Kick-Ass

Apr 2010, Matthew Vaughn, 117 mins

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hear a colorful comic book hero curse excessively on film? What if that colorful comic book hero is an 11 year old, angel-faced girl? Ok, even if you haven’t thought about this before, let me tell you, it’s frickin awesome! As is most of the new action-comedy, Kick-Ass, an original look at the overplayed comic book genre that has dominated multiplexes over the past decade.

In a world where everyone reads comics and watches their inspired movies, why hasn’t an actual superhero ever existed in what we call reality? Because, in reality, they would get their ass killed in two minutes, right? In Kick-Ass, we learn that a hero doesn’t need to knock people out with a “pow!” or a "bang!" ...or tie them in webs. They can simply blow the stuffing out of the bad guys with an arsenal of weaponry.

Nicolas Cage shows up as Big Daddy, a revenge minded Batman look-a-like who snipes and slashes with unmatched skill. Cage, despite his recent roles in stinkers like Bangkok Dangerous and The Wicker Man, is a good actor and strikingly not annoying in this performance. His sidekick, the 11 year old Hit Girl, is the gem of the movie. Watching her rumble with evil-doers in acrobatic fashion almost brings to mind a young Yoda. Her killer blade is only outdone by her killer tongue - cursing up a storm that even Tarantino would blush at.

Kick-Ass himself, a self made superhero who really is just a nerd in a wet suit, is great fun to watch. But by the end of the film he seems more like a side character than a title worthy lead.

Kick-Ass is a smart and timely movie that will have any adult viewer laughing. Its bloody violence is as extreme as anything I’ve seen in the past few years, and a nice treat considering the young cast and hip title.

Youth in Revolt

Jan 2010, Miguel Arteta, 90 mins

Michael Cera, the Prince of the Hipster Comedy generation, continues to find ways to avoid the pretentiousness that has clouded this genre over the past few years. With the passing of Juno and the stumbling of Nick and Norah and Away We Go, the "I’m-too-cool-to-do-anything" movie mantra had seemed to slip the way of the torture-porn-horror industry. But, young Michael is just too much fun to find fault with. He is not a Shakespearian actor or the re-birth of Sir Lawrence Oliver, but he is a palatable leading guy.

Youth in Revolt is a fun little feature that fights an uphill battle and wins. A rough start, headlined by the all too overdone masturbation scene followed by a whiney teenage introspective voice-over left the viewer with a sprouting headache. However, insert a strong supporting cast led by Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, and Zack Galifinakis and you have the grounds for a solid comedy; Youth got even better as time passed.

The boyish nerd summer love story, again not the most original, is then turned on its head as the script takes you on a journey that at some points feels like a comedy version of Taxi Driver. In order to be with the girl of his dreams, Nick Twisp (Cera) conjures up an alternate personality, François Dillinger. François, a chain-smoking, mustache sporting man (also played by Cera), is a hilarious counter to Nick’s mild mannered existence.

The biggest surprise was that I was really ready for this movie to suck. I’m very against being told what to laugh about. Watching teenagers go through “coming of age” situations has run its course. It takes near perfect versions of these stories to keep you from banging your head on the seat in front of you. However, Youth in Revolt finds the perfectly balanced ground between a Holden Caulfield-esque character and the hilarity of Superbad.

Lost in the box office woods that is Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, and a certain Squeakuel, it’s unlikely Youth will find much of an audience during its theatrical run. It’s a shame. The film has the makings of a fun, semi-cult classic that today’s 14-20 year olds could play for years to come in co-ed filled dorm rooms.

Avatar

Dec 2009, James Cameron, 162 mins

James Cameron has held many titles in his lengthy film career; Oscar Winner, King of the World, Living Legend. With Avatar, he is the writer and director; one of these titles, he excelled in and the other... not so much.

Avatar is a monumental film. The 3D design and imagery breakthroughs put it on a level not seen in any film, ever. Cameron’s ingenious direction of CGI, live-action, and green screen landscapes make the film stand out as an achievement in art. At the same time, the story fails to develop.

With all the grandeur, and believe me the film is grand, the narrative and side love story sink faster than the Titanic. The first 2 hours begin to drag after the initial shock of the world of Pandora is shown. There is a memorable villain but a villain that pretty much just points at things and drinks coffee. This is as far as my negativity will go.

Avatar is the most visually stunning movie I have ever seen. The world Cameron has created is a thing of pure and un-clichéd beauty. From the majestic living trees, the luminescent habitat, to the flying dinosaur-type beasts, it’s a wonder to watch.

