'The Road' Review

I had the privilege of seeing John Hillcoat's "The Road" this past Sunday evening at the Fargo Theatre with my lovely girlfriend, Allegra. :) Hillcoat's version of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptical tale of survival was a truly breathtaking film. The story follows a man and his son as they trek across a dead America, pushing a shopping cart filled with their belongings across a land which has been long since ravaged by nuclear fall outs or other disasters. As the pair make there way across the treacherous landscape, they are constantly plagued by troublesome travelers, bad weather, poor clothes...and other things. I won't give away the ending, but this film really is beautiful in a terrible, gray, dead kind of way. Viggo Mortensen gives the performance of his career, although I feel they could have done slightly better with the casting of the boy. This is my favorite book, and they did a pretty good job adapting it for the screen, despite a few minor setbacks. Stars Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-Mcphee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce. Currently showing at the Fargo Theatre in downtown Fargo. Classic. Chow.

'The Blind Side' Review

In John Lee Hancock's adaptation of the true story of Michael Oher, Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron deliver power house performances in the leading roles of Oher and the loving Leigh Anne Tuohy who so lovingly takes him in off the streets. I'm crunched for time right now, so I won't give you a full synopsis. However, I do have time to say that this movie was truly phenomenal and will make your spirit smile. The cast is fantastic and so is the script. If you have a chance, grab a loved one and head to the theatre for this gem, even if everyone else you know has seen it and is heading to Avater or Sherlock Holmes. This one's worth the 10 bucks, straight up.

JFD

(500) Days of Summer Review

The movies are just getting better and better the colder it gets.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Tom Hanson, a young gift card designer who believes he will never truly be happy until the day he meets "the one". "The one" (he thinks) turns out to be Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), a coworker he meets in the elevator. Basically, we are spun around and around the time which passes since the day he first meets her to the time he....well....see the film. Throughout this time we are shown a cleverly crafted portrait of a relationship which plays out unlike anything I've ever really seen. Sorry, this review is kind vague and uninformative but it's a really clever, cute, and worth your time so GO SEE IT!

Rated PG-13 for sexual material and language.
1 hour 45 minutes.

PEACE.

JFD

'Inglorious Basterds' Movie Review

First and foremost, I have a confession to make.

Before seeing Inglorious Basterds, I had never seen a Quentin Tarentino film.

But I must say, here is yet another real summer gem. Tarentino's latest grotesque dramady follows several different story lines which intertwine and then smash together in a terrific cresendo.

Story line 1: Lt. Aldo Raine leads a small band of Jewish-American soldiers into France. The group is disguised as civilians but are on a mission to do "one thing and one thing only....killing Nazis." Leaving a trail of dismembered and disemboweled german bodies in their wake, word of the guerilla-style killers spreads quickly through the German Ranks, striking fear into all (Well, almost all. Those who are brave enough to die for their country....well, do just that).

Story line 2: Introduced at the very beginning of the movie is german gestapo officer Col. Hans Landa, chillingly and masterfully played here by Christoph Walz. Landa is very clearly recognized as the villain in the picture during the first scene of the film (and possibly the best scene of the movie. Let's just say Landa's 15 min interrogation of a French farmer suspected of hiding Jews makes you feel just a tad or more so uncomfortable; as if you yourself are hiding for your life.)

Story line 3: A young French girl, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) is the only remaining survivor after her family is massacred by the Germans. She runs a cinema and quickly catches the eye of Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl), a german war hero turned movie star by his rising celebrity. Through Zoller's nagging and persistent pursuit of Shosanna, the massive German film Premiere of Zoller's film (attended by all of the top members of the Third Reich) gets a convenient venue switch to Shosanna's much smaller theatre, making the event more exclusive.

Told throughout several literal titled chapters, the film is divided into several sections, each paying tribute to a slightly different film style, a dynamic I found to be very interesting and effective.

