Extract, Cemetary Junction and Date Night

I'm rubbish! Two films reviewed and then nothing for weeks. May not be cut out to be a blogger!!

OK, so I saw Extract a couple of weeks ago but here goes. It's written and directed by Mike Judge (writer/director of Office Space) and stars Jason Bateman (Juno) and Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). It's about Joel (Bateman), the owner of a company making Extract (vanilla etc) and the ups and downs of his life both personal and at work. Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig and J.K. Simmons are also some of the great supporting cast members.

Cemetary Junction is written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant who brought us The Office and Extras. It's about three friends - Freddie, Bruce and Snork - living in 1970's Reading at a time when Freddie has decided he's had enough of factory work and starts working for a life insurance company as a door-to-door salesman. The supporting cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson and Matthew Goode, along with a great leading man in the form of Christian Cooke. I had read that this film is 'warm, funny and engaging' and it is all those things but I found it a little bit depressing in places; perhaps just the mood I was in. It certainly had funny moments and is definitely worth a watch.

Date Night stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as husband and wife Phil and Claire Foster on a date that goes from bad to worse. As with many married couples they go on a 'date night' once a week so they have time for themselves; Phil wants to treat Claire to a special night out so takes her to a fancy restaurant in the city (Manhattan of course) and due to a case of mistaken identity, they end up on the run from a crime boss. Carell and Fey are very funny in the leads and although this may be a bit formulaic and predictable in places it's very enjoyable. An added bonus is that we get to see Mark Wahlberg with his shirt off a few times!