TV SHOW REVIEW: HEMLOCK GROVE

A teenage girl is brutally murdered, sparking a hunt for her killer. But in a town where everyone hides a secret, will they find the monster among them?

Cast: Famke Janssen, Penelope Mitchell, Freya Tingley, Bill Skarsgård, Freya Tingley, Kandyse McClure, Aaron Douglas

Executive producer(s) Eli Roth, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Newman, Michael Connolly, Lee Shipman, Brian McGreevy, Dan Paige

Written by Brian McGreevy Lee Shipman Dan Paige

Review:

Hemlock Grove feels familiar, incredibly familiar. A multitude of supernatural themed shows litter the airwaves and movie screens. Shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries cover somewhat similar territory with the latter proving to be a more consistently written product. Hemlock Grove has an uphill battle from the start. It has to bring us engaging characters and a new slant on certain genre tropes. Does it succeed? Not really. The central mystery at the heart of season 1 is rather uninteresting and the final reveal is telegraphed early on. The characters vary from semi interesting to bland. The fact that a mute comes off as the most intriguing character speaks volumes. The cast has a few stand outs such as Landon Liboiron as Peter Rumancek. Liboiron performance feels comfortable and natural throughout and he never comes across like he’s trying too hard unlike Bill Skarsgård. Skarsgård’s performance undersells what’s supposed to be a sexy conflicted lead; instead he comes off as whiny and disinterring. Nicole Boivin with Amazon Eve working as her massive body double as Shelly, the mute mutant Godfrey sister, emotes more through simple looks, while under extensive make up, than most of her cast mates. A usually reliable Dougray Scott comes off as stiff and fairly bland even though he’s a regular cast member. Battlestar Galactica alums, Aaron Douglas and Kandyse McClure are surprisingly bad. Some of their line delivers, especially some of the more emotional moments, miss the mark badly. Bad acting is hardly limited to them because it does pester the first season like an annoying fly. The best example of this is Famke Janssen. Janssen, with a truly embarrassing and distracting “British” accent, chews up scenery like she hasn’t eaten for weeks. Her character is supposed to be a rich, sexy man eater with a biting tongue. Janssen’s performance rarely hits her mark, occasionally falling into camp territory. Her character doesn’t become truly interesting until the latter episodes. The same can be said for the season as a whole. Its plot hints at a supernatural sci-fi, religious mix but stays in a holding pattern for most of the season. As a result, most of the plot feels like a trudge mainly because the ”twists” revealed in the latter episodes are fairly obvious and you wished it’d just get on with it already. After the reveals, the series seems to find some much stronger forward moment, something it could have sorely used earlier on. Let’s hope season 2, just confirmed, can take advantage of it.

C

[Trailer] Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

First trailer for Anchorman 2, which shows some actual footage, has hit and it doesn’t show its hand too much. A few bit here and there made me grin but nothing made me laugh out loud.

I’m working on the assumption that they are keeping the best bits for the actual movie or at least hoping so since Anchorman is a personal favorite of mine, expectations are a tad high…

Cindy Prascik’s review of Man of Steel / This Is the End

Dearest Blog, today I followed the herd to the cinema for Man of Steel. Though I'd happily have seen Star Trek again, I did the responsible thing and paired MOS with This Is the End, so, dear reader(s), I could share my "wisdom" on the week's big new releases. You're welcome. ;-)

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

A reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel is the obligatory origins tale.

The usual disclaimers, personal biases that will, no doubt, color this review: I love superhero movies. I do not love Superman, but I adore this team of filmmakers, and most of this cast. I very much wanted to love this movie. I did not.

Starting with the obvious: Henry Cavill.

I'm an Anglophile, so this is not the first time Mr. Cavill and I have crossed paths. While he is an extraordinarily good-looking young man, he is, unfortunately, only an average actor, with no special charisma. Never is that more obvious than when he shares a screen with one of Hollywood's most magnetic leading men, Russell Crowe, who is terrific as always, even with limited screen time. This film really needed a Robert Downey, Jr.-esque leading man to overcome its flaws, and Cavill is not that guy. (I'm a fan, but it is what it is.) The cast is fleshed out with big names and very familiar faces: Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Laurence Fishburne, and, as mentioned, Russell Crowe. Other than Crowe, they are as unremarkable as the material. The usually superb Shannon is a particular disappointment, flat and uninspired as the film's main villain.

While the acting in Man of Steel is nothing to write home about, the cast can't really be blamed for the film's chief handicap: it's just plain boring. I somehow managed not to check the time more than once, which, in and of itself, constitutes a super-human feat.

Man of Steel does have some positives, including big, solid special effects, and a grand score by Hans Zimmer. My fellow Crowe fans will be pleased to note that Russell is looking fit these days, and there's no denying Henry Cavill is easy on the eyes, and has the perfect look for this iconic role.

Man of Steel attempts to drag Superman into the darker territory where Batman and Watchmen now comfortably reside, but Superman is ill
suited for that world. Take away the camp, and you're left with something that's no less silly, just less entertaining. This is an okay movie, but, sadly, far from the perfect superhero movie many of us were counting on.

Man of Steel clocks in at an excessive 143 minutes, and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language." This will make a bundle at the box office this weekend, and, despite my disappointment, I'm very happy about that for all involved, and I look forward to a sequel that I'm already confident will be brilliant. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Man of Steel gets six.

Next on my agenda was the raunch-comedy, This Is the End, starring James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill and a slew of their Hollywood compatriots as what I'm told are very exaggerated versions of themselves...facing the Apocalypse.

