Birdman is A movie whose brilliance lies in the fact that as much as you're interested in what happens next, you're more interested in what will be said next. The script is a lightweight boxer, delivering constant verbal sparring sessions that leave you breathless just watching.
Keaton plays a veteran actor, forever linked to the super hero character he played for many years. The premise is insanely intriguing of course, given the real life parallels. So Keaton is attempting to adapt a story for a broadway play and the movie more or less follows the trials and tribulations of getting said play in top shape for opening night.
The entire cast is marvellous, especially Edward Norton as a fellow actor brought in to help save the play when one of the co stars has an unfortunate accident.
All that said, there are themes and suggestions that run much deeper and are expertly handled by the brilliant direction.
In the end, perhaps the only thing lacking in Birdman is accessibility. I could watch it 10 more times and probably not be any closer to really understanding a lot of the undertones or nuances of the film. But if a movies only real flaw is how layered it is, well then I wish more movies were this flawed.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
American Sniper: 84 Out Of 100 Stars
Fierce action expertly directed by Eastwood, solid pacing of a strong script, and a studly, star making performance from Bradley Cooper make American Sniper a must see, Oscar worthy effort.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Still Alice: 73 Out Of 100 Stars
Hard to rate a movie this high when I did not, really did not, enjoy almost the entire first half of the movie. But good god, when this thing gets going it's like am emotional locomotive you can't get out of the way of.
Julliane Moore stars as a linguistics professor who realizes she's starting to forget words, lose place of where she is, and so on. An Alzheimers diagnosis soon follows.
My main issue is that most of the cast, especially Alec Baldwin as the husband, seem like they're sleepwalking through the first half of the movie. There's also this very high and mighty liberal vibe to the whole thing, like hey, we're making a movie about Alzheimers, aren't we grand. The entire setup comes across as a very by the book story that you feel just ought to be a lot better.
But then the script, and the actors, kick things into high gear. Does it go anywhere you aren't expecting? Not really. But the pacing and the story get maximum impact out of Alices mental degradation. Moore is just brilliant, and even Baldwin, who appeared to sleepwalk his way through the first act, comes alive in a very subtle but thunderous way. Kristin Stewart also shines.
Still Alice takes a while to get going, but once it does, it hits on all cylinders and packs every bit the punch that the first half of the movie is intimating, but not delivering on.
Julliane Moore stars as a linguistics professor who realizes she's starting to forget words, lose place of where she is, and so on. An Alzheimers diagnosis soon follows.
My main issue is that most of the cast, especially Alec Baldwin as the husband, seem like they're sleepwalking through the first half of the movie. There's also this very high and mighty liberal vibe to the whole thing, like hey, we're making a movie about Alzheimers, aren't we grand. The entire setup comes across as a very by the book story that you feel just ought to be a lot better.
But then the script, and the actors, kick things into high gear. Does it go anywhere you aren't expecting? Not really. But the pacing and the story get maximum impact out of Alices mental degradation. Moore is just brilliant, and even Baldwin, who appeared to sleepwalk his way through the first act, comes alive in a very subtle but thunderous way. Kristin Stewart also shines.
Still Alice takes a while to get going, but once it does, it hits on all cylinders and packs every bit the punch that the first half of the movie is intimating, but not delivering on.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Nightcrawler: 71 Out Of 100 Stars
Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic as a creepy scammer, making his way through life stealing this and grifting that. Where he comes from and why he is the way he is, we can only guess. And therein lies the films main problem, it exists solely for the time it's on the screen and seems to go out of its way to give no reasons or consequences.
Don't get me wrong, what we see is good, and there's a penultimate scene that is about as tense and dramatic as you could hope for, but there are just too many moments when the film takes the easy way out of being a truly deep story and instead settles for being a character study about a character it doesn't want to tell you much about.
And I had to knock off a few points for insinuating we were gonna get to see Renee Russo do some naughty things, and then not delivering. Don't fucking do that to me.
Ironically, Nightcrawler spends too much time above ground, when it seems like the real story is below the surface.
Don't get me wrong, what we see is good, and there's a penultimate scene that is about as tense and dramatic as you could hope for, but there are just too many moments when the film takes the easy way out of being a truly deep story and instead settles for being a character study about a character it doesn't want to tell you much about.
And I had to knock off a few points for insinuating we were gonna get to see Renee Russo do some naughty things, and then not delivering. Don't fucking do that to me.
