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Just caught the premier of “Twelve” today and left the theater shocked. Having never read or heard of the book before now, i entered the cinema knowing two things; first that it was directed by Joel Schumacher an astounding filmmaker, and second that because it was accepted into Sundance, it must have some exceptional parts.

Needless to say, the film exceeded expectation and moved into the realm of surreal. Like every film at Sundance, the director said a few words before screening started. Now most people know Schumacher from his hit’s like, “Phantom of the Opera”, “Phone Booth”, or his flawed Batman’s. However I’ve been privileged to see his early work, which includes, “The Lost Boy’s”, “Flatliners”, and “8MM”. Yet despite the high mark which his previous films set, “Twelve” pulls up to and even surpasses some.

Chace Crawford was an inspiration in the lead role and though it was the first film I’ve seen him in, i hope he continues a successful career.

The other actor’s all give supreme performances, though my personal favorite in the film is one you might despise me for. Billy Magnussen as Claude, who carries out his character in magnificent form and had the role been given to anyone else, the movie would’ve been sorely injured.

The insight into teenagers, especially the rich, stands unrivaled. Nick McDonell wrote true people, character’s that are 3D and whom you can relate to. As a seventeen year old myself i am grateful for his gift to our generation.

The five million dollar budget which this film was made on, and the twenty-three day’s in which it was shot, proves the genius of everyone working on it. And when the cast and crew stood on stage at the end to answer questions, i felt the need to clap till my hands bled. And to stress the point Joel made, there is a comedy in this film that supersedes anything you’ve seen before. But to truly appreciate every aspect and genre in it, you must be of an open mind, and willing to see even the gritty parts in teenagers.

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Forget that this is a “cinematographic debut”, forget that it’s an “indie film”. This movie needs neither apologetic introduction nor patronizing kudos.

Most aspects of the film are mastered better than in the majority of mainstream movies, so your eyes, your mind or your heart will find something to latch on from beginning to end.

Plot has multiple layers, some easily read and others complex. You can enjoy the film at any level.

Cinematography is solid in a Hollywood-action-movie sort of sense. But also gives you some meaningful “artsy” shots which convincingly express the turning points in the plot and in the characters’ evolution. They set the mood without being overbearing — like the “right” frame around a masterly painting.

Characters find their depth in the way that each attempts to enjoy, survive, or in some cases take advantage of, the co-existence of inevitably real motivations with the seductiveness of acting, improvisation, role-playing, fantasy…

Music obviously helps set the mood and tell the story; but it acts more as a commentary — as a minstrel would do. In fact I found that the movie has its own carefully crafted rhythm.

Costumes and props are top-notch — forget that it was a low-budget movie. It looked better than most $100M CGI stuff.

Dialogs sound “true” from beginning to end.

Go see this movie like you would go see any other movie. Enjoy.

(IMDb review)\

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I really loved Piranha 3D and had a blast at my midnight screening.

There was never a dull moment for me. The first half of Piranha, while relatively quiet compared to the second half is funny and filled with bountiful shots of spring-break revelry and aesthetically pleasing nudity that’s all in good fun. The set up for the characters was competently done and even though no one is going to win an award for best acting here, there was no example of distracting bad acting and the cast sold their two dimensional characters. We get enough development of our main characters that they aren’t just generic nothings when the carnage starts.

Once the second half of Piranha kicks in, Aja takes the film into overdrive and throws one jaw dropping gruesome set piece after another at the viewer.

The audience was roaring with laughter and clapping at gag after gag whether it was the “ballet” sequence with its beautiful eye candy (worth the ticket price alone) or some of the nasty goodness that Aja sends our way during the gory chaos of the film’s second half. Despite the overall humorous nature of the material, there were still some tense moments and a few places where you find yourself in the curious position of both laughing at and feeling unsettled by what you’re seeing on screen.

Aja perfectly captures the tone in Piranha when he says it is “Gremlins for adults”.

I expected skillful direction from Aja, and he delivered. He uses his skill at building tension that he put to frightening good use in Haute Tension in a different way here. Often, he will build anticipation for an over-the-top gag by telegraphing and then delaying as you ask yourself whether he’s really about to go where it looks like he’s headed and then “Bam!” he really does go there.

