Guys’ Night In – Page 3

The Boat that Rocked

Director: Richard Curtis
Writers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan Jones
Released: 2009
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson
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If you love groovylicious music and cool fashion from the 1960s, then you are going to LOVE this film!

It’s a film about the pirate radio stars during the sixties who played rockin’ music, whilst trying to keep the government off their backs who didn’t like the kind of influence the radio stations had.

It’s the kind of film where its characters are used to target the typical main-stream movie audience who are in their twenties, but it’s ‘historical’ enough to capture the reminiscing kids of the sixties, yet, unique enough to entice the indie teens, and overall AWESOMENESS to be absolutely: Way. Cool.

It’s an exciting film about each radio host’s personal triumphs as well as the overall capturing story of essentially giving the middle finger to society. The contrast between the conservative government workers versus the wild rock and roll supporters from the boats in the North Sea was drawn which was great to see two sides.

You can also see the same sort of contrast being drawn between the children and their parents. The children being the rebellious worshippers of the DJs who hide radios in their bedrooms, and the parents being the BBC listeners who frown upon the culture of pop and rock and roll music.

The humour was a bit hit-and-miss for me occasionally, but that’s probably because I have a dry sense of humour… As in, I find Napoleon Dynamite hilarious. The majority of the audience would enjoy it very much, I’m sure.

Fantastic music OBVIOUSLY, which compelled me to buy the double-disc album which was incredible! Think of your favourite artist from the sixties, and it’ll be on there… Except for The Beatles… That was a bit of a disappointment, actually…

A loud, crazy, colourful and hilarious depiction of the sixties’ uprising which was almost successful. I felt quite upset at the end when I saw the ship sink and I went into a deep daydream of how the Government should have let the ships be, how it could have been, how they should never have made laws against them and how spectacular the sixties was… and the WAY COOL music… The ending was a bit of a downer, but accurate nevertheless. (Reinforcing my ‘Golden Age Thinking’ as explained in Midnight in Paris)

The Boat That Rocked is an entertaining film where anybody could pick out a favourite bit, moment or character, making it a movie that’s easy to talk about. It is a perfectly orchestrated story with fewer stereotypes than I expected.

The wardrobe was absolutely stupendous (I wish there was a “The Boat That Rocked Shop”) and the cut-aways to the everyday listeners was probably one of my favourite bits, because it gave you a huge scope of the world they lived in – since it could have been very isolated to the life on the boat.

This isn’t just a film worth watching, this is a film worth buying and then replaying. You will finish watching the film and feel an urge to carry a stereo around with you, liberating the boring and monotonous people of the 2000s with epic sounds of the sixties.

You will feel the need to stick it to the man and be rebellious… But you’ll probably just put the film on repeat instead, and that’s cool too.

If American Graffiti represents America in the 60s, The Boat that Rocked represents the UK in the 60s.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

In Time

Director: Andrew Niccol
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Released: 2011
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried
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I think this is going to be a short entry today. Because I’ve been mulling this film over and over in my head for a good few months since I watched it.

It’s a film about how in the future everybody would be paid in time. With a count-down timer on our arm (which would make a pretty cool tattoo) we have to use that time to pay for things we need such as bus rides and food.

This film does have some powerful points, such as the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer. It does make a stand how unfair it is that the few wealthy and powerful people in the world have total control over 99% of the planet’s population. It’s a film about greed which is parallel to real life.

Unfortunately, this become secondary to the romance, which dilutes the impact of the potentially strong and shocking political statement trying to be made.

Quite simply, this thought-provoking Matrix/Inception–like film could have been a decent action/thriller if it wasn’t for the following three things:

NUMBER 1: If the story line wasn’t so obviously and devoted to the old-age tale of Robin Hood. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Justin Timberlake wasn’t a bad actor, but his character was too unrealistic. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) was a worker with just enough income to survive, until a ‘rich’ man donates all of his time to him. Sales then gets into top security places and eventually steels most of the money to donate to the poor sections of the world which he continues to do until every body is equally rich.

Not very original, is it, if you replace the guns with bow and arrows and the city with a forrest.

NUMBER 2: This turned into a romance. Like, I would say that this film was not a “Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy” (according to Rotten Tomatoes), but a Romance/Action. How the love interest (Amanda Seyfried) could run in those six-inch heels and still rob banks… I do not know.

NUMBER 3: It is quite simply too far-fetched. They should have stuck to developing the lifestyle and internal struggles of watching our life tick away from you. I think that would have been way more interesting…

Intime Arm Count down

I was pretty disappointed with this one, actually… But perhaps I was wanting to see a deep and meaningful movie when In Time was essentially a chick-flick disguised as a sci-fi/action in the trailer.

