Small, intimate, and beautiful are the words I could best use to describe Robert Lagranvenese's adaptation of Jason Robert Brown's stage musical. Sure, it hits a few narrative problems near the end, but the heartfelt music, and the power house performances from the film's leads, Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, almost make those snags seem completely insignificant. Watching these two characters move counter-sequentially (I may have made up a new word!) through the ups and downs of their relationship is utterly fascinating. Steven Meizler's camera floats around them, giving the film a captivating fly on wall feel that you don't normally get with movie musicals. The highest praise I feel anyone could can give to a film is the desire to want to watch again the moment it was over. And even if I didn't want to, which I did, I could at least listen to Anna Kendrick break my heart with "Still Hurting" for hours.
Grade: A-
3D: N/A
Easter Egg: No
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan
Director: Robert Lagranvenese
Writer(s): Robert Lagranvenese - Book and Lyric: Jason Robert Brown
RT: 94 min
Rating: PG-13 for sexual material, brief strong language and a drug image
Two Sentences:
What We Do in the Shadows (2014): This New Zealand made mockumentary about a group of centuries old vampires living in a flat together boasts a slew of hysterical performances, and an unbelievably strong script. The humour is fresh, the timing is perfect, and characters are a ton of fun to get to know through all of minor trials and tribulations that vampires must put up with in the modern world.
A British soldier gets left behind enemy lines in Belfast, Ireland, and ends up running from the IRA. Jack O'Connell follows up a grand performance in "Unbroken" with a captivating portrayal of a young man on the run for his life. Director Yann Demange, on his first feature film, manages to build proper tension in multiple chase scene, and isn't shy about showing the brutal impact of senseless violence. The script, by Gregory Burke (also his first feature), is sparse and visceral; leaving dialogue to a minimum to focus on a cerebral chase through the streets of Ireland. This is not a film to miss.
Grade: A
3D: N/A
Easter Egg: No
Starring: Jack O'Connell, Sam Reid, Sean Harris
Director: Yann Demange
Writer(s): Gregory Burke
RT: 99 min
Rating: R for strong violence, disturbing images, and language throughout
Two Sentences:
Against the Sun (2015): A Navy pilot, his bombardier, and his radioman get lost in the Pacific, and end up battling the elements in order to survive. The three men (Garret Dillahunt, Tom Felton, and Jake Abel) play their parts especially well, and despite a horrendous score (at one point sharks appear and some riff on the Jaws theme plays), this is a beautiful, uplifting film that tugs at the heart strings in certain scenes.
I want to start by saying that the problems I had with "Fifty Shades of Grey" do not lie within the subject matter. I am not offended by the concept of BDSM. Whatever two consenting adults do in their free time is their concern. In fact, the far superior 2002 film, "Secretary", handled this subject in an absolutely fascinating way. No, the problems stem from the monotonous script, and its horrifically wooden dialogue that emotionlessly drops from the mouths of the actors. The repetitious nature of most of it could have been used as punishment in a later scene of the film.
The two leads are bland, and hold no similarities to actual people. Aside from their sexual habits, I can't point to one quality in either of them that is remotely interesting. He's rich and knows how to fly a helicopter? She likes books? Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) displays controlling and stalkerish tendencies early on, the kind that are treated as childish and dangerous in last month's Jennifer Lopez stinker, "The Boy Next Door", which doesn't endear you to him,. Though after entering into the relationship with Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson), the controlling aspect at least makes some sense.
Steele is a self-proclaimed romantic, with no personality, who spends the entire film just trying to hash out her feelings about Grey's lifestyle. There is almost not a single line from her character that doesn't pertain to Grey. She's a college student who is only seen doing college things twice in the movie, and one involves graduating. We are forced to believe she is intelligent, but she makes one terrible decision after another. Like the terrible decision I made by sitting through this entire movie. At least it was shot well.
Grade: D
3D: N/A
Easter Egg: I left before the credits ended.
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Writer(s): Kelly Marcel - Novel: E.L. James
RT: 125 min
Rating: R for strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language
Two Sentences: Song One (2014): Anne Hathaway plays woman comes home from charity work abroad to be with her mother after her brother is hit by a car, and wind up in a relationship with his favorite artist. This is a well acted, well written indie, that packs a lot of heart and emotion into its short run time.
There is a lot about the new "SpongeBob Squarepants" movie that is worth watching. The writing is often humorous, though a little thin at times, and the story is simple, but interesting, despite some wandering to make certain elements fit. It boasts a fun voice cast, including Matt Berry from great British shows like "The IT Crowd". The single most fun thing the movie introduced was Antonio Banderas as a pirate named Burger Beard, who steals a burger formula from Mr. Krabs (SpongeBob's boss), and plunges the underwater community of Bikini Bottom into complete chaos. He is having so much fun chewing scenery, that it is almost infectious.
However, it is almost instantly forgettable. Walking out of the film you will have trouble remembering most of what you have seen. Especially since the live action/CGI scenes that all of the promotions lean on take up roughly 10 minutes of the last part of film, and all of the jokes were in the trailers. And did they really need to be superheroes? Really? The biggest problem with the film though, as with the show, and the first movie, is that its protagonist, and his best friend, are so incredibly annoying. It is truly unbearable. There are a few meta jokes that play on this thought, but they aren't enough to curb how badly you just want these two to shut up.
Grade: C
3D: It makes use in the eye-popping way, but doesn't enhance the enjoyment.
Easter Egg: Yes.
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown
Director: Paul Tibbitt
Writers: Glen Berger & Jonathan Aibel - Story: Stephen Hillenburg (also Creator) & Paul Tibbitt
RT: 93 min
Rating: PG for mild action and rude humor
Two Sentences:
The Loft (2014): 5 friends share an apartment for their extra-marital hook-ups, and find one of the women they have slept with dead, in this bland, poorly written thriller. A few excellent performances, and Nicolas Karakatsanis' excellent cinematography keep this film from completely dying from the first frame.
There are so many things that are great about The Wachowskis' newest film, "Jupiter Ascending", that it is hard to be mad about its faults. Production designer Hugh Bateup created beautiful sets, and Kym Barrett's costumes are gloriously stunning. The score, by Academy Award winner Michael Giacchino ("Up"), is operatic, and swells magnificently during the well staged action sequences that John Toll, the movie's cinematographer, has captured glamorously. He shoots Chicago so elegantly, that it will make you fall in love with the city if you aren't already. Many of the performances are even fairly top notch (especially Mila Kunis and Eddie Redmayne).
The concept and the story are even intriguing, and should have been a thrilling from start to finish; however, much of the action is broken up by what feels like hours of expository dialogue. The Wachowskis could have had a far more interesting film on their hands had they not bogged the script down with such a heavy-handed attempt at Shakespearean soap opera. They also tried to hard to build such an expansive universe in such a short amount of time. Most of the ever-widening cast of characters get so little screen time, it is hard to build up any emotion toward them, and we spend entirely too much time watching Mila Kunis falling off of buildings. This film could have either dealt with 20 less characters, or an extra 30-45 minutes.
Grade: C+
3D: It adds some depth to a few scenes, but isn't necessary.
Easter Egg: No
Starring: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean
Director: The Wachowskis
Writer(s): The Wackowskis
RT: 127 min
Rating:PG-13 for some violence, sequences of sci-fi action, some suggestive content and partial nudity
Two Sentences:
The Boy Next Door (2015): A boring, lifeless stalker drama chocked full of bland performances and hammy dialogue. All I did through the film was think of Mark Wahlberg's first starring role in the 1996 clunker, "Fear".
