Archive for the 'Movie Reviews' Category
September 14th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
Sometimes it all just boils down to something as simple as a man and his robot. Robot & Frank is a very low key story that takes a simple sci-fi premise and manages to pull off something pretty affecting. It features a wonderful lead performance from Frank Langella, who is tasked with playing an elderly man who befriends a robot, which leads into a film that ends up being a drama, a buddy comedy, and a heist film all in one. The result is a charming feature that is both sly and heartfelt. There may not be much more to this film that adds further dimension to this world or social commentary in any way, beyond the basic themes and concepts, but is still an enjoyable and well-made film, nonetheless. Continue reading ‘‘Robot & Frank’: A Buddy Movie For The Near Future’
September 8th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
So I have been told that I have sleepwalked before. This realization has dawned on me as well, as I have found myself in weird situations in the dead of night before, but it has never lead to anything that has put me into harm’s way. In saying this, I do not think it necessarily puts me right in tune with what writer/director/star of Sleepwalk with Me, Mike Birbiglia, has gone through, but it did seem like an honest and easy enough hook to draw people in, so there you go. For those still with me on this, along with being a story about a man who developed a sleepwalking disorder based on the stress in his life, this film delivers a relationship story and a story about a burgeoning comedian who found his way. It is a scrappy little film, based on a true story, but it is quite entertaining and endearing. Continue reading ‘Seeing ‘Sleepwalk With Me’ Is A Step In The Right Direction’
September 8th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
Does anyone have a favorite musician, who made music they really appreciated, only to have no idea what happened to that person or group? On the contrary, what if you did something you enjoyed and released your work to the public, found little success and faded into oblivion, only to learn years later that you have become something of an icon for a particular crowd. Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary that basically explores the idea of a mythical figure on the small scale. It follows the journey of a few men seeking the truth behind what happened to a musician who never amounted to much in his own country, but become something of a phenomenon elsewhere. It is a tremendously appealing film, due to the nature of the people involved, what we come to learn about the man who is sought after, and of course the wonderful soundtrack of the film. Continue reading ‘Seek Out ‘Searching For Sugar Man’’
September 6th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
I love the idea of anthology horror films and wish there was more of them. I love Creepshow, for example, and the most recent anthology horror flick that I really enjoyed, Trick r Treat, is another delightful entry as well. I think it has to do with seeing lots of ideas packed into one feature successfully, because the short story format allow for playing around with cool ideas that don’t necessarily wear out their welcome. V/H/S is a neat concept for a horror anthology, as it both presents multiple shorts from different directors and has a main story to tie them all together in a sense, while using the ‘found footage’ format as one of its big selling points. There are some stories that are much better than others and the film, as a whole, has issues with giving us likable characters to follow, but there is an inventiveness to each that does well for the film as a whole. Even if the film relies on presenting films as if they were shot in as low of a quality as possible, V/H/S has some high quality talent involved in its construction. Continue reading ‘‘V/H/S’ Brings On Grainy Anthology Horror’
September 4th, 2012 by David Freedman
Sean, Salim and Teresa review this new romantic action comedy and decide whether this late summer feature is a worth the price of a movie ticket and some good air conditioning! Starring Sean Wright, Salim Lemelle and Teresa Lo (@TeresaLo_Tweets). Directed by Amy Taylor.
Synopsis: Former getaway driver Charles and his girl friend Annie are in the witness protection program. But they both come out of hiding to get Annie to a job interview in LA. The two are discovered by the Feds AND the Crooks and must run for their lives.
