Movies – Page 10 – Cinesnark

Gravity: Everything is pointless and we all die alone

I wish I could remember the name of the article, or at least the philosopher who wrote it, but I once read a contemporary philosophical theory about the brain’s role in determining our humanity. Basically the theory goes that humans are obsessed with coincidences, that we define ourselves, as individuals and groups, by stringing together coincidences to create bonds, e.g. “You like the color blue? I like the color blue, too! We’re super best friends.” This is a false construct based on a completely random happenstance but we deem it significant because it gives us a sense of community, to share something that is as inherently individual and arbitrary as one’s personal tastes.Continue reading “Gravity: Everything is pointless and we all die alone”

A Single Shot is a nervy, slow burning thriller

Over the last couple months I have started, in my halting, not-remotely-consistent way, to bring you a selection of reviews for movies that are available on demand (under the “VOD review” tag). I’m tired of people complaining about the state of cinema when it is, in fact, easier than ever to see quality movies, thanks to in-home programming, and to that end, I’m making a point of including reviews of on demand movies. So far it’s been an even spread between pretty great, decent, and really fucking unpleasant, but with A Single Shot, adapted by Matthew F. Jones from his own novel, we can chalk another one up in the “pretty great” category.Continue reading “A Single Shot is a nervy, slow burning thriller”

Best Summer Movie of 2013: The World’s End

In a summer defined by flops, catastrophes, and movies that are counting breaking even as a win—but also a summer that delivered a billion-dollar-plus grand slam that was actually deserving of that success—the summer of 2013 will be remembered as the summer that the studio tent pole started to fail. Not the summer in which it died, that won’t happen until at least 2015, but when we look back this will be the summer we point to and say, “Right there. That’s when audiences got over the blockbuster”. There’s a rush to declare What Went Wrong in summer 2013, so here’s my contribution to that conversation: Blockbuster is not a genre. “Blockbuster” is the title given to a movie so good everyone runs out to see it, regardless of genre.Continue reading “Best Summer Movie of 2013: The World’s End”

Ugh Kick-Ass 2

I really loved Kick-Ass, especially its tween psychopath/heroine Hit Girl and its subversive take on superhero culture. But Kick-Ass 2 was a slog to get through, both boring and inane, and in an unintentionally ironic turn, it glorifies precisely the kind of violence the first movie made so ugly and brutal. Well I suppose it was unintentionally ironic, simply because I cannot imagine someone missing the point of Kick-Ass so badly—it wasn’t exactly subtle. But writer/director Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) failed to see the burning car on the side of the road and drove Kick-Ass 2 directly into the flaming pile of shit before him.Continue reading “Ugh Kick-Ass 2”

Sharlto Copley double feature: Elysium and Europa Report

I adore South African actor Sharlto Copley (District 9). I don’t understand why he isn’t in every movie. I would just cast him in everything and call it a day (wishful thinking: Sharlto Copley for Ant-Man). After a three-year drought following The A-Team, Copley is back with not one but two whole movies this summer: Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 follow-up Elysium and the found-footage sci-fi thriller Europa Report (now available on demand). I decided to make a double feature of it because they’re both sci-fi movies starring Sharlto Copley. Short review: Yes to both but manage your expectations going in.Continue reading “Sharlto Copley double feature: Elysium and Europa Report”

Blackfish: Portrait of a (serial) killer whale

Early childhood dislocation trauma.

Routine child abuse.

Repeated victim of bullying.

Dissociative social disorders and anti-social behaviors.

Trauma-induced psychosis.

What does that sound like?

If you said, “The common background factors of serial killers, spree killers and school shooters everywhere,” you would be correct. You would also be correct if you answered, “The life of Tilikum, a captive orca.”Continue reading “Blackfish: Portrait of a (serial) killer whale”

2 Guns is forgettable junk-food cinema

There is only one thing that offends me in cinema. I mean really, just one thing. I might not like a movie, I may even outright hate it, but the only thing that really offends me is a film that is utterly, completely forgettable—the kind of junk-food filmmaking that consumes time and brain activity and returns absolutely nothing. 2 Guns, the new movie from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband), is both horribly mediocre and shamelessly pandering, and even just hours after seeing it I can barely remember anything about it except that I’m annoyed that I wasted my time.

This is the worst kind of movie to review because it’s just decent enough on a filmmaking level that I can’t complain about technicalities. This is a proficient film, competently made, that meets all the basic requirements of a visual medium. It isn’t headache-inducing, the action is easy enough to follow, there are no inexplicable camera techniques like Dutch angles or ramping to unnecessarily confuse the eye, and it’s mercilessly light on shaky cam. But nothing about how 2 Guns was made is ever any better than just “good enough”. At every level it’s the barest minimum of functional and no more, and that goes for the acting and writing, too.Continue reading “2 Guns is forgettable junk-food cinema”