Trolls Band Together (4 Stars)

The five trolls Floyd, John Dory, Spruce, Clay and Baby Branch are in a highly successful boy band called Brozone. They disband after a concert that goes wrong. It's not just the band that splits up. The five brothers go their different ways.

15 years later Branch is no longer a baby. He's in a steady relationship with Queen Poppy. He hears that Floyd has been kidnapped by giant trolls, referred to as bergens. Floyd is trapped inside a diamond that channels his singing ability into the wearer. The only thing that can break the diamond open is perfect family harmony, so he goes on a quest to find his brothers and sing a song to free Floyd.

As you can tell from my brief description, it's a whimsical tale, but it has an overwhelming charm, especially for children. My grandson Oliver loved it, but the biggest reaction was from a girl two seats away. She was leaning forward on her seat for most of the film, and she couldn't stop laughing. I didn't laugh out loud, but I still found the film amusing.

The songs were sung by Justin Timberlake and various boy bands. That's not my sort of music. Normally I would have turned away, but in the context of the film it was perfect. Heavy metal wouldn't have been suitable.

It's a film I want to see again.

Runner Runner (3 Stars)

"The love of money is the root of all evil".

This is probably the Bible verse that I quote more than any other. It's so full of wisdom. It's absolutely true. Sit and think for a moment. Who's the most evil person you know among your personal acquaintances? Then ask yourself what motivates him (or her)? It's the love of money.

The most evil person I know is my brother-in-law, Wolfgang Hengel. He pressured his father into giving him his inheritance early, property worth 6.2 million Euros. When his father died in 2014 the remaining inheritance, property worth 1.5 million Euros, was to be given to his sister, my ex-wife Brigitte, but he claimed he'd been disinherited and demanded a quarter of it, as well as insisting that she should pay the sole costs of the care of her mother for the rest of her life.

My ex-wife's lawyer advised her to take the matter to court, but she was intimidated by her brother and made an out-of-court settlement against the advice of her lawyer. Part of the settlement was that 200,000 Euros should be paid to her mother, but Wolfgang has control of her bank account, and we strongly suspect that he's stolen the money. 

Money. When money is involved, people lie, cheat and steal. Wolfgang is no different to criminals all over the world.

"Runner Runner" is about big money. Millions. Ivan Block is the owner of an online poker site. He hires the Princeton student Richie Furst to run his daily business, tempting him to abandon his degree with a large salary.

The company is based in Costa Rica. It's a corrupt country where everything is dealt with by bribes. Police officers receive small bribes, and government officials receive large bribes, just so that the poker website will be allowed to continue to operate. Richie begins his work as a naive, honest man, but he gets seduced and drawn ever deeper into the web of corruption.

When the film begins we think that Ivan Block is an honest man. At the very least, he claims to be honest. Always be wary of people who claim to be honest. (Yes, I know that includes me, because I claim to be honest as well). As the film progresses, we see that Ivan isn't content with the millions of dollars that he possesses; he wants more, much more. Money is addictive, especially if you love money. The more you have, the more you want.

Success Rate:  + 0.1

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Runner Runner (4 Stars)

I don't usually read a review of a film before I watch it. It's only something I do if I'm not sure if I want to watch a film or not. "Runner Runner" is a case like that. For me the film had one plus and two minuses. The plus is Gemma Arterton, the minuses are Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake. The review said that the the film's biggest weakness is the over-complex plot, but the acting by all three main characters is outstanding. Very interesting. I have nothing against complex plots, as long as the complexities are relevant. I just don't like it when there are pointless diversions.

Let's talk about the plot first. I can see what the reviewer meant about it being complex, but it shouldn't be too difficult for anyone with above average intelligence to follow. Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) used to be co-owner of a big company on Wall Street, but it went bankrupt due to his partners stealing money, leaving Richie almost broke. He decided to make a new start by going to Princeton University to do a Masters degree. He made the money to finance his course by being an affiliate of online Poker sites, earning a commission for every new player he sent them. Foolishly, most of the players he referred were Princeton students, and he was given the blame when some of them lost all their money. The university dean threatened to expel him if he didn't stop referring students. No problem. Richie considered himself an excellent Poker player, so he decided to finance the rest of his course by gambling. After initial success he lost all his money within a few hours to a single player.

Richie is man enough to accept that anyone can lose, but he's convinced that this mystery player was a cheat. He made repeated illogical decisions which always succeeded. He travels to Costa Rica, where the online gambling site Midnight Black is based, so that he can speak to the site's owner, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). At first Ivan is sceptical, because every bad gambler claims to have been cheated, but he looks into it. He finds that Midnight Black's programmers have built a backdoor through which players can see their opponents' cards. Out of gratitude to Richie he offers him a job.

