Review: ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’

Zac:

HP and OTP is the best film in the series and sets the tables for the thrilling conclusion of the last two films to come. The book and the film both serve as set-ups for the last two plot lines but that doesn’t hurt the material as it is both full of information and adventure.
David Yates is a first time film and Harry Potter director and he knocks it out of the park. Known for great character drama’s on British television he brings that alleged greatness to the series that has been getting stronger ever since Azkaban. Yates also does an excellent job with the action with some major props to his work with ILM.
Harry is dealing with some weird dreams of Voldemort and is a bit of an outcast after his claims of the dark lord’s return fell on many deaf ears. It doesn’t help that he is also being smeared by the Ministry of Magic as a liar along with Dumbledore. And speaking of Dumbledore, the headmaster is avoiding Harry and all this thrown together is making Harry a bit angry. He has one shinning point in his life, his Godfather Sirius Black, and Harry desperately wishes for them to be a proper family and move on to a time where just the two of them can be together.
The story is given a new villain in Dolores Umbridge, played by the amazing Imelda Staunton, which you just want to punch in the face by the third time we see her. She begins to slowly gain power at Hogwarts as she is a not so covert snake for Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, at Hogwarts; keeping an eye on Dumbledore.
The rest I will let you discover for yourself, but just know that the cast is solid, all but a couple shaky moments from Emma Watson as Hermione, with Rupert Grint out acting all of the kids in the movies. All the regulars return on the teaching side, though most of them just make brief appearances and take a backseat to Umbridge.
The movie is dark and not full of a ton of fun, but it allows the material to be taken more seriously and shows the maturation of the series, just as the books grew as they went along. Order of the Phoenix is another great entry into the franchise and I can’t wait to see what Yates and company do with The Half Blood Prince in a year from now.

[rating: 4.5/5]

Review: ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’

Zac:

Possibly the best movie of the summer, and almost a lock for my top 10 of the year, Bourne comes to your home on DVD this week and I will use this opportunity to right my review of the film.
Bourne is just as kid the second time around and surprisingly still very intense. That was one of my fears coming into this second viewing in that it might lose the heart thumping thrill of the first time, but amazingly it doesn’t.
The film picks up right where the previous left off as we follow Jason Bourne (the always stellar Matt Damon) on the run from Moscow police. After a brief flashback to unknown events Bourne is on his way to London to try and get some info from a journalist (Paddy Considine) who has been digging up the dirt on Bourne and Treadstone (the black ops group Bourne is trying to unravel). The story helps wrap up Bourne’s mysteries, even if there isn’t a lot there, and I won’t ruin the film for some who haven’t seen it yet with further plot points. The scene in London though, is amazing! So well done and thought out, it shows you how good Bourne is, as well as showing us how such a simple situation can create such thrills and excitement that just had me giddy and on the edge of my seat as I watched it. The scenes in Tangier are also spectacular with a great motor chase, foot chase, and fight rolled into one. The film is also full of clever tricks and twists with a great screenplay by Tony Gilroy (of recent Michael Clayton success) and company. Paul Greengrass returns with his “shaky camera” as well, and a lot of people can’t look past it, in any film, and the unfortunately let a couple wild shots pull them out of a fantastic action film.
Jason Stratharin appears as a new CIA official and continues solid work since his belated breakout in Good Night, and Good Luck. Joan Allen also carries over her character of Pamela Landy and does just as good a job as she did in the previous Bourne effort. Damon just owns this character and there is no one else i could see in the role after these films, one of the best moments in cinema is whenever Jason Bourne over matches some unsuspecting chump in this trilogy and Damon sells it so well.
In the end, if you are a fan, don’t miss this, and you probably haven’t. If you have never seen the Bourne movies, don’t start here, yourself with the full experience; and the films only get better as you go. Ultimatum is the best of the trilogy and clearly the best live action movie of the summer, while also setting itself just underneath some of the best action movies ever made. Make sure you find a way to see this one, it will not disappoint.

