Reel Talk Podcast #20 – Four Completely Different Films? Maybe….
In this episode, Demetri and I discuss Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm – clearly, the biggest movie news of the week. We also finally get around to reviewing the movies we chose for each other for our feature You Pick Two, where each of us pick two movies we recommend for the other guy to watch. I chose my Steve James’ “The Interrupters”, a film from last year that made it to the number one slot of my Top Ten list and “Five Minutes of Heaven” from 2009 starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt. I watched Miguel Arteta’s “Youth in Revolt”, also from 2009, and a 70s classic “Marathon Man” from John Schlesinger, starring Dustin Hoffman and Sir Laurence Olivier. Check it out and hear what we think about these films and why we recommended them.
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (11-27-12)
Thin Ice (2011)
written by: Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher
produced by: Mary Frances Budig, Elizabeth Redleaf and Christine K. Walker
directed by: Jill Sprecher
rating: R (for language, and brief violent and sexual content)
runtime: 93 min.
U.S. release date: January 25, 2011 (Sundance) and February 25, 2012 (limited)
If movies have taught me anything (look at me, rationalizing watching movies), I’d say it is this. Amateur crooks? Leave it to the professionals. If you think you’ve got an infallible plan, you probably don’t. Something will go wrong. It always does. End of moral, on with the review, 2011’s “Thin Ice”.
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
written by: Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee
produced by: Clark Spencer
directed by: Rich Moore
rating: PG (for some rude humor and mild action/violence)
runtime: 108 min.
U.S. release date: November 2, 2012
Here is a movie that I absolutely and unabashedly adored. It’s not only fun, funny and clever, but it’s also that rare animated feature that left me wanting to watch again as soon as possible. Granted, I kind of knew I’d feel this way going in, since I’m admittedly Disney’s target audience, having spent countless hours and many rolls of quarters at video arcades back in the day. While much of “Wreck-It Ralph” will be lost on those kids who’ve grown up with PlayStation and Wii consoles, with such beautiful animation and kaleidoscope colors, you don’t have to know the difference between Sonic the Hedgehog and Q*bert to enjoy this vibrant and entertaining picture. Some may dismiss it for its video game setting, but they’d be surprised at what this film has to offer any viewer, regardless of age or gender.
Reel Talk Podcast #19 – Movie Watching Round-up
We take a break to catch up with what we’ve been watching. From Affleck to Willis, follow along as we discuss four films that we’ve watched (two each) recently. Of course, there’s no getting around discussing the Disney/Lucasfilm news that caused quite a stirring online lately. Listen along….
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (11-20-12)
The Bay (2012)
written by: Michael Wallach
produced by: Jason Blum and Steven Schneider
directed by: Barry Levinson
rating: R (for disturbing violent content, bloody images and language)
runtime: 84 min.
U.S. release date: November 2, 2012 (in select theaters and on VOD, Zune, XBOX, Amazon instant & iTunes
Recently, I was asked what kinds of movies scare me the most and while I came up with an answer, I completely overlooked one horror subgenre that still gives me the heebie jeebies. That is, films of the creepy-crawly variety, usually a plot centered on humans encountering some form of relentless alien or insect determined to overtake or devour them. Not the enormous invading ants from 1957’s “Them!” or those wretched giant bugs from 1997’s “Starship Troopers”, but the tiny microscopic critters that burrow into our bodies and either control us or see our bodies as a biological buffet. The latter is happening in “The Bay”, directed by Oscar-winner Barry Levison (“Rain Man” and “Wag the Dog”), in a horror film that utilizes the trendy found footage approach in a mostly plausible and genuinely frightening way.
Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
written by: Jason Keller
produced by: Deborah Giarratana, Gary Safady, Robbie Brenner, Marc Forster, Bil O’ Kane & Craig Chapman
directed by: Marc Forster
rating : R (for violent content including disturbing images, language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality)
runtime: 127 min.
U.S. release date: September, 23, 2011
DVD/Blu-ray release date: June 5, 2012 (currently avail. on Netflix Watch Instantly)
The movie title certainly jumped off the page when I stumbled upon it, 2011’s “Machine Gun Preacher”. It sounded like a schlocky action, drive-in movie from the 1970s that Quentin Tarantino would have loved. But no, it’s actually a true story based on the life of Sam Childers, a drug-dealing biker turned obsessed missionary. The end result is a mixed bag, but there are certainly positives to take away.
Project X (2012)
written by: Michael Bacall and Matt Drake
produced by: Todd Phillips
directed by: Nima Nourizadeh
rating: R ( for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, drugs, drinking, pervasive language, reckless behavior and mayhem)
runtime: 88 min.
U.S. release date: March 2, 2012
DVD/Blu-ray release date: June 19, 2012
With 1999’s dividing “The Blair Witch Project”, audiences were introduced to the “real” story in movies; stories that we see from the view of someone actually filming what we’re watching. A movie within a movie, get it?!? That indie film’s popularity has produced countless knockoffs and quasi-rip-offs, but one of the better ones is 2012’s “Project X”.
Reel Talk Podcast #18 – Flight & Silver Linings Playbook
Recorded from a secret location, far from the Patio Theater, this episode finds me wrapping up my CIFF (Chicago International Film Festival) coverage with the final two movies of my schedule, Robert Zemekis’ “Flight” and David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook”. Both films are generating end-of-the-year buzz. But are both worthy of such accolades? Listen and find out. As usual, we also touch on Movie News and discuss What We’ve Been Watching….
