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: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 9th, 2015
“You look at life like it’s a burden. Life is a gift.”
The best thing about Rectify — SundanceTV’s excellent, thoughtful slow-burn of a Southern drama — is that it gives equal weight to each of those viewpoints. Daniel Holden has spent more time as death row inmate than he has as a free man. As an 18 year old, he was convicted of the rape and murder of a teenage girl and spent the next 19 years in prison awaiting his execution. Daniel was suddenly freed after DNA evidence vacated his sentence, and season 1 showed him struggling mightily to adapt to life on the outside. (It also showed the outside world struggling mightily to adapt to him.)
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: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 4th, 2015
“Man, you are everything I’d hoped for…right down to the hat.”
For six stellar seasons, Justified went about its business in a manner similar to that of its slyly laconic, incorruptible hero Raylan Givens. The key word in that last sentence is “hero.” Justified premiered in the midst of the supposed new Golden Age of Television, which was largely defined by antiheroes like Tony Soprano, Dexter Morgan, and Walter White. Another one of those antiheroes — Mad Men’s Don Draper — recently signed off with a lot more fanfare than Justified got for its excellent last hurrah.
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: No Huddle Reviews by J C on May 28th, 2015
“There are some rough spots in His plan.”
I’m not the only person who’s reflexively rolled his eyes after an athlete or entertainer has thanked God for helping them win the Super Bowl or a Grammy. I personally don’t mean it as blasphemy; I just don’t believe God has a vested interest in the outcome of a football game. Following that logic, it seems silly to think He also roots *against* certain people. And if anybody has a right to feel like God is “against” them, it’s people like the real-life tornado survivors who appear in this admirable documentary, which illustrates how one can rise above anger and staggering loss.
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.
