Zac: Wreck-It Ralph is a beautiful and loving homage to arcade games that I wish was more than just that for the majority of its runtime. [Read more...]
Review: Cyrus
07/09/2010 by Leave a Comment
The first non-micro budget feature from the Duplass brothers keeps the realistic tone, gets great performances out of their leads, and knocks the humor out of the park when it tries to be funny.
Now, don’t let that last bit scare you, this film is a comedy first and foremost but there are many quiet and sweet moments of introspection that really help elevate the film to another level of being just a comedy. The story follows John, a still sort of love sick divorcé who still works closely with his ex who is also his closest friend after seven years apart, that finally meets a woman, Molly, that seems to gel with him but she has a minor hindrance; her 21 year old son who still lives at home, Cyrus. Now, this wouldn’t seem like the biggest problem but their relationship is a bit too close for most peoples comfort. Home schooled and having never gone off to college, Cyrus, is a bit of a mama’s boy and doesn’t know much of a life beyond his mother and his electric industrial synth music.
Now Playing Review – Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
10/24/2009 by Leave a Comment
Although Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant starts out strong introducing the feel of the world with it’s medley of circus freaks and animated opening credits, it doesn’t take long to realize that these credits are the most exciting part of this bland film.
The Vampire’s Assistant combines the stories of the first three books of the series, The Saga of Darren Shan, by Darren Shan. The main character, Darren Shan (wow, I can see how this can get confusing…), lives in a boring town, leading a boring life that bleeds pastels and parental expectations. [Read more...]
Review: 9
09/30/2009 by Leave a Comment
Shane Acker’s feature length debut is a bit of a half baked idea paired with astonishing visuals that in the end overcomes most of its short comings with its imagination and originality.
9 awakens in a world destroyed by war and immediately is thrown into an adventure to not only save a new friend, but to discover the world and what happened to it. 9 himself is a sack like creature (think Little Big Planet without as big a head) and he quickly discovers that he is not the only one of his kind milling about. The human race is all but gone, as a war with machines has decimated both their world and the species, and all that we are aware of being left is a group of frightened and reclusive sack creatures numbered from 1-9. The remaining group quickly tries to convince 9 to hide with them and not try and do anything heroic after the loss of the fourth member of their group to a monstrous machine that prowls the city. But 9 won’t have it and is able to sway 5 to head after 2 and the adventure soon becomes even bigger than they thought possible as a new threat arises from their search. [Read more...]
The Decade's Best – The Aviator (2004)
08/03/2009 by Leave a Comment
Martin Scorsese’s – The Aviator (2004)
Martin Scorsese’s biopic of the entrepreneur and aviator Howard Hughes is a marvelous, entertaining, and interesting look into the life of one of the most unique, oddest, and accomplished individuals ever to capture and live in the public eye; all grounded by an extraordinary performance by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Howard Hughes was the heir to a fortune that came from drill bits in Texas but he moved on to bigger and brighter lights in Hollywood with the dream of making movies in between his love for flying. Fueled by his dream to build the fastest planes possible and the most successful films of their age Hughes found much success and translated that into romances with the biggest Hollywood starlets of his age. He was able to accomplish all of the even while his mind slowly faded into madness due his OCD and germ phobia that would plague the later years of his life and almost destroy his reputation when trying to take on the government and Pan Am in their historic dispute over the monopoly of the sky. [Read more...]
Review: Step Brothers
07/28/2008 by Leave a Comment
Will Ferrell and Adam McKay re-team, with the help of John C. Reilly, for their third picture together and falls way short of being as good as their previous entries.
Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly) are both 40 something men still living at home with their parents. Nancy, (Mary Steenburgen) Brennan’s mom, meets Robert (Richard Jenkins), Dale’s dad, at a medical conference and they hit it off immediately and quickly get married. They proceed to move into Dale’s house and Brennan and Dale are forced to share the same room as they begin to wage war on each other with feverish sibling rivalry.
The two start off as bitter enemies before finding a common enemy in Brennan’s younger brother Derek, who is stuck up, successful, and pretty much a major douche bag. As Dale and Brennan begin to bond they begin concocting ridiculous dreams and begin to perform silly and ludicrous acts as they bond even further.
As their antics begin to interfere with the life of Nancy and Robert, a deadline is laid down for the boys to get jobs and move out so that the couple can go on their sail boating trip around the world. [Read more...]
Review: Year of the Dog
01/10/2008 by Leave a Comment
Mike White adds director to his repertoire with this kind of heavy comedy that walks a fine line of being light hearted and fun, but is ultimately a very sad and tragic story. After having fairly good success with his writing career, White steps behind the camera for his latest script, and the results are a mixed bag. Everything is very static with the camera and is just kind of boring, and I am not one to point out a lazy camera, but I really noticed it, and 2/3 of the movie is just straight on shots with nothing fancy, which is fine, but his frames were just so uninteresting it was moderately distracting at time. [Read more...]
Review: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
01/02/2008 by Leave a Comment
The newest film out of the Apatow camp is by far the weakest, but still has some good laughs and an enjoyable turn by John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox.
As a spoof movie, it is a fun romp, and has to be a million times better than the likes of Epic Movie or that recent string of horrible looking crap. Though, the movie doesn’t work the whole time and drags for much longer than it should in the middle which ultimately leaves a stale taste in your mouth when it is all said and done. [Read more...]
