Category: Film Review

Walt Disney Animation is targeting a very specific demographic with
“Wreck-It Ralph,” though the feature spends most of its run time
attempting to prove its worth to all ages. Despite its splendid
animation, with gorgeous colors and touchable details, “Wreck-It Ralph”
is going to be appreciated as a video game valentine, working to shower a
little love on the arcade culture of the past. Perhaps the younger set
won’t fully understand why their moviegoing guardians are laughing at
secret code jokes involving a Nintendo controller or going all giddy at
the sight of Q*bert, but they’ll still have fun with these vibrant
antics, packaged into a lively adventure with sizable laughs, a
delicious pour of nostalgia, and surprisingly emotive voice work. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Sessions” approaches an unusual story with a healthy sense of
humor, a commitment to the comfort of faith, and a surprisingly adult
appreciation of sex. While it may resemble yet another Oscar-bait
melodrama boasting fiery performances and a powerful message, “The
Sessions” plays largely low-key, working to create a human portrait of a
physically challenged man hoping to find a little bedroom adventure
before his time expires. Although the story seems like a rich
opportunity for crude shenanigans, the movie is unexpectedly blunt and
warmly sympathetic, displaying a refreshing commitment to the tense
nuances of a carnal odyssey before its eventual slide into overcooked
dramatics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Alfred Hitchcock built an entire career out of obsessive
control, from his unparalleled filmmaking skills to his pop culture
persona, creating a literal silhouette that promised a specialized
offering of entertainment ahead. Hitchcock the legend is the stuff of
books, documentaries, and conversation. Hitchcock the man is another
story, rarely discussed throughout the years, with the sordid details of
his work ethic kept to a dull roar while cineastes celebrated his
cinematic achievements. 2012 welcomes two pictures endeavoring to expose
the helmer’s unsavory side, with November’s “Hitchcock” and “The Girl,”
a most peculiar HBO production that really rakes the icon over the
coals, and perhaps deservedly so. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Vamps” certainly earns points for trying. It’s encouraging to see
writer/director Amy Heckerling this creatively animated again, after her
last two features, 2000’s “Loser” and 2007’s “I Could Never Be Your
Woman” were colossal failures, suggesting an onset of lethargy for a
filmmaker who made her name with such spunky hits as “Clueless,” “Fast
Times at Ridgemont High,” and “Look Who’s Talking.” Heckerling goes for
broke with “Vamps,” blending an anti-technology rant with a romantic
comedy about monsters, tossing in some flashes of horror and reverence
for classic cinema for good measure. It’s all over the place and in dire
need of an unbreakable funny bone, but I admire the movie’s pluck,
finding “Vamps” always aiming to please despite some rather severe
limitations in the screenwriting department. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Fire with Fire” is a vigilante tale with a butch title (though
filmgoers of a certain age will undoubtedly recall a 1986 Virginia
Madsen picture of the same name and its screechy Wild Blue theme song),
though nothing especially harsh occurs during the movie. Attracting a
wide range of talent and celebrity, the effort has the goods to
transform into an unrelenting machine of thrills, smacking the audience
around with displays of intimidation and bloodthirsty revenge. The
actual feature spends much of its run time in neutral with actors either
unprepared for the demands of the subgenre or locked in paycheck mode,
stiffly working through tepid dialogue, tedious procedural events, and
dull romantic yearnings. There’s potential here for the taking, but
nobody in the production seems all that inspired to kick “Fire with
Fire” into overdrive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“This Must Be the Place” is a densely atmospheric feature and oddly
evocative travelogue of America. It’s a movie with an enticing set-up
and a wonderfully committed performance from star Sean Penn, but it
always strains to resist obvious directions, preferring to take an
esoteric journey into soul of a confused man finally reaching maturity
well into his middle-age. It’s a gorgeous film with endlessly
fascinating cinematography, but for a two-hour sit, the plot doesn’t add
up to much in the end, almost getting in the way of co-writer/director
Paolo Sorrentino and his quest to make the oddest road picture/revenge
story around. He succeeds for much of “This Must Be the Place,” but it’s
not an effort that lingers long after it concludes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Julia Loktev’s “The Loneliest Planet” continues the traditional of
observational cinema revived over the last decade by Gus Van Sant, who
experimented with screen stillness and improvisational dialogue in
pictures such as “Gerry” and “Elephant.” “The Loneliest Planet” elects a
travelogue route for its inspection of common behaviors and emotional
wounds, trekking across the wilds of Georgia to soak up the natural
beauty of the land as the characters work out some intense personal
issues. It’s 110 minutes of hiking, subtitle-free conversations, and
extended shots of stars Hani Furstenberg and Gael Garcia Bernal looking
bored and concerned. For some, the interpretational opportunities of the
production will be salivatory. For others, the relentless indulgence of
the piece will feel like a trip where no one bothered to pack a map. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Since 2009, there have been four “Paranormal Activity” pictures. The
last “Silent Hill” movie came out in 2006, which is practically a
century in horror film franchise years. Genre fans have short attention
spans, making the delayed appearance of “Silent Hill: Revelation” a real
curiosity, especially after the original feature didn’t scare up much
business at the box office. Perhaps a faded memory of prior adventures
is best for this soggy sequel, as writer/director Michael J. Bassett
(“Solomon Kane”) shamelessly retcons the material to his liking, making
the effort’s tenuous connections to the earlier work seem downright
silly. Instead of starting from scratch, “Revelation” hopes to maintain
the previously set course, only to alter the very elements that once
defined the premise. Read the rest a Blu-ray.com

