AdamBowl23 Reviews

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Very Smart and Original

[8/10 · 18 September 2013]

I recently watched this film and was very impressed. It is a pretty straight-forward drama but it is done in a very unique way and tells a great story of how violence can affect everyone, fathers, mothers, and especially children. The performances are what really stand out in the film though. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper are stellar. Its nice to see Cooper do the more dramatic roles after all of the Hangover movies. Eva Mendes really surprised me though. I've never been too impressed by her acting ability before but she was excellent in her role here. The other great part of the cast was Dane DeHaan. He really impressed me in Chronicle and did the same in Pines. I think he's a young, up-in-comer that we'll be hearing a lot more from in the future.

The movie does have its flaws, but they are few and far between. My biggest gripe was the run time because the movie does drag, but everything else makes up for that. It was a beautifully shot film and not a bad performance at all from any of the actors. And Derek Cianfrance is definitely a director to look out for in the future. I also think some Oscar nods should come this movie's way, but since it come out earlier in the year, it may miss out, which is a shame.

The To Do List (2013)

This may be the filthiest teen comedy ever, and it's awesome!

[8/10 · 18 September 2013]

I didn't know what to expect going into seeing this one. I actually never even saw a trailer for it, but I read the synopsis and saw the impressive cast list and that was enough to get me interested. Even getting to the parking lot I asked my buddy if the movie was rated R and he said yes, and I was ensured of this as the movie started and "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Cru started playing during the opening credits. The movie takes place in 1993 and is about a recent high school grad who decides she needs to explore her sexuality and makes a "to do" list of all the things she wants to try before losing her virginity. I graduated high school in 96 so I could definitely relate to the setting and anyone who grew up during that time will get quite a few chuckles with all the references. But regardless of what era the movie was set in, it would still be a hilarious film. Aubrey Plaza is fantastic as the lead and shows a whole other side than how April is on Parks and Recreation. The rest of the cast is solid as well, with Bill Hader, Donald Glover, Rachel Bilson, Clark Gregg, and Connie Britton. There's almost too many to name. But as I said in the title, this may be the filthiest teen comedy ever made. It reminded me some of American Pie and Superbad but this movie takes it to a whole other level. It does get a little graphic, though there's not any nudity which is an odd thing to say after saying its graphic. You'll just have to see for yourself. I think the ladies will be able to relate to the movie more than guys, but regardless, its funny for everyone. I think I heard more laughter in the theater in total during this than I did This is the End. I think this could be the sleeper hit of the summer.

The Way Way Back (2013)

Great Because It Doesn't Try Too Hard

[8/10 · 18 September 2013]

I was very impressed by this film. Sometimes a movie is just good because it doesn't try to do too much, aside from tell a good story and have some great performances and The Way Way Back definitely fits that bill. Sam Rockwell is great as usual and Carrel, for the first time I can remember, plays, well, pretty much a jerk and does it very well. The rest of the cast was also solid, such as Toni Collette, Maya Rudolph, and Allison Janney. The young cast was really good too and the lead, Liam James, was totally believable as the awkward 14 year old. Is the movie Oscar worthy, probably not, but it is a funny and touching film and you'll feel good after watching. And aside from a few swears and a little innuendo, it wouldn't be a bad movie to watch with the kids, well the older ones at least.

The World's End (2013)

The World's End May Be Wright's Best Yet

[8/10 · 18 September 2013]

The World's End is the third film by director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, with the previous films being Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I was a big fan of both of those and going into The World's End, I didn't see how it could live up to either of them, but I still hoped it would be entertaining. Well, I ended up being surprised because this may be my favorite of the three. The story is about a washed up 40 something guy(Pegg) who gets his old school buddies together to do a pub crawl in their hometown. All of the buddies have moved on, with either wives, kids, and good jobs and view Pegg's character as a guy stuck in suspended adolescence. When the group arrives to the town, they soon discover that almost all of the city's residents have been replaced by robots and the action ensues from there. It doesn't sound like the most brilliant story in the world, but Wright is great at taking genres and giving them more than just what people expect. In a movie about crazy robots, I never would have expected to relate to a lot of the film's themes and the motivation behind Pegg's character to want to do the pub crawl. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins summed it up best with his brief review, "The World's End is a fun, funny, smart, touching movie that you should see. YOU DESERVE GOOD ENTERTAINMENT!" I also want to give praise to the soundtrack which included some of the more obscure (to us in the US at least) songs from the 90's. I can't remember the last time I heard Teenage Fanclub. And the action sequences were really good too, I'd stack them up with some of the big action movies of the last few years. So with this being the 4th film of Wright's I've seen(Scott Pilgrim vs The World being the other), I think I can safely say that Wright is the current master of the action/comedy and I can't wait to see what he does with Ant-Man.

