‘Let Me In,’ Now or Later, to See this Bloody Romance
September 30th, 2010 by Aaron Neuwirth
In the fall of 2008, a romantic drama/horror film about two young adults forming a new relationship with one another was released. Of course, the relationship between these two was different to say the least, as one was just a regular kid at school, while the other was a much older vampire. This story was based on a novel that found much acclaim from those who read it. The film was met with mass critical praise and is considered one of the best vampire films out there. Continue reading ‘‘Let Me In,’ Now or Later, to See this Bloody Romance’
Buried works with what it has, and it does it very well. What am I referring to? This is a film that takes place entirely inside of a coffin, unfolding the desperate situation that star Ryan Reynolds is in as he faces the task of doing everything he can do to get himself out of this very dire situation. In managing to pull out all of the tricks to make a story set in a very confined location function at a tense level for 90 minutes, this film is a great accomplishment. 
Oliver Stone’s follow up to his popular 1987 corporate classic, Wall Street, puts me in a tough spot. On one hand the film has comes at a well chosen time, in true Stone form, by being topical and making observations about the economic world of today. It also features some very good performances not just from the original film’s Oscar winner, Michael Douglas, but from LaBeouf, Mulligan, Brolin, and Langella as well. 
A fairly standard adventure story about a plucky, young hero embarking on a quest to save those he cares for, aided by his friends while acquiring new skills and learning some lessons along the way. Like other, similar films, this one is based on a bestselling series of novels, but what separates it is the fact that the characters in this film are owls. Despite its familiar story and fairly cheesy basis, the film does benefit from being a very good looking animated feature, with many well staged flying sequences, some slick action beats and a solid use of 3D, all of which give the film a nice dynamic feel. 
Between Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Tron Legacy, we’ve got the beginnings for calling 2010 the year of the distant sequel. How successful can these films be when trying to follow up on something that many in the audience may not have remembered? While Tron Legacy is still a few months away, we can dissect the new Wall Street film that hit theaters this weekend. Who’s back for more stock gamblings and corporate overthrows? Who’s new to the scene? Let’s open the floor and find out. 
Never Let Me Go is a moody science fiction film about love and death. While one not familiar with the popular book on which it is based may believe the film to be a dramatic period piece (which it rather is as well), yes, it is in fact a sci-fi film that really downplays those elements. In addition to this element, the film has a slow and quiet tone, aided by strong performances. Essentially, the film is a very melancholy sort of watch, but functions off an intriguing premise. 
Now here’s an offer you can’t refuse. How about bringing home two great Universal comedies on Blu-ray, Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers, just in time for the holiday season and scoring free movie cash to see the third film in the series, Little Fockers, which will be released theatrically on December 22nd? Sounds like a sweet deal, huh? Well, it really is that simple. And it gets even better for me. It’s also a free chance for me to see my beloved Jessica Alba in Little Fockers. Bam! Instant Christmas present to myself. Both Blu-rays will see a November 30th release date. 
I am going to say right now that this will be spoiler free, only detailing the basic facts that one can learn from the trailer, which also does nothing to spoil the story. The film is very interesting and engaging. It’s a well made documentary that is essentially a very sad love story. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is another ‘found footage’ horror movie, because it isn’t. It’s hard to say this isn’t a thriller though, as unconventional of a thriller that it may be, the way this film is made certainly lends itself somewhat into that category, before evolving into something else entirely. 
The Town is a very fun bank heist/cops and robbers movie. The film is Ben Affleck’s second time in the director’s chair, a follow up to the excellent Gone Baby Gone, and this film proves that he is quite capable behind the camera. The film is well made, wonderfully entertaining and backed by a strong cast. Even as it follows some familiar beats of this genre, it manages to be both a crowd- pleaser and confident in its structure. 
