Closed Circuit Thoughts

I haven't seen a legal thriller in while, they seem to have gone out of style. Closed Circuit fits square within the genre, it doesn't change the rules of the legal thriller but delivers a solid entry to the genre.

The film opens with an intense scene of a terrorist bombing of a public market in London, from there we meet to lawyers who are charged with defending one of the suspected mastermind of the crime. As is par for the course in these legal thrillers, the case is not as simple as it seems from the outset and the true crime reaches into the highest levels of power.

Closed circuits will not change anyone minds on the genre, but delivers all the tension, suspicion, and conspiracy that fans of the genre will enjoy. Unfortunately the forced ADR'd ending is a real bummer.

**1/2 stars

Quick Thoughts about Getaway

Look, I knew what I was getting into when I chose to see Getaway. You have a man, with a special set of skills, who is being forced to do a robbery to save his kidnapped wife. He gets a special car, and he proceeds to crash his way through Bulgaria to help execute the plan of the unseen mastermind.

There were a lot of car chases and crashes and most were not exciting, there are performances where it seems no one cares. I was rather bored throughout, these crashes weren't too exciting, the villain's plan was too generic (steal money).

There was one cool thing that happened on screen. In the final car chase, the director chose to silence the soundtrack, put a camera on the dash of the chasing car and let us really see how exciting a car chase can be on screen.

This is the type of movie that will work in the background while you are on your tablet browsing the internet. Just look up occasionally when you hear a bang and you'll get the gist of what happened.

*1/2 stars

Quick thoughts on Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher has the parts to be a good popcorn action flick. For the most part it is successful. The action is well done, however the story is a mess. The villain's plan when given a once over, is really ridiculous and unnecessary.

Tom Cruise is good as the savant investigator Reacher. His performances in the action scenes are great. Cruise doing what Cruise does best. The direction of the action is also great. The two major action scenes, a car chase and a shoot out at a quarry are well done and exciting.

Werner Herzog as the main villain is scary and creepy. He delivers some great villainous speeches that seem a part of another movie.

** stars

Movies of the Weekend: The Bourne Legacy and The Campaign

There is not enough of this action

The Bourne Legacy is tough movie to think about. This fourth movie ofthe series is part fan service for the prior trilogy and part attempt to introduce a new lead character for a new series. However, the createors seemed to forget what made the original films a fun and different take on the action hero.

The first thing missing is the action. Legacy is filled with scenes of people yelling at each other, yelling into phones and not much action. Worse yet, the characters yell about random code works such as "treadstone", "blackbriar" and "outcome" constantly without properly explaining them. As a reboot to the series, it is a mistake not to reintroduce us to the Bourne world. Having Ed Norton with a constant upset face yelling these three words in every scene is disappointing and confusing.

The other issue is the new lead, Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross. He doesn't have a compelling story. I couldn't buy him as a hero, for much of the first part of the movie, he is a junkie searching for a fix. On his search for his fix, he finds and protects a doctor played by Rachel Weisz, and the two go on an adventure to find the cure for Cross's addiction. Not exactly a guy you want to ever cheer for.

The Bourne Legacy doesn't leave up to the legacy of its predecessors, the lack of action, the confusing story and the lack of a interesting hero, really made this a disappointment.

** Stars

The Campaign suffers from the same thing that has plauged most of the comedies released in 2012. It is only sometimes funny. Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, the candidates running for congressman of the 14th district of North Carolina. Both characters are buffonish to the point where you can't believe at any of these men had any chance at successfully using the bathroom much less run a political campaign. There are some funny scenes, my favorite is whenFerrell and Galifianakis trash talk each other before their first debate. However, most of the scenes are just over the top silly and not very funny. The movie needed a straight man for one of the leads to play off. Two buffons riffing off each other just doesn't work.

There is potential for better comedy here, especially since Jason Sudeikis, John Lithgow and Dan Ackroyd are wasted as supporting characters. It feels as though there was more to the screenplay originally and was chopped down to fit the 85 minute run time.

