Movies and movie and movies and movies
"The Late Bloomer"
starring: Charlotte McKinney, Johnny Simmons, Blake Cooper, Kumail Nanjiani, Beck Bennett, Lenora Crichlow, Paul Wesley, Brittany Snow, J.J. Simmons, Maria Bello, Jane Lynch
written by: Joe Nussbaum
directed by: Kevin Pollack
Kevin Pollack is the master of impersonations. The guy has had secondary/small roles in a ton of films dating back to the early '90s; films like L.A. Story, A Few Good Men, Grumpy Old Men, The Usual Suspects, That Thing You Do, She's All That, The Whole Nine Yards, End of Days, Hostage, the TV show "Mom," Casino, etc. So you would think he'd have learned some things from being on set with a plethora of directors and actors. For his directorial debut, "The Late Bloomer" what does he decide to tackle for subject matter? Sex. More specifically, a 30 year old virgin sex therapist. Yes, that's right. I mean, the 40 year old virgin thing has already been done, and done very well. This is just raunchy for the sake of being raunchy. Like, how many crotch and sex jokes can we fit into 90 minutes.
Pete is a sex therapist who has achieved modest fame with a book that suggests that people spend too much time thinking about intercourse, orgasms and such, and would be more productive if they channeled their energy elsewhere. He seems to have no sex life of his own, something that his male friends (Kumail Nanjiani and Beck Bennett) comment on constantly, at least when they’re not busy talking about their own sex lives.
Pete’s parents (Maria Bello and J. K. Simmons) also seem preoccupied with his sexuality. After a too-long setup, Pete learns through happenstance the reason that he’s less obsessed than everyone else: A pituitary tumor has kept him from experiencing puberty. Once the problem is corrected, the hormones come on with a vengeance, which, among other things, jeopardizes Pete’s platonic relationship with his good friend and neighbor, Michelle (Brittany Snow).
Skip this one for sure.
...................................................................
"Memoria"
starring: Sam Dillon, Thomas Mann, James Franco, Teo Halm
written and directed by: Nina Ljeti and Vladimir de Fontenay
Another poetic film offering from James Franco's short story collection "Palo Alto" which was actually his thesis/dissertation culminating project.
Culled, like the films "Palo Alto" and "Yosemite," from James Franco anthologies inspired by his formative years in Northern California, this collaboration by Nina Ljeti and Vladimir de Fontenay treads some familiar turf in its portrait of an aimless teen (played by Sam Dillon, and in earlier sequences, by Teo Halm) who's heading down an ill-fated path.
Failing high school and getting high as the chosen method for dealing with assorted bullies and a stern stepdad who tries to get him to man up by taking him deer hunting, the chronically truant teen seems barely present in his own life.
We have a fairly good idea of where this is all likely headed, but the sturdy performances, also including an effective Ruby Modine (Matthew's daughter) as a Goth gal pal and Franco as a concerned English teacher, build on an authenticity that comes with the casting of Dillon, who appeared in "Boyhood."
It's clear that Franco knows how to tell a succinct story, even with only 70 minutes of this film, it all works out.
...................................................................
"What We Become"
starring: Benjamin Engell, Troels Lyby, Mille Dinesen, Ella Solgaard, Marie Hammer Boda, Mikael Birkkjaer, Laura Bro
written and directed by: Bo Mikkelsen
Here is another incredible horror film from the Danish folks. Why do I really like foreign horror films? They really know how to stretch the story. They create characters, develop them, have them interact. And they slow-burn the horror. You know something is happening, but they don't reveal until basically the third act. Here is yet another zombie apocalypse film, but it's done in such a way that makes you appreciate it, and not necessarily just pass it off.
In the film, a cluster of upper-middle-class Danish families watch news reports of a spreading disease. The usual horror-movie luridness is mostly omitted for a long stretch, as Mikkelsen captures the calculated banality of programs that deliver updates on the world in a fashion designed not to rile up viewers. There are no references in this news footage to, say, the dead rising up to prey on the living. We see medical bureaucrats trying to soft-soap just how little they know about what’s happening. Guides for washing hands are offered. These professionals could easily be discussing Ebola.
