Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson
In the pre-Civil War South, Django, a slave (Foxx), is freed by a bounty hunter (Waltz) and eventually becomes partners in hunting down criminals for cash. Django takes advantage of his natural gunslinging skills to seek out his missing wife (Washington) and take revenge on those who whipped, sold and now own her.
Before I get to the pure-genius-awesomeness of this movie, I am well aware of its intense, ugly portrayal of Black slavery. Knowing Tarantino, slavery should be intense and he won’t apologize for it. That’s his style. He takes on and magnifies things that are ugly: violence against women in Kill Bill, drug use in Pulp Fiction, Nazi dogma in Inglorious Basterds, and the list goes on. Tarantino takes these uncomfortable topics and jams them in your face. Slavery is no exception. Even in 2013, slavery is America’s shame. I’m glad Tarantino didn’t sanitize anything. No one complained when Spielberg made Amistad…In fact, they threw all kinds of awards at him. Just sayin’.
Jamie Foxx is Tarantino’s latest pulp superhero. His transformation from broken slave to dynamite can-o-whoopass was fantastic! I was cheering for him in every second of the movie. Every giant explosion, every racist he capped, and all the Butch Cassidy shit he pulled had me talking to screen for the WHOLE movie!
“Oooooooooo! Aw shit!”
“Daaaaannnnngg!”
Give Christoph Waltz another Oscar. Give him 5. He steals the show again. Seeing DiCaprio and Sam Jackson in villainous roles were money too. I enjoyed seeing all the cool cameos and Unchained’s spaghetti Western vibe kept me glued to my seat, even though some might complain about the use of R&B, hip-hop, and other contemporary artistry. This film is Tarantino at his most unrestrained. We all know his directing style and his film fetishes. Django lets them all loose, almost to the point of brutal excess. Even I had to look away a few times (can’t you say this about any QT film?).
My Django was definitely Unchained when I left the theatre…go see this movie!
Starring: Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Sadowski and Olivia Dudley
I’ll just flat out say it, C.R.A.P. yup, it was complete crap. Isn’t a ‘horror’ film supposed to be creepy and scary and make you jump? Well this one sure as shit didn’t do it to me, and I’m one of those that jumps at their own shadow.
I mean really, radioactive people eating zombies?! And who is actually dumb enough to tour a radioactive abandon town? Oh wait, they read the script, I forgot. {eye roll}
I thank my lucky stars that I paid not a penny to see this horrid little flick. Had I known there would be zombies I would have passed it right on by.
Please, for your own sake… don’t waste your time (88 min to be exact) watching this nightmare. Then again, if you can’t get enough crappy cheesy zombies then be my guest.
Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta and Tom Cruise
When trailers started popping up for this flick I was pretty excited. It looked to be a darned good movie. I mean, look at the cast and the music… How could you go wrong?!
SWEET MOTHER OF GOD did they go wrong!! and in so many ways. It was like a musical train wreck that you just couldn’t stop. A TWO HOUR auto-tuned nightmare. I just kept staring at the screen, eyes locked if not in disbelief then in pure horror of what was unfolding before me. You could have cut off a toe and I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
Their first wrong doing was when the girl Sherrie (Hough) gets off the bus and starts singing “Just like living in paradise” when she should be singing “Welcome to the Jungle”. The scene isn’t paradise at all it’s the complete opposite. Come on people! {face palm}
I must admit, I did giggle once. It was when Drew (Boneta) got up on stage for the first time and sang. After he finished they panned over to Lonny (Brand) and he and another guy had their lighters aflame. A salute to rock ‘n roll.
OH OH OH! Let me not forget get the “I think I’m Gods gift” pseudo star of the flick, Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx. Good grief! Because his ego wasn’t big enough, they made him a friggin’ rock star! And of course he’s got the slutty sluts hanging all over and such… HURL!
Who approves this shit?! Apparently these 80s bands needed some hard cash to let this happen to their classic tunes. Such a sad day in music history.
I won’t be recommending this movie… even to a coma patient.
Directed by Martin McDonagh. Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Tom Waits
Marty, a screenwriter, (Farrell) is struggling with a new screenplay. Billy, his best friend (Rockwell), offers to help out in the writing effort—on the condition that they both receive equal credit for the story. Unbeknownst to Marty, Billy also runs a dognapping scam with his partner-in-crime, Hans (Walken). Things go to hell quickly when the criminal duo steals the dog belonging to a ruthless gangster (Harrelson). In a twist of irony, Marty serendipitously (and hilariously) develops new ideas for his screenplay while trying to avoid the thugs that are out to kill him.
File Seven Psychopaths under dark comedy and I mean DARK. There’s a whole lotta crazy going on with this movie and it’s executed perfectly! Everyone has several screws loose in this movie, especially Rockwell and Walken. I can’t say enough about those two—crazy and f–king bizarre to the hilt! The film has a kinetic flow that’s full of sharp dialogue, a few shocking twists, and parodies of other ‘gangster films’. Seven Psychopaths seems to take particular joy in ripping apart Tarantino’s style with clever amusement.
