GANGSTER SQUAD

GANGSTER SQUAD
Written by Will Beall
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Starring Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn

Mickey Cohen: It’s like they say, all good things must eventually be burnt to the ground for the insurance money.

It’s hard for me to accept that the first major studio release of the year, one featuring a bevy of big names no less, would also be a serious candidate for one of the worst films of the year. I’m not sure why it’s difficult considering how many times it has happened in the past, but when you see this much money invested in such a high profile project like GANGSTER SQUAD, you have to think that Warner Brothers must have put someone in charge who knew what he was doing. Instead, they put Ruben Fleisher in charge, a man whose directorial debut, ZOMBIELAND, can now officially be called a total fluke.

GANGSTER SQUAD is actually a complete joke of a movie, or rather it has to be viewed as one in order to make watching it bearable. Screenwriter, Will Beall, if you want to call him that, has composed a fictionalized account of how infamous gangster, Mickey Cohen, was taken down by an elite and highly top secret gang of super cops, who have banded together in their common goal to see a safer Los Angeles. They are also all post-war soldiers who don’t know what to do with all their misplaced aggression. And in keeping with the facile screenwriting tropes that Beall seems to believe are the foundation of a good genre picture, this band of not-so-merry men is made up of misfits, from a sharp shooter to a hot head to the brains of the operation. Only one of them has a family to worry about so you know exactly which one is going to die first. This is the kind of genius to his writing.

Amidst all the predictable plot development and laughable dialogue, is Fleischer’s total mismanagement of said material. At times, I wasn’t even sure there was a director on set. If there was, I’m sure he would have told Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling to stop trying so hard all the time. Every element of their performances seems forced and rehearsed, without the smallest trace of organic humanity to them. I swear, even the way Gosling puts bacon in his mouth is calculated. That said, over doing it is better than not doing anything at all with your time on screen. I’m talking to you, Josh Brolin. Everyone is either good or bad here; actual character development and layering is not even a consideration. And Emma Stone as Penn’s love interest? That would be disturbing even if Penn’s make-up didn’t make him look like a corpse.

Visually, GANGSTER SQUAD is all style over substance, but with very little trace of taste or ability. There is a brief allusion to the idea that there is little difference between the violence of the mob and the methods used by the squad to bring the mob down, which could give the film some sense of meaning and purpose. Then they take this concept and hammer it into the audience over and over again as character after character questions their moral involvement in the squad. There is only one way for this shell of a film to finish and that would be in a barrage of gaudy gunfire that takes out everything in sight. When the smoke clears, it’s pretty obvious that Fleisher should stick to comedies, if that. At least those are intentionally supposed to be funny.

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man, 2012
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans

We all know the story of Spiderman. Nerdy high school boy Peter Parker, bitten by radioactive spider, gains superpowers and becomes Spiderman. Best known in the movie forms that starred Tobey Macguire and Kirsten Dunst, in the form of 3 films.

Well, here we are in 2012, only 5 years since Spider-Man 3 came out. It's a "whole new origins story", now starring the critically acclaimed Andrew Garfield, and the new comedienne Emma Stone. While I remember being extremely skeptical when this "reboot" was announced, I slowly warmed to the idea when I saw the first trailer, and saw Andrew as Peter.

It's not secret that I have a huge celebrity crush on Andrew Garfield and love his acting. He was particularly phenomenal in Never Let Me Go, and I personally thought he deserved an acting nomination over Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network. However, I digress.

While the trailer and commercials and posters have promised an origins story for Peter and his alter ego, I'd say that was a little more of a let down. There's wasn't too much origins, though it was more of a relationship/personal movie than an action one, which I respect.

I haven't watched any of the Spider-Man movies for a very long time, so I can't really remember how well they resemble each other. Obviously, there were various things that happened that also happened in the Raimi version, such as Uncle Ben's death, the idea of the responsibility to do the right thing should you have the power to do it and, obviously, getting bitten by a radioactive spider and developing his costume and persona.  However, these things had to happen, and they did it in a different way than the original Raimi versions did.

