Theatrical Releases: Sin City: A Dame To Kill For & If I Stay

August 22, 2014 / Leave a Comment

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR || August 22nd, 2014

	Still pining for some emotional resonance following my less than captivating viewing of “The Fault In Our Stars”, if the tears created by the mere trailer for “If I Stay” is any indication, I will definitely be a mess following this film. Chloe Moretz has earned my respect enough for me to see her in just about anything and I look forward to seeing what she can do the older and more mature that she gets. Even though word of mouth is not being kind to this film, I still hold out hope because a trailer cut to “Say Something” by A Great Big World that makes you tear up is not a common thing. // DRAMA	THEATER
	Nine years after the first “Sin City” blew the minds of comic book geeks and general audiences, taking a graphic novel straight from the page to the screen and recreating panel after panel to enthralling specific detail, “Sin City: A Dame To Kill For” does feel a little late to the party. But with half of the cast returning including Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, and Mickey Rourke, and a phenomenal new set of stars with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, and Josh Brolin, the film is still gorgeous with its black-and-white tint, injecting color wherever Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller find fit. With more sex and violence, the stakes are definitely raised in the last big summer movie of the year. // ACTION
	Living in a purgatory world where it remains not quite an intense football story and not quite grasping its religious roots, “When The Game Stands Tall” ends up feeling like a sports movie simply trying to be all those other great sports movies. Based on the actual De Le Salle high school team whose undefeated streak broke every sports record, high school, college, and professional, but with cockiness, a death, and a death scare all occurring rapidly, the team faces their first loss and must fight their way back from it. Never embracing the fact they are a Catholic high school which would have brought on the “Heaven Is For Real” and “God’s Not Dead” crowds, which have been putting those small films on the map, and never gritty enough to be the next “Varsity Blues” or “We Are Marshall”, this film feels like a football film without a home. // SPORTS

	Despite exhibiting the action and humor of the average martial arts, sword fighting film, “14 Blades” looks a little bit uninspired, flowing through the motions of fights and cheeky humor bits. With the short trailer offering no story and only names that frankly I cannot say I have heard of, there is no lore or mythical relevance for me to attach to and even though they attempt to showcase the stars, there is simply not enough star power, even for a Chinese film, that could peak my interest. With plenty of these types of films in my Netflix queue, like “13 Assassins”, I will pass in favor of one of those. // FOREIGN	PASS
	If I do see “Another Me”, it would be solely for the lead actress, Sophie Turner, who proves to have the most untapped potential of all her “Game Of Thrones” cast. With her unique look and siren-like red hair, she commands her performances on screen and even in this strange thriller where her reflection is more or less stalking her and trying to get her killed, the film is still darkness enough and places her against type from her HBO character, that it just might be begged to be watched. Plus, this is the first step away from her regular television series that I have been aware of and would like to see what she can do, even if it seems like a small scale. // HORROR	25% MAYBE
	Sitting at a dismal 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, the average viewer would take that as a sign to not see “Are You Here”, but with a cast boasting Amy Poehler, Owen Wilson, and Zach Galifianakis, there is no way I can pass this up. With Matthew Weiner, the creator of “Mad Men”, directing his first feature, the man takes a step away from the seriousness of the period piece television series to deliver a dark comedy with strong emotional ties. Making great points about friendship and providing some unique humor, including the last line about the justice system, the trailer alone has enough going for it that this film will put that 8% approval rating to the test. // DARK COMEDY	50% PROBABLY
	As attractive as the poster for “Cam2Cam” is, the trailer does little to capitalize on that, providing low production quality and no sign of a good performance anywhere. Bringing the viewer into the online world of camera-to-camera, “you show me yours, I’ll show you mine” world of sex services, a serial killer is beheading these internet camera girls and apparently there is only one woman out there looking for that killer. With the direction and plot of the film getting murky at that point in the trailer, it does look like this thriller goes for slow burn scares and creep outs rather than shocks and gore, but that is still not enough to save this film. // HORROR	PASS
	Set to heavy metal music, the trailer for this voyage documentary titled “Expedition To The End Of The World” sees a group of very different types of people setting out on a schooner, visiting the “last white areas of the world map“. With some amazing imagery, including underwater cameras as the schooner hits against chunks of enormous ice and some cleaving of glaciers that is simply astonishing, plus interviews with the crew, a mix of artists and scientists, this film appears to blend informative documentary with humor and adventure. // DOCUMENTARY	25% MAYBE
