little miss critical » Reviews

Review: Chernobyl Diaries

pln217 — Fri, 25 May 2012 23:47:27 +0000

Thanks to the Paranormal Activity franchise and Insidious, with Oren Peli’s name, comes high expectations. Bumps in the night, innovative concepts, fun scares and perhaps more importantly than anything, situations that feel real are all elements that are now expected from a Peli film and while each and every one is present and accounted for in Chernobyl Diaries, they’re all achieved on a subpar level.

While on an overseas trip, Chris (Jesse McCartney), his girlfriend Natalie (Olivia Dudley) and their friend Amanda (Devin Kelley) make a pit stop in Russia to visit Chris’ brother, Paul (Jonathan Sadowski). They enjoy a night out on the town and the next day, their itinerary has them hitting Moscow. However, Paul makes a new friend, Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko), and convinces the group to take Uri’s extreme tourism trip to Pripyat, the city which once housed the Chernobyl nuclear reactor employees and their families. At first they’re all thrilled, as the abandoned city is certainly a site to behold, but when they’re ready to leave and their van won’t start, they come to realize they’re not alone.

Inklings of Chernobyl Diaries‘ simple and clever premise are present throughout the film, but are rarely expanded upon. Rather than have each scene lead to a new discovery or propel the narrative forward, the characters merely run in circles. We get a lot of dog chase sequences and quite a few instances where they wrestle with whether or not to go back for a missing group member, and all the while you never get the sense that the group is making any progress. They may get a gun and find a friend, but ultimately, that trapped and helpless sensation never dissipates in the least, bathing the feature in too much dread.

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Review: Moonrise Kingdom

pln217 — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:10:38 +0000

It’s one thing to make a movie feel unique, but Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom is almost otherworldly. While the film’s centerpiece pre-teen romance packs the power to earn a place in anyone’s heart, some readjusting is required to appreciate the film as a whole. But, if you’re willing to let loose and fall in line with Anderson’s techniques, Moonrise Kingdom proves to be an absolutely unforgettable pleasure.

The film takes place on a small island in the summer of 1965. Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) is home with family, spending her time longingly looking out the window with her binoculars while Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) is out camping with his Khaki Scout troop – or so their guardians think. One morning Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) and the boys of Troop 55 wake up to find that Sam has run away while Mr. and Mrs. Bishop (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) discover that Suzy has packed her things and left.

With a threatening storm on the horizon, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) desperately tries to track down the missing 12-year-olds with the help of Scout Master Ward and his wilderness survival savvy troops. Meanwhile Suzy and Sam enjoy some alone time out in the woods, testing the romantic waters.

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Review: Battleship

pln217 — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:49:21 +0000

Riggins and Landry in the Navy, Peter Berg Does Michael Bay, Transformers-esque, Not Really Battleship; any of those titles are just as fitting if not more so than Battleship.

Back in 2005, after finding a planet similar to Earth, NASA opts to beam a signal to what they dub “Planet G” in an effort to communicate. Also in 2005, Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is jobless, has to live with his brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgård), and gets busted for stealing a burrito. On the bright side, he snags a model of a girlfriend, Sam (Brooklyn Decker).

One unconvincing time jump later, Alex is a lieutenant in the Navy alongside his big bro and under the command of Sam’s father, Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson). Alex may have developed into a smart and talented solider, but he’s still got a knack for screwing things up, so after the RIMPAC naval exercises wrap, Alex will likely get the boot. However, before Alex can even get back to shore, something unprecedented happens, aliens attack.

Sure, you’ve got to suspend some disbelief when watching any alien invasion movie, but it’s tough to tell whether or not Battleship even takes itself seriously. The opening sequence detailing this whole Planet G effort is a little on the ridiculous side, but digestible enough to get you on board. Then, the attention switches to Alex who’s drowning his sorrows in booze on his birthday. Things get amusing when Alex meets Sam and his desperation to win her over via a chicken burrito results in a rather comical failed robbery.