Peter's reaction to his gaining of superpowers was extremely well-done, I thought. It was done in a realistic way, a way that I could imagine myself reacting. Breaking everything, being very confused, and just trying to ignore they happened and move on. The sequence in the bathroom and in his bedroom after that was well done. Additionally, once Peter had finally officially suited up and was roaming the streets for his Uncle's killer, we got a smart-talking Spider-Man, which was very fun. He had some fantastic lines, and made the whole thing quite amusing without overdoing it too much.

While the sequences with Peter were very good, it takes quite a bit into the movie for the Lizard to finally appear. It's not until about halfway through (which is at least an hour in) that Dr. Curt Connors finally turns into the Lizard. And if there were any plot-holes that I could complain about (and there were a few), it'd be more with the Lizard than with Peter or Peter and Gwen. While some the fighting sequences looked amazing (possible Oscar attention for Visual Effects? I'd say it's very possible), there were too many times when the Lizard has him in his grips and doesn't really do anything to Peter. Sure, tell me that villains like to torture their victims or whatever, or the director tried to make it suspenseful, but I thought it was a bit lazy.

In fact, while I enjoyed the movie, I felt like the Lizard was kind of the last thing planned in the story, as though it was decided they were going to do a Spider-man movie, and would do Gwen Stacy and be all comic-book, and oh yeah we need a villain. The Lizard sound ok? While it was an okay villain, it felt like it was way less planned out that Peter's story was, and while I understand this movie was an 'origins' story, I would've liked the villain to make more sense.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. However, this is probably due to the fact that Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield were fantastic and I feel like I probably wouldn't have liked the movie as much if they weren't in it. Andrew Garfield is a solid actor and has done some good work thus far, and, I find, to be very under-appreciated. He gave a great performance in this film. Though he's about 29 years old, I thought he was able to strike that teenager attitude well. While he didn't exactly look 17 (I'd say he looked about 21, which isn't too bad for a high school movie if you really think about it), he captured the typical walk teen guys have, and had great chemistry with Emma Stone (duh), and really pulled off the cutesyness well. I just really like Andrew Garfield here, okay guys?

Overall, I enjoyed this reboot. It was fun, it was funny, quirky, cute, with some good action sequences. I'd even hazard to say it's been my favourite Superhero movie of the year thus far (okay, there's only been two, but I didn't like the Avengers, so there you have it.) though I know that'll change in a few weeks time when Batman is released.

7/10
(no, I didn't love it, and yes my favourite superhero movie of the year so far gets a 7)

The Amazing Spiderman (2D)

A reboot to early or a money making scheme used by the studios to cash in on the superhero crazy which seems to be at its pinnacle right now; these are the two things that come to mind when I think about The Amazing Spiderman starring a brand new cast of Andrew Garfield (taking over the honors from Tobey Maguire), Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, and Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben.

Anupama Chopra, one of India’s leading film critics, suggests that we should go into the movie without thinking about the earlier franchise. While that would be the optimal approach to The Amazing Spiderman, I cannot help but compare the two at every level and for that very reason I find this reboot more and more unnecessary.

The angst that Maguire's Peter Parker brought to the franchise was something more relatable. Garfield, while doing justice to the costume, comes across as cockier and not so much of a "loser" as his counterpart from the earlier films. Unfortunately, as a result, the transformation into Spiderman has a much stronger impact and effect on Maguire's Parker than on the one portrayed by Garfield. The same is also visible in the actual transformation. While Maguire goes through a number of issues trying to discover his powers, Garfield almost eases through this process in a small ineffective montage. Spiderman, in both cases, at heart, starts off as a vigilante trying to avenge his uncle's death but it is his realization into a superhero that is once again brought together marvelously in Raimi's version whereas Marc Webb gives The Amazing Spiderman a more comic-bookishness in this new rendition.

