Category: Film Review

It’s a given that “Rising from Ashes” succeeds at selling its
inspirational tale. After all, the story includes genocide survival, an
underdog saga, and a soulful rebirth in the form of unexpected
companionship, making the feature easy to fall for. It’s slight work,
without much in the way of a beginning and ending, but as a documentary
it scores with a heartfelt study of perseverance, watching those who
struggle every single day to contain their lives build confidence and
develop an alien sense of joy, with that purity of spirit contributing
to a sporting odyssey that’s more about human details than physical
achievement.
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We currently live in a “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” free world, with
both franchises closing up shop over the last few years, leaving
Hollywood in a mad dash to find the next big fantasy saga that could
uncover billions in box office returns over the course of numerous
sequels. There have been many failures (don’t expect a “Beautiful
Creatures 2”), but that won’t stop producers from giving the impossible a
go, with “The Mortal Instruments” saga from author Cassandra Clare the
next literary series up to bat. It’s difficult to surmise if the
faithful will fully accept the big screen interpretation, but it’s safe
to write that those who don’t have a clue about “The Mortal Instruments”
before viewing will know even less about the property on the way out of
the theater.
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For a decent thriller to work, there should be some sense of
plausibility to help develop a connection with the audience, allowing
them into the scheme of things through recognizable elements of
suspicion, espionage, and accusation. “Paranoia” doesn’t exist on the
Earth that we know and love, but a parallel dimension where handheld
technology is capable of anything, destroying lives with the press of a
smartphone button. Director Robert Luketic’s mistake is that he doesn’t
brand “Paranoia” as sci-fi, instead trying to wow viewers with a
contemporary tech-based suspense film that’s so focused on glowing
screens and the titular anxiety, it abandons any shred of realism, thus
turning a simple story of corporate spying with enticing possibilities
into an extended run of silly make-em-ups that never congeal into
nail-biting astonishment.
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This review contains strong language.

I was no fan of 2010’s “Kick-Ass,” though I was mildly beguiled by the
feature’s comic book vigor, playing directly to the core demographic
with a violent, sarcastic atmosphere that divided the audience into
geeks fully invested in the work and outsiders who couldn’t compute the
mixed messages director Matthew Vaughn was transmitting. Despite the
original film’s inability to attract much attention at the box office, a
small profit has triggered a sequel, once again adapting a comic book
series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. Vaughn’s stepped down, taking
a producing role, and the insider shine has been scraped off, reducing
“Kick-Ass 2” to a glorified DTV sequel that’s determined to outgun,
out-slice, and out-diarrhea its precursor. It’s a vicious, ugly, unfunny
picture, and one that’s lacking the millimeter of polish Vaughn rubbed
into the first movie.
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“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” is the official title of this picture due to
ridiculous studio tensions that forced distributor The Weinstein Company
to make a slight alteration to the label to prevent additional
retitling banality. Turns out, the Lee Daniels brand on the feature is
more appropriate than previously imagined, as “The Butler” is sopping
wet with his filmmaking DNA, forgoing a clean sense of history and
timing to slosh around numerous eras and interactions, almost forming a
narrative by accident. It could some extra baking time in an editing
suite, but the movie is undeniably passionate work, doing a commendable
job making sense out of the helmer’s scattershot approach to a highly
ordered life.
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“Jobs” is a baffling motion picture, asking the audience to spent two
hours with a narcissistic creep who stomped on those who helped to build
an empire, flushed his family down the toilet, and treated underlings
cruelly. Of course, it was all in the quest for perfection according to
the screenplay by Matt Whiteley, giving Steve Jobs a free pass to
sainthood, where his tech world innovation, not his dubious character,
preserves his legacy at Apple Inc. Not that “Jobs” has any interest in
behavioral complexity to challenge the exalted subject, instead behaving
like a confused television movie that doesn’t exactly know how to
transform extended examples of unbridled arrogance into a hard-edged
celebration of dogged ambition.
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Although writer/director Lake Bell aims to construct a romantic comedy
with her helming debut, “In a World,” the effort almost registers as a
tribute film to the late voiceover artist, Don LaFontaine. One of the
most famous voices in the history of the vocation, LaFontaine was turned
into a pop culture player when his use of the titular phrase in movie
trailers became the ubiquitous opener for any production needing that
extra introductory punch. Bell aims to celebrate the industry and its
players with the picture, which is always most confident inspecting the
neuroses and power plays of the participants. The ooey-gooey material
just doesn’t share the same personality.
