The opening scene of Mad Men, is a relatively simple scene but it in fact sets up everything about this show that is important. We open on a shot of a 60's bar, loud, filled with smoke, men and woman clutching to their drinks as if its their medicine. The camera pans to show the signature image of the show...we see the back of this man...but who is this man? He sits alone, as the camera pushes in we really see how isolated this man is, we also see that he is scribbling on his napkin...everyone else is having a good time, it is a bar after all but not this man. This man sits in isolation scribbling on a napkin, working. Trying with all his might to find a way to cope with his current predicament. This man, is Donald Draper and he will be trying to prevent his house of cards from falling in this opening image...and throughout the rest of the series. A "negro" waiter then offers Mr. Draper a light, the sound design of the zippo opening, flint igniting, and the long drag our hero takes as he lights his Lucky Strike cigarette. A reminder of how cigarettes used to be viewed as something special, something to treasure. Something that this man is trying to keep alive. Don then proceeds to comment on the cigarettes of the waiter "Old Gold man?" he asks the waiter who doesnt respond and we immediately see why as his white superior comes over and asks Don if he is being bothered. Don"s response to this instantly shows us both sides to him. "No were actually just having a conversation." answers the charming, handsome, confident Donald Draper. The white waiter then proceeds to ask Don if he needs a refill but it is not Donald Draper who responds it is the man we don't know yet, the cold, bitter, remorseful Dick Whitman responds with a wave of his hand signaling he can't respect this man who mistreats someone else just because of how they were born. Don then asks this man, why it is that he prefers "Old Gold" cigarettes, to which he responds he was given them in the service. "So your used to them?" Don asks. Habit and the need to escape is definitely another important theme we are introduced to right off the bat. "Reader's Digest says is will kill ya." remarks the waiter, "Yea I heard about that" responds Don and his reaction to this shows us that THAT is what he is working on...how to sell cigarettes now that we realize we are just killing ourselves. Cigarettes and alcohol on the show represent represent hypocrisy, how we all know they are bad for us but we do them anyway...“Nobody knows what’s wrong with themselves. Everyone else can see it right away.” We as humans are flawed and the biggest flaw that we all contain is that we cant really look at ourselves in the mirror, Don certainly can't.
This conversation is followed by a slow motion POV shot as Don watches all the people in the bar, interacting, smoking and drinking, showing us both the social norms of the time, and Don's isolation. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Don waits outside a door, until finally a beautiful woman opens it. Clearly being in that bar made him lonely. We see inside this woman's apartment, its very loft-like, not very common living space for a single woman back then, which tells us that this is a strong, confident, independent woman. We have no idea of the nature of their relationship at this point, the sense of mystery surrounding Don Draper continues to build. The next day, we see a group of "men" talking in the elevator in their way up. But this conversation shows us that these are not at all men, but boys. Yet back then, people as immature as these guys were creative and account men at ad agencies all over New York. A young, timid looking woman stands in front of them. Peggy Olson, our heroine and the character that will take us through this journey of the changing social mores. We hear just how awful these men treat her, the types of things they get away with saying, and she has to just stand there and take it.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Donald Draper....
"When a man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him. He has a million reasons for being anywhere, just ask him. If you listen, he'll tell you how he got there. How he forgot where he was going, and that he woke up. If you listen, he'll tell you about the time he thought he was an angel or dreamt of being perfect. And then he'll smile with wisdom, content that he realized the world isn't perfect. We're flawed, because we want so much more. We're ruined, because we get these things, and wish for what we had. " -Donald Draper
Monday, July 27, 2009
Inglourious Basterds
*Update...sorry some of my picture links no longer work
Quentin Tarantino is my favorite filmmaker because he is plain and simply the greatest storyteller of all time. Unlike most films where you come into the theater for the two hours or what not and then you leave, Tarantino crafts a full universe around his fully developed characters whose entire life story you know Quentin knows and you feel more engaged in the story when you can see into these characters. If you ever have read a script that he has written, he delves into so much detail about every little thing, the character, the setting, the mood, how he is going to approach the scene. Every film he has made to date is a full on masterpiece and Inglourious Basterds is no exception. After getting out of the screening I debated if this was in fact Quentin’s finest film and I think that Pulp Fiction, due to its innovation and cult status has to be deemed his finest film, but Basterds is without a doubt his most mature film.
Before I delve into reviewing the film itself I want to talk for a moment about how(like Pulp Fiction) this film is just as well three stories about one story. The first three chapters of the film set up each set of characters, Chapter 1, introduces Shoshanna Dreyfus and her motives yes, but it belongs to Colonel Hans Landa “The Jew Hunter” who ultimately holds the film together as he is the glue that clings all the characters to each other. The opening chapter sets the tone for the film as well as establishing the character of Landa and setting up the motives for Shoshanna. Chapter 2, sets up the Basterds themselves and introduces us to the mythos behind their notoriety in this fable, much like Kill Bill Volume 1 set up the Hanzo and DiVAS mythos for us. The Basterds, who despite being the titular characters are actually the least important of the main characters in terms of actual plot. Chapter 3, shows us what happened to Shoshanna Dreyfus after she narrowly escaped from the clutches of Landa and sets up her side of the big final sequence. Chapter 4 sets up the Basterds plan for the big final sequence and it isn’t until chapter 5 that there is any plot to the film at all, the first 2 chapters set up the mythology, chapters 3 and 4 set up the plot and 5 is the actual plot itself.
Most filmmakers could never pull off something like that only about 30-45 minutes of a film being plot and everything else just setting it up, but QT uses that to his advantage you know so much about this whole world and characters that by the time you get to the big bang(literally and figuratively) it is 500% more impactful then if someone had done it differently, had this plot been taken and made by someone else, it would have been much more like a simple heist film, setting up the whole trap and then springing it and treating it much more like a thriller rather then doing it like Tarantino and making it into a fable that really draws you and gets you engaged for the characters, I’m all for heist films I love films like Ocean’s Eleven but how much do you really know about the characters? Nothing and it is a fantastically underrated film but it is just the pinnacle of a perfect cliché film, where Basterds is as unique of a film as Pulp Fiction and had it been made 10 years ago it would be praised 10 times more then Pulp had been. Now I will do a Chapter by Chapter analysis of the film as each chapter is a masterpiece better then any film of the last 10 years (albeit a few) on its own.