** stars

Killer Joe: I Might Not Look at Fried Chicken the Same

A drug dealer, Chris (Emile Hirsch), who owes his suppliers money, plans with with his father, stepmother, and sister Dottie (Juno Temple) to kill his mother in order to take the proceeds of her life insurance whose beneficiary is Dottie. Chris arranges for a contract killer, Joe (Matthew McConaughey) to kill his mother. Since Chris doesn't have the money to pay Joe's upfront fee, so Joe offers to take Dottie as retainer for his services. As is often the case, things don't go as planned.

That's the plot of William Friedkin's Killer Joe, based on the play of the same name. A rather simple story, but that's not what makes Killer Joe a great film.

What makes Killer Joe work is McConaughey's fantastic performance as Killer Joe Cooper. Throughout the movie, he uses his natural Texas charm to make his Joe both a charming and menacing character. There are two amazing scenes in the film, one where Joe and Dottie are alone in a trailer home and the final scene with the entire family, McConaughey slowly builds the character of Joe into a both an alluring and disturbing personality.

The last twenty minutes of the movie are tense a slow build to a fiery conclusion, even though final minute or two felt rushed and unexpected, with not enough justification of what happened. Those final two minutes are not enough to turn me off from Killer Joe.

***1/2 stars

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Honestly, a fun time

There has been major lack of fun at the movies this Summer. Movies such as Dark Shadows and Battleship are a couple of the movies that have ridiculous premises but had a major lack of fun. In Dark Shadows, the execution was boring and Battleship took its premise too seriously to really enjoy itself. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter knows what kind of movie its audience expects and delivers on those expectations well.

Benjamin Walker plays the United States' 16th president, who at a young age, has his mother taken from him by vampires. On his quest for revenge he meets and receives training from the mysterious character played by Dominic Cooper's Henry Sturgess. We are also introduced to many other characters and events that are key to the Lincoln's known legend such as Lincoln's Axe, Mary Todd, Stephen Douglas and the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the of course, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War. It was a lot of fun to see how the writers of the movie fit in Honest Abe's vampire hunting within his rise from shopkeeper to lawyer to President.

Honest Abe with his trusted weapon

Speaking of the vampire hunting, the action scenes in Abraham Lincoln: VH are fun and inventive. From vampire attacks on a Civil War battlefield to fights on top of stampeding horses, the action is cool and unique. The scenes are shot well, and though I didn't see it in 3D, I don't think i missed much.

There are things that could be better about the movie, such as a more compelling, defined villain and a better explanation on the rise of Lincoln as a politician. However, these are minor squabbles that only slightly get in the way of the movie being a good time.

**1/2 stars

First Half Catchup

There have been a ton of 2012 movies I have seen and haven't wrote about here. Let me see if I can quickly recap them in the order they were released this year.

Haywire: Had a good time watching this flick. The star Gina Carano is decent, not great in her role as private security agent. There are some great hand to hand MMA influenced fight scenes and a really great soundtrack. There are also a ton of great cameos by talent actors to support the newcomer Carano in the lead. **1/2 stars

John Carter: Decent, it gets a bad rap, but I think the budget might have caused some negative press for the movie. John Carter deserved a better, more focused marketing effort, because the movie is slightly better than average. The special effects are really good, the story had me relatively engaged, and there are decent jokes. This perfectly good for what it was; a summertime Disney swashbuckling adventure. **1/2 stars

Wrath of the Titans: I did not see the original, so I went into this movie cold. What I got was a bland movie with poor special effects, poorly done 3D, and worthless story. Nothing here had me engaged. Wrath of the Titans didn't get me mad, just bored. *1/2 stars

American Reunion: Lacked the energy of the other movies in the American Pie movies. The movie was a getting the band back together movie where the group got together to do nothing. There was one scene that reminded me of the teen sex farce that American Pie was, but there wasn't enough like it to go around. *1/2 stars

Cabin in the Woods: Don't want to say much about what happens plot wise, however this is a witty, well written horror comedy that makes fun of the stereotypes in horror movies and has an original premise. ***1/2 stars.

