RELEASE
December 27, 2012 (VOD)
January 25, 2013 (LIMITED)
DIRECTOR
Don Coscarelli
STUDIO
Magnet Releasing
RUNNING TIME
1 hour 40 minutes
STARS
***1/2
REVIEW:
'John Dies At The End' is a hard film to talk about due to the fact that it is a very bizarre movie. The director of this film is named Don Coscarelli, who's most famous for directing two cult films named 'Phantasm' and 'Bubba Ho Tep.' Having never seen those films, I was very intrigued by this film due to the fact that it looked bizarre but cool from the trailers. After watching the film itself, I can surely say that that's exactly what the film is: bizzare but cool. Not only that, but the story is clever, the acting is better than most indie fantasy films, and this entire film, like the drug in the film itself, called "Soy Sauce," is one hell of a fun trip. With a title like 'John Dies At The End,' how could you pass this film up?
Not much else can be said about this film without giving away some of the strangest and most exhilarating moments. The basic plot of the film is this: two friends get exposed to a special drug that teleports them to alternate universes and gives them an adventure and mission that they never expected to get in the first place. The acting is solid, especially from the two newcomer leads and Paul Giamatti, who's always great in movies. The story is strange and bizarre, but if your mind is in the right place then chances are that you might enjoy the film. I can see this becoming a cult favorite if people decide to give it a chance. If you are a fan of films like 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure,' Hellboy,' or 'Pineapple Express,' then this movie, despite it being a horror comedy, might be right up your alley. 'John Dies At The End,' as bizarre as it is, is a fun, gorey, and trippy time that will surely have you dazed and wanting to get in on the "drug" some more.
January of 2013 actually seemed to be more promising than many prior years with stinkers being released. One of the movies coming out this month is a political thriller called 'Broken City.' The trailer for the film showed that it had promise, but not enough promise to solidify my hype and my anticipation. Unfortunately though, the movie didn't live up to the potential that it had. The reason why 'Broken City' suffers is because of less than great acting from everyone other than a couple of the supporting actors, a script that was trying to copy cat a Tarantino script, and some poor direction from director Allen Hughes. It makes sense that 'Broken City' is coming out during what some people call "trash month," because that's essentially what this film is aside from a couple of good things spread out throughout the film.
After a shooting that leaves one man with a bullet in his head, police officer Billy Taggert is forced to resign as an officer and make a different living. Seven years past, and Taggert works in his own company as a private investigator. He's hired by people to take pictures of possible scandals going on, and they pay him good amounts of money. Billy soon gets a call from the mayor of New York, Nick Hostetler, to come in and do a job for him. Hostetler believes that his wife is cheating on him with another man, so he hires Billy to take pictures to see who the man is. Billy soon learns after taking the pictures that the scandal isn't about an affair, but rather something much bigger than he expected.
It's a pretty well known fact that Mark Wahlberg is a talented actor. After all, he's been nominated for two Academy Awards before. Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones are great actors, and both have actually won Oscars before. Unfortunately the three leads in the film are rather disappointing and somewhat mediocre here. Wahlberg doesn't show a lot of emotion in the film, and it felt as if he was just reading lines from the script as he was talking for most of the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones is barely given anything to do in this movie, only showing up for about 5 scenes and just acting bland. She won an Academy Award for crying out loud, so why is she in a role where any other actress could have been in her shoes and deliver the same exact performance? Who knows, but she was also in the critically panned 'Playing For Keeps,' so it looks like it might be time for her to find a new agent.