This Is the End is one of those films I don't quite know what to do with. When it was funny, it was really, really funny, but, unfortunately, there was a good bit I just didn't find funny. Being that the film is essentially one long "in" joke, I'm willing to concede that maybe I just didn't get some of it, but there were also times when it was simply too much: too gross, too much foul language, too, too much. (Bear in mind I think Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie of all time, so I'm not particularly squeamish about any of that.)

The entire cast shows off brilliant comedy chops, especially Jay Baruchel (a personal favorite) and James Franco. Not sure how much credit is due there if they were basically playing themselves, but, to a man, they are hilarious. It goes without saying that I loved Harry Potter's Emma Watson in a small role that allowed her to play against type. The movie is a tad too long, and the plot (such as it is) bogs down in places, but generally speaking it's good fun from start to finish. While I won't spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't see it, I have to at least say there's a squee-worthy moment that: a.) caused me to embarrass myself in front of a packed theatre, and b.) immediately allowed me to forgive this film for any shortcomings.

This Is the End runs 107 minutes and is rated R for "crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use, and some violence."

It's a raucous comedy that's a great time, if you've got the stomach for it. I enjoyed it, but I also spent most of the two hours thinking how much funnier The World's End is certain to be. Of a possible nine Weasleys, This Is the End gets six.

The moral of today's cinema trip: If you're thinking of seeing either of these films, but haven't yet seen Star Trek Into Darkness or Now You See Me, do yourself a favor and see one of those instead.

Until next time...





Wait...what was I saying?

MOVIE REVIEW: MAN OF STEEL

Superman flies back onto the big screen in this Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures production directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen), produced by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), and featuring a screenplay by David Goyer (Blade, The Dark Knight). Academy Award-nominated actor Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, Boardwalk Empire) co-stars as General Zod and Laurence Fishburne steps into the role of "Daily Planet" editor-in-chief Perry White. Russell Crowe and Christopher Meloni co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe.

Release Date: Jun 14, 2013

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language

Runtime: 2 hr. 23 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

The Man of Steel delivers a newer slightly edgier more conflicted version of the granddaddy of all superheros. Its first act is a bit of a slog simply because there’s a lot to cover, mostly on Krypton. Once the set up is out of the way Snyder lets his film breathe a little even though there’s still an oppressive aura about it. It attempts to give Superman a slightly more interesting slant and it works to a certain extent. Henry Cavill and his lantern jaw look good in the Superman suit and cape. He carried a concerned look on his face even when he’s smiling. Cavill has a quiet strength about himself which works well for the character even if though he and Amy Adams have zero chemistry together. Michael Shannon meanwhile is limited by a surprisingly underwritten take of General Zod. Shannon maintains a crazed look throughout but isn’t given a meaty enough script to work with. Russell Crowe fairs better as Superman’s father Jor-El. Crowe is reserved but paternal. As mentioned previously, The Man of Steel’s first act is rather slow and reserved for a Snyder film but once the action starts it does stop, so much so that it almost beats you into the ground with the sheer amount of destruction being flung around. It’s all visually striking which shouldn’t come as a surprise but it’s also emotionally distant. The film never connects the way it should; instead it keeps the audience at arms length. A few scant moments of levity here and there but otherwise it’s all serious superhero business.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: THIS IS THE END

Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel star as themselves along with Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson in this end-of-days comedy that finds the actors hiding out with James Franco in his apartment as the apocalypse decimates L.A. outside. Featuring cameos by Jason Segel and Emma Watson, the Sony Pictures film features the directing debuts of Rogen and frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Cast: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

Release Date: Jun 12, 2013

Rated R for Crude and Sexual Content, Brief Graphic Nudity, Drug Use, Pervasive Language and Some Violence

Runtime: 1 hr. 47 min.

Genres: Comedy

Review:

This Is The End is one of the raunchiest, most inspired comedies I’ve seen since The Hangover or Anchorman. The premise is simple the rapture happens and all hell, literally, breaks loose. At its heart it’s a simple conceit to get these faux versions of the actors shut into a house together under dire situations. In its simplicity the script allows plenty of riffs, verbal jabs and all out attacks on preconceived notions about each actor, it’s done with such aplomb that some of it has to be improvised. Some play themselves closer to what we’d expect while others go off the rails like Michael Cera playing a coked out proxy himself to hilarious effect. It all works so well mainly because these actors appear to be friends in the real world. As a result, their interactions ring true throughout. Verbal interchanges can reach a dizzying height of hilarity, so much so that this movie will probably require multiple viewing to catch all the jokes being flung across each actor’s mast. The cast all around is strong with Jay Baruchel doing yeoman’s work as the film’s center but special praise has to be given to Danny McBride. McBride is incredibly impressive here doling out some of the funniest lines of the film. There are a few minor issues keeping this from being perfect. The last 15 minutes or so really start to teeter out as things get more and more absurd. Part of the issue is that the script has trouble finding an ending and they didn’t want to go for the most logical conclusion. Additionally, the cast gets broken up in the last act robbing the film of some of its bite. As a result, it feels like the film could have been trimmed by 15 minutes. Minor issues aside, This Is The End is simply a comic gem.

A-

Check out the original 2007 comedy short that inspired this movie;

Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse

[Trailer] 300: Rise of an Empire

300 was a stylish mix of high tech visuals and pseudo historical fantasy. It was much stronger on the visual side than it was on the story side but it was enjoyable.

The trailer for the upcoming sequel offers up similarly striking visuals with scant details about the story. We do get a glance at Eva Green’s villainess and some impressive looking sea set battles. We'll have to wait till March 2014 to see if it comes together as a film.