Movie review - "Madagascar 3" (2012) ***

Not as good as number two - it doesn't have the emotional undercurrents, there's no reuniting with your dad, or falling in love, or reuniting with your spieces. Apart from Ben Stiller's lion the other three leads could be cut out - they don't have anything to do.

The animation is gorgeous and I'm a sucker for circus stories. I loved the snow capped alps and the trip through Europe and there were some exciting action sequences. The penguins and monkeys are great. The new circus animals are strong especially the dancing bear.

Some silly script things - likeAlex/Stiller wanting to go home even though in Part Two he deliberately stayed, no mention of his parents, somehow they can easily travel from Africa to Monte Carlo and arrange to buy a circus but they can't afford to pay for the flight back to New York, the villain seems insufficiently motivated to go to such extreme methods.

Still, I laughed.

Movie review - "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (2008) ****

Joyous, fun sequel full of life and some very funny jokes - some of which are surprisingly adult. It's a good story - sequels are worth it when there's a decent reason for them to exist, which is the case here because it's about Alex being reunited with his parents.

There's decent subplots - Marty meeting fellow zebras, Gloria dating a hippo, Melman becoming a doctor. So much of this made me laugh out loud - jumping into a volcano, the penguins talking like they're Robert Stack in the 50s aviation film. I really enjoyed the tunes.  I've seen this movie a bunch of times and still enjoyed it.

Movie review - "Zoolander 2" (2015) **

This very late in the day sequel didn't seem to please too many people but I found it had its moments. Sure, everyone is getting old but there's still a lot of talent on display: Stiller, Wilson, Ferrell, Wiig, etc plus Cyrus Arnold as the newcomer.

I wish Wiig had been given more to do - she's excellent - and feel maybe they made a mistake having outlandish Penelope Cruz as the love interest instead of a straight "normal" woman like Christine Taylor in the original. Kyle Mooney's character is irritating, as is the sheer number of cameos.

But lots of funny stuff, like Wiig, and Justin Bieberm and Cruz. I couldn't understand the hate. Maybe because I saw it at home on TV and not in a theatre or something.

Movie review - "While We're Young" (2014) ***

After watching Noah Baumbach's first film, Kicking and Screaming, I never thought I'd never see him again, but he's stuck at it and is not one of the leading independent filmmakers in American cinema. For the most part this is a fresh, wryly entertaining look at the generation gap between X and Y as Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts befriend Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried.

A lot of this feels so honest and true - the documentary filmmaker unable to resist flattery, the enthusiasm that comes from associating with the younger generation, the pressure caused by fertility issues. It falls down in a couple of places - the film doesnt do anything with Seyfriend's character, she's just sort of "there"; and it gets too plotty at the end when it falls into All About Eve/ Broadcast News territory.

The acting is good and I liked the look of New York - it's a side to the city we don't often see, which had novelty to me, even though to New Yorkers in the film industry it probably seemed agonisingly naval gazing.

Movie review - "Tower Heist" (2012) **1/2

Very commercial but enjoyable Brett Ratner film which has plenty of stars and a decent story. The first half hour feels overly mechanical as they set it up - but half an hour in it improves a lot when Eddie Murphy becomes involved in the heist. Matthew Broderick is fun but I wish he'd been given more to do; Casey Affleck's voice is really annoying; it's a shame the relationship between Ben Stiller and Tea Leoni couldn't have been more developed, or that the movie couldn't have gone in harder on the judicial system and/or government who let crooks like Alan Alda get away with near murder. It feels like its been overly developed to death but it chugs along well enough.

Movie review – “Tropic Thunder” (2008) ***

One of the best ideas for a comedy in recent years doesn’t quite have the execution to match, though much of it is terrific. Certainly all the characters would seem to be there: fading action star, Russell Crowe type method actor, P Diddy style rap mogul, Chris Farley-esque comedian, sly agent, vicious mogul, etc etc. So many with such potential that it feels vaguely dissatisfying; you kept wanting to know more, whether a bit more about Ben Stiller’s background, or Robert Downey Jnr’s, or to have Jack Black given a bit more that relates to the story, or a bit more work on the Nick Nolte story. Maybe a bit less screentime given to that young kid – or deeper characterisation or something.

