Film Review - Sausage Party (2016)

Sausage Party is an animated film from Seth Rogen and concerns a Sausage at the Shopwells Supermarket where all of the goods on the shelves dream of being chosen by consumers for what they call "The Great Beyond" but one foods version of heaven could be another drinks version of Hell.

Sausage Party is a great idea as much for a film as well as a comedy unfortunately I just did not really laugh all that much and the more the film went on I just got more and more agitated with it.

The main reason I feel this way is because every single line in the film (well it felt like every single line) is littered with every ounce of profanity I can think of now I know that this is part of Rogen's shtick and it comes with the territory I get that but surely someone has to say to him "No Seth this is too much."

That said though I did enjoy the world of the grocery store and the various aisles that each have their own different feel to them and some of the gags in the climax did make me smile a little bit but by that point I just became bored with the film.

And so that was Sausage Party a film I did not very funny at all, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - The Shallows (2016)

The Shallows stars Blake Lively as a Medical Student who is visiting the Mexican beach her mother went to when she was pregnant with her from their she sees a mysterious island but she also ends wandering into the feeding area of a Shark and it now becomes a fight for survival.

I did not like this movie at all for these reasons of 2:

- Firstly not once did I think that this film was scary in any way shape or form sure some JUMP SCARES OOOOOOOOOO!!!!! would come at you like that and the sound would perk up and the editing become rapid but after about 2 seconds I didn't care about it and also a lot of is just the same old CGI blood and gore that we get too much of these days and I don't find it scary just dirt cheap.

- And secondly Blake Lively just did not compel me in her role, I never really bought her as a medical student and also I never felt that she was in any genuine danger which is not helped by the endless shots of both her bottom and her bikini line I mean for fucks sake she's meant to be in mortal danger from a Shark even if it is a CGI one that you should never ever show me as it looks fake but instead she's shot as if she was doing a Swimwear magazine cover I mean come on guys.

But lastly this whole film just kept making me want to rewatch Jaws again which was genuinely scary and had compelling characters hell I even thought of Robert Shaw's character Quint whilst watching this film and Roy Scheider's last line to the Shark in that film.

And so that was the Shallows not a very good horror film I'm afraid, watch Jaws instead, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

The Secret Life of Pets is the newest film from Illumination Entertainment and concerns a dog named Max who just adores his owner Katie but one night she brings home a rescue dog named Duke and the two don't get along and whilst out being walked end up lost in New York City.

I was very excited for this film mainly because of my love of Cats and having had one for most of my life and also I loved the preview I saw for the film it looked like a lot of fun but could it deliver the goods?

Yes it most certainly could as for a lot of this film I just had a big goofy smile on my face that was very hard to take off for these reasons:

- First of all I love the group of Pets that serve as the main characters in the film all of them were lovingly animated and thinking about that makes me want to pet some of them though my favourite has to be Chloe the Cat I loved every moment she was on screen the same with Leonard the Poodle and Tiberius the Hawk.

- Secondly there is some great voice talent here and first is Albert Brooks as Tiberius who steals every scene he's in and provides some great laughs, Lake Bell voices Chloe and does a really good job with the Cat and Jenny Slate is also good fun as Gidget.

- And lastly the film remembers to have fun as so often these days animated films feel they have to cram in a special message to try and make it mean something and more to the point give it a resonance for the adults going along with the kids to see the film here there is one about tolerating others you don't like at first and a pets need to have an owner that loves it but it's not as in your face as the message in Zootopia and Finding Dory was and I liked both of those films but the message in both of those films does overshadow both of them for good with Dory and for bad with Zootopia.

But before I end things here there is a Minions short film before the main feature where they try to mow a lawn to earn money for a Banana Blender and it was a lot of fun for me BANANA!!!!

And so that was the Secret Life of Pets, a very enjoyable animated film and if you've had a Pet you will really get behind it I think, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Nerve (2016)

Nerve tells the tale of Venus (Emma Roberts) a young girl in high school who decides to play the popular game Nerve that asks you to do dares for money others more dangerous and some fatal.

Nerve is an interesting premise for sure and whilst watching it I thought of the currently popular game Pokemon Go and I thought Emma Roberts (niece of Julia) was pretty good here she does have a little bit of her aunt's charisma and she also has nice chemistry with Dave Franco who is also pretty good here as Ian another player with a mysterious past.

What does hold this back for me is the endlessly stupid things people do in this film, they're climbing onto cranes, running around department stores in their underwear and even walking along a ladder from high on up and risk falling to their death and after a while I thought to myself "I hate these people and I don't care if they live or die" though the film does redeem itself quite a bit in the last act to reverse a lot of that feeling.

