At the Movies 2015: The Interview

Posted on April 3, 2015 by cornholio1980

The InterviewThe Interview
USA 2014
Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg & Dan Sterling
Directed by Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen
Watched on 18.02.2015

I guess we’ll never now how much of the craziness surrounding this movie at the end of last year (the threats, Sony Pictures deciding to pull out of a cinema release, their claim to want to bury this movie forever, and then their decision to put it out on VOD after all) was genuine, and how much of that was just a clever publicity stunt. However, there’s no denying that whatever it was, it was incredibly effective, making a lot more people interested in seeing the movie that there arguably would have been without all that commotion. Hell, they practically made watching “The Interview” a civic duty for everyone, in order to make a stand against terrorism and for freedom of speech. As for myself, I wouldn’t have needed all that; I was interested in “The Interview” as soon as it was announced. And after I finally saw it in the middle of february (over here, it actually got a regular theatre release), the thing that was on my mind first and foremost was: So this is what all the fuss was about?

Ultimately, “The Interview” is nothing more (or less) than a silly and harmless comedy, hardly deserving of the outrage that it allegedly got, and the stir it seems to have caused. It doesn’t have any sort of political agenda; it simply wants to entertain. A goal that, as far as I’m concerned, it mostly achieved. While I still think that “Superbad” is the best thing Goldberg & Rogen have done so far, and I’d also rate “This is the End” above “The Interview”, it was a decent enough comedy with a couple of very funny scenes. One of its problems was that I didn’t much care for the characters, especially naive-as-hell Dave Skylark. I also think that whenever they tried to get a little bit more serious, like with the argument between Dave and Aaron, they mostly fell flat on their faces. The whole movie is also extremely predictable. And, like with most comedies, not every gag hit home with me (for example, the Tiger-scene was a little bit too silly for me). The biggest drawback, however, was the beginning, which dragged along a bit. I don’t think that it was necessary to have such a long introduction. Rogen and Franco just play variations on a well-known theme here, so one could argue that we already know Dave and Aaron anyway.

However, once they finally arrive in North Korea, the movie gets funnier with every passing minute. I loved the portrayal of North Korea and how they try to trick Dave and Aaron into thinking that everything’s going great in their country. The movie especially comes to life after Kim Jong-un is introduced, who is played to great comedic effect by Randall Park. There are a couple of hilarious scenes, and I especially enjoyed how Dave and Kim seemed to bond – until Dave finally notices that his new best friend is a complete maniac. The best part of the movie for me, by far, was the last third, where they really ramped up the humor. I especially loved the showdown, where they pulled no punches, and which features one of the best uses of slow motion (not to mention Katy Perry’s “Fireworks”) in recent memory. That scene was absolutely genius. But as much as I think that it’s always better if a movie starts weak and finishes strong, instead of the other way around, I can’t completely dismiss the fact that they could have afforded to lose 10-15 minutes, especially in the first act, in order to speed things up a bit. Overall, “The Interview” is not an instant comedy classic, but it offered a couple of very funny scenes, and managed to entertain me well enough.
6/10


IMDB

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At the Movies 2015: Jupiter Ascending

Posted on April 2, 2015 by cornholio1980

Jupiter AscendingJupiter Ascending
USA | UK 2014
Written by The Wachowskis
Directed by The Wachowskis
Watched on 07.02.2015

In 2011 I started a new tradition: Watching a new movie release in the cinema on my birthday. This year, for whatever reason, I thought that it would be a good idea to make “Jupiter Ascending” my birthday screening (albeit, just this once, actually a day before my birthday). In my defense, when I sent out the invitations three weeks earlier, there were no reviews out yet, and while I didn’t expect another “Cloud Atlas”, I had high hopes for the new movie by the Wachowskis, who – despite one or two missteps (“Speed Racer” comes to mind) – are one of the more interesting filmmakers working today. And even when the first reviews started to drop in a couple of days prior to the screening, I remained hopeful that the impressive visuals would bail it out, at least in my view. After all, it wouldn’t have been the first time that I ended up liking a movie that got mostly slammed by critics. Unfortunately, in this case, I’m afraid they got it right.

