MovieHoovie's Movie Review-vys: 2015

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

"VIVRE SA VIE" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B+

(1st Watch; 10/12/15 - HD on HULU+)

The title means "My Life to Live". Director Jean Luc Godard played around with the film medium here in fun ways - this is French New-Wave filmmaking, where traditional rules were broken and the medium as expressionistic art was in full-force (to later be huge influences on major modern directors like Scorsese). A traditional story told through inventive shots and poetic narrative. This is a film for film school students to watch to help recognize that not every rule in the book needs to be followed to create something good. I learned a thing or two. Anna Karina is one of the most captivating film actresses of the '60s too, so that helps.

Monday, November 2, 2015

"SOME VELVET MORNING" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B-

(1st watch -- 10/11/15 -- DVD)

Neil Labute! The guy I saw a few weeks ago (see Sept 26th on my FB page) wrote and directed this little two-person, one location chamber drama and it flows like clumpy syrup on a pancake... uh, like, pretty sweat but not delicious.

These two characters aren't having a good day with one-another and each has their secrets from the other. The clumps come in the form of Stanley Tucci having a few two many turns towards repressed hostility instead of some other more fitting reaction (a flaw in the writing, not the acting), and Alice Eve not being as a strong an actor, but decent enough for the most part. The ending's a sly little whopper though, after almost convincing me I'd wasted my time (from an awful scene just before, that gets smartly turned upside-down when all is said and done). I'd wanna make something like this, but better, one day.

"KINGPIN" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B

(1st watch -- 10/10/15 -- Netflix Instant Watch)

Randy Quaid dressed as a stripper and poll dancing is one of the funniest sight-gags ever. This movie has some strikes and more-than-a-few gutter-balls (yeah, I went there) but it's an overall winner. And had I seen this back when it came out it would have easily chocked up as many marathons as Dumb and Dumber did. Well, this late in the game, that's not gonna happen now, but I'm glad I finally got around to it. Definitely worth the easy Netflix Instant Watch for a good, dumb time.

"THE WALK" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: A-

(1st watch -- 10/9/15 -- 3D Theater)

This should not have been a huge flop - it was great! It offers more than what just this one spectacular image has to offer; Joseph Gordon Levitt is a believable Frenchman and tightropist, it's a fun heist movie, it's funny, it's poignant, it's got a surprise cool performance from Sir Ben Kingsley, and the walk itself plus the touching, respectful WTC tribute epilogue packs a one-two punch. GO SEE IT IN 3D WITH YOUR FAMILY!

"BLACK SEA" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: C+

(1st watch -- 10/8/15 -- DVD)

Pretty underwhelming submarine movie. Huge plot and character-motivation holes. It almost had something interesting to say about class warfare and Jude Law was good, but Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy, two of my favorite character actors, don't really burn up the screen with awesomeness the way they normally do. Looks pretty good though and it's got some suspense to it.

"WAITRESS" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: C+

(1st watch -- 10/6/15 -- DVD)

I love this chick on the far right - Adrienne Shelly. She's in two of my favorite films: "The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust". And she was real-life murdered before she got to see this movie of hers come out to theaters, after writing, directing and co-starring in it. A damn terrible shame. So checking out some of Shelly's other work in her too-short career held an interest for me.

Unfortunately Shelly didn't write love interests (Keri Russell and Nathan Fillian) I could side with, so the movie kind of fell apart; both characters are married people who have an affair with each other, which would be alright (cinematically, if still not morally) if Fillion's wife were depicted as a shrew - instead she's depicted as really nice and never gets to know! (Yeah, the husband's a jerk at least.) And every (other) character is depicted as lovable despite all this!

So Adrienne Shelly's character depictions and plot lost me almost entirely after introducing the affair, despite some otherwise great scenes of charming dialogue, good acting and capable if unremarkable direction. Adrienne Shelly left us with one last adorable performance at the very least.

"GLASS CHIN" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: A-

(1st watch -- 10/5/15 -- DVD) (Also on Netflix Instant Watch!)

