MOVIE REVIEW: TUSK

An irreverent American podcaster interviews a Canadian adventurer whose wild tale of survival at sea masks sinister intentions in this twisted horror comedy from writer/director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Red State). Wallace (Justin Long) and Teddy (Haley Joel Osment) are the wisecracking co-hosts of "The Not-See Party", a popular podcast focused on bizarre viral videos and humorous interviews with the internet-famous. When Wallace ventures to Canada for an interview that falls through at the last minute, he stops at a local bar for a drink and finds a flyer posted by an old adventurer (Michael Parks) who seeks to share his stories with anyone who will listen.  Meanwhile, as Teddy and Wallace's girlfriend venture north to investigate his sudden disappearance, the old man subjects his terrified guest to a bizarre medical procedure that will transform more than just his perception of one of the sea's most majestic creatures. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Kevin Smith

Cast: Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Michael Parks, Genesis Rodriguez

Release Date: Sep 19, 2014

Rated R for Sexual Content, Language, Gore and Some Disturbing Violence

Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.

Genres: Horror

Review:

Kevin Smith is a hit or miss director for me.  Even his earlier films like Clerks, Mall Rats or Chasing Amy never really connected with me, I found them amusing but never found out what made Smith a name director.  Dogma is probably my favorite film from Smith with his recent foray into horror, Red State, being his worse film.  So I was a bit ambivalent when I heard about his 2^nd horror film, Tusk, but I was rather intrigued by the insane concept.  The film is rather odd but surprisingly straightforward as well.  Some have compared it to the Human Centipede which I think is more than a bit off because it’s kind of its own creature, pun intended.  The best thing about Tusk is that it’s actually funny.  Smith skewers plenty of classic horror tropes, showcasing how ridiculous some of the situations are by taking it to the most extreme degree.  The cast is rather impressive, including a surprise appearance by a well known actor.  Justin Long is appropriately douchey so when karma comes his way, you don’t feel an ounce of sympathy.  Michael Parks is clearly having a great time in a very nutty role.  Genesis Rodriguez and Haley Joel Osment are noteworthy in their ability to play it straight while Smith shoots varying levels of insanity at them.  Tusk is definitely Kevin Smith’s weirdest film but it’s also one of his better efforts as well.

B+ 

Cindy Prascik's Review of No Good Deed

Dearest Blog, yesterday afternoon it was off to the pictures for the thriller No Good Deed.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

Home alone on a dark and stormy night, a woman and her two young children are terrorized by an intruder.

Readers, I gotta be straight with ya: I find leads Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson to be two of the most beautiful people in the world. I can't decide if I liked this movie more than it deserved, because I got to look at them for 90 minutes, or if I liked it less than it deserved, because I was distracted by their excessive good looks. At any rate...


No Good Deed is a decent thriller that does a nice job of maintaining suspense throughout. If the tricks are cheap, they're also effective; I jumped in my seat a fair few times. It's got kind of a twist on a twist, so, if you see the first bit coming (I did), it may still take you by surprise. Hensen is perfect, terrified (especially for her children), but no simpering damsel in distress.

Elba plays the psycho baddie with relish, and every frame seems specifically designed to make him look larger (he's 6'3" to Henson's 5'5") and more menacing. Paul Haslinger's comically melodramatic score sets the right tone, even if it's a bit much at times.

No Good Deed clocks in at a quick 84 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sequences of violence, menace, terror, and for language."

A perfect fit between Summer Blockbuster Season and Awards Season, No Good Deed is worth your ten bucks, but you'll likely have forgotten it ever existed by next year at this time.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, No Good Deed gets five and a half.

Until next time...

Thank you, but I've already bought my Girl Scout cookies!

6 Degrees of Separation Blogathon

Since there’s a cinematic dead spot in my movie calendar right I accepted a challenge from Tanner Jones (The Average Critic) to participate in the 6 Degrees of Separation Blogathon. 

Like Tanner, this is my first ever blogathon but that’s probably due to my general laziness….

To complete the challenge, I must figure out a way to connect Kaya Scodelario to Oscar Issac. 

In essence, it’s a cinematic version of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

While I’ve seen these actors, I can’t say I’m terribly familiar with either, so it took me a bit to find the connection

So without further adieu let’s begin….

Kaya Scodelario was in Clash of the Titans with….

 

 

Luke Evans who was in The Raven with….

  

John Cusack who was in the Paperboy with…

Scott Glenn who was in Sucker Punch with… 

 Oscar Isaac!!!

 

 Please hold your applause.....just kidding feel free to shower me with your love....

I now challenge Maynard over at Maynard's Horror Movie Diary to connect Oscar Isaac with Shannyn Sossamon….

MOVIE REVIEW: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead. A journey into madness and terror, As Above, So Below reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all.

Director: John E. Dowdle 

Cast: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge.

Release Date: Aug 29, 2014

Rated R 

Runtime: 1 hr. 0 min. 