“Jupiter Ascending” is the movie that I feared “Guardians of the Galaxy” would be, and that it probably would have been with a less talented director at the helm (as my friend Peter pointed out). A convoluted mess from start to finish, it randomly jumps from one scene to the next, without any flow and/or tension, and never amounting to a convincing, coherent whole. The beginning – usually with a movie like that, which introduces us to a new world, my favorite part – was boring as fuck, the action scenes, while shot competently, went on way too long and never really managed to grip me, and the romance didn’t work for me at all. There’s no chemistry between Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum, and the script likewise failed to convey their mutual attraction. When Jupiter finally confesses her love, it came totally out of the blue for me, and felt completely functional; they fall in love simply because the script demands it. The story itself doesn’t fare much better, relying far too heavily on well-known tropes as well as one of the favorite motives of the Wachowskis: humans as natural resources (see: “The Matrix”), which also starts to feel a little worn out by now. Probably the worst part of the movie, though, was the dialogue, which offered many unintentionally funny scenes, like the now-infamous “I’ve always loved dogs”-line. I couldn’t believe my ears.

Michael Giacchino definitely is one of my favorite film composers working today, and on its own, I also loved his work for “Jupiter Ascending”. Unfortunately, his music and the movie sometimes didn’t gel, feeling a little bit too pompous, trying to give the movie gravitas and weight that wasn’t really there on-screen (The best comparison that I can come up with on the fly is the swelling hero theme in “Kick-Ass” when he’s doing nothing more exciting than putting on his costume and posing in front of the mirror; however, there the discrepancy between the scene and the music was intentional). I also was quite disappointed that for a very long while, Jupiter Jones gets reduced to a simple, typical damsel in distress, spending most of the movie getting rescued by Caine. She’s a cue ball, getting thrown around between the different factions, without really actively doing anything. Thankfully, the Wachowskis finally give her two strong scenes near the end, but by then, it was already too late for me to overcome my disappointment in how they used her character.

Lastly, the acting unfortunately wasn’t all that good. Don’t get me wrong, Mila Kunis is always a pleasure to look at (the day I grow tired of looking at her face is the day that you’re officially allowed to euthanize me), and overall, I think she’s a competent enough actress. However, in “Jupiter Ascending” she seemed to be modeling, instead of acting. Channing Tatum fares slightly better, but the more I see him, the more I think that he’s more suited for funny movies like “21 Jump Street” than in dramatic roles like this. And Eddie Redmaynes portrayal of the main baddie – which seemed like a bad impression of Gary Oldmans Zorg in “The Fifth Element” – was absolutely terrible (even though I lay the blame for that mostly on the directors). He can really be thankful that most Academy members probably didn’t care to check out “Jupiter Ascending”; otherwise, he could have kissed his Oscar goodbye. Ultimately, the one actor who leaves this mess unscathed is Sean Bean, who is the only one on-screen who seems alive, and who arguably brings more to the role than there was to it on paper.

Having said all that, it’s not a complete disaster. The visuals are just as impressive as I expected them to be, offering up some hauntingly beautiful images. Also, there are a couple of nice ideas in here, as well as the occasional entertaining moment. And let us not forget the fact that at a time where Hollywood is dominated by sequels, remakes and adaptations, to actually have a big budgeted blockbuster that’s not based on a previously established franchise is a rare (and very welcome) commodity. That’s definitely something that works in its favor. Ultimately, though, originality will only get you so far (we have an axiom in german that roughly translates to “It’s better to steal well than to invent badly”). One would think that with my preference for Science Fiction, “Jupiter Ascending” would have been right up my alley; but quite to the contrary, I actually felt incredibly bored, getting more weary of the movie with every passing minute – thus, I have zero interest in ever watching it again. I can’t think of a more damning thing to say about a movie that, in the end, wants nothing more than to simply entertain.
3/10


