Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)

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Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)

Leprechaun in the Hood is… well, it’s called Leprechaun in the Hood, so what would you expect? It’s a terrible movie, really, really terrible. The story makes no sense, the characters are all idiots, the jokes aren’t funny and it’s definitely not scary. It’s a bad movie and not even an unintentionally funny one. The Leprechaun part guarantees a bad horror movie, but the In the Hood part guarantees an amazing amount of stereotypes and racism. You might find that funny, but it doesn’t make it less racist. No, this is not a movie I’m happy to have seen (but thanks to How Did This Get Made the suffering was a bit easier).

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Win Win (2011)

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Win Win (2011)

Win Win is a traditional indie comedy. It follows rather typical indie movie characters through a standard indie movie plot. It’s good, but not because of the story or some of the underdeveloped characters, but mainly because of the incredible acting. Paul Giamatti is amazing and, well, everyone else is too. But the story moves along such conventional paths and especially the ending is resolved much too easy. Also, the character of Jeffrey Tambor, as funny as he is, has no back story at all and only shows up to be funny. On the other hand, Kyle (Alex Shaffer) is a very well-written and acted character that keeps most of the movie going. Thomas McCarthy is both a great writer and director and you see that in most of the scenes, even if others don’t work or feel hokey. Anyway, I really liked the movie despite its flaws and I want to take a look at how it depicts the average life of common people.

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All Good Things (2010)

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All Good Things (2010)

(spoilers ahead)

All Good Things is a fascinating movie that maybe doesn’t completely satisfy in the end, but is still able to hold the audience’s attention all the way through. It’s the story of David Marks and Katherine McCarthy (or the real-life story of Robert Durst and Katherine McCormack on whom the movie is based) and it’s clear why director Andrew Jarecki was intrigued by this story. Its biggest problem is that the movie can’t provide a satisfying conclusion because it has to stay true to the facts and the facts don’t provide an answer either. But this doesn’t lessen the movie’s power, which is mostly due to the strong performances. Ryan Gosling is as good as always, but the real surprise is Kirsten Dunst. She surely was never a bad actress, but she shines so brightly in this movie that when her character disappears, the movie loses a lot of its appeal. Still, the direction is strong and the score keeps you entertained for the last 30 minutes where the doomed romance turns into an unsolved crime mystery.

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This 80s Movie: Ms. 45 (1981)

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This 80s Movie: Ms. 45 (1981)

(spoilers ahead)

Ms. 45 is an example of a vigilante movie, although it goes even more absurd than most of them are. It is one of Abel Ferrara’s first movies and is crude, violent and absurd. I couldn’t call it good convincingly but in a way it was better than I expected after the first ten minutes of the movie. The acting is mostly bad, the dialogue too, the music is torture for the ears, but there is a certain fascination for a movie that mostly does what you assume it would, but sometimes goes along paths that are totally unexpected. And for a movie that deals with a female vigilante (or “misandristic spree killer” as Wikipedia proudly sets right), it sure says many things about men and women. I’m not sure it knows exactly what to say, but it’s interesting to take a look at the messages it conveys. It also works as an era representative for the 80s: a mixture of fashion world and crime infected New York, both typical 80s memes.

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Detachment (2011)

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Detachment (2011)

(spoilers ahead)

Detachment is a movie about school, so it’s made out for me, obviously. It made me very angry. The movie is directed by (yeah, yeah, "the infamous") Tony Kaye and I would put most of the blame for the failure of the movie on him, especially since he is his own cinematographer. I’m not sure if the script could have been filmed better (as Bryan Cranston claims, who has the most unnecessary role in the movie, so the feelings might be mutual), but the direction seems totally misguided. But even apart from that, the movie is full of clichés and school tropes, thereby neglecting its own purpose of trying to show what school is like. The great actors are mostly wasted. Yes, Adrien Brody is great, they’re all great, but why have some big names in the credits only to make them say one or two lines? The editing is sometimes off (look at the first principal scene) and the camera work is pretentious. But the biggest problem I have with the movie is the message it sends and the contradictions it gets caught up in. A movie doesn’t make me angry often, so I want to dive into why in more detail.

