written by: Lynne Ramsay

produced by: Jennifer Fox, Luc Roeg and Bob Salerno

directed by: Lynne Ramsay

rating: R (for disturbing violence and behavior, some sexuality and language)

runtime: 112 min.

U. S. release date: December 9, 2011 (limited) and January 20, 2012 (wide) 

DVD/Blu-ray release date: May 29, 2012

I’m no child psychologist, but I’ve never really believed that there’s such thing as a “bad kid”. It seems more like a term used to label and file away a challenging or difficult child, than a way to better understand him or her. While I may not subscribe to such a view, there’s no denying how these bad seeds have had a noticeable presence in the movies. From the demon boy of “The Omen” to the petulant boy maniac of “Problem Child”, creepy or bratty boys (moreso than girls, for some reason – hmm) have always been around in cinema. Such an observance demands more indepth examination than you’ll find in this review. “We Need To Talk About Kevin” has yet another malevolent boy for the big-screen – in this case, as an unsympathetic antagonist to an equally unsympathetic protagonist – his mother.

Which reminds me of one viewpoint I do subscribe to, which is that not just anyone should, or can, raise a child. Unfortunately, this is usually only discovered after a child is born and nurture has taken its course. Such is the life situation we find Eva Katchadourian (Tilda Swinton) in – a woman who wasn’t prepared for the challenges and life changes that come with raising a child. Who is? The inconsolable crying, the sleepless nights, the diapers worn well past their appropriate time, and most of all – the consistent hostility and elaborate manipulations directed specifically at her – from her dear Kevin (played by two different actors as a child, as a toddler by Rock Duer and as a young boy by, Jasper Newell), her adorable (on the outside, at least) son.

She’s the only one who sees it, but yes – Eva’s son has it in for her and has worked her over since day one. He doesn’t want to end her, just to torment her and continuously sets out to show her that no matter what love she gives him, it will not be reciprocated. Did he sense her ambivalence/resentment about her pregnancy in her womb? Was it that early, or did he pick it up as a toddler?

Her obtuse husband, Franklin (John C. Reilly) doesn’t see it and he never has. By the time Kevin is a teen (creepily played by Ezra Miller “After School”), Franklin’s his relationship with his son is all surface. That’s probably fine with Kevin, since he doesn’t have all that much respect for Franklin anyway and instead merely uses him to side against his mother. We get the idea that Franklin may be clueless or intimidated by the boy and he may also be as detached from his wife as he seemingly is from reality.

Kevin’s hostility and destructive behavior doesn’t dissipate as a teen. He just becomes more defiant and rebellious toward everyone around him, but especially his mother. As much as Eva tries to keep some semblance of domestic and career balance afloat, Kevin is there at every turn to destroy her actions. When an unforeseen violent act at Kevin’s school takes place, Eva’s world is shattered even further. She now has to suffer the emotional aftermath of guilt, anger, and grief, in an attempt to build from scratch a new identity – free from the painful scar tissue of motherhood.

Director and co-writer Lynne Ramsay (“Ratcatcher” and “Morvern Caller”) takes an artistically bold and editorially challenging approach to the material by novelist Lionel Shriver, who wrote the book the film is based on. Rather than spelling everything out for us, Ramsay places us in Eva’s jumbled flashback memories, allowing us to build a narrative on our own. Like our own memories, these time jumps of Eva’s are often indecipherable. As we slip into clips of her once-romantic relationship with Franklin to scenes of her hopeless apprehension with Kevin and back to that fateful night at Kevin’s school, we realize that her memories are as indecipherable and random as our own, hitting us when we least expect it or as we think of something that triggers them. This approach may be perplexing at first, but eventually we get the idea that Ramsay wants us to experience what Eva has been through to get to the defeated and gutted woman we see her as now.

It’s easy to do that with an actress as expressive as Oscar-winner (“Michael Clayton”) Swinton, who has one of the most unique looks in film today. As expected, Swinton is quite remarkable here with what little she is given and that’s primarily due to the adaptation Ramsay has decided on. Shriver had written her book from Eva’s perspective, as letters written to her husband, and since Ramsay’s adaptation has a decidedly different delivery, it also lacks the intimate and personal details in those letters. But Swinton’s work rises above any of those challenges, providing a performance that could be from a silent film as she reacts with deep regret and disgrace throughout the film, using seldom words. Eva’s actions don’t always make sense and it is at times hard to have sympathy for her, but there are many aspects about being a parent that parents can relate to here.

However, the film does have some acting turns that are unfortunately quite disappointing. Kevin’s is borderline bizarre, especially when we get to the teen years where he is portrayed as a sociopathic behavior comes across as cartoonish. Part of this is the writing, which gives us no real motives for Kevin, but Miller’s work here is unintentionally humorous and at times just plain strange – especially in a final scene where we think he might be showing some remorse, but it’s just unbelievable based on what we’ve already seen. As much of a fan I am of Reilly, he feels kind of wasted here playing a one-note character whose obliviousness is baffling. I don’t know if I’d want him out of the film entirely, but it does feel like his presence brings up some glaring plot holes. Either way, it does make me want to read the book to see Shriver’s take of the character.

Overall, I found myself able to give into the film’s lack of subtlety and deliberately obscure methods, primarily because I was hooked by Ramsay’s filmmaking. She may hit us from all sides, laying it on quite thick at times, but I found it all unsettling, intriguing and horrific enough, that I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I haven’t seen any of her other films, but her style here is clean, her structure lean and cold – an almost meticulous choice that effectively accomplishes a lost detachment. Also noticeable is the way in which Ramsay deftly creates certain set pieces, such as the unnatural mini-golf game between mother and son and a stale office Christmas party where Wham’s “Last Christmas” can be heard as one of the most pathetic holiday songs ever.  She seems to get all the right details for each specific atmosphere in an uncanny way.

