The Place Beyond the Pines Movie Review (2013)

The Place Beyond the Pines Movie Review

Ever since I first saw the trailers for Director's Derek Cianfrance The Place Beyond the Pines back in the beginning of the year, it has been at the top of my most anticipated of 2013 list. Granted I still have yet to see Cianfrance's 2010 critically acclaimed film, Blue Valentine all the way through (I did really like the parts of it I did see though), but with a cast like this nothing could really go wrong, and I always love me some deep dramas. And the many rave reviews this movie received after its premire at the Toronto Film Festival surely helped my excitement. But, obviously I never want to get my expectations too high, especially with many reviews claiming the film to be too ambitious, or too artsy for its own good. And while I can understand those complaints, I'm glad to say that, The Place Beyond the Pines surely did not let me down. But, as I'm sure you've heard from most critics, this is a film that is very hard review due to many of the surprises in the film, but I promise there won't be any spoilers here.


The Place Beyond the Pines centers around a few different storylines involving different characters. The first story centers around, a motorcyclist named, Luke Glanton (played by Ryan Gossling), who soon meets up with an former lover, Romina (played Eva Mendes), and finds out he has a son that she never told him about. In respond to this, Luke quites his job, as he wants to provide and be there for his son, even though Romina doesn't want him too. Luke, soon goes to a repair shop owner named, Robin (played by Ben Mendelsohn) for help in earning money, and in return, Robin (once a bank robber), offers him a partnership in hitting a few banks. Soon, we follow another story and center character in, Avery Cross (played by Bradley Cooper), who is a low rank, New York police officer, and married to, Jennifer (played by Rose Byrne) with an infant son. Avery is a cop filled with much remorse and guilt, and is facing a case that involves corrupted cops all who are within his department. From there on, there's nothing I can really say about the plot without really giving any spoilers.

The performances in this film from the entire cast are absoutely fantastic with Ryan Gossling, Bradley Cooper, and Dane DeHaan being the biggest standouts for me. Gossling is absoutely memorising as Luke Glanton, and completely becomes this character. Much like his performance in Drive, it's a very subtle and gritty performance, that is surely one of his finest to date. Bradley Cooper continues to shine in a compelling, and dramatic turn as Avery Cross. He gives this character that right amount of depth and likeabilty he needs. With Silver Linings Playbook, and now this, the guy has proven to be a great actor, and hopefully after The Hangover: Part 3, he'll continue to do more roles like this. But, without giving his role away, the actor that nearly steals the show here is, Dane DeHaan, who is surely one of my favorite up and coming actors. It's a very powerful, and memorable performance that surely might be compared to his performance in last year's Chronicle, but it's also a very different performance. This guy is for sure a young actor to look out for in the future.

The rest of the cast that includes, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Bruce Greenwood, and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, are all terrific as well, Mendes in particular. Mendes delivers her without a doubt her most dramatic, and most impressive performance of her career, and with no surprise considering they're a couple in real life, her chemistry with Gossling is real sharp. Ray Liotta as usual, plays a complete jerk, but I have no complaints because he does a great job with the role, and it was great to see him again (despite the short amount of screentime). And, Ben Mendelsohn continues to impress, and hopefully he'll continue to get more roles in the future, and Rose Byrne is probably one of the most underrated actresses right now in Hollywood, she really shines in her short amount of screentime as Cooper's wife.

Besides the performances, there are many other elements that really drive, The Place Beyond the Pines home. The emotional core behind this film is excellent, and really powerful as there are multiple times in the movie where it hit me pretty hard. Much of that includes many of the relationships between father and son throughout the movie, which obviously as a son I can releate to. Also, the score done by composer, Mike Patton is very powerful, and to me was addicting. I can see the score almost being a turnoff to some people, but I loved it. The drama thanks to screenwriters, Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder, never once felt too melodramatic, or sappy. The screenplay also throws some really strong themes throughout the film, and lots of engaging intereactions between the characters. And, while again I still haven't seen director's Cianfrance previous film, he is most certainly a director with a bright future ahead of him. During some of the intense sequences in the film, most notably a chase sequence, Cianfrance uses a bit of shaky cam, and usually I'm never a fan of shaky cam, but he really managed to make it work, and add to the scenes he uses it in. And, Cianfrance's brillant screenplay throws in a good amount of twist and turns along the way that very much threw me off, one in particular.

If, I had any complaints about this film, there's very little. The film certainly drags a little bit in spots, and there's at least one scene in the film that I felt could have been almost completely cut out as other than one turning point, it didn't add a whole lot. And, throughout there are some character motivations that really had me shaking my head, but overall those are really minor nit-picks at best.

But, even with those very few complaints, The Place Beyond the Pines is without a doubt the most complex, compelling, engaging, most well acted, and overall easily the best film I've seen yet all year. Certainly a film that could get even better on a rewatch, or just thinking about it more. And without giving it away, the way the film concludes was wholly satisfying for me, and it's tough to not be at least a little moved by it. Is it a film for everybody? No it's not, but it was for me. The Place Beyond the Pines is a brillant crime drama that will surely not be leaving my mind anytime soon, and is one of those few dramas that actually felt like a true movie experience, which is what I want when I go to the movies. I can very well see this get completely sholved come oscar season, but I pray that will not be the case, and this at least gets some recognition particuarly in directing, and the performances. A must see for film fans at least. My grade could very likely get bumped up in the future.

