Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 12th, 2013
“I don’t know if I’m an alcoholic, really, I just drink. I drink a lot.”
Movies that deal with alcoholism tend to either be relentless downers (Leaving Las Vegas, When a Man Loves a Woman) or use drunkenness as a catalyst for Hangover-style shenanigans and tipsy laughs (Arthur; Dean Martin’s entire act). In other words, drunks on film don’t usually look like Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed, the brisk, well-acted dramedy from writer-director James Ponsoldt.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 11th, 2013
On paper, pro wrestlers are the perfect action movie stars. Their beefy frames and larger-than-life personalities should make them naturals at kicking butt on the big screen, plus the performers are certainly familiar with choreographed combat. (This is the part where I planned to mention that wrestling is fake, but I don’t want to make anybody cry.) Even though Arnold, Sly and their brawny brethren have struggled at the box office recently — and are about 20 years past their heyday — WWE Studios has a sneakily clever thing going with its Marine franchise.
Starting with 2006’s The Marine, the company has created a recognizable and malleable action series. The movies don’t have anything to do with one another beyond the title, but they allow the WWE to push whichever wrestler du jour they want to promote by giving him his very own starring role. In other words, they could make Marine movies forever. Following in the footsteps of John Cena and Ted Dibiase Jr., Mike “The Miz” Mizanin is handed the keys to the action vehicle this time around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 6th, 2013
Normally when I see trailers for films about “inspiring true stories” I try to remind myself to avoid that film at all costs. Sure I’ve seen more than a few of these kinds of films, but that’s the problem with them, once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. When Chasing Mavericks was brought to my attention I was ready to ignore, but then I gave it a quick look at IMDB and to my surprise it had two directing credits, Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, which just so happens to be in my all-time top ten films) and Michael Apted (Gorky Park, Nell, Gorillas of the Mist), and with that my mind was made up. And lucky me it turned out to be one of my favorite films I’ve had the opportunity to review.
Ever since he was little Jay Moriarty (Johnny Weston) has been fascinated by the currents and the waves they produce. The obsession sets Jay off to learn how to surf, and by the time he’s 15 he’s managed to become one of the best young surfers in Santa Cruz, but the waves he’s conquering just aren’t cutting it. Till one morning he follows a local surf legend, who just so happens to be his neighbor, Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler), who is going out on an early surf run. Where they end up is at a hidden beach where Jay sees the biggest waves that are colossal in comparison to what he surfs daily, and he watches Frosty. These giants that Jay and many others believed to be nothing more than mythic surf lore are what are called Mavericks. And it is from this day on Jay sets off to try and surf one of these waves. For fear Jay will only get himself killed, Frosty agrees to train him to be able to survive the wave, and he has 12 weeks to get himself ready before the season ends.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 5th, 2013
If a movie starring Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vince Vaughn and a few other notable names only grosses slightly more than $20,000 — BoxOfficeMojo.com assures us that’s not a typo — does it make a sound? The natural assumption is any film boasting that kind of star power must be pretty bad to be completely ignored by distributors and the movie-going public. Lay the Favorite is a disappointing, low-energy effort, but it certainly deserved to make more money than what A Good Day to Die Hard will probably earn in the time it takes you to finish reading this sentence.
The film follows sweet dim bulb Beth (Rebecca Hall), a stripper who feels unfulfilled in her life and dreams of moving to Las Vegas to become a cocktail waitress. (This movie’s title should’ve been Aim Higher.) Instead, Beth gets a job working for eccentric sports bettor Dink (Bruce Willis) and proves to be something of a gambling prodigy, much to the chagrin of Dink’s scary wife, Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones). As Beth and Dink’s relationship becomes more complicated, she gets romantically involved with nice guy journalist Jeremy (Joshua Jackson) and professionally involved with Rosie (Vince Vaughn), a volatile rival of Dink’s.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2013
If you were alive at the time, you probably remember watching the seven tobacco company executives testifying in before a Senate committee on the addictive nature of their products. They all raised their hands to swear that they do not believe that nicotine is addictive. It made for great television of the absurd. It was great fodder for the late-night comedy routines, and almost every stand-up in the country found a way to work it into their material. It was the beginning of a changing environment in America toward smoking, in general. Most states have since passed "Clean Air Acts" which prohibit smoking from most public places. States have sued and ultimately won to recoup some of the money they lose each year on taking care of citizens who have ruined their health by smoking. Even more restrictions on advertisement have been implemented, and the idea of smoking being "cool" went out along with the billboards and sports stadium banners. The tobacco companies are still doing fine, however. They now export more product than they sell in the United States, and the lawsuits and advertisement bans have been little more than speed bumps on the profit margins.
