Monday, April 8, 2013

Clerks II [A Fat Jesus Movie Review]


You all know that I love Kevin Smith and the majority of his movies. I've written a full review on Clerks earlier in the year and I'm more than excited that Kevin Smith has started up on the Clerks III script in recent weeks. But this is about Clerks II, Smith's follow up to his career making debut. A lot of people hail it as better than the first, with others thinking it's a lackluster squeal to his best film. I personally think it's one of the best follow-ups of all time. The inner 16 year old in me loves the raunchiness, while the 22 year old in me loves the emotion and storytelling. Randall, Dante and Jay and Silent Bob are back for the best movie about working in food service of all time.

Clerks II follows the story of Dante Hicks and Randal Graves (Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson) as they now work at a Mooby's restaurant. They aren't working at Quick Stop and RST Video because one morning Dante finds the store on fire because Randall left the coffee pot on. One year later Dante is planning on leaving his job to move to Florida to run a car-wash with his fiancee Emma Bunting (Jennifer Schwalbach). Randall doesn't like the idea of being left alone once Dante moves. Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) follow the duo and begin hanging out outside of the Mooby's now. Throughout the day, mishaps and misadventures occur between the four and their boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson), and younger employee Elias (Trevor Fehrman). They argue about Lord of the Rings with customers, accidentally say a racial slur in front of customers and get berated by an old friend from high school. It soon becomes clear that, like at Quick Stop, not a lot of works happens during work hours. The day before Dante leaves for Florida is filled with drama, dance numbers and even a Tijuana show that no one is soon to forget. This is truly a day that rivals any they ever had and these clerks never know how to handle things.

Kevin Smith movies, especially the View Askew ones, have a special place in my heart. They're really the first sort-of film series I ever got into. While I have gone back and still think the original is better, as a 16 year old seeing Clerks II for the first time, then going back to watch the other movies, it was a real treat. I recognize that Clerks is a better movie, but that doesn't mean that Clerks II doesn't hold that number two spot in my heart. Gooey gooey, mushy mushy, I know. Deal with it. The story telling and writing in this rival that of Dogma for me. While the characters and situations are fully reminiscent of other favorites such as Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It's an odd blend of all the movies I like from Kevin Smith, poured into one giant glass of a movie. The story is written pretty well. Someone who has never seen a Kevin Smith movie before, wouldn't be lost watching Clerks II. The dialogue is believable, yet crazy enough to keep you grounded to the fact you're watching a movie. This is a comedy with emotional tendencies after all. Clerks II is full of what a middle aged men who never really "grew up" would say for a laugh. No matter how inappropriate or off color it may be. It appeals with the teenagers watching because they like to be rebellious, while the adults can actually appreciate the references being made. The story is a decent one to boot. Some of the best movies follow the story of something that happens in a day or night. Throw in the fact the characters are a bunch of easy going, carefree, humorous people. You're in for a story you can get into, cause you know how the characters are wound.

Speaking of the characters, they're who you remember them to be after the first movie. Dante is the kinda tightly wound guy that stuff just doesn't tend to go right for. Randal is the say anything guy, who just wants to make a living with is best friend. While Jay and Silent Bob are still the lovable stoner duo that will say and do anything for a laugh or to entertain themselves. Throw in the religious kid who has a lot of trouble with things outside of his religion and the new boss who may have inadvertently changed the course of of Dante and Randal's lives going forward.  The casting was great as well. The original four are exactly as you remember them. The new additions in Jennifer Schwalbach, Rosario Dawson and Trevor Fehrman all add another dimension to the daily interactions. While cameos from people like Ben Affleck, Wanda Sykes, Ethan Suplee and Jason Lee are welcome bits parts for some of the slower parts of the movie. The filming style is alright. The high points being driving along the suburban highways, autumn leaf covered roads and the pull out shot of Mooby's during the giants cast scene. But with the bulk of the movie happening in Mooby's itself it doesn't often lend  fantastic cinematic filming. I just love the music all around, not much more to say than that. The humor is very raunchy, but if you like any, or are even familiar of Smith's other work this should come as no surprise. I've always thought of Kevin Smith as a lite version of Quentin Tarantino. This movie is no different. Dialogue riddled with philosophy-esque questions, debates on topics of morality, drama, movies, and pop culture among other topics. They will not only have you laughing, but thinking and forming your own thoughts on what's being said.

