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Weekly Review 39: HARD, CHOPPER, JAWS, RED 2, BUTLER, DIRTY, SQUARE, DAZED

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Another period in which I haven’t posted Weekly Reviews for a stretch, this time due to my time spent at Sundance, this week I offer up eight (!!!) short blurbs on movies that I’ve watched in the recent past. Some good, some bad, some ugly, this Weekly Review segment features two of the Oscar-nominated documentaries (I’ve now seen all five) some lingering 2013 movies I finally got around to and the Oscar movie that couldn’t (The Butler).

 

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (2013)

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One swift word can sum this all up: garbage. As if the name isn’t fair warning enough, A Good Day to Die Hard takes all the good grace for this lauded action series, tears it apart and erects a statue to stupidity in its place. Gone is the John McClane we’ve known and loved from the first four installments and in his place is a goon of a gunner. With cartoonish dialogue, a Russian villain eating a carrot, and no intelligence to speak of, this hard dying Die Hard allows McClane to be reduced to a bumbling old kook. He was once the life of the party, now he’s just a supporting character, a scaled down accidental hero. What a bore.  

D

CHOPPER (2000)

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Eric Bana stars as the real life Australian prisoner Mark “Chopper” Read who achieved fame in prison after penning a wacky autobiography. Bana does a great job at embodying a character but director Andrew Dominick is not quite as deft behind the camera. There’s a few great scenes but all in all it feels like a lesser version of Bronson, Nicholas Winding Refn‘s similarly themed prison character study. But if you’re looking for a good performance from Bana, this an early role in which he really holds the screen. Worth a watch but doesn’t demand one.

C

JAWS (1975)

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It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I watched Steven Speilberg‘s game changing blockbuster and revisiting it proved a fun foray into my childhood shark angst. Pretty much the only memory I had of the film was the iconic music and the behemoth great white monster so seeing how long it took for Mr. Jaws to really reveal himself was an unexpected exercise in tension. Richard Dreyfuss is on fire here and Roy Scheider is immensely watchable as the old timey symbol of bygone, stoic masculinity. It’s a film that distinctly belongs to the 70’s and yet could have been made today and been just as great. All in all, Jaws is a well oiled how-to playbook for mainstream blockbusters.

B+

RED 2 (2013)

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Noticeably more fun than the first installment, Red 2 seems to rely more on comic book sensibility than the first one. The action is goofy and fun, mimicking the out-of-control physics that only a video game or comic could provide, and the characters are oft-kilter shades of insanity. Bruce Willis is much more of an action hero, or arguable John McClane, here than he is ever is in Live Free or Die Hard and it’s good to see him turn his rootin’-tootin’ antics towards something that we can at least get a kick out of. Still much in need of a narrative overhaul and fresh direction, Red 2 is still just enough fun to warrant a watch.

C+

THE BUTLER (2013)

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I was backpacking Glacier National Park when The Butler screened here in Seattle and somehow over the course of the year, I never really found the time to catch it in its theatrical run. After all the dust has settled though and The Butler missed out on even one Oscar nomination, I’m a little surprised that this film ever had the traction it did. Forest Whitaker is solid but his work is never immensely challenging, nor is it near the ranks of the many top-tier performances we’ve seen this year. Oprah Winfrey is fine but honestly the script spoon feeds her “Oscar moment” scenes and she doesn’t really elevate them to a point where I would consider her performance worthy of note. Drunk, struggling with race and suffering from a dying child, her role is a cocktail of awards bait and little more. The racial relations present here are certainly overshadowed by the might of 12 Years a Slave but Cecil Gaines’ story is none the less important, it just may be a few years too late. With Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom being an absolute failure, The Butler can be happy taking second place in the 2013 black historical biopic race.

B-

DIRTY WARS (2013)

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An absolutely gripping documentary that starts with the investigation of an isolated massacre of women and children in Afghanistan and builds into the scariest reality America is facing today, Dirty Wars unfolds a scenario in which unbridled warfare is our country’s inevitable future. Rather than place blame on the many “enemies of the US,” investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill shows how through outsourcing our military might to JSOC we have created a need fulfillment system in which our list of enemies will always be growing, no matter how many names we scratch off through drone strikes and illegal and immoral acts of war. Dirty Wars is a must see documentary that’s been nominated for Best Documentary this year and is currently streaming on Netflix.

A

THE SQUARE (2013)

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Another important (and Oscar-nominated) documentary that so happens to have a Netflix exclusive run, The Square deals with the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian revolutions that toppled Mubarak’s long standing regime. While that story of overthrowing a nation’s ruler, a million man march and secular revolution amidst torrents of religious zealots was the hot topic issue across the world for the span of a few weeks, when the flash burned out, people’s gaze faced elsewhere. Egyptians though still faced an uphill battle of implementing real change. Documenting the two and a half year period following the events that changed political efficacy in the Middle East, Jehane Noujaim‘s powerful documentary is about maintaining hope and fighting for what you believe, no matter what the cause and no matter how futile.

A-

DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)

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I’ve seen portions of Dazed and Confused throughout my life but, somehow, I’d never watched it in its entirety. Richard Linklater, one of my favorite living directors, though focused on the lives of high schoolers in the 70’s, still has the same vision he does today for perceptive realism and dialogue driven earnestness. Regardless of the fact that a bevy of this where-are-they-now ensemble are high, drunk or too geeky to function, their observations about life, love and growing up are surprisingly acute for how red or glazed over their eyes are. More than just a dumb stoner movie, Dazed and Confused is smartly comedic and just dramatic enough to give it some emotional heft.

