Quick Review: 'Contagion' (C-)

I watched 'Contagion' last night. I didn't really like it. It was made by the same director as 'Traffic' and tried his best to emulate that kind of story telling magic, but fell very short. However, I really appreciated Lawrence Fishburn's performance. He was the only stand out in this start studded cast. But all in all it was just bleh.

Quick Reviews: 'Crazy, Stupid. Love', 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', 'Super 8', and 'Moneyball'

I’ve been making daily updates on my movie marathon progress on Facebook. I realized that I should probably be posting them here too.

So here is a collection on my latest updates from the week:

‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ - (A)I finally watched ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ last night. It was great and it’s totally my kind of movie. Most importantly, this movie surprised me. Normally, I’m able to predict the course of a movie and although I enjoy them, I usually see things coming from a mile away. And for the most part I was… like Marisa Tomei’s character. I predicted that. However, about three quarters of the way into the film something happened that totally threw me and I was like, “BRILLIANT!” I didn’t see it coming at all. However, looking back at earlier dialogue, I should have. The compliment here is that ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ drew me in so much, that I stopped trying to make predictions in my head… and I just let the whole story unfold, which was awesome. Great script, great cast, great movie!


‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ - (B)We Need to Talk About Kevin'. This movie is very bleak and draining. It is a very tough and not so happy story. However, quite a lot of artistry went into telling this story. What could have been very graphic and violent was told very simply and with great care. I really appreciated the simplistic approach. Plus, Tilda Swinton's performance is the best of the year, so far, and new comer Ezra Miller (as Kevin) is a young man to watch for the future.


‘Super 8’ - (A)
Movie Marathon Update: Finished 'Super 8' last night after building a bunch of presents. Wow. It was really great. I just love JJ Adrams, that dude knows how to tell a story! Plus, the kids in the movie were spot on, plus Kyle Chandler (Sp?), from Friday Night Lights, was amazing as always as the Deputy Sheriff/ Dad.


‘Moneyball’ - (A)
I watched 'Moneyball' last night. Great movie! So far it is the best movie I’ve seen during my annual "Pre-Movie Award Season Marathon”. Oddly enough, I think Jonah Hill might have a chance for the Golden Globe, although I still haven’t seen the other four Supporting Actor Nominees… yet!

Review: ‘The Ideas of March’ (B-)

Director: George Clooney (‘Good Night and Good Luck’)

Okay, so I know my review of ‘The Ideas of March’ might seem a little harsh and I’m sure Clooney, if he knew I existed, would probably think I hate him, especially since I panned ‘Up in the Air’ a few years ago on my other blog.  However, that is the farthest thing from the truth.  Please know I liked this movie… well… I appreciated the movie; I appreciated the movie a lot.

Thematically, I think the movie was a success, mainly because it justified my personal opinion about American politics: Everyone involve, no matter the party, are shady back-stabbing liars.  And in driving this theme home, Clooney, but co-star and director, created one of the bleakest depictions of the American political system I’ve seen. 

The idealistic hopes and dreams that would drive most political movies died a quick and painful death within the first quarter of ‘The Ides of March’.  And playing against the norm, where the idealism would come back for a triumphant victory… the protagonist, Ryan Gosling, succumbs to what our political system is really about and plays the game harder and better than anyone else in the room.

This movie is good and it is worth seeing if you’re not in the mood for the feel good movie of the year… it is a well constructed film with an very good cast… almost too good… way too good. 

Let me explain:

A few weeks ago I reviewed ‘Cedar Rapids’, a delightful comedy staying Ed Helms, Ann Heche, and John C. Riley.  In my review I said, “And I hate to say it, but if Ryan Gosling and Kate Winslet had starred in this movie, rather than Helms and Heche, I think Cedar Rapids would end up being the toast of the town come awards season.  And that said, I’m not sure if Gosling and Winslet would have done a better job than Helms and Heche… and that is what makes EGOTing so frustrating.”

Well, I think ‘The Ides of March’ illustrates my point beautifully.  With a different cast I think this movies would have been forgotten faster than ‘Columbiana’… or gone straight to video.  And it would have ultimately been one of those movies that film buffs recommend to each other as “must sees”, but never attracts a mainstream audience.

The fact of the matter is that ‘The Ideas of March’ has a cast, who collectively has been nominated for 27 Golden Globes, 22 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and 12 Academy Awards.  And when you have that much award love floating around, you’re pretty much guaranteed more acclaim and nominations. 

