Why is it that all the good exorcism movies are REALLY good, and the bad ones REALLY BAD? The weird mix of elements that make up exorcism movies are so distinct and unique that they can’t help but feel very weird to on first glance. This means that the ones that are good are skewed off as VERY good because they are so well calculated. You want to make a movie where all of this crazy, and hokey stuff works? Well you better make all the smart screenplay decisions that you can. For the most part that’s what Insidious does, and the effect is profoundly chilling. Director James Wan’s latest horror enterprise The Conjuring couldn’t manage to keep the logic straight unfortunately, and couldn’t be scary. Insidious manages to make all of it’s elements work. It starts out as a dark, brooding, and scary drama that actually has something scary up it’s sleeve. Namely a couple’s (Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson) son has fallen into a coma, and the emotional distress that Byrne and Wilson show is extremely palpable. Byrne especially sells her parent in distress role, and therefore sells the whole first hour of of the movie. Wilson is great too, but Byrne outshines every part of this movie. Except one scene. Insidious is a scary movie that manages to keep everything constantly on edge because Byrne is incredible, and Wan’s direction of scenes and squealing soundtrack sell every scare. That said it’s also an extremely serendipitous movie. While The Conjuring couldn’t manage to draw emotion out of it’s drab storyline and “real life” storytelling, Insidious manages to draw so much character out of it’s music and it’s colors. The film’s best scene is the introduction of the film’s headline monster which uses “Tiptoe through the Tulips” in such an inspired way that in damn near floored me. Insidious is the type of horror movie wonder that makes me sad that a franchise of ever decreasing in quality films came out of it. This original is good enough to be considered a modern classic, and hopefully it will be.
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To put it as simply as possible Cartel Land is perfect. Bottom line. It's a swift, beautifully shot, kick in the ass of a documentary that will have you gasping at the fact that it's a documentary. The film follows two upstart vigilante groups that were created to fight cartels, yet mostly focusses on one called the Autodefensas. The job of the Autodefensas is to liberate towns in Mexico from the cartels. And this is all real. This is no western film, or Akira Kurosawa creation. This is real. The cameramen are running around with this group. Running through gunfights, through meth labs, through bloody torture sessions, and the film has a narrative to back it up. It's a documentary that has a more interesting story then almost anything I have ever seen. It's more intense then almost anything I have ever seen, and that's because it's real. It's visceral, people are dying on camera, and the audience is experiencing all of it. Atrocious crimes are described, and then criminals are caught. The vigilante group changes as the power players change. This film is electrifying, intense, and all that combined with the fact that it's all real helps the film feel extremely smooth. The fact that the cinematography is so engaging helps too. This film is beautifully shot with everything looking very vibrant for a documentary, and with all the gun battles being captured perfectly. Guys I cannot think of a better documentary that I have seen other then this. Cartel Land will have you thinking for a very long time, and is so exhilaratingly rich you will not believe what you are seeing. This is the first perfect film I've seen from 2015 (the other perfect ratings were films that came out in 2014 but open in my area in 2015), and I can't recommend it enough. I give Cartel Land a 10 out of 10. PS: Cartel Land is now playing at the Tivoli in St.Louis. Reviewed by Stephen Tronicek. Did you guys ever play in the yard as if you were running through some crazy natural disaster or Godzilla like event? Cause I used to. Didn't you wonder about the excitement that would come if you were actually in a situation like that. Haven't you ever wished the monsters were there? That's what watching Cloverfield was like for me. It was taking all this thrill seeking fun I had as a child, and putting it up on a screen. It does use found footage as a crutch, but I never found this technique to be really that vomit inducing or useless. The close to the action thrills that this movie creates are incredible. I watched this movie on a screen that is barley 8 inches wide, and I was still marveling at how much of a thrill ride it was. Running through the streets with a few of your friends, getting closer and closer to the monster, and having to fight off the smaller ones. Running across collapsed parts of buildings miles high in the air. It's definitely not new stuff, but honestly the found footage kept it consistently engaging. It doesn't fight the screenplay or seem like a crutch. Director Matt Reeves (who made the excellent Rise of the Planet of the Apes) does a fantastic job with creating a scary film, and Drew Godard's (The Cabin in the Woods, and Netflix's Daredevil) screenplay builds some excellent dramatic tension. If there's one thing I could say is wrong here it's the fact that it all seem pretty minor, and the ending is a disappointment. However with all that said this is definitely a film to check out. I give Cloverfield an 8 out of 10. The reason that this is a quick review is because comedies are really hard to review. They are not really the type of movies you can analyze so I don't have a lot to say about Spy other then it's most certainly funny. So honestly I'll just explain everything good and bad about it in a list. 1. Spy gets funnier as it goes along. The first 20 minutes aren't that great, feeling stale, and honestly Melissa McCarthy isn't that funny playing a twee person that is super polite. She did it nicely in Bridesmaids, but that was a really vulgar movie (and so is this) with her character being nice... but also super foulmouthed. The whole nice person demeanor is pretty unfunny, and while Paul Feig does a lot right with this film this is most certainly not. 2. That basically ends up meaning nothing though because while that part of the film doesn't measure up fully once you get past the first 20 minutes the film is consistently the funniest film you will see all year. The energy also picks up once Rose Byrne comes into the film, and infuses it with the charisma it needs. She's really great in this, and has expert comedic timing. This is also the point whenever Melissa McCarthy starts being funny. Her comedic arch builds up to about the middle of the movie when she has to be mean, and when she get's mean she becomes one of the funniest people you will ever see. I fear I was going to choke at one point when McCarthy's character has to chew out a bodyguard. 