Rango (2011)

☻ ☻ ☻ Rango (2011). A household pet goes walkabout in this modern animated adaptation of the Grimms Brothers' fairytale, The Brave Little Tailor. The tailor's miraculous fly-killing feat is morphed into a tall tale of a seven-at-one-bullet. His obligatory boasting propels the big mouthed, chicken-hearted chameleon, pseudonymous (Du)Rango (voice, Johnny Depp), into the office of Sheriff of Dirt. 

Rango's erudition isn't the only characteristic that makes him a fish out of water. Dirt's a dirt-poor Wild West town where water is power and a golfing turtle (voice, Ned Beatty) with a handicap has his paw firmly on the tap. Note the creepy golf balls. Yuck. This mayor-in-a-shell makes you think low-rent Borgias had moved into town. With this animal, you can hardly wait for the carapace to tip.

Love-interest iguana, Beans (voice, Isla Fisher), needs that water to save her daddy's farm. She has an away-with-the-fairies freeze that's a defence-mechanism only a small animal can own. It leads townspeople to think she's nuts, but she's the only one who's not a shell-out sell-out. She's also a broken record when it comes to that farm.

No Heat and Dust, in this hot and dusty epic, the weird and wonderful Dirty citizens get their just deserts in the Mojave desert. Watch it again to count the movie tributes: a crushingly fortuitous Wizard of Oz death; Star Wars chases; slo-mo 2001: A Space Odyssey low-gravity antics; Apocalypse Now Valkyrie-themed battiness; and much more. I loved the Birds' chorus posing as an owlish mariachi band.

Complete with water-bottle wagon chases and a Peacemaker-packing villain, Rattlesnake Jake (voice, Bill Nighy). Keep an eye open for Spirit of the West (voice, Timothy Olyphant), a vaguely cartoonish Spaghetti western Clint Eastwood -- updated to a golf cart -- who has a walk-on part dispensing wisdom and encouragement to a chameleon in need.

I love that mariachi chorus!

Rango: Not your average chameleon. And not your average humanity versus nature morality tale. Take some time off and have a good time.


Speaking out:
  89%/72% rottentomatoes.com (26 Apr 2011*)

  7.7/10  imdb.com (26 Apr 2011*)

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* Date of web access.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

☻ ☻ The Lincoln Lawyer (2011). It is a truth universally acknowledged that a lawyer working out of his car must be in want of a better class of client¹.

Rich kid Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) has chosen Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) to represent him and Mickey finds himself out of his league in more ways than one. When private investigator and friend, Frank Levin (William H Macy) turns up dead, Mickey understands he's in for the fight of his life -- and that of his family.

Hardest to swallow was the extent to which Los Angeles lawyer Haller (Matthew McConaughey) was on good terms with his ex, Maggie (Marisa Tomei). Despite their differences over her being a cop, arresting criminal low life, and his getting them off, the two were on amazingly good terms.

Some professionals regard bikers as helpful, remunerative customers.

Courtesy amazon.com

My favourite scene is when Mickey protects himself from a rip-off habitué. And I thought lawyers dropped clients all the time. Chalk another one up for professional protection of the public.

Based on the bestseller, The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly. Well acted, but formulaic fluff. A pleasant way to spend an evening when there's nothing better to do.

Speaking out:
  83%/85% rottentomatoes.com (23 Apr 2011*)
  7.5/10  imdb.com (23 Apr 2011*)

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Notes

* Date of web access.

¹ Sorry Jane.

The Borgias (2011)

☻ ☻ ☻ The Borgias (2011). The 15th century was a rough time to be Pope. Especially if you were a Spaniard. Rodrigo Borgia, aka Alexander VI (Jeremy Irons) is burdened with more than your average pontifical responsibilities. Unpopular with his flock, former colleagues at the College of Cardinals are plotting a coup. Dinnertime disposal of Cardinal Orsini (Derek Jacobi) was his child's play, but Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Colm Feore) is a racehorse of a different colour.

What with the costly election and maintaining the high life, Rodrigo must also with securing his children's future. He forces would-be warrior, Cesare (François Arnaud) into the family business, leaving chicken-hearted Juan (David Oakes) to provide the family's muscle. Compliant youngster Joffre (Aidan Alexander) offers to play any part his father desires.

Naïve Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) is the apple of Cesare's eye. She's old enough to have a few ideas of her own, but too young to realize her father's plans have everything to do with Borgia advancement and little to do with happiness.

It's not easy being the offspring or the partner of a person who insists on the appellation "Your Holiness":

The Spanish Borgias: Promoted an a original crime family, they 

were the inspiration for Mario Puzo's The Godfather (1972).

This aristocratic 15th-century underworld costume drama makes for compelling viewing.