IMDB

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At the Movies 2015: John Wick

Posted on April 1, 2015 by cornholio1980

John WickJohn Wick
USA 2014
Written by Derek Kolstad
Directed by Chad Stahelski & David Leitch
Watched on 30.01.2015

“John Wick” is a great revenve/action-thriller that calls to mind the good old 80s classics of the genre. It’s completely over the top, with an unstoppable, larger than life hero, and is very well aware of what it is and what it wants to be, without ever being ashamed of that. One the one hand, everyone plays it straight, without any obvious winks to the audience, and on the other hand, it has its tongue firmly in its cheek, never taking itself too seriously. It’s a delicate balance – but “John Wick” pulls it off splendidly.

One of my favorite things about the movie were the little tweaks to the standard formula. For example, instead of John Wick starting his mission of revenge because they killed his wife, they instead kill the dog that his wife bequeathed him. It’s a clever way to stick to the established formula, but without feeling like a complete, unoriginal rehash. I also loved the scene where John Wick disposes of one of the bad guys in a slightly surprising fashion (I’m staying deliberately vague in order to avoid spoilers; I trust you’ll be able to determine what I mean when/if you’ve seen the movie). The setup is short and to the point, and more than adequately establishes John Wick as our (reluctant) hero, as well as Iosef Tarasov as the cold-hearted bastard who wrongs him – which also brings John Wick at odds with Iosefs father, and mafia boss, Viggo. The cast is all game, be it Keanu Reeves (who seems to strive when put in a one-dimensional as well as physically challenging role like this), bad guys Michael Nyqvist (doing a better job of being threatening here than he did in “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”, where in my opinion he was one of the few weak spots) and Alfie Allen (who pretty much plays a variation of his Theon Greyjoy, who – especially in seasons 1 and 2 – was very similar to Iosef), an ass-kicking Adrianne Palicki, as well as great supporting turns by Willem Dafoe and Ian McShane.

The true star of “John Wick”, though, is the direction by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who have a great eye for action, and show all those modern action-movie-director-hacks how it’s done. Instead of being too chaotic and thus totally incomprehensible, the action in “John Wick” manages to be very clear, and still be fast, dynamic, spectacular and thrilling. Guess what: They actually hold a shot for a couple of seconds and led the action play out in front of your eyes! The shootout in John Wicks house is a particular standout, but the other fight scenes are great, too. Overall, “John Wick” offers some of the best action scenes that I’ve seen in quite a while. The only thing that I didn’t much care for is the first scene, which continues Hollywood’s recent tradition of starting the movie a little bit down the road (or even close to the end), and then doubling back. While this device can have its justification, I think it gets vastly overused as of late; and also, overall, I prefer to have a movie play out chronologically, without knowing what’s about to come. Otherwise, there’s this danger that you only keep waiting for this one shot from the beginning, instead of paying attention to what’s actually going on onscreen. Apart from that small issue, though, I loved it.
8/10


IMDB

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At the Movies 2015: The Theory of Everything

Posted on March 31, 2015 by cornholio1980

The Theory of EverythingThe Theory of Everything
UK 2015
Written by Anthony McCarten, based on the book by Jane Hawking
Directed by James Marsh
Watched on 24.01.2015

After having a hard time with them when they became increasingly popular during the last decade, I think that I’m finally starting to ease up on biopics. Don’t get me wrong; this doesn’t mean that I’m not aware of their drawbacks. A 120-minute-movie will never be able to convey the same amount of information as a biography. Also, with a biopic you have to be aware that you see a dramatized version of events, screened through the filter of the script writer, the director, the actors etc. However, one thing that very well works in their favor, is the emotional effectiveness. It simply is much more touching – and gripping – to watch a well done movie than to read a non-fiction book. Thus, I’m willing to grant them a little leeway when it comes to the facts, because if I’m interested in the truth behind it, I can always pick up the book (or consult Wikipedia).

