Chris Kneipp shares his Top 5 movies for 2013

1: Silver Linings Playbook (Australian release February 2013)

This movie not only made me laugh but showed me what great actors Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are. Also who could go passed Jackie Weaver as the long suffering wife of Robert DeNiro. Deniro’s best movie in ages.

2: Now You See Me

I love a movie that keeps you guessing. Sterling performances from all the actors and a story that makes you want to go back and pick up all the clues along the way.

3: Catching Fire

My most recent viewing, carry’s the story well towards the final conclusion, when Mockingjay comes out.

4: Thor

The Dark World. This movie balanced humour and action well, but it was Tom Hiddleston’s  Loki that made it worth watching again.

5: Iron Man 3

Ben Kingsley’s character was a work of genius, and played well off a plot which could have descended into an overly serious cliché without him. Also no one plays Robert Downey Jr like Tony Stark. (Or the other way round, it’s hard to tell with him) LOL

Joelene Pynnonen reviews the movie she’s been waiting for all year!

So I finally managed to see the one film that I’ve been waiting for all year, Catching Fire. As usual I went in with reservations in case the second movie didn’t live up to the first. For once, these reservations were wholly unfounded. Catching Fire outdoes Hunger Games on almost every level.

The film picks up a few months after Hunger Games ended. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are about to start the Victory Tour of Panem. If journeying to each of the other districts and facing the families of all the tributes who died in the 74th Hunger Games wasn’t enough pressure, President Snow pays Katniss a visit before she leaves. Since Katniss defied the Capitol there has been unrest in the districts. If Katniss can’t convince the people that she is desperately in love with Peeta by the time the tour ends, her life and those of her family are forfeit.

Despite her best efforts, Katniss and Peeta’s act of defiance eclipses their supposed love in the eyes of the districts. With rebellions breaking out in the districts and the Capitol under threat, Snow makes the decision to destroy Katniss before she becomes even more of a symbol to the rebels. And what better way to do it than with the 75th Hunger Games? Once again Peeta and Katniss are thrown into the Hunger Games arena, this time going up against previous winning tributes.

While Hunger Games gave us a great introduction to Katniss, her supporters and her enemies; Catching Fire opens up the entire world. The other tributes are more fully fleshed out and are bigger players in the story. It also brings the politics of Panem to the forefront, giving audiences more of an understanding of why the Games are essential to the Capitol. All of this gives us some incredible new characters, Johanna Mason being my undisputed favourite.

More depth is added to the personal as well as the political though. Peeta’s character is explored more fully, and we begin to see what there could be to love in him. In the first instalment he’s lovely and loyal. Those traits are admirable, but they’re not enough. Katniss grows as well. While she previously didn’t care for anyone outside of her family and Gale, she is beginning to open up to others. For such a bleak premise, the interactions of such amazing characters are desperately needed to keep the film from becoming too desolate. Having characters that grow and change more slowly is refreshing for this kind of a series as well.

The film follows the book as faithfully as the first did. There are minor changes but the atmosphere and intent remains much the same. Because the film is so dynamic, however, it outshines the novel for me. The casting decisions made for Catching Fire are outstanding. As in the Hunger Games many of the emotions are imparted visually rather than being scripted. The same emotional impact could not have been delivered by a lesser cast.

There is far too much in this film to discuss in a review but, suffice it to say, it is a film that should be seen on the big screen (and more than once). Not the sort of story that should be bound to a certain age group or gender; it’s something I’d recommend to anyone.

Chris Kneipp reviews Thor 2 and is suitably entertained!

There is something to be said for going into a movie with low expectations because sometimes you are pleasantly surprised. My most recent experience of this was the latest in the Marvel franchise’s offering, Thor. The Dark World.  Let me begin by saying there is something likeable about the whole Marvel stable, with Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor. Provided you can overlook the boys’ club heroes of The Avengers, most of these movies are a great deal of fun.

The plot of The Dark World is standard Hollywood fair; ancient threat is awoken, threatens all worlds including Earth, where the main love interest of our hero lives. Chaos ensues, cue explosions, etc, etc. What sets this movie apart is it retains its sense of humour.

The original Thor movie lacked the lighter touches of most of the other films in the franchise and took itself way too seriously for my liking, so I’d put it in the bottom two or three of the Marvel movies. I went to see The Dark World expecting pretty much the same again. I was happily proven wrong.

Whilst Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is his usual overly serious muscle-bound self, his co stars inject enough humour to keep us laughing and bring light into what would otherwise be a very standard actioner. Tom Hiddleston, reprising his role as Loki very nearly steals the show in every one of his scenes and the audience loudly cheered when he triumphs. Not a bad response for a charcter you’re never quite sure is a hero or villain. Also great fun is Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig, who adds the insane scientist element that any good superhero movie needs.

Now I saw this movie with my fellow Visionaries from the Vision Writers Group, (Hi folks) and the response to the movie was generally positive. There was some discussion however of the lack of real kickass female characters and rightly so. Natalie Portman did a great job with what she was given, but it was a shame that her character Jane Foster was written to be little more than Thor’s love interest. Jaimie Alexander’s  character, Sif could have been given a much larger role though an injury she received on set could have restricted her from doing any serious action scenes. Thor’s mother Frigga, played wonderfully by Rene Russo, did well holding up the banner for tough mothers

Anthony Hopkins returning as Odin, Thor’s father and King of the Gods, was great as always, lending his considerable presence to each scene he graces.

