Little Voice

Impressions before seeing it
I vaguely remember hearing Little Voice was good, but I actually wanted to watch it for Brenda Blethyn after her great performance in another British movie called Secrets and Lies, which was probably the only thing I remember about that one, being that it was very soap-like.

How was it?
First I want to say that I don't like this poster, because it's cheesy as hell and makes Little Voice look like a feel good inspirational musical. If anything I actually found it somewhat pitiful because this character LV (Jane Horrocks) is like one of those dogs who gets abused by their owner so they mope around quietly hoping not to get beaten again, and her mother (Blethyn) is loud, obnoxious, and selfish (although played awesomely by Blethyn. Where has she been, this woman is like the British Meryl Streep!), and her mom's boyfriend Ray (Michael Caine) is a sleazy and manipulative entertainment scout. There is a great scene where Ray creeps into LV's room and cons her into singing a live show without her even realizing it.

Now, the thing about LV that sets this apart from other "rising singer" movies is not her singing ability, but her uncanny ability to replicate the voices of the classic golden era stars who originally sang the songs. According to the closing credits, Jane Horrocks actually sang everything herself, and that is mighty impressive because her Judy Garland and Marylin Monroe are dead on. But the problem I have with her character is the strange obsession she seems to have with her dead father. I think it was the way it was filmed, because they show that she can only sing if she imagines her father is in the room, and his ghost just tends to stare at her and smile. Just one smile, no other expressions and no speaking or applauding, he just watches her sing like a peeping tom and then disappears. I was honestly a little creeped out by it and I thought they would later reveal an incestuous relationship because it just had that vibe. And one other quick thing, there are multiple instances of using birds as a metaphor for LV's sheltered life, and that may have been a tad excessive because they practically came within inches of turning to the camera and saying "we are using a metaphor!". But I guess a metaphor that's easy to understand is better than a confusing one.

Recommendation
I really enjoyed this movie. The performances were all top notch and I even felt that Michael Caine was playing against type because he's usually a little more classy and charming rather than sneaky and sleazy, so that was cool to see. See it if you like movies about rising stars. This one stands out slightly because it's a little different, and I like different.

This Week in Television - Mar. 22-26, 2010

Lost
Wow, go Nestor Carbonell! Not that I thought he was a bad actor before, but this episode he cranked it up to 11 and blew me away with some hardcore character acting. Somebody get that guy an Emmy! It's also awesome that the whole idea behind the series was pretty much already hinted at back in the pilot with Locke and his Backgammon pieces, and nobody knew it! This is the kind of thing that will make Lost a classic - when the series ends, we'll all go back and watch it again and marvel at the hints that were waved under our noses for 6 seasons.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Even though both tribes had to vote someone out, it was nice to see the Villains finally come back to tribal council. Tyson's mistake wasn't necessarily changing his vote, it was trusting Russell. I think he just really wanted Parvati gone, and when Russell suggested it he figured it would be enough votes to do it, so he abandoned the much more solid split vote plan and ended up falling on his own sword. But it was still stupid, because even if Russell was going to vote for Parvati (and I assume Tyson was meant to vote for Russell), you could still sit there and let him do it without joining him and the votes would work themselves out. And as for James, he should've been gone last episode with that knee. In terms of him and Rupert I think a bad knee is more crippling than a bad toe.

Parks and Recreation
Leslie and Ron bonding over a late night breakfast was a nice moment. As was April and Andy's catalog cover and the shots of everyone looking at it. I love the running gag about how Jerry is actually awesome at certain things (like mural making earlier in the season and photography this episode) but his co-workers always find a way to shoot him down in spite of his talent. The tiny cup in the photo of Tom is made even funnier by the fact that it's tiny for him and he's already a small guy. As for Ann's apparent unhappiness: Mark is a nice guy but he's also kind of boring. Andy was fun but a lazy idiot, but now that we can cross out the lazy part I see why she's missing him. It's interesting that Andy will ultimately be the one having to choose between her and April, because in love triangles that decision doesn't tend to fall to the deadbeat.

