“Attack The Block” is irrefutably the best summer blockbuster that isn’t a “blockbuster” per se. On a shoestring budget ($13 million to be exact and yet a fraction of bloated affairs such as Transformers 3, Green Lantern, and Thor), first time writer/director Joe Cornish took “the alien invasion theme” to new heights. What a raucously, super-charged, and ferociously entertaining piece of cinema we are presented with. From the producers of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, “Attack The Block” is sort of sci-fi, sort of horror, and on more than one occasion, comedic. It’s set in South London, where a young street gang must defend themselves from unruly alien intruders. While alien movies seem all the rage for the past year, this one is leaps and bounds the best of the bunch. While the twilight sets down on a crushingly second-rate summer movie season, “Attack The Block” is able to give us hope that summer movies can be smart, entertaining, and original all at once. If you missed “Attack The Block” in theaters, you’ll be able to catch it when it hits DVD/Blu-ray this October.
“30 Minutes or Less” stars Jesse Eisenberg as a slacking pizza delivery boy who is forced into robbing a bank by two wannabe criminals (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). Problem is, they’ve attached a bomb to his chest and it will go off he doesn’t complete the mission. Based on true-life events, but taken in a completely absurdly comedic direction, “30 Minutes or Less” is beat for beat the funniest flick of the summer. It’s also rare that every key player here is hilarious in his own, dysfunctional and eccentric sort of way. The flick is entirely straightforward and very lo-fi, but director Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”) never has a problem keeping things absolutely refreshing at a mere running time of 82 minutes. With rarely ever a dull moment and endlessly amusing, “30 Minutes or Less” offers more laughs and gags than all the other mainstream R-rated comedies this summer combined. Keep your eye out for “30 Minutes or Less” when it’s released on DVD/Blu-ray sometime in late November.
“The Beaver” had marked the return of Mel Gibson. While we can’t go as far as saying ‘witness the resurrection of Mel Gibson’, I can say that his performance in “The Beaver” is his best to date. “The Beaver” is a painfully and surprisingly genuine portrayal of depression and remoteness. Gibson plays a husband and father of two who is completely gone. He’s a dead end with no return in sight. He finds comfort in a beaver puppet that becomes his only form of communication. Director Jodie Foster (who also plays Gibson’s wife) keeps the pace moving at a good rate without ever getting sidetracked with what could have turned into sappy or overly weepy scenes here. While there may not be any true surprises here, the subplots in the film are unexpectedly strong and all the key supporting characters are three-dimensional, cogent, and unfeigned. Kyle Killen’s debut script (considered ‘The Black List’s” best unproduced screenplay in 2008) is powerful, deep, and brutally honest. Many people may be turned off by the idea of a talking beaver puppet and the sheer fact Mel Gibson is in this movie, but sometimes we have to leave our reservations and opinions at the door and attempt to embrace something as sincerely meaningful and real as “The Beaver” has come to be. Do yourself a favor and seek this one out on DVD or Blu-ray.
Published on September 17th, 2011 by Mountain Views News
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n38/p11.htm
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