The obligatory aspects of the Spiderman story; being bullied in school, death of Uncle Ben, are all present in The Amazing Spiderman. Unfortunately they feel repetitious due to the proximity of the film to Spiderman. The film also lacks memorable dialogues that were omnipresent in the earlier films. Who can forget "With great power comes great responsibility"? Furthermore, with nothing to compare the iconic upside-down wet kiss of Spiderman with Mary Jane, the new feature adds almost no memorable aspects to its story or characters.  

As directors both Raimi and Webb bring completely different visions to the film. While Raimi's version is more story oriented focusing on the numerous emotions of Peter Parker, Webb, besides taking too long to get the story going, is more visual in trying to wow the audience with special effects. Granted there are scenes that are amazing to look at, but I have always found Spiderman to be more about the characters than just the look of the film. We also have to keep in mind the addition of the 3D aspect, which is always pointless in my view, in The Amazing Spiderman; something that was missing earlier, and something I was thankfully able to avoid this time as well.     

The love interests of Peter Parker/Spiderman are different in both the films and that allows for the audience to look at them separately. Although, the fact remains that as love interests both the characters bring about a certain maturity to the story which is comparable. While the universally likeable Emma Stone, Playing Gwen Stacy, might be the best part about the entire film, she is unable to compare herself with the depth and conflict faced by Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson in the earlier films.Mary Jane is a more complex character facing family issues, a want to make a name for herself in acting, and of course discovering love in the most unusual of places. The love triangle in the previous films form an intrinsic part of the story and the on-off relationship between Mary Jane and Peter Parker added an entirely new dimension, something that was missing from this film. It's also pertinent to note that due to the structure of the film, The Amazing Spiderman misses out on the Peter Parker - Harry Osborn friendship aspect which took the dynamics of the previous franchise to a whole new level. 

One thing that superhero films of the past have taught us is that the villain is almost as important as the hero. This is where The Amazing Spiderman gets squashed by a rolled up Daily Bugle. William Dafoe as the Green Goblin had such a strong presence in Spiderman that no matter how hard Rhys Ifans tries to regenerate himself as the Lizard, he falls short in comparison. Furthermore, The Green Goblin has been one of the few iconic villains which are known to non comic book readers, whereas The Lizard is someone relatively unknown to the same people.

The Amazing Spiderman could have worked much better had it been released maybe a decade in the future. Right now, the public that is going to view this film has in most cases already seen Spiderman and its sequels and thus this reboot feels forced, unless Marvel has plans to add Spiderman to its already successful Avengers lineup. Maguire's Parker was much grounded, something I appreciated in Spiderman. Garfield’s Spiderman is a comic-book hero with panache and takes away the innocence that forms an fundamental part of this teenage hero entrusted upon with a superpower unexpectedly.

With news of The Amazing Spiderman being developed into a trilogy, I honestly can say that my interest now lies in seeing Spiderman only as part of Avengers and not as a separate franchise.        

Rating 2.5/5

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and Denis Leary

Spider-Man: Hey! Watch it! I’m swingin’ here! I’m swingin’ here!

My guess is that calling the new Spider-Man reboot, “The Occasionally Amazing but Mostly Just OK and Reasonably Redundant Spider-Man” might not have been a slam dunk, marketing wise, so I get why they went with the shorter, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN instead. The fact is, this latest film incarnation of everyone’s favorite web slinging superhero exists for one reason and one reason only. If Sony didn’t put out another film before a certain date, they would lose their rights back to Marvel, and one of their most successful film franchises would be finished. So they took a gamble and decided to start from scratch on a series that only finished five years ago, hoping that just enough time had passed for the next generation to claim Spidey as their own. As to whether that gamble pays off financially, which is of course the only way that really counts, that remains unseen. As for its critical success, my opinion is still swinging from side to side.

