Review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1

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This time last year, Slashing The Seats was proud to unveil the very first Harrry potter review in the whole wide world.
Of course, we’ve long since been banned from hanging around Emma Watson (despite a sound defence argument resting on the key fact that none of us have identifiable genitals or human emotional drives) by the powers that be, so we didn’t get to go to the premiere. Instead, we had to rummage through the bins round the back of cineworld. We got there first though. This time round, well, we weren’t so lucky.

Actually, it’s fair to say we weren’t actually that bothered. we had a weekend filled with rum, rollerskates and questionable sexual encounters with troglodyte cannibals to plough through, so we didn’t have time to write about boy wizards. Frankly, unless it’s a miraculous hangover/rash cure magic can fuck right off.

Anyway – I suppose now we’re here you’ll be wanting a review of some sort won’t you? Very well, gather about me now, and I’ll begin….

The fun part about this is that I don’t have to go into the plot (which is good, because it’s all over the shop). If you’re reading this, you probably already know what happens, but that doesn’t make it any less boring. The decision by the money bags at Warner to split the film in two is understandable, but frankly the best thing here would have been to edit out Rowling’s interminable exposition and deliver a breezy magical chase movie. With judicious editing we could have been sitting down to Raiders of the Lost Ark with wands. Instead we get a gloomy, droopy and largely structureless mess that loses an awful lot of the good will built up by The Half Blood Prince.

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Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

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Early reviews have seen young Mr.Pilgrim underperforming at the box office apprently, and while it’s no fault of the film, it’s unsurprising to see that this simply won’t wash with most casual viewers. Edgar Wright’s sticky fingers are all over this thing, and while it’s a genuine pleasure to see someone having so much fun with the medium, Scott Pilgrim is an experience that will resonate most closely with a very specific demographic -’Spaced’ viewers.

That’s not to say there isn’t something for everyone here mind you. Overall, Scott Pilgrim is a warm and consitantly amusing romantic adventure, but it wears it’s post modern sensibilities tighter than a Shoreditch pirate’s jeans, it’s early 30’s gamer crowd credentials hanging out for all the world to see.

Not that this is nescesarilly a bad thing of course.

If, like me, your teenage years mainly consisted of smoking and playing Streetfighter II in seafront arcades, then you’ll love this movie. Even if you’re a little younger..young enough say..to have watched Power Rangers in a non-ironic fashion, then this is for you as well. If you’re older however, you might struggle to understand why the sight of uberwimp Michael Cira punching Jason Schwartzman’s head off in a glitter explosion is so darn endearing.

As far as plot goes.. well, Scott fancies the (underdrawn, facile, and frankly slightly annoying) Ramona, and must attempt to defeat her seven evil ex’s to win her heart. Why she demands this is never really explored. Presumably it’s because she’s a shallow tit who ‘changes her hair colour weekly’. The fucking hipster twat. Ahem..

Anyway, cue endles kung-fu/8-Bit game inspired fight sequences that look great, there’s a genuine kineticism on display and it says wonders for Wright’s directing prowess that he manages to make such humdrum sequences (band practice in brown living room) become so gloriously cinematic.

The film comes bedecked in swirling graphics and Batman (the 60’s, camp Adam west one, not the Dark Knight) referencing fonts, while the announcements are gloriously bellowed in a Ridge Racer voice that brings back warm memories of the original Playstation.

If there is a problem, it’s one I’ve already mentioned. The whole thing is so ridiculously hipster geeky. The sonic talents of Beck and Metric battle it out, Vegans have psychic abilities (cue a very amusing Tom Jane cameo), and I’m left in no doubt that hundreds of 20-something girls are changing their Facebook profile picture to a headshot of Ramona. Basically, the whole thing looks as though it was vomited up in by Portland, Oregon’s collective hip gland. it’s a little too much at times.

otherwise, this is fast, funny and rather sweet in places, with amusing graphic devices showing character growth (Scott has gained the power of self respect!) and vocal asides (Cool -coins!)as well as managing to convey that difficult “transition between girlfriends” very well indeed.

Oh -and Nega-Scott is a neat trick.

Go see.

The Other Guys

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Going solely on the trailers, the latest effort from Will Ferrell looks like a return to form, a crazed mish-mash of Lethal Weapon action and Anchorman stupidity. And it is. But for some reason, it just doesn’t gel.

Things get off to a promising start, with New York super cops Danson & Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) blasting their way through criminals, driving a 1960’s muscle car through the side of a bus, blowing up buildings and firing off enough hot lead to drown a Terminator, and despite the reckless endangerment and massive property damage, they’re beloved by the population of New York and the worldwide media.