CHAPTER 1: ONCE UPON A TIME…IN NAZI OCCUPIED FRANCE
It still baffles me just how well Tarantino knows film, he effortlessly combines the genres of Spaghetti Western and French New Wave with Macaroni combat war iconography, the opening chapter in particular is just breathtaking to watch the amazing visual aspect of it, the tension building just like fast draw moments in Leone’s westerns but QT does not do this with shots of holsters and guns, but with words and eyes. Watch the shot/editing pattern of the opening scene in contrast with Waltz’ breathtaking Alan Rickmanesque performance.(the frighteningly evil yet charming at the same time) The opening sequence shows Colonel Landa interrogating a farmer who he suspects is hiding jews, Waltz is just such a delight to watch for the eyes and the ears, he has a handsome brashness about him but just listening to him effortlessly go from German to French to English back to French is just breathtaking, also keep in mind he has monologues in every language as well. His Jew to Rat monologue(which sadly they cut down a bit from the script) should go down in history as one of the greatest of all time. I think its pretty obvious how this scene ends but I won’t give it away for those super spoiler conscious folks out there, all I will say is I have a feeling there will be a lot of people who feel Landa’s motives at the end of the chapter are unrealistic and I have this to say, that is because they cut out his second monologue in this chapter that explains his motives.
CHAPTER 2: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
As most know the second chapter opens to Brad Pitt’s monologue in the teaser trailer (but the film version is about 3-4 minutes longer) Tarantino uses his trademark hold on one actor for a long period of time brilliantly in this sequence, there’s like a 2 minute shot just following Pitt as he delivers the best part of the monologue followed by a shot that holds on Eli Roth as the monologue finishes and his smile slowly widens as you see in the teaser. This Chapter definitely earns its R rating as we see several scalping, people being beaten, shot and stabbed to death among other things. Til Schweiger’s character’s introduction I have no doubt many people will hate it so much with Samuel L. Jackson narrating it and rock music playing during it but I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Eli Roth, who sadly doesn’t have all that much, to do but he makes up for it with being the most badass character to grace the screen since Die Hard. No doubt many will complain that his character is unnecessary and has no emotion but again that it because they cut his 5-10 minute origin story out which is an amazingly well written segment but it would have interfered with the tone of the Chapter so I am glad they cut it out. Sadly however, you have probably seen about 1/3 of this Chapter already just in clips and trailers its only about 20 minutes long but it received bursts of applause in my theater as Brad Pitt gives his final line in the Chapter and it fades to black.
CHAPTER 3: A GERMAN NIGHT IN PARIS
This Chapter while essential is probably the weakest aspect of the film as it suffers a bit having a totally different tone from the rest of the film, originally it was supposed to be in Black and White but that distracted even more away from the rest of the film(as it is styled like a Godard film). It is not by any means a weak Chapter simply in comparison to the other 4. Still better stand alone as any other film you will see this year. This chapter shows us what has become of Shoshanna Dreyfus after the opening scene and it sets up the first aspect of her masterplan which also happens to be the Basterd and Landa’s master plan as well, as the next chapter sets up that up. There is a simply heart pounding scene in a restaurant which (I don’t want to give away details as the way it unfolds is simply heart jumping to watch) which I will say most likely will raise possibly the biggest question of the film and you will know what I mean when you see the scene “Does Landa know?” that is all I will say about that.
CHAPTER 4: OPERATION KINO
The next Chapter starts with Mike Myer’s scene which I thought was brilliant, he and Michael Fassbender essentially play an older and a younger version of the same character have amazing chemistry together in this scene which essentially sets up the plot of the whole movie. The sequence that follows “La Louisiane” has been described as a mini Reservoir Dogs and I think will possibly be the most talked about scene in the film, it is thrilling, funny, informative and it ends with one of the most shocking and unique things I have ever seen on film that I couldn’t believe I just saw after I finished seeing it, this Chapter introduces the character of Bridget von Hammersmark(Diane Kruger) but the Chapter essentially belongs to Michael Fassbender as Lt. Archie Hicox and while Landa gives the finest performance of the film, Fassbender has the best delivery of any line in the film, I got a giant shiver and felt a tear go down my cheek as he says it. Maybe you will have the same reaction to it as I got. As I said the 21 minute “La Louisiane” sequence is the best scene in the film(although it is close as there are about oh a million amazing scenes in the film) Sadly they cut a good portion of the vet scene out that deals with PFC’s Utivich and Hirschberg’s(Novak and Levine respectively) jobs in the final sequence.
CHAPTER 5: REVENGE OF THE GIANT FACE
For obvious reasons being the plot segment of the film I won’t go into too much detail here on the actual plot. Many were concerned about the selection of the David Bowie song here but it worked amazingly well as we see Shoshanna get ready for her big “premiere”. The best shot of the movie comes in very early in this chapter as the camera goes from looking at Shoshanna looking down at the red carpet to Landa looking down then it tracks with him to reveal the Basterds, each of these people with a master plan of their own, not knowing that the others all have a plan as well...simply a brilliant shot. The actual ending of the film is the same as it was in the script but how it happens was changed due to the leak of the script and wow am I glad they changed it, my theater gave a standing ovation to a…very violent…part of it that I think you will know it when you see it as the two characters involved and what goes down having their story end that way is just perfect, my theater cheered and clapped until our hands were raw. And afterwards in the final scene of the film, if you have been paying attention you will see whats about to happen coming and want to just stand up and cheer. Many will no doubt think the last line of the film is pretentious but I feel it is well deserved and the perfect way to end QT’s passion project for the past 9 years.
Pitt, Fassbender, Kruger, Laurent and Waltz all deserve Oscar nominations(for now but I’m sure at least 3 of them will still be there by years end) and this is the best script written since Memento, QT’s direction is just mind blowing especially if you consider the short 5 month shoot/edit before Cannes. I wish they would have put about 20-25 minutes back in making the film just under 3 hours but for obvious reasons (Weinstein’s cough) I doubt we will ever see Quentin’s Directors Cut of this masterpiece. If you have enjoyed QT’s other films as much as me, there is no reason this should be any different, it is just as unique, has the same(but better) type of dialog and perhaps the best characters he has ever written.
****/****
Saturday, June 27, 2009
My thoughts on the new rules of the Academy Awards
As I'm sure many of you have known, there have been a few changes in the rules for the Academy Awards this year the biggest being obviously the expansion from five to ten, Best Picture nominations. The second being the possibility that there will be no Best Original Song category every year, and the third being that the Honorary Oscar will no longer be apart of the general broadcast.
The motivation behind these changes...ratings. Pure, plain and simple. The ratings have dropped severely in the past few years for the Oscars because, one the show is too long for most, and two most people have never heard/seen most of the nominees. For example 90% of the people I know only saw one or two of last years best picture nominees, and 99.9% of my friends had never even heard of The Reader. Most of my friends didn't even watch the telecast for that reason, they had no idea what any of the films were. The expansion of the category is obviously the Academy's plan to have more room for different kinds of films like maybe a blockbuster or a comedy or two in there. That way more viewers will come and they won't receive 20,000 letters of complaint that The Dark Knight wasn't nominated. Personally I think that you SHOULD have more Best Picture nominations then any other category mainly because it is a much broader achievement then the others, I think that there should be at least 5 nominees with the potential for there to be 6 or 7 depending on the voters and how strong a year it was, I think that basically 3 or 4 of the nominees we are all just going to know have no shot at winning and are just there to give those films devoted followers a little ray of hope, and film ignorant america films they have heard of. Personally I am not happy about this decision but...I'm gonna withhold judgement until the nominees of this year are announced.
