welcome to the Yankee Pedlar...please don't bother us...

R

Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis

Luke:  Pessimism is just a higher form of optimism.  If you expect nothing from people, then you go through life being pleasantly surprised.

It’s the last weekend for the Yankee Pedlar Inn.  The hotel is about to close down, and two of its employees have been left to look after it – and its handful of guests.  Claire (Paxton) and Luke (Healy) are geeky friends who share an interest in the paranormal world.  This legendarily haunted hotel might hold a few surprises for them before it sees its last day…

A couple years ago I saw a movie called The House of the Devil.  It was a sort of throwback style horror movie, well directed by a guy named Ti West.  When I noticed his name was attached to another horror movie, The Innkeepers, it caught my attention.

While this movie doesn’t quite achieve as interesting of an atmosphere as The House of the Devil, it still succeeds in being enjoyable for about the same percentage of the movie as that earlier Ti West effort.  Unfortunately, both suffer from weak endings.

The interesting thing about this movie is, I enjoyed it more for the comedy and character development.  Claire and Luke have a good chemistry together, and the humor has a subtle, real feel to it.  They’re likable, relatable characters, which results in greater tension because we actually care about them.  Funny how that works…

I had never heard of Sara Paxton before, but it looks like she’s been around for quite a while, with earlier roles in a lot of kid/teen stuff, but more recently in grown up roles like in The Last House on the Left and Shark Night.  In this movie, she’s kind of a geeky loser who has resigned herself to a life of menial jobs, like the one she currently has at the Yankee Pedlar.  I liked her performance a lot.  It’s different, and in a movie with a story that isn’t exactly original or attention grabbing, you need interesting characters.  Paxton and Pat Healy do a nice job of creating those characters.

Less interesting is Kelly McGillis as an aging actress who has turned to the world of spiritual healing.  She has a few good moments, but seems more like just a plot convenience than a fully formed character.

My main complaint about the movie would be that at the end, I was left thinking, “…that’s it?”  There’s not much closure or resolution to this one.  It’s simply a haunted house story with more laughs (intentional, thankfully) than scares.  It almost feels like a case where there was a more complex original ending that didn’t make it to the final film.  Instead, they just went with something simple, and almost completely unsatisfying.  Which is a shame because much of the film leading up to that had me interested in where it was going.

Oh well, at least I got to see Sara Paxton be cute and goofy for an hour and a half…

Don’t go in the basement…

10 – 2 because the ending just felt so unsatisfying – .8 for the general story being pretty uninspired – .7 for lacking quality character development outside of the main two characters = 6.5

Well, this is me justifying the purchase of a fancy new Canon 5D Mark II camera.  I asked my friend Libby if she wanted to make a music video for one of her songs.  She said, yes, so then I had to come up with an idea.

And here it is…the story of a girl and her bike…

Learned a lot from my first professional-esque shoot.  Hopefully I’ll apply those lessons to the next one, and things will go even smoother and look even better.

But hey, it was a lot of fun, and made me want to make more music videos or movies or anything really!

you didn't read past the first page of the script before you agreed to do the movie, did you?

PG-13

Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry

Moriarty: People have an innate desire for conflict. So what you are fighting is not me, but rather mankind. War, on an industrial scale, is inevitable. I’m just supplying the bullets and bandages.

Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) enlists his newly married friend Watson’s (Law) help once more as he attempts to discover who is behind a series of bombings and what their motives are.

Well, it’s just over a week since I saw this, so I might not remember it very well.

Actually, if I were writing just a once sentence review, I think that would be it.  This is the kind of movie that goes into your brain, entertains it as it rattles around in there, then exits as quickly as it came.  In that regard, it’s a lot like the first movie in the series.  I honestly can not remember what the plot to that one was.  It was a sea of British accents, grey scenery, booming music, big action sequences, and witty banter.  I do know that it had Rachel McAdams in it, which is unfortunately not true for most of the sequel.

But hey, the rest of the stuff I listed was still there in the new film.  Plus, for now I do remember who the villain was, which is something I can’t say about the first movie.  Jared Harris is pretty good as Holmes’ arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty.  Not an all time great villainous performance, but good enough.  Speaking of supporting players, Noomi Rapace was also good as a gypsy whose brother might be involved in Moriarty’s nefarious plot.  She’s not given a huge amount to do, but she does have a certain presence.  When she’s on screen, you notice her.

I thought some of Downey and Law’s banter was a bit tired.  They didn’t seem all that thrilled to be delivering it, and I wasn’t all that thrilled to be hearing it.  There were a couple of funny and inspired moments between them, but for the most part, that relationship felt a little flat.

