Paul
I guess if I had to describe what I thought of Paul in a quick phrase it would be either pretty good or pretty satisfying. Neither of those do anyone any good, but actually they're probably the best way to describe it. And in either case, feeling as I do about the work of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, I'd have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. I was expected another home run here and it just didn't deliver on that level. But it was a good enough time, I suppose. There's a ringing endorsement for you...
So what went wrong...ish? I would suppose it's biggest drawback was a complete lack of bite or edge. See, the thing I love most about Pegg-Frost movies like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz was how edgy they were. It's true, both of their previous efforts had a whole heaping dose of heart as well, but it was balanced by some pretty edgy humor. Or maybe not edgy but biting. Or at the very least untamed. This, well, this was pretty damn tame. And the ratio of heart to edge was skewed way towards heart. On the whole, it made for some pretty nice viewing but there was just something missing. There really weren't any laugh out loud moments in this but there were a lot of chuckles. So if you like chuckling and some clever writing, you very well may like Paul. I did, but I guess my problem was that I was expecting to love it. And it just came up short. You know, the whole lack of edge is doubly surprising considering that the director is Greg Mottola. Yes, this would be the same Greg Mottola who brought you Superbad (one of my all time favorites)... oh and Adventureland (another one I liked but not really a comedy, comedy). Superbad- despite it's heart (yep there it is again)- has some pretty untamed (if you will) comedy and it seemed to come so effortlessly and hilariously. Paul.. well...not so much.
Don't get me wrong, I did really like the movie. I guess I'm running the risk of penalizing a perfectly fine movie because it didn't meet my bloated expectations, but when the previous history includes such awesomely funny flicks as Superbad, Hot Fuzz, and Shaun of the Dead, you can see where one would look towards the next offering with high hopes (unless, well, you hated those movies, I suppose). So yeah, there WAS a lot to like about the movie. Really, there was. Like the typical easy, and often pretty funny chemistry between Frost and Pegg. They were- as is typical of them- fun to just sit back and take in. Then there was the story itself, which was indeed pretty clever (an alien- who crash landed on Earth back in 1947 and became a "guest" of the government- fears that said government wants to harvest his stem cells so he escapes and hatches a plan to be rescued by his people, but in order to make the plan work he needs the help of two British sci-fi junkies on holiday to Comic-Con and all the US southwestern UFO hotspots. The Brits agree to help and some relatively staid chaos ensues). One of the best aspects of the story was all the knowing winks towards some of the best and most iconic sci-fi flicks Hollywood has produced. This, too, is a staple of Frost-Pegg joints and it's always fun to spot those typically clever moments (Wilhelm Scream, anyone?). And besides all that, there was the performances of Jason Bateman and Kristen Wiig. Both did much to steal their scenes. Wiig was particularly awesome as the liberated daughter of a bible-thumping, shotgun toting evangelist. Good stuff.
So yeah, it all amounted to a pretty nice movie. Unfortunately, I was really going to see a "nice" movie. I was hoping to see a frickin' hilarious sci-fi spoof comedy (and when I say spoof, I mean lovingly spoofed. Or even needled. That's another trademark of Pegg-Frost flicks, they aren't particularly base or mean-spirited about their send-ups, but rather are more clever and adoring. The producers of such spoofing crap as Scary Movie should take note... when you aren't out to openly mock the genre you're sending up, it actually works better...). Oh well, you can't win them all. I'm sure over time, I'll come to appreciate Paul for the pretty good or nice movie that it was. Right now, I guess I can't hide some degree of disappointment. I was ready to laugh, not chuckle. I guess there's always the next Pegg-Frost project. I have no idea what it is, but I'm already looking forward to it.