Gradually, Mikkelsen escalates the narrative with a disarming sense of inevitability. SWAT teams outfitted from head to toe in black armor and automatic weapons storm the neighborhoods of the protagonists, ordering them to dispose of their trash in a certain manner, while forcing them to open their mouths for signs of infection.
By the time the last 10-15 minutes of the film come, everything is happening quickly, like the filmmaker knows it's time to wrap things up and you definitely feel the sense of dread encompassing the main family. You know what's going to happen to the family. There is no happy ending for this family. It is the zombie apocalypse.
This is such a great film, especially for a zombie flick.
.................................................................
"Uncanny"
starring: Mark Webber, Lucy Griffiths, David Clayton Rogers, Rainn Wilson
written by: Shahin Chandrasoma
directed by: Matthew Leutwyler
Artificial intelligence has been the subject of movies for years, decades even, and it always seems to be usually a film made in order to scare people, as if to say- "Look! Look at what these technologies will do to us!"
Here is an indie film that dives into A.I. so well that the climax of the film will have you shaking your head unless you're like me and figured it out beforehand. It is not necessarily predictable, but rather it is so well done that you will want to watch it again and see if you could figure it out.
In UNCANNY Joy Andrews(Lucy Griffiths) has been assigned with the task of writing a story about the former child prodigy David Kressen (Mark Webber). He works for the mongul Castle (Rainn Wilson) and has created Adam(David Clayton Rogers) who is a near perfect A.I. down to his finest detail. What engages from there is deceit filled triangle where Adam’s “feelings” for Joy become strong and it creates a divide between he and David. This formula is becoming ever popular in the sci fi subgenre. Few characters, small setting and tons of dialogue is what is required to create a strong and pressing story. The interaction between the three is very welcoming and somewhat juvenile as we almost see a playground relationship unfold before our eyes. The dark and curious nature of Adam is what makes the film rewarding as we watch him try understand and deal with these new emotions and desires.
This was a great, short film that had perfect pacing.
...................................................................
"37"
starring: Samira Wiley, Michael Potts, Maria Dizzia, Jamie Harrold, Thomas Kopache, Lucy Martin, Adrian Martinez, Evan Fine, Sophia Lillis, Marquise Gary, Christina Brucato, Sawyer Nunes
written and directed by: Puk Grasten
This could've been a fantastic indie film with so much to say, perhaps about bystander psychology, but the filmmaker completely fails to dissect this aspect of a gruesome murder that was apparently witnessed (in some way) by 37 people who did absolutely nothing.
37 refers to the number of witnesses who, on the night of March 13, 1964, either heard or saw the murder of Kitty Genovese taking place just outside of their apartments in Kew Gardens, Queens, but did nothing, according to myth, to intervene.
Grasten’s film, on the other hand, constructs several flimsy threads of speculative fiction that merely uses the context of Genovese’s murder to piece together the activities of three neighborhood families who comprehensively failed to potentially save Genovese’s life.
Grasten wants to find a certain melancholic poetry through these stories, yet their unfolding locates only portentous symbolism and relies on reductive dialogue, with characters speaking their social conditions at nearly every turn.
All the bystanders and their stories are rather unimaginative and more focused on themselves than on their relation to why they never helped the stranger getting attacked. The filmmaker goes from one set of characters to the next almost too quickly and too many times to really allow the audience to get involved in their varied stories, and does not allow time to understand them. There was potential to get under the skin of the individuals in the crowd and I think the filmmaker definitely missed the mark here. This could've been a powerful story told.
............................................................................
"Blindsided" (aka "Penthouse North")
starring: Michelle Monaghan, Michael Keaton, Barry Sloane, Andrew W. Walker
written by: David Loughery
directed by: Joseph Ruben
The filmmaker here hadn't made a film in 9 years when he decided to unleash this predictable, cliche of a thriller-type movie unto the masses.