I loved this little film! It's very inventively written, shot, directed and colored. It's like a French New-Wave Film Noir - clearly directed by a film enthusiast with a lot of good influence; the kind of film I'd hope to pull off someday. Cory Stoll from "Ant-Man" is really good as the charismatic anti-hero, smaller supporting roles are great too; Billy Crudup is pretty awesome but he just over-reaches with a few of his lines like he's in a slightly different movie once-in-awhile, but I could see myself enjoying this more than once and maybe knocking that minus off. SEE IT!

Monday, October 19, 2015

"The Martian"; "Nadja"; "Clean and Sober"; "Results" -- W/E: Oct. 4

"THE MARTIAN" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B+

Matt Damon was great and I enjoyed the humor but I felt the movie dragged a bit in the later half and provided zero suspense for me (unlike, I thought, "Gravity" or Interstellar"). This was mainly due to its more-procedural/clinical approach to the story. It was light and fluffy entertainment for space geeks; not exactly thought-provoking or pulse-pounding sci/fi. I was mildly disappointed more-so than it had actual faults though, so just go see it and I'll shut up.

(1st watch; 10/4/15 - Theatre)

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"NADJA" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B-

For anyone who watched and dug "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night", this is that film's big sister. If you haven't seen that, see it first because it's way better. This film, however, has a pretty awesome '90s Cool going for it and I found the dialogue to be pretty tongue-in-cheek-funny. (Though I discovered afterward that most people seemed to take the proceedings pretty literally. Hm.) It's the Dracula story continued through his daughter. It's... not very good... but still manages merit; some cool b&w cinematography (and some terribly dated Vampire-O-Vision too) and a zany supporting performance by Peter Fonda as Van Helsing.

(1st watch; 10/2/15 - Netflix DVD)

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"CLEAN AND SOBER" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B+

Beetlejuice is a coke-addled alcoholic headed for the titular deed, if he can just get over his own ego, in this touching '80s minor-"message movie"-classic. Keaton's the main draw here, and Morgan Freeman shows up for some extra early-role gravitas as his counsellor. I felt I gained some empathy for this type of behavior, so it was a worthy watch as a "worldview-expander".

(1st watch; 9/30/15 - Netflix DVD)

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"RESULTS" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: A-

I loved this movie! It's offbeat, funny, surprising, really-well-acted by Guy Pierce and the rest and it was just a breath of fresh air. It's not a standard rom-com, but even if you wanna call it that, it's one of my new favorite rom-coms; the best since "Enough Said".

(1st watch; 9/29/15 - Netflix DVD)

"Blackhat"; "East of Eden"; "Two Step" - W/E: Sep. 27

"BLACKHAT" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: C

Michael Mann can still make a compelling shootout, I'll give him that! This one's got a doozy in it... and that's about it; pretty dull and poorly-scripted otherwise. Well, also, Dude-man Thor does a good American accent and isn't such a bad lead outside of Marvel. It's really not the worst thing you could watch on a lazy day.

(1st watch; 9/26/15 - Netflix DVD)

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"EAST OF EDEN" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: C-

Egad! The best thing I can say about this "classic" is the camerawork was pretty and inventive. James Dean's a whiny brat; his and everyone else's acting is pretty bad throughout (and I loved "Rebel without a Cause" and "Giant"), and the direction and editing are bad! I was amazed at how many times I was thrown off by the cuts and weird blocking. And, yes, I like classic literature and movies. (It did make me consider reading the book.)

(1st watch; 9/24/15 - Netflix DVD)

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"TWO STEP" - MOVIEHOOVIE GRADE: B+

Sweet little Texas-set neo-noir. (No, not "sweet" like a home-cooked pie - look at the blood on the poster!) Definitely Coen Bros- and Tarantino-inspired, but very well-done by a first-time director. The acting is standout, the script is witty, the cinematography is really nice. That guy in the photo is a pretty captivating bad-guy; I'll be looking out for him and the director again. (It's not as violent as the poster makes it out, but people die, duh.)

(1st watch; 9/21/15 - iTunes HD)