Gamer

Gamer (2 1/2 out of 5)

Directed by Neveldine/Taylor

Written by Neveldine/Taylor

Starring Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, and Kyra Sedgwick

Running Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes

Rated: R

Honestly, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are guilty pleasure kings. Crank was one of the most kick ass movies I have ever seen. It was one of the most fun movies I have ever seen and automatically fell in love with these film makers. When Gamer came out, I knew I had to see it, but with all the negative response from the critics, I decided to wait for DVD. I think overall, that was a good decision. While Gamer does provide girls, guns, and gore like it promises, it fails to provide the same flair that Neveldine and Taylor have shown and provided in their previous films. The guilty pleasure-ness of Gamer is not there, and the hyperkinetic action and no shot lasts longer than five seconds approach eventually sinks this ship.

The direction by Neveldine and Taylor is unfortunately not as good as they usually provide. It seems less inspired than usual, but still, some of their flair and style is still their. Some of the violence and action they provide is really fun and many of the scenes get you really into the action, as Crank did perfectly. Also, I thought the musical number there was hilarious. These guys really do know how to make a guy's guy movie. This one has everything your typical male movie goer looks for. Hot, naked girls, crazy action, lots of blood, and in this one, even a plot about video games. Each scene feels like a dare each film maker provided to each other, but unfortunately it doesn't work.

The filming is very eccentric and their are so many cuts that it is hard to keep up sometimes. As seen in the other Neveldine/Taylor movies before, the scenes are very exaggerated and over the top, but in Gamer, it sometimes doesn't work. Sometimes the action is a little too hyperkinetic, and overall, the directing turns out just average.

The acting in Gamer is better than average, surprisingly enough. Although the editing is frantic, you can tell the actors put in an effort with Gamer. Gerard Butler is coming up to be one of the biggest action stars in the world, and he does a good job of being a badass, man's man, stud in Gamer. Ludacris, whose music I love, Kyra Sedgwick, and the always great Michael C. Hall, are all very good in their roles. Even Logan Lerman, who will be the lead role in Percy Jackson, provides a good performance. No one here does an amazing job, but it is good enough to believe in the characters.

The writing was pretty all over the place by Neveldine and Taylor. Writing is barely needed in this film, because these two guys seem to just do cool stuff with the camera and forget about logic. It works with their other films, but with this one, it kind of goes a little TOO over the top. For example, while Butler is trying to escape from the game, he fills up the tank of a giant truck with piss and some throw up, and manages to drive for about five miles on it. Come on. If you go with that, you should at least try to make it funny, which I was expecting more of. Going in, you get what you want, and I thought the ending was well executed and really let you feel good about Gerard Butler's character at the end, but the plot itself was very weak. The characters weren't fully developed, and in the end, the script is weak.

Overall, Gamer fails to live up to its potential. I was expecting a guilty pleasure action movie, and I got some of that, but in the end, this movie turned out to be way too illogical and irrational to believe. Neveldine and Taylor's last movie, Crank, was at least really fun and kept you laughing the whole time, but Gamer's obvious social commentary, lack of tension, hyper-kinetic action, plodding narrative, drags this one's potential down to a rotten rating. Gamer features a little too much brawn over brain, which in the end sinks the ship.

Skip It

Whip It (2 out of 5)

Directed by Drew Barrymore

Written by Shauna Cross

Starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig, and Marcia Gay Harden

Running Time: 1 hour and 41 minutes

Rated: PG-13

Skip It (I mean Whip It) was not a fun movie and tries to hard to be like Juno on roller blades. It tries to be so indie and hip, but turns out to be annoying and borrows from all the other movies in its genre. It tends to just recycle ideas from quirkier indie comedies. For example, its plot features beauty pageants, minimum wage, schlocky jobs, and the follow your dreams and be yourself messages. There is little to laugh at with Whip It and towards the end, you find yourself wishing you hadn't wasted your time on Whip It. Yeah, Drew Barrymore does an okay job with her direction and Ellen Page can do no wrong (so far), this movie sinks in its cliched plot and borrowing from every other quirky, indie comedy.

