Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Battleship is a board game. Now it’s a movie…with aliens. The story is dumb, the action is explosive and extravagant, and the acting is horrendous; but somehow it’s not terrible and still somewhat entertaining. I think every one’s expectations are so low that anything will float with this movie even though it makes Michael Bay look like a cinematic auteur. Battleship is basically Transformers attacking the Titantic in the time of Idiocracy. It’s also as entertaining as actually playing a game of Battleship…fun at first, but then you realize you’re playing Battleship.
Before even starting to watch the movie, you know it’s ridiculous. The beginning had me fooled by being pretty funny and cunning. And then we joined the Navy. The dialogue went from bad to tortuous and the acting went overboard. Every single cliche you can think of found its place into the script and they exploited every patriotic feeling they could squeeze out of a nation with a military fetish. There’s a love story between the obvious screw up and the admiral’s daughter. There’s a semi-racist rivalry between opposing teams. And there’s a big brother/little brother guardianship. Aliens fall from the sky and start causing mayhem. This never really gets explained throughout the movie and instead they try to explain The Art of War.
...
With everything going wrong in the movie, it still manages to hold its own and be entertaining. People clapped in my theater…like really, clapped. As blindly as we go into meaningless wars…we go into this meaningless movie. If you’re wondering why I keep using armed forces references, this movie is a picturesque commercial for the Navy while being absolutely unlike anything the military has to offer (Do yourself a favor and watch the amazing show
Carrier on Hulu to see how it actually is). Still, it would be a fun rental but I couldn’t fathom forking up money to watch this. Sure, it’s a summer blockbuster special effects extravaganza, but there are plenty of other better options out there. Thankfully, this wasn’t shown in 3D so maybe that is its selling point.
pew pew pew boom boom kablowie
Back to the movie…it got extremely boring for me in the middle. For some reason, all of the non-star crew aboard the ship vanished and it became a ghost ship. How does that even happen on a Navy vessel? There’s supposed to be people behind every corner but somehow for this segment in the movie, they all were having lunch or something. Believe it or not, they do actually play a variation of Battleship in the movie. Foxtrot One Three – that’s square F13. MISS! Sadly, nobody said, “You sunk my battleship!” which was the only gimmick I was hoping for throughout the entire thing. Instead I got the fidgety geek saying, “Who talks like this?” Also, why doesn’t anybody show any emotion when people are dying? Is everyone too amazed by the aliens we’ve never seen before? Nope, nobody shows a bit of emotion for that either.
cliche slow walk towards screen
If you’re looking for big visual effects over water than Battleship is your kind of movie! I’d be curious to see what percentage of this movie was done in post production because it seems like 40% of the movie wasn’t real. The other 60% didn’t feel real from the lack of a convincing script, interesting story, and charismatic acting. If you’re going to check out RiRi’s acting debut, she does fine as there isn’t much for her to do to begin with. Liam Neeson does his job and delivers another angry growl or two. Taylor Kitsch, the main focus of the film is actually pretty funny and his unfaltering deep voice is as persistent as his blank stares. But nothing can fix the fact that this a movie inspired from a board game with aliens thrown in. There’s even a scene pulled straight from Titanic. Titanic did it better.
Tags: Battleship, Carrier, Hulu, Idiocracy, Liam Neeson, Navy, Rihanna, RiRi, Taylor Kitsch, Titanic, Transformers
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Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
What to Expect When You’re Expecting is yet another major motion picture based on a self help book…do you think Hollywood is running out of ideas? This time the book, of the same name, is a guide on pregnancy written by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. Based on is used very loosely here…it’s more of a marketing ploy. Basically, What to Expect When You’re Expecting is a kitchen sink ensemble cast in a movie about babies. Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Ben Falcone, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, Joe Manganiello, Rob Huebel, Thomas Lennon, Amir Talai, Rebel Wilson, Wendi McLendon-Covey…they’re hoping you want to see at least one of these actors in a movie. The movie itself? Not good.
