Hello all. Mark here.
The Oscars are upon us and I’ve decided to share my predictions. They are all fairly stock but I’ve decided to pick with logic and not my heart. It is an interesting field this year with several close races (Editing, Picture, Director, Short live action film, Doc) which make the Oscars fairly intriguing.
Here are the predictions! Enjoy.
If you bet big and win I get 7%. However, if you lose big…….My bad.
1. Best Picture – 12.36 Years a Slave
2. Best Actress – Cate “Makes losing your mind dignified” Blanchett
3. Best Actor – McC Wooderson
4. Best Supporting Actress – Lupita (I regret being in Non-Stop) N’yong’o
5. Best Supporting Actor – Jordan Catalano
6. Best Director – Steve “Don’t call me Great Escape” McQueen
7. Best Adapted Screenplay – 12 Years A Slave
8. Best Original Screenplay and Mustache – Her
9. Best Animated Feature and Song – Frozen
10. Best Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Editing, Sound Mixing, Score and Cinematography – Gravity
11. Best High Waisted Pants – Her
12. Best Documentary – 20 Feet From Stardom (Should be Act of Killing)
13. Best Voice Acting – ScarJo in Don Jon and Her
14. Best Costumes and Production Design – Great Gatsby
15. Best Makeup – Dallas Buyers Club
16. Best Performance That Gets No Love – Jake Gyllenhaal – Prisoners
17. Best Dad – Bill Nighy – About Time
18 Best Short Stuff – Get A Horse, The Lady in 6, Helium
19. Best Foreign Film – The Great Beauty
There you have it!
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The Family: Luc Besson’s Live Action Cartoon
Now that The Family has settled into domestication on Blu-ray I think the film will find an audience. Shakespeare it ain’t but I think the tonally odd film will find a cult audience. Viewers will be drawn to the live action cartoon that is punctuated by ultra-violence, irresponsible murder and cheeky humor.
Critics and audiences had a hard time figuring out what this little hybrid was all about. The premise is simple. Mafia family in witness protection has to deal with French culture and constant hunting from vengeful mob hitmen. However, they still murder people, have little patience and occasionally blow up French convenience stores. It doesn’t fit any genre and cannot be summarized because of all the combating elements. You have the familiar fish out of water element but you also have a subplot about DeNiro fixing the town’s brown water problem by brutally hurting government officials and plumbers.
The Family treats suicide, cold blooded murder, romance, torture, student/teacher sex, blood, explosions and more cold blooded murder with humor and it gets weird. It is like Dianna Agron’s character. Seemingly normal, super violent and sorta insane.
Stephen Holden of NYT summed up the film with this quote:
It doesn’t even try for basic credibility. But buoyed by hot performances, it sustains a zapping electrical energy. It might be described as screwball noir. If there aren’t a lot of belly laughs, The Family stirs up an appalled amusement at its gleeful amorality. Some of the heartiest laughs come from the grisly scenes of Giovanni triumphantly venting his rage when he doesn’t get instant gratification or feels disrespected.
When I used the phrase “tonally odd” I mean that it is never structured. The progression of the movie flips between appalling casual violence, coincidences (the newspaper scene is insane), family dinners, flashbacks, daydreams, Goodfellas screenings and a grumpy Tommy Lee Jones. You could throw boulders through the plot holes but that would be too easy. The film is likable because you realize it is a cartoon from the guy who made Leon and The Fifth Element. His movies have always had an odd edge and The Family is no different.
The Family seemed like a mainstream film but surprised many with its quirks and violence. The stunt casting of mafia film vets DeNiro and Pfeiffer felt lazy to some but I didn’t mind seeing them in such an offbeat affair. The Family will not be for everyone but I was able to go along for the ride. Change your expectations, revel in the eccentricity and watch out for tennis rackets.
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MY CALL: AMAZING acting and crushingly real character transformations make Lovelace a great film worthy of a bigger release than it received. MOVIES LIKE Lovelace: The People versus Larry Flint (1996), Boogie Nights (1997) and 54 (1998).
