Rubber

The sheriff in Rubber makes it abundantly clear early on in the film that many things happen in movies for "no reason". Whether it's the color of E.T.'s skin, or how two characters just happen to fall in love, there isn't any definitive reason as to why this happens. So, if it wasn't made crystal clear enough already, Rubber is a tribute to "no reason".

The film's universe, in which a tire becomes sentient and goes on a telekinetic killing spree, plays out like a movie within itself, complete with the spectators watching the story unfold through binoculars. Unlike those watching the movie at home, the spectators never question how a tire just happens to get up and start rolling on its own and makes a rattling noise before it breaks things and causes peoples' heads to explode. The whole film, including the bits with the spectators, serves as an experiment in surrealism. It really doesn't ever have to explain anything, as it's already done in the beginning. There is absolutely no reason as to why a tire would get up and kill people, yet it's happening.

That being said, there is one aspect of Rubber that leaves one scratching their head. Those involved in the showing of the tire's antics effectively kill off the spectators with poisoned food to end the movie early. One of the people behind this ends up eating the food themselves and succumbing to the poison. This seems utterly pointless in a film already dedicated to not making sense. And then, when the tire isn't onscreen, the sheriff adds some added exposition that isn't all too necessary.

Rubber is an amusing attempt at a surreal black comedy, but at times, it becomes so wrapped up in its absurdity that it's hard to fully enjoy.

Ender's Game

Ender's Game is the latest to join the club of novel adaptations hoping to kickstart a franchise. To some, it's just "Harry Potter in space", yet Gavin Hood's film actually manages to exceed expectations.

Ender Wiggin has a lot riding on his shoulders - he's the third-born child in his family when Earth only allows two in this future, he's separated from his family to join an elite training school in space...oh, and he has to save all of mankind from an antagonistic race of aliens. He's a smart boy who knows what is expected of him, and taking on this daunting task proves to be more and more difficult as the story moves along. Asa Butterfield does what few young actors are able to do, and that's carry the film throughout while maintaining a balanced level of wit and emotion to make Ender just as capable of a commander as any adult could. And Ender himself is no pushover who accepts defeat. He will fight back even when he doesn't

This adaptation has a lot more of a driving force behind it than other forgettable ones like Eragon or The Golden Compass (obvious comparisons, yes, but the most fitting nonetheless). Other than Ender having to save the world, he's pressured by bullies and a group of adults who knowingly put their lives in the hands of a young boy. He's essentially alone until he has to wrangle up a group of followers to join him in battle. Problem is, most kids think Ender is a cheating show-off and the adults, despite their faith in him, cannot be trusted anymore than Ender himself. In other words, there's actually a substantial plot to this than most young adult novels, and it's actually very enticing.

There are times when Ender's Game gets a big slow and there's a void in the action spots, but a fair bit of it introduces some interesting characters like Petra, the most prominent female at the training school who befriends Ender and gives him a hand at developing his combat skills. There's also Bonzo, the pint-sized antagonistic little brat who gives Ender the hardest time. He clearly won't admit that Ender poses a threat to his rule over the other teammates at school, and so he makes a worthy foil for him. And then there is Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham, the daring commander who legendarily defeated the aliens the first time. His re-emergence is supposed to be a big reveal, but if you happen to read any other review or the IMDB page, the surprise is lost. However, his role plays an essential part in the true big reveal of the film, which brings everything in Ender's journey to a surprising halt.

Ender's Game isn't the most astonishing adaptation to come out as of late, but it is fun, thought-provoking, and nicely acted.

12 Years A Slave

Anybody who has ever paid attention in history class has an idea as to what slavery was like. Quentin Tarantino recently painted a colorful and vivid picture with Django Unchained. However, 12 Years A Slave is more than willing to do the same thing and not wrap it up with a pretty pink vengeful bow. While it's always fun to see some of history's most despicable villains get what's coming to them, that was not the case for Solomon Northup.

Steve McQueen's latest covers the basics - whippings, racial slurs, cotton-picking, and tragedy. Even if it seems all too familiar, the film really lets the emotional and mental abuse of slavery be known. A mother is separated from her two children, just as Solomon was, and she cries for an extended period of time. To some, including Solomon himself, it gets tiresome and aggravating to hear as she wails for all to hear, but it is a feeling that few can imagine, and the idea of it is portrayed effectively. Nearly every bit of the film conveys an aspect of slavery that stays true to the tone and nature of slavery without skimping on the details.