Sara (Monaghan) is a war reporter covering the fighting in Afghanistan, and as she patrols with some soldiers, they come under attack. Sara is taking cover when she starts to investigate her surroundings, and photographs as she goes. As Sara enters a building, a woman in full religious getup appears, holding what looks to be a baby, but as she starts to take her picture, the chanting woman turns the object to face her, revealing it to be a boobytrapped doll, about to explode. Before Sara has time to react, the doll blows up, leaving her permanently blind. Jump three years, and now we're in a penthouse with a stunning view. Sara is talking to her boyfriend but shortly leaves to go to the store. On her way there, she is almost run over but a mysterious stranger helps her out. When Sara returns, she finds her boyfriend dead and is now being chased by his murderer. It would appear her boyfriend has some deep dark secrets, and now she's fighting for her life!
It definitely plays out like a straight-to-DVD or even made-for-TV movie. There's nothing unique or that memorable about this one. Poor Michael Keaton, thankfully, he came back around with his Oscar-worthy performance in "Birdman."
..........................................................................
"Frat Star"
starring: Connor Lawrence, Justin Mark, Cathryn Dylan, Chris Elliott, Tyler Weaks, Max Sheldon, Austin Ramsey, Peter O'Connor, Nicole Balsam, Kaitlin Mesh
written and directed by: Grant S. Johnson
There is not much that can be said about this movie other than it is filled with cliches and stereotypes about college life, most specifically fraternity life and that lifestyle. And what makes it horrible is that the director/writer was never actually in a fraternity himself. You know that old saying, "what about what you know." Well, this guy apparently knows nothing about fraternities and just took a bunch of stories he may have heard, you know, all the negative things and just decided to make a movie about it all. None of the characters have any redeeming qualities, nothing here to root for, which is a big no-no in filmmaker 101.
............................................................................
"Amnesiac"
starring: Kate Bosworth, Wes Bentley, Olivia Rose Keegan, Shashawnee Hall, Richard Riehle, Patrick Bauchau, Mia Barron, Adam Moryto
written by: Mike Le and Amy Kolquist
directed by: Michael Polish
Amnesia, perhaps one of the scariest things to encounter. Imagine having your memory completely wiped out. No memories of your life or your past. You don't know or remember anyone.
Now, imagine you wake up in a house you don't remember living in, being taken care of by a woman you do not remember at all, but who claims to be your wife. Kate Bosworth plays a caretaker from hell via Kathy Bates' in "Misery," with ill intentions abound. Bosworth plays her character with all icy reserve and intense menace in her eyes, body language, speech. You know, it is very clear, that this is a woman with nary a good intention. Where the filmmakers utterly fail though, and which Stephen King (author of the aforementioned Misery) is fantastic at, is delving into the psyche of the character in question. That's a big loss for a film like this. Instead, it becomes a film about the man's discovery of her ill intentions and bad temper and his many attempts at fleeing the house. At some point you just stop caring and know that something predictable will happen just when he's about to leave.
It’s a spectacle of dreary genre machinations tracking toward the obligatory quasi-shocking big-twist finale. That neither the amnesiac nor his supposed wife are ever given character names becomes the most telling detail of all, revealing them both to be nothing more than ciphers of a humdrum plot.
.............................................................................
"The Curse of Sleeping Beauty"
starring: Ethan Peck, India Eisley, Natalie Hall, Bruce Davison, James Adam Lim, Scott Alan Smith, Zack Ward, Cyd Strittmatter, Mim Drew, Dallas Hart, Madelaine Petsch
written by: Josh Nadler
directed by: Pearry Reginald Teo
Let's face it, many of the Brothers Grimm fairytales and subsequent Disney films of which many have been made, are rather disturbing and not exactly kid-friendly, regardless of how they are presented (re: cartoonish).
