Pride (8/10): It's a musical without being a musical

“When you're in a battle against an enemy so much bigger, so much stronger than you, well, to find out you had a friend you never knew existed, well, that's the best feeling in the world.”

Pride is Matthew Warchus’s third feature film and the first one since his 2004 musical, Our House. Pride isn’t a musical, but it surely feels like one with all the colorful characters and the lovable 80’s soundtrack. It was a surprisingly fun film with an upbeat message about solidarity. It is one of those rare crowd-pleasers that stands out from other films thanks to its strong cast and uplifting message. I never imagined a film focusing on the historic events that took place in the UK in 1984 when the miners were at strike and found an uncommon ally in the gay and lesbian activists could be so fun. We’ve had similar plots in the past where two groups come together in the aid of each other despite their differences, but I don’t think it has been done in such a contagiously joyful manner. Take last year’s Dallas Buyers Club for example where we get a contrasting alliance between a redneck cowboy and a group of gays suffering from AIDS. That was a much more serious film where we got some comedic moments due to the contrasting lifestyles, but Pride takes this similar premise of contrasting groups coming together and delivers a much more hilarious and uplifting film. It still delivers the message and despite being formulaic it manages to stand out thanks to its colorful characters that never lose their humanity. I can’t think of another film where a group of gay and lesbian activists aren’t just fighting for their own cause, but are actually invested in helping others who are going through a difficult moment. So it stands out in that it isn’t one of those films that is focused entirely on delivering a message in favor of gay rights, but rather focusing on the solidarity between these two groups. That is what makes this a much more humane  story and one everyone an identify with. The way the film is portrayed feels like a musical at times and you actually want to dance along with some of the characters when the music plays. Pride is a film with a lot of heart that reminds us that despite our personal issues there are always others out there in need of our solidarity. Pride might feel a bit too sentimental at times, but it is a feel-good film nonetheless with some of the funniest scenes of any comedy released in 2014. There are also some dramatic moments where I literally got goose bumps because I was moved. It is well balanced and uplifting despite its flaws.

Some of my favorite moments in the film involved the clashing of these two contrasting groups. Despite their differences they learn to understand each other because they both have suffered from oppression. The cast couldn’t have been better. Ben Schnetzer gives an impressive performance as the gay activist who comes up with the idea of supporting this group and winning a new ally in the process, but the fun really kicks in when they interact with these miners from a small Welch community. This is where we are introduced to some great characters played by Paddy Considine, Jessica Gunning, Imelda Staunton, and Bill Nighy who are outstanding. Nighy really delivers by underplaying his character and proves that sometimes less is more. I enjoyed Gunning’s strong female performance and I look forward to seeing her in more films in the future. George MacKay also delivers as this young kid who hasn’t told his parents he’s come out (which is probably the most formulaic part of this film) so he lies to them about his activities. Andrew Scott and Dominic West also have some endearing moments on screen together. The best thing about Pride is without a doubt the strong cast which thanks to the rich screenplay by Stephen Beresford are given such colorful and interesting characters. It is a film that reminds us about our humanity and the importance of being solidary towards one another. It is both cheerful and earnest about its subject matter.

My Review: About Time (7/10)

"We're all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride."

If there is someone who can get away with being too schmaltzy, generic, charming and sentimental it's Richard Curtis. It comes as no surprise here considering he's directed Love Actually, and wrote such rom-coms as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Notting Hill among others. He has a tendency of melting even the toughest hearts and no matter how prepared you think you are for his next film somehow he gets you again. Perhaps About Time is his most sentimental film and that could turn some people off, but I must say this isn't your typical romantic comedy. Half way through the film it turns into a completely different movie becoming one about family dynamics and enjoying the ordinary moments in life. Perhaps the reason why Curtis gets away with being so charming is that he creates a perfect balance in his stories and introduces comedic relief at the right moments. About Time is a flawed film, but you can probably say this about all his films. The thing a lot of people might have a problem with specifically in this one is the time traveling element which many may find a bit absurd, but it worked for me (at least it was much better than the other time traveling movie that Rachel McAdams starred in) and I think Curtis uses this element as a sort of parable to remind us of the importance of savoring each day. It may feel like a sermon at times, but it's one I don't mind being reminded of. Carpe Diem!

Tim (Domhnall Gleeson who you may recognize as Bill Weasley in the last two Harry Potter films) is a shy kid living with his parents (Bill Nighy and Lindsay Duncan) and lovable sister Kit Kat (Lydia Wilson). The morning of his 21st birthday his father shares with him a family secret: the men in their family can travel in time, but they can only do so to moments they personally have experienced. Tim decides to use this special ability to find love, because he really needs all the help he can get for it. Tim leaves his parents beautiful beachside estate in Cornwall for London in order to become a lawyer. He moves in with one of his father's friends, Harry (Tom Hollander), who's a struggling writer with a bad temper. In London Tim meets Mary (Rachel McAdams) and the two fall for each other, but due to a time traveling incident that night is erased from Mary's memory and Tim has to find another way to win her back.

