A well done police thriller, although feels a bit like a made for tv movie.
June 29, 2014
June 28, 2014
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2557490/
Horrible unfunny comedy. This kind of movie is just not my kind of thing, but I know that the toilet humor and ridiculous situations appeal to enough that they keep making them. It is surprising to me the calibre of actors that appear in these films lately - here, Charlize Theron (the movie's only redeeming character and performance) and Liam Neeson show up quite jarringly in this extended and unfunny SNL sketch - so these movies either pay very well or are part of some penance clause in contracts. Otherwise they are just embarrassing outliers on the filmographies of good actors. I guess everyone makes mistakes in their work.
Neighbors (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2004420/
Tremendously, fantastically bad. Really really awful.
June 27, 2014
Calvary (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234003/
Interesting mix of comedy and tragedy with great Irish accents. Excellent cast and very funny sidebar stories.
Interesting mix of comedy and tragedy with great Irish accents. Excellent cast and very funny sidebar stories.
June 14, 2014
Tim's Vermeer (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3089388/
Fascinating investigation into the optical tools (likely) used by Vermeer to achieve his remarkable verisimilitude. The detail of the efforts by Tim to recreate the conditions and the painting result in a convincing case for the camera obscura, and for the merging of technology and art centuries before the photography or the computer. Great film.
June 1, 2014
After (2012)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1799508/
An interesting people in a coma story, very well done. The leads are excellent, and the story is well told and paced, with just a few holes due to the low budget nature of the movie.
An interesting people in a coma story, very well done. The leads are excellent, and the story is well told and paced, with just a few holes due to the low budget nature of the movie.
13 Sins (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2059171/
An interesting story not very well told. An ongoing "game" offers out of luck folks a chance to clear debts and get rich if they do 13 challenges, each riskier and harder than the last. The movie could have been much better - I bet the Korean version is.
An interesting story not very well told. An ongoing "game" offers out of luck folks a chance to clear debts and get rich if they do 13 challenges, each riskier and harder than the last. The movie could have been much better - I bet the Korean version is.
May 25, 2014
Tracks (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167266/
Beautifully told story of a woman's epic journey across Australia. Mia Wasikowski is excellent as Robyn Davidson, empathetic but not very likable. A bit disappointing that the story was changed from the original, unnecessarily so. Lovely to watch, and very enjoyable.
Beautifully told story of a woman's epic journey across Australia. Mia Wasikowski is excellent as Robyn Davidson, empathetic but not very likable. A bit disappointing that the story was changed from the original, unnecessarily so. Lovely to watch, and very enjoyable.
The Returned (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2093270/
Remarkably good Canadian-made zombie movie (never thought I'd say that). Interesting twist on the genre, looking at those with the disease under control as a threat and the science unable to keep up with them. Excellent performance, good story and dialogue, well paced and well told.
May 23, 2014
Walk of Shame (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2463288/
Elizabeth Banks does a great impression of Jenny McCarthy in this below average drunk girl comedy. A waste of James Marsden here - he could do much better.
Elizabeth Banks does a great impression of Jenny McCarthy in this below average drunk girl comedy. A waste of James Marsden here - he could do much better.
Contracted (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2281159/
Quite terrible. Interesting idea - STD as the start of the zombie apocalypse - but poorly executed in this low budget gross-fest.
Quite terrible. Interesting idea - STD as the start of the zombie apocalypse - but poorly executed in this low budget gross-fest.
May 17, 2014
The Machine (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2317225
A well-done low budget AI thriller, with some nice personal touches in the story. Initially looking like a combination of The Matrix and Robocop, the story brings in the interesting question: what does "alive" really mean? The leads are excellent, and their chemistry is palpable and a key success in the film. The bad guy is not really evil enough to be believable, and so the films climax suffers from a lacklustre climax. The notion of language and communication is also interesting here, as the "machines" are perceived to be mute when in fact they communicate more directly and clearly than their masters. Overall, very good.
A well-done low budget AI thriller, with some nice personal touches in the story. Initially looking like a combination of The Matrix and Robocop, the story brings in the interesting question: what does "alive" really mean? The leads are excellent, and their chemistry is palpable and a key success in the film. The bad guy is not really evil enough to be believable, and so the films climax suffers from a lacklustre climax. The notion of language and communication is also interesting here, as the "machines" are perceived to be mute when in fact they communicate more directly and clearly than their masters. Overall, very good.
Joe (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382396/
A boy-story, with a young man finding an unlikely mentor and hero in a violent but compassionate ex-con. Nicolas Cage is surprisingly good in this title role (although much of the grunting and shouting in the dialogue seems perfectly in line with his most recent other roles) and there is good and believable chemistry between him and others. Tye Sheridan as the boy is excellent, but is potentially being typecast in the troubled-young-man-finds-unlikely-mentor role (see the excellent Mud (2012) and a similar pattern for his co-star from there). Overall, this film and story feel like well-worn territory, but this iteration is pretty good.
A boy-story, with a young man finding an unlikely mentor and hero in a violent but compassionate ex-con. Nicolas Cage is surprisingly good in this title role (although much of the grunting and shouting in the dialogue seems perfectly in line with his most recent other roles) and there is good and believable chemistry between him and others. Tye Sheridan as the boy is excellent, but is potentially being typecast in the troubled-young-man-finds-unlikely-mentor role (see the excellent Mud (2012) and a similar pattern for his co-star from there). Overall, this film and story feel like well-worn territory, but this iteration is pretty good.
The Double (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825157/
Another doppelgänger tale, based on a different novel than "Enemy" but exploring some of the same territory, this film takes a black-comedy approach to the material and puts the malevolence of the 'evil' twin more explicitly in the face of the other half. Ultimately, the resolution becomes the same - they can't co-exist and so neither can survive. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent in both lead roles, moving quite seamlessly from schmuck to bastard and back again. The story elements involving the romance(s) felt derivative of Dead Ringers (1988) or even Roxanne (1987) (especially the restaurant scene with the hidden microphone), so didn't work as well for me. Overall, I enjoyed it and found the same level of existential uncertainty from both stories.
Another doppelgänger tale, based on a different novel than "Enemy" but exploring some of the same territory, this film takes a black-comedy approach to the material and puts the malevolence of the 'evil' twin more explicitly in the face of the other half. Ultimately, the resolution becomes the same - they can't co-exist and so neither can survive. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent in both lead roles, moving quite seamlessly from schmuck to bastard and back again. The story elements involving the romance(s) felt derivative of Dead Ringers (1988) or even Roxanne (1987) (especially the restaurant scene with the hidden microphone), so didn't work as well for me. Overall, I enjoyed it and found the same level of existential uncertainty from both stories.
Enemy (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2316411/
Good creepy tale of doppelgänger-ism. Jake Gyllenhaal is brilliant as the two men sharing a face, with both the despair of one and the aggression of the other, and their mutual and individual existential angst, coming through clearly and believably. The spider symbolism throughout is interesting and disconcerting, adding a sense of malevolence and discomfort throughout. The film uses visual cues and clues well, creating an environment of otherness within the familiar landscapes.
Good creepy tale of doppelgänger-ism. Jake Gyllenhaal is brilliant as the two men sharing a face, with both the despair of one and the aggression of the other, and their mutual and individual existential angst, coming through clearly and believably. The spider symbolism throughout is interesting and disconcerting, adding a sense of malevolence and discomfort throughout. The film uses visual cues and clues well, creating an environment of otherness within the familiar landscapes.
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