IFFBoston ’13 Spotlight: The Way, Way Back
A coming of age comedy directed by Nat Fixon and Jim Rash, “The Way, Way Back,” stars Liam James as 14-year old Duncan. On summer vacation with his mother Pam (Toni Collette) and her obnoxious boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell). An introverted fellow, Duncan finds his way to a water park, where he befriends Owen (Sam Rockwell), the manager of the park. [Read more...]
LonelyReviewer Oscar Predictions
It’s finally here, the end of award season, the glitziest, the glamorous, the Superbowl of movies, Academy Awards. The great contributors at LonelyReviewer.com got together and decided to list our picks for a few categories. [Read more...]
IFFBoston ’12 Spotlight: Rubberneck
Rubberneck is an incredibly fascinating character-driven film about obsession and infatuation, directed by Alex Karpovsky, and written by Karpovsky and Garth Donovan.
Shot entirely in Massachusetts, it tells the story of Paul Harris, a research scientist who works on the outskirts of Boston. After a weekend tryst with a co-worker, his unreciprocated desires gradually turn into an infatuation.
The film keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout, and is certainly one of the not-to-miss movies of the festival.
Rubberneck screens at the Independent Film Festival of Boston, Tuesday, May 1st, at 9:30pm at the Coolidge Corner Theater. Tickets are available at iffboston.org.
IFFBoston ’12 Spotlight: One Night Stand
The intro-logline to the documentary One Night Stand sounds like a 24 hour film festival – it chronicles the creation of 4 musicals from blank page to live stage in just 24 hours.
With appearances by Rachel Dratch, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Richard Kind – Variety says that the film “Perfectly conveys the creative insanity unleashed while revealing the quasi-miraculous process, attractively lensed, dynamically edited.”
The film looks really fun, and really interesting, and is directed by Elisabeth Sperling and Trish Dalton.
The film screens at the Independent Film Festival of Boston on Saturday, April 28th at 4:30pm at the Brattle Theater. Tickets are available at iffboston.org.
IFFBoston ’12 Spotlight: Code of the West
Somerville local Rebecca Richman Cohen returns to IFFBoston with her latest film, Code of the West. The documentary follows the legal and emotional drama surrounding the crackdown on medicinal marijuana providers in Montana, the first state to have its legislature vote to repeal its medicinal marijuana law.
Over the past year, we’ve heard about crack downs on medicinal marijuana across the country – and this film looks at the effects of state and national drug policies.
Cohen’s last film, War Don Don screened at IFFBoston in 2010, and won the Karen Schmeer Award for editing.
Check out Code of the West at The Somerville Theater, Thursday, April 26th at 7:15pm. Tickets are available at IFFBoston.org.
IFFBoston ’12 Spotlight: Beauty is Embarrassing
Beauty is Embarrassing is a documentary about Wayne White, an artist, art director, illustrator, puppeteer. Known for his illustrations in the New York Times, and perhaps even more so for his designs in the iconic Pee Wee’s Playhouse, White has had an amazing career, that has continued today into paintings and other public works. Judging by the films trailer, I’m definitely interested in learning more about White and his body of unique and amazing work.
The film is directed by Neil Berkeley, and will be screening at the Somerville Theater, Monday, April 30th at 7:00pm. Tickets are available at iffboston.org.
IFFBoston ’12 Spotlight: Welcome to Pine Hill
A unique story of friendship, race, and self-discovery, Welcome to Pine Hill was born out of a chance encounter between filmmaker Keith Miller, and star Shannon Harper, who found themselves arguing over a lost dog one night in Brooklyn.
The film had its world premiere at Slamdance last January, and won the Grand Jury Prize, and will be screening at many film festivals across the country.
The film follows Shannon, a reformed drug dealer who now works as a claims adjuster by day, and bounced by night. He receives earth-shattering news that causes him to make peace with his past, and search for freedom beyond the concrete jungle of New York City. Going between the world of fact and fiction, Shannon Harper plays himself, and is supported by an eclectic cast of emerging talent, and real people.
The film is a collaboration with the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, the film is a 2011 Independent Filmmaker Lab participant, and Keith Miller’s debut feature film.
The film screens at IFFBoston, Sunday, April 29th at 8:00pm at the Somerville Theater. Tickets are available at IFFBoston.org.
