film.

Swiss Army Man

2016-08-07T20:55:00.003-07:00

Title: Swiss Army man
Year: 2016
Director: Daniels
Lead: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe
Rated: Rated R for language and sexual material.

Be yourself. That seems to be the moral in first time feature directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s (known professionally as Daniels) film Swiss Army Man. The film stars Paul Dano as the film’s protagonist, Hank and Daniel Radcliffe as the lifeless, flatulent corpse, Manny.

The film begins on Hank in the middle of a suicide attempt after being stranded on a deserted island only to be interrupted by the discovery of a seemingly lifeless corpse. Come to find out, it’s not entirely dead. We then follow Hank and the corpse, Manny on a journey to get home. The film is surreal, bizarre, funny and oddly enough, very touching and deep. Daniels vision is very clear as is their directing style. The film won best directing at the Cannes film festival and it’s very clear why. The film quickly picked up the nickname of “the farting corpse movie” very early in it’s screening life. It was not taken entirely serious and was also subject to many early walkouts. However, when I watched the film I felt sorry for those audience members who walked out because they simply did not give this film a chance.

We live in a world where being different is looked at as weird or bad. If you are different than the rest of the crowd, you are quickly labeled a black sheep or an outsider. Swiss Army Man makes the case that just because you are different you aren’t necessarily weird or wrong, you are unique. It’s a soapbox film for being yourself and embracing your oddity. Daniels film makes its points clear in the first act and throughout the rest of the film up until the end it succeeds completely at clearly communicating what its about. That’s hard to say about films these days where plots and morals are lost in flashy on-screen action. This film not only succeeds in being true to itself, it does so while being so 100% original. I can truly say I’ve never seen a film like this in my entire life and I’m pretty sure that I’ll never see another film like it.

Swiss Army Man is a beautifully shot, acted, directed and scored film (it was scored by Manchester Orchestra). It’s completely original and it says something about being unique in a world where being unique is rare and frowned upon. Basically, it’s a unique film about being unique. It’s also one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

8.5 out of 10

Django

2013-03-21T11:32:00.001-07:00

Title: Django

Year: 1966

Director: Sergio Corbucci

Lead: Franco Nero, Jose Canalejas, Jose Bodalo

Rating: NR

A coffin-dragging gunslinger finds himself in the middle of two feuding factions in a struggle for control of a town.

So I have to dispel some preconceived notions about this film. It is in no way similar to Tarantino's "Django Unchained". It's more of a "Fistfull of Dollars" clone than anything. The only thing the two movies have in common is the intro song and the name of the lead character.

So on to the film. It's pretty outstanding. It's got the feel of a late night exploitation film rolled into a spaghetti western. It's pretty vicious, especially the ear cutting scene which is (in my opinion) more vicious than the Reservoir Dogs scene. Where do you think Quentin got the idea? Django is an excellent character, he is a man of few words and he delivers some punishing mayhem. You can definitely see the other Sergio, Sergio Leone's influence in the character and the story that Corbucci is telling. Corbucci took the Spaghetti Western genre with this film and turned it into a bloody, violent, midnight screening film that critics hated. This film is hard to review because it's just so cool. It's not that great of a film and it's not that bad of a film. It's just a hearty piece of cinematic entertainment. It's brutal, violent and really freaking cool. Django drags a coffin around with him at all times, at first, you think, "This is weird, I don't know about this." but then he opens the coffin. My reaction was a dorky little movie nerd smile. Then the end, man.... my dorky movie nerd self went crazy, I was watching the movie alone and I still yelled. This is an extremely watchable movie.

I've been doing some research on the Italian western genre lately in an effort to find out what makes them different than the American genre. So far I've almost enjoyed the raw hopelessness that the Italians incorporate into their films. American westerns seem to glorify their villains and heroes and the towns that they pass through, but Spaghetti Westerns take their characters and rough them up and add some chips to their shoulder. They are all troubled. Every hero is an anti-hero and their representation of the west is extremely bleak, they turn the country into another character. I've found that Italian westerns are much more brutal and much more fun to watch than American Westerns, Django simply gave me more evidence to support this idea.

Django 9/10

Death Proof

2013-02-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

Title: Death Proof
Year: 2007
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Lead: Kurt Russel, Zoe Bell
Rated: NR

A stuntman hunts down and kills beautiful girls with his "death proof" car.

Never has a director come along and redefined and owned every genre he has ever dabbled in until now. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Django Unchained) can literally take any genre of cinema and make a movie that sets the bar for every future film to follow. Death Proof is no exception. Quentin takes 70's driving movies that played in grindhouses and made it a 2000's driving movie that plays and continues to play in your memory. This movie is a germ. It gets in your brain and won't let go for awhile. Everything about it is infectious; the music, dialogue, cars and stunts are all so on point that it won't let you go even after you've finished watching it. I do have to say that when watching it for the first time, it did play a little slow which really got me down, but let it go, you'll get into it and it will blow you away.

