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Rampart review

Alan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:51:31 +0000

Veterans do not have a place in the new world created by Oren Moverman in Rampart, the latest film by the director who is known for his past work, The Messenger, that put veterans in charge of telling family members about deaths. The star of this newest movie is Woody Harrelson, playing a vet from the Vietnam War that has spent his last 24 years on a police force learning how to play the ‘bad guy’ in the partnership.

He basically subscribes to the idea of ‘no guts no glory’ due to his background but the Rampart LAPD district is not looking for scandal, causing a problem for him. For the most part the focus of the film manages to direct away from the actual psyche of Harrelson, which actually makes it a bit more fun to watch as you get to see the drama unfold with very little thought about how it could happen.

Instead, viewers get swept away wondering what is going to happen next. Making it more intriguing is the fact that the rest of the cast is stacked with star power from the likes of Cynthia Nixon, Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi, Ice Cube, and Anne Heche.

The actual film takes place in 1999, seven years after the Rodney King riots and the LAPD is still right in the middle of scandal given the fact that the Rampart department is racking up officer violations. Harrelson’s character just laughs at the situation and continues to defend his cops and himself in what seem to be questionable manners. For example, when his police car is hit by another car he chases the hit and run driver with a nightstick and plenty of anger which is unfortunately all caught on film.

On the flip side, his family is completely the opposite of what you would expect from his uncontrollable temper as he is married by common law to two sisters that live in homes next to each other with children split between the both of them. This is, of course, more than a bit confusing to the children which is why at the end it is their sweet innocence that is the most captivating as they are drawn into the violence of his world.

Of course, their perception is a bit different than the rest of the world as they are a bit twisted and somehow see it is as a testament to them. Daddy issues are a common theme in the movie as there is a scene at the beginning where Harrelson is eating at a burger stand with a new female recruit that he is insulting incessantly as she is the rookie.

However, in the middle of badgering her he lets off when he finds out that she never knew her father. This is the one emotional flaw that we ever see of Harrelson, as he is about as heartless as you can get, but seems intent on being a great family man, although it is soon clear that you cannot rip apart the world without ripping apart your own.

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Paranormal Activity 4 will go ahead

Alan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:16:46 +0000

Following on from the latest franchise success of “Paranormal Activity 3″ in 2011, a statement was issued by Paramount Pictures on January 2 that it will be unleashing Paranormal Activity 4 on us in 2012, along with a host of other potential blockbusters.

The announcement said that their slated highlights for 2012 included ‘World War Z’ a zombie thriller directed by Marc Foster and starring brad Pitt, the next instalment in the franchise G.I Joe: Retaliation, again starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson alongside Channing Tatum; The Dictator, starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by his partner from Borat, Larry Charles, and the latest chapter in the franchise phenomenon known as Paranormal Activity. There is, as yet, no release date for the latter.
There are, in fact, no details at all about the latest Paranormal Activity being disclosed at present, and Paramount haven’t yet confirmed if Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost will return to the helm, and no word is forthcoming on the actors or the screenwriter either.

Paranormal Activity 3 was released on October 21 of last year. The horror movie grossed $54m on its opening weekend, making it the best ever opening for a horror flick. Despite only costing a paltry $5m to produce, it has since gone on to gross a mighty $202m worldwide, and it is little wonder Paramount want to keep the franchise going.

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The Devil Inside Review

Alan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:01:29 +0000

It is a general consensus in the movie world that January is the dumping ground for those movies that haven’t got the box office potential to warrant a big release over the holidays. The rule also applies to those projects that have been troubled during production and the studios just want out of the way. Industry watchers say that it is a dead giveaway that they are scared of the critics, especially the first ones that come out of the gate.

Prime examples are Bloodrayne and Hostel in 2008, and 2009′s Unborn. That tradition is still alive and kicking in 2012, and the first full weekend of the new year sees the release of just one mainstream movie; ‘The Devil Inside’ and, unsurprisingly, there is no advance screening just for critics.

