Movie review: Joaquin Phoenix, ‘I’m Still Here’ leaves viewers wondering why – Post-Crescent
... Still Here,” a film that purports to be a documentary about Joaquin Phoenix’s career change ... caution-to-the-wind project cooked up by Phoenix and the actor Casey Affleck, who is both the film’s director ...
Victim in Actor’s Trial Described as Violent – msnbc.com
Shelley Malil might be best known for his small role in the "The 40 year old Virgin", a movie that starred Steve Carell. Malil is scheduled to take the stand tomorrow. He is facing 20 years or more in prison if ...
I’m Still Here / *** (Unrated)
"I'm Still There" (Unrated, 108 minutes). A sad and painful documentary that bears witness to the self-destruction of Joaquin Phoenix. His famous announcement that he would retire from acting and become a hip-hop artist was believed by some to be a hoax. Not on the basis of this film by his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck, who shows him spiraling out of control into cocaine, pot and unhinged narcissism. The film has extraordinary access to private and privileged moments. Three stars.
Taylor Lautner settles suit about RV for movie set – Morning Journal
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says ... Attorney Robert Barta said Friday that McMahon RV of Irvine, Calif. will pay $40,000 to Lautner, who will donate it to Lollipop Theater Network, a children ...
DNA evidence questioned in actor’s stabbing trial – San Diego Union-Tribune
an actor known for his small role in the movie “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” is accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, more than 20 times, first with a steak knife, then with a larger kitchen knife.
Taylor Lautner settles suit over RV for movie set – Morning Times
A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says the "Twilight ... Attorney Robert Barta said Friday that McMahon RV of Irvine, Calif. will pay $40,000 to Lautner, who will donate it to Lollipop Theater Network, a children's charity.
Deathly Hallows’ will shake people up: Daniel Radcliffe – New Kerala
London, Sep 7 : Daniel Radcliffe has said that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will "shake some people up". ... old actor, who recently finished filming the final two movies of the wizard film franchise ...
In this corner, ‘Legendary’ actor and wrestler Cena – Boston Herald
John Cena has square-jawed leading-man looks and a new movie to go with them, but the nine-time WWE champion swears he won’t ditch the ring for the movies. “Wrestling always has been and always will be ...
‘Twilight’ actor settles lawsuit over RV – St. Cloud Times
LOS ANGELES — A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says the ... Robert Barta said Friday that McMahon RV of Irvine, Calif. will pay $40,000 to Lautner, who will donate it to Lollipop Theater Network, a children's charity.
Taylor Lautner settles suit over RV for movie set – Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says the "Twilight ... Attorney Robert Barta said Friday that McMahon RV of Irvine, Calif. will pay $40,000 to Lautner, who will donate it to Lollipop Theater Network, a children's charity.
Fall movie season to offer some of Hollywood’s finest, funniest – St. Petersburg Times
Ben Affleck announced himself as a promising filmmaker with 2007's Gone Baby Gone . His followup covers the same Boston mean streets, with a bank robber (Affleck) falling for a kidnapped teller (Rebecca Hall). Oscar ...
George Clooney: Movie Star – Screenrant.com
Screen Rant looks at the film career of actor George Clooney following the release of The American . There are movie stars and then there is George Clooney. The man is the epitome of old style charm and charisma and ...
‘Twilight’ actor Taylor Lautner settles suit with Calif. dealership over late … – Chicago Tribune
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says ... Attorney Robert Barta said Friday that McMahon RV of Irvine, Calif. will pay $40,000 to Lautner, who will donate it to Lollipop Theater Network, a children's ...
We are What We are Aka Somos Lo Que Hay
Right up until the last minute I was undecided about seeing We Are What We Are at this year’s Frightfest, at the eleventh hour I chose to take the plunge and see the movie. The story follows a Mexican family who’s breadwinner and provider of food drops dead one day in the shopping mall. Unlike many other families the immediate concern is not with grief, but who will replace the father as head of the family; because this family are desperate for food and for cannibals this is not an easy task.
