Joe Carnahan’s latest, The Grey, is half a great movie, it’s a shame it probably never would have gotten made if they didn’t have to include those wolves.
The aspects surrounding the wolves isn’t a complete wash, but it is nowhere near as interesting as watching this group of guys try and survive and stare death in the face. There are a couple of cool beats with the wolves squaring off against our group of survivors, but it is all kind of silly. A couple of those moments probably warrant the wolves’ inclusion in the story, but I still think the better movie doesn’t have wolves in it. It’s no coincidence that the movie began to resonate once the wolf stuff was pushed to the background and when the group has been reduced down to four is when things really take it up a notch.
Carnahan’s film opens with a fantastic voiceover sequence that does a great job setting up our hero, Ottway (played by Liam Nesson), and the setting is also wonderfully realized shot on location north of Vancouver; the movie feels freaking cold. The vistas are beautiful and daunting as Carnahan and team do a wonderful job at making us feel like these guys are truly in the middle of nowhere, making the isolation of these men all the more affective. (more…)
Not just any movie gets one of the stars to do a commentary track over its trailer, so Man On A Ledge must clearly be something special. Right? (more…)
Man on a Ledge is an adequate at best thriller that has an impressive cast, but is seemingly too guided by the studio hand to excel in any area of the filmmaking process.
The film is a smorgasbord of ideas and genres, but it is all watered down and filled with one note characters. Take the film’s villain played by Ed Harris, there is no doubt from the moment he appears on screen that this is a bad man. Nasty personality, slicked back greasy hair, and driven by nothing but greed the character is basically a cartoon. Luckily the character isn’t around all that much, but unfortunately it is a waste of such a talented actor like Ed Harris. But our villain isn’t the only character with little depth or surprise as our hero, Sam Worthington, is almost just as thin. A cop who claims to be wrongfully accused for a crime that sent him to prison is attempting to prove his innocence, but any suspense surrounding his claim is erased once you meet the aforementioned character played by Harris. From here, Worthington is asked to simply move the plot along and most of the action is regulated to the seemingly separate movie taking place caddy corner to all of the man on a ledge drama.
Red Tails is a long gestating project from George Lucas about the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII and the results are a good ole fashion war movie that overcomes its shortcomings through a likable cast and great action.
George Lucas didn’t direct this film, that would be Anthony Hemingway, but he has been talking about making this for years, having a real passion for the material. Right from the get go the tone of the film is set with the over the top, old school propaganda feel that paints our heroes as great and honorable Americans and the Nazi’s as the scum of the earth. The face of the enemy is put on the lead Nazi pilot and he is a cartoon of a character, evil to the core. That sort of juxtaposition to our good natured heroes is a perfect set up to how you should perceive Red Tails and it meets that tone from start to finish; root for the heroes as they eradicate evil on the other side of the battle. (more…)
You wouldn’t know it through my past reviews, but I do love myself some nice pop music; mostly in the form of piano pop. From Ben Folds, to Sara Barielles, even Christina Perri (to an extent), the little sub-genre has a nice place in my collection of music. Not only are the songs catchy, but contains a lot of lyrical content that make myself, the listener, relate to what they’re saying. Also, and most importantly, they have something that a lot of other pop acts out there can’t say; they are instrumentally talented.
This leads me to Ingrid Michaelson. In the past, I only knew her for two songs; the holiday duet she did with the aforementioned Barielles, and the clown-tastic music video for her song “The Way I Am.” So I was understandably nervous about jumping into her newest LP Human Again. Luckily for me, the singer/songwriter doesn’t disappoint. (more…)
Steven Soderbergh’s latest, Haywire, is a sleek and brutal action film that’s light on story, but isn’t really hurt by that in the slightest.
Haywire is another new genre for Soderbergh, spy/espionage/action, and he feels just at home here as he does in every film he puts out. Soderbergh is one of my favorite directors and he doesn’t disappoint his fans in this latest effort which is a beat’em up vehicle for MMA star Gina Carano. Like The Girlfriend Experience before it, Soderbergh finds a capable actress by pulling his star out of another medium and putting them in front of his camera in a film that plays to their strengths. In Girlfriend Experience porn star Sasha Gray was asked to show the sexual vulnerability of a woman who has sex for a living and how that affects her life at home, here Carano is asked to punch a lot of people in the face. (more…)
“On Freddie Roach” is HBO’s new documentary miniseries which offers a glimpse into the life the most famous trainer in contemporary boxing. Freddie Roach has trained over 20 world champions though out his career, from Manny Pacquiao to Oscar De La Hoya and even at one point Mike Tyson. Recently he has been inducted into the boxing hall of fame, and just this year was selected by the boxing writers association as Trainer of the Year for the 5th time. Roach has accomplished all of this despite being inflicted with Parkinson’s disease.
Let me make something clear before I continue on with this review; I will be indirectly comparing Queen, who are one of the greatest bands of all time, to the Cincinnati sextet Foxy Shazam. Now, I am in no way saying that the two bands are equal to another: there is only one Queen after all. But Foxy Shazam’s new album, The Church of Rock and Roll, is their attempt to step into some of the biggest shoes of all time.
