Review: Super

Super is the latest from James Gunn and the result is a bizarre, violent, and funny take on the super hero genre that falls in line with Kick-Ass and Watchmen of recent years.

A subversion of the comic book film, this is probably the most realistic take on what having a masked avenger running around would really be like in reality.  Seattle has a couple of masks running around town in real life right now, and Crimson Bolt feels like he could fit right in with them.  Married to an ex-drugged out stripper, it was only a matter of time before Frank’s wife slipped back to her old ways, pushed along by a smalltime mob criminal type Jacques.  Frank decides to get her back as he sees her being manipulated and used along the way and he does so by adopting a crime fighting persona, The Crimson Bolt.

While the film might seem like a Kick-Ass rip off, it definitely blazes its own path.  The film is raw, bizarre, and pulls no punches along the way.  The characters that inhabit this world are unique and relish violence, not that there’s anything wrong with that, and you will see people gleefully enjoy the pain of others.  What makes that last sentence even weirder is that Frank may or may not be on a mission from God; might just be schizophrenic. Regardless of what is sending and driving Frank forward, it sends its messages in a weird and bizarre ways.

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Will It Fall? The Final Shot of Inception (Spoilers)

So obviously Lauren and I (Check out our reviews first; Lauren’s and Zac’s) think Inception is a pretty swell movie.  Lauren has picked it as her best picture favorite and it seems to be a lock Top 5 for me as well.  But we both agree that the final shot of the film is easily the biggest flaw of the film and kind of B.S.

Either way, we discuss it in depth below and feel free to let us know if you agree.

And Obviously: Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Now Playing Review – Inception

I remember reading something once when I was younger about the possibility of being able to control what happens in your dreams.  You were supposed to ask yourself throughout the day “Am I dreaming?”  Eventually this habit would cause your dreaming self to ask this same question, so that when you realized you were dreaming you would be able to influence the dream in your own way.  Basically your dream self could do all the things you would never do in the real world, creating a second reality in a way.  Back then I thought it was awesome because I would finally get the chance to kiss the boy I had a crush on… Talk about dreaming big, I know.  I eventually forgot about this until tonight when Inception showed me why leaving the dream world to the subconscious is probably a wiser choice.

The characters in Inception take this process one step further.  Instead of trying to manipulate the random dream they find themselves in once they fall asleep, the team led by Cobb actually create the dream from the ground up.  They then enter this “controlled” environment with their mark, or the person that they will then try to steal certain desired information and secrets from for their client. [Read more...]

Review: Inception

Inception, the latest from Christopher Nolan, is nothing short of phenomenal and is a prime example of why we go to the movies; to have an experience almost none of us could ever even imagine.

I am not going to even try to explain the plot as it is both complex and better experienced as virgin as possible. But in short it follows a team of contracted thieves, led by Cobb, who steal information from people’s minds by sedating them and creating a dream world which allows them to extract their target mission. When the team is recruited to plant an idea in a mark’s mind, through Inception, they will have the greatest challenge they have faced yet.

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Inception Teaser I Was Talking About

http://movies.apple.com/movies/wb/inception/inception-tlr2_720p.mov

Hit the link and put it on your calendar.

This trailer is just so crazy, and I have no idea what is going on, I can’t help but be enthralled with the amazing imagery unfolding on the screen.  The cast is great, the director as good, and I think we have our highest grossing original property of 010 already picked out.

I think I am going to go cold on this title from here on out though unless I happen to catch a preview in the theater, and even then I might shield my eyes.  This is going to be one of those movies where the less you know the better it will be.  Luckily Nolan will probably do a fine job of keeping this wrapped up tight regardless to make my life easier.

Inception Teaser Poster

This is one of the biggest films of 010 from Christopher Nolan and has an absolutely stunning cast.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine and Dileep Rao, that is a cast few can top.
The trailer is weird and illusive and the poster is no more helpful. But still, you should get a better look at the trailer in the coming weeks as it will be attatched to either Avatar or Sherlock Holmes.  Check out the poster after the jump.

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Review: Whip It

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut is a fun, humorous, and uplifting tale that appeals to all audiences with its themes about being yourself and not bashing anyone along the way and it is about as fun as a movie can get when it is firing on all cylinders.
Bliss Cavendar is a seventeen year old girl living under the tutelage of her mother in the world of beauty pageants and is quickly growing disinterested with the whole thing. Growing more and more into her own, Bliss is looking for something more up her ally. Not full of her self and never trying to set a trend, she is a quiet and gentle outsider when it comes to school but while visiting Austin she sees a group of roller derby girls promoting an event and quickly takes an interest to the sport. With her best friend Pash, the two head out for the big city to catch the event and Bliss becomes an enthralled by the event that unfolds. Upon discovering there are open tryouts for the league in a few weeks time, Bliss decides to bust out her old skates and start training to hopefully make a team. After a rough try out, her speed finds her a spot on the The Hurl Scouts with teammate like Maggie Mayhem, Smashley Simpson, Rosa Sparks, and Bloody Holly. Having to keep this world secret from her mom she leads a second life as a roller derby girl and even finds romance in a fan of the sport that helps her further discover herself. [Read more...]

Review: Smart People

This new dramedy from Noam Murro is a mixed bag in that it can meander at times, but is also genuinely hilarious more than it wallows.
Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is an English professor who has to be driven around for 6 months after possibly suffering a seizure. Enter Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), his scheming and lazy step-brother that begs and borrows from Lawrence about once a year. Recently unemployed, Chuck takes on the role as driver and moves into the house and slowly begins forming a bond with, Vanessa (Ellen Page), Lawrence’s over-achieving intelligent daughter and a social nightmare. [Read more...]

Review: Juno

Talk about breaking a stereotype. Who would have thought that such a great film like Juno was written by an ex-advertiser/stripper/phone sex operator named Diablo Cody. But that is in fact what she has done and paired with one of the more capable young directors around, Jason Reitman, Juno might end up being the funniest film of the year. [Read more...]