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“Last Passenger” isn’t a particularly innovative movie, but it does have
the sense to at least attempt to break away from the thriller norm. A
runaway train picture spotlighting a collection of desperate commuters,
the film isn’t about pinpointing the root of all evil, instead valuing
the cinematic appeal of sheer panic in the face of possible doom,
working nuances of character over an enormous display of malice. For
some, the lack of explicit evil behavior will register as frustrating,
as the feature does lack a certain edge when it comes to antagonism.
Others might enjoy the change in scenery, as “Last Passenger” is more
interested in the steps of survival, not the mechanics of villainy.
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As a film director, D.J. Caruso has primarily pursued more bubblegum
thriller material with “I Am Number Four” and “Eagle Eye,” while
inspecting the dark side of life in pictures such as “The Salton Sea”
and “Taking Lives.” “Standing Up” is a major change of pace for the
helmer, who loses interest in visual effects and suspense set pieces to
make a movie about two kids getting to know each other in the wake of a
terrible incident involving summer camp bullying. It’s a sweet,
sensitive story, guided benevolently by Caruso, who emphasizes the
tale’s kindness and bittersweet qualities, creating one of the more
humane tales of preadolescence to hit screens in some time.
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It’s been a long time since director David Gordon Green explored
humanity. After a stretch guiding one inspired comedy (“Pineapple
Express”) and two wretched ones (“The Sitter” and “Your Highness”),
Green returns to his backwoods roots with “Prince Avalanche,” an oddly
hypnotic tale of vulnerability that trusts the power of silence and
imagery, managing to attack central conflicts from unusual angles.
Beautifully shot and refreshingly performed from two actors in need of a
change of pace, the movie settles into a position of isolation and
finds rich character notes to play, spun with that special Green
idiosyncrasy that once defined his career before Hollywood came calling.
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Four years ago, Neill Blomkamp made a splash with his directorial debut,
the alien immigration saga “District 9.” A sleeper smash that created a
career for the helmer and star Sharlto Copley, the picture was pure
overkill, but offered an enticing glimpse of Blomkamp’s undeniably
fertile creative vision. “Elysium” is his big-budget follow-up, allowing
the moviemaker a chance to romp around an immense sci-fi sandbox, with
major stars to conduct and immaculate CGI machinery to manipulate. Even
though the features are identical in many ways, “Elysium” is more
polished than “District 9,” filling out Blomkamp’s visual potential in
full. However, old, ugly habits remain, keeping his latest work
frustrating to watch as it avoids greatness to monkey around with
numerous noisemakers.
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“Lovelace” isn’t a bio-pic about the star of “Deep Throat.” The film is
merely a slice of her story told from two different perspectives,
highlighting the perceived thrill of adult cinema fame and its haunting
reality. It’s not an education on the life and times of Linda Lovelace,
but a glimpse of her years as a victim, with barely any effort put
forward to secure a rounded portrait of a complicated existence.
Although it’s nicely shot and agreeably acted by Amanda Seyfried,
“Lovelace” is a superficial examination of profound pain and dubious
character, keeping the material disappointingly one-note when it aches
to be so much more comprehensive.
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Let’s not kid ourselves here, Disney’s “Planes” has arrived to
facilitate the creation of a new generation of toys. It’s classic
Hollywood marketing disguised as moviemaking, only here the groundwork
has been laid by “Cars” and “Cars 2,” the Pixar pair that didn’t exactly
win critical favor, but ran away with billions in merchandising. Billions.
Of course the Mouse House was going to test the limits of this fandom,
especially when the last “Cars” picture showed signs that audiences were
growing a little tired of the automobile flavor. Now we have airplanes,
but the story, the jokes, and the corporate manipulation remains the
same. However, “Planes” does possess the fluid animation “Cars” lacked,
taking to the sky with a slick presentation of aerial balletics and
cartoon antics.
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“Computer Chess” has a gimmick, and it’s a pretty fantastic one. Set in
the early 1980s, the picture is shot with antique Portapak equipment,
the kind of camera one wouldn’t dare point directly toward the sun. It
lends the feature an endearingly low-fi look that’s played almost
entirely straight, setting the retro mood with an authentic visual
presence that’s amusing to simply study, unearthing vivid memories
concerning the early stages of the video moviemaking revolution.
