The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 21/8/14. Viewed: 26/8/14.

Director: Felix Herngren

Actors: Robert Gustafsson, Mia Skäringer, Johan Rheborg, Alan Ford

Genre: Comedy / Adventure

Rating: M

The ridiculously-long-winded title ‘The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared’ thankfully does not represent the film – it’s a simple fish-out-of-water comedy, that just happens to be set in Sweden & featuring a centenarian. In reality, the main character – Allan Karlsson – is played by Gustafsson, who’s only 49! However, the title does accurately describe the first 15min of the film, but what happens after that needs to be seen to be believed!

One serendipitous incident leads to another and the script (or rather, the screenplay of the novel, which I haven’t read) is so well written that as they get more absurd & hilarious, they still somehow seem plausible within the story. It starts off in Sweden (English subtitles, but with Karlsson’s spoken inner-monologue in English), but by telling his life’s back story, takes in quite a few countries and eras – Spain, America, Russia, WWII – quite ‘Forrest Gump’-like in parts, which is a good thing!

The three main supporting actors are great characters and add to the story and it should be warned that some of the humour is a little black, but it all done with so much zest that you can’t help but laugh! A good ending, fun soundtrack and excellent pacing make this a foreign/indie film well worth seeing!

Overall: Hilarious odd-ball foreign comedy.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

The Hundred-Foot Journey (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 14/8/14. Viewed: 17/8/14.

Director: Lasse Hallström

Actors: Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Helen Mirren, Om Puri

Genre: Drama / Comedy

Rating: PG

‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ was a little like ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ for me – I had quite low expectations as I thought it was going to be an “old lady movie”. Thankfully, I was proven wrong and instead was treated to a nice little film about following your dreams.

The premise is simple – an Indian family move to London, get sick of the cold/rain (who wouldn’t!) and travel to continental Europe to find a new place to settle and start a restaurant. This place happens to be a picturesque little village in Southern France – however, their new restaurant happens to be next to a Michelin-rated French restaurant, and a rivalry ensues.

The performances from Puri as the Dad and Mirren as the French restaurant owner are great and quite nuanced, with Hassan (Daval) and Marguerite (the huge-eyed Le Bon) playing the young love interests/competing chefs. It’s great to see how their friendship evolves as Hassan goes on his food journey. Some parts of this feel like a cooking show, but not enough to put you off. It has funny moments, touching moments and a nice ending – plenty of messages about openness and accepting other cultures, and generally giving something/someone a chance.

Overall: Sweet story of family, food and discovery.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Lucy (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 31/7/14. Viewed: 5/8/14.

Director: Luc Besson

Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-shik, Amr Waked

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: MA

How best to explain ‘Lucy’? I’m not really sure – my best bet is ‘Limitless’ crossed with ‘The Matrix’, but without the best bits from either! Basically, Lucy (Johansson) gets involved in a drug ring in Taipei and it just so happens the drugs ‘unlock’ the full potential of her brain. The biggest flaw of the film is right there – it’s based on the urban myth that humans only use 10% of their brain power. We may not always use 100%, but we certainly use more than 10% for the majority of the time!

The best bits are the amazing car scene in Paris, the intercut footage (cheetahs, dinosaurs and other bits of nature) and Morgan Freeman. Unfortunately, that’s more than counterbalanced by the fact that the film struggles to make 90min, has a lack of actual action/excitement has a huge cop-out ending and Johansson acts like a robot, which is apparently what a hyper-evolved human would be like?!?

Considering Besson made ‘The Fifth Element’ – one of the more fun, inventive Sci-Fi films of the last 20 years – it’s a shame this film is neither fun, nor original. I definitely think the filmmakers thought they were being far more philosophical than they actually ended up being.

Overall: Not horrible, but certainly not a memorable sci-fi film.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars. 

Guardians of the Galaxy (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 7/8/14. Viewed: 2/8/14.

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action / Comedy

Rating: M

Firstly, you don’t need to be a huge comics fan or know anything about the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ going in to this to enjoy it. Even though I’m a pretty big Marvel fan, I still knew very little about the Guardians, but had heaps of fun with the film anyway. It’s a pretty simple concept – a boy, Peter Quill (Pratt) is taken from Earth by one of the spacefaring races that exist in the Marvel Universe, grows up as a Han Solo-esque outlaw calling himself ‘Star Lord’ travelling/thieving around the galaxy. He steals the wrong thing (an orb) and gets involved in a galactic power struggle which forces him to work together with Gamora (Saldana), Rocket (Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel in his best role ever!) and Drax (Bautista). Action and adventure ensue!

The bad guy, Ronan (Pace), is a Kree that wants to wipe out the plant Xandar – no real reason why he hates the Xandarians, he just does! – and Thanos (who we saw at the end of ‘The Avengers’) is going to help him, once he gets the orb. It sounds complicated – and we haven’t seen any Skrulls or Shi’ar yet! – but the film doesn’t really get too bogged down in galactic politics or grudges. However, it sets up the potential for a huge ‘The Avengers 3’ or the new ‘Fantastic Four’.

One of the best bits is that Quill was abducted in 1988, so the only cassette he has is full of 70’s & 80’s music, meaning he knows nothing else and the film does a great job of throwing in catchy, but not necessarily huge, pop songs throughout – Bowie, 10cc, Blue Swede, Joan Jett, Marvin Gaye… The audio makes everything fun and provides a nice contrast to the aliens/space battles going on in the visuals!

So, when Quill and his team of misfits – so many ‘Star Wars’ comparisons (a good thing!), including Thanos appearing as a hologram to Ronan – decide to do something good with their lives and join forces with the Xandarian “Nova Corps” (although, no sign of Nova the character) to stop Ronan. There’s a huge/exciting battle and final scene.

Plenty of laughs throughout, mostly thanks to Pratt & Cooper and the film never gets bogged down in too much seriousness, or the darkness/evil of the villains. Loads of eye-popping action and lots of cameos/support actors adding to the overall “big galaxy” feel. The Groot scene near the end is spectacular and the post end credits scene is a pretty great inside joke.

Overall: Fun and frantic – with a fantastic soundtrack – and “I am Groot”!

Gav's Rating: 4.5 stars.