UNFINISHED BUSINESS (2015) review
written by: Steven Conrad
produced by: Jason Blumenthal, Arnon Milchan, Todd Black, Anthony Katagas, Steve Tisch
directed by: Ken Scott
rating: R (for some strong risqué sexual content/graphic nudity, and for language and drug use)
runtime: 91 min.
U.S. release date: March 6, 2015
“How about you, young buck, are you starshippin’ with us?”
In 2001’s “Made”, Vince Vaughn showed that he was an absolute master of the riff. In the pre-Judd Apatow era, Vaughn dominated films like “Made” and “Swingers” with his affability and almost preternatural sense of comedic timing that made him reminiscent of a young Chevy Chase. As sad as it is, it’s almost remarkable how much his entire career has begun to resemble Chase’s career, particularly those dark days in the 90s when Chase began headlining films like “Nothing But Trouble”, “Man of the House”, and “Cops & Robbersons”. Even Vaughn’s attempts to re-team with Jon Favreau have yielded colossally mediocre films like “Couples Retreat”, and Vaughn’s mid-aughts attempt to reinvent himself as the “Christmas movie guy” calls the Chase comparison into even sharper focus.
CITIZENFOUR (2014) review
produced by: Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
directed by: Laura Poitras
rating: R (for language)
runtime: 114 min.
U.S. release date: October 24, 2014
I didn’t grow up in the 1970s, but the paranoia thrillers that were so popular that decade resonates deeply. I’ve become increasingly riddled with a bubbling technophobia, a skepticism and caution around cell phones and laptops and the intrusive role they’ve taken. Studies tell us it is an addiction. That may be so, but the fear comes from something deeper. As didactic science-fiction has been writing for a century, technology will rule. It has gone from the elite to a normalized commodity for all society, a reliance that will permeate and take a strong hold. For 2015, and for the last expanse of years, there is no question.
The great sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, responsible for the stories that birthed amazing cinema like “Blade Runner” and “Minority Report” (let’s get an “Eternal Sunshine” memory wipe for John Woo’s Dick adaptation “Paycheck”), has adeptly captured the master-slave relationship between people and tech. When millions compulsively check Facebook every hour and slip out the smartphone to spot new texts, snaps, tweets, instagram posts, tinder alerts, and emails, often in the place of conversation and observation of their surroundings, who’s controlling which?
THE LAZARUS EFFECT (2015) review
written by: Luke Dawson & Jeremy Slater
produced by: Michael Blum, Matthew Kaplan, Jimmy Miller, & Cody Zwieg
directed by: David Gelb
rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of horror violence, terror and some sexual references)
runtime: 83 min.
U.S. release date: February 27, 2015
“That’s what hell is. You relive the worst moment of your life on a loop over and over and you can never wake up.”
Grab a knife and start cutting through the irony, folks. If there’s anything at all positive I can say about the new horror film “The Lazarus Effect“, it’s thankfully not a found footage movie. Well, it kind of is, but at least it’s not 100% found footage. Let’s start over. If there’s anything positive I can say about this film it’s that it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Clocking in, without credits, at a brisk 76 minutes, the film is never boring. It’s underdeveloped, undercooked, and thoroughly half-assed, but it’s never boring. In fact, it almost feels like a bold experiment in shucking that age-old horror convention of building mood and atmosphere, and jumping right into the stuff people paid their money to see.
The 87th Academy Awards Oscar winners….
So, how did showman Neil Patrick Harris do, hosting the Oscar telecast for the first time? He did fine. Just fine. Not great though. His comic timing was predictably great and the opening song-and-dance number was entertaining, but the Octavia Spencer watching his secured briefcase bit was a bore that had zero payoff. Amid the expectedly long night, NPH said some zingers, some tactless comments and for some reason, relied on hanging out in the aisles to try and change it up, something that Ellen did ad nauseam last year. No selfies this year though. But the most memorable moment of this hosting gig was his homage to “Birdman” where he comes out in his tighty-whiteys, something no other host has done before (or probably ever again). Your parents are still shaking their heads at that. Let’s just get to those winners….
MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE (2015) review
written by: Michele Josue
produced by: Michele Josue, Liam McNuff and Chad Mann
directed by: Michele Josue
rating: unrated
runtime: 89 min.
