Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

In the Loop

Rating:

Movie: In the Loop (2009)

Studio : BBC Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 106 min

Website : intheloopmovie.co.uk/

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9n24e

Review:

Politics has two faces: on the one hand, there are the smiling buffoons dedicated to convincing the rest of us that they know what they are talking about and on the other, there are the conniving and plotting backroom sleazebags who tell the buffoons what to do. Such is the premise of the blisteringly funny and abrasive British comedy, In the Loop.
Ostensibly a fictional tale about the build-up to an obviously unjustified war (read Iraq), In the Loop refuses to trade in the gentle barbs that blight so many recent political satires, preferring instead to strap its main protagonists down and go to work on them with a blowtorch of righteous indignation. (That blowtorch, by the way, is delivered via some of the most obscene and inventive dialogue to play out on the big screen since Tarantino first hit the scene.)

The action starts off in London just as the drum beat of war is gathering pace. Hopping back and forth across the Atlantic more often than Jason Bourne armed with his frequent flyer miles, In the Loop follows the main characters through committee meetings and conference calls with a handheld camera style that gives a constant sense of urgency and chaos to the rapidly unfolding proceedings.

The multi-layered script is made all the more impressive when you consider the huge variety of characters in the movie. Some of the more memorable characters include a cool and collected – but ultimately cowardly – Colin Powell-like US General (played by the mighty James Gandolfini), and an unforgettably x-rated-ranting British prime ministerial press chief. All are equally convincing in both their comical value as well as in their chilling indifference to the implications of their actions.

You don’t need to know anything about politics to enjoy this movie. You don’t even have to worry about it being left or right wing propaganda. All you have to do is strap yourself in for 106 minutes of sheer, unadulterated comedy excellence as you laugh your ass off at the state of how we organize our political world. In the Loop makes clear that it is not so much a question of lies versus truth, but rather it is a question of heavily armed lunatics running the asylum. In this regard, In the Loop is a worthy and equally scathing successor to Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.

-Paul Meade

Comedy Comedy

It Might Get Loud

Rating:

Movie: It Might Get Loud (2009)

Studio : Steel Curtain Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 95min

Website : sonyclassics.com/itmightgetloud

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9wjhd

Review:

On January 23, 2008, David Guggenheim gathered three rock icons from different generations and brought them into one warehouse for a discussion and jam session: Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and Jack White. Together, they share their love of an instrument that they have based their fame on: the electric guitar.

Despite what the trailer may say, do not believe it! What you are seeing is hardly a documentary on the electric guitar. You get some remarks on electric guitars and how each of them was a part of their life, but this is not so much a documentary on the instrument as it is a history of how these three men came into the electric guitar and what brought them into becoming the artists they are. The furthest the film goes is remarking on what musical influence each person found that helped mentor them into finding the sound they wanted.

As you can imagine even with such a misleading premise, having three very influential guitarists discuss their past and their methodology with the instrument, coupled with some great music, still makes for an entertaining documentary (at least, if you like rock, which I do).

It seems that there might have been a plan to starkly contrast each of them since it begins with a stark difference in how The Edge engineers his sounds together through a sound lab versus Jack White’s “use it until you break it” methodology, but it seems to break down along the way into what I said before. This breakdown is actually welcome since you can feel this genuine fraternity between these three men, right down to an unplugged jam session during the credits that you almost have to hesitate applauding to.

So as an electric guitar documentary? A solid B-flat. As a documentary of three guitar greats and some of their music as well as influences? Plug yourself in and remember: it might get awesome.

-Donald Lee

Documentary, Music Documentary, Music

(500) Days of Summer

Rating:

Movie: (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Studio : Fox Searchlight Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 95min

Website : foxsearchlight.com/500daysofsummer

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9q55j

Review:

(500) Days of Summer is the story of Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his year-and-a-half on again/off again relationship with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). Tom, a greeting card writer, falls head over heels for Summer, a new administrator at the same greeting card company, and is convinced that she is the one he’s been waiting for all of his life. We’re told that Tom believes that he’ll never be truly happy until he finds “the one”—hence the importance of discovering Summer Finn—and he’s carried this belief with him his entire life because of 80’s British pop music and a misreading of the film The Graduate. Summer, on the other hand, doesn’t really believe in love, at least not the kind of love Tom believes in, but insists on taking Tom on a ride that he and audiences will never forget.
Audiences also will have a hard time forgetting the performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Gordon-Levitt’s Tom, wonderfully balanced with charm and sympathy, paired with Deschanel’s free-spirited and whimsical Summer makes their repartee so much fun to watch. They execute their parts so well, it’s really difficult to imagine anyone else playing these characters.

This script, by neophytes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, has Best Original Screenplay written all over it. It’s a combination of the best of the youthful, hip, music-induced flicks Garden State and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist with the originality and freshness of Little Miss Sunshine. The “author’s note” at the beginning of the film implies that the author did, in fact, live this story. And there’s just enough realism in the script to believe that, perhaps, he did.

With such a splendid cast and such a solid script in place, Marc Webb could have just phoned in the direction. However, for his first major motion picture, this music video director decided to not let his considerable visual acumen go to waste. And though he uses every trick in the book—animation, split-screen screen, infectious music—it doesn’t feel overwrought.
Webb’s Los Angeles backdrop is the real winner here, and thanks to Webb, anybody under 40 who doesn’t want to visit L.A. after this film doesn’t have a pulse.

-Sam Henderson

Comedy, Drama, Romance 500 days of summer, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Ponyo

Rating:

Movie: Ponyo (2009)

Studio : Studio Ghibli

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 103min

Website : disney.go.com/disneypictures/ponyo

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9nxls

Review:

Ponyo is the name of a fish that escapes to the world of men and befriends a young boy, Sosuke, who lives in a harbor town. Ponyo’s father disagrees with her interacting with the world of man and tries to stop her, and what results is a sort of modern fairy tale of young love.

It seems that after Studio Gibli mastered the use of integrating cgi into animation, Ponyo returns to an emphasis on hand-drawn cel animation. You can tell the difference from the unpolished feel of the art that makes it feel more homey and even enhances the storybook feel in certain parts.

I applaud the effort, but at the same time it feels like the animators have been out of touch with this medium for quite some time. While there are some amazing scenes that I am impressed at, a lot of the basic animation is, well… really basic! There is almost no consideration for integrating the characters with their backgrounds, and this difference becomes distracting. I may sound like I am being harsh on Miyazaki’s vision here, but compare this film to his earlier work like, say, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and you can tell that the same crack team that made such a detailed and interactive world is not there this time around.

For a story there really is not much of a tale here, either. There is a dramatic push in the film for some sort of climax, and it never really gets there. That’s fine that a film of this nature should have no sense of emergency, but the “danger” inherent in the story seems tacked on. Add this with an ending that feels rushed and you have one of the weaker films of the Miyazaki legacy.

Still, this may just be a stepping stone for him to return to those days in the past. His approach may have even been the encouragement behind Disney’s work on their newly anticipated film The Frog Princess, which touts a return to hand-drawn cel animation and so far looks visually stunning. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing Miyazaki’s next project in the hopes that he really pushes his vision back into this old medium.

-Donald Lee

Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy, Hayao Miyazaki, ponyo