Another slow week in DVD. Blockbuster and Netflix have been lagging in sending me new releases even when everything I have has been returned for a few days.
Plus, my time has been kind of divided with playing The Old Republic. I'm really digging playing a Sith Lord. Imagine that...
Also, I'm on a bit of a high right now due to the 49ers amazing win on Saturday. That was one of the best playoff games I've seen. Then, we get lucky and Giants get an unexpected win in Green Bay and now the Niners have a home game for the NFC championship. Who would have guessed that the road to the Superbowl would go through San Francisco?
Poor Rooney Mara. She didn't get the Golden Globe tonight (which she deserved) and next week she's going to watch her Giants lose to my Niners next weekend. There's always the Oscars, cutie pie.
I just finished watching the Golden Globes and I was pretty happy with the results for the most part. There were so many awards that I would have been happy if they had gone with any of the nominees that it's hard to be disappointed. The only thing that bummed me out is that they bring Ricky Gervais out, and then after his opening monologue, hid him backstage. He was barely on the show this year. I know he fought for control over what he was going to be able to say, but it just seems like he was held back somehow. I really wanted to see him get boozed up and talk some shit, but it didn't happen enough to my liking.
Anyway, on to the movies...
Moneyball
I haven't watched it since seeing it the theaters. It's has a great script and great performances. It's a baseball movie that I think even people that don't care about baseball can enjoy as there's really not a lot of actual baseball in the movie. It's more of a behind the scenes movie. It's even easier to like if you're an old-school A's fan like myself. If you are, then you'll enjoy this just for the nostalgia and watching part of the 20 game win streak again.
One of the year's better films and probably one I'll pick up on Blu-Ray once the price drops a bit.
4.5 Death Stars. Rent it or buy it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
What's Your Number?
I was kind of disappointed in this. I figured with Chris Evans and Anna Faris, you'd have a slam dunk romantic comedy. While I liked both of them in the movie, it's just too middle of the road. It's not super funny, or raunchy. It's just kind of 'meh'. This is one of those romantic comedies that you know how it's going to end from the beginning. That's nothing new for romantic comedies, but it still could have been done better. I think of something like Friends With Benefits that just had a better script.
I will say that Anna Faris has the nicest calves in Hollywood right now. She's apparently aware of this, too, as there's barely a scene in the movie where she isn't wearing a dress, or short shorts or in her underwear. Not that I'm complaining though.
2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. I don't think it's a complete waste of time, but more of a missed opportunity.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Due to Guillermo del Toro's involvement in this, I really wanted to like it. There are parts I did like, but there were too many things about the movie that I didn't or took me out of the movie.
At first I didn't like Bailee Madison's character, especially how she interacted with Katie Holmes, but she grew on me and I think it's more that Katie Holmes' performance was weird.
Basically the movie is about fairies. You learn in this movie that fairies are assholes like like to mess with people and they want kid's teeth. Why do they want children's teeth so bad? You know those aren't too hard to get, being that they fall out of EVERY kid, and at pretty much the same age. I mean, there's the whole tooth fairy thing. Seems like they could have gone with that kind of angle, but they didn't.
Okay, here's where I get all spoilery, so just skip to the end if you haven't seen this yet...
Then, you find out they don't like light, but yet you consistently see them in the daylight walking around and nobody seems to notice them but the little girl. There's a scene where she's being really distracting during an important dinner and you can see that's something is messing with her under the dinner table, yet not a single person, out of like 20, takes any notice of this or attempts to look under the table. This just didn't seem real to me. If I saw a kid apparently playing tug of war with something under the table, I'd check at some point to see what it was.
I really had an issue with the end. There's a part where Katie Holmes gets her leg broken and it's one of those 'oh shit' moments, but then when I watched the scene again, I realized that it couldn't have happened if you know anything about how rope works. Then, she gets sucked down into a pit under the house and nobody goes and looks for her? You know where the cave with all the fairies is? Why not level the house get a backhoe and dig out the cave. Do it during the day, so that the fairies can't do shit.
To make matter worse, nobody seems to care that Katie Holmes is gone at the end of the movie or have any kind of emotion about it. What do they tell her family or the authorities?
Police: So you're filing a missing person's report. Can you tell us what happened to her?
Guy Pearce: Oh, she fell into a pit.
Police: Where? We should go get her now!
Pearce: The pit is under my house...
Police: What? Did you go after her?
Pearce: No...
Police: Did you hire someone to dig up the pit to get to her?
Pearce: No, I didn't see any point.
Police: So, what did you do then?
Pearce: We boarded up the house and condemned it.
Police: What!? We're sending a car to come pick you up now. Stay where you are.
2.5 Death Stars. I only give it 2.5 of cause it was kind of creepy and had some good moments, but there were too many things about it I didn't like to give it a higher rating.
Catch .44
I thought this was a mess of a film that tried to be smarter than it actually was. If you want to see Forest Whitaker make an ass of himself doing a bad Cuban accent, then this is your movie. And what's with Bruce Willis doing small roles in shitty direct to video films lately? Does he owe the IRS money? Is he being blackmailed or owe someone a favor? The cast of this movie is actually why I bothered even watching it, but the story is awful.
It's one of those movies that starts basically from the end, and then goes back and shows you all the stuff that lead up to that event, except just not done very well. It's a waste of a good cast.
You could call this movie "Everyone Gets Shot" and that would be a better title. Plus, they used bad CG blood, which I can't stand and I refuse to believe that CG blood is cheaper or more effective than just using squibs and fake blood.
1 Death Star. Don't bother with this one. It's not worth it.
Higher Ground
The directorial debut of Vera Farmiga, who also starred. I got a really weird vibe from this movie at the beginning. I think because they decided to age Farmiga's character like 20 years in about 20 minutes, without giving you any idea that's what was going on.
It did kind of grow on me as the movie went on, but ultimately, I have a hard time recommending it to people. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but I'm not a religious guy, so religion based movies don't always interest me if they don't grab me from the beginning.