B

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Weekly Review 38: SIMON, ACT, CUTIE, HOSTEL, HISTORY, 2, OLDBOY

by Posted in Weekly Review

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Weekly Review post with the holidays and all so the following is really what I’ve seen over the past three weeks or so. Between traveling coasts, wrapping up my top ten, and busting out a bundle of lingering 2013 reviews, I finally had a chance to eject some thoughts of a number of films from the year that I hadn’t yet had a chance to reflect on. So strap in and take a look at this surprisingly great collection of films.

SIMON KILLER (2013)

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Trying to fulfill my list of underseen films of 2013, I finally got to watch Simon Killer which had snuck past me all year until it arrived on Netflix Instant. Perhaps expecting it to be an edgy and powerful foreign landscape romp reduced my enjoyment of the actual picture but I think either way I would have only found this film just ok. Featuring a cast of unknowns, none of whom prove their staying power or demand the rise to name brand performer, Simon Killer dips into the swampy territory of Parisian prostitution as an American traveler tries to bandage his recent breakup with a new kindled flame with a whore. Director Antonio Campos definitely tries to be different as his camera is never focused on the action but always wandering on the scene’s lower sections – legs, shoes, sofas, shuffles. It’s an interesting choice but it becomes too obvious and faux-artsy as the movie wears on. While the soundtrack managed to garnish some killer tunes from the likes of LCD Soundsystem, the editing leaves them without much of a place to go, much like the film itself.

C

THE ACT OF KILLING (2013)

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An interrogation has never been as self-reflective as it has in Act of Killing. Documentarians Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and an anonymous third have turned the camera on Indonesian gangsters, or as they like to be called and call themselves “free men”, as they reflect on the heinous acts of near genocide they inflicted on rivaling communist party. At first, they are callused and cheery, almost gleefully ready to reenact their heinous crimes. But in the midst of these reenactments, they learn the true horror of what they have done. Rather than force-feeding these conclusions to their subjects, the filmmakers draw it from them with meticulous restraint, making the internal transformation we witness that much more powerful and cathartic. The Act of Killing is certainly one of the best documentaries of 2013.

A-

CUTIE AND THE BOXER (2013)

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Another 2013 documentary, Cutie and the Boxer aims the camera at Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, two struggling Japanese-native artists who’ve been living in New York City for decades. Ushio has been the breadwinner, however light his monthly cull may be, for a long time so when Noriko starts to emerge as a respected artist their already shaky marriage is thrown for a loop. Rather than just focus on their art, director Zachary Heinzerling shows us a surprisingly intimate view of love as a battlefield. But for all the issues the Shinoharas endure, their love is a foundation that we never doubt, making Cutie and the Boxer a shockingly affecting piece of documentary filmmaking.

 A

HOSTEL (2005)

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Years ago I turned off Eli Roth‘s blistering torture porn Hostel because I was too grossed out. Apparently, my more recent adoption of the horror genre has changed my view of what is “too much” as this time around I was surprised at how tame the film appeared to me. Sure, there are melted eyeballs, fingers getting snipped off, and decapitated heads and limbs by the pile, but here in 2014 that’s pretty much standard. Nonetheless, I found myself captivated by this story of country-hopping adventure gone awry and appreciated moments when the story would derail from expectations. By no stretch of the imagination is this a great or even good film but it was certainly one that I found myself enjoying.

B-

THE HISTORY OF FUTURE FOLK (2013)

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I learned of about this other little guy at about the same time that I learned of Simon Killer and was equally unstirred by a viewing. The History of Future Folk sees an humanoid alien arrive on Earth with plans to exterminate and populate but is sidetracked when he hears music for the first time. There’s a bit of similarity to Flight of the Concords and Tenacious D when the duo is slinging their oft-kilter folk rock but there’s nothing inherently memorable or funny about any of the songs they perform. And those are the highlight of this otherwise forgettable film. Rather, it’s a bit of a painfully awkward affair and while I don’t prefer to hate on little indie films, this one is just too unremarkable for me to give a pass to with a clean conscience.

C-

2 GUNS (2013)

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Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington lead this buddy cop film that feels right out of the 80’s and might as well be a reboot of the Lethal Weapon franchise. But after two hours of shooting, running, and “twists” it really doesn’t go anywhere. Wahlberg and Washington both play undercover detectives working an angle who each drink a dose of getting screwed over and must team up, despite their many mangy differences (sigh), and ultimately wind up in over their heads with criminal organizations and rogue government agencies alike. It sounds like the plot to a million different action films and, complete with the snark you would expect from a Wahlberg, Washington team-up, it feels like it too. Thankfully there are worse things than watching these two bozos run amuck and shooting things for a few hours but, then again, there are better things too.

