Category: Film Review

2009’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” was a silly yet sincerely
awe-inspiring animated picture. Adapted from a popular children’s book,
the feature took its visual potential seriously, imagining a wild
adventure with hyper characters and an edible apocalypse, attempting to
charge up the audience with slapstick comedy while making filmgoers
practically lick the screen in a daze of food lust, watching a
lusciously detailed buffet-gone-mad from directors Phil Lord and Chris
Miller, who engineered a charming, pleasingly tilted disaster movie.
While it wasn’t exactly a story that lent itself to a franchise
exploration, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” is here. It’s not as
sweet and funny as the original effort, but as these types of cautious
cash-ins go, it’s quite entertaining, while once again offering an
eye-popping visual experience that supports the saggy screenwriting.
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Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

Released in 1990 to low box office and critical disinterest, Clive Barker’s “Nightbreed” (an adaptation of his novel “Cabal”) went on to achieve a modest cult following, tempting those used to the helmer’s passions for violent imagery and fantastical storytelling. However, Barker was outspoken in his distaste for the theatrical cut of the movie, which underwent editorial butchery and extensive reshoots to turn a sophisticated monster mythology into a run-of-the-mill slasher film, though one that retained a great deal of Barker’s personality due to intricate creature design and gothic overtones. After a search for materials that made up the original version previewed in 1989 resulted in the retrieval of two VHS workprints, we now have “Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut,” a restoration that reworks and expands the theatrical cut, adding 43 minutes of footage, altering 70% of the picture. For fans, it’s the holy grail of restorations, bringing an admittedly rough looking but mostly complete version of the feature to the screen, almost as a thank you gift to Barker.

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Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

“The Congress” is a particularly dizzying, challenging film that has
something to share concerning the state of Hollywood and its future
appetites, also touching on the struggle of employment opportunities for
actors as they march into old age. There are satiric elements to the
material, but this is no lampoon, instead charging forth as a
brain-bursting, sci-fi/animated endeavor, not unlike a Ralph Bakshi
production, only with a little more self-control. Writer/director Ari
Folman submits an audacious vision of color and content, displaying a
consistent sense of creativity while the script flounders from time to
time trying to dream up encounters worthy of the picture’s curious
premise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

“Escape from Tomorrow” has a gimmick. And it’s an interesting one.
Taking cameras, a script, and actors into Walt Disney World,
writer/director Randy Moore set out to make movie without permission,
utilizing the theme parks as a chaotic backdrop for a tale concerning a
mental breakdown. The idea opens itself to satiric brilliance,
contrasting this screaming psychological erosion with visions of
costumed characters and spinning rides. Yet, Moore does absolutely
nothing with this rare production event, failing to build a story or
even a passable sense of hallucination with “Escape from Tomorrow,”
which often relies on strained surrealism and shock value to pass the
time between park visits.
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Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

Writer/director Eli Roth adores the cannibal pictures of the 1970s and
‘80s, and he wants to share that appreciation with his own take on the
subgenre, “The Green Inferno.” His enthusiasm for this grisly,
borderline irresponsible series of movies is understood throughout his
first helming effort since the 2007 misfire, “Hostel: Part II,” but his
natural instincts toward jocularity and uninspired casting work to dial
down the true terror of the feature. It’s a blood-soaked ride into the
jaws of Hell, but “The Green Inferno” is too frivolous to score as
nightmare material, finding Roth displaying habitual timidity when it
comes to truly shocking encounters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

Writer/director Ti West has made quite an impression in the horror genre
where many of his contemporaries have failed. With 2009’s “The House of
the Devil” and 2011’s “The Innkeepers,” West successfully reworked
formula to fit his own vision for chills, showing a healthy amount of
invention in an industry that’s content to refuse such ambition. “The
Sacrament” is a slight detour from the boogeyman routine, taking on the
reverberation of a real-world nightmare as West dramatizes the Jonestown
incident from 1978. However, instead of pushing the heavily reported
story in a fresh direction, the helmer clings to the basics of
manipulation and sacrifice, keeping “The Sacrament” predictable,
cranking up violence and extended scenes of suffering to help the
picture leave the audience with a lasting bruise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

