Welcome back gang. Got a new post here for you and it's one of the best week's I've had all year. A wide range of movies that range from good to great. No wasted time here at all. There's something for everybody, genres all over the map. So give this all time week a read and share with the world. Thanks and enjoy.
The Descent (November 30th, 2014)
Director: Neil Marshall
Starring: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, and Nora Jane Noone
Neill Marshall has been making a big splash on television recently, Game of Thrones and Constantine the bigger examples. But he was well known beforehand as a well known and respected film maker amongst genre fans. While he has a few entertaining movies on his belt, this movie right here is a classic and the best damn thing he's done. Focusing on a group of girlfriends who like to go on extreme sports trips decide to trek through a cavern underground and find that things aren't what they seem. Like all of Marshalls work, this movie is just vicious and brutal, the blood budget not being spared. Visually, this movie is insanely claustrophobic and dark. We are really in there with these girls at every step of the way. The girls are great too for the most part, real women that aren't just dick taking machines like most women in movies. There's one or two performances that aren't spectacular but don't ruin the movie, just stands out in such a well done movie. What's also great about the movie is that things aren't spoon fed to us. We don't really know why what's happening is happening. But what set's this apart from other entertaining and violent movies is that it's about something and the main character has a heartbreaking arc. No spoilers, but I'll just say it's about grief and guilt, giving the movie a good point of relation with them. This is a great film and one of the standouts of the mid 2000s splat pack movies. Must see.
Rating: 9.5/10
Fruitvale Station (November 30th, 2014)
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, and Kevin Durand
This is a movie that has become sadly relevant again. Based on the true story of the killing of Oscar Grant, this movie was a big surprise. What could have felt like a movie of the week with an absolute bias for Grant that would make him like an angel, this film isn't interested in that game. It's interested in showing us human beings and the grey area we all live in. Oscar isn't an angel, but he isn't a serial killer. He's a man who has made some mistakes in his past and is trying to change, but it isn't easy. He cheats on his girl and has a temper. Yet other times he is helpful to others and is very warm with his daughter. His mother seems like a decent woman, but Oscar is insistent at a point that she wasn't a good mother and she wasn't there. Is he lying? Or is she not the greatest person either? Who knows, but it makes things more grey. But the moment that elevated this movie to greatness was the shooting. Kevin Durand plays this absolute dick head of a cop, being super tough and violent and insulting. But when another cop accidentally shoots Oscar, he realizes the mistake that's been made. The moment that sold me is Durand actually kneeling down with Oscar and trying to comfort him and keep him alive. It was surprisingly heart wrenching. A propaganda movie would have painted the cops as complete evil. But despite the negative light we see them in, in the end they are still human. Now, is this perfect? No. There's some too perfect movie moments of circuity that seems a little too neat for real life. It's a bit distracting but the power of the rest of the movie sells it, and that's thanks to the powerhouse performance of Jordan as Oscar. He digs right into him and shows us the human that's tragically snatched off of this mortal coil. It's a timely movie and even though there's plenty of people who'll hate a movie that sympathizes with a darkie who got shot by the infallible police (USA! USA!), those who don't have a horse in the race will be blown away.
Redemption (December 1st, 2014)
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Jason Statham and Agata Buzek
This was another surprise this week. Despite being directed by the man who made the wonderful Locke, this was a Jason Statham movie he made before that. So one could assume that it's a balls to the wall action movie. But it isn't and is a surprisingly serious character study with a romance involved. Statham plays a solider who is living on the streets with a drinking problem. After a violent encounter, he decides to clean himself up and better himself. But then he gets involved with a crime family and things go south. That sounds like a typical action movie, but it isn't really interested in telling that story. There's some violence, but not stylized. It's just Statham overpowering others. We focus on his journey, trying to get over his time in the military. He's a man with immense guilt, trying to redeem himself. He even has a relationship with the nun who fed him when he was homeless. The journey he goes on is surprisingly poignant and elevates the movie. This won't be for everyone because it is slow and more concerned with character, so it all depends on how you feel about him. I really dug it and think an open minded soul should see it.
