The Wrestler - Blu-Ray

There are certain movie going experiences that I will never forget. Seeing The Wrestler at a pre-screening in Los Angeles with Mickey Rourke giving a Q & A afterwards was one of those experiences.

Mickey Rourke gives the performance of a lifetime as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a has been wrestler trying to battle his way through life inside and outside the ring. Between his part time wrestling gigs and his deli counter job, the Ram's barely able to make ends meat. Cassidy, played by the courageous Marisa Tomei, is a stripper at the local club who's befriended by Ram. Their relationship serves as a mentoring devise for the both of them. They're both on stage trying their best to entertain people and make a living. The difference is that Ram love's wrestling. It's the only thing he's ever known, the only thing that he's ever been good at, he IS a wrestler. He's so dedicated to the profession that it let his relationship with his daughter Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood, completely dissolve into almost nothing as he was never around to be her father. When the Ram finds her and tries to make amends it makes for one of the most heartfelt scenes of the year as Mickey delivers a teary eyed monologue to her on the pier.

The entire film is filmed handheld which gives it a raw authentic documentary feel. The opening 6 minutes of the film really shows us who the Ram is as a person and Mickey gives us such a convincing performance that the audience is convinced by it without even seeing Rams face in it's entirety. The camera first shows him sitting in a classroom with his back to us just after a match. He's hunched over and tired. Next we follow him as he makes his way through the lobby, signs a couple of autographs, drives home blasting 80's rock, and ends up home locked out of his trailer and sleeping in his van for the night. We know right away that this guy is not doing well physically or financially. He's a mess, but he's still got a heart of gold and a kind attitude outside of the ring. There's a really great scene where Ram is walking through the halls at work making his way to the deli counter. As he's walking, crowd cheers and chanting is inserted into the scene as if he's walking out to the ring. This shows us again how wrestling is such a big part of his life as this is probably what's going on in his head every time he walks out to the deli counter. If he does this, it keeps him sane. It gets him through the crappy work day.

Mickey was nominated for an Academy award and a winner of the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit awards for best actor. This was considered his comeback film after fucking up his career in Hollywood and it boosted him back to much deserved stardom and to being a respected actor once again. Mickey Rourke BECAME Randy "The Ram" Robinson and he left a permanent mark in Hollywood with The Wrestler. The Wrestler gets 5 outa 5.

The Foot Fist Way - DVD

After reviewing the sub-par Observe and Report last night I just had to watch and review the much much better Jody Hill film today, The Foot Fist Way. I just had to get my mind right. The film was made in 2006 and took a while to get a release into limited theaters, but thanks to Will Ferrell's funding that was all able to happen, and it put Jody Hill and Danny McBride on the map.

The film stars the comedic genius Danny McBride as Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons. Simmons teaches a motley crew of students ranging from 9 year old black belt and assistant teacher Julio, to a 70 year old woman who almost dies while sparring on the mat. Fred's got a serious attitude problem and takes no crap from anybody. Making it well known to everyone that he's the best fighter that lives on the planet, he also takes his job as an instructor very seriously. After going to a Karate demo with a few of his students to see his number one hero Chuck "The Truck" Wallace played by Ben Best, he gets Chuck to agree to come and perform at his small town demo that's happening in the coming days. Fred soon finds out that Chuck "The Truck" Wallace is more into partying and sleeping with Freds wife than the actual spirit of Karate, and Fred has something to say about that.

The foul mouthed Fred Simmons is somewhat similar to Seth Rogans character in Observe and Report except in the long run he actually does have a heart and he does care about his students and their well being. Well, those who deserve it anyways. Freds wife Suzie is basically cheating on him throughout the entire film and it makes for some great comedic moments. Like when she comes home from her new job and he sees that her "work papers" are actually pictures of her naked breasts on the copy machine. Fred is constantly letting his wife, friends over for dinner, and students know who the man is, and Fred's the man. The film opens up to a great scene with Fred and his class giving a small karate demo in a parking lot. This scene is so funny and lets the crowd know right off the bat that even though Fred can't break all the boards and has no style whatsoever while doing it, that he is....still the man and this is....HIS karate class to run.

The script is very well written and it's low budget filmmaking at it's best. Pretty much all of Freds dialogue is laugh out loud funny and the story is very real to the core and shows us what could actually be going on in these small town karate studios. Fred Simmons thinks he's a real life Tae Kwon Do hero and sometimes that makes him a complete a-hole to the general public. But in the end he's a hero to his students who seemed to believe in him the entire way, and that's what counts. Foot Fist Way gets 5 outa 5.

