Starting in 1850 with Author of the novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) visits innkeeper Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) the last remaining survivor of a last voyage by the whaling vessel Essex for an account of the events and while initially reluctant he is persuaded by his wife to recount the tale so we return to thirty years previous where Nickerson (Tom Holland) is a cabin boy on the newly fitted ship where the ship is being led by first mate, experienced whaler Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) and an inexperienced captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) who initially clash but must learn to put their differences aside in order to ensure that they do not cause both the sinking of the ship and the death of their crew. When their Atlantic search proves they decide to head to the Pacific where they are advised by a Spanish captain that the waters are much more fruitful but he also tells of a huge albino whale which attached their fleet. Unperturbed the crew head out to find their bounty but get far more than they bargained for in the giant whale and so it becomes a test of man versus beast and nature in order to survive.

The acting was fine in so far as the script would allow, with Holland holding his own as the likable cabin boy, Walker playing the under qualified but aristocratic captain well and Hemsworth taking center stage as the fat too overqualified first mate resentful of the position he is in. I was disappointed with the under use of Cillian Murphy as Matthew Joy, as the moments when he was involved his talent shone through, there were just too few of them.

You know when Ron Howard is in charge that, in general, you are going to get a good movie and in that sense he has provided an entertaining adventure on the seas where men must face their own fears which need to be conquered and must dig deep within themselves in order to survive so it that sense it works, but the question here is does the movie want to be a retelling of the tale that inspired Moby Dick, is it a survival tale based around the adventures of the Essex ship and its crew or is it a moralistic tale about the negativity of whaling? I found it a little of all, which was potentially the movies downfall. I was very much reminded of the situation in Apollo 13 when watching this movie although it never tugged the heart strings or has those edge of your seat moments of that movie and instead felt like a bunch of individuals who all had their own desires and agendas who were thrown into a situation but the camaraderie and bond I would have expected never really came through on screen.

It’s a watchable movie as the cinematography is superb and the ship scenes are very realistic, due to the fact that a full scale replica of the original ship was built for the film. The CGI on the whales is excellent and it never feels like the actors are not in the depth of the action when it occurs. There just a lack of spark in the movie which I can only attribute to the desire to be a tale of many levels instead of focusing on one area. It’s worth checking out if only for the excellent camera work but as for me I think I’d rather just watch Jaws again.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

In my second foray into the world of Bollywood, Sultan is a the tale of Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) a man who goes from the bottom to the top and back again before being given one last chance at redemption. The movie stars with Aakash (Amit Sadh) who’s backing of the introduction of MMA into the Indian mainstream has not gone well and money is being lost hand over fist, so he is given six months to turn things around and is advised by his father that the only thing which will invigorate the local population is an Indian fighter for them to support, he points him in the direction of legendary wrestler Sultan but when Aakash manages to locate this supposed legend his is politely turned down by the now aging, unfit man. He manages to track down Govind (Anant Vidhaat), a childhood friend of Sultans who begins to tell us about Sultan and his unwillingness to wrestle through a story that takes us back to many years previous when Sultan lived with his parents and spent his days helping Govind erect satellite dishes, until he met Aarfa (Anushka Sharma) a local female wrestler and fell instantly in love.

However Aarfa had no interest in Sultan so he joined her father’s wrestling club in order to gain her attention and it soon became apparent that Sultan would not stop at anything to win Aarfa’s affection but at the same time he turned out to be an extremely talented wrestler and soon found success after success in the sport. Eventually Sultan and Aarfa were married and were extremely happy together as they found happiness and success both in and out of the sport until a tragedy struck which could have been averted if Sultan has not been so focused on himself and his success so Aarfa left him, where he soon wallowed into self-pity and disappeared out of public view.

But within Sultans misery is an idea he has to open up a local blood bank in which he sees some form of pay back for what he deems as his sins but he is struggling both financially and with bureaucratic red tape so with some convincing from Aakash who agrees to sponsor him both in and out of the ring, he decides to sign up for the Indian MMA league and so begins a re-emergence of the bull of Haryana (his local town).