It's basically about Farmiga's character growing from a child to marrying her high school sweetheart, to growing apart from him and finally starting to question her religion and marriage. It's well acted, but it's one of those movies that I'll forget that I've seen a week from now.
2.5 Death Stars. Again, it's well acted film, so it's not that it's not worth watching, it's just that the subject matter isn't for everyone.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
My Week with Marilyn - Movie Review
I think one of my issues with not wanting to see this is because while I like Michelle Williams, when I heard she was going to be playing Marilyn I just didn't think it would work. She's a cute girl, but she's just kind of plain and not the Marilyn type. My concern about this vanished during the opening scene. I was hooked! I think that was Marilyn Monroe's power and Michelle Williams managed to channel that power.
My Week with Marilyn follows the true story based on a book written by Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), a writer and filmmaker that worked on the set of a film that eventually became The Prince and the Showgirl. Colin is fresh out of college and his first job is as a assistant on the movie. He had connections to actor and director Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), who was able to get him the job. It wasn't quite clear what their prior relationship was, but he seemed to be close with Olivier's wife like they were family friends or something.
Marilyn arrives on set and is frustrating for Olivier to work with due to her consistently being late and her use of method acting, which Olivier isn't a fan of. Plus, the movie shows a bit of Marilyn's drug and alcohol use, which just compounded those things further. Marilyn is insecure about her acting and thinks the crew doesn't like her, so she feels isolated. She eventually forms a friendship with Colin, once she feels that he is the only person on set that's honest with her.
This is another movie that I think is a little bit of a tribute to older movies and how they were made. The movie is divided between their work on the movie, Marilyn's behavior, and her relationship with Colin. My Week with Marilyn wraps up pretty much just as filming of the movie wraps up. It doesn't really delve much into Marilyn's history or what happens to her after. That I didn't mind though. There are plenty of other movies and documentaries that are about those things.
You're basically watching this movie for Michelle Williams performance as Marilyn. While there are other actresses that might have looked the part more, it felt like she just got the essence of Marilyn and you really feel like you know her by the end. I heard someone say after the movie, "I think she just did Marilyn better than Marilyn." It's that kind of career defining performance. Williams makes her likable and sympathetic and it made her life feel all that more tragic to me.
The one kind of bad thing was that it appeared they used varying prosthetics to give the waifish Williams more of Marilyn's trademark bombshell look. Apparently she gained some weight for the role, but you can still tell there were some things that just didn't look natural. It kind of took me out of the movie at times, because I would focus on that instead of what was going on. There was also a body double (reportedly Emma Glover...just Googled her. DAMN!!) used for the nude scenes. There's no frontal nudity in the movie, if that's what you're wondering.This doesn't take anything away from Williams' performance though and my overall enjoyment of the film. I've said this a few times recently, but I really think this is the best female performance of the year and would not be surprised at all to see her winning the Oscar for this. Even though I saw this in 2012, this is technically at 2011 film, so I'm going to have to include it in my 2011 lists. I think Rooney Mara and Williams might have fight ahead of them. That's I'd pay to see, as well.
Williams isn't the only great performance though. Kenneth Branagh is great as Sir Lawrence Olivier. Hell, everyone, notably Dominic Cooper and Dame Judi Dench, is great. It's one of those movies where the performances are so good across the board, that it almost makes you forget that there's really not all that much to the story. The story is a little thin, as it's focuses on such a short period of time, but I didn't mind that.
Almost forgotten in this is Emma Watson's first role after Harry Potter. She plays Lucy, a wardrobe assistant that Colin initially dates, but once he starts to hang out with Marilyn, he quickly blows her off. Poor Hermione. You can't blame him though. When the hottest, most famous woman in the world wants to hang out with YOU, then you might forget about other things for a bit.
This movie actually features several Harry Potter alumni with Branagh (Professor Lockhart from Chamber of Secrets), Toby Jones (the voice of Dobby, and I just saw him in TTSS) and Geraldine Somerville (Lily Potter).
As mentioned before, the movie they were making during My Week with Marilyn was The Prince and the Showgirl. I wish I could have watched it before writing this review just so I'd have a little more comparison. I just added it to the top of my Netflix queue though. I might have to go back and watch some of Marilyn's more notable films. It's a good thing when a movie can make you interested in a person to the point where you go back and read more about them or want to go back and watch older movies they've been in.
In the end, this movie charmed the pants off me, much like the real Marilyn would have. I loved almost everything about it. Whether or not you're a Marilyn Monroe fan, there's a lot to like and enjoy about My Week With Marilyn. It has a knockout performance by Michelle Williams and it's a nice little drama. I recommend checking it out.
4 (out of 5) Death Stars
Monday, January 9, 2012
Angels Crest and Roadie - Movie Reviews
These are two smaller movies have gotten limited releases in the past week or so and may or may not ever be in a theater near you. Since I don't have a lot to say about either movie, I figured I'd just combine both reviews on a post for a change.
The theme of this post seems to be 'good performances in forgettable movies'. These sneak previews I'm getting seem to be about 40/60 good to bad. I know they can't all be gems, but it's not hard to figure out why these movies get thrown up On Demand the same week, or even before, their theatrical release date.
First up is Angels Crest. It stars Thomas Dekker as a young father that leaves his kid in a parked car while he tracks a deer. He doesn't have any hunting equipment though, so I'm not sure why he needed to track the deer. Dekker comes back to his car to find his son missing. This throws their small town into a panic as they search for his son. I'm sure you have guessed that this doesn't end well.
Right off the bat, it's hard to like Dekker's character, because that's just not a very responsible thing to do. You then find out that Dekker's ex, is an alcoholic, played by Lynn Collins, who's more of a mess then he is.
The overall tone of the movie very dour and depressing. They live is a very small, run down town and as you meet their family and friends, you end up not liking anyone all that much. It seemed like everyone hated their lives and it's very melodramatic.