The film has a great look – lush green jungle, explosives – and the action scenes are done with flair (though the choreography can be a bit wonky). The acting is fine across the board; Tom Cruise is a lot of fun (perhaps his dancing at the end isn’t quite as funny to deserve this amount of screen time it’s given) but Matthew Mahoganey’s usual grinning idiot isn’t as good as Owen Wilson would have been. Downey Jnr is brilliant in a dicey role.

Some of the making-fun-of-the-retarded people is funny (esp the “don’t go full retard if you want to win an Oscar) – but there’s a moment between Stiller and Downey Jnr where they come up with slang terms for the mentally ill perhaps a bit too much. And every Asian character in the film is a dumb, vicious killer.

Movie review – “Zoolander” (2001) ***1/2

Entertaining comedy full of classic moments. I’m not a lunatic fan but I always enjoy it when it’s on tv, particularly some of the more outlandish stuff (I loved the orgy with the midget), and the trio of Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell are in strong form (what, no Vince Vaughan?). 

Apparently they thought this would clean up at the box office in the wake of September 11 but audiences didn’t embrace it, preferring instead the more realistic Black Hawk Down (showing that in times of turmoil people don’t always want pure escapism). But it’s cult has continued to grow ever since. Apparently some male models get upset by the fact this film perpetuates the stereotype of them being dumb – like, who cares?

Movie review - "Dodgeball" (2004) ***1/2

The concept of people throwing balls at each other is inherently funny and really helps this film along. This takes a while to get into its stride - the old film with Hank Azaria about the history of Dodgeball feels like a slightly clunky bit from The Simpsons, and the "we need$10,000 in three days" a bit too Syd Field (as indeed the whole structure is). 

 

But things are cliches for a reason - it works, and once the story gets going it develops its own mad momentum. You'd normally imagine Vince Vaughan as the baddie and Ben Stiller as the goodie but it works the other way round - Vaughan in particular has an engaging off-key quality that brings freshness. And even Christine Taylor may be Ben Stiller's partner in real life but she's very effective in these sort of roles (the straight love interest - they're not as easy to play as you might think). 

 

Sometimes the random tangents don't quite pull off(eg the pirate man) but more often than not they do (eg cameos from the Hoff and Chuck Norris). And the climactic battle is actually quite exciting.

Movie review - "Anchorman: the Ron Burgundy Story" (2004) ***1/2

Will Ferrell and friends take on 70s newsreading, with a serious subtext (the arrival of a female newsreader) beautifully integrated. Ferrell is in fine form and goes off on some wonderful tangents when he talks - every line seems fresh and new (I particularly liked his exclamations). The support actors are very fine as well, with a stand out turn from Steve Carrell and the dog.

My favourite moment is the newsreader rumble, a moment of pure comic genius, complete with severed arms and assassinations with tridents (I'm from Brisbane, and I couldn't help imagine Bruce Paige doing it with Frank Warrick and company). The cameos are enjoyable, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan, Tim Robbins and Luke Wilson (remember when he was famous enough to make cameos?). Occasionally it goes a bit overboard and gets too mean.

Movie review - "Starsky and Hutch" (2004) ** 1/2

One of the secrets to the recent popularity of Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughan vehicles is that they seem like your friends, friends who are all in a movie together. So even when the movie isn't very good, it's still fun to see your friends running around. Maybe I would have enjoyed the film more if I'd been familiar with the TV show, but the plot is a bit too much like an average 70s cop show - Starsky and Hutch take down a drug dealer and... that's it. There are some good sequences, like the dance off (what is it with dance off's today? There was one in American Wedding), inspired chemistry from the stars, good turns from Vaughan, Juliette Lewis (as his moll) and Snoop Dog. Amy Smart pops up and does another one of those nice, believably-falls-for-obnoxious-guy parts.