Tag Archive for Video Ezy

Planet of the Apes (1968)

February 6, 2012 DVD, Just Reviewed, Just Seen, Modern Classics
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Movie: Planet of the Apes
Director:  Franklin J. Schaffner
Stars:  Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter

“Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

Who doesn’t remember this movie? Or the TV series for that matter? During a moment of Christmas spirit induced nostalgia, I hired this from our local Video Ezy , popped the pop corn and settled in for the evening. 

 

The first thing that really struck me was how quickly and easily I ‘fell’ into this movie.  Yes, the set is stark and has that Star Trek feel to it but somehow that gave it a realism I wasn’t expecting. Perhaps realism is not the right word exactly – and I freely admit nostalgia was a vital ingredient to this entire experience – but I bought into and that surprised me. I was expecting to spend the evening giggling at the sets and the effects that had not stood the test of time. Did everything look a little dated? Well, yes a little. But did it work? Absolutely.

Based on the 1963 French novel, La Planete des Singes by Pierre Boulle (which I have been lucky enough to read in French and highly recommend), the movie plot revolves around a group of astronauts who have crash landed on a planet where apes rule, and humans are the beasts.  Charlton Heston (1923-2008) leads the group as Commander Taylor in a role that begs the question as to whether or not in fact the man suffered from type casting – and if you don’t believe me, try watching Ben Hur and Planet of the Apes in the same weekend and see what you think….but I digress. Not just strong, brave (read – exceptionally macho) and intelligent, the loner, Taylor is also stubborn and single minded.

The film was a massive success on release bringing in a whopping $32,589,624 at the international box office. The prosthetic makeup was groundbreaking and was so complicated that once it had been applied in the morning, the actors were ‘stuck’ in character for the day, eating liquid foods through straws.

According to that repository of all vital trivia, Wikipedia, “in 2001, Planet of the Apes was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.”

While Heston was the big name draw card for the film, the true star was undoubtedly the late and very great  Roddy McDowall (1928-1998) who played the archaeologist chimpanzee, Cornelius. McDowall went on to star in four of the five movies (he wasn’t in the second movie) as well as  the TV series.

Watching the movies and the series as a kid, I never really pondered the reality – it was just a cool show to me. Watching it now as an adult, I actually really enjoyed the movie and found it not only very well done (especially for the era) but easily believable. It does, in my opinion, tick all the boxes: the casting is perfect, the storyline works, the effects and sets are in the worst examples non-intrusive and in the best brilliant, and the ending is ideal. No candyfloss happy ending, but the realisation that man, like it or not, is capable of great things both good and bad and must take responsibility for them all.

It’s worth a revisit. Trust me.

 

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Cowboys & Aliens

January 3, 2012 DVD, Just Seen, Sci-Fi
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Movie: Cowboys & Aliens
Director:  Jon Favreau
Writers: Roberto Orci (screenplay), Alex Kurtzman(screenplay), and 7 more 
Stars:  Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde

Okay I did not really want to see this movie. Come on: Cowboys and Aliens? Really? Doesn’t that just sound like every bad B movie ever made? When I finally did hire it, I made sure everyone who was listening heard the words “well it’s not for me, it’s for the kids, it’s to review, there’s nothing else left in the store today.”  And the video store owner kindly pretended he hadn’t heard any of it when, upon returning the movie, I gushed “that was awesome” in a tone that bore a disturbing resemblance to the one my kids use when coming off a roller coaster.

First of all, let’s be honest, with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford headlining this one, it really couldn’t lose could it? I like Daniel Craig a lot as an actor despite being somewhat ambivalent about him as James Bond (too serious for me) and far from being wasted on this role, he made it work. As for Ford, I have long suspected the man could play the part of a guy reading the phone book and pull it off.  Come on – does anyone really buy the idea of the President going from Air Force One to another plane via a cobbled together flying fox? No – except during those three seconds that Ford-as-President actually did it; in those three seconds, we bought it. And we didn’t hold it against him when the movie ended and the spell had worn off. So, Ford as the rough, tough, my-way-or-the-highway, town bully with a heart of (dusty) gold also worked.  The combination of these two more than made up for the rare “oh please” moments in the film.

And to be honest -there were precious few of those moments.  After all, if we accept the idea of people being abducted by aliens – even if only for the duration of the film – then why would this only occur from the mid 20th century?  Adapted from Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s  2006 graphic novel of the same name, Cowboys & Aliens tells the story of Jake Lonergen (Craig), an amnesiac (being snatched by aliens will do that to you) who, with the help of Woodrow Dolarhyde (Ford) and the msyterious and beautiful Ella Swanson (played by Olivia Wilde – possibly best remembered as Thirteen, Hugh Laurie’s foil for a while in the series House),  has to try to save a group of townspeople from alien abduction. In good old fashioned Western tradition the local Indian tribe gets involved – they’re being abucted too – and everyone must join forces against a common enemy.

Yes it does sound all very far fetched and somewhat silly. It shouldn’t work. But it does. In no small part because the actors are just so damned good.  You can’t help but get caught up in the story and the  - I hate to say this but it’s true – fun of the adventure. Think Indiana Jones meets Star Wars. You can’t help cheering for the cowboys and booing the aliens and just generally having a good time.

There are some heavy duty producers behind the film too, which I’m sure went a long way to helping the finished product look a million miles from B-Grade, among them  Ron Howard, and as executive producer Steven Spielberg.

