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Hello, my name is Andrew Jara. I am trying to be a writer/director. I made a film named "Last Days" that i'm trying to bring some press to.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

movieisaw: Plot: A private detective takes a job from the mayor that may not be what it appears to be.    Review: So this is day one of movies that were boring trilogy that started in Fun Size. I didn’t know that I was starting this trilogy but it was handed to me. Okay so this film is more about how the characters are bad. All the characters are one note, generic and uninteresting but the movies needs them to be all of those things. The theme is about motivations, right and wrong, politics and the justice system. The problem is you can’t really explore these themes with one note characters. In fact, it undermines everything you are trying to do and say if there is a clear cut case of right and wrong. Allen Hughes has never really been the best with pacing and this movie moves at a snail’s pace. It never works, they throw in plot lines that literally disappear and leaves you wanting something more.  Trivia: This was Allen Hugh’s first movie with his brother. Even more interesting, Tupac Shakur got in a fight with the Hughes Brothers, bragged about it on Yo MTV Raps and was arrested. RIP PAC! 

movieisaw:

Plot: A private detective takes a job from the mayor that may not be what it appears to be.   

Review: So this is day one of movies that were boring trilogy that started in Fun Size. I didn’t know that I was starting this trilogy but it was handed to me. Okay so this film is more about how the characters are bad. All the characters are one note, generic and uninteresting but the movies needs them to be all of those things. The theme is about motivations, right and wrong, politics and the justice system. The problem is you can’t really explore these themes with one note characters. In fact, it undermines everything you are trying to do and say if there is a clear cut case of right and wrong. Allen Hughes has never really been the best with pacing and this movie moves at a snail’s pace. It never works, they throw in plot lines that literally disappear and leaves you wanting something more. 

Trivia: This was Allen Hugh’s first movie with his brother. Even more interesting, Tupac Shakur got in a fight with the Hughes Brothers, bragged about it on Yo MTV Raps and was arrested. RIP PAC! 

movieisaw: Plot: A young man gets to know Marilyn Monroe when he works on one of her movies in England.  Review: This movie was harmless is the only thing good I can say about it. I have never really understood the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. I mean I understand the appeal at the time but now what is our obsession with her so strong while other like Vivian Leigh gone away?  So I was looking forward to this film to maybe show us why we were obsessed and then maybe show us what she was really like. Instead I learned nothing new and I barely knew anything to begin with. The movie portrays her as a kind of loopy  ditz that means well and does maybe too many drugs. But we knew that? We have the actors in the film tell us about how great and special she is but we never really see it other than her naked body. We never get any of the charm or spell that she was supposed to have and the director thinks it’s okay if he just have extras scream her name to show us how amazing she is. I don’t blame Michelle Williams as she does a great job with what she is given and a lot of times you forget you are not watching Marilyn. I blame the writing. In fact, it wasn’t until the end that I realized that she hadn’t even made “Some Like it Hot” yet. Was she really famous before then because I thought that was her breakout role? The film expects you to know all about Monroe and her career but I was watching it to learn about those things so it just comes off as confusing. I actually felt the only interesting character was the Judi Dench role of aging film actress dame Sybil Thorndike. In fact, the cast is amazing with everyone from Toby Jones to Kenneth Branagh to Dominic Cooper. Also this is Emma Watson’s first role outside of the Harry Potter series and after this and Perks, I’m not sure the girl can act. She is beautiful (which makes it more confusing as she is more attractive than Marilyn Monroe) but she over-projects every line and emotion that it all feels false. Instead of acting like she is from the 50s, she is acting like the actors acted in the 50s and I really hope she gets better at acting as she does has charm and grace.  Overall this isn’t so much a movie as it is a love letter to fans and the people in it. Which is fine I guess but maybe a bit of a risk, a bit of a chance to make the film compelling for everyone?  I was supposed to spend a Week with Marilyn but it all felt so fleeting.  Trivia:  Because of scheduling problems, Judi Dench and Michelle Williams were never in the same room despite having all their scenes together. 

movieisaw:

Plot: A young man gets to know Marilyn Monroe when he works on one of her movies in England. 

Review: This movie was harmless is the only thing good I can say about it. I have never really understood the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. I mean I understand the appeal at the time but now what is our obsession with her so strong while other like Vivian Leigh gone away?  So I was looking forward to this film to maybe show us why we were obsessed and then maybe show us what she was really like. Instead I learned nothing new and I barely knew anything to begin with. The movie portrays her as a kind of loopy  ditz that means well and does maybe too many drugs. But we knew that? We have the actors in the film tell us about how great and special she is but we never really see it other than her naked body. We never get any of the charm or spell that she was supposed to have and the director thinks it’s okay if he just have extras scream her name to show us how amazing she is. I don’t blame Michelle Williams as she does a great job with what she is given and a lot of times you forget you are not watching Marilyn. I blame the writing. In fact, it wasn’t until the end that I realized that she hadn’t even made “Some Like it Hot” yet. Was she really famous before then because I thought that was her breakout role? The film expects you to know all about Monroe and her career but I was watching it to learn about those things so it just comes off as confusing. I actually felt the only interesting character was the Judi Dench role of aging film actress dame Sybil Thorndike. In fact, the cast is amazing with everyone from Toby Jones to Kenneth Branagh to Dominic Cooper. Also this is Emma Watson’s first role outside of the Harry Potter series and after this and Perks, I’m not sure the girl can act. She is beautiful (which makes it more confusing as she is more attractive than Marilyn Monroe) but she over-projects every line and emotion that it all feels false. Instead of acting like she is from the 50s, she is acting like the actors acted in the 50s and I really hope she gets better at acting as she does has charm and grace. 

