A Band Called Death

What's in a name? This documentary explores just that question with a long unknown band that has been given praise the world over with quotes such as "They were punk before Punk was punk."

'A Band Called Death', not surprisingly, tells the journey of a band...called Death. Today a name like that would not even raise an eyebrow if a 10 year old was listening to it. But in 1974, when three African-American brothers playing a style of rock no one had heard came along, no one was prepared for it. This documentary follows this band and unfolds for us the story of their inspiration, their failures, rejections, and success over 35 years in the making. All of this spearheaded by one of the Hackney brothers, a visionary lost before his time had found him.

This movie was in a word, wonderful. I have watched plenty of docs before and behind the music, things like that, but this is one of the only ones that really touches you and really invests you in the real life story of these three brothers. This doc was very well edited and tells a very powerful story, and a part of me really wants to see this nominated for Best Feature Doc for an Oscar.

The pictures and music is wonderful, and you can really tell that the music industry has a passion for these guys with heavy hitters like Questlove, Alice Cooper, Mickey Leigh, Henry Rollins, Kid Rock, and Elijah Wood (who apparently owns a record label.) dotting the interviews raving about this band.

Final Judgement:

This bands journey through their various trials and tribulations is nothing short of inspiring and moving. I feel that anyone should be able to watch this movie and get something enjoyable out of it. The story, the people, the musi...everything just really comes together in a big way to make a great watch. This indie movie is only in select theaters across the country right now, but you can rent it on Amazon.com and pick up a hard copy there too, and I really recommend watching it at least once.  

Score: ★★★★★★★★★★☆

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How To Be A Serial Killer

Definitely an interesting take on the serial killer phenomena, This movie I felt was a good watch, I would recommend it  to anyone who is swept up in the serial killer craze (fans of Dexter, Criminal Minds, etc.), but I felt that while an important part about the movie was about finding one's voice, this movie didn't really find itself a home.

'How To Be A Serial' killer is partly a narrative about veteran serial killer Mike (Dameon Clarke) taking a pupil (Matthew Gray Gubler) under his tutelage. There is also a 'camera confessional' aspect delving into characters' emotions, as well as a 'self help video' section detailing the rules one needs to follow to be a successful serial killer.

As for acting, there is essentially only two actors in the entire movie, Clarke and Gubler. Clarke I think did a great job, as did Gubler, but I never felt like the two were friends in the movie, it always seemed like they really didn't mesh together as a team. I did think it was interesting that Matthew Gray Gubler played a serial killer in training when his regular gig is playing a genius savant trained to capture serial killers.

Writing I thought was a key downfall. There were too many elements in the movie that distracted me. It wa part narrative, part self help/tutorial, part camera confession. I think if the camera confessional scenes were clipped altogether it would have worked better, especially since there was never anyone following the characters with a camera; those scenes just felt awkward and unnecessary. It also really struggled to find what it's main genre of movie was...there wasn't enough jokes for me to just say it was a comedy, I wasn't invested in the characters enough to find any particular moment suspenseful, and there isn't enough emotional turmoil to make me think of a drama. I labeled it as all three because it has moments that picked out of each category, like a sampler platter of a movie.

Cinematography was decent in the movie, the colors were very natural, and honestly the best lighting are the night scenes when they are driving, but nothing really stood out.

Final Judgement:

This movie is not going to knock your socks off. Like I said at the beginning, if you are into any of the current serial killer shows out there, it's definitely worth the watch and some of the tutorial sections might crop up in your head during those shows. Otherwise, it's not like society is going to notice is you skip this one.

Score: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

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Super

This movie surprised the hell out of me. Much better than I expected going into it. This was truly an impressive indie film.

'Super' follows Frank (Rainn Wilson), an average guy who is a cook at a diner, who has led a remarkably boring life. This changes when his wife (Liv Tyler) runs off with the drug dealer 'Jock' (Kevin Bacon) without a note or a reason why. After the police turn a deaf ear to his plea for assistance, Frank takes the law into his own hands and becomes the vigilante The Crimson Bolt. Over the movie we see this everyday crime fighter go from a truly awkward spectacle to behold to a truly fearsome agent of wrath.

The story was both what made this movie work, but what also more than likely what made this movie a mainly underground success. The movie opened a scant two months after Kick-Ass, which follows a similar plot, but had a budget over ten times the size of Super with major studio support. The story was pretty decent, there were a few parts I didn't agree with and thought should have been rewritten or removed completely from the movie.

