Hey gang. A smaller week than normal just due to outside circumstances. But this was a damn good week minus a shit pile auteur jerk fest. I'm gonna keep it short because I'm tired and have work tomorrow. So enjoy and share with the world. Thanks and enjoy the roundup.
Cloud Atlas (April 20th, 2014)
Directors: The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent
Well, I can't say this wasn't an ambitious movie. A 3 hour movie that is set in 6 separate timelines with the cast playing roles in each one, dealing with karma and rebirth. Which is a good idea in theory, but there are those out there that are gonna have a shit fit when they see Tom Hanks in blackface or Halle Berry in whiteface or whites playing Asian and Asians playing whites. It's a big and bold idea, but fuck man. It makes it hard to defend the movie. Because I do like the movie. Being a three hour anthology essentially, some segments work better than the others. The only two I didn't like was the sci fi future story and the post apocalyptic story. Because they are shorts, the worlds that they built are short changed. I don't understand the worlds and how they work, so in that regard the stories don't work. It also doesn't help that in the post apocalyptic story the characters are speaking in this broken english that sounds like a special needs person wrote it. And the sci fi world they big looks big but they don't really get into it. It boils down to a Logans Run esque story with a messiah twist, but it rings a bit false. But other than those two stories, the rest works pretty well. Everybody is good when they aren't being hindered by racist makeup. Or the coup de grace, Hugo Weaving in makeup playing a female nurse in the vein of Nurse Ratchet. But when they aren't encumbered by the makeup, they shine. Tom Hanks seems revitalized after a long period of doing nothing worthy after Road To Perdition. This seems like it is what reenergized him to do Saving Mr Banks and Captain Phillips. Halle Berry is bearable for once, doing good work for the most part. Ben Whishaw shows the talent he has and will be a good addition to any cast down the line. Same goes for Jim Sturgess, another talented young man with a good future if he's smart. Now there are tons of people in this cast, but the one who benefits the most might be Hugh Grant. He plays completely against type, playing villainous roles in each segment and its really odd how good he is. No bumbling British cutesiness he is known for. He actually does villainous quite well. But to wrap this up, the movie is a big movie that doesn't hit after target it aims at. It can be kinda laughable at points. But it is big and ambitious, so the moments that hit land quite well. In the end though, you may hate it. And that's fair. The Wachowskis don't play any other way.
Rating: 8/10
Used Cars (April 21st, 2014)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham, and Frank McRae
I wish Zemeckis would make movies like this again. No more technical achievements that he is so desperate to pursue or Oscar bait movies like Flight. I want to see him make a dirty, low down and surprisingly/hilarious amoral comedy like this movie. Being his first movie, it is very rough around the edges. The story is very flimsy, playing more like scenes strung together loosely. But holy fuck is this movie funny. Casting Kurt Russell against type as a slick amoral car salesman (before Carpenter truly muddied his image with Snake Plissken) is a stroke of genius. Russell has miles and miles of charisma and he just nails the role of the sleazy shit he plays. Jack Warden is also hilarious playing twins, owners of the dueling car dealerships. But the best performance is the dachshund who just slayed me. And while the story is almost non existent, there is some pointed satire in the movie. It surprised me how angry it kinda seems, with Zemeckis just flipping off damn near everyone. The only part of the movie I didn't like was the resolution, which kinda peters out. But for the most part this is a surprisingly strong movie that just hit my funny bone. Zemeckis hasn't been this hilarious or juvenile since. He needs it after the decade of CGI.
Rating: 8.5/10
Noah (April 22nd, 2014)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, and Ray Winstone
In my end of the year review, I had a section that looked toward 2014. Noah was on the list and I wrote that it was gonna be a love it or hate it movie. It was so ambitious that a middle ground couldn't be found. And I was right. People seem to love it and other hate it. I fall in the latter category. It was the self indulgent mess that I thought The Fountain was gonna be. But where that was a beautiful movie with a spiritual bent, this movie was just shit. Arronofky lost all sight of what he wanted to do. And I can see what he was trying to do. The goal was noble and I could have dug a movie that was about Noah and dealing with his PTSD of killing the entire planet. But Darren lost the thread. It is so self indulgent but at the same time really fucking stupid. The only thing in the movie I liked was a sequence that merges evolution with the 7 days of creation of the Universe. Everyone is lost at sea, with Crowe the only one who manages to be watchable, by sheer will and conviction. On a technical level the movie is impeccable so those guys should get a pat on the back. But just everything else minus Crowe isn't worth a damn. Which is a damn shame.
Rating: 4/10
History of The World Part I (April 24th, 2014)
Director: Mel Brooks
Starring: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman
Mel Brooks has done many a movie in his day, but narrative isn't something he seems to care about. He makes movies with a barebones plot and then just goes balls out with the funny. He'll rip the form apart and just aim to make you laugh. And this movie doesn't even try to have a plot. It's literally just segments of various time periods and him just having fun. This isn't the funniest movie he has done by a long shot. But there are just moments where he hits the right chord and just kills me. I really don't have much else to say. It's a surface level movie with a decent amount of laughs to keep it moving along.
