Review: Where The Wild Things Are

Max is a lonely kid with a big imagination. Most days his imagination and energy serve him well. Whether it's sailing a boat across the high seas of his bed sheets or building a snow fort and ordering around his fence army, Max keeps himself pretty entertained. Unfortunately everyone needs a friend and Max's mom and sister seem to be too busy most of the time to remember Max. Although, his mom tries to make time for her son she is trying to single-handedly run a household and business. One night Max runs away and finds a boat. His boat. A boat that leads him to where the wild things are and where adventure will unfold.

Where the Wild Things Are has been around since 1963 and this is the first attempt at a live-action film adaptation. The book has many fans that span many generations and a film version was going to have to play to old and young fans alike. Needless to say, Where the Wild Things Are was going to be an ambitious project no matter who was behind the camera. Fortunately for us, the wonderful Spike Jonze put his heart and soul into this project and it shows. If there is one thing that makes this film stand out it is the amount of care that went into every detail here. That's what makes it work so well. Instead of just haphazardly throwing a plot together and making some cool looking monsters, the writers spent time and effort on making an engaging story along with some incredible looking monsters and insanely fun and exciting sequences. This is a film that delivers on every expectation I had and then some. The monsters are all incredibly sympathetic characters and there is a sadness in their eyes that brings a real genuineness to them. This would be a terrible review if I didn't mention the outstanding Max Records as Max. Most of this movie working relied on his performance and he knocks it out of the park! I could seriously spend the rest of my review gushing on how fantastic this kid is. However, I'll cut to the chase. Records is probably going to get nominated for an Oscar. And he is probably going to have a real shot at it. What makes his performance outstanding is that he wasn't really told to act and be scripted. He was simply being a kid. I bet he had a blast running around building snow forts and having epic dirt-clod wars with the wild things.

Where the Wild Things Are is exactly what you were expecting. Charming, engaging, intelligent, heartbreaking, hilarious, exhilarating and most of all nostalgic. If you remember reading this book as a child you will get chills during some of the sequences as this rush of memories comes flooding back. I just got them from typing this review. Also, if you plan on seeing this with the little ones, you might want to re-consider. It's not terribly scary, it would just be boring for them. The film is on the slow side and deals with some pretty heavy stuff at times. Kids in our theater were getting fidgety when the excitement slowed down.

my rating: 10/10

Review: The Brothers Bloom

Stephen and Bloom grew up in the foster home system which is another way of saying they had each other. Together they discovered the art of the con. Stephen is the mastermind that writes the cons with flair and Bloom is the vulnerable anti-hero sent in to get the girl. Bloom quits after a dangerous night in Berlin and moves to Montenegro. Shortly after, Stephen finds Bloom and talks him into one last con. The perfect con. And so begins the tale of Penelope.

Rian Johnson deserves an Oscar. The guy has made 2 films in his career and both of them have been made with more talent and care than 90 percent of anything else that's come out this decade. His first film was a gritty, neo-noir tale that took place in an American high school. The Brothers Bloom is about two anachronistic brothers that have made the art of the con their family business. Did I mention he's also twice as gutsy as any writer out there? There is so much that this film does right that I'm having a hard time picking out a starting point. Let's start with the writing. This film is deeply moving, hilarious, intelligent, cheeky and most importantly tells a fantastically twisty story that was meticulously crafted. I won't say much outside of that as it would be a shame to throw you into spoiler territory. After all, what's a con movie without the big finish? The dialogue is witty and crisp and the actors deliver their lines with awesome 1940's sensibilities. Secondly, the look of the film is just cool. It has this really neat over-saturated look that allows Johnson to really play with the brilliant color scheme. Not to mention the camera work is great and deftly planned. Every single actor is on top of their game here but Rachel Weisz really steals the show as the quirky, yet accessible Penelope. And Adrien Brody is at his melancholy best.

