Silver Linings Playbook

Today, I look at David O. Russell's newish film, Silver Linings Playbook.

Silver Linings Playbook:
Bipolar Pat has just been released from a psych ward after beating a man nearly to death for sleeping with his wife. He decides to take his negative energy and shove it out, and find his "silver lining". During his morning jogs, he meets Tiffany, a troubled young woman he got fired for sleeping around he office after being depressed that her husband died. Together, they form a bond when Pat tries to help her get in a dance competition. At the same time, he reconnects with his parents, friends, his brother, and truly grows as a person. This is a truly great film. It's sweet, funny, quirky, and a little bit sad. The acting from the main cast is fantastic. Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and Chris Tucker are great, and the supporting cast are great as well. This truly shows that a romantic comedy does not have to be directed towards an only female demographic. Guys out there, this is a great movie, it's not Dear John and The Notebook, or any of that Nicholas Sparks bullshit. If romance isn't your thing, than you can enjoy the drama and quirky humor. The writing and direction are perfect, this is truly Oscar-worthy. Silver Linings Playbook can be enjoyed by everyone. It's a true masterpiece, and one of the best of 2012. (It came out in November, but was recently rereleased.) 5/5 stars.

 (Image: Wikipedia)

Die Hard series, part I: A Good Day to Die Hard.

Today, I look at, oh fuck it, let's get this over with.

A Good Day to Die Hard:
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fuck. God, this fucking movie. It makes me want to cry, so I'll make this short. The action is unrealistic, the movie feels like it's 20 minutes long, the John McClane character is ruined, the characters are annyoing, there's no memorable villains, and the whole fucking ending makes no fucking sense. FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!! 0/5 stars.

(And they're making another one, this makes Live Free or Die Hard look like Die Hard with a Vengeance.)

Check out Jeremy Jahns and spill.com's reviews (spill's audio review in fact) and Chris Stuckman's Youtube video on "Everything Wrong With Die Hard 5"

(By the way, there was a strip scene that the trailer showed, with publicity photos to boot, that was never shown in the film. Why?)




(Images: Huffington Post, Tumblr, containsmoderateperil.com)

Identity Thief: quick review

This is going to be a quick review, no plot sypnosis, go to IMDb for that. Only the basics. (I recommend you go watch Schmoesknow, Jeremy Jahns, and Chris Stuckman on Youtube for their reviews, as well as spill.com)

Identity Thief:
Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy make a good comedic duo, and their are some very funny moments in this film, particularly at a diner, but this film, with all it's star power, really didn't deliver as many laughs as I was expecting from the director of Horrible Bosses. Also, making an ID thief a likeable person was just barely pulled off in this film, barely.  2.5/5 stars.



(Image: Wikipedia)

Steven Soderbergh's last film, will it be one to remember? (100th post)

Today (after a long hiatus), I will review director Steven Soderbergh's final film, the neo-noir crime thriller Side Effects (previously titled The Bitter Pill).

Side Effects:
Emily Taylor's husband Martin is released after years in prison for insider trading. She attempts suicide in a car, and is assigned a psychiatrist, Dr. Jonathan Banks. After she kills her husband in a trance, she blames it on her new pills known as Ablixa. After she pleads insanity, she is put in the mental ward for a little while. When she gets out, however, Banks notices some strange things about her case, and ignoring protests from his wife and friends, he pursues the case further, and finds out that possibly Emily was lying about Ablixa's "side effects", and she may be a stone cold killer. Although the film isn't too complex, you do have to pay attention to it, no bathroom breaks here. In my opinion, although the film is a pretty interesting and well-made psychological thriller, I just don't think it's a very interesting closing piece for Soderbergh. In fact, two Soderbergh's recent films, Contagion and Magic Mike, somewhat suffered from the same syndrome, interesting films that were badly advertised (Contagion was more of a drama-thriller than a horror film, and Magic Mike was more of a dark dramady than a chick flick) and also weren't worthy of being the last film Soderbergh directed. His first films seem like the big films you'd expect as a final project (Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, Erin Brokovich). Other than that, Side Effects is a very effective thriller, but one you might need a longer attention span for. Although it's only about an hour and forty minutes, it feels longer due to the slow pace, which works for the film, but someone expecting a fast-paced thriller may want to look somewhere else, maybe at Soderbergh's own films such as Ocean's Thirteen or Haywire. The acting in the film isn't anything too remarkable, but the performances from the two leads: Jude Law and Rooney Mara (in a role initially given to Blake Lively) are fantastic. Rooney almost plays with your emotions, at first you really connect with her, and feel her pain. But as the film progresses, and you begin to suspect her of more, you distance yourself from her, seeing the possibility of a true monster underneath. Jude Law, however, starts out as a typical doctor character, but slowly progresses, and we really feel his pain as no one believes his claims that Emily is a fraud and is a killer, and the fact that his family life is falling apart due to work, and work is falling apart due to bad press about the case. Channing Tatum is a good actor (21 Jump Street and Magic Mike sold me on that) but I feel this role could be given to anybody. He's just your average guy. Catherine Zeta-Jones basically plays a stone-cold psyciatrist, who slowly reveals a dark side underneath, again, Zeta-Jones is a fantastic actress, but this role is something you could give to any other actress. An interesting note about the cast is that besides Mara, every other major cast member was featured in a film of Soderbergh's. (Jude Law was in Contagion, Zeta-Jones was in Traffic and Ocean's Twelve, and Tatum was the lead in Magic Mike.) The writing is crafty and clever, and the camerawork is great as well. The slow pans and some of the editing on certain scenes add to the thrill factor. Although Side Effects isn't a great closing film for a director, it's an entertaining and engaging thriller that may constitute a second or third viewing. 3.5/5 stars.