This is the story of Linda “Lovelace” Boreman, her 17 day career in the porn industry making Deep Throat, and her painful before and after.
Rising from prudish origins in 1970 Florida, Linda (Amanda Seyfried; Epic, Les Miserables) is discovered go-go dancing at a skating rink by a deliciously sleazy Chuck (Peter Sarsgaard; Green Lantern, Rendition). Chuck is charming and cleverly manipulative as he caters to Linda’s insecurity and emotional shortcomings. In no time at all he moves her into his home, “teaches” her the oral techniques that brought her fame, and infuses her with a sense of confidence and belonging that she clearly never before felt living with her abrasive parents (Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick).
Sorry, guys, if I’m throwing you under the bus here. But, women, NEVER trust a man with facial hair like this. NEVER!
Swiftly after their wedding, Linda learns of Chuck’s (now “their”) financial problems. So they meet with pornographers Butchie (Bobby Cannavale; Parker, Win Win) and Gerry (Hank Azaria; Hop, Love and Other Drugs), impressed by her oral gifts.
The characters of Gerry and Butchie were both performed superbly. They are such nice guys you just want to invite them to your grandmother’s 90th birthday.
All of the characters we meet in the adult film industry are charming. Not just smooth, silver-tongued devils wooing Linda into the industry, but properly kind, sweet individuals who are grateful to be working with her. Butchie and Gerry are nothing if not endearingly played. Porn star Harry (Adam Brody; Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Scream 4) is immediately likable. Her promo photographer (Wes Bentley; The Hunger Games) teaches her to feel beautiful and comfortable in front of the camera. And Hugh Hefner (James Franco; This is the End, Oz the Great and Powerful) candidly impresses on her that she is more than simply a porn star.
James Franco as Hugh Hefner. This just made sense! Good casting.
As Linda is transitioning into porn stardom, and with every invitingly kind pornographer we meet, we find Chuck becoming increasingly jealous and abusive. He slowly becomes all of the things (and so much worse) that she was fleeing when she ran into his arms.
The hangover of her manipulated path to stardom–the revelation of the frailty hiding behind the illusions and the sadness behind the glamour–is all too familiar. The People versus Larry Flint (1996), Boogie Nights (1997) and 54 (1998) find their characters fragmented and their souls disarticulated before our eyes in crushing reality much as we find with Linda’s transformation.
All of the actors embraced their characters and did an amazing job; AMAZING. This film received little attention or advertising regarding its release and this is a shame. I hope more people eventually find their way to this excellent film.
SAD FACT: Deep throat made $600 million. Linda made $1,250.
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Bad Movie Tuesday: Runner “Expository Dialogue” Runner
“You’re about to jet off to a country you’ve never been to, with a language you do not speak.”
Runner Runner is a film where everything is explained to you. When it isn’t explained Timberlake asks “What is this?” or “what are we doing here?” Then, Affleck’s character Ivan explains everything and Timberlake says “What is wrong with you?”
The tagline from the poster is “You have no idea who you’re playing with.” The problem is you know exactly who you are playing with. There is nothing new about the characters and it all builds towards double crosses, triple crosses and one more double cross showing how “smart” the main character is. The writing isn’t simply on the wall it is in block letters displayed for everyone to see. Thus, there is zero tension and instead the whole thing becomes kinda funny. Where else will you hear Affleck tell Timberlake:
This is the gambling business in Costa Rica. Occasionally you get punched in the face.
Runner Runner tells the story of a bunch of dudes (and one lady. Gemma Arterton you are better than this) entrenched in the high stakes world of online gambling. Basically, these people are rich but choose to be super rich. They enjoy bikini clad women, stacks of cash and play on the basketball teams that they own. They also have every chance to get away with their money but choose to make more (cue the face punching). The problems are self inflicted and you never care as death via crocodile becomes a reality. Ben Affleck evens warns Timberlake when he says:
If you want a a safer job go work for the post office. If you want a clear conscience go start a charity. If you want your own F**king island and your boss says you have to take a beating. Take it (cue more face punching).
