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Resident Evil + more
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Romantic spark
»
Behind the
scenes
Gunhild Litwin found lots to like in this deeper-than-usual rom-com
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W
oman from a
typewriter. This movie
is a total delight. I
went expecting the
usual frothy manic
pixie-girl ™ rom-com.
And it started out that
way, with a sprinkling
of magical realism to get the story
going.
Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) wrote a
bestselling and critically acclaimed novel
at 19. Ten years later, he is still waiting
for the kiss of inspiration. His girlfriend
of five years left him, and he exists in
an intellectual isolation, occasionally
interrupted by his psychologist (Elliot
Gould), his brother Harry (Chris Messina)
and his agent (Steeve Coogan).
He dreams of a beautiful girl who
is the perfect manifestation of all his
wishes, and through these dreams he
finally overcomes his block and writes.
His new novel deals with this girl,
and suddenly, without any laborious
explanation as to how, she manifests.
Her name is Ruby Sparks, from Dayton,
Ohio, and she loves Calvin unreservedly.
Ruby Sparks
as seen by men. Calvin
Far from being a figment
makes Ruby clingy.
of his imagination, she is
Rated: M
Too much? Write her
indeed real for all around
Runtime: 120 mins
exuberant. Too much?
Calvin. And Calvin discovers
Directors: Jonathan Dayton,
Make her “normal”,
that Ruby, sprung from
Valerie Faris
sometimes happy,
his typewriter, instantly
Cast: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan
and Annette Bening
sometimes sad. When
does what Calvin writes
a manic-depressive
– such as speaking fluent
Ruby wants out, Calvin finally reveals
French. Calvin, very much the liberated
to her that he is her creator, and he
intellectual, puts away the script, and
cruelly makes her perform like a puppet
from then on, Ruby just is. So far, so
whatever he types.
rom-com.
Zoe Kazan, the writer and actress
Then reality slowly creeps into the
portraying Ruby, weighs men and finds
idyll. Ruby develops a personality: she
them wanting. As an actress, she must
is crabby at times, too tired to be there
for Calvin, and she realises that Calvin is be hyper-aware of the extreme demands
on women in public: to be thin, but
completely without friends. She wants
to move back into her apartment for one not anorexic; to be smiling, and not
demanding; to be
night a week and re-start art classes.
lovely, and never
“There has to be space in a
opinionated; to be
relationship, otherwise it is as if we’re
interesting, but not
one person,” Ruby says before she
Screening Times
too clever; to be sexy,
leaves.
but not slutty.
Wounded, Calvin picks up the
Ruby Sparks would
manuscript and starts to write Ruby
have been even more
back into his life.
perfect had it not a
At this point the movie becomes a
bookend rom-com ending.
brilliant critique of the image of women
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Brain drain
Official trailer
Sol Breakwell went to
The Watch hoping for a
little more than he got.
Screening Times
I
f you intend to view “The Watch,”
do not expect to see anything other
than the pinnacle of mediocre
comedy.
The basic plotline is four everyday
guys form a neighbourhood watch group
wanting to get to the bottom of a series
of mysterious murders that are happening
in their quiet suburbia. The general
comedy is lazy and largely genitalia
based, sprinkled with sexual references
and scenes of ‘comedic’ violence that
warrant no more than a small chuckle
at best. Even though each of the four
main actors (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn,
Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade) has a
track record of great comedies (remember
Zoolander, Swingers, Superbad, and The
IT Crowd, respectively), this movie is
the unfortunate incident where putting
several funny people in the same movie
seriously counteracts the ability for each
one to be funny.
The same amount of enjoyment could
have been had sitting and staring at
an oscillating screen for an hour and a
half. This is not an entirely bad movie,
however, neither is it a remotely good
one. “The Watch” is the absolute
mediocrity of movies.
n
The Watch
Rated: R16
Runtime: 115 mins
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Ben Stiller, Doug Jones, Jonah Hill,
Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt, Vince
Vaughn, Will Forte
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Official trailer
game over?
