RyMickey's Ramblings

Movie Review - The Debt

2012-02-14T23:30:00.000-05:00

The Debt (2011)

Starring Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Jesper Christensen, Marton Csokas, Ciarán Hinds, and Tom Wilkinson

Directed by John Madden

Despite liking the overall premise and enjoying the acting, something didn't quite click with me after watching The Debt. I think, ultimately, the "payoff" doesn't quite measure up to the "build-up" and that's always a bit of a disappointment. Plus, an oddly underdeveloped romantic subplot thrown into the mix doesn't do anything to increase the tension despite attempting to do just that.

The film jumps back and forth between two time periods. In 1965, we meet the twentysomething Rachel, Stephen, and David (played by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington) -- young Israeli government agents sent to East Berlin to kidnap the infamous Doktor Bernhardt (Jesper Christensen), the Surgeon of Birkenau known for performing heinous medical experiments on Jews during WWII. Ideally, the trio will be bringing back Bernhardt to Israel to stand trial for his crimes. Needless to say, entanglements inevitably arise putting a damper on those plans.

In 1997, we are introduced to the elder Rachel, Stephen, and David (played by Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, and Ciarán Hinds). Thirty years have passed and the group has been celebrated as heroes for decades thanks to their work involving the horrible doctor. However, the three former agents harbor a great secret known only to the trio and no one else...or so they thought. When the truth behind their secret runs the risk of being revealed, it may be time for the now senior citizen former agents to head back into the dangerous world of espionage.

As I mentioned, the premise is altogether promising and enjoyable. And there are also some really nice performances from Jessica Chastain and Helen Mirren, both of whom give their respective portrayals of Rachel much greater depth than I expected. Still, I can't get over the fact that a love triangle between the three principals just doesn't work and failed to get me invested in any angle of the attempts at amour. Plus, the older generation's story just doesn't capture the attention like the younger generation's tale. Although the film jumps around in time (to nice effect actually), the end plays only to the 1997 aspect of the tale and, although it brings the story to a resolution, it proves to be a bit too anticlimactic given the tension achieved in the 1965 segment of the tale.

The Debt certainly isn't a bad film, but it's not one I could really tell anyone to rush and see. It's adequate, but that's about it.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Beautiful Boy

2012-02-11T21:53:00.003-05:00

Beautiful Boy (2011)

Starring Maria Bello, Michael Sheen, Alan Tudyk, Moon Bloodgood, and Kyle Gallner

Directed by Shawn Ku

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I was speaking just the other day with someone about the dearth of indie movies in 2011 that resonated with me. There were a few here and there, but my top list of movies features a lot more mainstream wide-release movies than in years past. Thankfully, Beautiful Boy, a little seen flick from last year, helps pick the slack in that 2011 independent movie market. With two stunning performances and a story that just emotionally hits you at the core, the debut from director and co-screenwriter Shawn Ku is a welcome surprise.

Maria Bello and Michael Sheen are Kate and Bill, a married couple who are in the process of separating. Their son, Sammy (Kyle Gallner), is off at his first semester in college, and the empty house is making their relationship even more difficult to bear. The two could never be prepared for the news they receive early one morning when police officers show up on their doorstep and tell the couple that Sammy went on a shooting spree at his college, killing over fifteen people before turning the gun on himself.

With this huge news occurring in the film's first ten minutes, the remainder of Beautiful Boy rather effortlessly focuses solely on the emotional impact of this horrific event on the parents of the murderer. We never leave the side of either Kate or Bill and their grief and sorrow is gut-wrenching. Their crumbling relationship is pushed to the limits -- for they've gone through something so devastating that few can relate to them -- and the script provides a resolution for the couple that is completely believable and wholly satisfying.

Maria Bello is simply wonderful. Harboring a tremendous amount of guilt -- Kate was the last one to speak with Sammy the night before he went on his rampage -- Bello allows Kate to run the gamut of emotions from tearful grief to harsh anger, wondering whether she or her husband are also responsible for their son's actions. Michael Sheen is also riveting, beginning the movie as the calmer of the two, but finally breaking down and unleashing his emotions as the film progresses.

Together, the two are part of one of the best scenes I've seen in a 2011 film as a rather tender, lovely moment in a hotel room gradually shifts into a raw and hate-filled screaming match showcasing both Bello and Sheen's talent and proving that the film has allowed the audience to become so incredibly invested in these characters and their emotions. As the scene unfurled, I both didn't want it to end, but couldn't wait for it to be over. It was so uncomfortable, but so revealing and truth-filled. The barriers had come down for the coupl (thanks to the introduction of alcohol) and it was positively riveting.

There were a few moments here and there that screamed "low budget indie" in terms of the camera work and editing which admittedly took a little bit away from the overall experience. And, in the end, you kind of want to know what turned young Sammy down this painful road (although, on the other hand, the ambivalence makes us fully understand the disbelief Kate and Bill are feeling post-shooting spree). Still, those are minor gripes in a film that moved me quite a bit and featured two fantastic performances.

The RyMickey Rating: A-

Movie Review - A Better Life

2012-02-11T16:32:00.002-05:00

A Better Life (2011)

Starring Demián Bechir and José Julián

Directed by Chris Weitz

As much as A Better Life tries (and, boy, does it try), it can't change my thoughts on illegal immigration even if the person being deported (as is the case here) is the nicest guy in the world. Still, I'm able to overlook my personal conservative beliefs on this subject matter (and let's face it, when it comes to Hollywood, I have to overlook my conservative beliefs often in order to enjoy "art"), but I'm unable to look past the fact that the main character here -- a very nice Mexican (illegal) immigrant named Carlos who has been in this country for over 15 years -- is much too noble and saintlike for me to believe his story. Yes, I know that there are plenty of nice people in the world (I'm one of them), but something here just doesn't ring true.

A Better Life fails at creating intricacies. People are either good or they are bad and it's obvious from the moment they're introduced into which category they fall. Carlos (played by Academy Award-nominated actor Demián Bechir) is a hard-working good guy. He's trying his very best to raise his American-born teenage son Luis (José Julián) to respect others and understand the importance of a good education. While Luis is tempted daily to join the local gang, Carlos is off earning a living seven days a week as a gardener. In order to achieve a better life (hence the title), Carlos buys his boss's truck and begins to set up his own gardening business. However, thanks to a few unfortunate events, things quickly take a turn for the worse for Carlos and he must figure out how to make things right for himself and his son.

Despite decent turns from Demián Bechir and José Julián (although I'm not quite sure why the former got a Best Actor nomination at this year's Oscars...he's good, but I wasn't blown away), the film just feels overly generic, simplistic, and bland. There's no depth to anyone or any situation and it leads to a rather boring overall tone.

There was much talk that A Better Life was an eye-opening look at the illegal immigration/deportation debate in our country. To me, I'm hard-pressed to find anything that the film adds to the discussion. Just because Carlos is a nice guy doesn't (and shouldn't) sway me into thinking that it's okay for our borders to be open and if the liberal landscape wants to think that way it just shows how narrow-minded and shallow they are.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Psycho

2012-02-08T18:00:00.000-05:00

Psycho (1998)

Starring Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and William H. Macy

Directed by Gus Van Sant

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

***Warning -- Spoilers ahead***

Why? That's the question I've posed for the last fourteen years since I first found out that Gus Van Sant was making a near shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece (and my favorite movie of all time) Psycho. What's the point? I still don't get it even after I watched the film -- I guess it was some weird "experiment" -- but I will say that the film was better than I thought it would be. That being said, I also thought this was going to be one of the worst moviewatching experiences I'd ever have so it wasn't going to take much to prove me wrong on that front. However, the remake comes nowhere near close to the brilliance of the original.

Admittedly, I was actually quite impressed with Anne Heche's take on Marion Crane. Janet Leigh is so iconic to me in that role and has an undeniably devious take on the character. Not that the viewer ever gets a sense that Leigh's Marion "deserves" to die, but there is a slight feeling that she gets her appropriate comeuppance in the end. Heche, however, plays Marion a bit more innocently and I admired that quality. Unfortunately, Heche is only in the film for 35 minutes and things fall apart rather quickly at that point.

Vince Vaughn is simply painful as Norman Bates. His Norman is visibly off his rocker right from the very first time we lay eyes on him -- he nervously laughs at the end of his first line and it felt so forced and "actor-y" that it took me out of his performance immediately. Anthony Perkins played Norman as an outwardly normal guy who just so happened to be nuts. Vaughn's Norman is simply nuts. I despised nearly every line reading by him and when the last two-thirds of the movie shifts its focus towards him, it disappointed. Similarly, Julianne Moore has been told to play Marion's sister Lila as a seemingly "butch" tough gal which didn't fit for me at all and felt incredibly off-putting. When Lila gives Norman a take-down kick to debilitate him in the final basement scene at the Bates Motel, I couldn't help but think she should have yelled "Girl Power!" and it nauseated me with the political correctness of the change.

The film updates the story to 1998 and I can't help but think it proves to be a detriment. While it takes place in modern times, everything felt incredibly dated. By replicating nearly everything from the 1960s -- sets, camera shots, music, costuming -- I don't quite understand the point. Maybe it was done to allow the slight changes that are enacted -- like Norman masturbating when looking through the peephole as Marion prepares to shower or the odd flashes of rolling thunderclouds as Marion meets her demise in the shower -- seem appropriate in tone or something. Nonetheless, those changes evoked chuckles from me and didn't add a thing to the tale.

The question still remains -- why was this remake needed? What does it add to the discussion of Hitchcock's Psycho? The answer seems to be that the story itself still holds up and the camera shots and dialog still work even in a modern-day setting. However, it's not even remotely comparable in terms of quality and tension to the original. Do yourself a favor -- if you've never watched Hitchcock's classic, rent it and revel in its awesomeness.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - War Horse

2012-02-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

War Horse (2011)

Starring Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Thewlis, and Niels Arestrup

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is a guy who always tries to tug the emotional heartstrings. There's nothing wrong with that and its an overarching characteristic of nearly all his movies. In War Horse, though, this heartstring tugging is more like manipulative puppeteering, forcing the audience to feel a certain way even if the story doesn't naturally lead its audience down that road. I found War Horse lovely to look at, but absolutely stilted in terms of storytelling and repetitive when in comes to telling the tale of the "miracle" titular horse known as Joey.

From the very outset, I totally understood the vibe that Spielberg was trying to invoke here. There's a 1930's Rin Tin Tin childlike innocence on display in both visuals and story. The opening act in which teen Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) gets a ragged looking horse from his father (Peter Mullan) and must train it to pull a giant trough through England's stony landscape felt like I was watching a old-time children's movie. Not that there's a problem with Spielberg replicating his innocence of E.T. -- War Horse is, in fact, based on a children's book -- but after the opening act ends with Albert's father selling off Joey to save the family farm much to Albert and his mother's (Emily Watson) chagrin, the film falls into depressing episodic melodrama. We watch as Joey exchanges hands multiple times throughout the battles of World War I causing surprising amounts of bad luck and harm to those who come in contact with him. It all just becomes laughable rather than emotional.

I understand the old film vibe Spielberg is trying to achieve, but War Horse just feels awfully hollow and uncertain for whom the flick is made. We get these grand war scenes (which lack the violent brutality of Saving Private Ryan), but then they're interspersed with the silliness of moments like Joey literally "volunteering" himself to save his fellow horse from a deathly job on the battlefield or a young French girl -- one of Joey's "owners" -- hiding the horse in her room when the Germans invade the family farm. There's a severe lack of balance and Spielberg is never able to figure out what type of movie he wants to display.

The film looks fine, but even on that front, there isn't anything overly special about the visuals. Spielberg certainly culls lighting and lensing from the olden golden age of cinema, but it once again feels like a rehash of things we've seen before. Granted, one could certainly say (and I did say in my review of it) that The Artist is a rehash of films that came before it, but it at least knew who its audience was which is the huge overarching problem of War Horse. It's too simplistic for adults and too violent for kids and therefore finds itself wallowing in the middle of mediocrity.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Restless

2012-02-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

Restless (2011)

Starring Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Perhaps if I had watched Restless on another day, I would've found the quirky and twee flick irritating and obnoxious. However, luckily for the Gus Van Sant film, I was apparently in a mood for oddness, because I was won over by the sweet and touching (though doomed from the outset) romance, and while it's a film that has some flaws, Restless is a pleasant tale of youthful romance.

Enoch (Henry Hopper) is a teenage high school drop-out who spends his days crashing funerals. Ever since his parents died in a car crash, Enoch's been living in a world replete with death (including his "imaginary" best friend, Hiroshi [Ryo Kase], a Japanese kamikaze pilot who died in World War II). While out on his daily funeral visits, Enoch meets Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) who doesn't find Enoch's obsession with mortality bizarre at all. In fact, she's a bit of an oddball sweet free spirit as well...who also happens to have inoperable brain cancer and a three-month window to live.

What certainly makes Restless succeed are the great performances of the two leads. In one of his first roles, Henry Hopper (son of the late Dennis Hopper) seems pitch perfect. Yes, his character is morbid, and yes, he's essentially stone-faced throughout much of the movie, but I totally understood the odd character of Enoch thanks to Hopper. I understood why he went to funerals; I believed the ridiculousness of him speaking with dead Japanese fighter pilots; and I felt when he fell in love with Annabel. Something clicked there that was impressive.

And as for Mia Wasikowska, it's by far the best role I've seen her in yet. While I liked her in Jane Eyre where she was forced to play an emotionless statue, in Restless she is as goshdarn cute as could be. There's a slight Woody Allen-Diane Keaton Annie Hall vibe coming from her (and not just because of the hats she wears throughout) that I totally dig. You connect with her Annabel right away because she creates a character that seems real and lovable despite her idiosyncrasies, and, because of that connection, the film becomes all the more difficult to watch as her illness progresses.

As the two begin to fall in love, they find themselves overcoming their own demons thanks to the help of one another and considering the rather morose undertones of the whole flick, I found myself smiling quite a bit thanks to the tone set by the director and screenwriter. Admittedly, as I mentioned in my first sentence, you need to be willing to go along for the ride on this one and give in to the weirdness or else you'll find this a tedious mess to sit through. I succumbed to the cuteness and found the whole thing rather surprisingly enjoyable. Granted, it isn't without its faults -- I think the last third unfortunately ends the movie on a rather sour note and doesn't wrap things up with its characters in a believable manner [a pretty big fault, actually] -- but, for the most part, Restless works.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - The Double

2012-02-02T20:50:00.002-05:00

The Double (2011)

Starring Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Odette Yustman, and Martin Sheen

Directed by Michael Brandt

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Although imdb lists The Double as getting a theatrical release last year, I certainly never heard anything about this until I saw some commercials promoting its appearance on Blu-Ray. With a promise of political intrigue (and the ease of streaming availability), I figured why not give it a shot. However, I soon discovered the reason this was buried at the box office is because The Double simply isn't very good.

Richard Gere is Paul Shepherdson, a retired CIA agent who spent much of his life tracking down a group of Russian bad guys led by an ominous assassin named Cassius. Having seemingly taken down the bad Russians, Paul spends his days (creepily) watching Little League games outside of Washington, D.C. When a prominent senator gets murdered in the same style as Cassius's killings, CIA director Tom Highland (Martin Sheen) calls Paul back into the game partnering him up with young FBI agent Ben Geary (Topher Grace). Ben, a young expert on Cassius, soon begins to see that Paul has all the characteristics of the Russian baddie and slowly uncovers that Paul may be hiding a huge secret from the US government.

Sound moderately interesting, right? It's not. The "big reveals" aren't that exciting and the multiple twists thrown in at the film's end seem forced rather than natural to the story. Gere and Grace are fine, but neither are given much to do and they don't provide a whole lot of charisma to liven things up.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Theater Review - The Cripple of Inishmaan

2012-01-31T00:11:00.001-05:00

The Cripple of Inishmaan

Written by Martin McDonagh

Directed by J. R. Sullivan

Where: Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts

(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)

When: Saturday, January 28, 7:30pm

Photo by Paul Cerro

At a certain point (and perhaps we've come to that moment), I'm just going to sound like a broken record when I speak about the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players' productions. This company of eight actors is just fantastic and their expertise shines again in Martin McDonagh's darkly comic tale The Cripple of Inishmaan. The audience is transported back to 1934 and the Irish island of Inishmaan where we meet Billy (or, as the rest of the townsfolk call him "Cripple Billy"), his two foster aunts who have raised him since his parents' deaths when Billy was just a baby, and a few other kooky Irish lads and lassies who find themselves in a bit of a tizzy when local gossiper JohnnyPateenMike makes it known that Hollywood is coming to the nearby town of Inishmore. In the rather boring (or at the very least simple) town of Inishmaan, this is big news and Billy, with his mangled leg and hurt arm who often spends his free time staring at cows, sees this as an opportunity to possibly escape the doldrums of his lonely existence.

I'm actually quite surprised that playwright Martin McDonagh manages to make this play work. It's an odd melange of comedy, melodrama, almost Capra-esque sentimentality, and twisted violence that in no way should succeed. Somehow, though, it does, and it provides the REP with a work unlike anything they've performed before. While the company often finds itself delving into either just comedy or just drama, Inishmaan is a clever mix, much darker in tone (and nastier in its humor) then we're used to seeing from the REP, allowing the troupe to once again showcase a different side. It's also nice to see a modern play being performed -- something that I wish the REP would do a tiny bit more and they seem to be doing this year (Noises Off and the upcoming Our Country's Good from the 80s, and this production from 90s). [Gosh, how exciting would it be to see this troupe take on some modern-day stuff like Doubt and God of Carnage? Then again, when you do Shakespeare as exciting as this production of theirs last year, it's hard to complain about anything this group performs.]

Jumping back to the actors, though, this season has been great because in all the company's productions thus far, we've got to see all eight actors performing (something that wasn't done in seasons past) and there really doesn't seem to be anything these folks can't do. From the first moment Michael Gotch's Billy walks onstage, you immediately feel for the character. In a role that I'd assume requires great attention to the actual physicality of the character you're playing, Mr. Gotch imbues Billy with a great deal of heart and vulnerability as well. Personal favorite Kathleen Pirkl Tague shares much of her stage time with the wonderful Elizabeth Heflin as Billy's two "aunties" and their interactions with one another and their fellow townsfolk are comedic gold.

Kudos also need to be given to Stephen Pelinski whose take on the local gossiper JohnnyPateenMike provides a lot of the play's laughter. His scenes with his drunk ninety-plus-year-old mother (played by the ever-reliable Carine Montbertrand) didn't really advance the plot a whole lot, but they were some of my favorites in the show. It was also nice to see the REP welcome back last year's graduate of the university's PTTP program Ben Charles. Deena Burke, Mic Matarrese, and Steve Tague round out the rest of the stellar cast.

As is always the case with the REP, The Cripple of Inishmaan is top notch in terms of production values. The scenic design by Stefanie Hansen is wonderful (and garnered applause by the audience as the play opened) and the costumes by Andrea Barrier are also up to the usual standards held by the REP.

If there's something to complain about it lies in the fact that I couldn't help but feel like Martin McDonagh tacked on one too many endings. The play zips along in the first act, but I felt like the second act could have ended at least two times before it actually did. Granted, the continuation of the plot towards the end added to the rather enjoyable subversive nature of the play as a whole, but it still didn't quite flow as well as I feel like it could have leading up to the conclusion. Those are minor qualms, however, as I was pleasantly surprised by this production. The different tone presented by the REP in The Cripple of Inishmaan is a real treat and well worth seeing.

Movie Review - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

2012-01-26T20:36:00.000-05:00

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)

Starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, and Bailee Madison

Directed by Troy Nixey

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is an okay horror flick that felt like a slightly more adult version of Nickelodeon's 90s series Are You Afraid of the Dark. Although tense, the film had a rather childlike innocence to it -- no cursing, no blood (for the most part), relying on tense build-ups and taut direction (although only in certain scenes).

That being said, despite a decent lead performance from the young Bailee Madison (whose character Sally started out a bit too one-note bratty to work completely for me) and fine turns from Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce (whose characters aren't given a whole lot to do other than doubt Sally when she says little gnome-like creatures are wreaking havoc on their newly bought hundred-year-old mansion), the film even at 99 minutes goes on too long. It felt like the story could have (and should have) been told in the 30 minutes that those Are You Afraid of the Dark episodes were given. The story was just dragged out too long to be effective. Rather than excite, I found myself bored too many times.

It doesn't help that the aforementioned gnome-like creatures prove to be a little laughable rather than scary (which, once again, makes me feel like it would've been more at home on that 90s Nick show). I just wanted to tell these folks to stomp on these little devils and run out of the house (because, just like every other horror movie, no one leaves the house until it's much too late to do so).

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Margin Call

2012-01-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

Margin Call (2011)

Starring Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgely, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci

Directed by J.C. Chandor

Some movies no matter how well they're directed, acted, or written just don't work for the individual viewer because the subject matter simply doesn't resonate with him. That's Margin Call for me. The acting ensemble here is top notch. J.C. Chandor's directing and screenwriting debut is solidly tension-filled and quite impressive (although it does slip into a bit too much moralizing in the second half which diminished substantially the little enjoyment I was experiencing). Still, the story about the start of the financial meltdown in the late 2000s and big corporate's involvement in forcing massive government bailouts just made me feel kind of dumb because it's something I really know nothing about. Despite its admirable attempts at "dumbing down" the subject matter, I was still a bit lost at moments which is part of the reason why this flick garners its rating at the bottom of this review.

I'd love to tell you exactly what happened to cause the tension to build in Margin Call, but I'd just be making up what I think happened. It has something to do with some big investment company wanting to sell off some stocks or something after they discover that if they were to hold onto them their company would go under. Unfortunately for this company, the person that discovered this issue was just fired that morning, so as everyone attempts to get him back to unveil his findings, he's none to eager to help the bastards that let him go.

