Going South (6): Miscellanea

A final collection of photos from our incredible journey to Wiltshire, Dorset and The South, a land where dogs drive 4x4s...

Where the Bastard Brothers are kind to their sisters...

Where black sheep graze a giant chalk penis...

Where owls and vultures prowl...

Where you always have to keep an eye out for tanks crossing....

And where the sparrows pose for photos.

Thanks to everyone in The South for welcoming us during our holiday and not shooting us for being ignorant northerners.

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (2011)

MyRating: Y1/2

Director: Oliver Parker

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Daniel Kaluuya, Pik-Sen Lim, Richard Schiff, Mark Ivanir

MPAA: Rated PG for mild action violence, rude humor, some language and brief sensuality

Rowan Atkinson is back with his another greater-than-life adventure as Johnny English in a James Bond spoof comedy, which will make you think again if you think that tough, smart, fast, good in fighting and great with women, are the perfect criteria that makes Bond a great secret agent, as Johnny English will proof to you that dumb, clumsy, slow, silly and ignorance are actually the key. So, you may have to forget about Daniel Craig.

After failing an important mission in Mozambique, Johnny English takes a retreat to China to do some introspection for his mistakes and learns martial arts to toughen himself. But when his country needs him for a new mission in order to stop a group of international assassins, named itself as 'Vortex', before they could kill the Chinese Prime Minister and cause worldwide chaos, Johnny English has to come back to his country and resume his role one more time as the MI7 Secret Agent. And he gets himself into another dangerous adventure, without fear of losing his life, in order to serve his country and to save the world. Why they choose him? Because he is the best secret agent available. So, forget about James Bond.

I like Rowan Atkinson and his popular TV Series Mr. Bean (1990-1995). We can say that Atkinson is a natural-born comedian (even though personally he is a quiet and very introvert person) and the character of Mr. Bean is already a legend that will be forever remembered as one of England's finest and iconic comedy. Even though I loved Mr. Bean TV series, as it was very funny and terrific, but the two Mr. Bean movies, Bean (1997) and Mr. Bean Vacation (2007), didn't really work for me. In my opinion, the movie versions were never successful in bringing the full hilarity of Mr. Bean to the big screen as the way I fell for the character in the TV series.

I never watch the first Johnny English (2003) movie, so I went to this sequel with an open mind with the expectation of getting a good comedy, as I might use some good laughs. But I regret to say that the movie hardly made me laugh, as the more the story goes, the more I felt boring and yawned. The comedy worked so slow and too indolent for me, as if I have to wait before I could smile, and before I could laugh, I realized that there was actually nothing really funny to be laughed about. Indeed, the movie were not funny with too many slapstick jokes and very predictable comedy. The dialogs didn't help either, which tried to be funny, but ended up not. And I blame all this to the weak script, the same I blamed the failures of all Mr. Bean's big screen movies to the bad screenplays.

If you are a fan of Mr. Bean and you happened to like this movie, then I know you may not be agreed with me. But this movie did work so wrong for me in every level and I have to honestly say that it was an unfunny disaster. It's a shame that Rowan Atkinson, who I think is a great comedian, never could really show his comedic greatness in the big screen due to, again and again, bad scripts. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

REAL STEEL (2011)

MyRating: YYYYY

Director: Shawn Levy

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, Olga Fonda, Karl Yune

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language

This is one of the movies that I came into the theater with a low expectation, as I am not a big fan of robot movies, and partly also thanks to the rating from the critics in Rotten Tomatoes (in which the average rating number seems to finally end up thinly undecideable, whether the movie is 'fresh' or 'rotten'). However, what I got instead when I came out of the theater was a surprisingly big loves that I felt towards the movie. To more clearly express my feelings, 'This is a movie that I will definitely regret if I end up never watching it'.

The movie has the tone and settings of the 'old fashioned' Americana with the underdog 'Rocky' formula, even though the movie itself is set in the near future and the boxers fighting in the ring are not humans, but robots. Hugh Jackman was a great fun to watch here, playing Charlie Kenton, a former washed-up boxer who now becomes a small-time promoter for his discarded and reprogrammed robots to fight in the underground robot boxing matches. When the robot boxing is becoming a new popular sport to replace the no more popular human boxing, Charlie finds the needs to become part of the fortune that this new sport could offer, but still struggling to earn enough money for living and falling into big debts, one after another, as he keeps buying new robots with a dream to make his robots a champion and a money maker, besides keeps losing money in his boxing bets. And he always ended up with his robots being knocked down in the rings by other more sophisticated and stronger robots, with completely broken body parts that are no good to be fixed again.