“A Fantastic Fear of Everything” is an acquired taste, submitting such
an itchy, darkly comic atmosphere that’s utterly guaranteed to energize
those in step with its madness, while others will find the enterprise an
overly mannered grind to get through. It’s polarizing work that carries
immense creativity and sharp sense of humor, burrowing into the
spinning mind of a destructively phobic man during an intense period of
suspicion. Thankfully, star Simon Pegg is up for the challenge, bringing
to the screen a truly scattered character who’s hilariously bound by
his fears, articulated with all the spasms and pauses the actor is
particularly skilled at delivering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ambitious doesn’t even begin to describe “Cloud Atlas,” which marks the
first collaboration between Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer.
Powerhouse screen visionaries, the trio find an unusual harmony for
their mighty endeavor, providing a smooth melt of specialized
sensibilities as they tackle an adaptation of an “unfilmable” novel by
author David Mitchell. Overlong yet undeniably powerful and inventively
arranged, “Cloud Atlas” demands viewers permit the creative team a
chance to make their case. They take their time but come armed with
exquisite production achievements and a byzantine story that actually
manages to find a satisfying conclusion, despite a complex, borderline
unintelligible first half that all but promises an oncoming narrative
disaster. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A Halloween-themed picture without gloom, doom, and a rising body count?
“Fun Size” is the alternative to the holiday’s dark cinematic
offerings, pursing a farcical tone of teenage hijinks with an
unexpectedly PG-13 edge, giving those unable to sneak into R-rated
options something to see. Although hobbled by some ill-advised detours
into bathroom humor and a few miscast adult characters, “Fun Size”
reveals a surprisingly firm grip on silly behavior, bringing a generous
sense of humor to an otherwise ho-hum story of adolescent panic and
flirtation. The feature gets a little odd a times, a tonal choice that
does a fine job airing out the staleness of the script. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Having attained enormous creative and financial success with the “Rec”
pictures with partner Paco Plaza, director Jaume Balaguero returns to
individual duty with “Sleep Tight,” though his sense of disturbing
behavior hasn’t been exhausted. A creepy suspense film with a handful of
decent twists and a supreme grasp on unsavory behavior, Balaguero
passes on shock jumps for a snowballing atmosphere of threat, generating
superb chills for those who enjoy a slower drip of danger to their
scary stuff. “Sleep Tight” lacks transparent thrills, but its dedication
to psychological disease and escalating panic results in a tremendously
satisfying feature, low-key but splendidly sinister. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Like a surfer battling a particularly violent wave, “Chasing Mavericks”
struggles to keep its head above water. Based on the life of Jay
Moriarity, the picture has a strong biographical feel that keeps it
compelling, backed by incredible surf footage and two engaged
performances from stars Jonny Weston and Gerard Butler. However, the
screenplay by Kario Salem doesn’t trust the purity of brotherhood and
the natural challenges of the ocean to fill out the work, bringing in
bullies and assorted melodrama to secure an emotional response that’s
best earned free of overt manipulation. “Chasing Mavericks” is a gentle
effort with modest thematic goals, and while it’s compellingly made, its
spirit is diluted by dreadful formula. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Smashed” represents something of a coming out party for its star, Mary
Elizabeth Winstead. In the business for the last 15 years, Winstead has
rarely found a role that’s supplied a full reach for her gifts, recently
seen slumbering through the pre-sequel “The Thing,” while used as
decoration in pictures such as “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” Although it’s not the easiest movie
to digest, “Smashed” finally brings the actress into view, delivering an
interestingly chaotic interpretation of an alcoholic finally coming to
terms with her path of destruction. She’s marvelous in this small but
effective drama, sweetened a touch by darkly comic flavorings. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Simon and the Oaks” make a curious choice to be a WWII drama without
much in the way of wartime suffering. Eschewing grand displays of
European misery to keep confrontations intimate, the feature is an
unexpectedly bitter effort, surveying the erosion of domestic protection
as a situation of parenting assistance turns into a colossal shift in a
household dynamic. This Swedish picture, based on the best seller by
Marianne Fredriksson, is surprising but also frustrating, especially
when larger ideas on musical liberation and environmental connection are
lost to the melodrama, resulting in an intermittently powerful, yet
vaguely detailed film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at the 2012 Twin Cities Film Fest