The villain of The Dark World is Malekith played by an unrecognisable Christopher Eccleston, who you might know as the Ninth Doctor from Doctor Who. He plays the tortured king of the Dark Elves with the right mix of malevolence and pain but is lost a bit in the CGI wizardry that goes on around him.

All in all Thor – The Dark World is a fun film that sits nicely with the other movies in the growing Marvel stable. It is currently playing in Cinemas everywhere, and when it comes out next year on DVD, it will make a must have addition if you are slowly gathering them all in your collection, as I am.

Joelene Pynnonen says: Almost a decade after the series premiered, Veronica Mars is making a comeback, this time on the big screens. With the release date set for next year, now is a perfect time to revisit the original TV show that captivated thousands. 

The series follows the eponymous main character, Veronica (Kristen Bell), as she navigates her way through a high school that has recently become hostile to her. The reason for this unfolds thorough a series of flashbacks. Veronica’s best friend, Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried), was brutally murdered and Veronica’s father, County Sheriff Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), accused Lilly’s billionaire father of the crime. The small but wealthy community proceeds to force Keith out of his job. He opens a private investigation agency and Veronica works there after school.

There’s something about teenage detectives that appeals to me, and this series was no exception. It’s one of those gems that take a few episodes to get into and then suddenly it hooks you so badly that you pull all-nighters to get through it and your workmates think that you’re hung-over. There is a charm about Veronica Mars. It’s one of those shows that puts entertainment first but still manages to be clever, without being pretentious.

The Veronica Mars character very much steals the show. She’s an outcast and is struggling to come to terms with that when so recently she was part of the school’s inner circle. It would be easy for the show to become mired in angst, but it takes a more pleasant turn. While Veronica no longer has the status that she once had, she is witty, resourceful and proactive. She remakes herself so that she’s indispensable to the school in another way, by solving the myriad of problems and mysteries that students bring her. Her confidence is based in her intellect, her ability to problem-solve and her remaining friends, not in what general society thinks of her.

The chemistry is the other thing that gets me. All of the characters have it with each other, despite them all being very different people. Kristen Bell has an easy, natural acting ability that makes the scenes she’s in shine and it’s a lot of fun to watch her interact with both the people who hate Veronica and the people who love her in the series. While her interactions with both Wallace and Lilly are probably some of my favourite TV depictions of friendship, it is her relationship with her father that constantly makes me want more. He’s protective of her but they also have a quirky, off-beat bond. Rather than loving one another because they’re related, they are connected on a deeper level. Veronica doesn’t tell Keith everything but he knows who she is and he respects her for it.

The brilliance of Veronica Mars stems from a combination of many things, but at heart it is a teen series that focuses on wonderful characterisation, entertaining dialogue and some amazing performances. It’s definitely something to watch before the movie comes out.

 Chris Kneipp reviews the new offering from the creator of Supernatural.

In Australia, it sometimes takes the Free-To-Air TV channels a while to catch up with new series coming from the U.S. Revolution is the latest offering by Eric Kripke, creator of Supernatural, and while the second season has begun playing in the States, Season One is only just coming soon to the Nine network here (To be fair the first season has been aired on pay TV and was just released on DVD this month).

So what’s it about? Imagine a world where everything that relies on electricity fails, like someone threw a giant “off” switch. Cars stop working, light’s go out and everything stops. That’s where we start in episode one, as all the machines and devices we take for granted becomes useless (Bad news if you’re in a car, worse if you’re in a plane). Flash forward fifteen years and the world is a very different place.   

I have to say, while the actor Billy Burke who plays Miles Matheson is given top billing, the real star of the show is Tracy Spiridakos. Her character, Charlotte “Charlie” Matheson, is Miles’ niece. When Charlie’s father is killed and brother is kidnapped, she sets off to find her uncle and get her brother back. Along the way, she finds that her parents had something to do with the blackout, and the slow revelation of their involvement is a central part of the story.

Like so many shows, (Lost springs to mind), flashbacks are used a lot to fill in the back-story and while it’s a little confusing at first, things start to make more sense by the end of the second episode. Through these flashbacks we see there was a massive civil war in America after the blackout, splitting the country into seven different nations. Everything has an American Civil War feel in the early episodes, from the uniforms of the militia to the sword fighting action scenes and I found this hard to relate to as a non U.S. citizen.

Most of the first season’s action takes place in the Munroe Republic, ruled over by a nasty piece of work, Bass Munroe, former best friend of Miles. Their friendship ended when Miles tried to assassinate him. (Note to self, not a good way to keep friends).

Once the story stops getting bogged down in the history and get’s on with the main story arc, it is quite enjoyable. Tracy Spiridakos does a great job playing Charlie and it is her story that really drives the plot forward. Her search for her brother becomes a search for answers and it is at this point the show finds its feet. Why did the power go out? How were her parents involved? And can the power be turned back on?

Billy Burke does a competent job in the role of Miles though he does the action scenes better than he does the emotional scenes in which he’s a bit wooden. I couldn’t help wondering if this was a hangover from playing Charlie Swan in the Twilght Saga.

The rest of the cast play their parts with varying degrees of success and David Lyons does Bass Munroe’s psycho paranoia very well.

I’m not sure what to make of this show and I think it’s a little bit hit and miss, but overall it has kept me watching. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Season Two, when it finally makes its way to Australia.