 

When things are seemed to not getting any better, Charlie is informed that his ex-girlfriend from the past has died and reminded him that he has an 11-year-old son named Max Kenton, played impressively by Dakota Goyo. As an absent and never a responsible father, Charlie gets an idea to help him out from his red situation by selling his son for money to Max's aunt Debra (Hope Davis) and her husband Marvin (James Rebhorn), a wealthy family who wants a full custody for Max at the first place. But as a condition and request from the couple, Charlie has to take care of Max for three months as the couple are going away for their second honeymoon. Charlie reluctantly agrees with the deal and he brings Max to live with him and his current girlfriend Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly), a woman who deeply loves Charlie for who he is and always being supportive to fulfill his dreams.

The father and son find it difficult to live with each other at the beginning, but their hobby and desire for the same thing, which is the robot boxing sport, slowly bonds them together. When they go to a junkyard to look for parts for the damaged robot, Max finds an old Generation-2 robot named Atom, that used to be a sparring partner for real fighter robots in the past and has a unique mirroring skills. While Charlie thinks that they have found junk, Max somehow has a strong believe that he has found a perfect robot that has what it takes to win. And the only person who can train the robot to become a champion is his father. You probably know where the story might go from here, or you may say that the movie was predictable. However, it is not about where the story will go or how it will end, rather it is about how well you tell the whole story. That is the different that will make even a typical and predictable movie to become an outstanding one.

This movie was a blast due to the wonderful actings from both father and son. Hugh Jackman showed what a fine actor he is, as he nailed the role as the father. Desperate, stubborn, irresponsible and egoistic, as all he cares is his world of boxing and robots. His acting was not only fun to watch with his wide range of facial expressions, but also he breathed a complete soul into Charlie Kenton, an ordinary man with flesh and blood who did mistakes and took wrong decisions, and practically a loser at the beginning of the movie. And the meeting with his son challenged him to not only change how he sees thing, but also how he should change his priority of life.

While as the son, Dakota Goyo was incredibly amazing. I was really impressed by the performance of this very talented young actor, who has a lively and very natural acting skills. Acting is seems to be running through his blood, as he lives up the character of Max, who is persistent, smart, determinate and as stubborn as his father. Not only he can step up to the plate and match the acting of Jackman, but in some scenes, he actually stole the show. A new young star has born. The chemistry between Jackman and Goyo was very solid and emotionally touching, one of the best chemistries between a father and a son roles in a movie for a very long time. And the chemistry between Max and Atom the robot was also tender and warming.

This movie has an amazing story, thanks to the engaging and well written screenplay by John Gatins, with wonderful characterizations and smart dialogs. And two thumbs up to the director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum), who knows how to translate the story to become a great movie, and who knows exactly how to grab and when to rumble your emotions, over and over again. The idea of Max dancing along with his robot before the match was a brilliant one, that will make you smile everytime you see him and the robot dance. Another brilliant scene was when Max running for and grabbing the microphone in the ring to make a speech. Clever, as no one will definitely expect that. Or when Max showed that he was brave enough to accept a bigger bet for his robot's match, while his father was chicken out, unexpectedly following the same thing that Charlie did before when he was very sure with his bet, while his son scared out. And all these worked so well because the characters were developed well, as it will not only make us care for them and what they did, but also make what they did to look believable. Their acts are just the reflections of who they are.

The boxing scenes between the robots were awesome and were a delight to watch. They were funny at times. It is like watching real humans boxing each other with a complete human-like boxing moves, such as uppercut, jab, hook, energetic legs movement, blocking, grappling and knocked the other opponent out to the ring floor. The CGI and special effects were astonishing and looked very real, as well as believable. And the boxing scenes were choreographed and shot in such a way that you still can see the robots fighting in such details, without making you feeling dizzy or confused (Sugar Ray Leonard was involved as the adviser in the boxing scenes). It's amazing to realize that you hold your breath and cheer for the robots while fighting.

I will never forget the expression in Hugh Jackman's face when he enthusiastically punched out his fists to show all out his boxing abilities outside the ring, while Atom the robot fighting inside the ring, with his son and his girlfriend watching him closely and feel happy for him, as they can see him very happy at the moment. Maybe that was the happiest moment of his life. It's just like an expression of a child who is very excited to play with his most favorite toy. The happiness to do the things that you love the most and passionately about. And I cannot but to also feel happy for him. That was a very uplifting moment of the movie.

