The wacky story goes: After being dropped off by his daughter to the airport, John McClane (Bruce Willis) heads to Mother Russia to try to help out his son, Jack (Jai Courtney), who seems to be  in trouble with the law. It’s revealed that Jack is a CIA agent who’s helping rescue and keep safe a Russian political prisoner Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch). Komarov  has knowledge of a hidden key and secure a secret file that a dirty defence minister wants to get ahold of. Naturally, John gets in the way of the plan, and, before we can say “Yippie Kai Yay”, father, son, and prisoner are on the run all over Moscow from Russian mercenaries. After a double-cross and a death defying escape, our heroes decide to infiltrate Chernobyl to prevent the bad guys from getting their hands on a load of weapons-grade uranium.

I’ll cut straight to the chase. The John McClane in this film in boring, tired and exhausted. The character that we all fell in love with 25 years ago, just isn’t there any more. I’m not sure who to blame. Skip the Screenwriter for falling asleep on the job or Brucie who is in his late 50s and isn’t as sturdy as he used to be. He obviously isn’t having as much fun with the role any more, and quips and funny lines that come out of his mouth now sound like written dialogue instead of the natural defence wit his character would utter.
Jai Courtney, playing McClane’s hero son, Jack, doesn’t give us much, but to be fair to him, he’s not given much, either. They try to mirror his attitude to that of his fathers but their on screen relationship is as painful for me to watch as I’m sure it was for them to play. Their relationship is the film’s centrepiece, but Moore doesn’t give it any time or attention and the film suffers terribly for it. Maybe they all did try but as we all know without a good script you may as well call it a day.

As for Skip Woods – what kind of screenplay do you call this? Was you concussed when you wrote many of the scenes? Was you drunk? Was you high? Seriously dude you must have been something because I refuse to believe you was competent and wide awake while writing this schpiel. “I love you son”, “I love you dad”, “Let’s go kill some bad guys” I mean what in the blue jeans is that? – Admittedly I can’t remember the exact words in this particular scene but I promise you it was along those lines.
Even after a silly car chase the older McClane mutters something to the confused baddies like “Remember me” – erm how in God’s name do they know who you are John McClane, let alone remember you? Your in friggin’ Russia and no one knows you here! Utter madness

The scene where the femme fatale Irina (Yuliya Snigir) gets off a motorbike and “seductively” unzips herself out of her suit was about as sexy as watching paint dry. She wasn’t pretty to look at, and you all already know I can appreciate a beautiful woman but she was a bland one. Her acting skills could give Kristen Stewart a run for her money. A downright was hot mess and so was her screen time.
I don’t even have anything constructive to say about the bad guys with guns, and for all you loyal Die Hard fans expecting something exciting a la Alan Rickman in “Die Hard” or Jeremy Irons “Die Hard With a Vengeance”? Forget about it.

The action was okay I suppose. It’s safe to say that the constant sounds of gunfire and explosives kept me awake. Our heroes falling through masses of bricks and rubble from a tall building to the ground with a few scratches wasn’t very believable but I was way past caring about the action and I just wanted it to end.

Should I mention Chernobyl? Using Chernobyl as a setting for a finale showdown is in questionable taste, and the movie idiotically shrugs off the possibility of radiation poisoning for our heroes. The baddies swarm into Chernobyl which gas masks and jumpsuits to keep them safe but our “die hardees” just skip merrily into a zone where their bare skin is obviously thick enough to take whatever may come their way. I mean it was laughable! In fact this was the scene where a few people got up and walked out the cinema. Really, I should have followed them but alas, my legs betrayed me.