Grade: B+
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Movie List 2011: 15.) Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch
For the record, I actually saw this on March 30th...for whatever that's worth. So this should be a bit different. I'm already thinking it's going to be downgraded from where I would have had it had I written this right away. I imagine when a lot of folks think about Sucker Punch, what they think starts and stops at five rather scantily clad young ladies kicking all sorts of ass. And yeah, it IS true to a point that that pretty well sums up the movie. But if you can look past that- hard as it might be- you'll find a pretty darn fun and funky graphic novel-type (if that is a type) movie from Zack Snyder- the creative mind behind 300and Watchmen. And just to be crystal clear here, there is nothing about this movie that makes it a candidate for Skinemax (in fact looking only at the fact that the chicks are scantily-clad..ish... you would miss out on the larger question of WHY they are scantily clad. Snyder is trying to make a point here- or so I've read- flimsy as it might be. And while I've read what his point is... it has to do- and I'm paraphrasing here- with women overcoming the notion of being sexual objects... it's all part of the prison they're in... and when you see them dressed in the pseudo-sexual fashion they're there to kick-ass...thus conquering the world they're trapped in, perception and all... or... something like that? I know I've read somewhere where Snyder was defending his wardrobe choices for reasons other than to get 15 year old boys in the seats). ANYWAY, leaving all that aside, I think Snyder has come up with a movie that IS entertaining to say the least.
That said, it's also undeniably stranger...or quirky.. and complicated- probably too complicated for it's own good. Some of it just plain doesn't makes sense. But the action is good. So it has that going for it. I will say that I also liked the style of the film. That- for lack of a better way of putting it- graphic novel-esque style Snyder featured in both 300 and Watchmen. I just dig it. Never seems to get old for me. And I also liked some of the quirks. But what I liked the best was the idea of the world within a world within the mind that he tries to lay out. It's like Inception...super, super lite. Allow me to try to explain:
Because of a family tragedy, the character known only as Baby Doll (it's obviously not her real name) is sent to an insane asylum. I should mention that the movie is set in some indistinct but clearly defined "yesterday" time period...maybe the 1930s or 1940s? Not entirely sure, I just know it wasn't literally yesterday. But it does hearken back to the day when lobotomies were fairly common place and insane asylums were horrific places. See, Baby Doll (Emily Browning) is being sent to the asylum by her evil stepfather who is after Baby Doll's share of her mother's inheritance... I think... and through a crooked deal with the chief orderly, evil Step Dad has arranged for Baby Doll to receive a lobotomy, thus taking her out of the picture. Baby Doll gets wise to this and obviously isn't going to take it lightly. It becomes clear that she wants to escape- presumably to teach dear old step daddy a lesson. And this is where things get weird. All of the sudden, we're led into a night club/burlesque/brothel scene where all the asylum inmates are now dancers/prostitutes. Baby Doll is the new addition on scene and she quickly makes acquaintance with a few of the other colorfully named dancers: Amber (Jamie Chung), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Rocket (Jena Malone), and resident tough girl, Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). None of these girls is particularly happy being stuck here in the club/asylum so Baby Doll quickly convinces them to join her in her planned escape. Freedom- it would seem- can be won if the girls can assemble a number of different items and figure out how to use them. We know this because Baby Doll meets a mysterious dude in another realm of her imagination... I think it's her imagination... which she visits when she is forced to do her special dance in the first imaginary realm of the burlesque club/brothel. (All the girls are supposed to dance to win the affections of their potential clients for the other part of the equation). In addition to getting sage-ish advice in this other imaginary realm, this is also where Baby Doll and her accomplices kick the asses of some seriously weird villains ranging from machine gun-toting Samurai warriors to re-animated, dead Germans, to orc-like creatures, to futuristic cyborgs each with the end goal of the battle being to capture one of the items they'll need to escpae. Each of these villains or groups are course figments of Baby Doll's imagination and are really fronts for her dancing episodes- which are themselves distractions (we're back in the first imaginary realm) that allow Baby Doll's cohorts to grab the items they need to escape. One assumes all of this has implications in Baby Doll's real world in the asylum. The question becomes, can Baby Doll escape before the lobotomist comes in five days (he's known as the High Roller in the burlesque realm)?
