QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008)

Director
Marc Forster
Screenwriter
Paul Haggis
Starring
Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton
Studio
Columbia Pictures (Sony), MGM
Release Date
5 November 2008 (Indonesia)
Official website
007.com

Direct Sequel of the Adventure of James Bond "Casino Royale"

Synopsis: Following the betrayal and death of Vesper Lynd, James Bond (Daniel Craig) makes his next mission personal. The search for those who blackmailed his lover takes Bond to ruthless businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a key player in the organization of coerced Vesper. Bond discovers that Greene is conspiring to gain total control of a vital natural resource, and must navigate a minefield of danger and treachery to foil Greene's plan.

Review: Quantum of Solace, Bond's newest adventure, for the first time ever in the typically formulaic franchise is a direct continuation of its predecessor, Casino Royale. With an intriguingly internalised central plot and outrageously exhilarating action, the new Bond movie is grittier and faster than we expect. And that much more engaging as a result. The new film starts uncharacteristically without the usual gun- barrel and blood logo but the trademark logo has been relocated to the end of the film. A quantum is something very miniscule. Solace is another word for comfort. Thus, the enigmatically titled Quantum Of Solace refers to the modicum of peace that our central character is searching for.

"Quantum of Solace" picks up from the previous film with Bond looking to avenge the death of his lover. It picks up a few minutes after the last one. Big car chase as Bond, barely recovered from the death of his lady love Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), burns rubber all over Italy with the wiggling body of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) in the trunk of his Aston Martin. While still on the hunt for the people responsible for the death of his gal pal Vesper, James Bond (Craig) discovers a plot by energy tycoon Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) to corner the market on the world's most precious natural resource. It is part of a much bigger scheme by Quantum, a notorious criminal syndicate, to influence events in the world. They include the overthrow of the current Bolivian government and the installation of former military dictator General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio) there, and a continued stranglehold on world intelligence. Clues lead Bond to the sexy but dangerous Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who also harbors a wish to avenge the death of her father. She in turn, brings him to Greene who is, of course, happy to finally make Mr. Bond's acquaintance. Meanwhile, M is getting pressure from her superior to rein in 007. She finds herself surrounded by traitorous MI6 agents now working for Quantum, an agency bent on world domination. Under the suspicious eye of MI6 director M (Judi Dench), Bond sets out to uncover the plot, determine the purpose of Quantum, and get revenge.


This is a story about James Bond exorcising his personal demons, and Craig clearly relishes the double challenge of introspective drama and high action. Although he doesn’t brings nothing new to the role than his first outing, but he remains a charismatic and tough bond, even more relaxed and also sexier. Beside all its fine-tuned precision and expertly timed twists, sexy style, and jaw-dropping action sequences, it's Daniel Craig's blue-eyed Bond that steals Quantum's show. His ability to play a remorseless assassin one moment and a suave, tongue-in-cheek British agent the next is what makes him the best 007. Meanwhile, Kurylenko is given a much more robust role than we usually get with Bond girls, including a personal quest all her own. She is fiery hot as the vengeful Camille, a former Bolivian agent who acts more as Bond's accomplice than his bedroom partner. Although Kurylenko has a few more auspicious moments that border on great, Amalric, who is a tremendously talented actor in the French language, manages to deliver a toothless performance that pales in comparison to all that came before him, even many of the late Bond villains. He tends to let his character's madness show too much with bulging eyes, one of which threatens to start blinking at any moment.

In general, Quantum of Solace has one of the more complex and satisfying of the Bond film plots. The character of Bond has more depth than he does in some of the more pulpy entries in the series. It is one of the rare Bond films that can be appreciated on an adult level. Craig might not take all of Casino Royale's crossover audience with him for Quantum Of Solace but thanks to a strong cast - including Judi Dench, who reprises her role as M and Mathieu Amalric's oily villain - this is a solid sequel for the reinvented franchise.

Did you know?

