Jeff, Who Lives at Home
Director: Jay & Mark Duplass
Running Time: One hour & twenty-three minutes
Certificate: 15

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Jason Segel’s. I’m not really convinced that he’s contributed anything worthwhile (as of yet) to the world of cinema. I’ve watched the occasional episode of How I Met Your Mother, but he’s not even the best thing in that. So, I was rather surprised by the trailer for his newest comedy, Jeff, Who Lives at Home.

Segel plays a thirty-something loser, who still lives in his mother’s basement and one day, Jeff sets off to the shops to buy some wood glue. Whilst off on his jaunt, Jeff looks to the universe for signs about what he should ‘do’ with his life and unexpectedly comes across his brother, sister-in-law and mother.

So, will these unexpected events lead Jeff to discover the ‘meaning’ of his life (as he desires), and will he make it to the shops in time? This is directed by the guys who made Cyrus, which was more miss than hit. However, this does show some promise, and what with me being a Kevin Smith fan, I do have a certain admiration for slacker-bum, characters. It will probably be perfectly forgettable, but it is by far the most interesting thing, Segel has done to date.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Adrian Grunberg’s directorial début, star’s the fallen, former Hollywood action star, Mel Gibson. Originally titled Get the Gringo, Gibson plays Driver and rather predictably, Driver is having a very bad day. Having just completed a robbery which would ensure a life on easy street, Driver crashes his car whilst on the run from the U.S. Border Patrol. Unfortunately for Driver, when the car stops spinning, he’s crossed the Mexican/American border and is promptly arrested and imprisoned by the Mexican authorities, who just so happen to steal his loot too. The first thing Driver needs to do is escape from El Pueblito (the worst prison in Mexico), and there’s the small matter of reclaiming his money.

This all sounds vaguely reminiscent of Payback, but with a smattering of Xenophobia: The Movie A.K.A Taken. The latter largely because it will feature Gibson, shooting almost every Mexican in Mexico, but don’t worry he’s definitely not a racist. But the trailer does have a certain charm and Gibson can most certainly handle action and that grizzled voice-over just reminds me of Payback’s Porter, which was probably Gibson’s last great action character. It’ll most probably be rubbish, but you never know…

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Angele et Tony/Angel & Tony
Director: Alix Delaporte
Running Time: One hour & twenty-three minutes
Certificate: 15

Angel is a beautiful young woman with a troubled past, who moves to a small fishing town in Normandy. There she meets Tony, a local fisherman who finds himself attracted to her, despite disliking her abrupt manner. Against his better judgement, Tony hires Angel as a fishmonger, rents a room to her and teaches her the tricks of his trade. The relationship between Tony and Angel is far from easy, but eventually, both parties adapt and little by little, Tony and Angel fall in love. A romantic drama, but uniquely French.

Juan de los Muertos/Juan of The Dead

The tag-line for Juan of the Dead is, ‘50 years after the Cuban Revolution, a new Revolution is about to begin’, and that’s something of an understatement, obviously. Cuba isn’t being invaded by American’s, as the inhabitants fear, but zombies!

Juan of the Dead is about Juan, a 40 year old who has spent most of his life in Cuba, doing absolutely nothing. It’s his way of life, and he’s prepared to defend it at any cost, along with his equally lazy and stupid pal, Lázaro. Juan’s only relative, is his daughter, Camila, a beautiful young girl who wants nothing to do with her father, because he’s only good at one thing, and that’s getting himself into trouble. However, out of the blue people start attacking one another. At first, Juan is convinced it’s just another stage of the revolution, with the media referring to the attacks as isolated incidents, provoked by Cuban dissidents, paid for by the US government. But Juan and his friends quickly realise that these attackers are not dissidents – they’re zombies!

And so, Juan goes into to business as a zombie slayer and even establishes his own slogan, ‘Juan of the Dead, we kill your beloved ones’. It sounds bonkers, it looks bonkers and I’m willing to bet, it is bonkers… I’m there!