Yeah, you should be sufficiently confused. Granted my description isn't doing you any favors either, but the movie won't provide you with much aid itself either. How much you enjoy the movie probably depends on how willing you are to forget about trying to make too much sense of it and just roll with the pretty awesome action and quirky style. For my part, I was completely ready to turn my brain most of the way off. And I enjoyed it. It's not all bad in the end, Snyder does a decent job tying everything together, but that does kind of lead to more questions... or perhaps plot holes is a better way of putting it. Again it all depends on how deeply you want to delve into it. I'll again emphasize that I liked the style and the quirk. Beyond that... well, there was also a lot to quibble with besides the confusing and complex... or ridiculous depending on your point of view... story. The ending bothered me. In that I mean the very end of the film. Snyder chooses to smack you over the head with his intended message. I HATE when film makers do that. Look, I know you've made a- probably- needlessly confusing flick, Zack, but I still think I could have figured out the message without you coming out and telling me.
Besides that, the acting was hit or miss, especially in Emily Browning's case. She alternates between genuinely decent acting and cold, emotionless, Barbie-doll-come-to-life expression. She's at her best when she's kicking ass which is often enough to push the rest of her sterile performance to the rear view. I found Vanessa Hudgens to be fairly annoying more than anything else. And Scott Glen as the Wise Man (yeah I just looked it up, the sage-y dude's character was really called the Wise Man) delivered his lines with appropriate sincerity, but some of those lines were absolute, flat-fallen duds. I DID, however, enjoy Jena Malone's and Abbie Cornish's performance. They both displayed a range of emotions and some considerable depth... and I suppose I wouldn't be going out on a limb to say that depth of character- particularly these characters- was a high priority. Well, maybe it was, but it sure didn't come out that way. Oh, and Oscar Isaac played his role of the sleazy chief orderly/night club owner with a great deal of what I can only describe as effortless sleaze. Nicely done, sir.
I'm going to go ahead and stop it here. It seems like the more I think about it, the more I want to seriously downgrade the movie. But it WAS fun. Really it was. Wasn't it? Yeah? I think so. No, it was. At least I thought so at the time I saw it. And that really does count for something. I think when I walked out of the theater I was ready to give the thing an A-. Not so much anymore... but really... to me... it was enjoyable. And that's what a movie should be right?
Grade: B
For the record, I actually saw this on March 30th...for whatever that's worth. So this should be a bit different. I'm already thinking it's going to be downgraded from where I would have had it had I written this right away. I imagine when a lot of folks think about Sucker Punch, what they think starts and stops at five rather scantily clad young ladies kicking all sorts of ass. And yeah, it IS true to a point that that pretty well sums up the movie. But if you can look past that- hard as it might be- you'll find a pretty darn fun and funky graphic novel-type (if that is a type) movie from Zack Snyder- the creative mind behind 300and Watchmen. And just to be crystal clear here, there is nothing about this movie that makes it a candidate for Skinemax (in fact looking only at the fact that the chicks are scantily-clad..ish... you would miss out on the larger question of WHY they are scantily clad. Snyder is trying to make a point here- or so I've read- flimsy as it might be. And while I've read what his point is... it has to do- and I'm paraphrasing here- with women overcoming the notion of being sexual objects... it's all part of the prison they're in... and when you see them dressed in the pseudo-sexual fashion they're there to kick-ass...thus conquering the world they're trapped in, perception and all... or... something like that? I know I've read somewhere where Snyder was defending his wardrobe choices for reasons other than to get 15 year old boys in the seats). ANYWAY, leaving all that aside, I think Snyder has come up with a movie that IS entertaining to say the least.
