Welcome back gang, and holy shit did I go big with the viewing this week. I didn't even realize how much I saw and it was nice and varied. Nothing bad at all, just some minor disappointments. But that's all fine, since there is a movie in here that breaks way ahead of the pack and comes damn near close to being the best movie of the year. So sit back and enjoy the ride.
Trance (July 20th, 2014)
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent Cassel
No matter the quality of the movie, it was just nice to see Danny Boyle make a movie that wasn't practically begging for Awards. Going back genre fare, a really odd heist/sci fi-ish movie, Boyle seems reinvigorated. So much so, that he goes really big in this. He takes a lot of chances. The third act of this is just out of control, and in lesser hands it would have fallen apart. But Boyle has been around the block and keeps it together, making quite the bold ending. It does take a lot of suspension of disbelief, using the typical heist movie formula of a lot of disparate things working out perfectly and turning that up to 11. Some may not be able to roll with it but I dug it for how audacious it was. Just a little hint, it makes everyones characters do a 180 in terms of motives. For me, it worked but for others it might not. McAvoy does really good work, especially by the end of the movie. Cassel is Cassel, doing skeevy criminal very well. Dawson shows how under rated she is yet again, and also shows that she's shaved. Yeah, kinda odd moment in the movie. Boyle shoots it with his typically kinetic eye and makes it look like nothing else out there. If you want a twisty little movie with nicely surprising turns, this is a good pick. Not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.
Rating: 8/10
Don Jon (July 20th, 2014)
Director: Joseph Gordon Levitt
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza
JGL is a decent enough actor. He doesn't really do good work in big blockbusters, and has never been very transformative. He's good when he doesn't have to do action or accents. So, this role is kinda halfway out of his depth. He sounds like a cartoon of Jersey Shore. But this movie is really about seeing what he's like behind the camera. And I'm here to report that he's alright. He doesn't do anything really special, kinda directing like a typical indie guy. The only truly great performance he gets is from Johansson, and that may be more her than him. Because he also wrote the movie and it's not bad, but it's flaws make it stick out. The biggest flaw is Johanssons character. She's really just a giant cunt, and this is supposed to be a good thing in the movie. John gets out from under her thumb and we're supposed to be happy, even though it's his porn addiction that knocks the relationship out. So in that regard, if she was not the horrible shrew that she is, it would make his loss more poignant. And would make the scene when he accepts it and moves on would have been better. But it's not, and what we got was really off for me. That and he gets with Julianne Moore, who's playing super cool tragic backstory Cougar. The movie wraps up a little too cleanly. There is some good stuff about young guys dependency on porn and how it ruins their thoughts on how real relationships should be, while also pointing out that women have the same thing with rom coms. If he dug down a little deeper and worked a bit longer on the script, this could have been really special. But as is, it's a nice little movie with it's moments but misses the highs it is so straining to reach.
Rating: 7/10
The Purge: Anarchy (July 22nd, 2014)
Director: James DeMonaco
Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, and Kiele Sanchez
Now, this was a movie I've been waiting a while for and I didn't even know it. The movie that the first Purge should have been, this movie may very well be the surprise of the summer. This is a world where once a year for 12 hours, all crime is legal to keep crime down the rest of the year. Where the last ruined didn't take advantage of the premise and stuck to a middling home invasion movie, this one goes bigger. And not in an obnoxious way. We follow two separate groups of people as they try to survive the day, and the one guy who is out there looking for someone. Then they all meet up and stick together, trying to survive. This movie is so heavily inspired by Carpenter, that if it wasn't good I'd be really mad at the audacity to rip off the master. But it being so good is a real treat for me. Grillo is the star of the beast, as the nameless Sarge who is out looking for someone for justice. He's essentially The Punisher. Perfectly playing the mysterious stranger who can kick ass, he brings alot of intensity and pathos to the role. In lesser hands, he could have been a joke. But Grillo is talented and looks like he's seen some shit in his day. The rest of the cast does good work as well, making you care for them and not wanna see them killed, a vast difference from the first movie. The movie has good action in a real world way, nothing big or CGI filled. It also has so many cool little details to fill out the world that I really want more. I need another one that goes bigger, especially with a subplot that shows up in this. Not only is it a fun genre flick, it has more on its mind than violence. It may be as subtle as a sledgehammer, but being mindful sets it apart from the vast majority of mainstream genre fare made these days. This is essentially the true Escape From LA, and I'm ok with that. Now, all they need to do is get Carpenter to do a sequel or a movie set in the world and I'll be as happy as a pig in shit.