One funny observation is that it seems like all the women in the movie have nice calves, Kate Walsh (although you never get to see them), Elizabeth McGovern (who knew) and Mira Sorvino (who's are legendary as far as I'm concerned). I may have mentioned this before, but I have thing for nice calves, so I tend to notice stuff like that.
This also features Jeremy Piven as the DA that's trying the case. He's also lost a kid recently, but no details are given, so you just kind of have to assume what he's going through. He doesn't seem to enjoy doing his job.
The bright spot, besides Piven, is Thomas Dekker's emotional performance. I feel bad for Dekker (not his character, the actual man). If FOX has a little more vision, we'd be on like the 4th season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles by now. It's funny, because I always confuse him with Nick Stahl, who also played John Connor.
Anyway, while Dekker's performance is convincing, there's just not all that much else in the movie to sink your teeth into. It never quite gets over the hump of being able to stand out of from the myriad of depressing indie films dealing with loss.
Angels Crest isn't terrible, there's just not a lot to recommend outside of Dekker's performance. It's pretty forgettable.
2 (out of 5) Death Stars
Next up is Roadie, not to be confused with the 1980's movie of the same name starring Meatloaf. It appears the people on HDNET were confused about this, as the program guide still shows this movie as being the 80's version. Anyway, Roadie is about Jimmy Testagros (Ron Eldard), a roadie recently let go by Blue Oyster Cult after being on the road with them for 25 years. I don't recall that it's ever said why he's let go.
Not knowing where to go or what to do next, he goes back to his childhood home, which he hasn't seen since high school. He's been gone so long, that his mom doesn't even seem to recognize him at first. Initially, I thought this movie might be taking place in the 70's due to the band, the look of the house and how Jimmy has a very 70's look about him. However, once you see him on a cell phone, that illusion was shattered.
He runs into an old acquaintance from high school (played by Bobby Cannavale), that he used to be at odds with. He's now married to an old flame of Jimmy's (Jill Hennessy), who's a local singer.
The movie's title is a little misleading, as you'd think this would be about a roadie in action and maybe give you a behind the scenes look at a band. Instead, Jimmy barely talks about being a roadie to the point where you start to wonder if he ever actually was one. You don't get any flashbacks or anything like that. When he does talk about his work, you can tell he's exaggerating heavily about it in order to sound more important to people. That's actually one thing that you identify with. Who doesn't fib a little in order to build themselves up, especially to old classmates, exes, or people you haven't seen in a long time. At the same time, the fact that he won't tell anyone, even his mom, that's he was let go makes you wonder if this guy has been lying about everything.
Anyway, the rest of the movie is about Jimmy trying to deal with not being on the road anymore and hanging out with old friends. Nothing really happens in Roadie and I think that's the biggest problem with the film.
Ron Eldard gives a nice performance though and you are able to sympathize with him. Cannavale made me kind of laugh and Jill Hennessy has been hitting the weights or yoga or something cause she's in great shape. She wrote the song she performs in the movie and I was impressed by that.
Roadie has a interesting 70's soundtrack. When you hear the name Blue Oyster Cult, most people immediately think of "Don't Fear the Reaper" and the need for more cowbell. Some of the songs featured on the soundtrack are lesser known songs by BOC that I liked and it made me want to check out more of their stuff. There are several other songs you hear by artists most of you have never heard of. It's just nice that the movie introduced me to music I haven't heard before and they didn't get lazy and reuse the same few songs you hear in anything about the 70's.
Overall, Roadie ends up being another small budget character piece with good performances from the four main actors involved. It's hurt by the the fact that it doesn't really do anything new or anything to stand out. It's just okay for me, but I do think it's worth a rental for the soundtrack and the performances.
3 (out of 5) Death Stars
The theme of this post seems to be 'good performances in forgettable movies'. These sneak previews I'm getting seem to be about 40/60 good to bad. I know they can't all be gems, but it's not hard to figure out why these movies get thrown up On Demand the same week, or even before, their theatrical release date.
First up is Angels Crest. It stars Thomas Dekker as a young father that leaves his kid in a parked car while he tracks a deer. He doesn't have any hunting equipment though, so I'm not sure why he needed to track the deer. Dekker comes back to his car to find his son missing. This throws their small town into a panic as they search for his son. I'm sure you have guessed that this doesn't end well.Right off the bat, it's hard to like Dekker's character, because that's just not a very responsible thing to do. You then find out that Dekker's ex, is an alcoholic, played by Lynn Collins, who's more of a mess then he is.
The overall tone of the movie very dour and depressing. They live is a very small, run down town and as you meet their family and friends, you end up not liking anyone all that much. It seemed like everyone hated their lives and it's very melodramatic.
One funny observation is that it seems like all the women in the movie have nice calves, Kate Walsh (although you never get to see them), Elizabeth McGovern (who knew) and Mira Sorvino (who's are legendary as far as I'm concerned). I may have mentioned this before, but I have thing for nice calves, so I tend to notice stuff like that.
This also features Jeremy Piven as the DA that's trying the case. He's also lost a kid recently, but no details are given, so you just kind of have to assume what he's going through. He doesn't seem to enjoy doing his job.
The bright spot, besides Piven, is Thomas Dekker's emotional performance. I feel bad for Dekker (not his character, the actual man). If FOX has a little more vision, we'd be on like the 4th season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles by now. It's funny, because I always confuse him with Nick Stahl, who also played John Connor.
Anyway, while Dekker's performance is convincing, there's just not all that much else in the movie to sink your teeth into. It never quite gets over the hump of being able to stand out of from the myriad of depressing indie films dealing with loss.
Angels Crest isn't terrible, there's just not a lot to recommend outside of Dekker's performance. It's pretty forgettable.
2 (out of 5) Death Stars
Next up is Roadie, not to be confused with the 1980's movie of the same name starring Meatloaf. It appears the people on HDNET were confused about this, as the program guide still shows this movie as being the 80's version. Anyway, Roadie is about Jimmy Testagros (Ron Eldard), a roadie recently let go by Blue Oyster Cult after being on the road with them for 25 years. I don't recall that it's ever said why he's let go.Not knowing where to go or what to do next, he goes back to his childhood home, which he hasn't seen since high school. He's been gone so long, that his mom doesn't even seem to recognize him at first. Initially, I thought this movie might be taking place in the 70's due to the band, the look of the house and how Jimmy has a very 70's look about him. However, once you see him on a cell phone, that illusion was shattered.