With a rags to riches tale, and some training montage moments which would sit easily in any Rocky movie (in fact there were early rumours that Stallone would appear as Sultans coach) Sultan is a very entertaining piece, the wrestling and MMA scenes looked realistic, with both Tyron Woodley and Marko Zaror making appearances, and the tale was very well told if a little over sentimental and slushy at times. Salman Khan is believable as both the buffoon like man that you can’t help but root for and the intense, unbending almost unstoppable, wrestler. He is a very engaging actor and although the movie is nearly three hours long it never felt like it dragged while the flashbacks and back story pieces fit neatly into the here and now scenes. If you are willing to take a chance on something a little different and forget some of the obvious cultural differences from movies you may be used to there’s a good film here which more than holds its own against a lot of the Hollywood movies I’ve watched this year.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 out Of 10

 

Maggie (Greta Gerwig) is a reasonably successful college teacher who is fully in control of all aspects of her life except that she is becoming desperate for a child but is unable to find the right man, so she decides to pursue the route of sperm donation and believes she has found a potential suitor in former college co-student Guy (Travis Fimmell) who was always a math wizard and now runs his own business, even if it is only in pickle selling.

But there’d be no New York tale if things all went according to plan so through a twist of fate she develops a relationship with John (Ethan Hawke) a fellow professor at her college who is developing a book and asks Maggie to read what he has written so far. John is struggling with his marriage to Georgette (Julianne Moore) a Danish Columbia professor who is cold hearted, matter of fact and basically a bitch, so John and Greta fall for each other as their initial relationship develops. We then jump forward a couple of years and Maggie and John now live together, have a child and are also bringing up Johns children from his original marriage but Maggie is beginning to think she has made a mistake as John is only in love with how Maggie makes him feel rather than her as a person and she is losing control of her life, so she develops an idea which she believes will re-unite John with his former wife and leave her free to raise her child alone, thus Maggie’s Plan is formed.

Gerwig plays Maggie to a tee, both clever yet gullible, carefree and hippie like yet meticulous about her life plan and in control yet so out of control she doesn’t even realise it. Hawke plays a role which reminded me of his performance in Before Midnight, just as a more mature character. It was Moore who, as she often does, that took center stage when on screen as she initially seemed to be playing a comic caricature but soon it became apparent that she had her own flaws and ideals despite her frosty exterior. There are also excellent performances from Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph as Maggie’s best friends who’s chaotic life is as polar opposite to Maggie as can be but who are probably the most grounded couple in the whole movie. Hader in particular comes in with some super lines at the right moments which brings great levity to some of the darker moments in the film.

Director Rebecca Miller has put together a very well intertwined tale which has the feel of a stage play but which translates very well to the big screen. The dialogue and character development are very reminiscent of a Woody Allen type movie but each of the three main stars feels well rounded and are given enough time to build a genuinity about them and ensures that you get enough of a laugh out of the almost sit com style tale.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

When a book about the potential existence of ghosts, that she wrote many years ago with her then friend, threatens to ruin her teaching position at Columbia University Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) visits her old friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) to get the book taken out of the public eye but when this visit coincides with a potential ghost appearance which Wiig reluctantly agrees to tag along with, that turns out to be very real. Erin and Abby, along with Abby’s new partner Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) discover something far more disturbing so despite the scorn from the general public they along with MTA subway worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) must save the city from the lunatic Rowan North (Neil Casey) who has found a way to open the portal between this world and the afterlife and is eagerly awaiting to bring about the apocalypse.

McCarthy is amusing as ever but, once again, plays to type when it would have been nice to see her change it up a little with the scope the movie gave. Wiig was good but always had to live up to playing the Billy Murray character of the group and regardless of who you are that’s a big ask but her constant fawning over Chris Hemsworth was funny. Jones was good, if a little stereo typed, as the loud, brash, blue collared expert on the city but it was McKinnon who I though stole the show as the eccentric but brilliant nuclear engineer and it’s about time she is given her own movie to see what she can do. The biggest surprise was how good Hemsworth fit in to the group as the hapless, idiotic, secretary Kevin Beckman. I’d seen him delivery witty one liners as Thor but his comic timing and fools play sat neatly with the long-time comediennes on screen and he never felt like the throw away bit player that he could have been.

I tried very hard to judge this movie on its own merits and not try and get sucked into the ‘it’s not going to be as good as the original’ hype that has been all over the internet since the movie was first announced but the problem was, from the cameos by most of the cast inclusive of ghosts, the outfits, the car, to the nods towards lines and locations from the original film, there was a constant reminder to the classic original so the movie suffered from its own lack of identity.

