Don Jon / Rush

Earlier this year, I saw a movie called The Internship, which was a pretty ridiculous comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. It wasn't a good movie but it was funny and charming and I gave it a B-. Now I'm not trying to say The Internship was a better movie than Don Jon or Rush, but their grades are about to equal or less than B-. Why? Did it have to do with the fact that I saw The Internship in the middle of a pretty disappointing summer where the stakes weren't as high? Or is it just because I've been looking forward to Don Jon and Rush and found them both sort of disappointing? Whereas, I had no expectations of The Internship other than for it to make me laugh, which it did? Who knows. Maybe I'm just getting meaner as the year goes on.

Don Jon is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut. He also wrote it and stars in it as Jon, a New Jersey bartender who sleeps with a different hot girl every week but would prefer watching hardcore porn to all the sex he is having. Then he meets a hard 10 named Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), who turns his world upside down. She's pretty much the perfect woman to him, although he still would rather watch porn, which, of course, causes major problems with their relationship. Don Jon is deftly directed by Gordon-Levitt, who is confident in his characters and story telling and does a really great job directing this movie. It didn't bother me that the movie was super raunchy (although it did bother the 80 year old woman who, I guess, came to see Robin and Black Widow in a love story and walked out after 15 minutes). The performances here are all top notch, with best in show going to Johansson and her hysterically spot on New Jersey accent and mannerisms and Tony Danza, who all but steals the movie away from every one else. The great thing about the movie is how it steers clear of cliches every step of the way. I didn't see the ending coming a mile away, which is a nice change of pace, but it also felt very organic and realistic. Still, Don Jon seems sort of self-absorbed. The repetition of scenes (we see the same thing over and over again) gets exhausting, and there isn't a single likable character in the entire movie. The worst thing I can say about this movie is that despite its 90s minute running time, it feels twice that long. Bad pacing will kill a movie every time. This isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. Parts of it are actually pretty funny and the performances are all around great. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I was certainly a tad disappointed with the final product.

Where Don Jon tries to be sexy and almost entirely fails, feeling sleazy instead, Rush is very sexy. I never thought I would use the words Ron Howard and sexy in the same paragraph, but there it is. Rush is the true story of Formula 1 race car drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) and their 1976 rivalry. Hunt is a gorgeous, carefree, charismatic Brit who loves to drink and womanize and drive cars really fast. Lauda is the straight-laced Austrian who attacks racing from an intellectual space and knows there's a 20% chance he might die on any given race day. He's willing to except that but not a percentage more. Like Don Jon, the performances in this movie are pretty spectacular, especially Bruhl, who is a revelation. Howard directs this movie with a dizzying excitement, with a sort of energy that makes you think he is falling in love with movies all over again. The final act of this movie is edge of your seat excitement; you couldn't take your eyes from the screen if you wanted to. That's the good news. The bad news is the first two-thirds of the film are largely dull and forgettable. Race after race. So much exposition that it's exhausting. Sure, there is all the sexiness dispersed here and there (thanks to Hemsworth and Natalie Dormer and Olivia Wilde), but mostly the first two-thirds is just boring. So, Howard has managed to make a really great ending to a movie, but not much more. It's a shame and, again, a disappointment.

Don Jon - C+
Rush - B-

Friday Top Five: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

This has been my hardest top five, so far. Sure, Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro have amazing filmographies filled with classic roles in iconic films, but I wasn't even alive when either of them were in their prime. I've grown up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I've watched his career unfold in real time, and he's built a resume of movies that are varied and solid. Plus, he is arguably the best actor of my generation (okay, maybe, Ryan Gosling, but who wants to argue??). Either way, I could have made a top five list out of the movies that didn't make my list (The Lookout, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Manic, and, my personal favorite, 10 Things I Hate About You) and been totally happy with it. His directorial debut, Don Jon, is in theaters today and I am pretty excited to check it out. But, for now, here are the top five films I came up with for my list:

05. As Joe in Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
The prosthetic make-up was a bit more confusing than intended for me, but underneath all of that, Gordon-Levitt gives a performance so confident that it's hard to ignore the make-up. As a cold, hard killer, he manages to be intense while also showing a caring side. He is funny and bad ass at the same time, sometimes within the same scene. Looper was my favorite movie last year and it has just as much to do with Gordon-Levitt's incredible performance as it does with Johnson's brilliant time travel script.
Best Quote: "So why don't you do what old man do and die?"

