Director: Adam Wingard (V/H/S, The ABCs of Death)
Writer: Simon Barrett (V/H/S, Dead Birds, The ABCs of Death)
Stars: Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3D, Bait), Joe Swanberg (V/H/S, Drinking Buddies, LOL),  AJ Bowen (The Signal, The House of the Devil), Simon Barrett

Synopsis: When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.

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DIRECTION

Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett have worked together before in the V/H/S series, and with Barrett writing the screenplay here as well as acting in a minor role, the two seem to have chemistry together. In this slasher movie, an insufferable and quite wealthy family arrives for a getaway at a remote location in a wooded area. They are attacked by masked murderers and everything seems quite predictable for for the first act of the movie. However, the film gets interesting by implementing some twists which certainly aren’t game-changing to the horror genre, but make the film quite enjoyable by the time the credits roll. The direction was very typical for a director who hasn’t had a ton of experience yet, but has certain ideas and brushstrokes which make him quite unique and intriguing.  One scene in particular involving a camera in the latter half of the movie was exceptionally astounding, and rivals my favorite scene of the year (the opening scene from The Place Beyond The Pines).  Such innovation behind the camera makes Wingard someone to keep our eye on in the future. The problem with the direction here is that scenes are sometimes 10-20 seconds too long and nothing is happening at all to progress the story.  This has nothing to do with the screenplay and everything to do with how Wingard oversaw the film’s completion in post-production. The first act was just so horribly bland that it’s hard to recommend this film to non-horror fans.

Grade: C+

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SCRIPT

The ideas and twists in this movie are actually quite clever, and by the end it really is quite a smart movie that treats the viewer with respect. It’s just hard to tell that in the first 30 minutes or so. There isn’t a lot to critique with the script and I felt it seemed tight and creative. I think with more time and possibly a better editor, the movie could have been much better based on what Barrett came up with. This kind of movie reminds me of something I’ve read of Quentin Tarantino.  He has always known that he is creative in the writing and directing process, but he fully entrusts other talented people to edit his films (mostly the late Sally Menke of course). A strong screenplay with strong performances don’t always result in equally good finished products.

Grade: A

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PERFORMANCES

Much like the crew on this film, the actors are fresh faces to general audiences. This is sometimes a risky move, but it seems fairly common in horror nowadays.  Sharni Vinson (Home & Away, Step Up 3D) plays Erin, for all intents & purposes the lead actress, and does quite a job of giving us a unique performance that spans quite a lot of space. She is asked to do a lot in the film and I felt that she was extremely solid. The rest of the cast put in nice performances too, and I felt like all of them did a good job of being fairly realistic to what people of their status tend to behave like.  Aside from Vinson, though, I felt like no one else did any exceptional work.

Grade: C+

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SCORE

I actually remember wondering why there were so many moments with dead air in the movie as I was watching it, and I really didn’t care for that too much. Sometimes a minimal score works for me, and sometimes it doesn’t. This film tend to rely on more sound effects-related sound to alert the viewer of moods or feelings the director wanted you to have. All in all, nothing too special.

Grade: C-

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Overall Grade: B

Director: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris, Annie Hall, Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Cate Blanchette (Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) , Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, The Departed), Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead, Green Lantern, Orphan)

Synopsis: A life crisis causes a vapid and narcissistic socialite (Blanchette) to head to San Francisco, where she tries to reconnect with her sister.

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DIRECTION
If you’re familiar with Woody Allen films, you’ll know exactly what to expect.  If not, you’ll be in for a treat.  That is not to say that all of Allen’s films are the same, but that they are all presented with the careful selection of camera angles and character moments that will stir the senses.  As you might already know, Allen is known for showcasing cities from all over the world.  From his early black-and-white film Manhattan (1970) to more recent offerings such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Midnight in Paris (2011), Allen might be the only director in the medium’s history to be able to capture spectacular views of the world’s most magnificent locations while also integrating an interesting storyline with star-studded casts which result in high praise and reward for the actors involved.  The level of respect that actors have for Allen surely do have something to do with the results.

So, with that said, what you get here is very similar.  This time though, we get two locales: New York & San Francisco.  The New York scenes center around life of the 1%; mansions, yachts, huge parties, and luxury-style everything.  The scenes in San Francisco, however, are quite the opposite.  Jasmine moves in with her sister, a grocery store clerk living in the Mission District of San Francisco with her two sons.   Having visited this area in 2011, I remembered visiting a lot of the areas they shot in.  A memorable wall mural featured in one of the early scenes fully captures the aesthetic of the neighborhood, inasmuch as a filmmaker can.  The actors all put in marvelous performances and create characters which are somewhat caricatures, but still very interesting and some even magnetic.  Woody continues to show that he can create a film as well as anyone in the world, and he has the skill-set and taste to know what will come across best on the silver screen.