Of course, it isn’t all guns and glamour in the NYPD, which is where Ferrel, a safe, quiet and relentlessly stable Police accountant comes in. Teamed up with a bizzarrely hirsute Marky Mark when Danson & Highsmith jump to their death in a ridiculous display of bravado, it’s up to the worst cops in the precinct to take down Steve Coogan’s Bernard Madoff-like businessman and save the police pension fund.

All pretty formulaic no?

And that’s half the problem (we’ll get to the other half in a bit).

The Other Guys follows a very basic plotline that works out ok, and has some very funny lines. Ferrell’s background as a naive pimp named Gator is hilarious, and Wahlberg shows some likeable comic timing, coming off as likeable and genuine while directing traffic, lusting after Ferrell’s ‘plain wife’ (actually a smoking hot Eva Mendes). The whole thing is crammed to bursting with ridiculous one liners, idiotic situations (dirty Mike’s homeless orgies are a particular standout), and a relentless driving pace.

So what went wrong?

Ass is the norm for Ferrell’s movies, things don’t quite fit together properly. You get the feeling that someone had four or five unused scripts lying around and rammed them uncomfortably together. Of course, in a bit of nonsence like this, that’s not really a major problem. Instead, The Other Guy’s problems sit squarely in the lap of director Adam McKay.

The whole thing is poorly paced and badly shot, to the extent that any life and vibrancy is sucked right out of the thing, and it’s not just a question of scale. If this had been shot in an intimate TV show style it would be balls-out hilarious. Likewise, if they’d stuck McG at the helm and soaked it in slick then we’d be on to a winner (and I promise never to associate the name McG with the concept of win again). Instead, the movie hovers in a washed out, curiously 80’s middle ground, with action not as exciting as it should be, gjokes not as funny, and the whole thing…well, just underwhelming.

This has some of the best comedy lines and concepts of the year, but much like Ferrell’s wooden gun (a long story involving Michael Keaton and a poorly executed ‘desk-pop’…), it fails to leave a lasting impression.

Definitely worth waiting for the DVD, as a small screen would be infinitely more suitable.

Twilight:Eclipse

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(Note from the editor: I know I know, this came out like, aaaaages ago man. I expect the kidz have moved on to…well, let’s face it, they haven’t moved on at all have they? It’s been a perpetual round of Zombie/Vampire/Werewolf/Ninja interspersed with sporadic Chuck Norris sightings since 1996, which in my opinion proves that most people are a bunch of fucking dicktards who graze nonchalently on mass distributed culture without the wit or forethought to try discovering something new on their own. Fuck you. Ahem…anyway I wasn’t about to sit through a third helping of this toss, but luckily STS aren’t without resources, and have managed to recruit an actual real-live lady with hair and a nice voice and everything to go check this out – and apparently it was much better this time around! Huzzah! The excellent Jazz James investigates…)

Behold every neurotic 14 year-old girl’s dream: The latest installment of the Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Teenage angst is rife, Bella gets the horn and her battle between bestiality and necrophilia rages on. However, wishing to avenge her mate’s death, (proper) vampire Victoria begins to create an army of “newborn” vampires to challenge the Cullens and exterminate her.

I’m not going to lie; as a fully-certified member of the fairer sex, I may or may not have secretly enjoyed the – perhaps one-too-many – gratuitous shots of naked torsos that would flash on to the screen approximately every 1.54 seconds.

It’s enough to give any image-conscious man a bit of a complex.

Please don’t give up on this review already, I promise to keep shameless fangirling to a minimum and there will be no further sycophantic rambling about R-Patz’s sparkly body. Speaking of sparkles, it appeared that Slde had managed to restrain himself enough to keep them to a minimum There were times when Slade even allowed Eclipse to broach the dark horizons of traditional Gothic genre. Eclipse didn’t come without the odd toe-curlingly cringey scene, but thankfully avoids the melodramatic narrative of the first two installments and Slade attempts to branch out past its original fans to appeal to a wider audience.

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Inception

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If you’ve been paying attention since the start you’ll probably know that Chris Nolan has experienced a slight dip in quality over his career.

“WHAAAAA????” I hear you cry.

“But he done The Dark Knight and that’s my bestest film evar evar!”.

Yeah it might well be mate, but let’s face it, it was a bit clunky, overlong and had oblique and unsatisfying sub-plots aplenty.

Before that we had The Prestige (Good because David Bowie’s in it), Insomnia (Good because Al Pacino shouts ever so slightly less than usual) and Memento (one trick pony that still manages to end with someone from ‘Neighbours’ looking good). In my opinion (and it’s the only one that counts round these parts), he’s a trifle overrated. Not saying he’s bad by any means, just not quite the genius he’s made out to be all the time.

So – does Inception justify the hype? Can half-man/half-Brussels sprout DiCaprio ever convince as a leading man?

Yeah…kinda.

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