And so, it was after a 10 minute break following part one that the lights dimmed in Oxford's Magdalen Street Odeon and Back To The Future Part II began. And that was only the second time I've seen this movie in a cinema, stat-fans.
Although they're still generally regarded as a part of the whole, both the second and third installments of Robert Zemeckis' time-travelling trilogy come in for a fair amount of stick, especially from people who loved the first film, bizarrely. My own peers are split between disliking two and three (although I don't think I know anyone who dislikes them both). Me? Yeah, I love 'em. Okay, not as much as I love BTTF, but that's in no way the fault of the films; things were just different by the time 1989 came along.
Yet as much as I enjoy BTTF2, even I have to admit that the essential spark which made 1985's film such a hit isn't quite there. The writing is far more plot-based this time around, with the intricacies of time-travel taking centre stage. The audience knows the mechanics of the film's causality by now, so rather than coasting along to deliver another box-ticking adventure, the screenplay doubles back on itself and interacts with its predecessor. The fact that Doc Brown literally draws on a blackboard to explain the story to Marty and the audience, yet never comes off as patronising, is an astounding feat of film-making. But what the film gains in narrative complexity, it seems to lose in warmth. The story isn't humourless at all, but the scripted gags seem to fall flatter than last time around, and it lacks the spontaneity and wit of the original.
Another hurdle the film can't quite clear is the absence of Crispin Glover as George McFly, following failed negotiations to secure his return. Re-used footage from Back To The Future and a remarkably capable body/rear double just about plug the hole, but it means his character can't contribute anything new, despite his presence. And while I'm on the subject, Thomas F. Wilson is fantastic as the three ages of Biff Tannen, but overacts to pantomime levels in this film, which is why so much of the humour feels forced. And while I'm on the subject of being on the subject, if Claudia Wells' Jennifer Parker had been given more screentime in the first film, would she have been as annoying as Elisabeth Shue's version from the second one?
Most peculiarly, the woman sat in the row behind Mrs Blackout and I did find the film laugh-out-loud funny, which is great. Her audible amusement was frequent and vocal (throughout this and the previous BTTF, in fact). However, she kept laughing when there weren't any jokes happening on screen, then after a while I noticed that she was laughing a short time before a scripted or visual gag. To the point where I began to think she had her own time-machine and was watching the film 45 seconds in the future…
Oh, and a question for you: In the first movie where Marvin Berry And The Starlighters are playing Earth Angel, the song ends on this orchestral flourish as George and Lorraine kiss and the timeline is set right. Now as there's clearly no string-section on the stage, I'd just assumed this was where the in-movie playlist and Alan Silvestri's score combined for cinematic effect. But in BTTF2 when Marty ends up at the 'Fish Under The Sea; dance again hiding under a table, Earth Angel is playing and ends on this sweep again - even though the focus isn't on George and Lorraine this time around. There's not really any need for the romantic crescendo to the song as the McFly-parents plot point is secondary in the revisited scene. A cynic might even suggest that it was dropped in like that as the sound editor didn't want to remaster the band's performance without the bolstered ending.
So, since the 'full' version of Earth Angel is used as background (being given the same narrative status as a song the characters would hear on the radio), where's the bloody orchestra, hmm?
Well I think so, your mileage will vary ;)
You can't buy the first one without buying the trilogy (and rightly so) so you should already have it, hmm?
Not particularly, sadly.
It does; whether you like that or not.
Not as long as you can justify your insane beliefs.
There ain't.
BttF2's visual effects supervisor was Mr Ken Ralston, who also provided visual and optical effects for the original Star Wars trilogy.
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.
Well, if I can't enjoy one of my favourite trilogies in my favourite cinema, I suppose I'll just have to watch two-thirds of it in one which is 'alright, I suppose'. And that's not to be too harsh on one of Oxford's two Odeons, but as Magdalen Street's Screen 1 is converted from a theatre, the ceiling is way too high, meaning the sound bounces around everywhere. That's not really their fault, of course, but when both films begin with the sound half a second out of sync? That is. Added to that is the fact that the other Odeon (less than five minutes walk away) was also showing the exact same double-bill half an hour later, so there were less than 40 people in this massive room. It wasn't my intention to start this review on a downer, but the venue robbed the atmosphere of the night, somewhat.
Never mind, though. October 21st, 2015 was Future Day, and the assembled faithful had braved the elements to celebrate 66% of Robert Zemeckis' timeless trilogy. In exactly the same way as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies, I can't disengage and watch Back To The Future objectively. I've seen it too many times and in various states of sobriety; it's become a part of me, and I wrote a piece in 2011 about why it means so much to me. I still stand by everything I said, there.