Be prepared. This movie earns its R-rating with shocking, graphic violence and completely tasteless dialogue. However, you will find yourself laughing at inappropriate moments and that makes this film so much fun. Seven Psychopaths proves that crazy is the new cool. Amazing film! It’s a blast!
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis. Starring: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman
Captain “Whip” Whitaker (Denzel) is an airline pilot that loves to live the fast life. On a routine flight to Atlanta, Whitaker’s plane suddenly fails. In a desperate maneuver, Whitaker rolls the plane and lands it safely in a field with a minimal loss of life. The pilot is praised as a hero. However, the investigation reveals Whitaker had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the accident. Now, Whitaker is entrenched in the fight for his reputation, while facing his demons of alcoholism.
This was NOT an easy movie to watch. It portrays the ugly truth about drug addiction. I found myself cheering for Denzel, knowing that he is trying to do the right thing, only to see him self-implode later with God-awful decisions. Although Flight is a seriously heavy movie, it does have moments of levity, thanks to John Goodman’s hilarious performance as Harling Mays, Whip’s dealer. This film was less about a pilot’s heroism and more about a man’s denouement and its aftermath. Flight is the Anti-Miracle-On-The-Hudson.
Every time that I think that Denzel has done it all, he breaks out in a completely different performance that is worthy of another Oscar. I’m curious on why Zemeckis, who most recently worked on kids’ movies (Polar Express, A Christmas Carol), would do a complete 180 and direct such a sad film. I do recommend Flight but you will leave the theatre with a melancholy feeling. It’s a heartbreaking story to say the least.
There may or may not be spoilers. Read at your own risk!
I went in to Madagascar 3 expecting it to be as entertaining as the previous two Madagascar movies. Boy was I wrong.
This had to be one of the most boring kids movies I have ever watched. What the hell was DreamWorks thinking?!
The plot, for the most part, was far too serious for children and the Russian tiger was just a bit too mean and scarey. There was a slutty leopard or cheetah (whatever) that should have been toned down a bit, or maybe all female Russian animals are trampy.
In trying to lighten things up a bit they tossed in a dimwitted seal lion from what sounded like Italy. Ya, he wasn’t funny either, just dumb.
Halfway through the movie the Russian tiger is still a complete grumpy jerk who needs a big bottle of vodka to loosen that stick outta his bum, and I have yet to laugh more than once (we’ll come to that). This movie is the biggest stinker.
Oh… lest I forget the fat bottomed animal catcher woman that MUST get her lion. She will stop at nothing and I mean nothing. This goes beyond cartoon far fetched. At one point I wanted to smack her with a frying pan she was so annoying.
I truly hope this is the last Madagascar movie they make, as some things just need to die.
I wouldn’t recommend this movie unless you have 93 minutes of your life you no longer have a use for.
DreamWorks, you have F.A.I.L.E.D… ya, you heard me.
Now, for the part I laughed at… see below, the ONLY funny part of the movie…
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.
The creators of The Matrix Trilogy and V for Vendetta have presented a film that is almost foolhardy in its ambition and stunning in its presentation. Cloud Atlas is a story that interweaves six, yes SIX, different plot lines. Each narrative is connected to all the others in both subtle and grandiose ways.
Like in previous films, the Wachowskis anchor their stories within the context of revolution. Neo, in the Matrix films, is the Chosen One that leads the revolution to free humanity from a virtual reality. Vendetta’s Evey is pivotal in the downfall of a futuristic totalitarian regime. The revolution in Cloud Atlas is centered on a mysterious 22nd Century woman, who discovers a dark secret about humanity. The name, “Cloud Atlas”, refers to a symphony written in a different timeline within the film.
The six stories entwine each other and offer clues to the eventual Fall of Man. They highlight the importance and connectivity of all life, regardless of time, race or gender. Cloud Atlas goes beyond karma and reincarnation. It is a film that emphasizes that even the smallest decisions can cause ripples in other timelines. This movie is so immense (almost a whopping 3 hours) that I got lost following all the stories and trying to keep track on why the bleep these characters have to do with saving humanity. Cloud Atlas almost requires a second viewing.
It would be exhaustive to evaluate each actor playing at least SIX different roles in the film. It is enough to say that the acting was top notch. There are moments of wry humor to balance out the graphic violence and gravitas of the film. The cinematography was superb and I really enjoyed some of the nods to other films, such as Blade Runner, Crash, and Amistad.
The most glaring flaws in Cloud Atlas are the six stories themselves. Once the film ends, there is no celebration—no catharsis. The anticlimactic ending left me disappointed. It felt like the Wachowskis just ran out of gas and had no idea on how to end the movie properly. 3 hours of fully investing in these awesome characters and I walked away not caring very much.
Cloud Atlas is a beautiful movie but falls far short of greatness. It lacked cosmic mystery (like The Tree of Life or 2001) and also failed to reward its viewers with a complete story. It’s another example of big budget style but disappointing substance.