We don’t come to these movies for just the witty dialogue though.  We want to see a good detective story.  We want to see Holmes’ calculating brain at work, whether it’s analyzing a crime scene or planning to defend himself against three thugs in an alley.  There’s plenty of moments like that, though I didn’t think the overall mystery was handled very well.  To me, the movie didn’t bring the audience along for the ride enough.  Some aspects are explained so quickly that there’s no mystery to it at all, which is no fun.  Meanwhile, in other ways I felt a bit lost.

I think people want to be able to put themselves in Holmes’ shoes and play detective as the movie rolls along.  Unfortunately, I don’t think this movie provides the audience with the ability to do that.  Thus, we sit back, watch, feel reasonably entertained, then move along.  I’m sure by the time the next sequel comes around, I’ll have forgotten what happened in this one.

Maybe that’s their goal though, as filmmakers.  That way they can just keep making the same movie over and over and nobody will ever notice.

“And the little plastic castle is a surprise every time…”

Slow and steady wins the race.

10 – 1.5 for some of the witty dialogue feeling tired and not so witty – .7 because it just seems so grey, bleak and visually depressing at times – 1.5 for the mystery aspect not being handled so well = 6.3

good thing Roland Emmerich isn't directing this...I'd be in trouble...

PG-13

Brit Marling, William Mapother

John:  You’d go?
Rhoda:  Yes…
John:  You don’t know what’s out there.
Rhoda:  That’s why I would go.

Rhoda (Marling) has just been accepted to MIT and has been out celebrating.  On her drive home, the combination of being intoxicated and distracted by the news that a new planet has been discovered nearby in our solar system causes her to slam full-speed into the car carrying John (Mapother), his wife, and their child.  The woman and child are killed, John is injured and goes into a state of depression, and Rhoda spends the next 4 years in jail.  Upon her release, she goes to apologize to John, loses her nerve, claims she works for a cleaning service, and starts up a friendship with him.  Oh, and meanwhile, there’s a duplicate planet Earth getting closer and closer to our Earth…

So it turns out, at the very least, that we’re ALL twins.

And maybe this second Earth explains Deja Vu!  Or maybe not…

There’s not a whole lot of explanation, or discussion, or theorizing in Another Earth.  It’s a fantastically fun idea, this second Earth concept, but I was left wanting more dialogue about how and why this could be, whether or not the planets should communicate and visit with each other at all, and the psychological, cultural, and spiritual repercussions such a discovery would bring about.  (Also, at least a passing mention of whether or not having another planet that close would throw our weather and tides into turmoil would’ve been nice.)

A few of these things are touched upon, but I could have listened to much more of it.  When you have an interesting character like Rhoda, the more of her thought process you can get on screen, the better.

What IS there is a girl wondering if, in some other dimension or timeline, her life could have turned out much differently than it did.  Not just for her sake, but for the sake of the other family she affected.  That’s something most people can relate to.  How different would my life be if I had made one simple decision differently…or hadn’t made that one mistake…hadn’t been distracted for one instant.

In this case, Rhoda might just get that chance to know.

Brit Marling is pretty darned good here, as is William Mapother, and they have to carry the film just about on their own.  Most of the other characters are secondary at best.  The shots of the Earth in the sky are lovely, as is the cinematography in general, but overall, this is a movie that just couldn’t quite match the beauty of its trailer.  Bravo to whoever put that one together.

Still, it’s worth a watch, and might get you to thinkin’ about whether or not you would want to meet yourself, and if so, what you would say to yourself.  Hopefully it would be something less depressing than what Rhoda comes up with when John asks her that question:  “Better luck next time…”

Don’t drink and drive and look at duplicate planet Earths in the night sky all at the same time.

10 – 2 for not going in depth enough with some of the issues that would arise from such a discovery – .4 for a bit of spotty acting from a few of the supporting players – .5 for my attention waning here and there = 7.1

so very horrible...

Sometimes movies just don’t need a full write-up in order to tell their story.  This is one of those cases.

With a movie like Horrible Bosses, basically the question is – was it funny?  My answer?  Sort of.

If you like the 3 main actors – Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day – then you’ll probably get at least some enjoyment out of their performances.  Kevin Spacey, Colin Ferrell, and Jennifer Aniston are also pretty good as the titular horrible bosses.

It’s not consistently hilarious, but there were enough laughs to say it’s worth a watch on cable perhaps.

Rating = 6.1

of course I'm happy...absolutely...totally...yeah...

R

Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgard, Stellan Skarsgard

Justine:  The Earth is evil…we don’t need to grieve for it.
Claire:  What??
Justine:  Nobody will miss it…

Well…there’s a wedding…and the bride, Justine (Dunst) is feigning happiness.  She’s actually depressed, worried, sad, and afraid.  You might say…she’s melancholic.  Why?  Well, she’s not entirely sure, but soon after the wedding she might just find out.  That’s when humanity learns that a very large planet is going to make a flyby of the Earth…or possibly collide with it.