Overall, “The Theory of Everything” worked quite well for me. It was touching without ever getting sappy, and the movie managed to really get me invested emotionally. One thing that I especially liked was the emphasis on Jane Hawking (not really surprising, given that it’s based on her biography – something which I wasn’t aware beforehand). We enter Stephens life the day that she enters his, and also leave it if not the last time they saw each other than at least at a turning point for both their lives. I really loved that all through Stephens suffering, Jane’s own struggle – and bravery – wasn’t forgotten. Nevertheless, “The Theory of Everything” of course first and foremost is a movie about Stephen Hawking and his struggle with ALS, an illness that traps this remarkable mind in an increasingly useless body. I really liked that “The Theory of Everything” doesn’t gloss over Stephens frustration and despair. Anyway, I found his deterioration quite heartbreaking to watch.

The cast is really good, especially Eddie Redmayne, who gives an impressive performance as Stephen Hawking (I still would have preferred for Michael Keaton to walk away with the Oscar honors, though). Felicity Jones has the less flashy role, and I think I was a little bit more impressed by her work in “Like Crazy”, but nevertheless, she also gave a great, natural performance. James Marsh enhances the movie with a very stylish direction that offers a couple of beautiful images and shots that you normally wouldn’t expect in a movie like this. However, maybe the biggest reason why this movie worked for me as well as it did is Jóhann Jóhannssons extremely elegant and emotive score. The one thing that didn’t work for me was the way the movie intercut Jane’s possible (and at least intended) adultery with Stephens seizure, which rang extremely untrue to me. That just smelled Hollywood; and seemed to almost infer some kind of judgment from above. And as much as I enjoyed that Jane was a big part of the movie, “The Theory of Everything” could have done a better job conveying the importance of Hawking’s work for modern science. Apart from that, however, I felt that it was wonderful, lovely tribute to this remarkable human being, as well as his courageous wife.
8/10


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At the Movies 2015: Taken 3

Posted on March 25, 2015 by cornholio1980

Taken 3Taken 3
France 2014
Written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Directed by Olivier Megaton
Watched on 13.01.2015

While I wasn’t quite as taken with “Taken” as many others were, it was a decent enough action thriller with some memorable scenes (7/10). The second one was a rather disappointing and very uninspired “more of the same”-kinda sequel (4/10) – and unfortunately, the law of diminishing returns is once again confirmed by “Taken 3”, which was another big step down for the series.

One of the very few scenes that I found memorable – albeit solely for personal reasons – was the beginning, where that poor, innocent bookkeeper got killed. Working in a finance department myself, he had my sympathy; I would be really pissed if some guy would kill me because my boss stole some mob money. Not my fault! Anyway, I found that funny. There’s another great scene a little later on, when Mills calls his daughter to tell her that her mother has been killed (come on, that’s not a Spoiler; it was in the fucking trailer!). Very well acted by Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace, it was pretty much the only moment of the movie that worked for me. The rest, however, ranged from laughable to flat-out terrible.

It already starts with the basic premise, which is a bad rip-off of “The Fugitive”, with a couple of things that don’t really make sense. For example, I don’t really buy Bryan Mills as prime suspect, given how little time elapses between him leaving the Bagles shop and the call to the police (which occurs before he enters the house). One would think that there’s a way to prove when exactly Bryan Mills left the store; maybe with the time stamp on the receipt, or from the video camera. So excluding the theory that he bought the Bagels for his already murdered wife in order to avert suspicion (which would then raise the question why the disturbance was called in only a couple of minutes later), framing him for the death of his wife in that way doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Thus, I couldn’t really buy into the setup, which means that the movie lost me pretty early on.

