Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

      Hello, readers. Kick-Ass 2 opens this Friday in theaters, so this week's recommended pick will be devoted to a Jim Carrey film. I could go with The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dumb and Dumber, or Mr. Popper's Penguins... Wait a minute. That damn last one always tries to sneak its way in. Get out! I decided, though, to go with the film that I believe showcases Carrey's best performance ever. If you're expecting Ace Ventura: Pet Detective you may wanna hit the back button.

      To this day, there are still people that debate whether that moment was real or staged. Man on the Moon is a comedy-drama biopic about the late entertainer Andy Kaufman. Kaufman (Jim Carrey) is a struggling performer that, due to his eccentric and unorthodox brand of stand-up comedy, fails to attract audiences. Things change when he performs his dead-on, now iconic, Elvis impersonation. Not only does it attract the audiences, it also catches the eye of talent agent George Shapiro (Danny DeVito). Shapiro signs Kaufman as a client and from there his star rises. We then see his rise from a spot as Latka Gravas on TV's Taxi (of which Kaufman actually hated), his recurring spots on Saturday Night Live, the many "staged" antics of his, all the way to his fall as a star and eventual death from a rare type of lung cancer (which many people, once again, thought was another staged antic at first).

      Every now and then we're treated to a performance that's not only great, but you literally see the performer disappear into the role. Val Kilmer did it as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors. Joaquin Phoenix did it as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. Daniel Day-Lewis does it in pretty much any film he's in. Jim Carrey (who considered Kaufman a huge influence on his own stand-up style) is another example. It's certainly a risk casting an box office A-lister in an iconic role. At times the image of the performer takes over the character in the film, and you're essentially left watching a famous star doing an impersonation. Not here. Carrey literally disappears into the role and if a film like The Truman Show couldn't convince you that Carrey can indeed act, this one most definitely will. Along with Carrey, we also get three strong supporting performances from DeVito (who starred with Kaufman in Taxi), Paul Giamatti, and Courtney Love (before she turned crazy) in her second Milos Forman film (the first being 1996's The People vs. Larry Flynt). There are also a number of cameo appearances of those who have personally interacted with Kaufman such as Lorne Michaels, Christopher Lloyd, Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Jerry Lawler and David Letterman. While the story certainly takes a few historical liberties (which to be fair, the film admits), Man on the Moon stays true to the essence of Andy Kaufman. As an entertainer, he was divisive and at times left many audience members scratching their heads. He's infamously known for reading The Great Gatsby to an audience demanding some Latka moments, which at that point he was tired of doing. When moments like that show up onscreen we're left scratching our heads as well. That's the beauty of this film though. Those moments aren't meant for laughs. They're meant to place the viewer right there in with the audience. Both director Milos Forman and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski also end the movie with a mystery. If you knew the character that was Andy Kaufman, you'd realize the ending is rather fitting.

What the Hell Were They Thinking?!

      Hello, readers. It's gonna be a packed week here, so let's kick things off first with my weekly tribute to crap. This week's pick is, of course, another Syfy channel flick. They live for moments like these.

      Lake Placid 2 opens with the disappearance of a researcher in Lake Placid. Sheriff James Riley (John Schneider), along with Emma Warner (Sarah LaFleur), a member of the Fish and Wildlife Department, go down to the lake to see what all the ruckus is. Well, it turns out that ruckus is a twenty foot crocodile that's been getting fed hormone enhanced meat by Sadie Bickerman (Cloris Leachman), the sister of Delores from Lake Placid. Shame, even the reptiles are doping these days. The crocodile, probably pissed at being the product of poorly done CGI, winds up on a feeding frenzy (in deep, booming trailer voice: "But this time... it's the humans."), and it'll be up to Clark Kent's dad himself to save the day.

      So I don't even know where to begin. For starters, the acting is downright atrocious. I literally wanted to take a gun, stick it to my temple - Okay, stop! I can't do this. I just can't. This is going nowhere, so I'm gonna bow out. Maybe someone else can handle this...

