MOVIE REVIEW: THE TOWN

Ben Affleck has had a roller coaster of a career. For every great movie he is a part of, it seems that he has three or four disasters. But there is hope for Affleck. In 1998, he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for Good Will Hunting, in which he also had a supporting role in, and that was the first time he really showed his talent on and off screen. Since then, he has been in more flops rather than hits, but when he is part of a good movie, he really gives a great performance. In 2007 I was surprised to hear that he would be directing his brother in Gone Baby Gone. I rolled my eyes thinking it would be some ridiculous film that he just put his brother in to help him out, but it turned out to be an amazing film and I was curious to see if he would be a one hit wonder kind of director or if he was the real deal.

His latest film is The Town, in which he not only stars in, but directs and writes as well. The film takes place in Charlestown, the leading city for bank robberies in the world. Affleck and Jeremy Renner play Doug and James, who lead a group of bank robbers, who are forced to take a hostage during their latest heist. Fearing she may know something about them, Doug decides to follow her around to make sure their in the clear, but after an accidental meeting, the two become romantically involved. Doug must now juggle his relationship with her, while hiding the fact about what he really does and his responsibility for her abduction and trying to avoid a federal agent (Jon Hamm), who is hot on their trail.

Affleck hits a home run in every area of this film. The cast does a tremendous job turning these characters into people that your not just watching, but becoming attached to as you watch. Most of the characters in the film are not just dealing with agents hunting them down or the fear of getting kidnapped again, but self confliction. Affleck's character is someone who does bad things, but also has a good side to him, so you want to see him redeem himself, you want to see him make the great escape in the end and he wants the same thing for himself. He wants to put it all behind him and walk away.

Rebecca Hall plays Claire, the girl who was taken hostage and has now fallen in love with Doug. When she finds out that Doug is responsible for the bank robberies and the kidnapping, she doesn't throw him under the bus immediately. Despite all he has done, she still sees the potential in him. Does she turn him in or turn and run away with him. Despite all he has done, she can't decide if she wants to be with him or against him.

Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner both deal with self assurance rather than confliction. Hamm wants to catch this crew no matter what the cost. He puts his own life on the line just to do so. Renner's character has an obsession with crime. The more hits they make, the more he wants to do. If he beats someones face, he wants them to know it was him, he doesn't care about the consequences, much less care about them. I will be highly surprised if there isn't at least one person from this cast who doesn't get nominated for an Oscar.

Next is the story. It's always funny how you end up cheering for these terrible guys who are robbing banks, killing innocent people and are smuggling drugs, while the officers and agents are just trying to protect the city. If it were to happen in the real world, we would lose sleep at night until these guys were caught. The film isn't just a heist film, it's a film about romance, revenge and redemption. He does a great job of blending the four together.


The other thing I was really impressed with was the action sequences. Had this been a Michael Bay film, there would have been fifty huge car explosions and blood splattering gun fights. The sequences in this film are simple but effective. It has one of the better car chases I have seen in years and gun fights that are along the lines quality wise as Heat.

Affleck has found his true talent I believe. He has two solid films under his belt now. The Town is one of the year's best films and I give it a ten out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: EASY A

With the lack of talent that is starting to build up in Hollywood, there is nothing I love more than seeing a star on the rise. Emma Stone is exactly that. She first popped up in the highly popular film, Superbad and she really broke out in last year's Zombieland. Be sure to keep a look out for this girl because she is destined to go far.

In her new film, Easy A, Stone plays Olive, a clean cut high school student who is always under the social radar. After a nasty rumor is spread about her, she decides to rely on rumors to bump up her social life, eventually getting more attention than she can handle.

My favorite thing about Easy A is hands down Emma Stone. She brings an odd and smart style of comedy to the screen that I rarely see. When you watch her performance, you don't see a young immature actress like Lindsay Lohan, you see a smart bright career rising.

Another great thing about the film is it's co-stars. Stanley Tucci, Thomas Hayden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Malcom McDowell and Amanda Bynes all co-star in the film and each one brings something great to the film. Each one brings their own unique sense of humor to the film. Tucci plays the cool dad, Church plays the over enthusiastic teacher, Bynes plays the super christian and McDowell plays the uptight principal. Director, Will Gluck does a great job portraying the different high school groups without doing it in a cheesy cliche way.