You expect comedy from a comedy but there just weren’t that many laughs. There’s a lot more drama and romance but with having such a big cast, you don’t really care for any of the stories…there’s not enough time to get involved in them. They squeezed in all of the contemporary fads and poked fun at society with a little bit of social commentary around reality tv shows (there’s both a dance show in its 15th season and a fitness show with obese people), food trucks (mmmm, bacon), and a viral youtube video that gets autotuned (is that even funny anymore?). The movie is basically a travel commercial for Atlanta because they showcased most of the tourist spots and even somehow including an actual commercial from Delta (Atlanta is Delta’s hub). You get to see the Georgia Aquarium, Piedmont Park, and even Little Five Points.
what?
The couples: Jennifer Lopez and Rodrigo Santoro are Holly and Alex, a married couple living paycheck by paycheck who can’t have a baby so they decide to adopt one from Africa. Cameron Diaz is Jules, the host of a fitness show, and Matthew Morrison is Evan, a dancer on a dance show. They dance together and can somebody say Dirty Dancing? Elizabeth Banks is Wendy, the owner of a mother-centric boutique and is married to Gary (Ben Falcone), a dentist. They’ve been trying for a baby for years while Gary’s father Ramsey (Dennis Quaid) and new very young wife Skyler (Brooklyn Decker) haven’t. Are you still with me? Anna Kendrick and Chace Crawford, or Rosie and Marco, are both food truck chefs who are old flames that didn’t let the fire go out. Let’s recap: 3 married couples, 3 just happens, 1 adoption, lots of babies.
Go Jackets!
You can imagine that the movie is very episodic and cuts between each of these stories. There are a bunch of tie ins and they try to make all the stories connect but there really is no point for that since this movie is supposed to be about each of the couples. The most entertaining story was between Dennis Quaid, who is a 1 upping Nascar legend, his beautiful pregnant Brooklyn Decker wife who can still wear a swimsuit for two and Elizabeth Banks who thinks she knows everything about pregnancy without ever being pregnant before and her timid husband. This could have been a movie all by itself as Decker has absolutely no problems in pregnancy while Banks can’t control herself. My favorite character from the movie, Rebel Wilson, is also in this storyline and is just hilarious – I don’t know if I could have sit through this entire movie without her.
I will be judging...
Let’s not forget about the “Dude’s Group” made solely to capture the male demographic in this movie. Comedians Chris Rock, Thomas Lennon, Rob Hubel, and Amir Talai make up this group of guys who each have babies and walk around Piedmont Park not judging each other. It’s their alone time to just be guys and gawk over the wonderful life of bachelor DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! (played by Joe Manganiello). These segments are kind of funny at times but also kind of awkward and didn’t feel natural. Rock’s cute little boy steals every single scene he’s in which leads me to the end of the movie. The movie is crap but then they show a bunch of babies. How can you not say, “awww” for babies? It’s a trick! They want you leaving the theater all mushy and feeling good inside hoping you’ll forget how bad the movie is. But nothing can erase the nearly two hours you spent watching a movie inspired by a pregnancy book.
Tags: Amir Talai, Anna Kendrick, Atlanta, Ben Falcone, Brooklyn Decker, Cameron Diaz, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock, Delta, Dennis Quaid, Elizabeth Banks, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Tech, Heidi Murkoff, Jennifer Lopez, Joe Manganiello, Little Five Points, Matthew Morrison, Piedmont Park, Rebel Wilson, Rob Huebel, Rodrigo Santoro, Sharon Mazel, Thomas Lennon, Wendi McLendon-Covey, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Yellow Jackets
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Friday, May 11th, 2012
Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedic genius and he shows it again in his fourth feature film as lead actor, The Dictator. I haven’t laughed that much or that loud in a long time. These aren’t chuckles, they’re uncontrollable, laugh out loud, fall out of your seat laughs that you can’t hold back. This time, instead of throwing a made-up persona into the real world and filming a mockumentary-style movie (Borat, Bruno), The Dictator is a made-up movie through and through which allows Cohen to be even more crazy and push the limits farther (like in Ali G Indahouse). Even though everything is scripted, there’s still a lot of improvisations which you can see after the credits. The Dictator holds back nothing and it’s guaranteed to have at least two scenes that make you uncomfortable – no matter who you are.
Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) is the supreme leader of the Republic of Wadiya, a fictional North African country that is rich in oil. The beginning of the movie tells how he grew up without a mother and came into power at the age of 7. He has all the money he could ever want and buys whatever he feels like including gold covered cars, movie star sex, and terrorist-themed Wii games. As with most dictators, he’s developing nuclear weapons and the UN isn’t happy so he’s forced to make a speech in America or suffer from a military action. So, the bulk of the movie is Aladeen in America doing what he does best – messing with people.
The Dictator, himself, at an advance screening!
Cohen is joined by a bunch of recognizable faces and random cameos. Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, and Jason Mantzoukas have the largest and most paramount roles in the film while Megan Fox, John C. Reilly, B.J. Novak, J.B. Smoove, Bobby Lee, and others all pop in for some screen time. Anna Faris is a “lesbian hobbit” while Kingsley is Aladeen’s right hand man that always holds his hand. All these side characters hold their own with the star and add more diversity to the racist, cruel, and sometimes disgusting jokes. If you don’t think this movie will get under your skin, think again.
One of my favorite parts of the film is the Wadiyan-remixed soundtrack where Erran Baron Cohen (Sacha Baron Cohen’s brother) re-recorded popular songs with Wadiyan lyrics (also known as gibberish). They’re hilarious and you’ll be wanting to sing along even though there’s no way you can. There are also tons of zany flashbacks and cutaways similar to Family Guy where you can hear an obvious lead in from someone and then see it play out. The movie was really well done and there wasn’t any downtime from the fun. The Dictator contained joke after joke that just kept getting funnier and more offensive. You’d think it would lose steam at some point but nobody wanted to leave once the credits rolled. Everyone just wanted more!
A parade fit for a...dictator
I can’t recommend this movie enough. If you want a comedy, this is it. This is the funniest movie in years by far and will have theaters across the country laughing uncontrollably together. There’s even a scene towards the end where Cohen takes a moment to call out America and its hypocritical ways which had half of the audience clapping along. It was actually better than most real political speeches. Supreme Leader Admiral General Aladeen is the most lovable dictator you will ever meet and really, all he wants to do is cuddle and make up more American aliases. This might be the last full-on Cohen comedy we’ll see for a while as he gets pulled into more tradition roles/movies, so enjoy it while you can. It’s definitely worth your theater money. and rental money. and DVD money. Just watch it.
Tags: Ali G, Ali G Indahouse, Anna Faris, B.J. Novak, Ben Kingsley, Bobby Lee, Borat, Bruno, Erran Baron Cohen, J.B. Smoove, Jason Mantzoukas, John C. Reilly, Megan Fox, Sacha Baron Cohen, The Dictator
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Thursday, May 10th, 2012
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel may be the most screened movie we’ve ever listed on the site. If you haven’t seen it already – you probably just don’t want to as PR reps are having troubles even filling the free screenings. That’s not to say it’s a bad movie, just not an appealing mass market movie…it’s old people based on the novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach. It’s a British comedy/drama making its way over the pond to America and Canada. It has already opened up in some markets but slowly expanding and still having screenings in other. It’s an epic ensemble cast of legendary actors and actresses in their retirement years: Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton. It’s charming, really but very little more.
The movie starts of introducing each of the main characters and they run into troubles in their regular lives. For some reason or another, they all discover this amazing sounding exotic retirement home…in India…on the Internet. And you know, you can trust everything you see on the Internet. They all pack their bags and find themselves checking in as guinea pig residents of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful. The hotel isn’t even really ready but dreamer/entrepreneur Sonny (Dev Patel) believes he can make his family’s ancient hotel work and make money by “outsourcing old people.” The old folk deal with it because they just want to get away, but really, they all have their own reasons.
