TopekaLass Reviews

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)

Not quite there

[5/10 · 17 April 2012]

Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds and Idris Elba do their best with a guy struggling with his fate as a bounty hunter for the devil. This is a good premise as it was in the first one. It's just that the plot moves at a sow pace. It "seems" to go fast, but it is really slow and not ahead of its audience. If the story is going to be as such and everyone agrees on this then why not have more of the "ghost"? More of the stuff that the title suggests.

I have like Cages work in many movies, including Leaving Las Vegas, Moonstruck and Honeymoon in Vegas, but it seems like he was constrained by the parameters of this script in this movie.

Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor with the screenplay by Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer (story by David S. Goyer), Ghostwriter: Spirit Of Vengeance maybe had too many drafts and rewrites from too many different sources. Interestingly enough, I look forward to seeing what they do with another installment (if they decide to do one), because the premise is a good one.

The Lorax (2012)

Entertaining

[7/10 · 5 April 2012]

This film version of The Lorax is a nicely made animated movie of Dr. Seuss's classic, The Lorax is one of his more serious works. However, this version film version doesn't come across as serious. Although I did find it entertaining. So, maybe they did that for a wider audience.

Basically, a 12-year-old searches for the one thing that will win the affection of the girl he wants. First he must discover the story of a cantankerous but charming creature.

We do, however, have vary nice performances from Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Betty White, Rob Riggle, Taylor Swift and Zac Efron. The movie is also very nice to look at.

Silent House (2011)

Good one

[7/10 · 30 March 2012]

Directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau give us a story about a young woman, Sarah, who is sealed inside her family's secluded lake house. With no way out, events become terrifying. The direction was fine and all of the suspense points seem to be there, albeit a bit predictable. I'm not sure who to credit whenever there is two, sometimes three, directors on board.

The cast had fine actors involved including Adam Trese, Elizabeth Olsen, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross. Elizabeth Olsen did a good job and it doesn't hurt that she is nice to look at.

Interesting camera work on this movie. There seems to be a lot of static shots, that work most of the time. I'm sure that these are choices that the director (s) made and I applaud them for making choices and sticking to them.

This is a story based on a concept that is not very original, but what is important is the execution.

Would I recommend it? I'm not sure if this is for everyone. Some may pick it apart just a little too much. For my, I enjoyed it for what it was.

21 Jump Street (2012)

A fun script

[8/10 · 29 March 2012]

So a guy named Schmidt, played by Jonah Hill, and a guy named Jenk, played by Channing Tatum enlist in the police force's Jump Street unit. There they are able to utilize their youthful appearances to go undercover at a local high school.

They soon discover that high school isn't like it was just a few years ago. OR maybe it is.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum do a fine job of bringing out their own youthfulness in 21 Jump Street, which very much helps the fun script. Two directors are credited with this movie - Phil Lord, Chris Miller, so I'm not sure what that is all about. But given those circumstances the movie survived. 21 Jump Street probably stands to make a lot of money in the long run as it is one of those movies where you just want to not have to think to hard.

The Artist (I) (2011)

Yeah, it received Academy acclaim!

[7/10 · 27 February 2012]

In Hollywood's silent movie era of the 1920s, a movie star realizes that pictures where the actors can talk will destroy his career. Then he meets a dancer and the plot thickens!

Writer and director: Michel Hazanavicius creates an absolutely entertaining, and early era romantic atmosphere with The Artist. The movie's lead actor, Jean Dujardin, is not only sympathetic to watch (no easy task without the benefit of a speaking role), but also gives a very fine performance. I loved the music in this movie. I'm not sure if I will have the same experience, but the music kind of makes me want to see other silent movies that actually came from that era!

Prior to the Academy awards, I had seen about three interviews with Harvey Weinstein. It seems that, if not for his actions, The Artist would never have been so widely released and would never have made it to the awards show. I feel that there should have been more shout outs to him, each time The Artist received an award.

But, having said that, I still enjoyed the movie very much.

Monday Morning (2012)

A knockout drama

[10/10 · 23 February 2012]

I went to see it with a friend who was invited to a private screening of this movie at the Royal Theater in Los Angeles. I didn't know anything about it and I was blown away. The depths that this film goes through to present the heart breaking situation of the homeless in Los Angeles, and I guess anywhere, are deep and expansive.

Directed by the writer, Nat Christian, Monday Morning represents where I would want to see movies going. A solid story, fascinating characters and hard truths. Story, story, story, story! With a little bit of humor, fascinating visual compositions, excellent acting and a moving score, Christian manages to engage us in an an entertaining drama, mostly set within the bleak and at times very disturbing homeless atmosphere. At first, during the beginning, I thought that I was in for a light hearted comedy/drama. But then, I believe the whole audience was surprised by some hard hitting harsh realities being depicted. Clever move by Christian. His confidence in writing the script is matched by his competent, and I should say passionate hand, behind the camera.

The film is graced (as in the lead character's word) with some excellent performances by the cast headed by Victor Browne. Browne embodies the character of Thomas Bach (a right wing radio host who comes to L.A. and by circumstance becomes homeless) with a talent equal to our best actors walking around today. In Monday Morning, he covers a wide range of emotions from comedic to tragic. He is a sympathetic actor in the sense that he doesn't have to do much for us to care about him. And when he has to deliver, he knocks it out of the park.

