Author: Shawn

Only God Forgives (2013)

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(Originally from Facebook – August 1, 2013)

I’m not sure what I just watched. Talk about your polarizing films. I noticed that this film has been the subject of a back and forth online, with people either loving it or hating it. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why anyone would love it. I thought maybe I missed something, misunderstood something, so I spent the better part of an hour reading through reviews (pro and amateur), trying to figure out why those who thought it was great thought it was great. The truth is, there was nothing in those reviews that was revelatory to me. Nothing I hadn’t seen in the film. The (unintentionally) funniest one was Richard Roeper’s review for the Chicago Sun-Times. His review is almost entirely a list of all the things I found awful about it, and yet his last sentence? “This is one of the most shocking and one of the best movies of the year.” Well, he’s half right, anyway. Continue reading →

West of Memphis (2012)

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(Originally from Facebook – August 11, 2013)

There’s nothing new in the presentation, but this is a must-see because of the content. Nearly 20 years ago I watched the HBO documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The documentary West of Memphis serves as a coda to that film, the tragic tale of the murder of three young boys, further compounded by questions about the official story of events. West of Memphis, produced by Peter Jackson revisits the three teens, now adults, convicted of the crime. Due in large part to the influence of celebrities such as Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp, who believe the men are innocent, the case has remained in the forefront. Continue reading →

Man of Steel (2013)

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(Originally from August 9, 2013)

My worst fears for Man of Steel have been confirmed. As soon as I found out Zack Snyder was helming, I worried that it would end up like his other films–visually stylistic, but without much else to back it up. I think this latest Superman film has suffered the same fate. I can’t remember being as bored as I was while so much was happening on the screen. Entire skyscrapers were razed, super-powered punches launched characters through…pretty much everything. Continue reading →

Lawless (2012)

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(Originally from Facebook – August 13, 2013)

I’m not sure why I missed this one the first time around. It’s got a great cast. Maybe the advertising? I should know better than to listen to them anyway. It’s the true (although I’m always hesitant to use that term) story of three brothers who run moonshine in 1930s Virginia. Continue reading →

After Earth (2013)

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(Originally from Facebook – August 13, 2013)

Poor M. Night Shyamalan. He gets so much hate. But what do you do when you’re a director who peaked with his first two films?** I guess you get relegated to doing vanity projects for wealthy movie stars. I defend Shyamalan a lot, too, primarily because those first two movies are two of my favorites. I would go so far as to say that The Sixth Sense has one of the most nearly perfect narrative structures in the last 30 years of film. But also…The Happening happened. So what’s an M. Night fan to do? I just can’t defend him on this one. (Well, I will say that rumor has it that Smith stepped in to do a good portion of the direction, so I will defend him that much.) Continue reading →

Thale (2012)

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(Originally from Facebook – August 15, 2013)

So I go from one low-budget film (Bath Salt Zombies) to another (Thale). This one, however, did not disappoint. This little film out of Norway is steeped in Norwegian folklore, much like the great Troll Hunter. It doesn’t quite rise to the level of that film, but I thought it was very well done. Continue reading →

The Iceman (2012)

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(Originally from Facebook – August 16, 2013)

This should have been a no-brainer win for me. I like Michael Shannon (and most of the rest of the cast, which includes Robert Davi, James Franco, and David Schwimmer), and I had seen the HBO documentary with the real “Ice Man” years ago. Something just didn’t quite gel for me, though. The performances were good, and for me the surprise was Chris Evans, whom I didn’t even recognize until well on into the film. The mood was effectively tense. I even laughed at the “disco dancing” scene. Ultimately, though, it just felt a little flat. Continue reading →