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Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) Reportedly inspired by a prank filler ad published in the Fall 1997 edition of Backwoods Home Magazine by senior editor John Silveira that read, "WANTED: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 322, Oakview, CA 93022. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before," Safety Not Guaranteed is a wonderfully enjoyable and often funny low-key treasure. I was a bit concerned going in that this screening might turn out to be little more than a cheesy shoestring rehash of Back To The Future (1985), The Butterfly Effect (2004) or worse, Hot Tub Time Machine (2010). Or, perhaps feel too much like a lost episode of The Twilight Zone. Something disappointing, where the film would heavily focus on the Sci-Fi theme of time travel and all its pseudo-tech trappings, shoving pretty-looking yet uninteresting characters around without bothering to give you reasons to care about them or what happens. As it turns out, the opposite
is true. The science fiction aspects of this flick aren't particularly
distracting at all. That's mainly because what motivates Darius,
Kenneth and Jeff are their widely different connections to regret-associated
moments in their own past and how these characters intellectually
respond to them now. Do they try rekindling the past, slide into
crazed obsession over it, accept the past and move on, or in
the general spirit of H. G. Wells' famous 1895 novella The Time
Machine (although, that time traveller didn't affect the past)
literally change history? What would you do? That question is
at the core of what makes this picture so immensely captivating. Back to the movie, sure, this relatively small, 86-minute feature screams low budget on the scale of After School Special TV programming circa 30 years ago. Production value is pretty much non-existent for the most part, leaving cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke very little to work with beyond capturing as much as this primary cast brings to every on-location scene. Potentially tragic. However, screenwriter Derek Connolly arms these already clearly capable actors with such an extraordinarily crafted script of sharp dialogue, insight and nuance that what you oftentimes see through Kasulke's lens is pure gold. There are so many memorable scenes here that easily spotlight that point, from what Calloway calls Britt's "superlative performance under simulated pressure" of backwoods basic training, to her hilarious "What am I dooo-ing" tuneful lament while nervously aiding a late night equipment heist. Aubrey Plaza is phenomenal here, in this role that will undoubtedly lead to moviegoers seeing her on the big screen a lot more often in the future. Awesome. Absolutely do yourself a huge
favour and check out Safety Not Guaranteed, rated 14A by the
Ontario Film Review Board for coarse language, illustrated or
verbal references to drugs, alcohol or tobacco, mild sexual innuendo,
and restrained portrayals of limited violence, and is rated G
in Québec by la Régie du Cinéma. Reviewed
07/12, © Stephen Bourne. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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Stand Up Guys (2013) Sure, the premise is a promising one: Grizzled, impetuous ex-con Val (Pacino) tearing through town in an escalating gorge fest of vice and violence after being released from his 28-year sentence into the torn care of his retired and introspective cohort Doc (Walken). Stand Up Guys is definitely a treat for diehard fans of both these Hollywood heavies, worthy of shelf space in any true completist's library, right beside Gigli (2003) - the last time Pacino and Walken were seen in the same film, if not together on-screen. Based solely on the vast and unobstructed elbow room in which they're given to work, in what is apparently their first headlining gig together, this feature is an absolute dream for actors of any calibre, and for most who love them unconditionally. Not so much for fans of great movies, though. While cinematographer Michael Grady's lens wonderfully captures the immense wealth of unspoken drama and nuance effortlessly presented by these film legends from beginning to closing credits, the dialogue feels like lame Tarantino-inspired improv throughout. There's nothing notable to support what Pacino and Walken bring. Director Stevens seems to completely step aside, happy to indulge his stars riffing non sequiturs off of each other ad nausea. Without direction. Ugh. Noah Haidle's wisp of a screenplay merely offers up a meandering muddle of unimaginative contrivances and lazy pastiche that serve little purpose other than to obediently change the scenery each time Pacino and Walken are done vaporizing every square inch of air with their ham and cheese playtime in front of the camera. Solution: If Haidle had added the element of self-aware effacement, where you see Pacino and Walken actively winking at the audience as well as sporadically making fun of their famous typecasting and how it plays out here, Stand Up Guys could have been worthy of their talent and that of their supporting cast members including Alan Arkin, Julianna Margulies, and Addison Timlin, as Val and Doc's aged partner in crime Hirsch, his daughter Nina, and diner waitress Alex