I had extremely low hopes for Your Highness. This is probably one of the main reasons I ended up enjoying it as much as I did.

A film that feels like a mix of Harold and Kumar and Pineapple Express (with a little bit of The Princess Bride), Your Highness is silly and non-threatening. The stakes aren’t high, the plot is incredibly thin, and the acting is horrible - but somehow the film is fun enough to bypass all of these negatives. It’s offensive and crude, but hearing Danny McBride and James Franco spout their worst English accents and prance around knowing that they’re making a ridiculous film washes away all the negative things I could say about the film.

I always say that it’s an important distinction to make in filmmaking (when making a bad film on purpose) is to point out the fact that you are doing so. If you put out a bad film and don’t realize it (Twilight, The Room, etc) then you can really end up having your feelings hurt when people berate and tear apart your film. Your Highness knows it’s not a good film and goes out of its way to ensure that you’re constantly reminded of this fact by throwing more and more ridiculous things at the audience, forcing them to accept this.

It’s not a good movie, in fact it’s really bad. But that’s why it’s so good.

Buy it on Amazon.ca:
Your Highness - DVD
Your Highness [Blu-ray]

I had some hesitations about Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I’ve never really enjoyed any of the original films, and despised the Tim Burton remake. The concept was always interesting, and the original contained one of the best cinematic twists of all time - but there was always something keeping me from being engaged (and it probably had something to do with the lack of action and bad prosthetics).

Once the trailer for Rise came out, I thought the series might be grasping at straws: desperately trying to market the concept to new audience, and plopping James Franco in the lead. Reviews were positive, so after much deliberation I finally sat down and watched it - and it was good.

There was a humanity present in this film that I feel the others lacked. That’s not to say that we as audiences have to jump on any specific animal-rights cause. The facts are clear that animals are abused and taken advantage of, and that’s not the right thing to do, no matter what views you subscribe to. This film lays out the good vs. evil concept very clearly and shows that we, the humans, were always the cause of our own destruction and the eventual rise of the apes.

I thought Andy Serkis as Cesar was incredible. He’s already got a huge Oscar push behind him because the motion capture was so incredibly accurate and realistic that it gave the chimpanzee the difference between computer generated animals and an actor’s performance. The animation was well done, and the lead up to the eventual “rise” scene was great too.

All in all, the film succeeded on a bunch of different levels. It’s a heart-warming story of a man and his ape, but it’s also a great drama film (who would’ve known!). It’s worth watching, despite Franco still not quite feeling “right” in the role of the geneticist. 

Buy it on Amazon.ca:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - DVD
Rise of the Planet of the Apes [Blu-ray]

As I mentioned in my Oscar post, I have had a real problem with watching James Franco in films lately. I think it is becoming a combination of all these ludicrous stories of him going back to school, teaching his own class, co-hosting this and that, and becoming a wonder boy for the A.D.D. generation. It’s not to say I dislike him though, I think he’s really funny and personable. I just find it hard to watch him in films after seeing him in the famous Spider-Man 3 scene that made me laugh openly in the theatres.

Then of course I backtracked and watched him in Freaks and Geeks and realized he was never a really good actor, just hilarious and realistic as a human being. Anyway, after all of this (Pineapple Express being at the top of my list for my favourite portrayals by Franco ever) we finally reach 127 Hours.

Everyone said it was a spectacular film that really showcased how incredibly James Franco was. The unfortunate thing was I found it to be like every other role he plays, in which he plays James Franco…except this James Franco had his arm caught under a boulder for an hour and a half. The fact that they were able to adapt such a compelling and interesting story is pretty commendable. But it left me thinking - why did it need to be told through a feature length film? Sure, it brings to light how heroic and brave the real Aron Ralston was. It even allows him to become a household name, but was that really necessary?

I thought the most interesting part was the cinematography and editing of the film though. The scenes in the “cave” were shot well and created scenes that looked visually interesting. This in combination of the jittery and sometimes confusing layout of shots made for a really great looking film.

I definitely recommend checking it out to watch it at least once, but to each their own!

Buy it on Amazon.ca:
127 Hours (Blu-ray/Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
127 Hours - DVD

Alright. So the Oscars were last night, and they were terrible.

You’ll read this in my review for 127 Hours, but ever since James Franco was in Spider-Man 3, I haven’t been able to take him seriously. As a host at the Oscars it was even more ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong though, I love the guy but I don’t think it was appropriate to pick him to co-host such a popular awards ceremony. Anne Hathaway didn’t do so well herself. She kept laughing and came across as really awkward. I felt bad for these two to have to command a room like that without the ability to really capture people’s attentions (especially hundreds of the most self absorbed people in Hollywood).

My Dad tried to make the best of the situation, bringing a $2 Oscar pool to the table. I did not win. I didn’t even really come close in the end - being beaten out in the Foreign/Documentary categories. I also didn’t expect Inception to take home as many awards as it ended up (not that they didn’t deserve it, it just seemed like it had been forgotten about). I also expected an Oscar split of Fincher for Best Director and King’s Speech for Best Picture.

I could go on to point out some of the more interesting (or horrible) moments of the broadcast, but I’ll leave it at this. Unless they bring someone really hilarious to the table for hosting next year…I may have to bow out.

So tonight is the annual Academy Awards, and to be honest I’m not very excited at all. I’ve watched them every year for as long as I can remember (for as long as I was allowed to stay up in the past), and for the last couple years I haven’t felt the same way about them. It seems like every single award that goes by takes longer and longer every year.

My favourite year was when Hugh Jackman hosted. They didn’t have the budget they once did and brought all the movie stars closer to the stage, they cut out all the boring back and forth banter and had a nice relaxed time. I thought it was wonderful, and thought that the response to it was going to be so strong that they decided to keep it up. Instead, the past few years have reverted back to their long-winded and boring standard approach.

It’s just not fun to watch anymore, I don’t get any enjoyment out of watching the people win. It seems that they’ve really gone out of their way to make the Oscars feel like they don’t hold as much meaning as they once did. It seemed that before it took a great deal of recognition and devotion to win an Oscar, everyone who won one was revered and heralded as someone to watch out for. Ever since Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar for Hustle and Flow, I just can’t take it seriously anymore. “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp”? Really?

And then of course there’s the fact that they’ve notoriously raised the number of Best Picture films from five to ten. Ten is just too many. It completely defeats the purpose of the award. If ten films are nominated every year, it raises the status of Hollywood, therefore generating more profit and then of course people are interested in seeing these “Oscar-nominated” pictures regardless of their actual status for whether or not they should win. Now, I get that some of these pictures are extraordinary…and they DO deserve some recognition. But nominating “The Kid’s are Alright” for a best picture award seems a little silly, I think at least.

I’ll end up watching them tonight, while browsing the Internet or seeing people’s stunned reactions on Twitter that Jesse Eisenberg MIGHT take home an Oscar, but I won’t be enjoying myself nearly as much as I once did. If you are watching the Oscars tonight, I hope you enjoy yourself more than I will.