Justin Timberlake is woefully miscast. His character is supposed to be ridiculously smart (we are told this a lot) but comes across as kinda dim (For a smart kid you do some really dumb stuff). His motor mouthed skills worked in Social Network but here he has to navigate tough, smart, dumb, confused and confident with no help from the script (cue expository dialogue to tell us everything!). He is too likable to be a jerk and too manicured to be tough. The character should have been a mousy/intelligent man who loves the dangerous world because he never would have experienced it anywhere else. Timberlake’s character could easily go back to school and live a good life.
Ben Affleck seems to be having a good time as a deadly man who loves crocodiles and hair product. Critics were divided on the character. They either appreciated the performance or called his character a “ludicrously preened tosser.” Either way, he is the only good part of Runner Runner because he breaks the generic mode and comes across as a new age bro-villain.
The director Brad Furman also made the wonderful Lincoln Lawyer. It was a grimy delight that revived Matthew McConaughey’s career and was a sleeper hit. Lawyer’s old school vibe isn’t here as everything looks too glossy and the material feels too written. I was disappointed as the negative reviews poured in and the general consensus was that the film was “clunky.” It wants to be an R rated film but feels like a PG-13 flick.
Runner Runner is not a good film. It tells you everything, tells you again and builds to a climax so easy you slap your head. However, I would love to see a bro-Batman ruling the streets of Gotham.
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John’s Horror Corner: The Haunting of Helena (2013), a dark fairy tale about a vengeful Tooth Fairy
MY CALL: This movie was good, but the key word here is creepy. Good old-fashioned creepy storytelling done well with an excellent creepy atmosphere. MORE MOVIES LIKE The Haunting of Helena: Darkness Falls (2003), Mama (2013) and Haunt (2013). Maybe even The Possession (2012)? Perhaps Dead Silence (2007) or The Uninvited (2009)… just to take a few more stabs in the dark.
Written and produced by rookie filmmakers, the long-short of it all is this: In this twisted take on the “tooth fairy” fairy tale, an Italian Malaria ghost wants her teeth back and she’ll kill as many innocent people as it takes until one of them happens to randomly figure out why she’s killing, what she wants and where to find it.
The story begins when young Helena notices her first loose tooth and inquires about the tooth fairy. Her mother Sophia, like any loving parent, humors her with an all too familiar story. But for the “horror” in this story to take root something must go wrong for Helena and her single mother.
This evil enters their lives after they get a cursed wardrobe with claw marks on the inside. Maybe it’s just me and I’m just paranoid or superstitious, but upon seeing claw marks on the inside of a lockable “anything” I’d think twice about it. Like an imprisoning lamp to its genie, this wardrobe had–until now–kept an evil restless spirit at bay.
This is the face I would make when I saw the claw marks “inside” the wardrobe!
Following familiar formula, the young child in our story begins to act strangely. Helena buys teeth from her elementary school classmates in the schoolyard with curiously old coins which she couldn’t possibly have stumbled across on her own. She also begins producing disturbing drawings.
From there some very creepy things happen, Helena begins talking to an “imaginary” friend, and there are some good scares along the way. Many scenes were VERY chilling.
This young actress’ soulful eyes worked wonders for the creepy atmosphere of this film.
There’s a twist at the end. It was unnecessary; the movie was fine without it. But I had fun with it anyway and it added another dimension to the solid storytelling.
This is no must-see sensation, but it was done very well and it would be a worthy contribution to a dark and stormy night (alone or with a date, etc.). The ghost is presented with fine effects; our evil tooth fairy is creepy, disturbing and nuanced.
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Short Term 12: An Authentic and Incisive Tale of Growing Up
Short Term 12 is the story of a twenty-something named Grace who works at a home for at risk teens. She invests herself fully in the work while pushing her own problems aside. Her journey immerses you into the world and the film is a marvel of authenticity and beautiful moments.
The movie has a heart and soul and you can tell the director has a familiarity with the material. Daniel Cretton infuses the film with a naturalness that evades melodrama and captures a realism rarely seen on film. His experiences working in a similar teen home and 2009 short film of the same name have molded the 96 minutes into a miniature truth bomb. There is no cure-all for these people. The damage is irreparable and the only way to move forward is to understand the problems while moving onward cautiously.