If I somehow could have wiped the original from my mind for two hours I think this movie could have been one of the big successes of the summer as the script is funny, the CGI is excellent as the ghosts looked superbly realistic and there were even a few nice jump scare moments. The story was well told but kept simple, it was funny at the right moments and the plot moved along at a good pace so as not to bore.

I overheard some people in the movie theater say that they would rather watch Scooby Doo for the rest of their lives than watch this movie again and while we are all entitled to our opinions , this is the danger of the overexposure and over analysis the internet gives us. We have been polluted by media planting the seeds in our head that this is not a good movie. It is not a great movie but it is a good movie and it’s an entertaining film on its own merits, it’s just a pity that they didn’t decide to come up with an original idea around the talent they brought together as it seems like a missed opportunity and could have been a real hit with a little originality. Try and not be warped by the poor reviews, go see it and judge for yourself, it’s deserving of that much and if you can, take it in 3D as the effects are excellent.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Set in the 1790’s and based on the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan, Love And Friendship stars Kate Beckensdale as Lady Susan Vernon a recently widowed woman who is looking to find a suitable husband for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) while keeping her eyes peeled for another suitor for her own needs. Susan is a schemer at heart and decides the best course of action would be to team her daughter, that she doesn’t really seem to care about, with Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett) who swings from idiotic to irritating in equal measure all the while trying to get her claws into Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel) whom she meets while visiting her in laws, the Vernons, at their estate. But while he does not show an interest in her romantically, he is unable to hide his fascination at her brazen demeanor as Susan is scathing in her treatment of people as she often belittles them while speaking to another character even though they are standing right there in the room and her reaction when they point this fact out is just as cutting. Other characters and sub plots come and go but this movie is all about Beckensdale and her confidant in arms American, Alicia Johnson (Chloe Sevigny) as she tries her manipulation tactics on each player accordingly.

Becksendale plays the role perfectly giving the ideal balance of acting like a lady when front and center while being anything but behind the scenes and she is ably assisted by Sevigny as their relationship has a feel of giggling schoolgirls as they plot and plan behind peoples backs, delighted as each piece falls into place and while the end may not be quite what Lady Susan had in mind, she does end up with a victory….of sorts.

It’s a people watching movie which, while not mentioned as such, is told through a number of acts and most of the fun in the movie is watching the reaction of other characters to the principal player in a scene as their facial expressions are often hilarious as other players bumble their way through situations and the developing plots which slowly become intertwined. While lacking the depth of story line as other Austin adaptations it’s still worthy of a few laughs but is kept moving by Becksensdale’s portrayal.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 out Of 10

Just as we remember from the TV show sponger Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) and her publicist best friend Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) are bumbling their way from glitzy get together to another still somehow in the limelight despite their obvious ineptitude. Eddy is now pushing sixty and has scarcely changed since she first appeared twenty something years ago except that she seems to have grown wider but as Patsy advises her waving dismissively at the image, “You don’t need those Eddy as I will be your mirror”. “How do I look then Pats?” “Fabulous.” but Eddy is not doing so well as the cash is drying up and when her memoirs are rejected by a publishing house things look grim until such time as she finds out the Kate Mass is changing her agent and so begins a desperate chase to ensure that Kate chooses her in order to safe guard the future of her company.

Unfortunately she is not the only one with these ideas and when, after a very funny encounter between Patsy and John Hamm, Eddy gets her moment she accidentally knocks Kate into the Thames where she is pronounced dead after a long search proves unfruitful. Pats an Eddy decide to escape the public backlash and go on the run to the South of France where they begin scheming on how to make themselves rich and set themselves up in the high life out of the public eye only to find out that the jet set lifestyle is not quite as glamorous as they thought. Needless to say it wouldn’t be true to character if they took it lying down so they will so whatever it takes to infiltrate the echelons of the rich and famous.

All the regulars are back with barmy PA Bubbles (jane Horrocks), Edina’s exasperated and completely square daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha) and an introduction to her hipper granddaughter Lola (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) who Eddy and Patsy drag along to France because they believe she is due a large inheritance, along with a host of cameos of varying degrees from stars of the fashion, film and TV industries.