The film’s lead, Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) does a fine job at being a dull marine with a heart that, somehow, isn't so destroyed by war that he has lost hope for humanity. Though, the film does make you wonder about the nature of humanity. When does the human race become the Alien invader that planets are fearful of? What happens if we are the flashing light in the sky or the yellow orb that scares the natives? What if we created the war of the worlds?

The film has the normal screenplay beats to it. The acts follow a standard procedure. Cameron has not reinvented the movie; he has reinvented the viewer. No longer can films get by with blowing up built-to-scale White Houses with cherry bombs and stop motion lenses. Now it needs to literally jump from the screen at you. If you see this movie, see it big and loud and bright. Go to your nearest IMAX 3D cinema and see it right.

The special effects now have a special affect, finally. You can’t watch this masterpiece of visionary creativity without gasping at the incredible visuals. It’s honestly amazing. For two and half hours, your eyes will go “WOW!” It’s too bad that every now and then, your mind will go “wait...what?”

The Fourth Kind

Nov 2009, Olatunde Osunsanmi, 98 mins

The Fourth Kind is a spine-tingling experiment in horror which relies on the audience to buy into the ‘truths’ of the film. Directed by newcomer, Olatunde Osunsanmi the film plays as a handsome re-enactment of true events. The actors actually speak to the camera as themselves explaining the events their characters will be portraying? Confused? Well, it is a tough endeavor to hold an audience in suspense when you are continually telling them that what they are watching is a movie.

There are moments of true genius mixed in with the sometime faulty set ups. With scenes of “actual” footage of events being split screened with the fictional re-enactment of said scene. Again, a bit confusing. The genius is the way the filmmakers are able to blur the line and inter-cut the actors and the “real” subjects.

The acting is bland and the interviews contrived but never have I had so much fun watching a theatrical chiller. The movie is creepy as hell. You don’t know what was actually taped and what Hollywood brewed up on a sound stage. The idea of alien encounters is a classical cinematic genre and The Fourth Kind deserves to be seen.

The fundamental flaws of poor acting, the continuous explanation by all included that what you are watching is a film, and the dullness of the dialogue all play a part in holding it back from greatness. It is a little frustrating when a moment of great suspense is followed by an almost laughably taped interview segment. Osunsanmi , who uses himself as an interviewer periodically throughout the film, should have stayed behind the camera. He inadvertently distracts the viewer with his odd pauses and mannerisms that should have been left on the cutting room floor.

In the long, boring, sometimes idiotic array of sci-fi horror, The Fourth Kind is still a step above the field. Is it The Shining? ...no. But is it as good as The Ring? ...yes, easily so.

(500) Days of Summer

By Doug Carasso, our first AMM Contributor.

Jul 2009, Marc Webb, 95 mins

(500) Days of Summer is 95 minutes of movie heaven. Can you remember the last time you went to a film that was charming, funny, unpredictable, and fresh? Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who bears an eerie resemblance to the late Heath Ledger (could he be the next Joker?), and Zooey Daschenel, who previously charmed Will Ferrel’s Elf and here plays the breezy Summer, make an engaging pair, with an uncanny chemistry between them that one rarely encounters. They could be the next generation’s Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

The story concerns the ups, downs, sideways, and other directions in the relationship of this 20-something couple, at work, with friends, at play, in love, or not. The film is at times experimental, using camera techniques such as split screens and striking cinematography devices that, in a lesser film, would appear a failed attempt at making up for what is lacking elsewhere. Here, these methods spring naturally from the spontaneously evolving storyline and lend to the texture of the plot.

500 Days is a great date movie. It makes you feel good about not only the characters in the film, but also whomever you’re with watching the film. Take a peek during the film, and you will likely see a broad smile on the face of your movie-going companion(s).

What is it about this film that inspires such joy, such good will toward it? First, is the script – smart, funny, with unpredictable turns, and even an inspired and infectious musical number included. Then, perhaps most of all, there are the lead performers. Gordon-Levitt, whom most of us remember as a much younger actor, such as in 10 Things I Hate About You, is so winning that it makes you wonder what he or Hollywood have against each other that he has been kept from us in any prominent movie for so long. Deschanel also has a natural and irresistible charm. Together, Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel have that rare ability to make their every action not only interesting, but also matter.

By all means, see (500) Days of Summer. You’ll be glad you did.

Doug is a top Orange County Lawyer and a member of the Callahan and Blaine legal team.

District 9

Aug 2009, Neill Blomkamp, 112 mins

District 9, a film starring nobody, with a plot unlike anything I’ve ever seen, may just end up being the best popcorn movie of the summer. With a relatively minuscule budget of $30 million, D-9 pulls of a feat that many other films have failed at this summer, show some humanity. In a summer ruled by Alien robots and drunk mis-adventures in Vegas, who would of thought that a little Sci-Fi flick set in South Africa would even be a blip on the radar screen.

