Posts Tagged ‘forest whitaker’

Sorry To Bother You – A Fascinating Mess

Posted 28 Jul 2018 — by Ezra Stead
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Didn't Get

By Ezra Stead 

Sorry to Bother You, USA, 2018

Written and Directed by Boots Riley

It is often lamented by casual movie fans that “Hollywood has run out of ideas.” In fact, the seeming lack of originality in the mainstream movie pool has more to do with a fear of taking chances on those new ideas, which certainly do exist. Why gamble when you can pretty much guarantee a huge opening weekend with a sequel to, or adaptation of, an already beloved existing property? With that in mind, it’s rather amazing that this debut feature from writer-director Boots Riley, a founding member of legendary Hip-Hop group The Coup, ever got greenlit. I mean this in both a good way – because Sorry to Bother You is full of original ideas, sharp satire, and great performances – and in a somewhat more negative way, because it often feels so overstuffed with interesting concepts that it can’t possibly come together as a wholly satisfying, coherent narrative.  Read More

MIDG 3rd Annual Oscars Predictions Podcast For The 88th Academy Awards

Posted 22 Feb 2016 — by Jason A. Hill
Category Film Industry News, Film Reviews, Hollywood Beat, Movies I Didn't Get, Movies I Got

Hosted by Jason A. Hill & Ezra Stead with special guests: Alan Tracy and Pete K. Wong.

The MIDG Oscars Podcast, 2016 edition.

Oscar discussion and predictions for the show Sunday night, February 28th, on ABC.

 

 

 

Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes.

 

Intro Music: The Danish Girl

Outro Music: Mad Max: Fury Road

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Where The Wild Things Are

Posted 30 Jan 2010 — by contributor
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Didn't Get

By Corey Birkhofer

Where the Wild Things Are, USA / Germany, 2009

Directed by Spike Jonze

Where the wild things are

Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963) is arguably one of the most famous children’s books ever published. Its beautiful imagery and simple story touch on a desire in all of us that, even into adulthood, many of us never shed: the desire to go home. When I found out this incredible tale would be put onto the big screen, helmed by none other than quirky music video director extraordinaire Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), I was doubly intrigued. How would the images burned permanently into my mind be realized on screen? How would the wild things look? Would they just CG the hell out of everything and make a husk of a film with no soul? The answer to the CG question was boldly answered by Jonze, spending tons of studio money in the process on expensive Jim Henson Workshop-produced real working puppets and crazy wire-work stunts that have definitely advanced puppetry to the next level. And yet, despite the love and care that so obviously went into the crafting of this film, I still sat through it asking myself: “So when does the story start?”

Spoiler Alert

I still sat there three-quarters of the way through the film saying to myself: “And now the little kid decides to just go home?” How could a children’s book that had no more than 10 sentences capture so much that a two-hour film could not? The answer is simple: a story. To me, Jonze’s film has none because a) Max (Max Records), the protagonist (if you could call him one) never changes and b) none of the problems of the characters in the film are solved. Instead, we have an attention-starved kid who rants and raves around for a couple hours amidst the strange relationships of some weird monsters, and then decides it’s time to go home after he can’t help them all get along and be friends.

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Vantage Point

Posted 20 Aug 2009 — by contributor
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Didn't Get

By Corey Birkhofer

Vantage Point, USA, 2008

Directed by Pete Travis

vantage point mosaic

I’d like to start this review off with a question: Does anyone even know about this film? The reason I ask is, for those of you who don’t know, I am currently living in Gifu, Japan, where the selection of films from the west that make it to rental here are not always the most well-known or popular back home. Having only read Wikipedia’s plot description of Vantage Point to refresh my memory, I saw there that the film got a 95% at Rotten Tomatoes and was overall a box office success when it was released in February of 2008. Though after seeing the film, I am unable to fathom how that could be the case, why was I suckered into watching Vantage Point? Two words: Matthew Fox.

For those of you who are fans of Lost, let me just tell you, it’s even bigger here in Japan. So if any Lost fan sees Matthew Fox’s face on a DVD cover at the store here, they’re going to rent it. Being a die-hard fan of Lost myself, I got suckered in by the same Hollywood tactic. Although the premise of the film is a little too reminiscent of 24, I liked the idea of a film that employed Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon effect of showing the same event from multiple perspectives, giving the viewer the responsibility of sifting through the facts and coming to their own conclusion. Vantage Point tries to one up Rashomon, however, in that it gives us eight different perspectives of an assassination attempt on the president while he speaks at an anti-terrorism rally in Spain. Now that you know why I gave Vantage Point a chance, let me get to the real heart of the matter. Why didn’t I get this film?

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