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Speaking out:

"[U]nlike The Godfather, there seems to be no bigger goal behind Pope Alexander’s evil deeds than to survive. [H]e wants his sons to have influential jobs [and] packs the Vatican with ... cardinals to ensure his own job security. But ... Irons’ performance fails to demonstrate the necessary gravitas for a compelling psychopathic power mongerer. [F]or history buffs, not for viewers looking for another Godfather." Rachel Ray (The Telegraph)

"Few actors ooze decadence as effortlessly as Jeremy Irons, and casting him as an amoral pope ... who bribes and bullies his way into the papacy sounds like the role of a lifetime. Yet [director] Neil Jordan's take ... is never as fun as its The Godfather." Brian Lowry (Variety)

"[A] lavish costume drama about the poisonous family that put the machiavelli in Machiavelli, handily beats The Tudors and Rome. Art-directed down to the last detail, The Borgias [looks] far more lush than anything outside the pay-cable wall. Newcomers Arnaud and Grainger make terrific impressions ... Irons, too, is wonderfully shaded as a murderous pope who may yet find Jesus. Rating: ***1/2 stars." Greg Evans (Bloomberg)

 8.6/10  imdb.com (21 April 2011*)

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* Date of web access

Certified Copy (2010)

☻ ☻ ☻ Certified Copy (2010). A Tuscan art gallery owner (Juliette Binoche, who won as Best Actress at Cannes for the part) attends a talk given by a British author, James Miller (opera star William Shimell), on his book about artistic originality and authenticity. Her adolescent son demands that she leave early and then accuses her of seeking a relationship with the writer.


Later, having taken the man for a drive out of town, we learn they have seen each other before. The nature of this remains ambiguous. The only certainty is that each is the survivor of a broken alliance.

The UK trailer

Stopping for coffee, they are mistaken for a married couple. And so begins a mutual act in which they both play the part assigned. She castigates him for opting out of the raising of their son. How could he have cared so little for her that he refused to shave on their wedding day? He retaliates, demanding to know how she could have been so careless of their child that she fell asleep at the wheel despite the child's presence.


The story flows in and around the two. Sometimes they speak to each other in the present. Sometimes to their departed spouse. He argues in terms of art and aspiration; she about the grim realities of being a single parent. Periodically, he refuses to play along, while she seems to fly off into flights of fancy, attempting to regain the lost magic of youthful marriage.


Are we witnessing an estranged couple or has each checked out of reality for the day? Who knows?


Each understands the other, and so do we. Does it truly matter if they're dealing in metaphor or in actual events?


Sometimes painful, but always pertinent. It's an interesting spin on the eternal he said, she said.Watch how the writer's subject impacts reality and perception.


If your a meat and potatoes person with no time for art house films, this one won't disappoint. You're sure to hate it.


Speaking out:

  86%/68% rottentomatoes.com (18 Apr 2011*)

  7.2/10  imdb.com (18 Apr 2011*)

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Note

* Date of web access.

Unknown (2011)

☻ ☻ Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) arrives in Berlin with his wife Liz (January Jones) to attend a medical conference and forgets his briefcase at the airport.

It's all downhill after that: On the way to fetch the bag a car accident puts him in a coma. Crazy with worry about his wife, he returns to the hotel where he's been replaced with another Martin Harris. Proof after proof, even he begins to believe he's just plain crazy.

We all know about the best-laid plans, and these are no exception. This time, you can trust the taxi driver (Diane Kruger) and the ex-Stasi officer (Bruno Ganz).

Fast-paced, great views of Berlin and an unexpectedly believable ending.

A fun way to spend an evening.

Speaking out:

  56%/61% rottentomatoes.com (9 Apr 2011*)

  7.2/10  imdb.com (9 Apr 2011*)

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* Date of web access

Limitless (2011)

☻ ☻ Limitless (2011). A modern spin on an age-old dream: Ingest this magic substance and the world will be your oyster.

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) has loser written all over him. His girlfriend's just dumped him, his marriage failed before it began and he has a bad case of writer's block. Lucky for him, he bumps into former bro-in-law and ex-drug dealer Vern (Johnny Whitworth).

Vern's gone legit, and promises he can have Eddie's brain working at 100% with NZT, a little, translucent pill. Just about to hit the market, Eddie can have one for free. Back to normal the next morning, but thinking NZT's better than rose-coloured glasses, our hero sets out to procure more.

Vern's dead from a head wound, so Eddie grabs the miracle drug stash. Thus begins a preposterous drug-fuelled rags-to-riches tale that ends ... very well. Eddie's so bright that he's solved the bad side-effects problem and my have kicked the habit. He's also learnt a thing or two about blackmail.

The pitiful life of a self-confessed drug-taker. Kids this is what's known as sci-fi fantasy:

This could have been a movie about a guy who becomes annoyingly full of himself. But Eddie starts off in such a sorry state that each drug-backed triumph is a victory for all of us. We know those pills are going to run out one day. And with Russian gangster Gennady (Andrew Howard), Carl van Loon (Robert de Niro) and all those other bad guys, the end just has to be bad news.

Fluff, but fun while it lasts.

Speaking out:

  69%/75% rottentomatoes.com (9 Apr 2011*)

  7.4/10  imdb.com (9 Apr 2011*)

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Note

* Date of website access.