Trevin's "What I've Been Watching"!

Get Low - While this was a very small film in scale, it was quite an achievement. The praise must begin with Robert Duvall, who gave an incredible performance that should get some attention come awards season. While most actors could have easily ruined this character, Duvall perfectly captured the humor of the character along with the struggles and emotions. Bill Murray once again proves he is arguably the best character actor working today with his subtle yet hilarious performance as a struggling owner of a funeral home. The film even found a role for Lucas Black, who normally gets on my nerves, but he more or less held his own throughout. If you get a chance to see this, you must. It's quite good.
Rating: 9 out of 10

The Princess and the Frog - It really is a shame they've almost completely gone away from hand-drawn animation, and this film shows why. The animation is beautiful, and I still believe hand drawn animation allows for another level of creativity than computer animation. I also found this film to be very clever, and quite fun to watch. I'm also glad to see a Disney movie that's not afraid to explore some darker tones, which they did back in the day, but have gone away from as of late. In closing, you should see this one, I think they're something for everyone to enjoy.
Rating: 8 out of 10

"Modern Family": Season 1 - I started watching this show due to the critical acclaim it's been receiving, culminating in it's big night at the Emmy's, and I am glad I did. While there are some episodes that drag, and there are slow moments here and there, this show is one of, if not the funniest show on television currently. I recommend getting into this one before the new season picks up.
Rating: 9 out of 10

"Weeds": Season 6: Episode 3 - This show continues to develop some potentially interesting ideas, but the jury's still out on whether or not they will work. It is still a far cry from what the earlier seasons were, but there is a bit of potential going forward, enough to keep me watching.
Rating: 7 out of 10

New Releases!

The American - Don't let this movie's rotten tomatoes rating fool you. While it only stands at 60% (which isn't terrible, but not great), the reviews have been very divisive. Critics who like the movie apparently love it, and those who don't seem to be strongly against it. While I haven't seen the movie, and I'm not sure why the reviews have turned out this way, I'm still intrigued to see this one. Anton Corbijn is a strong director (his film, Control, was our hidden gem of the week), and Clooney's work of late has been very strong, so I'm very excited about this one.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Machete - Now here's a movie that is getting mostly positive reviews across the board. It is apparently very gory and cartoonish, which is exactly what it needs to be. This one looks like a lot of fun.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Going the Distance - This movie has been getting poor reviews so far, and it looks to be bland, but this is another example of a movie I want to see for no reason at all. I can't explain why, but I would like to see this eventually.
Rating: 3 out of 5

The Tillman Story (limited) - This documentary based on the apparent cover-up by the military about Pat Tillman's death has already been praised about, even to the point that some are saying it's a two film race between this and Restrepo for best documentary feature at the Oscars. The trailer is very interesting, and director Amir Bar-Lev has handled conspiracy documentary quite well in the past with his film, My Kid Could Paint That.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Mesrine: Killer Instinct (limited) - You may recall last week I previewed the first part of this film in my new release section. This week, they are releasing part 2, one week after they released part 1. Again, this still looks interesting, and I really like Vincent Cassel, but learning that this culminates into about a 4 hour viewing experience makes me less inclined to watch either film.
Rating: 3 out of 5

The Winning Season (limited) - This seems to be a strange follow-up for James C. Strouse after his 2007 drama Grace is Gone. I am a fan of Sam Rockwell, and I get the feeling that this movie is a lot better than the trailer makes it out to be, but that remains to be seen.
Rating: 3 out of 5

A Simple Noodle Story (limited) - This is a Chinese remake of the Coen Brother's Blood Simple. If that sounds interesting to you, by all means check it out. Not for me, though.
Rating: 2 out of 5

White Wedding (limited) - This South African wedding comedy actually looks to be quite sweet and entertaining.
Rating: 3 out of 5

Last Train Home (limited) - This is a documentary about 200 million Chinese migrant workers all trying to go home for Chinese New Year. It seems like it would be a good film if that falls into your level of interest, but unfortunately it doesn't appeal to me.
Rating: 3 out of 5

So, a pretty mixed bag coming out this week. What do you want to see?
  