And so that was Nerve which has an interesting premise but stupid characters doing stupid things, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Batman the Killing Joke (2016)

Batman the Killing Joke is based off of the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and sees Batman (Kevin Conroy) once more on the hunt for the Joker (Mark Hamill) who has kidnapped Commissioner Gordon as he attempts to make him think "Why So Serious?"

The Killing Joke gets off to a rather slow start with a short film focused on Bat Girl (Tara Strong) that really only exists to flesh out the character and has one scene in particular that made me go "Okay what the hell" when you see it you'll know but once the main storyline gets into gear the film finds its stride.

And that stride comes in the form of Hamill himself who absolutely slays as the Joker this time and like the late great Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight (and watching this film I could see where Christopher Nolan and Co got some of their inspiration from for that film) every time he's on screen you just sit there gripped to the seat unable to look away for even a micro second and his "Looney Song" is just fantastic in both a smile inducing and creepy way.

One other thing came to mind when I finished watching this film was how much it felt like (at least to me) that it honoured DC's Graphic Novel legacy in a way that the live action films sadly seem to be turning more and more away from and no doubt this has come as a result of the response to Batman V Superman back in March which was very dark like a DC Graphic Novel would be but it didn't work for an audience more use to the fun and fancy free tone of the Marvel Studios films and as a result the DCU seems to be walking away from its legacy and that makes me a little sad.

And also hearing Hamill in this film also highlighted just how utterly pathetic and deeply disappointing Jared Leto was in Suicide Squad, how could they do that to the Clown Prince of Crime it just makes me really really mad.

And so that was Batman the Killing Joke save for the kinda weak and slow start once the main storyline gets into gear it becomes very entertaining, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Hitchcock/Truffaut (2016)

Hitchcock/Truffaut is a documentary based around a series of interviews conducted over a week in 1962 between Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut though the doco also contains comments from some of our own master filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and David Fincher among others.

This doco was fantastic truly terrific stuff though it does get off to a bit of a slow start but when it gets to just the 2 men talking about their craft it becomes probably the greatest master class on cinema that any film lover could ever dream of to the point where you become tempted to get out a book and start writing down everything they're saying in the hope that you will learn something out of it all.

One thing I picked up the most from this doco was a line of Hitch's that he wrote in a letter to Truffaut saying that perhaps he should have taken more risks with his work and experimented a bit more with his art form which was so precise and carefully crafted yet came with a deep understanding of his audience and that resonated with me given how this year in movies in particular has played out where more and more filmmakers if they spend a big budget don't really get to do much with their medium instead they just follow orders.

And one only has to see the new Fantastic Four or Suicide Squad to see where that can lead it rarely ends well and even if a filmmaker does get to experiment like Dr George Miller did with Mad Max Fury Road last year or Edgar Wright did with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World there's no guarantee that audiences will jump on board en masse so it can be a bit of a double edged sword sometimes.

And so that was Hitchcock/Truffaut a great doco and one of my fav film watching experiences of the year, 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Green Room (2016)

Green Room is written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier and stars the late Anton Yelchin as Pat the head of a band called the Ain't Rights who are facing the end of their tour when a gig comes their way at a secluded club owned by Darcy (Patrick Stewart) and Darcy has very dark secrets in his club that he will do anything to protect.

Green Room is simply terrific and very genuinely one of the years finest crafted films for these three key reasons:

- First is Saulnier's direction it is truly fantastic to watch just from a craftsman point of view, the film is only 96 minutes long but he makes the absolute most of every moment he puts on screen, nothing feels flabby or wasted but instead air tight and sharply paced, I hope sincerely to see more of him in the director's chair soon.

Another person deserving praise is Sean Porter who was the cinematographer on the film and the mood he creates with that bar with the deep greens and black blacks and beer coloured yellows its almost as if you can feel the piss and vinegar and vomit stains on the wall and the empty glasses on the bar with beer foam still inside, just great world building here.

- Secondly the action in the film is properly violent and bloody and as someone who is so utterly sick to death of seeing toothless and bloodless action in the action films released these days it like Hardcore Henry was very refreshing to see some real blood in the action scenes.

- And lastly the performances are all very good, it is so sad to be watching this after Yelchin sadly passed away and this film shows that he still had so much more to give us as an actor and that it's just so sad that he was taken from us so soon in his life and Stewart is a truly fantastic villain he doesn't do much but his sheer presence reminds us constantly that this guy means business and he'll do whatever it takes to protect his livelihood and again he is just fantastic to watch here.

And that was Green Room which joins Eddie the Eagle and X-Men Apocalypse as one of my top films of the year so far, 4 out of 5.