I have no idea what I expected while I was anxiously awaiting this trailer, but I should have figured this Western would be more Pulp Fiction rather than Unforgiven. Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained is a story about a Dentist turned bounty hunter (Waltz) who sets out across America with a freed slave to retrieve Django’s wife from a plantation owner (DiCaprio). The trailer is hip and stylized, I’d expect no less from director Quentin Tarantino.
June 7, 2012 Leave a Comment
Trailer: Django Unchained
November 28, 2011 1 Comment
Film Review: Hugo
‘Hugo’ is director Martin Scorsese’s first foray in a long while that is in complete unfamiliar territory. For starters, this is his first film absent of Leonardo DiCaprio in 10 years. Secondly this is the first Scorsese picture intended for all ages. Notice I didn’t say “intended for kids.” I don’t think Scorsese set out to make a kids movie, I think he definitely set out to make a movie that could be enjoyed by anyone of any age (kids included!).
Adapted from the novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick, the film tells the story of a boy who lives alone in a Paris train station, and a curious toy shop owner. Hugo (Asa Butterfield), orphaned at a young age lives in secret, running around in the background keeping the station’s clocks in order – a job he took over from his drunken Uncle who adopted him after the passing of his father.
The one possession he still has from his father is a mechanical man, an automaton. A project he was working on with his father. Hugo believes that the automaton holds a secret final message from his father, and is working tirelessly to fix it.
Hugo acquires parts by stealing them from the toy shop, owned by Papa Georges (Ben Kinglsey). When Papa Georges takes Hugo’s notebook as payment for what he’s stolen, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), Papa Georges goddaughter, begins to help Hugo – beginning their wonderful adventure.
Scorsese films are known for their amazing cinematography and camera work. Whether its the long tracking shots in ‘Goodfellas,’ or the swooping shots of planes in ‘The Aviator,’ Scorsese and his DP Robert Richardson love moving the camera. In the opening of this film, they use every trick in the book. It’s mind-blowing. The seamless movement through practical, and CG sets, all while closely following Hugo looked amazing – this scene alone is worth the price of admission.
Asa Butterfield proves himself to be a talented, wonderful actor. The emotions he displays, especially in the pivotal moments of them film are quite believable. Moretz, who at a young age already has a great catalog of work under her now has another amazing film under her belt. It was also great to see Sacha Baron Cohen in something other than his own characters.
I’m not the greatest proponent of 3D films. I don’t like it for a lot of reasons. But I have said, if there is any director who could do anything amazing with the medium, it’d be Scorsese. I was right. This film is hands down, the greatest 3D film I’ve seen. The way the depth and dimension is used exceeds what we saw in Avatar. Subtle things like dust in the train station, or light from a film projector surrounding a characters head – everything looked amazing.
When I first heard that Scorsese had signed on to direct this film, I was scratching my head. Having now seen it, its obvious why he was the perfect director for this film. Not just because of the advanced themes and amazing story – the film calls back to one of Scorsese’s greatest passions, the cinema of yesteryear. The film features, and is inspired by so many great films, from ‘The Great Train Robbery,’ and ‘Safety Last,’ to ‘Intolerance.’
There is no reason why every single person of any age should not see this movie. Amazing cast, amazing story, amazing cinematography, this film is a great reminder that, yes, there still can be great films that can be enjoyed all.
November 21, 2011 Leave a Comment
Film Review: J. Edgar
Clint Eastwood arguably has had one of the best careers in the history of Hollywood. He went from an iconic Western star, to a talented and great director. With excellent films like Unforgiven and Mystic River, my expectations for his work tend to be high, but for whatever reason, it has been hard for me to get excited for his last few efforts. As soon as I read that he was going to be directing Leonardo DiCaprio in a film about J. Edgar Hoover, my ears perked up. Would this be a fascinating inside look to a man’s life like “The Aviator,” or would it be muddled and boring like De Niro’s “The Good Shepard?”
