I watched "A Woman Scorned - The Betty Broderick Story" last night. I went to a friends house and his GF had it on and I somehow got sucked into the storyline. By the time part 2 came on it was getting late, so I went home and finished watching it.

I'll never be the same again.

"Klass". An Estonian movie about bullying. Intense... dark... glooomy. No walk in the park to drop off in that comfy bed of mine after watching it.

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Thor: The Dark World

an absolute blast :)

action packed, funny, surprising....everything a good comic book flick should be

and the best part.....

MAJOR tie in to the plot of next years Guardians of the Galaxy:tramp:

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This is it. This s the year. I’ve been calling it for a while now. My theory that Matthew McConaughey is a fantastic actor is finally coming to fruition. The man is here. This is going to be the year that we’re going to see Matthew McConaughey’s name on a Best Actor nominee list and he earned it. I wouldn’t say He was particularly better than Tom Hanks or Chiwetel Ejiofor but he belongs with them. I just had to say that about my man MM. The other performance of note was Jared Leto. We’ll also be seeing his name on the ballot sheets. In a way this was just as much his coming out party as it was McConaugheys. Both of them shed pounds and just went head on into their roles and it really made for an enjoyable film. The film itself is definitely among the best of this year.

What I liked…

Besides the fantastic acting, this was an enjoyable film. It was raw and real when it had to be and lax to let the story develop when called for. It’s a film ultimately about the value of life and what some people or organizations will do for those values. It did’t get too preachy which to be honest is where I thought it was heading but considering it is based off a true story I couldn’t really have faulted it much anyway. It’s a real film about real people.

What I didn’t like…

Not much really. There were a few dead spots as the whole smuggling drugs from other countries got a little too “Ocean’s 11″ for my taste but it was really just a small part.

Overall the film is one of the best I’ve seen this year and a defining moment in the careers of McConaughey and Leto. They earned their praise and then some.

4/5

.....you make me feel stupid :)

seriously though.....this is the film i've been waiting for for some time now....it should hit here in a couple of weeks and i'll be there with bells on

has there ever been doubt that Matthew McConaughey is a bad actor?

Yes, when he has been reduced to rom coms and only there to take off his shirt. I don't think those movies showcased his best performances.

DJ pretty much said it. Not to mention the infamous Texas Chainsaw role. He's really come into his own the last three years.

Nah, he peaked in 1993






I watched Kick Ass 2 today. It's easily the best comic book to film adaptation of the last decade, probably the last couple.

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You know I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film with Vincent Cassel where he didn’t play a slimy criminal. I’m sure there are some that exist but he is probably one of the most typecast actors working today. I guess it helps that he does it so well but come on. I want to see him in like a nice comedy with Rob Schneider. Wouldn’t that be nice? Okay, I’ve gone to far. I’m sorry. He plays a criminal in Trance and along with his cohorts, bullies poor James McAvoy into trying to remember where he hid a painting he helped steal after a bout of amnesia. You with me? I’m not even with me. The film ended up being chore to get through as I repeatedly caught myself hitting the pause button in order to get a snack or play with my dog. Luckily for me, Danny Boyle directed the film which at least left me with some serious film eye candy.

What I liked…

As I just said, Danny Boyle is a stylish mo-fo. The film was pretty dazzling all the way through. Deep reds. Dark blues and pastels. It’s a colorful film. Danny has always been this way though. He masterfully captured India in Slumdog Millionaire and delicately captured space in Sunshine. I mean, this is an Oscar winning director here. I’m always impressed with his work. I also really liked the acting from James McAvoy. He gave a gritty performance reminiscent of The Last King of Scotland. I like it better when he keeps his natural Scottish accent. It’s more, I don’t know, gritty. I like that word. Unfortunately these are the only two things that I particularly really liked. Cassel’s performance was average(Although there is an awesome scene that involves his face in this one) and the script had interesting moments. However…

What I didn’t like…

The script was thinner than a piece of thin cheese…or something equally thin…YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. This is a complicated film with twists and turns and backstabbing and revealed truths and it all seemed to be held together with scotch tape. I mean, we were presented with a finished product at the end but a product that was barely standing up because it’s structure was so weak when being made. Information and plot twists are shoved in our face as if the film is saying “SEE? THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED! FOOLED YOU!” Like I said in the intro, I would pause to go do something else for a few minutes while I tried to grasp what the hell just happened. I’m also not a fan of blatant lines of dialogue that make absolutely no sense only to be explained later on in the film. It’s a cheap way to create plot twists and really comes off as tacky. Subtlety is a very useful tool in film for when you want to make somebody go “OH, THAT’S WHAT THAT MEANT!” Trance kind of forced you to think that by cheap writing tricks. Not impressed. Also, Rosario Dawson is horrible in this. Horrible. I won’t go as far as saying she’s a horrible actress, but the notion is definitely being explored by myself. She was a distraction in many ways in this film, but when the main reason is horrible acting, that isn’t a good sign.

So, what have we learned? Trance is a film that tries WAY to hard to be a plot serpent. It twists and it turns so much that the value of what actually is happening is lost. It is however a pretty gorgeous film made by a talented man in Danny Boyle.

2.5/5

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The White Ribbon

If I were to name five of my favorite directors living today, Michael Haneke would not only be on that list but would be near the top. Cache is one of my favorite films of all time and I enjoyed his recent film Amour. He’s notorious for being extremely bleak and brutal in his portrayals of life but in that creates some of the most beautiful films modern cinema has ever seen. He tackled sexuality in The Piano Teacher, Alzheimer’s disease in Amour, and even torture in both versions of Funny Games. He is literally a director that makes people both fascinated and dreadful to enter a theater for two hours. This is why I love him. I love being moved and poked and prodded for a response whether good or bad. I love that he almost always leaves his viewers with more questions than answers. Lastly, I often fall in love with his camerawork. His work requires repeat viewings and while I have only sat through The White Ribbon once, I’m sure I’ll be seeing it again.

Filmed in black and white as if to automatically distance the viewer from any sort of emotional attachment to these characters. The rosy and lush countryside of Germany is now transformed into a bleak landscape reminiscent of Bela Tarr’s The Turin Horse. This is ultimately a much easier view than Tarr’s work but that is saying something all together. This is not an easy watch. Events start to unfold from the get go as the town doctor is thrown from his horse due to wire being strung across two trees. The mystery of the event only begins a series of strange occurrences that take place over the rest of the film.

Haneke is famous for his static shots where he lets the viewer play voyeur over the scene. While his technique is not used as much as his previous films we are still treated to long takes of this small German village operating as its inhabitants go about their daily lives. You really get a sense of how certain events can spread like the plague to other villagers when you live in such a small town. The children, who are really the main focus of the theme lash out and get the full force of their parents as we are treated to a view of a generation which will soon grow up to be some of the most evil people in history, the Nazis. These kids are ages five through fourteen in 1913. Do the math.

The White Ribbon ended up being a character study of how foul people can be and how witnesses of such events can keep their mouths closed for so long. The symbolism of Nazi Germany is a subtle, under the skin type affair that ties this film in a horrible bow. I highly recommend this film to people who can stomach slow burns and realistic yet disturbing events.

4.5/5