Hall Pass - 31st March 2015

Another week drifts by and we find ourselves here again for another Tuesday Night is Film Night. Tonight we skip back a few years to 2011 for a comedy with a touch of romance, maybe.

Hall Pass

Yes, it's another Farrelly brothers film, with the same laddish humour, but maybe some subtle nods to romance, just. So what is it all about we hear you ask? Well, in a nutshell......

Actually, a nutshell is not going to be big enough for the synopsis, so take a deep breath and read on. Hall Pass is about Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis), who are married to Maggie and Grace (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) respectively. After Rick takes too much of a lingering look at another woman, Jenna berates him for the faux pas and brings up the subject with her best friend Grace. Grace concedes she has noticed the same behaviour in Fred. This leads to a discussion regarding the guys obsession with sex. In turn this leads to the suggestion that if they cannot control their desire to gawk at other women, perhaps it is time that they should have a Hall Pass. In other words a week off from marriage to get it out of their system.

A novel concept for a storyline, perhaps with some mileage for a Farrelly brothers treatment. Unfortunately, the 105 minute long film doesn't really get going until the end of the first hour. In fact the first sixty minutes were almost slumping into a dull mediocrity, with the occasional flash of inspiration. Essentially the girls allow their respective husbands to go off and enjoy a week of bachelorhood again, as the wives go off to stay with relatives, the guys hook up with some buddies with the predilection of having a good time and taking full advantage of their freedom. It transpires that it is not as easy as it used to be. There are some funny scenes, with some laugh out loud moments. Stephen Merchant appears as a token Englishman and supplies some comedic moments, but it appears to be a little strained in places, where the script was trying too hard for laughs and clearly failing.

However, it does get better and there are some really rewarding moments, as the boys struggle to find suitable dates for their dalliances. However, in an ironic juxtaposition, the girls who are not out to have any kind of extramarital action, fall into an unlikely friendship with the local baseball team where they are staying and end up enjoying their freedom much more than Rick and Fred are.

The first three quarters of the film deal with the comedy aspect of this unlikely scenario and it plays to the inabilities of Rick and Fred. However the last quarter introduces some romance, but also ramps up the comedy somewhat and the ending is ten times as good as the start. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis are fairly standard as the leading men, the same for the leading ladies, nothing really to write home about. However, some of the supporting cast do shine out, especially Stephen Merchant as Gary, whose finale during the end credits is certainly well worth the wait. Derek Waters who plays Brent, a part time DJ and barista in a coffee shop, also adds a degree of anarchy and fun to the last few scenes. Also, not forgetting to mention Nicky Whelan, who plays Leigh, whose shapely curves become a distraction for Rick and we do see those shapely curves in the full. This will not affect the scores in anyway. (It might).

And there we have it, Hall Pass is in comedic romp through a week of pseudo-bachelorhood for Rick and Fred, which turns out to be what they do not really need, but let us not spoil the ending. It's funny, but formulaic. It's somewhat sexy, but slow in places. Rewarding in the end, but a struggle to start. Overall it is a good film, it could have been better, however it could have been a darn sight worse! If Hall Pass is on the TV, then it'll be worth a watch.

The scores clearly reflect the positive side of the film, as certain panel members enjoyed it, managing to stay awake, which is a feat in itself!

TNiFN Rating 73%

IMDB Link

Lost in Translation - 24th March 2015

Tuesday Night is Film Night drifts back to 2003 for this week's presentation, a drama starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson where we hopefully will find out what gets......

Lost in Translation

Where does one start with Lost in Translation? Let us get the niceties of the cast out of the way and then tackle the story. Bill Murray plays Bob Harris and Scarlett Johansson is Charlotte. Bob is a 50-something actor who although past his prime is still getting work albeit in commercials. This leads him to work in Tokyo starring in an advertising campaign for whisky. Charlotte on the other hand is the young wife of a busy photographer with an assignment in Japan and Charlotte has come along for the ride. Both Bob and Charlotte are staying in the same hotel, both are jet lagged, tired but still find sleep to be difficult.