Every character fits the proper role of every kind of person involved in slavery. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon so well as the man who has everything and then nothing. It's equal parts heartbreaking and remarkable. Michael Fassbender and Sarah Paulson are the relentlessly vile and cruel slave-owning Epps couple that inflict the most torture upon Solomon and the slaves, while Benedict Cumberbatch (yeah, that guy again) portrays the kindly slave owner that is not frequently seen. He still drops the n-bomb as was customary, yet it is nice to see someone who is compassionate toward Solomon. Even the briefly seen actors like Paul Giamatti and Alfre Woodard bring their A-game to the film with memorable parts.

One thing that is a bit of a headscratcher is that the passage of time in the film seems to go by quickly. It doesn't actually feel like twelve years pass for Solomon. Although, in that time, it shows how the effects of his tribulations take a toll on his mental state by the end of the film. Still, it would have probably worked a lot better if it took it's time to flesh it out further.

McQueen's meticulously-crafted drama doesn't hold back on the brutality of one of America's most unpleasant eras. It is haunting, yet poignant, and it's cast is just as powerful in their presentation of every major player in that time.

Thor: The Dark World

On paper, evil alien elves in spaceships vs. space vikings with lasers might sound like one of the coolest things ever, yet on screen, it looks like a deleted Star Trek sequence. Unfortunately, that is what a lot of Thor: The Dark World feels like. Unoriginal, unimaginative, and unnecessary. And honestly, it's sort of disappointing.

After The Avengers, Tony Stark carried on in Iron Man 3 with severe PTSD and a threat to those closest to him. Tony, while still being that same "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist" everybody knows and loves, developed over time, and there was a lot more at stake than he would have expected. People wrote the film off as garbage because of how a beloved villain was handled. Well, you know what? That film handled everything else infinitely better than Thor does here. He's still a charming, yet arrogant super-god that lives in the dazzling realm of Asgard while still pining for his dull and one-dimensional Earth girlfriend Jane Foster. Suddenly, a Saturday morning cartoon villain named Malekith emerges to take control of a force to plunge the universe into eternal darkness. And then, pretty much every scene from other blockbusters (death of a loved one, god-awful comic relief characters, awkwardly-handled action scenes, etc.) begins to unfold.

So, if you couldn't tell by now, Thor isn't the most interesting Avenger. Tony Stark is a smarmy rich guy with inner demons, Steve Rogers is a true patriot stricken with culture shock, and Bruce Banner is unable to escape the monster he created for himself. What does Thor do? He's got a powerful hammer...and some other super-god friends who are so much cooler...and he's got a lady on Earth who knows a thing or two about astrophysics and not much else...and people love him for that. Really, as cliche as it is to say, Loki remains the one true really cool thing about this franchise. Although he went into the whole power-hungry madman mode in The Avengers, there are shades of the tragic villain seen in the previous Thor film that made him somewhat accessible. He has his shot at redemption or the chance to totally betray Thor. What does he choose? Well, it'd probably be unfair to spoil it, but it would be less fair to suggest that you pay to see what happens.

Thor should be entertaining and improved on the first film, but it is nothing more than a cut-and-paste rehash of other superior films with totally boring characters (save for Loki) and a bunch of stupid jokes that no sane human being should find funny. Watching Thor return in the Avengers sequel is gonna be like that awkward reunion with that relative you don't really wanna see but is there anyway, and even though you want them to go away, everybody else wants them there, so you're forced to sit there and sulk.

The Counselor

If you take a look at this poster and the trailers for The Counselor, you may notice that it is heavily reliant on three (or probably seven) individuals - the five main cast members, director Ridley Scott, and writer Cormac McCarthy delivering his first screenplay. And that's pretty much all the film has to offer. It never reveals anything, never develops properly, and most of all, never gives us a reason to care.

The lawyer only identified as "Counselor" is thrust into the dark and seedy world of drug trafficking through his association with shady characters like Javier Bardem's philosophical Reiner and Brad Pitt's Westray. Scott and McCarthy become more interested in seeing how intellectual and thought-provoking these men can be through their ominous and detailed accounts of the business they're in, yet it is hardly ever done to advance this narrative so much as it is to try and be as self-indulgent as possible. Perhaps, in the back of their minds, they wanted to show how someone like the Counselor could go from being one particular man to another after stepping into the bad business, but they fail to even allow for a connection to the character.

