Mars Needs Moms

MARS NEEDS MOMS (2011) - Feb. 22, 2012 (Second Viewing)
Yep, good times!  I'm definitely baffled at the critical/audience reaction to this film, because it's a lot of fun.  I can only chalk it up to mo-cap fatigue, which I totally get, but it's too bad that this film had to be the fall guy for mo-cap's overall mediocrity.  ***1/2

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE (2012) - Feb. 19, 2012
About the further exploits of the Ghost Rider -- this time trying to lift his curse by saving a young boy from having his body taken over by the devil.  Though it's a step up from the original, that really doesn't take much.  It's hard not to be let down by this, since this seemed like the perfect material for Nevaldine/Taylor to really run with, but for the most part this felt woefully generic.  There was one amazing scene in which Nicolas Cage questions a guy while struggling to keep himself from turning into the Rider -- this was exactly the kind of inspired madness that I was hoping for when I heard that Nevaldine/Taylor were making a Ghost Rider movie, but it was sadly the only memorable scene in the whole film.  The movie also squandered a couple of pretty great supporting actors -- Idris Elba was saddled with a bizarre French accent, and Ciaran Hinds was a bit too restrained as the devil.  Meh.  It was basically entertaining, I guess.  **1/2

Safe House

SAFE HOUSE (2012) - Feb. 17, 2012
A decent enough film about a young CIA agent who finds himself in the care of a of an ex-operative with dangerous information.  Though Daniel Espinosa's shaky, Greengrass-esque direction (which is not the only thing this movie borrows from Bourne) is kind of tiresome, it basically works.  The whole film feels sort of been there, done that, but Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds were both good, and it had its moments.  **1/2

The Big Steal

THE BIG STEAL - Feb. 16, 2012
Thoug not nearly as heisty as you might think given the title (it's not about a heist at all -- it's about the aftermath of a robbery), this was an enjoyable enough film noir about a guy charged with a robbery who pursues the real robber while being pursued himself.  Featuring a solid tough-guy performance from Robert Mitchum, there's nothing particularly special here, but it's well made, entertaining throughout, and short enough that it never gets a chance to over-stay its welcome (71 minutes!).  ***

Fatherland

FATHERLAND - Feb. 13, 2012
An enjoyable enough movie about an alternate 1960s in which Germany won the war, and is the world's biggest superpower.  The film finds a cop (played by the great Rutger Hauer) investigating some murders that turn out to be related to a huge government cover-up.  The film is obviously going for a '70s thriller vibe, but in this case the conspiracy is the fact that the holocaust happened, so the investigation isn't all that interesting because we know all along what the big reveal is going to be.  **1/2

The Woman in Black

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012) - Feb. 8, 2012
An enjoyable if very routine haunted house movie about a young lawyer who visits a spooky old house, only to find some serious ghost shenanigans afoot.  Of course, he returns to the house multiple times, and even arranges to stay overnight (!), seemingly because he realizes that he is a character in a haunted house movie and decides to act accordingly.  Though the film is very heavy on cheap jump scares, it's quite well made and enjoyable throughout, and is fairly tense in parts.  ***

Miss Bala

MISS BALA (2011) - Feb. 8, 2012
A really well made but exceptionally slow-paced and meandering film about a young woman in Mexico who finds herself an unwilling member of a Mexican drug cartel.  Though Gerardo Naranjo's directorial style -- which exclusively favours long, meticulous takes -- is kind of mesmerizing (and there are some great set-pieces here), the film itself feels a bit too thin for its own good.  Perhaps most pressingly, we hardly learn anything about the film's protagonist, who stumbles through most of the film like a zombie -- the argument could be made that she's shell-shocked, and that this is how person might really react to these events, but that doesn't make her any more of a compelling protagonist.  I was seriously stressed out while watching this movie and thus wasn't really in the right frame of mind for a film such as this, plus the IMAX theatre right below mine was causing an annoyingly incessant rumbling, so I should probably watch this again at some point.  **

Twins

TWINS (1988) - Feb. 6, 2012 (Second Viewing)
A very enjoyable movie about a man, raised in seclusion on a small island, who decides to go to America to seek out his twin brother.  Though it's a bit silly and quite forgettable, both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito are quite good and have great chemistry, and the film is definitely pretty fun.  ***

Contraband

CONTRABAND (2012) - Feb. 5, 2012
A decent enough if kind of middling action film about an elite ex-smuggler who's drawn back in for one more big score after his sketchy brother-in-law racks up some debt that he can't pay off.  The film was well made and well acted, and I can't say I've seen too many films revolving around overseas smuggling, but I was kind of losing interest as it went along.  I was always basically entertained, but yeah, it wasn't the best.  **1/2

After.Life

AFTER.LIFE (2009) - Feb. 4, 2012
About a woman who dies, and then finds herself in a funeral home with a funeral director who can talk to the dead.  Or maybe he's just a murderer trying to convince her that she's dead.  The film has an interesting enough premise but just doesn't do all that much with it -- it feels like a short film or like an episode of the Twilight Zone that's been uncomfortably padded out to feature-length.  All of the actors do the best they can with the material, but just don't have all that much to work with (Liam Neeson in particular is completely wasted here playing a character who should have been interesting, but who just comes off as bland).  **

The Guard

THE GUARD (2011) - Feb. 2, 2012
A well made and engaging film about a curmudgeonly small town Irish cop who finds himself working with an FBI agent when some drug-runners decide to import drugs through his town.  Though John Michael McDonagh's dialogue sometimes borders on being a little too stylized and showy for its own good, the film is mostly well made and quite funny throughout.  It helps that Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheedle are both very good, and have great chemistry.  ***