It’s very likely that this crap will be the death of Die Hard  films. This embarrassment is far from the spirit of the original bad ass, cheeky, entertaining, quick and well penned Die Hard as you can possibly get. Being the good person I am, I’ve decided to rename this film ” A Good Time To Never Resurrect This Franchise”! Y’all can thank me later

Director: John Moore
Stars: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Cole Hauser, Sebastian Koch, Yuliya Snigir
Screenplay: Skip Woods
Runtime: 97 mins
Cert: 12A

Enjoy the trailer
AA  

Reblogged from Anti-Film School:

Hey readers,

The 85th Annual Academy Awards are tonight at 8:30! If you're a film buff, you are more than ready to get the show on the road. For those who can't watch or don't really care to sit through the ceremony, Anti-Film School will have you covered with live updates of the winners. Watch the post throughout the show and I will indicate who takes the Oscar in every category.

Read more… 518 more words

So for lent I have decided to give up all forms of social media and this includes my blog.

Whatever decide to give up or not give up, it doesn’t have to be all about religion and faith

I use it as a time to be reflective, clear my mind and soak up positivity.

I’ll be back on March 30th!

Remember LIVE, LOVE AND LAUGH!

AA xx

The story follows an arrogant, confident, drug using alcoholic veteran pilot William “Whip” Whittaker who doesn’t seem to think he has anything to lose with his reckless behaviour. His life seem to be one big groundhog day of alcohol, sex, drugs, airport hotel rooms and with the company  of a similarly addicted stewardess, he just doesn’t give a damn. He uses alcohol to get him down and when he is ready to fly or look the part, he uses cocaine to make him high. Whip is a man with serious problem and his ex-wife, cabin crew and friends all know it but the only person that needs convincing is Whip. When he gets into the cockpit on that fateful day, his co pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) is instantly on edge as he can see that Whip is clearly not someone who should be trusted with the lives of “102 souls”.
Even when tired and falling asleep next to an already nervous co-pilot he manages to demand control and trust but you know it’s downhill when he starts pouring vodka into his orange juice while addressing the very people are entrusting him with their lives. The plane begins to have problems and  Whip, drunk but mentally sharp, lands his bird as it’s literally coming apart. He shows himself to be a quick thinking genius for calculating ways to slow the plane’s plunge and recover control, even turning the plane 180 degrees to level before guiding it to a crash landing saving all but 6 lives. The intensity of the visuals, the frightened screams of the passengers/crew and the screeching of the plane alike balanced with the final impact, creates one of the most impressively scary crash scenes ever created on film. Zemeckis’s use of slow motion and lilting stedicam shots throughout the crash and its immediate aftermath captures every moment of horror.

The rest of the film deals with the aftermath of the crash and the remarkable way Whip took on the crash landing that did not resolve in the deaths of the entire 102 people on board. As the NTS (National Transportation Safety Board) begins to investigate, blood samples confirm that Whip had high levels of alcohol and cocaine in his blood. The lawyers and the union assure Whip that they can smooth this over, that he’s a hero, but that he has to stop drinking as the investigation means every move is being scrutinised  This proves easier said than done, and that’s when you realize that this is not a movie about flying or pilots, but about alcoholism, drugs, relapses, and redemptions.

The shift in tone and style between the film’s frenzied opening and the slow burning of Whitaker’s awakening provides a solid frisson which, it quickly and disappointingly becomes apparent, Zemeckis cannot maintain and the same can be said about DW’s character.

Many of the characters are flat — almost archetypes. The drug addict, the Bible bashers, the slick lawyer and the back-slapping borderline redneck southern airline owner. There’s very little character development in the film, including that of Whip, despite the performance Denzel puts on. Don Cheadle as Whitaker’s union defence attorney Hugh Lang comes in and does his job with no gimmicks. He is knowledgeable, fiesty and steadfast.  John Goodman’s cameo performance as Whip’s drug buddy/dealer was one of the most idiotic castings I have witnessed in a long time. His loud attire and persona didn’t bring anything to the story other than highlighting Whips crazy past and present. Goodman just didn’t need to be there and his character looked liked he came right out of another film like “The Hangover In The Jungle”. As for Kelly Reilly’s drug addicted Nicole her onscreen struggles with Whip was flat and dull. Both their journeys towards sobriety and redemption seemed spaced out. Him with a busted and bruised body, trying to beat up her landlord? She telling him he needs help with his drinking? No Shit! Zemeckis seemed like he was trying to fill in some running time. However I am grateful that once she vanished off our screens she didn’t come back. Okay so that was bit mean – on her own I think her story would have been great but with Denzel rarely being off scene it was hard for the Brit to make her mark in this.
James Badge Gale makes an outstanding cameo as a cancer patient. He completely steals the scene from DW and KR altogether. His semi religious monologue about the specter of God and of how much control we have over our own lives was so enticing and powerful that when he went off screen I wanted to follow HIS story.

