Rambling Film

There's a reason they're called a litter. I never saw the first Hotel Transylvania, my kid was still an infant, so I never bothered. Thankfully you don't need to see the first one to follow along. Dracula (Adam Sandler) is a new grandfather after his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) has a son with her human husband Jonathan (Andy Samberg). Fast forward five years, and he still doesn't have his fangs. Dracula is having trouble accepting that his son might actually be a human instead of a vampire. Of all the animated films I've taken my son to this year, this is the one he laughed the hardest in. Same with me, this movie has some hilariously stupid moments. I'm a sucker for some of the voice actors in this, like Steve Buscemi and Keegan Michael Key. My only complaint - the music. I love Mark Mothersbaugh, but I hate when films overly feature one artist just because they're also a voice actor. In this case, that person is Selena Gomez. It was just t...

Rain forest Shmainforest  I had to get the South Park joke out of the way first. Justine (Lorenza Izzo) is a college Freshman who after getting worked up over a lesson on female gender mutilation in class gets invited by Jonah (Aaron Burns) to join an activist group lead by Alejandro (Ariel Levy) and his super bitch girlfriend, Kara. (Ignacia Allamand) Their mission is to go to South America, where a small tribe is about to be destroyed along with the rain forest around them. After they arrive and manage to live stream some bulldozing, their trip is cut short when their plane crashes and the tribe they are trying to protect has other plans for them. Eli Roth's ode to Cannibal Holocaust (though thankfully without all the rape and actual animal killings) has been a long time coming. Originally scheduled for a 2013 release, it got stuck in distribution hell and was released this week with zero promotion. It's a shame, because Roth knows horror and a brutal f...

Left behind. Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) is a young British solider whose platoon is sent to Belfast in 1971 to assist with looking for weapons hidden by the I.R.A. When a riot breaks out, he's injured and left behind. He tries to navigate his way back to his barracks, but he can't tell who he can really rely on as everyone has their own agendas.  O'Connell is really shaping up to be one hell of an actor. I'm sure those in Europe probably already knew that, but for me, seeing him in this and Starred Up was wonderful. He's very intense. In a film where a lot of the characters sort of blend with the rest, O'Connell makes our lead stand out. He's backed up by some great smaller performances as well.  Corey McKinley , who plays one of the most amusing children I've ever seen, and Richard Dormer because Beric Dondarrion.  At first, I found a few things hard to follow. They explain the different factions of the I.R.A at the beginning of the ...

This year's final "All in the Family" edition of Wandering Through the Shelves'  Thursday Movie Picks centers around families with adopted children and/or foster care. There's definitely no shortage of these films, but I found that I actually used some of them for other categories before. Luckily, some great ones were still out there:  1) Short Term 12 This is one of my favorite movies in recent years, and it really showed what it's like to work in a short term foster home/rehabilitation facility. This film got everything right. It was incredible and Brie Larson is a gem.  2) Running With Scissors Poor Augusten's mother not only randomly puts him up for adoption when he's a teenager, but she gives him to her odd shrink and his even more bizarre family. Someone is going to be wtf'ing for life.  3) Gigantic This cute little indie is about a guy named Brian(Paul Dano) who feels very empty in his life and is trying to adopt a chi...

It's not what you do, it's where you do it. It almost feels redundant because Bulger is so well known, but here's the story - James "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp) ran crime in south Boston in the 70's. He was feared and he was careful. He rose to essentially king pin status because of a deal he made with his childhood friend, John Conolly (Joel Egerton) who was in the FBI. In exchange for an "agreement" (Whitey insisted that he wasn't an informant, nor a rat) he fed the FBI intel to take down the Italian mafia, all while they turned a blind eye to him. Of course, Whitey never stayed out of trouble, and soon all the drugs dealings, murders, eventually come down on him. Even if you know a lot about Bulger and his story, this film still demands to be seen. It has a majorly talented cast, even though some of the big players like Corey Stoll and Peter Sarsgaard only have a few scenes. It's been awhile since I had read anything on Bulger,...

Women are assholes. No, really. Every single person in this film either tells someone to stop being one, or admits they're acting like one. Elle (Lily Tomlin) is a sharp tongued writer who has just broken up with her girlfriend of four months, Olivia. (Judy Greer) Right after that, her teenage grand daughter Sage (Julia Garner) shows up unexpectedly looking for $630 to have an abortion. She's too afraid to ask her domineering mother (Marcia Gay Harden) and with Elle being temporarily broke, they go off visiting people in Elle's life trying to get the money.  It's hard to go wrong with a cast like this. Thankfully, Grandma doesn't. Lily Tomlin should be a shoo-in in the Best Actress in a Comedy category at the Globes. She's harsh and hilarious. Julia Garner is always good at playing sweet and innocent. Sage is just that, but you can tell deep down she has the potential fire that her grandma and mother both have. The film takes place in the spa...

