Kick Ass (2010)

This movie is high paced from the first frame to the last. Mathew Vaugh (Layer Cake 2004) directs this 'R' rated super hero flick you always wanted Daredevil, X-Men, Spiderman, and Batman to be. It's violent, it's gory, it's profane, it's great. The story revolves around a high schooler who decides to put on a green scuba suit and try to help strangers in danger. Basically he wants to be a superhero and so he becomes just that. However he mostly just takes a serious beating throughout the whole film and eventually meets some other people like him that are after more than simply helping Grandma cross the street, this is where the story get's interesting so I'll leave the summary behind and let you figure the rest out for yourself.

The film itself is shot wonderfully. In addition to some clever (though rather transparent) cinematography the movie is amply amplified by some fantastic graphic design and comic book cut scenes. The characters are not the typically flat hero or predictably redeemable anti-hero that plague the comic movies as of late (a crime in itself ironing out the kinks of comic heros that make them so interesting). They have depth, darkness, and development throughout the film and keep you invested in the story which does slow from time to time. Nick Cage in particular does a good job as a semi-psychotic but loving father with some seriously messed up ideas of how to prepare one's child for the harsh realities of the world. This leads to comedic scenes of tenderly violent lessons juxtaposing hand guns and hugs to a wonderful effect. Mise-en-scene adds a lot to the overall feel of the film without being to obvious in its allusion to the comic book basics from which the film was built on.

The final battle scene is one for the record books as well. I can't say much without giving it away but the choreography is phenomenal and Chloe Moretz's unique manner of handling herself while going up against men over twice her size and almost punching the bullets out of her gun (and lots of them) is jaw droppingly awesome as well as gives rise to a few laughs along the way.



All in all this film is worth a watch and I think that if you see it once you'll find it slipping into the front of your Que for a re-watch before getting to some of those more obscure films you've been putting off for the last month, which is in no way a problem. Though be warned the violence is graphic and if that doesn't float your boat it may get in the way of this great film for you.

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2009) - No Longer on Instant Queue

I know, I know. The title of this movie conjures up images of angsty teenagers, doing tons of drugs and panicking over their sexual and emotional confusion, screaming and crying until they inevitably off themselves, fade to black, cue Dashboard Confessional. Shockingly enough, there's none of that in this relatively positive, upbeat, and very quirky comedy. Well, okay, there's a bunch of suicides, but allow me to elaborate. Within the universe of Wristcutters, committing suicide sends you indefinitely to a purgatory that is exactly like the real world, only it is dirtier, grayer, and lonelier (irony, nice). Zia (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous) slits his wrists in his bathroom sink in the very first scene of the film, then suddenly finds himself in purgatory, where he must work at a hole in the wall Pizza joint to support himself. He makes a few friends, and together they decide to drive around the countryside looking for people they know, eventually meeting a strange and very wise man named Kneller, played by Tom Waits (of course).


This movie has an excellent cast of performers, in particular Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), who plays a character basically modeled after the lead singer of Gogol Bordello. Speaking of which, the movie also has a fantastic soundtrack, mostly made up of artists who have killed themselves (excluding Gogol Bordello). One of my favorite things about the film is that every time a new character is introduced we are shown a flashback of his or her suicide, some of which are humorous, some of which not so much. Highly recommended if your looking for a quirky, indie, romantic comedy, that's a little bit dark and cryptic, but still makes you feel good. Whoever thought suicide could be heartwarming?

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Peculiar premise meets underproduction. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is like a friend's play. You might not be dazzled by the overall show, but it's cool to see him/her in a performance. Imaginarium is, most famously, Heath Ledger's last film. His death during filming gave this film an undeserved level of hype and viewership. Ledger's performance outshone his castmates' but that might be because, due to his death, all my attention was on him. And of course who better to replace Ledger than Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, because they each get a scene in Ledger's place. The supporting cast, Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music, Up), Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield (Lions for Lambs, The Social Network) had notably poor acting choices, but none surpass Verne Troyer's (Austin Powers series, Bubble Boy) complete lack of character attributes. However, Tom Waits' (musician) performance as Mr. Nick, described as "the devil," was nothing short of impressive. And director Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, also Monty Python) continues his stretch of quirky, hazy films.

Imaginarium is about a traveling troupe of carnie-types with an unusual service. They're lead by Doctor Parnassus, a wise but conflicted monk who is prone to make wagers with Mr. Nick. He possesses a mirror-like device called an imaginarium which, when entered, transforms the surrounding environment into the contents of the user's imagination. It is through the imaginarium that Doctor Parnassus and Mr. Nick make wagers on collecting souls. Things get complicated when Tony (Ledger) breaks the fragile bonds among the group and certain secrets he's concealing are revealed.




Similar movies: Across the Universe; Labyrinth (by request)

Barton Fink (1991)

Sitting here, I can’t help but feel like the titular playwright behind the Coen brothers’ 1991 drama/comedy/horror/film noir masterpiece Barton Fink. I don’t know where to begin this post, and I certainly don’t know where, or how, to end. The film confounds. You see, Barton Fink is a film about process: torturous, consuming, emasculating, arduous process. John Turturro stars as Fink, a celebrated playwright in New York who travels west in the hopes of securing enough capital by writing a “wrestling picture” for Hollywood to continue his dramatic bent towards the “struggles of the common man.” Fink arrives in L.A. and checks in to the decrepit Hotel Earle, wherein he discovers his (philosophically) platonic literary subject in the form of an insurance salesman, Charlie Meadows (John Goodman). This is only the beginning of Fink’s prolonged odyssey through Hollywood. As the playwright turned screenwriter struggles with his own creative vision, he must pass through the crucible of L.A.’s most erratic gatekeepers in the form of producers (the Oscar nominated performance of Jack Lerner) and writers, one of which bears an uncanny resemblance to William Faulkner. The process of “plunging the depths” drives Fink toward absurd and apocalyptic consequences in an unforgettably horrifying ending.

Barton Fink is the Coen brothers’ most allusive and literary film to date. The composition of Hotel Earle eerily resembles that of the Overlook (The Shining), and the continued references to fascism, religion, and the writing process as a whole render the film tantalizingly cryptic. Fink challenges notions of maintaining an objective reality in the face of a singularly subjective pursuit, characterizing the unsettling truth that the existence of a middle ground is not only absent, but disturbingly so. The Coen brothers’ have a knack for journeys, and the interiority and intimacy of Fink proves their own genius at such an early stage of their own.

Bronson (2008)

Not only does this movie have tons of bloody, savage hand to hand violence, visually compelling and colorful cinematography, a mercilessly enthusiastic and breath-taking performance by British actor Tom Hardy (who you may have seen in Inception), and a bizarre and exciting screen play based on a true story, but its also gonna make you laugh your ass off. Charles Bronson is known as Britain's most violent prisoner. First imprisoned on charges of robbing the store he worked at in his early twenties, Charlie goes on to spend 35 years in prison, most of that time spent in solitary confinement. Why?



Because Charlie likes to beat up guards. And he beats the living hell out of them. Just as Charlie's psyche is unpredictable and sporadic, so is the narrative style of the film, cutting between scenes of real life and some kind of alternate universe where Charlie performs maniacal monologues to an auditorium full of people. I highly recommend this film if you're looking for a violent and visually stunning dark comedy with some really impressive acting.