Juno (A Second Take)

A very clever light hearted comedy.

A lot has been said of the writing (which I have to agree with most of except). But along with all that, the movie is very cohesive in tone with the music, acting and directing all working in unison to create memorable and consistent experience.

That being said, this movie is about the writing which is top notch. I disagree with many that call the writing realistic (how many peoples parents would be that cool with something like that) but I would call it incredibly natural. The acting contributes a huge amount to that as well.

The music is cute and fitting and maintains the light tone throughout.

All in all, an enjoyable hour and a half even if not profound in any way.

Score: 3 orange tic-tacs (out of 5)

A witty womb of words:

"That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."

Diablo Cody wrote the witty dialogue

Jason Reitman directed the witty dialogue

Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman said the witty dialogue

2001: A Space Odyssey: Classics Review

As a tribute Arthur C. Clarke who passed away today at the age of 90 I have decided to review one of my all time favorite movies, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

First of all, it needs to be said that 2001 is not a movie for the casual movie-goer. It is a heavy, slow but beautiful movie.

The story is also difficult to explain since even the main narrative does not begin until what feels like half-way through. But then again it's not supposed to be simple. Arthur C. Clarke once said, "If you understand 2001 completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered." I think it's safe to say that they succeeded marvelously.

The movie is gloriously slow, there are around 88 dialogue-free minutes in amovie which is 141 minutes long. But the beautiful imagery coupled with the expertly chosen music could last hours and we still wouldn't get bored.

As annoying as this may sound, this is a theme movie. The themes are much more important than the story which will generally put most people off. Some of the themes are human destruction, artificial intelligence, innocence and lack thereof and the beauty is discovering new ones each and every time.

This movie also creates the classic character of HAL, the seemingly innocent computer on board the spacecraft. As monotone as they came, you will begin to care for the robot even as...*ahem*...lets not spoil it.

A spectacular looking and sounding movie that strikes some powerful cords from two masters of their craft, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.

Score: 5 blinking red lights (out of 5)

A rare ramble of rhetoric:

"All right, HAL; I'll go in through the emergency airlock."
"Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult."
"HAL, I won't argue with you anymore! Open the doors!"
"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye."

Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick wrote it in about 58 days

Stanley Kubrick made it beautiful on screen

Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood ran rings upside down

I Am Legend

A simple disease/apocalypse/castaway movie that shallowly touches on a lot of different themes.

Superb performance from Will Smith and some beautiful visuals of a desolate New York. When these combine you have some of the best scenes in the movie. The computer graphics (CG) on the other hand does not blend in with either.

People in make-up may have made more convincing infected. The CG performances, though placed on unconvincing-looking CG performers, are actually quite good (particularly in the alternative ending).

The original ending is quite terrible and abrupt. The alternative ending, though not much better, does a slightly better job revisiting some lightly explored themes from the rest of the movie.

All in all a comparatively light disease movie (notice how its disease movie and not zombie movie) with some interesting original concepts, beautiful desolation scenes and terrible CG that ultimately fails to deliver a satisfactory ending.

Score: 3 mannequin Blockbuster clerks (out of 5)

A desolate dollop of dialogue:

"What the hell are you doing out here, Fred? Fred, if you're real, you better tell me right now!"

Mark Protosevich(screenplay), Akiva Goldsman(screenplay), Richard Matheson(novel), John William Corrington(1971 screenplay) & Joyce Hooper Corrington(1971 screenplay) are too many people to write a story about a man who's alone.

Francis Lawrence emptied out New York for his cameras.

Will Smith chatted with anything he could find (living or dead).

Into the Wild

An obnoxious but fairly interesting coming of age/finding yourself/road movie.

Very preachy. The narration is very wordy and sounds like someone reading from a book. Does not serve the purpose it was intended to.

That being said, well acted by most. A very interesting premise that does not disappoint. Seems like it should be slow but is surprisingly well paced. I am reluctant to call it a character driven movie as our main character changes very little throughout (with the exception of an important lesson in the final ten minutes).