Preview Review: November 25, 2011
A DANGEROUS METHOD
David Cronenberg is the best director working that has never been nominated for a Best Director Oscar. He has always made movies that totally fuck Hollywood in the ass. Videodrome, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Scanners, The Fly…on and on and on are all movies that are highly regarded, yet fly under the radar. It’s a shame. He has found some critical respect lately for his last two films, A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises, which are both excellent but nowhere
near as terrific as his old classics. His new film is about Freud, which is a bizarre departure for his usual fare. It looks good, but is not blowing me away compared to what I expect from this amazing
filmmaker. However, previews can be deceiving and I have a great feeling that this could be something special. However, I will always lament the lost grossness of his older movies, but maybe it’s finally time to give this man an Oscar nomination. Time will tell.
PREDICTION: 3 stars
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
What amazes me is that every single year, someone pumps out an ”original” movie about Christmas. How much fucking content can this holiday hold?? We have people becomming Santa Claus, we have people being Elves, we have people trying to rescue lost reindeer. Blah blah
blah. I don’t even really know what this movie is really about. Some kid fucks up Christmas or something…I don’t know. The preview goes so fast it makes me feel like some fucking ADD ridden 7 year old trying to read War And Peace. It just looks like another cheaply animated turd that the ass of Christmas has spread open ready to plop on our faces. Open wide. Give me Scrooged anytime.
PREDICTION: 1 1/2 stars
HUGO
I am a Martin Scorsese whore. I don’t care. He can use me and abuse me and not even leave me cab fare so long as he keeps making shit like Goodfellas. Now, I will admit, when I saw the first trailer for Hugo, I was underwhelmed…very underwhelmed. It looked fucking retarded, I’ll say it. But I was confident that it was a scam and that the machine had pumped out a trailer to try to get parents to take their screaming kids. I mean, it looked terrible. Like some generic Tim Burton ripoff where Borat goes flying into a giant cake…DERP!! But from what I’ve read, my suspicions of false advertising were correct. I’ve read some stellar classic Scorsese movie moments, and that the
film altogether is an ode to classic 20s and silent era cinema. Sure, it might go over kids and most parents heads, but I think this has classic film written all over it. I wouldn’t expect anything less
from the best living filmmaker around. Highly anticipating this one!!
PREDICTION: 4 stars
THE MUPPETS
This will be good. No matter what, this will be good. Even if this movie is stupid as hell, it will be good. I have never seen anyone happier to be in a movie as Jason Segel. If you watch the trailer,
every scene he has a giant grin like “Yep, I’m in a Muppet movie that I wrote.” It’s like literally watching a dream come true. As most people are, I’m a fan of the Muppets. I love most, pretty much all, of their movies and I love Muppet Babies (remember that awesome show??), so you pretty much can’t go wrong with the Muppets. If you hate them, you must have a heart made of the darkest volcanic glass. You’re pretty much a complete asshole if you hate the Muppets. I’m sure this movie will be goofy and stupid, but why would I want anything less from a Muppet movie? I sort of wish there were more celebrity cameos though, like the old days of the Muppet Show. Jason
Segel doesn’t really carry a movie for me, and aside from whipping out his dick, he really isn’t all that funny…but I’m sure he and Amy Adams will be mostly in the background for Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie and all the others. Trust me…this will be good.
PREDICTION: 3 stars
Happy thanksgiving!
PREVIEW REVIEW: September 23, 2011
ABDUCTION
Ooooohhhh scaaaarryy!! A PG13 Abduction movie starring the douche werewolf homo from Twlight!! Yayyyy!! What really shocks me about this one is the other talent involved. I expect more from you, Alfred Molina…maybe not MUCH more, but more. And I am totally ashamed of you Sigourney Weaver. Yeah, I know…you gotta eat, but you were in the biggest movie of all time. What drew you to this movie? I’m guessing the paycheck, because from what I can see, this is another intellectually devoid dump that the big anus of Hollywood has squatted over and dribbled out onto YOUR (the average movie-goer) face. And unless you’re into coprophagia (Wiki it), then I would say PASS…pun intended.