Safe: A well directed Jason Statham action movie that has a pretty decent plot. The movie goes a bit off the rails in its third act but the fun and excitement of the first 2/3rds makes Safe worthwhile. *** stars.

Avengers: Simply put, this is brilliant. Great special effects, great story, great performances. No need to couch this behind the veil of it's only a superhero movie. Simply brilliant, I believe this could be best superhero movie ever. ***1/2 stars

The Dictator: A definite surprise. Very funny, and not for the faint of heart. There are tons of offensive jokes, but offensive to everyone. Sascha Baron Cohen does not wear out his role in a performance that could have gotten incredibly tiring. **1/2 stars

Battleship: A rage inducing movie. The plot makes no sense, the special effects are cheesy and hokey. From the very first scene I wanted to throw something at the screen. Battleship also exploits veterans by having them do dumb looking things in the movie, just to tug at our heartstrings. I did laugh when the soldiers began playing an actual game of Battleship in a battle against the alien invasion. It was one of those so bad it's good moment. I give it a half star for that *1/2 stars

Headhunters: One of the best films of the year. A twist-filled crime thriller that is a total blast to watch. Aksel Henne gives a fantastic performance as Roger Brown, a corporate headhunter, who uses his position to scout potential art theft victims. Needless to say, things go wrong on his last big score. Where the move starts and where it ends will keep you guessing and you will be on the edge of your seat nervous and excited to see what will happen next. ***1/2 stars

Men in Black III: At least it is better than MIB II. However, this only means that MIB III is only okay. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones phone in their roles, but Josh Brolin gives a decent performance of the young Agent K. The script is a bit of the mess, the middle uses dated jokes about the sixties (they are so weird back then, they must be aliens!). ** stars

Dark Shadows: Don't Bother

Dark Shadows is based on a 1960s supernatural soap opera of the same name. The film pulls a lot of soapy elements from the TV series, however the soap opera elements is the downfall of the film.

A soap opera TV series has the time to tell stories, build characters and set stakes of the story. The film has none of this. Bella Heathcote plays Victoria Winters, a mysterious woman who accepts a position to work as a governess to the Collins family. Johnny Depp is Barnabus Collins, a cursed vampire who has been unearthed after being trapped in a coffin for 200 years. In the intervening 200 years the once powerful and proud Collins family has fallen from grace, so Barnabus takes it upon himself to help them.

This is about as much I can say about plot of the film because not much time is spent on the other characters for me to even begin to care. Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of the Collins family and she does nothing but have a stern face and try and explain away Barnabus' oddities. Chloe Grace Moretz as her daughter is no better, she has an unsightly scowl on her face in every scene.

Dark Shadows' crime is just that it is boring. I had seen the trailer before watching the film and I am pretty sure I had already seen every joke in the film from the trailer.

The best part of Dark Shadows is the music. The score is great and really fit the tone and time of the film.

Dark Shadows feels like it was Tim Burton and Johnny Depp just spending a few months having a good time and not caring if the actually made a good film. Other than the music this film is just a failure.

*1/2 Stars

Quick Reviews: Other Films I've Seen

I've been neglecting writing about some of the new films I have seen this year. Let me catch up with three of the film I haven't written about here.

One of the many fantastic Ghost Rider freakouts

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - A fun movie, but not for everyone. Since I am a fan of Nic Cage, I enjoyed all of freak outs and facial ticks. The Ghost Rider being is more menacing and insane, it lives up to the craziness of a living skull on fire. Ciarán Hinds is not outdone in facial ticks, his performance is really cool. Story is also not too terrible.
*** stars

Denzel is cool, but forgettable

Safehouse - Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds deliver forgettable performances in a rather pedestrian action movie. The action scenes are not too exciting. The Macguffin and the eventual are rather generic and uninteresting. I won't remember this movie in 2 months.

*1/2 stars

Not much here to see

Jeff Who Lives at Home - A decent film. The setup event to the movie where Jeff receives a phone call is rather random and quirky. This movie is very "indie", it has things that are at times incredible impossible to believe would happen. Ed Helms and Jason Segel work well with each other, but they aren't given anything interesting to do. Suan Sarandon has a small role in the film with her own interesting storyline. In fact, I understand her growth as a character more than Segel and Helms. Not much here to see.
** stars

The Hunger Games

My first reaction to seeing The Hunger Games, was "How is it possible for a movie to be so long, yet feel rushed?".

