Josh Brolin

Inherent Vice

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Inherent Vice
  • IMDb: link

Inherent ViceIs hippie noir a thing? Set in 1970 Los Angeles writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson‘s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon‘s novel of the same name follows the misadventures of pothead private investigator Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix). Doc is hired by his former girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston), whom he has never gotten over, to foil a plot involving the forced incarceration of her current married boyfriend (Eric Roberts) into a mental institution in his family’s attempt to grab his millions.

Filled with oddball characters with distinctive names, Inherent Vice is an intriguing blend of Pynchon’s writing with Anderson’s style featuring an all-star supporting cast of Josh Brolin as a L.A. police detective with an intense hatred for our P.I., Owen Wilson as a presumed dead musician whose wife (Jena Malone) hires Doc to discover the truth about his whereabouts, Hong Chau as “a small perfect Asian dewdrop” working at a massage profile where Doc is temporarily framed for murder, Reese Witherspoon as an Assistant District Attorney and another of Doc’s old flames, and Pretty Little Liars‘ Sasha Pieterse as a young runaway with a drug problem supported by her doctor (Martin Short).

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
  • IMDb: link

Sin City: A Dame to Kill ForIt’s been nine years since Robert Rodriguez teamed with Frank Miller to bring Miller’s Sin City to life. Producing the most faithful comic book movie to date while still finding a way to add value and improve the source material with stylistic choices that continue to make the film visually unique nearly a decade later, I thought enough of the film to make it one of my Top 10 Films of 2005.

Since that time Hollywood has attempted to recapture the magic of Sin City with a series of comic book stylized movies, none of which have measured up. Despite Miller’s involvement The Spirit floundered. And although 300 was marginally passable, if completely ridiculous at times, the sequel was far from impressive.

Returning several of the original film’s stars, while doing some recasting here and there, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For isn’t as good as the original. The opening scene featuring Marv (Mickey Rourke) feels a bit rushed. It doesn’t give us Clive Owen for the post-op Dwight. And we don’t get nearly enough Rosario Dawson.

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The Best Produced Lifetime Movie for Women Ever Made

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Labor Day
  • IMDB: link

Labor DayI’m a Jason Reitman fan. Young Adult made my Top Films of 2011, as did Juno a few years earlier. I consider Thank You For Smoking the best satire (by far) of the past decade, and Up in the Air was easily my favorite film of 2009. With a combination of wit, talent, and an eye for casting, the writer-director has produced some terrific films over the past few years. Sadly, Labor Day is not one of them.

Based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, Labor Day lacks Reitman’s usual flourishes or the trademark edge of the director’s previous work. Although competently acted and well produced, neither the director nor its stars (Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Clark Gregg, and Gattlin Griffith) can save the movie from trashy romance novel themes about the nicest escaped murderer (Brolin) this side of Mayberry and an implausible love story that is impossible to take seriously (but also not quite cheesy enough to laugh at or enjoy). It’s with neither malice nor spite, but with a heavy heart, that I dub the film the best produced Lifetime Movie for Women ever made.

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Gangster Squad

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  • Title: Gangster Squad
  • IMDB: link

gangster-squad-posterGangster Squad is an average straight-to-DVD action flick that happens to be set in the 1950’s and boast a cast of actors all of whom are slumming here. Adapted from Paul Lieberman’s book, the film centers around real events in Los Angeles when a select group of cops worked to take down gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) by any means necessary. And by “adapted” I mean any relation to the events covered in Lieberman’s book (such as who survives and how Cohen was eventually taken down) to screenwriter Will Beall‘s script are likely accidental.

I can only guess director Ruben Fleischer lured the likes of Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, and Robert Patrick to the project with the proposal of making something akin to The Untouchables (which this film desperately wants to be compared to). With poorly cast actors, dreadful dialogue, costumes and sets that feel more like costumes and sets than period locations and attire, Gangster Squad couldn’t be further from Brian De Palma‘s terrific film. It’s actually closer to something as completely forgettable as Takers.

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Men in Black III

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Men in Black III
  • IMDB: link

men-in-black-3-posterWell that was… in 3D. I wonder how many film series will find themselves resurrected for the soul purpose of cashing-in on Hollywood’s latest love affair with 3D. If Men in Black III is any indication (a franchise that died a decade ago only to have it’s undead corpse dug up and trotted out to make a few dollars at the box office) perhaps movie studios may want to be a little more selective in choosing which movie series to resurrect.

Men in Black III isn’t a bad film. It has some enjoyable moments (like Bill Hader‘s cameo as Andy Warhol) and some nice performances. Hell, Josh Brolin playing a younger version of Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones‘s character) is almost worth the price of admission by itself. Almost.

However, the story is stuck in neutral with a generic time travel adventure involving a grizzled alien (Jemaine Clement) out for revenge. Much like Tommy Lee Jones (who only appears on-screen in a limited role this time around), the film simply feels tired and only vaguely aware of what’s going on.

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