Don Jon (2013)

One of the Best of the Year

[9/10 · 18 September 2013]

I attended a screening last night of Don Jon, starring, written, and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and was very glad I got the chance to. I was curious about 2 things going into the movie. One, was to see how Gordon-Levitt would do as both a director and writer. Acting I wasn't concerned with because he's one of the best out there today. Well, for his first time out, he nailed it. The story was great and one of the most original I've seen in a long time. Could possibly be the best movie I've seen all year. Number two, I was curious how Tony Danza would be, as it was odd picturing him being in a rated R movie, and trust me, he didn't disappoint. You'll hear him say many things you never heard on Who's the Boss. But he was great all around. There were moments when he reminded me of my dad.

But I was kind of blown away by the movie. I was hoping to laugh and I really didn't see it being a typical romantic comedy by any means, and believe me, anyone expecting that will be highly disappointed, sorry ladies. This movie is definitely from a guy's prospective and JGL isn't the sweet, golden boy type character by any means. His character has a lot of layers and that's one of the reasons the movie is as good as it is. Its not your typical R rated comedy either. It falls in between comedy and drama, but mostly, it is just a character study of a man with addiction issues, which lead to relationship issues, and so on and so forth. Its just done in a way where the movie doesn't come off as heavy or preachy and is fun to watch. It just tells the character of Jon's story and I think there are parts that almost every guy can relate to in one way or another, which provides a lot of the laughs. I'm sure some of the websites Jon uses will be familiar to some as well, wink, wink.

And aside from JGL and Danza, the rest of the cast is great too. Scarlett was looking as good as ever and was spot on in her role. Julianne Moore was used wisely and gave another solid performance, almost reminiscent of her role in Boogie Nights. One of my favorites was Brie Larson. She doesn't get much screen time but pay attention to her because it pays off in the end.

I'm a huge fan of this film and can't wait to see what Gordon-Levitt can do in the future. I give it a 9 out of 10 and is a must watch.

Spring Breakers (2012)

Could Have Been A Lot Better

[6/10 · 25 June 2013]

First off, I'm glad I read that the writer of Kids directed this movie so I had a bit of an idea of what to expect style wise and that was my biggest problem with the movie. Its like watching a dream, which some may like, but it was a little too trippy for me. The reason why I gave the movie a 6 is mostly for James Franco, who was great in the brief moments he had dialogue and even the parts he doesn't. And as far as dialogue goes, there's not much of it. I will say the director does achieve with telling its story for the most part, its just the way he does it that's irritating. Its definitely got that "arthouse" feel to it, and with a movie about girls in bikinis, guns and drugs it doesn't seem to fit. I was reminded of the movie Traffic and how Steven Soderbergh directed it in a kind of abstract style. But the key with that film is that he allowed for a lot of character development. In Spring Breakers, Franco really seemed to be the only character with any kind of development. The girls are given a little back story, but not enough for me to really care about them. The story is really good, which the director also wrote, I just think a better director could have made a much better film of this if they got their hands on it. I know Korine didn't want to make the typical Hollywood movie and he succeeded, but there's a lot of great directors out there who don't do the typical Hollywood films that he could have handed the reigns to. Probably the oddest thing about the movie is that both IMDb and Wikipedia say this is a comedy and drama. This is the farthest thing from a comedy. Franco is funny in some moments but this is a pretty heavy drama. I think some people may look at the cast and see comedy and think this is a fun spring break movie. Trust me, its not. The only other positive thing I can say is about the soundtrack, which was quite good, aside from the Britney Spears songs. Skrillex does the score and I hope they do more movie work in the future.

And on another note, for any wrestling fans out there, Jeff Jarrett has a brief role in the beginning as a youth pastor, that cracked me up.

Summer of Tomorrows (2003 Video)

I couldn't believe this was really a movie!

[1/10 · 25 January 2012]

First off, I think whoever wrote the positive reviews for this movie years ago were obviously either cast or crew members because there is no way anyone would give this movie 10 stars. First off, its pretty obvious this was shot on a video camera because it looks like someone's home movie. I happened to stumble upon the "film" at 2:00AM on a Thursday morning on a small independent TV station. At first, I thought it was an old commercial promoting family values or something like that, commercials like that are fairly common at this time. I then checked the TV listings after it lasted longer than a commercial should and saw the title and looked it up on here and was amazed there was even a page for it. It is downright terrible and the reviewer who compared it to The Room is right on, but at least The Room had some production values. Then we get to the performance of the lead, also the director. His portrayal of a mentally challenged man is downright offensive. It instantly made me think of Tropic Thunder and Robert Downey Jr.'s character saying "never go full retard". Then added to that are the performances of the cast, wow, just wow. I've seen better acting in elementary school plays. I hate to criticize anyone trying to make an independent film, but the fact that this movie takes itself way too seriously just kills it. But here's the long and short of it, a mentally challenged man gets hit by a car and his family thinks he's dead, even showing the family cleaning out his bedroom. His brother gets a call from the hospital about their bill and they ask him to come to the hospital to work it out(whaaa?). When he gets there, the doctor says there's something he needs to show him and its his brother, who's alive without a scratch on him. And then to top all of that, he's no longer mentally challenged!!! From there, he seems to develop "powers" of some kind, becoming some sort of genius/telepath. Yeah, the story is beyond dumb and ludicrous, so much so they should have just made it a superhero/comedy movie, at least then it could have been a little clever, instead, its downright laughable and offensive.