If you liked the TV show then there is more than enough here that you will enjoy and there are some genuinely funny moments, the issue is it just felt like an hour and a half Christmas special in the vein of the Only Fools And Horses classics so there was no actual need for the movie and the story would probably have worked better on the small screen anyway but this is my only real gripe among the ninety minutes of fun.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

A newly opening haunted house attraction is taken over by real life lunatics in a classic throwback to the 1980’s horror movie genre. Opening with a scene in an asylum where the warden (Robert Englund) is giving an interview to journalist Ms.Quinn (Candice DeVisser) on Halloween night however the interview takes a turn for the worse when she turns out to be Dollface, the daughter of detainee Mental Manny (Jere Burns), a Jim Jones type cult leader, and she goes on a rampage killing all and sundry in order to free Manny and some other prisoners, Animal the Cannibal (E.E.Bell), Dr.Suave (Sebastian Siegel), the Taxidermist (Clint Howard) and Rocco the Clown (Mars Crain).  In the meantime a group of local youngsters are heading for the opening night of the Macon County Funhouse but little do they, or the other revelers, know that the scenes inside are no longer just for laughs as each of the maniacs has set up stall and is running their own version of a real horror scene. It’s all been done before and the cliches come thick and fast but the good thing about this movie is that it never tries to take itself seriously. It knows that the premise is dumb, it knows that it’s characters are tick boxes right down to the gutsy sheriff and goofy sidekick but it is this stance which gives the movie a great homage feel. Director Andy Palmer and writers Ben Begley and Renee Dorian all show that they are fans of the genre but don’t be fooled as, while some of the comedic moments are slapstick there is enough realistic gore, thanks to effects guru, Robert Kurtzman, to allow the movie hold its own. For a small budget movie it puts many of the recent Hollywood attempts at horror to shame and I can see this one becoming a cult hit in years to come.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

If you know that workings of the mock group The Lonely Island from their Saturday Night Live stint or any of their parody songs which are all over the Internet then you know what you are in for in this mockumentary style movie based around the popstar Conner4Real (Andy Samberg) a world famous artist who’s solo career has exploded since the split of boy band The Style Boyz when fellow band member Laurence (Akiva Scaffer), tired of Connor taking all the credit while he wrote all the songs, walked away to pursue a life as a farmer leaving Owen (Jorma Taccone) to take up the mantle as Connors DJ.

Conner is a man at the top of his game with his entourage of thirty people who include a perspective assistant and a unicorn trainer and is eagerly awaiting the release of his second album Connquest however when things don’t go to plan and the new album is a flop, the wheels come off his career and his personal life with a bang and Conner has to try and resurrect his career but his supposed friends abandon him one by one and he is left with nowhere else to turn but to his old band mates for help.

As you would expect there is nothing sacred in terms of the comedy levels when it comes to the content and while they may be a parody band if you have ever actually listened to their music these are not just amateur joke songs, there is a production level as good as any in the music and the songs in this movie are no different, from F*ck Bin Laden and Equal Rights through to I’m So Humble this is one soundtrack I’ll be watching out for.

With celebrity cameos to beat the band and some great supporting performances in particular from Sarah Silverman as Paula Klein, Conner’s publicist, Tim Meadows as Harry Duggins, Conner’s manager and long-time collaborator Justin Timerlake as Tyrus Quash Conner’s chef the dialogue is kept sharp and scathing and while there are too many jokes, coming thick and fast that I’m sure I missed a couple but some, such as a toilet incident in the Anne Frank house and a roadie who’s hobby is flat lining are just two that stick in my mind. The movie does suffer from a weak plot and runs out of steam a little along the way but not enough that you aren’t waiting to see what’s coming next.

If you are easily offended or if this type of comedy is not your cup of tea then this is not for you but I found this a laugh a minute parody of the music industry and while not on the same level as the classic Spinal Tap it’s well worth a look.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Starting in 1996, we see star pupil Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) receiving an award at his last high school pep rally and the overweight Robbie Weirdicht (Dwayne Johnson) is being bullied while taking a shower. When the bullies leave Robbie naked in the middle of the gym for all to see Calvin comes to his aide and so begins a chain of events that lead into the start of the movie.