Think back to this time in 2011, the first movie of the year to open was the medieval horror movie ‘Season of the Witch’ starring a hapless Nic Cage in yet another stinker. To be honest, a bad Cage movie is becoming as much of a New Year tradition as a hangover.

Apart from Witch, his other winter stinker was Drive Angry and in February 2007 he unleashed Ghost Rider on us which made $115m despite taking a pounding from the critics. That is still no excuse however for the sequel to Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance that we will have to suffer next month.

So onto ‘The Devil Inside’, this is a weird one to say the least, and yet another low budget horror trying desperately to cash in on the Paranormal Activity franchise complete with supposedly ‘found footage’. This fake documentary tracks a family’s history of violence that stretches back to 1989 when a woman brutally murdered three people, was then declared criminally insane and subsequently locked up in a Roman Catholic loony bin.

When her daughter (Fallen’s Fernanda Andrade) learns that the murders actually took place during an exorcism, she sets off forItaly, complete with camera crew, to find out the truth. The footage they get tells a horrific tale as she, reportedly, get involved which sees many people get seriously bent out of shape due to unauthorized exorcisms.

This movie is two year old, and was bought in February 2011 by Paramount Insurge, the low budget arm of the studio who bought us, you’ve guessed it, Paranormal Activity. In all fairness, this is a lot better than most of these movies, which is probably the reason whyParamountbought it. It deserves reasonable success, but whether it achieves that remains to be seen.

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Shame examines sex addiction

Alan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:54:28 +0000

Michael Fassbender plays the part of Brandon Sullivan in the new film Shame. He plays a man who has lost the ability to connect emotionally and has become completely de-sensitised to any form of social interaction.

The film reveals that this is because of his addiction to internet pornography and sex. He only has one real friend, David Fisher, played by James Badge Dale, who is also his boss at work and a fellow pervert. He has no real other attachment in his life except for the women he calls for phone sex and those he picks up in bars.

His routine life of sex addiction is interrupted when his sister visits his flat. She is the emotional opposite of him, is very emotional and has opinions that are quick to form. Her visit to see Brandon means he has been placed outside his comfort zone and he struggles to develop a relationship that is not physical with a woman.

Brandon is aware of his addiction to sex and he knows it is a choice just as alcohol or drugs would be. The film tells the story from his perspective and his desperation is clear throughout the film.Michael Fassbender excels and there are no moments when his acting falls to anything below sublime. There is a moment when he is watching his sister perform in concert where you are truly drawn in to his performance and it is impossible to fault it.

The director of the movie is Steve McQueen, who is known for holding shots for a very long time. These are not the flashy long scenes that are seen in some films and they are mostly just focusing for a long time on a single moment. This is an interesting filming technique that works very well in this flick. Many of the scenes are shot so that the action is actually out of the audiences view.

This achieves a rather astonishing effect as it allows the audience to fill in what is happening with their own minds. By not showing us what is happening the director allows us to create a picture in our head. This is very effective film making technique and works incredibly well in this production.

This technique also has the effect of you being drawn into the film more than you might be otherwise and you feel for the characters more than you might if everything was made clear.

Steve McQueen has proved himself to be a director, who after just two films, is capable of making even the most mundane shots seem interesting. His long shots of particular moments bring a certain amount of intimacy and tenderness to the tragedy that you can see unfolding in the film.

Brandon is a successful businessman with a problem and you don’t feel as if he is a characteristic pervert, you feel as if he is suffering from something that he does not take any pleasure from. If you could say one thing about how this movie makes you feel it would be shame.

If you go to this film it is very important to go with an open mind as parts will be hard to watch. The premier was held on Friday night and many members of the audience laughed at some moments and this wasn’t necessarily because it was funny but because they needed a way to hide how uncomfortable they were feeling.

Many people at the premiere were unprepared for how graphic the film would be and how tragic some moments would become. This is the first great movie of 2012.

