Ok, here we go...
I love director Quentin Tarantino, but Django Unchained was an exercise in tiresome excess; From its violence to its length, the film was just too much for me to personally enjoy as much as it seems so many others did. Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson do well, but it is Leonardo DiCaprio who gives a stand-out performance. Django Unchained also boasts the funniest scene with white supremacists you'll ever see.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
* I think I generally have pretty typical tastes, but most people seem to disagree with me on this particular opinion, so you might want to go buy a ticket if you still think you'll enjoy Django!
A shy girl is convinced by her more outgoing friend to co-found a phone-sex business. The subject matter in For a Good Time, Call is by its very nature, sexually graphic. But if that doesn't bother you, this is a pretty darn funny film that's also a sweet story about friendship. I will say filmmakers could have earned many more laughs by showing the shy girl awkwardly bumble through her first phone calls, but props to Ari Graynor and Lauren Miller (who also co-wrote the script) for being perfect in their roles.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
With such an amazing cast (Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, & Emma Stone), it is disappointing Gangster Squad was such a forgettable film. Yet a predictable story and an anticlimactic finale put to waste the cast who, to their credit, put forth decent efforts, particularly Penn as the villainous mob boss.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was as much an enigma as his films and the making of his most famous movie, Psycho, is an interesting - even if not a particularly thrilling - look at the man himself. Anthony Hopkins does the icon justice, but the better performance is found in Helen Mirren as Hitchcock's wife and collaborator. And despite disliking the storytelling choices of the first 2 minutes and last 2 minutes, how could I not like a film with Scarlett Johansson AND Jessica Biel?!?
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
It could have been a bit shorter, but director Peter Jackson recaptures all original magic of The Lord of the Rings in the prequel The Hobbit. It is based on a children's book (whereas LotR was not), so it starts off a bit silly, but it still leads to some great battles. My only real problem was the poor CGI effects in some scenes which I cannot seem to justify. Other than that, the cast, including Martin Freeman, were great and the story compelling.
The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.
You might jump a couple of times, but House at the End of the Street is just as disappointing in its moments of horror as it is in its moments of mystery. Attempts at a number of plot twists are executed so poorly they fail to be shocking revelations and come across more as dull statements of fact. The film may have been a good idea at some point, and they certainly had star power in Jennifer Lawrence, but presentation failures utterly kill this film.
The Final Word: Don't even bother.
When the closing credits rolled on The Hunter, I wasn't entirely sure what the takeaway was supposed to be, but realized that I had been engaged and interested throughout the film nonetheless, due in large part to a great performance by Willem Dafoe as a mercenary hunting for the last Tasmanian tiger in existence.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Director Seth Gordon's newest film surprised me by not being as stupid as it looked. The story still barely makes any sense, - a victim of identity theft would never travel across the country to bring back the thief - but it does allow for some funny scenes, particularly one in a diner and one with Eric Stonestreet (from Modern Family). While Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy are pretty much the same characters they usually play, McCarthy does have an unexpected dramatic scene in Identity Thief that makes me excited to see her in something serious sometime.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
This true story of a family trying desperately to reunite after being savagely separated by the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia is captivating and inspiring. With gripping realism, The Impossible provides an intense experience like no other recent film. Credit to director Juan Antonio Bayona and stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor for showing us the power of hope in the midst of despair.
The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.
The trailers made it look cheesy, but Jack Reacher surprised me by actually being exciting and fun. It was refreshing to see Tom Cruise play a protagonist who's not always the clean-cut nice-guy; Reacher does what needs to be done, even if it is ugly. The film is not the best Tom Cruise movie by far, but it is a good one and worth the watch.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Jeff is a nice guy, and so is this movie about his life. Jeff Who Lives at Home is a sweet tale about two brothers (Jason Segel and Ed Helms) and their mother (Susan Sarandon), each of whom are are confronting their own version of an identity crisis. A number of unlikely coincidences lead to an ending which tied up a bit too cleanly for my tastes, but an intriguing film from the Duplass brothers nonetheless.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
WWJD - What Would Jesus Do? Well, I can tell you that since he's all-knowing, He'd have the foresight to avoid a film as dreary and useless as Jesus Henry Christ. The story of a boy searching for his biological father sounds promising, but by the time the film has exhausted all its energy flapping about in its own narcissistic sense of importance, you just wish you could throw it back, knowing now that it never could breathe fresh life into itself.
The Final Word: Don't even bother.
Brad Pitt as a mob hit-man sounds like a great idea, and while he does as well as expected in the role, the character is largely wasted in the trudging and unfocused script of Killing Them Softly. Somewhere in there is an interesting story, and the film takes its time to develop some really interesting characters (like the one played by James Gandolfini), but none of it ever comes together to be truly worth the price of a ticket.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
He's back! But definitely not better than ever. The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, seems to have picked the most mediocre action movie possible to make his big Hollywood comeback. Now that he's not really believable as an action star (except in The Expendables franchise where anything is possible for senior citizens!) and since we all know he can't really act, you have to question whether Arnie should be trying to headline films at all.