Hunger (December 2nd, 2014)
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, and Brian Milligan
Steve McQueen is on top of the world. After making the deserved best picture winning 12 Years A Slave, he should be. But he had to get his start somewhere, and that is where we find ourselves. In 2008, he brought us this true story about Bobby Sands, an IRA member in prison who decides to start a hunger strike. Fassbender takes on the role, beginning the fruitful collaboration between the two. This movie is well made and should be seen by all, just to see Fassbender beginning his run as one of the best of his generation. But there is a fumbling in the attempts to bring this story to the screen. It doesn't feel fully explored, that it manages to feel very drawn out but not in depth. We start the movie following two other IRA members in the prison before we even get to meet Sands. And that takes roughly 20 minutes or so. And then even when we do meet Sands, we barely know him. He's just another guy. The movie really doesn't take off until this brilliant scene between Sands and a priest (Cunningham) that is 17 minutes in one take. We finally get to know Sands and it is great. Fassbender is brilliant and brings rich life to this man who may be on a suicide trip. Once that scene ends we get to the meat of the story and the horrific life Sands leads during the strike and up to his death. It's horrific stuff and shows us the lengths these men will go. There's also a humanity to the characters in the movie, even the prison guards that dehumanize these prisoners. Like Fruitvale above, they show us the reality of the situation. Now I'll recommend this, but there is problems. Aside from the aforementioned fumbling a bit of the story, there's just some self indulgent scenes that just detract completely. One scene that just irritated me to no end was a scene of a janitor mopping up piss for 5 minutes. It's obnoxious and dropped the movie down .5 in my book, since a better director could have done without or edited it down. That being said, see this movie to see McQueen get started and Fassbender begin his reign.
How To Train Your Dragon 2 (December 6th, 2014)
Director: Dean DeBlois
Starring: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrara, Gerard Butler, and Cate Blanchett
In a world where sequels reign supreme, it's surprising to see one top its original. Even rarer, it's surprising to see one do that and seem to not get well recognized. Thats what this movie did and it is quite the ride. Set 5 years after the original, we follow the land of Berke as it has embraced dragons. Hiccup (Baruchel) is on the path to taking over as ruler from his father Stoic (Butler). But when he discovers that someone is amassing a dragon army to take over the world, he tries to prevent tragedy. Not only that, but a figure from Hiccups past comes back into the fray and makes things more important for Hiccup. Right off the bat, this movie is gorgeous. Visually stunning and filled with amazing set pieces and flying scenes, this really steps it up now that Pixar is flailing about. The story is great, simple and to the point. It's bigger than the first, setting the characters apart for a bit so it isn't as streamlined, but it isn't convoluted and makes the proceedings a bit more epic in scope. The voice acting is all great, as they were last time. Blanchett is the new comer and fits right in, bringing alot of heart and weight to the role that is much needed. But the standout has to be, surprisingly, Butler. He goes from big and blustery leader, to worried father, to loving father and it all flows wonderfully. The emotion he brings is astounding and not something one would expect from him. It's a great movie and is something all ages can enjoy.
American Graffiti (December 6th, 2014)
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, and Harrison Ford
This is most definitely not the kind of movie George Lucas is known for. You think big sci fi when his name is brought up. Also crushing disappointment but that's beside the point. Before he did Star Wars, he wanted to be a small scale and experimental film maker. He only did two before changing cinema, this and THX 1138, but the goal is evident in the two. Graffiti isn't so experimental as it is small scale, dealing with the last day before college starts for some of these characters. It really is a spiritual precursor to Dazed and Confused, dealing with subject matter in much the same way and same structure. To me it isn't as successful as that movie, but it certainly inspired it and works enough to be enjoyable. The cast works well, selling that late 50s/early 60s gee whiz attitude most think of of the time while giving a bit more edge, making them more human. These kids seem to be play acting what they think is cool and how they should act, but the real them peek out at points. It's a poignant look at growing up and the fear we have at leaving home, going out for ourselves, or having peaked already. It's a nice solid movie that could have been a warmup for a great director, but now stands out as an oddity in the body of work for a toy maker.
Top Movies
1. The Descent
2. Fruitvale Station
3. How To Train Your Dragon 2
4. Redemption
5. Hunger
6. American Graffiti
Top 5 Moments
1. They Aren't Alone - The Descent
2. The Shooting - Fruitvale Station
3. Bobby and The Father's Talk - Hunger
4. Stoic's Last Stand - How To Train Your Dragon 2
5. The "Escape" - The Descent
Top 5 Performances
1. Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station
2. Michael Fassbender - Hunger
3. Shauna MacDonald - The Descent
4. Gerard Butler - How To Train Your Dragon 2
5. Jason Statham - Redemption
- Tom Lorenzo
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