The Brothers Bloom was one of my most anticipated films of the year and for good reason. My expectations were astronomically high and they were exceeded. Rian Johnson is a director to watch and I hope he starts getting more recognition very soon. My advice is to make way and make room for the Brothers Bloom!

my rating: 10/10

Review: Zombieland

It's bound to happen. The zombie apocalypse. This film is about 4 survivors finding their way to a zombie-free amusement park in Los Angeles from Texas. Along the way they kill LOTS of zombies, run into a celebrity and actually tell a pretty endearing story.

2009 has been the year of the "serious" genre pictures. Sure, we had Michael Bay's asplosion fest with Transformers and some rather disappointing fare like Surrogates. But Star Trek, Inglouious Basterds, and District 9 have brought the genre picture to the foreground and Zombieland continues that tradition. In short, this is a fantastic year to be a nerd. Zombieland opens strong and finishes even stronger. The story is told from the perspective of Columbus (all characters go by their hometown instead of their actual names) played by the always charming Jesse Eisenberg. He sets out his list of rules for surviving in Z-land and that's the sequence that sets the precedent for the rest of the film. This opening sequence is chock-full of zombie goodness, wit and style. Followed by a fantastic Watchmen-esque opening credits sequence and the introduction of Woody Harrellson's awesome Tallahassee Zombieland knows how to keep its audience going.

The other interesting thing about Zombieland is how much heart this film really has. The characters are all pretty engaging and a couple of them actually have heartbreaking stories. And, you actually CARE about them. Most zombie films use their main characters simply as zombie killers and well, nothing more. Or their stories are so cookie cutter one wishes there were less people and more zombies. Zombieland brings these characters together as more than just a group of dull losers that are there simply to give the film a story. They really are a family. Add to the mix one of the greatest celebrity cameos in the history of cinema and Zombieland is a blast and a half of zombie destruction!

my rating: 9/10

Review: Surrogates

Surrogates takes place in the not-so distant future where most people are buying cybernetic versions of themselves to control in the real world. This has greatly reduced the risk of violent crime and murder (when a Surrogate is killed, the operator remains living) over the last few years. However, when someone finds a way to murder a surrogates operator by taking out their surrogate one FBI agent begins to question how beneficial these artificial people really are.

This is a frustrating review to write. See, I really, REALLY wanted to like Surrogates. This film looked like a mix of I, Robot and I am Legend with a little bit of The Island thrown in for good measure. And for the most part, it was. However, this came out more like a fruitcake than a s'more. Surrogates is a film that decided to blatantly steal stuff from other movies instead of take the same ideas and sort of morph them into it's own universe. It seriously felt like I was watching I, Robot, I Am Legend, The Island, Terminator and any "disgraced cop looking for redemption" movie ever made all at once. Dystopian futures aren't a new genre in the slightest, however, these films tend to bring something new to the table. Surrogates did not. It feels like they had a checklist of action film cliches they had to reach before they could actually release the film and man did they leave no stone unturned. You have seen everything in this movie before. Except chances are when you saw it the first time it was a lot better. Cool guy doesn't look at explosion? Check. Partner screws a partner over? Check. Partner realizes the partner really didn't screw them over? Check. It's all here and it's all offensively bad. Seriously, Bruce Willis may as well have actually been using a surrogate to film this movie. It would have had more personality. James Cromwell's talent is criminally cast aside and don't get me started on Ving Rhames' bizarre George Clinton/Joseph Kony hybrid. That was some ridiculousness.

The last issue I'm going to address is the script. First of all, the story is BORING. Unfortunately it's too convoluted as well. The Dark Knight was convoluted, but you cared so you paid attention. Surrogates is boring and you don't care so you don't pay attention. Thus, the plot is also confusing. The dialogue is some of the laziest/poorly written things I have ever heard. I know I shouldn't be going into a film about people controlling robots with their mind expecting Shakespeare, but at least credit me with SOME level of intelligence. It's not even cheesy enough to be acceptable. Surrogates takes itself entirely too seriously. My advice is that if you want some great sci-fi/action go check out District 9 again.

My Rating: 3/10

Review: 9

9 awakens. The world he enters is much different than our own. There are no humans left. 8 other sackcloth dolls roam "the emptiness" trying to scrounge food and supplies while avoiding "the beast". And that's about all you know for a good portion of this film. 9 is an interesting little film that begins light on story and then slams you against the wall with an incredible one and a deep, deep meditation on humanity. This is a cartoon, but it's certainly not one to take the kiddos to.

