Captain Phillips
Dir. Paul Greengrass
Perhaps best known for his directorial work on the Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass' style pretty much defined action thrillers of the 00's. Captain Phillips, based on the true account of an American cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009, is his latest, with Tom Hanks assuming the role of the titular captain, making a serious comeback from a somewhat dwindling career recently. And making his film debut is Barkhad Abdi, convincingly playing the pirate "captain" (let's just say you won't see Abdi in a Calvin Klein ad). Captain Phillips, like Gravity, is a claustrophobic thrill ride filled with all the set-pieces you could imagine coming out of the limited scope of a cargo freighter. The filmmaking is great, I loved the contrast between the respective "captains," and it's hardly boring considering it takes place almost entirely on a boat. The "message" of the film is a little too blatant, and due to the trailers/based-in-real-lifeness it's pretty predictable, but other than that, I think it's a great true-life thriller.
Rating: B+
Machete Kills
Dir. Robert Rodriguez
I think this series has worn out its welcome. I was a huge fan of Grindhouse from 2007, the criminally under-seen double feature from Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, of which "Machete" was a fake trailer at the beginning. Soon thereafter Rodriguez directed a standalone Machete film, with Danny Trejo back playing "the wrong Mexican to fuck with." While entertaining for what it was, I felt the film marked the end of Machete's novelty. Even with the sequel's exciting cast lineup, including Cuba Gooding Jr, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Demian Bechir, and Lady Gaga, Machete Kills just falls flat. It wasn't clever enough, it wasn't outrageous enough, and it wasn't nostalgic enough. At first these films seemed like a sincere return to a previous era's style of filmmaking, now it just feels laborious. Machete is just not that interesting of a character. At least other "silent-but-deadly" action heroes like Schwarzenegger's Terminator or Eastwood's 'Man with No Name' had epic stories that surrounded them. It really just doesn't feel edgy anymore, just rehashing the same shit. "Grindhouse" has become a stock style at this point (just look at this Ruffles commercial), and it's not enough to simply emulate for the sake of it. I think Rodriguez is an amazing director, and I'm still cautiously awaiting his Sin City sequel, but I'd rather take a shot from Mel Gibon's "inside out" gun than watch this again.
Rating: D
The Counselor
Dir. Ridley Scott
If you ask me what The Counselor was about, I seriously wouldn't know what to tell you. Michael Fassbender plays a guy who we never learn about (including his name - everyone just calls him "the counselor"). He wants in on the world of the Mexican border drug game...or something...despite the fact that he's boning Penelope Cruz (whom he has zero on-screen chemistry with) and could lose her. A cowboy hat-wearing Brad Pitt and a spiky-haired Javier Bardem warn him not to get involved, but he does anyway. Then there's Cameron Diaz who has two pet cheetahs for no reason. Other than that it's just all long pieces of undecipherable dialogue that thinks it's poetic intermingled with un-erotic sex and uninteresting violence. Just what the fuck is this movie? This marks 80-year-old Cormac McCarthy's first foray into screenwriting (best known for his novels No Country for Old Men and The Road). For whatever reason this just flat out didn't work on any level, and it's clear that the actors involved were in it just for the prestige of working with Ridley Scott/McCarthy. I don't even know how to review this, it didn't even make sense.
Rating: D-
Bad Grandpa
Dir. Jeff Tremaine
I've always been a big fan of Jackass, the show and the movies, and the pranks were always the funniest bits, for me anyway. In Bad Grandpa Johnny Knoxville reprises his role of 86-year old Irving Zisman, this time getting the "Borat" treatment in a docu-comedy format. Unlike previous Jackass features there is an actual narrative to follow, though it's loose enough to allow for the disconnected pranks to work. And they're as funny as ever. Basically Irving is on a road trip to drop his grandson off with his dad after his mom is sent to prison, and along the way they get into crazy hijinks (mostly in an effort for Irving to score some "tail"). The kid, played by 9-year-old Jackson Nicoll, has a surprisingly mature sense of humor and he plays really well off Knoxville (never caving or laughing during the pranks). If you've enjoyed the Jackass adventures thus far and have that type of humor, Bad Grandpa is a ton of fun. It's sophomoric, it's full of fart jokes, and you get to see an old man's genitals wagging around on the big screen. What more could you want? Knoxville knox it out of the park here (sorry, I had to).
Rating: B+
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