Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (August 2015)

Official Australian release date: 3/9/15. Viewed: 23/8/15.

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Actors: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Molly Shannon

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Rating: M       

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ is a solid coming-of-age film – it’s charming and funny and definitely not as depressing as the title may have you believe. It’s a simple concept – the not-quite nerdy, not-quite cool high-schooler, Greg (Mann), is forced by his mum to hang out with a classmate who has just being diagnosed with leukaemia, Rachel (Cooke). It’s starts off as an awkward friendship, but slowly turns into genuine friendship.

Earl (Cyler) is great as Greg’s only friend (or “co-worker” as he calls him) and lots of the film’s fun comes from the parodies they make together of classic films – such as ‘Senior Citizen Cane’, ‘The Seven Seals’, ‘A Sockwork Orange’, ‘Eyes Wide Butt’ & my favourite, ‘Grumpy Cul-de-Sacs’! – most featuring clever animation and hilarious ultra-low-budget imitations. Earl acts as Greg’s conscience when he turns into a shellfish teenager and forgets about Rachel’s actual problems. The parents (Shannon, Offerman & Britton) all have some great scenes.

The film’s score, by Brian Eno, is fantastic and really adds to the emotion, especially towards the end. The finale is handled well and shows impact we can have others’ lives by just being there for them. Sure, it’s sad in parts, but it’s realistic and it is nice to watch how Greg and Rachel handle the situation mostly with good-humour. The funny moments outweigh the sad ones and make this an enjoyable film.

Overall: Realistic, sometimes poignant, and mostly-fun film

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (August 2015)

Official Australian release date: 13/8/15. Viewed: 12/8/15.

Director: Guy Ritchie

Actors: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki

Genre: Action / Adventure

Rating: M       

‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ is a 60s spy film, based on a 60s cold-war-era TV show, and it is great! While spy movies might be overdone this year (‘Mission: Impossible’ 5 just came out, ‘Spectre’ is out in three months and ‘Kingsman’ is similar), there’s always room for fun, classy, well-made films – and Ritchie’s eighth film is up there with ‘Snatch’, in my opinion. It’s certainly as good as, if not better, than the two ‘Sherlock Holmes’ films.

UNCLE stands for “United Network Command for Law and Enforcement”, although you don’t see this until the final credits – it’s just another lame acronym, a la SHIELD. The film keeps lots of it’s 60s elements – the cars, clothes, editing/split screens, the cool yellow/bold subtitles when required and the fantastic score/soundtrack. The story is simple – a KGB agent (Hammer) and a CIA agent (Cavill – Superman himself) are forced to work together with a German (Vikander) to find the bad guys who are making their own nuclear weapons. It’s funny that Cavill is British, playing an American; Hammer is American, playing a Russian; and Vikander is Swedish, playing a German.

The film doesn’t mess around, and while it goes for almost two hours, it is very well paced, with never too much downtime – there’s a car chase in the first 5min, boat chases, plenty of fight scenes and always a joke or funny quip not far away, as the American and Russian take turns to emasculate each other. The chemistry between the three leads is great and makes the film – aided by the Italian scenery – as the film draws you in expertly and has a very satisfying ending. I hope there's more!

Overall: Genuinely fun, classic spy romp.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.   

Man Up (July 2015)

Official Australian release date: 23/7/15. Viewed: 29/7/15.

Director: Ben Palmer

Actors: Lake Bell, Simon Pegg, Rory Williams, Ophelia Lovibond

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M       

‘Man Up’ is a really well made & executed romantic-comedy. It’s a simple story – the old blind-date mix-up, where Jake (Pegg) meets Nancy (Bell), both disillusioned with relationships, but they happen to find each other and have a great night out, before it’s revealed that she’s not his intended blind date.

Very fast-paced (only 85min long), with no time for dull moments, and plenty of laughs throughout to keep everyone happy. Williams is great as the creepy/stalker-ish ‘friend’ and Lovibond plays the starry-eyed, optimistic intended blind-dater. The soundtrack is great and there’s some fun/memorable scenes, including the teens running through the streets, the race to the bar and the fire extinguisher.