Ironically, Nightcrawler spends too much time above ground, when it seems like the real story is below the surface.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Let's Be Cops: 70 Out Of 100 Stars
I'll admit that I have a pretty low threshold for stupid comedies. If you make me laugh, I like you. I don't give too many shits about story or sense, just don't be imbecilic to the point of distraction.
Johnson & Wayans are pretty much playing their New Girls characters here, and I like New Girl, so no trouble there.
The film is funny enough and despite being a little too much with the silliness at the start, the final two acts hit their mark with both the comedy and some unexpected and pleasantly surprising heart.
Funny, and not so serious that it gets overbearing, Let's Be Cops is a good time.
Johnson & Wayans are pretty much playing their New Girls characters here, and I like New Girl, so no trouble there.
The film is funny enough and despite being a little too much with the silliness at the start, the final two acts hit their mark with both the comedy and some unexpected and pleasantly surprising heart.
Funny, and not so serious that it gets overbearing, Let's Be Cops is a good time.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Predestination: 85 Out Of 100 Stars
Predestination is one of those movies that joys in baiting you with a big secret and then taking you for a ride far beyond just whether you've got the surprise figured out.
Right from the start you know you're in a movie about time travel, but after a big start it slows things down and allows the leads, expertly played by Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook, to unravel all the who's, how's, why's and when's about the story.
If you enjoy smart, well acted movies that will have you running to IMDB when the credits roll to see if you've got the whole figured out, then you'll love Predestination.
Right from the start you know you're in a movie about time travel, but after a big start it slows things down and allows the leads, expertly played by Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook, to unravel all the who's, how's, why's and when's about the story.
If you enjoy smart, well acted movies that will have you running to IMDB when the credits roll to see if you've got the whole figured out, then you'll love Predestination.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: 69 Out Of 100 Stars
I didn't like this movie as much as most people did but I'm willing to admit that in general, comic book movies are not for me.
I thought that most of the performances were fine, but way over praised. Chris Pratt however did a great job carrying it. He was perfectly cast and he responded with a career making performance.
At times it seemed to go over the line of a Star Wars homage and pretty much turn into a Star Wars ripoff, but again, it's a comic book movie so I'm not gonna dissect it like it's The Godfather or some shit.
There is a shit ton of music everywhere you turn in this movie, and usually that annoys the crap out of me, but I didn't mind it here. For starters there's a logical reason for most of it, unlike Hot Tub Time Machine for example where it just seemed like they wanted to get in an entire soundtracks worth of songs. And for seconds because the songs are all realllly fucking good.
Comic Book geeks love this movie, so I guess If you are one you don't need my opinion. To everyone else, you'll have a good time, just probably not as good a time as you might have been led to believe.
I thought that most of the performances were fine, but way over praised. Chris Pratt however did a great job carrying it. He was perfectly cast and he responded with a career making performance.
At times it seemed to go over the line of a Star Wars homage and pretty much turn into a Star Wars ripoff, but again, it's a comic book movie so I'm not gonna dissect it like it's The Godfather or some shit.
There is a shit ton of music everywhere you turn in this movie, and usually that annoys the crap out of me, but I didn't mind it here. For starters there's a logical reason for most of it, unlike Hot Tub Time Machine for example where it just seemed like they wanted to get in an entire soundtracks worth of songs. And for seconds because the songs are all realllly fucking good.
Comic Book geeks love this movie, so I guess If you are one you don't need my opinion. To everyone else, you'll have a good time, just probably not as good a time as you might have been led to believe.
2014 Horror Fest: See No Evil 2: 36 Out Of 100 Stars
I don't remember much from the original See No Evil except that I enjoyed it pretty well, so I was looking forward to the sequel based just on that. Then I saw that Danielle Harris, a scrumptious little dish if ever there was, was starring. Sign me up! And then the movie started and despite a few glaring logic flaws that I was willing to overlook, the setup had me hopeful because, well, hot chicks. Besides Harris there are two smoking hot girls. And then it just proceeded to never really do much of anything good.
So Harris works as a Medical Examiner or Morgueician or whatever. Her two male coworkers, one of whom is smitten with her, and her friends decide to throw her a Birthday party in the morgue because all of the victims from Jacob Goodnights rampage are coming in to be tagged and bagged and she won't be able to leave. So the party starts and one of the girls wants to do it in the same room that Jacobs body is being stored. She's a really good actress and she's hot and she's totally perfect for this kind movie. Then all hell breaks loose. From there it's a cacophony of uninspired kills, bad set design and direction, unfortunate attempts at acting from Glen Jacobs whom I know is a competent actor, but it just seems like he's phoning it in here. Even the editing is shoddy. It almost looks like they had Jacobs on set for a small amount of time and just rushed through a lot of things.
