Contraband Review

If I was to pick one word to describe Mark Wahlberg’s career, I’d probably go with erratic.  He’s a more than capable actor, and has given great performances in movies like The Departed, The Fighter and Boogie Nights, but has had more than his fair share of turkeys, such as Max Payne and The Happening.  His latest is Contraband, a remake of an Icelandic thriller called Reykjavík-Rotterdam, and it is directed by Baltasar Kormákur, who wrote the Icelandic original.

Wahlberg stars as Chris Farraday, a former smuggler who has gone straight and is installing home alarm systems around New Orleans.  But when his brother-in-law messes up an attempt to smuggle drugs for local mobster Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), he’s forced back into the game, or his family will also be punished for the failed operation.

You’ll probably be rolling your eyes at the ‘one last job’ plot-line in Contraband, but although there’s nothing really new or unique about it, and it has some flaws, it’s certainly a watchable movie.  The role is not a stretch for Wahlberg, but he gives a decent performance.  The supporting cast is more than capable too, with Kate Beckinsale as Farraday’s wife, Ben Foster as Sebastian, Chris’ best friend, Lukas Haas as his brother, and J.K. Simmons as the captain of the ship that Farraday becomes a crew member of in order to smuggle in counterfeit money to pay off Briggs.

So the problems Contraband has are not with the cast, but with the plot and the character’s story arcs.  Ben Foster is an actor I like, he was excellent in the HBO series Six Feet Under, and in my opinion stole the show from Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in 3:10 To Yuma, but the transformation of his character from being Chris’ best friend and partner in crime to being one of the bad guys doesn’t really ring true.  Ribisi isn’t a bad actor either, but he doesn’t really have the chops to bring real menace to his role as Briggs, despite his bad guy facial hair and tattoos.

In general, the plot is maybe a little too intricate, with Farraday’s original plan well, not going according to plan, forcing him and his crew to go to plan B and then plan C, and even a plan D.  But despite some weaknesses in the writing, Contraband is not a bad movie.  It moves along at a decent pace, and there are some good action sequences in it, including a Heat-esque heist in Panama City that definitely gets the adrenaline rushing.

If you can ignore its weaknesses, Contraband has some solid action and reasonable performances.  It isn’t one of Mark Wahlberg’s best movies, but it’s not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

@TheGlassCase

21 Jump Street Review

21 Jump Street was a reasonably successful TV show in America during the late 1980s.  It helped launch Johnny Depp’s career (although he didn’t enjoy the attention starring in it got him, and he quit after 4 seasons), as he played an undercover cop working in high schools.  It didn’t quite get the same attention in the UK, so the movie release in this country comes without the baggage of expectation and hazy childhood memories of how good the show actually was.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are the stars of the movie, as two dumb rookie policemen who are re-assigned after making a mess of their first arrest.  While the original show was a drama, this is very much a comedy, and one that isn’t afraid to make fun of itself.  As their captain gives Hill and Tatum a dressing down and tells them where they are being reassigned, part of his dialogue is a wink to the apparent laziness in ‘rebooting’ an 80s TV show for a new generation, and there are other similar references throughout the film.

After meeting Captain Dickson, played by Ice Cube (who may look like a stereotypical angry, black captain, but he is black, he worked very hard to become a captain, and he does sometimes get angry), they are given new identities as brothers, and sent to live with Hill’s parents.  The pair weren’t friends when they were at school, Tatum’s Greg Jenko was cool and popular, while Hill’s Morton Schmidt was an unpopular loser, but they find that their roles have been reversed in a modern day high school, and maybe it’s Morton who’s cool now.

Jenko isn’t the smartest cookie in the classroom though, and this leads to their aliases being switched when he forgets which name he is supposed to have.  The result is that Jenko is now taking the geeky classes (like AP Chemistry), while Morton does drama and athletics.  They have been sent to this particular high school to put an end to the manufacture and distribution of a new and dangerous drug being sold on campus.  While they work on doing this, they find themselves growing apart, as they experience high school for a second time, both in different ways from when they were really students.