PREDICTION: 1 star
DOLPHIN TALE
Wow…are A-listers and award winners really hard up for cash this month? Morgan Freeman?? Okay…I will actually give him a pass for this because even though he is in his 70s, I’m pretty sure he has a kid that is like 8 years old. Maybe he wanted to be in a movie that this kid could see without seeing her dad being whipped by Gene Hackman or hugged by Tim Robbins…I get it. However, this still looks pretty crappy. I guess they find a dolphin with no tail and make a robot tail for it. I like animals, so aw cute, it would make a good Yahoo news article…but a whole movie? Yikes. And don’t forget the laugh riot of Morgan Freeman getting his back splashed by the dolphin. Zoinks!! Yeah…I will wait until my kid is 8 and then show him a better movie.
PREDICTION: 1 1/2 stars
KILLER ELITE
Okay…I’m going to look like some adrenaline driven typical male fuckbag, but I actually think this doesn’t look too bad. Usually I hate these Crank, Bourne Identity, Transporter sort of movies, but something about the trailer for this made me want to see what happens next. I think Jason Statham sucks in everything except Snatch, so I could care less about him, but I do actually like Clive Owen a lot and something about the two of them fighting seems…well, kinda cool. And finally DeNiro looking sort of badass again. I was beginning to think he was letting Ben Stiller rim job him for so long that he was actually enjoying it. I’ve said it before on this site, DeNiro hasn’t made a really great movie since Heat waaaaay back in 1995, but lately he has been trying a bit more, it seems. I liked Everybody’s Fine, Machete and Stone…so perhaps he’s on a roll? I hope so. It would be good to have my former favorite actor back. I know we will never get another Taxi Driver or Raging Bull…but maybe we can get another Copland at the very least.
PREDICTION: 3 stars
MACHINE GUN PREACHER
At first, I thought this was a ripoff of Hobo With A Shotgun, but it’s nothing like it. I don’t like Gerard Butler. His attempt at gay porn (300) made me feel really uncomfortable and shaky, so I have been weary of his movies ever since. This looks sort of cool though. Mostly because I like Marc Forster and I’m waiting World War Z, so this being his film before that one, I can give it a hot. I also like that it’s a true story and I have always liked vigilante hero-type people. This could be solid, and the R rating really helps. As long as I don’t see Butler kissing the tip of a penis, like I swore I saw in 300, it’ll be okay in my book.
PREDICTION: 3 stars
MONEYBALL
So I’ve heard that this is possibly the first Oscar bait movie of the year. Bring it on! I have been a fan of Brad Pitt ever since Kalifornia. The guy has made some shitty movies (Ocean’s Twelve, thirteen, Mr and Mrs Smith) but overall, he knows how to choose roles. I’m not normally a sports movie fan, however, I do find the inner workings of sports to be very interesting. This movie intrigues me
for a few reasons: Pitt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the ACDC song “Money Talks” in the trailer (arguably their best song, and my favorite song by the band) and also the hilarious story of Jonah Hill’s character. In case you were unaware, the character he plays in the film is named Peter Brand. However, the guy he is portraying’s name is Paul DePodesta. The name was changed because DePodesta was so disgusted that fat Jonah Hill was going to be playing him, that he threatened to sue the producers unless something was done. So instead of re-casting, they just changed the name. I love that sort of shit. And if you actually saw what Paul DePodesta looked like in real life, you would sue the producers too. Jonah Hill should only portray two people in biopics: Jonah Hill and the Pillsbury Dough-boy (I know, that was an obvious joke but its fucking 11pm, and I’m out of material). Weirdly, the original person cast for the role was Demitri Martin, who looks a lot more like the guy. I bet Billy Beane is jacking off in the mirror knowing Brad Pitt is playing him. I would. This movie looks pretty good.
PREDICTION: 3 stars
RED STATE
Kevin Smith sucks. If you’re a big fan of Kevin Smith…you suck. Plain and simple. He sucks. He’s an awful writer. Not a creative director. And has an ego bigger than Billy Corgan (and I’m a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan). However, I do find comfort in a crappy director like Smith worming out of his comfort zone. Red State could be good, but I just don’t think it will be. I love the material and I love psycho religious cult figures, I just wish that someone more capable like William Friedkin or David Cronenberg would take on a project like this…not Silent Bob. As long as he maintains the level of dick and fart jokes (his words) and focuses more on story and also a world where not every single fucking person talks exactly the same like his lame View Askew universe, then this could actually be good. As much as I dislike Kevin Smith, I am looking forward to giving this one a shot…and if this sucks like his other movies, well…I guess I won’t be that surprised.
PREDICTION: 3 stars
later.
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