The Office
Andy and Erin are already becoming a lot like the new Jim and Pam, complete with the attempt to keep their relationship a secret even though everyone already knows about it. But I think seeing a wedding and baby from them would be funnier because of how giddy and simple they tend to be. Date Mike was funny, because Michael trying to be likable is always less likable than Michael not trying to be likable.

30 Rock
As Liz said, Floyd was probably one of her better boyfriends, if not the funniest, so it was cool that he got a chance to be funny here. I do like Jason Sudekis though (he was the funniest part of The Rocker and gets more bonus points for appearing in The Ten). Jack and Danny were the best part of the episode though. Yes, the silver panther is the most handsome animal.

Flash Forward
So, while last week's two-hour episode revealed more than it should have, it did make for quite an entertaining episode. This week was somewhat boring because, as I pointed out, all they have left to go on is Demetri's murder and the second blackout. Well, okay, they also threw in Janis's pregnancy and Aaron going psycho over his daughter's kidnapping, but admittedly those storylines don't interest me much. This show would be awesome if every episode was like last week's, which means stealing Lost's patented "answering questions with questions" formula.

Hero of the Week: Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock. He's always awesome, but the last few episodes he had been slightly less so, until this week when he seemed to be his old self again.

Douchebag of the Week: Tyson from Survivor, because he royally screwed up what would have been a straightforward vote and, even stupider, he only screwed himself in doing so.

This Week in Television - Mar. 15-19, 2010

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
This was the funniest episode of the series, and the best one because they finally tied everything together. I'm not sure if it's cool or disappointing that I was right about Marny being the killer, but what is disappointing (to me at least) was my inability to put two and two together about her motives. I love that one of the deaths was the sick cat. Too bad Death fixed Rampop though - a special kid who sees people as butterflies and rides the death cycle could be its own spinoff show.

Lost
Good idea taking the sub off the island, Sawyer. All previous attempts to leave via sub were met with disaster but, you know, I'm sure it will work this time seeing as how you know lots of people who can operate a sub... You do, don't you?

Parks and Recreation
I always say that physical comedy is only good in moderation. I also say that I hate seeing old jokes recycled unless something new is being done with them. The scene where Jerry splits his pants bending over during a presentation and then farts immediately afterward was the funniest moment of the episode because they put a spin on it by having everyone trying not to make fun of him as he continues to embarrass himself. In fact this week's episode might be my favourite so far because everything about it was awesome, including Ron teaching a self defense class and Andy Samberg as a loud talking park ranger. One thing though: while I enjoyed the scenes with Ann starting to regret breaking up with Andy, it didn't seem like an appropriate time for them to take place seeing that she is still happily dating Mark. This episode didn't even have any Ann/Mark scenes, like they were trying to sweep that relationship under the rug for the time being just so that the Ann/Andy scenes in this episode would work better.

The Office
As much as I hate to say this... I think I agree with Michael Scott on this one. I mean he may have taken it a little far, but the sales staff actually were being arrogant jerks and needed to be humbled in some way. Michael himself is arrogant and selfish, but seeing as how he is almost always that way and the other staff members are not, he should be the only one exhibiting that kind of behaviour. His garbage fight with Dwight was fun though, followed by the pillaging of an extremely large and smelly beanbag chair from the dump. I'm not sure why Andy and Erin were at the dump at the end (maybe still looking for those leads), but the kiss punctuated by Andy's moronic noise was cute.

30 Rock
Now I'm stuck with a dilemma: Which movie would I rather watch based on its ridiculous title, A Blaffair to Rememblack, or Fresh-Ass: Based on the Novel "Tush" by Assfire? Tough call, friends. Tough call. Other highlights this week included Tracy attempting to seduce Liz and Don Geiss's body getting the Han Solo carbonite treatment. At this point Star Wars should be mandatory viewing for everyone just so they don't miss the myriad of pop culture references that inevitably show up in so many TV shows and movies.

