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11 articles
World War Z | Review
21 June 2013 9:13 AM, PDT
It's just another day in Philadelphia and Gerry (Brad Pitt) is up early making breakfast for daughters Constance (Sterling Jerins) and Rachel (Abigail Hargrove), with wife Karin (Mireille Enos) making chit-chat to help everyone through the first few scenes. Cut to downtown Philly: Gerry and family going...somewhere. Suddenly all hell breaks loose and it's a zombie apocalypse! Your typical dimwit American family would quickly fall victim to the cravings of the undead, but this is no ordinary family, and come on, the dad is Brad Pitt! Not only that, Brad...I mean Gerry, is ex-un, as in United Nations! You see, Gerry is no stranger to the mechanics of chaos, in fact, Gerry has kicked the ass of chaos a number of times, and while a zombie apocalypse ain't no love-in, Gerry will make due with a gun, handmade bayonet, armor constructed from magazines, and sex appeal. Oh, he »
- Dirk Sonniksen
Four Dogs | Review - La Film Fest 2013
20 June 2013 2:22 PM, PDT
Oliver (Oliver Cooper) is a struggling actor who lives with his aunt (Rebecca Goldstein) in Encino, California. Actually, Oliver is taking a break from acting, spending his days smoking weed in his aunt's house while she flies around the world as an airline attendant. It seems as though the only way he legitimizes his free room and board is by taking care of his aunt's four dogs while she is away; otherwise, Oliver is just a lazy, twentysomething slacker, caste in the mold of Jonah Hill. Lonely and secluded in suburbia, Oliver creates a strange array of characters to entertain himself, essentially developing his own invisible friends. Oliver's only real friend, Dan (Dan Bakkedahl), is twice his age. They met a while ago in acting school, though neither one of them seems to understand why they are friends. Misery loves company, I guess; or maybe misery just enjoys having a »
- Don Simpson
Forev | Review - La Film Fest 2013
20 June 2013 1:13 PM, PDT
Sophia (Noël Wells) is the type of girl who drunkenly brings random guys home to her apartment with the naive hope that it will be the beginning of a beautiful long-term relationship. Her neighbor Pete (Matt Mider) is socially awkward computer support technician who works from home, therefore he rarely leaves his apartment, hence he is hopelessly single. Sophia and Pete are friendly neighbors who spontaneously find themselves engaged to be married. (Nope, she isn't even preggers!) They go on a road trip across the Southwest to pick up Pete's sister (Amanda Bauer) from college. Mayhem ensues, as the trip puts their [non]relationship to the test... Forev is a somewhat typical, yet smartly written, rom-com that quickly evolves into a quirky road movie which contemplates the meaning and significance of marriage in our modern world and whether or not dating (or sex, for that matter) should be a required precursor. »
- Don Simpson
In a World… | Review - La Film Fest 2013
20 June 2013 10:54 AM, PDT
In a world where men -- such as Carol's father, Sam (Fred Melamed) -- are worshipped for their booming bass voices that accompany the trailers for Hollywood's biggest blockbusters, Carol (Lake Bell) works as a lowly speech and accent coach for actors. Luckily for Carol, a new wave of female-centric blockbusters has begun, thus opening the possibility for Hollywood's first female voiceover artist. Writer-director Lake Bell's In a World reveals the chauvinistic and incestuous tendencies of Hollywood, showcasing just how ridiculous it is to have the same male voices attached to every movie trailer. She might not be any better than her male counterparts, but Carol is incredibly unique because she is a woman. Now that Hollywood action films have finally opened their arms to female heroes, it only makes sense that they retain that strong female voice in the trailers to those films. It seems logical, but not necessarily in a man's world. »
- Don Simpson
Hellaware | Review - BAMcinemaFest 2013
20 June 2013 6:30 AM, PDT
When Lexie (Kate Lyn Sheil) breaks up with Nate (Keith Poulson) for an untalented pastel artist in pigtails, Nate decides to try to [re]discover himself as an artist. Drowning in a world of "incestuous New York City socialite shit" where untalented hacks are deemed successful by the high brow elite, Nate must find a way to carve out his own niche. By cocaine-fueled happenstance, Nate stumbles upon a no budget rap-rock video by Young Torture Killaz, a group of high school kids from rural Delaware. With outsider art still very much en vogue, Nate travels to Delaware to photograph the band in their natural element. In a half-hearted attempt to legitimize the endeavor, he approaches the excursion like an ethnographic study, striving to immerse himself into their culture. Nate's friend Bernadette (Sophia Takal) hesitantly goes along for the ride. Unlike her incredibly naive friend who thinks high school kids can do no harm, »
- Don Simpson
Crystal Fairy | Review - La Film Fest 2013
19 June 2013 11:37 AM, PDT
Jamie (Michael Cera) is a frizzy-haired American who has transplanted himself to Chile to selfishly experience its drug culture. Like a good little Capitalist, Jamie is interested in consuming everything around him in excess, regardless of the cost. His primary goal, however, is to ingest an ancient shamanistic hallucinogen called the San Pedro cactus. The night before Jamie and his Chilean friends (Agustín Silva, José Miguel Silva, Juan Andrés Silva) commence their quest for the phallic San Pedro cactus, Jamie encounters a "dark tornado" named Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffmann) at a party. Clearly not thinking straight, thanks to massive amounts of drugs and alcohol, Jamie invites Crystal along on their San Pedro cactus expedition. Of course he does not remember this, so Jamie gets a bit freaked out when Crystal calls him the next morning. The sober [yet hungover] version of Jamie just wants to ditch Crystal, but his friends won't allow it. »
- Don Simpson
Between Us | Review
19 June 2013 6:30 AM, PDT
When Sharyl (Melissa George) and Joel (David Harbour) unexpectedly appear at the door of Grace (Julia Stiles) and Carlo's (Taye Diggs) New York City apartment, we immediately flashback a couple of years to the moments before their friendship officially died. It is a while before writer-director Dan Mirvish allows us to return to Grace and Carlo's apartment, as we spend a majority of the first half of Between Us observing Grace and Carlo's first visit to Sharyl and Joel's opulent Midwestern mansion. It is slowly revealed that Joel and Carlo became best friends while they were photography majors at graduate school. After graduation, they chose to utilize their education in much different ways. Carlo opted to take the [struggling] artistic path of a fine arts photographer in New York City, while Joel chose to sell out as a financially successful commercial artist in the Midwest. Jealousy and resentment has always festered between Carlo and Joel, »
- Don Simpson
The Heat | Advance Screening Austin, TX - RSVP for Passes
18 June 2013 9:59 PM, PDT
Synopsis: Uptight FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) and foul-mouthed Boston cop Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) couldn't be more incompatible. But when they join forces to bring down a ruthless drug lord, they become the last thing anyone expected: buddies. From Paul Feig, director of "Bridesmaids." Director: Paul Feig Starring: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Marlon Wayans, Jane Curtain, Kaitlin Olsen (Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Taran Killam (SNL), Bill Burr (Chappelle Show), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Nathan Corddry (Children’s Hospital), Joey McIntyre, Michael Rapaport (Hitch), Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids), Michael McDonald (House of Lies), Adam Ray (A Guy Walks into A Bar), Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Tom Wilson (Back to the Future), Ucb comediennes Jamie Denbo and Jessica Chaffin and You Tube star Spoken Reasons. Studio: 20th Century Fox MPAA Rating: R (No Children Under 17 Permitted) Release Date: Friday, June 28, 2013 Screening Info: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 7:00 Pm »
- Dave Campbell
Pollywogs | Review - La Film Fest 2013
18 June 2013 11:08 AM, PDT
Recovering from yet another failed relationship, Dylan (Karl Jacob) retreats back to his rural Minnesota hometown for a family reunion. Upon arrival, idyllic memories of Sarah -- Dylan's first love at age ten -- rush straight to his head; then, as fate would have it, Sarah (Kate Lyn Sheil) appears at Dylan's family reunion. They have not seen each other for 18 years, yet they both have held onto idealized fantasies about what it would be like to reunite. That is a heck of a lot of pressure for two single people who may or may not be wanting to fall back in love. Dylan and Sarah form a cute foursome with Dylan's cousin Julie (Jennifer Prediger) and her husband Bo (Larry Mitchell), which temporarily eases the romantic pressure. Luckily, they have plenty of booze and weed to calm their nerves and a sauna to steam things up. The drastic juxtaposition »
- Don Simpson
A Hijacking (Kapringen) | Review
18 June 2013 7:00 AM, PDT
By titling this film A Hijacking rather than The Hijacking, the titular event is rendered less significant. This choice begins to make sense as we observe the way that the Danish shipping company handles the negotiations with the Somali pirates. Despite being advised otherwise, Peter (Søren Malling) -- the shipping company's CEO -- opts to handle the negotiations on his own. Peter sacrifices his personal life in order to remain at his office 24/7, in case Omar (Abdihakin Asgar) -- the pirates' English-speaking negotiator -- attempts to phone or fax him. It seems like an incredibly humanistic move on Peter's part, to focus so intently upon bringing his ship and its crew back to Copenhagen in one piece; but his intentions are infinitely more selfish. As is revealed earlier in the film, during a negotiation with a Japanese company, Peter sees himself as the only negotiator at his firm able to »
- Don Simpson
Forty Years from Yesterday | Review - La Film Fest 2013
17 June 2013 12:21 PM, PDT
When Bruce (Bruce Graham) returns home from his morning jogging regimen, the very last thing that he expects to see is his wife Suzette (Suzette Graham) dead on their bedroom floor. Considering the shock that weighs heavily upon Bruce's face, we can only assume that Suzette's death was totally unexpected. Being that the film begins with Suzette's death, we never get to experience the two characters interacting with each other; and instead of relying upon flashbacks to explain Bruce and Suzette's past, Forty Years from Yesterday allows Bruce's intense state of grief to speak for itself. Barely able to pick his feet up off the floor as he walks, this version of Bruce is drastically different than the one who was jogging at the onset of the film. As we watch Bruce mope aimlessly around the quiet house, we begin to imagine just how much this man loved his wife. »
- Don Simpson
11 articles
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