While the plot of the movie is often predictable, and in some ways clichéd, it is consistently very funny, and Tatum and Hill both give good performances.  Tatum in particular impresses, clearly enjoying a role in an action comedy, somewhat of a departure for him.  It is in fact, the second Channing Tatum movie in a row that I’ve seen and enjoyed, following his role in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire earlier this year.  The rest of the cast is strong too, with a collection of recognisable faces from US TV comedy, with Ellie Kemper (Erin in the American version of The Office) as a chemistry teacher, Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and Archer) as a drama teacher, and Robb Riggle (a regular in comedy show, but probably most recognisable from Step Brothers and The Other Guys) as a gym teacher.  Dave ‘Brother of James’ Franco is also good as an environmentalist who happens to deal drugs, and Brie Larson (Scott Pilgrim vs The World) is cute and likable as Molly, a girl who catches Morton’s eye.

Overall, 21 Jump Street is a lot better than you might expect.  It wisely avoids straight-faced drama, and plays for laughs, of which there are plenty.  There’s plenty of action too, and Tatum and Hill make a good partnership, both giving strong performances to carry the movie.  It’s not perfect, and the tone of the film can sometimes be a bit erratic, but it’s well worth watching.

@TheGlassCase

The Walking Dead – Beside The Dying Fire

So, that was season 2 of The Walking Dead.  Overall, I enjoyed it, but it’s been a season with a lot of problems, some of which are dealt with in the season finale, ‘Beside The Dying Fire’.

Shane is dead (twice).  After he killed Randall to get Rick alone and kill him, he’s dead after Rick stabbed him and Carl (rather improbably) shot him right between the eyes.  But Carl’s gunshot has attracted a huge horde of walkers to the farm.  The episode begins with their story.  It begins in Atlanta, and the sound of a helicopter passing overhead attracts some walkers, with their numbers swelling as they leave the city, heading across a field and into a forest near the farm.  This represents something of a problem.  Not only for the group of course, but in writing terms.  How long have they been there?  In the weeks since they arrived at Hershel’s farm, there’s been plenty of gunfire.  Shane taught some people how to shoot properly and there’s been the occasional lone walker to deal with.  Why haven’t they reacted to those noises?

It’s something of a hole in the story, but the important thing is that they’ve been alerted to the presence of some lovely fresh meat, and when Rick and Carl realise they are being followed, and the rest of the group at the house spot them, to quote Bad Boys II, ‘shit just got real’.  It quickly becomes apparent that defending the farm isn’t going to be possible, with Rick and Carl burning the barn to alert the group at the house, and then everyone fleeing the scene.  It’s a welcome relief, as the Green farm has been something of a burden to the show, as although walkers have been present in almost every episode, the lack of real action on the farm has sucked the life out of episodes.

This is a time for the group to fight for their lives, with some of them not being so lucky.  Well, it’s basically two of Hershel’s family, whose names you probably don’t know (Jimmy and Patricia), who get chewed right up, but while their deaths are satisfyingly gruesome, it’s hard to care as they’ve barely been in the show at all anyway.  Before they leave, T-Dog and Andrea, and Glenn and Maggie take to their cars to try and shoot down some walkers.  Shane must have been one hell of a teacher, as Glenn and Andrea seem unusually adept at shooting moving targets in the head from moving vehicles.  As the walkers descend upon the farm, the group becomes split, with Andrea having to save Carol, while T-Dog, Lori and Beth drive away, and Maggie and Glenn do the same.  Rick finally makes it back to the house with Carl, and they leave with Hershel, and Daryl picks up Carol.

They eventually reunite back on the highway, but Andrea is left alone in the woods, running out of ammo while pursued by more walkers.  She’s finally rescued by a hooded figure with a sword (a character from the comic book series called Michonne), and that’s the last we see of her this season.  The remaining members of the group don’t wait for Andrea, keen to move on, but it isn’t long before Rick’s car runs out of gas, forcing them to set up camp for the night.  It’s here where Rick admits to killing Shane, and it’s here that some of the flaws of the show are exposed.