Flash Forward
After an unnecessarily long break, Flash Forward is back with a lot of answers. Too many, in fact. The genius of a show like Lost is that they are able to answer questions by creating more questions, thus maintaining the suspense and ensuring viewer loyalty. Flash Forward is only in its first season and this week they answered the biggest questions already, like who caused the blackout and how, and who "Suspect Zero" is. The only thing I am now anticipating is the potential of a second blackout because that's pretty much the only thing looming other than Demetri's murder. This isn't to say that the episode wasn't fun to watch, because I did enjoy its twists and turns, but if Flash Forward is supposed to be replacing Lost when it ends, they need to work on the suspense. Part of why Lost has such a tight fanbase is because everyone likes to share and discuss theories. Right now this show doesn't have anything to discuss.

Hero of the Week: Leslie from Parks and Recreation. I know I snubbed her last week when listing my favourite Parks and Recreation characters, but she wins this week for her awesome impression of Tom ("Daaaaaamn, Jerry! You jumped into a creek for a burrito? What would you do for a Klondike Bar, kill your wife?") and for sneaking 20 extra Jerry's into the name hat "just in case". Besides, Ron Swanson will always be an honourable mention for having a framed picture of a breakfast plate hanging in his office.

Douchebag of the Week: The entire Dunder Mifflin sales staff from The Office, for being stuck up pricks. ...Maybe not Andy, he handled it well when Erin was hiding his leads.

Coraline (In Periodically Satisfying 3D!)

Impressions before seeing it
I thought Coraline looked cool (I had an idea once about a doppelganger universe), and then one of my Flixster buddies described it as being "packed with imagination and creativity". Well, to let you in on a little secret, that's the exact kind of description that will get me to see a movie. Then I discovered the DVD included a 3D version. Sold!

How was it?
My first concern upon seeing the included red and green style 3D glasses was that I wouldn't get much colour out of the movie except for reds and greens. Well, those were the most dominant colours of course but to my surprise other colours made it through just fine. Not to say that it's colourful in 3D (a lot of shots still contain a very limited number of colours), but what they've done is a sort of Pleasantville effect, where certain things become highlighted by tones contrasting the washed out look in the rest of the frame. So it's actually kind of cool even though we tend to prefer things in full colour. My second concern was that the old style 3D would not be as good as the theater 3D, and that one was correct. The effect here was hit and miss: some shots looked awesome (though not as protrusive as in the theater), but most had really no 3D whatsoever, making the lack of colour more of an issue again.

But as for the movie itself, I loved it. It is a pretty creative film, visually and storywise, and actually is probably too much for young kids because it can also be creepy at times. The voice acting was also top notch and even though the animation is stop motion it was very smooth, an improvement over The Nightmare Before Christmas. I guess my one small complaint with the writing is that Coraline is too perceptive. When you're a kid, you don't notice things like subtlety and underlying motives, you only see what's on the surface, and I think Coraline was getting a little too suspicious when her fake parents were being overly nice. But it didn't really bother me that much, Coraline is a fun and original movie.

Recommendation
Don't watch it for the 3D DVD, watch it because it's awesome!

This Week in Television - Mar. 8-12, 2010

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
Now Marny is Ricky's mom? What for? The whole deal with Ricky's parents seems pointless, it's not like it provides any new motives for him since he was already investigating Mayor Bowman's murder and was already working with Marny. It doesn't really change anything at all. And it doesn't seem like they were trying to make a joke out of that either. Looking forward to next episode though, because it's the last one and three more people will die!

