Review; Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) [Reviewed By Kelsey Zukowski]

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Shea Whigham, Leslie Bibb
Directed By: Goran Duvic
Written By: Goran Duvic, Etgar Keret
Released: 2006
Grade: B+

The whole point of suicide is supposed to be an escape out of the misery that life can pile up on you. However, what if suicide really wasn’t a way out of anything? What if after committing suicide not only did your existence continue but it led you to a more depressing world void of anything and everything that you did love in your past life? This is the setting of Wristcutters: A Love Story. Goran Duvic created this very unique and intriguing film based on the short story, Kneller’s Happy Campers, by Etgar Keret. Duvic builds off of Keret’s ideas of the afterlife with a mix of gloominess yet fun quirkiness at the same time to share his insights on suicide, death, life, love, and inevitable beauty.

Zia (Fugit) felt completely in love with his girlfriend Desiree (Bibb). When she broke up with him though, he just couldn’t see the point of life anymore. So Zia killed himself and didn’t up in hell, heaven, or even in a non-existence state. Instead he ends up in an afterlife that seems like the same old thing as his previous one, except worse. He gets a job at a pizza shop and finds a place to live with his boss who he ends up constantly having arguments with. Everyone in this world committed suicide and ended up here. It is very hot and no one is very smiley. It is essentially a waste land with a few run down places and people who don’t really want to be there, but are stuck there. Zia does make friends with Eugene, A Russian failed rock star. Oddly enough, his entire family is here; they all killed themselves. The closeness seems to be one of the few joys that Zia has seen. He was never very close with his family, but he wonders what having them around would have been like now that it is impossible. More than anything he misses Desiree more than ever.

There seems to be hope when Zia suddenly hears that Desiree killed herself not too long after Zia did. He convinces Eugene to come with him to go on a search for long lost love. They really have no idea where to go, but they do pick up a hitchhiker, Mikal (Sossamon), on their way. She feels that she doesn’t belong here and just wants to go back home. Mikal is on her own search because of this, to those who are in charge of the suicide afterworld. She is hoping she will be able to convince them that she shouldn’t be here and to let her go back. Zia gets closer in finding Desiree, but it turns out that she has moved. They both continue looking and they end up at a campsite where miracles seem to occur. It is rumored that a real miracle of a man removing his soul from his body so he can teach others how to live in a more appealing afterworld. Eugene falls in love with a mute girl who throat sings and Zia and Mikal get to the point where they either have to turn away from what they have been fighting for or find alternatives that may be better.

Patrick Fugit does incredible as Zia in this film. There is such desperation to him, yet there seems to be no solution to it. Even though he was happy when he was with Desiree it is clear that he puts her so high that she is just the way to solve the problems that he has and hopes she will make his gloomy atmosphere perfect. I liked that he wasn’t as gloomy as his atmosphere seemed though. Sure he wasn’t happy with anything really, but he still seemed like someone we could relate to. Shannyn Sossamon brings great life even when her character, Makil, is dead. She brings hope as she believes that there can be a way out of this. She is very down to earth and caring, which works off of the others characters very well. Shea Whigham is very funny as the more ballsy and slightly perverted guy. In the end he remains to be a good friend, he doesn’t even have to be on this trip but is doing it for Zia and later Mikal too.

Wristcutters: A Love Story is different than any other movie I have seen, particularly about suicide. It depicts it as a very negative thing obviously and brings out the fact that it doesn’t solve anything. When Zia is having a hard time, he thinks about killing himself again, but fears waking up somewhere once again even worse than where he is now. Also, it is brought up that these people are just like everyone else. They have troubles, they just weren’t strong enough to face them. The film seems much more optimistic than most about suicide. It gives the appropriate balance between the darkness of wanting to die and just feeling worse and more helpless after and a splash of hope and harmonious connection between others. Now the ending isn’t perfect and I could see it disappointing some viewers. However, it seemed necessary with everything the film had worked so hard to establish through out the film.

Miracles are a major part of the film. Zia becomes obsessed with the miracles that people at the camp are able to do. They are simple things like floating in the air or making something change colors. They are meaningless and don’t really change anything. Zia doesn’t seem to have the ability to contribute to them though and wants to so desperately. However, it can only be achieved if you don’t want to and are not even thinking about it. Zia just can’t get it out of his mind though. This has a lot to do with patience. If he would have given himself time, he could have either gotten back together with Desiree in his old life or he could have moved on, possibly to something even better. Also when someone is in the dire situation to even consider suicide, often they are hoping that there is something that can stop them. A reason to go on living is what they are really looking for, some miracle that can help them find the beauty in life again. Wristcutters: A Love Story goes further to show us that there can be amazing appeal in everything, even the most simple things that you may not really appreciate. You just have to be able to recognize and appreciate it when it presents itself.

Review: Southland Tales (2007) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Richard Kelly
Written by: Richard Kelly
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller
MPAA: Rated R for language, violence, sexual material and some drug content.
Released: USA 14 November 2007 (limited)
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake.

Plot: Los Angeles, 2008: The city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Southland Tales is an epic story set over the course of threedays that culminate in a massive 4th of July celebration. A large ensemble cast of characters includes Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an action star stricken with amnesia, Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Review: 8/10

My Thoughts: “This is the way the world ends-Not with a whimper, but with a bang.” With these words said so begins the beginning of the end. Well that is of course in the much highly anticipated movie Southland Tales which is the follow up to director Richard Kelly’s cult classic film Donnie Darko, which is a film I cannot stress enough how much I love watching, more so the director’s cut which alone I’ve seen a good 15 time already, so when I first heard about Southland Tales being made back in 2005 the plot summery on it sounded quite promising, but what caught my eyes was 1. Who was directing it, see Richard Kelly is a brilliant director who often has his viewers taken on a journey that is both spiritually and imaginative, the part I find most intriguing about his work is he often leaves a lot of the story up to the viewers imagination letting them come up with their own conclusion, this is something most directors will not do solely because it is a great risk that will ether make a film rise to greatness or fall in shambles, well as I’ve said with his films like Donnie Darko he took a great risk and succeeded with getting his point across to the viewers. And the second reason was. Because this was the follow up film to Donnie Darko which you probably know by now is one of my all time favorite films, so with that said my expectations went from zero to a hounded faster than you could say holy cow. Now if you haven’t seen his previous film yet than I highly sedges you do because it’s a worth watching film. But enough about Donnie Darko, Southland Tales is what I’m reviewing here, so with southland it storyline tales place during Julie 2008 in a apocalyptic future setting now you’re probably wondering how the hell can it be set with a post-apocalyptic background with near future settings during 2008? Well for one this the movie was originally supposed to had come out in 2006 but because of the high negative feedback from film critics at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival resulted in the film having no without a distributor, so director Richard Kelly went back and re-edited the film, cutting out 20-25 minutes worth of footage and after the re-editing done to it he got distributors to release his film in late 2007 with a limited release in theaters, the problem I learned that most critics had with the film was its storyline is hard to follow and with it being so close to the modern-day date, it sounded ridiculous, but the thing most of them don’t understand is Southland takes place in an alternate universe where certain chain of horrific evince take place that causes our would to go into a WWIII,

The evince I talk about is during the 4th of Julie weekend in Texas terrorist smuggles in nuclear bombs into the country through Mexico and us them to perform the greatest terrorist attack in history, one that would be so catastrophic that it would put 9/10 to shame, now since such an attack would happened during 2006 that would mean the majority of the people in America was still for the war in Iraq and something this big would only have them support it even more, this is where the story take off, the united states of America locked down from the rest of the world, with our government re-enacting the draft and sending millions of solders across the middle east and in North Korea looking for blood and payback on anyone who may have had a hand in it. Meanwhile anarchy is spreading like a wild fire throughout the country, but something else is also emerging that no one could have thought of. Now I must notify you that if you decide to watch you must have a tolerance for religion and not take the movie so literally because this movie is pretty much an ensemble to the book of revelations being foretold by one of the main characters, Private Pilot Abilene (Timberlake) as he tell of the Apocalypse or if you prefer the end of days, so don’t take it too seriously because some of the stuff in the film will not make a whole lot of scenes, it is to be taken as a references actually rather than literally. So now the question remains, is it better than Donnie Darko or not? The answer is no, it is not even close, not even by a long shot, however it is defiantly not a bad film at all, it just has a few problems that if corrected could have been a great film, the first problem was during the film it had its moments where it’s so cheesy and mediocre that its embarrassing to look at, but with the same amount of bad moments in this film it also has some good ones so it evens out a little, another problem is the run time. I know the film had been cut down by 20-25 minutes worth of footage but it still feels like the it over stayed it’s welcome and if it had been cut down just a little bit more perhaps it could have been a great film.

The story is about Boxer Santaros (Johnson) wakes up in the middle of the desert without his memory but somehow meets up with a porn star named, Krysta Now (Gellar) together they write a screen play about the end of days, but little that they know their screen play plays out much like the events that are about to take place and Boxer Santaros begins to find out who he really is and what his connection is to a state senator running for president, meanwhile a terrorist group built of people who hate the current government called the Neo Marxist Group convinces a a man to pose as his twin brother who is a police officer named Roland Taverner (Scott) and pretend to be a racists cop for them to help spread anarchy by making like he killed a recently married interracial couple, but what doesn’t know is the real officer Taverner might not entirely be his brother but greatly connected to him still, and as all the players to this story go their ways in this story they don’t know that they are greatly connected to each other and will set into motion the end of days.

As for the acting, Dwayne Johnson is ok, I’m not saying he the best thing to hit movie screens, but taken that he’s done a great deal of acting in his past career of wrestling it sure help him in acting in this and other films, as for Seann William Scott, well he’s great but he suffer from a problem on screen I like to call the Steve Stifler syndrome, see ever since watching the American Pie films I’m having a problem seeing him play another role without saying “Hey that’s Stifler, man!“ and the thing is I’m not the only person who has stereotyped him has one particular character, I found out others have as well hence the Steve Stifler syndrome, perhaps if he was to do something that would get him out of this stereotype like starring in a romance or something he could actually become a great actor, I found Mandy Moore to be somewhat annoying in this movie as well as her Mandy Moore character which thought to be too superficial and sometimes (forgive me for saying this) a bitch, as for Justin Timberlake he’s not in the movie much but he gives a narration of the book of revelations in the film from time to time tell the story of the movie you are watching as it goes, which I found to be quite pleasing, also the music number in the film which he lip sings the song “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers was truly a magical moment indeed and was fun seeing because the song with the number alone tells its own story, Miranda Richardson gave a great performance as Nana Mae Frost the head of the new homeland security who is as sinister and heartless as the very evildoers the supposedly fight, it was also nice to see the following actors and actresses on screen, Nora Dunn, John Larroquette, Bai Ling, Jon Lovitz, Curtis Armstrong, Beth Grant, Christopher Lambert, Holmes Osborne, Cheri Oteri, Wallace Shawn, Zelda Rubinstein, Kevin Smith, I could go on but I wouldn’t want to bore you anymore [Laughs] but all of which that’s I have just named here to great jobs in their performances.

Final Say: I really liked this movie a lot and had fun watching it, although many may not agree with me on this film I stand by what I said and will say it’s a great film that worth watching, may not be for everyone though, but still I highly recommend.

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Review: Superbad Movie (2007) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Greg Mottola
Written by: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Genre: Comedy / Romance
MPAA: Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens.
Released: 17 August 2007 (USA)
Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Aviva, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan.

Plot: Two co-dependent high school seniors (Hill and Cera) are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.

Review: 8/10

My Thoughts: In a year filled of really bad comedies Superbad proved that there is still some creativity in the comedy genre. Because if you, like me have seen horrible movies like Date Movie, Epic Movie, RV, Deck the Halls, you would have felt a little dumber after watching it. I could go and on with the list but I don't want to waste your time hearing it. But I will say that this year was a surprise for me when I watched Superbad because I thought it was going to be another teen comedy with the same recycled jokes being used since the mid-90's. But it wasn't, in fact I think I enjoyed this movie more than any other Comedy this year. The only one they can come close is Knocked Up, which both have Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill in them, now these two actors I must admit are proving to be big timers in Hollywood. With nothing but success after success in the movies there in. the story seems harmless, and weak at first, but trust once you start watching you'll see that this is no harmless nor weak comedy that is a rollercoaster ride of laughter from start to finish, and that every actor gives it there all and succeed in doing so.

The storyline is about a two friends Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera) that have been best friends there hole lives, and if you didn't know any better you'd think there were brothers. So after spending their high school doing everything together they are about to say goodbye as there will so graduate and go to different colleges. But taken that they spent all those years as virgins Seth comes up with a plan to lose his and his best friends virginity before they go to college, by becoming the booze suppliers for Jules (Stone) party, which Seth has had a crush on for a long time. And hopes that if he can get her drunk enough he can be the late night mistake that all drunk party girls remember. And hopefully he can make her his girl friend for the summer. But the only problem is they don't know how to get the booze for the party. Well that's until they find out there other friend Fogell (Mintz-Plasse) gets himself a fake ID saying his name is McLovin and he's from Hawaii. Well things become a rollercoaster ride for the three of them as they have the wildest night of their lives.

Now first of let me say that both Jonah Hill and Michael Cera did a magnificent performance that will have you laughing till it hurts. What I also liked about their acting is they don't try to give you your average big budget Hollywood style performance, but rather acting like themselves and not pretending to be someone else which works out really good. But as funny as they are, their part of the story comes nowhere near as hilarious as Christopher Mintz-Plasse subplot. I mean his Fogell or should I say McLovin will have you laughing until it hurts. Now what I found to be very interesting is this is Christopher Mintz-Plasse first movie ever which I found to very impressive, and that this movie was written and partly based on a true story by actor Seth Rogen and Screen writer Evan Goldberg, they wrote it back when they were in high school that's why the two main characters are named Seth and Evan. And last but not lease Seth Rogen and Bill Hader both gave great performances as the two corky but funny cops the takes there new found friend McLovin on the ride of his life.

Final Say: I really enjoyed this movie and must say I don't think I've laughed this hard in a really long time. But mostly I think what made my love this movie a lot was the fact that I was little like the three of them being the kid none notices and always wanting to be that cool kid that gets all the girls, so for me was great because they did what most nerds like me dreamed of doing when they were a teen. I highly recommend it. Also make sure you see the unrated extended cut because it's even funnier.

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Review: Hitman (2007) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Xavier Gens
Written by: Skip Woods
Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Released: 21 November 2007
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen, Henry Ian Cusick, Michael Offei, Christian Erickson, Eriq Ebouaney, Joe Sheridan, James Faulkner, Jean-Marc Bellu, Nicky Naude, Abdou Sagna, Loïc Molla, Youssef Diawara, Patrick Ligardes, Anca Radici, Peter Hudson, Cyril Guei, Ivan Yurukov, Vladimir Kolev, Paul Barrett.

Plot: A Hitman known only as Agent 47 (Olyphant) is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Eastern Europe. Hired by a group known as "The Agency" to kill targets for cash.

Review: 8/10

My Thoughts: I have been a long time Hitman gamer, so you can imagine how much anticipation I had building up when word got to me that a Hitman movie was in the works last year. But as much as I wanted to see it I was also worried, because for starters there really haven't been a successful video game movie yet, just a lot of disappointments left and right, now don't get me wrong some of the movies like the Resident Evil films or the Silent Hill movie have all been really good, it's just they don't capture the games essence. And in a way that's a downer because the reason they are made into movies in the first place is to please the gamers who bought the game and supported all its fallowing sequels, only to have the film company to do a 360 on them and do the complete opposite. Well did Hitman live up to its name or did it do a 360 on us, bend us over a table and have its way with our ass? The answer is it lived up to its name and more. Now I'm not saying it's the best movie ever made, or that it was exactly like the game, but it at lease didn't forget us the gamers who played it from the beginning when it was nothing to the world but a cult classic game and watch it grow over the years into the mainstream icon it is today.

The movie doesn't play out as an origin flick, but it does shows brief glimpses here and there in the beginning in the opening credits. So for most people who didn't play the game or doesn't know anything about the back story to our favorite gun for hire, I'd say turn away now and don't comeback until you've played a little Hitman. As for the rest of you, you will be pleased as I did, for one I didn't think Timothy Olyphant was a good choice for Agent 47 in the beginning when filming just started, I thought he would be horrible even though I liked his performance in Live Free or Die Hard. And even while I was sitting in my chair before the movie started I keep thinking, man he is going to kill this movie. But damn was I wrong, and I'm damn glad I was too! He not only mange to maintain the image of Agent 47 in a respectful manner, but he also gave the character an in-depth look. Because the Agent 47 we all know and trust (to get the job done) is just a killer that does his job and gets out. But what about the man behind the assassin? In the movie we see Agent 47 (Olyphant) not just as an assassin for hire but as a man who is trained by the Agency to beat impossible odd. Except for one thing, living without orders. All his life he took orders from others to kill without question. But after his latest mission goes south, the Agency leaves him hanging out in the cold. And now he is being pursued by Interpol, the Russian military, and even his own Agency. And the only one he can trust is Nika Boronina (Kurylenko) a Russian prostitute who his Agency clams witness him in his last mission, and is ordered to kill her to which he agrees to do. But when it's time he can't find it in him to do it, because he knows deep down inside something isn't right. And instead helps her while trying to figure out who's behind this mess.

the movie is about The "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered, elite assassin known only as Agent 47. His hallmarks are lethal grace, unwavering precision, and resolute pride in his work. But even 47 couldn't anticipate a "random equation" in his life exactitude: the unexpected stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a mysterious Russian woman.

As for the acting well Timothy Olyphant did a great job playing as Agent 47, most people who didn't like it said it was because he doesn't show any emotion. Well that's why I said he did a great job because Agent 47 was raised to have neither emotion nor mercy. As for Olga Kurylenko, well she didn't do much but cry here and there in the movie and of course show us that beautiful body of hers. And man was I surprised at how much nudity she shows but then again that's why I liked her performance. [Laughs]. As for Dougray Scott who does one the best performances in the movie, plays Mike Whittier the Interpol investigator who has spent years trying to hunt down and arrest Agent 47 or as he calls him the "ghost". As for the villains in this movie none of which I can really judge because none of the character really have time to develop which in most cases would be a bad thing, but in this case it's a good thing. Also if you liked the movie and plan on playing any of the games I recommend you buy Hitman: Blood Money. It's the latest instilment and best one out the series so far. Plus the movie is closes to: Blood Money than the other two.

Final Say: I had a lot of fun watching Hitman again, more so the unrated version which gave a more insightful look into the plot and a little more violence and gore for the viewers, and though it didn’t make the movie any better it was still has fun as the theatrical cut, I highly recommend.

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Review: Enchanted (2007) [Reviewed By Kelsey Zukowski]

Enchanted

Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Amy Adams, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Dempsey, Rachel Covey, Timothy Spall, Idena Menzel
Directed By: Kevin Lima
Written By: Bill Kelly
Released: 2007
Grade: B+

Enchanted is a wonderful movie that takes all of the Disney fairy tales to another level. The pattern within this category seem to repeat each other, so Enchanted challenges it. It does this by starting out in animation, with a princess and a prince, destined to be with each other, and looking for their true love. Yet this tale is taken out of their comfort zone and in to the real world; our world. This is where all of the common clichés are used in a satirical way while still being light hearted and charming.

Giselle (Adams) is very sweet and homely girl. She resembles a Cinderella type of character who spends her day sowing and making her own clothes with the help of her best friends, the woodland creatures around her house. What she really dreams of though is finding her one true love. She wants to be swept off of her feet by a handsome prince, get married to him, and live happily ever after. It just so happens that Prince Edward (Marsden) wants something very similar. The time is fast approaching that he will take the thrown since there is no king in power. As soon as he finds a bride to become his Queen they will rule the land. Edward really just wants to fall in love with a sweet and beautiful girl who he can spend the rest of his life with. His mother, Queen Narissa (Sarandon), will not have this. She loves her power and she wants her reign to last forever. So the only way for this to happen is if Edward doesn’t get married. Narissa does everything she can to prevent him from doing so. Edward and Giselle bump in to each other, and to them it was just like love at first sight. At the wedding though, Narissa pushes Giselle down a magical water stream that transports her to modern day New York City.

Giselle is completely lost, she has no idea what this strange new world around her is or how she can get back to her prince. Of course people in the city aren’t exactly friendly. When she nearly falls off of a billboard, Robert (Dempsey) and his daughter, Morgan (Covey) come to her rescue. Morgan is stunned to see a real life princess. Robert is very reluctant to let her stay at their house, but he agrees to help her out with a place to stay just for now. When Prince Edward finds out that his bride is missing he goes on a search for her and heads in to New York City too. Queen Narissa finds out about this, she sends her helper, Nathaniel (Spall) to poison Giselle. He has trouble doing this and Narissa comes there herself to kill Giselle so she can stay in power.

The sub-plot of the intermingling love stories is very strong. It shows that love at first sight might not be what it seems to be. Perhaps it is more based on expectations, hopes, and what seems like it should be natural. Robert questions Giselle on how she can be so sure that Edward is her true love after just spending a day with him. Robert isn’t too open or welcoming to Giselle at first. Yet, over time he gets to know her better and really appreciates her. With his girlfriend, Nancy, he always had to work much harder and the idea of commitment towards her doesn’t come to him as easily. At the end, there is suggestion that maybe the two couples would be better with the opposite partners. This really shows that love is unpredictable and it takes time to really get to know someone. Also it resembles that real life fairy tales are attainable. However, they can not be created over night. So in reality, real life fairy tales just mean finding happiness with another person.

Amy Adams resembles the title of the film completely as she is utterly enchanting in her performance as Giselle. She exerts such warmth and radiates loveable energy that really helps set the tone for the movie. It is interesting seeing someone like this, since it isn’t everyday that we see such an animated person. James Marsden nearly matched this, which is not something easy to do. He mastered the charismatic role as Corny Collins in Hairspray and he brought it to an even higher level here giving a very convincing performance as the dazzling and charming Prince Edward. Susan Sarandon was very convincing as the evil queen, even her voice seemed to represent her mentality perfectly. Patrick Dempsey in the end worked well off of Amy Adams although they had very different personas. Rachel Covey as Morgan brought many of the elements together. She had the fantasy mentality and having a real life princess was like a dream come true. She also helped bring her father and Giselle together, which ended up being the basis of the moral.

Enchanted is a much smarter film than the typical fairy tale. It makes comparisons between fantasy and reality. The script is very well written and the characters are developed very well. Nearly everyone is very likeable, which makes us care for them. The musical numbers are wonderful. Even to those who aren’t a fan of musicals, Enchanted speaks to this. Many of the numbers are done in a comical way that spark jokes of what it would be like if someone would really just burst out in song randomly. A lot of the comedy in the film comes from what reality would mean to fantasy situations. Enchanted is very smart, but still prioritizes having fun with the film very high. The movie still has a similar feel to some of the Disney films of the past. It is loveable, light hearted and a creatively energized film that has something for everyone.