The film bounces back and forth between the last few years of Hoover’s life, his early beginnings at the Department of Justice, pre-founding of the FBI, and the 30s, during the investigation into the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s child, and his war on organized crime.
Those looking for an in-depth look at the history of the FBI, this is not that film. The film is strictly about J. Edgar Hoover and his various relationships – everything from his mother (Judi Dench), to his secretary (Naomi Watts), to his #2 man at the FBI, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). The film also goes quite extensively into his political relationships with the likes of Robert Kennedy, and his infamous “files.”
The film only touches the surface of Hoover’s innovations, the importance of forensics, fingerprinting, and lab work – there is so much that was revolutionary about his tactics and I feel like a lot was either missing or completely cut out. That is where I was disappointed.
The good news: Leonardo DiCaprio is in top form in this film. DiCaprio continually goes above and beyond to transform himself into the people he’s portraying. This is no rehash of Howard Hughes in The Aviator, he fully embodies J. Edgar Hoover.
Perhaps, Eastwood’s intention wasn’t to educate us about FBI, but to give you a candid look at who J. Edgar Hoover was – rather then focus on what he founded. In that sense, the film succeeds. Despite leaving me wanting [a LOT] more, I still found the film fascinating, and if you have any interest at all into this complicated man, I think J. Edgar is worth a closer look.
November 15, 2011 Leave a Comment
Preview Review: November 11, 2011
Editor’s Note: Due to travel, this article is a bit late, but still, wouldn’t want you to miss it!
J. EDGAR
Well, this movie has already come out and is receiving lukewarm reviews, but why?? I can’t imagine it being a “bad” movie per say…but maybe just not as top notch as what is expected from an Eastwood/DiCaprio pairing. I still maintain that this movie looks fantastic, and looks to be another home run from DiCaprio, who I consider the most important actor working today. I have always liked reading about Hoover, who is a fascinating character. Not only was he the founder of the FBI and thought up endless awesome ways to catch criminals, but he was also a fucking cross dresser!! How awesome is that? It’s awesome because it just proves that we all have these weird dark secrets, even the bad ass that first started using fingerprints to catch criminals. I mean, he did all these awesome things, so who cares if he wore dresses too? I’m not sure if they really tap into this in the movie, but it was a pretty big part of his life, from what I’ve read. Either way, it’s just a very complex character to play, I would guess, and to me, DiCaprio can do no wrong. As for Clint Eastwood, even though I’m still mad at him for winning the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, when that was definitely Scorsese’s to win for one of his greatest movies, The Aviator, but I digress…Eastwood is an amazingly rich and emotional director. He makes movies that touch the old school Hollywood sensibilities. They aren’t flashy, CGI filled, seizure edits like many of his peers, but rather gentle, poignant stories with touching music and deep lighting, that just really bring you back to an era of film making that is long gone and will probably die with him to be honest. The fucking dude is pushing 82 years old and can still score home runs. I admit that I thought Hereafter was a little lackluster, but people ragged on Changeling which I thought was gripping and awesome. If J. Edgar is even 1% like a regular Eastwood movie, then I am hooked. The haters can go watch Tower Heist and fuck themselves.
PREDICTION: 3 1/2 stars
IMMORTALS
Okay…what do I make of this movie? On the one hand, it looks like a copy of 300, which I thought was shat directly from the anus of Satan himself. 300 is a movie for gay people who cannot admit they are gay. But on the other hand, it is directed by Tarsem Singh, who did The Cell, which I thought was sort of cool and underrated. I mean, The Cell wasn’t anything that I’d need to watch 100 times, but I did think it was pretty creative and visually interesting. That being said, which movie will Immortals be like? If it’s anything like 300, I would rather gouge out my eyes with the editor of Lonely Reviewer’s penis, than watch it. But it just might have some potential, given
the director involved. I’m sure when it comes to Watch Instant, I will find out.