Was this DW’s best film? If Training Day is anything to go by then I’d say no, not by a long shot. Denzel being paralytic on the floor surrounded by empty beer bottles while mumbling to himself, no, not right. DW is missing something in “Flight”..and I feel like I can’t connect or feel any empathy for DW’s character.

I think Zemeckis missed the mark with this live action and I guess I just miss his thirst for technological innovations which he boastfully showed off in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Forrest Gump”. The title of the film can be interpreted as a metaphor as the story really is about a man who’s life goes down like that plane. It is a good film, it’s just not a great film and dare I say Denzel Washington only received an oscar nomination because he is Denzel Washington.

Director: Rober Zemeckis
Stars: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood,
Screenplay: John Gatins
Runtime: 139 mins
Cert: 15

Enjoy the trailer
AA  

It is a film that, between the laughs, offers a moving and sensitive portrayal of mental illness and due to the impeccable cast David O.Russell is able to pull it off. Complete with inappropriate conversations, uncontrollable outbursts and unpredictable behaviour, Pat and Tiffany bond over sporadic encounters  that can be considered dates in the most conventional sense of the word, but far from romantic to any rational person. There are so many magical scenes in this but a brilliant scene involving almost the entire cast really ignites the narrative as each actor has a chance to throw their performance against each other,. The best thing is that the scene isn't about the actors trying to out do each other competitively but each of them showing how they can all be set loose in a room and stand their ground.

 As Pat, Cooper really embraces the leading man role with conviction and is almost unrecognisable. His believable portrayal of the casual swings of bi-polar disorder is deeply affecting. Jennifer Lawrence again makes the most of the opportunity to step outside of the strong, stoic type established for her by Hunger Games and Winter Bones  characters. As the latter earned her an oscar nomination, it's only right her role in this film emulates that. Also a special shout out goes to Chris Tucker who plays Danny, Pat's best friend from the institute. Tucker has not been in a film other than the Rush Hour ones, so it's good to have him back on our screens..acting rather than shouting.

The trailer is a disservice the the movie itself. It's very entertaining, and does something that many rom-coms don't succeed at: being grounded in reality while dealing with issues that are very much taboo if it's met with ignorance   All the main characters are either living with a mental disorder or dealing with those around it. SLP is a simple film with a predictable storyline but it's about real people than some overblown melodrama with a love story in waiting. Many of us know people with various types of mental illnesses from the mild to the  deep, and so in the film we can relate to them in their weakened emotional state. We root for Pat and Tiffany to find happiness and over come their trials and tribulations together as mentally they both come fromt the same neck of the woods.

Director: David O. Russell
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher
Screenplay: Edward McCabe
Runtime: 122  mins Cert: 15

Enjoy the trailer
AA  

Set in the south 2 years before the civil war, Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave shackled to his “brothers” are on a journey to an unknown place. They come face-to-face with German born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) who is posing as a dentist is really a bounty hunter and is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers but he has no idea what they look like. The hilariously unorthodox and abolitionist Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him of being a slave upon the capture of the Brittle Bros dead or alive. Success leads Schultz to free Django but instead of separating, Schultz continues to seeks out wanted criminals of the south but this time with Django by his side. Django explains to Schultz that he is a married man and after trying to escape a previous slave plantation owner, he was branded and separated from his beloved wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). So together while shooting down the baddies they embark on a journey to find Broomhildas whereabouts and free her too. Schultz enjoys scandalising the locals as he rides from town to town partnered with a black man, and Django, understandably, develops a taste for a line of work that allows him to kill white folks and get paid for it.

