Tag Archives: movies

Flaunt It or Flush it – Spring Movies 2014

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You certainly wouldn’t know it by the weather but the Spring movie season is upon us. The winter movie season is notorious for its flops, particularly in January and February. But usually things start looking up come Spring time. So here is how this works: First I’ll talk about Spring releases that I am genuinely interested in and want to spread the word about. These are films I’ll certainly flaunt. I’m also going to pick five releases that are (from my perspective) toilet ready. These I’ll flush. It’s Flaunt It or Flush It time again.

FLAUNT ‘EM

BUDAPEST1. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (March 7, 2014) – It doesn’t take long for Spring to get rolling. March 7th brings us one of my most anticipated movies of the year. It’s Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. Anderson is one of the few comedy filmmakers who I think does it right. His quirky original worlds and subtle themes have always worked for me and it looks like we are getting that again. Ralph Fiennes leads what is one of the best looking ensemble casts of the year and he looks to be a perfect fit with this special brand of comedy. The trailer looks insanely funny and I can’t wait for March 7th.

NOAH2. “Noah” (March 28, 2014) – I’ve noticed several people approaching “Noah” with a bit of skepticism. I can definitely see why. But I also think this has potential to be an amazing film. As frequent readers of my site know, I’m a huge fan of Russell Crowe. I think this role is right up his alley. Plus there is the good supporting cast of Ray Windstone, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, and Jennifer Connelly. The big question is Darren Aronofsky. His past work makes me wonder what kind of approach he will take. On the other hand he is a fine director and if he respects the material there could be great results.

CAPTAIN3. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (April 4, 2014) – My deep roots as a comic book fan makes me a sucker for good superhero films. I was a big fan of Marvel’s first Captain American movie. This one looks like it could be even better. Ed Brubaker’s “Winter Soldier” story from the Captain American comic book series was one of my favorites of all time. It’s perfect for the big screen treatment and the early trailers look to be capturing what made the story so great. Chris Evans is perfect as Steve Rogers and the addition of Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford are intriguing. Plus this is set to be the first big tie to the next Avengers film. Sign me up!

LE WEEKEND4. “Le Week-End” (March 14, 2014) – This is a film that has been on my radar for a while. It has already opened up overseas and it makes its United States debut on March 14. This British drama from director Roger Michell follows an older married couple who celebrate their 30th anniversary by going to Paris. Their intent was to rejuvenate their marriage but things don’t go as planned and they are forced to build back their relationship from the ground up. The wonderful Jim Broadbent and Lindsey Duncan play the lead roles which automatically attracted me. The trailer shows a great wit and some beautiful Paris locations.That’s enough to excite me.

XMEN5. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (May 23, 2014) – Yet another Marvel comics superhero movie, but it’s another one that looks really good. Bryan Singer is back and he’s bringing the whole gang. The cast members from the original X-Men films including Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, and Ellen Page meet the cast members from First Class including Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult. Throw in some brand new mutants and you have a huge cast of characters. This could blow up in Singer’s face, but it could also be a spectacular film.

FLUSH ‘EM

TYLER PERRY1. “Tyler Perry’s The Single Mom’s Club” (March 14, 2014) – Tyler Perry is becoming a regular on these lists. This Spring he graces us with what looks like the corniest, dopiest, and most cliched movie of his career. I never judge a movie solely on its trailer but it gives us one goofy line, lame gag, and eye-rolling moment after another. Supposedly a group of mothers come together after an incident at school and they become big buddies. Then they partake in a host of silly antics and dopey romances which is supposed to be fun and entertaining. Well I can’t imagine this thing being fun or entertaining.

BLENDED2. “Blended” (May 23, 2014) – If an Adam Sandler movie is released it automatically gets consideration for this list. Perhaps that isn’t the most objective approach but Sandler has a track record that I can’t shake. His consistency would be impressive if it didn’t involve stupid and unfunny movies. I have no reason to believe that “Blended” will be any different from the other garbage he churns out. Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is a turning point in Sandler’s career. Maybe this is the film that gets him back on track. Personally I don’t buy it and I can see this as a flusher all the way.