Cat Pausé found
fifth time was
unlucky for
Resident Evil
Resident Evil: Retribution (3D)
Rated: R16
Runtime: 110 mins
Director:
Paul WS Anderson
Cast: Michelle Rodriguez,
Milla Jovovich, Sienna
Guillory
Screening Times
I
enjoyed the first three Resident Evil movies - this fifth offering? Not so
much. Opening with a cool rewind shot, a narrative of the first four film
highlights follow, and then it quickly devolves into nonsense. Overall, the
movie feels like Resident Evil: Reunion Tour. Familiar faces and monsters
abound (except the dogs – where are the dogs?!), surrounded by a ridiculous
plot. And the 3D is used poorly (‘Oh no! Is that axe coming straight towards
me?!’) The movie ends well, in a cool shot that might just set us up for the
final movie in the franchise. Here’s hoping. n
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Fast, furious & funny
It’s cheap, raw and pretty bloody good. Mark Tregowith took
Hit and Run for a ride.
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Screening Times
If films about fast cars, young lovers, a
jealous ex, bumbling cops and crazy crooks
normally leave you cold, then this low
budget, high-octane film is likely to exceed
your expectations.
Forget the petrol-head flicks of old; this
cross-country caper is a fresh take.
When Annie (Kristen Bell) lands an
interview for her dream job in Los Angeles,
her boyfriend Charley (Dax Shepard)
grudgingly agrees to take her. The only
problem is he’s in the witness protection
programme. If he returns to LA, he risks his
life, but if he stays behind, he risks losing
Annie.
The complications continue when Annie’s
ex uncovers Charley’s real identity and
alerts the crooks he’s hiding from. To top it
off, the bumbling cop who’s supposed to
be protecting him also decides to join in
the chase.
What does it all add up to? A comedy
cleverly packed with misfits, mayhem
and edge-of-your-seat action. With more
than a passing resemblance to films
like Smokey and Bandit, Cannonball
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Official trailer
Run, and TV shows like The Dukes of
Hazzard - Hit and Run is no jalopy; rather
a raw, frequently crass, but above all else
straightforward and funny vehicle.
Considering the money poured into
some blockbusters, writer, director, and
editor Dax Shepard (one of the stars of TV’s
Parenthood, who also finds time to star in
the film), has done wonders with a budget
of a mere US$2 million. No surprise then
he’s found plenty of roles for his friends,
with Joy Bryant, Bradley Cooper, and Tom
Arnold all providing cameos, along with
a slew of other famous and familiar faces.
Through care, craft, and cameos, it’s easy
to see this movie ultimately as a labour of
love.
n
Hit and Run
Rated: M
Runtime: 100 mins
Directors: David
Palmer, Dax Shepard
Cast: Dax Shepard,
Kristen Bell, Bradley
Cooper
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New look
Nemo
Cat Pausé put on her 3D
specs to find out if Pixar’s
transformation of the
classic Finding Nemo has
been done well
Screening Times
F
inding Nemo is a delightful movie – perhaps the best produced
by Pixar. Finding Nemo 3D is delicious. The 3D functionalities
are interwoven throughout the film, and suggest that you are
floating along the ocean currents with Marlin and Dory. The
colours are stunning and the story still captures every heart in the
theatre. Finding Nemo offers many life lessons, but the one I take
home every time, is that fish don’t belong in a box. Neither do people
– or new movie technologies. If all transformations are this successful
– I hope Pixar treats us to other favourites in 3D as well.
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Official trailer
Slow mo car crash
Gunhild Litwin goes On The Road with Jack Kerouac and friends, and didn’t
really enjoy the trip.
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On the Road
Rated: R18
Runtime: 137 mins
Directors: Walter
Salles, Walter Salles Jr.
Cast: Alice Braga,
Amy Adams, Elisabeth
Moss, Garrett Hedlund,
Kirsten Dunst, Kristen
Stewart, Sam Riley,
Steve Buscemi,
Terrence Howard,
Tom Sturridge, Viggo
Mortensen
Screening Times
1947, the beat generation sets off
on the road. During the excruciating
137 minutes - that is 2 hours and 17
minutes!-, Sal Paradise (Sam Riley)
meets Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund),
who is a charismatic, womanising, drugfuelled livewire. Sal, living with his
mother in New York, and stagnating as
a writer, is pulled along on a road-trip
West.