Ok, time to pick some nits. First off, why are there only 3 people working in morgue in the middle of nowhere? Why is the building so fucking huge if there are only 3 people working there? Why does the whole damn set look like they took 1 hallway and just changed colors a few times and tried to pass it off as a bunch of different hallways? Why is there a fucking underground cell? Why are there exit signs ALL OVER THE PLACE and yet nobody can get the fuck out of the building? Why do they have to keep their cell phones in a safe at the front desk? You can never tell where anyone is at or where the fuck they're going. People just run and run and never get anywhere, and it's frustrating as all hell.
Next we have the unnecessary 'plot' involving Harris and her brother. He doesn't like her decisions, she's tired of living for him. Shut up the both of you. Then Harris and her fella M.E. are smitten with each other but they just can't pull the trigger and admit it. The guy is just not leading man material, even in a dorky way. Every moment he's on the screen just seems to sap more and more life from the movie. I don't give a shit if he dies, I don't give a shit if he's in love, I just don't give a shit.
Some hot chicks and a strong female lead are completely wasted on a script and a production that look like they were churned out in a matter of weeks in an attempted cash grab. See No Evil? See no reason to watch this movie, is more like it.
So Harris works as a Medical Examiner or Morgueician or whatever. Her two male coworkers, one of whom is smitten with her, and her friends decide to throw her a Birthday party in the morgue because all of the victims from Jacob Goodnights rampage are coming in to be tagged and bagged and she won't be able to leave. So the party starts and one of the girls wants to do it in the same room that Jacobs body is being stored. She's a really good actress and she's hot and she's totally perfect for this kind movie. Then all hell breaks loose. From there it's a cacophony of uninspired kills, bad set design and direction, unfortunate attempts at acting from Glen Jacobs whom I know is a competent actor, but it just seems like he's phoning it in here. Even the editing is shoddy. It almost looks like they had Jacobs on set for a small amount of time and just rushed through a lot of things.
Ok, time to pick some nits. First off, why are there only 3 people working in morgue in the middle of nowhere? Why is the building so fucking huge if there are only 3 people working there? Why does the whole damn set look like they took 1 hallway and just changed colors a few times and tried to pass it off as a bunch of different hallways? Why is there a fucking underground cell? Why are there exit signs ALL OVER THE PLACE and yet nobody can get the fuck out of the building? Why do they have to keep their cell phones in a safe at the front desk? You can never tell where anyone is at or where the fuck they're going. People just run and run and never get anywhere, and it's frustrating as all hell.
Next we have the unnecessary 'plot' involving Harris and her brother. He doesn't like her decisions, she's tired of living for him. Shut up the both of you. Then Harris and her fella M.E. are smitten with each other but they just can't pull the trigger and admit it. The guy is just not leading man material, even in a dorky way. Every moment he's on the screen just seems to sap more and more life from the movie. I don't give a shit if he dies, I don't give a shit if he's in love, I just don't give a shit.
Some hot chicks and a strong female lead are completely wasted on a script and a production that look like they were churned out in a matter of weeks in an attempted cash grab. See No Evil? See no reason to watch this movie, is more like it.
2014 Horror Fest: Automata: 55 Out Of 100 Stars
Completely cop out rating because I honestly don't know if it was good or bad, if I liked it or didn't like it, and why. I'm not a big sci-fi guy to begin with so I'll admit that it just may not have been the material for me, but I did kind of enjoy the twists and the performances so your mileage may vary.
Antonio Banderas stars as a post apocalyptic insurance man working for the company that designs and builds the worker/helper robots that do much of the manual labor for the worlds remaining cities. The robots have two directives, 1) Preserve human life, 2)They can not fix or alter themselves. Dylan McDermot, not putting in a whole lot of effort, plays a cop who spots a robot fixing itself and blows it away, thus setting into effect a chain of events which lead Banderas to try and figure out why and who has tampered with the robots circuitry when such a thing should be impossible to do.
Banderas is really good. Mellanie Griffith has a small role and she looks good, although she very may well be as much special effects as the robots at this point. Robert Forster and Dylan McDermot kind of phone things in but that's OK because their roles aren't big enough to really affect things.
The sets, effects and robots are all really good.
I guess I just never felt like I was going to get a satisfying pay off, partly because of my expectations, but also partly because the film never really feels like it's going to deliver anything more than you expect it to.
