Waiting for Superman: Update

Paramount Pictures  is currently working on the documentary film WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” that will open in theatres this Fall and is from the same team that brought us AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.

It examines the crisis of public education in the United States through multiple interlocking stories and is designed to start a national conversation on both sides of the border.

The great news is,  that if we get enough pledges in our Canadian cities, First Book Canada has agreed to donate 25,000 new books to schools and programs in low-income communities across CANADA! 

Please go on this site and pledge now.    And pass along to your friends and families too.

www.waitingforsuperman.com

Each city only needs 50 pledges to show up on the leaderboard, so let's get this thing going!

Dinner for Schmucks: Movie Review

Steve Carell plays Barry, a lonely and quirky man who enjoys re-creating the greatest scenes throughout history with dead, stuffed mice, in Jay Roach's newest comedy Dinner for Schmucks. This remake of 1998 French film Le Diner de Cons pits straight-laced and uptight Tim (Paul Rudd) against himself. While attempting to receive a very important promotion at his business Tim finds himself invited to a dinner, with a twist. Each invitee brings along their own 'special' guest, or for lack of a better term, an idiot for the rest of the dinner guests to make fun of. The employee who brings the biggest idiot wins and Tim is under the impression that if he can bring the best idiot he will receive his promotion. Enter Barry, a man who Tim accidentally hits with his car; however immediately Barry stands out with his quirkiness as he was trying to save a dead mouse from being run over and also feared that Tim would try to sue Barry for hitting him. An unlikely friendship is formed as both Tim and Barry learn about themselves and about each other in this feel-good buddy comedy.

Jay Roach is the director behind the Austin Powers trilogy as well as Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers.  I definitely have to say that this film follows in the tradition of Jay Roach and juvenile humour; but it doesn't necessarily come off as bad.  The film is very absurd, so unrealistically over the top, yet at the same time I didn't seem to mind as I found myself laughing hysterically moment to moment. Yes, the humour is juvenile but it still has a very witty feel to it. One of my favourite lines in the movie is the epitome of this. Barry is talking to a group of people: "My wife left me because I lost her clitoris. I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere, but I just couldn't find it. Once I thought I found it under the couch, but it was only a chewed up piece of gum." Jermaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame also has a quirky cameo as Kieran the absurd artist who tells a story about how when he feels that his art has become 'bullshit' he rubs actual bull excrement all over the painting to make it truly art.  Each character has their own quirks and absurdities that, if indeed they were all put together in a room together chaos would ensue, all characters except for Tim (Paul Rudd.)  Unfortunately Paul Rudd is the weak link in this film as he manages to only get cast as the straight-laced uptight character, but after seeing Anchorman we all know that he can play over the top zany and be funny as well.

I'm surprised at how well the script was written by David Guion and Michael Handelman's whose only other credits to date is the Zach Braff and Jason Bateman bummer The Ex. They really bring their A-game in this film, and although the gag starts to get old after awhile, especially as it's a fairly long film for a comedy (almost two hours) the two writers continue to throw out good one-lined zingers which bring the audience back to knee slapping and clapping moments. A personal example is the day of the dinner, where Tim and Barry are going to Kieran's ranch to find Tim's girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak). The action and the laughs are starting to fade when suddenly Barry bursts out in an hilarious rant about how one can catch gonorrhea from riding the bus. Instantly any boredom that I was starting to feel was evaporated by the hilarity of the moment. Another great example is at a fairly boring lunch meeting with a Swiss businessman Barry shows up and starts talking about Switzerland and than goes off saying: 'I even know some of your language' before continuing off mumbling like the Swedish Chef from The Muppets.

This movie is honestly laugh-out-loud funny and despite mixed reviews on crowds leaving the theatre I will say that I personally liked it. It kept me laughing and entertained and Steve Carell is just purely hilarious. It's unfortunate that he'll be leaving The Office at the end of this season but I really hope he continues to make films like this.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Salt: Movie Review

Evelyn Salt is a very mysterious lady. As a field agent in the C.I.A. Evelyn finds herself constantly fighting for her life abroad; however after a botched mission in North Korea Evelyn finds herself back in Washington D.C. leading a domesticated life, married, and pushing paper. On her wedding anniversary a Russian defector shows up at the C.I.A. headquarters with a great story of sleeper assassin cells being planted into the American government. The name he's naming? Evelyn Salt. Finding her loyalties questioned Evelyn goes on the run either a) trying to prove her innocence or b) complete the mission set out for her from the Russian government.