You'd think that Drew Barrymore would have a keen eye behind the camera and know what she was doing as she has been starring in movies for 30 years now. Unfortunately, Whip It just blandly moves along the screen, offering no laughs or any kind of emotion as the story goes from the beauty pageants to the roller derbies. I knew going in their would be a cliched sports story but maybe that the unlikely sport of roller derby would help it. Instead, I came away knowing almost nothing new about a sport I knew nothing about, and didn't even get to see much of the sport itself. This was because the filming of the sport was filmed with such tight close ups that it is hard to even know what is going on. Still, Barrymore does provide some good conflicts and shows her potential as a director, but hopefully she can do better than Whip It.

Luckily, a fantastic female cast helps keep you interested. The characters developed are pretty fun to be with and are as awesome as their roller derby names imply. Ellen Page seems to be one of the best actresses around and I can't wait to see what else she can do. Kristen Wiig who I have always loved, makes her first big appearance in a big movie, and really nails it. Furthermore, Juliette Lewis is perfect as the villain in Whip It, providing an intriguing conflict with Ellen Page. The rest of the cast works hard and is very experienced, and you can tell in the performances. I hope Ellen Page can keep making good movies, because she shows how great she is with Whip It.

The screenplay was a big problem for me. First, I really didn't care about who won in the end. Second, it' s full of every sports movie cliche there is, including the family showing up at the game, the mom who doesn't support her roller derby hugging her after her game, and the whole movie leading up to the big championship! Shauna Cross, who wrote Whip It, wrote a good book on her experiences with the game, but does a poor job fictionalizing it into a full blown screenplay. The conflict between her "sensitive boyfriend" and parents could have practically written themselves, and feel like they have just copied every other movie like this one. It borrows and recycles elements from other quirky indie comedies, and fails to come up with its own charm. Whip It fails to amuse, and in the end, its message about female empowerment and coming of age come up lame.

Whip It has gotten critical acclaim, and I don't see why. Still, when I saw this movie tank at the box office, I knew that this movie was not very good. People aren't stupid, and know when they are seeing a bad movie. Their are movies every year which the critics enjoy, but nobody else does. I say, don't listen to the critics on this one. It is a waste of time. Go enjoy an original movie like Little Miss Sunshine, Napoleon Dynamite, or Juno. Those are all indie classics and far better than Whip It. The charming cast in Whip It can't transcend the many cliches and recycled material provided in Whip It.

One Hour Photo

One Hour Photo ( 4 out of 5)

Directed by Mark Romanek

Written by Mark Romanek

Starring Robin Williams, Michael Vartan, and Connie Nielsen

Running Time: 1 hour and 36 minutes

Rated: R

One Hour Photo was a chilling movie with a dark performance by Robin Williams, some steady direction, and a story that starts slow and ends with a bang. Robin Williams continued exploring his dark side of acting (Death To Smoochy, Insomnia) with his performance as Sy, your friendly photo guy at your local Sav Mart. Mark Romanek does a fantastic job with One Hour Photo, taking his vision and executing it to perfection. One Hour Photo is a character study on loneliness and alienation, conjuring up memories of 'lonely men' 70s movies, especially Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver served as a major influence on Romanek in the making of this film, and you can tell in the final product.

One Hour Photo brings up a fascinating observation that I don't think anyone has really thought about before. It may not be as relevant today, but we regularly invite strangers into our most intimate and personal moments in our life such as marriages, birthdays, and celebrations. How? Every time we drop off a roll of film off at a Wal Mart or pharmacy. We get to see what happens when we drop off our photos for an hour and understand everything that happens into the development of our pictures in the end.

The directing by first time film director and music video maven Mark Romanek is excellent. I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate, metaphorical voyage into the psychology of Sy's instability. The color scheme is excellent, with vibrant colors popping out all over the screen. The best part of the metaphorical colors is Sy's life being dominated by cold, sterilized whites. This brings a chilling feeling to the screen and doing the best thing a director can do, show don't tell. The only small problem I had with him was that at times, he didn't do enough to build up a lot of dramatic tension. Furthermore, the end is a bit anti climatic. Still, he does a great job and deserves several more movies.

Robin Williams' performance is unnerving and engrossing. This is one of the first performances where Robin Williams is not playing himself, with his thick glasses, peroxide like hair, and an array of facial pocks. This 'mask' gets you past seeing Robin Rubberface Williams and watching a serious actor. His portrayal of this truly lonely man shows the perfect amount of emotion and is all around chilling. The supporting cast does a good job. Michael Vartan was good, Connie Nielsen was alright even though her hair was horrible, and the little kid was enjoyable as well.

