Taking us back to the unlikely buddy cop movies of the 80’s and 90’s Ride Along stars Kevin Hart as Ben Berber a wise cracking security guard who dream of becoming a police officer, especially because his girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter) has an overprotective brother James Payton (Ice Cube) who is a detective so before he asks James for his blessing to allow him marry Angela he decides to apply for the Atlanta Police Academy. When he is successful and approaches James he is told that he will need to prove himself worthy by accompanying James on a typical day as a Ride Along where James is hopeful of putting Ben off taking that career path.

So begins Bens baptism of fire into the police world where James does his best to rid himself of what he sees to be the nuisance in his ear but to his initial dismay but eventual reluctant acceptance James realises that Ben has some smarts and can put clues together that he has missed so he agrees to allow him help on the case.

We have seen this story time and time before with the tale only changing slightly on each occasion, two guys who couldn’t be more different thrown together in a situation where they initially clash but it slowly dawns on them that if they work together the sum of their parts makes them stronger and thus they can both win out in the end. There’s nothing new in terms of the comedy either, it’s all been seen before however the interaction between Hart and Ice Cube works well, there is a chemistry between the two which keeps the movie going and it’s all about these two as the rest of the cast have little to do, even Laurence Fishburne has to take a back seat.

In what is essentially a close parody of Training Day with a comic spin Ice Cube plays the hard nosed, street wise detective well and is a perfect foil to ground the manic Hart who actually seems to be playing the character of Kevin Hart rather than Ben Barber, motor mouth to the point of annoying. If you like his style of comedy you will no doubt enjoy the movie but if not then if can grate on your nerves a little. The film does have it’s moments but it’s a premise that’s been done so often that there nothing new here so it’s average at best despite the efforts of all involved.

DJ Speaks Movies: 5 Out Of 10

I still think the original movie is an absolute classic and the crudeness of the Farrelly brother script fit perfectly with the tale of the two idiots Harry & Lloyd however after the awful attempt at a prequel in Dumb & Dumber & Dumberer, which in fairness was nothing to do with the Farrellys, and the numerous attempts that have been made at sequels to classics which have fallen flat on their face in the meantime, it was with some trepidation that I watched this film.

There are some good moments such as when Lloyd Christmas is asked if his surname is based on the holiday to which he replies no, the tree, which would have fit right into the original movie but most of the time it’s a regurgitation of bodily function jokes and general bathroom humour based around a very loose tale of Harry needing a new kidney and finding out he has a long lost daughter who lives in Maryland so a second Harry & Lloyd road trip is required to source this potential organ donor.

Now, I wasn’t expecting a plot or writing which would be making an Oscar shortlist but this really is a case of one step forward and two steps back as each time there’s a gag which hit it is followed by at least two that don’t meaning it’s a stop – start affair that builds your hopes and memories of the classic original only to rip them away by returning to obscurity just as quickly.

Both Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels have shown that they can do serious action with roles in such movies as Terms Of Endearment, The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Purple Rose Of Cairo so let’s hope that they both return to serious acting and leave these two characters in the retirement home where they belong, and hopefully I haven’t just given anybody an idea for a third movie.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10

Unfriended is an interesting concept, told in real time and based around the internet conversations and actions of a group of friends. The problem is that, while most of us use apps, chat boxes and video clips every day we don’t sit watching other people use them and this is where the issue begins as, while the plot may be novel, it’s not very interesting in theory.

The premise is based around the death of Laura, a girl who this group of friends all knew. Laura took her own life after a video of some embarrassing drunken antics is posted online in a poor show of extreme cyber bullying so during an online conversation between these friends they get an uninvited guest who they just can’t seem to get rid of, also this person seems to know an awful lot about them and their interactions with Laura and also seems to have control over their computers.

With echoes of I Know What You Did Last Summer, it then becomes a game of trying to find out who is sending the more and more aggressively threatening messages until it reaches a point where one of the group kills themselves (or is killed) during the course of their online conversation. Once this occurs the survivors realise that this game iis real but unfortunately it’s a game who’s consequences are always shown after the fact rather than letting you see the horror occur as it’s a case of build up, build up, cut, dead body, which is disappointing.

Credit must be given for some of the tension that is built, as you are waiting on the inevitable cliche jump scare to occur but since the movie is told through mostly webcam images you start to look behind the webcam shots of the characters for some background indication of what is going to occur next and the game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ excellently brings out the darker side of each character and shows exactly what kind of people these really are.

