Aaron Neuwirth
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Aaron reviewed...
V/H/S/2 (2013)
Doctor: You might see some glitches...
A horror anthology is one of… More
Doctor: You might see some glitches...
A horror anthology is one of the easiest types of films to see as hit or miss. Not only can some of the segments either be good, bad, or just okay, but the film itself can drag depending on how many short films we are watching and whether or not the connective tissue between each film (if there is any) is effective. V/H/S suffered from this issue. Some of the segments were better than others; one segment was straight up terrible, in my eyes; and I really disliked the wraparound material to keep it connected in some fashion. What is great about V/H/S 2 is how it manages to correct most of these issues. It is a leaner and meaner experience. I had less issue with the wraparounds, I enjoyed all the segments, the film does not drag, and the creativity is even more prevalent throughout. There may still be curiosity regarding why digital camera footage has been put onto V/H/S tapes, but the film is an effective horror experience overall.
read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
1 day ago via Flixster
Aaron reviewed...
Man of Steel (2013)
Jonathan Kent: You just have to decide what kind of man you want to… More
Jonathan Kent: You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Clark. Whoever that man is, he's going to change the world.
We'll always have Superman: The Movie. While Superman has arguably been the most recognizable superhero since his creation in 1938 and has remained a national icon, the 1978 film from Richard Donner seems to be the only time cinema had truly done its best to do him justice, let alone be the film that created the template (still in use) for a majority of superhero movies. Superman II is a great example as well, though that film is practically the second half of the first, given that it was part of one big story and shot back-to-back with the first film. For whatever reason, other attempts at a Superman film just cannot seem to do anything else that is interesting with the character, regardless of spectacle, the cast involved, or whoever may be directing or producing. Man of Steel is the best Superman film since the first two Christopher Reeve films, but it still ends up waving off some of the more interesting ideas in favor of letting us see super fights on an enormous scale and settling for bursts of emotional content, amidst an unfocused story. As a person who already does not find Superman to be any more fascinating than the story written around him, the potential for this newest iteration to explore the character is downplayed, despite the film still playing out as a visually stimulating experience in the realm of big summer blockbusters.
read my whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
4 days ago via Flixster
Aaron reviewed...
This Is the End (2013)
Craig Robinson: We're actors! We pretend to be hard, but really,… More
Craig Robinson: We're actors! We pretend to be hard, but really, we're soft as baby s**t!
The apocalypse has been quite a popular topic for film in recent years. It has also been handled in various forms; from disaster drama (2012, Knowing), to the various zombie films (the upcoming World War Z), to romantic dramas (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a film I will continue to go to bat for). Even the provocative, avant-garde filmmaker Lars von Trier took a stab at the end of the world with Melancholia. So with the end of the world as such a popular subject for film, why not see it as a broad studio comedy? This Is The End is a wild joke-fest about the world coming to an end, as well as something akin to The Avengers of comedies, given that it stars many comedic actors all playing versions of themselves in a weird sorta-pseudo-sequel to every Judd Apatow-produced comedy, even though he had nothing to do with this film. Regardless, This Is The End is a hilarious, no-holds bar, star-filled extravaganza that manages to bury some interesting themes within its very bawdy self.
read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
5 days ago via Flixster
Aaron reviewed...
Much Ado About Nothing (2013)
Hero: Nature never framed a woman's heart of prouder stuff than that… More
Hero: Nature never framed a woman's heart of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice - disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes.
Writer/director Joss Whedon is in a pretty good place right now. He is coming off making one of the biggest films ever (The Avengers), which had the bonus pleasure of being pretty universally well-liked, and has essentially elevated from being loved by geek audiences all over to being a filmmaker who has the ability to do whatever he wants. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but Whedon has made, of all things, a new adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, simply because he needed a palette cleanser of sorts. Here's a film that was made by Whedon, while on vacation from making The Avengers, using his own home in Santa Monica and a cast consisting of many friends/actors he has worked with before. As a result, the title 'Much Ado About Nothing' works as a double meaning for the film overall, as it is entertaining, but slight. Some may want to make more of a big deal out of it, but I would say even Whedon is just happy with having done something like this, with little thought of it as a big game changer as far as his oeuvre of films is concerned.
read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
6 days ago via Flixster
