The Trip to Italy (2014)

Friday, 12 September 2014Thursday, 2 October 2014 Starr3 Comments

I recently had the good fortune of attending a CMYE (community manager Yelp event) where I was able to snag a pizza from &pizza while watching a screening of The Trip to Italy, starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, at the Landmark E Street Cinema. (One of my favorite spots in all of DC, seriously.)

The Trip to Italy

The Trip to Italy was originally broadcast as a 6-episode television series on BBC Two, as a sequel to The Trip, which took place in England (and is available now on Netflix!). I believe both TV series/films had similar premises: Coogan and Brydon play slightly-fictionalized versions of themselves and play off each other as they take a foodie road trip.

What you need to know about The Trip to Italy is there is no point. Once you have accepted this, the movie is pretty enjoyable. It’s mostly improvised by brilliant comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. I’m personally more familiar with Coogan — who I haven’t seen without his longer hair before!

Steve Coogan, circa 2012 (Photo: The Telegraph)

Here are a few things you can expect when you sit down to watch The Trip to Italy:

PLENTIFUL. IMPRESSIONS. Coogan and Brydon are talented impressionists. Some of the impressions you’ll hear include:
- Michael Caine
- Christian Bale
- Tom Hardy
- Al Pacino
- Robert Deniro
- Marlon Brando
References to The Dark Knight Rises
- References to how impossible it was to understand Bane in The Dark Knight Rises
References to The Godfather and The Godfather II
- References to how The Godfather II is maybe the only time a sequel was as good as/better than the original
  
  (This clip wasn’t shown in its entirety in the edited-down film.)
Alanis Morrisette songs
Following along the poet, Lord Byron, and his time in Italy
Nods to several old Hollywood films that were filmed in Italy
Gorgeous Italian scenery porn
Gorgeous Italian food porn
British humor
Every so subtly, two aging actors acknowledging their changing place in the world and mortality

I really recommend watching this for just a little aimless stroll of a comedy. If it gets released on Netflix, as The Trip has been, I really really encourage checking it out.

Saving Mr. Banks

Wednesday, 15 January 2014Thursday, 16 January 2014 StarrLeave a comment

I watched Saving Mr. Banks during the week of Christmas. It was a highly anticipated film for Disnerds like myself. I was excited for a few things:

The first on-screen portrayal of Walt Disney ever
By none other than Tom Hanks
50th anniversary of Mary Poppins
Great cast
DISNEY MOVIE

I was a little concerned that this movie would be really biased. PL Travers infamously hated what Disney did with Mary Poppins and, when the musical version was made, refused to allow anyone who was involved with the Disney film contribute AND refused to have any Americans, only British contributors. Disney did a few things that went directly against what she wanted and some things that were rude, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that they actually included many of these things in the film.

Needless to say, this was an extraordinarily touching movie, especially if you really loved Mary Poppins and/or if you’re interested in Walt Disney the man himself. I started tearing up at the very beginning when they played the vintage Walt Disney Pictures opening screen.

I want to say this before I forget to mention it, but Colin Farrell was fantastic in his role as Travers Goff. He was such an endearing character, the father who loved his daughter so much, so kind, bringing so much magic into her life. The promos really focused on Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, and for good reason, but I really wish that Colin Farrell got some more credit for the amazing job that he did. I loved his portrayal of his character, and I became really emotionally attached to Travers Goff, which I knew was dangerous since I already knew going into he film that he was an alcoholic. So of course, his character made me cry.

I was surprised by how much I liked Paul Giamatti‘s character in this movie. He played Ralph, Pamela Travers’s chauffeur while she was in California. I don’t love the roles that he usually plays, but I really liked him here. Again, very endearing. You kind of understand why Pamela is annoyed by him, but you want to like him, too. The friendship that blossoms between the two of them is beautiful and, of course, made me cry.

Emma Thompson played Pamela Travers, um… perfectly. She was absolutely wonderful. She played this very difficult person in a way that made you still like her. Even as she put Mickey Mouse in a corner (the horror!) you still loved her and kind of shrugged and nodded like, “Yeah that’s understandable if you don’t love Mickey, sure”. She is so great and the emotional ride you go on with Pamela Travers, who doesn’t show too much emotion throughout the film, made me — you guessed it! — cry a lot.

It would be rude for me to talk about this film without mentioning Tom Hanks, who played the first portrayal of Walter Elias Disney in a mainstream film. He plays the Disney that, of course, Disney the company wants you see: he’s charming and there’s a magical air about him. He sees the world differently. He is a man shaped by a cruel childhood, and he found solace in a mouse, who helped him prevent other children from having quite as cruel childhoods. Tom was a great choice for this role and he played it so well. (Yes, I cried at Tom Hanks also.)

I was rather surprised with the casting choice of BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman as the Sherman brothers, but I really liked them in their roles. I’m so used to seeing them in comedies so this was refreshing to see. They stepped up and did well in their roles.

I’ll wrap up this post with a bulleted list of things I loved about this film. There are some spoilers, so please be forewarned. Another spoiler alert: a lot of these things made me cry.

I highly recommend this film. It was beautiful and, yes, made me cry tears of joy and sorrow and nostalgia and oh there were so many feelings. A must-see for any fan of Mary Poppins, Walt Disney, and Disney films.Read More »

2013 in Film

Wednesday, 1 January 2014Friday, 3 January 2014 Starr2 Comments

It’s time for my annual round-up of films that were released this year that I saw. (2012 here) It was a lot fewer than I usually see. The fall-winter season saw a marked decrease in theater visits, aside from my holiday between Christmas and the new year, where I saw 3 movies at the theater in one single week.

