Tag: 2006

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ABC Film Challenge – 00’s Movies – I – The History Boys (2006) Movie Review

This is under I because of the teacher Irwin that comes into the lives of the schoolboys.

Director: Nicholas Hytner

Writer: Alan Bennett (Screenplay) Alan Bennett (Play)

Starring: Samuel Anderson, James Corden, Stephen Campbell Moore, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Andrew Knott, Russell Tovey

Plot: An unruly class of gifted and charming teenage boys are taught by two eccentric and innovative teachers, as their headmaster pushes for them all to get accepted into Oxford or Cambridge.


Tagline – History. It’s just one bloody thing after another.

Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The History Boys starts when a group of schoolboys Crowther (Anderson), Timms (Corden), Lockwood (Knott), Rudge (Tovey), Scripps (Parker), Posner (Barnett), Akhtar (Dhawan) and Dakin (Cooper) have been selected as the best chance for the school to have students head to Oxford.

As the regular teachers have their own plan to push the students, it is newly hired Irwin (Campbell Moore) that looks to push the students to the next level, showing them a new view on life.

Thoughts on The History Boys

Thoughts – The History Boys is a comedy drama that shows how a group of school boys were hoping for Oxford, they will find new inspiration from a younger teacher, who has seen the change in the world, knows what it takes to stand out in the applications. The performances from the younger actors work well together, they show great chemistry throughout the different moments they go through the studies. The different teachers show us the different approaches taken to help guide the next generation into the biggest stage of their lives. The story is about pointing out that to be educated, you need to open up a conversation about history, rather than just state the facts. The comedy is based on the time era the film is set, which will get laughs, even if the mentality is outdated.

Final Thoughts – The History Boys is a life defining movie that hits all the inspirations, without going down the unrealistic goal chasing ideas.

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ABC Film Challenge – 00’s Movies – F – Failure to Launch (2006) Movie review

Director: Tom Dey

Writer: Tom J Astle, Matt Ember (Screenplay)

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Barthe, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, Kathy Bates

Plot: A thirty-something is still living with his parents until they hire an interventionist to help him graduate out of the house. That’s when the fun begins.


Tagline – To leave the nest, some men just need a little push.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Failure to Launch starts as Tripp (McConaughey) who meets women all the time, taking them back home, to his parents home, Al (Bradshaw) and Sue (Bates) who are looking to get him out the home, which is two best friend Ace (Bartha) and Demo (Cooper) haven’t done either.

When Al and Sue decide to hire Paula (Parker) to help Tripp move out using her own routine to push them out of the home, only this time she starts to fall for him.

Thoughts on Failure to Launch

Characters – Tripp is in his mid-30s, he looks to meet women all the time, hang out with friends, but he still lives at home, using that as a way to break-up with the women. He meets Paula for the latest part of his women, only to start to fall for her, only to learn the truth and try to turn the tables on her. Paula has made a career out of helping men move out of their parents homes, she has done it for a few years, following her strict rules, only she starts to fall for him, breaking his rules and wanting to make more of it. Both have been damaged from relationships before, where they have seen things change for them, as to why they are working that way. Kit, Ace and Demo fill up the best friends roles through the film, getting the odd laugh along the way.

Performances – Matthew McConaughey has become overly comfortable in the rom com genre, which he coasts through this role, not getting the laughs he would once have gotten. Sarah Jessica Parker doesn’t seem to fit this role either, this is mostly because both the main characters seem truly unbelievable. The supporting casts are the best part of the film, getting the laughs the leads fail to capture.

Story – The story here follows a mid-30s year guy that is a womanizer, only he still lives with his parents, who hire a woman to help him move out, only he learns what is going on and turns it on its head. This main start of the story is basic, bland and boring, because Tripp is portrayed as a slacker, not showing us the series reason why he has closed off, which would be a big part of the motivation, instead of being a small twist in the main story late on, which would make it perfectly clear why he would be where he is. Paula is a lot like Hitch was too, which relies on one character believe they know best.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy doesn’t hit that much in this film, while the romance does seem overly fake and unrealistic.

Settings – The film does want to use the everyday settings to show how these people need the push, but it fails to show us what the people do for a living.


Scene of the Movie – The make up plan.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many animal attacks.

Final Thoughts – Failure to Launch is one of the basic romantic comedies out there, it doesn’t do anything new to the genre, while getting a few supporting laughs, in a weak romantic storyline, that misses the main points which would get a bigger emotional impact on the story.