Initially the film started very well, the build up was good and the minimal text (the film was subtitled for English speaking audiences) helped you get into the movie a little more. The trouble being was that after an understandably slow start, it continued to drag and drag, then for some unknown reason from being an incredibly serious movie it turned into some sort of black comedy spoof.
The biggest problem with the movie for me was the way so many things did not add up. The two boys the story partially surrounds are easily identified by a police officer on foot, after being simply told that two boys driving a white car had attacked a young gay man. The story is set in a city not a town or village, so to just randomly pick two boys is just daft. Another police officer tracks the boys back to their house, despite the fact that the boys are yet to return home, in all the thousands of houses they are clearly in the section of town they live in, how likely is it that a policeman looking for two boys in a car would miraculously stumble across there home? The final insult to intelligence comes when having avoided both these police officers, the two boys return home to suddenly have police on their tail, despite the fact that neither police officer (the one in the house or the one on the street) had a radio to communicate with other officers. It seemed like write Jorge Michel Grau, knew what needed to be told, but did not know how to get from A to B properly.
The character development is fine; the wimp at the start of the day becomes the strongest character by the end. The strongest character becomes much weaker by the end. So over the course of the day, you see all these transformations occurring. The trouble being is that there is far too much focus on transformation, than the underlying issues, rather than the one that brings people to see the movie. You think cannibals, and if you’re a horror movie fan you immediately want to see it. What you get however is far from the promise; do not expect a high body count, or the family to be tucking into numerous meals. Yes they are cannibals; however that’s where the story ends, its like me saying I’m English; not quite enough to inspire you to watch a film about me. For the cannibalism you’ll see, you may as well just say they are Spanish and be done with it. There is none of that Spanish wit or brutality come to that; this is very much like an art house movie without the art.
Its not a bad movie, it just does not pick up to become above the ordinary, it’s a family drama about being top dog, and what you have to do to provide for your family. It has sadness, it had drama, it has some moral lessons, but horror is so thin on the ground here that you might confuse yourself and think that all your watching is a soap opera.
13hrs
One of the least awaited horror movies of the 2010 Frightfest was 13Hrs, I to be fair had little knowledge of the movie, but in conversations with others at the festival the consensus seemed that the movie would be fairly bad. Despite this I was somewhat surprised to find a three quarters full auditorium. Was this some sort of rouse to get the movie low viewers, or was it a case of there was nothing else to do for day or weekend pass holders?
13Hrs started in the weakest possible of ways, a young woman returning to her family estate (a large estate like something out of a Hammer movie) after an extremely long absence. There is this background story, a family secret if you like that has kept Sarah away. A table full of debt letters, angry siblings, and a strange vibe about the whole place; something is very wrong. At this point I was getting ready for a nap, we’ve been here and done this so many times in movies. And while the movie never quite got started in the way I would have liked, it did pick up quite a lot.
It has nothing to do with the casting of Gemma Atkinson a long serving actress from the TV series Hollyoaks, but something about 13Hrs had that same feeling of the aforementioned show. I never really understood what age bracket the movie was targeting. You could say a horror movie does not need to have an age market, and on the whole I would agree with this. But something about 13Hrs felt very teen orientated, the sort of thing that would except the language, violence and gore sit very nicely on Sunday morning television. It’s a lightweight horror, not likely to appeal to horror enthusiasts, more likely to appeal to your teenage Twilight fan. This is not a criticism of the movie, in the 80’s The Lost Boys became incredibly successful for aiming squarely at this market.
Another contributory factor to the feeling of immaturity of the movie is in both the cast whose average age is probably about eighteen, and the low budget adds to the youthful feel. It’s a very self-contained movie that more or less solely revolves around the family estate. Everything outside the estate is in the dark, and could simply be somewhere else on the estate.
