Blog Archives
Flash Movie Review: Inherent Vice
I sure wish they would hurry up and create those human transporter devices I have seen in science fiction films. You may know the type where your body turns into a swirling mass of small, colored bubbles of light that disperse and reassemble you in a different location. This would be so useful during those awkward moments where you feel out of place among a group of individuals. The moments I am referring to would be similar to situations like attending a party where you were not told it was a masquerade event and costumes were mandatory. Last year I signed up for a training workshop regarding a new body fitness sculpting format; it was a three day event. The first day I walked into the training facility and was met with a group of people who were easily half my age. There I was dressed in baggy workout shorts and a loose T-shirt as everyone else either had skin tight or skimpy, color co-ordianted outfits. Now it was not a big deal to me what they wore or their age; however, a majority of them were personal trainers and I was not. As we went through the training I realized there was no way my body could do what everyone else was doing in class. I could have used that transporter then since I felt out of place. Those same feelings started to come over me during this comedic crime drama. WHEN Los Angeles detective Larry “Doc” Sortello, played by Joaquin Phoenix (The Immigrant, Her), agreed to help his ex-girlfriend he had no idea where the case would lead him, but as long as he had drugs available he was good to go. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will be Blood, The Master) that was based on Thomas Pynchon’s (Gravity’s Rainbow, Mason & Dixon) novel, I did not get this film festival winning movie that ran for 148 long minutes. Viewers will either love or hate this picture, I believe. The cast was good, including Josh Brolin (Labor Day, W.) as Lt. Detective Christian F. “Bigfoot”Bjornesen and Katherine Waterston (Michael Clayton, Robot & Frank) as Shasta Fay Hepworth, along with the variety of other actors who had small roles. However, for a movie watching experience I did not have a good time sitting through this showing. The mix of scenes seemed random and scattered, as if little vignettes were first created then pieced together. Since I was getting bored in the theater I did glance around at the crowd. This may sound weird but I actually felt a little out of place because the crowd seemed to be all cut from the same mold and I was not. I do not know if it was a generational thing; all I wanted was to be transported out of the theater.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Such a fickle force that makes us breathlessly swoon as we extend our arms into an inviting hug; yet, it can similarly drive us to a dark place to commit a murderous act of passion. It is frightening how much power love can have over us. In yesterday’s review I spoke of love’s ability to move us to a point where we would willingly take the suffering and pain away from the person we love if we could. With today’s movie I am being led to the darker qualities of love. I have met several people who were obsessed by love. For those in a relationship, they needed constant reinforcement from their significant other that they were being loved. If it was not enough they would seek it from outside their relationship. Unfortunately I have dated this type of person and discovered it in an inconvenient place. We had traveled out of the country for a vacation; I was not familiar with the language, but they were fluent. During our stay at the hotel the assistant manager always made a point to come up to us to say hello or ask how we were doing, conversing in English for me and Spanish for them. I did not think much of it at first; however, their conversations seemed to last longer filled with chuckles and smiles. As the week progressed the assistant manager periodically popped up at our door just to check on us and chat. I think you know where this is going. When I returned to the hotel room early from a tour I had taken by myself, I caught them in bed together. Evidently they needed to be loved by more than one person. EMOTIONS of love and hate ran high, driving people to do extreme things in this action thriller. It seemed as if several of Sin City’s citizens with hidden agendas were crossing paths on their way to administering their own form of justice. This sequel to the 2005 movie was able to stand on its own; it had to because I vaguely remembered the first one. The cast included Josh Brolin (Oldboy, Men in Black 3) as Dwight, Eva Green (Casino Royale, Dark Shadows) as Ava and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Angel Heart) as Marv. Using the same stylized graphics as the previous film, the majority of violent scenes were made to look more cartoonish; though, there were a couple of places I had to turn my head away from the screen due to the intense violence. In spite of this I was entertained by watching this crime picture. It was nothing spectacular and I was a bit confused in some spots; but, the story was easy to follow and I enjoyed trying to figure out which actors were playing the unrecognizable characters. I believe a majority of viewers will either love or hate this movie.
