Posts Tagged ‘movie review’

Animal Kingdom is the gritty and violent debut feature from talented writer/director David Michod.   Set in the dangerous Melbourne underworld, Animal Kingdom revolves around a young man thrust into a family of crime and the severe consequences that result.  Michod has crafted a near great yet slightly flawed film.

Read the full Animal Kingdom movie review at FilmJabber.

“Jailbait.” What better way to describe Dakota Fanning in The Runaways, in which she plays sexy young starlet Cherie Currie opposite Kristen Stewart, who plays Joan Jett. Both onscreen and in real life, the young actress has suddenly transformed from eerily good child actor to can’t-wait-til-she’s-eighteen sex symbol (for creepy perverted men, not me – of course). In recent years, Fanning has played a sexed-up 13-year old in the superhero flick Push, a torture-loving villain in Twilight (alongside Stewart) and now a drug-crazed singer. All audiences should be eager to see what she, and Stewart, do next.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Runaways movie review.

That’s the question on everyone’s minds: Does the Kick-Ass Blu-Ray kick ass? There’s a reason why “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” hasn’t yet been repealed, or the economy hasn’t fully recovered. Everyone is just preoccupied with this nagging question. The answer: it’s pretty good. Kick ass? Maybe not, but Lionsgate doesn’t want to get ahead of itself.

Read the full article »

Angelina Jolie is the only true female action star. She can sell it and people will buy it. She can be sexy and tough-as-nails at the same time. She has a knack for choosing high-adrenaline pictures. And yet, when you examine her resume, Jolie has yet to lead an action film that has cemented its place in the lore of the genre. Salt, her newest action movie, doesn’t change matters. In fact, it is largely a huge disappointment.

Read FilmJabber’s full Salt movie review.

I want Amanda Seyfried’s agent. Just a few years ago, the actress was just “the daughter on HBO’s Big Love” or “the really dumb one from Mean Girls“, sort of cute, not really scorching hot. But Mamma Mia that career later and she’s received rave reviews and been in a couple moderate hits; suddenly, she’s a leading actress who’s recognized the world over. And she’s somehow become significantly more attractive.

Read the full article »

Revenge, or the desire for revenge, can gnaw at the soul. Or so I’m told. In Gotz Spielmann’s Oscar-nominated drama Revanche, a simple criminal waits and works in a sleepy town, his true motives simmering just below the surface.

Alex (Johannes Krisch) is an ex-con who works as a bouncer at a brothel, where he has fallen in love with one of the outfit’s best hookers (Irina Potapenko). To start a new life for the both of them, Alex devises a simple and safe plan to rob a bank and make a getaway. But after a chance encounter with a local police officer named Robert (Andreas Lust), Alex is forced to go to work on his aging father’s farm, but all the while he plots the revenge he feels he deserves. Ursula Strauss stars as Robert’s wife.

Read FilmJabber’s full Revanche movie review.

I’m an environmentally minded individual, but I’m also a consumer. I recycle whenever possible. I turn the lights off when I leave a room. I don’t buy bottle water. And I have strong feelings about the pace at which the world – and the United States in particular – is adjusting to environmental realities. But I also like to use my car rather than take the bus, and eat lots of red meat. I also still buy lots of material that will end up in a dump somewhere.

Read FilmJabber’s full No Impact Man movie review.

Whoever said “mediocrity sells” is right, as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is gearing up for its second week of release $200 million richer. It’s amazing what cheesy dialogue and pouty characters can do for a movie. Bella, Edward and Jacob return for the third movie in the four-and-a-half-part series, and thankfully it’s no New Moon: it actually has a plot, climax and purpose for existing.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Twilight Saga: Eclipse movie review.

Michael Cera has typecasted himself as Michael Cera. If a Hollywood production is every looking to have Michael Cera in their movie, they know who to go to. In Youth in Revolt, Michael Cera once again plays Michael Cera, but, just for shits and giggles, he also plays his alter ego Francois Dillinger, a very anti-Michael Cera.

Read FilmJabber’s full Youth in Revolt movie review.

How many big-name actors does it take to guarantee a movie cannot be very good? The answer is in Valentine’s Day, though you can have the privilege of counting the recognizable faces who decided to cash it in for a complete waste of time. Among them are Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hatahway, Queen Latifah, Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner, Emma Roberts and Julia Roberts. Please come back in ten minutes after I’ve rested.

Read FilmJabber’s full Valentine’s Day movie review.

Another year, another Pixar movie and an all-but-assured lock for Best Animated Picture of the Year. The long-anticipated Toy Story 3 is here, and with it marks the return of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang that is responsible for introducing audiences to CG-animated cartoons. Nostalgia runs high and Pixar once again turns in remarkable effort, but after Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up, Toy Story 3 feels small in comparison. Pun only slightly intended.

Read FilmJabber’s full Toy Story 3 movie review.

Based on a seemingly popular book series, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is about a dyslexic teenager in New York who, after being attacked by his step-teacher-turned-winged-creature-from-hell, discovers that he is in fact a demigod, the son of Poseidon, can control water in unnatural ways (he doesn’t have to go to the bathroom for days on end!) and that many believe he stole Zeus’s lightning – which just isn’t a very smart thing to do. Throw Hades into the mix and we have ourselves an adventure.

Read the full article »

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is long over, but this just goes to show how busy I’ve been: between long work weeks, sports and multiple bachelor parties, movies have taken a back seat to things are “allegedly” more important. Still, I managed to get to two SIFF films out of its four-week run, the first of which was the Welsh film called Patagonia.

Read the full article »

America is a funny place these days. And by funny, I mean disappointing. While conservatives continue to fret about the degradation of American values in the economy and our way of life – citing liberty and freedom – they continue to restrict the freedom of their fellow citizens. Homosexuals are just the latest minority to be discriminated against in this country, and whether you approve or disapprove of the gay lifestyle, don’t for one second think that denying them certain rights that straight people are allowed is anything but discrimination.

Read FilmJabber’s full 8: The Mormon Proposition movie review.

Each awards season, some movies rise above expectations – even above their means – to achieve glory, and others fade from awareness almost immediately. Occasionally, there’s nothing wrong with these movies; they’re just released at the wrong time, promoted poorly or struck by fate. One such film is The Road, the Viggo Mortensen drama-thriller that was destined for great things but never got the recognition it deserved.

The Road had everything going for it: the movie was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book; that book was written by Cormac McCarthy, the author of another Oscar winner, No Country for Old Men; it starred Viggo Mortensen, an Oscar-nominated actor; was about a post-apocalyptic world; had a prime November release date; and it was garnering positive reviews.

Read the full article »