The flotsam and jetsam of the
various trips which take place over the
following 3+ years are women, drugs
and relationships. Ostensibly setting off
in search of inspiration, Sal drifts in and
out of various scenarios filled with onedimensional characters who engage in
mundane behaviour and drugs.
The men’s friendship ends with the
ultimate betrayal of Dean leaving Sal
seriously sick in Mexico. Recovered, Sal
returns to drab reality, to his mother
in New York. Here he finally finds the
creative impetus to write his account of
the last three years after he has a last
encounter with a down and out Dean.
I found the characters in On The
Road unsympathetic, misogynistic and
frankly, annoyingly opportunistic.
Brief flashes of true hardship, such
as Sal’s encounter with a Latina farmlabourer in California, segue into the
ever-occurring sex scenes. The ease
with which the women in this movie
engaged in sex had nothing to do
with a liberated expression of female
sexuality and desires. Rather, it felt like
a fulfilling of men’s soft-porn hopes.
Walter Salles’ other road movie The
Motorcycle Diaries told a similar story of
a man setting off to find … something.
This man was moved into action by
observation of hardship and suffering,
and the story of Ernesto ‘Che” Guevara
was better for finding a heart. 126
minutes zipped by. You will find nothing
like this in On the Road.
The saving grace of On the Road is the
post-bop jazz score.
Oh, and Garrett Hedlund’s washboard
abs, perfect for a 2012 pin-up shot, but
ever so much too buff for the era. n
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Official trailer
LOOKING GOOD
This week Gunhild Litwin sheltered from the Palmy winter by
basking in the rosey glows of Moonlight Kingdom.
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Moonrise Kingdom
Rated: M
Runtime: 134 mins
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Bill Murray, Bob Balaban,
Bruce Willis, Edward Norton,
Frances McDormand, Harvey
Keitel, Jared Gilman, Jason
Schwartzman, Kara Hayward, Tilda
Swinton
T
Screening
imes
Moonrise Kingdom is a nostalgic homage
to the mid-60s. To save the film from
utter sappiness, the leads and their
support are portrayed as quirky, flawed
individuals.
This Wes Anderson movie picks up
his theme of dysfunctional families
in memorably beautiful settings: here
it is New Penzance, a New England
island threatened by a large storm. It’s
where Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman),
12, orphaned, loner, lapsed scout
(reminiscent of Jason Schwarzman’s
character in Rushmore), meets Suzy
Bishop (Kara Hayward), also 12, oldest
daughter, cat-lover, book-stealer, loner,
lover of music by Françoise Hardy, protofeminist[a].
They escape their respective confines
and track through the golden latesummer island landscape to a secluded
bay, where they set up camp and play
home in all pubescent innocence.
The scouts and their hapless leader
(Edward Norton), Suzy’s parents (Frances
McDormand and Bill Murray - a standout
in his fits-like-a-glove curmudgeon
persona with a heart) and the local
police officer (Bruce Willis) pursue
them, and with the arrival of the storm,
mayhem breaks out. Ultimately, the
movie finds a solution as golden as the
cinematography.
The film is a beautiful confection; no
grain of the negative impact of ostracism
spoils the delight while you watch the
story unfold. As a ‘young’ baby-boomer,
this movie reminded me of the endless,
hot summers of my primary school
years in the 60s, which I remember with
fondness.
The movie is perfectly pleasant, and
affords you with an hour and a half or so
of slightly eccentric escape from the bad
weather. Just do not expect anything
other than the look to linger.
n
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TOTAL REDUX?
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1990 trailer
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2012 trailer
The movies these days seem to be awash with tired remakes. Gunhild Litwin
was surprised by what she found when she checked out Total Recall.
Total Recall
Rated: M
Runtime: 130 mins
Director: Tony Gilroy
Cast: Bill Nighy,
Bokeem Woodbine,
Bryan Cranston, Colin
Farrell, Ethan Hawke,
Jessica Biel, Kate
Beckinsale
Let me start with the important bit:
This re-imagining of the classic Arnold
Schwarzenegger 1990 sci-fi flick is the
superior movie. In comparison, the ‘wry
humour’ of the original period piece is
dated and lame.
In this new version by director Len
Wiseman, the biggest change to rile
the fan boys is the terrestrial setting:
no trips to Mars for this 22nd century.
We’re still only on Earth, populating
sparse living spaces that drive the film’s
conflict.