      Welcome to Lincoln County. You probably noticed there's something different here. Well, this is Lincoln County - they do things different here. Trouble's been a brewin' lately... Well, it's Lincoln, it's in a hurry, and it ain't a Duke. So whoever that fella is, he's probably up to no good. You see, Bo here's got his hands full with not just a vicious reptilian monster, but some fairly horrendous dialogue. Turns out this massively horrible special effect has a taste for topless girls with a knack for horrible acting. It ain't April fool, and I ain't got no fever, but I'm rootin' for the crocodile. It won't be easy takin' this fella down, what with Boss Bickerman standing in the way. She's a nasty old bitch, but you can't blame her. She's won an Oscar and so many doggone Emmy Awards she's now at that point in her career where she just says, "Fuck it. What you payin' me?" Meanwhile, that croc is just tearing up through every token douchebag boyfriend, topless hussy and blubbering sidekick so fast, you'll plum shit yourself when you come to find that there colored fella actually made it through three-fourths of the film. Hee-hee, yep, the hen-house is empty. The croc is lickin' off chicken feathers and Duke's goose is about to be cooked. Good thing this film's riddled with so many contrivances and plot holes he can just hide inside one of them. So, you see, that's the way it goes in Lincoln. Where a Duke will perform so badly you'll almost forget he was on a smash hit TV show based on the most iconic superhero of all-time. That's plum typical of the Dukes of Lincoln. Too bad Luke was too busy getting cast in a Quentin Tarantino film to give you a hand, Bo.

Elysium

Cast of Characters:
Max DeCosta - Matt Damon
Secretary of Defense Delacourt - Jodie Foster
Agent Kruger - Sharlto Copley
Frey - Alice Braga
Julio - Diego Luna
Spider - Wagner Moura
John Carlyle - William Fichtner

Director - Neill Blomkamp
Screenplay - Neill Blomkamp
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout

      Academy Award winners Matt Damon and Jodie Foster star in Academy Award nominee Neill Blomkamp's sophomore follow up to his surprise hit District 9, Elysium. It hasn't been as highly anticipated as other blockbuster films this year, but does it still entertain?

      The year is 2154. Earth has been ravaged by disease, pollution and over-population. The wealthy have escaped to a Utopian-like space station known as Elysium, which is overseen and protected by Secretary of Defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster). On Elysium, the citizens live comfortably, free of any disease courtesy of machines that provide instant cures.

      Back on Earth, Max DeCosta (Matt Damon), who as a child always dreamed of one day being able to take him and his friend Frey to Elysium, is an ex-con working a factory job. His lifelong friend Frey (Alice Braga), who now has a daughter dying of Leukemia, works at the local hospital. Following a machine malfunction, DeCosta is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. He is told he only has five days left to live. His friend Julio (Diego Luna) takes him to Spider (Wagner Moura), a techie that can provide a way for DeCosta to reach Elysium and be cured. By surgically attaching a metal exoskeleton type machine on DeCosta they will be able to download the identity of his boss John Carlyle (William Fichtner) in order to hijack his way into Elysium. DeCosta, feeling that he's got nothing to lose anyway with only five days left to live, agrees to plan. He'll have to get through Agent Kruger (Sharlto Copley), Delacourt's vicious henchman, to get there though.

