Gavin Grades The Movies |
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| Posts from January 2011 |
The Rite
by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 Why is it that Hollywood can't seem to get their crap in a pile and make a decent horror movie about devil possession?  The more attempts they make that fall on their faces, the more it makes The Exorcist look even more impressive that it was pulled off so well.  This attempt is The Rite and it stars Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins opposite an unknown hunk Colin O'Donoghue (The Tudors) in a film from Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom (1408).  They even took the approach of tagging the beginning of this with a "Inspired by true events..." and hoped it would punch up the spookiness.  It did but only in the respect that The Vatican really does have classes on exorcisms.  That's about as spooky as this movie gets.  The story is decent though; it follows a young man who's wrestling with his faith right before becoming a Priest.  He's sent to Italy to watch real exorcisms in hopes that it would renew his belief in God.  Pretty cool plot, right?  It's just heartbreaking that nothing scary happens in the film.  There are fleeing moments of creepiness but they're few and far from the stuff nightmares are made of.  So disappointing!  In all honesty, I wasn't expecting a lot from this in the first place.  So in that respect, I kind of got more than I thought in a stellar performance from Hopkins.  This might be him at his best since Silence of the Lambs.  He pulls off stuff in this movie that is damn impressive for a senior citizen, and none of it appears to CGI or other special FX.  Hopkins has a way of playing almost himself in every role but he recites the dialogue so fluently that it seems like improv instead of well rehearsed lines.  It's a technique that kind of reminds me of the way Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Fly) used to perform...back when Jeff Goldblum used to perform.  Of course with that much awesomeness laying around the set, you'd think his co-star would rise to the occasion.  But shockingly, O'Donoghue loafs through the movie showing the same emotion that you'd imagine he would waiting at the DMV.  If I were to pick one problem that The Rite has it would be its total lack of energy.  This was a movie with a great actor performing better than ever in a film that has a decent core plot and it ended up being boring.  Something I'd be willing to overlook if it got my blood pumping with some jumps and frights, but the only faith it restored in me was my faith that Hollywood hasn't and can't make a better possession movie than The Exorcist.  Long may rein!
The Rite  (Rated PG-13)
Gavin Grade: C
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The King's Speech
by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 This is exactly the kind of movie that usually gets nominated for all the Oscars.  It's a posh British film filled with foreign actors about a subject that's historical and obscure.  The difference with The King's Speech is that this year it's actually great, whereas usually they're boring.  This film, which stars Colin Firth (Love Actually, A Single Man) and Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean, Shine), is the true story of King George VI and how he overcame his stammer so he could lead a nation during WWII.  This is one of those rare movies that is both funny and moving at the same time.  I've often said that pulling off a dramedy is not easy at all.  When you make it a period picture it becomes even harder.  But director Tom Hooper does it very well; impressive considering that his background prior to this was mostly made-for-TV films.  Firth gives one of the finest performances from a leading actor of the year.  He not only molds his voice into a mirror sound of what King George VI sounded like, but doesn't make his stammer comical or over-the-top at all.  He also makes a character that is complex and interesting by showing us the ugly side of his temper and regal arrogance while also displaying his love for his family and vulnerability to his condition.  That's all aided by a great performance from Rush as well.  However, I'm not sure it's the role of his career since he's mostly playing himself and just happens to have an amazing script and part.  Same thing goes for Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club, Alice in Wonderland), who plays Queen Elizabeth.  She's far from disappointing but it's her giving us goodness from a script that offers greatness.  That's not to say that this is entirely Firth's film though.  He's so good because he's surrounded by those that are making him look so.  Any other year, this would be the kind of film to easily walk away with the Oscar for Best Picture, but 2010 was such an amazing year for movies that, by comparison, this doesn't seem like it's up to par with the rest of the best.  The film made me laugh, it made me tear up and it even gave me goosebumps a bit, but it just slightly lacked the powerful climax I was hoping for.  When you have  a movie that builds to one single moment, it better be spectacular.  Sadly for The King's Speech it was not only historical with no wiggle room for Hollywood embellishment, but it also involved British royalty, who seem incapable of showing much emotion outside of anger.  That doesn't diminish the greatness that this movie is, but it waters down the effectiveness that it could have had.
The King's Speech  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: A-
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The Green Hornet
by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 Prior to this year, did anyone really know of The Green Hornet besides our grandparents that loved the old radio show? Â Not me. Â I vaguely knew what it was but often it got it confused with The Shadow. Â Because of that, this seems like a highly unnecessary relaunch of the pulp characters as a way for the movie studio to squeeze money out of a new franchise. Â So they hired Seth Rogen and shot it in 3D to make it seem fun for kids in hopes of doing just that. Â Frankly, I think they missed the mark. Â Through no fault of Rogen's, the movie was campy and rather dull. Â Now, I enjoy campiness in films but it has to be done right. Â I'll either laugh at you when you're campy by accident or laugh with you when you do it on purpose. Â I think The Green Hornet attempted to do campy on purpose but didn't take it far enough. Â Taiwanese actor Jay Chou makes his American debut as the Hornet's sidekick, Kato. Â He's actually pretty good. Â He has charisma, action chops and a pseudo knack for comedic timing. Â I mean he holds his own against Seth Rogen's improv, which is no easy task. Â He reminds me of a young Jackie Chan. Â Cameron Diaz appears as the only female in a meaningless character that offers very little substance to the film. Â One of the saddest aspects about The Green Hornet to me was the decision by Christoph Waltz, who's fresh off of winning an Oscar for Inglorious Basterds, to appear in this. Â His performance is so bad that it makes me think twice about hailing him as one of the best actors from Europe working right now. Â It almost seems like he realizes what a bad decision it was to be in The Green Hornet and doesn't even try to muster up a decent performance through the whole thing. Â However, he wasn't helped at all by a stupid script, which Rogen was responsible for. Â The good news about Rogen improvising so much in the film is that it cuts out most of the written screenplay. Â But what I don't get is why director Michel Gondry let this fail so badly and didn't put his classic stamp of personality on it. Â This is the guy that gave us Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep! Â The creativity that he put into those two great movies are completely void from The Green Hornet. Â Although the problem with most comedic action films is that the comedy is lame but that's not the case here. Â The best thing about The Green Hornet is that it's funny...at times. Â What fights against it is everything else. Â The action is absurd, the story is moronic and the overall film falls short in virtually every area it was going for. Â Even with the gimmicky 3D effects found in the movie, it stings more than it satisfies and overall disappoints.