In 2118, the only two inhabitable
zones are the UFB (United Federation
of Britain) and the Colony (Australia via
Southern China). However, the major
plot points are still the same: the Rekall
memory den, the wife and the rebel,
treachery and utter confusion, regaining
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lost memories, the big bad government - everything held together by
the dark and dystopian set.
Any changes from the original novel by Philip K. Dick (We Can
Remember It For You Wholesale) and the first movie seem to reflect
the frugal times we live in: space exploration is no longer financially
sustainable and we live in altogether less optimistic times.
Colin Farrell is perfectly cast, both a believable object of attraction
for two stunning women and an action man when needed. The action
scenes are visually arresting and take advantage of the different strata
of the city. Even the car chase in electromagnetic cars is believable!
Starting with the classic trope of the innocent, amnesiac man who
starts to remember, the plot moves along briskly. He lives with the
girl who’s the nemesis, meets the girl who jogs his memory (Kate
Beckinsdale and Jessica Biehl – kick-ass, both of them), then reaches
the supportive resistance fighters. Betrayal and mayhem ensue, the
big-bang finale, a the-bitch-is-back moment (my companion said:
“Yup, she’s back like the Energizer bunny!”) and finally the happy
ending.
I loved spotting the many references to my favourite sci-fi flicks.
Minority Report and Blade Runner (spot the clear plastic raincoat worn
by the prostitute with three breasts - come to think of it, that IS one
of the few funny moments here & in the original), as well as Star Wars
and Aliens. The production design by Patrick Tatapoulis is a loving and
well-done re-mix of these greats, yet feels native to this Total Recall
universe.
If you like action, sci-fi, Colin Farrell and have not yet had enough
of the “lost memory’ theme in current pop-culture, then this is a
movie you will enjoy. n
PHILIP K. DICK FILMS
Blade Runner (1982)
Based on “Do Androids
Dream of Electric
Sheep?”
Screamers (1995)
Based on “Second
Variety”
Total Recall (1990 &
2012)
Based on “We Can
Remember It For You
Wholesale”
Confessions d’un Barjo
(French, 1992)
Based on “Confessions
of a Crap Artist”
Philip K. Dick by Pete Welsch from Washington DC
Impostor (2001)
Based on “Impostor.” (via Wiki Commons)
Minority Report (2002)
Based on “The Minority Report.”
Paycheck (2003)
Based on “Paycheck.”
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Based on “A Scanner Darkly”
Screening Times
Next (2007)
Based on “The Golden Man”
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Based on “The Adjustment Team”
King of the Elves (coming
2013)
Based on “King of the Elves”
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Official trailer
Middle age meltdown
Hope Springs
Reviewed by Mark Tregoweth
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Growing old isn’t always
funny and sadly neither
is much of this film.
R
ight from the start it struggles
with its own identity - is it a
romantic comedy or middleaged melodrama? Scenes of
couple counselling and meanderings
down memory lane, broken up by
moments of amusement and awkward
silences, suggest it’s an unfortunate
mash-up of both.
On the surface, Arnold (Tommy Lee
Jones) and Kay (Meryl Streep) are
a happily married American couple
approaching their 31st wedding
anniversary. However, Arnold is
withdrawn and sleeps on his own in the
spare bedroom, preferring sports and
work to sex or conversation with his wife.
Kay longs for a loving relationship
with her husband, but her attempts to
reconnect with him fizzle out, and in
frustration she turns to a book written
by a couples counsellor. Motivated by
what she reads, she takes Arnold on
an intensive couples’ therapy retreat
with the book’s author, Dr Feld (Steve
Carrell), at his home in Hope Springs.
Getting her husband to agree to the trip
was hard enough; getting him to open
up and fall for her again seems even
more unlikely.
With its slow start and patchy
stitching together of marital mirth
and earnestness, the movie becomes
one of embarrassing antics and missed
opportunities. Despite this, the cast
makes the most of the mediocre
material: Meryl Streep and Tommy LeeJones are great as the 60-something
couple with a good sense of camaraderie
- no doubt bolstered by having to do
their best with a script better suited for
TV than for a Hollywood blockbuster.
Steve Carrell - normally the funny man
- plays it straight in a welcomed turn as
their Poe-faced counsellor.