In addition to delivering the goods and delivering them well, Piranha also gives us several pleasing nods at other genre films and fun cameos from Richard Dreyfus and Christopher Lloyd.

Piranha knows how to have a guilty good time!

(IMDb review)\

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In The Switch, I was expecting a bit more of the wry and understated humor that I know both of the principals are capable of. Especially, when you label it “from the people who brought you ‘Juno’ ” it misrepresents the type of movie this is.

The Switch a sweet movie, where people with good intentions have to face a couple of key mistakes and start to move on in the direction that’s truly best for them. Aniston’s character, Kassie, wants to be a mother, despite not finding a mate and satisfied only to find a source of genetic material. Bateman’s character, Wally, wants her to be happy, but he seems to know that she’s grasping for something.

Through a strange, but believable series of events, The Switch occurs and Wally especially must face something unexpected when he’s reunited with Kassie and her 6 year old son Sebastian.

The Switch is far from the best film for either of the leads, and it’s nothing even remotely close to a romantic comedy. It’s not very comedic or very romantic. The Switch is quirky, which is perhaps the only thing it has in common with “Juno.” There really isn’t any chemistry between Aniston and Bateman, despite their very easygoing natures.

The Switch is a sweet film, but I believe it must have looked better on paper than it did on film.

(IMDb review)

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I was lucky enough too see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World during a test preview to an audience that weren’t told what we were about too see. I was honestly expecting some odd film that really needed a lot of help but i was pleasantly surprised with how great this movie was.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World had everyone laughing, and i mean everyone, I’ve been too almost every Wright film and somehow the audience wasn’t as amused as i was, but this time everyone loved it. I’ve never heard so much laughter in one cinema.

The jokes were fast and although silly, they weren’t stupid which made for quite an enjoyable film. Wright’s trademark quick cuts, and simple comedy made this film, i personally think if it were directed by anyone else it wouldn’t have had the same effect.

The characters were well written and performed, every individual character fitted perfectly. The film had many scenes that were quite pointless but still quite funny for example the Seinfeld scene.

Apparently Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is based on a comic book series? I’ve never heard of them before but i certainly will look out for them now. If you’re a fan of Edgar Wrights films or just good silly humor you will love this film.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a great comedy, definitely the best of 2010 8/10 Morgan

(IMDb review)

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After making the woefully regrettable decision to pay money to see “Epic Movie”, I had vowed to stay far away from this movie and any other with the word “Movie” in the title. But, because I am faint of heart and/or an idiot, I allowed myself to be talked into watching a leaked version online because A) it was actually pretty funny, according to friends who had seen it already, B) it was only about 70 minutes long, and C) this Edward was actually hot. After watching it for myself, I would agree on all three counts (especially C….daaaaamn). It’s no great cinematic achievement, but for a devoted Twilight hater such as myself, it was worth a chuckle or two.

Sure, Vampires Suck meets many of the same pitfalls other parody movies do. It operates under the delusion that anyone out of diapers thinks that a character being bludgeoned over the head time and time again for absolutely no reason is comedy gold. It often relies on stupid pop culture jokes (Look! A Jersey Shore reference! It’s funny because it is a Jersey shore reference!) and unoriginal gross-out humor (it’s funny because you want to vomit! Haha!). But, so help me if I didn’t find myself laughing at the way the film mercilessly mocks everything laughable about the Twilight movies, a series that, let’s face it, lends itself pretty easily to parody. In fact, all “Vampires Suck” really had to do was recreate the first two Twilight films pretty much scene-for-scene, tweaking here and there to make the scenes only slightly more ridiculous than the originals. The result is actually a pretty clever send-up of the ludicrously over-the-top melodrama that Twilight lovers eat up. This film holds a mirror up to pretty much everything laughable about the series that proves that a wildly successful book/movie franchise does not necessarily need a “plot”: the rabidity of its fan base; the shameless parade of shirtless males; the idea that teenage Stephanie Meyer…er, I mean, Bella, would be the object of every hot guy’s lust despite being a mopy sourpuss with no trace of a personality; the insistence that Robert Pattinson is “sexy”. The actress who plays Bella, or “Becca,” as she is renamed, does a killer job parodying Kristen Stewart’s mannerisms (hair-tucking, downward gazes, constant lower-lip biting) by which I mean she mimics them exactly and everyone laughs at them because they are stupid. Mocking Twilight is not exactly hard to do, but I have to say this film does it quite cleverly at many points. I’ll even say that the ending is magnificent.