Where to start?

How about with Kirsten Dunst.  This had to be a pretty mentally draining role for her.  She has to go from depressed to really depressed and finally to so depressed that she can’t even get out of bed.  It may not be a wide ranging performance, but I thought she did a good job, especially when her character takes a sort of preternatural turn.

Speaking of turns, this movie would have taken a very major and unexpected turn if it hadn’t been for the first 5 minutes of the film.  In those first minutes, we’re treated to scenes depicting the final moments of the Earth before the planet Melancholia erases it from existence.  Without that opening, the following hour of the movie would have just seemed like a family drama.  Instead, Justine’s sense of impending doom takes on an odd, heavy feel, which then makes the various family dramatics more interesting.  On their own, the quarrels wouldn’t be that entertaining, but I stayed interested because I knew eventually that big planet would come into play.

This is my first exposure to Lars Von Triers, and I have to admit that I enjoyed his style.  Not that I’m going to rush out and watch Antichrist, but I might check out some of his other directorial efforts.

I’d say this isn’t a movie for the masses, but it is a movie that will leave you thinking afterward.  Not just about how you would react to the Earth’s impending doom, but also about what the movie is a metaphor/analogy for.  Mortality?  The ennui of life and marriage?  You decide.

Just be prepared to sit through the world’s most depressing wedding reception.

Oh, and can anybody tell me why Justine’s family is entirely British, but she has no accent whatsoever?  I think I missed that explanation…

Addendum:

Okay, I realized I left out one of the major reasons I enjoyed this movie.  It was an end-of-the-world type story done on a very personal level.  We aren’t subjected to a boatload of fake news broadcasts or presidential speeches or military guys talking about what could be done to save the Earth.  It’s just one family’s dealings with the scenario.  It reminded me of Signs in that regard.  When you take a big idea and focus it on just a few characters, that’s when the real emotions of the situation start to emerge…

Be very sure before you say “I do.”

10 – 1.6 because yeah, it does drag at times – .8 for the generally angry tone = 7.6

I brought the toilet paper this time...

R

Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jon Hamm

Annie:  Let’s change the subject.  No more baking…I’m done.
Nathan:  I don’t know how you just can’t do it anymore.  If I wasn’t a cop anymore…I would still go out…with a gun…and shoot people.

Annie’s (Wiig) best friend, Lillian (Rudolph), is getting married and asks Annie to be her Maid of Honor.  Unfortunately for Annie, she’s got some competition for the job from one of Lillian’s newer friends, Helen (Byrne).

A little tamer than I was expecting after some of the press it got, but certainly better than average as far as comedies go.

Not that there aren’t some over the top scenes, particularly the dress shop food poisoning scene, which is easily the funniest in the movie.  That’s the big laugh, but Wiig and Rudolph supply several other giggles, chuckles, and smirks along the way in the more subtle moments, many of which probably involved some improv.

That brings me to one of my few gripes with the movie.  The improv scenes sometimes went on a little too long.  That seems to be the case with most Apatow (he produced this one) related movies.  They end up being overlong because so much material was filmed and left in.  It’s hard to sustain comedy for a solid hour and a half, so at over 2 hours, you’ve got to expect some lulls in this one.

Overall, though, it is funny and it maintained my interest.  Kristen Wiig is a likable performer, as is Maya Rudolph, and if you read my last review of X-Men: First Class, you’ll know of my love for Rose Byrne.  While I prefer to see her in more sympathetic roles, it’s still her, and she’s clearly having fun playing something out of the norm.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Melissa McCarthy’s shameless performance.  She isn’t afraid to look and sound terrible throughout, and that resulted in many of the bigger laughs.  So bravo to her.  If you only know her as Sookie from Gilmore Girls, get ready for quite a change in character type.

A little bit more editing could have made this one pretty great.  As is, it’s still an enjoyable time with some funny women.

Never give up a career in baking.

10 – 1.3 for being a bit overlong – 1.7 for some parts just not being all that funny to me = 7.0

damn paparazzi...no pictures!

PG-13

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult

Stryker:  There is a war coming, John.
McCone:  Yes, but a war with who?
Emma Frost:  Excellent question…though I wouldn’t call it a war, exactly.  That suggests that both sides stand an equal chance of winning.

Erick Lehnsherr (Fassbender), who will later become known as Magneto, is out for revenge on the man, Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), who killed his mother.  Along the way, he crosses paths with another mutant, Charles Xavier (McAvoy).  Together they recruit other mutants while Shaw plots to start World War III.

Slightly better than the first X-Men, not as good as the second one, and…well, we won’t even mention the third one.