Angelina Jolie plays the title-character Evelyn Salt, and plays it better than anyone else I can think of. The film was originally written for Tom Cruise, but he backed out, and I must admit I'm glad he did because I really don't think that that this movie would have been nearly as good as it was with anyone else. Don't get me wrong, this movie wasn't amazing - but it really wasn't that bad. I went into this film wanting to hate it so much, however, found myself actually enjoying it. The cast were fun to watch and I was thoroughly impressed with director, Phillip Noyce's, portrayal of the film. I wasn't sure how the film would look because Noyce is a hit and miss director; although his niche definitely rests in the spy genre as he is the mind behind many Tom Clancy film adaptations. I believe that Noyce's performance as a director was only accented by veteran-writer Kurt Wimmer, who also penned other crime films like Law Abiding Citizen, Street Kings, and the film adaptation of The Thomas Crown Affair.

The plot is filled with gaping holes, but that's what makes it fun.  For the first 30 minutes the main question: if Evelyn Salt is truly innocent - why the hell is she running instead of just staying and facing the music? The answer to that question comes about within the first 30 - 40 minutes of the film, and then  the movie becomes fairly predictable.  But predictable isn't actually bad in this movie. You see what's coming 100 miles away, yet it still captivates because of the absurdity of it all. There is a scene where Salt jumps from transport truck to transport truck on a highway, or climbs around an apartment building ledge no thicker than my thumb many stories off the ground. The action, the stunts, half of the movie is so absurdly unrealistic that you can just sit back and enjoy it.  This movie is actually pure mind-numbing fun; much like in my honest opinion The A-Team. This movie isn't trying to be something it isn't. It's not trying to be too sophisticated or pretentious and it doesn't play itself out as that. One can easily go into this film, turn off their mind and watch a great cat and mouse chase film.

I know that there were mixed reactions at the screening about the film and I know I can be fairly harsh on movies in general, but in all honesty no matter how hard I wanted to hate this film I found myself enjoying myself at every turn.

I definitely recommend this film. Just go on in, turn off your mind, just don't expect to have your mind blown or anything - just ready to enjoy a thrill ride of a movie.

4 out of 5

Inception: Movie Review

Inception. The idea is to plant an idea in someone’s subconscious and allow it grow and fester until the person believes this idea to be the monumental truth, whatever the situation. To do this Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a team of the world’s greatest ‘extractors’ team up and invade Robert Fischer’s (Cillian Murphy) dreams and plant an idea that would destroy his father’s legacy. They dally around in his dreams, creating layer after layer, transcending each layer to plant a single idea in Fischer’s mind and then attempt to escape his dreams unscathed. Got it? No? A little confusing? Very confusing? Indeed. This film is 2 and half hours and continues to get more and more complicated with each passing minute. The story itself is an interesting premise but the way it’s played out is full of holes and continuity errors. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I’ll give a few examples of little holes; there is a scene where Cobb needs to drug Fischer to put him to sleep and so he palms a sedative and drops it into a glass of water in front of Fischer. In my mind, that’s a very risky move. Although the person who poured the water (off scene) was in on the drugging plot it would have been much easier and less risky for the entire plot of the movie for that person to have drugged the water. Another example is there is a guy who is driving a pick-up van and being chased by a slew of men with guns who shoot at the van repeatedly over a 40 minute period (things happen in between). His front side driver’s window explodes in fragments like 8 times! These are little plot holes/continuity errors, but the film is made up of these!  Another huge issue that needs to be brought up is that there is no bad guy; or at least not clearly portrayed as a bad guy, the person displayed as the 'bad guy' is truly more of a victim than anything in this film. You can't have a film of such 'grandeur' without a bad guy. It made the weak ending even weaker.

The movie is so long, and a lot of the film is rehashed over again through extraneous dialogue; its imagery is pretentious and the movie is horribly predictable. By 30 minutes in I was ready for it to be over. By the time it finally ended, 2 hours later my head was just pounding. I know I seem to be hitting this movie a little harshly, but I didn’t hate it, per se. I didn’t like it… but it was far from fantastic.  Christopher Nolan is a fantastic director and he brought this story to life in a way I don’t believe any other director could, the problem, in my opinion rests in the script. For example for such a complex film the ending was too simple. And by ending I truly mean the finale; the final 15 – 20 minutes. I’ve already gone through other holes in the story and there are a lot more, I’d just rather not give away the story for those who plan on going to see it. The entirety of the film felt too much like a Matrix wanna-be minus the cool kung fu.

The acting was half decent though. Leonardo DiCaprio is a very strong actor and I enjoy seeing him in films. I can’t remember the last film I’ve seen him in that was under 2 hours though.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is another very interesting actor whose career has been very up and down, but more recently he has found his own niche and is blossoming into a fantastic actor. Ellen Page, albeit given the most boring character of the bunch, played her with enthusiasm and managed to make what could have been a very dreadful lead character slightly interesting.  I was hoping for more from Michael Caine; however his role just turned into a two scene cameo. But altogether, the acting was decent, the directing was superb… the problem with this movie rests in the underwhelming story.

If you truly want to check out this film, try it on a cheap Tuesday.