It doesn’t get better, let alone more plausible, afterwards. One of the most ridiculous sequences (which, even though it’s still early in the game, is a major contender for my prize of this years dumbest scene) involves Bryan lulling his daughter into the bathroom of her university to have a quick talk. Earlier, it’s established that she’s a creature of habit, always buying the same yoghurt (or whatever) from the same store, taking it from the exact same spot. Thus, Bryan uses this to leave a note on her drink, telling her to drink it immediately. Turns out it was slightly poisoned, so that about an hour later, she would get sick and go to the bathroom (how he knew her curriculum, which building and/or room she would be in, and what’s the closest bathroom from there, is anyone’s guess). So, riddle me this: Why go to all that trouble instead of just writing “Bathroom, 10 a.m.” on the note? Unfortunately, the basic plot isn’t much better, overly relying on coincidence, and with a plot twist that at least I did see coming from a mile away.

Still, and as unfathomable as it may sound, the script isn’t the worst part of the movie, but rather Olivier Megaton’s absolutely terrible direction (with help from his film editors Audrey Simonaud & Nicolas Trembasiewicz). After a couple of recent movies with surprisingly clear action, I thought that the worst “post-action” (a term coined by the incomparable Vern) days would be over. Alas, it seems I cheered too soon. “Taken 3” is again shot in a style that makes the action completely incomprehensible. The worst offender here is the editing. There are just way too many cuts (during some sequences, I counted as much as 4-5 cuts in a single second), totally chopping up the action. However, there’s also your fair share of shaky cam and strong zooms, which further add to the incomprehensibility of the action scenes. Add to that the fact that this was trimmed down to a PG-13 – sometimes with hilarious results, like bullet wounds on a naked chest that don’t bleed – and what you get is one of the worst action movies to hit the big screen in a very long time.
2/10


IMDB

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At the Movies 2015: Fury

Posted on March 24, 2015 by cornholio1980

FuryFury
USA | China | UK 2014
Written by David Ayer
Directed by David Ayer
Watched on 07.01.2015

I’m not the biggest fan of war movies – at least those that seem to be more interested in hero worship than in its atrocities – but despite that, I was quite looking forward to “Fury”. The trailer looked great, I liked the concept, the cast seemed mostly promising, and I enjoyed “Sabotage” (even though it seems I was the only one), thus I was ready to see more from David Ayer. And while I did have my problems with “Fury”, overall it was a dark and gripping movie with some very tense scenes.

First, let’s get my issues with the movie out of the way. Like “Lone Survivor” – which even put the ending in its title, for fuck’s sake! – I found “Fury” to be rather predictable, at least when it comes to the question of who lives and who dies. Pretty much from the beginning I had a very strong impression of how this would ultimately end, and instead of proving me wrong it turned out that I was exactly right. Much more damning though were two scenes that I had my problems with – mostly because I couldn’t really tell David Ayer’s intentions. SPOILERS (OBVIOUSLY): The first scene that I found troublesome was Wardaddy forcing Norman to kill a german soldier. While it was shot in a way that made it feel quite harrowing, I didn’t like the fact that he kinda had to do it in order to prove himself to the others, and to get their respect. Plus, given the fact that Wardaddy is – apart from that one scene – shown in a pretty positive, sympathetic light, I wasn’t quite sure if David Ayer thought that incident was actually a good thing, and that it was necessary for Norman to “man up”. Far more questionable, though, was the scene with the two german women that they visit after liberating the city from Nazi forces. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Norman sleeping with the young woman was supposed to be a romantic thing, just because he’s the youngest of them, and there seemed to be at least a glimmer of affection between the two of them. Nevertheless, she didn’t really get a say in that matter, did she? She couldn’t flat-out refuse, she could only choose which one of them she would fuck. That’s still rape, guys. And while we all know that unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s going on in war times, the movie didn’t make it look like the despicable act that it was. Which really irked me the wrong way.