Russell Crowe is the best of the three leads, but that isn't saying a lot. His villainous performance was decent, but his New York accent was a little off and honestly, the character just annoyed me for a lot of the movie. Nothing against Crowe as an actor, since he is a great actor, but it was just the way his character was written that made me get aggravated with his performance. The best parts of the cast were the smaller supporting roles, including Barry Pepper and Kyle Chandler as the man who's running against Crowe's character to become the mayor of New York City and his campaign manager respectively. Those were the only actors in the film that actually gave some effort into their performances and tried their hardest to actually act. Too bad the three main leads couldn't give as good of performances as their supporting players
It's pretty noticeable sometimes when a screenwriter is trying to copy the style of another acclaimed screenwriter. The first-time screenwriter of 'Broken City,' named Brian Tucker, takes the serious story of crime and politics and adds snappy lines that I believe was trying to copy off of Quentin Tarantino's style of writing. As someone who had just seen his first Tarantino film, this aggravated me throughout the duration of the movie. None of the dialogue had style or humor and was rather trying to mock the snappy and witty dialogue that Tarantino, or even Joss Whedon, have in their screenplays. To top that all off, the story itself was bland as wet bread and had a pretty predictable ending with one twist that had potential but didn't really go anywhere. Plus there was an awful and unnecessary subplot involving the girlfriend of Mark Wahlberg's character that could have easily been chopped from the film and replaced with things that actually mattered and could have been really interesting.
Aside from a couple of good performances from the supporting actors, and some interesting plot elements, 'Broken City' is just the standard January trash that people will like because Mark Wahlberg is in it. The acting is sub-par, aside from pretty good performances from Kyle Chandler and Barry Pepper. The script is predictable, nothing new, and is trying to mock off the writing styles of Quentin Tarantino. To top that all off, the direction from Allen Hughes does nothing ground-breaking and focuses more on getting 360° of the actors rather than trying to tell a story that could have been somewhat enjoyable.
It should be expected that a movie like this released in January wouldn't be that good, but the fact that I had to wait in line for an hour and a half with three other guests and only get in with a friend from the press at the last minute without my guests was aggravating. I want to thank my guests that night for letting me get into the screening without you guys, and I'm glad you guys got a good dinner out of it. Honestly though, I wish there wasn't as much trouble with this movie because it wasn't even worth it. Thank you 'Broken City' for making me waste my Tuesday night on a boring, dull, and predictable political thriller that couldn't even be saved by a talented cast. 'Broken City' is indeed a broken mess that had the potential to be somewhat enjoyable.
'Gangster Squad' turned out to be a lot more different than I expected it to be. What I personally expected from this film was a brutal, serious, and fun movie with some solid performances from the cast. Instead what I got was a violent, corny, and fun movie with some good performances and one over the top performance. Not to say that this movie wasn't enjoyable, because it was. I was just expecting a better film than what was given. I admired that the film embraced its corniness, like how 'Premium Rush' did back in August. Unfortunately Sean Penn goes a little over the top in his performance as Mickey Cohen, there are more slow-motion shots than needed, and the ending was pretty schmaltzy and too happy for a film that's advertised as being "based on a true story." Still though, the performances are good, the action scenes were good, and the film overall embraced the fact that it's not trying to be such a serious crime film. 'Gangster Squad' has its flaws, but it is a fun movie if you understand what type of movie you're getting in to.
SYNOPSIS: (Courtesy of iTunes Movie Trailers)
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and--if he has his way--every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop... except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara and Jerry Wooters, who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart.
Of all of the performances in the film that disappointed me, the biggest disappointment for me was Sean Penn's portrayal of Mickey Cohen. Sean Penn is a fantastic actor, always losing himself in every role he plays. With his role as Mickey Cohen, he does lose himself, but a bit too much. Penn's performance was just so over the top that it almost made Cohen a laughable character. Some of the more dramatic elements of the film were well acted by Penn, but many of the cheesier moments had Penn going AWOL from his usual dramatic stuff and had him acting like a goofball. The best performance in the film was actually Ryan Gosling, but that was because he was kind of playing the same character he played in 'Crazy Stupid Love,' only this time in a late 40s setting as a cop-turned-gangster. The rest of the film's performances were rather stale and generic.
Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, and Robert Patrick were among the group of acclaimed actors who tried their best with what they were given, but overall gave the typical hero, damsel, and comedic badass performances that didn't add a lot to the film as a whole. They were just forgettable and plain performances with no extra ingredients added. Sure Robert Patrick had his moments, and Emma Stone was really good in the film, but overall all of the performances, other than Penn and Gosling, didn't add or take away a lot and just left me thinking that they were just ok. Even Giovanni Ribisi and Anthony Mackie couldn't add their own flare to their roles. Honestly I don't blame the actors for giving these standard performances, because they couldn't help it. The real problem with the film is the script and how poorly executed certain things were.
The main problem about the script for 'Gangster Squad,' adapted from the book written by Paul Lieberman by Will Beal, is that it's all over the place. The film had no idea what it wanted to be in terms of tone. At moments it would embrace its stupidity and act really cheesy. Other times there were some intense action that featured little to no blood, other than in a couple of the murders that Mickey's men execute. Sure there were some humorous moments here and there, but the script sadly doesn't do anything new to the gangster genre of film and just tries to pay tribute to spoof films in a way and adds stylistic slow motion sequences to make it look sleek and cool. Ruben Fleischer of 'Zombieland' fame does his best with what he's given to make the movie look cool and feel cool, but this script had to have been so much better and have a key tone in order for the film to have worked as a whole.
'Gangster Squad' had the potential to be so fun and so awesome. Unfortunately the final product is just so over the top and all over the place that it's just a decent to solid enough film. Sure it was a fun time in the theater, but honestly I don't think I would watch it again willingly. This film was pushed back from September to January due to the Aurora shooting back in July causing a key scene in the film to be reshot and replaced. I'm curious to see that scene, along with the original cut of the film, because I believe that the original cut was much different from the cut that's in theaters now. There wasn't a lot of gratuitous violence, and it wasn't as brutal as it should have been. But if you want to have fun in a theater for two hours, then why not check out this film. 'Gangster Squad' is a fun movie, but the flaws are somewhat significant and take away from what could have been a great movie. Instead, this is just a good and forgettable film, plain and simple.
STUDIO(S)
The Weinstein Company,
Columbia Pictures
RUNNING TIME
2 hours 45 minutes
STARS
****
REVIEW:
It should be fair to mention that prior to my viewing experience with 'Django Unchained,' I had never been able to see any other Quentin Tarantino films due to my parent's concern over his use of blood and violence. It took a lot of begging and persuasion to get my father to take me to see this film, and somehow I succeeded at pulling that once impossible feat off. Alas, I have now had the pleasure of experiencing a Tarantino film with what is considered to be his bloodiest film to date. With many action films, the violence is exploited and used for all style and no substance. Tarantino knows how to use violence and gory gushes of blood to show substance and style while never fully exploiting it unless required. 'Django Unchained' is brutal and hard to watch at times. For the most part however, it is a fantastic character and time study filled with thrills, laughs, a killer soundtrack with catchy modern tunes, and a fantastic script written by Tarantino himself. Why not start off January by seeing a good old fashioned spaghetti western with a lot of gore thrown in?
Two years before the Civil War began, a group of slaves were sold from an auction by two brothers. Along the way of their weary travels, a dentist on wheels who is a bounty hunter undercover named Dr. King Schultz approaches them with the desire to negotiate about one of the slaves that these two brothers bought. This slave happens to be Django, a man with a tragic past. After a small disagreement between Schultz and the brothers, Django and Schultz team up at first to kill off a notorious group of criminals known as the Brittle Brothers. Once that is done, Django reveals that his wife was also sold as a slave in Mississippi, but he doesn't know where she is in the slave capital of America. It turns out that Django's wife Broomhilda is owned by a man named Calvin Candie, whose plantation Candyland is famous to slaves everywhere. Django and Schultz then plan to con Candie out in order to rescue Broomhilda from his charismatic by devious hands. Things don't go the way these two bounty hunters planned, and the rest has to be seen for yourself.
