nathanialwest Reviews

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

An intricate film with genuine laughs centered around a solid script

[10/10 · 15 October 2012]

When I was driving to the theater, I was doubting my choice in Seven Psychopaths, because the trailer made it seem like so many films I'd seen before that looked edgy and wry, and showed so much promise in the previews yet fell short because of flat characters and muddled plots. This one, however, did not let me down.

I suggest that you see this film purely because it tries to do more with a movie than anything you've seen in a while, and it manages to actually succeeds on all levels, while dangerously romancing the clichés of toying with clichés, movies about writing movies, and gangsters with a soft side. Every time the story started to get even a little generic, wild cards came firing in from all sides.

The actors played their parts well, but Rockwell gave the best performance. I was impressed by Woody and Walken's abilities to shed their skins and get deeper into character than I've seen them be in years.

This is a writer's film--the subplots (really, borderline vignettes) about the various psychopaths that Marty encounters are well done, their back stories unfold at different paces, and their details that connect them to the central plot are creatively deployed, while the momentum of the film clearly hinges in the here and now and does not make the mistake of merely chaining together several subplots to produce one "dog" of a story.

I enjoyed almost everything about Seven Psychopaths. 10/10 to offset the 2 that someone without a brain will rate this.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

seriously, seriously, seriously bad, and pretentious

[3/10 · 24 June 2009]

I don't know how I got sucked into the hype, but I did, and went to see the 11:59 showing. It was about 90 minutes too long, with plenty of poor excuses for dramatic action scenes instead of awesome CGI sequences of robots destroying each other.

Apart from this, it was tortuously entwined with cliché college backdrop gags for the relationship story between Sam and the hot chick, who my girlfriend thinks looks like trailer trash, but I could go either way on, because her teeth are a little weird.

The story is also a load of crap. Don't even worry about reading any spoilers because you'll see it all coming anyway. I nearly fell asleep and left shaking my head as I realized I was theoldest one in the theater. BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!

Bottom line: wait for the DVD, or better yet, go find some old school action figures and play make-believe.

Righteous Kill (2008)

A stale, unimaginative career low for two fine actors

[5/10 · 14 September 2008]

"Righteous Kill" relies all too heavily on De Niro and Pacino to save what would be otherwise a predictable and uninspired plot and script on a straight-to-DVD flop of a film. Featuring actors such as the two leads is truly an injustice to their prior accomplishments because ultimately, they were not given any opportunities to shine it what ought to have a mind-blowing closing opus for them both.

Other reviews have said it wasn't bad, though they doubted any awards would come of it. I can't disagree with either of the two opinions, but I am saddened to think this is what we have come to expect from Hollywood: perhaps the only two A-list male actors left, and they sign on for what was a film that I wanted to hurry up and end. They shared a lot of time on-screen, but the total lack of characterization made it an experience that I would gladly trade to watch the few scenes of "Heat" again, where two legendary men square off, face to face, in a film worthy of their talent.

Control (2007)

A tribute to the fallen angel in all of us

[10/10 · 18 November 2007]

Simply put, a beautiful film about the young man who had so much potential. The details of Ian Curtis' dark side are best left to the movie, but without spoiling, all I can say is I hope this film will win over new and future fans of what I believe to be the realest rock band that ever existed.

Going black-and-white is a big choice for a film being released in an era of CGI madness, when movies like Beowolf are topping the box office, but you get none of the played-out legendary thematics and sci-fi fairy tales with this film. This is a movie about the postmodern human condition, first and foremost.

Joy Division, unlike previously described, were not a punk band, but classified as Post-punk for several significant reasons. While the Sex Pistols thrashed and screamed and swore their way to fame, and while they are accredited with inspiring Joy Division and a number of other bands that eventually signed to Factory Records, they lacked something that Joy Division searched for in every one of their songs--a deeper meaning. The melodies of Joy Division's music evolved, and in only a few years, beyond even what most bands today are capable of producing. More importantly, the lyrics were never swept away by the distortion and echo-filled guitar and rhythms.To the contrary, they cut through the guitar's industrial opacity and reach deep within to the fragile mortality in all of us.

See this movie, spread the word, and learn how some things aren't meant to be beautiful.

Dear Wendy (2005)

Soars for to the threshold of self discovery, and falls flat

[5/10 · 5 September 2007]

I saw this movie with my art major girlfriend, who loved the film, and visually, I can't disagree. The soundtrack is also eerie, and holds to the dusty ambiance that seems to cover every shot, but ultimately, it never really succeeded in terms of breaking the characters out of their archetypes and enlivening them with unique and humanizing dialog.

The whole time I saw this movie, I thought I'd seen it before. And I had, and in an equally as disappointing form: "The Beach." The fact that Dick begins the movie writing a letter that turns out to be to his gun is a stunningly creative introduction, but when the movie turns from that obsession and begins concentrating on the secret society of the group and their rebellion, via their guns, it all goes sour. The first cut of the film that comes from their later action sequence is completely unnecessary; anyone can see the conflict coming from a mile away. The "perversion" of the group's innocence by Sebastian's reality-tempered attitudes are all too typically applied to a young black man, and the only one in the county, and hence, the plot goes crashing to the ground as yet another inescapable fall from paradise.

Whatever Kubrick-reaching attempts of psychedelic grandeur that the director tries to conjure up never manage to hit home through the potentially interesting lens of the group's fascination with guns, nor do they provide an experience that has not been seen 100 times before, because of the focus on trippy nouveau montages instead of the characters' individual depth.

Ultimately, the attraction of the gun to Dick is that he feels more powerful, more self-assured carrying it. This is the same rationale that people use to sell penis-enhancing chemicals, and I don't buy either.

Mr. Brooks (2007)

A sociological thriller that sticks to its story

[9/10 · 28 July 2007]

I usually hate thrillers, at least the ones that have been pumped out recently by the trilogy, but there are more than a few reasons that I would recommend this film. First of all, you get to see Costner and Moore (who, I know, typically bomb, or are casted in crappy films) present a well written script with rounded characters that are both believable and amazing. Also, the ending is done in a way that really, no matter how much of a film buff you are, it can't be fully calculated, and the rising action that takes you to that point is neither overly-prosaic nor predictable. What's more, you get a couple of black-humor laughs that action films and other thrillers can't touch, not to mention Dane Cook doing what he does best, selling the world on the utter abandonment of my generation to any sort of wholly-functional social role.

Ultimately, this movie succeeds because the characters relate to each other in an honest way, and while Mr. Brook's heinous addiction to murder is the driving force behind the film, you truly can see it from his eyes, as well as the rest of the world he allows to live in peace. The deaths of certain victims brings into question whether or not street justice has a place in society, how our legal system fails, and best of all, whether or not someone can judge if a person deserves to die. However, these debates never entangle the plot, nor is the film some sort of statement on how society functions; it's a story first, and that's why I liked it.