FINAL GRADE: A-, 9.5/10 

My Thoughts on the Nolan/Bale Justice League Rumor

Prons and Cons/My Take of the Nolan/Bale Justice League rumors

As I'm sure many of you already know that over a week ago, El Mayimbe from the website Latino Review, reported a scoop that Christopher Nolan is now in charge of the entire DC Universe, and will now be producing the Justice League movie. But, of course that's not really the shocking aspect of it, it's that Christian Bale afterall will be coming back and reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Justice League, meaning Nolan's Dark Knight universe may continue after all. Now I am very aware that none of this is official yet, as nobody from Warner Brothers or Nolan and Bale themselves, have confirmed any of this. And in all honest, none of this will probably be confirmed until Man of Steel is finally out (which will be on June 14), and the studios are able to see how it does at the B.O. However, after giving it much thought and watching El Mayimbe's video on the report, it makes a lot of since on why Warner Brothers would really aim at doing this and have Christian Bale's Batman team-up with Henry Cavill's Superman, considering the mess them and DC are in right now with this film being in development hell for years now, and it's been reported that Will Beall's script for the film was scrapped because it was so bad. But, as a die-hard fan of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, all three films, I have very mix feelings about this, and I'll list what the pros and cons are for me.

Pros

1. It's Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale
As a big fan of Nolan, say what you want about TDKR, the guy hasn't let me down yet. With The Dark Knight Trilogy, Nolan created not only the best superhero trilogy of all-time (I mean come on, is it really debatable?), but IMHO the three best superhero movies of all-time yet. He made each movie compelling basically in their own way, and made me get invested into the main hero, as well as the other characters, in a way I've never been able to before in a superhero movie even other ones that I love. So of course I would be thrilled to see Nolan take over the DC Universe as an overseer, and I can't imagine what he could do with a JL movie. And considering the mess the studio seems to be in, and they don't seem to know what they exactly want to do with this movie, they NEED someone like Nolan, if they still plan on getting this huge movie out by summer, 2015 especially with Avengers 2 and Star Wars 7 coming out at the same time.

As for Christian Bale, it's the same extact thing. For me, at least in live-action so far, no other actor that has played Bruce and Batman before, compares to what Bale did for me in the role. And that's actually get me to care not only about Batman himself, but the actual human being behind the mask, Bruce Wayne himself. Now some people would probably say that was just because of the strong writing of the character and not the actor, but I beg to disagree as I think he give both a charismatic and likeabilty side to Bruce Wayne, this is especially notable in Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight Rises (where I think he gave his best performance in the trilogy). And as Batman, he was meancing, and bad-ass. And you know what, I like that Batman gowl he had, it totally fit with the series. So to be clear, he was not only a great Batman, but an excellent Bruce Wayne, which to me is even more important if you actually want to care about what's going on. Can I see other actors in the role? Sure, I think such actors like Michael Fassbender, Karl Urban, could be great choices, but that doesn't mean I'll like them as much, or that I'll be ready for a new Batman by 2015, considering the trilogy just ended.

2. More time to spend with excellent characters.

As perfect as I felt the ending of The Dark Knight Rises concluded the trilogy, I still can't help, but be happy at the idea that TDKR might not have been the last we see of not only Bale's Bruce Wayne, but Michael Caine's Alfred and other great characters that were still alive after TDKR. One of the my favorite things about Christohper Nolan as a director, and as a screenwriter as well, is the amount of depth he gives to the majority of his characters making them so memorable in all of his movies, and how I can spend time watching the movie they're are in for hours (as long as the movie lives up the characters). So if keeping this Dark Knight universe going in a JL movie means more of Bale's Bruce Wayne, Caine's Alfred, extc, then sign me up.

3. Bale and Cavill look like the perfect duo.

Regardless of the realism of TDK trilogy, I can easily see Christian Bale and Henry Cavill fitting well together on screen. Now, regardless I haven't really seen much of Cavill's past work, expect for Immortals (I hardly remember his performance in the movie), but visually both their Batman and Superman look very similar (as you can see in the picture above) mainly the way their costumes are, and the tone for Man of Steel so far looks very dark and as realistic as a superhero like Superman can get, so I could see at least these two universes (DK & MOS) being connected with each other. And, Bale and Cavil other than the fact they're both british, seem like two actors that could really connect on screen together, which is important especially if it's a World's Finest movie. And would be interesting to see an older Bruce Wayne paired up with a younger Clark Kent.

Cons

1. How do you fit unrealistic characters like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, The Flash extc?

This is without a doubt my concern. Nolan's Dark Knight we all know was very grounded in reality in many ways, that's a huge element I loved about those movies, and how they really felt like the world we live in today. Sure, you can definitely say TDKR had its unrealistic moments (and so did the first two), but everything else surrounding the plot still had a realistic feel to me. It was easy to connect with Bruce Wayne as a character, because he actually felt like a real human being. But, if you throw in characters like an amazon princess, a guy that can talk to fish, a hero that got a ring from an alien, and a superhero that can run basically a mile within five seconds, I'm very afraid I'll lose that feeling to these movies while rewatching them knowing there's these kind of characters out there somewhere. But, obviously I still haven't seen Man of Steel yet, so hopefully if this rumor does hold out true, that will answer this question. I pray that Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, and Jonathon Nolan will be behind the screenplay for this potential movie as I don't think I'll be able to trust anyone else.

2. Where do you continue after TDKR?

Considering the fact that at the end of TDKR, we saw that both Bruce Wayne and Batman were declared dead and Bruce had retired leaving everything to Robin John Blake who we assume is basically his heir. Do you bring Bruce back from the dead AGAIN? Will Gotham ever realize that Bruce and Batman are the same considering they always come back at the same time? What happens to Blake? Kill him off, keep him as Batman of Gotham, but Bruce Batman of the whole world, or make a swift transformation into the superhero Nightwing? The latter would be my vote as it seems the most logical to me as long as they can fit it in without being too much. And also where does Selina Kyle aka Catwoman come into this? Do you just drop the character and the relationship she had started to form with Bruce at the end of Rises or do you continue that element and have Bruce return with her as well? I would again vote for the latter as I would love to see more of the character, and it seems like Hathaway is dying to reprise her role again, and if you bring back characters like Blake and Kyle, that at least gives you two established characters already to work with especially for a WF's movie. Obviously, I have tons of questions, and I know they could just treat it like a normal comic book where everything is basically forgotten about, but I would hate to see the series handle like that.