There is one bright spot in the movie, the girl who plays Kenna, Nicole Nealon, is beautiful. She's not much of an actress but she's a looker.

In summary, if you're a fan of really bad movies, this is one you should put on your list. If I was with a group of inebriated friends, I think this would provide a lot of laughs. If you're looking for a powerful, uplifting drama, I'd watch something else.

Mad Love (2011)

Well, its better than Rules of Engagement

[8/10 · 16 February 2011]

Mad Love is entertaining enough, but if you're looking for the next Friends, or even How I Met Your Mother, then you might be disappointed. The show really does seem to be HIMYM "Light", less characters but the characters have the same types of personalities. Also, I think most of the cast has appeared on HIMYM at some point in time.

I really didn't have any expectations for the show, especially considering that I only made it through 2 minutes of the awful Traffic Lights on Fox. But about 3 minutes into Mad Love, I found myself chuckling a few times and before I knew it, the show was over and I had laughed quite a bit. Jason Biggs and Sarah Chalke are the stars of the show and are good, not great, but I was more impressed with the chemistry between Judy Greer and Tyler Labine. I'm a huge fan of Greer and liked Labine on Reaper, but he got stuck on that awful Sons of Tucson(what's with Fox and their awful shows?), so I'm happy to see he got a gig that might lead to something.

Who knows if this show will make it, but as I said in the headline, its better than Rules of Engagement, so much better, so I hope it does replace it for good.

Sin City (2005)

One of the all time greats

[10/10 · 17 October 2005]

I'll start by stating that I have never read the Sin City graphic novels, but I am a fan of Frank Miller's work (his work on Daredevil and Batman is amazing), so I had high expectations coming in, and those expectations were met and greatly exceeded. First off, just the style of the movie is unlike anything I've ever seen. The use of color in the black and white setting is breathtaking. The same effect was used in Pleasantville, but it was put into a new level here. Second, the stories are captivating and I didn't want them to end. You get attached to the characters and hate to see their story close. Lastly, whoever did the casting for the movie deserves a raise. Even though Bruce Willis doesn't really look the part of 60-70 year man, he plays the part perfectly, and then there's Jessica Alba and Brittany Murphy, enough said. This was one of those movies, that after I finished seeing for the first time, I immediately put on my list of all time favorites and it has also inspired me to start writing again. Can't wait for the sequels and I think Miller should consider directing more, as I can tell some of his personal touches in the movie. I like Rodriguez, but I'm still trying to forgive him for those Spy Kids movies. But Sin City is a must see for anybody, there's something for the whole family to enjoy.

Ninja Scroll (1993)

Pretty Good

[8/10 · 17 October 2005]

This was the first anime movie I have ever sit through, and I have to say it's pretty good. I didn't find it as extreme as other reviewers have, but maybe that's because cartoon violence doesn't have the same affect on me as live action violence. But this being my first experience into anime, it seemed pretty tame. (Do keep in mind that I watched Ichi The Killer the same weekend, so my view may be a bit skewed) But I'd recommend it to any fellow first timers and for anime/magna die hards. The animation was excellent, as well as the voice acting. My only complaint was that I missed out on about 10 minutes of the movie because the disc was scratched or my DVD player sucks. I'm also looking forward to the sequel.

The Dead Zone (1983)

Not as good as the book, but still not bad.

[7/10 · 17 October 2005]

After searching for this movie for months after I read the book, I finally found it, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The movie is not horrible by any means, but there was a lot left out from the book. I can't blame Cronenberg for this though. It would have taken 4 to 5 hours to get all of the detail of the book into the movie, but certain aspects of the book could have been focused on more. The one thing that did stand out in the movie was Walken's performance, which was the best dramatic performance of his I've ever seen. So the movie is worth the purchase just for that. Oh, in closing, this is not a horror movie, nor was the book horror. The book was the closest thing to a comic book style story that King has ever written, with the message of "With great power comes great responsibility" dominating the story. Good movie, but a much better book, so go out and read it.

Ichi the Killer (2001)

You can rip someone's arm off with your bare hands!

[10/10 · 17 October 2005]

What can one say about Ichi the Killer? I do have to say, without a doubt, it is one of the most unique films I have ever seen. I was afraid going in, after hearing all of the hype, that it would be gore just for the sake of gore. But the way it is portrayed and the characters are what really drive the movie and make it stand out from other gorefests. It may be my sick personality, but I found myself laughing a lot throughout the movie. There is a lot of black humor in the film, which I enjoy. I would not consider this a horror movie by any means though, as I was not scared at all while watching it and it had none of the tendencies of a traditional horror film. The only thing that kept me from giving it 10 stars is the ending, which is a bit abstract, but I'm sure it was intended that way. But I would recommend this film to anyone, cause it's something everyone should experience. The only movie I could compare this to would be Dead Alive, and that is a very loose comparison. Just do yourself a favor and watch it.