Knocked Up

Maybe I’ve been spoiled by watching Transformers twice in a week, but this free preview was one of those where at the end you think ‘That wasn’t worth it.’

The premise of the film – intelligent TV presenter gets knocked up after a one night stand with a weed-smoking goofball, decides to keep the baby and along the way falls in love with said goofball – offers fewer laughs than you’d expect. Unless you’re the kind of person who finds cinematic depictions of people getting high an absolute riot. In which case, you’re in luck as the stoners seems to get stoned every couple of minutes.

The problems with this movie are manifold. Firstly there’s the knowing references to other films. One minute you see a poster for Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, the next, two main characters decide to go to Las Vegas and eat magic mushrooms. That’s one of the subtler references.

Then there’s the wider cast and sub-plots involving the other characters. Most of them could have been dispensed with to make this a tighter storyline. The first half an hour is excruciatingly dull. Distil it into five minutes and the film would still be forty minutes or so too long. A script editor would have helped, especially one with a bigger vocabulary. Profanities in movies don't usually bother me, unless they become tiresome in their regularity.

The two leads, played by Seth Rogan and Katherine Heigl are quite good, but only Paul Rudd, who seems to have lost a few pounds since he romanced Phoebe in the last series of Friends, emerged with any real credit from the wider cast, although the kids playing his daughters were funny. The birth scene at the end is believable and explicit – and is credibly acted (and scarily horrible). But it takes a helluva long time to get there.

There ain't much of a moral to this story, except maybe 'don't have sex when you're drunk, and if you do, try to remember to use a condom'. Oh, and 'never walk into a room where a woman is giving birth, even if they are screaming.' But apart from that, the bigger lesson to be learned from Knocked Up is how not to do a movie.

Jongudmund’s verdict: Wait for it to appear on telly, but I bet you’ll switch channels halfway through. 4/10.

Just as good the second time around

Went to see Transformers again tonight - on another free ticket. I was expecting 'second screening syndrome' where you see the continuity gaps, spot wider plot holes etc. I'm happy to say the film went even more quickly and I was carried along with it. This is also one of the few films where the score would probably be worth buying - I really noticed the heroic music pumping at key points in the film.

The only problem now is my car doesn't seem as cool any more. Cathy chided me the other day when I said that, pointing out my alloyed up Golf is still a nice car. But it's not a robot. Sigh.

If you haven't hocked your first born yet to buy a ticket, you'll have to wait til the general release on Friday. Still, gives you a couple of days to get some bids on the kids on eBay.

Notes on a Scandal

The best bit about this firstmovies film preview was the free tub of Green & Blacks vanilla ice cream. Although I did have to eat it before the pizza that Cath had kindly wrapped up for me to take. (I rushed from work to Fair Do’s for a Director’s Meeting, then home, you see).

On to the film: The acting was of a high standard. Pretty much what you’d expect from Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and (mmmm) Cate Blanchett. But the story itself, with its undertones of lesbian stalking, wasn’t so good. As a psychological thriller, it wasn’t particularly thrilling. It may have been better if the eponymous ‘scandal’ had been the opening scene, with the rest of the character’s involvement seen in flashback. That might have made Dame Judi’s machinations a little more thrilling.

And on that note – a scandal involving a married female teacher and a 15 year old boy obviously does echo real life, but I can’t help but feel that the law of sexual inequality comes into effect here. If the scandalous central character had been a married male and the object of his lust a 15 year old girl, then I doubt this film would have been made. Of course, such a taboo won’t have been broken by such a mediocre film, but, unless the stereotype of the predatory male is nonsense, perhaps it should be.

The thing that tips Judi Dench’s character over the edge is the death of her cat combined with her unrequited interest in Cate Blanchett. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be ironic, having a firmly closeted lesbian driven to the edge of madness by the pet’s passing brings to mind a whole number of bad taste ‘pussy’ jokes. And I think I’ll leave you with that thought.

The Last Kiss

We had free tickets to this new film at Cineworld, which used to be UGC, and is now also known as ‘the mice cinema’. Despite the rodent problem, the screening was full. From the look of the people who turned up, it appeared that was because the students are back in Cardiff, and they don’t know about the potential exposure to cute furry vermin.

Featuring Zach Braff – hilarious in Scrubs and impressive in Garden State – I thought The Last Kiss was going to be a comedy. There were some funny moments – but it wasn’t a comedy. In that sense it was a bit like life. Sometimes you laugh. Sometimes you don't know whether you should laugh. And sometimes you scream obscenities at yourself while pounding the steering wheel of your car. Or maybe that’s just me and Zach Braff’s character in this film?

A lot of this film – which dealt mainly with relationship anxiety – rang true. Casey Affleck steps out from his older brother’s shadow and puts in a decent performance. Braff is perhaps too likeable, and too unconventional in his looks to get hit on the way he does, but I think he’s quickly becoming one of the best actors working today. The show-stealing star of the film, though, is undoubtedly Blythe Danner. Maybe I’m getting old, but she seemed a lot sexier than her younger co-stars.

Jongudmund’s rating: 7/10