The whole thing looks good and feels smart, but I just don't know enough about stocks and mortgages and day trading to comprehend the goings-on here. It also didn't help that towards the end, the film attempted to bring out the "moral police" by having its characters spout how morally wrong the company's actions were -- and, while that may be accurate, it felt much too preachy and "Occupy Wall Street" to appeal to this viewer. Acting across the board was great and it was nice to see each actor have a scene or two to act with everyone in the cast in a one-on-one capacity. But, in the end, this is a movie that I'll never want to watch again.

The RyMickey Rating: C

2012 Academy Award Predicitons

2012-01-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

Bold Font Updated Oscar Morning -- 9am

Here's a quick run-down of some major Academy Awards categories to be announced tomorrow morning at 8:30am. Going into this Oscar season, I've actually seen quite a bit more than I usually have seen at this point. I've still got some possible awards contenders to see -- War Horse, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Albert Nobbs, to name a few -- but I'm not sure any of these will see a huge amount of traction in the nominations tomorrow. Anyway, here's my predictions in descending order from most probable/locks to less probable

Best Picture

The Artist

The Descendants

Hugo

The Help

Midnight in Paris

Yes, there could be anywhere from five to ten nominees this year, but I can't help but think in this rather lukewarm year for movies that many of the other flicks just outside the top five -- War Horse, Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball -- may not have many #1 votes coming their way from Academy members which significantly decreases their chances of a nomination (the voting process is much too confusing for me to really understand though). If something else gets in the mix, I'd have to think it very well could be something like Drive or Tree of Life that has a small, but loyal and rabid following. The top four flicks about seem definite with Midnight in Paris a toss-up. I'm not quite sure how to to appropriately predict the awards, but should there be more than five nominees, I see it coming in this order: 6. Dragon Tattoo 7. The Tree of Life 8. Moneyball 9. War Horse 10. Drive
Analysis: So what do I know. Like I said, I don't quite understand the preferential ballot treatment. In the end, there were nine nominees and 8 of my first 9 were nominated with the surprise Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting the ninth spot. So, I'm giving myself 8/9.

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Alexander Payne - The Descendants

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick - Tree of Life

alternate: David Fincher - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I think the top four are locks with the fifth spot up for grabs. I guess Spielberg could possibly be in the running, but War Horse has shown up in so few precursor awards that I think its allure has waned.
Analysis: 5/5 -- I went out on a limb with Malick and was apparently rewarded with that guess.

Best Actor

George Clooney - The Descendants

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar

Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

alternate: Michael Shannon - Take Shelter

Only the top three are locks. The remaining two spots will be filled by either DiCaprio, Oldman, Shannon, or Michael Fassbender in Shame, all four of whom have racked up nominations elsewhere this season.
Analysis: 4/5 - Despite garnering a Screen Actors Guild nomination, I didn't see Demian Bichir getting in the mix for the little seen A Better Life. DiCaprio didn't make the cut for the disappointing J. Edgar.

Best Actress

Viola Davis - The Help

Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn

Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs

Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin

alternate: Charlize Theron - Young Adult

In a perfect world, Theron would be nominated and win (although I haven't seen Swinton or Close's work yet), but I don't really see her name being called tomorrow morning. Rooney Mara is also in the running for Dragon Tattoo. This may be the most locked-up category to be announced tomorrow.
Analysis: 4/5 -- I'm a fan of Tilda Swinton's work, and although I haven't seen We Need to Talk About Kevin yet, I'm looking forward to it. However, the film is a small release and Rooney Mara took that up-for-grabs fifth spot.

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn

Albert Brooks - Drive

Jonah Hill - Moneyball

Ben Kingsley - Hugo

alternate: Brad Pitt - The Tree of Life

I'm calling for a Ben Kingsley surprise nomination tomorrow morning. If the Academy likes Hugo, I think Kingsley's a great choice despite not having turned up in any precursor awards. This category is the most interesting tomorrow as I think only Plummer and Branagh are locks. Patton Oswalt also garnered some buzz for Young Adult as did Nick Nolte for Warrior, but those films didn't fare too well with the public so I'm not sure where they stand with the Academy.
Analysis: 3/5 -- My worst category, but also, like I said, one of the most up-in-the-air ones. The Academy didn't care for (the overrated) Drive so Albert Brooks got sidelined despite having a lot of buzz earlier in the season. My Ben Kingsley hope didn't come through either, with Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Nick Nolte for Warrior joining Plummer, Branagh, and Hill.

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer - The Help

Berenice Bejo - The Artist

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Shaileen Woodley - The Descendants

alternate: Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs

Top three are locks, but McCarthy and Woodley are vulnerable, but only to McTeer as I don't really see any other actresses being buzzed about for this category this year.
Analysis: 4/5 -- Woodley's buzz for The Descendants had been fading and McTeer had been taking her place in a lot of recent awards, so I probably should've went that route, but figured the Academy might get won over by nominating a "kid."

Original Screenplay

Midnight in Paris

The Artist

Bridesmaids

A Separation

Young Adult

alternate: 50/50
Anaylsis: 4/5 -- Margin Call makes the cut rather than Young Adult (which I put on there for my own personal benefit). I did call the surprise foreign nom for A Separation, however.

Adapted Screeplay

Moneyball

The Descendants

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Help

alternate: The Ides of March
Anaylsis: 3/5 -- My other worst category of the day, although my alternate Ides of March made it in replacing The Help and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy replacing Tattoo.

Overall, I wasn't awful...35/44...still not great...We'll see as the season moves on, but I've got a lack of passion for any of these movies, so it should end up being a rather boring month 'til the Oscars.

Theater Review - Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark

2012-01-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark

Book by Julie Taymor, Glen Berger, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Music and Lyrics by Bono and The Edge

Directed by Philip Wm. McKinley

Original Direction by Julie Taymor

Where: Foxwoods Theater, New York, NY

When: Thursday, January 19, 7:30pm

There were such low expectations going into Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark that it really wouldn't have taken much to make me enjoy this Broadway spectacle. There was no way this much maligned, long delayed, and oft ridiculed production could be as bad as the critics were saying it was, was there?

Critics don't always know what they're talking about, but in this case, this incarnation of the Spiderman tale (essentially a scene-by-scene retelling of the first movie [showing a sheer lack of creativity] set to horribly crafted music from Bono and The Edge of U2) has been rightly lambasted. While it has some unique design elements (likely courtesy of the creative mind of Julie Taymor who was unceremoniously dethroned as director when the musical was initially bludgeoned by the press) and some highly technical and genuinely exciting flying sequences in which Spidey flies out over the audience while fighting the Green Goblin, this production is horribly laughable and if the tepid applause after every number was any indication, I was not the only one in the audience unimpressed.

Still, what will likely keep this on the Great White Way for years to come is the high-flying acrobatic work which admittedly is exhilarating to see. The audience ate that up and it ended things on quite a high note for them. However, even with that impressive technical achievement, one simply can't ignore the fact that nearly everything else in this musical is laughably bad. Look beyond the thrilling aerials and there's simply nothing there.

Yes, this is the type of high-flying shenanigans you'll see. Granted, Mary Jane isn't carried around by the Halloween-masked Green Goblin, but Spidey and his arch-nemesis do fight mid-air and it is pretty nifty.

There is simply an abundance of problems here that I'm not quite sure where to start. Let's begin with the book. I should say that I'm no comic book expert, but the plot here is pulled almost directly from the first Spiderman flick. While that may follow very closely to the origin story of the comic book, I really didn't need to see a complete rehash of how Peter Parker became his alter ego after being bit by a genetically altered spider. I'd assume there's such a large pool of plotlines to pull from in the comic books, so did we really need Norman Osborne/Green Goblin to be our villain? Even Broadway's Mary Poppins (which I reviewed earlier this week) changes things around enough to make things stay fresh. In Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, everything reeks of staleness.

Granted, the play adds a ridiculous subplot (which was apparently much more prominent in Julie Taymor's original production before the story got rehashed by the new directing team) concerning the Greek myth of Arachne who was turned into a spider after some tiff amongst the gods. She becomes Peter's guardian angel of sorts which essentially means she's forced to hang from the rafters in some web-like contraption wailing some horribly treacly encouraging words to our hero. When Arachne made her first appearance of Act II, the eight-year-old kid behind me literally said, "Jeez, not her again," and I couldn't have agreed more.

It's certainly not just the book that's a problem. For all the acclaim and prestige U2's Bono and The Edge have in the music world, they're simply not the right fit for the Broadway stage. Yes, there are some successful moments -- the powerful and sweeping "Rise Above" occurring after Peter's uncle is killed is probably the best visual and aural moment in the production; "The Boy Falls From the Sky" is a typical, though strong, U2 rock ballad; and "If the World Should End" is a pleasant and rather lovely love ballad sung by Peter's girlfriend Mary Jane -- and admittedly the music is okay for the most part, but the lyrics for nearly everything are mind-numbingly awful. When the line was uttered, "I search through the trash for a melody // that may lead us to dignity // in this junkyard of humanity," I thought it was altogether rather fitting. The music did feel like it came right from the trashbins of U2's previous works. [It should be noted that those heinous lines I just typed actually came from one of the good songs I previously mentioned. If that's from a decent one, just imagine what the bad ones sound like.]

The musical genre is inherently a difficult one for audiences to open up to because it's not based in a bit of reality. While it's easier to embrace on a stage rather than in a movie theater, you still have to ease the audience into the production numbers. Multiple times in Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, the characters just began singing out of nowhere. Peter would say a line and Mary Jane would just start a song, lacking any instrumental intro or build up. It was just awkward and uncomfortable and felt like there was no communication or camaraderie between the book writers and the lyricists -- something that I have to believe is crucial when producing a musical. I watched an interview with Bono and The Edge in which the two said they felt no real responsibility for the initial failures of the production. They did their thing and went away from it. That in and of itself is part of the problem. The duo walking away from it all abundantly shows.

And what they have created -- with the exception of those three songs mentioned above -- is just painful. Songs like "Bullying by Numbers," "D.I.Y World," and "A Freak Like Me Needs Company" are just as bad as their titles make them sound. Anything requiring the cast to sing together was painful to listen to as the company simply couldn't ever seem to find the right notes. For instance, I have absolutely no clue what was said in "Sinistereo," a number sung by the play's quintet of reporters, which I'm guessing was supposed to relay to the audience the awful things the Green Goblin was doing around New York City, but could have easily been describing the best way to bake a cake. I literally couldn't comprehend a thing that was said. Granted, some of that fault lies in the cast's lack of enunciation (and absolutely horrible harmonizing), but a huge chunk of the problem lies in the music and lyrics.

In the end, though, it's not really the cast's fault that the production is as bad as it is. Sure, they're forced to spout awful lines and dance some of the worst hip hop choreography I've witnessed, but they do their best. Reeve Carney as Peter Parker/Spiderman is an adequate Bono impersonator -- I say that because all his ballad-heavy numbers sound as if they'd be right at home on the B-side of a U2 record. Rebecca Faulkenberry was fine as Mary Jane, but her role is so broad and lacking any real heart that it's tough to give a damn about her relationship with Peter. Stealing the show is Patrick Page's Norman Osborne/Green Goblin. As the Green Goblin, Page is given the play's corniest lines, but he is the only person in the cast that exudes any bit of a personality and is a bright spot in an otherwise disastrous production.

While Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark isn't the worst thing I've seen on Broadway (this is) -- the high-flying stunts and heretofore unmentioned impressive sets save it from that dubious honor -- it comes awfully close. If what I saw was the revamped "better" version, there's a part of me that wonders how godawful Julie Taymor's original vision was because there aren't a whole lot of ways I imagine it could it been worse.

Theater Review - Mary Poppins

2012-01-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

Mary Poppins

Book by Julian Fellowes
Original Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
New Songs and Additional Music and Lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe

Directed by Richard Eyre

Where: New Amsterdam Theater (New York, NY)

When: Sunday, January 15, 2011, 1pm

This was my second viewing of Disney's Mary Poppins on Broadway and, much like the first time, it's a musical that works incredibly well, but has a few flaws that prevent it from being "practically perfect" as the title character would say. Still, despite a few troublesome spots in the production, Mary Poppins is, to me, the epitome of what a old-fashioned Broadway musical is/was full of great songs, humor, huge dance numbers, and heart.

The reason to see this production on Broadway is for the absolutely stunning set design and special effects. While much of the action takes place in the Banks household, the way the huge house raises, lowers, and switches to different levels is part of the fun of seeing this thing at the New Amsterdam theater. When you couple that with some great special effects that set the whimsical tone and you're in for a treat. Right from the very beginning as Mary begins to pull seemingly impossible items like six foot-tall coatracks out of her tiny handbag, a smile popped on my face. And that's the simplest special effect...I'll leave it a surprise as to what chimney sweep Bert does during Act II's "Step in Time" that brought literal gasps from the audience.

While the production itself is stunning, the whole thing takes a while to get moving. Unfortunately, Act I has one too many lulls to be truly successful. When the focus is placed on father George Banks who is having a difficult time with his banking job, the play screeches to a halt. The classic song "A Spoonful of Sugar" is oddly placed in the storyline and it ruins its effectiveness. And "Feed the Birds," a lovely song and apparently Walt Disney's favorite, will never be anything but a yawn provider for me (in this play or in the movie). Fortunately, Act I contains "Jolly Holiday" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidious," two fantastic production numbers, the latter of which is simply magical.

And once Act II comes along, it never stops. The pacing problems that were evident in Act I vanish and the whole thing moves at a rapid clip. It certainly helps that Act II introduces a villain that wasn't present in the film for Mary to stand up against. Miss Andrews (played by a delightfully wicked Ruth Gottschall) was George Banks's nanny when he was growing up and she's an absolute tyrant. When the two polar opposite nannies begin to duke it out, it becomes one of my favorite scenes despite a lack of the showiness and special effects that are present in much of the rest of the play. Since Act II veers a little more different when compared to the movie than Act I, I think that helps the boredom factor as well. Seeing something we aren't quite used to keeps it interesting.

While Steffanie Leigh's Mary had a lovely singing voice, and Gavin Lee who originated the role of Bert on Broadway seemed to be having an absolute blast bringing an effervescent joy whenever he was onstage, there were a few issues in the acting department that I don't remember seeing in my previous visit to Mary Poppins. Perhaps this is a bit harsh to criticize someone so young, but Kara Oates who played little Jane Banks was nearly indecipherable when she spoke thanks to the shrillness of her voice. When she sang, things were fine, but whenever she spoke, I hardly ever understood a word she said...this was certainly the most unpleasant thing in the production. Also, while not necessarily the fault of the actors, the mics on Karl Kenzler's George Banks and housemaid Katie Nanna (played by Kristin Carbone) were so low that it was a strain to hear them which made many of their lines that should have delivered laughs fall on deaf ears.

Still, even with a few problems, Mary Poppins is everything a Broadway show should be. You'll certainly have a lovely day at the theater with this one.

Movie Review - The Iron Lady

2012-01-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

The Iron Lady (2011)

Starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent

Directed by Phyllida Law

Much like last year's The King's Speech, I went into The Iron Lady thinking I was going to be bored learning about a piece of British history, but hoping that my qualms would be squashed. Unlike The King's Speech which proved to be thoroughly entertaining and heart-warming, The Iron Lady is simply yawn-inducing and cold. Please don't get me wrong here -- Meryl Streep is amazing as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. There's part of me that wanted to be able to come on this blog and type that Streep finally blew it and gave a crappy performance, but I'm really beginning to think this lady can do no wrong. She is riveting. It's the story crafted around her and the rather silly direction that drags this one down. There was part of me that was hoping I'd at least feel a little loyalty towards the "character" of Margaret Thatcher onscreen seeing as how her conservative nature is something I lean towards politically, but when I'd already checked my watch ten times in the first forty minutes to see how much longer this flick was going to go on (and that's no exaggeration), I knew this simply wasn't working for me.

When the film opens, we see an aged Margaret Thatcher, retired from her political life, sitting at her kitchen table with her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent). As she discusses an increase in the price of milk, it is revealed that Margaret is simply talking to herself. Denis has died, but a senile Margaret can't seem to let go of her husband's presence. As the troubled Margaret tries to deal with her husband's death, she remembers back upon her life from her humble beginnings as the daughter of a grocer to her rise to power in the Conservative party of Great Britain. Unfortunately, those flashbacks lack any bite, leaving Thatcher much more two-dimensional than three. Important moments in Thatcher's political career are seemingly glossed over rather than examined and debated.

Still, what saves The Iron Lady from being an all-out failure is Meryl Streep. She loses herself in Thatcher and we forget that we're watching Ms. Streep. Of course, kudos to the make-up department for making Ms. Streep utterly unrecognizable as an old woman, but beyond that, the woman has the ability to lose herself in these characters. Even before that opening shot I describe above, we get an image of an elderly Margaret Thatcher walking along the streets of England. From this moment as Streep slowly makes her way through the town, I was won over. There's something about Streep's ability to pick up on the littlest nuances of people (the way elderly feet shuffle along the ground, for example) that amazes me.

Of course, Streep's performance doesn't save the movie from being a train wreck. Well, a "train wreck" is probably the wrong terminology to use because you'd probably be morbidly fascinated with watching a train wreck whereas The Iron Lady does nothing but make you twiddle your thumbs out of ennui.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Another Earth

2012-01-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Another Earth (2011)

Starring Brit Marling and William Mapother

Directed by Mike Cahill

I don't really have a whole lot either good or bad to say about Another Earth which unfortunately causes it to languish in the middle-of-the-road which isn't exactly a great place to be. A mix of a science fiction and character study, Another Earth takes place in the present (I'd assume) as a mirror image of planet Earth has taken residence in our sky. The planet not only has landscape features similar to ours, but also contains duplicates of every single person on our Earth. Obviously, this causes quite a stir with many folks, including young twenty-something Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling) who enters a contest in order to fly to what is not-so-cleverly monikered Earth 2.

Rhoda longs to escape her world because she hasn't exactly had a past that fills her with pride. When she was 17, she was involved in a horrible car crash in which she hit Yale music professor John Burrough's (William Mapother) vehicle, killing his wife and young child. This sends John into a horrible depression which he still hasn't come out of four years later as Rhoda is released from prison. When Rhoda realizes that John is still living in her town, she decides to visit him and apologize for all the pain she has caused him. However, Rhoda's brave attempt doesn't work as she can't quite muster the nerve to tell him who she really is and instead pretends to be a cleaning woman. As she visits him week after week, an odd relationship develops with Rhoda's secret always looming over her.

The premise, though far-fetched, sounds very good, but it lacks a bit in execution. Unfortunately, I think the problem lies in part in the indie feel -- the lack of production money perhaps hurt this film a tad on the science fiction front. It doesn't help that Brit Marling and Mike Cahill's screenplay is peppered with both a few too many scenes of Rhoda moping around her house and a ridiculous subplot involving a blind Indian custodian who "teaches" Rhoda how to be a better woman. There's really never a point of respite from the grief and the constant heavyhanded nature isn't all that enjoyable to sit through even for only ninety minutes.

Also, while I enjoyed Brit Marling's performance as Rhoda, I never thought William Mapother brought anything to his character. Granted, I think the script didn't help him any by sticking him with a rather one-notish demeanor -- cranky, depressed man -- for the first sixty minutes, but I shouldn't have been laughing like I was at his portrayal of a crotchety guy.

Still, despite the faults, I admire Another Earth for at least being a little bit different. It takes a tale about grief and suffering and adds enough of a twist (and an interesting "hopefulness" thanks to Earth 2) that makes it intriguing. Add a great final moment (somewhat similar to one of my other favorite endings this year from the little-seen-film Last Night) and there are reasons to give this one a shot. While it'll likely end up with the very same "middle-of-the-road" feeling for you as it did for me, it's still an okay flick if you're looking for something a bit different.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2012-01-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, and Mark Strong

Directed by Tomas Alfredson

Man, this British spy flick is the kind of movie that tries its very best to make its viewers feel dumb. In the end, I don't think ("think" being the operative word here) I misunderstood Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but I certainly didn't get anything out of it either. There's a story here...one much simpler than the convoluted mess onscreen would have you believe. In early 1970s Britain, the British secret service has been infiltrated by a traitor who is working for the Russians, stealing information and delivering it to the Soviets. It's up to George Smiley (Gary Oldman) to figure out which of his co-workers is the mole. The problem here is that this tale is told so mundanely that it's tough to get involved with anything taking place onscreen. When the film's climactic moment -- the reveal of the spy -- is relegated to a small throwaway shot, I think I literally threw up my hands in disgust. I waited two hours for that?!?!

Tomas Alfredson's film looks great as if it were made in the very 1970s it so creatively depicts. The costumes and set direction are spot on and the cinematography is gorgeous at many moments. Alfredson always manages to create beautiful things to look at and is quite the master here and composing an appealing visual display, but that can't hide the fact that the film feels like it goes nowhere (although it certainly saves the film from being an all-out disaster). While I don't need my spy dramas to be all Bourne Identity in terms of pace (in fact, I'd rather they not be filled with the freneticism of the Bourne series), there's got to be some semblance of either action or tension and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has neither.

It's a shame, really, because in addition to the lovely visual aesthetics, the cast of British men is quite good, although a few of them seemed to find themselves wallowing in boredom without any twinge of life in them. Oldman is fine (but I found his role lacking any type of character arc and rather one-notey although he played that note very well), as is Benedict Cumberbatch who plays his protégé of sorts. But I can't shake the fact that I feel like this talented cast wasn't given much to do, and what they were given to do, they were directed to act as stern and emotionless as possible.

