This is the End Review

*Promotional Poster for the motion picture This is the End*

This is the End will make you wish it ends very quickly. Safe for me to say that this movie was a major disappointment. Not that I had high expectations for it to begin with, I felt the sensation of a huge let down almost immediately after I watched the trailer, which was saddening at the least given it's extremely talented cast. It's taken me a while to get up the stomach to watch this film, knowing deep down inside that it wasn't going to be a worth while experiences, but I finally got around to it...and oh my.

*Warning: There will be spoilers ahead*

Now it's puzzling to me on just about every level how this film could manage to mock itself so much while being basically everything Hollywood could ever want it to be. The blatant jabs that the film takes towards the movie industry itself are nowhere's near as bad as the sacrifices it makes to keep the Apatow trope current. Case and Point: Emma Watson manages to have the biggest cameo in the film, which is odd, no? Considering her new movie 'The Bling Ring' came out just around the exact same time. Perhaps that's just coincidence, but consider the Backstreet Boys performance at the end; which could not seem to be a more shameless plug for the newly reformed Backstreet Boys who happen to be on a reunion tour this year. It's not the first time the gang has been in a movie with a musical number at the end, however, it's not an Apatow film; Rogen is directing this one, and from what I gathered, for no good reason other than to spoof every contemporary...well, everything, and have a good time with his friends. Unfortunately, the joke is on the film, as perhaps the whole apocalypse thing has been so overdone at this point that it just can't possibly aid this film. Despite the fact that this movie has been praised by critics left and right, I can't manage to see why. If you've ever seen an Apatow film before, or Rogen's previous effort 'Superbad' for that matter, you already know that Rogen and Goldberg, even Apatow himself has done much better. The whole bro-mance genre has been steadily declining in quality for quite sometime now, and the marriage between witty banter and low brow humor has deteriorated into just plan unfunny riffing. Like Vince Vaughn in The Break Up, it gets to a point where it almost seems a bad idea from the start, but the star power makes it's dull and unoriginal premise see a wide theater release in hopes of generating some revenue.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing this film to the break up, but the greater majority of this movie

seems very forced. Basically the whole idea is that Jay Baruchel has decided to head back to L.A to hang out with Seth Rogen, who then invites him to hang out at James Franco's house for a big house warming party. Then the apocalypse happens, of the biblical variety. Michael Cera, who puts on perhaps the worst performance I have ever seen a star of his caliber make, is killed off within the first half hour, followed by Rihanna, who's inclusion in the film is as huge a mystery as to why I even care, and lastly by about half way through the film you'll officially hate everything about Danny McBride, aside from one brief and humorous exchange between him and Franco regarding a magazine. Even with how funny said scene was, it's reliance on trading blows using the same words over and over again gives off the impression that the gang has officially run out of creativity. The film itself seems largely deprived of any genuinely funny banter, and the action moment's actually surpass the dialogue in a film that is for the most part largely action-less. It's really had to regard this movie as anything but a shameless plug that uses the very things it pokes fun at as a way to stay relevant. As a fan of just about every actor/actress in this movie, especially in regards to their onscreen talent, it shouldn't be hard to carve a coherent and funny film out of such a simple premise. It's almost like choosing to cast every role as themselves cost the movie itself to lose all talent and credibility.

By the end of this film you will probably be scratching your head a lot. If you've kept up with how this movie has been performing overall you may ask yourself the same question that I had: Why? This movie was largely unnecessary, and unfunny. I understand that humor is subjective, but given the quality of comedies in the last ten years or so, movies such as 'Superbad', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', and 'I Love You, Man', showed that you can have both low and high brow comedy at the same time; these movies were littered with derogatory dialogue and they run circles around a film like this on every level in terms of quality. It's just very hard to laugh at something so uninspired and overdone. A classic case of what I fear, as a movie goer, will happen to all actors and directors I love. Hopefully they've gotten it out of their system now, and I look forward to any future productions that takes us back to the witty antics of this lovable trope.  

Check out the Trailer for This is the End Below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yma-g4gTwlE

Storyline:            Irrelevant, it's about dudes trying to survive the apocalypse...that's

                            the bulk of it.

Characters:        Chances are you know how they are already, and aside from poking fun

                            at each other sometimes, their onscreen selves don't seem to

                            differ much from the character's they generally play in films. 

                           Also, playing themselves sometimes makes everything happening in

                           the movie that much harder to digest, or for that matter, tell who's 

                           in on the joke.

Pacing:              Ridiculous, the set up is okay, but the movie for me fell apart too quickly

                          to really consider this a huge factor in the films success.

Interest Level: Dependent on how serious of a Rogen, Franco, McBride, Robinson, or

                          Hill fan you are, and your thirst for 'too crude' humor. Pass if that 
                          wells run dry for you; cause in terms of eventful, this movie sees the 
                          apocalypse as much less climactic and interesting as one would expect.

Overall:             3.5 out of 10 - I just had an uncomfortable feeling the whole time I 

                           was watching this movie. It just wasn't funny, it wasn't really much of

                           anything other than hard to watch. Recommended if crude humor is 
                           really all that works for you, or you need to see every movie of the

                           Rogen/Goldberg or Apatow pack.

Dredd Review

*Theatrical Poster for the motion picture Dredd*

Dredd is a great movie in that it succeeds by doing what most other movies strive to avoid. It is a blatant homage to it's cheesy sci-fi counter parts, and at the same time it is littered with inspirational moments of special effects and mind altering occurrence. To compare Dredd to any of his contemporaries or even the previous Stallone fueled Judge Dredd, even the comic series it's based upon, would be too much a task to take on; it's a beast unto itself and the world it creates for the viewer.

*Warning! There may be spoilers ahead*

Again, Dredd is a rare bird in that it feels like a low budget science fiction movie of the week, however, it plays out like a blockbuster film, while simultaneously existing in that cult world we film buffs all know and love. It's like that movie you remember watching growing up that no one liked yet you thought it was amazing. One of those films that's not perfect, but also done with enough care and heart to warrant countless viewings. Dredd is the sort of fluff that makes fluff okay at times, the sort of mindless violence and dystopian future that isn't as much a turn off as it is an untamed curiosity. You want to see his story through, you want to see more of this world, and you want there to be more films of it's kind; regardless of whatever set backs compromising story and sophistication can cause in favor of style and hyper-violence. Usually I'm not one to side with the latter two movie elements winning the priority battle in cinema; It's all been said before, I know, but I prefer both style and substance. Thankfully Dredd comes as close to having both of these as one can ask for, even with the aforementioned compromises it makes to provide more than enough onscreen bloody violence for it's target audience.

The Cursed Earth is all that's left of the world and a city within it's existence known as Mega-City One remains a tainted and corrupt wasteland of low lives and criminals. The only remaining authority figures to bring forth justice to those who continue to further corrupt society are known as 'Judges' from the hall of Justice, and Judge Dredd along with the Peach Tree Tower Block are the focus of this film. Dredd is given a new mission, to take a rookie psychic(which in the film are known as a 'mutants'), under his tutelage in hopes that she could become a future judge. In deciding their first mission together, Dredd allows this rookie played by Olivia Thirlby to decide which distress call they respond to. Her decision throws them right into the lion's den of the Peach Tree Tower Block, in which Mama, the head gang member of said tower, places the whole Peach Tree establishment under lock down until the two judges are disposed off. While all this is going on, the circulation of Slo-mo, a super addictive inhalant, has hit the streets as the go to fix for scumbags everywhere, and the coincidental existence of Slo-Mo coupled with the lock down by Mama hints at a much bigger story to be told by Peach Tree.

This is about as much story as is needed for the film to progress, as it's whole duration plays out within this one building, almost like an episode from a TV show more so than a full movie. There are several scenes that will stick with you long after the film has ended, mainly one involving giving two victims a dose of Slo-mo before they are tossed off a ledge so they have ample terror time before death. It's a hauntingly effective moment in the film that emphasizes the evil in our antagonists. The world Dredd lives in leaves his character hardened, cynical, and dismissive of optimism; primarily a shell of an enforcer whose soul purpose is to get the job done. While no development or lesson is learned for his character, or Thirlby's, who is much more naive and inexperienced, it's not as disappointing an outcome considering the movie's lure is more heavily directed towards it's world than any believable character development.

While some of the casting leaves a lot to be desired, having bigger names probably would've hurt what the films vision was. Even with the lacking stars though, some characters don't really pass as believable villains, yet, in a place where little good remains, one could argue that 'bad' doesn't need to equal believable to actually pass for bad. However, in a movie, I feel it helps significantly to have a villain that looks the part of a villain. Mama is more a sad story; a woman wronged too many times, than she is someone who could believably mastermind control over a whole tower. Other character's are made almost too easy to sympathize with, and any attempts the film makes to humanize both the good and the bad are short lived, and feel almost thrown in as an after thought to balance out the darker tones overwhelming the film. But again, this movie is perhaps best experienced when it's not thought about so much, seeing as this is clearly not the film's intent more so than the style and the action (one of the few examples I can think of where this actually makes the movie good, more so than bad).

In the end, Dredd is a hard boiled cyber punk action film that knows what to ask of it's audience. It doesn't demand your thoughts as much as it demands you understand it's dark world, and chances are if your into action thrillers or futuristic dystopian lore, you've probably already made your decision about Dredd a long time ago, if not, then all I can say is to take the time to watch this movie. It's an odd hybrid, but it's all the better for being so.

Check out the Trailer for Dredd Below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifvRiHVSCY

Review Score Card:
Storyline:            Simple premise in a fleshed out world, style over substance.
Characters:         Again, simple, but likable, even if little in the way of depth for any of them.
Pacing:               Indifferent, neither too fast or too slow, the movie is about a singular event,
                           so it never really over stays its welcome.
Interest Level:    Science fiction fluff for those who prefer their sci-fi on the less brainy side;
                           a well done action movie for anyone looking for some poundings.

Overall:              8 out of 10 - Dredd is a great film, it could've been better in many ways
                          but for what it does accomplish, and given the rise of B movies lately
                          it's timing couldn't be more perfect. If corny suits your movie tastes
                          then consider Dredd to be your go-to film, bridging the gap between 
                          cheesy sci-fi cult film and grade A action gut-buster.

Drinking Buddies Review

*Promotional Poster for the motion picture 'Drinking Buddies'*

So it seems that cinema in a traditional sense is all but dead, as many film that come out today harken back to ancient standards in film if merely for their artistic merit and modest budgets, yet completely dependent on the new digital frontier that the movie industry sees slowly taking over it's entertainment medium. Drinking Buddies is a primary example of a movie made with little money on a big playing field, and utilizing the current On Demand services from cable providers to bypass the three day weekend juggernauts that make humble films like this one disappear from everyone's radar quicker than the bleep they entered in as. It's also hard to argue the standards set forth by this film on many friends, and for me it stands as a sort of fairytale ideal in movieland with it's unique approach as well as it's talented cast's ability to bring such immediate and raw characters to life.

*Warning: There may be spoilers ahead*

Drinking Buddies for what it's worth comprises itself as a film about two friends played by Jake Johnson and Olivia Wilde who happen to both be in separate relationship, Olivia with Ron Livingston's character, and Jake with Anna Kendrick. What starts off as an introduction of two parties to one another's better half turns into one lost relationship and the other's enduring moderate complications. As both friends struggle to keep their friendship alive (Jake and Olivia), they learn the value and the importance of the bond they share and what it may cost them to have separate love lives. What makes this film unique however is in the outline of these events. Rather than having a script for the film, Director and film writer Joe Swanberg opted to give the cast complete control over each character, providing only the major plot points or purpose behind each scene instead of giving them actual dialogue to recite. The film itself is more or less a movie made by friends perhaps targeting a smaller audience than any distributor would hope, but like one of my favorite films "Newlyweds", this movie seems to have it's existence gilded in passion than just a movie for the sake of making money.  To me, it stands as one of those films on the forefront during a great time of change for the motion picture industry; a one where such small films are seeing increased exposure to the masses through online sites and again, cable providers. It is at this moment, in my opinion, the best example of what sort of gems you can expect to find with this new approach.

It is also worth mentioning however, that you can't expect a film like this one to be the same as most others, or for that matter 'better' because of the approach it takes to bring itself together a coherent film. At times it is evident that parts of the film could've benefited strongly from having a script, and sometimes it feels like a film for the film industry itself, or serious movie aficionados rather than the average movie goer, no matter how easy it can be to relate to. However, thanks to a short length, the film depends on character progression rather than plot, as this movie seems to exist as more of a moment in time between two lives that see themselves perhaps the closest they will ever come to dating (Jake and Olivia's characters) without seeing their budding romance through. They are the best of friends, and this film opts to stay more true to the reality of how we as people don't always do the things we know that we should, instead of give us the happy Hollwood ending we perhaps would enjoy better, or rather, expect to see these days. In turn, this is more of a character study than it is an actual movie about people and events in their lives. Everyone alive at one point or another has probably experienced something similar to what someone in this film has. Whether it be Ron and Anna's character's lack of fidelity or Jake's easy going nature and loyalty to those he cares about, or Olivia's care free spirit and do what you want attitude; we've all either been there or known someone who has, and this film does an excellent job of capturing the purity of those moments by taking authentic dialogue and providing plenty of room for ample flexing of acting skills to lead each scenario. Sometimes it makes more sense to provide a template rather than draw out the whole story, and Drinking Buddies proves that with the right people and a good idea, you can make a full blown movie that excels at what it envisions itself as: a modest portrayal of four people just trying to make it through life and all it's mundane day to day activities and drama. 

This is one of those films that I hope you as the reader will take it upon yourself to go out and rent. The movie I believe is still showing in few theaters, but thanks to video on demand, if you have the ability to check this movie out at least, I can only ask that you give it's brief 90 min length a quick watch. If for any reason you should watch this film to experience what is quickly becoming a new frontier in film making, rather it be through episodic content, friends with access to cheaper high end technology, or director's looking to dip their toes in the indie pool, these types of films are a healthy and much appreciated break from the high budget, over-polished grinding shrapnel fests that most blockbuster machines employ to make back their bajillion dollar budgets. Watch Drinking Buddies with a friend, watch it with a drink, heck, just watch it if you have the time! It's worth every second.

Check out the Trailer for Drinking Buddies Below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYBCof6NHU

Review Score Card:
Storyline:            Thin on plot, not scripted out; more or less improved, but still unique.
Characters:         The cream of the film, the characters are genuine and though provoking.
Pacing:                Hard to settle into at first, but gathers itself about half way through.
Interest Level:    A must see for any indie movie goer, or fan of just good films in general,
                             this movie is a hard film to not just kick back and enjoy.

Overall:                9 out of 10 - Part of a new movement in film, Drinking Buddies title doesn't
                             do it's artistic nature many favors, but is regardless, a strong example of 
                             how thinking outside the box has helped this new frontier in the 
                             movie industry get smaller films some much needed attention for their 
                             more passion driven productions like this one.