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Saturday, November 1, 2014

MOVIE REVIEW: NIGHTCRAWLER




An ambitious young crime journalist probes the dark underbelly of L.A. in this cynical urban drama that marks the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy (Real Steal, Dan Gilroy). Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhall) is a petty thief in search of a payday when he stumbles onto the scene of a grisly car accident, and witnesses seasoned "Nightcrawler" Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) gathering video footage for a local news broadcast. Convinced that this is a career he could excel at, Lou promptly purchases a police scanner and a cheap video camera, and hits the streets. In short order Lou has hired an assistant (Riz Ahmed) to help him navigate the city streets, and started selling footage to local TV producer Nina (Rene Russo), one of Joe's regular buyers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: Dan Gilroy 

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed


Release Date: Oct 31, 2014

Rated R for Violence, Language and Graphic Images

Runtime: 1 hr. 57 min.

Genres: Drama

Review:

Nightcrawler is a kinetic film anchored by a career defining performance by Jake Gyllenhaal which is sure to garner more than a few acting nods come award season.  Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut isn’t perfect but it’s impressive enough to leave a lasting impression.  His film captures the hollow neon griminess of the Los Angeles at night all while following an empty and nearly soulless character.  Gyllenhaal’s performance is entrancing from the start as he channels a serial killers level of creepiness mixed with a robotic energy peppered with corporate speak as a second language.  Renee Russo is solid in a supporting role as the TV producer with an endless amount of moral grey area.  She’s reserved but just as focused as Gyllenhaal.  There is some clumsiness in Gilroy’s directorial effort which is most apparent near the end where the film lingers a tad longer than it needs to.  Still, it’s a rather impressive debut and perfect showcase for Gyllenhaal’s talent.

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of Nightcrawler








































Dearest Blog, yesterday I spent the final day of my vacation as you might expect: at the cinema with Nightcrawler.

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

An unemployed but highly-motivated young man shoehorns his way into the LA video news business, but blurs the line between covering a story and becoming part of it.

Nightcrawler finds Jake Gyllenhaal on point as Louis Bloom, utterly mesmerizing from start to finish. Regular reader(s) will know that I worship Gyllenhaal's Donnie Darko performance as well, despite the fact I think the movie itself is grossly overrated.

The moral of the story is: Creepy Jake = Amazing Jake. Nightcrawler sets a dark, gritty tone, filled with nighttime skylines and some seedier bits of Los Angeles. The film's humor is darker still, uneasy graveyard laughs that keep the movie enjoyable without turning it silly.

Nightcrawler is an uncomfortable watch. At face value, it's unnerving to see Bloom using whatever means he deems necessary to achieve his ends. On a deeper level, it puts a spotlight on our society's willingness to exploit misery for entertainment. It's a fascinating, if unsettling, ride that hooks you for the duration and ends at exactly the right spot, suffering neither a hurried, contrived finish nor (as is annoyingly common in this day of three-hour non-epics) dragging on long after it should have said farewell.

Nightcrawler runs 117 minutes and is rated R for "violence including graphic images, and for language."

Nightcrawler is a terrific crime drama that should be considered a contender in at least the Best Picture and Best Actor categories come awards time.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Nightcrawler gets eight.

Until next time...



Happy Jake = *sigh

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Book of Life & John Wick



Dearest Blog, yesterday I talked myself into a double bill for which I had zero enthusiasm: The Book of Life and John Wick. Hoping for at least one pleasant surprise, off to the cinema I went.

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

First on my agenda was the animated feature The Book of Life.

Torn between his own dreams and his family's expectations, a young man fights for the woman he loves...in the worlds of the living and of the dead.

Dear reader(s), I was pretty excited at the prospect of an animated movie based on the Day of the Dead, anticipating a fascinating tale told with beautiful art. Then I saw a trailer and...um...okay, sometimes a ho-hum trailer isn't really a fair indicator of a movie's quality, right? Unfortunately...
The Book of Life represents one of the worst afternoons I've ever spent at the movies. I can't remember the last time I was this bored with a picture, and if I hoped the art and animation might compensate for some of the story's flaws, well, I hoped in vain. I'm not saying the movie doesn't have some beautiful illustrations and eye-popping colors, but, for the most part, it's sub-par and even ugly at times (specifically, characters with long, warty noses...what's up with that??).

The notable exceptions are the characters who rule over the Lands of the Remembered and the Forgotten, La Muerte and Xibalba, both of which are stunning. The leading voice talent--Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, and Zoe Saldana--all mail it in, none seemingly having even the slightest interest in the proceedings. The alleged humor is puerile and flat, I don't think I laughed even once.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I'll admit my experience was not at all enhanced by the mother sitting next to me who texted for the literally the entire movie, and another behind me who allowed her small child to cry and talk loudly throughout, apparently never considering that taking him outside would be more appropriate than letting him ruin the movie for everyone else.

Still, I was bored enough to know I wouldn't have liked this much better even if I'd had the place to myself.

The Book of Life runs the longest 95 minutes ever, and is rated PG for "mild action, rude humor, some thematic elements, and brief scary images." (For my money, the imagery alone is entirely too scary for smaller children.)

