Carl (voiced by Edward Asner) has lived a long life. Now widowed and alone, Carl will stop at nothing to prevent developers from seizing his property, including flying away.
Written and directed by Pete Doctor (Inside Out, Wall.E) and Bob Peterson (Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc.), it captures the spirit of adventure that lives on in us long after our childhood years. Christopher Plummer along with both directors and various members of their family, lent his voice to the film.
The sequel to 21 Jump Street, this time Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are masquerading as college students to bring down a drug ring.
Don’t panic if you think this sounds awfully familiar, the fact that the basic plot is almost exactly the same as the first film does not go unmentioned. Very cleverly written, the feature is magnificently meta, breaking down every fourth wall that comes in its path.
Whether you are in it for the action, the gross-out humour, the wit or just Channing Tatum, you’ll love it.
Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) work for undercover police department, Jump Street. Their assignment? To infiltrate a high school and bring down a drug ring.
Although this may at first glance appear to be full of obvious humour, it also does an excellent job of playing off these expectations. This is not your average teen comedy with a drug bust thrown in.
Directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the team behind The Lego Movie, it is just brilliant.
Starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, with cameos from Noel Coward, Tony Curtis and Marlene Dietrich, it plays like a romantic farce.
Gabrielle Simpson (Hepburn) is a typist sent to the hotel room of acclaimed screenwriter Richard Benson (Holden) to type up the pages of his latest masterpiece. The problem is that he hasn’t started writing it yet and only has three days to get it written and delivered to the producer.
George Axelrod (Breakfast At Tiffany’s, The Seven Year Itch, The Manchurian Candidate) penned the screenplay and it was directed by Richard Quine (Sex And The Single Girl, How To Murder Your Wife).
The key to understanding the genius of this film, comes with understanding the changes Hollywood was going through at the time. So here is a brief history of the Classical Hollywood era.
When Hollywood started making films, the rating system that we are all familiar with did not exist. There was censorship or sense of filtering audiences by a film’s content. By the end of the 1920s, Hollywood was getting a reputation as a hotbed of sin and debauchery. Extra-marital affairs were rife and well recorded in the national and international press and there were even a couple of high profile rapes and murders.
In an attempt to restore the at least the appearance of a moral code, the studios hired Presbyterian Elder William Hays who, in 1930, brought out the Motion Picture Production Code (MPPC also known as the Hays Code). The MPPC laid out a series of rule that filmmakers had to abide by, including banning the “use of profanity”, “ridicule of the clergy” and “sex relationships between white and black races”, and cautioning “special care” around “sympathy for criminals”, “men and women in bed together” and “the institution of marriage”. These rules applied to all American filmmaking until 1968 when the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system was put in place, however from the 1950s onwards American filmmakers pushed back against these restrictions.
By the end of 1950s a new style of filmmaking was coming out of Europe, christened French New Wave. Directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Agnes Varda took a free-form approach to filmmaking, seeing it as a form of artistic expression rather than commercial storytelling. This flew very much in the face of Hollywood’s ethos, which was (and still is) very much the movie “Business”.
This is the period of change that Axelrod was writing in, and that he tapped into when writing this clever little film. His characters write a screenplay that not only jumps from genre to genre but pushes and pulls at the MPPC as well as poking fun at French New Wave.
In a scene within the fictitious film that takes place in the bedroom, Benson comments on the risqué nature of the scene. Miss Simpson responds “You might take that view, but I believe they are playing Parcheesi”, gently prodding the MPPC’s allowances of insinuation. Also within the film within a film, Gaby gets caught up with a French New Wave actor (played by Tony Curtis) who’s involved in a fictitious film about Bastille Day called No Dancing In The Streets because “in this version it, like, rains”.
So watch this film, but when you do, look beyond the farcical romantic comedy and try to see the brilliantly executed satire that lies beneath.
Set in a future world where overpopulation is the main concern, a class of students are captured by their government, sent to an island and forced to kill each other to survive.
This is not the Hunger Games. This is far more grown up and far less forgiving. There’s no beautiful scenery or costumes, this is not Young Adult fiction. This film may not be for the faint hearted but is definitely worth watching.
A former Black-Ops agent (Bruce Willis) comes out of retirement when he is forced back into the field. Marked by the Government as Retired Extremely Dangerous he’s going to need a little help from his friends.
Cue Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman. Seriously, what film can boast a better cast?
Admittedly, as with most action films, a lot of it’s unbelievable. But it is so much fun. If you want a cerebral drama, then look elsewhere, but if you want exploding cars, you’re in the right place.
Neo (Keanu Reeves) is a computer hacker who is approached by a group of rebels (Carrie-Anne Moss, Lawrence Fishburne) intent on convincing him the world he knows may not be as it appears.
Writing and directing team the Wachowskis (V For Vendetta, Cloud Atlas) spent an $80 million making this the masterpiece that they envisioned and, considering they won four Oscars for the special effects, editing and sound, it was money well spent.
It’s the classic Sci Fi action that you can’t miss!
The magnificent Melissa McCarthy stars as Susan Cooper, a CIA agent who has been out of the field for 10 years, working intelligence in the “basement” with friend Nancy (Miranda Hart). Will she be able to remember her training, combat her awkwardness and save the world (or at least America)?
Written and directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat), expect laughs explosions and some seriously butt-kicking action. Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Peter Serafinowicz and Alison Janney make up part of the ridiculously talented supporting cast.
Leon (Jean Reno) a reclusive professional assassin reluctantly takes in a young girl, Mathilda (an 11 year old Natalie Portman in her feature film debut) after her family is murdered by a corrupt FBI agent Stansfield (Gary Oldman).
Written and directed by the truly talented Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), this is part buddy film, part shoot-em up action drama. There is even a little romance.
It is beautifully shot, completely compelling, exciting and quite simply a wonderful film. I am not surprised it has made it to #27 on IMDb’s Top 250 List.
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