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JakeJarvi
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RoboCop (2014)
Actually turned it off
Sad to say that we actually turned this off about a half hour in. It was just so boring. The guy they chose to be the new Robocop is completely uninteresting. He's so stone-faced, with the dead eyes of a shark, that the scenes of him trying to relate to his family made me wonder if he wasn't holding them hostage in some fashion. There was no sense of connection to his family, his partner, or his job, if they wanted a machine that could feel they chose the wrong guy. The global police bit had potential, but there was no real through-line or reason to care about any of these characters. Almost kept watching just because Michael Keaton is awesome, but everything surrounding him in this movie was lifeless and dull.
Horns (2013)
A beautiful looking movie with a great performance and too much reliance on the book
I enjoyed the hell out of Horns, and I'm not going to turn this into a movie-to-book-to-movie discussion, but I find it really interesting that my gut reactions to the film and the book ran in exact opposition to one another.
When I started reading the book, I almost had to put it down I was so nauseated at the idea of hearing the worst aspect of people brought out into the open for 370 pages (and I'm a horror fan). Luckily, right when I was hitting my breaking point, we got further into the story, the mystery, the larger themes, and that book is really outstanding and complex. I loved it as an exploration of perception and and it made me feel really weird and intrigued the whole time.
At the start of the movie, I loved all the darker side of people stuff and it was clear that the filmmakers and cast where having so much fun with it. The further we got into the film though, the more muddled and illogical the motivations and actions of the characters became. It's a problem with the screenplay. I feel like the narration was Blade Runner'ed onto it in order to try and get us to sympathize with his actions. Instead the reasons behind his actions could have been shown to us with a few quick lines of dialogue between the characters without getting too exposition'y. In the movie, punishing his brother seems out of place and the reasons Ig states are a little contradictory and confusing. The whole "You're going to live and suffer" thing? And the "You're going to feel what she felt?" That seems too indicate Ig already knows everything that happened, which he doesn't. From this point on, the movie feels a little sloppy. Similarly, his punishment of the Heather Graham waitress seems like a tacked on scene that muddies Ig's character and makes us wonder why he's wasting his time vilifying himself. Sure, she's a lousy person, but everything he's done up until that point has been productive in one way or another. This is the one petty act of vengeance and it seems odd. (I also don't remember it from the book, but I read it several years ago, so maybe I felt similarly conflicted about it then and memory-scrapped it.) As I said, I still enjoyed my viewing of the film, but I could see why people started sharpening their pointed comments while the second half played out. Like him sprouting wings before demon'ing up? Not great. I understand it hearkens back to the whole "every devil started as an angel" thing, but it was the point where I finally thought--hokey. Solid imagery, not awesome execution. He hadn't had wings or heavenly imagery throughout his whole ordeal, so to bring them in felt cheap and gaudy. Better to tear the cross off and burst into flames. Go straight for the rage/revenge imagery than muddy it up with him flying into the air.
All in all, I thought the flick looked great, contained a lot of really effective imagery and scenes, and Radcliffe--as everyone has been very quick to point out--is outstanding. I don't agree with the tonally conflicted thing that a lot of reviewers have been throwing out there, because I think both of the tonal extremes could have been used to great affect in this picture, I just think they knew how to pull off the first tone, and threw too many devices, theories, and convoluted intentions into the second half.
Side note: I appreciate how much nudity was in this flick, and the fact that at least one dude got his dick out, but it should have been a really hot, in-great-shape guy. All the naked ladies were smoking hot, the naked guy was cast for comedic effect instead of titillation. Let's see more hot, erect dudes in cinema, so they don't take our naked starlets away.
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Outstanding meta-movie
I better preface this by say that I love both Drew Godard and Joss Whedon. Maybe that means I'm biased, but I thought this flick was completely awesome. It's not at all what I expected it to be; I say that having watched the initial trailer and thinking I already had a pretty good idea of what was up. I honestly expected it to be more scare oriented, but I wasn't at all disappointed with what it actually is. It's really really funny. I keep wanting to say spoilery things, even comparisons to other things could be spoilery. I love it when genre movies are made by people with a clear love of the films that came before and have an interesting take on a different look at it. This is a horror-lovers movie, it's a movie-lovers movie, it's a hell of a good time for people who just want to sit back and have a great ride, plus some gore.
All thumbs up.
