Tusk, Kill the Messenger, St. Vincent, Fed Up Reviews

Tusk
Dir. Kevin Smith
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#WalrusYes. That phrase may mark the first time a twitter hashtag inspired the creation of a film.  Kevin Smith, the writer-director most known for his hit-or-miss catalogue of comedy flicks like Clerks (hit) and Cop Out (a giant miss), is more or less now self-identified as a Podcaster, having created a number of widely successful shows under the banner of his SModco. production company. During a recording of his SModcast with Scott Mosier, Smith became fascinated with an ad he came across where a homeowner offered free housing if the lodger dressed up as a walrus. Inspired by this kooky idea, the two spent an hour spitballing back and forth ideas for a film, and took to Twitter asking fans to post #WalrusYes if they wanted to see this walrus-themed horror film or #WalrusNo if they didn't. And in just over a year's time, the film is released. It's kind of inspirational to me that this film was even made being a huge fan of Smith and his numerous Podcasts, but Tusk just sucks.

Fury, The Boxtrolls, The Skeleton Twins, The Zero Theorem Reviews

Fury

Dir. David Ayer

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Tanks. Giant tanks blowing shit up. That's pretty much what the advertising has been for Fury, the latest film from David Ayer, best known for having written Training Day.  The film is about a "rag tag" group of American soldiers towards the end of WWII, pushing forward into Nazi Germany with their comparatively tiny American tanks.  Among the macho-men riding the dirt and blood-spattered 'fury' is Brad Pitt, who's basically playing his same exact character from Inglourious Basterds, Shia LeBeouf as a moustached bible thumper, Jon Bernthal as a brutish hardball (not far off from Shane in Walking Dead), Michael Peña as the token Mexican, and Logan Lerman  as the wide-eyed "new guy."  The dynamic of this crew is reminiscent of an old school war movie, but the story is ultimately a boring 2.5 hours of mindless shooting and none of the characters go beyond well-acted stereotypes.

Gone Girl, This is Where I Leave You, The Trip to Italy Reviews

Gone Girl

Dir. David Fincher

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Amy is gone.  Her husband, Nick, may or may not be responsible.  That's the basic premise of Gillian Flynn's neo-noir thriller Gone Girl, which became a sensation at airport bookstands everywhere since its 2012 debut.  The book was a biting (literally) and darkly funny take on relationships, and its cold, detached characters seemed like they'd be right at home in a David Fincher movie.  Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne, co-owner of the bar aptly titled The Bar with his twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon).  When his wife (Rosamund Pike) goes missing, both the police and the media start to suspect he may be involved (not good considering Missouri's stance on the death penalty), and as the mystery spins deeper and more gets revealed, Nick's reputation goes from up, down, side-to-side, and everywhere in between - even within the audience in the theater.  Though I will be "that guy" and say that the book was better in many aspects, as far as I'm concerned, this was a fantastic adaptation of an amazing book.