Steve Jobs, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Reviews

Steve Jobs

Dir. Danny Boyle

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Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's specialty seems to be writing troubled geniuses (The Social Network, Moneyball), so Steve Jobs snugly fits right in his wheelhouse. Instead of taking the traditional biopic format of an A-to-B, life-to-death timeline, Sorkin centers the film around three of the former Apple CEO's major product launches, essentially turning what could have been a traditional tech-bio into a Birdman-like backstage drama. This fascinating approach sounds like it would have made Steve Jobs perfect for the stage, but director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire) gives this movie, which entirely boils down to people sitting and talking, a huge boost of kinetic energy (as he did in 127 Hours). Every scene feels visually inventive and unique; each timeframe is shot in a completely different format which emphasizes the jump in time, and get ready for some lovely compositions of crowds in awe. While the film may take some liberties with reality (with major life moments conveniently converging at the same time before these launches), and some of the "human" moments feel a little too constructed (especially the terrible ending), Steve Jobs is still a satisfying, close-up look at a fascinating guy who was also pretty much a complete prick.

The actors are all great - which you just expect with a cast like this. Michael Fassbender is clearly gunning for an Oscar nomination as Jobs; although he doesn't exactly look like him, his peformance totally rings true. The core of the film centers around his really f-ing odd relationship he had with his daughter (he claimed she wasn't his for years - then named a computer after her); if you've read the Walter Isaacson book on Jobs, you know what you're in store for, but Fassbender really brings these moments to life. His costars, including Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen in a surprisingly good turn as his ex-partner in crime Steve Wozniak, and Michael Stuhlbarg are no slouches either. Basically, this has Oscar bait written all over it. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I think this movie probably came out a few years too late, which may account for its shockingly low box office take, but almost every aspect of the film is well-handled, even if the witty "Sorkin-esque" heightened dialogue feels a little too "scripted" at times.

Rating: B

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Dir. Gregory Plotkin
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We've reached the bottom of the barrel. Like the Saw franchise, once you hit the "3D phase" of your horror series, it's likely you've reached the end of your rope. The Ghost Dimension is the SIXTH entry in the Paranormal Activity saga, and it's by far the most desperate. I've liked most of the previous entries to varying degrees, but justifying the sequels has just gotten harder and harder as the initial novelty has completely worn off. The Ghost Dimension basically takes everything that made the first film work so well and throws it out the window for mindless CGI, big jump scares, and the same absolutely laborious cliches I have seen so many god damn times I want to claw my eyes out.

The story follows yet another family who yet again are under attack by a damn demon. The only twist this time around is a magic camera that lets the person see the actual ghosts this time. Which take the form of particles. PARTICLES. Ooo, so scary. I feel like this is the laziest possible way to justify the fact that this is a 3D movie, since particles are presumably a very simple, unimaginative way to create a "3D feeling" for the audience. This movie reminded me of the terrible Poltergeist remake I suffered through over the summer - just a bombardment of pointless, CGI-heavy, unearned jump scares.

The characters are beyond stupid. At least the first few films had its characters trying their darndest to prove the ghosts were real (all they had were creaking doors and flickering lights at first, not capturing anything of substance until it was too late). But in The Ghost Dimension after only 15 minutes there is IRREFUTABLE VIDEOTAPED PROOF that ghosts are real and a life beyond ours exists. And despite literally stumbling on this world-changing, life-altering miraculous discovery, the main characters do almost nothing about it and just keep filming. Even when we literally see a demon manifest itself in front of the camera, and the main character's daughter creates a doorway to another dimension: just keep on filming. I can't even tell you who these people were - they have no discernible qualities other than "unlikable" and at times it's unclear even how they're related to one another. There's a random blonde woman with cleavage and I don't think we learn who she even is.

This film has zero tension whosoever, adds absolutely nothing to the Paranormal mythos, and is basically a giant waste of time for everyone involved.

Rating: D-

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Dir. Christopher B. Landon
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We've seen so many zombie comedies recently, I'm beginning to think they're outnumbering regular zombie movies. Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Warm Bodies, Life After Beth...it's kind of surprising to me how popular this subgenre is - you just don't see this phenomenon happening with other monsters (where are the ghost-comedies, the vampire-comedies, the blob comedies?). Because of its over-saturation, self-proclaimed "zom-coms" need some new hook to justify their existence since the subgenre itself is no longer a novelty; Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse's hook is right in the title. We follow three high school "losers," Ben (Tye Sheridan), our "hero" with no luck with the ladies, Carter (Logan Miller), his obnoxious best friend, and Augie (Joey Morgan), their overweight, nebbish co-scout who's basically the whitewashed incarnation of Russell from Up.

You have to know beforehand that you're not going to get anything as witty as Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead - this is a film marketed for an "MTV" demographic, and at times, the dubstep and selfie jokes can get nauseating, along with the should've-died-in-the-80's cliche of pretty young girls' only role being to either get with the hero at the end, or to help the guy get the girl. Every woman in the film (save for Cloris Leachman, who I forgot was still alive) is big-breasted and wearing tight/little clothes. It's a teenage male fantasy movie - blood and boobs - so if you're snooty about modern gender politics in your zombie-teen comedy bromance films, you may want to avoid this one.

But save for the embarrassing and dated juvenile humor, I actually found myself enjoying this movie. Being a huge zombie fanatic, sometimes I can be jaded with these things, but some of the kills were pretty satisfying (the "CPR" gag at the beginning had me chuckling). The three main kids are all pretty good as well, especially Tye Sheridon, who is probably one of the most promising young actors working today (see Mud and The Stanford Prison Experiment now!), gives the film a real emotional center, and I have to admit, even amidst all the dick jokes and grotesqueries, there's a moment towards the end of the film that "got me."

Scouts Guide has such a simple concept, it's a shame someone like an Edgar Wright couldn't have infused it with a bit more oomph, but as is, it's a decent - if slight and made for horned-up teenage boys - Halloween-time romp.

Rating: C+