Needless to say, Vampires Suck is for members of Team I Want a Boy Who Doesn’t Want to Kill Me only, as I’m sure Twilight fans would not appreciate being forced to acknowledge that the thing they love is dumber than a sack of fruit fly larvae. However, since like I said the movie is pretty much just a re-creation of the original Twilight movies, many of the jokes are best appreciated having actually seen them. So you’ll probably like this movie if you are not a Twilight fan, but have actually seen the movies because A) you were dragged there by a girl whose pants you really, REALLY wanted to get into, B) you were stoned, walked into the wrong theater, and failed to realize that it wasn’t The Hangover until it was too late, or C) you are self-loathing and willingly subjected yourself to them out of morbid curiosity (like me).

So if you hate Twilight and everything it stands for, take a break from your violent (yet strangely erotic) fantasies about Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner and go see Vampires Suck. It will ease your tortured soul, and maybe, just maybe, restore a molecule of faith in the parody genre. It couldn’t possibly be worse than “Meet the Spartans”.

(IMDb review)

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First off, The Killer Inside Me is a film that is made with a lot of artistry, if little heart. It doesn’t bore, the directing is efficient, and it has an interesting premise: a sheriff who is also a serial killer.It’s shot in an arresting style, all headlights emerging from a dusty road, and people sitting alone at diners as in an Edward Hopper painting. So that’s 4 good things. However the lack of suspense does get to you after a while; if you establish that the protagonist is a monster from the get-go, you are not going to get a lot of ambiguity, and therefore no tension. Towards the end you are sort of just waiting for more violence to break out, which is inevitable.

Ah yes, the violence. On this I differ from a large majority of the public, who seem to find it terribly gratuitous. I thought The Killer Inside Me is shocking, but that it is not entirely a bad thing. Yes, the scene of Jessica Alba being beaten to pulp will disturb, but then again i thought it was crucial to the story as well. What I do object to is the lack of conviction in the tone. As a serious study of a disturbed human being, it doesn’t quite go far enough. David Lynch has definitely gone further. As something in the noir tradition, it falls short, capturing the style but not the world-weariness and the intrigue. (in fact, teenage noir Brick succeeds more on this level than The Killer inside me) And as a black comedy (whenever something terrible happens the banjos will kick in to give the film a perverse comic twist) again it doesn’t go far enough (the Coen brothers are much better at this sort of thing, ultra violence shot through with humour). The last shot in which everything goes up in flames is almost laughable, but not in the right way.

That said, The Killer Inside Me is an accomplished effort from a director who clearly knows his material well, and Casey Affleck gives an effortless performance as Lou Ford. And I like the often seamless segue from sex to violence and back to tender embrace; it illustrates perfectly the dynamics of S/M, if nothing else.

One funny thing is the audience reaction. I saw this at the Hong Kong film festival, amongst a mostly appreciative audience. Nobody booed; in fact, there were lots of clapping. Distributors take note: this film might have a lot more prospects in Asia than in Europe/U.S.A., where violence on the screen is in fact quite common and quite widely tolerated. There were lots of laughing ; I think a lot of people felt that they were watching some sort of black comedy. Just an interesting cultural observation, as I have heard that the film produced very negative reactions at both Sundance and the Berlinale.

So, in conclusion, The Killer Inside Me is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but well worth a look if only to see how a twisted mind works. It’s a good portrait of a disturbed man, even if the story is, ultimately, inferior to the character.

(IMDb review)

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After nearly a decade of disappointments Stallone shocked the movie world by making a 6th emotionally charged Rocky, he then went on to please fans by taking Rambo into a visceral brutally realistic war movie, now for his hat trick Stallone gave us something old and something new ‘The Expendables‘ the type of movie kids dreamed about the early 90′s, what if this guy & that guy and him where all in a film together. A little too late? Hell no! Never has this film been more needed. In a land of watered down PG-13 wire work action movies real action fans where desperate for some real old school action. (Cobra, Commando, Delta Force, Last Boy Scout..) The great thing about this film is even if it didn’t have the cast it still would be a great action movie, the fact it has such a jaw dropping cast just makes it all the better. Stallone is growing as an action director, he brought some of his tense brutal techniques from Rambo but was smart enough to go a little old school for other scenes. Their are some very kinetic action sequences but not Parkinson’s suffering cameraman techniques like the Bourn films.

