Ted 2 Cert: 15 / 116 mins / Dir. Seth MacFarlane / Trailer
Well, that wasn't awful. Damning with faint praise from the off, certainly, but I sat in Screen 5 tonight with apprehension and experience as my viewing partners*1, and despite giving Ted 2's predecessor cautious approval, I was less enthused by its spiritual successor. But no matter, because watching a cuddly bear say 'fuck' with a beer in one hand and a bong in the other is still funny, right?
Okay, so you've watched the trailer. That's the film, but with more swearing. The first act sets up a courtroom sequence, a road-trip and a visit to NY Comic-Con, over the course of which Ted has to prove he's 'human' to win the legal right to stay with his wife, Tami-Lyn (whose window-dressing role replaces that of Mila Kunis, who gets verbally written out in the film's first scene*2). To Ted 2's credit, there is more than just the stoner-jokes of the first movie, even if the first half of the script still confuses fuck-words for jokes with alarming regularity. Sadly, Seth MacFarlane is still struggling to write an evenly-paced screenplay, and his Ted sequel is little more than a few set-pieces punctuated with shoehorned-in comedy sketches, many of which fizzle out without a punchline (and around half of the ones which do have an ending still miss their target).
Continuity-nerds may be slightly irked by the number of inter-shot blunders, of props and postures changing position dramatically as the camera switches between characters, suggesting many, many ad-libbed takes and thousands of feet of footage on the cutting-room floor. Also occasionally sprinkled over this is Seth's old Family Guy trick of coming up with the most questionable phrase to put in a script (instead of a punchline), then inserting it anyway on the basis that he's the writer, star and director so who's going to tell him that having one of your black cast-members saying the n-word (oh, twice) still isn't advisable when there's no actual point to it?
But on the plus side (and there is a plus side), the animation of the bear is still absolutely flawless, and while MacFarlane's characterisation is still essentially 'drunk/stoned Peter Griffin', Ted's mannerisms match the voicework perfectly. Most importantly, the film features regular chuckles, a laugh every ten minutes or so and three or four of those are real guffaws. The courtroom scene*3 and Comic-Con sequence are quite marvellous; the rest is fairly amusing filler. Only you can decide if that's worth a trip to the cinema.
Seriously though, what's with the 'Sam Jackson being the black guy from every movie' gag? Everyone knows that mantle belongs more to Morgan Freeman who, ironically(?), appears in Ted 2 in that very perfunctory role. I honestly get the impression his lawyer character was written for Jackson who turned the role down (and it'd certainly make the joke about 'Samantha Jackson' work a lot better).
There's also a scene at the very end of the credits for those of you who want to wait for an extra five minutes. It's not a biggie, but a nice callback to an earlier, rather bizarre, gag.
Not really.
Probably best for a rental with a few beers.
That's a tricky question given the film features Mark Wahlberg, but I'll say no.
Oh, probably.
Not really.
There certainly is (Comic-Con brawl, bold as brass).
As well as a a plethora of visual references in the NY Comic-Con sequence, Ted 2 features an appearance from none other than Qui-Gon Jinn himself, Liam Neeson, and Patrick Warburton, the voice of G2-4T in Disneyland's Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.
*1 I didn't, really. The seats around me were empty. Very few people in my town give a shit about this film. Then again, it was a 20:15 exclusive-preview for a movie which opens at 12:40 the next day. Not exactly 'test-audience' stuff.
*2 During which Wahlberg's character complains that Kunis' character was "trying to change him". Which, as I noted at the time, is the polar-fucking-opposite of the film that I watched.
*3 By which I mean the first courtroom scene. The one with the jokes in. Not the second one where MacFarlane has realised that he's got to wrap up the film as well as get his money's worth from Morgan Freeman, so just has him deliver a standard courtroom monologue without wit, charm or indeed comedy, because there just isn't time for that shit.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Selma Cert: 12A / 128 mins / Dir. Ava DuVernay / Trailer
And there was me thinking all the Important™ films were done for the year. This relatively late entry to the Films You Really Should See Before All The Explosions-and-Superhero-Movies Start category centres around the voting-rights marches from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, led by Martin Luther King Jr. The film opens in 1964 with King being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, yet still being strung along on civil-rights issues by the then-president Johnson.
Although it rarely pushes the boundaries of its 12A certificate, Selma isn't always an easy-watch (and nor is it meant to be). A lot of the racial tension in the first act feels slightly melodramatic (not unlike The Butler*1, with whom it shares four cast members, oddly), until you almost instantly remember that while the film isn't a documentary, the events in it were documented and did happen.
There's a definite feeling that at times Selma is only presenting one aspect of a much larger story (which it is, by its own admission, but even so…), and that a viewer will get more from the film if they already know all the details anyway. Scripted exposition helps set the timeline, but I didn't feel fully immersed until the final act. Overall, the whole thing seems to work better as a historical document than a work presenting any new insight into political ideals. Then again, how much of a fresh take is really needed when the principles of the story are so apparent?