This is one of the best car movies I've ever seen, the stunts and effects are so good that you'll find yourself wanting to re-watch just the car scenes. I'm just going to say this: The car chase in this movie is the best car chase in film history. It's so ballsy and so insane that you'll be sweating the whole time. The acting is pretty incredible with lines being delivered so crisp and rhythmic that it might just be one of the better written Tarantino movies out there (a case could be made that Tarantino movies are all the best written movies around). Zoe Bell plays herself in this film, if you don't know who she is, she was the stunt double for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, she's tough as nails, you'll see why in Death Proof. Kurt Russel is so awesome, he is scary and all kinds of crazy in this movie.

Like I said, Quentin has taken our memories of 70's "b" movies and added this one to the top of the list. Death Proof is the second half of "Grindhouse", a project by Tarantino and his best friend Robert Rodriguez. It was a double feature presentation that was meant to resemble the double features of the drive-in age. The two films were played back to back with fake trailers in between, including one for "Machete" which Rodriguez went on to actually make with Danny Trejo. The two movies even replicated the scratched film and missing reels that were ever present in grindhouses during their time. Grindhouses got their names in part because they would repeatedly "grind" film prints through the projectors 24 hours a day, damaging them beyond recognition. It's really a fun treat that adds some character to the movie and is also a great piece of work by Tarantino's late friend, and main film editor, Sally Menke. Check this film out, it's incredible. 9/10

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2012-01-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

Title: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Year: 2011

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Lead: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt

Rated: R for violence, some sexuality/nudity and language

A retired British Intelligence agent is forced out of retirement to hunt down a spy within their ranks

You know when you take a test and you come across a question that is completely perplexing that you simply cannot answer; you struggle and struggle to pull the answer from deep within your brain but you just can't do it. You finish the test, turn it in and head straight for your notes; you scan and scan until you finally find the answer and when you do you sigh at how simple the answer was, you slap your head knowing that you should have known that answer. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (TTSS) is that question and the ending is the answer.

The film is so complex with so many odd continuity breaks. The story is not linear but it comes off as trying to be told in a linear form. There are bits that simply don't seem to work with the rest of the story but eventually tie back in, but never really meant enough to be told.

If that previous paragraph didn't make a lot of sense to you, then you have a fractional feeling about how I felt while watching TTSS. The story tries to be more complex than it has to be. It could have been more conveniently stitched together to withhold the complexity while still being extremely accessible to the viewer. Granted, the film is based on a book that I haven't read, so I can't give testament to whether the book is also very difficult to understand, but the movie most certainly is, and it could have been an easier story to tell. This film fortunately was so beautifully shot that it somewhat made up for its "herky jerky" storytelling method. I love symmetrical shots (Huge Wes Anderson fan) and this movie had plenty of awesomely planned out shots. The film was slightly under-saturated and smokey looking which helped me believe the period in which the film was set (cold war era). The acting was pretty stellar, Gary Oldman was solid (as always). He plays a very subdued, ex-intelligence agent that gets pulled out of retirement to hunt down a mole in the British Intelligence. He doesn't speak much but when he does, it matters. Tom Hardy and Colin Firth were very good, but I personally think that Benedict Cumberbatch stole the show. He played a character Peter Guillam who seemed to be below board at times and a little bit shady, but then at other times seemed to be a really upstanding guy really close to the head of intelligence. Needless to say, his character was a very solid representation of how confusing this film really was. Cumberbatch should get a supporting actor nomination when the Oscars roll into town.

I recommend seeing this movie if you enjoy movies like The Good Shepherd or Good Night and Good Luck. If you see it for any reason, see it for the cinematography and all the old British cars (Classic Minis!) The "R" rating is warranted, there is a pretty unsettling torture scene and some extremely graphic dead bodies shown. I expect this movie to get a few important nominations for Academy Awards including Best Actor in Gary Oldman, Best Picture, Best Director in Tomas Alfredson and probably a couple other technical awards. 7.5 out of 10

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

2011-04-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Title: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.
Year: 1998
Director: Guy Ritchie
Lead: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham
Rated: Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality and drug content.

Four friends find them selves in deep debt to a wealthy and powerful "businessman". They only have a week to come up with the money.

I have just recently discovered how awesome Guy Ritchie actually is. His style is unrivaled, and his stories are almost flawless. The way that he can bring several story lines together and create huge on-screen moments is absolutely awesome. LSTSB is a super cool British crime movie that has Guy Ritchie all over it, he has about 4 different story lines and great transitions in between them. The story itself is pretty comical; these four friends lose a bunch of money to a sex shop owner and only have a week to pay him back, so they have to come up with the money. They end up getting a break when they overhear their neighbors planning to rob a few weed growers. Long story short, the money changes hands about four times and ends up in the most unlikely persons pocket. The ending of the film was awesome, it reminded me of the Michael Caine Italian Job (If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm saying). The camera work in this movie is cool, some pretty neat shots, I especially enjoyed the shot when Eddy loses the money and is walking out of the gym all dazed. Its really awesome. I definitely recommend checking this out, its Guy's first feature, so its a perfect way to introduce yourself to his style. 7.5 out of 10

Limitless

2011-04-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Title: Limitless
Year: 2011
Director: Neil Burger
Lead: Bradely Cooper
Rated: Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving a drug, violence including disturbing images, sexuality and language.

