The last time I saw a film about bank robbing was when The Town was in theaters, and I don’t know about you but my self-emanating laugh track was not in danger of being worn out that day. 30 Minutes or Less goes for the apposing drama mask for its take on the heist film genre, creating a decent comedy structured around a simple and ridiculous premise. [Read more...]
Film Review: 30 Minutes or Less
08/12/2011 by Leave a Comment
Review: The Social Network
10/01/2010 by Leave a Comment
David Fincher’s latest is forever going to be known as “the Facebook Movie” but it will also be held up there with his finest works which is a filmography very few directors can touch.
The Social Network is a look at the creation, rise, and legal woes of Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook in a rare biopic in which its subject is not only still alive, but flourishing. Facebook is currently worth 25 billion dollars and growing and the story to how it came to be is quite remarkable actually. From the opening frames of the film we are prepared for the personality of Mark Zuckerberg.; he is smart, sharp, quick, and kind of an asshole. And that might lose some people along the way, rooting for a guy who shows his brilliance and is deserving of his success but he is fully aware of all it and not afraid to rub it in people’s faces. Personally, I love this version of Mark Zuckerberg that Aaron Sorkin, Fincher, and Jesse Eisenberg have created. He is every adjective I have used above to describe him and quite funny to boot. Eisenberg shines particularly bright in the deposition scenes inter-cut throughout the film as he sits idly by, nodding in agreement, before unleashing a whirlwind of hostility that dissipates as quick as it arises.
Now Playing Review – Zombieland
11/05/2009 by Leave a Comment
If you cannot see the greatness of Zombieland, then you are as dead as the majority of the population of this film.
In the near future, the majority of the population of the United States has turned into a flesh-feeding mass due to a freakish incident that I would not dare to give away. We first meet the neurotic Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), who up till now has only survived thanks to his long list of rules that often find themselves strategically placed on screen as they come into play, such as the use of seatbelts, cardio, and the better safe than sorry double-tap. [Read more...]
Review: Zombieland
10/06/2009 by Leave a Comment
Ruben Fleischer’s feature debut is an extremely fun zombie comedy that is definitely more comedy than any of the many other genres on display here, which isn’t a bad thing since it is frequently hilarious.
The zombie apocalypse is well under way in the United States and the living dead vastly outnumber the living. We follow the path of Columbus, as in his destination is Columbus, Ohio, in which he hopes to find his family still intact. Columbus lives by a set of rules to keep from becoming the living dead, many of which we will get a lesson in over the course of the film. Columbus is a former college student who has now hit the road and he ends up running into and pairing up with a man known as Tallahassee, a bit reckless but a hell of a zombie killer, the two form an unlikely team that is both effective and beneficial to their survival. The pair eventually runs into another couple on the run, this time a pair of sisters, Wichita and Little Rock are their call signs with Wichita being the older and Little Rock a 12 year old on the run. The foursome eventually team up, though not very smoothly and they decide to watch each others backs with the hope of finding a little peace if not what they are looking for. [Read more...]
Review: Adventureland
04/15/2009 by Leave a Comment
Greg Mottola’s follow up to Superbad shares little in common with that previous film, which isn’t a bad thing as this is an honest and sometimes sweet coming of age tale for a fresh college grad.
James has a plan. As his graduation present his parents are supposed to help fund his trip to Europe with friends, where he can finally lose his virginity, and then he will move to New York to attend an Ivy League school for graduate degree and everything will be peachy. Well upon graduation he discovers that his dad has been demoted and his parents can no longer float him along any more and that he must get a summer job. The only place that will hire him is the local dead end amusement park, Adventureland. James is stuck working the game booths for the course of the summer in which he meets a number of interesting individual, the most interesting being a cute fellow twenty something named Em. James and Em click and they begin hanging out quite a bit and eventually fall into a sort of pseudo relationship of sorts. Meanwhile, James bonds with Joel, a dorky fellow games worker and Connell the parks repair man who is also a fairly successful musician on the side, or so they say. As the summer goes on, we get to see the ups and downs of James and Em, James struggles with his affinity to fall in love, the comings and goings of the park, and the challenge of fighting his urge to get laid over his faithfulness to a relationship. [Read more...]
Review: The Hunting Party
02/05/2008 by Leave a Comment
Richard Shepard’s follow up to the entertaining The Matador is a knockout that takes you along for the ride from start to finish.
The film follows Duck, a war camera man that won awards and gained recognition working with Simon Hunt who was the top field journalist of his time. After an on screen meltdown Hunt is exiled from the reporting world and Duck finds himself as the lead anchor’s cameraman. Duck returns to Bosnia 5 years after the meltdown that Hunt had while reporting in the same country at the end of the Serbian War. [Read more...]
