Month: June 2016

Woman in Gold (2015)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bmtexmtuxndq5mjdeqtjeqwpwz15bbwu4mdk4ntgxmzqx-_v1_sy1000_cr006741000_al_

How DO you solve a problem like Maria? If you’re Austria, you do it in court. This is a movie that shouldn’t work. It’s overly sentimental, it doesn’t quite seem to know what kind of film it wants to be, and we essentially know from the beginning of the film how it will end. And yet I found myself completely engrossed and often moved by it. The story itself is fascinating—Maria Altman was a young Jewish woman when she fled from Nazi Germany to the U.S., leaving behind her family’s fortune, including a Stradivarian cello, and—more importantly—a painting of her aunt by the artist Gustav Klimt. The painting was stolen by the Nazis, and eventually became known as “Woman in Gold,” since they whitewashed all hint of Aunt Adele’s Jewish background. Continue reading →

Grabbers (2012)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bmjizmje4nty2nl5bml5banbnxkftztcwntm1ntk4oq-_v1_sy1000_cr006791000_al_

Don’t make the mistake I made and watch this alone. Not because it’s scary, although there are a few well-done tense moments. Watch it with others because this is a really fun movie, and it deserves that kind of viewing. You’re going to want to make fun of it, compliment it, point out all the various homages to other “creature” films…and just have a good time with it. You’re not going to understand half of what the characters are saying, anyway. The Irish accents are so thick, you’ll probably want subtitles. But that doesn’t really matter. Like I said—have fun with it! Continue reading →

Chappie (2015)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bmtuynti4ntiwnl5bml5banbnxkftztgwmjq4mti0nde-_v1_sy1000_cr006741000_al_

I’m going to make this a short one. I don’t know if I understand the message in Chappie, but even if I do, I’m not sure that I agree with it. It’s hard to say because the movie is just a mess of mangled, mixed-up morality. It often seems at odds with itself and leaves you scratching your head at its ambiguousness. For example (very slight spoiler), our “hero” (Dev Patel) is told he can’t bring home the leftover robot to experiment on. (Which, let’s face it, would seem a little creepy to most employers. “Sooo….why do you want it, again?”) So he just takes it. That’s right—the hero is an office thief. And we’re not just talking about a box of pens or a stapler or some paper clips, here; this is (I assume) a multi-million dollar piece of equipment. Continue reading →

Last Knights (2015)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bmtk4mdm3mtc4of5bml5banbnxkftztgwmtuxndm3nde-_v1_

This one was disappointing. It had the star power. The performances were okay. I generally like Clive Owen, and almost always like Morgan Freeman. But it just fell flat. I think the biggest problem was the writing. It sounded like someone wrote it for a freshman creative writing class. It’s basically a retelling of the Japanese tale of the 47 Ronin, but set in some fictitious time and place (that looks an awful lot like Medieval England, I guess), and whoever converted it has the knowledge of how knight-themed movies go, but that’s about all he/she has, as it was nothing but clichés of the genre, and really nothing new. Continue reading →

Kajaki (2014)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bmtq5mjq2mju5nv5bml5banbnxkftztgwmzi2mzg5nje-_v1_sy1000_cr006741000_al_

aka Kilo Two Bravo

I love it when a movie surprises me. Because I didn’t read the description too closely, I went into this one thinking it was a horror film. As it turns out, it’s a surprisingly effective, taut thriller. Now when I say  “thriller,” I don’t mean “action” or “horror” or any of the other genres that thrillers are often confused (or blended) with. This is a very simple story—a unit of young British soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, guarding the Kajaki Dam. Two of them leave their post to set up a sniper’s nest to cover some suspicious locals who may be Taliban. Continue reading →

Stop the Pounding Heart (2013)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

40x60_STPH_MECHANICAL.indd

I don’t really know what to make of this film, honestly. I found myself absorbed in it, but I think I would be hard pressed to recommend it to the general viewer, or even explain WHY I was so absorbed. It feels like a documentary, but also like a scripted film. There are no “characters,” per se. All those in the film appear as themselves, but at the same time, they seem to behave so naturally, as though they aren’t even aware of the presence of the camera. If they’re acting, they’re as good as any actor out there. It gives the film this amazing ring of honesty and purity, with no intrusion by the director, which lately seems rare among documentaries. Continue reading →

Dates and Such

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

Just a quick note: I’m copying over as many old reviews as I can from my Facebook feed (and my notes I used to write those), so I may be using dates and phrases (e.g. “this year”) from those posts, which might not always make sense today. The scores from IMDB also may have changed since the original posting.

Don’t Blink (2014)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bnzixnzixmdixov5bml5banbnxkftztgwnduznjm1mje-_v1_

Another film that surprised me. I expected a slap-dash, made-for-tv, paint-by-numbers horror film. After all, it stars Brian Austin Green, and the guy who I always refer to as “the dude who played Christopher Titus’ stupid brother” (Zack Ward). But although the story did have a “made for TV” vibe about it, the overall quality was pretty good. Ward was a little over the top, but from him, we can buy it. He does “crazy” well. Green and the others did a good job. I liked him in the Fox show “The Sarah Conner Chronicles,” too, so I guess he’s slowly been converting me. Good for him. The others are solid, especially Joanne Kelly as Claire. Continue reading →

The Man Who Saved the World (2014)

/ Shawn / Leave a comment

mv5bmjqwody5nze0n15bml5banbnxkftztgwmzk1mdy4mje-_v1_sy1000_sx675_al_

Can one man truly make a difference? After watching this film, I think your answer has to be “yes.” It’s about Stanislav Petrov. What? You’ve never heard of him?! Well, don’t worry; unless you’re a student of Cold War history, you probably wouldn’t have. But take my word for it—many of us are here today thanks to a single decision made by this man. A single, incredible, almost inconceivable decision. Continue reading →