The Way Way Back (2013)

The way way back is the story of Duncan, a teenage boy who reluctantly goes on vacation for the summer with his mom, and his mom's boyfriend who also brought along his own daughter. They stay at a beach house his mom's boyfriend owns in a small seaside town. As it turns out the boyfriend played by Steve Carrel is somewhat emotionally abusive towards Duncan, always putting him down in small and subtle ways . With Duncan's mom being oblivious to the the whole thing or is just simply ignoring it. It doesn't help with Duncan's self esteem who appears to be a shy and introverted young man . Eventually Duncan finds solace in a nearby water park , he accidentally meets the manager of the place , and he takes him under his wing .

The movie is quite simple , but the story is beautiful. And I could really see myself in Duncan. I'm actually an introvert , despite spending a lot of time going out and hanging out with my friends . I really couldn't explain it, I could feel alone in the middle of a party thrown for me while being surrounded by lots of people. But enough about me , as I said the movie's storyline is amazing. I like the the contrast between the sad moment that is going on in Duncan's life , and the great , happy moments he has in the waterpark . It's like a safe haven for him in the middle of the storm. Liam James who plays Duncan was really excellent in this role, and Steve Carrel who plays Trent "the Boyfriend" really shined in being the bad guy. Most comedic actors would find it really hard to shed their funny persona or reputation on screen. It's like no matter what movie you watch them in , you as an audience will always be waiting for something funny to happen. But not with this one , he was very believable as a douche bag, props to Steve Carrel. The rest of the supporting cast also did an amazing job , this is a really well put together film. The characters are all fleshed out , no matter how small their roles is . You get a glimpse of what they are and who they are , in contrast to most movies where you only get that sense from one character or two, not an easy thing to pull off. This is a great movie, I applaud it . It is not heavy drama , or requires too much attention , it is a fun watch yet very intelligent . A nice relaxing film.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Cast
Liam James as Duncan
Steve Carell as Trent
Toni Collette as Pam
Allison Janney as Betty
AnnaSophia Robb as Susanna
Sam Rockwell as Owen
Maya Rudolph as Caitlyn
Rob Corddry as Kip
Amanda Peet as Joan

Pee Mak (2013)

This movie is actually based on an old thai ghost story , about a soldier who comes back from war , there he finds his wife and new born son , only to discover later on that both his wife and son had died and that he has been living with ghosts . The storyline of the film follows this basic guideline , and instead of creating a chilly and scary version like the original legend. The film makers decided to give the old tale a new take and have added a significant amount of comedy to it.

Yes this movie has a lot of cheesy moments, that is to be expected from an asian horror comedy. But I have to say they did do a lot of things right, and fun fact; this movie is the highest grossing film of all time in Thailand , and has also succeeded in the international market . It earned upwards of 1 billion thai baht or roughly around 33 million dollars (US) . Not that impressive by Hollywood standards , but trust me in southeast asia that is a very big deal .

The comedy involves a lot of slapstick humor but it is effective. No matter how absurd the jokes are , you'll find yourself laughing. The storyline is very crude , don't expect high art in this. The special effects are actually nice ,asians are good at creating visuals for ghost stories , and even though the film is more centered on the comedy , there are some scary moments -okay light scary moments. What drives the movie though is the lead star, Mario Maurer who plays the young soldier Mak, who has gone home to his wife. I've seen some of his movies , even reviewed one in this blog , you can check it out, here. Anyways Mario who is more well known for being a matinee idol , is probably one of the most talented asian actors I have ever seen. And I'm really glad he is getting a lot of success all over asia , but I really wish a director would give him another juicy role like the one in Love of Siam where he was able to showcase his skills. Anyways in this movie he shines, I really like how he is able to keep serious and still balance the funny parts in this film . I mean the female lead Davika Hoorne who plays his wife was very serious , but then that is what is called for her role anyway. While the other co-stars who plays Mak's war buddies were downright comedic. He was able to jump easily in between both, the hard dramatic parts were his and he more than delivered the goods. Even in the funny parts , he showed deep dramatic intensity , instead of playing to the slapstick, which actually made it even more funnier. I guess he was really able to make the movie work, any other regular actor would have had wrecked it . With that said Pee Mak is a good watch , it is not highly artistic or really amazing . But most likely you may enjoy yourself , it's nice, not bad.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun
Mario Maurer as Mak
Davika Hoorne as Nak
Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk as Aey
Nuttapong Chartpong as Ter
Wiwat Kongrasri as Shin
Pongsathorn Jongwilak as Puak

The Kings of Summer (2013)

A truly brilliant coming-of-age film, The Kings of Summer tells the story of Joe Toy , his best friend Patrick and a strange kid by the name of Biaggio. Frustrated with their lives at home the two best friends hatch a plan to live out in the woods away from everyone, where they would build a house and make up their own rules. Joe chooses to bring Biaggio with them , after he bonds with the kid over one night and discovers "the place" in the woods with him, by accident .