Without a doubt, this will likely be the lowest rated film to land on any of my RyMickey Awards lists for 2011 (which, knowing me, likely won't start up until after the Oscars roll around) thanks to the look of the piece, but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a movie that simply shouldn't have been made. While there's maybe something there with which to create a story, it simply wasn't done in a way that works in the slightest.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - The Game

2012-01-17T01:58:00.000-05:00

The Game (1997)

Starring Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, and Deborah Kara Unger

Directed by David Fincher

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Ludicrous is the word to best describe David Fincher's The Game in which rather cutthroat businessman Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) gets more than he bargained for after he signs up for a unique leisure "experience" given to him by his wayward troubled brother (Sean Penn). The gift is a game crafted to test Nicholas, pushing him to extremes he never thought possible in his well-ordered and rigid life. As the game begins to unfold, Nicholas's life slowly unravels as he loses control of everything he held dear to him.

I mention "ludicrous" above for the sheer fact that The Game's script relies on so many things to happen at precisely the right time in order for the plot of the movie to work. The slightest alterations would seemingly ruin Nicholas's "game" set up by the entity known as Consumer Recreation Services and it really just reeks of unbelievability.

Yet -- and I felt this way when I watched it years ago -- The Game is a movie that I enjoy despite the ridiculousness of the whole affair. Yes, it runs on too long and has one too many twists and turns at the end. Yes, the plot is absolutely preposterous. But I still like it. Michael Douglas is solid, but admittedly, I'm not sure this role was a real difficult one for him to undertake as Nicholas is like many of his other characters. David Fincher directs with a nice touch, but on this viewing of the film, I couldn't help but think he and his editor could have used the scissors a bit more.

The RyMickey Rating: B

The Personal Canon - Beauty and the Beast

2012-01-14T10:08:00.004-05:00

The Personal Canon is a recurring column discussing my favorite movies of all time. While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

[in 3D in select movie theaters]

Featuring the voice talent of Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury

Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

Where does one even begin when writing about a movie that they absolutely love? Right up there with Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho (and only a smidge behind that horror classic), Disney's Beauty and the Beast is my (2nd) favorite movie of all time. I don't know if it came along at the right time in my youth (I would have been eleven at the time it was released), but something just clicked from the first time that I saw this film. A meld of lovely hand-drawn animation, the best musical score ever written for the screen, and a simple story with charming characters, it's easy to see why Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. [And let's be honest, if the field wasn't opened to ten nominees in the past two years, there's no way Up and Toy Story 3 would've been nominated, so part of me still feels that Beauty and the Beast is rightfully the only "real" animated Best Picture nominee.]

There's no way anything I write here is going to do this movie justice or truly depict why I think this movie is so special. I don't even know if I can pinpoint and express all the reasons I love it so much. However, watching it again on the big screen was a real joy. [Although I'd love to see it with the non-necessary 3-D which, while not detrimental to the film in the slightest, didn't do a thing to enhance the experience.] Animation-wise, it's amusing now to look back and see how far we've come in two decades. The shift from hand-drawn to computer animation is certainly the key change, but even from a hand-drawn stand-point, the advancements have been huge. That isn't to say that Beauty and the Beast looks out-dated or passé, but it is interesting to note that what was perfectly acceptable back then (most notably background characters standing perfectly still rather than have some motion to them) would never be kosher now. Still, the film looks stunning. Even with the darkening caused by the 3-D glasses, it looks bright and vibrant. Scenes like the ballroom dance are gorgeous on the big screen and haven't lost any of their awe-inspiring wonder over the last twenty years.

The simple story is enhanced by charming songs crafted by the duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The songs come naturally here, fitting in perfectly, enhancing and advancing the characters' storylines rather than stopping the story cold. It struck me as I was watching the film this go-around (which was my first watch of this movie in probably close to five years) just how witty the late Howard Ashman's lyrics were. One need look no further than "Gaston" than to see this on display where Ashman manages to rhyme "expectorating" and "celebrating" with great ease (and a lack of any feeling of force). That isn't to give short shrift to Alan Menken's music either which runs the gamut from Broadway showstopper (in "Be Our Guest") to introspective (the often overlooked "Something There") to expository ("Belle" tells us all we need to know about several major characters within the first five minutes of the movie) to love song ("Beauty and the Beast"), each, with the help of Ashman's lyrics, hitting exactly the tone they set out to achieve.

Even at age eleven, I guess I was predestined to like this as I was already being groomed to be a Disney fan by my parents which may very well explain why I liked Beauty and the Beast so much back then. However, the love for this flick has continued on for two decades and I think it's because it combines so much of what I look for in a great movie coupled with the love I have for the genre of animation. It's got fantastic visuals, strong characters, comedy, drama, a great villain, wonderful songs, and beautiful animation. All of that is coupled with a story that despite its simplicity resonates with audience of all ages. This isn't a children's film -- this is simply a film. It doesn't try to appeal to the six year-old in the audience any more than it tries to appeal to the sixty year-old in the audience (heck...what six year-old would get the classic Cogsworth joke "If it's not Baroque, don't fix it?" which still made me crack up even though I knew it was coming). Often, this lack of trying to pin down an audience proves to be a failure for movies, but in the case of Beauty and the Beast it's what makes it so successful.

Much like when I wrote my first thoughts on Psycho on this blog, nothing I can write for Beauty and the Beast will be able to give justice to my thoughts on it (and anything that I do write about it will just be a disappointment when I go back and look at it two weeks from now). So, rather than ramble on, I'll just bring this review to a stop only to say that I can't recommend enough that you go check this masterpiece out on the big screen once again.

The RyMickey Rating: A+

Check out the other films in my Personal Canon like Return to Me and Once by clicking this link.

Movie Review - Carnage

2012-01-14T08:50:00.000-05:00

Carnage (2011)

Starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly

Directed by Roman Polanski

Based off a Tony Award-winning play, Carnage graces us with a quartet of wonderfully talented actors in a showcase for their skills. However, the film which takes place in real time mostly within the confines of the apartment of Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) should have felt more claustrophobic than director Roman Polanski is able to provide. It's not that a movie like Carnage which is essentially four people talking with each other for eighty minutes should be "tension-filled", per se, but as the film progresses, there should be an ever-escalating sense of excitement...a building towards something grand at the conclusion. It's not that the ending of the flick disappoints, but the roller coaster ride the film should have provided was full of too many valleys and not enough hills.

After their two sons get in a tiff on the playground resulting in one striking the other with a stick causing damage to two teeth, the aforementioned Longstreets get together with Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) to try and patch things up. Things begin quite civilly, but it's soon obvious to both parties that despite being on their best behavior, the "adults" here are really just play-acting, trying to put on their best fronts. As criticisms of the others' parenting skills begin to be bandied about as if they were deadly bullets, the two couples begin to devolve into children fighting on the playground, albeit with a much better vocabulary.

Carnage certainly succeeds because of the four actors onscreen. The very nature of the project calls for the quartet to be viewed pretty much the entire time (one would assume in the play, the actors would never leave the stage) and each holds their own with no one overshadowing anyone else. It's always nice to see Jodie Foster onscreen (which actually happened twice this year with this and The Beaver) and here she's at her most neurotic. It doesn't help her character that John C. Reilly as her husband tries to be the peacemaker rather than stand up for his wife. If I had to choose a standout star from the bunch, it would have to be Reilly who has the comedic chops for a role like this. In the end, he seems the most relatable to me (perhaps the reason why I liked him the most) in that, at times, his character appears to spout what the audience is feeling about these childish adults.

Kate Winslet is also wonderful as the uptight Nancy and she works very well with Christoph Waltz who continues to prove that he is quite adept at dark comedy (a category in which one could certainly place 2009's Inglourious Basterds). Carnage is a film all about about personal interactions and it is pivotal that the cast mesh and flow together which is successfully achieved here.

However, something about the flick doesn't quite click and I have to think the problem lies in the direction since the blame certainly doesn't fall onto the actors. I have to wonder what this story plays like on a stage where all four actors are present all the time. In a film, we cut away to certain reactions and only every so often are treated to shots with the entire quartet in our field of vision. If we had that stage-like ability to constantly be mindful of all four actors, I have to wonder if the edge-of-your-seatness of the "what are they gonna say next" tension inherent in the script would be elevated. Of course, Roman Polanski wasn't going to shoot the movie with nary a one shot of of an actor, but it simply further goes to prove the difficulty at times of transferring plays to the big screen.

This isn't to say that Carnage is a failure. It's far from that. There are many laughs to be had and for sheer acting talent, the film is recommendable. But if the film has done anything, it's made me desperate to want to see the film performed by a talented stage ensemble (**cough**I'm talking to you, University of Delaware Resident Ensemble Players**cough**).

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - Point Blank

2012-01-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Point Blank [A bout portant] (2011)

Starring Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin, and Elena Anaya

Directed by Fred Cavayé

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

A perfectly acceptable French thriller, Point Blank doesn't overextend its welcome. Instead, it gets in, tells its story, and wraps things up (credits and all) in 84 minutes. If only US audiences didn't feel cheated by such short running times...

Granted, the tale that director and co-writer Fred Cavayé borders on ridiculous, but we typically don't go to action flicks (even foreign ones) expecting a coherent plot all the time. Here, Samuel, a male nurse (Gilles Lellouche), gets tangled up in a web of mystery after he saves one of his patients, Hugo (Roschdy Zem), from dying. A mere twelve hours after coming to Hugo's rescue, Samuel's pregnant wife (Elana Anaya) is kidnapped. Samuel is told that unless he manages to find a way to get Hugo out of the hospital within three hours, the kidnappers will kill his wife.

While Samuel doesn't quite go all Liam Neeson-in-Taken, there certainly were hints of that film on the outskirts of Point Blank's plot. Taken did things a bit better, but the angry husband revenge plot is one that can more than hold its own in even some of the most silly settings. In fact, had this simply been a vengeful hubby flick, Point Blank may have been a bit more enjoyable, but the writers throw in some more complex than necessary plot points involving corrupt governments and police units without elaborating on them. And therein lies the film's problem...I more than appreciated its quick pace and nonstop feel, but in the end, I actually felt like I was slighted in the explanation department when it came to the film's big conspiracy it tries to depict.

Still, if you're interested in a quick diversion into "Foreign Film Land," you could do worse than Point Blank which turns out to be anything but boring.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - The Help

2012-01-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

The Help (2011)

Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Cecily Tyson, Mary Steenburgen, and Sissy Spacek

Directed by Tate Taylor

While no one will mistake The Help for a great piece of cinematic art, there's something endearing and all-together crowd-pleasing about Tate Taylor's second stab at directorial work. Thanks to one of the best casts assembled for a film in 2011, the ladies of The Help raise what may have been a rather fluffy piece about the civil rights movement in 1960s Mississippi into something much more compelling.

Twenty-three year old Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) is an aspiring author who, in an attempt to win over a well-to-do big city publisher (Mary Steenburgen), decides to write a book filled with the musings and daily routines of the African American maids in her town in Mississippi. Naturally, because of racial tensions a half century ago, Skeeter has to keep her meetings with Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) -- a maid and nanny to her employers with a strong, yet seemingly silent personality -- and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) -- a sassy gal who after being fired by the uppity Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) finds herself working for the eccentric Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) -- a secret. Yes, I've thrown out a lot of names there, but the crux of the story remains the same -- we're looking at race relations between whites and blacks in 1960s Mississippi and for most those relationships still weren't ideal.

This is territory we've seen explored before in movies and it's not that The Help does anything particularly unique. It uses stock characters (Bryce Dallas Howard's bitchy Hilly is particularly one-note despite attempts to add depth thanks to an enjoyable performance by Howard), a grooving 60s soundtrack, and feels like something right out of the Steel Magnolias or Fried Green Tomatoes early '90s era in looks and tone.

However, the film succeeds thanks to a cast devoid of one bad egg. Even when the story falters -- let's just leave the attempts at Skeeter trying to find love on the cutting room floor in the director's cut, shall we? -- the ladies simply compel you to keep your eyes fixated on the screen. Emma Stone is charming in what is one of the lesser developed characters in the script. Jessica Chastain (Hollywood's It Girl in 2011) was a hoot as Celia, getting opportunities to showcase her comedic and dramatic talents. The movie kicked into high gear once Chastain's character was introduced and she lit up the screen whenever she appeared. Similarly, Octavia Spencer provides some light moments, too, and once Chastain's Celia comes in to the picture, the character of Minnie is given a much greater depth than the rather one-notedness she had the beginning of the film.

Still, when one remembers The Help, their mind will immediately shift to Viola Davis who gives a moving, quiet, and powerful performance. There's a fierceness in her eyes throughout much of the film -- a pain and anguish that she doesn't really express vocally, but is intensely felt nonetheless. This type of understated performance is the opposite of showy, but demonstrates why Davis is worthy of all the Oscar buzz she's been receiving.

I really don't have a whole lot bad to say about The Help which I must admit surprises me. Even if the film was a bit flawed here and there, it's still overwhelmingly enjoyable to watch. Sure, writer-director Tate Taylor doesn't take too many risks, but he culls some amazing performances from a talented group of ladies.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Apollo 18

2012-01-11T23:46:00.000-05:00

Apollo 18 (2011)

Starring Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, and Ryan Robbins

Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego

Apollo 18 is yet another horror film of the found footage genre. Here, we find out that after the seventeenth Apollo mission, NASA shut down the moon mission program. Little did we in the public know that NASA sent an eighteenth mission to the moon only for the three astronauts on that fateful trek to discover alien life forms on the lunar surface.

Despite a few tense moments, even at 85 minutes, Apollo 18 overstays its welcome and fails to have any lasting impact. It's not that the film is egregiously bad, but it simply isn't scary enough to merit the time spent watching it. It's almost worse to neither be a good nor bad horror movie...stuck in the middle is sometimes more of a failure than being either great or heinous. With that said, I'm not sure Apollo 18 is worthy of many more words written about it, so I think I'll end this review right here.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - All About Eve

2012-01-11T12:27:00.001-05:00

All About Eve (1950)

Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, and Gary Merrill

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Look no further than All About Eve to find proof that just because a film wins Best Picture doesn't mean it will stand the test of time. Nominated for a whopping fourteen awards and winning six, the flick is badly in need of an editor as it feels every minute of its lengthy 138-minute runtime thanks mostly to an off-putting and uncomfortably stagey performance from Anne Baxter as the title character, a small-town girl who travels to New York City with hopes to befriend stage star Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Why Eve's rather obsessive behavior upon their initial meeting is rewarded by friendship from Margo is one of the bigger flaws of the film and makes the entire premise begin on rather shaky ground. Nevertheless, it soon becomes obvious that Eve has an unnatural fascination with Margo, but those around the big star like her friend Karen (Celeste Holm), Karen's playwright husband Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe), and Margo's movie star boyfriend Bill (Gary Merrill) think Margo is simply jealous of the youth of Eve. However, it is soon discovered that Margo's inclinations about Eve are correct as Eve begins to take over everything in Margo's life.

There are some good performances here including a nice, biting turn from Bette Davis as star Margo Channing. And, at times, the script is a nice look at the backstabbing world of the theater, delving into some biting behind the scenes chicanery at times. However, the character of Eve is so goshdarn horrendous that I never gave a damn about anything in this movie. I'm not sure if it's the character itself or just the absolutely horrible performance given by Anne Baxter (who was nominated for an Academy Award for this). Her line deliveries are undeniably forced, and even from the very first moment we glimpse Eve, Baxter fails to create any semblance of a believable character. This is a huge problem in a movie called All About Eve since Eve is the character whom all other plot points revolve around.

This "classic" had been in my Netflix queue a long time and I had always looked forward to watching it. However, despite a script that at least provided some interesting ideas, All About Eve simply doesn't work.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - Hugo

2012-01-10T02:20:00.000-05:00

Hugo (2011)

Starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Michael Stuhlbarg, Helen McCrory, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, and Jude Law

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Perhaps Hugo means a bit more to me, a guy who studied a bit of film in college, than the average viewer, but your ever so humble reviewer found Martin Scorsese's homage to early cinema a visual treat, a fanciful adventure, and a bit of a cinematic film lesson all wrapped into one. Admittedly, I'm not a Martin Scorsese devotee (I've maybe seen six of his movies and most of those are from the last decade), but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Hugo's whimsical and gentle nature is not a style that would typically be attributed to the much-lauded director. Still, while Hugo is certainly a film that you can take the whole family to watch, it shouldn't be mistaken for a "kiddie" picture. Instead, its message about preserving film history for future generations hit a nerve in this filmgoer who already misses the pre-digital days pined over in Hugo in which the actual flickering of a shutter flashed light onto a silver screen in a darkened room.

When young Hugo Cabret's (Asa Butterfield) father passes away, he is sent to live with his uncle in a small "apartment" behind the gears of the giant clock in a huge Parisian train station. Hugo spends his day fixing and setting the various clocks in the station while also snatching up a few croissants and bottles of milk for a bit of sustenance always being mindful of the Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) whose goal in life seems to be snatching up orphaned children and sending them to the dreaded orphanage. On one afternoon, Hugo attempts to steal a toy from the toy shop in the station run by Georges (Ben Kingsley) only to find himself caught by the grumpy owner who forces Hugo to work for him rather than turn the kid over to the Inspector. As Georges begins to discover some of Hugo's secrets, Hugo and his new friend, Georges's goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), begin to discover a few secrets about Georges as well which explain why he is the curmudgeon that he is.

While appearing to be a simple tale, there's great depth here as (SPOILER ALERT) Georges is discovered to the famous filmmaker Georges Mélies who magically created some of the earliest, yet hugely complex for their time, cinematic tales. A true visionary, Hugo turns into a beautiful remembrance of this oft-forgotten director (and older cinema in general), with Scorsese giving time onscreen to such classics as Mélies's Le voyage dans la lune (from 1902) and the 1923 Harold Lloyd-starring Safety Last. By acknowledging what came before him and embracing the simplicity of those earlier tales while at the same time crafting a completely "modern" tale utilizing beautiful 3D technology and computer effects, Scorsese has made a film with a lovely blend that balances both the past and the present.

Along with some stunning visuals, Scorsese has culled some very nice performances from Chloe Moretz (of Let Me In fame) and Asa Butterfield, the latter of whom uses his wide eyes to convey moments of both heartbreaking sadness and ebullient joy. Ben Kingsley as the famous director who had to give up his passion is at first a tiny bit off-putting in his sheer grouchiness, but as his tale is slowly unraveled, his character is given much more depth than I ever could have expected at the film's outset. [There's an extended sequence where Georges details the reasons he was forced to give up filmmaking that is touchingly handled by both Kingsley and Scorsese.] Sacha Baron Cohen adds an appropriate amount of humor and there are some lovely small supporting turns from Emily Mortimer, Frances de la Tour, and Richard Griffiths whose roles as Parisian train station customers and workers brought a smile to my face.

2011 (or more specifically that final two months of 2011) seems to be a year where films about moviemaking have been given a chance to shine. From My Week with Marilyn to The Artist, it's been a treat for a film lover. Hugo is the latest addition to that mix and it's a beautifully crafted film to watch with a charming story to admire as it unfolds. Time to go and watch some more Mélies...those few college film class viewings weren't nearly enough.

The RyMickey Rating: A

Movie Review - My Week with Marilyn

2012-01-07T20:36:00.003-05:00

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson, Derek Jacobi, Julia Ormond, Dominic Cooper, Dougray Scott, Zoë Wanamaker, and Judi Dench

Directed by Simon Curtis

I say this whenever I write of review of films like these, but I am not a fan of biopics. I greatly admire actors who are able to mimic the well-known personas of others, but oftentimes, I find myself left completely empty by the films they inhabit which all seem to want to tell the same tale -- more or less -- about the character's rise from adversity to something greater. While My Week with Marilyn certainly follows the biopic formula, it fortunately only gives us a glimpse at the sexy and alluring Marilyn Monroe (played quite well by Michelle Williams) during a brief stint in her life when she traveled to London to make the film The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier (played over-the-top [although I imagine Olivier was that way in real life] by Kenneth Branagh). Giving the audience only a small chapter of the well-known Monroe's life proves to be a much better moviegoing experience and allows the viewers to infer how events prior to making this film, her time during the filmmaking process, and her years after starring in The Prince and the Showgirl all shaped her into the tragic figure she became. The sheer fact that we're allowed to "infer" things is a welcome relief in this day and age when we're always hit over the head with everything as filmgoers.

The film -- which is a showcase of the power struggle between Monroe and Olivier during the making of the frivolous romantic comedy in 1956 -- can be summed up in one good line spoken by Dominic Cooper (I believe) portraying Marilyn's manager Milton Greene: "[Sir Laurence] is an artist wanting to be a film star; [Marilyn] is a film star wanting to be an artist." The two just don't mesh, but by the end of the filming process they've perhaps made each other a bit better at their craft. Although this struggle between the two powerhouse actors is certainly front and center, the "My" in My Week with Marilyn refers to the young 23-year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), a young Brit who, despite his parents' disdain, travels to London to work on the set of the Olivier picture. While performing the task of the third assistant director -- essentially a glorified intern position -- he befriends Marilyn whose method acting techniques are causing huge issues with the cast and crew of the production. The two bond and, as any young man would be, Colin becomes quite enamored with Ms. Monroe who despite having just married her third husband Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) is already having some marital issues which may very well work in Colin's favor.

As a fan of movies, admittedly it's fun to see "behind the scenes" stories like these and this film is no exception. The scenes on set with the bombastic Olivier and out-of-her-element Marilyn are brilliantly funny -- Branagh's Olivier, in particular, is also a hoot as he grows ever more exacerbated in the scenes. Admittedly, I'm not all that familiar with Olivier, but I can't help but imagine Branagh's rather snooty interpretation of the guy -- who not only acted in The Prince and the Showgirl, but also directed it -- is spot-on. Adding to the excitement is a very nice turn from Judi Dench playing Dame Sybil Thorndike who becomes somewhat of a loving mother to Marilyn on set and a hilarious turn from Zoë Wanamaker as Paula Strasberg, Marilyn's famous acting coach in the Stanislavski acting method which created much tension with Olivier.