He runs into an old acquaintance from high school (played by Bobby Cannavale), that he used to be at odds with. He's now married to an old flame of Jimmy's (Jill Hennessy), who's a local singer.
The movie's title is a little misleading, as you'd think this would be about a roadie in action and maybe give you a behind the scenes look at a band. Instead, Jimmy barely talks about being a roadie to the point where you start to wonder if he ever actually was one. You don't get any flashbacks or anything like that. When he does talk about his work, you can tell he's exaggerating heavily about it in order to sound more important to people. That's actually one thing that you identify with. Who doesn't fib a little in order to build themselves up, especially to old classmates, exes, or people you haven't seen in a long time. At the same time, the fact that he won't tell anyone, even his mom, that's he was let go makes you wonder if this guy has been lying about everything.
Anyway, the rest of the movie is about Jimmy trying to deal with not being on the road anymore and hanging out with old friends. Nothing really happens in Roadie and I think that's the biggest problem with the film.
Ron Eldard gives a nice performance though and you are able to sympathize with him. Cannavale made me kind of laugh and Jill Hennessy has been hitting the weights or yoga or something cause she's in great shape. She wrote the song she performs in the movie and I was impressed by that.
Roadie has a interesting 70's soundtrack. When you hear the name Blue Oyster Cult, most people immediately think of "Don't Fear the Reaper" and the need for more cowbell. Some of the songs featured on the soundtrack are lesser known songs by BOC that I liked and it made me want to check out more of their stuff. There are several other songs you hear by artists most of you have never heard of. It's just nice that the movie introduced me to music I haven't heard before and they didn't get lazy and reuse the same few songs you hear in anything about the 70's.
Overall, Roadie ends up being another small budget character piece with good performances from the four main actors involved. It's hurt by the the fact that it doesn't really do anything new or anything to stand out. It's just okay for me, but I do think it's worth a rental for the soundtrack and the performances.
3 (out of 5) Death Stars
This week in DVD - Jan 8th
Shark Night 3D
As I said in my original review, how can you possibly make an effective movie about shark attacks and only have it be PG-13? It's like they missed the entire point.
0 (out of 5) Death Stars. There's no point in renting it even as there's nothing entertaining about it. This movie has a firm place on my 10 worst films of the year list.
Contagion
I thought this was pretty good. The story has some flaws and there are too many characters and plot threads that really aren't wrapped up well, but overall I liked it. You can read the original review here.
3 (out of 5) Death Stars
The Guard
Honestly one of the funniest movies of the year it's been in my top ten since I've seen it. You can read more about it here. As I mention in the review, it's a buddy cop movie if it had been written by the Coen Brothers and directed by Guy Ritchie.
5 Death Stars! Again, it's one of my favorite movies of the year. They only reason I haven't bought it yet is that I'm waiting for a sale.
Puncture
This was kind of interesting. Chris Evans stars as a functional, drug-addicted lawyer trying battling hospitals to force them to buy retractable syringes. The movie is actually based on a real case involving accidental needle sticks and the risks faced by heath care professionals.
Chris Evans actually gives a pretty good performance and it's nice to see him do something different after Captain America. However, the movie can't settle on a tone or topic. It doesn't know what it wants to be and it suffers as a result. Is this a legal drama? Is this about watching a man battling addiction? Is this a about a medical conspiracy? It's all over the place.
Then, just as it's getting interesting, they wrap it up with a clumsy ending and they just tell you what happened after instead of showing you. It's frustrating.
2.5 (out of 5). I think it's a good rental for Chris Evans' performance alone.
I Don't Know How She Does It
I'm on the fence about this one as well. There are people in the cast that I liked and some moments I thought were funny, but the movie felt kind of dated with its subject and the roles. The movie itself is very formulaic. It's basically a working woman trying to balance her career and being a mother. You've seen it all before, even right down to the lessons learned by the characters, but it's been done better in other movies
The movie's s use of voice over, and the fact that it stars Sarah Jessica Parker, made it feel like it was a Sex in the City movie, only years later after she's had kids and has finally settled down.
I didn't hate it, but it's not a good movie either.
2 (out of 5). If you really like SJP, then I'd say to rent it, otherwise, it's not really good enough to recommend.
Final Destination V
Movies like this are usually guilty pleasures for me. I'm a sucker for gore and over-the-top deaths and I like seeing how creative they get with some of them. However, outside of the opening sequence, I thought many of the deaths this time around were just plain silly. Like at one point a girl slips and manages to crash through an upper story glass window and fall to her death. If it were that easy to break a window like that, they wouldn't be able to use them in buildings. People would fall to their deaths on a daily basis. In fact, many movies have used the fact that you cannot break them as a gag.
There were other deaths that involved things that just weren't physically possible. It's best to just shut your brain off when watching a movie like this, but even then, I can't help but notice stuff like that.
I think this franchise is out of ideas and has run it's course. You don't even care about any of the characters and want to see them die. Generally the point of horror films is that you want at least someone to survive, but with these movies you root for death.
1 (out of 5) Death Stars. I can only say to rent it if you absolutely love the series, otherwise, there's just nothing to recommend here.
Atlas Shrugged Part 1
I have to admit that I know nothing about Ayn Rand, but I decided to give this a whirl anyway. Boy, was this a stinker. It felt like a TV-movie, but with worse acting. It doesn't even have unintentional comedy going for it. As bad as it is, it takes a turn for the ridiculous when they involve Atlantis in the plot. Is this supposed to be a sci-fi film? I know there's a philosophy behind this, but the movie was so bad that I didn't care about what it was.