This is a "new" retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, meant to be solely a horror film, hence the "curse." It has some jump-scare attempts, but really the story with this film is that the acting is just so damn horrible, you cannot get past it. And the plot, although derived from the fairytale, definitely takes some liberties, but not in any good ways. Just awful.
starring: Charlotte McKinney, Johnny Simmons, Blake Cooper, Kumail Nanjiani, Beck Bennett, Lenora Crichlow, Paul Wesley, Brittany Snow, J.J. Simmons, Maria Bello, Jane Lynch
written by: Joe Nussbaum
directed by: Kevin Pollack
Kevin Pollack is the master of impersonations. The guy has had secondary/small roles in a ton of films dating back to the early '90s; films like L.A. Story, A Few Good Men, Grumpy Old Men, The Usual Suspects, That Thing You Do, She's All That, The Whole Nine Yards, End of Days, Hostage, the TV show "Mom," Casino, etc. So you would think he'd have learned some things from being on set with a plethora of directors and actors. For his directorial debut, "The Late Bloomer" what does he decide to tackle for subject matter? Sex. More specifically, a 30 year old virgin sex therapist. Yes, that's right. I mean, the 40 year old virgin thing has already been done, and done very well. This is just raunchy for the sake of being raunchy. Like, how many crotch and sex jokes can we fit into 90 minutes.
Pete is a sex therapist who has achieved modest fame with a book that suggests that people spend too much time thinking about intercourse, orgasms and such, and would be more productive if they channeled their energy elsewhere. He seems to have no sex life of his own, something that his male friends (Kumail Nanjiani and Beck Bennett) comment on constantly, at least when they’re not busy talking about their own sex lives.
Pete’s parents (Maria Bello and J. K. Simmons) also seem preoccupied with his sexuality. After a too-long setup, Pete learns through happenstance the reason that he’s less obsessed than everyone else: A pituitary tumor has kept him from experiencing puberty. Once the problem is corrected, the hormones come on with a vengeance, which, among other things, jeopardizes Pete’s platonic relationship with his good friend and neighbor, Michelle (Brittany Snow).
Skip this one for sure.
...................................................................
"Memoria"
starring: Sam Dillon, Thomas Mann, James Franco, Teo Halm
written and directed by: Nina Ljeti and Vladimir de Fontenay
Another poetic film offering from James Franco's short story collection "Palo Alto" which was actually his thesis/dissertation culminating project.
Culled, like the films "Palo Alto" and "Yosemite," from James Franco anthologies inspired by his formative years in Northern California, this collaboration by Nina Ljeti and Vladimir de Fontenay treads some familiar turf in its portrait of an aimless teen (played by Sam Dillon, and in earlier sequences, by Teo Halm) who's heading down an ill-fated path.
Failing high school and getting high as the chosen method for dealing with assorted bullies and a stern stepdad who tries to get him to man up by taking him deer hunting, the chronically truant teen seems barely present in his own life.
We have a fairly good idea of where this is all likely headed, but the sturdy performances, also including an effective Ruby Modine (Matthew's daughter) as a Goth gal pal and Franco as a concerned English teacher, build on an authenticity that comes with the casting of Dillon, who appeared in "Boyhood."
It's clear that Franco knows how to tell a succinct story, even with only 70 minutes of this film, it all works out.
...................................................................
"What We Become"
starring: Benjamin Engell, Troels Lyby, Mille Dinesen, Ella Solgaard, Marie Hammer Boda, Mikael Birkkjaer, Laura Bro
written and directed by: Bo Mikkelsen
Here is another incredible horror film from the Danish folks. Why do I really like foreign horror films? They really know how to stretch the story. They create characters, develop them, have them interact. And they slow-burn the horror. You know something is happening, but they don't reveal until basically the third act. Here is yet another zombie apocalypse film, but it's done in such a way that makes you appreciate it, and not necessarily just pass it off.
In the film, a cluster of upper-middle-class Danish families watch news reports of a spreading disease. The usual horror-movie luridness is mostly omitted for a long stretch, as Mikkelsen captures the calculated banality of programs that deliver updates on the world in a fashion designed not to rile up viewers. There are no references in this news footage to, say, the dead rising up to prey on the living. We see medical bureaucrats trying to soft-soap just how little they know about what’s happening. Guides for washing hands are offered. These professionals could easily be discussing Ebola.
