Tag: Drama

Hey look. Random indie movie! Not only that, but it is a coming of age story! Those are fun. And it is about a girl boarding school, not a boys boarding school? One named Tanner Hall? Outstanding! Oh and the previews before the movie are for Daydream Nation and Happythankyoumoreplease? I liked those movies! What could go wrong!

Oh. The plot and characters and boringness.

Also, all the pictures easy to find on google were lame.

Alright, we have a movie starring four girls! Two of them used to be friends as children, the other two just became friends thanks to you know, living there. We have Georgia King and Rooney Mara as the main two, but also Brie Larson and Amy Ferguson. Each girl has their own personality and boarding school girl stereotype. Of course one is super depressed, a cutter, and talks about stuff like it for attention. Another is more or less normal, but just angsty. Then there is the sexually confused one, who is never sure who she likes, man or woman. (The school has one boy student, the headmistresses son). And finally the hot for teacher student, picking on the fact that the teacher totally wants her. That teacher being Chris Kattan.

What? That guy has been missing for like, 5 years it feels like. Then he pops in randomly in some indie movie as a horny teacher? I think his role is more of a comic relief thing, but ehh. It is weird.

So, the problem with all of the character types is that they stay as types throughout the movie. No one really changes. In fact, nothing much actually happens either. Sure. They show rebellion. They sneak out of school to go to a fair, what rebels. They have lives. But ehh. Ehhh. It doesn’t bring anything really new to the “genre”, so it was just disappointing.

Wait a minute. Does every coming of age boarding school movie have a shot of everyone sitting/standing in a row?

As an added suck, it is kind of hard to tell how much time passes in the movie. Especially near the end. Just a boring, pointless movie.

The Debt is a remake of an Israeli movie made a few years before it. This is Americanized though, and therefore cooler. I haven’t done much into the kinda spy based thriller drama movies, so this is a good start. Especially because it isn’t probably known at all, at least not the major actors involved.

The Debt also has two main storylines that take place 30 years apart. So, except for the doctor, the three leads who are Israeli spies are played by two people each. But as I liked the 1960s portion of the movie a bit more, I will just link the younger ones.

Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington are sent to East Berlin in the mid-60s to capture a Nazi war criminal. This doctor, played by Jesper Christensen, is accused of being the “Surgeon of Birkenau” and doing a lot of bad experiments on patients there. Genetic tests, what ever. So their mission is to capture him, and bring him back to Israel so he can be tried. Noble goal indeed!

Given that this is the past, I assume all trials looked like this.

The girl goes undercover as someone needing advice on giving birth. Eventually they succeed in capturing the doctor, but due to complications, they are unable to safetly carry out part 2 of their plan to get him out of East Germany, and are forced to hold him capture. This begins a psychological like battle between the spies and the doctor, whom cannot be killed because it wouldn’t be fair.

Thirty years after these events, having lied about the events, the secrets that occurred may finally be coming up. They have to try and stop the truth from coming out to save face, and make sure Israel doesn’t look like it has bush league spies.

This plot outline is too vague to give the story justice, but it is defintely a well crafted story. The acting is very good, and hell, its a spy film that doesn’t rely on gadgets or people just being stronger than everyone else. Just seems like normally trained people, trying to make best of a hard situation. I think the ending personally was a bit of a letdown, but what can you do.

Definitely give this movie a shot if you are into that sort of stuff. It has a bunch of German subtitles in it as well, in case you are anti-german.

“Herr Doktor! Ich habe nicht sprochen die Aushwitz und blieberin.”

Although The Help is based on a book, and that book is based on the authors actually experiences, politically this could just be considered another “feel good white people” movie. You know. The kind that deals with racism and stuff, but still is a story about white people dealing with racism, making it more appealing to “average movie goers”.

But if we ignore that pretty obvious thing about this movie, then just like The Blind Side, you will find a very awesome movie.

And Emma Stone playing her version of nerdy 50s girl.