HAUNTED3. “A Haunted House 2” (March 28, 2014) – Can someone please explain to me how a crappy movie like last year’s “A Haunted House” could inflict a sequel upon us? Well, I guess if you have a $2 million budget and you pull in nearly $60 million at the box office a sequel is inevitable. I guess the better question is how on earth did that thing make $60 million? The first film was completely unwatchable and this new thing looks like a carbon copy of it. Sitting through the trailer alone is as entertaining as having a root canal. I know there is an audience for this movie but I promise you it doesn’t include me.

OTHER WOMAN4. “The Other Woman” (April 25, 2014) – I suppose there may be a decent idea stashed away somewhere in “The Other Woman” but to be honest I can’t find it. Three woman come together under the bind of being cheated on by the same man. According to the trailer their quest for revenge features dopey missteps, vomit jokes, lame anatomy gags, and an assortment of other things that I don’t find remotely interesting. This is a comedy that could potentially squeeze out a laugh or two. But personally I think it looks like another clichéd and formulaic comedy that will probably find an audience despite its mediocrity.

NEIGHBORS5. “Neighbors” (May 9, 2014) – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – Seth Rogan in a raunchy comedy. Look, I know this guy has a big following but I don’t get it. This time he and Zac Efron rip off the great Belushi and Aykroyd comedy from 1981. Rogan’s one-trick pony act features the same vulgar, juvenile nonsense that we always get from him and his friends. I know there is an audience out there who will find shooting firecrackers out of your butt and an infant baby chewing on a used condom as funny. I find it to be another example of how void of smarts and originality Hollywood has become when it comes to comedy. This is a flusher through and through.

REVIEW: “The Purge”

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We all have traditions that we look forward to each year: Christmas, Mothers Day, birthdays, opening day of the baseball season, the Purge. Well, at least that’s how it is in 2022 America. What is the Purge you ask? It’s an annual 12 hour government sanctioned period where all crime (murder, rape, anything) is legal. This cathartic release of personal angst and pent up emotion is said to be the reason for the low poverty levels and crime rates. Perfectly reasonable thinking, right?

The yearly Purge is the centerpiece for this horror/thriller written and directed by James DeMonaco. Therefore your ability to buy into it will undoubtedly effect your perception of the film. Personally I found the central conceit to be absurd and while I tried to backburner it I never could quite get over the nuttiness of the idea. I’ll admit there was a slight draw to the concept and if DeMonaco had spent time developing a background it may have been intriguing. Instead it comes across as a gimmick for some typical bloody violence mixed with a sloppy and heavy-handed political statement.

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In terms of story, James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) and his family live in an upper class Los Angeles suburb. James made his fortune exploiting the Purge by selling high priced security systems. The film starts mere hours before the Purge is set to begin. Sandin arrives at his lavish home, wishes his neighbors a “safe night”, has dinner with his family, and prepares to lock down his fortress for the next 12 hours. But obviously they don’t spend a quite uneventful night in their home. A series of events, regardless of how random and illogical, turn their night upside down and they find out they aren’t as secure as they thought.

“The Purge” seems to be constantly straining to generate tension and scares. Most of its horror devices are taken from a number of different movies you’ve seen before. Now and then they turn out to be effective. For example later in the film a group of masked preppies show up and terrorize the Sandins. It’s something that will be very familiar to horror fans and the group plays into the tactless class warfare statement the film is preaching. Yet I’ll admit I found them to be very creepy at times.

