Fruitvale Station (Drama-Crime)

“Some people just aren’t very good listeners, while others have nervous trigger fingers”

A young African American man by the name of Oscar Grant has just come out of the big house and is trying to turn his life around. After recently losing his job for tardiness, and then dumped his large marijuana stash in the ocean which was suppose to pay his bills, the young man puts himself in a tough spot. Nevertheless he still wants to enjoy the New Year with his baby mama, and let go of his troubles for a few hours. After a night of partying with his friends, he encounters a former white supremacist inmate that disrespected him and his mom in Jail. A fight breaks out, the police are called, and while Oscar and his friends are in custody, law enforcement “accidentally” shoots someone.

If you are in the mood for a depressing story and a heavy plot point that drags on and concludes on a sour note, this one is for you. The story is based on actual events that took place in 2009 at Fruitvale Station in Oakland,California, and the actual phone footage is shown at the start of the film. This brings the audience to the point of knowing what is about to happen before it does, which ruins the element of surprise all together. This is beside the point, as the events and story arcs leading up to it are the real focus, which are unfortunately generic and lack any originality for this type of urban tale.

Already having a shortage of creativity, the lead actors performance is not believable as a young man who grew up in the hood. What made matters worse is when his “strait from the hood” friends came onto the screen, you could tell he had to overcompensate to even partially blend in. No matter how many “brahs” he proclaims and other street references strait out of the urban dictionary, his preforming art school colors bleed right onto the screen making it very hard to watch without chuckling.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Action-Sci-Fi)

“The elite shall bring the game to another level, as well as a hidden agenda that could bring a new rebellion”

After Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are the first “Couple” to win the hunger games, they take a tour to speak to all the districts. In turn, small uprising are making their way to select districts and the president is nervous of another rebellion. With Katniss being the centerpiece of hope for the people, what better way to diminish her than to put her into another hunger game for the 75^th anniversary with all the previous winners. Just before the games begin, the odds seem to not be in her favor, but interestingly enough alliances fall into place were they are least expected.

Coming off of a very successful initial film by both critics and audiences alike, the series is on the path to become a fruitful franchise.  In a matter of speaking the same elements are used, the flashy parties, holograms, futuristic technologies, and social class systems holding animosity for one another.  A few things didn’t work as well with the sequel and most noticeably the pacing, which is attributed to the first half of the film with little to no action. This was no surprise, since the backstory was essential especially as this film is not the last of the series.

The problem wasn’t so much of the plot itself, but more that the over dramatization was being used in place of any substance.  Once realized this came off as a bit of a cheap way to rushed the meaningful development of the tale all together. There was also quite a bit of crying, mostly from Katniss, leaving the viewers ready for combat uninterested in the melodrama and emotional love triangle.

Once the games did begin, a few new obstacles were introduced and creative plays to the game, which had you on your toes through the remainder. This all led up to a brilliant cliffhanger that brought viewers into an amnesia to the slow start and created anticipation for the third installment.

Prisoners (Thiller-Crime-Drama)

 “An initially gripping story with events that eventually become mundane and tiresome, making you wait in agony for some type of redemption”

The premise of the film is two girls go missing after they wander over to one of the girls’ residence up the street during thanksgiving.  The police have no suspects or tangible clues except for a suspicious camper van that was parked outside a neighboring house when the girls vanished.  Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is put on the case and it becomes his first real challenge as he has solved every case up to this point.

Hugh Jackman began with a very strong performance as one of the parents of the missing girls.  He was very authentic for a father in this situation, and it was very easy to empathize with him.  His character development became a bit cliché and then evolved into overzealous.  Luckily his heartfelt start made you roll your eyes a bit less as his overacting gradually became irritating.  One note-worthy performance, though you only saw him briefly (but heard him throughout), was Paul Dano.  He was the main suspect, but portrayed a believable child like innocence that you couldn’t help but feel sorry for.

The running time was an issue as it was over 2 ½ hours.  It showcased suspenseful scenes but a lot of the distorted suspicions and the emotional disorder were excessive.  The plot could have been much tighter, and since the subject matter is a bit heavy it became unpleasant.