Antonio Banderas stars as a post apocalyptic insurance man working for the company that designs and builds the worker/helper robots that do much of the manual labor for the worlds remaining cities. The robots have two directives, 1) Preserve human life, 2)They can not fix or alter themselves. Dylan McDermot, not putting in a whole lot of effort, plays a cop who spots a robot fixing itself and blows it away, thus setting into effect a chain of events which lead Banderas to try and figure out why and who has tampered with the robots circuitry when such a thing should be impossible to do.
Banderas is really good. Mellanie Griffith has a small role and she looks good, although she very may well be as much special effects as the robots at this point. Robert Forster and Dylan McDermot kind of phone things in but that's OK because their roles aren't big enough to really affect things.
The sets, effects and robots are all really good.
I guess I just never felt like I was going to get a satisfying pay off, partly because of my expectations, but also partly because the film never really feels like it's going to deliver anything more than you expect it to.
2014 Horror Fest: Stiff: 0 Out Of 100 Stars
I'm all for people doing what they love. Living the dream, trying to accomplish shit. But I also firmly believe in being a realist and realizing that sometimes, lots of times actually, most times to be honest, you need to be real with yourself about your abilities.
To that end comes Stiff. A super low budget movie that is more of a two person play let than an actual movie. The entire thing consists of two people talking to each other, and it still somehow manages to be a technical disaster as well as an acting monstrosity.
Troy wants to die, he repeatedly calls a suicide help line and talks to Lorri. Lorri eventually gives Troy her home number and the two arrange a face to face meeting where she reveals that she'll help him kill himself if he agrees to let her have his body after he dies, because ya know, she has issues too.
The editing is so horrible that even when they're face to face it feels like simple exchanges between the two people take forever. One person talks, linger..., the other person talks, linger...etc. If you can't even film a conversation competently, why the fuck are you making movies? Why? Perhaps if the acting and line delivery was crisp it might be able to make things a little bit better, but neither of the actors seem to be doing much more than reading lines. The guy, he's supposed to sullen and sad, but just comes off as boring and dull. I guess that's kind of close. But the girl, she's got inflections all over the place and random attempts at what she thinks emotions sound like.
About 45 minutes into the movie the girl has to do some actual acting and attempt to have a bad dream. My god. How can you not even flail your arms in a convincing manner? Seriously. The girl looks like she's walking through a field of bubbles as opposed to having a horrific nightmare.
They proceed to talk and talk and then talk some more, and then they decide that since he's a virgin she'll have sex with him before he kills himself. Having never done the deed, he's a bit awkward in his attempt to seduce her and ends up doing something that sort of looks like attempted rape. Now I said in a previous review that rape is never funny. I was wrong. The entire scene, they somehow manage to look more like puppets than human beings. Arms and legs go in random directions, she pushes him with all the force of a broken oscillating fan, to which he reacts like he just got shot. At this point I'm not positive that both actors aren't actually marionettes.
I have a friend who went to film school, and sometimes she'll show me some rare Italian or French movie that I admittedly don't get. The final 15 minutes of the Stiff plays out kind of like a bad film student version of those movies. We've got suicide, crying, necrophilia, flashbacks, a dead guys dong, necrophilia, more crying. Did I mention necrophilia? The only thing missing is balloons and moustachioed men eating sausages in black and white.
By the grace of god it ends, and then when the credits roll the first I thing I notice is that it took TWO people to direct this thing. The only logical explanation I can come up with is that they used the worlds heaviest camera.
This is clearly the work of a few people who have a strong desire to create something. And the basic idea isn't horrible. But the execution on every level, past perhaps the paragraph synopsis from which this 'film' was born, is terrible.
The entire crew should look at a career in sales rather than film making, because getting actual distribution is the biggest accomplishment of this entire project.
To that end comes Stiff. A super low budget movie that is more of a two person play let than an actual movie. The entire thing consists of two people talking to each other, and it still somehow manages to be a technical disaster as well as an acting monstrosity.
Troy wants to die, he repeatedly calls a suicide help line and talks to Lorri. Lorri eventually gives Troy her home number and the two arrange a face to face meeting where she reveals that she'll help him kill himself if he agrees to let her have his body after he dies, because ya know, she has issues too.
The editing is so horrible that even when they're face to face it feels like simple exchanges between the two people take forever. One person talks, linger..., the other person talks, linger...etc. If you can't even film a conversation competently, why the fuck are you making movies? Why? Perhaps if the acting and line delivery was crisp it might be able to make things a little bit better, but neither of the actors seem to be doing much more than reading lines. The guy, he's supposed to sullen and sad, but just comes off as boring and dull. I guess that's kind of close. But the girl, she's got inflections all over the place and random attempts at what she thinks emotions sound like.