Apart from that, though, “Fury” was a really good, intense and gripping war movie. I especially liked the way it was shot. The shots fired by the tanks almost looked like laser blasts from a Science Fiction movie. The sound mix was very aggressive and striking, too. The entire movie was incredibly well shot, and totally different from what we’ve seen from Ayer so far. He completely dropped the shaky cam and the pseudo-documentary feel, instead giving the movie a very cinematic look. The fight scenes were pretty gruesome and trilling, and the finale, where they’re stuck in the tank, was especially tense. The cast was pretty good, too. While I don’t care much about Shia LaBeoufs recent antics and don’t think that Spielberg & co. did him a favor by trying to make a leading man out of him – since for that, he lacks the necessary charisma – he’s a decent enough actor who works especially well in supporting roles, like he does here. Even better, though, were Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal. I was slighty disappointed by Brad Pitt, who I felt didn’t give Wardaddy the necessary depth, but otherwise, he was ok. Who really impressed me, though, was Logan Lerman. Even though I already saw (and really liked) him in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, he shows a maturity and intensity in his performance here which was far removed from his lighthearted “Percy Jackson”-days. With his young, babyface looks he was also perfectly cast for the role of gentle, innocent Norman, who gets thrown into this gruesome war. Overall, apart from the aforementioned scenes and the predictable outcome, I quite enjoyed “Fury”, and am looking forward to whatever David Ayer has in store for us next.
6/10


IMDB

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The Shape of Things to Come

Posted on March 20, 2015 by cornholio1980

Now that I’m finally done with my reviews of last year’s film festivals in Vienna, it’s time to turn my attention to 2015, and to give you a little preview of what to expect on my blog in the next couple of months. As I’ve stated previously, last year this blog was still in prototype-mode, used mostly for reviews of movies that I saw at film festivals. However, from now on, I plan to review every movie that I see (as long as I haven’t reviewed it for this site before, of course), starting from the beginning of 2015.

Two exceptions that prove the rule: 1.) At the end of each year, I hold a movie marathon in order to catch up on some new releases that I missed when they ran in the cinema (in order to make my Best Of-list as informed as possible). For example, at the end of 2014, I watched 34 movies in 6 days. No way I’ll be able to review all of those, come December 2015. Thus, most of these will fall through the cracks. 2.) While I try to review all the movies that I’ve seen as chronological as possible, new releases that I’ve seen in the cinema will always have the highest priority. So for example, if I’m in the middle of reviewing the movies that I watched on the day of the Oscar telecast, and then go to the cinema to see “The Avengers: Age of Ultron”, the latter will get precedence.

In order to make it all a little bit more manageable, I will create new categories to go along with the already established categories for both movie festivals, “/slash” and “Viennale”. So far, those are:

At the Movies
All new movie releases that I watch in the cinema, beginning with January 2015, and in chronological order. This category takes precedence over all others, meaning that I’ll review my visits to the cinema first, and also that if a movie would also fit into another category (like “Oscar Warm-Up”), it will be included here.

Birthday Celebrations
Despite me making it plain that I didn’t want any presents, some of my friends still insisted on giving me some cinematic gifts. Those will be reviewed in this category, which will also include the two movies that I watched as my private birthday film festival.

Oscar Warm-Up
Every year, I prepare myself for the Oscar-telecast by spending the day before watching movies. It’s usually one classic film that I’ve never seen before, and then a couple of newer ones that I haven’t seen in a while. Also included will be all the Best Picture nominees that weren’t already reviewed in one of the other categories.

Maynard & Me
Ever since Maynard needed a place to stay for last years “/slash 1-1/2” film festival, he comes to visit me on an irregular basis (I strongly suspect that it’s not due to my irresistible charm, but rather my three cats), and as two huge movie geeks, we of course usually spend those watching films. This category will brave our movie shenanigans, and will also include a link to his review of the movie (if available).

Movie Mishmash
Finally, if I watch a movie at home, and it doesn’t really fit any of these (or yet-to-be-conceived) categories, it will be included here.

In the future, there may also be some other articles, other than movie reviews (like there already were in the past, occasionally, like my short obituary for Leonard Nimoy), but before I can even think about what those might be, I first have to catch up with the movies that I’ve seen in 2015 so far.

Lastly, I once again want to express how grateful I am for every follow, visit, share, like and/or comment. I hope you all will continue to do so, and that you’ll enjoy reading my reviews at least as much as I do writing them. Onward!

