The Reel World

Unfinished Business starring Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, James Marsden and Nick Frost is a raunchy comedy. I say that because it is the most important thing I can say that would make people want to see this movie. It is raunchy, but it is mixed with so many other issues and tones that the raunchiness and comedy sometimes get lost in the mix. The film is really more about anxiety and failure. There are so many elements mixed in that this emotional rollercoaster of a movie is so full of strange turns that it is difficult to enjoy the ride. All the performers are capable of great work and may even be doing great work here, but it gets lost. The cumulative effect is a sense of confusion, but I believe that there is a good movie here that could come out if everyone went back and did the whole thing again. The director Ken Scott is best known for having made the successful French Canadian comedy Starbuck, which was later remade as The Delivery Man starring Vince Vaughn. I assume that is how this whole project ultimately came together.

The original title for Unfinished Business was Business Trip, which would have been better since it gives focus to what's going on. Dan Trunkman (Vaughn) quits his job to start a new company in the opening scene of the movie. The opening scene of an argument in the break room with his boss and future competitor, Chuck (Sienna Miller) gets things off to a good start. Many people have expressed confusion about what the actual business is, and I think it would have helped early on to have included a funny scene explaining the mechanics of selling aftermarket metal waste for recycling. He immediately takes on two new employees in the parking lot in a typical heart-of-gold fashion. One is an employee let go because of age. Timothy McWinters (Tom Wilkinson) is only 67 and still feels he has a lot of living yet to do. The other major character is a problem from the outside. Mike Pancake (Dave Franco) is such a confusing mix of negative and positive qualities that any normal person would have instinctively said, “Sorry, I can't help you”. That Dan doesn't do that immediately makes you wonder if there isn't something terribly wrong with him as a businessman embarking on a new venture.

Despite the twinge of disappointment I felt as I exited the theater after seeing Elysium, I still believed writer/director Neill Blomkamp was more than a one-trick pony with District 9. Now two years after the release of Elysium, Blomkamp is set to release Chappie, a sentient-robot film that from the trailers evokes comparisons to Robocop and Short Circuit, which could mean either that could be a hit or another disappointment.  A disappointment could be trouble for Blomkamp. After all, his concept images and storyline for an Alien sequel has relit excitement for a franchise that many had felt died after the third entry.  I look at Blomkamp’s film and feel he is what the sci-fi genre has needed, a creative party who isn’t making films just because he can. Blomkamp is a fresh voice that the genre has desperately needed.  A voice that is willing to tackle social issues but entertain the masses at the same time.  When it comes to Chappie, despite my concern, despite all the naysayers, Blomkamp has made a film that takes many risks, and he comes so close to knocking it out of the park.

Chappie takes us into a world where the days of human police officers working the street has become a thing of the past.  It’s an experiment we’ve seen explored before, and most will think about Robocop in many of the early scenes.  As I watched, I couldn’t help thinking, was this nothing more than an attempt on Blomkamp’s part to show he should have been the one to helm the Robocop remake?  We even get a glimpse of another robot that is being designed by a mullet-brandishing Hugh Jackman that looks just like the ED-209, only this version is called the Moose.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

“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.)

What do you do with your life when your Dad is Chucky? You star in your own films. Of course, some of those are going to be of the horror variety. That's the story with Fiona Dourif who stars with Robert Englund and Thomas Dekker in Fear Clinic out from Anchor Bay. I got the chance to talk to her about her new film. Certainly, we had to touch on father Brad Dourif and her experiences in the Chucky franchise. Want to know what she had to say? Of course, you do. Bang it here to listen in on my chat with Fiona Dourif.

I hope you have your fuzzy cuffs ready. Not only is this weekend Valentine’s Day, but it is also the release of the highly anticipated film Fifty Shades of Grey.  It’s just about impossible to have not heard of the enormously successful book series that women across the globe have devoured and obsessed over since the books first hit the shelves.  It’s a phenomenon that has sparked interest in women to think of new and creative ways to spice things up in the bedroom.  On the other hand, since the announcement of the book being made for the big screen, men across the globe have dreaded the day that their wives and girlfriends would drag them to the theaters.  The excitement about this film with women is on par with ravenous frenzy that you see from most guys when we discuss such upcoming releases like Star Wars and Avengers 2.  After all the hype, does the film make audiences squirm with excitement and take up the crown as the raunchiest since 9 1/2 Weeks?

I went into the film knowing little to nothing about the books with the exception that the concept was originally written by El James as fan-fiction of the Twilight series.  I’m not the target audience, but even listening to friends discuss the book with me, I couldn’t help but feel mystified by the attraction for the story. After all, it seemed as though it was nothing more than a modern twist on the Harlequin romance.  The books have gotten women eager to explore their sexuality, which has led to a booming impact in the sex industry and S&M toys.  I couldn’t help but notice a report that mentioned that the fire departments are concerned about an upshot in emergency calls related towards couples planning to recreate scenes from the books and film over the weekend.  But I’m here to say that the hype is all for nothing more than a naughty version of Pretty Woman.

"Did you see the movie Trading Places?"

Well, this isn't that movie. It can be as funny as Trading Places, though. There aren't any shades of gray here either. It's good old fashioned “good guys and evil genius” stuff all the way. It's a thrill ride that we won't have to wait in long lines to get on. This is like going to a summer movie and trudging through the snow to get there. Depending on where you live, of course. I'm talking about Kingsmen: The Secret Service. 

Riding on the coattails of the success of the The Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit, studios have attempted to cash in on the revived interest in fantasy films.  There have been many flops along the way; Game of Thrones seems to be the only series that has managed to not only be a success but break out as a hit with a legion of loyal fans. Universal now has stepped up to the table to hopefully embark on what they could hope to be a new successful fantasy franchise with Seventh Son.   With Oscar-caliber actors headlining the film as well as some tremendous CGI work, is it enough to make this film a smash with audiences?  I’m afraid things are not so promising for this film.

Jeff Bridges plays Master Gregory.  Gregory is what is called a Spook, basically a knight of sorts that hunts down any and all kinds of supernatural forces that lurk about.  Gregory is one of the last of his kind, and after we see his young apprentice get himself killed, Gregory is tasked with finding a new apprentice to help combat the evils that haunt the night.  Gregory is older, and his days could be numbered considering the amount of drinking he does, so perhaps it’s because he understands his own mortality that there is little time to waste and that for the next man he is to train, there is no room for mistakes.  The method Gregory uses in choosing his apprentice leads us to the title; the chosen one should be the seventh son of the seventh son.  I’m not sure about the logic behind this; perhaps in the books we get more of a back story to this process, but logic is the last of this film’s problems.

“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.

"I found something."

Once in a while a film comes along that defies the current trends and styles in Hollywood. Inevitably, those films usually end up being dumped on the box office in the late winter months after the holiday blockbusters have run their course and the push for notice by the Academy has reached the end of the calendar year. It is in the depths of these cold months that studios deliver the almost-rans, the square pegs, and once in a while a gem that doesn't really fit any of the other models. Black Sea is absolutely one of those kinds of films. By next holiday season it will have been forgotten enough to contend for any of the awards, but that isn't to say it's not deserving. But as Clint told us many years ago in his own Academy Award winning film: "deserving's got nothing to do with it". Nowhere more have I witnessed that axiom proven over and over again.