I feared this film would become another sort of 50 First Dates, but surprisingly it took an unexpected turn halfway through the film and becomes something else. It is not just a romantic comedy, it becomes a movie about family, love, and life where Tim learns a couple of valuable lessons along the way. McAdams and Gleeson shared great chemistry on screen, but the true standouts in this film were the supporting characters, especially Tim's father played by the wonderful Bill Nighy. He is great here once again, while Wilson, Duncan, and Hollander all are extremely funny and used for comedic relief. It's a relief from the schmaltzy sentimentality of the film. It's as if Curtis is admitting he's manipulated us way too much with all the emotional sentimentality and now it's time for a good laugh. If you don't find this film funny then you will probably find it way over the top with the sentimentality. It's not a film for everyone, but I had a good time and was charmed by the story.

My Review: Shaun of the Dead (7/10

"We're coming to get you, Barbara!"

Shaun of the Dead is one of those films that benefited from the release date since a few weeks earlier the zombie horror flick, Dawn of the Dead hit theaters worldwide. A couple of years before that Danny Boyle scared audiences in England with his successful zombie flick 28 Days Later. Shaun of the Dead works as a spoof to all zombie movies so the distributors had perfect timing which is essential for a comedy. The film also had a pretty strong fan base considering Simon Pegg and Nick Frost had worked with director Edgar Wright in the past in the TV series Spaced. The setting for this film was just perfect and Wright and Pegg did a great job with the script. Thanks to Shaun of the Dead we got to see these actors team up together for another great film: Hot Fuzz (a spoof on pretty much all the 90's action movies) and for the upcoming The World's End which is receiving great reviews from critics. Fans of the TV series Spaced might enjoy some inside references in Shaun of the Dead, but regardless of wether or not you've seen it you will still have a great time with this film because the script is witty and clever while the performances are also all pretty strong. The more zombie movies you've seen the more you will enjoy this because it makes fun of several of those generic stereotypes. I wouldn't say this is a horror flick because there isn't really a scary moment, but it is an intelligent comedy that makes fun of those cheesy moments in horror films (jump scenes where one person shows up all of a sudden with creepy music in the background). Shaun of the Dead is worth your time if you are looking for a good and fun time.

Shaun (Simon Pegg) is kind of a slacker who hasn't done much with his life. He is content to spend his days with his roommate Ed (Nick Frost) and his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) hanging out at the local pub where he is a frequent customer. The problem is that Liz is tired of the relationship since all they do is hang out with Ed at the pub and she barely gets to have time alone with him. Shaun promises to take her out to a nice restaurant and turn his life around, but the next day he gets distracted by a visit from his stepdad (Bill Nighy) who reminds him he has to go visit his mother (Penelope Wilton) thus forgetting to reserve a table for dinner with his girlfriend. Tired of Shaun's broken promises, Liz decides to break up with him. Shaun realizes it's time to turn his life around, but something strange is happening in his town. All of a sudden dead people are coming back to life and attacking everyone so Shaun realizes this is the perfect opportunity to prove to Liz that he is capable of saving and protecting her from the deadly zombie attacks.

Shaun of the Dead works really well thanks to the great chemistry between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; you can tell their friendship transcends the big screen and seeing them pair up is what works best in this film. The British gags and cultural references cross borders and the jokes are effective anywhere. This is one film anyone can enjoy because it works on its own. It isn't one of those spoof films which you can only enjoy if you've seen the movie it's making fun of. The fun and the jokes work on their own and the relationship between the characters is also really strong. Shaun of the Dead came to my attention when Quentin Tarantino shared his list of the 20 best films of the last 20 years and this movie appeared on that list. I really enjoyed this movie, but I don't consider it among the best comedies of our era. In my opinion Hot Fuzz was even funnier, but I really look forward to The World's End which looks really promising. Shaun of the Dead is worth checking out if you are one of the few people that haven't seen it.