Lost
Interesting how even in the flash-sideways timeline Ben still has to choose between Alex and his own selfish quest for power, even though history teacher Ben is nicer and humbler than the one we're familiar with. I'm glad he made the right choice though - this episode was all about Ben's redemption. It was also nice to see Illana take him in. Smart move, because this is the time for recruitment and if she didn't take him he would've joined the bad guys. Was also wild to see Jack now a full man of faith. He's come a long way from the doctor who wanted to save everyone but never believed anything. I like new Jack better than old Jack. Will Widmore seek redemption on his return, or is he going to pop a cap in Dr. Linus and join Fake Locke? Well, the one time I've ever seen Widmore show compassion was when he gave Penny's address to Desmond when he badly needed her as his constant. The rest of the time he's been ruthless, so the only reason I can think of for him having good intentions is that it would be less predictable.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Kind of insulting for Tom to be voted out over two injured guys. But then it's also insulting that the producers keep throwing in challenges with puzzles so that the Villains will win them.

Parks and Recreation
I'm really loving April, Andy, Ron, and Tom. They are easily the best and funniest characters on the show - no offense to Leslie Knope - and they are what made this week's episode so great. The thing about the possums and the death penalty reminded me of the episode about the penguins and gay marriage - that is to say, another great episode using animals to highlight real world issues.

The Office
I like the idea of shaking things up by giving Daryl an office upstairs, but I don't know how long it will last because I don't think he likes being distanced from his warehouse buddies. It was bold of Andy to show up at Erin's house, but I suppose it worked out except for the foster sibling awkwardness. Megadesk was actually cool, so I get where Dwight was coming from on that one.

30 Rock
I would totally watch a movie called A Blaffair to Rememblack.

Hero of the Week: Megadesk from The Office. Because it's better than Quad Desk.

Douchebag of the Week: Liz's dentist on 30 Rock, for refusing to give her a wind-up Batman toy that swims in the bath.

Alice in Wonderland (In Glorious 3D!)

Impressions before seeing it
The 3D trailer before Avatar was impressive, Tim Burton usually does interesting things visually, and I'm always up for some fantasy. I was also curious about the story since I'd heard that it is about a 19 year-old Alice's return to Wonderland rather than the traditional first time visit of other adaptations.

How was it?
I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I had a couple of problems with Alice in Wonderland. Now, I have read the original story by Lewis Carroll, and my impression of Wonderland from the book is that it is a world of nonsense and very little to no structure or reason to anything. So why on earth would they, in the movie, have a clearly laid out prophecy on a scroll, thus giving a reason for Alice's presence there and a motive for all of the supposedly crazy characters? I suppose it's a matter of artistic difference, because if I were doing an Alice adaptation it would be completely bonkers and not have much structure or point to it, which admittedly might not make a very good movie but at least it would be more like the book and better capture the overall spirit of Wonderland. This is merely my own opinion and I understand if no one else on the planet agrees with it, so for that reason it's not really a big flaw but a personal gripe.

My other problem is that, like Avatar, I felt that it had some cliche "blockbuster" moments. Maybe I shouldn't go into detail about what they are, being that I saw it on opening night and it's too early for spoilers, but there were too many times where I should have been amazed but wasn't because it felt familiar - and not because it's an adaptation.

But I can't say that I disliked it, I was merely disappointed. On a positive note, there was a lot of really strong character acting from the entire cast, and some very cool visuals (the 3D technology was more stunning in Avatar, but more money was probably spent on that so it's forgivable), and as a whole I still had fun watching it. I was just hoping Tim Burton would understand the source material better.

Recommendation
I doubt most people will have the same problems with it that I did, so go and see it. You'll have fun.

This Week in Television - Mar. 1-5, 2010

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
I like the running gag about the judge's gavels constantly being stolen and replaced by stupid objects. Death's "Jedi mind trick" technically wasn't that impressive since the cops he used it on were morons anyway. I'm thinking right now that Ricky will eventually solve the murders and then have a scene where he bursts into the courtroom to explain everything. Possible suspects: Marney, because she's so forgetful she may have just forgotten that she killed; or someone on the news team, because they show that same news promo every single episode and the motive of course would be juicy stories. I wonder if there is a point to having Mayor Bowman be Ricky's father other than the surprise reveal.