* The character of MI6 Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) is a tribute to the Bond girls of the 1960s, notably Tracy Bond from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Goldfinger (1964)'s Pussy Galore, both of which are Atherton's favourite performances. Gemma Arterton described Fields as "not as frolicsome or femme-fatale as other Bond girls, but is instead fresh and young."

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UN CONTE DE NOEL aka CHRISTMAS TALE (2008)

Director

Arnaud Desplechin
Screenwriter
Arnaud Desplechin, Emmanuel Bourdieu
Starring
Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud, Anne Consigny, Chiara Mastroianni, Laurent Capelluto, Jean-Paul Roussillon
Studio
IFC Films
Release Date
21 May 2008 (France)

Christmas Drama...

Synopsis: Junona (Catherine Deneuve) and Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) are the parents of three children: Elizabeth (Anne Consigny), a melancholic playwright with a mathematician husband (Hippolyte Girardot) and a tortured teenage son, Paul (Emile Berling), Henri (Mathieu Amalric), the self-destructive black sheep, banished from the family events by Elizabeth five years prior, young Ivan (Melvil Poupaud), the peacemaker, is married to the lovely Sylvia and has two eccentric little children, while fourth - Joseph, the eldest - died of leukemia in a child. When the disease reappeared again in the family, all are tested to see who can become a donor, and then everyone - including lovesick cousin Simon and Henri's girlfriend, Faunia - return home for a long weekend of Christmas . Everything crowded again under the same roof, solidarity quickly - and hilariously - lies in conflict, drunkenness and bed-hopping, as the whole world struggle to make sense of the mysteries of family life, and what lies ahead.

Review: "A Christmas Tale" is a marvel of intimate character study, revealing a wealth of behavioral complexity among the members of a dysfunctional family gathering for Christmas. It is about a family laughing and crying off its own curse, and the joy is in knowing the filmmaker and we are laughing and crying right along with them. It center on a large, fractious family gathered in a comfy house for one of life's big rituals and feature a depressive grown daughter, a wild, wonderful soundtrack, and filial dynamics that strain and stretch the boundaries of civility. This is an intimate character-based drama with a sprawling ensemble and a 151-minute running time to match.

The Film introduces us to Junon (Catherine Deneuve) and Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon), the matriarch and patriarch of the none-too-harmonious Vullard clan, whose roots are in the provincial French town of Roubaix (near the Belgian border). At the very beginning of the film, the movie opens with a narrator outlining the family back story which is the crucial background information. In the early 1960s a young couple, Abel and Junon Vuillard, give birth to two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. Joseph has a rare genetic condition, and only a bone marrow transplant can save him. But Abel and Junon, as well as Elizabeth, are incompatible. And so the couple conceive a third child, Henri -- but his marrow doesn't match, either. Joseph dies at age 7. The couple have a fourth child, Ivan. And as "A Christmas Tale" moves forward to the present day, we learn how each member of the Vuillard family has moved on, and away, from this initial seed of loss and sorrow. At Present, only a few days before the sugar plums and wassail are set on the table, Junon Vuillard, the grand matriarch of a family of lunatics, is diagnosed with a serious case of leukemia, the same disease that already claimed her eldest son Joseph. A bone marrow transplant is her only chance and now circumstances conspire to bring the entire family together for the Christmas for the first time in six years. They are include the eldest surviving child, Elizabeth (Anne Consigny), and her emotionally withdrawn son, Paul (Emile Berling); the black sheep of the family, Henri (Mathieu Amalric), and his bubbly lover, Faunia (Emmanuelle Devos); the youngest son, Ivan (Melvil Poupaud), his devoted wife, Sylvia (Chiara Mastroianni), and their two young children; and Simon (Laurent Capelluto), the son of Junon's dead brother. This moment is also the "reunion" of Elizabeth and Henri, who don't like each other. Elizabeth is a successful playwright who is consumed both with worry about her fragile teenage son, Paul and with rage toward her ne'er-do-well brother Henri. Henri is a fast-talking hustler, an alcoholic whose entire personality is a compensation for always having been despised by his parents. He returns to his family home piss drunk with his new lady friend Faunia, fully prepared to pour salt in every familial wound he can locate, including the mutual distaste felt between Junon and himself. And it's not only past grudges and Junon's illness that color the weekend but also unforeseen romantic complications, a heady mix that produces completely unpredictable results.