Overall this isn’t so much a movie as it is a love letter to fans and the people in it. Which is fine I guess but maybe a bit of a risk, a bit of a chance to make the film compelling for everyone?  I was supposed to spend a Week with Marilyn but it all felt so fleeting. 

Trivia:  Because of scheduling problems, Judi Dench and Michelle Williams were never in the same room despite having all their scenes together. 

movieisaw: Plot: A Bank Robber, a Cop and their children echo in each other’s lives.   Review: Okay so the best way to review this movie is to tell you what it’s really about.  It’s not one film, it’s actually three short films that are vaguely connected. SPOILERS In the first story, Ryan Gosling plays a daredevil who quits to take care of the baby he never knew he had but is forced to rob banks to get the money.  The second story is about Bradley Cooper as the cop that killed Gosling but then must face a corrupt system. In the final story, the children of Gosling and Cooper meet and the chaos that ensues.   I did not like this film but why? It’s hard to say because the acting, the camera work and all the technical aspects of it are amazing! It’s beautiful and there has been a lot of thought put into the characters, the framing and the look of the film. The problem is the story never raises to the occasion. The most interesting and original story is Gosling’s  and his is still very cliched. He wants to help his family but he doesn’t know how to be a good person. It’s an interesting way to look at this story and to explore but as the first act is never given room to breathe. Here is also where the action comics into gear and the tension is great. I could have seen a whole movie of this. But about 45 minutes in, Gosling is killed by Bradley Cooper ending all of the things that were building up.  This begins Bradley Cooper’s tale, with Gosling’s story and all the things that were set up only vaguely playing a part. Instead Cooper must deal with a bunch of corrupt cops in what may be a corrupt system. Ray Liotta turns up and gives one of his best performances in years. As a corrupt cop, he is both unpredictable and terrifying.  This too would have been a great movie, it would not have had the fast pace of the Gosling story but it would have been an interesting facet. In fact, if the film had been both of these stories, it would still be lacking but it could have been entertaining. The theme being “what men do when faced against an unforeseeable and maybe unwarranted future” or the fight against the destiny that they were both leading to while one succeeds and the other fails. But once again, we aren’t given enough time with Cooper as if the movie is rushing to get to the next segment. THEN the third story starts. In the third story, set 15 years later, Cooper’s son and Gosling’s son as they meet. The problem is the characterization for both sons.  Cooper’s son is now a wanna be thug that is into drugs and rap. Gosling’s son is also into drugs but seem to have more street smart. The problem being that we saw them at one year old and we didn’t see too much of them with their fathers, so we have no idea why they ended up so bad. Gosling doesn’t know who his dad is so he seems to have come from a very loving family.  Cooper has since become a politician so his son acting like a ganster with a heavy boston accent doesn’t work without some kind of knowledge of why. It also underhands everything we just saw. Both characters were fathers that were going through hell for their families and children. To have the children end up worse than imagined seems like a waste of time and a director who is not as clever as he wants to be. Their friendship too seems to be so coincidental and gets even worse after a rift that they keep coming back to each other. They don’t seem to like each other but still hang around a lot. This creates the problem of theme. If the theme was the fight against destiny that putting these two together by seemingly magical forces seems well.. forced. And if the theme is just “bad things happen because life” then it’s a lazy theme that is hammered into us so much by this film that it makes it eye rolling. Plus the last story just drags everything down with it as the characters now all act like they are in a soap opera contrasting the realism of the first two segments. I.e. Gosling is killed with very little action, he’s shot and dies. It’s ugly and quick as the film suggest there is no romanticism in death. Cooper likewise takes down the corrupt cops in a very realistic quiet moment, no shootouts, no monologues, just police works. Both scenes show that real life isn’t a movie and most big changes happen as quick and quiet as a blink of the eye. The third story has Gosling’s son taking Cooper out into the woods and making him get on his knees to kill him. It’s the exact opposite of what the film was fighting against doing in the two previous hours and melodramatic. As if the director decided “no real life should happen in big meaning full moments that stick with you.” That would be fine if that’s what we were seeing but the scene doesn’t fit into the movie that he was trying to make. Then the last seen, Gosling’s son just knows how to ride a motorcycle without even knowing how to drive a car, as if he inherited it. But it never works and sets it so much apart from the first half you would think it belonged in a Big Fish type of film.  I think the main problem with the film is that it wants to have an epic feeling in a grandiose movie but it never really earns the right to do so. It never works for the story instead the director seems to think the ambition equals greatness because don’t get me wrong this has great ambition all over it but it lacks purpose. There is a line in the film “if you ride like thunder, you are going to crash like lighting” and I feel that best describes the film. It doesn’t see the forest for the trees.  Trivia:  Derek Cianfrance, the director, says that he and Ryan Gosling came up with the exactly way of robbing banks at the same time without knowing the other was thinking it.  Short version: No.. Just no

movieisaw:

Plot: A Bank Robber, a Cop and their children echo in each other’s lives.  

Review: Okay so the best way to review this movie is to tell you what it’s really about.  It’s not one film, it’s actually three short films that are vaguely connected. SPOILERS In the first story, Ryan Gosling plays a daredevil who quits to take care of the baby he never knew he had but is forced to rob banks to get the money.  The second story is about Bradley Cooper as the cop that killed Gosling but then must face a corrupt system. In the final story, the children of Gosling and Cooper meet and the chaos that ensues.  