Gemma Arterton plays Rebecca Shafran, Ivan's personal secretary and ex-lover. A relationship develops between Richie and Rebecca, but it doesn't bother Ivan. On the contrary, Ivan is glad that Richie has an additional reason to stay in Costa Rica.

Ivan might be opposed to players cheating other players on his site, but that doesn't mean he's an honest businessman. He's bribing government officials for the right to do business in Costa Rica unscrutinised. He's also stealing money from player accounts. His customers, millions of them worldwide, pay money into their accounts, but the money goes directly to him, meaning the accounts only contain virtual money. If a successful player ever wants to cash out, money is put back into his account to pay him, but there isn't enough money to pay out everyone, not even a fraction of what's needed.

Maybe I'm getting into too many details. Just because the plot is complex it doesn't mean I have to describe every nuance. I'll just mention FBI agent Shavers, played by Anthony Mackie. He's a man who thinks the ends justify the means. He wants Richie to supply him information about Ivan. Richie refuses, so Shavers steps up the pressure. He plants heroin on Richie, and when he's arrested he says that he'll tell the local police to drop the charges if he'll help him find evidence against Ivan. Don't mess with the FBI.

As for the actors, I have to agree with what I read in the review. Ben Affleck is perfect in his role as the millionaire businessman. He's not honest, but he thinks he's honest. He's prepared to justify every crooked deal he makes as necessary for business. He's cool and suave and intensely charismatic.

Gemma Arterton is excellent in every role she plays, and this is no exception. My only regret is that she plays a relatively small role.

I think I've been unfair to Justin Timberlake. I've seen him in a few films, and I can't fault his performances, so why did I consider him a negative? I think I'm only biased against him because of his music. I consider his songs disgusting, everything from the insipid lyrics to his high-pitched voice and his spastic on-stage dancing. Who has brainwashed kids into thinking he has any talent? Nevertheless, he's a very talented actor. He should give up his embarrassing singing career and stick to what he's good at. I think I need to re-watch some of his films to remind myself what he can do.

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In Time (3½ Stars)

This film took me a long time to get into. For the first 45 minutes I was sitting shaking my head at how silly the premise was. Finally I began to get it. I still think that the premise is ridiculous, even by science fiction standards, but it's a good vehicle to put across valid social arguments.

"In Time" was made in 2011 and takes place more than 200 years in the future, but society has a retro look. There are no mobile phones. There's no Internet. Looking at the film without being told when it's supposed to take place I would have guessed the late 1980's or early 1990's. It's not an alternate universe. This is supposed to be our own world, but society has been dumbed down, along with the vast majority of the people in it.

We don't know the exact date, but we know when the change happened. 188 years previously scientists discovered a cure for ageing, which together with other medical advances meant that nobody needed to die of natural causes. Everyone on Earth became potentially immortal. After the initial euphoria the sad truth sank in that this wasn't a blessing, it was a curse. The world's population would exceed the planet's capacity to house it. Emergency meetings were held to decide who deserved to live and who deserved to die. The scientists devised an ingenious method to limit people's life. First of all, everyone would be allowed to live 25 years. That's supposedly the age at which people stop ageing. After that a person is given a clock determining how long he has left to live, initially set to one year. He can earn more time by working. Time is the legal currency, so everything a person buys is deducted from his account. For instance, a phone call costs one minute, a bus journey costs two hours, and a good car costs 59 years. Time can be given to someone else by holding arms. It can also be stored in boxes called time capsules, to be sent to people in other places. When the time in a person's account runs out his heart stops beating and he dies.

You see what I mean about the ridiculous premise? Try to accept it, then you can enjoy the film better. Don't bother yourself with questions like "How does that work?" As far as the technology goes many questions are left unanswered. The film tells us all we need to know.

As any economist knows, if a new currency is introduced the circulation has to be controlled. That's relatively easy when the money is made of paper; banknotes just have to be printed. In the film's Brave New World time vaults have been set up with enough time for everyone, based on assumptions about how many people the planet Earth can sustain. This vault is used to pay everyone their initial one year. Effectively it's a loan, not a payment, because the clock is ticking every second of the day, and if the clock runs down to zero the currency is reclaimed by the banks.

Now for the social consequences. This system of allocated lifespans almost seems fair, as long as everyone has equal opportunities. However, we see that America (and presumably the rest of the world) has been divided into zones. Travel from one zone to another is permissible, but it's so expensive that only the rich can afford it. The toll for crossing a zone border can be up to two years, and a person on a long trip might need to cross a lot of borders. This means that most people stay where they're born, rather than shorten their lifespan to reach a better place.