Charlotte is bored whilst her husband is out working and Bob is morose as his work is tedious and difficult due to the language barrier. Plus his dwindling  25 year marriage is continuing to suffer due to the distance between them, that and Bob's wife seemingly nagging him via the fax machine.

Bob first spots Charlotte in the hotel lift, it pleases him to see a friendly face within a sea of distance glances and thus starts a very slow, very deliberate coming together of these two disparate souls, worlds apart in history, age and purpose, but within this juxtaposed outlook their commonality of alienation in a foreign city pulls them together.

Lost in Translation is certainly not a fast paced film and the plot, although centreing on the unlikely relationship of the two main characters, is not overbearing or complicated at all. In fact Lost in Translation is more about the atmospheric approach to the story and in some scenes it is about what the characters don't say that is important.

Bill Murray is just sublime, providing the perfect characterisation for the aging actor Bob, as he struggles with life in a different culture. And as for Scarlett Johansson, who was just 18 when this film was made, she is just perfection. Scene after scene she just looks superb, by doing very little, just a glance here and a look there, it doesn't sound much, but within the context of an atmospherically drive storyline, that is what is needed and you can really feel a sense of sexual tension even though the relationship between Bob and Charlotte is not physical.

One supposes this is why Lost in Translation works so well, the viewer clearly enjoying the chemistry between Bob and Charlotte, then wanting the thread of the story to follow the normal formulaic approach of a love story, in this case a holiday romance or a foreign fling, but Lost in Translation is not a love story per se, moreover it is a diagnosis of a relationship where two very different entities are happily dropped together clinging to the one common denominator that put them together.

The story and direction by Sofia Coppola is just brilliant, the camera work, the settings and the undercurrent of music all combine to form a beautifully shot and produced film, not overtly arty and certainly without pretension.

However, differences of opinion here at TNiFN Towers will affect the scores. Some wanted the love story to be a love story, whilst others appreciated the subtle nuances as depicted on screen, accepting that the film was more about the thoughts of the characters as the film enveloped the viewer, rather than having those thoughts translated to deeds and acted out for you.

A film for thinking and not so much doing. (Apologies for the score).

TNiFN Rating 77%

IMDB Link

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - 17th March 2015

After a little break last week for birthday celebrations, which ironically included a trip to the cinema, Tuesday Night is Film Night is back with another film from our archives (also known as; "DVDs we get as presents on birthdays"!)

This week we are going to be;

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Well that was a refreshing change! To paraphrase the synopsis provided on Amazon, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is about;

"..................with 21 days left until the end of the world. Insurance salesman Dodge (Steve Carell) is suddenly deserted by his wife and now has no idea how to spend his last remaining days. When a riot breaks out around his building, Dodge escapes in the car of his extraverted neighbour Penny (Keira Knightley). Seizing the moment, they embark on a hilarious road trip to reunite with their loved ones – Dodge with his long lost high school sweetheart and Penny with her family..........."

Just reading that is doesn't really enthrall the potential viewer does it? When in fact Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is a lot more that that simple synopsis.

We start the film with the news of the impending end of the world due to the impact of a huge meteor, heading ominously and certainly towards the earth. Dodge Petersen hears this news with his wife, who inexplicably runs off, leaving Dodge alone in the car. He heads home contemplating his own, time constrained future, when a chance meeting with his outgoing neighbour; Penny (Knightley) changes his future for the better. They discuss their past and their very short future and when the neighbourhood erupts with rioting they decide to head out of town to seek some happiness. Dodge discovers a letter that his childhood sweetheart sent him just a few months previously and realises that perhaps that is who he should be with. Penny would like to see her family again, but as they are in England that is going to be tricky, until Dodge says he knew somebody with a plane. So armed with these goals, they set off on a road trip.

That sounds all a bit twee, simple and sentimental, but you need to get past the necessary scene setting to enjoy the multiplicity of the storyline. The film seems to be promoted as an "hilarious roadtrip" comedy, which it isn't. It is more a romantic comedy, a feelgood (to a degree) journey through the short life and impending death of Dodge, Penny and those that they come into contact with. It is also the juxtaposition of the differing outlooks towards the bleak future. Some choose to drink and party themselves to their own oblivion, while others seek peace with family and friends. Some choose to fight the system and try to survive, others just fight each other.

