I haven’t updated this blog in a while!
I’d review The Muppets but I have no words, only a big, stupid smile across my face which says more than I could say with a thousand words.
Go see The Muppets
Go be happy!
Sorry for the short break, I’ve been a bit sickly and haven’t really gotten around to watching anything exciting.
I do have a great copy of The Tree of Life, however, so I’ll talk about that soon.
Attack the Block, the debut film of director Joe Cornish, is an excellent modern take on the creature feature. Boasting production from Edgar Wright, a great script by Cornish (who worked with Wright on Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim), and fun performances by Nick Frost and a cast of new kids, Attack the Block may just be the most fun film of the year.
The film centers on a young London street gang who find themselves in a bit of trouble when aliens invade their home. Their leader, Moses (played by newcomer John Boyega), oozes the fierce calm and cool charisma of a boy who has seen things. He’s less eager to joke with his companions, but it’s clear he has the group’s interests in mind. Boyega is great and really steals the show. Like first time director Cornish, I think it’s fair to say Boyega could have quite the career ahead of him. The rest of the young cast do their jobs well and really make this group of thugs likable. The adult support cast of Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker, and Luke Treadaway fit their characters well and complement the younger performers.
The aliens of this movie are blind, hulking black masses (“gorilla wolf mothafuckers”) with fangs that glow a silvery blue. They’re cool and they’re ruthless, killing whoever they get their claws on in a fun horror movie fashion. Most of the scary moments present make good use of the blue glow on the black mass.
Cornish directs this film with confidence and it never feels like the work of a first timer. It’s an paced excellently as it’s fast but never misses a beat. The climax is a super cool, super stylish heroic action sequence which should have viewers cheering as I did.
Attack the Block left a big, stupid smile on my face. It mixes genres into an unforgettable blend of fun. It’s some of the best sci-fi, some of the best comedy, some of the best horror, and some of the best action of the last few years. It’s many things and it’s one of my favorite movies this year.
When I received passes to an advanced screening of Warrior, I didn’t exactly jump up and down. While I do like much of the cast, Warrior seemed like it would be another drama centered around fighting that falls into all the cliches. But it turns out that Warrior is much more than that. Yes, it falls into cliches, but it somehow manages to transcend them and come out more powerful than I could have expected.
At its core, Warrior is the story of a broken family brought back together after many years by an upcoming MMA tournament. The brothers, played by Hardy and Edgerton, have entered the tournament for their separate yet similar reasons. Edgerton’s character is a UFC fighter turned Physics teacher who returns to the ring when his family falls on hard times. Hardy’s is an alcoholic former Marine fighting to keep a promise to a former comrade. Both performances are powerful as both actors portray characters with a good amount of emotional depth. Nick Nolte also gives a strong performance as the boys’ estranged father, now sober and desperate to reconnect with his sons.
The emotional drama tempers the violence well. MMA is a rough sport, and Warrior doesn’t stylize or clean the brutality a bit. Every fight meant something to me as I felt the urge to rejoice or cringe with the characters. The final bout, in particular, is fittingly emotional and when the tension finally breaks, we’re left with a nice emotional moment.
Sure, Warrior is a sometimes sappy, somewhat cliched fight movie, but it does what it does extraordinarily well and I can hardly fault it for that. Far exceeded my expectations.
Gore Verbinski’s animated feature, Rango, offers something for everyone. It plays with Western tropes, references a few classics, and has its fair share of wit and slapstick. Kids and adults alike will rejoice in this picture, which is surely on of the best animated films of the last few years.
The protagonist and titular lizard voiced by Johnny Depp is a lonely wannabe actor who is thrust into the west. He uses the opportunity as something of an acting exercise, reinventing himself as a mysterious stranger and taking advantage of the townsfolk in the process. His character path is predictable, yes, but it plays its part in a fun narrative and Depp brings a lot of energy to the role. Depp brings a lot of himself into the role and makes Rango a likable, yet flawed character.
There’s a bit of slapstick humor here to entertain children, but there’s also plenty of wit and references to classic films abound. These include references to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Chinatown, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. My personal favorite was the fantastic Apocalypse Now referencing chase scene involving bats. The script complements these references with plenty of wit and human insight, ensuring that it isn’t just an homage fest.
However good the script and the performances may be, gorgeous cinematography is really what sets Rango apart. There are frames of this film that look like they belong in a museum. And there are angles used that I thought I would never see in an animated film.
Rango is a phenomenal film that proves that you don’t have to be Pixar to make a good computer animated film. In fact, I do not hesitate to say I prefer it to the majority of Pixar’s catalog.
Despite what the earliest reviews would have you believe, Kevin Smith has created something special in Red State. How this film didn’t do well in early screenings is so far beyond my comprehension. Red State is stunning.
Red State deals with the ultimate end of right wing religious extremism. It portrays a group similar to a heavily armed, violent Westboro Baptist Church. And what is more frightening than a dangerous man who believes he is doing the work of god? Red State takes a daring and interesting approach to this question by not takin either side. That’s not to say it doesn’t take a stance. Indeed, Red State has a strong philosophical grounding that excuses no action of man.
Aside from these ideas, the film anchors itself on a strong script filled with the clever wit and dialog Smith has built a career on. It’s not his usual project, but Red State has “Kevin Smith at his best” written all over it. the script is complemented by three near perfect performances by John Goodman, Melissa Leo, and Michael Parks. Parks, in particular, steals the film in the role of the group’s charismatic and psychotic leader. It’s a chilling performance that is sure to be among the best of the year.
I implore you to ignore the early reviews and see Red State. It’s an absolute gem.
Addendum
Apparently, I watched a copy of the NC-17 cut of A L’interieur, which is a bit less gory than its uncut counterpart.
I’m going to watch the particularly gory scenes in the uncut later and see how much it really affects the movie. I don’t think it will, but I’m going to make sure.
Really glad people are enjoying what I’ve written so far. I’ll try to keep up the good work.
Tonight’s review will be something that isn’t horror!
