Movie Review: “50/50”

So this is what Summit Entertainment uses their “Twilight” money on. Allow it.

*****
Rated R for language throughout, sexual content and some drug use.
99 minutes
Summit Entertainment

Article first published as Movie Review: 50/50 on Blogcritics.

When you set your sights on Hollywood, it’s probably hard to keep your independent filmmaking cred in tact. Using Will Reiser’s autobiographical debut screenplay and enlisting the likes of stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen was the best choice for director Jonathan Levine. After cutting his teeth with “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane” and winning the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award in 2008 for “The Wackness,” it’s no surprise to see Levine dipping his toes in the Hollywood pool. And now he brings his best film yet with “50/50.”

The mixture of humor and heart has long been a Hollywood staple. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it does, it’s a thing of beauty. Not to mention possible Oscar accolades. When you consider the fact that Reiser based the screenplay on his personal battle against cancer, it just kicks things up a notch. At first glance, Rogen and Gordon-Levitt may seem like an odd pairing but the two share a much more natural rapport than you’d assume. Also in Levine’s favor stand Anna Kendrick further proving herself so much better than those horrendous “vampire” flicks she’s contracted into, along with the charming as ever Anjelica Huston, and Opie’s daughter Bryce Dallas Howard in a possible chance at winning Best Villain at next year’s MTV Movie Awards.

The story is simple: Adam (Gordon-Levitt) lives a life of abiding by the rules; he won’t even jog against street signs when there’s no traffic in sight on an early Seattle morning. He has just provided his artist girlfriend Rachael (Howard) her own drawer and relies on his best friend Kyle (Rogen) to drive him around when he’s not taking the bus. After a few weeks of consistent back pain, Adam finally heads to the doctor only to be diagnosed with schwannoma, i.e. cancer. He tells Kyle, whose reaction is that he may throw up, along with Rachael, who claims she’s going to stand by him when he presents her with the easy out. But he hesitates to inform his smothering mother Diane (Huston), whose already dealing with enough issues as his father Richard (Serge Houde) has Alzheimer’s.

Soon enough, Adam finally feels the gravity of his situation. He’s starts chemotherapy sessions where he befriends older cancer patients Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer) who talk him into some pot macaroons. Adam also starts seeing Katherine (Kendrick), a therapist who happens to be a doctoral student only on her now third patient. As the condition worsens, Kyle continually tries to help Adam make the most of his situation after they shave his head when they start trying to pick up chicks at the bar using his cancer and medicinal marijuana to lure them back to his house. Let alone that all this is after Kyle catches Rachael kissing a bearded hippie at an art gallery confirming suspicions after Adam tells Kyle they haven’t had sex in weeks. Finally, Adam begins to rely on himself, his friends and family, and Katherine, to make it through the hardships.

If you’re not laughing one minute, you’ll be crying the next; at least in the final half hour. Thankfully the film never relies on simply cuing the violins or having the characters break into hysterics to pull the sentiment out of thin air. Here is a group of people you truly care about and want to see prevail against the odds. Even when Adam realizes that finally driving a car will have to make do as his Make a Wish. The cast plays like gangbusters and I won’t be surprised to see Gordon-Levitt nominated come Oscar time. Levine also has high chances as he pulls no punches with Reiser’s brilliantly self-deprecating yet emotionally brutally honest screenplay. I personally hope to see “50/50” nominated in at least four categories if not more. And I’d say if Reiser’s odds were that good, then so is the film’s. So far it’s definitely my personal pick for Best Picture.

Photos courtesy Summit Entertainment

Movie Review: “Moneyball”

“Moneyball” scores a home run.

**** ½ out of 5
Rated PG-13 for some strong language.
133 minutes
Columbia Pictures

Article first published as Movie Review: Moneyball on Blogcritics.

Ah, the sweet fall season has arrived. While most around the country are gearing up for some football, I am privy to another time honored tradition, Oscar season. Ironically, I don’t care a whole lot for sports in general. I have come to accept the game of football as a way of life for the rest of my life having married into Steeler Nation, but I have always had a sweet spot for baseball. While some may claim this to be one of the more boring sports, maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s the only sport I played when I was a kid. Granted, it was only for one little league season, but there’s no denying this is where that seed had to have been planted.