Un amour de jeunesse/Goodbye First Love

This is another French drama – French cinema really is on a roll at the moment – and Goodbye First Love, chronicles a teenager’s first heartbreak. At the age of fifteen, Camille is a serious teenage girl, who falls intensely in love with the cheerful, but carefree, Sullivan – an older boy who has his sights set on backpacking around South America. And so, when Sullivan leaves, Camille is devastated, but over the next eight years Camille will develop into a strong headed woman, with new interests and loves. However, when Sullivan re-enters her life, will she revert back to her defenceless fifteen year-old self?

This is the third feature film from the French director, Mia Hansen-Løve, whose last film was the critically acclaimed, Le père de mes enfants/Father of My Children. This should offer a unique view of teenage love and specifically how that first love, can shape the rest of our lives.

Monsieur Lazhar

Monsier Lazhar is based upon the French play, Bachir Lazhar, by Evelyne De la Chenelière. It’s about an Algerian immigrant who is hired to replace an elementary school teacher, who recently died. Whilst his new class/school, come to terms with its grieving, nobody is aware of their new teacher/colleague’s own painful history, nor that Bachir is at risk of deportation at any moment.

Monsier Lazhar depicts what happens when to two distant worlds collide and the power of self-expression. It appears to feature great sensitivity and humour, and Philippe Falardeau has weaved a breath-taking tale about a humble man, who is ready to transcend his own loss, in order to accompany the children he teaches, beyond the silence and taboo of death. Simply breath-taking French cinema and my pick of the week.

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Le Moine/The Monk
Director: Dominik Moll
Running Time: One hour & forty-five minutes
Certificate: 15

This Vincent Cassel film, The Monk, is set in seventeenth century Madrid. Cassel plays the titular monk, Ambrosio, an orphan who was abandoned on a monastery’s doorstep, and who was raised by the Capucin Friars. Once grown, Ambrosio becomes a friar himself and displays a great zeal for preaching, with his sermons drawing massive crowds and earning him great admiration; for his extreme vigour and absolute virtue. Ambrosio foolishly believes he is safe from any temptation, but is he?

Cassel has great screen-presence and this film about temptation, corruption and religion looks to be a well-directed piece, but it’s unlikely to find a big audience in cinemas – so see it if you can.

Avengers Assemble

Avengers Assemble - stupid title! – doesn’t really need a synopsis. What’s the point, it’s just a band of YOUR favourite MARVEL superheroes, thrown together to fight some unstoppable force. Although the villain in this film is Loki, who’s already been defeated (last I saw), in last year’s Thor, so I’m not sure what’s gone on since Loki last tangled with his superhero brother, he’s obviously been eating his vitamins and saying his prayers.

As you’ve probably guessed, I don’t have much love for MARVEL’s newest film or any MARVEL film for that matter. I always thought each of their individual superhero jaunts - Iron Man, X-Men: First Class, Thor & Captain America - were all far too long, so heaven knows what the running time of this will be… longer, at a guess. You know, I hope that by Joss Whedon directing this, it facilitates him to make something half-way decent, otherwise, what was the point? If you like watching men in tights hitting each other with big hammers and shields, then you’ll probably love this. Moi, not so much.

Happy People – A Year in The Taiga

The synopsis of Happy People has Herzog written all over, so it’ll come as no surprise, that it’s my film of the week.

Herzog narrates this documentary about a remote village where 300 people live. They face some of the most hostile conditions on earth and inhabit the village of Bakhatia. There are only two ways to reach the small village and that’s by either helicopter or by boat. In this isolated wilderness, there are no phones, no running water and no medical aid. The people, who live here, do so according to their own values and cultural traditions, which have remained unchanged for centuries. And in Happy People, Dmitry Vasyukov and Werner Herzog, give us a glimpse of this curious village and its unique way of life. Do yourself a favour – just go and see it!