      2009's District 9 was a surprise hit that took the world by storm and introduced everyone to Neill Blomkamp, the co-writer and director of the film. The question here would be whether he could deliver another hit. The film's weak spots really lie in the presentation of Elysium. I, quite frankly, wanted to see more of it. The film runs a little bit over the 100 minute mark, so an extra 15 minutes of how life and society works out for those in Elysium wouldn't have hurt the film in any way. The second problem, and I thought I'd never say this in a million years, is Jodie Foster. It's not a good performance at all from here. In fact, it could be one of the worst this year (Melissa Leo in Olympus Has Fallen still takes the crown there though). I don't know if it was her stiff delivery or the multiple accents I detected from her, but you'd never expect it from a two time Oscar winner. It's a shame 'cause the thought of her in a big-budget sci-fi/action flick really interested me. Despite the film's weaknesses, this is still a greatly entertaining sci-fi/action movie with some gorgeous visuals and cinematography as well as some brutally exciting action sequences. You'll definitely be seeing this film in a number of technical categories come next year at the Oscars. As for Foster, her bad performance is compensated by two terrifically charismatic performances by Sharlto Copley and Wagner Moura. Copley is so over the top, yet his character is clearly insane enough to where it allows for it. Seeing him go from the mild-mannered bureaucrat he was in District 9 to this crazy son of a bitch was a good turn for him, and it was fun seeing him get to steal the show here. Matt Damon obviously has proven he's capable of playing in action films from the moment he starred in The Bourne Identity and here he delivers again what we expect from him. There's also a nice turn from Alice Braga that provides a few touching moments within the film. There are, of course, the social aspects of the film. Where District 9 was a metaphor for apartheid, Elysium touches on basically every social issue known to man. Subtlety is not Blomkamp's game, but he never lets it get overly preachy. This is still an action film at the end of the day.

      While it's not the best summer blockbuster of the year, you'll be far from disappointed. Aside from Foster (Seriously, I can't believe I'm saying that), the performances are solid. The action is riveting and the visuals are simply amazing. Seeing it in the IMAX format was even better. It's not quite as good as District 9, but Blomkamp shows he didn't just get lucky with his first effort. Mark my words, this man has a promising career ahead of him. I give Elysium an A- (★★★½).

REVIEWS COMING LATER NEXT WEEK...

What the Hell Were They Thinking?!

Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

Byzantium
Fruitvale Station
Lovelace 
Prince Avalanche

The Lifeguard

Cast of Characters:
Leigh - Kristen Bell
Mel - Mamie Gummer
Todd - Martin Starr
Matt - Alex Shaffer
John - Joshua Harto
Little Jason - David Lambert
Justine - Amy Madigan

Director - Liz W. Garcia
Screenplay - Liz W. Garcia
Rated R for strong sexuality, brief graphic nudity, drug use, language and a disturbing image - some involving teens

      Kristen Bell stars in the feature-length film debut of Liz W. Garcia, The Lifeguard. Looks like Veronica Mars is getting her mid-life crisis on.

      Leigh (Kristen Bell), who's almost thirty yet goes to great lengths to let us know she's still twenty-nine, lives in New York where all seems to be going well. That is, until her job and relationship all come crashing down. Following these trials, she moves back to her hometown to live with her parents. This is met with slight displeasure from her mother Justine (Amy Madigan) who feels this move back home will only hold her her daughter back.

      Once settled in, Leigh reunites with her old friends Todd (Martin Starr), her artsy friend, and Mel (Mamie Gummer), another old friend now an assistant principal who's also have some relationship issues with her husband John (Joshua Harto). Leigh also gets a job at the local swimming pool as a lifeguard and that's where she meets the pool maintenance man's son Little Jason (David Lambert). Jason, along with his downer friend Matt (Alex Shaffer), has had enough of the town and is trying to save up what money he can to move to Vermont (Really? Out of all 50 states, Vermont?). Along with shirking off any responsibilities whatsoever, she enters into a summer fling with Little Jason. I forgot to point out, Jason's sixteen. It's all good, Leigh. Just tell the officers you're not thirty, you're still twenty-nine.