Under the direction of (500) DAYS OF SUMMER helmer, Marc Webb, who incidentally loses all trace of originality and personal voice as part of this massive machine, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN takes us back to when our lovably geeky hero, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), was still in high school. It isn’t long before he is bit by a radio active spider when he breaks away from the group at a laboratory focused on cross-species genetics. And not long after that, Peter can just tell; something is not right from his spider bite. The problem here is that this whole spider bite bit has already been done, and not so long ago. Sure, everyone is entitled to their own different take on the tale but Webb’s doesn’t feel all that different than Sam Raimi’s 2002 version. You can’t really mess too much with an origin story, unless you want to enrage the fanboys (and girls), but that doesn’t leave today’s viewer, whose memory may not have entirely faded after just ten years, to feel like they’re watching something they haven’t already seen. By the time Parker loses his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) in a senseless mugging, it feels like a plot point we just had to get past rather than the pivotal moment it truly is.

To overcome the more plodding details of the plot, Webb must differentiate his Spider-Man visually and through character. Garfield is a great Peter Parker. In his teenage form, Parker is very shy and befuddled around others. He has a strong moral compass but he hasn’t yet figured his whole self out so his motivations can occasionally be heavily influenced by his ego. And once he’s flying through the air as Spider-Man, Garfield continues to soar in the part. He is a more aggressive, more raw, more fearless Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire ever was. His cunning often caught me off guard and Spidey’s rumbles with The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) are some of the film’s more exhilarating moments. When it comes down to it, if you’re a fan of Spider-Man movies, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN can be an incredible ride. I for one love flying through the air on nothing but a web and a prayer, but when this ride comes to its inevitable end, some may feel like they’ve already been on it before.

2012 Anticipated Films

Here are some trailers from upcoming movies I'm looking forward to. Taking a break from the Awardsy movies, and sharing some films I'm looking forward to this year!

The Hunger Games- March 23rd 2012

The Amazing Spiderman- July 3rd 2012

The Dark Knight Rises- July 20th 2012

Brave- June 22nd 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

December 14th 2012

Special mentions: Les Miserables, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The 5 Year Engagement, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, The Great Gatsby, Gangster Squad, Gravity

A Look at the Pre-Cursor Oscar Nominations

Hello folks! Just wanted to quickly say, before I get started, thanks for all the international views! It truly means a lot! (:

Anyways, so as you all know, a bunch of Pre-cursor Oscar nominations were released within the last week. We had the Critics Choice Awards, The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Nominations, and the Golden Globes.

Starting with the Critics Choice Awards, we didn't see too many surprises here. All the Best Picture's were to be expected, and along with all the acting awards. Though one surprise, at least I thought, was the choice for "Bridesmaids" to be nominated for Best Acting Ensemble. I haven't seen this film, knowing it's only some raunchy movie that features women (instead of the usual men) and filled with sex, but other than that, i don't know much about it. Maybe it's not surprised, but to me, it was. Additionally, we saw the nomination of Andy Serkis for his motion capture role in the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. There's been a big lobby going on for his nomination at the Oscars, and it looks like it's starting to head in the right direction.

The SAG Nominations didn't hold all that many surprises, though, again, we saw Bridesmaids for Best Cast in a motion picture. And all the films nominated, at least last year, ended with Best Pictures nods. Could this mean Bridesmaids is going for Oscar Gold? Time will tell! The only surprises we have here is the nomination of Demian Bichir from A Better Life, and Armie Hammer being Nominated for J. Edger and Jonah Hill for Moneyball. Though Gary Oldman and Michael Fassbender both were snubbed in the Best Actor Category.

The Golden Globes, again, not too many surprises. The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, Moneyball, War Horse, The Artist, Bridesmaids, My week with Marilyn, Midnight in Paris, 50/50. You get the idea.

Overall, the Race seems to be on.

So far, leading the nominations are:
The Artist- 19 (6 GG, 3 SAG, 10 CC)

The Help- 17(5 GG, 8CC,  4 SAG)
Hugo- 14 (3GG,11 CC, 0 SAG)
Descendants- 14 (5GG, 7CC, 2 SAG

It looks like these 4 will be the big contenders for Best Picture on Oscar night.

