you are here: Home » Movie Reviews

HOLY ROLLERS With Jesse Eisenberg - Sundance Movie Review

HOLY ROLLERS, directed by Kevin Asch, tells the story of Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), a young devout Hasidic man who lives with his family in Brooklyn. Sam works with his father while also studying to become a rabbi. He is also intent on getting married and starting a family as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the fact that his family is poor limits his prospects and the fact that his father does not want him to make more money frustrates him even more. An encounter with his neighbor Yosef introduces young Sammy to the world of drug smuggling and the myriads of temptations associated with it. This introduction puts Sammy in a state of confusion that challenges his most deeply held beliefs and changes his life profoundly.
I quite enjoyed watching Holy Rollers. The story of a hasidic man struggling with his faith and his desires was weirdly entertaining to watch. The [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Eric

POSTED ON:

Feb 13

2010

COMMENTS: 1

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , , , , , , , ,

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF Movie Review

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF (2 out of 5 stars)
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF was just released yesterday and I had an opportunity to go and see what the fuss was all about.
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is the story of a young high school kid, Percy Jackson ( Logan Lerman), who lives with his mom, Jessie (Catherine Keener), and step dad in a low income neighborhood. Percy also has a good friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), who is his sidekick. It is during a trip at the museum that Percy discovers that he is a demi-god, half man and half god as his mother had an affair with a god, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). Percy also finds out that Zeus (Sean Bean) suspects him of having stolen the Lightning Bolt and has set a deadline for Percy to return it. [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Eric

POSTED ON:

Feb 13

2010

COMMENTS: 1

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TWELVE - Sundance Movie Review

If you're into teen angst, dark films, TWELVE might be for you. The movie chronicles the story of privileged urban adolescents on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. We meet White Mike, a kid who had everything going for him, but decided to leave it all behind by dropping out of his senior year in high school and become a drug dealer. His drug of choice: marijuana, which he sells to his peers. Here is the thing though, White Mike doesn't do any drugs himself (or even drink for that matter), he just sells them.
Early in the movie, his cousin gets murdered and his best friend is arrested for the crime. However, White Mike is pretty much unaware of all this through most of the film. Parallel to that story, we follow White Mike's peers who are still in high school as they get ready for a party that none [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Sandie

POSTED ON:

Feb 12

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , , ,

LOUIS C.K.: HILARIOUS - Sundance Movie Review

LOUIS C.K.: HILARIOUS is a stand up show of comic Louis C.K. shot in front of a live audience. The movie was written, directed and edited by Louis C.K.
If you are a fan of Louis like I am, you will have a great time watching him talk about his dating life as a recent divorcee, the challenges of being a single dad, his aversion to spoiled Americans and much much more. The content is definitely edgy but feels at the same time very relate-able. Hilarious is like hanging out with a very funny friend who goes on some roaring rants.
One thing that makes Hilarious special is that you feel like you are part of the audience watching the stand up and not watching the audience itself. That adds a more intimate feel to the movie but only slightly. If I was watching this from home, I am not sure if [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Eric

POSTED ON:

Feb 10

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , ,

SKATELAND - Sundance Movie Review

SKATELAND takes place in 1983 and follows the life of 19-year-old Ritchie (Shiloh Fernandez) as he spends his time between the local roller rink where he works and hanging out with his friends Brent (Heath Freeman), Brent's sister Michelle (Ashley Greene), and Kenny (Taylor Handley). Richie is still trying to figuring out what he wants for his future, he's not sure where his heart lies, never mind where he wants to go to college. Unfortunately, when a tragedy strikes close to home, Richie is faced with growing up faster than he would have liked to and forced to make the decisions he had been delaying.
Skateland is as you have guessed a coming of age story, which had some good moments but was slow at times, especially at the beginning. It seemed to pick up once the big crisis/tragedy happens.
The interesting thing about the movie is that [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Sandie

POSTED ON:

Feb 7

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , ,

NOWHERE BOY - Sundance Movie Review

NOWHERE BOY is probably one of the best biopic you will ever see. It follows the life of John Lennon (Aaron Johnson) as he grows up in Liverpool in 1955 being raised by his aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his late uncle. John is rebellious, and when he decides to seek out his estranged mother, Julia (Anne-Marie Duff), he increases the conflict between him and his aunt. However, Johns soon forms a strong attachment to his mother, who encourages him to pursue his interest in music. John also now finds the need to revisit his painful past finding refuge in music leading him on a journey that will give birth to The Beatles.
Nowhere Boy was most definitely one of the best movies I saw at Sundance. It had some of the best acting, story, pace and just overall feel. You will not be bored one second. The characters are [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Sandie

POSTED ON:

Feb 7

2010

COMMENTS: 1

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , ,

Adrian Grenier's TEENAGE PAPARAZZO - Sundance Documentary Review

TEENAGE PAPARAZZO, the third documentary from Entourage's Adrian Grenier, is a behind the scenes look at a 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk and the world of the Paparazzi in general.
By following Austin, Grenier gains entry in the very secretive world of the Paparazzi revealing the truth behind the highly integrated media system that is powering the whole phenomenon. First you have the paparazzi like Austin who are doing everything legal and illegal to get the kind of shots that is going to make them money. Then you get to at the magazine world, and how they weed through the mass of photos that they receive to find the images that are going to drive the most readers to their content. Then you have the readers who seem to be more invested in the lives of celebrities than their own.
Grenier does a masterful job of delving into this seemingly harsh world [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Eric

POSTED ON:

Feb 7

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , ,

THE PERFECT HOST - Sundance Movie Review

THE PERFECT HOST, written and directed by first time director Nick Tomnay, is a movie that follows John Taylor (Clayne Crawford, who appears in the new season of 24), a bank robber on the run after a botched bank job, who, using subterfuge, gains entry into the home of Warwick Wilson (David Hyde Pierce - Frasier). Warwick, who is preparing to host a dinner party, starts out the evening being a gracious host but as events start to unwind and identities get revealed, things go from bad to worse.
I have mixed feelings about The Perfect Host. The story can best be described as a constant string of reversals of situation, where one protagonist gains the upper hand and then it switches on you. While this kind of story telling device works well in a heist like movie, here it fell kind of flat as it felt like we were [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Eric

POSTED ON:

Feb 6

2010

COMMENTS: 1

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , , , , , , , ,

SPACE TOURISTS - Sundance Documentary Review

SPACE TOURISTS is a documentary from director Christian Frei that delves into the very recent phenomenon of wealthy people paying million of dollars to go in space as part of the Russian space program. The doc looks at this story from three major angles.
The first angle follows the story of Anousheh Ansari, the first woman to pay millions of dollars to go into space. Her story is one of a passion that is fulfilled, and we get to see her make it to the space station.
The second angle follows Charles Simonyi, the chief architect of Microsoft Office who is going through a rigorous training to also go into space. This is an interesting look into the arduous preparation that even millionaires have yo go through to make it in the stars.
The final angle focuses on the environmental impact of these privately funded space flights on the communities surrounding it. [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Eric

POSTED ON:

Feb 6

2010

COMMENTS: 1

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , , ,

THE FREEBIE - Sundance Movie Review

THE FREEBIE is a film about a happy married couple, Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Katie Aselton), who decide to give each other one night of freedom to have no-strings-attached sex with a stranger for each of them. But this seemingly great plan might not turn out exactly how they anticipated it would.
The film was created using a lot of improv and I think it definitely contributes to the realism of the film. I found the story to be very organic and true, and that's why I enjoyed watching it so much. It was as if you were a fly on the wall listening in to this couple's secret conversations and seeing their relationship evolve. I think couples might definitely be able to relate to Darren and Annie.
In order for the movie to work, the most important part was to get two good actors to portray to a couple. I [...]

Read More »

AUTHOR: Sandie

POSTED ON:

Feb 5

2010

COMMENTS: 1

CATEGORY: Movie Reviews

TAGS: , , , , ,

« Previous Page
Next Page »