The Help is about Emma Stone, recently graduated from College and wanting to be a working woman! Or at least an Author, but she doesn’t know what to write about. She does get a job at the local paper, and takes over the “cleaning advice” column, that I guess used to exist, which is crazy. She is also distraught because the “help” that raised her from baby through high school is no longer there when she returned from College, and isn’t getting a straight answer as to why.

For some reason, she thinks it will be a good idea to tell the stories of the different maids around, and make a book of it. After all, their story has never been told, and they might have some interesting ones! College has taught her to think all races are equal. College is a good thing!

Viola Davis is a middle-aged maid who has recently lost her son, but has to raise other peoples white children. Octavia Spencer is a good cook, which keeps her employed, because she also has an attitude. There is also Bryce Dallas Howard, local high society wife, who plays the movie’s major villain. At the beginning, she is trying to pass a bill requiring all “help” to use a different toilet, because different colored people have different diseases.

Oh yeah, and Allison Janney (or CJ from The West Wing) plays Emma’s mother, who holds the secret to the “missing help” and also of course hates her daughter being all educmacated.

I am sure I have said something by now that I shouldn’t have.

Although the plights of black women as hired housekeepers is probably downplayed in this movie (nothing too serious happens), it is probably good that some of their story was told. I know the “Association of Black Women Historians” finds the film to downplay it all too much, and thus not endorse it all. But hey, I say you gotta give a higher grade for effort.

I’d rather assume this movie is a fictional account of true stories from back then, and as a story it is very interesting. All the characters you can probably relate too and feel their pain. The only movie subplot that seemed force was Emma’s relationship with some male suitor, which by the end is kind of pointless anyways. The actresses in this film are all great, even the “stuck up racist bitch”.

I am sure there are probably complaints in terms of accents for this too, but that is easily ignored by me. I wish it went a little longer myself, to find out what happens with Viola Davis’ character. Similarly, Octavia Spencer’s character has a happy ending, but when actually looking at it, it still kind of sucks.

Since this movie doesn’t end with the end of segregation, you might want to follow it up with Hairspray, in case you don’t know how this historic adventure ends.

Hint: It involves desegregated dancing.

Get Low? Alright I will get it over with.

No more references to that!

Get Low stars Robert Duvall as an old hermit man Felix Bush, living outside of a town in the 1930s or so. A simpler time. Why does he keep to himself? No one is for sure, but every once in awhile he does go into town, much to the ire of the towns folk. For some reason, he heads to the local funeral home, run by salesman Bill Murray and his new partner Lucas Black (the kid from Sling Blade!) to set up his own funeral. He has everything already ready for it though, except for the “funeral party”.

Funeral Party? What? He wants to hold a gathering of people just telling stories about him for his funeral, but while he is still alive. Very weird concept, but Bill Murray needs money and will sell anything. So flyers are put up to invite folks, radio interviews, haircuts, new suits, etc.

Also, Felix agrees to sell raffle tickets, $5 a pop, and the winner (announced when he actually dies) will win his home and land, which is quite a large amount.

At first it appears as if the funeral home is trying to rip off Felix, but throughout the movie you are unsure of who is ripping who off.

The event gets canceled a few times, and changed a lot. We find out that he doesn’t just want random stories, he wants his story told. Why he has been living by himself the last forty years, and an admission of his sins. Also included in the cast are Sissy Spacek, as a past friend (maybe former lover?) and Bill Cobbs, as the Reverend from where he used to live.

This is also a good film to reflect on with the end of “No Shave November”.

By the end of the film, don’t worry, you will find out the answers to why he is doing the funeral party, why he is a hermit, and what he did in the past. To be fair, those are all kind of the same answer.

The acting in this film is way too good. I am a well noted Bill Murray hater (unless he is in cameos). I banked my getting into college on it. But even he did a good job (but since he was kind of a crook, it was easy I bet). The ending is of course sad too, and when you realize everything that Felix went through in his (fictional) life, you will just want to hug that old man.

The music and designs/costuming were pretty top notch as well. Despite the slow start of the movie, if you pay attention, you will be hooked early on and find yourself on a decent ride.

To continuing with my current “White theme” and “Irish theme“, I am now going to join both worlds. White Irish Drinkers. Mind blown, huh?

