Lost in Translation

As a female director and the daughter of a conspicuously prominent director/producer, Sofia Coppola has been received with enthusiasm in some places, and skepticism in others, but having viewed Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette and The Virgin Suicides, I have to contend with the former view. With three movies which fall into my "character movie" category, Coppola always goes the extra mile to create pieces which are distinct and each unique in their own right. Similar to another favourite writer/director/producer of mine with few flicks to their penmanship, Coppola takes some risks which rely heavily on the ability of her cast. This masterpiece is set in Tokyo, relies heavily on Tokyo for its plot points and ambience but is never a movie about Tokyo. Bill and Scarlett are exquisite as Bob and Charlotte, two lost souls whose friendship awkwardly emerges and deepens out of a need, before realising that it too is based on a strange compatibility that surpasses the twenty something years between the two, so masterly juxtaposed between the "worst lunch" and the scene just following it. With an air strangely reminiscent of another favourite, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Scarlett effortlessly transforms into the woman we unintentionally but very quickly fall in love with. The far more seasoned Bill is very real, completely endearing and utterly flawless. As always, I must comment on the score and soundtrack which, in this case, meld perfectly; everything from the opening score to the choice of karaoke tunes is impeccable. This movie is slowly creeping into my top ten...

Whiskeyed words:

"You're probably just having a mid-life crisis. Did you buy a Porsche yet?"

Score: 5 glasses of Suntory out of 5. On the rocks.

Sofia Coppola wrote it, directed it, made it lovely and real, Scarlett Johansson & Bill Murray made a foreign land familiar, Giovanni Ribisi & Anna Faris provided the foils.

Iron Man: an alternative view

Sexy, smouldering and steel-like, Robert Downey Jr. is the ultimate Tony Stark/Iron Man (and as a disclaimer, please note that my bias stems from my utter obsession with the actor). This rough cross between Batman Begins, Transformers & Lord of War offers a fun couple of hours, but perhaps not nearly as action-packed as some of the maler species would would like. That being said, the well-cast actors create a solid alloy which carries the movie along; everyone from RDJ and the cute-ified Gwyneth Paltrow right down to Stark's robotic companions mesh well. Despite its formulaic comic book story-line, Iron Man manages to touch upon current events, shaky foreign relations and moral/ethical dilemmas, making it time-sensetive but, in a way similar to the anti-Soviet Bond storylines of the 90s, unlikely to make it into the books as a timeless classic. The 'lab' scenes are entertaining and the cars and women ogle-worthy. This movie is the quintissential summer blockbuster, and a bit of an hors d'oeuvre to the 'coming-soon-to-a-theatre-near-you' man in the batsuit.

Score: 3 "American Cheeseburgers" out of 5. But with extra cheese.

Metal Mouth:

"What is going on here?"
"Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges flew, fought and fluttered their eyelashes. Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby ironed out the details and Jon Favreau materialised the marvelous machination.

Speed Racer

A surreal visual effects movie with a terrific sense of speed.

A lot has been said of Speed Racer and most of it has not been good so I'm going to start off by simply saying that I thoroughly enjoyed it. On the other hand I can understand that this movie has a particular audience that does not include the majority of serious movie critics.

The movie is beautiful. It may take the first 15 to 20 minutes to get over the childlike quality. After that you'll see that this movie could not (and should not) have been done any other way. The vision is very coherent; nothing looks out of place regardless of how strange. Even the actual sets that blend perfectly with the rest of the Computer Generated scenery.

The music and sound are great as well and really contribute to the frantic pace of the races.

That being said, I'll get to the bad. If for some reason you do not enjoy the look of the movie then you're in for about two hours and fifteen minutes of torture. The movie is a little bit long (unless you are enjoying it) and has very little beyond its visuals to keep you going.

The story, though interesting and fitting to the visuals, is very simple and not enough to captivate. The acting is sub-par which does add to the effect but again the effect may not be for everyone.

The pacing is very awkward. The races are intercut with the bulk of the story but once out of the race it slows down significantly.

A beautiful piece of eye candy that has not much more to offer beyond that.

Score: (this one is tough because I know that you'll either love it or hate it, but this is my personal score) Mach 4 out of Mach 5

A Fast Flurry of Fervent Flattery:

"He's going to be very good."
"No, he's going to be the best... if they don't destroy him first."

Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Matthew Fox stood in front of the green screen. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski turned the green screen into magic.

Iron Man

An notable addition to the ever growing comic-to-movie library.

Iron Man is an impressive comic book origin movie that falls comfortably in between the very dark Batman Begins and the very light Spider-Man. Actually, it tends to lean a little bit closer the light the side while (occasionally) dealing in more dark material.

I was not very familiar with the character of Tony Stark before hearing about this movie. I must say I wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of liberties taken with how good he is at just about everything but he does have enough flaws to make him believable.

The acting is strong, though obviously not as high as it should be with said cast but it is a comic book movie so what should you expect? Most notable though would be RDJ as Tony Stark.

