Posts Tagged ‘movies i got’

28 Days Later … – Breathing Life Back Into The Zombie Picture

Posted 30 Jun 2011 — by contributor
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Got

By Scott Martin

28 Days Later, UK, 2002

Directed by Danny Boyle

28 Days Later is definitely a must-see for any horror film fan.First things first: this isn’t a zombie movie. It’s a movie about people who become infected with a virus, and they look and act like zombies. Why isn’t it a zombie movie? Because, for the most part, that’s too silly for such a deadly serious story. Danny Boyle’s take on the zombie/post-apocalyptic genre proves to be the best of its kind, and it doesn’t have time for such fruitless entertainment. It’s here to thrill and make our hearts race, and break from time to time, and it does, probably because it’s not a zombie movie. Those have a tendency to not be that scary, but being infected and essentially made into an animalistic killing machine? That’s something to worry about for two hours, and, while this isn’t a zombie movie, it certainly provided a template for far too many to follow. With its fast-as-lightening “undead” and rapid camera movements, this film inspired the kick-ass fast zombies of Zack Snyder’s underrated masterpiece Dawn of the Dead (2004). Read More

Julie & Julia

Posted 28 Jun 2011 — by contributor
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Got

By Scott Martin

Julie & Julia, USA, 2009 Julie and Julia isn't just a film about cooking.

Written and Directed by Nora Ephron

Based on the Books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’homme

Julie and Julia isn’t just a film about cooking. No, it’s much more than that. It’s a film about finishing whatever it is that you start, setting goals for yourself, and achieving those goals despite whatever it is that you may consider odds. Julia Child (Meryl Streep) worked as a government clerk before she discovered her flare and passion for cooking, and Julie Powell (Amy Adams) did the same. The similarities between the two leads are fascinating, so much so that you would almost expect Julie’s last name to start with a “C,” but, thankfully, real life isn’t so cliche. The actresses in the two lead roles each bring their signature styles to the forefront and flip them upside down to bring us not only two of the best performances of the year, but two of the best performances of their careers. Adams, who is generally extremely chipper and very upbeat, plays an utter bitch who becomes so involved in herself that she refuses to see how her actions raze the world around her, and Streep’s approach, while technically similar to her other lauded performances in that she adopts an accent and an obvious demeanor, is strikingly different. She doesn’t attempt to tone down the cartoonish nature of the larger-than-life Julia Child; rather, she celebrates the icon and gives new breath to someone who should be more prevalent in the public eye.

Julie Powell is a writer and a cubicle worker, who suffers from an all-too-human ailment: she doesn’t have it in her to finish what she starts; and Julia Child seems, early on, to have trouble finding something, anything at all, to start. Eventually, through a series of small failures, Julie decides to cook her way through Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. 365 days, 536 recipes. Can she do it? Only time (and an Internet connection, mixed with the curiosity of the user) can tell. Read More

The Town – Not Just Hunting For A Paycheck

Posted 26 Jun 2011 — by contributor
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Got

By Scott Martin

The Town, USA, 2010

Directed by Ben Affleck

The Town feels like a film that could stand on its own, and Affleck makes the material his own, while paying respect to Charlestown and the novel itself. In 1997, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon gave us a soft and emotional tour of Boston in Good Will Hunting, as they knew it growing up. They explored the values of hope and family. In 2007, ten years later, Affleck went it alone and took us back to Boston with Gone Baby Gone, exploring themes of loss and grief, right and wrong. In 2010, Affleck took us to the doorstep, sat us down on the curb, and said, “Watch.” The town, Charlestown, to be specific, lives and breathes by itself as the central hub of bank robberies in New England. The film’s opening quotes tell us that the trade is almost a birthright, something you’re born into, or against. For the four lads in this film, it’s the only life they know, and they’ll go to incredible lengths to protect it.

Ben Affleck is a fantastic director. Being an actor, he understands how to work with them and get the best performances possible. There isn’t a false performance in this film, not one, and if Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone weren’t already an indication, he’s an extremely gifted writer. He’s a great American filmmaker, if I may be so bold. After only two films as director, that’s pretty bold, but I’ll stand by it. Sue me. Affleck understands pacing better than most directors working today. I think it can be attributed to his involvement in the scriptwriting, and his timing as an actor. All of these elements elevate his films beyond what they might be in the hands of other directors. He isn’t a Scorsese or a Capra or a Coppola, but he’s Affleck, and, at the very least, he was the bomb in Phantoms. Read More