Red State (2011)
Awesome old school horror picture
Red State is a genuinely interesting movie and probably the best film Kevin Smith has ever made--and I'm a Smith fan. His best screenplay is still Chasing Amy, in my opinion, but as far as an overall film is concerned, I have to throw my hat in the Red State ring.
His YouTube trailer where he declared it an "exploitation" film and an "action" movie was more about hitting buzzwords that were meant to connect with that audience, but exploitation as a descriptor has taken on a spoofy quality that has nothing in common with Red State.
Red State was raw, brutal, and unrelenting. It wasn't winking at anybody. It was an awesome old school horror picture. It doesn't rely on conventional screenplay theory either, which makes it totally unpredictable, right down to fluidly shifting from whose point of view the story is told. There were times I found myself thinking--Okay, now that this has happened, I know how the rest is going to unfold. And I was wrong EVERY TIME. It's a very bold story, way outside of anything that Kevin Smith is known for, and I'm glad about that. He proves himself a riveting storyteller with this one. It's surprising, it's visceral, and it's the most cinematically relevant he's ever been. I really hope he doesn't quit making movies (like he claimed on YouTube); I'd like to see what else he can do with this genre.
The performances were amazing. That's all there is to it. Everybody brought their A-game and it was mesmerizing. Michael Parks, Kerry Bishe, Michael Angarano, John Goodman; everybody had a chance center stage and they all delivered.
Of course, it's not perfect. It has as many despicable characters as a Rob Zombie movie, but somehow Smith has a way of still imbuing them with a humanity I recognize instead of just making them horror-movie cannon fodder. And it's legitimately amazing to me that it takes 40 minutes for a genuine protagonist to show up and then he just decides to be a horrible person too. And everyone is likely to point out that some of the speeches go on too long and for every masterful twist the story takes there are one or two awkward ones, especially toward the end.
Still, Red State is more than worth a watch, it's worth at least a second viewing. I wish I'd seen it in a theater instead of streaming on the internet.
I tried to do this without spoilers. Hope I succeeded.
Super 8 (2011)
Outstanding film, great time
Here's how I feel about it in one sweeping oversimplification: If you love movies, you're going to love this movie. That is of course unless you've grown cynical and bitter and can no longer tolerate genre-entertainment.
It has everything I want in a movie. Adventure, action, suspense, humor, and relatable characters who experience things the way humans do. Sure, there were a couple moments at the end where I thought, "Really?", but Abrams and the gang were savvy enough to put almost every objection my overly-rational grown-up mind had throughout the picture and put skeptical words into the mouth of a nearby character, thereby stealing my ammunition.
I don't think you need to love movies in order to enjoy this ride, but if you love movies or, especially, if you've ever made one of your own, I don't see how you could dislike it.
Plus all the sci-fi-ish stuff was badass.
La science des rêves (2006)
science of awesome
Here's the thing about Michel Gondry; his mind functions on a different level than the rest of us. This movie was so imaginative that it's staggering. All of the little vignettes in it were so child-like and fantastical and somehow really disturbing. I suppose that has to do with watching someone's mind unravel in front of you. Gael Garcia Bernal gave a fantastic performance as the young inventor/ artist/ Gondry counterpart.
Having watched the documentary "I've Been Twelve Forever" on his director's label DVD multiple times, I also felt like I knew where A LOT of this movie was coming from. I felt like I was a family friend watching the movie, understanding where everything was coming from. From his spin art opening credits, to his confusion and idealization of women...
Watching things Gondry makes is both inspirational and discouraging. You want to aspire to his level of quality but at the same time I feel like... Man, I could never be as good as that. It's impossible.
This movie is awesome.
Under Surveillance (2006)
Fantastic thriller with great characters and humor
I've seen a lot of low budget thrillers and this one is the best. Fantastic writing and outstanding performances keep the movie constantly moving. The moments of tension are built really nicely but the thing that really took me by surprise was the comedy. Very intelligent humor that draws from what the audience expects, surprises them, and isn't cheap. It's always nice to find a movie that gives the viewers some credit and doesn't play to the lowest common denominator.
Often times when a writer or director casts themselves in a movie it does a great disservice to the picture. But that is not the case with Dave Campfield's performance in this movie. His character provides many of the great comedic moments. If he hadn't pulled it off the movie could have fallen pretty flat.
I really enjoyed this movie. Dave Campfield is a filmmaker to watch.