Observe and Report - Blu-Ray

Director Jody Hill is relatively new to the world of comedy. In 2006 he came out with a small independent film called The Foot Fist Way starring Danny McBride. The Foot Fist Way was hilarious and apparently Will Ferrell thought the same thing because he got the picture into main stream cinemas and put Jody Hill and McBride on the map. Well deserved if I may say so. Hills second feature Observe and Report was a good effort, but just didn't stick with me as much as Foot Fist Way did.

Observe is a very dark and strange film, not what I was expecting. The film stars Seth Rogen as Ronnie, a mall security guard who takes his job way to seriously. He resorts to smashing young kids in the heads knocking them off their skateboards, hanging out at the shooting range buckin off shots, taking out 20 cops with a mag-light, and making out with Anna Faris while puke is drooling out of her mouth. Now DON'T get me wrong, this all sounds really great and funny right?? I thought the same thing, but it's not. It's got a really weird feel to it and it makes it hard to laugh. Once Ronnie is faced with the mission of taking down the flasher that's been causing chaos in the parking lot, he gets "paired" up with Detective Harrison. I laughed really hard a few times (a part where his partner Dennis, played by Michael Pena, is doing heroin in the bathroom had me dying) but not for the most part. I understand Hill's going for the dark comedy, and trying something new with the action and realism, but I just couldn't get into it. I saw it in theaters and thought it was better, but this second viewing I was thanking myself I only netflixed it.

I will say this. Anna Faris was brilliant. Even though she's totally type casted as "the ditzy blonde" all the time, she always brings it in my eye's, and she's flat out funny as hell in this. Ray Liotta is always great and he brings his best Liotta yells and "take no shit" attitude to his role as Detective Harrison. Even at only an hour and twenty minutes running time the film still felt a bit slow at times. Especially the scenes with his drunk mom played by Celia Weston. She's great for the part but it really slowed the film down after a while.

Now don't get me wrong. The film did have it's moments, the overall idea is great, and if Ronnie wasn't so very unlikable in every way this may have worked. If this was done as a balls out funny action comedy this could have and probably would have been the funniest film of the Summer. I mean, I want to watch it again right now, it looks great on blu-ray, and I like the idea of the film, but I put it in and just can't do it. I hope that makes sense in a way. It kinda pisses me off. Observe and Report gets 2 1/2 outa 5

Public Enemies

Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors out there. He's got an incredible knack for character study as well as a really unique way of shooting his films. He's the master of digital night shots, and he's adapted the use of digital into his own style of filmmaking. I love it. It gives the film so much more of a raw, realistic feel, almost documentary style. When Mann writes or directs, he feels for the bad guy- he lets you see inside the bad guys mind, lets you feel what he's feeling, gives you a glimpse into their heart, and makes you root for him. Very few filmmakers do this, and nobody does it better than Mann. He did this with Vincent (Tom Cruise) in Collateral, with Neil McCauley (Robert Deniro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) in Heat, and he does it again with John Dillinger in Public Enemies.

John Dillinger, portrayed by one of the best most versatile actors of our time, Johnny Depp, robbed banks, shot whomever got in his way, and was the king of the crime wave in the 1930's, and he did it in style. He was a well dressed ladies man with a baby face and a finger with an itch for the trigger. Dillinger only robbed big businesses and banks. He lived among the people in no fear and never harmed them. The opening scene shows Dillinger escaping from jail and from there on out he's pursued by Melvin Purvis played by Christian Bale by the orders of J. Edgar Hoover head of the FBI played by the always great, always underrated Billy Crudup. The 1930's was a time when the FBI was on the rise and really made a stand against crime. As said by Hoover in the film during a speech made to the public it was "Americas first war on crime". It was on every news channel in the country, and so was Dillinger's face, making it for the first time in his life, very difficult to be on the run.

Depp plays Dillinger very stone faced and emotionless. I think this works since this film is really about the fall of Dillinger and the fact that he's finally facing the realities of what he's done. But that doesn't mean Dillinger has lost his "no fear" status, not in the least. There is a great scene towards the end of the film where Dillinger walks into the police station and right into the "John Dillinger investigation headquarters," right past his own mug shot and actually talks to one of the officers without being noticed. We're so used to seeing Depp play the roles of dirty pirates and killer barbers that we forget that he can be a very clean cut handsome man with the ability to still convince the audience of his character. Marion Cotillard did an amazing job as Billie Frechetta, Dillinger's lover, a woman who stood by him, understood him, and trusted him, even though it gets her nabbed. Bale always does a good job with whatever project he's involved with, but here he was just okay. Not bad, just not that impressive. Crudup on the other hand was amazing. He must have gone through some real voice training because he certainly nailed his speech and dialogue to perfection.