Rating: 9/10
Snowpiercer (July 23rd, 2014)
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Starring: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, and Tilda Swinton
I thought The Purge: Anarchy was gonna be the best genre movie I saw this year. Well, I was really fucking wrong. Holy shit is this movie off the wall great. This is true sci fi, something Rod Serling would really like. Taking a crazy premise of a dead world and the remaining civilization living on a train, with each car a level of the class system, and making it feel not only real but possible. Evans is the leader of the poor car, planning to lead a revolt and take the train for his people. And that is all I'm gonna tell you guys. Because the twists and turns in this movie really need to be seen fresh so you can truly admire the brilliance on display. Evans shows how great an actor he really is and how he's kinda wasted as Captain America. I really hope he doesn't retire from acting after Avengers 3. The rest of the cast is good, but you guys need to see them for yourself. The real star though is Ho, directing this with a level of talent usually unseen in sci fi these days. The world starts off absolutely filthy in the train car, then gets more decadent the further up the train you go. He brings alot of dynamism to the action, a hard task since it's on a train. It may not be Gareth Evans level, but it's great in its own right. And much like The Purge, it has a lot on its mind. Some stuff it shares with The Purge, but it goes about it in such different ways and in a more subdued way that it couldn't be any different. I'm gonna cut this short now and just say this movie must be seen if you love sci fi or action. This is only one of 2 movies so far this year with the rating I've given it. I find it hard to believe that any movie released later this year can top it (even harder to top The Raid 2). A true masterpiece and another great genre flick released this year.
Rating: 10/10
Much Ado About Nothing (July 25th, 2014)
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg, and Nathan Fillion
This movie was a bit hard to watch for me. Not because it was bad or anything. It's a problem I have with every Shakespeare movie. I'm kinda tone deaf when it comes to his dialogue. It's kinda like it goes in through one ear and out the other without touching my brain. I usually figure out whats going on, but it's like translating another language. Either way, the movie itself was good. Decent enough. Its very Shakespeare, with a lot of double crossing and plotting. But there's love going on without threat of suicide, so it's fresh in that regard instead of another version of Romeo and Juliet. Whedon handles the material well enough, giving it a nice light touch. Visually its fine, like his normal stuff. Very TV looking. The cast is good. It's just very light and hasn't stuck with me. But it's fine enough. It's more a good way to see what Whedon can do not in a genre setting, like The Avengers or Serenity. Not even close to his best work, but for a nice little time you could do much worse. PS. Nathan Fillion steals the show.
Rating: 7/10
Ginger Snaps (July 26th, 2014)
Director: John Fawcett
Starring: Katherine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Kris Lemche, and Mimi Rogers
There's a very unique sub genre within the horror field, and that is the supernatual as metaphor for puberty genre. Like Carrie using telekinesis before it, this flick uses lycanthropy (werewolves for the cheap seaters). Isabelle and Perkins play really weird sisters, obsessed with death and have a suicide pact. But when Isabelle is attacked by what turns out to be a werewolf, shit goes sideways. This was a nice little surprise. I've heard good things, but I get wary off werewolf movies. There's two good ones. So that I would like it was not a guarantee. But I did. The girls do good work, starting off as annoying little creeps and growing on you as the problems grow. It's not a big movie, only getting to see Isabelle go full werewolf till the end. But it has nice twists on the genre, with her slowly turning before a full moon makes her go full wolf. For a low budget Canadian film, it looks like a real flick. Nothing really low fi about it. Maybe some of the werewolf stuff at the end, but nothing so mindblowingly bad that you laugh it off. A good little horror movie about the horrors of growing up, and I'm glad to have been able to see it.
