- Title: Ginger & Rosa
- IMDB: link
Writer/director Sally Potter‘s Ginger & Rosa isn’t a bad film by any means, but it’s certainly more concerned with showcasing the talents of its actors (particularly its young leading lady) than presenting a compelling tale set in 1962 London against the backdrop of nuclear proliferation and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Elle Fanning stars as Ginger, the smart daughter of an irresponsible father (Alessandro Nivola) and demanding mother (Christina Hendricks). She’s also surrounded by a collection of equally pompous and pretentious role models (Timothy Spall, Oliver Platt, Annette Bening) who feed the girl’s interest in activism and rebellion without taking the slightest interest in what is going on inside Ginger’s impressionable young mind.
The calm in the storm for Ginger comes in the form of her lifelong best friend Rosa (Alice Englert). By far the more extroverted and promiscuous of the pair, Rosa continues to push Ginger into taking chances and having fun.
[click to continue…]
- Title: On the Road
- IMDB: link
Adapted from Jack Kerouac‘s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, On the Road follows the misadventures of young writer Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) who takes up with the charismatic Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) for a hedonistic journey across the country that involves sex, drugs, the defining music and philosophy of the Beat Generation, and both Dean’s girlfriend Marylou (Kristen Stewart) and wife Camille (Kirsten Dunst).
Francis Ford Coppola purchased the movie rights in 1979, but spent decades unable to get the meandering period piece centered around a group of self-important characters off the ground. In late 2010 his patience was rewarded by director Walter Salles and screenwriter Jose Rivera who were finally able to bring the project to fruition.
On the Road is, at best, a mixed success. The relationship between Riley and Hedlund succeeds while Salles sprinkles in solid small supporting performances from recognizable actors such as Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, and Alice Braga.
[click to continue…]
- Title: G.I. JOE: Retaliation
- IMDB: link
Four years after the train wreck that was G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra, the sequel finally makes it to theaters after converting the movie to 3D and shooting additional scenes to cash-in on Channing Tatum‘s increased celebrity. G.I. JOE: Retaliation doesn’t prove to be worth the wait, but it’s certainly far better than the original.
For those of you unlucky enough to have witnessed the first film, you know that the terrorist organization known as Cobra had risen. Even if they had been defeated by the American special anti-terrorism force known as G.I. JOE, one of Cobra’s own, the master of disguise known as Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), had taken the place of the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce).
G.I. JOE: Retaliation picks up some months later with President Zartan orchestrating the public disgrace and destruction of the JOEs while Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) and Firefly (Ray Stevenson) break Cobra Commander (now played by Luke Bracey) out of futuristic prison in an overly-elaborate plan.
[click to continue…]
- Title: Spring Breakers
- IMDB: link
Harmony Korine is a divisive filmmaker whose themes and characters are often are far more complicated then they initially appear but whose detractors often point to his limitless self-indulgence and gleeful exploration of his young stars; you shouldn’t expect anything less from the writer/director’s latest, Spring Breakers.
Korine knew exactly what he was doing in casting three attractive young Disney and ABC Family actresses (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson) to star along with his wife (Rachel Korine) in this tale of four thrill-seeking college students and their week of danger and debauchery over spring break.
The director is certainly exploiting each of the young women’s good-girl image to make the movie more titillating (which, despite the four young leads spending nearly the entire time in bikinis, it’s really not) while allowing each actress a chance to push outside the limits of kinds of roles they are usually known for.
[click to continue…]
- Title: Olympus Has Fallen
- IMDB: link
Olympus Has Fallen comes from a long line of dumb action flicks that are more concerned about high body counts and how many rounds of ammunition can be pumped into nameless causalities at high speeds than little things like plot, logic, and character. Twenty years ago this kind of film would have starred Bruce Willis or Steven Seagal. Not surprisingly, this dumb-as-dirt action flick comes from a pair of first-time screenwriters (Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt) who pull from numerous similar films about a lone disgraced hero in over his head.
Gerard Butler stars as Secret Service Agent Mike Banning, the best of the best and a personal friend to the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) and his son (Finley Jacobsen). In the film’s opening sequence an unfortunate turn of events forces Banning to sacrifice the First Lady (Ashley Judd) in order to save the President’s life. Although Banning’s service is exemplary, and he performed his duty perfectly, he finds himself sitting at a desk at the U.S. Treasury for 18 months (which is when the story picks back up).
