Calum Gilchrist

  1. Review: Youth in Revolt

    March 5

    As I’ve mentioned before, I seem to have a thing for Michael Cera romance films. Maybe it’s because I can relate to Michael Cera, as all my friends keep saying. There’s just something I enjoy about his performance, although it would be nice to see him playing some different roles in a few different films.

    Youth in Revolt was a nice surprise for me. I didn’t really have very high hopes for it and I came out of the cinema quite happy. This is my second time viewing the film and didn’t quite hold up to the first time but I still had a really good time with the film.

    The story follows a quiet, polite kid who loves to read and is an aspiring writer. After a while he ends up meeting the girl of his dreams at a trailer park. The rest of the film basically follows his attempts at being a “bad ass” to win the heart of this girl. One such act is blowing up a cafe in his town.

    That’s not really a great description of the film, but I thought I’d attempt to anyway. The story elements don’t really matter to me, I just really like all the little events that add to the story. Some of these were incredibly funny, like when a group of sailors take apart and reconstruct a faulty car in Michael Cera’s house, as his step-Dad (played by Zach Galifianakis) sold them it with a banana in the exhaust pipe.

    Zach Galifianakis was surprising to see it, as I had seen Hangover just before I saw Youth in Revolt - Hangover was probably the funniest comedy of 2009. I was also surprised to see Justin Long and Steve Buscemi. I love Steve Buscemi and I quite liked his character, even though he didn’t really have that important a role in the film.

    One gripe I have is that Michael Cera has a friend who is pining for a girl he’s had a crush on since the 3rd Grade. This fact is forgotten about in the end and the character never really mentioned. It wasn’t important but it felt like he was kind of forgotten about. Apart from that, everything else was pretty great. There are a few scenes that just stick in my mind and I don’t know if I’ll ever forget the line: “I want to tickle your belly button from the inside”.

    Youth in Revolt 4/5

    2. Comments

  2. Review: Paul

    26th February

    Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are just a great duo. All their projects where they’re together are amazing. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Spaced and now Paul. I love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost - I actually have Simon Pegg’s autograph, even though I completely froze up when I met him. Spaced is one of my top 5 television shows but I knew not to get too excited for Paul. The only reason I didn’t get myself too excited was because it’s quite a tall order for something to be as good as Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, although I did really enjoy Paul.

    Paul starts out with Nick Frost and Simon Pegg at Comic Con in California, a thing that I would love to do some day. Nick and Simon just make a really great nerdy duo as that’s what I believe they’re like in real life. They just fit the roles snuggly and it was entertaining to watch them together.

    My main criticism with the film was the pace, it just felt a little slow between key sequences, there was just too much space. I’m not sure entirely what I mean by that, but I feel this way about many films.

    Of course the main thing you want from a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost film is comedy. There was enough to keep me happy and I had quite a lot of fun. Although I will admit that I sat quite near the front which I wasn’t a fan of, so I’d maybe like to see it again. That’s one of the curses and joys of going to the cinema. Your experience in the building can sometimes effect the way that you react towards a film.

    There were plenty of references to past Science Fiction films which were quite nice to see and I’d maybe like to watch it again to try and spot all of them. I really liked the idea of Paul, the alien (voiced by Seth Rogen). It was just nice to see an alien so accustomed to life on Earth and actually being a much ‘cooler’ person than Simon Pegg or Nick Frost’s character.

    Although it’s not my favourite Nick Frost and Simon Pegg film I really liked it and it had a really nice to it and the dynamic between Nick and Simon is always a joy to watch.

    Paul - 3/5

    3. Comments

  3. Review: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

    Feb 12

    For some reason I really like teen romance films starring Michael Cera. Perhaps it’s because Michael Cera reflects me in some respects or I’m just a sop.

