Movie Night- Lights Out

7/25/2016

Lights Out

A few months ago while watching YouTube videos an advertisement for an upcoming horror film came on. While watching this trailer I had a feeling I'd seen this before and then the title of the film came on and I realized it was based on a short film I'd seen on YouTube a few years ago. I thought that it was really awesome that someones short film that was uploaded to the internet garnered enough attention to be able to make a full length feature. I thought the short film was fairly well-made and did stick with me for a while. I have to say though, this might be one of the most forgettable films I've seen all year.

First let's start out with some of the positives because there are a few. The concept of how this ghost works is kinda creative and does produce a couple of awesome horror moments. The performances in the movie were all very serviceable as well; not great or terrible but very moderate. The film, while short, also had good pacing to it. It never dragged and the film never really lost focus. The last thing I want to mention is the ending was actually surprising. I was not blown away by the end but I did respect the guts it had to go there. 

Now let's discuss the flaws this film had that really pulled me out of the experience. The concept of the ghost, while imaginative and cool, was wasted numerous times in the movie. Instead of using it correctly and delivering genuine scares it opts out and chooses to be very generic horror.  Also some of the logic and the rules of the ghost were unclear as well. It seemed the script really bended some of the rules a lot to further the story. The characters were also very bland as well and you never really felt attached to any of them. The screenplay really limited the audiences ability to care about anyone and due to this, the ending didn't carry as much weight as it could have.

By far my biggest flaws with the film were how predictable and generic it was. It was very frustrating to watch at times because the film had so much potential to be way more terrifying than it turned out. The concept of this film was so cool and the way the ghost worked could've made for a much more gratifying experience. There were times when the movie set up a scare that might have been much more effective but it chose to cheapen the film by just going for standard boring jump scare that did not scare me at all. Even some of the sound design in the movie was very well done but it was in service of such a mediocre movie. 

While I do respect this film for some of it's elements, I ultimately left the theater very disappointed. I also understand that this is this directors first feature, but his short films are crafted pretty well that I wonder were the talent went for this movie. It's a horror film that had potential but never scared me once and is honestly quite forgettable. 

4/10

Movie Night- Aliens

7/18/2016

Aliens

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies.

So this is a fairly strange coincidence I found myself in last night. After I got home from work I told my mom I was in the mood to watch Aliens. We watched it and then I looked up the film on IMDb to see when the film came out. Turns out the film came out exactly 30 years later to the day today. So I figured it's been a while since I last wrote a retro review and what better time to talk about one of the best sequels of all time. 

In case you're one of the poor souls who hasn't seen this movie, it is a sequel to the amazing Ridley Scott film Alien. While watching this film again last night, I was in awe of how well it still holds up. This film came out 30 years ago and it's paced, shot, and executed with much more skill than most action films out today. I cannot stress this enough, this films sets, costuming, and creature design were all incredible. Granted a lot of that is due to H.R. Giger's masterful work on the first film, but it does a lot of great things on it's own as a sequel. 

If you have never seen Alien before it is a science-fiction horror film with great characters and amazing atmosphere. It is very slow paced and builds tension at a more steady rate. So James Cameron directing a sequel to that film and it being and action film could've turned out horribly. Aliens could've been a schlocky revisiting of this world with amazing story potential. The thing that elevates this film however is actors who really invest into their characters, and a writer/director who respects the material and genuinely knows what he is doing. James Cameron shows how well he can build tension here, and not in the same style as Alien did. Putting his characters in situations that increasingly put them at more and more of a disadvantage. Using music only when necessary and leaving silence at the right moments. The practical effects and incredible action sequences are so well-helmed that it still blows my mind that this film was released 30 years ago.

As I previously mentioned the cast all do some of their best if not their best work in Aliens. Bill Paxton is perfect as the whiny Marine Hudson, delivering the humor of the movie but never feeling like a cartoon. Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn also do very good work in the film as Hicks and Newt. But the film completely belongs to Sigourney Weaver who during this film became in my opinion one of the most bad ass characters in film history. She is an amazing female lead who goes from random commercial flight officer to the fiercest character in a film of soldiers. 

