3 movie day; 3 movie reviews

Hey guys. So yesterday I went to 3 movies, so here are some quick thoughts on all of them!

First off, I saw The Killer Inside Me, starring Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and Ned Beatty. If you guys have heard of this film, it is probably due to the "graphic violence". People have spoken out against this film, and a woman at the Sundance film festival even yelled at the director during his Q&A, telling him he should be ashamed of himself.

Well, that lady should be ashamed of herself. First off, this isn't technically a violent film. There are 2 scenes that involve violence, combining about 7 minutes of screen time; that's it. The last 45 minutes of Avatar was people killing each other. What about The A-Team? That is basically people killing each other for 2 hours; and that's the problem with our society.

If no blood is shown, or it isn't realistic, such as in District 9, we cheer whenever a person dies. Good guys win, bad guys dead, everybody cheer! But violence is not a good thing. Even turn on the TV; everywhere you look theres showed with people being shot or murdered, and we don't even think about it, but once something is shown REALISTICALLY, people have a hissy fit. Violence should bother you. You shouldn't be able to watch what happens in this film comfortably. If the happenings of the A-team happened in front of you, you would not be cheering.

I am in no way saying that films like The A-team or Avatar or District-9 are bad (even though 2 of them are), all I am saying is that just because 97% of films don't portray violence realistically, don't be disgusted by one of the few films that actually do.

People will find any reason to complain, and the film still was made, so who really cares? Well, I do, because people are annoying. But I will have to deal with it.

The film itself was very good, the violence was brutal (as it should be), Casey Affleck, Ned Beatty and Simon Baker all gave great performances, and it also contained probably my favorite opening credit sequence of the year. With that said though, it kind of fell apart in the end. The use of CGI was necessary, because I don't know how they could have sensibly put that scene together, but since they had no money, the CGI is bad (and that's being nice). The ending didn't really sit well with me and seemed a bit far fetched in more than one area, and when you combine that with the lackluster CGI, I was kind of taken out of the film at the most crucial time. But overall the film was good and definitely worth a look. Ive said this many times before regarding different things, but at the end of the day, this film will cause conversation, whether you think the violence is repulsive, or if you think those people who think its repulsive are idiots, and anything that can create a conversation cant be all bad. (B)

The second film I saw this weekend was Cyrus, starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei. Directed by the Duplass Brothers of "Puffy Chair" and "Baghead" fame, and two of the pioneers of the Mumblecore movement, comes a film that on the surface may seem like the most cliche film there can be, but what happens is anything but cliche. John C. Reilly plays, get this.... John! A depressed 40-something year old who at a party, meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) who seems to be the woman of his dreams and more. Unfortunately, Molly has a son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill), and their relationship is definitely close to say the least.

While this sounds like a few other movies, the way it is executed is unlike anything else. It is a hysterical film, but there are no punch lines, there are no set pieces, there are no huge build-ups to get to one huge joke. All the humor comes from the awkwardness that these characters face, as well as the genuine character developments that come along the way. While most films would add zany hi jinx and funny noises, the Duplass Brothers decided that they key to this film is developing real characters; real people with real emotions who are in a situation that is difficult for all of them for different reasons. Jonah Hill, who has always been a supporting player in the Apatowverse (other than Superbad), gives his best performance to date. He plays a weird, somewhat sociopathic, yet very sad character and it is truly a star making turn for him. Reilly and Tomei are fantastic and Catherine Keener is always a pleasure as Reilly's ex-wife, but Jonah Hill is a work of art here, developing a character unlike we have ever seen from him before.

There is one specific aspect of the ending that I really enjoy, but I don't want to ruin it for anybody, so we can discuss that after you see the film. But go see it now! It is very funny, it is very awkward, it is somewhat sweet and it is surprisingly very sad. (A-)

The final film I saw yesterday was the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. I love documentaries, at the end of the day, they may be my favorite genre of film, and it is because of documentaries like this.

Bowling for Columbine is a great film, but the biggest problem with Michael Moore is that he always has an agenda, and because of that, his films don't seem sincere. Watching his movies, you feel that maybe things are being edited a little unfairly and maybe some scenes that didn't help his argument were left on the cutting room floor.

This film is the complete opposite. It is truly an honest look at this woman that really is a, for lack of a better word, piece of work. Through her obsession with fame and staying relevant, we see someone who after 75 years of success, is still just as insecure as the day she started out. While it goes into her past a little here and there, this film is mostly about one year in her life (the year she did celebrity apprentice, which turned out to be a great year to document).

If there was one word that could describe this film, it would be honest. That truly what it is. An honest look at it's subject matter, and when watching a documentary, what more could you really ask for? Rivers isn't always portrayed in the best way and finding out afterwards that she had no say in the editing or the final cut does not come as a surprise. Rivers may not be everybody cup of tea, but this film is. Whether she is talking about her daughter, her husband's suicide, her feud with Johnny Carson, her career, her friends or arguing with a heckler (someone who DEFINITELY hates The Killer Inside Me), Rivers is always herself, and if you don't like it, I'm sure she has some choice words she could send your way.

Oh, by the way, the film is also hysterical. (A-)

So that's it. Those are the movies I saw today. It's been a while since I had a multiple movie day, but I was able to catch 3 yesterday, they were all indies and they were all solid films. Hopefully you guys get to check out one or all of them and let me know what you think!