Often forced and contrived, funny
in parts, but ultimately forgettable,
Hope Springs is sadly little more than a
middle-aged meltdown. n
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Boy Zone
Gunhild Litwin braves a testosterone soaked theatre to review
the latest in the Bourne franchise - The Bourne Legacy
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Screening Times
Where to start? Maybe with the audience
attending the first screening. This
fourth installment of the adrenalinefuelled franchise attracted men - lots
of them for a morning session - and
three women. No surprise here: Bourne
epitomizes the singular male hero, who
overcomes obstacles and life-threatening
situations by his smarts, an incredible
physical prowess and a ballpoint pen.
Who could forget those scenes? Which
man would not secretly dream of
having a finely honed body capable of
unimaginable resilience?
Bourne, though in the movie’s title,
appears in it only in name and on a
wanted poster. Bourne’s legacy, however,
is carried on by Jeremy Renner’s initially
unnamed hero. We first encounter
him adrift in water, reminiscent of the
Bourne Identity’s opening scene. But
from the next moment, it becomes clear
our new hero doesn’t have any doubts
about what or who he is, in contrast
to the premise of the Bourne Identity.
Fighting off a pack of wolves hunting
him in the Alaskan wilderness, he
swallows pills - a blue one and a green
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Official trailer
one (hello, Alice: one to make him
smarter, and one to make him strong).
Though later revealed as Aaron Cross, for
now the hero remains unnamed, even as
he makes contact with a fellow agent.
In the opening act, the movie cuts
between this snow-bound setting and
the CIA bureau in the US, all suited
bureaucrats and flickering computer
monitors. Back in the US, Jason Bourne
is exposing the Operation Threadstone
to the media. To avoid further pressure,
the decision to shut down this and
the related programmes is made “Shut down” in the literal sense, as in
poisoning all agents associated with
them. The wolves on Cross’ trail could
serve as a metaphor for the CIA agents
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out to get him. And, just as the pack’s
lead wolf is used by Cross to save
himself, we can be quite sure our hero
will be able to outwit his human hunters
as well.
Jeremy Renner, who was brilliantly
intense in The Hurt Locker, displays
the same aura of physical assuredness
here as the agent fighting for survival
and the maintenance of his superior
abilities. But we do not feel as invested
in his fate as we were in the bewildered
and lost Jason Bourne’s, who after
all was searching for his identity and
reason for being in the Bourne Identity.
Throughout the first and second acts,
the threads of different aspects of the
Bourne Legacy story are picked up, and
the roles of persons and institutions
become somewhat clearer. The female
sidekick this time is the gorgeous Rachel
Weisz, who portrays Dr Marta Shearing,
the fittest virologist ever. She has to be,
if she wants to survive the fallout of the
programme’s termination and aid Cross
in his quest to come out of this with his
superior powers permanently engineered
into his genome. Cross’ reason for
wanting to maintain what he has? He
was not very smart before. As good a
reason as any, I presume.
The question of morality is briefly
addressed: how can any one (or any
institution) justify conducting these
experiments on humans? Dr Shearing
gives the short answer: ‘I was there for
the science.’
The three major chase scenes are well
executed, if a bit clichéd and prolonged.
However, I do love a good parkour
chase and the one across rooftops in
Manila does not disappoint. It lacks
the breathtaking excitement of Casino
Royale’s opening scene, but has a fun
moment when the damsel in distress
gets rescued. Nods to other classic chase
scene set pieces abound and the two
shoot-out scenes are classically well
constructed and filmed.
The Bourne Legacy does not contain
iconic set pieces such as directors Doug
Liman and Paul Greengrass included
in the other films. It carries a PG 13
rating (no sex, no nudity - a pity, given
Renner’s fit body), not even much blood
and is clearly not meant for an audience
who appreciates buckets and buckets of
the latter and less cerebral plots.
I enjoyed watching it. But I would not
rent it on DVD to see it again.
n
Bourne Legacy
Rated: M
Runtime: 134 mins
Director: Tony Gilroy
Cast: Albert Finney,
David Strathairn,
Edward Norton, Jeremy
Renner, Joan Allen,
Rachel Weisz, Scott
Glenn, Stacy Keach
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