C

OLDBOY (2003)

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So Oldboy and I go way back. This is a film I’ve had on my too-see list for years and despite having started it once or twice have never finished because I didn’t feel like “the timing was right.” I know, I know, that’s weird and all but you’ve got to be in the right mood to truly appreciate certain kinds of films and let’s just say I’m happy I waited on this one, because watching it last night after the clock struck midnight was exactly the kind of viewing experience Oldboy demands (well that or a packed theater but that time has passed.) Originally I was going to see Spike Lee‘s American remake but after that wasn’t screened for critics and then went on to bomb, I felt it right to return to Chan-wook Park‘s lauded original. Violent, twisted, and heavily philosophical, Oldboy is the perfect union of ideas and exploitation. When we’re not still guessing, Park keeps us occupied with meticulously staged fight sequences and horrifying reveals. But his greatest accomplishment lies in his ability to wrap things up in such satisfying manner. It makes me wonder, if Oldboy had ended any other way would it be the celebrated landmark it is today? I would render a guess: no.

A-

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Weekly Review 37: CANYONS, HOST, EPIC, THIEF, SIGHTSEERS, SCISSORHANDS, GRANDPA

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The last of 2013 is upon us and I’ve been shoveling in just about as many films from the year as I can, building towards my awaiting best of/worst of lists and the second annual Silver Screen Riot Awards. At the theater, I closed out seeing the last films I would this year with Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, August: Osage County, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Reviews for all three to debut soon. Also check newly published reviews of Saving Mr. Banks, Inside Llewyn Davis, and American Hustle. At home though, I saw some of the worst, most unadulterated trash I’ve seen all year. Just pure garbage. But amongst the filth, I found a few hidden gems and finally watched some old classics. This might be the last installment of the year as the Holidays loom large and my time is going to be severely crunched.

THE CANYONS  (2013)

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In this utterly terribly film, Lindsay “Dead-Eyed” Logan and James “The Actual Pornstar” Deen have the chemistry of a brick and a rock. Beyond their impressively poor performer’s chops, the rest of the acting is atrocious, with each amazingly managing to be worse than the last. Paul Schrader‘s amateur porn-level direction seems like it’s trying to be different but it’s just confused and, there’s no tiptoeing around it, downright awful. Bret Easton Ellis, a reputable author dabbling for the first time in the script-writing business, loves to pen these drab, empty, trust-fund scumbags but the script here is either DOA or entirely misinterpreted by Schrader’s incompetent hand. The soulless LA landscape occupied by depraved, despicable people, who occasionally take their clothes off and bang (as if that’s any consolation for the horror that is watching this monstrosity) is signature Ellis but it lacks any irony, substituting tits for wit, meandering in his usual loose moral cesspool. Either way, he ought to probably stick to writing because there’s a reason this was rejected from both Sundance and SXSW for “quality issues”

F

THE HOST (2013)

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Absent on entertainment, The Host makes Twilight look like an art film. With a script that makes fan fiction seem like Pulitzer material by comparison and features lines like “Kiss me like you want to get slapped,” it’s impossible to not scoff your way through this wildly ineffective disaster of a movie. Even if you took the grating voice-over work out (*shutters*) you’re still left with a film where absolutely nothing happens. Most certainly one of the worst movies of 2013 and probably up their amongst the worst movies of all time.

F

EPIC (2013)

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It’s almost amazing how flat this animated feature is. It’s got all the expensive looking animated design but Epic struggles to make you care about in the least bit about this retread story. Like Rio, the voice work is transparent and completely fails to make us forget the celebrity names behind the characters. Most importantly though, the film is boring, lazy, and just more “there” than anything. The whole good-vs.-evil conceit works fine so long as there’s something beneath them. Here, that’s just not the case. A couple of comic moments from Aziz Ansari and Chris O’Dowd help to break up the monotony but the rest of the voice performers are straight out of the vanilla convention (Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson). I’m left wondering where the hell the name Epic came from as well since there is nothing the least bit epic about this epic failure.

D

SIGHTSEERS (2013)

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An out-of-the-blue effort from deep English director Ben Wheatley, Sightseers is an untamed hologram of a vacation gone horribly wrong. Going into this blind is going to really boost your experience with it so I’m just try and skirt around any significant details. It’s easy to spot that the film was made on a paltry budget and a shame to see that it didn’t even make $50,000 dollars in US theaters but what can you expect from notoriously choosy American audiences (who would rather spend their money on Lone Ranger or another junky Hobbit flick). Although the project at first seems the work of amateurs, it really settles into its own and manages to be a fun, horrifying, thoughtful, and succinct experience.

B

IDENTITY THIEF (2013)

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There’s hardly anything to say about this comedy entirely bereft of laughs. Identity Thief is nothing more than a totally forgettable clunker set on cruise control and left on the shoulders of the goodwill of its popular stars. Jason Bateman once again squanders his comic talent, playing a straight man to Melissa McCarthy‘s unpalatable identity thief. But rather than inject any genuine humor into the thing, all the “jokes” are culled from McCarthy letting loose a string of expletives or throwing karate chops at unexpected vocal chords. Beyond the pure laziness masquerading as humor, the third act dissolves into the saccharine melodrama that has no place in an R-rated comedy. All in all, what a waste of time.

D-

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)

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In the process of trying to acquaint myself with Tim Burton‘s early and much-beloved work, I’m discovering a man oozing with passion. His character and set designs are as gothic and home-grown as ever and there is undeniably heart living in this project. Furthermore, this is without a doubt a weird Johnny Depp character and yet he’s still more relatable than the slew of weird characters he’s played for the last ten years. Beyond the scars, makeup and scissored hands, he’s a gentle giant struggling with his pure-heartedness and society’s uneasy alliance with him; the Beast to Winona Ryder’s Belle. It’s a shame that Burton has since turned to cheap remakes and Depp to hackneyed characterization because these are two men who really seemed to understand each other and their audience.

