Goon

Goon is one of those movies that comes out of nowhere and simply blows all of your expectations out of the water. This movie is vulgar, gritty, and insanely funny. This has to rank pretty high up there in terms of sports movies and comedies in general. Seann William Scott, Liev Schreiber, and Jay Baruchel absolutely kill it in this movie, and it definitely signals the comeback of Seann William Scott who has had some career trouble ink the last few years. This movie also surprised me because it was coming from the mind that brought us Take Me Home Tonight which was one of the worst movies of 2011. I promise you that this movie will make you laugh out loud at least 5 to 6 times throughout the course of the movie.

Seann William Scott and Jay Baruchel form the heart of this movie because Jay's character, Ryan, is there to support Scott's character, Doug, as he is trying to find his path in life. Where as Doug protects Ryan from any outside physical harm. Doug is not a smart individual and he finds that fighting is his calling and that is what he focuses on after being hired by a local minor league hockey team. He is a very nice and polite guy trying to find his place in the world and he really enjoys the fact that he is good at something and part of a team. Scott really does show off the ability to act subtlety which you rarely see from him in any movie. This is a welcome change of pace from his Stifler character which became kind of grating after the second American Pie movie. I really hope that this movie leads to bigger and better roles for Seann William Scott because he really does have a great amount of talent but he gets typecast as "Stifler" type characters most of the time. Liev Schreiber also deserves a lot of credit for his role as an older "enforcer" in the league. His character is just a mean son of a bitch who has been doing what he is doing for most of his life. His major goal is to not go out like a pussy and he will go through anyone to make sure that this does not happen. It was also surprising to see Schreiber in a comedy because I am so used to seeing him in dramatic roles. He does not have much in the way of a comedic role but he does play a huge part in the movie as the lead protagonist.

This was also Baruchel's first feature length writing gig and this was quite the debut. You can see that he has taken a lot from the movies that he has appeared in that have been produced by Judd Apatow. He is going to be a successful screenwriter if he is continues to grow and learn from his first script. I hope that this movie leads to more independent comedies like this being made in the future because this was really a gem.

Verdict
THIS IS A MUST SEE FOR SPORTS FANS


This is a sports movie that really needs to be given a larger opening so it can get to the masses. Goon is one of the funniest comedies that I have seen in sometime and this is the best movie that I have seen all year and it will probably take a while for something to make me laugh as much as I did during this movie. It is certainly the best Hockey movie ever made and that is coming from a fan of Slap Shot and Miracle. Rent this one on any VOD service and you will not be disappointed. 

Take Shelter

After seeing Take Shelter, I really need to re-evaluate my Best of 2011 List. Everything about this movie is unbelievably high quality and features two of the best performances in movies this past year. Michael Shannon gives an amazing performance that is easily top 3 of last year and Jessica Chastain continues her incredible year after performing in The Help and The Tree of Life. For such a low budget movie this is packed with quality special effects and is also shot in a really high quality manner. This movie is a stark portrayal of mental illness and the movie really sucks you in to this one man's quest to find out what is wrong with himself and fix it.

Michael Shannon fully engrosses himself in this role and you believe that he is really going through this horrific ordeal. His performance is impeccable, for every moment of the movie you believe that he is this man experiencing schizophrenia. The way his character morphs over the course of the film is just incredible. He goes from being a loving family man to being this incredibly paranoid individual experiencing these overly vivid nightmare and visions. You see everything as he sees it and at points you don't know if it is mental illness or actual visions of an upcoming catastrophe. This movie could have easily been a disaster but Shannon's portrayal keeps the movie grounded and allows the movie to flourish.

This is an absolute must watch for movie fans. Every aspect of the movie is just fantastic and was easily one of the best movies of 2011. Shannon was robbed this award season and it is a disgrace that he was not nominated for any major awards. This is also a movie that needed to be nominated for every major award as well. It is sad that this move was criminally overlooked by everyone this award season. I hope this movie allows Shannon to do more and more larger scale roles because he has certainly paid his dues to this point in his career. This is a 10/10 and was one of the top 3 movies of 2011.

Hard Boiled

I consider Hard Boiled to be in the same tier of action movies as Die Hard, Predator, and any of the Bourne movies. The quality of this film really is that good and as a result John Woo has cemented his place as one of my favorite movie directors of all time. Chow Yun-fat also plays a complete boss in the movie and commands every scene that he is in. His character, Inspector "Tequila" is one of my favorite action heroes of all time and that is saying something because of all of the movies I have seen in my life. This is a fast paced and frantic action movie and it delivers from start to finish.

The action in the movie is a sight to behold. Woo, along with his stunt coordinators, craft action sequences that almost play out like dances with so many things happening at the same time and the sequences are masterfully choreographed. The tea house shootout is just an awesome sequences and when that is paired with the hospital shootout you have two of the best action sequences ever filmed. The hospital shootout is one of my favorite sequences of all time because of the brutality and the tracking shot used to create the sequence. The inclusion of the most powerful shotgun in recorded history is also a welcome addition to the movie as well. There is a 3 or 4 minute sequence where there is no cuts and the action flows so naturally and is shot so well that it is mind blowing.

