Film Review: BRIDESMAIDS (2011)

Director: Paul Feig
Writers: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Running time: 120 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Romance
UK Release date: 24^th June 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 16^th June 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This was the hit comedy of 2011… ‘Even Better than The Hangover’ it proudly proclaims on the poster. For me, that’s not hard, I really didn’t enjoy The Hangover (ducks to avoid flack). There are obvious parallels here but I thought this film was far superior; everything about it from the writing to the performances was so much better. It’s not perfect though, but I’ll tell you about that after this brief summary.

Lillian is getting married and her best friend that she grew up with, Annie Walker, is to be her maid of honour. Now Lillian has made new friends through her husband to be, one of which is Helen, who sees herself as Lillian’s new best friend. It all becomes very competitive as the pair of them vies to do right by Lillian, at times with hilarious consequences (but not always). Annie has a failed bakery business behind her and Helen is married to Dougie’s boss and so is quite well off. In her personal life, Annie is sleeping with a man who doesn’t want a relationship; in fact he’s not to keen on her even spending the night! It’s all getting a bit much for Annie when she’s pulled over by a cop, Rhodes; can he put her back on track? Will she ever come to terms with Helen? These and many other questions are to be answered… and don’t think I’m answering them here! No, Officer Rhodes would have my license! He’s tough you know.

Very well made and yes, it did pass the ‘six laugh test’ – If a comedy doesn’t get more than six laughs from me… it ain’t no comedy! As for performances, well, everyone was very good; Kristen Wiig as Annie Walker, Maya Rudolph as Lillian and Rose Byrne as Helen all did great jobs. I loved Melissa McCarthy as Megan, she really made me laugh and (of course) Chris O'Dowd as Rhodes; I know him from the TV show ‘The IT Crowd’ here in the UK. Also worthy of note were; Rebel Wilson as Brynn, Matt Lucas as Gil, Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita and Ellie Kemper as Becca. Oh, and look out for Jon Hamm (uncredited) as Ted.

A story about popularity, friendship, love, relationships… all kinds of stuff really; I was kind of struggling to keep up by the end! There is a trend in comedies (of late) of putting people in awkward, uncomfortable, often embarrassing situations and I must say I’m afraid don’t find it funny. You are made to care about a particular character and then laugh at them as they squirm in an uncomfortable situation. Sorry people, it just doesn’t do anything for me. As far as this film goes, yes there were some of those moments, but there were also some truly comic moments, mostly supplied by the wonderful Melissa McCarthy, it has to be said; although Kristen Wiig and Chris O'Dowd did raise a titter or two. The surprise for me though, was the performance of Rose Byrne, she did really well in a genre I wouldn’t particularly associate with her. Over all, I must say, despite a couple of misgivings, I did enjoy this film a lot more than I expected to… Recommended.

My score: 7.1/10

IMDb Score: 6.9/10 (based on 93,096 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1478338/

MetaScore: 75/100: (Based on 39 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 90/100 (based on 232 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 73/100 ‘Liked It’ (based on 87,373 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridesmaids_2011/

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

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Megan: I'm glad he's single because I'm going to climb that like a tree.

Helen's Stepson: I've seen better tennis playing in a tampon commercial.

Rhodes: Do you want to tell a cop about it? We're just like priests except we would tell everybody afterwards.

Rhodes: If I wasn't a cop anymore, I would still go out with a gun and shoot people.

Annie: This is the first time I've seen you look ugly, and that makes me happy!

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

Film Review: PAUL (2011)

Director: Greg Mottola
Writers: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Running time: 104 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Sci-Fi/Adventure
UK Release date: 14^th February 2011

Watched on DVD Sunday 11^th March 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I know it’s quite rare for me to watch and review a comedy, but I decided that on a Sunday morning with a bad back I needed a bit of a laugh. This was a bit of an odd choice for me because I find Pegg and Frost a bit of a mixed bag… I liked ‘Hot Fuzz’ where as, controversially, I found ‘Shaun of the Dead’ a bit too predictable for my liking (I know I’m gonna get slagged off for that!). Also, from what I’ve seen of Seth Rogen’s work, he has yet to make me laugh… not even once. The film had a pretty good reaction in the press and so I hit the PLAY button with just a little trepidation. I’ll tell you what I thought after this very brief summary.

Two British sci-fi geeks, Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings, having visited Comic-Con, decide to go on a road trip around the famous American UFO hotspots. They hire an RV and the trip seems to be going well until, outside Area 51, they witness an accident and rescue Paul… an alien. He convinces them to help him escape ‘The Big Guy’ and her agents, Zoil, Haggard and O’Reilly. They head north and stop at an RV park where they meet Ruth Buggs, a fundamentalist Christian who accidently sees Paul. They now have to take her with them as they try to evade capture in a race against time to get Paul back to his people. I won’t say any more or the Spoiler Police (Aliens Division) will have me probed (again).

Very well made with some nice CGI work and effects; I also very much liked the choice of music, but if you open with ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ by The Only Ones you’ve got me right there! All the performances were pretty good, although I particularly liked Kristen Wiig as Ruth Buggs, she really stood out for me performance-wise. Of the others, well, Simon Pegg as Graeme Willy and Nick Frost as Clive Gollings pretty much did what they usually do and Seth Rogen as the voice of Paul was just about what I expected. I’ll give honourable mentions to; Jason Bateman as Agent Zoil, Bill Hader as Haggard, Joe Lo Truglio as O’Reilly and, not forgetting, Sigourney Weaver as The Big Guy.