Gradually, Mikkelsen escalates the narrative with a disarming sense of inevitability. SWAT teams outfitted from head to toe in black armor and automatic weapons storm the neighborhoods of the protagonists, ordering them to dispose of their trash in a certain manner, while forcing them to open their mouths for signs of infection.
By the time the last 10-15 minutes of the film come, everything is happening quickly, like the filmmaker knows it's time to wrap things up and you definitely feel the sense of dread encompassing the main family. You know what's going to happen to the family. There is no happy ending for this family. It is the zombie apocalypse.
This is such a great film, especially for a zombie flick.
.................................................................
"Uncanny"
starring: Mark Webber, Lucy Griffiths, David Clayton Rogers, Rainn Wilson
written by: Shahin Chandrasoma
directed by: Matthew Leutwyler
Artificial intelligence has been the subject of movies for years, decades even, and it always seems to be usually a film made in order to scare people, as if to say- "Look! Look at what these technologies will do to us!"
Here is an indie film that dives into A.I. so well that the climax of the film will have you shaking your head unless you're like me and figured it out beforehand. It is not necessarily predictable, but rather it is so well done that you will want to watch it again and see if you could figure it out.
In UNCANNY Joy Andrews(Lucy Griffiths) has been assigned with the task of writing a story about the former child prodigy David Kressen (Mark Webber). He works for the mongul Castle (Rainn Wilson) and has created Adam(David Clayton Rogers) who is a near perfect A.I. down to his finest detail. What engages from there is deceit filled triangle where Adam’s “feelings” for Joy become strong and it creates a divide between he and David. This formula is becoming ever popular in the sci fi subgenre. Few characters, small setting and tons of dialogue is what is required to create a strong and pressing story. The interaction between the three is very welcoming and somewhat juvenile as we almost see a playground relationship unfold before our eyes. The dark and curious nature of Adam is what makes the film rewarding as we watch him try understand and deal with these new emotions and desires.
This was a great, short film that had perfect pacing.
...................................................................
"37"
starring: Samira Wiley, Michael Potts, Maria Dizzia, Jamie Harrold, Thomas Kopache, Lucy Martin, Adrian Martinez, Evan Fine, Sophia Lillis, Marquise Gary, Christina Brucato, Sawyer Nunes
written and directed by: Puk Grasten
This could've been a fantastic indie film with so much to say, perhaps about bystander psychology, but the filmmaker completely fails to dissect this aspect of a gruesome murder that was apparently witnessed (in some way) by 37 people who did absolutely nothing.
37 refers to the number of witnesses who, on the night of March 13, 1964, either heard or saw the murder of Kitty Genovese taking place just outside of their apartments in Kew Gardens, Queens, but did nothing, according to myth, to intervene.
Grasten’s film, on the other hand, constructs several flimsy threads of speculative fiction that merely uses the context of Genovese’s murder to piece together the activities of three neighborhood families who comprehensively failed to potentially save Genovese’s life.
Grasten wants to find a certain melancholic poetry through these stories, yet their unfolding locates only portentous symbolism and relies on reductive dialogue, with characters speaking their social conditions at nearly every turn.
All the bystanders and their stories are rather unimaginative and more focused on themselves than on their relation to why they never helped the stranger getting attacked. The filmmaker goes from one set of characters to the next almost too quickly and too many times to really allow the audience to get involved in their varied stories, and does not allow time to understand them. There was potential to get under the skin of the individuals in the crowd and I think the filmmaker definitely missed the mark here. This could've been a powerful story told.
............................................................................
"Blindsided" (aka "Penthouse North")
starring: Michelle Monaghan, Michael Keaton, Barry Sloane, Andrew W. Walker
written by: David Loughery
directed by: Joseph Ruben
The filmmaker here hadn't made a film in 9 years when he decided to unleash this predictable, cliche of a thriller-type movie unto the masses.
