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The Internship has been spat on by critics for being a “two hour corporate video”, and “the longest advert I’ve seen in cinema”, but honestly, in a movie about having the opportunity to work in google, they’ve actually barely scratched the surface.

Vince Vaughn (also with screenwriting and producing credits) teams up once again with Owen Wilson (The Wedding Crashers) as two travelling watch salesmen, whose employer has winded down business (because, we apparently all tell the time on our iPhones now).

In need of a job, but without any practical skills, they go from googling for jobs to interviewing for an internship opportunity at Google. While they may have few skills, they do (or at least Vince) have the gift of the gab, and so they talk their way into the Internship, and from there on, its Life Experience vs Coding Creds.

I told you this “making a movie about google” thing will score us free passes to the GooglePlex! Did I tell you they have free food?

The interns are split into groups, and naturally, Vince and Owen end up in the “rejects” corner, alongside 3 other outcasts, and its up to them to pull themselves together to achieve the impossible: A full time job offer with Google (only members from the top team will have this opportunity)

Bug decoding, App development, Quidditch (yes, quidditch) and of course converting a new customer to using Adwords are all different segments in which the teams will be scored against.

Rose Byrne provides the requisite eye candy, a 30ish executive at Google who puts in (too many) hours at the Googleplex, whom Owen manages to charm, by throwing out joke after joke of how she’s been missing out on a decade of bad dates.

The story may be a predictable plod, but Vince and Owen’s easy chemistry, with the gameness of the supporting team of nerds to play geek, help lift this otherwise run of the mill comedy into something fun.

To cap off this “two hour advert”, we even get a glimpse of Sergey Brin as… well, Sergey Brin.

Rating: 7/10

Google Interview Questions

Google is, or was (it has since been banned, or not taken into account in overall interviewee assessments), famous for asking impossibly difficult brainteasers to interviewees, to judge how they think and how they would attack at questions creatively.

Questions like “how many golf balls can fit into a bus” or “how much would you charge to clean all of San Francisco’s windows” are fair play alongside “what makes you think you’d fit in with Google”.

To that end, the film’s interview question was apparently a legit one as well.

Here’s how Vince and Owen answered the question “you’re shrunk to the size of a nickel and placed in an empty blender turned on, what do you do” it in the film. Hilarious.

Landing a job at the Goog can be such a great outcome for some people, that intense preparation, including gamifying for his interview is a worthwhile exercise.

Taking over the world

Google started as a technology company, its main product a search engine, dedicated to organizing the world’s information. That was in 1998.

Since then, Google has expanded massively into other spaces. They now have their hands in operating systems (desktop and mobile), email, productivity suite (Docs and Drive), Video (Youtube), and many others.

Get a job at Google, bang the boss, set for life. Boom!

They have also moved on from a driving technology in the digital space to conquering the real world with Google Glass and their driverless car project. Whilst the bulk of Google’s revenue is still coming from their advertising stream, when Glass and the driverless cars kick off, I see their revenue numbers shooting for the sky.

Speaking of sky, Google founders Larry and Sergey are also heavily involved in renewable energy projects (which will definitely grow in importance as the world uses up its natural resources) and also, together with James-Titanic-Cameron, looking into ways of mining passing asteroids for resources.

I predict Google will become a much bigger mega-conglomerate in the near future. I just hope that by that time, they still remember to not be evil.

There are only so many scenes you can write into a horror story, especially that of a haunted house story. Darkness just beyond the doors, creaking noises, automatic doors, smashed photo frames, figures in mirrors, being pulled out of your bed.

They’ve been done to death, honestly. But when James Wan does it, fuck it’s scary!

Of course, it helps when the tag “Based on a True Story” is neatly sewn on at the start of the film.

The Conjuring tells the story of 2 families, the Warrens who are a couple of paranormal investigators and the Perrons, who shares their new home with 5 daughters, a demon witch, and a few other wandering ghosts.

Kids, this is what banks do when you don’t pay your mortgage…

The usual things happen. Strange noises at night, unexplained bruises appearing after a fitful night’s sleep. Then things begin to escalate. At almost 2 hours long, which is unusual for a horror flick, it allows for a pretty slow burn, and to establish the characters, so that when shit hits the fan, we really wish to see the Perrons come out of it alive, rather than anticipate the kill scenes.

Compared to James’ earlier effort Insidious, I find The Conjuring a much more suspenseful film. The hide and clap scene in particular, and the subsequent cellar scene was intense!

Now excuse me while I go hide under my sheets.

Rating: 7/10

The Annabelle Doll Story

In an unrelated case in the film, a large part of the story revolved around an earlier case investigated by the Warrens, whereby they retrieved the Annabelle Doll.

The doll would apparently move on its own, with minute position changes initially, and then moved on to appearing in a different room altogether. A medium was invited, and he told of the story of 7 year old Annabelle Higgins, whose spirit had latched on to the doll, and who felt an affinity for the doll’s owner, Donna, and wanted to be friends.

Being a nursing student and probably never seen any horror movies, she felt sympathy for the ghost, and allowed her to remain in the doll. Then things escalated.

The Warrens were invited, and they said it was not a ghost, but a demon that was manipulating the doll in order to get close to, and possess Donna. They did an exorcism and brought Annabelle the doll back with them,

The doll currently resides in the private Occult Museum (where it apparently still moves, sometimes), managed by Lorraine Warren at the back of her house, together with other supernatural artifacts / possessed stuff.

That story really intrigued me, and I hope James Wan will pursue that story in the inevitable sequel.

Of course, how “true” this is, depends entirely on how much you believe in the supernatural, and one couple’s word.

Below is an image of the real Annabelle doll. Above is the movie’s version.

Which is scarier?

The Wolverine takes place after the events of The Last Stand, where Logan had to ultimately put a knife to his beloved Jean Grey. Deeply saddened by this, he goes to live a hobo lifestyle and moves into Canadian wilderness with the grizzlies.

A little later, he’s persuaded by a Japanese chick Yukio, to take a trip to Tokyo, to meet with Yashida, an old but powerful CEO who owes Logan a life debt, and wants to repay him. Turns out Logan once saved a young Yashida at Nagasaki from the Atomic bombs, and shared with him his regenerative abilities.

An inspired Yashida has since spent his entire life trying to recreate Logan’s agelessness and awesomeness. He ultimately reveals to Logan that he doesn’t want to die, and has found a way to transfer the regenerative cells from Logan to himself, and grant both their respective wishes.

Caution handling ‘live’ foodstuff

Logan says ‘No’, and proceeds to go all badass on Japan.

He takes on ninjas, lovehotels, Japanese chicks, bullet trains and the Silver Samurai.

The Wolverine works as a stand-alone story within the X-Men universe. The set in Japan plot also helps keep it fresh. There’s decent action, but in terms of ninja action, I still think the G.I. Joe: Retaliation mountain-side scene still rocked.

Oh, and stay for the post-credits scene. It’ll lead very very nicely into ‘Days of Future Past’.

Rating: 6/10