[click to continue…]
- Title: The Croods
- IMDB: link
If you follow show business, you’ve probably heard that DreamWorks Animation isn’t doing too hot. Ever since they mercifully let their not-so-jolly green giant retire, they’ve struggled to find any other banner property to prop their studio on. And last year’s Rise of the Guardians was especially disappointing at the box office. To make things worse, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s studio laid off hundreds and had to break off from long-time distributor Paramount Pictures.
All of this culminates with The Croods, which DreamWorks desperately needs to be a hit to avoid slipping further into uncertainty. But The Croods is somewhat of a mixed bag. If the studio was going for a Hail Mary they failed, but it’s still a passable family film that should go down as a safe play.
The Croods is the prehistoric tale of a family of Neanderthals that have survived in a scant desert the only way they know how: by hiding in the dark almost constantly. Eldest child Eep (voiced by Emma Stone) is a teenager trying to escape the protective hold her father (Nicholas Cage! As a stupid caveman!) has held his family under to keep them from being eaten by something.
[click to continue…]
- Title: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
- IMDB: link
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is an odd film about the change in magic from old school tricks and illusion to elaborate and dangerous stunts of endurance during the 1990′s, and the petty jealousies that go on behind the curtain, that feels at least a decade late. Written by Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley (who gave us the equally uneven Horrible Bosses) the script is inconsistent, especially during the movie’s third act, but it delivers a surprising number of laughs when it embraces the sheer absurdity of its premise and characters with a gleeful zeal.
The film stars Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi as a pair of old school Las Vegas magicians Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton (think Siegfried & Roy without the tigers) whose act and decades of friendship have seen better days. The pair’s partnership comes to an end when popular new street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey as a mix of David Blaine and Criss Angel) forces the pair into uncharted territory doing dangerous stunts that leave Anton severely injured and Burt out on the street looking for a new job.
[click to continue…]
- Title: Oz the Great and Powerful
- IMDB: link
There’s no Scarecrow, Tin Man, or Cowardly Lion, but by the end of Oz the Great and Powerful the stage will be set for a young girl from Kansas to make her own journey to Frank L. Baum’s magical land of Oz. This completely original script by screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire offers us the origins of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz (James Franco), who, as the film opens (in black and white), is nothing more than a traveling carnival magician and con man on the dusty plains of Kansas.
The first quarter of our story is centered around presenting Oz in his own world before whisking him away to the magical land of Oz via the most likely transport: a tornado. Franco is well cast as the smarmy, selfish, womanizing, con man wishing for greatness (but too lazy to work for it), with an unquestionable greed for fame and fortune and an uncomfortable relationship with the truth. Oz’s myriad of failings leads to a hasty escape from the carnival that traps the magician’s hot air balloon in the middle of a Kansas twister leading to a journey somewhere over the rainbow.
[click to continue…]
- Title: John Dies at the End
- IMDB: link
Based on the comic-horror novel of the same name by Cracked editor David Wong and brought to the screen by writer/director Don Coscarelli, John Dies at the End is a bizarre dark comedic horror film about a powerful hallucinogenic drug known as Soy Sauce, parallel universes, time travel, the heroic nature of dogs, and an alien invasion that threatens all life on the planet Earth.
We’re introduced to our main character, David Wong (Chase Williamson), as he tells his unbelievable story to reporter Arnie Bloodstone (Paul Giamatti). Through long flashbacks we see the events that have led David to a Chinese restaurant to unburden his soul. Of course by the time we meet David he’s already addicted and high on Soy Sauce, which makes him the definition of an unreliable narrator whose words (and, at times, admitted lies) can only be taken at face value.
The story really begins with David’s best friend John (Rob Mayes) who scores some Soy Sauce off a fake magical Jamaican (Tai Bennett) one night at a party and changes both their lives forever.
[click to continue…]
- Title: Jack the Giant Slayer
- IMDB: link
Turning fairy tales into big budget live-action CGI extravaganzas seems to be all the rage in Hollywood right now. Director Bryan Singer‘s Jack the Giant Slayer, the retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, is an inarguably flawed film, but it’s certainly a step up from similar recent films such as Snow White and the Huntsman, Mirror Mirror, and even Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.
Singer’s modest success comes from casting two likable young stars (Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson), clever work in the editing room, some (mostly) good special effects, and fun supporting performances from the likes of Ewan McGregor, Ian McShane, and Stanley Tucci as the film’s dastardly villain Roderick who plans to use the giants to seize power in the kingdom and beyond.
The plot to Jack the Giant Slayer is relatively straight-forward. We’re given a hero’s journey as Jack (Hoult) sets out to prove his worth by helping to rescue Princess Isabelle (Tomlinson), whom he secretly loves, from an army of human-eating giants at the top of Jack’s beanstalk.
[click to continue…]