The acting was not only impressive, but who they were able to hire was impressive. Being able to hire Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Ellen Page, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion and Rainn Wilson and still have enough from your 2.5 million dollar budget to make a full length, well shot movie is a feat, and definitely tells us that some of these actors definitely lowered their rates because they just wanted to be involved in the project. Rainn Wilson was great in the movie, he had a rough start for me, but by the end I was totally sold with his performance. I also found it kind of hilarious that this was Nathan Fillion's second role as a kind of lame super hero, the first being Captain Hammer in "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog".

The look and feel of the movie was a lot grittier than I was expecting Lots of muted and earthy colors, which really makes the few times that there is a cartoon-y special effect really stand out. The special effects were done old school. Blood pumps and the like instead of the growing use of digital blood. I liked the style that the effects were used, but there were a few time I think they were just over-used and distracting.

Final Judgement:

'Super' delivers a good story, but some of the special effectsmight be argued that either held it back or added to its charm. The characters develop nicely and the story moves fluidly at a good pace. This movie is on Netflix and is definitely worth finding a home in your queue.

Score: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

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The Skin I Live In

A foreign movie whose original title is: 'La Piel Que Habito'. This movie debuted a couple years ago, but had a pretty soft opening. It fell through the cracks I think and it is a tragedy.

'The Skin I Live In' is a suspenseful story about a plastic surgeon who, after tragedy strikes his family and his wife is horribly burned, becomes obsessed with developing a highly experimental form of skin graft. After years of work, he begins testing on another woman. This woman is moved to his estate during the treatment, and is regarded as a prisoner in solitary confinement due to the severity of her condition and the surgery she undergoes.

'The Skin I Live In' is a masterpiece. The screenplay is incredibly clever, moving, and haunting. The story, which I will not spoil, is such an intense mind-fuck, you will forget that you are reading subtitles. The non-linear plot flows so smoothly and the story is excellently crafted, you really feel for the characters.

As far as acting goes, I just have one question. "Where the hell has this Antonio Banderas been?!" I had been thinking Banderas had retired from being in adult oriented movies and traded over to kids movies, and I would never again see a bad ass Banderas. But this movie let shine a strong ray of hope that he will still be in grown up movies. Since there aren't many characters in this movie, that makes every role that much more important. Not only does Banderas shine, but his opposite, Elena Anaya, delivers a brilliant performance as well.

The cinematography is great as well. The entire color of the film is very muted and dour, a dark feeling matched by the subject matter. The lighting changes from dreary and disparaging to sterile and emotionless.

Final Judgement:

This movie is fantastic, and you will not be disappointed. I will warn you against seeing this movie if you are looking for a light, happy feeling flick, because this will not be that movie. This movie is disturbing, suspenseful, and at points, emotionally draining. This wasn't nominated for an Oscar, was nominated for a Golden Globe, but lost, and that is a catastrophe. This has to be one of the best Spanish movies I have ever seen, up there with 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'The Orphanage'. This movie, at least for DirecTV users, is available On Demand for those who have Starz. It's not on Netflix at the moment, and only available to purchase on Amazon instant video.

Score: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

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This Is The End

So this movie was to me, more interesting than it was funny. It is an important note that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg made this as a short movie six years ago, and this is the big budget reinterpretation of that short.

'This Is The End' is a story where 5 friends (Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, James Franco, & Craig Robinson) fight to survive when a house warming party is interrupted by Judgement Day. The friends, playing themselves, brave through starvation, survivors, and the forces of Hades.

What I found most interesting, was the fact that all the actors played themselves. You don't see actors playing themselves in completely fantastic and outlandish scenarios in movies too often. The best, prior to this, would have to be Bill Murray's cameo in 'Zombieland'.

The writing/story of this movie was pretty decent. The story progressed pretty smoothly, and the jokes were well timed and spaced. The main story line, between Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen, was actually believeable and, for lack of a better term, 'Bro-mantic'.

Acting, like most comedies, was the most important feature of this movie. The delivery of the lines in this movie were great, and physical comedy is a strong suit for the entire cast.. The main cast have an amazing chemistry on screen, and it's easy to tell they enjoyed making the movie. The beginning of the movie is literally a mountain of cameos of who's who in comedy, and while funny, is also a little overwhelming to the eyes, because it almost makes you want to scan every face to see who might be in the shot, instead of paying attention to what's happening.

