Netflix And Chill: Klaus (2019)

The directorial debut of Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martínez López, Klaus is an animated Christmas tale that reimagines the source of many traditions, and does it with a perfect mix of good humour and gorgeous visuals.

Jason Schwartzman is the voice of Jesper, a young man who consistently outdoes himself in his efforts to coast along while he waits for his father to stop trying to make him into a useful member of society. This backfires when he is sent to the small town of Smeerensburg, tasked by his father to have 6,000 letters posted in a year. Smeerensburg has feuding families, a schoolteacher (Rashida Jones) with no pupils, and one citizen who lives out in the woods and spends his time making lots of toys by hand. That citizen is Klaus (J. K. Simmons), and he may well be the key to getting Jesper his quota of letters. He may also be the key to big changes throughout the town.

There's nothing new here, and few people will go into it expecting that, but the screenplay, written by Zach Lewis, Jim Mahoney, and Pablos (based on his story idea), is a good take on the traditional festive tales about a selfish character finding his world enriched when he starts to help others. As Jesper starts to make progress in his personal mission, he unwittingly starts off the legend of Santa Claus and spreads more and more good cheer throughout the village, with children suddenly keen to learn how to read and write, if only to ensure they can send off a letter and hope to receive a toy in return. The only main criticism of the script worth mentioning is the placement of the ongoing feud. It's obviously there for the purposes of the plot, but it would have been nice to have some origin story for it, something that could have maybe tied in better with the central plot thread.

Schwartzman is great for the lead role, giving a vocal performance not entirely dissimilar to the kind David Spade delivered in The Emperor's New Groove. Simmons may not be the first person you would think of to voice someone who is essentially Santa, but he smooths some of the roughness off his voice and fits the character perfectly. Jones is very good as the teacher who finds herself with a sudden influx of pupils, Joan Cusack and Will Sasso are good fun as the respective "leaders' of the feuding factions, and Norm MacDonald lends his voice to the character of a ferryman who is unsurprisingly prone to saying things in a tone very much in the way of Norm MacDonald.

Produced by Sergio Pablos Animation Studios, I'll say once more that the visuals here are gorgeous. Stylised, and beautifully sharp and crisp, the look of the thing sets it apart from many other animated films without making it suffer by comparison. It's a film that feels made up more of straight lines and edges than softened curves, yet the end result is no less sweet and endearing.

Although it may not have fictional royal family members, Vanessa Hudgens, or even Kurt Russell playing a Santa who channels Elvis, Klaus is perhaps the best festive treat that Netflix have delivered yet. I look forward to whatever Pablos delivers next.

9/10

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Yule Love It: The Grinch (2018)

And here is my second review for this year,
Of a film that is overloaded with good Christmas cheer.
It's an animated retelling of a Dr, Seuss tale,
But does The Grinch succeed, or does The Grinch fail?

I watched it last week, with hopes not raised high,
Even the cast could not help me stifle a sigh.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, and more,
Would they be any match for the casting from before.

First we had Karloff and then we had Carrey,
Both of those versions kept me happy as Larry.
But this boasts animation from Illumination,
Is it just a distraction or artistic creation?

Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney co-direct,
Not two names I would first choose to select,
But they're in charge of this cartoon presentation,
That ultimately wallows in creative stagnation.

The animation is nice, the voice cast not bad,
But nothing improves on the other's we've had.
You get what's expected, no more and no less,
It's shiny and new, but far from the best.

The characters are cute, some gags make you grin,
Whoville looks pretty, but lacking something within.
And the problem with Cumberbatch, his accent, I'm sorry,
He's clearly binged House and is copying Hugh Laurie.

The screenplay is dull, there aren't any good songs,
What the film gets right it outweighs with the wrongs.
So I got an idea! An awful idea!
This review was that wonderful, awful idea!

If you're thinking this is a waste of your time,
I can only apologise for trying to rhyme,
But it was better than other ideas that I had,
To say the film was not great, while not entirely bad.

It is what it is, which is nothing mindblowing,
Though I'm sure it will amuse you while outside it's snowing.
I'm no Dr. Seuss, but this review was fun.
I hope you were amused, and now it is done.

6/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Tag (2018)

Based on a true story, to a degree, Tag is a comedy all about a group of friends who have tried to stay young at heart by competing in an ongoing game of, as you may have guessed, Tag. It happens every year, throughout the month of May. That last one who is tagged as "it" is the person who has to spend a whole year knowing that they were the loser. One member of the team (Jerry, played by Jeremy Renner) has never been tagged, but this is the year when that changes. It's also the year of his wedding.

Marking the feature directorial debut of Jeff Tomsic,  Tag is about as middling as mainstream comedies get. I'm not going to deny that I laughed a few times, which is a few times more than I expected to, but a lot of the humour here comes from the cast, who elevate the fairly weak script by Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen.

