The Last Exorcism
2010
Directed by: Daniel Stamm
Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell
This is one of the harder movies to review. I did like it but I don't know why. My friend told me "it's hard to make exorcism movies now because they did it perfectly the first time." Of course he was referring to The Exorcist (1973), but there was something different about this. The suspense factor was great. There were many times I grabbed the arm of my friend anticipating something to happen that would make me bite the collar of my shirt.
The suspense factor did do a good job of making me nervous whether something scary did happen or not. The movie did not rely on gore like many modern horror movies do. The realism of the documentary style shot created the feeling that you were actually inside this girl's house. So many exorcism movies are very one-dimensional, showing the struggling priest with the hatred of his own life, then moving on to the young, blonde girl with such promise and a big future.
However, this story took a dog-legged turn to show the complexities of how exorcisms can be a total and complete sham. The priest that the documentary crew follows is exposing exorcisms for what he believes they really are. He is a con artist who creates frightening situations for these so-called "possessed" beings. He exorcises minds and not spirits as he believes that all possessions occur due to psychotic episodes.
The priest's own psychosis gets thrown in a whirlwind when he discovers that he may not be completely accurate in his theories. The foreshadowing was very spot on with different things throughout the movie, and you never seemed to know what would happen next. The unpredictability was the most appealing factor of this movie. I never knew what would or could happen, and you never really seem to trust anyone at all throughout the whole hour and 40 minutes. The speculation that the exorcism movie is overdone may be true, but this new take on an old tale kind of did the job for me.
Stars (out of 10): 6 1/2
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Piranha 3D
Piranha 3D
2010
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott
Well, where to begin? This movie was not genius. It was not ground-breaking. It wasn't even original. But was it good? Fuck yes. People take movies like this for granted. I do. There's nothing wrong with that. But I got exactly what I expected and more. The acting was atrocious. The story was typical, and every boob was fake. Do I care? Not one bit.
The story is simple. It revolves around the sheriff of a town on a lake. The lake is hosting a giant spring break party for young girls to find an excuse to wear nothing and get back at daddy and young guys find excuses to mess with their heads. Yes, plural. Anyway, there is one kid who looks no older than 15, and of course his mother is the sheriff of the town. She entrusts him to watch his younger brother and sister. He doesn't do it. In fact, he bribes his siblings and ends up on a boat captained by a dude who looks like Condeleeza Rice and Jerry O'Connell acting as a scummy porn director.
They also have two lovely ladies aboard who get naked and share in a wonderful underwater dance sequence. All hell ends up breaking loose when a pack of angry man-eating fish enters the waters below. It's Jaws on crack. The Jaws and Titanic references were hilarious. They found a way to make fun of "horror on the sea" films without making it stupid. Who would have ever thought Richard Dreyfus would be in this movie?
The simple story, dumbed-down dialogue and repetitious stupidity make this one of the most entertaining movies I have seen in a very long time. I wouldn't necessarily say it was a good movie, but it did entertain me in many ways. So for that, I have to give it credit. Otherwise, the 3D effects were lacking, and I felt like I was in a glorified version of Finding Nemo with the effects. The fish looked possessed and robotic. CGI has certainly found a way to take movies to the extreme level of beyond mediocrity.
Riley Steele did not speak one word the whole movie. Not that she needs to, but I have found that she has a rather fun and innocent voice. Was she really so dumb that they couldn't give her a speaking part in a movie that showed a man's detached penis in 3D? Damn, maybe she shouldn't quit her day job.
The movie was terrible but in an amazing way. I was thoroughly entertained. There was no dumb subplot. What you see is what you get. Straight forward thinking and a terrible script make for an unforgettable movie. Did you forget about Snakes on a Plane? That's right, unforgettable.
Stars (out of 10): 7
2010
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott
Well, where to begin? This movie was not genius. It was not ground-breaking. It wasn't even original. But was it good? Fuck yes. People take movies like this for granted. I do. There's nothing wrong with that. But I got exactly what I expected and more. The acting was atrocious. The story was typical, and every boob was fake. Do I care? Not one bit.
The story is simple. It revolves around the sheriff of a town on a lake. The lake is hosting a giant spring break party for young girls to find an excuse to wear nothing and get back at daddy and young guys find excuses to mess with their heads. Yes, plural. Anyway, there is one kid who looks no older than 15, and of course his mother is the sheriff of the town. She entrusts him to watch his younger brother and sister. He doesn't do it. In fact, he bribes his siblings and ends up on a boat captained by a dude who looks like Condeleeza Rice and Jerry O'Connell acting as a scummy porn director.
