Movie Going Public is now *closed*

Hi guys,

Thank you for reading over the years.  I am now concentrating my efforts on two blogs:

A Wee Bit About

http://aweebitabout.blogspot.co.uk/

A blog concentrating on the UK wrestling scene and a few other bits and pieces from wrestling.

Super Duper Stream

http://superduperstream.blogspot.co.uk/

My original "catch all" blog is returning as my default blog for everything non-wrestling related ie movie reviews, essays, etc.

I hope you all bookmark the above and continue reading.  I will keep this blog open for posterity but it will not be updated in the future.

Thanks

Chris 

21 Jump Street review

(DISCLAIMER: This review is breaking from my usual style and will contain minor spoilers. I don't believe any of this will ruin your enjoyment of the film, but read at your own risk if you haven't yet seen it.)

From the get-go, 21 Jump Street had me gripped, and had me in stitches. We begin with a look-back to High School life in 2005 (which already seems so far away, a point the movie makes further into the story) where our future friends Schmidt (Jonah Hill, Superbad) and Jenko (Channing Tatum, Step Up) are enemies in a past life. Whilst being a well-used trope, this is also a real-life situation that anyone can relate to, setting the tone that we should expect more than just "toilet humour" from this comedy - this is not another teen movie.

Now in present time, our lovable losers are the best of friends, helping each other as they struggle their way into a Police career. Recognising their enthusiasm and intrepid ineffectiveness, the duo's Captain informs the pair that they are being transferred to "37 Jump Street... no wait, that doesn't sound right." And so begins our story proper, and the first of many 'smart' jokes.

Schmidt and Jenko head on over to Jump Street to meet their new boss, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube, Friday), a vibrant embodiment of every beloved, cliched and angry fictional Police Captain in history. His mission for our heroes is to infiltrate a High School drug dealing ring, find the supplier and to not have sex with anyone.


What follows is a cinematic tour de force of cliches and truly brilliant comedy. Featuring the funniest representation of drug use since Corky Romano, and an eco-warrior drug dealer (played brilliantly by Dave Franco. His grounded portrayol makes for the most memorable drug dealer since his brother James' turn in Pineapple Express), 21 Jump Street is a great movie, but not one that will re-shape the landscape.
This movie is the perfect cinema fare. The jokes are invariably hilarious, and display a level of maturity often missing in this genre, but they also rely too heavily on catching the audience by surprise. While the directors have made an admirable effort to not date the movie, I fear the jokes will simply lose their bite upon repeat viewing and wonder, will this movie be remembered in 10 years' time?

I fear not, however, while this film is in the cinema I implore you to experience it in that environment. Seeing the film with a room full of friends will surely be a great experience, but nothing compares to laughing along as loud and hard as you can in a room full of strangers. That is the greatest mark of approval I can give to a comedy film - that it made me laugh as loud and goofily as I did without caring who heard.

A solid slice of High School life as viewed by men still in the process of growing up, this movie should strike a chord with anyone who feels life is sometimes moving too fast. Take a moment to look back, to laugh at history, and to remember sometimes, things don't explode.



Random Thoughts:
 - Why was "The Real Slim Shady" so heavily editted, yet "Straight Out Of Compton" played completely uneditted. Was it due to Ice Cube being in the flick?
 - 21 Jump Street pulled off the whole 'passing the torch' scene a lot funnier (and cheesier) than fellow remake/extension Starsky & Hutch.
 - Dave Franco looks almost identical to James. At times, it's hard to believe they didn't just layer James in make-up to give the illussion of youth. This is a good thing - James is a fantastic actor, and that Dave managed to make me believe I was watching the elder sibling spells good things for his future career.
 - I was pleased with the inevitable time skip to present day. One of my pet peeves is movies that overtly date themselves - featuring the year anywhere is a huge "No No" in my book. While 21 Jump Street does state "2005" for it's flashback scene, the switch to present day is a simple "Seven Years Later" card. Yes, that means we are in 2012, but the movie doesn't directly date itself, meaning it has a chance at standing the test of time (that "Glee" joke, however, does not).

The Muppets review

WORTH SEEING? - Absolutely. This is one of my favourite films of the past couple of years. Everything meshed perfectly - cast, comedy, story.