PURGE - FILM REVIEW

But there are also moments where DeMonaco’s direction completely undermines the scene. There’s a sequence where James and his wife Mary (Lena Headey) are searching for a man in their darkened house. The scene features the routine shadowed hallways, flashlights, and sudden mysterious sounds. This might have been effective except for the fact that DeMonaco already revealed that the man is hiding in a closet. Therefore these designed scare scenes have absolutely no effect. There are several clumsy missed opportunities like this that pop up throughout the picture.

The film has other flaws including a fairly predictable outcome and random nonsensical behavior from some of the characters. But despite these gripes, “The Purge” is never boring and it does create some frights and intensity that works. It doesn’t do enough to cover the silliness of its main concept and there isn’t an ounce of subtlety with DeMonaco’s political preachiness. I think there is a pretty intriguing movie here somewhere, but the glaring problems restrict it to being a middle-of-the-road and ultimately forgettable experience.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

Your Voices: On the Oscars

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Your Voices is a simple concept created to encourage conversation and opinions between movie lovers. It works like this: I throw out a certain topic and I’ll take time to make my case or share my opinions. Then it’s time for Your Voices. Head to the comments section and let fellow readers and moviegoers know your thoughts on the topic for that day!

The 85th Academy Awards® will air live on Oscar® Sunday, February 24, 2013.

There are a host of opinions about the Academy Awards. There are many who absolutely love the Oscars and view them as the pinnacle of the past movie year. Their excitement spikes once the nominees are announced and they can’t wait to see who takes home the year’s most prestigious movie prize. But there is another group with a far more dismissive take. They pay no attention to the Oscars and they give no credibility to the nominees, winners, or process. They see them as frivolous and without merit mainly because they disagree with the movies that Oscar awards or they find such awards pointless.

I tend to lean towards the first form of thinking, but not necessarily for the same reasons. First off I don’t view the Oscars as the measuring stick for the best movies of the year. For example, this year only two films out of the nine nominated for Best Picture made my Top 10 list. That’s normally the case every year. Today’s Academy Awards aren’t as reflective of the year’s best movies as they were in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Sure Oscar would occasionally flub it up back then, but most of the time at least every nominee was a great film. That leads to the biggest reason why I personally love the Oscars. There is such a great tradition and a rich history that comes with the Academy Awards. Seeing movies, directors, actors, and actresses join such an amazing lineage is cause for both excitement and debate among film fans. I love that.

YOUR VOICES: What are your thoughts on The Academy Awards?

Now it’s time for Your Voices. What do you think about the Academy Awards? How do you approach them? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. After all, this is all about Your Voices and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

REVIEW: “The Lego Movie”

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Let me start off by saying Everything is Awesome! My wife and kids are awesome. My mom’s spaghetti and meatballs are awesome. Paris, France is awesome. A ballpark hotdog is awesome. And guess what else, “The Lego Movie” is pretty awesome! Yes even a picky old fogey like me, who finds it hard to find a satisfying animated picture, loved this crazy film based on (of all things) toy building blocks. Who says you can’t make a great movie out of almost anything?

“The Lego Movie” comes from the multifarious minds of Phil Lord and Chris Miller. A Lego movie in some form has been in the works at Warner Brothers since 2008. In 2011 Lord and Miller were brought on board to both write and direct the project. The two had previously worked on the brain-dead “21 Jump Street” and the fairly fun “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. But “The Lego Movie” reveals a sharp and clever wit that stays consistent throughout the entire film. So many animated movies start promising but loses their focus in a deluge of schizophrenic slapstick or dumbed down humor (I’m looking at you “Wreck-It Ralph”). That’s never the case with this film. It occasional gets close but ultimately the same charm and humor runs consistently through the movie.

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The story centers around a very average construction worker named Emmet Brickowski (voiced wonderfully by Chris Pratt). He is an ordinary by-the-book guy who has no interesting or unique qualities at all. He lives in a Lego city named Bricksburg where everyone follows the same routine, everyone watches the same TV show (think Benny Hill), and everyone sings what must be the national anthem “Everything is Awesome”. Emmet is a lonely fellow but he is too busy following the instructions on how to live to even notice.

