Cinemaniac Reviews

Believe it or not, you may not want to see that movie.

Archive for the month “June, 2012”

29 Jun 2012
11 Comments

Mean Girls

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Bottom Line: It’s definitely not what you’d think it is.

Directed by: Mark Waters
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Amy Poehler, Daniel Franzese, Jonathan Bennett, Lacey Chabert, Lindsay Lohan, Lizzy Caplan, Neil Flynn, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey

If films were thunderstorms, MEAN GIRLS struck me like a bolt too large and blinding to see. If films were telephones, it was one loud, demanding wake up call. If films were rainbows, it was the mythical pot of gold I had always been told about but never even flinched to believe. You get the picture. What I was expecting was a sassy, girly comedy. Yes, it did tend to be both those. But when someone like former SNL star Tina Fey writes the film, it takes off as a side-splittingly funny, slightly offbeat show of color, cat fights, and crazy characters.

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Posted in Comedy, [Film Reviews] and tagged
24 Jun 2012
25 Comments

Brave

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Bottom Line: Unless you are a die-hard Pixar fan or a young child, Brave may bore you to sleep with its lack of originality.

Directed by: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews
Starring: Billy Connolly, Craig Ferguson, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin McKidd, Robbie Coltrane

Ever since it released its first film in 1995, Pixar has always held a prestigious reputation. When we hear of films like TITANIC and FORREST GUMP, we don’t think, “Oh, that’s a Paramount movie!” Similarly, we don’t usually think of HARRY POTTER or THE DARK KNIGHT as “Warner Bros. movies”. Yet most of the time, when we think of film such as TOY STORY and MONSTERS, INC., we are quick to associate them with Pixar. Furthermore, the vast majority of these films have been very well received, and I agree with much of the praise that has been embellished upon these wonderful films. BRAVE is something different. After seventeen years of strong filmmaking, it seems the group has begun to slack a bit. Yes, young children are quite likely to enjoy it. But when Pixar has a record complete with beauteous productions such as FINDING NEMO and UP, animations that all ages can freely enjoy, it’s difficult to say that the Disney subsidiary put forth as much effort as in previous films.

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Posted in Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, [Film Reviews] and tagged
24 Jun 2012
29 Comments

Insidious

in·sid·i·ous
adjective /inˈsidēəs/
1. Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects
2. Treacherous; crafty

This is one of my recent favorites.  It was actually serendipitous that I watched it yesterday.  My friends (or friend, if you subtract the one who ran away screaming) and I were planning on watching Philadelphia, but it turned out that we were instead watching this grossly underrated horror classic of recent years.  Every time I see this, it just seems to grow better and better.  So please allow me to “project” my review of Insidious:

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Bottom Line: Heavily misunderstood; lots of fun.

“It’s not the house that is haunted. It’s your son.” –Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier

Directed by: James Wan
Starring: Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins

It’s a bit ironic as well as every ounce appropriate that INSIDIOUS can be defined perfectly by the singular word in its title. Though the film starts out seemingly harmless (save for the ominous, heavy foreshadowing in the title sequence), it climaxes into a creepy mood; before we know it, not ten seconds can be counted in between the horrific scares in the conclusion.

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Posted in Drama, Horror, Thriller, [Film Reviews] and tagged
22 Jun 2012
12 Comments

Footloose

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Bottom Line: Cool and fun, despite numerous flaws.

“Wait, wait, wait. Jump back. Are you kidding me? Dancing is against the law? –Kenny Wormald as Ren

Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Andie MacDowell, Dennis Quaid, Julianne Hough, Kenny Wormald, Ziah Colon

FOOTLOOSE is one of the few musical adaptations that I waited for with bated breath. Even though I hardly remember the 1984 film in which its upbeat universe began (I may have not seen that version in its entirety, for that matter), and I have not seen a single performance of the stage musical, the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve ever heard from stage and film alike. It’s telling, however, to say that when one is sucked into the hype that prefaces a film’s release, very high expectations are held. And when very high expectations are held, disappointment is quite probable.

