The Last Exorcism

THE LAST EXORCISM (2010) - Aug. 28, 2010
Though it's more of a character study than the in-your-face horror film the marketing is making it out to be, this was still a really enjoyable movie about a preacher who sets out to debunk exorcisms by showing a documentary crew how fake they are.  Definitely one of the stronger entries in the found-footage horror subgenre, this featured a really strong central performance from Patrick Fabian.  Director Daniel Stamm did a really good job of ratcheting up the tension when he needed to, plus the mystery of whether or not the girl was faking remained compelling throughout.  The ending was a bit perplexing, but I thought it really worked in a sort of ambiguously creepy way.  ***1/2

Scott Pilgrim Versus the World

SCOTT PILGRIM VERSUS THE WORLD (2010) - Aug. 27, 2010
An really past-paced and unique film about a young man who falls in love, and who then must fight his new girlfriend's seven evil exes.  Easily the stylistic culmination of everything that Edgar Wright has done so far, there's definitely no one else who could have made this film quite the same way that Wright does.  And yet somehow, despite being crammed with a very distinctive sense of stlye, the movie never feels over-stylized; it all seems to accompany the story perfectly.  I really enjoyed this, though for some reason I was never quite as into it as something like Shaun of the Dead.  I think another viewing is probably in order.  ***

Animal Kingdom

ANIMAL KINGDOM (2010) - Aug. 26, 2010
Good stuff.  Man.  A really well made, well directed, well written, well acted, well scored...  well everything, pretty much.  I loved so much about this movie.  For starters, there's David Michod's assured, pitch-perfect direction, which is visually compelling throughout without being ostentatious or calling attention to itself.  His screenplay is just as good; the characters all feel authentic and definitely become people we really care about.  I also liked that you were never entirely sure where the film was going, and that there were quite a few moments that were genuinely surprising.  There were also some really tense moments peppered throughout.  The film was definitely not super fast-paced, but it was extremely compelling from start to finish.  Then there's the performances, which were all well above average.  Antony Partos' melancoly, memorable score works perfectly.  Basically, I loved this movie.  If it weren't for Inception, I'd say that this was easily the best movie of the year so far.  In fact, I think it may even be better than Inception, but I'll have to see it again.  ****

Piranha

PIRANHA (2010) - Aug. 21, 2010
A fun, over-the-top horror comedy about a beach-side town that gets infested by prehistoric piranhas during spring break.  Deftly directed by Alexandre Aja, the film did a good job of setting up the characters so that we care about them once the piranha mayhem starts to go down.  It also did a good job of being pretty funny throughout without the smugness or over-the-top quirkiness that can sometimes be a problem in horror comedies.  The sequence where a beach full of partying teens gets ravaged by the piranhas was definitely one of the better things I've seen in a while.  As for the 3D, it was decently implemented, but I can't really say it enhanced the movie all that much (I would have been happier without it).  ***

Black Knight

BLACK KNIGHT (2001) - Aug. 16, 2010 (Second Viewing)
Decent, though not quite the enjoyable wacky comedy I remembered it being.  About a guy who works at a castle-themed amusement park who finds himself teleported to the distant past, one of the film's main problems is Martin Lawrence's way over-the-top performance, which is grating at times.  I generally like Lawrence, but he has a tendancy to dial things up to eleven when he should probably be at a seven or an eight.  **1/2

The Expendables

THE EXPENDABLES (2010) - Aug. 14, 2010
A bit of a disappointment, and not quite the ultimate '80s action throwback that the premise and the cast might have led you to believe.  About a group of mercenaries who travel to a small island to overthrow a dictator, there's a suprising amount of non-action here, and it's actually pretty boring.  The problem (or, one of the problems) is that, for the most part, the film just takes itself way too seriously, and none of the characters are particularly interesting.  The action itself is vaguely servicable, but without the comically over-the-top violence that made the last Rambo film so entertaining, Stallone's deficiencies as a director become awfully clear.  He leans very strongly towards the old close-up/quick-cut style, which is disappointing (I have to wonder why Stallone even bothered casting a legendary martial artist like Jet Li when his one fight scene was so obscured by quick cuts, it could have been anyone doing the fighting).  Meh.  **

Step Up 3D

STEP UP 3D (2010) - Aug. 10, 2010
A mostly enjoyable movie about a dance troup's efforts to win a big dance competition.  It's kind of cheesy and it does drag a bit in parts, but the dance scenes are actually impressively choreographed, and director Jon Chu does a pretty good job of stepping back and letting the dancers do their thing (he also seems to be one of the few directors who isn't shy about really using 3D to its fullest).  ***