	The idiots from “Jersey Shore” have never looked more intelligent then when placed in the woods of Jersey where a mass murder hacks them off one by one. With none of the actual cast of the MTV show, or so I assume, this is made simply for pure gore and horror enjoyment rather than a vehicle to launch those deadbeat stars any further. Mixing the old cabin in the woods device with the likes of Jason Voorhees in “Friday the 13th”, this attempts to poke fun at itself, with its obnoxious characters while slashing them in true “Hostel” styling. Again, with most lesser quality horror films, I will wait to be dragged to this one. // HORROR	PASS
	The facts in the trailer for “K2: Siren Of The Himalayas” are informative enough for me that seeing the film seems besides the point. Everyone looks to Everest as the true test of a climber, but when comparing the amount of summits to the amount of deaths, the difference is jaw dropping. Of the 4,559 summits of Everest, 216 climbers have died, making that a 5% ratio of climbs to deaths. On K2, 302 have done the summit, with 77 having died, which means there is a 25% or 1 in 4 chance that someone will die when climbing K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. With the image of what looked to be a dead body wrapped in a sleeping bag as a helicopter settled in, I have a feeling this documentary will more of a warning than anything. // DOCUMENTARY	PASS
	For anyone that needs or seeks religion, I support you wholeheartedly. If I were to classify myself, I would probably be agnostic. But in “Kabbalah Me”, Steven Bram sets out to see what Judaism is actually about and whether he can find a connection to the material and to God through discovering more about it. Describing his and his wife’s reaction as being foreigners in a strange land, by the end of the trailer, Bram appears to have made some sort of connection at a memorial, in full garb. Although I am curious what happens to him and how his wife handles his new found religion, if that is what he ends up leaning towards, despite her open disdain for him potentially being devout, but not curious enough to see the film. // DOCUMENTARY	PASS
	BDSM is foreign to me. Obviously, like any curious young adult, I have witnessed the acts and the pleasure that comes from those that partake, but the meaning behind it and the driving force that leads someone to finding that part of themselves that gets turned on by ropes and whips is beyond me. “Kink”, a documentary delving into the world of BDSM and the largest producer of its internet content, interviews with some of the professionals in the industry offer up their interpretations of the sexual preference. Produced by none other than James Franco, it begs the question whether this is a lifestyle he prefers as well, having a few films now that delve into different shades of this world or if he was simply offered a chance to put his name on it. // DOCUMENTARY	PASS
	WWE Studios gets its hands on yet another horror film, this time rebooting the old horror franchise “Leprechaun”, using their own little man, Dylan Postl aka Hornswoggle, as the title killer in “Leprechaun: Origins”. Using the cabin in the woods device as a group visits Ireland, the young adults are trapped and face off with the beast. The trailer offers no glimpses of the actual Leprechaun and although I am curious to see what he looks like and whether he is actually scary or not, I can probably look that up online inside of actually watching the film. As stated twice before, I will wait until I am dragged to this one to actually see it. // HORROR	PASS
	Édgar Ramírez proved himself a talent to be watched in “Zero Dark Thirty” and the less than desirable “Deliver Us From Evil”, but now with the leading role in the Spanish-Venezuelan language film “The Liberator” where he plays Simón Bolívar, a Spanish leader who fought over 100 battles in attempt to bring “autonomy and democracy to the Americas.” With such a strong presence in this film and with other notable stars including Danny Huston, I could easily see this film entered into the Academy’s foreign language race next year. But until that happens, I will simply keep my eye on Ramírez and will probably not be seeing this film. // PERIOD DRAMA	PASS
	Speaking of Oscar buzz, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina already have their names out their as a gay couple in the new drama “Love Is Strange”. Once they are married, Molina’s character finds himself without a job, having worked for a church that finds out about his relationship despite it being rather public knowledge to begin with. Left without enough money to afford their current situation, they both find themselves living with family members that will take them in. Discovering things about the people around them as well as themselves, this does look very heartwarming and also stars the very talented Marisa Tomei. // DRAMA	25% MAYBE
	Take this as you will, but most of the time when a film is based on a certain faith or religion, I am usually turned off from that particular film. Not that I am uncomfortable with religion whatsoever, but films about religion usually only try and tie back into the point they are trying to make rather than being an enjoyable film with a spectrum of points and themes. Anyway, my point being “May In The Summer”, which sees a young woman returning to her mother’s home in Jordan to get married fights her families faith in marrying outside of her religion, but with the focus of the film being on the family, the connection between the sisters, and even the humor that arises from all of this, the film looks very entertaining. Directed, written, and starring Cherien Dabis and starring Alia Shawkat, there is definitely a strong and powerful female presence in this film as well. // DRAMA	75% MOST LIKELY