Much of that swing in public opinion can be attributed to Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe). He was a scientist working for one of these "big 7" companies when he was fired. He had some fundamental issues with the work he was doing and left with a pretty generous severance package and a non-disclosure agreement that barred him from revealing what he knew.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 4th, 2013
By the time we meet most big-screen hitmen, they’ve already attained the level of badass-ery required to be efficient killers. Far fewer movies take the time to examine the circumstances that result in a person becoming a murdering machine. Interview with a Hitman — a British action offering from first-time writer/director Perry Bhandal — stands out from the pack because it’s a surprisingly thoughtful meditation on the consequences of killing.
After a dialogue-free first 10 minutes, we meet Viktor (Luke Goss), a highly-skilled hitman who agrees to sit down for a videotaped chat with down-on-his-luck movie producer Xavier (Patrick Lyster). The interview format is a convenient device that allows Viktor to tell Xavier (and us) about his rough upbringing in the Outlying District of Bucharest in Romania. Even as a kid (an effective, chilling turn by young Elliot Greene), Viktor never backed down from a fight. So after local tough guy Sergei (Danny Midwinter) comes to collect a debt from Viktor’s scumbag father, the boy asks Sergei for a job. Sergei teaches Viktor’s the tricks of the killing trade until an unfortunate incident puts them at odds, and Viktor has to flee the country.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 24th, 2013
“If the average civilian had been through the same stresses that you have been through, undoubtedly they too would have developed the same nervous conditions.”
The first time I saw The Master, I really didn’t like it. It was a terrible feeling. I’m a huge Paul Thomas Anderson fan, and Boogie Nights is one of my 10 favorite films of all time. So I walked into that theater excited to see what was being called a landmark achievement: the “Scientology movie” that wasn’t really about Scientology (but actually kinda was) helmed by one of the most talented directors working today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 23rd, 2013
Ever since Ben Affleck stepped behind the camera and took on the role of director, I’ve found myself not only becoming a fan of his work but believing the man has greatness ahead of him. When I first watched Gone Baby Gone, I was more than a little impressed; after all, it was his first time at the helm. But then Affleck released his follow-up film, The Town, and it blew me away. Sure, there were some great movies that came out that year, but the fact that it didn’t make the list of best picture nominees I just can’t understand. But with the release of Argo it would seem the Academy will have a chance to right that wrong and shower this film with plenty of adoration. Sure, this is pretty much a shoe-in for the best picture nomination, but not just because it’s great, but really, what is the competition?
There is a lot that I enjoyed, and dare I say loved, about the film. As the old Warner Bros. logo appeared on the screen I got a little excited. No time is wasted, thrusting us right into the middle of a protest growing out of hand, outside the US Embassy in Iran. The opening works great as the tension builds between the protestors and the Americans doing all they can to destroy all the confidential files they have on hand. With time running out before the embassy is over run, six Americans manage to escape taking refuge with the Canadian ambassador (Victor Garber).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 22nd, 2013
And you thought Thanksgiving dinner with your family was tense. For most of us, it doesn’t get much worse than critical parents, competitive siblings or that weird side dish no one really wants to try. (There always seems to be about a gallon of that stuff too.) Consider yourself lucky: unlike the poor souls in Deadfall, you’ve probably never been chained to the dinner table — not literally, at least — nor had a psychotic Eric Bana point a gun at your face.
On the surface, Deadfall kind of looks like the wintry crime thriller the Coen Bros. never bothered making. Addison (Eric Baan) and Liza (Olivia Wilde) are brother-sister crooks fresh off a big casino heist. One grisly car accident and a dead state trooper later, Addison decides splitting up would give them a better chance of reaching the Canadian border. Liza is picked up by Jay (Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Anarchy) a recently-paroled former boxer on his way home for an awkward Thanksgiving dinner with his retired sheriff dad (Kris Kristofferson) and his loving mom (Sissy Spacek). Everything comes to a head during the aforementioned Thanksgiving dinner.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2013
Back around the time I was born, when Tom Cruise had an ounce of sanity, a little movie called Top Gun swept across the globe, raking in over $350,000,000 worldwide, as well as sparking an interest in the US Navy and everything Tomcat, Skyhawk, and MiG related. Ever since its original release Top Gun has kept a hold on its audience, being played almost weekly, and now it makes its way into the world of high definition with its release on Blu-ray 3D.
For the few of you out there who don’t know, Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible) plays Pete Mitchell, better known to the rest of us as Maverick. He’s young, cocky, and he pilots an F-14 Tomcat. His wingman Goose (Anthony Edwards, Zodiac) keeps him in check with a cool head, and is the more cautious of the two. After another pilot turns in his wings, the two are given the opportunity to join the Top Gun fighter pilot school in which only the top 1% of fighter pilots are invited. Upon getting into the school Maverick believes himself to be the best there and borders on the line of being reckless, creating an enemy of fellow pilot Iceman (Val Kilmer, Heat). As the movie plays out Maverick falls in love, contemplates his lifestyle, loses people close to him, and faces death while trying to make it through the training. The movie pretty much wraps up in typical Hollywood style with a bow on it, but still manages to be a good watch.