In an earlier episode, Lori was clearly trying to force Rick’s hand, and get him to deal with Shane.  She made it clear to Rick that Shane wanted to be with her and Carl, that he wanted Rick out of the picture.  So when Rick tells her what Shane did and why he killed him, and Lori acts like she is shocked and repulsed by Rick, it makes no sense at all.  And later, when the group is questioning Rick when they hear a noise during the night, and he tells them what he did, they all act like they are shocked; despite them all knowing that Shane was dangerous and reckless.

But while there are some flaws with the show, this is a strong way to end the season.  The farm is lost, and the remaining members of the group are back on the road.  Rick has made it clear that this is no longer a democracy, they can follow him or they can leave, and season 3 will offer a new start and a new direction for them all.

@TheGlassCase

Safe House Review

Denzel Washington is firmly established as one of the best actors alive, and is probably the coolest too.  He’s won two Oscars, and probably should have won a couple more, and is one of the few actors around who can really get a project off the ground if his name is attached to it.

Washington stars in Safe House as Tobin Frost, a former CIA agent who went off the grid a decade ago, and has become infamous for selling secrets.  In Cape Town to do a deal with similarly rogue MI6 agent Alec Wade (Liam Cunningham), he finds himself being chased by a group of mercenaries who either want him dead or want what he got from Wade.  After Wade is killed, Frost gives himself up to the American consulate to protect himself, and when the CIA discovers this, he is transferred to a safe house, manned by Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds).

Weston is frustrated by his job.  He’s been in South Africa for 12 months and wants a transfer, but lacks the experience to get that transfer to a more important position.  A team is sent to the safe house to interrogate Frost before bringing him back to the US, but the safe house quickly comes under attack from the same mercenaries, and Weston is forced to flee with Frost and attempt to bring him in before both are killed.  Naturally, Frost is not keen on this idea, and while Weston is trying to get them to a new safe house, Frost attempts to get away from him to see out his own plans.

Safe House is an action packed movie, and while much of it is impressively staged, it feels like there’s too much.  As a result, the plot gets stifled, or maybe just isn’t really there.  It doesn’t really offer anything that you haven’t seen before, and doesn’t really get round to explaining what every character’s motives are.  The action comes thick and fast, and is edited snappily and stylishly, but there’s little depth to the characters.

Washington is on cruise control as Tobin Frost, throwing out lines like ‘I’m already inside your head’, as he plays mind games with Weston, and there’s nothing here that really stretches his undoubted talent.  Reynolds gives a strong performance as Matt Weston, and he looks capable of becoming a real star.  He showed he could carry a movie with a great performance in Buried, and although The Green Lantern was a spectacular misfire, he looks like he can move away from roles that involve little more than him looking good with his shirt off and making quips.  Brendan Gleeson (sounding oddly like Gene Hackman) and Vera Farmiga don’t have much to do as CIA operatives higher up the food chain, while Sam Shepard gives a reliably sturdy performance as the director of the CIA.

Swedish director Daniel Espinosa gives the movie a stylish look, but it’s really a case of style over substance.  The film is entertaining and keeps up a good pace, but it lacks the depth of plot and character to make it a great film.  It’s just under two hours long and never boring, but Safe House won’t really stand out in a post-Bourne world.

@TheGlassCase

The Walking Dead – Better Angels

There are two big problems that The Walking Dead has to contend with each week.

1)       Unlikable characters.  In a world of man vs. zombie, so many of the characters in the show make it hard not to root for the walkers to chew their annoying faces off.  Thankfully chief irritant Dale was done in last week, but that still leaves people like Carol, who never does anything, T-Dog, who never speaks, and Lori, who complains about everything and even bizarrely pushes gender politics on Andrea in an earlier episode.

2)      Indecision.  Rick is clearly the leader of the group, but leading is something he rarely does.  In this second run of season two episodes, he’s been unable to make one decision and stick with it.  He’s been unable to decide whether to keep or get rid of Randall, and has stuck by Shane, despite Shane being more than willing to stove Rick’s head in with wrench.

