VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Funeral Kings (2012)
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clio, Links, Media, Movies, People, Reviews | Tags: 2012, AlexMaizus, Carolyn, CharlesKwameOdei, children, Clio, comedies, DanPerrault, Diigo, DylanHartigan, FuneralKings, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JesseB, JordanPuzzo, KevinCorrigan, KevinMcManus, MatthewMcManus, media, MichaelaMcManus, MichaelDelaney, movies, PJMcCabe, profa, Reviews, SarahBaldwin, video |
Jesse: 3.4/5 stars, 7/10 (I think).
SLEEPER ALERT: This movie isn't well-known at all, so I'd like to point out this might be the only time you see it mentioned.
"Two altar boys decide to play hooky."
At first that tagline didn't grab me, but then I had to consider: This is actually a comedy, and not a rom-com. I better watch it, because there aren't enough good comedies.
I think this movie has some similarities in feel to Stand By Me, but with tons more profanity. Tons more. A lot of profanity. A lot of fucking profanity. These kids curse more than the fucking Sopranos.
…And that's part of the charm. It's so authentic that it almost feels unrealistic… But then I remember just how foul-mouthed some kids were when I was in school. It may actually be a bit over-the-top, but it works. You make the movie about those kids that are over-the-top. A movie about normal kids doing normal things would not be entertaining; it would be a documentary.
Anyway… This was good. Things did not go where I expect. The end hit me a bit abruptly, and it helped to have Carolyn the Movie Whisperer explain it to me a bit.
Speaking of Carolyn, her thoughts:
"This was OK. We expected more of a comedy, but we should have remembered that a review on IMDB compared it to Stand By Me. That is a good comparison. Kids being kids and learning how to grow into themselves. How to cope with other kids' perceptions of you. How kids who are trying to be "cool" may find themselves in bad situations and over their head."
Here's a good review: http://www.larry411.com/post/review_pictures_red_carpet_funeral_kings_world_premiere_sxsw_film_festival
Written & directed by Kevin McManus & Matthew McManus.
Starring Dylan Hartigan (The Stepford Wives) as Andy Gilmour.
Alex Maizus as Charlie Waters.
Jordan Puzzo (uncredited in What's Your Number?) as David Mason.
Kevin Corrigan (Seven Psychopaths, Pineapple Express, Superbad, The Dictator, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, Detroit Rock City) as Iggy Vannucci.
Michael Delaney (The Dictator, The Onion Movie, 1 ep of Human Giant, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 7 eps of Upright Citizan's Brigade) as Brendan Hamilton.
Sarah Baldwin (1 ep of The Office) as Amanda Prescott.
Ian B's review can be found here.
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Trance (2013)
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clio, Jesse B, Links, Media, People, Reviews, Video | Tags: Carolyn, Clio, DannyBoyle, DannySapani, Diigo, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JamesMcAvoy, JesseB, JoeAhearne, JohnHodge, MattCross, media, movies, Reviews, RosarioDawson, Trance, video, VincentCassel, WahabSheikh |
P.S. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Trance (2013/I)
Jesse: Seemed to really like it.
I wasn't sure about this movie — stealing art? Hypnosis? Not my thing. But then it was pointed out to me by Jesse that this was a Danny Boyle movie. Trainspotting, 127 Hours, Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire…. Completely different movies, and all done very very well (though I didn't see Slumdog). I should be watching other Danny Boyle movies! What is Alien Love Triangle? That sounds interesting…
Anyway, this was a good movie. It kept you on your toes. I really liked it… I can't say I loved it, but that's more because it wasn't quite my type of movie than because of the movie itself. But this was a good drama/mystery movie that, when watching, was really hard to guess what was going to happen next.
The hynopsis stuff got somewhat confusing, but that also kept it interesting… Spoiler talk: Carolyn still doesn't understand if Franck was hypnotized also…. When the burning car got pushed into the water, why did it flash to Franck waking up in his pool? She didn't understand if that was explained ever…. (I never even got to the point of asking that question, oops.)
Regardless… Lots of thrills and twists. Well done, writers.