Growing up I was the brains of three siblings. Academics was where my specialty lied and I did not try to pretend it was on some field. Perhaps this is why a film such as “Moneyball” scores a home run for me. When you have a critically acclaimed filmmaker at the helm, Bennett Miller (“Capote”), backed up by two Oscar-winning screenwriters, Steven Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”) adapting the Michael Lewis novel, I’d say the decks are stacked in your favor. Having Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Jonah Hill playing on your team only closes the deal.

It’s pretty easy to skimp on synopsis when everyone has known the story for ten years now. Billy Beane (Pitt) is General Manager to the Oakland A’s and has had his team gutted after losing a big elimination game. Budget restrictions keep Beane from being able to afford to replace the trio of Jason Giambi, Jason Isringhausen, and Johnny Damon. Beane seems to be the only person who realizes that there’s “rich teams, poor teams, fifty feet of crap, and then them,” when it comes to money. Beane enlists the help of Yale Econ wiz kid Peter Brand to build him a winning team – including Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt) and David Justice (Stephen Bishop) – with the budget they have based on Bill James’ system of sabermetrics.

Now Beane and Pete are up against the teams own scouts and coach (Art Howe, played by Hoffman) who are up in arms as the team delves into the season with a huge losing streak. Reason being that Art refuses to play their game of statistics. But it doesn’t take long before Beane gets his way, thanks to trading off Art’s starting lineup. Now the A’s are off on their 20-game-winning streak leading them back to another fateful elimination game. On the sidelines we get great moments between Beane and Pete (who gets to learn how to cut players and talk their owner into more money for trades), and Beane with his daughter Casey (the adorably charming Kerris Dorsey).

Director Miller sure makes the 133-minute runtime fly by, in quite the same way that David Fincher pulled off last year with Sorkin’s “Social Network.” He also employs a lot of the same tone which should surely help them come voting time. Same can be said for both Pitt and Hill who have surprisingly amazing chemistry and it’s nice to see Miller keep the tone light and extremely comedic. The film could never be classified as a straight comedy, but you are certainly laughing the whole way through. So over the next few months, while everyone else is sitting around waiting to see if their team makes it to the Super Bowl, I’ll be patiently waiting to see who makes it to a Best Picture nominee. Although “Super 8” still remains my favorite film of the year that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the “best” film of the year. And while I still have yet to see both “Drive” and “50/50,” I’d say “Moneyball” is a pretty good bet.

Photos courtesy Columbia Pictures

Movie Review: “Dolphin Tale”

“How to Train Your Dolphin” only results in “Dolphin Fail.”

** out of 5
Rated PG for some mild thematic elements.
113 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Article first published as Movie Review: Dolphin Tale on Blogcritics.

All throughout the ’80s and possibly into the early ’90s, family films were part of a great onslaught. Most of that could be chalked up to uber-producer Steven Spielberg, naturally. Ranging from “The Goonies” to “An American Tail” to “Free Willy” to “Ferngully,” it seemed like there was another one always right around the corner across two decades. Then something happened along the way. I’m not sure if it’s just that Hollywood has become so void of good ideas (which could be a weekly complaint of any year) or if they’ve just given up, but there’s something truly lacking about family films these days. So it should come as no surprise to hear that the already ludicrous looking “Dolphin Tale” fares no better.

With a resume ranging from R-rated horror and action b-movies (“Trick or Treat,” “Fifty/Fifty”) to the original “Air Bud,” I guess it’s no surprise to get a movie this lackluster from director Charles Martin Smith. Look no further than this still for all you need to know about what could possibly have been running through his mind while sitting in his director’s chair. You could expect a little more from in the screenplay department when it comes from Karen Janszen, someone who actually knows a little something about the genre whose credits consist of “Free Willy 2,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Duma,” and “Gracie.” Honestly, there really isn’t anything too trite in the writing department aside from a few odd character ramblings that make absolutely no sense. I can’t help but wonder if these are left over from Noam Dromi’s first draft. A suspicion reinforced by the use of the word “and” between their names in the writing credits.