A heavy amount of focus falls on Cameron Diaz as the obviously sinister Malkina (presumably McCarthy's dim-witted attempt at an "exotic" name), who is actually somewhat of an interesting character, until it's clear she's there mostly for fanservice and moderate closure. Diaz doesn't get to do as much with this kind of character as one would hope, and no amount of car sex (that is to say, actual sex with a car) can fix that. The other major female, Penelope Cruz's Laura, is mostly in the distance as everything unfolds. Additionally, the other two women who have more than 10 seconds of screentime are a prison inmate and a pawn used to seduce Westray. McCarthy clearly has some kind of issue with women, making it clear from the get-go as Reiner expresses his distrust and fear of Malkina to the Counselor. Still, you would think McCarthy, having been married twice, would at least know more about a woman than to use them as cookie cutter characters.

The whole film is basically one giant missed opportunity. There appeared to be room for more to play out, but instead, Scott and McCarthy only serve to remind others that the people you think you know are backstabbers and liars, and they do this through an endless array of smarmy dialogue. In short, The Counselor is almost literally a perfect example of all talk and no action.

Poltergeist

Steven Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the most revolutionary filmmakers of all time, so when he decided to dip his toes in the supernatural horror genre by providing the screenplay for Poltergeist, chances are nobody was expecting something quite so chilling from the man who introduced the world to a rubbery chicken wire alien with a glowing finger. The best way to watch Poltergeist, like a number of films, is to go in blind and not know what's coming.

In a time when many cookie cutter horror films have exhausted the jump scares and shrieking violin chords to frighten people, it's refreshing to see something older that, despite it's dated effects and now-overdone story, can still manage to provide a fair number of scares for both young and old. For one thing, the movie takes adult fear to a whole new level. Little Carol Anne is drawn in by seemingly friendly voices of strangers from the T.V. and is then taken into their realm once their sacred ground has been disturbed. And then suddenly the whole house starts to experience disturbances, from chairs stacking themselves to an unholy abomination of a clown doll.

In addition to the aforementioned parental concerns, what makes Poltergeist scarier than most films is that the antagonistic force seems to have no weakness. It cannot be defeated and it forces the family to flee at the last minute, taking everything they hold near and dear into oblivion. While most serial killers in slasher films are taken out via gunshots, stabbings, and decapitations (y'know, before they're brought back for the sequel), the poltergeist here is all powerful and could have taken Carol Anne into their realm permanently.

Poltergeist lives up to its reputation as a landmark horror film, benefiting from it's eerie aura and build-up to its spot-on execution.

Carrie (2013)

By now, it doesn't need to be said what the general moviegoing public thinks of remakes. Some will moan about the constant retreads while others embrace the notion of a new vision to a familiar work. The latest version of Stephen King's Carrie may find a mix of both groups. It probably won't persuade cynics to give it a shot, but for those who go in wanting to see how someone else handles high school revenge, they may walk out feeling not too offended.

The funny thing about Kimberly Peirce's updated version, and something that may be problematic to audiences, is that for a movie called Carrie, an awful lot of time is spent away from Carrie and we see more of the people that torment the titular character. Sure, there is focus on Carrie putting her powers to good use, but only after the film seems to forget that she's supposed to be the main character. Of course, that's not to say these supporting characters are wasted. Sue, the one atoner among the mean girls, is portrayed more sympathetically, while Chris, the chief antagonist, is more present here and even has moments where it looks like she's not a complete monster, and most of the blame falls on her scumbag boyfriend Tommy. While they are interesting characters, it's a bit distracting when we ought to follow Carrie and we don't learn much about her past the fundamentalist upbringing that is already quickly established.

Peirce also steers into some of the tired horror film and high school film cliches that almost seem pretty forced. It gets to a point where you might go "Okay, we get it" after all the times Carrie's peers automatically laugh at her when she breathes, or every time an eerie rumbling happens whenever Carrie makes something crazy happen. But what everybody wants to see is the climax at the prom, the moment when Carrie puts her foot down (literally at one point) and unleashes her fury upon everyone who has ever mocked her. It doesn't have the spooky build-up that Brian De Palma's film had, but considering how many liberties can be taken these days, Peirce doesn't fail in this department, allowing for some rather awesomely brutal revenge kills. It is certainly the highlight of the film, and even for those who know what's going to happen, it is pretty satisfying.

