The Sapphires Review

Signed, sealed, delivered---Chris O'Dowd and Deborah Mailman as a manager of a band and a member of said band in The Sapphires
                                               You ever watch a movie that just makes you feel good about life? If you haven't....go check out The Sapphires as soon as possible. This is not just an incredibly feel good film but a great one as well. Never have I seen a film filled with such genuine emotion and heart. This is a film that I honestly can't see anyone not enjoying. It is also the best film I have seen in 2013 by a long shot.

                                               The film stars the delightful Chris O'Dowd as Dave Lovelace...a drunk talent scout who discovers four women who happen to be incredibly talented musician. Gail (Deborah Mailman) is the bossy one. Julie (Jessica Mauboy) is the lead singer. Kay (Sheri Sebbens) is the dancer and Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) is the sweet one. Soon enough....the four are entertaining the troops in Vietnam with Dave as their manager.

                                                 The most prominent aspect of the film is the music. If you take great films like The Commitments and this year's Not Fade Away...the music is just good enough even for those films. However, this film has some of the best music I have ever heard. That is due to the wonderful female leads who obviously are great at projecting their voices. Speaking of which....the casting is sublime. The female leads are all spectacular in their own right and O'Dowd gives a hilarious performance during both the time he was what some would call a drunk bastard and when he becomes a really sweet guy. We see something in Dave that is rarely seen in films anymore....we see a guy we can root for despite his flaws. Also---the film provides a shockingly original story line. This is not your typical underdogs start a band story. Rather---this is a touching and magical story of people that the audience can't help but root for no matter what.

                                                   Honest, funny, touching, emotional and surprisingly soulful....The Sapphires has it all and then some. If it is playing near you...you must see it. If it is not or if you don't go see it...you are missing out on a magical time at the cinema.
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for sexuality, a scene of war violence, some language, thematic elements and smoking)

Starbuck Review

I am your father---Antoine Bertrand and Patrick Huard fight a case involving sperm donation in Starbuck
                       Finally---a funny comedy about sperm. Through the years---there has not been one funny film involving the process of sperm donation. From the 1992 comedy Frozen Assets to the more recent The Babymakers...there has never been a funny movie about sperm...until now. The new French-Canadian comedy Starbuck once again proves that foreign films have the ability to do it better much of the time. It is a delightful film that features sperm jokes galore and somehow manages to make them deadly funny and even a bit touching.

                         The film follows David (Patrick Huard)....a lifelong loser whose lover (Julie LeBreton) gives him the news that she is pregnant. As if this isn't enough to give David a shock...he learns that his excessive sperm donation under the name Starbuck made it so that he father 533 children. All the while...124 of these children are filing a class action lawsuit in order to make Starbuck reveal his true identity. This is when David enlists the help of his lawyer (Antoine Bertrand) to help him fight the case.

                          By far the best thing about the film is that David is not a bad guy. Sure...he's a loser and may not be a great guy. However, the audience realizes what he did was not his fault and that he is someone to root for. The film's sense of humor is delightfully offbeat. These are not your typical sperm jokes. Rather---these are clever sperm jokes involving the use of it rather than just how gross it is. Also---Huard is great here. He has perfect comic timing and gives a heart to the role of David. Bertrand is also quite excellent and has some excellent delivery in his lines.

                           The film is a bit too long, however. At an hour and 45 minutes....the film does start to drag out a little. However, right when it starts to feel as if it should be over....it gives the audience something new to indulge in. As well....the film provides a touching and accurate message to the audience about the beauty of life.

                            Starbuck may not be a perfect film but it is a delightful one. If you're willing to put up with a film that is about 15 minutes too long and has a couple of misfired jokes then you will find yourself having a great time.
(4 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material)

On The Road Review

Book brothers---Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund as a young writer and his good friend in On The Road
                      Based on the highly acclaimed novel by Jack Kerouac...On The Road is both the worst film of the year thus far and is the one I enjoyed the least. It is a boring, pretentious, unbearable film that I honestly can't see anyone enjoying. With a humdrum narrative, incredibly bad acting by actors both terrible and great and incredibly horrible direction from the generally reliable Walter Salles....this is not just a bad film...this is an insultingly bad one.

                        The film follows young writer Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) whose life is changed when a carefree man named Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) shows up in his life. Along with Dean's 16 year old wife Marylou (Kristen Stewart)...the three hit the road in search of inspiration and good times. It's too bad the audience doesn't get to share in even a single one of those good times.
                          