I really respect Shane Acker for making a PG-13 animated film about some sackcloth dolls and expecting people to see it. I respect pretty much anyone that doesn't just disregard animation as a "kid's genre". Now, for about the first 45 minutes I was trying to figure out what exactly was going on as there is almost nothing in the way of story or character development in that period of time. I also really did not enjoy the movie for that reason. Then we see some brilliantly worked in newsreel footage that explains the history of this war with machines that wiped out humanity over several years. From there we dive into the plot head on and when a final big twist regarding the nature of the dolls is revealed I had chills and nearly burst into tears. 9 is an extremely deep film that begs a repeat viewing because I believe the first act is a lot more intricate than it leads on.

I also really admire the genre blending that happens here. It goes from "human" drama to full-fledged action-adventure mode in a few seconds and back again but never feels like it's genre-hopping. Also, the timeline of this alternate history is never revealed, but it appears to take place in the cold war era which I find super intriguing. 9 is a rather bleak, beautiful film that is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful. I'm glad Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov for seeing a new talent in Shane Acker and bringing his vision full circle from the short film 9 is based off of. Good call guys.

my rating: 7/9

yes, I rated this out of 9.

Review: Duplicity

I remember wanting to see this film when I first saw the trailers even though Tony Gilroy was responsible for the atrociously boring "Michael Clayton". Duplicity looked like an intelligent caper with a cool script and interesting visual style minus all the pretentiousness that comes with the name "Ocean's". I was pretty much right on.

Duplicity follows two ex-spies, played by the always entertaining Clive Owen and the moderately surprising Julia Roberts, as they try to double cross one another for one of the greatest mcguffins in the last ten years. And that's about all I'm going to give you as far as plot goes. Duplicity best seen when little to nothing is known about the rest of the plot and you should therefore not look at the trailers to refresh your memory. This film is a modern comedy/caper that explores the corporate world without being too heavy or getting lost in corporate jargon. The dialog is fun and punchy and Clive Owen brings the cool level up to 11 (as always). Julia Roberts is having a blast here and really pulls off the part even though I'm not a big fan. Paul Giamatti is at his most malicious in his turn as the CEO for the company competing for the prize and he is a HOOT to watch. I love this guy and wish he would take more roles as the villain more often.

Duplicity is a twisty, turny, punchy caper flick that is sure to please those that have a soft spot for movies like this. Or for those of you that want to be/hang out with Clive Owen.

my rating: 8.5/10

Review: Sunshine Cleaning

Let me get something out there now. I want to make Amy Adams my wife. She's insanely beautiful and has a quality about her that just seems so real and genuine that you can't help but be drawn to her. She has this fantastic ability to be so kind and compassionate in every single role and it's truly something I've never been able to figure out. And of course, that is exactly the case in Sunshine Cleaning.

Sunshine Cleaning follows the story of 2 sisters, hard-up for cash and looking to mend a rather strained relationship, they decide to start an....unusual cleaning business. Through a connection within the local police force they begin to take on jobs cleaning up crime scenes. They witness some truly gruesome stuff, learn the ropes, climb the ranks and learn a little something about each other along the way.

Much like its cousin, Little Miss Sunshine, this is a film that's about this but really about that. From the trailers Sunshine Cleaning looks like a comedy about a struggling family that goes into an odd line of work. It is really about an odd line of work and its impact on said family. There's some great moments of heartwarming (and heartbreaking) family drama as we come to know these characters, but the heart of this film lies in the crime scenes. When Amy Adams sits with a woman who's husband has just committed suicide as she waits for her son-in-law to pick her up we can feel her (and our) heart break for this woman. There's a beautiful melancholy about this film that is not ill-intentioned or wanting to depress us for the sake of depressing us. We feel sad for these characters because we want to and because they feel so real and genuine. Much needs to be said about the chemistry of Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin during their scenes together. They are quite memorable and Arkin solidifies his spot as "guy I'd like to have play my grandfather".

my rating: 8/10