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Posted in Comedy, Drama, Music/Musical, [Film Reviews] and tagged
17 Jun 2012
15 Comments

Dumb and Dumber

Films have a sort of unintended magic imposed on them when watched more than once: some improve greatly, whereas others tend to grow a bit stiffer.  Dumb and Dumber, which I revisited today, is an unfortunate example of the latter.

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Bottom Line: Funny, yes, but noticeably flawed.

“We’ve got no food, we’ve got no jobs…OUR PETS HEADS ARE FALLIN’ OFF!” –Jim Carrey as Lloyd

Directed by: Peter Farrelly
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Jim Carrey, Karen Duffy, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr

Cheerfully idiotic road comedy follows two friends, Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels).  Lloyd is a limousine driver and Harry trains dogs, but both are employed with those jobs in hopes of earning enough money to open up a pet store that sells “worm farms”.  Lloyd meets Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), a beautiful woman who he drives to the airport for a trip to Aspen.  He notices that she has left her briefcase in the airport and swiftly tries to take it to her, but her flight has already left.  After both he and Harry are both fired from their jobs, Lloyd tries to convince Harry to take a cross-country trip to Aspen so that Mary can get back her briefcase.

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Posted in Adventure, Comedy, Cult, [Film Reviews] and tagged
16 Jun 2012
15 Comments

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

It was sometime within the last two months that I decided I should revisit some of my old favorites and write up about them.  Yet with so many of those films lacking reviews on this blog, I didn’t know where to start.  I’d like to thank an anonymous fan who recently emailed me and encouraged me to watch and review Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, her favorite film.  What perfect timing, since I was stuck on what film to watch, and this, in fact, is a film I love to the very core!  Plus, as I own it on DVD, I had direct access to it.  Now, friends, fans, followers, and everyone in between…please twist and shout with a review of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!

Bottom Line: Not terribly realistic, but still hysterical and relevant more than two and a half decades later.

“You’re not dying, you just can’t think of anything good to do.” –Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller

Directed by: John Hughes
Starring: Alan Ruck, Ben Stein, Charlie Sheen, Cindy Pickett, Edie McClurg, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey, Lyman Ward, Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara

Don’t we wish we could all be Ferris Bueller?  It doesn’t matter if we’re adult or teen (though a lot of it works well for the latter demographic), whether at school or work, we all need a “day off” of some sorts.  I put that phrase in quotation marks because when Ferris first employs it in the beginning of the film, the only way anyone could ever be able to know where he is about to take his day is by having seen this timeless film before.  A bored Chicago teenager, Ferris (Matthew Broderick) fakes an illness, skips school, and hits the city with his equally fun-loving girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) and his worrisome best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck).  He even gets his own charity–”Save Ferris”, one of the most prominent yet most unforgettable jokes the film has to offer–for credibility’s sake.  Unbeknownst to him, his irate principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) is on the hunt for him, as he has missed nine days during the semester.

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Posted in Comedy, Cult, Drama, [Film Reviews] and tagged
15 Jun 2012
19 Comments

Die Hard: with a Vengeance

Bottom Line: Bruce Willis (and everyone else associated), what have you done!?

Directed by: John McTiernan
Starring: Anthony Peck, Bruce Willis, Colleen Camp, Graham Greene, Jeremy Irons, Larry Bryggman, Nick Wyman, Sam Phillips, Samuel L. Jackson

It was in 1988 that director John McTiernan released his DIE HARD.  This was THE film that brought THE action genre to life, mind you; I usually try to avoid using the word “awesome”, but there’s just no other word to employ for that classic.  Two years later, a director by the name of Renny Harlin decided to follow-up the original with DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER, a cheating excuse for a sequel that changes infinitesimal details from the first film, such as characters’ names and the setting.  Now let’s go to 1995.  We have DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE.  The return of director McTiernan could lead you to hope for a film that gives the series legs, but if anything, this third entry takes the series’ arms off as well.

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Posted in Action, Crime, Thriller, [Film Reviews] and tagged
15 Jun 2012
7 Comments

Paris, je t’aime

Bottom Line: Assez plaisant.