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Total Eclipse (1995)

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Total Eclipse (1995)

Total Eclipse is not a pleasant movie. As many reviewers before me have pointed out years ago, the two main characters are extremely unsympathetic and watching them fight and make their lives miserable is no joy. They are played believably by David Thewlis and Leonardo DiCaprio, but that doesn’t make it easier to watch. There is no one to identify with, which might work in other movies, but here it’s just, well, unpleasant. The movie does give an interesting portrayal of its time and how poets lived and worked, but it’s too long and too repetitive in showing us suffering.

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I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

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I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

I Know Who Killed Me is a great bad movie. It’s so ridiculous that it’s entertaining. If only more bad movies were like this. There are some boring scenes, but watching the movie stumble to its unbelievable ending is undeniably fun. Or “fun.” I’m a fan of using color in movies, but this movie was the most exaggerated and blatant use of color schematics that can be imagined. My 3-year-old-daughter would have figured out the concept after five minutes because it’s so incredibly obvious. Hearing Lindsay Lohan’s hangover voice is great when you see her as a high school student. And let’s not talk about her robotic limbs, because at this point you don’t know what kind of movie you are watching anymore. If you like funny bad movies, this one will be for you.

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American Psycho (2000)

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American Psycho (2000)

(spoilers ahead)

American Psycho is one of those impossible book adaptations that you wouldn’t anyone who knows the book expect to even consider. That book is insane! Mostly in a good way and in a very disturbing way for the rest of the time. But Bret Easton Ellis knows how to write. The movie is relatively harmless in comparison and while it might not be completely successful, it is a worthy attempt that captures some of the spirit of the book. The direction by Mary Harron (a woman!) is excellent and the use of excerpts from the book works well. And Christian Bale of course, he completely sells the movie by his extraordinary performance. But the movie drags for a while in the middle because it doesn’t know what to do after the main jokes are made but the mayhem is not about to start yet, which bored me. Still, the movie, like the book (which I admire but never want to read again) made some great points about society and capitalism we can look at here.

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Domino (2005)

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Domino (2005)

Domino has been called a mess by many critics and maybe it is. Perhaps the fact that director Tony Scott called it his favorite movie and hearing Richard Kelly talk about his screenwriting process (on Jeff Goldsmith’s Q&A about Tony Scott), made me more forgiving for this movie. It’s not great, but messy and exhausting. But it has its moments. I liked Mickey Rourke in it and most of the other performances are good too. Scott has some fun with his movie, experimenting the hell out of it and it certainly doesn’t look like any Hollywood action movie you’d imagine. But it’s also too long and nearly incomprehensible, although the plot doesn’t really seem to matter. What matters to Scott is his friend Domino Harvey and she’s the focus at all times. The rest is just fireworks to celebrate her.

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Our Life Is a Movie: Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

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Our Life Is a Movie: Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Oh, yes, two in a row. After Dead Poets Society (and a lack of new movies to talk about), I decided to look at the other Robin Williams movie from the late 80s that had a huge impact on me: Good Morning, Vietnam. I saw it around the same time as Dead Poets Society and it cemented Robin Williams as one of my personal heroes of my late childhood. It is also a strange movie to watch at 12 when the Vietnam War is only something abstract I had no relation to. But around the same time I must have watched Apocalypse Now on repeat, so something must have been set into place there for my interest in this war and the dark sides of U.S. history. But this movie is mainly a comedy and primarily because it’s Robin Williams’ show. And in many ways this movie resembles Dead Poets Society in its structure: Williams plays the offbeat character that overthrows conventions, he has to fight against authority and has to pay for it in the end, nevertheless teaching everyone willing to listen something about being different. One more reason for doing this double feature.

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Our Life Is a Movie: Dead Poets Society (1989)

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Our Life Is a Movie: Dead Poets Society (1989)

Joining the Robin Williams honorary bandwagon? I’m happy to! Dead Poets Society is one of my favorite and most influential movies, so it seems obvious to look back at it now in the late aftermath of Williams’ death. The movie works for me on many levels, mainly in its depiction of a good and unusual teacher, but also by showing an authoritative, limiting and cruel society and the effects it has on its young people. This way the film inspired me in many ways, not just for becoming a teacher. I must have seen it the first time early, when I was around 11 or 12 and I watched it again and again. What's really a shame is that in schools, the novelization is often read when there is no reason on earth not just to use the movie. Curiously, this is one of the few movies where I really disagreed with Roger Ebert (who got me into movies so much more than I already was, so I'm a big fan of his), who called it “manipulative” and full of “platitudes.” Reading his review makes you wonder how he even came up with two stars. I get what he says and maybe even understand how you could view the movie this way, but to me, it’s just a great inspirational movie. Here’s why.