Desplechin's narrative strategies can be puzzling at first glance, but it's still OK because his drama unfolds with a comforting acuity that defies easy analysis. A holiday family gathering, A terminal illness, Bitter resentments and feuds, Secrets revealed, Relationships kindled and others in a state of flux. If all of this sounds overly familiar and potentially treacly, fear not. Desplechin is a past master at this sort of Chekhovian orchestration of multiple story lines. He treats its characters and their lives with an uncommonly raw and complicated realism. Desplechin isn't out to explain as much as explore the complicated relationships between family members and the complexity of feelings behind those connections. It's a tender and lovely scene, an evocative way to suggest the theatricality of memory and the blurring of detail over time. It's also a prelude to the playful storytelling and inventive technique to come in the mercurial, knotty and cinematically vibrant drama of family dysfunction stirred up over a Christmas gathering, The performances in A Christmas Tale are uniformly wonderful. The actors are individually good. They work together to feel like a family. Deneuve is imperious, but also impossible not to feel for. Amalric makes for a ridiculously endearing bad seed. Devos, in just a supporting role, sparkles -- an amused family outsider who brings levity to the amassed tension. As Elizabeth, Consigny is taut with supressed rage. Deneuve's real life daughter Mastroianni is lovely.

In General, roiling with laughter, tears, drunken confessions, revelatory soliloquies, pain, sorrow, hospital visits, and various kinds of love, A Christmas Tale is a smart, sprawling, and sublimely entertaining feast. "A Christmas Tale" is emotionally rich and cinematically thrilling film. With at least nine primary characters and running two and a half hours, it's a big, fat novel of a movie, a domestic epic that fuses bitterness and forgiveness in completely satisfying ways.

ROLE MODELS (2008)

Director

David Wain
Producer
Mary Parent, Scott Stuber, Luke Greenfield
Screenwriter
David Wain, Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Tim Dowling, W. Blake Herron
Starring
Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Elizabeth Banks
Studio
Universal Pictures
Release Date
7 November 2008 (USA)

Official website
RoleModelsmovie.com

It's Killer Funny...

Synopsis: Two salesmen trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. After their arrest, the court gives them a choice do hard time or spend 150 hours of service with a mentoring program. After a day with the children, however, the prison does not look half bad. Surrounded by annoying do-gooders, Danny struggles with his every neurotic impulse to guide Augie through the trials of becoming a man. Unfortunately, the guy just dumped by his girlfriend has only sarcasm to offer a shy 16-year-old obsessed with medieval role-playing game. Meanwhile, charming Wheeler tries to trade of the addiction to partying and women to help fifth grader named Ronnie reorient his foul-mouthed ways. It would probably help if the new mentor of Ronnie was not an overgrown adolescent whose idea of quality time includes keggers in Venice Beach. Once the center's former director gives them an ultimatum, Danny and Wheeler are forced to adapt their brand of immature wisdom to their charges.

Review: Role models takes a familiar PG-rated plot and adds enough profanity and nudity to earn it a family unfriendly R. Despite its R rating, "Role Models" is basically a kids' comedy for adults where funny people say funny things in funny situations. It is a consistently pleasant, often funny, sometimes clever, occasionally even touching little movie that does what it sets out to do. This is yet another film in which adults bond with kids and, in the process, both members of the pair learn important life lessons.

Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott play Danny, a spokesperson for Minotaur Energy Drink who spends his days telling teenagers not to do drugs with a fluffy Minotaur dancing behind him and Wheeler, a cheerful horndog who wear a ridiculous Minotaur costume. They are teammates who drive a Minotaur-mobile super truck from school to school, touting a Jolt-like drink as the high-octane energy boost that will get you high without a jail sentence: "Just say no to drugs, and YES! to Minotaur!". Unlike Wheeler who always cheerful and optimistic, Danny, in his mid-30s, is feeling miserable. After he hit his 10th anniversary on this job, he starts fights with people who say "ASAP" and his girlfriend of 7 years, Beth (Elizabeth Banks) surprisingly dumps him. An unfortunate series of events driving Danny into an intractable depression and Danny loses it and tells a cafeteria filled with teenagers how awesome drugs are and how life sucks. That's before he running their monster truck up a school's and crash it into a statue of a horse which is also a public properties. For that crime of stupidity (among others), Wheeler and Danny are offered a choice: go to jail for a month or mentor two boys in a Big Brothers–type organization called Sturdy Wings, run by a rather unsteady former coke whore played by Jane Lynch. Danny gets assigned a fantasy-obsessed loner dork named Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), whose parents don't understand him and offer no support, while Wheeler gets paired with 12-year-old Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson), a self-proclaimed "booby man" who says "fuck" every time he exhales, who is living with his single mom and though tough on the outside is fragile inside because he doesn't trust men ever since he was abandoned by his dad.


A pair of overgrown adolescents (Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd) indulge in bad behavior and are assigned to mentor troubled kids in a Big Brother-type program sounds predictable. But it is consistently funny, largely because of the sharp dialogue, written by Rudd and director David Wain and a well-chosen ensemble cast. There are no mysteries here, but there’s some solid comedy writing and pretty effective playing. The characters, in a very movie way, become likable as things progress, but the film is smart enough that they never quite lose their edge. A live-action, loopy, medieval-battle role-playing event is without a doubt where Role Models delivers the most laughs. Wain's take on LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) (which is essentially a live-action version of D&D with padded swords and no dice) is amusing and avoids the trap of being too condescending to those productive members of society who participate in this activity. What's interesting about the fantasy medieval warfare is that the players take it with deadly seriousness. Danny and Wheeler, with their two young charges, join the nerdy, armor-clad throng in a Los Angeles park, crossing swords, striking down the enemy armies and addressing one another as "thou" and "my liege."

As much as low expectations are built into films like this, Role Models unexpectedly overcomes its tepid veneer, often flying into propulsive bouts of comedic energy. It gives up much of the humor and high ground gained in previously offering a good combination of observant comedy and intelligent social conscience drama, as it climaxes poorly with a wishful pat ending. Everything is satisfactorily resolved in the end, as the formula requires. But since their problems were a little deeper than usual in this genre, our pleasure is increased a little. Not to the point where we're cheering, you understand. But to the point where we're thinking, hey, I sort of liked that.

Did you know?

* In the background of a scene before a "battle" some actors are dressed up in Stormtrooper-like armor, contradicting the medieval fantasy theme of the game.

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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Director

Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Producer
Mireille Soria, Mark Swift
Screenwriter
Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Etan Cohen
Starring
Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Will.I.Am
Studio
DreamWorks Animation
Release Date
7 November 2008 (USA)

Official website
Madagascarmovie.com

Africa or Zoo...?

Synopsis: Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins and chimpanzees are isolated in the remote coast of Madagascar. Given this obstacle, New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane-type. Once up, this unlikely crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all--the vast plains of Africa, where members of our zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind by the first time. Africa seems a great place - but is it better than his home in Central Park?

Review: The pleasant crew of the cheerful 2005 DreamWorks animated film "Madagascar" reunite for "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa". Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa features the same lovable quartet of zoo animals out of their element, plus their canny penguin pals, brainy chimps and clever lemurs. But it adds dozens more creatures into the mix and moves the action to the African plains. Fans of the original will find plenty to love in the sequel (including 40% more covert penguin action).