 (Image: Rotten Tomatoes)

New reviews...

I'm going to post more reviews soon, including: Side Effects, Silver Linings Playbook, Identity Thief, Die Hard series (I'm catching up on those), and The Last Exorcism films (on mattmonstermovies.blogspot.com) Also, I might be doing some book, video game, or music related material soon. So check it out.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters review

Today I look at the violent fantasy-horror film based on the famous Hansel and Gretel folk tale.

Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters:
Another film supposed to be released last year that was pushed back to January, this film has been getting tons of shit from critics. I can't understand why. It's a fun, humorous, balls-to-the-walls, gory, violent popcorn movie. The plot is simple: Hansel and Gretel grow up to e witch hunters after their first encounter with a witch in the candy house. They must face off against Muriel, a powerful witch who has gathered all dark witches to celebrate the "Blood Moon". They must team up with a beautiful woman, a fanboy, and a troll to stop the witches, all while avoiding Muriel and the corrupt sheriff of the rown they're protecting. The cast includes Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, 28 Weeks Later, Mission Impossible- Ghost Protocol, The Bourne Legacy, The Town, The Avengers), Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Quantum of Solace), and Famke Janssen (Goldeneye, Nip/Tuck, X-Men). Yes, two Bond girls in this movie. Derek Mears, who protrayed Jason in 2009's Friday the 13th, provides motion capture for the troll: Edward, while Robin Atkin Downes (voice-actor in games such as Assassin's Creed III, Team Fortress 2, Halo 2, Skyrim, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception) provides Edward's voice. Thomas Mann (Project X, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Fun Size) plays the loyal fanboy Ben, who wishes to be a witch hunter. Peter Stormare plays the villainous sheriff, who believes he rptoects the law by harassing the witch hunters. Zoe Bell makes a cameo as a witch. The direction is stylized, and the director (Tommy Wirkola) was responisble for the fun German zombie movie Dead Snow. The action in the film is near non-stop. The film also has some cool concepts such as steampunk-like technology such as semi-automatic crossbows and shotguns. Another interesting concept is a diabetes-like disease that Hansel has. The opening credits sequence is also really stylized and cool. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, but that doesn't detract from the kick-ass action which provides buckets of blood and gore. The world in which the film inhabits is kind of interesting, so hopefully it gets a sequel. The villains are really threatening, and the film provides so,e mild scares and chills, but this never detracts from the ever-present sense of humor. Although the acting isn't that good, the film makes you not care. Not saying that these people aren;t good actors, which they are, but the dialgoue is a bit choppy at bits. While it has it's flaws, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is a fun, gruesome, violent popcorn film that has some great setpieces and a few good laughs. 4/5 stars.
(Editorial note, March 26, 2013: After further thought and a re-watching, I bring my rating down to 3 stars, for schlock value,)

(Images: Goole and Wikipedia)

The Last Stand: Arnold's enertaining comeback becomes a box office flop

Unfortunately, Arnold Schwarzenegger's been having a tough time. After his controversial affair with his maid, he has had a tough time with his plan to get back to stardom. After making numerous small appearances in films like The Expendables, he finally has his own movie, and....it completely flopped.

The Last Stand:
Although this film was a box office flop, it's actually quite entertaining. It's violent, bloody, adrenaline-filled fun. Arnold is back, and his role as the bad-ass but kind sheriff suits him perfectly. The plot follows a small town sheriff teaming with some FBI agents to take down a Mexican drug lord who is in a super-fast car heading towards the Mexican border, but when he crosses the sheriff's path, trying to cut through his town, he learns that the sheriff doesn't go down without a fight. That's as simple as it gets. Other cast members include Johnny Knoxville (whose role is smaller than advertised, but still he delivers laughs), Jaimie Alexander (Kyle XY, Thor), Award-winner Forest Whitaker (who is the person who should get second-billing, rather than Knoxville), Rodrigo Santoro (Lost, 300, I love You Phillip Morris), Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights), Luiz Guzman (known as a favorite of great directors like Steven Soderberg, appearing in Traffic, and Paul Thomas Anderson, appearing in Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love, also acting in HBO's How to Make it in America, and voicing characters in Grand Theft Auto), Peter Stormare (Fargo, Armageddon, Get the Gringo, Wilfred, Weeds, Hawaii Five-0, Seinfeld, Bad Boys II, 8MM), and Spanish film actor Eduardo Noriega. With all this talent behind it, how did this film flop? Was it because of Arny's recent scandals and old age? Some of his lines in here are his best in years. Was it because of the 10-year gap between this and his last leading role in Terminator 3? Whatever it is, I hope the film gets a cult following on DVD and Blu-ray. The film has near non-stop action, and features everything you could hope for: a small beginning shoot-out, chases on foot, car chases, highway chases, fist-fights, large shootouts, and an epic ending confrontation between hero and villain. The shootouts are bloody and spectacular, the car chases are intense, and the acting is, acceptable at best. Best you don't see this movie for the drama and acting skills, you see it for the one-liners and mind-blowing action. The humor in the film is also very effective. Johnny Knoxville provides some slapstick, Arnold provides one-liners, and the townsfolk are just really funny, especially the diner customers and the antique store owner. The film itself is very predictable, but like Gangster Squad, the simplicity has a charm to it, and like Squad, it's stylized, but in a different way. Instead of the super slow-motion, sleek, Zack Snyder way of stylizing, it's the gritty, bloody, brutal, Robert Rodriguez type of stylized. With it's colorful characters, simple plot, bloody and stylized violence, fun action sequences, and effective humor make The Last Stand a great Schwarzenegger film, and great for anyone who just wants a ball-to-the-wall, leave-your-brain-at-the-door movie. 3.5/5 stars.

         (Image: Wikipedia)