Renner is a lot of fun here, his ultra-serious approach to covering all of the bases to avoid being tagged a highlight of the film, and the rest of the team do well. Ed Helms is the one who seems to have things planned out best, Jon Hamm looks to be a viable threat at times, Jake Johnson is in unfocused stoner mode, and Hannibal Buress amuses with a number of timely, but unhelpful, observations. Isla Fisher is very good, playing the wife of the character played by Helms, her intensity turned all the way up to 11 for many of her scenes, Leslie Bibb isn't bad as the bride-to-be, and Annabelle Wallis follows the group to get an unexpected story for her newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. Rashida Jones is always a welcome presence, but she's shoehorned in here as a distraction for two of the main male characters, and subsequently given nothing decent to work with.

I'm surprised that we don't get a selection of upbeat pop hits but, otherwise, this ticks all of the expected boxes. You get flashbacks to the characters playing the game as kids, you get a number of tag-related set-pieces, there are some underhand tactics, and you also get a secret revealed towards the back end that is supposed to underline everything with some additional emotion and poignancy (although it doesn't). Fisher aside, the women onscreen are mostly sidelined by the men running after one another and being big kids, and it's all presented as a wonderful way in which friends stay bonded over the years and hang on to their youth.

It's a shame that this is so mediocre throughout, but then it's also hard to see how it could have been anything more than that. How, after all, do you flesh out a film that is based around such a silly, and lightweight, concept? Maybe you decide that it's not really film-worthy and move on to something better instead.

Some may, of course, like this more than I did. Many may liked it even less. Aside from the lack of major laughs, I just found myself often watching the carnage onscreen and wondering just why these people were being celebrated for being selfish men-babies who didn't care about the damage they were causing to bystanders and property as they raced to tag one another. That may just be a sign that I am now officially middle-aged. Or it MAY be that these characters aren't really worthy of a whole movie.

5/10

You can pick up the movie here.
Americans can catch the movie here.
Or just click on those links and go shopping crazy. Because that gets me rewarded and gets you a nice selection of gifts to yourself.

Cuban Fury (2014)

It's an age old story. Boy loves salsa dancing. He excels at it. He is then bullied on the way to a major competition and falls out of love with salsa dancing. He grows up to be a man without fire in his belly (Bruce, played by Nick Frost), but finds his passion reignited when he falls for a woman (Julia, played by Rashida Jones) who, yep, enjoys a bit of salsa dancing. That leads him to finding his old salsa dance instructor (Ian McShane), and also pits him against a repugnant colleague (Chris O'Dowd) who has also taken a shine to the lovely Julia.

Okay, maybe it's not quite the same old story that we've seen/heard so many times before, but the structure of this film is obvious and predictable. Yet, it's also none the worse for it. This is absolutely wonderful, crowd-pleasing stuff. The predictability of the plotting makes it as comfortable as the favourite sweater that you look forward to wearing whenever the temperature starts to drop, and the script and performances provide some big laughs.

Nick Frost is a very likable lead, Jones is an entirely believable object of affection, and O'Dowd has a lot of fun as the asshole making everything more difficult for the main character. McShane is wonderful as the gruff, grouchy dance instructor who resents Bruce for what he threw away in his youth, but the supporting cast also includes some fun turns from Rory Kinnear, Olivia Colman, and, especially, Kayvan Novak.

The script by Jon Brown is full of great lines, with one of the first comments made by O'Dowd about the loveliness of Jones actually making me howl with laughter for a good while, thanks to the unexpected crudity and inventiveness of it. And it wasn't the only bit of dialogue to make me laugh aloud. You might think that's the minimum requirement for a decent comedy, and you'd be right, but it's also increasingly rare to watch something that hits the funny bone so precisely throughout, especially a romantic comedy. James Griffiths doesn't have to work too hard in the role of director, or so it would seem, but he puts everything together well and certainly helps to make the most of the expected touchstones (the montage moment, the inevitable dance-off, the grand finale, etc.).

The other big plus point for the movie is that everyone, to a certain degree, sells it so well. I'm well aware that a mix of techniques will have been used to achieve the desired final effect, but there are plenty of moments that show how nimble on his feet Nick Frost can be. The same goes for Jones, Wilde, and O'Dowd. Considering the fact that the whole movie is focused on salsa dancing,  everyone looking as if they CAN actually salsa dance makes it easier to enjoy the whole thing as it spins and twirls you to a satisfying conclusion.

