Wacky Bastards

Lets give credit where credit is due – Bravo, Vera Farmiga! Bravo!

In a nutshell, “Higher Ground” is a story about a woman struggling with faith and family in the midst of the loss of a friend rendered a vegetable after a botched surgery. The film stars Vera Farmiga, John Hawkes and Norbert Leo Butz

This film marks Vera Farmiga’s first attempt at directing… and it’s a hell of an attempt, if I do say so myself. Higher Ground is a marvelous depiction of how to maintain one’s faith during times of turmoil, from a traditional, southern, church-going woman’s perspective. What Higher Ground is not is a Christian film trying to shove religion down the viewer’s throat.  The material is handled very well by Farmiga who shows the joys of worship, faith, motherhood and friendship. She does well not to satirize the characters of the film and in it the charm of a small congregation truly comes across, while at the same time showing the potholes that a small church can face in dealing with women. So many times Christians have a tendency to romanticize marriages between individuals who share a strong faith in God as being indestructible. You know the saying – “The couple that prays together, stays together”. Well that guarantees nothing, as Higher Ground shows through the crumbling marriage of Farmiga’s character Corinne Walker and her husband Ethan Miller, played by Joshua Leonard. Corinne and Ethan’s holy bond is tested by her unholy desires.

Deleon’s Final Dish: Much can be said about this movie and not every moment in the film is a golden one, but it is definitely worth checking out. Don’t expect to walk out of this flick a more enlightened individual, just an individual who feels Farmiga’s directorial debut was well worth the price of admission.

Sup,

So, my boys over at Cinematic Method decided to utilize their high school math skills most of us deemed as worthless to give us a perspective on how Taylor Lautner’s abs make chicks stupid, and I must say “if I were a former math teacher, I’d shed a couple tears, cuz it’s brilliant! They labeled it “The Abduction Discrepancy”!  Lautner’s new movie, Abduction, has been absolutely decimated, not to be confused with decimal(for all you geniuses out there), by critics to the tune of a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, which tends to be a pretty accurate prognosis on the health of a film, from a critic’s standpoint. As one critic, eloquently put it – “a soulless and incompetent action/thriller not even a veteran lead actor could save, let alone Taylor Lautner”. Ahh, but they underestimated the “AB”duction Factor”! Now, I usually don’t pay much attention to critics, unless, of course, it involves a spawn of  “Twilight” movie fame.

Anyway, here’s Gerry’s Genius Breakdown:

(Audience Rating) – (TomatoMeter) = (How much critics overlook abs)

77 – 4 = 73 (Critics overlooked Taylor Lautner’s abs to a level of 73, we will call this the “Why-Is-The-Audience-So-Stupid-Coefficient“)

(Why-Is-The-Audience-So-Stupid-Coefficient) / (The Number of Abs Taylor Lautner Possesses) = (Number of Audience Happy Points)

73 / 12 = 6.1 (If I hear someone tell me this is not an exact figure, I’m going to lose my mind and begin spitting at them until they agree with me. That’s how I win all my battles of wit).

Hey, Gerry, I ain’t arguing witcha! Einstein-esque, Bro! Einstein-esque! I dare anyone to challenge this, and this means you, Self-proclaimed, Movie Expert Geek!

Beginners is a film that explores the complexities of love and loss through the eyes of it’s main character, Oliver, played by Ewan McGregor. The story opens months after his father Hal(Christopher Plummer) has passed away. After drowning in a sea of depression Oliver meets and falls in love with a  young, beautiful and spontaneous french woman named Anna(Melanie Laurent). This new love floods his mind with memories of his father whom after his mother passed- at age 75- opens up to Oliver about being gay and living a vibrant gay lifestyle. Oliver, who has had a history of pushing women away must now make a sacrifice to keep the woman he has now fallen in love with.

Beginners is one of those gems that sneaks into theaters and is gone before you know it. The story utilizes flashbacks involving Oliver’s deceased parents and explores the contrast of love and marriage in the 60′s and 70″s versus the present. Each moment is handled with care especially in dealing with his fathers death. Charlie Chaplin knew that the best relief for drama was laughter, which is exactly how the director, Mike Mills, approaches this film. He shows us that  in the midst of great pain, and even love, there can be humor. This film shines a beautiful light on the hilarity, joy and pains of love and will have you walking away with a smile because it shows you the beauty of everyday life, love and comforts you in it’s portrayal of the loss of a loved one.

You may be reading this and thinking to yourself “but what the heck is Beginners about?” Well it’s about a lot of things and it’s layers run deep, so your best bet is to just go see it.

Deleon’s Final Dish: Superb story, great cast and wonderful direction, which means “be sure and check this one out”. Any true movie fan will enjoy it. Promise!