The film may often hammer down the "bullying is bad" theme down to a T, but it mostly emphasizes that you never know what anybody is capable of. Maybe nobody is going to hurl their tormentors against a wall with their minds, but the harsh truth is that certain people can snap at any given moment when pushed far enough. And that's what has happened to Carrie every time the story's been told.

While Carrie doesn't bring anything new to the table, it proves to be fairly entertaining with an intense climax and a far better look at the characters, even if it would have been nicer to actually see more of Carrie herself.

Gravity

There are films that can take you to a place you may have seen before, and yet, it feels like you're seeing it for the first time. Director Alfonso Cuaron achieves this with Gravity. Time and time again, we've been launched into space with characters like Ellen Ripley, WALL-E, and the crew of U.S.S. Enterprise, but this time, we're treated to the Cuaron style of space travel.

With the proper use of the 3D effect, Cuaron takes you into space and then unleashes the horrors of helplessness, loneliness, and dread as you're floating thousands of miles above the earth with Sandra Bullock's Ryan Stone. Few films these days can capture those feelings and make it almost genuine, but it scores big here. Bullock herself manages to carry the film from beginning to end. It starts off as just a job until her life is in jeopardy, and even if she has nothing else to live for, it doesn't mean she cannot keep living. George Clooney, in his smaller role, also serves to give Bullock the push she needs to keep her will to live going. The lack of other characters allows us to keep our eyes and ears on Stone and root for her to make it home.

Now, for all it's visual grandeur and emotional weight, Gravity isn't perfect. The setting may look fresh and neat, but the story may seem a bit too familiar. It's a survival story in space, and the chances of making it out alive look slim, but the main character must find the drive and will to succeed. Seems pretty straightforward, but Cuaron's style of storytelling compensates for something pretty basic. Additionally, Cuaron does take some artistic license with the whole space setting, and science geeks may find themselves picking out a few inaccuracies (yes, why is Sandra Bullock not wearing an adult diaper under her space suit?), but even that would just be nitpicking.

Gravity certainly ought to be checked out at least once in the proper format. It may be too soon to call it a masterpiece, but there is no doubt that Cuaron's vision is achieved, making it an enticing cinematic experience.

Upstream Color

"Pretentious" is a word that seems to be thrown around here and there in regards to anything that appears to act bigger and better than it really is. Here is one of the more recent offenders, Shane Carruth's Upstream Color.

Carruth seems as though he's trying to make a science-fiction drama with shades of David Lynch. In reality, it comes off as a cheesy student film desperately tries to be Lynchian, complete with bad acting, choppy editing, somber music, and a dreary color palette. It follows what seems to be an elaborate experiment involving two people brought together through circumstances that neither person can comprehend, and as a whole, that's what the film appears to be - just a long experiment put together by someone who thinks they're smarter than you.

The film's structure is intentionally uneven, and while it's succeeded in many films, it only looks deliberately confusing here. And the film's plot isn't even a very complex one, even if it wants to seem that way. Carruth tries too hard to appear clever and he comes off as the snobby smart kid in the classroom who'll mock you if you don't understand where he's coming from while his band of cronies blindly clap for him and agree with what he says. Unconventional styles of filmmaking certainly ought to be welcomed in this generation, but not when it's so painfully obvious how smug the creator is when presenting his work.

Like Carruth's first film, Upstream Color, in spite of all the undeserved acclaim, breaks no new ground, presents no interesting commentary or ideas, and is an unbelievable bore.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

Horror comedies can be a tricky sell, because they must usually find a balance between the scares and the laughs. While Tucker & Dale vs. Evil doesn't quite fit that description, it succeeds in putting on a clever twist on the average horror movie plot by turning the hicks into heroes and the horny and idiotic college students into the antagonists.

The title characters, upon first impression, would fit the bill for your typical horror movie villains. They're unkempt, messy, and they carry tools that can be used as murder weapons. Dale, in particular, seems to nail this look down to a T, making a bad first impression upon his later love interest, Ali. Through a series of confusions and "not-what-it-looks-like" situations, the duo becomes the target of revenge by the deranged leader of the teens, leading to quite literally bloody hilarious outcomes.