The cinematography of this movie was leagues better than I was expecting. The lighting was gorgeous. The backdrop of fires outside the set gave way for some great lighting choices.  Digital effects were, for the most part, used sparingly and in good taste. There were a couple of obvious green screen backdrops that could have been cleaned up a bit.

I know this movie has been in theaters a while, but it is worth going if you have the time. It is a solid comedy, and if you like any of the bodies of work by this group of actors, chances are you are going to enjoy this movie.

Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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The Internship

This movie was exactly what I expected, and that is in no way a bad thing. The Internship is a comedy that really does bridge a generation gap between the main characters and the supporting actors.  I saw this because I was a fan of the dynamic between Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in their film ‘Wedding Crashers’, and this movie delivers the same feel.

The Internship is a comedy following Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson), two  forty-something watch salesmen who find themselves in search for a career in a job market they don’t fully comprehend.  They decide to find a way into the Google Internship program, where they and a group of young tech wizards have to compete with other teams vying for the coveted employment at Google.

The look and feel of this movie is very bright, and intensely colorful, and this was not only decisions made by the DP (Director of Photography) Jonathan Brown, but also just the presence and the environment of Google Corp. While there are a few shots that are beautiful, this movie is not the type that is going to have complex camera work or cutting edge effects, this movie is driven by a comedic plot based in the real world, so the writing and acting is what takes import.

The writing does a good job too. Jokes were funny and definitely well spaced. My only complaint with this movie, would be my complaint of any movie like this (‘This’ being the underdogs vs. the alpha dogs). A couple of plot points can be seen a mile away, waving road flares. That’s a risk that has to be made though, because I truly believe writing a good comedy (let alone a great one) becomes exponentially harder as time passes, because no one likes hearing a joke repeated, we like new comedy. That being said and keeping that in mind, the story was pretty good.

The acting is what makes the movie work best. Vaughn and Wilson have great delivery, and the whole team involved with them (Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brian, Tiya Sircar, and Tobit Raphael) have a great on screen group chemistry. My favorite performances however are with John Goodman and Josh Gad, who while only on screen for a combined total of less than 7 minutes, have great delivery of their characters.

One important side note for me, and this is one of my biggest beefs with comedy movies, is the trailers. So often you will see a trailer for a comedy, and a two minute trailer feels obligated to sling a barrage of the movies punch-lines, which really spoils the enjoyment of the joke when it happens in the movie, especially if it is one of the bigger deliveries in the movie. I am happy to say that the trailers for this movie did leave unexpected punch-lines for the audience to enjoy.

I know this movie has been out a couple weeks, but if you haven’t seen it, you won’t feel cheated out of a matinee ticket. If not, it will be a good movie to rent or add to your Netflix queue.

Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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World War Z

So as always, I will try to deliver my accurate review of the movie without spoiling the plot's integrity.

So in my opinion, one should always be approach 'zombie flicks' with trepidation, because it is pretty easy to burn your ticket money with them and not hard to ruin them. That being said, World War Z was alright, compared to other zombie flicks, it was pretty good, but it left me wanting.

Now I haven't read the novel by Max Brooks (son of Mel, the Great) so I am not even going to touch the integrity of the story compared to the novel, but offer an outsiders perspective. The story I felt was the movie's greatest strength and it's biggest downfall. There are moments in the movie that are edge of your seat moments, and also some fairly beautiful and emotional moments in the movie. These moments however, feel like they are quite conservatively spread throughout a plot that feels jerky and stair steps, lacking the fluidity. The story was so eager to show the worldwide consequences of this plague of undead that some story points fell by the wayside. Now maybe 'The Walking Dead' has spoiled me with their fairly nice writing, but these days I don't think it's unreasonable to have a well crafted script for zombies. There are also some fairly significant plot points I find confusing or not well explained, mainly a lot of information on the main character, Gerry (Brad Pitt). One thing I like about the story is part of the ending, but I can't say more for fear of spoiling.