Jamie Foxx slips into the role of Django like hand to a glove but at times he feels like a minor character in his own story, and when he is given the chance to explore his romance with Broomhilda there is no real excitement to the finale, the tension having already reached its peak with the penultimate act. As a result, the ending – and Django’s character – falls flat and for a moment I thought he was going to sign and invisible ”Z” like Zorro. Django’s accent seems to be off sync in comparison to the other characters and altogether  Jamie Foxx is outdone by the incredible performances of Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. As for Kerry Washington, she almost seems like a cameo as we barely hear  from her and only really see her as fragments of Django imagination or randomly speaking German (really bad too).

How QT meshes humour with brutality is very clever and in some scenes you almost feel guilty for laughing. There is a fantastic scene in which some of the locals gather together into a KKK posse known as The Regulators. Though instead of setting out to cause mayhem they all end up falling out with one another over the practicality about the many inconveniences of riding in hoods. After  dealing with the comedy posse, Django and Schultz shoot their way to their ultimate destination – Candieland the head residence of Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Candie, though spine curdling evil, cruel and slightly too familiar affections with his sister, his character  is overshadowed by his retainer and elderly “house nigger” Stephen (Samuel L Jackson). The bitter servant who has so fully internalised the racism of his day, and his place in the scheme of things, that he enforces it as violently as any slave owner. Stephen watches the other slaves and inhabitants of Candieland mercilessly for anything suspicious in the house, turning against his own people in favour of his ‘Master’. Stephen is perhaps the most cunning and dangerous person on the land as having been a slave himself (and still is), he knows exactly what buttons to push with the other slaves. In fact Stephen actually ends up using the ‘N-word’ more antagonistically than anyone else in the film. He is spiteful and insulted by the thought that someone as young as Django is a free man who seems untouchable and the sight of Django riding on a horse almost sends him to his grave. This is perhaps Jacksons best role to date..

Tarantino doesn’t spare the audience any suffering alongside the slaves. We witness a partially blind, broken and terrified slave being ripped to pieces by dogs and slaves being forced to fight each other to the death in ‘Mandingo’ fights purely for the entertainment of the plantation owners. Though there is no evidence “mandingo” fights too place back then, the trials and tribulations the slaves endured are brought to light and I think QT has to be commended for doing a good directorial job.

The original Django (Franco Nero directed by Sergio Corbucci in 1966) also appears as a cameo which gives nostalgia a nice kick. It’s been a long time since I have applauded a Tarantino film, in fact, for me this is his best film since Jackie Brown. If not for the duration and the over use of blood and guts  this would have been a near-perfect movie. 

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Jaime Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar, Michael Parks, Don Johnson, Franco Nero
Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino
Runtime: 180 mins
Cert: 18

Enjoy the trailer
AA  

Set after the war in 1949, the film follows the ongoing rivalry between Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), who is hellbent on becoming the head honcho of L.A.’s underworld and Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin), a boring one dimensional LA cop with the emotional capacity of a corpse. O’Mara is tasked by Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) with cleansing LA of the problem that is Cohen, his brutes and the illegal racketeering he has going on. Chief Parker gives O’Mara the green light to assemble a discreet, off-the-books posse  and with the help of his no nonsense wife Connie he enlists  Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) and a random but clever group of detectives (Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña and Giovanni Ribisi) in a rather cheery violent romp through a mob-infested Los Angeles.

The usually fantastic cast are all held accountable to this mismatched film, despite having to deliver dialogue that no one could walk away from unscathed. Penn gives a good performance but  he is too over the top compared dulled down actors around him and with his prosthetic face and twangy type accent he might as well be an actual cartoon on the screen.
His love interest Grace Faraday (Emma stone) is a complete failure as a character. Who in God’s name thought she would be convincing as a femme fatale? A mob boss’s lady and a gangster’s moll? Well the casting agents saw something Fleischer could not bring to life on the screen. She looks every bit the modern day 24 year old girl. Jessica Rabbit pulled off a better performance in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”.