It’s tough out there for a concert film these days. Ever since Miley
Cyrus brought Hannah Montana to box office gold in 2008, Hollywood has
been chasing the big money with efforts devoted to The Jonas Brothers,
Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and One Direction. The genre receives a much
needed kick in the behind with “Metallica: Through the Never,” a
blistering performance picture that blends riotous stage action with an
actual street riot, while asking fans to digest a heaping helping of
surreal imagery. Its buzz saw execution is magnificent, making sure the
audience exits the theater with melted brains and blood pouring out of
their ears, but director Nimrod Antal (“Predators,” “Vacancy”) leaves
the movie with more than a few question marks, which probably isn’t the
best course of action to take when dealing with such a blunt cinematic
instrument.
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Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

Keanu Reeves is no stranger to the world of martial art cinema. The star
of “The Matrix” trilogy, Reeves has spent a considerable chunk of his
career in training, learning the moves of several martial art traditions
to best serve the vision of The Wachowski Siblings. Now he’s stepping
behind the camera, taking command as the director of “Man of Tai Chi,”
employing his interests and expertise with screen movement to build a
simplistic but volatile fight film. The picture isn’t exactly an
intellectual pursuit, but the essentials of brutality, choreography, and
cinematographic patience are well cared for under Reeves’s watch.
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Making his feature-length filmmaking debut, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has
selected a fascinating topic to build a picture around. Inspecting a man
addicted to internet pornography while keeping his life in meticulous
order, Gordon-Levitt threatens to make a Very Special Movie, teaching
the audience about the ills of objectification and all its temptations.
Mercifully, “Don Jon” doesn’t elect that approach, instead providing a
fresh view of an age-old weakness, updating the prowl of the New Jersey
Guido to include technological woes that match all the pumped-up macho
concerns.
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It’s bizarre to think that after 30 years of acting, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
seems like a newcomer when it comes to her big screen performances.
Finding monumental success on television, including her iconic run on
“Seinfeld,” Louis-Dreyfus hasn’t shown much interest in a movie career,
with this scarcity of credits preserving her ability to surprise. She
lands a humdinger of a role in “Enough Said,” teaming up with
writer/director Nicole Holofcener to work through a series of complex
emotions, all of them realistically executed and universally understood,
and she’s aces in every scene. Louis-Dreyfus gives “Enough Said”
exquisite vulnerability and crack comic timing, helping the helmer lift a
slightly tiresome plot off the ground, finding behavioral realism in
the midst of sitcom tension.
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Admittedly, the idea of Chucky the killer doll was always a little
goofy, but the original “Child’s Play” pulled off the tonality of horror
and absurdity with skill, launching the character as an unlikely horror
icon. While 1998’s “Bride of Chucky” had a certain irreverent snap to
it, the sequels have largely missed the mark when it comes to making the
doll menacing, with 2004’s “Seed of Chucky” representing the bottom of
the barrel in terms of creativity. After nearly a decade of dormancy,
creator Don Mancini just can’t let the Good Guy go, resurrecting the
plastic killer for “Curse of Chucky,” a DTV sequel that aims to restore
severity to the wheezing franchise, though it doesn’t bring anything new
to the table beyond a brief makeover for its knee-high star.
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To learn that “Baggage Claim” is based on a book is quite surprising.
There’s nothing in the feature that even remotely hints at any literary
inspiration, with most of the movie devoted to the romantic comedy
formula, hitting the same beats of flirtation and separation viewed in
thousands of pictures. Adapting his own novel for the screen,
writer/director David E. Talbert (“First Sunday”) plays the material in a
most obvious manner, hoping to achieve a little old-style Hollywood
glow, yet story certainly isn’t the effort’s strong suit, with “Baggage
Claim” more convincing with silliness than meaningful characterization.
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Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