The main focus of the team are Stallone & Statham, they really have a good Old Dog, New Dog friendship. Lundgren (My favourite character) gets a an interesting sub plot. Unfortunately Li, Couture & Crews get pushed to the background but they do get some great scenes to shine. (Hopefully they can get some more development in the sequel.

Roberts and his Henchman Stone Cold Steve Austin shine as the brutal villains. Gary Danials however was really underused I was expecting some Bennet style lines. At least he got one of the best fights of the movies.

Of coarse the scene everyone was talking about in The Expendables was the Stallone, Schwarzenegger & Willis scene. Which was one of the funniest parts of The Expendables. Their attempt to put each other down while out manning each other worked brilliantly and Willis threatening Stallone alone is worth the ticket price.

A slight nag about The Expendables is at the very end some CGI did crop up, in the form of fire. After all the practical stunts throughout the movie including one great Truck chase I was a little disappointed not to see a stuntman in a fire suit.

If this had just been Stallone’s baby with a few unknown actors I’d give The Expendables 8/10 BUT the fact we get to see Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, Crews, Roberts, Rourke, Danials with Willis & Schwarzenegger punch, kick, stab, mouth off and blow up each other cranks it up to a 9.5/10 for me.

Bring on Expendables II

(IMDb review)

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I’d admit that the films of Neil Marshall’s have been quite right up my alley, with a mishmash of genres all done with an excessively violent treatment, but it does go to show that relying too much on the usual will bring forth a stale feeling, that Marshall may not have anything more to offer other than to pepper his films with plenty of hacked limbs in a straight forward action adventure

Set in 117AD, Neil Marshall’s story pits the Roman empire against the guerrilla Picts, who have halted the Roman invasion so much so that Rome decides on a last push. To the organized troops of Roman centurions, the Picts with their unorthodox techniques have the upper hand in a David and Goliath pattern, that it’s up to Dominic West’s General Virilus to lead an army, and with the help of Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) who has escaped from the Picts, to show them the way. That sets the premise of an otherwise ordinary film that’s focused on its battle sequences, and has a very simple, two phase narrative to waltz through.

One of the draws here is of course Michael Fassbender’s presence. Of 300 and Eden Lake fame, he brings forth a sense of vulnerability to a warrior’s role, bent on trying to keep alive than to go all out to kill. He leads Virilus’ surviving men of 6 to a rescue mission, before turning tails and having the next half of the film centered on their escape back to safe haven, all the while being tracked by Olga Kurylenko’s Etain, a mute Pict scout who’s an excellent tracker.

In some ways, the story had resembled like a distant cousin of the magnificent seven, where a rag tag team of surviving Roman centurions get cobbled together for a mission to rescue their beloved General. And I mean really rag tag since they have a cook amongst their ranks. It’s an offensive maneuver first, before going all defensive because of the lack of skills, and numerical advantage and savagery that the Picts pose. Olga Kurylenko chews up her scenes even as she’s more clothed than her previous films, and gets plenty of physical action (with weapons that is) to show she’s no pushover for action sequences.

Strangely enough, a last minute romantic subplot gets thrown in which sort of spoils the film because it firmly roots itself as a finale plot development point, leaving little surprise for its hurried ending since you know just where and how the film would end. Like a typical Marshall film, there are tons of carefully crafted scenes that are bloody violent, such as smashing someone’s head to a pulp against a tree or a full on ugly beheading. There’s only one sequence that will stand out in the entire film, and that’s a massive ambush against a full battalion of Roman soldiers, which is one-off and the only one done on grand scale, setting the scene for plenty of screen violence with unflinching decapitations of miscellaneous body parts.

Fans will find this an enjoyable action adventure, but it doesn’t offer anything much nor new to win over new fans.