And while I love Bale's Bruce Wayne and Batman as a character, considering the fact that he had much trouble defeating Bane in TDKR, because he went on a 8 years hitaus, wouldn't he kind of stick out as a weak link compare to other superheros with super powers. I mean granted they could have him calling the shots, or being the strategist of the group, but I personally want to see Batman in all of the action. So because of this, I think JL movie would have to take place not too long or any longer than like three years after Rises, unless they somehow make him an even powerful Batman.

My Final Thoughts: As you can obviously tell from this long article, I'm very in the middle on this rumor. In many ways, it's the best thing that could possibly happen to the DC and Warner Brothers studios right now, but at the same time it could really change The Dark Knight trilogy and whether that would be in a good or really bad way obviously remains to be seen especially since this is still a rumor, something that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But, this is Christopher Nolan, and if he really has an idea of how to make it work, than I have complete faifth in him, and I really hope no one, but him, Goyer, or his brother John would be in charge of writting this movie.

But, I want to see a World Finest movie before a Justice League movie. This way we could have a movie where the main focus is on the core relationship between Batman and Superman, where there are lots of arugments and fights between them, but throughout the movie they build an obvious mutual respect and partnership with each other. And obviously throw like one or two villains into the movie. And then at the end of the movie I would have them the two of them basically recruiting members for the JL team, that includes Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, but I would wait to use for heroes like Aquaman and Martian Manhunter for a potential sequel, and instead use Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, and like I already said make JGL become Nightwing, I personally think that would be really cool to see, although 7 members might be pushing it a little bit for one JL movie, but it's an idea. With that being said, we really need to see how good Man of Steel is, because if that movie doesn't live up to the majority of peoples expectations, it will likely kill a chance for a JL movie for the next 10 years. But, I have faifth Zack Synder will hit it out of the park with MOS. I'm really excited for MOS.

If they do recast Batman though and reboot instead, my personal pick would be Michael Fassbender, as I think he's physically fit enough for Batman, definitely has the look of a Bruce Wayne, and certainly has all the acting chops required for the role.

And the Average Movies Continue

Stand Up Guys Movie Review

Now, I was personally really impressed with the trailers for Stand Up Guys. Not only did it have an interesting premise, it had three amazing actors in Al Pacino, Christohper Walkan, and Alan Arkin, which to me you really can't go wrong with. Expect for maybe Al Pacino because let's us face it he really hasn't had a good movie in over a decade, starring in films like Jack & Jill probably one of the worst films I've ever seen, and a disappointing film in Righteous Kill. So I thought this film could definitely be a step in the right direction for him, I liked the style trailers had to it, and overall I thought it could be a great blend of the Comedy and Crime genres. So it's definitely safe to say, I was really looking forward to the movie even with some of the really early negative reviews it received. But, unfortunately while Stand Up Guys certainly has its moments and some really strong performances, it's just another really forgettable sometimes dull movie that just doesn't live up to its full potential.

Stand Up Guys follows former gang member, Valentine (Al Pacino) who at the beginning of the movie is released from prison after 28 years. His friend/former gang member, Doc (Christopher Walkan) has been hired or assigned to by mob leader, Claphands (Mark Margolis) to kill Valentine by 10:00 AM the following day Valentine is released. So Doc and Valentine reunite after Doc picks him up from prison, but for a while Valentine is aware of what Doc has been assigned to do. They soon meet up with another former gang member, Richard (Alan Arkin), and from there on they try to spend the whole entire doing a bunch of crazy things before Doc has to kill Valentine the following morning. I know that was probably a confusing way to sum this film's plot, it's just the best way I can come up with.

The best thing about Stand Up Guys is without a doubt the performances unsurprisingly. Without the performances in this movie you basically have nothing here. Al Pacino has always been one of my favorite actors, but like I wrote earlier he really hasn't had anything good in the last many years, but I'm glad to say that he delivers a really good performance in this movie and even with the weak material he's given, he's definitely fun to watch and still proves that he definitely still has some charisma and screen presence. Christopher Walkan is Christohper Walkan, and I definitely have no problems with that, he still has all the charisma that he always does, and just the way he delivers all his dialogue in any movie he's in still kills me. And Al Pacino and Christohper Walkan have some really sharp chemistry, and definitely play off each other well. Alan Arkin however was extremely underused in this film which really disappointed me because I love Alan Arkin, and when he's there he's really good, and probably steals the scenes he does have, but he's really in the movie for like ten minutes and that's it. So if you want to see this movie just for Alan Arkin, my suggestion is don't bother, because you'll be disappointed. Now are these performances oscar worthy and will be known as some of these actors best performances in their careers? Definitely not, but it works for the movie. And everyone else in the cast is fine, but really the movie is just about Pacino, Walkan, and Arkin for when he's actually on screen. 

Another thing I did really like about this movie was the score by composer Lyle Workman, I actually thought it was pretty awesome, sounded nice, and really fit well with the movie. And like I already wrote, the chemistry between the actors is sharp and they all play off each other well. And there's also a pretty cool shootout scene at the end that sadly only lasts for like 30 seconds which kind of pissed me off to be honest. But, unfortunately that's kind of it for the positives. 