A man acquires super brain power with the use of a mystery drug.

I went to see Limitless with two of my friends the other night, and I can say that I was the least excited of the three of us to see the movie. I can now say, however, that after the credits rolled, I was probably the most impressed. I expected to see a cookie cutter Hollywood thriller, but what I got was an extremely stylized, "Fight Clubesque" suspense, action film. The film started at the end (or so we thought). I'm always fascinated with this, and the use of this method was very successful. The writing for this movie was great. The story was brilliant, I did however, think to myself during the movie that there were some really unbelievable scenes, but then I was able to justify it by reminding myself that THIS WHOLE MOVIE IS FAR OUT! The style that Burger used to tell the story was really quite crazy, lots of nauseating fish-eye shots and these really blinding, never ending dolly shots that seemed like they traveled the entire distance of Manhattan. His style did seem to step on the story a little bit, but ultimately, it was simply awesome, and like I said, it reminded me a lot of Fight Club. Limitless should definitely not be passed up if you have the chance to see it. Its a pretty wholesome movie. 7.5 out of 10

The Kings Speech

2011-01-25T22:21:00.000-08:00

Title: The Kings Speech
Year: 2010
Director: Tom Hooper
Lead: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush
Rated: Rated R for some language.

King George VI must become the man his country needs.

Let me start by saying that this film should not be rated R, and every person from age 10-100 should see this movie. Its so historically relevant that I'm surprised the story was not told like this sooner. Everybody will get something out of seeing this film, and I call it a "film" out of utmost respect. This film is perfect. I say that without any level of exaggeration. It is everything I look for in a movie. It has not only a beginning, a middle, and an end, but it has a flawless level of storytelling to get from point "a" to "b". It has actors that play their parts as if they are the characters themselves. It has a vision that hardly any films have, it is absolutely beautiful to look at, and it is by far, my favorite for best picture. Lets start with cinematography, because that is what hooked me from the opening frame. It is pure brilliance, the framing is impeccable, each character and object is lined up so perfectly that you could watch this movie with no sound and be entertained. The opening speech is filmed so well that its near indescribable. Colin Firth steps up to the microphone to deliver the closing speech at the British Expo, nervously studies his enormous crowd, pauses for an irregular amount of time, begins to speak, stammers, again, and again, the crowd begins losing faith, the movie begins. Its shot so well, close up of the mic, of his mouth, shots of the radio room, of the crowd, its foggy, its tense. Later on in the film we are treated with offset framing of characters with great backgrounds. I could go on, but you get the idea, its perfect. The acting is so fantastic, I have never seen Helena Bonham Carter play a character as soft and loving as she is in this movie. The writing is also great, just the perfect balance of humor and seriousness. This is where the R rating comes from, which bums me out so much. The scene that takes this movie from PG to R is the minute or so where Colin Firth's character repeatedly blurts out every swear word in the English language while trying to break his stammer. He is prompted to do this by his speech therapist who asks if he stammers when he swears. It becomes humorously apparent to us as the viewers that he indeed, does not stammer when he swears. The "F" word is said roughly 11 times in an extremely short amount of time. If not for that vital piece of story, this movie would be PG. In closing, Tom Hooper has created a perfect movie, all things were done perfectly right. The Academy Award nominations definitely reflect his accomplishment. The Kings Speech was nominated for a remarkable 12 Academy Awards including Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor in Geoffrey Rush, Best Supporting Actress in Helena Bonham Carter, Best Actor in Colin Firth, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director in Tom Hooper, and Best Picture, along with some nominations in technical aspects. 10 out of 10

127 Hours

2011-01-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

Title: 127 Hours
Year: 2010
Director: Danny Boyle
Lead: James Franco
Rated: Rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images.

What lengths would a man go to stay alive?

If you don't know the story, Its about a man named Aron Ralston who was hiking one day by himself in the canyons of Canyon Land National Park. While navigating a rather narrow canyon he loosened a heavy boulder that pinned his arm against the canyon wall. He went 127 Hours with minimal water and hardly no food before he effectively cut off his own arm with a dull pocket knife. Danny Boyle really does this story right. This movie is good, it tells Aron's harrowing story quite well, and James Franco plays his part quite well which is very necessary when he's almost the only actor on the screen. Mr. Boyle had an incredible vision when he shot this film. Every shot is well planned, including one of my favorites, when he dollies the camera from Franco stuck, all the way out into the sky, miles above the canyon. Brilliant. The script in this movie is pretty excellent, there are words when there need to be and none when silence is key and James Franco giving his video camera logs are so great, its where he really convinces us that he is truly stuck and quite panicked. My only problem was how the movie looked a little too "film school". It was almost over thought, Boyle was trying so hard it seemed like, he was successful at creating a great movie but it seemed like he felt he had to play it up a bit with lots of close ups and weird angles. So lets talk about the arm cutting scene, because it is kind of key. When Franco starts hallucinating and seeing his future kid, it gets great, without any words we know that he is doing this for life that he could have if he got out. He starts cutting, and I have to say, I WANTED to watch, it was triumphant, it was courageous, hell, it was manly. I do have to send out a thank you to Danny Boyle for not keeping the camera on the arm when he broke the bones, instead you gave me an excellent idea of shaking the camera on cue with the snapping sound. Brilliant #2. 127 Hours is a champions story. Its great. 127 Hours is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Actor in James Franco and Best Picture. 8 out of 10