The Final Word: Don't even bother.
Les Mis is one of the greatest books ever written and one of the greatest theatrical productions ever staged. But how's the movie? Only time will tell how history will remember the film, but in this moment Les Mis is by far the best musical I have ever seen. The singing was filmed live (as opposed to lip-syncing dubbed over later with recorded tracks) and it gives Les Mis an amazing sense of authenticity. The entire Hugh Jackman-led cast does well, but the standout performance comes from (my future wife) Anne Hathaway who delivers in the "I Dreamed a Dream" song a show-stopping and heartbreaking performance. My only complaint is that the film could have been about 20 minutes shorter than it was.
The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.
20th Century Fox provided me with exclusive images to write a preview piece for this film (which you can read here), so its a shame that it has taken me until now to write the review and prove that the film really was great and I wasn't simply selling out to "the man." Well, better late than never! Life of Pi truly is spectacular filmmaking (worthy of its 11 Academy Award nominations), not only in its storytelling, but especially in its visuals. It is rare to find a film that looks so good and this is one movie where the price of 3D is actually worth it.
The Final Word: Go buy a 3D ticket.
Daniel Day Lewis is amazing as our 16th President in Steven Spielberg's latest film. He deserves an Oscar win for Best Actor in my opinion, but that is where the awards for Lincoln should stop, because it's really not that great of a movie. Long and overly drawn out, the film often feels more like you are watching CSPAN than a movie. Like this year's Flight or last year's The Iron Lady, Lincoln features a good performance unfortunate enough to be in a mediocre film.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Half the fun of Looper is watching Joseph Gordon Levitt display his surprisingly talented Bruce Willis impersonation. The other half is thinking about the film's original time travel ideas. However, Looper stops short of being the thrill ride it should have been halfway through the film as the characters find themselves on a farm. Not only does the story immediately grind down to a mind-numbingly slow pace, but Looper seems to change into an entirely different film. It is a baffling and disappointing second half to a truly great first.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Great trailers, but a movie that's a bit less. Aside from Mama's ambitious marketing team, the storytelling team led by director Andres Muschietti and producer Guillermo del Toro also outdid themselves, expanding upon Muschietti's own short film of the same name (which you can watch here) to create a horror movie that refuses to entirely settle for paranormal clichés and gives the movie the essence of a fairytale, something del Toro in particular always does well. The only problem is that Mama is hardly as scary as it should have been or looked in the trailers.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Confession: I kinda like the Paranormal Activity movies. Yeah, there's not much to them, but for some reason I like them anyways. Number four in the series maintains the status quo of the franchise, but has an ending that was absolutely awful. Will I go see PA5 when it comes out? Of course, but I swear this really is the last chance for redemption!
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
I left the theater for Pitch Perfect in a state of confusion. The story had an unfocused plot and a major character who was unlikable for most of the film (despite being played by my future wife Anna Kendrick). This character tries to introduce the traditional group to new music, which is a good idea, but she is met with so much resistance that the transition happens all at the end; A better movie would have chronicled the transition throughout the entire film and ignored much of the drama in between that Pitch Perfect as it is focuses on. However, I left confused because despite such an obvious problem, I liked Pitch Perfect anyways - both for an impressive final number and the presence of emerging star Rebel Wilson. Weird, huh?
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Co-written by and co-starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski (a personal favorite), Promised Land did in fact have promise. But while it is interesting enough to watch, the film ends with the audience looking back on the past couple hours and just not caring all that much. You don't particularly care about the characters much, the dialogue wasn't too clever, and the political message simply falls flat. It's not terrible, but not terribly exciting either.
The Final Word: Somewhere between renting it and avoiding it entirely. Your choice I guess.
