Ted (2012)

We’ve waited so long to see a live action feature from creative genius, Seth MacFarlane.  Finally, he’s delivered, and high expectations were generously met.  This summer’s release of Ted showcased a plethora of talent in front of- and behind- the camera.  Mark Wahlburg leads the cast as John, an unambitious floater in his late twenties with a potty-mouthed talking teddy bear as his best friend.  Of course, none other than Seth MacFarlane can voice the stuffed animal with as much charisma.  The budding Mila Kunis plays John’s girlfriend, Lori.  It’s a basic story of girl wants and deserves more from the relationship/guy has to find a way to grow up before losing the best thing he never knew he had.  It’s a classic story that is being told in an impressively unconventional way- which is exactly what MacFarlane is good at.  
I’d say it’s no easy task for an actor to really sell the believability of a real-life teddy (being that it’s not a children’s flick) and especially reel in emotional investment from the audience under the circumstances.  The cast pulled it off seamlessly.  Mark Wahlburg is proving himself to be quite the versatile actor.  He’s generally known for his hard-assed dark action roles.  He came straight out of The Fighter and Contraband to play a flippant, pot-smoking loser who spends all his time talking to a raunchy teddy bear- and he really makes you believe it.  He’s completely convicted, and in return, so was I.  But what’s a leading actor without their supporting cast?  Mila Kunis plays the more grounded and reasonable character, and she’s turning out to be quite the success.  Her versatility between comedy and drama is beginning to flourish, and I look forward to seeing her stretch her talents even further in the future.  Also taking part on screen is the very eccentric Giovanni Ribisi in a role that was written, I think, specifically to add that slight tingle of uncanny discomfort that is characteristic of any MacFarlane production.
Speaking of Seth MacFarlane, I’ll start by stating the obvious:  I’m a fan.  He is assuredly one of the most talented people in the industry today.  The dictionary definition for the french cinematic term auteur is “a filmmaker whose individual style and complete control over all elements of production give a film its personal and unique stamp.”  Next to it should be a picture of Seth MacFarlane.  Writer, director, producer, actor, singer, animator, etc.  He submerges all of his incomprehensible talents into everything he does.  Given, his humor is always quite racy and isn’t exactly what I’d call “universal”.  That aside, his comedic timing is consistently perfect, and his characters always express a variety of personality types to mitigate the lack of universality of his demographic.  This is shown especially in Ted.  One of the most impressive things about this film is the sprinkling of drama and authenticity in a story so silly and lewd.  The movie had a few serious moments, and I found myself silent and attentive accordingly.  When the story worked itself into a sad moment, I choked back a fear tears.  MacFarlane is truly a mastermind of a writer.  He understates himself by creating works of a more unrefined nature- but I urge you not to underestimate the true genius behind his brain-children.
The movie all together is not serious.  The plot is somewhat thin.  It’s simple, but it’s fun.  The comedic formula is typical to MacFarlane, and very similar to the likes of what you would see in an uncensored episode of Family Guy or American Dad.  The jokes are always different,- and in my opinion always hilarious- but they always follow the same structures.  MacFarlane works are known for their crass political and pop culture references and their abrupt cutaways/flashbacks.  Walk into this movie expecting just that.  It’s the same old MacFarlane comedic formula.  But also keep in mind that this movie wasn’t made with FOX breathing down his neck.  There definitely seems to have been more creative freedom in making this movie as opposed to having to appease the television network.  I greatly sensed a sort of comedic release in this movie from the creators.  So even though it is in a way typical, the movie offers more than the standard comedy to be expected.  You don’t watch his shows to discover a deeper meaning to the human condition and reflect on our existentialism.  And that’s ok.  Sometimes, you just want to laugh unaffectedly.  The same goes for the movie.  Know this, and you’ll have a good time.
I rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 Monica Lebrewski’s.

Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

In my younger years, Sundays were always the day for Western marathons.  My father would hog the living room TV with old John Wayne and Glen Ford flicks.  I, on the other hand, secluded myself to my bedroom watching Alien and practicing my intense Power Rangers’ moves.  Director Jon Favreau seemed to have melded my childhood experiences into this year’s momentous Western/Sci-Fi film, Cowboys and Aliens.

Daniel Craig breaks momentarily from his James Bond adventures to play the leading lone-gunman, Jake Lonergan.  His velvety English accent is masked with a rough and muddled Southwestern strum.  Craig shows a different side of himself in this film, displaying immense versatility as a leading Hollywood actor.  He surprises and captivates us with his talents, all the way to the end credits.  The adventure begins when Jake wakes up in the middle of the desert naked and alone, without a clue to even his own name.  The mysterious cowboy throws a couple bad-ass moves on a shoddy passerby, and rides to town in a new pair of clothes and on a new trusty steed.

The accuracy with which this 19th Century Western village was rendered was completely on point.  Costumes, music, and even down to the lighting, which I believe to be above the average difficulty level on a Western set.   Westerns are also notorious for their use of stock characters, and Cowboys and Aliens made no exceptions.  The supporting cast includes Olivia Wilde as the unsuspected-strong female counterpart, Sam Rockwell as the compassionate doormat, Adam Beach as the token Native American, Paul Dano as the idiot bully, and Keith Carradine as the no-nonsense Sheriff.  Most notably, perhaps, is the largest supporting role played by Harrison Ford- the powerful, corrupted old dog that won’t be taught new tricks.  It’s good to see Ford still rocking the silver screen as he pushes into his seventies.  He has a ceaseless stamina as an actor, with much credit to this particularly charismatic performance.  Each character created for this film is from great influence of the typical characters seen in the films of the Old West.  The reality of this environment was truly believable.  I swear I could almost feel the hot desert sun and smell the stagnant cowboy sweat blanketing the smoky village bar.  And then they were invaded by aliens.

The invasion scene and the action that heartily follows to the very end is one of the most impressive and colorful fusions of genre in today’s cinematic melting pot.  The artists on set did such a good job bringing us back to the 19th Century, and took us to the next level with a completely opposing futuristic angle.  Favreau’s heaviest directorial projects prior to Cowboys and Aliens were Iron Man and Iron Man 2.  Both films showed his talent for action/adventure, and the impressive special effects followed faithfully into this movie as well.  The effects were top notch and the action scenes were suspenseful; all without ever losing sight of the time period. Kudos must also be given to the team of writers.  They really captured the perspectives of the Old West, down to the religious perspectives on alien invasions in that time period.  The invaders were never actually referred to as “aliens,” but instead as “demons.”  The writers bred each detail with precision, alongside the remaining cast and crew.

It’s reminiscent, yet innovative.  Cowboys and Aliens is imaginative and perfectly fuses the two most opposing genres into a whirlwind of remarkably novel entertainment.  It is the Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup of motion pictures.  Who doesn’t love Reece’s?

I rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 Laser-Sighted Lassos.

Devil (2010)

Among the falling autumn leaves and brisk bite in the air, Halloween season brings us the cluster of ever-anticipated Horror theatrical releases.  John Erick Dowdle’s newest thriller, Devil, hit the box office just before the tide came in, driven by a passable leading cast including Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, Bokeem Woodbine, and Geoffrey Arend.  A close-quarters confinement horror story, this movie plays on the audiences’ sense of morality, religion, fears of the dark, and topped with a sweet glaze of claustrophobia.

