Last year, I put “The Fault in Our
Stars” on my list of favorite films of 2014. And why not? The film
had fantastic acting, strong direction, and solid writing behind it.
Based on the book by John Green, the script was written by Scott
Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the duo behind the scripts for “The
Spectacular Now” and “(500) Days of Summer,” the latter of
which is my all time favorite film. Romantic dramas seem to really be
their specialty at this point, as they always have such interesting
and witty stuff for their characters to say in each scene. So you can
imagine that I was excited to see their newest film, based on another
John Green novel, “Paper Towns.”
“Paper Towns” tells the story of
Quentin Jacobson, a high schooler always fascinated by his neighbor,
Margo Roth Spiegelman. After she takes him to get revenge on her
friends after finding out her boyfriend cheated on her, Margo
vanishes the next day, so Quentin and his friends go on a journey to
find her as their last adventure before high school ends.
How is the film? Well, I think it's
pretty damn good. I didn't like it as much as “The Fault in Our
Stars,” but it was still something I greatly enjoyed watching. The direction by Jake Schreier is
done very well, and really lets the audience be engrossed in the
interactions between characters.
Speaking of which, the cast does a
fantastic job in this film. Nat Wolff as Quentin does a fantastic
job, also marking his second performance in a John Green adaptation
after playing Isaac in “The Fault in Our Stars.” I'd dare even
say that this is his best performance as an actor, and it really
shows his growth as since working on “The Naked Brothers
Band.” He's awkward, but soon builds his confidence and
determination with finding Margo, showing a sense of growth as a
character throughout the film. Austin Abrams and Justice Smith as the
best friends, Ben and Radar, also give out great performances, being
supportive, growing in confidence, and don't stick to being
stereotypes. The chemistry between these three is probably the best
part about the film, because you do buy that these guys are long-time
friends, especially during the scene where they sing the “Pokemon”
theme song.
Halston Sage and Jaz Sinclair as the
friends' love interests, Lacey and Angela, do have some really strong
scenes in the film. They have enduring moments, but at the same time
have very funny moments as well. Originally in the book, Angela had a
smaller part, but for the the film's sake, they wrote more stuff with
her involved, which turned out pretty nicely. Cara Delevingne
gives a great performance as Margo, playing a very ambitious
character who essentially becomes just as mysterious as the journeys she
takes part in. I think Delevingne is a great actress here, and I hope
she does give out her best as the Enchantress in "Suicide
Squad."
Now
with all that said, what didn't I like about the film? Well, the only
complaint that I do have with the film is the chemistry between
Quentin and Margo. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, far from it...it
just didn't feel as strong as the friendship between Quentin, Radar,
and Ben. I get that it's the intention of the story, the mystery of
Margo, but I would have liked a couple more scenes between the two
before the disappearance happens. After hearing that the film had to
be rushed while filming in North Carolina, it definitely feels like that in some parts. If they took their time a
little bit more, then it probably would have turned out a little more
even. But I'm no producer, so what do I know?
Aside
from that, "Paper
Towns" is still a really damn good film that I highly recommend
watching when you get the chance. The characters are likable, the
dialogue is great, and the acting is solid. If you liked "The
Fault in Our Stars,"then there's a chance you'll enjoy this one.
I've said it before and I'll say it
again: Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the finest actors of our generation.
Last year, he starred in “Nightcrawler,” a thriller about a man
making a living off filming crimes and accidents on the streets of
L.A. The year before in “Prisoners,” he played a detective trying
to help two couples try and find their daughters. Those two films
showcased Gyllenhaal at his finest, and you become fully engrossed in
those two characters, and yet the Academy didn't nominate him for
either performance, which is criminal. Gyllenhaal more than deserved
a nomination, and yet he gets shelved aside for other performances
that you look at and question how THAT got a nomination, yet he
didn't. And from how things are looking here, it'll take a miracle
for the academy to give him the long overdue nomination for his
newest film, “Southpaw.”