Now The Best Original Song category I am very happy about, because unlike things like editing, sound, makeup and such, not every film has a song, and if there aren't original songs good enough to merit a nomination the category should not exist for that year, also the live performances waste so much time that it will get the show more viewers and not annoy impatient people like myself. Its like "Oh here listen to the song so you can judge at home." And I;m like "But, are you showing the audience the amazing sound design of this film....no..."so I love this new change. Now on the third change...I am mixed about this because sometimes like in 2006, I really respect Ennio Morricone, but goddamn that segment went on way too long. Unless it is someone who I really really want to see honored usually I can do without seeing that segment, as long as they do broadcast that somewhere if there is a person who I want to see receive that Oscar, this change is fine with me as well.
Due to the Best Picture nominees change I now present my 8 months in advance predictions for the 10 Best Picture nominees of 2009 (keep in mind this far ahead of time...its anyones game and this is mainly very early guesstimation, the art of Oscar predicting does not come into play fully until the end of the year)
These are in the order I think that they have a chance of winning.
1) The Lovely Bones For it; An acclaimed book, with a fantastic filmmaking team behind it, a great cast, a film that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, and it screams Oscar bait.
Against it;We have only seen a few stills from the film so we have no idea what it will be like, could be too melodramatic, the narrative style of the book may not translate well to the screen.
2) Nine For it; I tend to not care for musicals, and the trailer blew me away, thats a sign. Amazing cast and an arguably overdue director whom the Academy loves, did I mention that the trailer is AMAZING?!
Against it; Chicago won best picture, can Nine do it again? Remakes don't always do well with the Academy.
3) Invictus For it; A baity biopic with Academy favorite Clint Eastwood...need I say more?
Against it; Haven't seen a frame of it yet, could be just an actor's vehicle, and as we saw last year, there is a possibility that the Academy, like me, is sick of Eastwood.
4) Shutter Island For it; The script is phenomenal, and it is very different for Scorsese, something the Academy loves a la Munich. With 5 nominations it was a close call, but given the Academy's opening to darker more thrilleresque films, has a big shot now that its 10 nominations.
Against it; May be too dark, thrillerish and possibly surrealistic for the Academy.
5) Up For it; Due to the expansion to 10 I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call it now, this is a LOCK for a nomination. A great film that was unanimously praised, Wall-e and Ratatouille just missed the cut the last two years and with the expansion to ten, this one will break through.
Against it; The only thing that could possibly stop this film is that it has its own category.
6) Avatar For it; Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Steven Soderbergh and George Lucas have all said its going to revolutionize film forever...thats enough for me. Early sceen tests were received with orgams, and Cameron describes the Oscar winning Titanic "small" compared to this film.
Against it; We don't know enough about the story/mood. Could be too fun, might just sweep the techs.
7) The Road For it; Pulitzer Prize winning novel, more baity and more critically acclaimed then the other film by this author that won Best Picture.
Against it; Many people(myself not included) did not like the trailer, being pushed back is never a good sign as The Soloist showed us.
8) The Hurt Locker For it; There's usually one Oscar type film that comes out in the first half of the year, this year it was this. Most believe it to be the best of the year so far and the first great Iraq war film.
Against it; Myself and a few others I know were not impressed with this film at all, Green Zone is the same type of film coming out later in the year which I managed to see and to me it blows this film out of the water...but I don't vote. Early in the year, could be forgotten about.
9) Precious For it; Strong early word, and it has the indie card to play, most seem to think it looks really good.
Against it; Looks awful in my opinion, could be super melodramatic crap. The Oprah factor could help or hurt no way to know.
10) Star Trek For it; If they honor any blockbuster like most assume they will now because of the change to ten films, it will be this film. I think this film was as good as most thought The Dark Knight was(I thought Dark Knight was vastly UNDERrated), I don't know a person who saw it (save bitter Trekkies) who didn't like it.
Against it; We don't know if they will now decide to honor blockbusters, they could just nominate 10 Oscar films, Avatar could blow it out of the water...
The motivation behind these changes...ratings. Pure, plain and simple. The ratings have dropped severely in the past few years for the Oscars because, one the show is too long for most, and two most people have never heard/seen most of the nominees. For example 90% of the people I know only saw one or two of last years best picture nominees, and 99.9% of my friends had never even heard of The Reader. Most of my friends didn't even watch the telecast for that reason, they had no idea what any of the films were. The expansion of the category is obviously the Academy's plan to have more room for different kinds of films like maybe a blockbuster or a comedy or two in there. That way more viewers will come and they won't receive 20,000 letters of complaint that The Dark Knight wasn't nominated. Personally I think that you SHOULD have more Best Picture nominations then any other category mainly because it is a much broader achievement then the others, I think that there should be at least 5 nominees with the potential for there to be 6 or 7 depending on the voters and how strong a year it was, I think that basically 3 or 4 of the nominees we are all just going to know have no shot at winning and are just there to give those films devoted followers a little ray of hope, and film ignorant america films they have heard of. Personally I am not happy about this decision but...I'm gonna withhold judgement until the nominees of this year are announced.
Now The Best Original Song category I am very happy about, because unlike things like editing, sound, makeup and such, not every film has a song, and if there aren't original songs good enough to merit a nomination the category should not exist for that year, also the live performances waste so much time that it will get the show more viewers and not annoy impatient people like myself. Its like "Oh here listen to the song so you can judge at home." And I;m like "But, are you showing the audience the amazing sound design of this film....no..."so I love this new change. Now on the third change...I am mixed about this because sometimes like in 2006, I really respect Ennio Morricone, but goddamn that segment went on way too long. Unless it is someone who I really really want to see honored usually I can do without seeing that segment, as long as they do broadcast that somewhere if there is a person who I want to see receive that Oscar, this change is fine with me as well.
Due to the Best Picture nominees change I now present my 8 months in advance predictions for the 10 Best Picture nominees of 2009 (keep in mind this far ahead of time...its anyones game and this is mainly very early guesstimation, the art of Oscar predicting does not come into play fully until the end of the year)
These are in the order I think that they have a chance of winning.
1) The Lovely Bones For it; An acclaimed book, with a fantastic filmmaking team behind it, a great cast, a film that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, and it screams Oscar bait.
Against it;We have only seen a few stills from the film so we have no idea what it will be like, could be too melodramatic, the narrative style of the book may not translate well to the screen.
2) Nine For it; I tend to not care for musicals, and the trailer blew me away, thats a sign. Amazing cast and an arguably overdue director whom the Academy loves, did I mention that the trailer is AMAZING?!
