The feel good power of the 70s

Cemetery Junction (2010)

Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

The scene is 1970s Reading, where three young men must face the (not so grim) reality of growing up. Bruce (Tom Hughes), bitter about his family and embracing youth, occasionally clashes with the more ambitious Freddie (Christian Cooke) whilst the kooky Snork (Jack Doolan) completes the young trio in this brilliant coming-of-age drama. Mixing comedy with the frustration of being stuck in a dead-end society, this is the ultimate feel-good film of 2010.

When Freddie tries to break away from the factory trade, he takes up a job as a life insurance salesman under the guidance of Mike Ramsay (Matthew Goode). His feelings towards the job are complicated by his moral principles as well as his love for the boss's daughter (incidentally Mike's fiancee). Best friend Bruce vents his frustrations at his parents' divorce with girls, booze and fighting, which sees him hurting himself and those around him. Together with Snork, the pair are polar-opposites but gel well to create a great comic duo with the funniest lines of the film.

The snappy, dry and hilarious dialogue has an obvious Gervais/Merchant flair, but (and speaking as no fan of Ricky Gervais) it comes alive through the young actors in a way that distracts from its well-known writers to embody its own wittiness and humour. Together with a great 70s soundtrack, this film gets the idealistic image of youth just right - it is touching and human, managing to ditch the cheesy element that some coming-of-age dramas just can't shake. Filled with fabulous moments of cringe-worthy mistakes, frustrating silences and heart-warming friendships, this movie creates a bit of nostalgia for the youth we sometimes leave behind.

As far as the 70s culture goes, Gervais and Merchant only scrape the surface of what life was like back then. The backdrop is clear enough with casual racism a common occurrence in the company of Freddie's family and the social expectations of 'get married, buy a house and have kids' at the forefront of the young minds. Although it doesn't go any further than this it doesn't have to. More poignant moments come at the insurance company's work party, which paints a heart-breaking image of unrewarded old age, snippets of stale youth and the dead-end world of an almost forgotten wife. Ralph Fiennes shines here as Mr Kendrick, boss of the insurance firm and ultimate slimy, ungrateful wotsit.

Gervais and Merchant have their on screen moments - Gervais as Freddie's factory-working father and Merchant as another employee of the Kendrick insurance firm. Both are funny in their small roles without stealing the limelight from the three main actors.

There is a definite carpe diem feel to this film that will make you leave the cinema wanting to drop everything and do something. Full of heart-breaking and heart-warming moments that will make you want to laugh and cry, this movie hits all the right notes when it comes to coming-of-age drama. With exceptionally likeable characters, a predictable but well-written narrative and more male eye-candy than you can shake a stick at (I promise girls, they are perfection) this refreshing comedy can and will be enjoyed by everyone.

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of 'Cemetery Junction'.

And that's why I love warm weather...

The shorts are out, the sunnies are on and everyone's just feeling generally jolly!

After those long, dreary (and snowy) winter months the sun is definitely more welcome than it's been in a long time... well, probably since last summer! But I just thought I'd blog my own personal appreciation to that big flaming ball in the sky. And, with the days feeling a bit warmer it's inspired me to grab life by the haunchbones (revising medieval literature permits me the odd archaic expression) and go for everything that's chucked at me.

So... in the last 5 days I've pretty much maxed out my overdraft and signed off every last penny of my student loan to a kick-ass summer. I now have an officially awesome reason to get through my exams - South Africa! 3 weeks in September will see me travelling across the country with my housemate taking us from Johannesburg to Durban and hopefully even Cape Town - that means my friend has plenty of travelling hours in which to trick/convince me into doing something life-threatening. On the agenda so far is bungee-jumping, swimming with sharks (er.. no thank you!) and deep-sea diving.

Ok, so maybe I don't want to grab everything by the haunchbones - but that's only because it carries the risk of being either mauled or splattered across a rock 100ft below me.

But it will be my last student summer and I want it to be a belter, so I fully intend to have fun. A lot. Plus, I saw the movie Cemetery Junction last night and there is no better inspiration for travelling (stayed tuned for the review). Brace yourself world, the warm weather's gone to my head and the fun times begin today.

Right, I'm off to do a Step, Butts and Guts class and then to watch the final leaders' debate in the pub. Mmmm... politics and beer.

Almost Wonderful Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Directed by Tim Burton

Tim Burton's latest project sees the now 19-year-old Alice returning to Wonderland to fulfil her dreamy destiny and defeat the Red Queen. In true Burton style, it is weird, wacky and wonderful, full of imaginative treats to satisfy any fan. This film was set to be a hit with its star-studded cast and much-loved director, as well as being one of the many 3D movies now hitting our screens - however, for all it's CGI beauty and wonderful performances, I couldn't help but feel a bit let down by this one.

