Thursday 28 July 2011

Captain America (out 29th July)

There once was a Nazi so evil that he even hated other Nazis, including Hilter. He looked just like another evil man, from The Matrix, and he wore badges with an evil skull octopus on, and he was just all evil and stuff (Hugo Weaving).

Luckily for us, and the whole world, a genius scientist has taken his super awesome serum project to America (where else? no other country could win a war) and teamed up with an angry weather beaten Army guy (Tommy Lee Jones) to find a modest heroic type to turn into a super soldier. Cue tiny Stevie Rogers (Chris Evans - not the ginger one) with his big head and skinny little shoulders, he's all goofy and stuff. But he is so awesome and brave, and all that sort of thing. If they hadn't plastered his huge torso all over the posters and tv it might be more surprising when he pops out the machine with pecs galore. Not that I'm complaining, in fact my main complaint would be that this guy wears too many clothes - he needs to take his shirt off more often. Anyway, now we have a super-buff super-moral nemisis to take out the creepy Nazi man.


I couldn't concentrate properly on some scenes because I was trying to figure out which bits were filmed in my stomping ground of Manchester. I can't believe a total beefcake like Chris Evans was in Manchester and I didn't see him once. Unfaaaaaaaaaaaair.


It's all rather enjoyable. Don't bother paying extra for 3D, the best stunts are those with real people on motorbikes and such. CGI is getting boring. There's a nice little cliff hanger featuring a man who's in hardly any films (Samuel L Jackson), but don't worry if you are left unsatisfied by his brief appearance - apparently Marvel have already started working on a sequel (and Chris Evans has signed up for a deal to make 6 Marvel films - and dear lord, they can't be making any more Fantastic Four, bleurgh)

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Horrible Bosses (out 22nd July)

I saw this trailer for this a few weeks ago and thought "ha, yes, this looks sort of funny but they appear to have revealed the entire film in these clips". So the premise is - our three average hard-working fellas are just trying to get by in life, but sadly each is suffering due to pyscho managers. Or horrible bosses, if you will.

The guy who looks a bit like the nerdy fella from The Hangover (but isn't) is working for a balding anti-fat anti-disabled coke head, played by Colin Farrell. The guy who I haven't seen in anything before is subjected to sexual harassment by his mental boss every day, which might be ok except he has a fiance who prob won't like Jennifer Aniston touching her future hubby's peenee every day and the guy who I liked (Jason Bateman) in Paul and Arrested Development but not in Hancock - yuk - is being taunted by an alpha-alpha-ALPHA male Kevin Spacey. So one tipsy night whilst bitching over a drink, and realising that all this recession nonsense is sucking up the job market, they decide to... teehee... kill their bosses! I haven't spoiled anything - this is all summed up nicely in the trailer and promo posters. So you kind of think "where can they go from here?" Surely we've already seen most of the laughs and the plot.



But I was pleasantly surprised that there are plenty of further twists and LOLs (I used to use LOL ironically, but I think I actually mean it now) as the trio flirt with the idea of murder, and then realise that trying to find a hitman might not be as easy as it seems, at least not when you're a gang of ordinary businessman mixing with nice pals who live in a nice neighbourhood. The three bosses are all amusingly bonkers and there's a nice little cameo by Ioan Gruffudd (probably the best thing I've seen him do - I almost forgive him for Fantastic Four). The plot becomes a bit tangled and then a bit more tangled and it all seems to be headed for a fabulous ending. Ah, the ending. Unfortunately, this is where my only real disappointment with the film lies (apart from a small pang of sadness that Donald Sutherland isn't in it for longer, I love that guy). It's a bit sharp and short, like being on an awesome rollercoaster, waiting for the big whoopsie-do-upside-down spin... this is it! ooooh! can't wait!... Oh. It's finished. What? But you promised me this big awesome loopy loop? BOO! Boo to you!


"Horrible Bosses" is still worth a watch though.