Clerks II is my favorite Kevin Smith movie from the 2000s. Clerks is my favorite Kevin Smith movie from the 1990s. This bodes well for Clerks III presumably coming out in the 2010s. This movie completely updates the production value of the first film. It keeps the charm while adding new characters and keeping the charm of the ones returning. I never get tired of watching the Clerks franchise and Clerks II is just as good as the first. Kevin Smith has cemented himself as one of my favorite directors of all time and Clerks II is up there as one of my favorites of all time to boot.


Friday, April 5, 2013

Oz The Great And Powerful [A Fat Jesus Movie Review]


Oz The Great And Powerful has all the makings to become a very good movie. Two great leads in James Franco and Mila Kunis. Along side three great supporting roles played by Zach Braff, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. It uses source material from one of the greatest book and movie combinations of all time. Combine that with getting distributed by Disney and being directed by Sam Raimi, this movie should be a powerhouse. Right? Well let's just say that it didn't quite fill the britches of the all time classic. What it does do is deliver a great story and some good acting. Along with some interesting concepts and parallels drawn between itself and The Wizard of Oz as well.

Oz The Great And Powerful follows the story of small time magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) who performs with a traveling circus. One day after a show, as a storm approaches, the circus strong man finds out that Oscar was flirting with his wife. Oscar escapes in a hot air balloon only to be sucked into a devastating tornado and taken to the Land of Oz. Upon landing in a lake he stumbles upon Theodora (Mila Kunis). She believes that Oscar is the one able to kill the Wicked Witch who killed the king of Oz. On their way to the Emerald City, Theodroa falls in love with Oscar because of his flirtatious ways. They also meet a flying monkey, Finley (Zach Braff), who pledges his life to Oscar after he saves him from an attacking lion.
When they reach Emerald City they meet Evanora (Rachel Weisz), Theodora's sister, who is skeptical of Oscars powers. She informs Oscar that to defeat the Wicked Witch, he must destroy her wand. Oscar and Finley set off on a journey to the Dark Forest to find and destroy said wand. Along the way they meet and help China Girl (Joey King), who joins them after they save her from being attacked by the Wicked Witch. They reach the Dark Forest and find the witch they were told about. But before Oscar breaks the wand, the woman reveals herself as Glenda the Good Witch (Michelle Williams). This sets forth a series of magical events in which Oscar must truly step up and save the Land of Oz. Before it is taken over for good by the real Wicked Witch.

There is a lot of good in this movie, but I can see disagreements to all of these points I'm about to make. First off, I loved the filming and directing style. Sam Raimi is probably one of my favorite directors of all time. So if you can get him a good movie, he will translate it to the screen well. The opening part of the movie in 4:3 and black and white transitioning into the 2.35:1 widescreen and full color was great touch. An easy homage to the first movie and I could point them out all day, but lets just say continuity wasn't a huge problem in this prequel of sorts. The acting was very good as well. James Franco and Mila Kunis had a good on-screen chemistry throughout. The combo of Franco, Zach Braff and Joey King held up great too. There's a lot of pairing groups up in this movie and none of them didn't work. All the main actors involved do a great job and got me into their characters well. When a character is played well it's not something that's a pain to watch in my eyes. A lot of the time, especially in the majority of movies nowadays, it feels like people either overact or don't try at all. There isn't much of that going on in this. The story is great as well. Mitchell Kapner, who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay, did a fantastic job of making an engaging story with well written characters. From drama to romance and action to emotion, all the bases are covered in this one. So far this year it's definitely one of the better written films.

