25 April 2014
24 April 2014
Sundance London 2014 Review - They Came Together (2014)
Genre:
Comedy, Indie
Rating: 15
Location:
Cineworld,O2 Arena, London
Release Date:
26th April, 27th April 2014
Director:
David Wain
Cast:
Paul Rudd, Cobie Smulders, Michael Shannon, Amy Poehler
Buy Tickets: Here
We’re all familiar with the rules of a rom-com by now. Boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl fall out, boy and girl get back together and live happily ever after. In fact we’re so familiar with the pattern that we could probably make one ourselves. Well there’s no need to anymore as David Wain has already done it for us in the sniggeringly titled They Came Together.
This skewed version of the genre takes all the conventions of an average rom-com and knowingly lampoons them to send up the formulaic nature with which they unfold. Paul Rudd stars as the “vaguely, but not overtly, Jewish” guy to Amy Poehler’s “klutzy but adorable” gal as the pair describe the story of their relationship to their friends over dinner.
It’s a story complete with all the well-worn traits which leads to a gag heavy 90 minutes, some landing slightly heavier than others. Crammed in are sight gags, slapstick gags, innuendo and nods to countless Meg Ryan, Jennifer Anniston and Katherine Heigl movies not to mention a pre-McConnassaince Matthew McConaughey.
The targets are certainly large and, for the most part, successfully hit but with the volume of jokes coming this thick and fast you’d be forgiven for hoping for a better strike rate. There is too a sense that this could easily have started as an idea for extended Saturday Night Live sketch and merely padded out to stretch to the length of a film to ape the genre that further bit.
Spoof movies range wildly in terms of success, by sending up entire genres they can sometimes have a rather scattergun approach; for every Airplane there’s a Scary Movie 4. Thankfully They Came Together is closer to the former than the latter, helped in no small part by the sheer likeability of the two leads Rudd and Poehler – cast perfectly and just as easy to root for as the characters they mimic.
Matthew Walsh
Get Trapped In Special 'Bunker' Screening Of Day Of The Dead Friday & Bunker 6 25th April
Arrow Video has a very special treat in store for lovers of the macabre this FRIDAY, 25th April .They are teaming up with SCI-FI-LONDON festival to present an evening of ghoulish delight, featuring the UK premiere of Canadian chiller BUNKER 6 alongside a screening of the underground-set zombie classic DAY OF THE DEAD! But that’s not the really scary part – in keeping with the bunker theme, the entire evening will unfold within the creepy confines of a genuine World War II bunker in Dalston, North East London. Have you got the guts to descend into the dark, dank recesses below the streets of the capital and face your gravest fears? And, assuming you make it that far, will you be able to hold onto those guts of yours when you encounter the flesh-hungry living dead which lurk deep in the bunker’s bowels???
The special screening will start at 6.30pm The nearest tube station the Overground station at Dalston Kingsland, then head to Abbot Street (E8 3DP).....Buy your tickets here
Bunker 6 Trailer
Day Of The Dead Trailer
You can also read more info on Bunker 6 here.
23 April 2014
Films set in Lisbon
After The Night (Ate Ver A Luz) is a striking indie gangster story set in the gritty slums of Lisbon and is out in UK cinemas and VoD from the 25th April.
A visually striking film, it accurately shows Lisbon’s diverse culture, people and surroundings and climbs inside the world of Lisbon’s Creole slums.
We take a look back at a cinematic history of films set in Lisbon…
AFTER THE NIGHT (Ate Ver Luz; 2013; Basil Da Cunha)
An outcast living a solitary nocturnal life with an iguana named Dragon as his only friend, Sombra wanders around in the Creole slums of Lisbon as he is looking for cash to pay back the local gang boss. Dragged into an armed robbery, he runs away and is chased until the early hours of the day.
After The Night is out in cinemas and VoD from the 25th April (watch at I-Tunes)
A TALKING PICTURE (Um Filme Falado; 2004; Manoel de Oliveira)
For some thought-provoking, for others dull – this movie reveals the encounters of a mother and daughter on a Mediterranean cruise. John Malkovich is the captain.IN VANDA'S ROOM (No Quarto da Vanda; 2000; Pedro Costa)
This award-winning, warts-and-all documentary/fiction provides a close-up of the lives of Cape Verdean slum dwellers and drug addicts in Lisbon’s deprived Fontainhas district.THE LETTER (A Carta; 1999; Manoel de Oliveira)
Passion, futile love, adultery, tragedy, piety… It's all in this Oliveira classic that won the Jury prize at Cannes.THE NINTH GATE (1999; Roman Polanski)
Stars Jonny Depp as a rare book dealer seeking out a supernatural demon text. In the course of his travels around Europe through France and Spain, to track down the authentic copy of the book for his client, he visits Sintra in Portugal. It's a picturesque area of Portugal just outside Lisbon with plenty of atmospheric hilltop palaces and castles.Depp visits Chalet Biester with its turreted outline tucked into lush green woodland exuding mystery.
BONES (Ossos; 1997; Pedro Costa)
A grim and gripping tale of life in the slums on the outskirts of Lisbon, dealing with poverty, suicide and the struggle of love and death.LISBON STORY (Viagem a Lisboa; 1994; Wim Wenders)
Inventive and beautifully photographed, this German drama follows director Monrow on his quest to finish a silent film in Lisbon. Stars Portuguese band Madredeus and a cameo by Manoel de Oliveira.THE WINTER IN LISBON (El Invierno en Lisboa; 1992; Jose Antonio Zorrilla)
This crime drama is about a disillusioned US jazz pianist who fl ees to Lisbon where he befriends an artist. The film stars famous trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie.After The Night is out in cinemas and on VoD from the 25th April
21 April 2014
18 April 2014
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