The directing is above par (particularly the latter part and even more particularly the ending). Could have benefited from some more impressive cinematography (having seen "The Assassination of Jesse James" I was not too impressed with these desert shots).

Personally I did not find the character very likeable until very late into the movie but I'm sure I'm lonely in that opinion (no pun intended).

All in all a very interesting movie that suffers from being a little too philosophical and preachy. It's strange to see a movie set in the early 90s now become a period piece.

Score: 3 and a half moose heads (out of 5)

An obnoxious audible oratory:

"What's your fascination with all that stuff?"
"I'm going to Alaska."
"Alaska, Alaska? Or city Alaska? Because they do have markets in Alaska. The city of Alaska. Not in Alaska. In the city of Alaska, they have markets."
"No, man. Alaska, Alaska. I'm gonna be all the way out there, all the way fucking out there. Just on my own. You know, no fucking watch, no map, no axe, no nothing. No nothing. Just be out there. Just be out there in it. You know, big mountains, rivers, sky, game. Just be out there in it, you know? In the wild."

Sean Penn and Jon Krakauer wrote about Alaska

Sean Penn pictured Alaska

Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt and Jena Malone took us to Alaska

Juno

This script is so terrifically written that choosing a quote to put in my review was near impossible and the very cause of this delay!

In this cross between Knocked Up and Garden State, Ellen Page embodies Juno so naturally and in a manner mature beyond her years, making her so utterly endearing that you can't help but love her and smile at her antics, no matter how irresponsibly "sexually active" she may be. As well as Garner, whose relative fame not once retracts from the rest of the cast, the supporting cast sports a couple of Arrested Development alumni; Bateman and Cera complement Page's acting so well, reminding us that good acting is not exclusive to endless tears, risqué sex scenes or a portrayal of a deranged cannibal. The ending? Satisfying. With a kick-ass soundtrack and its own quirky nuances (hamburger phone?), this movie never ventures into preachy. There are no good guys, no bad guys: it's all just real guys.

Concession of choice: Your weight in Sunny D.

Score: 9.5/10 (reluctant to give tens...)

A smatter of chatter:

"How did you even generate enough pee for three pregnancy tests? That's amazing..."

"I don't know, I drank like, ten tons of Sunny D... Anyway dude, I'm telling you I'm pregnant and you're acting shockingly cavalier."

"Is this for real? Like, for real for real?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Oh my GOD. Oh shit! Phuket, Thailand!"

"There we go. That was kind of the emotion that I was searching for on the first take."

Diablo Cody made everyone sound witty, Jason Reitman told them where to stand, sit and have sex, Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman & co. made it real.

Raging Bull: Classics Review

(Warning: This is longer than usual)

I have been a Scorsese fan for a while but, to my shame, I have only seen a handful of his post Goodfellas movies. After watching Raging Bull, my view of him as changed dramatically. He is simply put one of the greatest directors of all time. From the opening credits, which I just didn't want to end, to the final monologue, every frame has been expertly crafted in gorgeously contrasted monochrome.

The fact that I haven't even gotten to the performances is a testament to the fantastic directing in the movie. That being said, these performances are untouchable. Robert DeNiro portrays an unbelievably deranged, sexist and arrogant bastard that you can't help but love. This is the movie that burned a thousand bras. Feminists beware.

A strangely understated but amazing performance by Joe Pesci doesn't disappoint either and maintains the bar for this movie.

I do warn those of you who do not have the patience for slow plots and/or artsy directing that this movie has generous amounts of both. The story rolls on without warning you of were it might go, one second you may in the middle of a fight and the next you're in the middle of a wedding. It's this unpredictability in the story that may throw some people off but it also provides such a strange and yet intriguing feel to the movie.

All in all, I'm embarrassed to even give my opinion on such a fantastic piece of work.

Score: 5 right hooks (out of 5)

A jockeying jab of jibberish:

"And though I'm no Olivier / If he fought Sugar Ray / He would say / That the thing ain't the ring, it's the play. / So give me a... stage / Where this bull here can rage / And though I could fight / I'd much rather recite /... that's entertainment."

Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin (adapted) threw the first punches, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci sent us reeling, Martin Scorsese knocked us out.