    Nick and Norah’s Inifinite Playlist isn’t my favourite Michael Cera film, I’d probably rate them:

    1. Scott Pilgrim
    2. Youth in Revolt
    3. Juno
    4. Nick and Norah

    Overall it wasn’t really anything special but it had all the elements of a Michael Cera romance film. Two awkward teens that have strange interests and end up falling in love. It really felt like a not as good and more realistic Scott Pilgrim.

    There were a few funny parts to the film but it didn’t really make a huge impression on me. I enjoyed it and it surpassed my expectations but most of it just felt standard and not really that different. The fact that the entire film lasts one day feels over compressed. I say this because Nick and Norah meet and fall out and meet each other’s exes and so much happens in just one evening that it just doesn’t feel right.

    Nothing much exciting was in the soundtrack. It was good, even though it was full of indie hits that fill most of the other Michael Cera films I’ve seen and even some of the other teen romance films I’ve seen without Michael Cera.

    If you like Michael Cera and teen romance films then I don’t see why you shouldn;t see it. I was entertained throughout but there was just a little missing to make it really stand out.

    Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: 3/5

    4. Comments

  4. Review: Just Go With It

    11 Feb

    Adam Sandler, I used to find pretty funny. I used to like his monotone delivery of jokes and the back and fourths between him and his co-stars. I am done with this though. Grown Ups had the same back and fourths that go on for about 5 minutes and have nothing to do with the plot and serve very very few laughs. Sadly half of Just go With It was FILLED with these back and fourths which didn’t even feel like both parts of the conversation were filmed at the same time. I am sure that Adam Sandler was in front of a green screen in one dialogue on a beach.

    I laughed about two times during this film and even then, I’ve seen funnier serious films. There just wasn’t anything to like about this film. My cousin made the good point that Adam Sandler continually spins HUGE lies and receives no consequences for doing so. His entire relationship with his “girlfriend” in the show was all based on a lie and he NEVER revealed that it was. It makes seem OKAY to just go out and lie to people as everything turns out just right.

    After the first ten minutes of the film, I was finished with it. I wanted Adam Sandler to just give up the lie and admit his feelings for Jennifer Aniston. I knew that he’d up with Anniston the first time I learned about the film.

    The film is a continuing joke with more and more “funny” situations being tacked on to one another. Everything just feels strained and I spent most of the film sighing or with my face covered so that I needn’t watch any more of the film.

    Orchestral soundtracks wfor all RomComs consist of uplifting themes in every scene and they’re always shot in the same super vibrant and super clear way to show just how great everyone’s life is in the film. Three of the tracks were mash-ups of Police songs that were completely pointless and I really didn’t like them just like the rest of the film.

    Just Go With It 1/5

    5. Comments

  5. Review: Morning Glory

    Morning Glory

    21 Jan

    Harrison Ford has been in quite a lot of films but I’ve never really seen him in that many comedies and he was actually really good in Morning Glory given that it was a film about improving a morning time TV show.

    Morning Glory was actually quite enjoyable. The trailers were quite fun and they reflected the film quite well. There wasn’t too much of a story but the whole light heartedness of the whole affair makes me forget about that little detail. This film really was just a light-hearted comedy which was a good contrast to the, quite dark, Black Swan.

    Comedy was the goal of Morning Glory and it did have a few hilarious scenes involving the weatherman in some rather exciting activities but the rest of the film was just very light comedy. It was funny, yes. But not funny enough for me to consider watching it again. There was a woman in the cinema that thought that every single joke was absolutely hilarious and that made the jokes seem more funny than they actually were.

    My expectations were met quite nicely, I could tell basically what I was going in for and the film delivered to every one of my low targets for the film. It’s nothing new or amazing, just a reasonable comedy film that I wouldn’t recommend but would say that watching it is not a bad thing.

    Morning Glory: 2.5/5

    6. Comments

  6. Review: 500 Days of Summer

    6 Jan

    I have a huge crush and Zooey Deschannel. I have no idea why but she’s one of those actors/actresses who I will watch in whatever they make. I watched the Happening (although I watched that for M. Night Shyamalan, I liked it for it that fact) So going by that accept that I might be biased, but I don’t think I am.