B

JACKASS: BAD GRANDPA (2013)

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Without the ADHD framework of bopping between segments where Johnny Knoxville and crew get charged by bulls, launched from buildings, or have their scrotums assaulted in the most heinous of ways, it’s a little harder for the Jackass crew to keep our attention. Bad Grandpa relies on sentimentality and a loose narrative structure to involve us beyond cringing reactions and uproariously laughter. And while seeing Knoxville rocking old man makeup as Irving and taking little Billy under his wing in this hidden camera comedy does show an inkling of emotional storytelling rarely present in Jackass’s finest work, the social commentary present in Bruno and Borat is largely absent here. It’s no surprise that the bits that’ll work your funny bone hardest mostly rely on the easy humor of sharts and male anatomy but seeing little Jackson Nicoll steal the show from Knoxville was definitely out of left field and a pleasant surprise.

C

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Weekly Review 36: HUNT, PROPHET, O BROTHER, LAURENCE

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On the march to the end of the season, with only four more major releases to go for 2013, I crossed two big ticket items off the list with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug offering just the brand of disappointment I was crossing my fingers against and Inside Llewyn Davis which has been growing on me all week since seeing it. But the really miraculous part of this week is how much great cinema I’ve seen at home. I can’t remember watching a string of films this solid in a long, long time and I’m a happy camper for it. I guess that’s what happens when you sign up for Netflix disks and pop on a collection of films you’ve been waiting to see. So let’s hop into all the goodies I watched at home.

THE HUNT (2013)

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A ceaselessly powerful movie that’ll have you in fits of frustration, The Hunt is anchored by yet another career-defining performance from the always brilliant Mads Mikkelsen. It’s surely not the most accessible film of the year – it’s a Danish film about allegations of child molestation – but it explores victim psychology and crowd mentality with gripping truth. As school teacher Lucas (Mikkelsen) is accused of abusing one of his students, who so happens to be his best friend’s meek, doll-nosed daughter, we’re the only ones who know his innocence and see the town explode around him, acting against him at first with social rejection and later, violence. As things escalate and Lucas becomes an outright pariah, you’ll want to scream at the television.  But every time you want to point the finger at someone or other, you find yourself slipping into their mindset and understanding where they’re coming from. In an impossible situation such as this, it all comes down to what we’re willing to believe and who you’re willing to trust.

A-

A PROPHET (2009)

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Jacques Audiard‘s tale of a young French-Arab man rise inside the ranks of a prison mob is brimming with intrigue and stands as a sort of European Good Fellas. A gradual rise of power the likes of A Prophet will surely bring a slew of comparisons to Scorsese’s wok and for good reason. Audiard captures a similarly telescopic broadcast of a life, filtered down into a two-hour-plus film but still feels complete and massive. But he distinguishes his own style in the many off-kilter camera moves, intoxicating fuzzy screenshots, the use of language as a chess piece, all the while dividing the film up into succinct chapters that usually revolve around the introduction of a new character. Aided by an epic breakout from Tahar Rahim, A Prophet is a confidently made mobster movie that stands amongst the best.

A

O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU (2000)

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I’m almost ashamed to say that I have never sat down and watched the entirety of O Brother Where Art Thou but it feels good to get it off my chest. Thankfully, it lived up to the high praise I’ve heard sung by hipsters and movie critics at large. Once again giving a story, which is a straggly update on Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’, a whole new set of legs than any of their previous work, the Coens continue a string of encyclopedic work that knows no bounds and dares journey into just about any territory they please. The hypnotic music, literary references, and band of stooges all help to carve a niche film the likes of none other that is easily recommended to just about anyone interested in music, comedy, or antiquity.

A

LAURENCE ANYWAYS (2013)

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If you’re going to see one three-hour French-language film about star crossed lovers acclimating to a sexual identity crisis this year make it Laurence Anyways. First of all, you’ll sound so much more sophisticated when you one up all those wanna be know it alls babbling over Blue is the Warmest Color. Secondly, it’s a better film. With staggering performances from its two leads, decadent set and costume design, a throbbing score, and zesty direction, Laurence Anyways reaches emotional highs and blistering lows that only something this real and yet surreal could accomplish.

B+

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Weekly Review 35: RAID, BYZANTIUM, GRABBERS, ELECTION, [REC], GUFFMAN

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This past (two) week cycle saw me frequenting the theater for some much needed fall redemption. After a summer filled with lackluster blockbusters, it’s great to really chew into some of the finest the year has to offer, a commonplace trend of the December month. After loving Disney’s Frozen, being rather disappointed in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and being blown away by Out of the Furnace, I also got a chance to see a few of my most anticipated of the year in Her, American Hustle, and Saving Mr. Banks, reviews of all to come out this week.

At home, the biting cold of December forced me inside to do a lot of in-bed watching, which is as you know, the hardest part of this job. I caught up on a couple new guys, Byzantium & Grabbers, but also took a look at a number of films that I’d been meaning to watch forever, The Raid, [Rec], Waiting for Guffman, and slipped in Election, which I hadn’t seen for at least ten years. Now down to what I thought of them…

THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2011)

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An immensely enjoyable actioner that is sure to divide audiences right down the gender line, The Raid is kung fu at its most thrilling. The bone-breaking fight sequences are masterfully choreographed and it zips along from one clever shootout to another, making you all but apathetic to the fact that that film doesn’t really have a plot or characters. Even so, your blood will boil hot and you’ll be glued to the screen awaiting the next bit of “Aww snap”-inducing violence. Even though it’s a dumb movie to its core, The Raid is action movies at their most basic and most fun.