That said, Back To The Future is one of those wonderful films which just keeps on giving; whether it's a previously un-noticed visual reference to other parts of the trilogy, or a recurring theme which finally clicks into place when you weren't looking for it.
Future Day was no different, and tonight I noticed two things for the first time…
One: How come two of my three favourite trilogies have inadvertent incest*1 in them? In Back To The Future, Lorraine kisses her son Marty in the car outside the Fish Under The Sea dance; and in The Empire Strikes Back, Leia plants one on Luke - the full awkwardness of which wouldn't be felt until the Ewok-village conversation in Jedi. I suppose I should be relieved that Last Crusade doesn't feature a comedy-aside where Indy ends up bumming his dad…
Two: I know it's a time-travel film, but what's going on with the passage-of-time (not to mention the weather) when Marty arrives in 1955?
And if that's the level of nit-picking I indulge in with a film I love, you can imagine how lesser fime-travel movies fare...
Anyway, I've been to see Back To The Future in the cinema, and I grinned like an idiot throughout the whole damn thing. If only my past self could have imagined that on Future Day, he'd go to watch BTTF in a cinema, and see trailers for the new Bond and Star Wars films beforehand! What a time to be alive…
Well, I've got it in the house - in several formats - and I still did, so…
You should already have it.
If you haven't, I'm not sure if we can be friends any more.
That's a tricky one. They're certainly the casts' most iconic performances.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Didn't hear one.
Well, other than the clanging great Darth Vader reference and the film's effects being done by ILM, one of the film's exec-producers is long-time Lucas/Spielberg cohort Kathleen Kennedy, who now runs Lucasfilm of course.
*1 Well, it's not incest-incest, but you know what I mean. It's a bit odd. And it's inadvertent on the part of the character themselves but not on the writers, which is more what I'm getting at.
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.
The thing is, you see, Nickelodeon released a SpongeBob movie back in 2004, which myself and Mrs Blackout got to see by virtue of having a 9yr old nephew who really wanted to watch it. Today however, he's 21, and Mrs Blackout isn't too bothered, so I just had to bite it and go on my own. Well, whatever.
In the undersea town of Bikini Bottom, the secret formula for Mr Krabs' Krabby Patties mysteriously disappears leading to despair and ruin of apocalyptic proportions. Burger-flipper SpongeBob Squarepants vows to retrieve the formula along with Patrick, Squidward and Sandy Cheeks, but the gang find they have to team up with their arch enemy, Plankton for the mission to be a success…
First things first, Sponge Out Of Water is every bit as gloriously silly as you want/expect/fear it to be (delete as applicable). If you think this movie probably isn't for you, it definitely isn't for you (although that's what trailers are for). The film is two-parts 2D animated adventure, and one-part live-action/CGI*1, with Antonio Banderas playing a pirate/cook, and helming a framing device in the form of a storybook which becomes interactive to the point of meta in the final act.
The film is aimed at a young audience of course, but the script is sharp and fast enough to keep the older ones smiling throughout. As well as the regular swath of double entendres which come bundled with the franchise, we also get a Shining reference and even a brush with Douglas Adams courtesy of an omniscient space-dolphin voiced by Matt 'Mighty Boosh' Berry. The film also features the use of a time-machine which, on balance, might actually be implemented better than anything in Project Almanac, and doesn't even make that big a deal about it.
If you're a fan of animation, daft humour and can handle the borderline-migraine that is Nickelodeon's output, there'll be things in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water for you to enjoy. I could make a snarky comment about the mix-and-match of 'outdoor' shots which have clearly been filmed on a soundstage, or about the formula-bottle which changes size during the cannonball fight depending on which character's holding it, but it's not really that kind of movie. Oh.
[aside]
When I arrived at my local to watch Get Hard the other day, the gentleman queuing in front of me was buying tickets for SpongeBob. A chap of early-to-mid fifties with a lad of about eight or nine. I only mention the gentleman's age because I couldn't work out if he was the boy's father or grandfather, it could have been either. That doesn't matter in itself, but the guy clearly wasn't in the target demographic for the SpongeBob movie and appeared to be less than enthusiastic (yet not resentful) about seeing it. What I'm saying is, with his look, demeanour and at 6pm on a Wednesday, he didn't appear to be A Saturday Dad, a mantle which could have explained what happened next.
It was the 'Amount Due' on the till-display which caught my attention. I'm used to queuing for annoying lengths of time at the cinema since there are apparently many people who arrive at that counter with no idea of what they fancy seeing, drinking or eating for the next two hours and have given it no prior thought, but this wait seemed to be connected with the till-display.
