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Four Christmases
Mike Pierce
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2009/11/23 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Four Christmases

11.23.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: PG-13 for some sexual humor and language.
Release Date: 2008-11-26
Starring: Matt Allen, Caleb Wilson
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.fourchristmasesmovie.com/

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It’s still the #1 movie at the box office. What movie am I talking about you may ask?? Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and “Sexy Cute” Reese Witherspoon. It has a great cast such as Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, John Voight, Tim McGraw, Jon Favreau, and more!

The movie starts off with a couple who are totally in love, but soon find out  that they REALLY don’t KNOW each other. The Christmas holidays roll around…instead of hanging with their family, they decide to lie…once again…to plan a trip to Fiji…but the weather messes everything up so they are forced to visit their 4 seperate families…and these families are nuts.

If you happen to “family hop” during the holidays – you’ll definately can relate. (lol)

You sure laugh a lot and during these hard times – we all could use it.

Me and Orson Welles
Terry Kim
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2009/11/21 at 12:00am

Reviews

Me and Orson Welles

11.21.2009 | By |

Me and Orson Welles

For those who recognize the name in the title of Richard Linklater’s latest film may have an immediate attraction (or immediate aversion) to it. After all, Orson Welles always lands itself in critics’ “top filmmakers of all time,” and his Citizen Kane (1941) makes it in “top ten most influential films” lists. Older generations may remember Welles from his radio days, and still others may remember him from his famous television commercials of the 70s. I’m willing to bet that members of the younger generation will watch this film in recognition of the High School Musical series heartthrob, Zac Efron (who plays the part of starry-eyed teenager Richard), the “me” in the title.

 

Me and Orson Welles is about seventeen year-old Richard, who is employed by Orson Welles to play a minor role in his first show at the Mercury Theatre, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Richard and Welles get along for the most part—Welles even takes Richard to a radio studio, gives him a lift on his ambulance (the only way to wade through traffic in Manhattan), and affectionately calls him “junior”—until Richard falls for Sonja Jones, an assistant who is beautiful yet unapologetically ambitious. Sonja merely wishes to get ahead in life, and is unconcerned with love, art—basically all the ideals Richard identifies himself with. After a week of success and failure, love and heartbreak, Richard is ready to return to a less exhilarating, yet more wholesome, high school life.

 

Linklater—who made his name with the high school movie, Dazed and Confused (1993), and for the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset pair (1995 and 2004, respectively)—takes a somewhat different approach in Me and Orson Welles. The film is essentially a bildungsroman in 1937 New York, and therefore a period piece as well. The background is rather convincing: Linklater, along with production designer Laurence Dorman, handpicked the theater to pose as the then-Mercury Theatre, and he also selected the music, since he is a huge fan of 30s music. The film is indebted to the pre-existing material in Robert Kaplow’s novel, which he based in real theatrical history. Especially convincing is Christian McKay’s impersonation of Orson Welles, which is spine-chillingly identical.

 

The film can be most respected for its frankness, because it doesn’t dare to over-glamorize Welles, the Mercury Theatre, or the city, but only to see the aforementioned things through a naïve teenage boy’s eyes; think of it as a week-long orientation to the Big Apple. Linklater’s style is also equally simple: instead of relying on fancy computer editing, for example, he uses what I’d like to call “manual” montage (Richard catching bits of conversations as he walks through the opening night party scene; Richard flipping through newspaper headlines on Caesar). Welles is portrayed as the charismatic man he was known as, but we also glimpse moments of sensitivity, and it isn’t easy to simplify him as a heroic character or a villainous one. Perhaps a weaker delineation is that of Gretta (played by Zoe Kazan), and particularly her parallels to Richard. As they exit the museum, the two find themselves in differing paths of progress. This is, of course, the way things are: a writer is suddenly jet-set with her submission to The New Yorker (Gretta), and an aspiring actor performs only on the opening night of an anticipated production (Richard). Their sudden bonding at the end seems a bit contrived, however.

 

This film is a must-see for New Yorkers, would-be New Yorkers, good music, and anybody who wants to see the most accurate impression of Orson Welles to date.