It’s become clear that director Ben Wheatley is only interested in
making pictures for his own pleasure. It’s a noble creative quest,
joining a few other helmers who’ve eschewed audience acceptance to forge
their own cinematic interests, and the distance suits Wheatley. After
the darkly comic delights and a rare turn of accessibility with
“Sightseers,” the helmer returns to the abstract, unexplained, and
interpretational impulses of his earlier work, including “Down Terrace”
and “Kill List.” “A Field in England” features top-shelf tech credits
and lively performances, and it will likely find a place of comfort near
the bosom of fiercely analytical moviegoers. But is the film
compelling? Not particularly, with Wheatley going about his business in a
casually numbing manner that almost completely turns its back on the
viewer.
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“Morning” tackles a devastating subject matter, surveying the
psychological wreckage left behind after the death of child. It’s
certainly not an easy filmmaking endeavor, demanding a special
sensitivity to avoid television movie hysterics, preserving the nuances
of such unfathomable pain. In director Leland Orser’s hands, “Morning”
eschews the organic grind of grief and all its unpredictable behaviors
to play out as an extended acting exercise, trying to pass off excessive
indication as profound feeling. It’s a difficult sit, and not nearly as
moving as it should be, with its central idea of lost communication
buried under layers of artificiality, damming the mournful flow.
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There is a great tradition in American comedy of Jewish performers, men
and women who conquered the funny business with exceptional wit, timing,
and stage presence, triumphing over prejudice and intense competition
to become legendary names. However, industry dominance has to start
somewhere, and for the likes of Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, and Jackie
Mason, that place was a Catskill Mountains, a sprawling landscape of
natural beauty that developed into a beloved tourist destination during
the 20th century. The documentary “When Comedy Went to School” delves
into the story of resort life, where Jewish families gathered to feast,
mingle, and enjoy up and coming comedians hungry for the spotlight.
Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2013

Writer/director Shane Carruth has only masterminded two pictures, 2004’s
“Primer” and last spring’s “Upstream Color,” yet he’s made enough of an
impression to inspire something of a knockoff of his brain-bleeding
work. “Coherence” is an ironic title for this twisty, talky indie
effort, which labors to braid wandering improvisations with the finer
points of quantum physics. As one might imagine, the results aren’t
exactly compelling, but writer/director James Ward Byrkit does have a
superb way of ratcheting up the suspense and mystery of the story,
making it the rare movie that actually improves as it unfolds, gradually
abandoning obvious acting to delve into the parallel universe panic
room with a band of bewildered friends.
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It’s a little weird to find mild-mannered director Ron Howard behind the
wheel of “Rush,” even though he has plenty of experience filming fast
cars, having kicked off his helming career with 1977’s “Grand Theft
Auto.” It’s just that spinning wheels and revving engines aren’t
expected out of him these days, coming off mild comedies (“The
Dilemma”), blockbusters (“Angels & Demons”), and Oscar-bait
(“Frost/Nixon”). “Rush” represents a change of pace for Howard, who
sinks his teeth into an R-rated Formula One race drama, giving this
volatile material an edgy concentration that’s uncommon. It’s a nervy
movie, supported by two exceptional performances from Chris Hemsworth
and Daniel Bruhl, who show a commitment to character dignity and the
unsteady steps of blossoming respect, making only spare use of
overpowering cliche.
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“A Single Shot” is an impressive detour in the career of Sam Rockwell.
After his entertaining but routine turn in last summer’s “The Way, Way
Back,” Rockwell returns to his dark side in this tense, unflinching
thriller. Similar in a few ways to Sam Raimi’s “A Simple Plan,” “A
Single Shot” has a spare quality that keeps it unsettling, while its
coldly violent attitude encourages a steady pace. And there’s Rockwell,
delivering a fantastic performance as a simple man in way over his head,
reining in his flashier, boogie fever instincts, allowing director
David M. Rosenthal’s gloomy mood of impending doom to carry the viewing
experience.
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“Prisoners” is a kidnapping drama that aspires to be a morally complex
tale of vigilante justice. It’s brutal, depressing, and supplied with a
leisurely run time, and it’s almost a completely compelling movie.
Director Denis Villeneuve gets the material 75% of the way there before
the production completely falls apart, taking something intimate and
ugly and turning it into a conventional slip ‘n slide of convenient
resolutions. “Prisoners” deserves credit for its unflinching approach to
the urgency at hand, asking viewers to sit through scenes of piercing
torment and tearful desperation. However, the picture doesn’t stick its
landing, a crucial misstep when working with such manipulative
scripting.
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Over the last decade, we’ve seen the rise and fall of the hip-hop dance
movie, with titles such as “You Got Served,” “Stomp the Yard,” and the
“Step Up” series riding the trend to box office heights. “Battle of the
Year” has arrived a little late to the party, though its concentration
on a particular “b-boy” movement lends it some much needed
individuality. Everything else in this pedestrian dance drama is either
absurdly corny or just plain moronic, though the feature does win points
for being so earnest with its hopeless pile of clichés, but it’s
certainly not enough to make the picture memorable.
Read the rest at Blu-ray.com