Tag Archives: review
Rob’s Review: Short Term 12
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Letter Grade:
A+ |
The Good: Brie Larson is spectacular The Bad: It took an incredible amount of willpower to wait until the movie was actually over to start tweeting about it |
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Cast & Crew: Writer: Destin Cretton Rated R for language and brief sexuality |
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I’ve gotten terribly far behind in actually writing the reviews of the movies I’ve seen, but after seeing Short Term 12 tonight I have to skip this right up to the top of the list. Short Term 12 is absolutely the best film I’ve seen this year. Everyone should go see it.
*Photo courtesy Cinedigm
Brie Larson, in a role that deserves an Oscar nomination, stars as Grace – a counselor at a foster care facility for troubled teens. John Gallagher Jr is Mason, her boyfriend and fellow counselor, and Kaitlyn Dever and Keith Stanfield are two of the featured foster children.
Short Term 12 is based on Writer/Director Destin Cretton’s short of the same name, which in turn was based on Cretton’s time actually working in a foster care ward. His intimate familiarity with the subject matter really shines through. You get a real good examination of not just what the foster children go through, but also what the counselors go through in dealing with them, how they take their work home with them, and how the foster children are affected even into their adult years. Both Grace and Mason were themselves foster children and now that Grace is pregnant she has grave doubts about her ability to be a parent.
*Photo courtesy Cinedigm
Brie Larson gives an incredible performance. Grace goes through some real turmoil and Larson is completely natural throughout. She brings real charm and depth to the character. The rest of the cast holds up as well with great performances all around. Cretton got great performances out of his cast and it’s beautifully shot as well.
Short Term 12 even ends on a great note. I found myself sitting in the theater slack-jawed at the perfection of the last scene. It would be really easy for a movie like this to get mired in the sadness, but Short Term 12 strikes a perfect balance. There’s abuse and neurosis, but there’s also joy and catharsis.
Go see this film.
Jennie’s Review: The Way, Way Back
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Letter Grade:
A |
The Good: The Screenplay is great The Bad: Honestly, nothing comes to mind |
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Cast & Crew: Directed and Written by Jim Rash and Nat Faxon Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language, some sexual content and brief drug material |
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The Way, Way Back opens with our main character Duncan (Liam James) riding in the back (the way, way back) of one of those station wagons with the seat facing the back window. The driver, Duncan’s mom’s (Toni Collette) boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell) is talking to Duncan in an extremely condescending way, telling him he hopes he can become a “better” guy (read cooler, more popular, more superficial sort of traits) while they are at his summer home for the next few months. They show up at the house and get settled in for adult spring break (only their kids are there so…awkward). Duncan finds a bike in the shed and rides off every day to escape. Duncan is in need of a father figure and is actively resisting the most obvious answer, Trent, who is (to put it politely) a jerk. Luckily, he meets Owen (Sam Rockwell) who manages the water park in the area and (at least temporarily) is available to fill the role. Owen ends up offering Duncan a job at the park and he of course begins to come out of his shell.
First things first, how dangerous and awesome were those seats facing the back?
Ok, now to the movie. (more…)
Rob’s Review: White House Down
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Letter Grade:
A |
The Good: Emmerich delivers great action The Bad: CGI is overused and noticeable |
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Cast & Crew: Writer: James Vanderbilt Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence including intense gunfire and explosions, some language and a brief sexual image. |
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Photo Courtesy Columbia Pictures
If you see only one “the White house is taken over by terrorists and one bodyguard must single-handedly rescue a child and the President” movie this year, make it White House Down. I find that after seeing White House Down I’ve gone back in my head and retroactively downgraded Olympus Has Fallen. I think White House Down has a more believable scenario for the White House being attacked, and the way White House Down structured the action led to a much more interesting movie.
Channing Tatum is with the Capitol Police and guards the Speaker of the House(Richard Jenkins) and is at the White House interviewing for a position with the White House’s Secret Service detail (which is lead by James Woods and Maggie Gyllenhaal). Tatum doesn’t get the job, but his daughter (Joey King), who idolizes the President(Jamie Foxx), is with him, so afterwards they go on the White House tour. While on the tour the White House is invaded by terrorists and the regular guards are taken out, leaving Tatum alone to get his daughter out and also rescue the President. (more…)
Rob’s Review: The Heat
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Letter Grade:
C- |
The Good: Bullock and McCarthy are both enjoyable. The Bad: Characters don't mesh well. |
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Cast & Crew: Writer: Katie Dippold Rated R for pervasive language, strong crude content and some violence |
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Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox
I went into The Heat with pretty low expectations, and they were exceeded, but not by enough for me to actually recommend the film. It has its really funny moments, but it also has quite a few really cringe-worthy moments. It’s at its best when it’s making quick jokes or doing physical comedy, but it grinds to a halt whenever they take time to actually advance the plot.