PREDICTION: 2 stars
JACK AND JILL
What can I really say about this movie that South Park didn’t already capture in 1 minute? This does literally look like a turd being shoved into my eye sockets. What the fuck happened to Adam Sandler, I mean really? I know people like certain comedians, and will sort of give them a pass for anything they make. For me, it’s Jim Carrey. I will pretty much watch any piece of shit he pumps out and chuckle like ”oh that Jim Carrey…” when in reality, he kinda sucks now (save for I Love You Philip Morris which was a fucking amazing movie). I think Adam Sandler is sort of the same way. People still go see his movies because they WANT to love him so badly, like the old days. I mean, who can deny that Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore were awesome movies…but really, how many other “good” flicks has he done since? The Wedding Singer is pretty good. Punch Drunk Love is a masterpiece. But then we have The Waterboy, Little Nicky, Big Daddy, Anger Management, Mr. Deeds, Eight Crazy Nights, 50 First Dates, Spanglish, The Longest Yard, Click (not bad), Chuck And Larry, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Bedtime Stories, Funny People (which I wanted to like so bad), Grown Ups, Just Go With It and now Jack And Jill….see…when I spell them out for you, you kinda get the idea right? He doesn’t make that many good movies. They’re all sort of paycheck movies, and this guy turned down Inglourious Basterds! I know he can act (Punch Drunk Love) and he can be funny (Billy Madison) but why isn’t he doing either of those things for nearly a decade? But…like Jim Carrey, people of a certain generation will give him a pass….but, also like Jim Carrey, it won’t last forever.
PREDICTION: 1 star
October 4, 2010 Leave a Comment
Inception Trailer Circa 1949
It’s amazing how much the style of trailers have changed since the early days of motion pictures. Even looking at trailers from the 80s, things have a completely different look and feel. So these clever fellows have cut together a fan trailer of Inception, using sound clips from Rear Window, Vertigo, and Spellbound, the result, a cool concept to what things might have looked like if Inception came out in in the late 40s early 50s.
June 9, 2010 Leave a Comment
DVD Review: Shutter Island
‘Shutter Island’ Scorsese’s latest masterpiece is a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.
Set on Shutter Island in Boston Harbor, 1954, the film begins with two Federal Marshals on a boat, heading to Ashecliffe Hospital to assist in finding an escaped patient. Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is paired up with a new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) whose been sent to the department from Seattle.
They arrive on Shutter Island just as a storm is approaching and meet with Dr. Cawley (Kinglsey) the chief administrator of Ashecliffe. Daniels immediately senses that he is being lied to, that the people their interviewing are hiding something, and that there is something terrible happening at this hospital.
Throughout the film, we flashback to Daniels in the service, a soldier in WWII, as well as to dream sequences with Daniels late wife. Daniel’s character is haunted by the horror he witnessed at Dachau, a concentration camp, as well surreal scenes of Daniel’s dead wife, who died in an apartment fire. Due to what he saw at Dachau, Daniels feels that this is what is happening on Shutter Island. He’s seen what horror man is capable of, and he’s there to stop it.
The mood of Shutter Island is haunting. I had an uncomfortable feeling from start to finish. It wasn’t a scary film per-say but the mood was tense, you felt an uneasy weight on your shoulders that you couldn’t shake because of what was being played out on the screen. The music (from longtime collaborator Robbie Robertson) only added to the films haunting atmosphere. Honestly, the music as Daniels and Aule arrive to the island will give me nightmares the rest of this week.
As far as the acting goes, DiCaprio has become quite comfortable with his Boston accent, and nothing really stood out as overly ridiculous as is normally the case (maybe I’m biased because I’m from Boston). His performance was the best I’ve seen in all his collaborations with Scorsese. Everyone shined, from the background patients up. Mark Ruffalo continues to be one of my favorite actors to this day. He has this presence that makes him stand out in everything he pops up in.