WATCH US ON PBS SOCAL Saturdays at 6PM or pbssocal.org/justseenit
Continue reading ‘Hit and Run Movie Review – Just Seen It’
September 1st, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
Seriously, how bland is The Possession for a horror movie title? The Possession is everything one would expect from a late August or early January horror film release. This of course means it was filmed a while ago, sat around until things seemed clear enough, and was then dumped into theaters. There is something to be said for the marketing effort made to promote this film, complete with creepy images of bugs and hands coming out of mouths, but the film does nothing out of the ordinary and simply functions as another bland exorcism movie. Continue reading ‘‘The Possession’ Has A Generic Title Fitting Of A Generic Movie’
August 29th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
Lawless is an enjoyable, Prohibition-era drama with plenty of really strong violent bits. It has a very good ensemble cast to work with, a director who knows how to make things look good, and plenty of other ingredients to make a solid picture. I think the film’s biggest problem is that it has the feel of an indie, but still conforms to a lot of generic plot elements. While getting the film that relishes in having Malick-like qualities, characters with sparse dialogue, and not much restraint regarding the violence, it also settles for having characters making poor choices only for the sake of the story, romantic subplots that bog things down, and a lack of subtlety at times. These aspects take away from Lawless being a great film, but it still has enough to it, especially due to Tom Hardy and the general look of the film, which makes it an entertaining one. Continue reading ‘‘Lawless’ Has Bootleggers, Bloodshed, And The Beef’
August 29th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
It’s a buddy comedy, a chick flick, and a story of phone sex operators; all rolled into one! Obviously there have to be plenty of people that found this movie funny. For a Good Time, Call… was picked up out of Sundance and quickly turned around for a release this year. I guess the idea is to cash in on women talking dirty, following the success that was had with 2011’s Bridesmaids, except that film had more up its sleeve than just crude dialogue. For a Good Time, Call… feels like an incredibly lazy sitcom that is stretched out to feature length and attempting to repeatedly cash in on just one joke. Hearing so many explicit things in the span of a few minutes or as a running gag is fine, but as the only thing a film has going for it, it just becomes tiring and bland. Continue reading ‘‘For A Good Time’, Don’t Call…’
August 26th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
The Killer Joe poster describes the film as a “Totally twisted, deep-fried, Texas redneck, trailer park murder story.” That is entirely correct. Director William Friedkin reteams with playwright Tracy Letts (they previously made Bug together) for a wild and darkly comedic thriller that resembles something akin to a Coen Brothers film, except Killer Joe is much more explicit. The film is quite lurid and deals with a very dysfunctional family, but it is also incredibly well acted and put together. Headed up by Matthew McConaughey, in a performance that sizzles, this is a film that fires on all cylinders, as it moves along without restraint and does not apologize for going to twisted places to become an absurdly entertaining film. Continue reading ‘‘Killer Joe’ Enjoys KFC And I Enjoyed This Dark And Twisted Movie’
August 25th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
Action movies dropping into theaters at the end of summer do not generally inspire a lot of confidence, especially when they are flicks that were moved from the already dead time of year that is January and into the even worse doldrum-like area that is the weeks that hover around Labor Day weekend. Still, it is always nice to be relieved when a simple, high concept flick ends up delivering the kind of fun you were hoping for. Premium Rush does not aspire to be anything more than a fun, lighthearted chase thriller and it succeeds in doing just that. The added plus of properly utilizing its New York location and making me twitch every time a bike got close to crashing only helped the film out further. Continue reading ‘Gear Up For ‘Premium Rush’ (And Wear A Helmet)’
August 19th, 2012 by Sean Ferguson
Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he’s got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life – real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police – controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world – Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate. Continue reading ‘Total Recall (Movie Review)’
August 18th, 2012 by David Freedman
Is it as fun and entertaining as the first Expendables? Sean, Salim and Rachel weigh in on the action-star laden thriller! Starring Sean Wright, Salilm Lemelle, Rachel Appelbaum. Directed by Amy Taylor.
Synopsis: Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck. But the team is betrayed and one of their own is killed. Seeking revenge, they must fight their way out of hostile territory.