Black Swan

2011-01-25T16:23:00.000-08:00

Title: Black Swan
Year: 2010
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Lead: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis
Rated: RatedR for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use.

A ballet dancer becomes so enthralled with the lead part in Swan Lake that it becomes her reality.

This movie is so unsettling. Its so well put together and thought out and paced that it makes you feel so wrong. Darren definitely had an idea of what he was doing when he made this film, there is nothing out of place, every scene has a point and no shot is wasted. I do have to say that this movie does take some patience and is not for everyone. There are certain aspects that some people just won't understand and won't appreciate. The one thing that I very much disliked is the use of a tripod. I cant fully appreciate a movie if the director thinks he's too good for one. I understand the want for a movie that is shot with a hand-held camera, it literally and figuratively shakes the audience. Its literally unsettling, I get that, but lets put some stability to the camera. There are times where you don't need to shake the camera. It made me a bit motion sick in parts, I'm not exaggerating. Sickness aside, Black Swan is an excellent movie that hits every point just right. Darren Aronofsky goes out of his way to create a flawless mood of darkness in his movie. One thing that really stood out to me was the lack of color; I'm thinking hard and I cant point out very many scenes where there was a vivid color other than black, grey, or white. Anyways, Natalie Portman was absolutely excellent along with Mila Kunis. The two of them together was great, they had a certain odd chemistry when they are on screen together. Almost like they are the same person... Anyway, Black Swan has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Actress in Natalie Portman, Best Director in Darren Aronofsky, and Best Picture. 8 1/2 out of 10

True Grit

2011-01-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

Title: True Grit
Year: 2010
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Lead: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld
Rated: Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images.

A U.S. Marshall heps a young girl catch the man who killed her father.

As we all know, True Grit has been done before; in fact, its been done twice before, once in print and another on film. We also know that Jeff Bridges was stepping into the hallowed role of Rooster Cogburn, previously played by "The Duke", John Wayne. Needless to say, the Coen's took on some difficult tasks with the production of this film. In my opinion, they succeeded at creating a very great western that is relevant in this day and age, and can easily stand alone for judgment against the original film. The Coen brothers bring a certain darkness to the film that is not present in the original, Jeff Bridges brings a certain grit, if you will, to his role that John Wayne didn't really have (I'm certainly not saying that JW didn't have grit, he just played the role differently), and Hailee Steinfeld is more rough than Kim Darby was in the role of Mattie Ross. Not only does True Grit have powerful performances, but it is a visual dream. The Coen brothers are very famous for the striking, memorable cinematography that they employ in their movies. True Grit is no different. What I really liked was their use of back lighting. I can think of a couple of scenes, specifically the scene where Jeff Bridges fires the shot into the mine, and when Hailee Steinfeld falls down the pit. Both scenes bring a literal and figurative darkness to the movie; an aspect that is all but absent from the original film. In Henry Hathaway's film everything seems to be cleaned up and somewhat comically cheerful. John Wayne is very clean, almost made up; so is La Boeuf's character. All of this cleanliness is gone in the Coen brothers film. The gravity of the situation is definitely felt; this is a movie about a girl searching to avenge the death of her father, and the audience knows it.

So on to the true review. This movie is excellent, the performances are strong, and the writing is great. Rooster Cogburn's character is very well developed, and we definitely can understand his punchy thought making process and tough demeanor. Mattie Ross's character is also more believable, I can remember the 69' version of the film where Mattie Ross smiles a whole bunch. I can remember that never making sense to me; this girl had just lost her father and wanted to avenge his death, she shouldn't be happy. Hailee Steinfeld does not smile a lot in this movie, shes more rough and tumble, and she isn't cute, which makes me move on to casting; its perfect. Mattie Ross is cast at the perfect age, in the book she is 14 years old, Hailee Steinfeld is 14 years old. Kim Darby who originally played Mattie Ross was about 20 years old when she played the role. Finally, this film is visually and audibly pleasing. There are many great pictures to look at and some great sound to back it up. This film feels like a true western, and like I previously stated, its relevant in this day and age. We live in a time where westerns are certainly not the norm, and for somebody to make a great western today is a wonderful accomplishment, it also adds a little bit of difference to a box office that is unnecessarily flooded by 3D, romantic comedies and vampires. Westerns are what made America, and the Coen's bring that inventive feeling back with their wonderful interpretation of a great book. I definitely recommend this movie, definitely check it out on the big screen. 9 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010-11-18T22:11:00.000-08:00

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Year: 2010
Director: David Yates
Lead: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Rated: Rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence, frightening images and brief sensuality.