(IMDb review)

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Just when you think you’ve seen one Will Ferrell movie, you’ve seen them all, think again. Try this on for size: Usual Ferrell comedy plus crazy action plus subtle political and economical commentary plus excellent soundtrack. The Other Guys is a surprisingly hilarious and surprisingly action-packed movie that will keep you entertained throughout without actually dumbing you down. Unlike most Will Ferrell movies, you don’t have to shut off your brain in this one; you actually have to pay attention because aside from the comedy, there is a complex crime to solve. Adam McKay delivers his best writing and directing performance, while the excellent cast ranging from Ferrell to Wahlberg to Keaton provides plenty of laughs, plenty of one-liners, and plenty of entertaining moments that propel this movie past the slowest of scenes.

The Other Guys is about two mismatched behind-the-scenes paper-pushers (Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg) quietly investigating a series of suspicious events stemming from a unique bank robbery. Along the way they try to defeat their personal demons and try to figure out how to get along with each other. Unlike most Ferrell movies, in which it’s a simple concept and improv provides the filler material, this movie actually has a mildly complex and heavy script, but still gives the cast a chance for a little improvisation. Written by the director and also Chris Henchy, I’ll even go as far as to say that this among the best comedic scripts since last year’s The Hangover. To add to that, McKay and Henchy pull a neat trick by slowly feeding you some commentary about big business and its mannerisms. The last mainstream comedy to attempt this was the mildly underrated Fun with Dick and Jane remake with Jim Carrey.

While this movie does not have the extensive magical gathering of comedians like Anchorman (then again, what movie does?), the cast still does an excellent job bringing the comedy from the script to the screen. Will Ferrell is a little more toned-down this time, but still has his usual moments (screaming like a girl, random quotes, random singing, quirky one-liners). Mark Wahlberg however, steals the show with his angry lines, his bitter delivery, and his outbursts. The only thing hindering Wahlberg is the PG-13 rating; who knows what more classic lines he could have pulled off if he was allowed to go uncut (Remember him in The Departed?). Smaller roles fill the bill in the laughs department, including Eva Mendez (beautiful as always), Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, and the cameos.

Even though Farrell has been hit-and-miss with the public and the critics, his best work always has been with Adam McKay. Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers were their previous collaborations and those three clearly top anything else Farrell has pulled off. The Other Guys in terms of directing and pacing dethrones them all. McKay does more than just handle the camera and let the actors mouth off; he stages some great action sequences and does a fantastic job directing a slow-motion bar sequence that displays the coolest slo-mo effects since Zombieland. The first half was so overloaded with funny scenarios, the audience very often was laughing so hard they missed the next couple of jokes while trying to recover from the last two. One scene in particular had the audience nearly drown out the sound of the audio coming from the movie.

The first half was absolutely spectacular and downright comical; the second half never had a chance to duplicate the magic of the first hour. This is where Adam Mckay’s biggest issues have been: in the final third of the flicks. All of McKay’s movies lose steam and slow down towards the end, preventing them from becoming eternal comedic classics. In the case of The Other Guys, he improved a bit by still providing some of the laughs, even though you will still feel the momentum slowly die down. The cop clichés, while not taken seriously, still mildly hindered the moments leading up to the climax. There were some unnecessary scenes; a little bit of editing could have really helped this movie. But, unlike the other movies, the third act stays afloat thanks to the Wahlberg/Ferrell mix, as well as the continuing mystery that was slowly unfolding. Then stay tuned for the credits, when the commentary rushes at you full-force.

Bottom Line: Honestly, I never thought that Will Ferrell would be involved with Mark Wahlberg, a creative script, hidden commentary (that unveils itself when you least expect it), and a soundtrack consisting of Rage against the Machine. Nonetheless, the combination worked like a great mixed drink that has you asking for seconds and thirds. The one-liners are flying all over the place, and so are the bullets. The Other Guys is the funniest movie of the year so far, and clearly the best surprise we’ve had this summer. Adam McKay continues to claim the throne as the best comedic director in the business, and this movie is more evidence. All McKay needs to do is cut back on the overall running time. This is the first Will Ferrell movie that you must pay close attention to (in terms of visual humor and crime-solving), and is overall one of his best movies.

(IMDb review)