The biggest problem with this movie is pretty much the same extact problem that any movie I've seen this year so far have had: the script. The script for this movie just feels so dull, at times forced, and just doesn't put these three amazing actors into great use. Other than a few chuckles here and there, the comedy in this movie falls completely flat, and unlike the audience I saw it with, I hardly ever laughed. The jokes just felt forced, and cheap espeically when you're dealing with three of probably some of the best actors of all-time and you can't even give them some solid comedy to work with. The attempt at comedy in this movie is so dull that I got way more laughs out of much gritter mobster movies like Goodfellas and The Departed. And that's another problem with this movie, it's a very dialogue filled movie, which I'm find with, but the problem is the dialogue isn't all that interesting, and not even very sharp. And at times the script just feels really repetitive, with the characters just repeating the same extact thing the entire night, and doing the same thing over and over again. I know that's probably the joke of the movie, and it's not a huge nit-pick, it just got on my nerves a few times. There are some attempts at character moments thankfully, but again they feel pretty forced, and while I did like these three characters, due to the weak material I just didn't care about what was going on. And a lot of that is just due to the fact that this story just isn't all that interesting, and it just feels very dull and at times almost lifeless. 

The director of the movie is Fisher Stevens, and this is basically I think like the first feature film he's directed. And overall, I definitely don't think he did a bad job directing the movie, I just thought the direction was pretty standard and nothing much to it. But, if I had to really complain there is one particular scene that involves Pacino, Walkan, and Arkin in one single car, and that scene drove me nuts because the camera was basically shaking the entire time for no reason really. And I thought the pacing for this movie was just sloppy, and even with a length of 94 minutes, it felt like about two hours. And most of that is due to the movie having its share of entertaining moments, but then many moments that were just downright boring, and I even doze off for a few mintues in one scene. And finally, right when the film was about to set itself for a potentially solid ending after a cool setup to it, the film just ends really abruptly, and I just asked myself "what was the point of that?".

Overall, I know it sounds like I'm really hating on this movie, but I really don't hate it at all, I just thought it was a bit of a letdown, and could have been so much better than it actually was. It definitely has it's good moments and the performances by the three lead performances are nothing short of solid, but the film itself is letdown by a dull script, comedy that just falls flat most of the time, lack of character development, poor pacing, an interesting plot that is poorly executed, and some really boring moments. It's definitely not a BAD movie, but it's not really a good one either even with some really good moments. Unfortunately all of those flaws leave me to just giving this movie a recommendation of a solid rental. It's somewhat enjoyable while watching it, but by the next day you'll just forget about the movie. Really not a great start to the year of 2013 movies, luckily we still have many months to go. I'll give this 2.5/5!

FINAL LETTER GRADE: C+ (and the more I think about this film the grade can very well change)  

Parker Movie Review

Parker Movie Review

Every year Hollywood in January gives us at least one action movie that is as standard and generic as anymovie can get. Sometimes they can be good or really bad. Back, in 2011 we got The Mechanic with Jason Statham, which was one of the most uncomfortable action movies I've ever seen, and just an all around terrible film. Then last year, we had Contraband with Mark Wahlberg, and sue me for saying this because I know a lot of people really didn't like that film, but I really enjoyed Contraband. Yes it had a plot that has been done to death, but it delivered good action scenes and there was just something that made it so enjoyable. Now, in 2013 we have Parker another movie that uses a plot we've seen so many times before, and is yet again another action thriller starring Jason Statham. Now, I'm personally a fan of Jason Statham, in fact he's definitely one of my favorite action stars out there. He does play the same character in the same movie a lot, but I think he has much screen presence and charisma on screen. And, I'm one of the few people that liked the trailers for this movie, and despite the poor reviews this movie was receiving I went into it with some hopeful expectations.  But, oh boy was that a mistake. Parker is yet again another movie that has January written all over it: bad script, waste of talented cast, generic plot that has been done to death before, and many dull moments. There is some fun to have with the film, but there's so many flaws.

Parker follows the title character, skilled thief Parker (played by Jason Statham) who says he doesn't steal from the poor or hurt innocent people. In the opening of the film, after a heist he's doubled crossed by his own crew, lead by Melander (played by the underrated Michael Chiklis), by being shot and left for dead. He survives, and follows them to Palm Beach, Flordia, and swears to get revenge on them. Meanwhile, Parker pretends to be a man named, Daniel Palmer, and enlists help from a real estate agent, Leslie Rodgers (played by Jennifer Lopez), who helps him find out what other plans the crew members have. And from there on, Parker is just a typical and routine action film.

I'll get the good stuff out of the way first. Jason Statham is playing his usual characters that he's known to play, but he does it really well and as I already said before he has lots of charisma and screen presence especially during action scenes. His character is definitely not all that likeable, but Statham does make him a little more likeable than he really is. He's given a lot of weak material to work with, but he does the best with what he's given. There are some action scenes in this movie that really work and while they're nothing special, they are enjoyable for the most part. The best action scene in the movie involves Statham and a sniper in a hotel room, that's all I'll say. I really did like the opening scene for this movie, I thought it was a great way to start of the film, even though I had basically already seen the opening in the trailers and tv spots. But, unfortunately those are really the only positives I can come up with this movie. 

Parker is overall just a mess especially the more I think about it. The movie features a really solid cast overall, but honestly other than Jason Statham, the performances in this movie are really just mediocre. Granted, I don't really blame the actors, they're given a weak script to work with. Jennifer Lopez who I actually overall do like as an actress, I really liked her in Out of Sight (well both physically and acting wise), and An Unfinished Life (underrated movie by the way), gives a really bland performance in this movie. Her character is really poorly written, and her and Statham really don't have much chemistry together. Really, Lopez is just in this movie to give eye candy to the male audience which I'm totally fine with, and at 40 something years old she definitely still delivers that so that's one plus I can say. Definitely one of the biggest reasons I was somewhat looking forward to this film was to see Michael Chiklis as basically the main antagonist of the movie, because I've always really liked him as an actor and think he's really underrated. I never really watch The Shield that much, but I do like him in anything I have seen him in. Chiklis is unfortunately though completely wasted in this movie, and plays one of the most one-note and over the top villains I've seen in a long time. Throughout the entire movie, he's nothing more than just angry, and honestly he never really came off as meancing. I was really disappointed in his performance, but again I blame the writting not the actor. Nick Nolte is just playing Nick Nolte, which I'm definitely fine with, but he's really underused as well and about midway through the movie his character is like compltely forgetten and never brought up again. So basically you could put anyone in that role, and you'll still get the same result, but of course they choosed a legendary actor to play a useless character. And everyother performance in the movie I won't bother bringing up because they're seriously not worth talking about. 