The Hunger Games begins with a title card summmary of the world that flashes by incredibly fast, barely explaining the incredibly deep and dystopian future of the world of Panem. The events surrounding the Games, a fight to the death between male and female pairs from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol city are barely explained, the filmmakers seem to expect viewers to have read of the popular series of books from which the film is based.

Jennifer Lawrence's performance as the defiant Katniss Everdeen is good. She worked well with the material she was given, however she is limited by script. Simply, Katniss Everdeen is not a well developed character. She is surly and lacks charm. We are not given many chances to like or root for her.

The film looked great, the sets and costumes looked fantastic. The world was fun and interesting to see. The same can't be said of the action scenes; the editing on many of those scenes were jarring. Many times I was unable to follow what was happening on screen because of how the action was cut.

My main problem with the movie is the script. Events happen incredibly quickly, and without reason. The significance of certain actions and concepts are not fully explained.

I had an okay time watching the Hunger Games, however if I was not familiar with the books, I don't think I would like it as much.

** 1/2 stars.

Wanderlust: Wander Away

Wanderlust is director David Wain's new film. I enjoyed Role Models, a 2008 comedy from Wain, which I thought was funny and touching. However, unlike Role Models, the laughs are missing from Wanderlust. I chuckled a bit, however there aren't too many laugh out loud moments. The few laughs in this movie come from primarily from the supporting cast and not the main story. Ken Marino, Michaela Watkins, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Showalter have really funny supporting parts in the movie.

The story of yuppies leaving NYC to live on a commune is so-so, and is forced to ramp up because it is a movie, and an unneccessary plot about losing the land is shoehorned into the movie. It is almost the plot of a bad 80s movie.

** Stars

The Grey is terrifying

The snow is bad enough...

The Grey is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. Like many scary movies, The Grey contains an isolated group hunted by a unseen force. It doesn't have ghosts, zombies or serial killers. The enemy is two-fold; the Alaskan wilderness and a pack of wolves.

...Then you add this

The Alaskan wilderness looked fantastic, bleak and terrifying. The wolves are tension building and scary. The group of survivors are a good mix of horror tropes: asshole, black guy, nice guy and knowledgeable guy played by Liam Neeson. They play off each other well and their arguments about how to proceed are great.

I'm not too big a horror guy, but The Grey could end up being one of my favorite movies of the year.

***1/2 stars.

Chronicle: Great start to 2012

Unknown director, unknown writers, unknown actors. I try to not have an initial bias when seeing movies, however the lack of information about the creators of Chronicle, and its early release date had me worried. Trailers made the movie seem like a dumb movie about jerk teenagers with super powers.

It's good that I managed to see Chronicle, because it is good. Found footage films like this can be tricky, when the film has to explain why a character is carrying a camera all the time. Chronicle explains the camera toting well enough and the characters who carry the camera around are well developed and interesting. I enjoyed watching the three immature teenagers acquire power beyond their wildest imagination, how these teenagers would use their powers in the most immature ways. The development of the main character, Andrew from mild mannered damaged kid to megalomaniac psycho was also pretty cool to see develop on screen.

The special effects also deserve some praise here. The effects are simple, well-done and are not so overdone that the seem too fake.

The drawbacks with Chronicle for me are small, but I feel they are worth mentioning. I felt at times the main character got extremely annoying. In addition, some of the ways the filmmakers chose to get the found footage just didn't work; random characters who we barely know have cameras. At one point, a character uses telekinesis to rip some iPads and cellphones from onlookers to get the camera on him, it was hokey.

Chronicle is really good film to start the new year.

*** stars.

Thoughts about The Artist

The Artist is one of the front runners to win the Oscar for Best Picture and after seeing it recently, I can understand why. I had a fantastic time watching the movie and left the theater with a smile on my face.