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Review: Dark Shadows

pln217 — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:42:12 +0000

Dark Shadows has had its ups and downs since day one. As someone who never watched the original show, it was tough to care when word got out that a feature film was in the works, even with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s involvement. Even as the cast was packed with famous faces and stills hit the web featuring Burton’s signature highly unique visuals, there was still no need to care with no connection to the material. However, when the film’s first trailer arrived, it finally gave us Dark Shadows newcomers a taste of the world and the way Burton presented it, it seemed like a lot of fun. But sadly, the film version does the TV series a major injustice, leaving this newcomer with absolutely no desire to stick with the concept and check out the source material.

Back in the 1700s, a young Barnabas Collins and his parents arrive in America. When their fishing business flourishes, the Collins are as wealthy as ever and dub the town Collinsport. However, when Barnabas (Depp) falls for Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote), turning down the affection of Angelique (Eva Green), Angelique doesn’t just go off to find another man; she uses her bewitching abilities to send Josette to her death and turn Barnabas into a vampire. To top it all off, she sentences Barnabas to live out his never-ending life, locked in a coffin, buried underground.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is freed by an unsuspecting construction crew. While his immediate family and friends are long gone, the Collins family lives on, so Barnabas makes it his mission to restore the Collins fishing empire and to support the new generation. Trouble is, Angelique is still a Collinsport resident herself and is still desperate to earn Barnasbas’ love, or else.

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Review: God Bless America

pln217 — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:49:04 +0000

Extremely violent comedy is tough to pull off. Let’s say you’ve got a main character on a killing spree; how’s an audience supposed to sympathize with that? A good reason to kill couldn’t hurt, but generally there’s always a rift between that character’s thought process and an audience’s moral and God Bless America is no different. However, where writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait succeeds is where films like Super and Hobo with a Shotgun did not, in making the leads highly likable.

Frank’s (Joel Murray) got it rough. Not only does he have an obnoxious family with a constantly crying baby living next door, but friendly flirting with the office secretary gets him fired and he’s diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor. Rather than wallow in self-pity, Frank opts to make a difference with his remaining days; Frank decides he’s going to eradicate everything that rubs him the wrong way, starting with Chloe (Melinda Page Hamilton), an over privileged teenager who throws a tantrum when her parents give her the wrong car for her birthday on a reality show.

After Frank blows Chloe away, her parents and friends are upset, but someone out there understands and appreciates what Frank did, one of Chloe’s classmates, Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr). Roxy doesn’t just give him the thumbs up or, god forbid, offer him a high-five, rather she pleads to join him on his killing spree. Initially, Frank’s reluctant to take on a partner, but Roxy proves to not only share similar ideals, but is very willing to act on them.

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Review: The Avengers

pln217 — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:39:00 +0000

When we’re getting superhero movie after superhero movie, it’s understandable to have that, “Oh, another one?,” reaction. However, in the case of The Avengers, it was unprecedented right from the start. Yes, it’s more superhero material, but this isn’t just a film that features the biggest team of super-powered crime fighters yet; it’s one that links together a number of other features and franchises and, in turn, really creates a living, breathing Marvel universe.

The Avengers kicks off at S.H.I.E.L.D. where Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) is hard at work at the tesseract, an energy source with the power to wipe out the planet. In addition, the tesseract can act as a door to the other end of space, and that’s where Loki (Tom Hiddleston) comes in. Loki uses the device to transport himself from the other side of the universe to right there in the middle of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters where he devastates the compound and steals the tesseract.

Having witnessed the threat firsthand, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is compelled to activate the Avengers Initiative. Fury sends Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson) to recruit Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), not for his alter ego, but to use his knowledge of gamma radiation, something that could help S.H.I.E.L.D. track the tesseract. Meanwhile, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is bringing Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) into the mix and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is suiting up again as Captain America. Together, they’re assigned to locate and take back the tesseract.

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Tribeca Review: Caroline and Jackie, Death of a Superhero and Struck By Lightning

pln217 — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:20:41 +0000

No, you don’t want to stuff a movie in a genre box, but, admittedly, that’s how I arranged my schedule for this year’s festival. I isolated the types of movies I planned to see based on the most rudimentary synopsis and just rolled with it from there. Sure, that process very likely eliminates films I would have loved that might not necessarily fit my must-see requirements, but I’ll get around to those eventually. For now it’s time to celebrate a trio of films that not only made due on my expectations, but exceeded them, offering up experiences I never could have anticipated.