I did not like this film but why? It’s hard to say because the acting, the camera work and all the technical aspects of it are amazing! It’s beautiful and there has been a lot of thought put into the characters, the framing and the look of the film. The problem is the story never raises to the occasion. The most interesting and original story is Gosling’s  and his is still very cliched. He wants to help his family but he doesn’t know how to be a good person. It’s an interesting way to look at this story and to explore but as the first act is never given room to breathe. Here is also where the action comics into gear and the tension is great. I could have seen a whole movie of this. But about 45 minutes in, Gosling is killed by Bradley Cooper ending all of the things that were building up. 

This begins Bradley Cooper’s tale, with Gosling’s story and all the things that were set up only vaguely playing a part. Instead Cooper must deal with a bunch of corrupt cops in what may be a corrupt system. Ray Liotta turns up and gives one of his best performances in years. As a corrupt cop, he is both unpredictable and terrifying.  This too would have been a great movie, it would not have had the fast pace of the Gosling story but it would have been an interesting facet. In fact, if the film had been both of these stories, it would still be lacking but it could have been entertaining. The theme being “what men do when faced against an unforeseeable and maybe unwarranted future” or the fight against the destiny that they were both leading to while one succeeds and the other fails. But once again, we aren’t given enough time with Cooper as if the movie is rushing to get to the next segment.

THEN the third story starts. In the third story, set 15 years later, Cooper’s son and Gosling’s son as they meet. The problem is the characterization for both sons.  Cooper’s son is now a wanna be thug that is into drugs and rap. Gosling’s son is also into drugs but seem to have more street smart. The problem being that we saw them at one year old and we didn’t see too much of them with their fathers, so we have no idea why they ended up so bad. Gosling doesn’t know who his dad is so he seems to have come from a very loving family.  Cooper has since become a politician so his son acting like a ganster with a heavy boston accent doesn’t work without some kind of knowledge of why. It also underhands everything we just saw. Both characters were fathers that were going through hell for their families and children. To have the children end up worse than imagined seems like a waste of time and a director who is not as clever as he wants to be. Their friendship too seems to be so coincidental and gets even worse after a rift that they keep coming back to each other. They don’t seem to like each other but still hang around a lot. This creates the problem of theme. If the theme was the fight against destiny that putting these two together by seemingly magical forces seems well.. forced. And if the theme is just “bad things happen because life” then it’s a lazy theme that is hammered into us so much by this film that it makes it eye rolling. Plus the last story just drags everything down with it as the characters now all act like they are in a soap opera contrasting the realism of the first two segments. I.e. Gosling is killed with very little action, he’s shot and dies. It’s ugly and quick as the film suggest there is no romanticism in death. Cooper likewise takes down the corrupt cops in a very realistic quiet moment, no shootouts, no monologues, just police works. Both scenes show that real life isn’t a movie and most big changes happen as quick and quiet as a blink of the eye. The third story has Gosling’s son taking Cooper out into the woods and making him get on his knees to kill him. It’s the exact opposite of what the film was fighting against doing in the two previous hours and melodramatic. As if the director decided “no real life should happen in big meaning full moments that stick with you.” That would be fine if that’s what we were seeing but the scene doesn’t fit into the movie that he was trying to make. Then the last seen, Gosling’s son just knows how to ride a motorcycle without even knowing how to drive a car, as if he inherited it. But it never works and sets it so much apart from the first half you would think it belonged in a Big Fish type of film. 

I think the main problem with the film is that it wants to have an epic feeling in a grandiose movie but it never really earns the right to do so. It never works for the story instead the director seems to think the ambition equals greatness because don’t get me wrong this has great ambition all over it but it lacks purpose. There is a line in the film “if you ride like thunder, you are going to crash like lighting” and I feel that best describes the film. It doesn’t see the forest for the trees. 

Trivia:  Derek Cianfrance, the director, says that he and Ryan Gosling came up with the exactly way of robbing banks at the same time without knowing the other was thinking it. 

Short version: No.. Just no

movieisaw: Plot: A young man gets to know Marilyn Monroe when he works on one of her movies in England.  Review: This movie was harmless is the only thing good I can say about it. I have never really understood the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. I mean I understand the appeal at the time but now what is our obsession with her so strong while other like Vivian Leigh gone away?  So I was looking forward to this film to maybe show us why we were obsessed and then maybe show us what she was really like. Instead I learned nothing new and I barely knew anything to begin with. The movie portrays her as a kind of loopy  ditz that means well and does maybe too many drugs. But we knew that? We have the actors in the film tell us about how great and special she is but we never really see it other than her naked body. We never get any of the charm or spell that she was supposed to have and the director thinks it’s okay if he just have extras scream her name to show us how amazing she is. I don’t blame Michelle Williams as she does a great job with what she is given and a lot of times you forget you are not watching Marilyn. I blame the writing. In fact, it wasn’t until the end that I realized that she hadn’t even made “Some Like it Hot” yet. Was she really famous before then because I thought that was her breakout role? The film expects you to know all about Monroe and her career but I was watching it to learn about those things so it just comes off as confusing. I actually felt the only interesting character was the Judi Dench role of aging film actress dame Sybil Thorndike. In fact, the cast is amazing with everyone from Toby Jones to Kenneth Branagh to Dominic Cooper. Also this is Emma Watson’s first role outside of the Harry Potter series and after this and Perks, I’m not sure the girl can act. She is beautiful (which makes it more confusing as she is more attractive than Marilyn Monroe) but she over-projects every line and emotion that it all feels false. Instead of acting like she is from the 50s, she is acting like the actors acted in the 50s and I really hope she gets better at acting as she does has charm and grace.  Overall this isn’t so much a movie as it is a love letter to fans and the people in it. Which is fine I guess but maybe a bit of a risk, a bit of a chance to make the film compelling for everyone?  I was supposed to spend a Week with Marilyn but it all felt so fleeting.  Trivia:  Because of scheduling problems, Judi Dench and Michelle Williams were never in the same room despite having all their scenes together.  It was supposed to be a week but it felt like a lifetime! 

movieisaw:

Plot: A young man gets to know Marilyn Monroe when he works on one of her movies in England. 