This is a feel good, very inspiring and heartwarming family movie that will make you cry, smile, laugh and cheer at the same time. What makes this movie great was actually not because of the robots (even though the robots did absolutely look great), but the gripping and emotional human drama inside. Couldn't find myself an inch to NOT to love about this movie, and couldn't understand 'even' for an inch for the people who have watched this movie and hated it. One rock solid entertainment and a must see movie. A champion for the heart. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

My Week On The Web

On The Mixtape Lives On this week I played more songs about teachers from The Smiths, Leonard Cohen, The Trashcan Sinatras and Madness. I was also Keeping It Peel with Billy Bragg and agreed with Half Man Half Biscuit that Hell Is Other People (in French). I also saluted one of my favourite albums of the year and the greatest recorded ever recorded.

Over at Thoughtballoons, I chose this week's character: my ultimate cartoon hero, Wile E. Coyote. Read my 1-page story here.

Elsewhere on the web this week...

There's a nasty Halloween story from Steve Green's Twisted Quill...

Rob started making Halloween masks (collect them all!)...

Larissa from Condemned To Rock & Roll returned to the blogosphere and launched a new music blog with her friend Laura, From A High Horse.

Nobody wants to play paintball with The Punisher...

Two legends of the music blogosphere finally meet face to face...

The Sagittarian snaps flying teddies in NZ...

And Chris meets some interesting people on the bus.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS (2011)

MyRating: YY1/2

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Cast: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfayden, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Milla Jovovich, Christoph Waltz, Orlando Bloom, Gabriella Wilde, Freddie Fox, Juno Temple, Mads Mikkelsen, James Corden

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure action violence
One of Alexander Dumas' most notable masterpieces and legacies (besides The Count of Monte Cristo), The Three Musketeers is back. And now, in the hand of Paul W.S. Anderson (the same director who brought us Mortal Kombat, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Death Race and Resident Evil), this famous and classic swashbucking tale has turned into the 21st century 'Victorian steampunk' adventure with gigantic flying ships, lots of gun powder explosions and least amount of logic.

The young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) goes to Paris with the dream of becoming a Musketeer. Hot headed and reckless, he quickly gets himself into an animosity with Cardinal Richelieu's (Christoph Waltz) guards. At almost the same time, he also arrogantly challenges the three ex-Musketeers, Athos (Matthew Macfayden), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans) into a duel. But as they find out that they are actually in the same boat, as the Three Musketeers also hate Richelieu and his guards for their evil doings (The Cardinal is the mastermind behind the French monarch, who controlls the young and inexperience King Louis XIII (Freddie Fox) like a puppet for his own interests), and as the Three Musketeers are impressed with D'Artagnan's swords skills and determination, they finally become friends. Together, they have to stop the evil grand plan of Richelieu to cause a war between France and England, to fight Captain Rochefort (Mads Mikkelsen), Richelieu's one-eyed leader guard and a fine swordsman, to defeat the treacherous double agent Milady the Winter (Milla Jovovich), and to stop the Duke of Buckingham from England (Orlando Bloom) to attack France.

Paul Anderson surely didn't hesitate to make his movie to look big and spectacular with many supposed to be 'big spectacular' scenes, but the results ended up making the movie looked dumb instead, with many 'big dumb' scenes, and these were what hurt the movie. When I saw Milla Jovovich running and dodging hundreds (or thousands, maybe millions) of deadly hidden weapons shooting all around in the booby trap chamber in the beginning of the movie, I said to myself, "Eww, that was unbelievable stupid!" That was a very bad start and I believed things might get worse only.

But after a very clumsy beginning, I have to say that I somehow started to enjoy the movie when it told the story of D'Artagnan getting into troubles in Paris, meeting with the Three Musketeers and defeating the 40-something royal guards (not 400 guards, as the kingdom had an off day that day). Some of the humors were working just fine. The actings from the cast were not bad actually. Logan Lerman and the Three Musketeers were not outstanding, but they were not bad at all in playing their characters and giving us some fun time. And we have Christoph Waltz who seemed to play his stereotype villain role, but always a fun to watch. King Louis XIII character, played by Freddie Fox, has many screen times in this movie, and like it or not, his silly character (who worries more on what color of suits he should matchingly wear today than on how to rule his kingdom) was kind of a smile-teaser. The movie also has Milla Jovovich, who seemed to get some of her special action scenes here because of her hubby director Anderson, but she is always a one-tough chick. And finally we got Orlando Bloom. I am not sure whether now the girls are still 'screamin and yellin' everytime they hear his name, but he is who he is, never really impressed of him, but again, he was not bad here.