    I’ve not seen that many romance films, but I had a great time with this one. It was really funny and plenty of lovely dynamics. It had lovely special effects and camera work which really gave the film a whole new charm which I really liked.

    It was overall charming and had a nice plot. Had a lot of actors I like in it from other films but they’ve never really gotten lead roles. Joseph Gordon Levitt was really good in the film. In the later half of the film his hair was slicked back and he realised: “He WAS in Inception” as I was debating it throughout the whole film. Always annoying, that.

    There was a lot more comedy in the film than I initially expected. Wasn’t side-splitting but some of the joke were really quite good and I really enjoyed the comedic aspects of the film.

    I really enjoyed the format of 500 Days of Summer. Rather than a day by day summary of the relationship you jump to different days in the relationship, which was interesting as you saw the start and end of the relationship and let’s you wonder what happened in between. Was quite nice. The last few scenes were nice and I really liked them although they were a bit cheesy.

    I had no expectations and thoroughly enjoyed it.

    500 Days of Summer - 4/5

    Just another fact: I know the names of very few actors. I’ll recognise them for what they’ve been in but I don’t know their names. Whenever anyone talks about an actor I always need a filmography to actually know who they are. Which is a problem when you’re trying to write about films.

    7. Comments

  7. Review A Day: Norbit

    In the same vein as last year I’m going to try to do something productive, this year I thought that I would try to write movie reviews for EVERY film that I watch, which should be interesting as I’ve always liked writing reviews even though I’m not particularly good at it or even at all, I just enjoy putting my thoughts online.

    Well that’s the idea so here’s the review of the first film I’ve seen this year: Norbit

    I just uploaded the review here as I’m still figuring out the format and where to host it, I also should really finish editing the last few of the Photos of the Day as I quite liked a few of them, oh well, back to the review.

    3 Jan 2011 1:03 AM

    Norbit

    Well, I’m glad to say that the first film I’ve seen this year was Norbit. Great way to start the year knowing that it can only improve from here on in. To be honest I only saw the latter half of the film as we just changed the channel after watching a Billy Connely DVD. It was a lovely contrast between one of the greatest comedians ever and Norbit. Now from what I can gather of Norbit from the small amount that I saw I will try to summarise. Eddie Murphy plays almost every character just like in Nutty Professor but the Nutty Professor was funny. It was stupid but it had this great novelty about it. Back to where I was, sorry. Norbit is about a guy of the same name as the title who gets married to a rather large woman named Rasputia, which I guess was some weird reference to Rasputin. Norbit is not happy with his marriage and out of the blue his childhood sweetheart appears and she, although engaged falls in love with the nerdy, shy Norbit (very original writing here). Even though I really disliked this film, I’m going to keep it spoiler free although I’m sure that anyone that’s ever seen a film can probably figure out the outcome.

    Norbit seemed like a decent character, although terribly over done. The nerdy looking kid that gets bullied into a relationship because he doesn’t think he’s good enough, but his essence wins him the love of his life. It’s not a new story, nor did it bring anything new to the table. I will say bluntly that I think I laughed once and that was at a joke my Dad made that had no connection to the film. I really did not enjoy anything of what I saw. A retired pimp talking about love and trying to sell food to people sounds fine written down but I don’t think it was presented very well. It was ridiculous as that would never be tolerated at a wedding ceremony, which is where this strange speech was made.

    One small editing thing I didn’t like was the use of a pop song for 10 seconds as Norbit rode a bicycle, then it cut. The music then continued from where it left of a few scenes down the line, which was a bit jarring and wasn’t executed very well. My last problem was the terrible effects at the end where Rasputia was sped up WITH motion blur running around the town. It was rather corny and felt really out of place in this film that seemed to be trying some sense of realism, oh wait there was a talking dog…

    I won’t give it a rating because I didn’t see it from start to finish but I’m sure it would not change my opinion in any way.

    8. Comments