What really makes the film work is Pegg’s unflappable charm and his chemistry with Bell, who’s the real star – endearing and unassuming, she’s cute, but also witty and just enjoyable to watch. It’s also refreshing to see Pegg doing something simple. In this film’s case, easy doesn’t = poor.

Overall: The Brits still know how to make great comedies.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

Ant-Man (July 2015)

Official Australian release date: 16/7/15. Viewed: 15/7/15.

Director: Peyton Reed

Actors: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: PG       

Another month, another Marvel film! (Well, it’s actually been two months since ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’). And although it may make me sound like a fanboy, I’m still not sick of them – especially when they’re still as fun as ‘Ant-Man’! Definitely not one of the bigger superheroes (no pun intended), but Ant-Man and Wasp were original Avengers in the 1960’s comics and have always been integral to the Marvel universe. The film does well by including the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (Douglas, holding up well for a 70-year-old) and tying him in with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Howard Stark, as well as showing some of the Wasp. The film also sets up Ant-Man’s involvement in future ‘Avengers’/’Captain America’ films by having the Falcon (Mackie) involved too.

Brought to you by the director of ‘Bring It On’ & ‘The Break-Up’, it’s surprising it’s not a weak rom-com! Reed does an OK job, but it’s hard not to imagine what Edgar Wright, the original director (he still gets a writing credit) – famous for ‘Shaun of the Dead’ & ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’ – would have done with it. That’s not to say it lacks imagination or humour – as shown by the tank and the Thomas the Tank Engine scenes – but just that it at times feels a little pedestrian. I guess the PG (and not M) rating also contributes to this.

The story is pretty simple, as is fitting a non-super-powered/non-Mutant hero – Scott Lang (Rudd) is a burglar (not a “robber”!) who is trying to do right so he can be in his daughters’ life again. Luckily, Pym and his daughter, Hope (Lilly) come along and give him the opportunity to wear the Ant-Man suit, which has the ability to shrink, thanks to the “Pym Particle”. The film is fast and fun, with Rudd a great choice for the lead role, with his charm and humour (helped by one of the writers being Adam McKay, best known for ‘Step Brothers’ & ‘Anchorman’). There’s some ‘seriousness’ with Cross (Stoll) as the villain, but it is all very fast-paced and the stakes never seem too high. This won’t be anyone’s favourite Marvel movie, but it’s certainly not a bad one either.

Overall: Light and easy fun and action.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

Terminator: Genisys (July 2015)

Official Australian release date: 1/7/15. Viewed: 29/6/15.

Director: Alan Taylor

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘Terminator: Genisys’ (or Terminator 5) is another sequel/prequel/reboot coming out in 2015 (‘Jurassic World’, ‘Fantastic Four’, ‘Jungle Book’, ‘M:I5’, ‘Transporter Refueled’, ‘Vacation’, etc. ), but it’s a very well-made film with plenty to offer long-time fans and anyone looking for a good action film. The film starts in 2029 (i.e. after the events of ‘Terminator: Salvation’) and John Connor is now played by Jason Clarke, with Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese – technically his dad, since he’s the guy in the first film that gets Sarah Connor (now Emilia Clarke) knocked up. It may take a little while to get your head around it, but the filmmakers are assuming you know some of the backstory!

Basically, John & Kyle win the post-“Judgement Day” war against the Terminators/SkyNet – which makes for an exciting opening 20min! – but not before a T-800 (Arnie) is sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah. This takes us full circle and we end up right where the first film starts! Pretty cool, but something’s change in the timeline and old Arnie is (somehow) there to stop just-arrived Arnie. From there, it slowly starts to make sense and fit together – in a parallel-universes kind-of way – but it doesn’t really detract from the story too much. The plot is pretty simple and the same as all the films – stop SkyNet, which involves lots of being chased, shooting, explosions and one-liners!

JK Simmons is funny as a ‘believer’ and gets a few good scenes, but Arnie gets some great lines and moments, especially with his “smiles”! But the main stars are Clarke & Courtney, who work well together and are both better than the actors that played them in the previous films. There’s a little bit of seriousness at the end, but action/fun/set-pieces galore throughout – on the Golden Gate Bridge, in helicopters, in trucks… always moving and fighting!

