Reel Time: Episode 8

We somehow made it work with five total guests this week. Joining us were Deepayan Sengupta and Christopher Misch from NextProjection.com in what was ultimately one of the best show's we've had. Other than our usual offerings, we spoke at length about the teaser for David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," as well as Pirates 4 and Kung-Fu Panda 2. Lastly, we reviewed this weekend's box-office champ "The Hangover Part II." Here is a non-iTunes link, enjoy!

The Hangover Part II

"The Hangover Part II"
Starring: Bradley Coopey, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Paul Giamatti, Mason Lee
Directed by: Todd Phillips
102 minutes
2011/USA

Someone wiser than me once said that the best brand of humor is the kind a person or a collective group can look at, and find some identifiable truth to. It's been several hours since I've left a packed theater, to have found myself cheated for a meager $10 that I spent to view Todd Phillips' disastrously bad sequel to The Hangover. Is it the worst thing I've ever seen? certainly not. Is it the worst thing playing at your nearest theater, probably so.

Sole blame falls directly on director Todd Phillips' shoulders. This will make obscene amounts of money for the studio and perhaps pave the way for one last film to round out a trilogy, but the laziness on display here is nothing to shrug off. One can understand not deviating too far from the original film, but this film is literally the same damn thing we saw two years ago, but only worse.

Ten minutes into this and you're already itching to get the hell out of the cineplex. I'll be honest, the first film had a semi-interesting, mildly cliche way about itself, one that seems partially tolerable after viewing this stinker. As with most comedies, once you've seen the trailer, you've seen the entire movie. Except the audience I saw this with acted like they'd never seen the trailer, laughing at the most tasteless and obvious jokes that a screenwriter could muster. It gets worse, the film relies on penis jokes to garner its laughs, ho-hum. This is basically how it plays out for the film's 100 minute runtime, which feels much longer than it is. They've once again managed to save the raunchiest and wildest laughs for the end credits, why does anyone think this is still a good idea?

The film doesn't even try to throw a different scenario at its audience. One can almost see the producers and actors of the film grinning ear to ear when they heard it would take place in Bangkok, a nice paycheck and beautiful weather for everyone involved, they apparently forgot to make an entertaining movie as well.  I wasn't smiling, or was even slightly amused at how vanilla this all seems, once again. Everyone is going through the motions here. Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis are again the main attractions, with their buddy played Doug by Justin Bartha pushed to the side. Why not include him more in this sequel? Apparently there's no room for a level-headed guy in the midst of all the shenanigans. Bartha should feel honored to not be subjected to such low-level gags.

In terms of extra faces and characters, Ken Jeong is featured more here as Chang, a seedy Chinamen with a pension for referring to people as "bitches" and "niggers," yawn. Paul Giamatti shows up as Kingsley, a mysterious businessman with an agenda, strictly a throwaway role for him. There is also the character of Teddy, Stu's soon to be brother in law who goes missing and serves as a pawn to move the story along. He's a straight-laced Stanford student who Galafianakis' Alan immediately dislikes. The first third of the film is dedicated to Alan's so called "brand of humor," his man-child frame and mindset immediately comes across as stale and uninspired. In certain areas it's obvious that the actors aren't having much fun here. Can't imagine this is the most ambitious comedy that they've ever done, look and act bewildered for 100 minutes, go home and do it all again the next day.

The Hangover Part II represents a giant middle finger to anyone who expected honest laughs and escapism for a few hours. It's tiring and forgettable, and I'm just relieved that I can now get it out of my system. I have a feeling that smart, mainstream movie-goers will see right through the film and hold it in the same contempt that I do, but I've been wrong before.

Grade: 1.5/5

Reel Time: Episode 7

We each managed to dodge the new Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and ended up talking about more about the Cannes film festival, and what we've been watching outside of the theater. Mark Mullicane and I also reviewed Kelly Reichardt's new film, "Meek's Cutoff." Here is a non-iTunes link, enjoy!

Meek's Cutoff

"Meek's Cutoff"

Starring: Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Shirley Henderson

Directed by: Kelly Reichardt

104 minutes

2010/USA

Director Kelly Reichardt is a filmmaker that is well known for executing her vision with a certain amount of palpable fervor and conviction. However minimal her films are, Reichardt's best efforts examine the underbelly of a fractured Americana. Reichardt's latest effort is a revisionist Western that follows a group of settlers through the Oregon desert in 1845 while they're frequently pit against harsh conditions. 

For all of its stunning photography, and the willingness of the cast, I found myself having a tough time grappling with this film. To be fair, the aspect ratio of the screen in my cinema was oddly condensed, I even marched up to the concession stand during the trailers to see if this could be corrected, but no such luck. It should be noted that Meek's probably shouldn't have been screened in such a candy ass format that the theater is obviously content with. While the film is sparse in dialogue, Reichardt's latest is a gorgeous film to look at, one that includes countless wide-shots of the dry and unforgiving terrain that the characters are set against. It's in this restrained approach that the film either works for you or doesn't. I generally find myself on-board with Reichardt's vision, but Meek's played itself out on a level that wasn't particularly agreeable with me. 

It's way more claustrophobic in tone than Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy, which I prefer to this. This is Reichardt's first stab at genre, a term which has to be handled loosely here, since this is not a traditional Western. While there in no conventional narrative at work here, Reichardt has a vice-grip hold on the proceedings throughout. She is both a traditional storyteller and one of the most influential female directors working today. Meek's seems to be labeled as a small little vehicle for Michelle Williams to show off her talents, but the rest of the cast, mostly well known character actors, are showcased in the film as well. Williams' strong-willed Emily Tetherow is the catalyst for most of the social proceedings and the embedded commentary that the film contains. Also joining her are husband Soloman, played by Will Patton, the delusional Stephen Meek, played by a densely bearded Bruce Greenwood, and also the likes of Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, and Shirley Henderson. 

We first meet the travelers at a point where all hasn't been lost yet. Their search for water and land is becoming more desirable and increasingly disheartening as the film slogs along. The journey plays as grueling and tiresome to the characters and the audience, and this is just the point, Reichardt places us in that specific perspective which feels draining, but not entirely realized. Stephen Meek is the contracted escort of the group,  a man that tries to portray a sense of bravado that never quite seems genuine in the eyes of the settlers. Throughout the journey, his efforts and guidance are often thwarted by the evident truth that he isn't very good at what he does. The foreboding score adds to the notion that bad things lie ahead. Reichardt concentrates more on the smaller activities and lifelike characteristics that these characters would invoke in that certain period. 

Meek's Cutoff has already been singled out as a successful gem, and another notch on Reichardt's career belt, but despite the unique vision and the cinematography by Chris Blauvelt, this feels to me at least like a minor effort from Reichardt. I'd be tempted to re-visit this on blu-ray where the aspect ration would be completely intact, but for now Meek's represents a nice little departure for its filmmaker, and nothing more. 

Grade: 3/5

Reel Time: Episode 6

We cover the standard bases once again, but Derin, Andrew, myself, and new guest Deepayan Sengupta get into some Cannes film festival talk, as well as an update on Paul Thomas Anderson's film The Master. Andrew and Derin compared notes on Hesher, and lastly, we reviewed Bridesmaids, this week's new release. Here's a non-iTunes link, enjoy!

Bridesmaids

"Bridesmaids"
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd
Directed by: Paul Feig
125 minutes
2011/USA

The truth about Bridesmaids, another raunchy comedy plucked from the Judd Apatow assembly line, is that it generally works solely based on its humor, and female targeted Hangoverish appeal. What makes this a better film than The Hangover, is that it's at least grounded and based in some sort of identifiable reality. If you've seen the trailer, you know what you're in for. The film mostly follows a group of rag-tag females as they prepare to send their best friend Lillian (Rudolph) off into matrimony. The film presents a laundry list of comedic situations, some less juvenile and profane than others, but for the most part they hit their mark.

The real star here is Kristen Wiig as Annie, whose life is stuck in some sort of catastrophic limbo due to her past bakery business going under, and the failure of her current suitor played by Jon Hamm, to recognize her as anything more than a sex-buddy. Wiig has made her name on SNL as probably the most consistent comic  on the show in the last five years or so. Now, it appears as though Wiig can probably ditch SNL, and make the transition into doing more films. She's plenty good here, equipped with her usual awkward and deadpan shtick, she manages to propel this into an above average film.

Along for the ride are the other four bridesmaids. Most notable is the obnoxious and rather blunt Megan, played by Melissa McCarthy. She fills the Zach Galifianakis hangover role, but her character isn't as crass or severely off the radar as Allan from The Hangover. McCarthy's character actually has a brain, and functions as something more than a female "man-child." I suppose Rose Byrne would have to be placed in the villainous role, although she's hardly menacing. The central aspect of the film is the tug-of-war between Annie and Byrne's character Helen to win over Lillian. Yeah, what do we care right? The film actually takes some time to humanize Helen, quite possibly too late into the film, but at least it's there for us.

Bridesmaids carries on way too long, clocking in at a little over two hours. I'd venture to say that 65-70 % of the gags work, while the others feel out of place and tacked on. There are many things that I'd cut out, possibly Annie's interactions with her mother, and some of the roommate stuff. Other than Jon Hamm, there's another love interest throw in. Chris O'Dowd plays Rhodes, a semi-charming and overall decent guy who weaves in and out of the film, mainly to show Annie how she could have a good man and an respectable lifestyle if she would just smarten up.

For a film like this to work, you have to have a likable cast, and an appealing lead character. Wiig, Rudolph, Byrne, Hamm, etc all fit the bill here, and judging from my screening of about 25 people, Bridesmaids should play very well for young and old audiences. While the raunchiness is toned down toward the final segments of the film, the script does start to focus more on "life kicking the shit out of you" if you let it mentality. This idea of personal struggle, maturity, and friendship may not seem authentic to others, but I appreciate Bridesmaids for at least incorporating it in an above average, yet slightly watered down manner.

Grade: 3.5/5

Reel Time: Episode 5

The usual trio is joined by Mark Mullicane in our fifth episode. We discuss Nicolas Winding Refn’s film Drive, the casting of Will Smith in Django Unchained, more Tree of Life, and the trailer for Martha Marcy May Marlene. Lastly, we discussed Blue Valentine before it hits the streets on Tuesday, and we reviewed Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Here is a non-iTunes link

Reel Time: Episode 4

As we near closer and closer to the Summer film season, Derin, Andrew, and myself ramble on about Deathly Hallows pt. 2, 3-D, and the curious case of The Tree of Life. Finally, we reviewed James Gunn's latest film Super. It was a laid back show, but there was plenty to talk about. Here is a non-iTunes link.

5 best films seen in April

Films seen: 13

Red Desert (Antonioni, 1964)

Talk to Her (Almodovar, 2002)

8 1/2 (Fellini, 1963)

Mildred Pierce (Haynes, 2011)

Hanna (Wright, 2011)