2 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Labor Day
How can something that feels so empty weigh one down so much? When the person you love leaves you, the leaden heart is not the only thing that sustains an injury. Granted the heart takes the majority of the impact, caving in from the flooding emptiness; but the bridge of life that connects to the heart takes heavy damage. The road of living becomes riddled with potholes that make life unbearable. Each pothole reveals the remains of a broken dream. There are so many holes that one becomes too afraid to traverse the road and relinquishes what was once the joys of living life. Every action from eating to breathing takes a monumental effort to complete. I totally understand it and know some people do life better when in a relationship. This is why I accepted the plight of Adele, played by Kate Winslet (Contagion, The Reader), in this dramatic movie. During one of their infrequent trips to the supermarket lonely Adele and her young son Henry, played by Gattlin Griffith (Changeling, Couples Retreat), were forced to help and take in a bleeding man named Frank, played by Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, Oldboy). Written and directed by Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Thank You for not Smoking) I was actually looking forward to this film, based on the novel by Joyce Maynard (To Die For). There were a few scenes that were beautifully done, where I could feel the emotions of the characters come to life. The scene of making a peach pie made me hungry; it was tender and touching. It pains me to say this was all that was good about the movie. I thought the script was sickly sweet with sappiness and unrealistic. The acting was not as good as it could have been, especially from Gattlin who had the same deer in the headlamps look through most of the film. During parts of this movie I found myself getting bored as things seemed to go unnaturally slow. That reminded me to mention the whole police search story line; it seemed so not urgent to me, which really was needed to build tension in the action. I also found some of the events towards the end to be unsatisfying. Any time a movie is made about someone’s heart I expect to see and feel passion. Sadly this picture failed since it had no heart.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Oldboy
It was a delayed reaction on my part when I heard the undecipherable sounds in the subway car. It was white noise or at least I thought it was when it coughed out of the train car speakers. The train was being detoured to the elevated tracks instead of its usual route and going express to a station that was unfamiliar to me. I was stuck as I gazed out the window at the new views of the city’s landscapes. It became exciting for me since I was seeing some of the city’s skyscrapers from a new angle and they were magnificent. We finally reached the station where I stepped out onto the platform, only to be surprised by what I saw before me. The station had been remodeled to its original look from the 1920’s. Freshly painted with wide brass signs hung on the wall, the place was a knockout. Here my trip had started out on an ordinary trek and wound up in a different place that shocked me. The same thing happened to me when I went to see this action mystery movie. I had no prior knowledge, did not know it was a remake of a South Korean cult classic or that the story would be so twisted. Josh Brolin (Men in Black 3, Milk) played alcoholic advertising executive, Joe Doucett. After a night of heavy drinking Joe woke up to find himself in a strange motel room. It turned out not to be a motel room but a cell, where he remained for the next 20 years. With no explanation or human contact to explain why he was imprisoned, one day Joe woke up and found himself free in an open field. He would spend every waking minute tracking down the people responsible for his imprisonment and take revenge on them. Directed by Spike Lee (Malcom X, Inside Man), visually the scenes were exciting but not for the faint of heart. There were extremely bloody and violent scenes in this action drama. Josh appeared to have bulked up for the demanding role and he impressed me with his determined darkness. Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House, Liberal Arts) brought her high level of excellent acting skills to her performance as Marie Sebastian, a first responder who was drawn into Joe’s plight. The story took such twisted turns that it was not a shock to see Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained) play the character Chaney. I have to honestly say this bizarre movie left me with mixed feelings. The cast was good but I felt some of the scenes lacked any depth, besides not making much sense to me. I would be very curious to get the original film and see why it has reached a cult status. Since I prefer knowing as little as possible when I go see a movie, I was very much taken aback by this crazy mystery; I just do not know if I enjoyed the ride. There were scenes with blood and violence.
2 1/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Gangster Squad
Perched atop my father’s dresser was a chrome figurine of a woman, circa 1940’s. She was my introduction to the art deco era. I found the symmetry used in the architecture, the art, the fashion made perfect sense to my sensibilities. With items that had been handed down in the family, I would try to determine if they came from the art deco period. I found myself doing the same thing as I sat through this beautiful looking movie. Set in Los Angeles in the late 1940’s, the set designs and costumes were perfectly recreated. When the production crews created the gorgeous sets, they probably had no idea their work would be covering up more than the bare walls of the movie studio’s sound stage. For what was behind the sets was a cartoon characterization of a gangster movie. The writers must have used Dick Tracy as a template in forming the screenplay that was inspired by a true story. The plot was about a small group of Los Angeles police officers; who were assigned the task of bringing down feared mob boss Mickey Cohen, played by Sean Penn (All the King’s Men, Fail Game). If I did not know better I would swear Sean Penn was portraying criminal Flat Top or Low Brow from the Dick Tracy cartoons. Yes Sean brought his intensity, but his dialog was so dreadful that it was laughable. Two of my favorite actors Ryan Gosling (Drive, Half Nelson) and Emma Stone (Easy A, The Help) had to have felt abused by the loony lines they were given, as Sgt. Jerry Wooters and Mickey’s girlfriend Grace Farraday. Josh Brolin (Men in Black 3, No Country for Old Men) was stiff as Sgt. John O’Mara. What a shame to have such a capable cast and give them an awful story and direction. I wish there had been a volume switch I could have shut off, because having no sound would have been the best way to watch this pretty foul movie. A note to the parents who brought young children into the theater: if you want your kids exposed to the art deco style, take them to a museum. Scenes of violence and blood.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Men in Black 3
Others have tried but failed (think Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost) when they tampered with the space-time continuum, in their movies. In regards to this action comedy, going back in time was the best thing to have happened in this film franchise. The special effects were up to the same excellent caliber as the previous two movies and Will Smith (Independence Day, The Pursuit of Happyness) as Agent J still had his quick witted delivery of endless jokes. Ten years since the previous sequel, this science fiction thriller aged well. A seriously bad alien criminal with a long history tied to Agent K, played by Tommy Lee Jones (No Country For Old Men, The Fugitive), went back in time to kill the agent, thus changing the course of history. Agent J had to go back in time to prevent the death of a much younger Agent K, played brilliantly by Josh Brolin (True Grit, Milk). Mr. Brolin executed the mannerisms and tone of Tommy Lee’s character perfectly. I also suspect baby boomers will get a kick out of time traveling back to 1969, I certainly did. Except for the need of tighter editing and lack of depth in the script, this 3rd installment did not disappoint me. I had a good time watching this film and believe the space-time continuum was returned to order, with the help of a few good laughs.
3 stars
moviejoltz 