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Coda to /slash #6: Tusk

Posted on March 19, 2015 by cornholio1980

TuskTusk
USA | Canada 2014
Written by Kevin Smith
Directed by Kevin Smith

“Tusk” was one of the movies that were shown at this years “/slash” Christmas Double Feature (unfortunately, I missed the second one, the 70s slasher classic “Black Christmas”, since I had to get up early on the next day), and, as is happens, it was also the very last movie that I saw in the cinema in 2014. As such, I felt it to be a rather disappointing capper to a very good movie year.

I’m rather indifferent to Kevin Smith. I’m neither one of his fanboys nor one of his haters. He made a couple of nice geek/slacker-movies at the beginning of his career, but when it comes to his output in this millennium, he was more miss than hit for me. As far as his more recent outings go, I thought that “Red State” was decent enough, even though it was a little uneven. I gave it a 5/10. This, however, was another step down for him in my book. Based on an idea for a movie from his Smodcast, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he and his co-smodcaster Scott Mosier must have been completely stoned when cooking it up. And it probably would have helped if I would have ingested some not-yet-legal substances myself before the movie, but since I didn’t, I have to say that it got a little too weird for me. What I liked most about the movie was the first meeting of Wallace with Howard. Here, the movie builds up a nice, gloomy and scary atmosphere, and Parks was absolutely mesmerizing in that scene. Too bad that most of what came afterwards didn’t really live up to this dark, broody beginning.

One of my main problems with the movie was that it was just a tad too absurd for me to be able to take it serious. Thus, as soon as Wallace found himself in the Walrus-costume, “Tusk” didn’t really work for me anymore. Same goes for the showdown, which I thought was just silly. I didn’t even really find it funny, let alone gripping or tragic. The same is true for the way the movie ultimately ends. Now, I guess one could argue that it’s supposed to be more funny than frightening anyway, but the problem is that the first half definitely plays more like a horror film than a comedy (despite some scenes that are supposed to be funny, like the Katana-Kid). Thus, just like “Red State” (which started strong, before deteriorating into a rather generic action thriller/siege-movie), “Tusk” felt rather schizophrenic to me. Even more damning, though, is the fact that Wallace seems like a complete asshole, thus I didn’t much care about what happened to him. Johnny Depp’s cameo also seems ill-advised. Guy Lapointe was a little too typical of his last roles for me, and while he did get one or two laughs out of me (the gun-joke was actually my favorite of the entire movie), I’m getting tired of (t)his shtick.

That said, if there’s one thing that I have to hold into “Tusks” favor (apart from another great performance by Michael Parks, of course) it’s its uniqueness. I simply can’t imagine anyone else other than crazy-stoned (and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible) Kevin Smith cooking up this particular kind of weird. I just wish my un-stoned self would have been able to appreciate it more.
3/10


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Viennale 2014 – Day 14: Turist (Force Majeure)

Posted on March 18, 2015 by cornholio1980

TuristTurist
Sweden | France | Norway | Denmark 2014
Written by Ruben Östlund
Directed by Ruben Östlund

“Turist” was the Closing Night screening of last years Viennale (which also means that yes, more than four months later, I’m finally finished with my Viennale-reviews!), and while it had a nice, interesting concept, I wasn’t that happy with the execution. And when I say execution, I don’t mean the directing (which was fine) or the acting (which was top-notch), but rather the direction in which the story unfolds after that great, heart-stopping avalanche sequence, and the emphasis Ruben Östlund choses for the middle part of the film.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MILD SPOILERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apart from the stellar acting, what I loved most about the film was the idea behind it. Even though the avalanche turned out to be ultimately harmless, it seemed like a dangerous situation, and the way Tomas reacted shatters Ebbas trust in him, and threatens to tear this family apart. I really loved this idea. We all would like to think that we would keep our cool in a potentially dangerous, maybe even life-threatening situation, and that we would put the lives of our loved ones before our own. But the truth of the matter is, none of us can know beyond doubt how we would react, until we find ourselves in such a situation. Something that I hope all of us will never experience, thus we’ll never be at risk of learning the awful truth that Tomas and his family have to learn about him. The question how they deal with this shocking revelation, and how – if at all – they can continue their life together after this incident, could have been really interesting and fascinating. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like the direction the movie took afterwards.