The film tells of famous light
heavy-weight boxer, Billy Hope, who's life spirals out of control
after his wife is shot and killed during his conflict with
smack talking boxer, Miguel “Magic” Escobar. With his home,
fortune, title, and daughter taken from him, he finds employment from
former boxer, Titus “Tick” Wills, who trains him to get his life
back on track.
For a story about a boxer's comeback
after his fall from grace, Antoine Fuqua directs it to its peak. The
boxing matches are handles very strongly, adding so much grit and
intense flare to it, yet it flows in a way that feels natural. I also
love how he used the shaky cam technique right, having it used for
P.O.V. shots and making us see through the dizzy fatigue that the
fighters have in their line of sight. Major props to Mauro Fiore for
his excellent work as Fuqua's go-to cinematographer.
Jake Gyllenhaal, once again, gives it
his all in this film. His performance as a man who struggles with
pulling his life back together is heartfelt and fantastic with each
passing second. I also loved how they didn't make his character sink
to an even deeper low, when he hunts down his wife's murderer, and
sees that he has a family of his own. That scene, while it doesn't
last long, is still very effective. It may not be as good as his
performance in “Nightcrawler,” but it's still one that I would
definitely say is worth a Best Actor nomination. Oona Laurence as his
daughter, Leila, was equally as touching, and I'm hoping she gets a
nomination for Best Supporting Actress, especially at her age. She
goes through that emotional point in her life, blaming her dad for
all of the bad things that happened, which is normal for kids to do
that. The scenes with her and Gyllenhaal are very touching and the
most emotional part of the film and easily the best acted.
I also give props to Forest Whitaker
as Tick, another performance in the film that's worth an Oscar
nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Sure, he's the Mickey Goldmill
of the film, but Whitaker handles it in such a graceful and dignified
way, that it stands out as its own thing. And as the film goes on, he
and Gyllenhaal start to grow on each other, learn how the other
thinks and how they can put a proper fighting strategy into play for
the greater good. Miguel Gomez as Magic was another great highlight
of the film, playing a character that we love to hate. He's a
smart-ass you want to see get punched in the face, and to our
satisfaction, he does. Other cast members like Naomi Harris, Rachel
McAdams, 50 Cent, Skylan Brooks, Beau Knapp, Victor Oritz, and Clare
Foley, are all very enjoyable onscreen.
The script was written by Kurt Sutter,
best known as the creator of “Sons of
Anarchy.” For his first feature film, he pulled through and gave us
one of the best boxer films in a while. And from the looks of it, it
looks like “Creed” has some competition.
Lastly, I want to talk about the
incredible score composed by James Horner. His skills really set the
mood and allowed the music to be apart of the atmosphere in the film,
something he was always best at. It's sad that he died earlier this
year, but thankfully his legacy will live on, no matter what. This
was truly his swan song of a musical score. Rest in peace, good sir.
Overall, “Southpaw” is one of my
favorite films of the year, and while I know it won't happen after
the reception this film received, I'm still going to cross my fingers
for this film to get nominated for it's performances. It's intense,
it's heartfelt, and it's both physically and emotionally brutal.
In 1990, Nick Park introduced the
world to the claymation duo of Wallace & Gromit, in their Oscar
nominated debut, “A Grand Day Out.” It caught on quick, garnering
much love from critics and audiences alike, and because of their
success, the two returned in two new shorts, “The Wrong Trausers”
and “A Close Shave.” In the latter short, we had more characters
introduced, one of which was Shaun the Sheep. Starting off as a
supporting character in the short, Shaun's popularity with the masses
grew with each passing year, and in 2007 was given his own TV show.
It featured Shaun as the leader of a flock of sheep on a farm and
their many shenanigans. Simple, but it works.
With how successful the show was doing
on BBC, surely it must have been enough to garner a movie, right?
Luckily, it did. Earlier this year in February, “Shaun the Sheep
Movie” was released in the UK, and recently made it's way to
audiences world wide.
In the film, Shaun becomes tired of
the usual day to day schedule, so he comes up with a plan to have the
farmer sleep in his trailer and let the flock have a rule free day.
However, when the farmer's trailer rolls into the city and he loses
his memory, it's up to Shaun and the gang to find him, all the while
being chased by animal control.