The Limits of Control
Jack Rico
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2009/11/20 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Limits of Control

11.20.2009 | By |

Rating: 1.5

Rated: R for graphic nudity and some language.
Release Date: 2009-05-01
Starring: Jim Jarmusch
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:Spain
Official Website: http://www.thelimitsofcontrol.com/

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The quirky Ohio film director, Jim Jarmusch, known for his abstract, philosophical and excessively drawn out scenes, uses Spain as a beautiful backdrop in his new crime thriller ‘The Limits of Control’. The movie could be summed up as a deliberate banal and phlegmatic effort. There is barely any dialogue to push the story and the ending offers very little interest or excitement.

The minimal storyline concerns an unnamed assassin (Issach De Bankolé) who spends most of the film moving from location to location throughout Spain, collecting the information and equipment he requires to complete his latest assignment, the assassination of an American corporate bigwig (Bill Murray). He meets most of his contacts in cafes, although one woman (Paz de la Huerta) spends a few days nude with him in various hotel rooms. The film is based on a William S. Burroughs essay, a Rimbaud poem and vintage crime films, particularly John Boorman’s 1967 classic “Point Blank.”

It’s obvious after the first half of the film that Jarmusch intends to create a parable between the clashing of bohemianism and capitalism meant to be viewed as how corporate america has suppressed the highly intellectual culturati. The scant dialogue supports this theme by touching upon subjects as art, music, literature, cinema, science, sex, and hallucinations. Regrettably, the words are vapid and random as is the essence of the film. The resulting riddle won’t do anything to broaden the filmmaker’s loyal fan base as his many followers will be left feeling as alienated as his central character.

Noteworthy is Jarmusch’s new exploration of the Spanish and Hispanic culture. The first words uttered in the film are “Usted no habla español, verdad?” (You don’t speak Spanish, correct?) which is a phrase that is consistently used by the several diverse and bizarre characters as an introductory code when they all initially meet our protagonist.  There are also some droll scenes that are mostly spoken in Spanish, as well as a long Flamenco sequence where a Spanish song is highlighted. The Hispanic theme also permeates into the casting choices with the hiring of acclaimed Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal and Spanish American actress Paz de la Huerta. Bernal’s performance is not a stretch of his acting abilities, but his showing is merely a decision to work with one of his favorite directors.

‘The Limits of Control’ is tedious, excessively sober and vastly abstract for the common moviegoer. An offense that needs to stopped and that perhaps never will.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Namreta Kumar
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2009/11/20 at 12:00am

Reviews

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

11.20.2009 | By |

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

It seems like it took a long while coming, but New Moon just does not thrill audiences the same way Twilight, the movie or the books have. Overall the film covers the basics of the novel but fails to deliver as compelling a story.

As with any rewrite, stories have to be manipulated to adapt however for a novel about the development and growth of two prominent characters and relationships this film never fully develops. Everything about the film, from the music to most of the liberties, seems so disconnected and distant that it always feels like you are watching clips of the book.

Despite the problematic nature of the adaptation Chris Weitz’s constant desire to keep the original style of the film was very rewarding. With the exception of the almost obvious edits to existing sets, the overall style of the film and direction are what keeps this film close to the original novel. The novels established characters all seem very believable; however the triangle that is supposed to be formed at the end of the film, almost seems established from the start.

As a movie audience it is hard to see how much Bella has grown attached to Jacob without inserting dialogue. However, for a two-hour movie, this movie comes up short of making any progress and so the dialogue falls flat. In fact when it finally seems to be getting somewhere the conclusion of the film picks up its pace too rapidly and then it almost seems like a second films is starting.

Unfortunately this film just never gets passed the dramatics of a smaller role for Edward and fails to deliver the conflict that is supposed to drive this film and fuel the next.

Broken Embraces
Jack Rico
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2009/11/19 at 12:00am

Reviews

Broken Embraces

11.19.2009 | By |

Broken Embraces

One of Spain’s most talented sons gives cinema a new work titled ‘Broken Embraces’. Pedro Almodóvar reunites with Penélope Cruz to once again give us a visually sensual and beautiful, bold and impressive theater of the mind, but one that regrettably doesn’t break new ground. It is not his best film and thus the reason it wasn’t selected to participate in Spain’s Oscar selections for this upcoming ceremony. It is by no intention a bad film, it simply isn’t overwhelming. Were we asking for too much? Was that the problem?