Based on the books by Lewis Carroll, the plot is simplistic and can be summed up pretty swiftly. Grown up Alice runs from a marriage proposal put to her by a weirdo aristocrat. She follows the White Rabbit (again), falls into Wonderland/Underland (again) and walks around meeting more familiar faces until she takes up her role as 'Champion' to defeat the Jabberwocky. The plot is also what makes the film feel just average - where it captures Carroll's visual imagination, it lacks his wacky story-telling. There's nothing spectacularly unique about Burton's version of the story, we always know where it's going and it seems that this film is just a showcase of talented acting and clever design.

That said, the acting is worth showcasing. Helena Bonham Carter is stunning as the spoilt Red Queen, her digitally bulbous head making her fantastically and weirdly frightening. Anne Hathaway is equally as charming as Bonham Carter's counterpart, the White Queen, bringing a bit of humour to this otherwise 'oh so nice' character. There is obviously the fabulous Johnny Depp to keep us entertained as always, the perfect image of the Mad Hatter (though there are many similarities with Pirates of the Caribbean's Jack Sparrow). The recognisably wise voices of Alan Rickman and Stephen Fry complete the picture and their familiarity and talent alone is enough to make you want to love this film.

But there's just something about it that makes the whole movie feel a bit stop-start. Rather than following Alice, we seem to jump from famous face to famous face and enjoy them each a little bit at a time. The ending is nothing spectacular and everything about the film that is to be commended was inevitably going to be so. Although you can't knock the talent behind such a film (the CGI is seamless and creates some fantastic visuals) perhaps it's time Tim Burton challenged himself by making something a bit more fresh-faced... you know.. with a few fresh faces.

Of course, this Disney picture makes for some good family viewing with a series of goodies and baddies to entertain. Nevertheless, a poor script and often a lack of excitement plague the film as a whole. Three stars makes this movie worth watching, but you could afford to wait for the DVD. Whether 3D or 2D, this film remains the same - and that is simply average. It will satisfy the fans of Burton's unique creativity but it just needs a little bit more story-telling 'umph' to make it a great film.

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of 'Alice in Wonderland'.

No ordinary superhero, no ordinary movie

Kick-Ass (2010)

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

With the hype surrounding Kick-Ass, I had pretty high expectations of this ‘comic-book movie with a difference’ – an ordinary boy taking on the world in a wetsuit, Nicholas Cage in a comedy and a young girl that has no qualms with bad-ass murder and the ‘C’ word had better be entertaining. Safe to say, I was not disappointed.

As teenage vigilante Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) tries to tackle the bad guys, fighting crime and teenage desire all in one day, he ends up getting caught in a vendetta that takes his superhero-ing way outside of his normal business hours.

Kick-Ass follows Dave, who is, as he explains, not the funny one, not the geeky one, not the popular one, but in the usual high-school style, completely invisible to girls. He wonders why anyone who hasn’t been bitten by something radioactive or fallen from space has never tried to become a superhero. So, he orders a nice green and yellow lycra number from the Internet and goes out in search of some crime.

Now, as we all know, no one has ever tried to become a superhero because a) it’s dangerous and b) it’s hard. So after a run in with some proper violence (a knife and a car to be precise) Dave returns with metal plates and damaged nerve endings to become the Kick-Ass that actually kicks ass – well, sort of.

No review of this movie would be complete without a mention of Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage). The father-daughter duo are responsible for the best scenes of the film for both dialogue and the infamous violence. Big Daddy is out to avenge his wife’s death by destroying the corporation of Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and killing everyone that is a part of it. He has trained up his 11-year-old daughter, Mindy, to become Hit-Girl and together they wreak havoc on the biggest villain of the town. Foul-mouthed Hit-Girl is a great on screen presence with stunning comic timing, insane talent with a knife and two of the best killing sequences of the film, one of which is done in strobe lighting and is, in every way, the meaning of ‘cool’.

This movie is obviously conscious of the comic-book films and superheroes that have gone before it – Big Daddy, is practically Batman remodelled and Dave’s metal plates are clearly a nod towards Wolverine. But that doesn’t make it bad. Vaughn sticks these references in to good effect, reminding us of all the great superheroes that we love and just how weedy, yet so heroic, Dave’s Kick-Ass really is.

The second half of the film definitely rules over the first, which sometimes feels a little slow – but that’s not to say that the build up is boring. There are some great comedy moments between Dave and his friends, and remarks from Hit-Girl are even funnier. Plus, it wouldn’t be a comic-book movie without the romance, and so the story occasionally abandons Kick-Ass to follow Dave and his dream girl, who, believing he is gay, allows him to do things that he could previously only dream of. So, despite the awesomeness of Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, Vaughn ensures you always want to follow Kick-Ass by reminding us that he’s just ordinary – a standard hero, fighting crime, but always home in time to get a good eight hours before school.

This film is awesome, insane and offers moments to make you wince with stunning and stylish violence that (unlike as some people would have you believe) doesn’t make you want to pick up your mum’s bread knife and start throwing at people. Sleek and cool but with that element of the real that other superhero movies lack, this is one to see.

(4 Stars)

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of 'Kick-Ass'