Review: This movie was harmless is the only thing good I can say about it. I have never really understood the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. I mean I understand the appeal at the time but now what is our obsession with her so strong while other like Vivian Leigh gone away?  So I was looking forward to this film to maybe show us why we were obsessed and then maybe show us what she was really like. Instead I learned nothing new and I barely knew anything to begin with. The movie portrays her as a kind of loopy  ditz that means well and does maybe too many drugs. But we knew that? We have the actors in the film tell us about how great and special she is but we never really see it other than her naked body. We never get any of the charm or spell that she was supposed to have and the director thinks it’s okay if he just have extras scream her name to show us how amazing she is. I don’t blame Michelle Williams as she does a great job with what she is given and a lot of times you forget you are not watching Marilyn. I blame the writing. In fact, it wasn’t until the end that I realized that she hadn’t even made “Some Like it Hot” yet. Was she really famous before then because I thought that was her breakout role? The film expects you to know all about Monroe and her career but I was watching it to learn about those things so it just comes off as confusing. I actually felt the only interesting character was the Judi Dench role of aging film actress dame Sybil Thorndike. In fact, the cast is amazing with everyone from Toby Jones to Kenneth Branagh to Dominic Cooper. Also this is Emma Watson’s first role outside of the Harry Potter series and after this and Perks, I’m not sure the girl can act. She is beautiful (which makes it more confusing as she is more attractive than Marilyn Monroe) but she over-projects every line and emotion that it all feels false. Instead of acting like she is from the 50s, she is acting like the actors acted in the 50s and I really hope she gets better at acting as she does has charm and grace. 

Overall this isn’t so much a movie as it is a love letter to fans and the people in it. Which is fine I guess but maybe a bit of a risk, a bit of a chance to make the film compelling for everyone?  I was supposed to spend a Week with Marilyn but it all felt so fleeting. 

Trivia:  Because of scheduling problems, Judi Dench and Michelle Williams were never in the same room despite having all their scenes together. 

It was supposed to be a week but it felt like a lifetime! 

movieisaw: Plot: A group of retirees all travel to India for different reasons to live out their retirement in a hotel that is not what they thought it would be. Review: I applaud this film for just trying to make you feel good. This movie is trying to be a light smart good drama/comedy that is aimed at adults and it succeeds beyond expectations.  It’s smart and Judi Dench to show us why she has been around so long as she carries the film as the narrator. But we never really lose focus on the characters and each is individual enough that none of them feel like a space filler. Each are trying to find their place in life but they also have their own journey to get there.  Even Dev Patel, as the owner, parallels their journey as he tries to find his own place as part of a culture that is strict in not favoring individual or rebellious.  The acting is amazing but with the cast you shouldn’t have expected less. What I didn’t expect was to find myself so immersed in the story. Their are characters here that anyone can relate to and we have all felt lost and aimlessness. I say check this out as it really is for all ages.  Trivia: This film was so successful that a sequel has been commissioned. 

movieisaw:

Plot: A group of retirees all travel to India for different reasons to live out their retirement in a hotel that is not what they thought it would be.

Review: I applaud this film for just trying to make you feel good. This movie is trying to be a light smart good drama/comedy that is aimed at adults and it succeeds beyond expectations.  It’s smart and Judi Dench to show us why she has been around so long as she carries the film as the narrator. But we never really lose focus on the characters and each is individual enough that none of them feel like a space filler. Each are trying to find their place in life but they also have their own journey to get there.  Even Dev Patel, as the owner, parallels their journey as he tries to find his own place as part of a culture that is strict in not favoring individual or rebellious.  The acting is amazing but with the cast you shouldn’t have expected less. What I didn’t expect was to find myself so immersed in the story. Their are characters here that anyone can relate to and we have all felt lost and aimlessness. I say check this out as it really is for all ages. 

Trivia: This film was so successful that a sequel has been commissioned. 