Produced by Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, Foxy successfully moves away from their power-pop sound that they put out on their 2010 self titled album, and go for a more operatic rock sound. You know, like how Queen did it? The difference is there, but you can’t say that The Church of Rock and Roll is the closest thing to sound like Freddy Mercury and friends in years. (more…)
A few years back it became a hobby to make fun of the trend in marketing to describe things as extreme. Extreme sports are one thing (you aren’t going to see me jumping out of a helicopter into the middle of circling sharks while wearing a suit of meat with the goal of safely swimming back to shore. Way too extreme. Yes I made that sport up.), but can deodorant really be that extreme? Then again, every once in a while something worthy of the descriptor comes along. Such is the case with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
I may be a monster for saying this, but there is something oddly fascinating about witnessing a child experience tragedy, at least as it is depicted in this film. The story, based on a book of the same name, follows a 9-year-old boy after the death of his father during the events of 9/11. The main body of the film takes place one year after these events when the boy discovers a key among his fathers things, and builds it up in his mind that finding the lock that matches the key will keep him close to his father. (more…)
Hello Boys and girls! Here at HST we are always thinking of you, and as you may have noticed we have been slowly introducing co-reviews between some of the writers here. That’s right, we are saving you time from your obligation to read three Haywire reviews this week by only providing two on the site (and this is more of a spoiler free discussion/review)! What? You don’t remember signing that contract a while back. …Don’t worry about it. Let’s begin!
Lauren: Who the heck is Gina Carano? For those of us not knowledgeable when it comes to people who love to punch faces for a living, apparently she is one crazy awesome fighter. Or at least that is what IMDB’s trivia section has led me to believe. Basically, she is one BA individual who is capable of more than just holding her own. And I don’t care how confident you are, after seeing Haywire you better pray that you are never looking over your raised knuckles into her eyes. (more…)
I know I know… Many of you are thinking. Really? This loser is going to review a self-help book about LOVE on this site??? I can just skip this (and you can, if you really want to)! But bear with me! My next review will be on Ready Player One, a book which will suit many of your tastes far better. In the meantime, you might as well know upfront that I think this book is really worthwhile, otherwise I wouldn’t waste your time with it.
Once you get past the fact that Dr. Chapman sounds a lot like Dr. Phil, and mixes in a fair amount of religious talk at the beginning and end of this book, The Five Love Languages is actually a really interesting way of looking at our relationships with others (both romantic and non-romantic). In the book, Dr. Chapman reveals that people express and receive love in different ways. Because of this, even in some of the most loving relationships, one or both parties may not feel loved because the way the love is expressed isn’t necessarily in a “language” the other is receptive to. In other words, we feel most loved when the other person is expressing their love in a way that is important to us. (more…)
Beauty and the Beast is back in theaters with the Disney 3D treatment and it is pretty much a success all around.
The film is a deserved classic in the Disney cannon though it has never been my favorite from the era. Beauty and the Beast was part of the early 90’s resurgence for the company’s animation studio and while very good it falls behind Aladdin, Lion King, and The Little Mermaid for me. That said it was great to revisit the film in the cinema and it is still a gorgeous piece of animation to behold.
The film is straight forward and a classic fairy tale, but the film is mighty affective when it needs to be. Filled with a number of memorable characters, moments, and musical sequences there is a lot for anyone of any age to enjoy. From The Beast to Lumiere the cast of characters are varied and full of life and even the film’s villain, Gaston, is likable in a buffoonish way. Turning the help staff into household items allows for some fun humor, just don’t think about the logistics of what became what in the house to hard, and gives the story an interesting wrinkle to keep the kids engaged.
Castle is easily one of my favorite shows on TV right now, thanks in large part to Nathan Fillion. As the title character, he brings so much glee to crime fighting (comparable to Po in Kung Fu Panda at times) that it is not hard to love the man. Not only that, but he brings humor and a lightness to this procedural, something which has been missing from the genre (and is largely to blame for why I don’t watch some of the big name entries in the genre).
As a tie in to the show, Heat Wave is set up as the first book that Castle wrote based on the time he has spent with Detective Kate Beckett, basing the main character largely on her. It is a fun novel in which we follow Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook during a murder investigation. As someone familiar with the episode structure of the show, this is appropriately set up as a novelization of an episode, though longer. There are the usual red herrings, sexual tension, dead bodies, chases, etc., but the one thing that it is not is an episode of Castle. (more…)
Joyful Noise is the first movie of 2012 I have reviewed and it is already in the running for the year’s worst.
The film is an unbearable slog of a film that shows no craft whatsoever in both its filmmaking and musical performances. At two hours, the film felt like a freaking eternity and the filmmakers show no sense of pace or momentum. The film is an inconsistent and narrative mess that never tries to validate its plot, characters, or motivations across the board. It is hard to believe how poor a piece of filmmaking this picture is and I was regretting my morbid curiosity in checking this film out before the first act was over.
It only gets worse from there though. A movie steeped in gospel music and church going southerners is bound to get preachy, but for a while there I didn’t think they were going to go there. Boy was I wrong. (more…)
Zac: So Lauren, you and I both saw Contraband this week, the new film staring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster and Giovanni Ribisi about a bunch of smugglers trying to iron out a family debt; what did you think?
Lauren: I think that I am rather impressed with how easily you were able to narrow down that plot. Smuggling is the main focus, but it is hardly alone as Contraband throws in everything possible to make this an exciting experience. After a while it was just like, “oh come on!” How am I truly supposed to believe this story anymore? And not in an exciting, Mission: Impossible sort of way. Too much of a good thing can become a great thing, but here we were just being buried in more plot points to stand in the way of our main characters from having an easy time with things. (more…)
Joe Carnahan’s latest, The Grey, is half a great movie, it’s a shame it probably never would have gotten made if they didn’t have to include those wolves.
“On Freddie Roach” is HBO’s new documentary miniseries which offers a glimpse into the life the most famous trainer in contemporary boxing. Freddie Roach has trained over 20 world champions though out his career, from Manny Pacquiao to Oscar De La Hoya and even at one point Mike Tyson. Recently he has been inducted into the boxing hall of fame, and just this year was selected by the boxing writers association as Trainer of the Year for the 5th time. Roach has accomplished all of this despite being inflicted with Parkinson’s disease.
