Category Archives: New In Theaters

Reviews of what’s out now

New In Theaters

Escaping the Summertime Blues

Leave a comment

The Kings of Summer

by Hope Madden

School’s out! With their freshman year behind them, Joe (Nick Robinson) and Patrick (Gabriel Basso) have just the long, suburban Cleveland summer at home with their folks to look forward to. So they split.

The Kings of Summer sidles up alongside Joe and Patrick as they abandon the parents who make them crazy, and strike it out on their own in the woods between the golf course and the Boston Market. There, in the house they build from refuse and port-a-potty doors, they will decide what it means to be men. It’s just the two best friends and nature – and the unsettling, under explained and under developed third wheel, Biaggio (Moisas Arias).

Sundance loved The Kings of Summer, and there is a lot to find appealing. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts captures a leisurely magic in the forest, filling the screen with lovely images that visually underscore the boys’ emotional tumult in a way the script fails to.

Like all good coming of age dramedies, Summer serves up well meaning parents who just don’t understand. Nick Offerman (TV’s Parks and Recreation) excels as Joe’s deeply bitter single dad, and the two actors perform beautifully together. They mine scenes for the kind of tensions that develop only after a lifetime of familial strife.

Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson are a riot as Patrick’s gleefully overprotective sires, but the script begins to show real cracks as the broad (and often very funny) parental comedy bumps up against the lush and delicate indie drama the boys are generating. The parents would fit in Better Off Dead, while the kids lean more Stand By Me – a stylistic mishmash the film never really overcomes.

The film boasts a good number of laugh out  loud moments amid the tenderly wrought angst, but the humor masks deeper problems. Comic flashes serve to distract from weaknesses in the script, a fact most evident in the boys’ unusual cabinmate, Biaggio. Not a character at all, he’s a one-dimensional joke opportunity.

Vogt-Roberts keeps proceedings wholesome – a refreshing change for a coming of age indie – and every performance delivers. Kings of Summer offers a sweet, charming summer distraction. It just doesn’t do much more.

 

Verdict-3-0-Stars

New In Theaters, Slider

What’s In a Name?

2 Comments

World War Z

by Hope Madden

Fans of Max Brooks’s novel World War Z are less likely to be disappointed than baffled by Brad Pitt’s big screen adaptation. The film has about as much in common with Shakespeare as it has with Brooks’s wonderful, fictitious oral history of the zombie pandemic. Still, it’s not a bad flick. Not at all.

Pitt plays Gerry Lane, ex-UN investigator pulled back into active duty to determine the cause of – and ideally find a cure for – the zombie outbreak that is decimating the world population and will otherwise spell our ultimate doom.

Pitt, who produced as well, teams with director Marc Forster, a filmmaker better known for moody drama (Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner) than zombie adventure, but he handles the task with aplomb.

The film opens briskly, establishes empathetic, realistic characters (assuming you can forgive one wholly unrealistic and insultingly idiotic decision Forster’s team of writers drummed up for Gerry’s wife), then throws episode after episode of chaos at you until you’re breathless. Not a bad way to piece together a zombie movie.

Of course, this is not exactly a zombie flick. It’s not a horror film at all. WWZ is an intelligently crafted international thriller and action movie that happens to include zombies. Between Pitt’s caring investigator and Forster’s ability to maintain heart pounding urgency for two full hours, they pull it off pretty well.

Surprises abound (especially if you’ve read the book), and though there are images here and there that recall one Z-flick or another (28 Days Later, in particular), on the whole, the film creates its own niche.

Though seeing the 3D version is not ultimately necessary, the added depth gives visceral impact to the many helicopter shots of chaos below, while providing quiet scenes a sense of “what’s around that corner?” dread.

Indeed, tension and dread counterbalance thrill effectively in a flick that keeps you guessing, jumping, and rooting for an intelligent and caring hero.

It’s certainly a more kind-hearted imagining of the apocalypse than the one Brooks offered, where nations turned on each other, the greedy and superficial partied on as though they were immune, and governments enacted gut-wrenching action to try to stem the outbreak. Pitt and Forster – and their team of writers – pull a lot of punches Brooks was happy to land. Their intent was clearly quite different, and the result worthwhile. I guess it’s just the title they liked.