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The Conjuring (2013)

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The Conjuring (2013)

Whenever I watch a movie, I always think one thing at the end: Can I write about it here? When I had finished The Conjuring, the answer was a clear “No”. It’s a good horror film, less special than I had expected after hearing so much about it. It is scary at times and relentless at trying to scare you (and more effective than the incredibly similar Insidious), but there is not much that hasn’t been seen before. The camera work is creative (or inspired), using many techniques to surprise the viewer from long takes to Vertigo shots. There just aren’t many surprises in the script as the plot goes mostly where you’d expect it to be. That were my thoughts at the end and that was it. Then I read some reviews and stumbled upon Andrew O’Hehir’s review on Salon.com which calls the movie the “most effective right-wing Christian films of recent years” and parts of it “reprehensible and inexcusable bullshit.” What’s going on here?

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This 70s Movie: Vanishing Point (1971)

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This 70s Movie: Vanishing Point (1971)

Vanishing Point feels like the quintessential 70s movie. “Wait, isn’t that Easy Rider?” Sure, you could argue that (even if it’s from 1969) and there are similarities, but viewed without competitors this movie screams and shouts, “I’m from the 70s!” I picked it randomly for a 70s movie and it fits my parameters perfectly. It shows a lot about its time and has some interesting if extremely strange ideas. It’s not necessarily a good movie unless you like a basically non-story about a driver who wants to bring a car to San Francisco, is chased by the police and makes many police cars crash, while also meeting all kinds of 70s tropes. I can see how it has the potential for a cult movie (which it seemingly is), but that doesn’t make it good. Unless you like to see cars drive off the road or crash into something.

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Jack Reacher (2012)

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Jack Reacher (2012)

(spoilers ahead)

Jack Reacher is an odd movie. It’s a Tom Cruise vehicle in every sense of the term but it also wants to be an intelligent thriller with distinctive action scenes. It wants to be very clever and while its twists are not bad and there are some good moments, the movie is weighed down by trying too hard to make Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher look like an irresistible superhero. Women find him irresistible, he is topless for no reason, he punches himself out of every dangerous situation, he has a super brain memory, is more clever than anyone else and he devotes his life to fighting for the good. It’s asking its audience a bit too much, even for Cruise fans. The movie has some fun with showing a crucial event from different angles and by trying something new with its action scenes (which doesn’t always work) and Werner Herzog has fun as a really cold-blooded villain (who doesn’t seem to be really necessary for anything). But in the end it tries too hard to be the beginning of a franchise and wears its novelized origins too clearly on its sleeves. There are however three things that caught my attention, that serve as a reminder how supposedly good intentions can go very wrong.

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Our Life Is a Movie: The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

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Our Life Is a Movie: The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

(spoilers ahead)

Cabin in the Woods is a very clever movie that seems innocent and surely will fly by many people. But it’s so many things at once. It’s a decent horror movie, a comedy, a great work of metafiction and, most importantly, an amazingly intriguing comment on our society. It’s extremely well made and acted, and all in all a really bold movie. Since it appears in this series, I obviously love it.

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American Hustle (2013)

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American Hustle (2013)

(spoilers ahead)

American Hustle is like a dream come true for an actor. Looking at those amazing performances you cannot imagine anyone turning down a role in this movie. Every character is interesting and different from anyone else, there are so many nuances that’s it’s both a challenge and a blessing for every performer. The acting is as energetic as David O. Russell’s direction and you can feel the enjoyment everyone probably had while making this movie, but also the exhaustion of inhabiting and showing these characters, who constantly upset each other and live at the edge of a heart attack. It’s a great movie, entertaining and thought-provoking. The story, based on the ABSCAM scandal, is not easy to follow and it’s probably hard to understand what exactly everyone is doing, but since the movie is mainly there to showcase its characters, that is only a minor flaw.