“Dolphin Tale” is based on the true tale of a dolphin named Winter who plays herself in the movie. One day the curious dolphin is washed ashore caught in a crab trap. Local boy Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble, one of the worst child actors in recent memory) calls for help after Old Man Weather (Richard Libertini) can’t be bothered by a beached dolphin because he’s too busy being worried about his fishing rod. In comes the Clearwater Marine Hospital rescue squad to save the day after Sawyer cuts the trap off of Winter. Lead by Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.), Winter is off for some rescuing. After Sawyer skips summer school to check in on Winter, Sawyer meets Clay’s daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) and the hospital’s pelican guard Rufus (because he lives on the roof, get it?).

Soon enough, Sawyer’s mom, Lorraine (Ashley Judd), gets a call from his summer school teacher (Ray McKinnon) informing her that he has missed an entire week of school. Sure enough, Sawyer takes his mom to the marine hospital and dazzles her with his excitement and love of all things marine. Lorraine talks the teacher into giving him credit for the class based on his involvement with Winter’s rehabilitation. There’s also side stories involving Sawyer’s cousin Kyle (Austin Stowell) being shipped off to serve his country and ultimately, Winter losing her tail due to her increasing infection. Eventually Winter learns to swim by slithering through the water like a snake but then we learn that it could damage her spinal cord and lead to her death. This is when Dr. McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) finally shows up to enliven the proceedings while he dives into Lucious Fox mode to invent a new fin for Winter.

If the pacing doesn’t kill this at the box office, the unintentional laughter just may. The film’s funniest line surprisingly comes from Ashley Judd while she’s talking to Sawyer’s teacher when she says, “This is what every parent and teacher dreams of seeing, a turned on student.” Not something you want to hear out of anyone’s mouth, especially in a feel-good family feature. But of course the film marches onward with hurricanes (referred to by Lorraine as “just a big ol’ storm”), an out of place action sequence involving a runaway R/C helicopter, and life lessons being learned all around. Thankfully I did not have to suffer through this in the third dimension as I cannot see how any second of this film could possibly benefit from it. And had the film actually been more about Winter and focused less on the family factor it would have worked phenomenally better. As it stands however, it’s just another nail in the coffin of family feature films and unfortunately “Dolphin Tale” simply winds up simply as “Dolphin Fail.”

Photos courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Movie Review: “Contagion”

While it's no “Outbreak,” be sure to catch “Contagion.”

**** out of 5
Rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language.
105 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Article first published as Movie Review: Contagion (2011) on Blogcritics.

If a movie revolving around a group of doctors from the Centers for Disease Control trying to contain an epidemic sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Virus movies have been around forever and, in all honesty, I think there’s something scarier about a good old fashioned strain (“Outbreak”) versus say, one that turns people into rage-infected “zombies” (“28 Days Later”). I even did a full report on the nasty Ebolavirus back in high school after reading Richard Preston’s “The Hot Zone.” It was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling again, and this time Steven Soderbergh is out to set an all time record of Purell sales with his all star cast in “Contagion.”

Spanning across 130 some–odd days, we first find Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) talking on the phone to someone who sounds to be a one night stand while waiting for a flight out of Hong Kong. With a nasty cough on hand she boards her flight and travels home to Minneapolis. Meanwhile, from Kowloon to London and Tokyo to Chicago, various people are all getting sick and eventually dying. Yes, it’s only a matter of days, four actually, for Beth to fall victim as well. Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) gets the worst of it as his stepson Clark (Griffin Kane) also falls ill and eventually passes. Mitch seems to be immune. Thankfully, his daughter Jory Emhoff (Anna Jacoby-Heron) was out of town at her mother’s and is now all Mitch has left.

Meanwhile, at the CDC, the deaths and illnesses are brought to the attention of Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) who sends Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to investigate. Throughout the ordeal there’s also Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) working for the World Health Organization, sent to Hong Kong to find out where the disease began. Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) runs a blog who first spread the viral video of a man (Tien You Chui) in Hong Kong dying on a subway car. Working in Biosafety level 4 back at the CDC is Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) and Dr. David Eisenberg (Demetri Martin). They pass the virus along to Dr. Ian Sussman (Elliot Gould); Ally believes that if he can’t figure out what it is, so they can grow it and develop an antibody, no one can.

What Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns have come up with here will set hypochondriacs running for the hills. When Mears dives into the explanation of R-Naughts (viral reproduction rates) and fomites, one can’t help but feel their skin really start to crawl.

Soderbergh’s cast brings their A-game, of course, but with this ensemble you would expect nothing less. A few minor quibbles are that Cliff Martinez’ score feels slightly out of place. Although most of the time it is what feeds the film’s pacing so for the most part it does its job well. And Cotillard’s storyline adds nothing to the proceedings aside from getting to look at her, and it seems like they didn’t quite know when to end the film or on what note. It’s nice to see a film not reliant upon nausea inducing shaky-cam. Although maybe Soderbergh figured that would be just a little too much considering the plot. In the end, fall has officially arrived and not a moment too soon before winter brings along its never ending cold and flu season. And if “Contagion” has its way, you’ll think twice before you touch that door handle on your way out of the theater.

Photos courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Movie Preview: September 2011

With summer coming to an end, so to are the blockbusters of yesterday.

Article first published as Movie Preview: September 2011 on Blogcritics.

While the summer season may have completely fizzled out as far as box office returns go, there was still plenty of good films thrown our way this August. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Fright Night,” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” all pushed the boundaries of the remake/reboot trend, while “The Help” proved itself to be the moneymaker DreamWorks was surely hoping for even if Warner Bros. will barely break even on their fifth “Final Destination.” To add insult to injury, here comes another helping of the bottom of the studios’ barrel with their September releases. Not everything looks as bad as you’d expect from the annual “dump month” but it doesn’t look entirely great either. Let’s take a peek.

August 31

Hitting a day early is “The Debt” with some great pedigree behind the scenes and a few in front as well. Director John Madden is not the football hero you’re thinking, but when he sets up a project at least know some thought will be put into it. It doesn’t hurt to bring along a writing team consisting of Matthew Vaughan and Jane Goldman (the duo behind “X-Men: First Class,” “Kick-Ass,” and “Stardust”), and Peter Straughan (“The Men Who Stare at Goats” and the upcoming “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” adaptation). Hopefully with a cast consisting of Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Jesper Christensen, it will make up for having sat through the trailer for what feels like at least a year now. Originally scheduled for release in 2010, maybe Focus Features is praying for some kind of Oscar buzz about their little espionage thriller that hopefully can.

September 2

Having a director (David R. Ellis, “Final Destination 2” and “4,” “Snakes on a Plane,” and “Cellular”) who knows a thing or two about both schlock and 3-D should help “Shark Night 3D.” Getting a PG-13 rating on the other hand either shows that the film was seriously dumbed down and heavily edited or the studio knew this was a good way to get more butts in the seats. Either way, any feature film featuring sharks is okay by me as they are my favorite animal next to my mini-dachshund named Beatrix Kiddo. With Sara Paxton cast possibly because she loves stripping down to her underwear, it makes you wonder what Donal Logue is doing in a 3-D horror movie about genetically-altered fresh water sharks. Hopefully he was cast as a comic relief because the man sure knows how to bring on the funny.

In other news, Dimension Films is finally releasing another film that seems to have been sitting around forever with their found-footage entry, “Apollo 18.” Whether it can wind up escaping the genre clichés and find a niche could happen so long as the film is more “Blair Witch” and less “Paranormal Activity.” With Timur Bekmambetov on board as producer there just may be hope for this after all seeing how it was originally planned for release in April, then moved to January of 2012, and now comes out today instead. None of that is a good sign and it’s not being screened for press so hopes are far from high on this one. No one will be surprised however, if the first thing out of the audiences’ mouth will be along the lines of, “Houston, we have a problem.”

September 9

I freely admit it, I used to watch “Outbreak” way too much as a teenager. The risk seemed far too real and basing it on the thankfully now-elusive Ebola virus just made it even scarier. While this may be the first time Steven Soderbergh’s delved into this type of a film, the man knows how to make a cracker jack suspense film when he wants to. Even the first “Ocean’s Eleven” had this element to the shenanigans keeping everyone glued to the screen on how they’d manage to pull off the big heist in the end. And working with Matt Damon for the fourth time at least he’s got a friend in tow who can seriously carry any film. “The Informant!” anyone? With an original screenplay courtesy Scott Z. Burns (“The Informant!” and “The Bourne Ultimatum”), Burns must have something up his sleeve here to pique the interest of both friends once again.