If it were any other director doing this movie, I highly doubt it would have worked as well as it did with Tarantino behind the camera. His direction and his fantastic script go hand and hand into making a movie that never feels long and is just a lot of fun to watch throughout. There is a lot of gore in the film, but what I liked the most about the violence in the movie is that the gore was only used for the over the top things, including the big shootout in the climax of the film. The rest of the violence, which is mostly torturous situations towards slaves, is not shown and is rather implied, which makes the scene much harder to watch. Luckily the film isn't as intense as one might expect from a movie this violent, because the script is hilarious. In almost every scene of the film a good laugh comes out of the audience because of how well-written the script is and how great the delivery from the actors is. Speaking of the actors, there were no weak links in this cast at all. Everyone, whether their part was big or small, was fantastic.
Jamie Foxx isn't exactly the ideal hero one would think of when thinking of a Spaghetti Western. However the Oscar winner delivers on the laughs, the emotion, and the badassery that is Django. This character goes through a lot in this movie, and there is one scene in particular that's very hard to watch. Foxx gives a charismatic and awesome performance that is worthy of being on his resume as his career goes on. Christoph Waltz steals the show as Dr. King Schultz. In almost every scene he's in, Waltz delivers on the best jokes in the movie and had a lot of laughs coming out of me whenever he talked or shot somebody. He without a doubt delivers the best Supporting Actor nomination that he received at this year's Oscars. When it comes to the rest of the cast, like I said there were no weak links.
Leonardo DiCaprio is great as Calvin Candie. This plantation owner might abuse slaves, but there is a charm to this character that makes him somewhat likable. That is until he gets incredibly crazy in which the character turns from a sly and charming plantation owner into a crazy and somewhat frightening demon of a man. There's a scene where DiCaprio slams his hand onto glass and his hand actually started bleeding, but he stayed in character which was incredible to watch. This is a role that I believe will get DiCaprio some more respect and get him more roles possibly as a villain. Samuel L. Jackson is also a great villain as Candie's right hand man Stephen. This is a slave who basically has portrayed his fellow slaves. Jackson delivers on some great laughs as well, but he;s also a despicable character and I couldn't help myself from hating him. His performance is definitely one of the highlights of 'Django' along with Waltz. The rest of the cast, including Kerry Washington and Don Johnson, are all really good in the film. Nobody really stood out other than Waltz, but everyone in the cast delivered on great performances overall.
For a movie that's nearly three hours long, 'Django Unchained' never drags and keeps its audience glued to the screen throughout. The soundtrack is filled with rap music, but it works when it starts booming from the speakers. The acting, script, and story all work together to make a popcorn movie that's as intelligent as it is entertaining. The blood is sometimes exploited on screen, but it works for this Spaghetti Western. Quentin Tarantino has made a bloody, funny, and brutal western that is entertaining as hell and just so much fun to watch. I can't wait to see Tarantino's other films to judge them for myself and hopefully fall in love with his works of art. 'Django Unchained' is a lot of fun to watch, and it is one of the best experiences I've had with a 2012 release thus far, and I can't wait to revisit it again at home or in theaters again.
RELEASE
November 16, 2012 (LIMITED)
November 21, 2012 (WIDE)
DIRECTOR
David O. Russell
STUDIO
The Weinstein Company
RUNNING TIME
2 hours 2 minutes
STARS
****
REVIEW:
I didn't expect to enjoy 'Silver Linings Playbook' as much as I did. Despite friends of mine praising the crap out of this movie, there was just something holding me back from believing their opinions. The trailers for the film just didn't do a lot for me, and I personally found David O. Russell's last movie 'The Fighter' a little overrated despite Christian Bale's incredible performance. After waiting over a month to see it, my mother and I finally saw this as our first movie of the new year. To much surprise, the theater I was in was packed. It might have been because the author of the book that the film is based on, Matthew Quick, is from an area of New Jersey very close to where I was. It might have also been that the film was shot locally around the city of Philadelphia, PA. After seeing the film, I now know that my theater was packed for something more than just those reasons. My friends were right about their beliefs. The trailers didn't serve the film any justice whatsoever. 'Silver Linings Playbook' is funny, powerful, and extremely relatable. This film is relatable in ways that 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' isn't, but both films equally share a place in my heart and are both my favorite movie of 2012.