Easy A isn't a perfect film, but you get no complaints from me on it. Strong lead, great script and funny co-stars were enough to sell me on it. I give it an eight out of ten.

Movie Review: Catfish

I heard about Catfish a few months ago as it made it's way through a couple of film festivals. It's a movie you probably haven't heard about and probably won't hear about up until the last moment. So before I start my review, I'll let you check out the trailer for the film so you have an idea of what I am talking about.




To me the film looked very intriguing. I immediately had to know what was going on in this film and what the outcome was going to be. I was lucky enough to get to see an advanced screening of this film yesterday and I was highly disappointed with the outcome.

First of all, they marketed this film to be something it isn't. The trailer for this film just goes to show how much impact someone who is great at editing can have on something. As I go back and watch the trailer now, I'm thinking to myself how clever the trailer for this film was, as it is very misleading to the viewer.

The tagline is, "Don't let anyone tell you what it is". And that is the same thing I heard about the film, that the less you know, the better. And now after seeing it, you certainly won't want to know anything about the film or there will be absolutely no reason in watching the film and possibly even losing interest in seeing it. If you go to see this film, you will need to have a lot of patience.

If your like me, reviews mean nothing, I like to experience a film for myself. But if you go see this film, trust me in saying that you will need a lot of patience in watching it. It's a documentary so it's already going to be a slower paced film, but there are long periods of drawn out nothing.

Catfish isn't a bad film. Once I found out what the film was really about and got to the part where you figure out the big mystery, it's actually a very creepy and alarming film. I can't get to much into it, because then their would be no point in watching it, but it makes you think about some things. The main guy in the film, Nev is very likable and has a couple of funny parts on screen. I think the lack of characters hurt the film as well though. You pretty much just watch Nev the whole time so after a while it becomes tiring.

I was overall disappointed with Catfish. It was good for what it was, but it is marketed to be something it's not and the two hours isn't worth the payoff in the end. I give it a four out of ten.

MOVIE REVIEW: GOING THE DISTANCE

When Erin and Garrett meet at a New York bar one night, they have an instant connection with one another. Their relationship blossoms and they begin to grow close to one another. The only problem is that Erin lives in San Diego and is only in New York for a summer internship. Once the summer ends, the two try and have the often failed, long distance relationship.

Going the Distance unites real life on again off again couple, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, in a romantic comedy about the difficulties of trying to have a long distance relationship. Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis co-star.

Drew Barrymore has been none for having great chemistry with her male leads. The same goes for Going the Distance. Barrymore and Long, whether it be due to the fact that while filming they were actually dating in real life, have a magnificent chemistry that I haven't seen in a while. They play off each other so well and they make their relationship something the viewer actually cares about.

However, Barrymore and Long aren't the only ones with chemistry in the film. The co-stars carry their own weight in this film, which is rare. Normally in romantic comedies, the best friend role is kind of pushed to the side so the stars of the film can shine. Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis really get to show off their comedic abilities. Charlie Day in particular really steals the show in every scene he is in.

The film is more of a romantic comedy for younger adults. Director, Nanette Burstein, really missed out on a bigger audience by putting graphic language in the film which gave it an R rating. This is one of those films where they could have cut out the "f" word and it would have dropped down to PG-13 and then it would have made a lot more money while appealing to a bigger audience. Had this been a mob film or maybe a film by Judd Apatow, it would have been fine, but older audience members is going to be blindsided by the language.

The film works well particularly because the long distance relationship hasn't been beat into the ground yet in Hollywood. There is no falling for another person, but the couple gets back together just in time for the credits to role in this film. This is a film that really does a good job at tackling the difficulties of having a serious long distance relationship.

The film hits a fifteen minute period that really drags out and cause the film to lose momentum and then just as it picks back up, it abruptly is forced into a quick ending. The final thirty minutes needed a lot of work as far as editing and actual pace of the film is concerned.

Overall Going the Distance delivers a lot of big laughs with a chemistry that is one for the books. I give it a 7 out of 10.