Finally we come to the magic and wonder of Oz. I love CGI when it's done well and this movie has it in spades. From the moment Oscar floats into Oz you get that same yellow brick road feeling when Dorothy gets there. Creatures and plants never before discovered and cities and people not thought to even exist, Oz is a cornucopia of people and places made in your imagination. There is one huge gripe for me with Oz The Great And Powerful is that the CGI can look really over used at times. Now I know I just praised the CGI, but it's a double edged sword. While at times it looked really innovative and good, there's countless times you can tell there's a green screen behind the actors. You see this at an annoyingly alarming rate. I would like to not notice every time an actor is in front of said green screen. But with Oz being a completely fictional place it's a feat I'll have to get use to if I ever go back to this in the future. The length of the movie is a tad long as well. It's over two hours and there's a lot of scenes that are long and draggy. Especially the first thirty minutes or so. It evens out a bit when Oscar finally does get to OZ, but "long" scenes are still littered throughout this visual spectacle. There's not a lot to get annoyed at about this movie, but it's the little things that piled up throughout that really brought down my liking of this.

This movie is easily one of those movies you'll either like or you'll hate. Oz The Great And Powerful has strengths all over with it's incredible cast, good action, great story and imaginative CGI. It's severely weighed down by overuse of said CGI and overdrawn scenes in a movie that's a bit too long. All in all I really enjoyed myself watching this movie. Franco did a great job in the lead role and when the CGI is good, it's great. If you liked The Wizard of Oz I think you'll be surprised by this one. If you somehow haven't seen that yet, you should probably go watch that as soon as possible.


Thursday, April 4, 2013

Watching Movies In Suits [Top Gun]


Suits is a show on the USA Network that one of my good friends had been trying to get me to watch for the longest time. Long story short, I finally bit the bullet. I fell in love almost instantly with the drama, humor and story being top notch. Also the sly movie references was the icing on the cake for me. They are littered in every episode and gave me this idea for a weekly blog series. Suits in short follows the story of a successful law firm in New York. Their top lawyer hires a kid who is basically a genius, but never went to law school. The kid must learn the ins and outs of working at a law firm, higher ups and with arguably the best paralegal in the city. The longer this charade goes the harder it seems that his dirty little secret will stay one. We're starting off this series with aforementioned friend's pick of movies in, Top Gun!

Suits Top Gun Reference #1

Suits Top Gun Reference #2

I kinda remember watching Top Gun growing up, probably on cable on something. The pure adrenaline and one liners stuck with me. Including the famous "I've feel the need, the need for speed" line. But I don't remember the emotion that this kinda well written action movie can deliver. A lot of the the 1980s movies really started a bit of a trend that even macho-action flicks could have that underlying sadness to them. Tom Cruise was just starting out and this could already be considered as one of his defining movies. But this is a movie that was kinda hard to back to for me, as most 1980s and early 1990s are as well. I don't have that connection to growing up with these movies, so I want to make that connection. If that makes any sense at all. Top Gun is about that infamous fighter pilot with one of the biggest egos in all movie history.

Top Gun follows the story of  US Navy Aviator Lieutenant Pete Mitchell aka "Maverick' (Tom Cruise) and his co-pilot Radar Intercept Officer [RIO] Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw aka "Goose" (Anthony Edwards). One day over the Indian Ocean, Cougar and his co-pilot Merlin (John Stockton and Tim Robbins) are engaged by two MiG-28s. At one point one of the MiGs locks onto Cougar before being chased off by Maverick. Upon landing Cougar retires, and despite his reckless flying, Maverick and Goose are sent to Top Gun school at NAS Miramar. We find out Maverick is reckless because of his father, who died in a crash in 1965 surrounding complicated circumstances. Goose is the exact opposite, due to him having a wife, Carole (Meg Ryan), and a daughter. Nevertheless the two are still best friends. The night before the program starts Maverick hits on a woman at a bar, Charlotte Blackwood aka "Charlie" (Kelly McGillis). It turns out she is one of the instructors for the course and has a PhD in Astrophysics. The next day at class they also meet Lieutenant Tom Kasansky aka "Iceman" (Val Kilmer) who thinks Maverick's flying is unsafe. The Top Gun class becomes more than just graduating and becoming the best student. Romances blossom, rivalries form, and things happen that will change the rest of Maverick's life. Both inside the cockpit and out.

