Tag: 4 out of 4

Sometimes Will Ferrell makes serious movies. I can say that now, because with Stranger Than Fiction and Everything Must Go, there is at least two. Sure both movies of course have comedic elements, but they are overall serious movies. It is always good to see an actor leave his comfort zone. Especially if he can do that and excel. Will Ferrell can excel.

And time travel!

This was a really great movie. All the emotion you would expect is there. Everyone felt real, no one overacted, it was all very simple. I am surprised that the kid was played by Notorious B.I.G.’s son. Also found it weird his only other acting gig is playing….Notorious as a kid in that movie. Would you want to play your dead dad in a biography movie? [IMDB links are screwed up as of this posting. It has his name as two different ways and says they are different people. Each one listing only 1 role. That is incorrect.] Err, besides the point.

Will Ferrell was great in this. He can be a serious and dramatic actor, not relying on slapstick or comedy or dumb lines. that. He has quite a few scenes where it is just him, or just him and one other person.

In the first few minutes of the movie, he loses his job, gets caught vandalizing, has his wife leave him, and is locked out of his house with all his things. So he lives on his lawn, drinking his beers, being poor, and mad at the world. In it you can tell he is a depressed human being, and they obviously note quiet clearly his alcoholic tendencies. (I mean. By saying he is an alcoholic. No subtlety there). I’d say watch this with The Beaver if you want to see two new movies in a row that are sad and depressing. Or just watch it by itself if you hate “The Gibs”.

But who could hate a face like that?

4 out of 4.

There comes a moment in every mans life where he realizes he is now criminally insane. Mel Gibson had one of these moments.

Mel Gibson’s moment is pictured above.

Oh wait sorry, that is actually a movie. He is acting about having a nervous breakdown. My bad!

The Beaver is a movie I definitely had false pretenses about. Didn’t know what to expect, thought it would be something silly about a family and a talking beaver that joins their lives. Nope. It is about a depressed man, who leaves his family, and ends up using a beaver puppet to communicate with the world. Communication was something quite hard for him, bad for the CEO of a giant toy company. Thankfully there is, The Beaver.

But yeah. This movie is also about depression. And depression is srs bzns. I didn’t know it was directed by Jodie Foster (who also played the wife). This is the only big directing project she has done according to IMDB, with the other three things being pre 1996.

The Beaver also helps with sexy time.

The Beaver is actually a very intelligent movie, of a depressed man trying to deal with his problems. Even if he thinks he is getting better, the people closest to him can see he is only getting worse. This film is more than about Gibson being depressed, but equally about his family in coping with Gibson, and how his son is seemingly going down the same path. I was shocked at how good this movie actually was. I will probably buy it (okay just did).

The box for this movie is pretty cool. Jackie Chan, some other asian guy, and Little Big Solider. What is this about? What does it MEAN?

It means awesome good shit.

Well I will tell you.

First I think this was a pet project movie for Jackie Chan for some time. It is definitely a Chinese movie, as guess what, it is subtitled. I personally watched it Dubbed, because I don’t care. (I am not sure if Jackie Chan did his own dubbing). The story is one of the many Ancient China stories that are abundant in the world, and of which I know nothing about. This takes place in BC China, when there is warlords, fighting, big clans, armies, and more. Such a small story too in the large history, as the Writer, he clearly made this movie for him.

He plays a farmer who was enlisted to join his warlord clans army. Accidentally in his first fight he ends up capturing the opposing sides General. If a general is brought back (normally dead) to the warlord, the soldier is granted amnesty from the war, is given a large plot of land, and left alone if they want forever. All Jackie Chan wants to do is farm. Raise a family. The other main actor who plays the general also does very well. The fight scenes that featured them two were fantastically made. As you are aware, a lot of Asian martial arts movies nowadays have these artsy and stylistic fight scenes. The way they use the surroundings. The barn fight and “stick fight” were some of my favorites.

The ending I didn’t see coming, (but all my friends who know their Feudal Chinese history probably do! Yes, all zero of you) and thought it sad. Oh well. Can’t change the past.*

The movie was also beautiful on Blu-Ray. I assume there was very little used in CGI, and that the areas where filming took place just look that awesome. It is hard to imagine China as a beautiful place, mostly because I am brainwashed to assume it is just communism and other bad things. U-S-A! U-S-A!

Not the best part of Asia, as this took place in San Francisco. It is, however, the best part of San Francisco.

4 out of 4.

* – Allegedly

This review will be a guest review, done by the post it notes my parents left me before I watched the film.