About 45 minutes into the movie the girl has to do some actual acting and attempt to have a bad dream. My god. How can you not even flail your arms in a convincing manner? Seriously. The girl looks like she's walking through a field of bubbles as opposed to having a horrific nightmare.
They proceed to talk and talk and then talk some more, and then they decide that since he's a virgin she'll have sex with him before he kills himself. Having never done the deed, he's a bit awkward in his attempt to seduce her and ends up doing something that sort of looks like attempted rape. Now I said in a previous review that rape is never funny. I was wrong. The entire scene, they somehow manage to look more like puppets than human beings. Arms and legs go in random directions, she pushes him with all the force of a broken oscillating fan, to which he reacts like he just got shot. At this point I'm not positive that both actors aren't actually marionettes.
I have a friend who went to film school, and sometimes she'll show me some rare Italian or French movie that I admittedly don't get. The final 15 minutes of the Stiff plays out kind of like a bad film student version of those movies. We've got suicide, crying, necrophilia, flashbacks, a dead guys dong, necrophilia, more crying. Did I mention necrophilia? The only thing missing is balloons and moustachioed men eating sausages in black and white.
By the grace of god it ends, and then when the credits roll the first I thing I notice is that it took TWO people to direct this thing. The only logical explanation I can come up with is that they used the worlds heaviest camera.
This is clearly the work of a few people who have a strong desire to create something. And the basic idea isn't horrible. But the execution on every level, past perhaps the paragraph synopsis from which this 'film' was born, is terrible.
The entire crew should look at a career in sales rather than film making, because getting actual distribution is the biggest accomplishment of this entire project.
2014 Horror Fest: Grabbers: 71 Out Of 100 Stars
Really fun romp about a couple of giant alien squid like bloodsuckers who invade a quiet a little Irish sea side village.
Richard Coyle of Coupling fame, who is a fantastic comedic actor, stars as Ciaran O'Shea, a policeman who tends to drink a little much. When Sergeant Kenefick goes on vacation, Ruth Bradley is transferred to the island to help watch Croyle as much as do actual police work. When the giant squids start sucking up the towns residents, the two cops suddenly have much more on their plate than they ever could have imagined.
Thanks to the help of a local scientist and the town drunk, it becomes apparent that although blood and water are two of the creatures favorite beverages, it has a bit of an aversion to alcohol. With a big storm heading in and no help from the mainland available till it passes, the only solution to fight off the beasts is for the entire town to get drunker than Garth Brooks when he thought that Chris Gaines album was a good idea. And that's a lot of drunk.
Croyle and Bradley are both stellar in a script that requires more of it's leads than your basic horror movie. The rest of the cast is just as good, especially Russell Tovoy as Dr. Smith and Lalor Roddy as the town drunk.
Mixing romance and comedy with horror and action is never easy, but Grabbers delivers the goods in all areas without sacrificing anything. I think the biggest praise I can give it is that it feels like one of those fun, breezy 80's horror movies. Sort of a grown up Gremlins. Hey, it's even got monsters you don't want to get wet.
Richard Coyle of Coupling fame, who is a fantastic comedic actor, stars as Ciaran O'Shea, a policeman who tends to drink a little much. When Sergeant Kenefick goes on vacation, Ruth Bradley is transferred to the island to help watch Croyle as much as do actual police work. When the giant squids start sucking up the towns residents, the two cops suddenly have much more on their plate than they ever could have imagined.
Thanks to the help of a local scientist and the town drunk, it becomes apparent that although blood and water are two of the creatures favorite beverages, it has a bit of an aversion to alcohol. With a big storm heading in and no help from the mainland available till it passes, the only solution to fight off the beasts is for the entire town to get drunker than Garth Brooks when he thought that Chris Gaines album was a good idea. And that's a lot of drunk.
Croyle and Bradley are both stellar in a script that requires more of it's leads than your basic horror movie. The rest of the cast is just as good, especially Russell Tovoy as Dr. Smith and Lalor Roddy as the town drunk.
Mixing romance and comedy with horror and action is never easy, but Grabbers delivers the goods in all areas without sacrificing anything. I think the biggest praise I can give it is that it feels like one of those fun, breezy 80's horror movies. Sort of a grown up Gremlins. Hey, it's even got monsters you don't want to get wet.
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