Hidden Gem of the Week!

Control (2007)

Directed by: Anton Corbijn

Written by: Matt Greenhalgh

Starring: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton

and Joe Anderson

Trailer 

Control is based on the life of real life 80's punk rock band Joy Division's Ian Curtis, and follows his quick rise to fame, his broken relationships, and his drug problems which all accumulated into his sudden death at age 23.

While most people would argue that I may have spoiled the movie there, I would disagree for many reasons. First off, since it's based on a true story, that is widely accessible information, but that is not my only reason. This movie is made in such a way that it is arguably more powerful if you know his fate throughout the film. Corbijn does a wonderful job depicting Curtis' life and struggles honestly, and Sam Riley gives a perfect performance as a young man who is not ready to handle all the pressure put on him. Samantha Morton is also perfect as Curtis' wife, who is the person that continues to be affected by Curtis' decisions. Shot in beautiful black and white, this film not only looks incredible, it is also a movie you must see.

Trailers!

First up for today, we have a romance drama of sorts with an interesting cast (with people I don't necessarily like save Anna Paquin) and a seemingly Indie style to it. I'm not sure whether this one will work or not (my bet is on not, but that remains to be seen), but here is the trailer for The Romantics.


And second, we have a movie I'm now interested in. It's directed by and starring Katie Aselton, who gave a great performance in The Puffy Chair, and also starring Dax Shepard, who seems to be getting positive reviews for his role. This one is The Freebie.


So, do any of these appeal to you?
 

Box Office Report [August 27-29 Weekend]

We have two new movies on top this week [full report here]. It was very close but "Takers" came in at number one earning $20.5 million in its opening weekend while "The Last Exorcism" came in at number two with $20.36 million. "Takers" to me doesn't seem like it has much staying power [but Chris Brown may fight to keep the movie on top]. "The Unorigina..." excuse me, "The Last Exorcism" doesn't seem that amazing but I have heard and read that it is actually pretty good.

"Lottery Ticket" debuted at number four last week and promptly dropped out of the top ten. I am hoping "Vampires Suck" follows. "The Expendables" [number one the last two weeks] pulled in $9.5 million this weekend to hold the number three spot. "Inception" actually rose two spots to number seven this week with $4.9 million in earnings to brings its total to $270.5 million in seven weeks of release. I am surprised to see "Inception" do so well considering gems like "Eat Pray Love" and "The Switch" are still out, positions number three and nine, respectively.

Overall, it seemed like a pretty slow weekend in the theaters and I expect these movies and their earnings to be pretty fluid in the coming two or three weeks. Perhaps we should start an Internet movement to get an unexpected movie to number one next week. "Nanny McPhee Returns" is my choice.

DVD Releases!

Harry Brown - Another slow week for DVD releases means another week where I feature a movie I'm not terribly excited about. However, this film did get very good reviews, and the trailer actually makes this one seem like a good one to watch. It's basically about Michael Caine systematically taking out a local gang, much in the vain of Taken. While I normally would not make this my pick of the week, I still think it's worth a shot.\
Rating: 3 out of 5

Marmaduke - This latest film featuring live-action talking animals just looks unwatchable. When will they learn that talking animals are only cute in animation? Otherwise, they're just plain creepy.
Rating: 1 out of 5

Why Did I Get Married Too? - I'm not a fan of Tyler Perry really, nor the strangely successful first installment in the Why Did I Get Married franchise (I say that facetiously). Even by his standards, I've heard this one is not very good. I think I'll pass.
Rating: 1 out of 5

Do any of these films interest you?

Trevin's "What I've Been Watching"!

