Archive | February, 2013

Mama

11 Feb

1-Mama-Poster

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2023587/?ref_=sr_1

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Rating: 8/10

Having been deeply disappointed by promising trailers for awful horror movies (I’m looking at you VHS) I approached Mama with a bit of trepidation.  My hesitance was increased  by the decision to see this movie over Identity Thief starring the usually hilarious Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.

The story revolves around two girls who are found in the woods raised by a mysterious guardian known as “Mama” and then adopted by their uncle and his girlfriend.  Mysterious events begin to occur to the family, initially explained away as the girls were thought to be living in the woods by themselves, but quickly begin to spiral out of control (much how I imagine the Kardashian household).  I was pleasantly surprised by not only the overall story (and an ending I didn’t actually see coming) along with solid acting from the cast.  It was also nice to finally see an original story set it self from the revolving door of Hollywood remakes.

While not a movie that has endless replay value for me (like The Ring) I can happily say I made the right choice to see Mama over Identity Thief.

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The Help

10 Feb

The-Help_big

Starring: Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454029/?ref_=sr_1

Rating: 9/10

Based on the novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, The Help is set in the American south at a time where segregation was, unfortunately, alive and well.  It tells the story of Skeeter (Emma Stone) trying to find her way as a writer eventually giving voice to the African American maids that dote on the families, the children in particular, of the community’s families.  What stands apart for this movie is the outstanding performances given by the ensemble cast.  You’d never recognize Jessica Chastain from this year’s Zero Dark Thirty, and it’s easy to forget that Emma Stone was in Superbad years prior.

If there are any criticisms of the film, it’s in the length.  Clocking in at a healthy 2 hours and 20 minutes, the film moves along nicely enough, but there are times where the length is noticeable.  Potential bathroom breaks aside, now that this movie is available on multiple platforms, it’s a must watch for any movie fan.

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Apathy, my longtime lover

9 Feb

For whatever reason, I can’t seem to kick apathy out of my bed.  It’s like the call that you always want to make at 2am, and after you do you immediately regret it.  Ok, I need to stop trying to sound smart.  The truth is that I’m just very, very lazy.  I’ll go for walks and think about what I’d like to write, and as soon as I get home, find anything else to do but write.  It’s been over a month since I watched Django Unchained and I’ve written most of a review, but I haven’t actually touched it in weeks.  Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve and so on.  Ok, enough of the whiny platitudes.

The superbowl has come and gone, and the most interesting part was someone apparently tripping over a cord and causing a power outage for a good 30 minutes.  Being free of the smothering nonsense of the CRTC I was able to experience all the “big game day ads”.  Sadly, they barely caught my attention.  Canadians really don’t have it that bad.

Time to pay attention to “Flight”, which really isn’t as good as people have been saying.  It’s probably another instance of  hype inflating my expectations disproportionately to the delivery.  Maybe it’s just not my cup of tea.  Actually, speaking of tea, that’s probably more interesting right now.

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