But one afternoon by sheer chance he stumbles upon a mysterious object called the Piece of Resistance and an even more mysterious woman named WyldStyle (Elizabeth Banks). Eventually he learns that the Piece is the key to stopping the dastardly Lord Business (Will Ferrell) who is actually a wealthy businessman and tyrannical President of Bricksburg. His ultimate goal – world domination by squashing the independent creativity of the people and maintaining the world in his image alone (oh yes, the evil capitalist corporation jab). Emmet discovers that he may be the fulfillment of a prophecy which states that one known as the “Special” would use the Piece to thwart Business’ plans. In other words, Emmet’s undistinguished life could be changed forever.

Emmet’s adventure takes him to a number of far away lands. It also introduces him to an number of different people voiced by a host of Hollywood names. There is a policeman with Multiple Personality Disorder (Liam Neeson). There is a blind wizard who first tells of the prophecy (Morgan Freeman). There is the one and only Batman who also happens to be a Master Builder (Will Arnett). There is such a fun assortment of other characters voiced by the likes of Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Shaquille O’neal, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Charlie Day, Will Forte, Cobie Smulders, etc. etc. etc.

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But what separates this from the usual, run-of-the-mill animated feature? I get back to the goofy yet sharp wit of the script and the consistency it maintains from start to finish. I also think it does a marvelous job of straddling the line of comedy aimed at adults and comedy aimed at children. I laughed just as much as my two kids. In fact, we watched it in a packed theater where the boisterous laughs of children were rivaled by the laughs of their parents. That’s not an easy feat for a filmmaker to accomplish. And then there is the entire look of the film. Everything is Lego from the opening and closing credits to the vast colorful landscapes. The motions make you think Lego and even the action sequences stay within the crazy building block bounds. I loved the visual flare.

There are a few things in “The Lego Movie” that I could nitpick, but honestly those minor gripes did nothing to dampen my overall experience. For me this was a rare animated treat but more than that it was a rare modern comedy that actually delivered the goods. Great voice acting, sharp writing, and a wonderful story all the way down to its core. With the bazillions of dollars this movie is making, a sequel is all but guaranteed. I only hope it’s as funny and infectious as this first one because this is a hard act to follow.

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REVIEW: “Philomena”

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PHILOMENA POSTER

When making a movie based on an emotionally-charged true story there are certain obstacles and temptations that filmmakers must avoid. Time after time we’ve seen movies succumb to dizzying melodrama and cheap emotional tugs. Actors and actresses sometimes go big which can drown out the true heart of their characters. But some films get it right. They balance grounded emotion with smart and crisp storytelling. For the most part “Philomena” is one of the films that gets it right.

“Philomena” tells the touching true story of Philomena Lee and her search to find her son after 50 years of separation. The unquenchable Judi Dench plays this mother who is haunted by thoughts and visions of her long-lost son which drives her to find him. Her daughter introduces her to a journalist named Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) in hopes that he will investigate and tell her remarkable but heartbreaking story. But he’s not without baggage. He was recently unfairly fired from a government position and his journalism career is floundering. He thinks a human interest story is beneath him but he takes it and hoping of getting back on track.

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We learn Philomena’s story along with Martin. Through flashbacks we see that a young Philomena was left at a convent in Ireland by her father after she becomes pregnant. Later on the sisters force her to work seven days a week in a hot laundry room as some sort of twisted act of penance. They allow her and other mothers to see their children once a day but then, without the mother’s consent, they give the children up for adoption. This is what happened to her son. Philomena and Martin’s search begins at the convent and eventually takes them to the United States.

While this is a story of a mother searching for son, it’s also about two very different individuals who form an unlikely friendship. Along the way they have many fascinating conversations that pull the curtain back and reveal more about them. For example Martin is sour and cynical while Philomena is gentle and optimistic. There are also reoccurring discussions on faith. Martin sees faith and the belief in God as pointless. Philomena finds strength in her faith and it permeates every part of her being. Their discussions never fall into sermonizing. They feel natural and believable.