Tom Hardy has been playing badasses for years now. From his big break in “Bronson” to his big Hollywood premiere in “Inception,” things just keep looking up for him. Before he makes his debut as the “Bane” of Batman’s existence in “The Dark Knight Rises” next summer, we get to bare witness to some good ol’ fashioned pummeling in “Warrior.” Director Gavin O’ Connor may have had a stumbling block with “Pride and Glory,” but his “Miracle” was a pleasant surprise. Now we get to see if O’ Connor can enlighten the sport of mixed martial arts the way he did hockey. I won’t be surprised if by the end of the film I still despise the so-called sport but there’s no denying its legions of fans.

It seems the going cringe rate associated with Happy Madison Productions is far too high lately. They haven’t been able to crank out one honestly good movie since 2006 when “Grandma’s Boy” just couldn’t stop bringing the laughs. While Nick Swardson was featured in that film, not to mention almost all of them along the way, it’s no surprise he finally gets his own chance to star. Even if the trailer just makes you want to run away, run away. Starring as the son of two porn stars, his character “Buck Larson” finds out who his parents really are and feels that he’s “Born to Be a Star” as well. With director Tom Brady at the helm, it’s no surprise this looks dreadful. When you’ve only got “The Hot Chick” and “The Comebacks” on your resume, you leave no hope for audiences. But with an R-rating and co-writers Adam Sandler and Allen Covert behind you, maybe the boys will finally manage to make a filthy hilarious movie we can embrace. Unfortunately for Brady, he’s the odd man out here so expectations are running below sea level.

September 16

A trio of flicks make their way this day and two look better than the third. First up there’s another remake rearing its head. This time its Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs’” turn. James Marsden and Kate Bosworth replace Dustin Hoffman and Susan George with Alexander Skarsgård stepping in as Del Henney terrorizing a man and wife who’ve relocated themselves from Los Angeles to the South in place of Peckinpah’s not-so-jolly England. With director Rod Lurie making his name in indie film territory there’s hope to be had even if the film looks to take an even more voyeuristic approach than Peckinpah even came close to.

Meanwhile, Sarah Jessica Parker still continues getting roles in a film whose title seems tailor made for ridicule: “I Just Don’t Know How She Does It.” If you were talking about landing lead actress roles, this one looks more like “Bridget Jones” than another Carrie Bradshaw. Maybe director Douglas McGrath can keep this more “Devil Wears Prada” or even “Morning Glory,” than “Laws of Attraction” or “27 Dresses” as it comes from yet another Aline Brosh McKenna screenplay just to keep the boys away and give the girls another reason for a night out.

This day another indie auteur tries his hand at balls-to-the-wall action with Ryan Gosling in the driver’s seat for Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive.” Having just won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for this humdinger of a looking film, it seems to be looking at winning over the rest of the world upon its release. With a supporting cast consisting of Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, Carey Mulligan, and Albert Brooks, this film sound primed and ready for action. While it may not have won the Palme d'Or, that doesn’t mean it’s not ready to steal the money from your wallet.

September 23

Literally something for everyone opens today. First you’ve got what looks to be the best of the bunch, “Moneyball.” Brad Pitt stars as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane with Jonah Hill as his right hand man Peter Brand. With Oscar-winning scribes Steven Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”) adapting another Michael Lewis (“The Blind Side”) novel, along with Oscar-nominated director Bennett Miller (“Capote”) at the helm, there’s no doubt this is pure Oscar bait in the works.

To tide over the girls in the audience until he sheds his skin as a werewolf again, Taylor Lautner is on the run to find out why his baby photo is featured on a missing persons website in “Abduction.” The trailer features lots of things blowing up and director John Singleton knows a thing or two about bringing the goods in this department. With a surprising supporting cast featuring everyone from Maria Bello, Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs, Lily Collins, and Sigourney Weaver, to Michael Nyqvist (!), hopefully writer Shawn Christensen can deliver some big dumb fun with his debut screenplay. It certainly looks more fun than it has any real right to be, but Lautner was actually pretty entertaining on his “Saturday Night Live” hosting stint so here we’ll get to see if he can carry a film with his shirt on.