There’s only one filmmaker nutty enough to tackle the manic highs and
lows of “Silver Linings Playbook,” and that’s David O. Russell.
Rocketing forward after his last picture, 2010’s “The Fighter,” was
showered with box office success and Oscar gold, Russell cooks up
another vibrant spectacle of bad behavior and personal triumph, only
instead of boxers and drug abuse, this material covers mental illness
and a profound fear of pills. A slyly hilarious, refreshingly vulnerable
dramedy, “Silver Linings Playbook” is a feature of constant surprise.
And when Russell calls on cliché to dig out an ending, he does so with
extraordinary skill and euphoric cinematic energy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at the 2012 Twin Cities Film Fest

Like any great film about music, “A Late Quartet” is hardly about music.
A searing drama about the disintegration of a triumphant string
quartet, the picture merely uses gorgeous chamber orchestra sounds as a
method to express pain and frustration when the characters are unable to
speak for themselves. Although it deals with an exclusive world of
exceptional talent, screenwriters Seth Grossman and Yaron Zilberman (who
also directs) keep matters accessible with subplots that detail mighty
betrayals and domestic erosion. It’s a powerful feature, outstandingly
acted and pleasingly measured, employing a sense of refinement to better
emphasize the numerous violations and disappointments that litter the
story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at the 2012 Twin Cities Film Fest

At its best, “Not Fade Away” is a phenomenal time machine, whisking
viewers back to a time where music could honestly change the world, or
at least America, where the kids were starving for a radical new
direction in rock and roll. It’s a shame writer/director David Chase,
the illustrious creator of “The Sopranos,” has done so little with the
dramatic potential of the piece. While the details feel sufficiently
lived-in, “Not Fade Away” is a weightless viewing experience with little
in the way of riveting conflict and hypnotic musicianship. It’s a mute
button movie, with the textures of the production worth all the
attention Chase pays to them, while the rest of the effort slides around
in a fog, waiting for inspiration that never arrives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Being a prequel and somewhat inventive with its scares, “Paranormal
Activity 3” managed to cut a small hole in the wall of illogical
nonsense that’s been erected around this franchise, letting a little
light into the darkness. Directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost did a
fine job boosting the cheap thrills of the series, but couldn’t outright
reinvent the formula, leaving the third picture slightly more
interesting than the two that preceded it, but still missing a heroic
sense of purpose. Returning a year later for “Paranormal Activity 4,”
the filmmakers stumble in their quest to push the story forward,
sticking closely to the unchecked stupidity that forms the foundation of
this demonic saga, while encouraging the absurd scare tactics audiences
appear to value more than any pass at suspense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Nobody Walks” pays specific attention to sensuality, with a certain
rise of sexuality viewed through acts of flirtation, food preparation,
and sound recording. It’s rare to find a movie devoted to the art of
eroticism, though I wish “Nobody Walks” was a picture that deserved an
audience, with something more to offer outside of the occasional moment
of striking intimacy. A dull, flatly arranged offering of cinematic
navel-gazing, the feature refuses form to wallow in the frustrations of
desire, feeling aimless as it makes time for unhappy people forced to
deal with easily avoidable interpersonal discomfort. A few scenes hint
at the potential of the piece, while the rest of the effort seems more
interested in curling up for a nap. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com