04. As Tom in (500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)
As the tagline says, This is not a love story, but it is a story about unrequited love and Gordon-Levitt carries this quirky film on his shoulders. He manages to be completely charming and endearing while acting in ways we know are unhealthy. His comedic timing matches his acting ability and he and co-star Zooey Deschannel have great chemistry. And what can't Joe do in this movie?? He laughs, he cries, he sings, he dances! He can do it all!
Best Quote: "I don't know how to tell you this, but... there's a Chinese family in our bathroom."

03. As Tommy in Stop-Loss (Kimberly Pierce, 2008)
This is a movie that is terribly underrated. Not nearly enough people have seen it and that's a shame. We get career best performances from Ryan Phillipe and Channing Tatum (at least until he made Magic Mike). But, it's Gordon-Levitt who steals the show as the mentally unstable soldier back from Iraq who can't quit cope with being home from war. His performance as this man who maybe needs violence in order to feel normal is flawless. His final moments on screen will break your heart.

02. As Brendan in Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005)
As the high school Sam Spade, Gordon-Levitt sets out to solve his ex-girlfriend's murder in this highly stylized film noir flick. This is Rian Johnson's directorial debut, and it is pretty much perfect. I love this movie so much that I don't even know how to describe how great it truly is. It's everything you want in a movie - it's cool as hell, the dialogue is incredible, the plot is complicated and smart, the direction is memorable, and the performances are all so great, especially Joe and his high school private eye who can't be distracted or deterred from his goal. Brick is a fantastic movie and one you definitely must see if you haven't already.
Best Quote: All of them??? But how about: "Maybe I'll just sit here and bleed at you."

01. As Neil in Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki, 2004)
This is not an easy film to watch. It's about child abuse and the way it formed the lives of two very different boys, who grew up to be two very different young men. Gordon-Levitt's performance is something sad and beautiful. He totally inhabits the cockiness of youth, the swagger of thinking you will live forever. But deep down, there is so much anger and pain. Gordon-Levitt and the other lead, Brady Corbet, give about the best performances that two people can give.
Best Quote: " I met Wendy Peterson when I was ten. She was eleven, one grade ahead of me in school. If I wasn't queer we would have ended up having sloppy teenage sex and getting pregnant, contributing more fucked-up unwanted kids to society. But instead, she became my soul-mate. And... one true partner in crime."

The Spectacular Now

Remember when high school movies used to be meaningful? You would to connect with every richly developed character and the movie would effect you in a way that would meaning something to you for the rest of your life. The movies were funny, romantic, and also a little sad. They didn't trivialize the emotions of teenagers because they were young. The teenagers in these movies had actual, real problems and they persevered because of that or in spite of it. John Hughes more or less made an art form out of making movies like this and when you talk about the greatest high school movies of all time, you can't not mention him. His films are very 1980's but also feel timeless. Then something shifted and high school movies turned into a joke - an endless parade of raunchy jokes and oh-so-much alcohol. But lately I think the tide is turning again. Last year, The Perks of Being a Wallflower was one of my favorite movies of the year. It even made my year end Top Ten list against some pretty heavy competition. This year, you've got The Spectacular Now, a movie that is just as great as it's title. And while it features all the cliches you have come to know and love from tired genre movies (cute boy falls for not-so-pretty-until-you-really-look-at-her girl, the prom, graduation), it never feels recycled. It always feels fresh and daring.

Miles Teller stars as Sutter, the most popular boy in school. But here's the rub - he's popular because, wait for it, he's nice. He's nice to everyone. He is quite possibly the most likable boy in school. He has the biggest heart and is just as likely to talk to the school jock about sports as he is to talk to the school nerd about anime books. Of course, he has his demons, mainly the fact that he is almost always drinking. When his super popular, life of the party girlfriend (Brie Larson) breaks up with him, he goes into a downward spiral which leaves him passed out and hungover on a lawn where he's found by Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a shy girl he goes to school with. She is sweet and helpful to him. The transformation of the not-so-pretty girl into the pretty girl isn't physical here. Aimee is already beautiful (Sutter even tells her this because she doesn't know it herself). Unlike every other high school movie, her transformation is purely mental. Sutter gives her something no one else can - self confidence. At first, Sutter doesn't have the best of intentions. He hangs out with Aimee for selfish reasons - maybe she can help him with math, which he's failing, maybe he can make his ex jealous. But he begins to fall for her, although at a way slower pace than the way she falls for him, which is head over heels and fast.