Grade: A

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SCRIPT

Much like other characters that Allen has written in the past, Cate Blanchette’s Jasmine is very hard to love on a surface level.  Seeming to have everything that she ever wanted, viewers are positioned in a way that captures the extreme insecurity and neediness of this seemingly empty woman.  Her story seems frighteningly familiar: A beautiful young woman marries a rich man and creates a family, only to end up years later to realize her naivete.  Alec Baldwin plays Hal, the center of Jasmine’s world.  He is a smooth-talking, charismatic businessman that has climbed to the top of the mountain, and we are shown the extremely luxurious life he continues to provide for his family.  The movie effectively shifts between timelines giving us two stories that gradually connect (Jasmine’s NY and SF lives) the pieces of the story together.  The story is a great unfolding dramedy and will certainly be lauded as one of the year’s better films.

Grade: A-

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PERFORMANCES
Cate Blanchette puts in a performance here which is unmatched by any of her previous performances that I have seen.  Her timing in delivering lines is incredible, and the focus of the viewer is consistently on her at any moment she is in the frame.  Her control, versatility, and adaptability of different moods or faces she must get across are all excellent and the film would not work nearly as well without her effort.  Note that this is a testament to Blanchette, and not a knock to the rest of the cast or film, which makes her performance even that much more impressive.  This is a must-see performance.

The rest of the cast plays a much smaller role in the film, but all hit their marks and were able to convey what I’d imagine Allen intended each role to be.  From Alec Baldwin’s natural slickness in delivering lines to Bobby Cannavale’s rugged portrayal of Chili (the boyfriend of Jasmine’s sister Ginger), the performances are all spectacular.  The ability to convey personality in short amounts of time is something that is done so well in this film, and that is both from great direction and performance.  Peter Sarsgaard, Louis C.K., Andrew Dice Clay, and Sally Hawkins (Ginger) all are solid as well.  As you can tell, there’s no shortage of great acting here.

Grade: A+

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SCORE
The score was excellent and much like other Allen films, this incorporates an old bluesy sound as you hear things from Louis Armstrong to Lizzie Miles to King Oliver which sets the mood from scene-to-scene.  There are drifts away from this too, however, including more modern tracks from such unknowns as DJ Aljaro.  Overall, I felt it very appropriate and it kept me involved with the film in moments of transition and feeling.

Grade: A

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Overall Grade: A

Director: Scott Walker
Writers: Scott Walker
Stars: Vanessa Hudgens, Nicolas Cage, Dean Norris, John Cusack

Synopsis: An Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.

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DIRECTION
Scott Walker in his full-length feature debut does a pretty good job bring a crime-drama thriller that is pretty engaging. While it’s a little monotone and slow-paced at times, other times are full of thrills and exciting moments. His camera captures the Alaskan aesthetic really well and sets up the environment well. Critics are often way too harsh on “originality, which is mostly dead, and criticize films for bringing nothing new to the table. While that plays a small role, it’s the journey to the end that critics, and fans a like, should focus on. In The Frozen Ground, there isn’t anything ground breaking about the genre, but Walker takes an interesting and tragic story and turns it into something very watchable. His biggest achievement though, getting the best performances from Nicholas Cage and John Cusack in quite some time.

Grade: A-

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SCRIPT
The story, based on true events, centers around a young female girl named Cindy (Vanessa Hudgens) who was raped and about to be killed when she escaped from her killer (John Cusack). Nicholas Cage’s character, Jack Halcombe who is an Alaskan State Trooper, is on the case of a serial killer when he comes across the account of Cindy, which he think is linked to the case. The story follows how Jack believes in Cindy and does everything he can to protect her and make her feel valuable amongst finding the killer. In the meantime, Robert Hansen (Cusack) is on the hunt for more girls when he realizes that Cindy is alive and can report him, which means he has to track her down before she can reveal him. The story goes back and forth for quite some time before the stories connect but once they do there is something there. The movie is a bit arduous at times with some torture-type scenes and the effects that this situation would have on a young female. Yes, it’s a story we’ve seen and heard before but it’s one worth telling. The ending pace becomes a little quick but in the end it’s still satisfying

Grade: B+

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PERFORMANCES
Yep, I can’t believe it. Nicholas Cage and John Cusack are at their best in quite sometime here. Cage needs to stick to subtle roles like this where he can fit in comfortably. If he’s going to get crazy, go back to The Rock days where it was great and a lot of fun. He plays his character pretty straight forward but you can see the passion and the committment he has here. Cusack in an actor who I never really care for (and is awful in Lee Daniels’ The Butler) but when given the villain role here, he’s actually (and surprisingly) good. Perhaps as someone I can’t stand, he seems to fit better as the bad guy. Hudgens is pretty good here and while she’s not as fun as her role in Spring Breakers, she shows some acting chops and does a good job. Everyone else is pretty good too. Given some of this cast, it’s surprising (good surprise) not distracting at all.

