Bird on a Wire

BIRD ON A WIRE (1990) - May 31, 2011
Meh.  Basically enjoyable if not quite as good as the kid version of myself believed, this was a decent enough film about a woman who winds up going on an adventure with her ex, pursued by a couple of shady criminals out to kill them.  Mel Gibson was quite likable in the main role; Goldie Hawn, on the other hand, was a bit grating as she spent the bulk of the film complaining (not unlike Katherine Heigl in the more recent Killers).  **1/2

The Thin Red Line

THE THIN RED LINE (1999) - May 30,  2011
Thus far, my experience with the films of Terrence Malick has been one of admiration, but little more. I liked Badlands and I liked Days of Heaven, but aside from the gorgeous visuals, they weren’t films that stuck with me for very long after the credits rolled. Imagine my surprise, then, that between this, Badlands and Days of Heaven, this was my favourite film by far, despite the fact that it is probably the least regarded of the three. It feels like this material is pretty much a perfect compliment for Malick’s style, which is not necessarily something I’d say about Badlands or Days of Heaven (it’s been ages since I’ve seen Badlands, so another viewing is probably in order, but in Heaven, it’s pretty clear that the fairly routine love triangle is the least interesting thing about that film). Malick isn’t particularly interested in telling straight-forward stories; in his first two films he tried to do that, and in this one he didn’t bother. I think this film is better off because of it. It’s completely plotless, and yet it is absolutely compelling throughout, thanks to Malick’s poetic, oddly hypnotic direction. The same can be said for Malick’s recent The Tree of Life, of which I am also a pretty big fan.  ***1/2

Brotherhood

BROTHERHOOD (2010) - May 29, 2011
A silly but mostly entertaining film about a fraternity initiation prank gone seriously awry.  It's pretty stupid, though there is something oddly compelling about seeing things just get worse and worse for this group of guys.  Will Canon's direction is passible, if somewhat mediocre -- he over-relies on the old shaky-cam, and he fails to embue the film with the kind of tension that could have elevated it from a passable film to a good one (many scenes which should have been pretty tense fall completely flat).  **1/2

Rio

RIO (2011) - May 28, 2011
A really entertaining cartoon about a domesticated, American bird who must return to his home country of Rio when it's discovered that he is the last male of his species.  He eventually escapes (at the behest of his female companion) and hijinks ensue.  Featuring really colourful, visually-appealing animation and a fun, fast-paced story that never feels like it's pandering to kids (though which also never attempts to rise to Pixar levels of greatness), this was quite entertaining.  It drags a bit in its action-dominated latter half, but it's still an above average cartoon.  ***

The Hangover Part II

THE HANGOVER PART II (2011) - May 27, 2011
Meh.  Not the all-out disaster that many people are making it out to be, this was a basically watchable sequel about the exact same thing the first one was about, but with Bangkok subbing for Vegas.  It is pretty blatant how similar it is to the first, but then a lot of sequels tend to stick with what's been done.  The main problem here is that the film is pretty episodic, and does drag quite a bit in parts.  It's basically entertaining throughout, but it definitely doesn't feel as tight as the first one.  I'm sort of between a thumbs up and a thumbs down, but whatever -- the actors have good chemistry, and the film is fairly well made, if a little lazy.  **1/2

Red White & Blue

RED WHITE & BLUE (2010) - May 26, 2011
A really intense, kind of devastating film about an almost pathalogically promiscuous young girl who gets caught up in some sinister shenanagans when it turns out that she has given a man HIV.  The film really takes its time -- it's almost an hour into the film before even a vague whiff of the plot is revealed.  But this allows us time to get to know the characters, and only makes the latter half of the film all the more powerful.  And that latter half... wow.  It's seriously intense, a bit disturbing and kind of hard to watch at times.  I'm not sure if I'll ever look at Noah Taylor the same way, who is pretty much amazing here.  With his big beard and his southern accent, he completely disappears into the role.  I don't know if I ever want to revisit this film, but it was definitely very good.  ***1/2