Worse yet, it ends on a 'cliffhanger', as if after watching this 90 minute mess, I would have any interest in sitting through another.
0 Death Stars - This is one of the worst films of 2011 and do not recommend it on any level.
As I said in my original review, how can you possibly make an effective movie about shark attacks and only have it be PG-13? It's like they missed the entire point.
0 (out of 5) Death Stars. There's no point in renting it even as there's nothing entertaining about it. This movie has a firm place on my 10 worst films of the year list.
Contagion
I thought this was pretty good. The story has some flaws and there are too many characters and plot threads that really aren't wrapped up well, but overall I liked it. You can read the original review here.
3 (out of 5) Death Stars
The Guard
Honestly one of the funniest movies of the year it's been in my top ten since I've seen it. You can read more about it here. As I mention in the review, it's a buddy cop movie if it had been written by the Coen Brothers and directed by Guy Ritchie.
5 Death Stars! Again, it's one of my favorite movies of the year. They only reason I haven't bought it yet is that I'm waiting for a sale.
Puncture
This was kind of interesting. Chris Evans stars as a functional, drug-addicted lawyer trying battling hospitals to force them to buy retractable syringes. The movie is actually based on a real case involving accidental needle sticks and the risks faced by heath care professionals.
Chris Evans actually gives a pretty good performance and it's nice to see him do something different after Captain America. However, the movie can't settle on a tone or topic. It doesn't know what it wants to be and it suffers as a result. Is this a legal drama? Is this about watching a man battling addiction? Is this a about a medical conspiracy? It's all over the place.
Then, just as it's getting interesting, they wrap it up with a clumsy ending and they just tell you what happened after instead of showing you. It's frustrating.
2.5 (out of 5). I think it's a good rental for Chris Evans' performance alone.
I Don't Know How She Does It
I'm on the fence about this one as well. There are people in the cast that I liked and some moments I thought were funny, but the movie felt kind of dated with its subject and the roles. The movie itself is very formulaic. It's basically a working woman trying to balance her career and being a mother. You've seen it all before, even right down to the lessons learned by the characters, but it's been done better in other movies
The movie's s use of voice over, and the fact that it stars Sarah Jessica Parker, made it feel like it was a Sex in the City movie, only years later after she's had kids and has finally settled down.
I didn't hate it, but it's not a good movie either.
2 (out of 5). If you really like SJP, then I'd say to rent it, otherwise, it's not really good enough to recommend.
Final Destination V
Movies like this are usually guilty pleasures for me. I'm a sucker for gore and over-the-top deaths and I like seeing how creative they get with some of them. However, outside of the opening sequence, I thought many of the deaths this time around were just plain silly. Like at one point a girl slips and manages to crash through an upper story glass window and fall to her death. If it were that easy to break a window like that, they wouldn't be able to use them in buildings. People would fall to their deaths on a daily basis. In fact, many movies have used the fact that you cannot break them as a gag.
There were other deaths that involved things that just weren't physically possible. It's best to just shut your brain off when watching a movie like this, but even then, I can't help but notice stuff like that.
I think this franchise is out of ideas and has run it's course. You don't even care about any of the characters and want to see them die. Generally the point of horror films is that you want at least someone to survive, but with these movies you root for death.
1 (out of 5) Death Stars. I can only say to rent it if you absolutely love the series, otherwise, there's just nothing to recommend here.
Atlas Shrugged Part 1
I have to admit that I know nothing about Ayn Rand, but I decided to give this a whirl anyway. Boy, was this a stinker. It felt like a TV-movie, but with worse acting. It doesn't even have unintentional comedy going for it. As bad as it is, it takes a turn for the ridiculous when they involve Atlantis in the plot. Is this supposed to be a sci-fi film? I know there's a philosophy behind this, but the movie was so bad that I didn't care about what it was.
Worse yet, it ends on a 'cliffhanger', as if after watching this 90 minute mess, I would have any interest in sitting through another.
0 Death Stars - This is one of the worst films of 2011 and do not recommend it on any level.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Movie Review
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a movie based on a book of the same name by John le Carré. This was also adapted to a mini-series back in the 70's starring Alex Guinness. TTSS was released in the UK back in September, so there's a been a healthy amount of hype and positive reviews before it got released here.
TTSS basically follows the story of George Smiley (Gary Oldman), who is brought out of retirement to discover the identity of a Solviet double agent at the top of British Intelligence. His primary suspects are codenamed "Tinker", "Tailor", "Soldier" and I bet you think the next one is "Spy", right? Well, you're WRONG! The remaining two suspects are "Poorman" and then "Beggerman", who is Smiley himself.
Naturally, that eliminates one of the suspects right off the bat, but at the same time, if Smiley is one of the suspects, why was he the one brought out of retirement to investigate? Was it because since he was retired, he couldn't have been involved in recent events? It wasn't clear to me. That's kind of my issue with the movie. Outside of the initial premise, I can barely tell you what the movie was about or who anyone was. There are so many characters and code names that I felt like I needed to take notes and draw up a flow chart to keep it all straight.
To muddy it up even more, they jump around in time a lot to tell the story. They do this without any warning or letting you know when things are happening. The events of the movie happen during a fairly short period of time, so it's not like the age of the characters let you know when things are happening. It seems like this was something better suited for a miniseries due to all of the characters and events going on. If HBO or Showtime would have made this instead of a 2 hour movie, I think it would have been easier to follow.
This is more of a thinking man's spy film, rather than a action-based one. It's lots of long interviews and people researching things. Normally, I wouldn't have an issue with that, not everything needs to be 007, but the movie ends up being kind of boring due to the lack of any action.. There's no real emotion or punch to the the film and it lacks any kind of urgency. Because there are so many characters, you really don't get to know most of them, and don't care about any of them as a result. When I finally found out who the spy is, I was just, "Um...okay." It didn't feel like there was any evidence pointing specifically to that guy. You could have told me it was anyone by the end of the movie and I would have went along with it.