Captain America: The First Avenger is the story of Steve Rogers, a frail young man from Brooklyn, New York, who after being continually denied access into the military, finally gets his opportunity after a chance meeting with a military scientist for an experimental program.

The movie takes place at the height of World War II and focuses on the creation and the early years of Captain America. Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, is played by Chris Evans with Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull(literally, of course).

Rogers is given an experimental drug which, for their lack of creativity in the 40’s, is called the Super Soldier Serum. This serum takes him to the height of physical perfection. Simply put, he is bigger, faster and stronger than any man on Earth. Upon receipt of his upgrade, the scientist who blessed him with this gift is assassinated by a member of a criminal organization known as HYDRA. The group is lead by Red Skull(Weaving) who, like any other leader of a criminal organization, is hell-bent on world domination. However, all this is put on hold when Captain America steps in(insert theme music). That is pretty much the skeleton in the closet of any super hero movie. This is Marvel’s final movie before they release ‘Avengers’ in 2013(can’t wait!).

Those fans of the Captain America comic book, like myself, should truly enjoy this movie. It has a great cast, though I was a little apprehensive about Evans playing the Captain, I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. I kept waiting… and waiting for the wisecrack, sexual innuendo or “Flame On” anytime he wasn’t planted on the ground and… it never came(aww). Instead what I got was a solid performance, and you can’t ask for anymore than that. Most of the comedy was served up a la Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips. Directed by Joe Johnston(Wolfman, Jurassic Park III) the film is an origin story(which I love) and with so much to tell he does a good job of  consolidating it without the film getting bogged down………it kept moving. The action sequences were well done, with subtle digital effects here and there, “subtlety” being the key word as nothing felt out of place here.

So, if you were on the fence and skeptical, like me, about seeing this movie, then let me put your skepticism to rest and say “definitely, go check out this comic book depiction!

Deleon’s Final Dish: Great acting, great action, great summer fun for you and the family.

Sup,

The tragic, yet miraculous, story of the Chilean Miners who were trapped, in a Chilean mine(duh), for 69 days(kinky), is going to be made into a movie. Where do I start with this one? How about: In my opinion, this remarkable story is movie of the week material. But, wait! That wouldn’t be theater, now, would it? (Luv saying that!) TV just doesn’t do it, right? Who needs the luxury of chillean’(that’s terrible) in your boxers, eating a sammich, sitting 10 feet from the bathroom watching a compelling story? No……We need long lines, uncomfortable viewing conditions, a 45-second obstacle course to the bathroom and a wallet that’s, let’s say, 40 bucks lighter. Hey, 45 seconds is a long time when you have to piss!

Anyway, it’s going to happen. The Chilean Miners have sold the rights to their story, a well-known producer is set to get the ball rolling and everybody(those who stand to make a lot of cheese) is excited to see this triumphant story on the big screen.

From The Horse’s Mouth(Athens Banner Herald via AP):

The 33 miners have sold the rights to their story to producer Mike Medavoy, the producer and the miners’ representatives announced Monday. The planned film will recount the remarkable plight of the miners who were trapped for 69 days after the San Jose mine they were working in collapsed near Copiapo, Chile.

The veteran producer Medavoy has produced films including “Shutter Island” and “Black Swan.” “Motorcycle Diaries” screenwriter Jose Rivera is set to write the script.

“We’ll dig deep into their stories,” Medavoy said in an interview. “We’re not just going to tell a story about 33 miners in a hole.”

“We’ll dig deep”, really? You know how I know I will not be spending 40 bucks to see the Chilean Miners Movie?

1st – I already know how it ends and doubt it will have the same affect on me like, say,”Titanic”(don’t judge me).

2nd -  “We’ll dig deep” was the standout phrase of the article for me

3rd – I probably won’t have 40 bucks

Photo via Getty Images

Sup,

This is the trailer for Magnolia Pictures’ Good Neighbors, starring Scott Speedman(Underworld), Emily Hampshire(Don’t know anything about) and Jay Baruchel(The Sorcerer’s Apprentice). Here’s a synopsis from, I assume, Magnolia Pictures. If not, sorry:

Neighbors Spencer (Scott Speedman) and Louise (Emily Hampshire) have bonded over their fascination with a recent string of murders terrorizing their community. When a new tenant named Victor (Jay Baruchel) arrives in the building, all three quickly hit it off. But as they soon discover, each of them has their own dark secret. As the violence outside mounts, the city retreats indoors for safety. But the more time these three spend together in their apartment building, the clearer it becomes that what they once thought of as a safe haven is as dangerous as any outside terrors they could imagine.

What’s up with that “Don’t Turn The Light On” song? Anyway, it’ll be on demand for $6.99 before the theatrical release(love that sh*t), so maybe I’ll check it out over at Wacky’s crib, since I ain’t payin’ $6.99 to watch anything on demand. Eh, I got 2 on it!