Plot: A group of girls rob a store to get money for spring break but once they get there they get in some trouble which is when a criminal by the name of Alien bails them out of jail but not of trouble.  Review:  I think there are two different expectations for what this film will be.  The first is a fun, sexy, hangover type film starring beautiful Disney starlets. The second is some kind of film that has a message and is trying to get it across with it’s story.  I think both of these are wrong.  Let’s say this from the start, the film is quite addictive if you let yourself be hooked by it but also it is very hard to be hooked in this film. This is a Harmony Korine Film through and through and uses everything from time jumps, to framing changing, to repetition of dialogue to pointless scenes which makes it hard to enjoy. As a matter of fact even after I got into it, there were points where I was ready to give up on it and maybe that’s the point to take you to the brink.  But if it’s not the fun party time it’s advertised as, why isn’t it a satire or message film? Because I don’t think it’s trying to say anything.  The film isn’t realistic or silly enough to go one way or another and even though it hints at culture wars, the vapidness of this generation or the no consequence of party people it also never gives any kind of answers or raising any real questions. Korine is holding up a mirror but not to society, to Korine’s society and instead of going outward he goes inward for his themes and plot. This gives you a very intriguing look into Korine’s mind but also not much more. We aren’t see how teens today deal with crime or culture but instead how Korine thinks teens react to this.  And that’s okay, because that’s what he is trying to do.  So he succeeds in everything but meeting our expectations.  And I applaud him for it.  Although Korine is really the star of the film, James Franco as Alien turns in a classic performance and pulls out a character that I didn’t think he had the talent for.  It’s a 180 for him and he is amazing.  The girls range from very good (Selena Gomez) to dreadful (Vanessa Hudgens) but that may be in some small part to the improvisation and aimlessness of the script more than the actresses’ abilities.  But Gomez stands out and if she picks the right choices in the years to come is fated to be the next big thing. So I liked it. But if you are looking for a fun time or a look into a different side of American culture, you will have to keep searching.  Trivia: This is my review from Movie I Saw blog but I wanted to use another poster cause I mean.. Look at this poster! 

Plot: A group of girls rob a store to get money for spring break but once they get there they get in some trouble which is when a criminal by the name of Alien bails them out of jail but not of trouble. 

Review:  I think there are two different expectations for what this film will be.  The first is a fun, sexy, hangover type film starring beautiful Disney starlets. The second is some kind of film that has a message and is trying to get it across with it’s story.  I think both of these are wrong.  Let’s say this from the start, the film is quite addictive if you let yourself be hooked by it but also it is very hard to be hooked in this film. This is a Harmony Korine Film through and through and uses everything from time jumps, to framing changing, to repetition of dialogue to pointless scenes which makes it hard to enjoy. As a matter of fact even after I got into it, there were points where I was ready to give up on it and maybe that’s the point to take you to the brink.  But if it’s not the fun party time it’s advertised as, why isn’t it a satire or message film? Because I don’t think it’s trying to say anything.  The film isn’t realistic or silly enough to go one way or another and even though it hints at culture wars, the vapidness of this generation or the no consequence of party people it also never gives any kind of answers or raising any real questions. Korine is holding up a mirror but not to society, to Korine’s society and instead of going outward he goes inward for his themes and plot. This gives you a very intriguing look into Korine’s mind but also not much more. We aren’t see how teens today deal with crime or culture but instead how Korine thinks teens react to this.  And that’s okay, because that’s what he is trying to do.  So he succeeds in everything but meeting our expectations.  And I applaud him for it.  Although Korine is really the star of the film, James Franco as Alien turns in a classic performance and pulls out a character that I didn’t think he had the talent for.  It’s a 180 for him and he is amazing.  The girls range from very good (Selena Gomez) to dreadful (Vanessa Hudgens) but that may be in some small part to the improvisation and aimlessness of the script more than the actresses’ abilities.  But Gomez stands out and if she picks the right choices in the years to come is fated to be the next big thing. So I liked it. But if you are looking for a fun time or a look into a different side of American culture, you will have to keep searching. 

Trivia: This is my review from Movie I Saw blog but I wanted to use another poster cause I mean.. Look at this poster! 

movieisaw: Plot: Two New York neighbors collide on their own quests for revenge.  Review:  This type of movie is becoming more and more rare, but also I’m finding myself drawn to it more and more.   It’s a simple, smart, tight action-drama. It doesn’t have much twists but what it does it does very well. It is exciting the whole way and you actually care about the characters by the end because it takes the time to let you know the characters and their motivations.  Also this movie does motivation very well! Other than faster, I haven’t seen such smart, different roads that both the leads have as these do.  Noomi Rapace does a great job and I’m starting to believe the hype. She is both beautiful and damage. The whole cast is great and Terrance Howard and Dominic Cooper especially turn in great performances.  But this is Colin Farrell’s film and he commands it. He does the quiet hard man better than any one else and he shines in this film. I say see it and help support well done film.  Trivia: This is director Niels Arden Oplev’s, the director of the original swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, first english film.  Dead Man Down… Check it out! 

movieisaw:

Plot: Two New York neighbors collide on their own quests for revenge. 

Review:  This type of movie is becoming more and more rare, but also I’m finding myself drawn to it more and more.   It’s a simple, smart, tight action-drama. It doesn’t have much twists but what it does it does very well. It is exciting the whole way and you actually care about the characters by the end because it takes the time to let you know the characters and their motivations.  Also this movie does motivation very well! Other than faster, I haven’t seen such smart, different roads that both the leads have as these do.  Noomi Rapace does a great job and I’m starting to believe the hype. She is both beautiful and damage. The whole cast is great and Terrance Howard and Dominic Cooper especially turn in great performances.  But this is Colin Farrell’s film and he commands it. He does the quiet hard man better than any one else and he shines in this film. I say see it and help support well done film. 

Trivia: This is director Niels Arden Oplev’s, the director of the original swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, first english film. 

Dead Man Down… Check it out! 

movieisaw: Plot: A group of reports find an classified ad in the paper, talking about time travel, and decide to investigate.  Based on a real life story that turned into an internet meme Review:  Safety Not Guaranteed is a weird movie to review. On one hand, I found it perfectly enjoyable if not forgettable.  On the other hand, I really wanted to like this film and ended being pretty much indifferent about it.  Basically the story is that Audrey Plaza starts to follow this guy who left the ad, played by Mark Duplass, and slowly starts to fall in love with him. At the same time, Jake Johnson, the other reporter is trying to reconnect with a lost love. It’s irrelevant to the main plot and doesn’t really matter other than the theme being you can’t change things in the past, even though the end of the film completely disregards that theme. Mark Duplass does a good job as this man out of time but the more we uncover about him the more unsettled we find out he is.  But again, this is dropped by the end. Audrey Plaza continues her descent into the Michael Cera curse of refusing to change anything about the character she plays until we become sick of it. I find myself already starting to dislike her, can she do something else just ONE time? Please, I used to love her but found her terrible in this. And again, the theme of the film seems to be you can’t live in the past and you have to move on to really grow and live. The only problem is the end of the movie does something that makes all that null and it pretty much ruins the film.  So the more I think about it the more I didn’t like it but overall the film is alright but not really worth anything.  Trivia: The real life story was that the editor of the paper just had to fill in space for that month’s magazine so he wrote it himself. 

movieisaw:

Plot: A group of reports find an classified ad in the paper, talking about time travel, and decide to investigate.  Based on a real life story that turned into an internet meme

Review:  Safety Not Guaranteed is a weird movie to review. On one hand, I found it perfectly enjoyable if not forgettable.  On the other hand, I really wanted to like this film and ended being pretty much indifferent about it.  Basically the story is that Audrey Plaza starts to follow this guy who left the ad, played by Mark Duplass, and slowly starts to fall in love with him. At the same time, Jake Johnson, the other reporter is trying to reconnect with a lost love. It’s irrelevant to the main plot and doesn’t really matter other than the theme being you can’t change things in the past, even though the end of the film completely disregards that theme. Mark Duplass does a good job as this man out of time but the more we uncover about him the more unsettled we find out he is.  But again, this is dropped by the end. Audrey Plaza continues her descent into the Michael Cera curse of refusing to change anything about the character she plays until we become sick of it. I find myself already starting to dislike her, can she do something else just ONE time? Please, I used to love her but found her terrible in this. And again, the theme of the film seems to be you can’t live in the past and you have to move on to really grow and live. The only problem is the end of the movie does something that makes all that null and it pretty much ruins the film.  So the more I think about it the more I didn’t like it but overall the film is alright but not really worth anything. 

Trivia: The real life story was that the editor of the paper just had to fill in space for that month’s magazine so he wrote it himself. 

movieisaw: Plot:. A group of friends meet up for their ten year high school reunion. Cliches endure.     Review: So I really thought that with about two weeks left Man with the Iron Fists was going to go down as the worst movie of the year. But damn, if Ten Years didn’t come in to show me how bad, bad can be. There is just nothing good about this film so let’s dig right in. I am going to talk about each individual story and then we’ll look at the overall film. The main story is about Channing Tatum and Rosario Dawson, old flames with a bad history, as they try to overcome that now that they are in separate happy relationships. This story comes off as really boring since once it really starts you know where it is going (although most of the film feels like that.) Tatum tries to do what he can but his character has nothing and most of his characterization comes from what others say about them. Even if it is the main story it is also the most boring and has a sappy nonsense ending. Second story is about Justin Long and Max Minghella, two nerds that became cool. Max is married and Long is a playboy now, but are both trying to get Lilly Collins into bed as she was the party girl. This story is one of the main problems with the film, Max Minghella comes off as unlikable. As Justin Long tries to hit on Collins, Minghella keeps getting in the way. At first it seems that he is still awkward but you soon realize that he is also trying to flirt with her. Even though he is married, at every chance he makes a pass at her and it feels very uncomfortable especially since both treat her like nothing more than a conquest. By the end, we find out that he is in the midst of a divorce but that doesn’t really excuse his behavior and I wonder why the reveal was withheld. If we had known he was acting out because of his depression maybe we would have felt sympathetic but as it is we just hate him so when the reveal does come out we don’t care. Their whole story is to examine the lies that we show to others as none of them are as cool as they portrayed. Collins is a stay-at-home mom, Long lives in a tiny apartment just to stay in New York, and Minghella is going through the divorce. It works in the most shallow way but the male characters come off as such jerks that you can’t relate to them. The next story is about Chris Pratt, the high school bully, as he tries to make amends with the people he tortured, while getting as drunk as possible much to the dismay of his wife, Ari Graynor. This is the best story, only because it takes into account the reunion. Every other story is about a close group of friends meeting again and it could have been anywhere. But the bully trying to apologize to the nerds could only happen at the reunion as why else would they hang out.  It also has a character with flaws unlike the rest of them who are perfect. The problem is Pratt comes off as so unlikeable and so annoying that his act gets very tired, very fast. For every apology he dishes out, there are 3 scenes of him embarrassing his wife or being an ass. It gets old and by the end, he doesn’t change. The film seemed to be going towards acceptance that he is just a dick and can’t help it but by the end there is just nothing and we are meant to take away that he tried. Which is fine if he had been fighting the apologies the whole time, but he embraced him. So there is no change or at least no revelation. There relationship ends the way it began and it is not satisfying. The last and most annoying story is about Jason Isaac and kate Mara. Isaac plays a famous singer who tries to win over the heart of the shy girl.  The main problem is Isaacs who the whole movie hates the fact that he is rich and famous and it is DREADFUL. The whole time he wants us to feel bad for how rich he is, how many people love his song, how famous he is BUT THEN, but then when given the chance to sing his song, he jumps at it or when Mara states she never heard it is disappointed. He can either be mad at the fame  or embrace but the film wants us to love him for not wanting it while also cheering for him when he does.  And it never works. Plus Isaac is not a terribly good actor so the whole time I thought he was being shady. I never for a minute thought he was supposed to be sincere and was waiting for the twist. Once I realized that it was more Isaac’s acting that is questionable and not his character the story just became boring. Mara has no chemistry with him and she looks quite bored the whole time. She is a fantastic actress and I wonder why she keeps getting these terrible roles. But that brings us to the film as a whole. These characters never feel like friends. They spend so much of the movie going after their own motives, their own goals that they never spend any time with each other so they don’t feel like the family they keep claiming they are. Scott Porter ends up with the best story as someone who is moving to Japan and just wants to have fun with his friend. Only because he has no other motives, it’s just one last fun time with his friends. Every one else only has fun at the expense of others. Pratt has fun so his wife can’t, Mingella tries to screw over Justin Long, Isaacs completely ignores his friends to spend time with Mara. It seems no one is there to be AT THE REUNION. It brings the whole film down and you start to feel sad for these perfect looking characters which negates the whole thing. I think this is the rare time when they should have just focused on one story. As it is, the cliches in EVERY story add up to such a point that the more another story has them, the more clear they become. Where if it was just one story, it would have been less noticeable if not forgivable. but as it is it becomes so clear that none of the stories have the tiniest bit of originality that you start to focus on whether the actor read the script. To ruin such a great and diverse cast is a crime of cinema! The director needs to go back to school.  Trivia: Jamie Lindon wrote this after his own reunion. Which leads me to believe that he is the Isaac’s character. Which makes me hate him. 