Much of that has to do with the talent Ramsay employs in her abstracted endeavor. For example, Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey ( who also shot “Marvel’s The Avengers” – how’s that for variety?) juxtaposes a precise approach with a scattered style that fittingly tunes in to Eva’s unraveling disposition. The art direction lead by Charles Kulsziski (“Shame”) is almost painterly, invoking the contrasting colors of Edward Hopper’s work, while favoring scarlet as obvious symbolism. Composer Johnny Greenwood (guitarist for Radiohead, whose work was integral to “There Will Be Blood”) provides a moodiness score as well as unnerving sounds that really accentuate the uneasiness in many of the scenes. So, regardless of any shortcomings this feature has – and there are some glaring ones – I found myself really absorbed by this dreadful drama.

Although I am aware of the flaws “We Need to Talk About Kevin” has, my biggest problem is that no one ever really talks about Kevin.  There’s certainly enough troubling behavior that warrants some serious discussion about the titular boy, but no one except his mother sees the need and even then, she just can’t seem to find the words – until it’s too late.

RATING: ***

• 96 Minutes (DVD)
• The Aggression Scale (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Coriolanus (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Demoniacs: Remastered Extended Edition (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Drop Dead Diva: The Complete Third Season (DVD)
• Gone (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Henning Mankell’s Wallander (DVD)
• Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp (DVD)
• Man on a Ledge (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Maverick: The Complete First Season (DVD)
• Memorial Day (DVD/Blu-ray)
• The Rape of the Vampire: Remastered Edition  (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Requiem for a Vampire: Remastered Edition (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Royal Pains: Season Three – Volume Two (DVD)
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Blu-ray)
• Summer Interlude (Criterion Collection)  (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Summer with Monika (Criterion Collection) (DVD/Blu-ray)
• True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season  (DVD/Blu-ray)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin  (DVD/Blu-ray)
  
  
  
  

written by: Oren Peli, Shane Van Dyke and Carey Van Dyke 

produced by: Oren Peli, Brian Witten and Bradley Parker

directed by: Bradley Parker 

rating: R (for violence, some bloody images, and pervasive language) 

runtime: 88 min. 

U.S. release date: May 25, 2012

It’s not a good sign when a) a movie doesn’t screen for critics and b) there are no advance screenings until the night before its official release date. Nothing states “this movie sucks” and “don’t waste your time” more clearly than that one-two punch. I want to say that in learning this, I’ve been able to steer clear of such an omen, since rarely has any film with such a pattern ever turned out to be good, watchable, or at the very least – pain-free. That’s obviously not the case with “Chernobyl Diaries”. I should’ve known from similar viewings of past duds, such as “Skyline” and “My Soul To Take“, that the latest horror flick from filmmaker Oren Peli (responsible for the successful “Paranormal Activity” series), would effortlessly fall into the same company. It was either morbid curiosity or questionable optimism that found me in a less-than-packed theater (theater #13 to be precise), subjecting myself to horrible acting, awful dialogue, and worst of all, a stupid and insulting story.

Well, calling it a story is kind of generous. What we have here can easily be summed up as yet another horror movie starring a group of Stupid White People (five total), void of any logic or common sense, traveling where no one in their right mind would go.  If that scenario sounds familiar than you can guess what else happens – everything goes wrong, finger-pointing blaming ensues, help is miles away, they hear stuff in the dark, they leave a seemingly safe vehicle to trace the sounds they hear, grave injuries occur as they realize “something is out there” – rinse and repeat from a variety of previous B-movie clichés of the genre. Ugh. Sigh.

The movie starts out with a music video montage that catches up with the fun antics of a trio of young good-looking (of course) Americans traveling abroad in Europe. It’s an excuse to introduce the characters, Chris (Disney Channel alum, Jesse McCartney), his girlfriend Natalie (Olivia Dudley, “Chillerama”) and her photographer friend, Amanda (Devin Kelley, “The Chicago Code”), by way of a shaky cam and narcissistic travel photography. So, if we have our Lazy Horror Screenwriting Checklist handy, you can cross off “young couple in love” (with a twelve year-old looking boyfriend and his blonde airhead girlfriend – who must continuously reveal her plunging neckline in order to give teen boys in the audience their jiggle requirement) and semi-cautious-yet-obligating, picture-snapping brunette babe. Right there, we have out two babe and one pretty boy requirement. Keep that Checklist handy.

Their next stop: Kiev, Ukraine to visit Chris’ big brother, Paul (Jonathan Sandowski, “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”) as they make their way to Moscow. It’s unclear why Paul lives in Kiev, while the others live in the States – it might have been mentioned, but I could’ve been distracted by all the wretched lines uttered. Paul is the alpha male of the group (so quick, check that off!), who decides that taking his lil bro and friends on a tour of the deserted, radioactive community of Prypiat, the town that once housed those who worked in the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Plant. That sounds like fun, right? Surely, something you’d sign up for.

Paul sells it as “extreme tourism” as he takes them to “extreme tour guide” Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko, who played Russian Suit in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), who “works alone” out of a small store front office that exudes reassurance. They burly guy is former Soviet military, so he must know what he’s doing. The goal is to visit the remains for a couple hours (just long enough to not be contaminated by any radiation) and return with “extreme” memories. At first, the three travelers are hesitant (ya think?), but Paul’s persuasive bravado gets the best of them.