B+

BYZANTIUM (2013)

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Yet another vampire movie that tries to replace glitter with guile, Byzantium is an uncommonly artsy beast that fails to go above and beyond expectation. A pair of fine performances from Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan help to legitimize the derivative story but their acting alone can’t really save it from disengaging directing. Like Neil Jordan‘s last foray into the vampiric (Interview With a Vampire), Byzantium is slow building and more focused on mood than plot beats. This fact is both a gift and a curse but ultimately ends up being the final nail in its own coffin. Although Arteton bears all, it’s ultimately a forgettable experience that’s just another “artsy” vampire movie.

C-

GRABBERS (2013)

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What better place to stage an alien invasion movie where the aliens are intolerant to drunk people than in Ireland? Grabbers, named for the tentacle-laden monsters of the film, does exactly that. The acting is fun (especially once everyone decides to be perpetually hammered) and the monsters are taken fairly seriously, making this an easy suggestion for creature-feature lovers. But good fun and a silly premise aren’t enough to heighten Grabbers into must-see recommendation territory. However, it is ripe to be turned into a full blown drinking game.

C+

ELECTION (1999)

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One of Alexander Payne‘s earlier works about Nebraska sees an acclaimed teacher and a brown-nosing student square off against each other. Although often hailed as one of his greatest works (and squarely in the ranks of cult classics) Election lacks the sophistication of Payne’s later efforts. The characters are smartly drawn and early performances from Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon are right on the money but there’s just far too much voice over that acts as the sole agent propelling the story forward to really applaud the story as a whole. Payne does show off some flair with the camera and uses a number of visually interesting framing choices but, by and large, it’s not his greatest work.

C+

[REC] (2007)

An often terrifying Spanish horror movie that employed found footage before it was such a phenomenon, [Rec] is claustrophobically menacing. While following a crew of firemen for an after-hours series, reporter Ángela Vidal is quarantined in an apartment building with the residents, some of who are showing signs of an aggravated disease. Not quite a zombie movie but, hen again, pretty much a zombie movie, [Rec] isn’t the most original of concepts but uses their limited resources to great result. The final sequence in the dark is as unnerving as any great horror scene and you’ll be sure to be peeking around corners for the next few nights after watching.

B-

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996)

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A fan favorite of Christopher Guest‘s, Waiting for Guffman takes on community theater and lambasts it in typical Guest style. While it lacks the one-liners of Spinal Tap!, and Best in Show, all the regulars are there in Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, and Parker Posey but their chemistry isn’t quite as zingy as we’ve come to expect. Guest’s uncommon brand of mockumentary is usually rife with arresting, bottom of the gut laughter but Waiting for Guffman doesn’t pack the nonstop comic punch of Guest’s greater works. Having said that, it’s still funnier than 90% of the other comedies out there.

B

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Weekly Review 34: MILLERS, R.I.P.D., EUROPA, WHITE, LEAVING

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This week I set out to catch up with some of the early releases of 2013 that I missed and, surprise, surprise, was very underwhelmed. Not that I was expecting much revelatory from films like R.I.P.D. and White House Down but I was expecting at least a degree of fun that was largely absent. I also dipped into one of the Coen Bros earlier works, Millers Crossing, and was overjoyed that I did, as the film is, who would have thought, excellent. In theaters, I saw the slightly underwhelming Hunger Games: Catching Fire while Vince Vaughn‘s latest, Delivery Man, (for which Kyle wrote our review) managed to impress me more than I thought it would. I also published a review of Alexander Payne‘s excellent Nebraska. But for now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and weekly review like we mean business.

 

MILLERS CROSSING (1990)

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The third film from the Coen Bros is a slippery web of double and triple crossings that always feel intricate but never contrived. It’s meant to keep you guessing and on your toes and succeeds greatly in accomplishing this goal. While it’s mostly a talker, there are explosive moments of visually astounding violence (Leo’s opera-backed Tommy gun sequence is simply incredibly). Backed by star making performances for John Turturro and Marcia Gay Harden, Millers Crossing isn’t a movie that sets out to confuse or confound you, it just always happens to be one step ahead, daring you to keep up.  

A-

R.I.P.D. (2013)

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As far as I can tell, Mary Louise Parker and Ryan Reynolds are two of the most obnoxious and least believable people in Hollywood. Their noxious parts in this cluster bomb of a movie that sees deceased police officers hunting down the undead on Earth only cements this fact. The only entertaining moments come courtesy of Jeff Bridges returning to Roster Cockburn – although here his affectation gives diminishing return – especially since he is saddled with choppy dialogue that can only fly on a comic book page. R.I.P.D. seems to intentionally go out of its way to be stupid – dumbed down to the most base of levels. At least it’s a relatively short affair.

