Hey folks! Things have been hectic lately, for both Mike and myself, but never fear. We have more posts on the way I assure you, but until then I wanted to send out some quick reviews and hits from movies I've seen recently. Some of them certainly would benefit from further analysis but for the sake of time (or lack there of) I'm condensing them.
The Help
All the talk about this feel-good movie is aimed at Emma Stone but let me clear the air here. Emma Stone is not the star of this movie. She's funny, sassy, and likable, and this role is probably a pivotal one that will alter her career down the Julie Roberts path rather than the Cameron Diaz path, i.e. she can act. The show is stolen by Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark as the vulnerable but fueled maid who really ignites the controversy, as Stone's "Skeeter" is merely a vessel. Davis carries all the emotional weight and has the most to lose the whole time, she is the real hero of this feel good story despite what the Oscar talk would have you believe. It's not a movie for everyone, but I'm sure even a few guys would see the quality this film has.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Friends with Benefits
What appears to be a fairly generic romantic comedy here really is much more. Why? How 'bout Justin Timberlake's boyish charm? This isn't a gay thing, he's just very fun to watch every time he's on the screen. Mila Kunis is good as well but Timberlake makes this movie worth watching. Well, that and the great supporting cast (namely Woody Harrelson and Emma Stone) who maximize each moment of screen time they get. But most importantly, FWB doesn't try to horribly disguise itself behind a cheesy gimmick (see: Killers, Bounty Hunter, What Happens in Vegas, The Ugly Truth, etc.), instead it's simply about two people going through with life. My only beef is that no matter how different it tries to feel, every RomCom is doomed to repeat the same ending.
(Note: What does it say that of the four movies listed above, Katherine Heigel and Aston Kutcher star in two of them, together in one. What does that say about how awful they are? What would Heigel be without Knocked Up? And at least Kutcher is smart enough to latch onto a winning TV show before he completely flamed out.)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Perhaps the single most anticipated movie this year in my head. If you told me one year ago that I wouldn't see this movie until almost a month after it was released, I'd blame everything on director Joe Johnston. But I'm happy to say that there is little blame to pass. Captain America is well-cast, well-paced, and damn entertaining. Chris Evans works as Steve Rogers, which proves vastly more important than how he works as Captain America (btw, also good). Most importantly, Capt. has good action and drama from start to finish. It's a really great blend of history and fantasy but I must admit I've one minor gripe: the score. Every other recent Marvel film has had an outstanding score (most notably The Incredible Hulk) and The Dark Knight raised the bar. Captain tries to push an older style, much like the Indiana Jones films, but in some spots it simply feels out of place and a bit of nuisance. For casual movie-goers, it won't hardly be noticed though.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Saturday, August 27
Tuesday, August 9
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
by Steve Kochems
Leave it to San Francisco and their liberal ass agenda to bring about the fall of civilization! And of course, it’s headed up by the king of kush James Franco- it’s no wonder Charlton Heston is going to be pissed off!
Okay, all jokes and politics aside, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a well-made film. And it’s not that right wing either. And though of course the nature of that universe was always a little conservative, what with the head of the NRA as the hero, use of apes as immigrant labor and an eventual ape apocalypse, liberty is not lost here.
Will Rodman (Franco) is a revolutionary geneticist whose goal is to create a virus that will promote the repair and growth of brain cells to counteract the effects of Alzheimer’s. But like most atrocities, the road is paved by these good intentions. After his first test ape is killed by security for running wild, Will discovers it was an act of protection rather than hysteria. His program is shut down and Will takes the infant ape home instead of killing it.
He grows to become Caesar, an ape with an intelligence level above the average human. With that, Will decides to test the drug on his father Charles (John Lithgow), who suffers from Alzheimer’s. It yields amazing results as his father recovers and Caesar is learning at an astounding rate. However, natural antibodies begin to counter act the drug and Charles regresses. Meanwhile, Caesar longs to find his place in the world and his animal instincts aren’t something he fully can control or understand yet either.
Rise is not the best film of this series but it’s certainly second (what shame is there in being second to a classic?). The time is well portioned between Will’s work and Caesar’s rise. Personally, I have a tough time looking at James Franco as a geneticist or as a serious person at all (thanks, Pineapple Express and 2011 Oscars), but he does play a good father. Lithgow is able to shine as he’s well cast for a fairly loopy and confused old man.
However the unsung hero that makes Rise work is none other than Andy Serkis. The man who brought you Gollum and King Kong, Serkis does his stop-motion work again to create the fluent movements of Caesar. He blends them so well that a transition can clearly be seen in his posture, walk, and mannerisms. The apes in general are what make this movie worth seeing as the plot is little more than a rise of slave or monster movie.