Young and Handsome: A Night with Jeff Garlin (2009) - You might consider this cheating, because my pick of the week is not actually a movie. Nonetheless, this is a great stand-up special. I'm a huge fan of Jeff Garlin, who does some great supporting roles in such things as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Arrested Development", along with appearing in various other films and TV shows and specials. This special is not long at all, it only runs for 48 minutes, but it's just well done. He tells hilarious stories effortlessly, and it almost seems like he's just having a conversation with you. I highly recommend checking this special out, it's available to watch instantly on Netflix, and I think you will get some enjoyment out of this one.
Rating: 8 out of 10

Taken (2008) - This is not my first viewing of this movie, but I still found it enjoyable. There's not much in the way of plot; a former CIA guy must rescue his daughter from Albanians who captured her in order to turn her into a sex slave, but it's really not trying to force the plot down your throat. The movie strives to be a fun action flick, and with a very short run-time, I believe it accomplishes that.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

The Vicious Kind (2009) - This was a very interesting film. I'm still trying to decide how well the film worked overall, there seemed to be some strange moments, but one thing that was excellent was the acting, especially from Adam Scott. You may recognize him as Will Ferrell's more successful brother in Step Brothers, he really steps out and gives an interesting performance in this film. He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best actor last year for this film, and I found it well deserved. If nothing else, you should see this movie to see some great work from an actor who is well on his way to being an A-list comedy star.
Rating: 7 out of 10

She's Out of My League (2010) - This is one I was hoping to like more than I actually did. I had heard solid things upon its release, and I do like Jay Baruchel, I just wasn't a fan of this movie. The acting was pretty awful, especially from Alice Eve (who is gorgeous, but that's about all). I also couldn't relate to the characters, mainly because they made decisions that were poor that seemed to be intended to just move the plot along. I also found the climactic fight to be petty, and I really didn't understand what the big deal was. However, this movie had some funny parts, and that's all the filmmakers seemed to be striving for.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10

"Weeds": Season 6, Episode 2 - I found this episode to be an improvement from the previous week, but I'm still not quite sold on the season so far. I thought the premise of the episode was intriguing, and, if done well, there are some scenarios that could play out quite well. Even though this show is a far cry from the quality of the first three seasons, there was enough in this episode to keep me watching.
Rating: 7 out of 10

So, what do you think?

New Releases!

The Last Exorcism - Whenever a small, independent horror film comes out of nowhere, like this one did, that means it's either surprisingly good, or terrible, but the studio thinks they can make a quick buck off of it. The reviews for this one have been positive overall, saying it's nothing too special, but creepy and entertaining. This movie seems like one I want to see given the opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Takers - Yes, I know. This movie looks horrible. However, for reasons I am unable to explain, this is one I really want to see, even though I know I'm not going to like it.
Rating: 3 out of 5

Avatar  (3D re-release) - Apparently the studio felt as if the highest grossing film of all time needed to make more money, so they decided to release it again in 3D. While I was not a fan of this film, I heard the 3D was incredible, and I do regret not taking that opportunity originally. Now I get a second chance.
Rating: 3 out of 5


Mesrine: Killer Instinct (limited) - This is the first I've heard of this French crime film. That said, the trailer was quite impressive, and it seems to feature a fantastic performance by Vincent Cassel, someone I'm expecting to hear quite a bit from come awards season for his role in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Centurion - This action film about Roman soldiers is getting rather negative reviews so far, and I was not too impressed by the trailer. It does, however, feature Michael Fassbender, who is probably a few years away from being an A-list action star if his career keeps going the way it has been of late. That's not enough to get me to see this one, though.
Rating: 2 out of 5

So, what do you want to see this week?

Hidden Gem of the Week!

Cashback (2006)

Written and Directed by: Sean Ellis

Starring: Sean Biggerstaff

and Emilia Fox

Trailer

After being dumped by his girlfriend, Ben becomes an insomniac. In order to cope with his inability to sleep, Ben gets an overnight job at a supermarket, where he passes the time by imagining he can freeze time and move about freely.