They also have two lovely ladies aboard who get naked and share in a wonderful underwater dance sequence. All hell ends up breaking loose when a pack of angry man-eating fish enters the waters below. It's Jaws on crack. The Jaws and Titanic references were hilarious. They found a way to make fun of "horror on the sea" films without making it stupid. Who would have ever thought Richard Dreyfus would be in this movie?
The simple story, dumbed-down dialogue and repetitious stupidity make this one of the most entertaining movies I have seen in a very long time. I wouldn't necessarily say it was a good movie, but it did entertain me in many ways. So for that, I have to give it credit. Otherwise, the 3D effects were lacking, and I felt like I was in a glorified version of Finding Nemo with the effects. The fish looked possessed and robotic. CGI has certainly found a way to take movies to the extreme level of beyond mediocrity.
Riley Steele did not speak one word the whole movie. Not that she needs to, but I have found that she has a rather fun and innocent voice. Was she really so dumb that they couldn't give her a speaking part in a movie that showed a man's detached penis in 3D? Damn, maybe she shouldn't quit her day job.
The movie was terrible but in an amazing way. I was thoroughly entertained. There was no dumb subplot. What you see is what you get. Straight forward thinking and a terrible script make for an unforgettable movie. Did you forget about Snakes on a Plane? That's right, unforgettable.
Stars (out of 10): 7
The Other Guys
The Other Guys
2010
Directed by: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg
For some reason, ridiculous hilarity actually worked here. The story of the movie begins with, well nothing. Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are ridiculously over-the-top cops with big muscles and even bigger egos. Ferrell and Wahlberg play loser desk-job cops who never see the up close of a crime scene. This all changes when Jackson and Johnson die of stupidity. That's the movie in a nutshell.
It tried to have a story of corruption, but focused more on the humor. The movie kind of felt like an episode of the Colbert Report, where he doesn't care about anything he's talking about as long as he can chime in a joke or two. The ridiculous (I don't care how many times I use that word in this review) random scenes provide the hilarious combination of humor and stupidity.
Will Ferrell is obnoxious. Not a surprise. Mark Wahlberg was awkward. The two of them worked well as a team. I still can't get past how much I can't stand Ferrell though. His childish acting failures annoy me to no end. I feel I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more without him in it. Mark Wahlberg is very universal it seems though. His humor limit is extended.
I feel that the movie really had no direction except to make people laugh. That annoys me a little, but the laughs were pretty good when they were on target. The Derek Jeter thing is still making my sides hurt. I love the way people are just randomly thrown in a shit-storm of a story and can make the movie that much better. The small side-story of Wahlberg's character being haunted by an encounter with the Yankee shortstop made the movie all that more interesting.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the end credits where it pretty much explains all the stuff in the movie that would be too confusing to the childish high school students who pretend to like good movies but only go to laugh at the immaturity of Ferrell's flawed acting. The credits explained what a Ponzi scheme is and how the world of financial troubles have hurt the average American but benefited high-powered executives. Oh well, I guess there's no room to sympathize for the other guys.
Stars (out of 10): 6 1/2
2010
Directed by: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg
For some reason, ridiculous hilarity actually worked here. The story of the movie begins with, well nothing. Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are ridiculously over-the-top cops with big muscles and even bigger egos. Ferrell and Wahlberg play loser desk-job cops who never see the up close of a crime scene. This all changes when Jackson and Johnson die of stupidity. That's the movie in a nutshell.
It tried to have a story of corruption, but focused more on the humor. The movie kind of felt like an episode of the Colbert Report, where he doesn't care about anything he's talking about as long as he can chime in a joke or two. The ridiculous (I don't care how many times I use that word in this review) random scenes provide the hilarious combination of humor and stupidity.
Will Ferrell is obnoxious. Not a surprise. Mark Wahlberg was awkward. The two of them worked well as a team. I still can't get past how much I can't stand Ferrell though. His childish acting failures annoy me to no end. I feel I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more without him in it. Mark Wahlberg is very universal it seems though. His humor limit is extended.