D+

EUROPA REPORT (2013)

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Too stripped down for its own good, Europa Report tries to be inventive but is largely by the numbers. As a crew of specialists searching for the twinkle of life on a distant Saturn moon, they encounter events beyond their control that start to thin their numbers. Using the ever so popular found footage framework, tension runs high but bumps in the night are mostly lacking and the eventual dwindling of their ranks plays like many other by-the-books survival films . As their roster dwindles, so does the hope of something revelatory. Packed with a lineup of faces who you can’t quite put a name to, there’s certainly lots of under-valued talent here, although it’s only occasionally put to good use. Ultimately, Europa Report is a good effort with a minor payout but isn’t entirely worth the trip.

C

WHITE HOUSE DOWN (2013)

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A bunch of nonsense involving a wanna-be secret service played by C-Tats mostly in a wife beater and a street smart president rocking Air Jordans and the presidential know how of someone who’s watch CNN a few times. For all the gobbledygook us vs. them dialogue, mess of explosions, and shoe-horned shoot outs, the excitement in White House Down is too sculpted and junky to elicit moments of actual tension. Rather, we know full well the adrenaline-seeking rouse explosion king Roland Emmerich is trying to pull, and let’s just say he doesn’t quite have the same knack for it that he did in the 90s. As the second terrorists attack the White House film of the year (the Gerard Butler led Olympus Has Fallen was the other), it was the more expensive (by a large margin), less profitable, and all around worse film. Worst of all, it’s over two-hours and ten minutes that all amount to a total waste of your time.

D

LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995)

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I would direct all who say that Nicholas Cage can’t act to Leaving Las Vegas, this film in which he deservingly won Best Actor playing a volatile drunk slowly committing suicide through booze. It’s pretty much a nightmare watching these desperate people in this desperate town, especially when love and feelings get tackled in. You know it’s not going to end well but the trip spiraling downwards is anchored by fantastic performances from Cage and Elisabeth Shue, who plays his new hooker girlfriend with a heart of gold, Sera. Anything but a fun movie, Leaving Las Vegas is a certainly challenge to watch and teaches you that dating an alcoholic isn’t far from babysitting a 160 pound man. You certainly won’t feel great about yourself after seeing it, but it’s packed with enough caustic body horror to leave a mental scar for even the most hardened of viewers…if you’re into that.

B

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Weekly Review 33: AFTER, FILM, HOST, STUFF, IMPOSTER, THELMA

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I managed to get a lot of home watching in this week as there wasn’t a ton of screenings I had to attend with The Book Thief being the only film I saw in theaters, and while it had a lot going for it, was ultimately let down by clumsy melodrama. I also published my full review for Blue is the Warmest Color, which I had a lot of problems with, and Kyle wrote up a review for The Best Man Holiday, which he had a lot of problems with. Today brought a screening of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which I’ll probably review by tomorrow, and this week also holds Vince Vaughn‘s Delivery Man, the Jason Statham vs. James Franco actioner Homefront, and Disney‘s Frozen, which everyone has just been loving. But let’s get down to business and do some weekly reviewing.

 

THE HOST (2006)

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Firstly no, not the Stephenie Meyer book, the much, much better 2006 South Korean film. A monster movie that isn’t really a monster movie, The Host revels in its hazy political metaphors of totalitarian government. No matter how fake the slimy creature from Seoul’s Han River might look, his computer generated presence is still a well laid MacGuffin to probe state’s interference and the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. Gripping and smart from start to finish, The Host is monster movie making at its most thoughtful and sly. Also, no Stephenie Meyer.

B+

THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (2006)

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Chartering just how screwy the MPAA is when passing judgement on films’ ratings, Kirby Dick‘s documentary points a lot of fingers and raises a lot of good points, but could have been crunched down into a shorter, tighter doc. However interesting the topic – to some – a documentary needs to preserve a sense of urgency of knowledge and This Film is Not Yet Rated wastes a large portion of its screen time lingering too long with a batty PI and false tension. 

C-

THE STUFF (1982)

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Horrid acting, terrible directing, and dimwitted metaphors that beat you over the head at every turn, there is nothing of substance in The Stuff. The only thing likely to stick with you after it wraps are the catchy jingles (but it’s not like you want any more jingles bopping around your skull.)

F

THELMA AND LOUISE (1991)

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I finally got around to watching one of Ridley Scott‘s most beloved films and can certainly recognize why it gets so much of said love. This is the undercover feminism movie that sees women’s empowerment as something to be celebrated, not just something to be talked to death. As two woman turn away from their domestic prisons, they discover something within themselves that, now free, can never be caged again. The film has a few issues in terms of character development vs. established timeline but nothing so bad as to muddle the overall impact. Witnessing these women’s decent into lawlessness is one of the more fun, and more meaningful, experiences of domestication gone awry.

B+

THE IMPOSTER (2012)

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A soaring documentary bubbling over with so much unthinkable insanity that you couldn’t have made up anything more wacky. A true stranger than fiction tale, The Imposter‘s success isn’t necessarily a result of perfect – or even great – filmmaking so much as it is a stunning story culled from an absolutely gripping topic. What’s more is that it leaves you craving more details, shocked and amazed at these true events and wanting to take part in the investigation yourself. Going into it blind is absolutely essential so learn as little as you can before watching. If you do, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more gripping, edge-of-your-seat film –  documentary or otherwise. 