The script for this film is really all over the place. It is just so convoluted and forced. There's lots of really bad and uninteresting dialogue in this film. And any attempt at any humor falls compltely flat. The relationship and bond that forms between Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez really brings the film down, and I never really felt any connection between them. The whole sub plot just felt forced, and it just slows down the movie particuarly in the middle act of the film, where I feel like there's literally almost no action. And that's another big problem with this movie, the pacing is so off, and the movie just drags on and on. It's basically 2 hours long, but it feels even longer, and much of that is just due to how weak the story with Jennifer Lopez character is. There's also lots of characters in this film that feel completely unnecessary and add absoutely nothing to the overall movie. And once those characters are out of the film you're asking yourself "WTF were they in this movie." And the film just feels very dull, and bland. I mean there are some attempt at character moments in this movie which I do like, but any of those attempts really just fell flat for me. There's also this sub plot that involves Statham, and his girlfriend (very hot by the way), which didn't really bother me, but there is this one scene in the movie where it felt like they were seriously trying to throw this love triangle into the film, which annoyed the crap out of me, but thankfully they didn't take it that way that's all I'll say. And really the film is just so predictable, and just such a generic revenge action thriller. You can predict absoutely every plot element in this film, and the film just brings nothing new to the genre. There was just one scene in this movie that kept me off guard, and it was the only scene I felt any kind of threat to Jason Statham's character. And with all of the problems this movie has and how flat it is, I really can't believe this film was actually directed by Taylor Hackford, the guy that directed Ray with Jamie Foxx. You would think with that kind of director behind it, the movie would attempt to bring something new and not just pile on cliches after cliches, but it doesn't do that, it felt like Hackford and the whole cast didn't give a crap about this movie at all and they were just doing it for the paycheck. And, after seeing the movie I can't blame them because this is a mediocre movie at best. And the climax in the movie just felt a bit cheap, and rushed. The direction in this movie wasn't terrible, I mean thankfully Hackford doesn't overuse any shaky cam during the action scenes, but it's nothing special either. 

Overall, while Parker definitely has its entertaining moments, in the end the film is just a mess, and is just yet again another mediocre January movie. It's got some really cool action scenes, but the film itself is brought down by a bland script, characters that have no purpose to the movie, mediocre performances from good actors, a tedious second act, generic villains and motivations, a rushed climax, and a contrived and convoluted plot. It's not a terrible film, it's definitely better than like The Mechanic thankfully, but it's not a good movie either. In all honestly, it's probably my least favorite movie I've seen so far this year, I think I might even like it slightly less than Broken City. I definitely would skip this one, I really don't think it's worth spending money on, just wait for the rental unless you're a really big Jason Statham fan. I'm glad there's still a lot of good movies out there, because this weekened didn't give us really any good releases. I mean I haven't seen Movie 43 yet, but that's getting some of the worst reviews a movie can possibly get, so I'll probably just wait to rent that one. This film was a bit of a disappointment, and I'll give it an unfortunate 2/5. What a trend of mediocre movies, these last few weeks have been. 

FINAL LETTER GRADE: C-, 4.5/10. 

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters Movie Review

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Movie Review

Hansel & Gretel is a continuation of the classic Hansel & Gretel fairy tale we are all pretty familar with, and takes a really dark/twisted turn with it. And boy does it. When I saw the trailers for this movie, I had very mix feelings about it. The trailers visually looked to be cool and nice to look at, but while I do like the idea of putting a twist on classic fairy tales, it is starting to get a little tiring now, and we already saw two Snow White movies last year. One which was solid (Snow White and the Huntsman), and the other was just plain terrible (*cough* Mirror, Mirror). And of course pretty soon, we will soon be getting Jack the Giant Killer, another one I'm just not looking forward to. However, despite how silly the plot and CGI looked, I'll definitely see anything with Jeremey Renner. But, the fact that this film was getting a January release was not a good sign especially since it can easily be a summer blockbuster movie. And just like the trailers suggested this is definitely a January movie once again with a lackluster script, cliches, a bland story, and just overrall a pretty average film. But, like Broken City, there is some fun to be have with it thankfully.

After, they're abandoned by their mother and father, Hansel (played by Jeremy Renner), and Gretel (played by Gemma Arterton, the hot princess from Prince of Persia, and Clash of the Titans) find a gingerbread house where they come across an evil witch who nearly eats them to pieces, but somehow they outsmart her and end up burning her alive by throwing her into an oven. Years later, Hansel and Gretel are now witch hunters and are famous for all of their accomplishments. They're hired by the mayor of the town, Augsburg (a town in Germany) to find and kill the witch, Muriel (played by Famke Janssen) who has kidnapped several children from the town and are set to also rescure the children before Muriel burns every single one of them. And from there on, we have a mixed bag movie to say the least.