Tucker & Dale's spin on the genre is it's main selling point and it puts all the elements of satire to good use without being too forced or in-your-face. The guys are actually likeable, if not somewhat dim-witted fellows, just trying to fix up their summer home. Ali even overcomes the horror lead female stigma. She is as smart as she is lovely, making it obvious why Dale goes for her. Even Chad, the bloodthirsty villain of the film, manages to be hilariously over-the-top in his unstoppable vendetta against hillbillies, leading to a pretty funny "twist" at the end.

In addition to being a horror satire, one can see this as a shot toward today's typical preppy and moronic college students who know nothing but drinking and riding anything that moves. Chad, the archetypical tough guy, is seen trying to put the moves on Ali, a beautiful blonde who proves to be smarter than she looks. They are also quick to judge Tucker and Dale based on their redneck appearance before only Ali sees them for who they really are.

For all it's gory mayhem and sometimes juvenile gags, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil  is funny, charming, and entertaining.

Prisoners

Denis Villeneuve's thriller Prisoners begs the question, "What would you do if your child was taken from you?" Hugh Jackman's Keller Dover answers the question quite vividly over the course of two-and-a-half hours.


The film wastes no time getting into the search for Keller's daughter and her friend, daughter of Terrence Howard's Franklin. Very quickly does Keller go from a well-meaning family man to a ruthless and vengeful man, showing no hesitation in pulverizing his suspect. The rest of the film, however, takes it's time to build the suspense and create an unsettling atmosphere. For instance, the scene in which Jake Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki (and no, there is no allusion or parallel made to the Norse god of mischief) inspects the home of a suspect and comes across a few disturbing discoveries is enough to make one squirm, considering how far he's gotten by that point, and it opens up a sense of failure and hopelessness. Of course, this is one of the film's many twists and turns that must be seen.

Jackman is spot-on in capturing the fear, dread, and anguish of this man who will stop at nothing to get his little girl back. He carries the film from beginning to end and never shows signs of slowing down. The other actors, such as Maria Bello as Keller's grieving wife and Howard as his reluctant but contemplative friend, also do fine jobs in their performances, but the standouts must be Gyllenhaal, who for the past decade or so has played a handful of dull and disengaging characters, yet manages to keep up with the intensity of Loki's drive to solving the case, as well as Paul Dano in the role of the quiet and creepy suspect Alex Jones. He says very little, yet he gives one reason to sympathize with Keller in his suspicion to his knowledge of the girls' disappearance.

What the film leaves you with, other than the aforementioned question, is the sense that in any moment, everything you love can be taken from you in the blink of an eye, and you may be helpless in preventing that. It's a dreadful notion, yet the fact that it lingers is a testament to the film's power. Additionally, as one character states, crimes like the kidnapping of a child can turn one into a monster, as is the case with Keller, but it's a matter of how far this person is pushed and what this person is capable of. Some may not be brave or bold enough to go as far as Keller does, but he had quickly become hellbent on ending this nightmare that he created a new one for himself.

The Family

Director Luc Besson is known for having a particular style when it comes to his films, though none of that seems present here in The Family. Instead, it feels like some dime-a-dozen action film (with a shortage of action) that randomly throws in Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones and squanders their talents with a sloppy and unimaginative script.

The film shows how a family of four who come from the Brooklyn mafia world are adjusting to life in Normandy after De Niro's Giovanni gets them put in witness protection. So naturally, they all handle their business the way any badass mafioso would - i.e., beating the tar out of a boy with sleazy intentions, starting an organized crime circle among fellow classmates, and blowing up a supermarket out of spite. Amusing, yes, but somewhat derivative.

In some ways, if more effort was put into this, it could have been an interesting piece on developing a new life outside a life of crime, but then the movie seems to forget that it's meant to be an action-comedy, so it pulls in some hitmen in the last half hour to save face for a lack of action that doesn't involve Giovanni fantasizing about assaulting anybody who pisses him off. And therein lies the film's biggest problem: it doesn't know where it wants to go with it's characters and development. It doesn't even really take much time to establish the conflict between Giovanni and the hitmen that want his head. Most of the family's issues just happen to be resolved when the band of hitmen arrive, and it leaves it at that. Additionally, it isn't even very funny. The humor comes from the aforementioned dirty deeds that the family commits, as well as a subtle-as-a-firecracker nod to De Niro and executive producer Martin Scorsese by having Giovanni watch Goodfellas at a debate.

The Family isn't necessarily a terrible film, but it isn't one that is even really worth the price of a matinee ticket. It plods along unevenly and lacks in both action and comedy, as well as any sort of substance.