ponderflix

I am a committed journalist and when I say ‘committed’ I mean focused and resolute – I don’t mean to say I’ve been sectioned – but such is my fervour for accurate reportage it may as well be considered a mental illness. And so it is today that I review The Culture High, Snoop Dog (aka ‘Snoop D.O.double-G’ – aka ‘S.N.double-O.P.D.O.double-G.Z’ – aka ‘S to the N to the double-O.P, Snoop Doggy G that’s me, that’s me’ – aka ‘Calvin’) and pals ode to the decriminalisation of marijuana, recently added to Netflix. Like Jon Snow and Jennie Bond before me, I, Paul Sorrenti – a marijuana virgin – will get high on skunk as I review the documentary. But I will take it one – perhaps even four – steps further. If any previous Pulitzer Prize winners are reading this: apply your KY now. Full review available at ponderflix.

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper – The Hangover) is a deadbeat writer. His flat is a mess, the rent’s overdue, his girlfriend has given him the boot, his publisher is running out of patience and his hair is all straggly looking. But no wonder he’s having such difficulties, like the rest of us buffoons, the buffoon is only using 20% of his brain. Luckily he bumps into his ex brother in law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth – CSI Miami) who has moved on from illegal drug-dealing to illegal pharmaceutical-dealing. Vernon gives Eddie a pill of a drug in development known as MDT that will allow him to use the other 80%. What would a man who could use 100% of his brain be like? What would he do with his enormous mind? He would get a haircut, figure out how to make loads of money on the stock market, talk his way into the beds of many women and generally be an arrogant so and so. Of course he would. I found that to be a disappointing premise for what a Mr 100% would do with his powers, but perhaps it’s a true and painful insight into the male psyche that all a Limitless man would do is the same as his limited brothers, just more so. You, man out there, hear this: no matter how much of your potential you unlock, you will always at heart be a vain and cruel beast, furthering your own base self-interest at all costs, seeking to dominate your peers and squirt your seed into as many women as you can. Read full review at ponderflix on wordpress.

John Travolta plays the role of Vengeful Ex-Soldier who was shot during the Bosnian War in a war crime by some bad Americans shooting bad Serbian war criminals. Specifically it’s suggested he may have been shot by Robert De Niro who plays Colonel Benjamin Something. Now 18 years later, Vengeful Ex-Soldier has bought some American military personnel files off a bloke in a pub. One of the files is on Colonel Benjamin Something. “I have been waiting 18 years to do a revenge film with De Niro” says Vengeful Ex-Soldier to the bloke in the pub, who seems to be losing interest. Imagine if you will, John Travolta attempting a Serbian accent. Imagine what that would be like for 90 minutes. Yep, it’s as bad as you just imagined. Travolta’s awful accent competes for ridiculousness with his ‘hair’ which at times appears to be a specially designed swimming cap and at others a bald head that has been very neatly coloured in with very black permanent marker. This is so rubbish in so many ways, it seems so little effort has gone into the enterprise, that it has an active contempt for the viewer. It openly defies you to bother summoning the will to dislike it. Or sit all the way through it. I managed it in three chunks. Both actors seem to be putting in the bare minimum effort; the extended dialogue scene between the two in Colonel Something’s cabin looks like a half-arsed script read through/failed improvisation that got left in by **** action is limp, the script is nothing, the performances are shambolic. I expect this kind of nonsense from Travolta, but the disappointing thing is I have come to expect it from De Niro. It’s sad and perplexing to watch him drive nails into the coffin of a once brilliant career that already has more nails in it than it could ever possibly need. Nothing is getting out of that coffin Bobby, why are you doing this? Full review at ponderflix on wordpress.

Jesse Eisenberg plays both parts skillfully and Ayoade constructs some nicely observed comic scenes, particularly some good physical comedy with the luckless, hopeless, Simon...With its dystopian industrial setting, stripped back set design, off-kilter dialogue, understated performances, imposing soundtrack and surreal atmosphere this feels a bit like an early David Lynch film. But it doesn’t quite have the same intensity or conviction. It’s soft-core Lynch. I have the feeling this is going to be a love it or hate it film. The humour will not be to everyone’s taste; dark, surreal and **** director, Richard Ayoade, has imposed a distinct rhythm and texture, the plot and style follow its own twisted logic and it's more interested in establishing feeling and atmosphere than giving clear answers; if you’re likely to be frustrated by mind-twisting plot points going largely unexplained, then this may not be for you. For me, it worked well enough and I have a feeling I may enjoy it even more on a second viewing. Full review at ponderflix on wordpress.

Mister is a boy in his early teens with problems at school and bigger problems at home. He’s failed the school year and someone has written something rude about his mum in the boy’s toilet which won’t rub off. At home his mother Gloria is too strung out to keep enough food in the house and his annoying younger neighbour Pete is playing on his Playstation. Mister and Pete’s summer goes from rough to very bloody rough when Gloria is arrested during a raid on their tower block. Their summer holiday now consists of trying to **** together enough food to survive and avoiding the police who will deliver them to child protection services and the dreaded Riverview boy’s home if they catch them. There are some very good performances to admire, not least from Skylan Brooks as Mister who shows an impressive range on his debut, alternating between angry resentment, vulnerability and desperation. The film works best in the scenes between Mister and Pete, finding glimmers of happiness amongst the grim realities of surviving the poverty and various villains that inhabit their world. At times the grimness of their situation and the range of baddies they have to contend with seem a bit heavy-handed, but the touches of wit and humanity balance it out and stop it from being dragged under by its own weight. There are a few mis-steps, but on the whole this is a success. Full of nicely observed details and performances – well worth a watch. Full review at ponderflix on wordpress.

Liam Neeson is Dr. Martin Harris, a man who has a very particular set of memories he has acquired over a very long career in biochemistry. Or is he? After arriving in Berlin with his wife – played by Betty from Mad Men – for a biotechnology conference, he’s involved in a car crash and gets a bonk on the head. After staggering back to the hotel he left his wife in, he finds her at a drinks reception for the conference with some sciencey types and a man who is not played by Liam Neeson, but yet claims to be Dr. Martin Harris. Two Martin Harrises, buuuhhhh? It’s a solid enough premise for what should be a perfectly daft, mediocre thriller. It never quite reaches those heights, although it comes close....Some of the decent supporting cast is underused, notably Betty/January Jones who spends an awful lot of her screen time doing little more than delivering ambiguous looks towards Neeson and others are miscast – stand up Oliver Schneider as a skulking assassin who gives off as much menace as a nettled business studies teacher hunting for a bloody board marker that works in this place. Full review at ponderflix on wordpress.

The stage show is far, far superior. That goes without saying. I don’t ever want to hear Russell Crowe sing again......Instead of making a filmic version of the theatre production, it’s like they’ve tried to convey what a theatre production would be if it was a film. So everything is sort of pantomime. Nothing is real looking, it’s all staged and theatrically lit which doesn’t work as a feature film.......They have used big names to fill out most of the cast, many of whom just don’t do a good enough job. That said I was completely enamoured by the original cast so I’m utterly biased..........Redeeming factors: easyish to follow. Attractive people singing good songs to a fairly decent standard. Amid all the silly things it’s a great story. Full review available at the ponderflix site on wordpress.