Watch What I Said 4

IMDb: 7.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

My Grade: A

So as part of adding content to this increasingly shitty blog, I've decided to include a weekly segment detailing a movie-a-week that people should check out. I know anyone that reads this blog does so primarily for my reviews, but I'm lazy and don't want to review anything right now. This weekly segment may also contain suggestions from other members of the Public Nerdity Podcast from time to time.

Another week, another Netflix recommendation. I know I'm a couple days late on it this week, but it's not like anyone is reading this anyways. But I digress. As many people know, I have an affection for George Clooney that I reserve for only the finer things in life, like good cheesecake and velvet jackets. The reason I enjoy Clooney so much is because he's able to balance his pretty boy looks and charm with interesting projects that show off a lot of his interests. That's why my pick for this week is his 2011 directorial effort The Ides of March. Clooney plays the supporting part of Mike Morris, a presidential candidate, who has to deal with one of his top campaign specialists hiding secrets. That specialist is played by Ryan Gosling, in one of his best performances in recent memory. The cast for this movie is stacked, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marissa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella and Jeffrey Wright all being in this film along with Gosling and Clooney. The stand outs are really the two leads, and Hoffman, who commands the screen every second he's on it. Clooney proves he's quite excellent at crafting a deft political drama like few others can.

Boasting a 7.1 score on IMDb and an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score, you'd be foolish not to check out the film, especially if you are a fan of Clooney, Gosling or Hoffman.

Watch What I Said 3

IMDb: 7.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

My Grade: A+

So as part of adding content to this increasingly shitty blog, I've decided to include a weekly segment detailing a movie-a-week that people should check out. I know anyone that reads this blog does so primarily for my reviews, but I'm lazy and don't want to review anything right now. This weekly segment may also contain suggestions from other members of the Public Nerdity Podcast from time to time.

So, by now, we know that Ben Affleck has truly capitalized on his career resurgence. He's going to be playing Batman, he's won an Oscar and has gone from a mediocre actor to a Hollywood heavyweight. Some people may say he started this turn around with his role in Hollywoodland, where he played TV's first Superman George Reeves, in which he was fantastic and got a Golden Globe nomination. Personally, I think he really kick started all of this with his feature film directorial debut, and my pick for this week, Gone Baby Gone. With his directorial efforts, most people will have seen Argo or The Town by now, as both films are quite good, but Gone Baby Gone is damn near a masterpiece. It's a tightly wound crime drama, centering around a little girl being kidnapped, and the manhunt to find her. Affleck assembles a phenomenal cast, including his brother Casey, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Titus Welliver, Ed Harris and Amy Ryan, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role here. Casey Affleck shines in this film, giving a performance rivaling anything he's done before. And Ben crafts an expert film, one that I would call one of the best of the decade, and among my favourite films of all time.

With a solid 7.7 on IMDb (which is way too low), and a sparkling 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, Gone Baby Gone is a film you should actively seek out to watch. It's currently available to stream on Netflix.

Watch What I Said 2

IMDb: 7.1

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

My Grade: A

So as part of adding content to this increasingly shitty blog, I've decided to include a weekly segment detailing a movie-a-week that people should check out. I know anyone that reads this blog does so primarily for my reviews, but I'm lazy and don't want to review anything right now. This weekly segment may also contain suggestions from other members of the Public Nerdity Podcast from time to time.

You'd be forgiven if you have no idea who J.C. Chandor is. He's not exactly a household name, nor does he make big budget movies you're clamouring to see. However, in the past couple of years, he's made All Is Lost (with Robert Redford) and A Most Violent Year (with Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain and David Oyelowo). So what I'm saying is that he makes damn good movies. So my pick for this week is his feature film debut, Margin Call. This film follows the 24 hour period before the 2008 financial meltdown that saw the economy flushed down the toilet. What this film does is take that giant mess and turn it into a tightly wound drama, featuring excellent performances from everyone in the cast. And, boy, what a cast Chandor got. This movie has Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Penn Badgley, Demi Moore, Simon Baker, and Stanley Tucci. Quinto, in particular, proves he can hold his own opposite heavyweights Spacey and Irons. The film was also nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. This is a film that everyone should make time to see.

