in 2009, Mr Poppy is back at St Bernadette's school for more classroom mayhem. This time he is joined by a new teacher in the form of Mr Peterson AKA David Tennant.

Those of you who have seen the original Nativity with Martin Freeman, will know how Mr Poppy is a classroom assistant, who is more of a kid than the kids are themselves. And in Nativity 2 nothing has changed. Mr Poppy is still seeing off supply teachers with enormous regularity with his outrageous classroom antics. That is until he spots the Song for Christmas competition and is determined to enter his school and win. Of course, the rival school from the first film make an appearance, but to double the tension and give the plot a sufficient twist to make it different from the first film, Mr Peterson's twin brother turns up with another rival school for the Song for Christmas competition.

"What song for Christmas competition?" *shrugs shoulders* - Watch the film, then you will get it.

So that's your plot. A song competition, plenty of rivalry, goodies and baddies, a trek across Wales to reach the venue and a baby and a donkey thrown in for good measure. What could possibly go wrong?

Judging by the reviews on Amazon, Nativity 2 is a bit of a "Marmite movie", they either loved it or hated it. The two most helpful reviews stated; "Christmas magic!" and "Embarrassing drivel".
So it is a difficult one to call. In fairness we at TNiFN Towers are tending toward the "Christmas magic" side of the balance, but only just. However, it is a Christmas movie after all, so lighten up!
OK the antics of Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton) are a health and safety nightmare, but that's the point, it is innocent fun, you know full well that the underdogs will come out on top, but it's how they get there that counts and Nativity 2 has just enough Christmas cheer to keep things ticking over nicely, with plenty of laughs and the occasional sad moment, just to keep you hooked.

The cast are superb, Tennant manages to pull off a double header by playing both the Peterson twins (makes sense really), Marc Wootton is sublimely ridiculous as the irreverent Mr Poppy, clearly ad libbing his way through all his scenes. In fact most of the scenes were improvised with certain key points in a loose script for the cast to "hit".
Adding to the cast are Joanna Page as Mr Peterson's pregnant wife and the brilliant Ian McNiece as the over-bearing father of the Peterson twins. Pam Ferris reprises her role from Nativity as she is still the Headmistress of St Bernadette's. Also Jason Watkins is back, as the pompous teacher; Gordon Shakespeare from rival school Oakmoor. Also making an appearance is the lovely Jessica Hynes as competition host Angel Matthews.

Anyway, all in all Nativity 2 - Danger in the Manger is a pretty good Christmas giggle, it's not going to be a classic Christmas movie, but it is certainly entertaining enough to get you into the Christmas spirit and the music is pretty good too, well as long as you enjoy children singing!

TNiFN Rating 70%