The cinematography on this movie was fairly impressive. handheld camerawork was used minimally, when called for, which is especially appreciated if you watch this in 3D, as I did. Landscapes both bleak and gorgeous dot the movie and really drive home the enormity of the main character's journey. My main complaint with the look of the movie is I think that digital effects were used much too liberally in the movie. Where extras could be used to create a decent horde or run of zombies, 3D animation is instead used to make a wave of zombies (I kid you not, there are some pretty ridiculous digital effects in the movie that defy the laws of physics.) With all the digital zombies, I think the movie really missed a chance to get up close and personal with the undead, which is the scariest part of the concept, when it breaks the audience's comfort barrier.

As for acting in the movie, I don't think any one person stood out, even Brad Pitt, who I was hoping would have delivered a better performance. The acting isn't by any stretch bad acting either, there just aren't to many moments in the movie where you are going to think to yourself "I will remember this next week."

So all in all, it won't be the worst movie of the year, but there were definitely some opportunities missed in the movie that kept this from being something special in the zombie sub-genre.

Score: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

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Man of Steel

So I am going to do my best to explain as much of the merits and opportunities missed with this movie without spoiling anything, because I do encourage everyone to go out and see it, find your personal views and monologue about the movie, whether you agree with me or not.

I am first going to discuss my thoughts on the movie, some of the blow-back I have heard about the movie, then maybe talk a little on my outlook on what this movie may mean for the DC Cinematic Universe.

I found this movie to be thoroughly entertaining, well worth the price of admission. Visually, the images and environments were gorgeous. I really liked the rendition and the vision of the planet Krypton. I saw this in IMAX 3D and at no point did I think the 3D had 'cheese' factor to it, which is a big detractor for me. The 3D is used to add depth a realism to the movie, and was in no way gimmicky. Digital effects is something you have to expect from a comic-book themed movie. There was quite an orgy of it at the climax of the movie, and personally, I think it could have been scaled back a little, but it was not a giant flaw (Snyder did not have 'Michael Bay Syndrome'). Audio was very well done on this movie, getting the IMAX audio in this movie was definitely worth it. I will never complain when a score is given to Hans Zimmer to write, and I think having him write the score was, in some small way, taking  stand that this is a completely different franchise than the Superman revolving around Christopher Reeve. I really enjoyed the story, which is to be expected from a script by Nolan. This definitely gave good character development to a character that is usually pretty 2-Dimensional. I always enjoy non-linear storytelling, but this does also come with my one complaint on the story. I think that the story juggled timelines a little too much, I think stories set in the past could have been condensed. There are one or two plot holes, not giant ones, that I saw as well, but so as not to spoil the movie I won't discuss them here. Acting was just great. I am totally behind Cavill as Superman, think he did a fantastic job, but in my opinion, the movie totally belongs to Michael Shannon, our Gen. Zod, who I think delivered the best performance of his career here. I loved seeing General Zod as a tortured soul who felt bound to his path, and he knocked it out of the park.

As far as the things I have heard about this movie, while I am sure there are discrepancies in the plot of the origin of Superman, I do also know that with most any published work, in order to appeal to an audience big enough to pay for the large budget of the movie being made, some creative liberties have to be made so that a general audience, not just the comic book fans, can follow the story. Now I have never followed the Superman ethos closely, so I am not going to begin to point out everything that flew in the face of the comics. I do know that the origin is pretty close to the comics, but definitely, if nothing else, pays good homage to the comics too. I also know there was some controversy involving the new suit. I personally have no problem with the new, sans underwear, look. More importantly, anytime a brand relaunch like this happens, with heroes being so identifiable, especially their costumes, changes have to be made to show that this is a completely new storyline.

As for what this means for the DC Cinema Universe. I don't think this movie really means anything to it. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, it was beautiful, but, like Nolan's Batman series, it does not feel like Superman was part of a world where there is more going on then just his story. As much as I find it disappointing, I don't know if this movie will tie into any DC Universe series. everything I have read on the subject mostly has Snyder and DC dancing around and not committing to an answer, but with the scope of the movie, it just doesn't seem like it gives much room for other heroes to be involved in this 'Man of Steel' Universe. I could be completely wrong here, but this is just my opinion after seeing the story unfold. Now we already know that when I Justice League movie is made, they will be recasting and rebooting Batman, which already feels strange with the Dark Knight movies still vivid in the pop-culture memory. I look forward to seeing more comic movies, I am a sucker for them, but with DC, I have to say I am a little worried.

Score: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

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