One of the key elements that both the
show and movie has is that there isn't any dialogue. My friend, Noah,
says that the types of films that he loves to make are visual films,
where you can put it on mute and still understand what's going on
perfectly. That's what “Shaun the Sheep” is: a visual film.
Speaking of which, the animation is spectacular to look at. It's
always a treat to see a stop-motion animated film on the big screen,
especially from Aardman studios. The design is recognizable, the
sight gags are hilarious, and the interactions between characters are
very genuine.
I think the only complaint I have with
the film is that there wasn't as much done with the villain, A.
Trumper of animal control. Not that he was a bad villain, but I just
felt like there should have been a bit more with him. Aside from
that, there isn't anything else in the film that I didn't like.
Overall, “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
is a very likable film to sit back and relax to. It's not the kind of
film that's trying to be deeper than it is, it's just a film that
does it's job right. It's entertaining, it's funny, and it's great to
look at. Not much to say on this one, except go and give it a watch.
So after the Sony hacking back last
Christmas, Marvel and Sony have come to a deal to let Spiderman be
allowed into MCU, and another reboot is planned to be released in
July of 2017. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to the new film...at
all. Not because they canceled on “The Amazing Spiderman 3” and
“The Sinister Six,” or the fact that Spiderman will be played by
another actor instead of Andrew Garfield (although, those reasons are
up there). No, I'm not looking forward to the new movie because the
script is being written by the guys who wrote and directed
“Vacation.”
For those who don't know, “Vacation”
is the fifth film in the “Nation Lampoon's Vacation” series,
about the Griswold family and their vacation time going horribly
wrong in almost every way. The first and third film hold up
especially well today, thanks to John Hughes style of writing and the
likable charm that Chevy Chase brought to the screen as Clark
Griswold. The rest are kind of “meh”...but when you compare them
to this recent installment, they're fucking masterpieces.
In “Vacation,” we follow a grown
up Rusty Griswold, who works as an airplane pilot and is married with
two boys. When it comes time for their vacation, instead of going to
the log cabin they usually go to, Rusty decides to take them to
Walley World, just like in the original film. Along the way,
shenanigans happen...or in this case, “shit-nanigans.”
You remember last year how unbearable
“Sex Tape” was? This film is actually worse on
almost every level! The jokes in this film-oh wait, THERE ARE NO
JOKES! All this film consists of is one awkward moment after
another, with the cast reacting to it in either an overactive way and/or
completely unrealistic way! The film also makes meta-jokes,
referencing the original film and trying to poke fun at itself. But
where it was done in “22 Jump Street” and it worked, this film
does it just because? There's a line in the film saying, “some
may not remember the original vacation, but the new one will stand on
its own”...no it won't, don't lie to me, movie.
Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold was so damn
obnoxious, he actually gave me a headache. From the minute we see
him, you know exactly how the humor's going to play out, with him as
a bumbling idiot who is also a complete windbag. I could have seen
this work well as a supporting character, and see Jason Sudekis do it
better, but then I would feel bad for Jason Sudekis being in this
movie. I like Ed Helms fine, but as the leading man, he just doesn't
have that charm to him. I feel sorriest for Christina Applegate as
his wife, Debby. Throughout the entire film, she has that look on
her face that spells out“Why am I here? Please, somebody shoot me!”
I mean, I would have that look too if I was told to do an obstacle
course puking, swim in sewage, and pretend to care about three such
aggravating people for an hour and forty minutes.
Leslie Mann is in the film, playing
Audrey Griswold, with Chris Hemsworth playing her husband, Stone. The
so-called “highlights” of their scenes consist of their sexual
passion (referencing faucets), a lot, Hemsworth keeping Mann from
getting a job, and a pointless scene where Hemsworth checks up on
Helms and Applegate, while he has a huge boner. Okay movie, you need
to learn something here: boners aren't funny. They're not. There can
be reactions to said boner, those are funny. But, if the main joke is
for some guy to walk in and out of a scene with a hard on, that's not
actual humor. Which, by the way, YOU NEED TO LEARN!!