See, in my opinion, the focus should have been solely on Tomas bolting from the scene. Instead, there’s this weird shift in emphasis, since Tomas totally denies (to his wife, their friends, and maybe even to himself, even though I don’t really see how that should work) having done that. Thus, the middle part of the movie is more about him denying that he left his family behind, instead of actually being about him leaving his family behind. Which in my opinion was far less interesting. Plus, it also made him look goofy. Thus, the middle part of the movie didn’t really do much for me. I also could have done without the typical gender roles that the movie brought in. “Turist” makes a big deal of the fact that he’s supposed to be the man of the family – as if it would have been any less worrisome if Ebba, instead of Tomas, would have left her family behind in order to safe her own skin. Finally, the lengths that they ultimately go to in order to try to leave this incident behind them and move on with their lives, didn’t convince me. I don’t think that you can cover up such a hard truth with such a blatant lie, and while the movie does suggest (with the bus scene at the end) that it probably didn’t really work anyway, I just can’t imagine people behaving in such a make-believe manner. It just didn’t ring true to me. Then again, I’ve never been in a situation like that, so what do I know? Ultimately, though, I didn’t feel like the movie lived up to its great, fascinating premise.
5/10


IMDB

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Viennale 2014 – Day 13: Time Lapse

Posted on March 17, 2015 by cornholio1980

Time LapseTime Lapse
USA 2014
Written by B.P. Cooper & Bradley King
Directed by Bradley King

I have to say, as much as I love the Viennale and its glimpse into the more artistic side of cinema, but… after 12 days of “artsy” movies “Time Lapse” definitely was a nice and highly welcome change of pace. While very much an Indie-movie, it felt much more mainstream than the vast majority of films that I saw at the Viennale last year. It’s a neat little time travel thriller; not too complicated, but not too dumbed down either, and one that sticks to its rules – which is always a plus.

One of its biggest strengths is the concept. There already are a lot of time travel-thrillers out there, but “Time Lapse” feels fresh and original, because here, it’s not the people who travel through time, but instead you got this weird mix of time travel-device and camera that allows you to catch a glimpse of the future. It’s a neat concept that “Time Lapse” uses to great effect, since I was just as excited and anxious to see the next picture than the protagonists were. I also liked the questions that “Time Lapse” raised: Is it possible to change the future, or is everything predetermined? What I found also quite interesting was that for a while, the photos work like a self-fulfilling prophecy, with Callie, Finn and Jasper actually recreating the pictures since they’re afraid of what will happen if they change the future. The movie also offers some clever twists and turns, as well as a nice, dark ending that I thoroughly enjoyed. Bradley King’s direction is solid, and the movie moves at a brisk pace, thus keeping you entertained from start to finish. The cast was nice too. I always enjoy seeing Danielle Panabaker, but Matt O’Leary and George Finn were also great in their respective roles.

Unfortunately, said roles were a little clichéd. Finn is the calm, sweet guy that will have to man up during the movie, Jasper is the wrecked, frantic asshole, and Callie is… well, that would be telling. I was also a little irritated by John Rhys-Davies “blink and you’ll miss it” mini-cameo. The biggest flaw of the movie, however, is how dumb the protagonists go about making some money by using the machine. I mean, why the hell are they only telling themselves the results for horse races – which they then, to add insult to injury, always place through the same bookie? I mean, come on, of course he’s going to get suspicious. Why not simply post the winning numbers of the next lottery? That would also be a lot more lucrative. Anyway, that just felt a little too stupid and/or convoluted to me. Other than that, “Time Lapse” is a nifty little Science Fiction-Thriller with some nice tension, a neat and fresh premise, and its fair share of twists and WTF-moments.
6/10


IMDB

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