Film Review: TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (2011)

Director: Michael Bay
Writer: Ehren Kruger
Running time: 148 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
UK Release date: 29^th June 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 18^th May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Every now and they you have to watch a bad film just to remind yourself just how good the good ones are. Well, as a fan of Sci-Fi I chose this one because it got a terrible response from the critics but the public (more fool them) didn’t seem to mind it that much. Well, there’s good and bad points but unfortunately for the public, I have to fall on the side of the critics this time I’m afraid. I’ll tell you why after this very brief summary.

The transformers are back for their third outing and perennial teenager Sam Witwicky is also back to save the world, but with a new girlfriend, Carly. The wreckage of a Cybertronian spacecraft was discovered on the moon back in the 1960’s but this information was not passed on to the Autobots. Optimus Prime is not happy about this but they decide to go and find what they can. They discover Sentinel Prime, who was the leader of the Autobots before Optimus. He had invented a device, a portal, before the end of the war. They revive Sentinel and he joins the Autobots. Meanwhile, they are unaware that the Decepticons are watching their every move and are about to turn the whole thing around. Sentinel Prime is key to this but I won’t tell you how here… I’m sure there are still some out there who might want to see this one and anyway the Spoiler Police will be sending me to the moon (again) if I do.

The opening sequence of the film is very well done (IMO); it sets up the story very well and leaves enough mystery to keep the audience guessing. Unfortunately the film cannot sustain this level for long and pretty soon we’re back to the usual ‘big robots hitting each other in the streets of America’ scenario that (personally) I’ve seen enough of. The performances were all very average (IMO), but I’ll give mentions to the voice talents of Peter Cullen as Optimus prime, Hugo Weaving as Megatron and Leonard Nimoy who I thought did a very decent job as Sentinel Prime. Of the human actors, well I guess I should mention Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Carly, Josh Duhamel as Lennox, John Turturro as Simmons, Tyrese Gibson as Epps, Patrick Dempsey as Dylan, Frances McDormand as Mearing, Alan Tudyk as Dutch and John Malkovich as Bruce Brazos.

On the plus side, there were some nice comic moments mainly provided by John Turturro and Alan Tudyk. I will also give a nod to the guys that did the CGI, it’s all top-notch stuff and some of it is quite spectacular. On the downside I found many of the human characters irritating, in particular Sam Witwicky. He comes over as a bit of a petulant kid when he doesn’t get the job he wants. Carly; well I guess she was just there to show off her curves, but as we all know, Michael Bay likes curves. I guess the whole franchise doesn’t quite work for me because the filmmakers are so insistent on putting human traits on alien beings. Every robot, whether it be Autobot or Decepticon has to have a character and most of the time and in a lot of cases, it just makes them look stupid. Over all, not one I’ll be watching again but I guess there will be a lot of fifteen year old boys out there that’ll love it!... NOT RECOMMENDED.

My score: 4.2/10

IMDb Score: 6.3/10 (based on 141,806 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1399103/

MetaScore: 42/100: (Based on 37 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 35/100 (based on 235 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 67/100 (based on 124,673 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_dark_of_the_moon/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
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FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Optimus Prime: We were once a peaceful race of intelligent mechanical beings. But then came the war between the Autobots, who fought for freedom and the Decepticons, who dreamt of tyranny. Overmatched and outnumbered, our defeat was all but certain. But in the wars final days, one Autobot ship escaped the battle. It was carrying a secret cargo, which would have changed our planet's fate. A desperate mission, our final hope...
[the Ark flies from Cybertron into space... and is gunned down]
Optimus Prime: A hope that vanished.

Walter Cronkite: We now have had confirmation of loss of signal from the Apollo 11. The Apollo 11 is, at the moment, on the far side of the moon.
[at Mission Control, someone turns off a transmitter to the news station]
Director of NASA: Neil, you are dark on the rock. Mission is a go. We have 21 minutes.

Simmons: Don't worry, I speak their language.
[doorman opens sliding hatch]
Simmons: Do svidaniya.
Russian Bouncer: That means goodbye!
[closes hatch]

Simmons: [Wants to impress the Russians with a Russian phrase] Dutch, give me something tough.
Dutch: Eh.
[browses dictionary in panic]
Dutch: Baryshnikov.
Cosmonaut Dimitri: We do speak English.
Simmons: Dutch, you suck.
Dutch: It's a Cyrillic alphabet. It's like all the buttons you never push on a calculator! I don't suck.

[last lines]
Optimus Prime: In any war, there are calms between the storms. There will be days when we lose faith, days when our allies turn against us. But the day will never come, that we forsake this planet and its people.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.transformersmovie.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: BARTON FINK (1991)

Writers/Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Running time: 116 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Mystery/Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 14^th February 1992

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 3^rd March 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I make no secret of the fact that I’m a bit of a fan of the Coen Brothers’ films. For the most part I find them very enjoyable, really inventive and they make a nice change from the mainstream. This is no exception, I deliberately didn’t go out of my way to find out too much about it before viewing and it paid off. Great characters and a really crazy storyline combine to make for a really enjoyable film that, I’m sure, I’ll be watching again at some point. But I digress, here’s a very brief summary before I give you more of my thoughts.

