Still Alice - 2014 - 3/5 - Directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland - starring Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin
"It feels like my brain is f****** dying and everything I've worked for in my entire life is going!"
Still Alice is a rather decent film. There's a few shining moment's in it such as the acting, though it feels a little too average. Going by predictability and the usual thematics we've seen in similar films, there's not a whole lot of specialty in the film. However, that doesn't make it entirely bad. It's rather good, though I feel it could have been better. A standard Oscar-Bait type of film. Julianne Moore plays Alice Howland, a linguistics professor at Columbia University who is suffering from an early onset of Alzheimer's disease. The film follows her life as her memory slowly begins to deteriorate as she begins to forget anything from the small things to the big things. The film also looks at how it has an impact on family, those you love.
For starters I have to say that the acting in this film was absolutely stellar. All performances from top to bottom were very, very compelling. Julianne Moore's performance is very emotional, and at times painful to watch. Not because it's bad but because she's coming off as incredibly realistic as an Alzheimer's sufferer. She's great to watch as she just loses herself in this role as she really carries this film completely. The other performances that I thought was great was Kristen Stewart's as one of Alice's three daughters, Lydia. She's the sort of odd-ball or black sheep of the family. Didn't go to college, wants to do her own thing without having to rely heavily on family. She gives a great performance that is equally hers and displays great emotion throughout. Something I thought was going to be impossible to do, but she is great to watch.
It's well paced at ninety minutes or so, and channels her Alzheimer's rate very well. It doesn't need two hours like The Theory Of Everything needed. It gets the job done well, even if it crosses the border of being melodramatic at times. It doesn't go to fast as we see her forgetting simple things such as a time of appointment to forgetting the location of the bathroom and to forgetting how to overall communicate. It's well done. The direction is a mixed bag, as at times it can be very well, letting the actors and the emotions shine through the story without being to predictable or melodramatic, and then other times being completely melodramatic. I would've liked to see the film take a slightly different narrative approach, as I feel it plays it safe at times. I do liked how they showed that Alice wasn't the only one that was being affected, and showed that everyone is affected by it. It takes an emotional and psychological toll on everyone, and the film does a very well done job of displaying it.
In the end, Still Alice is a very good film, but that's just about it. It has it's moments as well as the great acting, but there's not enough of those fantastic moments throughout the entirety to make it truly something special. Still worth a watch, I'd say.
"We have to keep the important things in our life going, we have to try, or we're going to go crazy."
Camp X-Ray - 2014 - 3.5/5 - Directed by Peter Sattler - starring Kristen Stewart and Peyman Moaadi
"Do not let them get inside your head."
Well this turned out to be rather nice. It wasn't too overly political or melodramatic at all. It has a Kristen Stewart in the lead, which to some could be seen as iffy, but she really turns in a very good performances in Camp X-Ray. Stewart plays Amy Cole, Army private first class who has just been sent to Guantanamo Bay to be placed as guard. She's completely new to the environment and isn't sure of what to expect, which leads to some events happening to her such as being "cocktailed". But throughout the course of the film she strikes up a friendship with one of the fellow detainees, Ali Amir (Peyman Moaadi).
Camp X-Ray really follows Stewart's character and the layers we see her go through in the film, which I honestly never thought I would ever write about. That's due to those awful Twilight films that she was in, but post-Twilight, she's starting to really shape into a fine, young actress. While I think Pattinson is the far superior actor, there's no telling that if Stewart follows great roles like this, she can start building herself a nice career and eventually have distant from that franchise.
It was a different type of war/military film in which there virtually wasn't any sort of warfare going on at all, which was nice. It settles for a regular drama story, but it's told in a great manner that has great characterization throughout. There's no need for propaganda or biased views, since it's totally unnecessary. It's just about Cole and Ali's friendship that channels throughout the near two hour film in many aspects. Both high's and low's. It's hard to not see Cole's reasons for the friendship, as you can relate, as you can strangely to Ali. All around, Camp X-Ray turned out to be better than I initially thought it would be. I was actually surprised at how well Kristen Stewart was, as well the overall writing and direction. Very well made film.
"Welcome to Gitmo."
Horrible Bosses 2 - 2014 - 4/5 - Directed by Sean Anders - starring Jason Bateman and Charlie Day.
"I make new enemies everyday, it's called business."
I was a fan of the first Horrible Bosses film and found it to be extremely funny. After hearing the slight negative reception the sequel had garnered I was worried it would turn it out like most comedy sequels. However, while Horrible Bosses 2 may follow some of the same tropes of the first film, it does introduce some new things and still maintain freshness.
After the events of the first film, Nick, Dale, and Kurt (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis, respectively) have decided to quit their jobs entirely after working for their bosses. They start their own company and develop a shower device called the shower buddy. They have issues trying to find investors until they meet Burt Hanson (Christoph Waltz), who agrees to hire them on to manufacture a hundred thousand units as part of their deal. However, when they complete their end, Bur reveals that he plans on taking the hundred thousand item inventory, re-branding the device and making more money altogether. The trio then devise a plan to kidnap Burt's son, Rex (Chris Pine) and hold him for ransom. Only problem is, Rex likes the idea and wants to help them come up with a fake kidnapping plan and get more money out of Burt.