This film, which is the first feature-length film from writer/director Sean Ellis, is definitely not without its problems. However, the combination of the visuals and the music make this film beautiful. An expansion of his Academy Award nominated short film of the same title, Ellis crafts a rather interesting story of an artist coping with loss and new love that is enhanced by its stunning visuals and rich soundtrack, which makes this one definitely worth seeing.

Carter's What I've Been Watching!

I thought I'd follow Trevin's trend and post a inferior version of my own of his piece about what he has watched in the last week. Hopefully combined we can talk about quite a few movies that otherwise would not be spoken of on here. I will loosely follow the same rules he had for his, that is a 1-10 scale, etc. For me, I will include the movies I have seen in the past week as well as a bonus whatever-the-heck-I-want item, because it is whatever the heck I want. Well, here we go.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - This Oscar best-picture winner was very entertaining. It is mainly a guy movie as almost every single person on screen throughout the film is male. The cast includes beefcake star William Holden and the original Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alec Baldw... Alec Guinness. I am not sure if this movie would be entertaining for today's audiences but I really enjoyed it. I am a sucker for classic movies. This movie is long [At over two and a half hours] especially for back then but hey, it won seven Oscars so they did something right. It is slow for much of the movie but the last hour or so make it all worth it. If you like classics, war movies, or bridges then I recommend this movie to you.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Kick-Ass (2010) - I enjoyed this movie more than Trevin did. He says the graphic novel is better and that even that wasn't too great anyway. I say that makes him a nerdy snob. This movie was certainly entertaining and a pretty fun watch. Maybe I did enjoy it more because I haven't read the book, but based solely on entertainment value, this movie is worth it. Also, this girl is in it.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Bonus!

Red Bull - To commemorate my classes starting back up this week I chose Red Bull as my whatever-I-want item this week. I will be drinking lots of it as a result of procrastination. Yay.

Trailer for 127 Hours!

Today we have the new trailer for Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle's (Slumdog Millionaire) new film, 127 Hours, which tells the true story of Aron Rolston (played by James Franco), who was trapped for five days after a boulder crushed his arm during a hike.



Personally, I absolutely cannot wait to see this film. Danny Boyle is one of my favorite directors, and James Franco is an incredible up-and-coming talent. There was a rumor going around that said this film featured an extended amount of screen time (up to 45 minutes) without any dialogue at all. Whether or not that is true is yet to be seen, but I'm very curious to see if Boyle and Franco can pull something like that off. Either way, the trailer is fantastic and I'm really hoping this film is good.

Thoughts?

DVD Releases!

The Square - This thriller got some great reviews during its very limited theatrical run, and the trailer looked pretty impressive. On a week where very little quality is being released on DVD, that is more than enough to make it my pick of the week.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Abandoned - This direct-to-DVD release is noteable for one reason; it is the last film Brittany Murphy shot before her sudden death. She still has one other film in post-production, but this one is the last movie she made. That said, I probably won't see this one.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Ajami - This was Israel's entrance for Best Foreign Film at last year's Academy Awards. The reviews are glowing and the trailer looks interesting, so if I ever am in the mood to watch an Israeli film, I will definitely check this one out.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Back-Up Plan - I honestly don't feel like I need to explain why I'd rather not watch a romantic comedy starring J-Lo.

Rating: 1 out of 5

City Island - This comedy about an Italian family starring Andy Garcia has received some decent reviews. While it didn't really appeal to me, I might still check it out eventually.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Dorian Gray - Apparently the acting in this classic novel adaptation is not very good, and neither is the film according to most critics.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Survival of the Dead - This is the latest from George A. Romero, the master of zombies. While I am a fan of his earlier work, Romero's latest zombie flicks have not measured up. I still am interested, mainly because I love horror films, so I'll probably give this one a shot eventually.

Rating: 3 out of 5

So, what interests you this week?