Also, for the record… Rosario Dawson, full frontal nudity. Even before the full frontal nudity, I was thinking — she's getting better and better looking as she ages. She is especially hot in this movie.
Starring James McAvoy (Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class, Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, 1 ep of Band Of Brothers) as Simon, the protaganist.
Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Oceans 12 & 13, Renegade aka Blueberry, Monsieur Hood in Shrek 1) as Franck, the antaganist.
Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Clerks 2, Kids, Men In Black 2, Death Proof, Grindhouse, Persephone in Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto) as Elizabeth, the hypnotist.
Wahab Sheikh (Red 2) as Riz.
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: The Host (2013)
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clio, Evan B, Jesse B, Links, Media, Movies, People, Reviews, Video | Tags: 2013, aliens, AndrewNiccol, Carolyn, Clio, DianeKruger, Diigo, EvanB, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JesseB, media, movies, Reviews, SaoirseRonan, StephenyMeyer, TheHost, video |
Clio: 4.6/5 stars, 8.6/10.
Jesse: 3.4/5 stars, 7/10.
Evan: 4.1/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 3.7/5 stars Netflix, /10 IMDB.
Written & directed by Andrew Niccol, which had me hyped up to see the movie! We've seen every movie he's directed (Gattaca, Lord Of War, In Time, S1m0ne), and also half the movies he wrote-but-didn't-direct (The Truman Show, but not The Terminal). It is all excellent stuff, though we enjoyed some (In Time) more than others (Lord Of War, S1m0ne).
This movie, strangely, is based on a novel by Stephenie Meyer, the woman who wrote the Twilight Trilogy. Really?? This knowledge alone causes a lot of people to hate on the movie without watching it. Such sheep behavior is sad to witness.
This is Twilight-esque in the sense that teen romance is inserted into a genre that it is not normally so prevalent in. Is that a crime? Is mixing genres a crime? Should an action movie have no comedy? Should a comedy movie have no romance? Should a horror movie have no comedy?
So yes, this is a sci-fi movie about parasitic symbiotes taking over the planet by taking our bodies from us, but it is focused more on a few specific characters, and the love story that ties them together. There are no explosions or big gun fights. It's about a race taking over humans and controlling them. They aim to live along with us and bring us further than we would get left to our own devices, but they also basically genocide us by killing our consciousnesses and replacing them with their own.
But some of us resist. The alien parasite hears the voice of the original human in their mind. It's rare. And that is the case here.
Apparently a lot of people just reduce that to "watching a girl talk to herself", which is a sad reducto absurdum applied to an idea that is actually far more interesting than that. I think it requires a litte bit of empathy that some people don't have. I don't find it a valid complaint.
There is REALLY a lot of hate here. The anti-Stephanie Meyer bandwagon is kind of pathetic. It's like they are scared that someone might like something she's involved in, because it would invalidate their own opinions — which are often themselves based on groupthink and expressed by people who have never seen one of her movies or read one of her books.
Fuck those guys. This was a great sci-fi, and had an unexpectedly interesting emotional/relationship angle, that most sci-fi movies don't have. Good for Andrew Niccol — keeping his track record intact. Good for Stephanie Meyer — improving her track record, which needs it.
Evan: "I really liked the concepts and the story was good, but I'm going to have to knock it down a bit for the cheesy teen-movie moments."
Saoirse Ronan (Hanna from Hanna, the voice of Arriety in The Secret World of Arrietty) as Melanie Stryder / Wanda.
Diane Kruger (Adult Anna in Mr. Nobody, Inglourious Basterds, National Treasure, Helen in Troy) as The Seeker / Lacey.
Chandler Canterbury (Repo Men, Benjamin as age 8 in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Jamie, Melanie's little brother.
Jake Abel (Luke in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) as Ian O'Shea, [highlight for spoilers]→ Wanda's love interest.
Max Irons (Dorian Gray, 9 eps of The White Queen) as Jared Howem, Melanie's boyfriend.
William Hurt (The Village, The Incredible Hulk, Dark City) as Jeb, Melanie's uncle.
Frances Fisher (Sex & Death 101, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital) as Maggie, Melanie's aunt.