Verdict-3-5-Stars

 

New In Theaters, Slider

Revenge of the Monster Nerds

Leave a comment

Monsters University

by Hope Madden

Any mediocre Pixar release feels like a stunning disappointment, which may not be fair. No one bats 1000, and for every Cars 2 the animated giants release three Toy Storys. It’s an excellent swap, and to be fair, Monsters University is not quite Cars 2. Though similarities exist.

First of all, it’s a sequel to one of the studio’s lesser films. While 2001’s Monsters Inc. was imaginative, clever fun, it just doesn’t measure up to, say, Up. It wasn’t a work of groundbreaking, mind blowing, heart wrenching, hilarious genius. It was better than whatever other animators were doing that year, though.

But the competition’s only gotten stiffer in the last dozen years, and Pixar will need another unique and wondrous tale to really stand out. Or, they could just rehash the old Eighties staple Revenge of the Nerds for the 10-and-under set.

You may remember Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman), two BFFs working the scare floor at Monster’s Inc., where children’s screams are harnessed for the energy to fuel Monstropolis. (Now, see, that’s clever.) Well, as it turns out, back in college the two buddies were actually rivals.

Both were scare majors, but while Sully lazily relied on his natural talents, Mike had to work hard. They didn’t get along, and wound up expelled with only one chance to get back into college: take a rag-tag group of losers and beat the other frats and sororities at a scaring competition. (Less clever.)

Wildly predictable plotting leads to a handful of moderately funny gags, but the film does boast a few genuine strengths.

For instance, Helen Mirren plays the terrifying dean. Helen Mirren is never a bad decision. Other solid voice talent abounds, including Charlie Day, who steals scenes as Mike and Sully’s wrong-headed frat brother.

In true Pixar fashion, the film is also a visual achievement to behold, the monsters offering endless tactile and color opportunities for animators, who appreciated the challenge.

Directed by Columbus College of Art & Design grad Dan Scanlon, making his debut as an animated feature helmsman (he’s previously directed a documentary and a short), the film charms and entertains in a forgettable way. It’s the best solution so far this summer for wee ones, but this isn’t that Pixar gem that will stay with them until they have kids of their own.

Hell, they’ll probably forget it by the time Despicable Me 2 opens.

 

 

Verdict-2-5-Stars

New In Theaters, Uncategorized

Ado Worthy

Leave a comment

 

By George Wolf

 

Okay, so Joss Whedon can write and/or direct TV shows, animated classics, horror homages, superhero blockbusters, you name it. Wouldn’t it be funny if he took a stab at Shakespeare?

It is funny, and thoroughly entertaining.

With Much Ado About Nothing, Whedon again shows his storytelling instincts are dead on, regardless of the genre. Shakespeare’s classic comedy about love and deception is given a present-day makeover, employing a game cast of Whedon favorites to create a playful, satisfying romp.

Bringing the bard into a modern setting can be tricky, whether on stage or screen, and admittedly, it does take a few minutes to get used to hearing “by my troth” being bandied about a stylish kitchen. Hang in, and it won’t take long for you to fall for Whedon’s ensemble.

The wordplay is frenetic, some of the most clever Shakespeare produced, but there are also very funny stretches that rely heavily on physical comedy. The cast delivers with a gleeful enthusiasm, and Whedon adds amusing touches such as having one pivotal scene set amid snorkeling, giving it a new, Wes Anderson-esque hilarity.

Amy Acker (TV’s Angel, The Cabin in the Woods) and Alexis Denisof (Angel/The Avengers) shine as the adversarial would-be lovers Beatrice and Benedict, while Nathan Fillion (Serenity) nearly steals the movie as the easily offended inspector Dogberry. These actors, like nearly all in the cast, have a history with Whedon, and the mutual comfort level gives the entire adaptation a breezy, confident feel.