I feel that the movie really had no direction except to make people laugh. That annoys me a little, but the laughs were pretty good when they were on target. The Derek Jeter thing is still making my sides hurt. I love the way people are just randomly thrown in a shit-storm of a story and can make the movie that much better. The small side-story of Wahlberg's character being haunted by an encounter with the Yankee shortstop made the movie all that more interesting.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the end credits where it pretty much explains all the stuff in the movie that would be too confusing to the childish high school students who pretend to like good movies but only go to laugh at the immaturity of Ferrell's flawed acting. The credits explained what a Ponzi scheme is and how the world of financial troubles have hurt the average American but benefited high-powered executives. Oh well, I guess there's no room to sympathize for the other guys.
Stars (out of 10): 6 1/2
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
2010
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
The sheer genius has finally come out of a Michael Cera movie. (No, I'm not counting Superbad as a Michael Cera movie). Was this the movie where he played an awkward guy trying to hook up with a girl? Of course, but there was something different about this. Maybe the way over-the-top antics of the film threw things out of whack for me, but it worked. The supreme originality of the way that a very typical story was told was mind-boggling to me.
Cera plays an unemployed loser in a band with a few friends. The band sucks, and he lives in a one bedroom (one bed only) apartment hole with a gay roommate who does nothing but make his life hell. He begins by dating a much younger girl who falls madly in love with him way too quickly. He then meets a girl named Ramona who changes his life. I know what you're thinking, blah blah blah. But this old time "three's a crowd" storyline has been taken up a notch by amazing visual effects.
The entire movie is surrounded by old-school video game audio and visuals. The characters are introduced as characters would be in a video game. The old Batman "POW" and "BAM" antics are thrown into the mix as well. It was like watching "Kill Bill" meets "Mortal Kombat", but better.
This modern-day twist on an old time tale shows that movies are not dead, originality is not fading, and today's actors and technology do not need to rely on 3D nonsense in order to create something, well, awesome. The bravery of Cera's soul in the movie seemed outlandish, but then I realized, the whole movie is completely outlandish.
What does it take to bring out the competitive side of a guy? What does it take to make a guy really show how much his girl means to him? How come all of her exes have super powers? The crazy thing was that I never expect much from these movies. Like "My Super Ex-Girlfriend", what the hell? That was not a movie worth even talking about, let alone reviewing.
Cera's awkward style finally came through in a not-so-Napoleon-Dynamite type way. He was able to be awkward but just quirky enough to attract the cute girl. She was way too good for him, typical typical, but the flow of the character relationships really flowed over into the extreme reality that was the movie.
The visual effects offset the untimely and humorless Jason Schwartzman (don't get me started). He's like the Enrique Iglesias of the acting world. Everyone seems obsessed with him but no one can seem to figure out why. Anyway, the movie was way better than what I expected. The story was so-so, but the visuals and originality of the fight scenes really brought it up to par.
Stars (out of 10): 8
2010
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
The sheer genius has finally come out of a Michael Cera movie. (No, I'm not counting Superbad as a Michael Cera movie). Was this the movie where he played an awkward guy trying to hook up with a girl? Of course, but there was something different about this. Maybe the way over-the-top antics of the film threw things out of whack for me, but it worked. The supreme originality of the way that a very typical story was told was mind-boggling to me.
Cera plays an unemployed loser in a band with a few friends. The band sucks, and he lives in a one bedroom (one bed only) apartment hole with a gay roommate who does nothing but make his life hell. He begins by dating a much younger girl who falls madly in love with him way too quickly. He then meets a girl named Ramona who changes his life. I know what you're thinking, blah blah blah. But this old time "three's a crowd" storyline has been taken up a notch by amazing visual effects.
The entire movie is surrounded by old-school video game audio and visuals. The characters are introduced as characters would be in a video game. The old Batman "POW" and "BAM" antics are thrown into the mix as well. It was like watching "Kill Bill" meets "Mortal Kombat", but better.
This modern-day twist on an old time tale shows that movies are not dead, originality is not fading, and today's actors and technology do not need to rely on 3D nonsense in order to create something, well, awesome. The bravery of Cera's soul in the movie seemed outlandish, but then I realized, the whole movie is completely outlandish.
What does it take to bring out the competitive side of a guy? What does it take to make a guy really show how much his girl means to him? How come all of her exes have super powers? The crazy thing was that I never expect much from these movies. Like "My Super Ex-Girlfriend", what the hell? That was not a movie worth even talking about, let alone reviewing.
