Monthly Archives: August 2016

ACTION, HORROR

DON’T BREATHE

Leave a comment

DON'T BREATHE official poster - opening in theaters nationwide August 26, 2016 from Screen Gems. (PRNewsFoto/Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Don’t Blink Either…

From the minds behind “Evil Dead” comes a home invasion story with many twists and turns, and of course enough brutality to make horror fans of any style happy. We follow the story of 3 troubled youths from Detroit who raid wealthy homes taking valuables and trading them for cash. Desperate to leave Detroit they decide to target a blind military veteran who has $300-400K stashed in his house. A settlement that came from his daughter’s death via vehicular manslaughter. Once the kids break in all hell breaks loose.

“Don’t Breathe” is one of the most interesting movies this summer, marketed as a horror but I would classify it as a suspense thriller. Fans  of the genre love twists, the main twist in this film is not to the level of “Saw” but is a hell of a lot more effective than “the Village”. While most home invasion stories are pretty one sided, these characters have a few different dimensions blurring the line of who is good and evil. Like most memorable movies there is a scene or two that can’t be unseen, “Don’t Breathe” has such a scene that will make you gag, laugh, and give you nightmares all at the same time. Obviously this film has more than its share of silent moments, only making the audience feel even more uneasy setting us up for an emotional roller coaster.

The biggest negative that comes out of this project is some of the minor details. Just an example – knowingly deciding to rob a blind guy while he is in the house. The group of criminals seem to also neglect that people who lack in sight make up for it in their hearing abilities, these three should have been a little bit more stealth in order to complete their goal. While these characters also have different layers the audience never feels truly connected to any of them, making their fate unemotional yet still entertaining – a rare combination.

Overall “Don’t Breathe” has enough of an original story with original twists to make up for its few shortcomings. It won’t redefine the horror or thriller genre but still is a must see this summer. Make sure to pick a reasonable show time (Preferably earlier) as there isn’t much dialogue so teenagers or inconsiderate load mouths could ruin the experience.

 

ROASTED RIPPER SCORE  = B

(3.8/5 Gasps)

ACTION

SUICIDE SQUAD

Leave a comment

Suicide_Squad_Poster

Worst. Villains. Ever?

With “Man of Steel” back in 2013 which was followed by “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” earlier this year, one of the most anticipated movies in the growing DC movie franchise was none other than “Suicide Squad”. But did it live up to the hype or did they focus on the stories of a few select characters little more than they should have?

We meet up with some of the most notorious villains in the DC universe as they’re being held captive in a high security fortress in Louisiana. The group includes the likes of Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and a full cast of others with their own unique abilities and offense which brings to reason why they are there in the first place.

But why do I feel like I’m forgetting some major bad guy. Oh yeah, Jared Leto’s Joker. Perhaps I forgot about him because of the producer’s decision to remove many of the Joker scenes due to them making the movie too dark. Funny, I thought this was supposed to be a movie about supervillains. Why would we want to make that a darker movie than one about superheroes?

Anyway, the band of misfits (minus Joker as he’s off doing his own thing) is brought together for the government’s attempt at stopping a Superman like creature that may threaten humanity if they see fit. And as luck would have it, such a situation arises and the team is reluctantly thrown into action to put an end to the threat or die trying all in an attempt for redemption. Either way, the government will be able to wipe their hands clean as they would just claim to have no knowledge of the groups existence.

With great action and effects, a decent story that could have been both better and worse, and a cast of some well-known faces and names, this is perhaps one of the best comic based movies of the year. That’s easy to say considering there have only been a few of them this year.

Now for the harsh part. Although it was great to get someone like Smith involved in the project, and even Robbie and Leto, it seemed like the whole movie was more centered on the former two’s characters and their stories far more than anyone else’s. Was this because they were being played by big stars in the industry or were their stories that much more interesting than anyone else’s? The Joker on the other hand left a lot to be desired as they built him up as being in the film quite a bit, but he really wasn’t in it all that much. And even when we did see him, it again wasn’t for very long.

Overall, the movie was very entertaining and kept you drawn in till the now always expected clip during the credits that foreshadows the next movie to come. There were just certain things that could have been done differently to really make this one a memorable feature that people would have been talking about for ages. People may be talking about it, but it might just be for the wrong reasons. This certainly won’t be the last time we see these villains, but let’s just hope the next time we do we’ll see an equal amount of each of them rather than focusing our attention on the ones played by the big name actors.

