BIG: Movie reviews of Spy and Jurassic World by Howard Casner
Posted: June 18, 2015 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Allison Janney, B.D. Wong, Ben Falcone, Bobby Cannavale, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Colin Trevorrow, Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Jurassic World, Melissa McCarthy, Miranda Hart, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, Paul Feig, Peter Serafinowicz, Rose Byrne, Simon Masrani, Spy, Ty Simpkins, Vincent D’Onofrio | 2 Comments »First, a word from our sponsors. Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
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Warning: SPOILERS
Are you having a bad day? Things not going well? Are you a bit down in the dumps?
Well, if you want to feel a bit better about yourself and life in general, I can hardly recommend a more effective drop of medicine than Spy, the new espionage comedy starring Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper, the unprepossessing agent’s assistant with the unprepossessing name who turns into one bad un-unprepossessing ass of a Jane Bond.
What can I say? I came out of the movie theater feeling wonderful, simply wonderful, ready to take on the vicissitudes of life and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune once again.
Now, I do have to be honest. Based on remarks I’ve seen on facebook, how you react to the movie will probably depend on how you feel about Ms. McCarthy. If you don’t like her particular brand of comedy persona, the movie may affect you more like a fallen soufflé.
I happen to think she’s an exploding nova of a comic talent. Read the rest of this entry »
THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT: Movie reviews of Horns and St. Vincent by Howard Casner
Posted: November 7, 2014 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alexandre Aja, Bill Murray, Chris O’Dowd, Daniel Radcliffe, Horns, Jaeden Lieberher, Joe Hill, Keith Bunin, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, St. Vincent, Theodore Melfi | 8 Comments »First, a word from our sponsors. Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
Warning: SPOILERS
Horns, the new supernatural, fantasy, horror, neo-noir written by Keith Bunin and directed by Alexandre Aja, has a clever, if not neat, little concept.
A young man, Ig Perrish, universally hated in the small town he lives in (for good reason, in many ways, since he’s accused of killing his long time girlfriend Merrin), grows a pair of devil’s horns which causes everyone he meets to confess their deepest desires and even fulfill them, no matter how awful they may be, if the young man gives them permission.
And there are some clever scenes here and there as these normal on the outside, white picket fence, Sunday go to meeting citizens suddenly revel in their cravings to carry out their secret, if often perverse, yearnings.
But in the end, the movie never really comes together and gets bogged down in what may seem an extraneous through line concerning the rape and murder of said girlfriend.
I’m not sure why everyone felt the need to make the story a murder mystery. It’s that way in the novel by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King), so I can’t really blame Bunin and Aja. But this aspect of the story only seems to get in the way of what really works here, this look into the hearts of darkness of people you originally thought were just a few steps up from pod people. Read the rest of this entry »
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