I think the setting and the costumes were good, especially the colorful Victorian costumes. And the cinematography was beautiful, as well as the airships. I didn't watch this movie in 3D, but I could imagine some pretty cool stuffs offered if I watched it in 3D. This movie never stopped being silly though. It was kind of a joke for me when watching an airship shooting brutally towards a building with many enemies and one of our heroes inside, hitting the enemies all around, while our hero managed to run pass through the bullets without any scratch. Or when two airships bombarded each other with heavy weaponry, both got bombed so badly that I was afraid I would fall, but still managed to fly and didn't sink. Or wait until you see them sank on top of a high building. Ridiculously impressive! Over the top and spectacularly dumb.

Don't take it too seriously when watching this movie, even though the filmmakers did take it serious as they confidently give an open ending that will lead to a sequel... if the sequel were ever being made. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

Anyone Can Be An Olympic Hero

So the Olympic Games are coming to the UK (in case you hadn't heard) and the Olympic Torch is currently touring the British Isles, held aloft by the great and good, sportsmen and women of the highest calibre... and even those who were always rubbish at games.

Yep, that's me holding the actual Olympic Torch following its arrival in Huddersfield on Thursday for the University of Huddersfield Open Day where I was working as a social media rep for the day. Sadly the torch wasn't lit, which may have been down to health & safety considerations (let's face it, if anyone was likely to burn themselves on the Olympic Torch, it'd be me); may have been because of the miserable Huddersfield rain; or may just have been because the official "lit torch" tour doesn't begin till next year. Still, it's the real deal - the one held by Seb Coe, Daley Thompson... all the famous athletes (including the ones from after the 1980s), even that kid out of This Is England.

If only my old games teacher could see me now. And he said I couldn't even kick a ball straight! He was right, but maybe that's what the Olympic spirit is all about... for five seconds, holding that torch, anyone can be a sporting hero. Eat your heart out, David Beckham. No, please. I'd pay Man U ticket prices to watch you do that. I'd even provide the fork.

(Update - and now, thanks to Chev, one with the torch actually aflame...)

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011)

MyRating: YYYYY

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Cast: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Ayelowo, Tyler Labine

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense and frightening sequences of action and violence

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a reboot of the famous science fiction series Planet of the Apes, first introduced in 1968, which was followed by four sequels up to 1973. With a story that stands on its own, which retells the tale from the beginning, this reboot also has no correlation with Tim Burton 2001 remake version. This is a surprisingly well made summer blockbuster movie with an emotionally engaging storytelling that may make you see the apes never the same again.

A lab experiment to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease seems to go wrong when one of its genetically-enhanced chimpanzees goes on a rampage and attacks an important board meeting in Gen-Sys, the pharmaceutical company that develops the cure. For showing dangerous and ultra-aggresive behaviors, all the chimps are put to rest, except one baby chimp, who is being hidden by the main scientist who leads the experiment, Will Rodman (James Franco).

Will raises the chimp in his house with his father Charles (John Lithgow), who also suffered from Alzheimer's disease (his father's disease is the reason that drives him to find the cure at the first place). The chimp, being named as Caesar (played by Andy Serkis), inherits his mother's high intelligence, due to the engineered-genes that are running in his blood, which makes him can learn and develop quickly. At age of 3, Caesar has completed puzzles for ages 8 and up. He possesses a human level of intelligence and displays cognitive skills that far exceed that of a human counterpart.

As Caesar grows older, Will's house, which kept him inside for not being exposed, is starting to become too small for him. And his attic's window, where Caesar spent all of his chimp childhood staring outside the window watching the human kids playing on the street, has become a cage for him. After a series of incidents, Caesar is being sent to the San Bruno Primate Sanctuary, where he is being locked up with many other different kinds of apes, all of them being treated poorly and cruelly by the sanctuary chief guard (Tom Felton). Doesn't like to be treated that way, Caesar uses his extraordinary mind and intelligence to plan for a perfect escape and lead all of his fellow apes into freedom, to the better and wide world outside.

I always believe that the main element which makes a movie 'great' is the 'storytelling'. And this movie not only has a clever script with great story, but also an excellence execution by the director Rupert Wyatt (who has no 'hit' before and has only directed less than the number of fingers in your one 'primate' hand). As I sat down in the theater, I was carried away by the engaging and thoughtful story, that not only grasped my mind and my ego towards appreciating good movies, but also grasped my heart inside. This movie has a lot of heart. Never before I thought that watching a movie about 'apes' could be so touching. And never before I thought that an ape (Caesar) could touch me as real as a human being.