Vantage Point (the sequel to the review)

This "thriller" boasts a string of Oscar-winners that pop in strangely like an array of cameos. The villains, without a cause; the ‘twist’, predictable and old, Matthew Fox's performance; a little lost (no pun intended). The “good guys”? Quaid reeks of American patriotism and the temperamental president leaves us yearning for the days of David Palmer. Interesting opening: yes, fair enough. With an avant garde premise, the story is unfortunately mediocre at best, with far too many characters that we care far too little about, chock-full of meaningless subplots which fail to flesh out any characters. This cheesy ending is sprinkled of with and extra serving of sloppy loose ends. But oh, there are some hot car chase scenes, ambulances and all. And the camcorder-shot scenes, strangely reminiscent of Cloverfield, and which perhaps I’d list as a baby step in the right direction. Concession of choice: An ice cream cone. Total body count: who cares?

Score: 3/10

Trying to be all Jack Bauer-esque:

“Thank you Thomas”
“You’re welcome Mr. President”

Pete Travis made us see the same half hour or so 8 or so times, and each time Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver tried to make us care. We didn't.

Vantage Point

A fun action packed semi-intelligent thriller. Some interesting twists (though many of the big ones are unnecessarily revealed in the trailer).

Takes a lot of liberties with what it expects you to believe so watch it with an open mind.

Performances are standard fare for this type of thing with the exception of a startlingly terrible one by otherwise solid Forest Whitaker.

Well shot and solidly structured though at points it can be a bit repetitive (an interesting way to stretch 60 minutes worth of footage into 90).

All in all, solid and entertaining even if its not that engaging.

Final note: I wouldn't say it's so much different people's perspectives on a single event (i.e. a vantage point) as it is telling what these different people were doing at the time.

Score: 2 and a half shots fired (out of 5)

A twisted tangle of talk:

"Sir, we have to act strong."
"No, we have to BE strong."

Barry Levy plotted it, Pete Travis showed us all the different sides

Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker and William Hurt misled us.

There Will Be Blood

The fourth notch in my "written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson" bedpost, this one is perhaps closest in nature to Magnolia, sporting that familiar mélange of discomfort and attraction. Daniel-Day Lewis plays a Daniel Plainview, slightly scary yet strangely endearing, and wholly embodies the self-proclaimed "oil man". With a virtually completely male cast, and not much eye candy, this character-driven story avoids the additional fluff of a romantic subplot. The score is haunting, chilling and a series of other adjectives which will never do it justice. Marvelous from the dialogue-less (yet largely un-"bloody") 15-minute opening right up to the last spotting of blood. A must see? Perhaps. This is a movie that feels long and is long. Concession of choice? A milkshake is certainly in order.

Surreptitious speech:

"One night, I'm gonna come inside your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat."

"Why are you acting insane and threatening to cut my throat?"

Paul Thomas Anderson pondered it, made it fiery, named it bloody, Daniel Day-Lewis & Paul Dano exchanged words and Jonny Greenwood's tunes chilled us to the bone.

The Lookout

A great premise that never really follows through as well as it should. It always feels like the story is being built up for something great but ultimately fails to deliver. The pacing gets slow at points but is generally even.

 

Well acted by all and well directed. Very well made overall. A light but emotional (due to Joseph Gordon-Levitts great performance) thriller.

 

What the hell happens to Isla Fishers character half way through?

 

Score: 3 notebook pages (out of 5)

 

A slick slapshot of dialogue:

"You know, here I am, sitting at home alone every night while you're out getting blown and God knows what else by Luvlee something, who probably has a friend, and what, you don't introduce me?"
"Lemons. That's what it is."
"That's what what is?"
"That's her last name."
"Luvlee Lemons? That's her name?"
"Well, it's her stage name. She's a performer. Or she was."
"Ah, and by stage I'm assuming you mean the kind with a pole?"
"What do you mean?"
"Let's move on."

 

Scott Frank jotted it in his notebook and stuck it in front of a camera

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew Goode, Jeff Daniels and Isla Fisher started at the end