Attack the Block (2011)

Toilet Review: Just because the bad guys are, well, bad guys, doesn’t mean they can’t save the day every now and then.

I watched this movie on a whim one evening that I wasn’t feeling too well. Normally, I have a very well laid out plan of movies that I plan on watching. The “immediate to watch list” usually has anything between 5 and 15 movies on it any given time, and I am usually loathe to skip any of them. Some have been sitting there for a long period of time, and sometimes I feel guilty for not getting to it sooner.

This movie, however, managed to skip the list and land straight at my feet as I was too sick to do my usual routine, and I am glad it did.

“Attack the Block” is an alien invasion movie with a difference. There isn’t any scientist or love interest or government assistance. This is a movie set in South London. in a place where most people would not like to live. There is crime and violence on every street corner, and kids do what they must to survive.

The leader of our band of heroes goes by the name Moses. He is teenage boy, the head of his own little gang, and awfully angry at the world. The opening couple of minutes of this movie tells us everything we need to know about Moses and his boys, as they violently mug a woman on her way home from work. Thankfully, she is saved when something crashes into the car next to her. Turns out it is an alien, and the boys of course, decide to kill it. Things soon go from bad to worse when they realise that this isn’t the only alien, and soon the entire area is swarming in killer beasts, determined on finding the killer.

I loved this movie. There is just so much going on. The bad guys are just kids. Kids that the world has forgotten, that their parents have forgotten, that are acting out because they can, because they have nothing else. No hopes. No dreams. Nothing. We only see snippets of their lives outside their gang personas. They are a group of teenage boys saving London from aliens, and how does the world repay them? I’m not going to spoil it, because I really do believe you should watch it.

John Boyega (Moses) is absolutely flawless in this as the tough teenage gang leader. He deserves every bit of success he gets and I cannot wait to see him in the new Star Wars movie. His portrayal of the kid in a man’s world is just amazing.

Not your typical Alien Invasion movie, but the better for it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Toilet Review: One of the first comic book movies I’ve seen that matches the tone and feel of the graphic novel perfectly.

When I first read “Scott Pilgrim vs The World” a long time ago, I wasn’t overally impressed. It’s not that it was bad series of books or whatever, but I just didn’t gel with it as much as I would have liked. It didn’t draw me in the way I wanted it to. I wanted to be excited about it and love it as much as I thought I would. The characters, whilst I could see some of my friends in them, just didn’t seem real to me. It was like I was looking at them through opaque glass.

Then I watched this movie, and everything I liked about the series was present, and then some. It was almost like the whole thing just clicked together for me. Michael Cera does a fantastic job of walking the line between lovable nerd and total loser with such ease that is hard to see any actor and just to see Scott. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is equally as perfect as the aloof and mysterious Ramona Flowers.

The movie focuses on our hero, Scott, as he falls in love with Ramona. Surely, it is a simple tale of boy meets girl, something we have all seen a thousand times? Nope! Turns out Ramona’s ex’s all belong to league of Super Evil Exs and plan to do battle with Scott now that he is dating Ramona. Can Scott defeat them to finally get the girl of his dreams?

The overall visual is spot on, and it captures the look and tone of the graphic novel in a way that I don’t think any other movie has, before or since. The sound effects, the video game graphics, the collectables, the coins, the music, it’s awesome in every sense of the word.

Let’s not forget the soundtrack! The music of Sex – Bob – Bomb plays to this movie in such a way that it is almost organic. The two are intertwined and each makes the other better. I loved it, and honestly would go see them if they were to ever play.

Also, it was nice to see places that I familiar with now in Toronto in the city. I always get a little thrill whenever I see somewhere familiar in movies or tv, and seen as how this movie is set in the beautiful city of Toronto, I loved it all that more.

The Interview (2014)

Toilet Review: The biggest media circus that could possibly be a media circus. And it was a giant to do over a shite movie. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This time last month, I didn’t know a single thing about “The Interview”. Not a thing. I didn’t even know Seth Rogan or James Franco had a new movie, much less what it was about. I could not give two flying fucks about either of these two actors. I’m sure they are nice guys or whatever, but I haven’t really enjoyed a single one of their movies. I find their style of “stoner humour” to be grating, and their jokes, if one could call them that, less than juvenile.

And then the whole thing blew up. I couldn’t read the news, or watch tv, or read a newspaper, or check blog sites, or news sites, without seeing something about this movie. One minute, Sony was going to release it. Then they weren’t. Then it was in selected movie theatres. Then it was online. Then it wasn’t to be released at all. Then it was. Then it was on Xbox. Then it wasn’t. It was enough to make even my normally cold heart curious. Throw in some pissed off North Koreans and you got yourself a stew! Of potential war!

So I sat my butt down this evening, cup of tea in one hand, and a sleeping kitten in the other, to get my does of “The Interview” and finally, FINALLY, see what the issue was. I knew I wasn’t going to be a big fan of it from the get go. The main actors just get under my skin, and when you through in some plots to assassinate the Supreme Leader, I was just over it already.

The plot is paper thin and nonsensical at times. Movies of “tension” are cut through with fart jokes, and the usual stoner crap. It was just so predictable that I honestly could have stopped watching half way through and still have guessed the ending.

The worst part of this is that it could have been so much better. There is a seed of a good movie in there. Maybe not award worthy, but one that would have at least been worthwhile to see. The parts where Dave is finally beginning to see through the bullshit giving to him by Kim Jong Un is really rather touching, and the scene of him standing outside the grocers is just a wonderfully shot piece.

But I digress.

Don’t bother watching it, unless you want to stick it to the man, and pony up the cinema ticket price or watch it online.

Three Colours: Blue (1993)

Toilet Review: A pretty little movie about loss and about how we move forward beyond it.

This is one of those movies that I have wanted to see for an absolute age. It is held in such high regard by so many, especially those that are a fan of French cinema or the ever awesome director, Krzysztof Kieślowski, perhaps one of the best directors the world has seen, and someone deserving of far more praise than he gets.

The movie focuses on Juilette Binoche’s character, Julie, in the aftermath of a car accident that claims the lives of her husband and her young daughter. We see how she manages from day to day and attempts to move on with her live, in whatever small way she can. Be it moving home or trying to complete her husbands work, or more, we see her anguish and hatred of the world from the perspective of a woman who has lost everything.

Each of the actors in this does a fine job but it is Binoche who steals the show. Her grief can be felt so acutely that I was having trouble remembering this was a movie. It is a simple story with so much to offer. It is shot beautifully and the colour palette, softened hues of blue and grey, offer so much to the tone of the story.

I could wax on and on about how much I loved this movie, but I’m not going to. Just see it. Do it, and thank me later.