Against it; Chicago won best picture, can Nine do it again? Remakes don't always do well with the Academy.
3) Invictus For it; A baity biopic with Academy favorite Clint Eastwood...need I say more?
Against it; Haven't seen a frame of it yet, could be just an actor's vehicle, and as we saw last year, there is a possibility that the Academy, like me, is sick of Eastwood.
4) Shutter Island For it; The script is phenomenal, and it is very different for Scorsese, something the Academy loves a la Munich. With 5 nominations it was a close call, but given the Academy's opening to darker more thrilleresque films, has a big shot now that its 10 nominations.
Against it; May be too dark, thrillerish and possibly surrealistic for the Academy.
5) Up For it; Due to the expansion to 10 I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call it now, this is a LOCK for a nomination. A great film that was unanimously praised, Wall-e and Ratatouille just missed the cut the last two years and with the expansion to ten, this one will break through.
Against it; The only thing that could possibly stop this film is that it has its own category.
6) Avatar For it; Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Steven Soderbergh and George Lucas have all said its going to revolutionize film forever...thats enough for me. Early sceen tests were received with orgams, and Cameron describes the Oscar winning Titanic "small" compared to this film.
Against it; We don't know enough about the story/mood. Could be too fun, might just sweep the techs.
7) The Road For it; Pulitzer Prize winning novel, more baity and more critically acclaimed then the other film by this author that won Best Picture.
Against it; Many people(myself not included) did not like the trailer, being pushed back is never a good sign as The Soloist showed us.
8) The Hurt Locker For it; There's usually one Oscar type film that comes out in the first half of the year, this year it was this. Most believe it to be the best of the year so far and the first great Iraq war film.
Against it; Myself and a few others I know were not impressed with this film at all, Green Zone is the same type of film coming out later in the year which I managed to see and to me it blows this film out of the water...but I don't vote. Early in the year, could be forgotten about.
9) Precious For it; Strong early word, and it has the indie card to play, most seem to think it looks really good.
Against it; Looks awful in my opinion, could be super melodramatic crap. The Oprah factor could help or hurt no way to know.
10) Star Trek For it; If they honor any blockbuster like most assume they will now because of the change to ten films, it will be this film. I think this film was as good as most thought The Dark Knight was(I thought Dark Knight was vastly UNDERrated), I don't know a person who saw it (save bitter Trekkies) who didn't like it.
Against it; We don't know if they will now decide to honor blockbusters, they could just nominate 10 Oscar films, Avatar could blow it out of the water...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
2009 (So far...)
Hey guys, I haven't updated in a while and a lot of things need revising mainly my top 100 list which a lot has been added to since i last updated mainly a lot of foreign films, most of which from the master Jean Pierre-Melville. Anyway I wanted to give my take on the year in film so far. I will be providing reviews for the my top 10 films of the year(in order) so far and brief summaries of my opinion for the 22 other films this year. Normally I would have seen many more films right now, but with the economy, I have been low on cash and haven't gone to the theater as much as I would have liked to.
Star Trek
I have been a casual Trekkie my entire life but more so then a Trekkie I am of course a film lover, this film is the perfect combination of the two, it is a fantastic film on so many levels with great performances, a unique style, amazing art direction, and an engaging story. But I think I was able to enjoy this film more then most as I appreciate what a tremendously unique and influential piece of film making it is from masterful director of my favorite television show Lost, J.J. Abrams, it also contains hundreds of injokes for Star Trek fans and while it might not be canon to the original series, in order for the movie to be fresh and also allow freedom for the filmmakers they needed to wipe the slate clean and they did a very smart job of doing so with the new time line. I think my opinion of this film is similar to that most had of The Dark Knight last year, most considered that to be an amazing film more then just a blockbuster and possibly Oscar worthy where I consider it above and beyond what most do. One thing I can't stress enough about how impressive this film is, is just how unbelievably fun it is, while still keeping a serious tone when it needs to, one of WatchmenWatchmen's main issues was that it was too dark, and thats essential to the story but...anyway I'll get to that later, I really can't remember the last time I had so much raw fun at the movies while the film was still just such a triumph (Grindhouse maybe?). The performances are all just so outstanding Chris Pine in particular, who I think will become one of the two biggest stars of the next generation (no pun intended) along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (more on him later). He truly embodies Captain James T. Kirk without having to do any sort of true impersonation, the only hint of impression is the last thing he does in the entire film when he sits down in the captain's chair he sits just like Shatner, thats the only time he ever pays tribute to the original Captain, but even though this Kirk is not the same Kirk we know and love upfront we see the underbellies of him with a more Han Solo esque character on the surface. Zachary Quinto also shines in a tremendously hard to appreciate underplayed performance, my favorite aspect he did was Spock's trademark eyebrow lift, which he just nailed. Pegg, Cho, Yelchin, and Saldana all deliver wonderfully but of the lesser characters its Karl Urban who steals the show as you close your eyes and picture DeForest Kelly's voice and realize he IS McCoy. I was underwhelmed by Eric Bana's Nero who shined in 2 scenes and 1 additional line to that but was very mediocre in the rest of the film. The action was exciting, stimulating and thrilling, the comedy was pitch perfect, I really can't stress enough how much I love this thing but I will only add two more points before moving on to my #2 film of the year. First is the sound design, which is so fresh because it has a slight sense of camp to it to nod the original series, but still feels real and dark enough to fit the tone when it needs too and second Michael Giacchino's masterful score. I believe Giacchino to be the composer of the future and while some feel he reuses the same few main motifs too much in his scores, I think that with some composers that gets tiresome but Giacchino provides new and fresh versions of those motif's as he has shown us time and time again with one of the most unique scores I've ever heard on Lost. I loved the film and hope maybe this will be a Batman Begins and the sequel will be a Dark Knight especially with Lindelof the mastermind behind Lost joining the writer's behind the typewriter.
****/****
Watchmen
I absolutely love Zack Snyder's original source material and this was my most anticipated film of the year after Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (which I have read the script for and it has potential to be the greatest war film ever made IMO even though its not a war film haha) I was slightly, key word SLIGHTLY underwhelmed by Zack Snyder's film. I went in with expectation high as can be though so...that hurts. Jackie Earl Haley gives a perfect performance as the iconic Rorschach. His therapy scene was my favorite scene from the film and is also my favorite scene of the novel, I would not be surprised if I still have him winning my Supporting Actor award at the end of the year. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also gives an impactful performance as the baity Comedian despite short screen time. Unfortunately Akerman and Gugino were almost unbearably weak as the two Silk Spectre's. Billy Crudup and Patrick Wilson both give perfect performances but unfortunately they're not exactly the hardest roles to play, Haley gives the best performance of the lot but it was Matthew Goode's performance that swept me off my feet with impressment. I don;t think he recieved nearly enough credit for being a British actor who is supposed to be playing a German hiding his German accent with an American accent, and you hear his accent slip from American to German from time to time and near the end of the film it goes completely before he recovers and gains it back again, I would truly like to know how he trained himself to be this way. The cinematography by Lost's Larry Fong(can you tell I like that show?) is the best I have seen since Roger Deakin's work in 2007. The art direction is astounding to look at and the visual of the film is undeniably great, unfortunately both the triumphs and faults of this film lie with Zack Snyder for his bad casting of the Silk Spectre's, two horrible scenes, the date and the sex scene were both cringe worthy, the pacing is god awful and even though it sort of needs to be, the film is so dark that it just becomes depressing, they needed a few more moments of lightness in the first half even though it would have been original material. It is a masterpiece but a severely flawed masterpiece, I was very impressed with it, but it had its faults.