Rating: 7,8/10

My Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (8/10)

¨Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not the end.¨

There is a scene near the beginning of the film where you have Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith all sitting next to each other in the airport. Just to get these talented actors together in one movie is an impressive accomplishment. To take them to the beautiful and colorful India is another. How can you go wrong with such a talented cast? Well we´ve seen it go wrong in Hollywood with films like Valentine´s Day and New Year´s Eve, but here director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) was able to give each actor enough screen time for their characters to develop and interact with one another. Another difference between those films is that here all the characters are connected with each other and are living under the same roof: the Marigold Hotel. That allows for the film to flow smoothly. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has one weakness in my opinion, which is the title, but the film does work really well as a feel good comedy. It wasn’t the kind of film that made me laugh really hard, but it did have me smiling throughout the two hours. The beginning is a little slow since we are introduced to each character individually, but once they are all in the hotel together the film works really well. It moves really smoothly from comedic moments to touching and emotional ones, balancing things out really well; and you will leave the theater with a big smile in your face. It is a wonderful film with a talented cast and an interesting script adapted by Ol Parker from Deborah Moggach´s novel ¨These Foolish Things.¨

In the very beginning of the film we are introduced to the main characters of the story. On the first hand there is Evelyn Greenslade (Judi Dench), who recently lost her husband and learns that she has to sell her home due to his debts. Then we are introduced to Judge Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) who decides it is time to retire from his job and move to India. Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean Ainslie (Penelope Wilton) have been married for nearly 40 years and lost their life´s savings after lending it to their daughter for a business proposition. Just like Evelyn they are searching for a retiree home that they can afford. Muriel (Maggie Smith) on the other hand is in desperate need of a hip surgery and the hospital gives her the option of having it done in India. Norman Cousins (Ronald Pickup) is single in his 70´s and is searching for a companion or at least a memorable night. And finally there is Madge Hardcastle (Celia Imrie) who is also searching for a partner after having been divorced multiple times and is tired of living with her daughter and grand children. Each one of these people decides to retire at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India after being attracted by the ads on internet of such a magical palace. Once they arrive at the hotel they discover that it is nothing like it was on the ads, but sometimes the unexpected things in life are what make it so enjoyable. Dev Patel plays the Hotel manager and he has a love interest, but the true stars are the senior actors.

Director John Madden has given us a lesson on how it is possible to make a film with several talented actors and give each one of them character depth. We all know how great Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith are, but the rest of the cast was also outstanding. Ronald Pickup had the funnier character and he got the most laughs from me. Celia Imrie was also a delight on screen as well as Penelope Wilton. The film deals with some very interesting issues and I loved the message it got across about being able to adapt to different changes. It is never too late to welcome changes in our lives, and the more willing one is to embrace those changes the better because humans have this special ability to adapt to change, but the problem is that many times we are so comfortable with our lives the way it is that we end up fearing change. Jean Ainslie wasn’t willing to adapt to the change in her life and became a bitter person, but Douglas on the other hand began to see things differently when he was willing to embrace life in India. Another issue that arises here has to do with the way society sometimes treats seniors like a sickness instead of finding better ways of life for them. It always seems like an easier solution to send them to some sort of retirement home, but we fail to treat them the way they deserve to be treated. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel teaches us that there is some wisdom in these senior citizens and that it is never too late to adapt to changes. The cast alone is proof of what a magnificent job these seniors can still do.

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My Review: Total Recall (5/10)

¨The past is a construct of the mind. It blinds us. It fools us into believing it. But the heart wants to live in the present. Look there. You'll find your answer.¨

This new version of Total Recall is better than the original, but that`s not saying much considering I wasn`t very fond of that one either. This remake shares sort of the same problems that the original had considering there is a whole lot of action going around, but hardly any time for character development. The entire movie feels like one big chase scene and by the end instead of feeling the climax you are wishing it would end already. The movie isn`t that long, but it feels like it. What I liked better about this film was the look of it. The dark futuristic vision of the world was engaging and some of my favorite scenes involved this imagery and brilliant futuristic designs. This movie has a much better look and it was also a plus that it took place entirely on Earth instead of Mars like in the original. I also think Colin Farrell is a much better actor than Arnold, but when it comes to action scenes Arnold was the best and in this film Farrell doesn’t have much to work with besides running around from one action scene to another. The action scenes have gotten repetitive and there isn’t anything unique about them in this movie either; director Len Wiseman could have come up with a better plot to engage the audience and not focus as much as he did with the action scenes. The setting was the highlight of the movie for me and I enjoyed some of the devices they imagined in this futuristic world but that was about it. Wiseman, who is better known for directing the Underworld franchise, also hired Kate Beckinsale to play the role Sharon Stone did in the original. I had no problem with the casting, which for me was good, but I wished the characters were given more meat.

Sometime in the future only two countries exist: The United Federation of Britain and the Colony. It is a dark time where most people live in poverty in the Colony and have to travel across the world to Britain to work. There is very few habitable space for the people as a Chemical warfare has destroyed most of the planet. Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) is the Chancellor of UFB who is dealing with a rebellious group from the Colony under the leadership of Matthias (Bill Nighy). Times are unstable and the future doesn’t look bright for the residents of Earth. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) seems to be living a normal life as a factory worker with a beautiful wife named Lori (Kate Beckinsale), but he feels like escaping from the routine of work and decides to pay a visit to Rekall, a company that specializes in implanting brain memories. At Rekall he asks for an escape from his everyday life and he chooses the option of becoming a spy. Before they implant the memory something goes wrong and Quaid realizes that he is not who he thinks he is. He has special abilities and even his wife seems to turn against him. Quaid suffers an identity crisis and begins picking up clues about his past which involve him working as a spy for the resistance movement. He immediately begins to be chased by Lori and Cohaagen`s people and meets Melina (Jessica Biel) who claims to know him from the past, but with another name. Quaid will have to try to discover whether what he`s experiencing is real or if it`s just a fantasy implanted on him from Rekall.