The beginning of the end. (this review does contain spoilers)

This movie is the best Harry Potter movie to date. There haven't been any better, frankly, if this film were to stand alone with no prequels or any books to back it up, it would still be excellent. The opening scene says it all, the Minister of Magic stands up to the press, with only his eyes visible in the frame, and utters the words that will sum up these final two Potter films: "These are dark times". One of the opening scenes in the Malfoy home is one of the darkest most unsettling scenes Ive watched, it ranks up there with the swastika in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds", and even the infamous "Shower Scene" in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". Another very cleverly artistic aspect of the film is all the gloom. There isn't one bright scene, not a single one. Every scene is shot in fog, if they hadn't, the film would certainly lose its dark undertone. Which brings me to the camera work; its impeccable, its so well done. When I think of great cinematography in this movie, multiple scenes come to mind. The first being the scene where everybody drinks the poly juice potion to turn into Harry, the camera tracks around Harry to show before and after, the director never cuts the scene. He also did this in the scene with Hermione in the forest, where the snatchers could smell her perfume but could not actually SEE her. Another is the forest chase scene where the three of them are running from the snatchers. There are multiple EXCELLENT truck shots at high speed through the trees, and some great dolly shots against the action. Along with those, every scene was very well framed; all in all Yates was very successful. Another stand out accomplishment is the acting. Daniel, Emma, and Rupert have definitely learned how to act which made for some greatly dramatic scenes that evoked a lot of emotion. Now the acting would only be half as good if the script wasn't as good as it was, and it was. Every scene was very well written and the ending was as good as it could have been. This movie is a hunt, a lonely, boring hunt. If the movie was filled with tons of action and actors, it would take the boringness away. Now I understand it makes no sense to intentionally make a movie boring, but that's the way most of the book was, and to the screen writers credit, all the boringness was actually not boring. The movie was so desolate and dark and semi-uneventful, that it really brought the emotion of the book to life. Now lets talk about the end... or should we call it the beginning? Call it what you may, but either way you say it, its good. Its so good in fact that its the only way you could have ended this movie. I sat there in my seat as I tearfully watched Doby being buried, and Voldemort stealing Dumbledore's wand, and I thought: "This has potential to be a great ending." and as that thought passed through my mind, the screen went black.

The end of the beginning.

Go.

Jackass 3D

2010-10-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Title: Jackass 3D
Year: 2010
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Lead: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee-Man, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn
Rated: Rated R for male nudity, extremely crude and dangerous stunts throughout, and for language.

The Boys are back. Enough Said

Jackass 3D is really funny. Really disgusting, yet, really funny. There was never a dull moment in this movie. Every stunt was pretty original, and extremely hilarious. While it wasn't as funny as I expected it to be, it is still the best of the 4 Jackass movies. I saw this in 3D and it was pretty cool, SO clear. Overall, it was a very good looking picture. I really enjoyed it. It is a pretty sick movie that isn't for the easily gagged. I recommend seeing this movie. 7 out of 10

Buried

2010-09-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Title: Buried
Year: 2010
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Lead: Ryan Reynolds
Rated: R for language and some violent content.

Paul Conroy is a contractor in Iraq who is taken hostage, buried alive, and held for ransom. As time is running out, Paul tries to negotiate his escape.

FINALLY! BURIED IS HERE! Ive been waiting so long for this movie, it definitely lived up to my personal hype. Buried is a truly amazing film experience. Its a movie that only comes along, well, never actually. Its very unique. The entire movie is filmed in a coffin, great concept. Rodrigo Cortes takes this concept and constructs something truly excellent. The story is very hooking, and very cool. The film does have some illogical bits, but its ok, they are very easy to get over, and they didn't really bother me during the movie, Ryan Reynolds acting quickly took my mind off of them. Reynolds is the only actor we ever see on the screen, and he is great. I am even going to go out on a limb and say that (you can quote me) "Ryan Reynolds defines his entire career with this film." Its hard to act when you are the only actor on the screen, but Ryan Reynolds does it, and does it well, really well. Visually, Rodrigo does something amazing by shooting a feature film in a box that its nearly impossible for a human being to move. I don't want to give away a lot of details, but, he adds so much emotion with the camera, spinning it, flipping it, moving it, etc. he is able to dolly the camera from a close up to almost a master shot of the inside of the coffin... basically, its nuts. He does so much with so little. This movie is so intense, it almost makes you cry several times, and its so suspenseful that it would make Hitchcock roll over in his... well, coffin I guess. Rodrigo Cortes definitely blows the door off of the theater with this ambitious film. It goes wide release on October 8th, but right now you can catch it in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York I believe. This film is one of the best I've ever seen. Go see it, everybody go see it, buy it, watch it in a dark room, hell, watch it in a closet. Bury yourself with your TV and watch it. Watch it with a friend, watch it alone. Watch it with your dog, with your mom, with your uncle. No matter who, where, or when you watch it, watch it in the dark, and watch it with your phone off. Ryan and Rodrigo and their masterpiece get 9 1/2 out of 10.