They are joined by two backpacking lovebirds – bearded Australian, Michael (Nathan Philips, who played a backpacker in the Aussie thriller, “Wolf Creek”) and the vacant Zoe (Norwegian actress, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) – who seem completely fine with the tour, despite a military presence which turns away their van for “maintenance” reasons. “Maintenance?” asks one passenger, “But isn’t it abandoned?” When their evasive tour guide has no answer, Paul chimes in with “C’mon, bro!” reminding Uri that they paid for a tour and that’s what they want – danger or no danger. “Yeah, make it happen!” barks Michael from the back, ensuring that not only are they all ready for the tour – they are committed, yo!

Uri finds an illegal entrance into the remains and drives then around the desolate area. He stops by a river where he freaks out the gang by showing them a dried-up mutant fish (which looks like one of those singing bass fish you find at Walgreens) and then they wind up near some eerily empty housing projects, where the group can walk around and take cell phone snapshots (those reactors in the background will make great Holiday cards come December) for their loved ones back home.

As the annoyingly foreboding score informs us, something not quite right is just around the corner. It starts and continues with one unoriginal plot device after another, their van breaks down and night fall soon brings creepy sounds from outside. They could walk the thirteen miles back into town, but Uri cautions against (not that we believe that any of these kids could walk such a distance) going out at night. You think? He tells them they’ll be fine as long as they remain “in vehicle”, even though no one knows they’re there (“I work alone”) and they have no cell signals. Uri then leaves with a gun and flashlight to venture out into the now pitch-black surroundings – so much for staying in vehicle.

Are we really supposed to take any of this seriously and be legitimately frightened? Not a chance. Not with such ridiculous behavior and predictable tropes. It’s hard to feel for the mortally wounded Chris, when he stupidly goes out after Uri when they hear gunshots – what’s he really going to do? With their “not-so-extreme” tour guide gone, everyone starts to panic and blame shift, in an annoying cycle of nausea. Frightened and without resources, the panicked group search for help and run into vicious mutant hounds and (at least it seems) mutated human survivors. All this would be scary of we were actually able to see who or what was attacking the group, but director Bradley Parker (a former digital artist and visual effects supervisor, making his directorial debut) would rather make the assailants vague and indecipherable. It’s unclear whether or not that’s a deliberate “artistic” choice or the result of a budget restraint, but either way, not knowing anything about the threat (especially when we’re left to assume they were once the people who lived there) leaves the movie lacking any real threat. Of course, it would also help if we cared at all about these gallivanting American idiots.

When a movie is under 90 minutes and you find yourself bored and annoyed, wishing death to all, it’s just not a good sign. Based on a short story by Peli (who also co-produced and co-wrote), supposedly inspired by actual Chernobyl-related tours that began within the past couple of years,   the only confounding mystery “Chernobyl Diaries” provides us with is how in the world it took three people to come up with this garbage screenplay. I’m still scratching my head wondering who wrote these “Diaries” in the movie?

Peli’s co-writers are brothers Shane and Carey Van Dyke (related to Dick and Jerry, but I suppose talent does skip generations) who have, between the two of them (get this) have spent several years writing B-movie knock-offs. Check out the titles in their IMDb filmography – “Transmorphers: Fall of Man”, “Titanic II” (no really!), “The Day the Earth Stopped” and, ironically, “Paranormal Entity” – all designed to capitalize (or fool moviegoers) on the popularity of legitimate blockbusters. They’re not really embarking on any new ground here though, considering this has all been done before (and better) with Wes Craven’s “The Hills Have Eyes” and its recent remake. The bleak atmosphere here could’ve been a suitable setting for a seriously unsettling examination of the disaster, but Peli and company just aren’t cut out for such a task.

There are still victims suffering from the horrible aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant meltdown, yet it’s alright to turn them into unrecognizable cannibalistic mutants. Right? What? It’s only a movie? That may be, but it’s still tacky and tasteless, the poster even says, “Experience the Fallout” – Guh!

And I’m no prude! I’m all for tasteless – as long as it’s not based on the real-life suffering of others. But Hollywood will greenlight anything (except maybe an original idea) apparently, so I guess we can expect a horror movie based on the survivors of 9-11. On the 20th anniversary of that tragic event, hundreds of survivors are mysteriously called back to Ground Zero and are then turned into flesh-eating zombies that terrorize Manhattan. Sounds golden!

RATING: zero stars

written by: Wendell Mayes (screenplay) and John D. Voelker (story)

produced by: Otto Preminger

directed by: Otto Preminger

rating: none

runtime: 161 min. 

U.S. release date: July 1, 1959

DVD/Blu-ray release date: February 21, 2012

The famous opening title sequence for Anatomy of a Murder was designed by graphic designer Saul Bass, and uses cut-out animation of a crudely drawn dismembered body interwoven with a brisk jazz score over the credits.   It has a very modern feel to it (as does the film’s poster, also designed by Bass), and signals this as a very modern film for 1959.  Director Otto Preminger has always been known for pushing the envelope in his movies (Bass had also designed a similar credit sequence for Preminger’s earlier controversial film “The Man with the Golden Arm”), and here he again courted infamy with frank discussions of divorce, violence and sexuality.  Preminger intuited that this was the beginning of the end for the blissful post-war era of America, and the start of a darker, more open time for the country, and with this film, he cemented his legacy as one of the finest film directors ever.

