Paul

Paul

Year: 2011

Director: Greg Mottola

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogan, Kristen Wiig, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman

In My Own Words

                Aliens? Hmm….I am never sure about the subject of whether they exist or not. With something like this, I never feel like I am capable of making a statement until I am an expert on the subject. The beginning and the end of this is that there has been no official proof that there is another life form out there so innocent until proven guilty. I do like the idea of going on an alien themed road trip across the United States like Clive and Graeme do in Paul. Even if I don’t know if I believe in it or not, it would still be interesting as you would find out about the link there is between each town and another life form and start to piece together whether there is some truth in it. A road trip across the USA sounds like a great idea right about now too! This trip which Clive and Graeme went on sounds like a great post for my other movie website, Travelling With The Movies. Keep an eye out!

                So let’s not waste any time with the “do they, don’t they exist” and get onto the Paul review. This one is dedicated to one of my friends who has told me that she only gets to go to one movie a year and this year she chose Paul! She knows who she is, so this review is for you!

                These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

                Paul is one of those films that you should make the effort to go out and see if you are having a bad day and need a laugh. Even if you are having a great day, you should go out and see Paul because you will have an even better day! It is one of those rare comedies that is completely fresh and original, yet doesn’t take itself seriously and just has fun with what it is doing.  Extra-terrestrial’s aren’t traditionally seen in film as being comedians which makes Paul one of a kind.

                Paul is the nickname given to the alien in question after the dog his spaceship landed on when he arrived on Earth 60 years ago. Up until now, he has been kept at military base just “hanging out”, but when he finds out that he is actually being held prisoner he makes a run for it. He runs into Clive (Nick Frost) and Graeme (Simon Pegg), two best friends who have travelled to the USA to go to a comic convention in San Diego and then set off on their own extra-terrestrial road trip. Their fun holiday has turned into a fugitive run from the authorities with Paul. For these two nerds, it seems as though all their dreams have come true!

                For a comedy film such as Paul, story and script are the keys to making it work. And Paul has the key.  Alien films aren’t new, but many alien films are either family orientated or they are world disaster films. Paul is different. The alien speaks perfect English and if it wasn’t for the physical aspects, you would think he was a young male adult running around. There are some slightly crass moments in the film with a few expletives thrown in, but it isn’t disgusting or gross like some comedies tend to be these days. The story is very original and a load of fun.

                The writing by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg themselves is very good, but nobody would expect any less from these two, especially Pegg  who has made a name for himself for his screenwriting almost as much as he has for his acting.  The film completely flows as a result of a tightly knit script which does not waver with any of the comedy. The dialogue between the characters is very funny, as are some of the one liners. There isn’t really any spectacular cinematography moments, although some of the nature shots are quite impressive. The film more focuses on just the comedy and it’s witty and fun script.

                Both Nick Frost and Simon Pegg do well in this film and are both very funny, but these do not seem like particularly hard roles for them.  This isn’t a bad thing, as they are able to do the roles with complete ease and they do all that can be asked of them. It is Seth Rogan who belittles both of them, even though it is only his voice which is heard.  He provides the voice for Paul and the mixture of his voice and Paul’s physical appearance just make you smile and no matter how rude he is, he is still very likable.  His vocal talents are perfect for this alien. Kristen Wiig is great in the role of Ruth, a young lady who joins the three on their journey. She is very sweet to begin with, but her change over the film and the things that come out of her mouth as a result are hilarious.

                These days comedy seems to be going in the direction of the grosser the better. Paul may not have the cleanest mouth around and neither may Ruth, but it doesn’t have any disgusting toilet humour which seems to be a common theme in comedies released these days. Who would have guessed that an alien who loves Reese’s Pieces could be the hero in one of the funniest films of the year?

