The Official Review Thread of 2013

anonymous1980
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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MAMA
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash, Javier Botet, Jane Moffat.
Dir: Andres Muschietti.

I came into this with low expectations. After all, it is a PG-13-rated horror film released in January and is of the horror subgenre (which I noticed has been rather popular in recent years) of the creepy ghosts/ghouls tormenting/possessing/collaborating with children. Though it's far from being a masterpiece, it's actually a pretty darn good horror film with some nice atmospheric scares. Executive producer Guillermo Del Toro's influence is all over this film, almost as if he co-directed it himself. Jessica Chastain is good but it's the two little girls who shine. It's a nice, solid genre piece.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: B.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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Lou Lumincek in the N.Y. Post gave Movie 43 minus four stars, which I guess qualifies it as the worst reviewed movie in history by a single critic. I don't think anyone else has ever gone below zero when rating films, though in retrospect there are a few I would give that rating to.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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Johnny Guitar wrote:Movie 43 (directed by Peter Farrelly, et al.) will be nominated for tons of Oscars, obviously. :wink: Though it's not exactly successful as a coherent comedy, in truth it is more intelligent and less uptight about movie conventions than the vast majority of commercial movies, so that endears it to me.

Kleber Mendonca Filho's Neighboring Sounds is a legitimately very good (and well-reviewed) film, and part of its M.O. is that it foregrounds the noises and social interactions of a community of individuals who live amidst all kinds of security accoutrements, and builds a "story" of this (though it's not really a story per se, its narrative is ultra-loose and shapeless though still very meaningful and affecting). The opposite of this, in fact, is a stylization that often annoys me in movies, especially because it often has no justification other than a kind of lazy simplicity: why don't characters have neighbors, why can't we ever see or hear evidence of a world in which people interact with those who live, move, and work next to them? Lots of cool things in this film, including a mingling of pervasive dread with leisurely ennui that I don't think I've seen much in other works.
I saw Movie 43 tonight.

I had originally intended to avoid the film because for a film that looked like it was meant to be funny, it certainly didn't look like that from the trailer I saw at the cinema late last year.

It was the dreadful review that the film received from The Hollywood Reporter that changed my mind. Surely, I thought, the film couldn't be that bad.

In the interim more equally bad reviews began to appear as well as a heck of a lot bad publicity which started to give me some doubts.

Anyway, I had a free ticket for the cinema that was showing the film, so what the hell.

Anyway, I quiet enjoyed it. Some are parts are very amusing and whilst it isn't laugh out loud funny it very watchable in it's silliness and moves really quickly. Some segments worked better then others, which is always the way with these sorts of films. My favourites segments were the Hugh Jackman/Kate Winselt, Chris Pratt/Anna Faris, Halle Berry/Stephen Merchant, Liev Schreiber/Naomi Watts & possibly the best Josh Duhamel/Elizabeth Banks. There was only really one dud in the bunch which was the Christopher Mintz-Plasse/Chloe Grace Moretz segment.

I didn't think it was too tasteless, certainly no more so then a lot of American and non-American comedies since There's Something About Mary, which seems to be the beginning of the 'gross-out comedy' genre. And it's not really very subversive. Child abuse being the only segment that really comes close to that, though John Waters dabbled in that in the 1970s.

The 'gross out comedy' genre in general is very tame really and not as ballsy as I think the filmmakers think that it is. If one wants something really outrageous and taboo breaking Girls Will Be Girls (2003) written and directed by Richard Day leaves all the Hollywood fair looking pretty family friendly in comparison. I can't think of a studio film that has ever tried to get laughs out of abortion and rape which Girls Will Be Girls does and gets away with (except for John Waters but he is not Hollywood). By the way the entire cast of Girls Will Be Girls are men. All the roles (including women) are played by men and I feel that is the reason it dared go where Hollywood won't and probably never will and pulls it off with hilarious results.

As for the critical reaction to Movie 43, the critics need to chill out and I'm sure in some cases get minds of their own. The criticisms do feel somewhat like follow the leader. There weren't many people at the session I attended (about 8 people - all older men) but it certainly got a good share of laughter.