****/****
Up
Can Pixar do no wrong? That's what I'm starting to believe, I loved but was disappointed by last year's WALL-E and was surprised by how good this film was. The animation is beautiful as always, and the characters are so engaging, this film is also just such a laughfest I could never stop laughing whenever Dug was on screen. Russel also shined as a brillianty satiric character we all empathize with. The opening montage is beautiful and moving, and the actiony scenes are thrilling and fun. Pixar's little injokes that kids cannot possibly get continue to amaze me, the best one in this film were the squad of Star Wars inspired dog pilots that were Red Squadron as a nod to the end of A New Hope. Carl is also just such a loveable character by the end of the film you see his fualts that any older person seems to have which obviously stem from the disappointments and such they had in life, but by the end of the film we wish that Carl was our own grandfather. Also I was surprised by how much they let us empathize with the villain, yet we still rooted for him to die at the end despite caring for his cause, now thats great storytelling! Also its very impressive how much the audience just completely suspends disbelief as the world Pete Doctor creates is very real up until the ballons fly the house away but we still still never stop to think "wait how is this possible" its Pixar anything is possible as they have proven with Up.
****/****
Green Zone
Paul Greengrass's (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93 latest film has yet to receive a release date but I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening of this very effective political thriller. Which is the first truly great film I have seen regarding the current situation in Iraq. I don't care at all about Politics when it comes to films unless it is just so shove it down your throat, so I don't know if that will effect how this film plays, but I doubt it. The basic plot is Matt Damon who gives a straightforward but very strong performance, runs a special squad who locates and disarms WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction for those who don't watch any news) but the last several targets they have gone on are wild goose chases and they set to find out why exactly this is. The cast also includes Brendan Gleeson and Greg Kinnear both give very solid performances as rival politicians who have opposite views on the current situation, Amy Ryan as a reporter, Jason Issacs as an asshole Captain, and the film's strongest performance is Khalid Abdhalla as a normal everyday citizen of Iraq who's character provides us with empathy to the current situation from their perspective. The film is very thrilling and has some fantastic action sequences even if the end one does go on for a bit too long, and of course shaky cam. The ending is a tad cliche but it works and at least it doesn't try to be something it isn't there is nothing particullarly new this film brings to the table, its really a Greengrass style thriller that takes what works from earlier Iraq war films and expands on that, it keeps you on the edge of your seat and tis worth seeing this winter.
****/****
Taken
From Luc Besson's group of camera operators turned director's is the latest edition, Pierre Morel who follows up his fantastic debut the french sci-fi actioner District B13 which popularized Parkour. Much like the aforementioned film this film doesn't try to be anything more then just thrills, fun and ownage. Liam Neeson is God I said as I walked out of the theater, who now can be added to the James Bond, Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer debate. The film moves along at a pace unlike I've felt in a while and while the plot is predictable it doesn't matter, thats not the point of the film. Once Neeson who gives an amazing performance, particullarly in his "I will find you and I will kill you speech" starts chasing after those who kidnapped his daughter, your eyes are glued to the screen as Morel brings us some very well crafted sequences some of which add some unique touches that make the film special. My only quibble was the sound design, it was a little bland and not quite loud enough for the type of film that it is. Its no Die Hard but Taken, is exactly what it aims to be and exactly what it wanted to be, an exciting adrenaline rush filled with epic ownage.
****/****
Duplicity
Tony Gilroy, along with Christoper Nolan, David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson, Rian Johnson, and Sam Mendes are the filmmakers of this generation, Gilroy's debut film Michael Clayton whcih was robbed of both Best Director and mainly a Best Original Screenplay Oscar is the perfect follow up. It stays within the same genre he knows he is comfortable in so to make sure he delivers, but it is also just such a unique feeling fun romance, that beats any romantic comedy you'll see so far this year(save Adventureland which is on par with this. The film is laugh out loud hilarious when it needs to be, thrilling when it needs to be and your always engaged, much like Tarantino its a treat for the ears to just listen to the dialog, as Roberts and Owen play it like a Capra or Hawks film just quirky comedy with a hint of darkness back and forth, back and forth. The ending is also...very...different then what you'd expect which is one of the things that really shocked me about this film, unlike a film I will be mentioning later instead of the standard Climax, big twist, wrap up, that most thrillers of this type has it stays fresh and just when you think its over...its not. He throws at least 3 or 4 end things that you think will be the final image. Also a nice little homage to "Player" credits from the 40's-70's of a caper film thats a nice addition.
****/****
Adventureland
I used to hate comedies about 2 years ago as they were all done only in a few different ways either, gross out humour, random humour, satire, or chick flicks all with similar structure I'd only ever seen a few comedies I "loved" then Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow came along and created the "guy flick" romantic comedies for guys!!! I went in to Adventureland hoping it would be just as good as I Love You, Man but came out moved and saying "wow the Twilight chick can act!" Greg Motolla's Superbad started out as one of the funniest things I had ever seen but the second half turned into a boring, long winded, slow and cliche fiasco. Why couldn't the film had stayed so good! Well he makes up for it here with a very moving film that is funny when it needs to be but plays more like The Graduate
relying on awkwardness for the laughs with Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig coming in every once in a while and making you laugh so hard it hurts. Being around the same age as most of the characters I empathized a lot with this film, and its solidly funny, emotional, moving and it creates great characters ones who you remind you of people you know. I wish Kristen Stewart would abandon this Twilight shit and make more films like this but...obviously she won't...so I just gotta wait until the books end before being able to actually talk to anyone about her without them mentioning Twilight.