What I knew going in: I had seen clips of this on IFC's Indie Sex documentary. Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo) is an awkward 7th grader who is severely bullied at school and neglected at home in favor of her smarter older brother and her perfect little sister. She has no clue how to act in social situations, so when some people are kind to her, her anger gets the best of her and she lashes out. She's so desperate for attention that she latches on to any boy that will say more than a few words to her.  Being a lover of independent films, I know this is one I probably should've seen awhile ago. It's frequently talked about and has almost somewhat of a cult following. This is a role that Matarazzo will known for the rest of her life for playing. No one could've played Dawn like she did.  As for living up to indie level hype? I'm a bit torn on a few things. While Junior High is quite literally the worst , I was a bit distra...

"The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity" - Viola Davis. Can we talk about how perfect her speech was? I wanted to cry. That happened a few times, actually. I wanted to cry when Tracy Morgan was talking about his recovery. I wanted to cry when I saw George R. R Martin in attendance NOT writing Winds of Winter. I wanted to cry when they threatened to use Shame Nun from Game of Thrones to play people off instead of the orchestra, then didn't follow through.  I guess I've been drinking too much wine. Here are the 2015 Emmy winners in the acting categories. The winners are in blue , my thoughts as always follow in green .  Outstanding Comedy Series Louie Modern Family Parks and Recreation Silicon Valley Transparent Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Veep FINALLY Veep wins best Comedy, breaking Modern Family's streak. They're the funniest thing on TV right now. They deserved it.  Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Se...

Bask in the awkwardness. Lila (Gina Piersanti) is a shy girl that's trying very hard to emulate her more sexually charged friend, Chiara. (Giovanna Salimeni) She mimics some of the stories Chiara tells her to her younger neighbor, pretending she's lived them herself. When she sees Sammy (Ronen Rubinstein) a college aged guy who knows Chiara from his neighborhood, she attempts to insert herself into his life so that she can experience the things she feels she's behind on. This was a film that had a bit of buzz around the time it was at the Sundance Film Festival a few years ago. It even managed to score a few Independent Spirit Nominations. It's director/writer Eliza Hittman's first full length feature and I think she does a wonderful job. It reminded me a bit of Kids , watching Lila make terrible decisions and put herself in bad situations. Hittman really does capture how awkward those years can be, especially for girls. This film doesn't go as f...

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is about journalists/reports for either print of TV. There's lots to choose from this week, and the ones I picked might seem a bit weird,(side note: I need to finish watching Shattered Glass) so let's get to it.  The Ring The reporting part of The Ring probably isn't what most people think of when they see this title. (That would be reserved for the girl crawling out of the TV) but going on Rachel's journey to find the truth about the video tape is an interesting and creepy ride. Zodiac Everything about these newspaper reporters covering the Zodiac killer is perfect. This film is brilliantly shot and acted. Nightcrawler Accident journalism is a thing! Between Lou trying to document the goriest things he can find and Nina trying to turn them into ratings gold for her news station, they're a match made in shady journalism hell. 

This is the part where I attempt to guess what Emmy voters are going to do, which is almost pointless because these bastards can get really unpredictable with their winners. (But never their nominees, we always see those coming) I managed a pretty amazing feat this year: I did not see a single mini series/TV movie nominee. That's never happened to me before. So full disclosure, all of those are guesses based on what other people are saying, and my own actor bias.  Here's who I think will win, and in some cases, who should win instead. Outstanding Comedy Series Louie Modern Family Parks and Recreation Silicon Valley Transparent Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Veep Who will win: Parks and Rec. It's their final season, so they might actually get some love. Or they could play it safe and Transparent will win again. Who should win: Veep or Louie. Mostly Veep, it's the funniest show on TV now. Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Lily Tomlin - Grace and ...

Something to help your memory. Ari Folman has trouble remembering parts of the Lebanon war in the 80's. He decides he wants to speak with former friends and veterans to see what they remember and if they can help him. Instead of interviews in a documentary format. He chooses to tell his story through animation and reenactments of the conversations he had. This has been on my watch list for ages. I've always heard such wonderful things. Watching it now, I can see why it sticks with people. I'm not sure if I've ever seen anything like this.  The animation is singular and doesn't feel like I've seen something like it over and over. The way Folman crafts this film together is fascinating. It blends fantasies, the horrors of war, and simple conversations well. It does drag a bit here and there, but it never stops being easy to watch. Fun fact: I handle cartoon dog death and vomiting about as well as I handle it in live action films....which is real...

What do we say to the God of death? "NOW. Please now. Please kill everybody" Okay, so maybe that's not what Syrio teaches on Game of Thrones, but it absolutely applies to this movie. The setting is 1870. Jon (Mads Mikkelson) is a Danish farmer who moved to America to try to make a better living. When he finally gets his wife and child to move to America to see him seven years later, of course his wife gets raped, then murdered, and his son murdered after only being there for a few hours. Jon manages to kill the men that did this, but unfortunately the dead man's brother is Henry Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who is a notorious gang leader. He terrorizes the small town where the murders happened until someone gives up Jon. His dead brother's wife, who he calls "Princess" (Eva Green) is also by his side, and he decides that he's going to be her new lover now, because of course he did. He's a big baddie and women exist in this movie o...