So even though Dale got a zombie fist through his chest last week, these two problems still exist.  Before he died, Dale had said that the group was broken, and that was true, but as this episode begins, it seems his death has drawn them back together.  Hershel has invited the group to come and live inside the house, and the group responds by getting to work on fortifying the house, and checking the perimeter to try and keep walkers out.  But Randall is still in the barn, cuffed, blindfolded and gagged, and a decision has to be made.  It seems like Rick has finally decided to go back to plan A, which is to drive away from the farm to dump Randall in the middle of nowhere (although Carol is getting him some provisions), and hope he doesn’t return to his group and then to the farm to start a war.

But given that Shane tried to kill Rick the last time that happened, and that they both encountered a group of walkers, why take that risk?  Luckily Shane is still around, and he has his own plans.  Lori spots Shane alone as he builds a platform on a windmill to use as a lookout point, and she thanks Shane for what he did when he got Carl and her out of Atlanta, then confesses that she doesn’t know whose baby she is carrying.  It’s safe to say that this news doesn’t exactly make Shane see the error of his ways and become a rational person to be around.

So he pays Randall a little visit, and lets him go, under the pretence of wanting to join Randall’s group.  Randall seems to buy it, but of course, that’s a mistake.  It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Shane ‘deals with’ Randall, and then tries to create a story about how Randall got away.  When he returns to the farm, Rick enlists Glenn and Daryl to follow Shane with him, and they try and find Randall.  The group split up, with Rick and Shane going off alone as night falls.  Rick is suspicious, which is no shock, considering he knows Shane would love to kill him, and after searching through some woods, they come out into a field where Shane draws his gun on Rick.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know it was coming, and so does Rick.  He still tries to reason with Shane, but as Shane has clearly gone totally wrong by this point, it’s not working.  It leads to another very strong ending to an episode of The Walking Dead, an episode that finally resolves some key (but not necessarily engaging) plot-lines.

The events in episode 12 seem likely to set up a dramatic final episode of season two.  The show will still have problems with its characters and their decision making, but new show runner Glen Mazarra has clearly been working hard to fix what was going wrong under Frank Darabont, and it seems that he is going in the right direction.  Leaving the farm behind may not come in this season, but the final episode may shape season three in a big way.  Episode 1

@TheGlassCase

Why HBO Had No Choice When It Came To Cancelling Luck

HBO has a long-standing reputation for producing high quality television. While it’s been behind successful comedies like The Larry Sanders Show and Flight Of The Conchords, it’s drama that has been their forte, with shows like The Sopranos, The Wire and Band Of Brothers drawing critical acclaim.

Most recently, they’ve enjoyed enormous critical success with Boardwalk Empire. Created by Terrence Winter, a former writer on The Sopranos, it stars Steve Buscemi, and the pilot episode was directed by Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese, who is also an executive producer on the show. Following that success, HBO commissioned Luck, a drama set in the world of horse racing and gambling, and like Boardwalk Empire, featuring established talent in front of, and behind, the camera.

Created by David Milch, who also created NYPD Blue and Deadwood, Luck gave leading roles to Hollywood stalwarts Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, and the pilot was directed by Michael Mann, who directed Heat and Collateral, as well as being a producer on Miami Vice. The pilot originally aired last December, drawing over 1 million viewers, and was then shown again in late January, before coming to the UK on Sky Atlantic in February. Following the airing of the pilot, HBO immediately renewed the show for a second season, but the death of a horse on set during filming this week has resulted in HBO cancelling the show and halting production.

On Wednesday, animal rights campaigners PETA issued a statement announcing that insiders at the Santa Anita Race Track (where the racing in Luck is filmed) had told them that a horse had died on set. PETA had already been vocal about how the people involved in making Luck were treating horses after two had died during the filming of season one. Not only were PETA angry that the horses had died, but they reported that those two horses were in no condition to race at all.

The first horse was named Outlaw Yodeler, a 5 year old thoroughbred that PETA claim ‘…hadn’t raced in months and was apparently so sore that he was given a potent cocktail of muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory and painkilling drugs…’. They believe the second horse was named Marc’s Shadow, an 8 year old who hadn’t raced in four years, and was arthritic.