                         I have never been a fan of actors such as Hedlund, Stewart and Elisabeth Moss who show up in the film. However, why good actors such as Riley, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams and Steve Buscemi are doing in here is beyond me. The script follows the book way too significantly. While the book's purpose was to follow no real plot...the movie's purpose should have been contrary to that. Also...the film goes on and on and on and on for two hours to the point where I was tempted to walk out. The film also has a feel that is all too grim for its own good. It is an incredibly depressing film to watch.

                          The film doesn't even try. While some may see themselves in Sal or Dean...no one and I mean no one will enjoy this film. This is due to the fact that the film is too much like an inside joke. By this I mean that only the cast and crew of the film have any idea what the film is even trying to talking about. There is  absolutely no reason to see it. Within 15 minutes of the film....I was about to walk out. Why didn't I? It's simple---I wanted to tell everyone how horrible this film is and I felt it would have been unfair to do so if I walked out. So here it goes---do not see On The Road. Do not give these people your money. These people didn't even try to make a satisfying film and ended up making a film worse than anything I have seen in the last three and a half months this year.
(0 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for strong sexual content, drug use and language)

Admission Review

College life---Tina Fey as a college admissions officer and Paul Rudd as her potential love interesting in Admission
                     Admission is an incredibly charming film. Admission is also proof that just because a film is very charming doesn't mean it can't also be very dull. As two of my favorite comic actors---Tina Fey and Paul Rudd deliver the goods. That's why it's too bad that the script by Karen Croner (based upon the novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz) doesn't deliver on its behalf. While you do maintain a rooting interest for the characters of both Fey and Rudd...the script is so bland and typical. In other words---it feels like any other romantic comedy you are likely to have seen or ever see again.

                     In the film, Fey plays Portia---a college admissions officer who looks at her job at much less cynical than it is portrayed. Her boss (Wallace Shawn) is about to retire so Portia goes up against co-worker Corinne (Gloria Reuben) for the top spot. All the while---a teacher at a new, alternative education school named John Pressman (Rudd) tells Portia that a gifted student with an unconventional way of learning named Jeremiah (Nat Wolff) may be her son.

                    While Fey and Rudd are both very good in their roles and do their best...Wolff all but steals the film. You may remember Wolff as being on the Nickelodeon show "The Naked Brothers Band." Who knew he was going to grow up to be such a good young actor? From last year's hippie commune comedy Peace, Love and Misunderstanding in which Wolff played the video camera obsessed son and now with this film---the guy has proven that he's just a good actor. He makes the character of Jeremiah both sweet and vulnerable and also makes him somebody you really want to root for. As well---Lily Tomlin shows up as Portia's mother, Susannah and was surprisingly very funny in her own right.

                    All these performances are the reason why I was so disappointed to see how conventional the film was. The audience knows everything that's going to happen and exactly when it's going to happen. There are no real surprises in the film except that this cast could make such a poor film even if they themselves are excellent. Don't get me wrong---I would be fine with no surprises in the film if there was something else there to keep it afloat such as cleverly written or even funny lines. However, none of those are present either. The film also feature much too many scenes in which a character says or does something that feels out of the blue and out of place. I am disappointed to report that the script is not only nothing to write home about but nothing to recommend to someone two feet away from you, either.

                   Directed by Paul Weitz who has done some of my favorite films (About A Boy, In Good Company and American Pie)---he proves yet again that he just doesn't have what it takes anymore. His last few films include the mediocre films Little Fockers and Being Flynn and now Admission. Being Flynn was the best out of these three and I only gave 3 out of 5 stars to it (a mild recommendation on a good day.) Weitz obviously knows how to make a good---and even great film so I hope that someday soon he will get back on his feet.
(2 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for language and some sexual material)

Spring Breakers Review

A spring in their step---Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and Vanessa Hudgens in Spring Breakers
                                Want to see something REALLY entertaining? If you answered yes to this question---then you have to go out and see Spring Breakers ASAP. Sure...this newest effort from the crazy director Harmony Korine is basically a pointless, extended music video but who cares when it's so damn enjoyable? It is a bright, colorful, ridicilous, sex-filled time at the movies. It is also hard to let go of. We have all heard the controversy of Disney stars Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens as well as "Pretty Little Liars" star Ashley Benson being bad girls. Well...here's your chance to see what the controversy is about and I implore you to do so.

                                   The film follows four college girls (Gomez, Benson, Hudgens and Harmony's daughter Rachel Korine) as they rob a restaraunt in order to get enough money to party for spring break. When they get busted with drugs---a rapper who goes by the name Alien (James Franco) bails them out. He does this for his own needs such as having orgies and writing poetry about the girls. This leads to a plan to kill Alien's rival Archie (rapper Gucci Mane.)

                                    Franco is absolutely amazing here. He gives a performance that will stay in your mind for days and days to come. He gives the character of Alien a heart but also makes him the sick bastard he is meant to be. By doing so....Franco gives Alien a significantly more human side than is deserved. When you leave the theater---the first thing you will be thinking is "how could Franco have pulled it off?" As well---the four girls are excellent and naughty in the best way possible. They make their characters into the opposite of the typical dumb teenager you see in movies nowadays.

                                       Korine has truly made a semi-masterpiece with Spring Breakers. This is the best film thus far this year even if it really didn't NEED to be made. I guarantee you that once you step out of the theater....you will be happy that you saw it and the film gets even better the more you think about it. So go to the movies tonight and see by far the best thing that the controversial Korine has ever done.
(4 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for strong sexual content, language, nudity, drug use and violence throughout)

Dead Man Down Review

Who's the real traitor?---Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace go on the run from a psychopath in Dead Man Down
                   Where did this film go wrong? Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper can all be terrific actors. Niels Arden Oplev obviously knows what he's doing as a director since he did make the brilliant original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Yet....to sit through Dead Man Down is an arduous process. It is a sloppy, off-pace, redundant thriller with a few individual cool scenes that most certainly stand out as scenes. Howard, Rapace and Cooper are excellent here but Farrell drags them down with him by having a performance that seems as if it's in an entirely different film.

                    The film stars Farrell as Victor---a thug who meets up with his neighbor, Beatrice (Rapace) in which she tells him that she has video footage of him murdering someone. She then asks Victor to double-cross his boss, Alphonse (Howard) all the while Victor's co-worker and friend, Darcy (Cooper) is onto him.


                    The main problem I had with the film was the premise. This could have potentially been a cool premise but as written and directed---the film just feels like another people double-crossing each other film. As well---at 2 hours---the film feels way too long for its own good. After a while...everything just becomes jumbled together and begins to feel redundant. Also...the way that Oplev paces the film is ridiculous. I don't mind a slow paced film but Dead Man Down feels like a four hour film rather than a two hour one.

                     Although it doesn't fail to an extraordinary degree...Dead Man Down still could have used much improvement. It never manages to really go anywhere and yet it does have a few cool scenes scattered throughout in it. Where it does go wrong is in the pacing, direction, writing and awful performance from Farrell and that is enough to make me not recommend it. "
(2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for violence, language throughout and a scene of sexuality)

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Review

He's got another trick up his sleeve---Jim Carrey as a new street magician who goes up against another magician (Steve Carrell) in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
                                          Magic has always been a fascinating subject to me. This is mostly due to the fact that magicians have a special skill of tricking people right in front of their faces. The fact that this skill that magicians have is skewered is one of the many reasons I thoroughly enjoyed The Incredible Burt Wonderstone....an extremely funny and surprisingly smart comedy about a pair of long-time magicians who must go up against a new street "magician."

                                            The long-time magicians are Burt (Steve Carrell) and Anton (Steve Buscemi) and the new street "magician" is Steve Gray (Jim Carrey.) All the while....Burt's trying to get his boss (James Gandolfini) to not fire him and meets the man who got him into magic in the first place (Alan Arkin.)

                                              Carrey is as funny as he's ever been here. The last time he was this funny on screen was in  Liar Liar 16 years ago. Carrell is also very funny even if he doesn't give Burt the edge he should have. Buscemi gets some surprising laughs and Arkin gives the character of Rance Holloway significantly more heart than was deserved. The film is very smart in the way that it presents the idea of illusion magic vs Gray's idea of magic which is simply hurting himself as much as possible. As well---the film is very funny in the way it gives the audience the idea that magic is just stuff we just are too dumb to realize is there.

                                                Olivia Wilde shows up as Burt's new assistant Jane and is very funny. The film also makes the best use of Steve Miller Band's song "Abracadabra" you will ever see. Also....the film features a very funny role from Jay Mohr as a magician so dumb he's unaware of how dumb he is.

                                                  While it does peter out a bit towards the end and becomes a bit too sappy...The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is highly recommended. Funny, smart and featuring a terrific performance by Jim Carrey---it is worth throwing down ten dollars if you feel like laughing out loud this weekend.
(4 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for sexual content, dangerous stunts, a drug related incident and language)