This may not be the most well acted movie as Hong Kong productions have much different standards than most large Hollywood movies, but the main cast delivers knockout performances. Chow Yun-fat is great in his role and this is one of the roles that cemented his place in the action star hall of fame. You believe for every minute in the movie that he is this haunted, tough cop who will do anything to bring justice to the men he is after. He essentially plays the same role in most of the American movies that he is in but this seems much more natural than the American roles that he is in.

This is one of the best action movies ever created and has become one of my favorite action movies of all time. This is an essential Hong Kong movie and one of the best from the collection of John Woo features. The fluid action throughout the movie is very unique and the movie features some of the greatest action scenes of all time. Watch this if you love action movies or movies in general. 10/10

Chronicle

Independent filmmakers should take notice of this movie. Shoestring budget+good acting+great story= success. That is a formula for success in my honest opinion, and Chronicle followed through in every way according to the formula. The found footage concept of the movie could have come off as contrived and played out, but this was just awesome. It was also great that the audience got an explanation as to why everything was being filmed by the characters. This placed right below the mother of all found footage movies, Cloverfield, in my opinion. That is not taking anything away from this movie when you consider that Cloverfield is up there in terms of my favorite movies.

My favorite aspect of the movie was the evolution of the characters over the course of the film. None of the developments felt forced and they really did act like most high school kids would if given the same powers. You get to see how each kid is changed by the power that has been given to them. Steve isn't changed at all, he is still the determined one and is still friendly. Matt understands that the power is a big deal and tries to not abuse them. Andrew on the other hand is the opposite of Matt. He embraces the powers a little too much and starts to believe that he is a more highly developed human being than the rest of the world. When he starts mentioning the concept of the "apex predator", you know that he has gone completely off the deep end. There is no coming back from that type of mind set, and couple that with an abusive home situation and you have a recipe for disaster. You as the viewer gets to see how absolute power corrupts people from all different upbringings in this movie and it was by far the most interesting aspect of the movie to me.

On a less serious note, the special effects in this movie are pretty boss. They might not have the polish of higher budget movies but what they lack in polish they make up with brutality and originality. The ending fight sequence is just awesome, and I'm not going to spoil anything so don't worry. The flight sequences are well done as well due to some well timed comedy and creative effects. All of the effects had to be well dome in order to sell the movie to the audiences because the characters have a power that is invisible to the viewer unless the power is being directed on a certain item.

This is the best superhero movie that I have seen in the last couple of year. People might not consider this a superhero movie at first but watch it then tell me what type of movie you think it is. This is a great debut for the director as well as for the three lead actors who will undoubtedly find future success in Hollywood. This is also a movie that does not need a sequel. That is not a bad thing at all, it just means that this was a fantastic story that can be contained to one movie. The ending is a great and fulfilling conclusion to an absolutely fantastic movie. I wish all movies were this original.

VERDICT

MUST WATCH SUPERHERO MOVIE

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

This is one of those movies that you have heard about for such a long time but you have never gotten around to seeing it. Fear and Loathing is based on the experience of Hunter S. Thompson on a drug fueled writing assignment with his attorney along for the ride. Johnny Depp is excellent in the movie in one of the only roles that I can actually watch him act in. He really is not a favorite of mine but he was excellent in the movie. Benecio Del Toro turns in a really odd and strange performance where 90% of his dialogue is inaudible. He makes almost no sense throughout the entire movie because his character spends most of the time tripping on LSD. This is definitely the best "drug trip" movie that I have seen in a long time. Terry Gilliam is a visual genius and shows it once again in this film. He does amazing work when the characters are hallucinating and he tries to make the hallucination as real to the viewer as it is to the characters in the movie.

There is no real story or conflict to the movie other than the fact that the two main characters are getting demolished on every drug that they can while covering some obscure dirt bike race in Las Vegas. There is no evil bad guy in the movie, just the drugs that are eating away at their sense of what is real and what is not. Some of the parts are kind of sad when you realize the characters have absolutely no idea what is going on and have no control over their own actions. Gilliam tries to blend the world of the hallucination and the real world together to give you one cohesive experience. Elements of the hallucination will be on screen as well as elements of the real world, so at times it is very difficult to determine what is from the hallucination and what is not. This was my favorite aspect of the movie, because there were just so many weird images that popped up on screen and it was awesome seeing some of them for the first time after reading the book.

My main issue with the film is that with a lack of conflict the movie begins to drag at a certain point. With the book, I felt like I was along for the ride and I was experiencing all of the events first hand because the writing as so detailed. The movie wasn't able to fully capture all of the detail of the book and it was slightly disappointing. Also after watching the Criterion Collection version of the movie, I found out that the movie was originally supposed to be an animated movie. That would have been something magical because there would have been no bounds as to what you could put or animate on screen. Gilliam did the best he could with monetary limitations and working from a script that he wrote in just 10 days. Still turned out to be a pretty good movie overall.

