The Reel World

Vin Diesel. He is a man. A character who doesn't seem real. He is an actor who seems like an artificial creation. He seems to be all brawn and Cro-Magnon heft with just a tiny spark of sensitivity and some sense of inherent intelligence. It turns out Diesel started out making small independent films like Multi-Facial and Strays which led to Hollywood calling for the films Saving Private Ryan and The Iron Giant,which then led to Pitch Black and a TV movie called The Chronicles of Riddick: Into Pitch Black with Diesel playing the Riddick character.

What makes a bad movie? What makes a good movie? The standards are getting lost in murky waters, because many of the critics have no interest in film history and the clear record of what is great and what is garbage. That goes for many filmmakers too. Their standards are what works in the last 12 months and how to try out the latest technology. Unfortunately they often forget the tried and true basics like good writing and good acting.

It’s hard to believe it was way back in 2004 when Shaun of the Dead first splashed across the screen.  The film introduced those of us in the US to Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and since then their impact on geek pop culture is well beyond a simple cultish trend.  Shaun of the Dead would be the first film in what the trio would call “The Cornetto Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy”, Hot Fuzz would be the second title, and The World’s End would be the closing chapter. 

Meeting your significant other’s family for the first time can be a terrifying experience. Then again, being introduced to your son/daughter/brother/sister’s new boyfriend or girlfriend can be equally dicey for the family, since we’re talking about a total stranger being thrown into the mix. The best thing about You’re Next is how it takes this sort of recognizable family drama and gleefully twists it into a brutally violent — and brutally funny — horror film.

It's nice to see two Spielberg veterans in the same movie. It's been a long time since American Graffiti when Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss last appeared together. It's been a long time since Hooper in Jaws and Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but Dreyfuss and Ford don't appear together in this movie either. It's like they are in two different movies. Paranoia is a corporate espionage thriller with two CEO's played by Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman, who have strong ties and stronger hates. There is lots to like about the movie, but many, many missed opportunities too.

"There's no room for punks in suits. Just real heroes who can really kick ass."

You've heard me say many times in these pages that expectations kill. It's a rule I've found to be pretty solid when it comes to sequels. Like all good rules, there are exceptions. When it comes to Kick-Ass 2 it's the lack of expectations that will kill your enjoyment of the film. If you don't understand going in what to expect, you will more than likely hate this movie. If you already have a good idea what is going on here, be prepared to have a rip-roarin' time of your life.

“We don’t stop innovating.”

In Jobs, the iconic entrepreneur/inventor says these words during one of his many — and I mean MANY — inspirational speeches. It’s meant to be a “capture the imagination” moment for both his assembled techie troops and for those of us in the audience. Unfortunately, these sorts of platitudes come early and way too often in this biopic. More importantly, the film never really bothers to back them up.

Walking out of District 9 I knew I had just watched something special; it was more than a simple sci-fi film, it was a technical achievement that would make writer/director Neill Blomkamp a guy to look out for.  It’s been four years since District 9’s release and Blomkamp steps up to the plate with an even more ambitious project with Elysium.  For those who have seen the trailers, I’m sure like myself you were chomping at the bit as the visuals gave us hope for a film that would not only equal what District 9 did but surpass it in quality and scope.

For adults with kids, there is a great need for animated films to make the family happy. For movie studios, there is a great need for films that the entire family can go to that are not slapped with an R-rating which cuts down on profits. Two recent films recently made films about races, Planes and Turbo, showed a need for speed. More and more, the glut of these movies shows the need for greed. Greed is what makes studios only think about making money and not good movies.  I actually did like both Planes and Turbo, which is strange because I absolutely hated Cars 2, which was also a race movie.

The line between hilarious raunchy comedy and over-the-top raunchy comedy is very fine, and We’re the Millers tends to dance on both sides of it. In time such action will be revealed to be both a blessing and a curse, I suspect. With the young crowd, I believe the film will fall right into place with such movies as Horrible Bosses (a comedy which coincidently starred Aniston and Sudeikis) and to be more recent, This is the End. With more mature audiences, the raunchiness may prove to be slightly more than they were expecting to see. With me, I find myself on the side of the young.