ROASTED RIPPER SCORE – C+

(7.7/10 Likeable Baddies)

ACTION, COMEDY

WAR DOGS

Leave a comment

wrdgs_tsr_1sht_vert_2764x4096_dom_master

Jonah Hill and Miles Teller are weapons in their own right…

From the director of “The Hangover” trilogy comes the true story of Efraim Diveroli (Hill) and David Packouz (Teller). Two childhood friends who are now in their twenties working together to obtain obscure weapons contracts for the Pentagon on the black market. Efraim and David are reunited at a friends’ funeral, while reminiscing Packouz unveils to Diveroli that he is unhappy with the direction of his professional life. As a friend Efraim decides to help David, showing him the ropes and financial upside of international arms dealing, soon the pair become business partners.

It is refreshing to get a war film that has a different take, most films on combat are shocking, depressing, and negative much like the true horrors of life and death situations. “War Dogs” gives you a behind the scenes look at the real world cost to outfit our soldiers (roughly $17,500 per soldier) and that is just the beginning. From guns to grenades to rocket launchers these characters sell them all. While this film seems like it has a complicated premise, Phillips does a masterful job of dumbing it down so audiences with no background in business or military weaponry can follow right along.

Jonah Hill does a compelling job depicting the man behind the operation Efraim. We have all come to know Jonah Hill as a comedic star but he shows off his range in “War Dogs” and should be taken seriously for future widespread roles. Miles Teller does a good job aside Hill as David. Teller is also known as being an upcoming star thanks to the “Divergent” series and a few other comedies. Hill does most of the comedic heavy lifting as the film focuses around Teller and his characters’ family. Teller is believable as a serious family man but would have liked to see him throw in a few jokes.

This film was marketed as a comedy, while it won’t have you laughing out of your seat it will keep the laughs at a brisk pace for the rest of the action and drama. A few of the details about minor characters can be seen as plot holes but they don’t deter the audience enough to disconnect from the major characters. An entertaining and educational film with enough laughs and serious moments to be considered one of the best all-around movies of the summer.

ROASTED RIPPER SCORE – B+

(7.8/10 Crumbs)

COMEDY

SAUSAGE PARTY

Leave a comment

sausage_party_ver2

You are what you eat…

The most talked about comedy this summer has been “Sausage Party”. When the trailer first made its appearance this winter it set the internet on fire, sparking outrage and anticipation for the foul mouth hot dog and his friends. As summer moved along the TV spots and social media promos became more and more evident, along with most people I boarded the hype train. Sadly though like most films that rely heavily on advertising, this film was somewhat of a disappointment. A lot of the funny moments had already been viewed multiple times before the film’s release, had they used different clips less frequently the expectation may have been a tad different.

The story follows “Frank”, a wiener played by Seth Rogan who is excited for “Red, White, and Blue day” (Fourth of July). The goal of every item in the supermarket is to be chosen and head to “The Great Beyond”. Since “Red, White, and Blue day” is a certainty for hot dogs and buns, Frank plans his future with his Bun of a girlfriend. Once chosen the Hot Dogs and their friends soon learn that “The Great Beyond” isn’t exactly what they expected.

While disappointed with the end result, the writing for this film was far from a random profanity laced tirade that most believed it to be. Seth Rogan does a masterful job making light of current and past social conflicts as it relates to food. He touches on Nazi Germany, Israel/Palestine, and Native Americans just to name a few. While this film is going to offend a ton of people, Rogan touches on every major race/religion so no one is left without a joke or a laugh. If you go to see a movie about pot smoking hot dog and are hell bent on being tight, you aren’t going to have a good time.

All in all it is a funny film that I wished I had seen with no prior knowledge of the film itself. The laughs are there but they aren’t as unrelenting as expected. Near the end when it becomes more shock humor is when it is an all out assault on your sense of humor. Common sense has become a super power so obviously if you have young children – TAKE THE “R” RATING SERIOUSLY. Just because it is a cartoon does not make it ok for children. If you need examples there are plenty like “Team America”, “Eight Crazy Nights”, “South Park” ETC…

ROASTED RIPPER SCORE C+ 

(6.3/10 Wieners)