I thought about the song Falling Slowly from the film Once when watching Short Term 12. I know the lyrics are out of context but they fit the film well. Here they are:
Well, you have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It’s time that you wonTake this sinking boat and point it home
We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice
You’ve made it now
The characters have suffered, warred and been stuck in a sinking ship. However, they can allow the ship to sink or they can attempt to make it back to shore. Some of them will never have a chance and for others the journey won’t be easy. There will always be physical/psychological leaks. However, when there is hope and friendship they can make their way towards something to live and strive for.
The small moments in Short Term 12 easily eclipse the big sweeping emotions of most films. For instance, the only thing one of the residents wants for his 18th birthday is to have his head shaved. He has always wanted to shave his head but was self-conscious about the bumps and bruises that his mom inflicted upon him. The scene breaks your heart as he feels his newly shaved head for the remnants left by his mom. There are no bumps and that feeling provides catharsis for the character.
Brie Larson had a wonderful 2013. Her characters in Spectacular Now, Don Jon and Short Term 12 are all different and could have been stock characters. She transformed the ex-girlfriend, younger sister, troubled twenty-something into three-dimensional characters with depth. She can do a lot with little and that is evident in Short Term 12. She is tough yet fragile. She is weary yet wants to be loved by her kind boyfriend. She wants the teenagers to open up yet can’t talk about her problems. Her character is explained beautifully in an exchange with her boyfriend.
Grace: Why are you so nice to me?
Mason: You being serious now? Well, it’s easy. It’s because you are the weirdest, most beautiful person that I’ve ever met in my whole entire life.
Short Term 12 is a fantastic film that will linger in your memory. It will be a springboard for everyone involved and hopefully will find a bigger audience. Watch it and let me know what you think.
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John’s Horror Corner: Haunter (2013), a “reverse haunting” mingling teen angst, family-friendly horror and surreal storytelling
MY CALL: To an adult horrorhound this may be more interesting than satisfying; teen angst meets PG-13 family-friendly horror and cleverly surreal storytelling in this highly original film. MORE MOVIES LIKE Haunter: With such “gentle” scares, I’d call this a horror movie for beginners or family nights. As such, being a bit more hardcore with my horror, I don’t have anything to suggest.
This film approaches an all too familiar idea (i.e., a haunted house story) from a new perspective. On an inordinately foggy day we meet Lisa (Abigail Breslin; Zombieland, Signs, The Call). In many ways Lisa is the prototypical American teen–moody, attitudinal, and her parents just don’t get her. But in one way she’s not like the typical teen: she and her family are reliving the same day of their life over and over again and Lisa is the only one who sees what’s happening or has any idea why.
Creative shots illustrate the seclusion of their house in the fog and their boringly repetitive life/day. The same mac and cheese for lunch–every day, the same conversation with her mother–every day, the same episode of Murder She Wrote every night–every day… this Groundhog Day scenario has been wearing on Lisa’s patience and sanity alike. But one day strange things start happening around the house and Lisa’s angsty teen life becomes a little more interesting.
Slamming doors, strange sounds, voices, shadows and secret keys to secret doors; it seems that Lisa’s house is haunted and only Lisa knows it. But there’s something very different about this haunting…
To say much more would ruin this movie and, honestly, most reviews and trailers risk giving away the well-crafted surprises that makes this story so original.
The scares are hardly as “scary” as your typical jump scares–hardly startling to the seasoned horrorhound making it feel very much the humble PG-13 that it is. I’d go so far as to call this movie family-friendly. There is also no gore, nudity or profanity. This film relies entirely on Lisa’s perception and the surreal storytelling that ebbs and flows around her.
Director Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) does a fine job here making a more “wholesome” horror film, but I feel that this entry to the genre will be lost on most mature horror-goers unless they’re looking for something non-Disney to watch with their kids. Natali has had a lot of experience as a storyboard artist (Ginger Snaps, Johnny Mnemonic, Eek the Cat and the Beetlejuice cartoon, to name the freaky and oddball work) and his mind is designed to form twisted, weird, slapstick, moral-testing, brutal scenarios. I applaud this work and respect it. However, I look forward to his future endeavors aimed more for lovers of gore, tension and, well, “horror.”