The Green Hornet  (Rated PG-13)
Gavin Grade: C-
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Blue Valentine
by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 Oo! Â It's the dreaded (almost) NC-17 rated movie with Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, Lars and the Real Girl) and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, Shutter Island) that everyone talked about before it came out because of its graphic sex scenes. Â Yes, this movie does have sex scenes that flirt with graphic and they're very uncomfortable to watch, but if that's all you talk about from this movie, it's a damn shame. Â Blue Valentine follows a married couple from the time of them meeting and falling in love to the time of their marriage falling apart. Â That story couldn't possibly have been told more often, right? Â But what makes this one unique is how the stories overlap each other and are downright painful to watch. Â In fact, pain is what this movie is all about. Â I myself come from a broken home. Â My parents got divorced when I was 13 and anyone who has ever lived through a divorce, either as a child or spouse or both, will have a really hard time watching this. Â Some of the scenes are so realistic and so flawlessly portrayed that it made me cautious to keep watching. Â What's so impressive about these scenes though is the control over them. Â It would be easy to do a movie about a failing marriage that's full of black and white characters that just scream the whole time. Â Blue Valentine doesn't allow that to exist while it's under the careful command of director Derek Cianfrance, who mostly has a background in documentaries. Â That's obvious as you watch it because the whole film has handheld camera work and heavily improvised dialogue. Â In fact one scene that takes place on the Brooklyn Bridge was improvised so much that Gosling scared the crap out of the crew and Williams when he climbed over the edge of the bridge (where there was no safety net) and threatened to jump. Â It's one of the many scenes that is so uneasy to watch that it makes you want to shut it off. Â I'm not a big fan of Gosling or Williams, but they did a great job in this. Â Williams actually is the better of the two. Â Gosling's character doesn't change through the film since he's a husband that doesn't want to lose his family. Â Williams had to pull off someone who falls in love and falls out of it while filming and she does it with finesse. Â I felt that she loved and hated, both with passion, multiple times in the non-linear story. Â What prevents this film from breaking into the realm of greatness is mostly what makes it so good: the pain. Â Blue Valentine is a miserable movie and loves every second of it. Â It never once tries to be uplifting or beautiful or charming. Â It's not romantic. Â It's not sweet. Â It's a movie about a crumbling marriage where you feel every sting of heartbreak. Â But why would anyone want to watch that...especially more than once? Â I don't at least.
Blue Valentine  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B+
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The Dilemma
by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 It's amazing that you can make a whole movie off of something that morning radio show hosts have been debating for decades. Â "If you caught your best friend's spouse cheating, would you tell your best friend?" Â That's the plot for the new movie from director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Angels and Demons) and stars Vince Vaughn, Kevin James (King of Queens, Hitch), Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream). Â What's going to fight this movie from the beginning is a horrible ad campaign. Â The poster is lame and just shows Vaughn and James as if this is another cliche buddy comedy of Vaughn's, only replacing his friend John Favreau with Kevin James this time around. Â It seems like any Wedding Crashers or Old School in the trailer with the hip pop song playing while slapstick comedy displays him falling into plants. Â Yes, those scenes are all in it, but that's not the tone of the film. Â It's better than that. Â This is a dramedy that carries a decent soul with it. Â It's gonna rock audiences when they see Vaughn and James start to cry in scenes that aren't meant to be humorous at all. Â Sure you'll hear some chuckles from people who are too uncomfortable to accept the silence, but they're not funny scenes. Â Because of that I liked it more than I thought I would. Â But because of that most people won't. Â Your casual moviegoer will be disappointed that the laughs don't come often and when they do, they come cheaply. Â The comedy aspects of the film flat out annoyed me at times. Â Queen Latifah appears in a small part that is meant to drive people nutty with laughs but her character is boring, pointless and void of humor. Â On the flip side, Channing Tatum (Dear John, G.I. Joe) is great as the small but important role as the "other guy." Â In the future, I'd actually like to see him do more comedy because he's good at it. Â I think the meat and potatoes of this film comes from Ron Howard. Â He's a great director who'd tackled lots of genres, but this is the first dramedy he's done in a while; not since 1989's Parenthood. Â Just like Parenthood, this movie is real quality but not great. Â He gets the adult situations, real life drama and human interactions right but the comedy and humor mostly wrong. Â The good news is that this film carries with it some great performances from actors that I would have guessed weren't capable of giving them at all or at the very least anymore. Â I'm happily wrong there. Â But the real dilemma for The Dilemma is whether people will accept their disappointment for it not being a true comedy and then move on and live in the drama. Â I sure hope so.
The Dilemma  (Rated PG-13)
Gavin Grade: B-
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