Rambling Film

What might work: Joseph Gordon-Levitt of course. You could call me incredibly bias but hey, it's my blog isn't it? I love me some JGL. In all honesty, he's one of the best actors out there and he proved that by carrying the anti-romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer last year. There's no doubt he'll be fantastic in this. Seth Rogan is hilarious when given the right material. I think Rogan will benefit from having a fantastic actor like JGL to bounce off of. It's rated R. R-rated comedies are not stuck with same boundaries that PG13 ones are. This one looks like it could deliver a lot of laughs and a lot of heart. What might not: Weak supporting cast. I don't have a ton of faith in Anna Kendrick or Bryce Dallas Howard, but hopefully the movie will focus mostly on Rogan and Gordon-Levitt's character. Marketing: It's hard to market a movie about the main character suffering from cancer. It could turn a lot of people off, they may want a laugh a...

Over the top. The theory for many sequels is take something from the original and times it by 10. That seems to be the main purpose of The Hangover Part II. The sequel to the surprise smash hit comedy of 2009. While it falls short on the laughs compared to the first one, it does make a few things more outrageous. In some cases it works. Two years after Doug's (Justin Bartha, who's pushed to the side) bachelor party in Vegas, Stu (Ed Helms) finds himself in love and getting married in his bride's native country of Thailand. Of course Phil, (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are there to join. Phil initially bitches about having to travel such a long way and not having a bachelor party. Stu, still feeling it from the last time around prefers a "breakfast brunch" at their local IHOP before they leave. Eventually after they all arrive in Thailand, they decide to have one beer on the beach. Of course they wake up the next day in a dirty hotel room with no r...

Don't let the stupid title fool you..  The Wackness is a clever, engaging film filled with the best of old school, early 90's hip hop and surprisingly beautiful scenes. Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) is finished with high school and wants to spend his summer dealing drugs from his mock up freezey cart. His parents are having a rough time, Luke sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley) who listens to his probems in exchange for bud. Luke also harbors a crush on Squires' step-daughter, (don't forget the step) Stephanie. (Olivia Thirlby) At first she doesn't give him the time of day, by the end of the summer she's going on his rounds with him daily. Her parent's don't have an easy relationship either. Director Jonathon Levine took a simple coming of age story and made it stand out. The actors, with the exception of a slightly miscast Mary-Kate Olsen blend well and really make it interesting. Kingsley is hilarious, and Thirlby commands attention in every ...

Anna over at Defiant Success  (vote for her in the LAMMY's  while your at it.) was kind enough to tag me in one of her memes. Here it goes: 15 Movie Questions. 1) Movie you love with a passion: American Beauty. I first saw this in 1999 when I was 12, and I loved it because it was about a family that seemed more dysfunctional than my own. (I didn't think that was possible) As I grew up I began to love it for so many more reasons, and it's always the first thing I recommend. 2) Movie you vow never to watch: I Spit On Your Grave. Either the original or the remake. I can't imagine a shittier movie based solely on the plot line. Women's empowerment my ass. 3) Movie that literally left you speechless: A tie between Schindler's List and There Will be Blood. Schindler's List because it was such a fantastic, sadistic, emotional movie. There Will be Blood because the ending caught me off guard. "I'm finished!" 4) Movie I always recommend: Ameri...

Based on a true story..according to some.  There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Peter Weir's The Way Back in terms of the story being true or false. It was initially marketed as a true story, but then some came out and said it was exaggerated. Either way, The Way Back is an interesting gem that somehow fell under the radar. It's 1941 and a group of POW's escape from a camp in Sibera. They are Polish Janusz, (Jim Sturgess) Tomasz, (Alexandru Potocean) and the night blind Kazik. (Sebastian Urzendowsky) An American, Mr. Smith, (Ed Harris) Russian Valka, (Colin Farrell) Latvian Voss (Gustaf Skarsgård) and Yugoslavian Zoran. (Dragos Bucur) They are joined along the way by Polish Irena. (Soairse Ronan) They walk through the most extreme conditions. Winter storms, rough terrain, sand storms, and eventually blistering sunlight. Some make it, some do not. I was honestly very surprised that this didn't get a wider release, or a more serious push during the Oscars. T...

Fucking Bruges After a job gone wrong, a hit man named Ray (Colin Farrell) is sent off with his partner/mentor Ken (Brenden Gleeson) to go on a little "vacation" to lie low. They are sent to Bruges, Belgium. Ray is not happy with this at all. Not only is he strung up from bad job, but now he's stuck in this town playing Tourist. They are sent there by Harry, (Ralph Fiennes) their crazy boss who fell in love with this town as a boy. His idea is to take Ray to this beautiful city only to have Ken kill him. Ken is not thrilled with this idea, but thankfully Harry is back in England. Right? This movie perfectly blends humor, action, violence, and beautiful scenery. Being in Bruges changes both Ray and Ken. They began to appreciate life even more. There's humor throughout, but when the film needs to get serious it does it with ease. The performances are top notch. This is Farrell's best performance to date and Gleeson is right up there as well. I remember when Farrell...

What Works: Suspense. The trailer is immediately interesting because you want to know what happened to Martha. This was a big hit at Sundance, and that's usually a good thing. Curiosity. I'm curious to see "the other Olsen sister" in action. I'd like to think while she was watching her sisters become so famous she was taking notes on how to act convincingly. She shows more promise in this trailer than the Twin's have in their entire careers. What might not: This entire trailer sort of screams "Winter's Bone" to me. It's probably because of John Hawkes, who some say gave a great performance in Winter's Bone. He bored the hell out of me, as did the entire movie. That's one of those films that had a very intriguing trailer and then fell flat on it's face in my opinion. I hope the same thing doesn't happen for this for this. When to see it: It's an independent film so it will probably have a very limited release. When ...