Someday, somehow, I will stop being the laziest movie blogger ever and all will be right with the world. For now, out of sheer boredom and the fact that the past few weeks have been quite prolific in terms of movie-watching, I figured I’d try something easy & new: Below is a collection of my tweets (with extra characters added here and there) about the movies I’ve seen recently. If you follow me on Twitter at @BenLikesMovies and you’ve missed these... here ya go again! If you don’t follow me... well... you should, because even when I’m not blogging here, I’m always tweeting there. Ready? GO!
R.I.P.D. -- As expected, this blatant, horrible, embarrassing MEN IN BLACK rip-off has absolutely nothing going for it. Hope Jeff Bridges enjoys the new wing on his house. Hope Ryan Reynolds enjoys direct-to-DVD purgatory.
THE SPECTACULAR NOW -- Maybe the best of all of this year's great coming-of-age tales. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are forces to be reckoned with; their dominant performances make great material borderline transcendent.
ELYSIUM -- Not much substance, and a bit of a letdown for Neill Blomkamp after DISTRICT 9, but enjoyable nonetheless. Well-crafted, visually striking dystopia. Jodie Foster’s accent is weird. Robo-Matt Damon vs. Robo-Sharlto Copley is worth the price of admission.
WE'RE THE MILLERS -- Mild chuckles here and there but generally a waste of a solid premise & cast. But hey, Jennifer Aniston jiggles her boobs, which I'm guessing is the whole point. (Okay, Jen, we get it -- you’re still hot. Now make a good movie.)
LOVELACE -- Pretty solid biopic. Amanda Seyfried & Peter Sarsgaard lead an excellent cast (though I could’ve done without James Franco as Hugh Hefner; should’ve just gotten Hef to play himself using CGI de-aging technology). Really nice authentic '70s look. Jarring tonal shifts (breezy then dark then breezy then dark again) drive home the story's overall grimness.
THE CANYONS -- Can't figure out if Bret Easton Ellis (who is now dead to me) and Paul Schrader (who should be ashamed of himself) are joking around, or purposely made such an awful, laughable, soulless movie to nail home their feeble "death of cinema" subtext, or if this is just a truly epic inept debacle. At least Lindsay Lohan looks good (well, parts of her, anyway).
KID-THING -- The story of a little girl with no guidance who goes around wrecking shit and then one day comes across a women trapped in a well. Or does she? An interesting addition to this Summer of the Coming-of-Age Film. With its dusty setting and dry, non-sequitur humor, it feels like a darker, weirder NAPOLEON DYNAMITE.
THIS IS MARTIN BONNER -- Wonderful, understated look at human connection and second chances. Fantastic performances that exude authenticity. Probably too tiny a film to generate Oscar buzz, but Paul Eenhorn is deserving.
PRINCE AVALANCHE -- Offbeat, hilarious, melancholic, occasionally surreal comedy starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch as bickering highway workers in two of my favorite performances of the year.
KICK-ASS 2 -- The novelty (and wit) may have worn off somewhat but it's still a fun sequel. Hit Girl still rules. Jim Carrey steals the show. I want Dave's "I Hate Reboots" t-shirt. I like the characters so much that I’d welcome a third installment to complete a trilogy.
AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS -- A gorgeous, gripping, aching neo-western love ballad that tugs on all the right heartstrings. Casey Affleck & Rooney Mara are fantastic, and I will be watching David Lowery's career with great interest. (Could also be titled DAMN, THEM KITTENS CUTE.)
More soon... maybe... hopefully?