This is a movie that could be classified as an experience. There is something about the movie that just sucks you in and never lets you go. Also after seeing this film, I am fairly certain I will never try and drugs that they did in the movie because it seems like kind of a shitty time. Watch this movie if you want to see the work of a visionary director and the last time that Johnny Depp was bearable. I gave this movie a solid 7/10. It just really wasn't my style of movie.

Wings of Desire

Wings of Desire is one of the first real art house movies that I have actually sat down to watch to the end. While there is no real main conflict or antagonist in the movie, I was fully engaged the entire time and loved how the story progressed. Wim Wenders is a true visionary and grabs you with the way the movie is shot, as well as the overall story of the film. He uses a new take on angels to bring a fresh and captivating story to the screen.

The angels in the movie are observers of humans and can never really experience emotion and have never been able to physically feel anything before either. The twist is that the angels can renounce their immortality in order to become human and fully experience everything that they have been observing. The mixture of monochrome color and full color is also a great way to shoot the movie. When the main character, Damiel, is in his angel form the screen is in black and white. Later, the movie becomes full color after he becomes human. The use of color is to show how vivid and full of life our world is, even though we might not notice it all the time.

Bruno Ganz is arguably the best part of the film overall. His character, Damiel, is very quiet and reserved when he is an angel but you can see that he longs to experience everything that he has been observing. He longs to love, feel pains, and do things that we find to be arbitrary. For someone who has no idea of what he is going to experience, he is very full of life more so than a lot of the human characters in the movie. His evolution over the course of the film is what really drives the movie and the way he interacts with people after he becomes human is so innocent and sweet. For instance, he stops a man to ask him which colors are which and you can see that he is visibly excited to learn what each color is. Its small moments like this in the movie that let you appreciate the brilliance of both the acting performance and the direction of the movie.

I have only seen two of Wim Wender's catalog of movies, but after seeing this I am really excited to see some of his others. He has a truly unique way of filming a movie and the way he shapes and frames the story is just magnificent. The characters that he creates seem just like normal people and that is what allows the viewers to care about them. They also act rationally and each character is engaging for different reasons. The angel sequences have an almost "dream like" quality to them while the human sequences have really bold and accentuated colors in them. Everything he does in his shots serves a purpose and pushes the narrative forward.

I feel like I should be able to write more about this movie but I feel like it would get a little repetitive. What it comes down to is that this is a magnificent movie and really needs to be seen by everyone. Just keep in mind that 90% of the movie is in German and there are subtitles which might throw some people. Bruno Ganz give an unbelievable performance and his character is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. This is a 9/10 in my opinion and that score will probably go up when I watch it again.

The Grey

The Grey is the best survival horror movie since The Thing. That is saying a lot coming from me considering The Thing is my favorite movie of all time. The reason this movie is so effective is that the situations presented in the movie are literally the nightmare scenarios of anyone who has ever been on a plane. Crashing in the wilderness of Alaska is not really on my list of things to do in my life, that is why I don't fly to places in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Bear Grylls would even be shitting in his pants if he was thrust into this situation. The characters are presented with an almost lose-lose situation, either freeze to death, starve to death, or be eaten by wolves. Those are not exactly glamorous options to choose from. The great thing about the movie is that the characters are presented as real people, not stereotypical characters. In the beginning of the movie, it seems like the director was going to be going the stereotypical route then he changes his mind and makes his characters fully fleshed out human beings.I also helps when you have Liam Neeson to anchor your cast.

Liam Neeson, you are one magnificent bastard. He just dominates this movie in every way. This is the movie that really confirmed the fact that Neeson is one of the best actors in Hollywood, in my mind at least. Everything about his performance is spot on and you see his character's evolution as the movie goes on and its a sight to behold. He is ready to kill himself in the opening moments of the movie and you see as he then protects a group of his coworkers and then finds his will to fight and live by the end of the movie. He has the uncanny ability to make you feel for his character even though you know almost nothing about the character. He just does a great job of playing this broken man who is thrust into this hell-like situation and has to help others and really can't worry about himself. His performance is of the highest quality and he should be in contention for some of the major awards for 2012.

Joe Carnahan is the mastermind behind the whole movie and this was one of the best directing performances I have seen in a while. His direction outclassed most of the movies from 2011 with the exception of a small number of films. It is really hard to believe the guy that directed Smokin' Aces could have made a movie this heartfelt and tense. The movie works so well because there are no wasted scenes, everything that is in the movie serves a purpose. His use of sound is also phenomenal, just watch the plane crash scene in the movie and you will know what I mean. His use of quick motion, shadows, and sound really helps to build most of the tension in the movie. I also personally appreciate the realism shown in the movie. These characters are facing a pack of wolves in one of the harshest environments in the world and they act and react just like normal people would. There are no Hollywood "happy" moments in this movie and there is no cliched ending. The movie comes to a natural end and lets you make your own assumptions as to what follows the last few frames of the movie.

This is the first "must see" January movie since the debut of Cloverfield in my opinion. This is a movie that is worth watching for Neeson's performance alone. Joe Carnahan also gives a career defining directorial performance with this movie. Survival horror movies should strive to be more like this movie because of the way it effortlessly build tension and suspense. This is a 9/10 and you need to go see this movie right now.