Review: The Conjuring

Warner Bros./New Line Cinema

It's been a long time since I've actually been excited for a horror movie. In fact, I can't remember the last time I looked forward to a film of this genre so much. Although I think it would be wrong to call a movie like The Conjuring a "horror" film because when I think of horror I think of blood and guts. The Conjuring, on the other hand, has hardly any violence. Still, somehow, it garnered itself an R rating from the MPAA for reasons many people explain as the movie being just so terrifying. So, I guess it'd be more accurate to call this one a thriller because the title of "horror" suggests physical disgust. Horror is about visceral violence that is thrust in your face to evoke terror, excitement, or whatever depending on how messed up you are.

Rather than relying on the grotesqueness of what is seen, The Conjuring delivers a string of old-fashioned scares cleverly designed around what is not seen. Time and time again, I have explained to people (who all generally agree with me) that the most scary things in movies (and life for that matter) is what is we cannot see. In the case of movies, it's about what the filmmakers choose to keep from showing the audience This is what makes movies like the first Paranormal Activity (in my opinion) so effective and popular because not once in that movie do you see the actual paranormal entity/demon. There's evidence of its presence with the footprints, a shadow in the doorway, and pieces of furniture being moved, but that's it. The thing, whatever it is, remains a constant tease throughout the film and threatens to reveal itself, but at the last moment, shrinks back into the darkness. 

Review: Pacific Rim

Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures

OK, I openly admit that I was knowingly lying to myself about what this movie was going to be from the start. News about Guillermo del Toro's (Pan's Labyrinth, Hell Boy, Devil's Backbone) pet project concerning battling alien monsters with some kind of robots has been circling the web for well over 2 years now. Naturally, anyone familiar with Del Toro's knack for comic book-ish action and style had high hopes for the director trying his hand at something that sounded very close to live-action anime. Many directors have tried the same type of thing in the past with The Matrix and Kill Bill, but Del Toro seemed like an even better choice than those other guys because of his extremely nerdy tendencies and close attention to mise en scene details and tone. The closest thing Del Toro has done to the genre of Pacific Rim is the Hellboy movies, and anyone who has seen those knows they're completely ludicrous but undeniably entertaining with an obvious love and attention to the source material and world. Thus, the news that Del Toro was tackling an original sci-fi story got fans of his (like me) entirely interested and hoping for something incredibly entertaining if not actually somewhat smart. 

But then the first trailer for Pacific Rim was released and with it the flood of comparisons to Transformers and a Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich level of mindless action and destruction. And even though all the evidence for what it was was right there, I (and others) refused to believe it would only be about giant robots smashing Godzilla-like creatures in the head. There must be more to it than that! Del Toro wouldn't settle for just something like that! Unfortunately, I made the mistake of forgetting that often times huge nerds like Del Toro often get so caught up in and excited about certain things that they overindulge to a point that no one else understands the point. This has been the case in many an English class I have taken where particularly nerdy people (and by that I mean people with very specific interests and concerns who take them to ridiculous levels) talk and argue about something relentlessly and it ends up making people annoyed and making no sense in the end and you forget why the whole conversation started in the first place.

What I'm Watching: Pitch Perfect

Universal Pictures

Why I watched it: it was on HBOGO and I had heard good things about it! Don't get me wrong, it totally sounds like something I would never watch in a million years and altogether too much like Glee or some other nonsense like that. But, Anna Kendrick is a good actress and friends of mine who I consider to have something like a good taste in movies seemed to really enjoy it. So what the heck, I didn't feel like going to sleep early last night, so I decided to spend almost 2 hours watching this before bed.

What I thought: First of all, I want to get my #1 beef with this movie out of the way before I talk about the good stuff: I don't care what universe you come from or who you are, a cappella singing groups are not cool. Somehow, everyone who goes to this college where Beca (Kendrick) is a Freshman thinks that the a cappella groups are the coolest kids around. And let me tell you, this could not be further from the truth. And this isn't because I don't value musical talent! I consider myself somewhat of a singer and have a considerable background in piano playing and musical performances. But a cappella? Nope! That being said, Pitch Perfect is really entertaining! It's legitimately funny and the singing is actually fun to listen to! I guess this is another beef I have with it though is that live a cappella does not sound anywhere close to as good as these obviously studio-recorded people do. Of course, this film has the cliche tale of a band of misfit, underdog types who join together to try and take down the bad, popular kids at school and win the championship. Basically your stereotypical sports movie plot but with singing instead. However, the cliche-ness (a word I made up, whatever) of it didn't really bother me because all the characters are entertaining and well-played. Especially the character of "Fat" Amy, played by Rebel Wilson. Over all, Pitch Perfect revels in its stereotypical format while at the same time managing to deliver a really good time.