Unfortunately, the effort’s imagination is limited to its look, as
“Computer Chess” appears to mistake stasis for subversion, leaving the
material’s quest to depict programming authenticity admirable, but
hardly enough to fill out an entire film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Horror films are a dime a dozen, often viewed chasing trends or lazily
slopping the frame with blood to complete the genre task at hand. When a
production comes around that seeks out a different tonal direction,
it’s easy to notice the atmospheric changes. “Jug Face” is such a movie,
with the presence of originality helping to make helmer Chad Crawford
Kinkle’s debut feature stand out from the suffocating pack. It’s short
(80 minutes long), sparingly severe, and mysterious, asking viewers to
follow an unusual premise doesn’t reward with shocks, but a steady pulse
of dread, making the macabre aspects of the work all the more
unsettling. It’s a terrific picture, smartly made and sharply acted, and
it’s one of the best chillers of the year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Woody Allen has been in a romantic mood lately. With the
fantasy “Midnight in Paris” and the farce “To Rome with Love,” Allen
was swept away by a golden European glow, scripting tales of life and
love with his special neurotic stamp. “Blue Jasmine” isn’t a
particularly friendly movie, returning the filmmaker to areas of
psychological warfare and social discomfort that have informed his
finest pictures. A satisfying blend of behavioral severity, “A Streetcar
Named Desire” homage, and laughs, “Blue Jasmine” is distinctly
Allen-esque, but dominated by Cate Blanchett’s stunning lead performance
— a masterful tightrope walk of delusion and deliberation that keeps
the effort absorbing and darkly comic.
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It’s strange that the producers of “Blood” have decided to use a
six-part miniseries as the inspiration for this endeavor. Remakes are
difficult enough to pull off gracefully, but reducing multiple episodes
of narrative breadth and character arcs to a single 90 minute feature
feels like dramatic suicide, forced to compact nuanced relationships and
burn through conflict in a full sprint. Thankfully, there are powerful
performances to cling to, watching the actors conjure full-blooded
depictions of guilt to patch holes left behind in the script. There’s
powerful work here to savor while the story searches for ways to define
its direction, keeping “Blood” convincing when it should rightfully fall
apart.
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“We’re the Millers” feels oddly retro with its bawdy sense of humor,
resembling a long lost Farrelly Brother film from 1999. It’s an
audience-pleaser with its mind in the gutter, playing up its R-rating
with gusto, offering oodles of sex jokes, foul language, and a moment of
graphic nudity, unwilling to break any new ground in the genre.
Thankfully, the movie is also funny, though rarely hilarious, holding to
a steady rhythm of absurdity and slapstick antics that manage to
please, with a few highlights hinting at a more interestingly devilish
picture than the McDonald’s meal director Rawson Marshall Thurber
ultimately slaps together here.
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It’s actually surprising to be confronted with a sequel to the 2010
release, “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” While
a modest success, the picture didn’t inspire the type of pop culture
ubiquity that normally shadows blockbuster franchises, but the producers
aren’t giving up just yet, submitting the more compactly titled “Percy
Jackson: Sea of Monsters” to the moviegoing public, hoping to build on a
foundation poured by director Chris Columbus. There is noticeable
improvement here, with a general muting of slapstick tendencies to shape
the material into a straightforward adventure/visual effects orgy,
finding helmer Thor Freudenthal conjuring the forces of Spielberg and
Rowling to craft a fantasy romp that, much like its predecessor, is far
too tense with exposition to really let ‘er rip.
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Filmmaker Brian De Palma has always been an acquired taste, often seen
storming through seedy material that plays to his strengths of
seduction, suspense, and stylized cinematography. He’s fallen on hard
times in recent years, with his last picture, 2007’s Iraq War lament
“Redacted,” arguably the worst movie of his career. “Passion” won’t win
over any new fans, but it’s an acceptable cleaning of the creative
gutters for De Palma, who orchestrates his traditional serving of sin
with aplomb, even if the material is somewhat lacking in cohesion and
venom. At its finest when whipped into a frenzy of implausibility,
“Passion” is a bubble gum thriller with plenty of snap, returning the
helmer to a place of excitement that’s been missing from his work for
far too long.
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