Our resident "know-it-all" film critic, Walter Ego, returns to review the movie, Angels and Demons starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, and Stellan Skarsgård. Directed by Ron Howard.
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The Proposition is a western starring Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Emily Watson. Directed by John Hillcoat.
After seeing how fitting the Australian Outback was as a setting for a Western, I am surprised it hasn’t been used more often. Desolate, threatening, untamed, yet beautiful, the Outback works just as well as John Ford’s beloved Monument Valley or Sergio Leone’s fearsome Spain.
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I am an unapologetic fan of horror films (and sometimes the sleazier the better), yet I admit they are way too often predictable, no matter the subgenre. Jennifer’s Body had a chance to be unique. Not only did it star “babe of the month” Megan Fox, it was produced and written by Diablo Cody, fresh off her Oscar winning work for Juno. Thus, I was hoping the film would deliver the scares, yet be sexy and feature a feminist perspective on the proceedings (something rarely found in horror). Sorry, but Jennifer’s Body simply doesn’t deliver.
The plot, in a small northwest town (which looked WAY too much like the setting for Twilight), bffs Needy (Amanda Seyfried), withdrawn and nerdy, and Jennifer (Megan Fox), head cheerleader and school babe, go to a seedy bar to hear a struggling alt-rock band named Low Shoulder. A fire decimates the club and, upon escaping, Needy is left behind while Jennifer is taken away in a van by the band. Turns out the band has decided to sacrifice a virgin to Satan in order to achieve fame (one of the better lines in the movie “You know how hard it is for an indie band to make it these days?’). Trouble is, Jennifer lied and is no virgin. The unintended consequence: instead of dying, her body is possessed by a demon that needs to feed on human flesh, preferably boys.
Big Fan is a black comedy starring Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan and Michael Rapoport. Directed by Robert Siegel.
I am a fan of college football, in particular the Auburn Tigers. In 2004, the team went undefeated, yet did not get a chance to play for the championship due to the college football selection system (known as the BCS; too complicated to go into here for non-college football fans). What hit me some time later: I lived vicariously through the Auburn Tigers to the point that I took my team’s snub personally. Even though I never played for the team, or even went to Auburn, I identified so strongly with them that their snub hurt and enraged me.
Paul (Patton Oswalt) lives by proxy through the NFL’s New York Giants, in particular star linebacker Quantrell Bishop. Without the Giants or “Q.B.” Paul is basically a nobody-he is chubby, in his mid 30’s, works the night shift as a parking garage attendant and still lives with his mother. There is no girlfriend in his life and perhaps one friend, Sal (Kevin Corrigan).
Oftentimes, the best way for a film (be it an action movie or not) to make its mark is to deliver a memorable fight scene. Trying to narrow down a Top 10 greatest movie fight scenes was much tougher than I thought. This list is wide-ranging, featuring hands (sometimes unattached), weapons and often uneven odds. However, all are amazing and memorable in their own unique way. I’m sure I left off some favorites, so please tell me what I missed.
10. Rocky Balboa vs. Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (Stallone, 1985)
Sure, this movie is shameless propaganda and its image of Iron Curtain Russia has dated badly. Ivan (“If he dies, he dies”) Drago is the quintessential evil Soviet athlete, a soulless machine made superhuman through the use of performance enhancing drugs (good thing American athletes would NEVER do something like that!). Still, the moment when American hero Rocky starts pummeling Drago is thrilling. I will never forget the packed theatre I saw this film in absolutely exploding during this fight.
Ink is a sci-fi thriller starring Chris Kelly, Quinn Hunchar, Jessica Duffy and Jeremy Make. Directed by Jamin Winans.
This film was a very pleasant surprise.
In most cases, trying to make an effective sci-fi film on a miniscule budget is like trying to make a gourmet meal with Armour hot dogs. However, Ink is a welcome exception, as Denver director Jamin Winans uses every cent to create a captivating sci-fi thriller that turns into an engaging allegory about loss and redemption.