Overall: Fun and fast – better than the last two films in the series.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.  

Jurassic World (June 2015)

Official Australian release date: 11/6/15. Viewed: 13/6/15.

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Actors: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘Jurassic World’ (or Jurassic Park 4) is set 22 years after the original film (and 14 years after the last film), on the same Costa Rican island, with it now a fully-functioning theme park. Why anyone would open or invest in it after the events is another story altogether and never really mentioned! Owen (Pratt) is the Sam Neil replacement and is charming and solid throughout and Claire (Dallas Howard) is the Laura Dern replacement and becomes less stuck-up and annoying as the film progresses. Jake Johnson (Nick off ‘New Girl’) is great as the computer tech in the control room and gets a few funny moments – a more than admirable job as the Jeff Goldblum replacement!

The film keeps a similar formula to ‘Jurassic Park’ – two kids, a concerned parent-figure (but not the actual parents – why are they never with their kids?), a dinosaur escaping and everyone running for their lives! There’s some nice throwbacks to the original too – the score motifs, the kids stumble into the foyer of the memorable final scene, the original/distinctive jeeps are seen, Dr Wu – the geneticist – is played by the same actor, Hammond is mentioned a few times and there’s a heard of Gallimimus at one point. I was glad to see more Stegosaurs and also to see Ankylosaurs for the first time in the series.

My main issue was the similarity to some aspects of ‘Jurassic Park III’ – there’s a dinosaur bigger than Tyrannosaurus Rex that kills everything; there’s Pteranodons that get loose and their consequences never properly dealt with; and the Velociraptors aren’t really treated as vicious killing machines until it’s needed in the story. However, it doesn’t really need to make much sense when there’s so many great moments of tension, then action, then surprise throughout – and some genuine wonder with the Deinosuchus in the Sea World part. A well done final scene(s) cap off an enjoyable experience.

Overall: An exciting return-to-form for the series – there will be more!

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

Entourage (June 2015)

Official Australian release date: 4/6/15. Viewed: 8/6/15.

Director: Doug Ellin

Actors: Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, Jeremy Piven

Genre: Comedy

Rating: MA

If you haven’t seen any of the ‘Entourage’ TV series (which ran from 2004–2011), then you may occasionally be at a loss during the film. The film starts off with a brief ‘where-are-they-now’ (on a yacht in the Mediterranean, surrounded by dozens of women, obviously), but doesn’t offer much background otherwise, assuming if you’re watching it, you already know the four main characters – Vince (Grenier), Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) & Drama (Dillon) – plus Ari (Piven), who is almost more essential to the show/film than any of the others.

As usual, there’s plenty of guest stars – Wahlberg, Alba, Favreau, Neeson, Grammer, Busey, Saget, Spade, Hammer, various NFL players – which sometimes add something to the film, but often seem unnecessary and seem to be there purely to make it feel like Hollywood. There’s a minor plot for each of the entourage – Vince directing his first film; Drama hoping for a breakout role in that film (& getting embroiled in some online retribution); Turtle trying to get date a girl who happens to be a professional wrestler; and Eric doing pregnancy things with his currently separated wife. Nothing revolutionary plot-wise and – besides Royal Blood at the start, Jane’s Addiction at the titles and Tame Impala in the middle – there’s some very average music throughout.

Ari is slightly calmer and – even though he still screams and says mean things – he comes off as more charming and less abrasive than before. Great to see Piven & Thornton acting together – arguably to only two ‘real’ actors/stars in the film! Also, credit to Haley Joel Osment, who plays entitled, ignorant hick superbly. The main issue most people will have with this film is its portrayal of Los Angeles – young/skinny women in bikinis (or not), always a party, always sunny, always a brunch. Possibly true, but it does often feel plastic/forced. However, the film isn’t bad – it just feels like three episodes rolled into one, with no real sense of tension or resolution at all. It’s just a comfortable ride with familiar faces.

Overall: A fun, simple comedy and extension of the series.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.