While I think the first film is slightly better, there was still a whole lot to enjoy in Horrible Bosses 2 . It's pretty much on par with the first film, which surprised me because again, most comedy sequels that are actually good are rather rare nowadays. The three leads still have terrific chemistry together, as does the rest of the cast together. I thought it would probably get old and stale watching the trio get involved in serious stuff and just flat out bitch at one another, but it's still hilarious as they find new things to talk about and more mischief to get into. Jamie Foxx has more screen time as Motherfucker Jones and Jennifer Aniston is just as hilarious as the nymphomaniac boss, Julia. Chris Pine can actually do comedy very well (see Stretch) and really pulls off being a smug prick about as well as Christoph Waltz does.
I pretty much laughed from start to finish, but there were definitely some hilarious moments. The initial meeting with Kevin Spacey's character, Harkin, from the first film practically left me in tears with his speech about having no balls. Chris Pine "fight clubbing himself" was hysterical, and the sex addiction class was hilarious. There really were non-stop laughs throughout which again surprised me because it was a sequel. The cast play very well off of each other and get their respective time to shine. It's definitely got much more crazier scenes in it compared to the first such as a car chase with Motherf***** Jones for example. Where the first film really showed how much their bosses were a**holes, this is more of the trio being complete idiots, but it's still funny. I honestly don't know why this got horrible reviews, considering it was hysterical. I actually found it to be funnier than 22 Jump Street, which managed to get praise. In the end, I guess it's just preferences, but Horrible Bosses 2 is a sequel that rises to the equation and is just as good as the original.
"You wanna know why? Because you have no balls. And your fathers had no balls. You are all the products of generations of ball-less men who were either too weak or too frightened to stand up and take what was theirs. And one day you will pass on your empty, shriveled sacs to your own pitiful offspring."
Mr. Turner - 2014 - 2.5/5 - Directed by Mike Leigh - starring Timothy Spall and Dorothy Atkinson
Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner is a biography film about the life and career of Britain's most renowned painter, J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall). Taking place in the last years of his life, we get a hindsight on his accomplishments, failures, and look at his life. His strange relationships with his housekeeper and father and the fact that he refuses to acknowledge his children from mistresses. It focuses on the genius that is the fantastic painter of Turner as well as the slight anarchic side to him. Clocking in at 150 minutes, this film was just way too long for starters. I don't mind long films, provided that they actually are very engaging and highly interesting. While the character of J.M.W. Turner sounds interesting on paper, ultimately the actual film leaves something to be desired. While Timothy Spall turns in an excellent performance, the film has some serious pacing issues. Fifteen to twenty minutes could have easily been re-worked/re-tooled or even cut altogether. There just feels as if there's no seemingly end to Mr. Turner as it just continues to go on and on. Technically speaking, this film is outstanding, but again, there's something in the film that leaves you wanting much more than what you've got. In the end, Mr. Turner isn't a bad film, but it's rather disappointing. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this as I've had several things on my mind, bugging me, so maybe this wasn't the right time to sit down and watch a movie.
Goodbye To Language - 2014 - NO RATING - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - starring Zoe Bruneau and Jessica Erickson
There's a reason why this review for Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye To Language has no rating, because I simply cannot rate this film. Not because it's worst than one or zero star rating or because I'm switching full time to no longer rating or anything of the sorts. No, it's simply 70 minutes of jarring "what the f***". This was the first film I had ever seen by Godard as well, so go ahead and pelt me with tomatoes, insults and pleb-calling. Did I expect better? Well, I don't know. The narrative structure to the film is absolutely jarring. It's split into three parts with added 3D. With head scratching cinematography (save for some actual nice shots), and some rather iffy editing as well as some random, nonchalant nudity. Goodbye To Language is a strange film. It's basically an experimental film in the long run. That's the way I look at it. I feel like I got tricked into watching some strange film. I can't entirely put my finger on it. At least I got to put my French to some good uses. Who in the world knows. Goodbye To Language is just strange. A different type of experimental film. Definitely stranger and weirder than those Soderbergh experiments I've seen in the past.
Horns - 2014 - 3.5/5 - Directed by Alexandre Aja - starring Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple
"You don't believe I'm capable of murder? Just put me in a room with the guy who killed her."
A romance film that turns into a whodunit all while being some supernatural, dark comedy. That's going to end well, right? Well strangely, it wasn't entirely. If there's one thing I know about Joe Hill is that he certainly is a hell of a writer and his stories are very well thought of and can be utterly fucking scary (see "NOS4A2). "Horns" is one that I haven't read by him, but nonetheless still decided to check it out. I'm still part of the few that fails to see Daniel Radcliffe as an actor and not as Harry Potter, but Horns really did make me a believer in good performances from the young wizard.
