Entourage (4/10): An extended episode of the series more than a stand alone film

"Take me for a round, I last 30 seconds you'll let me take you on a date.”

It's been four years since actor, Vincent Chase, and his crew were last seen on TV, and now these characters are back for their feature film following the footsteps of other TV series such as Sex and the City and Veronica Mars. I personally wasn't familiar with the show, but I wanted to see if the film could be judged on its own (Veronica Mars succeeded to do so). In an early scene we get a summary of who these characters are through an informative newsreel from Piers Morgan. It didn't feel like it was a smooth transition, but at least it tried to introduce everyone in a simple way. Apparently the film picks up right where the series ended, Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) has recently been separated from his wife after only nine days of being married so his friends Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), and his older brother, Drama (Kevin Dillon) are all joining him for a party on his boat. The guys begin planning Vincent's next project and he immediately calls his former agent, Ari (Jeremy Piven), who is now a studio head. Ari wants him to star in his next film, and Vincent agrees with the condition that he can direct it as well. Eight months later, Vincent is in post-production of his movie, which is already over budget, but he needs more money to tweak it. Ari is forced to travel to Texas to meet with the financiers, Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton) and his silly son Travis (Haley Joel Osment). Ari must agree to let Travis return with him so he can see the film and decide if it is worth the risk to lend them more money. After seeing the film, Travis tells his father it is no good, but it seems that his decision is personal rather than professional. 

As we follow Ari trying to convince everyone that the film will be a success, we get smaller subplots revolving around some of the characters personal relationships. Turtle runs into professional MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey, who he has a huge crush on, while Vince is currently dating professional supermodel, Emily Ratajkowski. Eric is being supportive of his ex-girlfriend, Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who is expecting their child anytime now, while he is dating other women. And Drama is crossing his fingers to finally get recognized for his supporting role in his brother’s film so it can boost his fading career as an actor, while he is trying to deal with an internet scandal that has gone viral. The many subplots made this film feel more like an extended episode of the series than an actual movie, and I’m sure fans of the series will enjoy it more than audiences who come into it for the first time. I wasn’t a fan of this movie, but I will admit there are some funny scenes usually revolving around Ronda Rousey or Jeremy Piven’s angry outbursts. There are some great cameos as well of actors and athletes playing themselves, but they don’t all work. My favorite would have to be the scene in which Ari comes across Liam Neeson who sticks his middle finger at him and drives off as Ari yells “leave no Jews behind, Schindler.” 

Doug Ellin who wrote most of the screenplays for the TV series and directed some of the episodes, writes and directs this film as well. I don’t know if the series is similar in style, but I found the movie misogynistic and disrespectful. It isn’t a satire of the Hollywood lifestyle, but a celebration of it. I didn’t really care too much for these characters despite their strong bond, but I did enjoy seeing some of the cameos and film references. If you came for the cameos they might be sufficient enough to keep you entertained, but if you expected more from this film you’re in for a major letdown because the film feels more like an extended TV episode than anything else. Entourage doesn’t stand out on its own as a film and I’d only recommend it to its TV fan base. Other than getting to see Jeremy Piven play once again the role he was meant for, there isn’t much more worth recommending about Entourage.  

My Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (8/10)

¨You´ll see I will be Pirate of the Year! And then you´ll be laughing on the other side of your faces.¨

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie as I was catching up with the nominated animation films. I hadn’t really heard of it before the nominations, but was glad it received the recognition it got because this really is a fun and silly movie that the entire family can enjoy. My favorite animated film of the year continues to be Wreck-it Ralph, but this is still much better than Pixar´s Brave. The Pirates is one of those rare animated movies that will appeal to a diverse audience thanks to the subtle and clever jokes and puns that the British have us all familiar with. The animation is very detailed and skillful here considering this isn’t a computer generated animated movie; it´s stop-motion and was produced by Aardman, the same production company that brought us such great animated films as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Directors Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt also worked in Chicken Run; and in my opinion have perfected their craft here. You can´t make a movie about pirates without having some sort of exciting adventure, and this movie delivers a real fun and clever adventure that adults and kids will enjoy alike. It has the typical silly and dry British humor that we all love so much. The screenplay was adapted by Gideon Defoe from his own novels about the pirates. I had a really fun time with all the jokes and puns, and really loved these funny characters. They were as luxuriant as the Pirate Captain´s beard.

The Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) dreams of becoming Pirate of the Year but has failed to do so for the past twenty years as he isn’t considered one of the favorites to take home the prize. His crew loves him and remains faithful to him, but are as quirky as he is and are not taken seriously by other pirates. The favorites are always Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven), Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek), and Peg Leg Hastings (Lenny Henry) who have a great amount of booty and treasures. The Pirate Captain knows that in order to win the prize he will need to find a great treasure so he begins his quest with his crew by raiding several ships unsuccessfully. Right when he´s about to give up, the Pirate Captain encounters a ship where a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant) discovers that his beloved pet, Polly, is not actually a parrot, but a rare bird that was thought to have been extinct decades ago. He convinces the Pirate Captain to travel to London with the dodo where he promises him great riches for his discovery, but Charles has a hidden agenda of his own and everything is not what it seems. The Pirate Captain´s Second Assistant (Martin Freeman) warns him about the dangers of traveling to London, but he insists on finding these riches. In London, the Pirate Captain and his crew must avoid being discovered as pirates because Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) is known for hating pirates. Thus the adventure begins. Arrr.

This is the first time Hugh Grant voices an animated character, but he does it masterfully creating one of the most enthusiastic and beloved characters of the movie. David Tennant, Martin Freeman and Imelda Staunton all stand out in this film, but Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, and Lenny Henry really don´t have much screen time here. I really had a fun time with this stop-motion animated film and laughed several times at the clever gags and jokes. I hope more people get to watch this fun adventure because it is a movie that the entire family can enjoy and that is just a commodity that is rare to find these days. So if you have the opportunity to see this don’t hesitate and check it out.

    

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My Review: Serendipity (8/10)

¨Serendipity, it`s one of my favorite words. It`s such a nice sounding word for what it means: a fortunate accident.¨

I never thought the time would come in which I`d see this movie because unfortunately I had caught the ending on cable and therefore spoiled the rest of the film. However, I happened to come across Serendipity again and decided to watch it from the beginning this time, and what a pleasure it was. Even though I knew how the story was going to end, it was a delight to watch the story unravel. We know how these romantic movies are going to end most of the time, but the important thing is the story and the chemistry between the lead characters; and Serendipity didn’t disappoint me. I was hooked from the very opening scene in the store, and there seemed to be something magical going on. It didn’t matter whether or not I had seen the ending because the important thing was seeing this romantic story come to life. The chemistry between the two lead roles was really believable. It`s as if I was destined to watch this movie the way I did so that I wouldn’t focus so much on how predictable the movie might be, but rather enjoy the love story and the chemistry between the actors. The dialogue in this film, written by Marc Klein, was also great and there were several memorable lines. In my opinion this is by far Peter Chelsom`s best film thanks to a great dual performance from John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale who really shine together on screen.

 It all happens one magical night: Jonathan (John Cusack) is doing some Christmas shopping for his girlfriend and while grabbing the last remaining pair of black gloves he runs into Sara (Kate Beckinsale) who is also thinking of buying them for her lover. Being the gentleman he is Jonathan insists that Sarah take the gloves, but he can`t help but feel some magical connection between them. They decide to share a drink together at Serendipity and they spend the night getting to know each other, although Sara never reveals her last name to him. She says that if they are meant to be together then fate will make them cross paths again. She writes her full name and phone number on a book cover (¨Love in the Time of Cholera¨) and says she will give it away to a used bookstore. If they are meant to be together then he will be able to find the book; Jonathan does the same thing on a five dollar bill. Unfortunately fate doesn’t give them a hand at first and each goes their separate way. Seven years later Jonathan, who still lives in New York and works for ESPN, is about to get married with Halley (Bridget Moynahan). His best friend, Dean (Jeremy Piven), gives a funny speech on their engagement night, but Jonathan begins to see some signals that remind him of that magical night he shared with Sara. Meanwhile, Sara is living in California and is also about to get married with a New Age musician named Lars (John Corbett). She also begins to get cold feet about the wedding and begins to see some signs that remind her of the night she spent with Jonathan. She decides to travel to New York for the weekend with her best friend, Eve (Molly Shannon), and see if she can find information on Jonathan. Thus the plot thickens and the fun begins.

The chemistry between Beckinsale and Cusack is just unbelievable. Those few scenes they share together at the beginning of the film are so magical that we want the two of them to find their way back together. Somehow we want to believe in fate and soul mates, and these two characters represent just that because we want them to be together even though they both seem to have good relationships with their partners, who don’t play the typical bad boyfriend/girlfriend character. The movie is not all romance; there are also several funny scenes: Piven and Shannon have some memorable comedic scenes. Beckinsale is as beautiful as ever in this film, and Cusack is at his best playing this sort of charismatic role. The entire cast really shines in this film making this love story all that more believable. Serendipity is one of those few romantic Hollywood movies that actually works thanks to a great love story, good performances, and memorable dialogues. We all want to believe in love and how fate can give us a hand when it comes to finding our soul mate; and Serendipity works so well at getting this point across that it can turn the most skeptic person into a believer. It doesn’t matter if the ending is predictable or not, the most important thing about Serendipity is how we get to that finale; learning how to read those signs and enjoying the love story. In my opinion Serendipity will rank among those great romantic films.

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