Now this is a doozy of a review to write up. As many may expect from films from Terrence Malick, he works by his own accord and with his films, they are seen to be more of a visual poem or a soliloquy. I have seen The Thin Red Line which is a fantastic film on it's own right and The Tree of Life is very much in the vein of Malick films but only even more open to interpretation...[more]...

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One of the immediate surprises of The Coen Bros' TRUE GRIT is that the film is more comedic than I personally had expected. The humor is very much in the vein of the Coen Bros' genre comedy that we've seen in their previous work, in the vein of Fargo and Burn After Reading in regards to the humor. The crux of the humor is the fast-firing dialogue between the film's three leads, U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), Texas Ranger Labeouf (Matt Damon) and the young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld). Steinfeld as Ross is a revelation in the film, as she as able to hold her own and fire dialogue alongside her two veteran co-stars as they hunt down Ross's father's murderer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin...[more]...

I just got back from seeing it tonight. Wow. This film was fantastic and actually brought me to tear up, something that a film hasn't done to me in years. The story is very quiet but subtle, slowly builds and unravels until the end when everything hits you internally in the last moments. The first major revelation was fairly obvious to me but thankfully, the film wasn't about a twist. It was about the characters and their emotions, front and center...[more]...

I haven't seen a horror movie this well crafted in some time. All the lead actors are strong but Brad Anderson is the real star of Session 9. He crafts together a compelling mystery for us to watch slowly reveal itself, question our thoughts until the final minutes. He shows us what exactly we need to see but doesn't spoon feed us unnecessary elements. All while creating some truly nerve-wracking scenes that don't cop out to cheap scare tactics seen in so many horror films today, instead relying on the tried and true classic uses of lighting, editing and sound to craft the tension. All in all, a refreshing and engaging hour and forty.

The advertising campaign for Catfish is a fairly misleading one. I did my best to avoid the full trailer for Catfish but I was still prone to seeing the poster, and a couple of TV Spots for the film. The marketing indicated that it was something of a Hitchcock thriller with a final, very high-impact final 40 or so minutes. It was thrilling to a point but for me, the final 40 minutes were anything but thrilling.

The film sets itself up fairly realistically and grounded with a main character I can care about...but as the film proceeds, the people make choices (and more importantly, non-choices) that somewhat took me out of the movie. I was still invested well enough up to a point to where the moment of truth comes out…and that's where it all goes downhill. I was fairly bored by the final 40 minutes and it was deflating. The ending still remained interesting but only barely. There were a number of ways they could have gone with the movie and they went with the most obvious (and uninteresting) possible one.

The idea behind the film is interesting and actually stands as an interesting companion to the The Social Network but that's it. It's only an interesting idea that was delivered well to a point.

Coming in to see "The Social Network", I had a high but tempered level of excitement and interest. I was very excited to see it due to it being a film by David Fincher, who many know directed Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac, among others. As well as knowing the script was written by Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter of A Few Good Men and the TV Series, The West Wing. But knowing that that this is a film surrounding the drama about the founding of Facebook, brought me to question how good a movie can be made with that premise...[more]...

The best word I can use to describe Machete is simply "fun". I was lucky to see the film Tuesday night and I'm happy to say I really enjoyed it, more than I expected to. Not only is it fun due to the heavy amounts of action scenes the film has, but it's also pretty funny. It's easy to notice that while the characters take their situations seriously, the film itself doesn't. There are a number of self-aware lines that really show how serious (not really) the film is. The pacing also runs at an excellent pac, seeing as how the run seemed to fly by and I never looked to check the time...[more]...

I just saw this film earlier today and I really enjoyed it thoroughly. It finally released in D.C. last week. The story seems fairly ho-hum when you read the plot synopsis but it's comes off much deeper and darker in the actual film, with the performances and direction really elevating the material. James Frecheville and Ben Mendolsohn are the major stars of the film, with them receiving the majority of screen time. Mendolsohn in particular, had my favorite performance of the ensemble. But that said, the rest of the cast have a major presence too, including Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver. The film runs at a steady pace with no lulls within. The story is fascinating in witnessing this family struggle to stay together, in what's essentially their twilight years of being in power, which is a key fact in the story. Frecheville's "J" is the center of the film as we see his entrance into the inner circle of this destructive family. Some criticized his Frecheville's performance as too dry dull but his character is meant to be dry and a bit dull. He's the young, immature kid walking into a hornet's nest. His emotions are still developing and remains confused at a number of moments when he's granted a moment of power or witnesses an act, and similarly, when his family pulls away a desire of his. His emotions are key to the film and slowly develop together by...[more]...

Got back from a free preview screening of The Last Airbender. My screening was in 3D. The film had some good action and great visuals but heavily hampered by spotty acting and a VERY rushed pacing and development that really sells the story and characters short. I was really surprised to see the film length clock in around 1 Hour, 40 Minutes. The pacing and development of the film is so off kilter and abrupt, I'm thinking there's got to be an Extended Version looming when the film lands on DVD. Development was very rushed and there was no sense of time in the film. A character mentions in the final act that weeks have passed by, but to which I had no sense that so much time had gone by. A major moment occurs that you may be left to believe is the major 1/2 way point of the film...turns out to be the end. I was surprised when credits rolled. No surprise that it's meant to be the 1st Chapter in a Trilogy, as the title card in the film is labeled "Book One: Water...[more]...

I'm just got back from seeing it. It was better than I had imagined. THe film stayed pretty true to Lehane's book and Scorsese went above and beyond to add more dread throughout the story. I'm definitely willing to say this is one of Leo DiCaprio's best performances. I wasn't sure of it initially but the latter 1/2 of the film sealed the deal for me. The ending will be a love it or hate it affair but I walked in, having read the book and still got captivated until the end. The film also leaves certain ideas open to interpretation for the audience, something I greatly welcomed and watched on screen develop. For those that read the book, the ending was tweaked for, IMO, the better.

I have to add, The visuals, lensed by Robert Richardson (who did Inglourious Basterds) are gorgeous here. All of his use of Light and Darkness and outside elements like Smoke and Rain, he uses greatly here.

8.5/10 pending a re-watch tomorrow night.

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"Accept The Mystery!"

I just got back from seeing it and I had a great time. Similar to what Bake previously posted, the film is loaded with themes of religion, free will, morality, the lure of money (A famous theme common in many Coen movies) among others. I'm not THAT well versed in the Jewish religion but I know enough to get by on. The themes are universal enough though that anyone can pick up the pitch well and read into it. I certainly did.

Michael Sthulbarg is fantastic in the role and plays every scene pitch perfectly as a lost man whose world continually falls deeper and deeper into a hole he can't climb out of. Everything from the cinematography to the score work great here to create a pretty fascinating story about a man trying to find answer from god, with all the chaos going on around him. For me, it felt like a blending of Fargo, Burn After Reading and Barton Fink with some new distinguishable elements as well. It's funny, ridiculous, serious and all around fascinating. I'm still dwelling on thoughts about the movie as I write this.

I'd like to add I really liked the little motifs with Jefferson Airplane throughout the film.

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Right off the bat, This was a really fun as hell movie. It comes from director Ruben Fleischer, who I've never heard of before this film, yet from here on out, I'll keep my ears open for whatever his next project is. Zombieland has a fun and consistent energy that keeps it interesting up until closing. The film opens with a slow-motion credits montage, set to the tune of Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" showing various people in different situations as they encounter zombies, such as one particular one involving a man running out of a strip club (with wads of bills in his hand) with a zombie stripper on his tail. This was a great and funny montage that set the tone and pace of the entire film...[more]...