“Anatomy of a Murder” is based on a true story, and the script is based on a book by Robert Traver, the pen name of real-life lawyer and Judge John Voelker.  James Stewart plays Paul Biebler, a slightly washed-up defense lawyer in Upper Peninsula Michigan, who was voted out of office when he was District Attorney.  He now has a small private practice, and likes to go fishing while his secretary and legal assistant Maida Rutledge (Eve Arden) grumbles about the lack of business, and his drinking buddy and fellow lawyer Parnell McCarthy (Arthur O’Connell) drops by late at night to hang out and read old law books.  This quiet existence is quickly shaken up when he takes on the case of Frederick Manion (played by a very young and striking, Ben Gazzara), an Army lieutenant accused of killing a bartender who allegedly raped his wife, Laura (Lee Remick).

The movie is roughly divided into two parts. In this first half we see Paul and his team slowly gathering information and attempting to build a defense, which eventually takes on the form of a temporary insanity plea for Frederick, that he was out of his mind when he shot the supposed rapist.  Paul interviews key witnesses, visits the bar where the shooting occurred, and spends lots of time with the defendant’s wife, Laura.  Lee Remick is the true star of this first half, coyly flirting with and befuddling the usually stoic James Stewart, her simmering sexuality throwing a cloud of suspicion over the truth of what really happened on that night.

In one unbelievable scene at a swinging jazz club, we see Paul sitting in on a punchy piano duet with none other than Duke Ellington (!), the creator of the film’s perfect score, when he sees a drunken Laura flirting and dancing with a soldier.  He drags her outside and scolds her about her completely inappropriate behavior (in light of the circumstances – Frederick in jail, the upcoming murder trial, etc…), telling her to “save that jiggle for your husband”.

“Anatomy of a Murder” really kicks into high gear in its second half, which is entirely taken up by the murder trial, which becomes an epic battle of wits and wills between Paul and slick fiery prosecutor Claude Dancer, played by George C. Scott in one of his earlier roles.  The trial is overseen by Judge Weaver, played by real-life attorney Joseph N. Welch, who gained international fame as a key player in the McCarthy hearings, where he berated the Senator with the now famous line “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”  

Scott is perfectly cast as the prosecutor, cold, icy, intense, and suave; he methodically punches holes in the defense, and intimidates the witnesses by getting right up in their faces.  But really, has there ever been a greater actor in the courtroom than James Stewart?  Here, he is simply captivating, strolling around the courtroom as he casually and effortlessly dismantles the prosecution’s case, even though privately he has doubts as to the outcome of the case.  One minute he is calm and collected, and the next he is raging and shouting in objection, doing everything he can to salvage his case and save his client.

Throughout all of these fireworks, Preminger pulls his camera back, and lets us view the proceedings as if we were a member of the jury.  And despite the nearly three-hour running time, I was glued to the edge of my seat the whole time as every detail of the case was debated and sweated over, and as these two men engaged in long, intense discussions of sexuality, war, morality, violence and religion.  Preminger gives us no easy answers, and even though we get a verdict in the case, the truth about what really happened seems more uncertain than ever before.  All told, with incredible acting by an all-star cast, cameos by jazz legends and legal giants, and a crackling razor-sharp script, “Anatomy of a Murder” is easily the best courtroom film I’ve ever seen, and a true classic of American cinema.

The Criterion edition touts a new, cleaner soundtrack and digital transfer, but the extras are mainly essays and later interviews with Preminger on his career.  A web exclusive article on Criterion’s website has an illuminating article written by Robert Traver about Duke Ellington (the man ate only steak and grapefruit!) and an overview of the life of Joseph Welch.

RATING: ****

Matt Streets saw his first film in 1980, when his parents took him to see Robert Altman’s “Popeye” at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, IL.  Since that rocky start, he has become a lifelong movie fan, and has written film reviews on and off since giving “Medicine Man” two stars for his high school newspaper back in 1992.  He is currently attempting the insane feat of watching every single film in the Criterion Collection as The Criterion Completist.

written by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel & Jeff Schaffer

produced by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Scott Rudin & Dan Mazer

directed by: Larry Charles

rating: R (for strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images)

runtime: 83 min.

U.S. release date: May 18, 2012

“The Dictator” taught me one thing about my moviegoing – just because I occasionally laugh out loud, doesn’t mean I walked away from a good movie. Not that this comedy, which reunites actor Sacha Baron Cohen (who also co-writes and co-produces) with director Larry Charles (“Borat” and “Bruno”), is out to educate viewers, but that’s really about all I could take away from my viewing experience. Cohen has already established his brazenly offensive humor, subjected audiences to his racist, sexist, and lewd comedy that often includes wink-wink social and political commentary. His two previous films with Charles benefited from a loose improvisational feel which incorporated uncomfortable shocks, but “The Dictator” plays it safe with a lazy screenplay that primarily pokes fun at Middle Eastern stereotypes and perceptions. While there are some hilarious moments, the movie winds up feeling like a series of comedic skits patched together with overplayed jokes. The endlessly played trailers and TV spots may have shown some promise, but it seems like efforts to stretch this material out to feature-length have fallen flat.

In the fictional North African country of the Republic of Wadiya, the despised Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) rules his people with an equal amount of cruelty and cluelessness. He spends most of his time parading around with his female supermodel  bodyguards, delivering stereotypical hate speeches (generally taking aim at Jews and Americans) with a smile, cherishing his holy beard, and conquesting celebrities like Megan Fox (playing herself) in his royal quarters. On the inside, Aladeen only wants someone to cuddle with, but on the outside, he freely gives out execution orders whole overseeing the development of his own weapons of mass destruction. At his side is his aide and confidant, his uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley), who is also the actual true heir to the throne which the spoiled Aladeen has sat on for the past 40 years.