The performances in this film from the cast are certainly nothing special, but they're nothing bad either. Jeremy Renner, even when you place him into a mediocre movie, never gives a bad performance, and that's definitely no different here. He brings lots of needed charisma, and screen presence to the character of Hansel, and does a really solid job in the action scenes. It's by no means another powerhouse performance from him, but with the material he's given, it's a decent performance for sure. Gemma Arterton, who's amazingly hot by the way, thankfully holds her own for the most part acting wise beside Jeremy Renner, and the two do share some solid on-screen chemistry together. However, Famke Janssen who I have always liked as an actress, gives a very average performance in this movie. She plays the main antagonist, and there's some moments where her performance works, but then there are other moments where she just comes off as really goofy, and honestly not meancing at all. I would definitely say she's a bit too over the top in a lot of scenes, but then again that totally fits this movie which I'm fine with, but the moments where she's suppose to be scary or meancing, I didn't find her to be at all. I definitely prefer her as Xenia in the James Bond movie, Goldeneye. But, to be fair she's given a really cliched and weak villain to play. And everyone else in the movie, are not really worth talking about because they're really just mediocre. 

The film's directed by Tommy Wirkola, and this is really the first big movie he's made here in America, and I could definitely tell that by watching this movie. That's not to say he does a bad job directing this film, because I really love the look and feel he gives this movie, and the visuals are probably the strongest element the movie has going for it. But, honestly when it came to action scenes, I thought the direction in them was pretty terrible with some really poor shaky cam that honestly made me dizzy. And I hardly ever get dizzy in a movie, even with terrible shaky cam. I definitely wasn't bored with all of the action scenes, I just didn't like the direction in them, and Wirkola just needs to know how to keep the camera still. 

This movie is extremely over the top, and just beyond silly and ridiclous. And I completely understand that was likely what they were going for, which I'm fine with, but my big problem with this movie is the comedy and horror elements to it. Neither of them honestly worked for me, I hardly laughed at any of the attempt of humor, and even with the insane amout of blood in this movie, I never once felt scared, or creeped out by anything that was going on in this film. I thought a lot of the CGI and effects were beyond goofy, and it was honestly hard for me to take a lot of this seriously. Which leads me to another problem with this movie: the unbalance tone. At one point, this film was basically a comedy, and than another moment, it would just become so deadly serious, and just a really hard film to get into. The script by Tommy Wirkola and Dante Harper is very poorly written. It's filled with really poor dialogue (including poor attempt at humor), cliches we've seen in films exactly like this, and so many predictable moments. This movie is supposedly a twist on the classic fairy tale that we know, and while in some ways it is particularly with the blood, you can still predict everything that's coming, and there's absoutely no surprises unless you consider blood popping up at the screen to be great surprises. There's also this romantic sup-plot with Hansel and this woman, which you know exactly where that's going, and by the time the film ends, it felt like there was almost no point to that story. I will say though there is one nice nudity scene involving that woman who is hot, that guys like me will definitely enjoy. It's definitely something that you're not used to seeing in fairy tale movies. 

But even with all of those complaints, the film isn't terrible. There are definitely entertaining moments to it. Like I wrote before, the visuals minus the CGI are really solid, the two lead performances are really good, and thankfully you do really like these two main characters, the bond they have with each other and you root for them so that's definitely a plus. I really did enjoy the opening scene in this movie, thought it was really well done, and for me the opening was the only attempt at horror that worked for me, and I did find it creepy. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but the 3D for this movie was actually really good, and definitely added to some of the scenes. The 3D definitely caught me off guard in certain scenes, and I actually think I would have like this movie less had I not seen this in 3D which I never say about a movie. So believe it or not, if you're going to see this movie, I definitely suggest you see it in 3D format. However, even if this movie is based off a old children fairy tale, definitely don't take little kids to see this film because it's insanely gory. In fact the blood in this movie was so over the top at times, that I literally said to my mom, one of the people I saw it with, that I felt like I was watching a Final Destination movie. Which could be a good thing, because despite how awful some of those movies are, they can be really creative when it comes to death scenes, but by this point it's already like "uggh I've seen that before in other movies, and I can't even say I enjoyed them in those other movies." 

Overall, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is definitely your typical January film. It's got some really enjoyable moments in it, but it's brought down by a poor script, unbalance tone, mediocre acting minus the two leads, bad shaky cam, some really dull moments, and just some really goofy CGI. Again it's really not a terrible movie, it's definitely enjoyable in parts, and I wouldn't really say it's 11% bad which is the rating that it has on Rotten Tomatoes, but it's just not a good movie either. But, the film is just either too over the top in one moment, or it's taking itself to seriously in another moment. I can't really suggest that you see this in theaters, I would wait for the rental, but if you were really excited for this movie which I know a lot of people were, than I definitely recommened you see this in 3D, if you see this in theaters, because I think that would be the best and most fun way to see this movie. And I would say I enjoyed this a little more than I enjoyed Broken City, even if you really can't compare the two. 2.5/5! 

FINAL LETTER GRADE: C+, 5.5/10

Silver Linings Playbook Movie Review

I'll admit this right now, this was my third time seeing this movie and the more I see it, I love it more and more. This is my favorite film that came out in 2012. Silver Linings Playbook is a masterpiece of a dramedy or whatever you want to call it. It's perfection from the writting, characters, story telling, direction by David O. Russell, and of course the amazing performances by the entire cast. It's one of the most unique, wonderful, and beautiful movies I've seen in recent years, and I can go on and on about it for hours.