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Book of Life gets one.

If you're looking for some quality seasonal animation to share with your children, please go out and grab a copy of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! or The Nightmare Before Christmas instead.

Next on the docket was John Wick.

Keanu Reeves stars as a former hitman who comes out of retirement to take revenge on those who took what was most precious to him.

Since the John Wick trailer divulges that the baddies kill Wick's dog, a final gift from his deceased wife, that is not a spoiler for purposes of this review.

It does, however, break my cardinal rule of movies and TV, which is: kill all the humans you want, but leave the dog alone. The movie doesn't linger on the event itself, and it is the catalyst for basically everything else that happens, so I'll have to give the filmmakers a reluctant pass on this one.

John Wick is the pleasant surprise for which I'd hoped yesterday, a fun actioner that is smart enough to know what it is and to not wear out its welcome.

Keanu Reeves is, as always, an engaging lead. Nevermind he's kind of a terrible actor, I love him in everything and someone else must too, given the fact that he continues to find regular work. Williem Dafoe has a terrific supporting turn as one of Wick's old business acquaintances, and the movie is so much the better for a brief appearance by the magnificent Ian McShane.

The rest of the supporting cast is a veritable who's who of "that guy who was in that thing"--oh, hey, Mayhem and Sammy Winchester's girlfriend and Theon Greyjoy!!

The action is strong and bloody and thoroughly entertaining. Fast cars and big shoot-em-ups keep the film moving at a slick pace, never leaving the viewer too much time to consider how baddies always wait their turn when they outnumber the hero in hand-to-hand combat. John Wick has all the striking visuals I was looking for in The Book of Life--MAJOR kudos for cinematography, production design, and art direction--and a super score that sets a perfect tone every step of the way.

John Wick is rated R for "strong and bloody violence throughout, language and brief drug use."
It may not have been one of the more anticipated titles of 2014, but John Wick is definitely one of the most pleasant surprises. Of a possible nine Weasleys, John Wick gets six and a half.

Until next time...



100% certified badass!

MOVIE REVIEW: JOHN WICK







































An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.
Director: David Leitch, Chad Stahelski.

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe
Release Date: Oct 24, 2014

Rated R for strong and bloody violence throughout, language and brief drug use 

Runtime: 1 hr. 36 min. 

Genres: Action, Thriller 

Review:

John Wick is a movie we’ve all seen countless times before.  The plot is paper thin, the characters are one dimensional and the story never surprises you.  So why is this movie so much fun?  Keanu Reeves is a stoic man of action who carries the film through some of the dead spots and excels in the awesome action sequences.  Those action sequences are wonderfully choreographed ballets of mayhem, reminiscent of classic Hong Kong shoot em ups.   Additionally, the film has a wonderful sense of humor.  Regardless of the body count, it never takes it’s self overly serious.  It’s the perfect kind of B movie that easily digestible and never loses track of what it’s there to do.    

B

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

[Official Trailer] The Avengers: Age of Ultron








































Check out the first look at the Avengers sequel, hurry up since this will probably be taken down soon....


Will update with the official trailer once it's released....

UPDATED OFFICIAL TRAILER 8:50PM CST 10/22/14


Sunday, October 19, 2014

Cindy Prascik's Review of Fury




































Dearest Blog, today it was off to the pictures to wage war with Brad Pitt's Fury.

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

As World War II draws to a close, an outmatched US tank crew undertakes a dangerous mission.

Well, dear reader(s), I'll be straight with you: my interest in Fury can best be described as "at least it's not that Nicholas Sparks thing." It looks like my kind of movie, and the cast is (mostly) terrific, but for some reason the trailers did nothing to excite me. Figuring I'm gonna need this one come awards time, though, I set out today hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Fury is being lauded as an honest look at war, and that may well be, but it's otherwise a total dud.

The characters are broadly drawn caricatures, and the dialogue is so badly written it might as well be Twilight. Every incident, every encounter, every happening is more predictable than the last, straight out of the tear-your-heart-out War Movie Playbook.

The cast actually IS mostly solid and can't be faulted for the film's failings, with the notable exception of Shia LeBeouf.

A great actor inhabits a character so you forget whatever you might know of him, personally, but LeBeouf is so profoundly unlikable that whatever acting skill he possesses is nowhere near up to that task. Even Brad Pitt seems somehow diminished, following so quickly on the heels of Robert Downey, Jr.'s and Denzel Washington's most recent starring turns.

If Fury gets credit for putting the horrors of war on up-close-and-personal display, it also has to take the blame for dawdling overlong on just about everything, resulting in an excessive runtime that could and should have been trimmed by at least 20 minutes. If this mess makes a ripple come awards season, I shall fail to feel even the tiniest bit of shame for keeping I, Frankenstein on my year-end top ten list!

Fury clocks in at 134 minutes and is rated R for "strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images, and language throughout."

I never go into a movie set on hating it, and honestly expected to come out of Fury impressed despite myself, Instead, the only fury to be had was my own, for seven bucks and two hours I can't get back.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Fury gets four.

Until next time..



You each owe me $1.40.
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