The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

My View:  The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones  (2013)  PG-13    Clary Fray (Lily Collins) is a girl living in New York City with her single mom (Lena Headey). Her ordinary life is suddenly shattered when she discovers that her mother never told her the truth about her heritage and her dead father. Clary discovers that she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors who are in a continuous battle to protect the world from demons. After her mother is kidnapped, Clary meets Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Alec (Kevin Zegers), two Shadowhunters who introduce her to the dangerous alternate New York called, Downworld. Now, with the help of her human best friend, Simon (Robert Sheehan), the Shadowhunters and Clary must battle demons, warlocks, vampires and werewolves to get her mother back. This film is overly long, and for viewers who haven’t read the book, this film is extremely confusing.  I liked Lily Collins as Clary, but hated who played her romantic interest of Jace, Jamie Bower.  There is absolutely no chemistry between Collins and Bower, and their one romantic scene is so contrived it’s laughable.  Some of the action sequences are enjoyable, but they are too few and far between to make the film move along at any sort of pace. This film misses on so many marks, which definitely makes it tedious to watch.    My Rating:  Cable    The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Website

My View:  You’re Next  (2013)  R  The Davison clan has gathered together to celebrate their parents' 35th wedding anniversary at their isolated home in the country.  The dinner party comes to a halt, though, when the family is attacked by men dressed in black wearing Halloween masks in the shape of animals. This is a film that celebrates the slasher/horror films of the 70’s and 80’s. The dialogue and acting are intentionally over-the-top, which makes it so much fun to watch.  It’s a film not to be taken seriously, so just go with the action, which there is plenty of as every known horror device is exploited.  I really enjoyed the performance of Sharni Vinson who plays the girlfriend of one of the Davison boys.  She is very convincing as the tough-as-nails Australian girl who leads the fight against the attackers.  This film is violent and bloody but is well done, which makes this film highly enjoyable.   My Rating:  Full Price    You're Next Website

Indiefest:  The World’s End  (2013) R  Five friends reunite twenty years later to relive a pub-crawl they never finished in their hometown.  Their mission is to visit twelve pubs with the final destination as the legendary pub, The World’s End.  As they plow through the pubs, they realize that something is not right in their town.  There are mysterious things going on around them, and completing the pub crawl may be the least of their worries. If you liked or loved Shaun of the Dead (2004) or Hot Fuzz  (2007), you are going to love this film.  This is one of those films that you may have to see twice since there will be lines that you will miss due to the laughter being so loud.  It's a brash, exciting film about a Pub crawl that goes terrible wrong.  All five of the cast are entertaining to watch, but it's Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that really shine in this film.  Pegg, as Gary King, is brilliant as the leader of the gang who is trying to relive his glory days.  Frost, who plays one of the gang who in the past was wronged by Gary and holds a grudge.  All five cast members have great chemistry together on the screen and handle both the comedic scenes and the action scenes with equal aplomb.  The violence isn't over the top and many of the action sequences are filled with comedic bits that make this film an engaging film to watch.  My Rating:  Full Price   The World's End Website

Forgotten Film:  Re-Animator  (1985) R  Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) is a medical student going to school at a small New England university. He rents a room from a fellow student, Dan (Bruce Abbott), who soon discovers Herbert is conducting experiments in the basement of the house where they live.  These experiments are about bringing back to life the dead by “re-animating” the bodies.  West begins to use the re-animated bodies to do his bidding and kill the people he dislikes.  This is a horror film that contains quite of bit of intentional comedy yet continues to exhibit scary scene and after scary scene.  Jeffery Combs is the reason to watch this film as he is quite a creepy character and makes this film entertaining to watch.     My Rating:  Bargain Matinee   Re-Animator Info

In Case You Missed It (A Film Just Released on DVD):  Epic (2013) PG   While I enjoyed this animated film, I didn’t think it was up to the standards of the Pixar films of the past.  M. K. (Amanda Seyfried) has moved to the country to live with her father.  She discovers that there is a race of tiny warriors who defend the forest, and she joins their fight.  Not a bad film - just not a great one.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Epic Website

Weird Credits: From the Credits of The World's End:  Physical Comedy Consultant 

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Salinger (2013)  A documentary about one of the most reclusive authors in the world, J. D. Salinger, who wrote The Catcher in the Rye.  Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, John Cusack and Philip Seymour Hoffman are some of the people who are interviewed in this film.   Salinger Info

Until Next Time!