stellar ensemble cast
Evelyn (Judi Dench) is a widow of a man who made all the decisions in her life. Now that he’s gone, all of his bad decisions are left with her to bear and she has to sell the house to pay for her late husband’s debts. Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) are a married couple who lost all of their money and don’t want to lower their standards by living in a lower-income dwelling with panic buttons so they decide to panic in India instead. Muriel (Maggie Smith) is the little ol’ racist grandmother we all love and hate. Except she isn’t a grandmother and doesn’t have a family of her own since she spend her whole life as a housekeeper taking care of another family. That is, until she trained her own replacement. Instead of waiting in a long line for a hip replacement, she chooses the no wait option in India and is sent to the hotel. Halfway there guys…
My 3 favorite characters from the movie (minus Sunaina)
Graham (Tom Wilkinson) was a successful judge on the way to retirement for some time. Finally, he snapped and decided the time is now but for very different reasons then you think. Graham’s story was the most genuine and enjoyable in the movie – might bring a tear or two to your eyes. Norman (Ronald Pickup) is a player…and old dog looking for new tricks. However, the young girls in Britain don’t want him so he decides to try his luck in India. Madge (Celia Imrie) had numerous marriages but none of them worked. She wants adventure and to find a new man so she thinks she can find that in India as well. But wait, that’s not all. Sonny has his own story too…the rest of his family is successful and he’s the black sheep of the bunch. He just wants to impress his mother (Lillete Dubey) and run a successful business in the family’s old run down resort. Everybody knows he’s a dreamer…but maybe he just needs someone to believe in him like his unapproved girlfriend, the ridiculously stunning Sunaina (Tena Desae).
Would you want to check in?
There you have it, about half a dozen stories that intertwine and mingle at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful. There are a few laughs and pleasant moments including a vivid view of India itself. The movie is definitely for the older generations but could be tolerated by just about anyone. If it sounds interesting at all or you’re a fan of any of these remarkable actors, it’s definitely worth a rent or watch over cable but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it. However, if you’re looking for something to do for say…Mother’s Day…this might be a nice way to spend time with your own old folks. I know the early bird moviegoers who watch movies in the early morn after getting dropped off from their retirement homes are going to flock to this one and get a kick out of it. And they should, it’s charming and peaceful.
Tags: Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Deborah Moggach, Dev Patel, Judi Dench, Lillete Dubey, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, Tena Desae, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, These Foolish Things, Tom Wilkinson
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Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
Tonight is the closing night of the 55th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival and the San Francisco Film Society intends to end it with a bang! The closing night film is Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey – a documentary about the rock band Journey and how they found Arnel Pineda, an unknown Filipino, to become their new lead singer. All current members of Journey are expected to be in attendance at the Castro Theatre and some tickets are still available!
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey
In this fairly long (113 min) look into Journey and their amazing transformation from a somewhat American band to an International sensation, director Ramona S. Diaz tries to highlight way too much. Journey fans are going to enjoy every moment of it as it lasts longer than a Journey concert and shows the inner workings of the band while also offering up some concert footage. However, audiences may get antsy as the movie moves from this to that and then this again. The movie revolves around Arnel Pineda: from finding his breathtaking talent on YouTube, to seeing if he fits with the band, to watching him take control of stages all over the world on tour. It’s remarkable how someone can be plucked from obscurity and thrown into the fire like he was. The rest of the band: Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Deen Castronovo, and Ross Valory were supporting characters in the documentary whenever Arnel was around but when the movie switches to talking about Journey’s long and scattered history, their one-on-one interviews took center stage. And then back to Arnel and his depressing past of rock, women, and drugs (This is truly a rags to riches story). And then back to Journey on their sold-out tour which brought their name back to the top of the list of successful bands. The structure and editing of this movie needs a lot of work but there’s a great story here and it’s quite fascinating watch.
Last Screening
I feel like it’s appropriate to couple a capsule review of Last Screening here since tonight will be every one’s…Last Screening (puntastic). Last Screening was part of this year’s very small The Late Show program and left a lot to be desired. About a psychopathic projectionist named Sylvain at a small one-screen cinema, Last Screening shows us a traumatic breakdown fueled by a cinephile’s childhood. The movie is typically as silent as the awkward Sylvain himself. It’s extremely slow paced while being pretty straightforward and not burdening the viewer with unnecessary scenes – I’m not exactly sure why they achieved that as the movie could have run a lot smoother and have been more entertaining. Most of the murders are left off screen so horror fans won’t get their socks rocked in this one. All together, it was a wash for me and doesn’t deserved to be watched. Don’t let the Last Screening be your last screening.