[rating: 4.5/5]

Review: ‘Ratatouille’

Zac:

Hands down the best animated film of the year (unless Persepolis blows me away whenever I get to see it) and probably the best since Brad Bird’s last film, the masterpiece that is The Incredibles, Ratatouille is a fantastic story about rats, cooking, and believing in anyone.
We follow two main characters in this film Remy the rat and who is a masterful chef who embraces humans and there ways. As well as Linguini, a wanna be chef without a chance to every be good. The two happen to fall in each others laps and are able to help one another out through a little fantasy twist and imagination.
This movie is just full of beautiful shots, exhilarating moments, great comedy, touching scenes, a fun villain, and is just a joy to watch every time you see. I’ve seen this 3-4 times and it is more rewarding with every experience. Remy’s first shot at cooking is a great beautiful cinema moment, the opening is does a great job of introducing us to the world without being at all boring, the sleepy Linguini scene is hilarious, and the ending is just about perfect even if it is a bit of a stretch.
The voice work is stellar through out with Brag Garrett doing some of his best as Gusteau, Patton Oswalt is perfect for Remy, Janeane Garofalo is unrecognizable as Colette but does the French accent superbly, but the best work belongs to Peter O’Toole who gives Anton Ego so much more life, if you could call it that, with his raspy and commanding voice.
The animation is also spectacular and continues to get better every time Pixar goes out and makes a new movie. Brad Bird gives us a wonderful view of Paris, and is one of three great looks at the City of Lights this year. The score by Michael Giacchino is also wonderful and he proves again that he is one of the best composers around today in film. Praises can not be said enough for Bird and his team, while Bird cements himself as one of the best directors ever, if he hadn’t already in most peoples eyes.
With Ratatouille Pixar is back at the top of its game, not that Cars was bad it was just a understandable step below the Incredibles, and while not quite topping Brad Bird’s last this is definitely just as good as, if not better, Finding Nemo and the Toy Story’s.

[rating: 5/5]

Review: ‘The Namesake’

Zac:

Mira Nair has taken this adaptation of the novel of the same name and turned in a touching and entertaining movie that while remaining constantly enjoyable, never rises above being anything but pretty good.
Irfan Khan, Tabu, and Kal Penn share the lead in this movie with each giving us a fascinating look into Indian culture and the effect of raising a family in a country far from home can have on everyone involved. Ifran Khan is great as Ashoke Ganguli and we open the film with him in a train crash. We then go on to see the arrangement of Ashoke and his wife Ashima (Tabu) and they quickly move to America where Ashoke has been studying for his PHD. Gogol (Penn) is born as is his sister Sonya and the movie quickly moves up to Gogol’s high school graduation. The movie jumps large blocks of time though out though we don’t really feel like we miss a whole lot, which is a good thing. Along the course of the film we get to see Ashoke and Ashima’s adjusting to America, numerous visits back to India, we follow Gogol’s love interests as well as a discovery of his heritage through his family.
Kal Penn does some pretty good work here and I would love to see him get to spread his wings a bit more like this with some meatier roles. He is able to handle most of the drama well but he is not performing at the same league as Khan and Tabu. His love interests also do admirable jobs but leave you feel like we could have gotten more from them as both characters and actresses.
Tabu is just fantastic as the mother as the emotional core of the film. She is in the middle of everything and deals with a lot of the drama in the film but we get some great looks into her emotions as she deals with all the changes around her. I don’t think I have seen her in anything else, but I hope she pops up more cause she is great and a real find in this movie.
The movie as a whole is good, with some great camera work at Taj Mahal. The jumps in time are a bit jarring, but don’t let us feel like we missed anything to important, and there are some really great genuine moments along the way. The film just lacked something to give it that punch of greatness and I really don’t know what it is, but it’s missing something. Either way it is a film that is definitely worth your time if at all interested and for anyone up for a good family drama with a cultural twist.

[rating: 4/5]

Review: ‘Paris, je t’aime’

Zac:

This is a great collection of short films that rarely let down at all while giving you a fun visual tour of both love and Paris. Since there are a number of people involved I will just go over my favorite entries, but just know that there are few that will let you down. The movie uses both French and English depending on the characters so you stupid subtitle haters, be warned.