A+

AFTER EARTH (2013)

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Earth to Will Smith. Your career is dying. Abort acting with your child. Repeat: abort! In After Earth, the rockstar Smith of the 1980s seems to have shriveled up and disappeared and in his place is an aging surly stone of a man intent on exclusively working with his children. While there was a certain cutesiness to that chemistry in Pursuit of Happyness, it has gotten the better of him here. Jayden Smith‘s mildewed acting is as transparent as it is hollow. His bratty face-crunching acting style is more disastrous than M. Night‘s career -which at this point is so in the hole it’ll never imaginably see the light of day again. Just stale from front to back, there is not a modicum of joy to be found in this crash landing of a movie.

F

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Weekly Review 32: IN A WORLD, DEAR ZACHARY, SOMM, 21 AND OVER

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After an extremely busy week at the theater that saw reviews for Thor: The Dark World, Diana, and Dallas Buyers Club and screenings of Nebraska and Philomena – which I’ll write about next week – I got busy with some more at-home viewings, catching up with a couple of flicks from 2013 that had previously swooped under my radar. I would certainly gush about the two documentaries – SOMM and Dear Zachary – that I encountered but the two traditional feature films – 21 and Over and In a World – left something to be desired. Take a stroll down movie watching lane with this week’s edition of Weekly Review.

 

IN A WORLD (2013)

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Lake Bell‘s directorial debut is a well of indie potential that never quite finds its footing. The resulting dramedy – as if we really need another movie that fits the “dramedy” bill – is sloppy but mildly entertaining, even though it has this strange feeling that the fun was intentionally capped at 7. Laced with many B-list comedy stars, In a World rewards those plugged into film geekery with its wacky premise following a battle to become the next big thing in trailer voice over work. Demetri Martin, Jeff Corddry, Ken Marino, and a barely used Jeff Garlin all feel squandered, as if Bell didn’t want anyone to shine more than her and underwrote their characters and left any improvisation strokes of comic gold on the cutting room floor. There’s certainly many elements to like and Bell’s unkempt VO laggard is a great – dare I say feminist – turn of counterculture to an industry dominated by men but, ultimately, the ratio of laughs to mere smiles make this comedy a venture not worth pursuing.

C

DEAR ZACHARY (2008)

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Amateur filmmaking and (un)happy accidents turn what could have been a minor pet project into an often unruly and always devastating documentary. Originally meant to commemorate the loss of Andrew Bagby – an at-home filmmaker/aspiring doctor who has murdered at the hands of a jealous girlfriend – this documentary shifted focus with news that his murderer was pregnant with his child. As a letter to a son about his father, Dear Zachary transforms into a whole different beast entirely. Reality tends to be more shocking and messy than fiction and the events that take place throughout this film serve as unholy proof of that fact. As much a peepshow into the failings of the justice system as a degradation of a murderer let off the hook, her name is Shirley Turner, Dear Zachary is a devastating documentary of the highest degree.

B+

SOMM (2013)

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Taking a peek into the little known world of sommeliers, SOMM shows us just how little we know about wine and to what lengths some will go to be called “a master.” Despite any initial reaction urging you to jump up and yell “Bullshit!”, these gurus of grape knowledge must learn about every imagine facet of the wine making process – from grape varietals to dirt to regions, subregions, and villages – to even stand a chance at the impenetrable master sommelier test for which they are studying. Giving us a new perspective on a beverage as old as time, SOMM showcases devotion and persistent in the most unexpected of professions. The film stutters in moments and feels like it could have shaved off certain elements but for making us believe that a test about wine might just be much harder than passing the bar exam, filmmaker Jason Wise deserves a big glass of wine and a respectful nod.

B

21 AND OVER (2013)

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There’s little to like in this cliche-ridden college movie that’s smothered in familiar tropes like cold gravy on a hard biscuit. Taking each and every familiar path we’ve seen so many times before, 21 and Over lacks anything distinct and is unable to summon a single laughter during its 93 minute runtime. For so short a film, it quickly overstays its welcome and only just barely glides by on the easy charm of star Miles Teller. Even the cursory gross out gags are inessential, mere distasteful moments tacked on as a last ditch effort that the film isn’t completely forgotten.

D

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Weekly Review 31: SLEEPAWAY CAMP, FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE OMEN, BOYS DON'T CRY, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

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As Halloween ticked closer, I continued my streak of horror movies, getting a little tied up with mental horror as a pit stop on the road to woodland slashers. Both The Girl Next Door and Boys Don’t Cry aren’t really horrors but they are in many, many ways the most horrifying of the bunch, as both involve woman stripped of their feminine freedom and, ultimately, their lives.Otherwise, I got a taste for the true Halloween horror with the likes of the aptly campy Sleepaway Camp, the always spooky The Omen, and a revisit of the one that started it all, Friday the 13th.

My theatrical screenings this week also had their high and lows with About Time and Man of Tai Chi far exceeding my expectations, 12 Years a Slave absolutely knocking it out of the park, and Last Vegas and Ender’s Game not quite offering the enjoyment that they should have. But enough of that, let’s weekly review.

SLEEPAWAY CAMP (1983)

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With the “camp” factor cranked up past 11, Sleepaway Camp thrives on elementary school-level acting, bubbling gross out gags, and a wacky knack for sending up the horror genre. As you may have ventured from the name, this schlocky horror follows the basic cabin in the woods premise: killer running a muck, teens splitting up to cover more ground, and the occasional breast or two, all for good measure. For all of its creative inadequacies though, Sleepaway Camp takes itself as seriously as a clown on April Fool’s day, making the stupidity of the film part and parcel of the experience. Also, it packs a twist ending that is sure to leave your mouth agape and your intellect stinging. Although clearly not for all, Sleepaway Camp is a fine little camp fest for horror enthusiasts.