The blanket statement of the story is nothing original.  The Devil walks the Earth in human form and agonizingly exterminates those who harbor intense sin.  Screenwriter Brian Nelson provides a bit of refreshment to this tale by placing our group of sinners in a broken elevator, knowing not who the killer is amongst them, but only that there’s absolutely nowhere to run.  Considering his past works, most memorably Hard Candy (highly recommended!) and 30 Days of Night, Nelson has a deep understanding and talent to exploit the extent of terror created by restricting the space between good and evil.  Adding to the growing sense of claustrophobia, shared by both character and viewer, is the unbearable detail that all the scary stuff happens when the lights go out.  My personal distaste for darkness accounted for relentlessly squeezing my husband’s hand to numbness.  These two prominent aspects of the story rub a shiny polish on the overused “Devil on Earth” concept.
The movie opens on a pan across the cityscape of Philadelphia.  Decorating the set-up is an offensively robust score by Fernando Valàzquez.  Cellos and Tympanis blaring superficial staccato rhythms, I thought I accidentally stumbled back in time to fifty years ago and walked into a showing of Hitchcock’s Psycho.  A modern-style horror in modern times should yield a more modern musical backdrop.  Now I don’t mean to undermine retro-horror or any of its significant aspects.  I adore the upbringing of the genre in all its ages.  I also enjoy much of its return stylistically, such as in the successful Grindhouse double-feature and Andrew Douglas’ 2005 remake of Amityville Horror.  But unless you’re Lady Gaga, you just don’t wear plaid with cheetah print.  
Sitting upon the top tier of the creative involvement are Director John Erick Dowdle and Writer-Producer M. Night Shyamalan, masters in their own genius’ of twisting reality and plot.  Emerging again from the box office hype of Quarantine (another “confinement” horror), Dowdle struts his seductively suspenseful knack for the uncanny.   Shyamalan stamps his signature on the film with the loveable yet sorrowful anti-hero, undertones of religious structures, and his most notable third act twist.   Though controversial in talent within popular culture, I am a Shyamalan fan.  I will defend The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable to my dying day – a topic I will subdue arduously until another time.  Though not nearly as poignant in character progression or story as his other films, this movie accomplished what I think its straightforward intention attempted.  It’s a good scare with an interesting enough story to sit through for eighty minutes.
Obligated to mention the on-screen talent, I find myself pausing for inspiration.  Not too bad, but not too good.  Excluding key players Chris Messina and Logan Marshall-Green, there isn’t much to say for the cast.  They played the shallow roles they were given.  Equally the fault of deficient character development and stale performances, I was resigned to slight disappointment and indifference.  Rescuing the viewers’ teetering emotional involvement, Chris Messina subtly (for the most part) forces his sorrow upon us.  The detective who lost everything must work through his personal life struggles and save this group of tormented elevator passengers from unknown peril.  Messina plays misery, temporal urgency, perplexing horror with a comfortable and charming sense of mature restraint and calculation, soothing the headache caused by overacted fright from the elevator tenants.  Among our group of detained sinners, Logan Marshall-Green highlights his superior talent.  Though at first a little banal (undoubtedly a factor of the “plot is priority over character” design), his character develops a little more than the others throughout the plot and Marshall-Green pursues it to the fullest.  By the end of the film, and especially in the gripping twist, I was attached to him.  A scene in particular where his character steps into the spotlight allows him the opportunity to show a certain depth and emotionality that is executed with authenticity and endearment.
All in all, Devil classified itself as an entertaining but potentially forgettable horror film.  Whether intentional or not, it might have been a smart move to release it as forerunner of this year’s horror season releases instead of alongside competing releases.  Followed by other enticing movies of its genre in October (Let Me In, My Soul to Take, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D, etc.), this ordinary picture would have been a likely candidate to be overlooked otherwise.
I rate this movie 3 out of 5 "Hail Marys".

Grande Opening

Hello all...

I created this blog to share my opinions on the latest- and perhaps not so latest- movies to pop into the mainstream.  I want to furnish a reputation for myself as a reviewer, and hone my skills as a writer.  Please follow my blog...and get your friends to follow me as well!  There is success in numbers, my comrades.

Also, email me if you have any criticism about my blogs...I want to make my reviews as enjoyable, thorough, and well-written as possible.

Thanks for viewing!  Off to the movies...

M