They went on to say that:

Both horses were “raced” twice in one day—something even fit thoroughbreds would never be subjected to. Healthy racehorses need at least a week to recover from the stress of competition. Indeed, they aren’t even exercised twice in one day. Both horses on the set of Luck broke down after the second run. Their leg fractures were so violent that their bones shattered under the pressure. We think—and we hope law enforcement agrees—that the way in which the horses were treated by the production company, the trainer, and the veterinarian warrants a swift and thorough investigation before yet another horse dies.

Even before HBO made the surprise announcement about the cancellation of the show, PETA had offered to give the producers of Luck advice on the care of the horses used in the show, and since the first two deaths they have asked law enforcements to investigate them. While it would be hypocritical of me to claim that I always agree with PETA’s tactics and methods in getting their views across, in this instance, they have done all the right things.

It would certainly appear that the makers of Luck were not treating the horses (an integral part of the show) properly, and three horses dying in such a short space of time gives PETA a strong case.

But it is easy to be cynical about the cancellation of the show. Although HBO is not given to following the ratings the way other American networks do, Luck had been a huge disappointment, with viewing figures often failing to reach 500,000, on a network with almost 30 million subscribers. I imagine it was an expensive show to make too, and HBO may have been looking for a way out. Whatever the real reasons for HBO making this decision are, it’s the right one. It seems unlikely that this will be the last we hear about Luck though. There are still two episodes left to air in the US, and if PETA succeed in having an investigation into the deaths opened, there may be lawsuits in the future.

@TheGlassCase

Visit http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/default.aspx to read the full statements from PETA

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy – Episode 7

So that was series 1 of Luxury Comedy was it?  I can’t wait for series 2 (yes I can)!

I have always found Noel Fielding to be a funny guy.  Like most people, I first heard of him as one half of The Mighty Boosh, where he worked alongside Julian Barratt, doing live shows, then radio and TV shows for the BBC.  I even worked in Borders when they did a book signing and I saw them and everything, it was quite exciting.  Although The Boosh has been away for a while, I enjoyed Bunny And The Bull, a comedy directed by another Boosh alumni, Paul King, and featuring cameos by Noel and Julian.  I like Noel’s solo stand up too, it’s very weird and out there, but somehow funny at the same time.

But unfortunately, his solo TV show has been an unruly mess.  With a seemingly endless cast of odd looking new characters, very little of the show has actually worked out, with laughs being few and far between.  Episode 7 was more of the same, hardly anything to laugh about, but a colourful show that almost hurts the eyes to watch.

There’s a Brian/Bryan fight between Ferry (with a kite for a head) and Eno (who is a Frisbee with magnetic humus on one side), which only serves to remind you of the Ferry sighting in The Hitcher episode of the Boosh, with Julian Barratt as the Roxy Music singer, living in the forest and looking strangely like Terry Wogan.

Joey Ramone claims to have conjunctivitis and he isn’t crying when he’s missed a bus to get to CBGB’s and can’t afford a taxi, while Fantasy Man travels into The Valley Of The Chavs, where he works out some anger issues with the chavs who call him a batty boy and slag off his foam cup beard.  And the series comes to an end with a disastrous barbeque, where we discover that Noel always has a breakdown when he tries to cook the sausages, and that all the characters in the show are figments of his imagination.

E4 has already renewed the show for a second series, but it’s hard to see why.  It just wasn’t funny enough, and although Fielding has a lot of very loyal fans, I find it hard to believe that they have really enjoyed the show and have been left wanting more.  The shows blend of live action, animation, music and mayhem never quite works, and I don’t see how series 2 could be any better unless Fielding rips up the script and starts from scratch.  So I think I’ll skip the second series, and just re-watch some classic Boosh.  I recommend you do the same.

@TheGlassCase

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Review

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel comes with an impressive pedigree.  Director John Madden, and stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson have all won or been nominated for an Oscar, and between them, the entire cast has won a host of BAFTAs.  Alongside Dench, Smith and Wilkinson, the cast also includes Dev Patel, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton.  But despite such celebrated stars, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is not an easy sell as a movie.  Although there are funny lines in the trailer, on paper the plot is not an exciting one.  7 retirees read about a hotel in India that promises a home for the ‘elderly and beautiful’, and all of them make the decision to go there for different reasons.