Scott Lawrence (The Social Network, Avatar, Cloverfield, Star Trek Into Darkness, 2 eps of 24, Darth Vader in a bunch of Star Wars video games) as Doc.
Rachel Roberts (Simone in S1m0ne, In Time) as Soul Fleur.
Marcus Lyle Brown (Snatched) as Healer Fords.
J.D. Evermore (Django Unchained) as Trevor Stryder.
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Imaginaerum (2012)
Posted by Claire CJS under Audio, Carolyn, Clio, Jesse B, Links, Media, Movies, Music, Music Video, People, Reviews, Video | Tags: 2012, audio, bands, Carolyn, Clio, conceptAlbums, Diigo, fantasy, ifttt, Imaginaerum, imported, JesseB, media, MikkoRautalahti, movies, music, musical, Nightwish, Reviews, StobeHarju, video |
Clio & Carolyn: 2.8/5 stars, 6.4/10.
This will be the 2nd time we watch a movie based on a concept album we've never listened to, performed by a band we've never listened to. The last one was Marillion:Brave, by Richard Stanley, director of the movie Hardware (1990). This one is based on an album by the Finnish metal band, NightWish. We mostly watched it for the visuals, which were pretty cool, but we were not as impressed as we were hoping.
The story was a bit lacking. The sound mix was surprisingly bad (though that is a distribution problem). It was overly-dramatic and kind of full of itself. But of course, it's a video for an album, and music videos are sorta-kinda SUPPOSED to be like that — all grandiose and shit. So I might be faulting the genre for its own self-definition here. It also got a lot less exciting (and a lot more depressing) near the end. The acting wasn't the greatest, but this also wasn't a movie with very much acting in it.
In the end, this was style over substance. Some pretty awesome visuals. Definitely a great movie to watch — not as great to listen to, or think about. But visually, it was an 8/10.
Directed by: Stobe Harju (who directed Nightwish's "The Islander" music video).
Written by: Stobe Harju & Mikko Rautalahti (Alan Wake video game), and Richard Jackson.
Story written by Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish songwriter and band member) & Stobe Harju.
Starring Marianne Farley (Undressed, 2001: A Space Travesty, 6 eps of Vampire High) as Gem Whitman.
Quinn Lord (young boy in The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus–is he now typecast to only be in movies with Imaginae?rium in their title?, 2 eps of Smallville) as Tom Whitman – age 10.
Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish song writer and band member) as Tom Whitman – age 47.
Francis X. McCarthy (BASEketball, 7 eps of Melrose Place, 4 eps of the original 21 Jump Street, Alien Nation, 2 eps of The Greatest American Hero, 1 ep of Smallville, 1 ep of Cheers, 1 ep of ALF, 1 ep of The A-Team, 1 ep of Parker Lewis Can't Lose) as Tom Whitman – age 70.
Joanna Noyes (Grandma Thora Read in Arthur) as Ann – age 73.
Anette Olzon (Nightwish band member) as Ann.
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Mr. Nobody (2009)
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clio, Jesse B, Links, Media, Movies, People, Reviews | Tags: 2009, alternateRealities, AudriaGiacomini, Carolyn, ClareStone, Clio, DianeKruger, Diigo, fantasy, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JacoVanDormael, JaredLeto, JesseB, JunoTemple, LauraBrum, LinhDanPham, media, movies, Mr.Nobody, NatashaLittle, Reviews, RhysIfans, SarahPolley, scifi, ThomasByrne, TobyRegbo, video |
Clio: 4.6/5 stars, 9/10.
Jesse: 5/5 stars, 10/10. (I made this rating up for Jesse, based on him saying it might be his favorite movie of all time.)
Cloud Atlas, The Fountain, Click, Benjamin Button, Ink (2009), Inception (a bit). Smush them all together and you get this movie. I was hooked in the first 20 seconds. This was awesome.
Basically, this movie is about making choices, and the parallel universes that arise with each choice that is made. Hell, they even touch on string theory, chaos theory, and the butterfly effect at points… It is also about how it's better to make a decision than it is to stand there scared of the various consequences that may arise.
The structure of the movie is pretty amazing, and the cinematography is 10/10 for sure. Over 500 visual effects.