3. The supporting cast (I've already mentioned Rose Byrne) is excellent with the standout being Jason Statham playing a parody of his usual hard edged tough guy characters. He's probably the funniest guy in the movie, and Feig's scripting for him is excellent. Jude Law doesn't stick around for long, but equips himself well in a role that is very similar to his typecast roles. 4. As a final note Feig's direction is actually flawless. It's a very pretty film with everyone looking their best, and the action is just as exhilarating as the comedy. Once you reach the ending the excitement that comes from both elements builds into a rush of excitement, and hilarity; leading to the film ending with two of the greatest punch lines I have ever seen. Spy is not perfect, but it's the funniest film you will see all year. I give Spy an 8 out of 10. Focus is a film of utter blandness that is only brought up by the charisma of it's stars, and a few scenes that are really entertaining. The rest of it is a slog. It's a film trying to be lush, lavish, and dangerous, but only comes off as boring. Even Margot Robbie can't save a movie like this, and she is from one of the best films about crime that you can ever see. But that was a grounded thrill of a film. This one just sucks, and it sucks in such a way that I can't even put my finger on where it all went wrong. Will Smith has a lot of charisma, and he brings it to the movie but the film is plotted to densely for the film to only skate along on the charisma of one or two actors. It doesn't help that the film gets even more complicated near it's end. As more people keep lying, and the story becomes more convoluted the film just becomes bogged down. There is unfortunately only one moment of this film that doesn't feel forced. It's an intense scene in a football stadium that is incredibly fun to watch. About 2 minutes later the film dropped off the map again though, so it doesn't really matter. Honestly this is just one of those bad movies that is bad because it's boring, and even if it is all filmed well and looks nice it still isn't very good. I give Focus a 4 out of 10. Fifty Shades of Grey is not a good movie, but I would be lying to you if I said it was horrible. Most of it coasts along on just being lifeless and dull, and relies on the actress at the center of the enterprise to provide the charm. This keeps the dialogue from being really boring, but overall most of the aesthetic of the film is. Dakota Johnson though is perfect. She has real talent, and frankly it has me wondering why she's in a film with such a shitty script? Then I realize that the film wouldn't be very interesting or compelling without her. Jamie Dornan's not going to be winning any awards. It is literally (or for the grammar Nazi's of the world figuratively) like an explosion of energy acting opposite of a piece of wood. Johnson is just so much better then him. Honestly I really can't talk to much about this movie because there's not a lot here. The set's are cold, the cinematography is good...but also pretty cold. I realize that since I'm a 15 year old boy some might expect me to mention the sexual content in the film, but it like every thing else in the film feels cold. I can think of multiple examples whenever I could have probably orchestrated scenes with much more effectiveness. The tone of certain scenes of the film is way off which just makes the entire thing seem even more uninteresting, and even worse cringe worthy. Sam Taylor Johnson made a good movie with her first film Nowhere Boy, and I'm actually a little sad to see that she did this. I don't really want to blame her though. I've heard the material that inspired this was bad in the first place, and here other then Johnson's performance the adaptation is just uninteresting. She's completely watchable,and one of the only reasons too. It just doesn't have any heat. I give Fifty Shades of Grey a 5 out of 10. Mad Max 2 is a really good movie because it keeps everything really simple. The characters don't go through a lot of development instead they are just really well drawn. The action scenes have simple actions going on, and there is nothing more invigorating then watching an actual car crash into an actual other wreckage. George Miller's direction is also simple going for an incredibly streamlined look that is better then most action movies today. This all helps the film because it's a really weird movie actually. The world is creative and eye-popping, but my gosh once you get Lord Humongous (yes that's his actual name) the villain in there it all should feel a little odd. But it doesn't feel that way. Instead the world is believable and entertaining to watch, and Gibson sells the charisma of the movie as Max. That's because it keeps it simple and fun, and what you're watching with the camerawork, and the humor (yes it's pretty funny), and the amazing car stunts make the entire movie. It is all a little bit shallow though. Overall though I'd give Mad Max 2 a 9.8 out of 10. It's got enough energy to run the movie through it's finish even if it's all a little shallow. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the best biopic I have ever seen. Period. It's a 152 minute epic that seems to go by in the blink of an eye, and it bothers to be more thoughtful then confusing in those minutes. What I mean by that is most films of a length like that; especially biopics; find themselves being confusing and scattershot. The Assassination of Jesse James is not. On the surface it's scenes are simply put together action, and conversation scenes that all come together to tell a story. However there's also a narrator that narrates some other details into the story. These added points allow the audience to feel a rich history behind these characters and enjoy the story even more. I hesitate now thinking on whether I should call this film a drama because in all honesty it has more in common with a really well acted, and crafted documentary. The actors are there to guide us through a dramatization of the story as the narrator keeps it on track. The reason why I find this film to be so good is because they both mesh perfectly leading to the entire production being interesting. As far as the actual movie parts of the movie go I found them really incredible. If you took the narrator out, you would not have as interesting or as thoughtful as a movie, but you'd still have a nicely shot and impressive piece of work. The reason for this comes mainly in the acting and the writing. Brad Pitt puts on what may be his best performance as Jesse James; a man conflicted with the deeds of the past and how they come back for him. Pitt has always been good in roles that required silence and emotion to be projected leading him into full form here. In the quieter talking scenes there's a menace to him as well that is perfectly captured infusing tension into every single one of them. The other cast includes greats such as Sam Rockwell, Casey Affleck, and Jeremy Renner. They are all at top form especially Affleck as Robert Ford who goes slowly from playful to grim and tortured. It's a tour de force. The western setting is also realized beautifully with the period design and cinematography mimicking the look of an old photo. This infuses the film with a sense of longing for times past that ups it's effectiveness in the long run even if after a while the uniqueness wares off. The Assassination of Jesse James is a great historical film. It's narration combined with it's more cinematic moments make it thoughtful, and easy to follow; while the cinematography and the actors to the rest. The Assassination of Jesse James gets a 9.5 out of 10. Quick Review:Maggie: Directed by Henry Hobson, Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Abigail Breslin5/9/2015 Maggie has a pace that is dead crawling. This is a slow movie. Thank god. I was able to savor every moment of this lovingly made, and impeccably acted addition to the zombie genre. I really don't have a lot to say for it because the film is exactly what I expected, but my god it's good. Of course it's dour. That can be expected from a movie about a father who has to slowly watch his daughter become a zombie, but that dourness only suffocates a little bit of the movie. The rest of it comes at you in it's full emotional force; thanks in turn to some great acting, and writing. Before I say anything else I will say that Schwarzenegger is just as good as everybody is saying. It's not a revolutionary performance, but I have to give credit to where it's due. It's a deep, and quiet performance that combined with some surprisingly effective method acting creates a pretty great character. Abigail Bresin is the same. It's also very much a quiet performance which I haven't seen before from her, and it's nice to see both of these great actors play off of each other. Also impressive is the down to earth writing. It's simple, but it works with Breslin getting sometime to be built up, and that's really cool actually. The cinematography is also on par here with it building on the mood already established. It's really beautiful. So overall this is a great film. It definitely takes it's time, and is a little bit dour. But yeah it's awesome. The actors are very impressive, and if you have any interest see it. I really think you should. I give Maggie a 9 out of 10. Sunshine is a film that even after seeing it about five times in startlingly cathartic. The entire film is a rush for all of it's runtime. The things that cause this are surprisingly simple. 1. The atmosphere. Our crew of people in this film are traveling toward the sun. The shields are the only thing protecting them from death. You feel the intensity of that throughout the whole movie. It's amazing,and while the atmosphere of the ship may seem cold the imagery is too beautiful for that to matter... at all. 2. The characters. Yes, these are in fact stock characters,but they are well written ones,and I cared enough about all of them in their dire situation. You know when you are on the edge of tears when your characters are in trouble that you care for them. Alex Garland's screenplay is more based on ideas then characters,but the characters are still written well enough for you to care. They have emotions, things that make them feel peace, interests,and most effective of all fears. 3. The ideas. Again the script is more based on these then the characters,and what helps propel the film to being just about perfect is the overarching ideas in it. The ethics of the mission, faith vs humanity. It's all here,and very interesting. 4. The visuals: The film is absolutely stunning with the main effect throughout the entire film being the sun which for some reason makes everything flow into everything else. There's something grandiose about it. Something hopeful. That said the ship is very nicely designed,and the makeup effects in the later movie are grisly and violent as hell,but just to the point they need to be. 5. The soundtrack: Almost the entire emotional pay off of the entire film is based in the soundtrack. It's masterful with lots of sad music swells that feel triumphant as well. It's a soundtrack that brings out tears. John Murphy has truly done his best work. Spoilers 6. The twist: Most people don't like it,but I love it. It brings the whole "faith vs humanity" idea to the surface of the film,and gut punches you as you realize that there is someone here killing everyone. The moment that you find out about the main villain also is played off so well that even I can't believe it. It's a chilling moment. So Sunshine oddly may be my favorite Danny Boyle film. It's intense,interesting,and best of all emotional. The best sci-fi film of the early 21 century. I give Sunshine a 10 out of 10. |
AuthorI am a 17 year old film enthusiast that is happy to be sharing my opinions on this site. Archives
March 2016
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