Besides, they already made White Russian Drinkers.

White Irish Drinkers is about two brothers, Nick Thurston and Geoffrey Wigdor (or Brian and Danny Leary). Danny is the older one, and a punk. But he is also abused! His dad, another Irish drinker, spends a lot of his paycheck on alcohol, and takes his anger out on Danny, not Brian.

Brian is a nicer kid, but he also only gets beaten up from his brother. Surprise! He is also a good artist. But he keeps it a secret from his parents, he doesn’t want to be called names or anything. This is the 70s! He should be working in the mill (or something) in Brooklyn. Whatever they have there.

The dad is Stephen Lang, from Avatar/Terra Nova. The mom is played by Karen Allen, and Leslie Murphy the love interest thing.

What is going on in Brooklyn? Brian works at a theater, and it turns out the ROLLING STONES are going to stop in to play a small concert. The owner of the theater knows the manager, and as a favor they are willing to make a stop. But, they can only advertise the day of, no advanced ticket sales, and what not. So in preparation, you know what is going to happen? The brothers are going to steal all that money, run away from home, and start a new life abuse free. What could go wrong (besides morality)?

Moustache-tic!

The movie was slow at parts, but all of it was building up for the final 20-30 minutes. I can say I did not expect the ending at all, and found myself agreeing with a lot of the characters. Well played indeed. The final final scene was a nice act of redemption, possibly unnecessary, but hey, everyone watching wanted it. Okay movie, definitely helps if you too are drinking during it. Get into that city living Irish stereotype mindset.

Another Earth takes a simple concept movie, about guilt and redemption, and adds a second “Holy Shit What???” Sci-Fi ish component, to help ease all of the tension. Or make more tension. One of the two.

This would seriously fuck up the tide.

The movie begins with some people driving. They get into a car crash. BOOM.

Four years alter, Brit Marling is getting out of jail. I think she was underage at the time, like 17, but put in prison for those four years thanks to accidentally killing a whole family in the other vehicle, except for the dad, who was put in a coma. Brit feels horrible. I assume her whole four years in prison she had one of those dark rainy cartoon clouds following her.

Not to mention, that during her time in jail, scientists discovered “another earth”.

Right now, I will say that scientifically this movie doesn’t work. They give you tidbits throughout the movie, in terms of news on tv, and other radical discoveries. But apparently there is a second earth on the other side of the sun, in the same orbit, that has human life. First they question if it is some space mirror phenomenon, but after sending probes it is not. Weird shit starts to happen when they finally are able to send messages over there with responses. Why weird shit? Because the Dr Lady who sent the messages in Earth 1 was talking to some Dr Lady of the same name. Who did the same grocery shopping that day. Who has the same birthday.

What?

We are supposed to assume that the same chances and things that occurred on our Earth, occurred over there as well. If everyone has someone else who has had all the exact same experiences happen to them, they would make the same decisions. Also known as determinism.

So over time, for some reason, the planets are getting closer, and you can see it in the sky. I don’t know why there.

Back to plot. The guy gets out of the coma, William Mapother (Ethan from Lost). He can’t function the same way, his brain hurts a lot. Used to be a music professor, now lives at home in the muck. Brit, with her guilt, eventually finds him, and lies, pretending to be a free trial of a house cleaning business, to try and get to know him and help his life out.

All relationships of course that begin with lies eventually come out.

True for everything but Breaking Bad (so far!).

Brit also enters a contest to win a seat to the first spaceship to go to Earth2.

That is about all I can say. The movie, again, is about second chances, and unfortunately, the ending leaves way too many questions. I was shocked at what happened, and really, my mind can go all the different possible ways with what it shows.

It is an indie movie, with an obvious small cast and lesser camera work, but if you make it through, and ignore the scientifically impossibilities (in terms of the Earth getting closer and not screwing things up / wondering if it also had a moon / dinosaur meteorite?) then it should make you think. In the good way. I think I might have to watch it again, just to see what I might have missed!

