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