The Town

2010-09-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

Title: The Town
Year: 2010
Director: Ben Affleck
Lead: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall
Rated: R for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and drug use.

The leader of a bank robbing crew decides he wants to find a way out of the town that has defined his life.

The Town is great. Ben Affleck has shown that he is a true director, he does a lot of things right in this movie. It is acted so well by Jeremy Renner and Ben Affleck; but more by Jeremy Renner, he really proves that his Oscar last year for Hurt Locker wasn't a fluke. He's legit, and he's here to stay. He handles the Boston accent so well, and is so scary in this movie. The locations in this movie are fantastic. The Town is beautifully shot around the wonderful city of Boston, using Fenway Park for the most pivotal scenes of the film. Be warned, however, this film is violent, and the language is truly pervasive at some points. Its a very unsettling movie, but it is so awesome. I recommend it highly. Ben Affleck does not take shortcuts in making this movie, and he most certainly does not cheat his audience, nor question their intelligence. The Town gets 9 out of 10

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

2010-09-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Title:
Year: 2010
Director: Edgar Wright
Lead: Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons, Jason Schwartzman
Rated: PG-13 for stylized violence, sexual content, language and drug references.

If a boy wants to date the girl, he has to fight and beat her 7 evil exes.

AWESOME movie, I loved it so much. This film has a lot of good things going for it, the music is kickass, the fighting scenes are visually stunning, and everything in between the two is so clever and amazing that it makes this movie great. This film has tons of awesome little quirks, like comic book captions on the screen, and cutaways, and funny/random moments that make this movie so great. Let me first talk about the music, its great, it makes this movie probably half of what it is, its punchy and raw, and very garage band sounding, it adds to the pace of the movie. The other half of this film is comprised of some cool fight scenes, romantic bits, funny bits, etc. The story is so far fetched that its believable in a world where things like this would happen, and the actors succeed in being believable. Michael Cera is so ordinarily funny in this movie, he does a great job along with the rest of the cast. I didn't like Ellen Wong's character, "Knives Chow", I found her very irritating. She did serve a purpose though and was not completely pointless, but she was very irritating, which was probably the writer and directors point anyways. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a visual stunning film with an awesome soundtrack, I recommend it to everyone, it is very enjoyably! 8 1/2 out of 10

Blue Velvet

2010-09-06T01:27:00.000-07:00

Title: Blue Velvet
Year: 1986
Director: David Lynch
Lead: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper
Rated: R for a lot of bad things!

A young man discovers a nasty underworld in his lovely, suburban town.

Blue Velvet is one of those movies that you need to see at least once in your life. Its one of those films that will leave an impression on you, no matter what you get out of it. Its a classic, and I feel like not enough people have seen it, so see it. We all know that David Lynch is a great director who has made some pretty odd films, Blue Velvet definitely being one of the weirdest. The story is so odd, and unsettling, that it will leave images scarred into your memory long after you've turned it off. Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan) finds an ear in a field by his house and decides to do a little detective work of his own. He soon finds out about a woman who is rumored to be a murderer, so naturally he decides to sneak into her apartment, where he finds out that she, in fact, is not a murder, and is part of something so bizarre that you will have to watch it to find out. The film is really made by two fantastic performances by Isabella Rossellini, and Dennis Hopper; Hopper's character, Frank, is, in my opinion, one of the most bizarre, unpredictable, gratuitously violent characters I have ever seen on-screen; and Rossellini, Dorothy, plays a fantastic paranoid woman, who is so mentally destroyed by Frank. David Lynch shoots some great film with this one, very well composed shots that have a lot of meaning, he does a great job with using the camera to add extra emotion to his shots. Very great, shocking, movie. Everyone watch it. Blue Velvet was snubbed by the Academy, it was nominated for Best Director in David Lynch. Blue Velvet gets 8 1/2 out of 10. You should all give Blue Velvet a chance.

Following

2010-08-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Title: Following
Year: 1998
Director: Christopher Nolan
Lead: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw
Rated: R for some language and some violence

A young writer who follows strangers for material meets a thief who takes him under his wing.

Cool movie, neat twist at the end. Christopher Nolan's first feature length film. The film was shot entirely in black and white, which gives it a darker feel. If it wasn't in black and white, it wouldn't be as impressive (in my opinion). Very interesting from the opening scene. There isn't a whole lot to talk about his film. Its very cleverly shot, and written, Chris Nolan definitely shows that he has some tricks up his sleeves with "Following". If your a fan of any Nolan work, you will surely enjoy Following. Buy it on amazon for around $5. I highly recommend it. 8 out of 10

Brick

2010-08-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Title: Brick
Year: 2005
Director: Rian Johnson
Lead: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matt O'Leary, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss
Rated: R for violent and drug content.