Attack the Block

ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011) - May 25, 2011
A really well made and flat-out awesome film about a gang of teenagers in south London who find themselves beseiged by killer aliens.  Exceptionally well made by first-timer Joe Cornish, whose stylish and effective direction has instantly made him one of those directors whose future films I will be interested in by default.  There are so many great set-pieces here, including a scene in which the kids must outrun a bunch of aliens to get to an apartment building, and an absolutely dazzling extended use of slow-mo (Zack Snyder take note: THIS is how you use slow motion).  Thomas Townend's widescreen cinematography was another stand-out -- the whole film takes place at night and looks quite good; there are definitely shades of John Carpenter here.  Cornish also does a really great job of developing the characters and making us care about them, and the film is pretty funny in parts.  Yeah, I quite liked it. ****

Kung Fu Panda 2

KUNG FU PANDA 2 (2011) - May 24, 2011
An entertaining sequel, though definitely a step down from the original.  About the titular Kung Fu Panda and his efforts to figure out where he came from while trying to save China from an evil warlord, this was mostly enjoyable throughout, and exceptionally well animated -- my main issue is that it drags somewhat, particularly in its much weaker first half.  The latter half, in which the personal connection between the panda and the villain is made clear, and in which the stakes are thus much higher, fares a lot better.  **1/2

Bridesmaids

BRIDESMAIDS (2011) - May 21, 2011
A disappointing comedy about a thirty-something woman who starts reevaluating the state of her life after her best friend gets engaged; also, shenanigans ensue with the wacky bridal party.  Part of the problem here is that the tone varies prettty wildly -- there's the low-key character stuff with Kristen Wiig, including a romance with a cop, and then there's the over-the-top wacky stuff with the bridesmaids.  It kind of feels like two different movies.  It's also really blandly directed by Paul Feig, who has directed a lot of funny TV shows, but whose style is obviously better suited to the small screen.  Then there's the fact that a few of the eponymous bridesmaids are completely superfluous, with zero character development other than "the horny one" or "the naive one."  The film runs over two hours, which is insanely overlong; many scenes drag on far longer than they should (such as a scene on an airplane that feels like it's at least 20 minutes long, and which was interminable), and many simply feel like they have no business being anywhere other than the cutting room floor.  It's too bad, because there is a lot to like here, including a good lead performance from Kristen Wiig and a couple of solid laughs, but the film is just too muddled and overlong. **

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (2009) - May 19, 2011
About a journalist who decides to frame himself on a murder charge in the hope that a corrupt DA will fabricate evidence to put him away, this was a mediocre but basically passable legal thriller sunk by an almost comically dumb premise.  It's an astonishingly stupid plan, though it does seem slightly less stupid in retrospect once the final twist is revealed (however, the fact remains that he was able to convince his friend to go along with this absurd plan, which strains credibility to its breaking point -- actually, it pretty much snaps it in half).  Aside from the dumb plot, the film was decently directed by Peter Hyams (who certainly deserves better material than this, though he did write it himself so it's hard to feel too sorry for him).  It was also decently acted (Jesse Metcalfe was much better here than in The Tortured, though it's still easy enough to see why the man is mostly doing straight to video stuff), with the clear highlight being a very slimy Michael Douglas as the corrupt DA.  **

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD (2011) - May 18, 2011
Meh.  A slickly made but kind of underwhelming documentary about Morgan Spurlock's efforts to make a documentary about product placement and advertising, funded solely by product placements.  It's a fairly interesting premise, though seeing Spurlock take meeting after meeting does eventually wear out its welcome a bit.  There's also some interesting exploration of the nature of advertising in our society, and how it affects us; I actually wish there were more of this stuff and less of the aforementioned meetings.  There's definitely a surfeit of interesting material to cover with this topic, but Spurlock seems reluctant to explore it beyond a surface level.  There's also a lack of a unifying thesis here; it seems fairly clear that Spurlock is wary of product placement and advertising in general, but he never really takes a stand either way, probably to avoid offending his many sponsors.  **

Max Max

MAD MAX (1979) - May 17, 2011
It’s kind of odd watching Mad Max for the first time, because it was obviously shot on an exceptionally low budget, and actually has very little of what you’d expect from a Mad Max film (the monstrous, souped-up cars, the outlandish costumes, etc.). In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to describe the setting as post-apocalyptic at all, which is odd considering that this film is considered to be of the essential films in that genre. I think that everything that Mad Max has become known for, aesthetically speaking, actually comes from the sequels — I also watched Mad Max 2, and it’s all there: the desolate wasteland and the memorable cars and costumes. But what about the film at hand? It wasn’t bad. It drags a bit, but it definitely has its moments.  **1/2