TTSS does have a great cast though and has good performances going for it. Even some of the lesser known British actors in the movie you'll recognize from other films. Gary Oldman is great as he always is. I also really enjoyed Tom Hardy and Mark Strong, John Hurt stood out for me as well. Colin Firth and Ciarán Hinds are good, but I felt like they were underused.
This movie has a nice style to it, but again, everything felt bland. It was directed by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, who also directed Let the Right One In. Peter Straughan co-write the screenplay, which is surprising because he also co-wrote The Debt, which I think is a much better spy movie. Again, I think the issue is that there's too much going on here to do it justice in a 2-hour movie.
While one guy stood up and applauded as the movie ended, I heard many people out in the lobby saying things like "I didn't get it" or "I'm not sure what happened.", so I have a feeling this is how many people are going to feel about it. You're either going to love the hell out of it, or walk out of it not getting it.
I saw this at The Vine, which was a good idea as they have more comfortable seating and you're going to need it to get through this. You feel every minute of the movie's run time due to the pacing. I had to fight from falling asleep at one point. Honestly, I wouldn't even recommend seeing this in the theater as this is the kind of movie you will likely find yourself pausing or rewinding in order to make sense of it all.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy kind of bummed me out. Despite the great cast and how much I was looking forward to it, it just didn't do anything for me. It's well acted, but lacks anything to really grab or wow you.
3 (out of 5) Death Stars.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Devil Inside - Movie Review
I'm not even going to waste time, the reason this movie is so insultingly bad is that just as the movie gets interesting, it fades to black and then tells you to go to a website to find out how the story ends. What?! I just watched 90 min of a movie to be told to go to the Internet to see how it ends up? That's bullshit!
This is at least the third film I've seen in the last year that's pulled this crap and I can't believe they are still trying to do it. It's extremely insulting! Nobody should pay for this and I have no problem with spoiling this and advising people to avoid it.
That's almost all I really need to say bout the movie, but I'll briefly talk about it just so you understand that I actually sat through this shit.
The movie is about Isabella Rossi, played by Ferdanda Andrade. While she is an attractive, young woman, she is one of the worst actresses I've seen in a long time. Her performance reminded me of an android. If you want me to buy into the found footage premise, you could at least make me believe the performance was from a human being, or at least one that can act.
Anyway, the movie starts with the premise that her mother went insane 20 years ago and killed some people during a supposed, and unsanctioned, exorcism. They are quick to point out during the opening credits that the Vatican did not approve of this exorcism, or of this movie! Oh really? Imagine that! Anyway, Isabella is going to Rome to visit her mother and figure out if her mother was possessed or just plain crazy.
I have to admit that this movie had me for a bit. There are actually some cool and violent things that happen as the movie goes on. They actually did a halfway decent job of making me feel like I was watching a documentary about exorcism.. The movie had a good pace and I was genuinely interested in what was going on, despite that you know it's all a setup for something that's fake. Again, up until the ending it actually worked and it's a shame.
This was written and directed by William Brent Bell, who I think should be beaten to a pulp for this movie. The fact that he thought it was okay to release a movie like this shows ultimate contempt for his audience. I didn't see this in a packed movie theater, and even then I heard people complain and ask for their money back as they walked out. It's that bad.
The Devil Inside is honestly one of the worst films I've seen in years. While I admit that I was kind of with it, even with a better ending, it still would have been a mediocre film at best. I cannot in good conscience recommend this to anyone. It's insulting this movie was made the way it was. Do not see this in the theater and do not rent it.
0.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. I only give it .5 instead of 0 because there were some points I thought worked.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
This week in DVD - January 1st
Happy New Year everyone!
It's a real light week for new DVD releases because of the holidays, so I'm going to catch up on a few older movies I've been trying to write about.
Apollo 18
December DVD releases often torture me with reminders of shitty movies I saw in August or September. This is one of them. It takes the found footage genre just a bit too far, with both overuse of the gimmick and complete lack of believability.
You can read my original review here, but I'll just sum it up for you with this: it sucked.
1 (out of 5) Death Star. Don't bother with this. Instead rent Duncan Jones' Moon starring Sam Rockwell.
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
This didn't get the greatest reviews, but I thought it was kind of funny. Given the subject matter I thought it pulled some punches and wasn't quite as raunchy as you'd expect, so I was a little disappointed there. It does have a funny, likable cast, but again, I've seen guys like Jason Sudeikis and Nick Kroll in much funnier things, so it felt like they could have done better.
2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. It's worth a rent, but don't go out of your way.
Stay Cool
Initially, I saw the trailer and thought I might be into it. It features a likable cast (Sean Austin, Winona Ryder, Chevy Chase, Josh Holloway) and looked funny. However, the lead's, played by Mark Polish (who also wrote this), only distinctive characteristic seems to be that he looks like he could be Tom Cavanagh's brother. Who's Tom Cavanagh, you say? Exactly.
I didn't like this. It's a bad sign when a movie was made in 2009 but didn't get released until 2011. It's seemed like nobody acted like a real person or reacted like a normal person would.
1.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. Skip it.
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
I didn't like this either. I thought the first one was okay, but this just wasn't very interesting. Even the animation felt kind of generic. The first one had it's moments, but this didn't have any. That's really all I have to say about it.
1.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. Pass.
The River Why
As in 'why' did they make this movie? The movie opens with narration by the lead character, who sounds like someone learning how to read. He tells you that his family is a family of fishermen and his Dad is some kind of famous one at that. He also mentions his parents were polar opposites because one is a fly fisherman and one is a bait fisherman. That makes them polar opposites? I guess I don't know enough about the intricacies of the fishing community. Is this like East Coast vs West Coast rap?
The only good part is that there's this great scene when he insults his parents mercilessly and his mother punches him in the face, and he effing deserved it. Then he tries to ruin the dinner table by pulling out the table cloth, but he actually does the trick where the plates stay on the table, so then he just has to push all the plates off. That was hilarious (unintentional or not). Unfortunately this happens in the first 10 minutes of the film and then it's a giant bore of a movie.