Cast: George Clooney, Ryan Gosling (‘Half Nelson’), Philip Seymour Hoffman (‘Capote’), Paul Giamatti (‘Sideways’), Even Rachel Wood (‘Once and Again’), Marisa Tomei (‘The Wrestler’) and Jeffrey Wright (‘Angels in America’)

Reviews: ‘Hanna’ (B)

‘Hanna’ (B)

Directed by: Joe Wright ‘(Atonement’ and ‘Pride and Predjudice’)

Starring: Saoirse Ronan (‘The Lovely Bones’), Eric Bana (‘Munich’), and Cate Blanchett (‘The Aviator’)

I’ve been excited about ‘Hanna’ ever since I saw the preview last summer while in Pakistan... and it certainly lived up to the hype I built up in my head.  It was really great! 

That said, if you dig those run of the mill mindless shoot ‘em up, over the top action flicks we’re accustom to in the States… ‘Hanna’ might not be your speed.  This is nothing like ‘Salt’.

Although ‘Hanna’ has elements of an action thriller, its pace is more reminiscent of a drama, which makes a lot of sense when you look at director Joe Wright’s resume.  He took this script and played it to his strengths, which I think was a benefit to the overall product.

I highly recommend this film!

Review: ‘Cedar Rapids’ (B)

Cedar Rapids was just plain old fun and I highly recommend this very simply, straight forward, and quirky comedy. 

The screenplay, by first timer Phil Johnston, was featured on the 2009 installment of the ‘Hollywood Blacklist’ honoring the best unproduced screenplays circulating Hollywood, and finally brought to the big screen by underrated director Miguel Arteta (Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, and Youth in Revolt).  Together, along with a terrific cast, they have put together a film that doesn’t disappoint.

The Positive

This ensemble comedy is pretty remarkable and very balanced.  Everyone it perfectly cast, incredibly talented, and each individual compliments the rest of their team perfectly.  There isn’t a week leak among them.

Ed Helms (The Office) proves, once again, that he is the king of playing the nice guy.  Anne Heche, whose Television work I adore (Men in Trees and Hung) is as delightful as always.  Sigourney Weaver brings this amazing edge to the movie… and at times reason and much needed stability.  And John C. Reilly?  Well… John does what he does best: steal scenes. 

If you are a fan of John C. Reilly’s body of work, his performance in Cedar Rapids is a must see because he’s giving everything he’s got. In this movie John channels the comic brilliance we’ve seen in Talladega Nights and Dewy Cox, and harnesses it with the kind of sincerity we’ve seen in Magnolia and Boogie Nights.

And the same accolades goes to the stacked supporting cast as well:  Stephen Root (News Radio and Office Space), Kurtwood Smith (That 70s Show), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Rob Corddry (The Daily Show and Hot Tube Time Machine), Mike O’Malley (Yes, Dear and Glee), Thomas Patrick Lennon (The State and Reno 911!), and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (The Wire).

Isiah in particular has a couple scene stealing moments as a mild mannered insurance agent who is an enthusiast of the HBO Series ‘The Wire’… a show he, in real life, starred in… and in one scene in particular he channels his character from ‘The Wire’ who is neither mild, nor mannered, culminating into a hysterically funny moment.

The Negative

There is a reason why Cedar Rapids was on the 2009 Hollywood Blacklist.  It’s great!  And this is the kind of comedy you would normally find vying for awards… however… it will go unnoticed, not due to the faults of anyone involved.  As a whole, the writing, direction, and performances were spot on.  However, sadly to say, the problem is that no one associated with this film is high profile enough to attract the kind of attention needed for a successful awards run. 

And I hate to say it, but if Ryan Gosling and Kate Winslet had starred in this movie, rather than Helms and Heche, I think Cedar Rapids would end up being the toast of the town come awards season.  And as a result, I actually think John C. Reilly would have ended up with an Oscar Nomination.

And that said, I’m not sure if Gosling and Winslet would have done a better job than Helms and Heche… and that is what makes EGOTing so frustrating.

‘Win Win’ (A)

Okay, up front I’m going to admit that my review for ‘Win Win’ will be a bit biased.  This film is totally my style.  I love contemporary slice-of-life dramatic comedies.  ‘Win Win’ is one of those  gut-wrenching films with a lot of heart in the style of ‘Juno’, ‘Sideways’, ‘Little Miss Sunshine, ‘Dan in Real Life’, ‘The Kids are All Right’, ‘Up in the Air’, ‘About Schmidt’, ‘Lost in Translation’… seriously… I could go on and on.  These are the movies I love.

On paper, ‘Win Win’ has everything going for it:

1. Paul Giamatti:  This is what Paul does best.  As a small town lawyer and volunteer high school wrestling coach, Paul, like in ‘Sideways’, straddles the fine line between being sympathetic, morally reprehensible, and a loveable teddy bear.  There is just something about Paul Giamatti, in roles like this that draws the audience in and gets them to root for him even when the audience knows he’s not making good decisions.  In short, this is the kinds of role Paul was born to play.