How many of us have had wanted to run away from home during our adolescence ? Every family has it's own issues and I know most probably almost every teenager have toyed with the idea . Many even go through with it, I still remember that day I had to pick up my best friend after he punched a picture frame and his mom threw him out of the house. It wasn't too long ago that I crashed at my friend's place because I was annoyed at everyone in the house , I was already an adult so it was a different dynamic and I wasn't exactly asserting independence, I wanted to take charge of my domain to put it mildly. Anyways the feelings are the same , especially for us boys, as teenagers we have little control over our lives , and as soon as the testosterone kicks in we tend to want to mark our own territory , take charge of our own lives no matter how unprepared we are . Trust me at twenty something it is still the same struggle with different circumstances. This movie captures that moment between being a boy and a man very well. I think it should be entitled the King of Summer because essentially the entire movie was carried by Joe played with amazing intensity by Nick Robinson. His journey through, trying to be independent , heartbreak and finally some form of maturity is something that every man could relate to. I'm a big fan of Melissa and Joey which stars Nick, he is great at this sitcom , really funny and he brings that experience to this movie , great comedic timing but what really impressed me was the drama. The quiet intense scenes is where he really shines , that young man is gonna pick up some major awards some day . The supporting cast did a very good job as well, they were just simply outshone by Nick, a part of that is due to the story itself , he was given a nice juicy part , but you can't deny his skill. This is his star-is-born moment . I also really loved the cinematography , the environment could essentially be considered a character , the camera captured everything beautifully . Although some things I think were dragging , you can't help but be mesmerized by the slow motion captures, it is not just fun to watch but also adds emotion to the movie. All in all this is great watch , it is funny and not just slap stick humor but intelligent comedy , the drama is not overblown or over the top, the story is good, and the cast delivered a fine performance, bravo.

Directed by : Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Nick Robinson – Joe Toy
Gabriel Basso – Patrick Keenan
Moisés Arias – Biaggio
Nick Offerman – Frank Toy, Joe's father
Alison Brie – Heather Toy, Joe's sister
Megan Mullally – Mrs. Keenan
Marc Evan Jackson – Mr. Keenan
Eugene Cordero – Colin
Mary Lynn Rajskub – Captain Davis
Erin Moriarty – Kelly

Watch Trailer Here

50/50 (2011)- Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Seth Rogen

The story of a twenty something journalist forced to confront, the sudden onset of a cancer seems to be a topic more suited for a tear-jerker dramatic film rather than a comedy. Not to say that 50/50 lacks those special "sad" moments, but the humor all in all is what makes this movie stand out and more moving than your typical life-threatening-sick films. Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings an exceptional performance as usual, one wonders why this talented young man has never been nominated for an academy award beats me. But the real surprise and gem in this film is Seth Rogen, whom we have seen so many times in slapstick comedy. After his dreadful turn in the green hornet, his delivery in this film more than redeems him. His turn as the bestfriend of Gordon-Levitt's cancer victim, was very moving and seemed to me very realistic. Most guys don't really show their feelings when confronted with their friends hard problems, but wrapping himself in humor while being really there for his friend is such an everyman approach. One of the most touching scene in the film was when Gordon-Levitt's character stumbles upon a book his friend was reading to help him support his friend in need, while Seth Rogen was passed out drunk in the couch. It was so simple, but yet tugs at the right places. And then there's the humor, the jokes don't seem innapropriate and the sarcasm really does fit in well in the situation, don't you just love it when you can laugh and then cry at the next moment while watching a movie? Just shows you how powerful the performances are, and how the story can totally draw you in. Great movie..

Other Posts you may be interested in:
Mysterious Skin (2004)- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

watch trailer here: click

Hall Pass (2011)-Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis

Hall Pass is a comedy about two bestfriends, who were given a "Hall Pass" by both their wives to relieve their husbands of the sexual tension that is causing a might-be problem in their marriages. A Hall Pass, means an off time from marriage, to give them a chance to anything they want to do.

Obviously as we have seen so many times before, this sort of premise would create a series of hilarious situations that would eventually lead the characters to realize a life lesson, wherein they would lead life happily ever after. The genius of the films of this kind are the creative and funny situations the character get into. In this case the movie falls flat, it was funny, not hilarious, sometimes it felt ridiculous and kinda annoying. Each character was utterly undeveloped even for a movie of this kind, hey Knocked Up was genius and so was the Hang Over. This one was really disappointing . It's really not worth a movie ticket, just watch it on TV..

Watch Trailer:Here

My Sassy Girl (2001)-Jun Ji-hyun,Cha Tae-hyun

There is a reason why the original version of My Sassy Girl has been hailed as Asia's pre-eminent romantic comedy, the movie is absolutely funny yet able to make you cry at the right moments, without it feeling forced or ludicrous.

The film follows the story of Gyeon-woo, a young male engineering student who meets a drunk girl on a train station. Due to some strange circumstance where the girl in her drunk stupor calls him "darling" and drops unconscious, he is somewhat forced to look after her and brings her to stay overnight in a motel. This chance encounter would eventually lead them to a strange and as the korean title implies "bizarre" love affair, where the male lead is forced to do more absurd favors for this girl. Looking from a movie-goer's viewpoint, one would make the mistaken notion that this sort of thing would never happen in real life, which is false, My Sassy girl is based on a true story, most of the things that happened in the film are actually based on a series of blogs written by a Love-struck korean for his sassy girl. But then again when watching this gem of a movie that sort of information is un-needed . Ridiculous as most of the situations are, you do believe in the connection and the romance brewing between the two characters. One scene could start out real funny and end up touching you. Like the pivotal scene where Gyeon-woo sneaks inside an all-girl school, to present a rose to his sassy girl while she performs pachelbel's canon in the auditorium.

My Sassy Girl in effect, seems to be better than most romantic comedies that Hollywood churns out. In fact Hollywood did try to make a remake in 2008 which absolutely flopped both critically and financially. They forgot to add the elements which made the original so successful, which is a screwball storyline infused with strong asian romanticism, and the ability to make the ridiculous look so natural and believable . And then of course there is the two leads, Jesse Bradford in the remake was too clean and good-looking to match Cha Tae-hyun's goofy yet endearing performance, and Elisha Cuthbert wasn't as Sassy or bizarre as Jun Ji-Hyun. Jun Ji-Hyun was the absolute star of the original, she carried the character and the film , My Sassy Girl wouldn't be as great as it is without her in the title role. Watch it if you haven't yet, it is one truly amazing film.

watch trailer:here