Also, William Hurt speaks with a bizarre English accent for no real reason and it sounded like he was doing a Pierce Brosnan impression.
Overall, it's a terrible movie and a complete waste of time.
1 (out of 5) Death Stars. Don't rent it, don't watch it on cable, just...don't.
Shotgun Stories
Watched it because of Take Shelter, as it also stars Michael Shannon and was written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Shotgun Stories has a similar feel to Take Shelter, but is way more rednecky.
It follows the story of two sets of step-brothers that are basically fighting after their father's death. In a way this felt like a redneck mob movie, in that one attack demanded a retaliation by the other side and then that would lead to something else.
It's an interesting story though. Good acting, especially from Michael Shannon. You can see why he's Jeff Nichols' go-to-guy. They already have another movie coming out called Mud that I'm looking forward to.
3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. Give a rent sometime if you're in the market for a good drama.
13
A remake of the 2005 French film, 13 Tzameti, staring Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, Michael Shannon and Jason Statham. I watched it mainly based on the strength of the cast.
It's basically about an organized Russian roulette tournament. Why this tournament exists, I have no idea. While it has some tense moments, I didn't enjoy it all that much. This might work for some people, but I just wasn't into it. Plus, it's one of those movies that kept going when I felt like it should have been over already.
1.5 Death Stars. If you can stream it or catch it on cable, then you might enjoy it a little.
Burke and Hare
Here's another movie I really had high hopes for, but it just disappointed me. Anytime a movie stars Simon Pegg, I figure I'm going to enjoy it on some level. It also stars Andy Serkis and Isla Fisher, so I thought I might be in for a treat.
It's marketed as a black comedy, which I normally love, but I just didn't find it all that funny. The story loosely follows the actual Burke and Hare murders. It's directed by John Landis, and while not everything he's done has been great, I thought it would have at least gotten comedy part right. Oh well...
2 Death Stars. Again, if you caught this on TV one day, you might enjoy it.
The Devil's Teardrop
I started watching this and got a very TV-vibe from it, with how it consistently faded out like it was going to commercial. Then, I looked it up and found that it was a made for TV movie. As far as made for TV movies go, it's not the worst thing I've seen. It had a decent cast for a TV movie (Tom Everett Scott and Natasha Henstridge).
It's basically about the FBI trying to track down a killer. They are running out of time and only have a handwritten note to go on, so they bring in a handwriting analyst (Scott) to see if he can help them track the killer down. I found some of the handwriting analysis scenes interesting, but it's about what you'd expect as far as actual tension and drama.
2 Death Stars. I wouldn't go out of your way to watch this, but since this was a TV movie, you should be able to find it pretty easily.
Another Earth
This is a movie I've been waiting to see for a while. It got a real short theatrical run and even The Vine wasn't able to get it (even after they posted they were going to have it soon).
Brit Marling writes and stars in a movie about the discovery of, you guessed it, another Earth in our orbit. Marling plays Rhoda, a young girl that was just accepted to MIT. After driving home from a party and hearing on the radio about the new Earth discovery, she's distracted once seeing it in the sky. This causes her to get in an accident, killing a wife and kid and putting the husband in a coma.
She gets out of prison around the same time that John (William Mapother) comes out of his coma. As Rhoda was a minor when she got in the accident, her identity was never revealed to John. Rhoda decides to go to John's house and confess, but loses her nerve and decides to pose as a maid from a cleaning service and offers him free cleaning of his house. They eventually form a friendship.
This is not a hard sci-fi movie. If you can't get past the that premise and how the physics aren't handled correctly, then you'll hate this. It's another movie that has sci-fi underpinnings, but really isn't a sci-fi movie. It's more of a character piece, where you're watching Rhoda and John's friendship and how each person is dealing with the events and healing from it.
It's a little too plodding with the pace for me to not give it a higher rating though, but I did like the movie. It's also kind of painful to watch in points because you really understand the emotional states of both of the leads.
There are some great shots in the movie, especially when you see the second Earth in the sky. It's a nice looking movie.
3.5 Death Stars. I recommend renting this. I think it's a smart film.
The Art of Getting By
A troubled, but smart, slacker tries to get through his last few months of school. He meets a girl 'out of his league' and forms a friendship. Obviously, he's in love with her, but she just thinks of him as a friend. It's one of those type of movies.
Anyway it rolls along and you know where it's all going and how it's going to end. It's all very cliched. In the end, you find that you just don't care all that much.
It's a bummer because it looked good from the trailer and I actually liked the cast. This movie lacked the wit and charm needed to make it work. It's just not a very good screenplay and would have benefited from some punch-up. Paging Patton Oswalt, you're needed here.
2 Death Stars. This is another movie that I wouldn't recommend going out of your way and renting, but if you caught it on streaming or on cable one day, you might like it.
It's a real light week for new DVD releases because of the holidays, so I'm going to catch up on a few older movies I've been trying to write about.
Apollo 18
December DVD releases often torture me with reminders of shitty movies I saw in August or September. This is one of them. It takes the found footage genre just a bit too far, with both overuse of the gimmick and complete lack of believability.
You can read my original review here, but I'll just sum it up for you with this: it sucked.
1 (out of 5) Death Star. Don't bother with this. Instead rent Duncan Jones' Moon starring Sam Rockwell.
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
This didn't get the greatest reviews, but I thought it was kind of funny. Given the subject matter I thought it pulled some punches and wasn't quite as raunchy as you'd expect, so I was a little disappointed there. It does have a funny, likable cast, but again, I've seen guys like Jason Sudeikis and Nick Kroll in much funnier things, so it felt like they could have done better.
2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. It's worth a rent, but don't go out of your way.
Stay Cool
Initially, I saw the trailer and thought I might be into it. It features a likable cast (Sean Austin, Winona Ryder, Chevy Chase, Josh Holloway) and looked funny. However, the lead's, played by Mark Polish (who also wrote this), only distinctive characteristic seems to be that he looks like he could be Tom Cavanagh's brother. Who's Tom Cavanagh, you say? Exactly.
