Get Him To The Greek
Do you remember ‘This is Spinal Tap’? It was a rather good 1984 pseudo-documentary following a concert tour of a fictitious and highly inept, aging, Rock group. Well, not that ‘Get Him To The Greek’ is anything like ‘Spinal Tap’, but, it pretty much covers the same ground, and is just as much fun. An ambitious artists’ manager, working for a big record company, has to get a fading British Rock Star from London to Los Angeles, in time for his ‘comeback’ concert at the Greek Theatre. Along the way, the temperamental Rock Star will not co-operate. He is distracted by many things, and, really sets out to make his new manager’s life as miserable as possible. Directed by Nicholas Stoller, and starring Jonah Hill and Russell Brand, the movie is a very funny, and probably very accurate, depiction of the lunacies of the music industry. All the songs throughout the movie are brilliantly stupid!
Back To Hell
This Australian movie was originally called ‘The Horseman’, but, whatever title it appears under, neither adequately expresses the horrors contained in the film. After a young girl is abused, raped, and deliberately over-dosed with heroin, and dies, while making a porno movie, her grieving father sets out for revenge against the men who did this to her. He tracks them down, and brutally slays them one by one. The father uses some very gruesome tactics to extract his pound of flesh, but, somehow, you can’t help but feel that he has justice on his side. The movie is extremely violent. It is Strictly for Adults Only, and its depiction of the darker side of the Australian porno industry is quite disturbing. Director Steven Kastrissios bleaches out the movie to shades of icy blue, with touches of red, to accentuate the realism.
Predators
Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the first ‘Predator’ (1987). It was one of his many great movies which were to set him on his path to glory. The movie was followed by ‘Predator 2’ (1990), ‘Alien Vs. Predator’ (2004) and ‘Aliens Vs. Predators, The Requiem’ (2007). Alas, none of the others starred Arnold. Anyway, the Predators are back in this new sequel, and it’s pretty good. The Predators still have their laser-beam weapons, infra-red vision, and cloaks of invisibility. Adrien Brody, along with some other guys, is dumped in a tropical jungle, and, they all have to hunt the Predators down before the Predators get them. Adrien makes a good ‘thinking man’ Hero, and the film is one of the better action movies currently doing the rounds.
Monsters
Directed by Gareth Edwards, this is a very interesting Sci-Fi film. As the opening titles state: “Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, a new life form began to appear, and half of Mexico was quarantined as an Infected Zone. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain the creatures”. With no other means of escape, a US journalist agrees to escort a female tourist across the Infected Zone to the safety of the US border. It takes time for the creatures to make their appearance, but, when they do, it is well worth the wait. The movie is really a poetic love story, and it’s shot in a documentary style to give the illusion that it is in fact happening, right now!
Love Ranch
Although set in a very provocative situation, this movie is actually another touching love story. Dame Helen Mirren, of all people, plays the Madam of a brothel located on the outskirts of the American gambling city of Reno. Dame Helen’s husband, Joe Pesci, is a sleazy entrepreneur, and his latest venture is to promote a South American boxer, Sergio Peris Mencheta. To train for a future fight, Joe brings Sergio to Dame Helen’s establishment. It doesn’t take too much to figure out the rest. Don’t expect any sizzling sex scenes. There aren’t any. In a weird way the movie is somewhat wholesome. Dame Helen gives an extraordinary and completely captivating performance.
The Last Airbender
Written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, this movie quite adequately shows why Shyamalan should stick to his small ‘mystery’ movies, and not attempt ‘big-budget’ ever again. Shyamalan flounders hopelessly with this effort. The plot, which is incredibly juvenile, concerns the Fire nation waging war against the Air, Water, and Earth nations. Only The Avatar, a boy who possesses the ability to ‘bend’ all the elements, can save them. Everybody wants to get their hands on him. Shyamalan focuses way too much on his sets and special effects, to the detriment of the flow of the narrative. Also, the acting is absolutely atrocious. On the bright side, after the failure of this production, we most likely won’t have to sit through any sequels. Still, the film ends rather abruptly, and, I suspect one sequel is already in the ‘can’. Children will probably get a big kick out of the movie.
Princess Kaiulani
The synopsis for this movie is intriguing. Princess Kaiulani is the young westernized heir to the Hawaiian Throne. In the late 1800s she tries to fight off the American Colonization of her country. Regrettably, the plot doesn’t translate to the screen, and the movie comes across as a dull history lesson.