WATCH US ON PBS SOCAL Saturdays at 6PM or pbssocal.org/justseenit Continue reading ‘The Expendables Two Movie Review – Just Seen It’
August 18th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
The Expendables are back and older than ever, plus Liam Hemsworth! This action-packed sequel is silly and stupidly entertaining, but at least it delivers on what seemed to be promised in the first film. I was let down by the first film, due to its intent on striving for a fairly serious tone and boring me with its bland story in between its few action set pieces. This time around, Stallone and his crew have a much more go-for-broke attitude about things and they have plenty of fun while delving into one explosive action sequence after another. That said, the movie is all sorts of ugly (CG, locations, the quality in general), even as it pulses with all the energy ridiculous kills and cheesy one-liners have to offer. Make no mistake; this movie is exactly what it looks like, so take that as you will. Continue reading ‘‘The Expendables 2’: The Legend Of Van Damme’s Gold’
August 18th, 2012 by Brian White
ParaNorman was first introduced to me by a former co-worker whose family’s business (Peak Solutions LLC) just so happened to be directly involved in the production of this 3D stop-motion animated adventure film. How you say? Well they supplied/sold the many 3D rendering color printers the studio/production team used to create thousands of models that painstakingly captured every movement and conveyed every emotion in the character’s faces. Plus on top of that, the nightmarish subject matter and trailer for this one looked hella cool too. But we’ve all been there before. Cool trailers and crafty concepts don’t always necessarily mean its going to be good. So while we are gathered here today, let’s take a closer look at this one under my proverbial microscope. Continue reading ‘‘ParaNorman’ Raises the Dead And Puts Them To Sleep (Movie Review)’
August 17th, 2012 by David Freedman
Salim, Greg and Sean review this new comedy based on the popular British sitcom. Starring Salim Lemelle, Greg Karber, Sean Wright. Directed by Liz Manashil.
Synopsis: Based on the British sitcom, four teenage misfits flee their crazy lives in London for a vacation in Greece. There, they meet four British girls also on vacation and looking for fun. The boys try their best to win over the girls.
WATCH US ON PBS SOCAL Saturdays at 6PM or pbssocal.org/justseenit
Continue reading ‘The Inbetweeners Movie Review – Just Seen It’
August 17th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
First and foremost, I should say that I really dug ParaNorman. The film has quietly stood as one of my most anticipated films of the year, as it fell into the realm of having so many different things that called out to wanting me to like it, and it completely delivered. A stop-motion animated zombie film that can appeal to all audiences, from the studio behind Coraline, is a film that easily has my interest and the fact that ParaNorman was able to match the kind of high expectations that I don’t like to have for films is quite rewarding. The film is great to look at, unique in its presentation, fun and exciting, as well as very funny, and not afraid to present some deeper themes and meaning behind a tale that could have simply been a kid’s zombie movie. Simply put, ParaNorman has all of its parts assembled incredibly well. Continue reading ‘‘ParaNorman’ Sees Dead People And The Film Delivers A Lively, Good Time’
August 16th, 2012 by David Freedman
Teresa, Aaron and Greg vote on whether this movie is worthy of a SEE IT! Watch our review and cast your ballot! Starring Teresa Lo (@TeresaLo_Tweets), Aaron Fink, Greg Karber. Directed by Sean Wright.
Synopsis: Incumbent Congressman Cam Brady makes a misstep that threatens his reelection. So two corrupt CEOs, wishing to control their district, select the bumbling Martin to run against Cam. But the politics turn dirty for both men.
WATCH US ON PBS SOCAL Saturdays at 6PM or pbssocal.org/justseenit
Continue reading ‘The Campaign Movie Review – Just Seen It’
August 16th, 2012 by David Freedman
An unusual premise makes for an interesting and spirited review with Teresa, Rachel and Sean. Starring Teresa Lo (@TeresaLo_Tweets), Rachel Appelbaum and Sean Wright. Directed by Liz Manashil (@LizManashil).
Synopsis: Jim and Cindy are unable to have a baby of their own. So they bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for a dream child. But when Timothy emerges from the garden, they discover that they got more than they asked for.
WATCH US ON PBS SOCAL Saturdays at 6PM or pbssocal.org/justseenit Continue reading ‘The Odd Life of Timothy Green Movie Review – Just Seen It’
Sometimes it all just boils down to something as simple as a man and his robot. Robot & Frank is a very low key story that takes a simple sci-fi premise and manages to pull off something pretty affecting. It features a wonderful lead performance from Frank Langella, who is tasked with playing an elderly man who befriends a robot, which leads into a film that ends up being a drama, a buddy comedy, and a heist film all in one. The result is a charming feature that is both sly and heartfelt. There may not be much more to this film that adds further dimension to this world or social commentary in any way, beyond the basic themes and concepts, but is still an enjoyable and well-made film, nonetheless. Continue reading ‘‘Robot & Frank’: A Buddy Movie For The Near Future’
