Miracles are made by people, who refuse to stop believing.
The Lost Boys of Sudan was the name given to thousands of young boys who were orphaned during the second Sudanese Civil War which took place between 1983 and 2005. It’s estimated that about 2.5 million were killed and many more displaced. Continue reading
The year is 1682 and King Louis XIV (the Sun King) has set his sights on an ambitious landscaping plan for the gardens of his new Palace of Versailles. Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet), a forthright and talented garden designer finds herself invited to the Kings Court. Continue reading
Helen Mirren leads the cast in this true to life account of Maria Altmann’s fight against the Austrian government to retrieve a painting which belonged to her family. The iconic masterpiece entitled Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt was confiscated by the Nazis when they invaded Austria. Continue reading
In his directorial debut The Water Diviner, Russell Crowe stars as a father who travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to find his three missing sons. The movie is inspired by true events and the battle is linked to the emergence of both Australia and New Zealand as independent nations and is commemorated every year on Anzac Day, April 25th. Continue reading
Directed by Pierre Morel who also directed Taken, The Gunman stars Sean Penn, Jasmine Trinca, Javier Bardem and some very short screen time from Idis Elba.
At age 54 Sean Penn has managed to keep himself looking very much in shape and might be following in the footsteps of Taken’s Liam Neeson as the next ‘older’ action man. Although for me he doesn’t quite have that edge that Neeson has to be able to pull it off. Penn’s character Terrier is based in the Congo when we first meet him. He is working for a mining company and in a relationship with Annie (Jasmine Trinca) an aid worker. As with all decent thrillers there is of course a hidden agenda. He along with his team which includes Bardem’s character Felix, are actually there to assassinate a politician, with Terrier the assigned trigger man.
Sean Penn
Terrier on completion of the mission has to immediately leave the Congo and Annie behind. Fast forward eight years and we catch up with Terrier who is back in the Congo, this time not undercover. He appears as a man haunted by his past actions trying to make amends. Following an attempt on his life he flees the area and soon realises his past has come back to find him. Reconnecting with members of his old team he sets about finding out who is trying to kill him and why. I wont’ spoil the movie by saying too much on that!
The story line does keep you interested, with enough twists and turns to keep your attention for almost two hours. The action scenes are excellent and seem somewhat less far fetched than many in this genre which is quite refreshing. In terms of performances, Bardem as usual is great and really shines when he is playing a character who is edgy with a touch of crazy. Jasmine Trinca plays the love interest very well but I’d like to see a bit more grit to her character. Penn, while an accomplished actor and enjoyable in the movie, he doesn’t have enough of a hard edge to pull off the action hero role as well as I’d like. Then again any time I see him I associate him with his I Am Sam character so it might just be a personal preference.
Jasmine Trinca
Overall the movie runs at a steady pace and you feel it was worth the watch. I’d give it 3.5 out of 5 on the proviso there is no Gunman Part 2. Check out the trailer below.
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The latest instalment from director Ken Scott (Delivery Man) is Unfinished Business. Billed as the latest great comedy it stars comedy veteran Vince Vaughan, Dave Franco (brother of James) and Tom Wilkinson (Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). I generally find time and time again that comedies like these which are heavily marketed tend to fail in terms of comedic delivery. If you watch the trailer for it (see below), most of the funny moments from the entire film are shown in it.
The story centres around Vaughan’s character Dan Trunkman who after an argument with his boss, quits his job to start his own sales company. He even throws out a Jerry Maguire ‘who’s with me’ speech. Wilkinson’s character Timothy McWinters is fired from the same company while Franco’s character Mike Pancake had been in for an interview at the company. All three meet in the car park and decide to work together. A story line we have seen many times before.
The trio spend a year pitching for a piece of work that leads them to Berlin for what they thought was a handshake to close the deal. Step forward Chuck Portnoy (Sienna Miller) as Dan’s old boss, who is also pitching for the same piece of work. This is followed by a series of who can do better meetings between the rivals ultimately ending with Chuck coming out as the frontrunner. The storyline is punctuated by some scenes where Dan Trunkman deals with the pressure’s of home, namely his kids being bullied. It actually all feels a little out of place to be honest. A few inspirational talks are thrown in to inspire the kids and ultimately Dan himself which lead to the team not giving up on their goal of securing the contract.
Next, a montage of the trio in various scenes of drinking, cheering and ending up in bizarre and convoluted situations like a bathroom full of glory holes where they meet Bill Whilmsley, who is part of the negotiations team for the contract. He joins them on their boozefest and ultimately puts them face to face with the man who can say yay or nay to their proposal.
For me the standout star of the movie is Dave Franco playing Mike Pancake. A somewhat dim witted but eager lost soul who is getting an education in life on the trip, as well as losing his virginity ‘twice’. He has great comedic timing carried out in an unintentional manner which makes him all the more likeable. He is absolutely superb in the role and without him the movie would suffer.
Dave Franco
Overall the movie is not entirely bad, but it’s not exactly breaking new ground on comedy either. The writing is standard fare and I can’t help thinking its the reason the actors fall short of reaching their potential. It passes an hour and half easily but chances are you won’t be raving about it to your friends. Out of 5 I’d give it 2.5. You can catch the trailer below and decide for yourself.