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MY CALL: The horrible erotic horror story of a horny mutant eyeball from the 8th dimension…AWFUL! MOVIES LIKE The Killer Eye: I haven’t accidentally stumbled across such a raunchy movie since They Bite (1995), Breeders (1986) and Chillerama (2011)–all of which still paid more attention to the creatures and gore than the sex scenes. Better Full Moon releases include Hideous! (1997), Puppet Master (1989), Ghoulies (1985) and Seed People (1992) and Head of the Family (1996).
In an effort to discover the “8th dimension” a mad ophthalmological scientist tests his experimental eye drops on a juvenile delinquent (who seems to be a gay prostitute by his lines) . Distracted by his unreasonably hot and somehow under-sexed wife Rita (ex-adult film star Jacqueline Lovell; Hideous!, Head of the Family), our scientist fails to notice when his test subject dies and his eye mutates to monstrous size and then crawls away.
This was not one of Full Moon’s stronger releases. It felt like more attention went into the production of the sex scenes than into the special effects of the killer eye monster. In fact, this is demonstrative of the worst monster effects I’ve seen from a Full Moon release in a long time. The monster looks like a giant plastic eye with rubber guts. Even when the monstrous eye “abducts” Rita the scene feels stolen from some cheap porno–down to the overtly redundant shots and lame music. Even the acting and sets seemed cheap…cheap even for a nudity-rich Full Moon movie!
Like with most adult films, this cheap T’n’A horror flick clocks in at 72 minutes, most of the running time of which was dedicated to sex scenes. This movie legitimately comes off as if they were trying to make horror porn and then cut out the hardcore stuff. This eye really gets around, by the way. It takes advantage of Rita while she’s asleep and then it eye laser-roofies some chick in the shower and has its way with her. It doesn’t help the porn-vibe that Rita tries to have sex with every man she encounters. Oh, no, but that’s not all. This giant pervy eyeball monster then uses its eye laser to control the mind of its last victim’s husband to make him watch and rub his chest while the eye has another go at her, not minutes after the eye shared a shower scene with her! They may as well have called this movie “Eyegasm.”
So then the eye monster somehow reanimates the juvenile delinquent from whose head it sprang to life. The eye monster uses the boy’s body to try to communicate with Rita that it’s from another world and needs to procreate. Being an epic slut, Rita just ignores the quite likely underage kid and tries to have sex with him.
This flick wears on until they basically just end it by scaring the eye back to the 8th dimension with a couple of flashlights, leaving the women ominously pregnant in its wake.
This was so lame. I’m a proper bro and enjoy some gratuitous nudity as much as the next guy, but this was awkwardly too much.
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MY CALL: This film is well-executed, often cheesy, stylishly produced, gory, exploitative cult film fun. MOVIES LIKE Nurse 3D: There are a few movies like this that come to mind for different reasons. Single White Female (1992) has all the serious and none of the satire, American Psycho (2000) has all of the satire but none of the serious, American Mary (2012) is closest match but expresses its sexuality via body modification.
I walked into this expecting something like a more seductive version of American Mary (2012). What I got was more like a stylishly shot and scored “Fatal Attraction to a Single White Female American Psycho” cult film. Complete with cheesy lines, abduction, spewing gore, an epically destructive hospital catfight, death-by-defibrillator and plenty of nudity, this will surely please lovers of shock, schlock and exploitation cinema. This also has the production quality and star power to please those who like a stylishly different horror/slasher film from time to time. Writer/director Douglas Aarniokoski (The Day) has done us well with his leading lady…
Meet the sultry Abigail Russell (Paz de la Huerta; Boardwalk Empire), medical professional by day and sauntering sexual sociopath by night. Her hobbies include wearing sexy lingerie, dabbling in lesbianism, blackmailing and seducing her co-workers, and killing adulterous married men looking to two-time their wives.