Rating: 7/10
Sorcerer (April 26th, 2014)
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou
The biggest surprise of the week was this little seen masterpiece from William Friedkin. I had thought he basically floundered around until making To Live and Die In LA, but I started hearing this movie was an under appreciated gem. And it certainly is. One of the first movies killed by the golden age of Hollywood ending Star Wars, this movie has been lost to the ages. But Friedkin has been fighting for a restored version released on Blu Ray and he won. And we now have it and it is glorious. Following four criminals as they have to hide away in a South American oil town, we are thrust into a dirty and masculine world. When an oil drill blows up and starts spewing flames, it's up to these four disparate men to transport 6 crates of unstable dynamite 200 miles through the jungle to plug up the hole. What follows is an intense journey through purgatory as these men have to fight the odds to survive and make enough money to go home. This is a seriously epic movie that doesn't pull it's punches. I won't say much more but to say that if he didn't make The Exorcist, this would be his best movie. Friedkin is completely on point and gets believably rugged and worn out performances from his cast. One of the best movies of the 70s (yep) was once lost but it is now found. It is tense and much smarter than one would expect. I highly suggest searching it out.
Rating: 10/10
Used Cars (April 21st, 2014)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham, and Frank McRae
I wish Zemeckis would make movies like this again. No more technical achievements that he is so desperate to pursue or Oscar bait movies like Flight. I want to see him make a dirty, low down and surprisingly/hilarious amoral comedy like this movie. Being his first movie, it is very rough around the edges. The story is very flimsy, playing more like scenes strung together loosely. But holy fuck is this movie funny. Casting Kurt Russell against type as a slick amoral car salesman (before Carpenter truly muddied his image with Snake Plissken) is a stroke of genius. Russell has miles and miles of charisma and he just nails the role of the sleazy shit he plays. Jack Warden is also hilarious playing twins, owners of the dueling car dealerships. But the best performance is the dachshund who just slayed me. And while the story is almost non existent, there is some pointed satire in the movie. It surprised me how angry it kinda seems, with Zemeckis just flipping off damn near everyone. The only part of the movie I didn't like was the resolution, which kinda peters out. But for the most part this is a surprisingly strong movie that just hit my funny bone. Zemeckis hasn't been this hilarious or juvenile since. He needs it after the decade of CGI.
Noah (April 22nd, 2014)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, and Ray Winstone
In my end of the year review, I had a section that looked toward 2014. Noah was on the list and I wrote that it was gonna be a love it or hate it movie. It was so ambitious that a middle ground couldn't be found. And I was right. People seem to love it and other hate it. I fall in the latter category. It was the self indulgent mess that I thought The Fountain was gonna be. But where that was a beautiful movie with a spiritual bent, this movie was just shit. Arronofky lost all sight of what he wanted to do. And I can see what he was trying to do. The goal was noble and I could have dug a movie that was about Noah and dealing with his PTSD of killing the entire planet. But Darren lost the thread. It is so self indulgent but at the same time really fucking stupid. The only thing in the movie I liked was a sequence that merges evolution with the 7 days of creation of the Universe. Everyone is lost at sea, with Crowe the only one who manages to be watchable, by sheer will and conviction. On a technical level the movie is impeccable so those guys should get a pat on the back. But just everything else minus Crowe isn't worth a damn. Which is a damn shame.
Director: Mel Brooks
Starring: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman
Mel Brooks has done many a movie in his day, but narrative isn't something he seems to care about. He makes movies with a barebones plot and then just goes balls out with the funny. He'll rip the form apart and just aim to make you laugh. And this movie doesn't even try to have a plot. It's literally just segments of various time periods and him just having fun. This isn't the funniest movie he has done by a long shot. But there are just moments where he hits the right chord and just kills me. I really don't have much else to say. It's a surface level movie with a decent amount of laughs to keep it moving along.
Sorcerer (April 26th, 2014)
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou
The biggest surprise of the week was this little seen masterpiece from William Friedkin. I had thought he basically floundered around until making To Live and Die In LA, but I started hearing this movie was an under appreciated gem. And it certainly is. One of the first movies killed by the golden age of Hollywood ending Star Wars, this movie has been lost to the ages. But Friedkin has been fighting for a restored version released on Blu Ray and he won. And we now have it and it is glorious. Following four criminals as they have to hide away in a South American oil town, we are thrust into a dirty and masculine world. When an oil drill blows up and starts spewing flames, it's up to these four disparate men to transport 6 crates of unstable dynamite 200 miles through the jungle to plug up the hole. What follows is an intense journey through purgatory as these men have to fight the odds to survive and make enough money to go home. This is a seriously epic movie that doesn't pull it's punches. I won't say much more but to say that if he didn't make The Exorcist, this would be his best movie. Friedkin is completely on point and gets believably rugged and worn out performances from his cast. One of the best movies of the 70s (yep) was once lost but it is now found. It is tense and much smarter than one would expect. I highly suggest searching it out.
- Tom Lorenzo
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