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Punisher: War Zone (2008)

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Punisher: War Zone (2008)

(spoilers ahead)

Punisher: War Zone. I mean, the title alone asks for trouble. Let me just say that as much as I’m a comics fan, even a superhero comics fan, The Punisher is a character I really loathe. Frank Castle’s family was killed by gangsters, so he kills gangsters now as the Punisher. He is the ultimate vigilante, showing that our laws don’t work, because they always let the bad ones go. Most of the time it’s an excuse for lots of violence and shooting and torturing, etc. I haven’t read a lot of his comics, but most of them are like that, even if there are exceptions (Mark Millar of all people seemed to have understood that Frank Castle is insane when he wrote him in Civil War). The first (or second if you remember Dolph Lundgren) movie was as you could have expected, telling the basic story and having lots of cruel violence. It wasn’t great. But now this one wants to take it many steps further. I respect director Lexi Alexander because she is very outspoken about women in the movie business and says things most people don’t even think about. But this movie is awful. This might be due to some difficulties with the studio, so I don’t want to put all the blame on her, but it is what it is.

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Sucker Punch (2011)

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Sucker Punch (2011)

(spoilers ahead)

Sucker Punch is probably one of the weirdest movie I’ve seen in a long time both for its content but also for its awfully conflicted message. It’s a Zack Snyder movie, so you know you’re up for something but even with this knowledge you should be in for a surprise. He does weird stuff with all his comic adaptations, which can be okay (Watchmen), pretentiously stupid (300) or infuriating (Man of Steel). And yes, Dawn of the Dead was pretty good, I’ll grant him that. But working without source material, Sucker Punch is just insanely crazy and not necessarily in a good way. It’s almost impossible to judge it simply as a movie because it has no real plot and no characters that go beyond cardboards (or sex dolls or action figures, depending on your point of view). It’s all visuals with some weird themes woven into it. It’s a mess, to be sure, and the more you think about it, the less it has any redeeming qualities.

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Looper (2012) [Part 2]

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Looper (2012) [Part 2]

(spoilers ahead)

This is part 2, continued from part 1.

We stopped after the movie jumped ahead in time for 30 years. What happens then is astounding and simple. The movie just moves on and follows old Joe as he travels back 30 years to his past, where we then follow him as he follows young Joe doing all the things we saw already. So while structurally the movie shows us the same events from a different perspective, narratively it just keeps on moving along, without any actual jumps anymore. It does leave out some crucial information, though, but we don’t know that yet. What we feel is sympathy for old Joe as he tries to save his newfound happiness with his wife (Xu Qing). It’s a relatable motivation up till this point and it’s important to see that the movie takes us there, so we later have to ask ourselves how far we are willing to go along with this character. We get some fun moments where old Joe doesn’t understand young Joe’s actions, which is a clever way of showing how we distance ourselves from who we were the more we grow older.

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Looper (2012) [Part 1]

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Looper (2012) [Part 1]

(spoilers ahead)

Looper is the rare intelligent movie that also delivers on action, suspense and sci-fi elements. To me, it was a perfectly constructed story that constantly surprised me (I’m not surprised by movies very often) and kept me at the edge of my seat. When it ended, the first thing I thought was: “I want to watch that again.” It’s also one of those movies I enjoyed so much while it was still on that I was sure it would fail at its ending. But it certainly didn’t disappoint. It definitely cranks up the action factor towards the end, but the action always has a purpose and is story-driven and Rian Johnson, the writer-director, keeps coming up with innovative ideas to film the action. In fact, the whole movie is so well-made and uses the possibilities of cinema in a way that you wonder why everyone else doesn’t do that more (I guess it boils down to talent). Johnson’s use of camera and editing is brilliant, which is maybe surprising because his script is so well-written, too. Is this the better Inception? I don’t know if it’s a fair comparison, but the moment a student mentioned it, I couldn’t stop thinking that Looper shows why Inception might be overrated. Then again, both feature great performances, but I enjoyed the Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Bruce Willis pairing so much and all the supporting actors and actresses keep up that level easily. The movie doesn’t even disappoint when it comes to the role of women (I think), but I should save that for my analysis.

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