The Brink's Job

THE BRINK'S JOB (1978) - May 16, 2011
Meh.  An affable but kind of disappointing film about a group of guys in the '40s who decide to rob a Brink's warehouse.  The whole thing is well acted and enjoyable enough, and it's kind of fun to watch these bumbling crooks plan and pull off a big robbery, but it just doesn't particularly add up to much.  I was going to say that it's lesser Friedkin, though I was looking at the man's filmography, and aside from the obvious high-points of the French Connection and the Exorcist, it's pretty spotty.  **1/2

The Tortured

THE TORTURED (2010) - May 15, 2011
Oh, sweet Jesus.  Easily one of the worst movies I've seen in quite a while, this was an almost completely worthless horror film about the parents of a murdered child who decide to enact brutal vengeance on the man responsible for the death of their child.  There is pretty much nothing that works here.  In the first half hour or so, we see the parents deal with their grief over the death of their child and their anger at the lack of justice for the man responsible.  This stretch is laughably bad, thanks mostly to writer Marek Posival's horrendous, hammy dialogue and the completely awful performances (though to be fair to Erika Christensen and Jesse Metcalfe, there's not much that even the best actor in the world could do with such shoddy material).  Then there's the rest of the film, in which the parents torture the man who killed their son (or so they think... twist!).  It's pretty much all grisly torture at this point, and I'm really struggling to figure out what the point was.  Why would I want to watch this?  There's absolutely no suspense or tension, and the moral ambiguities of what the parents are doing remain almost completely unexplored (aside from the most surface level discussions of "hey, should we be doing this?" "Yup." "Okay!").  It's just pointless, gross torture.  Seriously, what's the point?  Why is this particularly story worth telling?  I mean, it's a pretty interesting premise, but the writer and director completely squander it.  I think I've said enough about why this movie sucks, but I should mention that the flat, TV-caliber direction was completely bland.  Oh, and that twist, seriously?  WTF.  It's a pretty neat twist I guess, but not surprisingly the film does nothing with it.  What do the two parents think about brutally torturing and causing the death of a completely innocent man?  That's pretty interesting, so of course the movie completely ignores it.  1/2*

The Beaver

THE BEAVER (2011) - May 13, 2011
I think it's pretty clear that if Mel Gibson had known that this movie was going to come out at such a delicate time in his career, he may have had second thoughts; the character he plays here is pretty much flat-out crazy and barely likable, and probably isn't going to do much help win over those who were turned off by his recent outbursts.  The craziness of his character is an interesting choice, but one I'm not entirely certain works all that well.  Gibson's character is so crazy -- and crazy right from the get-go, as we never see him before his crippling depression -- that it becomes kind of hard to root for him.  I was rooting for his family -- Anton Yelchin in particular creates a character that we definitely come to care about, albiet one we have seen many times before -- but aside from that I had no real stake in whether or not Gibson's character got better.  The movie was decently made and well acted, but... yeah.  Not great.  **1/2

Jane Eyre (2011)

JANE EYRE (2011) - May 11, 2011
A slow-paced but exceptionally well made film about a young woman who goes to be a governess in a large, isolated mansion and finds herself falling in love with the owner of the house.  Though Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre was the superior film, this movie definitely establishes him as a director to watch.  Fukunaga's direction and Adriano Goldman's cinematography are absolutely impeccable; the film, much of which is lit by amazingly moody candlelight, is a treat to behold.  The brighter, outdoor scenes fare just as well.  There's also an almost horror-movie-like sense of dread and unease for much of the film; all in all, this is a movie whose overall atmosphere is second-to-none.  It's also eceptionally well acted, particularly Mia Wasikowska as the eponymous Eyre, and Michael Fassbender as Rochester.  The movie does drag in parts, but it's just so well acted and well made that it's easy to overlook that.  ***

