Film Review: Trainspotting (1996)

I watched this because I love sweet Ewan McGregor, and I kept watching it because it was a pretty great movie. At times disturbing, repulsive, and heartbreaking, but also funny, uplifting, and exciting, this was a rollercoaster of a film. The scene where Johnny Lee Miller's character (sick boy) cries is heart wrenching, and I have much more respect for that actor after watching him in this. Ewan McGregor carries this movie with grace, and it wouldn't have been the same without him.

A bunch of friends are junkies in Scotland during the '90s and things don't go so well... but it's very interesting to watch Ewan's character's progression from junkie to normal person and back again. I had to have the subtitles on a few times because the Scottish accents caught me off guard, but the script is actually very well written. The music is an accumulation of pop hits from that era (Iggy Pop, etc.) and it really propels the movie and gives it an energy an original score just couldn't match. Directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), this is a movie you don't want to miss.

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars (2012)

This is a really beautiful book.

John Green writes about a 16-year-old girl named Hazel who meets a 17-year-old boy named Augustus at a kid's cancer support group in the basement of a church (the literal heart of Jesus). It's  laugh out loud funny, romantic, and very touching. I read this 313 page book within a 30 hour period - yeah, that's a rarity for me. It usually takes me forever to read a book, but I had to know what happened next. I said "one more chapter" like, oh 25 times.

Hazel reads the same book over and over again and has terminal cancer, so her parents think she needs to go to a church support group to make friends. Augustus Waters has one leg and enjoys holding an unlit cigarette between his lips to feel the killing thing but not give it the power to kill, as a metaphor. Kinda like putting a loaded gun in your mouth but not pulling the trigger, except it's a little less shocking and less dangerous with the cigarette embodiment of the metaphor.

I started reading this book because they're making a movie with Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as Hazel and Augustus respectively (it comes out this June). I'm excited to see what they do with this amazing story, but I expect the book will be the better of the two (that's usually how it is). What a read, definitely check it out.

Film Review: Liberal Arts (2012)

This is a really great movie. Is it because Josh Radnor is one of the cutest people on the Earth? Probably. Or maybe it's because he's one of the best film makers. He wrote and directed and produced and starred in this movie, which is awesome. It's completely character driven (I love watching those) and the script is witty and really funny, but also really smart and moving at the same time. You really feel for/with these characters as you step into their lives for 97min.

Elizabeth Olsen (yes, Mary- Kate and Ashley's sister) is a joy to watch, she just reminds me of my friends and even myself, and I could stare at Josh forever as he smirks with his little bearded face and makes me laugh. Zac Efron made a surprise appearance as this guy in a red hat who becomes Jesse's (Radnor) friend that hangs around campus all the time and spouts out optimistic freethinking ideas that help Jesse through his present dilemma, "Everything is okay..." and it's really funny.

I found this movie very interesting and it made me think about my life. Not all movies do that, but all of Radnor's movies that I've seen have. The other one I saw was "Happythankyoumoreplease" which you should seriously check out, because he also wrote and directed that one as well. This film made me happy and gave me something to think about, and that's all I can ask for really :)

Film Review: Spring Breakers (2012)

*Sigh* where do I begin... Well, this movie was a failed attempt at "artful chaos" if you wanna call it that. Just a bunch of bad girls partying and screaming in the back of a truck after holding up a chicken shack, then using that money to go on spring break, end up in jail in their bikinis, get bailed out by a sleazy gangster, then do a lot more naughty things with almost no repercussions. There's the cheesy voice-over montages, the glorification of violence, sex, drinking, drugs and partying, the bad acting, etc.. James Franco portrayed a very unlikable gangster/rapper named Alien, which was not his best work. The girls didn't really pull it off for me either; Selena Gomez was the best of them, but that's not saying much.
I didn't really get the movie; it just didn't make sense to me. They were trying way too hard to make it artsy, and ended up making it artificial. Not really worth seeing - the only thing I got out of it was a few good examples of wasted lives and bad wild-child behavior I'd be smart not to emulate.

Film Review: Prisoners (2013)

Two families get together for Thanksgiving, and lose two little girls. Anna and Joy disappear when they run down the street to Anna’s house…but they never come back. Anna’s brother remembers a suspicious-looking camper parked down the street that has since vanished. They find the camper within hours, and the young man inside is taken into custody. No sign of the girls, but it had to be him right? He tried to run when the cops approached him, he told Anna’s father (Hugh Jackman) “They only cried when I left them,” but the cops can’t get anything out of him. That’s when Anna’s father takes matters into his own hands…

The movie is full of twists and red herrings, and Hugh Jackman plays a very convincing scary-hunter type with nothing to lose.  Jake Gyllenhaal is the real surprise here, with a great portrayal of a cocky detective that’s never left a case unsolved, and HARDLY EVER CALLS FOR BACKUP! I kept yelling at the screen, “why don’t you have a partner! I bet Mariska Hargitay would come in pretty handy right now!” But to no avail. Paul Dano plays a damaged young man that has the IQ of a ten year old, and he does it well. This is a good thriller that keeps you yelling multiple theories at other people in the room (to their possible annoyance).

Film Review: The Kings of Summer (2013)

Three high school boys build a house in the woods to get away from their parents, and end up being brought closer to them, and each other. This movie is really funny, but also kind of heartfelt. Hilarity in this movie was mostly due to Moises Arias who played Biaggio, an odd kid that the other two boys kind of adopt, “I don’t see myself as having a gender,” he says to Joe. He is the best thing about this film, seriously. Nick Offerman is pretty funny as well, and Patrick’s parents crack me up (including Megan Mullally as his mom). One of the only complaints I have with this movie is the slaying of a poor innocent rabbit and snake (I don’t care to watch the killing of animals, even if it’s for food or safety). So, if you’re ready for a good movie to watch tonight, consider this little gem – and let the laughing ensue.

 

 

 

Film Review: We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

What happens if maternal instincts never kick in? Tilda Swinton’s character Eva has just born a son, Kevin, who won’t stop screaming. He gets older but still needs diapers at age five or six, yet he can obstinately count to fifty when asked what number comes after seven. He constantly sports a look of contempt for his mother, yet runs to Daddy smiling, and cheerfully asks how his day went. John C. Reilly’s goofy “hey, buddy!” character Franklin thinks, “Oh he’s just being a kid,” but Eva sees that there is in fact something very wrong with Kevin.

The movie weaves together a story through flashbacks to Eva’s past from her depressing, bleak, and terrifying present. Kevin has done something unspeakable, and in the end we find out just how rotten he is. What went wrong? Was it nature, or nurture? Maybe it was both. Tilda does an exceptional performance as a woman who was once happy, but ends up living every parent’s nightmare, and Ezra Miller hits the menace and madness right on the spot. A really weird movie, and one I won't be seeing again.