TELL ME MORE! - Walter is a Muppet who is the world's biggest Muppets fan, and his brother Gary is a human who is the world's biggest Walter fan. When Gary, Walter and Gary's girlfriend Mary go on holiday and visit the Muppet Studios, Walter finds the place in a rundown state, complete with a villian plotting an evil plan to destroy the land and dig for oil. The trio must unite the Muppets to put on one last show and raise $10 million, put aside personal issues and use the power of song and dance to save the studio!

THE CAST - Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Amy Adams (Enchanted) put their vocal talents to great use in this musical comedy. Thanks to Segal's child-like demeanour and Adams' recent star turn in arguably Disney's finest live-action film, it was incredibly easy to believe in their characters and the universe (although it is never explained why Gary is a human and Walter is a Muppet). Hamming it up are Chris Cooper (The Bourne Identity) and Jack Black (Orange County) as the main villian and comedy roles respectively. Closing out the main human cast is Rashida Jones (I Love You Man, another Segal ace) who aptly holds her own in a role straddling the line between hero and villian.

Supporting this lot are some incredible cameos, entertaining both the young (Selena Gomez) and the old (Zach Galifianakis). My personal favourite was The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, potraying the human version of Walter in my favourite song from the film, Man Or Muppet. (Interesting side-note - Bret McKenzie (Flight Of The Conchords) won an Academy Award for this song.)

IN SUMMATION - More than just a musical comedy, The Muppets is grounded by various personal issues each character must face and overcome - jealousy, seclusion, heartache and the like. Recognising that their audience would be a mixture of young kids and nostalgic adults, the writers have keenly included enough jokes and drama to keep the parents entertained while the usual Muppet madness and music will have the children enthralled also. An all-around hit, and one I feel will hold up with repeated viewings throughout the years.

The MGP - Now to include wrestling?

Hello,

My return to The MGP also signals my return to blogging in general. After more than a year off handling personal business, I feel it's time to return. This coencides with my buddy Chris GST launching a new website which I will be writing some wrestling articles for from time to time.

The question is, should I also publish these articles here under The MGP banner? Although primarily concerned with Movies, The MGP does take into acount television from time to time. In your opinion, does wrestling also fall under television?

Have your say:

Should wrestling be included on The MGP?
	Yes
	No
pollcode.com free polls

The amazing Aliens rap

Members of British rap group "The Anomalies" expertly dissect the Aliens film (and franchise as a whole) over 10 spectacular minutes of rap.

Leslie Nielsen R.I.P. (1926-2010)

"Surely you can't be serious?"
"I am serious - and don't call me Shirley." (clip)

On Sunday 28th November 2010, Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen passed away due to complications arising from pneumonia. Although Nielsen appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows, it is without doubt his deadpan comedy roles, beginning with Airplane! (1980) (clip) and ending with Spanish Movie (2009) (clip), which became his trademark.

Leslie began his career as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force and as a disc jockey before beginning his path as an actor in 1949 in an episode of the drama series "Studio One" (clip).  Some of his most popular early work includes Forbidden Planet (1956) (clip) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) (clip).  Arguably his best-loved performance came as Dr Rumack in 1980's 'airplane disaster movie' spoof "Airplane!" (clip).  The plethora of comedic lines delivered by Nielsen has rightfully earned him spots on many "Top Movie Quotes" lists (link) and are oft-quoted by fans.  Nielsen himself has repeated his characters lines in several other films.

After the success of Airplane!, Nielsen teamed up again with the writing team for the short-lived 'cop show' spoof "Police Squad" (1982) (clip).  Essentially cancelled for being too quick-witted (the show is quoted as being cancelled "because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it."), Nielsen thankfully got the chance to reprise his role as Detective Frank Drebin six years later with 1988's "The Naked Gun".  Spawning two sequels, 1991's "The Naked Gun 2 1/2 - The Smell Of Fear" (which grossed more box office revenue than Airplane!) and 1994's "The Naked Gun 33 1/3 - The Final Insult", the series provided Nielsen the platform to showcase his slapstick chops (clip) alongside the quick-fire comedic line delivery that had became his trademark.