      While it hasn't opened yet, The Lifeguard did compete at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. I'm always up for a quirky/mid-life crisis type indie movie, so I figured I'd give this a shot. What I got instead was a moody, slow paced, tedious bore of a film that by the end left me wondering what exactly was the point of this? Mid-life crisis films such as Groundhog Day, About a Boy, Stranger Than Fiction, and of course, American Beauty handled the subject matter terrifically 'cause at some point the film had a turning point and by the end of the film there was a meaning to it all. Here I couldn't exactly tell what the film was trying to say and that's if it was trying to say anything at all. Where most films, even some of the bad ones, have a trajectory outline similar to a roller coaster (up, down, side to side, and a few loops thrown in as well), this film had a tone and pace so monotone it was like sitting through a ride that only traveled straight at a pace of about neutral. Seriously, sitting through this makes Terrence Malick (who's actually a terrific filmmaker) look like Michael Bay on crack. Now let's address the elephant in the room and that of course concerns Little Miss Lolita here. I'm all for objectivity in film and letting the viewer decide. Who likes a director that constantly has to hold the moviegoers hand? We're talking about a thirty year old having sex with a sixteen year old though, and that's with no consequences ever brought up at any point in the movie. Something. Anything. Hell, even a, "Okay, maybe, just maybe this is the tiniest bit fucked up." If the roles were reversed, Chris Hansen would've had a guest spot here. I still can't quite decide though whether the film's biggest sin is either that, giving Martin Starr (who has been dependably funny before in films like Knocked Up and Adventureland) absolutely nothing to do, or disguising itself as an "indie film" when it's clearly not. Just 'cause you have the hipster, coffee shop acoustic music bopping in the background while the main character gets that token symbolic moment where she mopes into the pool fully clothed and completely immerses herself in the water doesn't make you "indie".

      Kristen Bell, for the most part, has made her fair share of poor film choices. However, she has shown she's capable of good things in Showtime's House of Lies with Don Cheadle. I don't know what to make of this. It's hard to really feel sorry for her character when she's committing acts that legally speaking would deem her a sexual predator. I don't fault writer/director Liz W. Garcia for wanting to go that direction. I fault her for not really having anything to say in regards to it other than a short, cheapened "whatever" speech by Jason's father near the end. Plus, it's hard for Leigh to get any help for her mid-life crisis when it seems like every single other character in the film is going through their own mid-life crisis as well. I give The Lifeguard a D- (½★).

Disconnect

Cast of Characters:

Rich Boyd - Jason Bateman

Lydia Boyd - Hope Davis

Mike Dixon - Frank Grillo

Stephen Schumacher - Michael Nyqvist

Cindy Hull - Paula Patton

Nina Dunham - Andrea Riseborough

Derek Hull - Alexander Skarsgard

Kyle - Max Thieriot

Jason Dixon - Colin Ford

Ben Boyd - Jonah Bobo

Director - Henry-Alex Rubin

Screenplay - Andrew Stern

Rated R for sexual content, some graphic nudity, language, violence and drug use - some involving teens

      Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough and Alexander Skarsgard headline Academy Award nominated director Henry-Alex Rubin's Disconnect. It would've be so nice to see this back in April when it first opened, but at least I got to see Scary Movie V instead.

      Disconnect centers on three stories that intersect amongst each other. Nina Dunham (Andrea Riseborough) is an up-and-coming news reporter trying to break a story on online sex chatrooms, in particular chatroom model Kyle (Max Thieriot). The two begin to bond together on the chatroom as Nina hopes this can lead to a possible interview with him.

      Cindy (Paula Patton) and Derek Hull (Alexander Skarsgard) are a couple in a strained marriage following the death of their child. Things are made much more complicated for them after their identities have been stolen online. This may or may not have been caused by a fellow chatter on an online grief support site Cindy has been frequently accessing to cope with the loss of her son. They hire private detective Mike Dixon (Frank Grillo) to solve the case for them.

      Rich (Jason Bateman) and Lydia Boyd's (Hope Davis) life has been thrown into a tailspin following the suicide attempt of their loner, teenage son Ben (Jonah Boyd), the target of an extended online prank caused by fellow schoolmate Jason Dixon (Colin Ford). In some form or another, these lives will all cross paths at some point.