Fast & Furious 6

My View:  Fast & Furious 6  (2013)  PG-13  Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has decided that, if you can’t beat them, join them, so he enlists Dominic (Vin Diesel), Walker (Brian O’Conner), and the rest of the team to help him catch criminals who are led by a former Special Ops man named, Owen Shaw(Luke Evans).  This is a fun, noisy film where the director, Justin Lin, has decided to turn each of the characters into superheroes who are able to fly 30 feet, grab onto another person and drop onto a moving car and not get hurt.  There is an incredible fight sequence between Gina Carano, a former MMA fighter, and Michelle Rodriquez, who learned to fight for the film, Girlfight (2000), that is worth the price of admission.  The film does slow down quite a bit when the gang, especially Vin Diesel, is forced to do some acting, but overall any action fan is going to be very happy with this film.  The ending is totally unbelievable, but by the time you get there, you just about accept every impossible thing that happens anyway.  There is a tank in this film that can travel about 100 mph.  My question is, where do you go from here for the next Fast film…Space?  Race on Mars? There is a bonus scene right after the first set of credits.   My Rating:  Bargain Matinee   Fast & Furious 6 Website

Family Faire:  Epic  (2013)  PG  M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) has moved to the country to live with her father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), after the death of her mother. Her father believes that the woods are inhabited by some sort of little beings that move too fast for humans to see. To her utter amazement, M.K. discovers that her father is right.  There is a race of tiny warriors who defend the forest, and she must join the fight, teaming up with Nod (Josh Hutcherson) a brash warrior who’s not used to working with others.  I enjoyed this film, though it’s not quite up to the standards of the Pixar films.  M.K. is a good heroine, one that young women can get inspiration from.  I didn't like the 3-D aspect of the film and wanted to see the film in 2-D, as I felt the 3-D process washed out the colors of the animation.  Aziz Ansari and Chris O’Dowd steal the movie as the comic pair of a slug and a snail that join forces with M.K. to defeat the evil Mandrake (Christoph Waltz).  My Rating:  Bargain Matinee    Epic Website

Indiefest:  Love is All You Need (2013)   R   For Ida (Trine Dyrholm), life has not been going so well. She is just getting over a battle with cancer, her son is about to be shipped overseas with the military, and she finds out her husband of many years is having an affair with a younger woman. On top of this, she must travel to Italy to see her only daughter get married where she meets the father of the groom, Philip (Pierce Brosnan), a man who seems to be mad at everyone and everything. With romance in the air, will Ida find it in Italy?  Finally, we have a romantic drama for adults.  This is an entertaining film where you fall in love with Italy and Ida and Philip as they try and survive a wedding that seemingly could fall apart at any minute.  Brosnan does a good job as a man who, at first, we don’t like, but as the film progresses, we get to like more and more.  But it’s Dyrholm’s film, and she runs away with it.  She is fantastic in the part, and her performance makes us want to help her  find love and happiness.  There is a nice twist at the end of this film, a film that will make you want to move to Italy and fall in love.   My Rating:  Full Price    Love Is All You Need Website

Indiefest:  Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s  (2013)  PG-13   Ever wonder what it would be like to work at one of the world’s most exclusive clothing stores?  The film explores the world of high couture with interviews with just about every fashion designer who is living.  One of the fascinating features in this film is we get to see how Bergdorf’s designs their famous windows as we follow the team responsible for the execution, as they plan out the windows to the actual building of the displays for the 2011 Christmas season.  The film highlights workers in the store, some of which make in the hundreds of thousands of dollars on commission.   It’s a fascinating take on the fashion world and the strange, wonderful people who design and sell clothes.    My Rating:  Full Price   Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's Website

Forgotten Film:  A Touch of Class (1973)  PG  Steve (George Segal) is a married man living in London.  On a chance encounter, he meets Vicki (Glenda Jackson), a recent divorcee, and the sparks fly between them.  Steve entices Vicki to run away with him for a weekend to Marbella.  While they are there, just about everything under the sun happens, keeping them away from each other.  When they finally do get together, they realize that there just might be something to this relationship, and they decide to keep the affair going in London.  Things go well until life starts interfering and Steve realizes that he will have to choose between his family life and his life with Vicki.  This is a smart, adult romantic comedy that uses the comedic talents of the two leads.  Jackson, as the sexy, smart Vicki, was so brilliant in the role she won the Academy Award for .  Segal is perfect as the role of Steve,  a man who thinks he can have his cake and eat it too.    My Rating:  Full Price   A Touch of Class info

In Case You Missed It (A Film Just Released on DVD):  Beautiful Creatures (2013)  PG-13  Another in a long line of films trying to replace the Twilight series. This films plot is stupid, and the cast acts as if they are in a high school production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.   My Rating:  Cable   Beautiful Creatures Website

Weird Credits: From the credits of Fast & Furious 6:  Personal Makeup Artist for Mr. Diesel

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  The Spectacular Now  (2013)   The best film I saw at the 2013 Atlanta Film Festival.  With incredible performances by Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller, this  film is being compared to Say Anything, and I think it just might be better.   The Spectacular Now Info

Until Next Time!