Continuing on in his career, Nielsen would attempt to recapture the laughs in films including 1995's "Rent-A-Kid" (clip) and "Dracula - Dead And Loving It" (clip), 1996's "Spy Hard" (clip), which had their fair share of fans and detractors (personally speaking, Spy Hard was one of my favourite films in 1996), general consensus has it that the Nielsen brand had begun its decline definitively with 1997's "Mr Magoo" (clip), but by now Leslie Nielsen had become a worldwide much-loved actor and icon.  His delivery was so well-known and specific he could make a Dutch telephone advert look good (clip) and even brought some gavitas to terrible movies late in his career (clip).

Despite what some of his later movies may imply, Leslie Nielsen himself was a genuinely funny guy, as many interviews (link), friends and fans will testify to. Whether you remember him from his early 'serious' work, or just as "that guy from that funny film", maybe now is the time to delve into his back catalogue and enjoy the legend that was.  Leslie Nielsen, rest in peace, you will be sorely missed.

"Good luck. We're all counting on you."

Supernova - Chewbacca music video

A fan-made video for Supernova's "Chewbacca", a song you may know from Kevin Smith's "Clerks". Pretty cool, basic tune that over the years has been attributed to everyone from Weird Al Yankovic to Limp Bizkit.

This clip also features some audio from "Clerks". Enjoy.

The Walking Dead news

2010's greatest show, and a geek dream 7 years in the making, is now halfway through it's criminally short first season. If you haven't seen it yet, get caught up!

Now for fans, here's the facts:

- The show WILL be back for a second season.
- Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) may be creditted as the man behind the show, but he only wrote the first 3 episode and directed the first.
- Writing and directing is handled by a myriad of others, including the original comic book writer and creator Robert Kirkman, who wrote episode 4.
- While season 1 lasted only 6 episodes, season 2 will be a bumper 13 episodes long.
- Frank Darabont will be back for season 2, and aims to follow the comic's general tone and feel, meaning a darker, tougher season 2 that takes into account the reality of a post-apocalyptic life.


- *spoiler* - Michonne should be appearing in early season 2. For those not in the know, she's a bad-ass sword wielding chick and fan favourite character in the comics.

The A-Team review

WORTH SEEING? If you are a huge fan of the original TV show (1983-1987) expecting more of the same, then probably not. However, if you are a general action fan and has to choose between this, The Losers and The Expendables, then you are definately looking at the A team.

TELL ME MORE! Fine acting, generic action film circumstances (complete with cliched twists and turns) and insane set-pieces (flying tank ftw), this film goes beyond satire and pastiche to truly embody the soul of an '80s action flick.

THE CAST - The most surprising turn here comes from Bradley Cooper (Yes Man), who channels all the everyman humour on display in The Hangover to deliver a genuinely funny character who ironically also serves as the straight man, anchoring the lunacy somewhat. That lunacy overshadows Cooper's strong turn by way of Sharlto Copley (District 9) who simply needs seen to be believed. Liam Neeson (Love Actually), despite taking Taken and single-handedly spearheading one of the ballsiest action films this side of Matt Damon, puts in a muted performance more akin to Qui-Gon Jinn than Ra's al Ghul. Quinton Jackson (UFC), Jessica Biel (Blade Trinity) and the rest of the cast all serve their roles well, but are largely forgettable.

CLOSING STATEMENT - This is undeniably the Cooper and Copley show. The film flies high in any scene featuring the pair - when they're not around, you can feel their absence. With that said, there is enough here to make for a truly enjoyable but largely forgetable movie. Much like the TV show in fact. 6/10, fun with a rubbish finale.

MC Chris - Fett's 'Vette music video

Amazing Star Wars rap tune-age which was released in 2001 and has since featured in Adult Swim's "Sealab 2021" and Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make A Porno".  One of my favourites.

Darth Vader's hobbies - part 3

If only Alien vs Predator was this good

Jackass 3D webchat transcript

Some interesting insight into the Jackass canon from the Empire folks. Fans will enjoy the banter, and new-comers will gain a bit of insight into the workings behind Jackass.

http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1115

Darth Vader's hobbies - part 2

Shrek 4: Forever After 3D review

WORTH SEEING? In comparison to Shreks 2 and 3, yes. Essentially, if you like alternate universes and stories about appreciating what you've got (Back To The Future 2 meets Santa Clause 3?) then Shrek 4 will suit.