While I do love the film, there are flaws. The films story follows a bit too closely to the original, especially in the third act. It would be fine if it did different things t the end, but it was way too similar. Also, while I admire the films slower pacing in the beginning, it does take a while for the real story to start. There are also a couple of things that bothered me that were missing from the story in the theatrical version, but they're cleared up in the director's cut. So if you have the opportunity to watch the director's cut, watch that one. 

Overall, this is not only one of my favorite action movies of all time, it's one of my favorite films of all time. While I personally do prefer the first Alien when comparing the two, I give this film a massive amount of respect for what it accomplished. The film holds up very well and if you have never seen it before I highly recommend you watch this one. 

9/10

Movie Night- Ghostbusters (2016)

7/16/2016

Ghostbusters (2016)

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

Where do I even begin with a review like this? The most disliked movie trailer in YouTube history and a reboot of one of my favorite comedies ever made. While I try to go into every movie as objective as possible, there is an obvious amount of subjectivity when going in to see this film. Is it the worst film ever? No. Is it a comedy that is worthy of the Ghostbusters name? Not really. I have to state right now that I didn't hate this film and it's not the worst film ever. People who state that this film is the worst ever haven't seen many bad films. I wouldn't necessarily say I even liked this film, I feel fairly indifferent about Ghostbusters.

Let's talk about some of the things that worked or I respected about the film. The cast, while starting out sort of choppy, had fairly good chemistry with one another. You can feel the cast and crew having a genuine fun time filming. While I wasn't a fan of the ghosts appearance, I did respect their efforts to make them look different from the original films ghosts. While I wasn't a huge fan of the film, I do have some respect for what they tried to do. 

Now, let's talk about some of the negatives with this movie, and I'll try to remain as fair as possible. So many of the jokes for me did not land, and some of the jokes were pretty cringe-worthy to me. While I recognize that humor is fairly subjective, this review is my opinion. The original film had very dry humor and was delivered by some of the best comedic performers of the time. Another thing that seriously bothered me is some of the forced cameos and references to the original film. While I won't spoil them in this review, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you see the film. I found myself rolling my eyes at a few points at how unnatural it felt. Some of the performances also fell very flat as well, particularly that of Chris Hemsworth. Whether it was his performance or the writing of his character, he felt so outlandish that the suspension of disbelief went right out the window. I did mention earlier that the ghosts look was very courageous but it looked really, really ridiculous. And the third act of this film was just very over the top. While visually impressive, it felt hallow and lacked any dramatic tension. I wasn't emotionally invested in the third act at all and that was due to the lack of tension. 

While I wanted to go into more specifics about what bothered me, I want to keep my reviews spoiler free. This film didn't work for me all that well but I can see the appeal this film had. I don't even want to say this film is bad because I don't see it as a bad film. The budget and the respect was present but the executed film was not to my liking. I recommend you check out the film yourself and judge it on it's merits. I don't see the point of remaking this film in the first place. The point of a reboot is to make a better film than the original and they didn't come close.

4/10

Movie Night- Anomalisa

7/9/2016

Anomalisa 

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

Anomalisa is a film I heard a lot of things about last year but never had the opportunity to see. By the time 2016 rolled around the film slipped my mind and I sort of forgot about it until I saw the Blu-Ray at Best Buy and knew I had to finally check it out. The film is written by arguably the best screenwriter working today; Charlie Kaufman. His films are very complexly written and I wanted to write my review after I had seen it twice rather than just after one viewing. I watched the film about two weeks ago and today I finally re-watched it. 

First thing I have to say is this film is brilliant, sincerely brilliant. After my first viewing I noticed I had seen something very special but after my second watch I picked up a lot more subtext and subtleties that make me want to watch it a third time and many more subsequent times. It wasn't to my surprise how brilliant this films screenplay was because it was written by Kaufman who's works include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, and Synecdoche, New York. His films are all genuine masterpieces and this one absolutely lived up to the hype. 

As the IMDb description reads; A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary. That's all I really want to say about the plot because while the film isn't necessarily spoil-able, it is better going in not knowing too much. Some of the choices made in the story are very unique and will make for a better experience if you go in as blind as I did. 