This post is part of our SFIFF coverageHeld each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.
Visit an Francisco International Film Festival’s Official Website
Tags: Arnel Pineda, Deen Castronovo, Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey, Jonathan Cain, Journey, Last Screening, Neal Schon, Ramona S. Diaz, Ross Valory, San Francisco International Film Festival, SFIFF
Posted in 55th San Francisco International Film Festival, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
The Giants
What happens when you leave your sons alone in a rural countryside with nothing to do and they run out of money? Probably not what happens in The Giants. Two brothers, 15 and 13 3/4 years-old meet another 15 year old boy who’s discarded by his family and start hanging out. Everything seems innocent – just boys being boys and getting into trouble – but without any future in sight, they start making horrible decisions. It never seems to bother them though, they just go with the flow as things start getting worse. Cursing at the top of their lungs by a fire turns into playing with a found gun into dealing with a drug dealer into breaking into and destroying a vacation home into so much more. But does it all even matter? They have found each other and isn’t that enough?
Will
Will is another boy that was abandoned by his parents. After his mother died, his father left him in an orphanage for years only to return with tickets to the Champions League Final. You see, Will is a Liverpool fan – possibly the biggest Liverpool fan with an encyclopedic-like memory of every game, player, and random fact to know about the team. Everything looks peachy again for Will until his father suddenly dies. It seems like this kid can’t catch a break until he decides to take matters into his own hands and go to the game anyway. Will is about the journey he takes to Istanbul to see his team play and the characters he meets along the way. It’s not an easy journey from England to Turkey but football fans are some of the best fans you’ll ever meet. If you’re a sports fan, this is a great watch for you and family. It’s heartwarming and might actually make you tear up a little in the end – especially if you remember going to your first big match in a big stadium.
The Loneliest Planet
Based on the short story “Expensive Trips Nowhere” by Tom Bissell, The Loneliest Planet is about a newly engaged couple on a backpacking trip through Georgia. They hire a rugged mountain man to be their guy and set off to have an adventure of discovery. What they discover is themselves when the whole movie switches tone and direction after one split-second decision. It’s incredibly tense and awkward and genious. The dynamics between the entire group changes and nothing can change the past. But can they find resolution for the future? That is up to interpretation. Between beautiful stretches of scenery and slow walking scenes, Julia Loktev allows us to travel along and feel like we are spending time right next to the couple on screen.
This post is part of our SFIFF coverageHeld each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.
Visit an Francisco International Film Festival’s Official Website
Tags: Julia Loktev, San Francisco International Film Festival, SFIFF, The Giants, The Loneliest Planet, Will
Posted in 55th San Francisco International Film Festival, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
THE AVENGERS WAS F#*&ing AWESOME!!! Now that we got that fanboy hype out of the way…let’s be real. The Avengers was pretty good, delivered what it needed to on the big screen; but, it wasn’t stellar. I was actually pretty underwhelmed. The action scenes were great, the visuals were stunning, and the Joss Whedon-esque script had a ton of humor. Comic fans will love it and movie fans will be entertained but after a week or so, most people will forget what it was even about – nothing. It’s the perfect start to this summer’s mindless inventory of blockbuster popcorn movies. in 3D.
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are The Avengers. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen most of them in various Marvel movies already. It’s ingenious how well-organized Marvel has been in setting up all the origin stories and bringing all the movies together for this massive production of The Avengers. On top of that, they secured all of the A-List actors to play their roles in this ensemble movie (and replaced another for their one failed movie franchise – The Hulk). How long can that last? Not long if the rumors are true about Robert Downey Jr. who single-handily upheld the second act of this movie.
Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), and Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)
Let’s get to my main beef of this movie: the build-up. Combining six very unique superheroes into one 2 hour+ movie is an insanely difficult thing to do. Zak Penn and Joss Whedon did a pretty remarkable job handling this by introducing the lesser known characters first and having them play instrumental parts in the plot so that the audience wouldn’t ignore them. I’m talking about Hawkeye and Black Widow…the only two who didn’t get their own movies (yet). Then, the filmmakers did the typical cuts from one story to another reminding us who each of the main characters were. However, if you’re not a fan of the comics or haven’t seen some of the previous movies – you’re going to be a little lost…and you’ll just have to go with it. The Avengers if f#*&ing awesome, remember!? Just go with it. We’re introduced to the villain nobody really cares about with his “glowstick of destiny” (Loki played by Tom Hiddleston) and then shown the main plot that’s ridiculously generic and on par with most other action movies: bad guy stole thing, wait, who’s really the bad guy?, whatever, get the thing back. There’s a lot of dull time and waiting for the real action to start.
Captain America with Hawkeye and Black Widow
As mentioned before, RDJ saved the movie with the great humor and smart dialogue we’ve been groomed to expect from Iron Man. There’s a lot of jokes comic fans are going to geek over – I know I did. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) plays our inner geek onscreen as he gushes over Captain America with his vintage trading cards. It was great to see the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents actually act this time as they obviously have a bigger role in assembling the team. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is a bad ass as usual. Still, therein lies more of the problem: there’s just too much to fit in. Everybody wants to see the superheroes brawl but we have to sit through these agents talking to shadowy people in a shadowy room setting up the back story that holds down the movie. But does the ending fix all these problems and avenge the movie itself? For most, it seems yes. The ending is A-mazing and we get to see all these A-mazing characters battle it out with each other. The fighting and action sequences are top notch and eye-opening. They will make you smile with a wide open mouth and hit your friends next to you while saying, “Did you see that!?”
YEAH!!
Comic fans will have a blast, there’s a lot in there to love but after the smoke clears and the hype dies down, will you want to watch it again? When you have all the videos of comic book movies at your disposal, you probably won’t reach for The Avengers again and if you do, you’ll fast forward to The Hulk scenes or some of your other favorite parts. I couldn’t imagine sitting through that entire movie again just to see the ending. I would, however, love to see The Hulk again – he’s finally redeemed! Or should I say, avenged! Black Widow is a powerful and cunning female lead which was great to see and Iron Man is Iron Man…levels above every other character. All together, they made a really fun movie but as a movie itself, there was a lot missing. Basically, the movie is a mad lib template where you can fill the blanks with The Avengers or Transformers or X-Men or…
Tags: Agent Phil Coulson, Avengers, Black Widow, Captain America, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Clark Gregg, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Jeremy Renner, Joss Whedon, Mark Ruffalo, Nick Fury, Robert Downey Jr., S.H.I.E.L.D., Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, The Avengers, The Hulk, Thor, Tom Hiddleston, Zak Penn
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Friday, April 27th, 2012
“He has a fate, you have a fate.” People Mountain People Sea is a Chinese/Hong Kong film by Cai Shangjun starring Chen Jianbin. It’s a beautifully grim depiction of a horrific tale set in industrial China. Sparked by the murder of his brother, Lao Tie (Chen Jianbin) sets off to get revenge and finds almost every negative human trait as he travels from village to city. Drugs. Crooked Cops. Betraying Friend. Rape. Even an estranged son. This is a very slow moving film but it entices you with meticulous shots and expansive views thanks to director of photography Dong Jinsong. Visually, it’s stunning. The set-up is gripping. The follow through…nonexistent.
Lao Tie (Chen Jianbin) in People Mountain People Sea
The story seems simple: a man is robbed and killed for his motorcycle. The police know the murderer is Xiao Qiang (Wu Xiubo) but can’t follow through since he ran away to a different city. Lao Tie takes it upon himself to find the killer but you don’t really know what he’d do if he found him. While in the big city where he had failed to make success, you see how gritty life is as people literally live on top of each other. You can see why Lao is such a silent type only speaking when critical and always having a indiscreet look on his face. He interacts with anybody who could know where his brother’s killer is but nobody says a word, nobody cares.