When the United Nations demand that the Admiral General allow inspectors access to his weapons, he decides to take his entourage to New York City and address them personally. Upon arrival, Aladeen is kidnapped by a U.S. liaison (an uncredited and all too-brief, John C. Reilly), stripped of his authoritative beard and cast out into NYC in his skivvies. Unrecognizable, he ironically lands in the middle of a group of protestors opposing the presence of the Wadiyan dictator, where he meets Zoey (Anna Faris) an activist/feminist and owner of a local vegan/alternative co-op food store. As she takes the pathetic funny-looking foreigner in, Aladeen notices Tamir from afar, who seems unaffected by the despot’s absence, having replaced him with an unsurprisingly passable idiot look-alike, Efawadh (also played by Cohen), from Wadiya. Aladeen soon realizes he must prevent Tamir from using his double to announce to the world his country’s shift to that of a democracy. He enlists the help of a man he thought he had killed, Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas, a great straight-man to Cohen), who worked for Aladeen as a nuclear scientist. Together, they have to figure out a way to get past security, take out the fake Aladeen without the plotting Tamir finding out, and ensure his dictatorship position remains intact. The biggest obstacle threatening Aladeen’s autocratic rule is his unexpected infatuation with the peace-loving Zoey and the bustling city in which she lives.

Right away, it’s obvious that Charles, Cohen and company are making fun of the various outrageous dictators we’ve seen stir it up in the news for the past three decades. Saddam Hussein and his like have certainly displayed their own God complexes with little attention paid to those under them, which is what Cohen emphasizes here.  Because the actor is doing what we’re used to seeing him do in a lead role, “The Dictator” can’t ever really take itself seriously, even though it tries to with an uneven and unconvincing budding romance between Aladeen and Zoey. Satirizing and mocking the Middle Eastern culture and how they’re viewed by Americans is where the film finds its strengths. There’s also a fun comedic montage which shows Aladeen working at Zoey’s store, but most of these funny parts can be found in the trailers and really make up for the film’s repetitious whole.

There have been plenty of comedies in the past that have parodied or satirized real-life events or characters, in order to make some kind of statement – but “The Dictator” infuses itself with too much stupidity for any social statement to stick.  Charles and Cohen heavily rely on gross-out comedy to earn juvenile laughs, instead of elevating the material to something that could possibly resonate with viewers. Instead, what we get is bodily function humor, Cohen’s naked crotch, and birthing canal POV shots. These scenes aren’t as awkward and/or uncomfortable as similar scenes in “Borat”, here it just feels lazy and lame – as if they were included because we expect them out of a Cohen movie.

That being said, some of the best parts of a Cohen movie can usually be found watching the various actors who work alongside him. Unfortunately, only a couple really work here (like Faris and Mantzoukas), while others are written into rehashed stereotypes (Kingsley), short supporting roles (a hilarious Fred Armisen, a reliable Chris Parnell and an indistinguishable Kevin Corrigan) or quick cameos (Edward Norton). As Zoey, Faris continues to show impeccable comfort and timing in her comedic work, often proving to be the best thing in a not-so-great movie. Kudos to the actress for displaying impressive commitment to her granola-crunchy role by actually growing out her armpit hair for six months. Her work here reminds me that she remains in need of material better than what she usually winds up with.

Much of the humor in “The Dictator” got old fast for me – and for a movie that’s under and hour and a half, that’s not good. I found myself interesting in half-mentioned subplots that were never explored. For example, it was intriguing to learn that many of the Wadiyans that Aladeen thought he had executed had secretly migrated to a borough in NYC that has become Little Wadiya. That’s a curious storyline that was all but ignored. Also disregarded is the background behind the Aladeen/Tamir story, which could’ve given depth and further motivation for the two characters. It’s obvious though that the movie is too impatient and immature for any examination or characterization (after all, it is “dedicated to Kim Jong-li”). Cohen remains most happy relying on the cocky confidence and abrasive absurdity that both he and his characters bring to the big-screen.

While I’m not as crazy about him as everyone else, I see Cohen as a bold talent – but I’d like to see him work with a director other than Charles.  He needs someone to steer him out of his comfort zone, like Scorsese did in “Hugo”, to showcase his seldom seen range. Since this schtick is what he’s known for, my bet is that we’ll continue to see more of it. Still, I’d rather see another Cohen movie than anything from Adam Sandler.

RATING: **

written by: Lena Durham

produced by: Kylie Martin, Alicia Van Covering and Alice Wang

Directed by: Lena Dunham

rating: unrated

runtime: 98 min. 

U.S. release date: November 12, 2012

DVD/Blu-ray release date: February 14, 2012

In a 2006 short film by video artist and filmmaker Lena Dunham called “Pressure”, Dunham and two of her friends sit on the floor of a library and listen as one of the girls describes the onset of a female orgasm, comparing it to a sneeze.  After they leave, Lena sticks a finger in her nose, wiggles it around, and then sneezes.  The end.  Extend scenes like this into a feature-length film, and you have Dunham’s breakthrough feature, “Tiny Furniture”.

Dunham plays Aura, a recent college graduate who has come back home to New York City to live with her mother Siri (played by Dunham’s real-life mother Laurie Simmons) and her younger sister Nadine (played by Dunham’s real-life sister Grace Dunham).  She deals with all the frustrations of a post-graduate life, trying to find a job, trying to find her own place to live, and generally figure out what to do with her future.

