#adventuresincinema

[caadventureclub]

Thanks #getfunship for the outdoor movie hookup! We made Frito Pies, watched classic movies, ate more candy and fried chicken than was necessary and used the heck out of that popcorn maker. And today, we set up the same thing inside and it's just as awesome. #escapemore #adventuresincinema #outdoormovie #movienight

[caadventureclub]

There is a very original knock knock joke here just waiting to be written. Thank you @cinespia for letting us relive our childhood tonight with a screening of the 'Goonies' and a beautiful fireworks show. We swear, we only cried once. Ok, maybe twice. #Cinespia #hollywood #hollyweird #gooniesneversaydie #adventuresincinema #outdoormovies #escapemore #polerstuff #hopkiln #picnic #mydayinla (at Cinespia @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery)

[caadventureclub]

The outdoor movie series at @hwdforever have started! Aside from picnics and your favorite movies, it also means that sometimes @plasticfantasticval will give you mystery chocolate before the screening of 'Dazed and Confused' rendering your camera operating skills completely useless. Join us for more screenings this summer. The lineup is killer! #Cinespia #hollywoodforever #outdoormovie #wavygravy #adventuresincinema (at Cinespia @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery)

[adventuresincinema]

I'm counting down the days (it's 54, if you were wondering) until I can see Quvenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne and company dance across my cinema screen in Will Gluck's remake of Annie - and yesterday we got to hear the second song from the film's soundtrack. Australian songstress Sia has brought upbeat, infectious charm to classic tune 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile', and both the song and this adorable video are guaranteed to have you grinning. 

[adventuresincinema]

REVIEW: This Is Where I Leave You (Shawn Levy, 2014)

Intermittently funny but unfortunately average, This Is Where I Leave You treads a well worn comedic path of family dysfunction that never strays from where we’ve often travelled so many times before. 

To fulfil the last wish of their recently deceased father, the four Altman siblings - Judd (Jason Bateman), Wendy (Tina Fey), Paul (Corey Stoll) and Philip (Adam Driver) - are reunited under one roof to sit shiva, the week long Jewish mourning tradition, with their overbearing mother Hilary (Jane Fonda). Naturally, secrets are shared and bombshells are dropped.

The host of famous names inhabiting the Altman family and their small town acquaintances emerge with various degrees of success - Jason Bateman is a solid lead as Judd, and Adam Driver as the family’s prodigal son and Connie Britton as his ill-advised lover are both highlights. Coming off unequivocally the worst is Kathryn Hahn, in a truly woeful bit part as the baby crazed wife of Corey Stoll’s Paul. 

Director Shawn Levy, the man responsible for such classics as Date Night, The Internship, and Real Steel, has never helmed something wanting to be quite so substantial before, and his talents simply aren’t matched to this emotionally diverse dramedy. The film hits the mark as a comedy on most occasions - you’ve likely been shown the bulk of its cards in the frequently played trailer - and the film’s more emotional moments are often laboured and uneven. It’s obvious from the get go that author Jonathan Tropper stuck around to write the film’s screenplay (he’s also credited as executive producer) - with nuggets of Tropper’s lofty prose littering the landscape in scenes where they don’t belong, and by the time the credits roll this potentially enjoyable film has become the tiniest bit of a bore. 

Bearing more similarities to the loathsome August: Osage County than I’d care to recall, This Is Where I Leave You is a perfectly average portrait of familial dysfunction that wants to be more, but never makes it.

VERDICT: 2.5/5

[adventuresincinema]

REVIEW: The Finishers (Nils Tavernier, 2013)

Playing to great audience acclaim at this year's French Film Festival, Nils Tarvernier's The Finishers is little more than a glossy, paint by numbers crowd pleaser that fails to generate a meaningful amount of interest. The story of Paul (Jacques Gamblin), a retired ironman athlete and distant father to his son Julien (Fabien Héraud), who has cerebral palsy, and their quest to complete an ironman competition together is uplifting yet uninspired.

Loosely based on a true story, you’ll cheer until you’re hoarse for Paul and Julien’s struggle and triumph - but clocking in at 86 minutes, we don’t spend enough valuable time by their side before the big race to truly connect with them both. Both characters are all too slight, shortchanged by a screenplay that gives them very little breathing room when the execution of the race takes up over half their screentime. Nevertheless, both lead performances are a joy to watch, and it’s impossible to not become at least a little attached to this underdog father and son duo. If only The Finishers had been a little bit more substantial.

VERDICT: 2.5/5

[adventuresincinema]

REVIEW: The Grand Seduction (Don McKellar, 2013)

Set in the sleepy village of Tickle Head, a forgotten Newfoundland fishing hub, popular local Murray (Brendan Gleeson) weaves a tangled web to convince young doctor Paul (Taylor Kitsch) to stay in town by any means necessary - so that the townspeople can convince a processing plant to set up shop in the area and provide them all with much needed jobs. 

A remake of 2003 French-Canadian film Seducing Doctor Lewis, - titled The Grand Seduction in its native tongue - The Grand Seduction bears much the same brand of dramedic quirk as Waking Ned Devine or The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Tickle Head's senior citizens provide plenty of laughs as they form haphazard cricket teams, listen in on phone conversations, and put the doctor’s favourite dish front and centre at the local pub to convince him to stick around. Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch are in great form as the two leads, delivering heart and humour to their two unassuming characters. 

It’s delightful enough in the moment, but The Grand Seduction doesn’t live up to the films it finds itself indebted to. It’s never anything particularly special or memorable, but it’s perfectly fine and perfectly fun. My grandparents watched it and adored it - probably the best measure of its success. 

VERDICT: 3/5

[adventuresincinema]

REVIEW: God's Pocket (John Slattery, 2014)

The directorial debut of Mad Men's John Slattery, God's Pocket plays more like an assemblage of quirks than it does a fully realised film. When Leon (Caleb Landry Jones) is killed in an "accident" at his job as a labourer, his mother (Christina Hendricks) suspects something's up - and there's a strange series of events to be had before Leon will be laid to rest. 

If there's one thing that you can say definitively after watching God's Pocket, it's that John Slattery really likes the Coen Brothers. This decidedly bizarre film always looks the part for a Coen yarn, but rarely has the guts to back up his clearly grand ambitions. The film's screenplay leaves much to be desired - the relatively straightforward plot takes wild detours into unnecessary territory, and as a result never really goes anywhere - and when the film runs its course after 85 minutes, you'll find yourself wondering why any of it mattered. It's occasionally funny, but tonally it's more often than not completely off the mark.

But despite its problems, God's Pocket is worth it for the cast alone - in one of his final performances, Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant as usual, and John Turturro carries the film's more humorous moments with ease. It's not a completely wasted exercise, but you'll be left underwhelmed when the credits roll.

VERDICT: 2/5