The film is a love story between two people from different zones. Will Salas comes from Dayton, Sylvia Weis comes from New Greenwich. The people in Dayton have an average remaining lifespan of less than 24 hours, while the people in New Greenwich have an average remaining lifespan of 347 years. There isn't much hope for improvement in Dayton. Will works long hours in a factory. Eight hours work earns him an extra day, so he needs to work overtime if he wants to buy food. He's caught in a vicious circle of virtual slavery. He works to earn time, but his time is needed to work, and very little is left over for "luxuries" like a drink in the bar.

Sylvia is the daughter of the man who owns the largest bank in New Greenwich. She has over 1000 years left, and her father is a millionaire. There's no reason why he should ever die, and he wants to extend the same privilege to the rest of his family. He doesn't care if the people in Dayton fall dead on the streets every day when their time runs out. It's fair, in his eyes. Everyone is born with equal opportunities, he claims, so if they die it's their own fault. This is a lie that rich people always tell themselves. Will was born to a poor single mother who had nothing to give him when he turned 25. Sylvia's father gave her hundreds of years.

I shan't tell you anything about the plot itself. The film's background, as described here, should tell you all you need to know. Incidentally, the Blu-ray has an extra feature called "The Minutes", a 16-minute pseudo-documentary about the future world. The actors are interviewed in-character about their opinions of the world they live in. I strongly recommend that you watch this feature immediately after the film. I found this feature better than the film itself.

Justin Timberlake plays the lead role. I've only seen him in a few minor roles before now. This is his first leading role, and I have to say that I'm impressed. I hate his singing, but he's great as an actor. He should stick to this new career.

I was surprised to find out that the film was a huge box office success. I never heard of it at the time, and it doesn't seem like the sort of film that would appeal to sci-fi fans (too silly) or superficial popcorn munchers (too cerebral). Maybe people just went to see it because of Justin Timberlake?

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Inside Llewyn Davis (4 Stars)

A man, a guitar, a cat, nowhere to live. Actually it's two cats. Maybe three. Llewyn Davis catches his friend's cat after it runs away when he opens the door. He brings it back, but when he gives it back to his friends they say it's the wrong cat, so he adopts it. He carries the cat with him when he hitch-hikes from New York to Chicago, but he abandons the cat half way. When he's driving back to New York he runs over a cat. It looks like the cat he abandoned, but that would be too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it?

Llewyn Davis is an unsuccessful folk singer in New York in 1961. His songs are quite good, but he doesn't have much of a stage presence and earns badly. He engages in couchsurfing. That's a word that I only learnt after watching this film. It refers to someone who has nowhere to live, so he does a round of his friends, sleeping on their couch for a few days, then moving to the next friend as soon as they get tired of him. It's a good way to live if you're a poor musician in an expensive city.

I don't like folk music much, but I enjoy the feeling of the folk era in New York City (mostly Greenwich Village) in the 1960's. It was a time of rebellion. The young were protesting against the old, and especially against being forced to fight in the Vietnam War. Young people sat in dingy cafes and hung on every word from the mouths of the new breed of folk singers. I might have been sitting with them if I'd been alive in that era. After all, the rock music that I love so much didn't exist then, it only emerged in the early 1970's.

I don't know if this film has a message. Probably not. But it's enjoyable as a snapshot of the folk music scene in 1961.

Inside Llewyn Davis (4½ Stars)

I wanted to see this film because of the era it portrayed, the emergence of music and poetry in Greenwich Village in the early 1960's. But I wasn't prepared for what I saw. The film contained a lot more comedy than was apparent from the trailers. Did this disappoint me? Not at all.

The film follows a week in the life of the struggling folk singer Llewyn Davis. He used to have a successful career as the junior partner in a folk duo, but after the suicide of his partner he has been struggling to find success. Llewyn is homeless, and sleeps on the couch of his friends, a few days in each apartment, as long as they will put up with him. His songs are good but gloomy, and he has no stage presence. As a club owner tells him, he's not a front man.

The film has no resolution. It shows Llewyn walking in circles. The film begins with him as a failure and ends with him as a failure. I suppose this makes the film a tragicomedy. Nevertheless, it's an emotionally moving film. We can feel for this poor man who keeps falling flat on his face while others around him with (apparently) less talent are succeeding. At the moment I feel overwhelmed by the dark but fascinating imagery of the film. I'll write more about it next time I see it.