Two separate worlds are presented in the same story: In the “real” world, John (Chris Kelly), a successful but clearly stressed and unhappy business executive, learns that his 8 year old daughter Emma (Quinn Hunchar, in a very good performance) is in a coma. John is a widower who, due to a drug problem, lost custody of Emma to his late wife’s parents. In the spirit world, we learn that there in an ongoing battle between forces of good (shown as young, attractive people who happen to be good at martial arts) and evil (eerie, distorted-faced creatures clad in black leather). These forces continually battle for our souls through our dreams.
Emma is captured in the spirit world by a deformed, ragged figure known as Ink. His aim is to turn over the soul of the child to the forces of evil in order to become one of them. The good forces follow in a desperate attempt to save the child, yet learn her only hope rests in the real world with John.
While searching for a new Top 5 topic, I stumbled upon an ingenious term coined by ESPN writer Bill Simmons: namely, the “spork” flick, which he defines as a term “to cover any chick flick that disguises itself as a sports movie, except enough is in there to make male AND female viewers happy.” To follow my list of the Top 5 spork flicks of all time. Feel free to offer me any I might have missed.
Rocky (1976)
A surprise? Not really, if you watch it again. What made the original Rocky great (and where the sequels went off the tracks, in my opinion) is that the original is just as much about Adrian ([Talia Shire]) as it is Rocky ([Sylvester Stallone]). While it is remembered for its still powerful training sequences and the final fight, it is a very sweet and moving romance at its core. Just as Rocky is trying to prove to the world and to himself that he is not a loser, so is she. She slowly emerges from her shyness and from under the thumb of her brother Paulie ([Burt Young]) in order to find a new life with Rocky. The shameless but wonderful ending, in which he yells her name as she runs to the ring, is still guaranteed to get the tear ducts flowing. In the final shot, you realize they both have won.
The Hangover is a comedy starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifanakis and Justin Bartha. Directed by Todd Phillips.
The Hangover is a raunchy “guy” movie in the tradition of Animal House and the Judd Apatow assembly line, yet it does not simply throw raunchy jokes at the screen to see what sticks. Instead, it sets up an intriguing premise beautifully, establishes funny characters we come to care about and smoothly transitions from one bizarre but funny scene to another as the protagonists try to uncover just what the hell happened one night in Vegas.
The premise: a bride is called on her wedding day. Bad news: the best man calls from many miles away, in the middle of the desert, to inform her that the groom is missing. He has a bloody lip and three figures are sitting on a car behind him.
Oral Fixation Label: Lifesize Entertainment
Genre: Horror
Synopsis:Rachel Marks is obsessed with her dentist. When he refuses to keep treating her, her fragile psyche cracks and she sets out to make herself part of his life by any means neccessary.
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DVD Review: The PropositionThe Proposition is a western starring Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Emily Watson....
DVD Review: Jennifer's BodyShoot, I was hoping I’d like this one.
I am an unapologetic fan of horror films (and sometimes...
DVD review: Big FanBig Fan is a black comedy starring Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan and Michael Rapoport. Directed by...
DVD REVIEW: INKInk is a sci-fi thriller starring Chris Kelly, Quinn Hunchar, Jessica Duffy and Jeremy Make....
DVD Review: The HangoverThe Hangover is a comedy starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifanakis and Justin Bartha....
DVD Review: Man on a WireMan on Wire is a documentary by James Marsh.
It seems that, for many people, the moments when...
The Proposition is a western starring Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Emily Watson. Directed by John Hillcoat. 
Shoot, I was hoping I’d like this one. 
Big Fan is a black comedy starring Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan and Michael Rapoport. Directed by Robert Siegel. 
Ink is a sci-fi thriller starring Chris Kelly, Quinn Hunchar, Jessica Duffy and Jeremy Make. Directed by Jamin Winans.
The Hangover is a comedy starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifanakis and Justin Bartha. Directed by Todd Phillips. 
Oral Fixation
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Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf star in Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street' sequel for Fox.