U.S. release date: February 13, 2015 (limited – Chicago and Los Angeles)
It can be easy to forget the details of a brutal hate crime that made worldwide news back in 1998, especially if you didn’t personally know the victim. What the revealing documentary “Matt Shepard Is A Friend of Mine” effectively reminds us of is how these victims that are often covered and discarded by news outlets had family and friends, they had teachers and parents, just like you and me. That’s because the film is directed by Michele Josue, a good friend since their teen years, who didn’t know the Matthew Shepard we were introduced to, but rather “Matt”, a warm and kind-hearted friend she still mourns. Her film provides a glimpse of who Shepard was, with input from those who knew him intimately and in passing, but it also is most profoundly a look at grief.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (2015) review
written by: Kelly Marcel, based on the book by E.L. James
produced by: Dana Brunetti, Michael DeLuca, E.L. James
directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson
rating: R (for strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language)
runtime: 123 min.
U.S. release date: February 13, 2015
“That’s one hell of a sack, Ms. Steele.”
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who read the book “Fifty Shades of Grey” that would refer to it as high art. As a smutty book that pushes the bounds of believability in both its prose and its depictions of BDSM, it’s a novelty that somehow managed to connect with an astonishing number of readers. The most immediate problem with the new film adaptation directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, is that it reeks of its origins as a piece of Twilight fan fiction.
JUPITER ASCENDING (2015) review
written by: The Wachowskis
produced by: The Wachowskis and Grant Hill
directed by: The Wachowskis
rating: PG-13 (for some violence, sequences of sci-fi action, some suggestive content and partial nudity)
runtime: 127 min.
U.S. release date: February 6, 2015
Being the first big-budget sci-fi flick of the year, “Jupiter Ascending” had some fair anticipation leading up to its release. Although writer/director siblings, Andy and Lana Wachowski, haven’t been able to deliver a sci-fi film as their successful “The Matrix” in terms of box office, scope and depth, there are still some who believe they can pull off such a feat again. Being a big fan of their energetic “Speed Racer” and finding enough to admire the ambitious “Cloud Atlas” (their last theatrical outing), I guess you can consider me one of those guys who still wants to believe. It’s too bad “Jupiter Ascending” doesn’t give me much of anything to maintain such belief.
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER (2015) review
written by: Glenn Burger and Jonathan Aibel (from a story by Stephen Hillenburg & Paul Tibbitt)
produced by: Mary Parent & Paul Tibbitt
directed by: Paul Tibbitt
rating: PG (for mild action and rude humor)
runtime: 93 min.
U.S. release date: February 6, 2015 (wide)
“Come on, Spongebob, join me! We’ll be rich and powerful until I eventually betray you.”
More than fifteen years into its history, “Spongebob Squarepants” remains one of the most delightfully original cartoon series on the air. Sure, they’ve settled into a rhythm where just about every other episode involves Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula, but at this point it’s much more fun to watch how the writers continue to make hay out of the same storyline. It should come as no surprise, then, that the second Spongebob film, “Sponge Out of Water”, also follows that exact same basic plot. In other words, this isn’t a film for casual fans, nor will it likely win over those who have been resistant to the show’s charms, but for those who still get a kick out of the antics of these characters, this is the film you’ve been waiting for.
THE LOFT (2015) review
written by: Bart De Pouw & Wesley Strick
produced by: Hilde De Laere, Matt DeRoss, Steve Golin, Paul Green, Adam Shulman
directed by: Erik Van Looy
rating: R (for sexual content, nudity, bloody violence, language, and some drug use)
runtime: 108 min.
U.S. release date: January 30, 2015 (wide)
“You’re not thinking of doing something stupid, are you?”
Every January I get suckered into thinking that a movie’s going to somehow rise above the odds and be halfway decent. Every January brings the promise of a talented director working with a solid cast on something that looks like it could be a worthwhile endeavor, and it almost never works out that way. Two years ago, it was “Broken City“, last year it was “Labor Day“, and this year, “The Loft” seemed to fit nicely into that niche.
STRANGE MAGIC (2015) review
written by: Irene Mecchi & Gary Rydstrom, and David Berenbaum (from a story by George Lucas)
produced by: Mark Miller, Kiri Hart, Jason D. McGatlin, & George Lucas
directed by: Gary Rydstrom
rating: PG (for some action and scary images)
runtime: 99 min.
U.S. release date: January 23, 2015 (wide)
“I’m a total mess!”
Gather ’round children, I’d like to tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a man named George. He was a guy who hated the system, and struggled to work within its constrictive confines. This man had a vision, and most studios wouldn’t give him the money to realize these ideas of his. Then one day – May 25, 1977 to be exact – this man George released a film that would forever change the way that movies were made, and suddenly the man nobody wanted to be in business became the man whose ideas everyone wanted. George’s ideas were spun into lucrative franchises, each of them a license to print money, and George transformed from the man who hated the system into the man whose mere whims could become fully realized worlds.