Despite what I have written above, you may be surprised to read that I really quite enjoyed 13Hrs, it’s far from brilliant, but it’s actually not half bad. If you take into account the budget, cast, and claustrophobic feel the movie will do very well at scaring a teenage audience, while providing some light amusement for the more hardened horror fan.
What exactly is the horror I hear you ask? Well I’m not going to tell you. What I will say is that something rather animal like and ultra-violent, is stalking down our teenage heroes one by one and literally tearing them to shreds. Death is fairly brutal; it’s also very final. While of course death is final, the execution of who dies and when is not always expected. A clever touch is the break from the obvious, you know when you’re watching a movie and you know what is going to happen? Well with 13Hrs that more often than not doesn’t happen, yes you see they are going to die but they don’t quite die how you think, and that is quite lovely, if you can use the word lovely in respect of a horror movie.
There are some older actors who you’ll be familiar with Simon MacCorkindale was incredibly popular during the 80’s and had a resurgence of popularity thanks to TV show Casualty, he shines for the few short minutes he is present; while John Lynch adds some of his usual gruff charm. I can’t ignore the young cast heading up the whole movie is Isabella Calthorpe who is just about capable of pulling of that teenage/twentysomething age group, she’s a great new performer and a perfect lead for the movie. Sadly I lost track of which brother was which, Sarah has three brothers; but one actor who plays a more dysfunctional role is a terrible performer and the only weak link in the whole movie.
On the whole 13Hrs works, it really does, its simplistic, yet clever; the director Jonathan Glendenning is a real master in the making, he has a great eye, and manages to string together (obviously with aid of writer Adam Phillips) all the pieces, and it could be very easy to go very badly wrong.
20 Morsels of Trivia About Music Stars in Movies
- Lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin, appeared in the 2004 movie ‘Shaun of the Dead’.
- Billy Ray Cyrus appeared in the 2001 movie ‘Mulholland Drive’ in the role of a pool cleaner.
- Music stars DMX, Ja Rule and Jimmy Cliff have all appeared in movies with Steven Seagal.
- Chesney Hawkes(’I am the one and only’) launched his ‘music career’ off the back of the movie ‘Buddy’s Song’, in which, Roger Daltrey, of the Who, played his father.
- Music star Goldie, complete with gold teeth, appeared as Mr Bullion in the James Bond movie ‘The World Is Not Enough’.
- The last movie which Frank Sinatra appeared in was ‘Cannonball Run II’, it also featured music stars Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin.
- Music star Bruce Sprinsteen appears in a dream sequence in the movie ‘High Fidelity’.
- Martin Kemp, of Spandau Ballet fame, appeared alongside actress Alyssa Milano in the movie ‘Embrace of the Vampire’.
- The 1999 comedy movie ‘Dogma’ featured music star Alanis Morisette playing the role of God.
- Music star Mariah Carey released a ‘movie’ as a vanity project in 2002, called ‘Glitter’.
- Music star Tricky appeared in the movie ‘the Fifth Element’ as a henchman called Right Arm.
- Music star David Bowie has had many movie roles over the years, he has played such diverse roles as the King of Goblins, Andy Warhol, a vampire, Pontius Pilate and an alien. (Not all at the same time though!)
- The B-52’s appeared in the live-action movie of the Flintstones, they changed their name for the movie to the ‘BC-52’s’.
- Singer Cyndi Lauper appeared alongside Jeff Goldblum in the 1988 comedy ‘Vibes’.
- The Who movie ‘Quadrophenia’ marked the debut big screen appearance from music star Sting.
- John Lennon played the role of Gripweed in the 1967 movie ‘ How I Won the War’. It also featured Michael Crawford, who later became a singer of note, but was more famed for his TV role of Frank Spencer.
- The 1971 movie ‘200 Motels’ featured music stars such as Ringo Starr, Frank Zappa and two members of the band ‘the Turtles’.