The visuals are amazing and quite seamlessly blend with the rest of the surroundings. The directing is solid by Bodyguard Jon Favreau.

The downfall is that being an origin movie and trying to stay grounded in reality, the villain in this movie is not as fleshed out as he should be and is not as supernatural as they ultimately will have to be. I would hate to just end up watching sequel after sequel of Iron Man beating up bigger and bigger mechanical foes.

All in all a very entertaining comic origin movie that could have a long and prosperous string of sequels if handled with as much care as this.

Score: 3 and a half Ark Reactors (out of 5)

A Mechanical Melange Message:

"Hey Tony."
"I'm sorry. This is the fun-vee. The hum-drum-vee is back there."

Jon Favreau took it off the page. Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow jumped off the page.

Pan's Labyrinth

A lot has been said of this movie and to be honest, after seeing it, I don't fully understand all the hype surrounding it. It is a really good looking movie with two pretty interesting stories but it does very little that is groundbreaking to the extent that it has been given credit. For the purposes of this review I will disregard the hype.

The movie is beautifully shot by Guillermo del Toro who I have been a fan of since Blade II. He handles the fantasy and reality brilliantly and really brings the two together seamlessly. The screen wipe cuts get annoying by the end though.

The acting is pretty good. Sergi López does an amazing job of making Captain Vidal a seriously twisted character.

The stories are compelling and you will always be interested in what's coming next in either storyline. They are handled and balanced well and, thematically, play off each other in an interesting way.

The visuals are great (again not as 'visionary' as I was expecting from the hype but amazing nonetheless). Some of them are a little intense so a word of caution to the faint of heart. The music is great for this type of movie and you'll find yourself humming the theme for the next few days.

All in all, if you have the inclination to, the movie can be dissected and analyzed for further enjoyment but is also interesting on the surface for the casual movie-goer. Toss the hype out the window and enjoy the ride.

Score: 3 and a half eyes on a plate (out of 5)

Uno Directo Discurso (that's "a direct speech" for you non-Spanish speakers out there):

"Mercedes, do you believe in fairies?"
"No. But when I was a little girl, I did. I believed in a lot of things I don't believe anymore."
"Last night a fairy visited me."

Guillermo del Toro was daydreaming while writing and directing. Sergi López, Ivana Baquero and Maribel Verdú lived in fantasy and reality.

Rescue Dawn

A fantastic POW movie that certainly takes its toll.

The directing (by Werner Herzog no less) is fantastic. The brilliance is in its simplicity. The style is very raw and feels very real (with absolutely no glamour given to any on-screen character) and yet there is something very beautiful about it. The pacing is uneven which may cause some people to consider the movie a little slow at times but it is intentional and does add a lot to the experience.

It's difficult to choose a best performance (which is quite incredible with a lead like Christian Bale) but I must say if I have to choose one it would have to be Jeremy Davies' Eugene. That's not to take away from any one else's performance (including all the Vietnamese actors, Jumbo anyone?). Christian Bale gives another amazing performance and even an unrecognizable Steve Zahn is top notch and just gets better as the movie progresses.

The movie is very dark and very light in perfect balance and at the same time. This back and forth makes the movie very heavy to watch and you'll find yourself exhausted at the end of it. All this with very few disgusting visuals.

Finally the soundtrack is fantastic. The movie is very sparse with its use of score relying heavily on an amazing ambient and SFX track for much of the movie, which makes the music stand out when it does appear but the little music that does appear is amazing and perfectly complements (or contrasts) the movie at any given time.

All in all a great, simple and heavy POW movie that some may consider slow at points.

Score: 4 shoe soles (out of 5)

A Vietnamese Verbal Volley:

"You're a strange bird, Dieter. A man tries to kill you and you want his job."

Christian Bale, Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies lost weight. Werner Herzog told them to and lost weight in solidarity. Klaus Badelt played music when it was needed.

Death Defying Acts

With a tag-line like "Love is inescapable," you know you're in for a bit of cheese. What promises to be a Houdini movie never seems to quite get there. And don't hold your breath too long waiting for any crafty escapes. Unlike its magical predecessors of late, this movie evades its title, and sticks to its dubious love story. Guy Pearce delivers and interesting haunted Houdini while Catherine Zeta-Jones parades her stunning good looks, swapping her native Welsh accent with an awkward Scottish tongue. The most intriguing character of the bunch is aspiring psychic Benji, played by Saoirse Ronan, who delivers as much of great performance as in Atonement, and again, offers probably the only aspect of this movie which doesn't render you somewhat drowsy and bored. With little to offer in terms of its score (unlike The Illusionist, scored by Philip Glass), this man-behind-the-magician tale is largely uninspired, and like many screened love stories of late, seems awkward and altogether unconvincing. This period chick-flick masquerades as the next Prestige, but unfortunately this sleight of hand just doesn't get you.

Score: 2 bunny rabbits in the hat out of 5.

Gillian Armstrong directed the trick, Tony Grisoni & Brian Ward designed the trick and Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Saoirse Ronan and Timothy Spall delivered the trick.