David Oyelowo's performance is absolutely astounding as Martin Luther King, to the point where you forget you're watching an actor (similar to Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady). The supporting cast is also incredibly strong and has a heavy Brit-presence (Ejogo, Roth, Wilkinson in addition to Oyelowo) considering all the characters are American. Although it has to be said that Tom Wilkinson's performance as President Lyndon Johnson is better than his accent. Speaking of whom, it interested me to note that Johnson is explicitly shown as 'doing the right thing' because of its perceived effect on his legacy, rather than steadfastly believing in it. I'm afraid my US history isn't much of anything, so if any readers could let me know whether this is an accurate assessment, that'd be lovely, thanks.
Elsewhere, Oprah Winfrey is always just Oprah Winfrey before any character she plays. And while the set and wardrobe departments all give an outstanding display of 1965, Common looks so out of place it's almost like he's stepped out of a time-machine, somehow. But we also get some beautiful moments of clean, atmospheric photography from lens-chief Bradford Young, that I wished had continued for longer.
But aside from my snarky criticisms and wanting to be spoon-fed history, Selmais a very good film, and you really should see it.
It is, although catch it while you can since it doesn't seem to have that wide of a release from where I'm sitting.
Probably a renter. As great as it is, it's debatable how often you'll watch it.
For Oyelowo, certainly.
It does, but nothing more than that.
Maybe a little.
There isn't.
David Oyelowo is the voice of Agent Kallus in Star Wars Rebels.
*1 Sorry, that should be Lee Daniels' The Butler. Sorry, Lee. Sorry. That's World Of Blackout's Sorry.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
You've got to hand it to Seth Macfarlane, he knows how to get great value for money from his cinematographer and composer. Michael Barrett and Joel McNeely go to great lengths to make this film look and sound gorgeous. The sets and costumes are in great keeping with the film's frontier aesthetic, and it seems that everyone spent more time on making this feel like A Western™ than they did A Comedy™.
The film seems to have two jokes in its arsenal; 1) someone falls over, and 2) someone says The Fuck-Word where a punchline should be. The envelope of repetition isn't pushed as far as it was with Ted, but at least in Macfarlane's predecessor I could tell which bits were meant to be funny. His follow-up is full (full) of moments which have the pacing of jokes, but none of the content; just an awkward silence afterwards that tonight's audience didn't realise they were meant to be laughing over. Even the central conceit of the title and trailer seems to be forgotten after the first act, once the pedestrian plot kicks into gear. So not really a million, closer to about twelve.
The only part of the film which made me even smile was Christopher Lloyd's scene (and even that goes on for just a beat too long). Although while I'm on the subject, Ewan McGregor, Ryan Reynolds and Jamie Foxx? Yes, that's how you do a cameo. Macfarlane's botox-fuelled gurning aside, the performances are all strong enough, but the material they have to work with just isn't. Poor Liam Neeson looks like he's wishing for a better screenplay*1, while Charlize Theron seems to he hoping it'll all work out in the edit. If this is what's made the cut, I dread to think of the ad-libbed footage which hit the floor.
A solid idea, badly executed, all in all I found aMWtDitW tiresome. Not because of Seth's confusion between wit and expletives, but more that I got bored waiting for the fun to arrive.
There may be A Million Ways To Die In The West, but a laughter-induced rupture doesn't appear to be one of them. I get the joke, it just isn't funny.
The bottle/fence gag works in the trailer but not in the film.
The rest of it doesn't work to the same extent as it doesn't work in the trailer.
I did not laugh.
Not nearly.
You'll probably watch it on DVD/Sky hoping prove me wrong.
I look forward to our conversation, after this.
Only a little.
I'm looking forward to the Special Edition where they put The Jokes in*2.
Pretty sure I heard one, yeah. It was no consolation.
For those of you who've seen the film, would this have worked better with a different leading man? No, that's a serious question.
*1 And Neeson will do pretty much anything, remember?
*2 Although, true to form, there are a number of lines (and even scenes) in the trailer which don't appear in the film. Like they were overloading the comedic content, or something.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Gangster Squad Cert: 15 / 113 mins / Dir. Ruben Fleischer
So good, I watched it twice.
Giving Gangster Squad a second-pass, I've figured out what was bugging me about Gosling's performance. He seems to be aiming for a quippy, post-Tarantino delivery, but the script isn't sassy enough to support that.
Everyone else plays their lines straight, and Gosling sticks out like a sore thumb as a result. It's a shame, and stops this really good film from being really great.
…ish.
Yes.
Yes.
…DVD.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes!*1
*1 Again, I could have sworn that during the jailbreak sequence, there's a low-level Wilhelm™ inserted..
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Gangster Squad Cert: 15 / 113 mins / Dir. Ruben Fleischer
A brooding score, glistening sets and some slick, stylised camerawork stop Gangster Squad feeling too much like a period piece, although Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone look so out of place in 1949 it's amazing.
But despite featuring some of the most clichéd dialogue I've ever heard, I had enormous fun. Engaging characters and sporadic bursts of gleeful violence compensate for the tropes nicely.
Gangster Squad revels in its body-count.
…ish.
Yes.
Yes.
…DVD.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes!*1
*1 Pretty damned sure I heard one during the jailbreak sequence.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