A film littered with nods and homage’s to many classic sci-fi movies; you could spend hours going through it and noting them all. This could be distracting, but, as it’s a comedy, I’ll let it slide (this time). I thought the theological question was handled quite well, although I can see it not going down too well in certain quarters. It’s a well scripted piece although I did get the feeling it had been very much ‘tweaked’ towards the American market; although a couple of ‘Brit’ in-jokes did squeak through. I must say I did enjoy it though and, at the end of the day, it did what it said on the tin. I was afraid it would go off in a certain direction at one point, but in the end they managed to steer it home! Would I watch it again?... Yes!... Recommended.

My score: 7.0/10.

IMDb Score: 7.1/10 (based on 75,553 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 71/100 (based on 189 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 70/100 (based on 80,163 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paul/

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

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
WARNING: SOME STRONG LANGUAGE
Adam Shadowchild: [Upon seeing the cover of Clive Gollings' book, which shows an alien woman with 3 breasts] Three tits? Awesome.

Clive Gollings: [Putting the phone to his ear] It's ringing.
Paul: [Out of view] I wouldn't do that if I were you
[Clive and Graham turn around]
Paul: Put... the phone... down!
Clive Gollings: [Falling backwards fainting] Ha ha ha ha ha!
Paul: Aw fuck me.
Graeme Willy: [Looks to his right, then down, and then back at the approaching alien] What did you do to him?
Paul: I didn't do anything to him - he fainted!
Graeme Willy: But you made him faint!
Paul: It's not like I set my Phaser to faint!
Graeme Willy: You've got a Phaser?

Ruth Buggs: The world is 4000 years old and can only be the product of intelligent design.
Paul: [off-screen in the bathroom] That's horseshit!

Ruth Buggs: So everything that I have been told my whole life, is just a big fat lie? Do you know how that feels?
Graeme Willy: Look. Just because your truth, isn't the true truth, doesn't mean there is no truth, Ruth.
Ruth Buggs: That's easy for you to say.
Graeme Willy: It's really not.

Paul: This is America. Kidnapping a Christian is worse than harbouring a fugitive.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site (UK): http://www.paulthemovie.co.uk/
Official Site (USA): http://www.whatispaul.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: DESPICABLE ME (2010)

Directors: Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
Running time: 91 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure
UK Release date: 15^th October 2010

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 18^th October 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I seem to remember this getting a fairly patchy response from the critics when it came out… probably all that 3D nonsense. Fortunately I managed to avoid all that by waiting for it to appear on TV in the correct number of dimensions for the screen. As for the film, well I really enjoyed it! Likable characters, a nice plot and some great comic moments… who could ask for more!? I’ll give you further thoughts after this brief summary.

Gru is a villain, he’s been a villain for a long time, but now his evil deeds are being superseded by much younger up-and-coming villains. He’s not happy, even his mother finds him a bit of a disappointment, but he has a plan. It’s a very cunning and dastardly plan, but he’ll need to steal a shrink ray gun and borrow some money from the bank first. He steals the ray, but it’s stolen from him by a young upstart villain called Vector. Gru tries to retrieve it but cannot gain entry to his compound. Seeing three orphan girls get in by selling cookies, Gru forms another plan. He goes to Miss Hattie’s Orphanage and adopts the three girls; Margo, Edith and Agnes. His plan: to get them into the compound so he can plant something there that will allow him to gain access to the ray gun. His many minions and Dr. Nefario help him with this clever scheme and it is a success… but the girls have other ideas about Gru and, it seems, they just might be turning him away from his ultimate goal… To steal the ****! Oops, hope I didn’t say too much there… Sorry Spoiler Police… I, I’ll come quietly.

As I’ve already said, I enjoyed this film very much, it must me my kind of humour or something, but there were far more ‘laugh out loud’ moments (for me) than usual. The animation was very well done, I’d go so far as to say it was almost up to Pixar standard. I loved Steve Carell as the voice of Gru, his Russian accent was hilarious. Also worthy of note were the voice talents of; Jason Segel as Vector, Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, Julie Andrews as Gru’s Mom, Will Arnett as Mr, Perkins, Kristen Wiig as Miss Hattie, Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, Dana Gaier as Edith and Elsie Fisher as Agnes.

One of the things I like to write about when reviewing a film is how it makes me feel. Well, this film did pull at the heartstrings a little, but much more than that it made me laugh. It’s definitely one I will re-visit at some point because I’m sure there are many subtle little jokes I missed first time around. Whether you’re young or slightly older (like me), I’m sure you’ll get some laughs out of this one… It’s not perfect, but I very much enjoyed it nonetheless… Recommended.

My Score: 8.4/10.

IMDb Score: 7.5/10 (based on 68,835 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1323594/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81/100 (based on 187 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1214097-despicable_me/

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

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Gru: We stole the Statue of Liberty...!
[the minions cheer]
Gru: ...the small one, from Las Vegas!
[the cheers stop]
Gru: I won't even mention the Eiffel Tower... also Vegas.

Gru: Do you speak Spanish?
Miss Hattie: Do I look like someone who speaks Spanish?
Gru: It's just that your face is so... Como un burro.
Miss Hattie: Oh! Why, thank you!

Agnes: I like him. He's nice.
Edith: He's scary.
Agnes: Like Santa.

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.despicableme.com/
Trailer: