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Flash Movie Review: Brick
Memories of past relationships never completely leave us; they float in the cove of one’s heart. For whatever reason the relationship ended, even to the point of hostile anger; those memories may sink below the surface of emotional waters, but they eventually rise up. It could happen when walking by the favorite restaurant you both liked or hearing a song that still makes your heart skip as you remembered how the two of you danced together. No matter how hard one tries, these memories never go away; their hard edges only soften from the emotional pull through the years. I have seen and been a part of several close relationships and have noticed this emotional connection. It will remain through life and beyond. With this knowledge I understood the motivation to the story in this dramatic mystery movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Don Jon, Looper) played Brendan, a high schooler who discovered his ex-girlfriend dead in a sewage canal. If he wanted to find out what happened to her, Brendan would have to find a way to navigate between the different cliques of the student body. What he discovered took him beyond the high school walls. It took me a little time to get into the rhythm of the dialog in this film festival winner, mainly because it was an unfamiliar way of talking for me. Possibly it was a generational thing, but I got used to it and was able to finally focus in on the performances and story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt already has done a variety of characters, each one well; so his role here was another solid and believable performance with a touch of teenage angst and a dash of bravado. Though he had a small role, I enjoyed seeing Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Collar) play Assistant Vice Principal Gary Trueman. The cast of characters was varied with some distinct personalities such as Lukas Haas (Witness, Inception) as The Pin and Noah Fleiss (Taking Chance, Joe the King) as Tugger. I thought part of the movie was repetitive; but with the unusual film angles and truthfully the characters’ swagger, I did not find it too much of a distraction. Adding in the crisp direction, I found myself drawn into the story. Now I still have all my memories from my high school years, even the bad ones; but I have to say, I am glad my high school was not like the one in this good film. There were a couple of brief scenes where blood was shown.
3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Jobs
After a few attempts I came to the conclusion that my brain was not wired that way. There was something about a PC’s operating system that did not interface with my mind. I would sit in front of its glowing screen, staring at the dialog box that told me a function did not work, asking me if it was okay. No, it was not okay I would say as the level of my frustration rose. According to my way of thinking, the computer should have been able to correct itself and show me what I needed to do to proceed; it was a computer for heaven’s sake. When I left the PC world, replacing it with an Apple computer, an immediate connection formed between us. This is not meant to be an advertisement or endorsement of their products; I am simply saying the billowing brainwaves in my head found clarity with its operating system. The creator and driving force behind my computer and cell phone was Steve Jobs. From the events he orchestrated and the frenzied crowds who camped out for his products, I would be surprised to find someone who had not heard of this man. To portray such an intense individual in a movie, one would need an actor with some considerable acting abilities. Who this movie studio came up with to play Steve Jobs was Ashton Kutcher (The Butterfly Effect, That ’70s Show-TV). In his television commercials, Ashton has an engaging personality that is comfortable to watch. This trait worked for him when he was recreating Steve’s media events in this dramatic film. Unfortunately, it was the only thing that did work for him. Ashton was completely wrong for this character that needed to show the emotional intensity that Steve was known to have and display freely. The script was awful, making the scenes seem like small tidbits that were randomly spliced together. Where I thought Josh Gad (Love & Other Drugs, 21) had potential playing Steve’s partner Steve Wozniak, Dermot Mulroney (Zodiac, The Grey) was wasted playing the financial backer Mike Markkula. This was such a disappointing movie; I can only imagine what Steve Jobs would have done after seeing this film. My guess is he would be yelling at everyone involved, using words not usually found in a dictionary; telling them it was ugly and not consumer friendly.
1 2/3 stars
moviejoltz 