Category: Comedy

Whisky Tango Foxtrot

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John RequaWhisky Tango Foxtrot

Screenplay: Robert Carlock

Based on: ‘The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan,’ by Kim Barker

Starring: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Billy Bob Thorton, Steve Peacocke; Christopher Abbott.

Comedy/War/Drama?

Kim is a 40-year-old copy writer who spends her time on an exercise bike going no-where.  No matter how hard she peddles, Kim’s life is going backwards.

Presented with an opportunity to get out from behind a desk and report in front of a camera in Afghanistan, Kim leaves her boyfriend and comfortable life for the chaos of the Kabul Bubble where shit literally flies through the air.

Whisky Tango Foxtrot (I’m thinking military speak for WTF) is a juxtaposition of genres: war, comedy and drama.

It’s hard to categorise Whisky Tango Foxtrot.  There’s some dark humour here: Kabul International Airport A.K.A Killed In Action.  But I would say this movie is a drama with the main character, Kim Barker (Tina Fey), having a midlife crisis.

At the beginning, I was concerned the film was falling firmly on the ‘My life Journey’ style of film, but thankfully, with the introduction of characters in Afghanistan, the film took off on its own journey with the focus on the characters and the reality of life in the ‘ka-bubble’.  

I wouldn’t call the film a comedy, even though Tina Fey (known as a comedian) is the protagonist, but there are funny moments with the misunderstandings between different cultures, and the inherent humour of Iain, the Scottish photographer.  Yes, this is mostly a drama with the elements of war: gun fire, bombs blasting and drones flying, played over with a sometimes cheesy soundtrack.  It was a strange juxtaposition between this romantic drama and comedy set on a backdrop of the war in Afghanistan.

I enjoyed watching this film because I liked the characters.  The translator, Fahim Ahmadzai (Christopher Abbott) was a standout with warm eyes and a genuine soul; then there’s the security guy Nic (Steve Peacocke), fellow journalist, Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie) – yes the film was heavy on the Aussie actors not that it’s a bad thing!  Then there’s the photographer Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman), the politician Ali Massoud Sadiq (Alfred Molina), the general Hallanek (Billy Bob Thorton) and then the people of Afghanistan.

This was a well-rounded story and it was heart-warming.

It was just some of the moments were strange.  For example, Kate reporting in front of the camera only to realise she’s standing near a dead body hidden under rubble but for an arm.  Not funny, just a bit strange.

The mission undertaken by marines with the green of night vision but with a romantic soundtrack playing, also strange.

But the strength of the storyline with the careful handling of the characters by directors, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011); Focus (2015)), made Whisky Tango Foxtrot an enjoyable film to watch.

 

Pawno

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)

Director: Paul IrelandPawno

Screenplay: Damien Hill

Cast: Damien Hill, John Brumpton, Maeve Dermody, Mark Coles Smith, Kerry Armstrong, Malcolm Kennard, Brad McMurray, John Orcsik, Mark Silveira.

A day in the suburb of Footscray.

Pawno is a well-paced, character driven film with a great soundtrack.  This is a snapshot of Footscray culture showing insight into the need to belong with a bit of humour thrown in the mix.

I remember when I first moved to Melbourne in the ’90s, walking to the Footscray train station after staying at a friend’s the night before.  Suddenly, there was this young Vietnamese guy asking me, ‘Are you chasing?  Are you chasing?’

A catch phrase if I was looking for a hit.

Did I look like I was chasing?  I probably did that morning, hungover, a skinny 18-year-old heading for the train station on a Sunday morning.

Footscray is known for its drug culture.  But there’s so much more to this suburb, shown so well in this film.

The characters are the story.

The director, Paul Ireland, shared the difficulty in finding two actors who could play the part of Pauly (Mark Coles Smith) and Carlo (Malcolm Kennard), the two junkies drinking their dose of methadone, passing the day; great mates that’ll break your heart.

Friendship and humour can get a person through the day, through the quiet desperation of needing that hit.  The mateship of these two junkies is a delight even though the tragedy is obvious.  It’s such a pleasure to see the good boys underneath the bad.  To see the life behind the begging.  There’s a dark humour here, shown with a depth of understanding.

Then there’s Les Underwood (John Brumpton), owner of a Pawn shop: what a great place to show each character, to show the underbelly when in need of a loan.

Les is a wise and warm character on the one hand and a no-nonsense businessman, on the other.  An iconic Aussie male who’s seen it all and can tell the bullshit from the genuine.

But love his dog Ruby, you love the man.

It’s a fine line between making a profit and giving someone a loan out of mateship.  Sometimes, it’s brutal.