Rating: 8/10
Insomnia (July 26th, 2014)
Director: Erik Skjoldbjerg
Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Maria Mathiesen, and Gisken Armand
I've been waiting to see this movie for a good long while, ever since seeing Christopher Nolans remake of it. And while Nolans movie wasn't his best, it still hooked me as an interesting little mystery. So now seeing the Norwegian original, I have a better idea of what was done differently, and in some ways better. Following two detectives as they investigate a baffling murder in a small Norwegian town and the way everything starts to go wrong for the main detective, played by Skarsgard. It is a time of year when the Sun is up all day for a while. So Skarsgard is dealing with Insomnia, and then he has to deal with accidentally killing his partner when trying to catch the killer. So he is dealing with slowly losing his mind while trying to catch the killer he was brought in to catch. The movie is well shot, bringing a nice icy and dreary tone to the film that it needs. Skarsgard is good as the very repressed and delirious detective. The killer is also suitably creepy in a low key way. But I gotta say, I think Nolans was better in almost every regard. Aside from the wrap up with the killer, Nolan did a lot of nice things to change the story up a bit and make the narrative a bit cleaner. If thats my biggest problem with the movie, is that it isn't the cleanest narrative in the world. It's a bit choppy. And the reasoning for Skarsgard covering up the murder is a bit silly, where Nolan adds a good reason behind it. Robin Williams was also a better antagonist than this ones. This wasn't a bad movie by any stretch. But it's an interesting case of seeing the differences in where and how it was made. So I recommend it for those who saw the remake, and for those that haven't I still would but only with the caveat of watching the remake after.
Rating: 8/10
Best Movies
1. Snowpiercer
2. The Purge: Anarchy
3. Ginger Snaps
4. Trance
5. Insomnia
6. Much Ado About Nothing
7. Don Jon
Top 5 Performances
1. Chris Evans - Snowpiercer
2. Frank Grillo - The Purge: Anarchy
3. Emily Perkins - Ginger Snaps
4. James MacAvoy - Trance
5. Scarlett Johanson - Don Jon
Top 5 Moments
1. Gun Check - Snowpiercer
2. Sarge Saves The Girls - The Purge: Anarchy
3. "Do You Know Why I Hate Myself?" - Snowpiercer
4. Ginger Gets Attacked - Ginger Snaps
5. Nathan Fillion Gets Into A Slap Fight - Much Ado About Nothing
Don Jon (July 20th, 2014)
Director: Joseph Gordon Levitt
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza
JGL is a decent enough actor. He doesn't really do good work in big blockbusters, and has never been very transformative. He's good when he doesn't have to do action or accents. So, this role is kinda halfway out of his depth. He sounds like a cartoon of Jersey Shore. But this movie is really about seeing what he's like behind the camera. And I'm here to report that he's alright. He doesn't do anything really special, kinda directing like a typical indie guy. The only truly great performance he gets is from Johansson, and that may be more her than him. Because he also wrote the movie and it's not bad, but it's flaws make it stick out. The biggest flaw is Johanssons character. She's really just a giant cunt, and this is supposed to be a good thing in the movie. John gets out from under her thumb and we're supposed to be happy, even though it's his porn addiction that knocks the relationship out. So in that regard, if she was not the horrible shrew that she is, it would make his loss more poignant. And would make the scene when he accepts it and moves on would have been better. But it's not, and what we got was really off for me. That and he gets with Julianne Moore, who's playing super cool tragic backstory Cougar. The movie wraps up a little too cleanly. There is some good stuff about young guys dependency on porn and how it ruins their thoughts on how real relationships should be, while also pointing out that women have the same thing with rom coms. If he dug down a little deeper and worked a bit longer on the script, this could have been really special. But as is, it's a nice little movie with it's moments but misses the highs it is so straining to reach.