7.5/10

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids

Year: 2011

Director: Paul Feig

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne

In My Own Words

                All hail the stars of Saturday Night Live! Before I lived in Los Angeles, I had only heard of Saturday Night Live, but never seen an episode or knew the fascination with it. Of course I had heard that comedians such as Mike Myers, Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler had got their big breaks on the show. It was never shown in Australia on free to air television until really inconvenient times at night. So when I lived in Los Angeles, I got my first taste of SNL. Now that show is my sense of humour. I was in stitches laughing at the skit of Katy Perry singing “I saw a boat and I liked it” instead of “I kissed a girl and I liked it” and almost falling off the couch when Mark Wahlberg was having an in depth conversation with a goat about it eating apples. These things probably sound ridiculous, but my they are hilarious when SNL do it.

                After this, my roommates knew very well that I could not be out after 10:30pm on a Saturday night because I had to watch my SNL. That is one of the many things I miss about not living in the United States anymore, not having my weekly SNL fix! It is still something I watch in hotel rooms on Saturday nights when I travel back to the states.  Luckily it is shown on cable TV here so I don’t feel as disconnected from the SNL world now.

                As well as SNL being a great show, it has been the stepping stone for so many great careers. There are the three I mentioned before and many, many more. More recently there has been Amy Poehler and my hero, Tina Fey. And Bridesmaids, brings out the talents of Kristen Wiig and Maya Randolph. I am very impressed with Wiig. It was her first go at being the lead lady and I was anxious for her because she is probably my favourite on SNL out of the current cast. She is a very funny lady.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

                Bridesmaids has been hailed by many as The Hangover for girls. This is an inaccurate statement as Bridesmaids may be about girls and may have a title relating primarily to girls, but it is not just for girls as boys will find this movie just as funny as girls. There has yet to be a film quite as funny as Bridesmaids released this year. There is actually different types of humour throughout the film so it therefore has something which everyone will find funny, although you may have to sit through some things you won’t find funny at all to get through to something which you do.

                Annie (Kristen Wiig) is not having a great time. She has had her bakery go out of business, broke up with her boyfriend and is living with very strange siblings. Yet, she has to try and put all of it behind her when her lifelong best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph) gets engaged and asks Annie to be her maid of honour. The group of misfits in Lillian’s bridal party tend to bring out the crazy in Annie, especially perfectionist Helen (Rose Byrne).  It is one mishap after the other until the girls just crack.

                Bridesmaids is very well written and directed with some very funny moments. The best thing is that the laughs just keep coming and it is funny from beginning to end. The laughs don’t come from just one particular source, every character is funny and quirky in their own way. There are some moments (not too many) which some people will find isn’t suited to their sense of humour and some other scenes which are meant to be funny, but are actually quite painful. Such as the first competition between Annie and Helen just gets to be annoying and strenuous to watch.

                Although sometimes exaggerated, one of the best things about Bridesmaids besides the humour, is how well it carries the story and how real the characters, situations and underlying themes are. The story doesn’t waver through all the comedy, which is sometimes a hard thing for writers to do when they are so worried about making the film funny. The themes of friendship, happiness and self worth are recurrent throughout the film and will ring true for many audience members.

                Kristen Wiig does extremely well not just as a lead actress, but also as being one of the writers of this film. Annie is so real and many people are able to relate to her. She goes through very real situations with men, herself and the other girls that she really doesn’t seem like just another movie character. It is fantastic character development and Wiig is so at ease and natural in the role.

                Maya Rudolph doesn’t do too badly, but it would have been good to see her get a bit more from the role and express a bit more emotion throughout the film. Rose Byrne is great as the attention seeker Helen. She is utterly painful and you are just waiting for her to trip. It would have been good to see her character let loose and show her craziness, rather than just shed a few tears. The unsung hero of the film is Melissa McCarthy who plays Lillian’s to be sister-in-law, Megan. She brings many laughs to the movie, but she is an absolute stand out as a character which is unconventional and awkward.

                Bridesmaids is an absolute ball of fun. Some things may offend some members of the audience, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise if you check the censors before you see the film. They aren’t there for nothing. Great characters and may even have the answers to some very real problems some people may be going through.

7.5/10

Hanna

Hanna

Year: 2011

Director: Joe Wright

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana

In My Own Words

                Hands up those in Australia who remember Full Frontal? If you do, you know exactly what I will be talking about in this In My Own Words.