The script was very well done by Romanek. He fully develops his main character, provides some tense moments, and gets you to feel sympathetic for the family and main character. It is an interesting and unique tale about how a lonely man becomes obsessed with a family who he develops photos before. He finds out a startling fact about the father and feels that he has betrayed his family. This is when Williams character starts to turn into Robert Deniro from Taxi Driver. Unfortunately, the ending is a bit anti climatic, but this one is still full of nervous moments and leaves you guessing.

One Hour Photo features a great performance, some surprisingly great direction and script provided by Mark Romanek, and only a few problems worth noting. It is a unique story that keeps you engaged through the whole film. I sprinted to the bathroom when I had to pause it because I wanted to see what was going to happen to each of these individual characters. It explores the importance of family, loneliness, and alienation. All things that we find out more about and what really makes people tick.

Chopper

Chopper (1 1/2 out of 5)

Directed by Andrew Dominik

Written by Andrew Dominik

Starring Eric Bana

Running Time: 1 hour and 34 minutes

Rated: R

Chopper was a movie with a good performance and that is about it. I really don't like it when you say it's a good movie, when really it is just a good performance. I'm not going to deny that Eric Bana gives a great performance, because this one really did launch him into stardom. He does an amazing job of playing Chopper Read, a notorious killer performing one killing after another. The best thing about his performance is the fact that he never lets you know if you're supposed to love him or hate him. At one point, he'll kill someone, and then he'll drive them to the hospital. Aside from the performance, the rest of the movie is too unclear on Chopper's life and had similar problems that the movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer did.

Let me start off by praising the best part of Chopper, Eric Bana. Throughout Chopper, we never know whether to praise and embrace the character of Chopper Read or to bury and dislike him for his random killings of sometimes innocent people. There is one scene that I would like to point out. While still in prison, Chopper goes to talk to his best friend and is stabbed by him in the stomach. Instead of doing the normal thing and falling to the ground, he continues his conversation with him and literally nothing changes. His nonchalance is truly terrifying. This character is so deep and developed and someone that in the end, you like, but don't truly understand the history and reason why Chopper is so violent, yet unaware.

Andrew Dominik did a poor job with the execution of the story and developing the character to its full potential. It's not like the character is ruined by Andrew Dominik, but it isn't the best character it could have been. First, I think he should have made the character a little more badass and someone that you were really scared of. With Chopper, he was kind of like a weird guy more than a notorious guy. Second, Andrew Dominik does what Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer decided to do, not give somewhat of an idea to how this man become so violent and twisted. I felt like I didn't get that full emotional connection with Chopper Read, and just saw a bunch of gory murders and brutality instead of violence that meant something.

For example, in my favorite movie, American History X, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) becomes such an amazing and memorable character because you saw into the psychology and connected on a deep emotional level with him. This made him a redeemable character that you wanted to see succeed. With Chopper, it was the opposite. He did weird stuff like beat up on his girlfriend for no reason, that just made you think of him as an akward person.

The writing in this one was better than the directing. It is a character driven piece for sure, and there were some intense scenes involving Chopper Read. I thought the movie was much better while he was in prison, because once he got out, he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted. In the one scene where he cuts off his ears, I felt like this was going to be a great movie. Then, it started to get more mediocre by the minute. Their was some funny dialogue as well and I thought that was good, but other than that, this is nothing to go crazy over.

Chopper is a mediocre movie that launched the career of Eric Bana. It definitely got him out of small comedy clubs in Australia and into stardom. As for the movie itself, it is not executed well enough to its full potential. I think Andrew Dominik is a good director and writer, as his last movie was, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but makes some unmistakable rookie mistakes that unfortunately drag this movie down. I know I am one of the few that doesn't like this, but I just wasn't in love with the directing and didn't totally fall for this character.

American Beauty

American Beauty (5 out of 5)

Directed by Sam Mendes

Written by Alan Ball

Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, and Mena Suvari

Running Time: 2 hours and 2 minutes

Rated: R

American Beauty is an American classic. This movie features a witty insightful script and director as well as a tour de force ensemble cast. For me, it falls into some of the best movies of the 90s and will not soon be forgotten. It is a terrific film about troubled souls and features a lot of things that I look for in movies. It showcases a fascinating story, some dark comical humor, lots of insight, beautiful uses of the color red and cinematography, a confident director, and most of all an amazing cast spear headed by one of the best actors ever Kevin Spacey. There is so much in American Beauty that you really need to see it more than once.