The Spectacular Now has a great script and the performances feel raw and real. Everyone is talking about how this is Woodley's breakthrough performance and I agree. She is truly a revelation. However, more people should be talking about Teller, who, for me, is truly the star. He makes Sutter so damn likable that even when you question his motives (which is pretty often, actually), you never stop rooting for him to make the right decisions and clean up his act. He has so much charm, so much charisma and his chemistry with Woodley just oozes off of the screen. It feels less like a movie than a snap shot into the lives of these kids and their struggles. Aimee is supporting her family and trying to stand up to her mom so she can go away to college. Sutter has a bag load of daddy issues from his father abandoning him. They find each other in a way that feels real. I'm not sure I see this movie as a romance movie. To me their relationship is failing right from the start. But it is romantic if you think about it in terms of how they change each other's lives for the better. The movie ends enigmatically, not really knowing what happens for this couple, but either way, this is the first kind of love, the good kind that may hurt a little at the time but stays with your forever, shaping who you are as a person.

Of course, the movie isn't perfect. About two-thirds of the way through, Kyle Chandler shows up like a tornado. He steals the goddamn movie away from everyone with his deadbeat dad (miles away from his unforgettable turn as Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights). You can immediately tell where Sutter gets his charisma because Chandler, as his dad, charms every person he meets in the movie, and the audience. And he's a terribly unlikable character, but, my Lord, if you don't want to know more about him, if you don't want to follow his character to the depths of the earth. His performance is so powerful that I'm sure it will stay so fresh and vivid in my mind for months to come. The problem is, that after he's gone, it's sort of like all the air gets sucked out of the movie. From that point on, the movie relies too heavily on melodrama and never fully recovers its footing. Still, two-thirds of a damn near perfect movie is still a pretty great accomplishment, and a feeble third act can't stop me from recommending this movie so very strongly. Go see it now. It's one of the years best.

Grade: B+

Prisoners

Prisoners has been getting great word of mouth. A friend of mine even claimed it was the best movie he'd seen all year. And although I don't take much stock in what critics say; they seemed to adore it as well. I thought the movie looked great but I ended up being a tad disappointed by it. It's not that it's a bad movie. It's just that it's a pretty mediocre one, elevated by truly great performances by everyone in the cast.

Prisoners is basically about two young girls who disappear from their neighborhood on Thanksgiving day and the grief their families experience, and the lengths some of them will go to to exact revenge. Hugh Jackman plays Keller, the father of one of the girls, who is a Christian survivalist who always hopes for the best but plans for the worst. Somehow, the movie doesn't make a big enough deal about his Christianity, because I think the things he does in this movie are a little more interesting when you consider that he is a devout man. His wife is Maria Bello, who mostly gets resigned to grief stricken mother who can't get out of bed. But, you know what? She nails it. Their friends from down the street whose daughter also goes missing are the peaceful and sweet Terrence Howard and his tough as nails, turn a blind eye wife played by Viola Davis. Once the girls are missing, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) shows up and begins to investigate. His investigation quickly leads to a mentally stunted strange young man named Alex (Paul Dano), who they quickly arrest but must let go because of lack of evidence. And while Loki continues his investigation which leads him all over the damn city, Keller hones in on Alex, convinced of his guilt. He stakes out the home he shares with his aunt (Melissa Leo), and eventually kidnaps him and holds him prisoner, where in he decides to torture him until he talks. Meanwhile, the audience is assured of his innocence with every passing moment. This movie is designed less as a whodunit, than it is more a revenge thriller, and I think the paradox of trying to please both of those genres sort of strains the script, which seems manic and unrestrained. The whodunit section is interesting but overly long, leading us to one red herring after another. The revenge part is much more interesting but almost seems to take a back seat. Plus, I invented a much better and more effective ending in my head before seeing this movie, so I was pretty disappointed with the road they chose to take.