respectively. It would have had something to say. Perspective instead of novelty. Legs. Just that small adjustment would have made this feature a definite must-see homage to the individual cache of acclaimed work from both Pacino and Walken over the decades. As is, Stand Up Guys is pointlessly empty. Checking out the official website at standupguysfilm.com doesn't particularly bring anything beyond the film synopsis and crew info, a few scene stills and a couple of videos, plus links to the soundtrack that includes Jon Bon Jovi's original tunes for this flick. A wallpaper variation of the fairly boring-looking poster is also available for download. It's an over-all nice enough site design using Flash and simple parallax scrolling, but nothing memorable. All self-indulgent penny ante flash bereft of substance, Stand Up Guys falls flat at being little more than an unimaginative, cheap showcase for Pacino and Walken to cash in on what's left of their ticket-selling fame by impersonating their screen personas and retracing tired territory without taking the opportunity to give moviegoers something fresh or a reason to care that these are two of the finest living A-list actors of our time. Disappointing and barely worth a look, this one truly is a talent-wasting crime. Reviewed 02/13, © Stephen Bourne. Stand Up Guys is rated 14A by
the Ontario Film Review Board for coarse language, sexual references,
substance abuse, embracing and kissing, mild sexual innuendo,
tobacco use, and restrained portrayals of non-graphic violence,
and is rated 13+ by la Régie du Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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Special 26 (Special Chabbis)
(2013) Originally entitled Special Chabbis in its homeland India, Special 26 is reportedly inspired by a notoriously bold 1987 Mumbai jewelry store robbery valued at an estimated 3.5 million Rupees (approximately $150k Canadian.) Pandey's meticulously crafted screenplay adopts several aspects of that unsolved daylight heist, including these actual scamming masterminds posing as CBI agents and running a newspaper ad leading to the recruitment of locals to unwittingly join their latest jewel-snatching scheme as fake Government of India security officers. Kumar is phenomenal here, effortlessly shedding the hammy, goofball screen personas of his many previous movies to tightly define Ajay's consistently cool charisma while carrying the lion's share of this 153-minute caper. As well, take note of the soundtrack's wonderfully haunting love song Mujh Mein Tu, sung by Kumar throughout. Kher and Bajpayee also pull in thoroughly astounding performances here, deftly squeezing out every morsel of character definition and drama from this cleverly twisty script for moviegoers of all ages to enjoy. The fun cinematic touches and CGI trickery used in recreating India circa 1980s are virtually seamless and truly inspired. Sure, there are flaws. The pacing at times feels unnecessarily drawn out and unintentionally comical, particularly during early scenes that seem intent on heightening dramatic anticipation. The accompanying incidental boop-boop instrumental doesn't help. It's also disappointing that Agarwal's role as Priya and that of Divya Dutta as Shantiji play out as little more than peripheral human eye candy unimportant to the over-all storyline. Also disappointing is that there's no official website for this big budget effort, apparently relying exclusively on a simple Facebook page and Twitter account for its online presence. Absolutely check out Special 26 for the outstanding performances led by Akshay Kumar, and for this subtitled, masala-tinged crime drama's clever and thoroughly satisfying story. Awesome! Reviewed 02/13, © Stephen Bourne. Special 26 is rated PG by the
Ontario Film Review Board for occasional use of words such as
darn, damn, hell, limited embracing and kissing, and restrained
portrayals of non-graphic violence, and is not rated by la Régie
du Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Cumberbatch is an incredibly intense actor, and his malevolent neo-Trek character truly is impressive for the most part. His strong presence gives a paying audience some semblance of story stability worth enjoying from Star Trek Into Darkness, but more importantly diverts attention away from the surprisingly dull, predominantly rehashed performances offered by the returning primary cast. He also somewhat compensates fans for the laughably forgettable villain seen in the 2009 reboot. However, taken in context with what's been done to the late Gene Roddenberry's legacy this time around, it's a sadly wasted triumph over-all. The painfully wobbly main plot revolves around Cumberbatch's character meting vengeance against Federation headquarters on Earth, while his uncontrolled existence threatens to expose a larger secret agenda. There's also all the pointless filler and pathetic game-selling action for moviegoers to cut through, along with whatever remains that either heavily relies on your database-like knowledge of decades-spanning Trek lore or feels like episodic foreshadowing meant to tease ticket sales for the next couple of movie sequels. Yes, Cumberbatch is great here. The movie, not so much. Roddenberry's iconic and groundbreaking American science fiction television series Star Trek originally ran three