Xiao Qiang (Wu Xiubo) is ruthless
When taking the trip with Lao to the city and seeing how drastically different it is from his small country town, it is quite an eye-opener. It’s seldom that we get a glimpse inside the true life of China and it’s not pretty. In this case, the movie feels more like a documentary than a narrative giving us exposure to something real rather than imagined. I really appreciated the camera work and tediousness of the movie for that. They created such well-crafted shots that you couldn’t feel any other emotion than awe for the film. They made inconsequential things beautiful and drew your attention away from the story just for a bit to see the true beauty of the film. It was very impressive.
"Even if you could change shapes, you'll be changed forever."
But then the story kept on. This whole time you’re experiencing a slow-burn thinking that the ending might have a gratifying resolution but then someone changed the channel and you wind up in another movie entirely. If you thought there wasn’t much dialogue or much going on in the beginning of the film, the end will have you cringe in your seat. I have no idea what happened but once the movie entered the illegal mine, I wanted out. The movie completely falls apart in the end which is incredibly sad because there was so much potential for it to be something grand. Luckily, people who will have access to this film are film aficionados anyway so they should appreciate the work for it’s startling qualities and patiently anticipate a quality movie from those involved. I’m treating this movie as a preview of what’s to come.
This post is part of our SFIFF coverageHeld each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.
Visit an Francisco International Film Festival’s Official Website
Tags: Cai Shangjun, Chen Jianbin, Dong Jinsong, People Mountain People Sea, San Francisco International Film Festival, SFIFF, Wu Xiubo
Posted in 55th San Francisco International Film Festival, Reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Polisse
Polisse is a well-crafted film from France that lies between Law & Order and Kids Say the Darndest Things. At first, I thought it was a documentary as they followed around their cast of characters on duty in a Paris police department…the acting was so superb and lifelike. However, it’s an extremely serious mockumentary that contains a splash of comedy and passion. The movie begins to slowly go into the personal lives of each of the characters and show how 1) their personal beliefs and situations influence how and why they do what they do; and 2) they have to carry the burden of work home with them.
Polisse is about the Paris Child Protection Unit and based on real-life cases. It’s sickening and disheartening and real. While running long, the movie gives us a glimpse into the lives of the strong and weak people of law enforcement. The movie gets a little confusing as more and more characters come into the spotlight and get mixed up into various side stories but it’s fun to pay attention to the few that interest you personally. They threw in an audience surrogate so that the audience can learn about the department and not just be a fly in the wall during their daily routines.
Polisse plays again on Thursday, April 26th.
Informant
Brandon Darby. If the name rings a bell, you probably have strong feelings about him one way or another. People are fascinated about him by proof of this documentary and the award winning, “Better This World” documentary from last year. While Better This World went into the story of two activists that were jailed for creating Molotov cocktails and the 2008 Republican National Convention, Informant goes into the story of the man who turned them in. Turned them into the authorities or turned them into the anarchists they were framed to be is up to discussion.
The documentary tells the entire story from his background to how he rose to fame in various activist channels to how he lost most of his support in his own community and switched sides. Pathological liar is a term that seems to go hand in hand with Brandon Darby and it’s interesting to see it first hand through close up interviews with Darby himself. The documentary uses old friends of Darby and expert commentary to contradict and expose Darby leaving you with no idea who to trust or believe. Interestingly enough, they also star Darby in reenactments of his own stories which just makes me believe he just wants to be in the spotlight. Nonetheless, he’s an interesting fellow and hard to decipher. Check out the doc and decide what you think of him for yourself.
Informant plays again Friday, April 27th.
Compliance
I want to rename the movie Compliance to Competence or Lack Thereof. Do you remember the stories about fast food employees who participated in ridiculous and lewd acts just because someone over the phone told them to…while claiming to be the police? Well this movie is based on all those true events. And it hurt to watch. I’ve never seen so many people leave a screening – over a 1/3 of the theater. The murmurs and conversations of the people that stayed were quite substantial as well. In my opinion, the film was neither good or bad – it was pretty manufactured and run of the mill but the subject matter is what polarized everyone. I guess that’s a testament to the fiilm making that it highlights it’s message and conveys it so well that nothing else really matters.