KEY:
Without denotation = seen in theaters
* = seen on Netflix/some other service (e.g. Redbox, Amazon)
** = seen on a plane/ship

These are listed in order of the release dates as provided by Wikipedia.
However, it is not the order in which I watched them. I did not enjoy all of these films, but oh well!

The Grandmaster
Movie 43*
21 and Over*
Jack the Giant Slayer**
Oz the Great and Powerful**
Olympus Has Fallen
Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Great Gatsby
Fast & Furious 6
Now You See Me
The Internship
This is the End*
The Heat
Coffee Town
Thor: The Dark World
Saving Mr. Banks
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Wolf of Wall Street

Total = 19.

Which 2013 releases do you think I should still try to see?

If you would like to know whether I’d recommend any of the movies I watched, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment and I’ll try to keep it brief with a yes or a no. 🙂

Ride Along (2014)

Saturday, 9 November 2013Saturday, 20 December 2014 StarrLeave a comment

In addition to seeing an advanced screening of Thor: The Dark World (which I really hope all of you get a chance to see very soon!), I also got to see an extra advanced screening of Ride Along, as well as almost touch Ice Cube, the star, and Will Packer, the producer.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SRSLY I ALMOST TOUCHED HIM IT WAS AMAZING.

Ice Cube and Will Packer are currently screening this movie for a college tour they’re doing. The premise is that Kevin Hart’s character is a security guard who wants to be a cop and wants to marry Ice Cube’s character’s sister. Ice Cube also happens to be a tough cop who doesn’t approve of goofy Kevin Hart.

This movie was HILARIOUS. I did not expect to like it that much at all, but I laughed really hard. I’m not going to give it the same glowing recommendation as I do other movies, but if you like Kevin Hart and/or Ice Cube, this is DEFINITELY a good movie to check out.

Reasons to see this movie:

You like to laugh.
You like Ice Cube.
You like Kevin Hart.
You’re a gamer (especially one who plays shooters)
You like opposites-attract buddy cop movies (e.g. The Other Guys, The Heat)

Lots of laughs, but you’ll have to wait until January for this one.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Wednesday, 6 November 2013Saturday, 20 December 2014 Starr2 Comments

I had the privilege and opportunity to attend an advanced screening of Thor: The Dark World (henceforth referred to as either Thor 2 or TDW) on Monday. I was extremely excited because I really like the Marvel films, I’m a fan of Hemsworth as Thor, and I’m a huuuuuuuuge fan of Tom Hiddleston as Loki. (Hiddlestoners, holla at me!)

SPOILER-FREE

Thor 2 was what I thought it would be. It had a bunch of really terrific action scenes, but I felt more impressed than usual with the visuals. Absolutely stunning visuals. The colors, the landscapes, the stars… it was pretty breathtakingly gorgeous at times. My favorite scene, visually, was the funeral scene. This spectacular funeral scene is the kind that inspired the Viking funerals you remember learning about in school. This scene was set to a perfect score and I really had my breath taken away.

A little sneak peak of the gorgeous scene (Courtesy of TotalFilm.com)

I still don’t really understand the relationship between Jane Foster and Thor, and by don’t understand, I mean I don’t think there are any grounds for it. Their chemistry and relationship sprouted out of seemingly nothing in the last film, and their love seems to be a huge factor in this film. This would be okay if I believed in it even a little bit.

Kat Dennings as comic relief Darcy was funny, but I felt like the writers tried a little too hard to squeeze more laughs out of her after she was popularly received by audiences in the first film. I laughed each time, but I didn’t like that there was SO much comic relief from Darcy.

However, this movie definitely had a lot of great comic moments. Loki plays up his God of Mischief title well. We get some nutty Stellan Skarsgård. I laughed a good deal throughout Thor 2, and I have to commend the screenwriters for that.

I was a little upset about 2 things.

The recasting of Fandral. Josh Dallas, of whom I am a big big fan, played Fandral in the first film and was pretty great. If you watch some of the deleted scenes, you see how he channeled Errol Flynn for the role. He wasn’t able to reprise the role because of Once Upon a Time (my current favorite TV show!) so they cast Zachary Levi. Now I like him, and he was actually the original choice for Fandral and had to pull out because of Chuck (I loved that show). But I missed Josh, and, not going to lie, Zach looks kinda funny with blond hair and a beard. 😛
The benching of Hogun. We have a grand total of one Asian character in this franchise right now. In the first film, Hogun is already the silent, brooding type. His lines are few and in-between, even among the other Warriors Three, who don’t have many lines or screen time for the film. At the beginning of TDW, Thor saves Vanaheim and tells Hogun to stay there with his people. Effectively, this means that Hogun only appears in this scene and then he has sliver of screentime towards the end. Meanwhile, the other Warriors and Sif are pretty cool in this film, but Hogun is left out of the fun.
This is kind of frustrating to me, as you can tell. There are so few people of color in the Marvel movies, sometimes, so it is frustrating that the one Asian one is told to stay home for the film. Why??

“You should be with your people… and have as little screentime as possible.”

I really really liked this movie. While the plot itself wasn’t terribly compelling, here is a quick bulleted list of reasons I think you should see this film:

Christopher Eccleston plays our villain, for fans of the Ninth Doctor. It was nice to see him, as I haven’t seen him since I finished watching series 1 of DW.
There is a cameo appearance by my favorite Avenger and it makes me feel happy and warm inside.
Loki, ’nuff said.
Thor, also ’nuff said.
Gorgeous visuals, as mentioned earlier
Great action sequences
Women taking names and kicking butt (namely Frigga and Sif)
Plenty of laughs
Tears also, if you cry easily at movies like I do.