Lost
Was not expecting to see Keamy again, but I was not surprised to see him die. There are certain things that I guess were meant to happen in both (all?) timelines. I hope they explain why Jin was in the freezer. So far they haven't really shown us any flash-sideways stuff that connect the coincidental character appearances together. Sayid fighting Dogan was awesome though - I think every Sayid episode has to have him do at least a little fighting/killing. Jacob's promise to Dogan about healing his son but not letting him see him again was a lot like Ben's promise to Juliet about curing her sister but never being able to see her again either. And both of those are reminiscent of the old Greek myth in which Orpheus is allowed to retrieve his dead wife from the underworld on the condition that he never look back at her. Like a reward and a punishment at the same time...

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Dammit, I'm getting tired of the Heroes losing because I like most of them and hate most of the Villains. (Side note on that: as ridiculously stupid as Candice was the first time around, she seems smarter and more mature now. Good for her if that's the case.) "Why doesn't anyone ever say anything good about me?" Coach asks. Well, maybe they would if you weren't so self-centered and pretentious, and if you weren't making yourself a joke by telling embellished stories and pretending to know martial arts. I hate that they had to go and play the sappy music as Coach cried. Are we supposed to be sympathizing with him for being his image's own worst enemy?

Parks and Recreation
YES, Jean Ralphio came back! I mean that guy is a tool and I'd hate him in real life, but as a TV character I find him hilarious. Thought he was only going to be in the one episode. Ron was also funny in messing with Leslie, and Tom in his scheme to become part owner of a night club (I love the slideshow about all the celebrities with unique or weird names being denied access). Still love the April and Andy stuff too, they play so well off each other. Very solid episode.

The Office
So after the hour long wedding episode earlier this season, now we get the hour long baby episode. The funniest moment for me was Michael wanting to bring a dictionary to the child birthing and Oscar yelling "The hospital provides dictionaries, bring a thesaurus!" The accidental breastfeeding of the other couple's baby was also one of the funniest parts - I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. Between this and the daycare interview, I'm starting to think that Jim and Pam are a socially terrible couple when interacting with anyone but each other. The Andy and Erin stuff was actually kind of cute, the way he instantly brightened her mood when she realized he was trying to ask her out. Neither of these two are very bright, but they can both be sweet in a goofy way. I think they'll be good together.

Hero of the Week: Oscar from The Office, because he usually plays the straight man, making the aforementioned line both unexpected and slightly funnier than it would have been coming from someone else.

Douchebag of the Week: Coach from Survivor, because we really didn't need a whole 5-10 minutes of him not being able to get over himself while failing to even realize that that's his biggest problem.

The Green Mile

Impressions before seeing it
Hey, look at that, third movie in a row where the poster is a character's face! Anyway, The Green Mile was one of those movies I wanted to see simply because I haven't seen it and I know I should. Figured it would be good though, I don't recall hearing bad things about it.

How was it?
First off I'm glad Stephen King wrote another prison story without making it anything like The Shawshank Redemption. Not that there's anything wrong with Shawshank, it's a great movie, I just don't want to see it cloned. But setting it on death row makes everything completely different, and for that I was grateful.

One of the fun parts for me was seeing all of the familiar faces pop up, because I really didn't know who to expect in this movie other than Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan. But to my delight, nearly every character with lines was someone I recognized, and personally I have fun with that sort of thing. I thought the idea of a death row inmate with special powers was kind of cool, but that was really the least of what helped make the long running time a non-issue. Doug Hutchison, better known by me as Horace Goodspeed from Lost, actually gave quite a standout performance as Percy, one of the guards. His character was such a malicious little prick that one of the things keeping me watching was wanting to see him get his comeuppance. I found the inmates even more interesting because despite being on death row none of them really seemed like they deserved to be there except for Sam Rockwell's Wild Bill. Maybe that was part of a commentary on capital punishment, because I liked those guys and it was kind of sad to see them go one by one.

