Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

Mother
Directed by Joon-Ho Bong.
2009. Rated R, 128 minutes, Korean.
Cast:
Hye-ja Kim
Bin Won
Ku Jin
Je-mun Yun
Mi-sun Jun
Sae-Byeok Song
Gin-goo Kim

A young woman with a tawdry reputation turns up dead and draped over the edge of a building’s roof. In very short order, the police decide that Do-Joon (Won) is the guilty party. Since we’ve already met him, we don’t think he’s capable of such a thing. He has some undefined mental disability which severely hampers his memory. It also renders him socially immature. Autism, maybe? He appears to be fairly harmless. His mother (Hye-ja Kim), whom he lives with, agrees with this assessment and takes to the streets to do what O. J. Simpson vowed so many years ago: find the real killer.

Mom soon finds herself in all sorts of dangerous positions, dealing with shady characters and getting no cooperation from the cops who insist they have the right person. Regardless of the risks she must take or the potential futility of her quest, she drives on, undeterred.

This sounds like a pretty typical murder mystery where someone close to the accused takes up their cause and tries to find who’s really responsible. It’s more than that. In fact, by the time we reach the end, the crime’s perpertrator is of secondary importance. Of primary concern is the unfolding of a mother’s relationship with her son. A revelation late in the movie surprises, possibly even upsets us. Though its something she already knew, how this is brought to the surface surprises and upsets her, also. An action she takes later not only gives herself those same feelings, it irrevocably changes her. For us, our perception of her changes with the revelation. The question then becomes does the action change it back, or worsen? In answering that question, the movie leads us to an interesting debate. Knowing what we’ve just witnessed, would we be proud to say she were our mother?

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

[dell71]

The Runaways
Directed by Floria Sigismondi.
2010. Rated R, 106 minutes.
Cast:
Dakota Fanning
Kristen Stewart
Michael Shannon
Riley Keough
Scout Taylor-Compton
Stella Maeve
Alia Shawkat
Tatum O’Neal

In 1975, the first all-girl, all-teen rock band named The Runaways took the world by storm. It was anchored by lead guitarist and future rock icon Joan Jett (Stewart). However, the biggest star in the group at that time was lead singer Cherie Currie (Fanning). This story starts with the days just before this wild ride started and ends just after the ride does, a little more than two years later. Of central concern is how this affected these two young ladies.

Based on the book Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story by the real Currie, it’s understandable the film centers around her. It’s easily the most adult role to date for Dakota Fanning who sheds her creepy pale kid image for drugged up pale starlet. Perhaps symbolizing both the growing up of the character and the actor, the first time we see Currie she’s getting her period for the first time. Unlike most young ladies, there’s no rush to the supermarket or to borrow something from her mom or sister. Instead, she stuffs a wad of toilet paper in her undies. Ewww.

Ickiness aside, that scene symbolizes something else, also. It lets us know we’re not about to watch any dainty debutantes who happen to ply instruments. These are a couple of bawdy broads who don’t quite fit in with regular society and subculture they so desperately want to be a part of may not quite be ready for them. The movie takes on their grit and disdain for perceived normalcy. It depicts rock-n-roll as liberating yet misogynist, hedonist yet dangerous.

Fanning carries the movie with a wonderful performance. She ably facilitates a number of our emotions. We love, hate, are disgusted by and sympathize with her, all at once. As Jett, Kristen Stewart shows considerably more ability than she has in the Twilight movies. She’s not quite the performer Fanning is, but she holds her own. None other than the real Joan Jett has praised her work. By the way, Fanning is horrible in the Twilight flicks, too, but she only has bit parts.

None of this would work without two things. The first seems rather easy. The soundtrack comes ready-made. Songs from the era, mostly by the real Runaways are both played on stage and plugged in at appropriate times during non-performance scenes. If you’re a fan, you’ll want to have the volume cranked to 11 for this one. Look up the reference, I’m too lazy to explain.

The second thing is a villain. To that end, we get Michael Shannon as producer Kim Fowley. His maniacal puppeteer act injects life into the girls even as it threatens to suck it out of them. Eventually, it does. The question is how permanent is the damage? Fowley’s wild-eyed, quick-tongued nuttiness isn’t the only problem, here. The girls are young and impressionable, quick to indulge in whatever feels good at the moment. It’s quite the volatile mix.

The movie is not without flaws. There are too many things on screen we never get a feel for. They’re mostly skimmed over or ignored. The biggest thing is the other girls in the band. They’re just set decorations, more or less. Lita Ford (Taylor-Compton), who went on to become a star in her own right, has one moment where she spazzes out on Currie, but that’s it. Really? There are five girls in the band and three of them are pretty much faceless. Ford, nor the others, even get a blurb at the end explaining what happened to them after the events depicted like Currie, Jett and Fowley. This would’ve been a much better movie had the others been allowed to participate as they must have in real life.

Other things feel left out, as well. How did they come up with the name of the band? Did they care or even know that Jett and Currie were having sex with each other? How does Joan actually learn to play guitar? We see her get one lesson which she storms out of because she doesn’t like her instructors song of choice. How did they come up with the songs? The movie at least attempts to answer the last one as we see how they come up with their hit “Cherry Bomb.” Apparently, the way they came up with the rest is vastly different. However, we find this out way too late and in a way that doesn’t seem tangible to the group.

Regardless of its problems, TR is an enjoyable watch. Excellent acting and a down and dirty tone keep us intrigued. It moves swiftly, never drags. In true seventies fashion, it has fun with all the debauchery on display. In the end, it’s part womens lib, part cautionary tale and all sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

[Rivers17ncsu]

I may have to check out the Runaways

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The Runaways was a nice flick for a Friday w/ your girl.

Although, I never want to hear Cherry Bomb again.

[SOS4Prez]

Everyone who acted in The Runaways dominated, but Shannon stole the show. Dude's a nut.

Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie made me feel so god damn dirty.

[NAHSTE]

Dell, any plans on reviewing the American remake of Let the Right One In? I thought it stood on its own quite nicely. Differs from the original just enough and is pretty well done.

[dell71]

Dell, any plans on reviewing the American remake of Let the Right One In? I thought it stood on its own quite nicely. Differs from the original just enough and is pretty well done.

Absolutely.

[Houston]

I said the same thing about the Runaways skipping some important stuff in the "Last Movie You Watched" thread.

One scene they're in a club and the manager just got his first 2 girls, the very next scene they're in a trailer with 3 other girls we never even meet. I think this movie was wasting time on some useless scenes and skip some ones that would've made it better.

The acting was real good though.

[dell71]

Step Up 3D
Directed by Jon Chu.
2010. Rated PG-13, 107 minutes.
Cast:
Rick Malambri
Adam G. Sevani
Sharnie Vinson
Alyson Stoner
Keith Stallworth
Kendra Andrews
Stephen Boss
Daniel “Cloud” Campos
Facando Lombard
Martin Lombard

Approximately one minute after his parents drop him off on campus at NYU, Moose (Sevani) accidentally finds himself in a heated dance battle. The very next minute he meets Luke (Malambri), the pied piper of homeless dancers. In another minute, he’s hanging out at “The Vault”, Luke’s club/flophouse for said homeless dancers. Within this short amount of time, Moose has also pissed off his best friend, hardly goes to class and skips out early when he does.

There are bigger fish to fry than Moose’s lack of academic focus. “The Vault” is in trouble. Luke is five months behind in his payments. The club portion isn’t bringing in much money and none of the free-loading booty shakers has a job. But hey, this is a dance movie. That means there’s a huge dance competition coming up where the winning crew will earn enough money to catch up on the mortgage and pay it forward a couple years…um…if they win. Hmmm…if you’re old enough you’ll notice this plot is ripped straight from Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo and about two dozen other movies that followed it.

Anyhoo, you have to wonder if there weren’t so much expensive stuff in “The Vault”, maybe they wouldn’t be in such trouble. I’m talking about in the flophouse part, not the club part. There’s multiple high-end computers, outfitted with the latest film-editing software, the camera that surely cost a few grand, specially designed rooms to learn all those wicked moves without breaking your neck. I haven’t even mentioned the wall of boom-boxes, yet. Oops. We’re talking hundreds of them. Nevermind the seeming impossibility of them all being hooked up to a single receiver, though. It looks cool, cuz well…this is a dance movie.

Since this is a dance movie…ahem…a street dance movie, that means there’s a battle lurking around every corner. It’s serious business, too. Poor Moose can’t even take a leak without some clown barreling through the restroom door and challenging him to bust a move. Can you let the guy give it a shake and zip up, first? Well, this clown and his buddies who also come into the bathroom are “The Samurai”, the arch-rivals of Luke and the homeless bunch…er…”The Pirates”. Hey, there’s gotta be some villains for our heroes to go against in the finals of the big contest, right?

This third installment of the Step Up franchise takes a disturbing about-face in philosophy from its predecessors. The original is an okay flick. Step Up 2 The Streets is dreadful, arguably racist and has a ridiculous title. However, to the credit of both movies, they have a character using dance to help them get a better education. This takes the opposite approach. It sticks its middle finger up at academia whenever possible. I understand it wants to promote dance as a way of life, but the near criminalization of education is off-putting.

Ethics aside, SU3 suffers from the same thematic problems as SU2. The plot is lazily concocted. The dialogue is hokey at its very best and often cringe worthy. Wait until you find out what “b-fab” stands for and what it means. I may not be as young and cool as I once was, but I know when slang sounds phoney and unnatural. This does. The entire movie is unnatural, for that matter. It acts like it is part of this universe, but clearly is not. And why is this is 3D, anyway?

On the plus side is what fans of the franchise watch these movies for, anyway. The dancing is high energy, athletic and often spectacular. If you’re into dance flicks, this is right up your alley. If you want a genuinely good movie, this is not. Consider this perfectly on par with SU2. Decide accordingly.

MY SCORE: 3/10

[dell71]

Date Night
Directed by Shawn Levy.
2010. Rated PG-13, 88 minutes.
Cast:
Steve Carell
Tina Fey
Taraji P. Henson
Mark Wahlberg
Jimmi Simpson
Common
William Fichtner
Ray Liotta
Mark Ruffalo
Kristen Wiig
James Franco
Mila Kunis

Phil (Carell) and Claire Foster (Fey) are stuck in a rut. They’ve been married seemingly forever and have settled into a monotonous routine. To spice things up, they decide to go to a chic new seafood joint. Through a case of mistaken identity, they suddenly find themselves on the run from some very bad people who wouldn’t mind seeing them dead.

Yes, Steve Carell and Tina Fey are our headliners. However, aside from that, nothing about this movie screams comedy. The opening scenes where we get to know our lawfully wedded heroes are more sad than funny. They may even be too familiar for some of us. The rest of the movie plays like a chase movie. The focus is in the wrong place. We see them doing a lot of things they wouldn’t ordinarily do, which is fine. However, the focus is on the action scenes that result from this and not the humor. The comedy complements the action flick when it should be the other way around.

When it does give the action a break, it does comedy very well. Mark Wahlberg’s first scene is all sorts of funny. For my money, its easily the best in the movie. The scene with James Franco and Mila Kunis is also very good. Occasionally, the two stars get to cut loose, as well. Their impromptu dance scene is the best one that centers on them. Mostly, they are at their finest when reacting to the other zany characters on the screen.

In the end, the loving couple has certainly had an adventure. Still, we can’t tell if this makes them more or less likely to venture out of their comfort zone in the future. Finding this out seems to be the point of the movie, but we don’t get an answer. We merely get that it happened. It’s not quite funny enough or packed with enough action to ignore its shortcomings. Despite an excellent and very game cast, and despite some excellent scenes of both comedy and action, Date Night adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

[Nucking Futs]

Dell, have you seen K-PAX? I think you should do a review on it. It's a good movie from the 90's.

[dell71]

Dell, have you seen K-PAX? I think you should do a review on it. It's a good movie from the 90's.

I've seen parts of it, never the whole thing.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Dell...review A Serbian Film for us...

lulz

/make sure the kids and wife are away for the weekend or something.

[wingsfan77]

I was very disappointed by "Date Night" I'm a huge Carrell fan but I didn't think the movie was very funny at all.

[Champ]

Great movie coming on tonight on IFC. Made will be on tonight, its the late night movie so just DVR it.