2 out of 5

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Movie Review

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice reunites Jerry Bruckheimer with Nicolas Cage for the gazillionth time and I can’t say that it gets better with age. Set in present day New York, Balthazar (Nicolas Cage), a millennium old magician who apprenticed under Merlin, continues to seek out a future apprentice who will be able to defeat Merlin’s greatest threat, an evil witch named Morgana. When it appears that Balthazar has found his future apprentice in an everyday normal guy, Dave (Jay Baruchel), all hell breaks loose in the ultimate battle for good or evil all the while using New York as a backdrop for destruction. While Dave comes to terms with his new life and battling evil he must also learn how to deal in the art of love and be able to juggle both without destroying the other.

Walt Disney Pictures has a hard-on for making PG live action films which frankly suck. Don’t believe me? I’ll list a few: Pirates of the Caribbean 3, G-Force, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Alice in Wonderland, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Race to Witch Mountain, I could go on… but you get the picture… the problem is: Walt Disney Pictures makes movies based on a formula that contain very little action, ‘witty’ dialogue which comes off as being more pretentious than actually witty, and worst of all the movies are more boring than anything. They get a slew of big name actors to walk through the film with their eyes closed and earn a big pay check just for showing up. I know a lot of people hate on Nicolas Cage a lot but I honestly like the guy; sure he’s done some crappy movies, this being one of them; but overall he’s a decent actor. Jay Baruchel has had a huge year with all the movies he’s been pumping out, and while I believe him to be a very talented actor he let his fans down with this collaboration.

Director Jon Turtelaub has worked with Nic Cage and Jerry Bruckheimer before with National Treasure 1 and 2. Both National Treasures can be considered masterpieces in comparison to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, because at least their puzzle elements kept audiences engaged in comparison to what The Sorcerer’s Apprentice will do. I was really excited to see what Turtelaub would produce after his excellent, but under-appreciated mini-series Harper’s Island, and unfortunately it was this. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: the cinematic version of literary drivel.

The writing was horrendous as well. Each and every choreographed movement spelled out through dialogue as well, yes Nicolas Cage we see you walking down the stairs you don’t need to tell us that you’re walking down the stairs while you do it. It’s really hard to figure out who to blame for the writing though as there were 3 screen story writers and 3 screenplay writers. I guess it’s a lie to say if you put enough monkeys in a room you can get them to write Shakespeare. Regardless these 5 (as one crossed between being a screen story writer and a screenplay writer) wrote a 100 minute snooze fest based on a single sketch from the late Disney musical film Fantasia. You know the scene I’m talking about, the one where Mickey plays with the mops and ends up flooding his master’s room? Yeah, it happens in this film too… I’d suggest you just leave it to the scene in Fantasia and skip this film.

1.5 out of 5

Despicable Me: Movie Review

Despicable Me is far from despicable.  Universal Pictures newest animated adventure brings a slew of great voice actors to a great script and two break-out directors. Steve Carrell (of The Office) fame voices the lead, Gru, a supervillian who wants nothing more than to be respected for what he does.  When a younger supervillian by the name of Vector (voiced by How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segal) who has managed to steal the great pyramid of Gaza.  In response Gru sets out to steal the Moon!  Gru’s only problem, Vector, his arch nemesis, possesses the shrink ray required to shrink the moon to a small enough size to actually steal. Gru hatches a master plan of adopting 3 sisters who regularly sell cookies to Vector to sneak into his place so he can get the shrink ray. What happens next changes Gru from being “Superbad” to “Superdad.”

The story is heart-warming and touching and the animation is phenomenal.  The script is definitely at the top of the game for veteran screenwriting team Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul who have teamed together before to bring half-assed pieces of work to screen such as Bubble Boy, The Santa Claus 2, Horton Hears a Who! & College Road Trip. So in comparison to their previous scripts Despicable Me is by far a great  and hilarious masterpiece.

Directed by fairly novice directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud the animation and the flow of the story just blew me away.  Not only did they provide 95 minutes of pure hilarity but did it in such a touching way that was engaging to young and old. The story was also very original which is nice to see in children’s movies as most animated movies that come out are a dime a dozen.  I personally loved Toy Story 3 but after seeing Despicable Me I almost think its better, not necessarily content wise per se but because of the originality aspect that Despicable Me had over Toy Story 3.

If you read my reviews regularly you will notice that I hate 3D so much. To me it’s a gimmick and not worth the extra money. That is not the case in Despicable Me. This is the first 3D movie, next to How To Train Your Dragon that I can say is worth the extra few bucks. The 3D was phenomenal and actually added to the film rather than detract from it. The ending, during the credits, was also hilarious, while slightly gimmicky it was still a lot of fun.

This movie is a great family flick. Everyone at the Premiere loved it. I loved it. The strangers next to my buddy Richard loved it. The children and parents behind and in front of me loved it. It’s a great family film and I definitely recommend it for all.

I also love the fact that Gru kinda looks like Alfred Hitchcock!
4.5 out of 5.