Nighy and Wilton play Douglas and Jean, a couple married for 39 years, but who have lost their life savings after investing in their daughter’s internet company which has failed to take off.  Dench plays Evelyn, a woman forced to sell her home to pay off her recently deceased husband’s debts and Wilkinson is Graham, a judge who makes a sudden decision to retire and return to India to face up to a part of his life that has haunted him for years.  Maggie Smith plays the bitter and racist Muriel who must travel to India for hip surgery, while Ronald Pickup as Norman and Celia Imrie as Madge play characters who refuse to act their age, and are on the lookout for new partners.

Dev Patel plays Sonny, the manager of the hotel, a relentlessly positive man who believes he can make the hotel a success, despite the building needing extensive work to really make it hospitable.   And when the Brit group arrive, they are less than impressed with what they find.  The premise so far isn’t really a particularly original one.  The Inbetweeners Movie also had a group of Brits arriving in a foreign country and finding things to be different than they expected, but as the cast should tell you, this is a more mature and restrained film.  There are some nice laughs, but this is more of a drama, with each character facing up to the realities of their lives and making important decisions as a result.

Each star is given their own chance to shine in the film, and while some of their stories may be a little clichéd, the performances are strong enough to let you see past that and just enjoy what each brings.  Bill Nighy and Judi Dench are particularly impressive, as Douglas embraces life in India while growing apart from his wife Jean, while Evelyn learns to stand on her own two feet, learning how to use the internet and getting herself a job in India.  But it’s almost unfair to highlight any of the stars above the others.  This is a great collective effort by a group of actors who know exactly what they need to bring to each role.  It is a charming and affecting small movie, which proves that a great script with great actors can result in a great film, regardless of the genre or the story.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel may not be for everyone, but if you take a chance on it, you will be rewarded.

@TheGlassCase

Project X Review

The found footage horror movie has been around for a long time, so it’s not surprising that film-makers have started to move on, and found footage movies based in other genres have begun making it to cinemas.

Earlier this year, Chronicle was released to mostly positive reviews.  The film tells the story of three high school kids who develop superpowers, and the good and bad things those can bring.  Project X is nominally a comedy found footage film, but the problem with that idea is that Project X just isn’t funny.

In fact, Project X is a very ugly film.  What humour there is in the film is mostly tasteless, the people in it are obnoxious, and the action in it is not fun at all.  The basic plot of the film is that the parents of one kid (Thomas) are going away for their anniversary, leaving him alone at the house.  His birthday happens to be on the same day as their anniversary, so his friend Costa (one of the most detestable characters in recent movie history) persuades him to have, like a totally ‘epic/killer/off the charts/etc’ party that will totally make them like, totally awesome and cool, and get them all the girls.

It’s clear from the start that this is not going to be a sweet little comedy.  Costa is a foul-mouthed moronic knuckle-dragger, like McLovin without the irony.  Costa and Thomas are joined by J.B., who is basically your stereo-typical curly haired, glasses wearing geek, and by the gothy Dax, who works the camera throughout.  Thomas wants to have a party at his house while his parents are away, but wants to keep it in control, with a maximum of 50 people there, ‘just to make it cool’.  Costa, being a douche, has other plans, involving a DJ, a bouncy castle and blow up dolls, zip-lines from the roof to the pool, and various methods of making sure everybody knows about the party.

This also involves a particularly inept looking drug dealer, and while getting some weed from him, Costa steals a Santa dwarf as a mascot for the party, although really as a plot point that will pay off later in the film (in a completely stupid way).  As the party begins, the DJ is bored and no-one is there, until suddenly a host of cars pull up and it’s on baby wooo (zzzz)!  Once the party really gets going, the film really starts getting nasty.  Apparently all the girls at the party are sluts, as none of them have any qualms about stripping down to their underwear (or less) and all the guys there are basically dumb jocks ready to trash the place and get wasted.