There's a fine line between the good and bad in this movie. Cause when it's good, like the high flying aerial shots, it's spectacular. But just on the flip side, when it's bad, like the first date between Maverick and Charlie, it's pretty abysmal. But that's what kinda makes this movie. If you can get through the bad, you're rewarded with phenomenal landscape shots and high flying action unlike any other in movie history. The bad is what we'll start with, cause a lot of the time, outside of action scenes, or follow ups to them, it's pretty bad. When you have Meg Ryan has a very small supporting role, instead of a bigger role, especially after a huge (in movie) event happens, you've written something wrong. Tom Cruise does fine throughout and is definitely the guy who holds this movie together. I feel that Charlie is a very bland character who isn't much more than a love interest, which makes Kelly McGillis' acting irrelevant. Same with Val Kilmer as Iceman, a character with potential, that just doesn't quite do it for me. While the dynamic between Maverick and Goose is probably the high points of the acting. The story is kind of a mess as well, due to the fact that I had to look up a decent summary of how they explained Maverick's dad dying in the movie. Maybe it's just me being my usual dumb dumb self, but you'd think a bigger back-story would be explained well. This goes hand in hand with the overall writing though, which was highly lackluster. The story in itself is fine, but as the movie wears on it becomes a chore to keep caring about anyone but Maverick. Finally the music is very 80s and earlier, which sometimes does not lend well, at least to me, to listening nowadays.

The great in this movie is far less than the bad, but it more than makes up for it all. There are two main things that will keep you drawn into this movie. The high flying action scenes and the the writing that accompanies them. Now I know I said the writing was pretty bad, but that was for the rest of the movie, not the scenes where people are in the air. Along with the people listening in throughout the camp. Maverick and Goose's scenes in the plane are some of the best written in the movie, and it's the true epitome of what we call a bromance today. It's never a disappointment when these two are in scenes, especially if they're in the sky and/or Maverick is being yelled at by a superior. I still don't know how they could do so poorly writing everywhere but here. But I'm glad they stepped it up for the parts of the movie everyone was clamoring to see. The other thing that will make you want to watch this is the action scenes themselves. It seems like when I was watching I would stop whatever else I was doing and really pay attention to all the airplane scenes. From the drama and suspense that each scene drew in, it was more than enough to land these as some of the best action scenes ever. But, throw in the fact you're 50,000 feet in the air and you get to see amazing landscapes, cloud formations and even the occasional explosion, you're in for a treat. I love when a movie can "Wow!" me with cinematography, and this action movie no less, delivers in spades.

Top Gun is truly a half and half movie. I can see some people getting into some of the emotional stuff they toyed around with, but that is hardly the point of this. But the writing wasn't strong at all in this movie. Neither is the acting itself which came across as over the top, even for an 80s action movie. You're gonna watch this for the high flying action scenes in the sky above and a few moments of emotion that really hit you. Tom Cruise landed on the map with this and it's one of his defining movies. It's one you can look back on and appreciate if you loved it growing up. But also realize that this isn't more than a mediocre movie in the end.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Snitch [A Fat Jesus Movie Review]


Since I'm a huge fan of pro wrestling I'm obligated to see any and all movies involving Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. I even saw The Tooth Fairy..and liked it. No not really, call this a day late April Fool's joke. But, over the years I feel that more often than not, a movie involving The Rock is bland and mediocre. This movie right here, Snitch, kinda changed my perception on his movies. I went into this thinking it would be just another boring crime, drama, action, etc flick with bad acting and a bland story. What I got out of it, was at least to me, quite a pleasant surprise.