And wisely, Rise leaves room to push further. I won’t be surprised if I hear in the next few days they’ve green lit a second film and if Hollywood has its way it will be with two new and worthless writers, a hack director, and still star James Franco (hey, it happened to Thor). But enough gruff, Rise is definitely worth heading to the theater to see and might even be worth some Oscar talk, that is if they’ll consider a damn dirty ape for Best Actor.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
by Mike Kamrowski
I would agree with Steve on this one- this movie was pretty great. I thought Franco, while it really is hard to see him in a more serious role (and yes, a movie about monkey mischeif is more serious than Pineapple Express), did astand-up job in the father role to Ceaser. I loved the CGI- everything was as life-like as it could be without, well, being real.
My favorite part of this movie, and at first I didn’t want to admit this to myself, was how it tied a lot of loose ends together. The original (and Mark Wahlberg remake) Apes was a great movie, but it left a lot of questions. How did the apes get so damn smart? What happened to the Earth? Why is everyone dead, and why are those that are still alive acting like cavemen? While some of those questions were answered (vaugely), I always wanted a back story: Rise gave me one.
I say I didn’t want to admit that learning the answer to these questions was my favorite part of this movie because that was the appeal of the original Apes flick for me: you didn’t know what happened and, fuck it, the movie wasn’t going to give you much of an answer. Rise showed us how the crew in the original came to land back on Earth (first manned trip to Mars gone bad), how everyone died out (FRANCO!!!) and how the apes gained intelligence beyond that of humans (crazy purple knock out gas).
I would recommend this movie to just about anyone, unless you’re a bleeding heart animal rights activist… lot of monkey murder.
Note: Tom Felton, the guy that plays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, is in this movie and guess what!? He's an asshole! What a surprise... poor kid is typecast for life.
Leave it to San Francisco and their liberal ass agenda to bring about the fall of civilization! And of course, it’s headed up by the king of kush James Franco- it’s no wonder Charlton Heston is going to be pissed off!
Will Rodman (Franco) is a revolutionary geneticist whose goal is to create a virus that will promote the repair and growth of brain cells to counteract the effects of Alzheimer’s. But like most atrocities, the road is paved by these good intentions. After his first test ape is killed by security for running wild, Will discovers it was an act of protection rather than hysteria. His program is shut down and Will takes the infant ape home instead of killing it.
He grows to become Caesar, an ape with an intelligence level above the average human. With that, Will decides to test the drug on his father Charles (John Lithgow), who suffers from Alzheimer’s. It yields amazing results as his father recovers and Caesar is learning at an astounding rate. However, natural antibodies begin to counter act the drug and Charles regresses. Meanwhile, Caesar longs to find his place in the world and his animal instincts aren’t something he fully can control or understand yet either.
Rise is not the best film of this series but it’s certainly second (what shame is there in being second to a classic?). The time is well portioned between Will’s work and Caesar’s rise. Personally, I have a tough time looking at James Franco as a geneticist or as a serious person at all (thanks, Pineapple Express and 2011 Oscars), but he does play a good father. Lithgow is able to shine as he’s well cast for a fairly loopy and confused old man.
However the unsung hero that makes Rise work is none other than Andy Serkis. The man who brought you Gollum and King Kong, Serkis does his stop-motion work again to create the fluent movements of Caesar. He blends them so well that a transition can clearly be seen in his posture, walk, and mannerisms. The apes in general are what make this movie worth seeing as the plot is little more than a rise of slave or monster movie.
And wisely, Rise leaves room to push further. I won’t be surprised if I hear in the next few days they’ve green lit a second film and if Hollywood has its way it will be with two new and worthless writers, a hack director, and still star James Franco (hey, it happened to Thor). But enough gruff, Rise is definitely worth heading to the theater to see and might even be worth some Oscar talk, that is if they’ll consider a damn dirty ape for Best Actor.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
by Mike Kamrowski
I would agree with Steve on this one- this movie was pretty great. I thought Franco, while it really is hard to see him in a more serious role (and yes, a movie about monkey mischeif is more serious than Pineapple Express), did astand-up job in the father role to Ceaser. I loved the CGI- everything was as life-like as it could be without, well, being real.
I say I didn’t want to admit that learning the answer to these questions was my favorite part of this movie because that was the appeal of the original Apes flick for me: you didn’t know what happened and, fuck it, the movie wasn’t going to give you much of an answer. Rise showed us how the crew in the original came to land back on Earth (first manned trip to Mars gone bad), how everyone died out (FRANCO!!!) and how the apes gained intelligence beyond that of humans (crazy purple knock out gas).
I would recommend this movie to just about anyone, unless you’re a bleeding heart animal rights activist… lot of monkey murder.
Note: Tom Felton, the guy that plays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, is in this movie and guess what!? He's an asshole! What a surprise... poor kid is typecast for life.
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