When I saw The Art of Getting By was going to star Freddie Highmore, I guffawed out loud. That kid? The one from Spiderwick Chronicles and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Well, dude bro isn’t a kid anymore. Well. Kiddish. But he is a lot taller and way more mature.

Or at least Emma Roberts is super short.

The movie begins with George having to explain why he didn’t do his trigonometry homework. Why? Because he claims he realized his own mortality last night and everything else just seemed unimportant. So at that moment I figured this George guy was supposed to be very smart, but you know, an underachiever. What happens in this movie? Him accidentally befriending Emma Roberts. George falls in love with her, but has some social anxieties to go with the rest of his problems (including becoming poor?) so he flips a shit of course. It also turns out that by the end of the year, thanks to never doing any work (well, gradable work), he also will not graduate.

Alright, so my plot write up is kind of weak. It is hard to say what really happens in this movie without giving a lot of it away.

In fact, I had a hard time figuring out if I even liked it overall or not. I thought Freddie did a great job. The dialogue used I definitely loved, as he talked way too smart. There is a great scene where he calmly and rationally told his parents to leave him alone. Giving nice reasons and everything.

But really, that is all I probably really liked. The ending wasn’t at all original. The side story involving the artist Andrew Levitas wasn’t anything special either. The only great parts involved George and his interactions with his family and new friends. The story might not appeal to everyone. In fact, it is just one of those “privileged white people problems” movies. I think that is why the critics hated it so much.

Sometimes people like those kind of movies though.

But because Freddie just did so gosh darn good, I have to give it an okay rating.

Dun nun nun nun nun. Pew pew. Whip it good.

I immediately apologize for doing that. But for some reason I cannot delete it. Oh well.

When I first heard of this movie, I thought it was lame. Mostly because Drew Barrymore annoys me half the time, and she was in charge of it. Similarly, this might have been Ellen Page‘s first big release after Juno. Not sure.

So plotwise, Ellen is a loser in Texas! Her mom makes her do beauty pageants, but she doesn’t want to. Teen angst. Her friend, Alia Shawkat, tells her to man up and stop doing shit like that. Before I go on, her life at home is different. Her dad is there, but never fully around. It makes it seem like he is living in a van (where he has a TV for sports and stuff). But why is he in the van? Maybe its because he is Daniel Stern, and thus no one wants to be near him.

“Want to join me in my van, little kid?

So yeah, she goes to a roller derby event, loves it, and Kristen Wiig tells her to try out.

Sorry it took so long to get to the actual plot. That took awhile. She does, but she has to lie about her age to do so. I am sure that won’t come back to haunt her.

Through some miracle she makes the team, but is never played. Until she starts to play, and her small frame allows to score the heck out of some points and actually let her team win a game or two! Then they all become the best of friends! Then rising action, climax, end of movie.

Oh, and Jimmy Fallon is the announcer at all these games.

“A movie about mostly girls, and you show pictures of two dudes? That’s sexist.” – Gorgview.com reader.

Unfortunately for my Drew Barrymore dislike, I liked her movie. The conflict near the end was obvious, but it was also was kind of just swept under the rug too. That kind of bugged me.

Ellen’s transformation from “Okay mother” pageant girl to kick ass “celebrity” who learns to take control of her life is a good one. There is morals too in the story, and not just loose ones. That is a plus. But it was also entertaining and funny. Besides, it is also kind of a sports movie, and who doesn’t love sports movies?

Super 8, by JJ Abrams, has been one of the more hyped releases for awhile now. (Outside of Twilights, Harry Potters, and Hangover 2). Honestly, I have been asked a LOT when this movie is finally coming out, as they pushed it back at least once from October to now.

But I think a lot of the hype is warranted.

Feel free to commence “OH Facing” now.

The film takes place at the end of the 70s, Disco is still good, and technology is still not rampant. If it was, these kids would have a jillion youtube hits. Riley Griffiths is a kid with a dream, to make a movie on his 8MM camera and be shown in a local festival. So he gets his friends, borrows a camera, and starts his dream. Doing a zombie flick. Yay zombies! They even convince AJ Michalka (sister of Aly!) to join their project and be the detective(Gabriel Brasso from The Big C)’s wife.