After getting out of an eight month stay at a mental institution in Maryland, Pat Solitano comes back to his suburban home in Philadelphia to find out that he's lost everything. His wife has left him, he's been fired from his teaching job, and he no longer has a home. He refuses to take the medicine he's been prescribed, and his therapy sessions don't do much for him either. Pat can't even relate to his dad at all, since his dad is a die-hard fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. One of pat's friends introduces him to a mysterious woman named Tiffany, who might be just as messed up in the head as Pat is. As these two polar opposites get to know each other better, a bond between them becomes strong, and a silver lining appears before their very eyes.
Bradley Cooper hasn't really had his big break yet in terms of solidifying him as a top notch actor. Despite a solid performance in 'Limitless,' Cooper hasn't proven himself in terms of an incredible performance. Even 'The Words' didn't give his acting chops enough justice because he is a good actor in general. With this movie, he proves that he is much more than just a handsome face. This may possibly be the performance that puts his career on the path to award winning success. In fact, I think that Cooper has given one of the most rewarding and most entertaining performances of 2012. Surprisingly enough though, Cooper's co-star Jennifer Lawrence outshines his performance and possibly steals the movie from him.
Jennifer Lawrence is probably most well known for her role as Katiness in 'The Hunger Games.' What some may not know though is that a small 2010 movie called 'Winter's Bone' is what not only put her on the map, but also got her an Oscar nomination for her lead performance in that film. The reason why her performance as Tiffany works here is because she is a crazy character who understands and wants to be with Pat. They have very similar backgrounds, yet both don't get along much unless deals can be made, which they are in an important plot point in the movie. Lawrence is hilarious at times, but she also shows her craziness in some scenes of the movie, including one that takes place outside of a movie theater. If there's one actor in this movie who steals the show, it is without a doubt Ms. Lawrence here.
The supporting cast of this film can't be forgotten, because everyone does a stellar job in their separate roles. Robert De Niro gives his finest performance in many years as Pat's football-obsessing father. Not only is he entertaining in every scene he's in, but he also delivers an emotional performance in two vital scenes to the film. Jacki Weaver delivers a sweet sidekick role as Pat's caring mother, who seems to be the only parent who fully cares about Pat's health. Chris Tucker delivers a subtle but funny performance that outshines his over-the-top performances in the 'Rush Hour' series. It would be very nice to see Tucker in more of these types of roles because it shows that he can actually act rather than just play an obnoxious, fast-talking cop all of the time. Even though Cooper and Lawrence deliver show-stopping performances, the supporting cast nails it in the roles they're given.
Director David O. Russell and the author of the book that this film is based on, Matthew Quick, co-wrote the screenplay together. In the screenplay, they created sharp and humorous dialogue, charming and relatable characters, and a wonderful atmosphere that feels like your own life despite one of the prime focuses of the film being the Philadelphia Eagles. The best thing about these characters is not that they're well-written, but it's that every character in the film is a flawed person, just like every person in the entire world. I think that's the reason why this movie works so well. Without the fantastic script and O. Russell's great direction, the actors wouldn't have acted as great as they did and the film wouldn't have been the same.
This movie was marketed so poorly that even I was turned off at first sight. If you think that this movie is a straight up romantic comedy, then you must be informed that this is so much different than you'd expect it to be. This is the story of two mentally effed up people who spark a connection and use their past experiences to connect together, while having personal and family problems along the way. It features some of the best acting you'll see from any actor in any 2012 movie. It's script is sharp and captivating throughout. To top all of that, this is a story that's relatable on so many levels that it's hard to describe and should just be seen to believe. 'Silver Linings Playbook' is a movie that on its outside shell would look like it shouldn't work. Once you really get into it's core though, you'll find an uplifting and captivating crowd-pleaser that will have you laughing, crying, and cheering by the end. Who knew that a movie about a mentally unstable man would be just as relatable and fantastic as a movie about an outsider high school student? I wouldn’t have seen that coming if it was an inch from my eyeball.