Genres: Documentary, Suspense/Thriller 

Review:

Being a fan of the horror genre can be hard from time to time.  Sure you do get the occasional surprise but there’s a lot of garbage out there as well.  It’s a common problem with films that can be made on the cheap.  Add to it the “found footage” subgenre and you’ll have to deal with a lot of subpar films.  As Above, So Below is a rather frustrating film because it does have an interesting premise and it could of turned into a rather impressive Dante’s Inferno type film.  Sadly, it only touches on its potential, it randomly hits some solid notes especially in its frenetic finale but never maintains its.  Add to it that you don’t care about any of the character especially when they make the stupidest decisions possible at evey turn.  As Above, So Below is one of those horror films that loses any semblance of horror so quickly that it becomes a laughfest as you watch idiotic characters do idiotic things, thankfully it’s over quickly.

D

MOVIE REVIEW: FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

Robert Rodriguez teams with Frank Miller to direct this follow-up to Sin City from a script by Miller and William Monahan based on preexisting stories along with new ones written for the big screen. Josh Brolin stars in the adaptation of the comic miniseries (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), which tells the backstory of Clive Owen's Dwight character as he is wrapped up in the thralls of femme fatale, Ava Eva Green. Also new to the series is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Johnny, a mysterious gambler set on taking down his sworn enemy in a high-stakes game of life and death.  Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba, and Jaime King return for the Dimension Films release, with Jamie Chung and Dennis Haysbert stepping into roles left by Devon Aoki and the late Michael Clarke Duncan. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez 

Cast: Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Jessica Alba.

Rated R for pervasive violence, sex, nudity, smoking, and drugs

Release Date: Aug 22, 2014

Runtime: 102 min

Genres: Crime Thriller, Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Crime

Review:

The follow up to Sin City from Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez goes well with its predecessor even if it’s lost a bit of its bite this go around.  The style, violence and attitude carry over keeping the film visually interesting but kind of a mixed bag in terms of a story.  The good part of the film involves anything that contains Mickey Rourke who slips back into Marv’s skin with incredible ease and the always impressive Eva Green.  Green has a second Frank Miller sequel she’s single handedly props up.  Eva is always the most interesting person on screen as chews up scenery as the man eating black widow.  It’s an over the top performance but hints of subtly showcasing Green’s talent and a fair amount of self awareness.  She knows exactly what kind of film this is and what the directors are aiming for, as a result she knocks it out of the park.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is Jessica Alba who misses the mark badly.  Even worse, she seems totally unaware about how badly she’s doing.  Rourke is great but his role is greatly reduced here since he’s more of a supporting player for Josh Brolin who’s surprisingly unmemorable and bland.  Dennis Haysbert fills in capably for the late Michael Clarke Duncan while Jamie Chung is fairly distracting filling in for Devon Aoki for some reason, it might be obnoxious amount of make up they piled on her.   The biggest disappointment is Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it has nothing to do with his performance which is fine.  The problem is that his entire segment and character is utterly pointless.  It makes the entire film feel longer than it actually is, making it a bit of a slog even for fans of the series. 

C+

Cindy Prascik's Review of The November Man

Dearest Blog, thanks to an early dismissal by my generous employer, I was able to get out to the movies yesterday afternoon. On my agenda, Pierce Brosnan's poor man's Bond, The November Man.

A retired CIA operative returns to action and finds himself pitted against his former pupil.

Well, dear reader(s), I think The November Man may be the most unbelievable movie I've seen all summer, and that includes the one with the gun-toting raccoon. Comparisons to the Bond franchise are inevitable, especially with Brosnan in the lead, but, for me, there's always a wink-wink, nudge-nudge aspect to James Bond movies. Sure...the guy is impossibly slick and has impossibly advanced tools and impossibly beautiful women, and gets himself into and out of impossibly impossible situations, but the movies seem self-aware. This one could have used a bit of self awareness, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it.

Brosnan is still quite the dashing heartthrob. He's 61 now, so of course Hollywood has to offer some young meat in the form of one Luke Bracey, of whom I'd never heard until a trailer for The Best of Me ran immediately prior to November Man. I'd no more than thought, "Bet that dude is cornering the market on 'hot guy' roles," and...viola! Brosnan and Bracey have zero chemistry onscreen, and I wasn't buying the years of history between them for one minute. (Note: I mean "chemistry" in a non-romantic sense, although they don't make a very nice couple, either. I'd rather Pierce Brosnan and Andrew Garfield, myself.) Brosnan fares better with female lead Olga Kurylenko, but only just.

Mostly I think the writing is so flat that there's not much any actors could have done with it, but, again...that's not to say I didn't enjoy it.

The November Man is action packed, and no tip-toeing around trying to secure a PG13 rating either.

The series of events that keeps this movie going is about as remarkable as Gravity (a.k.a. "Murphy's Law"), but the movie is fun and not overlong, so it's not hard to forgive its other shortcomings.

The November Man runs 108 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence including a sexual assault, language, sexuality/nudity, and brief drug use." It's not a movie that'll change your life or that you'll remember forever, but for a late-August holiday weekend...eh...I'm alright with that.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The November Man gets six.

Until next time...

 I regret nothing.