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Joyful Noise is Joyful

Alan — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:01:55 +0000

Musicals are not everyone’s cup of tea, and a musical filled with gospel choir performances is going to have an even harder time to get paying customers through the door.

Yet the upcoming release “Joyful Noise”, written and directed by Todd Graff, somehow manages to take a niche musical style and make the audience care about the choir members and their background stories.

It helps that Graff has cast two musical heavyweights in the lead roles of Vi Rose Hill and G.G. Sparrow; Queen Latifah plays the former while Dolly Parton makes a welcome return to the cinema to play Sparrow.

The two women are at loggerheads through most of the movies, fighting for control over the town’s gospel choir ahead of an annual competition. Eventually, both women are predictably forced to bury the hatchet and work with their friends and neighbours to ensure the choir’s survival.

Despite the sentimentality and the serious points that Graff is making about small-town America in the grip of a financial crisis – Latifah’s character plays a single mother holding down two jobs at the same time as raising her disabled son while her home town is facing the closure of the local employer – Joyful Noise really does have some genuinely joyful moments and is not afraid to tackle some of the issues that more experienced directors would steer clear of.

Inevitably considering how much of the film is set in and around the church, religion does raise its head frequently; yet storyline is never preachy and even raises some brave questions for a US film, particularly in the scenes involving Latifah’s disabled son who questions the existing of a God who would allow him to suffer.

The star of the show, however, is the Our Lady of Perpetual Tears Youth Choir who sing backing vocals on many of the gospel numbers; a musical performance that will have you tapping your toes no matter what you think of the rest of the film.

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Contraband with Mark Wahlberg

Alan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:39:34 +0000

Movie snobs may look down their noses at the good old-fashioned action thriller, but there is nothing better for a Friday or Saturday night at the cinema than a gripping thriller with plenty of exciting scenes.

Mark Wahlberg’s new film “Contraband” is ideal for a weekend trip to the cinema. Packed with crooks, guns, car chases, explosion and bent cops it has everything that every good action movie needs; and on top of that it has a lively script and an impressive cast.

Wahlberg is ex-con Chris Farraday, a man who has been persuaded to turn his back on a life of crime by his wife, British actress Kate Beckinsale. Farraday has settled into his role as a happy family man and has no desire to get drawn back into his old way of life.

Unfortunately, his brother-in-law (Avatar’s Giovanni Ribisi) has other ideas and when a drug deal goes horribly awry and the bad guys are out for revenge, he seeks help from Wahlberg who finds himself back on the wrong side of the law to protect his family.

“Contraband” is actually a remake of a successful European film, as many of the best recent Hollywood movies have been. However, fans of the original, “ Reykjavik-Rotterdam” will find little that is recognisable in the US version other than a nod towards the original storyline.

“ Reykjavik-Rotterdam” was actually the official entry from Iceland into the 2010 Oscars, a clear indication of how the Hollywood touch has changed what was an intelligent and fast-paced thriller into a fairly brainless by-the-book action film.

Of course, sometimes all we want as moviegoers is to relax for a couple of hours and to be entertained without having to engage our brains. If that’s the kind of Friday night film you’re looking for, then “Contraband” is the perfect choice.

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Demi Moore joins Lovelace cast

Alan — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:54:22 +0000

Lovelace is a film about porn star Linda Lovelace, and the latest name to be attached to the project is Demi Moore. The film is currently being shot in Los Angeles and Amanda Seyfried is in the lead role. Demi Moore has recently made headlines in the celebrity world after splitting up with Ashton Kutcher. The Hollywood Reporter has recently claimed that Moore is to play Gloria Steinem, a renowned feminist, in the film.

Demi Moore, who is 49 years old, is joining the cast which also features James Franco who is playing the role of Hugh Hefner. Lindsay Lohan was originally cast to play Linda Lovelace but her continuing legal problems have meant that she has been expelled from the film.