Recommendation
The Green Mile is one of those movies, much like The Shawshank Redemption, that is all-around solidly made and well acted, and that almost everybody likes. So I gotta recommend it based on that, but I did enjoy every minute of it.

The Informant!

Impressions before seeing it
Commercials looked funny, and I like Matt Damon as an actor.

How was it?
I love that there is an exclamation point in the title, because it's highly appropriate once you get to know Mark Whitacre (Damon). As an informant, the idea is to go undercover and keep a lot of secrets, but Mark is a guy who likes to talk. A lot. So it only makes sense that an exclamation point illustrate his big mouth. Matt Damon's performance was excellent though - I think he even raised the pitch of his voice a little so that it wouldn't sound quite like him, and I believed him all the way through.

The movie itself was a ton of fun to watch. From the commercials I was under the impression that Mark Whitacre was a moron and that's why it would be funny, but upon watching it I realized he was fairly smart... sometimes. He definitely had some idiot moments, but then everyone does so that just made it more believable. I don't know if I would call The Informant! a comedy, but I would describe it as light, because it doesn't take itself seriously. Especially given the funny voiceovers by Damon full of bizarre stories and facts and tidbits that don't really have anything to do with anything. But again, that's Mark, and he loves to talk. I was also delighted to see a plot twist around the last third of the movie, because I wasn't really expecting one for some reason, so it added to my enjoyment.

Recommendation
I don't think this movie ended up being a huge hit but it should have, because it was so entertaining and fascinating. I don't even think I have any complaints about it. Please check it out if you like the idea of a civilian going undercover for the FBI, with a light and humourous edge.

The Rocker

Impressions before seeing it
Being a fan of The Office, I like Rainn Wilson's weirdness (they actually photoshopped the Dwight glasses onto this poster just so people would recognize him, because he doesn't wear glasses in the movie), and the has-been rocker routine worked out fine in School of Rock, so I figured The Rocker would be funny.

How was it?
Okay, so as a movie in general I didn't mind it, but as a comedy I think they marketed it as a Judd Apatow type romp when it isn't. Sometimes it does feel like it's trying to be, though, but not effectively. There were a couple of times where Josh Gad reminded me of Jonah Hill, but it looks like he only got one scene to have an Apatow moment and improvise different versions of a line. There are even a few actresses who have appeared in Apatow productions (Emma Stone, Jane Lynch, Christina Applegate), but their talent is mostly wasted because they don't get many opportunities to be funny. When I review movies I tend to be tougher on comedies (it's harder to make people laugh than it is to simply entertain them, in my opinion), and I tend to expect a certain joke to drama ratio, but in this case I may be able to count the number of chuckles on my hands. It could be partly that it's a rock 'n' roll movie and so the music eats up some time without being funny, but also I just felt that there were a lot of missed opportunities for jokes and even some moments were it looks like someone was trying to be funny but really they only said something bland in a humourous tone (Josh Gad's character was guilty of this a couple of times).

To me the funniest part of the movie was probably Jason Sudeikis as the sleazy band manager, because he delivered most of the funny lines while the rest of the characters tended to go for physical humour, which I only like in moderation. And one quick complaint about the story: I'm not sure if the movie was supposed to take place over a long timeframe but it didn't look like it, and I don't believe that a high school band could become superstars playing a major stadium in such a short period, because my understanding is that it's incredibly hard to break into that sort of thing, especially in a matter of weeks like these kids did.

Recommendation
The Rocker has a few laughs and a few stars, but School of Rock is a better movie with less stars and possibly the same amount of laughs. I was disappointed but I guess I liked it... just barely.