Let's start off with the one great quality of American Beauty, the amazing cast. First, Kevin Spacey gets so deep into a character that is Mr. Simple on the surface, but on the inside he has more problems than most. When he goes through his mid life crisis and decides to smoke pot and work out all day, you are never taken out of this character and it is totally believable from the start. Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, and Wes Bentley all do fantastic jobs and get you into their deeply developed characters so much that you are sad to see the movie end.

A sad realization about American cinema is that it has become more and more about the profit, and less and less about the art. European cinema is a bit more for the art, but luckily with American Beauty, we have an American film that can compete with any European film. American Beauty is a film that I can't see anyone not liking, at any age. It is one of the deepest films I have ever watched, as it goes deep into the psychology of the human mind. American Beauty analyzes and explores themes such as materialism, conformity, sexuality, and redemption. Furthermore, it perfectly executes its satire of American middle class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction. All of this execution can be credited to the masterful and magnificent script by Alan Ball.

Alan Ball's script provides some of the most lyrical, beautiful, yet brutal language ever in a film. The way he can pack everything into a film was just amazing. Their is so much emotion packed into the course of two hours, that after watching it, it makes your head spin. It can you have you laughing, crying, and screaming all in the small portion of two hours. To get this kind of emotion, you would usually have to watch three completely different movies. Instead, Alan Ball provides a screenplay that is simply incredible. Simply put, his script is pure poetry.

Also, doing a great job is FIRST TIME director Sam Mendes. It's pretty bad ass to win Best Director and Best Picture with your first movie, don't you think? Now, I don't think all of Mendes' work is great, because as of late, he's been on a bit of a bumpy road with Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, and Away We Go. This movie puts me in high respects of him though. The way he takes this movie from being a great script to a great movie is amazing. The cinematography and use of the color red is great and I loved seeing it. He shifts gears from black comedy to horror to poetry and back again with ease. Furthermore, he moves his characters around with such precision and direction that it is impossible to not have particular feelings for every one of them.

American Beauty proves to be the perfect movie for American audiences, and can please every person who watches it. It won Best Picture, is commercially successful with $350 million made worldwide, and critically successful. It proves that you can make a beautiful movie and turn a profit as well. Everything doesn't have to be Transformers 2 to make money. I wish big studios would take more chances like they did this one. That way, there would be way more good movies. This movie gets interpreted many, many ways and I won't tell you my full one because I want you to make your own. This is one of the deepest, most well executed movies I have ever seen and don't think I will ever forget it. Perhaps one of the best movies I have ever seen.

On a side note, this is my 800th review. I just want to thank each and everyone of you who has taken the time out to come and read my reviews. I have had an account for coming on two years now, and the community has gotten cooler and cooler. Everyone is very supportive, and I hope it stays this way for a long time.

The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying (1 out of 5)

Directed by Ricky Gervais

Written by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

Starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, and Louis CK

Running Time: 1 hour and 39 minutes

Rated: PG-13

The Invention of Lying is a concept that is funny for about five minutes. I really only checked this out because Ricky Gervais did a great job at the Golden Globes and his shout out to this movie made me go check it out. Honestly, I almost had to turn it off. I checked my phone at least twenty times to see when it was going to end. It was just not a good experience. I didn't really enjoy Gervais' last movie Ghost Town, and thought this one was even worse. I have never truly seen his appeal, and still don't. This movie is not funny, and then all of a sudden turns and tries to get all philosophical and really knocks on Catholicism.

This movie was horrible, did I say that already? I don't even understand the mixed reviews it got, because I had no fun with this one. It starts off with two or three funny jokes, and then the premise just falls flat and isn't funny any more. Their is a major hole in the script, the direction is lazy, and it depends on the power of having a bunch of stars in it as well as several cameos. One of the most disappointing moments I've had with a movie was seeing Edward Norton, who is my favorite actor, make a cameo in this. He did not need to be here and I was saddened to see him show up in this piece of crap. The movie spirals out of control and the last third is just horrible. It literally falls into every single romantic comedy cliche there is, and has you yelling at the screen it is so predictable.

The acting is alright. I think Jennifer Garner gives the most inspired effort in The Invention of Lying. The rest of the cast is average, and I really don't think Gervais deserves any more movies. The rest of the cast is there so there names show up on the DVD. The whole cast is there for the dough, not for the sake of making a funny movie. The cameos are there because they are the only things the viewer can get excited about. Okay, I'm a little mad about this movie but I'll give some credit to Tina Fey as well. She has always been funny and I liked her enough to give her a shout out. Other than, a bunch of uninspired performances.

