10/27

10/27- A very solid week in my "movie-life".

In this week's review, I share my opinion about the film 'Sinister' which is currently in theaters. 

Also the films, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Silent House, Rock of Ages, Bernie, The Dictator, That's My Boy and Madea's Witness Protection, all of which can be found at your neighborhood Redbox.

Must See DVDs of the Week 10/27

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – A brilliant film, starring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Dev Patel, the star of the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire'. The acting is superb. The film itself is funny, its dramatic, its sad, but ultimately it's real. From watching the trailer, you may think this movie is for “the elderly", "the old", and why yes, its filled with elderly actors, but it’s a movie that should be watched by "the young". It not only shows the tough obstacles we all will encounter as we grow old in age, but the things we can look forward to, like memories and wisdom.  One of these stars, if not two will get nominated, but the question is who. If I had to put my money on one, I would have to say the scene-stealing Maggie Smith has the edge, but Im biased and absolutely love Maggie Smith. But luckily for her, so does everybody else. I'm not saying she will win, but a nomination looks like a safe bet as of now. I Strongly recommend this film. Two thumbs way up.

Silent House – This creepy, haunted-house flick is driven by one thing and one thing only, Elizabeth Olsen. From the moment she arrives on camera to the end credits she saves this film from being a waste of time. Its amazing how characters with minimal dialogue, think Ryan Gosling in Drive' can be so interesting for an audience to watch. Like Gosling, Olsen not only demands your attention, but you have no choice but to keep your eyes on her as the director chooses to use close ups of her whenever possible. And he does quite frequently.  Another interesting thing to keep in mind while watching is this movie is not jumpy. And I don’t mean that it’s not scary, because it definitely has its jumpy scary moments. I mean this movie with the help of some clever editing, was shot to resemble one long continuous take.  The movie starts and then it ends. The camera follows Olsen the whole time, no jump cuts, no transitions, no fade to black, none of that stuff, just lots and lots of Elizabeth Olsen. People might say this movie, was slow, kind of predictable, and not that scary, and sure all those things may be right to an extent, but its better then half of the crap Hollywood craps out and slaps with a Horror label. I watched this movie in the middle of the day with the lights on and it scared me. So if you prefer scary movies that aren’t over the top, have little dialogue and don’t feel like productions, Silent House will not disappoint. Elizabeth Olsen isn't a star in the making. She is a star and is here to stay for a very long time. If you haven’t seen Martha Marcy May Marlene’ yet jump off a roof. I’m just kidding. But seriously…. Olsen’s breakout role from last year is a must see. I recommend you watch it before you watch Silent House you will appreciate it more. Trust me. Olsen isn’t in the same bracket as, say Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart just yet, but if she keeps picking roles that let her shine, she will be very soon.  With neither, Olsen, Lawrence, or Stewart being over the age of 23, they are  the present and the future. Don’t be surprised if Olsen lands the lead in the next big franchise,  (say along the lines of a Hunger Games or Twilight). But if you want to see her in something before she blows up and also a pretty darn good horror movie, I Strongly recommend Silent House.

Rock Of Ages – this A-list actor filled rock and roll musical is pure fun.  It stars Julianne Hough, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russel Brand, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giammati and Tom Cruise as the fictitious rock icon Stacee Jaxx. Before I go on, if you do not enjoy musicals, I advise you don’t watch this movie because there are musical numbers every 5 minutes and its not going to suddenly convert you into a fan of musicals. Trust me. It is a musical thru and thru. A very good one at that. The two-hour running time allows for a whole bunch of musical numbers. Some are better then others, but the ones that are good, are really good.  Acting wise, Tom Cruise steals the show as Stacee Jaxx. I also enjoyed the performances by Bryan Cranston, Mary J. Blige and Malin Akerman, who is never shy to push the limit, sexually. Alec Baldwin, great, as usual. I Strongly recommend Rock of Ages.

P.S: it is a two-hour live action karaoke session if you know the lyrics to the songs too. Js

Bernie – Based on a true story, Jack Black gives one of the best performances of his career as Bernie. Bernie was an all around nice guy, at times too nice. He lived in the small town of Carthage, Texas.  A rather offbeat movie that actually feels more like a mockumentary. When it nears the end it feels more like a documentary and you’re reminded that this shit was actually based on a true story. Both Shirley MacLane and Matthew McConaughey are superb in supporting roles, and I can’t say enough about Jack Black’s performance. An actor notorious for going over the top, Black seems natural and very comfortable being held back as Bernie. He never goes “over the edge”, he is calm, yet somehow able to still infuse his Jack Black personality into a character that is so unlike he’s accustomed to playing.  I thoroughly enjoyed Bernie, but I do warn this film comes with ‘a love or a hate’ label. If you liked Safety Not Guaranteed, Our Idiot Brother and Nacho Libre you will probably love this film. If not, you may hate it. So consider yourself warned.

Must sees, BUT only if you are an Adam Sandler or Sascha Baron Cohen fan.

That’s My Boy’ and The Dictator’

Both of these films are good, but only if you are a fan of Adam Sandler and Sacha Baron Cohen’s past work. Simple as that. If you hated Borat, you will hate The Dictator’ even more, so its not even worth you’re time. Trust me. If you are a fan of the two, like I am, you will be entertained.  They are raunchy, explicit, at times idiotic, unrealistic and downright ignorant, but that’s what they are supposed to be.  They should not be compared to any other type of genre. They are in a league of their own. If you want to watch a “perfectly crafted film’, watch the Godfather or Pulp Fiction, if you want to just chill, maybe light up some cannabis, relax and just watch something that makes you laugh give either of these two a shot.

Two movies I will never watch again nor recommend to anybody.

Not every movie will be great. Not every movie will be good. Hell not every movie will be average. But these two movies are amateur.

Madea’ Witness Protection – a full length feature film that could have been condensed into a 21 minute episode on TBS and it still wouldn’t have been good. I am a fan of the character Madea, because the bitch is hilarious, and if you disagree you have no sense of humor. But damn there is nothing else I can say about this film that is positive. This movie, and other Tyler Perry movies constantly use the technique of telling us what is happening in that exact moment. Whats going to happen next, and then that exact same thing happening next. It gets old. Also another thing that gets old is racial jokes and poking fun at stereotypes. There does come a time when enough is enough and you actually have to tell a story.  The best part of the film was when it was over. Madea fans should give it a view to stay loyal, but I urge all others to avoid this film. It's that bad.

Sinister – Yes. Sinister scared me a few times, but now I know why Denzel won for Training Day’. He acted next to Ethan Hawke. Now I’m not saying Denzel isn’t a good actor because he is, one of the best actually. It’s just that Ethan Hawke’s performance in Sinister gave me the blues. If only Denzel or ANYONE could have saved Ethan in Sinister because he needed it. Badly! He stars in this film, which uses a concept that has been done a million times before, (Family moves into house. House is haunted. Family member or entire family goes nuts. THE END. ) Nothing new, nothing clever. And once again, the use of injecting a “TWIST” at the very end to hopefully confuse audience members that they really just sat through a decent movie, when in reality they really just sat through two hours of horseshit. Sinister could not make up for a poor script, too many solo Ethan Hawke scenes and clichés. And lastly, just because a movie is scary, does not mean it is good. Sinister proves that the stuff that happens in between the scary moments has to be better then the scary moments or else your movie will suck ass. And Sinister definitely sucked ass. 

Well that is the end of my review, thanks for reading. Be back next week to let yall know how my 'movie-life' is going. 

Dark Shadows, Battleship, Lola Versus, The Lorax