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Movie Review

Flushed Away (2006) Movie Review

 ABC Film Challenge – Animation – F – Flushed Away (2006)

Flushed Away

Director: David Bowers, Sam Fell

Writer: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Christopher Lloyd, Joe Keenan, William Davies (Screenplay) Sam Fell, Peter Lord, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis, Shane Richie

Plot: The story of an uptown rat that gets flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, ending in the sewers of London, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life.


Tagline – Someone’s Going Down

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Flushed Away starts when a rat Roddy from a Kensington sees his life of luxury thrown away when he gets flushed down the toilet. Putting him into a new world he has never been to before, an underground maze of other rats.

Here Roddy will need to search for Rita a rebellious figure sailing the sewers. Which will see him thrown into a world run by The Toad. Who has a plan which will see Roddy getting involved in the biggest adventure of his life.

Thoughts on Flushed Away

Flushed Away is an animated movie that sees a pet rat flushed down the toilet into an underground sewer world. Where he unwittingly becomes part of a bigger conspiracy going on within the creatures in there.

This is an entertaining look at throwing something into a new world. With a rat being put into a world that is similar to what Futurama had. With the underground world of New York, with this being London.

The idea of an evil figure looking for their own reasons for certain things and an unlikely pairing coming together to work on solving the problem. While seeing the two different worlds they have come from. The world created is wonderfully cleave using many different ideas that would be seen through London. This is a fun animated film that is filled with plenty of British spirit that will give us the laughs along the way.

Final Thoughts – Flushed Away is a fun enjoyable animated movie filled with laughs.

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ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – J – Robin B Hood (2006) Movie Review

This is under J because of Jackie Chan.

Director: Benny Chan

Writer: Jackie Chan, Benny Chan, Alan Yuen (Screenplay)

Starring: Jackie Chan, Michael Hui, Louis Koo, Charlene Choi, Biao Yuen, Yuanyuan Gao

Plot: Thongs and Octopus accept a job from their landlord: kidnap a baby. Soon, the baby awakens strong paternal feelings in the two crooks, leading to complications when it comes to handing him over to his possibly crazy gang boss grandfather

Runtime: 2 Hours 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Robin B Hood starts as the two thieves Thongs (Chan) and Octopus (Koo) take a new job from their boss the Landlord (Hui) to steal a baby, which will clear the debts they have been amounting over the years.

After the pair steal the baby, they must spend time with the baby, which will see them getting close to the little fellow, forcing them to question what they are doing, despite being chased down by the people who want the baby.

Thoughts on Robin B Hood

Thoughts – Robin B Hood is an action comedy seeing two thieves steal and baby, forcing them to look after the baby while trying to stay away from the people chasing them down. This will have the big message about doing the right thing as both the thieves need to learn to live an honest life. Jackie Chan and Louis Koo are both great together, showing the comedic timing to get the laughs through the film, while Chan and his team handle more of the action involved. It does feel like a longer movie than it needs to be, clocking in over 2 hours, which seems a bit much for an action comedy, but when we get the action sequences, they will have laughs along the way which only adds to the perils we find the characters in.

Final Thoughts – Robin B Hood is a funny action comedy, with great sequences throughout.

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ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – W – Wilderness (2006) Movie Review

Director: M.J. Bassett

Writer: Dario Poloni (Screenplay)

Starring: Sean Pertwee, Alex Reid, Toby Kebbell, Stephen Wight, Luke Neal, Ben McKay, Lenora Chichlow

Plot: Juvenile delinquents are sent to a small British island after a fellow prisoner’s death, where they have to fight for survival.


Tagline – It’s not about revenge. It’s about punishment.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wilderness starts when a group of juvenile prisoners Callum (Kebbell), Steve (Wight), Lewis (Neal), Lindsay (McKay), Blue (Deacon), Jethro (Campbell) find themselves needing to be sent to a remote island for survival training as punishment for letting their roommate commit suicide.

Led by one of the guards Jed (Pertwee), the group find a group of female prisoners led be Louise (Reid), as the group find themselves being hunted down by a ruthless killer.

