The Way Way Back & The To Do List

This past Sunday, I did something I had never done before - I went to see three movies in one day. There were two reasons for this. The first is that it rained pretty much all day anyway. And the second is that I live in the middle of nowhere. If I want to see non-blockbuster movies, I have to drive 40 minutes away, first of all, and then sometimes these movies are only in theaters for a week. I already missed out on Before Midnight earlier this summer because it was only in theaters for ONE WEEK!?!?!! So, the first movie was Fruitvale Station which I already raved about. The next two movies have more in common than I initially thought. They are both funny, coming of age stories, although one is quite a bit raunchier than the other.

The Way Way Back is this sort of charming little gem of a movie. It's from writer / directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who took home an Oscar a few years ago for writing The Descendants. And while I liked The Descendants quite a bit, I sort of almost think this is a better movie. It stars Liam James as Duncan, a shy boy who goes to a beach house for the summer with his mom (Toni Collette) and her new-ish boyfriend (Steve Carrel, who is delightfully mean!). During the summer, he hates on the boyfriend, hides from his crazy, drunk neighbors (among them a hilarious Allison Janney), crushes on the older girl next door (Annasophia Robb) and begins a friendship with the local water park owner (Sam Rockwell). He grows up and comes out of his shell and gets a father figure in Rockwell's Owen.

The movie has a lot of cliched moments; it's almost generic with a sort of paint by numbers quality. Still, it also feels real. It's heartwarming and hilarious, but it could have been an even better movie had the entire thing felt as fearless as Rockwell's performance. All of the performances here are gems, from Duncan's quirky eventual co-workers at the water park to the super bratty daughter of Carrel's character, but Rockwell is best in show by a mile. He is a fast talking charmer who tells jokes by the minute. He is lovable and hilarious. And while he might get on the nerves of Maya Rudolph's character, he never gets on the audiences nerves and you are left wanting so much more of him. His character may be sort of a mess up, but in the end, he's the closest thing to a father and a friend that young Duncan has. His relationship with Duncan is the heart and soul of this movie and takes it from being just another cliched coming of age story to the sort of movie you tell your friends to go see.

While The Way Way Back is all sweet-natured, hilarious charm, The To Do List is a raunch fest in the vein of American Pie. Aubrey Plaza stars as Brandy, a high school valedictorian who graduates knowing so many facts and acing all the tests, but being completely clueless about anything and everything to do with sex and boys. So, she does what she does best. She makes a to do list of every sexual encounter she has heard about and sets out to do them all before the end of the summer. With help from her friends including Alia Shawkat, her parents (Connie Britton, Clark Gregg), and her older sister (a scene stealing Rachel Bilson), she sets out to woo every man from Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Johnny Simmons to Andy Samberg and Scott Porter.

It's refreshing and a nice change of pace to see this sort of movie have a female star. And Plaza is definitely up to the challenge of all the gross and awkward moments. She plays Brandy as an over achiever who plans to lose her virginity in much the same way she would study for a(n AP) Biology test. And this is a very, genuinely funny movie. It's also very raunchy. Like, very, very raunchy. And it's also a little on the gross side, especially a specific part in the public pool where Brandy works for the summer. I won't get into it, but it's pretty awful. For all the funniness of this movie, however, it just lacks something that American Pie had in spades: heart. Brandy is kind of a bitch. I found myself wondering why someone like Alia Shawkat's too cool for school character would even give Brandy the time of day, let alone be her friend. It's sort of hard to root for someone who makes it so hard to like them. Just when I would start to give up on this movie, however, Rachel Bilson would come on screen and say or do something hilarious, reminding me why I've loved her so from her days as Summer on The O.C. She might not be the best actress, but with the right material, she's sort of hilarious. She should be a bigger star and maybe post-The To Do List, more people will take notice.

The Way Way Back - B
The To Do List - B-

Fruitvale Station

I'm not sure how fair Fruitvale Station is as a movie. In a way, I sort of felt manipulated by it. However, any emotional manipulation that it attempts, is completely and absolutely effective. So for a movie to pack as emotional a punch as this one did, is a huge success as far as I'm concerned.

Fruitvale Station is the true story of Oscar Grant, a drug dealer who spent time in prison, also a loving son and father, who was gunned down by a police officer in the early morning hours of New Years Day 2009. The movie takes place almost entirely during his last 24 hours, with the one exception of a flashback to his prison stint a year earlier. One of the criticisms I have read of this film is that it tries to make Oscar (played to perfection by Michael B. Jordan of Friday Night Lights and The Wire fame) into some sort of angel. I couldn't agree less with this. Oscar is a deeply complex character, and, in Jordan's apt hands, becomes a flawed man we care so deeply about. Oscar is trying to clean up his act. We see him do a lot of good things during his last day, but we also see what a struggle it is for him. He's no angel. He's cheated on his girlfriend recently, he is still selling dope, jobless, angry. But he is trying to be a better man. Who knows what would have happened had he survived New Year's 2009?? Maybe he would have cleaned up his act and gotten a job and been a better man. But I think the sad truth is that it's just as likely he started selling drugs again anyway.

