Lavonardo

As the traditional eve before the christmas eve-movie, watched Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa yesterday. While the original Madagascar from 2005 was by no means a bad movie (though has gone unreviewed here), the sequel takes the franchise to new heights.

The story borrows from dozens of sources, from some bigger chunks, from others individual lines to spice up the plot. Thus the movie is a cornucopia of intertextuality, so packed with references that a big fraction of them goes amiss on the first viewing.

As in the first movie of the series, the main cast gets overshadowed by co-stars – Sacha Baron Cohen’s Lemur King and especially the crack team of four militaristic penguins are given ample time on screen, and they use it well. Watched the movie with original soundtrack, so I’ve no idea what the dubbed version is like, but Ville Valo’s turn as the amorous hippopotamus is an interesting idea.

Based on the strength of these two movies, I’d expect part three to land somewhere in 2010, and seriously hope for an extra dose of the penguins on the dvd release.

Watched Coen Brothers’ newest movie Burn After Reading yesterday, and came away convinced that while this was a decent movie, it was not firing on all cylinders.

This is a comedy of errors, set in the D.C. and its environs, with characters ranging from gym employees to high-ranking CIA officials. None of whom really have an idea what’s going on. Which, obviously, sets up deliciously crafted scenarios when things snowball beyond control.

The script is by no means perfect, it threatens to stall on a couple of occasions, which is not good for a ninety minute feature.

So, in the absence of a diamond-quality script, it’s the actors performances that make the film. All of whom are damaged goods, in one or more senses of the word. Brad Pitt as the bimboid personal trainer is the high point in the cast, but there are no weak takes from any. George Clooney plays an unlikable guy, the first time in his career as far as I can remember – in From Dusk till Dawn he was downright psychotic, not a slimy customer like this film’s Harry Pfarrer.

Half a bonus star awarded for the most shocking plot element of the year. Watch the movie, any hints would be pure spoilage.

It’s a pleasant film that fills its hour and a half well. But it’s a throwaway film, and unlike the Brothers’ previous award-grabbing movie, unlikely to feature in the Oscars.