****/****
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
*update disregard this review as I have yet to revisit this film since getting into comics and I now too deem some of this film near offensive to the original material. That being said the action alone makes it worth seeing I would still recommend it
Most hated this film I thought it was the best of all the X-Men films even with Barakapool and a few other things that didn't quite work. First off I want to say that first and foremost Gavin Hood knows how to handle action material, the action scenes in this film surpass any of any other superhero film I have seen except Nolan's Batman films and Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk. This film actually has action scenes unlike the other X-Men films that USE ALL THE MUTANTS POWERS! Go figure! The opening credits are very effective and use great form cuts, the middle is a tad slow but necessary and this film like a lot of action films people tend to be too hard on, isn't trying to be anything more then just showing us about Logan's backstory in a heart pumping way. Kevin Durand, Liev Schrieber and Danny Huston all are perfect as their respected roles and Hugh Jackman continues to shine as Wolverine. The films best performance comes from Ryan Reynolds who even light of Barakapool which I'll admit didn't entirely work for me, but nonetheless worked as a plot point and made for an awesome climax! Ryan Reynolds nailed Deadpool on the button! He was so perfect in every way, I can;t wait for the spin off, so I know I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this but I loved this film.
***1/2/****
Killshot
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has shown me time and time again that he is in fact the greatest young actor working today and in this flew he blew my mind. t made me want to see him play Morgan Earp in a western he's so damn good at playing a cocky young southern wild maniac. I have been championing for a long time that Nolan needs to replace Ledger with Levitt and I could die a happy man. He's the only actor who is even better then Ledger at being a Chameleon and he looks so much like him that if he worked hard enough and had the guts to take the role, could easily pull off a great Joker that would allow Nolan's franchise to continue the way it should. Now on to this film haha, it is a solid film that I went in with mixed expectations, on one hand reviews were terrible on the other I loved the trailer. While the film is like many today straight forward and predictable it works as an effective character driven thriller. Rourke is also very good in this but you can never take your eyes off Levitt as he just continues to break through the screen and is on his way to becoming the next Sean Penn..
***1/2 /****
State of Play
I went it expecting a good solid character conspiracy film and thats what I got, this film is exactly what you expect, not better, not worse. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, and Helen Mirren all deliever very good work here but Jason Bateman shines in a very small role that surprised the heck out of me, like I mentioned above in my Duplicity review most thrillers like this have the same structure, and this falls victim to that, set up, investigation, fake climax, more investigation, climax, end twist, resolution. Kevin MacDonald is proving to be a strong director but he needs better source material all his work has been very goo but hasn't completely won me over. This is a film that crime film lovers will love but its forgettable and straight forward which I can't stress enough isn't a bad thing.
***1/2 /****
The Girlfriend Experience: a new interesting experiment from one of my favorites Steven Soderbergh, well crafted and well acted. ***1/2 /****
I Love You, Man: The latest Apatow laugh fest that is exactly what you expect, fun fun fun. ***1/2 /****
The Hangover Overhyped but a very funny film you can enjoy once through as it relies to much on shock value ***/****
The Brothers BloomAn interesting caper film, but disappointing given the potential of the material with the actor and filmmakers that relies a tad too much on style, fun but forgettable. ***/****
Public Enemies *Sigh* a disappointing film from Michael Mann, the shootouts are amazing and Cotillard shines but Depp and Bale are underwhelming, the supporting performers all outshine the stars, the digital frame rate is distracting and doesn't work at all. A decent film with a phenomenal finale. ***/****
Fanboys As a huge fanboy myself I cannot stress how annoying it is when fanboys aren't true fanboy's for the last time STAR TREK FANS AND STAR WARS FANS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS FRIENDS. And most often they both like both...has funny moments but disappointing film. **3/4 /****
Terminator: Salvation *Sigh* another great trailer that leads to a mediocre film, why did they give someone like McG a project this high up...also the film was so well shot but the cinematography ruined by the fact that the editor of this film had no idea wtf he was doing. Christian Bale overdose...getting sick of him he's being overexposed. Worthington overhyped as well although gives stronger performance than Bale but Yelchin beats them both. Good action good look, but editor and director no business being here. **1/2 /****
He's Just Not That Into YouI'll fess up here I actually thought the trailer was good...the film...was not...I thought the idea was fresh plus I love hyperlink films but most of the stories just aren't engaging and it wasn't funny it was more of a drama. Some things did work however. **/****
Observe and Report Had moments of absolute hilarity, but most of the film was more gross or immature then funny, the least funny Seth Rogan film I've seen. **/****
Dragonball: Evolution*Sniffle* I love the original shows so much(ah nostalgia) this film was childish, corny and badly made considering the budget, I did enjoy Emily Blunt though! And some of the action was decent. *1/2 /****
Fast & Furious Overdone, bad effects, not entertaining, unrealistic, predictable recycled material some good stunts...thats it... *1/2 /****
Crank 2: High Voltage The first film is eh this film, horrendous, not entertaining in the slightest, vulgar, unbelievable as a huge action film fan the action was not even impressive save one sequence. Camera work was annoying and pointless and for the last time JASON STATHAM IS NOT BADASS!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW HE IS IN ANY WAY! 0/****
Well thats my take on the year so far, so far its been a very good year not great, unfortunately I think summer will be this year's highlight as there are only 5 films or so this Oscar season I am really looking forward too.
Star Trek
I have been a casual Trekkie my entire life but more so then a Trekkie I am of course a film lover, this film is the perfect combination of the two, it is a fantastic film on so many levels with great performances, a unique style, amazing art direction, and an engaging story. But I think I was able to enjoy this film more then most as I appreciate what a tremendously unique and influential piece of film making it is from masterful director of my favorite television show Lost, J.J. Abrams, it also contains hundreds of injokes for Star Trek fans and while it might not be canon to the original series, in order for the movie to be fresh and also allow freedom for the filmmakers they needed to wipe the slate clean and they did a very smart job of doing so with the new time line. I think my opinion of this film is similar to that most had of The Dark Knight last year, most considered that to be an amazing film more then just a blockbuster and possibly Oscar worthy where I consider it above and beyond what most do. One thing I can't stress enough about how impressive this film is, is just how unbelievably fun it is, while still keeping a serious tone when it needs to, one of WatchmenWatchmen's main issues was that it was too dark, and thats essential to the story but...anyway I'll get to that later, I really can't remember the last time I had so much raw fun at the movies while the film was still just such a triumph (Grindhouse maybe?). The performances are all just so outstanding Chris Pine in particular, who I think will become one of the two biggest stars of the next generation (no pun intended) along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (more on him later). He truly embodies Captain James T. Kirk without having to do any sort of true impersonation, the only hint of impression is the last thing he does in the entire film when he sits down in the captain's chair he sits just like Shatner, thats the only time he ever pays tribute to the original Captain, but even though this Kirk is not the same Kirk we know and love upfront we see the underbellies of him with a more Han Solo esque character on the surface. Zachary Quinto also shines in a tremendously hard to appreciate underplayed performance, my favorite aspect he did was Spock's trademark eyebrow lift, which he just nailed. Pegg, Cho, Yelchin, and Saldana all deliver wonderfully but of the lesser characters its Karl Urban who steals the show as you close your eyes and picture DeForest Kelly's voice and realize he IS McCoy. I was underwhelmed by Eric Bana's Nero who shined in 2 scenes and 1 additional line to that but was very mediocre in the rest of the film. The action was exciting, stimulating and thrilling, the comedy was pitch perfect, I really can't stress enough how much I love this thing but I will only add two more points before moving on to my #2 film of the year. First is the sound design, which is so fresh because it has a slight sense of camp to it to nod the original series, but still feels real and dark enough to fit the tone when it needs too and second Michael Giacchino's masterful score. I believe Giacchino to be the composer of the future and while some feel he reuses the same few main motifs too much in his scores, I think that with some composers that gets tiresome but Giacchino provides new and fresh versions of those motif's as he has shown us time and time again with one of the most unique scores I've ever heard on Lost. I loved the film and hope maybe this will be a Batman Begins and the sequel will be a Dark Knight especially with Lindelof the mastermind behind Lost joining the writer's behind the typewriter.
