Movie Reviews

Each year, there are documentaries of all kinds: funny, emotionally personal, political, anti-business, environmental and more. The few that really hit home, however, are the ones that reveal massive tragedies few in the United States know about. Crude is one of those documentaries.

Read FilmJabber’s full Crude movie review.

Someone put the leash back on Rob Zombie. Now. Halloween II, the sequel to the hit Rob Zombie remake, is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray, which means millions of horror fans are going to invest in one of the worst movies of 2009.

Zombie’s first Halloween movie was surprisingly good. He apparently got off the acid for a few months and directed the most grounded movie of his career, delivering an authentic psychological thriller coupled with a legitimate slasher flick. The Weinsteins apparently got lucky, because Halloween II is a noisy, obnoxious and trippy disaster of epic proportions.

Read FilmJabber’s full Halloween II movie review.

The New Year begins with the fad that defined 2009 – vampires – as Daybreakers bites its way into theaters. The good news is that unlike Twilight: New Moon, Daybreakers features a clever concept and real, not-so-sparkly vampires; the bad news is that it’s a poorly executed, hammy mess.

Read FilmJabber’s full Daybreakers movie review.

Evil children are creepy. Why? Because they look all cute and cuddly, but then those innocent, buggy eyes turn cold, the curl of the lips reveal something sinister and they are able to do just about anything they want while parents attempt to overlook the fact that their kid is a sociopathic killer. These are the reasons why “bad seed” movies continue to be made, because they are just so much fun to watch.

Read FilmJabber’s full Orphan movie review.

Few first-time directors come out of the gate with all guns firing, but Tom Ford appears to have done so with A Single Man, a superbly acted, emotionally intriguing and visually stimulating drama that is one of the year’s best.

Read FilmJabber’s full A Single Man movie review.

Chris Pine had a breakout year in 2009, with some little movie called Star Trek making a few bucks at the dollar theater. But for every hit, there’s a failure, and Pine’s failure of the year is Carriers, a post-apocalyptic thriller about four friends who travel around a deserted United States in the wake of a deadly outbreak that has killed off most of the population.

Read FilmJabber’s full Carriers movie review.

From Scott Sanders comes Black Dynamite, a satirical take on 1970′s blaxploitation films. With the look, feel and style of such films, Black Dynamite is a true homage to the genre, though whether you can sit through the whole thing is another matter.

Read FilmJabber’s full Black Dynamite movie review.

From Diablo Cody, the writer of Juno, comes a movie much more fitting for her name: Jennifer’s Body, a sharp-tongued horror-comedy about an attractive cheerleader – Megan Fox – who is possessed by a flesh-hungry demon. Though not perfect, Jennifer’s Body is a slick, witty and at times creepy film that any horror fan, especially those of the male species, will enjoy.

Read FilmJabber’s full Jennifer’s Body movie review.

In Lars von Trier’s most mainstream movie to date – which still isn’t very mainstream at all – Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star in what is easily the most twisted movie of 2009, Antichrist. Though its intent still eludes me, Antichrist is also one of the most captivating and visually engaging movies of the year.

In Antichrist, Dafoe and Gainsbourg star as a married couple who are attempting to get over the loss of their only child. As the two have passionate, hardcore sex in the bedroom, the child climbs up to an open window and plummets in magnificent slow motion to the sidewalk below, his life ending in an instant. Dafoe, playing an unnamed therapist, takes it upon himself to treat his wife by taking her into the woods of Eden – a place she fears with all her heart because it reminds her of her son. Once there, though, the two are immersed in an increasingly bleak world of tension and misery – though to explain what truly happens or what the movie is about is both hard to explain and a betrayal of the film’s shocking developments.

View this Antichrist movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!

In The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock pulls off her second box office feat of the year and writer/director John Lee Hancock exceeds expectations with one of the most satisfying drama-comedies of the year. The movie, about the story of NFL football player Michael Oher, is one the entire family can enjoy, even if none are fans of the sport.

Bullock stars as – no, not Michael Oher – Leigh Anne Tuohy, a platinum blonde who cares a little too much about people. When she sees “Big Mike” (Quinton Aaron) walking outside in a T-shirt in sub-freezing temperatures with no place to go, she feels obliged to take him in and give him some food. But what starts out as one night of compassion turns into a much longer stay, to where Michael becomes a part of the family. Aided by his new family, Michael learns how to play football and goes on to become one of the most sought-after players by colleges and, eventually, the NFL.

View this The Blind Side movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin star in It’s Complicated, the latest comedy from the director of Something’s Gotta Give and What Women Want. The movie – about a divorced couple who start having an affair with each other – has the concept and gimmick to be a huge hit, but unfortunately the best parts are shown in the previews.

Streep plays Jane, who years after divorcing her husband Jake (Baldwin) has yet to find new love – or even a sex partner. Jake has moved on – he has a sexy young wife and a kid in kindergarten – but has he really? Jane and Jake hook up after a drunken night on the town and proceed to have a secretive affair, even though Jane knows it can only end badly. Meanwhile, she is starting to hit it off with her architect Adam (Martin), but with two men suddenly in her life – not to mention her own children – life has suddenly become very complicated.

View this It’s Complicated movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!

Though Moulin Rouge showed that musicals could be cool again, it was Rob Marshall’s 2002 Oscar winner Chicago that proved they could be critical and financial successes, too. In other words, Marshall is largely responsible for the wave of hit musicals that have hit been released over the last decade, and he’s back with another star-studded adaptation with Nine.

Nine stars – brace yourself – Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren and Fergie, among others. The cast is just ridiculous. Do you know how many Oscars are represented in that group? Yeah, I can’t count that high, either.

View this Nine movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!

Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christpher Plummer, Crispin Glover and Martin Landau star in the sci-fi adventure film 9, out today on DVD and Blu-Ray. The animated film from Shane Acker is a visual masterpiece, full of rich special effects and tons of creativity. While it never completely lives up to expectations, 9 is definitely worth seeing (note: it’s not for little children).

The movie is, of course, about the timeless tale of a rag doll in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has died off, to be replaced by ravenous robotic creatures. The title character – yes, 9 – finds himself on the adventure to the truth about his existence as he is thrust into the middle of a battle between the evil creatures and his own kind, who themselves are divided. Action ensues.

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One of the edgiest, smartest and most entertaining movies of 2009 is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray: (500) Days of Summer, starring Jospeh Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

The back cover describes the movie as a romantic comedy, and in many ways it is: it’s about a romance, and it’s funny from the first second to the last. But (500) Days of Summer is so much more than a romantic comedy. It’s not just fluff and concept, the same story layered over the same old formula. It’s real life, and yet an exaggerated form of life. More accurately, it is a movie about the emotional ups-and-downs of any relationship.

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A contender for Best Picture this year is An Education, a smartly written, well-acted coming-of-age drama about an intelligent teenage girl who, while attempting to get into Oxford, falls in love with an older, more rebellious man who encourages her to question much of her beliefs. Unfortunately, the movie’s lackluster ending keeps it from greatness.

An Education, set in 1960′s London, starts out as a great period piece, portraying a time where youth were beginning to question the values of their parents more so than ever. Twenty-four year old actress Carey Mulligan turns in a Golden-Globe nominated performance as Jenny, a sweet, innocent teenager who is disinterested with her father’s insistence that everything she do be for getting into Oxford, but who hasn’t found an outlet for her frustrations. Enter David (Peter Sarsgaard), a charming, slightly older man who knows how to win over people, but who also pays for his luxurious life by stealing.

View this An Education movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!