woody Harrelson – NZ Film Freak

Seven Pounds

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Writer: Grant Nieporte
Released: December 2008
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Michael Ealy, Barry Pepper, Octavia Spencer, Woody Harrelson
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Seven Pounds is the film you watch when you’re depressed and have no intention of wanting to feel better. It’s heavy and tells a story of an absolute tragedy.

It’s about an IRS agent Ben (Will Smith) who is overwhelmed and broken with guilt after accidentally killing seven people – including his wife – when driving recklessly. He was wealthy and had everything, he felt indestructible and took what he had for granted.

Ben: In seven days God created the world, and in seven seconds I shattered mine.

After the accident, he can’t enjoy life anymore so he goes about finding seven worthy people to save for the seven he killed. Not in a superhero kind of way, more like in a charitable kind of way.

Ben: It is within my power to drastically change this person’s circumstances, but I don’t want to give him a gift he doesn’t deserve.

It’s about the journey to forgive oneself, and allowing to love again. It’s also about how relentless guilt is; how nothing can turn back time or undo a mistake, and how heartbreaking it is to watch bad things happen to good people.

The writer of Seven Pounds, Grant Nieporte, was inspired by a man he met whom he described as the saddest man on earth. Grant later discovered he was responsible for a national tragedy.

The soundtrack is what makes this film so emotional; it supports its misery perfectly.

The casting was perfect too – I think Woody Harrelson will pleasantly surprise you. Apparently Tom Hanks auditioned for Will Smith’s role. While I don’t doubt he would have done a good job, I can’t imagine anyone but Will Smith playing the role now.

Seven Pounds is like a sad song you can’t help but listen to on repeat. It’s a film designed to make you feel the full impact of a man who lost it all.

You need to give into the story’s power of despair and allow it to consume you – don’t resist the urge to cry as you will burst a blood vessel and the movie won’t be the slightest bit insightful.

You walk away wanting to be more careful with your life, and basically never wanting to leave the house for fear of losing those precious to you. Seven Pounds gives you a bit of a reality check as it makes you thankful for the more mundane problems in life.

It’s well-made, well-cast, well-scored but holy Jesus it’s depressing and is not one to watch frequently. You will feel devastated afterward, but I think that shows that the story has been successfully told, rather than it being worthy of a low rating.

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt and Suzanne Collins. Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins
Released: November 2013
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci
and Donald Sutherland
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What a total disappointment!

The first movie was INCREDIBLE! A breath of fresh air. A new and exciting concept – different to the usual slog. Themes of anti-corporation, anti-government and shining a light on the absurdity of focussing on reality television rather than the actual reality.

But the second movie barely mentioned these themes. And if they did, it was literally one line of dialogue which summed the whole idea up, causing an originally important theme to become meaningless and redundant. It is pretty much leaving the best parts for the third movie. Catching Fire is just a set-up for Mockingjay.

“Yes” I have read the book, which was incredible. The first movie covered the book well, the second didn’t. I know one shouldn’t compare the book to the movie because they are very different mediums. But quite frankly, the makers left out all of the good parts and focussed on the Twilight-esk star-crossed lovers storyline. Which I felt was a mere footnote in the novel.

However, if you haven’t read the book, I will expect you to find the movie slow-paced, underwhelming and lacking action. The movie spends WAY too much time outside of the arena trying to set up the situation of district rebellion, which isn’t done convincingly anyway.

When you FINALLY make to the arena, it’s literally like you’re being shown one problem after another with no time to catch your breath or analyse character development. There is very few battle scenes too. Very disappointing.

The actors were well cast and the acting was very good. Particularly Jennifer Lawrence who is equally as convincing as she was in the first movie… Despite the inexhaustible crying.

In terms of shots and visuals, there is one impressive birds’ eye shot, and the fire on Katniss’ dress is more realistic. But I can’t say it was worth the hype I’ve heard recently.

I’m so upset. The movies are expected to make a lot of money, to ensure this, the deep themes and interesting ideas have been ditched for a cheap love story to cater for a wider audience. Which goes against the entire point of the actual Hunger Games story! Anti-corporation and anti-consumerism.

I reckon a small independent film company would have done a far better job; staying true to the ideas of the story, rather than aiming for a cheap buck.

…the musical score were average. But perhaps the soundtrack will be different.

What a sell out. Going to go have a fat cry now.

Jodie’s rating: 5/10

Now You See Me

Director: Louis Leterrier
Writers: Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt
Released: July 2013
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman
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Um. Yeeeeaaaah. So the reviews I had been reading before I went to see Now You See Me, basically stated that it was over-complicated and so layered that one would need to watch it more than once.

This is quite simply, not the case.

It is so clichéd, so typical, so obvious, that the ending could be guessed half way through the film.

The ‘twist’ is… Barely even a twist. It wasn’t shocking or unforeseen at all. My reaction was more like, “oh yeah. Hmm. I’m not surprised”.

So, it really is nothing like The Prestige. The magicians are superficial and unlovable, as are the other characters who are all underdeveloped. For the most part, they were unbelievable – despite the epic cast!