Thoughts on Wilderness

Characters & Performances – Callum is the newest inmate to the dorm room, he walks in to see how the bullies are treating the weaker members of the dorm, wanting to keep to himself, only learning how bad it truly is when he finds the body. He is the one with the biggest reputation, the only person that truly gets development out of the inmate characters. He leads to attempts to fight back and survive on the island, trying his best to hold the inmates together. Toby Kebbell in one of his early roles is great here, showing us just how good of an actor he was always going to become. Steve is the aggressive member of the group, the bully that the others fear, he has the shortest temper as he will look to cause the most pain to people with his selfish ways. Stephen Wight is great as one of the biggest assholes in any film. Jed and Louise are the two different guards that are trying to teach, while also remaining in control, despite clashing with each. When it comes to the rest of the inmates we get the typical group, with the ones you know will be the first to go.

Story – The story here follows a group of juvenile prisoners who are sent to a remote island for training as a punishment for the lack of care towards one of their dormmates, only for them needing to fight back against a hunter looking to track them down. This is a story that will see how inmates will needing to look at handling themselves in teamwork against a hunter, but they need to put aside their difference which might well have left them in place in the first place. This is pace nice to see how the different people will need to wait for their fate and the hunter is almost toying with them at times, even if some of the side stories around Lewis, Stephen and Jo could be seen as more filler than anything.

Themes – Wilderness is a horror survival thriller that will see a group of people needing to survive on a remote woodland island from a hunter looking to hunt them down. We have traps which will see the island be full of other dangers for the people too, with the wounds being bloody and horrific in nature.

Final Thoughts – Wilderness is a brutal bloody survival horror.

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ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – O – Mission Impossible III (2006) Movie Review

Mission Impossible III is selected under O, because of the amazing Owen Davian.

Mission Impossible III is directed by J.J. Abrams and comes fresh off the back of the least popular in the whole franchise Mission Impossible II, the franchise needed something fresh to make it stand out, this was the turning point in the franchise.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has looked to settle down in a normal life with Julia (Michelle Monaghan) who is unaware of his previous life as a spy, when he gets a call about a former partner Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) has been capture by arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Ethan reluctantly agrees to return to the field to try and save her. The mission goes badly with Ethan needing to face the consequences from the new boss of agency Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) forcing Ethan back into the field to try and track down Davian, in an attempt to stop the deadly arms dealer giving away another weapon of mass destruction to the open market, while balancing his own regrets for letting his former trainee go into the field without him.

Mission Impossible III will bring the franchise the most dangerous villain in Owen Davian, in what might well be the greatest spy movie performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman, giving us a character that would strike fear in anyone, hits home on his promises, but is confident enough to know, Ethan wouldn’t kill him, because he has too much information. Tom Cruise will always shine as Ethan Hunt, with this one starting to offer up something new to the crazy stunt game he brings to the franchise year after year.

Mission Impossible III pushed the spy movie to another level, one many other franchises have decided to try and get to, with the most notable newest one being No Time To Die, wanting to hit the more personal impact on the spy trying to balance a quiet life and the spy world they have spent most of their life in. The mission itself is filled with peril, with some of the most intense sequences the franchise has, where we know we are facing life or death when it comes to the way everything unfolds.

Mission Impossible III is the best movie in the franchise because of the stunning performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman and the continuing commitment to the role by Tom Cruise.

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ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – Y – Volver (2006) Movie Review

This is under Y because of star of the movie Yohana Cobo

Director: Pedro Almodovar

Writer: Pedro Almodovar (Screenplay)

Starring: Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave

Plot: After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn’t resolve during her life.

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Volver starts when Raimunda (Cruz) has returned from her own family’s difficult decision to find her husband has been fired, leaving her to bring in the money, but while she is working, he tries to molest their daughter Paula (Cobo) causing her to kill him, Raimunda will help her daughter cover up the incident, but this only goes hand in hand with the death of her Aunt, meaning she will need to reunite with her family once again.

When Raimunda’s cousin Sole (Duenas) hosts the funeral, she is left with a shock, when her mother Tia Paula (Campreave) has joined her despite just being buried. She has returned to help Sole and Raimunda put aside differences they have had for recent years, a problem she never managed to solve in life.

Thoughts on Volver

Thoughts – Volver is a comedy drama that will show a family that get drawn together after a tragic event, only for a magical one to offer them closure for a life which has seen them fall apart. This is a unique style drama one that will dive into the idea that families can go their different directions, but deep down they are looking to remain together for the greater good. We do also touch on a couple of very serious matter, which will take us away from any of the comedy in the film, which is needed for the bigger impact of the story going on. The performances are fantastic with Penelope Cruz leading the way. This is going to be one that will get the emotions rolling, as being able to communicate and continue living on with a dead loved one, will be one of the biggest life changing moments for anyone.