Linda Lovelace was most famous for her role in the hard-core porn film Deep Throat which was released in 1972, this is widely regarded as the first pornographic film to have a plot. She later claimed, after the film was released, that she was forced into it by her husband of the time, Chuck Traynor, who she claimed held her at gunpoint and said he would shoot if she did not act in the film.

Ms Seyfried has commented about her role in the film, “it’s quite a terrifying role to fill as Linda Lovelace had a reputation for the extreme. I do get certain liberties in the production but there is not much room for changing things as the film is historically accurate.” Those who’ve seen the filming have said that Seyfried is almost unrecognisable in the role as she is wearing a brown wig.

The role of James Franco as Hugh Hefner has been reported by Variety magazine which said that it will be a cameo role for the scene when Lovelace visits the Playboy Mansion.

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Girl With The Dragon Tattoo second movie on the way

Alan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:51:03 +0000

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a film with a $90 million budget, and after recently hitting cinemas it has failed to live up to expectations as it did not perform as well as thought at the box office. Despite the poor performance of the film it is expected that the sequel to the film will go ahead.

Before the film was released many people were hoping that it would be a good way for the cinema industry in the United States to end the year, but unfortunately it was financially unsuccessful. The film has failed to top box office records for the year although it has managed to pull in over $70 million from cinema tickets in the US and internationally.

The film stars Daniel Craig and despite its under performance Entertainment Weekly has recently been told by Sony that the sequel is going to go ahead. The article in Entertainment Weekly read, “The slower performance at the box office does not mean we are changing our minds about the development of the next film.”

In its opening week the film grossed around half of the expected amount. The critical reception of the film was also not as welcoming as was expected and many people felt that the weak reviews and poor box office performance would be enough for Sony to cancel the production of the next film.

The next script is being currently worked on by Stephen Zaillian and the two stars of the film have been signed on for the second production. It is unclear whether David Fincher wants to return as director but currently there is no one else signed onto the project.

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Jessica Alba proves she still has it … even at 30

Alan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:31:45 +0000

The sultry pose that Jessica Alba strikes on the new cover of a men’s magazine simply oozes sex appeal. The 30 year old shot the picture, which graces the cover of Australia’s Men’s Style, before she was pregnant and is covered oil and looking fabulous in a tight top, bikini style bottoms and denim shirt. Jessica and her husband Cash Warren welcomed Haven, their second daughter, into the world last month.

The star of The Fantastic Four’s older daughter, Honor, is now three and despite having two youngsters to run around after, she is already exercising to regain her pre-pregnancy figure as soon as possible. Fans who contacted her for advice on Twitter have been given tips on workouts by the actress after she tweeted last week that she had just had her first workout since giving birth and asked if anyone else was starting a new fitness regime.

She was quickly swamped with answers and ended up acting as a celebrity agony act. She explained that her workouts consist of using an elliptical machine and an exercise bike and she recommended that new moms do a mixture of circuit training, interval training and lifting light weights, as well as some plyometrics. One fan thanked her for motivating her to shift her baby weight, and Alba tweeted back that they should do it together.

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Johnny Depp at the GQ awards

Alan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:28:10 +0000

With his cosy abode in France and his intensely private personal life, nobody can call A-lister Johnny Depp an attention seeker. The star of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise attended the GQ awards on Tuesday, but kept his distance from the throng of XYZ-listers in attendance and insisted on having a private room to himself for the full duration of the ceremony. Sat is a leather chair with an expensive bottle of vintage red, he watched the awards on TV.

A source told the British Sun newspaper that Johnny is a notoriously private person and just wanted to watch the ceremony in peace and quiet. He had his comfy chair and his wine and was perfectly happy to watch it all unfold on TV and take it all in. In all honesty, why would someone of Depp’s calibre want to be stuck in the middle of crowd of drunken desperados?

Depp did drag himself from his chair briefly however, to give an award to Keith Richards. The Rolling Stone won the Writer of the Year award and as Depp is said to have based the Jack Sparrow character on his friend Richards, it’s led to a debate as to this being the only reason he actually attended.

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