It also had a better than average soundtrack. Mr. Sandman … used even more than in 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag!
The plot synopses on IMDB is pretty good, and though it has minor spoilers, you could simply stop reading the summary when you get to the words "at the end", and it would not affect enjoyment of the movie (and in fact, this is part of how I was enticed to finally obtain this movie): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485947/synopsis … If you want a total-spoilery version, one better to read AFTER watching the movie, check out the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Nobody_(film)
This was awesome, yet I have a weird cognitive dissonance where I don't QUITE want to rate this 5/5 stars. My IMDB rating (film quality) is not affected by this dissonance, by my Netflix rating (emotional response) is for some reason. Maybe if I had watched it in a state other than sobriety… I'd have had that "OMFG THIS IS SO AWESOME" feeling. But it WAS awesome. I just didn't FEEL it like I often do. In part this is because I am anti-spirituality. I can't help but feel that the message was a bit trite and cliche in the fact that it basically boiled down to "seek happiness", which we all ALREADY KNOW.
However, this message was done VERY VERY VERY well! Just like Cloud Atlas's trite "fight for what is right" message, which was also done VERY well.
I'm so confused by my 5-star resistance here. But I"'l go ahead and give it 5 stars anyway.
Political side-comment: It's bullshit that USA typically won't play this movie due to there being sex scenes with underage people (even though Juno Temple was fucking 20 in this!). Fucking Puritans! The Europeans should have persecuted The Puritans much harder. Seriously: The longest IMDB thread is about a nipple, and not the actual movie! Fuck us! Fuck us up our censored asses!
Written & Directed by Belgian filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael (this is his first English endeavor).
Starring Jared Leto (My So-Called Life, Requiem For A Dream, American Psycho, Fight Club, Panic Room, Girl Interrupted) as Nemo (adult/old).
Sarah Polley (Dawn Of The Dead, eXistenZ, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Go, Splice, 1 ep of Friday The 13th: The Series) as Elise (adult).
Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds, National Treasure, Troy) as Anna (adult).
Linh Dan Pham (Dante 01) as Jean (adult).
Rhys Ifans (Dr. Curt Conners in The Amazing Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1) as Nemo's dad.
Natasha Little (we haven't seen her stuff) as Nemo's mom.
Toby Regbo (uncredited as Young Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1) as Nemo (age 15).
Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises, Kaboom, St. Trinian's, Small Apartments, The Three Musketeers, Year One) as Anna (age 15).
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Side Effects (2013)
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clio, Jesse B, Links, Media, Movies, People, Reviews, Video | Tags: 2013, Carolyn, CatherineZeta-Jones, ChanningTatum, Clio, Diigo, drugs, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JesseB, JudeLaw, media, movies, pharmaceuticals, Pharmacia&Upjohn, PollyDraper, psychology, Reviews, RooneyMara, SideEffects, video |
Slightly creepy movie with a message about how broken our mental health & pharmaceutical systems are. But just when you think it's a political drama…. It turns out to be more of a mystery/thriller than you expect. The twists in tone made the "fucked up"-edness feel that much more sinister. Briefly confusing, with everything making sense in the end. Things do not go where you'd expect; I was actually reminded of the feeling of watching the end of Wild Things when this movie ended — everything not quite being what it seemed.
Watched this with Jesse, who seemed to enjoy it a lot, though he had some problems finding Catherine Zeta-Jones's character/acting believable.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh (The Informant!, Contagion, Erin Brockovitch, Sex, Lies, & Videotape, Ocean's 11, Solaris, Full Frontal). Soderberg is a major hit-or-miss director with us — I flat out hated several of his films, and only really liked 50% of them. But I keep coming back for more because of the better half of Soderberg films — and this was in that half.
Written by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Informant!, The Bourne Ultimatum).
Rooney Mara (Lisbeth Salander in the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movies, Youth In Revolt, The Social Network) as Emily Taylor. Clio got us all thinking this was the girl from the Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. She convinced us and everything. Nope! That would be Noomi Rapace! Duhhh!
Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Parnassus, eXisitenZ, Lemony Snicket, Gattaca, Contagion, Repo Men, Rise Of The Guardians, and many more) as Dr. Jonathan Banks, the psychiatrist.