The movie is shot as a straight up narrative in pretty much real-time. It focuses on the manager of the ChickWhich as well as the counter girl who got abused. The whole theater became tense as everyone wondered why someone didn’t stop what was going on or question the man on the phone. There are many scenes where the movie lets you figure out what you would have done – or think you would have done – in those situations. It’s easy to roll your eyes and laugh but the most startling thing came at the end of the movie – apparently there were over SEVENTY instances of these pranks in over 30 cities. The delivery man in the beginning was right, “You’re fucked without bacon, I’ll tell you that!”
Compliance plays again Sunday, April 29th.
This post is part of our SFIFF coverageHeld each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.
Visit an Francisco International Film Festival’s Official Website
Tags: Brandon Darby, Compliance, Informant, Polisse, San Francisco International Film Festival, SFIFF
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Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
Just like a marriage, The Five-Year Engagement is a mixed bag. I really enjoyed it and laughed through most of the film but there was a lot of times when I rolled my eyes and waited for the film to pick up again. The “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” combo of writer/director Nicholas Stoller, writer/star Jason Segel, and producer Judd Apatow is back with a romantic comedy that didn’t need over the top gags, cliches, or raunchy scenes to help it through. They replaced that with a gamut of unique and quirky characters that gave tremendous support to the two main stars in this relationship roller coaster. It’s a grown up comedy from a group that keeps making more sophisticated comedy rather than relying on the same ol’ bag of tricks that other troupes suffer from.
The film instantly won my heart as it’s set in San Francisco and depicts many of the oddities that I love about the city. A make up your own superhero party on New Year’s Eve? Come on, where else is that normal? The movie quickly moves to the proposal between our main characters Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt), and introduces us to Tom’s best friend Alex (Chris Pratt) who is toe-tally remarkable in the movie. Everything is on the up and up for the couple but you already know the movie title is Five-Year Engagement so you wait for the wrench to be thrown in. There’s an engagement party with some of the most awkward family and friend speeches you will ever hear and you will be cracking up throughout them all. Alison Brie from Community plays a much different role as Violet’s kid sister Suzie and for some reason has a ridiculous accent to match Emily Blunt – it’s fantastic.
Emily Blunt and Jason Segel with Chris Pratt and Alison Brie
Michigan. They move to Michigan. Tom was an up-and-coming chef in San Francisco and moved to Michigan to be with his fiance who got into a grad program there. This is where the movie turns down the tempo a bit just as life is slower in the middle of the country rather than the coasts. Segel turns into a mountain man while Blunt turns into an over-analytical donut. Still, there is a lot of comedy in their tattered relationship as they deal with their own and other problems…and continually push back the wedding. I’m sure this is where a lot of the audience will get frustrated and wonder why they just don’t elope in Las Vegas.
Emily Blunt, Rhys Ifans, Mindy Kaling, Randall Park, and Kevin Hart
Like relationships, this movie has its ups and downs and takes its toll on you. But it’s still funny while it does that. While in Michigan, we meet Violet’s colleagues at the University of Michicgan: Rhys Ifans, Mindy Kaling, Randall Park, and Kevin Hart who offer up a whole different style of comedy that acts as a good divide. Tom has to deal with sweater-making stay-at-home dad Chris Parnell and Brian Posehn. At some points in the movie, I thought that more time and love could have gone into the project because of some non-focused scenes and parts that could have been left on the cutting room floor. I got really involved in the characters and loved the structure of the film but a few things were just off…
The Happy? Couple
From the awkward family conversations and intimate bed scenes, The Five-Year Engagement is chock full of relatable scenarios for couples. It’s a great date movie for both young couples and seasoned veterans alike. It’ll make you want to move to San Francisco which is a great thing and make anyone engaged just want to get the wedding over with. Even though it doesn’t deserve the R-rating, it’s probably a good thing that it got it because younger people probably won’t get the same satisfaction from watching it. It’s definitely a grown-up comedy that doesn’t resort to the juvenile techniques we’ve been seeing in recent adult comedies. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to see it again. Poosh.
Tags: Alison Brie, Brian Posehn, Chris Parnell, Chris Pratt, Emily Blunt, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segel, Judd Apatow, Kevin Hart, Mindy Kaling, Nicholas Stoller, Randall Park, Rhys Ifans, The Five-Year Engagement
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