Silver Linings Playbook centers around Pat Jr. (played by Bradley Cooper), who in the opening scene of the movie is shown in a mental hospital where he has been stuck in for eight months of treatment after catching his wife Nikki (played by Brea Bee) with another man who he than give a deserving beatdown to, and since than has been diagnose with bipolar disorder. He's picked up by his mother, Dolores Solitano (played by Jacki Weaver) at the hospital and is taken back to their home in Philadelphia where he will be living with his mother, and father, Pat Sr. (played by the legendary Robert DeNiro). His father has OCD and a die-hard passion for the Philadelphia Eagles. While home, Pat is determined to get back into shape, and reunite with his wife, but has to keep away for a while due to a restraining order she has from him. Everyone around him including his family and friends just want him to move on from Nikki, but Pat is 100% sure that him and Nikki belong together and that he will win her back. However, fortunately one night at dinner at his friend's Ronnie's (played by John Oritz) house, he meets Tiffany (played by the amazing Jennifer Lawrence), a woman who just lost her husband and job a few months ago, and he realizes this woman is just as crazy if not more as he is. From there on, Pat and Tiffany create a nice bond, and Tiffany offers to help Pat get his wife back if he in returns helps her compete in a dance contest. But, of course are they going to fall for each other, and will they become more than friends? Might sound like anyother romantic comedy, but trust me it's a rom-com mix with lots of drama that you haven't seen before.

Every single performance in this movie is nothing short of perfection. Bradley Cooper hands down gives the performance of his career as Pat. He nails down all of the complex elements of this character, but at the same time gives the character much needed likeabilty and deep down you know this guy is a good hearted guy and you're rooting for him to get better and fight the issues he's going through. Thank you Academy for giving Bradley Cooper a much deserving Oscar nomination for Best Actor. I won't complain at all if he ends up winning. Robert DeNiro has always been one of my favorite actor of all-time, but lately I think we can all admit, he has been in some mediocre to crappy movies (*cough* Little Fockers), but I'm here to tell you Robert DeNiro shows why he became such a star in the first place, delivering his best and most natural performance in years. He literally almost brought me to tears in two scenes and if you've seen the movie you probably know which two scenes I'm talking about. His performance reminds me a lot of Nick Nolte's performance in 2011's Warrior which was also a great performance. Thank You Academy for also giving Mr. DeNiro a much deservsing Oscar nomination. But, despite those two amazing performances, the big scene stealer here is Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany. She is a complete knockout in this movie, every single scene she's in. Just the way she delivers her dialogue, espeically a scene that involves her and Bradley Cooper in a diner. Like Cooper, she's a very complex character, and at first for many people she'll be hard to like, but she plays it so well, and at times she's just so funny and witty that even at her most unlikeable moments, it's hard to not like her. Between Lawrence and Jessica Chastain, I can't decide which one should win Best Actress because they both give equally great performances and in different ways in my opinion. Both are definitely two of the best actresses out there right now, and I have a crush on both of them so I'm okay with either winning the award. And the chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper is absoulte perfection, and just engaging. They're so much fun to watch on screen together, they have lots of great banter, and you can just see how well these two crazy people just match so well together. You also have an excellent supporting cast in, Jacki Weaver, John Oritiz, Julia Stiles, and Dash Mihok. However the biggest surprise is, Chris Tucker as Danny, Pat's best friend from the mental hospital, who surprisngly delivers a small, but otherwise great performance. He's equally funny and heartfelt, and is one of my favorite characters in this movie. This was probably the best I've ever seen Chris Tucker. For once he's not playing a character that feels too over the top or stereotypical, he's a genuine and charming character who I honestly wouldn't have mind seeing more of. There is not one weak link in the entire cast. 

The film's directed by David O. Russell who directed The Fighter back in 2010 with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, which was a great freaking movie, but after seeing this movie I can officially say this is my favorite of his. And I can offically say, even only seeing two of his movies, he's now one of my favorite directors. Something I love so much about Russell as a director, is just how he always manages to get so many great performances from all of his actors. The Fighter was a film that worked so well due to the amazing performances from it's entire cast, most notably Christian Bale (best performance yet probably), and Melissa Leo, who both won Oscars for their roles and both were much deserved. Here, in Silver Linings Playbook it's no different. But, not only that, he gives both movies such a realistic feel to them, and you actually believe everything that's going on. Like the plot for this movie could easily go so wrong, and be just like everyother romantic comedy you've seen before, but here he creates such a powerful script and dialogue that feels really real. The converstations between all of the characters felt so natural, to the point where you almost forget you're watching a movie, and some of the dialogue these characters come up with are just so classic. It's definitely one of those movies where you don't know what the character is going to say next. And, when they finally do say it, it just left me a grin on my face. While to be honest, I was grinning like an idiot throughout this entire movie. And O. Russell gives the perfect balance of comedy, drama, and romance, without the film ever feeling unbalanced, or forced down your throat. One minute you'll most likely be nearly in tears, and the next minute, you'll be close to dying of laughter. My favorite scenes in the movie without spoilling anything takes place in a diner, and the other scene is a scene that starts out almost heartbreaking, and then when Jennifer Lawrence pops up, the scene becomes a comedy, and any tear you might have shred will be gone. Of course, the film is based off a book, by the same title, so I guess some of the credit could go to the book as well. But, David O. Russell deserved the Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay nod 100%, and I honestly hope he wins both. 

Alot of people have been complaining about the ending, and lots of things about it, and after seeing it three times, I still can't quite understand why. I think the film ends on a perfect, and unlike a lot of people, I don't think it takes away from the realistic factor at all. I think the ending also shows how well each of these characters developed more and more throughout the movie, and in the end I felt that everything in the movie was tied together in the best way possible. I pick up on more things the more I see the movie, even the smallest elements. But, I can't go too much in detail of the ending without spoilling to much. 