The special effects and the computer graphics were top-notch. It was so difficult to separate the 'unreal' from the 'real', as the apes were looked so real, which will make you think that there are indeed apes like that in the real world, who can feel, think, and even talk, all cohesively blended well into the real world. The only thing that separated the 'real' from the 'unreal' was a thin hair that you cannot see.

Andy Serkis, who played Caesar with the performance capture technology, stole the whole show with his amazing and brilliant performance. The way he moved, the way he looked and glanced, and the way he expressed his 'ape' expressions were soulfully possessed into Caesar, as if the ape possessed into him. His great performance here should be acknowledged and remembered as one of the best performances of the year. He is definitely the specialist and the top name in the shelf when talking about 'mocap', as he has played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) and Kong in King Kong (2005), and also in the upcoming The Hobbit dwilogy (2012-2013) to reprise his role as Gollum.

As for the 'real' human characters, I must say that the interesting line of casts were not disappointing at all, even though you may say that they were overshadowed by Serkis' performance. James Franco was fine as the scientist. His chemistries with both Caesar and John Lithgow were well connected and touching. Lithgow also played sympathetic and fun to watch as the 'Alzheimer' father. While as the lover of Will and a primatologist, Freida Pinto's character and acting was a bit underdeveloped, but her beautiful face surely did a better part for her in this film. There was Brian Cox who run the Primate Sanctuary where Caesar was being locked up with other apes. And surprisingly, a quite impressive acting came by Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter saga), who successfully played the villain with his cruel behaviors that will make you feel disgusted for him.

 

This is not a non-stop action movie, as the movie took its time to tell the story, strengthened its dramaturgy, and developed its characters. It's the right way to make you care for them. However, when it came into action, this movie surely did not play it soft. The scene where the apes rushing the Golden Gate Bridge was thrilling, breathtaking and mindblowing, with apes screaming, running and jumping from cars to cars, including a gorilla jumping over a flying helicopter. S.U.P.E.R.B.

For me, this is hands down one of the best movies of this summer. An excellent filmmaking that knows how to play your emotions. The message of the film, which showed by how Caesar treated his enemies, was also well delivered. This movie has laid a very solid foundation for the upcoming sequels. If you have watched this movie and fell for the apes, then it is impossible for you to not wanting a sequel anyway. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

Book Review: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Police Constable Peter Grant responds to an incident involving a headless corpse in Covent Garden and finds himself taking a witness statement from an 18th century ghost. As soon as Grant's 6th sense becomes apparent to his superiors, the hapless plod finds himself paired with Detective Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the Met's only remaining wizard. Together they investigate a mystery that connects the dark origins of Punch & Judy to the warring sprites in charge of the capital's waterways.

Magical realism is obviously big business in the publishing world these days, but it's always a tricky proposition for me as a reader. Aaronovitch is pitching this novel to the adult end of the Harry Potter audience, there's a little too much horror and bad language for kids, yet personally I'd have preferred Rivers Of London to have even more edge. There are some great ideas here, the best of which wouldn't have been out of place in Vertigo's Hellblazer - though John Constantine would have made short work out of this rambling mystery. The author's attempts to portray magic as a pseudo-science also left me cold. Attempting to explain wizardry as a dark cousin of physics or chemistry just seemed to take away the magic.

I'm probably not the target audience though. I was never much of a JK Rowling fan and I prefer my horror a little more visceral. And real. If fantasy's more your thing, you might want to give Rivers Of London a go. Because Peter Grant and Thomas Nightingale will definitely be back...

Keeping It Peel: My Top Ten John Peel Songs

Today is the day we celebrate the great John Peel, without whom all our record collections would be much the sadder. Find out more about Keeping It Peel here. Over on The Mixtape Lives On, I'm playing one of my favourite Peel sessions. And here at SOS... it's my Top Ten Songs About John Peel.

10. CLSM - John Peel Is Not Enough

9. Jeffrey Lewis - The Legend Of The Fall

DJ John Peel says they're his favourite band
Because they're always different and always the same.