The film falters a bit, however, when we walk away from the movie set. Most notably, there's a throwaway subplot involving a romance between Colin and a young costume designer (played by Harry Potter's Emma Watson in a completely thankless role) that could have been (and should have been) left on the cutting room floor. Additionally, as Marilyn begins a downward spiral after several difficult weeks on the set, the film shifts much too awkwardly from a light comedy to a rather serious look at the toils and troubles that made up Marilyn's life. The tonal shift never quite finds an appropriate balance which is a shame.

Fortunately, never once does Ms. Williams' performance shift into a caricature of Monroe which it so easily could have done. Surprisingly, however, Williams ends up shining in the more intimate moments of the film's second half rather than the comedic realm of the first half. This ends up working in the movie's favor as us viewers can latch on to Williams' performance when the film -- which becomes a bit too psychoanalytical for its own good -- begins to falter.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - Tuesday, After Christmas

2012-01-06T18:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, After Christmas (Marti, dupa craciun) (2011)

Starring Mimi Branescu, Maria Popistasu, and Mirela Oprisor

Directed by Radu Muntean

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Nothing like a film about adultery to provide copious amounts of Christmas cheer. This Romanian drama centering around a man (Mimi Branescu) who, unbeknown to his wife (Mirela Oprisor), is having an affair with a younger woman (Maria Popistasu) is often tedious to sit through, but there are aspects that I still found myself admiring even though I was often anxiously awaiting the film to end.

First, it's quite commendable that director Radu Muntean often utilizes long, uncut, extended shots of dialog (sometimes upwards of ten minutes). This technique forces the viewer to stay with the actors/characters even within uncomfortable situations. The lack of a respite in the most difficult scenes is actually quite powerful.

Of course those scenes would never work if the acting wasn't good and the three Romanian leads all held my attention. None of them blew me away with their acting work, but they all hit the right emotional notes at the appropriate times in the story.

However, in the end, Tuesday, After Christmas is a rather mundane affair. There's a part of me that believes this may be the one of the "most real" depictions of an affair on film...it's just normal people with no bells and whistles. But that "true life" aspect doesn't make a very compelling film.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - The Adventures of Tintin

2012-01-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg

Directed by Steven Spielberg

I really wanted to like Steven Spielberg's animated The Adventures of Tintin, but despite what is certainly the best motion-capture technique I've ever seen, the action adventure flick (which reminded me of a kiddie version of the Indiana Jones flicks) lacks a story that ever captured my imagination. While I'm completely unfamiliar with the apparently very popular European comic book series upon which the film is based, I can certainly see the promise that lies within the story -- a young reporter embarks on a variety of adventures with his trusty four-legged canine friend Snowy -- but must unfortunately state that it simply wasn't executed well in this cinematic incarnation.

In this first film of what is likely to be a series (the movie is doing exceptionally well overseas despite poor box office results in the US), Tintin stumbles upon the mystery of the sailing ship known as the Unicorn. While wandering in an outdoor market one day, Tintin (voiced and "acted" by Jamie Bell) buys a small replica of the ship, but soon discovers that the model contains a secret message of sorts that is desperately wanted by the sinister Ivan Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig). Sakharine goes so far as to kidnap Tintin and keep him hostage on a boat sailing to the Middle East. Tintin soon discovers with the help of the captain of the ship Haddock (Andy Serkis) that Sakharine is in possession of two Unicorn ship replicas and their secret coded messages and is now in search of the final model to decipher the code and discover the location of a huge amount of buried treasure.

In and of itself, the plot is serviceable, but I couldn't help but be rather bored by the whole affair. Subplots are thrown in involving Haddock's alcoholism, two bumbling Scotland Yard twin detectives (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) in search of a serial pickpocket, and the pirate-inspired ancestral pasts of both Haddock and Sakharine. None of these garnered any interest from me in the slightest and they take up large parts of the film.

Spielberg certainly utilizes the ability to move his camera wherever he likes rather brilliantly thanks to the wonders of animation including a stellar "one-shot" chase sequence through the small, cluttered streets of the Arab city of Bagghar. I also found most of the action sequences to be well executed and I very much liked many of Spielberg's rather ingenious ways of changing scenes (for example, the wide expansive ocean turns into a puddle on the streets of London in a seamless fashion).

Still, even with some nice work from Jamie Bell and the ever-reliable mo-cap actor Andy Serkis (who actually is given the opportunity to be quite funny here to great effect), I found the whole thing a bit boring. Visually, The Adventures of Tintin is stunning from the very opening scenes (including a lovely "true" animated opening credits sequence accompanied by a charmingly light and airy John Williams score), and the film continues to show the improvements in motion capture technology, but the whole movie just felt like a series of set pieces without any real connection.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - Young Adult

2012-01-04T18:56:00.001-05:00

Young Adult (2011)

Starring Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, and Elizabeth Reaser

Directed by Jason Reitman

Mavis Gary is a bitch. There's really no need to bite my tongue when saying that because it's true...and in her heart, she knows that's the case. She was the popular one in her high school in Mercury, Minnesota, a small town outside of Minneapolis, and nearly two decades removed from those days of making out with boys in the forest behind the school during lunch, Mavis, the now popular young adult novelist with a fondness for any kind of liquor (played brilliantly by Charlize Theron) is still as self-centered as ever living the big city life in Minneapolis. After receiving an e-mail announcing the birth of their baby from the wife of her former high school beau Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), Mavis gets the crazy idea to head back to Mercury and attempt to rekindle her relationship with Buddy. Yes, that's right...Buddy just had a kid and Mavis is trying to steal him away from his wife.

That's the kind of abhorrent character Charlize Theron is given here to portray in a screenplay from Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody. Mavis is unlikeable at the start of the film and she's no more appealing at the film's end which may explain why this flick has ultimately failed at the box office. We in the audience don't see a character arc from bad to good. Instead, thanks to a powerful scene at the film's end in which Mavis is actually encouraged to continue her uncouth ways, Mavis ends the film perhaps even worse than at the film's start. That isn't to say that Mavis doesn't have revelatory moments in which she realizes some of her faults, but she doesn't necessarily feel the need to change her actions...a ballsy move in which Up in the Air director Jason Reitman fully succeeds.

Mavis's brief moments of revelation often come courtesy of Mercury resident Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt). Although Matt and Mavis had lockers next to each other in high school, they barely spoke a word to one another. Matt has had his own share of troubles as the victim of a hate crime back in high school when a group of jocks mistook him for being gay and severely beat him. After that incident, he isn't afraid to tell Mavis his true thoughts as he finds her plan to reunite with her married ex-boyfriend a horrible idea. Oswalt, best known for his role in King of Queens, is allowed to be the voice of reason here as the conduit that makes a movie with a character as unlikeable as Mavis more watchable and relatable to the viewer.

The key to the film's success, however, is Charlize Theron. Even though a thirtysomething Mavis is childish in her actions, Theron's Mavis is always thinking and it shows courtesy of the slightest of eye movements or brow furrowing -- granted, her pondering may not necessarily be "correct" or "appropriate," but Mavis's mind is always whirring with ways to make things better for herself. It takes talent to make a reprehensible character desirable to spend 110 minutes with (those Hangover guys fail miserably in this department) and the beautiful Theron is fun to watch. As mentioned above, much credit also needs to be given to Diablo Cody who dropped the pop culture heaviness and catchphrases that proliferated her earlier films like Juno and Jennifer's Body and graduates to a much more adult theme here.

Cody has crafted a character most actresses would be too afraid to sink their teeth into -- one who hardly ever finds herself in the good graces of the viewing audience. Thankfully, Charlize Theron was more than willing to tackle the tricky Mavis Gary and has given one of the best performances of the year.

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Movie Review - The Artist

2012-01-03T16:04:00.003-05:00

The Artist (2011)

Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Penelope Ann Miller, James Cromwell, and John Goodman

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Certainly one of my most anticipated films of 2011, The Artist had a lot of likely impossible buzz to live up to and, unlike The Muppets (which lived up to and exceeded my lofty expectations), French director Michel Hazanavicius' ode to early Hollywood falls a tiny bit short. Don't get me wrong -- The Artist is a very good film. It unfortunately lacks a little bit of emotional oomph I was longing for and stands more as a technical achievement and acting tour de force than a movie that tugs at your heartstrings.

In The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius has crafted a black-and-white silent film about the end of silent films. Certainly borrowing heavily from films like Singin' in the Rain and Citizen Kane (to name only a few), this flick is a love story to cinema which is why I could easily see it picking up many Oscars at this year's Academy Awards. As the flick opens, popular silent film actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) finds his star still on the rise. Along with his adorable tag-along pooch, George is much beloved by the public. It is at the premiere of his newest film where he first meets Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who accidentally bumps into him as he is being interviewed by the press. Trying to make the most of her fifteen minutes of fame, Peppy becomes a "regular gal-turned-actress," and she and George begin a nice friendship that both wish could grow to something with more romantic undertones except that George is unhappily married to Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) who is constantly aggravated with her husband.

When the studio head Al Zimmer (John Goodman) approaches George to be in a newfangled "talking picture," George balks at the idea and leaves the studio that gave him his big break behind. As he funds his own silent film, George finds his star power waning while Peppy's is on the rise thanks to her participation in sound films. With George in the dumps and Peppy living large, their roles have reversed, but neither have forgotten about their suppressed love for one another despite the fact that their industry has attempted to push them apart.

The story is perfectly pleasant and certainly simple enough to be told with minimal title/dialog cards, yet it absolutely kept my interest the whole way through thanks in large part to some great performances from Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. Dujardin, in particular, is kinda fantastic as the charmer George Valentin. Obviously, acting in a silent film (and a silent film that pays homage to those that came before it) requires a bit of what we may nowadays call "over-acting," but Dujardin rarely stoops to that level. Instead, he takes a simple eyebrow raise and clues the audience in to exactly what his character is thinking, walking the normally precarious line between melodrama and seriousness (both of which are requirements for his character to perform) with great ease. Ms. Bejo, on the other hand, does tend to favor (or was told to mimic) the more dramatic style of acting most would likely associate with silent films. Don't take that as a detriment, however, as Bejo is exuberant and quite a joy to watch onscreen.

There are several moments of ingeniousness by director and writer Michel Hazanavicius that to reveal here would ruin their effectiveness on film, but needless to say, there were several moments that had me smiling simply because of his directorial and screenwriting choices. The film looks absolutely beautiful as well and his vision of creating a 1920s-style flick with all the conventions that entails -- those "sweeping" scene changes, a near-constant musical score, to name a few -- is absolutely successful.

However, the film lacks a little bit of that emotional oomph I was hoping for. Ultimately, I think the reason falls on the fact that the film, even in its most dour of moments, is wholeheartedly a melodrama and because of that, it never quite takes itself serious enough for me to get serious about it. Still, unlike what is often the case for me, The Artist is sitting quite well as it stews in my mind as I type out this review. In fact, as I've pondered over the flick, I've raised my grade by half a point (although you'll have to forgive me if 24 hours from now, I feel like changing it back...which [edited to add] I did...I'm still internally debating the B+/A- here). In the end, The Artist is a charming film that can't help but elicit many smiles out of moviegoers who give this old-school, black-and-white, silent film a chance.

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Movie Review - Trespass

2012-01-01T14:59:00.001-05:00

Trespass (2011)

Starring Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Liana Liberato, Ben Mendelsohn, Cam Gigandet, and Jordana Spiro

Directed by Joel Schumacher

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

If anything, Trespass shows that just because you're an Oscar winner -- as Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman are -- doesn't mean that you necessarily deserved that honor. Nicolas Cage as of late is known for his movie disasters -- Season of the Witch, Drive Angry (I watch a lot of crap, but even I know better than to watch stuff like that) -- and Nicole Kidman was dubbed the worst earner in Hollywood a few years ago, so despite the pedigree that an Oscar may bring, it by no means translates to success. And this Joel Schumacher directed flick is certainly not a success.

In fact, with the exception of a nice turn from Liana Liberato (who starred in the fantastic Trust earlier this year which you really all should stream ASAP), Trespass has nothing going for it. It's a cheesy hostage flick in which a quartet of bad guys invade a rich guy's home in an attempt to get a lot of money out of him. There is absolutely nothing original about this one and the hammy acting (including a horrendous turn from Jordana Spiro as a coked-up stripper) doesn't help matters.

Considering the "prestige" of the two big stars, Trespass barely got a theatrical release back in October...there's certainly a reason for that.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

2011-12-30T18:00:00.000-05:00

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2011)

Starring Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, and Katrina Bowden

Directed by Eli Craig

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I certainly wasn't expecting anything from this, but when it popped up on Netflix Instant today, I figured I'd give the 80-minute Tucker and Dale vs. Evil a shot...and I was pleasantly surprised. A horror comedy based upon a series of epic miscommunications, when a group of college kids head into West Virginia for a camping trip, they come across sweet hillbillies Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) and mistake them for crazy folks. When the gorgeous Allison (Katrina Bowden) falls into the lake and gets knocked unconscious, Tucker and Dale rescue her. Allison's college buddies, however, are certain that the two countryfolk have kidnapped her and head out on a rescue mission. Unfortunately for them, a series of mishaps cause bodies to start building up, painting Tucker and Dale as mass murderers instead of the lovable guys that they really are.

Although the film falters a bit in the final act, this was a more than enjoyable diversion with winning performances from the two leads. Tyler Labine, in particular, was actually rather charming as the shy Dale and absolutely helped raise the bar in terms of the quality on display in the flick. In fact, considering that Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a send-up of slasher movies, all the acting is much better than I ever could have expected. Laughs abound (who knew impalements could actually invoke laughter?) and the gore level is more than adequate although never grotesque.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Love Crime

2011-12-30T00:27:00.000-05:00

Love Crime [Crime d'amour] (2011)

Starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier, and Patrick Mille

Directed by Alain Corneau

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

There is almost a guilty pleasure aspect to Love Crime, a French thriller that revolves around the rather headstrong and cutthroat business executive Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her younger protégé Isabelle (Ludivine Sagnier). Almost. As Christine's nastiness increases and Isabelle's tolerance of it decreases, it's obvious that things are eventually going to come to blows between the two ladies. However, despite the ludicrousness of the whole ordeal (which certainly aids the aforementioned guilty pleasure the film nearly succeeds at provides), the acting here is just much too over-the-top to be believed and it hinders the film much too much.

It didn't occur to me until the final five minutes of Love Crime that the film sets up its characters in an almost "pornographic" way (complete with a weird and undeveloped lesbian undertone that I still don't understand in the slightest). Kristin Scott Thomas's Christine is the dominatrix, wearing high heels and pants, exuding sex all the time, whereas Ludivine Sagnier's Isabelle wears glasses, frumpy jackets and dresses, and is the epitome of "boring [but sexy] librarian." The two flirt with each other often (because that's what French women do apparently) and they are set up like polar opposites, but both are overly sexualized to the nth degree. Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with being overly sexualized, but this film directed and co-written by Alain Corneau doesn't allow its characters to have any depth beyond their physical characteristics. There's nothing for these two actresses to sink their teeth into beyond the soap opera-type levels of drama, duplicity, and deviousness.

I like Kristin Scott Thomas quite a bit and her acting chops here unfortunately cause the young Ludivine Sagnier to look second-rate especially in a film that pits these two women against each other from the get-go. Admittedly, Sagnier is saddled with a ridiculous character in the first half of the film and manages to improve a bit as the film rolls on, but I'm not sure she's ready for the big time yet.

Love Crime is unfortunately not very good, but could have very easily jumped into the realm of enjoyable sleaziness. As it stands now, I'm sure there are late night Cinemax movies that tell this same tale with substantially more nudity, all-out cheesy acting, and a perhaps more believable plot that would probably be more enjoyable to watch.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - Weekend

2011-12-28T23:00:00.000-05:00

Weekend (2011)

Starring Tom Cullen and Chris New

Directed by Andrew Haigh

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I'm not afraid to admit that Weekend would have never been on my cinematic radar had it not been for its appearance on a few Top Ten lists at year's end calling it this decade's Before Sunrise. While there's some truth to that comparison in this tale about two men who meet in a bar and spend forty-eight hours having sex, getting high, and discussing their intimate and not-so-intimate thoughts, Weekend is much more intense than Sunrise in its focus on the difficulties faced by homosexuals in a decidedly heterosexual world. Longing for societal equality, but finding that hard to come by, the two lovers -- the somewhat closeted Russell (Tom Cullen) and out-and-proud Glen (Chris New) -- find in each other a sounding board for their innermost thoughts.

It's that intensity and that lack of light-heartedness that somehow makes this flick a bit less successful than its aforementioned Richard Linkater-directed cinematic predecessor. Weekend is heavy and while I'd like to say I'm able to remove "myself" from the mix when watching films, there's ultimately the sense in an intimate film like this that you want to connect with the characters. While I certainly felt and understood both the pain and love that Russell and Glen expressed to one another, I couldn't help but be a tad disconnected from the whole scenario simply because of its subject matter. (And I don't necessarily blame the filmmakers for that issue...it's probably something that falls squarely on me...and likely relates to the very issues the film raises concerning peoples' unease being around the two main characters.)

Still, the film is certainly an admirable one and probably the best love story I've seen on this subject matter. Both Tom Cullen and Chris New (two actors very new to the world of acting) are both quite good. Cullen, in particular, is rather winning in his role as Russell whose shy demeanor masks his true desire to simply find someone to love without having to worry about how it will appear to his straight friends and family. Director and writer Andrew Haigh creates an almost documentary-type feel which at times proves to be a little difficult to take (couple the strong British accents with a lack of vocal amplification and you're just asking for trouble). He lets his camera often linger in scenes longer than is sometimes comfortable providing the viewer a more intense glimpse of the two lovers.

In the end, despite its intimate discussions about homosexuality, Weekend isn't a movie about a gay relationship...it's simply a movie about a relationship and the sometimes scary notion of commitment. It's certainly not going to be a movie for all, but it may be worth a shot if you're looking for something different to add to your Netflix Queue.

The RyMickey Rating: B

The Personal Canon - Return to Me

2011-12-27T23:30:00.001-05:00

Starring David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi, David Alan Grier, Carroll O'Connor, Robert Loggia, and Joely Richardson

Directed by Bonnie Hunt
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

This was my first watch of Return to Me in several years. It was a film I simply became enamored with when I first watched it thanks to its endearing love story, its simplicity (despite its absolutely absurd premise), and its old-fashioned humor, and I was worried it wasn't going to hold up. Seeing as how this review is posted under the heading of "The Personal Canon," it's pretty obvious that I still adore the movie. I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy and Return to Me is a film I love.

The reason the film was even on my radar upon its release in 2000 was because I'm a huge fan of Bonnie Hunt. Now, Mom, if you're reading this, please don't take this the wrong way, but I always thought if I had to choose another mother for whatever reason, Bonnie Hunt would be a good substitute. She exudes warmth but also has a wry sense of humor that when making a dig at its intended "victim" still comes with a hefty dose of heart. That quality is certainly on display in this film which she both directed and co-wrote. Granted, she may not have the greatest directorial eye -- there are a few incredibly corny moments at the beginning which resort to unnecessary flashbacks -- but despite her rather by-the-book visual sense, she allows her created characters to shine.

And goshdarnit, the characters in Return to Me are people that you want to get to know and become buddies with. You want to head down to O'Reilly's Italian Restaurant run by the Irish Marty O'Reilly (the great Carroll O'Connor) and Italian Angelo Pardipillo (the equally great Robert Loggia) and sink into a booth while Marty's lovely granddaughter Grace (Minnie Driver) sings a tune while taking your order. It's Grace whom the story revolves around who, at the film's start, is in the hospital on death's door awaiting a heart transplant. As fate would have it, a heart comes Grace's way. After a simply lovely evening out with his zoologist wife (Joely Richardson), a terrible car accident kills Bob Rueland's (David Duchovny) spouse leaving him emotionally devastated and Grace with Bob's wife's heart and a new lease on life. You know where this is going, right? Bob and Grace end up meeting a year later and fall in love in perhaps the sweetest, most innocent romance captured on film since the 1940s...and, since this is the cinema, after all, the truth will inevitably be discovered.

Yes, the plot is silly, but it works...trust me. It works because the actors sell the innocence and purity of a movie that could've been made decades earlier (the Dean Martin-heavy soundtrack fits right in, in that respect). David Duchovny and Minnie Driver have never been better as they get us to truly care about them despite the fact that we are well aware that there's going to be trouble for this couple up ahead. But the supporting cast around them is what really helps Return to Me shine and lifts it to that extra level. Carroll O'Connor is absolutely darling -- sure, that's a silly term to use nowadays, but his good-natured, strongly Irish-Catholic grandfather is a joy to watch in both his interactions with Grace and his old man buddies. When he sits in a church pew and prays for his granddaughter's surgery to succeed, we can't help but want the same thing even though we've only just met his character mere minutes before. Jim Belushi and Bonnie Hunt are also hilarious and certainly worthy of a mention as the uncouth husband-and-wife duo who only want what's best for their good friend Grace.

I've recommended this movie to a lot of people and I've yet to have one person come back and tell me they disliked it. There's something so innocently charming about Return to Me, and it's the film's lack of irony and refusal to stoop to raunch that makes this a film I can keep going back to year after year. It's a love story that can be enjoyed by my twenty-four year-old brother or my eighty-five year-old grandmother or my fifty-eight year-old dad. And that's a testament to its quality, in my opinion, and it's a testament to what makes a great film. [And since this flick is streaming on Netflix, there's no excuse not to watch it.]

The RyMickey Rating: A-

Check out my other Personal Canon films like Requiem for a Dream and United 93 by clicking this link.