Steve Coogan is mostly known for his comedic work but this is unquestionably a serious role. There is some good humor in the film which works really well, but most of it comes at Philomena’s expense. Coogan mostly plays everything straight and he is fantastic. I’ve often overlooked and underappreciated Steve Coogan as an actor. This performance makes me a true believer. And as expected Dench is amazing. She is such a wonderful actress and she works with an effortless brilliance. In this film she tells more in a close-up expression than some can say with two pages of dialogue. Needless to say her Oscar nomination is well deserved.

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Unfortunately Philomena isn’t criticism proof. Despite all of its strengths, there are moments where the script stumbles or Stephen Frears’ direction undermines the great performances. Most of the film’s emotion is earned, but there are tearjerker moments that feel a bit staged. The script also tosses in some glaring ham-fisted political jabs. They come out of the blue without an ounce of smarts or subtlety behind them. These quibbles may not seem major but they are a distraction.

Still “Philomena” is quite the story. While several dramatic liberties were taken with the actual true account, most of them help make this a better film. There are a few missteps and personally there are several films I would rather see get a Best Picture Oscar nomination. But “Philomena” features two sparkling performances and enough humor and heart to win me over.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “The Square”

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2013 was an interesting year for documentaries. It gave us gripping and unsettling exposés, intriguing characters studies, and attention-getting activist films. But perhaps my favorite documentary of the year was the Egyptian-American film “The Square”. It comes from Jehane Noujaim and focuses on the recent Arab Spring specifically the Egyptian Revolution and the events surrounding it. “The Square” is an enthralling film told with a discerning eye and it has rightly earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.

“The Square” refers to Cairo’s Tahrir Square. It’s a location that became the central hub for a revolution. The film picks up in the spring of 2011 as the Egyptian people, tired of the corrupt and oppressive Mubarak controlled government, rise up and let their voices be heard. These people are from every Egyptian walk of life, each sharing the common desire to be free from the regime’s grasp. Change comes but it is accompanied by lies, defections, violence, and the realization that change isn’t always for the better.

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What makes “The Square” so absorbing is that it’s told from the ground. Noujaim chronicles the events starting with the initial protests that led to the military overthrow of Mubarak. From there if shows the military’s dictatorial stranglehold of the Egyptian people and their violent responses to the next wave of revolutionary protests. Then there is the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood which adds more layers of complexities to the already volatile landscape. And it’s all visualized through the cameras of those present at the time. It’s vividly documented and some of the raw footage we see is incredible.

While telling this story, Noujaim introduces us to several fascinating individuals from different backgrounds who form a united bond. One young man has known nothing but Mubarak’s rule. He uses his passion to give speeches at protests and rallies in hopes of growing the revolution. Another man is a popular actor who follows his convictions and leaves his comforts to join his people in their stands against the government. And then another man who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and ends up torn between them and his revolutionary friends. These and several other people help put faces to this fluid and intense three years.

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Noujaim chronologically lays out everything from the mindsets to the events and she does it by putting us there. But the magnificence of the film isn’t just found in the capturing of shocking scenes of military violence. We listen in on spontaneous street debates which reveal the confusion, frustration, optimism, and in some instances naïveté of the people. We also hear private discussions about tactics and organization. All of these things develop an amazing sense of place and give us an unprecedented look at the true heroes behind the revolution.

“The Square” is a remarkable piece of documentary filmmaking that is both riveting and eye-opening. It educated me from a perspective that was missing from the news articles and reports I had seen. Jehane Noujaim deserves a ton of credit for bringing this together through a style that required great skill. This could have been just another political documentary but instead it’s a gripping experience that is sure to draw you to the cause of these passionate and hungry people.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS