Review: Ex Machina

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be counting down my top 5 films of 2015. Here's #4, Alex Garland's smart and stylish psychological sci-fi thriller.

Quick, see how many genuinely intelligent recent sci-fi films you can name. How many did you get? 10, 11, 12? Less? Four or five? Wracking my brains, I can only get enough to count on one hand. There are plenty of films categorised as sci-fi, but there are there enough that use the genre for its intended purpose: to ask questions, to make us think, to use the fantastic to look and where we are now, and where we're going. Personally, I blame Star Wars, for turning sci-fi into shorthand for "action films in space".

The good news is that films that but the "sci" in sci-fi are making a comeback. Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2012) brought theoretical physics alongside blackhole related flights of fancy, while Ridley Scott's The Martian (another film from this year) was based on a novel that did not shy away from using - and explaining - hard science. Ex Machina, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland (who also wrote the script) also belongs in this group. It has fantastical elements but feels grounded, and will leave your head spinning with ideas.

Ex-Machina-Instinto-ArtificialThe film is heavier on ideas than plot. Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) is a talented young computer programmer for search engine giant Blue Book. He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is invited to meet his company's reclusive genius CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac) and participate in an experiment with a groundbreaking AI (Alicia Vikander).

Ex Machina is quick out of the blocks; we see Caleb get chosen via random lottery to go visit Nathan's secluded, state-of-the-art home (that resembles a bunker more than a mansion) in the first few minutes, and the entire film then takes place on those grounds. Gleeson's Caleb is nervous, eager to please, deferential and almost apologetic about his intelligence. It's a smart, subtle performance, but scenes are frequently stolen by his sparring partner Isaac, who's unrecognisable, hiding behind bulk and a hipster beard. On the surface Nathan is pally and unusually down to earth for a reclusive, genius billionaire, but Isaac's performance hints and the reservoirs of anger beneath a placid surface.

Caleb is there to do a Turning test on Nathan's revolutionary invention, a robot named Ava. Nathan believes he may have created artificial intelligence, and wants Caleb to confirm either way by engaging in daily conversations with Ava for a week. What both men find as the week goes on is that it's not so easy to define consciousness. It's worth a mention that Vikander more than holds her own opposite Gleeson and Isaac as Ava. Her robotic exo-skeleton is a gorgeous special effect but means that her performance is mostly unspoken - she does most of her talking through smiles, frowns and her eyes, which shimmer with so much life that, really, no AI test should be needed.

Every conversation that Caleb has with Ava brings new questions. Is Ava making sarcastic jokes, or just repeating lines? Ava flirts with Caleb - is she doing it because she likes him, because she's programmed to, or is she just using Caleb to serve her own ends? Ava wants to know what will happen to her once the test is over. Caleb responds that it's not up to him, and Ava shoots back: "why is it up to anyone?".

That's what Ex Machina brings to the table. It brings questions that have no easy answers. The script could have come from Isaac Asimov or Phillip K. Dick, yet it's not derivative. Just when you think you have a handle on what's going to happen, the rug is pulled from under you. It shares DNA with sci-fi greats, but stands on its own two feet as an original piece of work. It's beautifully shot, and understands that action scenes and explosions aren't needed to hold an audience's attention.

If you're at all interested in sci-fi that explores difficult questions, trusts the viewer's intelligence and does not provide easy answers, then Ex Machina is for you. It's one of the best films of the year, and would be one of the best of any year.

Score: 4/5

Ex Machina Director: Alex Garland Writer: Alex Garland Studio: DNA Films, Film4 Running Time: 108 Minutes Release Date: 1/21/15

Review: Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Over the next few weeks, I'll be counting down my top 5 films of 2015. Here's number 5, Alex Gibney's extraordinary documentary on the "Church" of Scientology.

You might not realise it, but there are good odds that at least some of your favourite celebrities are scientologists. Even if you're not a fan of well known Scientology godheads Tom Cruise and John Travolta, there are rafts of famous people still drinking L. Ron's Kool Aid, ranging from Beck to Jason Lee to Isaac Hayes. These days, Cruise is by far the most famous face associated with the Church, and largely thanks to his sofa jumping antics on Oprah, Scientology seems to be viewed as a kooky quasi-cult for the rich. Weird, sure, but harmless. If you're of that opinion, sit down and watch Going Clear and then see how you feel.

Writer-director Alex Gibney's compelling documentary is shot through with interviews with the journalist Lawrence Wright (on whose book the film is based) and former members, including Oscar-winning writer-director Paul Haggis, actor Jason Beghe, and most interestingly of all, Mark Rathbun (at one time the church's second-in-command) and Mike Rinder (formerly head of the church's "Office for Special Affairs"). The talking heads, though, are only half the story.

going-clear-posterLike the book on which it is based, Going Clear is divided into two distinct halves. First we're introduced to the birth of Scientology via its founding father, L. Ron Hubbard. The man Scientologists refer to as "LRH" was a pulp sci-fi writer, churning out over a thousand books to make a living (at a penny a word). He is presented as a pathological liar, a man given to fantasically embellishing his less-than-stellar military career or straight up inventing "field work" studying indigenous tribes.

Hubbard veered away from the sci-fi that was his stock in trade with his 1950 book Dianetics, an attempt at hard psychology fused with his own confusing worldview; taking in outer space and past lives. Surprisingly, Dianetics took hold in certain pockets of America and gave Hubbard a second career as a pyschologist, philospher and P.T. Barnum-esque showman. When Dianetics proved to be a passing fad, Hubbard repackaged his ideas and called it Scientology, and the utopian ideals it claimed to stand for ("a civilisation without war, without instanity, and without drugs") struck a cord in 1960's America, and the Church of Scientology was born.

Of course, it was not recognised as a church and so, with the IRS hunting him for back taxes, Hubbard took to the seas and set up the church's "Sea Org.", a fleet of three ships, whose crewmates signed "billion year" contracts. During these segments of the film, those who saw The Master will shiver in recognition at the archive footage of Hubbard, the inspiration for Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character. Hubbard's mental state is somewhat danced around and it remains unclear whether he was simply scamming people for money or truly believed all the nonsense about thetans.

It's after Hubbard's death that Scientology goes from being a mentally unstable writer's wonky utopian vision to something far more sinister and scary. There was no succession plan in place following Hubbard's death in 1986, so David Miscavage took control. Miscavage looks and sounds like an 80's movie villain; the kind of guy who would bulldoze a youth centre to build a mall, or try to sack Andrew McCarthy for falling in love with a mannequin. In reality he's much worse even than that, and stories of espionage, blackmail, physical and mental abuse and the icy control he allegedly exerts over the likes of Tom Cruise, are too extensive to be listed here. Sufficed to say the testimony from the former church members interviewed (especially Rathburn and Rinder, who were close to Miscavage) is shocking and eye-opening.

Despite focusing with laser precision on dodgy church practices, Gibney avoids sensationalism. The film's tone is inquisative, Gibney is not necessarily aiming for headline grabbing revelations (though he gets some anyway), just to peek under the curtain to try and find out what really happens inside one of the world's most secretive organisation. The worrying thing is, there's almost certainly a lot more about it we don't know. There's not really much to criticise about the film, which is perfectly pitched and doesn't feel overlong despite the running time. It's a bit of shame they could not get interviews with any current church members, but as a title card at the end explains, they all either declined or ignored requests to participate.

Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief is compelling - if sometimes horrying - viewing, and easily one of the best films of 2015, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Unless you're David Miscavage.

 

Score: 4/5

 

Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief

Director: Alex Gibney

Writer: Alex Gibney

Studio: HBO

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Review: Elf

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

For a few years here in the UK, Elf would be shown annually on one of the national TV stations, Channel 4. There was one day every year, in December, when the whole country could sit down together and watch Will Ferrell's modern Christmas classic.

Okay, so it probably wasn't the whole country. I very much doubt the Queen was watching, but it could feel that way when scrolling through your Facebook and Twitter feeds. These days, the rights to Elf have been taken away by the subscription service Sky, in a move worthy of the Grinch himself. "Elf Day", as some called it, no longer exists, but plenty of people still watch the 2003 comedy as a festive ritual, like others do with It's A Wonderful Life, or Die Hard.

elf-movie-posterElf's story is a simple one. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) lives at the North Pole with Santa and the other elves, making toys for Christmas. But despite his name, Buddy isn't really an elf at all. Buddy is a human, an ophan who accidentally made his way into Santa's sack one Christmas. Kind-hearted Santa Claus (Ed Asner) keeps the child at the North Pole, where he's raised as an elf by, well, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart). As Buddy grows he becomes much taller, stronger, and clumsier than the other elves. Realising he's adopted, Buddy ventures to New York to find his real father Walter Hobbs (James Caan).

There's nothing hugely new or ground-breaking about Elf. For the most part it's your standard fish-out-of-water comedy as Buddy - constantly wearing his green and yellow elf costume complete with tights, pointy hat and shoes - raised in the magical North Pole alongside anthropomorphic animals has to adjust to real world New York. He has to deal with escalators, racoons that don't talk, and people who think it's weird when you smile at them. The jokes may be obvious, but Ferrell's wide-eyed childlike enthusiasm sells it. It's the role his overgrown manchild schtick was made for, and Buddy's arrival in the Big Apple contains many of the film's best scenes.

Ferrell is surrounded by a solid cast who are happy to allow him to take centre stage. Zooey Deschanel (pre-hipster glasses and dark hair) plays Jovie, a love interest for Buddy at the Gimbles department store where he finds accidental employment and James Caan is full of growling, barely contained menace as Buddy's biological father Walter, an overworked publishing executive who could not care less about Christmas and who is Buddy's polar opposite. There are also small but funny roles for Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Kyle Gass, Andy Richter director Jon Favreau and a pre-fame Peter Dinklage. It's hard to look past Ferrell when it comes to Elf, though, and it's almost a one-man show. Even during a slightly sagging and slow moving second act, Ferrell's career best performance is never boring.

Elf is not a perfect film, but as Christmas films go, it's up there with the very best. It deserves a viewing in your house this Christmas, whether you're watching it for the first or forty-first time.

Score: 4/5

Elf Director: Jon Favreau Writer: David Berenbaum Studio: New Line Cinema Running Time: 97 Minutes

Review: The Ridiculous Six

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

The Western genre has made something of a comeback in recent years. The likes of True Grit, Django Unchained and Slow West have shown that there's appetite amongst audiences for a good gunslinging yarn. The Ridiculous Six, Adam Sandler's first film in a four picture deal with online streaming service Netflix, jumps on that bangwagon as an attempted spoof of the classic Western The Magnificent Seven, but fails as both a comedy and even a coherent film.

Sandler plays Tommy, a.k.a White Knife, a white man raised by the Apache tribe after his mother's death. The film's plot, such as it is, begins when his estranged father, the outlaw Frank Stockburn (Nick Nolte) is kidnapped by Cicero (Danny Trejo) over the matter of $50,000. Tommy vows to make the money back and win his father's freedom. He resolves to steal the cash from the dishonourable and ropes in his half brothers Ramon (Rob Schneider), Li'l Pete (Taylor Lautner), Herm (Jorge Garcia), Danny (Luke Wilson) and Chico (Terry Crews) along for the ride.

I tried to go into this with an open mind, but knowing the background to the film made it difficult. Before the film's release on Netflix, it was allegedly passed on by three different studios. It's easy to see why when the scripts reads as though it was written by a purile teenage boy. Two prominent running jokes are Native American names ("Beaver Breath" and "No Bra" spring to mind) and a donkey with diarrhea. Each one of the Stockburn brothers is a broad stereotype, be it Li'l Pete the backwoods hick or Ramon, the Mexican who talks a lot about tacos. Sandler, meanwhile, gives a confused performance . His Tommy is a classic mystical, philosophical Native American - he aims for Eastwood-esque stoicism but lands squarely on the same somnambulant, bored performance he's been phoning in for decades now.

ridiculous6smallThe bright spots are few and far between. Nick Notle plays his role with a twinkly-eyed charisma that suggests he thought he was in a different film entirely; Harvey Keitel chews the scenery with gusto as a malevolent saloon owner and John Turturro channels Peter Sellers as Abner Doubleday, the man who invents the rules of baseball (which calls "Sticky McShnickens") as he goes along. The baseball scene is incongruous because it's easily the film's funniest moment, and has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. It's funny purely because of Turturro, too, who does all the heavy lifting opposite a dead-eyed Sandler.

Aside from those small shafts of light, there's not much else to recommend. The only other entertaining thing to do while watching The Ridiculous Six is to spot the cameos from actors that could do so much better. Nolte, Trejo, Keitel and Turturro are joined by Will Forte, Chris Parnell, Jon Lovitz, Steve Buscemi and Norm McDonald for an easy payday while David Spade makes his customary appearance. Oh, and Vanilla Ice plays Mark Twain, which is about as logical as anything else here.

If The Ridiculous Six proves anything, it's that Sandler isn't about to up his game for his Netflix contract. If his next three films are this bad, he could single-handledly sink the company's reputation for producing exceptional original content. This film wants to be Blazing Saddles, but can't even match up to Seth MacFarlane's uneven A Million Ways To Die In The West. The truth is that there are hundreds upon hundreds of films to choose from on Netflix - and I would bet this overlong, unfunny, borderline offensive mess is the worst.

Score: 1/5

The Ridiculous Six Director: Frank Coraci Writers: Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler Studio: Netflix Running time: 119 minutes Release date: 12/11/15

Review: Spy

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

Spy is a hilarious movie that truly shows the funnier side of some great actors and actresses such as Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Jude Law, and of course Melissa McCarthy. After seeing Melissa McCarthy’s “Tammy” and “Identity Thief” I had lost all faith in her, especially because she WROTE TAMMY which was the worst of the bunch, Spy proves to me that she is a talented comedic actress, but still a horrible writer.

spy-posterSpy is about a, well spy, played by Jude Law who after an issue, is replaced by Melissa McCarthy, who basically has almost no field experience. Most people will get caught up in Melissa, but I found that Jason Statham and Rose Byrne truly blew me away in this film. They were DROP. DEAD. FUNNY. I mean Statham’s character was so funny, I couldn’t stop laughing through whole scenes! Rose Byrne is very vulgar in most scenes, so is the entire movie, but I found that it really worked for the film’s tone.

Beyond it being funny, this actually has an interesting story. It’s no James Bond, but it is fun. This is one of those movies, you see some things coming, but others are really interesting and keep you on your toes. Also, I loved how Spy really doesn’t take itself seriously, even though it gets quite serious. It almost picks fun at Bond style films, while succeeding in being one.

That being said, the film was predictable. It wasn’t anything that ruined the movie by any means, but got a little repetitive in some areas. Also there was a few plot holes that didn’t make much sense, like another female spy, who we thought we would see again, and did for about 2 seconds. It didn’t work, but wasn’t a make or break plot point.

Overall Spy is a hilarious film, that is DEFINITELY worth seeing with a group of family and friends who love comedy. Check it out yourself and tell me what you think!

Score: 3/5

Spy Director/Writer: Paul Feig Studio: 20th Century Fox Runtime: 120 Minutes Release Date: 6/5/15

Review: Pixels

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

Adam Sandler makes absolutely stupid movies... but his last two films have actually impressed me. Most people are hating on Pixels, but I was excited for two reasons. After seeing his last film, The Cobbler, which I loved, and seeing the Nostalgic 80’s video games, I knew it would be downright stupid, but worth a watch. This was EXACTLY that!

Pixels Movie PosterPixels is about a nerdy kid who loses a 1980’s Arcade Gaming Tournament, but after Aliens invade using 80’s arcade games as a front, his talent comes in handy. So, this movie is not a good movie when it comes to cinema except for two things. The visual effects were OUTSTANDING, and the story was well crafted to actually seem very realistic. Of course this film began with the idea of making 80’s video games come to life, but Adam Sandler came up with the perfect way. I love how a Time Capsule was taken as a threat and became this movie. It is so off but felt so real (the only real way this would make sense). So, yes it’s dumb, but worked.

Let’s talk about the visual effects for a minute. This film had so much over the top effects, but this also goes back to acting, NEVER ONCE did I look at this and say “Wow, that looks so CGI” or “Wow that is definitely on a green screen” Now of course it is CGI and green screening in some places, but even the pixels of the creatures seemed to have so much texture and light within the shots. I would believe they actually made a bunch of these as references for the actors to work with, but I know that is most likely not true. I was very impressed, even at the climax, where they are completely in a CGI world, they seemed to look way more real then another fully CGI film I know *cough* Phantom Menace *cough* But all joking aside, it was very impressive.

The problem with this film is in its simplicity and cliché comedy scenes. It basically is a recycled comedy with a new face. That being said, it was still very fun, well made, and just plain stupid. I’ll give Pixels 3/5 mainly for its visuals and fun atmosphere.

Score: 3/5

Pixels Director: Chris Columbus Writers: Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling Studio: Columbia Pictures Running Time: 106 Minutes Release Date: 7/24/15

Review: Lucha Mexico

If you’re a wrestling fan, like a true wrestling fan, then you should be interested in Lucha Mexico. The film is a documentary about wrestling in Mexico, known Lucha Libre, which has become a familiar term these days. But what is the life like? How do the wrestlers live when they’re not in the ring? The film kind of answers those questions. To be quite honest it doesn’t dig into the behind the scenes as deeply as you’d probably like. No one takes off their masks to be open and honest in front of the camera and no one seems pressed to reveal anything that’s not just out there to find on the internet.

This is my only gripe with the film is that there doesn’t seem to be any pressure on the wrestlers to share. Some of them obviously can’t share that much with their masks on, but others seem to be very guarded about revealing too much. I imagine it’s a cultural thing or just not wanting the audience to see the real person outside of the ring since that ruins the magic. Whereas wrestling promotions in the States have all but ruined the allure of wrestling by humanizing their workers outside of the ring, Lucha keeps the magic by shielding their workers from the audience. It keeps it believable, but obviously posed an interesting problem for the filmmakers. Though I wish it got deeper, they did a lot with what they could get.

Even still, it’s interesting to watch. There’s a little bit of wrestling shown, but it’s the culture that’s captured that makes it interesting. To see how different and involved the fanbase is with the wrestlers.

Lucha Mexico Festival PosterThere is also a lot to learn about Lucha. For instance, different locations hold more prestige than other locations. You want to be wrestling in certain locations, but as we see the wrestlers will go anywhere. One wrestler that the film follows is Shocker. He really provides a lot of substance for the film. We see him at the top of his game until an injury sidelines him. From there we witness his decline. It’s never said, but by the end of the film he’s wrestling a small venue in a field. I don’t believe this is the end of the road for him, but it was definitely a visual journey that we followed him on, rather than again anyone saying it out loud.

If you watch any kind of wrestling, then you know that there’s good guys and bad guys. Call this what you will, but there is a term for it in Lucha. If you’re a good guy, then you’re on the Tecnicos side and if you’re a bad guy you’re on the Rudos side. Now from what I understood from the film this is actually decided by the person that trains you (more on that in a minute). They determine it by how you wrestling in the ring and it doesn’t seem like you get to switch. In other wrestling around the world, wrestlers switch back and forth all the time (unless you’re John Cena). I found that particularly interesting considering how hated the Rudos are, but that they were seemingly stuck in that position their entire career.

As for the training, much like wrestling in the States and Japan, to make it on the big stage is a big pay-day. A lot of people want to do it, but not many make it. They talk to some of the trainers and they break down how few people make it through the training and how intense and long the training is. It sounds like you need someone else to support you financially if you’re even going to try for this. I do wish there was more time spent on this, but it was an interesting inclusion.

The film also dove into three wrestling companies and the different wrestlers at each company and their subtle differences between them. One of the biggest is CMLL, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, which is where Shocker and others worked. They also followed Triple A aka AAA which has grown in popularity in the States. The last company they spent time with was Perros del Mal, which will bring me into my next segment of the film.

In a strange turn of events there are two wrestlers that the film was following that died during filming. This offered a rare insight into their lives before their deaths a little insight afterwards. One wrestler, Fabian el Gitano, committed suicide which is only hinted about during the interviews, to get the full facts I had to go to the internet. The other is a fairly recent and famous death of Perro Aguayo Jr. in his match against Rey Myesterio Jr. Not that one death is sadder than the other, but Perro Aguayo Jr. actually had a company that was on the rise. Growing in popularity and looking to overtake a lot of the competition. The company continues today, but it was a tragic loss to the business side of the industry for sure.

There was a lot of interesting little facts picked up in the film. The masks are talked about and there’s a lot of insight provided there. Overall it was interesting because of these cultural unknowns. I don’t think the film needed to be quite as long as it was, but it was well-edited to keep your interest through and through.

The film isn’t just for wrestling fans. I know I lead with that, but it really is an interesting film for anyone that’s been curious about wrestling and in particular Mexico’s Lucha. It really is a style and culture of its own and so I can see people having an interest in it for that reason as well.

Score: 4/5

Lucha Mexico Director/Filmed/Edited: Alex Hammond & Ian Markiewicz Run Time: 98 Min Website

Review: Santa’s Little Helper

When I look at the Hollywood thought process behind a Christmas movie, rarely is the theme of the season the actual motivator. Instead the goal is to be added to the list of classics that network television will air in syndication for years and years to come. Add the DVD sales of the new pressing each year and suddenly you see that making a Christmas movie is actually a gift that keeps on giving… to the studios… financially. To put it simply, if you get a hit Christmas movie, it’s steady flow of revenue for years and years to come. Santa’s Little Helper is the WWE’s attempt at entering into this market and they’re smart to try. What wrestling fans wouldn’t want a WWE film to watch with their family? It’s a decent attempt and it may even win a few homes, but it’s a far cry from a Christmas classic. If anything, it just shows that the WWE can actually do a PG movie.

The story is about Dax, played by The Miz. He has some kind of job with a bank… it’s really unclear. He starts off the film by telling a youth center that they’re screwed and that they’ll be bulldozing the center on the 15th of December. He goes to work and gets fired for being a jerk. No seriously, he’s good at his job but his competition says he’ll do both jobs and since no one likes him they fire him.

201511201701272055_420x600Santa, the real Santa that is, takes an interest in him and decides that he wants to give him the position of “Ho, Ho, Ho” aka “Santa’s Little Helper” aka the guy in charge of the magic and keeping things on schedule. Why? Well that’s asked several times in the movie, but never really answered because there’s a swerve at the end. Santa sends Billie, played by Annalynne, to test Dax and see if he has what it takes to be the Ho, Ho, Ho. He’s given really simple and kind of dumb tasks to do that wouldn’t really prove anything to anyone. Most of them involve not losing your temper which he doesn’t really succeed at.

Paige plays the rival elf Eleanor. She’s the daughter of the elf that had the Ho, Ho, Ho position before and she acts as a backup obstacle to the film when Dax makes it through his challenges.

One of the problems with the film is the budget. It was obviously low budget and as hard as it tried it never really felt like it was set during Christmas or even trying to deliver a Christmas message. The opening tells you it is, but then the rest just happens in what’s likely L.A…. or summer. We hardly see any snow and some of it is CG. Dax’s house has a lack of decorations which is explained by his backstory, but then the rest of the world does as well. There’s a trip to the old folk’s home and there are zero decorations. It looks like half of a set from something else. They’re also watching Total Diva’s in the middle of the day so I guess it was a repeat or something. The point is a Christmas movie should feel like Christmas and this one doesn’t. It tries to tell you it is, but seeing is believing.

The other big problem is the pacing. There’s a lot of just excess to every scene. There’s an entire subplot about the elf that runs the teleporter wearing other people’s clothes and they go to this joke twice. It was completely worthless and never once was it funny. Mostly because the actor came across as creepy rather than funny. Stalkers and killers wear other people’s clothes and pretend to be them… not elves. Whoever edited the film was clearly inexperienced and took what could have been a cute and forgivably dull film and made it long and boring.

The acting is actually decent. It’s not bad, it’s not great and clearly they were working with what they had. Santa is good, Billie is better. Annalynne actually cares the movie for the most part. She has cute moments, she has serious moments and while the movie doesn’t offer much of a range for her, it’s clear that she actually has one.

The Miz is actually pretty comfortable in the role. His turnaround from jerk to saint is way too quick which isn’t his fault since that’s the way the story goes, but at least he does well in both. If anything, he got a film to share with his kids and I’m sure that’s pretty cool for him. Sadly, I think if the story was better he could have done better. Paige is okay. She’s good at the snarky elf role. They make her lay it on way too thick and she ends up sounding like a broken record, but she’s good. They do un-empower her as quickly as the empower her in the story, but hey I’m not going to go all 2015 on a movie that’s only Christmas message is “don’t be a jerk.”

This film is really only going to appeal to two types of people: wrestling fans and people who really enjoy feel good films. It’s not enough of a Christmas movie to win over that audience more than once out of curiosity so I have a hard time saying it’s for them. It’s not a terrible movie, but it’s unfortunately not a very good one either. Again, the sad part is that it really was close to making its goal of being an instant classic, but the loose editing, the average direction and the dull script didn’t do it any favors.

Score: 2/5

Santa’s Little Helper Director: Gil Junger Writers: James Robert Johnston, Bennett Yellin Studios: Fox/WWE Films

Review: The Gift

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

The Gift is one of those movies that I would refer to as an mis-marketed “Ego” movie. And by this I feel like this film came about by Joel Edgerton saying “Hey, I should write a movie where I’m a creepy guy, who is maybe good and bad and make it a plot twist…. yeah” So I’m not trying to hate on this film just yet, but the best way to summarize this film, is it felt forced.  This film was marketed as though it should be a “Stalker” film, but in the end became like propaganda.

The Gift is about a married couple, where the husband runs into a weird old friend, who basically ends up stalking them. This film was praised at the box office and other review sites, but I’m honestly not sure why. The Gift felt so forced in every way. Let’s start at the script.

the-giftThe script felt very forced in that it needed to be this “Psycho/Stalker” film with a plot twist, that in the end makes a bullying statement. It was very predictable. From the first moment the movie started and we introduce the main conflict, it was apparent that there was going to be a twist. But… the twist was honestly cliché. I knew it was coming the whole time and didn’t feel like there was any creativity in the plot behind what they were doing. It felt so much like Joel Edgerton was trying so hard to make a suspenseful stalker film with a plot twist and theme behind it all, but it was honestly boring, predictable, and seemed to try to highlight his acting, more than the plot.

The BIGGEST issue with this film is in its technicality. The is probably the worst edited film I have ever seen. Now although this seems like it would be a small issue, I found it amateur and obnoxious at times. I felt like half the cuts in this film were either too long or way to short. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE long shots, but this film seemed like it was trying to convey more emotion, just by holding a shot down. The same goes for cinematography. It was boring and felt sloppy at times. There even was an audio issue in one scene with Jason Bateman’s mic, which I assume was hidden in his clothing.

But, enough hate. Jason Bateman was awesome. Probably his best performance so far. He truly was convincing in his character, despite it being a weak written character. He truly did make this film for me. Not enough to outweigh the bad, but he definitely made it more interesting.

All in all, The Gift is a suspenseful film, that I feel falls flat on its face when it comes to creating an intriguing plot, and not seem like a Bullying Statement. I will give The Gift 2/5 just for Jason Bateman. Make sure to check it out for yourself and tell me what you thought!

Score: 2/5

The Gift Director: Joel Edgerton Writer: Joel Edgerton Studio: Blumhouse Productions and Blue-Tongue Films Runtime: 108 Minutes Release Date: 7/30/15

Review: The Hallow

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

Fantasy Horror is a failing genre recently that was in need of a true flagship film. The Hallow is the closest it has come so far. The Hallow is about a couple and their new born who move to a rural Ireland town, due to the husbands work with trees and nature. Some weird neighbors warn them of The Hallow, and things get out of hand as The Hallow comes for them.

This film did a lot of things right for me. It was incredibly suspenseful. There were scenes in this film that had my heart POUNDING, and when I mean scenes, I mean like 20 minutes! The actors and location really help push this feeling. They truly make you feel like there are stakes. The location is not only beautiful, but very antique and original, which I found really pleasing.

The Hallow PosterI love the concept of a Fantasy driven horror/suspense film. I love that The Hallow is a creature that lives in the woods and steals babies. It felt so fun, but I was a little disappointed at how they went about The Hallow.

One of the things that makes films like Jaws and The Babadook so scary, is the lack of knowing what is out there. You don’t actually SEE the “Villain” or “Creature” until you are fully ready for it.  Building suspense is all about what we don’t know and know. I felt like this film showed The Hallow WAY too fast in the film. Also the CGI of The Hallow was a little bit dated looking.

My biggest issue with this film is it happens SO FAST! This was a real disappointment to me, because the film really built a suspenseful story and interesting new feeling plot, but then rushed right through it. This entire movie happens within like 2 days, and the climax seems to stretch over an hour. It felt so unbalanced to me, that I couldn’t feel “Oh, this is important” or if it was just another action scene.

The Hallow is honestly a great film though, that is very creepy and will be sure to scare people. Just the lack of pacing of bad CGI creature seen to early keep this from amazing so I’ll give it a 3/5. Definitely something to watch. Go check it out and tell me what you thought of it!

Score: 3/5

The Hallow Director: Corin Hardy Writers: Corin Hardy and Felipe Marino Studio: Entertainment One Running Time: 97 Minutes Release Date: 1/25/15

Review: The Final Girls

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

Generally, when you mix genres like Horror and Comedy, you usually end up with something along the lines of The Wicker Man with Nicholas Cage…I’m kidding! But in all seriousness, it usually ends up either too funny or just plain ridiculous! After hearing about The Final Girls and seeing the trailer, I was a little worried, but the lineup seemed unstoppable. It seems like this film had a limited release, but I’m not sure why, because it was incredible!

The writing and acting what truly blew me away in this film! The story is about a girl who loses her mother in a car accident, but the twist is that her mother was the actress in the cult classic “Blood Bath”. After her friends convince her to see the movie in theaters for a convention, the theater burns down, and the main characters find themselves within the movie! One of the things that really blew me away with the writing and how they worked in the “rules” of the universe and how everything fell into place. One of the hardest parts of writing is avoiding clichés, but because of the movie being inside of a cliché horror film. They got to use those as building blocks, to make sure things made sense, but felt different.

finalgirlsposterFrom the moment this film started I was hooked! The story of the mother and daughter relationship is seriously heart wrenching. I have NEVER seen a movie where within the first 60 seconds I really felt the emotion and bond between the mother and daughter! It was so impactful, that later on in the film, when the issues come up that her mother dies in the film, that story becomes so serious, and truly sad at times! Of course this goes back to the amazing acting done by Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman. I honestly think that Taissa is one of the most underrated actresses out there right now! She really brought so much emotion and realism to this role, which is not easy when the film is a Comedy.

This film was HILARIOUS! I mean super funny. Clever writing and great performances really make this film so funny! That’s one of the things I loved about this move is it knew what it was. A Comedy. But never let go of dramatic character development and realism during its funny scenes! These characters we so genuine and funny, it really made watching the movie super fun!

From top to bottom this is an amazing Comedy, with great elements of suspense, but what really made this film for me was the story of the mother and daughter! Honestly some of the best acting and writing I’ve seen in a while! Oh yeah, and the ending is awesome too! Make sure to check it out and tell me what you think!

Score: 4/5

The Final Girls Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson Writer: M.A Fortin and Joshua John Miller Studio: Groundswell Productions Runtime: 92 Minutes Release Date: 10/9/15

Review: Trainwreck

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

So…This review is going to be kind of short. So after the insane amount of raving about this movie that I saw on social media and critic sites, I had to go see the film for myself! During the early scenes within this film I suddenly realized what I was about to watch… The “Amy Schumer Ramble Comedy “Show. I don’t like to hate on movies ever. Filmmaking is an amazing art that is very difficult. No matter how small or large the movie it takes massive amounts of work, and I commend ANYONE who does that. But, this film was horrible. I am in complete shock at the public and critics reviews of this movie. This film on Rotten Tomatoes is actually higher Trainwreck-posterthan Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2 (which I thought was hilarious) and even did better than Furious 7. Now I’m not saying these are Oscar winning films, but by the looks of Trainwreck you would think it would be one of these movies!

Trainwreck probably is one of the longest comedies I’ve ever seen. This movie is 100% Amy Schumer BANTER. One of the things I love about comedies is clever writing and witty jokes. This film is filled with “taking things so far until they become funny” but it’s failure is that none of it was funny. I was honestly very disappointed in Bill Hader’s performances as well.

One of my biggest issues with this film is in its morals. This movie is vulgar too. So many obnoxious, over the top, not sexual jokes, but honestly disgusting jokes. My wife and I could not believe people were laughing in the theater. Amy Schumer didn’t write this to be a through provoking film, or sentimental, this film was solely written for Amy Schumer to babble on until people think it’s “funny” and to market it that way. I was incredibly disappointed in the entire movie! This film definitely gets 1/5…But, don’t take my word for it, go watch it yourself and tell me what you thought!

Score: 1/5

Director: Judd Apatow Writer: Amy Schumer Studio: Universal Pictures/Apatow Productions RunTime: 124 Minutes

Review: Circle

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

Sometimes, every once in a while, we watch a movie, and after it is all over and done with, it stays with us. Circle is an incredibly thought-provoking movie that does just that. Circle is written and directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione and tells the story of 50 strangers who awake to find themselves in a large circle, with no knowledge of what happened. After they begin to die and realize the pattern, the darkest thoughts of society will crutch the passengers in who “should” live and who to die.

Circle (2015)After finding this film on iTunes for a very low price I decided to check it out for myself. I love films that have ambiguity. Films that make us think for weeks on end after the last line in the credits, are films that have succeeded! This film did just that. It really explores the humanity and reality within our world. The way we act and think, even if we are afraid to say that. This film succeeds in every way at exposing our deepest and darkest thoughts about others. Who we feel is “worthy” and who we feel doesn't deserve life as it is. The film feels very political, because most of its contents are based around stereotypes, which for me is a little bit of a downfall. Although I think it's a great exploration of human emotion and fear, it just seemed way to much of a coincidence that every controversial human characteristic has a represent invite in this film, but for me it wasn't something that got in the way of the suspenseful story.

Let's talk technicality quick. Cinematography was incredible! Especially because the film has one location. Acting is spot on. Everyone from old people to the little girl are spectacular in making me feel as though these people were truly in this situation. Granted, at times it seemed a little relaxed, but it's a film.

My few issues were in some of the script and effects. Although the script was compelling and suspenseful, to me I felt as though I knew nothing, I knew too much. For instance, this isn't a spoiler, but the film is obviously about aliens who are making humans decide who lives and dies. To me that ruined some of the question and suspense of the film. I feel if the filmmakers hadn't revealed that, I would have been in much more suspense as to what is going on. Also, the effects were…well not so hot. Not a massive issue, but disappointing.

The true disappointment in this film, came with its ending. Without spoiling anything, after over 87 minutes of suspense as to what would be this outcome, with what seemed like an almost “judgement-day” sort of vibe, came an insanely meaningless ending. Not to say it wasn't a surprise and thrilling, but it felt boring and forced. I wish there was more of a twist and meaning.

With all that being said, it was an incredibly suspenseful and thrilling film that really had my heart pumping. I felt its forced politics and boring ending was the only thing that held it back from being a real smash.. It is definitely enjoyable and a must see film. I hope you enjoyed this review and make sure to check it out for yourself and tell me what you thought of the film.

Score: 3/5

Circle (2015) Writer/Directors: Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione Run Time: 87 minutes

Review: The Peanuts Movie

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

The Peanuts movie is hands down one of the greatest animated films I have ever seen. After seeing the initial trailer with the new “3D” animation look, and feeling that horrible “Here we go. Let's ruin another classic” I was not interested. But after agreeing to see the movie with family, it was the best decision I made!

The Peanuts movie follows the oh so loved Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang in their adventures from, day to day but especially when a new girl comes to school! Now, one of the things I loved long ago about the Peanuts films, was they truly captured the feeling of being a kid. Not just in a literal sense because they are kids, but the questions and feelings we have that now is only a fragment of nostalgia. Playing in the snow, a new kid in school, fear of being laughed at. All of these things are things we went through as kids.

the-peanuts-movie-4the-peanuts-movie-4the-peanuts-movie-4This movie was amazing in every aspect. The story was so riveting in that it told the story of “real” kids. Kids who think and feel! Kids that play outside and socialize with one another. One of the greatest things this film did was make itself timeless. Not an ounce of technology was involved and it felt like a movie that could have happened in 1950 or 2015. They stuck to the roots of not only the Peanuts but being a kid. Playing outside and talking with friends and I think this is a wonderful message and example for young kids to see!

Speaking of the message let's talk about that. The message is so great in this movie, without spoiling it, Charlie Brown feels very down on himself, but no matter what stays true to who he is and to be a kind person! This my friends is what makes a beautiful script! One that sends a playful and great message to viewers of any age.

This is an incredible deep and emotional movie. Not in a boring way, but really explores the emotions that kids face day to day. We forget as adults that kids feel too. They have emotions just as we do, because we are just older versions of kids. Charlie Brown has so much dimension to his character and I'm this film we really care about him. Not just because he is a classic icon, but because of the emotion the filmmakers have instilled in him.

But of course what about Snoopy and Woodstock? A riot! With a mixture of 3D style and Cartoon like animations, the dynamic duo was brought back to life in a truly comical and classic way! With a compelling side story and hilarious antics, these two are seriously a riot! One of the things I loved to is they used the original voice overs, and worked them into this film, due to the actors passing!

I don't want to say too much because the script is very tight around a certain subject, but this story has a wonderful ending that gave me joy like no other film before. The Peanuts is seriously a cinema treat for ANYONE! Adults, kids, parents, grandparents, friends, this movie is truly amazing! I don't usually believe in a perfect movie, but there is NOTHING bad I can say about it! An absolute must see movie! Make sure to go check it out and tell me what you thought of the Peanuts!

Score: 5/5

The Peanuts Movie (2015) Director: Steve Martino Writers: Bryna Schulz, Charles M. Schulz, Craig Schulz, Cornelius Uliano Studio: Blue Sky Media Run Time: 88min

Review: Black Coal, Thin Ice

Black Coal, Thin Ice is a strange murder mystery. It at times feels more complicated than it should and at its heart of hearts is a strange love story centered around a murder… or murders. The film opens with the discovery of a body part on a coal line. Other parts of the body turn up all over the providence. I should pause to mention that this first murder is taking place before forensics were common practice and it’s in China which doesn’t exactly rely on science to prove cases as much as it does confessions being beaten out of people. Our lead on the case and our main character, follows a hunch about two men that actually drove to all of the coal plants making them likely suspects. They go to arrest them and they try to flee, but are ultimately captured. Then, one of the best scenes of the movie happens and I won’t spoil it. Our lead on the case is injured and retires from the force.

Years later we pick up with him drunk on the side of the road. A stranger attempts to help our drunken main character, but he pushes them away and they steal his motorcycle that was left running. The rest of the movie he drives the motor scooter that was left in his bike’s place which was funny to me. By chance he spots his old partner on a stake out and it seems to have ties to the case that made our main dude retire. From there, our main character spends every moment trying to solve the case, but mostly because the woman at the center of everything is beautiful and caught his eye.

BlackCoal,ThinIce-DVD-2DThe mystery isn’t too hard to solve. It’s pretty straight forward and the movie always gives you the pieces to figure it out alongside the characters in the film. There’s a twist at the end of course, but again, you’re so close to story that you’ll figure it out with our crack shot detective. What was a bummer about the mystery was that all of the clues were very obvious as you watched everything unfold. Nothing is subtle or misleading, it’s a “just the facts” type of mystery which isn’t that interesting.

The other part of the story that was a disappointment was the ending. The movie gets to a natural ending and then continues to go… and go. Part of it was interesting because it showed how jacked up the criminal justice system is in China, but the majority of it was a huge head scratcher as to why we were watching it. The film was over. The mystery was solved… you don’t need to watch it after that.

The movie would have you believe that our leading lady is a strong character putting on a weak act, but in fact she’s a woman that is taken advantage of at every turn. She has no personality and barely talks and yet practically every man in the film tries to sleep with her… by force. It was disappointing since they built her up as some kind of mastermind and yet she was basically just a victim over and over and when the system should have taken pity on her it instead threw the book at her. It was the biggest missed opportunity of the film which was too bad since her character was at the center of the story and honestly felt more like a moving plot device than a character. The acting was okay. No one really stood out and it felt like a lot of first time people taking a stab at acting.

The look of the film was great. So great that it spends a lot of time showing beautiful shots of this and that and capturing the weather. There were some interesting camera shots, but a lot of it was point and shoot. It’s just that the location and settings elevated it so it wasn’t as noticeable. Overall though a good looking film.

Like any murder mystery its worth watching once. I wish the ending was stronger because it could have made up for a lot of the problems with the film. Sure our one and only female character would still have been a plot device, but at least the mystery could have been rewarding. It was worth a view, but I don’t know if you’ll get much more out of it afterwards.

Score: 3/5

Black Coal, Thin Ice Director: Diao Yinan Run Time: 110 Min Language: Mandarin Distributor: WellGoUSA Entertainment Release Date: 9/29/15 Format: Blu-Ray, DVD

Review: Cross

Cross is an interesting film for many reasons, but ultimately falls short of its intended goal of surprising the audience with story twists. At least surprising them in a way that’s rewarding. Sadly, while reading the credits it became clear to me that there may have been some hiccups in the production of this film that ended up hurting the final product and making the story a mess. The movie starts off okay. Our main character Lee Leung played by Simon Yam takes a long journey to a police station and turns himself in for murder. He hands over evidence against himself and this kicks off the story. In his confession he tells his story… mostly. Its broken up in chunks, but the first chunk is that his wife killed herself rather than dying of Leukemia. This of course got him thinking about suicide and then after hanging around on a suicide message board he decides that god has sent him a message and that message is to kill those about to take their lives via suicide to save their souls.

Which is an interesting premise and even more so as Leung continues to tell how he killed people and more importantly how he picked them. But there’s an angle. There’s always an angle. The detective assigned to the case brings in a criminal psychologist who begins breaking down the events and getting into the Leung’s head. At the same time Leung is visited by a young lawyer who at one point tells him ahead of the police, that one of the women he killed was a sex worker and didn’t actually want to commit suicide though he helped her do so.

At this point we have an interesting story and it gets more interesting as the police, at the advice of the psychologist, bring in the owner of the suicide website and wouldn’t you know it… he has the same lawyer.

DVD-CROSSThere’s an interesting break at this point in the film. Our lawyer and webmaster are released and as they walk away they turn and look at the cop and psychologist in a very telling manner. It’s at this point that the movie shifts gears and destroys all the buildup we just watched. In reality it feels as if they had some footage for a script that wasn’t complete. Then they changed the direction/ending and couldn’t reshoot so they kept both halves. There’s even some indication in the credits as they very specifically state (2011) and (2012) for directors and writers.

Now in order to explain that previous statement I’m going to spoil the movie and I do this because it must be explained. It took me a bit to figure it out myself which is why I think something happened during the production that altered the course of this film.

The ending is this: Our main character has been manipulated, but rather than it being the lawyer like you think it’s going to be… well actually it is the lawyer. The problem is, when the film goes to reveal how the lawyer did it, which is the last half of the movie; they cast a third person for the same role. The character of Yip Wing Woo has a younger version, an ego version and a glasses version and there’s no reasoning for these two adult versions. Hell at one point they actually show “glasses” manipulating Leung behind a computer and then continue to show the rest of the manipulation from “ego’s” perspective. Whatever happened during production screwed this movie.

Aside from never doing anything visually to show these two versions that I suppose could be a Tyler Durden-esq plot device, is the fact that “ego” has a very distinguished mark on his face. You basically end the movie wondering who this third character is and how they fit into the story. Had they done more visually to show that they were supposed to be the same person then it may have worked, but instead they show them with the same mother and then not really. In fact, the mother didn’t make much sense either.

Aside from this weird casting problem that basically breaks the entire ending and twist of the movie, there’s the pacing of the film. Again, it’s really two halves of a movie and so the film hangs out in the strangest places. We spend a ton of time with the psychologist as he lives in Leung’s house and even manages to figure out how to use his equipment to make custom glasses. It’s obvious that a lot of time was put into the set, but we also see it used plenty later on. In the end it’s really hard to make sense of a lot of what’s happening which forces you to pay closer and closer attention. So close that when the ending hits you’ve paid too much attention and the movie no longer makes any sense.

The performances aren’t bad, the visuals were actually pretty good and had the story made more sense or been pieced together better this actually could have been an interesting film. As it stands though, it’s really hard to recommend it unless you just love Hong Kong cinema or that premise that’s very enticing, has worked its hooks into you. Hell, maybe knowing the ending will actually free you from paying attention so much so that you can enjoy the film. As for me, well I’ll always wonder why there was a slow-motion scene of a lawyer and webmaster walking down a long flight of stairs and pausing to look back at a detective and psychologist.

Score: 2/5

Cross Distributor: WellGoUSA Price: $24.98 Release Date: 6/23/15

Review: Police Story: Lockdown

It’s been two years since Police Story 2013 released in Hong Kong, but now it’s getting a state’s release and retitled Police Story: Lockdown. I’ll admit, having followed it’s 2013 release I kind of thought that this was newer. Makes me wonder what the fourth Police Story is because I don’t recall seeing it… maybe it did… was there a computer game killing people or something? I don’t know. Lockdown stands out from the other Police Story installments because it’s a very serious film. Clearly after playing a goof for so many years, star Jackie Chan, wanted something different from the role. Which is a shame because the other installments where fun. In fact, they still are some of the best action films of this current generation of action stars that have once again become popular or in Chan’s case, never ceased being popular. My personal favorite is Super Cop, because it was my first taste of the franchise. It was fun. It was entertaining and had incredible action while also having a story that was believable. Believable in the sense that it could happen in this world that they were presenting.

Lockdown on the other hand is gritty, dark and borderline depressing. It’s a very serious movie and takes on some decently heavy subject matter or at least subject matter that you wouldn’t typically associate with either A) the Police Story franchise or B) Jackie Chan. And it’s not that Chan can’t do a serious role, it’s that everything is extremely serious to the point that it stops being believable. That and Chan’s never allowed to be that dark.

And it could have been a very serious movie if the cinematography wasn’t actively ruining the fight scenes and if the editing wasn’t trying to confuse you about what film you were watching. I’ll explain the former first.

Police Story LockdownThere is a fight scene that happens just before the third act of the film. This fight is really the first and only time that Chan squares off with a fighter in the film. And they’re put in a cage. It’s Jackie Chan in a cage fight with a huge dude that we learned previously was involved in death matches… and clearly he lived because here he is. The fight starts off slow and then drags on for a while. The only interesting thing that happens is Chan’s head going through class and other objects in the cage and the film capturing this in slow motion.

But wait… no, that’s not interesting.

This is a Jackie Chan film.

Jackie Chan doesn’t need slow motion unless he’s going too fucking fast and we as the audience can’t see what just happened. We don’t need slow motion to impress us during a fight. In the end, the fight turns out to be boring and shot terribly. You’ll honestly think that Christopher Nolan filmed it because the camera is on top of the two men the entire time.

As for the editing… were to begin? The film has these moments in which we see Chan’s character thinking about the possibility of what could happen given a certain situation. That in and of itself isn’t bad, but the problem is, it stops being effective when the story also cuts away to different cases that Chan’s character has worked on. He’s trying to figure out who the villain is and what he wants from him. The problem is you can’t or rather shouldn’t have both devices because then you begin to wonder if the flashbacks are really just jumbled thoughts in Chan’s head and then you’re left wondering why you’re seeing either. In fact, you really only needed the flashbacks, but there’s a problem with them as well.

Before I get into the flashbacks I have to set the stage for the story. Chan’s daughter has asked for him to meet her at a club to introduce her new boyfriend which ends up being a trap. Now, Chan and the club goers (including his oblivious daughter) are being held hostage.

The movie intentionally traps itself in this one location, be it a rather large location. Then it’s as if the film makers realized that staying in this one location was pretty boring and wouldn’t provide much in terms of action and that eventually the tension would be lost on everyone. They basically tried to do The Raid and realized they hadn’t set up the story in a way that they could. Enter the flashbacks. None of these flashbacks serve a purpose other than showing that Chan’s character is a hell of a cop. And they could have been fun. But instead he’s serious Jackie Chan and so he’s got the same stern look on his face the entire time.

There is one point in the film that you should be able to figure out and call the rest of the film. I know I was able to and I was thankful that I did. If I hadn’t I don’t know if I would have cared about finishing the film. I basically stuck around to see if I was right and I was.

If you’re a Jackie Chan fan, then you’ll probably find some enjoyment with this film. There’s enough diehards out there that can suffer through anything he does and walk away smiling. But if you’re a hardcore Police Story fan… well I would probably avoid this one since it is the weakest one in the franchise and I say that as someone who doesn’t really remember seeing the fourth one. But if you love those first three then you’ll be highly disappointed by this new direction and maybe even wonder why they decided to call it “Police Story” to begin with.

Score: 3/5

Police Story: Lockdown Director: Ding Sheng Released by: WellGoUSA Format: Blu-Ray/DVD Price: $29.98/$24.98 Release Date: 8/11/15

Review: Justice League: Gods and Monsters

I, like many other comic and animation fans, love Bruce Timm. It’s hard not to love him considering he and Paul Dini shaped what many of us consider the pinnacle Batman of our childhood. It’s brought me great displeasure to see that Timm continues to lessen his role with WB Animation as the division of Warner Brothers continues to change and adapt to the times. So when an original movie by Bruce Timm was announced… well I paid attention. In fact, I waited anxiously to see what it was. The premise is great; I won’t deny that. Timm looked to the comics for inspiration and attempted to do something that hadn’t been done since Green Lantern and Flash in which the characters were completely changed, but kept the same names. Timm basically did the same and if you know anything about the project then you know he created a new Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The holy trinity of the DC Universe. And you know what? They’re interesting characters. They have rich backstories and they’re not just different characters in the same role. His Batman is very different, not a detective, but rather a vampire scientist and so on.

Justice League Gods and MonstersThe world is very similar. There’s a few characters that remain the same, but don’t evolve like they do in the comics. For instance, Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi make an appearance and Palmer has only just discovered his shrinking technology, but is using it to make horses small. He’s a far cry away from ever becoming the Atom (and thank God for that). Again, the world isn’t just a “what if” version of the DC Universe. It’s takes names and roles and very cleverly shifts them. Lex Luthor isn’t the man you’d think and his past is very different from what you’d imagine.

Now here’s the “but.” The film suffers from its own premise, from its own world building because that’s kind of all it does. Sure there’s a story, but it manages to tie in loosely to everything else that’s going on. But it’s not interesting. The payoff for all the buildup isn’t there. At least not a payoff that feels rewarding.

Going forward, I would be very interested in this world and these characters. You get to know them in this film and I will totally admit that Timm and company make the transition to their past seamless and relevant to that point in the story. I just didn’t feel like the story was trying to go anywhere. The ending was too anticlimactic to be worth the wait, but again… I would revisit this world.

The character designs are very Bruce Timm. They’re done in his trademark style, but he’s grown as an artist and animator. This film doesn’t look out-of-place with the DC/WB Animation universe and that says a lot. If anything it just goes to show that Timm’s style could really be embraced more both in the animation and comics.

Even though I was very ho-hum about this film, it doesn’t take anything away from Timm’s legacy. He’s still one of the very few animators with an iconic style. You know Timm’s animation when you see it and frankly I doubt you can name one other animator in the last twenty years that you could say the same for. As for the director and screenwriter… well let’s just say that I could do without their collaboration with Timm next time.

Score: 3/5

Justice League: Gods and Monsters Director: Sam Liu Story: Alan Burnett/Bruce Timm Screenplay: Alan Burnett Distributor: WB/WB Animation Price: $24.98 Release Date: 7/28/15

Group Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Well don’t say we didn’t give you time to see the movie because we did! That’s right, as is the tradition on the site when a new comic book movie is released we round up the gang and the interested parties give their thoughts and a score for the film. Today of course is the Avengers sequel, but you know what… there’s only like three of us on this thing… that might say more than the review. Here’s the synopsis:

The first Avengers film made like a billion dollars… they made a sequel by the same guy and with the same cast and added a few other characters and a new villain. Also there’s cameos… Do you like Marvel movies? Then you get the picture then.

SAMANTHA: 4/5

International-Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Poster-700x989So this movie was one of those movies that takes a while to settle in your head. Although I liked it while I was watching it, I loved it after thinking about it. It had a lot of good qualities that a superhero movie needed. Some qualities that stood out for me were The Vision, the huge plot backdrop, the teamwork, and of course Scarlet Witch.

Not being a big A.I. fan, I didn’t think I would like The Vision or that he would be in it that much... but both of those fragments are wrong. He is in it a lot more than expected and he rocked it! Right away, he just looks so freakin’ cool. Then he plays this very nonchalant guy that can totally rock a cape. Paul Bettany plays him perfectly and almost makes me wonder if he himself is a robot…?

Then this movie came across bigger than the last one. Maybe just because it was mostly New York that we focused on and Ultron is everywhere, but either way the plot was huge. It felt like a huge crossover event that Marvel didn’t screw up. Leading into Civil War seems like a good step after this colossal story line. The first movie just introduced the team, this movie showed that these dudes are really superheroes on a grand scale, and now we move to the struggles of the hero/human aspect.

The teamwork was spot on. Even when the group was fighting, it seemed like a legit group of people fighting. Nothing was forced. And the action scenes that involved teamwork, such as Thor hitting Cap’s shield, made the sequences so tight.

Scarlet Witch is the woman! Everything she does is intriguing. I think introducing some new Avengers spices things up, but no one will add more spice than her. This is the main reason why this movie was so great!

Since overall, I enjoyed the movie I will only say one line about the wrongs in this film. The opening fight scene was too CGI’ed and Thor randomly leaving to go swimming and then randomly coming back felt out of place.

NICK: 4/5

The-Avengers-2-Age-of-Ultron-Teaser-PosterI spent almost the whole two-and-a-half hour runtime of Age of Ultron holding my breath, waiting to be let down. The first Avengers movie felt like such lightning in a bottle, a first act executed so well in the solo films, and a stuck landing on the movie.

Luckily, Age of Ultron didn’t disappoint me.

The second installment in the Avengers franchise is as funny, if not funnier, than the first one. That serves it well in certain situations (like Rhodey trying to impress people with War Machine stories at a party), but other times it took me out of the movie. For example, given the trailers and literally any comic Ultron has ever been in, it was a little jarring to see him reacting to things so sarcastically (and the “I’ve Got No Strings” metaphor got beat to death). There’s internal logic behind it, but still, when your soulless A.I. villain rips a guy’s arm off and immediately does an “Ooooh, I’m so sorry, I think that’ll heal fine” reaction, it’s... weird. Not bad, not good; weird.

The one overwhelming thing I loved about Age of Ultron is its third act. After a couple hours of setting up future movies and introducing new characters and running the risk of getting kind of wander-y, the finale wraps up nicely. And if that whole sequence of the Avengers insisting that no civilians get hurt during their world-shattering final battle isn’t a huge fuck-you to Man of Steel, it still came off that way, and god bless you, Marvel, for making superhero movies where the superheroes save people.

I didn’t love this movie like I loved the first one. It did everything right, and the fight scenes were even more impressive, but it just didn’t fuck me up the way the first one did. Having said that, though, I have never been more hyped about Infinity War or Marvel’s Phase Three until this very moment, because holy crap you guys Infinity War is gonna rule.

DUSTIN: 3/5

AILjDwVHa! This guy right? I know some of you were thinking it. Here’s the thing about this movie… it is every bit a sequel from the first. In fact it feels so much like the first movie that you could basically watch them back to back and not be lost or confused and maybe even wonder if you weren’t just watching a four hour movie that took a bathroom break and came right back.

And that’s okay. Isn’t that what the comic books do? Therein lies what I don’t like about it and subsequently Marvel’s comic books as well… not a lot changed. And that’s because there’s no danger. None of these characters are going to die (sure one supposedly does) and so the danger and really the feeling of danger is completely lost on the viewer or in the case of the comics the reader. Every character is a franchise and so every character is protected. Oh and I define change as something other than adding new characters and anew threat, that’s pretty much given.

It was entertaining though and that’s all I could ask for. For those who hated it because of casting or story direction I say to you that you were expecting far too much and it’s far too late to be complaining about any such things. The creative process can’t be questioned after the fact. You can criticize it, but not question it. Two different things, trust me. And if you didn’t like Black Widow then you should try reading her in comic book format because Whedon at least attempted to develop the character more than Marvel has since the character was created. She’s a former assassin… not a lot going on there which is why she’s been dumped with Hawkeye so much… nothing going on there either.

Overall if you enjoyed the first film there’s absolutely no reason for you not to enjoy this film. For me, well it’s just not special to see these characters on the screen anymore regardless of who they add to the roster because let’s be honest they’ll add every character they can.

Writer/Director: Joss Whedon Studio: Disney/Marvel Studios Rating: PG-13 Run Time: 2 hrs 21 min. Release Date: 5/1/15

Review: Batman vs. Robin

Okay, I admit it. I am a sucker for these DC direct to digital and disc releases of their comics universe. Even the bad ones, I like to watch, if for anything, just for the sheer enjoyment of the medium. I have felt that the animation is always good regardless of plot. In that way, if I have a story that is way subpar, at least I have something pretty to look at.

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