- The Rutles movie ‘All You Need is Cash’, based on the Beatles, featured music stars Paul Simon, Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood and George Harrison.
- Female singe Toni Basil, who had a massive chart hit in 1982 with the song ‘Mickey’, appeared in the 1969 movie ‘Easy Rider, playing the part of a prostitute.
- Roy Orbison played the role of a Confederate soldier in the 1967 movie ‘The Fastest Guitar Alive’.
Film Review: The Professional
The Professional is a thriller set in New York City about professional hitman, Leon (played by Jean Reno) and his twelve-year-old neighbor Mathilda (Natalie Portman). Leon is very good at his job as assassin for hire, but not so great at relationships other then the affinity he has for his potted plants. He does have a gentle, moral side, however and refuses to murder women and children. When the rebellious Mathilda’s father gets in trouble with a drug lord named Stansfield (Gary Oldman) her entire family is killed. Mathilda is saved by chance. She was out shopping when Stansfield and his crew killed her family and she takes refuge with Leon in his apartment.
Leon takes Mathilda under his wing and she asks him to help her get revenge on Stansfield for the loss of her little brother. Leon does his best to keep Mathilda from getting into trouble and finds himself learning how to feel. Stansfield and his crew turn out to be corrupt DEA officers. They will do anything to eliminate potential eyewitnesses to their crimes, which puts Mathilda in danger.
The movie is tense, gritty with a strangely convincing soft side. There is much tragedy and sadness and humor in odd places. This film marks the acting debut of Natalie Portman, who on an episode of Inside The Actor’s Studio discussed the protectiveness of her parents while shooting. Released in 1994, this film still holds up as an edgy and thoughtful film, with amazing performances.
Red, White & Blue (2010)
The information put out about Simon Rumley’s Red, White & Blue is hardly likely to inspire you to see the movie, we were in two minds whether or not to see the film. Luckily enough however we decided to take the plunge on the final night of the 2010 Frightfest.
Erica (Amanda Fuller) is leading a self destructive life, night after night she’ll go out cruising the seediest bars in town looking for someone who will have sex with her. It might be sex with one, or multiple men; she simply does not care. She does however beneath this exterior have a heart, something that Nate (Noah Taylor) sees from the minute he meets her. Trying to befriend her is hard, but its only a matter of time before she starts to see things from his angle, and despite his wild claims, and disturbing conversation topics the pair soon become friends. In a life already filled with pain a little more rain must fall and a very living ghost haunts Erica from a previous one-night stand, and he demands answers.
From the opening sequence scored with the loudest and most depressing piano music you’ll ever hear, you realise that despite the blandness of what is happening on screen at that point something very, very bad is about to happen. The plus point of this is that while you realise something bad and dark is going to happen, it’s difficult to fully comprehend exactly how bad things are about to get.
The build up is slow, with a very blurry vision as to who the characters are and what they are doing. Firstly you look at the life of Erica, then the life of Nate and how the two meet and get to know each other. At that point before the story proper begins, Erica and Nate are put on a back burner and seemingly forgotten as you then take a look at the life of Franki (Marc Senter), what sort of person he is and what personal battles he is facing. So essentially you have an hour plus of character development, and this might be a little difficult for some to watch, personally I rather enjoyed it, but could tell by surrounding conversations that others in the audience wanted things to happen a little sooner. The key is if not for the build up, the movies key story might not be quite so dark.
The characters are all well developed, soap opera style, so when it all starts to kick off you fully understand the who they are and can relate to them. You can also understand the moral messages from both warring factions. What I found most interesting about the movie is as it premiered similar events were being played out in a German court, with a celebrity on trial for similar crimes.
Rumley is best known for his movie The Living & The Dead, which although at the time of writing this I have not seen it, Rumley assured us that he wanted to go much darker than before, so if you have seen The Living And The Dead, and found it dark, its safe to conclude you can go darker.