And if knowing that Chris Hemsworth is
in the film wasn't insulting enough, we have surprise cameos from
other talented people who apparently don't care about dignity!
Keagan-Michael Key and Regina Hall play the Griswold's neighbors,
with Key having a playful/psychotic relationship with his son, and
Hall being an uptight bitch who complains about people not liking her
photos on Instagram. Okay, first off, I don't think anybody would
give a shit if one person didn't like a photo on social media...okay,
maybe SOME people, but not everyone! And two...how do you put
Keagan-Michael Key in a movie and not have him be funny?! Seriously,
how do you screw something like that up?!
In another string of cameos, we have a
scene at the Four Corners, where Michael Pena, Nick Kroll, and
Kaitlin Olsen play cops from each different state. Oh, and Tim
Heidecker's there too, which begs another question: why the fuck is
that unfunny talentless hack still getting work?! But it doesn't
matter anyway, since the scene is unfunny.
Hell, not even Chevy Chase and Beverly
D'Angelo, who reprise their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswold were
funny. They're only there for a short amount of time, but come
on! This is the third sequel Chevy Chase has appeared in, where it's
a complete insult to its predecessors (the other two being “Hot Tub
Time Machine 2” and “Caddyshack 2”). I feel like he
did this film for the same reason he did those other films: money
was involved.
The only moment in this entire film
that made me laugh was with Charlie Day. He plays a river rafting
guide who's fiance breaks up with him, so he tries to kill himself
during the raft trip. Day knows how to make anything
worthwhile...it's just too bad the scene was ruined, when they show
that he survived falling off a waterfall...way to ruin the only
moment of comedy you had, you bastards.
The film also shoehorns in a villain,
played by Ron Livingstone, who only appears twice in the entire film.
Why? No reason. He's supposed to be Rusty's rival, as this sort of
bachelor pilot, but there's no build-up to this at all! He shows up
once in the beginning, then appears at the end for no other reason
than to pad the film out for another five minutes!
Skyler Gisondo plays the eldest
Griswold son, James, who is such a spineless dork that it's insulting. He makes Greg Heffley from “Diary of a Wimpy
Kid” look like James Dean for God's sake! That, and he also gets
bullied by his hellspawn of a little brother. And when I say
“hellspawn,” I mean that in the harshest way possible. Steele
Stebbins as Kevin Griswold was the worst thing about this movie, and
is without a doubt the worst child character I have ever seen in a
movie. He constantly, CONSTANTLY bullies his brother, ruining his
stuff, invading his privacy, and just insulting him without context.
In a scene where the family is cracking jokes to lighten up the mood,
he ruins it by just saying “James is a piece of shit,” as bluntly
as anyone could. That, and he also makes death threats to him, saying
he was going to shoot him if he got his hands on his uncle's guns,
and also tried to suffocate him...TWICE!! And the audience thought
this was funny? ARE YOU PEOPLE MENTAL?!!
However, the most
insulting thing about this movie, was the dedication at the end, to
Harold Ramis, the director of the first “National Lampoon's
Vacation.” To the makers of this film, John Daley and Jonathan
Goldstein, what did Harold Ramis ever do to you? Did he not tip you
when you valet parked his car or something? Harold Ramis would never
want to be associated with a film that was this mean-spirited, this
childish, and this forced, no matter how much you try to pay him.
This was the most painful experience
of a film that I've had in a movie theater this summer, and I thought
it couldn't get any worse than “Hot Pursuit!” I severely wanted
to walk out on this film, but in the back of my head, I knew I was
going to have to finish it one way or another, so I figured it was
best to just get it done and over with, and never have to come back
to it. I thought I was in a nightmare, looking at the audience
laughing at every sad attempt at humor. I wanted to give this film a chance. I
was really hoping two of the writers of “Cloudy with a Chance of
Meatballs 2” and the “Horrible Bosses” films would give out
something decent as directors. Then again, even someone like
Robert Zemeckis has a “Mars Needs Moms” under his belt. But even
with all that, the film does have some good to it, like...the seat I
was in was comfy. Okay, there isn't anything good.