That said, it's also undeniably stranger...or quirky.. and complicated- probably too complicated for it's own good. Some of it just plain doesn't makes sense. But the action is good. So it has that going for it. I will say that I also liked the style of the film. That- for lack of a better way of putting it- graphic novel-esque style Snyder featured in both 300 and Watchmen. I just dig it. Never seems to get old for me. And I also liked some of the quirks. But what I liked the best was the idea of the world within a world within the mind that he tries to lay out. It's like Inception...super, super lite. Allow me to try to explain:
Because of a family tragedy, the character known only as Baby Doll (it's obviously not her real name) is sent to an insane asylum. I should mention that the movie is set in some indistinct but clearly defined "yesterday" time period...maybe the 1930s or 1940s? Not entirely sure, I just know it wasn't literally yesterday. But it does hearken back to the day when lobotomies were fairly common place and insane asylums were horrific places. See, Baby Doll (Emily Browning) is being sent to the asylum by her evil stepfather who is after Baby Doll's share of her mother's inheritance... I think... and through a crooked deal with the chief orderly, evil Step Dad has arranged for Baby Doll to receive a lobotomy, thus taking her out of the picture. Baby Doll gets wise to this and obviously isn't going to take it lightly. It becomes clear that she wants to escape- presumably to teach dear old step daddy a lesson. And this is where things get weird. All of the sudden, we're led into a night club/burlesque/brothel scene where all the asylum inmates are now dancers/prostitutes. Baby Doll is the new addition on scene and she quickly makes acquaintance with a few of the other colorfully named dancers: Amber (Jamie Chung), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Rocket (Jena Malone), and resident tough girl, Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). None of these girls is particularly happy being stuck here in the club/asylum so Baby Doll quickly convinces them to join her in her planned escape. Freedom- it would seem- can be won if the girls can assemble a number of different items and figure out how to use them. We know this because Baby Doll meets a mysterious dude in another realm of her imagination... I think it's her imagination... which she visits when she is forced to do her special dance in the first imaginary realm of the burlesque club/brothel. (All the girls are supposed to dance to win the affections of their potential clients for the other part of the equation). In addition to getting sage-ish advice in this other imaginary realm, this is also where Baby Doll and her accomplices kick the asses of some seriously weird villains ranging from machine gun-toting Samurai warriors to re-animated, dead Germans, to orc-like creatures, to futuristic cyborgs each with the end goal of the battle being to capture one of the items they'll need to escpae. Each of these villains or groups are course figments of Baby Doll's imagination and are really fronts for her dancing episodes- which are themselves distractions (we're back in the first imaginary realm) that allow Baby Doll's cohorts to grab the items they need to escape. One assumes all of this has implications in Baby Doll's real world in the asylum. The question becomes, can Baby Doll escape before the lobotomist comes in five days (he's known as the High Roller in the burlesque realm)?
Yeah, you should be sufficiently confused. Granted my description isn't doing you any favors either, but the movie won't provide you with much aid itself either. How much you enjoy the movie probably depends on how willing you are to forget about trying to make too much sense of it and just roll with the pretty awesome action and quirky style. For my part, I was completely ready to turn my brain most of the way off. And I enjoyed it. It's not all bad in the end, Snyder does a decent job tying everything together, but that does kind of lead to more questions... or perhaps plot holes is a better way of putting it. Again it all depends on how deeply you want to delve into it. I'll again emphasize that I liked the style and the quirk. Beyond that... well, there was also a lot to quibble with besides the confusing and complex... or ridiculous depending on your point of view... story. The ending bothered me. In that I mean the very end of the film. Snyder chooses to smack you over the head with his intended message. I HATE when film makers do that. Look, I know you've made a- probably- needlessly confusing flick, Zack, but I still think I could have figured out the message without you coming out and telling me.
Besides that, the acting was hit or miss, especially in Emily Browning's case. She alternates between genuinely decent acting and cold, emotionless, Barbie-doll-come-to-life expression. She's at her best when she's kicking ass which is often enough to push the rest of her sterile performance to the rear view. I found Vanessa Hudgens to be fairly annoying more than anything else. And Scott Glen as the Wise Man (yeah I just looked it up, the sage-y dude's character was really called the Wise Man) delivered his lines with appropriate sincerity, but some of those lines were absolute, flat-fallen duds. I DID, however, enjoy Jena Malone's and Abbie Cornish's performance. They both displayed a range of emotions and some considerable depth... and I suppose I wouldn't be going out on a limb to say that depth of character- particularly these characters- was a high priority. Well, maybe it was, but it sure didn't come out that way. Oh, and Oscar Isaac played his role of the sleazy chief orderly/night club owner with a great deal of what I can only describe as effortless sleaze. Nicely done, sir.
I'm going to go ahead and stop it here. It seems like the more I think about it, the more I want to seriously downgrade the movie. But it WAS fun. Really it was. Wasn't it? Yeah? I think so. No, it was. At least I thought so at the time I saw it. And that really does count for something. I think when I walked out of the theater I was ready to give the thing an A-. Not so much anymore... but really... to me... it was enjoyable. And that's what a movie should be right?
Grade: B
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