Sandra Bullock is a hot-shot FBI agent who is not very well-liked by her peers. She has the technical skills to be a great agent, but lacks the interpersonal skills and common sense. Hoping to be promoted to replace her boss, she is sent off to Boston to investigate a new drug kingpin. Melissa McCarthy is a Boston PD detective with street knowledge, but no use whatsoever for correct police procedure. The two are teamed up when McCarthy brings in a suspect (via clobbering him in the head with a watermelon) who has ties to the drug kingpin. (more…)
Jennie’s Review: Warm Bodies ~ New to DVD & Streaming
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Letter Grade:
A |
The Good: The writing is funny, heartfelt, and clever The Bad: The CGI characters could be better |
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Cast & Crew: Directed and (Screenplay) written by Jonathan Levine Rated PG-13 for zombie violence and language |
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The movie opens with our hero, and main zombie, “R” (Nicholas Hoult) shuffling through an airport. His inner monologue is the voiceover to this scene. He waxes poetically about what it is like to wander around the airport all day, to communicate through mumbling and grunting to his best friend (the also zombified Rob Corddry), and how it’s a pain to get food when you move so slow. As R and his group of zombie friends are on their pilgrimage for food, we meet Julie (Teresa Palmer) and a group of people who are still alive being sent on a trip out beyond the protective walls to find supplies for the non infected inhabitants. As is pretty predictable, these two groups end up in the same place and it doesn’t end well for most of the characters on either side. However, something happens when R sees Julie and instead of trying to eat her brains, he rescues her from the situation and they head back to his home (an abandoned plane) at the airport. As they say, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Rob’s Review: This Is The End
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Letter Grade:
B+ |
The Good: Good performances from actors, including a standout appearance by Michael Cera The Bad: Quite campy and cheesy. |
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Cast & Crew: Writer: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen Rated R for crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence |
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Fair warning, don’t pay too much attention to the letter grade on this one, your enjoyment of This Is The End is going to vary greatly depending on your taste. It’s ridiculous, cheesy, and over-the-top, but it works a lot better than I expected it to.
Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures
The actors play versions of themselves here. Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen are best friends who have drifted apart after Rogen moved to Hollywood and Baruchel stayed behind in Canada. Rogen has made friends with James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride (to the extent that anyone can be friends with McBride) and Baruchel is threatened by this. Rogen tries to bring them all together at a party at Franco’s house while Baruchel is in town. Things at the party don’t go well, and THEN the apocalypse happens. The worthy are raptured up into Heaven, which leaves the unworthy (including everybody at the party) to be tormented on Earth. The group holes up in Franco’s house to avoid the raging fires, giant sinkholes, and marauding demons. (more…)
Rob’s Review: Now You See Me
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Letter Grade:
B+ |
The Good: Likable characters The Bad: Actors don't have to stretch themselves much. |
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Cast & Crew: Writer: Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, Edward Ricourt Rated PG-13 for language, some action and sexual content |
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Now You See Me is a fun movie. There’s nothing terribly groundbreaking about it, but the stuff we’ve seen before is done well and with a good deal of style. There are secrets and intrigue, car chases through the streets of New York, and foot chases through the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. It’s actually kind of a throwback to an older style of movie. (Charade came to mind in the theater, but that’s not a perfect fit.) (more…)
Rob’s Review: The Great Gatsby
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Letter Grade:
A- |
The Good: Masterful performance from DiCaprio. The Bad: Loses its way in the middle and meanders about for a while before picking up again. |
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Cast & Crew: Director: Baz Luhrmann |
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If you go into Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby just looking for a happy-go-lucky interpretation of the hedonistic Roaring 20s (and the party scenes ARE wondrous), you’re going to be disappointed. If you go in with an appreciation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel then I think you’ll be very pleased. (more…)
Dave’s Movie Review: Iron Man 3
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Letter Grade:
A |
The Good: Robert Downey Jr. is amazing as always as witty and confident Tony Stark The Bad: Perhaps too similar to 80’s/90’s action films |
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Cast & Crew: Director: Shane Black Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content |
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After two wildly successful Iron Man films, Director and Producer Jon Favreau (and Marvel/Disney) has turned the franchise over to action movie Writer/Director extraordinaire, Shane Black. Iron Man 3 is obviously the third movie in the Iron Man franchise and takes place after the events of Marvel’s Avengers movie. Unlike the over the top, comic-booky (I‘m almost certain that should be a word despite what my spell check says) villains in the previous Iron Man movies (an Iron-Suit-Clad, maniacally evil Jeff Bridges and Iron-Suit-Clad, electric-whip-wielding, and generally dirty looking Mickey Rourke), Tony Stark/Iron Man now battles the international terrorist group lead by The Mandarin. Played with great range by Sir Ben Kingsley, the Mandarin is an all too realistic modern-day-style terrorist who has taken credit for anti-American bombings across the world. After the terror strikes a little too close to home, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) issues a challenge to The Mandarin which ends in the destruction of Stark’s seaside mansion and general way of life. Stark is then left alone and with only his ingenuity and clever wit to solve the mystery, catch the bad guy, and prove that Tony Stark can be a hero without all of Iron Man’s hi-tech gadgety things.
Jennie’s Movie Review: The Place Beyond the Pines
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Letter Grade:
B+ |
The Good: Well written & acted The Bad: Shaky camera |
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Cast & Crew: Directed By: Derek Cianfrance Rated R for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual reference |
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The Place Beyond the Pines is a 3 act movie about a group of people living in Schenectady, NY who are interconnected through a series of events. It starts out by introducing motorcycle stuntman Luke Glanton, played by Ryan Gosling. You quickly find out that he has an infant son with an old fling named Romina (Eva Mendes) that he did not know existed. In his own way, he wants to be responsible and do the right thing. She is with someone else but she doesn’t completely shut him out. He quits his job as a stuntman and starts working at a car shop. Predictably, this doesn’t bring in the money needed and since he’s pretty handy on a bike, he begins to use his skill set to get income in a far less legal way, robbing banks. He is successful at first, but of course everything begins to unravel and eventually he crosses paths with rookie idealistic cop Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). The 2 men’s lives are forever changed and forever intertwined. (more…)