Ig Parrish (Daniel Radcliffe) is a twenty-something year old man who is madly in love with Merrin Williams (Juno Temple), and as been since childhood. However, Merrin was raped and subsequently killed and Ig is looked at as the prime suspect. With the media following him everywhere he goes and Merrin's father (David Morse) shunning him away, Ig wakes up one morning with two horns protruding from his head as finds people telling him their secrets and deepest of thoughts all while not noticing his horns. Ig decides to use this power he as to his advantage as a way to find out the truth about who killed Merrin and to clear his name.
Horns is a rather different type of film, and for the most part, wholly original. It mashes together genres but doesn't feel bogged down to the extreme. The first hour or so of the film is definitely one of the strongest points of the film. We follow this guilt and angst ridden, Ig, who just wants to know the truth about what happened to the woman he loved. Once the horns come in, then the film sort of kicks up a notch, heading into comedy territory. There's definitely funny moments, but it doesn't stray too far away from the original, serious and dark murder mystery tone the film has. What isn't great, is the flashbacks showing a young Ig and Merrin. While it gives us insight on the two, ultimately the tone is dropped and it becomes too romantic. I feel if they had been cut entirely, then the film would've stayed with a concurrent and consistent tone.
There's other issues present as well, as the film does lose it's steam quite often. With each knew clue and part of the mystery solved, it feels as if the film is going on a little too much. As well as the overall reveal of the killer, which you can sort of see before it happens, the more the film progresses. And some of the character's don't seem entirely developed enough and are just there as means to further advance Ig's story. However, there are positives. The acting throughout is very good, particularly from Daniel Radcliffe. I'm not a Harry Potter fan at all, I stopped caring after the fourth film and haven't looked back, and I absolutely hated The Woman In Black. Here in Horns he seems to be a strange, yet natural fit for the character. Watching him perform actually made me forget about Harry Potter, he was that good. There's also some nice effects present, though towards the end some shoddy CGI shows up.
As a whole, Horns is actually pretty entertaining when it keeps it's foot solid in the ground and doesn't stray too far off (there's a few moments of this). It has rather nice direction, appealing to the senses, and a terrific performance by Radcliffe. While the script is questionable, I cannot comment on that or possible similarities as I haven't read the original novel by Joe Hill.
"Vanity doesn't pay and it's gonna be a long time before you can look pretty again."
LOOKING FORWARD TO: (Most anticipated are highlighted in bold and red)
Inherent Vice
Exodus
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
American Sniper
HAVE SEEN:
RoboCop - 1/5
Need For Speed - 4/5
Sabotage - 1.5/5
Nymphomaniac - 4/5
300: Rise Of An Empire - 0/5
Takedown: The DNA Of GSP - 4/5
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 3/5
Neighbors - 0/5
Godzilla - 2.5/5
X-Men: Days Of Future Past - 5/5
The Raid 2 - 0/5
22 Jump Street - 4/5
Deliver Us From Evil - 4/5
Under The Skin - 5/5
Edge Of Tomorrow - 4.5/5
Non-Stop - 3/5
The Monuments Men - 1/5
Locke - 4/5
Enemy - 4.5/5
The Purge: Anarchy - 3.5/5
The Expendables 3 - 2/5
Lucy - 3.5/5
Joe - 4.5/5
Snowpiercer - 4.5/5
Noah - 2.5/5
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - 1.5/5
Guardians Of The Galaxy - 3.5/5
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes - 3.5/5
Dom Hemingway - 3.5/5
Transcendence - 2.5/5
The Grand Budapest Hotel - 5/5
Chef - 4.5/5
The Signal - 3.5/5
3 Days To Kill - 1/5
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - 0/5
I, Frankenstein - 0/5
Boyhood - 5/5
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For - 2/5
Houdini - 3/5
Maleficent - 1/5
Brick Mansions - 2/5
Into The Storm - 0/5
Let's Be Cops - 3.5
Gone Girl - 5/5
Wolf Creek - 3.5/5
Stretch - 4.5/5
Open Windows - 3/5
Dracula Untold - 2/5
Annabelle - 0/5
The Town That Dreaded Sundown - 4/5
Interstellar - 5/5
Nightcrawler - 5/5
A Most Wanted Man - 4.5/5
The Rover - 4.5/5
Fury - 3.5/5
The Salvation - 2.5/5
Sex Tape - 2/5
The Equalizer - 2/5
The Judge - 4/5
John Wick - 5/5
Ouija - 0/5
Hercules - 3/5
The Giver - 2.5/5
Maps To The Stars - 5/5
This Is Where I Leave You - 3/5
Automata - 1.5/5
Transformers 4: Age Of Extinction - 2/5
Left Behind - 0/5
Get On Up - 3.5/5
As Above, So Below - 3/5
The Guest - 4.5/5
The Zero Theorem - 2/5
Jersey Boys - 3.5/5
The Babadook - 1/5
The Theory Of Everything - 3/5
St. Vincent - 4/5
The Drop - 4.5/5
Tusk - 4.5/5
Predestination - 4/5
Still Alice - 3/5
Camp X-Ray - 3.5/5
Horrible Bosses 2 - 4/5
Mr. Turner - 2.5/5
Goodbye To Language
Horns - 3.5/5