Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 8th, 2014
Anyone who ever sat through an elementary school science class knows that about 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water. We've all heard the spiel, but I don't imagine most of us spend much time contemplating how truly staggering that figure really is. Watermark seeks to convey the many different ways humans and the planet's water supply affect one another. The documentary is maddeningly scattered, but it also manages to capture and convey a small part of the world's awe-inspiring bigness.
Watermark is co-directed by documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal and visual artist/photographer Ed Burtynsky. Baichwal previously directed 2006's Manufactured Landscapes, which starred Burtynsky and his large-format photographs. For Watermark, the filmmaker and her former subject have teamed up for a globe-spanning, bird's eye view at H2O.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on July 3rd, 2014
“He's old! How he gonna relate to me?!”
For a good portion of his latest stand-up special, Sinbad playfully berates a 15-year-old audience member named Cory. It's mostly standard-issue, old man, “back in my day” ribbing. But the most incisive observation comes when Sinbad points out that Cory would probably much rather be in the audience for a Kevin Hart show. The feeling that Sinbad is no longer the hot comic of the moment — and hasn't been for a while — informs much of this inoffensive, baby boomer-friendly set.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 30th, 2014
What happens when you splice together the killer-couple kicks of Bonnie and Clyde and Natural Born Killers with the ritualistic depravity of torture porn offerings like Hostel and Saw? I'm not really sure who — if anyone — was looking for an answer to that particular question, but that didn't stop Scavenger Killers from going to extreme lengths to provide one. Unfortunately, this low-budget slasher flick/wannabe satire is entirely too clumsy and non-committal in its tone to pull it off.
The Killers at the center of this movie are a sanctimonious judge (Robert Bogue) and a buxom defense attorney named Clara Lovering (Rachael Robbins) who doubles as his lover/accomplice. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mention a character's, ahem, physical attributes while relaying the plot of a film, but I mention it here for two reasons. Firstly, Robbins' IMDb page features credits like Bikini Bloodbath Car Wash and Vampire Lesbian Kickboxers (I wish I was making this up); so I have a feeling she knows exactly where her bread is buttered. More importantly, all of Scavenger Killers plays out as if it were written by a particularly immature and debauched 13 year old boy.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 27th, 2014
“I like the fact that there's no desk. I like the fact that he's not wearing a suit and tie. And I like the fact that there's not some over-hyped studio audience being prompted to laugh at topical jokes that we're all gonna forget about in the next few days.”
For its second season, IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang! got bigger and bolder in the way it manically skewered decades of talk show and pop culture conventions. Not surprisingly, the show also got even weirder.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 26th, 2014
“It begins as a whisper. A promise. The lightest of breezes dances above the death cries of 300 men...”
It may have started as a whisper, but 300 quickly became synonymous with roaring, instant-classic declarations after it burst onto the scene in 2007. Zack Snyder's muscular adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel was an outta-nowhere blockbuster. When a movie achieves that level of success, there's usually a sequel in the works even as the opening-weekend grosses are still rolling in. Of course, that proved to be a bit trickier given what happens to the heroes at the end of 300.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 24th, 2014
“In 1956, a nationally-renowned fertility specialist met a former nightclub singer. Ten years later, they published a scientific study, which revolutionized our understanding of human sexuality.”
You can't call your TV show Masters of Sex and not expect to elicit a few chuckles. (You also can't be surprised if people go looking for it on Cinemax rather than Showtime.) Titillating title aside, Masters of Sex is actually an engaging, often-excellent period drama that shines when it's conveying the thrill of discovery and exploration. Also, it turns out there's a fair amount of sex.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 23rd, 2014
What would you do if you spotted your exact duplicate? Would you take a closer look so that your brain could try to confirm what your eyes were seeing? Check with your parents to make sure you didn’t have a long-lost twin they never told you about? And how long before you pinched yourself to ensure you weren’t dreaming? These were the sorts of questions that popped in my head as I watched Enemy, a stylish and mind-bending psychological drama.
The movie, which re-teams French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve with his Prisoners star Jake Gyllenhaal, is based on Jose Saramago’s 2002 novel “The Double.” It’s the story of Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal), a bored history professor who gives the same lectures — and appears to make love to his girlfriend Mary (Melanie Laurent) in the same way — over and over again. While watching a movie recommended by a colleague, Adam notices one of the actors playing a minor role looks exactly like him. After a little online research, Adam figures out the actor’s name, visits the talent agency that represents him, and eventually calls him at home.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on June 20th, 2014
“You sell 100 million records, and see how you handle it.”
If you’ve ever seen an episode of Behind the Music — or followed popular culture at all in the previous century — then you probably know artists tend to not handle that level of success very well. However, the rise and (inevitable) fall of the original Four Seasons lineup is unique for a number reasons. Unfortunately, very few of those reasons are captured in Jersey Boys, Clint Eastwood’s oddly lifeless, workmanlike adaptation of the joyous, wildly-popular Broadway musical.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 19th, 2014
“I got kids and I work, and it's hard sometimes. But, you know, boilerplate misery...alone in the world...might as well be a maggot sucking a dead cat's face. What's the point?”
That's how Louis C.K. describes his life during a season 3 episode of Louie. And since the FX comedy series — that is only nominally a comedy series — stubbornly and brilliantly defies any sort of easy categorization, the sad-sack declaration is also the best description you're likely to get of what the show is about.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 17th, 2014
“You are the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe. And you are capable of amazing things.”
There’s a worthwhile message in The LEGO Movie about the importance of deviating from life’s instruction book and indulging your imagination. But for me, the biggest thrill came from the way it became the first film without Toy Story in its title to tap into the anarchic (and anachronistic) spirit of playing with toys.
