Search

Search only in certain items:

The Disaster Artist (2017)
The Disaster Artist (2017)
2017 | Comedy
Comedic value (1 more)
Acting
Not such a disaster
The Franco brothers star side-by-side in their first major collaboration, in this comedic drama, The Disaster Artist, based on the making of the cult classic 'The Room'.

The film follows Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) as he writes, directs, produces and stars in his first movie alongside best friend Greg Sestero (Dave Franco). It is almost unbelievable as a true story, it just seems like another mad Franco/Rogen movie. But it isn't, this actually happened.

'The Room' was released in 2003, and became a cult classic because of how hilariously awful it was. The storyline, writing, and acting are all very bizarre, and very bad.

But The Disaster Artist is a great movie, with an array of amazing actors, bringing to life the making of the movie, with hilarity.

Before going into this movie, I knew about The Room and had seen several scenes. But all I knew was that it was about the making of the movie, starring James and Dave Franco and also Seth Rogen. But there are many more actors in this that I did not know about which made for a great surprise. Josh Hutcherson, one of my personal favourites, appears as Philip Haldiman who plays 'Denny' in 'The Room', and also Zac Efron, as Dan Janjigian who plays 'Chris-R'.

The actors play excellently all the things that went wrong on the set, such as Wiseau forgetting one line for two hours for a 30-second scene, and his insistence on the cameras catching some great shots of him during the sex scenes.

The casting was great, although they did as expected and almost the whole cast are friends of James, Dave or Rogen. It works though, and they all have brilliant chemistry. It will seem obvious that James and Dave work well together, as they are brothers, but in this movie they play best friends. I think the fact that they are brothers perhaps helped them out as it is a very rocky friendship, and they could perhaps remember times they have had spats about various things.

I can not say too much about the movie without giving away spoilers. But at end of the movie they play some of the scenes side by side; the scene from the movie, alongside the scene that this cast re-enacted. They are pretty accurate, but very funny.

Tommy Wiseau himself also makes a cameo. Make sure you stay until after the credits.

Overall, it is a brilliantly made movie, with both funny and endearing moments. Part of me hopes that on special features on their DVD you can watch the entirety of 'The Room' re-enacted by these actors. The film has already received many nominations for prestigious awards, and I am not surprised.

I would definitely recommend going to see this movie, but at least watch a YouTube summary of 'The Room' first.
  
The Disaster Artist (2017)
The Disaster Artist (2017)
2017 | Comedy
James Franco (1 more)
The tone
Seems unsure of its message (0 more)
Far from a disaster
If you haven't seen The Room, then I urge you to do so at once. It's a bemusing, confusing, unintentionally hilarious 90 odd minutes that fully deserves all the cult screenings and bewildered wonder that it has garnered over the years. It's without question a perfect awful movie. And here with The Disaster Artist, based on the book of the same name, we get to see the story of just went on to get this film made.

To start with, James Franco is perfect as the mysterious and downright bonkers Tommy Wiseau. His voice, his mannerisms, his almost childlike tantrum throwing approach to life, he manages to make an almost unbelievable man fully believable. He's backed up by a cast that commit to the roles, but other than Dave Franco, don't get a huge amount of time in the spotlight. That's not a criticism as such, by design the two central figures in this are Tommy and Greg Sistero- his friend and fellow budding actor.


I suspect if you are a "fan" of The Room, you'll likely get a lot more out of this than if you had little to know knowledge of the film it depicts the making of. It's a blast getting to see certain iconic scenes recreated for this and to hear the origin stories behind key lines- "you're tearing me apart, Lisa" being one such moment that took me by surprise. The original film is a messy nonsensical experience and it's fun to see that almost everyone working on it viewed it as such even when it was being made. Everyone except Tommy that is.


Where things get a little murky for me is with how you are supposed to feel by the time the brilliant end credits roll (there's exact recreations of certain moments played side by side that are great fun.) It seems as though we are meant to be inspired by Tommy and what he has achieved, like in the end this is supposed to be a feel-good movie about never giving up on your dreams. That's all well and good, but Tommy Wiseau doesn't come across particularly well in this. He's a temper tantrum throwing and at times scary man to be around. One scene in particular during the shooting of the 'belly button sex scene' portrays him as a pretty horrible man, one that gets his way by being somewhat of a bully. This isn't addressed again fully and it's hard to feel like cheering him on by the time the big premiere screening rolls round. There's also his about face when it comes to claiming the movie was meant to be a comedy- something nobody believes. On the one hand, it's a smart move to take what he has and run with it, but there's also something sad about him not having something he cared so passionately about be received in the way it was intended. This is something else that is glossed over, but then Wiseau would never speak so candidly to give the writers anything to work with.