The main idea is very similar to the original film, except for the fact that the resistance movement is in Earth and not in Mars, although it is a very different planet by now. Colin Farrell plays the same role Arnold did, Kate plays Stone`s role although Kate gets much more screen time as she`s also the main persecutor as well, and Biel plays the role of the heroin who helps unlock Quaid`s past. This film has a better cast in my opinion, but the plot is equally as poor developed. At least in the original version we had some funny one liners (what Arnold did best), but here the film is much darker and serious. I enjoyed this version a little more, but I still didn’t enjoy it very much. Maybe if the final action scene were a little shorter I could`ve enjoyed it a little more. Total Recall shouldn’t of been remade it, it just isn’t that remarkable of a film in my opinion.

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My Review: Rango (5/10)

¨So you want something to believe in? Believe in that there sign. For as long as it hangs there we've got hope. ¨

2010 was a great year for animated films (I guess that`s the correct term for them now since no one calls them cartoons anymore) with Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, and Tangled all ranking among my Top 25 Films of last year. Rango is the first film I´ve seen from 2011 since I had a lot of catching up to do with last year`s movies before the Award Season ended; and one thing is for sure: Rango won`t rank among my favorite films for this year. Rango is director Gore Verbinski`s (known for The Ring and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) first animated film and he`s receiving a lot of positive reviews so far in his incursion to the animated field. I wasn`t as excited as most critics were however since I was a little disappointed with the story. There is no denying that the visuals were stunning and the CGI animation was breathtaking, but the story really didn`t work for me. I didn`t think the characters had any depth to them and the story really dragged at several points of the film for no apparent reason rather than to evoke the mood of most Westerns. Rango is a parody of Spaghetti Westerns (fans of the genre will find plenty of spoofs from several movies including The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly) and the title of the film is actually inspired on another Western, Django. The visuals truly capture the beautiful scenery we see in most westerns, but the story just seemed to be all over the place and I failed to connect with it. There were also very few funny moments as I didn`t find many of the spoofs that amusing, and I don`t see how kids would find them funny at all.

As for the plot goes we are introduced to Rango (voiced by the great Johnny Depp), a green chameleon wearing a red Hawaiian tee-shirt. He seems to spend most of his time in his cage imagining himself saving a damsel from distress (actually a head-less Barbie doll) from an evil villain (a Nemo-like toy fish). While he is in the midst of this imaginary feat, the vehicle where his cage is at the present time swirls making it fly out of the car and break, so Rango finds himself free in the middle of the desert. He encounters an armadillo (Alfred Molina), who guides him to the town of Dirt, a town in desperate need for a hero since there is a shortage of water. Rango encounters Beans (Isla Fisher) who warns him about the situation in the town of Dirt and the little hospitality the townsfolk have with foreigners, but Rango has no problem making friends by lying and telling stories about his ¨heroic acts.¨ His odds are improved when he accidently kills a hawk, which happened to terrorize everyone in the village. Rango becomes the local hero and the Mayor (Ned Beatty) appoints him as the new Sheriff of Dirt. It`s the opportunity he has been dreaming of: becoming a hero, but there is a lot more to this town than meets the eye. The Mayor seems to be hiding some crucial information about the water supply, and with the hawk out of the picture the locals now fear that Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) will return to terrorize them.  

I tried to simplify the plot as much as I could as there are actually a lot of things going on that aren`t developed really well. The plot does draw heavily from Chinatown (screenwriter John Logan actually claimed he was inspired in that film when he wrote the story) and it spoofs many Westerns (Bill Nighy said he was inspired in the bad character from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and we see Rango wearing a poncho like the man with no name did in that same film). John Logan has done some interesting work in the past (Sweeny Todd, Aviator, and Gladiator), but I really didn`t enjoy this story that much. Rango simply didn`t live up to the great animated films from last year, and the visuals were just not enough to save this film since that has become a known asset in every animated movie. I do think that the CGI was a bit above average from other animated movies, but it wasn`t enough to save the poor story. I really had high expectations for this film since I enjoy Westerns and thought it was about time for a good animated Western to come out. I just didn`t think this movie had any heart, like say Toy Story 3 or Tangled had. I just didn`t get emotionally attached with Rango and didn`t find it very funny at all. I wouldn’t recommend this.

 

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