I didn't like this. It's a bad sign when a movie was made in 2009 but didn't get released until 2011. It's seemed like nobody acted like a real person or reacted like a normal person would.
1.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. Skip it.
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
I didn't like this either. I thought the first one was okay, but this just wasn't very interesting. Even the animation felt kind of generic. The first one had it's moments, but this didn't have any. That's really all I have to say about it.
1.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. Pass.
The River Why
As in 'why' did they make this movie? The movie opens with narration by the lead character, who sounds like someone learning how to read. He tells you that his family is a family of fishermen and his Dad is some kind of famous one at that. He also mentions his parents were polar opposites because one is a fly fisherman and one is a bait fisherman. That makes them polar opposites? I guess I don't know enough about the intricacies of the fishing community. Is this like East Coast vs West Coast rap?
The only good part is that there's this great scene when he insults his parents mercilessly and his mother punches him in the face, and he effing deserved it. Then he tries to ruin the dinner table by pulling out the table cloth, but he actually does the trick where the plates stay on the table, so then he just has to push all the plates off. That was hilarious (unintentional or not). Unfortunately this happens in the first 10 minutes of the film and then it's a giant bore of a movie.
Also, William Hurt speaks with a bizarre English accent for no real reason and it sounded like he was doing a Pierce Brosnan impression.
Overall, it's a terrible movie and a complete waste of time.
1 (out of 5) Death Stars. Don't rent it, don't watch it on cable, just...don't.
Shotgun Stories
Watched it because of Take Shelter, as it also stars Michael Shannon and was written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Shotgun Stories has a similar feel to Take Shelter, but is way more rednecky.
It follows the story of two sets of step-brothers that are basically fighting after their father's death. In a way this felt like a redneck mob movie, in that one attack demanded a retaliation by the other side and then that would lead to something else.
It's an interesting story though. Good acting, especially from Michael Shannon. You can see why he's Jeff Nichols' go-to-guy. They already have another movie coming out called Mud that I'm looking forward to.
3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars. Give a rent sometime if you're in the market for a good drama.
13
A remake of the 2005 French film, 13 Tzameti, staring Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, Michael Shannon and Jason Statham. I watched it mainly based on the strength of the cast.
It's basically about an organized Russian roulette tournament. Why this tournament exists, I have no idea. While it has some tense moments, I didn't enjoy it all that much. This might work for some people, but I just wasn't into it. Plus, it's one of those movies that kept going when I felt like it should have been over already.
1.5 Death Stars. If you can stream it or catch it on cable, then you might enjoy it a little.
Burke and Hare
Here's another movie I really had high hopes for, but it just disappointed me. Anytime a movie stars Simon Pegg, I figure I'm going to enjoy it on some level. It also stars Andy Serkis and Isla Fisher, so I thought I might be in for a treat.
It's marketed as a black comedy, which I normally love, but I just didn't find it all that funny. The story loosely follows the actual Burke and Hare murders. It's directed by John Landis, and while not everything he's done has been great, I thought it would have at least gotten comedy part right. Oh well...
2 Death Stars. Again, if you caught this on TV one day, you might enjoy it.
The Devil's Teardrop
I started watching this and got a very TV-vibe from it, with how it consistently faded out like it was going to commercial. Then, I looked it up and found that it was a made for TV movie. As far as made for TV movies go, it's not the worst thing I've seen. It had a decent cast for a TV movie (Tom Everett Scott and Natasha Henstridge).
It's basically about the FBI trying to track down a killer. They are running out of time and only have a handwritten note to go on, so they bring in a handwriting analyst (Scott) to see if he can help them track the killer down. I found some of the handwriting analysis scenes interesting, but it's about what you'd expect as far as actual tension and drama.
2 Death Stars. I wouldn't go out of your way to watch this, but since this was a TV movie, you should be able to find it pretty easily.
This is a movie I've been waiting to see for a while. It got a real short theatrical run and even The Vine wasn't able to get it (even after they posted they were going to have it soon).
Brit Marling writes and stars in a movie about the discovery of, you guessed it, another Earth in our orbit. Marling plays Rhoda, a young girl that was just accepted to MIT. After driving home from a party and hearing on the radio about the new Earth discovery, she's distracted once seeing it in the sky. This causes her to get in an accident, killing a wife and kid and putting the husband in a coma.
She gets out of prison around the same time that John (William Mapother) comes out of his coma. As Rhoda was a minor when she got in the accident, her identity was never revealed to John. Rhoda decides to go to John's house and confess, but loses her nerve and decides to pose as a maid from a cleaning service and offers him free cleaning of his house. They eventually form a friendship.
This is not a hard sci-fi movie. If you can't get past the that premise and how the physics aren't handled correctly, then you'll hate this. It's another movie that has sci-fi underpinnings, but really isn't a sci-fi movie. It's more of a character piece, where you're watching Rhoda and John's friendship and how each person is dealing with the events and healing from it.
It's a little too plodding with the pace for me to not give it a higher rating though, but I did like the movie. It's also kind of painful to watch in points because you really understand the emotional states of both of the leads.
There are some great shots in the movie, especially when you see the second Earth in the sky. It's a nice looking movie.
3.5 Death Stars. I recommend renting this. I think it's a smart film.
The Art of Getting By
A troubled, but smart, slacker tries to get through his last few months of school. He meets a girl 'out of his league' and forms a friendship. Obviously, he's in love with her, but she just thinks of him as a friend. It's one of those type of movies.
Anyway it rolls along and you know where it's all going and how it's going to end. It's all very cliched. In the end, you find that you just don't care all that much.
It's a bummer because it looked good from the trailer and I actually liked the cast. This movie lacked the wit and charm needed to make it work. It's just not a very good screenplay and would have benefited from some punch-up. Paging Patton Oswalt, you're needed here.
2 Death Stars. This is another movie that I wouldn't recommend going out of your way and renting, but if you caught it on streaming or on cable one day, you might like it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)