Abigail works with the cute, insecure newbie Danni (Scream Queen Katrina Bowden; Piranha 3DD, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Hold Your Breath) and immediately becomes obsessed with her, wanting Danni to leave her boyfriend so they can to be together. When Danni doesn’t share this whim and tries to distance herself, Abigail aims her deep-seeded instability at the people in Danni’s life.
Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss… Try explaining that to a sociopath, though.
At times, Abigail is perfectly sociopathic and sexy–especially during the opening sequence which includes her narration. But her execution sometimes walks the line between sociopathic emotional emptiness and stale acting–which I believe to be the fuel to the fire of most negative reviews. In general, I find her flat mood appealing and it especially suits her as she obsesses over Danni. It smacks pretty hard of Single White Female (1992) with just a culinary dash of American Psycho (2000), but she’s more about sexual fixation than trying to “become” the object of her desire. Abigail targets men who she perceives to have wronged Danni, along with anyone else who stands in Abigail’s way. 
The finale brings us a brilliant admixture of an epically brutal catfight interspersed with a punctuated killing spree that ravages a hospital staff with a staggering body count.
This movie is just plain cult film fun done well.
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John’s Horror Corner: Haunt (2013), unoriginal but recommendable for excellent character development
MY CALL: Loads of plot holes and an unoriginal story…yet, I swear, this is an enjoyable worthwhile haunting film due to excellent direction, production and character development. MORE MOVIES LIKE Haunt: Mama (2013), Shadow People (2013), The Uninvited (2009) and White Noise (2005) all successfully utilize many of the same concepts and styles of Haunt.
The opening of this pleasant surprise introduces us to two concepts. One of them is Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP)–the ultra-creepy premise for White Noise (2005)–and the other is the simple notion that every ghost story begins with a house and a tragedy. Our present tragic backstory is most effectively narrated by victim Janet Morello (Jacki Weaver; Stoker, Animal Kingdom).
Years after the “Morello Curse” claimed the lives of Janet’s husband and three kids, the Asher family–also with two girls and a boy–moves into the ill-fated home. In no time Evan meets his love interest, the troubled girl next door. As Evan gets to know his comely teen neighbor Sam (Liana Liberato; Trespass), we learn that she is emotionally guarded and domestically abused. But after a night of snuggling and a few hits off a joint she opens up and talks Evan into trying to communicate with the dead using an old radio tuned to white noise stations.
Not sure what got Evan into more trouble here… the “gateway drug” of marijuana or the fact that he’d probably do just about anything for this girl that he hasn’t slept with yet.
Things escalate and it becomes evident that Sam has a stronger connection to the house than Evan and the Ashers. As Sam and Evan freak out about their ghostly contact Evan’s older sister (Danielle Chuchran; Osombie) is legitimately concerned, Evan’s parents don’t take it at all seriously (no shock there), and Evan’s younger kid sister starts saying some disturbing things. Much as in Mama (2013), Poltergeist (1982) and many other haunting movies, his kid sister has a strong connection with the ghosts.
I mean, what young child WOULDN’T want to be friends with this friendly ghost?
Rookie director Mac Carter utilizes standard jump scare tactics, out-of-focus shadowy figures and cryptic flashback sequences to elicit a rather familiar style of fear. It’s nothing special or original, but the execution is clearly there and it works. In fact, the jumps scares’ effectiveness specifically leads me to recommend this as a good date movie.
I’m not familiar with any of the cast, but everyone seems to have done a fine job with their roles. Sam, Evan and Evan’s sisters are all effectively presented and they completely distract us from a plot which–while not being a blatant rip off of anything specific–is not at all original. In fact, if you reflect on the movie after watching it you’ll have a lot of questions that will go unanswered. Not surprisingly there is a twist ending, but it’s nothing wowing and it doesn’t entirely make sense of what we saw/learned in the flashback scenes. That said, despite the story flaws these characters (and their excellent development) along with capable film production and direction made this film a pleasant surprise and a decent overall jumpy experience. I recommend it.
Movies, Films & Flix 