Gary Oldman and Tinker Tailor Solider Spy were snubbed, overall, in general.

Harry Potter (though it's been included in several of the art & tech categories, and should do well come Oscar night) has also been unincluded in any of the Best Picture/Ensemble categories. The elusive Alan Rickman has also not appeared on any nominations list, though his performance was good, I'm frankly not surprised. They should hold out hope for an art/tech award and nomination only

Shame has also received very few nominations, though Fassbender was nominated at the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes .

War Horse has received some but not many nominations, including Speilberg being snubbed for Best Director at the Golden Globes.

And Albert Brooks and Shailene Woodley both were, shockingly, snubbed out of the SAG nominations, though they will both, most likely end up with the Oscar nom.

Needless to say, the race has been shaken up a little, though has solidified many already favourites, and given perspective on what to expect January 24th. Predictions will be updated by tomorrow morning, and happy Christmas and awards season!

The Help

The Help, 2011

Directed by Tate Taylor

Possible Nominations include: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song

Synopsis: Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up -- to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories -- and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly -- and unwillingly -- caught up in the changing times. (Source: IMDB)

I saw this film a while back, so you'll forgive me if I forget some things.

I remember coming across mentions of this film back in January. I had just watched Emma Stone in a movie, and wondered what else she was coming out in, and read about the Help. Then I read that it could be an Oscar Favourite. Then before it came out, I watched the trailer and was intrigued. So like the bookworm I am, I picked up the book and read it first, before going to see. I loved the book. Not knowing much about racism in the South, besides the little they teach in Canadian schools, I learned so much. Racism didn't make a whole lot of sense. And young Skeeter saw this.

I went to see the film with my mother on a Cheap Tuesday evening in early September. Yeah, 2 months ago, I know. I remember being a little nervous, because the book was so long, with several different story lines and characters that I wasn't sure how true to the book it was going to be. Being a Harry Potter fan, I become weary when a book becomes a movie because more often than not, it's not adapted well. But I must say, this one was.

The film was well done. They handled telling three different women's stories quite well. Skeeter's storyline was interesting, without making her too much the focus. You felt Aibileen's frustration and heartbreak, and you grow to love Minny, hilarious as she is, and also really sympathise everything she is going through- between caring for a "crazy white lady", having an abusive husband, and, well, being black in 1960's Louisiana. 

Additionally, this film was acted quite well. Viola Davis (Aibileen) is almost a lock for Best Actress, as well as Octavia Spencer (Minny) most likely being nominated for Best Supporting. Emma Stone, while her accent occasionally got away from her, held her own, this being (as far as I know) her first very serious role. Bryce Dallas Howard, was fantasticly evil, and brilliant.

Overall, I really liked this film. It's an interesting story, not too predictable, and educational. While it is likely to get nominated for Best Picture in 2012, it is extremely unlikely it shall win. As much as I liked it, I know it's not quite the Academy's sort of film, but we'll see when the show rolls around.

Rating: A-

408. The Help

408. (03 Sep) The Help (2011, Tate Taylor)* 54



The Help is so cloying and manipulative, it's almost implausible a performance like Viola Davis' can exist within it. The film simply doesn't deserve her, as Davis gives a performance with such grace and nuance the rest of the cast looks amateurish in her wake. The bug-eyed Octavia Spencer, for instance, is positively exhausting to watch, playing broad comedy as if she wandered out of a TBS sitcom. I'm unclear how both of these ladies can be considered on par in Oscar buzz.

The film itself is so shamelessly tear-jerking, sentimental, and crowd-pleasing, it seems destined for a Best Picture nomination. That's an excessive honor, to be sure, for a film that overplays a poopy pie joke and derails in its unrelentingly upbeat finale. (A senile Sissy Spacek saying she can only remember that she was put in a nursing home by Bryce Dallas Howard and that her daughter ate poop is where the gag has clearly been beaten to death.) The lengthy run-time is felt in the last hour when an out of nowhere argument erupts between Emma Stone and Chris Lowell. For the most part, The Help is well-structured enough to maintain interest, but the need to tie up loose ends with the last few scenes is the film's undoing.