Directed by: Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuaron, Bruno Podalydes, Christopher Doyle, Daniela Thomas, Emmanuel Benbihy, Ethan Coen, Frederic Auburtin, Gerard Depardieu, Gurinder Chadha, Gus van Sant, Isabel Coixet, Joel Coen, Nobuhiro Suwa, Oliver Schmitz, Olivier Assayas, Richard LaGravenese, Sylvain Chomet, Tom Tykwer, Vincenzo Natali, Walter Salles, Wes Craven
Starring: Aissa Maiga, Alexander Payne, Barbet Schroeder, Ben Gazzara, Bob Hoskins, Bruno Podalydes, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Cyril Descours, Elias McConnell, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Fanny Ardant, Florence Muller, Gaspard Ulliel, Gena Rowlands, Juliette Binoche, Leila Bekhti, Leonor Watling, Lionel Dray, Ludivine Sagnier, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Margo Martindale, Melchior Beslon, Miranda Richardson, Natalie Portman, Nick Nolte, Olga Kurylenko, Paul Putner, Rufus Sewell, Sergio Castellitto, Seydou Boro, Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Yolande Moreau

Atmospheric, easygoing French romance is a collection of eighteen short films from twenty-two different filmmakers. Each story sets up in Paris and details a story about love (not always necessarily a conventional “love story”) that occurs in the city. Accumulated together, the small slices of life can act as mere plot points in a story of both the native Parisians and tourists alike, making this perhaps familiar to those who have visited Paris, familiar to those who have lived in that city, or those who are wishing to be there at some point in their lives.

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Posted in Drama, Romance, [Film Reviews] and tagged
14 Jun 2012
11 Comments

Black Hawk Down

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Bottom Line: Realistic but emotionless and often mindless display of war.

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” –Plato

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Gabriel Casseus, Hugh Dancy, Josh Hartnett, Kim Coates, Sam Shepard, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner

Ridiculously violent misfire chronicles the First Battle of Mogadishu, on October 3rd and 4th of 1993. Over one hundred well-experienced U.S. soldiers enter Somalia, with an intent to capture Mohammed Farrah Aidid, the self-proclaimed president of the third-world, famine-stricken country. The UN has approximated that this task should take no more than an hour, so the U.S. elites are unprepared for a longer happening–even the 22+ hour mission that this ends up becoming, after they are pitted against armed Somalis.

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Posted in Action, Drama, History, War, [Film Reviews] and tagged
13 Jun 2012
14 Comments

The Muppets

Bottom Line: “Cute” would be the wrong word for this one…

“But Kermit, you have to try! The Muppets are AMAZING! You give people the greatest gift that can ever be given!” –Peter Linz as Walter
“Children?” –Steve Whitmire as Kermit the Frog
“No, the OTHER gift.” –Peter Linz as Walter
“Ice cream?” –Steve Whitmire as Kermit the Frog
“No, no, after that…” –Peter Linz as Walter
“Laughter?” –Steve Whitmire as Kermit the Frog
“YES! The THIRD greatest gift ever!” –Peter Linz as Walter

Directed by: James Bobin
Starring: Amy Adams, Bill Barretta, Chris Cooper, Dave Goelz, David Rudman, Eric Jacobson, Jack Black, Jason Segel, Matt Vogel, Peter Linz, Steve Whitmire

Joyful family musical opens the curtains with the quirky Walter (voiced by Peter Linz). He has been a true-blue fan of The Muppet Show ever since his childhood, and he, in fact, looks unmistakably like a Muppet himself. When touring Los Angeles with his best friend Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), he learns that an old theater belonging to the Muppets is being taken over by an oil tycoon. Destined to save the Muppets, Walter visits Kermit the Frog’s (Steve Whitmire) house, making every attempt to bring this to his attention, even though Kermit seems uninterested. To do so, it is agreed that all the Muppets be gathered from where they are on their own acts and reunite for a show to raise ten million dollars, the whopping cost needed to save the theater from being taken over.

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Posted in Comedy, Family, Music/Musical, [Film Reviews] and tagged

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