-The opening film, Montmarte, is a great little bit of comedy and a look at chance encounters with some great work by Bruno Podalydà ¨s who also directed the piece as well.
-Le Marais by Gus Van Sant might have one of the best laughs over all with a scene taking place at a print shop.
-Tuileries is a hilarious sub-way scene staring Steve Buscemi and directed by the Coen Bros.
-Loin du 16Ã ¨me is probably the shortest, but is a great piece though sad once it is over.
-Bastille is a tragic look at love and the power tragedy can have on a waning couple.
-Place des Victoires is a fantastical look at grief and loss and is one of the more surreal entries.
-Tour Eiffel is a fun look at Mime romance.
-Place des FÃ ªtes by Oliver Schmitz was probably the best of the bunch, blending love, comedy, tragedy, and heartbreaking sadness beautifully into his short portion, and is worth watching the movie just to see it.
-Quartier de la Madeleine with Elijah Wood is a fun change of pace look at love and the fantastical mythos of French nightlife.
-Faubourg Saint-Denis is a fast and kinetic look at the relationship between a blind man and a young American actress. This one stars Natalie Portman and is directed by Perfume’s Tom Tkwer.
-14th arrondissement is the last film, directed by Alexander Payne of Sideways, and is a funny look at Paris through the eyes of an American tourist, and is a great cap to the short film program.

The movie is full of great comedy, tragedy, touching moments, and pretty much any emotion that you can think of is represented here in the broad range of short films. I suggest you seek this out as it is a joy to watch and is constantly enjoyable and rarely slows down or bores. Overall, a great compilation that makes one wish for more collaboration like this as this is a great way to discover new talent that might be oblivious to you while delivering excellent and varied entertainment that gives you something new at every turn.

[rating: 4.5/5]

Review: ‘Black Book’

Zac:

The newest film by Paul Verhoeven, of 80’s action movie fame, is a great WWII thriller revolving around a rich Jewish girl on the run and her eventual role in the resistance. Carice van Houten stars as Rachel/Ellis and is a wonderful find for the film fans (American producers have taken notice and have gobbled her up in a number of upcoming films). We are introduced to Rachel in hiding in a Christian family’s wine cellar in Holland
but is quickly forced back on the run. She eventually finds herself as part of the Dutch resistance and is asked how far she is willing to go for the cause. Dying her hair and changing her name to Ellis she finds her self deep behind enemy lines.
The movie’s twist and turns are what make this movie great so I will not share any more of the plot, but the film moves along, never slowing down as we move with Ellis on her dangerous path. The acting throughout is very good with a great turn by Sebastian Koch who some might recognize from “The Lives of Others,” as the Dutch Gestapo leader who has a direct relationship with Ellis. Thom Hoffman is also great as the right hand man to the resistance that helps to lead the group that Ellis falls into.
The film’s production value is also very high for an foreign film, selling the time period nicely and gives you a glimpse of the Nazi way of life for some of the higher officers. The film does divulge into the Holocaust or really preach the atrocities of the Nazi’s the war just serves as a great historical background for this taught thriller. I think this helps the films enjoyment and entertainment factors as it does beat you over the head with depressing material of the era and is more focused just telling a thrilling story of the time.
Anyone up for a good spy/espionage/period thriller should check this one out as it never really disappoints. It never lifts itself into the upper-echelon of films released this year, but is an entertaining ride that will engage you throughout.

[rating: 4.25/5]

Review: ‘The Golden Compass’

Zac:

Chris Weitz first foray into the fantasy realm is one that is inspiring, and is almost something great, but I can’t help like feeling there was so much more to know. The film looks fantastic, with top notch CGI throughout, doing an exceptional job with the dà ¦mon’s (pronounced demons), the animal manifestation of ones soul that never leaves your side, prowling about everywhere in this fantasy world. We are quickly introduced to Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) and we know he is important and is doing important things but we never really find out why and who he really is. This is par for the course in this movie, always feel like we are just skimming the surface of what is really going on. Anyways, Asriel has a niece Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) who lives under his and the college that he works at protection who are under pressure from the evil Magisterium. The Magisterium is a Christian-like organization that is, gasp, the bad guy. The organization is accused of blinding the people from the truth, destroying evidence that proves other wise, and abusing its power to make sure anybody that might go against them is silenced; even if they might be right. Anyways, one of Lyra’s friends is abducted by “the gobblers” while she is whisked away by an important woman, Miss. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) to the North as part of some experiment Coulter has going on there.
Either way, to say more would ruin the story, but I promise the actual film isn’t as all over the place as that last paragraph makes it sound. The film is quick paced and well structured, it is just all a bit to convenient sometimes with things happening just because to move things forward, instead of the characters keeping things going. Along the way we will meet the Gyptians (or Gypsy’s), armored bears, including the awesome Iorek Byrnison, an exiled prince voiced by Ian Mckellan, and witches like Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green); Even Sam Elliot show up as Lee Scoresby, an air ship pilot. All the characters have these fun names and seem really interesting but we just skim over who they really are, getting only peeks into their back story, as the movie moves forward.
All in all the movie is very well done, with good acting all around but no one really standing out or doing anything extraordinary. The world is very fun and interesting to dive into, but as i said before, we just feel like that the film is only a narrow looking glass into that world. The ending will also leave people feeling a bit under whelmed as it is very abrupt and sets up the potential sequel. And also one another note, there is a pretty grisly kill in this movie that I didn’t think would be doable in what is essentially a kids movie, so fair notice if you have a youngling, though they might not realize what happened.
A solid fantasy movie, better than Narnia but paling in comparison to Potter or Lord of the Rings, it is a fun way to spend a couple of hours, if only they would have let us into the world a bit more. Oh well, I guess there is always the Extended Edition DVD that is reportedly in the works.

[rating: 4/5]

Review: ‘Bee Movie’

Zac:

What we have here is Dreamworks newest piece of animation that continues on a healthy run of quality, outside the atrocious Shrek 3, following Over the Hedge and Flushed Away. Bee Movie is equally as ridiculous as Flushed Away with the whole, Bee World, and it is just impossible to believe that the animals that exist in our world have this secret under lying society no one knows about.
(It’s just ridiculous to think that rats, or bees, or whatever animal they use have this world with tools and inventions and cars and stuff, it’s just silly. This is where Pixar excels over everyone else; it creates worlds that we can believe might actually exist and are not completely incomprehensible. Now I know Ratatouille might stretch this a bit, but the rats aren’t building cities, and the Remy and Linguine angle is believable because it is simple fantasy; and Pixar are superb story tellers. Enough ranting)
Luckily Bee Movie has one really great thing going for it and that is Jerry Seinfeld. His brand of humor is liked by most and it works great even in this kid environment. His humor keeps the movie going along and is almost constantly funny with some great one liners sprinkled throughout the film. Seinfeld also does some admirable voice work as Barry and the rest of the group is good as well.(special shout out to the great Patrick Warburton)
The story itself is at least mixed up and tries to be a lot of things, but sadly doesn’t do all those things well. There are about 5 acts to this movie and while it’s nice that it doesn’t really drag its feet in repetitive material, one of the acts really falls flat do to its inconceivableness. Luckily Seinfeld’s comedy saves the act in question from ruining a solid comedy family film. The final act is also appreciated for sending an environmental message without beating it over our heads; I’m looking at you Happy Feet.
All in all, this is fun family fair, and if you like Seinfeld at all there is plenty to enjoy. But I would really love to see Dreamworks make movies that don’t make the animals do human things (they did this to best effect with Over the Hedge and that is their best work outside the first Shrek). Anyways, if you got some youngling’s take them out and enjoy the show as there is plenty for both of you to enjoy, even if it is all quite ridiculous.

[rating: 3.5/5]

Review: ‘The Mist’

Zac:

The Mist, the third Stephen King adaptation by Frank Darabont, is a pretty good suspense horror film that is constantly engaging and remains pretty much unpredictable; which is a good quality for horror suspense fair.
Thomas Jane plays David Drayton, a successful movie poster painter living in a small Maine town that is hit by a violent thunderstorm. The storm does some significant damage to the town and knocks out the electricity so Drayton along with his son and neighbor, the stubborn as hell Andre Braugher, head into town, leaving his wife behind looking upon a strange mist rolling out over the lake there house sits on. The trio heads to the grocery store to pick up supplies to find it full of people with the same idea of stocking up supplies when Dan Miller, played well by Jeffrey DeMunn comes screaming into the store, “Something in the mist!” As the mist rolls over the parking lot the supermarket patrons hear screams and the shop violently shakes as it is engulfed in the mysterious haze.
Now to tell you much else would rob the movie of it’s entertainment value in “what’s going to happen next?” Just know it keeps you tensed up and engaged, be it from the terrors outside or the insanity fear brings to some of the people in the supermarket. And that leads me to another point, if you are expecting a balls to the wall creature flick with gory grisly deaths, which there are some, you will be disappointed a bit. There is some of that but the real drama revolves around the people inside the shop and how they react to one another in this desperate time.
A few of the actors deserve some deserving credit for there work in this film. Toby Jones is just great as the smart and witty Ollie who works in the store. Jane is good as always and is criminally under used in Hollywood; he could be a mega star if given a big break. Frances Sternhagen plays is great as an elderly woman who is fighting for her life as hard as anyone in the movie. Sam Witwer is a nice find as a homegrown military boy that just misses getting out of town, while Alexa Davalos is solid as the cute girl next door cashier. Laurie Holden is also pretty good as the mother figure for Drayton’s son during the crisis and has some great back and forth with Marcia Gay Harden who is phenomenal in this film.
Harden owns every scene she is in as the fire and brimstone bible beater and you will love to hate her as the film goes by. Her character’s arc in the film is the most interesting and compelling and sadly is probably fairly accurate if people were in a similar life or death situation. She spouts off to people and just raises everybody’s blood temperature throughout the film and you just dread, in a good way, every time she comes on screen.
Also to note, this film is quite funny at times with some good lines through out. Also the film does a good job of making sure you feel nobody is safe and they aren’t. The special effects at times left a bit to be desired, but Darabont was working with a smaller budget and considering that they are more than good enough most of the time. The mist is also extremely well done but it must have been a pain in the ass to work with.
All in all, this is a solid effort from Darabont and crew and while it isn’t the best thing in the world, it is a fun way to spend a couple hours if you are up for some scares and human drama.

[rating: 4/5]

Review: ‘August Rush’

Zac:

Unfortunately for this film, I wish I had the two hours of my life back. This movie is just flat out terrible. **SPOILERS THROUGH OUT** Now, before anyone writes me off as someone who can’t enjoy a sappy family film, that is wrong, I can usually find enjoyment out of anything on watch, but I only enjoyed about 5min of this movie.
First off the movie just beats things into are head. From the get go we are shown that everyone thinks that August Rush(Freddie Highmore) is a “freak” and we have to listen to everyone call him one for 5 min, enough we get it. We don’t need to feel more sympathetic for a kid who was orphaned but actually has parents somewhere, we are already sold. A second and major issue is believability. Ok, Highmore’s character would not be allowed to be walking around doing anything, they seriously would lock a kid up for talking like he does, he is certifiable. Next, Robin Williams holds all of these homeless musical prodigies that he finds on the street hostage and forces them to work for him and none of these kids runs away, or gets picked up by the authorities, yeah right. Next, Highmore can feel the music, and I am supposed to be inspired by a random gibberish sounding smattering of NY noises when he enters the city on a bus that he some how was able to afford a ticket on while also sneaking out of the Boy’s Town he lives in, I don’t think so. And then I am supposed to believe he is a musical prodigy just because he can wave his hand like a conductor while the camera sweeps around him trying to make it look whimsical and magical, come on.
The next major issue is consistency. Every character makes decisions they would never make, simply because they have to create this ridiculous story and move it along. The parents both drop both of their successful lives and just move to NY on a whim, because they feel inspired by the music in the air. Robin Williams is holding kids hostage, then acting as a mentor father figure, then throwing kids into chain link barriers, then kidnapping children, he is all over the place. Or Highmore’s character who gets the dream opportunity he has waited for to spread his music, and he just follows Robin Williams away back to the streets like a lost puppy, what!?!?! The movie just doesn’t work on just about every level, with only one redeeming seen, towards the end between father and son in the park.
Acting wise, everyone but Highmore does an alright job, it’s the material that is weak, Russell, Howard, and Rhys Meyers have a terrible script to work with. Highmore is just bad. He is all wide eyed and babbles about his dreams like an idiot, remaining incredibly positive for being in such a shitty situation and then he shows that he can cry occasionally; which the director must think will make us emotional because he is crying for no reason. Oh yeah, and it all works out perfectly in the end.
Anyways, I would never ever recommend this movie to anyone, but then again, everyone else I saw it with that it was “good” “cute” and thought I was crazy. So what do I know?

[rating: 1.5/5]