2.  Amy Ryan: Every actress in Hollywood should hate Amy Ryan.  She is just too dang good.  So good that she makes everything she does look easy.  Whether it’s playing a junkie mom in ‘Gone, Baby Gone’ or portraying the perfect foil to Steve Carell on ‘The Office’ Amy Ryan is just so darn good it hurts.  And her work in ‘Win Win’ is no different.  She is so natural as Paul’s wife that you feel like you’re watching a REAL couple.  Their talents together create this really amazing portrait of a modern American couple trying to scrap by in a failing economy while raising their kids.  Brilliant!

3.  Alex Shaffer:  Simply amazing.  This kid was spot on and it is probably one of the best first performances I’ve ever seen by an actor his age; reminiscent of Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun) and Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People).  If you see a picture of Alex in real life, you’ll see a normal clean-cut awkward looking teenager.  And if I were to judge a book by its cover I would probably assume he’s pretty good in school but not overly athletic, and I would assume he has a group of very close friends but not overly popular.  Just a normal kid.  Well… his transformation into Kyle Timmons, the bleached hair, tattooed, cigarette smoking, wrestling prodigy is astounding.  This normal looking kid channeled what I can only assume is raw, natural acting chops.  Although, in real life Alex was actually a New Jersey State wrestling champion… this is probably where his similarity to Kyle ends… but what do I know.  All I can say is that LOVED Alex’s performance I would really like to see the Academy give him a nod for his work... but that is another issue entirely.

4.  Director/Writer Thomas McCarthy:  I for one have a man-crush on Thomas McCarthy.  I am a big fan of his previous movies: ‘The Station Agent’ and ‘The Visitor’… both are fantastic and if you haven’t seen them… you need to.  Also, it is worth noting that Thomas helped write Pixar’s ‘Up’.  In short, he is a force with an amazing track record for making excellent movies.  And you might even remember Thomas from his acting work on ‘Boston Public’ and ‘The Wire’… they guy has serious talent.

5.  The supporting cast: Leading performances can only take you so far… and the strength of Win Win’s supporting cast articulates one of the films on going themes:  Although wrestling (much like life) is an individual struggle… it is also a team sport and success can only be achieved by trusting and supporting your team (and them trusting and supporting you).  ‘Win Win’ has an arsenal of very talented and somewhat high profile supporting actors who compliment the story perfectly:  Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch, The Station Agent), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), Burt Young (Rocky), Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Informant!, Up in the Air), and Margo Martindale (Justified).

Ultimately I think ‘Win Win’ is a MUST see.  And I really think it should be an Oscar contender… however it probably won’t.  ‘Win Win’ premiered at Sundance in January and was released in theatres last March, which is way too early in the year.  By the time Oscar voters start narrowing the field, they will have, more than likely, forgotten about ‘Win Win’. 

As a point of reference ‘Sideways’ and ‘Lost in Translation’ were released in October, while ‘June’ and ‘Up in the Air’ were released in December.  ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (released in July) is one of very few movies of this style that have been able to maintain enough momentum to get Oscar nominations. 

That said, I think ‘Win Win’ has a chance for Best Original Screenplay and of course, I hope the stars align and Alex Shaffer scores a Best Supporting Actor nod, but it’s a long shot.

Review: ‘Straw Dogs’ (B-)

Now, when you look at movies… a B- isn’t too bad.  ‘Straw Dogs’ was far from being a perfect film, but it certainly doesn’t deserve the dismal 5.6 out to 10 from IMDB.com or the 35% from Rotten Tomatoes. 

Frankly, movie critics have been all over the map with their grades on this film, scoring ‘Straw Dogs’ anywhere from 1 to 4 stars on their 5 star scale.

Honestly… ‘Straw Dogs’ isn’t bad.  It is certainly more good than bad… however, since I haven’t been able to shake the movie from my mind since seeing it over a week ago… I would be inclined to call it better than ‘just good’.  However, it is still a very tough film to wrap my head around.

Let’s focus on some of the negative comments made by critics:

“Almost succeeds as an object lesson in the difference between being a man and being a macho animal. But it fails as a gripping home-invasion thriller.” - Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

I have to make a confession.  I’ve never seen the original Sam Peckinpah film from 1971.  I guess it’s supposed to be a classic.  Back when I used to work for Hollywood Video I received a frantic call from a film professor at Georgia State University.  To no luck, he had been calling around town all day looking for a copy of the movie to show his class… however, I knew we had it in stock the second he asked.  The cover art and the fact Dustin Hoffman starred in the film had caught my eye numerous times, but still I never watched it.

