Jon believes online pornography is better than real sex. I enjoy Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor, but it's hard to understand why the star chose this topic as his directorial debut. He even wrote the script so this is clearly a passion project for him. The screenplay wants you to embrace the protagonist as this lovable lug, but flips his issue as something from which he must be cured. At first it's because his nice girlfriend is understandably upset by his addiction, but then she becomes this shrew of a woman we're obviously now supposed to dislike. Over the course of the chronicle we get frequent montages of going to clubs, bedding women, visiting naughty web sites, and going to confession with the priest's dispensing of penance. It's incredibly repetitive. That's the point I'm sure, but it's so single minded as to be uninteresting. This is a portrait of a man, but it isn't particularly hilarious or insightful. If this was a 4 minute sketch, I'd say it had some funny moments, but as a feature length movie the subject is stretched far too thin.

fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 isn't the most original tale or even the funniest, but it is pleasant. The narrative ramps up the frivolity by extending the capabilities of the FLDSMDFR. It now creates bizarre living breathing food-animal hybrids or Foodimals. They're the best thing about this. Creatures called Hippotato, Shrimpanzee, Mosquitoast, and Tacodile Supreme are a pure delight. Their existence on the island is presented very much in the same vein as Jurassic Park. Strawberries have achieved an even more sentient personality. They speak in an affected baby talk like, well really like a little army of minions. The entertainment relies on the imaginative hybrid of Foodimals and not on an involving story. That's not a problem in a silly cartoon, but that's all this is, a silly cartoon. The lack of foundation keeps this from attaining the emotional depth of a Pixar film. It's nonsensical fun, nothing more, and that's okay.

fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com

Rush is quite simply the greatest movie about auto racing ever made. It combines the best of both worlds: adrenaline pumping, intense action sequences featuring the sport along with an emotionally engaging character study between two fierce rivals. The mix is intoxicating as the viewer is constantly encouraging each man at different parts of the production. An evenhanded, nuanced portrait, both Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl give heretofore career defining performances. They perfectly embody these two passionate adversaries. In presenting these Formula 1 race car drivers that outwardly hate one another, the script makes the brilliant case that they are actually deeply indebted to their opponent. They each push the other in their pursuit of the World Championship. I was prepared to root for Hunt, but walked away rooting for Lauda. You might see the story differently and therein lies the brilliance of this film.

fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com

Fight Club is one of those in-your-face, take-no-prisoners manifestos that has something say and does it with style and panache. The cinematography is visually arresting. His initial dehumanization at the start of the drama is borne out of the melancholy that happiness has not followed from material possessions. The script has a point of view and doesn't kowtow to delicate sensibilities. It's easy to take the idea of hand to hand combat as an endorsement to violence. I won't spoil specific plot developments, but the success of their fight club cannot be viewed as a mandate to brawl. Despite being the protagonist, Jack is not someone to be admired. Yes, his anguish is abated at first but it leads to anarchy. The fight club becomes more successful and increasingly violent. I'll admit the milieu is depressing. All the muck and brutality can get a bit oppressive. While the script never really presents a viable solution to Jack's dissatisfaction with life, it presents an interesting concept that gives the viewer something to think about. You are not the contents of your wallet.

fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com

Prisoners is a nifty bit of writing that genuinely grabs the audience's curiosity. By slowly releasing tidbits of information, we assemble the puzzle as the principals do on screen. There is definite interest in trying to decipher the "whodunit" mystery. This is Canadian film director Denis Villanueva's (Incendies) rendering of an original script by Aaron Guzikowski. He does a good job. One vignette that begins with Jake Gyllenhaal trailing Hugh Jackman's footsteps is masterfully composed. Indeed the most compelling moments are not boffo set pieces but well acted interplays between key people. Though a discovery involving some snakes is pretty memorable. If I have a quibble it's that the plot is overly focused on revenge but then that thread doesn't yield a satisfying denouement. Perhaps the filmmakers were afraid to imply that torture gets results. Plus the 153 minute running time could've been tightened up a bit. We probably didn't need so many scenes of angry Hugh Jackman. Overall Villanueva does a brilliant job of presenting the procedural story in such a way that we might be able to piece things together ourselves. Although I must admit I personally didn't solve the answer before it was revealed. Prisoners isn't perfect, but Guzikowski's screenplay is intelligent, credible and engaging. That begets a recommendation in my book.

fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com