Sharen Davis' costumes would be a worthy awards competitor. A plaid jacket Lowell wears in his second scene with Stone is an outstanding costumes and all of the work here easily outshines her forgettable garbs from Ray and Dreamgirls. She rivals Anna B. Sheppard as one of those costume designers with no range, but she's in her wheelhouse with The Help.

THE HELP

Written and Directed by Tate Taylor

Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard and Octavia Spencer

Aibileen: What if you don't like what I got to say 'bout white people?

Jackson, Mississippi has a rich history but it certainly also has its fair share of shame. Great turmoil does however make for great drama in novice filmmaker, Tate Taylor’s THE HELP, based on the wildly popular novel of the same name, written by Kathryn Stockett, one of Tate’s oldest friends. They grew up together in the South and their combined familiarity with the subject gives them the distinct perspective necessary to explore the complicated dynamics between white families and the black maids that kept them together. While it is perfectly acceptable for the maids to handle the dinner and the children, it is somehow unthinkable to have them use the same toilet. That's the way it was in Jackson in 1962 and even though some practices were just a step or two away from slavery still, everybody kept to their roles with big smiles on their faces. That's just the way it was done, the way it had always been done … until someone finally started asking why.

In the 1960's, America was in the throes of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. led a quarter million people in prayer at the March on Washington and progress seemed achievable. Meanwhile, in the South, black men and women were being beaten senseless, or worse yet killed, for any attempt to push the civil rights movement forward. It was most certainly not a good time for a black maid to sit down and recount what working for white people was really like. It would seem even more ludicrous to share these potentially damaging stories with an actual white woman. Regardless, this is what Aibileen (Viola Davis) does when Eugenia (Emma Stone) asks her, not because she's always done what white women have asked of her, but because it was time. The stories she tells are both heartbreaking and heart warming, revealing just how complex these relationships truly are. There is love between some of these women, of that there is no question. And yet there is also superiority and ownership and perhaps most importantly, there is tradition. This is what all these women know. Change is not easy; making change is even harder.

There is so much unrest in these situations but you would never know. The trick is to never let on, a perfect glow must shine on the surface at all times. Of course, it is all terribly ironic that these maids are the ones to polish these particular surfaces. That said, there is plenty of shine in THE HELP. Taylor’s lack of experience behind the camera shows when certain delicate moments feel a tad rushed, but that hardly matters when the entire cast is this delightful and endearing. While it is refreshing to see Stone play something other than sarcastic for a change, and naturally Davis anchors the picture with great weight, it is Bryce Dallas Howard as queen of the white ladies, Hilly Holbrook, and lesser know, Octavia Spencer, as the feistiest of maids, Minny, who truly give THE HELP the punch it requires to become as memorable and enjoyable as it is. Collectively, the entire cast, rounded out by touching performances from Sissy Spacek and Alison Janney, maintain an air of ease, which is even more so commendable considering how they all know somewhere in the back of their minds that everything they know is about to change forever. The best part is that you can also see that some of these women know this change is for the best.

CRAZY STUPID LOVE

Written by Dan Fogelman

Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Starring Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

Jacob: Be better than the Gap.

Well, I'll give them "crazy" and "stupid" but that's pretty much where the love stops for me. CRAZY STUPID LOVE is yet another romantic comedy that gets lost in all the crazy highs and stupid lows we have all come to associate with that elusive and all-encompassing emotion we call love. And while love certainly causes all of us to exercise poor judgment from time to time without question, a good chunk of us still crave its complexity regardless. We've all certainly been there but hopefully when we were there, we were nowhere near as pathetic as this ensemble comedy is.