movieisaw:

Plot:. A group of friends meet up for their ten year high school reunion. Cliches endure.    

Review: So I really thought that with about two weeks left Man with the Iron Fists was going to go down as the worst movie of the year. But damn, if Ten Years didn’t come in to show me how bad, bad can be. There is just nothing good about this film so let’s dig right in. I am going to talk about each individual story and then we’ll look at the overall film. The main story is about Channing Tatum and Rosario Dawson, old flames with a bad history, as they try to overcome that now that they are in separate happy relationships. This story comes off as really boring since once it really starts you know where it is going (although most of the film feels like that.) Tatum tries to do what he can but his character has nothing and most of his characterization comes from what others say about them. Even if it is the main story it is also the most boring and has a sappy nonsense ending. Second story is about Justin Long and Max Minghella, two nerds that became cool. Max is married and Long is a playboy now, but are both trying to get Lilly Collins into bed as she was the party girl. This story is one of the main problems with the film, Max Minghella comes off as unlikable. As Justin Long tries to hit on Collins, Minghella keeps getting in the way. At first it seems that he is still awkward but you soon realize that he is also trying to flirt with her. Even though he is married, at every chance he makes a pass at her and it feels very uncomfortable especially since both treat her like nothing more than a conquest. By the end, we find out that he is in the midst of a divorce but that doesn’t really excuse his behavior and I wonder why the reveal was withheld. If we had known he was acting out because of his depression maybe we would have felt sympathetic but as it is we just hate him so when the reveal does come out we don’t care. Their whole story is to examine the lies that we show to others as none of them are as cool as they portrayed. Collins is a stay-at-home mom, Long lives in a tiny apartment just to stay in New York, and Minghella is going through the divorce. It works in the most shallow way but the male characters come off as such jerks that you can’t relate to them. The next story is about Chris Pratt, the high school bully, as he tries to make amends with the people he tortured, while getting as drunk as possible much to the dismay of his wife, Ari Graynor. This is the best story, only because it takes into account the reunion. Every other story is about a close group of friends meeting again and it could have been anywhere. But the bully trying to apologize to the nerds could only happen at the reunion as why else would they hang out.  It also has a character with flaws unlike the rest of them who are perfect. The problem is Pratt comes off as so unlikeable and so annoying that his act gets very tired, very fast. For every apology he dishes out, there are 3 scenes of him embarrassing his wife or being an ass. It gets old and by the end, he doesn’t change. The film seemed to be going towards acceptance that he is just a dick and can’t help it but by the end there is just nothing and we are meant to take away that he tried. Which is fine if he had been fighting the apologies the whole time, but he embraced him. So there is no change or at least no revelation. There relationship ends the way it began and it is not satisfying. The last and most annoying story is about Jason Isaac and kate Mara. Isaac plays a famous singer who tries to win over the heart of the shy girl.  The main problem is Isaacs who the whole movie hates the fact that he is rich and famous and it is DREADFUL. The whole time he wants us to feel bad for how rich he is, how many people love his song, how famous he is BUT THEN, but then when given the chance to sing his song, he jumps at it or when Mara states she never heard it is disappointed. He can either be mad at the fame  or embrace but the film wants us to love him for not wanting it while also cheering for him when he does.  And it never works. Plus Isaac is not a terribly good actor so the whole time I thought he was being shady. I never for a minute thought he was supposed to be sincere and was waiting for the twist. Once I realized that it was more Isaac’s acting that is questionable and not his character the story just became boring. Mara has no chemistry with him and she looks quite bored the whole time. She is a fantastic actress and I wonder why she keeps getting these terrible roles. But that brings us to the film as a whole. These characters never feel like friends. They spend so much of the movie going after their own motives, their own goals that they never spend any time with each other so they don’t feel like the family they keep claiming they are. Scott Porter ends up with the best story as someone who is moving to Japan and just wants to have fun with his friend. Only because he has no other motives, it’s just one last fun time with his friends. Every one else only has fun at the expense of others. Pratt has fun so his wife can’t, Mingella tries to screw over Justin Long, Isaacs completely ignores his friends to spend time with Mara. It seems no one is there to be AT THE REUNION. It brings the whole film down and you start to feel sad for these perfect looking characters which negates the whole thing. I think this is the rare time when they should have just focused on one story. As it is, the cliches in EVERY story add up to such a point that the more another story has them, the more clear they become. Where if it was just one story, it would have been less noticeable if not forgivable. but as it is it becomes so clear that none of the stories have the tiniest bit of originality that you start to focus on whether the actor read the script. To ruin such a great and diverse cast is a crime of cinema! The director needs to go back to school. 