For the art house crowd comes Gerard Butler looking scruff and gruff as Sam Childers aka “Machine Gun Preacher.” Director Marc Forster has been delivering the goods for a long time now with everything from “Monsters Ball,” “Finding Neverland,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” and “The Kite Runner,” while some have questioned his Hollywood attempts with the atrocious “Stay” and “Quantum of Solace” aka the first true “Bond” sequel ever. But focusing on the true story of a former drug-dealing biker whose found God helping Sudanese children, it looks like Oscar bait is running on high this weekend between this and “Moneyball.”

For the real action fans comes a film just seething with potential, right down to its title: “Killer Elite.” Based on the novel “The Feather Men” by Ranulph Fiennes we get Jason Statham and Robert De Niro pitted against bad guy Clive Owen with a film whose tagline reads “May the Best Man Live.” If that doesn’t scream high octane action with that cast I don’t know what does! And finally, we get another 3-D family film from the manipulative producers of “The Blind Side” hoping to wring you of tears on top of your hard-earned cash with “Dolphin Tale.” Casting Morgan Freeman as the lead do-gooder alongside Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., and a dolphin just seems like it was made with no intention aside from being melodramatic. Co-writer Karen Janszen only furthers my belief with credits ranging from “Free Willy 2” to “A Walk to Remember” to “Gracie.” Even director Charles Martin Smith reins from the original “Air Bud” so don’t be surprised if Warner Bros. spins this true tale into all sorts of goofy direct-to-video sequels.

September 30

Finally things slow down a bit for the end of the month but it’s not too soon for what the local press crowds are already declaring could be the best film of the year. “50/50” is the true story of one man’s battle and eventual win over cancer. Writer Will Reiser steeps the screenplay with what it’s really like to deal with his prognosis without all the violin cues and maudlin clichés. Casting Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen can only help matters even more. Both are hugely popular right now and while one seems to insist on only bringing the funny, anyone who’s seen Rogen in any Apatow production knows he can be genuinely sweet and emotional even while tickling your funny bone. With Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Houston playing back up, I have no doubt this film will be every bit as good as the hype.

Haunted house movies have always been a Hollywood staple and they’ll never go away. Sometimes you just wish that a trailer doesn’t give everything away as it seems to have happened with “Dream House.” Universal Pictures better have some mighty surprises up their sleeves after having born witness to those two and a half minutes. But I suppose that really should be left up to writer David Loucka and director Jim Sheridan. I think how things turn out here will rely more heavily on Sheridan’s directing chops (“Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” “In the Name of the Father,” “My Left Foot”) than Loucka’s writing pedigree (“The Dream Team,” “Eddie”). But with a cast consisting of real-life newlyweds Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, along with the always reliable Naomi Watts, I’d say things are looking more up for this house than the trailer gives away.

And last but certainly not least comes what could be one of the month’s better surprises. While on the surface it sounds like every other romantic comedy ever made, and the premise certainly doesn’t help, “What’s Your Number?” has an even more misleading title to boot. The source novel’s title “20 Times a Lady” would probably just be even more confusing for mass audiences so why not find yet another way to dumb down the advertising, right? Anna Faris stars as a woman looking to find Mr. Right by playing a case of “High Fidelity” to find out what went wrong in the past to help her future. Meanwhile, her slutty neighbor (Chris Evans) offers to help her connect with her exes but we all know what that will probably mean by the time the credits roll.

With supporting players ranging from Andy Samberg, Zachary Quinto, Joel McHale, Martin Freeman, Aziz Ansari, Anthony Mackie, and Thomas Lennon to real life hubby Chris Pratt, the comedy should flow freely so long as there’s plenty of ad-libbing afoot and Mark Mylod’s direction doesn’t get in the way. When your screenwriters are Gabrielle Allan (“Scrubs”) and Jennifer Crittenden (“The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine”) are writing the jokes, ladies who obviously know funny, this should add up to more than it looks on paper.

