Friday, February 18, 2011

Unknown

Set into a modern action template of Hitchock's Wrong Man, the Bourne franchise and Taken, this fast-paced pulsating thriller is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, based on the novel by Didier van Cauwelaert, and a screenplay by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell.

Liam Neeson stars as the botanist Dr. Martin Harris who arrives with his wife Liz (January Jones) to Berlin to lecture at a biotechnology conference. Finding his briefcase missing, he takes a taxi back to the airport. Following a car accident and a four day coma, Harris wakes up only to find out that his identity was stolen and that his wife, in the arms of another man, doesn't recognize him. While hunted by assassins, Harris enlists the help of a Bosnian cab driver, Gina (Diane Kruger), as well as private detective and former Stasi, the East German secret police, Ernst Jürgen (Bruno Ganz), to help him piece things together.

Engaging performances by Neeson and Ganz are complemented by first rate world cinema favorites Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella, and Sebastian Koch, with Jones fitting the Hitchcockian icy blonde wife, and Kruger delivering a more energetic performance compared to her role in Inglourious Basterds and Tron.

Notwithstanding some gaps, the intriguing screenplay is packed with clever twists, well choreographed car chases, and explosions keeping the viewer all the more entertained and at the edge of the seat.

I Am Number Four

In this action sci-fi thriller, the handsome British rising star, Alex Pettyfer is John, also known as Number Four, one of the last Lorian warring aliens left, hunted by the evil Mogadorians. With Henri (Timothy Olyphant) as his protector, John is always on the run. At school he encounters Sarah (Dianna Agron), his love interest, and the nerd Sam (Callan McAuliffe), picked on by head bully, Mark (Jake Abel) and schoolmates.

Tension and pace pick up in the feature's latter half with added special effects as John discovers his special powers. Performances are good while the awesome Timothy Olyphant merits more screen presence. The mysterious Teresa Palmer, as the Lorian alien survivor Number Six, is a scene grabber with her fast pace, high action sequences while McAuliffe provides elements of comic relief.

Based on Pittacus Lore's six book best seller, the feature is geared towards the teen audience, has a satisfying conclusion and is suggestive of a sequel.



Friday, February 11, 2011

Cedar Rapids


Director Miguel Arteta's latest comedy is set around the wild world of business conventions.

Living a sheltered life in his hometown Brown Valley, Wisconsin, the 34 year old insurance salesman, Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is sent for the very first time to the annual insurance convention in the overwhelming big city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to represent his company and bring home the prestigious Two Diamond Award.

Having never been on a plane, checked in a hotel, or heard of a credit card imprint, Lippe embarks on an eye-opening weekend adventure that turns out the best and worst in his life.

Concerned that Lippe's winning the award may be jeopardized, Lippe's pushy boss Bill Krogstad (Stephen Root) strongly warns Lippe to avoid Ziegler at all cost, a task that proves to be difficult since Lippe and Ziegler, along with the nerdy Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), find themselves as roommates.

With the unfolding of the story, Arteta gradually endears the viewers towards the feature’s two diametrically opposing characters: the naïve Lippe, and the infamous, rambunctious party animal Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly).

Much of the feature's humor evolves around Lippe's compromising situations with his roommates, the seductive businesswoman Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche), and the local hooker Bree (Alia Shawkat) who complicate Lippe's award winning chance in the eyes of convention leader and awarding judge, Orin Helgesson (Kurtwood Smith).

Helms' portrayal of an unpretentious fish out of water, brings to mind Steve Carrell's character in The 40 Year Old Virgin, while John C. Reilly's presence steals the show eliciting the most laughter.

Cedar Rapids brings out the heart in these uniquely different and flawed characters who in the end, come together as a team and win you over.

Gnomeo & Juliet

Set in the backyards of the two adjoining households of 2B and not 2B Verona Drive, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Gnomeo & Juliet is a cheerful, 3D computer animated spin-off of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, minus the tragic ending.

The adaptation features feuding ceramic garden gnomes who settle their scores with destructive lawn mower races. However, a message of love and tolerance permeates through the lovestruck Gnomeo (voice of James McAvoy) and Juliet (voice of Emily Blunt) as well the hopelessly romantic plastic flamingo Featherstone (voice of Jim Cummings) and the fountain frog with long eyelashes, Nanette (voice of Ashley Jensen).

The music of executive producer Sir Elton John along with Bernie Taupin, as well as the score of James Newton Howard and Chris Bacon complements the strong vocal cast that also include Michael Caine, Hulk Hogan, Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton, Jason Statham, Maggie Smith, Patrick Stewart, Stephen Merchant, Matt Lucas, Julie Walters, and Richard Wilson. Toronto's Starz visuals are colorful and vibrant.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Sanctum

Intense and thrilling is this breathtaking journey of an underwater cave diving team that gets trapped in a subterranean cave after a tropical cyclone cuts access to their only known exit. The divers now must confront their ultimate test of survival and navigate the treacherous, claustrophobic, labyrinthine cave and plunging cliffs to find an escape route.

Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) is challenged by the disjointed efforts of crew members Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd), the expedition's reckless financier with his adventurous girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson), and Frank's estranged teenager son, Josh (Rhys Wakefield). Frank's only constant support comes from his loyal assistant Crazy George (Dan Wyllie).

Australian director Alister Grierson (Kokoda, 2006) loosely based the feature on the 2007 real life experience of caver and co-screenwriter Andrew Wight. Sanctum is set in the world's largest cave labyrinth, in the South Pacific's Esa'ala caves of Papua, New Guinea, but was filmed in Queenland's Gold Coast as well as in South Australian caves.

The feature's highlight is in its visuals. Director of photography, Jules O'Loughlin applied the same Fusion 3D Camera System James Cameron used in Avatar. His stunning underwater cinematography along with Nicholas McCallum's detailed production design of underground caves, long flowing rivers and waterfalls, visually immerse the audience in an awe-inspiring underwater world.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Plastic Planet




In this well researched and compelling documentary, Austrian director Werner Boote challenges us to take a closer look at plastic. Its lightweight, easily shaped and economical benefits has made it an integral part of our daily life. However, plastic remains in the ground and water for up to 500 years, and while decaying, it slowly releases toxins that are harmful to us and to our environment.


Boote, grandson of a former managing director of the German Interplastic Werke, embarks on a journey of 12 countries to interview foremost plastic experts and address the environmental, scientific, manufacturing, and regulatory issues surrounding the world of plastic.

Among the included interviewees are: former president of PlasticsEurope, John Taylor, Italian investigative judge and current Senator of the Italian Parliament, Felice Casson, Beatrice Bortolozzo, daughter of Gabriele Bortolozzo, fatality victim in the trial against Montedison, environmental scientist Susan Jobling-Eastwood, a Japanese plastic sculptor, Hiroshi Sagae, the renowned geneticist at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, Patricia Hunt, pharmacologist and cell biophysicist at the University of Cincinnati, Scott Belcher, the president of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX), Theo Colborn, biologist Fred Vom Saal, a prominent plastic surgeon in Hollywood, Frederick Corbin, Captain Charles Moore, hormone specialist, Peter Frigo, Austrian environmental analyst, Kurt Scheidl, the current vice-president of the European Commission of chemicals regulation, REACH, Margot Wallström, medical biologist in Innsbruck, Klaus Rhomberg, author, speaker, and lobbyist for PlasticsEurope, Ray Hammond, and German plasticization artist, Gunther Von Hagens.

Boote's voice-over narration, archival footage, and Peter Höhsl's awesome animation, effectively leaves the viewer informed and entertained.