With a 7.1/10 score on IMDb and a strong 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, you're doing yourself a disservice to not, at least, give it a chance. Margin Call is currently available on Netflix.

Watch What I Said

IMBd: 8.0

Rotten Tomatoes: 99%

My Grade: A+

So as part of adding content to this increasingly shitty blog, I've decided to include a weekly segment detailing a movie-a-week that people should check out. I know anyone that reads this blog does so primarily for my reviews, but I'm lazy and don't want to review anything right now. This weekly segment may also contain suggestions from other members of the Public Nerdity Podcast from time to time. 

So without further ado, this weeks selection that people should check out is a little film that I absolutely adore called Short Term 12. The basic premise revolves around workers at a juvenille detention facility and the stories of neglect and abuse that follow. If it sounds like a downer, that's because it can be at times. But it also tells a beautiful story, with rich, fully formed characters. The performances from the likes of Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr and Keith Stanfield are all outstanding, and there will be numerous times throughout the film that you'll have a lump in your throat and will be fighting back tears. Larson, in particular, delivers an Oscar caliber performance that was so unfairly overlooked in 2013. In truth, this was a movie that stuck with me long after I saw it, and one that I mananged to get Pasan and Justin to check out.

Boasting an 8/10 score on IMDb and an astounding 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, this is simply a film you must check out. Currently, Short Term 12 is available on Netflix.

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) Movie Review

Christian Bale when he was in the NWA

I really had no expectations when I decided to sit down and watch Exodus: Gods and Kings, the latest loud, nonsensical film from aging filmmaker Ridley Scott. Let me make it clear from the get go: I used to be a huge Ridley Scott fan. He's made masterpieces like Blade Runner and Alien, and Gladiator was the movie that made me want to start acting. So it makes me really kind of sad to see him Exodus: Gods and Kings, which is a stupid title, and should have been titled Excrement: Farts and Poops. I'm a comedian.

We begin with the tale of Moses (Christian Bale) and Ramses (Joel Edgerton), two young men in Egypt who have been close friends since they were children. Ramses is the heir to the throne as pharoah, a title currently held by his father Seti (John Toturro). So when Moses goes to a town to oversee something, and speaks to Gandhi...err.. Nun (Ben Kingsley), he finds out he is Hebrew, and is then banished from the kingdom, when one of Ramses allies named Hegep (Ben Mendelsohn) tells him of this. And so begins the story that has the first act doing a sub par knockoff of Gladiator and the other two acts functioning as a fart cannon to your senses.

A lot was made of the fact that the cast is predominantly white, but honestly who cares? Christian Bale, who is arguably one of the best actors alive, and Joel Edgerton give fine performances in the lead roles. Same with pretty much the entire cast. They are all good actors and don't give you any reason to question why they were cast. Except for Sigourney Weaver, who has like three lines in the whole movie, and Aaron Paul, whose character Joshua is nothing more than a character inserted to ask plot forwarding questions the audience is probably thinking like "But how come Moses?" It's truly riveting stuff that shows why he has three Emmy awards. Just kidding. It explains why he agreed to do Need For Speed.

It's not to say that Ridley doesn't try to make them look more Middle Eastern. Little things like dirtying them up when they are outside to give the appearance of darker skin are tactics that he assumed people wouldn't catch because they'd be too busy trying to get refunds for this turd sandwich. But I caught it all Ridley. I caught everything. Because my crippling loneliness wouldn't allow me to look away from the screen.

Ultimately, Exodus: Gods and Kings does a lot more wrong than it could possibly do right. A muddled plot, weak character motivations, sloppy pacing, dialogue that even the Bible would have edited out and a third act so bad that it made me laugh harder than anything so far this year. Audible, loud, angry laughter at my laptop til I wrote this review.