The directing by Ricky Gervais is not good. I can't see him directing another movie after this one. The funny thing about his directing is that me and Armond White both agree on it! As Armond White said in his review, "Gervais' ridicule proves his lack of sophistication. Not only the most brutally photographed movie of the year, The Invention of Lying is so foully directed and carelessly acted it ultimately proves disingenuous."

His script is just as bad, and possibly the worst feature of this movie. The Invention of Lying follows every romantic comedy cliche in the book, and starts to get worse and worse as the movie continues. You find yourself hating Gervais' character, Garner's character, and almost every character in the movie. Also, the big hole I was talking about, is the fact that he just randomly comes up with this lie that starts the whole story. The last htird of this movie gets horrible and you can pretty much figure out everything from the first twenty minutes that happens in the end.

Overall, The Invention of Lying is one of the worst movies I have seen from last year. It is neither romantic or a comedy. I cringed at every moment of it, especially when it started to call religion a joke and a bunch of lies. It's not that I was offended, I just think that you have to be a good movie before you can call out religion. Gervais thinks way too highly of himself and I hope The Invention of Lying brings him back to earth.

The Machinist

The Machinist ( 4 out of 5)

Directed by Brad Anderson

Written by Scott Kosar

Starring Christian Bale

Running Time: 1 hour and 42 minutes

Rated: R

The more I think about The Machinist, the more I realize how awesome of a movie this is. Everything about it is executed perfectly. Brad Anderson, who is a very under rated director, and Christian Bale, do such a good job with this film. They create such an eery mood and keeps you guessing the whole entire movie. It is like a mix of Fight Club and Memento. Their are characters just like those of Fight Club, while the way the story is constructed is very similar to Memento. The Machinist is a character study that studies things such as alienation, paranoia, and most of all, guilt.

First of all, Christian Bale completely inhibits this role of a factory worker who has not slept in a year and barely eats. In order to get ready for this role, Bale went through four months of eating an apple and a cup of coffee every day. Still, you can make yourself up to look like a walking dead body and not deliver a good performance. Christian Bale doesn't do that. He delivers an amazing performance, one of the best I have ever seen. I mean if you have heard the saying, skin and bones, Bale is literally skin and bones in this movie. If you have no interest in this movie, I would still rent this just to see the drastic weight loss that Bale went through. For me, I was a little sketchy about Bale's real acting skills because of the mediocre job he did with Terminator Salvation. I've always loved him, but just needed something to confirm how great he can be. The Machinist confirms this, and proves that he can be great.

This is the first time I have watched a Brad Anderson movie, and I now have all of his movies in my Netflix queue. He does an excellent job with The Machinist. The thing I loved about his movie was that you never knew what was going to happen, but in the end, you understood everything and felt good about the ending. He gives off a very depressing mood throughout the film, but in the end, you feel great for this character and now understand everything that has happened. Sometimes in psychological thrillers, the movie will be good and it will end and you're left thinking "Huh?". With this one, you know everything that has gone down. One more excellent thing about his direction is the use of the little things like lighting, editing, sound, and score that all come together to strike the right nerve and really starts to turn your mental gears.

Screen writer Scott Kosar provides a worthy story and intriguing characters that add onto the great directing and acting provided by Brad Anderson and Christian Bale. The script provides several chilling moments and the overall story that is given is a great foundation for these two artists to just add onto it. Luckily, some great people got their hands on The Machinist and didn't waste such a solid script.

Overall, The Machinist kicks ass. It borrows a few things from Fight Club and Memento, but it grabs you in from the get go and never lets go. The movie starts with Bale rolling up a dead body with no sound, and that just summarizes the whole mood of the film. A hard thing to do with this genre is end the movie, but Anderson executes that with precision. The last line of the movie, "Right now I wanna sleep. I just want to sleep." makes the viewer feel like they have watched this whole thing for a reason and connects you with the character. Christian Bale delivers one of the best performances of the decade in The Machinist, and I recommend this to anyone who likes movies. It is a must see.