The film’s star, other then the cool and original styled aliens, is Sharlto Copley. Who is Sharlto Copley? I sure don’t know. Even on his IMDB page there is only one other acting credit for some project back in ‘05. Whoever the actor might be, his role as Wikus Van De Merwe, a sort of camp councelor for the stranded aliens is noteworthy. As the stiff and mild mannered Wikus, he acts with a sort of anti-intellegence much like Michael Scott in the British and American versions of The Office. You can’t not like him, even though his actions border on idiocracy.

The film, which never would have been made if writer/director Neil Blomkamp had landed his dream job at the helm of the much anticipated but derailed screen adaptation of the uber-popular video game series Halo, is also noteworthy. D-9 touches on a lot of human emotions due to the fact that the mistakes of its human characters directly mirror mistakes of true human history. The idea of being scarred of what we don’t know or don’t understand makes us a race of overly ethnocentric creatures. The sad last statement is the final moral meaning of the film and it poses the question, what does it take to accept and live with things we don’t fully understand?

In the end, D-9 has enough action for any fanboy and an engrossing enough screenplay to entertain the most critical of critics.

The Hurt Locker

Jun 2009, Kathryn Bigelow, 131 mins

As with many solid war pictures, the acting and the directing must be near perfect. Storytellers and cinematographers need to know what feeling and persona they are trying to show the audience. There are two types of war movies, ones that work and ones that don’t. The Hurt Locker works. It works, not because it is a large, sprawling epic like Doctor Zhivago or Schindler’s List. It works because it has a certain profoundness without being pretentious. The movie allows its small arc to be large enough for support. The Hurt Locker is the story of three men, from different backgrounds and different inner personalities dealing with war. Many of the moments are so tense your fingernails will grow shorter by the minute.

Jeremy Renner leads the superb cast in Kathryn Bigelow’s shockingly surprising action movie. Renner is one of those actors who sneaks up on you. His next-door charm hides a dark strength not seen in a war film of this generation. He’s gone a long way from picking his nose in National Lampoon’s Senior Trip. As the bomb squad’s Staff Sergeant, Renner is a menace. A man who will, without a care in the world, attempt to defuse road side bombs strong enough to destroy a city block. Anthony Mackie gives a solid, if somewhat uneven performance in a supporting role.

There is something relaxing about walking into a universally well reviewed movie like The Hurt Locker, there is the feel that your ten bucks will not be wasted, that the final act will be as good as the first two, and the confidence that any twist will not involve a hidden personality in our lead. The Hurt Locker stayed solid throughout, though not a classic by any means, a good movie about war that does not leave you exhausted or sad. It leaves you feeling just the way you wanted it to, entertained.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Sep 2007, Sidney Lumet, 117 mins

Warning, if you have ever done something wrong, I mean really bad, never go see this movie. I have never felt so worried for myself while watching this film.

OK, here it is:

Two brothers (Andy- Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Hank- Ethan Hawke) need money. So, they plan the perfect, victimless crime... they decide to hold-up their parent's jewelery store... but since this is a movie, the plans go awry. And when I say awry, I mean terribly terribly wrong.

Andy and Hank spend the rest of the film digging themselves deeper into hell. At some points the film is as painfully uncomfortable to watch as Lisa Kudrow in The Comeback. This is a true testament to the actors and director who have put together a wonderfully crafted piece of art that is so haunting, it hurts the watcher.
In a supporting role, Albert Finney is fantastic as their father. But the two leads steal the show. It amazes me that Hawke and Hoffman, who share no physical similarities at all, can still fool the audience into thinking they are blood.

Anyways, tough movie but very good at the same time.

Gone Baby Gone

Oct 2007, Ben Affleck, 114 mins

Lets get this out of the way before we get started; This movie is not as good as Mystic River or Good Will Hunting. OK, now that we're past that, lets move on.

Gone Baby Gone is a stinger of a movie. From its great cast to methodical twists, the film is really good. Casey Affleck ( Ocean's 11 and sequels) takes direction from his older brother better than would be expected. The younger Affleck turns in what is without a doubt the greatest performance of his career. Throughout the film, as bad situations get worse, you can actually see his character grow. Casey has a mild rasp to his voice that does not allow much emotion to be heard but his facial expressions and non verbal communications shows he is a man dealing with a lot.

Without giving any of the plot away, the twists come hard and heavy... almost to a fault by the end, but over all movie is powerful. Ben Affleck should be proud of his brother and himself for putting together a solid white knuckle thriller.