‘Shutter Island’ was tightly crafted and extremely fine tuned, nothing felt out of place, and despite its 138 minute runtime, I never felt it drag, not once. The story was tight, the script was tight. The editing was absolutely perfect.
The movie has been received with mixed feelings, critics and audiences seem to be either completely loving it, or completely hating it. I definitely feel like its going to be one of those films that will get its complete respect decades from now. Will it be remembered by Oscar season next year? I really hope so, because I really do believe it was that good.
February 21, 2010 Leave a Comment
Review: Shutter Island
‘Shutter Island’ Scorsese’s latest masterpiece is a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.
Set on Shutter Island in Boston Harbor, 1954, the film begins with two Federal Marshals on a boat, heading to Ashecliffe Hospital to assist in finding an escaped patient. Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is paired up with a new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) whose been sent to the department from Seattle.
They arrive on Shutter Island just as a storm is approaching and meet with Dr. Cawley (Kinglsey) the chief administrator of Ashecliffe. Daniels immediately senses that he is being lied to, that the people their interviewing are hiding something, and that there is something terrible happening at this hospital.
Throughout the film, we flashback to Daniels in the service, a soldier in WWII, as well as to dream sequences with Daniels late wife. Daniel’s character is haunted by the horror he witnessed at Dachau, a concentration camp, as well surreal scenes of Daniel’s dead wife, who died in an apartment fire. Due to what he saw at Dachau, Daniels feels that this is what is happening on Shutter Island. He’s seen what horror man is capable of, and he’s there to stop it.
The mood of Shutter Island is haunting. I had an uncomfortable feeling from start to finish. It wasn’t a scary film per-say but the mood was tense, you felt an uneasy weight on your shoulders that you couldn’t shake because of what was being played out on the screen. The music (from longtime collaborator Robbie Robertson) only added to the films haunting atmosphere. Honestly, the music as Daniels and Aule arrive to the island will give me nightmares the rest of this week.
As far as the acting goes, DiCaprio has become quite comfortable with his Boston accent, and nothing really stood out as overly ridiculous as is normally the case (maybe I’m biased because I’m from Boston). His performance was the best I’ve seen in all his collaborations with Scorsese. Everyone shined, from the background patients up. Mark Ruffalo continues to be one of my favorite actors to this day. He has this presence that makes him stand out in everything he pops up in.
‘Shutter Island’ was tightly crafted and extremely fine tuned, nothing felt out of place, and despite its 138 minute runtime, I never felt it drag, not once. The story was tight, the script was tight. The editing was absolutely perfect.
The movie has been received with mixed feelings, critics and audiences seem to be either completely loving it, or completely hating it. I definitely feel like its going to be one of those films that will get its complete respect decades from now. Will it be remembered by Oscar season next year? I really hope so, because I really do believe it was that good.
December 28, 2009 Leave a Comment
December 23, 2009 Leave a Comment
“Inception” Trailer Released
If you go see “Sherlock Holmes,” this weekend, you’ll see this trailer, but consider this an early gift. Here’s the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s latest movie. “Inception,” which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and comes out this summer. Oh, because it hasn’t been released officially yet, it’s in French. But you get the gist of it.
September 29, 2009 Leave a Comment
DiCaprio Says “Deep Blue Good-Bye”
Leonardo DiCaprio has reportedly agreed to star in 20 Century Fox’s new movie “The Deep Blue Good-Bye.” The movie would be based on the John D. McDonald book. It’s one of 21 books featuring main character Travis McGee. (Is Fox thinking a film series with Leo?) According to the back of the book, McGee is a beach bum, offering his services as a “salvage consultant.” MacDonald also wrote the book “Cape Fear.”
I’m a sucker for paperback noir, which was MacDonald’s forte. So, I’m excited to see what becomes of this, especially with DiCaprio in the lead role. Plus, it’d be cool to see DiCaprio to do a project that isn’t so serious. Hopefully he won’t get cold feet before they start.
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