TELL ME MORE! What else is there to say? If you've seen Shrek 2, BTTF2 and Santa Clause 3, then you've seen Shrek 4. If not, then bloke has a happy life but doesn't know it, wishes his life away, realises life was good. At the end he says 'It's a wonderful life', clips his heels together and goes home to Kansas.

THE CAST - Animation does a wonderful thing for annoying voices. Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas (Charlie's Angel, International Man Of Mystery, that bloke in the fat suit and Zorro, respectively) have lost the ability to carry a vehicle in front of the screen. To say they have a personality fit for radio is an understatement, but here they shine. Diaz comes off a bit whiny, but I think that's intentional given her 'husband's character arc.

CUT TO THE CHASE - Less racy than Shrek, staler than Shrek 2, plain better than Shrek 3, Shrek 4 is my personal favourite in a patchy series that *gasp* at times is better than Toy Story. Yes, even Toy Story 3. A solid 6/10, it's not a must-see movie but certainly better than most 'kids' films of late, with the exception of pure Pixar works.

Harry Potter - films vs books comparison

An interesting read for fans of Harry Potter or those generally interested in book-to-movie conversions and how certain sub-plots can get lost in the shuffle.

My personal favourite is #4 - I think Snape's character deserved far more fleshing out in the movies.


http://www.empireonline.com/features/lost-plots-of-harry-potter/

Darth Vader's hobbies - part 1

 

 

 

Cast your votes

A couple of websites are asking for movie & TV fans to cast their votes for various awards.  So here's some links if you're like me and enjoy this kind of thing.

http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/vote/

http://www.tv.com/bestof2010/

The Ultimate alien picture quiz

Empire Magazine have this fun, but quite challenging, little game for all you sci-fi movie fans! 30 cropped images of 30 movie aliens - see how many you can name!

http://www.empireonline.com/features/guess-the-movie-from-the-alien/

I personally managed a fairly poor 12/30, but I did get a couple of obscure ones I'm proud of.  Post your results in the comments section!

Iron Man 2 review

WORTH SEEING? The first half of the movie is worth seeing, maybe even several times, but a flat ending leaves the movie feeling more 'fizzle' than 'bang'.

TELL ME MORE - Seconds after viewing Iron Man, while the intense strains of Black Sabbath reverberated in our ear drums, me and my cousin made a commitment to see the inevitable sequel together the moment it came out.

Ironically, I wound up seeing Iron Man 2 on three separate occasions, three separate screens, and not one of them involved my cousin. Basically, this is my long-winded way of slipping in a pun and to point out that Iron Man 2 has absolutely zero replay value.

1st Viewing - Exciting enough. Don Cheadle gave an over-the-top introductory account of himself, but in the world of Iron Man & pals he seemed the most down to earth. Everyone else was playing their parts almost to the extent of ham-acting. A lacklustre final battle didn't ruin some decent action scenes from earlier in the film. All in all a decent blockbuster romp.
2nd Viewing - Still enjoyed Mickey Rourke and Robert Downey Jr, everyone else served as decent support, nothing particularly exciting (except using Cap's shield to hold up some pipes). Fell asleep during the final act.
3rd Viewing - Began pondering logistics, such as how a rickety old pipe being propped up by a shield could produce such pin-point accuracy. Began day-dreaming about science.

THE CAST - Robert Downey Jr (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) provided a perfect Tony Stark yet again. Not a lot else to say. Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) is finding a late-career revival playing quiet, dark and ultimately skeletal characters with only a hint of a past. He plays it well, but there's not much to comment on really. He's the villain, end of story. Don Cheadle (Ocean's 11) as mentioned above is the least O.T.T. Of the bunch, but largely forgettable. Gwyneth Paltrow (Running With Scissors) has beefed up her role considerably, especially in the second act. Good show. Sam Rockwell (The Green Mile) is for my money the better villain over Mickey Rourke - smart, more fully realised, and flawed. Finally, Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World) and Samuel L Jackson (every film without a Morgan Freeman budget) were there to set up sequels, weren't needed and (with the exception of one Matrix-esque fight scene) entirely forgettable. Which is a shame.

WRAP IT UP - Decent action flick, not life-changing, director Jon Favreau really needs to sharpen up his 'fight scene' skills, but the casting is pretty much spot-on. A strong 6/10 in my books, but that score diminishes rapidly with repeated viewings.