The family dynamic is explored as well, and tensions flare up between Aura and her mother, who is a photographer snapping pictures of miniatures of living rooms (hence the title). The entire movie is basically plotless, and centers around conversations between her and various characters she runs across in her life (ala Woody Allen films), as they talk about sex, jobs, drugs, art and relationships.  Seeing as her “character” is also a video artist, I have to assume that much of this film is autobiographical, and that the candid, confessional tone comes straight from Dunham’s personal experiences of attempting to become an artist after she graduated school.  One scene even has her and her friend watching one of her YouTube movies and reading the degrading comments posted there.  Will her next film have Dunham and her friends reading reviews of “Tiny Furniture”?

This film has gotten tagged with the unglamorous label of “mumblecore”, meaning a very low-budget independent film made with non-professional actors using “naturalistic” dialogue, but I don’t feel that is necessarily accurate in the case of “Tiny Furniture”.

This work is more akin to the films of Miranda July (“Me You and Everyone We Know“ and “The Future“), another female artist and filmmaker who deals with quirky, independent cinema.  The difference unfortunately is that while July has a singular (and often bizarre) artistic style and vision, Dunham seems content to rely on long, staged dialogue sequences, interjected with shocking and occasionally funny bits of humor.  And as far as a film about “what to do after high school”, I prefer Noah Baumbach’s “Kicking and Screaming“ and even “Ghost World“ over this.

When introduced to a fellow video artist at a party, a friend describes him to Aura as “kind of famous, in an internet kind of way.”  And that’s how I see this movie, slightly charming, and a solid examination of a mid-20s life crisis, but ultimately light and somewhat frivolous – like she was making this for her friends and family.  It also begs the question of why Criterion decided to release this next to all their other classics, as it is the work of a promising director, but one who has yet to truly find her voice.  Still, I’m eager to see what her next work will be, and the film world is certainly in need of some fresh female creators.

Criterion has loaded up the release of “Tiny Furniture” with a bevy of extras, including “Creative Nonfiction“, Dunham’s first feature-length film, four of her short videos, and an interview with filmmaker Nora Ephron.

RATING: **

Matt Streets saw his first film in 1980, when his parents took him to see Robert Altman’s “Popeye” at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, IL.  Since that rocky start, he has become a lifelong movie fan, and has written film reviews on and off since giving “Medicine Man” two stars for his high school newspaper back in 1992.  He is currently attempting the insane feat of watching every single film in the Criterion Collection as The Criterion Completist.

written by: Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber

produced by: Peter Berg, Brian Goldner, Duncan Henderson, Bennett Schneir & Scott Stuber

directed by: Peter Berg

rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence, action and destruction, and for language)

runtime: 131 min.

U.S. release date: May 18, 2012

No one said it. Not a one. I already had low expectations going in for “Battleship”, but I thought for sure I would hear someone utter the famous line “You sunk my battleship!”  - I mean, come on! The set up was right there in the casting of Liam Neeson. Could you imagine him booming such a line in his gravely voice, as he watches one of his beloved ships sink? It would be just like“Release the Kraken!” I want to believe that at one point, the line was in the script for him, but maybe he balked. What he should’ve done is balk at the entire screenplay and the whole idea of adapting the classic Hasbro board game altogether. For a hot second, I was optimistic when it was announced that director Peter Berg would be the lucky guy to helm “Battleship”, but that was quickly dashed once I read that aliens would be involved. Yeah, there we go Hollywood - another loud blockbuster wanna-be, crafted from The School of Michael Bay – that’s original. The end result is a poorly-acted movie, drowned in video game-style CGI and riddled with more damaging clichés than any of the obnoxiously loud ammunition we see dispensed on the big-screen.

Through expositional introductory text we are told that back in 2005 our astronomers found another planet out there somewhere with similar living conditions to Earth and they named it Planet G (it stands for Goldilocks!). The next obvious step for us Earthlings would be to say “hullo” to any potential inhabitants of such a planet. A powerful radio signal is sent out into space from Hawaii using advanced communications technology and an orbiting satellite. I bet you can guess where this is going….

In the present, we find greasy-haired Alex Hooper (Taylor Kitsch “John Carter“) downing beers in a Oahu bar, while his older brother, Stone Hooper (Alexander Skarsgard, “True Blood”) trepidiously accompanies the twentysomething slacker. As the inebriated clichés and bad dialogue stumble out, we learn that Alex is the stereotypical young punk who’s never amounted to much yet shows such potential. Yawn. While his responsible brother, a commanding officer of the USS Sampson, a destroyer in the United States Pacific Naval Fleet, tries to steer him on the straight and narrow, Alex is more concerned with getting the blonde babe (a vacant Brooklyn Decker, “Just Go With It“) at the bar a chicken burrito. When his efforts to impress Samantha, who happens to be the daughter of Stone’s superior, Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson, in cruise control mode) land him in hot water with the police again (in an unfunny scenario that made me appreciate how great Kitsch’s numerous jail escape attempts were in “John Carter”) Stone gives him an ultimatum – Navy or bust.

Right away, none of this makes sense. I know I know – this is a mindless action flick with aliens that simply is made to provide escapism – but it could still show some logic and give us characters who talk like real people. If Alex is such a burden to Stone than why on earth would he want him in the Navy with him and besides – how is he even Navy material? Ugh. It didn’t take me long to start groaning in my seat.  Maybe it was the outdated (and overused) Stone Temple Pilots and Billy Squier tunes in the bar, which were at times literally drowning out lines, or it could’ve been the immediately noticeable wooden “acting” from a former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover model, but this movie quickly started to sink even before it could stay afloat.