Grade: A-

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SCORE
Perhaps the only thing original about the movie is Lorne Balfe’s score but it’s also the most generic. Think about that for a second. It’s a thriller score if I’ve ever heard one and while it doesn’t sound bad, it’s not great either. However, it is in the background and in a thriller movie, if it’s not distracting then it works. And that’s really all that matters. Don’t expect any Oscar noms here.

Grade: B-

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Overall Grade: B+

Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan

Synopsis: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind’s only hope for survival.

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DIRECTION
Edgar Wright and company have ended the Cornetto trilogy in an amazing way with The World’s End. The camera work is very similar to Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead and the style, as you could imagine, is pretty familiar. The formula Wright has perfected is a lot of fun and extremely refreshing. The satire and stereotypes is all here once again but is lifted up higher with a bigger theme. The aesthetic he creates is small town, relatable and by the end you want to create your own pub crawl. The visuals are great, especially toward the end, and the humor played on top of the visuals is even better. There are several fight scenes in this movie too, which honestly, are some of the better fight scenes we’ve seen all year. The music choices are fitting to the satire and the humor Wright is trying to create. If you like the first two in this trilogy, you’ll have no problem falling in love with the third film here. There’s some cameos and little details that are added to the film that make it fun. Wright knows what he’s doing with these films and he kills it once again.

Grade: A+

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SCRIPT
The story is centered around five friends who tried to do a 12-place pub crawl when they were 17 and we’re not able to finish but they had the time of their lives. Well now they are all grown up with families and jobs, except for our main anti-hero, Gary King, played by Simon Pegg. After a stint at rehab, he gets the gang back together to do the pub crawl once again with the end goal of reaching the pub, The World’s End. The script plays on the satire of robot/alien movies, similair to the satire of zombies movies in Shaun of the Dead and buddy cop films in Hot Fuzz, and it’s extremely well done. It’s funny, captivating and really brilliant. King has lost some touch of reality as drugs and alcohol have had their side effects which, of course, they play on that and the dynamics of his friends who are well off. Once the crew finds out the town has been overrun by something non-human, the movie turns a bit more serious, but the comedy never drops off. What separates this film, however, is the turn the third act takes when the film changes to a commentary on technology and humans reliance on it, which was unexpected, but always fitting and just added to the alien movie satire. The main themes were also unexpected and even more incredible. In all of the chaos around them, King and his friends realize that people, especially the one’s they love, are worth fighting for and you do whatever it takes to do that. It’s the way they are able to achieve it, especially in a comedic and fun way, that makes it simply incredible.

Grade: A

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PERFORMANCES
All of the performances are fantastic. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who have carried this trilogy, are incredible and they know how to play off each other. The nostalgia factor that perhaps plays into their chemistry is challenged at the beginning which was a nice touch for these guys too. The characters they play are dramatically different too, to a certain degree anyway, given what we’ve seen from them in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. You have to love Martin Freeman, who is amazing, as well as Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan. Rosamund Pike, who isn’t in the film a ton, is good too and her character adds some motivation touches for some of our guys. The rest of the cast is fine and don’t distract or detract from the film at all. It’s what we’d expect from these guys.

Grade: A+

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SCORE
Steven Price does the score here and it’s pretty good. The action scenes are amped up and the pub aesthetic is exactly what they need. There’s even a little humor played into the score at times as well with what they were trying to do. The soundtrack music is also good and make this film a lot of fun. Go listen to the score and soundtrack.

Grade: A-

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Overall Grade: A

Director: Lee Daniels
Writers: Danny Strong, Wil Haygood (article)
Stars: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Robin Williams, Terrence Howard

Synopsis: As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man’s life, family, and American society.

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DIRECTION
Lee Daniels burst onto the scene with 2009’s Oscar-nominated Precious before taking a step back with last year’s The Paperboy. So how does The Butler fare? It’s in the middle somewhere; it’s not a good movie but it’s also not a bad movie. The direction and camerawork are decent, the story is decent and the performances are decent, but everything doesn’t really come together. Daniels turns what’s supposed to be an important look into the Civil Rights Movement into a sappy melodrama and sometimes even a comedy* (the movie has some surprisingly pretty funny moments). He took a little-too-cautious approach to the subject manner and the movie ultimately fails at being anything other than a slightly entertaining two hours at the movies.