CRAZY STUPID LOVE is the second directorial effort from duo, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I LOVE YOU PHILIP MORRIS), and even though two heads should be better than one, you would think no one was in charge from how aimless and tired this plot plays out. Their choices, whey they actually make some, are simple enough for any love struck idiot to understand. We know from the moment the film starts that the love is gone for Cal and Emily (Steve Carell and Julianne Moore) by what they're wearing on their feet. Everyone at the restaurant is playing footsie under the table with their fancy footwear except for these two. Cal is wearing running shoes so we know that he's given up trying. He also drinks from a straw and his wife does the driving so we know he's a sad man. At one point, they end up in an argument in a school parking lot, shortly after it looks like they might reconcile no less, and it begins to rain down heavily on Carell after Moore walks away from him dramatically. "What a cliche," he exclaims and I could not have agreed any more.

After Cal and Emily separate at the beginning of the film, Cal tries to get back out there. This is where he meets Jacob (Ryan Gosling), a smooth operator, who for some inexplicable reason, takes pity on Cal and decides to help him become a real man. Of course, becoming a man people can respect means buying into a world of materialism and detachment, two paths that certainly do not lead to love. As fantastic as it is to watch Gosling let loose for a change, it is clear from the start that ultimately it will be his womanizing ways that will need adjusting in order for him to find true happiness, especially if he intends to land the beautiful Hannah (Emma Stone). And as if there weren't enough tumultuous sub-plots intersecting already, screenwriter, Dan Fogelman (TANGLED), gives us a few more love conundrums to ponder involving a babysitter with an inappropriate crush, a 13-year-old lovesick boy and Kevin Bacon. The point is to distract and make us laugh but all it does is weight the whole project down with heavy awkwardness.

I will not pretend to know too much about love. It seems to me it comes in many different forms and we can only know what it does to us as individuals when we're in it. I can say that my experience has been that it is a transformative emotion well worth every pain that comes with it. It is tricky enough to navigate in the real world though and hard to take seriously in a world as contrived as the one created in CRAZY STUPID LOVE. While Ficarra and Requa attempt to convey how our modern society has made it even more difficult to find love and hold on to it once we have it, they still hold true to the archaic notion that we all have one perfect partner, a "soul mate" if you will, waiting out there for us to find. As far as love in the present day goes, that notion is about as stupid and crazy as they come.

TIFF Review: EASY A

Written by Bert V. Royal

Directed by Will Gluck

Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes and Thomas Haden Church

Olive: I used to be invisible. If Google Earth were a guy, he couldn’t find me if I were a ten-storey building.

What Ojai, California, high school student, Olive Penderghast, has to go through in director, Will Gluck’s EASY A to get her “A” cannot be described as anything remotely close to easy. That said, sitting back and watching everything she has to go through is one of the easiest things you’ll ever have to do. Not only does Glick make it easy for us to enjoy his second feature film, he makes sure we learn a thing or two while we’re in the midst of losing ourselves in hysterical laughter. Did I mention this is a teen comedy?

We are first introduced to Olive on her webcam. The lovely Emma Stone stares directly at us as Olive and tells us flat out that we are about to hear her side of a story, which she insists to us is in fact the right side of the story. She proceeds to tell us in incremental chapters about how one lie she told to her best friend in a bathroom about how she lost her virginity to a college boy over the weekend, spiraled out of control and ruined her life. She has a face you want to believe but we have no reason to trust her really. It is Stone’s conviction that ultimately sells it though; she is a sharp, young lady but her vulnerability is never disregarded and I can’t think of any reason why she would make any of this up.

EASY A is easily one of the funniest films I’ve seen all year. The entire ensemble, from Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as Olive’s ultra-open-minded parents to Thomas Haden Church as Olive’s favourite teacher, are hilarious and seem to be having the best of times in their roles. Essentially, the whole thing is infectious and leaves a lasting impression because it goes beyond the sharp, witty dialogue we’ve come to expect in any teen comedy effort to show us that intelligence and growth are not yet lost on the young.