But then I reminded myself – this is really just a Michael Bay knock-off – not that it made the experience any better.  It saddens though actually, since I usually like Berg’s work (“The Kingdom” and “Hancock” were entertaining and let’s not forget “Friday Night Lights” which Berg adapted into a television series with Kitsch), but this movie feels like Hasbro studios and/or Universal steered this film into a uniform product that resembles its other toy-based movies. If the rowdy audience that surrounded me is any indication, this movie will likely earn solid box office, probably catering to those who have a moviegoing void with no new “Transformers” movie out. So be it.

There are moments in “Battleship” when it feels like a Berg film. There’s his handheld approach and occasional close-up shots that show the exhaustion of a character, as well as a slightly saturated grainy look. That’s mostly due to Berg reuniting with his frequent cinematographer, Tobias A Schliessler, but even he can’t put a unique stamp on alien ships attacking naval vessels. Another Berg-ism can be found in the palpable camaraderie between Alex and his crew, similar to his “Friday Night Lights” film and TV series. That’s right – Alex is made a lieutenant and a Tactical Officer of the USS John Paul Jones, yet he can’t muster the courage to ask Admiral Shane’s blessing to marry Samantha. Just one of many overplayed plotlines.

The seafaring supporting characters make up a mostly convincing crew, even though it’s kind of hard to keep track of who’s who at first. Alex has some tight pals in brawny Chief Petty Officer “Beast” (New Zealander and former Power Ranger, John Lui) and crew mate Ordy (Jessie Plemmons, a “Friday Night Lights” alum), who adds some needed levity. Alex is also backed by weapons specialist and Gunner’s Mate Second Class, Cora Raikes (miscast pop star, Rihanna), who can be seen running, shouting and shooting. As much as it’s nice to see these guys interact and work together, it didn’t take me (and the rest of the audience) long to wish for an alien invasion. I guess I found my threshold for rah-rah bravado.

So, when the aliens finally arrive, I felt like they finally got my order right and I could start eating my entrée. But be prepared – these are the kind of aliens that we never learn anything about, except how to take them out. Who knows why they came or why they’re trying to phone home. It’s all projection and conjecture on our part – they’re calling on reinforcements so they can take over the world! Really? How do we know this? All that matters is how we take them out. After all, they’re firing on us!

Whether or not these are smart aliens is debatable. I guess they were clever enough to land in close proximity to the RIMPAC naval war games off of Pearl Harbor, where the United States is hosting Japan. But their first intelligent move is to a force field around three destroyers, coincidentally inhabiting all the main characters. They obviously have advanced technology and massive ships that spit out what looks like giant shotgun shells or (if we’re referencing the board game) massive pegs that detonate once they sink into our battleships. Ah, clever. But what’s never really explained is why their massive ships never just fly over ours and obliterate us. Instead, they just seem to hover and hop over the water. Huh?

There is one very meta sequence which has a handful of crew members actually playing Battleship in “Battleship”. It’s a clever yet eye-rolling way to incorporate the board game into a tense tactical maneuver created by a Alex’s rival, Japanese Capt. Nagata (a great Tadanobu Asano, last seen in “Thor”) of the JDS Myōkō. In order to attack undetected, he comes up with the idea of relying on a grid made out of tsunami warning buoys to track their movements. All they have to do is anticipate the alien’s next move, call a coordinate like “Fire on G19!” and BAM! Sound familiar? Like I said, clever but also quite cheesy.

To even the playing ground, the aliens have been designed as humanoid beings, which I’m sure helped production costs. It’s much easier to have actors get layered with make-up than it is to invest in some unique all-CGI look. This way, it’s also easier for a career Army veteran (real life double amputee Iraq vet Gregory Gadson) to say “I got this!” and go man to man, er, alien. With their full-body armor on, these off-worlders look like something from Halo and without their helmets they kind of resemble a sunburnt Gary Gnu. It really just doesn’t matter how dangerous they are, because they’ll all gonna die.

“Battleship” goes out of its way to tell viewers how brave and courageous our naval officers and crewman are. Even though the Japanese seaman are just as worthy – they can’t crank AC/DC to 11 during a rallying montage that has our young crew working alongside Octogenarian war heroes though – not like we can.

There’s no sense criticizing the wretched screenplay by brothers Jon and Erich Hoeber (“Red”), even though they’re the ones who give the actors such recycled lazy material. It’s just no use. The producers of “Battleship” received exactly what they wanted from these two, a product that needed marketing.  No one involved in the making of this movie cares if they’ve made anything unique or original. This is just one of three alien invasion movies out this month, but “Battleship” wins at being the most moronic and noisy of them all.

RATING: *1/2

• Albert Nobbs  (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Being John Malkovich (Criterion Collection) (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Bringing Down the House (10th Anniversary Edition) (Blu-ray)
• Chronicle (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Chuggington: Wilson and the Ice Cream Fair (DVD)
• The Devil Inside (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Father of the Bride (20th Anniversary Edition) (Blu-ray)
• The Grey  (DVD/Blu-ray)
• The History of the World in Two Hours 3D (DVD)
• The Odessa File (Blu-ray)
• One for the Money (DVD/Blu-ray)
• The Order (Blu-ray)
• Rampart (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Vans Warped Tour: No Room for Rockstars (DVD)
• The War (Blu-ray)
  

written by: Max Landis

produced by: John Davis and Adam Schroeder

directed by: Josh Trank

rating: PG-13 (for intense action and violence, thematic material, sexual content and teen drinking)

runtime: 83 min. 