This is the performance of a lifetime for Jordan, who has always been so good in his previous roles. He is completely riveting, playing this very flawed, very complex character. And while this movie belongs almost entirely to him, the third act is securely on the shoulders of Melonie Diaz, who plays his long suffering girlfriend Sophina, the mother of his daughter. Most of the emotional punch in the gut comes courtesy of her performance. Then there is Octavia Spencer, who is great as well, as Oscar's stoic mother.

There are a few things that I took issue with, but they were so minor it is almost not even worth mentioning. I'm sure the filmmakers worked painstakingly to put together the series of events for his very last day. I'm sure they talked to all the people he spent time with to fill in the gaps. However, there are a few things it seems they threw into the script to make Oscar look like a better person; things that no one seemingly saw him do that day. So how do they know that he was an emotional wreck over a dog who got hit by a car? And he just so happens to meet this nice white woman whom he helps at the grocery store and then hours later she coincidentally is on the very same train car as he is when the fight breaks out that kick starts the events that lead to his death? Plus, there is the reason why the cop killed Oscar. I'm not saying it's a good excuse in the slightest, but until the postscript, it is presented more as a random act of violence than anything else. We are left wondering for a good minutes about why he did what he did until it is finally revealed in the postscript that he thought his gun was his taser. Was the way Oscar acting a good reason to be shot and killed?? No. But it wasn't a bad reason to be tased, I guess.

Fruitvale Station is far from perfect. But what it lacks in flawlessness, it more than makes up for with the emotional punch it packs. This is a movie that will haunt you long after the credits roll. The kind that will stay with you and make you rethink so much of what is happening in the world around you. We need more movies like this. The kind that stop caring about being technically perfect, and start caring about eliciting emotions. Is some of the film heavy handed? Sure. But, in the end, it barely matters.

Grade: B+

Friday Top Five: Most Anticipated of 2013

The movie year is more than halfway over. That means it's almost time to be done with these disappointing summer movies and finally get to those Oscar hopeful / prestige movies. So, this week, I will be counting down my top five most anticipated movies for the rest of the year. Just as a disclaimer, I would like to say that a few of the movies I'm very excited about are either already in theaters or opening very, very soon. (Examples: I'm planning on seeing Fruitvale Station and The Way, Way Back this weekend and The Spectacular Now, Blue Jasmine and Elysium all open in the next few weeks). So, I'm mostly going to focus on fall / early winter releases with this list:

5. Oldboy (Spike Lee)
Release Date: October 25, 2013
Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley
This is Spike Lee's remake of the super violent, super amazing Korean movie of the same name. The original Oldboy is bad ass in every way you can possibly imagine, featuring a ballsy story line and brutal violence. I'm not opposed to film makers remaking foreign films (especially when that director is Lee), because most Americans won't even give movies with subtitles a chance. Here's hoping the remake, and maybe even subsequently the subtitled original, will find a whole new audience.

4. American Hustle (David O. Russell)
Release Date: December 25, 2013
Starring: Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Robert DeNiro
Umm... look at that cast! O. Russell has been pretty flawless lately, going 2 for 2 with his last two efforts the flawless The Fighter and the sweet Silver Linings Playbook. This is the story of a conman who is forced to work with the FBI to help take down the mob. So, it pretty much sounds like everything you want out of a movie.

3. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
Release Date: October 18, 2013 (limited)
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard, Garrett Dillahunt, Quvenzhané Wallis
Besides this, McQueen has made two movies. Those two movies (Hunger, Shame) are damn good. So, the combination of McQueen and star Fassbender (who appeared in his previous efforts) is already cause for excitement. Again, look at that cast! This movie is the story of a free black man sold into slavery during pre-Civil War times.

2. Inside Llewyn Davis (Coen Brothers)
Release Date: December 6, 2013
Starring: Oscar Issac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman, Adam Driver
As far as I'm concerned, the Coen Brothers are the closest thing to flawless in the context of making movies. This is their take on the 1960s folk scene and based solely on the trailer, I think they already have the most beautifully shot film of the year (Will there be a better shot than that cat starring at himself in the window of the subway? Probably not).

1. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
Release Date: November 15, 2013
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler, Shea Whigham
This trailer was released a few months ago and it pretty much blew me away. Not only does it look like a less brutal version of American Psycho, but also it features DiCaprio dancing to Kanye West! What more could you want from a movie? Scorsese barely makes a mistake, and this cast is on point. If I made a list of my top five movies of 2013 so far, this trailer would be number 1. Looking forward to November!

Friday Top Five: Baseball Movies

Next Friday I will be MIA because I am heading up to Boston for the weekend to watch the Boston Red Sox play the New York Yankees. I'm pretty excited, which might be the biggest understatement of my life. But for this week's Top Five, I will be combining two of my favorite things - movies and baseball!