The premise is interesting and very Almodovar. Harry Caine (Lluís Homar), a screenwriter/director, suffers a near fatal crash that leaves him blind. After healing from his wounds 14 years later, he finds himself directing and editing his last movie which starred his eternal love.

There is beauty in his work, but I believe there was also writers block, which is why he recycled so much of his favorite films such as Elevator to the Gallows, Voyage to Italy and his own Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Pedro took the opportunity to become Tarantino in this film and craft a class in filmmaking to us all. His new work combines amour fou, crime-noir melodrama, satirical comedy, complex structures and subplots and anything else his head could devise. He’s good but his ambition got the best of him and the construction of the story ultimately did not rise to the levels of his previous works. It looks as if his focus left the narrative and shifted to the technical aspects and look of the film. Almodovar is accountable for his own success and it burns him here.

Nonetheless, the minor imperfections do not damage his reputation as a dexterous helmer nor should it influence your decision to see the movie. Penelope Cruz gives another mesmerizing performance as the “femme fatale” but one that doesn’t rival her character in passion and charm from ‘Volver’. The rest of the cast shows why Spain is a gold mine full of talented actors.

In a broad comment, this year was specifically a great year for Spanish movies. The box office has reaped the benefits of their marvelous stories and productions and we’re all the better for it. Almodovar is being challenged by other filmmakers such as Isabel Coixet, Fernando Trueba, Daniel Sánchez Arévalo and Alejandro Aménabar (half Chilean). I hope to see their work rival his because Hollywood awaits them desperately.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans
Jack Rico
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2009/11/19 at 12:00am

Reviews

Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans

11.19.2009 | By |

Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans

For those of you who have seen Abel Ferrara’s original Bad Lieutenant from 1992, don’t think that this new version, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, from director Werner Herzog is a remake, a re-imagining, or a sequel. It’s a stand-alone project worthy of your time and money. It is entertaining, engaging and oddly funny.

When we first meet Sergeant Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), he’s a good cop, risking his life to save a prisoner from rising flood waters and suffering a permanent back injury as a result. When we next encounter him, six months later, he is receiving a commendation and being promoted to lieutenant, but he has secretly become addicted to vicodin and cocaine, the second of which he is stealing from the police store room. As his addiction escalates, his behavior becomes increasingly unstable, with his actions endangering his current case: a multiple homicide committed by local drug kingpin Big Fate (Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner). The walls start closing in on Terence, with a client of his prostitute girlfriend (Eva Mendes) sending goons to extort money from him, his bookie demanding that he pay his $5000 tab, and Internal Affairs going after his gun and badge.

As I remember the original Bad Lieutenant, one of the first films to ever receive an NC-17, has Harvey Keitel giving one the great performances on screen in the last 20 years. His acting was so honest and engrossing, that it made me look at NYPD cops in a whole different light. Ferrara himself added his trademark New York grit which was just as powerful as Keitel on screen. In this new version, German director Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre, The Wrath of God) known for his unforgettable documentaries, gives this worn out bad cop movie an injection of adrenaline that will satisfy fans of the original film and of his own.

Nic Cage gives his best performance on celluloid since Adaptation. He reminds us of the old Cage from Wild at Heart and Leaving Las Vegas. He is fully invested in his character and makes you wonder why he ever did Ghost Rider or Next? There were some over the top scenes, but I think it was simply a stylistic choice. Eva Mendes on her end, does a descent job in complementing Cage very well as the sexy, gritty and loving hooker he’s in love with. For the most part, Eva’s roles throughout her career are very similar. I would like to see her stretch her skills a bit as she did in ‘Hitch’, but these roles prohibit any chance of it.

Some portions deter from the movie being perfect, but nevertheless, it’s the type of movie you walk out of the theater talking about for days.

