1. Hop – $21.7M
2. Arthur – $12.6M
3. Hanna – $12.3M
4. Soul Surfer – £11.1M
5. Insidious – $9.7M
6. Your Highness – $9.5M
7. Source Code – $9.1M
8. Limitless – $5.7M
9. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – $4.9M
10. The Lincoln Lawyer – $4.6M
Review: Rio (2011)
Rio is the latest animation film from Blue Sky Studios, and features the voice talents of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann and Jamie Foxx.
The film centers on Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, who, when he meets the fiercely independent Jewel (Anne Hathaway), takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with this bird of his dreams.
The peppy, action-packed and convivial screenplay – aside from struggling to sustain the party atmosphere to the end, and falling foul to the well-trodden romantic chase caper, and the trademark slapstick gags – combines charm, thrills, laughs and romance to admirable, sweet avail. It’s not overly complicated, and may feel a tad strained at times, but the approach is sharp enough to keep you entertained throughout.
The characters, including the humans, are under-developed and, no matter how top-notch the voice acting is, the dialogue feels too conventional and flaky to capture audiences attention like other, braver, animation films.
There is, however, one exception. Clement, who voices Nigel, a red-eyed cockatoo, steals every scene he’s in, even delivering a hilarious yet equally fearsome performance as the central villain.
In a technical sense, Rio is simply exquisite, with director Carlos Saldanha ensuring every scene twinkles with a remarkably high level of attention-to-detail. The 3D is crisp, richly attained with a tremendous depth of field, accentuating the glorious, picturesque scenery and wonderfully buoyant animation, and never feeling unnecessary.
The music, ranging from John Powell’s score to original songs by Taio Cruz and will.i.am, was tempestuous, but not always as soaring as you’d expect.
Rio may not be hugely original, and certainly has its share of flaws, but it has a refreshingly light, entertaining feel to it that, in addition to the superb animation and energetic voice acting, should leave you beaming from cheek to cheek.
Poster: Cars 2
Director: John Lasseter and Brad Lewis
Starring: Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Jason Isaacs and Larry The Cable Guy
Plot: Racing star Lightning McQueen teams up with his best friend Mater for an international adventure as they go up against the world’s fastest cars.
UK Release: TBC
Review: The Silent House (2010)
Claiming to be based on a true story, The Silent House is a daring and captivating new Uruguayan horror film from director Gustavo Hernández.
The film focuses on Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father, Wilson (Gustavo Alonso), as they move into an empty house in order to renovate it in preparation for its impending sale.
The owner leaves them with only one instruction: don’t go upstairs. However, when they suddenly hear loud banging coming from the upper level, Wilson decides to disobey the order and goes up to see what is going on. Laura is left on her own, waiting for her father to re-emerge.
Supposedly shot in a single take, Hernández uses this relatively unusual technique to his advantage, establishing a sinister, troubling atmosphere from the offset and allowing that to escalate and and expand in an inspired, torrid way as the narrative progresses. However, it comes with its own innate problems. Mistakes, such as the other people on set being glimpsed in reflections, damage the carefully constructed atmosphere and pull you out of the experience.
Nevertheless, bumps, groans and hide-behind-your-pillow shocks, all superbly shot and executed through a darkly lit handheld mini-cam, make The Silent House one hell of a thrill ride, managing to keep the audience engaged and jittery throughout – something that hasn’t been achieved this exquisitely since the original Paranormal Activity invaded our cinemas.
We are given enough of the characters’ background to be able to fully emote and empathise with them, but the actors, Colucci and Alonso, aren’t experienced enough to maintain the level of dedication and skill needed to carry a film of this nature.
That said, The Silent House isn’t a character piece, and shouldn’t be judged too harshly for its lack of character development and shoddy acting.
Admittedly, the paradoxical ineffectiveness of the way the film is shot makes it clear the events that take place are theatrical, and the ending is perhaps a little too ambiguous for its own good, but The Silent House is nothing short of a bold, ingeniously executed and genuinely terrifying tour de force. Seek it out.
Poster: Skateland
Director: Anthony Burns
Starring: Ashley Greene, Shiloh Fernandez, James LeGros and Taylor Handley
Plot: In the early 1980’s, in small-town Texas, dramatic events force a 19-year-old skating rink manager to look at his life in a very new way.
UK Release: TBC
Trailer: Melancholia
Director: Lars Von Trier
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland and Charlotte Rampling
Cinema Releases: April 8, 2011
Rio
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway and George Lopez
Mars Needs Moms
Director: Simon Wells
Starring: Seth Green, Joan Cusack and Dan Fogler
The Roommate
Director: Christian E. Christiansen
Starring: Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester and Cam Gigandet
Tomorrow, When The War Began
Director: Stuart Beattie
Starring: Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood and Lincoln Lewis
The Silent House (La Casa Muda)
Director: Gustavo Hernández
Starring: Florencia Colucci, Abel Tripaldi and Gustavo Alonso
Poster: Insidious
Director: James Wan
Starring: Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins and Leigh Whannell
Review: Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Mars Needs Moms is the latest motion-capture animation film from Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers Digital production studio, and is an adaptation of Berkeley Breathed’s beloved children’s novel.
The film centers on Milo, a young boy who gains a deeper appreciation for his mum after Martians come to Earth and take her away to harvest her mothering prowess for their nanny bots.
Simon and Wendy Wells have penned a screenplay that is so devoid of magic and charm that it ultimately lacks an engaging narrative, three-dimensional characters and any humour. It often resorts to thrill ride antics, detached action and a lot of racing around in the desperate hope of evoking some enjoyment, but falls flat on its face in the process.
Aside from attempting to convey a very well hidden message about children devoting more time and attention to their parents, it’s an altogether impersonal experience. The script, by never allowing enough time to get to know Milo and his mum – or any other character for that matter – on a personal basis, has clearly been brushed aside in favour of these so-called more realistic digital imager effects.
Due to the digital obsession, the characters are extremely unlikeable. Behind the revolutionary motion-capture technology, they feel too simplistic and superficial or, in more simple terms, totally dead behind the eyes to emote with.
Seth Green, Dan Fogler and Joan Cusack provide respectable voice-overs, but aren’t distracting enough, or able to transpose enough of their personality and passion to bring the dialogue and concealed heartfelt message to life.
The motion-capture animation, which has been implemented by Zemeckis before on The Polar Expess, is worse than ever. It’s hard to remember that a visionary director such as Zemeckis was responsible for such instrumental films as Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, when we’re bestowed with such nonsense.
The 3D is unnecessary and, along with the bland, dark and unattractive cinematography, makes Mars looks like a dreadful planet, somewhere you’d desperately want to avoid at all costs.
Mars Needs Moms is a badly animated, dispassionate and irresolute mess that will unquestionably scorn Walt Disney Pictures’ renowned brand for years to come.
Trailer: Johnny English Reborn
Director: Oliver Parker
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West and Gillian Anderson
Empty Screens 