	With zero dialogue in the trailer, it is really hard to understand what “Metro Manila” is even about. Originally I assumed it was about drugs and sex trafficking because of the imagery of shooting and sad women dancing. But looking over the synopsis, this foreign film is a family fleeing poverty in the Philippines and finding a twisted lifestyle in Manila where the father gets a job for an armed truck company only to find the death count astronomical and although it was not in the synopsis, I am guessing the head female of the family finds herself selling her body to get by. Had the trailer spelled some of this out for me, I could possibly have been on board, but without that I am afraid I do not have the time. // FOREIGN	PASS
	Excited that Elisabeth Moss is branching out, “The One I Love” is on its way to being the best independent dark comedy of the year, in my opinion. Also starring Mark Duplass, the film sees he and Moss on a couples retreat to help work through their issues. At a cabin alone, they suddenly find that their cabin potentially takes them to an alternative universe, which does not show up in the trailer and is only alluded to, which draws a distinct parallel between the other worldliness of this and the Duplass film “Safety Not Guaranteed”. There is an excitement built around this film that makes it a must-see in my book. // DARK COMEDY	THEATER
	To be fair, I will give points to “P-51: Dragon Fighter” for creativity, setting World War II fighter pilots against Nazi trained dragons with the iron cross burned into their wings. With low production quality and even lower quality visual effects, a film that is this effects heavy is just begging to be torn apart. Thin acting is also apparent, obviously just a vehicle for actors to be on-screen rather than to further their career. Sometimes I wish I could be in the board rooms or by the water cooler when these ideas are pitched and then approved. // ACTION	PASS
	Lacking something that I cannot quite place, “The Possession Of Michael King” looks to be bottom of the barrel horror, which samples of “Paranormal Activity” with cameras placed everywhere in a man’s house, and is reminiscent of every found footage horror film released in the passed few years. With the man entering into a seance and becoming possessed to the point of scaring his little daughter, this film really goes by the numbers and offers little to no uniqueness which would set it apart and make anyone want to see it. I will give most horror films a chance, and if my group of friends decide to see it, I probably would, but left on my own I would definitely pass. // HORROR	PASS
	Sometimes star power is everything. Now, of course it depends what star power that is, but this new independent film “The Prince” has Bruce Willis, John Cusack, and Jason Patric facing off in a highly intense thriller. During his days as an assassin, Patric’s character killed someone important to Willis, who lies in wait until Patric returns to find his daughter after she goes missing. Willis and Patric face off in a showdown with Patric’s daughter in the middle. Cusack seems to be some sort of middle man but with a do not care attitude and some great lines in the trailer, he appears to be in rare form. // THRILLER	50% PROBABLY
	“Salvo” has an interesting plot, as an assassin finds himself murdering the brother of a blind girl who “witnesses” the event. When he is ordered to kill her by his boss and refuses, the makings of a great thriller are born. The trailer for this foreign film is fairly apparent up to this point but reading the synopsis after this moment is rather souring as apparently upon refusing to kill the witness, her eye sight returns and together they fight their way out of the sticky situation. Why a blind woman must have her vision restored is beyond me and sort of ruins the dynamic. Was she ever really blind then? How does that even happen? These are questions I do not even care to find out. // FOREIGN	PASS
	George Takei has always seemed like a very interesting man but now having seen the trailer for the documentary “To Be Takei” chronicling his life, I can easily confirm it. Appearing to be one of the most positive and generous men I have ever witness and with such a great sense of humor, this is one man’s story that I am definitely interested in. From American internment camps to starring on Star Trek for quite some time, Takei has been an influence to so many and through interviews with him, his partner, his former cast mates, and current actors that he inspires, this is a must-see. // DOCUMENTARY	RENTAL
	Of all the crappy horror films released this week, “Varsity Blood” appeals the most to me, even though that is not exactly saying much. There is something about extremely low budget, campy horror films that delve into the somewhat erotic nature of its victims that I find appealing. High end horror films usually do not go that route just because the talent are unwilling to push their sexuality to the limits, whereas unknowns are willing to do a lot more to get their screen time. With that in mind, I could possibly see myself checking this out over the other campy horror films this week. // HORROR	25% MAYBE
	First of all, the trailer for “Winter In The Blood” is more like a really well produced music video over anything else, offering very little in terms of story but instilling some very solid imagery. Secondly, feature films about Native Americans are very few and far between and so I highly respect this film for the journey that it is into this man’s life as he looks for the wife that left him and discovers things about his past that help him cope with some of his losses. Starring David Morse as the most notable actor in the film, I am afraid this is simply not up my alley but does look like a very well produced jaunt. // DRAMA	PASS