There's lots of hand held shots that really give it that documentary feel and seeing a period piece shot in digital was new for everyone I think. I've heard some people say they were annoyed with the way it was shot and that the digital made it look unrealistic, but it certainly worked for me. There is an absolutely extraordinary sequence in the film where Dillinger and his men get ambushed at the house they're staying at in the middle of the woods during the night. This is the biggest most intense sequence in the film as a massive gunfight and chaotic chase ensues. If this wasn't shot in digital we wouldn't be able to see anything, but because it was, Mann is able to deliver the gun battle in epic detail. This scene reminded me of the big gun fight in the streets of L.A. in Heat. Mann knows how to deliver a perfect gun shot sound too. No fake, electric, zipping sounds, these are hardcore real shots we hear. This is by far my favorite part of the film and one of the best sequences I've seen all year. This is another film to watch out for come awards season. I give Public Enemies 4 1/2 outa 5.

Up

I've really been meaning to see Up for a while now and I was finally able to see it last night at a free screening in town. Free screenings are great, however they don't show trailers and in this case they didn't show the usual Pixar short that shows before all their films either. A bit of a loss. I love the Pixar shorts.

Up is the story of a young man Carl Fredricksen voiced by Ed Asner who's obsessed with traveling to South America and searching for the great adventure. He meets a young girl Ellie who shares that same dream. They fall in love and get married, never able to fulfill their dream. After growing old together, a montage that's scored by a beautiful piano piece, Ellie passes away. Carl is then eventually forced out of his home due to town construction and into a retirement home. Carl refuses to leave his house because this is the house where he and his wife met while kids when it was once abandoned. When the retirement home officials come to get him out he decides to rig hundreds of balloons to his home and float away to South America. Shortly after takeoff Carl finds that Russell, a little boy scout trying to get his final badge for helping the elderly, has found his way on board.

The film has some incredible animation and cinematography. The balloons alone and what they go through throughout the film is amazing. Just their colorful look and the sounds of them popping and rubbing against the cliffs are great. Russell has some really hilarious lines in the film and some really really funny stuff happens to him like getting dragged along the outside window of a blimp which was my favorite scene in the film. The film is a little slow moving at times and it's got a much more "sad" tone to it than previous Pixar films. I would have also liked to have seen more shots of the jungle, waterfalls, and wildlife in South America. The idea of the dogs being able to talk with their special collars was great but a tad over used at times. There is a really great fight scene with Carl and the antagonist Charles Muntz voiced by Christopher Plummer that was really well done. It's an epic senior citizen vs senior citizen battle.

To me Up is a film about never letting age get in the way of our dreams, and sometimes we have to let go of things that make us happy in order to do what's right. Up is another amazing picture under the Pixar name and will probably get a best picture nom at the end of the year. Personally my favorite Pixar as well as any animated film is still and probably always will be Finding Nemo. That film is just so amazing in so many ways. Up gets 4 outa 5.

Jennifer's Body

Diablo Cody has done it again. But this time she's seemed to have written a little more closely to her actual style as a human being. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this script came from the pen of a foul mouthed ex-stripper from Chicago. Trust me- it just doesn't. Diablo has written a much more racy, sexy, scary, and gory script here compared to the independent light-hearted Juno. Let's just say that Jennifer would eat Juno AND her baby if she had the chance.

The film is about Jennifer Check played by the gorgeous and seductive Megan Fox. I don't think anyone in Hollywood deserves to be called seductive more than Fox. Jennifer's a cocky, sexy, bad-girl cheerleader who's best friend Needy Lesnicky happens to be pretty much the complete opposite. It's funny seeing them be "best friends" on screen as Jennifer literally pushes Needy around and forces her to come out to a strange white trash bar one night to watch a young up-and-coming band perform. That's where the shit hits the fan. After the bar burns down and the band takes Jennifer off in their creepy "1969 Rape" van out to the middle of the woods to perform an ancient witch craft sacrificial ceremony on her, let's just say that all does not go so well, for Jennifer that is. After getting transformed into a sucubus, a sexy one at that, she secretly terrorizes the town killing off high school kids until Needy finds out and has to try to put a stop to it after she fears for her boyfriends life.