Without giving too much away, the three story lines quickly and masterfully intertwine in a complicated yet intriguing tangle of suspense, mystery and dark comedy and eventually ends with a...well....bang. Although Tarentino actually changes the end of WWII drastically in the end, something you would expect to frown upon, one leaves the theatre with a certain smug and almost comedic satisfaction, almost wishing the story were true.

Rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.

Running time 152 minutes.

'Moon' Movie Review

Science fiction is back baby.

Yet another outstanding science fiction film has come in the form of Sam Rockwell mining Helium-3 on the moon. In this spacious and yet compelling drama from Duncan Jones, Sam Bell (Rockwell) is on a three year mining contract, trolling the surface of the moon for Helium-3, Earth's newest and most powerful source of energy originating in sunlight which has become trapped in the moon's ashy soil.

Over the course of his 3 year contract (which is only two weeks away from completion), Sam has operated the mining station on the moon. He is even accompanied through the years by an artificial personality named Gerty (voiced masterfully here by the one...the only....Kevin Spacey) to keep him company. The exchanges between Sam and Gerty are a real gem, being often comical and are illustrated quirkily by Gerty's simple yet transforming 'smily' face personality.

The film really gets going, well, starts making you think anyway, when Sam discovers another version of himself in a wrecked moon rover. I won't reveal how he got there, but it's pretty out there.

Basically, the two Sam's get to know each other pretty fast (as they are the same person...freaky right?)

One package of vacuum-sealed food leads to another, and soon the Sams discover a terrible truth aboard the mining station that changes their entire perception of who they are, what they are, and how they see the world.

Sorry if that gives too much away or seems like a spoiler, or is simply a short review, but you should see the film.

Rating: R 97 Minutes
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell

Fri 5:30, 7:30, 9:30
Sat & Sun 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30
Mon-Thurs 5:30, 7:30, 9:30

Peace.

The Ginger Critic

Why District 9 is the best movie of the summer.

Last night I went to the midnight showing of District 9, the new underground science fiction film from Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson. I went with a bunch of guys expecting something a little different, having obtained that it would be a somewhat "Cloverfield-like" experience judging from the viral advertising campaign and crazy posters which manage to show up everywhere from bus stops to schools, movie theatres, etc.

That being said, I still had no idea what I was in for.

I sat down, and for 152 minutes I was completely riveted to the screen (we're talking literal rivets here). It was simply breathtaking.

Blomkamp's goal was to make a movie as far away from anything Hollywood as possible.

He did just that. And was unbelievable.

Here are just a few of the highlights which made this film so so so excellent...

1. First and foremost, the performance by newcomer Sharlto Copley is tremendous. I know an Oscar nod would seem a little far fetched but....seriously people, this guy is unreal, and a virtual unknown. Known for his improv skills, Copley improvs most of the movie. Which again is absolutely breathtaking.

2. Jackson's host of designers at Weta Workshop (The Folks behind LOTR) have created yet another breathtaking species in the PRAWN aliens which are totally believable in the most insane yet fantastical ways.

3. Jackson and Blomkamp were originally going to make a Halo movie but it was lost in a studio power struggle. However, let's just say there are definitely aspects from the Halo universe which make eery cameos (namely the PRAWN weaponry and some of the outstanding camerawork).

4. This is going to sound really sick or something, but I've never seen better violence in a movie. I will warn you, it is some of the most brutal if not the most brutal gore/violence I've ever seen in any film. It makes you scream, laugh, hold your throat, clap, cheer, and simply gape, all in the same 5 min. But: REVOLUTIONARY.

5. I felt like I was on a ride at Disney world which had somehow derailed, crashed through a star trek set, and plunged into the heart of South Africa. You found yourself yelling at the screen and your friends.

HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE.

It takes you to the edge of your seat, and then throws you back again. Over. And over. And over.

Please see this film.

It's worth it.

Rated R for extreme graphic creature and human violence and gore and explicit language throughout.

Peace.

The Ginger Critic

New Movie Reviews Blog!

Hey all.

After receiving lots of positive feedback about my reviews on Facebook, I decided to make a separate blog for my movie musings. Most of you probably just linked here from Facebook which is fine and that's what I expected.

PEACE.