The story, about a silent movie star's fall due to talking movies, and his female protege's concurrent rise due to the rise of these "talkies" is a fun throwback to a past era of film. I am surprised at how much I enjoyed The Artist, I really thought it would be a drab affair. However, there are fantastic scenes throughout the movie, from the time when our hero George Valentin stumbles to perform a scene correctly with his love interest Peppy Miller, to the moment when Valentin realizes that the silent movie is dead, and sound adds a new dimension that a silent film could never replicate.

Much like the type of character he portrays, The Artist is done in a silent movie style; no words are spoken by any of the characters during the film. This means that the films hinges on the performances of its lead, French comedian Jean Dujardin. Dujardin's ability to emote with his face and body tell the story the way that words could not. I believe that he might be the favorite for best actor right now.

**** stars.

Melancholia: A Nerve Racking Time...In a Good Way

I wasn't sure what to think immediately after seeing Lars Von Trier's new film Melancholia. When I first began watching it, I was both puzzled, yet interested at what I was seeing. The movie starts with the end of the world, and then flashes to a wedding reception, one of the happiest days of a young couple. Next we watch the facade of a happy couple crumble, all while knowing that eventually all of issues these characters face will not matter. My initially thought after the movie's first half, "Justine" was slight boredom.  I didn't know where this movie was planning to go and how these characters would face their impending doom

Melancholia's second half is similar to the first, however the focus is switched from Kirsten Dunst's Justine, to Charlotte Gainsbourg's Claire.  During this second half, I began to feel increasing tense.  The planet Melancholia has been discovered to be flying by Earth.  Claire believes that the planet will be crashing into the Earth and is scared for her family. She believes that Melancholia will crash into Earth.  Her husband reassures her Melancholia will only fly by and will not collide with the Earth.  What is so nerve racking here is the isolation of the setting.  Claire and her family live on a secluded estate, far apart from the rest of their town. There are no radio reports, no television reports, and no newspaper reports of what if anything is being done to combat the possible impending doom. We are left just with a family and their fright and acceptance of what will be.

Melancholia is not an easy film to get into, it slow build and lacking a substantial plot. I was not a huge fan of the first half, but I was uneasily caught up in the second.

**1/2 stars

Apollo 18: Disappointing Trip to the Moon

Too bad you never get a clear view of the aliens

Apollo 18 is boring.  There I said it.  It is a thriller set primarily on the moon where a bunch of astronauts discover a new species on the moon.  It is a "found footage" movie, because even though Apollo 18 is a secret mission that no one should ever know about, every second of every one of the mission's members life needed to be documented.


The problem with the movie is that uses the found footage trope poorly.  The main scare, repeated many times in the movie is one of the cameras catching the alien moving out of sight of the astronauts.  I kept expecting something to happen and by the time it did, I was already falling asleep.

I'll give the movie credit for having a neat way to tie the creatures with a large aspect of the history American space travel.

*1/2 Stars.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Great Rework of the Origin Story

The Planet of the Apes franchise had been stale for a while.  The 2001 remake of the original was a lackluster ridiculous movie with cheesy special effects and bad acting.  This decade-later remake starring James Franco, however is a lot of fun.  The number one reason I enjoyed this movie so much is the fantastic and effective performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar, the lead ape who leads an ape revolution.  The performances by all the ape in fact are fantastic, it was hard to believe that they were all CG and that there was a human behind each performance.

The story is also really good and satisfying.  The story of the rise of Caesar from the child of James Franco's character to leader of a revolution against the mistreatment of his fellow apes is compelling.  On the other side, I wondered how the writers would come up with a plausible method to display how a few hundred Apes in California could ever get to a large enough force to eventually take over a planet.  This question is answered satisfactorily in the movie.

The worst part of the movie are the humans.  James Franco does not really do much in the movie.  Event though the movie take place over almost 10 years, James Franco looks exactly the same.  Frieda Pinto is given almost nothing to do in the movie, her character is bland, uninteresting and totally replaceable.