Box Office Report [August 20-22 Weekend]

The full report can be found here and this weekend really had nothing special. "The Expendables" once again topped the list earning $16.5 million to bring its cumulative total to $64.9 million for the past two weeks. Best-picture contender "Vampires Suck" debuted at number 2 and has earned $18.6 million so far. That movie looks about as good as any "Twilight" movie, which is saying absolutely nothing.

"Lottery Ticket" [$11.2 million], "Piranha 3D" [$10 million], "Nanny McPhee Returns" [$8.3 million], and "The Switch" [$8.3 million] debuted as well at positions 4, 6, 7, and 8, respectively. "Inception" fell to number 9 and is on the verge of falling out of the top 10 for the first time in 6 weeks.

The biggest thing to read from this week's report is the decline of "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" to the number 10 slot making only $5 million this weekend. I am not sure why this movie has done so poorly but it certainly seems like this movie will end up about as obscure as the Andean Avocet, real speak.

Trevin's What I've Been Watching!

A quick word about this segment; since television season is coming up, and since I'm anticipating weeks in the future where I won't have time to watch many movies, I'm going to add TV shows to this segment. I will  try and avoid talking about spoilers, but that may not always be possible. I'll try and warn people if there are spoilers, but just be on the lookout for that.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) - I found this movie to be very entertaining. It was fast-paced and original, so I felt like it was a success. It had its fair share of jokes that fell flat, but overall, most of the jokes worked, making this a fun movie to see. It's a shame this didn't do better in the box office, because it's far better than the movies that have been topping the charts.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Spirited Away (2001) - After seeing this, and the first half of Howl's Moving Castle, I think I've realized Hayao Miyazaki is not really for me. While I appreciated both films, and found them visually stunning, I wasn't captivated by their storyline as much as other people have been by his works. Even though his stuff might not be my taste, I can still appreciate an achievement when I see one.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Eat Pray Love (2010) - Now here's an example of a movie that's not my taste that I cannot appreciate. I found this film to be way too long, far too cliched, with terrible cinematography choices, and a questionable comclusion (did I really watch a woman find strength in her independence for 2 and a half hours just to see her get with another man?). There was one reedeming quality to the film, and it had to do with the male cast. This film had a very impressive male cast: Billy Crudup, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, and Javier Bardem, all actors I think have great talent. While most of them seemed to have mailed in their performances in exchange for the paycheck, there was a noteable exception. While Richard Jenkins character was terribly written and annoying (to me, at least) his performance in the scene on the rooftop was sensational. The dialogue in the scene was horrible, but he was very convincing as a man struggling with an enormous amount of guilt he's carried with him his entire life. While that part of the scene (the rest was stupid) is worth seeing, it's not worth the price of admission or the runtime of the movie. Avoid this one.

Rating: 1 out of 10

"Weeds" Season 6: Episode 1 - After the way Season 5 ended, I was very excited to see how this episode would turn out. To my surprise, the episode was actually quite dull. Nothing really happened in the entirety of the episode, which was a huge letdown. Despite that, the episode did allow for an interesting setup for the rest of the season, so we'll see how that turns out.

Rating: 6 out of 10

"Louie" Season 1: Episode 9 - This is a show that's been really hard to figure out, and I haven't decided yet if that's a good thing or not. Louis C.K. is probably my favorite American stand-up comic, so that is why I will give this show the ultimate benefit of the doubt. This show seems to change its style with every episode, causing the audience to stop trying to guess the direction of the show. This particular episode was rather interesting to me. Louie has a run-in with a bully on a date, and finds a unique way to handle the situation. I thought this episode worked very well overall, and I thought it was one of the better episodes of the season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Apparently Facebook isn't too happy with 'The Social Network'

The real question is, are you surprised? According to this article from Hitfix, the heads of Facebook were not too pleased when they saw an advanced screening of the new film, The Social Network. The film, directed by David Fincher and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake, portrays such people as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (played by Eisenberg) and Napster creator Sean Parker in a negative light at times, even in instances they are claiming never happened. Zuckerberg, however, seems to be taking the portrayal in stride, by reminding everyone the film is a fictional story.