Steve Carell is just perfect for the character of Dodge, at first very dour, introverted and lonely, but who then blossoms whilst with Penny. Penny on the other hand is the opposite, initially outgoing, but then when the enormity of the end of the world hits home, she seeks solace with the person who has helped her the most in the last few days, namely Dodge. Keira Knightley is just superb as Penny, outgoing, pretty and funny. The supporting cast are also very good, providing the laughs along the way, perhaps with not the amount of hilarity promised if you believe the reviews, but funny nonetheless. Martin Sheen is particularly good as Dodge's father.

So all in all a really good film to watch. The storyline is refreshingly different, the end of the world maybe nigh, but this ain't no disaster movie. It may have the tagline of "The apocalypse has never been so funny", but it is not an hilarious romp through the last few days on earth, it is a funny film, but with tender moments. It's a funny film, but some of that comedy is quite dark. It doesn't follow a formula, so you don't know where the story is going, you're not sure whether the next scene is going to be hilarious or an altruistic moment between Dodge and Penny. 

Oh and the soundtrack is just superb, really brilliant music.

We enjoyed it and hopefully the scores will prove favourable.

TNiFN Rating 86%

IMDB Link

Walk of Shame - 3rd March 2015

Tuesday Night is Film Night is back once again and this week we are trying a bit of an unknown comedy, well unknown to us anyway and we wouldn't know a classic if it hit us right in the face! So go off and do what you need to do while we take a;

Walk of Shame

So what swung this film for us was the trailer, it has been on the "to watch" list for a while, a quick look at the trailer and it looked entertaining, funny and Elizabeth Banks in a tight yellow dress, is quite eye-catching! However, some trailers fool you into believing that the whole film is funny, when in reality they have crammed all the best bits into a three minute taster and you are left wanting when you watch the whole movie. Luckily this is not the case with Walk of Shame.

Meghan Miles (Elizabeth Banks) is a news anchor at a local Los Angeles television station, she has been presenting the Live at Five show for sometime when an opportunity for promotion to a large network comes along. Excitement rises as she is down to the last two hopefuls, however disappointment is around the corner when she apparently loses out to her rival. Depressed by the loss of promotion and upset that her boyfriend has left her as well, she is cajoled into going out to, what is now a commiseration drink, rather than the celebration her friends had originally planned. The inevitable drinking and partying ensues and inhibitions are lost and Meghan finds herself stuck on the fire escape of the club they were at. Luckily hunky help arrives in the form of the film's love interest Gordon (James Marsden). Gordon rescues Meghan from the fire escape and drives her, in her car to his apartment, for safety and other things.

This all happens within the first 10 to 15 minutes of the film, so it is a very quick scene setter for the major part of the film that follows.

Meghan awakes in the early hours, very much the worse for wear and in this strangers apartment, she cannot find her mobile phone, so uses Gordon's home phone to try to locate it, but fails. She then calls her home number, to pick up any messages and this is when she discovers that her rival for the large network job has been dropped as some skeletons were found in her cupboard, so essentially the new job is Meghan's, but she needs to get back to the TV station to present her normal afternoon show, so that her perspective new employers can see her in action.

Is that clear? And so we arrive at the crux of the story, the jeopardy part shall we say; Meghan is in a strange part of town, no phone and it turns out with no car as well, as it has been towed away. All she has is her car keys and a tight yellow dress and she needs to get to work to prepare for the broadcast later that day.

As a synopsis for the start of a film, it does tend to lend itself to the thoughts that this is not going to be any good, but bear with it, those first scenes where the storyline is laid out are far better in reality than the few paragraphs of waffle you have just read. Also, the next hour or so is a lot more entertaining as we follow Meghan trying to get across town back to the safety of work and that chance of promotion. She has to encounter gun-toting taxi drivers, hookers, the police, drug dealers, crack houses, pervy kids and all manner of undesirables who all manage to get in the way of her reaching her goal.