Speaking of the ending, I won't spoil anything, but it is a tad disappointing. First of all, it's fairly predictable, at least to anyone who has ever seen an episode of Criminal Minds or Law and Order. Second of all, this two and a half hour movie is over long by at least forty minutes. There is one story line especially which irks me. It serves almost no purpose except to throw the audience off the trail one last time. It's very confusing and more or less is unnecessary. It could have been cut completely or at least scaled down a great deal. This could have easily cut thirty minutes from the running time. I love a good long movie, but this movie definitely felt like it was two plus hours long. Good long movies never feel like they are overly long. I keep comparing this movie to Zodiac in my mind (same star, both whodunits), which is a great long movie. It's about three hours long, but it never feels like it. Zodiac is a movie that uses every single moment of its running time, it doesn't waste a second. The same can't be said for Prisoners.

All of this being said, I didn't hate this movie. In fact, I sort of liked it while watching it, except for the fact that Detective Loki, the big hot shot detective who has never lost a case, didn't really seem like a very good detective. I was picking up on things that he didn't notice until a good 45 minutes later. However, after watching it, all the flaws seemed to stick with me and that is definitely a sign for me. If I can forgive a movie its flaws, if they don't bother me the way this movie did, then the movie did something right. I think Prisoners does a lot wrong. However, it's saving grace is the cast. This cast is all so great, individually and collectively, that it easily elevates this movie to something worth talking about. Sometimes when you have a cast full of great actors and famous people, you wonder why they are all a part of the ensemble when only one or two have a really great scene. But each actor here is blessed with at least one or two really great meaty scenes that let them shine individually. They also shine as a collective unit, working off each other with ease, helping to make each other's performances better.

While all the performances are great, two particularly stand out. And, despite what the media will tell you, it's not Hugh Jackman. Yes, he is good. Yes, he is intense. Yes, this movie mostly rides on his able shoulders. But, he's also a little over the top at times. The two stand outs, for me, are Paul Dano and Jake Gyllenhaal. Dano has been one of my favorite actors for quite some time. He's terribly underrated, I think, but also the only actor on the planet who can hold his own against Daniel Day-Lewis (See: There Will Be Blood). This is his second performance where he barely says a word of dialogue but somehow manages to steal just about every scene he is a part of. (The first was Little Miss Sunshine). Then there is Jake Gyllenhaal. Long gone is the puppy-dog eyed sad, little boy from movies like Bubble Boy and October Sky. His Detective Loki is all nervous ticks and anger and aggression behind the eyes. This is his single best performance to date, even better than his Oscar nominated performance for Brokeback Mountain.

So, for me, the best thing about Prisoners is the performances. The rest of it is just sort of cliche and mediocre. The only thing it really inspired in me is a desire to watch Zodiac again. So, I guess there's that.

Grade: B-

Friday Top Five: Robert DeNiro

Needless to say, I didn't get to see The Spectacular Now last weekend (hopefully this weekend, although I'm beginning to think it's not going to happen with me and this movie). I did go to see The Family last weekend, however. I didn't write about it because, well, I had a birthday and somehow also managed to pull my back out and it took days to recover which, of course, OF COURSE, I blamed on getting older. Anyway, I didn't feel like sitting in front of a computer for any longer than I had to (I do it all day at work). The short story on The Family is - eh. It's a fine little movie about a mob informant (Robert DeNiro) and his family (including Michelle Pfeiffer and Dianna Agron, who is so pretty it physically hurts me)who hide out in a small French town and try to assimilate although it doesn't necessarily go as planned since they are all sort of crazy. The movie was pretty average, although it did have its moments and funny parts. Overall, I give it a C+. Still, it got me thinking about Robert DeNiro and the crazy great career he has had (or at least up until about the mid-90s anyway). So, I decided to focus this week's Top Five on his career. And let me tell you. It was HARD! I'm pretty satisfied with my top five although on any given day the order can change. So, here it is:

05. As Jimmy in Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
Goodfellas is one of my favorite movies of all time. And DeNiro is damn near perfect in it. However, for me, this is more Ray Liotta's movie than DeNiro's, which is why it ranks so low on my list. His performance is excellent as the outwardly calm and steady killer who on the inside is a paranoid mess. This movie is the great Scorsese masterpiece and every single performance from Liotta and DeNiro to Joe Pesci and Lorraine Bracco - are all brilliant.
Best Quote: "You took your first pinch like a man and you learn two great things in your life. Look at me, never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut."