Afterall, ever good production needs some T&A. For the kids, that is her. Also involved are Zach Mills, Ryan Lee, and Joel Courtney, son of a cop (Kyle Chandler), great at makeup, and actual main character (Got cha!).

While filming a scene at the local train station, they see a train coming past. They quickly rush to film their scene, thanks to the great production value! But a dude in a truck rams the train and everything goes to hell. The End.

Or not. Holy shit wreckage everyone running, and the camera filmed it all! But what were those weird noises? Did they see a creature? What about these cube things? Whats going on? They of course decide to tell no one they were out there, run away, and (sort of) try to solve the mystery, while at the same time weird things (thievery) and deaths begin to happen around time.

So yeah. That is what this movie is about. Making movies. Young life love and friendships. And holy shit alien monster thing.

I really liked it though. A lot of the kids are more or less unknown actors, who have only one (this) or a few film credits. So the majority of the cast was just fresh and new, giving it a more real feel. Unless you watched the Friday Night Lights series, then you probably don’t know Kyle Chandler either. What I really liked was just the emotions everyone conveyed in the movie. Their fear seemed real (probably had Rob Reiner yelling at them, for some reason), and their strive to work together just gave that “ah, youth! nostalgia!” feeling.

You won’t be screwed into never seeing the monster. You will get more than enough to appease that palette, don’t worry.

This could be the next E.T, and it only took 30 years. Is it? I don’t know, I never saw that movie.

Don’t give me that look kid. I just never saw it. That is what happens when it comes out before you are born and the parents never show it to you when you’re a kid. What? hey. Come back here. Readers! Stop leaving my site saying I have lost all my movie credentials! Noooooo!

You guys should watch it. It is about 2 hours long. Some parts in the middle are a bit more boring than the rest, but if you sally forth, you can make it, I swear. Also, in the credits you get to see the Zombie movie in all its awesomeness.

I have a big problem with The Devil’s Double. The cover. It is atrocious and hard on the eyes. So I will fling it at you readers now!

ZA GOGGLES. ZEY DO NOTHING!

Like, whoa right? So much gold. The word double? Maybe this is about gambling. Dangerous dambling.

YOU WOULD BE WRONG.

This is based on the “True” story of Latif Yahia, a normal man just living in Iraq. Unfortunately for him, he looks a lot like Uday Hussein, son of the more famous Hussein you may remember dying from a few years ago. Both roles are played by Dominic Cooper (from Captain America! As Howard Stark!). I know what you are thinking. A guy plays two roles? Lame.

Well don’t worry, this isn’t some Disney channel Friday morning movie (Despite when I am posting this review). He plays both roles distinctively enough so that it is pretty awesome. They also have slight differences in their faces too, enough to make them seem different. And you know, mannerisms.

So Latif gets forced into being a body double, to become Uday Hussein. Live with them, take in the glory, and act like a crazy asshole. Apparently Uday is a crazy asshole in real life (well, was. Go America!). You know, lovin’ those little girls. Shooting people. Drugs. Partying. All that stuff.

Obviously Latif doesn’t want to do this. He has morals, damn it. He has a real family. So the movie is him trying to do his job so that his family back home (who thinks him dead) doesn’t get killed, while also trying to deal with the morals that come with doing bad things.

The movie is very over the top. People like to compare it to Scarface, just in terms of “Whaaaat” factor. I could kind of see it. I assume most of the movie isn’t real, except for the general story. Because this is Hollywood, not a documentary.

If they had one more double, they could take this show on the road!

Overall the story wasn’t too exceptional. However, Dominic Moore really busted out some acting chops for this movie, and it shows how much work he put into it.

Some people complain that it is entirely in English. I hate those kinds of people. If there is only one language spoken in a film, I think it BETTER be in English (if an American movie). Afterall, everyone in it can understand each other perfectly, so we should too. I assume they are speaking Arabic, but I can understand it perfectly, so it sounds normal to me. Oh yeah, Go America!