To keep it short, I suggest you go out and see Silver Linings Playbook, right away, and right now, if you still have yet to see it. It's hands down my favorite movie of 2012, and I'd see it for a fourth time if I could. From the acting, writting, directing, story, and everything else this movie is perfection. It's heartfelt, emotional, funny, unique, realistic, releatable, charming, almost hard to watch though at times due to how complex it can get, and in the end it's movies like Silver Linings Playbook is the reason why I go to the movies. It's got characters I can easily get into, a romance that I can actually buy, and family drama I can buy. I can't say it enough that it's my favorite movie of 2012, and I honestly have no problems with it. It's paced brillantly, acted brilliantly, and it is sure a classic in the makings. It deserves all eight of the Oscar nominations it received especially all 4 of the acting nominations which hasn't happened to a movie in years, and I would love to see this movie win Best Picture, and if by some miracle that happens, I would send a big thank you note or never say anything bad about the Academy Awards again in the future. But, they'll be safe and predictable, by giving the BP nod to undeserving Lincoln :(. Again, I can go on and on about this movie, but you just need to go out and see it if you haven't yet, that's my obvious answer to you. 5/5!

FINAL RATING: A (that's my highest letter grade), 10/10

       

Broken City Movie Review

Believe it or not, I was one of the few people somewhat looking forward to Broken City. It had a very talented cast, including Russell Crowe in a villain type role, and a interesting plot even if it's not one we haven't seen before. And the trailer looked really cool and suspenseful. So to me it had all of the potential for a great or at least a good thriller, the only negative aspect was the January release, which we all know can be a bad sign, but hollywood I feel has put out better movies in January in the last two years. So does Broken City live up to its full potential and better than your average January movies? Eh no. Is it a terrible movie? Definitely not, but it is exactly your typical January movie: Cliched, generic, and very poor scripted. You can predict the freaking ending from the trailers. But there are some pluses to it.

For one, the performances here are all really solid for the most part and they all really fit their roles. Russell Crowe is a lot of fun as the shady Mayor of NYC, and does a decent job in my opinion with the New York accent. It's a different role than he usually plays, you can definitely tell he's having fun playing the character, and he's overall probably the best thing about the movie. Unfortunately his character just isn't all that well written which definitely fits this entire movie. Mark Wahlberg definitely gives a decent performance with weak material he's given, and he definitely fits the role well, but it's basically the same role he's always playing. I really like the supporting cast that includes Jeffrey Wright, Kyle Chandler, and Barry Pepper, they all give good performances, and some even bring some decent comic relief. Catherine Zeta-Jones on the other hand is completely wasted and her role almost feels like a cameo which is a shame because the trailers make it seem like she has a huge part in the movie, but watching the film it doesn't seem like that at all. I mean she plays overall an important part to the story, but she's so underdeveloped and she has probably like four scenes total and her scenes don't even seem like three minutes. It almost felt like she didn't even need to be in this movie, her only purpose was to look good, which as a guy I can admit she definitely does look good, but you can really put any talented, and attractive actress in that role. And everyone else in the movie they do an okay job, but none of them are worth talking about.

As for other positives I can give this movie is that it is well directed for the most part. Director Allen Hughes definitely gives the movie a nice look and feel to it, it's well shot and I love all the setting they use for New York City. They're are some decent action scenes here and there which really surprised me, and there's a fun chase sequence towards the middle act of the movie. And for the most part I was never really bored with this movie like I wasn't sitting there like "oh my god this is soooo boring, I want to leave." So it had entertaining factors to it for sure. But, yeah that's about it for positives.

This really could have been a good movie, it really could have been, there's lots of potential in this movie. But the script for this movie is just so poorly written, everything about it just falls so flat and it's so one note. And some of the dialogue in this movie is just so laughable, and what makes it even worse is the movie tries to make it seem so clever, but it's not and most of the attempt of humor just falls flat and doesn't work. And the trailers make it seem like the movie is going to be full of twist and turns, which I'm all for, and you would think with this cast behind it, you'll get a suspenseful edgy type thriller. But, it's not like that at all, everything's predictable, you've seen this before in other movies, and it all feels generic. I honestly think this movie felt really safe, and not edgy enough, like everything was too simple, and I was never asking myself questions because I knew exactly how everything was going to turn out. There's also some subplots in the movie that feel completely useless. Like there's this relationship between Mark Wahlberg and his girlfriend and how she's an actress and is getting her first big role, and this story honestly goes absoutely no where. I was constantly asking myself why was the girlfriend in the movie like what purprose does she and her lazy storyline have to do with the overall movie. It's 15 mintues of screentime basically that could have been given to more intereactions between Crowe and Wahlberg, and more development to Zeta Jones's character. She was good looking that's the one plus I'll give that storyline. There's also another storyline between Wahlberg and his good looking female assistant, which also goes nowhere. And the pacing for this movie is a bit off, like I was actually really enjoying the first half of this movie because it was moving along really well, and very interesting, but than it completely loses steam in the second act where it becomes even more generic than it already was which really disappointed me. And what also really disappointed me about this movie was the way it concluded which felt so anti-climatic especially right after it had a good build-up to it. The movie just ends, and the ending just felt so cheap. Like that's it? Exactly what I was thinking after it ended. Goes back to what I was saying on how the movie wasn't edgy or suspenseful enough.

So all in all, Broken City is a very disappointing movie. It's not awful, or terrible I'd say, but it doesn't deliver any of the potential that it has to be a great thriller considering the talented cast behind it. It's definitely your typical January movie that is cliched, generic, and just very forgettable and average. By a few weeks from now, I can assure you no one will remember this movie. It's entertaining for the most part, but the script is so poorly written, the characters are all one-note, everything is predictable, and a lot of the actors in this movie aren't used to their full potential. Heck even Russell Crowe, is underdeveloped as the antagonist of this movie, and it feels like there's like a 20-25 mintue at least portion in the movie where he doesn't show up at all. Again it's not a terrible movie, but it's really not a good one either. If you're a fan of the cast maybe check out the matinee, but I think this movie will work best as a rental for sure. Welcome back mediocre January movies. I'll give Broken City a C+ (2.5/5)!

FINAL RATING: C+, 5/10