05. Fever Pitch (Farrelly Brothers, 2005)
This one is sort of just for me. I know it's not the best movie about baseball, but as a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, I can't help but absolutely love it. The premise is that teacher Ben (Jimmy Fallon) can get over his heartbreak after a sweet but failed attempt at romance with Lindsay (Drew Barrymore) simply because we, as Red Sox fans, get our heartbroken every year. Of course, this movie was filmed during the historic 2004 season where the Red Sox finally broke the curse and won the World Series after 86 years so they had to do some ending re-writes. This movie is like watching history being made again and again.

04. A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992)
As a girl who idolized her older brother who played baseball and was obsessed with baseball from a pretty early age, just imagine how much I loved this movie when it came out. Girls playing baseball!! I was probably 10 or 12 when I saw this movie so I think it had a pretty big influence on me at such an impressionable age. The whole cast is brilliant in their roles, even Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell, who aren't typically the best actresses. But if you come for Tom Hanks and his hilarious, drunken manager performance, you are going to stay for the sister rivalry between Geena Davis and Lori Petty.

03. Eight Men Out (John Sayles, 1988)
Eight Men Out is the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox who managed to win the World Series at the last minute despite promising some gamblers they would throw the series in order to make a few extra bucks. The truth is, baseball has a dark side that existed long before PED scandals and this movie completely entrances. All of the performances are absolutely fantastic. This movie stars a who's who of hot young actors from the late 80s including John Cusack, Charlie Sheen and, future Walking Dead Michael Rooker.

02. Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)
What do you get when you mix a super smart script from the best writer in the biz (Aaron Sorkin), a movie star performance from Brad Pitt, a star-making performance from Jonah Hill, and damn good directing? Well, you get Moneyball, the Oscar nominated movie from 2 years ago which is totally re-watchable and endlessly quotable. A must see!

01. Bull Durham (Ron Shelton, 1988)
Not only is this the greatest sports movie of all time, but also Kevin Costner says things like this: "Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days." Also, I am a full fledged member of the Church of Baseball.

DVD Reviews

Time to get caught up with the movies from 2013 that I missed in theaters earlier this year. Well, "missed" is a relative term, I guess.

Parker
Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez
Plot: A con man / thief done wrong by a group he went in on a job with goes after said group to get revenge.
Thoughts: This is a pretty basic Jason Statham movie. That being said, if the script had been tighter or the direction a little more aspiring, it would have been a much better, cooler movie. I watch whatever movies I can from any given year so I have a well-rounded opinion of the best and worst at the end of the year. This was quite a bit better than I was expecting.
Grade: C-

Snitch
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jon Bernthal, Susan Sarandon, Barry Pepper
Plot: A business man becomes a crusader for the DEA when his son gets arrested for drug possession. In order to get him out of prison, he must deliver a much bigger fish.
Thoughts: Listen, I don't know if it's because I miss Bernthal (Shane) on The Walking Dead, or if The Rock is sort of my guilty plesaure (I find him mind-boggingly sexy and charming), but I actually sort of enjoyed this movie. It's not good, per se, but it is, at the very least, fun.
Grade: C+

Broken City
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Kyle Chandler, Barry Pepper, James Ransone
Plot: An ex-cop turned private eye is hired by the mayor to prove his wife is cheating on him a few weeks before the re-election that he's losing.
Thoughts: The second movie in a row that I watched at home starring Barry Pepper in which he was the best thing in the cast. With all these heavy hitters in the cast (and actors I genuinely love - Chandler, Pepper, Ransone, Alona Tal), I thought that perhaps this movie fell through the cracks on my radar. How can all these people go so wrong?? (Confession: I watched this soley for James Ransone who was in it for approximately 4 minutes. Don't make the same mistake).
Grade: D+

Beautiful Creatures
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum
Plot: A witch, who has about three months before it is decided whether she will be a good witch or a bad witch, falls for a mortal before against the wishes of her cray-cray family.
Thoughts: Boy was this movie fun!! It's not good but at least it doesn't take itself as seriously as those Twilight movies. It sort of reminded me of Obsessed from a few years ago, a movie with which I was obsessed. (A character in this movie utters the line, "Stay away from my boyfriend, WITCH!"). Oh, it's so bad, it's good! But on a serious note, Ehrenreich makes the whole thing worth watching. He is going to be a star. He reminds me of a young Jack Nicholson, which his big grin and endless charm.
Grade: C+

Gangster Squad
Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte
Plot: In 1949 Los Angeles, a group of vigilante cops band together to take down mob kingpin Mickey Cohen.
Thoughts: Here is how I think this movie got such an enviable cast. Sean Penn gets the script and he reads the first five pages, right up until he says that he gets to say a line like, "I'm God so you might as well swear to me." He's pretty excited about this and fails to read the next hundred pages. Josh Brolin hears that Sean Penn signed on so he does as well. Ryan Gosling hears both Penn and Brolin are in this movie, and signs on as well. I'm convinced none of them actually read the script. This is a great role for Penn, who knocks it out of the park, but he's the only reason to watch this mess.
Grade: D+