Mammoth
Karen Posada
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2009/11/19 at 12:00am

Reviews

Mammoth

11.19.2009 | By |

Mammoth

Unfortunately the movie ‘Mammoth‘ doesn’t match the expectation that the trailer makes us build. The film was all drama and I had hoped to see more than that. It tries too hard to create tension and suspense but at the end nothing happens. It tries to take on too many themes, but doesn’t fully explore anything specific and this is why it fails.

 

This is the first movie in English by the Swedish director Lukas Moodysson, he is full of new ideas that are not found in Hollywood. ‘Mammoth’ focuses on a upper-middle class family that lives in New York City. Leo (Gael García Bernal) creator of a website for video game fanatics, enters a world new to him of travel and more money which he is not used to. Business takes him away from his family to explore Thailand, a third world country where he is all alone and out of place, at this point the movie touches upon the brutal poverty and child abuse found there. His wife Ellen (Michelle Williams) is a doctor and because of the demands her career entitles she doesn’t have much time for her family, with her husband’s absence she realizes that at home she feels like a stranger and bored. Their only daughter Jackie (Sophie Nyweide)  spends most of her time with her nanny, Gloria (Marife Necesito) and although she has no other option she prefers this than spending time with her mother; on the other hand Gloria who is from the Philippines treats Jackie like a daughter but is always thinking about her family in her native land.

 

Despite the fact that the movie is not good enough to welcome Moodysson with open arms, we have to appreciate the fact that he chose a Latin star in Gael García Bernal to be his main character in a movie that opens the door to him to the English speaking world. It’s surprising to see Gael García Bernal playing the role of an American who doesn’t have a trace to the latin world whatsoever. It’s a good thing that Moodysson tries to make the movie universal by filming in different places of the planet, but it’s disappointing that the film doesn’t have much essence.

The movie tries to leave us with the moral that family is more important than anything.

 

The message at the end is confusing though, it goes in a circle that makes us feel as if nothing happened; there’s no resolution or epiphany. It is also hard to feel bad for a family who seem to have everything, although the contrast with Gloria’s family who lives almost in complete poverty in the Philippines is a very interesting touch. I would like to support a director that doesn’t focus on Hollywood and an actor like Gael García Bernal who with his talent will get far, but I don’t think this movie will help much for that.

 

I don’t think it’s worth coming out of the movie theater confused and a little upset because this movie makes a twirl that leaves us dizzy.

Bruno
Jack Rico
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2009/11/17 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Bruno

11.17.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language.
Release Date: 2009-07-10
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham, Anthony Hines
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: No disponible.

 Go to our film page

‘Bruno’, starring comedian Sasha Baron Cohen, is a very funny film whose primary source of laughter is based on shock value. The more shocking it is the funnier it is… but is it? I’d like to think so, but many would disagree with me by arguing that it is insensitive, politically incorrect, tasteless and uncouth. I must admit though, because of its crass take on comedy, most of the scenes were cringingly and revoltingly funny.

Gay Austrian fashion reporter Brüno is fired from his show after disrupting a catwalk show during Milan Fashion week. Accompanied by his assistant Lutz, he travels to the United States to become a superstar.

At the premiere screening I attended in Los Angeles on the day Michael Jackson died, the mood was gray. Ten minutes into it, people were laughing, but 30 minutes later you could see people covering their mouths with their eyes wide open looking at the people next to them not believing what they just saw. “Was that just up on the screen?”, were just some of the comments made.

My advice to people who have a curiosity to see this film is if you have an aversion to sexual images, jokes or homosexuality, don’t go watch it. If you happen to be someone who is a religious fanatic and is easily offended by religious jokes, then stay away. For everyone else, go and enjoy what is easily one of the funniest and most offensive films in history! Oh and by the way, wear a condom before you see it. You’ll thank me after it.

Star Trek
Mack Chico
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2009/11/17 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Star Trek

11.17.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.
Release Date: 2009-05-08
Starring: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.startrekmovie.com/

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2009’s ‘Star Trek’ is a youthful, and very entertaining modern revival of the classic and outdated TV series and movie franchise starring William Shatner and Leonard Nemoy. This new version is an all out action film that manages to balance it with some terrific casting, CGI effects and humor. Very similar to what ‘Iron Man’ as a movie offered. Star Trek has been designed with the lofty goal of keeping current fans, repatriating lapsed ones and, by re-branding the name, opening the Trek universe to millions of new viewers. J.J. Abrams‘ attempt has mostly succeeded.