Artfully filming in black and white, Whedon doesn’t shrink from the play’s dark corners while giving the wonderfully comedic aspects a new, updated energy.

Turns out, Shakespeare fits Whedon about as well as Thor’s hammer or Sheriff Woody’s boots.

 

Verdict-4-0-Stars

 

 

 

 

New In Theaters, Slider

Marling Heads in Interesting Directions

Leave a comment

The East

by Hope Madden

If we’re honest, I think we are all either secretly impressed by and quietly frightened of Anonymous, or we’re openly impressed by and quietly frightened of them. I personally haven’t done much to draw their ire – I haven’t rigged an election, abused a teen, or even misused Wikipedia for my own malicious gain. Yes, I broke into my neighbor’s house when I was 8 and stole a bunch of Barbie clothes. It’s true – they might come for me for that! But you don’t have to be a potential target to worry over unchecked power, no matter how much genuine good a group does.

That conflict is the heartbeat of Brit Marling’s new film The East.

Marling is a filmmaker to watch. She’s co-scripted three films in which she’s starred, each offering an intimate, thoughtful, refreshingly off-kilter perspective.

In this work, Marling plays Sarah, an undercover agent working for a corporate counter terrorism firm. She combats terrorists combating big business. In her first assignment, she infiltrates the anarchist collective The East, a group using an “eye for an eye” approach to retaliate against eco-destructive corporate greed.

Early on, the film feels sometimes lazily scripted, as happenstance and coincidence play too large a role in Sarah’s investigation. But the film mostly overcomes these faults. Co-writer/director Zal Batmanglij builds tension well, and – as is often the case with Marling’s work – the film is not taking you exactly where you think it is.

Marling’s finest performance has been as the guru at the center of Sound of My Voice – also co-scripted and directed by Batmanglij – but she hasn’t yet disappointed. Here she possesses a veneer of calm that makes the inner conflict that much more provocative.

It helps that she’s joined by such a strong cast. Playing Sarah’s mentor, Patricia Clarkson is exquisite, as always. Ellen Page plays against type and succeeds, and Alexander Skarsgard shines, as well, in a tough role that requires him to be at once admirable and despicable.

The East is a finely tuned thriller with a thoughtful story to tell. What looks at first like heavy-handed liberalism morphs into  moral ambiguity by the second act, but Marling’s not done yet. She makes some interesting choices, and as this film points out, the choice is always there to make.

Verdict-3-5-Stars

 

New In Theaters

Because After Midnight, They’re Gonna Let It All Hang Down

1 Comment

Before Midnight

by Hope Madden

The third installment of what may be the most understated trilogy in cinematic history, Before Midnight catches up with Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) – American writer and French muse – almost twenty years after their first meeting on that train.

Those two romantic kids Richard Linklater followed around Vienna back in 1994’s Before Sunrise, then again through Paris in 2004’s Before Sunset, are now a timeworn couple with kids on vacation in Greece. If nothing else, the pair does visit lovely spots.

For all the similarities in the three films, though, Linklater and his two leads/co-writers take the story in a very natural yet risky direction. The first two installments are among the most unabashedly romantic indie films ever made.

Before Midnight, on the other hand, is far more of a meditation on relationships – the compromises, selfishness, joys, tedium. This is untrod ground in Hollywood, where films find inspiration in either the beginning or the end of a romance. That long slog in the middle, though, that’s hidden from view.

As Celine and Jesse struggle with the consequences of their youthful decisions and wrestle against the weight of middle age, they take some time to examine their lives, flaws and desires. They talk it out.

This is certainly the talkiest film released this weekend, as it relies entirely on conversation to tell its story. There are times when the dialogue feels self-serving. At other times, it gives the film too pretentious an air. On the whole, though, these characters are recognizable in a way that is rarely achieved in film.

Delpy’s performance is particularly courageous, as she’s willing to be unlikeable in the way we all are when we’re feeling particularly bitter and put-upon. Hawke equals her performance, allowing Jesse’s entire demeanor to change in relation to Celine’s mood; after years together, he can predict what’s coming and maneuver to calm the storm. Their unerring take on couplehood is often unsettling, and it brings authenticity to every scene.