And yes, that is all the detail you are going to get, watch the trailer and take it from there. There's a lot more fun and adventure in the film that is not shown in the trailer and it is definitely a film to look out for. Elizabeth Banks, who has appeared in Pitch Perfect and The Hunger Games series of films, is lovely to look at and is equally as funny as she attempts to get back to the safety of the KZLA studio. There is a brilliant cast of characters surrounding her, the two cops are really funny, as are the boys from the crack den. And no it is not a serious film at all, there's no real melancholic love moments where the strain is too much for Meghan. There's no soppy "down on your luck" moment, where you're wishing for the lead character to pick themselves up again, it is not based on that feelgood formula, it is a basic jeopardy movie, in the same vein as The Hangover trilogy, or films of that ilk. And it is downright funny.

Walk of Shame is simple in it's story, which is all you need from an entertaining comedy, that and a barrel load of laughs and you will not be disappointed in that regard and that is why it will go on the "to watch again" list, that and the senior female member of the TNiFN panel managed to fall asleep halfway through. Again!

Anyway, enough procrastination and dilatory behaviour, let us away to the culmination of this esteemed and much admired blog; the scores. Walk of Shame trots home with a.....

TNiFN Rating 83%

IMDB Link

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - 24th February 2015

Yes, we know, we had another week off last week. Gallivanting in that there London, but we're back now and this week we are watching a film that has been on the "to watch" list for quite a while. Sit back, relax, put the cat out, put your feet up, do what you like, while we watch;

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

There we have it and so we hear you ask, what was The Incredible Burt Wonderstone all about? Well it stars Steve Carrell as the eponymous Burt Wonderstone and Steve Buscemi as Anton Marvelton, these are not their real names, they are just stage names. The film kicks off with a flashback to the school days of Burt and Anton, for his birthday Burt receives a Rance Holloway magic kit which transforms his life, no longer will he be bullied, he will use magic to avoid the bullies. Along with Anton they hone their magical skills aided and abetted by the famous Rance Holloway's magic kit. With a puff of magical smoke, fast forward twenty years and the pair are now huge stars in Las Vegas and end up with a residency at Bally's Hotel where they continue wow the audiences for the next ten years, getting through various female assistants in the process. All called Nicole by the way. The last assistant being Jane played by the gorgeous Olivia Wilde (Drinking Buddies, The Change Up), but also called Nicole by the magical stars of the show, who by now are beginning to show signs of friendship fatigue. The over-the-top Burt leads a lavish lifestyle, entertaining many a woman in his oversize bed, while Anton just seems to be content with plodding on with the same old show.

All of this is about to change when the street magician Steve Gray, played by the annoyingly funny Jim Carrey, turns up in LA to film scenes for his TV show; "Brain Rapist". Carrey is totally over the top as Gray, taking street magic to another, very tongue in cheek level. And all of a sudden Steve Gray is the talk of the town and Burt and Anton are the old (top) hat magicians with dwindling audiences. This is not what hotel owner; Doug Munny wants to see and insists that the act is improved with some new tricks.

A few words regarding Doug Munny, played exquisitely well by the late James Gandolfini. In fact this character actually lifts the rather cheesey story to another level, the screenplay may not be that scintillating, but Gandolfini is just superb as Doug Munny. Again very tongue in cheek, but extremely witty.

Moving on, so when their new grand illusion goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the already frayed relationship between Wonderstone and Marvelton hits a new low and the pair separate to go their own ways. Anton heads off to work in under-developed countries, introducing magic to the kids, while Burt continues to bore the audience with the same old illusions until Doug Munny finally lets him go. So, very much down on his luck the once incredible Burt Wonderstone ends up performing his tricks in a nursing home, for the old ladies and gentleman, where luckily for the storyline and for our pleasure he bumps into the great, and now old, Rance Holloway, played brilliantly by the deadpan Alan Arkin. This twist of fate allows Burt to realise again what made magic so magical for him in the first place and with Rance he starts to think about performing magic again.