Jodie’s Rating: 5/10

Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Michael Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman
Released: 2009
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Lang
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After reading the blurb on the back of the $9.99 DVD I was preparing myself for a mind-numbing 143 minutes of car chases and gunfire. With such an instant dislike you may wonder why I bothered rescuing this film from the bargain bin. Well, I put my faith in Johnny Depp’s reputation of being in the best of films.

Three words; Way. Friggin’. Cool. The car chases were not boring (possibly for the simple reason that the 1930s cars are wicked!) and the gun fire had consequences. i.e. it wasn’t random gunfire for the most part – some bullets did actually collide with people or surroundings, which is always a bonus.

John Dillinger mug shot — The real John Dillinger

Public Enemies is a true account of John Dillinger’s (Depp) bank robberies, successes and being on the constant run from the cops during the depression of 1933-34. Despite it being rather difficult to distinguish many of the male characters during the dimmer scenes due to their very similar wardrobe, the characters were pretty well rounded and before you knew it, you were rooting for the ‘baddies’. You know the writers and film makers have done their job when you end up supporting the murdering protagonists. It’s like Dillinger is perceived as a superhero villain/rock star… He’s the dark superstar of the 1930s.

This action thriller is fantastic because it did happen which makes all of the gasping and gob-smacking moments even more appropriate. However, after doing about ten-minutes worth of research after watching the film, I realised that they embellished the love-interest and missed out the hugest mystery of all; the question mark over Dillinger’s death!

Apparently there was a look alike named Jimmy Lawrence who was a petty thief who became Dillinger’s alias in Chicago, and because John Dillinger burned his fingers with acid to remove his fingerprints, the post-mortem was inconclusive despite the FBI closing the case – possibly to save any more embarrassment in relation to the long chase. I think they should have included that, and laid off on the love interest of Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) a tad.

The filming and lighting was FANTASTIC! It was mostly hand-held with slow motion shots that made chills go down your spine and incredible shadows which created the entire mood.

“What keeps you up at night?”
“Coffee”

Jodie’s rating: 7.5/10

Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Released: 2010
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
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Wow! If you liked the Matrix you’ll like this!

A mind-twisting film which demands the full attention of viewers as it’s not an ‘easy watch’. By that, I mean that a passive audience is not going to be handed the complex idea of dream inception and deep characters on a platter.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the primary dreamer or extractor hired by a corporation-owner, Mr Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant a lucrative idea into Robert Michael Fischer’s (Cillian Murphey) mind via a dream. This is to encourage him to decide to break up the energy conglomerate which he recently inherited to make way for Saito’s company.

inception_luciddreaming

Despite this not being an easy task. But to add to the challenge, Cobb’s late wife invades the dreams, potentially sabotaging the entire job and putting the dreamers (including Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Ellen Page) in fatal danger. This is because dying in a “dream within a dream” will not wake them up, but send them into limbo which is basically no-man’s land for what seems like an eternity.

That was a mouthful!

This epic film is a James Bond action meets Matrix science fiction meets a totally unique twist of a psychological thriller, which incorporates the modern fear of privacy invasion and increasing reality that companies have the most power.

With so much going on and so much to think about during the movie, the two and a half hours whizz by.

My favourite scene would have to be the parallel storyline of the van that is driving the unconscious dreamers, with the storyline of the conscious dreamers within somebody else’s dream. (Yes, it’s difficult to explain).

It’s the fast-paced dream versus the slow motion van that explains the time difference between dreaming and real life.

The count-down begins as the slow motion van is driven off of the bridge and the dreamers need to accomplish the mission and wake up before their physical selves drown in the van. It’s so intense!

The cliff-hanger ending leaves much debate between viewers – so after much philosophical thinking, logical analysis and heated debates with friends, you would be back in the cinema for a second viewing or buying the special edition DVD from the nearest store.

The devoted and flabbergasted viewers will find themselves questioning how they come to certain decisions (are we in a dream?) in the same way the Matrix promoted questions of fiction and reality (is this world physically real?). In the same way as Sims players question if somebody is playing our lives out.

Of course, different people take away very different things from this movie. The most popular comment being “I don’t get it.”

INCEPTION. With a stream of shallow chick flicks and rom-coms, Inception was a breath of fresh air for those who enjoy a bit of an “epic”.

Of course, the film and talented cast is not all that creates such a movie – Hans Zimmer’s haunting scores were essentially what gives you chills!

Not forgetting the song that was the cue for the dreamers to wake up in the film (and is everybody’s alarm clock sound now) – Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein sung by Edith Piaf. It stirs emotions of apprehension and nostalgia in the audience which is parallel with the characters’.

I’m sure you can tell that I am an Inception fan, but I have to say that such a long and complicated film has less entertainment value by the third or fourth viewing.

However, it’s a “must have” for all dedicated DVD collectors or movie-making enthusiasts.

Even if it is a DVD that is not watched frequently, it’s a film that will always spark conversation and is kept handy for casual social viewing for a wide audience.

Jodie’s rating: 8.5/10