What were my parameters for choosing Caroline and Jackie? Recently I’ve become an avid Grimm fan, I grew up loving The Mighty Ducks and I’ve got a sister of my own. I knew the film starred Bitsie Tulloch and Marguerite Moreau as sisters, but beyond that I had absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into and I think that made the experience all the more powerful.

Tulloch is Jackie. She’s organized, takes pride in keeping up her beautiful home, is a loving girlfriend and would do anything for her sister, Caroline (Moreau). While the latter may be true for Caroline as well, she’s the more free-spirited of the two. When she comes to visit Jackie for the weekend, her insistence on changing the plans Jackie made doesn’t only ruffle Jackie, it ultimately manifests into a nightmare. Caroline uses the evening to reveal Jackie’s skeletons amongst a group of friends. While Caroline makes a compelling case, pleading for her sister’s life, you can’t help but wonder if Jackie really is sick or, as Jackie suggests, Caroline is just desperate for attention.

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Tribeca Review: Deadfall

pln217 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:48:11 +0000

Antiheros can be a blast to watch on screen; there’s just enough heart to them to get you on their side, but at the same time, they’re deplorably ruthless. So is the case with Eric Bana’s Addison in Deadfall and on top of having him whip your perception around incessantly, there are a number of other lives at stake, making the situation wildly unpredictable and unnerving.

Bana and Olivia Wilde are Addison and Liza, a brother and sister that just wrapped a successful casino robbery. While trying to make their escape to Canada, their getaway car crashes, leaving their driver dead and Addison and Liza no choice, but to evade the police by foot.

They split up, Addison heading into the woods and Liza taking the road. Lucky for Liza, as a blizzard sets in, she comes across Jay (Charlie Hunnam), an ex-con heading home for Thanksgiving, and hitches a ride to a nearby hotel and bar to wait out the storm. Unfortunately for Addison, he’s stuck in the woods and the local police are hot on his trail.

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Tribeca Reviews: Rat King and Jackpot

pln217 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:51:58 +0000

The Tribeca Film Festival covers a wide variety of genres, styles, visions and topics, but if you’re looking for material that veers on the side of the extreme, packed with action, blood and a ton of suspense, Cinemania is the program for you. This year we’ve got seven films claiming Cinemania glory and, so far, two do the title justice – Rat King and Jackpot.

In Rat King, Jury (Max Ovaska) may not be the most popular kid at school, but the gym teacher is fairly lenient when it comes to his lack of athleticism, he’s got a girlfriend and a very loving mother at home. Jury’s only real problem is that his gaming addiction consumes his life. When his longtime teammates in a first person shooter game go offline and never return, Jury’s devastated and essentially debilitated by the grief.

Eventually one player does resurface, Niki (Julius Lavonen). Niki informs Jury that another player didn’t just go offline; he’s dead. They’re involved in a computer game that forces them to complete tasks. If they opt to quit, they become the task. His curiosity proves to be too powerful and Jury investigates, logging onto the game and acquiring the handle “Rat King.” With Niki’s help, Jury attempts to complete his tasks and not die.

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Review: The Moth Diaries

pln217 — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:06:00 +0000

Of course you want a horror movie to be a good film, but there’s no denying that this genre can get away with a lot; mask bad performances with intense suspense or fill in plot holes using bloody good fun. However, when you’re an all-around failure like The Moth Diaries, there’s no successful asset to use as a crutch, and the whole production suffers exponentially for it.

After the untimely death of her father, Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) has found solace in her home away from home, her boarding school – or, more specifically, her best friend at school, Lucie (Sarah Gadon). Now it’s been two years since her father’s passing and Becca is thrilled to get back to school and live happily ever after with Lucie and her other pals. However, this year, something threatens to spoil Becca’s fun, Ernessa (Lily Cole).

At this school, new kids aren’t banished to the realm of outsiders rather embraced and Lucie adopts Ernessa as her new best friend. Naturally, Becca isn’t happy about this and when things get strange and even violent, she can’t help but to point a finger at the newcomer. Everyone insists she’s just jealous, but Becca is positive Ernessa is harboring a dark secret.

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