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. (imdb)

Wow! Brick is awesome! Very well done film. The script is really great, really fast paced lines that make the movie even more tense. My favorite part of this film was its feel, it felt like a student film project, which I love, its something that just looks right, its very to the books and correct looking, lots of close-ups (watch the close-ups!). Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really and amazing actor that takes every role he's given and does it justice. The story in this film is very dark, and bizarre, A high school crime ring, who knew high schoolers were capable of murder? Tug is one of the most intense characters Ive ever seen on screen, he's so brutal that its scary, The Pin is even more awesome, he reminds me of a James Bond villain. But Gordon-Levitt steals the show, he makes this film what it is with his character. Great film. I highly recommend it. 8 1/2 out of 10

The Royal Tenenbaums

2010-08-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Title: The Royal Tenenbaums
Year: 2001
Director: Wes Anderson
Lead: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover
Rated: R for some language, sexuality/nudity and drug content.

An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their member announces he has a terminal illness. (imdb)

Awesome Movie! Wes Anderson is really a genius in film-making. The Royal Tenenbaums is really a masterpiece, it has so much going for it; All star cast, great story, and awesome camera work. This film is so great to look at, it is visually stunning; I really enjoyed the trademark Anderson montages with titles, it brought me back to his film "Rushmore" when we are introduced to all the clubs that the main character is in, I love it, its really genius! Another great thing about the movie is the story. It is perfect, he ties the book into the film so well, and even though this isn't really billed as a comedy, its hilarious, there are many funny parts in this movie. The characters are so great too, plenty of depth to each story line in this film that you almost need a second and third and even a fourth viewing to really pick up everything, and even then, I'm sure you would still miss things. Really great film through and through that I recommend you go and buy and add to your collection. 8 1/2 out of 10

The Science of Sleep

2010-08-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Title: The Science of Sleep
Year: 2006
Director: Michael Gondry
Lead: Gael Garcia Bernal
Rated: R for language, some sexual content and nudity.

A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world. (imdb)

I loved Michael Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", I consider it one of my favorite films, and I was hoping the same for The Science of Sleep, it did not deliver. I was very confused on the point of this movie, along with the characters. The story seems very jumpy, and there are characters in this movie that have a bigger part then they should. The whole story doesn't make sense, a guy is in love with this girl in his mind, and then he tries to be in love with her in real life, and he acts like a jerk, it is as stupid as it sounds. On top of that, the language changes constantly from French to Spanish to English, subtitles pop up and then disappear it was very irritating. The dream sequences are cool, in fact, that's the only place that this movie excels, other than that, it was completely pointless to me. I do not recommend this movie, I constantly had the urge to turn it off. 5 out of 10

Just Go With It

2010-07-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Title: Just Go With It
Year: February 2011
Director: Dennis Dugan
Lead: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Dave Matthews, Brooklyn Decker
Rated: Not rated yet, but it will probably end up being on the lower end of PG-13

A man enlists the help of a woman and her kids to land the woman of his dreams.(imdb)

This movie is funny, and it reminds me of old Sandler movies, like Gilmore and Big Daddy, its just good funny jokes that work well at making the audience laugh. I saw this movie at a pre-screening, I sat behind Dennis Dugan, and got to talk to him a little bit before it started, he was excited about this movie, and for good reason; its good. The story is ridiculous; A man wears a wedding ring to pick up girls, until he meets the girl of his dreams. He enlists his friend and her kids to play the part of his family on a trip to Hawaii. They say that they re getting a divorce... on and on, its nuts, basically, one lie after the other until the truth comes out. Its funny, really funny, and its a good funny, you don't feel intellectually cheated at all, and there isn't any raunchy humor that you feel guilty at laughing at. I highly recommend going and seeing this film when it comes out on February 11th 2011 (01/11/11). Its very funny and surprisingly clean, i honestly cant remember hearing one profanity in the entire film, which actually made me feel good, like what i was watching was good for me. The story is perfectly ridiculous, and the jokes are successful at being hilarious. Sandler and Aniston's on screen chemistry is so great that it makes YOU feel great. Everything about this movie is good, except for Brooklyn Decker, she is great to look at, but she isn't a very good actress. Great movie, see it when it comes out 01/11/11. 8 out of 10

Cyrus

2010-07-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

Title: Cyrus
Year: 2010
Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Lead: John C. Reily, Jonah Hill
Rated: Rated R for language and some sexual material.

John meets the girl of his dreams, then he meets her son.