Sara (Monaghan) is a war reporter covering the fighting in Afghanistan, and as she patrols with some soldiers, they come under attack. Sara is taking cover when she starts to investigate her surroundings, and photographs as she goes. As Sara enters a building, a woman in full religious getup appears, holding what looks to be a baby, but as she starts to take her picture, the chanting woman turns the object to face her, revealing it to be a boobytrapped doll, about to explode. Before Sara has time to react, the doll blows up, leaving her permanently blind. Jump three years, and now we're in a penthouse with a stunning view. Sara is talking to her boyfriend but shortly leaves to go to the store. On her way there, she is almost run over but a mysterious stranger helps her out. When Sara returns, she finds her boyfriend dead and is now being chased by his murderer. It would appear her boyfriend has some deep dark secrets, and now she's fighting for her life!
It definitely plays out like a straight-to-DVD or even made-for-TV movie. There's nothing unique or that memorable about this one. Poor Michael Keaton, thankfully, he came back around with his Oscar-worthy performance in "Birdman."
..........................................................................
"Frat Star"
starring: Connor Lawrence, Justin Mark, Cathryn Dylan, Chris Elliott, Tyler Weaks, Max Sheldon, Austin Ramsey, Peter O'Connor, Nicole Balsam, Kaitlin Mesh
written and directed by: Grant S. Johnson
There is not much that can be said about this movie other than it is filled with cliches and stereotypes about college life, most specifically fraternity life and that lifestyle. And what makes it horrible is that the director/writer was never actually in a fraternity himself. You know that old saying, "what about what you know." Well, this guy apparently knows nothing about fraternities and just took a bunch of stories he may have heard, you know, all the negative things and just decided to make a movie about it all. None of the characters have any redeeming qualities, nothing here to root for, which is a big no-no in filmmaker 101.
............................................................................
"Amnesiac"
starring: Kate Bosworth, Wes Bentley, Olivia Rose Keegan, Shashawnee Hall, Richard Riehle, Patrick Bauchau, Mia Barron, Adam Moryto
written by: Mike Le and Amy Kolquist
directed by: Michael Polish
Amnesia, perhaps one of the scariest things to encounter. Imagine having your memory completely wiped out. No memories of your life or your past. You don't know or remember anyone.
Now, imagine you wake up in a house you don't remember living in, being taken care of by a woman you do not remember at all, but who claims to be your wife. Kate Bosworth plays a caretaker from hell via Kathy Bates' in "Misery," with ill intentions abound. Bosworth plays her character with all icy reserve and intense menace in her eyes, body language, speech. You know, it is very clear, that this is a woman with nary a good intention. Where the filmmakers utterly fail though, and which Stephen King (author of the aforementioned Misery) is fantastic at, is delving into the psyche of the character in question. That's a big loss for a film like this. Instead, it becomes a film about the man's discovery of her ill intentions and bad temper and his many attempts at fleeing the house. At some point you just stop caring and know that something predictable will happen just when he's about to leave.
It’s a spectacle of dreary genre machinations tracking toward the obligatory quasi-shocking big-twist finale. That neither the amnesiac nor his supposed wife are ever given character names becomes the most telling detail of all, revealing them both to be nothing more than ciphers of a humdrum plot.
.............................................................................
"The Curse of Sleeping Beauty"
starring: Ethan Peck, India Eisley, Natalie Hall, Bruce Davison, James Adam Lim, Scott Alan Smith, Zack Ward, Cyd Strittmatter, Mim Drew, Dallas Hart, Madelaine Petsch
written by: Josh Nadler
directed by: Pearry Reginald Teo
Let's face it, many of the Brothers Grimm fairytales and subsequent Disney films of which many have been made, are rather disturbing and not exactly kid-friendly, regardless of how they are presented (re: cartoonish).
This is a "new" retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, meant to be solely a horror film, hence the "curse." It has some jump-scare attempts, but really the story with this film is that the acting is just so damn horrible, you cannot get past it. And the plot, although derived from the fairytale, definitely takes some liberties, but not in any good ways. Just awful.
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