Cyrus

As a fan of the Duplass brothers’ films, including The Puffy Chair and Baghead, I was really looking forward to seeing this film. It was really just what I expected, which was a mumblecore aesthetic mixed with dramatic performances from Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly.

The plot is simple and straigt-forward. Reilly is a divorced man who meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) and then soon bumps heads with Molly’s son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill).

I like when Reilly does his sincere loser act, like in Boogie Nights and Magnolia. It’s nice to see Reilly take a break from the zany Ferrell-partnership and Steve Brule roles. More surprising than Reilly’s decent acting in this film is Hill’s acting, which showed what Hill is really capable of.

This is a movie that people are either going to love, hate or just go “meh,” and I suppose that’s how it is with any film. Critics and viewers alike may or may not accept the zooming and shaky camera work that is supposed to serve a purpose for adding emotional depth, but can also be overwhelming.

Also, this isn’t a Step Brothers comedy, so people may see who is in the film and then be extremely disappointed. It’s more of a drama than anything, but there’s some really compelling and genuine scenes – something the Duplass brothers are keen on. I don’t think it’s a typical indie comedy; it’s an honet mumblecore film with well-known actors.

8/10

The Green Hornet (continued rant)

I forgot to mention in my review of The Green Hornet that the biggest disappointment of the film for me was this over-used cliché of romanticizing the newspaper industry. It was fantastical to see such a swanky building for the newspaper empire featured in the film. There’s even a huge printing press in the same building with robots!

Comic-book/superhero films have been fetishizing newspapers and news reporters since the golden ages of print. Well, now is the chance for such a film to capture the realistic dark ages of the newspaper industry. Just another thing to point out with how an irrelevant film could have been relevant.

Also, the plot/characters had too many comparisons to Pineapple Express. That may be a good thing to fans of Pineapple Express, but really Rogen/Goldberg are going to need to switch things up a little next time around.

The Green Hornet

A Seth Rogen super-hero film directed by Michel Gondry? Nobody has been buying this idea for quite some time, and The Green Hornet was destined to fail.

Is Rogen’s acting stale and lacking any depth? Of course. But, if you’re a fan of his “dude-ism” one-liners than you won’t be disappointed.

Is the dialogue and story bad? Well, the team of Rogen and Evan Goldberg have proved in the past that they have talent with Superbad and Pineapple Express. The story is surprisingly not too ridiculous or convoluted. Rogen definitely did a better job writing this than Drillbit Taylor, though that’s probably not saying much.

Jay Chou is the star of the film as Kato, and really works well with Rogen. Rogen and his character are quite pointless (Cameron Diaz just as much), but if you like typical douchebag-style Rogen then you’ll be happy.

Gondry also could have done more with his directing, but his little spurts of artistry make the film stand out somewhat. I thought the marketing for this film was absolutely horrible, and the Black Beauty appeared to have top billing. However, the film was surprisingly entertaining and a decent distraction.

The Green Hornet is the closest we’ll come to a big-budget, mindless and fun summer action-comedy in January.

6/10

Splice

Not really sure if this movie happened. But, apparently it did. I paid attention most of the time as the film played, but knew it would be silly. When it was over, I thought that it was better made than most silly bad movies.

Adrien Brody wants to do creature features in nerd-meets-badass way. I’ll go on record though and say I enjoyed Splice more than Predators. For one, the CGI wasn’t as horrible, and this film wasn’t set out to ruin a franchise.

There’s pseudo-intellectual stuff going on throughout the film, but the film is mostly too silly to be thought provoking. Once Dren (Nerd backwards…lame) grows adult-size, the character becomes was too annoying with its squeaks and hyper-sexuality.

It’s nice too see Sarah Polley in a newer film, but she could do much better. Really, Splice, we all could do much better. And, word to the wise – if you create some kind of creature in a lab, you should cut off its stinger immediately. If the stinger grows back, it was not meant to be.

3/10

Trapped in Paradise

There’s not too much I can say about Trapped in Paradise. It’s an awkward film that wants to be genuine. It was around the time that Nicholas Cage veered into more comedic-type roles (Raising Arizona), and he really is the star of this film.

The plot is simple – three brothers rob a bank at a small town, Paradise, and end up getting stuck in said town after a snow storm. Though the plot is simple, the dynamic of the characters is more complex, and surprisingly in-depth for such a film.

Though, no one is ever going to write an analytical essay on Trapped in Paradise, it was nice to see John Lovitz and Dana Carvey try something different. And, surprising they don’t fail as hard as they could have.

4/10

Death at a Funeral

According to Wikipedia Death at a Funeral is a comedy. Actually, I did not look up what Wikipedia had to say about this film. I did, however, view this film.

The film is new to streaming on Netflix and apparently was released in theaters last year (2010). I’m not sure what compelled me to watch this film. I was doing homework and needed something in the background that wouldn’t be distracting.

Also, I am a fan of black comedies and films full of black actors. Death at a Funeral gives me both. Nothing really comical happens. I think Danny Glover diarrheas all over Tracy Morgan, and that’s just sad if anything. I think I heard Danny Glover say, “I’m getting to old for this shit.”

Maybe this film wanted to be funny or have a point, I don’t know. Perhaps this film’s purpose was to have no real point other than to black brothers finding out that their deceased father was in a relationship with a midget (Peter Dinklage looking for a paycheck).

In matter of fact, everyone was probably looking for a quick paycheck. And, what the hell else is Luke Wilson going to besides get fat. Chris Rock should have rocked this film, but pretty much all of his films have sucks.

2/10

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Congratulations! You're reading something amazing, and you are now a part of something very special. Together we'll go on a journey through cynicism in cinema. Many tears and clothes will be shed.

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I am qualified to write poor "film" reviews, because I created this blog. A year and a half ago I wrote a post on the film Die Hard 2: Die Harder. Through a lot of soul searching, I found that I need to continue writing reviews.

Why does your opinion matter?

My opinion matters more than most people because I see the world through a cinematic lens.

As more posts accumulate you will understand where the term "conventional wisdom" derives, and you will also experience so much verbal diarrhea that you may gouge your eyes out with your fingers.

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The point of the blog is to be objective. Sometimes my reviews may be poorly written due to laziness, which is acceptable here. A safe haven for lazy writing. However, I vow to review the worst and best of films, whatever comes my way.

Strap your seatbelt on, and say goodbye to Kansas or something. It's going to be a wet and wild ride (but mostly wet). Enjoy!