04. As Max Cady in Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 1991)
I'm not the biggest fan of remakes but when said movie is remade by Martin Scorsese and stars DeNiro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis (who I think is hugely underrated as an actress)? I'm in! DeNiro stars as a convicted rapist who gets released from prison and hunts down the lawyer and family who sent him away. His performance is raw and terrifying and also, sort of sexual. DeNiro is absolutely haunting and does evil really, really well.
Best Quote: "Maybe I could chop you into 40 pieces."

03. As Michael in The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
As far as movies from the 1970's go, this is about as perfect as you can get. It won the Best Picture Oscar back then and all these years later, it is still as effective. Christopher Walken may have won a (super deserved) Oscar, but DeNiro gives just as strong of a performance. He's cool and quiet but with so much going on behind the eyes that you almost miss how quietly effective his performance is. He's not showy and loud like in some of his other roles. This is much more intense and reserved, but not any less great.
Best Quote: "A deer has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that but they don't listen."

02. As Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
I don't even know what to say about how good DeNiro is in Taxi Driver (and it's not even his best role!!!). As an ordinary man back from Vietnam who becomes a night time cab driver because of his inability to sleep, we get to watch the transformation of a normal guy into an absolute maniac. It's a chilling performance and DeNiro nails it, again, without going too far over the top (the way he tended to do in his later films). Taxi Driver is a cinematic masterpiece and most of it is thanks to DeNiro's amazing performance (okay, and Jodie Foster's revelatory performance but this list isn't about her!).
Best Quote: There are so many to pick from, and there is the most obvious choice, but... "Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man."

01. As Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
It's no surprise that most of DeNiro's best roles have been directed by Scorsese. Their partnership was and is iconic and produced some of the best movies of that era. DeNiro plays a self destructive boxer who is violent in the ring, which helps him win and win, but also destroys his life outside of the ring. If you haven't seen this movie, you can probably already imagine all the ways in which DeNiro in his prime nailed this role. He gained 60 pounds. He absolutely disappeared into this role. He won an Oscar and I personally think they should have given him two.
Best Quote: "Yeah, he's a nice kid, pretty kid, don't know whether to f**k him or fight him."

Friday Top Five: High School Movies

So, school is back in session. But more than that, I'm hoping to FINALLY get to see The Spectacular Now this weekend. I'm not sure it's definitely going to happen, but I hope it does. This is a movie that's been on my radar for a while. I think there's been a sort of insurgence in movies about high school. There's been quite a few really good ones in the last few years: The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Easy A come to mind. Those aren't on my list but we can call them Honorable Mentions. (Note: I tried not to make this just a John Hughes list, because it very easily could have become one and I would have been fine with it).

05. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes, 1986)
In high school, who didn't want to skip school, cruise around with your best friend in his dad's super expensive car, hang with your girl and end up in the middle of an epic parade?? Sounds like the perfect non-high school high school movie, right?? Of course, Principal Rooney is the bad guy who is wise to Ferris and his smart ass ways, trying to catch him - and failing to do so - in lie after lie. Ferris really soars due to the witty commentary that plays throughout the movie, that is both uber-teenage life and wise beyond its years.
Best Quote: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." [Words to live by, right???]

04. Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater, 1993)
The last day of school 1976 and the freshman are being hazed and the seniors are graduating and everyone is getting high. Oh, and Matthew McConaughey, in his best role ever!!, is the total older guy sleazeball who still hangs around town hitting on college girls. What is not to love about Dazed and Confused? It's a movie that may look artificial on the outside - drugs, girls, sports, alcohol - but actually deals with some pretty substantial issues and does so while being oh so cool.
Best Quote: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older and they stay the same age."

03. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982)
When a movie is written by Cameron Crowe, the guy who directed my second favorite movie of all time (Almost Famous), you know I'm all in. Plus, it stars Sean Penn, my favorite actor of all time, who proved early on that crazy range he has an actor. He completely nails surfer dude Spicoli, but, of course, this entire cast is absolutely perfect. And I'm sure if you were a man of a certain age during this time, you idolized Phoebe Cates and her red bathing suit.
Best Quote: "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine."

02. Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)
A lot of the movies on my list were before my time. Movies that I didn't get a chance to actually live through. I've seen them on DVD a hundred times and love them just as much, but Clueless was a movie that came out when I was of a certain age. I may not have been rich or lived in California. And I certainly wasn't popular or pretty, but this movie sort of spoke to my generation, thanks in part to Alicia Silverstone (who I worshiped, by the way) and her absolutely perfect performance as dim-witted but well meaning Cher. Based on Jane Austen's Emma, Clueless is the defining comedy / romance of its time.
Best Quote: "You're just a virgin who can't drive."

01. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)
Not only the greatest movie about high school ever made, but also one of the very best movies ever made, period. If I were to make a list of my top ten movies of all time (and I might sometime), this would definitely be on there. The Breakfast Club is perfect. It's the epitome of everything that's great about movies - the perfect cast, the perfect script, a writer / director who was just so perfectly attuned to the times and his character. This story of five totally different kids who spend a Saturday together in detention is the true epitome of movies that last forever. It's endlessly re-watchable, endlessly quotable, and just plain great. Also, just for the record, I had/have a pretty huge crush on Anthony Michael Hall, okay??
Best Quote: This is ridiculously hard and it could pretty much be anything Bender says, but... "Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed."

DVD Mini Reviews

During the year, I like to try to watch as many movies released during that year as possible. I won't go pay to see a bad movie in theaters but I have no qualms about watching bad movies via Netflix. This is so I can make my best possible best and worst lists at the end of the year, making sure I see as many options as possible. The movies I've been watching lately from Netflix from this year were sort of on the disappointing side for the most part.

Mud
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon (!!)
Plot: Two young boys set out to find an island where a boat has been washed into a tree. They also happen to find a mysterious man named Mud and they become entangled in his personal life. Drama and danger ensue.
Thoughts: This was the only good movie I've seen via Netflix in the last few weeks. It's a pretty simple story, but the script is so well written and all the performances are out of this world, that it just elevates the material. Tye Sheridan is a great find, a young actor who can completely command attention from more famous co-stars. And McConaughey?!? Man, he is on a role. His career is so hot right now that I am always anticipating new work from him which is something I never, ever thought I would think. But, seriously, how many award worthy performances can he give in a row???
Grade: B+

Dead Man Down
Stars: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard
Plot: A lonely disfigured woman witnesses the man across the street kill another man in his apartment and decides to blackmail him into murdering the man who disfigured her.
Thoughts: The best part of this movie was when it was over. I think I may have fallen asleep at one point, but it really didn't matter because you can see the "plot twists" coming a mile away. I love Farrell and Rapace and think they did a great job with the material, but this movie ultimately fails to deliver but succeeds at boring you into submission.
Grade: D+

A Good Day to Die Hard
Stars: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney
Plot: John McClane heads to Russia, where his wayward son is in trouble with the law. Or is he?? Turns out his hottie son is working for the CIA and the two sexy bald McClane men team up to fight Russian bad guys. Smashing through ceilings, gun fights and helicopter chases ensue.
Thoughts: Obviously not as good as the original Die Hard. Or Die Hard 2. Or even Live Free or Die Hard from a few years ago. It's basically Die Hard paint by numbers and if you like action and sexy bald men, then it's not a terrible way to spend an hour and a half. This would have gotten a higher grade had Jai Courtney been shirtless for more than ten seconds. (What?? I'm totally a girl sometimes.)
Grade: C

Magic Magic
Stars: Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Michael Cera
Plot: A bunch of college friends go to a secluded farm to drink and hang out. One of their cousin's tags along. She goes cray.
Thoughts: Allow me to justify why I got this movie from the Red Box to begin with: I had a coupon, okay?? It was for a free movie and it expired that particular day. Neither my boyfriend nor I had ever heard of this movie. I have a pretty major girl crush on Juno Temple and he has a thing for Emily Browning. Plus, Michael Cera is awesome, so we decided to go for it. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. This is, quite possibly, one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life. I don't even know why we watched the whole thing instead of just turning it off and calling it a day. Still, it's better than Lords of Salem, so that's a plus, I guess.
Grade: F

The Host
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Diane Kruger, William Hurt
Plot: Aliens begin taking over the bodies of humans, erasing their memories, and living a peaceful existence. One young woman fights back against the force to hold onto her love and protect her brother.
Thoughts: Positives first - William Hurt is awesome in this movie. Also, I'll never complain about a movie featuring not one (Irons) but TWO (Abel) cute boys. But, mostly, this movie is ridiculous. There are no high stakes. There is no drama, really, except for a minute here and a minute there. Plus, this movie features the absolute strangest love triangle I have ever seen.
Grade: D+

Welcome to the Punch
Stars: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, David Morrissey
Plot: It's your basic cops and bad guy movie complete with dirty cops and complicated plot lines that don't entirely make sense until the end.
Thoughts: Like I said, pretty basic. There is nothing bad about this movie, but there isn't really much to say about it that's good either. This movie is basically entirely carried by the charms and charisma of McAvoy, so if you like McAvoy like I do, then you probably won't mind watching a mediocre movie.
Grade: C+


And finally, the movie COMPLIANCE was released last year instead of this year, but I finally got around to watching it and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's the true story of a man who poses as a police officer and calls fast food restaurants to see how far he can push managers in taking advantage of employees. For example, he tells the manager of Chickwich that one of her employees is a thief which leads to a strip search and so much more. This is an entirely true story and according to Wikipedia, happened at least 70 times around the country. I can't really believe one group of people were stupid enough to fall for this hoax, let alone 70! It's a pretty uncomfortable movie to watch but i also find it highly effective. It's as tense as a movie that takes almost entirely in one small room can be. So, anyway, I'm still not sure what to make of it so if anyone watches it, I'm really interested to hear another take on it.

Friday Top Five: Football Movies

Football season is back!! Hooray! So, this week, I am counting down my top five football "movies", with one exception. There is a reason "movies" is in parenthesis and you will find out what it is in a moment.

05. Lucas (David Seltzer, 1986)
First things first, when Corey Haim was young, there was no one cuter in the whole world. In Lucas, he plays a dorky kid who is in love with an older girl. This girl falls for his friend instead of him and in order to prove he is a man, or whatever, he joins the football team where he proceeds to get hurt. The movie is as much about football as it is about falling in love and getting your heart broken for the first time. It's funny and touching and the quintessential 80's movie.

04. Rudy (David Anspaugh, 1993)
This is the sort of movie that makes grown men cry. There is a scene in this movie that will literally make the biggest, toughest, strongest man weep like a baby. (It's the jersey scene). But more than being a simple movie about football, it's about following your dreams, never giving up, and all that jazz. A seriously great football movie.

03. Remember the Titans (Boaz Yakin, 2000)
Besides starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Gosling, Remember the Titans is the true story of the first year of a racially integrated football team and the way they made history despite a whole lot of drama. I've seen this movie so many times, and it's probably a tad heavy handed and it's probably a bit cheesy, but I love it nonetheless.

02. Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe, 1996)
This, to me, is the role that proved that Tom Cruise could be a huge blockbuster action star, and a an actual good actor at the same time. Jerry Maguire is a sort of perfect beast of a movie. Is it a perfect movie? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Is the dialogue that is so oft repeated these days ring true all the time? Not really. But, Jerry Maguire is a pure joy to watch and the sort of movie that gets better with time.

01. "Friday Night Lights" (various, 2006-2011)
So, I told you there was a reason "movies" was in quotation marks. It's because there's no way I was going to take about anything doing with football without mentioning one of the greatest TV series I've ever seen. (It's based on a movie, if that helps). Friday Night Lights was the rare sort of TV show that was five seasons of near perfection (the only misstep I can think of was that whole Landry/Tyra killing someone story line). The show was as much about angst-ridden high school kids and real life drama as it was about football. It was My So-Called Life with football. It introduced us to the most realistic portrayal of a married couple on television - Coach and Mrs. Coach (Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton), who both acted the crap out of their roles and also had incredible, natural chemistry. Plus, the talent involved was incredible. This show launched the careers of so many actors - Chandler who will soon be seen in the new Scorsese, Britton was on American Horror Story and now Nashville, Taylor Kitsch was in a slew of box office disasters but still has a chance to be a star, Scott Porter stole scenes in The To-Do List, Minka Kelly was in The Butler, and, of course, Michael B. Jordan is wowing everyone in Fruitvale Station. The list could go on, but the truth of the matter is that Friday Night Lights is exceptional television, the sort of show that stays with you long after it has ended.