This new film starts years ago with a young lion being trained by his father in the ways of Savanna survival. But the lion cub is much more interested in being a ham and not learning endurance techniques. And then an African lion named Zuba squares off against his scheming, underhanded rival Makunga (Alec Baldwin), and in the process the young lion goes off the reservation and is captured by some poachers. His crate falls off the truck and he drifts across the ocean to NYC. Once found, he is placed in the Zoo and quickly becomes Alex the dancing lion (Ben Stiller), the king of NYC. Then the scene jump back to where the last film ended. Our penguins have rescued a plane and have gotten it up to a running flight status. Alex, Marty the acid-tongued zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the dour giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the happy hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) are all together trying to get back to their Zoo home from the titular country, Madagascar. Of course, everything goes horribly wrong and our animated heroes fall short of their goal, landing someplace, not in New York City but on a very familiar Savanna (Africa). Here, the four main animals encounter their wild counterparts and experience culture shock as they meet legions of their own species and also these four each have an adventure. The wreck fortuitously reunites Alex with his dad Zuba (the late Bernie Mac) and mom (Sherri Shepherd) which is a great news for Makunga, who longs to lead the group and sets in motion a series of events that leads to Alex and his father being cast out of the group, leaving him in charge. Marty finds a herd of zebras and discovers that all the zebras look, sound and act exactly like him. He is initially gleeful about joining a herd, but then becomes despondent when he find that he may not be as unique as he thought. Melman discovers his obsessive belief in being sick makes him a perfect Savanna doctor, while secretly pining for Gloria. Gloria falls in love with macho dumb lug hippo Moto Moto (voiced with dripping sexiness by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas) which sends Melman into a tailspin of jealousy. For in an implausible case of inter-species attraction, the giraffe turns out to be madly in love with the hippo. All four stories eventually converge as Alex has to save all the animals from a water shortage.


Escape to Africa is a vast improvement over its predecessor. The plot moves forward into wildly funny and heartfelt character exploration. New characters are added to the mix without losing the fast-paced beat and all the original voices are back for more. The creative forces behind the last Madagascar, Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa also extends what Madagascar did best, fill up the screen with computer-generated visual novelty. With full, vibrant colors and richly detailed backgrounds, Madagascar 2 has as much "pop" as any recent digitally animated production. The animation is sharp, and whenever things start to get confusing, a penguin or lemur comes onscreen and does something really funny. As was the case with the first film, the penguins get all the best lines. They once again steals every scene they are in, making the most of the little amount they are put into this film.

Generally, most of the story is influenced by The Lion King, not because of similar settings only, but also familiar plot. Though it will get no points for originality, there's no denying the sense of fun the film contains, supplied primarily from its game voice cast who elevate the material with their inspired work. The cast of characters is also obviously has grown and the story still focuses on the value of friendship. The plot expands to include familial and romantic love, and to celebrate diversity and uniqueness. Though it doesn't add anything new to the genre, Madagascar 2 is amusing animated fare.

Did you know?

* The sequel Madagascar 3 (2011) was confirmed months before this one came out.

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ROCKNROLLA (2008)

Director

Guy Ritchie
Producer
Joel Silver, Guy Ritchie, Susan Downey, Steve Clark-Hall
Screenwriter
Guy Ritchie
Starring
Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Toby Kebbell
Studio
Warner Bros
Release Date
31 October 2008 (USA)

Official website
Rock-n-Rolla.com

Lets Rock and Rolla...

Synopsis: When a Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, millions of dollars are at stake, and all of London's underworld wants in on the action. Everyone, from a dangerous crime lord to a sexy accountant, a corrupt politician and down-on-their-luck petty thieves conspire, collude and collide with each other in an effort to get rich quick.