Dead Man's Shoes

Dead Man's Shoes (4 out of 5)

Directed by Shane Meadows

Written by Shane Meadows, Paddy Considine, and Paul Fraser

Starring Paddy Considine and Toby Kebbell

Running Time: 1 hour and 26 minutes

Rated: R

Dead Man's Shoes excels because of Shane Meadows' gritty direction and the acting provided by lead Paddy Considine. This revenge movie is reminiscent of Tarantino and Park Chan-Wook flicks, as the story is disturbing and uncompromising. The movie does everything it promises. It provides the thrill of a man taking out revenge on people with a gas mask and an axe and hacking people to death, and also gives interesting characters and moral conflicts. Meadows excellently does what many directors can't do with a picture like this, providing gore and thrills, as well as morals and emotional conflicts. Brawn, and brains.

The story is a bit formulaic, but the acting and directing are excellent. This movie is very under rated and I would recommend it to anyone who loves this genre. Dead Man's Shoes was on Empire Magazine's Top 201 Films of All Time list and that is not something to pass up. The film does not add much to the genre, but since the movie is executed and told so well, it doesn't matter that this story has been told before. Dead Man's Shoes refuses to take sides and explores the nature of revenge successfully.

Shane Meadows, who is one of the rising stars of British cinema, does an amazing job with this one. He enhances this movie to its full potential with gritty and cramped direction that gets you right into the mind frame of Richard (Paddy Considine) and his motives. You know he's done a good job when you are rooting for Richard to hack off these guy's head. For the director to get you rooting for a killer to kill, is a success to me. You feel so much emotion for his character and are happy when he kills these cruel people. Meadows delivers this tale that is satisfying as well as insightful. He provides amazing scenery and picks picture perfect locations for his scenes. I can't praise his work enough and can't wait to see the rest of his movies.

Another great thing about Dead Man's Shoes is Paddy Considine. Considine's best acting in this movie is his charisma and confidence that he gives his character. The way he can turn on and off with his character is fascinating. For example, he is sitting with his brother (who is the point of his revenge) and one man, says to him "What are you looking at?". At this point, he just calmly says, "You." The man replies to him, "What?!". You think Considine will just calmly say You, he goes ape shit on this guy and says, "You, you c**t!" I freaked out when I saw this scene and automatically fell in love with this character. This is what is awesome about his character. From the moment he is on screen, you fall in love with him.

The supporting actors are very good as well. Obviously, they are going to be over shadowed by Considine, but still they are heartfelt performances by little known actors. Toby Kebbell, who was nominated for a British Independent Film Award, does a solid job as Considine's younger brother, who is the reason Considine wants revenge. Also, Gary Stretch and his crew of bad guys are convincing and all their for a good reason.

The script is good because of its chilling dialogue and provides disturbing scenes, but there are some problems. It may be a bit to the fault of Shane Meadows, but it is mostly this script. The three real problems I had were that the story was a bit formulaic, that this had been done before, and the ending. The first two, are hard to avoid and saved by directing, acting, and good writing. Still, the third could have been avoided. The ending was a bit disappointing, but that didn't take away from such a good movie. I don't want too criticize it too much though. The good thing about it is it tells two stories. One about a man seeking revenge, and another story that slowly unravels throughout the movie that you don't figure out until the very end. It keeps you guessing, and that, to me, makes this a solid script.

Dead Man's Shoes is a great psychological revenge thriller. It reminded me of a mix of Tarantino characters with Park Chan Wook story. Shane Meadows does an amazing job with the camera work and settings, as well as developing his characters with style. Paddy Considine and the rest of the cast are amazing, and Considine is a great protagonist that has many moral complications. There were a few problems, most notably the ending, but Dead Man's Shoes is still an awesome movie. It provides everything you expect, unique and disturbing killings by a man with a gas mask and an axe, as well as a touching story. This was a great movie that effectively tells its story in under 90 minutes.

The King of Kong

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (4 1/2 out of 5)

Directed by Seth Gordon

Starring Steve Wiebe, Billy Collins, and Walter Day

Running Time: 1 hour and 24 minutes

Rated: PG-13

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a funny and entertaining documentary that is more than just about a rivalry between two men trying to get the Donkey Kong world record. It offers many fantastic insights into human nature and behaviors. It shows the character of men when faced with adversity. It is easy for someone in this movie to act fine when all is going well, but when their records are getting beaten, you see how these people are at the core. Seth Gordon showcases these characters perfectly, showing their obsessive complexity and makes many keen observations about each of them. Aside from providing insights into human nature, it provides an awesome story that is just as exciting as any sports movie.

