CYRUS rekalled...

CYRUS is an independent film staring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and the title character Cyrus played by Jonah Hill, although the film is named after his character it is about John C. Reilly's interaction with Cyrus and his mother. Jonah Hill gives a great subtle performance of a character with mother issues and John C. Reilly gives an equally great performance of a perpetually frustrated person that is beaten down by life. Once again Marisa Tomei gives a great performance, not bad for a lady whom many had considered washed up and undeserving an academy award, proving them wrong! The film opens up with the dreaded shaky cam and unnecessary zooming which had me doubting the movie from the outset but the film won me over. And odd little film with awkward interactions and great performances. This film shows that even though some people may be quite different from each other on the surface they may be more alike than they perceive.

The TOWN rekalled...

The TOWN is the newest directorial edition from budding artier Ben Affleck. Unfairly maligned for some poor acting choices and becoming another cog in the hollywood machine he has fought back to prove that his early success was not a fluke. The TOWN is masterfully directed with plenty of action and tension, I was truly impressed. While the film doesn't break any new ground in genre or story-wise, the film is great none the less. The one-last-hiest bank robber genre is not an easy one to leave a mark and this film will go down as one the greats. Even in the moments of thick Boston accents when I couldn't tell what was said, the way the story was told I was never lost. And according to this film Charleston Massachusetts is the Compton of white people. Highly recommended.

JOAN RIVERS: a PIECE of WORK rekalled...

Joan Rivers: a Piece of Work is a documentary about the legendary comedian Joan Rivers. This film was a great view into one year of here life and the struggles to remain relevant in the youth dominated entertainment industry. There is great insight into what makes the woman tick and what drives her to continue when so many of her peers have past on, retired or become irrelevant. Here were don't get to see her most interesting year of her career but one of her most triumphant.

HARD EIGHT rekalled...

HARD EIGHT is an early Paul Thomas Anderson(of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood fame) film that stars many recognizable actors from John C Reilly to Samuel L Jackson to Gwyneth Paltrow but focuses on classic character actor Philip Baker Hall. Not bad for an early film but it had some moments of awkwardness and the slow pacing didn't help hide the faults. An interesting film for an early film maker that would go on to make some amazing films but was not feeling it by the end. It just kind of ran out of juice and was that, already fading from my memory. I am glad that Paul Thomas Anderson was able to take what he learned and executed from this film and make some truly great classics.

GET HIM TO THE GREEK rekalled...

GET HIM TO THE GREEK is a comedy staring Jonah Hill and Russell Brand in characters that originated in Forgetting Sarah Marshal. Being a fan of Jonah Hill and hearing that Russell Brand was a pretty big star in England I had expectations of laughing quite a bit and didn't laugh that much. The problem with this movie seemed to be it did't know what kind of comedy it wanted to be, vas-elating between a gross out hard R comedy and an absurdness of an Anchorman and never committing to either and coming up short in the potential for humor. Russell Brand's style of humor didn't connect with me either, Jonah Hill needed a better foil and their styles didn't mesh well to me. A lot of the bits seem to be attempts at humor but with no conclusion, like they hard the idea but then would just give up on it. Overall I was disappointed in the film and would rather have watched Superbad again.

MACHETE rekalled...

MACHETE is director Robert Rodriguez's homage to the exploitation genre expanded from a trailer originally created for his other homage to the grindhouse genre, Planet Terror. This film does not succeed in being as entertaining as his previous effort. In the opening minutes of the film we see the main character; Machete being played by Danny Trejo, doing what we would expect from a bad ass that we saw from the trailer and I thought I was in for a great ride. Too bad the film peaked in those opening moments, after that we get a increasingly less entertaining movie from scene to scene. Maybe he had a problem of being painted into a corner feeling like had to have every scene from the fake trailer in the real movie and some of these made no sense and destroyed the flow of the film. Generally the scenes from the fake trailer were more interesting that everything else and the "used film" look was not consistent which seemed to be a theme. It was pretty jarring to see the actual height of Danny Trejo in establishing shots, he even appeared uncomfortable in some scenes, he just felt under used and I think they could have had him do more, show more emotion. The one stand out of the film was the performance of Jeff Fahey, he is the perfect actor for this style of film. I would love to see him in more, he stands out in anything he does. Other than that this film is forgettable, it would be better just to see Planet Terror again.

PIRANHA 3D rekalled...

PIRANHA 3D is a remake of the classic B horror of the same name and I am not sure if it fails, meets, exceeds or the original since I have never seen it but this film doesn't make me want to run out and see the original. I knew what I was getting into when I went to see this film and I had my low expectations met. With a cast that had many comedians and interesting actors the film was rather flat and unentertaining, a lot of talent wasted. With actors like Elizabeth Shoe, Adam Scott, and Christopher Lloyd you would expects laughs and compelling characters but the film decided to focus on a couple of teens without charisma or charm. That is my biggest complaint, a misdirected focus. The second biggest problem was for a "3D" film; it was terrible. The 3D effects merely looked like a series of card board cut outs in from of another. In the opening moments Richard Dreyfus appears to have a disembodied head and a separate shoulder on different flat plains. And after a while the 3D either faded away or they gave up on it. 3D is not a future I await in anticipation, I would rather watch in 2D. Not that it would have helped this film, character was what this film was weakest in.

THE COVE rekalled...

The Cove is a documentary about the secret of a Japanese town and the lengths it goes to cover up and protect this secret. Advertised as a real world environment spy thriller, the film comes up a little short. Being a documentary of an ongoing problem the film has an unsatisfactory ending but that probably half the point, to get more people motivated to join the cause. Extremely interesting and informative the film succeeds in educating and garnering sympathy for the cause but for entertainment value I was left wanting more or a more satisfying conclusion. I think it is an important film to see but the advertising may be a little misleading, although tense in moments it isn't complete.