That said… based on everything I have read about the remake, I am pretty sure it is a close adaptation to the original.  So… I find Carrie Rickey’s comments very strange… mainly because ‘Straw Dogs’ IS NOT a home-invasion thriller… I don’t think it was even trying to be a home-invasion thriller.  To me, ‘Straw Dogs’ is about a whole plethora of different things that just happens to climax with a home-invasion. 

I mean come on… the movie was 110 minutes long and maybe 10 or 15 minutes of that was the actual home-invasion.  ‘The Strangers’ was a home-invasion thriller.  ‘The Desperate Hours’ was a home-invasion thriller.  However, ‘Straw Dogs’ is not. 

Although, in her review, Carrie attempts to make some very vague comparisons to the original, it is glaringly obvious that Carrie, like me, had never seen the Sam Peckinpah version of ‘Straw Dogs’.

In reality, she was probably horribly misled by the TV spots released for this film, which clearly marketed ‘Straw Dogs’ as a home-invasion thriller:

Here’s my problem.  After seeing ‘Straw Dogs’ my immediate response was, “Wow, this movie was marketed extremely poorly… it’s advertizing was totally misleading.”  However, it seems to me that Carrie Rickey used this preview as the bench mark of her entire review.

In her defense, I will agree… the movie was marketed as a home-invasion thriller.  However, it clearly wasn’t.  And since Carrie Rickey makes her living as a movie critic for a pretty reputable newspaper I would hope she would be able to make the same connection.  But alas… her review is completely phoned in, giving nothing more than a plot summery and a few vague opinions without feeling the need to justify her opinions.

Now… despite what you might think, me being a blogger and all, but I don’t really put myself out there as a legitimate movie critic… legitimate critics get paid for offering insight… just a guy who loves movies… so yes, I think ‘legitimate critics’ should be able to offer more than just a surface glance at a movie’s plot and a few off hand remarks.

"a bird-brained remake" that is "miscast, barely functional in terms of technique, stupid and unnecessary" – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

You know?  I totally dig (part) of what Michael is saying.  Aren’t ALL remakes unnecessary?  The only remake I have EVER seen that was truly successful was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day.  But, then again… it is worth noting that Hitchcock was remaking his own film.  He has actually directed the original in 1934!    

However… I don’t agree with his comment about the film being miscast.  Sure, James Marsden wasn’t spectacular and this is probably one of James Woods most phoned in performances… but when criticizing the week links in the cast we should, at the same time, honor the stronger performances.  Specifically: Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard.

Kate Bosworth was virtually unrecognizable in this film, in terms of shedding her Bosworthisms and creating a whole new character from scratch.  For the first time I didn’t feel like I was watching Kate Bosworth pretend to be someone else… I felt like I was watching a performance completely devoid of the actress’s true self.

And dare I say it… because no one will ever receive an awards nomination for this movie, but I’ll say it anyway.  Alexander Skarsgard delivers THE strongest supporting actor performance I’ve seen in the last few years.  He was creepy, sinister… and oddly sympathetic at times… at least until he crossed the line.  But until that moment, as an audience member I didn’t know who I wanted to root for, Marsden or Skarsgard.  And that’s the point of the movie.  Well… one of the points.

Now, even though I can see where Michael Phillips is coming from in parts of his review, he lost all credibility when he compared seeing ‘Straw Dogs’ to "being waterboarded by liberals outside a Democratic National Committee event.” 

What does that even mean?  What in the world does that have to do with going to the movies?  Phillips apparently has some issues that he needs to work out before writing about movies again.

"This new version of "Straw Dogs" is a reasonably close adaptation of the 1971 film by Sam Peckinpah. Change the location from England to Mississippi, change a mathematician into a screenwriter, keep the bear trap and the cat found strangled, and it tells the same story. It is every bit as violent. I found it visceral, disturbing and well-made" – Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

Thank you Roger.  You see folks?  Roger gets it.  He always has.  He’s not flashy and he stays on point… and he also gave the remake of ‘Straw Dogs’ 3 out of 4 stars.  Here is a link, his review is very well written and deeply personal… thoughtful:  http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110914/REVIEWS/110919991

See?  I’m not crazy.

So… what is ‘Straw Dogs’ really about?  Is it about a mild mannered man who ‘mans up’ when he needs to?  Yeah, sure… in the most simplistic terms, ‘Straw Dogs’ is an “object lesson in the difference between being a man and being a macho animal” like Carrie Rickey suggested in her review.

However, the story of the screenwriter (James Marsden) and his wife (Kate Bosworth) is only half the story.  And to have a truly objective presentation, the other side needs to be represented as well… James Woods’ side… Alexander Skarsgard’s side.  The side of the town.  A town so wrought with tension, even before the protagonists enter the picture that it could have exploded at any minute.  This was a town just looking for an excuse to ignite… and they did...  forcing an ordinary man to act.