Unfriended is a horror story with a moral message is just too dull in parts to elevate it into memorable status but it has opened a door which I’m sure will be opened many times again in this genre in the near future

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10

I absolutely loved both Memento and Inception so I had high hopes for this movie from director Christopher Nolan as he is one of the few directors in this day and age of Superhero blockbusters, cash grab movie sequels and straight to TV series, that brings something unique to most of his movies and tries to make films the spectacle that they should be.

It’s difficult to give too much detail about this film without potentially ruining the movie so the short version is that Joseph Cooper (superbly played by Matthew McConaughey) is a, widowed, ex NASA astronaut who now is a crop farmer but thanks to an aggressive blight mankind is on the brink of extension as earth slowly decays into an inhospitable planet. Cooper and his daughter discover a binary message which leads them to a secret NASA facility. They soon learn that NASA have sent twelve missions through a wormhole they discovered however these were one way missions and with one last throw of the dice NASA are planning a launch with the intent of having two options. Either to work out how to harness gravity into a propulsion system which will make space travel a realistic option for the remainder of the survivors on earth or else locate one of the missions that report potential favourable conditions and use the 5,000 embryos the ship will carry to start humankind again so Cooper signs up for the sake of saving his family. While this may not sound like anything other than a standard space movie it’s done so well that the emotional drama is intense and the themes of love and loss are as much to the fore and have as much of an impact on the characters and their decision making as the main storyline so despite the flashbacks and inevitable twists and turns which occur it never takes you out of the moment and you can’t help keep on rooting for Cooper and his crew through each step.

Some of the camera work and use of miniatures to portray space is bordering on Stanley Kubrik’s 2001 level and Hans Zimmers superb score add all the right emotions on key but the real brilliance in the movie is the script particularly the use of relativity, dimensions and the space/time continuum where minutes on a planet can mean hours back on their ship which in turn could mean months in earth time so each step and each action has impact which keeps the tension high at all times even through the mundane and tedious day to day tasks the astronauts need to carry out as each wasted moment, minor issue or even discussion brings earth closer to doom.

Even though the movie is almost three hours long it doesn’t feel it and Nolan has created a masterpiece which will stay with you long after you have finished watching the movie. This is a classic which will still be spoken about in years to come and is a must for any movie lover and it’s one I’m going to watch again to really appreciate what is one of the best movies I have seen in the last number of years.

DJ Speaks Rating: 8 out of 10

 

Jake Gyllenhaal returns to his creepiest best in this eerie tale of Lou Bloom, a man that seemingly has no ethics and no place or purpose in life who, when stumbling across the aftermath of an accident one night, decides to try and make a career out of filming live footage of accidents and crimes around the Los Angeles area.

Gyllenhaal can do creepy, we’ve seen it before in Donnie Darko, but this is a whole new level. He’s almost vampirically pale with sunken eyes and when he grins if feel like the smile of a serial killer. He rarely loses his temper yet you always feel that at any moment he could snap and his treatment of the people he meets along the way does nothing to disprove this theory.

He starts small with a camcorder, a police radio and a gunshot incident in the poorer side of town but Rene Russo as Nina Romina, a producer of a local TV station, purchases the footage, encourages him to continue and even gives him some pointers. He gradually upgrades his equipment, transport and ghoulishness so soon he is getting to accidents first, sometimes before the police, his footage gets more graphic, he gets deeper and deeper into the job and, if it was possible, seems to sink further into the more sinister areas of this psyche going so far as to tamper with accident and crime scenes in order to improve his shots. This leads to him becoming more successful which in turn places him in a position as the power player so that he feels like he can blackmail Rene Russo into improving his terms and conditions with unreasonable demands but knowing that she has no choice but to agree which leads to a compelling climax where the full lengths that Gyllenhaal is willing to go to are shown.

This movie is both troubling yet compelling at the same time, you want to be appalled by Gyllenhaals’ actions, yet you want to watch and see just how much further he’s willing to go. There’s something very reminiscent of the DeNiro character of Rupert Pupkin in movie The King Of Comedy, with how Gylenhall portrays Lou Bloom and it’s a testament to his acting just how disturbing he comes across.

It’s a neo-noir style thriller which will envelop you and in the end leaves you wanting more. Highly recommended, especially if you’re looking for something a little different.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 out of 10