Now, get ready for an entire day of football on Sunday and go Steelers!

The Butler

The problem with The Butler is that it's a Lifetime movie wrapped in the clothes of an Oscar hopeful, trying to fool everyone into thinking it has a chance at the Academy Awards. And the funny thing is, after three weeks (and counting) atop the Box Office list, it probably does have a chance. Of course it will probably be nominated because I find it tiring, boring and absolutely disappointing. That's the way I usually always feel about the front runners who, more often than not, end up winning (see also: Slumdog Millionaire, The Artist, He Whose Name We Do Not Mention On This Blog (I.e. The King's Speech).

So, The Butler, or rather Lee Daniels' The Butler, is no Oscar hopeful, in my opinion. In fact, it's messy and distracting, heavy handed and really, just a big ole' mess. Lee Daniels' is someone who evokes strong feelings from his audience, typically, but he is not being daring here. This is the safest movie he could have possibly made. The story is interesting and the performances are great, but the delivery leaves a lot to be desired.

The story begins in the 1920's when Cecil Gaines was a small boy working in a cotton farm with his parents (mom was Mariah Carey for some reason). After his dad's death (at the hands of Alex Pettyfer!), mom goes a little crazy and the boy is brought in the house and taught to be a house servant. Years later, he leaves the farm and goes to South Carolina where he finds a job working for a hotel. He finds his way to a promotion to a hotel in Washington D.C. (where he is suddenly played by Forest Whitaker) which leads to the ultimate job for a butler - the White House! He quickly becomes one of the most dependable and well liked workers at the White House and ultimately serves under the tutelage of seven different administrations from Eisenhower to Reagan. These presidents (and their wives) are played by a distracting parade of celebrities who look absolutely nothing like the people they are portraying. From John Cusack as Richard Nixon (no, really) to Liev Scrieber as LBJ and James Marsden an Minka Kelly as the Kennedy's, it's all a star-fu**ing parade that does NOT work.

Of course, what does work, is the story line involving Cecil's son Louis (David Oyelowo), who starts out as a college student at Fisk who wants to make a difference in the Civil Right's movement. He starts out preaching a message of love and following the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King. But after his death, his love turns to hate and he joins the Black Panther movement. His story, involving being arrested dozens of times, riding the Freedom Buses, having run ins with the KKK, and more, is, for me, the heart and soul of this movie. Oyelowo is absolutely riveting and easily the best thing about the movie. I wish this would have been his story, rather than his fathers. Although I did enjoy the way they sort of tied in that his father really was making a difference during these times too, not by getting arrested and protesting, but by changing the way the white men thought of the black man, by being a reliable, hard worker that helped break down stereotypes.

Whitaker's performance is great, too. He is quiet and restrained, a million miles from his Oscar winning role as Idi Amin a few years ago, but just as powerful. And, of course, Lee Daniels has a way with Supporting Actresses. He directed Mo Nique to a well-deserved Oscar as the terrifying mother in Precious. He directed Nicole Kidman to her sexiest, sultriest performance ever in The Paperboy. And The Butler's strong, supporting female performance comes courtesy of Oprah Winfrey, who is in the early Oscar talks for a reason. Her boozy, head strong wife and mother is a revelation. For weeks, all I've heard is, "This is Oprah's first acting role in 15 years," and all I've kept saying is, "Well, she's not an actress." But, she definitely delivers in this film and is both funny and heartbreaking, sometimes in the same scene.

All in all, however, Cecil Gaines was a great man with a fascinating story. But like Jackie Robinson whose life was presented to us in the mediocre 42 earlier this year, he deserves better than this paint-by-numbers movie that tries to be so many different things it ultimately fails at what it is - the story of a man who quietly helped change the world. All the star cameos (and there are even more than what I just mentioned, including but not limited to, Terrence Howard, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Robin Williams) are just distracting from the story that is as much a story of one man as it is about Civil Rights. The Butler had an opportunity to be a singular movie about a certain period of time, but it ultimately is just a messy movie with great performances.

Grade: C