June 2010 Archives

A semi-sequel to 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek sees Sarah Marshall's recovering rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) fall off the wagon after his latest album bombs and his long-time partner, songstress Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), leaves him. Meanwhile, music executive Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) hatches a plan to re-invigorate Snow's career: a live concert at LA's Greek theatre. Green has 72 hours to escort Snow from London to LA, more than enough time were it not for Snow's determination to party hard and his propensity to leave a path of destruction everywhere he goes, roping Green ever more into his decadent lifestyle.

The cover of the DVD for Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York screams that the film contained within is "the smash-hit comedy of the year!" This means that the person behind this off-the-mark soundbite has either a) never seen the film or b) watched it and realised that "the most maddening, bewildering, offbeat think-piece of the year!", although more appropriate, just wouldn't sell as many copies.

The Pacific, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, is an epic account of U.S. involvement in the Pacific campaign during World War 2, charting from America's entry into Guadalcanal in 1942, via the costly battles for Pelelieu and Iwo Jima, onto Okinawa in 1945 and the end of the war. The focus is on three U.S. marines - rebellious writer Bob Leckie (James Badge Dale), gung-ho action hero John Basilone (Jo Seda) and naïve youngster Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello) - and their role in some of the bloodiest battles of the 21st century.