In essence the story was a very elementary allegory of the human spirits transformation in a state of powerlessness.  A type of film you would see with your adolescent child and they would be able to discern the meaning of the film half way through.

Out of the Furnace (Drama-Crime-Thriller)

“The strait and narrow seems unambiguous to the virtuous, but momentous affairs bring even the most trustworthy of men to feelings of ambivalence”

The film follows the life of Russell Baze, played by Christian Bale, a hard working mill worker that has followed his dying father’s blue-collar footsteps.  Russell also has a brother Rodney (Casey Affleck), a troubled soldier who between his military tours is mixed up in an underground bare-knuckle boxing world orchestrated by John Petty (William Dafoe).  When John uses Rodney to try and work off a debt with a Hillbilly Crime Boss by the name of Harlan Degroat (Willie Harrelson), the courtship gets a bit sour and Russell steps in to make things right with or without the laws help.

After the intense opening scene, Pearl Jam kicks on with the movie title setting an Americana tone with static shots of crowded railways, power lines, and backdrops of exuberant factory smoke.  It is clear from the start that they are located in the economically depressed Rust Belt, as you can almost taste the urban decay.  The films subtle political undertones are ostensible, but never brought as a focal point to deviate from the actual message.

The cast was very impressive with what they could work with, as you would assume with this caliber of veteran actors.  The performance by Willie Harrelson was paramount and triggered an anxiety of his unpredictable behavior whenever he was on screen.  The rest of the performers made it effortless for the audience to feel for their misfortunes, as their struggles were very genuine and acceptable. The majority of the characters in this story are sensible in their own right based on their experiences and current situation, but many of their decisions are still debatable and reap consequences.

Most of the film is relatively mild mannered aside from a few fights and uneasy stares.  Eventually everything is thrown into slightly predictable emotional and psychological turmoil that brings the story and all the players true identities to the table.

Bad Grandpa (Comedy)

“A horny old man and his grandson take a road trip fueled by booze and shart jokes”

Irving Zisman, or Grandpa, (Johnny Knoxville) takes a journey cross country to take his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) to his fathers after his mom was sent to jail.  At the same time Irving has just become a bachelor after his wife has passed away, and he is more than eager to jump back on the bandwagon of love.

As always the jackass crew left no prisoners, pulling stunts on unsuspecting people without regret.  There wasn’t a gag that didn’t make you laugh, but at times they pushed it past funny and into crude.  The child actor really kept character, especially when you think he had one chance to pull it off.  One scene that really impressed me was when Billy fooled an unsuspecting man that he indirectly adopted him.  He kept this going without even a smirk for longer than Jimmy Fallon could have I guarantee you.

One major criticism was that they tried to make this into an actual movie when the viewers came to see pranks.  When the camera went to Knoxville attempting to act, while him and his grandson are the only two on camera, it was just painful.  We get it Knoxville, you’ve been in a few movies but lets stick to what works, you can’t sell the bond developing between these two characters and it only takes away from the flow of the film.  This unnecessary third act was luckily saved by an epic last stunt that I still don’t know how they got permission to do.

12 Years a Slave (Drama)

“A historic account of a free man who is broken into slavery, revealing to him that the spirit of ones despair is a matter of their own perspective”

The story begins in the midst of the abolition of slavery in America.  The northern states have already conformed to this new ideology, but the southern states and their heavy reliability of climate dependent crops and year round labor makes slavery more of a “necessity”.  The increased demand of cheap labor but fewer supply made slaves hard to come by, and more of a sought after commodity.

A black market of slavery arose and a free man by the name of Solomon, a well educated violinist, was sold into it after a betrayal by a duo of new acquaintances.  Solomon endured being a slave for 12 years and was sold or traded between different owners like livestock.  The whipping and other abusive scene were unapologetic, but this violence is overshadowed by the psychological manipulation which is apparent throughout.  Solomon gradually succumbs to his situation while also inheriting the true anguish of his companions; which initially he rejected as nothing but empty sorrow.