                I am, of course, going to be talking about the Eric Bana which we Australians knew back in the 1990’s. The Eric Bana who was on our television screens each Thursday night at 8:30pm. No, Full Frontal wasn’t an incredibly dramatic and intense drama series, it was Australia’s answer to Saturday Night Live with its collection of send up skits. Unfortunately, the series which I so loved came to an end in 1996, but the memories of Eric Bana as the comedian lives on.

                If someone had told me then that Bana was going to be one of the leading drama and action stars in Hollywood not even 10 years after the show finished, I would have been extremely confused of how anyone could take him seriously. He has definitely proved himself as a fantastic actor and I am very proud of how far our fellow Aussie has come. Yet, sometimes when I watch him in a movie, I am still expecting him to open his mouth and crack a joke or start up on of his famous impersonations as the Aussie bogan, Peter (pronounced “Poiter”), Australian television personality Ray Martin or his very funny portrayal of Tom Cruise. So Bana has gone from imitating the Hollywood heavy weights for a living, to being one of them. Ironic the way the world works out, isn’t it?

                These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

                What comes to mind when you think about a film about a child assassin? Violence, confrontation, uneasiness? Most likely words of this nature and nobody could blame you for thinking this. How about if the movie starts when the “child” in question is in the latter half of her teenage years which doesn’t really make the film about a child assassin, but about a young lady who has been trained as an assassin? Therefore, Hanna is a misunderstood film and rather than creating the controversy which one thinks it would, it is quite amazing really.

                Saoirse Ronan is Hanna, the sixteen year old who has been raised in the Finnish wild by her father, Erik (Eric Bana). As an ex- CIA agent, Erik has trained his daughter as soldier trained to kill. Hanna is sent into the world for the first time to travel across Europe and meet her father in Berlin. As soon as her presence is known in the outside world, she has agents on her tail wanting her dead and she comes face to face with the agent who killed her mother, Marissa (Cate Blanchett). Hanna learns what it is like to be a typical sixteen year old in the outside world and also learns who she really is.

                The story of Hanna may seem disturbing to some people, but it hardly seems disturbing on screen. Sure there is violence, which is to be expected in a film about an assassin, yet the story is really played out as a piece of art. The storyline and script itself is good, but the techniques used to bring the story to the screen are far more impressive than the writing.

The cinematography is just beautiful. There are some amazing panoramic landscape shots and the editing during Hanna’s escape from the agents is brilliant. Director Joe Wright chooses some great locations for the film. The filming locations are very interesting and in the final scenes with playground equipment and the swans and wolf mouth keep everything fresh even at the end of the film. If you really want to get in depth, these images which are part of the landscape could also be seen as symbolic of the childlike innocence which has been destroyed.

In the scene when Hanna is escaping for the first time from the agents, the thrilling images are accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers. The best thing about this soundtrack is that it isn’t techno or electronic music pumping constantly throughout the film, but the sounds are mixed up depending on what is happening in the film at that point in time. One would think that the film was choreographed around the music by how well it matches up and not the other way around.

Saoirse Ronan, this young woman loves the roles that push her boundaries, and why not? She pulls them all off. As Hanna, she physically suits the role as the young girl brought up in the wild. She doesn’t really give a great deal of emotion in the scenes where it is needed, yet she is great as the girl who has never got to experience anything that a typical sixteen year old has. She also doesn’t show a tremendous amount of aggression, which one would normally expect in an assassin. There is aggression there, just not enough.

Eric Bana seems to glide through this role. Like Ronan, he doesn’t show a great amount of emotion. Yet, it is great to see him in another action role. He is a natural in this type of role and looks right at home in the action fighting sequences. Cate Blanchett is very good as the role of the evil agent. She really is quite terrifying and becomes the role with every ounce of her being.

Hanna is truly a work of art. It is visually beautiful and everything is pieced together with the greatest accuracy and care. It is always a great joy to see a film know that it is a piece of art and live up to it.

8/10