I usually love Woody Harrelson’s and Michael Caine’s work, but they really weren’t given the chance to shine. Their characters were brief and shallow. But oh my God, Jesse Eisenberg just got on my nerves! I can’t stand the characters he plays, who are usually very similar.

The story was like something seen on a long-running TV series like CSI or what not. It was so… Average.

The only cool parts were when they explained how the tricks were performed. That was quite effective.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of major jump-cuts that became jarring. Leaving out a lot of footage, although kept the pace, did make you feel disconnected from the film.

I am quite disappointed in this movie. Despite hearing negative reviews on this film I still went into the theatre expecting to be thoroughly entertained and mystified… Yeah.. Nah.

Meh! It’s okay. Nothing special.

Jodie’s rating: 5/10

Zombieland

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writer: Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese
Released: 2009
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So this is pretty much the American version of Shaun of the Dead, except they adopted the typical chick-flick style of the unlikely love interest blah blah blah… That was sort of disappointing because the balance was a bit off in regards to the romance, comedy and horror ratio. (A Rom-Com-Zom film)

But I did like it enough to buy the DVD, I’m not going to lie I do love Zombie films, so Zombieland was a must for my collection. The best part of this film is definitely the ‘rules’ that the main character, Columbus (Jese Eisenberg) basis his survival on during the zombie apocalypse.
He “always follows the rules” in his life, and during the apocalypse, these were some of the rules he mentioned:

Cardio
Beware of Bathrooms
Wear Seat Belts
Travel Light
Get a Kick Ass Partner
Always carry a change of underwear
Opportunity Knocks
Don’t be a hero (later crossed out to be a hero)
Limber Up
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, unless it’s a sprint, then sprint
When in doubt Know your way out
Zipplock
A little sun screen never hurt anybody
Double-Knot your Shoes
Pack your stain stick
Check the back seat
Enjoy the little things

I was disappointed when I realised that Abigail Breslin played Little Rock (sister of Wichita/Krista (Emma Stone) because I totally didn’t even recognise her! I wanted Breslin to stay Olive Hoover from Little Miss Sunshine forever…

Overall, this film is pretty random. Like, they spend a while hanging out with Bill Murray, and the main character’s ‘side kick’ Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) has a Twinkie obsession and spends most of the film hunting down Twinkies…

So, this is an entertaining film for everybody to enjoy. Yet… Not as funny as the unbeatable Shaun of the Dead… Nor is the storyline as intricate… But it is a great film nevertheless.
The rule of thumb is to watch Zombieland before watching Shaun of the Dead. That way you can appreciate Zombieland more, rather than comparing them all the time.

It was a worth while purchase, but I did wait until it went on sale. I don’t think it’s worth paying the full price of when it was first released.

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

The Hunger Games

Director: Gary Ross
Writer: Suzanne Collins (novel)
Released: March 2012
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Willow Shields
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Imagine the over-powering control as seen in The Truman Show, the effect on the audiences’ instincts as felt in the 2010 film 127 Hours, but with the overwhelming popularity of Twilight.

Wow, chills went down my spine!

Although I haven’t read the novels, I found I got totally immersed in the storyline of the first of the series about a world of twisted priorities with little respect for life, with a brewing love story beneath the conflict.

It’s an exciting plot about Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteers in place of her younger sister to be the tribute in a murderous game that is televised for public entertainment. A blood-thirsty game of physical strength and instinctive survival skills, out of 24 tributes, the final survivor will win.

The game is played in a controlled arena where the makers play God with the harsh environment – similar to that in The Truman Show.

I love the idea of the cruel business-like approach of life and death. In order to have the best chance of surviving, the tributes have to make themselves liked by the audience watching the game from home, which encourages sponsors to support the players in their plight for survival.

Gary Ross used a lot of point-of-view shots and shaky camera work which occasionally separated me from what was actually going on, but certainly added to the intensity of the importance of Katniss’ survival.

I assumed Katniss was 18 years-old, but it turns out she is supposed to be 16 which I don’t think was very convincing. However, Katniss was a strong protagonist who split from the group from the get go. She escaped the “blood bath” at the starting line and we follow her survival from there.

Jennifer Lawrence is a very talented actress who kept the character believable yet admirable and relatable. She kept Katniss neutral enough to be adored by everyone, but personable enough not to let the character become emotionless.

I was hoping the film would be a bit more realistic in regards to the fighting as it appeared a tad tame. However, I suppose the rating needed to stay low for the novel’s younger readership to be able to watch it.

With a mixture of old and future technologies it reminded me of Harry Potter (lack of guns and ammunition, yet futuristic medical potions, computers and genetically modified animals). But I think this made the land even more mystical and unknown.

This may well become the new “in” film series, except with a much wider audience who will be inspired by the strong characters rather than the submissive love-struck protagonists of Twilight.

The Hunger Games is much deeper than just another romantic fantasy story.

“May the odds be ever in your favour”

Jodie’s rating: 8/10
Check out the sequel: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire review

April 2013: Since reading the books, I can see that the adaptation was pretty decent! Of course novels and movies are different mediums so there are obviously some amazing scenes that were left out. But the way I see it, the novel is the behind the scenes of the movie, with cool details and extras to discover.

The trailer is average compared to the emotion you get from watching the whole film.