Cyrus: I'm impressed

Hello all. I know its been a while since I posted about a movie. But you know... school, stress, school, more stress.....

But I will write my review on the new Spider-Man movie later.


I just finished watching Cyrus with my little brother. He recorded it and wanted to watch it, so I said sure. I only remembered the plot vaguely from commercials, surprised I remember it at all since it came out 2 years ago. Basically, John (John C. Reily) is alone, coping with the fact that his ex-wife is getting re-married. Then he meets and falls for Molly (Marisa Tomei), but her son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) isnt happy about that.

Now, from what I remember about the advertisement and the posters, the whole thing is depicted as a wild comedy, and that's probably why I didn't see it in theaters. With the scenes they cut out of the film for the trailer, I was assuming alot of forced comedy. And when I watched it tonight, I must admit, I did find myself expecting it. After all, the two leads are John C. Reily and  Jonah Hill, two actors who work prominently in comedies. 

Which can be harming to an actors career. After all, anyone who's scene John C. Reilly in Magnolia knows he can really act.

However, this is overshadowed by films like Step Brothers,

and especially his character Dr. Steve Brule Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.

When I watched the film, I found myself waiting. And waiting. And then you realize, its not that kind of comedy. Yes, there are humorous moments, but its not a zany comedy. This was in fact, a mumblecore film. Should have known from the two film festival stamps on the poster. 




"Mumblecore" is the classification of indi films that have a distinct style of being natural and low budget. By natural, I mean that the overall tone of the film, through the acting, dialogue, and cinematography, is made to feel like events are happening as if its how regular people interact with each other.  The cameras are set so the perspective mimics the point of view from someone invisible witnessing the scene, so it will shake and swivel a bit. Not necessarily a "shaky cam" resembling those of mock documentaries, but how "normal" sight would thought to be in calm situations. A key component is improvisation. The actors are directed toward whats needed in the scene, maybe given some key lines to express, but most of the dialogue comes straight from the actor, not the writer. 


The interactions between the characters John and Molly are very good. There is alot of good chemistry, and it didnt seem forced at all. It gave a sense of a real, honest relationship between two really lonely people.


What really made you pay attention is Jonah Hill's performance. You knew his general motives just from the advertising, but something about the character just made you keep watching, which is a sign of really excellent acting. But its not because of what he does, it's what he doesn't do. The son is just staring, and there is definitely emotion in his eyes, but you don't know the specific reasons. You dont know if he was ok with John dating his mother at first, or if he was set on hating him from the start. You dont know if it's because he's mad, or if he's possessive of his mother, or if he's psychotic. 


Hill's take on the character is to make him slightly dysfunctional, not in a comedic sense, but in a disturbing sense. You're left questioning whether or not he's sane or sick. 


The ending was pretty abrupt, but with how the last scene played out, it was an overall good ending. And that really embodied why you kept watching the film. You had no idea what was gonna happen next.

If you feel like a quiet night in, with an interesting, mellow story, I'd say give this a rent.

Adventure Time: Hot to the Touch - Wow

I know I havent posted in a while, but I had to share.

That was the most adult episode of a children's cartoon on Cartoon Network I've seen in years...

not like "dirty" adult, 

emotionally adult.

It was strangely poetic...

Really makes you think. 

Finn and Flame Princess kinda like each other, but because of who they are. Or rather who SHE is. They are constantly hurting each other.

Yes, I am aware that I am an adult talking about the plot of a children's show. I am going to sound sill.

Her flames burn bright when feeling emotional, but destroys everything because she can't control her emotions and feelings. And burns Finn. And she's completely oblivious. To the harm she does..

Finn puts the fires out out of reflex, but that physically hurts her. So every time he tries to show emotion, it confuses her.

Then she goes on a burning rampage. So if he saves people, he's HURTING her.

Talk about finally taking kids seriously with good story telling!

Just think about it. When you take away the childish parts of dialogue, ignore the style and design of the world and characters, you have the plot of what could be a very real adult drama.

Two people want to make things work.
But one is over emotional and hurts people without realizing it. The other causes her confusion and pain whenever he tries to fix things.
He wants things to work, but her way of destroying things because of her emotions and actions just doesnt allow it.
He ends up questioning and risking his responsibilities to do whats right, all for a possible chance with a girl that he cares for, and wants to like him back.

All for that one chance.

Seriously, this plot is like a summary of a novel you read for an English class.

The ending was kinda bitter sweet...

reminded me a bit of high school. Only my situations never involved mutual feelings.

you know, you like a girl alot, but you can never be together because of who she is and what she does? 

Yeah, we all had those....

Art Direction was excellent as ever. It showed intricacy despite the minimalist style of the show.
And of course the dialogue had the excellent mix of silly and reality.

Its going to be a good season this year.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: A "Holy Sh**" Review.

Wow... its been a while since my last movie review post... like a LONG while. College will do that.

