A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Roman Coppola [IMDB]

A movie starring Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Patricia Arquette and directed by Roman Coppola... sign me up.

Synopsis: Charles Swan is overly imaginative designer whose girlfriend dumps him and his life starts to spiral out of control.

I saw the trailer for this back in November and it piqued my interest. It reminded me of a Wes Anderson film (who Coppola has teamed up with numerous times) but trailers can be misleading. This definitely has that Anderson feel, only not as effective. Visually Charles Swan has some cool moments but not enough to keep it afloat. I found myself starting to tune out around the 45 minute mark and everything became mildly interesting. There's not a strong story here either, it's more a series of made up events that weave in and out of a break up. Everyone does a swell job, but nothing stood out as amazing or note worthy. With the people involved I excepted a lot more.

It's in limited release and also available for early screenings on video on demand. I will say if you like the people involved check it out, maybe you'll find something I missed.

Last Days Here

Last Days Here
(2012) [Trailer]
Directors: Don Argott [IMDB], Demian Fenton [IMDB]

I consider myself a fan of Pentagram and have listened to their music since my early twenties. They were influential in the metal scene but widely unknown outside it. Well, turns out there's a pretty interesting story about the group that's waiting to be told and Last Days Here is the film to do it.

Synopsis: A documentary about Pentagram's lead singer Bobby Liebling's struggle to overcome drug addiction and get out of his parents basement.

This is definitely a killer documentary and even if you've never heard of Pentagram, you'll enjoy it. It's overly revealing and basically shows a man on his deathbed made from drugs. This a  very personal doc that takes you into Bobby's parent's basement and shows you just how fucked up someone's life can become. It does get into the talking head's point of view on Pentagram and how awesome they were, but it doesn't take too much time indulging in that. Instead, Last Days Here focuses on the present and how Bobby turned out. Will he clean his shit up and make something of himself, or will he deteriorate in his house? I won't spoil it for you, but trust me, it's worth your time to find out.

If you subscribe to Netflix, it's on instant view and available now, so get on it.

Mama

Mama
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Andrés Muschietti [IMDB]

I've been looking forward to Mama for awhile now. I'm a fan of Guillermo Del Toro and when I saw he was producing a new horror flick with Jessica Chastain, it peaked my interest. Then I saw the trailer and was sold.

Synopsis: Two little girls are left in a cabin in the woods by their crazy father. They spend the next 5 years by themselves... or did they have company?

Mama is a pretty terrifying film. It's loaded with jump scares and arm hair raising moments. Although he didn't direct, you could definitely see Del Toro's influence in the effects department, especially with Mama ghost thingy. The little girls were creepy and helped add to the horror of Mama. Jessica Chastain was good and the guy from Games of Throne was alright too.

The ending was a little whimsical and I felt like it could have been better. It was serviceable, but I wished it would have be darker and more messed up. Either way... it didn't ruin it for me. Go see Mama if you're in the mood for a nice wholesome family movie.

This is 40

This Is 40
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Judd Apatow [IMDB]

A comedy about turning 40 from Judd Apatow... what could go wrong? I would consider myself a fan of Mr. Apatow. I really enjoyed Freaks and Geeks, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Knocked Up... so I was interested in checking this out.

Synopsis: Two minor characters from Knocked Up get their chance in the spotlight as we navigate through what it's like to be 40 in their eyes.

This barely beats out Les Mis as worst film of 2012. This is 40, should be titled This is Bad... I know, I know.. that was a shitty joke, kind of like the majority of this film. This is 40 is jammed pack with pop culture references... iPads, iPhones, Facebook, LOST, Twitter, Spotify and god knows what else. It got really obnoxious, especially the LOST references. The little girls are the worst... the older one having a meltdown at her closest was cringe worthy and the younger one is obviously speaking lines written by someone in their 40's. There's is so much unrealistic stuff written into this film that bothered me immensely and I'm not sure why. Normally I have no problem suspending disbelief, but because this is set in the real world I guess couldn't look past things. For example, Paul Rudd walking up to his wife and admitting that he was looking up a chick's skirt... and she isn't wearing panties... please. There is also not a lot that happens with the story and it's extremely inflated... this movie did not need to be 2 hours and 15 minutes.

This is a pretty big disappointment and I'd definitely pass on it.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: David O'Russell [IMDB]

I have a few friends who think this movie is the best thing since sliced bread, so I was pretty excited to see it. I really like David O'Russell's films and this was a title I wanted to try and get in before the end of the year... for the possibly of making my "Best of 2012" list, but alas... I could not.

Synopsis: Bradley Cooper comes home to Philly after a stay at the mental hospital and befriends Jennifer Lawrence who also has some problems of her own.

While I enjoyed SLP a lot, I didn't think it was top 10 material, maybe top 20. The cast is great and I thought everyone was really awesome in it... it was also nice to see Smokey back on the big screen. It's also an extremely well written film and the execution is top notch. I felt like there were some believability issues, especially with his doctor. I also thought the film was really predictable which kinda of made the ending seem a little lack luster. The scene where Lawrence wins the family over by making this bet to help get them out of debt didn't work for me and it felt cheesy. I know it may seem like I'm coming down hard on Silver Linings Playback, but honestly there was way more good than bad, I guess I had huge expectations.

This is the kind of movie that has strong re-watch potential, as I feel with most O'Russell films, so I'll probably pick it up on blu-ray at some point. I'd definitely recommend it, even with it's flaws. Just like the movie goes: none of us are perfect-- we all have our flaws, but still we're worth it.... or something like that.