The Other Guys

THE OTHER GUYS (2010) - Aug. 6, 2010
A really funny comedy about a couple of desk cops who wind up working a big case involving a corrupt businessman.  This was actually a bit better than I thought it would be, and is probably my favourite of the four Farrell/McKay comedies thus far.  It's a bit too long (as all the McKay films have been) but aside from that it was well made, fast-paced and quite funny.  Will Ferrell was at his Will Ferrell-y best, and Mark Wahlberg was surprisingly funny.  Plus it's always nice to see Michael Keaton on the big screen, and a recurring joke involving him quoting TLC songs was pretty hilarious.  If this had been 90 minutes I'm pretty sure it would have been an instant comedy classic.  ***

The Adventures of Robin Hood

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) - Aug. 5, 2010
This movie is quite possibly one of the most well-regarded action/adventure movies ever, so my expectations for it were fairly high. It didn’t disappoint. While I don’t know if I’d put this on a list of my all-time favourites, it was definitely well made and quite entertaining throughout.  Certainly, the film was leaps and bounds above the fairly anemic Robin Hood, the recent Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe re-imagining of the Robin Hood legend. That film was kind of dull and ponderous; I can definitely see what they were going for, but it just didn’t work, for the most part. However, I can safely say that Robin Hood will never be on the list, so… moving on.  This Robin Hood featured all of the archery, swordplay and rollicking adventure that you’d expect from the character. The action was exciting and well-staged (and further proof that, contrary to what pretty much every contemporary director believes, you don’t need a million cuts a second to have an exciting action scene). Robin Hood himself came off as a bit arrogant (he was pretty smug), but he was always likable thanks to a charismatic performance from Errol Flynn.  There’s definitely a lot to like here, and I think this is the type of film that everyone could enjoy — assuming they can get past the somewhat old-fashioned filmmaking (eg. the aforementioned lack of a million cuts per second during the action). Did I mention how much better this was than the Ridley Scott version? ***

Mother

MOTHER (2009) - Aug. 4, 2010
Though it drags in parts and is probably a bit on the long side, this was still an entertaining and really well made film about a mother who tries to clear her mentally challenged son's name after he's put in jail for murder.  Featuring a pretty amazing lead performance from Hye-ja Kim, the film is almost worth it just for her performance alone, and it is actually fairly riveting in parts. ***

Mystery Team

MYSTERY TEAM (2009) - Aug. 3, 2010
An enjoyably wacky comedy from the online comedy group Derrick Comedy, about a group of teenagers who never quite outgrew their childhood detective business.  Though it's not quite as laugh-out-loud funny as the best Derrick Comedy sketches, it's still pretty funny in parts and quite enjoyable throughout.  ***

The Eclipse

THE ECLIPSE (2009) - Aug. 2, 2010
A kind of meandering but well made drama about a teacher who, while volunteering at a literary festival, strikes up a friendship with a writer.  Meanwhile, he is periodically terrorized by the ghost of his not-yet-dead father-in-law.  Well made and very well acted, particularly Ciaran Hinds, who definitely proves here that he deserves more than just the supporting roles he typically plays.  The supernatural stuff kind of feels odd in this otherwise super low-key drama (especially since that stuff is so dependent on jump scares), but it basically works, though it doesn't really seem to go anywhere.  As well, the Aiden Quinn character feels mostly superfluous, and I really would have rather just spent more time with Hinds' character.  Oh well, it was still pretty good.  ***

Cop Out

COP OUT (2010) - Aug. 1, 2010
A surprisingly inept "comedy" about a couple of cops who get embroiled in a case involving the Mexican mafia when they start investigating a stolen baseball card.  There is almost nothing that works here.  First and foremost, there are the performances; Tracy Morgan is essentially playing his 30 Rock character, and he is so wildly over-the-top that he generally just comes off as desperate (plus, I never bought for a second that his buffoonish character could have been an actual cop).  On the opposite side of the bad acting spectrum is Bruce Willis; he completely phones in his performance, and actually looks bored much of the time.  The movie is awkwardly directed by Kevin Smith, and features action which is completely bland (there isn't much of it, though).  It isn't funny, nor does it particularly work as a parody of buddy-cop action films.  I did like the score, but even that didn't particularly work in the context of the film, as the movie otherwise doesn't evoke an '80s vibe in the slightest, making the score feel a bit incongruous.  *

The Collector

THE COLLECTOR (2009) - Aug. 1, 2010
A decently made but kind of unpleasant horror film about a thief who breaks into an isolated country home only to find it filled with deadly traps and a crazy guy (the titular collector) who either wants to kill him or collect him (the nature of how or why this guy likes to collect people is never explored).  It started out decently enough, but after a while the whole cat-and-mouse dynamic between the collector and the thief began to run out of steam.  It didn't help that the whole thing feels vaguely Platinum Dunes-y (particularly the two recent Texas Chainsaw films) both in its ugly, monochromatic visual style and its tendancy to emphasize gore on the more sadistic side of things.  **