BIG FAN rekalled...

BIG FAN, an independent dark comedy staring nerdy comic Patton Oswald is an interesting view of the world of the obsessed sports fan. The film's premise is an interesting angle, one fan meets his favorite player and he is assaulted by said player and the ramifications from this encounter. I enjoyed the beginning and the end but the middle 40 minutes or so is mind numbingly boring. Maybe that was to reinforce the mundane reality of the main characters life but I think that's why Hollywood invented the music montage. Over all a bit of a disappointment, Patton Oswald is a good comedian and does and admiral job of channelling a fan's passion as well as the other actors in the film but the story just fails the premise. Just drags too much in the middle. If seen, be sure you have the ability to fast forward through the middle, you will get the gist of what is happening.

Legion rekalled...

LEGION, the new Paul Bettany action movie is one to avoid. A terrible film. Boring and talky for an action film that had potential. I enjoy Paul Bettany's work and there are some other actors whom you think would make the film interesting and none of it works. Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton waste their time in this as well. One of the main characters name's is Jeep, I think this was unintentionally hilarious since it made me laugh every time I heard it. The film is about a rogue angel who comes to earth to protect the unborn child that will save mankind from the coming apocalypse. The film has an interesting beginning with an possessed old woman getting hit in the head with an iron pan and that is the peak of action for the film, that happens in the first 20 minutes or so and fails from there on out. The simple siege story has no suspense since the attackers only mount one attack when they have the numbers to simply over run the survivors. Their attacks are simplistic, irrational and few. Just a ridiculous waste of time, not even a fun dumb action film that I expected it to be.

the BOOK of ELI rekalled...

The BOOK of ELI is the newest film from the Hughes Brothers(a brand name that holds no special spot in my heart) and Denzel Washington. This post-apocalyptic film set 30 years after an event that makes the world that is what our hero travels through. This film was very stylish and had a very muted pallet which seemed to really work and the score was also perfect and original feeling for the story. I had low expectations heading into this but not completely negative. I am a fan of Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis so that was a draw. Denzel Washington is hit or miss for me, I love some of his films and others I find painful. This film stayed with me after I saw it and my admiration grew afterwards. They really did a good job of surprising me at the end, I had a completely different surprise than what I expected. So much so, I want to see it again to see the signs I missed. I did have a couple of problems with the post-apocyptic world the BOOK of ELI established, people did not seem to concerned with food, there were heavy set people and relatively healthy looking. Also some of the outfits seemed rather nice and stylish for a world with 30 years of no new clothing made. The ROAD really set the bar high for a terrible post-apocolyptic world. Other than that, the action was cool and just gory enough to be entertaining without being gross and Denzel does give off a believable bad ass vibe. Not a prefect film but a fun post-apocolyptic adventure.

44 INCH CHEST rekalled...

44 INCH CHEST is a new film from the writer of a film that I was a fan of from a years ago, Sexy Beast. With that pedigree, I had high expectations - those were crushed. The film was very boring and could have been a play with a very limited local with most of the film taking place in one room and a lot of talking and angst. This was a waste of talent, many great actors and an intriguing idea just fizzled. A man with mob connections finds out his wife is leaving him for another, younger man and he get's his friends together to get revenge. THEN NOTHING HAPPENS. Extremely boring, avoid at all costs.