Warts and all, Before Midnight is a sort of miracle. It revisits beloved characters with subversive honesty, embraces mid-life without pretending it to be something other than what it is, and finds value in the struggle to remain inspired by your own love.

Verdict-4-0-Stars

New In Theaters, Slider

What – No Solomon Grundy?

Leave a comment

Man of Steel

by Hope Madden

Ever since Christopher Nolan’s smashing success rebooting Batman, a stripped down, gritty Superman seemed to be in the cards. But is it possible to Nolanize Superman?

Nolan produces and gets a story credit for Man of Steel, but unlike the flawed, oh-so-human Batman, Superman is hard to really care about because he isn’t human at all. He’s perfect. He’s God, basically. You can’t relate to him.

But Nolan, script writer David S. Goyer, and director Zack Snyder decide to just embrace those messianic qualities and see where that gets them. Hell, they even set the granite jawed hero in a church, a stained glass Savior over his shoulder. But in deciding to emphasize his perfect nature, they keep the audience from relating to him.

To keep fans happy, Snyder squeezes in all the necessary elements. Some, however – the Daily Planet, Lex Luthor, Metropolis, even the name Superman – get little more than a fly-by. He’s more interested in following the farm boy who was really an alien, and watching him struggle to uncover his identity and purpose.

Henry Cavill dons the red cape this time around, looking either rugged and outdoorsy (Clark Kent) or crisply matinee idol-esque (Kal-El). He looks good either way, but all he’s really asked to do as an actor is look good, exacerbating the distance between the character and the audience. For actual acting, Snyder has the rest of the cast.

The always reliable Amy Adams gives Lois Lane a much needed modernization, while Russell Crowe classes up the joint as Supe’s natural father.

A wondrously apoplectic Michael Shannon is on hand to inspire awe as the villainous General Zod. He’s after Supe because of an utterly preposterous piece of lazy screenwriting … I mean, a gift the boy took with him from Krypton. And Zod will exterminate the entire human race to get it. Well, he’ll probably exterminate us all anyway, but first things first.

Snyder and Goyer – who, incidentally, co-wrote the Dark Knight trilogy – balance the SciFi nonsense with a lot of superficial political jabs and even more comic book nerd nods. (Check the lettering on that satellite.) It’s all part and parcel of their mishmash approach, which works as often as it doesn’t, surprisingly. Unfortunately, they let the pacing bog here and there, and go into Wham! Bap! Zonk! overkill in the climax.

It’s a fresh take on the stale classic, but Snyder’s no Nolan, and Superman’s no Batman.

Verdict-3-0-Stars

 

 

New In Theaters, Slider

Dead Man’s Party

1 Comment

 

 

by George Wolf

 

You know what This Is the End made me think of? Dear, departed Father Art from my church.

Stay with me.

Father Art used to surprise the faithful by occasionally dropping Howard Stern’s name into the homily, citing Stern as someone who, underneath the raunch, had a positive message:  do what you’re supposed to do.

This Is The End also has a positive message, stressing selflessness as a key to salvation. Sure, this message is mixed with heapin’ helpings of sex, drugs and profanity, but it’s a combination that produces some pretty funny shit.

Your reaction will most likely depend on how much you enjoy the comedy stylings of Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, seen at their peak in films such as Pineapple Express, Superbad and Knocked Up. Co-writing and directing This Is the End, they’ve expanded their 2007 short Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse into the funniest film of the year.

Seth is Rogan, and Jay is his buddy Jay Baruchel, who comes to LA hoping for a low-key visit. Instead, Rogan takes him to a rockin’ party at James Franco‘s place where, amid plenty of famous faces, the rapture begins.

As the final battle rages outside, Franco, Rogan and Baruchel are joined by Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride for a star studded celebrity survivor sleepover!

Things get pretty crude (so much so that Rogan has said he expected an NC-17 rating instead of the R they received), but the result is far from dumb humor. Self-deprecation is always endearing, and the gang uses it well, lampooning their films, their images, and the self-absorbed nature of celebrity culture.