Movie Review - The Descendants

2011-12-22T02:43:00.004-05:00

The Descendants (2011)

Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Robert Forster, Matthew Lillard, and Judy Greer

Directed by Alexander Payne

The Descendants is a pleasantly crafted character piece set in the beautiful landscape of Hawaii exploring a short snippet of time in the life of lawyer Matt King (George Clooney) and his two daughters -- teenage Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and ten-year old Scottie (Amara Miller) -- as they deal with their comatose wife and mother and the prospect that she isn't likely to regain consciousness. While a nice film with some very good acting and enjoyable characters with whom to spend two hours getting to know, The Descendants finds itself bogged down with a rather silly subplot involving land ownership that is an attempt to add some gravitas and self-importance to the flick, but ends up being just as boring as it sounds. Still, ultimately the film has a lot of good things going for it including some really nice acting -- some of the best I've seen this year, in fact.

This is George Clooney's best role yet as he takes on Matt, a loving, caring, yet out-of-the-loop father forced to become the "main parent" as opposed to his usual role as the "secondary one" after a terrible boating accident puts his wife into a coma. Faced with the prospect of following his wife's wishes to remove her from life support, Matt reconnects with his teenage daughter Alexandra after bringing her home from a boarding school where she resided in an attempt to reshape her rambunctious ways. It's not that we haven't seen these "reconnection" stories before and it's not as if The Descendants necessarily does anything new with the formula, but it succeeds in telling its simple story of "father getting to know his daughter" because of the believable rapport between Clooney and Shailene Woodley who, although initially a little off-putting in her profanity-laden dialog, ends up giving a surprisingly moving performance as her bratty character is forced to grow up quickly by the film's end.

Of course, Alexandra's character has reason to be angry at the start of the film because she's the only one in the family who is aware of the fact that her mother had been cheating on her father. When Alexandra reveals this to Matt, it's obviously quite a blow and sends the devoted (although distant) husband on a mission to track down the man who had the affair with his wife. While this journey which Matt undertakes with his two daughters and Alexandra's outwardly dim-witted boyfriend (or maybe just boy friend...it's never really made clear) Sid (Nick Krause) is certainly played for laughs, thanks to Clooney it's also a rather heartbreaking and eye-opening experience for Matt. His wife cheated because he was too wrapped up in his successful work life to make his life at home the best it could be for his wife and daughters. As he begins to realize his faults, he can't help but take some of the anger he feels towards his wife and turn it on himself.

Clooney's performance alone is reason enough to check out The Descendants. When I think back on the movie, it's him that I think about most. I've never been the biggest George Clooney fan, but what I find so engaging about him in this movie is his ability to easily become a believable family man which is a role we really don't get to see often from him. Playing opposite Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller (in her first acting role) along with the hilarious Nick Krause (who genuinely plays one of the most lovable and least annoying surfer dudes I've seen depicted on screen), Clooney inhabits a fatherly sensibility with gusto and naturalness.

Yes, this film has some quirky indie sensibilities to it, but in the end, it's director Alexander Payne's most "commercial" and artistically successful movie yet. While there's still a sense (as is the case in all of his films) that some of the characters are "characters" as opposed to real people (meaning they may not act in the fashion us normal folks would -- a trait that is sometimes a staple of indie comedies), Payne's definitely scaled back that oddness that we saw him create in About Schmidt and Election. In a way, this almost seems like a film Jimmy Stewart would have starred in were he acting today -- albeit with a bit more profanity than a star like that would have uttered, but there's a sense of simplicity, wit, and poignancy on display here that was a bit more common back then. (Note to self: It's time to watch Harvey again...)

While I certainly wasn't a fan of the subplot involving Matt's family's business venture in selling off their thousands of acres of waterfront land (even though I'm well aware that this was the "important" part of the movie that talked about the need to respect history and familial connections), the personal tale of Matt and his two daughters more than made up for those failings.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - The Nightmare Before Christmas

2011-12-21T04:09:00.004-05:00

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Featuring the voice talent of Chris Sarandon, Danny Elfman, and Catherine O'Hara

Directed by Henry Selick

I'm not gonna rehash some review here, nor am I going to say much except to say that I absolutely loved this movie when it came out in theaters. I still have vivid memories of my aunt taking me to see it and simply being enthralled at age thirteen by the music, the visuals, and the story of Jack Skellington and his Halloweentown friends attempting to take over Christmas without much success.

Nowadays, this film just doesn't work for me at all and despite attempts nearly every other year to try and make it end up back on my Favorites List, it's a movie that simply has fallen out of favor. What bothers me the most is I can't quite pinpoint why that's the case. I still greatly admire the stop motion animation and very much appreciate the old school look it creates. I still enjoy the songs which certainly help to move the story along and reveal many of the characters' innermost thoughts. Despite that, I find the whole thing a drag to sit through now.

When I watched the 3D re-release in theaters a few years back, I felt the same way -- the film lacks drive for me now and I find it much too one-note in terms of momentum with lull after lull and no highs in between. The dreariness of the whole affair takes its toll rather early and it makes everything very heavy. As corny as it sounds, the movie simply lacks joy and while that's certainly fine in some movies, I can't help but think that Nightmare's ultimate goal despite its oddness is to be a joyful flick.

As I said, I can't quite determine my qualms with the film as a whole, but what I had hoped was a fluke dislike in theaters two years ago has now turned into something that I genuinely can't deny -- I simply don't care for this movie anymore...and it kind of makes me sad that I feel that way.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - Fright Night

2011-12-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

Fright Night (2011)

Starring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Fright Night (a remake of a 1985 vampire film I've never seen) starts off much too self-referential and "hip" for its own good. Eventually, the film takes a very positive turn down an exciting and genuinely tense road, but even then it has a few pacing problems here and there. Still, in the end, it's a decent horror movie that's certainly better than a lot of stuff out there.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Fright Night is that the opening forty-five minutes feels like a rehash of a variety of other vampire flicks that have come before it. Adding to that sense of tedium is a horrible turn from Christopher Mintz-Plasse as an obnoxious vampire-obsessed geek who makes the flick almost unbearable to watch. Fortunately, his character falls to the wayside for a bit allowing the main story -- concerning a teen named Charley (Anton Yelchin) who believes his next door neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire -- to come to the forefront.

Once the film sidelines the pop culture-y references and focuses squarely on Charley, his mom (Toni Collette), his girlfriend (Imogen Poots), and his growing obsession over Jerry's apparent vampiric tendencies, the flick kicks into high gear. There are several pulse-pounding scenes and I found the ending to be rather clever and somewhat fresh in the overarching subgenre of vampire flicks (of course, I'm not an expert in the genre, so maybe it's just a rehashing of something else that I haven't seen yet).

With the exception of Superbad's Christopher Mintz-Plasse whom casting agents can feel free to never hire again, Fright Night contains acting that's well above what is usually expected in a genre pic such as this. Granted, their characters aren't given a whole lot to do, but everyone gives it their all despite the limitations of such a flick.

There are certainly problems to be had with Fright Night -- it was nearly so awful in the first twenty minutes that I was going to stop watching it -- but it definitely ends up being a flick that's worth watching if it ends up popping up on Netflix Instant or one of your pay cable stations.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - March of the Wooden Soldiers

2011-12-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

March of the Wooden Soldiers [AKA Babes in Toyland] (1934)

Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

Directed by Gus Meins and Charley Rogers

March of Wooden Soldiers proves that not all old holiday films should carry the moniker of "classic." Granted, the Babes in Toyland premise -- in which Little Bo Peep is forced to marry the evil landlord Barnaby in order to save her family from going homeless -- has never been that good of a story, instead relying on appealing Mother Goose nursery rhyme-style visuals which this 1934 movie certainly contains. However, in this nearly eight decade old flick, the comedy just doesn't hold up and the songs are rather pitiful. There's a part of me that can understand why Laurel and Hardy (who play recreations of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum here) were comically successful back in the 1930s, but they simply aren't funny here...not even in that whimsical nostalgic way.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Beginners

2011-12-19T13:41:00.003-05:00

Beginners (2011)

Starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, and Mary Page Keller

Directed by Mike Mills

After forty-four years of marriage, recently widowed seventy-five year old Hal (Christopher Plummer) reveals to his son Oliver (Ewan McGregor) that he is gay in the opening scenes of Beginners, a lovely film that has a few faults, but in the end is a charming ode to the relationship between fathers and sons. Much like the title suggests, the film is all about new starts as Hal explores his rediscovered homosexuality which he had been repressing for decades and Oliver embarks on a new relationship with the cute as a button French aspiring actress Anna (Mélanie Laurent).

The film, directed and written by Mike Mills, jumps around in time and the two new beginnings mentioned above don't happen along the same time line. However, because of this juxtaposition between the two storylines, a certain poignancy is achieved because the newly single Hal is also diagnosed with an inoperable form of lung cancer in the film's opening moments (I promise I'm not spoiling anything with that reveal). Oliver falls for Anna only after his father has passed away and it causes him to react much differently to relationships than he did when his father was alive. Thanks to his father's final years, Oliver finds himself much more a "live in the moment" type of guy than he ever was before and he finds himself reawakened much like his father was.

Unfortunately, the film falters a bit when dealing with Oliver and Anna's relationship. I was along for the ride until about two-thirds of the way through when things change for the lovely couple and cracks begin to surface between the two. The "problems" that the duo faced never seemed the least bit "real" and I couldn't help but feel like the screenwriter just pigeonholed conflict in the story for the sake of conflict. It ends up being a rather large detriment to the film as it makes the serious final act of their story seem rather out-of-place with the whimsical charm of the first two-thirds.

That said, the viewer is treated to three very solid performances here. Ewan McGregor is at his best, playing a lonely bachelor who we can't help but root to find love. Once he does in the equally engaging and somehow plainly gorgeous Mélanie Laurent, we never want the two to part. McGregor and Laurent have a palpable chemistry that exudes precisely the right tones one wants to experience in a newfound relationship. With the exception of the aforementioned troubling moments in the final act of the film, their scenes together are played to near perfection.

Christopher Plummer is seemingly the man to beat for the Supporting Actor Oscar this year and while I'm not sure I'd go that far at this point, he's at the top of his game here. Simply charming, he conveys a sense of excitement as he embarks on his late-in-life change of heart, while at the same time continuing to provide a fatherly sounding board for his forlorn son, making sure that Oliver knew that he never regretted for one instance the choices that he made to be his father. When he gets his rather ominous medical diagnosis, it's all that more heartbreaking seeing as how he hasn't really lived his life to its fullest potential yet.

While Beginners was advertised as a piece about an old man discovering his homosexuality, the film is much more than that and is certainly worth checking out in anticipation of this busy upcoming awards season.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - J. Edgar

2011-12-14T02:52:00.001-05:00

J. Edgar (2011)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Josh Lucas, and Judi Dench

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Oh, Clint Eastwood. I'm gonna call you "Old Reliable" now seeing as how I can always count on your movies to be a total and utter bore. J. Edgar lived up to that lofty (or lowly) expectation. While it was perhaps slightly more interesting than Hereafter and Invictus thanks to its subject matter alone, Eastwood's flick just feels dark and heavy at every single turn from the acting to the brooding set design to the uninspired stuffy direction. Somehow, though, despite the hefty feel of everything in the flick, there's an utter emptiness in terms of dramatic tension.

The saving grace of the film is that Eastwood and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black jump back and forth through time to various stages of the FBI creator J. Edgar Hoover's career and there's at least a bit of fun trying to pinpoint where in the timeline we are based off of the make-up caked onto Leonardo DiCaprio. (It should be noted that a couple reviews I read panned the make-up in this flick, but I thought it was fine and sometimes quite good.) However, the remainder of the flick's story much of which is composed of a ridiculously written romance between Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his secret paramour Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) plays out like a silly soap opera complete with a hotel room slapfest (that ends in a smooch on the lips) with the requisite throwing of a glass against a wall followed by shouted sayings like "How dare you! But don't leave me! I love you!"

Hoover was a helluva guy. Overly ambitious it seems, but strongly believing that everything he did (whether it be wiretapping Martin Luther King, Jr.'s hotel room sexcapades or claiming to have scoop on Communist ties to Eleanor Roosevelt) was done in order to strengthen his position and the FBI's position in the government. Sure, on one hand he was attempting to overthrow radicals in the country, but on the other hand he was becoming that dictatorial presence that he so despised. Add the cross-dressing (which is only lightly touched upon and done so in a rather horrifying Norman Bates-ish Psycho manner) and the gay aspect of the guy and there's gotta be a good story there. It's just not present in the movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fine (although oddly uncharismatic) and did a pretty darn good job at creating six decades of a character through changes in movement and speech. Naomi Watts was adequate in what amounted to a very plain role as Hoover's longtime loyal secretary Helen Gandy. Her character was in the film quite a bit, but wasn't given a whole lot else to do beyond saying, "Yes, sir," which just ends up wasting many minutes of the 140-minute runtime. Still, DiCaprio and Watts were the two bright spots here. Armie Hammer (whose role in The Social Network landed him in spot #5 on last year's Breakthrough Star RyMickey Awards) was overacting quite a bit, playing his role of Hoover's gay confidante Clyde Tolson with never a smidgeon of believability. The screenplay does him no favors as it makes Clyde love fashion and dress impeccably (not that those are necessarily inherent characteristics of a gay man, but the way the movie plays them up it most certainly is intended to be that way). And let's not even get started on Judi Dench who seemed to be sleepwalking through this thing as Hoover's overbearing mother -- another role in which the screenplay does no favors to the actor playing the part.

The personal life of J. Edgar Hoover admittedly isn't all that well-documented so who really knows if he was gay or a cross-dresser. The problem is that J. Edgar skirts around these issues incredibly awkwardly and while it takes stands (to a degree) as to whether these rumors were true, it never attacks them head-on and it creates a lack of drama because of that.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-12-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Starring Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Cooper, and Stanley Tucci

Directed by Joe Johnston

I don't know if it's just comic book movie overkill, but after the success of this summer's X-Men: First Class and Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger just didn't work for me in the slightest. I can certainly appreciate the 1940s "old style" cinematic serials aesthetics brought to the picture from Joe Johnston, but I found the whole thing to be lacking in way too many areas -- first and foremost a hero with any semblance of a personality upon which to base a flick.

I don't know whether it's the fault of the script, an inherent flaw of the character itself (for I'm not a comic book fan in the slightest), or the performance of Chris Evans, but Captain America is utterly bland. While there was some promise when our hero was the gangly and weak Steve Rogers, a man desperate to serve his country via the military, as soon as he is recruited into the army and injected with some superhuman steroids, the buffed-up Captain America turns into a muddled mess. Sent out on various missions to help take down the Nazis in WWII, our hero lacks any defining personality and, because of the fact that he's essentially just a really strong and smart human, he is devoid of any really cool superhero power...sorry, a bulletproof shield just ain't gonna cut it in terms of cool gadgets.

It certainly doesn't help matters that Captain America is surrounded by bland supporting actors as well. Sure, Tommy Lee Jones was perfectly adequate as the gruff army supervisor and Stanley Tucci made the most of his bit part as the quirky scientist who turns Steve Rogers into the fighting machine that he becomes, but they lack the pizzazz needed for a good supporting cast member in a film like this -- if your superhero is bland, you better at least surround them with some secondary characters who at the very least provide a laugh or two. Similarly, although Hayley Atwell is beautiful to look at, her role as the required love interest is such a throwaway, lacking any reasoning for existence in the grand scheme of the plot. You're not required to give us a love story, folks, if it doesn't fit in the grand scheme of things.

And you can just couple all that with a villain who just didn't work for me in the slightest. The notion of why the Red Skull - a Nazi "defector" of sorts -- does what he does beyond the vainglorious eccentricity of his outrageous schemes is all but lost. As the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) tries to take over the world with his undeniably cool laser guns that seemingly evaporate his victims into thin air without a trace, there was never any real sense of danger and, quite honestly, much like his heroic counterpart, there wasn't any personality to either fear or love to hate.

Admittedly, the effect of placing Chris Evans's face onto the scrawny body of Steve Rogers Benjamin Button-style was cool and surprisingly successful in terms of technique. And, as I mentioned above, I appreciate the rather nifty 1940s style director Joe Johnston brings to the film (including a nifty "cliffhanger-ish" ending like the serials of the past), but he's done this vibe before in a much better movie two decades ago -- The Rocketeer. Considering there are better comic book films out there this year alone, Captain America simply isn't worth your time.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Carrie

2011-12-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

Carrie (1976)

Starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, and John Travolta

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This ilm is currently streaming on Netflix***

There are moments when I watch Brian De Palma movies where I can't help but think he's a big hack. For example, the softcore porn-esque opening of Carrie in which naked high school girls frolic around a school gym locker room evokes laughs as opposed to lust. However, there are also moments in this flick adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name that are brilliantly staged and executed and Mr. De Palma's admitted appreciation for the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock shines through. So, De Palma remains a conundrum for me -- a director I sometimes despise, but oftentimes admire as well.

It certainly helps De Palma that he's got an interesting script to work with here that truly develops its main characters and only slowly builds to being what could be classified as a "horror" movie. Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is shy, reserved, and the butt of many jokes at school. Thanks to her frighteningly religious mother (Piper Laurie) who has kept Carrie closely guarded her entire life, Carrie fails at being adept socially and instead finds herself outcast and friendless. Carrie soon realizes, however, that she has been blessed (or cursed) with telekinetic powers that, while she is able to control, really only show themselves when her anger builds up.

The ending of Carrie which takes place at the high school prom is fairly well known, but the path to get there was rather surprising to me. Carrie's invitation to the prom comes from jock Tommy Ross (William Katt) who reluctantly takes on the "job" at the urging of his girlfriend Sue (Amy Irving). Sue feels incredibly guilty about poking fun at Carrie in a pivotal scene early in the flick which shapes a huge chunk of what is to follow, so in order to try and make herself feel better, she asks Tommy to take Carrie to the prom to show her a pleasant night. Much to Tommy's surprise, he realizes that Carrie is actually rather sweet and, once outside the rigid confines of her mother's fanaticism, she's a lovely girl. Needless to say, prom doesn't quite go smoothly and when things go awry, they do so in a huge way.

As I mentioned, the movie works so well because both Carrie and her mother (and to a certain extent, Sue and Tommy) are such well-developed characters. The film is much more of a character piece than a horror story as we discover what makes Carrie and her crazed mother tick. While Piper Laurie's performance might seem a bit over the top in today's day and age, Sissy Spacek is spot-on and wholly believable as the tortured teen. The script does falter quite a bit in its portrayal of the school's biggest bullies -- played by Nancy Allen and John Travolta -- whose characters are so maliciously one-note that their scenes prove to be laughable, but that's the only aspect of the plot that threw a kink into this otherwise solid flick.

With bullying being a hot topic in the news, Carrie is perhaps more relevant than ever before. For those that don't like their horror movies "scary," this may be a good first look at the horror genre with the scares coming from character development rather than cheap thrills. You won't be jumping out of your seat necessarily, but the final scenes are tense and chilling nevertheless.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Reservoir Dogs

2011-12-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Starring Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, and Quentin Tarantino

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I came to the party late on Reservoir Dogs which probably caused the flick a little bit of harm in the grand scheme of things. I'd heard that it was this fantastic piece of work filled with clever dialog and great performances. While I'd agree with that to a certain extent, I have to be in the mood for Quentin Tarantino's writing sometimes and at the start of this heist-gone-bad film, I just didn't dig what I was hearing at all.

However, by the time the halfway point rolled around and "Quentin Tarantino, The Actor" took a backseat to folks who can actually act, I began to see what all the fuss was about. Granted, I'm still not quite sure why it's revered as much as it is because to me now it seems just like every other Quentin Tarantino flick with its pop culture dialog, hip oldies soundtrack, and time jumping editing. But, perhaps in 1992 this was new to the scene. [Although now it really shows me that Tarantino is kind of a one-trick pony and while I may like his tricks, he really doesn't bring a whole lot new to the table in terms of technique in his films.]

The tale of a failed jewelry store robbery is filled with some solid performances from Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, and Michael Madsen as part of the group of men tasked to steal a load of diamonds and it's these performances that really make the movie work. Sure, they've got a nice script from Tarantino that had a mild twist or two for the actors to sink their teeth into, but this is really a low budget actors' showcase.

In the end, I enjoyed Reservoir Dogs, but I probably would have enjoyed it more had I seen it fifteen years ago before every college student raved on and on about it thereby increasing expectations exponentially.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Personal Canon - Requiem for a Dream

2011-12-10T16:14:00.001-05:00

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I previously reviewed Requiem for a Dream a little over two years ago (that review will contain a bit more of a summary of the film than this blog post if you're interested) and I resolutely stated that Darren Aronofsky's film is a bit of a masterpiece. I firmly stand by that notion and am still in awe of the director's choice of camera techniques in order to place the viewer squarely in the mind of a drug addict. Not only do we see Jared Leto's Harry or Jennifer Connelly's Marion snorting or popping or injecting their drug addiction into their systems, but we then get quickly edited, close-up shots of dilating pupils and crazed blood cells reacting to this foreign substance coming into their bodies. Although difficult to necessarily convey on paper (or on a computer screen), these moments are visceral, breathtaking, and scary.

The reason these moments take on frightening tones comes from the fact that as we get to know these characters, it's obvious that their lives are not heading to a more peaceful place. As Harry and Marion run out of money in order to support their addiction, the lengths to which they stoop to get their necessary kicks is devastatingly painful and a happy ending never seems to be in any of their futures. However, illegal drugs aren't the only topic of discussion here. Harry's mother, Sara (Ellen Burstyn), is desperate to lose some weight and begins to start a regimen of diet pills -- an addiction which slowly but surely spirals out of her control.

And it's perhaps the segments of the film dealing with Sara and her "legal" addiction that is most difficult to witness. Here was a lovely Jewish woman who only wanted what was best for her family slowly plummeting into emotional horrors she likely never thought existed. As her reality begins to twist and turn and her daily life becomes proliferated with hallucinatory visions of her favorite television show, one can't help but feel empathy for this woman. Sure, we feel bad for her coke-addicted son, too, but there's a certain feeling that he brought that upon himself. Sara, although somewhat responsible for her newfound predilection to pills, isn't necessarily finding the happiness in drugs that her son is, but she is hooked and simply unable to stop.