John tells a mother (Kerry Armstrong) looking for her junkie son, ‘The young keep their own time.’

What more can he do?

‘I’ll let you know when he pops up again.’

Then there’s the shy Danny Williams (Damien Hill) working alongside John as his assistant.  A gentle character who in finding his mental stability begins his search for love.  The community embraces Danny, accepting those who are really trying versus the real desperates, the junkies who are still chasing, baby bottle in hand.

Damien Hill was also the screenwriter of Pawno, and I’m not surprised he has a background in the theatre as it’s the dialogue that makes this film such a success.

The addition of the young blind girl playing the ukulele adds an emotional note, knowing she’s not quite right, but her heart is there, in her playing.

In the Q&A session, the director, Paul Ireland said it took just one take at each location for her to get it right.  And it’s beautiful, her voice and her playing.

All of the characters are flawed.  Each with their own battle of mental illness, heartbreak, addiction; loneliness.

It would have been easy to get bogged down in the melancholy, but there’s humour here, the focus is on the good: the poem written to the beautiful girl in the bookshop, the drummers tapping out a heartbeat and the dance of a local in appreciation, the expression of graffiti and the love of a dog.  Pawno shows life in all its complications with the simplicity of a leaky kettle or a favourite mug.

I was surprised there wasn’t a greater focus on the Vietnamese culture.  Walking the main street, you will see nothing but Vietnamese restaurants with aquariums full of what’s to eat.  And this could have been better represented in the film by showing more of the signage, hearing the language.

Scratching the surface of the Vietnamese culture would have added a greater weight to the film but I appreciated the thought put into each character who was shown.

You don’t need to throw a lot of money at a film when you’ve got characters with depth.

 

The Brothers Grimsby

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2

Director: Louis LeterrierThe Brothers Grimsby

Screenplay by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Phil Johnston

Story by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynhan, Phil Johnston

Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Isla Fisher and Babourey Sidibe.

A spy action comedy.

I’m not saying it’s one of Sacha’s best (I mean, Borat was a revelation), but Grimsby is definitely worth a giggle, a cringe and an outright laugh.  Yes, his humour is crude and extremely un-PC.  But it can also be very dry and very un-PC!  And that’s why I found myself sniggering through-out the film.

Even though he’s got his football, hotlips girlfriend and 11 kids, Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) still misses his long lost brother, Sebastion (Mark Strong).  Finally tracking him down, Nobby finds out his brother is a spy on a mission and Sebastion finds Nobby to be his idiot but ever-loving brother.  Together, nothing can stand in their way, except perhaps for Nobby… and the people of Grimsby giving away their location… and a few randy elephants.

Nobby is the definite focus of the narrative and humour.  Dawn, Nobby’s girlfriend (played by Rebel Wilson) gets a few farts in.  It’s interesting how Rebel is inherently funny in this film, similar to Sacha.  Just the expressions on the face are funny.  I mean, Nobby showing his – I love you brother, face is hilarious.

But why-oh-why did I find Daniel Radcliff (the character, not the actual actor) contracting AIDS the funniest part of the film?!

There is a particular style to the Cohen storyline.  And even through it wasn’t his best, Cohen has written a spy action film, the execs have thrown a load of cash at it and mixed it with his humour.  And yes, I was left with a grin on my face.

Not gold but bloody entertaining.

 

 

How to be Single

How to be SingleGoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2

Directed by: Christian Ditter.

Screenplay: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein and Dana Fox.

Story by: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein.

Based on: ‘How to be Single’, by Liz Tuccillo.

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie and Leslie Mann.

Bloody romantic comedies! Always making me cry. If only the characters weren’t so adorable…

Alice (Dakota Johnson) has never been single. She moved from her parents’ house, to a dorm, then in with her boyfriend. She wants to live the single life, to get out there and do all the things she says she wants to do but never does. So, Alice moves to New York where she meets Robin (Rebel Wilson), and that’s where all the fun begins. And the tears.

There’s the classic: ‘can’t get enough’ girl and the classic boy who sleeps with everyone; the older sister, and the one looking for true love.  Which all equals lots of drinking and yes, some laughs. There’s a formula and it’s put in place because it works.

Rebel Wilson adds a different comic dimension with her particular brand. Rebel plays a certain character: the ditzy, oversexed, drunken single girl who’s all heart. And I don’t mind that she’s type-cast because I haven’t gotten sick of her yet.

The older sister, Meg (Alison Brie), was a bit sweet for me, but I guess that’s just the big sister character. And maybe I liked her the least because Meg made me cry the most.