Catherine Zeta-Jones (The Mask Of Zorro, Ocean's 11, Traffic, Rock Of Ages) as Dr. Victoria Siebert, the former psychiatrist.
Channing Tatum as Martin Taylor, the husband who was just released from jail.
Polly Draper (1 ep of The Larry Sanders Show) as Emily's Boss.
David Costabile (Gale from Breaking Bad) as Carl. Totally didn't make the connection.
Vinessa Shaw (Eyes Wide Shut) as Dierdre Banks, the wife of the psychiatrist.
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Pacific Rim (2013)
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clint, Media, Movies, People, Reviews, Video | Tags: 2013, acti, BurnGorman, Carolyn, CharlieDay, CharlieHunnam, CliftonCollinsJr., Clint, DiegoKlattenhoff, Diigo, EvanB, fantasy, GuillermoDelToro, IdrisElba, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JesseB, JsunB, MaxMartini, media, movies, PacificRim, Reviews, RinkoKikuchi, RobertKazinsky, RonPerlman, TravisBeacham, video |
Clint: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Jesse: 4/5 stars, 7/10.
Jsun: 3.6/5 stars.
Evan: 3.2/5 stars.
Watched in 3-D with Jesse, Jsun, and Evan.
I really liked it. Almost loved it. But there were generic aspects. It was good and bad at the same time. But definitely the amusement park ride I was expecting and asking for.
I mean… I barely remember there truly being a story. They fight monsters, then oh no, boss monster! So they fight 'em. And oh, they came from a portal to another dimension that just happens to exist in a crack in the sea, so that we can have fights in the ocean where there are less expensive things to CGI.
But really… It was an awesome action movie, slightly held back by cheesy dialog and formulaic tropes. A good choice to watch in 3-D, because it looks awesome, but is lacking in dimension.
Carolyn's thoughts: It was entertaining. Pretty cool action monster vs. mecha suit movie.
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: John Dies At The End (2012)
Posted by Claire CJS under Autumn S, Carolyn, Chablis O, Clio, Jesse B, John The Canadien, Links, Media, Melanie B, Movies, People, Reviews, Steve G, Video | Tags: AutumnS, Carolyn, ChablisO, ClancyBrown, Clio, DavidWong, Diigo, DonCoscarelli, ifttt, IMDB, imported, JesseB, JohnDiesAtTheEnd, JohnTheCanadien, media, MelanieB, movies, PaulGiamatti, Randy, Reviews, SteveG, videos |
Clint: 5/5 stars, 9.6/10.
(4/5 stars, 8/10 after first/too drunk viewing)
Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 10/10.
Native ratings: 4/5 stars Netflix, 6.9/10 IMDB.
Holy fuck, this is the most unique movie I've watched in awhile.
A supernatural fantasy/psychological horror/drug comedy that does not take itself too seriously. This movie is WEIRD. SO WEIRD. And kind of confusing.
The first time I watched it I drank too much leftover New Year's champagne and was a bit too out of it to fully comprehend everything, so I knew I liked it, but I couldn't really remember any of the plot points, or what the hell had just happened. I watched it again about 4 days later with John The Canadien; Autumn left in the middle of the movie, while Jesse, Melanie, Randy, Chablis, and Steve stopped by mid-movie and watched most of the rest with us. They all kinda loved it or really liked it.
It's based on a book (that Chablis had read, and Carolyn now wants to obtain).
Anyway, Paul Giamatti & Clancy Brown were welcome additions to the mostly-unknown cast. The screenplay adaptation was done by a screenwriter of Bubba Ho-Tep & the Beastmaster movies.
The movie definitely had its cheesy moments. It was pretty much on purpose. Regardless, this is NOT a movie that you can guess what is going to happen next on. It is a wild ride. It is pretty much impossible to guess where the plot is going. That makes this very charming.
Anyway… Great fucking movie! SEE IT, SEE IT, SEE IT!
Carolyn: Slightly confusing, but thoroughly enjoyable. Based on a book, which apparently people liked better than the movie. Be careful when injecting unknown drugs. They might be part of an alien infection from a parallel universe.
LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1783732/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1