Drama

The Solid (But Far From Spectacular) Now

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  • Title: The Spectacular Now
  • IMDB: link

The Spectacular NowAdapted from Tim Tharp’s novel of the same name by the writing team that gave us (500) Days of Summer and Pink Panther 2, The Spectacular Now is a movie of great moments than never really lives up to the promise of the edgy indie coming of age story it so desperately wants to be. Much like last year’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which is a stronger film), the movie rides a group of strong performances to just the right notes at times, but too often it also absent-mindedly gets lost in the melody.

Our story centers around Sutter (Miles Teller), a popular 18 year-old alcholic who begins hanging out with the shy and awkward Aimee (Shailene Woodley, who even without makeup is far too pretty and outgoing for the role) while trying to get over being dumped by his longtime girlfriend Cassidy (Brie Larson). Despite the cliched pairing of the cool dude with the uncool mousey chick who his friends can’t fathom why he would date (even though she’s the cutest girl in the entire movie), the story eventually takes darker direction (although not nearly soon enough for my tastes).

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The World’s End

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The World’s End
  • IMDB: link

The World's EndWhen writer/director Edgar Wright works with the combination of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost good, and often hilarious, things are bound to happen. Although it might not quite reach the levels of hilarity in either Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, The World’s End doesn’t disappoint in providing plenty of big laughs in a story about old friends, a robot invasion, and lots and lots of beer.

Pegg stars as Gary King, the former leader of a motley group who have all moved on with their lives. Unable or unwilling to grow up, Gary has been left behind by his former friends and is obsessed with a desire to recapture the glory days of their youth – especially a magical night where the five friends attempted, but failed, to complete the Golden Mile (drinking a pint of beer in all 12 pubs in their hometown of Newton Haven).

One by one Gary cajoles, lies, tempts, and pleads with his old friends (Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan) to join him for one more night of debauchery which is interrupted by old arguments and alien robot replicants.

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Blue Jasmine

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Blue Jasmine
  • IMDB: link

Blue JasmineBlue Jasmine reminds me quite a lot of Celebrity, writer/director Woody Allen‘s 1998 trainwreck of a film casting another actor (Kenneth Branagh) in Allen’s trademark role with mixed results. Allen’s latest is noteworthy for the terrific performance of Cate Blanchett as the female version of Allen’s hopelessly paranoid and neurotic character. Blanchett is amazing as Jasmine, but unlike Allen who was able to consistently charm his way through such portrayals, Jasmine’s cynicism cuts like a knife forcing audiences to keep their distance and never embrace the character in the way the film needs to ultimately succeed. Blanchett might be terrific, but the script give us no reason to care about what happens to her.

Despite loosing her fortune and marriage due to her husband’s (Alec Baldwin) shady business dealings and womanizing, it’s impossible to see the self-obsessed Jasmine as anything approaching a legitimate victim. There’s little reason to feel sorry for the oblivious and neurotic Jasmine, nor is there reason to hate or take joy in her fall from grace. All she can earn is our pity.

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Isn’t Apple the Most Awesome Thing Ever?!

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  • Title: Jobs
  • IMDB: link

JobsDirector Joshua Michael Stern‘s (Swing Vote) biopic of Apple founder Steve Jobs isn’t without it’s moments, even if the the screenplay by Matt Whitely brings nothing new to the party or fails to reveal anything previously unknown about Jobs’ life or the the rise of Apple Computers from a garage to a multi-billion dollar brand. Where it begins to get tedious, however, is in its never-ending praise of Jobs’ apparently limitless genius and all things Apple.

The story is relatively simple as Jobs (played surprisingly well by Ashton Kutcher) is the very much the cliched pretentious genius who doesn’t play well with others. From his humble beginnings, we watch as Jobs uses the expertise of Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad), a far more interesting and sympathetic figure than Jobs in almost every respect who doesn’t earn nearly enough screentime, along with the help of Bill Fernandez (Victor Rasuk), Rod Holt (Ron Eldard), and financier Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney) to launch the beginnings of what would grow to become a vast computer empire.

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The Bling Ring

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Bling Ring
  • IMDb: link

The Bling RingBased on real events in late 2008 and through most of 2009, writer/director Sofia Coppola‘s latest film takes a look at a group of teenagers from Calabasas, California who burglarized several Hollywood celebrities with the help of tabloid and gossip blogs (which told the gang when the celebrities would be out of town) and the stars themselves (as many left their homes defenseless, not even bothering to lock doors and windows). The group would come to be known as the Hollywood Hills Burglars or The Bling Ring.

Although the film spends time with all the members of the group, the primary focus is on Rebecca (Katie Chang), the instigator of the robberies, and her best friend Marc (Israel Broussard), a shy gay teen willing to do nearly anything for his first real best friend. The group also includes Chloe (Claire Julien), a friend with the criminal connections to help the Bling Ring fence some of their stolen merchandise, and the homeschooled threesome of Nicki (Emma Watson), her younger sister Emily (Georgia Rock), and her adopted sister Sam (Taissa Farmiga).

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