A Single Man

A SINGLE MAN (2009) - May 10, 2011
An exceptionally well made film about a college professor in the '60s who has a hard time getting over the death of his partner.  Featuring an absolutely amazing central performance from Colin Firth, which quite possibly ranks as one of the best performances that I've ever seen.  There's a scene early on in the film in which Firth receives a phone call informing him that his partner has died; the camera remains on a tight close-up on Firth the entire time, and it is nothing short of riveting.  Tom Ford's direction, which is meticulously crafted without ever coming off as fussy, is also superlative.  There's an interesting use of colour, for example, to represent how Firth's character is feeling.  It's a device that could have come off as too on-the-nose under a lesser director, but Ford absolutely pulls it off.  ****

House

HOUSE (1977) - May 9, 2011
An almost inscrutably bizarre but kind of amazing film about a group of Japanese schoolgirls who decide to spend a few days at what turns out to be a haunted house.  It's a pretty straightforward premise, but director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi definitely has more on his mind than making a straightforward horror film.  Filled to the brim with kooky music, bold camerawork, colorful painted backgrounds, animation, and strange special effects of all kinds, this is a film that's always interesting to look at.  It's also really fast-paced, with weird stuff constantly happening almost just for the sake of it.  I'm generally not a big fan of weird for the sake of weird, but this movie really worked for me.  It helps that the characters (who have self-explanatory names like Gorgeous, Kung Fu, and Melody) are all very likable; it also helps that the film is flat-out entertaining throughout.  Really, it's hard to dislike a movie that tries to do something so far unlike anything you've ever seen before, and which manages to do so in such a gleefully enthusiastic way without ever feeling pretentious or laboured.  ***1/2

Cinema Verite

CINEMA VERITE (2011) - May 8, 2011
A mediocre film about a family in the '70s who subject themselves to being the stars of the first ever reality show, and how this affects them.  Generally well acted (particularly James Gandolfini as the creator of the show) the film was otherwise questionably put together (the direction was bland and the overly processed visuals gives everyone the skin tone of a pumpkin).  Despite a short running time of 90 minutes, the movie drags quite a bit, and ultimately just isn't all that compelling.  **

Thor

THOR (2011) - May 6, 2011
An enjoyable summer blockbuster about Thor, the heir to the King of Asgard, who winds up being exiled to Earth after angering his father.  The film is generally well directed by Kenneth Branagh and well acted (Chris Hemsworth strikes a good balance between gravitas and likablity, and Natalie Portman is quite good as usual), and though there's nothing particularly fresh here (you always know exactly where the story is going) the film was well executed and fun.  The action is generally fine, though the only scene that really impresses is the one in which Thor and his cronies fight a big robot in a small town.  ***

Primal Fear

PRIMAL FEAR (1996) - May 4, 2011 (Second Viewing)
Though not quite the way-above-average legal thriller that I remembered this being, this was still a solid film about a high profile lawyer defending an altar-boy charged with a brutal murder, elevated by some top-shelf performances (particularly a young Edward Norton in a justifiably star-making performance).  ***

Fast Five

FAST FIVE (2011) - May 2, 2011
Easily the best of the Fast and Furious sequels, though that's really not a very high watermark, this was a decent action film about pretty much every surviving character from the Furious series coming together to pull of a huge heist in Rio.  While Justin Lin has undeniably improved as an action director, he's basically just gone from terrble to competent.  There are some pretty good set-pieces here (particularly the absurdly over-the-top but kinda awesome scene in which an enormous safe -- essentially a big wrecking ball -- is dragged around the streets of Rio) but Lin is still a little too edit-happy, with some over-edited sequences being less effective than they should have been.  Particularly, a big fight between Vin Diesel and the Rock was good, but could have been great had it been directed with a bit more skill.  Regardless, the Rock makes for a pretty awesome addition to the series, and was actually one of the best things about the film -- absurdly muscular and looking like he's constantly about to explode out of his weirdly small shirts, he was a pretty huge badass in this movie, and probably one of the most macho characters ever committed to celluloid.  Every time he wasn't on the screen I was basically just waiting for him to come back, as he was probably the most interesting character in the bunch.  **1/2

6,000 Enemies

6,000 ENEMIES (1939) - May 1, 2011
An entertaining film about a tough DA who gets framed for bribery by a crime boss, and who winds up in the same prison with hundreds of criminals who he has personally put away.  The film was pretty enjoyable and featured some inventive direction by George B. Seitz, but at just over an hour long it's probably too short, which is certainly a complaint I don't frequently have.  Many of the film's events unfold somewhat abruptly; a little more time to set everything up probably would have helped.  **1/2