Snitch follows the story of John Matthews, a man struggling to live in life having two first names. Just kidding, again April Fools. God I'm funny. This really follows the story of John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson), a man who owns a construction company. One morning his ex-wife, Sylvie (Melina Kanakaredes) calls him and tell him that his estranged son Jason (Rafi Gavron) is being charged for distribution of narcotics. Jason isn't actually a dealer, his friend set up a sting operation against him to reduce his own sentence. John feels responsible for not being there and fears his son's life in prison. Using his connections, he meets with US Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) who is running a huge anti-drug campaign. She informs John that she can drastically reduce Jason's sentence if he goes undercover and informs on a drug dealer. Said drug dealer is Malik (Michael Kenneth Williams) and he is one of the biggest, and high ranking, drug dealers in town. John searches through his employee database and finds Daniel James (Jon Bernthal). He's fellow man with two first names, who is trying to stay clean and out of the drug game for his family's sake. John offers him a lot of money to help him do the deal, and while at first he's resistant, he eventually decides to help John out. What incurs is a story driven thrill ride, in which John Matthews can (and will) do whatever it takes to save his son.

This movie has it highs and it has it's low points. The problem is, when it hits its low points, it really drags the movie down. We'll start with the bad, cause why not? The acting, aside from Jon Bernthal, Michael K. Williams and shockingly Dwanye Johnson, was pretty ho-hum to me. All the supporting roles, Sarandon, Kanakaredes, Gavron and anyone else I may have missed were just kinda there. Not saying that any of them were bad. But when you have characters in a movie, I want to get into them. I want to get to know them in a sense. I don't want them to just be a device to move the story along. While it's okay to have one or two in a movie, it doesn't need to be a recurring theme that overtakes a story or plot. The second half of the movie has its problems as well, most notably the fact they wrote the story kinda wonky. Without spoiling, basically the first half of the movie almost wraps up nicely, when an unnecessary plot twist of sorts keeping the movie going. The beginning is great, the middle is wholly unneeded and ends just fine. Like they wrote the beginning and end, but didn't quite have the middle down. Almost a great pace which really brought my liking of this down. It kinda felt long due to some draggy scenes, but the story was good enough that it's not a huge issue. For an action movie it is pretty long, it's close to two hours. Also the final action scene, which some look at as the only one, is arguably the best in the movie. But it doesn't turn out to be all that great, just another average addition to the film.

Like I said above, the acting by the trio I mentioned was quite a surprise to me. I really liked Jon Bernthal on The Walking Dead, and always thought he'd be fine if he ever branched out to other things. Michael K. Williams played one of the best characters in television history as "Omar" on The Wire, so I always like a role he does well in. But Dwayne has made a lot of stinkers over the years movie-wise, so I always err on the side of caution with his backlog. But in this he carries the movie so well. Maybe because of the company he is with, or maybe he is getting better as an actor. Dwayne brings the emotion and the toughness, with Jon and Micheal feeding off what he's doing with his character. There's a scene in the movie where all three of these guys are first meeting up together to set up the initial deal. It's the point where I knew I liked Snitch. Not as a masterpiece or anything, but I didn't quite know why I liked it yet. While I have complaints about the story and pacing, the overall story was actually very engaging. I can't think of many other movies off the top of my head where parents willingly go undercover to help their kids out of a complete mess. Me summing up the movie like that may belittle it in a way, but if you like a decent story with your action, you'll be pleasantly surprised. I also love the aspect of anyone going undercover for any reason. I love thriller and mystery and you could see the influence of those in this. To be able to follow essentially someone like me, going undercover for the first time, it's a cool concept.

Snitch is one of those one shot movies you watch and are surprised by, but that you'll probably never go back to it again. Well, maybe if your girlfriend or partner wants to watch Jon Bernthal and Dwayne Johnson do manly things. The action is pretty solid throughout (when there is action), but it does leave a lot to be desired. The three of the main actors are great and the story is a huge step above most other action movies. Pacing and story problems litter this movie and if you like getting to know the characters you're watching, throw 90% of them out the window in this one. This is one of the better action-esque movies of the past few years. If you want to turn your brain off, go watch Transformers. If you want a little drama with your action, give Snitch a try.


Monday, April 1, 2013

Halloween [A Fat Jesus Movie Review]


Alright, here it is my triumphant return to reviews after taking a month to regather myself. No applause? Well that sounds about right. Please also excuse me if it looks like I'm a little rusty. It's 'cause I am. I come back though with one of the horror genre's all time staples. Halloween took the genre and turned it on its side. The suspense this movie brought was seldom seen in the big screen at the time. The kills were brutal and the story turned out to be a timeless classic. Halloween has spawned a full franchise and even a recent reboot by Rob Zombie. But this is the inaugural piece and John Carpenter crafted a movie that will stand the test of time as one of horror's best films.