Look, I don’t usually like romantic comedies, the way these formulaic movies manipulate a girl’s emotions. But, How to be Single was one of the better ones. Not too cheesy, and there was a genuine understanding of some of the choices women have to make: weighing up the opportunities gained by being in a relationship and the opportunities that are lost.

Really, nothing new here but a good film to watch with the girlfriends for International Women’s Day. Just take some tissues, and make sure to have a glass to celebrate no matter what your status. You’re where you’re meant to be.

Can you tell I’ve just watched a Rom Com?!

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and ZombiesGoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)

Rated: MA15+

Screenplay and Directed by: Burr Steers

Based on: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame- Smith

Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance; Lena Headey.

Not just another Zombie movie.

With lacy knickers and knives sheathed in garters, I really thought I was in for some trash with this one. But I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Without being overdone, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is funny for the right reasons: a playful parody that manages to portray a successful story-line about the undead (AKA zombies) running rampart in 19th century England.

Based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), the undead have infected the population and the ladies have been taught martial arts and weaponry in order to save themselves from joining the undeads’ ranks. This is where period costuming meets martial arts.

With the focus on the Bennets’ daughters, the mother (Sandy Phillips) is determined to marry her daughters off to the richest men available.

There’s dancing at balls and wine being drunk; eye patches (for function not fashion), and all the skullduggery of finding love. But the story went further than the visual sensors and added a few more layers to the characters, and more meat (ha, ha) to the story. This was more about the Jane Austin 19th century sensibilities than the gore of yet another mindless Zombie movie. And this made for a better story-line.

There is much wit and humour sprinkled with occasional change in camera view: a hand reaching for a strangle hold or the rotting flesh of a zombie’s face.

The acting and dialogue was yes, once again, surprisingly good. The budding romance between Mr Darcy (Sam Riley) and Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) was believable and rather sweet.

What I liked most about the film was the humour from Mr Collins (Matt Smith), making the most of the parody of English dignified politeness amongst the chaos of the walking dead, liable to walk in at any moment, ‘But pass the scones’, in the mean-time, ‘With a nice cup of tea’.

Being such a silly convention, I don’t think anyone is expecting a life-altering experience here, but there’s some quality work and thought put into the story and the telling of the story: the soundtrack (Fernando Valázquez) adding to the cheek; the camera work (Remi Adefarasin) adding a new perspective.  And I was happy to be in the audience to enjoy the success.

 

Deadpool

deadpoolGoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2

Directed by: Tim Miller

Written by: Rhett Reese; Paul Wernick

Based on Deadpool by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T. J Miller, Gina Carano, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapičić

With the writers being the real heroes, crutch shots, butt shots and all manner of side remarks, including the mention of Wolverine’s balls from Down Under – yes, I didn’t mind this self-deprecating humour of Deadpool.

First appearing in the Marvel Comic, ‘The New Mutants (#98)’, the history of Deadpool and the X-Men is quickly glossed over in the film, with Deadpool himself mentioning the producer only forking out for two X-Men characters. See here for an article regarding Deadpool’s origins…

The story-line of Deadpool, the movie, is based on Wade (Ryan Reynolds) becoming Deadpool, and his revenge in being made into a monster, and a very unattractive one at that.

Rather than living the torturous life of a human mutant slave, Deadpool gets his kill-count up in search for Ajax, AKA Francis (Ed Skrein, yep, the actor who played Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones), who took him away from his lady love, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Well, he kinda took himself away but didn’t realise what he was getting himself into.

Don’t expect a PG-type comic movie here. I was a bit surprised by the violence. But the fast-paced action and many bullets to the head, cutting off of hands, broken ankles and general blood spatter helped balance the constant commentary from Deadpool. A little too much, for my taste and as stated by Ajax, certainly ‘a talker’.

A lot of the film was very funny and in addition to creative camera work (Ken Seng as cinematographer), and attention to detail by director, Tim Miller, there’s another dimension to the story: the writers using meta fiction where the character is aware that he’s, well, in a story.

Deadpool talks to the camera and therefore the audience – breaking the ‘Fourth Wall’. And this gives the film an extra layer and point of difference, allowing a different style of humour into the film.

There was a lot going on and I admit that I missed some of the quips. People have said they’ve gone to watch Deadpool a second time and have picked up more of the jokes. Not that I’d go and watch a second time. As I said, this Deadpool guy talks A LOT.

I have to say, yes it was funny and yes I was entertained, but I would have liked a little more darkness from Deadpool, rather than always the ever flippant. Perhaps I’m showing my age, but the original comic character had more depth and I would have liked to have seen a bit more of this darkness translated to the screen. 

 

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