The Purge: Anarchy (July 22nd, 2014)
Director: James DeMonaco
Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, and Kiele Sanchez
Now, this was a movie I've been waiting a while for and I didn't even know it. The movie that the first Purge should have been, this movie may very well be the surprise of the summer. This is a world where once a year for 12 hours, all crime is legal to keep crime down the rest of the year. Where the last ruined didn't take advantage of the premise and stuck to a middling home invasion movie, this one goes bigger. And not in an obnoxious way. We follow two separate groups of people as they try to survive the day, and the one guy who is out there looking for someone. Then they all meet up and stick together, trying to survive. This movie is so heavily inspired by Carpenter, that if it wasn't good I'd be really mad at the audacity to rip off the master. But it being so good is a real treat for me. Grillo is the star of the beast, as the nameless Sarge who is out looking for someone for justice. He's essentially The Punisher. Perfectly playing the mysterious stranger who can kick ass, he brings alot of intensity and pathos to the role. In lesser hands, he could have been a joke. But Grillo is talented and looks like he's seen some shit in his day. The rest of the cast does good work as well, making you care for them and not wanna see them killed, a vast difference from the first movie. The movie has good action in a real world way, nothing big or CGI filled. It also has so many cool little details to fill out the world that I really want more. I need another one that goes bigger, especially with a subplot that shows up in this. Not only is it a fun genre flick, it has more on its mind than violence. It may be as subtle as a sledgehammer, but being mindful sets it apart from the vast majority of mainstream genre fare made these days. This is essentially the true Escape From LA, and I'm ok with that. Now, all they need to do is get Carpenter to do a sequel or a movie set in the world and I'll be as happy as a pig in shit.
Snowpiercer (July 23rd, 2014)
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Starring: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, and Tilda Swinton
I thought The Purge: Anarchy was gonna be the best genre movie I saw this year. Well, I was really fucking wrong. Holy shit is this movie off the wall great. This is true sci fi, something Rod Serling would really like. Taking a crazy premise of a dead world and the remaining civilization living on a train, with each car a level of the class system, and making it feel not only real but possible. Evans is the leader of the poor car, planning to lead a revolt and take the train for his people. And that is all I'm gonna tell you guys. Because the twists and turns in this movie really need to be seen fresh so you can truly admire the brilliance on display. Evans shows how great an actor he really is and how he's kinda wasted as Captain America. I really hope he doesn't retire from acting after Avengers 3. The rest of the cast is good, but you guys need to see them for yourself. The real star though is Ho, directing this with a level of talent usually unseen in sci fi these days. The world starts off absolutely filthy in the train car, then gets more decadent the further up the train you go. He brings alot of dynamism to the action, a hard task since it's on a train. It may not be Gareth Evans level, but it's great in its own right. And much like The Purge, it has a lot on its mind. Some stuff it shares with The Purge, but it goes about it in such different ways and in a more subdued way that it couldn't be any different. I'm gonna cut this short now and just say this movie must be seen if you love sci fi or action. This is only one of 2 movies so far this year with the rating I've given it. I find it hard to believe that any movie released later this year can top it (even harder to top The Raid 2). A true masterpiece and another great genre flick released this year.
Much Ado About Nothing (July 25th, 2014)
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg, and Nathan Fillion
This movie was a bit hard to watch for me. Not because it was bad or anything. It's a problem I have with every Shakespeare movie. I'm kinda tone deaf when it comes to his dialogue. It's kinda like it goes in through one ear and out the other without touching my brain. I usually figure out whats going on, but it's like translating another language. Either way, the movie itself was good. Decent enough. Its very Shakespeare, with a lot of double crossing and plotting. But there's love going on without threat of suicide, so it's fresh in that regard instead of another version of Romeo and Juliet. Whedon handles the material well enough, giving it a nice light touch. Visually its fine, like his normal stuff. Very TV looking. The cast is good. It's just very light and hasn't stuck with me. But it's fine enough. It's more a good way to see what Whedon can do not in a genre setting, like The Avengers or Serenity. Not even close to his best work, but for a nice little time you could do much worse. PS. Nathan Fillion steals the show.