Certainly making the viewer feel for Sara is a stunning performance from Ellen Burstyn. What starts off so innocently and perhaps caricaturish in her portrayal of a loving Jewish mother shifts into a woman who has lost complete control over everything. Confused, scared, and unable to cope with her daily routines, Burstyn's Sara begins to be cut off from reality, forced into a dream-like (or perhaps nightmarish) state that is heartbreaking to watch.

Thanks to Darren Aronofsky, as the film progresses the viewer also finds themselves increasingly unable to escape the horrors of the characters onscreen. The final thirty minutes is constantly ratcheting up the tension and he does this by incessantly switching back and forth between our four main characters (which also includes a wonderful turn from Marlon Wayans as Harry's friend Tyrone). Every one of the quartet is finding themselves in horrifying situations they never would have dreamed possible and, much like the characters, we the viewers are never given a moment to breathe.

Kudos must also be given to the always fantastic Clint Mansell (Aronofsky's go-to composer) whose intense score for Requiem has become quite well-known and well-utilized in the cinematic world. And this film certainly wouldn't be what it is without the awe-inspiring editing from Jay Rabinowitz. His quick cutting and split screens are genius and certainly bring to life the aesthetic vision of the director.

This certainly isn't an analysis of Requiem for a Dream although there would certainly be plenty to write a college paper on. Instead it's a rather "random thought" appreciation of a film that certainly won't appeal to everyone. It's a difficult film to sit through and an even more difficult film to say you "enjoy." All I know is that watching a brutal film like this would turn anyone off from experimenting with drugs and there's certainly something to be said for that.

The RyMickey Rating: A

Check out previous Personal Canon flicks -- like Saving Private Ryan and Once -- by clicking on this link.

Movie Review - The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story

2011-12-10T04:03:00.001-05:00

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story (2009)

Directed by Gregory V. Sherman and Jeff Sherman

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

It's entirely possible I'm looking at the documentary The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story through rose-colored glasses simply because it takes an in-depth look at the inner workings of the Walt Disney company of which I am a rather devout fan. However, I don't think that's really the case seeing as how the flick details the incredibly interesting story behind Richard and Robert Sherman, the two brothers who together wrote the songs for some of the most well-known musicals of all time -- Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Charlotte's Web to name just a few. Unlike their rather cheery and whimsical tunes may have caused you to surmise, the brothers didn't exactly have an adoring camaraderie with one another, and this film, directed by their sons in an attempt to make more pleasant their fathers' current relationship, explores that oftentimes contentious atmosphere.

Born two-and-a-half years apart, Bob (the eldest) and Dick Sherman were the sons of a Jewish immigrant named Al Sherman who was quite famous in his own right, crafting a lot of optimistic American pop music in the 1930s. Al recognized right away that his sons weren't exactly two peas in a pod and would do everything he could while he was alive (which was until the early 1970s) to keep his boys working together helping them to maintain a somewhat civil relationship. It was Al who convinced the duo to try and work as a songwriting team and, although they found a bit of success, they still were having a difficult time making ends meet for their families in the 1950s. It wasn't until they created a song that was sung by Mickey Mouse Club member Annette Funnicello that their talent became known by Walt Disney.

Upon hearing several songs performed by Ms. Funnicello and written by the Sherman Brothers, Mr. Disney hired the duo as studio writers and, from then on, history was made as Bob and Dick went on to create such memorable tunes as "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Winnie the Pooh," and "I Wanna Be Like You," among many others. In interviews, both Bob and Dick get incredibly emotional talking about Walt -- whose favorite song of theirs was "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins which he would ask them to play for him every Friday in his office before he would leave for home -- a man whom the two brothers respected greatly.

However, through interviews with folks like Julie Andrews, Dick van Dyke, Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne, Ben Stiller, John Williams, Hayley Mills, Leonard Maltin, Roy E. Disney, John Lasseter, Jon Landis, Alan Menken (who finds the title song from Winnie the Pooh utterly inspiring in its musicality), and Angela Lansbury, we grow to recognize that despite the pleasant outward appearance of Bob and Dick Sherman in video released by the Disney press, the two were really quite like oil and vinegar at times. As Roy Disney states, Bob is a little more "Feed the Birds," while Dick is a little more "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Much more serious (likely because of his time spent overseas fighting in WWII where he witnessed many atrocities which are touched upon very lightly in this doc), Bob found himself frustrated by the fact that he and his brother simply couldn't get along. As someone in the documentary says, it was almost like a Greek tragedy -- their success came from working together, but they really couldn't bear the fact that they had to work together to achieve that success.

Still, it's not as if the brothers outright refuse to talk to one another -- they've still managed to come together to work on music for some flicks within the past decade -- and it's obvious that they care for one another, but their contentious relationship is certainly an odd one considering the joy that comes from listening to their music. At times, the documentary seems a little too "surface" without enough in-depth digging that would come from someone other than the Shermans' sons at the helm -- for example, there's a nice segment on Mary Poppins and how author P. L. Travers found the Shermans' work for the film disappointing causing Bob Sherman to call her a witch which I would've loved to have seen explored more -- but, for the most part, the film is quite successful. Much like Waking Sleeping Beauty (a highly recommended Disney documentary that landed on my Best of List last year), The Boys is a backstage look at an important part of Disney history.

The RyMickey Rating: B+

2011-12-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

For those interested, Meek's Cutoff -- a film which currently is holding on to the #10 spot in my Top Ten Films this year -- just started streaming on Netflix today. Granted, it's not a film for everyone -- the pace is super slow -- but thanks to some great performances and an interesting story, this western won me over. Check out my original review here.

Movie Review - Our Idiot Brother

2011-12-09T02:27:00.001-05:00

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

Starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Kathryn Hahn, and Steve Coogan

Directed by Jesse Peretz

I'm fairly certain that Our Idiot Brother was supposed to be a comedy. I mean, there were moments where I probably should have laughed at the sweet, yet entirely too innocent and trusting Ned (Paul Rudd) whose hippie vibe was lovable and charming, but the flick simply didn't elicit chuckles (with the exception of one very odd threesome scene and a game of charades that admittedly cracked me up). Instead, Our Idiot Brother places a huge focus on Ned's three sisters -- workaholic Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), quirky lesbian Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), and stay-at-home mom Liz (Emily Mortimer) -- none of whom are ladies I'd like to spend any bit of time with.

The whole affair just plays like some sitcom, jumping back and forth amongst Ned and his trio of sisters whose troubles reach soap opera levels of absurdity at times. Unfortunately, these problems should have made me give a damn about these characters, but instead they just made me upset that these ladies were such idiots -- for, you see, the absurdity of the flick is that the supposedly sane sisters are perhaps the ones who are more foolish than Ned the Kooky Simpleton.

Despite a game Paul Rudd whose kind Jesus-y hipster Ned is amusing (and is the only thing that saves the flick from being a complete and utter failure), Our Idiot Brother just doesn't ever feel rooted in reality at any point. Characters are too one-dimensional, predicaments are resolved way too quickly and cleanly, and the final scene was nearly disgustingly treacly.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

2011-12-08T05:30:00.000-05:00

Due to some issues I find when attempting to post comments, I've shifted to a comment "pop-up window" that seems to have solved the problems I encounter. If, like me, you found yourself having a difficult time leaving comments, that shouldn't be the case anymore.

Movie Review - Nothing But Trouble

2011-12-08T04:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing But Trouble (1991)

Starring Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, Dan Aykroyd, and John Candy

Directed by Dan Aykroyd

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Right up front, I should say that I recognize Nothing But Trouble isn't very good (and my rating below will reflect that). However, I can't help but enjoy it a tiny bit. I haven't watched it in over a decade, but I remembered a certain fondness attached to it simply because it was like watching some weird funhouse/amusement park ride come to life when I viewed the flick on the local tv station on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. That fondness was still there, but it is now also tempered with the fact that the film itself simply isn't all that funny and, considering this is a comedy, that's a problem.

When financial advisor Chris Thorne (Chevy Chase) agrees to take his neighbor Diane (Demi Moore) to Atlantic City for her job, he does it only so he can attempt to form some type of romantic bond. However, a slight detour forces the duo into the run-down New Jersey town of Valkenvania and when Chris runs a stop sign, he's picked up by the local sheriff (John Candy) and taken to the home of the incredibly elderly local judge, Alvin J.P. Valkenheiser (Dan Aykroyd). Despite a simple traffic violation, the judge forces Chris and Diane to spend the night in his run-down, funhouse-type mansion. Chris and Diane soon begin to discover the secret truth behind the judge and come to the realization that he will likely never allow them to leave the premises.

A mix of comedy and horror, the film doesn't contain too many laughs or any scary moments, but the actors themselves are what make this film more enjoyable than it should be. Chevy Chase and Demi Moore aren't exactly striking it rich in the chemistry department, but they're pleasant enough and are actually the straight men to Dan Aykroyd who takes on the rather disgusting role of Alvin Valkenheiser with great gusto. Despite coming from a fairly poor flick, it's a character that surprisingly came back to me immediately as soon as he came onscreen as if I'd just watched the film yesterday.

Still, anything positive is tempered by the fact that the movie isn't good. Yes, I didn't mind watching Nothing But Trouble and being reminded of a childhood moviewatching experience, but it's not like I need to watch it once again in the near future.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - Death Becomes Her

2011-12-07T05:24:00.001-05:00

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Starring Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, and Isabella Rossellini

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Almost a real-life cartoon of sorts, Death Becomes Her is essentially a 90-minute catfight between two aging "frenemies" who will do whatever it takes stay as young and fresh as possible. Director Robert Zemeckis creates an over-the-top atmosphere that never once feels "real"...but that's the point. Absurdity is given free reign and Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn chew up the scenery with soap opera diva levels of overacting. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work and the dark comedy finds itself with too many moments of awkward silences to be fully successful.

When the egotistical actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) steals away her good friend's fiancé, her old college pal Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) is sent into a downward spiral leading her into a life of overeating and obsessing over murdering Madeline. However, things aren't going so well for Madeline either fourteen years later. Her once well-revered plastic surgeon husband Ernest (Bruce Willis) has lost his license to practice medicine thanks to his tendency to down one too many alcoholic libations, and now he finds his gawky and nebbishy self making over folks who have died so that they look beautiful in their coffins. In addition to her hubby troubles, Madeline can't help but find herself aging much more than she would like. When attending a party for Helen's self-help book, Madeline discovers that Helen is looking younger and more voluptuous than ever sending Madeline into her own downward spiral. Looking for any possible assistance in helping her age gracefully, Madeline finds herself on the front porch of the Gothic-looking abode of Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini), an incredibly sexy and sensuous witch of sorts who sells Madeline what essentially amounts to the Fountain of Youth in a bottle...which may or may not be a good thing in the grand scheme of life.

As is the case in nearly all of her films, Meryl Streep is a treat to watch. As I've grown, I've come to admire her simply because she is solid at nearly every performance she undertakes. Even as a comedienne and even with a role as broad and one-note as Madeline, Streep is fun to watch. Goldie Hawn is fine, but considering that she's more well-known for comedy, the script doesn't give her nearly as much humor to work with as Streep. Bruce Willis is solid and Isabella Rossellini is simply stunning. I remember watching this as a 12 or 13-year old boy and finding myself agog in multiple scenes where Ms. Rossellini shows as much as is allowed in a PG-13 rated film...she's still just as lovely to look at eighteen years later.

Filled with some decent special effects (which won this film the Oscar for Best Special FX), the corny cartoon atmosphere works some times, but by the film's end, the one-upmanship between Madeline and Helen upon which the film is based grows a bit tiresome. The catfights are funny initially, but it's not quite enough to build an entire story upon.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - Winnie the Pooh

2011-12-03T23:10:00.001-05:00

Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Featuring the voice talent of Jim Cummings, John Cleese, Craig Ferguson, Bud Luckey, Jack Boulter, Travis Oates, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Wyatt Dean Hall, and Tom Kenny

Directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall

Oh, bother. I wish this latest Winnie the Pooh flick had done a bit better when it was released up against the juggernaut that was the last chapter of the Harry Potter franchise because then we may have been privileged to get many more incarnations in the years to come of the willy nilly silly old bear. Instead, we'll likely have to cherish this surprisingly enjoyable and immensely cute version for the next several years.

In a lovely return to hand-drawn animation and certainly hooking onto the nostalgia value of previous Pooh incarnations, Winnie the Pooh is a short 55-minute journey (63 minutes if you include the end credits...which you should since the cute factor invades those as well all the way to the end) into the world of the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin and his childhood "stuffed animal" pals frolic and get into all sorts of adventures.

Admittedly, I've only seen 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, so I'm unfamiliar with The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, and Pooh's Heffalump Movie, but at least with the 1977 flick it was made up of a trio of stories. Here, much to my surprise, we follow one storyline which, like most Pooh tales begins with a search for honey and eventually shifts into a search for both Eeyore's tail and the horrifying creature known as the Backson which has apparently captured Christopher Robin. With a film as short as this, saying much more would be spoiling its simplicity, so I'll leave it at that. Needless to say, the innocence of the storytelling is wonderfully engaging.

With some lovely tunes from Avenue Q and Book of Mormon writer Robert Lopez (proving he's not just creative at writing funny raunchy stuff) and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez which marry absolutely perfectly with the quirky intonation of Zooey Deschanel who croons a few of them, the whole flick (much like the recent The Muppets) just makes you smile. Couple the songs with some absolutely charming voice acting from Jim Cummings as Pooh, John Cleese as our omniscent narrator, Craig Ferguson as Owl, and Bud Luckey as Eeyore, and the flick is just as pleasant for the ears as it is for the eyes.

Granted, the flick is certainly a bit too simple for its own good and it's not reinventing the wheel in terms of the Pooh legacy (not that it should), but it's so goshdarn lovable in every single frame filled with a lot of wit and even more heart. I'm not really a Winnie the Pooh fan -- I'm indifferent, really -- but this film made me grow to love the stuffed bear more than I ever have before.

The RyMickey Rating: A-

Movie Review - Attack the Block

2011-12-01T01:32:00.001-05:00

Attack the Block (2011)

Starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway, Alex Esmail, Jumayn Hunter, and Nick Frost

Directed by Joe Cornish

Attack the Block is a fun little comedy-horror-sci fi-action flick from first time feature film director Joe Cornish (who also wrote the film). The simple story -- aliens invade South London and a group of hoodlums attempt to save their community -- goes by at a super-fast clip with the 85-minute running time never wearing out its welcome.

That said, that same quick pace hurts the film a little bit in that there's really never any time to get to know the characters. As the niftily-designed aliens begin their attack and folks begin getting picked off one by one, we in the audience find ourselves not really caring all that much because we never connected with these folks in the first place. Still, the cast of young relative unknowns (save Nick Frost of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead fame) is certainly game for all the genres thrown their way.

Director Joe Cornish proves to be quite adept at making his kitchen sink of a screenplay work, making sure that the notes of comedy, horror, and sci fi all get adequate screen time. Admittedly, some of the dialog thrown out is too English to maybe fully understand everything, but that's not Cornish's fault. All in all, Attack the Block is a nice little flick that should it come onto Netflix's Instant Watch would certainly be worth your time.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - The Bleeding House

2011-11-30T23:27:00.001-05:00

The Bleeding House (2011)

Starring Alexandra Chando and Patrick Breen

Directed by Philip Gelatt

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Way back in 2009, I saw a horrible horror movie at the Newark Film Festival. Filled with talky nonsense, gratuitous blood, and some of the worst acting I'd ever seen, I was hoping that I'd never see another film that stooped to its equivalent cinematic low. While The Bleeding House doesn't quite reach that level, it comes awfully close. Perhaps what's even worse is that screenwriter-director Philip Gelatt managed to get the Tribeca Film Festival and American Express to produce this simply awful piece of work which felt like some very poorly crafted student project.

There's no point in even bothering with a lengthy summary here except to say that a southern stranger who appears to be gentlemanly enters the home of a family that harbors some dark secrets and ends up wreaking havoc on them. The stranger incessantly rambles about God and faith while torturing his victims and nothing he says makes a modicum of sense.

Ugh. The whole thing was really painful. The acting "talent" is simply awful. Granted, they're given horrible dialog to spout and unbelievable actions to carry out courtesy of their director, but they still aren't of any high caliber. Unfortunately, despite the painfulness of the flick, it doesn't ever reach levels of "so bad, it's good." It's just all bad.

The RyMickey Rating: F

2011-11-30T15:32:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder that the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players' production of Noises Off continues its run both this weekend and next after a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. My review of the great, highly recommended production can be found here. Don't miss out on the high quality theater taking place in our small state.

Photo by Paul Cerro

Movie Review - Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

2011-11-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Starring Onni Tomilla and Jorma Tommila

Directed by Jalmari Helander

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is certainly one of the most unique Christmas movies I've ever seen and while the tale is almost too simple and is absolutely resolved too quickly, I couldn't help but be won over a little bit by its originality. I'm not quite sure there's another Christmas movie out there where Santa's naked elves run amok trying to capture naughty children in order to have them be reprimanded by Old St. Nick. Don't mistake this for a horror movie -- admittedly, that's what I thought it was when I first heard about this flick a year ago. No, it's really a weird dark comedy (one where you don't exactly laugh) based upon a interesting Santa Claus myth -- one in which Santa doesn't reward good children, but instead rather brutally punishes bad kids.

On the outskirts of Finland, an archeological expedition is underway. Soon after young Piettari (Onni Tomilla) and his friend Juuso (Ilmari Järvenpää) stumble across the site, all of the reindeer which their fathers hunt in order to make a living end up dead...slaughtered, actually. Piettari begins to feel guilt for entering the site and after doing a bit of research starts to believe that the dig is meant to unearth Santa Claus who was buried under a huge mountain hundreds of years prior in order to prevent him from doing harm to children. Although his father (Jorma Tommila) finds Piettari's stories hard to believe, he soon finds that his young son may not be imagining things.

Despite the flick's short 80-minute run time, Rare Exports does have a tendency to drag a bit (I think, in part, subtitled flicks have a predisposition to do that sometimes), but for the most part it's an enjoyable little diversion that I am sure will be unlike any Christmas movie you'll have ever seen. Although it's rated R (mainly for some blurry - and sometimes not-so-blurry - male nudity), it's certainly not filled with language or massive amounts of violence. For its sheer absurdity, I can't help but recommend a watch.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - Nativity!

2011-11-26T03:09:00.001-05:00

Nativity! (2009)

Starring Martin Freeman, Marc Wootton, Jason Watkins, Pam Ferris, and Ashley Jensen

Directed by Debbie Isitt

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

As you'll see in the upcoming weeks as Christmas-related movie reviews pop up on the site a little more frequently, there is a slight bit of leeway given to holiday flicks. For about 75% of them, they're going to be treacly and overly sentimental and that simply comes with the territory of the general feeling of happiness that accompanies this time of year. So, in that regard, something that may not be a well-made or overly complex film may get a little more leeway from my normal Grinch-ian ways.

That's the case with the semi-improvised British comedy Nativity! in which primary school teacher Paul Maddens (Martin Freeman) is forced by his Catholic school's principal (Pam Ferris) to put on the school's annual nativity play for the holidays. Paul despises Christmas because a few years ago his girlfriend Jennifer (Ashley Jensen) left him around the holiday to go to Hollywood in an attempt to become a big-time producer. It also certainly doesn't help matters that his former best friend Gordon Shakespeare (Jason Watkins) heads up the rival school's popular (and much more successful) local nativity production.

One afternoon, when searching for a Christmas tree for the production with his aide Mr. Poppy (Marc Wootton), Paul runs into Gordon and, in a jealous moment, Paul fabricates a huge lie that Jennifer -- the ever-successful US producer -- is traveling to their small England town to film his school's nativity production to release as a motion picture. Mr. Poppy (a childish oaf of a man who was forced upon Paul simply because he is the nephew of the school's principal) overhears this and quickly spreads the word, forcing Paul to be faced with a major problem on his hands as the nativity play finds itself growing more and more out of control.

Nativity! is a cute film and one that's perfectly suited to family viewing (although I do think it skews a bit more adult in that some of the humor is derived from religious issues...and not in a disrespectful way mind you...kind of like Sister Act in that regard). The story is pleasant enough and interactions between the serious Martin Freeman and the irresponsible though lovable Marc Wootton are certainly laughter-inducing...as are the sometimes priceless reactions and line readings from the young grade-schoolers who make up Paul's classroom.

Admittedly, the story here is weak and the attempts to make any semblance of a love story between Paul and his ex Jennifer fail. The film works when it focuses on the kids and even then director Debbie Isitt tends to linger a bit too long on scenes, trying to milk them for all of the comedy she can get which oftentimes doesn't work. However, Nativity! is a film that wears its good-natured heart on its sleeve and provides at least a semblance (however funnily bastardized it is) of "the reason for the season" making it worth a placement in your Netflix Instant Queue this holiday.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - The Muppets

2011-11-24T02:28:00.001-05:00

The Muppets (2011)

Starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, and all your favorite Muppets of yore

Directed by James Bobin

If they're searching for methods to help drug addicts get over their cravings, search no further than The Muppets -- a movie that put me on a euphoric high quite like (I'd imagine) any type of illegal substance. A smile will never leave your face during its running time -- unless you find yourself tearing up at the sentimental musings of a frog made of felt like I did at times.

I was worried about this one. I had such high expectations. I tried to avoid everything other than those parody trailers that, while certainly humorous, admittedly made me cautious for fear of trying to "hip up" the Muppets in some way (and after some recent failed attempts since 1992's Muppet Christmas Carol, I was even more on edge). My worries were unfounded, however, as Muppet-lover Jason Segal has co-wrote a glorious ode to some favorite characters of my youth. The nostalgia factor is certainly working overtime here, but that's not the only thing carrying this to greatness -- it's a genuinely well-made and charming flick as well.