Grade: D-

Top Ten Movies of 2014

I know, I know. When you write a Top Ten list for the best movies of the year, you're not supposed to write it three months into the following year. I got it. Who cares? I've been busy and had a lot of things to get done. So now I'm here with a list, a dream and a cardigan. So get ready for a list of tons of obvious choices. Because 2014 was honestly a real good year for movies, and plenty of people are split on their favourites. But if you've read my reviews at all, you know what I'm gonna pick. So just sit back, relax, take out some lotion and read this sexy list.

Honourable Mentions:

A Most Violent Year

Nightcrawler

The Guest

Selma
The Drop

Guardians of the Galaxy

Fury

The Babadook

Calvary

10. Edge of Tomorrow

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: Tom Cruise running is my shit. I don't know what it is. I love watching that man run. He makes it so damn convincing. But seriously, Edge of Tomorrow may be one of the best action movies of the past decade. It's funny, action packed and features a fun premise. A guy keeps reliving the same battle over and over every time he dies, which ultimately makes him a great soldier. It's a video game. They should have marketed it as such. Regardless, Cruise and Emily Blunt have chemistry overflowing in every scene, along with great set pieces and a satisfying plot, making this a movie that should have gotten way more attention.

Whiplash (2014) Movie Review

"Get me a picture of Spider-Man, Parker!"

There are not many things worse than being humiliated in front of your peers. It's degrading, embarrassing and, somewhat, childish. Being told off or yelled at in front of people, as an adult, is like listening to Russell Crowe in Les Miserables. What I'm saying is it's super uncomfortable. And you need Hugh Jackman to sooth the pain. In both instances. But anyways. Now imagine that you're desperately trying to make it big in your dream profession, at the best school for that profession, and the most revered teacher at that program is the one ripping you apart. Alright, let the pants shitting commence.

Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is a jazz drummer. Or at least, that's his dream. He wants to be a big time drummer, and he's on his way towards being that at Shaffer Conservatory, the "best music school in the country". Andrew knows the only way to get anywhere at Shaffer is by being on the Studio band, run by Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons, who is not just kidding at any point). So one day Fletcher sees Andrew play, and calls him up to the Studio band, where it is trial by fire. The attitude is either play perfectly, or get ready for a new asshole. Oh, and get the fuck out too. So thus we follow Andrew desperately trying to prove to Fletcher he's the real deal, and Fletcher being the scariest motherfucker since the last time JK Simmons yelled in a movie.

Teller is fantastic as the timid Andrew, who loves music and playing, but, initially, has very little confidence, yet has the talent and drive of a star brimming from him. It's easily the best performance of Teller's career, as he, along with playing all the music in the film himself, takes Andrew through a journey of discovery and blisters that makes you appreciate your parents forcing you to go to med school. There is an inherent ease to how he plays Andrew, and has you sympathetic towards him throughout, despite some of the assholery he is guilty of.

However, the film really belongs to JK Simmons, who steals every god damn scene he's in. The beauty of the character, for me, was that I could never tell what his actual intentions were. Was he trying to make the best jazz band possible? Was he trying to push these kids to find their inner genius and reach that next level? Or did he just like shitting down some millennials throats? It's really a testament to Simmons, who is, most likely, Hollywood's most reliable character actor, that Fletcher can instantly go from berating, to charming to flattering all in the blink of an eye. I don't know if it's his best performance, but it'll bring some much deserved attention to a wonderful actor.

I also have to highlight the music in the film, as it plays out much like the third main character of the film. The songs that Andrew has to learn have a high degree of difficulty (or they may not, I never played drums) and when they are going well, the film has a free flowing jazz feel to it. It really helps to balance the extreme moments of tension. Writer/director Damien Chazelle has really brought a flair to the film that gives it life, along with strong direction and excellent writing that includes insults such as "limp dick faggot", it brings an air of discomfort yet believability to the whole film. The last ten minutes of this film had my stomach in my throat and me on the edge of my seat.

Ultimately, Whiplash is one of the best films of 2014. Carried by two amazing performances, brilliant direction and a love of music. Each scene is filled with tension, menace and jazz, making it one of the years must see films.

Grade: A