You can't give all the credit to Diablo here. Director Karyn Kusama has done a pretty decent job creating a creepy looking film that flows nicely throughout without letting a second of boredom able to seep in. We're constantly being entertained with what's going on on-screen. But Diablos script offers such great fright and comedic originality with scenes that have Jennifer drinking the blood right out of a guys stomach, and having the town set in a place called Devil's Kettle. I can't help but being reminded of another film with similar qualities that came out a few years ago called Teeth, another film that I would recommend if you liked Jennifer's Body. If John Waters made a horror film today, it would be like one of these two films.

Finally, I must say that going into this I wasn't really sold on Megan Fox yet. She didn't do too much for me in the Transformers films and with her being in the media so much she really became kind of obnoxious. But Jennifer's body is Fox's film. She carries the film the entire way and adds a lot to the character with her sexy/scary stares and her quirky line delivery. Lets hope she gets more roles of this nature in the future instead of just being the hot chick to stare at. Although a few things with the story still just don't quite add up to me. One being how the bar actually caught on fire, as well as another thing but it would spoil the film if I mentioned it. The good thing is the rest of the film certainly makes up for it. If you go into this film knowing what to expect and look to have a great time, you'll definately have a lot of fun with this picture. As for Diablo Cody, please for the love of god, keep writing more stuff like this. 3 outa 5.

Funny People

Adam Sandler has been going through some tough times lately career wise. I'm sure he's got loads of cash still, that's a given, but his choices in films have been sub-par to say the least and haven't been delivering at the box office. At one point Sandler was the king of comedy. His films like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, The Wa Wa Water Ba Ba Boy, and even Big Daddy were once at the top of the totem poll, but he hasn't had anything close to that level of comedy film making since then, and it's sad. I really feel for the guy. Then Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen completely took over the scene and nobody gave a shit about Sandler. Well that's basically what Funny People is about, an aging comedian who's slowly being pushed out of the scene by the new guys, which in the film happens to actually be Seth Rogen and directed by Judd Apatow.

I really took this film in as a character study of Sandlers own life and that's what made the film so interesting to me. Sandler plays George Simmons a seasoned comedian who learns that he's dying and only has a few months to live. After being shown up at the comedy club one night by an up and coming comedian Ira, played by Seth Rogen, George decides to make Ira his personal assistant as well as his friend. George pretty much tells Ira straight up that he's dying and this is why your here. Ira's ecstatic, it's his dream job. But he soon comes to find that working for the legend of comedy isn't all that it's cracked up to be as George treats Ira at times with the utmost disrespect. Other than this aspect of the story the character George really does seem based off of Sandler. There's even a running joke throughout the film about Georges older "Adam Sandler like" films that he's starred in, and the funny film posters that are just laying all around his house. One of them was even about a baby, and George played the baby.

The film was marketed as a drama which turned a lot of people off as it pretty much bombed at the box office considering the star quality it had. But I found the film to be although very serious and sad at a lot of points also very very funny. There is a lot of really great crude humor in this that really works, because these guys are comedians and that's the way they talk. The "dick" word count in this film is an ongoing theme and probably reaches to no joke around forty or fifty. The film does have a weird feeling to it at points though. I just don't understand why George treats Ira the way that he does, especially towards the end of the film which really takes a dramatic turn for the worst. I understand that he's dying, or was dying, that he's being out-shined by younger comedians, and that his family life is in the dumps. But is that a reason to be a complete miserable ass hole?? I mean George is still a multi millionaire. But I do recognize his anger. When you were once one of the best and most popular comedic actors of your time and one day you literally wake up and realize that you're being taken over by a much younger newer group of guys in Hollywood, it's gotta be tough. It's gotta be the toughest thing a guy like George or Sandler can go through, because this is what he's done his whole life, and Sandler delivers that perfectly in his performance with his depressing facial expressions, blah attitude, and his lack of enthusiastic words.

Not a lot of people may know this but Sandler and Apatow were actually roommates growing up. There's a really great heartfelt scene in the opening of the film where we see vintage home video footage of Sandler being filmed by Apatow. Sandler's on the phone making a crank call and he can't even keep it together, he's laughing so damn hard he can barely even spit out his words to finish the call. This scene already says so much to the audience about who these "funny people" really are. They're people who were born with comedic genes, people who were made to make people laugh, it's all they have, take that away from them and they got nothing. This world needs people like that. A solid 3 1/2 outa 5 stars.