Insidious – Chapter 2

I usually make it a point to see an earlier part in case I haven’t when the sequel releases.  Insidious Chapter 2 is actually more of a logical extension form Insidious that finished with a clear indication of a possible 2^nd part.  Much like Chapter 2 finishes with “Oh My God”!!! Clearly an indication that Chapter 3 maybe around the corner.  Will it show the same levels of improvement that 2 did over 1? With James Wan clearly indicating that he doesn’t want to be involved with horror any more, I don’t know.

Insidious

Insidious – working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way.  Intended to entrap.  Beguiling but harmful. The quality of being designed to entrap.  Subtle and cumulative harmfulness (especially of a disease).  These are the definitions of the name of this horror flick that I dug out from various sources on the net.

The Place Beyond The Pines

I had seen Blue Valentine when it released a couple of years back and was quite wary about The Place Beyond The Pines.  Derek Cianfrance gave me the impression of being an arty farty director in his previous outing.  Michelle Williams of course did a fine job in that movie one and earned herself a nomination.

Knowing

There has to be something about Nicholas Cage that makes him one of the most preferred actors of all time right? How else do you think he keeps getting roles? I would seriously like to meet Mr. Cage to understand it from him someday. And no matter what the role or story there is, there has to be enough and more opportunity for him to get his most dull and expressionless face to the fore. I would have loved to use the word constipated but I think I have used it too often and run the risk of you guys calling my writing trite and lemme guess – Nicholas Cage :):):)

Knowing is yet another movie which Nicholas Cage is making a habit out of in terms of a story line. It is similar to Next which I reviewed sometime back if I am not mistaken. The difference here being that the protagonist doesn’t know. But a girl 50 years before hears voices and writes down numbers on a sheet of paper. One thing is for certain though – she is not extremely pleased to write them and wants the voices to stop.

The numbers are considered as her class assignment and buried along with several other assignments by the school administration. Today, it is opened and the sheet with the numbers finds its way to Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury) who is the son of MIT professor and physicist John Koestler (Nicholas Cage). John figures out that the numbers mean something and that something is not too pleasant. The chase so begins.

Yet another movie that should be restricted to Television viewing. The special effects are not too great per se. And if the intent was to generate some fear in the minds of the viewer then that fell woefully short. Not much of acting on display as such. All of it was just average at best. There was no character per se that needed to be emphasized on since the concept was a bit over bearing. The most important character would actually be the girl Lucinda (Lara Robinson) who hears the voices first up.

The story is strong and different and had loads of potential. But the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Alex Proyas is not the most inspirational director. He is best known for 2 dud movies at the box office – I,Robot & The Crow. Knowing was probably a tad better than his previous attempts but only a tad. It probably shows that he has an extremely slow learning curve and not much of a future in Hollywood unless he starts showing some progress really quickly. Honestly, the overall package is not horrible. Watch it but don’t expect too much is the only message. 5 on 10 is what I would give it.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3391554329/

Bridesmaids

If you look at the nominations for best original screenplay in this year’s Academy awards you will find that Bridesmaids shares space with the likes of Margin Call, The Artist, Midnight in Paris and A Separation (foreign film). Makes me sit back and wonder why actually. I mean, it was a good fun storyline but had too much of crappy scenes and over the top segments for it to be called really up there. I thought the likes of Rango for e.g. was much better. What stuns me even more is that Bridesmaids has been included in the Best Screenplay for even the BAFTAs. Now I think I need a serious relook at my understanding of screenplay. It was just a simple straightforward regular semi slapstick comedy with some decent dialogues thrown in. I personally believed that it was nowhere close to being Oscar league.
Lets then go onto the performance of one Melissa McCarthy. This one for my money’s worth takes the cake yet again. She shares the space with stunning performances from Bérénice Bejo (Artist), Jessica Chastain & Octavia Spencer (Help) & Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs). Am I seriously missing a point here? So we are saying that the over the top slapstick antics of McCarthy are superior to the sincere solid performances from the likes of Chloë Grace Moretz (Hugo) or Shailene Woodley (The Descendants). Both performances far superseded McCarthy and were from less than 18 year olds – which cannot be the reason for the Oscars ignoring them. Need to get my fundas cleared.

Bridesmaids is definitely a very enjoyably flick. So don’t get me wrong on that count. Just that it is too tacky for Oscar nominations. There are truck loads of consistency errors. The performances are honestly quite average. There are moments in the movie which make you laugh out loud due to the simplicity of humour which is yet so well spoken that one cannot help but acknowledge the effort. However, several movies through the year have done a much better job than Bridesmaids and it is disappointing to not see their names on the list.

Director Paul Fieg hasn’t directed too many features other than the reasonably well known Unaccompanied Minors. He hasn’t exceeded himself or raised the bar significantly. If anyone stood out for my money’s worth they were Kristen Wiig in the lead role and Rose Byrne who for my money’s worth was much better than McCarthy. One need not have looked too far to find a performance that was better. Nevertheless, worth a DVD Rental. Enjoyable definitely. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4215119129/

X Men First Class

This one is actually a slight dampner of sorts. Although the effects make up for a lot that it seems to have been missed in other departments and the fact that the number of X Men fans across the world aren’t going to reduce with probably the first effort that has been just over average would put the owners of the franchise at some ease. The mutants are here to stay just as they sign off by saying – MUTANT AND PROUD. You can expect many more stories going forward from this “different” bunch. In fact, X Men First Class has set it up beautifully for several sequels in the coming years. Rest assured, the impact from the previous 4 have left enough of an impact on fans and non fans alike to keep coming back to the movie halls. It will take quite a disaster to make any dent on the fan following.

The producers, however, have to really take a long hard look at the past 3 directors and they would probably find an answer there. Brett Ratner (X3), Gavin Hood (Wolverine) and Matthew Vaughn (XMFC) just don’t measure up to the magic that was created by Bryan Singer in X1 and X2. Ratner, Hood and Vaughn seem to rely much more on the effects and really don’t focus as much on building a story that is irresistible. Although XMFC does try to build up the background on the entire concept, I felt they tried to do just that little too much and lost out on the story somewhere in between. I wouldn’t be wrong if I were to say that the term First Class actually came to life – The movie seemed more like a class room session. Something like Course - XMen Class – 101 – I hope u got what I meant to say. It would be clear when u do watch the movie.

My intent till now has not been to blast XMFC at all and I must apologise if it was perceived as a whipping. The movie is definitely worth a watch and you will not get bored. The classic fan though may land up being a tad disappointed. But his passion will drive him to give the movie a score that is more than what it deserves. I would give it a 6 on 10. Maybe a bit harsh. But I am also pegging it against the previous editions and I find that this one was just about par for the course. And if the characters were not fleshed out as well as they were – especially Xavier, Magneto and Raven – I would have given it 5. But for these aspects, there is nothing much other than effects. Acting is just about there to create some aura around the characters. The casting is apt but then this is as much as what McAvoy and company can get upto in terms of acting in a super hero movie. It’s a big screen watch for certain – you cant watch XMFC on the small screen and miss out on the effects.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi168926489/