Theatrical Releases: The Words

September 7, 2012 / 1 Comment

THE WORDS || September 7th, 2012

	BACHELORETTE \|\| If not for the impressive showing from the leading ladies, “Bachelorette” would be extremely lacking. The humor is female vulgarity at its finest, with an honesty of how manipulative ladies can be, even with their closest “friends”. There’s definitely a lot of inside humor or real-life experiences at play in the film, as the allusions to past events seem extremely close to the chest. Where the film falls short is in the severity of the night’s events. If you’re going to tout ruckus, then go all out. The plot lines are drawn in the sand and you see the conclusions coming from a mile away, but somehow placing a serious actress like Kirsten Dunst in the midst of these comedic ladies, while reuniting Lizzy Caplan and Adam Scott (“Party Down”) creates an overall enjoyable comedy, even if it doesn’t quite live up to “The Hangover” or “Bridesmaids”.
	THE WORDS \|\| As much as “The Words” is a rehashing of films and stories that came before it, this literature drama still poses a set of important and thought-provoking questions about morality. Personally, I was engulfed in the film, which could have easily been a painstakingly straightforward drama, yet instead takes a much more layered approach to the storytelling process. I was easily able to put myself in Bradley Cooper’s shoes and ask the same tough questions he faced. Although some of the twists of the plot are telegraphed well before their “reveals”, the acting is high caliber enough to carry the film through all of its endings, or lack thereof.

	BAIT 3D \|\| “Jaws” was the start, “Deep Blue Sea” was the end, and any film made about killing sharks after is overkill, especially in the sake of 3D.	PASS
	BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING \|\| Reminiscent of what a documentary about Jim Henson would be like, this documentary is about the life of artist Wayne White, best known for designing the puppets on “Peewee’s Playhouse”. Containing interviews with people that know him best, including Paul Reubens, to which I would almost watch the film just for his segments, “Beauty Is Embarrassing” follows the life of Wayne through all of his art and attempts to get to know the man behind the art just a little bit better.	STREAM
	BLUE COLLAR BOYS \|\| Family values are just not enough to get me to see an independent film. Attach all the film festival awards that you want, but “Blue Collar Boys” is a little too much low budget Indie and not enough imagination or heart.	PASS
	BRANDED \|\| A huge social statement about branding, “Branded” takes the idea of brands and turns to mind-control, with Max von Sydow leading the corporation bent on taking over the world. For an independent film, the graphics in this film look thought-provoking. Add in the talented and titular Leelee Sobieski, and I am sold on this science fiction thriller.	RENT
	THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY \|\| Yet another rip off of “Taken”, “The Cold Light of Day” takes Henry Cavill on a chase for his missing parents, only finding out nothing as what it seems. It pains me to even type those words. I thought this came out in April but apparently not. Hope Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver got paid a lot of money for this.	PASS
	DETROPIA \|\| From the filmmakers that brought you “Jesus Camp” return with a documentary about the state of work in Detroit. I cannot say this trailer does the film much favors.	PASS
	THE EYE OF THE STORM \|\| I often feel I’ve watched these trailers and reviewed them before, often because one month they’re getting a limited release and a few months later, they are getting a wider release. I looked back and though this film has been released before, I left no review for it, so I will do so now. Geoffrey Rush is a reason to see a film, no matter what it might be. When his mother decides its time for her to die, Rush’s character returns home with his sister to see her off. Though the trailer only gives you a taste, the film looks quite intriguing.	STREAM
	FOR ELLEN \|\| Anything starring Paul Dano is a film that hits my radar now, with his amazing track record thus far. “For Ellen” is an independent drama where Dano plays a musician that must decide if solidifying his divorce with actress Jena Malone is worth never seeing his daughter again. Also starring Jon Heder in a serious role as Dano’s lawyer, this sounds like a great film.	RENT
	GIRL MODEL \|\| As vague as a trailer can get, despite this fact, I may still look into seeing this film at some point. I was once exposed to a film about prostitution in another country and it has haunted me ever since, so already knowing what this film is about (without any help from the trailer), I am drawn to this documentary.	STREAM
	HELLO I MUST BE GOING \|\| Mid-life crisis films are frequently fantastic (i.e. “American Beauty”). This particular story looks intriguing for many reasons. “Hello I Must Be Going Now” was selected to open last year’s Sundance Film Festival and stars Melanie Lynskey as a woman who becomes involved with a 19 year old after her divorce. Finding a fresh outlook on life, she is faced with the judging stares of those around her.	RENT
	THE INBETWEENERS \|\| Having never been exposed to “The Inbetweeners” and not much a fan of British humor, I am slightly drawn to check out this series, and perhaps this film. With some well-placed humor and nerd-mentality, I could see myself enjoying this crude humor, but I’ll have to get back to you on this one.	STREAM
	KATH & KIMBERELLA \|\| What in the fuck is this? Just for the record, these aren’t jokes. Making fun of someone because they can’t speak English isn’t a joke unless there’s a punchline. These are just two mean spirited women with nothing to offer. An absolute disgrace of a trailer and sub-sequential film.	PASS
	KEEP THE LIGHTS ON \|\| Although it’s nothing that hasn’t been explored before, two men falling in love while one is trying to hide his sexuality, “Keep The Lights On” does it with Indie flair and offers some up and coming performances from two young actors.	STREAM
	MEXICAN SUNRISE \|\| Films like this get released every week and wonder who funds them and whether I should judge them so harshly. I mean, who knows where the next great writer or director will come from, but “thriller” films like this just lack initiative. When everyone is carrying around a camera these days, it takes a lot more than time and an editing system to make a film worth watching.	PASS
	A NIGHT IN THE WOODS \|\| What looks to be a perfect re-imagining of “The Blair Witch Project” and from the makers of “Monsters” another great film, comes “A Night In The Woods”, a found footage horror film that is exactly what the title suggests, a night spent in the haunted woods with strange events occurring. Count me in.	STREAM
	RAAZ 3 \|\| Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the glitz, lights, glamour and back-stabbing cruelty of the entertainment world, a fading movie diva Shanaya (Bipasha Basu) turns to black magic to thwart an upstart young starlet Sanjana (Esha Gupta) on her way to usurp the position Shanaya once held. Sanjana ruthlessly turns against the girl, using her lover Aditya (Emraan Hashmi), a man who owes her his career, as a pawn. Things go awry when Aditya falls in love with Sanjana and vows to protect her against the evil that is consuming all of them.	PASS
	[REC]3: GENESIS \|\| Having never seen any of this franchise, I hear that they are found footage films, despite the lack of that in this particular film. However, the idea of zombies attacking during a wedding it quite intriguing and could get me to watch all three of these films to see what I’ve been missing. Plus the bride in her dress holding a chainsaw looks completely bad ass.	STREAM
	SOUTHERN GIRLS \|\| This better be a film created from someone’s personal life and not something to entertain, because as soon as the music in the trailer hit, I had to turn it off. Melodrama is the killer of all dramas. If something that is supposed to be serious can easily be laughed off and taken as a joke, you’ve failed. God, that music was horrible…	PASS
	TOYS IN THE ATTIC \|\| As soon as this trailer began and I saw that it was live action mixed with creepy looking stop animation, I was out. Add this to the list of films I want to make horror film trailers out of.	PASS