The film was so much more than a tale of slavery, it placed you inside the humid reeds of the deep south and made you work through the unforgiving sun.  Panning scenes showcased the swamps of the bayou, with trees engulfed in dangling Spanish moss against the warm backdrop of the blood-red setting sun.  The attention to detail was profound and in tune with the atmosphere.  Half way through the film the ability to tell the time of day by the sound of insects alone became undeniable.

American Hustle (Drama-Crime)

“An extravagant overstuffed pig which was overcooked and became inevitably dry and unpalatable”

I understand that honorable critics and movie buffs alike revered this movie, but personally I don’t see what the big fuss is all about.  This is a classic case of Hollywood hysteria and everyone likes it so you better too or else you are ignorant.  I think if everyone had no outside influences and looked at this film at face value, they would be able to see the movie I saw.  Let me try to explain, I will hold back any real spoilers.

The beginning starts out beautifully, showing Christian Bale’s character taking his time with his hairpiece routine and then the following scene were Bradley Coopers character messes it up before a big meeting.  I had great vibes right off the bat, but they didn’t last long.  The Costume and 70’s Score was spot on, the way the scenes were shot was very visually stimulating, but what was missing was an engaging plot and believable characters.

I tried my very best to get into what was going on, but everything was so chaotic from the start and oddly enough developing at snails pace.  At a few points I was so disengaged I began dosing off.  There were so many unnecessary plot points the movie could have been 30% shorter and probably more entertaining.

The most off-putting part of this whole film was the cast.  Lets put all the knights of the round table from last year box office into one “epic” and see what happens.  I understand that The Director, David O. Russell, likes these stars because they have worked in his other films.  But Russel’s dream-team casting vision fell short in executing intriguing roles which were set up to develop into very deep characters.

Take Jennifer Lawrence from Silver Linings Playbook who I genuinely like, but make her a loud, shit-talking, no nonsense, young new jersey trophy wife.  Jennifer was actually almost believable, but Amy Adams may have been more suitable for this role since she already played it pretty well last year in The Fighter.  Can you even fathom Adams as an irresistible seductress?  Even the low cut dresses, which are in every scene, couldn’t help with her persona or forced acting.  Every time she tried to act sexy it look more like she was about to overdose on Quaaludes.  Bradley Cooper I have never really liked on screen, but he was as annoying as ever.  And that other guy, Jason Bourne 2, was o.k. at best.  Christian Bale was the only enjoyable one of the bunch and really kept this movie afloat, without him it would have sunk without a doubt.

The Purge (Thriller-Suspense-Horror)

“The writer either has dementia or the script was split between numerous idiots without any collaboration whatsoever”

Ethan Hawke is a sales rep for the number one home security system in the nation, which is perfect because once a year every crime is legal for 12 hours.

So when it is the night of the purge Ethan’s son hears a man screaming for help, and what is his first instinct?  Oh, he’s probably running from someone I am going to risk my families life and let him in, logical, so that’s what he does.

Once this intruder is let in the family gets stocked up with firearms, and randomly the daughters boyfriend comes out of nowhere and thinks its a bright idea to kill the overprotective father in front of the whole family.  Luckily this plot point didn’t take off, it was only a 3 minute confusing distraction that was meant to make you jump, the boyfriend inevitably gets shot and killed by the father.

With that out of the picture, now there is a gang of masked people looking for this man who ran into the house.   Luckily the number one security sales person will have a great security system, so they wont make it onto the property right?  He must have a moat filled with piranhas, 10 lions as guard dogs, an electric fence that could cook a turkey, or at minimum a barbed wire fence like in the third world countries? None of the above? Seriously?  The kid from home alone was better prepared.

So the gang strolls onto his lawn and demands to give them the intruder loose in the house or they will break in and kill the family.  This is believable since they obviously got past the grass lawn and white picket fence already.  To help the family find the man quicker, the gang immediately shuts the power off…wait, what?

Luckily the boy finds the intruder with his remote controlled car, perfect, they can hand him over and everything will be dandy.  Wrong.  The boy instead shows the intruder his secret hiding spot, and a few minutes later the sister gets taken hostage by the intruder when she tries hiding there, that’s strike two kid with your bright ideas.

I turned this atrocity off, but surely the gang breaks in and the family makes countless mistakes ending with a predictable conclusion.