Trivia: Jamie Lindon wrote this after his own reunion. Which leads me to believe that he is the Isaac’s character. Which makes me hate him. 

movieisaw: Plot:. A hitman is called in after two kids rip off a mob run poker game.    Review: This film wants to be a great allegory between crime and politics. It both fails and succeeds at this. It succeeds because it uses the 2008 Obama McCain debates to set up the movie and frame the story. The movie opens with the debates and it puts us in the right place and time. We are in America in a time of uncertainness but are dealing with people who don’t care too much about that. It says so much in no time. However, it fails because almost every other scene has a transition of political speech or debates as the movie continues. This becomes both jarring and a bit annoying. The whole film you think it’s leading to something more but by the end (SPOILERS) it’s nothing more than “criminals and politicians have a lot in common.” It’s not enough to justify it and ends up talking down to the audience. If it didn’t have the debates at every turn, we would still get the point. The setting was enough to draw conclusions especially with the conversations the characters have. Richard Jenkins and Brad Pitt’s scenes about the ever changing “politics of the mafia” and that works better to show us the allegory that the director, Andrew Dominik, is trying to make than the actual speeches playing throughout. What the film is, even with this mistake, is a great crime film. No one can deny that it is fun and thrilling. In fact, it is the first film this year and in a couple of years where I had no clue where the film was going. The characters are so good and so well defined that any thing can happen and you are waiting on the edge of your seat to see what will happen even until the very end. James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta show up for quick but memorable roles that I would not be surprised if they were given nominations. This is also Brad Pitt’s movie. He moves with the kind of suave animal that he was so great at playing in “Fight Club” and “Snatch.” He is a monster that you learn to love and in his contradiction, he again shows the politician that the director wants us to connect the dots to get to. It is a great film but I can see what it is so jarring and why normal filmgoers have shown so much hate for it.  Dominik uses the same long meandering speeches that he did in “Assasination of Jesse James,” but they sometimes feel out of place and I could see how people were bored. I never was, it is important to note. But we did have a couple of walk outs.  It isn’t the “pulp fiction-y” draw you in type of film but more like a real roller coaster.  In that you have to strap yourself in, and let yourself go.  Your expectations do not belong here.  Whatever you want this film to be, it isn’t. And maybe that’s the best allegory with politics, the film has.  Trivia: Was based on the book, “Cogan’s Trade.”  Was killing them softly the most polarizing film of the year? Survey say YES

movieisaw:

Plot:. A hitman is called in after two kids rip off a mob run poker game.   

Review: This film wants to be a great allegory between crime and politics. It both fails and succeeds at this. It succeeds because it uses the 2008 Obama McCain debates to set up the movie and frame the story. The movie opens with the debates and it puts us in the right place and time. We are in America in a time of uncertainness but are dealing with people who don’t care too much about that. It says so much in no time. However, it fails because almost every other scene has a transition of political speech or debates as the movie continues. This becomes both jarring and a bit annoying. The whole film you think it’s leading to something more but by the end (SPOILERS) it’s nothing more than “criminals and politicians have a lot in common.” It’s not enough to justify it and ends up talking down to the audience. If it didn’t have the debates at every turn, we would still get the point. The setting was enough to draw conclusions especially with the conversations the characters have. Richard Jenkins and Brad Pitt’s scenes about the ever changing “politics of the mafia” and that works better to show us the allegory that the director, Andrew Dominik, is trying to make than the actual speeches playing throughout. What the film is, even with this mistake, is a great crime film. No one can deny that it is fun and thrilling. In fact, it is the first film this year and in a couple of years where I had no clue where the film was going. The characters are so good and so well defined that any thing can happen and you are waiting on the edge of your seat to see what will happen even until the very end. James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta show up for quick but memorable roles that I would not be surprised if they were given nominations. This is also Brad Pitt’s movie. He moves with the kind of suave animal that he was so great at playing in “Fight Club” and “Snatch.” He is a monster that you learn to love and in his contradiction, he again shows the politician that the director wants us to connect the dots to get to. It is a great film but I can see what it is so jarring and why normal filmgoers have shown so much hate for it.  Dominik uses the same long meandering speeches that he did in “Assasination of Jesse James,” but they sometimes feel out of place and I could see how people were bored. I never was, it is important to note. But we did have a couple of walk outs.  It isn’t the “pulp fiction-y” draw you in type of film but more like a real roller coaster.  In that you have to strap yourself in, and let yourself go.  Your expectations do not belong here.  Whatever you want this film to be, it isn’t. And maybe that’s the best allegory with politics, the film has. 

Trivia: Was based on the book, “Cogan’s Trade.” 

Was killing them softly the most polarizing film of the year? Survey say YES