 

The storyline is essentially the deep exploration of the beginnings of Captain Kirk and Spock. This allows the story to establish the origins of all the classic characters and the circumstances that brought them all together. Within this framework, Kirk and Spock meet and soon become competitive cadets-in-training. With their drastically opposite styles, one driven by passion, the other by rigorous logic, they become defiant adversaries, each going all out to be th4 captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

 

Leonard Nimoy (the original Spock) makes a cameo in the role that made him famous, and the connection between “new Trek” and “classic Trek” is created.  Just like Nimoy’s appearance, there are a myriad of subtle homages to the old television series and Patrick Stewart films that the true Trekkies will appreciate. Oddly enough, Shatner was nowhere to be seen.

 

There are some narrative cracks though. Abrams and his screenwriters, longtime Trek fans Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Transformers, Mission Impossible 3), do their best to keep things engaging despite the tremendous constraints of the “origin” format, but there are times when the material feels rushed. When considering pace, this is most definitely that anti-Star Trek: The Motion Picture. No loving, languid shots here.

Star Trek is clearly an action-oriented motion picture, with an intensity that exceeds even that of The Wrath of Khan. The pace is blistering, and the movie is littered with the eye candy of expertly realized space battles. The special effects are beyond those seen in any of the previous ten Star Trek features. In addition to the battles, there are also chases, fight scenes, and all the other staples one expects from an action movie.

The casting could not have been better Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) truly embody the essence of the priginal characters. The dominican actress Zoe Saldaña plays Uhura, but with a new sexiness absent from the previous versions.

Ultimately, when the end credits roll, we’re left with the sense that Star Trek represents a good beginning. As a film tasked with getting all the characters together, re-booting a timeline, and finding a way to return a veteran actor to his beloved role, Star Trek works. There is some awkwardness here – it feels like the “hybrid” it is (or, as it has been called, “Not Your Father’s Star Trek”) but, considering how ponderous and stilted the Star Trek movie series had become, perhaps that’s not a bad thing. Still, as with any prequel/re-start, the real test will arrive with the next movie (purportedly in two years – assuming this one does not flop at the box office). The setup is complete; now it’s time to see whether the implied potential of this first entry into a new series can be realized in its sequel.

My Sister’s Keeper
Mack Chico
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2009/11/17 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

My Sister’s Keeper

11.17.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic content, some disturbing images, sensuality, language and brief teen drinking.
Release Date: 2009-06-26
Starring: Jeremy Leven, Nick Cassavetes
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.mysisterskeepermovie.com/

 Go to our film page

 

“My Sister’s Keeper” is two straight hours of emotional torture. Melodramatic in its essence and shamelessly exploitative in its purpose.

Based on the best-selling novel by Jodi Picoult, the film tells the story Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric) who live an idyllic life with their young son and daughter. But their family is rocked by sudden, heartbreaking news that forces them to make a difficult and unorthodox choice in order to save their baby girl’s life. The parents’ desperate decision raises both ethical and moral questions and rips away at the foundation of their relationship.

There are so many holes with this movie and so many questions that arise from them, that the crying your eyes out is just one way of expressing your dissatisfaction with it.
There is also the greater question of the ethics of bringing one child into the world simply to help keep another one alive, even though you may be putting that child through enormous amounts of pain and stress as a result–what would happen if that child finally decided that enough was enough and that she wanted to have some say in the matter as well? These are all intriguing questions and a smart movie would have been willing to deal with them in a thoughtful manner.

On the acting front, Cameron Diaz’s acting was stretched beyond its dramatic ability, but Alec Baldwin’s presence, as the attorney engaged by Anna to pursue her case, no matter how brief, invigorated the screen with some life and needed dry humor. Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) acts saintly and not at all real, while Joan Cusack, in an uncomfortably odd cameo, twitches and blinks as a judge with her own private tragedy.

All in all, this film will be appealing to those who have a flare for dramatic and love crying at a whim. Most will just be crying to get their money back.

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