All of the performers are great, particularly Amanda Fuller who you really do feel her emotional scarring, and also can see why she is able to find a string of lovers quite readily; it’s a combination of her looks, and the feel of vulnerability. While Noah Taylor is the perfect choice for a character with a past too, but for more disturbing reasons.
If you enjoy slow burning stories that hit hard when they hit, then Red, White & Blue is a movie you’ll love. If you prefer your stories a little more erratic with impact from the start, then this is one to avoid. Personally I found this one of the best movies of the festival, and one I’ll always remember.
The Tortured (2010)
A movie I had to see at this years Frighfest was The Tortured; a movie that puts the viewer in the hot seat and asks them what they would do. Elise and Craig (Erika Christensen and Jesse Metcalfe respectively) are living an idyllic life with there young son Ben, that is until the day that Craig goes looking for sunscreen for their son. While searching through drawers, Ben is kidnapped by an incredibly dangerous man. After days of abuse the man murders Ben; who is captured and tried for his crimes. For Elise in particular the sentence does not warrant the crime and she begins to look at what she can do to ensure that suitable revenge is had for her son’s death. In a moment of well planned strategy killer Kozlowski (Bill Moseley) finds himself under the couple custody, who decide that he must go through the same torture, abuse, and finally death that their son went through.
Having been one of the movies I most wanted to see, The Tortured was one of the movies I was most disappointed with from this year’s festival. It’s very similar to the style of the Saw movies (and shares the same producers), right down to the rather restructured recap of events that happened from the start of the movie, allowing you to see events with slightly different eyes.
It’s a labored piece of work, which while it seems there is always something going on, is fairly dragged out. Elise and Craig go through stages of playing good cop bad cop to Kozlowski, as one minute they want more suffering the next less. You kind of wish that they would just get on with it, as this toying is just frustrating for the viewer. Never at any point does the tension build up to a suitable level; it all just plods along slowly.
The effects are fairly good, with bones being broken and some rather blunt impromptu surgery.
While the end of movie twist is quite good, you can’t help but realize you saw it coming a mile off (if of course you watch a lot of similar movies). But in honesty that’s where the praise ends. It’s not a bad movie, it’s just not a good one; the moral dilemma is clear, but you’re given nothing new. You do not at any point think that you are seeing something different to any other movie, its all very much a case of been there done that, now please move on.
Film Review: The Weather Man
The Weatherman stars Nicolas Cage as television meteorologist Dave Spritz and Michael Caine as Dave’s critical, Pulitzer Prize winning father. His family relationships, father, ex-wife and daughter have never been all that great, but at the beginning of the movie we see these relationships getting more troubled. Though as a weatherman, he is both loved and despised by audiences, Dave is a character whose life is falling apart. When he gets an offer from a New York City station, he has to make a choice between family and career.
While the career versus meaningful living theme is familiar, the movie’s approach to it is not. Dave’s less than perfect existence is depicted in the tiny, mundane details of life that manage to go wrong, which proves to be amusing and refreshing. Nicolas Cage is perfect as the hapless Dave Spritz and Michael Caine’s exacting, neurotic ways play perfectly opposite Cage. Watching Spritz’s relationships unravel is more entertaining and interesting than would be obvious from the premise of the film. He misses his ex-wife (Hope Davis) but every attempt he makes at reconnecting just winds up being awkward.
His dad has lymphoma, but seems strangely unaffected by it and rejects offers of closeness from Dave. His fans throw things at him when he wrongly predicts the weather. Though his job puts him in the public eye, he is uncomfortable with being recognized. He tries to be encouraging to his children but is clueless about their
lives and is emotionally distant from them. Though his professional life is easy and lucrative, there is a grim hopelessness about Dave’s life that is peculiar as the subject of a Hollywood film. It is refreshing, and somehow funny while maintaining a sensitivity about the human condition that is rare.
This is definitely a movie that you need to be in a certain mood for, and darker than the trailers and ads have suggested.