Echoing their "true life" story, the Muppets in The Muppets have faded from the public's favor after a very successful run from the mid-seventies through the 1980s. This loss of popularity caused the Muppets to split up, all heading their various ways and leading to the near abandonment of the once great Muppet Studios in Los Angeles. This doesn't sit too well with Walter, a Muppet himself, who has always found himself out of place in the small town of Small Town, forever living in a world inhabited by humans including his brother Gary (Segel) -- and, no, the movie offers no explanation as to how Walter and Gary could possibly be related despite the fact that one is made out of fabric and the other is made out of DNA -- just go with it. When taking a trip to the deserted and dilapidated Muppet Studios in LA with Gary and Gary's gal Mary (an absolutely adorable Amy Adams), Walter unwittingly stumbles onto a plan by oil tycoon Tex Richman (the slimy Chris Cooper) to raze the studios and drill for oil underneath unless the Muppets can raise ten million dollars within two weeks. This sets into effect the whole point of the movie -- a Muppet reunion to have a telethon that will hopefully save the Studios and reinvigorate the public's love for this adorable creatures.

The story is simple and perhaps runs a tiny bit thin during the hunt to track down Kermit's Muppet pals, but none of that really matters in the end because the film is so goshdarn amusing and pleasant that you can overlook a tiny flaw here or there (and they really are tiny because the flick overall is pretty spectacular). Right from the beginning, Jason Segel, his co-writer Nicholas Stoller, music supervisor Bret McKenzie, and director James Bobin (the latter two worked on HBO's short-lived Flight of the Conchords of which this flick sometimes has a similar vibe) set up a charmingly corny self-aware breaking-the-fourth-wall kind of vibe where the routine task of brushing one's teeth can elicit wonderfully funny and beguilingly whimsical music numbers to take flight. Segel and his human co-star Amy Adams are game for this happy-go-lucky vibe with their "aw shucks" demeanors playing splendidly next to the old school showmanship of the Muppets who rightfully take center stage throughout much of the film. Similarly, Chris Cooper deliciously hams up the scenery as the nefarious oil tycoon villain providing the perfect counterpoint to the squeaky clean demeanor of everyone surrounding him.

And the Muppets themselves...they've provided so many great memories for this reviewer and their eponymous movie is just one more winner to add to the list. Sure, their voices may have changed a little bit (Fozzie's stuck out the most to me as not quite getting the vocal tones right), but they're still the same characters we all grew to love when we were kids. Gonzo's still goofy, the Swedish Chef is still incomprehensible, Fozzie's still producing the worst jokes imaginable, Miss Piggy's still bossy, and Kermit's still the (perhaps) reluctant, but ever lovable, ringleader of the gang. Their storyline and the ensuing reunion of sorts was surprisingly touching and absolutely believable. [There's a moment towards the beginning of the film where a sullen Kermit remembers his heyday that was nearly gutwrenching in its genuine sadness.] It never feels like we're watching puppets -- even when we're following new and unknown Muppet felt creation Walter whose wide-eyed exuberance and optimism fits right in with older characters we've known and loved for decades.

One can only hope that The Muppets is a successful revival of the Muppets themselves. Jason Segel has proven that he truly is a fan of these crazy creatures and his love is blatantly evident onscreen here with genuine care to honor Jim Henson's creations. As soon as I saw Walter and Gary watching the original Muppet Show at the beginning of the film, I knew Segel was building upon the past rather than taking the Muppets in a completely different direction. And when the shot of Jim Henson sitting next to Kermit popped up in a scene, this sense of tradition became even more obvious. Kudos all around to all involved in The Muppets for crafting quite simply the most enjoyable time you will spend in a movie theater in 2011.

The RyMickey Rating: A

Movie Review - The Tree

2011-11-21T22:21:00.001-05:00

The Tree (2011)

Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Morgana Davis, and Marton Csokas

Directed by Julie Bertuccelli

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Not to be confused with The Tree of Life reviewed earlier this week, the Australian flick The Tree is similar to that aforementioned film in that both deal with death and its effect on those whom the deceased leaves behind. The Tree is a much more straightforward film, however, when compared to Terrence Malick's sometime stream-of-consciousness filmmaking technique. Unfortunately, The Tree is a tad bland with a story that meanders a bit too much despite a nice performance from the always reliable Charlotte Gainsbourg.

After the sudden death of her husband, Dawn (Gainsbourg) is finding it devastatingly difficult to make it through life. Her four children try their best to move on and help their mother move past her grieving process, but they're finding that task quite unnerving. When eight-year-old Simone (Morgana Davis) believes that the aura of her father is alive in the gigantic fig tree next to their home, she finally finds something that will get her mother out of bed. Despite her better judgment, Dawn discovers that she genuinely feels the presence of her husband in the tree. However, when the growing tree begins to impede upon their house, the family finds itself forced to make some difficult decisions (complete with completely obvious metaphors).

For a movie that's all about death, The Tree simply comes off as too slight and rather silly. Ultimately, I bought the premise while watching it, but reflection has caused the film to not sit as well a few days later. Admittedly, Charlotte Gainsbourg is quite good as the grieving and tense mother. I was unfamiliar with her work prior to last year, but since then, I've been very impressed with her recent repertoire of Antichrist, Melancholia, and this. Unfortunately for Gainsbourg, her performances are simply too good for these movies she chooses. Morgana Davis was at times near perfect in her role as a the young daughter, but then had several moments of being that "obnoxious" smarter-than-she-should be character we all hate in movies.

The Tree is a pretty film, but never quite succeeds at providing the drama that a movie with this theme should create.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Theater Review - Noises Off

2011-11-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

Noises Off

Written by Michael Frayn

Directed by Gregory Boyd

Where: Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts

(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)

When: Saturday, November 19, 2011

Photo by Paul Cerro

No need to bury the lede here...The Resident Ensemble Players at the University of Delaware have produced what is likely the funniest piece of theater I've ever seen performed in their current production of Noises Off. Granted, they're working with what many call the best comedic play of the modern era, but it's a piece that needs a stellar troupe of actors to pull off the need for both spot-on slapstick and well-timed verbal barbs and, as is typically the case with the REP, the group doesn't disappoint. In fact, they simply exceeded all expectations -- and there were some lofty ones seeing as how I had read that this play performed properly is a laugh riot.

When the play begins we find ourselves front and center at the final dress rehearsal for the play Nothing On -- a ridiculously written British sex farce filled with door slamming, innuendo, and a bit of mistaken identity. The play's awful, but the troupe of seven past-their-prime or never-to-have-their-prime actors are still trudging through it. To the director Lloyd Dallas, it's a lost cause that only a large consumption of pills and alcohol can make better, but he still attempts to get the cast in line prior to the opening night a mere eighteen hours away.

Although Act One of the play was certainly funny, nothing could have prepared me for Acts II and III where I think my cheeks started to hurt from laughing so much. [I also discovered that my tear ducts still work seeing as how there were some uproariously funny moments that caused my eyes to well up.] Act II finds us watching Act I of Nothing On again, but this time from backstage. It's Feburary, a month into the production, and the actors are getting on each other's nerves leading to hilarity and a bit of treachery in the wings. In the final act of Noises Off, we once again view Act I of Nothing On in April, and the traveling company of Nothing On is a wreck. Anything that could go wrong does, but as is the case in theater, "the show must go on"...and it does in the most gut-bustingly ways.

A farce within a farce, writer Michael Frayn has crafted comedic gold here. By showing the audience what Nothing On is supposed to look like in Act I (which still provides its share of laughs), Frayn is able to cull humor from all the mishaps that occur in Acts II and III of Noises Off. I imagine that this is an incredibly difficult play to direct particularly because of the need for dead-on timing and Gregory Boyd has succeeded in this production. This troupe of actors (seen below) nails it and that's a credit to him.

Photo by Evan Krape

And the actors...The REP over the years has provided some great theater. Excellent drama, excellent comedy, but I don't think we've yet to see them perform a play in which every member of the REP was in the production. Here, we see all eight members perform together (along with guest actor John Tyson) and the way they gel together is kind of amazing. I know that a play like this takes a lot of work, but it sure looked like they were having a helluva lot of fun up there and that feeling permeated into the audience who had a riotous time as well.

Where do you even begin when it comes to pointing out the actors here seeing as how every single one of them was stellar? They all (for the most part) have to take on double roles as both the characters in Nothing On and their actor-counterparts and they've crafted unique personalities for both roles. I could list stand-outs, but I'd be listing the whole cast -- Kathleen Pirkl Tague, Stephen Pelinski, Mic Matarrese, Deena Burke, Carine Montbertrand, Steve Tague, Elizabeth Heflin, Michael Gotch, and John Tyson -- and that would just take up a whole lot of room, wouldn't it?

Honestly, if you're in the vicinity of Newark, Delaware, it's simply a disservice to yourself to not get down to the University of Delaware and see this production. You won't be sorry. And, who knows, you might even get to see your intrepid reviewer there as I'm certainly going to snatch up another ticket to see this one.

Movie Review - Take Me Home Tonight

2011-11-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

Starring Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Folger, Teresa Palmer, and Chris Pratt

Directed by Michael Dowse

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Since I saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice last year, I've admittedly harbored a slight crush on the Australian actress Teresa Palmer. Despite that, my opinion of Take Me Home Tonight, a 1980s-set film that sat on the shelf for a few years, was not swayed by the presence of Ms. Palmer. Although both she and Topher Grace are actually quite good, this supposed comedy which takes place over one long summer night failed to produce a laugh once and that's simply unacceptable.

Ms. Palmer is Tori, the beautiful gal whom Matt (Grace) has crushed on since high school. Years have gone by and both have graduated from prestigious universities, but Tori has gone on to be a successful investment banker while Matt isn't exactly using his engineering degree to its fullest potential by working at the Suncoast Video at the mall. The two meet up at a party held by Kyle (Chris Pratt), Matt's twin sister Wendy's boyfriend. Wendy (Anna Faris) finds herself in her own predicament -- head off to grad school or stay with Kyle. While she debates what to do with her life, Matt is focused solely on the night at hand, trying to impress Tori by concocting lies to make himself sound more impressive. Of course, it should be no surprise that this scheming will backfire.

As I mentioned, there's actually quite a bit of chemistry between Topher Grace and Teresa Palmer and they're certainly pleasant to watch. However, they're certainly not "funny" characters, so the film feels the need to surround them with quirkiness, including Matt's best friend Barry (Dan Folger) who, having just been fired from his job that morning goes on a raucous rampage complete with hefty drug use, alcohol consumption, and wild sex. Unfortunately, the character of Barry, like many of the other roles thrown in simply to garner a laugh or two, don't produce chuckles. Instead, they often conjure up eye rolls more than anything else while also padding the running time. And the aforementioned character of Wendy -- completely and utterly pointless. The attempt to give her a storyline that matters is completely unnecessary as us viewers don't care about her in the slightest despite a valiant attempt by Anna Faris.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - The Tree of Life

2011-11-19T03:00:00.000-05:00

The Tree of Life (2011)

Starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, and Hunter McCracken

Directed by Terrence Malick

Misfortune befalls the good...not just the bad...We are often uprooted like a tree...But we must go on.

Right off the bat, let me just say that I don't think I'm smart enough to watch The Tree of Life and fully understand it. It's a movie that is in need of Cliff's Notes in order to fully get what director-writer Terrence Malick was trying to get across in his dream-like visual style. In that respect, does anyone really want to go to a movie and feel like they're back in high school reading things like Shakespeare or Chaucer where you can't help but think you learn more by reading the notes that accompany the main works than the actual work itself? I'm sure were I to watch the movie again, more details that seemed like they were throwaways in the initial viewing would take on more meaning. Of course, any second viewing of a film reveals things that weren't noticed the first time, but I'm not sure where I stand on the notion that you should have to watch a film a second time in order to understand it's overarching themes.

It's not that I came away from The Tree of Life completely lost...I get that it's a film about grief, about relationships between children and their parents, and about faith. I understand that at its core is the notion that death is simply a part of life that shouldn't be feared, but rather accepted. And as I sit here typing out this review, I'm actually growing more and more appreciative of the film and the rather beautiful way it tackles these issues. [I'm particularly impressed at the way it doesn't shy away from this notion of an all-powerful being (ie. God) and his role in Life.]

However, despite all this, I did find a major problem with the actual plot of the film -- yes, there is a plot, if you can find it amidst the interesting camerawork and incessant (though rather eloquent) voiceovers. At its heart, The Tree of Life looks at the relationship between father and son and, in this film, we are supposed to take away that Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is much too harsh to his three boys, including Jack (Hunter McCracken) whom the film tends to focus on. However -- and this is the major issue I have with the movie -- I never got the sense that Brad Pitt's character was a bad guy...in fact, there were moments where I felt he was oddly affectionate for what the viewing audience stereotypically thinks of when it comes to a 1950s father. He wanted what was best for his sons and tried to show them how to be the best boys they could be. Ultimately, this "tumultuous" relationship proved problematic for me because I never really got a sense as to why Jack was so angry with his father (and, in turn, his mother [played by Jessica Chastain] for putting up with what he felt were his father's faults). The scars that the father left on his sons didn't seem legitimate.

I simply don't think this is a flaw that I'd be able to overcome on repeated viewings, but I can see myself taking on repeated viewings of this nonetheless. I'm over a day removed from my initial watch and I still find myself thinking about the movie certainly because of the very vagueness that I critiqued in the opening paragraph. I found much of the film beautiful to look at and I found the highly spiritual content welcoming and rather thought-provoking...SPOILER...the final scenes in which an adult Jack (Sean Penn) wanders around a heaven-like environment in which he learns that his family is still living on a different spiritual plane were particularly spiritually invigorating. END SPOILER However, in a film dealing with grief and the pain that comes along with that emotion, there is an odd detachment from the characters here. I was never really moved by what I saw onscreen via the characters themselves, but the visual images were oftentimes quite thought-provoking.

Acting is decent overall with Brad Pitt continuing his rather positive year thanks to this and Moneyball. Jessica Chastain is seemingly in everything this year, but this is the first movie I've seen of hers and while she was perfectly adequate as the mother, I'll have to refrain from saying that she's the new "It Girl" as she is called in some parts. Hunter McCracken was fine in his first acting role, but as I've mentioned before, I find the character a flawed one insomuch as I couldn't quite figure out why he despised his parents as much as he did.

Still, The Tree of Life is an interesting watch. Kudos to Terrance Malick for creating a dream-like atmosphere containing minimal dialog and interesting camera cuts and movements. It's for the visuals and the spirituality angle that would cause me to watch this again...and I just might in the near future. I'll end with a rather simplistic, but beautiful quote from the flick that stuck with me for some reason post-viewing:

The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love your life will flash by.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Horrible Bosses

2011-11-17T02:14:00.001-05:00

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Aniston
Directed by Seth Gordon

Perhaps I did Horrible Bosses a disservice by watching it a day after Bridesmaids, but this modern-day retelling of 9 to 5 from a male point of view just didn't provide the laughs needed to succeed (especially when compared to the Kristen Wiig-starring raunchfest).

Three guys all have severe problems with their bosses. Nick (Jason Bateman) is aggravated when his sadistically controlling boss (Kevin Spacey) passes him over for a vice president's job at a big corporate firm. When Kurt's (Jason Sudeikis) boss dies, the job is taken over by the boss's druggie party-guy son (Colin Farrell) making day-to-day activities a living hell. For Dale (Charlie Day), a dental assistant, his problem revolves his sex-obsessed, completely inappropriate dentist boss (Jennifer Aniston) as she attempts to do whatever she can to get Dale into bed despite the fact that he is engaged to be married.

Fed up, the three concoct a plan to kill their respective bosses and, unfortunately, that's where the movie falls apart. Ultimately, the scheme to do aware with their uncouth supervisors isn't all that funny. In the first third of the film, when the focus is on the devious bosses, the humor comes across rather easily -- Jennifer Aniston, in particular, is riotously hilarious at moments in a role that is unlike anything she's ever done before. However, the characters portrayed by Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day simply aren't interesting enough to have a movie crafted around them. Jason Bateman, in particular, is incredibly bland here, giving his character zero personality. Jason Sudeikis feels like he's rehashing the same character we saw in the better Hall Pass earlier this year. Charlie Day is the only one of the trio to provide some truly funny moments, but I still couldn't help but think he was playing the same guy he plays on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And the less said about Jamie Foxx's role as a hired hit man the better. Completely humorless, his scenes grind the film to a screeching halt.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Bridesmaids

2011-11-16T03:35:00.001-05:00

Bridesmaids (2011)

Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Chris O'Dowd, and Jill Clayburgh

Directed by Paul Feig

Somehow, Bridesmaids contains all the well-known aspects of your typical Hollywood rom-coms (including that ever-so-popular favorite of female-centric flicks -- the need to dance at film's end), but twists them in such a way that they feel new, refreshing, and sometimes raunchily dirty. Still, at the center of the flick -- and what makes it work as well as it does -- is heart. And, corny as that may sound, in spite of the dirty jokes (or perhaps even because of the contrast they provide), the surprising amount of warmth is what makes this hilarious comedy a huge success.

When her best friend since childhood Lilian (Maya Rudolph) tells her she's engaged, thirtysomething Annie (Kristen Wiig) is quite happy for her...however, it also sets into motion thoughts that thanks to the facts that her bakery business has shut down and that she's yet to settle down in a meaningful relationship she's somehow failed in her life. Still, Annie takes on the task of being maid of honor with gusto only to find herself in a somewhat self-imposed competition with Helen (Rose Byrne), the wife of Lilian's husband's boss. Helen has gobs of money and, unknown to Annie up until this point, has apparently formed a wonderful friendship with Lilian over the past year.

This rivalry with Helen is where Bridesmaids gets both its humor and its heart as a skittishly nervous Annie does what she can in order to constantly try and one-up everything Helen puts in her way. The film succeeds because Annie's insecurities feel real and natural and Kristen Wiig (who also is credited as co-writer) excels at presenting both the comedy and Annie's sense of angst and worry that she is in danger of losing her best friend. Wiig sometimes takes things over-the-top on Saturday Night Live, but the humor in Bridesmaids arises from the growth and development of the characters and her Annie is a joy with whom to spend two hours. Yes, Wiig carries over some of her typical SNL mannerisms, but she gives herself a substantial character to wrap her idiosyncrasies around as opposed to just a two-dimensional person from a six-minute skit. Plain and simple, the movie works because Wiig makes Annie a character who is entirely believable as both the funny easygoing gal and the panicked maid of honor desperate to maintain her relationship with her best friend.

Wiig is joined by a very funny group of ladies making up the bridal party including the Emmy-winning Melissa McCarthy who got quite a bit of buzz (and is even being bandied about as a possible Oscar nominee) for her role as the uncouth Megan. While McCarthy is hilarious, my initial reaction is that Rose Byrne has maybe the most difficult role here yet still manages to mine the character for all the comedy it can provide. Byrne's Helen starts off as the stereotypical rich bitch (which provides many a laugh), but Wiig and her co-writer Annie Mumolo give Helen a bit of a backstory that changes our view of her character by film's end in a pleasant and totally believable way. Also great is Maya Rudolph who I always liked on SNL. It's wonderful to see her given a role that, while maybe not the most developed in the film, places her at the center of the action.

Like typical Judd Apatow-produced comedies (as this one is), there are moments where the film feels like it runs a tiny bit too long, but those moments never last long. I haven't belly-laughed this much in a movie in a long time. Perhaps even more important, though, and what makes Bridesmaids work is that the incredibly successful adult humor is evenly matched with a warm sentimentality that never feels cloying or preachy.

The RyMickey Rating: A-

Movie Review - X-Men: First Class

2011-11-13T20:35:00.001-05:00

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, January Jones, and Kevin Bacon

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Admittedly, after watching this prequel to the previous X-Men movie incarnations, I'm shocked X-Men: First Class didn't do as well as the others in the franchise. Maybe people felt like they'd seen it all before, but this well-made actioner is simply the best X-Men movie to date filled with some solid performances, a great 1960s vibe, and some clever, witty references to the movies that came before it.

The year is 1962 and after discovering the full potential of their genetic mutations in the 1940s, mind reader/controller Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and metal-wielding Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto (Michael Fassbender) find themselves friends and at the center of a government "study" of sorts headed by CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) in order to find more humans with these special genetic abilities. As if the "normal" human race having issues with these abnormalities wasn't enough to deal with, Charles and Erik also find themselves faced with trying to stop another group of "mutants" headed by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who are out to prove that the mutant population should rule over the regular folk. To add to the intrigue, back in 1944, Shaw was partnering with the Nazis and ended up killing Erik's mother at a concentration camp. Needless to say, Erik finds himself on a mission to do whatever is necessary to avenge his mother's death.

While it's certainly true that the X-Men series mirrors the Civil Rights movement, here we get an even stronger (and perhaps more blatant) connection to the X-Men equalling the Jews during the Holocaust. It's a powerful connection, but one that doesn't quite work perfectly. Still, the connection to WWII does perfectly provide a wonderful villain in Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw. While some may view Bacon's performance as perhaps over-the-top, I don't see that as a detriment at all. I mean, we're dealing with shape-shifting, metal-beding, mind-readers here...over-the-top is de rigueur here. Bacon is certainly larger than life, but it's obvious he's having a heckuva good time playing a deliciously evil baddie with a slick 60s suaveness.

Michael Fassbender is also quite good as Erik/Magneto -- a tortured guy who has comes to terms with his powers, but not quite with the fact that he lost his mother because of them. James McAvoy was fine as Charles Xavier, but perhaps a tad bland...then again, the character of Professor Xavier never exactly lights the screen up with his personality.

With some really solid action sequences (including a very exciting final showdown) and a lovely 1960s feel that felt near perfect in its retro-ness, director Michael Vaughn has crafted one of the better superhero movies made in the past decade.