Ginger Snaps (July 26th, 2014)
Director: John Fawcett
Starring: Katherine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Kris Lemche, and Mimi Rogers
There's a very unique sub genre within the horror field, and that is the supernatual as metaphor for puberty genre. Like Carrie using telekinesis before it, this flick uses lycanthropy (werewolves for the cheap seaters). Isabelle and Perkins play really weird sisters, obsessed with death and have a suicide pact. But when Isabelle is attacked by what turns out to be a werewolf, shit goes sideways. This was a nice little surprise. I've heard good things, but I get wary off werewolf movies. There's two good ones. So that I would like it was not a guarantee. But I did. The girls do good work, starting off as annoying little creeps and growing on you as the problems grow. It's not a big movie, only getting to see Isabelle go full werewolf till the end. But it has nice twists on the genre, with her slowly turning before a full moon makes her go full wolf. For a low budget Canadian film, it looks like a real flick. Nothing really low fi about it. Maybe some of the werewolf stuff at the end, but nothing so mindblowingly bad that you laugh it off. A good little horror movie about the horrors of growing up, and I'm glad to have been able to see it.
Insomnia (July 26th, 2014)
Director: Erik Skjoldbjerg
Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Maria Mathiesen, and Gisken Armand
I've been waiting to see this movie for a good long while, ever since seeing Christopher Nolans remake of it. And while Nolans movie wasn't his best, it still hooked me as an interesting little mystery. So now seeing the Norwegian original, I have a better idea of what was done differently, and in some ways better. Following two detectives as they investigate a baffling murder in a small Norwegian town and the way everything starts to go wrong for the main detective, played by Skarsgard. It is a time of year when the Sun is up all day for a while. So Skarsgard is dealing with Insomnia, and then he has to deal with accidentally killing his partner when trying to catch the killer. So he is dealing with slowly losing his mind while trying to catch the killer he was brought in to catch. The movie is well shot, bringing a nice icy and dreary tone to the film that it needs. Skarsgard is good as the very repressed and delirious detective. The killer is also suitably creepy in a low key way. But I gotta say, I think Nolans was better in almost every regard. Aside from the wrap up with the killer, Nolan did a lot of nice things to change the story up a bit and make the narrative a bit cleaner. If thats my biggest problem with the movie, is that it isn't the cleanest narrative in the world. It's a bit choppy. And the reasoning for Skarsgard covering up the murder is a bit silly, where Nolan adds a good reason behind it. Robin Williams was also a better antagonist than this ones. This wasn't a bad movie by any stretch. But it's an interesting case of seeing the differences in where and how it was made. So I recommend it for those who saw the remake, and for those that haven't I still would but only with the caveat of watching the remake after.
Best Movies
1. Snowpiercer
2. The Purge: Anarchy
3. Ginger Snaps
4. Trance
5. Insomnia
6. Much Ado About Nothing
7. Don Jon
Top 5 Performances
1. Chris Evans - Snowpiercer
2. Frank Grillo - The Purge: Anarchy
3. Emily Perkins - Ginger Snaps
4. James MacAvoy - Trance
5. Scarlett Johanson - Don Jon
Top 5 Moments
1. Gun Check - Snowpiercer
2. Sarge Saves The Girls - The Purge: Anarchy
3. "Do You Know Why I Hate Myself?" - Snowpiercer
4. Ginger Gets Attacked - Ginger Snaps
5. Nathan Fillion Gets Into A Slap Fight - Much Ado About Nothing
- Tom Lorenzo
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