Yes, September certainly lives up to the term “dump month” as there’s at least 18 films slated over five weekends and one Wednesday. But that doesn’t mean the month will be a total bust. There’s a few goodies sprinkled throughout even though we still have to slog through another October before we can finally start getting to the good stuff in November when Oscar starts calling everyone’s name.

Photos courtesy Focus Features, Relativity Media, Lionsgate, Screen Gems, Columbia Pictures, Open Road Films, Summit Entertainment, and Twentieth Century Fox

Movie Review: “Colombiana”

Not even a glass-covered shark-filled swimming pool could enlighten another throw-away end of summer action flick.

** out of 5
Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, intense sequences of action, sexuality and brief strong language
107 minutes
TriStar Pictures

Article first published as Movie Review: Colombiana on Blogcritics.

When it comes to big, dumb action movies, there may not be a man whose name is as attached to the genre as Luc Besson. Having been a big fan since seeing “The Fifth Element” at a local dollar theater, he’s been adding the word fun to the proceedings as well; at least for the most part. Sometimes when he’s not in the director’s chair, his screenplays (co-writing with long standing buddy Robert Mark Kamen) can be led astray (“From Paris with Love,” and the worst offender: our own remake of his original “Taxi”). Now we have another preposterous laughathon to add to his oeuvre with “Colombiana” which seems to be a melting pot of his IMDB resume.

Beginning in 1992, there’s a meeting of the minds happening between Fabio (Jesse Borrego) and Marco (Jordi Mollà). Of course things turn south, and Marco orders Fabio to be killed but not before he makes it home to his wife Alicia (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and eight-year-old daughter Cataleya (Amandla Stenberg). Fabio and Alicia are killed offscreen while Cataleya sits at the kitchen table looking comatose. Marco approaches her, asking for something her father gave her that belongs to Don Luis (Beto Benites). Instead of playing nice, Cataleya stabs Marco in the hand, announces she will see Don Luis to his death, and leads Marco’s cronies on a parkour-infused street chase where she runs to the U.S. Embassy and offers up her father’s information in exchange for a passport to the States.

After landing in Chicago, Cataleya hops a bus to Chicago to find her uncle Emilio (Cliff Curtis), demanding that he teach her how to be a “Professional,” err… killer, like himself. Emilio forces her to go to school in exchange for future services. Cutting to 15 years later (played in adult form by Zoe Saldana) Cataleya is on the prowl taking out anyone connected to Don Luis leaving drawings of orchids on their chest, along with a few bullet holes. Marco is trying to find out who’s behind the murders along with Special Agent Ross (Lennie James). Ross thinks he is looking for a man (at one point ignorantly saying there’s no way a woman could be behind 22 murders), but Marco knows that Cataleya has come for revenge upon Don Luis and hopes that his extradition in New Orleans is a safe enough hiding spot.

There’s also bits sprinkled about involving Cataleya and her (maybe more than a) friend with benefits Danny (Michael Vartan), but these are obviously padding, leading up to a beyond-ludicrous turn of events in the third act. Director Olivier Megaton may have been able to squeeze a few more drops of fun from the third “Transporter” film, but what he brings here are mostly moments of hilarious unintentional humor and action played with ranging styles. Everything gets thrown in the kitchen sink here, from the Ridley Scott/MTV quick-cut to a fight scene which seems to have been filmed with a strobe light.

Typically I adore these types of films, but lately the good ones are becoming further and fewer between. Even Michael Bay has been trying way too hard lately causing what used to be a genre in and of itself, big dumb fun, is getting increasingly just bigger and even more unfortunately, dumber. If someone could please remember to bring the fun back (and more than just having Saldana dance around in her short shorts and sucking on a lollipop) maybe “Colombiana” could have aspired to be a call back to the action movies of yore. As it stands, it’s sadly just another sign of the fizzling summer movie season.

Photos courtesy TriStar Pictures

Movie Review: “Fright Night”

A rarity for sure, but “Fright Night” proves a remake can still be done right.

***** out of 5
Rated R for bloody horror violence and language including some sexual references.
106 minutes
DreamWorks SKG

Article first published as Movie Review: Fright Night (2011) on Blogcritics.