* — At two different points throughout the movie, as the characters are about to say a dirty word, Daniels masks it with the clanging of dishes. Really?

Grade: B-

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SCRIPT
The story of The Butler revolves around Cecil Gaines, a butler who eventually serves eight presidents during crucial parts of the Civil Rights Movement. The movie opens with Gaines witnessing the death of his father in the cotton fields (ultimately leading to him moving inside to serve) and ends with Gaines on his way to meet current president Barack Obama. The story squarely focuses on Gaines serving, seemingly breezing over the more important issues of his family, his eldest son (who always happens to be at all the biggest civil rights events), his wife’s alcoholism and everything else that’s going on in the world. Put simply: The story took the easy way out, taking a cheesy, entertaining, almost comedic approach to it. This wasn’t the right way to go.

Grade: C

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PERFORMANCES
The Butler is a showcase of top-notch actors well over the age of 40, giving us large parts or cameos of nearly every single one you can think of. But are they good? No — with a few exceptions. Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker is the standout as the butler, Cecil Gaines, bringing as much range and emotion as he can and really making us sympathize and root for him as he ages throughout the movie. Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz are also really good as Whitaker’s fellow butlers, bringing a lot of fun charisma and laughs. And after spending much time away from the screen, Oscar-nominee Oprah Winfrey is back and gives a solid performance as Cecil’s wife, Gloria. Like Whitaker, she probably brings the most range to her character and performance. Now, outside of those few, the performances are pretty shoddy, especially when it comes to the presidents. Robin Williams (Eisenhower), James Marsden (JFK), John Cusack (Nixon) and Alan Rickman (Reagan) all play presidents and none of them look or sound the part (Marsden probably comes the closest), making it pretty comical at times. Overall, nothing outstanding performance-wise.

Grade: B-

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SCORE
Rodrigo Leao’s score for The Butler is fitting, perfectly reflecting the sappy, melodramatic nature of the movie. The main theme is nice, incorporating good use of the piano, but nothing really stands out — just like the movie as a whole.

Grade: B

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Overall Grade: C+

Director: David Gordon Green
Writers: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (original story), David Gordon Green (adaptation)
Stars: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch, Lance LeGault

Synopsis: Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind.

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DIRECTION
This is a huge step in the right direction for David Gordon Green who has dipped after his last few films, but Prince Avalanche is a pretty good film right out of the Richard Linklater playbook. His camera work is pretty simple but the nature shots are gorgeous and set the aesthetic really well. Green leaves the door open for the performances to shine and he tells the story well. The pacing is a bit slow but the characters he shows are interesting, which is what this movie is about. Plus, you got to love any film that features Ale 8, a local Kentucky tradition.

Grade: A-

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SCRIPT
The story is set in late 1980’s where Paul Rudd’s character is trying to find himself as he’s isolated in the Texas wilderness after fires destroyed much of the area. Along side him is his girlfriend’s brother (Emile Hirsch) who is a young 20’s something who finds nature as an aphrodisiac and is looking for more promiscuity than anything. However, it’s the uniqueness of the two that sort of brings them together at the same time. The story is a play on relationships and how sometimes friendship can form out of the strangest things. At some point, the tables turn and it’s within the troubles where the film is the strongest and while it’s a little dull at times, the characters are interesting. The way they play off each other is intriguing and it’s a fun little getaway in the Texas outdoors.

Grade: B+

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PERFORMANCES
Paul Rudd is incredible and pretty different from the norm. When actors go for something different but can still have some of the same vibes while being interesting within the story, you got to love it. Rudd’s character is a little off in some ways and he plays it incredibly amazing. Emile Hirsch is also great and is really good in roles where he gets to be out-of-the-box type characters. The chemistry between the two is also great and they work well with both performances. Plus you can’t forget Lance LeGault as a truck driver who only makes a few appearances but his character is actually crucial to some of their interactions leaving some though on what just happened. And he adds some great fun to the character.

Grade: A

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SCORE
Easily one of the best parts of the film the score, which is done by one of the best bands out there, Explosions in the Sky. Their score is low-key, strong and very fitting to the outdoors aesthetic we have here. The music is fun, yet embodies the main themes of the film and is a score I would recommend outside of the movie. Great stuff here.

Grade: A

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Overall Grade: A-