It’s a wild ride featuring great cameos (well done Channing Tatum and Michael Cera) and fine ensemble work from a bunch of funny guys who play themselves with undeniable comic chemistry and a sense of camaraderie that makes them fine company for the end of days.

Remember, they have a plan to be among the chosen, and you’ll most likely be laughing too hard to argue with it.

 

Verdict-4-0-Stars

 

New In Theaters, Slider

Comedy Help Wanted

Leave a comment

The Internship


by Hope Madden

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson try to prove they’re not comic dinosaurs by playing a couple of guys trying to prove they’re not unemployable dinosaurs. Yes, comedy has changed since the two wrought wedding reception mayhem in 2005’s Wedding Crashers. Vaughn and Wilson have not.

The buddies again play buddies, a top notch selling duo pushing high end watches until their company closes because wristwatches are obsolete, what with cell phones to check for the time. Wilson’s Nick takes a humiliating gig working for a weirdo mattress salesman (Will Farrell. Mom! The Meatloaf!), but BFF Billy has bigger plans: an internship with Google.

Fish out of water comedy allows the twosome to acquire some new skills while reassuring a middle aged audience that kids today still have a little something to learn. Tired gags about SciFi nerdery and lacking social skills mix with formula clichés about underdog competition, all of it brought somewhat pleasantly to life by two actors with a warm, comfortable chemistry.

They could each use a hit, as their output has been less than stellar in the last 8 years. From Vaughn we’ve seen The Dilemma, The Watch, Fred Claus, Couples’ Retreat – that’s a whole lot of stink right there. Wilson’s not smelling much better, but for every Drillbit Taylor there’s a Midnight in Paris, for every Marley & Me there’s a Fantastic Mr. Fox, so he’s at least splitting the difference.

The Internship is far too safe and uninspired a film to compete with raucous comedies like next week’s This Is the End, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise from a film that begs us to appreciate a couple of geezers for their big hearted friendliness, regardless of the fact that they don’t have the skills required to make it in their chosen industry.

Verdict-2-0-Stars

 

 

New In Theaters, Slider

A Bumpy Night

1 Comment

 

by George Wolf

 

In less than ten years, America will be a land full of jobs and free of crime, with citizens reciting a pledge to the “new founding fathers.” The catch? Once a year, all laws are lifted for a twelve hour free-for-all, as Americans are encouraged to cleanse their souls of rage.

That’s the premise of The Purge, and it’s a pretty solid one, with deep roots easily traced to  The Hunger Games, A Clockwork Orange, and classic short stories such as The Most Dangerous Game and The Lottery.

There are countless other film examples, and no surprise,  a visionary director is usually the difference the good (Straw Dogs) and the bad (Hostel).

The Purge falls somewhere in the middle. Writer/director James DeMonaco sets a firm hook, as security system salesman James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) comes home to his family in an upper crust neighborhood. He bids his friends and neighbors a “safe night,” puts flowers on the lawn to show his public support for the purge, and battens down the family hatches, hoping to survive the night.

DeMonaco isn’t subtle with the message of the haves feeding off the have-nots. Give him credit, though, for weaving liberal guilt, right-wing rage, racial tensions, paranoia, national security and more into the mix, creating a tense, subversive clash of moral ambiguities.

Of course, it does turn out to be a bumpy night for the Sandins, and when the film shifts into home-invasion standoff mode, trouble comes a-knockin’.

The intruders are modeled heavily on the killers from both The Strangers and Funny Games, there are cliches and lapses in plausibility, but still, DeMonaco finds ways keep you interested. Nifty camera work, a quick pace and some good playoffs do much to overcome the flaws. You get the feeling DeMonaco wrote the script and the storyboard together, letting his director side step in when doubts arose, reassuring his writer side that they could make it work.

In a way, they were both right. The screenwriter has much on his mind, but after a solid start, boxes himself in and chooses the easy way out. The director takes it from there, finding some stylishly resourceful ways to make The Purge worth a look.

 

Verdict-3-0-Stars