It reads. “OMG! It is one of those watching ones, not action.” (Meaning it is a drama, not an action movie).

Quick synopsis: The Conspirator is about the assassination of Lincoln, and the trials afterwards. Mostly the trial of the mother of a friend of Booth. Shows how corrupt the law was (true story).

Their rating system, two thumbs up is as high as it can get. No mutants here (If you ignore that the lawyer, James McAvoy, went on to be Xavier in X-Men: First Class), so I will agree.

Oh man this movie was sooooo saddd. AGGHHHH. And depressing. I cried. I did. Very good. Here are some jokes to take my mind off of it.

The Road, obviously, is loosely based off of Jack Kerouac‘s life (and his most famous work, On The Road). Viggo Mortensen plays for the second time a brilliant role as a man slowly turning into a zombie.

I am pretty sure that is what is going on in this scene.

I heard they were going to make a book based off of this movie, but I hope it doesn’t blow like the last book they made after the other successful Viggo movie. That one with the hobbits. History of Violence I believe was based off of real life events though as well, because, you know, it was history.

But seriously. This movie was great, despite the depressing state of everything. Bring tissues. Check it out. It is a post apocalyptic movie, where despite knowing stuff is about to go down, Viggo and his wife still have a child. Viggo believes it to be his duty to still have a child to help the world through these times, while his wife doesn’t agree, thinking it will just hurt them in the end. Parts of the story is told through flashback, before the child, and his early days when they lived in a house, and the rest is between Viggo and his son as they attempt to travel and survive in this world gone mad. You get to see what people will do in order to survive and protect the ones they love, passing many many moral boundaries.

This review may be controversial. Which I can ignore of course, since these are just all my opinions anyways. Who can tell me I am wrong!

No one!

I was originally interested in Knight and Day because the previews made it look like it was Tom Cruise acting very ridiculous with some Diaz. Because I am tired of Tom Cruise acting all serious and action star like. He needs to make fun of himself more (Like his dancing in Tropic Thunder). No one really wants to see Mission Impossible 4, as far as I can tell.

No one!

Thankfully, this movie was pretty weird (Of course! Action Rom Com? What?) and I got exactly what I wanted. A weird kind of spy movie.
Cameron Diaz was fine as girl who is in a situation way over her head. They didn’t make the story completely linear too. I loved the large gaps in storyline, and jumping ahead, and they had such an interesting way of explaining it all.

I kind of hated the last scene. They made obvious jokes about the rest of the film, but the jokes were too long and obvious. I could have dealt without the ending. But this was pretty great, cant wait to buy it.

Damn it, Wes Anderson. I liked one of your movies. Are you happy now?

Oh you want more? Well, one thing that makes this film different is that it is stop animation, not live action. Because live action movies about foxes couldn’t be fantastic, like Mr. Fox is. It is quirky and lead by the great George Clooney, who seems to only be in more politically driven movies these days. Nothing wrong with it, but I want my George from O Brother and Men Who Stare at Goats. With that crazy whimsical look in his eyes. Not caring about the government. Leave that to Sean Penn.

I assure you he is not looking at a goat right now.

But the story is based off of a kids book, and does it give it justice! Probably more justice than the book. The story is so interesting, of a fox who cant stop robbing farmers, and coming out of retirement to try the biggest robbery in his life. Okay, so it has some Ocean’s Eleven element to it too. Damn it George, come back! It is hard to explain how good this movie. Thankfully the rating says what you should do. GO WATCH THIS MOVIE.

Damn it, he even has those crazy whimsical eyes as a fox.

4 out of 4.

Hey readers! Do you want to feel super sad and upset? Do you want to feel raw emotion of anger and more sadness? I guess I am asking if you want to cry. Because then it is pretty easy to suggest the film, Rabbit Hole.

Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart give a great performance here of a couple who are dealing with the loss of their son. Both are taking different routes, experiencing with grief groups, and other quirks involving their sons things.

“Hey baby, I know one way we can forget about our dead child…”

Throughout the whole film you will sense the anguish between them, especially of Kidman here. Eckhart appears to be handling it a bit better, but it still doesn’t prevent him from lashing out in a few scenes where it is almost pure anger. In the movie, Kidman also tries to connect with the driver of the car that hit her child (Miles Teller), and how it is has affected his life as well. It provides PLENTY of awkward conversations that are just real.

The ending provides some hope, instead of leaving everything in taters and unsolved like a lot of these “Great films”. I have to sparingly watch this movie, but I know I will again in the future.