****/****
Watchmen
I absolutely love Zack Snyder's original source material and this was my most anticipated film of the year after Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (which I have read the script for and it has potential to be the greatest war film ever made IMO even though its not a war film haha) I was slightly, key word SLIGHTLY underwhelmed by Zack Snyder's film. I went in with expectation high as can be though so...that hurts. Jackie Earl Haley gives a perfect performance as the iconic Rorschach. His therapy scene was my favorite scene from the film and is also my favorite scene of the novel, I would not be surprised if I still have him winning my Supporting Actor award at the end of the year. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also gives an impactful performance as the baity Comedian despite short screen time. Unfortunately Akerman and Gugino were almost unbearably weak as the two Silk Spectre's. Billy Crudup and Patrick Wilson both give perfect performances but unfortunately they're not exactly the hardest roles to play, Haley gives the best performance of the lot but it was Matthew Goode's performance that swept me off my feet with impressment. I don;t think he recieved nearly enough credit for being a British actor who is supposed to be playing a German hiding his German accent with an American accent, and you hear his accent slip from American to German from time to time and near the end of the film it goes completely before he recovers and gains it back again, I would truly like to know how he trained himself to be this way. The cinematography by Lost's Larry Fong(can you tell I like that show?) is the best I have seen since Roger Deakin's work in 2007. The art direction is astounding to look at and the visual of the film is undeniably great, unfortunately both the triumphs and faults of this film lie with Zack Snyder for his bad casting of the Silk Spectre's, two horrible scenes, the date and the sex scene were both cringe worthy, the pacing is god awful and even though it sort of needs to be, the film is so dark that it just becomes depressing, they needed a few more moments of lightness in the first half even though it would have been original material. It is a masterpiece but a severely flawed masterpiece, I was very impressed with it, but it had its faults.
****/****
Up
Can Pixar do no wrong? That's what I'm starting to believe, I loved but was disappointed by last year's WALL-E and was surprised by how good this film was. The animation is beautiful as always, and the characters are so engaging, this film is also just such a laughfest I could never stop laughing whenever Dug was on screen. Russel also shined as a brillianty satiric character we all empathize with. The opening montage is beautiful and moving, and the actiony scenes are thrilling and fun. Pixar's little injokes that kids cannot possibly get continue to amaze me, the best one in this film were the squad of Star Wars inspired dog pilots that were Red Squadron as a nod to the end of A New Hope. Carl is also just such a loveable character by the end of the film you see his fualts that any older person seems to have which obviously stem from the disappointments and such they had in life, but by the end of the film we wish that Carl was our own grandfather. Also I was surprised by how much they let us empathize with the villain, yet we still rooted for him to die at the end despite caring for his cause, now thats great storytelling! Also its very impressive how much the audience just completely suspends disbelief as the world Pete Doctor creates is very real up until the ballons fly the house away but we still still never stop to think "wait how is this possible" its Pixar anything is possible as they have proven with Up.
****/****
Green Zone
Paul Greengrass's (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93 latest film has yet to receive a release date but I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening of this very effective political thriller. Which is the first truly great film I have seen regarding the current situation in Iraq. I don't care at all about Politics when it comes to films unless it is just so shove it down your throat, so I don't know if that will effect how this film plays, but I doubt it. The basic plot is Matt Damon who gives a straightforward but very strong performance, runs a special squad who locates and disarms WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction for those who don't watch any news) but the last several targets they have gone on are wild goose chases and they set to find out why exactly this is. The cast also includes Brendan Gleeson and Greg Kinnear both give very solid performances as rival politicians who have opposite views on the current situation, Amy Ryan as a reporter, Jason Issacs as an asshole Captain, and the film's strongest performance is Khalid Abdhalla as a normal everyday citizen of Iraq who's character provides us with empathy to the current situation from their perspective. The film is very thrilling and has some fantastic action sequences even if the end one does go on for a bit too long, and of course shaky cam. The ending is a tad cliche but it works and at least it doesn't try to be something it isn't there is nothing particullarly new this film brings to the table, its really a Greengrass style thriller that takes what works from earlier Iraq war films and expands on that, it keeps you on the edge of your seat and tis worth seeing this winter.
****/****
Taken
From Luc Besson's group of camera operators turned director's is the latest edition, Pierre Morel who follows up his fantastic debut the french sci-fi actioner District B13 which popularized Parkour. Much like the aforementioned film this film doesn't try to be anything more then just thrills, fun and ownage. Liam Neeson is God I said as I walked out of the theater, who now can be added to the James Bond, Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer debate. The film moves along at a pace unlike I've felt in a while and while the plot is predictable it doesn't matter, thats not the point of the film. Once Neeson who gives an amazing performance, particullarly in his "I will find you and I will kill you speech" starts chasing after those who kidnapped his daughter, your eyes are glued to the screen as Morel brings us some very well crafted sequences some of which add some unique touches that make the film special. My only quibble was the sound design, it was a little bland and not quite loud enough for the type of film that it is. Its no Die Hard but Taken, is exactly what it aims to be and exactly what it wanted to be, an exciting adrenaline rush filled with epic ownage.
****/****
Duplicity
Tony Gilroy, along with Christoper Nolan, David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson, Rian Johnson, and Sam Mendes are the filmmakers of this generation, Gilroy's debut film Michael Clayton whcih was robbed of both Best Director and mainly a Best Original Screenplay Oscar is the perfect follow up. It stays within the same genre he knows he is comfortable in so to make sure he delivers, but it is also just such a unique feeling fun romance, that beats any romantic comedy you'll see so far this year(save Adventureland which is on par with this. The film is laugh out loud hilarious when it needs to be, thrilling when it needs to be and your always engaged, much like Tarantino its a treat for the ears to just listen to the dialog, as Roberts and Owen play it like a Capra or Hawks film just quirky comedy with a hint of darkness back and forth, back and forth. The ending is also...very...different then what you'd expect which is one of the things that really shocked me about this film, unlike a film I will be mentioning later instead of the standard Climax, big twist, wrap up, that most thrillers of this type has it stays fresh and just when you think its over...its not. He throws at least 3 or 4 end things that you think will be the final image. Also a nice little homage to "Player" credits from the 40's-70's of a caper film thats a nice addition.