His is joined by two female leads, Molly Kidder and Jessica Spotts, both excellent actresses. Kidder lends a real honesty and integrity in the role of Katherine Sands (She and Thomas fall for each other). Great to look at, she offers a very powerful surprise in the movie, which I can't divulge. Spotts delivers an outstanding performance. With true grit, she shines in a very tough role. And then again we have the director, Christian, who delivers a knockout and sometimes humorous performance as a homeless character whom Thomas befriends. There were so many wonderful actors in the cast and it would be impossible for me to mention all of them. Actors like Cevin Middleton as Thomas's producer. Ken Melchior, who plays a conservative, and slightly evil, senator with perfect aplomb. Robert Pike Daniel, who plays a senator at odds with Melchior's character, is always wonderful in his roles. Robert Axelrod gives us a sad portrayal as a doctor who has ended up on the streets.

A special call out to Buffy Dakan, Kim Salt, Cliff Sprung, Bob Jay Mills, Rick Montoya, Michael Cohen, Amy Greenspan and so many others.

The cast is adorned with a beautiful score by Rossano Galante. And the movie which comes in at around one hour and fifty minutes is well served by the excellent editing skills of Nat Christian, Peter Srinivasan and Jonathan Fung. The credits show that Srinivasan and Fung also did multiple duties on this movie.

Monday Morning is the kind of movie that takes you completely away and you are involved in a life that is vividly created and people whom you become immediately familiar with. I highly recommend this movie.

The Vow (2012)

Romantic and heavy on the drama

[6/10 · 23 February 2012]

Written by Jason Katims, Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (screenplay), Stuart Sender (story) and directed by TV director Michael Sucsy, The Vow tries very hard to be the romantic love story that will hit you hard emotionally. I'm not sure if it truly succeeds, but it also doesn't really disappoint. I would say that it has a lot of heart. There may be obstacles in the way of this movie really affecting the audience. Maybe too many writers? As talented as they may be, the movie does not click quite as well as it should.

The cast is fine. The music and set direction is pretty good. It is a very good premise - A car accident puts a woman in a coma, she comes to with her memory lost, and then her husband Leo has to win her love all over again. Maybe if it didn't rely on sentimentality as much, but is just somehow misses. I must admit though, for me, there were a couple tear jerking moments. If you love heavy romantic dramas, then maybe this movie is for you.

Moneyball (2011)

One of the better behind the scenes movies

[8/10 · 23 February 2012]

Baseball, baseball, baseball. I thought that maybe I did not want to see another baseball film. After all, hasn't it all been said and done? Well, maybe not like "MONEYBALL", which is more about what is going on behind the scenes.

Well... yes. The movie focuses on how talent and teams are made circa 2002.

Brad Pitt plays "Billy Beane", the general manager of the Oakland Athletics. bean enlists the aide of his assistant, Peter Brand, and with statistical analysis known as saber-metrics, that places the emphasis on stats such Beane assembles a group of players. A colorful group.

Bennet Miller directs very well with performances and pacing in mind.

Steven Zaillian's and Aaron Sorkin's script and the story by Stan Chervin based on the book by Michael Lewis, gives us a moving and fast paced movie without the benefit of a lot of ball playing.

Great performances by Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright and Chris Pratt.

I recommend

The Help (2011)

A tender, heartwarming drama

[7/10 · 9 February 2012]

THE HELP works. And it works because of a rally good script by Tate Taylor, based on an incredible novel by Kathryn Stockett. It works because director, Tate Taylor skillfully and effectively was able to translate a novel, loved by many, on to the screen. No easy task.

Most of all The Help works because of the tight knot ensemble cast. Each worthy of a mention - Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Anna Camp, Eleanor Henry, Emma Henry, Cicely Tyson, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek, Brian Kerwin, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O'Reilly, Chris Lowell. They all delivered real and honest performances.

The music by Thomas Newman , who has done very fine work in the past, most notably in The Debt, was perfect for this type of relationship based material.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Fincher creates a nice dark atmosphere

[8/10 · 9 February 2012]

This version of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (the original released in 2009) adopts its own look and feel. The actors bring different variations to their roles and didn't copy what the original cast had done. This was no easy task and they pulled it off.

The same could be said for David Fincher as the director of this recent version. He took the original and made it his own. Fincher is really good at this stuff. He did a great job of giving the look a dark, cloudy foreboding feeling, thanks to the phenomenal photography of Jeff Cronenweth.

It seemed like he brought in the Zodiac style, and that's a good thing. The music is by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross constant and foreboding and blend very well with the style and pacing.

Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and the rest of the cast were all well underplayed. A special nod to actor, Christopher Plummer, who seems to keep your eyes on him in every scene that he is in.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Excellent

[8/10 · 7 January 2010]

The Hurt Locker was surprisingly good. I thought it was going to be another war movie, but it was more about humans and their characters.

Director Kathryn Bigelow scores big with this movie. Tightly written by Mark Boal, the story centers around soldiers doing the ultra-dangerous job of disarming bombs during combat operations. A new commander (a sergeant) is foolish in his approach, as though he couldn't care less about dying. So he puts his team in danger as well. There is a push and pull to keep this new commander from getting everyone killed, while the city falls into chaos with deadly hostility everywhere. The suspense is strong and the ending is surprising.

This is one of those "war" movies that doesn't really take a political stand, but focuses on human interaction. Bigelow handles the action and her actors extremely well. The whole cast, including those playing minor characters, gives honest performances. Good to see actors depicting characters in such situations with subtlety.