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Showing posts from September, 2016

Cafe Society

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Woody Allen's Cafe Society is really nothing we haven't seen before: the tale of a hapless romantic Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) who moves to Hollywood in search of work and ends up falling in love with the charming Vonnie (Kristen Stewart)  has been told countless times before . The setting of late 30's America, rich furs and jazz music aplenty, is far from original too. Clearly, Allen's latest is far from ambitious and retreads familiar ground for the director but the film just manages to prove its worth with two likeable protagonists and gorgeous cinematography. If anyone were to play Allen in a biopic of his life, it could only be Eisenberg. As Bobby, he adopts the fretful gait and frenetic, half-stuttering voice that is instantly recognisable from any number of Allen's past roles.  The impression is far from perfect and lacks some of the charm of Allen but it doesn't feel too much of a departure from Eisenberg's usual, awkward style and create

Sausage Party

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Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's food-based animated flick is a parody of all things Disney and Pixar and takes no time in establishing its target audience, with swears dominating the script from start to finish.  If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the movie. Or at least the only good joke. The whole point of Sausage Party is simply to get cutesy things to say nasty things, dressing up a sweary shock comedy as a cheery kids film.    Of course, such foul language would be fine if the comedy were actually funny. But disappointingly, there isn't really that much comedy. Well, comedy that actually works anyway. The frequent food-based puns are amusing for the first few minutes until you realise that they make up 90% of the film. The surprise in seeing hot dog buns and baby carrots cursing at each other wears off quickly, showing how one great trailer can't be stretched into a full length film when little else is added. Even the clever Saving Private Ryan referen