Overall this is a great movie and a fascinating watch. Would highly recommend.
  
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
2016 | Mystery
The new Lionsgate film Now You See Me 2 is a sequel to the 2013 film of
the same name.

It brings back most of the same cast members: Jesse Eisenberg as J.
Daniel Atlas, Mark Ruffalo as FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, Woody Harrelson as
Merritt McKinney, Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley, and Dave Franco as
Jack Wilder. It introduces Daniel Radcliffe as Walter Mabry and Lizzy
Kaplan as Lula. It is directed by Jon Chu.

This film picks up some months after the first film ends, with the Four
Horsemen in hiding, and Dylan Rhodes pretending to try to track them
down for their crime of thievery from the rich insurance tycoon that
withheld paying Rhodes’ fathers’ life insurance claim 30 years earlier.

The movie is fast paced and full of special effects, but it is certainly
fantastical and unbelievable. I am not sure there was even a little
realism in the entire movie, but it was fun to watch.

The banter between characters was funny, and it was interesting, if not
believable, to watch the effects used to create the magic tricks in the
movie. I thought that the movie was suspenseful, and I had one ending in
my head, but that isn’t the way it turned out, so it was sufficiently
twisty to hold my attention.

My friend that accompanied me has not seen the first movie and was able
to follow the sequel just fine, due to the narratives that tie the two
movies together. Regarding this film, she says: “Just when you think
you’ve got it all figured out, its something else altogether. The movie
was light hearted, adventurous, funny and suspenseful.”

For me, the effects in the movie make it one that ought to be seen on
“the big screen” but I would be hard pressed to go during any time when
it was full price, rather, I would catch it at a matinee or with a
coupon or at the second run theatre.
  
21 Jump Street (2012)
21 Jump Street (2012)
2012 | Action, Comedy, Crime
8
7.6 (36 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: We start by following our two very different high school students failing at something different things. We fast forward seven years to the police academy where the two become friends to help each other overcome their problems and get through. After they get through the two get partnered up but continue to fail leading them to get transferred to ’21 Jump Street’ program. They have to go undercover as high school students. They have to uncover a drug ring at the high school and get over the problems they faced before.

When it comes to buddy films cop we all know the basic formula and to be fair this follows everything together to keep the action and comedy blend flowing. It is good to see the mix with the high school film working as well as the idea of giving the two a chance to see how the other get through high school. Having never seen the original show I can’t say whether it is honest to the source material but in the end it really turns into a good action comedy in a world where the comedy films are starting to fall flat. (8/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Jonah Hill: Schmidt the high school geek who can get through all the paperwork side of the police work but lacks the physical presence Jenko has. Going undercover gives him a chance to experience the high school experiences he missed out. Jonah gives a good performance as we know he can play the teen comedy but also shows he ability to bounce of somebody else’s strengths. (8/10)

 hill

Channing Tatum: Jenko after only just getting out of high school and being told he has no intelligence for a future he ends up joining the police force and until he teams up with Schmidt to help him with get through the academy. While undercover he ends up having to experience the geek in high school. Channing gives a good performance and shows that he can pull off comedy to go with his all action persona. (8/10)

channing

Brie Larson: Molly high school student who Schmidt takes a shine to who ends up leading him to push aside his responsibilities as the cop. Brie gives a solid performance in the supporting role. (7/10)

 

Dave Franco: Eric the drug dealer at the school who befriends Schmidt while the two try different ways to find out who the supplier is. Dave gives a solid performance as the teenage drug dealer trying to stay cool. (7/10)

 franco

Support Cast: The drug dealers, other police officers, Schmidt’s parents and high school attendants all make up the support cast and all offer something for our main characters to work with to progress the story.

 

Director Review: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller – Good directing to balance the action and comedy perfectly. (9/10)

 

Action: With car chases being the main source of action they all come off very well with hints of comedy during without just being silly action. (8/10)

Comedy: The most part the comedy is all very good, but I did feel the over use of the sex jokes got boring. (8/10)

Chemistry: Hill and Tatum have brilliant chemistry together. (10/10)

Settings: The high school setting works really well for the story as we haven’t seen the undercover there before. (9/10)

Suggestion: It isn’t very often that I suggest a box office comedy but with this one I feel people should be watching. (Watch)

 

Best Part: Car and Motorbike Chase.

Worst Part: Slight over used of sex jokes.

Action Scene Of The Film: Car and Motorbike chase

Funniest Scene: The party

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Has one sequel and has talks of a third.

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $202 Million

Budget: $42 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

Tagline: They’re too old for this shift

 

Overall: Enjoyable Buddy Cop Comedy

https://moviesreview101.com/2014/12/21/21-jump-street-2012/