U.S. release date: February 3, 2012

DVD/Blu-ray release date: May 15, 2012

There will be a time when the found-footage fad will weasel its way into each and every genre of film. As long as money is brought in, it’s inevitable. Filmmakers will undoubtedly figure out a way to use this approach to the Western and Victorian era genres. The approach has primarily been dominated by horror and mystery flicks, usually populated by white people. I’ve already shared my feelings on this subgenre, but with “Chronicle” taking it into the superhero realm (well, superpowers, technically), I may have to rethink the possibilities of the phenomenon. Instead of using a pseudo-documentary feel or exuding a gimmicky vibe, the film actually has an inventive delivery with some creative filmmaking decisions that are quite clever. It helps that the actors here are an improvement on the ones we usually see in found footage films and that we’re given much more characterization to get invested in.

The story is set in and around Seattle, Washington and focuses on a trio of teenage boys that stumble upon an alien object buried underground near a remote rave party. All of them are knocked out by the encounter and when they regain consciousness they realize they all have special abilities, like flight, and super strength, but mainly telekinesis (if you’re not a geek, they can move things with their mind). How such an extraordinary event effects each of them is dependent on who these teens are and where they’re at in life.

Awkward high school senior, Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is fed up with his lonely and miserable existence of eating lunch alone and getting picked on by bullies. He has decided to chronicle every minute of his life with a video camera. That means every violent outburst by his abusive father (Michael Kelly) and the sad moments with his ill mother (Bo Peterson) will be captured. Through his lens, we witness what he sees and goes through – be it home or school – the good, but mostly the bad. It’s actually quite fitting to see a teen document their every waking hour in some form, those pivotal years are an incubator for narcissism.

His cousin, Matt (Alex Russell) tries to look out for Andrew and help him, but Andrew isn’t very trusting. Matt is handsome and girls like him, how could he understand? Even more popular is his friend, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), a charismatic leader and candidate for class president, liked by everyone. Unlike Andrew, life is going pretty well for these two, so these newfound powers are an invigorating blast for them – instead of eventually fueling resentment and rage like it does Andrew.

Initially, all three of them are enjoying practicing and testing out their powers – and who wouldn’t? Regardless of age, this would be the case for anyone. It’s here that the movie truly succeeds. To see these teens hone their abilities out in public as pranks is quite funny. They freak kids out in a toy store by floating items down aisles and completely move a woman’s parked vehicle to a different spot while she’s in a store. It’s slightly cruel as teen hijinks often are(evoking reality in that respect), but still amusing nevertheless. It’s a calm before the storm that is brewing inside of Andrew.

Out of the three of them, Andrew is the best at manipulating his powers, yet that’s not such a good thing. He’s also the most emotionally unstable, which proves to be a lethal combination when he almost kills a crazy driver one night. It wasn’t necessarily a purposeful move on Andrew’s part, but Matt’s shock at his cousin’s seemingly malicious actions, push Andrew down a dark path that is already paved. From here on out, Andrew has decided to give in to his dark side and lash back at anyone who’s ever done him wrong. The powers that were once kept secret are now outed by Andrew’s destructive antics, leave Matt and Steve to stop him from harming himself and others – or at least try to.

With “Chronicle”, director Josh Trank is giving us what is (hopefully) the closest live-action adaptation of “Akira”, something that no one (except the big studios) wants to see happen. The comparison to that cult anime classic is inevitable for anyone who’s seen it, especially with the last act of  “Chronicle” in mind, but there’s no doubt that this is an impressive directorial debut for Trank. Having previously worked as an editor and 2nd Unit director on 2009’s “Big Fan”, Trank sets out to utilize every possible tool at his disposal here to keep the “red light” going during every moment of the film. Although there are some creative and convenient uses of  Andrew’s camera, like how the teen levitates the camera above him with his mind, giving Trank an excuse to use steadicams or cranes – yet some flaws in the film’s documentary style left me scratching my head.

The mistakes often made in these found footage films is the focus on the “footage” over the “found”. Since the idea is that the audience is discovering something, then the question of how we found this footage should be answered. In “Cloverfield” we stumbled upon top-secret military footage detailing the events of a monster invading and “Paranormal Activity” we’re basically watching surveillance footage, which was collected by the police. This makes following the story quite plausible, giving it a logical feel. At first, “Chronicle” is clever in the way it films the footage, but the way it’s captured is suspect when the film uses cell phone footage, security cameras, and news reports, as a way of documenting the story. As much as I was caught up in it, I couldn’t help but wonder who had compiled all this footage and how it was found.

That may be an oversight on the part of writer Max Landis (son of director, John Landis), but to his credit, his believable teen characterization and ambitious concepts maintain the audience’s attention throughout the entire movie. It’s a script that is well-executed by Trank, who clearly has fun with all the superpowered activity, which is grounded by accurate depictions of teen-speak and compelling melodramatic angst. However, the thin subplot involving Casey (Ashley Hinshaw), a forced love interest for Matt, feels way too forced. She’s even an HD nut, who’s footage is conveniently included into the rest of the “Chronicle” footage. Not really sure how that happened.

The performances here are solid, with Russell and Jordan easy to like as Matt and Steve, and DeHaan fully-committed as an unpredictable Andrew, navigating from moping to maniacal. But the movie is really all about seeing these powers in a real-world setting and that’s where it succeeds the most. Whatever Trank chooses to do next (he’s been offered a “Fantastic Four” reboot or a Spider-Man spinoff, focusing on the villain “Venom”), it will definitely be something to see.

There’s no denying that this movie had the geek in me applauding. Back in my teen years I would have conversations with my friends about how cool it would be to fly or what we would do with superpowers. Granted, we would be superheroes of course and what “Chronicle” does is show us what would happen if the opposite happened – if a tormented geek played god.

RATING: ***