Cera's awkward style finally came through in a not-so-Napoleon-Dynamite type way. He was able to be awkward but just quirky enough to attract the cute girl. She was way too good for him, typical typical, but the flow of the character relationships really flowed over into the extreme reality that was the movie.
The visual effects offset the untimely and humorless Jason Schwartzman (don't get me started). He's like the Enrique Iglesias of the acting world. Everyone seems obsessed with him but no one can seem to figure out why. Anyway, the movie was way better than what I expected. The story was so-so, but the visuals and originality of the fight scenes really brought it up to par.
Stars (out of 10): 8
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Dinner For Schmucks
Dinner For Schmucks
2010
Directed By: Jay Roach
Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell
You know, entering a movie theater for a movie on your birthday is a fun feeling. The fact that I was going to see this movie was not that fun of a feeling. For the five days leading up to my viewing, I had heard nothing but terrible things (except from my brother) about this awkward comedy. My friends at work had all seen it over the weekend, and they all said it was worse than anything starring Will Ferrell. I was told the humor was flat and the story was weak.
I could say that for the first 45 minutes of the movie, I agreed. I didn't care for the characters, which is tough to do with Paul Rudd as the star of a film. Everyone knows that every guy in this world has a small man-crush on Paul Rudd. But that's beside the point. With comedic geniuses leading the pack, I was a little disappointed with the reviews I had heard. About half way through the movie, it began to pick up.
Now, not to ruin anything, but for those who have seen it, I believe the movie turned around during the brunch scene. The characters finally seemed to be serving a purpose and the comedy seemed to come a lot more easily. The jokes seemed very forced during the first half of the movie, but the second half seemed to come together a bit more.
I'm not giving this movie rave reviews, I'm just saying that I was pleasantly surprised with the end result after hearing such dreadful things. Steve Carell has never come off as very funny to me before. I always thought he was dull and brainless, but it seems he found his niche playing an idiot. I don't watch the Office, so I don't know about that character, but in this movie, he seemed to fit the part. And of course Paul Rudd is the guy vying for a huge promotion at work. And of course this interferes with the relationship between Rudd and his girlfriend.
The romantic cliches in these movies need to change. One thing that really bothers me about movies like this is that no matter what, the romantic story line never really matters. The movie went for the heart factor but fell short. The movie could have been a 20 minute after school special about making friends with people who are different than you. But where would be the fun in that? There wasn't that much fun in this either though.
Stars (out of 10): 5 1/2
2010
Directed By: Jay Roach
Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell
You know, entering a movie theater for a movie on your birthday is a fun feeling. The fact that I was going to see this movie was not that fun of a feeling. For the five days leading up to my viewing, I had heard nothing but terrible things (except from my brother) about this awkward comedy. My friends at work had all seen it over the weekend, and they all said it was worse than anything starring Will Ferrell. I was told the humor was flat and the story was weak.
I could say that for the first 45 minutes of the movie, I agreed. I didn't care for the characters, which is tough to do with Paul Rudd as the star of a film. Everyone knows that every guy in this world has a small man-crush on Paul Rudd. But that's beside the point. With comedic geniuses leading the pack, I was a little disappointed with the reviews I had heard. About half way through the movie, it began to pick up.
Now, not to ruin anything, but for those who have seen it, I believe the movie turned around during the brunch scene. The characters finally seemed to be serving a purpose and the comedy seemed to come a lot more easily. The jokes seemed very forced during the first half of the movie, but the second half seemed to come together a bit more.
I'm not giving this movie rave reviews, I'm just saying that I was pleasantly surprised with the end result after hearing such dreadful things. Steve Carell has never come off as very funny to me before. I always thought he was dull and brainless, but it seems he found his niche playing an idiot. I don't watch the Office, so I don't know about that character, but in this movie, he seemed to fit the part. And of course Paul Rudd is the guy vying for a huge promotion at work. And of course this interferes with the relationship between Rudd and his girlfriend.
The romantic cliches in these movies need to change. One thing that really bothers me about movies like this is that no matter what, the romantic story line never really matters. The movie went for the heart factor but fell short. The movie could have been a 20 minute after school special about making friends with people who are different than you. But where would be the fun in that? There wasn't that much fun in this either though.
Stars (out of 10): 5 1/2
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