Barton Fink is a playwright and after a hit on Broadway he is whisked off to Hollywood to write for a studio headed by Jack Lipnick. He is commissioned to write a ‘wrestling picture’, a B-movie, although Lipnick might dispute that label. Putting himself up in a cheap hotel away from the spotlight, Fink discovers he has a bad case of writer’s block. He strikes up a friendship with his neighbour, Charlie Meadows, who claims to be an insurance salesman. Seeking advice on his writing, he also meets once renowned author, W.P. Mayhew and his lover, Audrey Taylor. This couple have problems, not least Mayhew’s drinking, and Fink finds himself drawn to Audrey. As his deadline nears Fink becomes more and more desperate and as he calls on Audrey for help events are about to take a very dramatic turn! I will not say any more or the Spoiler Police (Coen’s Division) will be twisting my words and making this seem much more complicated than it really is.

I love the Coen’s visual style, the film looks great with, in particular, the long shots down the hotel corridor. I also thought the fire effect towards the end was excellent as well. As far as performances go, well nobody put a foot wrong; John Turturro was excellent as Barton Fink, as was John Goodman as Charlie Meadows. Also worthy of note were; Judy Davis as Audrey Taylor, Michael Lerner as Jack Lipnick, John Mahoney as W.P. Mayhew, Tony Shalhoub as Ben Geisler, Jon Polito as Lou Breeze and last but not least, Steve Buscemi as Chet.

Great performances and a great script are the main features of this rather excellent movie. You never quite know just which direction it’s going to go; all the characters appear to be larger than life and without that the film would fall flat on its face. Even the slightly timid and reserved writer, Barton Fink, reveals the passion he has for his work in a conversation he had with his hotel neighbour, Charlie Meadows. All the best lines are reserved for the studio head, Jack Lipnick, they really go to town with him! It does finish a little open-ended, something the Coen’s have been using a lot recently to varying effect (IMO), but in this case it actually works. There are many unanswered questions and, for me, that just adds to the enjoyment. Definitely worth a look and most definitely… Recommended.

My score: 9.2/10.

IMDb Score: 7.8/10 (based on 44,983 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0101410/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 91/100 (based on 53 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 71/100 (based on 39,630 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/barton_fink/#

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Jack Lipnick: We're only interested in one thing, Bart. Can you tell a story? Can you make us laugh? Can you make us cry? Can you make us want to break out in joyous song? Is that more than one thing? Okay!

Geisler: Look, you confused? You need guidance? Talk to another writer.
Barton: Who?
Geisler: Jesus, throw a rock in here, you'll hit one. And do me a favour, Fink: throw it hard.

Charlie: I pulled off early today. Took your advice, went to a doctor about this ear. He says 'You have an ear infection, ten dollars please'. So I says 'I told you I had an ear infection, you give me ten dollars!' Well that started an argument.

W.P. Mayhew: I close my eyes I can almost smell the live oak.
Audrey Taylor: That's chicken fat Bill.
W.P. Mayhew: Well my olfactory's turning womanish on me, lying and deceitful.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: MILLER’S CROSSING (1990)

Writers/Directors: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Running time: 110 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 18th January 1991

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 15th March 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This DVD was lent to me some time ago and I decided it’s time to get it returned… but I thought I’d better watch it first! I quite like the Coens’ work, but this is one that has escaped me thus far, hence the borrowing of said DVD. It’s very definitely a Coen brothers script with some excellent dialogue and plenty of plot twists. I’ll give you my thoughts later, but here’s a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don’t wish to know anything about the plot please take that guy out into the woods & deal with him while I write the next paragraph).

Tom Reagan is advisor to Leo, the mob boss who runs things around here. Rival boss, Johnny Caspar wants Leo to give him permission to have Bernie Bernbaum killed because he’s making problems for his gambling syndicate. Now Bernie’s sister, Verna is seeing Leo and so Leo is reluctant to upset the apple cart (if you know what I mean). Also, Verna is seeing Tom on the side and if Leo ever found out about that there was gonna be some big trouble for him. Add to this the fact that, Tom is also a bit of a gambler and has run up quite a debt, but insists on paying it off without any help. So, one day Casper makes Tom an offer and, as you can probably guess, this is where all the fun starts… I hope you understand that lot! I’m gonna leave it there so as not to enrage the spoiler police too much.

As I said at the beginning, this film has a truly excellent script with some great dialogue and clever plot twists. It’s a very well made film with a very appropriate soundtrack (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it). All the main cast put in very good performances; Gabriel Byrne as Tom Regan, Marcia Gay Harden as Verna, John Turturro as Bernie Bernbaum, Jon Polito I particularly liked as Johnny Caspar, Albert Finney as Leo and it was nice to see a cameo for Steve Buscemi as Mink.

Although it has a great script, I found it didn’t grab my attention the way other Coen brothers films have. Or maybe films have been made since that do what this does, but better. I don’t quite know what it is, but this one seems to lack the punch that other Coen brothers films have. I felt that, although he is very good, Gabriel Byrne seems very subdued all the way through and this appears out of character for someone in his position. But aside from that, it’s well worth seeing… Recommended (if only for Albert Finney wielding a Thompson Machine Gun to great effect).

My score: 7.5/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0100150/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/millers_crossing/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3650486553/