Cyrus is a fantastic little indie film with some big names. The story is hilarious, who doesn't enjoy a movie where a weird son breaks up a relationship? Cyrus is filled with all kinds of different things. Its a comedy, a drama, and a romantic film all rolled up into one. The humor is hilarious; Jonah Hill (Cyrus) plays the weird son of John's girlfriend, and John C. Reily (John) plays the boyfriend. During the film, we watch them duke it out until Cyrus finally gets what he wants. This movie is great, its very funny, and touching, I recommend it to anyone looking for a good, funny, romantic comedy film this summer. My only problem with this film is the way it was shot. The directors, from what Ive read, really like the whole hand-held, documentary type camera work, with quick zooms and constant cuts. I, however, really don't enjoy watching that, because I know I could do it better. Put the damn camera on a tripod please, it would make this movie look so much better. Other than that, the movie was great, and I will probably end up buying this one on DVD. Go see Cyrus, I recommend it. 7 1/2 out of 10. (simply for camera work alone, would be an 8 1/2 if they used a tripod)

Inception

2010-07-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Title: Inception
Year: 2010
Director: Christopher Nolan
Lead: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, and Michael Caine
Rated: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.

In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one's mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset. (imdb)

There aren't a lot of words that can truly describe this film. Its utterly breathtaking in every aspect of film making. Single shots in this movie are better then entire films, and action sequences that can only happen in your dreams are made to feel so realistic that even the audience member feels like they are a part of it. The story is basically flawless, and the script is so well written that nobody questions the idea of inception in the slightest. The actors back this script so perfectly as well. Leo is spot on, as usual, (but then again, when has Leo put out a movie we DIDN'T like?) and Ellen Page is so great in this movie, as well as everyone else. The cinematography is unreal, the zero gravity fight scene is one of the most insane things Ive ever seen captured on film. Chris Nolan has really outdone himself in every movie he makes, you keep wondering if he has another great movie in him; well, he does. Inception is the best movie of the summer, if not the year, we'll see what December and January give us. I recommend Inception to everybody, except kids; They'll freak out. See the movie while its still fresh in theaters, because probably the best part of the film is the audience reaction to the ending. Inception is fantastic, that's why I'm giving it the rare 10 out of 10. GO SEE INCEPTION!

Toy Story 3

2010-06-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Title: Toy Story 3
Year: 2010
Director: Lee Unkrich
Lead: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen
Rated: Rated G

Woody, Buzz and the rest of Andy's toys are dumped into a daycare center when Andy leaves for college.

I was 5 years old when Toy Story blew the doors off of every theater in America, 9 when Toy Story 2 did it again. I am nearly 20 now, and I can safely credit those two Toy Story films to my chosen career path in the film industry. When I was a kid, I just watched movies; I sat there and I just watched. These days, I am picky, I pick things out, I critique everything I see, its not really by choice, Its just kind of in my brain now. This morning I sat down in the theater, the lights went down, and the familiar faces of Woody, Buzz, Slink, and everyone else came up on the screen; I was a kid again, I just watched. Toy Story 3 is the best film of 2010, and I will tell you why. Pixar brings characters you know back for the third time, they integrate them with new characters in a story that is written so flawlessly that you don't even know your watching a movie. TS3 provides some of the most genuine feelings that I have ever felt in a movie. A lot of real life films cant even pull off moments like Pixar did with this film. The landfill scene is one of the most hopeless scenes I have ever watched, and the closing scene made me cry harder then I have cried in a very long time. Toy Story 3 will get a best picture nomination, and don't be surprised if it wins. Toy Story will live forever as the best trilogy of all time. Toy Story 3 is well worth the money to see it in 3d, its well worth the money to see it 3 times, go see it in theaters, and buy it on DVD, Blu-ray, whatever you want it on, maybe both. Toy Story 3 gets 10 out of 10

Fargo

2010-05-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

Title: Fargo
Year: 1996
Director: Ethan & Joel Coen
Lead: William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Frances McDormand
Rated: Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality.

A car salesman plans a harmless crime that goes horribly wrong after both him and his hired henchman make terribly stupid mistakes.

Fargo is awesome, its a film that should be on everyone's list, the description does the film NO justice, you need to just watch this ridiculous story unfold on-screen. The script is amazing, the little things make this movie great, its things like the funny Canadian/Minnesotan accent, and the awkward silences, and Marge's husband waking up in the morning, and many other fun, quirky bits in the script. This film starts out really harmless and things are very lighthearted, but the mood soon shifts, things get crazier and crazier until everything breaks. Steve Buscemi is one crazy guy, he has shocked me in his role as Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, he's such a great actor, he's so great in this movie. The cinematography in Fargo is really cool, a couple days ago I was talking to my dad about splitting the frame, as in, there are two actors on the screen but they are split by a wall or something where they cant see each other, the Coens did this in Fargo, in the breakfast scene when Marge gets up and walks out to her car, and her husband is sitting at the table, its really cool. The Coens can do no wrong in my mind. Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Big Lebowski, all of them are hits along with Fargo. Buy Fargo, watch it, put it on your movie shelf, right in the front, show it to all of your friends... let me warn, their are some disturbing scenes, I'm not going to spoil them, but they are graphic, and the language is out of control, but it makes this movie great. Fargo won 2 Academy Awards for Best Actress in Frances McDormand, and Best Screenplay by Ethan & Joel Coen. Watch Fargo! 9 out of 10