Gangster Squad is a movie with a lazy story meshed for audiences just for the sake of making a film. I feel like what could have been a great movie if more energy had been put in and Beall has thought his screenplay though ended up being  a con job as it  lacks any originality or depth.
The blames falls solely at director Ruben Fleischer, a man who clearly has no understanding or appreciation of the 1940-50s period, for if he did he wouldn’t shoot what should have been the most entertaining scenes in slow motion. It worked beautifully in Pete Travis’ 2012 movie Dredd, but here I found myself laughing at Fleischer.

Ultimately, the film is all about instant gratification, almost as much for the characters as for the viewer. On a production note, considerable effort has been expended to reproduce Hollywood Boulevard and other city parts the way they supposedly looked in the transitional days and nights of the late 1940s. The costumes also hit the mark – but then again all of that is easy to come by. It’s a shame the writing and directing partnership between Fleischer and Beall showed us nothing but perhaps they should both steer well clear of trying to re-write history whilst having no motivation to make a decent film.

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, Josh Pence
Screenplay: Will Beall
Runtime: 113  mins Cert: 15

Enjoy the trailer Love and Light

Reblogged from Anti-Film School:

It's that time of the year again! Below is a full list of all your Oscar nominees. And feel free to leave your opinion!

Best Picture:

"Amour"

"Argo"

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

"Django Unchained"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Zero Dark Thirty"

"Lincoln"

"Les Miserables"

"Life of Pi"

Best Director:

David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"

Read more… 447 more words

The film begins in Egypt in 1914, the alien race The Mondoshawans  have returned to earth to remove the 5th element, with promise to return it as they feel a war is coming. Together with the 4 stone elements (air, water, fire and earth), when put together, the 5th element creates a divine light that defeats evil and keeps life a-buzzin on earth. They explain this all to Father Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm) who vows to upkeep goodwill on earth and fulfill his destiny. As for The Mondoshawans, who they are and how they all got there is not important. Only life is important.  Yes the narrative is patently absurd but it works if you focus on the music, characters and humour.

The film cuts quickly to another extraordinary scene, New York City in the mid-23rd century. A futuristic city metropolis, with apartments in blocks, cars that levitate on air and Chinese restaurants float about (I’m guessing it would be New York). Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) plays and a former space fighter turned deadbeat cab driver, has the titular character The Fifth Element,Supreme Being/Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) fall into the back of his cab and thus their story begins.

Besson gives us one great visual conceit after another and he used his characters to bring these out. Miss Plavalaguna a towering alien diva opera singer whose skin is made from extremely tight leather, has tentacles coming out of her head, sings like an angel and dances like she is on speed. Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) plays an outrageous and zany DJ who prances around in a dress, with crazy makeup and an equally barmy entourage. Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) embodies the villainous role of a power maniac aligning with evil. These characters succeed because they both fit into clear archetypes and yet exist with so much individual color and texture that they feel more like the individuals the archetypes are based upon than characters based upon the archetypes. Paul Gaultier’s outlandish costumes fit this film like a hand to a glove.

The weakest part of the film though is the broader story, like we don’t come to know the origin of the elemental stones and why out of all the planets n the solar system the great evil seems hellbent on destroying only earth? Perhaps is because it’s the only one where their is proof of life form (my own observations). With all the narrative flaws I still really love this film but I must point out the ending scene where Dallas professes his love for LeeLoo in order for her to release the Divine Light in the nick of time has to be one of the cringiest moments in my personal cinematic history. Still works though!

Director: Luc Besson
Stars: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker
Screenplay: Dan Mazeau, David Leslie Johnson
Runtime: 99  mins Cert: 12A

Enjoy the trailer Love and Light

I hope/pray this year is full of happiness, wisdom, success, blessing, good luck, generosity, love, laughter, good health and many other great things to fill your year and beyond.

I love this quote:

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” 
― Neil Gaiman

Happy New Year 

Love A.A x