****/****
Adventureland
I used to hate comedies about 2 years ago as they were all done only in a few different ways either, gross out humour, random humour, satire, or chick flicks all with similar structure I'd only ever seen a few comedies I "loved" then Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow came along and created the "guy flick" romantic comedies for guys!!! I went in to Adventureland hoping it would be just as good as I Love You, Man but came out moved and saying "wow the Twilight chick can act!" Greg Motolla's Superbad started out as one of the funniest things I had ever seen but the second half turned into a boring, long winded, slow and cliche fiasco. Why couldn't the film had stayed so good! Well he makes up for it here with a very moving film that is funny when it needs to be but plays more like The Graduate
relying on awkwardness for the laughs with Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig coming in every once in a while and making you laugh so hard it hurts. Being around the same age as most of the characters I empathized a lot with this film, and its solidly funny, emotional, moving and it creates great characters ones who you remind you of people you know. I wish Kristen Stewart would abandon this Twilight shit and make more films like this but...obviously she won't...so I just gotta wait until the books end before being able to actually talk to anyone about her without them mentioning Twilight.
****/****
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
*update disregard this review as I have yet to revisit this film since getting into comics and I now too deem some of this film near offensive to the original material. That being said the action alone makes it worth seeing I would still recommend it
Most hated this film I thought it was the best of all the X-Men films even with Barakapool and a few other things that didn't quite work. First off I want to say that first and foremost Gavin Hood knows how to handle action material, the action scenes in this film surpass any of any other superhero film I have seen except Nolan's Batman films and Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk. This film actually has action scenes unlike the other X-Men films that USE ALL THE MUTANTS POWERS! Go figure! The opening credits are very effective and use great form cuts, the middle is a tad slow but necessary and this film like a lot of action films people tend to be too hard on, isn't trying to be anything more then just showing us about Logan's backstory in a heart pumping way. Kevin Durand, Liev Schrieber and Danny Huston all are perfect as their respected roles and Hugh Jackman continues to shine as Wolverine. The films best performance comes from Ryan Reynolds who even light of Barakapool which I'll admit didn't entirely work for me, but nonetheless worked as a plot point and made for an awesome climax! Ryan Reynolds nailed Deadpool on the button! He was so perfect in every way, I can;t wait for the spin off, so I know I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this but I loved this film.
***1/2/****
Killshot
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has shown me time and time again that he is in fact the greatest young actor working today and in this flew he blew my mind. t made me want to see him play Morgan Earp in a western he's so damn good at playing a cocky young southern wild maniac. I have been championing for a long time that Nolan needs to replace Ledger with Levitt and I could die a happy man. He's the only actor who is even better then Ledger at being a Chameleon and he looks so much like him that if he worked hard enough and had the guts to take the role, could easily pull off a great Joker that would allow Nolan's franchise to continue the way it should. Now on to this film haha, it is a solid film that I went in with mixed expectations, on one hand reviews were terrible on the other I loved the trailer. While the film is like many today straight forward and predictable it works as an effective character driven thriller. Rourke is also very good in this but you can never take your eyes off Levitt as he just continues to break through the screen and is on his way to becoming the next Sean Penn..
***1/2 /****
State of Play
I went it expecting a good solid character conspiracy film and thats what I got, this film is exactly what you expect, not better, not worse. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, and Helen Mirren all deliever very good work here but Jason Bateman shines in a very small role that surprised the heck out of me, like I mentioned above in my Duplicity review most thrillers like this have the same structure, and this falls victim to that, set up, investigation, fake climax, more investigation, climax, end twist, resolution. Kevin MacDonald is proving to be a strong director but he needs better source material all his work has been very goo but hasn't completely won me over. This is a film that crime film lovers will love but its forgettable and straight forward which I can't stress enough isn't a bad thing.
***1/2 /****
The Girlfriend Experience: a new interesting experiment from one of my favorites Steven Soderbergh, well crafted and well acted. ***1/2 /****
I Love You, Man: The latest Apatow laugh fest that is exactly what you expect, fun fun fun. ***1/2 /****
The Hangover Overhyped but a very funny film you can enjoy once through as it relies to much on shock value ***/****
The Brothers BloomAn interesting caper film, but disappointing given the potential of the material with the actor and filmmakers that relies a tad too much on style, fun but forgettable. ***/****
Public Enemies *Sigh* a disappointing film from Michael Mann, the shootouts are amazing and Cotillard shines but Depp and Bale are underwhelming, the supporting performers all outshine the stars, the digital frame rate is distracting and doesn't work at all. A decent film with a phenomenal finale. ***/****
Fanboys As a huge fanboy myself I cannot stress how annoying it is when fanboys aren't true fanboy's for the last time STAR TREK FANS AND STAR WARS FANS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS FRIENDS. And most often they both like both...has funny moments but disappointing film. **3/4 /****
Terminator: Salvation *Sigh* another great trailer that leads to a mediocre film, why did they give someone like McG a project this high up...also the film was so well shot but the cinematography ruined by the fact that the editor of this film had no idea wtf he was doing. Christian Bale overdose...getting sick of him he's being overexposed. Worthington overhyped as well although gives stronger performance than Bale but Yelchin beats them both. Good action good look, but editor and director no business being here. **1/2 /****
He's Just Not That Into YouI'll fess up here I actually thought the trailer was good...the film...was not...I thought the idea was fresh plus I love hyperlink films but most of the stories just aren't engaging and it wasn't funny it was more of a drama. Some things did work however. **/****
Observe and Report Had moments of absolute hilarity, but most of the film was more gross or immature then funny, the least funny Seth Rogan film I've seen. **/****
Dragonball: Evolution*Sniffle* I love the original shows so much(ah nostalgia) this film was childish, corny and badly made considering the budget, I did enjoy Emily Blunt though! And some of the action was decent. *1/2 /****
Fast & Furious Overdone, bad effects, not entertaining, unrealistic, predictable recycled material some good stunts...thats it... *1/2 /****
Crank 2: High Voltage The first film is eh this film, horrendous, not entertaining in the slightest, vulgar, unbelievable as a huge action film fan the action was not even impressive save one sequence. Camera work was annoying and pointless and for the last time JASON STATHAM IS NOT BADASS!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW HE IS IN ANY WAY! 0/****
Well thats my take on the year so far, so far its been a very good year not great, unfortunately I think summer will be this year's highlight as there are only 5 films or so this Oscar season I am really looking forward too.
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