Final Thoughts – Volver is an enjoyable comedy drama that knows how to pull on the heart strings and tickle the funny bone.

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ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – H – Happy Feet (2006) Movie Review

Director: George Miller, Warren Coleman, Judy Morris

Writer: George Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris, Warren Coleman (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving

Plot: Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!


Tagline – WARNING: May Cause Toe-Tapping.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Happy Feet starts when baby Emperor Penguin Mumble comes into the world with the talent of his father Memphis and the rest of the flock, the ability to sing, but he can dance.

Once he starts coming of age, he finds himself learning about other penguins in the world, ones that know of the dangers the world could bring, as the fish supply starts to dry up. Mumble will look to prove himself to the flock by going in search of answers, along with his new friends Ramon, Nestor, Raul, Rinaldo and Lombardo.

Thoughts on Happy Feet

Thoughts – Happy Feet is an animated musical adventure movie that will follow a young Emperor Penguin that doesn’t fit in his flock, that will look to find himself and solve the problems they have been facing, a risk no other penguin is willing to take. This is a film with plenty of bigger deeper messages, from the typical needing to find yourself one, to the climate change one and the taking food supplies from animals. All of them feel like they are well before their time. This mixture together brings us a truly entertaining animated movie that will help guide people in the right direction, in understand that there is so much more to the world than the small little world we surround ourselves with.

Final Thoughts – Happy Feet is a delightful animated movie with deep message in every scene.

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ABC Film Challenge – Sports – N – Nacho Libre (2006) Movie Review

Director: Jared Hess

Writer: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess, Mike White (Screenplay)

Starring: Jack Black, Ana de la Reguera, Hector Jimenez, Darius Rose, Moises Arias, Diego Eduardo Gomez

Plot: Berated all his life by those around him, a monk follows his dream and dons a mask to moonlight as a Luchador (Mexican wrestler).


Tagline – He’s not lean. He’s not mean. He’s nacho average hero
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Poor Comedy

Story: Nacho Libre starts as we meet monk Nacho (Black) who has always been looked down on in his monastery left to be the cook, when a new nun sister Encarnacion (Reguera) arrives, Nacho wants to become friends, only for him to find himself deciding to chase his dream of becoming a luchador wrestler, joining forces with Esqueleto (Jimenez).

The pair do start bringing in the money, with the goal being to raise enough money to give the orphans a better life, even if this means going against everything his religion says.

Thoughts on Nacho Libre

Characters – Nacho has lived in the monastery his whole life becoming a monk, only he doesn’t get treated the same as the rest of the monks, he is the chef with little amounts of food to work with, with a dream of becoming a luchador wrestler. He is torn between following this dream to make the most with money which could help the orphans, or continuing his faith. Sister Encarnacion is the newest member of the monastery, she is turns heads with everybody wanting to get to know her better, with Nacho using her as inspiration to continue chasing his dream. Esqueleto is a homeless young man that Nacho convinces to becoming his tag team partner, with the two making money while entertaining to the crowds in the process.

Performances – Jack Black does seem to struggle to hit the comedy levels we know he can reach in this film, being too much of a parody for his own good. We don’t have the best from any of the cast here, because nothing feels natural enough for the comedy to flow.

Story – The story here follows a monk that wants to follow his dream of becoming a luchador wrestler to help fund the monastery get the supplies required. This story doesn’t seem to get going with each scene seeming to look like a sketch show rather than a connected story. The idea of chasing someone’s dream is a nice idea, though it just doesn’t seem to become that believable in anyway. This is a story that has an idea of heart, only it just doesn’t seem to understand how to pull through the heart side of the film.

Comedy/Sports – The comedy in this film misses more often than not, it aims to try and copy Mexican stereotypes more than anything else., with the sports side of the film being about wrestling in the Mexican style, which seems to focus on real fighting, rather than what wrestling truly is.

Settings – The film uses two main settings, the monastery and the wrestling areas, both become important to what is going on with Nacho.


Scene of the Movie – Final fight.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The random eagle egg scene.

Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that misses more often than it hits, it ends up feeling disappointing and not understand the true meaning in wrestler in Mexico.

Overall: Disappointing Comedy.