The last third of the movie from when Caesar stands up to his oppressors in a primate facility to the end is thrilling.  It improved the movie from interesting character study on Caesar to an exciting action movie.  

*** Stars

Attack the Block: Fantastic Fun Film

As I mentioned on the podcast A Fistful of Popcorn, Attack the Block is my favorite movie of the year.  I have not had a better time at the theaters this year.  There are several reasons why:

- The lead, Daniel Boyega (Moses) is a compelling character.  Even though his character is a teenager, he is not played as an immature kid.  He is the leader of a gang and he is serious in his role.  He recognizes his role as the leader of his crew and sticks to his code of ethics for the Block.  I expect to see Boyega doing big things in future movies.

- The soundtrack for the film is fantastic.  The music in the film hit the right notes making us get exciting to see more of the action that occurs on screen.

- For an alien invasion movie, the script is refreshing fun and simple.  Compared to silly blockbuster movies such as Battle: Los Angeles and the upcoming Battleship.  There is no overblown romance story line bogging down the script or overdone plot points that become increasingly confusing.

- The aliens themselves actually are better looking than other alien movies.  They are genuinely scary and not silly humanoid slime creatures with guns.

This movie will be a sleeper hit when it eventually goes wide, I urge everyone to see it.

***1/2 stars

Another Earth

A young girl, Rhoda, during a celebration of her acceptance to M.I.T. gets drunk and crashes into another car killing most of the family members in the other car.  This is not very interesting at first, however, this happens during the night when the world discovers another planet, and it is a replica of our planet, Earth.  After serving a four year sentence for her crime, the girl returns from prison a changed woman; from a young, hopeful girl to a broken, sad, woman.  At the same time, a company plans an expedition to Earth-2 and offers an open position on the shuttle in an essay contest.  Rhoda enters the contest, in the hope that maybe she can discover what her life would have been like without the crash.  She also decides to visit the lone survivor of the crash, a former professor, who had his life destroyed in the crash.

Another Earth is well made, its themes of redemption and overcoming loss are meant to strike a deep chord with the viewer.  However, I could not get into this movie.  It felt cold and distant.  Brit Marling's performance as Rhoda is slightly boring, her character never really gives us a chance to invest any interest in her character.  The story of redemption did not work well for me, it seemed rather implausible.  It is easy to tell that this movie is lovingly made and personal to its writer/star, and I can also see how other people may like this movie, however, this movie didn't work for me.

** Stars

Captain America: Holds Up to the Template

Captain America is the newest superhero film to hit theaters.  This being one of the many superhero films this year, I thought I would try and make a template to use when writing about these movies.

Our Hero Before He Gains Power:  Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a weak, sickly boy in WWII America who wishes he could join the US troops fighting Nazis in Europe.  He is constantly rejected by doctors because of his small size and sickly composition.  He shows the traits of being a hero, but lacks the power to properly back up this words.  I liked Rogers, he is a good guy, who I root for to catch a break in life.

How the Hero Gets His Power:  Steve’s traits as a good person allows him to meet a government doctor who place him in an experimental program which allows him to given superhuman abilities.  I like the simplicity of  the steps that go into getting Rogers his powers are not convoluted or goofy, they are believable.

Love Interest:  Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is a plucky officer of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, the agency responsible for giving Rogers his powers.  She is not a timid damsel that needs to be saved.  She is a capable operative who is resourceful and supportive of Captain America.  In addition, Evans and Atwell have great personality together on screen.  

How Compelling is the Villain and Does His Plan Make Sense:  The villain, Red Skull is a direct foil  to Captain America.  The good traits that make up Captain America’s personality are in direct conflict to the evil of Red Skull.  He is a badass who definitely lets you know that he is evil as often as possible. His plan for world domination however, is rather complicated and downright silly.  He goes through a ton of steps basically so that he can create a giant plane so that he can bomb the US.

Action Scenes:  They are entertaining and there plenty of them.  The special effects during these scenes are really good.  The effects are not overdone and do not overwhelm the film.

I really enjoyed Captain America.  It is a really good superhero film that works because the hero is likable, the special effects are reserved and the villain is compelling.

*** Stars