The camera work is sleazy in the extreme, focusing mostly on barely dressed girls, violence, drinking and a particularly aggressive dwarf (who gets stuffed in an oven before driving a car into the pool and punching men and women between the legs).  It’s hard to see how Thomas can be having a good time at the party, as it spirals out of control, with more and more people arriving, neighbours complaining and the house getting trashed.  More examples of the women in the movie all being easy is that Thomas not only makes a successful move on a childhood sweetheart, but the hottest girl in school can’t wait to get naked in his bedroom either.

After an altercation with an angry neighbour results in a 12 year old being punched in the face, the police arrive, but Costa and Thomas improbably shoo them away while hundreds of people are silent in the backyard.  Then a news helicopter flies over the house, with Thomas apparently lost to chaos and taunting the cameras for the world to see.  Suddenly the street is on fire as the drug dealer from earlier appears with a flame thrower, torching anything in sight as he comes looking for his Santa, which just happened to be filled with ecstasy.  Riot police turn up as the party rages on, and Thomas’ house gets utterly destroyed.  But hey, it’s alright, because his dad is actually PROUD OF HIM, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the house and surrounding neighbourhood.

Project X is a horrible little movie that has almost no laughs, no likable characters and a rather nasty attitude to basically everyone.  Mercifully it is only 90 minutes long, and that’s about the only positive thing I can say about it.

@TheGlassCase

The Walking Dead – Judge, Jury, Executioner

One of the problems The Walking Dead has is that the writers of the show have created a host of very annoying characters.  I’ve never read the comic book series, so I don’t know if they are adapting the show straight from the series or not, but there are a lot of characters that have extremely annoying traits that make it hard for you to root for them over the walkers.

One of the prime candidates for ‘Most Annoying Walking Dead Character 2011-12’ is Dale.  It’s not that Jeffrey DuMunn is a bad actor (He has appeared in all four of Frank Darabont’s movies to date), it’s just that Dale is a pompous ass, who feels that he has to protect the group’s humanity and keep them civilised despite there being an apparently global zombie apocalypse happening around them.  So he’s become the self-appointed voice of reason in The Walking Dead, wary of Shane and angering Andrea by trying to stop her from making her own choices, especially when they are the polar opposite of how Dale feels about them.

In episode 11, a lot of the focus is on Dale, as he can’t believe that Rick has decided that Randall has to be killed to protect the group,  and endeavours to persuade everyone else (even Shane), that Rick is making the wrong choice.  He seems to be fighting a losing battle, as even Hershel wants nothing to do with the decision, preferring to let Rick make the choice.  But while Dale’s humanitarian act is irritating, the truth is that he does have a point about Rick’s choice.  After all, it was Rick who decided to save Randall in the first place, after he fell from a roof and impaled his leg on a fence.  Randall is part of the group from Philadelphia that Rick, Glenn and Hershel encountered two members of in a bar in town, and the concern now is that if he is released from the farm, he will tell that group of people all about it, and lead them back to the farm for an inevitably bloody showdown.

But if that is the worry, then why did Rick save him in the first place?  Randall would have been gobbled up in minutes had Rick left him impaled on that fence, and he and Shane almost got killed when they drove him away from the farm.  To make matters worse, Carl is intrigued by the presence of Randall and what his dad is planning for him, and he sneaks into the barn where Randall is chained up to listen to what he has to say.  After Shane catches him, Carl wanders off by himself, getting a gun from Daryl’s camp (he’s moved away from the house and the rest of the group, but is giving Randall a right good kicking to get information at the start of the episode), and then stumbling across a walker trapped in mud.  He’s scared at first, then gets more confident, eventually pulling the gun on the walker.  But it gets free and lunges at him, and he panics, dropping the gun and fleeing.

Meanwhile, the group has assembled in the house to debate Randall’s future, with Dale still desperately trying to change Rick’s mind, but he can’t get anyone to back him, and the decision is made.

A lot of episode 11 is very frustrating.  The Randall storyline is a confused and illogical one, and the apparent threat of the Philadelphia group is something that the writers aren’t making enough of.  But what saves the episode from mediocrity is a strong and shocking ending that might lead to a huge change in the group dynamic as the season comes to an end.  Let’s hope so, because the show needs a new direction and fast.

@TheGlassCase