A Day in the Life Nowhere Boy follows a young John Lennon (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) deals with his complicated relationship with his Aunt Mimi, (Kristin Scott Thomas) the woman who raised him and his mother Julia (Anne Marie Duff) the one that left him as a small child all while trying to start a rock and roll band. I've been a big fan of the Beatles for some time, though if you're looking for an informative bio pic on Lennon's teen years, this probably isn't for you. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Though she was Taylor-Wood when she made this) took a lot of creative liberties. But it doesn't have to be. Even though it doesn't get every detail as it really was, it's still a very rich and engaging story.  I love how this film was shot. Taylor-Wood (only referring her this way to differentiate between her and Aaron, and this came out in 09 so it feels right) Even though the drama is heavy in some scenes, it has an upbeat feel and the music blended p...

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is train movies. Also a nice reminder that I never got around to seeing Transsiberian... 1) Snowpiercer One of my favorites from last year, the entire film takes place on a train that goes around the world after an attempt to stop global warming ruins it. Sure, there's a few plot holes, but who cares? IT'S AWESOME! 2) The Darjeeling Limited This movie is definitely wacky, but it's fun and bright and well, it's Wes Anderson. That's most of his films. I think this tends to me on most peoples' lower end of Anderson films, it's actually on the higher side of mine. 3) The Station Agent Okay, so this film doesn't take place on a train, but it's about a train enthusiast who inherits an abandoned station and it has amazing performances by Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Canavale. 

Awkward popcorn staring. You can have a lot of different emotions in a theater, but there's nothing quite like feeling too awkward/uncomfortable to watch the screen. In this case, I examined my popcorn rather closely, more than once. Minnie (Bel Powley) is a 15 year old living in San Francisco in the 70's. She wants to be an artist and her drawings frequently come to life during the film, adding psychedelic frames throughout. She also is becoming hyper aware of her sexuality, especially after she loses her virginity to her mother's boyfriend, Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard) Despite loving to draw, Minnie doesn't write down her thoughts, she records them on a tape recorder, and on we go on her journey through her sexual awakening. I knew going in that Minnie was going to have sex with Monroe, but I didn't realize that it was going to be an extended thing throughout the entire movie. Somehow, I thought it would play differently. Like a one time ex...

Could you do it? Sandra (Marion Cotillard) has been on medical leave for depression for some time. Right before she's due to return to her job, she's informed that her boss has given her colleagues an ultimatum about her position. They think her job can be done with one less employee. So they're either going to pay staff their bonuses, or pay her salary. They voted, and the majority opted to keep their bonus. After a decision is made to postpone the vote until Monday morning. Sandra spends her weekend visiting her co workers to see if they will vote for her to keep her job. I couldn't even imagine myself in Sandra's shoes. I don't think I would have the lady-balls to actually come face to face with my colleagues and ask them to give up a large bonus for me. The fact that Sandra is dealing with depression and doing this is even more impressive. Her husband, Manu (Fabrizio Rongione) is her main supporter and pushes her along the way, even when she tries...

Actors are special. Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara) is a struggling actress that has a starring role in a small budget film called Home For Purim. When an anonymous comment online talks about her being Oscar worthy good, Marilyn, and the other stars of the film, Victor Allen Miller (Harry Shearer) and Callie Webb (Parker Posey) start to let it get to their heads. It's not just them either, the entire production is caught up in the awards season buzz before they even finish shooting. The film works as a great satire on Hollywood, actors, and what probably happens behind the scenes during our beloved awards season. O'Hara, Shearer, and Posey are spectacular and both make us feel bad for their characters and cringe at them. The film's extensive supporting cast works on so many levels. It's almost kind of shocking to see the film tackle the behind the scenes aspects of film making. The suits coming in and totally disregarding the writers and changing not only...

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves   is about those who shape our lives, whether we like it or not; teachers. We've all had teachers from hell, and also the ones we loved and learned from. I still keep in contact with my favorite one. They don't have easy jobs and they're some of the most important people in our lives. Here are three of my favorite films about teachers.  1) Half Nelson Ryan Gosling gives the best performance of his career as a drug addicted teacher forming a bond with one of his students.  2) Precious I've talked about Ms. Rain so many times on my blog, about how she made me cry when she told Precious she loved her. She's a superhero teacher, plain and simple.  3) Pretty Persuasion   Mr. Anderson ends up getting accused of sexual assault when three of his students decide to make up a story about him for fame. Evan Rachel Wood is perfect as a schemer in this film.  

You can't just let this beautiful fruit go to waste. One of the cool things about blogging is that you "meet" other film fans from all over the world. I never thought I'd chat with not one but two  bloggers from Estonia.  A lot of foreign movies are a bit more special to me now because I can associate them with other members of the film blogging community. My first ever Estonian film was just that as well.  In the early 90's, The Apkhazeti region  was fighting to break free from Georgia. In the middle of this conflict is Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) An Estonian man who has stayed behind to help his friend Margus (Elmo Nuganen) harvest his tangerines so he can sell them and return to Estonia, like the rest of their village has. When a shoot out happens quite literally in Margus' front year, Ivo takes in two wounded men. Ahmed, ( Giorgi Nakashidze) a Chechen missionary and Niko (Misha Meskhi) a Georgian soldier. Though they are on opposite sides ...