The idea of how ordinary citizens might rise up to defend their homeland against invading forces is cool to think about, brimming with thoughts of heroics, patriotism, and rednecks joining with gangsters (and other types of people who own guns) to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. What you don't think about is the entire absurd unlikelihood of it all or poor acting. Red Dawn painfully reminds you of both. But hey, explosions are cool I guess.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Director Rodrigo Cortes followed up his acclaimed film Buried with this film about a pair of paranormal psychologists who set out to debunk a legendary psychic who is resurfacing after years of recluse retirement. Red Lights is an interesting film, bolstered by a strong cast in Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy, and Elizabeth Olsen, but fails to mount all the tension it could have and ends with a somewhat poorly executed - though conceptually clever - twist.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Mark Duplass has been crazy busy as of late, but he found time to play an enigmatic, shy man who claims in a classified ad he can travel in time; all he needs is a partner. Cue the cute journalist. As she and the rest of her team investigates, a delightful little story unfolds in Safety Not Guaranteed that, although it ends a bit predictably and uninspired, I had to enjoy anyways for the promise of the original premise and the likability of the cast.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
It may be the combination of the total absurdity of a sheikh spending millions to bring fly-fishing to the desert and the fact this film is actually based on a true story, but I kind of loved Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. I really can't put my finger on why, but I can say that I'm a big fan of both Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. Whatever the reason, it's a delightful little film and worth checking out.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
"The best movie of the year!" So says my friend Kyle, who is sometimes a guest reviewer here on E.U. His reasoning: It is unlike any film he's ever seen. While Seven Psychopaths will probably not end up in My Top Ten Movies of 2012 (coming soon!), he's right that the film certainly sets itself apart. A writer (writing a movie called... you guessed it, Seven Psychopaths!) being chased by a mob boss because his best friend stole the mob boss's dog becomes funny, interesting, and a clever commentary of movies and of life.
The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.
I love the idea that X's and O's can symbolize players in a sports playbook or hugs and kisses in a letter. Silver Linings Playbook also has a duality of meaning in its existence. It treats itself as a comedy/drama, but at its heart is a pure star-crossed lovers romance. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro do exceptionally well, each outperforming a number of their more recent roles. Director David O. Russell's story may tie up predictably, but it truly makes you care for these flawed and very real characters.
The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.
What a creepy movie! Sinister is definitely a dark alternative to lighter fare such as Paranormal Activity. And while it gets a little weird towards the end and the demon looks, frankly, kinda stupid, Sinister is still an engaging movie, steadily building a knuckle-clenching tension throughout. It had me holding my breath a lot, but I just wish it had made me jump more.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
It's normally healthy, as a rule, to be extremely skeptical of remakes. Unfortunately, I think people too easily dismissed Texas Chainsaw 3D, which turns out to be more of a sequel to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre than a remake. Starting with clips from the 1974 film (an idea I absolutely loved), we fast-forward twenty years later to a young woman who has inherited the infamous Sawyer house. And wouldn't you know it, it comes with a chainsaw-wielding surprise! The film often does, unfortunately, fall into the trap of going more for gross-out torture than actual scares. And the actors, as is the case with most horror films, kinda suck. But while it may not have been executed all that well, there's a great story idea in there that sets up the series to move forward in an interesting way.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Knocked Up seemed to bring new attention to the R-rated comedy genre. Yet This is 40, a sort-of sequel, fails to capture any of the original raunchy charm of its predecessor. Things happen in the film, but nothing happens. Characters fight and argue, but go nowhere in their relationships. Its just a sad kind of movie where Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's character fight a lot and don't really seem to be much happier by the end of the film, even though everyone is smiling in the final scene. Weird movie; waste of time.
The Final Word: Don't even bother.
Clint Eastwood promised us that Gran Torino would be his last film. He should have gone out on that extremely high note, because Trouble with the Curve is just about as generic a film as can be. It's not bad, per say, but it has no qualities unique to itself. Even if you've never watched a movie about baseball or scouting, it feels like you've seen it all before.
The Final Word: Don't even bother.
Mark Duplass again! This time he's a man who's down in the dumps, spending what is meant to be a relaxing weekend caught between a sister with whom he becomes physically involved with (Rosemarie DeWitt) and a sister he is emotionally involved with (Emily Blunt). Director Lynn Shelton is amazingly talented at communicating characters in very subtle ways and while the film ties up waaaayyyy too neatly (aside from a great last 30 seconds), it's an interesting movie to check out.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
Half the audience in the theater applauded when (spoiler alert!) members of Navy Seal Team 6 shot Osama Bin Laden. The other half clearly felt uncomfortable with celebrating the execution, because, more than honoring the victims of the attacks orchestrated by Bin Laden, it seemed to trivialize them by turning the successful operation into a "We win!" moment. No, we still lost. We just happened to kill the guy responsible for our loss. Killing him was definitely the right thing to do, but it struck me as strange to celebrate it so joyously.
Anyways, how this operation played out in our recent history is simply riveting. The real ways in which such clandestine activities unfold is an intriguing pursuit, brought to life effectively by director Kathryn Bigelow. The stoic character of Jessica Chastain is as enigmatic as the operation, but only gets one good scene to breakthrough her character's stoicism and deliver a real performance. I can't say that's Chastain's fault though; its just an accurate depiction of the woman who ran the op. The whole film captures an important moment in our nation's history and leads to important post-credit conversations about torture, politics, war, justice, and heroism. And maybe a teeny bit of celebration.
The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.
Well, I don't know about you, but that was exhausting! Don't worry though, it won't be another 2 months till the next post! Just give me a day or two! Lol.
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