Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 19th, 2015
“We’re not in the middle of the third act. We just got to the end of the first.”
Aaron Sorkin almost definitely knew The Newsroom had been simultaneously renewed for a third season and canceled when he wrote those words, which come at the end of the season 3 premiere. It’s a winking and bittersweet bit of writing for a show that seemingly infuriated as many more people than it delighted over the course of 25 episodes. (Which apparently amounts to a single season of Pretty Little Liars.) So how else would you expect The Newsroom to go out than with moments of singular brilliance mixed in with a few controversial bangs?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 17th, 2015
“Tell everyone to get ready. Jimmy is coming.”
If someone were to tell me while walking out of Schindler’s List that 20 years later Liam Neeson would be an action star, I would have thought they were out of their mind. Between the trio of Taken films and numerous films that seem to be cut from the same ilk, Liam Neeson seems to be walking in the same footsteps as Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood as being the go-to everyman who just so happens to be a badass with or without a gun. It’s that odd bit of typecasting that in many ways hurts Run All Night; after all, the trailers give us the vibe that this is nothing more than am action film where yet again his family is in peril, when really it has so much more going for it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 17th, 2015
I’m hard pressed to think of a movie star who is better at playing rich a-holes than Michael Douglas. He’s played a Murderous Rich A-Hole, a Rich A-Hole Who Gets Put In His Place, and a Self-Destructive Rich A-Hole, to name just a few. And that’s not even counting his Oscar-winning turn as Gordon “Greed is Good” Gekko, the Definitive Rich A-Hole. It’s tempting to tidily sum up Beyond the Reach as “Gekko’s Got a Gun.” Unfortunately, what starts out as a picturesque two-hander becomes more preposterous as it goes along before completely flying off the rails in the final act.
The larger-than-life corporate shark Douglas plays this time around is named John Madec. He hires a young, talented, brokenhearted guide named Ben (Jeremy Irvine) for a hunting expedition in the Mojave Desert. Director Jean-Baptiste Leonetti and screenwriter Stephen Susco let us know Madec is a jackass before we even lay eyes on him; as Ben walks into the local sheriff’s office to meet Madec, we see his monstrous Mercedes truck taking up three parking spaces outside.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 11th, 2015
“That’s your job as The DUFF…Designated Ugly Fat Friend.”
Let’s just get this out of the way right at the top. The idea that Mae Whitman — or any other actress cast as the lead in a mainstream Hollywood movie — is “Ugly” and “Fat” is absurd. (Not to mention entirely subjective.) So it’s tempting to dismiss The DUFF as the latest bit of evidence that there’s no truth in advertising. But then you’d be missing out on a charming teen comedy that grabs the snarky underdog baton previously held by the likes of Mean Girls and Easy A.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2015
"Some things stay the same. I mean the gamer is the game."
Stop me if you've heard this one before. A newspaper reporter and a cop go into a bar... It sounds like a setup for a pretty lame joke. It's actually the story of how one of the greatest television shows to ever air got started. It was the brainchild of two real-world players who hadn't yet seen their worlds portrayed accurately in television of film. They set out on a mission to change all of that. And, changing all of that is exactly what they did.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 5th, 2015
“To live is to consume.”
Sometimes it feels like we’ve already consumed every conceivable type of Hollywood blockbuster. Besides movies adapted from comic books or, um, older movies, we’ve gotten mega-budget films based on board games and theme park rides. And that’s why I was so excited and intrigued by Jupiter Ascending, especially when The Wachowskis’ nutso space opera was slated to hit theaters during what seemed like a particularly sequel-heavy summer of 2014. The movie, in theory, represented a wholly original vision. Instead, the messy, unnecessarily dense Jupiter Ascending is Star Wars. It’s also The Matrix, The Princess Diaries, Flash Gordon, and even a little Soylent Green.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 2nd, 2015
“That’s what you get when you hire a con man.”
As much fun as it is to watch clever, cagey characters try to outsmart one another on screen, the real appeal of movies about con artists is watching filmmakers try to pull the wool over the audience’s eye. It’s an especially tricky proposition when you consider that — thanks to the Internet — moviegoers might be more sophisticated than ever in terms of knowing how movies are supposed to work. (Or at least *thinking* they know how movies are supposed to work.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 2nd, 2015
The town of McFarland, California is North of Los Angeles and South of San Jose. More specifically, it is near Bakersfield and not too far south of Fresno. San Diego is practically spitting distance from Tijuana. I say this because much of California is alien to me. The movie McFarland, USA is about delving into the realities of California. Forget that this is a feel-good sports movie for a minute. This is a movie about the Latino experience from a true story about a coach from 1987, but the film updates some of the changes that have taken place since then. Today Latinos make up 39% of the population of California, making them the largest segment of California society. It is no secret that the trends toward America becoming predominantly Latino are still a ways off, but very real. The point is that America is changing, so get used to it. We are all Americans.
This film is very positive and inspiring, but often in ways that are unexpected. It is about how we can find value in the most unexpected places, and the new America is just as proud and strong. It is about hard-working people who are among the poorest in the country who can been seen as a reserve of unexpected strength.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 1st, 2015
“One thing one can be sure of is that there wasn't before him an Orson, and there'll never be a second.”
This year (May 6, to be exact) marks what would've been Orson Welles' 100th birthday. To celebrate, filmmaker Chuck Workman has made a charming documentary with a title as grandiose as its subject. Magician: The Astonishing Life & Work of Orson Welles is a thoroughly entertaining — if somewhat superficial — survey of one of the 20th century's greatest showmen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 27th, 2015
“Welcome to Cut Bank, MT. coldest spot in the nation.”
When you make a darkly comic crime thriller that centers around a bunch of bumbling schemers and a single, righteous cop — and then you name that movie after a frigid, real-life city in the northern part of the U.S. — the comparisons to Fargo are simply impossible to ignore. Thankfully, Cut Bank is buoyed by its own dry, lively cast of characters who are brought to life by a nimble set of performers.
