A Lonely Place to Die

A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (2011) - May 13, 2012
A well made film about a group of mountain climbers who find themselves in some serious trouble when they stumble across a little girl buried in the woods.  Quite well made with some really tense set-pieces, the film doesn't really do anything we haven't seen before a bunch of times, but it's quite enjoyable for what it is. ***

Safe

SAFE (2012) - May 12, 2012
A decent action film featuring a typically awesome Jason Statham taking on Triads, the Russian Mafia, corrupt cops and more in an attempt to protect a young girl who has memorized a dangerous piece of information.  The film does a lot right -- the idea of Jason Statham essentially taking on the entirety of New York's underworld is pretty great, and the film does a good job of setting it all up.  Where director Boaz Yakin really stumbles, however, is in the action itself, which is kind of a big deal in an action movie like this.  The action is generally decent enough -- it's really well-choreographed and it should have been exciting, but Yakin undermines it at every turn with his uncomfortably tight framing and shaky cinematography.  It's generally passable, even if it could have been so much better -- right up until the disastrous final shootout in the casino, which is far too chaotic and pretty much completely incomprehensible.  It definitely leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth.  It's too bad, because I really liked a lot things about this movie -- if it had only been directed by someone with a better handle on how to shoot action, I'm pretty sure it could have been an instant classic.  **1/2  

After Life

AFTER LIFE (1998) - May 11, 2012
Another enchanting film from Hirokazu Koreeda -- this one finds a group of employees in the afterlife helping people determine their favourite memory.  The group then recreates the memory as a film, which the departed take with them on the next step of their journey.  It's a little bit on the slow side, but like almost all of Koreeda's films, there's something about it that draws you in and makes you want to spend time with these characters in this world.  ***

Chimpanzee

CHIMPANZEE (2012) - May 10, 2012
There's something inherently fascinating about chimps -- they're just so much like us, I guess.  This was a well made documentary about a group of chimps living in the jungle, focusing specifically on one baby chimp (who is pretty much absurdly adorable).  Some pretty dramatic stuff happens to the chimp, much to the delight of the documentarians, I'm sure.  It's actually a pretty engaging story, even if the attemps to make this as kid-friendly as possible are a little bit jarring (including a mostly superfluous narration track by Tim Allen).  ***

Headhunters

HEADHUNTERS (2011) - May 10, 2012
A really solidly made thriller about a headhunter who moonlights as an art thief, who winds up running afoul of his latest victim.  Featuring above average direction from Morten Tyldum, who makes good use of the widescreen frame and who keeps things moving at a very fast clip throughout.  The film lags a tad around the middle, but then recovers nicely with some twists and turns and some very well-staged action.  ***1/2

Chaos

CHAOS (2005) - May 9, 2012
A surprisingly shoddy film about a disgraced cop who finds himself investigating a bank robbery.  Featuring a really dull investigation, some truly horrible dialogue, and not much worth liking, this was just not a good movie.  Even the usually reliable Jason Statham does nothing to liven up the proceedings, and in fact gives an uncharacteristically bad performance -- but then everyone is bad here.  I really don't think it's any of the actors' fault -- they're all buried under the weight of Tony Giglio's leaden script, and his subpar direction.  Boo-urns.  *

The Killers

THE KILLERS (1946) - May 8, 2012
A really well made film noir about an ex-boxer who winds up getting murdered a few years after a payroll robbery gone bad.  The film actually has a similar structure to Citizen Kane -- the main character dies shortly after the film begins, and an investigator talks to those who knew him to piece together what led to his death.  The movie features an absolutely electrifying opening in which two hitmen terrorize the inhabitants of a diner; the rest of the movie is still pretty great, though it can't help but feel a little anti-climactic after that amazing opening.  It's really well directed by Robert Siodmak, who embraces all of noir's stylistic tropes with gusto;  there's also a really memorably impressive long take here, that reminded me of the opening of Touch of Evil, albiet less elaborate (I wonder if Welles took some inspiration from this film).  The film was also very well acted -- the main character could have come off as a generic tough guy, but Burt Lancaster brings a lot of depth to the role.  Ava Gardner also made for a memorable femme fatale.  ***1/2

13 Assassins

13 ASSASSINS (2010) - May 7, 2012
A surprisingly straight-forward and very enjoyable film from Takashi Miike about a group of samurai who embark on a mission to kill an evil lord, who is on the verge of attaining a position of great power.  Miike's direction is superb, as usual -- the earlier, moody candle-lit scenes fare just as well as the action stuff at the end.  And unlike pretty much every other movie of his that I've seen, this one avoids convolusion and overbearing quirk in favour of something much more conventional, which is refreshing.  The film drags a bit, particularly in the stretch after the group has left on their mission, but before the final battle.  There are also a lot of characters here (13), which means that some of them get the short shrift -- I honestly had a hard time keeping track of who was who during the final battle.  But man, that final battle... the last 40 minutes or so of the film consisted of one long battle, in which the 13 men take on an army of 200 in a small town.  It's awesome.  Miike stages the action like a pro, and it's exciting throughout (no small feat, considering that such a long action set-piece could have felt overwhelming).  ***1/2

The Avengers

THE AVENGERS (2012) - May 4, 2012
A mostly enjoyable if somewhat disappointing film about the Avengers coming together to ward off an intergalactic menace.  The film was never boring (well, maybe a bit during the epic final action sequence), but at the same time I was never really into it like with the Spider-Man or Nolan's Batman films.  However, it was well made, and obviously Joss Whedon has proved at this point that he's fairly adept at mixing character stuff with action -- and, as you would expect from a Whedon film, there is a fair amount of banter and humour (which are probably some of the best parts of the film).  I don't know what the deal is with Whedon's obsession with killing off the most likable characters, however.  Seriously, Joss.  Come on.  The film was good, though, if not quite the superhero masterpiece that it's being made out to be.  And I have to say, I never thought we'd reach a point where the spectacular large-scale destruction of a city would seem routine, however we've seen so many CGI cities get pulverized at this point that it's starting to feel a bit generic.  The last action set-piece was a bit of a drag (though it did contain a hilariously memorable moment involving a showdown betweek Loki and the Hulk).  ***

Indie Game: The Movie

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE (2012) - May 3, 2012
Though the satellite feed kept infuriatingly cutting out (I probably missed about five minutes)
this was a really fascinating look at the lives of people who have poured so much of themselves into their creative output -- into one major make-or-break project (in fact, Blow literally says that if he can't finish the game, he'll kill himself -- he's joking, but there does seem to be a glimmer of "I'm kind of joking, but I'm kind of not").  It's about videogames, but what makes it work so well is the personal connection we form with these people.  I'm not sure that I've ever seen such a visceral portrait of what it is to pour so much of yourself into something.  ***1/2

First Snow

FIRST SNOW (2006) - May 1, 2012
A well made and basically enjoyable film about a cocky salesman who begins to unravel when he's told he's going to die soon by a small-town fortune teller.  The film was a bit low-key and doesn't add up to all that much, but it's well made and features some really good performances, particularly Guy Pearce in the main role.  ***