From here up to the end of the film the laughs increase, but no more synopsis, we don't want to spoil the end of the film for you.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was described by Zoo as "outrageously funny", the comment from the sofa tonight was; "it's not a bad little film I suppose" and that coming from someone who actually stayed awake throughout the whole film, is praise indeed!

Steve Carrell is impressive as Wonderstone, but then Carrell generally is pretty darn good in whatever he appears in. Buscemi provides a perfect foil for the extravagant and exuberant Wonderstone, one could almost say the perfect character juxtaposition. Alan Arkin as Rance Holloway is brilliant and has some great scenes, his final disappearing trick being a case in point.

As for Jim Carrey, well he has not been a favourite here at TNiFN, in fact he has been described as obnoxious, creepy and toe curlingly cringe-worthy, but you cannot deny that for all of his rubber faced, often ad-lib'd antics, he can be very funny and he certainly was perfect as the very weird Steve Gray, even if he does steal some of the limelight away from the other cast.

All in all The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is very funny, very  tongue in cheek and worthy of a watch. As for the scores, well drum roll please as we pull the rabbit out of the hat and award.........

TNiFN Rating 78%

IMDB Link

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - 10th February 2015

We're back! Did you miss us? Yes, we know it was only a week but if we take time out, we get inundated with posts on Facebook asking; "are you alright hun?" Um. Actually we don't. Moving on.

This week we are watching; 

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

So you may be wondering what Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is all about, well it is about fishing for salmon, in the Yemen, strange though that idea may sound. Based on Paul Torday's book we see a very rich Yemeni sheikh (Amr Waked), who absolutely loves fishing, decide he would like to look at the feasibility of establishing salmon lakes in the fairly arid area of the Yemen. He approaches a British consultancy company, who in turn look to the government for assistance, who jump on the story as it would put a positive spin on the strained anglo-arab relations. So much so they press the leading fisheries expert from the Department of Fisheries and Agriculture to look into the feasibility, who in turn laughs at the ludicrous nature of the request.

So that's the plot in a nutshell, to add some detail to that Ewan McGregor plays Dr. Alfred Jones, the fisheries expert, who is seconded to work with the consultancy firm employing a financial adviser to the sheikh; Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, played the ever-so lovely Emily Blunt. This is all spun into a positive political projection by the Prime Minister's press secretary Patricia Maxwell, played superbly by the magnificent Kristin Scott Thomas. Throw in a love interest for Harriet in the form of soldier Robert Mayers (Tom Mison) and you have the perfect balance for a love triangle in this romantic comedy  about salmon fishing!

Deep breath!

Dr. Jones is a very staid and almost tweedy middle aged man, who is in a steady but stagnating marriage, where his work with fish clearly makes him a very boring character, steady, unfunny and set in his ways. When he is offered to work on the ludicrous notion of introducing salmon to the Yemen, he scoffs at the preposterous nature of the request, but all the way he is cajoled into working on the project and making the plan a reality.

Working alongside Dr. Jones is Miss Chetwode-Talbot, who really starts out to be the antithesis to the good doctor, with very little, if anything in common. However, her very new boyfriend immediately rules out any love interest between Alfred and Harriet. not that Alfred would consider such a thing, his mere inclusion in this project is farcical, let alone any kind of dalliance with his new colleague, but there clearly is a spark of a romance, as they continue to work together and when the original love interest goes "missing in action"...............

Well, we've said too much.

All the while we have the government's over-zealous press secretary ensuring that the right people, are in the right place, at the right time and in front of the right reporters. Kristin Scott Thomas absolutely nails this role, she is anarchic, condescending, incorrigible and down-right funny and is a key element within the film, especially as the story takes a darker turn when some of the Yemeni locals take umbrage at the sheikh's fishy plans and try to scupper any further development of their homeland. They do so, unaware or not believing that he is not just doing it for the sport, but as well as being a very expensive past time, it will bring fertility to the land and develop the area for future generations.

Again, we may be letting too many cats out of the bag, or allowing too many salmon to float upstream! 