      Whether it's Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, Skype, LinkedIn, Photobucket, AOL/Yahoo/Google Talk Messenger, Smartphones, iPhones or pretty much any blog on the web, technology has made our lives much more easier and convenient. It also proves to be a double-edged sword as it has essentially erased any form of privacy we thought we once had. While clearly borrowing the story structure Crash perfected almost ten years ago, focusing on the dangers of technology, specifically social media, and how just one click of the button can alter your life provides us with a unique and more than relevant story experience. The cast doesn't scream A-list by any means (at times that can be for the better), but there are a number of faces you will at least recognize in this still talented cast. Andrea Riseborough (who I had know idea of until I saw Oblivion earlier this year) is excellent as the young and ambitious reporter desperate for a breakthrough story, even it means obtaining through illegal means. Jonah Bobo gives a quietly heartbreaking performance as Bateman's son, the victim of the online prank, and Jason Bateman, who - deservedly so - is one of the most in demand comedy actors out there today, shows he can also deliver a good dramatic performance (Juno and a small role in Up in the Air are two other terrific examples). We're also given some strong supporting work from Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Alexander Skarsgard and Paula Patton. Both director Henry-Alex Rubin and writer Andrew Stern (in a superb feature-length film debut) have weaved and crafted together a stirring and emotional fable of how society has become so addicted to typing away on their cell phones or computer keyboard (I do realize right about now I'm coming off as ironic) that within seconds and certainly without any thought someone could've easily ruined a marriage, destroyed a reputation, or even worse, kick-started a series of events that ultimately leads to someone taking their life. We don't even have to interact with the individual whose life we're ruining. In fact, it could be someone we've never seen and never will see. All it takes is just one click of the button.

      With a strong ensemble cast, a sharp and thought provoking script from Stern and masterful direction from Rubin, this is an unforgettable film (Seriously, Celebration Cinema, Scary Movie V over this?). While certain storylines are forgivably more predictable than others, that still doesn't take away the fact that there wasn't a single moment where I wasn't involved in either the characters or the story. I give Disconnect an A (★★★★).

We're the Millers

Cast of Characters:
Rose O’Reilly - Jennifer Aniston
David Clark - Jason Sudeikis
Casey Mathis - Emma Roberts
Don Fitzgerald - Nick Offerman
Edie Fitzgerald - Kathryn Hahn
Kenny Rossmore - Will Poulter
Brad Gurdlinger - Ed Helms

Director - Rawson Marshall Thurber
Screenplay - Bob Fisher, Steve Faber, Sean Anders & John Morris
Rated R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, drug material and brief graphic nudity

      Horrible Bosses co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis reunite as the leads in the drug comedy We’re the Millers. That’s right, you saw the little striptease during the trailer. Brad Pitt actually gave that up?

      Cue all the Miami Heat fanboys now, "Manz, like hataz gon hate, yo!" David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) - no relation to the Dave Clark Five, I'm assuming - is a Colorado drug dealer that sells pot out of his apartment. After being robbed of not only his money, but his supply as well, he finds himself $43,000 in the hole with a wealthy client of his, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms). Brad’s willing to let David make it up to him though by picking up just a “smidge, maybe a smidge and a half” of marijuana out of Mexico. If he’s successful he’ll not only have his debt paid off, but he’ll also be paid $100,000.

      Knowing that going in and out of Mexico by himself is like waving a huge red flag for the authorities, David decides to create a fake family to take with him in order to throw off the Border Patrol. With the awkward and shy virgin Kenny (Will Poulter), who lives in the same apartment complex as David, the moody runaway Casey (Emma Roberts) and the stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston), who also lives in David’s apartment complex, they become the Millers.

      If you’ve seen Horrible Bosses, you’ll know that both Aniston and Sudeikis hit it out of the park with their respective roles. Aniston was great playing against the type she’s been known for, and Sudeikis was a dependable comic sidekick to Jason Bateman’s straight man. The challenge here for Sudeikis was whether or not he could handle the task of playing a leading role. Despite picking a number of really bad film choices, Aniston’s proved herself as a leading lady in films such as Office Space, Bruce Almighty, Friends With Money, and the underrated The Good Girl. Sudeikis, although a likeable presence onscreen, still has a lot to prove as a leading actor and I’m not convinced he’s quite there yet. Plus, the chemistry between him and Aniston, while not bad, was just okay. The problem here is the half-baked and lazy script with jokes and setups so forced and contrived it was like watching toddlers trying to cram the square block into the toy circle hole (Remember those toys?). Hey, let’s make Aniston’s character a stripper. Why? So she can have a scene where she strips for some drug dealers. "Oh, so you're a stripper? Huh... well, prove it." Don’t get me wrong, the guy in me was like, “Hell, yes!”. The writer in me though was like, “Hell, yes! The setup still sucks though.” Then we have Kenny getting bit by a spider solely as a setup for a throwaway gross out gag involving his swollen nuts. It's weak setups followed by weak payoffs, just lazy writing with no thought. In fact, the writers were probably the ones that stole David's stash. Plus, the movie commits one of my cardinal sins during the closing credits - film outtakes. You know what closing credit outtakes tell me? It tells me you have no confidence in your film, so let's just throw in a bunch of film screw ups that will most surely make you laugh since the film as a whole couldn't do the trick for you. One thing the film does have in its favor though - Nick Offerman (probably best known for TV's Parks and Recreation). That middle section involving him and Kathryn Hahn was where the film got the laughs out of me, and in a way they were kinda like a polar opposite parallel to Randy Quaid and Miriam Flynn's characters in National Lampoon's Vacation.

      Obviously, there’s no doubt the film was trying to recapture the magic of National Lampoon’s Vacation. That film, though, had a legendary trifecta of the late John Hughes’s writing, Harold Ramis’s direction and Chevy Chase in the lead role. If this film focused just on the four posing as a family instead of throwing the obligatory drug dealers in there for the sake of having some token action moments (the big weakness of Identity Thief, by the way), maybe it could’ve been better. What we end up getting is just a weak story that is too predictable and ultimately forgettable. I don’t mind predictability in a comedy if you’re still gonna deliver the laughs (see my review of The Heat). It has its moments and certainly has more than a lot of the far worse comedies we've seen this year. More often than not though the jokes fall flat, and when they're good it's not enough to save the film. I give We’re the Millers a C- (★★).

Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

      Hello, readers. Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, opens this Friday. This week's recommended viewing pick will be dedicated to a film starring "Meatt Daaaymon!" If you've seen Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America: World Police, you'll get that reference.

      The Informant! stars Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, a rising star at the Illinois based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), an American food-processing corporation. At the urging of his wife Ginger (Melanie Lynskey), Whitacre blows the whistle to the FBI Agents Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula) and Robert Herndon (Joel McHale) on certain price-fixing tactics going down at his company. The FBI wants to use Whitacre in gathering as much evidence as possible to warrant a raid of the company. Given Whitacre's personality, that proves to be a lot harder than it sounds. He struggles with bi-polar disorder, can't handle high-pressure scenarios to save his life, and his own personal ambitions of possibly running the company after the conspiracy has died down always manage to get in the way.

      Matt Damon has always been more than a dependable screen presence and unlike his co-Oscar winning writing partner Ben Affleck (who, thankfully, has managed to steer his career back on track), has had a more consistently solid film career. Here in The Informant - based on real events - he gives I believe to be a top three performance of his. The trailers and TV spots, I think, unwisely made this film appear to be a little more goofy than it really is. This is more than just a comedy. Don't get me wrong, this film has its share of funny moments and they're all perfectly handled at just the right times within the film. There's more to it than that though. It's partly comedy, partly satire and partly corporate thriller (I'm using that genre a bit loosely here). The comedy is more human than anything as it focuses on a man who starts with good intentions, but slowly unravels as we see his character develop. We're laughing at folly created by a man who gets more and more in over his head, trying to shoot for the moon. Those around him, though, clearly aren't laughing. I've always been a sucker for those type of stories and the way director Steven Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns unfold just a little bit here, then a little bit more, and then a little bit more as the film progresses is great stuff. We expect greatness from Soderbergh, but Burns - who prior to this film was mostly known just for co-writing The Bourne Ultimatum, but followed this film with Contagion and Side Effects - really showed what he's capable of as a writer here. Matt Damon's performance alone is enough for me to say see it, and his random, meandering first person narrative throughout the film is excellent. Throw in a terrific supporting cast, a sharp script by Burns, and the usual style and flare from Soderbergh, and you have a greatly entertaining film.