Should you watch it: I think you know right off the bat if this kind of movie is for you. Then again, I didn't think it would be, but I still enjoyed it. And I am usually the type who watches nothing but dark, violent, complex, psychological dramas and thrillers. Which is maybe why I enjoyed this one because I needed a break from all that? Who knows! All I know is that I was pleasantly surprised, so add this one to your next visit to Redbox or order from Netflix!

What I'm Watching: 42

Warner Bros. Pictures

Why I watched it: I'm not really sure why I watched this one. I'm not usually a huge fan of historical pieces or autobiographies unless they feature particular favorite actors or directors of mine or are about people or events that I find interesting. In this case, it's even stranger that I would watch 42 since I am neither a fan of sports movies or of movies about racism and such. All I knew is that this movie got semi-decent reviews and I was bored and thought it might offer something interesting?

What I thought: it was about what I expected. Maybe even less. It has all the old, cliche moments of terrible, racist white people that Hollywood just loves to portray. Don't get me wrong, white people are the worst. Ask anyone who knows me, it's one of my number one things that annoys me, even though I'm white (especially coming from a customer service background in the great Pacific Northwest working at a certain, large corporate coffee chain the title of which I will not disclose but I'm sure you can guess which one. Long story short, it's every middle-aged, white person's favorite place to go and belittle the people who work there to try make themselves feel better about the worthless life they lead). Still, Hollywood has a certain way of portraying racism in so many movies, and this one is no different and doesn't give any new perspective on it. Jackie Robinson's story really is an amazing one when you think about it, but this film doesn't do it justice. It has all the same old swelling of emotional, dramatic music and the touching moments of white people breaking down barriers of racism, etc, etc. Even for baseball fans, 42 doesn't have much to offer. A story like this one needs more of a documentary treatment rather than a dramatic, not another Hollywood retelling that gets more wrapped up in the idea of overcoming racism rather than actually doing something about it. That's probably the best way to sum up how Hollywood treats racism in most of its movies. One more thing about this movie: Harrison Ford's performance is the weirdest. He tries to play something totally different than the titular hero by taking on this role as a slow-talking, deep voiced old man and it doesn't really work at all. The whole time I was like, Harrison, you're not fooling anyone!

Should you watch it: If you're a sucker for the more old-fashioned, melodramatic period pieces, then sure! But even then, I think you'll find yourself getting bored and realize that the whole movie becomes a repetitive string of ugly, angry white people yelling at Robinson to get off the field, and whatnot. The film feels altogether too short as well and is easily forgettable. Which as I said before is a shame because Robinson's story really is a fascinating one and a good reminder of how there are still many things today (like gay marriage!) that we treat as strange, wrong, unequal, etc. A story like this one reminds us how there have been many things in the past we have treated the same way, and how we have come to realize how those things and ways of thinking are outdated, misunderstood, and wrong.

To the Wonder and the Other

Magnolia Pictures

The absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half-real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. - Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The title of Terrence Malick's 6th film refers to two things. The first being the ancient abby off the north coast of France, Mont-Saint Michel. The abby began construction sometime in the 700's, A.D., and has ever since been a monument for pilgrimage. Built out on an island, pilgrims used to have to risk the dangers of the fast-flowing tide and sinking sand to make it to the castle-like abby. Often times there would be a heavy fog surrounding the island, making it almost impossible to see one's way out to the island and pilgrims even died attempting to do so. Its size and location earned it the title "the Wonder." 

The second meaning of the title refers to the Wonder of love. That may sound cheesy and like an incredibly pretentious metaphor when paired with Mont-Saint Michel. And at many times during the film, even I, as a huge fan of Malick's style and films, found myself turned off by a lot of the overly deep lines of narration. "What is this love that loves us?" says Marina at one point. What does that even mean? In terms of meaning and ambition, To the Wonder does not even come close to Malick's previous film, The Tree of Life (which I recently decided is my new favorite film, I think). And yet, this very simple story of a couple who falls out of love and the side-story of  a priest who cannot find joy in God's supposed-love and presence falls awfully short of providing a rich and beautifully crafted experience like The Tree of Life. By itself, The Tree of Life raises, ponders, and explicates very challenging ideas and themes. On the other hand, To the Wonder functions more as a springboard for which to raise further questions. Malick is obviously interested in much larger themes than he could accurately reflect in this film. Thus, in accordance with the title of my blog, I feel obligated to lend my two cents to the conversation.

