He’s a Contradictionary. He’s the…
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Week of January 31, 2014
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
The only time that I can really appreciate a meatball monsoon is when its followed up by an antacid rainbow.
Mind you, the man-eating meals in this animated adventure aren't too concerned with agitating anyone’s esophagus.
In the wake of a food deluge that ravaged his hometown, inept inventor Flint (Bill Hader), his girlfriend (Anna Faris), his monkey (Neil Patrick Harris) and the townsfolk (James Caan, Benjamin Bratt, Terry Crews) are relocated.
But when Flint’s icon (Will Forte) asks him to help find the food-making machine causing all of the chaos, he and his friends get to return home, only to discover its overrun by carnivorous cuisine.
The requisite sequel to the 2009 hit, Cloudy 2 serves up similar slapstick fare to its precursor.
However, despite clever food-animal classifications, this time around the kooky characters and adult humour feels forced.
Rush
An easy way to curtail crashes in Formula One is to introduce distracted driver laws.
Unfortunately, those laws would be as ineffective in this 1970s action movie as they are in 2014.
From their early days in F3, Britain’s rebel racer James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austria’s pedantic Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) had a rivalry.
Their competitiveness increased as both advanced to F1.
Between Grand Prix both marry (Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara) and struggle to balance love of life and love of death.
But that audaciousness is tested when Niki is disfigured in an accident, and James looses his direction.
Based on real racers and real races, director Ron Howard handles this rubber-burning biography with precision.
And though the ending is somewhat anticlimactic, it’s a testament to the film’s authenticity.
Incidentally, after that many laps around a boring track, who wouldn’t get road rage and start a grudge match? Green Light
The Fifth Estate
If WikiLeaks is anything like Wikipedia than their information is only 15% accurate.
Either way, this thriller about the whistleblower website does not allow users to edit its content.
From their early days as online activists, Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) have had a mentor and student relationship.
It is not until their online news-leaking enterprise starts exposing politician’s personal information that Daniel sees his hero has feet of clay.
But that doesn’t compare to when Julian leaks top-secret missives concerning world leader standings, covert air strikes and evidence of corruption and cover-ups.
Despite Cumberbatch’s spot-on performance as Assange, this adaptation of Domscheit-Berg’s memoir portrays him as a whack-job.
Furthermore, the compelling subject matter is cluttered up with languid directing, monotonous dialogue and a useless romance.
Besides, if politicians didn’t want their dirt circulated on the Internet than they shouldn’t have let Al Gore invent it. Red Light
***Sniveling Rivalry***
Amadeus
One way to combat competition in the music industry is to find bands/singers that don’t all sound/look the same.
Thankfully, the pianists in this historical biography sound nothing alike.
From his room in an insane asylum, Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) ruminates on his rivalry with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce).
A celebrated composer in his own right, Salieri creates pieces for the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones).
But his piety and his work pale in comparison to the pink-haired Austrian with a penchant for partying and penning masterpieces.
Jealous of Mozart’s success, Salieri secretly commissions the destitute musician so he can capitalize off his genius, and finally secure the notoriety he believes he’s due.
With a stupefying symphonic soundtrack supplied by Mozart and an Oscar-winning performance from Abraham, this adaptation of the play is a milestone in cinematic rivalry.
In an ironic twist, Salieri’s ancestor invented Betamax.
He’ll be Bach. He’s the…
Vidiot
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