The story in this one is simple, but exciting and unpredictable. It tells the story of competitive arcade gaming, and one man's, Billy Mitchell, dominance. It then introduces us to Steve Wiebe, your everyday guy who has just been laid off of his job and has a little too much time on his hand. He is a man who is proficient at many things, but has come up short many times in life. He attempts to beat the world record score on Donkey Kong set by Billy Mitchell 20 years ago by buying a Donkey Kong machine and spending many hours on it a night. I won't give anymore because this is such an exciting movie and is impossible to know what will happen.

Seth Gordon does a great job. He tells the story so well and paints a portrait of each of these characters masterfully. Automatically, you can tell who the protagonist and antagonist are. Steve Wiebe is your every day guy that portrays many great traits. He is caring, hard working, and very appreciative. On the other hand, you see Billy Mitchell. The world record holder who is cocky, mean spirited, and very manipulative. These characters are so interesting to watch and provide many poignant insights into human behaviors. I say this should go to the credit not only to these people, but the way Gordon can capture these characters and their behaviors on camera so well.

The King of Kong is like When We Were Kings for gamers. It benefits measurably from these characters, as well as a intriguing narrative that builds up to an awesome climax. This movie is full of laughs and gets tense when the time is right. This movie plucks at the heartstrings and gets your heart beating for the protagonist to be successful. You have no idea if he is going to be successful or not, and right when you think he is down and out, he finds a way to get back. Overall, this film is a character thriller that ends with a big finish and keeps you glued to the screen, praying that Wiebe will somehow find a way to beat the manipulative antagonist Billy Mitchell.

Brick

Brick (3 out of 5)

Directed by Rian Johnson

Written by Rian Johnson

Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, Lukas Haas, and Richard Roundtree

Running Time: 1 hour and 51 minutes

Rated: R

Brick is a crime film that transports the attitude of classic detective films of the 30s to a contemporary high school setting in Southern California. It is an unexpected and daring film that successfully pays homage to noir detectives film while providing its own style and setting that you wouldn't expect. The fantastic thing about Brick is that it brings this genre of film, which is hard to find, to a generation of teens that have never heard of movies like The Maltese Falcon. Brick successfully mixes the style and ages of crime detective films done before, and once you accept this, you will be entertained and fall in love with the character of Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of Hollywood's biggest rising stars, especially with last year's indie hit (500) Days of Summer. He proves his acting ability and versatility with Brick. Some of the supporting actors aren't as good, because several of them are inexperienced young actors. Still, Gordon-Levitt lifts them up to make their performances better. As soon as that first scene ends, his character, Brendan, transforms himself into a classic 1930s detective. The unique thing that Johnson provides with this movie is the Southern California high school setting that makes this movie worthwhile to the audience and compelling to a younger audience that hasn't heard of this type of genre. When the story of Brick begins, Brendan goes through every outlet of his high school from loners to the most popular kids in school to find out who has murdered his ex girlfriend and girl he loves.

This is director Rian Johnson's very first film, and that is impressive. I really liked many things about his directing. First, their is so much determination in his work that it bleeds out onto the screen. What is impressive about Johnson is his absolute commitment to his movie's style. You can tell how well he knows his source material. He relates very well to the crime novels and films that he is paying homage to, and it comes out in the character development, dialogue, and shows in the final product. Overall, my favorite thing about Rian Johson is the fact that he edited this whole movie on his Mac and that he made this movie with under 500,000 dollars. That just shows how talented he is. He doesn't need a big budget to make a good movie. Rian Johson is an aspiring film maker that I can't wait to see more of.

Johnson's script is just about as good as his directing. The only real problem I had with his script was the actual plot and mystery felt a bit elementary, but the dialogue, style, and attitude it brings to the screen is enough for me to praise it. It brings the attitude of crime novels to the character's personalities and you can tell how much he knows about this style and genre. Still, another problem with the script is that it is hard to care about the characters because we don't really believe in these characters. They are more like lifestyles, than actual lives. Still, this is by no means a bad script.

Overall, Brick has some flaws, but this is a very good film. It is an entertaining homage to noir films of every generation, which has been slickly done and updated compellingly to a high school setting that can relate to teens and adults alike. It is modified perfectly to a contemporary setting so that teens who have never heard of film noir will enjoy it. It provides two great aspiring artists, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson, doing a great job with a low budget. I would recommend this to anyone who just wants an enjoyable and entertaining movie that is unpredictable and challenges you all the way through.