By the way I'm an admirer of Neighbouring Sounds, even though I felt in the end that the film didn't really go anywhere but it was an enjoyable peek nevertheless.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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dws1982 wrote:When I saw you posted in here, Johnny, I thought you would be giving some love to the new Walter Hill movie. I haven't seen it yet myself, but I do like Walter Hill quite a bit.
I actually ended up seeing Bullet to the Head this evening. I thought it was very disappointing - mostly rote macho-nostalgic action movie stuff, not horrible (assuming you're able to flow with current trends in that genre), not entirely soulless or poorly made, but just ... I think "meh" is an appropriate word for it. Not worthy of Hill's better efforts. I actually shot out a quick and very informal word-deluge about it and Armond White & Gregory Solman's dialogue on the movie here.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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anonymous1980 wrote:
Johnny Guitar wrote:Movie 43 (directed by Peter Farrelly, et al.) will be nominated for tons of Oscars, obviously. :wink: Though it's not exactly successful as a coherent comedy, in truth it is more intelligent and less uptight about movie conventions than the vast majority of commercial movies, so that endears it to me.
I'm thinking if you ever get to be a movie reviewer, you'd be getting a lot of hate mail. :lol:
Not for mildly praising a dumb grossout comedy, though I could get hate mail for daring to suggest that e.g. The Avengers is anything less than The Single Greatest Cancer-Curing Film Ever Made. (Ditto any Chris Nolan film.)
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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Johnny Guitar wrote:Movie 43 (directed by Peter Farrelly, et al.) will be nominated for tons of Oscars, obviously. :wink: Though it's not exactly successful as a coherent comedy, in truth it is more intelligent and less uptight about movie conventions than the vast majority of commercial movies, so that endears it to me.
I'm thinking if you ever get to be a movie reviewer, you'd be getting a lot of hate mail. :lol:
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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dws1982 wrote:When I saw you posted in here, Johnny, I thought you would be giving some love to the new Walter Hill movie. I haven't seen it yet myself, but I do like Walter Hill quite a bit.
I haven't seen it yet - I might be able to get to it on Wednesday, hopefully before it leaves theaters! Heard decent things about it so far.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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When I saw you posted in here, Johnny, I thought you would be giving some love to the new Walter Hill movie. I haven't seen it yet myself, but I do like Walter Hill quite a bit.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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Movie 43 (directed by Peter Farrelly, et al.) will be nominated for tons of Oscars, obviously. :wink: Though it's not exactly successful as a coherent comedy, in truth it is more intelligent and less uptight about movie conventions than the vast majority of commercial movies, so that endears it to me.

Kleber Mendonca Filho's Neighboring Sounds is a legitimately very good (and well-reviewed) film, and part of its M.O. is that it foregrounds the noises and social interactions of a community of individuals who live amidst all kinds of security accoutrements, and builds a "story" of this (though it's not really a story per se, its narrative is ultra-loose and shapeless though still very meaningful and affecting). The opposite of this, in fact, is a stylization that often annoys me in movies, especially because it often has no justification other than a kind of lazy simplicity: why don't characters have neighbors, why can't we ever see or hear evidence of a world in which people interact with those who live, move, and work next to them? Lots of cool things in this film, including a mingling of pervasive dread with leisurely ennui that I don't think I've seen much in other works.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2013

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WARM BODIES
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Analeigh Tipton, Cory Hardrict.
Dir: Jonathan Levine.

It's time for the zombie to get the Twilight treatment but...it's really not that bad. The concept is actually kind of a fresh take on the zombie lore, sort of like expounding on the "Bub" character from Day of the Dead. Unfortunately, the filmmakers didn't really challenge themselves with it. The concept is full of potential and there are flashes of it here and there but overall, it's simply just a fluffy romantic comedy with zombies toned down for a PG-13. In fact, it's probably the least violent and gory zombie movie I've ever seen. It's fine enough for what it is but it's disappointing because of squandered potential.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: B-
Last edited by anonymous1980 on Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Official Review Thread of 2013

Post by anonymous1980 »

THE LAST STAND
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzman, Jaimie Alexander, Peter Stormare, Zach Gilford, Eduoardo Noriega, Genesis Rodriguez, Harry Dean Stanton, Chris Browning, John Patrick Amedori.
Dir: Kim Jee-woon.

It's an Ah-nuld vehicle co-starring Johnny Knoxville and it's being released in January. What the hell am I doing seeing this? Well, it's directed by Kim Jee-woon, the Korean director behind I Saw The Devil, a pretty darn good (and crazy violent) action/horror flick. The plot is predictable, formulaic and derivative but a lot of it is undeniably fun (and outrageous and ridiculous). The film has the feeling of a rather old-fashioned '80s/'90s action picture along with the cartoonishly evil villains and strong violence. Kim's stylistic flourishes makes things a bit more interesting than it probably should. Not a bad time killer.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: C+
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