seasons from 1966 to 1969. It starred Montréal, Québec-born William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley (1920–1999), Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Vancouver, BC-born James Doohan (1920–2005), as USS Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott. The series was nominated for 13 various Primetime Emmy Awards and won two Hugo Awards as well as a Writers Guild of America Award before warping in to worldwide syndication. Khan Noonien Singh (played by Ricardo Montalban (1920–2009)) entered Roddenberry's visionary universe in Space Seed, season one's 22nd episode, premiering Feb. 1967. According to startrek.com, Khan was "a genetically engineered strongman and one of the great leaders of Earth's Eugenics War of the 1990s." In Space Seed, the crew of the USS Enterprise encountered the SS Botany Bay and its payload of 72, 300-year-old super humans found in cryogenic stasis. Khan, their notorious leader, was brought aboard Kirk's ship and revived. Mayhem ensued. Kirk defeated Khan. It's considered a famous Star Trek TV episode. What's with the sudden fanboy geek binge? Well, without my boldly going too much further into the spoiler zone, Trekkers and long-time sci-fi movie buffs will recognize Star Trek Into Darkness as being a reimagining of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Montalban reprised his acclaimed one-shot guest role as Khan Noonien Singh opposite Shatner's Captain James T. Kirk and the original TV cast for The Wrath of Khan, the first of nine big screen franchise sequels of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). In it, Khan and his dwindling band of exiled warriors hunted down the USS Enterprise to serve cold revenge against Kirk 15 years after their first encounter in Space Seed. Mayhem ensued. Khan died. Spock died. It's considered a famous Star Trek movie. Star Trek Into Darkness is framed within the altered reality triggered by events seen in the 2009 Star Trek movie franchise reboot. These obviously aren't the same Kirk, Spock, and Khan seen in the '80s. Different mayhem ensues. Different characters are affected. Comparing it to The Wrath of Khan would be futile. Just like seeing Into Darkness without at least first seeing the 2009 reboot is pretty much futile. And yet, screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof seem to feel the need to remind you of that 1982 screening. Not once or twice as a wink to fans and a subtle nod to Montalban's wiggy Khan film fest, though. Time and again, the script unimaginatively scrapes moments from Star Trek II - as well as from far more lasting Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) small screen scenarios - aimlessly grabbing at random series kitsch along the way (Really? He just so-happens to have a dead tribble?! WTF!). The campy nostalgia angle was a fun twist in the 2009 reboot, but that same tune plays stale this second time. Get on with "boldly going where no-one has gone before..." It could have been worse, I guess. At least rebooted Kirk's 23rd century Earth didn't also need humpback whales stuffed through a time warp to help stop rebooted Khan and invading Borg led by that Christopher Plummer Klingon dude. #geekbinge Beaming over to the official website at startrekmovie.com brings you the prerequisite synopsis, scene stills and video galleries, and cast and crew bios. The transition clips between pages is a cool feature, and it's fun checking out the couple of game-related links found at the bottom of the main page. The Star Trek Rivals game is a free download through iTunes. More notably, you'll find a top link at the movie's site about this production's commitment to The Mission Continues, a US organization helping post-9/11 military vets become leaders stateside. Good stuff. As for the Star Trek Into Darkness posters, most are meaningless character sheets or ridiculously boring. One outstanding exception is the impact-driven depiction of the Enterprise being attacked at high velocity by a humongous Starfleet vessel. That poster's a pretty big spoiler, but it's so amazing compared to the others offered for this movie that it definitely deserves approving attention. I truly wanted to rave about this one, but it's far too empty and just plain poorly written. The entire movie isn't a complete nostalgia-riddled piece of lame fanfic in HD spat from the rusted guts of a Starfleet tribble dispenser, but it comes close. Cumberbatch's performance as Khan is the only notable show stopper, frankly. Most fans of anything Star Trek will likely love Star Trek Into Darkness at the big screen. Screening it several times. Just because. And, that's great. I expected more, and suggest if you're a sci-fi fan who appreciates strong storytelling and fresh ideas, well, enjoy your nap at the cinema with this recycled gnarl. Reviewed 05/13, © Stephen Bourne. Star Trek Into Darkness is rated
PG by the Ontario Film Review Board, citing scenes containing
some grotesque images in a fantasy, comedic or historic context,
use of expletives, limited use of slurs, scenes that may cause
a child brief anxiety, or fear, embracing and kissing, mild sexual
innuendo, and restrained portrayals of non-graphic violence,
and is rated G by la Régie du Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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