The film is created using stop-motion animation and boy did the visuals blow me away. The cinematography here is excellent and you can really feel the films care for this genre. Long takes with stop motion would takes months to create and the slightest mis-step could've taken even longer to fix. Although CG animation is very beautiful and does take a lot of hard work, seeing a movie created in this fashion is very refreshing. The voice acting is also striking as well. David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh both do remarkable jobs in the film and make their characters feel so real you at times forget it's only a puppet on screen. Duke Johnson was brought in to co-direct due to his experience in stop-motion animation. Johnson and Kaufman direct this film with precision that is genuinely Oscar worthy which is amazing since this is Johnson's first full length feature film. 

Not to sound like a broken record, but the main thing that makes me love this film so much is the screenplay. The script of this film and really the film itself manages to convey a lot of authentic character emotion as well as make statements about humanity itself. Many critics have stated that this is one of the most human movies ever made and I cannot agree more. The substance in the screenplay leaves me in awe as I sit here thinking about it's contents. It has so much to say about love, relationships, actual connections with people, and the overall human experience. Anomalisa manages to hit all these notes while still feeling very cohesive and straight-forward enough to keep a general audience on board. While this isn't his most outlandish film, it is still a bit strange at first. 

This has been occupying my thoughts for weeks now and after my second viewing it created more thoughts that will stick with me for even longer. Anomalisa is so breath-taking while also remaining quite subtle, thanks to it's figurative and sub-textual storytelling. Had I seen this last year, it would've easily made my number one spot on my top ten list. This film is a masterpiece and you should seek it out as soon as possible. 

10/10

Movie Night- The Neon Demon

6/24/2016

The Neon Demon 

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

Going into this movie I knew only three things; It was booed at Cannes, it has a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Needless to say, I was very excited while walking into the theater. Drive is one of my favorite films of all time and I also really liked Bronson. When Only God Forgives came out, people seemed to resent it while I thoroughly enjoyed. It's not by any means flawless, but it's very misunderstood and in my opinion overly hated. It's seems that once again, I possess the same un-popular opinion with The Neon Demon because I really liked this movie. 

The Neon Demon stars Elle Fanning as a girl named Jesse, who is trying to make it in Los Angeles as a model. She instantly rises to the tops and the competition feels very threatened by her. I have to stress this now like I do frequently in my reviews but this is absolutely not a film for everyone. Without getting into spoilers I have to say that this film goes places a standard audience wouldn't like in my opinion. Thats one thing I loved about the movie is the guts it has to go there. Nicolas Winding Refn makes films he wants to make. He doesn't cater to standard expectations as a film-maker and I admire him for that. I was also in a theater where the audience completely ate it up and also seemed to like it as well.  

This film boasts the most dazzling cinematography I've seen all year. The shots and general lighting in this film are masterful and deserve Oscar recognition. Another plus to the film is the exceptional soundtrack. I loved the score so much, first thing I did when I got home was searched for it on iTunes. The acting in the film is also really well handled. Elle Fanning and Abbey Lee both do exceptional work. While they're never performances that demand your attention through flashy caricatures, they instead subtly entice you through their genuine talent. But by far the best actress of the film is Jena Malone who steals every scene her character occupies. Another thing I want to discuss which is a major positive for me while it can be a negative for others is Nicolas Winding Refn's direction. While this is mostly a style over substance movie, I love his style and it's what made me love him as a director in the first place. His style is so unique that it's hard not to become transfixed on every shot and scene he directs. While I hate comparing directors in reviews, the third act of this film felt very much like a David Lynch movie, and it was damn awesome. 

I have a few issues with the film, one of them being the ending. Not the actual ending itself but the pacing of the third act felt a little bit unfocused. It could've been stream-lined much better to make for a more powerful ending. I also wish some other characters had more to do and other sub-plots had more of a conclusion. One character in particular had been completely forgotten in the last half hour and I wish there would've been some conclusion to where that part was going.

Overall, The Neon Demon is a polarizing movie that some will love and some will hate, I happen to be a part of the former. This movie is still lingering in my brain and I really desire to see it again as soon as possible. It is definitely a film that needs to be watched a few times to comprehend some of it's metaphorical elements. It is visually brilliant, contains one of the best soundtracks all year, and has great staying power though excessive yet mature depravity.

8/10

Movie Night- Finding Dory

6/20/2016

Finding Dory 

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

For those of you who are un-aware, I consider myself a fairly big Pixar fan. I don't love all of their works but they have made not only some of the best animated films of all time, they've also made some of the best films of all time in general. I don't let nostalgia glasses get to me too much, but of their films that I love, I love dearly. Finding Nemo was one of the films that I loved, especially as a kid. When I re-watched it as an adult I seemed to have appreciated some of it's moments a little more. It at times was very emotional, but not overly emotional. The best Pixar films have the perfect balance of fun and excitement, while also delivering emotional moments where it's hard not to cry. Unfortunately in my opinion, Finding Dory doesn't leave what I think will be a lasting impression. I did very much like the film and it is without a doubt an enjoyable story, but it feels almost mediocre in the crowd of Pixar films. 

The story of Finding Dory is a simple premise; Dory starts to remember her past as well as her parents. She then barks on an adventure to find her parents to reconnect with them. I have no problem with the plot of the movie, in fact it could be a very involving story if handled right. The film never feels as if it's taking risks or trying to tell a interesting story however. It feels like it was playing it very safe which makes it suffer a bit in my opinion. The film also felt very short as well, clocking in at only one hour and forty-five minutes. It only needed an extra fifteen to twenty minutes to help flesh out other characters or help the story flow better. While there are emotional moments in the film, the rushed run time doesn't make you feel very invested in the story too much. Everything in the movie feels like it was hurried and never fully reaches it's intended emotional impact. While I wish to get into specifics, I don't want to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it yet. 

On a positive note, the voice cast was great being led by Ellen DeGeneres once again nailing it as Dory. Her character absolutely has the caliber to carry her own film even though I thought the execution of the story was not as great. The rest of the voice cast also does an incredible job from Albert Brooks, Ty Burrell and Ed O'Neill who's character I wanted to know more about. The animation is of course beautiful and ground-breaking like all of Pixar's other work. I also thought the film had some very funny moments. While it was never side-splitting funny, I did find myself chuckling a lot throughout the film. 

Overall I did like Finding Dory, but it never made me fall in love with it. Just because I say I didn't love the film doesn't mean it's a bad picture, because it's definitely not bad. Not even close. I think majority of the problems I have with the film is in the screenplay and a few directorial choices. While it's not necessarily a film that will make my top ten of the year, you should definitely check it out for yourself.  

7/10

Movie Night- Love & Friendship

6/13/2016

Love & Friendship

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

I have to eat some crow here, I was completely wrong in my judgment of this movie. I thought that based on the trailer that this film was your standard Jane Austen adaptation. I don't dislike Jane Austen's writing but they have just never been stories I liked very much. I thought this film was going to be mediocre and forgettable. But as I walked out of the theater, I realized how wrong my judgments were. This movie was flat-out great.

This film genuinely surprised my with how much I enjoyed it. The story follows a recently widowed Lady Vernon, played excellently by Kate Beckinsale, as she tries to find a new suitor for herself. While it's not a story that can be spoiled necessarily, I don't like getting too far into details. The entire cast completely nailed their roles. Kate Beckinsale has never wowed me since the work I've seen from her is usually very mundane, but she is superb in this movie. Her screen presence is incredible and she delivers her lines with the perfect amount of charisma needed for the part. All the other cast is very good as well, but none stand out as much as Tom Bennett. He was the most enjoyable part from the film and left me in tears I laughed so hard. While this film focuses on Beckinsale and she does an amazing job, Tom Bennett absolutely steals every scene he's in. His comedic timing and delivery is genuinely masterful. 

The cinematography is very plain in the film, but it works because that's not what the film is going for. It completely stands on the strength of the directing and the screenplay. While I've never seen work from director Whit Stillman prior to this, he directs his actors and actresses very well in this film and has a great hold on the film. His adaptation of the Jane Austen story is where his talents are mostly present though boasting an Oscar-worthy screenplay. The film constantly feels fresh and never has a dull moment. If I had but one complaint is that the film wraps up very abruptly, leaving me desiring more. 

Love & Friendship is the biggest surprise of the year so far, as it blew me away with it's presentation. This film made me laugh harder than any movie has in years and it was a very fun film to watch. Although I wish the film was a bit longer, the run-time is very accessible and contributes to the films fantastic pacing. 

8/10