The adult and child tickets were a given, obviously. A coffee was placed on the counter along with the medium-sized cup of Coke/Fanta/Whatever. Then the youngster came over and put down his bag of pick-n-mix to be weighed. Then a bag of popcorn appeared and a bag of 'luxury' popcorn. Then a hot dog. For real. Whatever had happened, either these two hadn't eaten all day, or the gentleman just wanted to keep his charge quiet for two hours and had decided to spend £35 on a thing to distract him and plenty of things to keep him from chattering at the same time. Although naturally, if it's peace and quiet you're after, The SpongeBob Movie isn't a great starting point.
£35, though. Thirty five pounds. ($52 for those of you on the other side of the pond). That's around £23 an hour. You could get a half-decent plumber out for that. For just the two of them to watch a movie once, and more substandard food-imitation-products than you can shake a sickback at. This guy had weighed up the mid-week options, and had decided (or been persuaded), than SpongeBob was going to be a £35 movie. It's not. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it's not worth £35; almost no film is, at least not at a bog-standard, non-premiere showing.
The pair made their way, laden, through to Screen 5 as I got my ticket for a bad Will Ferrell movie in Screen 4 and a coffee. With my Unlimited card covering the showing and giving me a discount, I paid £1.84 on Wednesday evening, although I still suspect I was more ripped off than the guy in front of me in the queue, somehow.
Thirty-five quid.
[/aside]
It's not, really (see above).
If you've got little ones, it's a buyer. For everyone else, a one-off rental should do.
Banderas is comedically fantastic as ever, and SpongeBob is SpongeBob, so yeah.
In spades.
I won't.
Not that I heard, but there is the hawk-screech and an "I have a bad feeling about this" reference.
Well, Mr Krabs is voiced by none other than Clancy Brown, Savage Opress in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But it's also worth noting that Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob himself, also provided his talents for the Star Wars Angry Birds cinematic trailer..
(The Angry Birds franchise was officially licensed (obvs) and went on to feature the voice of Ian 'Palpatine' McDiarmid, so this is a direct-link in my book; Tom Kenny has worked on Star Wars. No, you shut up.)
*1 Yeah, technically the whole thing is 3D, but I only got to see a 2D showing. I can imagine the live-action sequences look amazing with the CGI characters, but that the 2D animation looks disconcertingly wrong with forced depth. But by all means tell me I'm wrong in the comments.
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.
Director, Paul Feig, coasts on the charm of Bridesmaids with a screenplay that Katie Dippold apparently wrote in her lunch hour. And if a hackneyed buddy-cop comedy wasn't going to be mechanical enough already, Melissa McCarthy is employed to do her thing of being hilariously obnoxious, then acting all hurt and introspective when her character can't shout/shoot/punch/swear her way out of a situation. But hey, at least no-one had to finish her part of the script; you can tell her improvised sections because she pauses awkwardly after a line, thinks of something funny to add, then ignores it and says something with 'fuck' in, instead. Again. If I wanted that, I'd go and watch a Danny McBride film.
But it's not all bad. Okay, it is mostly bad, but the chemistry between McCarthy and Bullock is good, and there are plenty of chuckles and a couple of guffaws. It just feels like a first draft; a scribbling of ideas and sketches. Even if you can trick your brain into accepting that McCarthy's Mullins could ever be a cop with the attitude and behaviour she displays, the film is littered with things that just make no sense…
• Why does Bullock's Ashburn need to 'trash-up' her outfit in the club? It's a classy joint, not a biker bar.
• Why would the bad guy Julian leave a knife sticking out of Ashburn's leg knowing that Mullins can easily pull it out?
• Why does a police officer with known insubordination issues and a criminal family have an unlocked refrigerator stacked full of illegal weapons in her apartment?)
…you get the idea.
That trailer contains a lot of the film's best jokes. It also contains ones which aren't in the theatrical release, either being swapped out for alternate takes (passing out on the pool table) or just cut altogether ("he'll shake it off"). I dread to think how much footage was filmed that didn't get used. There's a closer-scene before the main credits start rolling, but no blooper-reel, which seems unusual. That's the DVD extras sorted, I guess.
Marlon Wayans is underused. Tom Wilson is underused. Some of the gags work; the film doesn't. Your mileage will vary. Oh, and the Deee-Lite sequence in the bar is one of the most embarrassing things I have ever seen.
And Fox: I may not exactly be in McCarthy's fan-club, but she's a selling point for the film. At least have the decency to put her face on the poster, eh?
Yeah.
I chuckled at some things and winced at others.
Probably. That's the worst part.
Telly.
Yes.
Probably not.
Nope.
Have any of you got something else for Melissa McCarthy to do? Hollywood's running out of ideas.
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.
