Movie Review: Inside Out (2015)

Looking back on the early days of the blog, I realized that I haven't reviewed a single Pixar film. That being said, here is the newest in the success of Pixar, Inside Out. Inside Out is a movie about this girl named Riley. She has just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco and is adjusting to the new life, while also dealing with the more difficult aspects of that life. Now what's interesting about this movie is that this is the first time that Pixar has had a teenage protagonist. Usually the teenagers are either the antagonists (Syndrome from The Incredibles) or they are the characters that are on the side. Never before have we seen this age adapted as the main focus. Right there I knew the film had potential. As Riley goes through her everyday life, we meet five different emotions that live inside her head. Joy, sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Now these characters are really interesting people, all of them, and I can't help but feel like the movie is almost more about the actual emotions then Riley's story. I'm not going to say much more about the plot because going into this movie I was not informed of it, which made it more engaging to see. Now this movie, being all about our human emotions, does have some really smart ways of showing emotions. Again, I'm going to be vague, but when we think about our own memories, we can relate to what the film is saying. This movie is brilliant, not just in the way it tells it's story line, but in the way it's animated. I saw this in 2D and the animation was still very impressive. Overall folks, Inside Out is fun, good at connecting with the viewer, and tells us that Pixar has not lost it's gift for good filmmaking. Three stars.

Movie Review: Panic Room (2002)

The fourth David Fincher review gets me talking about a movie that I feel is criminally underrated. Panic Room is a 2002 thriller film starring Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, and Kristen Stewart. The movie revolves around Jodie Foster as the mom of Kristen Stewart's character. Her husband has recently separated from her and so they move into this new house which happens to have a panic room. Kristen Stewart's character is a diabetic, which is more important later on in the story. Basically on their first night in the new home, these three crooks break into the house and are searching for money. The money ends up being in the panic room, which is where Foster and Stewart's character retreat to after the break-in. When I said this movie was underrated, I was 100 percent serious. I don't understand how this movie fell through the cracks. What makes this movie so great are really three things. The first thing is Jodie Foster. I love Jodie Foster's talents as an actress. I think she is extremely gifted and can adapt to pretty much any role. Whether it be an FBI agent or a feral women in the middle of the woods, she never lets down anyone with her acting. In this movie, the way she reacts and panics to the break in is so perfect because it rubs against Stewart's performance so well. The second thing I love about this movie is how there are few scenes before and after the break-in. In other words, this movie isn't slow getting to the good scenes, and doesn't delay long after. Now for the third thing I'm not really going to spoil anything, but I'll be pretty general. In the end of this film, one of the characters is left in a condition where we don't know whether or not he lives or dies. That's what makes this movie complete. We don't get a lot of information after the showdown with the criminals at the house. From the movie itself, it is extremely hard and maybe even nearly impossible to figure out what happens to this character. Keeping in mind no spoilers. Overall, Panic Room is a great movie that may be one of David Fincher's best and possibly and favorite of mine. Three stars.

Movie Review: Fight Club (1999)

The third David Fincher review gets me talking about a movie that contains one of the most memorable movie endings of all time. Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter as the main characters in this movie. The movie follows Norton as he plays a guy who basically has lost all interest in his life. His life is shown as consisting of catalog items and boring co-workers and bosses. This guy is pretty much having a midlife chrises.. Then he meets Helena Bonham Carter. She's interesting because she is pretty much going through the same thing that Edward Norton's character is. Norton then also meets Tyler Durden. If I'm not spelling that right, please forgive this. Tyler is played by Brad Pitt and he is literally the very thing that makes this film work. There are a lot of things that make this film work, but without Tyler we wouldn't have been introduced to such a memorable role in a movie then we are. Tyler and Edward Norton's character (Norton's character lacks such things as a name) begin working together to produce soap. They also come together to make something called Fight Club. The idea is this organization where people beat each other to a pulp in order to rid themselves of certain stress. Fight Club itself escalates to a level where we see characters fighting each other who don't even have all that much stress. What makes this movie so unique and interesting is that it tries really hard to be cool. Everything in the film is cool: The visuals, editing, characters. All of those things are cool things. That's why this movie was really so well received, it's just a cool experience to go into. Now I want to spoil the end, but won't because it is one of the most memorable movie endings in cinema history. So due us all a favor and see this movie. I will say one thing that could be changed in the film. That's the style over substance theory. This movie has lots of style visually. It's a complex film partly because we have to follow the cuts in between scenes. However, there are several parts in this movie that the story isn't engaging as it was when introduced. It's a cool idea to think about, but it slows down and stops keeping your attention. That's why I think this movie only was given two stars. It replaces the look over what's on the inside. A good movie will have a good story first and then look good. Not the other way around. Overall, Fight Club is a visually stunning David Fincher film and made it's mark in hollywood by having an ending that was just as controversially received as the violence in the movie. Two stars.

Movie Review: The Game (1997)

Alright, as I said before on the blog, here is the second review of a David Fincher movie......The Game. Now The Game is a Fincher film that I feel doesn't always get the recognition that it deserves. It revolves around an investment banker named Nicholos Van Orton (Michael Douglas) who's brother gives him a birthday present which is a gift-card thing to a business called CRS. He goes to use the card, and the business takes over his entire world and tries to murder him on various ocassions. Now to compare this movie to Seven (SE7EN) would be fairly hard because this film doesn't really have that feeling to it. Seven was a movie in which we watched things constantly unfold. And yeah in this movie we do see things constantly unfold, but they are through the introduction of new characters and settings. Seven was a story that was revealed through one location and one storyline that involved one character as a serial killer. Now this movie is REALLY entertaining. Especially that scene where he has to jump over those dogs that are kept up in those yards. This movie never gets boring. We always want to know what happens next. Now one of the things that this movie does really well, is it blurred the line between dream world and reality. Almost like that of Christopher Nolan's Inception. Although The Game is far less intricate and deep as Inception. Now what do I like about this movie? Well, everything I just listed are things that I like about this movie. One other thing that I like, and this only comes up once or twice in the film, is how the movie switches genres through the traps that CRS throws at Douglas's character. It's scary when the clown is found in the driveway, which makes it a horror movie. Then it's an action movie when we have all those chase episodes. Then, it switches to a mystery movie as Nicholos Van Orton tries to figure out what CRS is really about. Overall, The Game is a good movie despite the fact that it gets a tad too long in the end. Three stars.

Movie Review: Seven (1995)

Being a fan of Chris Stuckmann on YouTube, I was inspired to review the works of David Fincher. Keep in mind, this may not be in chronological order of how they were released because I actually still have to watch some of his movies. However, Seven is one that I have now seen 2x and am ready to review and talk about. Looking back on Seven, there are some things that I think do work in the movie, and those that don't. Now I am well aware that this movie is considered to be one of the best horror movies ever made. I get where people are coming from. This movie has awesome shots to it, great acting, and a storyline that ends as disturbingly as it began. The film revolves around two detectives. Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) and Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman). Somerset is this detective who is on his last week of being on the duty. He is assisted by a newbie named David Mills. What case do they get? These two guys have to track down a serial killer who murders people using the seven deadly sins. Most of this movie is them solving the case by looking at the aftermath of these crimes. Actually, except for some select scenes, the whole movie revolves around solving the crime. That's one of the problems with this movie, there is virtually not a subplot or sub-story. Everything shown has to do with this case. It's almost like as if this were an episode of one of those reality TV shows and they edit out when the detectives take a break and get a beer. They edit those types of scenes out because they aren't relevant to the story. Here's the thing; that's television and this is a feature film. One of the other things that this movie could have done a lot better is not create a scene for every crime that is made. Everytime the serial killer murders someone, we have to see Somerset and Det. David Mills find the aftermath and talk about it while this disturbing set lies beneath them. Now do I dislike this movie? Not in any shape, form, way. However, there are major flaws in the storyline that prevent a viewer from getting a great thriller movie. Now onto the positives. David Fincher wasn't as well known when this first came out. That being the case, this movie introduced people to how David Fincher uses setting to convey tone. In the last scene of the film, Pitt, Morgan, and the Spacey serial killer (no pun intended) are driven to what seems like the middle of nowhere. The background and the enviornment is so gloomy and dark and creepy that we know something bad is going to happen. It's foreshadowing through the use of the camera. That's smart film making strategies there. Another thing I always enjoy with this movie is the level of creeps it gives me. This is one of the few movies that I can say have actually given me the creeps. The trap with the sloth terrified me. As well as the hair sticking out of the deliver box (No Spoilers..) Overall, Seven is a very good movie for a David Fincher movie. However, it could have had more to it. What it doesn't have detracts from the value of the film. 2.5 stars.

Movie Review: From Dusk till Dawn (1996)

Summer's almost here and I thought I'd review a movie that doesn't have so much to analyze, but something that I consider fun and super entertaining. From Dusk till Dawn is a 1996 film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. Now from the first scenes in this movie till the beginning of the ending piece, I was hooked. It's a really interesting story. Basically Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney are these two bad guys called the Gecko brothers. They take this family hostage that consists of Juliette Lewis, Harvey Keitel, and this one other kid who wasn't all that great in the movie. Then they take the family hostage and they end up at this bar that is run by vampires. They get to the bar and they find out that the place that they've entered is really bizzare. Now let me just say, I like the scenes in the bar, they are good. However, the scene ends in violence (No spoilers) and the violence isn't like the usual entertaining Tarantino violent scenes. The violence is like that of Aliens in which the violence actually can be seen as being sort of slow and delayed. Now it's not too delayed  in this movie, but you get the picture. What do I like about this movie? All of the actors are really intense and into it. Accept for the one Asian kid who's part of Harvey K's family. I don't hate him as an actor, but he doesn't add anything to the story. Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis are both actors and actresses who really add stuff to the content they do. One of the things in this movie that is very apparent is the fact that Quentin Tarantino sort of acts like his real life self in this film. It goes back and forth, he is intense and then he's himself. It's just weird. Had the scene in the bar been a little shorter, than this would be a really perfectly executed movie. Overall, From Dusk till Dawn is gruesome, violent, and wildly entertaining. 2.5 stars