Halloween follows the story of Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), a high school student on Halloween night. In a flashback scene to start the movie we find out that Michael Myers, who is six at the time, kills his older sister and was committed to an insane asylum. This Halloween is the 15th Anniversary of the murder and Michael escapes the asylum to wreck havoc in the town where it all began. Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is sent to retrieve Michael before he tries to kill again. Laurie is stuck babysitting this fateful Halloween night and across the street her friend Annie (Nancy Kyes) is also stuck doing the same. Though friends have promised to come over and hang out later in the evening. Throughout the day Laurie sees Michael following them around town as they get ready. Annie writes off Laurie's paranoia, but as night falls things begin to go awry. Break-ins happen around town and friends don't arrive as they promised. These may be clues that Michael has already begun his rampage. With Laurie, this time around, unknowingly becoming his prized possession.

There is no doubt in my mind this is one of the best horror movies of all time. It doesn't have the flash, the crew, the effects or even the acting talent. What it does have is a simple, scary atmosphere lurking just in the background. You're not gonna see buckets of blood or overly brutal kills like in say a SAW or Friday the 13th film. You're gonna be put on the edge of your seat by that haunting score and the suspense of Myers eerily spying on his victims. You're not gonna get Academy Award winning acting. But Jamie Lee Curtis plays a high school student, admittedly not a hard task to do, who you would think was truly being terrorized. You're also not gonna get Academy Award winning writing either. What you will get is a story and lore that has spawned a generation of movies in a successful franchise. Halloween for me has always been one of those jumping off movies, at least in the horror genre, in the past 50 years. Along with Dawn of the Dead, which was released in the same year, a new era of modern horror was beginning.

To delve a little more deeply into things I'm going to go over three main points that make this movie worth going back to again and again. Despite how many times you may have watched it. My first point being the lore and story that this movie sets up for the audience. John Carpenter is one of the best horror writers and directors of all time. But this, still after all these years, could still be easily considered his crown jewel. Not only was it a highly original story at the time, but also it's still one that holds up really well today. Even with it being just a simple story of a less than sane kid wanting revenge on the town that put him away.

Moving on, my second point would be that the score alone and tone of the movie is one of the best ever. Horror movies nowadays rarely use a truly eerie score and atmosphere to put people on the edge of their seats. If they do it's usually done in a completely over-dramatic way that leaves you rolling your eyes. Limiting the jump scares in this movie and combining it with a now iconic score puts your mind in a different place. Now follow me here for a second. A place where even the slightest movements or sounds have you on high alert. So when the big kill or scare does happen it's not an, "Oh, I saw that coming from a mile away" moment, it's a, "Yell or gasp out loud with genuine sense of fright" moment. Finally we come to my final point which is, even low budget movies can be phenomenal. This movie was essentially made out of the back of a van, in a neighborhood, with the cast and crew's family and friends helping them out. This really hit me cause you don't need a huge budget to make a masterpiece. One of my favorite movies of all time, Clerks, was made on a limited budget as well. John Carpenter, Deborah Hill, Irwin Yablans and the rest of this people evolved in this movie created a lasting impact. They created big buzz and a big movie, without the big Hollywood budget.

Horror is a genre that a lot of people think is really stale and they usually write off a movie before it even comes out. At least that's what happens nowadays. But there is a reason why people call this a classic. Halloween helped change the direction of horror in the late 1970s. Not relying on jump scares, it had great writing, decent acting (at least on Jamie Lee Curtis' part) and a score for the ages. I could talk your ear off about how the acting (overall) was lacking or that it looks really dated. If you want to point out flaws I don't think you truly enjoy this movie. As even some of the things that make it bad help with the overall charm of things. This was and still is the pillar of a franchise and a genre. Halloween takes a simple word and the influence of a holiday, and turns it into terror creeping in the back of your mind.