movie reviews – Obsolete Gamer

James Bond films are generally fantastic entertainment, but they are also one of the candidates mentioned that are particularly ripe for spoofing, especially the earlier films. To be honest I’m surprised it took so long, but the combined talents of Mike Myers and Jay Roach did eventually bring us the highly amusing shagathon featured here, which not only represents the birth of the (soon to be ‘rebooted’) series, but which also remains the best film in the series. Well, in my opinion, anyway! As with the film featured in my first Top Five Movie Moments, choosing the five best moments from this film was tough, particularly as many of the gags are visual,

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J.A. Laraque

The Sum Of All Fears

He doesn’t even have a huge amount of screentime either, none of the characters hog the limelight really. Morgan Freeman barely breaks a sweat as calm and confident CIA Director, William Cabot, but he remains as watchable as he always is. In fact, everyone in the film does a decent, if unspectacular job with their roles. I enjoyed Liev Schreiber’s limited screen time as John Clark in particular, but the thing that makes the film for me is the superb, tense atmosphere it builds throughout.

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J.A. Laraque

The Other Guys

Hollywood has produced countless cop films over the years. More often than not they feature hero cops who have saved the day over and over. But what about the other guys – the cops lurking in the background who get lumbered with all the mundane assignments and spend half their time doing paperwork while the top guys bask in the glory? Will they ever have a chance to show what they can do when they get the chance?

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J.A. Laraque

The Station Agent

It’s a hard film to categorise. Since I discovered it I’ve found some others of a similar style and none of them really adhere to any particular genre. It’s part drama, part comedy… there’s even an action sequence (kind of)! There’s one term I’ve heard to describe films like this though, and that’s “slice of life” films, and that sums up The Station Agent pretty well – it literally is just a quick peek at the lives of a small group of people, and whatever they happen to be going through at the time, who form unlikely friendships.

Game Reviews

J.A. Laraque

Zoolander

This isn’t the kind of film that calls for particularly amazing acting on the part of most of them though, the comedic burden is placed squarely on the shoulders of the three leads, a requirement each is well-versed in exceeding. The premise of Stiller and Wilson as top models is funny enough to begin with, but everything is so over-the- top and exagerated, whether it’s Derek’s retirement from modelling and subsequent attempt at coal-mining to his friends petrol fight (I guarantee you won’t be able to listen to Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go without thinking of this film again!), not to mention near enough every scene featuring Mugatu!

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J.A. Laraque

Sunshine Cleaning

There are a few films that, rather than ease you in with a plot-teasing hook, instead go for the explosive opening to drive home a point. This is one of those films. The point it demonstrates? That death can be messy! The film opens with a normal, middle-aged, respectable-looking white guy who, after spraying breath freshener in his mouth, calmly walks into a gun shop of the type that are so prevalent in the US, asks to see a specific type of shotgun, and proceeds to spray the contents of one of its shells into his mouth as well.

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J.A. Laraque

Vantage Point

It’s a concept that’s been done before, but perhaps not in such a high profile film. Whether it works well or not is debatable. Both I and apparently a test audience soon grew tired of the film rewinding to the start despite the fresh perspective offered by each character. However, the story is intriguing enough after to hold your attention and the initial frustrations soon die down as you enjoy the mounting tension as more and more information is revealed.

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J.A. Laraque

D.E.B.S.

The only other noteworthy character really is Scud. Like Lucy, he’s not remotely convincing as a bad-ass criminal, I expect that’s part of the joke, but he’s very funny in almost all of his scenes and I get the impression he improvised a lot of them. Particularly enjoyable is his and Lucy’s mimed performance of ‘A Little Respect’ by Erasure.

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J.A. Laraque

Into the Wild

The supporting cast are all superb too. Despite their actions earlier in Christopher’s life, it’s hard not to feel sympathy for his parents (Hurt and Harden who do much with their limited screentime). Interspersed between the scenes of his travels, the film details their struggles as they search for him, increasingly desperately, with his sister (Malone), one of his few friends, providing a stirring voiceover. However, it’s the friends he makes on the road that you’ll warm to the most.

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J.A. Laraque

Broken Arrow

Evading execution and escaping during the intentional crashing of the bomber, Hale soon enlists the help of an initially hostile park ranger called Terry (Mathis), on patrol in the Utah park (desert) in which the bomber crashed. Together, they try their hardest to pursue Deak and his happy band of enthusiastic helpers, and thwart his twisted plan of holding the country to ransom. Of course, it’s not long before they discover this and subsequently direct their malevolent fervour towards our heroes.

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J.A. Laraque

All Star Superman

I liked the fact that we got to see heroes that most cartoon watchers would not have seen in Samson and Atlas 2, but even that “love triangle” between them seemed forced and too fast. The worst offense of rushing a story came when the Kryptoians showed up. One moment they are remaking Metropolis and backhanding Superman and the next, they are dying and had to be sent to the Phantom Zone. I just believe if given more time a really good story could have been told about those two.

Game Reviews

J.A. Laraque

Behind Enemy Lines

Granted, there’s not a hugely intricate, interweaving plot, but this is a solid and exciting action film, albeit fairly typical Hollywood fare. Gene Hackman is in familiar territory but does well with his limited screen time. Owen Wilson, however, proves surprisingly proficient in his portrayal of the initially panic-stricken, deer-in-the-headlights, Burnett, clearly out of his comfort zone.