Twenty years have passed and Calvin is now stuck in a mundane office job, he is having problems with his college sweetheart Maggie (Danielle Nicolet), who is now his wife and the twenty year re-union is coming up where he does not want everybody to see just what a comparative failure his life has become. When he receives a Facebook friend request from a Bob Stone he accepts and soon realises that it is in fact Robbie Weirdicht and agrees to meet for drinks. Robbie has gotten things together and while still being a bit weird he has turned all the fat to muscle and seems to have gotten his life on track. During their night out Calvin comes to notice that Robbie has done exactly the opposite of him and when Robbie asks him for a favour in looking at some accounting records which he is having problems with he reluctantly agrees to help.

The next morning the CIA turn up at Calvins home claiming that Bob Stone is a rogue agent and Calvin has been accussed of assisting a wanted criminal. When Calvin brings the agents to his office to show them the files Bob wanted him to look at Bob shows up and rescues Calvin against his wishes so the two men must team up to clear their name and get to the high school re-union in time.

Johnson has really made a name for himself in Hollywood in the past few years with his performances as Hobbs in the Fast And The Furious franchise and he showed his comic ability in the very underrated Pain & Gain. He hits all the right notes here as the initially childlike Stone with his bum bag and unicorn t-shirt fawning over his high school idol who transforms as the movie progresses as the many layers of his character are fully revealed. Hart has yet to win me over as he still comes across as but of a manic version of Chris Rock and, in my opinon, has yet to stamp his mark on a movie as a man who can command a lead role, although his performance here does come close. While quite similar to the Ride Along movies in terms of the fish out of water plot line the movie elevates itself with some moments of comic brilliance, watch out for the marriage counsellor scene, or the ‘Are You Out Or In?’, ‘I’m Out’, ‘Glad You’re In’ routine which shouldn’t work as well as it does.

While it’s not a brilliant movie the chemistry and partnership between the leads make it very enjoyable even if it has all been done before. Although it does get a bit bogged down in the final third when it begins to swap the comedy for action scenes which takes away from the strongest features of the movie. I hope we get another comedy movie with Hart & Johnson in future as the partnership definitely works (please don’t let it be Central Intelligence 2) and it’s worth a watch as you will get a laugh or two out of the film, just don’t expect a classic.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Based on a meeting which took place on December 21st 1970, Elvis & Nixon is a dramatization of the events leading up to and occurring during the event. Elvis (Michael Shannon) is tiring of his place in the entertainment world, he has become a parody of what he started out as and his movie career is long gone. Young people are more interested in the latest drug culture music. Elvis feels that he would like to do something to help with the rising tide of anti-Americanism he can see and so he believes that using his fame while working undercover as an agent at large for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs would be the best way he could assist with the elimination of this threat so he heads off to Washington D.C and writes a letter for the President on the way and rolls up to the White House requesting a meeting with Richard Nixon (Kevin Spacey).

While the potential discussion during the meeting is the main point of the film, it only plays a small part in the movie as most of the main body of the film is focused around the build-up. Nixon refuses the meeting while his aides Egil Krogh (Colin Hanks) and Dwight Chapin (Evan Peters) try and convince him that spending a small amount of time with Elvis would be a great PR opportunity, particularly in an attempt to get extra votes from the youth and Southern demographics. Elvis is searching for a valued purpose to what he does as he is becoming increasingly disillusioned by and isolated from reality as his entourage of yes men constantly pander to his every need but he feels are only there because of the perks the situation brings.

Both Shannon and Spacey do a great job as the central characters. Spacey’s impression of Nixon is as good as I’ve seen anywhere and Shannon has the mannerisms of Elvis spot on as he waves his hands and finger points his way through scenes and if not for these two performances the movie would have struggled as the rest of the cast is only filler. The acting is fine, it’s just of lesser importance and is all just build up to actual meeting and when the two leads are alone in the room together it’s where the real talent of both men come to the fore, playing off one another and trying to outdo each other each step along the way while slowly coming to realise that they are not as different as each originally thought and the irony of the situation where Nixon is speaking about the lack of honesty and integrity in America while Elvis is speaking of his disdain of the drug culture was a great touch.

It’s a speculative look at what may have occurred when two iconic figures met for a brief snapshot in time but even despite some heart felt moments of vulnerability in some speeches from Shannon, take out the final twenty minutes and it’s little more than a made for TV movie with two outstanding lead performances.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10