I encourage everyone to read this article, because I found it fascinating. This is an interesting case in film, where events that happened so recently are already being portrayed. One thing I did like to hear from this article is that early word about the film from critics such as Scott Foundas ("LA Weekly") and Peter Travers ("Rolling Stone") has been unanimously positive. This was a film I thought had the potential of being either really good or really bad, so I'm glad to hear rave reviews about it.

So what do you think? Do you side with the filmmakers' right to free speech or with the company over an alleged misrepresentation over their founder? And what are your opinions on a film with subject matter that is so recent?

New Releases!

Piranha 3D - This horror comedy is getting rather decent reviews so far, so it looks like it may hit where movies like Snakes on a Plane failed to do so. The advertising campaign for this movie has been entertaining so far, so I think I would be up for seeing ridiculous CG-ed piranhas chewing people up in 3D.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Nanny McPhee Returns - This is another film that is getting pretty good reviews up to this point, unfortunately, it has absolutely no appeal to me. If you are looking for a solid kids film, I hear this one might fit that bill.
Rating: 2 out of 5

Vampires Suck - This is the latest film from the directing team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, which is the ultimate red flag to just run away from this movie. These guys teamed up to make Date Movie, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, and Meet the Spartans, some of the worst films of the past 5 years. The critics are saying this one is an improvement from those, but that's really not saying much. Just stay away from this one.
Rating: 1 out of 5

Lottery Ticket - This Bow Wow (apparently when you turn 23, you're allowed to take the "Lil" off your name) starring movie just looks plain dumb, and with the negative reviews pouring in, it looks like it lived up to that promise.
Rating: 1 out of 5

The Switch - The reviews have been saying that this movie is too cliched and not very good, but apparently Thomas Robinson, who plays the kid in the film, turns in quite the performance. I do like Jason Bateman, and I am always interested in seeing a good performance of that nature, so I think I may be able to sit through this one, even if the story is just another generic rom-com.
Rating: 3 out of 5

Mao's Last Dancer (limited) - This film placed second to Academy Award nominated Precious at last year's Sundance Film Festival for the audience prize, so it has a sense of credibility behind it. However, the source material doesn't interest me, and some of the reviews have criticized the film for being dull, so I'll likely skip on this one. I am glad to see Kyle MacLachlan acting in a film like this, because his career hasn't really taken off since "Twin Peaks" ended (and, you should all know, I am a huge "Twin Peaks" fan).
Rating: 2 out of 5

A Film Unfinished (limited) - Films like this are the reason I like covering limited releases as well as the nationwide ones, because I would have easily looked this one over otherwise. This one is a documentary about a film shot by the third reich about the Warsaw Ghetto intended for propaganda purposes. The trailer looks incredible, so I can't wait to see this one whenever I have the chance.
Rating: 5 out of 5

So, what do you want to see this weekend?

Hidden Gem of the Week!

Eagle vs. Shark (2007)

Written and Directed by: Taika Waititi

Starring: Jemaine Clement, Loren Horsley,

and Joel Tobeck

Trailer

Lily (Loren Horsley), who lives with her brother because her parents passed away, just lost her job and has no direction in life. That is until she finally talks to her long-time crush, Jarrod (Jemaine Clement) who is on a mission to get revenge on a bully from grade school. These two social misfits try to come to terms with their love through the midst of their problems.

This movie has a Napoleon Dynamite type of feel to it, but I find it far more charming. The characters in this film are surprisingly well-developed, and they go through real life problems. Jemaine Clement and Loren Horsley both give great performances as two awkward people who are very fortunate to find each other. This movie is the perfect combination of comedy, drama, and charm, and everyone should experience this one.

Piranha 3D for Best Picture?

Well here's an interesting attempt at a campaign for the film, check it out!

Piranha 3D: For Your Consideration from Piranha 3D

This makes me want to see the movie, personally. What about you?