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Movie Review - The Ides of March

2011-11-11T19:00:00.001-05:00

The Ides of March (2011)

Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, and Marisa Tomei

Directed by George Clooney

I'm not sure if The Ides of March was attempting to be something more thought-provoking than the simple melodrama I took away from it, but if George Clooney's film was trying to be meaningful and insightful, it didn't succeed at all on that level. The slowly unfolding story (and I do mean slowly...particularly in the first fifty minutes of tedium) eventually turns into something rather riveting, but it's really just a glorified soap opera -- not that there's anything wrong with that if it's as well-crafted as this is in its final moments. That said, The Ides of March tries to mask the overly dramatic moments, wanting instead to feign that it's incredibly important when, in fact, it simply reiterates what is already known -- politics is full of shady dealings and lapses in ethics by the very people who purport to be the moral pillars of society.

I knew very little going into The Ides of March and, in the end, that's probably for the best, so I'm going to reveal very little in terms of the plot except to say that the film focuses on thirty-year-old Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), a young campaign advisor for Pennsylvania governor/Democratic presidential candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney). Stephen is a strong up-and-comer and is lauded for his smarts when it comes to the political spectrum. Stephen's partner/boss on Morris's campaign is Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a longtime advisor to Democratic candidates. Paul and Stephen seem like a solid duo, offering the opposite spectrums of weathered experience and wide-eyed optimism, respectively, to the Morris campaign. For nearly the first fifty minutes, the film simply feels like a look at these three men on the campaign trail with occasional looks at Morris's competitor's campaign headed by Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) who is certain his candidate will overtake Morris's apparent lead.

Finally, nearly an hour into the movie, something interesting finally happens which I won't reveal here and the movie takes the viewer on an interesting little ride which, while not full of necessarily surprising twists and turns, is at least thoroughly entertaining. As an auteur, George Clooney (like his fellow actor/director Clint Eastwood) is very old school, utilizing very little in terms of gimmickry. Usually, I'd be all for that, but in all of Clooney's films (much like Eastwood's) he can't move the movie along at a quick enough clip to keep me interested. While well shot and nicely framed, the story just lacks a powerful punch for nearly half of the running time.

Part of the problem in The Ides of March is that the film doesn't give the viewer anything new to chew on. Are we surprised that members of the same political party do anything and everything they can to defame their fellow members (shades of Herman Cain and the current Republicans perhaps)? Are we shocked by a lack of ethics from our political candidates and their campaign workers? There's just nothing surprising about the uncouth underbelly of politics. The film at least comes alive when it gravitates towards the melodrama that comes hand-in-hand with lapses in morality. The lack of vivacity and any modicum of excitement in the first half, though, doesn't push the film forward at all. [Truth be told here...I looked at my watch about twenty minutes into the movie and I seriously felt that at least fifty minutes had gone by...I almost said aloud, "You've got to be kidding me."]

"Star" George Clooney actually takes a backseat to Ryan Gosling's Stephen, but this is still Gosling's least interesting role this year (after Crazy, Stupid, Love and Drive). However, Gosling continues to prove that he is probably the best actor of my generation. He plays a smooth talker here with Stephen's up-and-coming status in politics not having sullied him yet by the cynicism that permeates his fellow older co-workers' daily lives. Clooney is fine, but is hurt by an opening hour that simply has him spouting off speeches that seemed too well-written to ring true. Hoffman and Giamatti are both quite good in their roles of the weathered campaign advisors and Evan Rachel Wood is also strong as the young intern who has a thing for Stephen.

Still, had The Ides of March simply dropped the pompous aire of self-importance in the opening acts and skipped directly to the smart soap opera-like twists and turns that made up the rather exciting climax, this would have been a flick I could have wholeheartedly recommended. As it stands, though, it's too bland to really amount to anything worth talking about.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Melancholia

2011-11-10T00:23:00.001-05:00

Melancholia (2011)

Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling

Directed by Lars von Trier

***An early review -- This film arrives in local arthouses on Friday***

Melancholia is, by definition, a sense of sadness and the dour atmosphere of Lars von Trier's Melancholia is enough to send one into a depressive state. This is a film that just reeks of self-importance and self-indulgence and despite some solid performances, I found myself unequivocally disinterested in the whole affair. Ultimately, the overarching problem with the film is a main character who is so oddly unbalanced that I never once got a sense of who this person was or why she was acting in the manner that she was. This proves to be a nearly insurmountable problem with Melancholia despite a final hour that was surprisingly tense and well-executed.

That aforementioned problematic character is Justine (played by Kirsten Dunst who won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival this past May), a young woman whom we meet on her wedding day as she arrives at the reception held at a fancy country club owned by her brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland) and her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). She is seemingly happy, fawning over her new husband Michael (Alexander Skarsgård). Sometime in the night, though, things seem to fall apart for Justine and she retreats from the festivities, falling into a depression that just simply doesn't seem warranted (or, if warranted, comes on much too quickly and intensely), causing her to do things that seem so incredibly out-of-place thereby ruining the "credibility" of the character for me.

Part One of the film focuses on "Justine," but the much more successful Part Two focuses on her sister "Claire." At the beginning of the film, we are treated to an odd eight-minute long wordless dreamlike sequence set to classical music detailing an apocalyptic moment. It is in Part Two that we begin to realize what the heck that opening barrage of images was all about. After having welcomed an almost catatonically depressed Justine back into their country club home, Claire is worried about the fact that a rogue planet called Melancholia is set to pass by Earth, just missing a catastrophic collision. While her astronomy-nut husband John tries to console her, Claire finds herself slowly slipping into a state of depression. Unlike Justine's depression, however, Claire's emotional state feels legit -- she's got a young son and the thought of the world ending is intensely foreboding.

While I may not have understood the emotional state of Justine at all, I will say that Kirsten Dunst is in top form and I blame director-writer Lars von Trier for crafting an unbalanced character rather than harp on Dunst for the flaws. Dunst particularly shines in Part Two (as does the whole movie in general) thanks to interactions with the wonderful Charlotte Gainsbourg who, unlike Dunst, is given a character with an arc that is fully believable. Because of this, Gainsbourg's emotional journey is the one which the viewers will respond to the most and the film's final moments are rather riveting because of this. [I should also note that I was rather surprisingly impressed by Kiefer Sutherland here, portraying (at least outwardly) the only sane person amidst this group of crazies.]

Melancholia is at times a beautiful film. There are images that are sometimes stunning to look at. The film's final moments are pretty good (perhaps even verging on great) cinema. However, the great forty-five minute finale can't negate the fact that the film's opening ninety minutes are intensely flawed due to the fact that the main character rings so untrue.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Good Neighbors

2011-11-07T23:15:00.002-05:00

Good Neighbors (2011)

Starring Emily Hampshire, Scott Speedman, and Jay Baruchel

Directed by Jacob Tierney

***This movie is currently streaming on Netflix***

There's a serial killer loose in Québec and wheelchair-bound Spencer (Scott Speedman) and his neighbor Louise (Emily Hampshire) often spend their nights morbidly discussing the crimes. When new tenant Victor (Jay Baruchel) moves in to the complex, he immediately feels a connection with Louise and he soon finds himself becoming involved in their conversations much to Spencer's chagrin. As the dark comedy unfolds, it becomes clear that some people may not be whom they seem to be as hidden secrets are slowly revealed.

Good Neighbors is a pleasant enough watch that works mostly because of a few twists towards the end that I didn't see coming in the slightest. Admittedly, I was rather alarmed at the beginning of the film because the first "twist" regarding the serial killer was obvious to me from the film's opening moments and if it was supposed to be a surprise, it failed miserably. However, I'm not quite sure it was supposed to shock because the subsequent turns of the plot proved to be much more interesting and alarming. Director-screenwriter Jacob Tierney initially makes us think the film is about the serial killer, but instead it's really about the reactions of the public to the fact that there's a killer roaming around the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce section of the Canadian province.

Emily Hampshire's Louise is an oddball who took a little bit of time for this viewer to warm up to, but once I did, I found her quite the amusing character. A woman in love with her cats more than anything else in the world, her interactions with humans are short, curt, and almost Asperger-like in their awkwardness. Despite that, Victor seemingly falls for her immediately and Jay Baruchel continues playing the same quirky neurotic that he portrays in everything. Still, I like the guy and think he's darn good at playing that role. Scott Speedman is perhaps the weak link of the trio, but that's only because his storyline is the one I found fault with which really isn't a problem of his.

Good Neighbors isn't perfect, but it's an enjoyable dark comedy that drags a bit, but works for the most part and is worth an Instant Watch on Netflix if you're bored.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - Win Win

2011-11-02T18:00:00.000-04:00

Win Win (2011)

Starring Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynsky, and Alex Shaffer

Directed by Thomas McCarthy

I went into Win Win thinking I was in for some quirky low budget indie comedy (a genre that I find myself quite wishy-washy on), but what I got was a movie that has a surprising amount of heart and humor and one of the best ensemble casts I've seen so far this year including a very nice debut turn from young actor Alex Shaffer.

Lawyer Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is in a bit of trouble. With clients few and far between, he ends up taking over guardianship of Leo, one of his elderly senile clients (Burt Young), in order to receive a monthly commission of $1500. One Sunday morning while stopping by Leo's home, Mike and his wife Jackie (Amy Ryan) spot a teenager sitting on the front porch who, it turns out happens to be Leo's grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) who has run away from home and has a mother who is currently residing in a drug rehab facility. Feeling a bit of guilt for collecting the monthly stipend from Leo, Mike takes the teen into his home and soon discovers that despite Kyle's typical teenage quirks, he's a good kid who Mike and his family begin to deeply care for as he slowly becomes acclimated to the community, even joining the wrestling team that Mike coaches at the local high school.

Director and screenwriter Thomas McCarthy has crafted an absolutely lovely dramedy here with moments of laugh-out-loud humor and bring-a-tear-to-your eye emotions. That's due in huge part to the absolutely terrific cast led by Paul Giamatti in what I think may be his best role yet. Yes, he's just playing a normal suburban dad, but there's just a genuine true quality to his performance that I latched onto right away. He loves his wife; he loves his family; he (kinda) loves his job...he's just an all around good guy and, although he's certainly flawed, the audience understands that his slight imperfections are only there in order to do the best he can for his wife and two young daughters.

Similarly, Amy Ryan is near perfect in a simple role, but one that is incredibly effective thanks to its strong roots in reality. Bobby Cannavale as Mike's best friend and Jeffrey Tambor as Mike's assistant wrestling coach provide much of the humor and, although neither are essential to the plot, never feel shoehorned into any scenes simply to provide comedic elements. Melanie Lynsky is turning out to be one of my favorite small-time character actresses and as Kyle's mom who comes onto the scene late in the film, she is the impetus behind many of the film's most dramatic moments. Alex Shaffer plays Kyle as a moody teenager, but there's something oddly different, innocent, and somewhat sweet in his portrayal and it was a fresh take that was a welcome change from the typical "troubled" teens we so often see. He plays Kyle as a good kid who's been in a bit of trouble, but has overcome a lot and deserves better than his lot in life.

Despite a few F-bombs dropped here and there, Win Win is a really great "family-style" film that may not necessarily think "out of the box" when it comes to storytelling, but it tells its story so darn good that it makes it incredibly easy to overlook its sometimes melodramatic moments. It's not the least bit flashy, but it is a pleasure to watch and it's a flick that I'll certainly revisit in years to come.

The RyMickey Rating: A-

Halloween Means Hitchcock

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

If it's Halloween-time, I can guarantee that you'll find me watching Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho -- simply the best movie ever made. As a film buff when I watch this genius piece of cinema, I sometimes wish I was able to walk into this movie without any preconceived knowledge of it. Imagine watching this not knowing the ingenious twist that occurs at the forty-six minute mark.

Still, after tens of viewings, I find myself discovering new and interesting things with each watch. For instance, Marion's last name is "Crane" and she mentions that to Norman while in the midst of his stuffed birds -- certainly an ominous foreshadowing to her impending doom.

I've blogged about this flick twice before so I'll take this year off and simply send those of you reading this to my past posts regarding this masterpiece.

2010 Thoughts

2009 Thoughts

And while you're at it, feel free to check out posts from last October's 2010 Hitchcock Fest which found myself watching all of Hitchcock's Hollywood films (and also some of his very early British work).

Hitchcock Fest

Happy Halloween!

Movie Review - Moneyball

2011-10-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

Moneyball (2011)

Starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Directed by Bennett Miller

Moneyball is a non-sports sports movie. While we get glimpses of some moments on the baseball field during the Oakland A's 2002 season, the real crux of the movie happens behind the scenes in the clubhouse as general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt in a role he completely embodies) utilizes a decades-old statistical method of choosing players based on their on-base percentage rather than anything else and ends up crafting a baseball team that finds themselves in the running to win the World Series.

After an unsuccessful playoff run in 2001, Beane's squad is hit with the loss of three key players to three teams willing to pay the athletes boatloads of money, and the A's owner refuses to pony up any more money for Beane to entice the so-called 'top tier' players to Oakland -- as Billy says, "there are the rich teams, then there are the poor teams, then there's 50 feet of crap, and then there's us." Desperate, Billy meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young Yale economics graduate who helps Beane use statistics in an attempt to build a cost-effective and, above all else, successful baseball team.

The whole flick was certainly intriguing and even though I follow the Phillies (a team which I'd rather not talk about in these weeks following their disappointing 2011 playoff run), I wasn't the least bit knowledgeable about this Oakland A's team. Because of that, there was a bit of genuine suspense that built as the movie progressed and, thanks to a wonderful performance from Brad Pitt, viewers find themselves completely invested in the real-life "character" of Billy Beane.

Pitt plays Beane as a determined man -- he wants nothing more than for his baseball team to be as successful as possible. But he's also an incredibly doubtful and nervous man, anxious to see if his new approach to the game will be successful, knowing full well that if he fails, he's out of a job. Having bailed on a full scholarship to college in order to play for the Mets as a young man (which proved to be a quick and unsuccessful venture), he has nothing else to fall back on and Pitt is incredibly adept at relaying that sense of uncertainty and unease.

Jonah Hill as the numbers cruncher Brand and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the A's reluctant and dismissive coach Art Howe both find themselves more than holding their own with Pitt. This is certainly Hill's best role yet (although that's a bit of faint praise for the heretofore comic actor), although I will say I'm not quite sure where the Oscar buzz for him comes in (although it could very well be that the Supporting Actor category appears incredibly weak at this stage in the game). Also, nice work from Parks and Recreations' Chris Pratt as a player given a second lease on the game by Beane and the young Kerris Dorsey as Beane's daughter who helps us see the more "human" side of the GM.

While Moneyball is absolutely a good film, there's a lack of passion that is necessary to make a "great" one. Still, kudos to director Bennett Miller and writers Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for somehow crafting an interesting flick that's based around baseball statistics. The fact that they managed to create high levels of tension considering the subject matter is a credit to their talent.

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Movie Review - The Three Musketeers

2011-10-27T18:00:00.000-04:00

The Three Musketeers [in 3D] (2011)

Starring Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Orlando Bloom, and Christoph Waltz

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

Sometimes we don't need movies to be deep and meaningful. Sometimes we want to go to the cinema and simply be entertained and, rather surprisingly, The Three Musketeers succeeds at being entertaining. This certainly doesn't contain stellar acting or a fantastic script or a unique story, but director Paul W.S. Anderson's flick is fun, never boring, and quite visually appealing.

Utilizing a steampunk style in an incredibly successful manner, The Three Musketeers tells a story we've all seen before. Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson), and Aramis (Orlando Bloom look-alike Luke Evans) are the titular trio who have been down on their luck as of late, finding themselves running out of funds to support their escapades (and their substantial alcohol consumption). Along comes young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) who ignites a bit of a fire under the group and they find themselves embarking on another epic adventure involving the French king, the roi's villainous confidante Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz), and his helpful double agent Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich).

I'm well aware that this is not a great film, but it's just so goshdarn amusing to watch that it's tough to not at least join in on the fun that's displayed onscreen. As I said, with the exception of some absolutely stunning set design, there isn't much else that could be considered stellar (although I will say that this flick makes some excellent usage of 3D...the best I've seen in awhile). Somehow, though, the whole thing kind of works despite its faults. Milla Jovovich took to Twitter this past weekend complaining about the lack of advertisement to promote this family friendly feature. While I'll neither agree nor disagree with the claim of faulty promotion, I will say that this is certainly a flick that the whole family can enjoy together and be treated to an evening of fun.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

(Remember, take a look at my ratings over to the right...a 'B-' may seem low based on my review, but this would still fall into the category of 'Still Worth Your Time')

Movie Review - Jane Eyre

2011-10-25T23:46:00.003-04:00

Jane Eyre (2011)

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, and Jamie Bell

Directed by Cary Fukunaga

Jane Eyre is a rather lovely film with beautiful cinematography, skillful direction, wonderful acting, and a melodic violin-heavy score. It's also a period piece with a story that's so utterly depressing at times that it's a struggle to trudge through it. In the movie's defense, I attempted to read the Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel over the summer and had to stop at its midpoint because I just couldn't get into the thing. Despite everything being well-above-average in terms of a "film," the story unfortunately drags a bit despite the fact that at the film's end I couldn't help but be somewhat moved by the romanticism on display.

After her parents die, young Jane is sent to live with her aunt (Sally Hawkins) who is angered by the ward left to her by her relatives. Rather than deal with the child whom she despises, she sends Jane off to an all-girl's boarding school where she remains until her late teens at which point she accepts the position of a governess. While working at Thornfield Hall, Jane (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself oddly drawn to the master of the house, Mr. Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender) and he likewise to her. The two are certainly from different social strata and it seemingly hinders Jane's ability to comprehend that Mr. Rochester could ever be in love with her, causing the young lady to suffer quite a bit under the emotional stress she begins to feel.

The brooding, heavy nature of the tale does cause Jane Eyre to be slow moving, but I certainly appreciate the Gothic tones on display (including a detour into "ghost" territory that provides an interesting twist to the whole story). Still, I couldn't help but find the whole movie falling into that stereotypical "boringness" that so often permeates British period pieces (despite admirable attempts by director Cary Fukunaga to shake things up including some jumping around in time not present in the novel).

All that said, the film is full of wonderful things. Its dark shadowy aesthetics are appropriately ominous and are always interesting to watch. Coupled with a beautiful and haunting musical score, Jane Eyre is a feast for the eyes and the ears. There are also some great performances from the two leads in an emotionally restrained Mia Wasikowska (in certainly her best role yet) and the somewhat sinister man with a heart of gold Michael Fassbender (who is one of 2011's "People to Watch" apparently based on buzz from his roles in this, the new X-Men film, and the upcoming Shame).

Ultimately, although the film lacks some fire in its story, Jane Eyre has much to admire even though it may not be suited for all tastes.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - Creepshow

2011-10-23T18:49:00.001-04:00

Creepshow (1982)

Starring Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, Stephen King, Ed Harris, Hal Holbrook, and Adrienne Barbeau

Directed by George A. Romero

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

A horror anthology directed by George A. Romero (of Night of the Living Dead fame) and written by modern horror master Stephen King should have worked. Based off of a series of comic books, Creepshow is an unfortunate blunder. Made up of five stories, none of them prove to be overly scary or humorous despite the fact that horror and comedy are supposed to mix and mingle in this flick. There are segments that work better than others -- the middle tale featuring a decidedly nasty Leslie Nielsen playing a vengeful husband pitted against his wife's lover in Ted Danson is the best -- but I couldn't help but think that the whole affair which runs over two hours dragged on for at least thirty minutes too long. Despite an interesting premise, Creepshow is a bit of a disappointment.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - The Fury

2011-10-22T16:39:00.005-04:00

The Fury (1978)

Starring Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgrass, Charles Durning, and Andrew Stevens

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I recognize that Brian De Palma's The Fury is a flawed film -- the biggest problem being that it isn't quite sure whether it's a sci fi, action, or horror flick which causes several scenes to appear oddly juxtaposed with or peculiarly placed next to others. Still, despite its identity crisis and the wealth of overacting on display, I kinda dug this 1978 flick for those very same reasons I feel I should have despised it.

The film opens on a lovely beachfront resort in the "Mid East" (which elicited a chuckle from me right from the get-go in that the filmmakers simply used that overarching moniker rather than pinpointing a particular Arabian location). Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) is vacationing there with both his teenage son Robin (Andrew Stevens) and his good friend and colleague Ben Childress (John Cassavetes). Out of nowhere, the beach is attacked at gunpoint and, in the melee, Robin is rushed to safety...or so it appears. As it is soon discovered, Robin was actually kidnapped by Childress in order to harness Robin's paranormal powers and utilize them to help (or perhaps harm) the US government. Peter becomes aware of this plan and vows to get back his son.

Meanwhile back in the States, teenage Gillian (Amy Irving) is coming to the realization that she has some type of paranormal powers as well. After an event at school leaves her fearful of her powers, she checks herself into the Paragon Clinic. While there, she begins to find herself psychically connecting with Robin despite the fact that the two never met each other and she soon realizes that the Paragon Clinic may not be as innocent as it appears.

At this point in time, I've probably seen about five Brian De Palma films and they all have an over-the-top vibe to them. However, The Fury is perhaps the most low key of them that I've seen and maybe that's why I like it the most at this point. The flick works the best when it delves into the realm of sci fi and horror, but when De Palma tries his hand at the action sequences (which mostly involve Kirk Douglas), it doesn't quite fare as well. In fact, it's the Kirk Douglas scenes that falter the most mainly because the character of Peter is just too bland to carry a film. Sure, he's a man on a mission looking for his son, but there's simply not a well-rounded, well-crafted character for the audience to connect with. Gillian's story proves to be much more intriguing as we in the audience watch her slowly coming to grips with her incredible powers. When the film was following her, I was thoroughly intrigued.

This certainly isn't a classic, but The Fury is a solid piece of supernatural suspense.

The RyMickey Rating: B