If you haven’t seen it yet, get the kids, a bowl of popcorn, kill the lights and sit back and have some fun. You won’t be sorry.

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Larry Crowne

January 2, 2012 DVD, Just Reviewed, Just Seen, Romantic Comedy
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Movie:  Larry Crowne
Director:  Tom Hanks
Stars:  Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts

I’ve been inclined to wonder recently if the admission that I am a big fan of both Tom Hanks (with the exception of Forrest Gump, which I truly dislike) and Julia Roberts doesn’t make me something of either an anachronism or a cliche – or perhaps a disconcerting combination of both.  Admitting that I am partial to the occasional romantic comedy probably wouldn’t help would it? Not that it matters, since I’m long past caring much about how other people might judge my taste in … well anything actually. So, let’s just say from the beginning that I am a fan of both Hanks and Roberts.

Besides like many I had heard the anecdote about Hanks being ‘accosted’ by fans at a gas station and his offer to refund their ticket price when they complained about how disappointing Larry Crowne was. He offered to refund their money? Classy dude.  So when The Offspring went down island to see their dad for a few days, The Man of The House (TMoTH) and I took advantage of the few days alone to catch up on the movies we wanted to see. Translation: the movies the kids find desperately uncool. Larry Crowne was top of the list, which is why on December 26 I could be found curled up on the sofa, a glass of Boxing Day bubbles in one hand and the remote in the other.

Larry Crowne (Hanks – obviously) is a middle aged retired Navy cook who works at a local store (think Wal Mart, K-Mart, or The Warehouse) and who without warning finds himself surplus to requirements. In other words, he gets laid off. The powers tell him its because he has no degree or other educational qualification and before long the now unemployed Crowne is enrolling at the local community college.

Roberts plays Mercedes Tainot, a cynical professor dealing with her own midlife crisis with too many margaritas. Crowne is enrolled in her speech class where he soon learns that what should have been a slam dunk class is in fact a lot harder than it should have been. The ‘hard’ class, Economics, is the one Crowne takes to quickly, by virtue of his self imposed discipline. In Economics he makes friends with  Talia and eventually her boyfriend – played by a surprisingly un-Fezlike and very sexy Wilmer Valderrama (yes that would be Fez from That 70′s Show).

With encouragement from Talia and her group, Crowne begins to make sense of where he has found himself and eventually challenges the aloof Miz Tainot to question her own behaviour.

Larry Crowne is not a deep, challenging film a la Philadelphia (in my Top 10 favourite films), it’s not a thriller a la DaVinci Code, heck it’s not even a typical romantic comedy of the type that made Hanks famous (think Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail). It is however a lovely look at starting over when you are at that stage of life where typically most people are getting ready to settle back and simply count the profits. Maybe it’s because of where I am in life at the moment ( I can relate to this movie in many ways – and if you’re that bored you want details  you can find them on my blog) but I really enjoyed this movie.

Hanks and Roberts both gave strong, believable performances and show that middle age isn’t about either chasing a disappearing youth or measuring for a shroud: it is simply another time in life to be lived, loved, and laughed at like any other. It has its ups and downs.  Be sure to watch for some great performances too, including the fabulous Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle and a wonderful cameo from George Takei - who you’ll recognise from Star Trek fame or at least you will if you are the same age as Larry Crowne…..

TMoTH found the ending disappointing but I found it perfect in its simplicity. I sometimes feel modern movies get bogged down in the search for the perfect ending or the most realistic ending – and often miss the mark completely. Larry Crowne finishes right where it should and with satisfying simplicity and ease.

Nothing about Larry Crowne is startling, but that should not be seen as a criticism. It is in fact where the strength of this movie lies – for most of us, life is ordinary, if not simple. Little about it is glamorous or straight forward or even easy. It simply is what it is. Hanks has done a great job of capturing this and portraying it with humour and affection and if you are looking  for an enjoyable way to spend an evening, with a glass of wine, you can’t go wrong with Larry Crowne

 

 

RATING: 8/10

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The King’s Speech

November 28, 2011 DVD, Just Seen
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Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: David Seidler (screenplay)
Stars:  Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter

Since I am possibly the last person on the planet to see this movie, I probably am the last person on the planet who should be reviewing it. Nothing I can possibly add will make any difference – especially as I was bowled over by it as everybody else.

I’ve long been a fan of the three main characters and they have been widely and deservedly praised for their performances.  Not only were they outstanding each in their own right, but none of them overshadowed the others at any point.

There was however, for me, another actor who stood out and whose performance I found equally as impressive and that was Timothy Spall  who played Winston Churchill. If you came away wondering where you had seen Spall before and just couldn’t work it out, go and raid your kid’s Harry Potter DVDs – Spall played the traitorous Wormtail. He was also in Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland and Enchanted to name but a few. I’ve always thought he was a good character actor, but I was wrong… he’s a brilliant character actor.

The Man of the House (TMotH) was as impressed with the movie as I was – and that is big praise indeed since he’s not quite the movie fanatic I am.  We both agreed that what took this movie to a higher level was the cinematography – at no point did the settings, scenery or even just the filming get in the way of the story the characters were telling. Yet at the same time, it wasn’t so stark as to be bland.

Directed and filmed with subtlety and delivered with discretion and respect, The King’s Speech is a classic already and should be a must have on any collector’s shelf.

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