In the land of Hollywood, remakes/reboots/reimaginings, what have you, reign supreme. When it comes to horror films, that number is ever higher. Sometimes it feels like every month there’s at least one sequel or remake coming down the chute lately. If you’ve seen this year’s earlier entry, “Scream 4,” Hayden Panettiere’s character loves her horror movies and when asked to name a particular remake in a conversation with Ghostface, names off at least 20 entries. While the greats are few and far between, there’s just no stopping horror fans from coming back for more. Just last week we even got a series’ return to form with “Final Destination 5.” So it is without further ado that yet another cult classic is reborn, to far greater aplomb, with Tom Holland’s “Fright Night.”

If you’ve seen the original, or watched the trailers, you know what you’re in for and that’s not a bad thing. For once, a director (Craig Gillespie, “Lars and the Real Girl”) takes a playfully updated screenplay, courtesy of genre vet Marti Noxon (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spinoff “Angel”), and takes the vampire films as of late and proves that there’s still life in the undead blood suckers yet. They also prove that you can have fun with the genre while still staying true to original source material. But when your original is already as much fun as 1985’s “Fright Night” still is, I’m not surprised that they managed to not screw things up. However, they have also drastically changed the location but given a few new twists to liven things up along the way.

Hitting the ground running, a quiet night in a Las Vegas suburb is interrupted with a vampire attacking and killing teenage Adam (Will Denton) and his parents. Turns out, Adam was friends with best friends Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) and “Evil” Ed Thompson (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Ed and Charley are having bromance issues of their own thanks to Charley managing to snag the girl of his dreams, Amy (Imogen Poots). Charley thinks because he has decided to “grow up” and get a girlfriend that he’s too good for hanging out with Ed and sticks him on the back burner. Even if he still can’t help but lust for his neighbor across the street Doris (Emily Montague). Next door we find new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell) has just moved in but just can’t seem to finish his interior decorating and Charley’s mom Jane (Toni Collette) wishes Jerry would at least get rid of his eyesore of a dumpster camped out on his front lawn.

It doesn’t take long before Ed is trying to convince Charley that Jerry is a vampire since he’s been spying on him because kids from school keep going missing. Things go awry when Ed goes looking for Adam and after he goes missing Charley finally perks up to what’s going down in his neck of the woods. He tries to enlist the Criss Angel-esque Peter Vincent (David Tennant) who has an illusions showcase called “Fright Night” and has a vast assortment of vampire and supernatural related antiques he buys off EBay. Peter wants nothing less than to help poor Charley with his vampire problem and it turns out that there’s more to his occult fascination than meets the eye. Again, the plot here is nothing too new. Charley sets out to take down Jerry himself and Peter finally steps up to help poor Charley put an end to Jerry’s neighborhood reign once and for all.

While 3D at the movies will always and forever be nothing more than a gimmick and a reason for boosting ticket sales, sometimes it can pay off. In this case it’s still totally unnecessary but adds some sense to the fun thanks to director Gillespie’s independent filmmaking background and sensibilities. There are some amazingly staged action/suspense sequences spread throughout including but far from limited to a high speed pursuit and a simple escape from inside Jerry’s house. Both of those scenes also end with some of the most hilarious punchlines in quite some time. And let’s just say that ash and embers may wind up being a new prerequisite when it comes to 3D effects in horror films. Along with snow fall it just may be the ace in the hole for truly effective 3D gimmickry.

Holland’s original “Fright Night” is far from being raked over the coals here and should reintroduce the current generation of vampire film fans to what they really are. Blood thirsty, charming and usually deadpan hilarious, Farrell brings out a great display of surprisingly subtle scenery chewing. He is nothing but perfect for the role of Jerry and it was nice to see that Gillespie and Noxon seem to acknowledge how long ago the original came out by never trying to keep the vampire surprise in the bag. A surprise cameo offers up a passing of the torch in a perfect sense for once and some of the hilarious lines including, “You’re so cool, Brewster,” is given new context without losing its laugh. And as far as my wife is concerned, there’s nothing funnier than a scrambling vampire after he’s been staked in the chest with a real estate sign. I say, when a horror/comedy can manage to make her snort with laughter when she’s never been a fan of the genre to begin with, I’d say job well done indeed. It really is just that much fun.

Photos courtesy DreamWorks SKG