C

THE OMEN (1976)

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You’ve got to hand it to Gregory Peck, he knows how to choose ’em. However out of his comfort zone he might be with The Omen, he leads the film with the golden bravado he’s so known for, conjuring up a chilling experience more in key with Rosemary’s Baby than Paranormal Activity. Peck plays an American ambassador who discovers that his son is the spawn of the devil and trots around the globe trying to piece together what the hell is going on. Directed by adventure legend Richard Donner, The Omen is gleefully self-serious with its material. When topped with orchestral chantings and child death stares, it’s a hell of a creeper.

B

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2007)

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Not every headline story deserves a movie adaptation. Perhaps a result of our generational knack for gritty, the most inspiring stories often never receive the Hollywood treatment. Others are horrifying enough to burn their place in the public spotlight and make any movie adaptation little more than an exercise in masochism. This film is the later. Inspired by the true story of Sylvia Likens‘s brutal torture and murder at the hands of Gertrude Baniszewski, The Girl Next Door is a horrifying film to watch. No matter how important the cautionary tale of lost innocence and degraded humanity laced throughout this suburban hell, The Girl Next Door presents material you just would rather not have floating around in your subconscious. It’s far from poorly made and the acting, especially from Blanche Baker, is often notable but there’s little underneath this torture porn endurance test to substantiate a viewing.

C-

FRIDAY THE 13th (1980)

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It might have been there first and inspired a trove of a dozen sequels but there’s little to nothing interesting about this cabin bound slasher 30-odd years on. It’s hard to knock Friday the 13th for sticking so closely to the formula – because in many ways it helped invent the formula – and yet, the “been there, done that” qualities of the film outweigh all other feeling involved. Easily the most interesting aspect of Friday the 13th is the lack of Jason – who doesn’t actually appear until the second film – but even without that hulking menace, the film feels flat and uninspired.

D

BOYS DON’T CRY (1999)

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Another addition to the list graphing the torment of a tortured girl, Boys Don’t Cry is so wildly effective because of the film’s balanced tone and willingness to step outside of the horror. Hilary Swank gives a knock out performance as Brandon, a natural born woman undergoing a sexual identity crisis and masquerading as a man. But Kimberly Peirce‘s film doesn’t show Swank’s Brandon as a transvestite or a lesbian or whatever she chooses to call herself. No, she’s (he’s) a person just like you or me. But regardless of how much Brandon just wants to be left to his own devices, society just can’t accept something they don’t understand. Anyone wo knows the true story knows that it doesn’t end well but Peirce actually builds a character that we can relate to and understanding before tearing them down, making it all the most difficult and poignant to behold.

B

How about you? Did you see anything worthy of mention?

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Weekly Review 30: MANIAC, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3, THE SHINING

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My horror-at-home trend continues as three more join the cult of Weekly Review. While Maniac and Paranormal Activity 2 failed to really excite the terror within me, a massive theatrical viewing of The Shining served as the easy highlight in a week that also involved screenings of The Counselor, Diana, Last Vegas, Blue is the Warmest Color, and 12 Years a Slave.

MANIAC (2013)

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After hearing relatively poor things, I decided to give this film a chance because it was on Netflix Instant and had nothing better to do. Although seriously flawed, I certainly found things to like about it and it was an acceptable hour-and-a-half of gory tension. Maniac depends on an uncommon POV conceit that gives the film a bit of unique character but also provides for some of its more embarrassing moments. Moments where Elijah Wood narrates aloud to himself are simply laughable, particularly when he is typing on a “Find Singles Online” type of site and reading aloud to himself like a self-editing elementary-schooler, but the chuckles halt abruptly as scalps start popping off and the blood flows like thick strawberry syrup. As a frothy slasher flick, the gory goods help bandage the less flattering elements, making it watchable, especially for this time of year, in spite of its serious issues.

C-

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (2011)

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While it packs more scares and less predictability than the second installment in the franchise, Paranormal Activity 3 still doesn’t manage to capture the first-time surprise of the original film. This time around though, we’re introduced to some new elements that bump up the intrigue and works in a cliffhanger that actually legitimizes a next chapter but the writing is on the wall. There’s an inescapable sensation of property being wrung for all its worth with this franchise, but that hoodwinking business is kept mostly at bay by a perpetual sensation of unease. I guess I’ll end up watching the fourth.

C+

THE SHINING (1980)

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While Weekly Review typically only covers films that I’ve seen at home, for the first time, my theatrical viewing of The Shining was simply too good not to mention. Viewed at the stunning Cinerama Theater here in Seattle, it was entirely terrifying to hear The Shining‘s haunting, screechy score blast from the surround sound speaker setup, making for an audio assault that completely envelopes the audience with panic and dread. Take that intrusive, stressful score and add it to Stanley Kubrick‘s precisely woozy camerawork and Jack Nicholson‘s eyebrow-dominated face nearly 70-feet wide, grinning like a mad man or dead-eyed and equally terrifying, you better believe it was one of the finest viewing experiences in theaters I can recall. To date, this is still my favorite horror movie as well as one of my favorite films.

A+

What’d you see this week? Leave your own reviews in the comments below!

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