8. James - Ten Below

I'm at the bottom of my bed
Headphones on my head
John Peel's show
Feels like ten below

7. Television Personalities - Part-Time Punks

Then they go to Rough Trade to buy Siouxsie & the Banshees
They heard John Peel play it just the other night

6. Helen Love - John Peel Roadshow

And I gotta give my demo to John Peel
I hope he loves my band
And I gotta give my demo to John Peel
I hope he understands

5. Carter USM - Rubbish

"What do you think of the programme so far?"

4. Mitch Benn - A Minute's Noise For John

He soundtracked all our misspent youths
From Teenage Kicks to Home Truths...

3. Bis - We Love John Peel

2. Paul Burch - John Peel

Now he spent time in Dallas
And he told a tall tale
Met John & Jackie on the campaign trail
And he was there in the room
When Oswald was led away
Newsreel footage, taken at the scene
Oswald and Peel 11/24/63

It's time to fold the tent
The empire's no more
Tell your majesty it's over
John Peel sailed on

1. Shirley Lee - An Old Cricketer

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (2011)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenberg , Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson

MPAA: Rated R for some violent content and brief sexuality

Romantic comedy is a genre that is so easy to be loved or to be hated. As cliché as it might be, as usually a romantic love story is actually a cliché, but with the right portion and formula, some romcom may become a gem, especially if you can blend the perfect cast with the sweet and smart storytelling. However, if you mix it the wrong way, then you may get trash instead. And each year, there are so many other romcom that fall safety just in between, to be forgotten as sour and mediocre romantic comedies. I might not call Friends With Benefits as a gem, but this movie surely falls into the first category of a perfect blend of lovely cast and clever storytelling, which resulting into a love potion that is sweet enough to make you fall in love.

 

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis were a delight to watch as their screen appearances sparkled in this R-rated romantic comedy about two opposite sex people, who find the pleasure of turning their physical attractions towards each other into physical satisfactions. To become a sex friend that may benefit one another without any commitment involved.

Dylan (Timberlake) has to move from Los Angeles to New York City after being convinced by an Executive Head Hunter, Jamie (Kunis), to accept a new job with GQ magazine. As he starts his new life in The Big Apple and not knowing anyone else in the new place, Dylan spends a lot of time with Jamie, who introduces him to many fun sides of the city. As they develop a frienship, they quickly discover that they are attracted with each other physically and come into an agreement to have mutual sex, but both also agree to put aside all emotional romanticisms that may complicate their relationship. But as their sexual adventure slowly binds them emotionally, the complication and the commitment that they avoid at the beginning finally catch them unguard. The only thing now is whether they have to trust their feelings, or to deny them.

Will Gluck again delivered us another romantic comedy to be talked and cherished about, after last year turning Emma Stone into a 'pretending' bitch and becoming the talk of her campus in Easy A (2010), the movie that also turned Stone to become a new hot commodity in Hollywood. I think this young director has a good touch and know how to direct a good romcom. With the smart screenplay (also co-written by Gluck), he was able to turn this flick into a very enjoyable movie.

Now, the true stars of this movie were the two main cast. Justin Timberlake, even though he will always have that 'boyband' or 'singer turned-into actor' image, he played his part quite well as the lead actor. Yes, he could have played some of his scenes better (and I think he sang a bit too much in this movie), but he surely has his own charms. And what can I say about Mila Kunis. She was hot. Her stunning and exotic beauty has stolen my heart. She has stolen many people's hearts. She has that natural talent to become a great actress, and I believe she will. Her appearance in this movie was just overflowing the screen with her charming and lovable personality, with a combination of headstrong and sassy character. And her acting was great, as lively as her big beautiful eyes. She may be the one who made this movie extra fun to watch.

The chemistry between Timberlake and Kunis was shining like a diamond in the sky. They just look so perfect together on screen. You may expect a lot of kissing and hugging and cuddling, and seeing both of them under the bed sheet. And there were plenty enough, believe me. The scene where they were dancing with the crowds, even though not original, was a good one. And I liked when they put another one near the end of the movie at the Grand Central Station, it just like a confirmation of love.

Besides the main characters that made us care about them, the supporting characters were also interesting to watch, such as Patricia Clarkson as a mom who has a very moderate mind towards sex, with her silly and comical character, and Woody Harrelson as a classy gay co-worker who owns a boat. The relationship between Timberlake and his father who suffered Alzheimer's disease, played by Richard Jenkins, was also heartwarming and emotionally touching at times. Again, all thanks to the well written script that cleverly catched the important moments and gave this movie a satisfying ending. Also watch for Emma Stone as the cameo in the beginning of the movie. This is a very romantic movie. Funny, sweet and well... romantic. A perfect date movie with your love one. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT