The Call

Doing OT at a call center or Hell...just working at a call center achieves a level of bone chills that this movie could never. 

1/4

Flight

It's rare that a movie ends as strong as it begins, but Flight manages to soar at a constant level from beginning to end. It will make you think and resonate in your memory long after the credits roll. Flight is a masterpiece and is easily one of my favorite movies of 2012.

Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a cocky, boozing, drugged out flight attendant who parties like a rockstar. It's rare that such a seemingly unlikeable persona is played with such charm but Denzel manages to nail it. His character should be unlikeable, but Denzel knows how to bring the relatibility.

Whip Whitaker shows up drunk and drugged out the morning of a flight. Due to technical complications with the plane, it crashes, in an especially terrifying and pulse-pounding. Everyone should be dead. But Whip's skill behind the cockpit saves all but six out of the 100 and something lives on the plane. Whitaker is looked at as a hero by most, but a villian by others. Someone has to pay for those deaths, and after a recent drug test, all of the fingers are pointed directly at Whip.

Every performance in Flight is absolute top notch. Washington knocks it out of the park as Whip. Kelly Reilly brings soul to Whip's addict of a girlfriend later on in the movie. Don Cheadle and John Goodman provide some comic relief to the story as Whip's lawyer and drug dealer. Even those that don't have many scenes such as Nadine Velazquez as one of Whip's earlier flings and Melissa Leo as the lead investigator in Whip's crash leave impressions.

Flight also manages to captivate your interest from beginning to end. It's not the shortest movie and I had my doubts about my interest starting to fade, but Flight never drags. Even when the movie isn't steering towards the ground (literally), there's enough going on to keep you going. Though the movie isn't really a thriller/horror like some of the earlier previews and descriptions seemed to lean towards, I still never felt Flight had a dull moment.

Flight will leave your mind active long after it's the credits roll. Was the accident Whip's fault due to his numerous harmful addictions? Was it just bad luck that he was tipsy when things decided to break down? Or was it just a really shitty coincidence? Flight explores all of these options and never really provides a direct answer, leading you to form your own theories about who or what is to blame for the accident. Flight smashes into the brain, heart, even the funny bone as well. Get on board and prepare for one hell of a ride.

4/4

Oz

    Why must everything be remade or prequeled these days? It's completely unecessary to take a classic and throw a bunch of unneeded backstory into the tale, and there lies the problem with Oz; there's not much of a point for it to exist.

James Franco stars as Oz, an amateur magician who wants an elevation in his life. He soon receives that opportunity after escaping from angry circus men on a hot air balloon which magically transports him to an unknown land named Oz. He meets two witches named Theodora and Evanora (Mila Kunis & Rachel Weisz) who want him to become their king with one rule, he must kill the evil witch; Glenda (Michelle Williams). He soon is placed in the middle of their battle and must find out how to succeed when he doesn't even have a single power to his name.

For such a quickly summarized plot, Oz sure has an unjustifiable length. 130 minutes is far too long for such a thinly plotted film. Not enough is really going on to keep the audience entertained from beginning to end and it feels like it takes forever for the story to move along to the conclusion. Oz drags mainly because the actual film structure feels threadbare. I felt like there should have been more attention to the story as opposed to the physical surroundings.

Speaking of the physical surroundings, I have quite the love-hate relationship with them. The first 20 minutes are stellar, they look immaculate and it's one of the few times you feel like Oz has even a hint of a similarity to the original classic. However once the lead character moves into Oz, things go downhill a bit in terms of the visual success. Oz is quite the beautiful land, but it almost smacks you over the head with it's beauty. There's too many scenes that feel like they exist just to show off the creations. It gets a bit tiresome and at times you can almost imagine the green screen the actors are reacting to.

The performances are quite the mixed bag as well. James Franco and Mila Kunis I would say are the biggest struggles. I'm not sure if they struggle mainly due to their poor, bland characterization or if neither actor is really giving it their all, but their scenes fall flat. Franco looks bored half the time and tries way too hard at other times to be charming which feels stiff. Kunis is sadly bland from beginning to end. Even after she's endured her physical and mental tranformation, nothing of intrigue strikes with her. And don't even get me started on the completely unnecessary flying monkey and China doll characters.

Luckily, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams fare much better. Williams is one of the few that really displays any type of charm into her performance. Her scenes are just the right balance of sweet and strength. And Rachel Weisz is easily the biggest strength the movie contains. Sassy, sour, and sinister. She's easily the highlight and easily the person I was most waiting on whenever she was off screen. One of the few that actually brings a sense of magic to the film, despite the rest of it feeling like an artifice of real magic.

1/4



Frankenweenie

I feel like I've read many comments about Tim Burton slipping over the last few years with his most recent projects. Frankenweenie is presented to give a big middle finger to all the disbelievers. This is easily Burton's best project in years and it's easily one of my favorite movies of 2012.

Victor Frankenstein is a young, lonely scientist whose only friend in the world is his dog Sparky. After an accident results in Sparky's death, Victor is heartbroken and lonelier then ever. That is, until a recent experiment from his science teacher demonstrates that sometimes there is a way to bring the dead back to life. Once Victor's attempt is successful, Sparky is back to life, and chaos ensues as a result of others in the town desiring to recreate the same experiment.

Frankenweenie is such a beautiful picture, it has elements that will make you feel like you're viewing a dream and a nightmare all at once. That's part of Tim Burton's skill, even in the doom and gloomy situations, there's still a beautiful element that makes the eye dance (see Sleepy Hollow for further questions). The stop motion animations looks incredible and it helps Frankenweenie create a world unlike many other animated films.

Frankenweenie also manages to bring the humor and emotion. Many scenes are laced with charm and laughs, from Victor's creepy friend, to the terror that results in the failed experiments in the climax, to the wide-eyed girl with her equally wide-eyed cat. But when it needs to be, Frankenweenie packs an emotional punch. Losing a loved one whether they were human or four-legged will always sting and the possibility of bringing them back is a common thought. Frankenweenie deals with this in the best way possible. Whoever thought a movie about the dead would pack so much of a brain, heart, funny bone, and soul?

4/4

Dark Skies

Aliens, possessed children, abductions, and Keri Russell repeatedly slamming her head into a window. How can you go wrong? Dark Skies will provide the answer. Not only is it flat-out terrible but it's also as fun as getting probed. Where did it go wrong?

One possible answer could be the threadbare plot. Keri Russell & Josh Hamilton star as Lacy & Daniel Barrett, two parents who are coming to the conclusion that things just aren't....right. Whether it be based on strange break-ins at night, everything in their house being arranged, or their youngest child constantly seeming to be visited by an extraterrestrial being. Little clues like that convince them that something is wrong.

After that brief summary, absolutely nothing happens. These must be the slowest aliens in the history of mankind. It's a 97 minute movie and they only really kick into action within the last 10 minutes. For the rest of the time, the audience is faced with obnoxious loud noises, repetitive wide-eyed, open-mouthed scares, and tedious false alarms that lead into absolutely nothing.

I felt the leads' performances also fell quite flat as well. This is quite the alarming situation and you never really get the feeling that these characters are in genuine panic and alarm. And if they don't care, the audience is quite unlikely to give any fraction of a shit. The tension never rises or even begins and you're left watching a movie that feels half-assed from the word go. Add on a lackluster, clichéd ending that suggests the incredibly ghastly notion of a sequel, and you have a movie whose essence should have been abducted before it dared to be shown before the human eye.

0/4