Don't rush to see Cuban Fury when you want to see something challenging and/or unique. But definitely give it a go if you fancy keeping a smile on your face for just over 90 minutes.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Fury-Blu-ray-Ian-McShane/dp/B00JAQLMO8/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1404965560&sr=1-3&keywords=cuban+fury

The Big Year (2011)

Owen Wilson plays Kenny Bostick, the best birder in the world. His big year total stands as a record that looks almost impossible to beat, yet he's obsessed with defending his title. What IS a big year? Well, it's when birders (aka birdwatchers) head out to spot as many different species as possible in one year and then hand in their results to see just where they stand amongst their equally dedicated peers. Bostick may be the man to beat, but Brad Harris (Jack Black) thinks he can do it. As does Stu Preissler (Steve Martin). As do many other people. But how much do you have to sacrifice in a year that could lead to spotting over 700 different types of birds? These three men may find that out as they vie for the top spot.

Directed by David Frankel, and written by Howard Franklin (based on/inspired by a book by Mark Obmascik), The Big Year is one of those films that's hard to hate. The gentle humour works well, there are some nice moments that try to showcase individual birds to show just why the birders often view them as something so worthy of pursuit. Of course, it's so predictable and desperate to please that it's also a film that's hard to love. It just stays in a very safe middle ground.

Owen Wilson turns in another performance almost exactly like most of his performances from the last two decades, but Martin plays it pretty straight and Jack Black is surprisingly restrained in his role, making a decent average Joe that viewers should want to see actually succeed at the one goal he seems to have in his life.

The real pleasure here, however, is in the supporting cast. Rosamund Pike plays the long-suffering partner of Wilson, Rashida Jones is a fellow birder who isn't even aiming for her own big year, but is rather just doing it for the pleasure of doing it, Joel McHale and Kevin Pollak are two men trying to keep Martin focused on his successful company while JoBeth Williams is his supportive wife. Brian Dennehy and Dianne Wiest play Jack Black's parents, and there are small roles for Anthony Anderson, Tim Blake Nelson, Anjelica Huston, Corbin Bernsen and Jim Parsons.

Worth watching if there's nothing else to occupy your time, this is ultimately just a pleasant diversion that allows viewers to observe people who spend their time observing our feathered friends.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Year-Blu-ray-Jack-Black/dp/B004U5BJQ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378377762&sr=8-2&keywords=the+big+year

The Social Network (2010).

Before The Social Network was released it was one of the few movies in 2010 that I knew I just didn’t want to miss seeing at the cinema. Everything just seemed to be in place for the making of a modern classic. A cracking script by Aaron Sorkin based on a book by Ben Mezrich. David Fincher directing – the guy has done no wrong thus far in his career, in my view. Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Rooney Mara, Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones, Max Minghella and Armie Hammer in the main roles – all may not be household names but I’m a huge fan of Eisenberg and the cast list signalled something aimed directly at those who had been making the most of Facebook since it’s creation.

 

I went to the cinema and something amazing happened, something that has been happening less and less frequently in the past few years. I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, I was absolutely blown away by the whole thing and engrossed from beginning to end.

 

There’s no doubt that certain liberties have been taken with the truth here and there (indeed, Mark Zuckerberg would try to convinve everyone that almost the entire movie is a complete fiction) but this is a barnstorming interpretation of the events that saw Zuckerberg (played, brilliantly, by Jesse Eisenberg) create Facebook and upset a number of people in the process, including the Winklevoss brothers (both played by Armie Hammer, with help from Josh Pence) and Zuckerberg’s best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

 

Structurally, the movie starts with the evening that saw the genesis of what would eventually lead to the creation of Facebook and then moves on to show the two major depositions that Zuckerberg is involved in some time later before hopping back and forth between the most important moments in Zuckerberg’s professional life, including his involvement with Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake as the man who created Napster).

 

What ends up surprising most people when they view The Social Network is just how enjoyable and interesting it all is, quite an achievement considering it’s really the ultimate “nerd made good” tale interspersed by some legal wranglings in a boardroom. Computer programming and depositions do not make for exciting cinema but Fincher spins gold here thanks to the performances, the script so sharp it could be used to provide a clean close shave and his mastery of the camerawork mixing with an unusual, and highly impressive, soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

 

Eisenberg, it must be said, is playing someone who comes across as quite unlikeable but he does it brilliantly, portraying a man as bored and frustrated as he is intelligent. Garfield is more than his equal and when the two are working with, and sometimes against, each other it’s just a double helping of superb acting. Hammer and Minghella are both excellent but it’s worth, perhaps, specifically mentioning how good Justin Timberlake is for those doubtful of the singer’s talent. His portrayal of Sean Parker has the cockiness and showbiz-grin that you’d expect but also changes as we start to see the paranoid, sneaky little man behind the dotcom assurety. Rooney Mara plays Erica Albright, a girl who makes a massive impact on Zuckerberg’s life, and she does very well with her limited screentime. There are plenty of other people in the cast and my not mentioning them is in no way a slight on their performances, it’s simply that this film is full of the right people in the right roles doing the right stuff.

I could go on and on but I fear I’ve already spent too much time rambling like a rabid David Fincher fanboy (which, I suppose, I am). This is another cinematic masterpiece from one of my favourite directors.  

10/10

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