Easy A is a high school comedy that tries to be a fun, modern take on The Scarlett Letter. It features Emma Stone in the lead role, basically working to establish her as a leading star. While the film is essentially a chick flick, it seems to have aspirations to push in some satirical elements surrounding the effect of gossip and the set up of high school in general. These elements are successfully met, with the script not paying off to be as witty as it thinks. 
A film depicting the transition that Joaquin Phoenix the actor made into Joaquin Phoenix the bearded and overweight actor. I am not sure what I would have made of this film, had I have seen it a couple of days beforehand, when it was still unsure whether or not Phoenix had truly sworn off acting, but watching it when I did, I have mixed thoughts. On one hand it is kind of compelling to watch what is essentially a large-scale method acting performance taken to its extreme. 
To start things off, Devil a solid genre film. The film is the first of a film series known as “The Night Chronicles.” The films in this series will all be produced by M. Night Shyamalan, based on stories that he has come up with. Fortunately, he is not the screenwriter or director of these films. I don’t want to get into another spiel about the problems with Shyamalan, but suffice it to say that his writing has not been his strong suit in recent years. Fortunately, the crew involved in the making of this film has done a fine job at creating a short, but sweet thriller. 
Although I’m certainly not biggest Ben Affleck fan around, The Town is definitely one of the movies I have been looking forward to all summer long since seeing its trailer. Maybe it’s those devilish looking bank robbing masks that just remind me so much of Point Break or maybe it’s the simple fact that this film just blatantly looks so bad-a$$, but whatever it is, I was nevertheless pumped going into the press screening. With an impressive cast, an intriguing storyline (from what I knew) and a trailer that made me want to plop my hard earned cash down months ago on advance seating tickets, how could this film ever disappoint? 
Easy A is one of those films where let’s face it, if it were not for my wife wanting to see this, I think I could have come up with better ways to spend a free Thursday evening. But as a critic, it’s your job to subject yourself to torture and to prevent the average “Joe filmgoer” from the pain, misery and suffering, if your advice warrants so. It sounds so cruel, doesn’t it? Sometime it is. So in other words…I did this all for you ladies and gentlemen. Am I not a nice guy, or what? 
The fourth installment in the strangely popular Resident Evil movie series, based upon the original Resident Evil video game series continues to baffle me in its ways of being fairly unimaginative and derivative, yet still managing to get a pass from audiences. But this time it’s in 3-D! After a brief recap, utilizing the first of many, many slo-mo sequences, making sure that we understand that the world has been overrun by T-Virus infected zombies, the film picks up closely after the end of the third film, with Alice (Milla Jovovich) having both fully realized her enhanced powers and discovered that the evil Umbrella Corporation has a whole fleet of clones of her in one of their underground facilities. 
Let me start by saying Danny Trejo is awesome. The fact that we are living in a time where he is headlining a movie is great. Trejo has gone from boxing in San Quentin to becoming incredibly prolific, appearing in well over 100 films. He has served mainly as a memorable, tough Mexican in roles ranging from Navajas in Desperado to one of De Niro’s men in Heat to a bartender in Anchorman. Having a movie like this, with Robert Rodriguez’s direction and a very varied cast involved is wonderful. 
When I was looking through the list of potential press screenings I could attend a few weeks ago I came across a title that instantly grabbed my attention, Going The Distance. Now, when I think of the title Going The Distance my mind immediately drifts to against all odds films like Rocky and such. I tend to put a lot of deep thought into the meaning of words, more so than the average person, so imagine my surprise when I found out that Going The Distance was actually the name of a romantic comedy starring the real life couple of Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. 
Here’s a film that I can easily tell, without looking at comment sections in various areas, will be labeled by more average filmgoers as “boring,” “slow,” or “if it wasn’t for that naked girl, I would have walked out.” The majority of that credit can probably go to how the film has been marketed, with its fast cutting, bursts of action, and the setting up some of the dialogue as bad ass one-liners. Being familiar with the director involved and having some sense about what kind of film this is, I knew what I was getting into. 