But since its 2012, I thought "Hey, the world's going to end soon. Might as well get back to what I started"

Thing is, not sure if I'll be able to have the time like I used to have to write reviews. So I'm thinking of switching to video. Just hope I can put up with talking to a camera.

So what movie did I see? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the American Interpretation.

Now yes, a friend of mine told me "Dude, you got trolled, the Swedish version is better". Well, true. I haven't seen the original, nor have I read the book. Or its sequels (or prequels if you want to be specific). However, I do plan on seeing the original, but I saw this first so that when I DO see the original, I wont worry about missed subtitles.

Before we get into the story, we should discuss the intro. It start with an old man making a call about a mysterious package that apparently has been coming repeatedly in the mail. Then we get the most metal music video intro EVER with version of Led Zeppelin's The Immigrant Song by Karen O with Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose. The imagery uses a lot of ink, black oil, and C.G.I. So it kind of serves a purpose of "shocking" the viewer into the story, rather than easing them in. And that theme goes out through out the movie. In the film, there is a trend of silent, quiet scenes, followed by the most intense sh** you've ever seen (well, if you haven't seen A Serbian Film).

Now to the story. The film follows our protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a journalist who has just walked out of court, being sued for libel due to a article he wrote on a billion dollar company. He lost. His life consists of an ongoing affair with his publisher, and trouble talking to his daughter who has found religion.

Add glasses, and your automatically convinced they are playing a writer.

He is hired by Henrik Vanger, a retired CEO, to handle a delicate matter. Under the guise of doing a memoir on Henrik, he is actually hired to try and investigate the disappearance of his niece, an event that happened 40 years ago. Henrik is convinced that she was killed, despite no body being found. He also believes a member of his family is responsible.

However, before Mikael is hired, Henrik's people at Milton Security do a thorough background check on him. Enter our next protagonist: Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).  Researcher and a bad ass computer hacker.

How bad ass of a computer hacker? Put it this way, every scene she has a computer, I was thinking Jolie from Hackers. 

Yes. That bad ass.

Lisbeth is a twenty three year old ward of the state, due to being deemed mentally incompetent. Her personality is asocial, and is very angry at times, but within reason. She is a woman with a mysterious past, and only had one guardian that she cared for and visited. However, when her guardian suffers from a stroke, her life becomes much more harder, becoming a victim and overcoming it.

What I like about the film is the fact that the two character's don't meet until about half way through the movie. Instead of having them team up right away, we get a valid look into each of their lives, so the style of parallel stories in the first half really does build characterization.

The mystery of the disappearance is truly the style of an old murder drama set on a much larger scale. Instead of "one of the hotel guests was the murderer", its "someone on this island is the murderer."  The film does get quiet and suspenseful at only a few moments, but they are done REALLY well. As someone who didn't know the story, I was really happy that I never knew what was going to happen next.

The acting was amazing. Every scene involving Mikael interviewing a family member always gives off a sense of suspicion. No one is obviously guilty, and yet there is still an air of conviction about them.

The casting was also just perfect for each character. Daniel Craig does an excellent job of being the eyes of the audience as well as being a character. However, his performance is really out shined by Rooney Mara.

Holy freaking **** this girl mesmerized me, right when you see her for the first time. And no, its not because of the piercings and goth look. I've been around a few people to get used to that. It was the way the character... felt. She felt distant, and yet like you knew her. She was strong, and yet gave a sense of vulnerability.

That's why the pairing of these two characters work. You see the mystery through Mikael, while you feel with Lisbeth through HER ordeals.

I gotta make a comment on Rooney Mara's transformation. This is what she looked like before:

This is after:

This is before:

This is after:

Like I said, holy sh**. Talk about dedication. 

From Audrey Hepburn look-a-like, to a Hot Topic wet dream.

And this girl REALLY made a big jump in her career with this role and showed her acting talent. She went from being the love interest girl from The Social Network, and the screaming girl from the horrible Nightmare on Elm Street remake, to this role, which demands a lot from an actress. You have to play an independent rebel, a rape victim, be Swedish, and try to be convincing all at the same time.

Now, the events in this movie isn't exactly... for the squeamish. Or the prudish for that matter. There is a constant sex motif in the film, mainly in the forms of rape and affairs. Keep in mind, the original title was Män som hatar kvinnor, "Men who hate women". The story constantly revolves around the victimization of women, both physically, and in the end emotionally. You really feel it through Lisbeth's character, and what is true in society. Yes, men will say that sex is use by women as a weapon to bribe. But don't forget: Men also use sex as a weapon, and sadly, it's to inflict pain, and feel powerful. However, sex can also be used to feel comfort. Like all things, the issue of sex has it's duality.


The only thing I didn't like about the story: how it ended. I mean... wow. Given all the rape and murder and... more rape, you kinda hoped it ended on a better note.

Now all that's left for me to do is compare it to the original version.

And Rooney just became a new crush. Seriously, the girl can pass for Hepburn... that's awesome.