Review: For Guy Ritchie fans, welcome back to the world of Guy Ritchie as it stood back in 2000 with Snatch, Guy Ritchie’s new film RocknRolla consists of a nonstop parade of improbable dastardly characters, assorted incompetent criminals, burned-out rockers, wigged-out junkies, criminal masterminds and dimwitted hoods, and that’s not even taking into account unkillable Russians, an ice queen of a duplicitous accountant, gay gangsters and the gangsters they make nervous, plus a few man-eating crayfish tossed in for good measure. RocknRolla is sexy, fast, loose, smart, and extremely funny. It's crammed with colorful criminals, which Ritchie and cinematographer David Higgs backlight to great effect. It chokes on delightfully screwy schemes, which the director and his editor James Herbert slice, tape, and test-drive at breakneck speeds. And that's the key. It keeps moving, hardly caring if you are keeping up.

The story features a congregation of bad guys who sleaze around London's underworld. They include a boss played by a scenery-chewing Tom Wilkinson as Lenny Cole and the Wild Bunch, a group of small-timers from Ritchie's earlier gangster films who are hungry to challenge the raised bar of crime world which include One-Two (Gerard Butler), more handsome than he is smart, but he's learning, and his longtime mates, Mumbles (Idris Elba) and Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy). "RocknRolla's" deliberately convoluted plot centers around the hunt for a painting that belongs to a Russian mobster, Uri (Karel Roden) who's trying to muscle his way into London's real estate boom with the help of old-school gangster Lenny Cole. One Two and Mumbles have borrowed $7 million from Lenny to buy real estate, all well and good except Cole already owns the land and refuses to sell. He makes arrangements to steal the money, then demands to be paid back. Lenny needs the money for a deal with a council member and so on and on. The money and the painting change hands through double crosses. It all concerns millions of Euros in payoffs for a crooked land deal, with said payoffs being hijacked twice by the same inept crooks, thanks to the inside information provided by Uri’s less-than-honest accountant, Stella (Thandie Newton). She sells them the location of the bank where the Russian is preparing to make a major withdrawal. Add in Uri’s “lucky painting,” which he’s given to Lenny for luck, and which has been subsequently stolen by Lenny’s crackhead rock ‘n’ roll star stepson, the supposedly dead Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell). Johnny has faked his own death in an attempt to boost album sales, Johnny should be laying low but can't resist turning up to throw a wrench into his father's carefully laid plans. and that’s the basic story.


The plot of RocknRolla is a little on the labyrinthian side, but that’s mostly owing to the number of characters and the details. The story itself is a pretty straightforward one concerning old-school Brit gangsters (personified by Tom Wilkinson’s crime boss Lenny Cole and his underlings) and the new influx of Russian gangsters (represented by Karel Roden’s Uri and his underlings). The movie, narrated like a graphic comic, spins off in many directions, and afterward you realize there were several spins and scenes more than necessary. The narrator is Mark Strong who, through a quirk of scheduling, is appearing in other two movies released in the same weekend, one of them is Body of Lies. There are various double-crosses, a Maguffin in the form of a painting we never see, and a Russian land developer who hires some unsavory underlings. The busy plot grows exponentially more complex each time writer-helmer Ritchie drops another colorful character into the mix. The action is in-your-face and always contains an element of dark humor. Also, there's a seconds-long sequence that's arguably one of the most economical sex scenes ever filmed. It's brilliant, and shows how deftly Ritchie is at moving along a moment necessary to the plot without the hindrance of details. Ritchie acknowledges his audience's intelligence in this scene and throughout the movie.

In general, RocknRolla gives off the impression that the once-heralded filmmaker isn't trying so hard any more to jolt, confuse, stimulate, and entertain his demanding followers. As a result, he delivers his most jolting, confusing, stimulating, and flat-out entertaining picture since 2000's Snatch. If you enjoy the likes of "Get Shorty," "Reservoir Dogs" and "Smokin' Aces," you're going to have a great time at Guy Ritchie's latest heist/doublecross flick about, of all things, real-estate swindles.

Did you know?

* The band playing in the club scene are 'The Subways' with their song 'Rock & Roll Queen'.

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