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a delightful little film, taking an absurd plot and throwing in some mismatched individuals and allowing them to develop and grow throughout the 107 minutes of the film. It supplies some lovely cinematography, ranging from the lochs of Scotland to the arid deserts of the Yemen. Ewan McGregor is really brilliant as Dr. Alfred Jones, you see his character grow and flourish throughout the various twists in the meandering story. Emily Blunt just sizzles on screen, her natural beauty and acting skills shine from the screen. As for Kristin Scott Thomas, she is just a delight to watch, a great character portrayed superbly by an equally great actress.

As for the scores, the panel was divided yet again. Some enjoyed the subtle nuances in the writing, whilst others were visibly struggling to get past the tweedy boredom of the initial scene setting. Some thought the story to be quirky, funny and most enjoyable, others considered it a bit daft. Nevertheless, it is certainly a film that requires a viewing for you to make your own mind up on. Enjoyable, but the panel scores it a lowly;

TNiFN Rating 65%

Clearly the panel member writing this esteemed blog was on the side of the film, even if the others were not!

IMDB Link

Chronicle - 27th January 2015

A departure from the norm here at Tuesday Night is Film Night, a switch of genres if you please. There's going to be a touch of thrilling, sci-fi drama, as we watch;

Chronicle

It has been a while since we have seen anything sci-fi based, so it was with some trepidation that we loaded Chronicle into the DVD player, but the trailer was intriguing and it looked promising.

The story starts with Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) who acquires a camera and starts to record his life. Andrew is an awkward, shy individual whose mother is dying of cancer and he doesn't get on with his drunk and pernicious father. Andrew rides to school with his cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), who tries to bring Andrew out of his shell. At one point they attend a party, camera still filming everything, where they meet up with Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), who has discovered a rather strange hole in the ground. This is where the sci-fi bit kicks in. Inside the hole is what appears to be an alien rock or at least an extraterrestrial object, that glows and on closer inspection it appears to attract objects towards it. All very strange. The upshot of this encounter is that the three boys discover that some of the power has transferred to them and they now have certain powers, very much akin to telekinesis, where they can make objects move. That doesn't sound like the basis of a good film, but please stick with it.

So far, so good, but why is the film called Chronicle we hear you ask? Well, the whole film is retold via medium of personal camcorders or CCTV, hence it is chronicling the story for us. So there are lots of PoV shots and for those moments when you need a wider shot well the camera is owned by someone who now has the power to make things move, so he controls the camera mentally. You'll see what we mean if you watch the film.

Back to the story. At first the emergence of these powers were just a bit of fun, just messing with toys and cameras, then they used their powers to mess with others, just for a laugh, moving cars etc. Then they discovered as they grew stronger and better with their controls they could actually fly. There's a really cool section in the film where we seem them enjoying the freedom and fun their unique talents have brought them.

However this is where the film starts to turn dark. Andrew inadvertently uses his power to take swipe at a car driver who is following them, this swipe sends the car careering off the road and the driver ends up in hospital as a result. This juxtaposition between the lightheartedness and the darker side of having super powers is very much in evidence as Andrew, who is becoming mentally the stronger one between the three of them, starts to spiral out of control.

The story builds and builds, getting darker and darker and we end with a tumultuous finale, where the special effects are ramped up to the maximum as Andrew does battle with his internal demons and those who are trying to stop him.

All in all it was a really good film, most enjoyable even for a sci-fi. It is fairly short, only weighing in at 80 minutes, but it builds up the layers of storyline, using dialogue to good effect at the beginning and not relying on too much CGI intervention, as opposed to the end, which is a cavalcade of computer generated wizardry. We did particularly like the camera work, utilising the handheld cameras to capture the action, but doing so in a smooth way, i.e not too much jumping around. It was a very clever and somewhat unique way of retelling or chronicling if you like, the story.

Although it was appreciated from the sofas, the scores were just a tad better than mediocre, the female members of the panel voting down due to the lack of romance! You can't please everybody.

Chronicle is well worth a watch.

TNiFN Rating 72%

IMDB Link