What I'm Watching: Olympus Has Fallen

Millennium Films/FilmDistrict

Why I watched it: because I was in the mood for an action movie. There's not really any other excuse or explanation. Sure, Gerard Butler is pretty cool in some things (Gamer specifically although it definitely has its problems, but is still an interesting, entertaining movie) and Aaron Eckhart is a generally like-able guy, but this movie got bad reviews when it came out and I knew it would have nothing new to offer. BUT sometimes you just need some pointless action in your life, right?

What I thought: surprise surprise, it was exactly as I expected. Stereotypical bad guys with stereotypical goals facing the stereotypical bad-ass hero who's going to save the stereotypical day. If I really wanted to and had no problem with wasting the time to do so, I could go through and describe all of the ridiculous things and ideas about things that go on here. But since I think of myself as better than that and wish to spend more time today reading a good, thoughtful, skillfully conceived novel, I shall not bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, Olympus Has Fallen consistently made me laugh.

Should you watch it: Judging by what I said in the previous section, this section is definitely redundant, but I'll use it say that the graphics in this are so cheesy! Seriously, when anyone gets shot or there are planes or helicopters or anything else around the White House where it could never be in real life, it looks incredibly digitized. Most of its $70 million dollar budget (numbers like that for films like this still make my eyes want to fall out) obviously went to other pointless things like having Morgan Freeman in there for no reason. So, when (and I say "when" because it really is only a matter of time with this one) Olympus Has Fallen comes on to Neflix instant-watch and you have nothing better to do like mow the lawn, dig a hole, or change the oil in your car, go ahead and watch it. But in god's name, don't spend money on it!

Review: White House Down

Columbia Entertainment

When it comes down to it, nearly all of director Roland Emmerich's movies are pretty bad. Traditionally speaking, they are generally a string of cliches, cheap technical tricks, and needless slow motion amidst a sea of chaos and explosions. But somehow, I can't help but like them! The Patriot was glaringly historically inaccurate and melodramatic to the core, but Mel Gibson is so badass in it and it features some truly awesome scenes. Independence Day runs the same course of melodrama and silly acting, dialogue, and situations, but remains one of the most memorable and famous alien invasion movies of our time. Even 2012 with all of it's made up science and what everyone called an excuse for "destruction porn" managed to be extremely entertaining all the way through and even funny at times. (I'm just going to ignore all of his undeniably horrible movies here!). They're all easy to make fun of and treat like pointless popcorn, blockbuster fare, but I can't help but look back fondly on each viewing experience with some sort of misplaced sentimentality.

In all these cases though, Emmerich has never really left the '90s. He's stuck in that Armageddon, Con Air, and The Rock type of action that doesn't give a shit about things such as true character development or thoughtful themes/plots. These movies are loud, obnoxious, and entirely proud of the type of entertainment they provide. Still, there's something to be enjoyed there! And Nic Cage's hair stands as a testament to that spirit.

What I'm Watching: Dead Man Down

FilmDistrict

With this post I will be bringing back something I started a few years ago called "What I'm Watching." I'll take any movies that I watch that are available on DVD (or soon to be available thanks to the power of the interwebs) and give brief reviews to help you decide whether or not it's worth it to pick up this movie at Redbox or whatever.

Why I watched it: there's a couple of reasons I watched this movie. For one, the cast is pretty good. Colin Farrell although not always the best actor is still usually pretty entertaining and a good action star. Noomi Rapace is a great actress and fast rising star since her starring role in the Swedish Dragon Tattoo trilogy. And the rest of the notable cast includes Terrence Howard (Crash, Iron Man) and Dominic Cooper (The Devil's Double). Dead Man Down is also director Niels Arden Oplev's first American debut since the success of his Dragon Tattoo trilogy with American audiences. Put all these things together and this looks like it could be a smart, stylish, violent action-thriller.

What I thought: For the most part, Dead Man Down is quite entertaining. The action scenes, while not that different stylistically, are still pretty fun to watch. The overall tone tries a bit too hard to be dark when the content doesn't really live up to such a tone. At least, not in the way that the Dragon Tattoo movies did. The one thing that bugged me the most through the whole movie was the soundtrack. It's way too dramatic and constantly has these really intense effects for scenes that don't really need it because what's happening is obviously bad/violent/or whatever. The acting was pretty melodramatic too and Farrell's character hardly says anything and almost every time he does he's half mumbling. The story itself isn't half-bad but probably could've used a bit more harsh violence to make the bad guys seem even badder and the tone even darker.

Should you watch it: I'd say if you're in the mood for a semi-violent action-thriller, then yes! It's better than the average movie in this genre and while a bit inconsistent and unconvincing in places, it still manages to make for a pretty fun viewing.