There are moments here that are very good, and I definitely liked most of the casting, but at times it just feels overlong.  It gets bogged down with too much “mutant and proud” talk.  That territory has been covered quite extensively in the other movies, and while it’s certainly relevant to the young mutants here, that doesn’t make it any more fresh.

The other thing that didn’t work too well for me was Kevin Bacon as the villain.  His presence seemed too gimmicky, which undermined the seriousness of the movie.

Now on to the things that I did like.  Rose Byrne.  If you’ve read my other reviews, you may know of my love for Rose Byrne.  This movie did nothing to change that love.  She’s awesome.  McAvoy and Fassbender are good too, and the younger mutants are played well enough.  Michael Ironside even makes an appearance near the end of the movie, which is always a welcome sight.

One quick aside about the cast though.  In a movie that’s all about promoting the acceptance of everybody no matter what their appearance…there are not a whole lot of minorities present.  Plus…I don’t want to be Mr. Spoiler, but…they kill off the black guy first…seriously?  And then the other minority character is the first to turn into a villain with very little persuasion needed.  Even for something set in the 60s, it’s a very white movie.

But hey, there’s some good drama, good action, a few funny moments, and…well, Rose Byrne.

What more do you need?

Mutant and proud!

10 – .6 because I didn’t like Kevin Bacon as the villain – 1.7 for getting bogged down in too many repetitive scenes  = 7.7

they grow up so fast...

PG-13

Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jessica Barden

Sebastian:  So, Hanna, is your mom and dad still together?
Hanna:  My mother is dead.
Sophie:  Niiiice one dad.
Sebastian:  I’m sorry to hear that.  I lost my mom when I was very young, so…
Hanna:  It’s alright, it happened a long time ago.
Rachel:  Hanna…what did your mom die of?
Hanna:  Three bullets.

Hanna (Ronan) is a 16 year old girl who has been secluded in the forest for most of her life and trained by her father (Bana) to be a deadly, and very intelligent, assassin.  She believes she is ready to leave seclusion and face the dangers that await her.  Dangers in the form of Marissa (Blanchett), an agent who has a past association with Hanna’s father.  Once she’s out in the world, Hanna starts to discover all kinds of new things and new people, but there’s not much time to enjoy it when you’re being pursued by ruthless special agents…

First of all, how was Joss Whedon not involved in this?  A teenage girl beating people up all over the place?  That’s, like…his thing!

Secondly, I really wanted to like this one more than I did.

Not that I disliked it.  It’s just…it was so good at times that the lesser aspects of it really stood out.

Some of the character motivations weren’t very strong.  For instance, why was Marissa so hell bent on killing everybody and everything in her way just to get to Hanna?  Why such an attachment?  Cate Blanchett was definitely good and creepy as the villain, but I never really felt like I knew here character very well.  Same with Eric Bana as…Erik, Hanna’s sorta dad.  His history is a bit of a mystery too.  There are some explanations, to be sure, but those are more about events rather than emotions and motivations.  The movie tells us there are emotions there, but doesn’t really show all of them.

I guess all of that would be okay if it didn’t leave the ending of the movie feeling so emotionally hollow.  Of course it ends with a series of chases, even culminating at a sort of abandoned carnival type place (one of multiple movie cliches featured in this one).  There’s no real emotional resolution, and when the title popped up again at the end (kind of out of the blue like in INSIDIOUS), I was left thinking, “…that’s it?”  Okay, there’s a pile of corpses, but…so what?

Like I said, though, there are good parts.  The performances are all top notch, especially Saoirse Ronan as Hanna.  She’s sort of a more realistic version of Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass.  The script may occasionally drag her out of character, but her performance is always good.  It’s a physically demanding role, and she seems up to the challenge.

Thankfully, Cate Blanchett isn’t as over the top as she was in the recent Indiana Jones disaster.  She’s just as ruthless, but much more grounded in reality.  Though, not above threatening little children.

Stylistically, the movie is kinetic without venturing into Tony Scott territory, thankfully.  Plus, it’s not afraid to slow down for some touching, quiet moments, like when Hanna befriends the daughter in the family she latches onto as she flees her pursuers.  There are some good moments spent with that family.

All in all, I felt like a good premise and a quality first 2/3 of a movie were a little wasted on an ending that just fizzles out.  I would have liked to have seen more communication and resolution between the characters rather than just another typical chase/shoot-out.

Is it that hard to write an ending to a movie?  Maybe I should try it some time…

HANNA!

Trying to scientifically manipulate humans into perfect killing machines never ends well…

10 – 1.5 for the lackluster ending – 1 for a few moments, mostly regarding Hanna’s character, that didn’t really make sense = 7.5