Documentary, 87 Minutes, 2010
I’m a big fan of stand-up comedy (although I’m a big hater of clubs – I neither drink nor smoke – so I almost never go out to see it). It’s truly one of the purest forms of performance. Most comics author and perform their own material in front of small, often distracted (and drunken) audiences. They might travel for months on end to stand on tiny stages under blinding lights and do dozens of shows in a week.
Action, 143 Minutes, 2012
This is Daniel Craig’s [IMDB] third outing as a grittier, rougher-edged version of Ian Fleming’s tuxedoed MI6 agent with a license to kill. Bond (like other persistently popular characters such as Batman or Superman) has successfully maintained relevance across several generations. The character does this by merging modern sensibilities with dependable, iconic traits. This film marks the fiftieth anniversary of Bond in film.
Crime, 106 Minutes, 2011
I’ve been waiting for some time for Ray Stevenson [IMDB] to start getting the A-List lead roles that he clearly deserves. He’s been featured in some of the best TV on TV (HBO’s glorious “Rome” and Showtime’s “Dexter” to name two of my favorites). He’s flexible, committed and charming has hell (even when playing an evil sonofabitch). So, while I missed this when it came out, I was thrilled to see him taking the lead in a major (if lower-budget) motion picture.
The good news is that Stevenson is great. The bad news is that the movie… isn’t. While far from “bad” it does rely almost exclusively on gangster movie clichés and has some pretty serious pacing issues. It often plays as a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive story and we unfortunately never really get to truly understand the characters.
“A Beginner’s Guide to Endings” on IMDB
Comedy/Drama, 92 Minutes, 2011
Had no idea what to expect from this one. Liked the box art, liked the people in it and had a couple hours so gave it a shot. The first shot is of Harvey Keitel [IMDB] and that’s usually a good sign. He’s a low-life who spent most of his life being a bad father to his five sons and has finally done something so heinous that he can’t live with himself.
You know how much fun it is listen to drunk people mumble gibberish for hours? When they get quiet all of a sudden, stare at you with a bleary, squinty eye and demand to know if you’re paying attention? Maybe they’ll reach out to give you a friendly pat on the shoulder but, upon missing by an arm-length, slip off their chair and bloody their chin. Now, spit and blood smeared across their puffy face, they accuse you of being rude just before adding vomit to the mix.
That experience pretty much sums up this movie.
Groundhog Day is, let’s face it, kind of a strange holiday. It started almost randomly in southern PA about 150 years ago and, for some unfathomable reason, spread. Apparently people will respect the weather sense of a chubby rat if there’s a party involved.
The 1993 film Groundhog Day isn’t technically about the holiday; it uses it as more of a backdrop than a focus. Still, a bizarre little holiday couldn’t ask for a higher honor than being the namesake of one of the best movies of all time.
So, on the 20th anniversary no less, why not make the effort to enjoy this timeless (ha! get it? timeless!) classic. It’ll very likely be on thirty or forty times after all!
Documentary, 90 Minutes, 2011
Only a small minority of people will ever donate their time and energy to the betterment of others. An even smaller minority would ever consider joining a neighborhood watch. Of that group only a tiny minority would actually exert effort outside their own neighborhood and even fewer would specifically target the very worst urban areas. Within this tiny minority of selfless, giving people there is a vanishingly small subset – barely registering a wedge on the pie chart – of people who do all of that while wearing a costume.
Western, 165 Minutes, 2012
Oooh, this was good. Real good. Real God-damn good.
Quentin Tarantino’s genius really doesn’t lie, in my opinion, in filmmaking. Taken scene for scene, line for line he really isn’t technically better than anybody else. His genius is being able translate his love of film into a modern context and thus expose entirely new generations to the artistic languages of all-but-dead genres. He’s delved into pulp crime (“Reservoir Dogs” [IMDB] and “Pulp Fiction” [IMDB]), horror (“From Dusk ‘Til Dawn” [IMDB]), Hong-Kong martial arts (“Kill Bill” [IMDB]), World War II (“Inglorious Basterds” [IMDB]) and several others.
Crime/Drama, 100 Minutes, 2011
I bounced around with this one a little. Was it just a lower-budget “The Transporter” [IMDB] or did it have something new to say? Word of mouth indicated greatness but the marketing material said “shallow and disposable”. Where, oh where, does the truth lie?
Comedy, 102 Minutes, 2012
Ben Stiller [IMDB] has been more “miss” than “hit” lately. Well – to be fair – more “average” than “amazing”. His last few movies, including this one to some extent, have been a little uneven, silly and too dependent on deus ex machina. This one is saved in the end by some slick special effects and some fun (if completely immature) gags, but it is a bumpy ride.
